t 


I  4  ^  J  5  i  -» 


DICTIONARY 


SCIENCE,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART: 


COMPRISING   THE 


HISTORY,  DESCRIPTION,  AND  SCIENTIFIC  PRINCIPLES 


OF  EVERT   BRANCH   OF 


Human  2Liuotole*se; 


TIIE  DERIVATION  AND  DEFINITION  OF  ALL  THE  TERMS  IN  GENERAL  USE, 


EDITED  BY 

W.  T.  BRANDE,  F.R.S.L.  &  E., 

©f  ?Qcr  JftafcstB's  JHhxt; 

PROFESSOR    OF    CHEMISTRY    IN    THE    ROYAL    INSTITUTION    OF    GREAT    BRITAIN  ; 
PROFESSOR    OF    CHEMISTRY    AND    MATERIA    MEDICA    TO    THE    APOTHECARIES'    COMPANY  ; 

ETC.,    ETC.,    ETC. 

Assisted  by  * 

JOSEPH  CAUVIN,  ESQ. 

THE    VARIOUS    DEPARTMENTS    BY    EMINENT    LITERARY   AND    SCIENTIFIC   GENTLEMEN. 
ILLUSTRATED  BY  NUMEROUS  ENGRAVINGS  ON  WOOD. 


NEW-YORK: 

PUBLISHED   BY   HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  82  CLIFF-STREET. 

18  43. 


»»v  > 


♦^ 


,X*U\  \      * 


List  of  the  principal  Authors  of  the  work,  with  the  departments  for  which  they  are  re- 
spectively responsible. 


General  Editor, 

W.  T.  BRANDE,  F.R.S.L.  &  R, 

Of  Her  Majesty's  Mint ;  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  Royal  Institution  of  Great  Britain  ;  Prof,  of  Chemistry  and  Materia 
Medica  to  the  Apothecaries'  Company,  &c. 

Assisted  by  JOSEPH  CAUVIN,  Esq. 

1.  Architecture,  Music,  and  the  Fine  Arts     ....     Joseph  Gwilt,  F.SA.  &  F.R.A.S. 

C  J.  Lindley,  Ph.D.F.R.S.L.S.,  &c , 

2.  BOTANY S      Professor  of  Botany  in  University  College,  and  in  the 

(         Royal  Institution. 

3.  Chemistry,  Geology,  Mineralogy,  Medicine,  and  the  \ 

Arts  and  Sciences  depending  on  Chemical  Princi-  >  W.  T.  Brande,  Esq.  (Editor.) 
ples 1 

4.  Gardening  and  Agriculture J.  C.  Loudon,  F.L  S.H.S.,  &c. 

i=    t    w  \  Herman  Merivale,  A.M., 

I  Late  Fellow  of  Baliol  College. 

„    r,  T  (  J.  R.  M'Culloch,  Esq.,  and 

8.  General  Literature <       T  0  '  v      ' 

\      Joseph  Cauvin,  L,sq. 

7.  Mathematics,  and  the  Arts  and  Sciences  depending  )  ^  ~  ,,  .  „  n  „ 

,r                          „  >  lnos.  Galloway.  M.A.r.K.S. 

on  Mathematical  Principles I 

3.  Nautical  Science Lieutenant  Raper,  R.N.,  &c. 

9.  Political  Economy  and  Statistics J.  R.  M'Culloch,  Esq. 

10.  Theology The  Rev.  Chas.  Merivale,  MA. 

11.  Zoology,  Anatomy,  and  Physiology Richard  Owen,  F.R.S.,  &c. 


PREFACE. 


The  advantages  of  Encyclopaedias  are  now  so  universally  acknowledged,  that 
it  would  be  wholly  superfluous  to  endeavour  to  recommend  the  present  work 
by  dwelling  on  their  peculiar  merits.  But  though  the  utility  of  such  works  be 
no  longer  in  dispute,  it  may,  notwithstanding,  be  reasonably  supposed  that  at  a 
period  when  so  many  voluminous  Encyclopaedias  and  special  Dictionaries  have 
recently  issued,  and  are  still  daily  issuing  from  the  press,  this  department  of  lit- 
erature must  be  fully  occupied,  and  that  there  can  be  no  well-founded  call  for 
any  farther  addition  to  the  number. 

It  will  be  found,  however,  on  a  little  consideration,  that  this  is  by  no  means 
the  case.  By  far  the  greater  number,  or,  rather,  perhaps  we  might  say,  all  the 
Encyclopaedias  and  Dictionaries  of  modern  times,  are  either  too  voluminous  or 
too  special  for  ready  reference  and  general  use.  The  Encyclopedic  Frangaise, 
Rees's  Cyclopaedia,  the  Encyclopcedia  Britannica,  the  Encyclopcedia  Metropol- 
itana,  and  the  Penny  Cyclopcedia,  are  all  works  of  vast  extent,  comprising  many 
volumes,  and  embracing  an  infinite  variety  of  articles,  or  rather  treatises,  wrhich, 
if  published  separately,  would  each  make  a  considerable  work.  Now  it  is  ob- 
vious that  such  voluminous  publications,  whatever  may  be  their  merits  in  other 
respects,  want  that  facility  of  reference  and  precision  of  statement  which  ought 
to  be  the  distinguishing  features  of  a  useful  Dictionary.  No  man  can  carry 
about  with  him  any  of  the  great  modem  Encyclopaedias ;  while  the  extensive 
plan  on  which  they  are  compiled  renders  them  at  once  far  too  expensive  for 
general  circulation,  and  wholly  unsuitable  for  ready  consultation.  The  supply, 
indeed,  of  that  concise  and  authentic  information  on  the  various  subjects  of  sci- 
ence, literature,  and  art,  which  a  book  of  reference  should  furnish  with  the  ut- 
most facility  to  all  classes  of  readers,  has  been  but  a  secondary  object  with  the 
compilers  of  our  great  Encyclopaedias  ;  and  though  it  had  been  otherwise,  the 
length,  theoretical  character,  and  frequent  obscurity  of  the  articles  in  such  works, 
must  have  effectually  precluded  their  ever  being  used  for  mere  purposes  of  ref- 
erence. They  are  valuable  as  substitutes  for  libraries,  as  repositories  of  the 
various  knowledge  connected  with  the  different  departments  of  which  they  treat ; 
and  being  so,  they  cannot  be  convenient  manuals. 

Special  Dictionaries,  on  the  other  hand,  though  they  may  exhaust  some  one 
branch  or  department  of  science,  literature,  or  art,  and  be  invaluable  to  those 
engaged  in  its  cultivation,  and  to  those  who  wish  to  become  acquainted  with  its 
details,  are  not  intended  to  supply  information  on  other  branches.  A  work, 
therefore,  like  that  nowr  offered  to  the  public,  possessing  the  comprehensive  char- 
acter of  a  general  Encyclopaedia  without  its  amplitude,  and  affording  in  a  conve- 
nient form  an  abstract  of  the  principles  of  every  branch  of  knowledge,  and  a 
definition  and  explanation  of  the  various  terms  in  science,  literature,  and  art 
which  occur  in  reading  and  conversation,  appears  to  be  still  wanting. 

May  we  hope  that  this  desideratum,  which  has  been  long  felt  to  exist  in  en- 
cyclopedical literature,  has  been  at  length  supplied  ?  Such,  at  least,  will  be  the 
ease,  should  the  present  work  answer  the  expectations  of  its  authors  and  pub- 
lishers. They  have  endeavoured  to  produce  a  condensed  and  compendious 
Dictionary,  of  a  convenient  size,  and  adapted  to  the  wants  and  means  of  all 
classes,  that  may  be  advantageously  used  as  a  manual  or  reference-book  in  ev- 


iv  PREFACE. 

ery  department  of  science,  literature,  and  art ;  and  they  flatter  themselves  that, 
by  rejecting  all  discussion  and  details  not  indispensable  to  the  proper  elucidation 
of  the  different  topics,  the  work  will  be  found,  notwithstanding  its  comparatively 
narrow  limits,  to  furnish,  in  the  readiest  possible  manner,  precise  and  accurate 
information  on  the  all  but  infinite  variety  of  subjects  which  it  embraces.  Great 
pains  have  been  taken  to  make  the  definitions  and  explanations  correct,  clear, 
and  concise.  The  principles  of  the  most  popular  and  important  departments 
of  science,  literature,  and  art,  are  also  distinctly,  though  briefly  explained  ;  and 
notices  are  given  of  their  rise,  progress,  and  present  state. 

Neither  must  it  be  supposed  that  because  these  articles  are  for  the  most  part 
brief  and  compendious,  they  are  either  flimsy  or  superficial.  On  the  contrary, 
they  have  been  compiled  throughout  with  the  greatest  care.  Popularity  has 
not  been  sought  for  at  the  expense  of  science,  nor  brevity  by  the  sacrifice  of 
useful  facts  or  appropriate  illustrations.  The  work  contains  not  a  few  new  and 
original  views ;  and  it  is  confidently  believed  that  in  every  department  it  will 
be  found  to  imbody  the  latest  information,  and  to  be  on  a  level  with  the  most 
advanced  state  to  which  knowledge  has  attained,  not  merely  in  this,  but  also  in 
other  countries.  No  statement  has  been  made  as  to  any  unusual  or  doubtful 
matter,  without  referring  to  the  authority  whence  it  has  been  derived  ;  and  when 
subjects  of  general  interest  and  importance  are  noticed,  the  reader  is  referred 
to  the  works  relating  to  them  in  which  they  are  handled  with  the  greatest  ability. 
Not  only,  therefore,  will  those  who  may  consult  this  work  have  a  guarantee  for 
the  authenticity  of  it's  information,  but  they  will  learn  the  sources  to  which  they 
may  resort  with  the  greatest  advantage,  should  they  wish  to  make  farther  in- 
quiries. 

Such,  in  a  few  words,  is  the  design  of  this  work ;  and  unless  its  publishers 
be  greatly  deceived  as  to  its  execution,  it  can  hardly  fail  to  be  useful  to  individ- 
uals of  all  ranks  and  conditions  :  to  the  man  of  business  and  the  man  of  pleasure, 
the  student  and  the  superficial  reader,  the  busy  and  the  idle.  Every  one  who 
takes  any  share  in  conversation,  or  who  dips,  how  cursorily  soever,  into  any 
newspaper  or  other  publication,  will  every  now  and  then  find  the  advantage  of 
having  access  to  the  Dictionary  op  Science,  Literature,  and  Art. 

In  finally  submitting  the  work  to  the  judgment  of  the  public,  the  publishers 
may,  perhaps,  be  allowed  to  say  that  they  have  left  no  means  untried  that  ap- 
peared likely  to  ensure  the  accuracy  and  excellence  of  the  work.  It  was  dis- 
tributed into  divisions  or  departments,  each  embracing  a  single  subject,  or  a  class 
of  closely-allied  subjects ;  and  these  were  respectively  assigned  to  gentlemen 
distinguished  by  their  attention  to,  and  proficiency  in,  the  topics  to  be  treated  of* 
This  seemed  to  be  the  most  likely  means  to  avoid  mere  compilation,  to  ensure 
accuracy  and  adequate  information,  and  to  make  the  work  not  only  a  compre- 
hensive and  correct,  but  in  some  measure  also  an  original,  digest  and  synopsis 
of  human  knowledge. 


DICTIONARY 


OF 


SCIENCE,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART. 


x\..  The  first  letter  of  the  Alphabet,  in  ;ill  known  lan- 
guages, with  the  exception  of  the  Amaric,  a  dialed  of  the 
Ethiopian,  in  which  ii  is  the  13th,  and  of  the  Runic,  in 
which  it  is  the  10th.  It  was  called  Alpha  b)  thi  Greeks, 
and  AUph  by  the  Hebrews, 

ABACI'SCOS  («e«  Abacus).  In  Architecture,  any  flat 
member.  The  square  compartmenl  of  a  mosaic  pavement 

ABA'CK,  in  sea  language,  d tea  the  position  ol  tl 

when  flatted  against  the  mast  by  the  force  of  the  wind.  Tins 
in. 1  j  b  "i  ii"'  wind,  01  an 

alteration  of  the  ship's  course;  or  the  sail-  m 
/mi  1,  for  the  purpose  of  avoiding  some  imminent  dan 

A'BACOT.    A  cap  of  state  worn  b)  the  old  English 

A'BACUS.  {Gr.  a6a\,  a  slab.)  In  Architecture,  thi  up 
jM-r  part  nr  crowning  member  "i  the  1  ipil  tl  ol  a  column. 
This  member  alone  seems  to  have  constituted  the  primitive 
capital,  li  is  an  essential  ami  constituent  part  "i  the  capi- 
tal.   In  the  'in- ,  pin ic,  ami  [onic  ordi  rs  it  is 

a  1  id  in  the  Corinthian  and  composite  curved  inwards  on  its 
plane  and  truncated  al  the  quoins  or  angles  at  15  d 
with  Ha1  face  ol  the  entablature,  The  use  of  the  abacus 
is  to  give  breadth  to  the  top  of  the  column,  and  present  a 
larger  surface  of  level  bed  for  the  reception  of  the  archi- 
trave. 

Abacus.  An  ancient  instrument  used  for  assisting  nu- 
merical calculations.  This  term  has  been  variously  de- 
rived; from  the  Greek  word,  abax,  signifying  a  table;  a 
Phoenician  word,  abak,  signifying  sand  (because  when  co- 
vere  I  with  sain  I  ii  served  for  the  purposes  of  writing);  but 
iis  derivation  is  most  probably  in  be  referred  to  the  three 
first  letters  of  the  Greek  alphabet 

The  use  "i"  tin1  abacus  will  be  readily  understood  from 
the  annexed  flgure.    A  parallelogram  is  divided  by  parallel 

hi  «  bich  small  pebbles  or  coun- 
ters an-  placed.  The  counters  en  the 
11  denote  units,  those  on  the. 
second  lens,  these  on  the  third  bun- 
dt  eds,  ami  so  on  ;  one  counter  on  a 
bar  being  equal  to  ten  on  the 
bar  immediately  below  it.  By  means 
of  nine  counters  for  each  bar.  it  is  ob- 
vious that  any  number  may  be  thus 
expressed.  But  the  number  of  coun- 
ters may  be  diminished  by  placing  a  counter  on  the  inter- 
mediate space  between  two  bars,  giving  it  the  value  of  five 
on  the  bar  below.  When  seven  bars  are  used,  any  number 
maybe  expressed  under  ten  millions.  The  number  re- 
presented in  the  ti.nire  is  S45,398.  It  will  be  observed  that 
the  artificial  value  given  to  the  counters,  according  to  the 
positions  which  they  occupy,  is  entirely  analogous  to  our 
numerical  system  of  digits.  The  form  of  the  instrument 
admitted  of  considerable  variety.  The  Grecian  abacus 
was  an  oblong  frame,  having  wires  stretched  across  it, 
strung  with  perforated  beads  or  little  ivory  balls.  In  the 
Roman  abacus  the  counters  were  slid  along  grooves.    Its 


-•— • o 

9 


ABA  TON. 

use  formed  an  essential  part  of  the  education  of  every  no- 
ble Roman  youth : — 

"S,  ctscctoin  pulvere  m  ■ 
. ,,  f«r Sal.  1 .  132. 

The  Chinese,  like  the  Greeks,  employ  wires  with  beads; 

ami  with  I  hem  I  he  abacus  or  Swan  pan  is  in  universal  use. 

onveniently  ad. 1  pis  itself  to  fheir.jiccimal  divisions  oi 
weights  and  measures.    The  abacus  continued  tobi 
in  European  countries  during  the  middle  ages    Instead  oi 
a  board,  however,  with  bars  or  wires,  il  became  theprac- 
tice  to  cover  a  bench  or  bank  v, ni  1  chequered  clol 
which  the  counters  1  I.    Hence  our  terms  ex- 

chequer, bankrupt,  4sc.  A  chequered  board,  such  as  is 
still  somet  inn  ign  at  the  doors  of  public  houses, 

was  formerly  used  in  England  as  an  abacus  I'm  an  excel- 
lent account  of  the  abacus,  and  of  palpable  arithmetii 
rally,  Bee  the  article  on  Arithmetic,  in  the  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica,  by  Sir  John  Leslie,  Dr.  D.  Ii.  Reid,  ol  Edin- 
burgh, lias  applied  the  abacus  to  facilitate  the  study  of  the 
composition  of  chemical  compounds.    See  Reid's  Chem- 

\\\\  1 T,  or  \i  T.  in  sea  language,  signifies  towards  the 
stern,  or  hinder  part  of  the  vessel.    Thus  a  thing  is  abaft 

the    foremast  when   it  is   between   the    foremast  and    the. 

stern. 

\n  \'Mx  i\ Mr. \T.    A  term  used  in  insurances, where, 
before  compensation  can  be  demanded,  the  insurer  must 
u  In.-  interest  in  any  portion  ofthe  rescued  property. 
It  it  also  use, 1  m  the  language  of  the  customs,  to  signify  the 
onmenl  of  an  article  by  the  importer  to  avoid  pay- 
ment ofthe  duly. 

ABATEMENT,  1'lea  of,  in  I. aw,  is  pleaded  to  a  decla- 
ration. I  account  of  some  defect  in  form.    {See 

ING.) 

\  s  r.     In  Heraldry,  symbols  of  disgrace  intro- 

duced  into  arms:  mentioned  for  the  most  part  only  by 
English  heraldic  writers.  A  </'//'.  or  quadrant  spot,  is  the 
si^u  of  a  revoked  challenge:  an  escutcheon  reversed,  be- 
longs to  an  ungallant  person  or  deserter:  a  point 

.  to  a  boaster:  a  point  in  i»>iiit.  toacoward:  a  ,■■ 
champain,  to  one  who  kills  a  prisoner  of  war:  a  gore  sinis- 
ter, to  effeminate  pi  1  set  dexter  denotes  volup- 
tuousness, a  gusset  sinister  intoxication.  The  only  abate- 
ment now  used  in  practice  is  the  boston,  which  belongs  to 
bastards:  it  is  in  the  form  ofthe  bend  sinister,  contains 
one  fourth  of  its  dimensions,  but  does  not  reach  quite  to 
the  circumference  ofthe  escutcheon. 

A'BATIS.  (Ft.  abattre,  to  knock  down.)  A  military 
term,  signifying  trees  cutdown,and  laid  with  their  branches 
towards  the  enemy,  so  as  to  form  a  defence  for  troops  sta- 
tioned behind  them.  Abatis,  among  the  writers  ofthe  bar- 
barous ages,  denotes  an  officer  in  the  stables,  who  had  the 
care  and  distribution  ofthe  provender. 

A'BATON.    (Gr.  a6arov,  an  inaccessible  place.)    Anedi- 
B 


<v 


ABATTOIR. 

fice  at  Rhodes  so  called  by  Vitruvius,  lib.  2.,  the  entrance 
whereof  was  forbidden  to  ail  persons,  because  it  contained 
a  trophy  and  two  bronze  statues  erected  by  Artemisia  in 
memory  of  her  triumph  on  surprising  the  city. 

ABATTOIR.  (Fr.  abattre,  to  knock  doicn.)  A  building 
appropriated  to  the  slaughtering  of  cattle.  In  Great  Britain 
there  is  no  example  of  such  a  structure,  the  slaughter- 
houses not  deserving  the  appellation  as  applied  by  the 
French.  Paris  possesses  some  fine  specimens  of  this  sort 
of  architecture,  constructed  in  1809;  the  most  magnificent 
is  that  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Montmartre. 

ABBE'.  The  French  term  for  the  superior  of  an  abbey. 
Before  the  Revolution  the  title  was  assumed  also  by  a  class 
of  persons  who  had  not  in  all  cases  received  the  tonsure, 
or  undertaken  to  connect  themselves  with  the  church.  They 
held  a  conspicuous  place  in  society,  and  generally  attached 
themselves  to  fashionable  or  literary  patrons.  This  ano- 
malous class  seems  to  have  taken  its  rise  from  the  great 
number  of  abbeys,  the  revenues  of  which  were  allowed  to 
be  bestowed  upon  laymen,  upon  condition  of  their  taking 
orders  within  a  year  after  their  preferment,  which  latter 
clause  was  frequently  evaded. 

A'BBESS.  (Fr.  Abbesse.)  The  governess  or  superior 
of  a  monastery  or  abbey  for  females.  By  a  decree  of  the 
Council  of  Trent  she  must  be  of  the  age  of  forty  years,  and 
have  professed  eight  years  at  least. 

A'BBEY.  (Fr.  Abbaie.)  In  Architecture,  properly,  the 
building  adjoining  or  near  a  convent  or  monastery,  for  the 
residence  of  the  head  of  the  house,  abbot  or  abbess.  It  is 
often  used  for  the  church  attached  to  the  establishment. 
In  ecclesiastical  history  an  Abbey  was  a  monastery  under 
the  superintendence  of  an  abbot,  maintaining  in  later  times 
the  highest  rank  among  religious  houses,  and  enjoying 
some  superior  privileges. 

A'BBOT.  The  superior  of  a  monastery  for  men.  Mo- 
nastic societies,  being  originally  composed  of  laymen,  were 
obliged  to  have  recourse  to  the  assistance  of  a  neighbour- 
ing priest  to  administer  the  sacrament  and  perform  other 
clerical  functions  among  them.  Afterwards  the  superior 
of  the  society  in  many  cases  entered  into  orders,  and  ex- 
ercised the  ministerial  office  for  the  convenience  of  his 
community,  under  the  title  of  abbot.  (Heb.  abba,  father.) 
From  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century  this  practice  be- 
came universal,  the  abbot  having  absolute  power  within  his 
own  monastery,  but  being  himself  subject  to  the  authority 
of  his  diocesan.  This  subjection,  however,  the  abbots 
gradually  threw  off  to  a  great  extent,  and  in  many  places 
themselves  assumed  the  titles  and  authority  of  bishops. 
Such  were  the  mitred  abbots,  and  the  crosiered  abbots ; 
the  former  of  whom,  to  the  number  of  26,  sat  in  the  English 
parliament,  with  the  bishops  and  two  priors  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII. 

Abbots  are  properly  superior  in  rank  to  Priors ;  the  latter 
being  often  appointed  by  the  abbot  to  superintend  a  de- 
nt foundation.  But  the  distinction  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  regularly  observed,  and  there  are  certain  or- 
ders whose  superiors  are  always  called  priors; — as  the 
monks  of  Vallombrosa,  the  Cistercians,  Bernardists.  Feuil- 
lants,  Trappists.  Grandmontanists,  and  Praemonstratenses. 

ABBREVIATION.  (Lat.  brevis,  short.)  hi  Arithme- 
tic. The  process  by  which  a  fraction  is  reduced  to  lower 
terms;  thus  the  division  of  the  numerator  and  denomina- 
tor of  L-5.  by  3  reduces  or  abbreviates  the  fraction  to  -2. 

Abbreviation*.  In  Music.  A  stroke  which,  placed 
over  or  under  a  note,  divides  it  into  quavers  if  there  be  only 
one;  if  two,  into  semiquavers;  if  three,  into  demisemi- 
quavers. 

Abbreviation.  In  Writing.  Before  the  invention  of 
printing,  a  variety  of  abbreviations  were  used,  most  of 
which  have  gradually  fallen  into  disuse:  they  generally 
consisted  in  substituting  the  initials  for  the  words.  Of  the 
abbreviations  at  present  in  use,  tl\e  following  are  those 
which  most  commonly  occur: — in  Titles. 
A.  ML,  Master  of  Arts.  K.  C.  H.,  Knight  Command- 

A.  B.,  Bachelor  of  Aits.  er  of  Hanover. 

B.  C.  L.,  Bachelor  of  Civil    K.  G.,  Knight  of  the  Garter. 


Law. 

B.  D.,  Bachelor  of  Divinity. 
Clk.,  Clerk  or  Clergyman. 

C.  B.,     Companion' of   the 
Bath. 


LL.  D.,  Doctor  of  Laws. 
M.  A.,  Master  of  Arts. 
M.  D.,  Doctor  of  Medicine. 
M.  P.,  Member   of    Parlia- 
ment. 


D.  C.   L.,  Doctor     of   Civil    M.  R.  I.  A.,  Member  of  the 


Law. 
D.  D.,  Doctor  of  Divinity. 

F.  R.  S.,  Fellow  of  the  Roy- 

al Society. 

G.  C.  B.,  Grand  Cross  of  the 

Bath. 

G.  C.   II.,  Grand  Cross    of 
Hanover. 

K.  B.,  Knight  of  the  Bath. 

K.  C.  B.,  Knight  Command- 
er of  the  Bath. 
2 


Royal  Irish  Academy. 

R.  A.,  Royal  Academy. 

R.  E.,  Royal  Engineers. 

R.  M.,  Roval  Marines. 

R.  N.,  Royal  Nan. 

S.  T.  P.,  Doctor  of  Divinity, 
or  Sanctte  Theologian 
Professor. 

E.  I.  C,  East  India  Com- 
pany. 

W.  S.,  Writer  to  the  Signet. 


ABERDEVINE. 

Miscellaneous,  Diplomatical,  &c. 


A.  D.,  the  year  of  our  Lord. 
A.  II.,  the'  year  of  the  He- 

ai  ra. 
A.  M.,  the  year  of  the  world, 
i.  e.,  that  is  to  say. 
ib.,  in  the  same  place, 
id.,  the  same. 
N.  B.j  observe. 
viz..  for  videlicet,  to  wit. 
L.  S.,  (in  a  deed)  the  place 

of  the  seal. 
R.  S.    and  L.   S.,  right  and 

left  side. 
N.  S.,     new    style,    (since 

1752.) 
O.  S.,      old    style,    (before 

1752,  and  in  the  Greek 

calendar.) 


A.  C.  or  B.  C,  the  year  be- 
fore Christ. 

A.  U.  C,  the  year  from  the 
building  of  Rome. 

Nem.  con.,  no  one  contra- 
dicting. , 

Nem.  dis.,  no  one  dissenting. 

M.  S.,  manuscript. 

A.  M..  morning. 

P.  M.,  afternoon. 

II  M.  S  .  His  Majesty's  ship, 
or  service. 

D.  G.,  bv  the  grace  of  God. 

F.  D.,  Defender  of  the  Faith. 

H.  R.  E.,  Holy  Roman  Em- 
pire. 

U.  &.,  United  States  of  Ame- 
rica. 


ABDICATION.  (Lat.  abdico.  I  abdicate.)  In  Politics, 
the  renunciation  of  an  office  or  dignity  by  its  holder  ;  but  it 
is  commonly  meant  to  express  the  voluntary  renunciation 
of  supreme  power.  The  most  famous  examples  of  this  on 
record,  are  the  abdication  of  the  dictatorship  by  Sylla,  75 
years  B.  C. ;  of  the  imperial  throne,  by  Dioclesian,  anno 
305;  of  the  emperor  Charles  V.,  in  1556  ;  and  of  Christina, 
queen  of  Sweden,  inl654. — Of  all  the  sovereigns  who  have 
made  voluntary  abdications,  Dioclesian  is,  perhaps,  the 
only  one  who  did  not  regret  the  step.  Examples  of  forced 
or  involuntary  abdication  are  too  numerous  to  require  to 
be  pointed  out.  The  modern  history  of  France  and  Eng- 
land furnish  some  very  striking  instances  with  which  every 
one  is  familiar.  The  convention  parliament  of  1688  used 
the  word  abdication  to  express  the  act  of  James  II.  in 
abandoning  the  government  and  kingdom.  The  word 
"  desertion"  was  rejected  as  implying  the  possibility  of  a 
return.  The  Scottish  convention  of  estates  declared  that 
James  had  "  forfeited'-'  the  kingdom.  Abdication  is  said  to 
differ  from  resignation,  the  former  being  unconditional, 
the  latter  done  in  favour  of  some  other  person. 

ABDO'MEN.  (Lat.  abdo,  I  conceal.)  The  great  cavity 
of  the  animal  body,  which  is  liable  to  temporary  changes 
in  its  dimensions,  independently  of  respiration.  In  ento- 
mology it  forms,  in  insects  the  third,  in  arachnidans  the 
second,  in  both  classes  the  most  posterior,  of  the  sections 
into  which  the  body  is  externally  divided,  and  contains  the 
principal  digestive  and  respiratory,  and  the  whole  of  the 
generative  organs.  The  enlargements  of  the  abdomen,  in 
relation  to  the  activity  of  the  generative  functions,  is  most 
remarkable  in  insects  ;  in  some  of  which,  as  the  white  ant, 
or  termite,  it  constitutes  at  the  full  development  of  the 
ova  an  immense  proportion  of  the  entire  body  of  the  fe- 
male, hi  vertebrates  the  abdomen  is  not  divided  external- 
ly from  the  thorax ;  and  only  in  one  class,  the  mammalia, 
by  an  internal  partition,  or  diaphragm. 

The  abdomen  is  the  first-formed  cavity  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  animal  body,  and  is  the  most  constant  in  its 
existence  throughout  the  animal  series.  {See  Cranium 
and  Thorax.) 

ABDO'MINALS.  Abdominales.  An  order  of  malacop- 
terygious  fishes,  including  those  which  have  the  ventral 
fins  situated  under  the  abdomen,  behind  the  pectorals. 

ABDl'CTION.  (Lat.  ah.  from,  and  duco,  I  lead.)  In 
Law,  the  forcible  carrying  away  of  a  woman,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  marriage  or  defilement.  Where  the  female  has 
property,  or  is  presumptively  entitled  to  it,  such  abduction 
is  felony  :  and  in  all  cases  the  taking  of  a  girl  under  sixteen 
from  under  the  protection  of  her  parents  is  a  misdemean- 
our. The  crime  of  abduction,  according  to  Sir  W.  Scott 
(see  his  Notes  and  Introduction  to  Rob  Roy),  was  at  one 
period  extremely  common  on  the  border  of  the  Scottish 
Highlands;  it  is  now  an  ordinary  offence  in  Ireland  :  the 
number  of  convictions  in  the  last  7  years  amounts  to  61; 
executions,  5. 

ABDU'CTOR.  Abductor  muscles  are  those  which  pull 
back  or  separate  the  limbs  to  which  they  are  affixed. 

A'BELITES,  or  Abelians,  in  ecclesiastical  history,  a  sect 
mentioned  by  St.  Augustine,  in  Africa.  They  are  said  to 
have  enjoined  marriage  and  virginity,  after  the  pretended 
example  of  Abel.    {See  Mosheim,  Eng.  Trans,  i.  233.) 

A'BER.  A  Celtic  term,  implying  the  mouth  of  a  river; 
as  Aberdeen,  the  mouth  of  the  Dee ;  Aberystwith,  the 
mouth  of  the  Ystwith,  &c. 

ABE'RDEVINE,  or  European  Siskin  ;  (Cardnelis  spinus, 
Cuv.)  A  small  green  and  yellow  finch,  belonging  to  the 
same  sub-genus  as  the  goldfinch  of  England.  Its  song 
is  similar  to  that  of  the  goldfinch,  but  is  not  so  sweet,  and 
ends  with  a  harsh  jarring  note.  Its  flight  is  a  series  of 
successive  undulating  courses,  accompanied  by  a  chirp,  at 
each  propelling  motion  of  the  wings,  as  in  other  species  of 
Cardnelis.  The  Aberdevine  winters  in  the  south  of  Eng- 
land, and  flies  northward  in  the  month  of  March,  to  breed 
in  the  pine  forests  of  Scotland.    The  nest  is  built  among 


I 


I 


ABERRATION. 

the  hiiher  branches  of  the  pine  :  the  eggs  are  four  or  five 
in  number;  of  a  bluish-white  colour,  speckled  with  pur- 
plish-red. They  begin  t .  >  re-appear  in  i lie  south  in  the 
month  of  September.  The  Aberdevine  resembles  in  the 
markings  oi  its  plumage  the  common  redpole.  (Linaria 
pueilla,  ( !uv. )  but  the  colours  are  different. 

AHKBKA'TION.     (Lat.  ah,  from,  and  eiTo,  /  m 
A  term  used  in  astronomy,  to  denote  a  change  in  tin-  posi- 
tions of  the  celestial  bodies  arising  from  the  combined  ef- 
fects of  the  motion  of  ljght  and  the  motion  of  the  earth  in 
its  orbit 

To  explain  the  cause  of  this   remarkable  phenomenon, 
conceive  a  ray  of  light  to  proceed  from  a  star  B  to  an  oh 
server  al  O.  If  the  station  of  the  observerwere 
at  rest,  or  if  the  motion  of  light  were  instantan- 
eous, the  star  would  be  seen  in  its  true  place 
at  S.    lint  neither  of  these  circumstances  has 
place;  the  observer  is  carried  rapidly  forward 
by  f l j « -  motion  ofthe  earth  in  its  orbit,  and  light 
occupies  a  certain  time  in  coming  firom  any  of       boa 
the  heavenly   bodies  t"    the  earth.    Suppose,  then,  that 
while  a  particle  of  light  advances  from  1>  toO.  th'eol 
hasbet  •  the  earth's  orbital  motion  from 

A  i . . « >.  A i  o  tin'  particles  oi  Light  will  sink'-  the  eye  with 
a  velocity  proportional  to  DO,  ami  the  eye  will  impinge 
jiiriiiLst  ihr  particle  with  a  velocity  proportional  to  \<>. 
Thus  a  double  effect  v. ill  be  produced:  first,  that  ofthe 
motion  of  light  proportional  to  DO,  and,  secondly,  that 
arising  from  the  motion  of  tie-  observer  proportional  to 

A  O.      Hut  it  is  ODViOUS  I  hat  tie*  question  will  in  ii"  way  be 

affected,  if  we  suppose  that,  instead  of  tli«'  observer  bavin;; 
been  carried  forward  from  A  to  O,  In-  had  remained  at  res) 
in  (i.  ami  i hi-  light  ha' I  advanced  t"  him  in  the  opposite  di- 
n,  ami  with  a  velocity  BO=AO.  Thus  the  eye 
would  receive  two  simultaneous  impressions  in  the  direc- 
tions D  O  and  B  O  of  the  paralli  '  DO;  and  by 
the  theory  ofthe  composition  of  velocities  the  effect  would 
be  exactly  the  same  as  if  tin-  eye  had  received  a  single  Im- 
pression from  a  particle  proceeding  in  the  direction 
diagonal  CO,  ami  with  a  velocity  proportional  t"  (  O. 
Hence  the  apparent  place  ofthe  star  will  be  at  S',  in  ad- 
\am i  its  true  place  at  s. 

i  .iif.ii  (  OD  is  the  aberration,  and  its  magnitude  can 
easily  be  determined  when  we  km.".  I  magni- 

tudes "i  lx'  and  BO,  and  the  inclination  "i 
that  is,  when  we  kiniw  tiie  relative  velocitii  s  oflighl  and  of 
the  earth,  ami  tin1  relative  din  ction  of  their  motions.  It  is 
obvious  that  tin-  aberration  will  In-  greatest  when  those 
lines  are  perpendicular  to  each  other;  when  they  are  par- 
allel, it  vanishes  altogether. 

Prom  the  eclipses  of  Jupiter's  satellites,  ami  other  phen- 
omi  ii- '.  n   hs  d  that  light  is  transmitted 

through  spare  with  a  velocity  of  192,000  miles  per 
The  mean  velocity  ofthe  earth  in  its  orbil  is  about  19  miles 
per  sec. mil :  we  have,  therefore,  when  B  O  and  D  O  are  at 
right  angles,  tie'  proportion 

192,000  :19  =  DO:  BO  =  rad.  Man.  COD: 

in  nre  tin'  tangent  of  CO  lb  or  the  aberration  (or  in  so  small 
an  angle  thi  pial  t"  the  arc),  is  found  by  the 

Trigon  Fables  =  20"-5.    This  being  tin'  e 

value  ofthe  angle,  is  called  tie  I  on. 

Prom  Bradley's  observations  tie'  C  rration 

vi.  tii  i  it  i  ii  I  by  Bessel  (Fundi:  mi  iii  n  AslTonomia  >  to  be 
20"'25.  Dr.  Brinkley  found  n  =  20"  ::r.  Mr. Richardson, 
from  a  series  of  '-'i**1  observations  made  with  the  two  mu- 
ral circles  in  the  Greenwich  Observatory,  found  the  value 
<if  this  important  element  =  W-yOR.  {Memoirs  Royal 
Astr.  Society,  vol.  iv.) 

The  effect  of  aberration  on  any  particular  star  depends 
on  the  position  ofthe  star  with  reference  to  the  ecliptic. 
Let  A  11  ('  D  be  theorbit  ofthe  earth,  ami  S 
a  star  in  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic.  When 
the  earth  is  at  A  the  star  will  be  thrown 
forward  by  the  effect  "t  aberration  to  t>. 
\\  hi  ii  the  eat  th  an  h  i  9  at  the  opposite 
point  of  its  orbit  (',  the  star  will  be  thrown 
back  to  s7.  At  li  and  D  the  earth  is  mov- 
ing in  a  direction  parallel  to  the  raj  of  Light 
proceeding  from  the  star,  and  there  is,  con- 
sequently, no  aberration.  Hence  a  star 
situated  in  the  plane  ofthe  ecliptic  appears  to  oscillate 
backwards  and  forwards  in  a  straight  Lin  turning 

to  its  former  position  at  tin'  end  oi  a  year. 

A  ray  of  light  proceeding  from  a  star  situated  in  the  pole 
of  the  ecliptic,  is  always  at  right  angles  to  the  direction  of 
the  earth's  motion;  consequently,  a  star  having  this  posi- 
tion will  appear  to  describe  annually,  about  the  pole  ofthe 
ecliptic,  a  circle  of  which  the  radius  =  20" -3. 

In  any  other  position  the  apparent  path  of  a  star,  so  far 
as  depends  on  aberration,  is  an  ellipse  whose  major  axis 
=  40" -6,  and  its  minor  axis  =  40"0,  multiplied  by  the  sine 
ofthe  star's  latitude. 

The  apparent  places  of  the  planets  are  also  affected  by 


ABIETIN.E. 

aberration;  but  in  this  case,  as  the  body  from  which  the 
light  emanates  is  also  in  motion,  we  must  consider  that  the 
ray  of  light  which  enters  the  eye  has  proceeded,  not  from 
the  place  which  the  planet  occupies  at  the  instant  of  the 
observation,  but  from  that  which  it  did  occupy  at  as  long 
an  interval  previously  as  light  requires  to  traverse  the  dis- 
tance between  the  planet  and  the  earth.  To  this  small  va- 
riation in  the  place  ofthe  planet  must  be  added  the  space 
described  by  tic  earth  in  the  same  interval ;  and  it  is  easy 
to  see  that  the  sum  is  the  apparent  or  relative  motion  of 
the  planet  during  the  time  which  light  takes  to  pass  from  it 
to  the  earth. 

The  aberration  was  discovered,  and  its  physical  cause 
first  explained,  by  Dr.  Bradley.  It  is  the  most  direct  proof 
which  astronomy  furnishes  of  the  motion  of  the  earth 
round  the  sun. 

Aberration.  In  Optics,  denotes  the  deviation  of  the 
rays  of  light  from  the  true  focus  of  a  curved  lens  or  specu- 
lum ;  inconsequence  of  which  they  do  not  unite  in  a 
single  point,  but  are  spread  over  on  a  small  surface,  and 
form  a  somewhat  confused  image  of  the  object.  This 
arises  from  two  causes :  1st.  the  figures  of  the  lenses  or 
:  and,  2dly,  from  a  difference  in  the  physical  na- 
ture ofthe  rays  of  light. 

The  surfaces  of  the  lenses  or  mirrors  of  optical  instru- 
ments are  worked  into  a  spherical  form,  because  there  is 
no  practical  means  ot'  accurately  obtaining  the  parabolic 
curvature  which  theory  shows  t"  he  necessary  to  collect 
parallel  rays  into  a  single  point  or  n>r\ia  Hence  the  rays 
N  ns  at  different  points,  the  amount  of 
deviation  depending  mi  the  magnitude  ami  curvature  of  the 
lens.  This  is  called  the  Aberration  of  Sphericity,  The 
second  cause  of  aberration  arises  from  the  different  de- 
grees of  refraction  which  the  rays  composing  a  beam  of 

Ught  undergo  in   passing   from  one   medium   into  another. 

(in  account  of  this  difference  of  refrangibility,  the  raj s  of 
light  are  serrated,  and  thi  colours  "i  the  spectrum  ap- 
pear.   It  was  long  believed,  and  even  by  Newton  himself, 

that  it  was  impossible  to  refract,  will t  decomposing 

light :  ami  hence  the  attempts  that  nave  been  made  to  per- 
fect reflecting  telescopes,  and  adapt  them  to  circular  in- 
struments. Hut  it  has  since  been  discovered  that  the  refrac- 
tive and  dispersive  powi  tBof  different  diaphanous  substan 

its  are  in  different  proportions,  and  that  the  decomposition 

ofthe  1  i  tr  1 1 1  may  he  pr<  \ented  by  combining  sul  stances  of 

different  refractive  powers ;  for  example,  crown  and  flint 

me  lens,    i  Bet  Ai  bro«  ltism.  > 

\  1 '. !    1  I  *  > I ;     (Sax  ah.  dan.  to  incite.)    tnldtb.     Anin- 

r  or  inciter:  a  person  who   promotes  or  procures 

the  commission  of  an  offence  or  felony,  by  his  advice  or 

encouragement    If  an  abettor,  or  as  he  is  thi  o  tern  ■ 

aider  and   abettor,   be   present   at   the   commission   ot   the 
he  is  treated   as   a    principal  :    if  absent,  he  becomes 

!  i  tbre  the  fact.  But  in  almost  all  cases  of  fel- 
ony the  abettor  is  considered  as  much  a  principal  as  the 
actual  t' ion.  especial!)  in  the  case  of  murder;  ami  the 
abettors  of  offences  summarily  by  justices  ot' 

the    peace,    are    subjected    to    the     -a  in'     penalties    as    the 

■  lis. 

m:i,  \  \\<  i:     (Norm    Pr.  beyer,  to  expect.)    In  imr. 

,  a-,  or  inheritance  "i   lands,  is  said  to  be  in 

abeyance,  when  there  is  no  pera  n  whom  it  can 

vest  and  abide,  although  limited  and  ready  i"  vestwhen- 

■  proper  1  eir  appears.  Thus,  in  a  grant  to  A  for 
life,  and  afterwards  to  the  heirs  of  B,  the  inheritance  re- 
mains in  abeyance  mini  the  death  of  is.  as  there  can  he  no 

\  _■   descending  to  co-heir- 

esses is  said  io  be  in  abeyance. 

A'lilii.  The  tirsi  month  ofthe  Hebrew  year,  more  gen- 
erally known  by  the  Chaldean  name  of  Nisan.    It  is  first 

ii'd  ill  the  lib  verse  ofthe  bllh  chapter  of  ExodllS. 

A'BIKS.    (Lat.  abies,  afir  tree.)    The  name  of  all  those 

■  which,  like  the  spruce,  the  larch,  the  cedar  of  Le- 
banon, have  their  leaves  urowiiiir  singly  upon  the  stem, 
and   the  scales   ot'  the   cues  round   and  thin.     The  wood 

called  by  timber-merchants  "white  ileal''  is  produced  by 

Abies  exce]s,i.  and  a  resinous,  or  terebintaceous  substance 
by  Others;  as  Canadian  balsam   by  A.  balsan  •  a.  the  balm 

ofGilead  ;  Strasburgh  turpentine  by  A.  pectinata, the  silver 
fir:  Venetian  turpentine  by  A.  larix,  the  larch.  Besides 
these,  the  substance  called  extract  of  spruce  is  furnished 
partly  by  A.  canadensis,  and  partly  by  A.  nigra.    All  the 

-are  hardy,  and.  with  the  exception  of  larches,  are 
•  en,  and  in  cultivation  in  England.  Hie  most  valu- 
able for  the  timber  are,  A.  Douglasii,  A.  excelsa,  and  A. 
larix  :  the  must  ornamental  are,  A.  cedrus,  the  cedar  of 
Lebanon,  deodara,  and  larix.  The  most  worthless  in 
Great  Britain  are.  A.  canadensis,  picea.  balsamea,  and  pec- 
tinata; the  three  latter  form,  however,  fine  trees  in  fa- 
vourable situations.  The  wood  ofthe  fir  is  in  very  ex- 
tensive use,  and  it  is,  perhaps,  the  most  serviceable  of  all 
trees. 

ABIETI'NiE.  A  division  in  the  natural  order  of  conife- 
rous plants,  comprehending  the  true  firs,  pines,  and  arau- 


ABJURATION. 

carialike  pines,  all  which  have  cones  with  many  rows  of 
scales  in  which  the  seeds  are  formed. 

ABJURATION.  Oath  of.  (Lat.  ab,  from,  and  juro,  / 
swear.)  Introduced  by  slat.  13  W.  III.,  and  regulated  by  6 
G.  III.  An  oath  asserting  the  title  of  the  present  royal 
family  to  the  crown  of  England.  By  this  oath  the  juror  re- 
cognises the  right  of  the  king  under  the  Act  of  Settlement ; 
engages  to  support  him  to  the  utmost  of  his  power ;  prom- 
ises to  disclose  all  traitorous  conspiracies  airainst  him  ;  and 
expressly  disclaims  any  right  to  the  crown  of  England  in 
the  descendants  of  the  Pretender. 

Abjuration"  of  the  Realm  (in  law)  sismifies  a  sworn  ban- 
ishment; or  the  taking  of  an  oath  to  renounce  and  depart 
from  the  realm  for  ever. 

Abjuration  also  signifies  a  solemn  recantation  of  opin- 
ion :  as.  the  abjuratiori"  of  heresy  required  by  the  Romish 
Church.  Henry  IV.  abjured  Protestantism  at  Saint  Denis 
in  1593.  Galileo  was  compelled  to  abjure  his  philosophi- 
cal opinions  by  the  Inquisition  at  Rome,  in  1633. 

A'BLATIVE  case.  (Lat.  ablatus.  taken  away.)  The 
sixth  case  of  the  Latin  nouns  implied  in  English  by  the 
preposition  from.    (See  Grammar.) 

A'BLU'TION.  (Lat.  ablutio.  washing.')  A  religious  cere- 
mony, consisting  in  bathing  the  body  or  pail  of  it.  It  con- 
stituted a  part  of  the  Mosaic  ceremonial,  and  was  after- 
wards practised  among  the  Jews,  both  by  the  priests  and 
people.  But  ablutions  are  most  rigidly  enforced  by  the 
Mahometans.  The  term  is  also  applied  to  the  cup  given. 
without  consecration,  to  the  laity  in  the  popish  churches. 

ABNO'RMAL.  (Lat.  s.b,from.  and  norma,  a  rule.)  Any 
thing  without,  or  contrary  to,  system  or  rale.  Thus  Horace 
calls  a  well-informed  sagacious  countryman, — 

Rusticus,  abnormis  sapiens,  crassaque  Minerva. 

In  botany,  if  a  flower  has  five  petals,  the  rule  is  that  it 
should  have  the  same  number  of  stamens,  or  some  regular 
multiple  of  that  number;  if  it  has  only  four  or  six  stamens, 
then,  in  such  a  case,  the  flower  would  be  abnormal. 

ABOA'RD,  within  the  ship ;  also  one  vessel  is  said  to 
gel  aboard  of  another  when  she  gets  foul  ofher. 

ABORIGINES.  The  first,  or  oriirinal  (a  prima  origine) 
inhabitants  of  a  country,  that  is,  those  who  occupied  it  at 
the  period  when  it  began  to  be  known,  and  who  either 
were  indigenous  to  the  soil  or  had  immigrated  thither  be- 
fore the  dawn  of  history.  Some  of  the  ancints  supposed 
they  had  always  inhabited  the  same  soil,  and  were  created 
trom  it,  as  the  Athenians,  who  thence  called  themselves 
autochthones,  coeval  with  and  sprung  from  the  land.  But 
the  Romans  and  modern  nations  use  the  word  Ab" 
to  designate  those  inhabitants  of  a  country  of  whose  origin 
nothing  certain  is  known.  Thus  the  Indians  of  America 
are  properly  called  Aborigines,  because  they  were  found 
there  at  its  discovery,  and  we  have  no  accounts  of  their 
having  immigrated  from  any  other  quarter. 

ABO'RTION.  (Lat.  abortus,  miscarriage.)  This  term 
is  usually  applied  to  the  morbid  or  unnatural  expulsion  of 
the  foetus  in  the  human  subject  after  the  sixth  week,  and 
before  the  sixth  month,  of  pregnancy.  Before  the  sixth 
week  it  is  called  a  miscarriage,  and  after  the  sixth  month, 
premature  labour. 

ABO'KTIYE.  Is  said  of  parts  in  plants  that  do  not  ac- 
quire their  usual  state  of  perfection  ;  a  flower  only  partially 
formed,  a  stamen  whose  filament  has  no  anther,  a  seed 
which  contains  no  embryo,  or  which  consists  only  of  skin, 
are  cases  of  abortion.  The  term  is  also  applied  to  parts 
which,  although  perfect  in  the  beginning,  cease  to  grow, 
and  so  end  in  being  imperfect :  thus  ovules,  which  are  not 
impregnated,  and  which  shrivel  up  instead  of  growing  into 
seed,  are  called  abortive. 

ABO'UHAXNES.  An  African  bird,  supposed  to  be  the 
Ibis  of  the  ancients. 

ABRACADA'BRA.  A  celebrated  term  of  incantation  : 
especially  used  as  a  spell  against  fevers.  The  manner  in 
which  it  was  written  and  carried  for  that  purpose  may  be 
seen  in  Defoe's  History  of  the  Plague  at  London.  Tin? 
word  seems  to  be  connected  with  Abrasax  or  Abraxas  ;  a 
name  found  inscribed  on  certain  stones  or  amulets,  in  such 
characters,  together  with  the  figure  of  a  human  body,  with 
the  head  of  a  cat  and  feet  of  a  reptile.  Various  explana- 
tions have  been  attempted  of  the  object  of  these  curiosi- 
ties :  some  from  the  cabalistic  and  an  Egyptian  derivation. 
Bellermann  (Berlin.  1^17.)  and  Neander,' have  written  on 
ject  of  the  Abraxas  stones. 

ABRA'DLNGv  In  Agr.  (Lat.  ab,  from,  and  rado,  / 
scrape  or  rub  off.)  Applied  to  the  sloping  surface  of  banks 
of  earth,  which  crumbles  down  from  the  effects  of  frost,  or 
the  alternate  action  of  drought  and  moisture. 

ABRA'MIS.  (Abramis,  t'uv.)  The  name  of  a  subgenus 
of  Malacopterygious  or  soft-finned  abdominal  fishes,  char- 
acterised by  "the  absence  of  spines  and  barbels ;  by  the 
dorsal  fin  being  short  and  placed  behind  the  ventrals,  and 
the  anal  fin  being  long.  The  common  bream  is  a  species 
of  this  genus. 

ABRA'NCHIANS.    Abranchia,  Cuv.    (Gr.   a.  without, 
4 


ABSCISS. 

Ppayx'a,  gills.)  An  order  (the  third  in  Cuvier's  arrange- 
ment) of  anellidans,  so  called  because  the  species  compos- 
inn  it  have  no  external  organs  of  respiration  ;  they  are  di- 
vided into  the  setigerous  abranchians,  or  worms,  and  the 
non-setigerous  abranchians,  or  leeches. 

ABRA'SION.  (Lat.  abrado,  I  rub  off.)  In  Numismato- 
logy, implies  the  waste  of  coins,  or  the  loss  by  wear  and 
tear  in  the  pocket.  This  forms  a  considerable  item  in  the 
expense  of  a  metallic  currency  ;  and  various  means  have 
been  employed  to  lessen  it,  by  alloying  the  coins  so  as  to 
render  them  harder,  by  raising  the  borders  so  as  to  lessen 
the  surface  exposed  to  be  rubbed,  &c. 

ABRA'XAS.  A  genus  of  Lepidopterous  insects,  of  the 
family  Geometridae  ;  founded  by  Dr.  Leach  for  the  com- 
mon magpie  moth  (Abraxas  glossulariata)  and  other  allied 
species.  It  is  the  larva?  of  the  Abr.  glossulariata  which 
commit  the  well-known  ravages  upon  the  gooseberry  trees 
of  our  gardens :  consuming  the  leaves  almost  as  soon  as 
they  appear.  They  feed  early  in  the  morning,  before  the 
dew  is  oft"  or  the  sun  has  much  power;  and  it  is  at  this 
time  that  thev  should  be  sought  for  and  removed. 

ABRIDGEMENT.  In  Literature.  (Lat.  abbrevio,  / 
shorten.)  A  compendious  arrangement  of  the  matter  con- 
tained in  a  larger  work.  Before  the  invention  of  printing, 
when  manuscripts  were  valuable,  and  the  labour  of  writing 
them  great,  the  compiling  abridgements  of  considerable 
works  was  an  important  branch  of  authorship  ;  and  it  has 
been  doubted  whether  we  have  lost  or  gained  more  by  the 
practice  :  since,  on  the  one  hand,  the  contents  of  many  lost 
authors  are  thus  partially  preserved  to  us  :  and,  on  the  other, 
the  abridgement  becoming  popular  may,  in  some  cases, 
have  caused  the  loss  of  the  original.  Among  the  best 
known  abridgements  of  antiquity  are  the  History  of  Justin, 
being  an  abridgement  of  the  lost  History  of  Trogus  Pom- 
peius :  the  Natural  History  of  Solinus,  chiefly  abridged  from 
that  of  Pliny,  Ac.  Few  modern  abridgements,  taking  the 
phrase  in  its  strict  sense,  merit  peculiar  notice,  or  have 
been  compiled  with  any  other  view  than  that  of  assisting 
education.  This,  however,  is  not  the  case  with  some  of 
those  works  called  abridgements,  intended  to  exhibit  a 
summary  view  of  some  science  or  department  of  litera- 
ture. Tiie  Abrege  Chronologique  de  I'Hisloii 
by  the  president  Henault.  is  a  work  of  this  kind.  It  lias, 
perhaps,  been  praised  beyond  its  deserts,  but  still  it  pos- 
-  uncommon  merit.  Its  success  led  to  the  publica- 
tion of  various  works  of  the  same  kind,  of  which  the 
Abrege  Chronologique  de  I'Histoire  de  VAUemagne,  by 
Pfeffel,  is  probably  the  best.  Dr.  Robertson  drew  from  it 
most  of  his  knowledge  of  the  constitution  of  the  German 
empire.  To  abridge  well  requires  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  subject,  with  tact  to  seize  upon  the  prominent  points, 
and  ability  to  state  them  clearly  and  succinctly.  Tacitus, 
says  Montesquieu,  "  abridged  all  because  he  knew  all,"  but 
Tacituses  are  rare. 

ABROGATION".  The  annulment  of  a  law  by  compe- 
tent authority.  (From  the  Latin  ah,  from,  and  rogo,  J  ash.) 
A  phrase  derived  from  the  practice  of  the  Roman  popular 
assemblies,  in  which  the  several  tribes,  curia?,  Ac.  were 
said  rogare  snffragia.  to  demand  the  suffrage  :  whence  also 
the  modern  word  prerogative.    (.See  Comitia.) 

ABRV'PT.  (Lat.  abrumpo,  I  break  off.)  A  term  in  Bo- 
tany, applied  to  any  thins  which  happens  suddenly.  A  leaf 
which  is  suddenly  terminated  without  tapering  to  a  point,  a 
stem  which  is  suddenly  bent,  a  pinnated  leaf  without  a  ter- 
minal leaflet,  are  all  abrupt 

Abrupt.  In  Ichthyology  is  applied  to  the  lateral  line 
when  divided  into  two  or  more  parts  not  contiguous. 

A'BRUS.  (Gr.  aSpos,  delicate,  or  elegant.)  A  West  In- 
dian tree  with  papilionaceous  flowers,  and  pods  contain- 
ing bright  red  seeds  with  a  broad  black  scar  on  one  side 
of  them.  The  seeds  are  often  strung  into  necklaces  for 
children. 

A'BSCESS.  (Lat.  abscedo,  I  separate.)  Inflammation  in 
the  membranous  or  fleshy  parts  of  the  body,  attended  by 
the  formation  of  pus,  and  the  consequent  separation  or  dis- 
tension of  the  parts  affected  ;  thus  the  integuments  sepa- 
rate from  the  parts  beneath,  and  form  a  tumour. 

A'BSCISS,  or  ABSCISSA.  (Lat.  ab  scindo,  /  cut  off.) 
A  term  used  in  geometry  to  denote  a  segment  cut  off"  from 
a  straight  line,  by  an  ordinate  to  a  curve.  The  position  of 
a  point  on  a  plane  is  perfectly  determined  when  it.-  dis- 
tances, measured  in  given  directions,  from  two  straight 
lines  given  by  position,  are  known ;  and  as  curve  lines 
may  be  regarded  as  formed  by  the  continuous  motion  of  a 
joint,  their  various  properties  may  be  investigated  by 
means  of  the  relation  common  to  all  points  of  the  same 
curve  between  the  two  distances  so  measured.  Thus,  let 
A  B  and  A  C  be  two  straight  lines  given 
bv  position,  and  P  anv  point  in  a  curve 
X  V.  Draw  P  Q_  parallel  to  A  C,  and 
meeting  A  B  in  Q.  then  P  Q.  is  called 
the  ordinate  of  the  point  P.  and  A  Q.  is 
5"  the  absciss.  The  absciss  and  ordinate, 
considered  together,  are  called  the  co- 


B 


AESENTEE. 

ordinates  of  the  curve,  and  the  point  A,  where  they  inter- 
sect, is  called  the  origin  of  the  co-ordinates.  For  every 
point  of  the  same  curve  a  certain  unavoidable  relation  ex- 
ists between  A  0,  and  P  U.  which  ie  called  the  equation  of 
the  curve.  In  order  to  represent  this  equation  algebraic- 
ally, the  absciss  A  Q,  is  represented  by  x,  and  the  ordinate 
PQ  by  y-  The  co-ordinates  may  be  inclined  to  each  other 
at  any  angle,  but  in  general  the  investigations  are  much 
simplified  by  assuming  them  at  right  angles.  The  origin 
of  the  co-ordinates,  or  the  point  from  which  the  absciss  is 
reckoned,  maybe  taken  any  where  in  the  plane  of  the 
curve.  When  a  particular  curve,  however,  is  to  be  inves- 
tigated, ii  is  c.rtni  convenient  to  place  the  origin  at  some 
point  which  is  related  in  the  other  parts  of  the  curve. 
Thus,  if  the  curve  is  a  circle,  tin-  co-ordinates  are  conve- 
niently reckoned  from  the  centre. 

ABSENTE'E.  In  Politics,  a  word  which  has  received, 
from  usaije,  a  peculiar  signification:  a  landed  proprietor 
who  habitually  resides  at  a  distance  from  the  district  in 
which  his  property  is  situate:  especially  applied  to  Irish 
landlords  and  clergy.  In  171-3  a  tax  was  imposed  on  ab- 
sentees from  Ireland,  in  all  cases  v. lure  their  residence 

within  it  was  for  less  than  six   months  in  the  year;  power 

of  dispensation  being  secure. i  to  the  crown.  But  it  ceased 
to  be  levied  in  17.".:;.  and  Ilk  nut  since  been  renewed 
Whether  or  net  th<  i  landed  proprietor  lie  inju- 

rious to  a  country,  in  an  ■  is  a  question 

which  has  been  much  debated  of  late  5 cars.  See  the  evi- 
dence ni  Mr.  .1.  K.  Vt'Cullocb  beforethi  Coi  imitteesofthe 
I, mils  an. i  Commons,  to  inquire  into  the  state  ol  Ireland, 
1 325 :  and  the  com  i  ioned  by  thai  evidence,  in 

(he  Edinburgh  Review,  No.  B5.  and  Quarterly  Review, 
Vol.  33.    See  also  Mr.  MM  before  the  Commit- 

tee mi  tic  tate  ol  Ireland  in  1830,  and  Mr.  Senior's  Outline 
of  Political  Economy,  Encj  clop  edia  Metropolitans, 

A'liSls.  or  APSIS.  (Gr.  dif/ic,  am  arch.')  In  Architec- 
ture, a  word  used  bj  ecclesiastical  authors  to  signify  that 
part  el' the  church  wherein  the  clergj  were  seated,  or  the 

altar  was   placed       Tins  put   Of  the  church  was  BO  Called 

from  its  usually  being  domed  or  vaulted,  and  nut  as  Isido- 
res imagines,  from  us  being  the  lightest  part,  from  apta. 
The  apsis  was  either  circular  or  polj  gonal  on  the  plan,  ami 
domed  over  at  top  as  a  covering.  It  consisted  of  two  parts, 
the  altar  and  the  presbytery,  or  sanctuary:  at  the  middle 
of  the  semicircle  was  the  throne  of  the  bishop;  and  at  tin' 
centre  of  the  diameter  was  placed  the  altar,  towards  the 
nave,  from  which  it  was  separated  by  an  open  balustrade, 

ling       On  tin    altar  was  placed  lie-  cihanuni   and   cup. 

The  thro i'  tin-  bishop  having  bi  mi  ancientlj  called  by 

this  name  (apsis),  seine  have  thOUghl  that  them  e  i 

ol  the  edifice  derived  its  name,  bul  the  converse  is  the  real 
truth. 

A'BSOLTJTE.  ABSOL1  TISM.  In  Politics,  a  government 
is  strictly  said  to  be  absolute  when  the  supreme  head  is  above 
the  control  of  law,  and  Ins  unrestricted  power  of  legisla- 
tion. ••  El  rev  absolute,'  is  the  common  watch-word  of  the 
anti-constitutional  part}  in  Spain  Fel  in  that  country,  as 
In  almost  everj  ether,  the  theory  of  absolute  sovereignty 
has  some  limit:  since  we  find  the  same  party  denying 
the  kin:;  the  right  of  altering  by  his  single  will  the  fun- 
damental laws  of  succession  to  the  throne.  {See  Des- 
potism.) 

ABSOLUTION.  (Lat  ab,Jrom,  solvo,  /  loose.)  A  cere- 
iimiiy  practised  in  various  Christian  churches.  In  the 
ttmi  1.1 11  Catholic,  the  priesl  not  only  declares  absolution  to 
the  repentant  sinner,  bul  is  believed  to  have  the  power  of 
actually  releasing  him  from  his  sins:  and  this  authority  is 

declared  liy  the  council  of  Trent  lo  belong  to  liiui  in  its  full 

extent  The  church  of  England,  in  the  order  for  the  Visit- 
ation of  the  Sick,  has  retained  nearly  the  same  words;  bul 
her  authorities  seem  not  to  be  exactly  agreed  as  to  the 

force  and  effect  of  the  absolution  so  conferred.  In  the 
daily  service,  the  words  of  the  absolution  an  merely  de- 
claratory. 

ABSO'RBED.    (Lat.  absorbeo,  T  suck  up.)    In  Painting. 

Sucked  up,  imbibed.  A  term  applied  by  the  French  con- 
noisseurs to  a  picture  in  which  the  oil  has  sunk  into  the 
canvass  or  ground  whereon  il  is  painted,  leaving  the  colour 
flat,  and  the  touches  indistinct  Our  picture  dealer-  used 
the  term  chilled  to  express  the  same  thing.  It  maybere- 
mediedrby  rubbing  the  picture  over  with  oil,  and  varnishing, 

alter  il  has  been  well  cleaned. 

ABSO'RBENT  Ground.  In  Painting.  A  ground  pre- 
pared for  a  picture,  either  on  board  or  canvass,  chiefly 
with  distemper  or  water-colour  mixture,  by  which  expe- 
dient the  oil  is  immediately  taken  up  or  sucked  in  from  the 
colours,  expedition  gained,'  and  a  brilliancy  imparted  to  the 
colours. 

Absorbents.  In  Medicine,  substances  which  remove 
acid  at  the  stomach,  such  as  magnesia  and  chalk. 

ABSORPTION.  In  Physiology,  is  one  of  the  vital  or- 
ganic functions,  the  object  of  which  is  primarily  to  convey 
to  the  circulating  organs  the  due  supply  of  the  materials  for 
the  growth  and  support  of  the  system  ;  and,  secondarily,  to 
5 


ACADEMICS. 

remove  and  carry  to  the  same  organs  the  decayed  and 
useless  parts  of  the  body .    Set  Lacteals. 

A'BSTRACT  (Lat.  abstraho,  I  tale  aicay),  signifies  a  ge- 
neral view  or  analysis  of  a  w  hole  work,  or  part  of  a  work. 
It  differs  from  abridgement  chiefly  in  this,  that  while  in  the 
latter  it  is  often  necessary  to  enter  into  somewhat  minute 
details,  the  termer  js  always  confined  to  a  notice  only  of 
the  leading  particulars.     See  Abridgement. 

A'BSTRACT  MATHEMATICS,  or  PURE  MATHEMA- 
TICS. That  branch  of  science  which  treats  of  the  rela- 
tions or  properties  of  magnitudes  or  quantities,  considered 
generally,  and  without  restriction  to  any  individual  magni- 
tude. Thus,  the  proposition  that  the  three  angles  of  a  trian- 
gle are.  together,  equal  to  two  riiirtt  angles,  is  an  abstract 
truth,  not  confined  to  an  individual  triangle,  or  to  a  particu- 
lar species  of  triangles,  bul  belonging  to  all  triangles  w  hat- 
ever.  Abstract  mathematics  is  opposed  lo  mixed  mathe- 
matics, wherein  abstract  properties  or  relations  are  applied 
to  sensible  objects. 

ABSTRACT  NUMBERS.  Numbers  considered  in  them- 
selves,  and  without  reference  to  any  particular  thin;:.  The 
mis  of  common  arithmetic  are  performed  on  ab- 
stra   t  mi 

ABSTRA'CTION.  (Lat abstraho,  Idrauioff.)  InMeta- 
and  Logic,  th<  faculty  by  which,  in  contemplating 
any  object,  we  can  a  end  exclusively  to  some  circum- 
stances or  qu  to*  it,  and  withhold  our  at- 
tention from  the  rest.  It  is  by  the  means  of  ibis  faculty 
that  we  generalise,  and  arrive  at  the  common  terms  or 
i  I'm  in  m:i  ei  i  w  inch  belong  i"  a  number 

i  els.     Thus,    in  considering  a   horse,  by  abstracting 

ly  the  qualities  which  belong  to  thai  particular am- 

I:   al,  we  arrive  ;il   the   QOtion  of  ;i    ijll,     oiipe,  I.  thence    it  that 

of  an  animal.  Ac.  Ac. ;  which  notions  constitute,  in  logical 
ige,  the  successive  g<  nera  ami  species  of  the  individ- 
ual horse. 

\it-l  i.Dl  M.  or  REDUCTIO  Al)  ABSURDUM.  A 
term  used  in  Geometry  to  denote  a  mode  ol  den  onstra- 
tion  in  which  the  truth  oi'  a  proposition  is  established,  not 
by  a  rin  ■  by  pro\  ing  thai  the  contrary  is  absurd, 

or  impossible.  There  .ire  many  exan  pies  ol  this  mode  ol 
demonstration  in  the  Elements  of  Euclid. 

Mil  Mi  \\T  \i  MBEB  i  Vrithmetic)  is  a  number  Buch 
that  the  sum  of  its  divisors  is  greater  than  the  nun  her  it- 
self. Thus,  12  is  an  abundant  nut  ise  its  divisors 
being  1, 2,3,4,  and  6,  their  sum,  which  is  16,  is greatet  t1  in 
\  ■             at  number  is  opposed  to  a  deficit  ui  nu 

of  Which  the  sum  of  I  he  divisors  is  less  I  hall  the  nun  her  it- 

self;  uid  lo  a  perfect  number,  pf  which  the  sum  of  the  di- 
\  isms  is  equal  to  itself. 

\i;i  TMENT.  <  v,  t  rem-  to  some,  from  the  French, 
aboutir,  to  abut,  among  whom  the  learned  Spelman ;  but 
according  to  others,  with  more  probability,  from  the  Saxon 
abutan, about.)  In  Architecture,  the  solid  part  of  a  pier 
from  which  the  arch  immediately  springs.  Abutments  are 
either  artificial  or  natural.    The  former  .<ff  usuallj  formed 

ol  masonry  or  brickw  irk,   and   the    latter  are   the  reck  or 

other  solid  materials  on  the  banks  of  a  river,  intheca  i  oi 

a  bridge,  Which  receive  the  fool  of  the  arch.      It   is  oh\ - 

thai  they  must  i f  sufficient  solidity  and  strength  to  resist 

the  arch's  thrust 

ABUTTALS.  The  buttings  or  boundings  of  land, 
showing  by  whal  other  lands, highways,  rivers, &c.  they 

are  bounded. 

kCA'CIA  (Gr.  aicaKta.)  A  genus  of  spiny  leguminous 
trees,  with  pinnated  leaves,  ami  small  How ers  collected  in 
balls  or  spikes,  of  a  white,  red,  or  yellow  colour.  They 
are  all  inhabitants  of  the  wanner  parts  of  the  world  ; 
of  them,  as  A.  vera,  arabica.  Ac  yield  gum  arabic  ;  others 
gum  Senegal:  the  bark  of  \  catechu  furnishes  the  astrin- 
gent substance  called  catechu,  or  terra  japonica.  The 
flowers  of  a.  farnesiana  are  exceedingly  fragrant,  and  form 
one  of  the  principal  ingredients  in  Italian  perfumery.  The 
bark  of  many  species  abounds  in  tanning  principles.  New 
Holland,  and  some  other  countries,  produce  great  number 
Ol  spec  ii'.-  in  which  true  leaves  are  not  formed,  but  in  their 
stead  the  branches  are  furnished  with  broad  dilated  pe- 

Okmg  like    loaves. 

ACAPE'.Mlcs.  A  name  given  to  a  series  of  philoso- 
phers who  taught  in  the  Athenian  Academy,  the  scene 
of  Plato's  discourses.  They  are  commonly  divided  into 
three  sects,  which  go  under  the  names  of  the  Old,  the 
Middle,  and  the  New  Academy.  1.  The  Old  Academy, 
of  which  FlatO  Was  the  immediate  founder,  was  repre- 
sented successively  by  Speiisippus,  Xenocrates,  and  Po- 
lemo.  These  philosophers,  as  far  as  the  scanty  notices 
remainins  of  them  allow  us  to  form  a  judgment,  seem  to 
have  confined  themselves  to  the  task  of  elucidating  and 
defending  the  doctrines  of  their  <rreat  master.  {See  Pla- 
tonism.)  A  list  of  their  works  is  given  us  by  Diogenes 
Laertius,  b.  iv.  To  them  succeeded  Arcesilaus,  the 
founder  of  (2)  the  Middle  Academy.  Under  his  hands, 
the  Platonic  method  assumes  an  almost  exclusively  po- 
lemical character.    Whatever  may  have  been  his  belief 


ACADEMY. 

regarding  the  positive  part  of  Plato's  doctrines,  he  con- 
fined himself  in  public  to  the  support  of  the  negative 
portion  ;  that,  namely,  which  relates  to  the  uncertainty 
of  the  impressions  on  the  senses,  and,  consequently,  of  the 
judgments  founded  on  them.  His  main  object  was  to  re- 
fute the  Stoics,  who  maintained  a  doctrine  of  perception 
identical  with  that  promulgated  by  Dr.  Reid  in  the  last 
century.  (See  Perception.)  Socrates  is  said  to  have 
professed,  that  all  he  knew  was,  that  he  knew  nothing. 
Arcesilaus  denied  that  he  knew  even  this.  Wisdom  he 
made  to  consist  in  absolute  suspension  of  assent ;  virtue, 
in  the  probable  estimate  of  consequences ;  in  the  latter 
doctrine  combating  the  ethical  dogmatism  of  the  stoics, 
as  in  the  former  the  intellectual.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Lacydes,  Telecles  anil  Evander,  and  Hegesi.ms.  3.  The 
New  Academy  claims  Cameades  as  its  founder.  It  is  not 
easy  to  define  the  limits  between  this  and  the  Middle  Aca- 
demy. Like  Arcesilaus,  Carneades  appears  to  have  taken 
up  a  negative  and  polemical  position.  His  system  is  a  spe- 
cies of  mitigated  scepticism.  He  considers  probability  to 
be  the  sole  legitimate  object,  alike  in  speculation  and  in 
practice.  The  doctrines  of  this  school  were  adopted  by 
Cicero,  more,  probably,  in  consequence  of  the  advantage 
which,  as  an  orator,  he  would  derive  from  the  practice  of 
discussing  both  sides  of  a  question,  than  from  any  solid 
conviction.  Carneades  was  succeeded  by  his  disciple, 
Clitomachus.  Charmides,  the  third  and  last  of  the  New 
Academicians,  appears  to  have  been  little  more  than  a 
teacher  of  rhetoric  :  an  accusation,  indeed,  to  which  the 
whole  school  is  in  no  small  degree  liable.  To  these  three 
academies  a  fourth  and  fifth  are  added,  by  some  writers: 
of  which  Philon  and  Antiochus  are  produced  as  the  repre- 
sentatives. The  latter  was  the  friend  of  Cicero  and  other 
distinguished  Romans.  Neither  of  them  can  in  any  jus- 
tice  be  named  academies,  their  doctrines  being,  in  fact,  in 
most  points,  of  a  diametrically  opposite  nature. 

ACA'DEMY.  (Gr.  aKaonfa.)  A  society  of  learned 
men,  associated  for  the  advancement  of  the  arts  or  scien- 
ces. The  name  is  derived  from  that  of  a  place  near 
Athens,  where  there  was  a  famous  school  for  gymnastic 
exercises  (see  Gymnasium),  at  which  also  philosophy  was 
taught,  and  the  sophists  gave  their  lectures.  But  the  first 
institution  of  which  we  read,  at  all  resembling  onr  modern 
academy,  was  the  society  of  scholars  established  at  Alex- 
andria by  Ptolemy  Soter.  The  Jews  in  various  cities,  the 
Constaniinopolitan  emperors,  and  the  Arab  caliphs,  found- 
ed societies  of  the  same  description.  Charlemagne,  anion;: 
his  various  efforts  for  the  propagation  of  literature,  collected 
an  association  of  learned  men,  who  read  and  compared  the 
works  of  antiquity,  and  gave  themselves,  in  their  academic 
intercourse,  the  assumed  names  of  different  ancient  au- 
thors. But  this  institution  was  dissolved  at  the  death  of 
Alcuin  ;  nor  do  we  find  any  memorial  of  a  similar  society, 
except  a  few  among  artis'ts.  chiefly  in  France,  until  after 
the  taking  of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks,  when  the  Greek 
scholars  driven  into  Italy  held  literary  meetings,  which 
gradually  assumed  a  more  regular  form.  About  1560  a 
society,  called  the  Academia  Secretorum  Naturae.,  was 
founded  at  Naples,  in  the  house  of  Baptista  Porta,  but  was 
abolished  by  a  papal  interdict.  It  was,  however,  succeeded 
by  the  Academia  Lyncei  at  Rome,  of  which  Galileo  was  a 
member,  the  objects  of  which,  like  those  of  the  former, 
were  chiefly  connected  with  the  pursuit  of  natural  history. 
From  the  beginning  of  the  17th  century  academies  multi- 
plied in  Italy.  Among  the  most  eminent  of  those  which 
bore  a  philosophical  character,  was  the  A.  del  Cimento,  at 
Rome,  in  that  century ;  the  Academy  of  Orossano,  in  the 
kingdom  of  Naples,  ice.  :  and,  in  more  recent  times,  the 
Academy  of  Sciences  at  Bologna  deserves  to  be  mentioned 
with  honour.  But  Italy  has  been  most  prolific  in  acade- 
mies of  literature  and  philology,  which  form  by  far  the 
greatest  number  in  the  catalogue  of  550  such  institutions 
which  have  been  enumerated  as  existing  or  having  existed 
in  that  country.  A  general  and  somewhat  ridiculous  lash- 
ion  prevailed  in  the  17th  and  18th  centuries  among  lite- 
rary men  of  that  country,  of  forming  themselves  into  so- 
cieties for  the  promotion  of  literary  objects,  to  which  they 
gave  fanciful  symbolic  names,  every  member  assuming  in 
his  own  person  some  analogous  appellation.  Some  of  these 
societies  have  done  real  service  to  literature,  but  by  far  the 
greatest  number  have  contented  themselves  with  multi- 
plying insipid  addresses  and  sonnets.  Among  the  most 
celebrated  was  the  A.  degli  Arc  ad  j,  at  Rome,  of  which 
the  meetings  Were  held  in  a  meadow,  and  the  members 
enacted  shepherds  and  shepherdesses:  it  was  founded 
about  1690,  and  still  subsists,  having  various  affiliated  soci- 
eties in  other  places.  The  A.  degli  Uinidi,  one  of  the  oldest 
ofthese  associations,  became  afterwards  the  Florentine  Aca- 
demy. The  A.  degli  Intronati  (of  the  Deaf),  degli  Umoristi 
(of  the  Humourists),  and  many  others  with  similar  quaint 
appellations,  have  acquired  celebrity  in  Italy.  Of  her  phi- 
lological academies,  the  most  illustrious  is  that  della  Crus- 
ca  (of  the  Sieve),  at  Florence,  winch,  by  the  publication  of 
its  dictionary,  established  the  Tuscan  dialect  as  the  stand- 
'6 


ACADEMY. 

ard  of  the  national  language ;  it  is  now  incorporated  with 
the  A.  Florentina.  In  France,  the  Academie  Francaise 
was  founded  in  1635  by  cardinal  Richelieu.  It  was  an  as- 
sociation formed  for  the  purpose  of  refining  the  French 
language  and  style  ;  and,  although  in  its  first  period  it  was 
chiefly  remarkable  for  the  adulation  which  it  bestowed  on 
its  vain  though  able  founder,  it  became,  in  process  of  time, 
by  far  the  most  celebrated  and  influential  of  all  European 
literary  societies.  It  consisted  of  40  members,  and  a  place 
among  them  was  eagerly  sought  after,  for  a  long  period,  as 
one  of  the  highest  honours  which  could  be  attained  by  an 
author.  Like  that  of  Crusca.  it  published  a  dictionary  of 
the  French  Language,  in  1694.  The  Royal  Academy  of 
Sciences  was  founded  by  Louis  XIV.,  in  1666,  and  pub- 
lished 130  volumes  of  memoirs,  up  to  the  year  1793,  when 
it  was  abolished  by  the  Convention.  The  Academies  of 
Painting  and  Sculpture,  and  that  of  inscriptions  and  Belles 
Lettres,  were  the  other  two  principal  academies  of  Paris. 
The  latter  was  founded  by  Colbert  in  1663,  and  remodelled 
in  1701.  At  the  Revolution  all  four  were  abolished'  and, 
in  1795,  at  the  suggestion  of  Condorcet,  the  National  Insti- 
tute of  France  was  established  in  their  stead.  It  consisted 
of  four  classes,  arising  out  of  the  four  academies  of  which 
it  was  composed.  According  to  its  re-organisation  by  Na- 
poleon, in  1806,  these  classes  were  remodelled,  and  each 
of  them  consisted  of  a  certain  number  of  sections,  each 
furnished  with  a  specified  number  of  acting  and  corres- 
ponding members.  The  first  class,  or  that  of  sciences, 
hail  sixty-three  members,  and  100  correspondents ;  that  of 
languages,  forty,  and  60  correspondents ;  that  of  history 
and  antiquities,  forty,  and  60  correspondents ;  that  of  the 
arts,  twenty-eight,  and  36  correspondents.  The  first,  third, 
and  fourth,  named  each  eight  foreign  associates.  In  1816, 
the  Institute  was  again  remodelled  by  Louis  XVIII.  The 
four  classes  again  took  the  name  of  academies,  and  be- 
came more  independent  of  each  other,  their  joint  property 
being  managed  by  a  commission  of  eight  members,  two 
from  each,  under  the  superintendence  of  the  minister  of 
the  interior.  The  first  academy  (that  of  science)  retained 
the  same  number  of  members.  The  second  and  third 
were  reduced  to  thirty-eight  and  thirty-seven  respectively  ; 
the  fourth,  increased  to  forty.  The  Academy  of  Inscrip- 
tions and  Belles  Lettres,  and  that  of  Sciences,  had  added 
to  them  a  class  of  free  academicians,  of  the  number  of  ten, 
with  no  privilege  except  that  of  attendance  ;  the  Academy 
of  Arts  had  the  right  to  choose  its  own  number  of  free 
members. 

Of  similar  institutions  in  Germany,  the  oldest  was  the 
Academia  Naturae  Curiosorum,  a  scientific  association, 
founded  in  1652,  in  Franconia;  afterwards  taken  under 
imperial  protection,  when  it  received  the  name  of  the  A. 
Caesareo  Leopoldina.  The  Royal  A.  of  Sciences,  at  Ber- 
lin, was  founded  in  1700.  by  Frederick  I.  of  Prussia :  Leib- 
nitz was  its  first  director.  The  Imperial  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences at  St.  Petersburgh  was  founded  by  Catharine  I., 
and  endowed  by  Catharine  II.  with  great  munificence,  but 
established  on  the  French  model:  she  separated  from  it 
the  Academy  of  Arts. 

In  England,  the  name  academy  has  been  chiefly  confined 
to  associations  for  promoting  the  arts.  The  Royal  Acade- 
my of  Arts  was  founded  in  1768.  and  consists  of  forty  mem- 
bers :  it  has  separate  professors  of  painting,  architecture, 
anatomy,  and  perspective :  and  a  council  of  nine  is  elected 
annually.  The  Academy  of  Ancient  Music  was  founded 
by  private  association,  in  1710:  the  Royal  Academy  of 
Music,  under  the  patronage  of  George  III.,  but  dissolved 
shortly  after.  The  principal  literary  and  philosophical  so- 
cieties, answering  in  character  to  the  branches  of  the 
French  Institute,  are,  1.  The  Royal  Society  of  London, 
which  is  confined  to  objects  of  a  scientific  character.  It 
had  its  origin  as  early  as  1645,  but  was  established  b>  royal 
charter  in  1662.  Its  acts  have  been  published,  under  the 
name  of  Philosophical  Transactions,  from  1665  to  the  pre- 
sent day.  2.  Those  of  the  Antiquarian  Society,  which  was 
established  in  1751,  are  published  under  the  title  of  Archa?- 
olotria.  3.  The  Royal  Society  of  Arts  originated  in  1718. 
4.  That  of  Literature,  in  1823.  Besides  these,  there  are 
numerous  societies  which  bear  the  name  of  the  peculiar 
branch  of  science  to  which  their  exertions  are  confined. 
The  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh  obtained  a  charter  in 
1783,  and  another,  with  more  liberal  provisions,  in  1811. 
Among  the  most  valuable  published  transactions  of  acade- 
mies and  similar  societies,  besides  those  already  men- 
tioned, are  those  of  Colbert's  A.  des  Inscriptions  et  Belles 
Lettres  (50  vols.  4to.  from  1701  to  1793) :  those  of  the  Insti- 
tute, beins  continuations  of  the  memoirs  of  the  former  aca- 
demies of  which  it  was  composed:  those  of  the  A.  Royale 
des  Sciences  and  Belles  Lettres  at  Berlin  :  at  first  in  Latin, 
then  in  French  (from  its  remodelling  in  1744  by  Frederick 
the  Great),  now  in  German.  The  ''Acta"  of  the  Imperial 
Academy  of  St.  Petersburgh.  The  '•  Commentarii"  of  the 
A.  of  Bologna.  The  Antichita  d'Ercolano,  published  by 
the  Hercnlnnean  Academy  of  Naples. 

Academy.    In  the  sense  of  a  place  of  instruction,  is  now 


ACADEMY  FIGURE. 

in  England  a  term  chiefly  appropriated  to  schools  for  stu- 
dents  in  the  tine  arts.  The  fourth  division  of  the  Insti- 
tute at  Paris  consists  of  the  Academie  des  Beaux  Arts.  In 
London,  an  Academy  of  Painting  seems  to  have  been  es- 
tablished  in  1712,  under  the  presidency  of  r?ir  G.  Kneller, 
but  to  have  shortly  after  fallen  into  decay.  The  present 
Royal  Academy  of  Arts,  founded  in  1768,  has  been  already 
mentioned.  In  France  the  old  universities  were  suppressed 
at  the  Revolution ;  but  most  of  them,  with  some  recent  ones, 
have  since  been  restored  under  the  title  of  Academit  s  LHi- 
versitaires.  Their  collective  body  represented  by  the  re- 
union of  their  rectors,  inspectors,  deans,  dec,  constitutes 
the  University  of  France,  at  He-  head  of  which  is  the  Minis- 
ter of  Public  Instruction.  Colleges  in  France  are  equivalent 
to  high  schools  in  England, 

\<  ADE.MY  FIGURE.  In  Painting.  A  drawing  usually 
made  with  black  and  white  chalk,  on  tinted  paper,  after 
the  living  model. 

ACALE'PHANS,  AcalephS.  (Gr.  aKa\rj(f,r],  a  nettle.)  A 
class  of  radiate  invertebrate  animals,  so  called  on  account 
of  the  singular  property  possessed  by  most  of  the  species 
therein  comprehended,  of  irritating  and  inflaming  the  skin 
when  touched.  The  class  includes  the  animals  called 
1  medusas,' '  sea-nettleBj'  'jelly-fish,'  'Portuguese  men-of- 
war,'  'V-'  :  thi  31  are  divided  by  Cuvier  dichotomously  in- 
to those  which  have  air-bladders  tor  swimming,  or  the  'hy- 
ilephans,' and  those  winch  have  not,  or  the 
'simple  acalephans,'  and  which  swim  by  means  of  exter- 
nal Cilia,  or  by  the  contractions  and  dilatations  of  their 
\'l  tbe  species  are  aquatic  and  marine. 

ACA'MPTOSO'MES.    (Gr.  d,  without,  Kap-n-Ta),  /  bend, 

the  body.')    An  ord<  c  ol  cirripeds  including  all  those 

in  which  the  body  is  entirely  enveloped  in  a  calcareous 

compound  shell,  and  so  attached  that  it  cannot  be  unfold- 

protruded. 

\t  \NTIIA'CE;E.  (See  Acanthus.)  A  natural  order 
of  monopetalous  exogenous  plants,  in  which  the  gepus  acan- 
thus is  stationed  Thej  have  irregular  didynamous  flow- 
ers, andare  particularly  known  by  their  calyx  being  im- 
bricated in  two  broken  whorls,  and  by  their  seed  growing 
from  bonks  on  tin-  placenta.  Many  of  this  specii  • 
beautiful  flowers,  others  are  mere  weeds.    They  are  found 

wild  only  m  hot  or  temperate  '  hmates. 

\<  V'NTIIIA.  (Sic  Acanthi's.)  The  name  of  a  genus 
of hemipterous  insects  of  tin-  tribe  Geoeorisa,  character- 
I  ,i  long  and  Btraighl  rostrum,  sheathed  al  its  base,  or 
through  its  entire  length ;  labrumvery  prominent;  eyesof 
ize  :  and  the  head  presenting,  at  its  junction  with  the 
thorax,  neither  a  neck  nor  a  sudden  constriction.  In  some 
of  the  species  (subgenus  Syrtis)  the  anterior  pair  of  legs 
terminate  in  a  monodactyle  chela,  or  forceps  claw,  like  that 
of  i  he  crustacea,  adapted  for  seizing  a  living  prey. 

ACA'NTHOCE'PHALANS,  Acanthoi  ■     dicar- 

Bos,  a  thorn,  and  KsfaXi),  a  iii  ml.  spiny-headed.)  An  order  of 
intestinal  worms,  or  entozoons,  which  attach  themselves  to 
the  mucous  coal  of  the  intestines  by  means  ofa  pro 
surrounded  with  minute  recurved  spines. 

a.CA'NTHOPHIS.  (Gr.  dxavOos,  spine,  and  oq)is,  serpent,) 
A  genus  of  venomous  serpents,  allied  to  the  viper,  pecu- 
liar to  Australia,  and  characterised  by  a  horny  spine,  sim- 
ulating a  sting,  al  the  end  of  the  tail. 

\(  \'\ THOPODS,  icanthopoda.  (Gr.  aieavdos,  and 
wovs,  afoot,  spim  -footed.)  This  name  is  applied  to  a  tribe  of 
clavicorn    coleopterous  insects,   including  those  species 

which  have  sjenv  |i 

Al '  V'NTIIOi'tEIU 'CIANS.  Acinthopterygii.  <Gr.  clkolv- 
80s.  and  nT(pv£,  a  uring  or  Jin,  spiny-finned.  >  Cuvier's  first  or- 
der of  fishes,  characterised  by  the  bony  spines  which  form 
the  first  rays  of  tle-ir  dorsal  and  anal  tins,  and  generally, 
also,  the  first  ray  of  the  two  ventral  tins. 

ACA'N Till  'III  S.  (Gr.  anavQos.  a  spine,  and  ovoa, 
a  tail.)  A  genus  of  spiny-finned  fishes,  characterised  by 
trenchant  and  serrate  teeth,  and  by  having  a  strong  mo 
spine,  sharp  as  a  lancet,  on  each  side  of  the  tail,  by  means 
of  which  these  fishes  have  the  power  of  inflicting  very  se- 
vere wounds. 

A<  A  'NT I  ITS  (Gr.  aKavdos.fispine.)  A  spiny  herbaceous 
plant  with  pinnatifid  leaves,  and  large  whitish  dowers  envel- 
oped in  spiny  bracts,  found  in  various  parts  ofthe  Levant. 
Its  leaf  is  said  by  Vitruvius  to  have  been  the  model  on 
which  the  architects  of  Greece  formed  the  haves  ofthe 
Corinthian  capital,  and  that  the  idea  of  so  applying  it  was 
derived  from  the  following  circumstance  : — The  leaves  of 
acanthus  grow  in  a  tuft  close  to  the  ground,  and  sprout 
annually.  It  happened  that  a  basket  covered  with  a  tile 
was  left  upon  the  crown  of  the  root  of  an  acanthus  plant, 
which,  when  it  began  to  grow  in  the  spring,  finding  itself 
unable  to  arrange  its  leaves  in  the  usual  manner,  fumed 
them  up  round  the  sides  ofthe  basket,  till  encountering  the 
edges  ofthe  tile,  they  gradually  curved  back  in  a  kind  of 
volute.  Other  leaves,  besides"  those  of  the  acanthus,  are 
employed  in  the  decoration  of  capitals:  those,  for  instance, 
in  the  composite  order  of  the  arches  of  Titus  and  Septimius 
Severus,  at  Rome,  have,  from  their  strong  indentations, 


ACCELERATION. 

more  resemblance  to  parsley  than  to  acanthus  leaves, 
whilst  those  to  the  Temple  of  Vesta,  at  Rome,  have  a  re- 
semblance to  laurel  leaves.  In  Egyptian  architecture,  the 
palm  leaf  fin  quentl]  occurs. 

A'A'KDIA.  (Gr.  ii,  Without,  and  Lat.  cardo,  hinge.)  A 
term  applied  to  a  genus  of  fossil  ostracean  bivalves,  in 
which  the  hinge  is  wauling,  and  the  flat  valve  is  applied  to 
the  convex  valve,  like  a  lid  to  a  vessel;  the  two  having 
been  connected  only  by  the  adductor  muscle. 

A'CARI.  (Gr.  axapi.  a  ■mite.)  In  Entomology  the  term 
is  restricted  to  the  tracheary  arachnidans  which  have,  ei- 
ther a  single-jointed  chelicer,  or  pincer  representing  an  an- 
tenna, or  a  suctorious  mouth.  All  the  species  are  extreme- 
ly minute,  or  even  microscopic,  as  the  cheese-mite  (Acarus 
■  a-),  nd  many  of  them  parasitic  :  of  the  latter,  the 
itoh-insi  scabiei)  is  a  remarkable  example. 

The  mites  are  active  insects,  and  possess  great  powers  of 
life,  resisting  for  a  time  the  application  of  boiling  water,  and 
living  long  in  alcohol. 

A<  ('ET)AS  Al)  (  T'RIAM.  In  Law.  the  title  of  a  writ 
which  removes  a  plaint  from  an  inferior  court,  generally 
the  county  court,  as  the  issuing  of  which  is  a  preliminary 
to  trying  a  question  of  right  upon  a  distress  of  goods  by  the 
proceeding  called  Ufi-levin  (which  see). 

ACCELERATION.  (Lat  acceleratio,  hastening.)  In 
Mechanics,  an  increase  in  the  velocity  oi  bodies  111  motion. 

Acceleration  is  uniform  <>r  variable,  according  as  the  force 
by  which  the  motion  is  produced  acts  regularly  or  irregu- 
larly. The  mosl  familiar  instances  of  uniformly  accelerated 
motion,  are  those  which  are  occasioned  by  the  earth's  at- 
a,  and  are  exhibited  in  the  falling  of  heavy  bodies,  or 

.scent    along   inclined    planes.     In    both    these   in- 

,  the  observer  cannot  fall  to  perceive  thai  the  veloci- 
tj  1 1.  com<  s  greater  as  the  body  falls  imr.  a  grt  ater  height, 
or  continues  a  longer  time  in  motion.    In  order  to  1 

the  theory  of  acceleration  from  t  he  action  of  gravity,  it  isne- 

io  recoiled  that,  in  virtue  of  the  inertia  of  matter,  a 
body  always  perseveres  in  its  stale  .,1  rest,  or  ol  uniform  mo- 
tion in  a  atraighl  line,  till,  by  some  external  influi  nee.  it  is 
made  to  change  its  state.  This  is  Newton's  fust  law  of  motion, 
which  is  admitted  as  a  principle  or  axiom  in  mechanics, 

and  Iron  1  which  it  follows,  that  as  a  body  cannot  accelerate 
its  own    motion,    any   change  in  the  rate  of  velocity   Of  a 

moving  body  must  arise  from  the  action  of  an  extraneous 
force.  Now,  suppose  a  body  to  be  carried  to  a  considera- 
ble height  above  the  '  arth.  ami  abandoned  to  the  action  of 
gravity  ;  and  hi  us  ei  inline  the  circdmstanci  a  which  take 
In  this  supposition,  gravity  nay  be  regarded  as  a 
cting  uniformly  ;  for,  though  its  intensity  diminishes 
as  the  distance  from  the  centre  of  the  earth  increases,  vet 

any  height  tO  Which   we  can   reach   is   so   small,  compared 

with  the  radius  ofthe  c  arth,  that  the  variation  in  the  inten- 
sity of  gravity  depending  on  il  may  be  disregarded.  Let 
the  timi  '  ikes  to  fall  to  the  earth  be  divi- 

ded into  equal  and  small  intervals.     During  the  first  interval 
an  impulse  is  gi\en  to  the  body, and  a  certain  motion  ia 
1     If  gravity  now  ceased  to  act,  the  body 
would  continue  to  descend  uniformly  with  the  velocity  it 
cquired;   but  the  impulse  is  renewed  with  exactly 
.  igour  during  tbe  second  interval,  and.  consequently, 
the  velocity  of  the  body  is  exactly  doubled.    The  same 
thing  is  repeated  in  the  third  interval,  and,  consequently, 
1.  ity  of  the  body  is  then  tripled.     In  the  fourth  in- 
terval it  is  quadrupled,  and  so  on;   the  body  continually 
receiving,  during  equal  and  successive  intervals  of  time, 
equal  increments  of  velocity  from  the  action  of  the  accel- 
erating force,  and  preserving  its  acquired  velocity  in  consi  - 
quenceofits  inertia.     Hence  we  inter  (he  first  great  law- of 
uniformly  accelerated  motion,  nana  ly,  the  velocity  at  any 
given  moment  is  proportional  to  the  number  of  impulses 
that  have  been  received,  "l-  to  the  number  ol  intervals  that 
lapsed  since  (he  commencement  of  the  motion;  in 
other  words,  the  velocity  is  proportional  to  the  time. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  spaces  passed  over  by  the  falling 
body.  Suppose  the  space  through  which  the  body  falls 
during  the  first  interval,  or  second  of  time,  to  be  one  pole. 
As  the  velocity  is  supposed,  at  the  commencement  ofthe 
motion,  to  be  nothing,  and  to  increase  uniformly  during  the 
interval,  it  is  evident  that  the  space  passed  over  will  be  the 
same  as  if  the  body  had  continued  during  the  interval 
to  move  uniformly  with  the  mean  velocity,  or  the  velocity 
it  had  at  the  middle  of  the  interval.  Rut  the  velocity  has 
been  shown  to  be  proportional  to  the  time.  Hence,  at  the 
end  of  the  first  second  the  velocity  is  the  double  of  what  it 
was  at  the  middle  of  the  second  ;  and,  therefore,  ifgravity 
ceased  to  act,  the  body,  during  the  second  interval  or  se- 
cond, would  descend  through  two  poles.  Inconsequence, 
however,  of  the  renewed  action  of  gravity,  the  body  re- 
ceives a  fresh  impulse  during  the  second  interval  equal  to 
that  which  it  received  during  the  first,  and  is,  consequently, 
carried  through  a  space  equal  to  one  pole,  in  addition  to 
that  through  which  it  is  carried  by  its  previously  acquired 
velocity.  Hence,  during  the  second  interval  the  body  falls 
through  three  poles.    At  the  end  of  this  time  the  velocity 


ACCELERATION. 

is  the  double  of  what  it  was  at  the  end  of  the  first  interval, 
and,  consequently,  during  the  next  second  would  carry  the 
body  through  four  poles.  Add,  again,  the  effect  of  the  re- 
newed impulse,  and  the  space  passed  over  by  the  body  in 
the  third  second  is  five  poles,  hi  the  same  manner,  we 
find  the  space  passed  over  in  the  fourth  second  to  be  seven 
poles;  in  the  fifth,  nine  poles,  and  so  on;  the  spaces  de- 
scribed in  the  successive  seconds  being  proportional  to  the 
series  of  odd  numbers,  1, 3,  5,  7,  9,'  11,  &c.  Adding,  there- 
fore, these  numbers  successively,  we  shall  have  the  spaces 
passed  over,  since  the  commencement  of  the  motion,  re- 
presented by  the  series  of  square  numbers,  1,  4,  9,  16,  25, 
36,  <fcc.  Whence  the  second  great  law  of  uniform  accel- 
eration, namely,  the  spaces  described  are  proportional  to  the 
squares  of  the  times. 

Galileo  was  the  first  who  discovered  the  laws  of  acceler- 
ation of  falling  bodie's.  He  supposed  the  acceleration  to 
take  place  by  equal  degrees,  or  to  be  uniform  ;  and  exper- 
iment has  confirmed  his  hypothesis.  {See  Gravity,  Gra- 
vitation.) 

What  has  now  been  said,  with  respect  to  motion  uni- 
formly accelerated,  applies  equally  (mutatis  mutandis)  to 
motion  uniformly  retarded.  It  will  also  be  perceived  that 
the  effect  of  the  resistance  of  the  air  lias  been  neglected. 

ACCELERA'TION  OF  THE  FIXED  STARS  denotes 
the  apparent  greater  diurnal  motion  of  the  fixed  stars  than 
of  the  sun;  inconsequence  of  which  they  daily  come  to 
the  meridian  of  any  place  at  an  earlier  hour  of  the  solar 
day  than  they  didon  the  day  preceding.  Thus,  a  star 
which  to-day  passes  the  meridian  at  six  o'clock,  mean 
time,  will  pass  the  meridian  to-morrow  three  minutes  and 
fifty-six  seconds  before  six  o'clock.  The  reason  of  this  is, 
that  the  sun,  which  appears  to  make  a  complete  re- 
volution of  the  heavens,  from  west  to  east,  in  the  course  of 
a  year,  advances  daily  nearly  a  degree  eastward  among  the 
stars ;  and  the  apparent  diurnal  motion  being  from  east  to 
west,  t lie  sun's  passage  over  the  meridian  is  retarded  daily 
about  three  minutes  and  fifty  seconds  of  time,  in  respect  of 
the  stars.  But  our  clocks  are  regulated  by  the  sun;  conse- 
quently, in  reference  to  them,  the  daily  transit  of  the  stars 
over  the  meridian  is  accelerated.     (See  Sidereal  Time.) 

ACCELERA'TION  OF  THE  MOON.  An  .ncrease  of 
the  mean  angular  velocity  of  the  moon  about  the  earth  ;  in 
consequence  of  which,  the  time  of  her  mean  periodic  re- 
volution is  somewhat  shorter  than  it  was  many  centuries 
ago.  This  acceleration  is  exceedingly  small,  amounting 
only  to  about  ten  or  eleven  seconds  of  a  degree  in  a  century. 
It  was  discovered  by  Dr.  Halley.  from  a  comparison  of  very 
ancient  with  modern  observations,  and  was  confirmed  by 
an  examination  of  the  observations  of  the  Arabians  in  the 
9th  and  10th  centuries.  Its  physical  cause  long  occasioned 
great  perplexity  to  mathematicians,  and  was  at  length  de- 
tected by  the  gpnius  of  Laplace.  It  depends  on  a  very  slow 
secular  diminution  of  the  eccentricity  of  the  earth's  orbit. 
One  of  the  greatest  discoveries  in  physical  astronomy  is, 
U  variations  in  the  elements  of  the  planetary  system 
are  periodic.  Some  centuries  after  the  present  time,  the 
eccentricity  of  the  earth's  orbit  will  arrive  at  its  minimum 
value,  and  then  begin  to  increase.  When  this  period  ar- 
rives, the  mean  motion  of  the  moon,  which  for  many  cen- 
turies has  been  accelerated,  will  begin  to  be  retarded.  (See 
Planetary  System,  and  Perturbation.) 

ACCELERATION  OF  THE  PLANETS.  The  motion 
of  a  planet  in  its  orbit  is  variable,  being  quicker  or  slower, 
according  as  the  planet  is  at  a  less  or  a  greater  distance 
from  the  sun.  Hence,  in  moving  from  the  apogee  to  the 
perigee  of  the  orbit,  the  motion  of  a  planet  is  accelerated; 
and,  on  the  contrary,  in  moving  from  the  perigee  to  the 
apogee,  the  motion  is  retarded. 

A'CCENT.  (Lat.  ad,  to,  and  cano,  Ising.)  In  ordinary 
language,  the  greater  or  less  stress  laid  in  pronouncing  on 
each  syllabi"  of  a  word  is  termed  the  accent  of  that  syl- 
lable. Put  the  accent  of  a  Greek  syllable  is  a  species  of 
tone,  respecting  which  very  contradictory  notions  prevail 
among  modern  commentators,  and  of  which  it  is  indeed 
difficult  to  form  any  accurate  conception.  The  history  of 
the  employment  of  accentual  marks  in  writing  the  Greek 
language,  is  extremely  obscure  They  are  found  in  manu- 
scripts of  considerable  antiquity.  In'our  pronunciation  of 
Greek,  they  are  wholly  neglected,  quantity  being  our  only 
guide  in  the  stress  which  we  lay  on  the  syllable  of  each 
word.  But  the  modern  Greeks  pronounce'their  language, 
in  general,  laying  the  stress  on  the  accented  syllables,  and 
neglecting  the  quantity.  The  mark  of  the  acute  accent  is  ' ; 
of  the  grave  ' ;  of  the  circumflex,  which  is  a  compound  of 
the  other  two,  ",  or  ~.  But  every  syllable  which  has  no 
accentual  mark  is  said  to  have  the  grave  accent;  the  grave 
being  only  marked  on  final  syllables  of  words  which  have 
no  acute  accent  on  any  syllable.  These  three  accentual 
marks  are  also  employed  in  the  French  language  ;  but  in 
it  they  are  only  employed,  for  convenience,  to  mark  a  dif- 
ference in  the  pronunciation,  not  in  the  accent ;  the  modi- 
fications of  the  vowel  sounds  not  being  all  of  them  express- 
ed by  distinct  letters. 


ACCIDENTALS. 

Accent.  In  Music,  a  certain  stress  or  forced  expression 
laid  on  certain  parts  of  a  bar  or  measure. 

ACCE'NTOR.  A  genus  of  seed  and  insect-eating  pas- 
serine birds,  of  which  the  hedge-chanter,  or,  as  it  is  com- 
monly called,  the  hedge-sparrow  (Accentor  nodularis),  is  a 
well  known  example. 

ACCEPTANCE.     See  Bill  of  Exchange. 

ACCE'PTOR.     (Law.)    See  Bill  of  Exchange. 

A'CCESSARY.  (Lat.  accedo,  /  approach.)  In  Law,  an 
accessary  to  an  offence  is  one  who  is  not  the  chief  actor,  or 
present  at  its  performance,  but  is  concerned  therein,  either 
before  or  after  the  fact.  An  accessary  before  the  fact,  is  one 
"who.  being  absent  at  the  time  of  the  crime  committed, 
doth  yet  procure,  counsel,  or  command  another  to  commit 
a  crime."  An  accessary  after  the  fact,  is  one  who,  know- 
ing that  a  felony  has  been  committed  by  another,  receives, 
relieves,  comforts,  or  assists  the  felon.  (See  Law,  Crimi- 
nal.) 

Accessary,  or  Accessory.  (Ft.  accessoire).  In  Paint- 
ing, and  the  fine  arts,  is  a  term  which  extends  to  everything 
introduced  into  a  work  that  is  not  absolutely  necessary.  In 
an  historical  picture,  for  instance,  the  figures  which  are  in 
action  are  the  principal  objects ;  by  them  the  story  is  told, 
all  the  rest  are  accessories.  Especial  care  is  to  be  taken, 
that  they  be  so  selected  and  disposed,  as  not  to  interfere 
with  the  principal  group ;  hence  the  ancient  painters  and 
sculptors  were  very  shy  of  using  them,  lest  the  eye  should 
be  drawn  away  from  the  principal  group,  and  its  interest  be 
thus  lessened  or  destroyed. 

ACCESSION.  In  international  law,  the  act  by  which 
one  power  enters  into  engagements  originally  contracted 
between  other  powers.  The  accession  of  a  sovereign  is  the 
period  at  winch  he  assumes  the  sovereignty,  and  in  heredi- 
tary monarchies  takes  place  immediately  on  the  decease  of 
his  predecessor. 

ACCLv'CCATU'RA.  (It.  acciaccare, /os^Meezfi.)  In  Mu- 
sic, a  grace  note,  one  semitone  below  that  to  which  it  is  pre- 
fixed, or,  as  it  were,  squeezed  in. 

A'Cf  'IDENS.  per  acddens.  A  term  used  by  the  older 
philosophers  to  denote  an  effect  not  following  from  the 
nature  or  essence  of  the  thing,  but  from  some  accidental 
quality.  It  is  opposed  to  per  se.  Thus,  fire  burns  per  se  ; 
heated  iron  burns  per  accidens. 

A'CCIDENT.  In  Logic,  one  of  the  predicables :  in  its 
strictest  logical  sense,  it  is  that  which  may  be  absent  from 
orpresentinthe  subject,  the  i  ssence  of  the  species  to  which 
the  subject  belongs  remaining  the  same.  Thus,  it  may  be 
predicated  of  a  man,  that  he  is  "walking,"  or  that  he  is  "a 
native  of  Paris ;"  the  first  of  which  examples  expresses 
what  is  termed  a  separable  accident;  the  latter,  an  insepa- 
rable; i.  e.  the  individual  may  cease  to  walk,  but  cannot 
cease  to  be  a  native  of  Paris ;  but  neither  of  these  alter  the 
species,  man.  to  which  the  individual  belongs.  But  it  is  to  be 
observed,  with  regard  to  the  accident,  as  well  as  the  other 
predicables,  that  they  exist  only  relatively  to  each  other; 
so  that  the  same  quality  may  be  accidental  when  predicated 
of  the  species,  which  is  a  property  when  predicated  of  the 
individual.  Thus,  "  malleability  "  is  an  accident  of  the  sub- 
ject "  metal.''  because  many  metals  are  not  malleable.  But 
it  is  one  of  the  properties  of  gold,  iron,  &c,  as  distinguishing 
these  from  the  non-malleable  metal.    (See  Predicable.) 

ACCIDENTAL  COLOURS.  Colours  depending  on 
some  affection  of  the  eye,  and  not  belonging  to  light  itself, 
or  any  quality  of  the  luminous  object.  If  we  look  for  a 
short  time  steadily  with  one  eye  upon  any  bright-coloured 
spot,  as  a  wafer  on  a  sheet  of  paper,  and  immediately  after 
turn  the  same  eye  to  another  part  of  the  paper,  a  similar 
spot  will  be  seen,  but  of  a  different  colour.  If  the  wafer  be 
red,  the  imaginary  spot  will  be  green ;  if  black,  it  will  be 
changed  into  white  ;  the  colour  thus  appearing  being  always 
what  is  termed  the  complementary  colour  of  that  on  which 
the  eye  was  fixed. 

ACCIDENTAL  POINT.  Perspective.  The  point  in 
which  a  straight  fine  drawn  from  the  eye,  parallel  to  an- 
other straight  line,  cuts  the  perspective  plane.  It  is  the 
point  in  which  the  representations  of  all  straight  lines  pa- 
rallel to  the  original  straight  line  concur  when  produced.  It 
is  called  the  accidental  point,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  prin- 
cipal point,  or  point  of  view 

ACCIDE'NTALS.  (Lat.  accidentalis.  happening  by 
chance.)  hi  Painting,  are  those  fortuitous  or  chance 
effects,  occurring  from  luminous  rays  falling  on  certain 
objects,  by  which  they  are  brought  into  stronger  light 
than  they  otherwise  would  be,  and  their  shadows  are 
consequently  of  greater  intensity.  This  sort  of  effect  is 
to  be  seen  in  almost  every  picture  by  Rembrandt,  who 
used  them  to  a  very  great  extent.  There  are  some  fine 
instances  of  accidentals  in  Raphael's  Transfiguration, 
and  particularly  jn  the  celebrated  picture,  the  Notte  of 
Coreggio,  in  which  the  light  emanates  from  the  infant 
Christ.  With  these  effects  may  be  classed  such  acci- 
dental lights  as  those  from  a  forge  or  a  candle,  or  some 
such  object,  of  which  the  use  is  extremely  important  to  the 
painter  of  still  life. 


ACCIPITRES. 

Accidentals.  In  Music,  are  those  flats  and  sharps 
which  are  prefixed  to  the  notes  in  a  movement,  and  which 
would  not  be  considered  so  by  the  llats  and  sharps  in  the 
signature. 

ICCI'PITRES.  (Lat.  accipiter,  a hawk.)  The  name  of 
the  L  mast rder,  including  the  birds  of  prey. 

ACCLIMATISE.  (Lat.  ad,  to,  and  china,  a  ciimate.) 
The  art  of  cultivating  exotic  planl  i  so  as  to  inure  them  to  a 
climate  different  to  that  which  is  natural  to  them.  An  ac- 
climatised plant  or  animal  differs  from  a  naturalised  one, 
in  alwavs  requiring  the  assistance  of  art  for  its  continuance 
in  the  adopted  climate;  the  naturalised  plant  or  animal 
continuing  its  kind  without  any  care  from  man.  The  ca- 
pacities of  different  plants  and  animals  for  being  acclima- 
tised, or  naturalised,  vary,  but  not  to  the  extent  that  at  first 
may  be  imagined;  what  passes  under  these  terms 
being  frequently  nothing  more  than  the  fortunate  dis- 
covery that  some  plant  or  animal,  Which  had  hitherto 
been  found  in  a  warm  climate,  would  thrive  equally  well 
in  a  coM  one. 

A< '( :OLA'DE.  (Lat.  ad,  to,  and  collnm.  the  neck.)  The 
slight  blow  given  to  the  neck  or  shoulder,  on  dubbing  a 
knight. 

\>  cO'MPANTMENT.      In  Music.     The    instrumental 

part  of  a  composition  which   moves  with  the  voice,  to 

which  it  is  to  be  kepi  te.    AlsOjthe  pans  which 

mcerted  pie  tment, 

whose  powers  il  is  tn<  object  of  the  composition  to  exhibit. 

a  vompaniment.    In  Painting.    Any  object  aci 
to  the  principal  subject,  and  serving  to  its  ornament  or 
illustration. 

ACCO'MPLICE.     In  Law,  is  d  one  of  many 

i     ;      M       (See  Accessary,  Approver.) 

ACCO'RD.    {See  Concord  ) 

mi  01  'NTANT-GENERAL.  The  principal  or  respon- 
sible accountant  in  the  offi  I  ns,  In- 
dia House,  Ba                                 The untant-gi 

ofChancerj  is  an  il  ["appointed  by  act  of  parliament  to 
receive  all  the  mo  n  court    lie  I  i 

count  with  the  Bank  of  England,  which  is  responsible  for 
nil  the  sui  s  lodged  there  bj  him. 

ACCRE'SCIME'NTI  >  I 

Music,  the  increase,  by  one  half  of  its  original  duration, 
which  a  note  gains  by  having  a  dot  appended  to  the 
of  it. 

ACCU'MBENT.    (Lat.  accumbere,  to  lie  down.)    1=  a 
term  applied,  in  botany,  to  cases  when 
gan  is  applied  to  another  by  its  edge ;  il  is  chief!)  used  in 
contradistinction  to  incumbent,  where  one  part  is  applied 
[other  by  its  back  or  face.    These  I  Incipal- 

|y  e  nployed  am  mg  brassicai us  (era  ■  plants. 

\C(  1  'S  \Ti\i;    CASK.      'I'll-  mi 

which  expi  es  tea  tl  e  pat  sin im  one 

substance  to  anotln  r:  tl  consequently  follows  verbs  active 
in  ,iii  languages.  In  English  il  survives  only  in  pronouns; 
and  is  us  'il  after  all  prepositions  without  distinction,  <  Si  i 
Gram  i 

ACETHALANS,  axephala.  (Gr.  dicsQdXot,  headless.) 
A  term  applied  to  a  clasi  of 

hendins  the  withoul  a  head.    The  class  is 

subdivided,  iccording  to  the  modifications  of  the  respirato- 
ry organs,  into  the  'Lamelli-branchiate,'  '  Palb'o-branchi- 
ate,' and  'Hetero-branchiate,'  or  tunii 
those  words. )    Tin'  oyster,  Ian 

ascidia,  are  their  several  representatives.    Inthesysrcm 
of  Cuvierii  includes  only  the  famelli-branchiate and  h 
branchiate  orders,  or  the  acephala  testacea,  and  the  ace- 
phala  nuda. 

ACE'PHALOPHO'RES,  Acephalophora.  (Or.  diec>pa\os, 
and  (pcou),  I  bear.)    The  nami  givenh)  I 
of  nolluscous animals  corresponding  to  la  and 

brachioooda  of  I  lot  ier. 

ACE'PHALOUS.  \  botanical  term,  occasionally  ra- 
ployed  in  designate  ovaries  I  !i  st)  le  of  v.  hich  springs  from 
their  base,  in -lead  of  their  apex,  as  in  lami 

Acephalous,     in   Anatomy,  to  those  mal- 

for  tied  foetuses  w  bich  are  r  il  noul  a  fiead. 

A'CER.  (Celt,  a-,  a  point;  Lat.  acer,  sharp.  Pikes 
Were  made  from  the  wood:.)    A-  .  com- 

prehendini  the  common  maple,  the  sycamore,  and  various 
kinds  of  American  maples.  Their  wood  is  not  of  much 
value,  being  usually  light  and  perishable ;  bul  the  knotti  d 
par's  of  Acer  campestre  furnish  tin-  pretty  b 
maple  of  cahinet  makers.  The  sap  of  Acer  saccharinum 
is  so  sweet  that  sugar,  of  gi  I  from  it 

in  North  America.    Acer  pla  anoid  is,  the  Norwa)  i 
is  one  of  the  best  trees  for  planting  in  places  exposed  to  the 
sea  air. 

ACERA'CE^  (see  Acer),  or  ACERINE  E.  A  small 
natural  order  of  polypetalous  exogenous  plants,  compre- 
hending the  genus  acer,  and  three  others.  It  consists  of 
trees,  or  at  least  of  woody  plants,  inhabiting  the  temperate 
parts  of  the  world  ;  their  most  essential  character  consists 
in  their  samaroid  dicarpellary  fruit,  connected  with  a  bro- 


ACHROMATISM. 

ken  whorled  calyx,  and  unsymmetrical  flowers  without 
scales  at  the  base  of  the  petals.  The  uses  of  the  order  arc 
the  same  as  those  of  acer. 

A'CERANS.  Accra.  (Gr.  d,  without,  and  xepas,  alwrv.) 
A  name  applied  to  a  family  of  apterous  insects,  character- 
ised by  the  absence  of  antenna? :  and  to  a  family  of  gastro- 
podous  mollusks,  including  those  species  which  have  no 
tentacles. 

A'CERIC  ACID.  (Lat.  acer,  the  maple.)  An  acid  ob- 
tained from  tin'  sap  ol  lint  tree. 

ACERO'SE.  Tins  word  literally  means  chaffy  (Lat 
panis  acerosus,  chaffy  or  brown  bread).  Botanists  apply 
tie'  term  i<>  leaves  of  a  narrow,  stiff,  and  pungent  nature, 
like  those  offir-tn  es. 

ACETA'BUH  M.  (Lat.  a  Hale  cup.  or  disk.)  A  term 
applied  in  the  suckers  on  the  arms  of  the  cuttle-fish,  and 
other  dibrancl  iate  cephalopoda,  which  have  been,  hence, 
recently  termed  acetaoulifi  I  suckers  were  called 

by  An  .  which  Taylor  has   erroneously   ren- 

in n  d  'joints,'  in  the  English  translation  of  the  History  of 
Animals.    In  adato  i  it»i  signifies  the  cavity  of 

_\  it  is  the  socket  on  the  trunk; 
in  which  the  leg  is  planted. 

A'T.TA'KIOl  s  PLANTS.  (Lat  acetaria,  a  salad.) 
P  i   mi   salading;  such  as  lettuce,  mustard  and 

A  , 

\(  lE'TATES.     Sails  containing  acetic  acid.    {See  Vixe- 

VI  E'TIC  ACID.  The  pure  acid  contained  in  vinegar. 
It  is  a  |  ourless  acrid  liq  iur,  when  di- 

luted, i  en  perfumed,  ii  is 

It  is  ii.i  ri  ed 

during  the  germination  of  semis,  and  ii  e  tists  in  the  juices 

i y  plants,  bul  it  is  mosl  abundan  I  during 

natural  or  artificial,  of  nearly  au 

9.     \\  hen  perfectly  free  from  water,  it 

consists  of 

Carton  -        -       -    4  atoms    =    24  47*06 

Hydrogen       •       -    3     "       s=     3  6  38 

Oxygen  -        -        -    3      "       =24  4706 

1  51  10000 

ACHJE'AN  LEAGUE.  A.  confederacy  which  existed 
from  very  earl)  times  among  thi  of  the  pro- 

vince of  Aden  i,  in  the  north  of  the  Peloponnesus.  It  was 
broken  up  after  the  di  o  \  ander  the  Great,  but  was 
Bet  on  I  tie  of  the  original  cities,  B.  C.  280, 

the  epoch  of  its  rise  into  great   ii  iportance;  for 

from  this  time  it  gained  strength,  and  finally  spread  over 
the  w  h  not  withoul  much  opposi- 

tion, principally  on  the  pact  ofL  ci      in  on.    It  was  finally 
fed  by  the  Romans,  on  the  event  of  the  capture  of 
i  ,  I      ennui, ins,  n.  o.  1 1~.     The  two  n  0£ 

leaders  of  this  league  were,  Aral  icipal  in.-.tru- 

menl  of  its  early  aggrandisement;  and  Philopa?men,  the 
contemporary  and  rival,  in  military  reputation, ol  Scipioand 

;   ii.     P  lusanias,  1   \ii     * 
Beris  Universal  History.    Clit  i        I  isti  Hellenici.) 

\i  HJE  Ml  M,  or  ACHENIUM.  (Gr.  d,  without,  and 
%aivoi.  I  gapt  i    A  small  bony  fruit,  containing  a 

which  does  not  adhere  to  the  shell  or  pericarp,  nor 
open  when  ripe. 

ACHA  TMA.  a  genus  of  terrestrial  gastropods,  known 
by  the  trivial  name  of  agate-snails :  characterised  by  an 
oval  oblong ventricose  shell,  striated  longitudinally;  with 
i  kened  or  reflected,  and  a 
smooth,  straight  columella,  truncated  at  the  base.  All  the 
species  are  ovipafo  the  ichatma  zebra,  pro- 

duces eggs  with  a  hard,  white,  calcareous  shell,  and  as 
I  crew. 

vCHERON.  (Gr.  a%os,  gn'e/0  The  river  of  sorrow 
which  flew-  i  realms  of  Hades,  accord- 

ing to  I  I  i    ancients.     There  was  a  river 

of  the  san  e  nan  e,  and  also  one 
in  Italy,  Llexander,  king  of  the  Molossi   was 

slain  ;  both  of  which,  from  the  unwholesome  and  foul  na- 
ture of  their  raters,  were  supposed  to  communicate  with 
the  infernal  sb 

ACHTE'VEMENT.  <Tr.  achever,  to  accomplish.)  In 
Heraldry,  denotes  generally  a  shiel  I  of  arn  orial  hearings; 
but  is  more  particularly  applied  to  the  funeral  shieid,  com- 
ii  only  called  hatchment,  affixed  to  the  dwelling-house  of  a 
recently-deceased  person.  The  achievement  is  various, 
according  not  only  to  the  ranK  of  the  deceased  party,  but 
tation  as  sinsle,  married,  or  widower. 

ACIII.AMY'DEOl  S.  (Gr.  d.  without,  and  chlamys,  a 
tunic.)  Plants  which  have  neither  calyx  nor  corolla,  and 
Whose  flowers  are  consequently  destitute  of  a  covering,  or 
naked. 

ACHROMATIC.  (Gr.  d,  without,  and  xpuiia,  colour,} 
Free  from  col 

ACHRO'MATISM.  The  destruction  of  the  primary 
colours,  which  accompany  the  image  of  an  object  seen 
through  a  prism  or  lens.    Light  is  not  homogeneous,  but 


ACHROMATISM. 

compounded  of  rays  unequally  refrangible,  and  differing 
from  one  another  in  other  physical  properties.  In  passing 
into  a  refracting  medium,  some  of  the  rays  are  more  re- 
fracted, or  bent  out  of  their  course,  than  "others;  whence 
the  image  of  an  object,  seen  through  a  lens,  is  rendered 
confused  and  indistinct,  and  appears  encircled  by  a  coloured 
ring.  This  circumstance  presented  a  formidable  obstacle 
to  the  use  of  the  telescope  ;  and,  accordingly,  soon  after  the 
invention  of  that  admirable  instrument,  the  utmost  efforts 
of  mathematicians  and  artists  were  exerted  to  remove  the 
imperfection.  The  compound  nature  of  light,  and,  conse- 
quently, the  theory  of  unequal  refrangibility,  were,  how- 
ever, not  known  till  the  time  of  Newton  ;  and  after  the 
true  source  of  the  difficulty  had  been  made  known,  it  con- 
tinued for  a  long  time  to  be  believed  that  achromatism  was 
impossible,  or  that  light  could  not  be  deflected  without  be- 
ing decomposed.  Newton  himself  was  conducted  to  this 
conclusion  by  imperfect  experiments.  Subsequent  disco- 
\  eries  have  proved  that  the  conclusion  was  erroneous,  and 
that  the  rays  of  light  may  be  bent  without  being  separated  ; 
but.  afierall,  the  progress  that  has  been  made  in  the  arts, 
as  well  as  in  the  theory  of  colours  and  light,  the  subject  of 
achromatism  continues  to  be  one  of  the  most  delicate  and 
embarrassing,  both  in  regard  to  theory  and  practice. 

The  principles  on  which  achromatism  is  effected,  may- 
be briefly  explained,  as  follows.  On  observing  the  spectra 
formed  by  prisms  of  different  substances,  it  is  soon  per- 
ceived that  the  different  colours,  though  always  ranged  in 
the  same  order,  do  not  occupy  the  same  relative  lengths. 
A  prism  of  flint  glass,  for  example,  exhibits  proportionally 
less  red,  and  more  violet,  than  a  prism  of  crown  glass  ;  and, 
in  some  other  substances,  the  difference  is  still  more  re- 
markable. Hence  it  follows,  that  the  primary  coloured 
rays,  in  passing  through  different  substances,  do  not  under- 
go the  same  relative  refractions;  that  is  to  say,  the  angle 
formed  by  two  rays,  the  red  and  the  violet,  for  example, 
is  greater  when  the  light  is  refracted  by  some  substances 
lii  in  when  it  is  refracted  by  others,  though  in  all  substances 
the  violet  is  more  refracted  than  the  blur,  tin-  ! i]  i 
than  the  green,  and  so  on.  The  angle  formed  between  the 
extreme  rays  of  the  spectrum  measures  the  dispersion  of 
the  rays  ;  and  i!  is  found  by  experiment  that  the  dispersive 
power  of  common  flint  glass  is  to  that  of  crown  glass  in 
the  ratio  of  about  3  to  2  ;  so  that  if  a  prism  of  flint  glass  give 
a  spectrum  tlrree  inches  long,  a  similar  prism  of  crown 
glass  will  give  a  spectrum  of  only  two  inches. 

Now,  suppose  a  prism  of  crown  glass,  C,  the  faces  of 
which  make  an  angle  of  25°,  and  a  prism  of  flint  glass,  F, 
of  20°  21'  43",  to  be  placed  be- 
hind it,  and  that  a  ray  of  direct 
or  white  light,  L  I,  falling  on  the 
first  prism  at  1,  emerges  from 
the  second  between  the  points 
E  and  E'.  It  is  known  by  ex- 
perience, that  when  the  angles  of  the  two  prisms  are  as 
above  stated,  the  violet  ray  E  V,  on  emerging  from  the 
second  prism,  is  parallel  to' the  incident  ray  LI;  and  that 
Die  red  ray  E'  R  must  fall  below  E  V,  because  the  red  ray 
only  emerges  parallel  to  the  incident  rav  when  the  angle  of 
the  prism  of  flint  glass  is  20°  56'  28".  But  if  the  prism  of 
flint  glass  were  removed,  or,  which  would  be  the  same 
thing,  if  its  sides  became  parallel,  and  consequently  its  an- 
gle =  0,  the  red  ray  E'  R  would  fall  above  the  violet  ray 
E  V.  the  violet  being  more  refrangible  than  the  red.  While 
the  angle  F,  therefore,  increases  from  0°  to  20°  56'  28". 
the  emerging  rays  E'  R  and  E  V  change  their  relative  po- 
sitions ;  whence  it  follows,  that  at  some  intermediate  angle 
of  the  prism  F  they  will  be  parallel,  and  this  is  the  ami].'  of 
achromatism.  It  is  found  by  experience  to  be  11°  58'  3" ; 
varying,  however,  between  narrow  limits  according  to  the 
peculiar  constitution  of  the  two  refracting  substances  ;  and. 
therefore,  in  determining  the  ratio  of  the  angles  of  the  two 
prisms,  recourse  must  generally  be  had  to  particular  ex- 
periments on  the  individual  substances  of  which  the  prisms 
are  composed. 

The  achromatism  of  lenses  depends  on  the  same  princi- 
ples, and  is  determined  in  the  same  maimer,  as  that  of 
prisms;  but  in  the  case  of  lenses,  the  compensation  is  at- 
tended with  great  practical  difficulties,  on  account  of  its  be- 
ing  necessary  to  have  regard  to  the  spherical  aberration. 

If  the  ratios  of  the  dispersion  of  the  different  spectral  co- 
lours were  all  equal,  the  achromatism  would  be  perfect 
when  the  extreme  rays,  or,  indeed,  any  two  rays,  emerge 
parallel.  This,  however,  is  not  generally  the  case ;  these 
ratios  are  in  general  variable,  and,  therefore,  the  angle 
which  renders  the  red  and  violet  rays  parallel  is  not  that 
which  is  required  for  the  intermediate  colours.  It  is  possi- 
ble, however,  to  remedy  this  defect,  by  combining  a 
greater  number  of  prisms  or  lenses.  Theoretically  speak- 
ing, indeed,  the  number  of  rays  united  or  rendered  paral- 
lel is  the  same  as  the  number  of  prisms.  The  achromatic 
object-glasses  of  telescopes  formerly  made  in  England, 
were  generally  triple;  that  is  to  say,  consisted  of  three 
lenses,  namely,  a  concave  lens  of  flint  glass  placed  between 
10 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT-MONEY. 

two  lenses  of  crown  glass  :  but  almost  all  the  large  object- 
glasses  lately  constructed  consist  of  only  two  lenses ;  the 
achromatism  produced  by  this  combination,  though  not 
rigorously  exact,  being  sufficient  for  optical  purposes. 

The  possibility  of  refracting  light  without  producing  co- 
lour was  discovered  and  experimentally  proved  by  Mr. 
Hall,  a  country  gentleman  of  Worcestershire,  under  whose 
directions  an  achromatic  telescope  was  made  by  a  London 
artist  in  1733.  But,  from  whatever  cause,  no  notice  was 
taken  of  Hall's  discovery  ;  indeed,  it  appears  to  have  been 
entirely  forgotten,  and  contributed  nothing  whatever  to  ad- 
vance subsequent  researches.  The  merit  of  the  discovery 
of  achromatic  compensation  belongs  to  John  Dollond,  who 
arrived  at  it  through  a  long  course  of  skilful  and  systematic 
experiments  undertaken  for  the  express  purpose.  Its  pos- 
sibility had,  indeed,  been  previously  asserted  by  the  cele- 
brated Euler,  who,  reasoning  from  the  construction  of  the 
eye,  which,  indeed,  is  a  perfect  achromatic  instrument, 
proposed  various  hypotheses  for  destroying  the  coloured 
images.  After  Dollond's  discover}-,  the  subject  was  ex- 
amined theoretically  by  Euler,  Clairaut,  and  DAlembert, 
but  their  profound  mathematical  investigations  led  to  no 
practical  improvement.  The  object-glasses  made  by  Peter 
Dollond  (a  son  of  the  inventor)  were  long  celebrated 
throughout  Europe  as  the  best  that  were  manufactured. 
Of  late  years,  however,  the  science  of  light  has  been  vast- 
ly extended ;  and  the  discoveries  of  Fraunhofer,  in  particu- 
lar, have  opened  up  an  entirely  new  view  of  the  com- 
position of  the  spectrum.  The  largest  and  best  achro- 
matic glasses  have  recently  been  made  in  Bavaria  and 
Switzerland:     (See  Chromatics,  Refraction.) 

ACI'CULAR.  (Lat.  acictda,  a  needle.)  Any  thing  that 
is  slender,  sharp-pointed,  and  rather  stiff;  as  many  kinds 
of  prickles  on  the  leaves  of  plants,  <fcc. 

A'CID.  In  common  language,  any  soar  substance:  in 
chemistry  the  term  is  less  restricted,  and  often  applied  to 
all  substances  which  saturate  and  neutralise  the  alkalis 
and  other  salifiable  bases,  without  other  obvious  acid  pro- 
perties. 

ACIDIFI'ABLE.     Convertible  into  an  acid 

ACI'DULODS.  Dim.  of  acid.  Subacid;  a  term  fre- 
quently applied  to  mineral  waters  containing  carbonic  acid. 

ACKNACIFORM.  (Lat.  acinaces,  a  scimitar,  and  forma, 
shape.)  A  name  applied  to  certain  succulent  leaves  and 
fruits,  which  resemble  the  blade  of  a  curved  sword  or 
Turkish  scimitar. 

A'CINUS.  (Gr.  axivos,  the  stone  of  a  grape.)  The  se- 
parate carpels  of  a  succulent  fruit  consisting  of  many  car- 
pels ;  as  the  raspberry.  This  term  is  also  applied  in  anato- 
my to  a  cluster  of  the  ultimate  secerning  follicles  of  certain 
conglomerate  glands  :  as  the  liver. 

ACIPE'NSER.  (Lat.  acipenser,  a  sturgeon.)  The 
name  of  a  Linnfean  genus  of  the  amphibia  nantes,  charac- 
terised by  solitary,  lateral,  linear  gill-openings;  the  mouth, 
situated  beneath  "the  head,  retractile  and  edentulous  ;  feel- 
ers under  the  snout,  in  front  of  the  mouth.  The  sturgeon 
(acipenser  sturio),  and  most  of  the  other  amphibia  nantes 
of  Linnaeus,  form  the  order  chrondropterygii,  or  cartilagin- 
ous fishes  of  Cuvier.  The  genus  acipenser  is  separated  by 
Agassiz  from  the  other  cartilaginous  fishes.  It  forms  a 
link  between  the  osseous  and  cartilaginous  fishes,  having 
its  gills  protected  by  an  operculum,  and  only  a  single  issue, 
or  gill-opening,  on  each  side,  for  the  respiratory  currents; 
but  at  the  same  time  having  no  rays  to  the  branchiostegal 
membrane,  and  having  the  whole  of  its  true  internal  skele- 
ton in  a  cartilaginous  state.  By  Cuvier,  therefore,  the  ge- 
nus acipenser  is  placed  in  the  cartilaginous  division  of 
fishes,  but  separated  from  the  rays,  sharks,  and  lampreys, 
which  have  five  or  more  gill-openings  on  each  side,  to 
form,  along  with  the  genera  spatularia  and  chimaera,  the 
order  eleuthero-branchiata,  or  those  which  have  the 
branchiae  free  at  their  outer  circumference.  In  the  system 
of  Agassiz  the  sturgeons  are  joined  with  the  sauroid  fishes, 
siluri,  polypterus,  and  some  other  genera,  to  form  the  or- 
der Ganoides.  (See  that  word.)  And  it  is  worthy  of  ob- 
servation, that  the  polypterus  (a  ganoid  fish  of  the  Nile)  has 
a  spiral  valve  in  the  intestine  like  that  of  the  sturgeon. 

There  are  several  distinct  species  of  acipenser  in  the 
Danube,  and  other  great  rivers  of  Europe  ;  the  largest  spe- 
cimen ever  caught,  in  Great  Britain  is,  probably,  that  which 
is  recorded  by  Pennant  as  having  been  taken  in  the  Esk, 
and  which  weighed  four  hundred  and  sixty  pounds. 

In  England,  the  sturgeon  is  considered  a  royal  fish,  and 
its  use  is  exclusively  as  an  article  of  luxury  for  the  table  ; 
its  flesh,  like  that  of  most  cartilaginous  fishes,  is  firmer 
than  is  usual  among  osseous  fishes,  and  having  little  pecu- 
liar flavour  of  its  own,  affords  ample  scope  for  the  skill  of 
the  cook  in  imparting  to  it  an  extrinsic  zest. 

In  the  northern  parts  of  Europe  this  fish  is  much  more 
numerous  than  in  the  British  rivers,  and  extensive  fishe- 
ries are  established  for  its  capture.  The  best  isinglass  is 
manufactured  from  the  sound,  or  air  bladder ;  and  caviare 
is  prepared  from  the  roe  of  the  female. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT-MONEY,  in  Law,  paid  ac- 


ACME. 

cording  to  the  custom  of  some  manors  by  copyhold  ten- 
ants, on  the  death  of  a  lord. 

ACME.    (Qr.  dicpTj,  a  point.)    In  Rhetoric,  the  extreme 
height,  or  farthest  point  of  pathos,  or  sentiment,  to  which 
the  mind  is  judiciously  conducted  by  a  series  of  impres- 
-itJnailv  rising  in  intensity.    (See  Climax.) 

ACO'LOGV.  or  AKOLOGY.  (Gr.  okoc,  a  remedy,  and 
Xoyoi.  The  doctrine  of  remedies,  or  of  the 

■  medica. 

A'COLYTE.  (Gr.  aKo\ov9os, disciple.)  The  second  of 
the  inferior  orders  of  clergy  in  the  primitive  church,  ac- 
cording  to  th  The  Council 

of  Trent  declares  i  fivi — subdea- 

cons,  acolytes, exorcists,  readers,  and  doorkeepers;  consi 
dering  them  all  CO  be  of  apostolical  institution.  By  the 
Protestants  i:  losed  to  be  mi  -nal  or 

ifficers,    Tie-  office  of  the  acolytes,  according  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  Catechismus  ad  Parochos,  isto  follow  and 

serve  the  superior  orders,  i  ons  and  deacons,  in 

the  ministry  of  the  altar.     Besides  this,  they  carry 
when  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  is  celebrated,  whence  they 
are  called  also  ceroferarii  (wax-bearers). 

ACONI'TA,  At  i  )M  ll.NA.     A  poisonous  vegetable  prin- 
ir  alkaloid  extracted  from  tl 

A'C'OMTi;.    (Acone,  a|  Crimea  famous  for 

its  poisonous  herbs. )    A  genus  of  exogenous  plants  I 
ing  to  the  natural  01  showy  purple 

or  y»  11'  i  aped  flowers,  growing  in  pa 

)y  cut  leaves,  and  perennial  roots  of  a  highly  poisonous  na- 
ture.   Those  of  Aconitum  lycoctonum  are  used  for 
Btruction  of  wolves,  and  of  A.  napellus  for  certain  medici- 
nal purposes ;  the 

lent  drastic  .  which  the  na- 

of  Nepal  poisoned  their  wells,  during  the  advance  of 
the  British  army  into  their  territory,  during  the  la 
was  furnished  by  Aconitum  '•  ro        I 

een  given  to  another  planl  related  to  the  original  ge- 
nus, namely,  eran  his  bye  at  lis,  or  winter  aeon 

ACO'NTIA.    (Gr  dicav.  L  genus  of  non-veno- 

mous ophidi  proper  (an- 

guis),  bui  destitute  of  the  bony  rudiments  of  the  scapular 
and  pelvic  arches.  They  are  known  by  the  trivial  name  of 
" Dart-snakes ;"  are  numerous  in  species,  and  distributed 
over  the  warmi  r  and  more  arid  parts  of  the  ..id  wort  I. 
They  wen-  thi  is  accounts  by  the  ancient 

naturalists  and   poets,  Who  attributed  to  them  the  power  of 

projecting  themselves  with  bo  much  force  and  velo 
to  Iran  cl  aimed  at.  like  a  hurled  javelin,  or  ar- 

row shot  from  a  bow.    This  is  \  a  untr  sertion 

thai  t  lej  are  ven ius.    The  Dart-snakes  are  amongst  the 

mosl  ban  heir  order:  t.     ■  I  small 

Worms,  insects,   ind  I 

ACORA'CEiB,  or   \i  OROID] 
of  plants  which  includes  the  L"-nus  acorus     It  is  distin- 
guished  from  araceae  only  by  having  its  i 

■nl  its  leave,  i  ged  in  .in  e  [uitant 

manner. 

A'CORN.    (Accorn, Sax. of aac, on i  ruin.) 

The  well-known  fruil  of  the  oak.  and  therefore  nol  a  term 
of  art,  though  belonging  to  architecture  from  its  use  as  an 
ornament.  In  the  .any  ages  acorns  constituted  a  principal 
pari  of  the  food  of  man'.    (Ovid.  Metamorph.  i.  106;  Virgil, 

Georg.  i.  3.  &c  |     V.I  present  I ■  are  i nallj 

at  parts  of  the  Continent  during  out  in 

I  they  are  never  i  ling  of 

pigs,  poultry,  &c. 

ACORUS.  (Gr.  OKOpOi  )  A  plant  with  sword-shaped 
and  aromatic  stems,  found  abundantly  in  the  mea- 
dows ol  if  England.  It  bears,  but  very  rarely, 
its  flowers  in  tich  appears 
at  a  short  distance  below  the  end  of  a  leaflike  scape.  The 
leaves,  when  crushed,  exhale  a  pleasant  odour,  and  are 
still  usi  -  upon  the  oc- 
casion of  certain  ancient  ceres  onies.  Its  stem,  or  rhizo- 
ma,  is  like  that  of  an  iris,  and  is  the  calamus  aromaticus  of 
the  drug 

A'COTYLE'DONS.  (Gr.  d,  without,  and  KorvXriSav,  li- 
terally, a  hollow  or  concave  part,  but  applied  I 

to  the  seed-]-. lie.)     Plants  whose  seeds  have  no  dish 

tyledons.    Tl  sally  applied  to  what  are  more 

commonly  named  cryptogamic  plants,  such  as  ferns,  moss- 
i  -.  la  hens,  lVc.,  in  which  there  are  no  seeds,  properly  so 
called,  but  which  are  propagated  by  undivided  spherical 
bodies  called  spores.  The  word  acotyledon  is  occasionally 
used  for  such  plants  as  cuscuta,  cactus.  &c.,  whose  seeds, 
although  really  of  the  same  nature  as  these  in  which  coty- 
ledons are  usually  present,  have  no  obvious  division  ;  this 
mode  of  applying  the  term  is,  however,  seldom  employed. 

ACOU'STICS.  (Gr.  dicovii),  I  hear.)  The  science  of 
hearins,  or  of  sound.     (See  SorxD.) 

ACQXTTTAL.  In  Law.  (Lat.  acquietare.  to  render 
tranquil.)  Freedom  from  sendees  to  a  superior  lord. 
Also,  deliverance  from  a  criminal  charge  by  the  verdict  of 
not  guilty.    This  verdict  may  always  be  pleaded  in  an- 


ACROSTIC. 

swer  to  a  second  chanre  on  the  same  offence  :  the  plea  is 
termed  "autrefois  acquit.'' 

ACQUITTANCE,  in  Law.  the  discharge  in  writing  of 
a  sum  of  money  due.  An  acquittance  not  under  seal  is 
admissible  only  in  evidence,  and  is  not  pleadable.  An  ac- 
quittance in  full  of  all  demands,  is  an  answer  to  all  debts, 
such  as  are  on  specialty,  which  can  only  be  dis- 
charged by  an  instrument  of  equal  force. 

A'(  i;  E.  A  measure  of  land,  that  formerly  varied  in  dif- 
ferent pails  of  the  United  Kingdom.  The  magnitude  of 
the  imperial  or  statute  acre  may  be  referred  to  that  of  the 
square  yard,  by  recollecting  that  a  square,  whose  side  is 
22  yards  long,  is  the  tenth  part  of  an  acre  ;  whence  the  lat- 
ter contains  22  X  ~- X  U>,  or  4,s40  square  yards.  The 
chain  with  which  land  is  measured  is  22  yards  long,  so  that 
;are  chains  are  one  acre.  The  acre  is  divided  into 
-.  and  each  rood  into  40 perches;  so  that  each  perch 
contains  304;  square  yards. 

of  equivalent 
Acre.       Road.       Perch.  yard*.      squares  in  yard*, 

1    =    4    =    160    =  "4^40    =    69-53 
1    =     40    =    1210    =    :  M  ; 

1    =        30i  —      -..-, 

121  Irish  acres  are  equivalent  to  1%  English  acres. 
•  <  are  equal  to  61  English 

i  i  are  is  a  squat i  .  ■■.  is  10  metres: 

and  1000  English  acres  an-  equivalent  to  40466  ares.  (Xee 
Companion  to  British  Almanac,  1830.) 

ACRITIANS,  \<  ItlDlA.  (Gr.dicpts,  a  locust.)  A  fami- 
ly of  orthopti  .  having  .he  genus  acridium  for 

\'t  RITES, ACRITA.    (Gr. duping, indiscernible.)   The 

■i  of  the  animal  kingdom,  in  which  there  is 

.net  discernible  nervous  system ;  andin  which  the 

alimenlary  canal  is  not  separated  from  the  parietes  of  the 

ained  in  a  distinct  abdominal  cavity.     It  is 

sedoftheel  s,  polypi,  polygastrica,  ate- 

relmintha,  acalepha.    (See  those  words.) 

ACRODA'CTYLUM.  (Gr.  di-cos.  hiL-ht^t  or  extreme, 
and  r,aKT\)\oc,  a  digit.)    In  Zoology,  the  upper  surface  of 

A'CRODUS.    (Gr.  dupos,  extreme,  oSovc,  tooth.)    The 

name  of  a  genus  of  shark  -.  esence 

of  large  polygonal  o  a  ued  at 

I  le  fi  of  this  -■  ana  are 

found  exclusively  in  ti 

A'CROGENfi       I.:  a s,  and  ytyvw,  I  grow.)    Plants, 

•..us  and  acol  They 

correspond  to  ferns,  mosses,  lichens,  a 
are  multiplied  ofs I<:  and  are  remark- 

able for  incre:  additions  to  their 

end,  and  not  in  diameter,  by  the  addition  i  iter  to 

■as, .le,  as  in  exogens,  or  to  then-  inside,  as  in  en- 

\i  ROT.ITHOS  (Gr  ixpoc,  and  XiBof,  sto»e.)  In 
Sculpture.,!  si  re  of  stone,the  body 

being  made  of  \\ I.    According  to  Vitruvius,  then-  was  a 

temple  at  Halicarnas  0  to  Mars,  and  built  by 

Mausolus.  kin-'  of  ('aria,  wherein  was  an  acrolirhau  - 

god.     And  from  Trebellius  Pollio  we  learn  that  Cal- 
purnia  set  up  an  acrolithan  statue  of  Venus,  which  w  i 
ACRO  NYCAI..  or  \«  IllMiNVCIl  M..     (Gr.  dxooc.  and 
i't.)    A  star  or  planet  is  said  to  be  acronycal  when 
it  is  opposite  to  the  Bun,  0  e  meridian  at  mid- 

night   It  rises  acronycally,  when  it  rises  as  the  sun 

acronycally,  when  it  sets  as  the  sun  rises.    The 
Greek  poets  designated  thi  positions  of  a  star, 

at  its  risiiiir  or  setting,  with  respect  to  the  sun. : 

lii-nl.  and  heliacal;  and  thereby  indicatei 
a  rude  way,  the  position  of  the  sun  in  the  ecliptic,  01 
vear. 
ACROPCDIUM.    (Gr.  d/coos.  and  irovs,foot.)    In  Zoo- 

■   foot. 

ACRO'PO!  tj,  and  iro\tc.  city.)    The  upper 

town  or  citadel  of  a  Grecian  city.  It  was  usually  the  site 
of  the  o i'-  «en  by  the  colonists 

for  its  natural  strength.  The  most  celebrated  were  those 
of  Athens.  Corinth,  and  Ithome:  the  two  latter  of  which 
the  horns  of  the  Peloponnesus,  as  if  their 
to  insure  the  submission  of  the 
whole  peninsi 

A'CROSPIRE.  (Gr.  dicaoc,  and  o-ntipa,  a  curved  line.) 
When  seeds  beL'in  to  grow,  the  part  of  the  germ  w  hich  af- 
terwards pro.  lu  id  shoots  forth  in  the  form  of  a 
delicate  curved  fibre,  and,  gradually  bursting  the  outer 
covering,  makes  its  appearance  at  the  end  of  the  seed. 
Maltsters,  especially,  call  this  the  acrospire  of  barley. 

ACRO'STIC,  or  ACROSTICH.  (Gr.  anno;,  and  'orixos, 
rank.)  A  composition  in  verse  or  prose,  in  which 
-'  or  last  letter  of  every  line,  or  of  every  word,  read 
collectively,  form  a  name  or  a  sentence.  Great  labour  and 
ingenuity  have  been  exercised  in  inventing  varieties  of  this 
and  similar  curious  trifles.  Such,  for  example,  is  the  pen- 
tacrostic,  in  which  the  initial  letter  of  each  verse  is  re- 


ACROTARSIUM. 

peated  five  times  in  every  verse,  so  as  to  form  five  repeti- 
tions of  the  same  acrostic,  as  it  were,  in  different  columns. 

ACROTA'RSIUM.  (Gr.  dxpos,  and  raoaog,  tarsus.)  In 
Zoology,  the  upper  surface  of  the  tarsus.     (See  that  word.) 

ACROTE'RIA.  (Gr.  aKpiarr/piov,  the  extremity  of  any 
thing.)  In  Architecture,  the  pedestals,  often  without  base 
or  cornice,  which  are  placed  on  the  centre  and  sides  of 
pediments,,  and  which  are  so  placed  for  the  reception  of 
figures.  Vitruvius  gives  the  rules  for  their  dimensions. 
The  same  word  is  applicable  to  the  ridge  of  a  building. 
Bon  e  have  used  the  word  acroterion  to  signify  the  statues 
on  the  pedestals,  but  it  is  strictly  t lie  pedestals'  themselves 
only  to  which  it  is  applicable.  The  word  acroteria  is  also 
used  to  denote  the  small  pieces  of  wall  in  balustrades  be- 
tween tin"  pedestal  and  the  balusters. 

ACRY'DIUM.  (Gr.  dxois,  a  locust.')  The  name  applied 
by  Fabricius  to  a  genus  of  locusts,  characterised  by  a  cari- 
nate  thorax;  filiform  antenna?,  shorter  than  the  thorax: 
nal  palps  or  feelers. 

ACT.  In  Dramatic  literature,  a  division  of  a  drama,  sub- 
divided into  scenes.  The  Greek  dramas  of  the  old  model 
wore  naturally  divided  into  separate  portions  by  the  stasi- 
nia.  or  choric  odes,  which  occur  at  intervals,  during  which 
the  stage  was  left  to  the  sole  occupation  of  the  chorus. 
Nevertheless,  the  Grecian  writers  do  not  notice  this  divi- 
sion in  express  terms  ;  nor  do  we  know  the  origin  of  the 
famous  rule  of  Horace,  that  every  dramatic  piece  should 
be  restrained  within  the  limits  of  five  acts,  neither  more 
nor  less.  The  division  into  acts  must  be  in  greal  measure 
arbitrary,  although  rules  have  been  laid  down,  by  vari  iu  • 
writers,  to  define  the  portion  of  the  story  or  plot  which 
should  be  contained  in  each  of  them.  Thus,  Vossius  lays 
it  down  as  a  rule,  that  the  first  act  presents  the  intrigue, 
the  second  develops  it,  the  third  is  filled  with  incidents 
forming  its  knot  or  complication,  the  fourth  prepares  the 
means  of  unravelling  it,  which  is  finally  accomplished  in 
the  fifth.     (See  Drama.) 

Act.  In  the  Universities,  an  exercise  performed  by  stu- 
dents before  they  are  admitted  to  degrees.  The  student 
proposes  certain  questions  to  the  presiding  officer  of  the 
schools,  who  then  nominates  other  students  to  oppose  him. 
The  discussion  is  syllogistical  and  in  Latin,  and  terminates 
by  the  presiding  otlicer  questioning  the  respondent,  or  per- 
son who  is  said  to  keep  the  act,  and  his  opponents,  and  dis- 
missing them  with  some  remarks  upon  their  respective 
merits. 

ACT  OF  PARLIAMENT.     (See  Statute.) 

A'CTA  DIURNA,  daily  proceedings.  Among  the  various 
important  improvements  effected  by  Julius  t'a-sar  may  be 
ranked  that  of  his  furnishing  the  Romans  with  a  species  of 
newspaper.  He  was  the  first  to  order  that  the  acta  dim  na 
of  the  senate  and  the  people  should  be  drawn  up  in  a  regu- 
lar form  and  published.  This  publication  must  conse- 
quently have,  in  many  important  respects,  closely  resem- 
bled a  modern  newspaner. — (Sueton.  in  Ca?s.  cap.  20.) 

A'CTA  ERUD1TORUM.  The  title  of  a  celebrated  lite- 
rary and  scientific  journal,  which  was  commenced  at  Leip- 
zig,' in  168'^,  by  professor  Mencke,  of  that  university.  The 
last  volume  was  that  for  17/ 1 "■ . 

A'CTIAN  GAMES.  (Lat.  Ludi  Actiaci.)  Games  cele- 
brated in  antiquity  at  Actium  in  honour  of  Apollo,  hence 
surnamed  Actius.  The  temple  of  the  god  was  repaired, 
and  the  games  restored  and  celebrated  with  increased 
splendour  by  Augustus,  in  memory  of  his  victory  over 
Mark  Antony  olT  Actium. 

ACTI'NIA  (Gr.  dicrtv,  aray.)  A  genus  of  polypi  with 
very  nu  nerous  tentacles,  which  extend,  like  rays,  from  the 
circumference  of  the  mouth.  They  are  amongst  the  most 
highly  organised  of  the  class,  having  the  alimentary  sac  dis- 
tinct from  the  parietes  of  the  body;  feeding  on'shellfish 
and  other  marine  animals,  which  they  draw  into  their 
mouth  with  their  tentacula?,  and  in  a  short  time  rejecting, 
through  the  same  aperture,  the  shells  and  indigestible  pans. 
They  are  of  a  soft  gelatinous  texture,  and  they  assume 
various  forms  when  the  tentacles  are  all  expanded,  bav- 
ins the  appearance  of  full-blown  many-petalled  flowers; 
whence  thev  are  called  "sea  anemones,"  "sea  sunflow- 
ers," &c.    (Phil.  Trans,  Ixiii.  p.  361.) 

ACTI'NOCA'MAX  (Gr.  dtcrw,  a  ray,  Kapa?,  a  pale.) 
A  name  applied  by  Miller  to  the  t'ossil  shells  of  an  extinct 
genus  of  Cephalopodous  Molluscs,  apparently  connecting 
the  Belemnites  with  the  existing  Sepia.  The  remains  of 
the  Actinocamax  appear,  as  yet,  to  be  peculiar  to  the  chalk 
formations  of  Ensbnd  and  Normandy 

ACTI'NOCRI'NITES.  (Gr.  dKTiv,  a  ray.  Kpivov,  a  lily.) 
The  name  of  a  subgenus  of  extinct  Crinoidean  radiated  ani- 
mals, or  Encrinites,  characterized  by  the  numerous  rows 
of  angular  plates,  which,  being  articulated  by  their  margins, 
constitute  the  bodv. 

ACTI'NOLITE."  (Gr.  dKTiv,  a  ray,  and  Aifloj,  sto?ie.) 
A  variety  of  hornblende,  which  usually  occurs  in  fascicular 
crystals. 

ACTINO'METER.  (Gr.  dKTiv,  and  fitrpov,  measure.) 
An  instrument  invented  by  Sir  John  Herschel  for  mea- 
12 


ACTOR. 

suring  the  intensity  of  lie  sun's  rays.  (See  Photo- 
meter.) 

A'CTION.  (Lat.  ago,  I  act.)  In  Painting  and  Sculpture, 
the  state  of  the  subject  as  imagined  in  the  artist's  mind  at 
the  moment  chosen  for  representation.  It  must  not  be 
confounded  with  motion,  which  relates  to  the  mobility  of 
a  single  figure.  Action  must  be  true,  sin  pie,  natural,  and 
connected  ;  and-its  unity  must  be  preserved,  or  the  action 
is  weakened, 

Action.  In  the  Military  Art,  an  engagement  or  battle 
between  opposing  forces;  hence  partial  actions,  general 
actions,  occ. 

Action.  In  Oratory,  the  accommodating  or  suiting  of 
the  countenance,  voice,  and  gesture  of  the  speaker  to  the 
matter  to  be  spoken  or  delivered.  This  seriuo  corporis,  as 
Cicero  calls  it,  has  always  been  regarded  as  a  most  import- 
ant part  of  oratory.  The  ancient  masters  laid  the  greatest 
stress  upon  it.  Demosthenes  said  that  action  was  "the 
beginning,  the  middle,  and  the  end  of  the  orator's  office ," 
and  Cicero  admits,  that  ••  u-hat  an  orator  says  is  not  of  so 
much  importance  as  bow  he  says  it."  Han  let's  advice  to 
the  players  should  be  kept  in  mind  by  those  who  desire  to 
excel  in  this  art. 

Action.  In  Poetry,  an  event  either  real  or  imaginary, 
forming  the  subject  of  an  epic  poem  or  play,  ic.  Thus 
the  wrath  of  Achilles  forms  the  action  or  subject  of  the 
Iliad,  the  wanderings  of  iEneas  the  action  or  subject  of  the 
JEneii,  <Scc. 

Action,  hi  the  Stock  Market  in  Paris,  and  other  places 
in  France,  action  is  the  name  given  to  a  share  of  the  capi- 
tal stock  of  a  joint  stock  con  pany. 

Action.  In  Mechanics,  denotes  sometimes  the  effort 
which  a  body  or  power  exerts  against  another  body,  some- 
times  the  effect  or  motion  resulting  from  such  effort.  Me- 
chanical action  is  exerted  either  by  percussion  or  by  pres- 
sure ;  in  the  former  case  the  effect  is  instantaneous,  in  the 
kuter  it  is  continued.  In  all  cases  of  mechanical  action, 
the  effect  of  the  acting  body  is  resisted  in  an  equal  degree 
by  the  inertia  of  the  body  acted  upon,  which  resistance  is 
termed  reaction  ;  and  it  is  an  axiom  in  mechanics,  that  ac- 
tion and  reaction  are  always  equal,  and  exerted  in  opposite 
directions.  Thus,  in  driving  a  nail  with  a  hammer,  the 
stroke  act?  against  the  face  of  the  hammer  exactly  with  the 
same  energy  as  against  the  head  of  the  nail ;  and  in  press- 
ing the  hand  against  a  stone,  the  pressure  on  the  hand  and 
on  the  stone  is  precisely  the  san  e. 

A'CTIONS,  in  Law,  are  real,  personal,  or  mixed.  Ac- 
tions, real  or  mixed,  for  the  recovery  of  real  property,  are 
vi  ry  numerous,  but  so  prolix  and  difficult  that  they  are  al- 
most wholly  abandoned  as  a  means  of  obtaining  justice, 
and  questions  relating  to  title  to  land  are  now  tried  by  the 
simple  form  of  ejectment.  The  only  case  in  which  they 
have  been  resorted  to,  of  late  years,  has  been  when,  from 
the  shorter  period  to  which  the  action  of  ejectment  was 
limited  (see  Limitations),  a  right  survh  ed  for  the  purpose 
of  the  former,  which  was  barred  as  to  the  latter.  But  the 
recent  acts  on  this  subject  have  much  reduced  the  distinc- 
tion. Actions  in  common  u>e,  i.  e.  personal  actions,  are 
also  divided  into  actions  of  contract  and  actions  of  tort,  and 
into  local  and  transitory,  in  the  former  of  which  the  place 
or  county  where  the  cause  of  the  action  arose  must  be  ac- 
curately alleged,  for  the  purpose  of  the  trial  taking  place 
there.  This  allegation  is  termed  the  Venue  of  the  action, 
from  the  Norman-French  tnsne,  vicineturo,  neighbourhood, 
because  the  jury  impanelled  to  try  an  action  came  origi- 
nally from  the  neighbourhood.  In  the  latter  it  is  immate- 
rial. Actions  of  tort  to  the  person,  and  all  actions  of  con- 
tract, are  generally  transitory,  but  under  certain  circum- 
stances the  laiter  may  be  local. 

ACTI'VITY.  Thevirtueor  faculty  of  acting.  The  term 
is  used  in  physics  to  denote  the  promptitude  of  the  action 
of  one  body  on  another.  Thus  we  speak  of  the  activity  of 
an  acid,  of  poisons,  of  the  electric  fluid.  Arc. 

Sphere  of  activity,  the  space  within  which  the  action  of 
a  body  (of  a  magnet,  for  example)  produces  any  sensible 
effect. 

A'CTOR,  ACTRESS.  In  the  flourishing  period  of  the 
early  Greek  drama,  so  long  as  a  certain  remnant  of  reli- 
gious solemnity  was  attached  to  it,  there  was  no  degrada- 
tion in  the  character  of  an  actor :  in  fact,  the  parts  of  the 
chorus  were  often  filled  by  volunteer  performers  of  birth 
and  station.  But  when  the  dramatic  performers  began  to 
form  a  profession  apart,  they  appear  soon  to  have  been  re- 
garded with  disrespect.  In  Rome,  the  first  actors  were 
buffoons  (known  by  the  Tuscan  name  of  histriones),  who 
enacted  the  grotesque  farces  imported  from  Etruria,  and 
the  qualification  of  actor  was  among  the  most  dishonour- 
able in  the  period  of  the  republic;  and  no  circumstance 
was  considered  to  indicate  more  decisively  the  intention  of 
Nero  to  decrade  and  subject  all  classes  in  the  state,  than 
his  having  persuaded  a  Roman  knight,  Laberius,  to  appear 
on  the  stage  in  the  performance  of  one  of  his  own  mimi. 
Under  the  dissolute  reigns  of  the  first  emperors,  especially 
Nero,  much  favour  and  countenance  was  shown  to  actors. 


ACTS  OP  SEDERUNT. 

Nero  was,  however,  obliged  at  last  to  banish  the  pantomimi, 
the  must  popular  species  of  actors,  entirely  from  Italy,  to- 
gether with  their  performances,  in  consequence  of  the 
Btrong  party  spirit  which  was  excited  about  them.  (Sue- 
ton.  Nero.  c.  10.)  It  seems  from  Tacitus,  that  they  were 
soon  afterwards  restored:  again  banished  by  Domitian ; 
restored  by  Nerva,  and  finally  expelled  by  Trajan  ;  but,  by 
the  time  oi  the  i  •^■i  of  the  last-mentioned  emperor,  the 
dramatic  stage  was  nearly  abandoned,  and  its  place  wholly 
occupied  by  gladiatorial  shows  and  other  pageants  In 
England,  the  first  actors  were  the  servants  of  great 
who    I  for  their  diversion;    and    when    I 

theatrical    companies   ware    formed,  they  were 

tbit  of  putting  themselves  under  the  protection  of 
distinguished  personages;  the  companies  of  the  gi 
theatres,  as  is  well  known,  retain  the  custom  of  calling 
then  -  of  ill.-;  Majesty.    Actresses  wi 

known  on  the  Enj  1  some  time  after  the  Res- 

toration: all  lough  lality  had  frequently,  tinder 

James  uLd  Charles  i.,  perforn  ed  parts  in  masqucs&c. 
K  j  naston  wasthelasl  celebrated  male  performer  of  female 
parts.    A  singular  notice  of  him  will  be  found  in  Pebys's 
Memoirs.    In  Roman  Catholic  countries,  actors,  ewn  to 
this  time,  .ire  under  the  ecclesiastical  restriction  of  excom- 
munication    (Set   Drama.) 
ACTIVE  MOLEC1  LES.     (See  Molecules.) 
ACTS  OF  SEDERUNT.    (Scotch  law.)    B 
by  the  Lordi  ting  in  judgment,  by  virtu 

b  acl  of  parliament,  passed  in  1640,  empowering 
(hem  to  make  such  constitutions  as  they  may  think  expe- 
dient for  ordering  the  procedure  and  forms  of  administer. 
iiiL'  jue 

A'CTUARY.  Originally  a  public  officer  in  the  Roman 
courts  of  justii  •  .  who  -  rew  up  writings,  contracts,  &c.,  in 
the  presence  of  the  magistrate;  whence  his  name,  from 
actus,  nt.    The  clerk  who  registered  Lb< 

and  constitutions  of  the  convocation,  in  the  assen 
thai  body,  was  termi  I  rr.    The  managing  ifficer 

of  an  insurance  company  i    usually  termed  in  Engisn  I  an 

ACT  'l.i:  \  i  i  .    (Lata  >,  aprielde.)  In  Botany, any 

thing  cohered  with  prickles;  thai  is.  with  sharp  promi- 
nences which  originate  in  the  cellular  system  an  l  b  i 
connection  with  wo 

ACU'LEATES.    in  Zoology,  a  tribe  of  hymenopterous 
.  m  which  the  femali  -  and  m  ub  i  -  are  pn  vided 
with  a  Bting,  generally  concealed  within  the 
of  the  abdomen 

ACU'MINATE.    (Lat  acumen,  the  paint  of  am  thing.) 
When  a  leaf  or  any  other  body  is  very  much 
point;  it  is  thus  distinguished  from  acute,  wind,  means! 
sharp-pointed  without  any  tapering. 

ACtrPU'NCTURATlON.     (Lat.    acus,    a  need 
punctura,  a  puncture.)    Pricking  with  a  needle.    In  the 
East  this  is  a  con  Ij   for  painful  affections  oi 

different  parts  of  the  body.    It  has  lately  been  extensively 
practised   for  the  core  of  chronic   rheumati 
and  sharp  needle  being  thrusl  into  the  affected  muicles. 

aci  "l'i;     The  oppos t  obtuse.    An  acute  kngle  la 

that  which  is  less  than  a  righl  angle  ;  an  acute-anglt  I  trian- 
gle is  one  of  which  each  of  the  angles  is  acute ;  an  acute- 
angled  cone  is  one  whose  oppoait  m  an  acute  an- 

gle at  the  vertex. 

Acute.    (Lat  acutus,  sharp  )    In  Music,  the  htig  il  or 
pitch  of  a  sound  or  tone,  in  respect  of  another.     1 
posed  to  gra\  e. 

AD  LrBITUM.  In  Music  (atpleaaure),  a  term  avplied 
to  an  accon  panimenl  which  is  nol  essential,  an.l  tijay  or 
may  not  be  performed  without  interfering  with  ;he  com- 
position. 

AD  QUOD  DAMNUM.  (Lat  to  what  damage*  I  writ 
sued  before  the  grant  of  certain  liberties  and  franchises,  as 
a  fair,  market,  Ac,  which  may  be  prejudicial  to  thl  king 
who  grants,  or  the  public ;  by  it  the  sheriff  is  difeled  to 
inquire  what  damage  may  accrue  from  the  gr  nt  in 
question. 

ADA'CTYLE.  (Gr.  4,  priv.  and  dWruAoc,  a  dgi .)  hi 
Zoology,  signifies  a  locomotive  extremity  withoutcfy  ts. 

A'DAGE.  (Lat.  adagium,  aproverb.)  (See  I'io  erb.) 
The  proverbs  of  antiquity  are  collected  by  Erasm  s  in  a 
work  entitled  Erasmi  Adagio. 

ADA'GIO  (Ital  adagio,  leisurely.)  In  Music,  th  slow- 
est of  musical  time,  grave  only  excepted.    (See  Am  ;gro.) 

ADAMANTINE  SPAR.  (Gr.  d,  without,  and  So  au,  I 
break,  or  conquer.)  A  variety  of  crystallised  al  mina, 
nearly  resembling  the  sapphire  in  composition,  and  of  ex- 
treme hardness.  The  finest  specimens  come  froi  India 
and  China.     At  Bombay  it  is  called  corundum. 

A'DAMITES.  (Theology.)  A  sect  in  the  early  ges  of 
the  Christian  church,  who  are  said  to  have  profes  ed  an 
exact  imitation  of  the  primitive  state  of  innocence.  They 
re-appeared  in  the  15th  century  in  Bohemia.  (Musi  'im,  I. 
p.  233,  Sea.) 

ADANSO'NIA.   A  remarkable  African  tree,  name  I  after 
13 


ADHESION. 

Adanson,  a  celebrated  French  botanist  and  traveller.  It  is 
called  by  the  negroes  Baobab. 

A'DAPIS.  A  name  originally  applied  by  Gesner  to  the 
Hyrax  or  coney  of  Scripture,  and  adopted  by  Cuvier  to 
.ate  another  small  pachydermatous  quadruped,  now 
extinct,  but  the  existence  and  nature  of  which  that  great 
naturalist  detected  and  deduced  from  three  fragments  of 
the  head,  which  were  discovered  in  that  immense  deposi- 
tory of  fossil  bones,  the  gypsum  quarries  of  Montmartre. 
The  dentition  of  the  Adapis  is  as  follows : — each  jaw  has 
four  trenchant  incisors;  two  conical  canine  teeth,  the  up- 
per ones  straight,  the  lower  inclined  obliquely  forwards ; 
and  apparently  fourteen  molar  teeth,  of  which  the  first  is 
trenchant,  ami  the  three  or  tour  posterior  ones,  on  each 
side,  like  the  posterior  molars  of  tin-  Anoplotheriam.  Cu- 
vier supposes  the  animal  to  have  been  about  the  size  of  a 
rabbit,  and  to  have  closely  approximated  the  Anoplotheria. 

A'DDF.K.    (See  Viper.) 

ADDITION.  In  Arithmetic.  The  operation  by  which 
a  number  is  found  equal  to  several  others  taken  together. 
It  is  the  first  of  the  four  fundamental  rules.  Addition,  in 
algebra,  is  the  uniting  or  incorporating  of  several  algebraic 
quantities  into  a  simple  or  contracted  expression. 

\  DDITIVE.  Something  to  be  added,  in  contradistinc- 
tion to  subtractive,  which  denotes  something  to  be  taken 
away.  Tie-  terms  additive  and  subtractive  are  sometimes 
applied  to  algebraic  quantities,  to  denote  those  relations  to 
other  quantities  which  are  more  commonly,  though  less 
coned  by  positive  and  negative. 

ADDU'CTOR.  (Lat.  adduce,  /  draw  towards.)  The 
adductor    muscles    a pposed    to    the   abductors;    they 

diaw  the  pans  to  which  they  are  attached,  together. 

ADE'LPHIA.  (llr.  dSctyof,  a  brother.)  A  collection  of 
stamens  Into  a  bundle,  I.innxus  employed  this  term  for 
those  plants  in  which  the  stamens,  instead  of  growing 
singly,  combine  into  one  or  more  parcels,  or  brotherhoods  ; 
thus,  mo  ladelphia  Signified  stamens  all  connected  into  Olio 

parcel,  diadelphia  into  two  pan-els,  and  so  on. 

IDE'NOSTl  'LE2E.  (Gr.  dSnv,  a  gland,  and  orvXos,  a 
column,  or  style.)  A  subdivision  of  composite  plants,  com- 
prehi  D  o,  hatris,  eupatorium,  and  some  other 

genera,  in  which  tie-  branches  of  the  style  are  covered 
with  long  glandular  hairs. 

LDE'PHAGANS.  ADEPHAGA.  (Gr.  d&riQayot,  vora- 
\  family  oi  carnivorous  and  very  voracious  cole- 
cts. 

A'lH.i'T.  (Lat  adlpiscor,  I  obtain.)  A  distinctive  term 
applied  to  those  alchemists  who  w<  re  supposed  to  have  at- 
tained I  ties,  or  to  have  dis- 
covered the  (i                     ~tone. 

ADFF/I  i  i  i>.  oi   EFFECTED    (See  the  latter  term.) 

ADHE'SION,  (Lat  adhasreo,  f  adhere,)  is  a  property  of 

matter  by  which  contiguous  parts  grow  together ; 

ana  is  one  of  the  causes  of  the  great  diversity  of  appear- 
ance In  the  organs  of  plants.  Two  opp<  site  leaves  grow 
together  and  form  apparently  one,  through  which  the  stem 
.  several  in  a  w  horl  adhere,  and  form  an  involucre ; 

a  number  of  petals  adhere,  and  thus  constitute  a  monope- 
talous  corolla;  several  stamens  adhere,  and  an  adelphia 
is  the  result;  some  carpels  contract  an  adhesion  with  one 
another,  and  form  a  compound  fruit ;  finally,  the  calyx  ad- 
to  the  aid)  s  of  the  ovary,  and  tin  n  seems  as  if  it 
mew  from  the  apex  of  it.  Irregularity  in  flowers  and  fruit 
■  -  produce, i  by  the  unequal  manner  in 
which  adhesion  takes  place  between  similar  parts;  of  the 
calyx,  two  of  the  sepals  adhere  into  one  parcel,  and  three 
into  another;  the  result  of  which  is  a  two-lipped  calyx;  the 
same  il i in<r  occurs  in  the  corolla,  and  elsew  hen-. 

Adhesion.  ( Physics.)  A  term  used  to  denote  the  force 
with  which  different  bodies  remain  attached  to  each  other, 
when  they  are  broucht  into  contact.  Adhesion  has  often 
ided  with  cohesion;  but  the  two  terms  are 
essentially  distinct  Adhesion  is  the  force  with  which  two 
bodies  of  different  kinds  cling  to  each  other  when  united  ; 
cohesion  is  that  which  unites  the  particles  of  a  homogene- 
ous body  with  each  other.  Thus,  the  particles  which  form 
a  drop  of  water  or  quicksilver  are  united  by  cohesion  ;  the 
particles  of  water  which  wet  the  surface  of  any  body  are 
united  to  it  by  adhesion. 

Adhesion  may  exist  between  two  solid  bodies,  between 
a  solid  and  a  fluid,  or  between  two  Iluid  bodies.  The  ad- 
hesion of  solid  bodies  is  exemplified  in  the  force  required 
to  separate  two  pieces  of  marble,  whose  polished  surfaces 
have  been  brought  into  contact.  The  suspension  of  water 
above  its  level  in  capillary  tubes,  or  between  two  plates  of 
glass  very  nearly  in  contact,  shows  the  adhesion  of  a  fluid 
to  a  solid  body  ;  and  an  instance  of  the  adhesion  of  two  li- 
quids is  obtained  by  covering  a  plate  of  glass  with  oil,  and 
bringing  it  into  contact  with  the  surface  of  water;  a  very 
sensible  force  is  required  to  raise  it  perpendicularly  from 
the  water. 

Dr.  Brook  Taylor  appears  to  have  been  the  first  who  un- 
dertook to  estimate  experimentally  the  force  of  adhesion  ; 
and  the  method  which  he  employed,  was  to  determine  the 


ADIANTUM. 

weight  necessary  to  separate  fir-boards  from  the  surface  of 
water.  This  method,  however,  unless  proper  precautions 
are  taken,  is  apt  to  give  inaccurate  results.  On  separating  a 
fir-board  from  water,  the  whole  surface  of  the  board  may 
be  observed  to  be  wetted  ;  that  is  to  say,  a  thin  film  of  wa- 
ter remains  attached  to  the  wood,  so  that  the  force  by 
which  the  separation  was  effected  is  not  the  force  neces- 
sary to  overcome  the  adhesion  of  the  water  to  the  board, 
but  the  cohesion  of  the  particles  of  water  to  each  other. 
This  is  fully  established  by  the  experimental  fact,  that, 
when  discs  of  different  substances  are  applied  to  a  liquid. 
by  which  they  are  perfectly  wetted,  their  adhesion  to  it  is 
the  same,  whatever  may  be  their  nature,  and  exactly  equal 
to  the  cohesive  force  of  the  fluid.  Discs  of  glass  and  discs 
of  copper  of  the  same  diameter  adhere  to  water  with  pre- 
cisely the  same  force. 

The  adhesion  of  discs  to  the  surfaces  of  liquids  is  de- 
monstrated by  Laplace  to  be  a  capillary  phenomenon,  ari- 
sing from  the  action  of  attractive  forces  which  are  sensible 
only  at  very  small  distances.  Supposing  the  diameter  of 
the  disc  to  be  known,  and  the  height  to  which  the  same 
liquid  rises  in  a  capillary  tube  of  the  same  matter,  and  of 
a  given  diameter,  Laplace  determined  from  theory  the 
force  necessary  to  detach  the  disc.  The  results  of  his  de- 
termination, applied  to  different  liquids,  as  water,  oil  of 
turpentine,  and  alcohol,  at  different  densities,  agreed  ex- 
actly with  the  numbers  found  by  M.  Gay-Lussac,  in  a  se- 
ries of  very  accurate  experiments  on  this  subject.  The 
perfect  identity  of  the  forces  producing  adhesion  and  ca- 
pillary attraction,  is  also  proved  by  the  following  experi- 
ment:—It  is  well  known  that  the  height  to  which  fluids 
rise  in  capillary  lubes  depends  on  the  angle  which  the 
fluid  makes  with  the  sides  of  the  tube.  But  the  surface  of 
mercury  covered  with  water  in  a  capillary  tube  is  exactly 
spherical ;  consequently,  the  angle  which  the  mercury 
mak<  s  witli  the  sides  of  the  tube  vanishes,  and  the  force  is 
reduced  to  zero.  If,  therefore,  adhesion  depends  on  a 
force  of  the  same  nature,  it  follows  that,  on  applying  a  disc 
of  glass  to  the  surface  of  mercury,  and  covering  them  both 
with  water,  no  force  should  be  required  to  separate  the 
disc,  excepting  what  is  necessary  to  overcome  its  weight. 
Now,  this  was  found  by  Gay-Lussac  to  be  exactly  what 
takes  place.  When  the  mercury  and  disc  were  covered 
with  water,  no  resistance  was  offered  to  their  separation  ; 
without  the  interposition  of  the  water,  a  weight  of  290  or 
even  400  grammes  was  reqniredto  overcome  the  adhesion. 
(Laplace,  Mecanique  Celeste,  tome  iv.  Biot.  Traile  de 
Physique,  tome  iv.  p.  464  ) 

The  adhesion  of  the  polished  surfaces  of  solid  bodies  is 
proportional  to  the  extent  of  the  surface,  or  to  the  number 
of  points  brought  into  contact.  It  was  formerly  believed 
that  the  resistance  to  separation  in  this  case  arises  solely 
from  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere:  but  the  difference 
of  its  amount  in  different  substances  proves  this  opinion  to 
be  erroneous ;  besides,  it  is  found  to  be  the  same  in  a  va- 
cuum.    (See  Capillary  Attraction.) 

ADIA'NTUM.  (Gr.  aSiavTos.  dry.)  A  genus  of  thin- 
leaved  ferns,  having  their  fructification  in  short  marginal 
lines.  The  leaflets  are  usually  wedge-shaped  and  placed 
upon  slender  shining  petioles.  One  of  the  species  (A.  ca- 
pillus  veneris)  was  formerly  employed  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  syrup  of  capillaire. 

ADIA'PHORITES.  (Gr.  dSicubopos.  indifferent.)  A 
name  given  to  Melancthon,  and 'the  party  that  agreed 
with  him,  in  submitting,  in  thimrs  indifferent,  to  an  impe- 
rial edict.  The  controversy  which  gave  rise  to  this  name 
had  its  origin  in  the  imposition  by  Charles  V.,  in  1548,  n( 
an  edict,  styled  the  Interim,  because  it  proposed  to  ac- 
commodate for  a  time  the  differences  of  the  papists  and 
protestants,  until  the  whole  matter  could  be  set  at  rest 
by  the  authority  of  a  council.  The  opposite  side  was 
maintained  by  Flavins  ami  the  primitive  Lutherans;  and 
in  the  debate  which  followed  there  were  two  principal 
questions  :  first,  whether  it  is  lawful  to  yield  to  the  ene- 
mies of  truth,  even  in  matters  which  are  not  of  themselves 
essential;  and,  secondly,  whether,  granting  the  affirma- 
tive, the  points  in  which  the  Interim  required  compli- 
ance, and  in  which  Melancthon  yielded  it.  are  properly 
indifferent.  Those  points  related  chiefly  to  the  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith,  in  which  Luther  and  his  genuine 
followers  went  to  a  great  extreme  :  while  Melancthon.  al- 
though ostensibly  the  head  of  the  Lutheran  church,  after 
the  death  of  the  great  Reformer,  adopted  much  more 
moderate  views.  Out  of  this  controversy  a  great  variety 
of  other  debates  were  engendered,  and  from  these  quar- 
rels many  schisms  and  divisions  among  protestants  de- 
rived their  origin. 

A'DIPOCE'RE.  (Lat.  adeps  and  cera,  fat  and  irctx.) 
A  fatty  substance  produced  by  the  decomposition  of  the 
flesh  of  animals  in  moist  situations,  or  under  water,  resem- 
bling, in  some  of  its  properties,  a  mixture  of  fat  and  wax. 

A'DIPOSE.    (Lat.  adeps,/«?)    Unctuous,  or  containing 
fat.    Adipose   membrane   is   the  cellular   membrane  in 
which  fat  is  deposited. 
14 


ADMIRAL. 

A'DIT.  (Lat.  adeo,  I  approach.)  A  horizontal  shaft  or 
passage  in  a  mine,  either  for  access,  or  carrying  off'  water. 

ADJA'CENT  ANGLE  In  Geometry,  an  angle  im- 
mediately contiguous  to  another,  so  that  one  side  is  com- 
mon to  both  angles.  It  is  more  particularly  used  when  the 
two  angles,  besides  having  a  common  side,  have  their 
other  sides  in  the  same  straight  line.  In  this  case,  the  ad- 
jacent angle  is  the  same  as  the  supplemental  angle. 

A'DJECTIVE.  (Lat.  ad,  to,  and  jaceo,  Hie.)  In  Gram- 
mar, that  part  of  speech  which  is  annexed  to  substan- 
tatives,  to  define  more  accurately  the  conceptions  intended 
to  be  denoted  by  them.     (See  Grammar.) 

ADJECTIVE  COLOURS.  Colours  which  require  to  be 
fixed  by  some  base  or  mordant,  in  order  to  be  applied  as 
permanent  dye-stuffs. 

ADJOURNMENT,  in  Parliamentary  language,  means  a 
postponement  of  the  sittings  or  proceedings  oi  either 
Hotse  of  Parliament  from  one  time  to  another  specified 
for  its  re-assembling.  Adjournment  differs  from  proroga- 
tion in  this,  that  the  latter  is  an  act  of  royal  authority, 
whereas  the  power  of  adjournment  is  vested  in  each 
house  respectively,  no  definite  limits  being  prescribed  to 
it  b\  the  ci institution.     (See  Prorogation.) 

ADJUDICATION.  In  Scottish  Law.  the  diligence  (i.  e. 
proaess)  by  which  land  is  attached  as  security  for  payment 
of  debt.  Adjudication  for  debt  is  a  species  of  mortgage, 
redeemable,  except  in  the  cases  of  what  are  termed  gene- 
ral adjudications,  or  adjudications  contra  ha5reditatem 
jacetilem. 

ALJU'STMENT.  In  Marine  Insurance,  the  settlement 
of  a  loss  incurred  by  the  insured. 

A'DJUTANT.  A  military  officer,  attached  to  every  re- 
gimast,  who  relieves  the  major  of  part  of  his  duty,  and 
performs  it  in  his  absence. 

A'DJUTANT-GENERAL.  A  staff  officer,  who  is  to  the 
arm!  what  the  adjutant  is  to  a  regiment.  He  assists  the 
ind  distributes  his  orders. 

A'DJUTANT-GENERAL  OF  THE  JESUITS.  A  title 
give!    to  certain  fathers  who  resided  with  the  general  of 

ADJUVANT.  (Lat,  adjuvare,  to  help.)  In  Medicine, 
a  su  'Stance  which  assists  and  promotes  the  operation  of 
others. 

ADMINISTRATION.  (In  Law.)  If  a  person  die  intes- 
tate as  to  his  personalty,  letters  of  administration  are  grant- 
ed by  the  ordinary  (see  Law,  tit.  Ecclesiastical  Courts) 
to  sueh  person  as  is  pointed  out  by  the  statutes  31  E.  3., 
and  '4  H.  8.  These  empower  the  ordinary  to  grant  these 
letters  to  the  widow,  if  there  be  one,  or  next  of  kin,  at  his 
Ion.  Of  persons  equally  near  in  degree,  the  ordina- 
ry mat  grant  to  which  he  please.  If  none  of  the  kindred 
take  out  administration,  a  creditor  may  do  it.  When  the 
will  is  made  without  the  nomination  of  any  executor,  the 
ordinary  grants  administration  cum  testamento  annexo. 
Where  a  person  dies  intestate,  his  personal  property  de- 
scend! (subject  to  his  debts)  as  directed  by  the  statute  of 
Distribution's.  22  <fc  23  C.  2.  c.  10.,  explained  by  29  C.  2.  c. 
30.  Qie-third  goes  to  the  widow;  the  residue  in  equal 
proportions  to  the  children,  or,  if  they  are  dead,  to  their 
representatives,  i.  e.  their  lineal  descendants.  If  there  are 
none  of  these,  then  the  widow  takes  a  moiety,  and  the 
next  cf  kin  in  equal  degree,  and  their  representatives 
•  ■  other;  if  there  be  no  widow,  they  take  the  whole. 
But  ofrepresentatives  none  are  admitted  among  collaterals 
farthel  than  the  children  of  the  intestate's  brothers  and 
sisters  The  order  of  nearness  of  kin,  with  reference  to 
the  listr.bution  of  intestates' estates,  is  thus  arranged  ac- 
cording to  the  rules  of  the  civil  law — children,  parents, 
brqtiera  grandfathers,  uncles  or  nephews  (and  the  females 
of  etch  (lass  respectively),  and,  lastly,  cousins. 

Aimimstration.  (Lat,  administrate,  eare  of  an  affair.) 
In  it;  general  sense  means  the  conduct  or  management  of 
any  ttfair ;  but  in  this  country  the  term  is  usually  applied 
to  tie  flianagement  of  the  public  or  national  affairs  by 
the  fovernment,  which  is  thence  called  the  Administration. 

AOMIRAL.  A  great  naval  officer,  who  has  the  same 
powlr  and  authority  over  t'le  maritime  forces  of  a  state 
that  i  general  has  over  its  land  forces ;  and  who  also  tries 
himself Jor  appoints  officers  to  try,  maritime  cases.  There 
are  ihrde  ranks  of  Admirals,  the  Admiral  (or  full  Ad- 
mira),  Tice  Admiral,  and  Rear  Admiral.  Each  of  these 
agairhas  three  gradations,  of  red,  white,  and  blue,  the  co- 
loursofthe  flags  they  bear.  The  Admiral  carries  his  flag 
at  tin  main,  the  Vice'  at  the  fore,  and  the  Rear  at  the  mizen 
mast 

Adiiral,  Lord  High.  The  ninth  great  officer  of  state 
in  Eigland.  The  office  has  been  usually  given,  at  least 
sincethe  reign  of  Henry  IV.,  to  some  of  the  king's  young- 
est sins,  near  kinsmen,  or  of  the  higher  nobility.  Since 
the  rign  of  Charles  II.  it  has  been,  with  occasional  excep- 
tions always  in  commission,  and  the  commissioners  are 
stylel  'Lords  of  the  Admiralty.'  It  was  held  by  the  late 
soveieign  William  IV.,  when  Duke  of  Clarence,  from  1827 
to  th>  following  vear. 


ADMIRALTY. 

A'DMIRALTY.  the  Board  of  Commissioners  for  execu- 
te office  of  Lord  High  Admiral,  and  having  authority 
over  navel  affairs  generally. 

rrRALTT,  Court  of.     In  Law.  is  a  court  of  record,  of 
which  the  proceedings  are  carried  on,  at  least  to  a  certain 
.  according  to  the  course  of  the  civil  law  :  although, 
may  have  in  some  cases  the  assistance  of  a 
jury,  it  has  also  "a  resemblance  to  the  courts  of  common 
law.     I:  has  jurisdiction  principally  for  the  determination 
of  private  injuries  to  private  rights  arising  at  sea,  or  inti- 
mately connected  with  maritime  subjects  ;  and  in  most  ca- 
ses, to  which  its  authority  extends,  it  lias  concurrent  juris- 
diction, either  with  the  common  law  courts,  or  those  of 
Suits  may  be  instituted  in  this  court  for  assault 
and  battery  at  sea;  for  collision  of  ships;  for  the  restitu- 
tion "f  goods  piratically  taken  not  under  colour  of  war.    It 
has  also  an  equitable  jurisdiction  between  part  owners  of 
a  ship.    It  adjudicates  in  suits  for  mariners'  wages,  and  for 
pilotage.    It  has  a  peculiar  jurisdiction  in  cases  of  bottomry 
bonds,  and  other  deeds  in  the  nature  of  a  mortgage  of  the 
ship;  having  an  exclusive  power  to  grant  warrants  to  ar- 
rest the  ship  itself.    It  has  also  jurisdiction  in  cases  of  sal- 
ind  incidentally  of  wreck. 

The  prize  court,  which  decides  prize  causes  in  time  of 
war,  is  a  separate  tribunal,  although  usually  presided  over 
by  the  same  judge  as  thai  of  admiralty.  To  that  able  and 
philosophical  jurist,  Sir  W.  Scott  (Lord  Stowell),  who  sat 
in  ih.sc  courts  (as  well  as  the  ecclesiastical)  for  many 
years  during  the  late  war,  and  after  its  close,  the  country 
is  indebted,  not  only  for  the  high  character  and  value  of 
these  tribunals,  but  also  for  the  lighl  thrown  on  the  difficult 
and  important  questions  of  national  law.  by  the  most  pro- 
found and  lucid  decisions  ever  applied  to  that  si 

A'DNATE.  (Lai  adnascor,  J  grow  to  any  thins.)  Is 
said  when  one  organ  grows  to  the  lace  of  another,  and  not 
to  its  apex,  in  which  ins,,  ii  would  ho  innate.  This  term 
is  chit  f  in  speaking  of  anthi 

ADO'NIS.     hi   Mytholo  ttful   youth,  son   of 

.  king  ol  Cyp  a  \   mis.  ami  killed  by 

a  wild  boar,  to  tl  e  gre  it  n  pri  t  of  th<  -.  also, 

(he  name  of  a  river  of  Phoenicia the  banks  of  which 

Adonis,  orThammuz.  as  he  is  called  I  IS  sup- 

posed to  have  been  killed,    ai  certain  Beasons  01  the  y<  "' 
this  river  acquires  a  high  red  colour,  by  the  rains  washing 

Up  panicles  of  red  earth.     The 

to  a  sympathy  in  the  rher  for  the  death  •■!  Adonis.     This 
ii  was  obsen  cent  country. 

ilati,  Lexicon  :  Cahnet, Dictionnaire  de  In  Bible,  art. 
Thammuz.)    Milton  has  beautifully  alluded  to  thfet 
cumstances : — 


■  Thammuz  came  next  nr-liinH, 
I  wound  in  Lebanon  allured 
m  his  fate 


Til.:  -Ill 

mis  ilittii's  all  a  lumiDer'a  day  : 

While  I Ill  AdonU  from  lii*  native 

Ran  purple  lo  the  *ca  :  lupi 1  with  Mood 

Of  Thammuz  yearly  wound,  J." 

Pared.  Lost,  I.  t    1  !"> 

ADO'NIC.  <(.'r.  :A<5ojvtc,  Adonis.)  A  species  ol 
consisting  of  a  dactyle  and  a  spondee  ;  as  in  Horace,  lib.  I. 
Od.  ii.  v.  .">.  '/'<  rruxi  urbem.  were  mantes.  Ac.  It  was  in- 
d  by  Sappho,  and  derived  its  name  from  being  prin- 
cipally sung  at  the  festivals  in  memory  of  Adonis.  (Fac- 
ciolati.  Lent 

ADO'PTER.  A  vessel  with  two  necks  placed  between 
a  retort  an.!  a  receiver,  serving  to  increase  the  length  of 
the  neck  of  the  former. 

ADoTTlov     (Lai  )    In  the  Civil  Law, 

signifies  the  admission  of  a  stranger  to  the  rights  ami  privi- 
leges of  a  son.  Adoption  was  a  common  custom  among 
tin-  Romans,  by  whose  law  a  relation,  nearly  resembling 
that  of  master  and  slave,  was  constituted  between  father 
and  son;  so  that  a  child,  adopted  from  one  family  into 
another,  passed,  in  effect,  from  the  [lower  of  his  parent  to 
that  of  his  adopter.  Adoption  is  said,  in  Justinian's  insti- 
tutes, to  be  of  two  sorts:  the  one,  also  called  arrogation, 
where  a  person,  independent  of  parental  control,  is  adopt- 
ed into  a  family  by  virtue  of  an  imperial  rescript ;  the 
other,  where,  by  the  authority  of  a  magistrate,  a  child 
passes  from  one  family  to  another.  Hut  unless  the  adopt- 
er  possessed  a  certain  right  by  blood  over  the  p 
adopted  (as  a  grandfather),  the  parental  powerof  the  father 
was  not  extinguished.  Adoption  exists  in  the  jurispru- 
dence of  various  countries,  where  derived  from  the  civil 
law  ;  as  in  the  German  states  and  in  France  :  in  the  latter 
country,  the  person  adopting  must  be  one  having  neither 
children  nor  other  legitimate  descendants. 

A'DR.VGANT.     Gum  Tragacanth. 

ADKI'FT.  Not  fastened ;  as  a  ship  that  has  parted  from 
her  anchor,  a  boat  that  has  broke  from  her  ship,  a  aun  from 
the  ship's  side,  <Scc 

A'DVENT.     (Lat  advenio,  I  approach.)    The  holy  sea- 
son, comprising  four  Sundays  before  Christmas.     It  begins 
on  St.  Andrew's  day,  the  30th  of  November,  or  on  the  Sun- 
15 


ADULTERY. 

day  next  before  or  after  it,  according  to  the  day  of  the 
week  on  which  the  25th  of  December  falls. 

ADYEVITTIOIS.  (Lat.  adventitius,  extraordinary.) 
In  Botany,  when  any  thing  appears  out  of  the  ordinary 
course  of  nature:  it"  a  bud  appears  where  buds  do  not 
usually  appear,  it  is  adventitious.  This  term  must  not  be 
confounded  with  abnormal,  which  is  used  when  any  thing 
u  '"/out  of  the  ordinary  course. 

A'DVERLt.  A  word  annexed  to  an  adjective  orverb.  to 
define  more  closely  the  modifications  of  the  quality  or  ac- 
tion denoted.     See  Grammar. 

ADYE'RSA.  A  medallic  term,  applied  to  two  heads 
facing  eacti  other. 

\  l)\  ERSE.  (Lat.  ad.  to,  and  verto,  I  turn.)  hi  Bota- 
ny, haves  are  so  called  when  they  present  their  under 
surface  to  the  sun. 

ADVERTISEMENT.     (Lat.  adverto.  /  attend  to.)    In 
its  general  sense,  means  any  information  as  to  any  fact  or 
circumstance.     But  it  is  more  particularly  used  to  d 
nate  notices  made  by  competent  authority  in  the  daily  pa- 

.  •!  otherwise,  of  events  of  local  or  general  inti 
as  the  publication  of  new  books,  -  iti  s  and  pro- 

duce, meetings  of  creditors,  formation  and  dissolution  of 
partnerships,  &c.  Such  notices,  when  inserted  in  the  ga- 
zette, or  m  newspapers  and  literary  works  published  in 
numbers,  in  England,  pay  a  duty  of  Is.  6d.  each  for  each 
time  of  insertion. 

Alt!  I, ARIA.  A  resplendent  crystallised  felspar,  of  a 
pearly  lustre.  The  finest  specimens  came  from  Adula.  at 
the  summit  of  St  Gothard. 

ADTJ'LT.  (I. at.  adnltus,  grown  vp.)  In  its  general 
sense  n  means  any  thing  grown  up.  or  arrived  at  maturity. 
It  is  that  period  Of  human  life  that  extends  from  youth  to 

M>1  T.TERV.  (Lat.  adulterium,  a  word  of  very  un- 
certain derivation. )  The  .sin  of  incontinence  committed 
by  a  married  person :  adultery  between  two  married  per- 
sons  is  termed  doubU  by  some  jurists.  By  the  lav.  of  Mo- 
ses, adultery  was  punished  by  death,  Lev.  xx.  10.,  Dent 
xxh.  22  js  in  Proverbs  (c.  vi.)  and  E 

-   lo  (prove  nut  the  law  was  observed  in  t : 

pectdown  to  the  overthrow  of  the  Jewish  monarchy  .  as 
we  know  it  to  have  been  in  the  time  of  our  Saviour.  The 
mode  of  punishment  was  by  stoning  ;  but  it  is  observable 
that  tins  mode  is  not  ordained  in  Deuteronomy,  as  it  is  for 
various  other  offences.  The  test  or  ordeal  of  adultery  is 
detailed  in  Numbers  v.  11—31.  1  icier  the  Grecian  and 
Roman  republics  adultery  was  variously  treated:  but  the 
celebrated  Lex  Julia  de  Adulterio,  under  Augustas,  pun- 
ished it  witn  banishment  (deportatio  vel  relegatio),  Tacit 
lib.  ii.  Annal.  It  was  not  until  the  reign  of  ( 
when  some  tincture  of  Judaism  had  been  introduced  into 
the  state  along  with  the  establishment  of  Christianity,  that 
the  punishment  of  death  was  formally  enacted  for  it.'  This 
penalty  was  again  mitigated  under  Leo  and  Mareian  ;  and 
by  the  laws  of  Justinian  the  adulterer  was  punishabl. 
death,  the  adultress  with  flagellation,  imprisonment.  .V  c 
But  about  the  same  period,  the  gradual  increase  of  episco- 
pal authority  in  civil  -  to  have  drawn  cril 
incontinence  almost  wholly  within  the  cognizance 

astical  courts;  and  the  canons  contain  avarii 
directions  on  the  subject  of  adultery.     On  the  other  hand, 
the  jurisprudence  of  the  Northern  nations,  which  visited 

this  as  well  as  other  crimes  of  freemen  with  very  hi' 
verity,  as  mere  offences  against  individuals,  reduci 
penalty  in  most  of  the  Western  kingdoms  to  a  mere  pecu- 
niary one.   sometimes  attended    with    public   disgrace   or 

corporal  punishment    The  customs  of  the  several  French 
provinces  contain  a  great  variety  of  penalties 
Castelnaudari,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  the  fine  for  adul- 
tery was  fixed  at  ••five  sous  only !"    Such  penalties,  of 

course,  fell  rapidly  into  disuse  :  and  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury we  find  it  observed  by  a  French  civilian  (quoted  by 
Thuanus),  that  ••  it  was  never  heard  that  any  body  had 
been  punished  for  adultery  in  France."  This  observation 
ted  by  the  historian  when  relating  an  event  which 
d  great  sensation  at  the  time,  namely,  the  capital 
punishment  at  Orleans  of  two  offenders  by  St  I  J  r.  : 
vernor,  a  rigid  Calvinist  The  protestants  of  that  sect,  in 
France  as  well  as  in  Scotland  and  England,  made  i*  then- 
endeavour  to  introduce  primitive  severity  of  manners  by 
severity  of  punishment.  De  Thou,  the  father,  appears  al- 
so to  have  made  some  efforts  toward  putting  in  force  the 
laws  against  adultery :  but  from  the  time  of  the  religious 
wars,  penal  cognizance  of  adultery  may  be  said  to  have 
nearly  ceased  in  France,  although  "by  various  arrets  (1637, 
1701.  <kc),  besides  the  civil  consequences  of  an  action  of 
adultery'  by  husband  against  wife,  the  latter  might  be  con- 
demned to  seclusion  in  a  house  of  correction  for  two 
years,  or  more.  In  Geneva.  Strasbourg,  and  other  plat  es 
where  the  reformed  religion  prevailed,  a  temporary 
strictness  of  law  was  introduced  about  the  same  period, 
but  with  little  permanent  effect.  In  England,  by  the  old 
common  law,  mutilation  was  the  punishment  of  tin's  as 


ADVOCATE. 

well  as  other  offences;  but  under  the  Plantagenets  it  be- 
came matter  of  ecclesiastical  cognizance  (except  so  far  as 
civil  consequences  were  concerned),  and  visited  only  by  the 
spiritual  censure  of  the  church.  "  The  rules  of  the  canon 
law,"  says  a  recent  writer,  "have  manifested  an  indul- 
gence towards  this  offence  which  is  chiefly  to  be  accounted 
for  by  reference  to  the  constrained  celibacy  of  its  early 
compilers."  But  in  1650  the  puritans,  under  Cromwell, 
succeeded  in  obtaining  an  ordinance  by  which  adultery,  as 
well  as  simple  fornication,  was  made  felony,  without  bene- 
fit of  clergy ;  an  absurd  decree,  which  was  soon  repealed. 
In  1694,  and  again  in  1801,  the  subject  of  adultery  and  di- 
vorce was  discussed  at  length  in  parliament,  but  without 
producing  any  enactment.  (See  Tebbs's  Essay  on  the 
Scriptural  Doctrines  of  Adultery  and  Divorce,  and  on  the 
Criminal  Character  and  Punishment  of  Adultery,  8vo., 
Lond.  1822.)  For  the  civil  consequences  of  Adultery,  see 
Marriage,  law  of. 

A'DVOCATE.  (Lat.  advocatus,  he  who  is  called  in  to 
plead  in  a  court  of  law  the  cause  of  another.)  The  original 
pleaders  of  causes  at  Rome  were  the  patricians,  who  de- 
fended gratuitously  their  clients  ;  but  even  before  the 
dmvnfal  of  the  republic,  the  class  had  degenerated  into  a 
profession,  its  members  receiving  rewards  for  their  ser- 
vices, although  still  among  the  most  honorable  of  employ- 
ments. But  from  the  original  gratuitous  character  of  ad- 
vocates, arose  the  peculiar  custom  by  which,  among  our- 
selves, the  fees  of  barristers  are  still  regarded  as  honorary, 
and  cannot  be  recovered  at  law.  In  the  later  ages  of  the 
empire  the  advocati  appear  to  have  formed  a  distinct  class 
from  the  jurisconsulti,  or  chamber-counsel,  and  to  have 
much  declined  in  reputation.  In  France  the  avocats,  or 
counsel,  form  a  separate  order,  of  which  each  member  is 
attached  to  a  particular  local  court.  The  lord  advocate,  in 
Scotland,  is  a  public  officer,  who  prosecutes  crimes  before 
the  court  of  justiciary. 

ADVOW'SON.  (Lat.  advocatio,  a  calling.)  Properly, 
the  relation  in  which  a  patron  (advocatus)  stands  towards 
the  living  to  which  he  presents,  i.  e.  the  patronage  of  a 
church.  The  earliest  provision  for  divine  worship,  in  Eng- 
land and  in  other  countries,  was  derived  from  the  offerings 
of  the  laity,  which  were  distributed  by  the  bishop  of  each 
diocese  among  his  clergv,  whom  he  sent  from  place  to 
place  to  preach  and  administer  the  sacraments.  By  de- 
grees he  was  enabled,  by  the  bequests  of  the  faithful,  and 
the  customary  offering  of  tithes,  to  subdivide  his  diocese, 
or  parochia,  as  it  was  originally  called,  into  various  dis- 
tricts, and  to  build  churches  and  establish  permanent  mi- 
nisters in  each.  At  the  same  time  it  became  a  common 
practice  among  the  nobles  to  build  and  endow  churches 
for  the  benefit  of  themselves  and  their  own  dependants  ;  in 
which  case  they  were  allowed  to  present  to  the  benefice, 
subject  to  the  licensing  power  of  the  bishop  and  the  canons 
of  the  church.  Advowsons,  in  legal  phraseology,  are  ei- 
ther appendant,  where  immemorially  annexed  to  a  manor; 
or  in  gross,  where  they  form  separate  subjects  of  property. 
If  the  patron  of  a  rectory  fails  to  present  within  six  months 
after  the  vacancy  happens,  the  right  falls  to  the  bishop  ; 
and  by  similar  neglect  on  his  part,  to  the  archbishop,  and 
thence  to  the  king.  The  presentation  is  by  letter  to  the 
bishop  ;  institution,  by  an  instrument  registered  in  the 
bishop's  court;  and  induction,  which  completes  the  in- 
cumbent's title,  is  performed  by  the  archdeacon. 

A'DYTUM.  (Gr.  aSvTOV,  a  recess.)  In  Architecture, 
the  secret  dark  chamber  in  a  temple,  to  which  none  but 
the  priests  had  access.  It  was  from  this  part  that  the  ora- 
cles were  delivered.    Seneca,  in  his  tragedy  of  Thyestes, 

says, 

((  Hinc  orantibus 
Kesponsadantut  certa,  dam  ingeuti  sono 
Laxamur  Adyto  fata." 

Among  the  Egyptians,  the  Secos  was  the  same  thing  of 
which Strabo  has  given  a  description.  The  only  well  pre- 
served adytum  of  the  ancients  is  in  the  little  temple  at 
Pompeii.  It  is  raised  some  steps  above  the  level  of  the 
temple  itself,  and  is  without  light. 

vE'DES.  (Lat.)  In  architecture.  A  small  temple  con- 
secrated to  a  god  which  was  not  afterwards  dedicated  by 
the  augurs,  from  which  circumstance,  according  to  Varro, 
it  was  different  from  the  templum.  This  distinction  among 
the  Romans  in  the  early  ages  was  afterwards  lost,  and  the 
words  were  used  indiscriminately. 

jEDI'CULA.     (Lat.)    A  diminutive  of  the  preceding. 

iE'DILE.  The  title  of  certain  Roman  magistrates,  so 
called  from  their  care  of  buildings  (a?des).  They  were 
divided  into  two  classes,  distinguished  by  the  epithets 
plebeian  and  curale.  The  two  plebeian  rediles  were,  as 
their  name  imports,  elected  from  the  commonalty 
(plebs),  and  were  subordinate  to  the  tribunes  of  the 
commons,  having  jurisdiction  over  lesser  causes,  sub- 
mitted to  them  by  those  magistrates.  The  two  curale 
tcdiles,  so  called  from  their  privilege  of  giving  judgment 
on  ivory  seats  (sellee  curules),  were  originally  elected 
from  the  patricians,  but  afterwards  from  both  plebeians 
16 


MRA. 

and  patricians  promiscuously.  The  magistracy  was  one 
of  the  most  dignified  in  the  state,  and  was  allowed  the  use 
of  the  robe  of  honour  (toga  pra?texta),  and  a  certain  prece- 
dence in  the  senate.  The  peculiar  office  of  the  eediles  was 
the  superintendence  of  public  works,  markets,  &c,  in  the 
city.  They  had  also,  particularly  the  curule  asdiles,  to  ex- 
hibit public  games,  which  they  often  did  at  avast  expense, 
in  order  to  court  popularity.  Julius  Ca?sar  added  two 
other  plebeian  a?diles,  called  cereal,  to  inspect  the  public 
stores  of  provisions. 

iEGICE'RE-^E.  (Fr.  di  J,  goat,  Kepa;,  horn.)  A  division 
of  myrsinaceous  plants,  the  type  of  which  is  the  genus 
segiceras.  Il  is  distinguished  by  the  absence  of  albumen  ; 
the  species  grow  in  maritime  swamps  in  tropical  countries, 
and  have  the  embryo  germinating  within  the  pericarp, 
after  the  manner  of  mannroves. 

iE'GIS.  (Gr.  ai\,agoat.)  The  mythological  shield  of 
Jupiter,  which  was  covered  with  the  skin  of  the  goat  Ama.l- 
tha°a,  and  given  by  him  to  Minerva,  who,  by  fixing  on  it  the 
head  of  Medusa,  gave  it  the  power  of  petrifying  all  persons 
who  looked  at  it.  The  word  is  also  used  sometimes  for 
the  breast-piece  of  a  god. 

iE'GYLOPS.  (Gr.  d<f,  a  goat,  and  wip,  an  eye,)  A  sore 
in  the  inner  angle  of  the  eye,  frequently  terminating  in  fis- 
tula lachrymalis.  Goats  were  supposed  to  be  very  subject 
to  an  analogous  affection. — Also  the  name  of  a  kind  of 
grass. 

iE'NEID.  The  epic  poem  of  Virgil,  relating  the  wan- 
derings of  iEneas  after  the  capture  of  Troy,  and  his  settle- 
ment in  Italy. 

jE'OLIPl'LE.  (Lat.  jEoIus,  the  god  of  the  winds,  and  pi- 
la,  a  hall.)  An  hydraulic  instrument,  contrived  for  the 
purpose  of  exhibiting  the  convertibility  of  water  into  steam. 
It  consists  of  a  hollow  ball  of  metal,  having  a  slender  neck 
or  pipe,  with  a  very  small  orifice  inserted  into  it.  The 
ball,  having  been  filled  with  water,  is  placed  over  the  fire ; 
and  the  heat  gradually  converts  the  waler  into  vapour, 
which  rushes  out  of  the  pipe  with  great  violence  till  the 
whole  is  discharged.  The  experiment  is  not  unattended 
by  danger;  for  should  the  small  orifice  by  any  accident  be 
stopped,  the  steam  would  burst  the  ball.  The  reolipile 
was  known  to  the  ancients,  being  mentioned  by  Vitruvius. 
Descartes  and  others  have  used  it  to  account  for  the  natu- 
ral cause  and  production  of  the  wind  ;  hence  its  name 
jEolipile,  that  is,  pila  iEon,  the  ball  of  jEolus,  the  god  of 
the  winds.  The  reolipile  is  sometimes  filled  with  alcohol, 
and  the  jet  of  its  vapour  being  inflamed,  it  serves  the  pur- 
pose of  a  blowpipe. 

JE'OLUS.  The  god  of  the  winds,  who  was  fabled  by  the 
early  poets  to  have  his  seat  in  the  floating  island  of  iEolia ; 
but  the  Latin  and  later  Greek  poets  placed  him  in  the  Li- 
pari  isles.  Here  the  winds  were  pent  up  in  vast  caves,  it 
being  the  duty  of  iEolus  to  let  them  loose,  and  lo  restrain 
their  violence  at  the  pleasure  of  Jupiter.  Virgil  has  de- 
scribed the  power  and  functions  of  iEolus,  in  one  of  the 
finest  passages  of  the  iEneid : — 

"  Hie  vasto  rex  Mollis  antro, 

I.nctantes  venios  tempestatesque  Bonoran 
Imperio  p:*em  t,  ac  v.ncli*  et  carrere  ft'ainat. 
Illundignantes  magijO  cum  murmure  motitis 
Circum  clauslra  frem'int      Celsa  sedet  JEo\as  arce 
Sceptra  tenens,  mollitque  animos,  et  tempera)  iras  : 
Ni  facial,  maria  ac  terras  cclumque  prolundtim 
Quippe  t'erant  rapidi  tecum,  verrautque  per  auras." 

.Encid,  I.  I.S2; 

JEOLUS'  HARP,  or  ^EOLIAN  HARP.  A  well-known 
instrument,  which  produces  a  pleasing  combination  of 
sounds,  by  the  action  of  the  wind.  Its  construction  is  very 
simple,  consisting  of"  merely  a  number  of  catgut  or  wire 
strings,  stretched  in  parallel  lines  over  a  box  of  thin  deal, 
Willi  sounding  holes  cut  in  the  top.  The  strings  being 
tuned  in  unison,  the  effect  is  produced  by  placing  the  in- 
strument in  a  current  of  air.  The  invention  of  the  ^olian 
harp  is  generally  given  to  Kircher,  by  whom  it  was  first 
described. 

iE'ON.     See  Gnostics. 

iE'RA,  or  ERA.  (A  word  of  doubtful  derivation.)  In 
Chronology,  the  term  rera,  as  now  understood,  is  the  peri- 
od that  has  elapsed  from  some  fixed  point  of  time,  or 
epoch,  called  the  commencement  of  the  tera. — Thus  the 
Christian  sera  began  at  the  birth  of  Christ,  the  Mohamme- 
dan a?ra  at  the  flight  of  Mohammed  from  Mecca  to  Medina, 
the  asra  of  Diocletian  at  the  coronation  of  that  emperor, 
&c. ;  and  the  period  of  the  occurrence  of  any  event  is  as- 
certained by  reckoning  from  one  or  other  of  "these  epochs. 
When,  for  example,  it  is  said  that  Queen  Victoria  ascend- 
ed the  throne  of  Great  Britain  in  1837,  it  means  that  this 
event  took  place  in  the  1837th  year  of  the  Christian  asra,  or 
of  that  pera  which  began  with  the  birth  of  Christ.  It  is 
plain  from  the  above  statement  that  the  period  of  time  se- 
lected for  an  asra,  or  point  whence  to  begin  the  computa- 
tion of  time,  is  necessarily  arbitrary  ;  and  different  nations 
have  adopted  different  periods  coincident  with  some  im- 
portant event  in  their  civil  or  religious  history.    Some  have 


J2RARIAN. 

adopted  the  year  of  the  creation  of  the  world,  ami  this, 
were  its  date  well  ascertained,  would  be  one  of  the  best 
that  could  be  selected.  But  the  sacred  writings  are  not 
explicit  on  this  point,  and  there  are  great  discrepancies  in 
the  estimates,  as  to  the  period  of  its  occurrence.  The 
Greeks  used  to  reckon  by  the  a?ra  of  the  Olympiad  (see 
the  word),  which  began  at  the  summer  solstice,  anno  776, 
B.C.  The  Romans  reckoned  from  the  building  of  the  city, 
generally  held  to  be  the  24th  of  April,  B.  C.  7.53.  The  Ju- 
lian rera  dates  from  the  reformation  of  the  calendar  by  Ju- 
lius Cssar,  B.  C.  45.  All  Christian  nations  now  adopt  for 
their  sera  the  birth  of  Christ,  which  took  place  on-the  1st 
of  January,  in  the  middle  of  the  4th  year  of  the  194th 
Olympiad",  and  the  753d  year  of  the  building  of  Rome. 
The  a?ra  of  most  Mohammedan  nations  is  that  of  the  He- 
gira,  or  flight  of  Mohammed  to  Medina,  corresponding  with 
the  16th  July.  A.  I),  62.>.  The  rcra  of  Sulwanah,  in  com- 
mon use  in  a  great  part  of  India,  corresponds  to  A.  D.  73. 
The  aera  of  Yezdegird.  used  in  Persia,  began  16th  June, 
A.  D.  032. 

Subjoined  are  the  names  of  some  of  the  principal  eras, 
with  the  year  of  the  Christian  rera  in  which  they  began, 
and  the  abbreviations  by  which  they  are  commonly  dis- 
tinguished. 


jEras. 

Commenced 

Abbreviations 

Year  of  tin*  World  (Constant!- 

icourit)  - 

B.  C.  5,509 

A.  M.  Const. 

—       (Alexandrian  act  '1 1 

—    E 

AM    \ 

—        (Jewish  account)  - 

—    3,760 

A  M. 

.Era  of  Nabonassar 

—       747 

1        Nab. 

•  1          ids     ■ 

— 

Olymp. 

Yearn)  Rome 

—      753 

A.  U.  C. 

Era    . 

—         45 

Jul.JBr. 

ii  iEra 

_ 

A    1) 

JEra  ofSulwanah  - 

ad.     ; 

Baca. 

.i>a  of  Dioclesiau  - 

—       284 

.C.r  Dioc. 

The  Hegira    .... 

— 

\    II 

.ASra  of  Yezdegird  - 

—      632 

A.  Pits. 

It  is  easy  to  deduce  from  this  the  year  of  the  Christian 
orresponding  with  thai  of  any  greater  aera.    (s 
titer  Chronology  of  History  bj  8  r  II  Nicholas,  p 

JERA'RIAN.    The  term  applied  to  a  Roman  citizen  who 
had  been  degraded  to  the  lowesi  rank  compatible  with  per- 
sonal freedom.    Be,  however,  still  paid  taxes,  bul  • 
no  privileges,  and  could  not  serve  in  the  army,  or, 
quently,  participate  in  the  distribution  of  land  granted  to 
such  cl  is  i  -  as  did. 

JSRA'RIUM.  (I. at.)  The  public  treasury  of  the  Ro- 
man people,  the  care  of  which  was  vested  in  the  qusstors. 
After  the  fall  of  the  republic  the  serarium  was  kepi  distinct 
from  the  treasury  of  the  emperor,  -Allied  was  called 
i  erarium  sanctins,  or  more  sacred  treasury,  was  ap- 
pointed  to  provide  for  cases  of  extreme  emergency,  and 
might  not  be  opem  d  on  other  occ 

AE'KIAL.    (Gr.  dno,  uir  >    la  Painting,  a  term  applied 
to  the  diminishing  intensity  of  i  eta  receding 

from  the  eye.  Aerial  perspective  is  the  relative  apparent 
recession  of  objects  from  the  foreground,  owing  to  the 
quantity  of  air  interposed  bi  twi  en  them  and  the  spectator, 
and  must  accompany  the  recession  ofthe  perspective  lines. 

AERIAL  \<  ID.  Carbomcm  id 

A'ERO-DYN  V'MK  S  (Gr.  <i»jo,  and  Swapis,  power.) 
The  science  which  treats  of  the  motion  of  the  air,  and  of 
the  mechanical  effects  of  air  in  motion.  This  is  an  expe- 
rimental Science,  and  there  are  two  ways  in  which  it  may 
be  investigated.  The  first  is.  by  ascertaining  the  effects 
which  air,  moving  with  a  certain  velocity,  that  is.  wind. 
produces  on  a  body  against  which  it  strikes:  and  the 
second,  by  ascertaining  the  resistance  which  air  at  rest 
to  a  solid  body  rapidly  passing  through  it.  The  pro- 
blem is  exactly  the  same,  whethi  is  considered 
as  moving  against  the  air  at  rest,  or  the  air  is  supposed  to 
move  against  the  body  with  the  same  velocity. 

Conceive  a  body  to  be  moved  forward  in  a  straight  line, 
displacing  successively  the  particles  of  air  opposed  to  it: 
the  effect  which  it  produces  is  proportional  to  the  number 
of  particles  against  which  it  strikes,  and  to  the  quantify  of 
motion  communicated  to  each.  Suppose  now  the  velocity 
ofthe  body  to  be  doubled,  the  motion  communicated  to 
each  partiele  of  air  displaced  w  ill  be  twice  as  great  as  be- 
fore, and  twice  as  many  particles  will  receive  the  impul- 
sion in  the  same  time.  Hence  we  infer  that  the  effect  will 
he  four  times  as  great,  or  that  the  effect  is  proportional  to 
the  square  of  the  velocity.  This  result  of  theory  B 
tolerably  well  with  experiments  made  to  determine  the 
resistance  of  the  air  when  the  velocity  is  not  very  great. 
or  not  exceeding  eight  or  nine  hundred  feet  in  a  second. 
When  the  velocity  is  much  greater  than  this,  the  effect  is 
modified  by  circumstances  which  require  further  expla- 
nation. 

When  a  solid  body  is  moved  out  of  its  position,  the  space  < 


AEROLITE. 

which  it  occupied  is  not  filled  with  air  instantaneously,  but 
only  after  a  sensible,  though  very  short  time.  Theory, 
confirmed  to  a  certain  degree  by  experience,  shows  that 
air,  under  the  ordinary  atmospheric  pressure,  rushes  into 
a  vacuum  with  a  velocity  of  between  1300  and  1400  feet 
in  a  second  of  time.  But  this  velocity  is  very  speedily 
checked  ;  for  the  instant  that  any  portion  of  air  is  admit- 
ted, or  the  vacuum  ceases  to  be  perfect,  that  portion  resists 
the  entrance  of  more  with  a  force  proportional  to  its  den- 
sity. Suppose,  for  example,  the  air  in  a  receiver  to  be  re- 
duced to  one-fourth  of  its  natural  density;  the  effort  ofthe 
exterior  air  to  enter  the  receiver  will  be  reduced  to  three- 
fourths  of  its  amount  when  the  receiver  was  perfectly  ex- 
hausted ;  and  consequently  the  velocity,  which  is  propor- 
tional to  the  square  root  of  the  effort  or  the  resistance,  will 
be  reduced  in  the  proportion  of  1  to  V| ;  or  of  100  to  87, 
very  nearly.  In  this  manner,  as  the  air  continues  to  enter, 
the  velocity  will  rapidly  diminish. 

Now,  conceive  a  body,  for  example  a  cannon  ball,  to  be 
moving  rapidly  through  the  air,  but  with  a  less  velocity 
than  1300  feet  per  second.  The  air  in  front  ofthe  ball  win 
remain  in  its  natural  state,  because  the  condensation  pro- 
duced every  instant  by  the  contact  of  the  ball,  is  propaga- 
ted more  quickly  than  the  ball  moves  (the  velocity  of  the 
propagation  being  equal  to  that  with  which  air  enters  a 
vacuum).  But  there  is  a  certain  space  behind  the  ball  in 
the  air  has  not  entirely  ■  -  equilibrium, 

but  remains  more  or  less  rarefied,  the  hall  having  passed 

h  it  in  less  time  than  is  required  for  the  surrounding 
an-  entirely  to  till  it.  in  addition,  therefore,  to  the  resist- 
ance  which  arises  from  the  communication  of  motion  to 
the  particles  of  air.  there  is  a  pressure  on  the  front  part  of 
the  ball,  not  counterbalanced  from  behind  :  in  consequence 
of  which,  we  may  infer  that  the  resistance  will  increase  in 
a  quicker  ratio  than  the  square  of  the  velociiy.  This  de- 
duction is  also  confirmed  by  experience ;  for  ii  is  found 
thai  the  resistance  continues  to  increase  with  the  square 

velocity  only  while  the  velocity  is  less  than  900  or 
1000  fei  i  per  second.  Above  this  velocity  the  ratio  begins 
to  fail;  and  when  tin.'  velocity  exceeds'  thai  with  which  air 

a  vacuum,  the  ratio  is  entirely  alnred.  At  a  veloci- 
ty of  L600  feet  per  serond.  the  resistance  is  found  to  be 
more  than  twice  that  given  by  theory.  The  reason  is  ob- 
vious :  tie'   density  of  tie'  ah'  before  the  body  is  increased 

by  the  rapid  motion,  and,  consequently,  presses  more  on 

part  ofthe  body  than  air  in  its  natural  state. 

The  resistance  ofthe  air  on  the  leotion  of  projectiles, 
was  Ii,  menially  by  M.  Robins  (see  his 

Principles  of  Gunnery),  and  aft'  rwardsl  Dr.  Hutton,  of 
Woolwich  (see  his  Tracts,  vol.  3.  and  Math.  Dictionary), 
whose  experiments  were  i  xtent, 

and  varied  in  B  greater  number  of  ways.  The  following 
are  the  principal  results  deduced  by  Dr.  Button,  from 
his  experiments  on  bodies  moving  very  slowly,  not  more 
than  20  feet  per  second: — 

Is;.  "That  tie-  resistance  is  nearly  in  the  same  propor- 
tion as  the  surfaces  :  a  small  increase  only  taking  place  in 

the  greater  surfaces  and  for  the  greater  velocities. 

2d.  •■  The  resistance  of  the  air  to  the  same  surface  with 
different  velocities,  is,  in  these  slow  motions, nearly  as  the 
square  of  the  velocity,  bul  gradually  increases  more  and 

more  above  that  proportion  a  -  the  velocity  inn 

3d.  "The  round  ends  anil  sharp  ends  of  solids  suffer  less 
resistance  than  the  flat  or  plane  ends  of  the  same  diame- 
ter ;  but  the  sharper  end  has  not  always  the  less  resist- 
ance. 

4th.  "  When  the  hinder  parts  of  hodies  are  of  different 
forms,  the  resistances  are  different,  though  the  fore  parts 
■■•My  alike  and  equal;  owing,  probably,  to  the  differ- 
ent pressures  of  the  air  on  the  hinder  parts. 

Dr.  Hutton  likewise  found,  that  although  in  slow  motions 
the  experimental  resistance  is  nearly  equal  to  that  compu- 
ted by  theory,  yet,  "as  the  velocity  increases,  the  experi- 
mental resistance  gradually  exceeds  the  other  more  and 
more,  till,  at  the  velocity  of  1300  feet,  the  former  becomes 
double  the  latter;  after  which,  the  difference  increases  a 
little  further,  till,  at  the  velocity  of  1600  or  1700  feet,  when 
thai  excess  is  the  greatest,  and  is  rather  less  than  2  and 
l-10thj  and.  after  this  the  difference  decreases  gradually, 
as  the  velocity  increases  ;  and  at  the  velocity  of  2000  the 
former  resistance  again  becomes  just  double  the  latter." 
For  further  information  on  this  subject,  see  Projectiles, 
Wind. 

ALftO'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  drip,  tlir  air.  and  ypa<i>w.  Itcrite.) 
The  description  ofthe  atmosphere,  its  naturej  properties, 
limits.  Arc.     (See  Atmosphere.) 

A'EROLI'TE.  (Gr.  drip.  Hie  air,  and  \i6os.  a  stone,  stones 
of  the  air.)  The  origin  of  these  singular  substances  is  in- 
volved m  the  greatest  mystery.  Some  philosophers,  among 
\\  iom  is  Laplace,  the  illustrious  author  ofthe  "  Mecanique 
Celeste,"  suppose  them  to  be  ejected  from  volcanos  in  the 
moon  ;  others  suppose  them  to  exist  ready  formed  in  the 
J  space,  circulating  about  the  sun  with  great  velocity, 
like  planets,  and  falling  to  the  earth  when  its  attraction  upon 


AEROLOGY. 

hem  preponderates  ;  others  regard  them  as  fragments  of 
rocks  which  have  been  propelled  by  terrestrial  volcanos 
to  an  immense  height  above  the  limits  of  the  atmosphere, 
and  again  descend  after  having  described  several  revolu- 
tions about  the  earth. 

On  examining  and  comparing  the  aerolites,  the  first  cir- 
cumstance that  strikes  us  as  remarkable  is  their  perfect 
resemblance  to  one  another  in  their  composition,  what- 
ever be  their  form  or  magnitude.  Their  exterior  surface 
is  black,  as  if  they  had  been  exposed  to  the  heat  of  a  fur- 
nace. Internally  they  are  of  a  greyish  white.  Their  spe- 
cific gravity,  which  is  very  nearly  the  same  in  all  of  them, 
varies  between  3-352  and  4-281,  that  of  water  being  taken 
as  unit.  Their  chemical  analysis  gives,  in  almost  every 
instance,  the  same  substances,  combined  in  very  nearly 
the  same  proportions.  They  are  composed  of  silex,  mag- 
nesia, sulphur,  iron  in  the  metallic  state,  nickel,  and  some 
traces  of  chrome.  Sometimes  they  are  formed  of  a  spongy 
or  cellular  texture,  the  cavities  being  filled  with  a  stony 
substance.  They  have  occasionally  been  found  without 
nickel.  These  common  and  constant  characters  indicate 
with  the  greatest  evidence  a  common  origin,  and  their 
composition  renders  it  probable  that  it  is  to  be  sought 
elsewhere  than  in  the  earth.  Iron  is  scarcely  ever  found 
(if,  indeed,  it  is  found  at  all)  in  the  metallic  state  in  terres- 
trial substances ;  volcanic  matter  contains  it  only  in  the 
state  of  an  oxide.  Nickel  is  also  very  rare,  and  never 
found  on  the  surface  of  the  earth ;  and  chrome  is  still 
more  rare. 

The  fall  of  the  aerolites  is  accompanied  by  meteors, 
named  bolides,  or  fire  balls.  They  are,  in  fact,  inflamed 
globes,  which  appear  instantaneously  in  the  atmosphere, 
and  move  through  it  with  extreme  velocity,  sometimes 
even  equal  to  that  of  the  earth  in  its  orbit.  The  direction 
of  their  motion  is  inclined  to  the  horizon.  After  shining 
with  great  splendour  for  a  few  instants,  they  explode  with 
a  loud  noise,  and  often  at  a  great  height,  30  or  40  miles 
above  the  surface  of  the  earth.  They  do  not  affect  any 
peculiar  direction  with  respect  to  the  motion  of  the  earth, 
but  seem  to  come  from  all  points  of  the  heavens  indiffer- 
ently. 

With  regard  to  the  hypothesis  which  explains  the  origin 
of  the  aerolites,  by  supposing  them  to  be  propelled  from 
lunar  volcanos,  it  may  be  remarked,  that  no  improbable 
amount  of  mechanical  force  would  be  required.  As  there 
is  no  atmosphere  about  the  moon  sufficient  to  offer  a  sen- 
sible resistance  to  the  motion  of  a  solid  body,  the  force  re- 
quired is  only  that  which  would  be  sufficient  to  overcome 
the  moon's  attraction,  which  is  found  by  calculation  to  be 
about  four  times  the  force  with  which  a  ball  is  expelled 
from  a  cannon  with  the  ordinary  charge  of  gunpowder.  A 
body  projected  with  a  velocity  of  about  7770  feet  per  se- 
cond from  the  lunar  surface,  would  be  detached  from  the 
moon,  and  be  brought  to  the  earth  by  terrestrial  gravita- 
tion. But  philosophers  seem  now  disposed  to  assign  the 
aerolites  a  different  origin.  From  the  phenomena  of 
comets  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  portions  of  chaotic 
matter  are  dispersed  in  the  planetary  regions  in  detached 
parcels,  or  perhaps  in  considerable  masses.  The  earth 
in  describing  its  orbit  may  meet  with  such  masses  direct- 
ly, or  pass  so  near  to  them  as  to  carry  them  along  with  it 
by  virtue  of  its  attraction.  On  plunging  into  the  atmos- 
phere with  the  velocity  due  to  the  height  from  which  they 
have  fallen,  which  is  that  of  their  distance  from  the  earth, 
when  they  begin  to  obey  its  attractive  force,  an  enormous 
heat  is  evolved  by  the  rapid  and  powerful  condensation  of 
the  air ;  the  matter  becomes  inflamed,  and  the  aerolite  is 
the  product  of  the  combustion.  In  the  same  manner 
shooting  stars,  and  other  igneous  meteors  of  frequent  oc- 
currence, are  explained.  The  chaotic  matter  may  be  en- 
tirely consumed  long  before  it  reaches  the  earth,  in  which 
case  the  appearance  of  the  bolide  will  not  be  accompanied 
with  the  fall  of  an  aerolite.    (See  Meteor.) 

Philosophers  were  long  inclined  to  disbelieve  in  the  fall 
of  stones  through  the  atmosphere.  The  fact,  however,  is 
now  placed  beyond  all  doubt  by  numerous  and  well  au- 
thenticated instances  which  have  occurred  in  almost  all 
quarters  of  the  world,  even  within  the  present  century. 
A  very  complete  list  of  the  falls  of  stony  or  earthy  matters, 
with  the  times  and  places  of  their  occurrence,  and  the  ap- 
pearances they  exhibited,  is  published  in  the  Edinburgh 
Philosophical  Journal,  from  a  work  by  Chladni,  in  Ger- 
man, in  which  the  whole  subject  of  meteoric  stones  is 
ably  and  fully  treated. 

AERO'LOGY.  (Gr.  drip,  air,  and  \oyog,  a  discourse.) 
The  doctrine  of  air,  generally  applied  to  medical  discus- 
sions respecting  its  salubrity. 

AERO'METER.  (Gr.  drip,  air,  and  jierpov,  a  measure.) 
An  instrument  for  making  the  necessary  corrections  in 
pneumatic  experiments,  to  ascertain  the  mean  bulk  of 
gases. 

A'ERONAUT.  (Gr.  drip,  air,  and  vavrr/s,  a  sailor.) 
One  who  travels  in  a  balloon. 

A'ERONAUTICS.    (Gr.  drip,  air,  and  vavriKos,  of  or 
18 


AESTHETICS. 

belonging  to  ships.)  The  art  of  sailing  in  and  navigating 
the  air.  From  the  earliest  ages  men  have  been  actuated 
by  a  wish  to  be  able  to  participate  in  the  advantages  con- 
ferred on  the  lower  animals,  and  having  succeeded  in  na- 
vigating the  sea,  to  be  able  also  to  mount,  like  the  eagle, 
into  the  air.  The  story  of  Daedalus,  who  is  said  to  have 
escaped  from  Crete  to  Sardinia,  by  means  of  wings  con- 
trived to  assist  him,  is  known  to  every  classical  reader, 
and  proves,  at  least,  the  antiquity  of  attempts  of  this  sort. 
But  the  fate  of  his  companion  Icarus,  seems  to  have  had 
a  greater  influence  in  deterring  from  similar  attempts,  than 
the  reported  success  of  the  artificial  dove,  constructed  by 
the  geometer  Archytas,  which  is  said  to  have  wafted  it- 
self through  the  air  by  means  of  internal  springs.  During 
the  middle  ages,  when  the  nature  of  the  atmosphere  and 
the  sound  principles  of  mechanical  philosophy  were  alike 
unknown,  many  rude  and  necessarily  unsuccessful  at- 
tempts were  made  to  realize  this  difficult  problem.  But  it 
was  not  till  the  composition  of  the  atmosphere  had  begun 
to  be  ascertained,  and  that  means  had  been  devised  of  fill- 
ing vessels  with  heated  air,  or  other  air  lighter  than  at- 
mospheric air,  and  consequently  capable  of  floating  on  it, 
that  there  came  to  be  a  rational  prospect  of  succeeding  in 
the  "  audacious  attempt"  of  riding  in  the  air.  At  length,  in 
1782,  the  brothers  Montgoltier  succeeded  in  constructing 
a  balloon ;  and  on  the  21st  of  October,  1783,  Pilatre  de  Ro- 
zier,  a  young  naturalist,  and  the  Marquis  d'Arlandes,  as- 
cended from  Paris  to  an  elevation  of  more  than  3000  feet, 
and  alighted  safely  from  their  "  aerial  tour,"  after  describ- 
ing a  circuit  of  about  six  miles.  Since  that  time  ascents  in 
balloons  have  become  comparatively  common.  (-S'ee  Bal- 
loon, and  the  article  iEronautics  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Bri- 
tannica,  7th  edit.) 

A'EROPHY'TES.  (Gr.  drip,  air,  and  <pvrov,  a  plant.) 
Plants  which  live  exclusively  in  air ;  in  distinction  to  hy- 
drophytes, which  live  as  constantly  under  water. 

A'EROSTA'TICS.  A  term  sometimes  used  to  denote 
the  science  which  treats  of  the  equilibrium  of  elastic  fluids. 
(.See  Pneumatics.) 

A'EROSTA'TION.  (Gr.  drip,  air,  and  craw,  I  sta?id.) 
Means  simply  the  weighing  of  the  air ;  but  it  has  been  em- 
ployed, though  incorrectly,  in  the  science  of  feronautics, 
or  as  the  art  of  raising  substances  into  the  atmosphere  by 
the  buoyancy  of  heated  air,  or  of  very  light  gases  enclosed 
in  a  bag  of  a  spheroidical  form ;  hence  called  a  balloon, 
which  see. 

jESCULA'CEJE.  A  natural  order  of  exogenous  plants 
consisting  of  the  horse-chestnut,  jEsculus  hippocastanum, 
and  other  nearly  allied  species.  They  are  all  either  shrubs 
or  trees  inhabiting  temperate  regions,  and  nearly  corres- 
pond with  jEsculus  hippocastanum  in  the  structure  of  the 
flowers.  Their  seeds  contain  starch,  and  their  bark  is  in 
some  cases  bitter  and  astringent. 

^ESCULA'PIUS,  or  ASCLE'PIUS,  as  he  was  called  by 
the  Greeks,  was  a  mythological  deity  of  the  Greeks  and 
Romans,  according  to  whom  he  was  the  son  of  Apollo  and 
the  nymph  Coronis.  He  was  worshipped  as  the  god 
of  surgery  and  medicine;  but  the  older  poets,  as  Homer 
and  Pindar,  mention  him  only  as  a  hero  well  skilled  in 
these  arts.  The  chief  seat  of  his  worship  was  Epidaurus, 
where  he  was  represented  as  an  old  man,  with  a  mantle 
anil  staff,  round  which  a  serpent  is  twined. 

AESTHE'TICS.  (Gr.  dtcrdririKos,  having  the  power  of 
perception  by  means  of  the  senses.)  In  the  fine  arts,  that 
science  which  derives  the  first  principles  in  all  the  arts 
from  the  effect  which  certain  combinations  have  on  the 
mind,  as  connected  with  nature  and  right  reason.  It  is  in- 
timately related  to  sentiment,  which  links  together  with 
feeling  the  different  parts  of  a  composition.  All  art,  con- 
sidered as  imitation  of  nature,  is  affected  by  the  same  re- 
lations, and  subject  to  the  same  laws,  which  govern  nature 
herself;  and  if  it  could  be  satisfactorily  proved  that  those 
rules  of  art  which  are  the  result  of  reason  were  necessari- 
ly connected  with  sensation,  it  might  be  possible  to  lay 
down  laws  from  which  the  principles  of  art  might  be  satis- 
factorily deduced.  As  an  illustration  of  this,  in  architec- 
ture we  might  take  the  rule  which  forbids  the  position  of 
a  heavy  mass  over  a  void,  when  it  may  appear  to  have  no 
ostensible  and  immediate  support ;  in  which  case  it  might 
almost  seem  possible  to  connect  the  unpleasant  sensation 
produced  on  the  mind  with  the  rules  of  reason ;  but  in  ar- 
chitecture it  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  this  could  be  ef- 
fected without  recurring  to  primitive  types,  and  on  them 
pursuing  the  reasoning  fnto  all  its  details.  In  the  other  arts 
it  might  not,  perhaps,  be  so  difficult  to  establish  a  set  of 
rules,  inasmuch  as  the  immediate  type  is  nature  herself. 
The  Germans  have  written  much  on  the  doctrine  of  aesthe- 
tics ;  it  would,  however,  seem,  that  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  taste  in  all  the  arts  depend  on  the  laws  of  gravita- 
tion, and  their  balances,  equipoise  and  counterpoise ;  the 
necessary  resultants  whereof  are  symmetry  and  propor- 
tion. We  shall  here  lay  before  the  reader  a  synoptical 
view  of  this  science  :  to  do  more  would  occupy  a  space 
much  more  than  would  fill  this  volume ;  for,  under  other 


.ffiSTHNA. 

names,  it  is  a  subject  which  has  much  engaged  the 
attention  of  writers  on  the  philosophy  of  the  arts.  The 
essence  of  the  polite  arts  lies  in  expression,  or  the 
power  of  representation,  whether  by  lines,  words,  or 
other  media,  and  that  expression  arises  from  an  exer- 
cise of  the  inventive  faculty;  their  end  being  the  pro- 
duction of  pleasurable  sensations  :  thus  being  distinguished 
from  the  end  sought  in  the  sciences,  whose  object  is  to  pro- 
duce  instruction  and  utility.  And  here  we  are  to  observe, 
that  though  in  some  of  the  polite  arts,  such  as  eloquence, 
pin  try.  and  architecture,  the  end  maybe  to  instruct,  or  to  be 
applicable  to  useful  objects,  yet  that  the  expression  on  which 
they  depend  brings  them  within  the  laws  which  govern  the 
fine  arts.  The  object  of  the  fine  arts  is  beauty,  which  is 
the  result  of  all  the  various  perfections  whereof  an  object 
is  susceptible :  such  perfections  arising,  first,  from  the 
agreeable  proportions  between  the  several  parts  of  the 
same  object:  and,  second,  from  the  proportions  between 
each  pari  and  the  object  taken  as  a  whole.  Genius,  or  the 
power  to  invent,  is  the  faculty  of  the  mind  by  which  it  is 
enabled  b>  conceive  and  expri  ss  its  conceptions,  and  is, 
consequently,  necessary  to  the  production  of  beauty  :  while 
taste,  or  tin  ition  of  a  mind  refined  by  art.  is 

uide  to  genius  in  discerning,  embracing,  and  produ- 
cing beamy.  Hence  a  general  theory  of  the  polite  arts 
must  be  founded  on  a  knowledge  of  all  that  they  contain 
truly  agreeable  and  beautiful.  They  are  usually  said  to 
include  eloquence,  poetry,  music,  painting,  sculpture,  and 
architecture.    By  some.  <  been  added  to  the 

number;  but,  for  reasons  too  long  to  be  advanced  here, 
we  cannot  include  it.  The  rules  have  been  reduced  to  six, 
for  the  guidance  of  the  artist,  who  is  to  recollect  that,  in 
art,  whal  is  low,  indecent,  or  disagreeable,  must  be 
banished  from  his  work.    First,  be  must  consult  his  genius, 

Qniil  ferre  n 

(liliil  valeiinl  humeri  ; 

second,  he  must  constantly  labour  to  Improve  his 
third,  nature  must  be  the  constant  object  of  his  imitation  : 

fourth,    lie   must  attain  perspicuity,    so    thai   bis  end   may 

be    tree    from    ambiguity    and    obscurity  :    fit'tb,    he    must 

his  sentiments  above  all  common  or  common-place 
objects,  by  which  an  expansion  of  the  imagination  super- 
venes and  stamps  his  works  with  an  air  of  sublimity,  which, 
sixthly,  re  mlts  from  i  concurrent  observance  ofthe  fourth 
and  fifth  rules.  We  close  this  with  the  following  observa- 
tion ofMenzel:  "  \  ■  result  of  understanding 
alone;  the  Inspir  tion  ol  thi  artisl  has  been,  and  ever  must 
be,  the  Bource  ol  thai  which  gives  aesthetic  value  to  bis 
productions.  (Sie<  ll  gel's  \  orli  rangi  ' 
tik.  Herausgegeben  von  Dr.  H  G  Hotho.  3  Bande,  Ber- 
lin, 1836.  Soiger's  Vorlesungen,  &c.,  Leipzig.  1829.  lint, 
and  For.  Review,  Vol.  13,  an  "  Philosophy  ol  \rt .") 
JE'STMN  A.  a  name  applied  by  Fabriciusto  b  genus  of 
D-flies,  characterised  by  having  the  wings  expanded 

when  at  rest,  and  the  divisions  ofthe  lip  equal. 

AETHEO'GAMOUS.    (Gr  iij9«,  \yafiot, 

marriage.)    A  name  contrived  to  express  n,. 
nature  of  what  are  called  cryptogamic  plants ;  it  being  the 
opinion  of  the  author  of  the  name  thai  the  mode  of  propa- 
gation among  such  plants  was  nol  hidden,  but  onlj 
unusual  nature,    it  has  been  confined  by  De  Candolle  to 
such  a  cellular  tissue,  in  their  or- 

ganisation.   In  this  sense,  they  are  the  same  as  ferns,  ly- 

OOpodiumS,  mosses,  and  their  allies. 

2ETHRIOSCOTE.     (Gr.   ui0.oio$.    r'mr.    and   cko-cw. 
Iview.)    Aii  instrument  invented  by  Sir  John  Leslie  for 

ing  the  relative  degrees  of  cold 
pro  luced  by  the  pulsations  from  a  clear 
sky.  It  consists  merely  of  a  differentia] 
thermometer,  adapted  to  the  cavity  of  a 
spheroidal  cup  of  metal  the  interior  of 
which  is  highly  polishe  I,  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  one  ofthe  b  ills  occupies  a  focus 
ofthe  spheroid  ;  while  the  orifice  ofthe 
cup  is  formed  by  a  plane  passing  tl, rough 
the  other  focus,  perpendicular  to  the 
axis.  A  lid  ofthe  same  metal  is  fitted  to 
the  mouth  ofthe  cup,  and  only  re 
when  an  observation  is  to  be  made. 
Suppose  the-  cup  expose.  I  to  a  clear  sk v  : 
the  colli    pulses  darted   from    the    Q 

regions  of  tiie  atmosphere,  which  i 

the  orifice  ofthe  cup,  are  refli  cted  from  polished  surface 
upon  the  ball  A  in  the  focus,  while  the  ball  B.  lodged  at  the 
side  of  the  cup  in  its  widest  part,  is  nearly  screened  from 
them,  or  receives  onlv  the  small  number  which  fall 
obliquely  upon  it  The  two  balls  are  thus  exposed  to  dif- 
ferent degrees  of  cold,  the  effect  of  which  is  immediately 
apparent,  by  the  rise  of  the  liquor  in  the  stem  ofthe  ther- 
mometer, in  consequence  of  the  contraction  of  the  air  in 
the  ball  A.  The  effect  may  be  augmented  bv  covering  the 
ball  B,  which  is  out  ofthe  focus,  with  a  coat  of  gold  or  sil- 
ver leaf.    It  is  evident  that  the  instrument  is  equally  adapt- 


AFFINITY,  CHEMICAL. 

ed  to  measure  the  effects  of  the  radiation  of  heat,  which 
will  be  manifested  by  the  descent  ofthe  liquor  in  the  stem. 
\\  hen  applied  to  this  purpose,  however,  the  metallic  cup 
becomes  unnecessary  ;  the  hot  pulses  being  mostly  thrown 
back  from  the  bright  surface  ofthe  gilt  ball,while  they  pro- 
duce their  full  effect  on  the  naked"  or  sentient  one.  The 
sethrioscope  is  thus  converted  into  a  pvroscope.  (See 
Enr,/r.  Brit,  art  "  Climate.") 

ESTIVA 'TIOX.  (I.at.  a?stivus,  of  or  belonging  to  sum- 
mer.) A  figurative  expression,  employed  to  indicate  the 
manner  in  which  the  parts  of  a  flower  are  arranged  before 
they  unfold.  Botanists  speak  of  the  aestivation  ofthe  calyx, 
ofthe  corolla,  of  the  stamens. 

jE'STCARY.  (I.at.  JSstuarium.)  In  Geography,  was 
anciently  understood  to  be  any  creek,  frith,  or  arm" of  the 
sea.  iii  which  the  tide  ebbs  and  flows  (Plin.  Epist.  lib.  9,  ep. 
33.);  but  it  is  now  applied  to  designate  those  parts  of  the 
channels  of  certain  rivers  contiguous  to  the  sea  in  which 
the  water  is  either  salt  or  brackish,  and  in  which  the  ebb 
and  flow  of  the  sea  is  distinctly  perceptible,  and  there  is 
little  or  no  current. 

-ETHER.     See  Ether. 

A'ETIA'IOI.  ((Jr.  dtros,  an  eagle.)  In  Architecture, 
the  name  given  by  the  Greek  architects  to  the  slabs  form- 
ing the  f.ice  of  the  tympanum  of  a  pediment.  This  word 
-  in  the  Athenian  inscription  now  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum, taken  to  England  by  Dr.  Chandler,  and  relating  to 
the  survey  of  some  temple  at  Athens. 

jETIO'LOGY  (Gr.  ('una.  n  cause,  and  Aojoj, discourse.) 
The  doctrine  ofthe  causes  of  disease. 

AETO'MA,  or  A'ETOS.  (Gr.  dents,  an  eagle.)  In  Ar- 
chitecture, the  name  given  by  the  Greek  architects  to  the 
tympanum  of  a  pediment  It  seems  to  have  derived  its 
name  from  the  custom  of  decorating  the  apex  or  ri 
the  roof  with  figures  of  eagles,  and  thai  the  name  thence 
first  given  to  the  ridge  was  afterwards  transferred  to  the 
itself 

an  ::<  Ts'TIOX.  (Lat  affectare,  to  seek  for  overmuch.) 
In  the  Fine  \rts.  an  artificial  show  arising  from  the  want  of 
simplicity  either  in  colouring,  drawing,  or  action.  Also, 
the  overcharging  any  part  ol  a  composition  With  an  a 

or  deceitful  appi  arance. 

U'l  i:  (  ti  D.  or  ADFECTED.  A  term  of  Algebra. 
When  applied  to  an  equation,  it  signifies  that  two  or  more 

powers   of  the    unknown   quantity  enter  into  the 

is.  j-3  —  0*8  -(-  hx  —  c  =  o,  in  which  there  are 

thr lifferent  powers  of  x,  nami  When 

the  term  is  .applied  to  a  quantity,  it  implies  thai  the  quanti- 
ty has  a  coefficient,  or  a  proper  sign :  thus,  in  the  quantity 
4-  ■.';.  ./•  Is  said  to  be  affected  with  the  coefficient  '-'.  and 
with  the  sign  +.  Dr.  Hulton  thinks  the  term  affected  was 
introduce.l  nito  algel  \ 

\i  I  i:  TTO,  or  AlTF.TTl  OSO.  (It  affetto, affectum.) 
Pi  Mi i-n  ,  a  term  prefixed  It  ent,  showing  that  it 

performed  in  a  smooth,  tender,  and  affecting  man- 
ner, and,  therefore,  rather  inclining  to  slowness  than  the 

AIFIDA'VIT.  (Lat  affidio,  Iconfirm  by  oath.)  In  Law, 
is  an  oath  in  writing,  sworn  before  some  person  who  has 
authority  to  administer  it. 

\\\  III  v'TION.    (Lat.  ad,  to,  filius,  aaon.)  In  Law,  the 

m  nt   of  a   child   to   a  parent  by  legal   authority  ;  as 

where  the  fath  ird  child  is  designated  on  the  tes- 

timony of  the  woman,  and  the  expenses  of  maintaining  it 
cast  upon  him.  By  the  Poor  Law  Amendment  Act,  s.  72., 
this  can  now  only  be  done,  after  sufficient  notice  to  the 
party  intended  to  be  charged,  by  an  order  ofthe  court  of 
quarter  sessions,  on  the  testimony  of  the  woman,  corrobo- 
rated as  to  Borne  material  fact  bv  other  evidence.  (See 
Bastard.)    .1  tea,  in  Politics,  are  local  socie- 

ties, depending  J  society  with  which  they  cor- 

respond, and  from  which  they  receivi  Such 

were  the  provincial  jacobin  i  luba,  founded  on  the  model  of 
the  jacobin  club  of  Paris.  Such,  also,  were  the  correspond- 
ing societies  in  England,  for  the  suppression  of  which  the 

statute  39  (•    '■'■■  c.  79.   was  chiefly  passed. 

AFFl'NiTY.  (Lat.  affinis,  related.)  A  relation  of  ani- 
mals to  one  another,  in  the  similarity  of  a  greater  propor- 
sation  :  thus,  a  porpoise  is  said  to  have 
an  affinity  to  man.  because  ol  its  resemblance  to  him  in  the 
respiratory,  circulating,  and  generative  systems,  in  the 
brain,  eye.  and  ear,  Ac.  ;  while  it  is  said  to  have  an  analogy 
to  a  fish,  because  the  resemblance  is  confined  to  external 
form.  In  short,  affinity  is  that  degree  of  relationship  by 
which,  in  forming  a  concatenated  series  of  animals,  we 
pass  from  one  to  another  bv  the  closest  gradations. 

AFFINITY,  CHEMICAL.  The  attractive  force  by 
which  dissimilar  substances  combine  with  each  other  to 
produce  chemical  compounds.  All  natural  and  artificial 
substances  are  either  simple  or  compound.  The  metals, 
for  instance,  are  simple  substances, — no  one  of  them  hav- 
ing been  as  yet  decomposed:  water  is  a  compound  ;  it  may 
be~  resolved  into  oxygen  and  hydrogen  gases,  which  are 
therefore  called  its  component  parts.  To  enable  substances 


AFFINITY,  CHEMICAL. 

to  exert  their  mutual  affinities,  or  to  act  chemically  upon 
each  other,  the  opposing  powers  of  matter  must  be  over- 
come, and  they  must  be  placed  under  circumstances  fa- 
vourable to  the  exertion  of  their  mutual  chemical  attrac- 
tions. Two  solid  bodies  seldom  combine,  in  consequence 
of  their  imperfect  contact,  and  the  immobility  of  their  par- 
ticles ;  hence  the  oldest  axiom,  corpora  non  agunt,  nisi 
fiuida.  But  to  this  there  are  exceptions :  ice  and  salt,  for 
instance,  run  down  into  liquid  brine  ;  oxalic  acid  and  dry 
lime  unite;  and  when  sulphur  and  chlorate  of  potash  are 
rubbed  together,  they  act  violently  on  each  other.  Even 
when  one  or  both  substances  are  fluid,  heat  is  often  requi- 
site to  diminish  cohesion,  and  promote  affinity  :  thus,  mer- 
cury and  iron  combine  with  melted  sulphur ;  and  oxygen 
and  hydrogen,  and  oxygen  and  carbon,  require  heat  to  ef- 
fect their  union.  In  some  cases  the  action  of  the  solar 
rays  excites  and  increases  affinity,  as  in  the  combination  of 
hydrogen  and  chlorine. 

"The  investigation  of  the  relative  proportions  in  which 
bodies  combine,  forms  the  basis  of  the  atomic  theory,  or 
doctrine  of  chemical  equivalents. 

Many  substances  seem  to  unite  in  all  proportions;  but 
these  are  not  strict  cases  of  chemical  combination  :  thus, 
water  and  sulphuric  acid,  and  alcohol  and  ether,  mix  to- 
gether in  any  quantities.  Others  unite  indefinitely,  up  to  a 
certain  point :  water,  for  instance,  dissolves  salt,  in  varia- 
ble quantity,  till  the  solution  is  saturated  :  we  thus  find 
that  a  given  quantity  of  water  is  only  able  to  retain  a  cer- 
tain weight  of  salt  in  permanent  solution.  In  these  cases 
of  indefinite  combination,  the  affinities  of  the  combining 
substances  are  usually  feeble  ;  but  where  their  affinities  or 
attractive  powers  are  energetic,  there  is  a  remarkable  ten- 
dency to  combine  in  certain  proportions  only.  Thus,  sul- 
phuric acid  and  lime  unite  in  the  proportions  of -10  of  the 
acid  to  28  of  the  lime,  and  in  no  other  or  intermediate 
quantity :  in  such  cases  the  acid  and  the  base  are  said  to 
neutralise  each  other;  and  such  compounds  are  often 
called  neutral  salts,  that  is,  salts  in  which  the  leading  cha- 
racters of  the  component  parts  are  no  longer  perceptible, 
which  are  neither  acid  nor  alkaline.  When  such  bodies 
combine  in  more  than  one  proportion,  which  is  often  the 
case,  the  second,  third,  &c.  proportions  are  simple  multi- 
ples of  the  first  :  thus,  16  parts  of  sulphur  combine  respec- 
tively with  8,  16,  and  24  of  oxygen ;  in  these  compounds 
the  relative  proportions  being  as  1,  2,  and  3.  Again,  14 
parts  of  nitrogen  combine  with  8,  16,  24,  32,  and  40  of  oxy- 
gen, forming  five  distinct  compounds,  in  which  the  relative 
proportions  of  the  oxygen  are  as  1,  2,  3,  4,  and  5. 

Where  the  combining  substances  are  either  naturally 
gaseous,  or  where  they  may  be  hypothetically  so  consi- 
dered, it  is  obvious  that,  as  their  weights  bear  these  simple 
relations  to  each  other,  their  bulks  or  volumes  will  do  so 
likewise  :  thus,  in  the  case  of  the  compounds  just  noticed, 
1  volume  of  nitrogen  will  combine  respectively  with  %,  1, 
1%,  2,  and  2%  volumes  of  oxygen  ;  or,  what  amounts  to  the 
same  thing,  2  volumes  of  nitrogen  will  combine  with  1,  2, 
3,  4,  and  5  volumes  of  oxygen. 

As  bodies  thus  combine  with  each  other  in  definite  pro- 
portions, it  is  obvious,  that  if  we  select  any  one  substance 
as  unity,  or  :=  1,  all  other  substances  may  be  represented 
by  numbers  equal  to  the  weights  in  which  they  respective- 
ly combine  with  each  other,  and  with  the  unit.     Upon  this 
principle  of  numeric  representation,  hydrogen,  which  is 
the  lightest  known  substance,  is  assumed  as  unity  ;  the 
compound  of  hydrogen  with  oxysen  is  water,  in  which  1 
part  by  weight  of  hydrogen  is  combined  with  8  of  oxygen, 
to  form  9  of  water :  hence,  in  a  table  of  atomic  numbers, 
definite  proportionals,  or  chemical  equivalents,  (for  all  these 
terms  have  been  applied  to  such  numbers,)  we  have — 
Hydrogen  represented  by  1 
Oxysen        ...        8 
Water  -        -        -        9 

And  in  the  above  series  of  nitric  compounds  we  have,  in 
the  first  of  them,  14  of  nitrogen  combined  with  8  of  oxy- 
gen ;  and,  accordingly,  calling  14  the  equivalent  of  nitrogen, 
and  8  the  equivalent  of  oxygen,  we  have  the  following  equi- 
valents of  their  compounds ;  and  it  may  be  presumed  that 
these  numbers  represent  the  weights  of  the  combining 
atoms  of  those  bodies  : — 

Equivalents,  or 
Atom*  combining  weights,  Equivalents  of  the 

of nit/u-    of  oxy-    ofn'.lro-       ofoxy-  compounds. 

gen.  gen.  gen.  gen. 

1    +"1  14    +      8    =    22  nitrous  oxide. 

1+2  14    +    16    =    30  nitric  oxide. 

1+3  14    +    24    =    33  hyponitrous  acid. 

1    +    4  14    +    32    =    46  nitrous  acid. 

1     +    5  14    +    40    =:    54  nitric  acid. 

This  table  also  shows  the  nomenclature  commonly  applied 
to  the  compounds ;  the  termination  ous  indicating  the  mi- 
nimum of  oxygen,  the  termination  ic  the  maximum  ;  the 
term  oxide  implying  generally  all  those  combinations  of 
oxygen  which  are  not  sour,  such  being  called  acids.  More 
frequently  the  relative  proportions  of  oxygen  in  the  oxides 
20 


AFTERMATH. 

are  designated  by  the  first  syDable  of  the  Greek  ordinal 
numerals  :  thus  we  have  protoxides,  deutoxides,  tritoxides, 
<&c. ;  and  when  the  base  is  saturated  with  oxygen,  the 
compound  is  termed  a  peroxide.  When  the  same  sub- 
stance forms  three  or  four  acids,  the  term  hypo  is  con- 
veniently introduced  with  the  termination  ous  or  ic,  as 
shown  in  the  following  table  of  the  acids  of  sulphur: — 

Atoms  of  Equivalents  of  Equivalents  of  the 

sulphur,     oxygen.      sulphur,     oxygen.  acids. 

1     +    1  16    +      8    =    24  hyposulphurous. 

1+2  16    +    16    =    32  sulphurous. 

1+3  16    +    24    =    40  sulphuric. 

There  is  also  an  acid  of  sulphur  intermediate  between 
sulphurous  and  sulphuric,  composed  of  1  atom  of  hyposul- 
phurous acid,  and  1  of  sulphurous  acid;  (24  +  32  =  56) 
or  of  2  atoms  of  sulphur  and  3  of  oxygen  :  this  is  appropri- 
ately called  the  hyposulphuric  acid.  The  terms  sesqai  and 
hi  are  sometimes  used  to  designate  intermediate  and  dou- 
ble compounds  of  acids,  or  other  bodies  with  bases  :  thus, 
we  have  three  compounds  of  carbonic  acid  with  ammonia, 
in  which  1  proportional  or  atom  ofammoniais  respectively 
combined  with  1,  1>2,  and  2  of  carbonic  acid,  and  these  we 
call  the  carbonate,  sesquicarbonate,  and  bicarbonate  of  am- 
monia. For  a  table  of  the  equivalent  numbers  of  the  sim- 
ple substances,  see  Equivalents. 

Change  of  form  and  change  of  properties  are  the  com- 
mon consequences  of  chemical  affinity.  We  observe,  1. 
Solids  forming  liquids  (ice  and  salt).  2.  Solids  forming 
gases  (explosion  of  gunpowder).  3.  A  solid  and  a  liquid 
producing  a  solid  (lime  and  water).  4.  A  solid  and  a  liquid 
producing  a  liquid  (all  common  cases  of  solution  ;  as  of 
salt  and  sugar  in  water).  5.  Liquids  producing  solids  (so- 
lution of  carbonate  of  potassa  mixed  with  muriate  of  lime). 

6.  Liquids  producing    gases    (alcohol    and    nitric    acid). 

7.  Gases  producing  solids  (ammonia  and  muriatic  acid). 

8.  Gases  producing  liquids  (chlorine  and  olefiant  gas). 
The  density  of  bodies  is  also  materially  affected  by  che- 
mical combination ;  the  density  of  a  compound  is  very 
rarely  the  mean  of  its  components,  but  generally  increased: 
thus,  almost  all  gaseous  compounds  occupy  less  bulk  than 
their  elementary  gases  in  a  separate  state ;  there  are,  how- 
ever, cases  in  which  1  volume  of  one  gas,  combined  with  1 
volume  of  another,  produce  exactly  2  volumes  of  a  com- 
pound gas,  the  density  of  which  is,  of  course,  the  mean  of 
that  of  its  components;  and  again,  in  the  combinations  of 
some  of  the  metals  with  each  other,  and  with  sulphur,  the 
density  of  the  compound  is  below  the  mean  of  its  ele- 
ments. When  certain  liquids  are  mixed,  great  and  imme- 
diate increase  of  density  ensues,  and  much  heat  is  evolved 
(sulphuric  acid  and  water).  Change  of  form  and  of  density 
are  often  attended  by  remarkable  changes  in  other  quali- 
ties :  thus,  tasteless  bodies  produce  active  compounds  (oil 
of  vitriol  is  composed  of  oxygen,  sulphur,  and  water),  and 
active  substances  produce  inert  compounds  (sulphuric  acid 
and  caustic  potash  produce  the  inert  salt,  sulphate  of  pot- 
ash) ;  so  that  it  is  utterly  impossible,  by  any  a  priori  rea- 
soning, to  determine  what  will  be  the  consequence  of  che- 
mical combination  :  useless  elements  produce  useful  com- 
pounds, and  useless  compounds  yield  useful  elements. 

Another  important  and  curious  consequence  of  chemical 
action  is  change  of  colour :  the  vegetable  blues  are  gene- 
rally reddened  by  acids,  and  rendered  green  by  alcalis  ; 
the  alcalis  render  many  of  the  reds  purple  ;  and  of  the  yel- 
lows, brown :  chlorine  destroys  most  colours  ;  so  does  the 
joint  action  of  light,  air,  and  moisture  (bleaching,  &c). 

AFFIRMATIVE.  In  Logic,  denotes  the  quality  of  a  pro- 
position which  asserts  the  agreement  of  the  predicate  with 
the  subject. 

AFFIRMATIVE  QUANTITY.  In  Alsebra,  denotes  a 
quantity  to  be  added,  in  contradistinction  to  one  to  betaken 
away. 

AFFIRMATIVE  SIGN,  or  POSITIVE  SIGN.  The  sign 
of  addition,  marked  +,  meaning  plus,  or  more.  Dr.  Hut- 
ton  observes,  that  the  early  writers  on  algebra  used  the 
word  plus  in  Latin,  or  piu  in  Italian,  for  addition,  and  after- 
wards the  initial  p  only  as  a  contraction ;  like  as  they  used 
minus  or  meno,  or  the  initial  m  only,  for  subtraction ;  and 
thus  their  operations  were  denoted  in  Italy  by  Lucas  de 
Burgo,  Tartalea,  and  Cardan,  while  the  signs  +  and  — 
were  employed  much  about  the  same  time  in  Germany  by 
Stifelius,  Scheubelius,  and  others,  to  denote  the  same  ope- 
rations. 

A'FFLX.  In  Grammar,  a  syllable  attached  to  the  end  of 
a  class  of  words,  determining  their  meaning.  Thus,  a 
class  of  adverbs  in  English  are  determined  by  the  affix  ly ; 
strongly,  weakly,  Ax.  Prefix  is  a  syllable  so  attached  at 
the  beginning. 

AFRA'NCESADOS.  In  Modern  History,  a  denomina- 
tion given  in  Spain  to  the  party  which  attached  itself  to  the 
cause  of  the  French,  or  of  the  intrusive  King  Joseph,  du- 
ring the  war  of  independence,  1S03 — 1814. 

AFT.     See  Abaft. 

A'FTERMATH.  InAsr.    Grass  which  is  mown,  after  the 


AGA. 

first  crop  of  hay  has  been  taken  away,  instead  of  being 
eaten  offbv  stock 

A'l.A.  A  title  of  dignity  amonj  the  Turks  and  Persians, 
given  to  various  officers:  as,  the  aga  of  the  janissaries, 
while  that  corps  subsisted ;  the  capi-aga,  or  chief  eunuch 
of  the  seraglio,  6cc.  It  is  also  a  common  epithet  of  respect 
in  addressing  a  distinguished  person. 

AKA'LMATOLl'TE.     (Gr.  dvaW,  wiai-e, and  Ai0oj,  a 
i     Tiie  mineral  which  the   Chinese'carve  into  im- 
ages. 

AGA'MA.  (Gr.  dyaftat.  I  wonder  at.)  The  name  of  a 
lizard,  employed  by  Cuvier  to  designate  the  first  section  of 
the  [guanian  sauria.  or  Agamdda  :  which  section  ischarac- 
i  sed  by  the  absence  of  palatal  teeth.  The  Agamoid  li- 
zards include  several  genera,  which  are  numerous  in  spe- 
cies, and  they  are  distributed  over  the  warmer  parts  of 
America,  Africa,  Asia,  and  Australia.  They  have  all  the 
power  of  inflating  the  body,  and  of  producing,  but  in  a  less 
degree  than  in  the  chameleon,  changes  of  colour,  whence, 
..  the  origin  of  the  name. 

A'GAMOUS.  (Gr.  d,  without,  and  ja/iof,  nuptials.)  A 
term  substituted  by  sunn-  writers  for  cryptogamic,  because 
such  plants  have  in  reality  do  organs  analogous  to  sexes : 
it  is,  however,  usually  limited  to  such  groups  as  conferva?. 
lichens,  and  fungi,  because  they  have  in  reality  nothing 
either  analogous  or  similar  to  the  sexes  of  more  pi 
plants  :  while,  on  the  contrary,  fern-;  and  mosses,  although 
they  have  not  any  real  sexes,  nevertheless  an 
by  some  writers  to  possess  parts  of  an  analogous  nature. 

A'GAPjE.     (Gr.    d-ju-n.   love.)     Love    feasts,    in 
among  the  primitive  Christians.    Alter  the  celebration  of 

the  communion,  the  oblations  which  had  I a   made  in 

the  temple,  consisting  of  meat  and  bread  which  the  rich 
had  brought  from  theii  houses,  were  consumed  at  a  com- 
mon feast  There  is  some  dispute  whether  in  the  apos- 
tolic times  this  feasl  di  I  nol  I  ike  pi  ice  before  the  commu- 
nion, in  mor  lance  with  the  circumstances  at- 
tending the  institution  of  tie-  sacrament.  The  agaps  or 
feasts  in  churches,  were  prohibited  by  the  Council  of 
Laodicea,  A.  D.  301.  and  the  third  of  Carthage,  A.  1> 

A'GAPHITE.    See  TunauoisB. 

A'GARH'        \  nin  Sarmatia.)    A  genus 

of  fungi  comprehending  many  hundred  species,  among 
which  are  A  campestris,  the  common  mushroom,  arid 
some  others,  which  are  delicate  articles  of  food;  A.  mus- 
carius  and  others  thai  are  dangerous  poisons  ;  many  of  the 
disgusting  deliquescent  fungi  i  ols;  and  nu- 

merous  be  lutiful  little  ephemeral  species,  which  appear  to 
be  harmless:  A.  oleariua  is  remarkable  for  being  phos- 
phorescent These  plants  uniformly  grow  in  decaying  an- 
imal or  vegetable  matter,  among  which  their  stem,  or 
sp  iu  n.  as  ii  is  commonly  called,  ramifies,  alter  the  spawn 
has  arrived  at  the  proper  age,  it  ceases  to  branch,  <•< 
into  parcels,  and  generates  from  those  parcels  the  fructifi- 
cation, which  forces  iis  way  into  the  light  under  the  form 
of  the  agaric.  The  cap  is  the  pari  where  the  spores  or 
seeds  for  reproducing  the  species  are  generated  :  ihey  are 
formed  within  the  plati  a  or  .jiiis  thai  Be  on  the  under  side 
of  ih.:  cap,  and  are  little  grey  round  bodies,  which,  when 
they  are  collected  in  great  quantities  upon  a  sheet  of  white 
paper,  have  the  appearance  of  exceedingly  fine  dust. 
'•Fairy  rings'1  an'  caused  by  the  underground  stems  of  a- 
garics  which  branch  from  a  common  centre,  and  only 
protrude  their  fructification  at  the  circumference. 

AGARIC  MINERAL.  Avery  soft  mealy  variety  of  car- 
boo,.!!'  of  lime. 

AGA'STRICS,  AGASTRIA,  AGASTRICA.  (Gr.  d. with- 
out, yaoriio.  a  stomach  :  8tomachle88.)  A  term  which  has 
been  applied  to  certain  animalcules,  on  the  erroneous  sup- 
ion  that  they  were  devoid  of  internal  digestive  cavities. 
(See  Polygastrics.)  The  term  is  still  applied  to  a  family 
of  medusae. 

A'GATE.  An  aggregate  of  certain  siliceous  minerals, 
possessing  hardness,  and  variety  id'  a  mixture, 

and  admitting  of  a  good  polish.    Chalcedony  generally  ap- 
to  be  the  base  of  agate  ;  cornelian,  jasper,  amethyst, 
and  other  similar  minerals,  often  enter  into  their  composi- 
tion. 

A'GATIIOD.E'MOX.  (fir.  dyados,  good,  and  Satftuv.) 
A  good  spirit.     (<See  D.emon.) 

AGA'VE.  (Gr.  dyavos,  admirable.)  A  genus  of  plants 
found  in  the  temperate  parts  of  America,  resembling  aloes 
in  their  mode  of  growth  and  general  appearance,  but  differ- 
ing in  having  an  inferior  ovary,  and  in  ilieir  sensible  proper- 
ties. The  best  known  species  is  Agave  americana,  called 
the  American  aloe,  which  has  been  naturalised  on  the 
coasts  of  the  Mediterranean,  where  it  assists,  with  Cactus 
opuntia,  the  palmetto,  and  date  palms,  to  sive  a  tropical  air 
to  European  scenery.  It  is  many  years  preparing  the  ma- 
terials for  its  gigantic  pyramid  of  flowers,  and  is  so  exhaust- 
ed by  the  effort,  that  it  quickly  afterwards  perishes.  A 
sweet  sap  flows  from  its  inward  stem,  and  upon  fermenta- 
tion becomes  an  intoxicating  beverage,  yielding  by  distilla- 
tion a  powerful  ardent  spirit.  Hemp  of  considerable 
21 


AGE. 


strength  is  manufactured  from  its  leaves.  The  genus  agave 
is  the  type  of  one  of  the  subdivisions  of  amaryllidaceuus 
plants. 

AGE.  (Fr.  age.)  Means,  generally,  a  definite  period  or 
length  of  time. 

Age.  As  applied  to  man,  age  may  either  mean  the 
whole  of  his  life,  or  a  portion  of  it.  It  is  usual  to  divide  the 
whole  period  of  human  life  into  four  pans  or  ages.  The 
first,  or  infancy,  extending  to  the  fourteenth  year;  the 
next,  or  youth,  from  the  lourteenth  to  about  the  twenty- 
fifth  ;  manhood,  from  the  twenty-fifth  to  the  fiftieth  or  six- 
tieth :  and  the  last,  or  old  age,  filling  up  the  remainder. 
Ovid  ingeniously  compares  these  four  ages  to  the  four  dif- 
ferent seasons  of  the  year. — (Metamorph.  xv.  ver.  £00.) 
These  divisions  are,  however,  in  a  great  degree  arbitrary  ; 
and  very  frequently  they  have  been  extended  to  six.  the 
first  being  divided  into  infancy  and  childhood,  and  the  last 
into  old  age  and  extreme  old  age.  Sometimes,  also,  the 
life  of  man  is  supposed  to  be  divided  into  seven  ages,  the 
Li  ading  characteristics  of  which  have  been  most  admirably 
depicted  by  ^hakspeare : — 

11  Hi?  acts  beingseven  ages.    At  first,  the  infant, 
Mewling  and  puking  iu  the  nurse's  arms  : 
Ami  then,  tht:  whining  schoolboy,  wiih  his  satchel, 
Ainl  ihining  morning  lace,  creeping  like  snail 
Unwillingly  '"  school  i     And  u  en  il  e  lover  ; 
Sighing  like  furnace,  with  a  woeful  bahad 
Made  to  bifl  mietn  >s*  eyebrow  :  then  a  soldier, 
Full  of  strange  oaths,  a  nd  bearded  like  the  paid, 

I  in  honour,  sudde  n  and  quick  in  quarrel, 
Seeking  the  bubble  reputation 

Even  in  the  cannon's  ineudi  :  and  then,  the  justice  ; 
In  fair  round  belly,  with  goodcapon  lin'd, 
With  eyea  severe,  and  beard  of  formal  cut, 
Full  of  wise  saws  and  modern  Inatanci  ?, 
And  so  In-  p. ays  his  part :  The  sixth  age  shifu 
lino  the  lean  andalipper'd  pantaloon  ; 
With  spectaclea  on  note,  and  pouch  on  side  : 

His  yoLiclili.il  1  B  world  loo  wide 

Fur  I'is  shrunk  ■honk  :  and  DM  lag  nian'y  v. ace, 

Turning  again  toward  childish  treble,  , 

And  whistles  in  his  sound  :  Last  scene  of  u!!, 

That  ends  this  strange  eventful  history, 

la  second  childishness    and  mereoblivj 

Sans-  !Ste,eanfl  every  thing. " 

For  a  scientific  discussion  of  this  -  Mortality. 

Age.  In  I.aw,  is  the  period  at  which  individuals  are 
qualified  to  undertake  certain  duties  and  offices.  By  the 
common  law  of  England,  a  man  at  fourteen  is  at  the  age  of 
discretion,  and  may  then  appoint  guardians,  ami  marry 
with  their  consent :  a!  twenty-one  he  is  of  full  ace,  and 
may,  consequently,  exercise  any  civil  privilege  to  which 
he  may  otherwise  be  entitled,  thai  is.  he  may  elect  or  be 
elected  to  parliament,  be  appointed  a  ju  lands, 

eke.     Hni  no  person  can  be  admitted  in  England  lodi  ■ 
orders  till  he  be  twenty-three  years  ol  age,  nor  to  priest's 
till  In'   be   twenty-four.     At  twelve   years  a   won  an   may 
,  provided  she  bavi  at  of  her  parents  or 

guardians ;  and  at  twenty-one  she  is  her  own  mistress,  and 
spose  ofnerselfand  her  estates. 

Infants  under  seven  years  an-  held  by  the  law  of  England 
to  be  incapable  of  committing  felony.  If  persons  above 
that  ase,  and  under  fourteen,  commit  felony,  they  are  pri- 
ma facie  entitled  to  an  acquittal:  but  if  it  appear  to  the 
conrl  and  the  jury  that  the  accused  was  doti  capax,  or 
clearly  nnderst I  the  nature  of  the  crime  he  was  com- 
mitting, they  may  prot I  on  the  principle  that  malitia 

eetaiem,  and  subject  the  offender,  as,  in  point  of  fact, 
has  been  repeatedly  doiie.  to  the  extremest  penalty  of  the 
law.  Persons  aboi  -  fourteen  are  treated  in  this  respect 
as  if  they  had  arrived  at  full  age.—  (Ulackstone,  book  iv. 
cap.  2.) 

At  Home,  the  consular  age,  or  the  aire  at  which  a  pel 
became  capable  of  holding  the  consular  dignity,  was  fixed 
at  forty-three,  though  in  extraordinary  cases  this  rule  might 
be  set  aside.  In  France,  at  this  moment,  a  nan  is  not  al 
lowed  to  exercise  the  elective  franchise  till  he  be  twenty- 
five  yearsof  age  ;  nor  be  elected  a  deputy  nil  he  be  thirty.  In 
some  of  the  American  states  judges  are  obliged  to  retire 

when  they  have  attained  lo  a  certain  age,  which  is  some- 
times so  early  as  sixty. 
Age.  In  Mythology,  ace  means  one  or  other  of  the  four 
s  described  by  the  ancient  poets.  The  first  orgold- 
en  age,  aurea  ebtas,  when  there  was  an  eternal  spring,  and 
whin  the  earth  spontaneously  poured  forth  her  harvests, 
and  man 

"  vindice  nullo, 

Sponte  sui  slue  lege  fidem  rectumque  colebat," 

was  coeval  with  the  reign  of  Saturn  on  earth.    The  next,  or 
silver  age,  argentea  atas,  was  marked  by  the  change  of 
seasons,  and  the  division  and  cultivation  of  lands.     The 
third,  or  brazen  ase,  aerna  alas,  is  described  as 
"  Saevior  ingeniis,  et  ad  horrida  promptior  arma  : 
Nee  sceleiala  laiiicn." 

And  then  came  the  last,  or  iron  age.ferrea  atas,  full  of  all 
sorts  of  hardships  and  wickedness,  which  still  continues. 
(Otidii  Metuvwiph.,  i.  lin.  S9.,  <fcc.) 


AGENDA. 

Age.  In  Literature,  age  is  a  period  distinguished  by 
great  improvements  and  eminence  in  arts  and  sciences, 
usually  bearing  the  name  of  some  powerful  sovereign,  or 
other  prominent  person,  who  flourished  during  that  period. 
Of  these  ages,  the  most  memorable  are  the  age  of  Peri- 
cles, the  Augustan  age,  the  age  of  Leo  X.,  of  Louis 
XIV..  &c. 

Age.  In  Chronology  and  History,  age  is  sometimes  used 
as  synonymous  with  a  cen'ury,  and  sometimes  also  with  a 
generation.  Writers  differ  in  respect  to  the  period  inclu- 
ded under  what  is  called  the  middle  ages ;  but  they  are 
commonly  understood  to  begin  with  the  reign  of  Constan- 
tine,  and  to  extend  to  the  fifteenth  or  the  early  part  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  The  eera  of  the  invention  of  printing, 
1450 — 1455,  might,  we  think,  be  advantageously  adopted  as 
the  termination  of  the  middle  ages. 

AGE'NDA.  (Lat.  things  to  be  done.)  Small  books  are 
now  published  under  this  title,  in  which  individuals  may 
set  down,  under  their  proper  heads,  the  things  to  be  daily 
attended  to. 

Agenda.  In  Divinity,  articles  of  moral  practice,  in  op- 
position to  credenda,  articles  of  faith.  Also,  the  ritual  of  a 
church,  and  the  books  containing  it. 

A'GEjST.  In  Law,  is  a  person  authorised  to  do  some 
act  or  acts  in  the  name  of  another,  who  is  called  his  princi- 
pal. An  agent  may,  in  general,  be  appointed  by  bare 
words,  or  his  appointment  will  be  inferred  from  circum- 
stances ;  but,  for  some  purposes  specified  by  the  statute  of 
frauds,  his  appointment  must  be  in  writing.  The.  agent  of 
a  corporation  must,  in  general,  be  appointed  by  deed.  If 
an  agent  has  engaged  to  perform  certain  duties  for  a  consi- 
deration, the  performance  may  be  enforced  in  law.  But 
against  an  unremunerated  agent,  the  principal  can  only  re- 
cover damages  for  misconduct  in  the  performance,  and 
cannot  compel  him  to  proceed.  With  respect  to  the  deal- 
ings of  third  parties  with  an  agent,  some  general  rules  of 
law  are,  that  the  extent  of  an  agent's  authority  is,  as  be- 
tween his  principal  and  third  parties,  to  be  measured  by 
the  extent  of  his  usual  employment ;  that  the  representa- 
tion of  an  agent  about  the  subject-matter  of  a  contract 
which  he  is  negotiating  for  his  principal,  will,  if  made  du- 
ring the  course  of  the  negotiation,  bind  the  latter ;  that  pay- 
ment to  an  agent,  in  the  course  of  his  employment,  is  pay- 
ment to  the  principal ;  that  the  principal  is,  under  many 
circumstances,  responsible  in  civil  actions  for  the  negli- 
gence or  fraud  of  his  agent,  but  not  criminally  liable  for  his 
acts,  unless  done  under  an  express  command. 

Agent.  In  Diplomacy,  a  general  name,  comprising  se- 
veral ranks: — as,  1.  Ambassadors.  2.  Envoys  extraordi- 
nary and  ministers  plenipotentiary.  3.  Ministers  resident. 
4.  Charges  d'affaires.  5.  Secretaries  of  legation,  &c.  In 
common  language,  however,  the  highest  officer  em- 
ployed by  one  power  at  the  court  of  another,  is  usually 
termed  the  agent  of  that  power  at  the  court  in  question. 
{See  Diplomacy.) 

A'GGREGATE  ANIMALS.  This  term  is  applied  to 
those  animals  which  are  collected  together  in  a  common 
enveloping  organised  substance  containing  numerous  com- 
partments, from  each  of  which  a  distinct  occupant  sends 
forth  a  circle  of  organs  to  collect  food,  which,  after  assimi- 
lation, is  carried  by  a  common  and  continuous  system  of 
vessels  for  the  support  and  enlargement  of  the  common 
dwelling.  Examples  of  animals  so  associated  or  aggregated 
occur  in  the  class  polypi,  where  they  form  most  of  the  or- 
ders; also  in  the  class  acalepha?,  forming  the  polytoma  ; 
and  in  acephalous  mollusca,  forming  the  genera  botryllus, 
pyrotoma,  and  polyclinum. 

AGI'LIA.  (Lat.  agilis.  swift.)  A  family  of  rodents  in 
the  system  of  Illiger,  including  the  squirrels  and  dormice. 

A'GIO.  A  mercantile  term,  denoting  the  percentage 
difference  existing  between  the  values  of  the  current  and 
standard  moneys  of  any  place.  Also,  the  rate  of  premium 
which  is  given,  when  a  person  having  a  claim  which  can 
only  be  legally  demanded  in  one  metal,  chooses  to  be  paid 
in  another.  Thus,  in  countries  where  silver  is  the  only 
legal  standard,  a  large  payment  in  silver  is  so  inconvenient, 
that  the  receiver  will  often  pay  a  small  premium  for  the 
convenience  of  receiving  gold :  this  premium  constitutes 
the  agio  on  gold. 

A'GIOTAGE.  A  term  employed  to  designate  the  sort  of 
manoeuvres  by  which  speculatoVs  in  the  public  funds  con- 
trive, by  disseminating  false  rumours,  or  otherwise,  to 
lower  or  enhance  their  price.  It  is  sometimes  also,  though 
less  commonly,  applied  to  the  machinations  of  those  who 
endeavour,  by  similar  artifices,  to  raise  or  depress  the 
prices  of  commodities. 

AGISTMENT.  In  Law.  From  the  old  French  word, 
agister,  which  signifies  a  licence  granted  for  cattle,  viz.  to 
be  harboured,  or,  in  legal  phrase,  levant  and  couchant,  on 
the  land.  A  contract  by  which  A.'s  cattle  are  taken  into 
B.'s  ground,  to  remain  there  at  a  stipulated  sum,  paid  peri- 
odically. Agistment  is  also  used  for  the  profits  of  such 
feeding.  The  "Tithe  of  Agistment."  or  o<"eattle  and  other 
produce  of  grass  lands,  demanded  by  the  Irish  clergy,  was 
22 


AGREEMENT. 

resisted  in  1720,  by  the  landlords,  and  in  effect  abolished 
by  a  resolution  of  the  Irish  house  of  commons  (1735).  By 
the  act  of  union,  this  resolution  was  passed  into  law  :  and 
thus  the  tithes  of  Ireland  have,  in  effect,  been  thrown  on 
the  poorest  part  of  the  agricultural  population,  the  owners 
and  cultivators  of  arable  land.  (See  Ld.  Her.,  vol.  xxxiv.  : 
Wakefield's  Ireland,  vol.  ii.) 

A'GNATE.  (Lat.  agnatus.)  In  Roman  Law,  agnates 
are  those  who  descend  through  males  from  a  common  an- 
cestor; in  opposition  to  cognates,  i.  e.  all  the  descendants 
of  a  common  ancestor,  whether  through  males  or  females. 
Thus,  in  France,  the  hereditary  crown  passes  by  right  of 
agnation,  females  being  excluded. 

AGNCMEN.  Besides  the  prfenomen,  nomen,  and  cog- 
nomen, the  Romans  sometimes  had  a  fourth  name  (agno- 
men), which  was  derived  from  some  illustrious  action  or 
remarkable  event.  Thus,  two  Scipios  had  the  name  Afri- 
canus  given  them  on  account  of  their  victories  over  the 
Carthaginians  in  Africa.  The  younger  of  these  celebrated 
generals  had  a  second  agnomen,  viz.  iEmilianus,  because 
he  was  the  son  of  L.  Paulus  iEmilius,  and  adopted  into  the 
family  of  the  Scipios. 

A'GNOX.  A  name  applied  by  Fabricius  to  a  genus  of 
dragon-flies,  having  the  wings  erect  when  at  rest,  the  eyes 
distinct,  and  the  outer  divisions  of  the  lip  bifid. 

AGXO'STTIS.  (Gr.  ayvoioros,  unknown.)  A  name  de- 
vised to  express  the  obscur?  nature  of  a  genus  of  trilobites 
(fossil  crustaceans),  to  which  it  is  attached;  the  genus  is 
characterised  by  the  semicircular  or  reniform  shape  of  the 
body,  which  in  all  other  trilobites  is  ovate  or  ellipitical. 

A'GNUS  DEI.  (Lat.  Lamb  of  God.)  1.  A  prayer  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  church,  which  begins  with  the  words, 
'•  Agnus  Dei  qui  tollis  peccata  mundi."  2.  An  image  of 
wax,  impressed  with  the  figure  of  the  Lamb,  consecrated 
by  the  pope,  and  distributed  to  the  faithful. 

AGO'MPHIANS,  AGOMPIIIA.  (Gr.  d,  uithont,  and 
}op<J)ios,  a  tooth.)  A  term  applied  by  Ehrenberg  to  those 
rotifers  of  which  the  jaws  are  deprived  of  teeth. 

A'GONY.  (Gr.  dyoivia,  contest.)  In  Divinity,  the  suf- 
fering of  our  Saviour  in  the  garden  on  the  night  preceding 
his  crucifixion.     Luke,  xxii.  24. 

A'GORA.  The  market  place  of  a  Greek  town,  which 
was  generally  used  also  as  the  place  where  the  assemblies 
of  the  people  met.  It  answers  to  the  Latin  term  forum. 
From  the  verb  dyciptiv,  to  collect,  or  asse?nble.  From  agora 
is  derived 

AGORA'NOMUS.  The  title  of  an  Athenian  magistrate, 
forming  one  of  a  body  of  ten,  or,  as  some  say,  fifteen,  per- 
sons, whose  duty  it  was  to  superintend  the  markets,  and 
collect  the  customs  imposed  on  certain  articles. 

AGOU'TI.  The  Indian  name  of  some  South  American 
herbivorous  rodent  quadrupeds,_now  included  in  the  genus 
Dasyprocta. 

AGRA'RIAN  LAWS.  (Lat.  ager,  field.)  Under  this 
term  are  comprehended  the  enactments  which  were  car- 
ried or  attempted  to  be  carried  at  Rome  by  the  plebeians 
and  their  partisans,  in  opposition  to  the  patricians,  touching 
the  distribution  made  of  the  public  lands  accruing  to  the 
state  by  conquest.  These  were  leased  out  to  the  patricians 
by  the  state  at  a  moderate  or  nominal  rent,  while  the  ple- 
beians gained  nothing  by  them.  The  object  of  the  agrarian 
laws,  which  did  not  interfere  with  private  freehold  proper- 
ty, was  to  obtain  for  the  plebeians  a  share  in  these  lands,  to 
restrict  the  quantity  occupied  by  individuals,  and  to  cause 
a  real  rent  to  be  paid  from  them  for  the  support  of  the  army. 
The  most  celebrated  movers  of  these  laws  were,  Sp.  Cas- 
sius.  Licinius,  and  the  two  Gracchi,  whose  reputation  has 
suffered  with  posterity,  from  being  intrusted  to  the  hands 
of  writers  who  favoured  the  party  whose  unjust  encroach- 
ments were  sought  to  be  moderated  by  these  laws.  For  a 
more  impartial  investigation  of  them  than  can  be  found  in 
ancient  writers,  (for  Cicero,  from  his  aristocratic  partisan- 
ship, has  much  misrepresented  the  objects  of  these  re- 
formers, and  the  character  of  the  laws  they  sought  to  in- 
troduce.) see  Niebuhr's  Roman  History.  In  consequence 
of  the  misrepresentations  here  alluded  to,  an  "  Agrarian 
law"  now  generally  serves  to  denote  a  law  for  the  spolia- 
tion of  individuals,  by  reducing  landed  property  in  private 
hands  to  a  fixed  amount.  The  law  of  partibility  of  real 
estates,  as  it  obtained  in  the  Roman  jurisprudence,  and  still 
more  in  countries  where  it  cannot  be  controlled  by  testa- 
mentary disposition,  has,  in  some  measure,  the  effect  of 
an  Agrarian  law.  although  free  from  its  injustice. 

AGREE'MENT.  (Fr.  agrement,  agreeableness.)  In  the 
Fine  Arts,  a  certain  degree  of  resemolance  between  the 
parts,  in  style  and  character,  so  that  they  may  seem  to  be- 
long to  each  other. 

Agreement.  In  Law,  that  which  is  consented  to  by  two 
or  more  parties.  Agreements  are  divided  into  executed 
and  executory.  By  the  statute  of  frauds,  29  Car.  2.  c.  3. 
no  action  can  be  brought  to  charge  a  defendant  on  any 
agreement  upon  consideration  of  marriage,  or  on  any 
contract  or  sale  of  lands,  &c,  or  any  interest  therein,  or 
any  agreement  not  to  be  performed  within  one  year,  unless 


AGRICULTURE. 

such  agreement  or  some  memorandum  or  note  of  it  be  in 
Writing,  signed  by  the  party  to  be  charged  therewith,  or 
some  oilier  person  by  liim  thereunto  lawfully  authorised. 

The  remedy  which  law  affords  for  the  breach  of  an 
agreement  is  only  by  way  of  damages.  But  equity  will  in 
general  compel  the  specific  performance  of  any  contract 
or  agreement  for  the  non-performance  or  breach  of  which 
a  court  of  law  could  have  awarded  damages.  The  princi- 
pal exception  to  this  rule  is,  where  the  agreement  is  of 
such  a  nature  that  its  breach  can  be  or  was  intended  to  be 
compensated  by  damages. 

A'URK'LLTURE.  (Lat  ager.  afield,  and  colo,  I  till} 
This  art  may  be  defined  as  that  of  cultivating  land  in  fields, 
or  in  large  quantities  ;  as  opposed  to  horticulture,  which  is 
the  art  of  cultivating  land  in  gardens,  or  in  small  quantities: 
or,  agriculture  may  be  defined  as  the  art  of  cultivating  land 
with  the  plough  ;  and  horticulture  that  of  cultivating  it  with 
the  spade.  The  restricted  meaning  of  the  word  agricul- 
ture, therefore,  is  simply  the  art  of  cultivating  fields;  but 
its  more  extensive  and  general  meaning  includes  the  whole 
business  of  the  farmer,  which  comprehends,  in  addition  to 
raising  corn,  and  other  crops,  the  management  of  lire 
stock.  As  a  general  term,  the  word  agriculture  is  also  fre- 
quentl  I  as  including  every  description  of  terri- 

torial improvement ;  thus,  it  is  made  to  comprehend  em- 
banking, road-making,  draining,  planting,  and  som< 
even  horticulture     In  this  sense  the  word  agriculture  is 
usni  by  the  French  writers  on  the  subject. 

We  shall  here  consider  the  term  agriculture  in  its  gene- 
ral acceptation  in  Britain,  and  in  other  countries  where  the 
English  language  prevails,  as  only  including  the  culture  of 
field  crops,  and  the  rearing  and  managing  of  domestic  an- 

imals,  On  a  large  scale  ;  and  we  shall  give  a  very  concise 
outline  of  iis  origin,  uce. 

Tlw  origin  of  Igriculture  must  doubtless  have  been 
coeval  with  that  of  fixed  property.  In  the  primeval  state 
of  society,  thi  of  the  husbandman  consisted  of 

flocks  and  herds,  which  wi  re  kept  in  a  state  of  movement 
from  one  point  to  another,  in  search  of  pasturage  and  wa- 
ter; but  as  population  increased,  mankind  adopted  a  fixed 
abode;  this  could  only  be  done  by  bestowing  on  the  site  a 
certain  degree  of  labour  and  care,  which  became,  as  it  were, 
the  price  paid  for  constituting  it  private  property.  At  this 
point  in  the  progree  on  agriculture  may  bi 

i.  Previously,  the  natural  products  of 
the  soil  were  merelj  consumed  where  the]  were  found; 
but  now  man  sought  to  increase  them  by  culture. 

History  of  Agriculture,  -The  culture  of  the  landwfD  be 
found  to  have  depended,  in  every  country,  principally  on 

its  climate,  and  its  civilisation  ;  though  partly,  ale n  its 

government  ami   population.      In   the    Warmer    climates, 


.bund. nice  for 
uui.i  where  very  little 

lothing.  agriculture 

imperatively  unne- 
abitants.    in  climates 


where  nature  produces  fruitsjn 
the  food  both  of  men  and 
care  is  required  to  procure  j? 
has  made  little  progress ;  I"'  ' 
cessary  for  the  prosperity  of 
of  a  directly  opposite  character,  agriculture  has  made 
equally  slight  progress,  from  the  natural  obstacles  op 
toil,  in  such  countries,  for  example,  as  Greenland  and 
Kamschatka,  only  one  or  two  kinds  of  corn  crops  Can  be 
cultivated,  and  perennial  grasses  can  scarcely  exist :  be- 
cause the  ground  is  covered  with  snow  for  eight  months  in 
the  year:  and  in  these  countries  agriculture  is  but  little 
practised,  as  the  chief  resources  of  the  inhabitants  for  food 
are  found  in  the  sea  and  the  forest.  In  intermediate  cli- 
mates, Buch  as  those  of  the  south  of  Britain,  the  middle  of 
Prance,  and  the  aorth  of  italj .  the  soil  may  be  laboured  by 
man  throughout  the  whole  year;  and  there  is  scarcely  any 
limit  to  the  kind  of  crops  that  may  be  raised  on  it.  In  such 
climates,  agriculture  is  calculated  to  attain  the  highest  de- 
gree of  perfection ;  and  comparing  the  different  parts  of 
the  zone  of  this  description  of  climate  in  both  hemispheres, 
perhaps  it  may  be  asserted,  that  the  best  agriculture  in  the 
world  is  to  be  found  in  Britain  and  in  the  north  of  Italy  ; 
viz.  in  East  Lothian  and  Norfolk,  in  the  vale  of  Arno,  and 
on  the  banks  of  the  l'o.  The  kind  of  agriculture  practised 
in  different  countries  is  also  of  course  adapt)  dto  the  dif- 
ference of  climate.  Thus,  towards  the  north,  the  great  art 
of  the  cultivator  would  consist  in  supplying  heat:  or,  rather 
in  adopting  such  measures  as  would  best  guard  plants  and 
animals  against  cold,  rains,  and  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
weather.  Towards  the  south,  on  the  other  hand,  the  art  of 
the  cultivator  would  be  chiefly  directed  to  moderating  ex- 
treme heat,  and  supplying  moisture.  It  thus  appears  that 
the  agriculture  of  any  country  necessarily  depends  on  its 
latitude  :  and  that  in  high  ami  low  latitudes,  where  there 
are  greater  extremes  of  temperature  and  climate  to  contend 
with,  agriculture  must  be  of  a  more  difficult  and  hazardous 
description  than  in  intermediate  or  temperate  climates  : 
such  as  that  of  Syria,  where  the  art  is  supposed  to  have 
originated,  or  in  Europe,  where  it  may  be  considered  as 
having  attained  ifs  highest  degree  of  perfection. 

In  tracing  the  progress  of  this  art  in  civilised  countries, 
we  have  only  to  follow  the  chronology  of  general  history. 


AGRICULTURE. 

As  the  Greeks  and  Romans  appear  to  have  arrived  at  as 
great  a  degree  of  perfection  in  legislation  as  the  moderns, 
so  they  appear  to  have  attained  nearly  equal  excellence  in 
the  practice  of  agriculture.  Till  within  the  present  centu- 
ry, very  little  difference  existed  between  the  most  approved 
agriculture  of  climates  analogous  to  that  of  Italy,  and  the 
agriculture  of  the  Romans  as  described  by  Cato,  Columel- 
la, and  other  ancient  writers.  The  chief  superiority  of  the 
modems  consists  in  their  machinery,  aid  in  their  know- 
ledge of  the  science  of  the  art ;  the  last  being  of  very  re- 
cent date,  and  by  no  means  general  among  practitioners. 
By  science,  improved  breeds,  both  of  plants  and  animals, 
have  been  originated  ;  and  by  improved  machinery,  a  more 
perfect  tillage  has  been  produced,  and  also  a  more  com- 
plete separation  of  the  produce  from  the  soil,  from  the 
refuse  of  the  plants  which  bore  it,  and  from  all  impurities. 

The  history  of  agriculture  in  Britain  begins  with  that  of 
the  Roman  conquest  Julius  Caesar  found  the  inhabitants 
in  a  state  of  semi-barbarism  ;  but  Agricola  left  them  in  pos- 
session  of  all  the  arts  of  civilisation  then  known.  Agricul- 
ture declined  with  the  invasion  of  the  Saxons;  but  was 
preserved  through  the  dark  ages  after  the  establishment  of 
Christianity,  by  the  intelligence  of  the  religious  establish- 
ments, who  gradually  became  possessed  of  the  greater 
part  of  the  landed  property  of  the  country.  Agriculture 
re\  ivid  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VDQL,  and  in  that  of  Elizabeth, 
during  the  long  period  of  peace  which  then  prevailed,  and 
the  consequent  security  of  property  ;  and  it  afterwards 
declined  during  the  civil  wars  :  it  again  revived  during  the 
reigns  of  William  and  Mary.  Queen  Anne,  and  George  I., 
in  consequence  ofthe  introduction  of  the  Flemish  husban- 
dry, which  included  the  culture  of  turnips  and  clover.  A 
still  greater  stimulus  to  the  art  was  given  during  the  reign 

'  George  III.  by  the  introduction  of  ploughs  drawn  by 
two  horses,  instead  of  four  or  six ;  ofthe  drill  system,  and 
its  application  to  the  culture  of  turnips  and  potatoes;  and 
by  the  improvement  made  in  the  breeding  and  rearing  of 
live  stock  by  BakeweU  and  Culley.  Early  in  the  present 
century,  the  threshing  machine  was  an  important  addition 
to  agricultural  machinery;  the  reaping  machine,  the  fre- 
quent drain  system,  and  the  subsoil  plough,  are  improve- 
ments just  coming  into  use  ;  and  the  next  grand  attempt 
will  probably  be  the  general  application  of  steam,  instead 
of  borsi  s  or  cattle,  iii  tillage  and  other  field  operations. 

The  literature  of  agriculture  commences  with  the  works 
of  tin-  Romans,  of  "  Inch  Columella's  work,  " De  Re  rus- 
lira."  may  be  considered  the  most   comprehensive,    In 

'.  n  of  modern  agriculture,  tie-  principal  writers  were, 

Cresceniius  in  Italy.  Herrera  in  Spam,  Olivier  de  Berres  in 
Prance,  Hereshbachius  in  Germany,  and  Fitzherbert  in 

England.  At  tin-  beginning  of  the  present  century  the 
•  -  author  on  agriculture  ill  Italy",  was 
Filippo  Re;  in  France,  Tessier:  in  Germany,  Thayer; 
and  in  England,  Marshall.  The  best  work  from  which  a 
general  Idea  may  be  obtained  ofthe  agriculture  of  France 
ami  corresponding  climates,  is  ••  mason  Rustique  die 
iii'  si?:cle ;  ou.  Encyclopedic  a  Agriculture  pratique,  com- 
plete in  "in-  thick  volume,  8vo.  ;  and  the  corresponding 
work  in  Britain  is  Loudon's  "  Encyclopedia  of  Agriculture." 
Tht  principles  0/ Agriculture  are  derived  from  a  know- 

I  the  nature  of plants  and  of  animals,  of  soils  and  ma- 
nures; ,uid  ofthe  climate,  the  seasons,  and  tin-  weather. 
Plants  ar ganised  beings,  which  take  up  their  food,  by 

of  roots,  from  the  interior  of  the  soil:  animals  are 
1  beings  which  select  their  food  from  vegetables 
growing  "ii  tie-  surface  of  the  soil,  or  from  other  animals, 
and  this  food  is  prepared  before  being  absorbed  into  the  sys- 
tem, by  means  of  a  stomach.  The  climate  of  a  country  de- 
termines both  tip-  plants  and  the  animals  which  can  be  pro- 
duced in  it  :  anil  the  seasons  and  the  weather,  the  time  when 
the  plants  and  animals  ofthe  given  climate  are  in  particular 
states  of  vigour  or  torpidity  ;  and  when  certain  operations  of 
culture  can  be  performed  on  them,  or  on  the  soil. 

The  nature  of  these  elementary  materials  being  under- 
stood, even  though  imperfectly,  certain  improvements  can 
be  effected  in  them  by  art,  which  are  greatly  conducive  to 
the  increase  of  agricultural  produce.  The  kinds  of  plants 
and  animals  suitable  to  any  given  climate,  soil,  or  season, 
are  determined  by  the  lawsofnalure  ;  but  from  amongthese 
kinds  it  is  in  the  power  of  man  to  make  a  selection;  and 
with  the  plants  and  animals  so  selected  to  originate  others, 
adapted  to  his  purposes  in  a  superior  degree.  Hence  the 
importance  of  selecting  certain  breeds  of  animals  rather 
than  others  ;  and  of  making  choice,  not  merely  of  one  kind 
of  bread-corn  rather  than  another,  but  of  particular  varieties 
of  that  corn.  Thus,  in  the  case  of  wheat,  there  are  some 
kinds  the  grains  of  which,  under  no  circumstances,  weigh 
more  than  from  50  to  55  pounds  a  bushel,  while  there  are 
others  which  never  weigh  less  than  60  pounds  a  bushel. 
The  nourishment  of  plants  has  been  found  to  depend  chiefly 
on  organised  matters  contained  in  the  soil,  and  produced 
chiefly  by  the  decay  of  other  plants.  This  is  a  law  of  na- 
ture, which,  followed  up  by  man,  has  led  to  the  use  of  ma- 
nures ;  as  the  fact,  every  where  observed,  that  no  plant  can 


AGRICULTURE. 

live  without  water,  has  led  to  irrigation  :  and,  as  the  obser- 
vation that  the  excess  of  water  is  injurious,  has  led  to  sur- 
face and  under  draining.  The  influence  of  temperature 
and  shelter  over  the  growth  of  plants,  and  the  thriving  of 
animals,  is  every  where  observable  in  wild  nature ;  and 
though  the  temperature  of  a  climate  cannot  be  changed, 
yet  that  of  most  localities  may  be  improved  by  shelter 
from  cold  winds,  and  by  diminishing  the  evaporation  from 
the  surface,  by  means  of  surface  and  under  draining,  to 
draw  off  the  superfluous  water.  The  most  important  prin- 
ciples in  the  theory  of  agriculture  are  those  which  relate  to 
the  improvement  of  plants  and  animals,  and  of  the  soil. 

The  improvement  of  the  soil  may  be  comprised  under 
two  heads — the  improvement  of  its  earthy  part,  and  the  in- 
crease of  the  organized  matter  added  to  the  earths.  The 
improvement  of  the  soil,  considered  as  a  mixture  of  differ- 
ent earths,  consists  in  rendering  it  more  or  less  retentive 
of  water,  by  diminishing  or  increasing  the  size  of  the  parti- 
cles of  which  it  is  composed:  for  example,  by  the  addition 
of  clay  in  some  cases,  and  sand  in  others  ;  and  by  improv- 
ing the  earthy  composition  of  the  soil  by  the  addition  of 
such  earths  as  may  be  in  too  small  quantities,  or  wanting 
altogether.  It  has  been  found,  from  experience,  that  those 
soils  which  are  composed  of  several  primitive  earths  are 
naturally  more  productive  than  such  as  consist  of  only 
one  earth,  all  other  circumstances  being  the  same  ;  and  it 
has  also  been  foimd  that  no  soil  will  maintain  its  fertility 
for  any  length  of  time  that  does  not  contain  a  certain  por- 
tion of  calcareous  earth  in  its  composition.  Hence  one  of 
the  most  common  means  of  improving  all  soils  not  calca- 
reous is,  by  the  addition  of  lime  ;  and  of  all  other  soils,  by 
mixing  them  with  such  as  are  of  an  opposite  description. 

All  soils  whatever  are  rendered  more  productive  by  the 
addition  of  organised  matter,  or  what  are  called  manures. 
Manures  may  either  be  con.posed  of  animal  or  of  vegeta- 
ble matter  :  and  these  may  either  be  applied  separately 
or  together,  and  in  a  fresh  state,  or  in  a  state  of  decay. 
It  has  been  found  from  experience,  and  explained  by  che- 
mical experiments,  that  every  description  of  manure  is 
rendered  more  effective  by  being  made  to  undergo  putre- 
factive fermentation  before  it  is  applied  ;  and  I  his  process 
is  carried  on  with  solid  manure  in  heaps  or  dung-hills,  and 
with  liquid  manure  in  tanks  or  wells.  In  the  application 
of  manure  to  soils,  the  great  object  of  the  cultivator  is  to 
apply  enough  for  the  ensuing  crop,  and  as  little  more  as 
possible ;  because  all  that  is  applied  and  not  immediately 
used,  is  liable,  to  a  certain  extent,  to  have  its  particles  car- 
ried off  by  evaporation  into  the  atmosphere,  or  by  rains 
into  rivers  or  the  sea.  But,  even  if  this  were  not  the  case, 
to  apply  manure  to  a  soil  where  it  would  not  be  immediate- 
ly turned  into  a  crop,  would  be  an  expenditure  of  capital 
without  interest. 

The  operation  of  freeing  a  soil  from  superfluous  water 
is  of  equal  or  perhaps  more  importance  than  supplying  it 
with  manure  ;  because,  though  without  manure  plants  will 
not  grow  with  great  luxuriance  and  vigour,  yet  with  too 
much  water  they  will  not  grow  at  all,  or  will  become  sickly. 
The  excess  of  water  may  proceed  from  three  causes  :  an 
extremely  moist  climate,  the  only  alleviation  to  which  is  ar- 
ranging the  surface  with  frequent  furrows,  and  short  slopes 
between  them,  so  as  to  cany  off  the  rain  as  soon  as  it  falls; 
a  soil  very  retentive  of  moisture,  so  as  to  hold  it  like  a 
sponge,  in  which  frequent  under  drains,  as  near  together 
as  the  surface  furrows,  are  required ;  and,  lastly,  ~a  soil 
lying  over  a  subsoil  which  abounds  in  springs,  or,"  in  other 
words,  which  has  the  substrata  charged  with  water,  which 
is  continually  oozing  out  through  the  surface  soil.  The 
remedy  for  this  last  evil  is  by  under  drains  of  considera- 
ble depth,  so  directed  as  to  collect  the  water  from  the  sub- 
strata, and  carry  it  off  before  allowing  it  to  reach  the  sur- 
face soil. 

A  soil,  after  being  drained  and  rendered  of  a  proper  tex- 
ture and  composition  by  the  admixture  of  such  earthy  in- 
gredients as  may  be  wanting,  requires,  to  render  it  fit  for 
being  penetrated  by  the  roots  of  plants,  to  be  frequently 
stirred  and  comminuted.  This  is  done  by  the  mechanical 
operations  of  ploughing,  harrowing,  <fcc. ;  which,  aided  by 
the  alternate  action  of  droughts  and  rains,  frosts  and  thaws, 
and  summer  and  winter,  have  the  effect  of  pulverizing  the 
soil.  To  maintain  a  soil  in  a  fertile  state,  it  is  not  only  ne- 
cessary to  supply  it  with  manure  in  proportion  to  the  crops 
which  have  been  carried  from  it,  but  to  vary  the  crops 
which  it  is  made  to  produce.  It  has  been  found  from  ex- 
perience that  crops  of  plants  belonging  to  the  same 
natural  family  do  not  succeed  so  well  after  each  other, 
as  when  crops  of  a  different  family  are  made  to  inter- 
vene. Thus,  the  several  grasses  alternate  better  with 
root  or  herbage  crops  than  with  one  another;  or,  one 
of  those  grasses  of  which  the  seed  is  ripened  will  alter- 
nate better  with  another  in  which  the  herbage  only  con- 
stitutes the  crop,  than  with  one  of  the  same  kind  as  itself. 
Something  analogous  to  the  succession  of  crops  takes 
place  also  with  regard  to  the  pasturage  of  animals,  and 
it  is  found  advantageous  to  put  cattle  in  a  field  that  has 
24 


AGRICULTURE. 

been   grazed  by  horses,  rather  than  to  put  horses  after 
horses,  and  cattle  after  cattle. 

Thus,  the  principles  of  agriculture  may  be  comprised 
under  the  selection  of  breeds  of  plants  and  animals  ;  the 
improvement  of  the  soil  and  subsoil;  the  culture  or  move- 
ment of  the  soil ;  the  improvement  of  the  local  climate  by 
shelter  and  drying:  and  the  succession  of  crops.  All 
these  principles  have  been  derived  from  experience  ;  and 
they  are  only  in  part  accounted  for  by  chemistry  or  natural 
philosophy.  They  are  not,  however,  on  that  account,  the 
less  true  and  useful.  It  is  singular  that  they  should  all 
have  been  known  to  the  Romans,  and,  to  all  appearance,  as 
fully  so  as  they  are  to  modern  cultivators.  (See  Johnston's 
Lectures  on  Agricultural  Chemistry  and  Geology,  1842.) 

Tlie  practice  of  Agriculture  in  Britain  may  be  included 
under  the  heads  of  the  choice,  hiring,  and  stocking  of  a 
farm  ;  and  its  general  culture  and  management.  In  the 
choice  of  a  farm  in  any  given  country,  the  object  of  greatest 
importance  is  the  nature  of  the  soil ;  because,  though  this 
may  be  improved  by  art  and  expense  to  such  a  degree  as 
almost  to  render  a  bad  soil  equal  to  a  good  one,  yet  in  prac- 
tice this  would  be  so  expensive  as  by  no  means  to  answer 
the  purpose  of  the  farmer.  It  may  be  thought  that  the  vi- 
cinity of  good  roads,  of  a  canal,  a  river,  or  a  market-town, 
are  objects  of  more  importance  that  the  nature  of  the  soil; 
but  this  is  not  the  case,  because,  supposing  the  roads  to  be 
bad,  and  the  market  at  a  distance,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
change  the  system  of  cultivation  and  management,  and  to 
turn  the  produce  of  the  farm  into  some  description  of  live 
stock  which  may  be  driven  to  any  distance,  even  over  a 
country  without  roads.  If  it  be  alleged  that  the  nature  of  the 
climate  is  of  paramount  importance  to  the  soil  in  the  choice 
of  a  farm,  we  allow  that  in  an  extended  sense  it  is ;  for  ex- 
ample, if  a  cultivator  had  the  choice  of  any  part  of  Europe, 
there  are  doubtless  many  districts  where  the  climate  is  far 
more  favourable  for  all  the  operations  and  products  of  agri- 
culture than  others;  and  even  if  he  had  the  choice  of  every 
part  of  Britain,  he  might  find  some  localities  much  more  fa- 
vourable than  others.  In  general,  however,  the  actual  choice 
of  any  cultivator  lies  within  a  given  locality,  where  the  cli- 
mate, in  a  practical  point  of  view,  is  every  where  the  same. 
Next  to  soil  and  climate  in  the  choice  of  a  farm,  the  state 
of  the  buildings  and  fences  on  it,  the  state  of  the  roads, 
and  the  distance  from  a  market-town,  a  canal,  or  a  sea- 
port, are  of  importance.  Without  buildings  of  a  sufficient 
extent,  properly  situated,  and  of  the  proper  kinds,  the  bu- 
siness of  a  farm  cannot  be  earned  on  ;  and  though  some 
farms,  and  some  kinds  of  farming,  may  be  conducted 
without  fences,  yet,  in  general,  fences  are  as  necessary  as 
roads.  The  last  circumstance  which  we  shall  mention  in 
this  cursory  glance  is,  the  nature  of  the  tenure  by  which 
the  farm  is  to  be  held,  and  the  covenants  and  conditions  of 
the  lease.  No  cultivator,  who  calculates  on  the  employ- 
ment of  a  considerable  capital,  will  risk  it  on  the  lands  of 
another  without  some  security  for  having  it  returned  ;  and 
this  security  is  a  lease  for  a  fixed  number  of  years.  On 
the  other  hand,  no  proprietor  of  lands  will  delegate  the 
possession  of  them  to  another  for  a  fixed  number  of  years, 
without  a  valuable  consideration  ;  and  this  he  reserves  to 
himself  in  the  lease,  under  the  denomination  of  rent.  As 
lands  in  a  state  of  cultivation,  and  buildings  and  fences  in 
a  state  of  repair,  are  liable  to  be  injured  and  deteriorated 
in  value  by  bad  management  or  neglect,  the  proprietor 
guards  against  these  accidents  by  certain  conditions  in  the 
lease. 

T7te  kind  of  culture  and  management  adopted  in  any 
farm  depends  jointly  on  the  soil  and  climate  ;  and  on  the 
kind  of  produce  most  in  demand,  or  reckoned  most  pro- 
fitable. In  the  mountainous  districts  of  Great  Britain, 
where  the  climate  is  cold,  almost  the  only  kind  of  farm- 
ing practised  is  that  of  breeding  and  rearing  different  kinds 
of  live  stock  ;  such  as  sheep  or  cattle,  which  are  sold  for 
being  fattened  in  more  favourable  districts  ;  or  horses,  in 
order  to  supply  the  demand  for  these  animals  for  the  pur- 
pose of  draught,  or  the  saddle.  The  mountainous  districts 
of  Scotland  and  Wales  are  chiefly  devoted  to  the  breeding 
and  rearing  of  sheep  and  black  cattle ;  which  are  sold  to 
the  farmers  of  the  low  country  in  both  kingdoms,  in  order 
to  be  fattened  for  the  shambles.  The  hilly  districts  of 
Yorkshire  and  Lancashire  are  chiefly  employed  in  the 
breeding  and  rearing  of  horses.  In  the  low  country  of  the 
east  coast  of  Great  Britain,  the  climate  being  dry,  is  favour- 
able for  the  culture  of  corn  :  while  on  the  west  coast,  and 
in  Ireland  generally,  the  climate  being  moist,  is  more  fa- 
vourable for  pasture.  The  farm  products  most  universally 
in  demand  are,  corn  and  butcher's  meat;  and  these  may 
be  produced  on  every  farm  the  fields  of  which  admit  of 
being  kept  alternately  in  tillage  and  in  grass.  The  butch- 
er's meat  may,  however,  be  produced  in  much  greater 
abundance,  on  such  soils  as  admit  of  the  culture  of  root 
and  herbage  crops,  such  as  turnips,  potatoes,  clover,  &c,  ; 
while  corn  may  be  produced  most  abundantly  in  strong 
loamy  soils,  within  reach  of  extensive  sources  of  manure. 
The  most  profitable  description  of  crop  will  frequently  be 


AGRICULTURE. 

found  to  be  different  from  that  Which  is  most  generally  In 
demand:  for  example,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  a  large 
town,  the  culture  of  culinary  vegetables,  on  a  large  scale,  in 
what  are  called  farm  gardens,  is  generally  far  more  profit- 
able than  the  raisin;  of  corn  or  butcher's  meat  Even  the 
raisins  of  food  for  cattle,  in  such  situations,  is  found  to 
yield  more  profit  than  common  farming-  There  are  also 
particular  crops  which  may  be  occasionally  cultivated 
which  yield  extraordinary  profits ;  such  as  plants  used  in 
dyeing,  or  in  some  manufacture  not  common  :  plants  of 
new  and  improved  variety  of  the  kinds  in  general 
cultivation  for  their  seed,  &c. 

A  farm  being  fixed  on,  all  preliminary  matters  settled, 
and  the  farmer  in  possession,  his  first  business  will  be  to 
fix  on  the  general  system  of  cultivation  that  he  means  to 
it  In  this,  as  already  observed,  he  will  be  guided  by 
the  farm  is  capable  of  producing,  and  what  he  can 
dispose  of.  One  of  the  first  points  that  he  will  determine 
after  this,  will  be  the  quantity  of  land  that  he  can  have  un- 
der each  particular  kind  of  crop  th.it  he  intends  to  grow  : 
ami  next,  the  order  in  which  these  crops  .ire  to  succeed  one 
another.  No  point,  indeed,  in  the  whole  system  of  farm 
management,  is  of  more  importance  than  the  succession, 
or.  as  it  is  usually  called,  the  rotation,  of  crops.  The  prin- 
ciple on  which  the-  sue.,  -  ion  "i  crops  is  founded  has  been 
already  hinted  at;  and  in  here  treating  it  practically,  it 
may  he  sufficient  to  state  that  all  agricultural  crops  what- 
ever may  be  reduced  to  three  kinds— exhausting  crops, 
restoring  crops,  and  cleaning  crops ;  and  that  the-  perfec- 
tion of  a  rotation  consists  in  always  having  an  exhausting 
crop  followed  by  a  restoring  or  a  cleaning  crop :  or,  what  is 
best,  by  both  combined.  AH  crops  which  are  allowed  to 
ripen  their  seeds,  or  which  are  carried  wholly  off  the 
ground,  are  considered  exhausting,  though  in  different  de- 
grees. Thus,  the  most  exhausting  crops  in  general  culti- 
vation art  those  of  corn  ;  but  clover,  tares,  or  even  hay  cut 
green,  are  also  exhausting,  though  in  a  much  less  degree. 
Restoring  crops  are  those  where  the  produce  is  suffered  to 
decay  on  the  ground,  or  is  consumed  on  it  ;  as  in  the  case 
of  pasture,  crops  of  tares,  turii'i's.  tec.  Cleaning  crops  are 
such  as  are  grown  in  drills,  sufficiently  wide  to  admit  of 
hoeing  and  other  operations  of  cleaning  between.  Some 
of  these  are  at  once  cleaning  and  exhausting,  as  where 
com  is  sown  in  drills ;  while  others  are  cleaning  and  resto- 
rative, such  as  where  herbage  plants,  as  clover  and  lucerne, 
or  roots,  as  turnips,  are  drilled,  and  the  plants  are  to  be 
eaten  off  on  the  spot,    other  prinicples  which  enter  into 

consideration  in  fixing  on  a  rotation  of  crops  are,  thai 
plants   which  are    nearly   allied  should  not    BUCCeed  each 

oilier;  because, whether  from  exhausting  the  soil 
particular  kind  of  nutriment,  or  by  depositing  in  it  one  in- 
jurious kind  of  secretion,  certain  it  is,  thai  the  same  kind  of 
plants  cultivated  without  intermission  on  the  same  soil  soon 
become  sickly.  Thus  three  or  four  crops  of  any  kind  of 
corn  in  succession  will  not  onlj  unfit  the  soil  for  that 
variety  or  species  of  corn,  but  in  a  great  measure  for 
everj  other. 
The  farmer  having  determined  on  the  crops  which  he  is 
w,  and  the  order  of  their  succession,  his  next  busi- 
ness is  to  calculate  the  quantity  of  stocking  which  will  he 
required  for  his  form.  By  stocking  is  to  be  understood  the 
number  of  horses,  cattle,  and  other  live  stock;  and  the 

kind  and  number  of  machines,  implements,  and  tools  that 

will  be  required.  In  addition  to  these,  he  must  take  into 
calculation  the  numherof  male  and  female  servants  which 
it  will  hi?  necessary  for  him  to  keep,  either  permanently  by 
the  year,  or  to  hire  occasionally  by  the  week.  Lastly,  he 
will  have  to  take  into  consideration  the  sum  of  money 
which  he  will  require  to  layout  for  sen-ants'  wages,  house- 
keeping, rent,  and  all  other  expenses,  before  he  receives 
any  return  from  his  farm  produce.     The  sum  total  is  the 

an t  required  for  what  is  called  stocking  a  farm;  and 

nuts,  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  to  from  51.  to 
10/.  per  acre.  Poor  soil  under  pasture  requires  the  smallest 
sum  per  acre  :  and  rich  soil  under  tillage  the  largest  sum. 

The  form  being  entered  on,  and  the  system  of  culture 
determined,  the  future  business  during  tie-  lease  is  one 
uniform  routine  of  preparing,  sowing,  reaping,  threshing, 
and  marketing:  including,  where  the  breeding  or  fattening 
of  live  stock  enters  into  the  system,  their  purchase,  fatten- 
ing, and  sale  ;  or,  their  rearing,  breeding,  and  sale. 

The  agriculture  of  Britain,  and  especially  of  the  low 
country  of  Scotland,  excels  that  of  most  other  countries 
having  similar  climates,  from  the  superior  skill,  intelli- 
gence, and  capital  of  the  farmer ;  the  considerable  length 
of  lease  which  is  granted  by  the  landlord;  the  superiority 
ofthe  machines  and  implements  employed;  and  the  im- 
proved breeds  of  animals  and  plants  which  are  reared  or 
cultivated.  Perhaps  the  nearest  approach  to  perfection  in 
the  culture  of  arable  land  in  any  part  of  Britain,  is  made  in 
some  parts  of  East  Lothian  ;  where,  in  consequence  of 
deep  ploughing,  substituting  under  drains  for  furrows,  re- 
gularly supplying  manure,  and  alternating,  cleaning  and  re- 
storing crops  with  exhausting  crops,  as  great  an  amount  of 


AIR. 

produce  is  obtained  as  can  stand  on  the  surface  at  one 
time.  The  agriculture  of  Britain  is  most  defective  in  the 
southern  districts  of  the  island  ;  in  consequence  of  the 
farmers  being  the  very  opposite  of  those  in  the  northern 
districts,  the  want  or  the  shortness  of  leases,  and  the  re- 
strictive clauses  in  those  leases,  by  which  the  tenant  is 
prevented  from  exercising  his  own  judgment,  and  is 
obliged  to  follow  in  the  routine  prescribed  in  the  leases  of  a 
former  age.  {Set  Loudon's  Encyclo.  of  Agriculture  j  Ste= 
phens's  Book  of  the  Farm  I  low's  Practical  Agriculture; 
Library  of  Useful  Knowledge,  Farmers'  Si 

A'GRIMONY.  A  wild  plant  with  sawed  pinnated  leaves, 
and  a  long  spike  of  yellow  llowers.  followed  by  bur-like 
fruit.  It  has  had  the  reputation  of  keeping  old  age  away 
from  those  ladies  who  persevere  in  the  use  of  it  in  deci  C- 
tion.  A;  hast,  it  lias  the  merit  of  being  harmless,  and  from 
its  slightly  tonic  qualities  it  would  probably  form  a  good 
kind  of  diet  drink. 

A<;i:i<>  Ml).*:,     (fir.  aypo$.  a  field.)     The  name  of  a 

of    neuropterous  insects,   including  the   various 

kite's  of  dragon-flies  (Libellula,  I. inn. ;  see  that  word).  The 

bl Iragon  Hy  {A  %rum  pueUa)  frequents  the  rushy  sides  of 

ditches,  and  is  one  of  the  commonest  of  the  British  species 
of  this  family. 

AGRO'NOMY.     ((Jr.   oj  '.  .and  i'0/ics,  n  rule.) 

The  art  of  cultivating  the  ground  :  son,,  times  \i>>:\,  parti- 
cularly hy  the  French,  as  synonymous  with  agriculture. 

AGROSTO'LOGY.  (Gr.  dypaivrts.  a  grass,  and  Xoyo?, 
n  speech  or  writing.')  That  part  of  botany  which  compre- 
hends what  relates  to  the  grasses. 

AGKY'PMA.     {Gt.  ay ijvttvos,  sleepless.)    Watchfu 
or  restlessness. 

At;  IE.  An  intermittent  fever,  which  comes  on  at  cer- 
tain intervals,  leaving  the  person  in  the  intermediate  peri- 
ods in  apparent  health.  The  febrile  attacks  are  open  re- 
markably regular,  whence  the  division  of agues  into  quoti- 
dians, Which  are  daily  attacks  ;  tertians,  w  hie  h  appear  every 
third  day.  having  an  intermission  of  folty-eighl  hours:  and 
quartans, the  intermission  ofwhich  is  about  everj  Bevenly- 
two  hours.  The  period  during  which  the  fever  continues 
is  called  the  paroxysm  or  pyrexial  period ;  and  the  inter- 
mission,  the  ,-tpyri  xial  period.  The  febrile  paroxysm  con- 
sists of  three  stages,  which  follow  each  otlnr  in  regular 
succession  ;  namely,  the  cold,  the  hot.  and  tie  >ii 
stage:  during  the  latter,  the-  febrile  Symptoms  abate  and 
disapp 

At. I  E  CAKE.  An  enlargement  of  the  liver  or  of  the 
spleen  produced  bv  the  agin-. 

A<;Y'KVrr..  (Gr.  d,  without,  ami  yvpot,  a  circle.)  A 
name  given  to  osmundaceous  plants  by  Swart/.,  in  conse- 
quence of  their  having  no  true  elastic     nniilus. 

A'HRIMAN.  or  ARIMANTUS  (E  theology.)  One 
ofthe  chief  deities  of  the  ancient  Persians.  Their  philoso- 
phers entertained  tie-  opinion  subsequently  held  by  the. 
Manicheans,  that  then-  were  two  principles,  one  of  good 
and  one  of  evil.  To  the  latter  they  gave  the  name  of 
Ahriman.  and  ascribed  t"  his  agency  all  the  evils  exist- 
ing in  the  world.  The  two  principles  wan-  not,  howev- 
er, supposed  to  he  co-eternal  or  alike  powerful.  ;■.; 
such  was  not  the  orthodox  belief;  hut  it  was  sup 
that  in  the  end,  the  principle  ol  i  tsdes,  would 

finally  prevail  over  and  utterly  destroy  the  principle  of  evil. 
(ifawte,arts<  Auiman.  Maniciik'kns,  and  ZoKOASTEii.") 

AI.  A  word  which  is  a  prett)  close  imitation  ofthe. 
plaintive  cry  of  the  three-toed  sloih  {Acheus  tridactyhis,  V. 
Cuv.),  of  which  it  is  the  trivial  name.      See  BRADYPOD.E, 

All).  A  pecuniary  tribute  paid  hy  feudal  vassals  to  their 
lords  in  certain  cases  of  emergency.     {See  Ieidal  Sys- 

TE)1.) 

AIDE-DE-CAMP.  An  officer  appointed  to  attend 
neral  officer  in  the  field,  in  winter-quarters,  and  in  garri- 
son, to  receive  and  carry  orders.  A  field-marshal  is  enti- 
tled to  four,  a  lieutenant-general  to  two.  and  a  major-gi  ae 
ral  to  one.  The  king  appoints  as  many  as  he  pleases,  and 
this  situation  gives  the  rank  of  colonel, 

AIGRETTE,  in  Botany.     Set  Pappus. 

AIR,  Atmospheric.  (Gr.  drip,  air.)  The  air  which  sur- 
rounds our  globe  to  a  height  of  about  forty  miles,  and  which 
idal  to  all  living  beings,  was  one  of  the  elements  of 
the  ancient  philosophers  :  its  weight  and  several  of  its  me- 
chanical properties  were  discovered  by  Galileo  and  Torri- 
celli  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  ;  but  its 
composition  was  not  accurately  determined  till  more  than 
a  century  afterwards. 

The  air  is  transparent,  colourless,  inodorous,  and  taste- 
less, essential  to  the  respiration  of  animals  and  vegetables, 
and  to  the  support  of  combustion.  It  is  816  times  lighter 
than  its  bulk  of  water ;  1000  cubic  inches,  at  mean  tem- 
perature and  pressure,  weighing  about  305  grains. 

The  air  is  a  mixture  of  nitrogen  and  oxygen  gases,  with  a 
small  portion  of  carbonic  acid  gas  and  of  the  vapour  of  wa- 
ter: in  particular  situations,  other  substances  exist  in  it^ 
as,  over  marshes,  miasmata ;  over  sulphureous  springs, 
sulphuretted  hydrogen;  over  and  near  the  sea,  in  dry 
E 


AIR. 

weather,  muriatic  acid,  either  free-  or  combined ;  and  a  sub- 
stance,  probably  of  organic  origin,  which,  aided  by  light, 
reddens  solution  of'silver;  peculiar  organic  combinations, 
sometimes  infectious,  where  people,  especially  the  sick, 
are  confined  ;  sulphurous  acid  and  ammonia,  in  London 
and  other  places  where  large  quantities  of  coal  are  burned ; 
and  traces  of  nitric  acid  during  severe  thunder-storms. 

The  leading  constituents  of  the  air  are  nitrogen  and  oxy- 
gen, which  are  to  each  other  in  the  relative  bulks  of  about  79 
and  21,  or  80  and  '20  ;  and  these  proportions  are  probably 
not  liable  to  any  appreciable  change,  either  dependent  on 
season,  wind,  weather,  situation,  or  height  from  the  sur- 
face. Berthollet  found  21  per  cent,  of  oxygen  in  Cairo  and 
in  Paris ;  Saussure,  the  same  in  Geneva ;  De  Martyr,  in 
Catalonia,  and  in  all  winds,  weather,  seasons,  and  states  of 
the  barometer ;  in  wet  and  dry,  and  in  inhabited  and  unin- 
habited places;  Davy,  in  Bristol  and  other  places  in  Eng- 
land and  upon  the  coast ;  also  in  air  brought  from  the 
coast  of  Guinea  ;  Brande,  in  air  from  Behring's  Straits  and 
from  Olaheite  :  Berger,  in  the  Jura,  and  in  the  mountains 
and  valleys  of  Savoy :  Configliachi,  on  the  Simplon  and 
Mont  Cenis  (20-8  of  oxygen  over  rice-fields);  Gay  Lussac 
and  Humboldt,  in  Paris,  and  in  all  seasons  and  weathers, 
and  at  6,636  metres  above  the  surface,  from  209  to  215.  ; 
Dalton,  in  England,  from  207  to  20-8. :  Selden,  21.  :  on  the 
8th  of  January,  1835,  the  barometer  being  309  inches  and  a 
north-east  wind,  21-15.  In  crowded  and  confined  places,  the 
relative  proportion  of  oxygen  may  be  a  little  below  the  pro- 
per standard,  but  is  soon  again  restored.  Air  collected  at 
the  back  of  the  upper  gallery  in  Covenl  Garden  Theatre, 
on  a  full  night,  gave  20  oxygen,  and  rendered  lime-water 
more  than  usually  turbid. 

The  relative  proportion  of  carbonic  acid  is  more  varia- 
ble ;  yet  this  gas  is  found  in  air  from  the  most  elevated  re- 
gions and  purest  sources.  Saussure  and  Beauvais  found  it 
on  the  top  of  Mont  Blanc,  and  in  the  same  proportion  in 
the  streets  of  Paris,  and  at  650  toises  above  the  city.  At 
sea,  carbonic  acid  has  sometimes  not  been  discoverable. 
Saussure  found  it  vary  with  the  seasons,  and  no  doubt  ve- 
getation may  affect  it.  In  August,  over  a  meadow,  the  air 
contained  0000,713,  in  January,  0000,425.  Dalton  esti- 
mates the  mean  proportion  of  carbonic  acid  at  1  in  1000; 
Configliachi,  the  maximum  at  8,  and  Humboldt  at  from  5 
to  18  :  this  is  probably  in  excess. 

Toe  aqueous  vapour  is  the  most  variable  constituent  of 
the  atmosphere.  It  is  more  abundant  with  a  south  and 
west  wind  in  summer  and  in  warm  weather,  than  with  a 
north  and  east  wind  in  winter  and  cold  weather.  In  the 
climate  ofBritain  it  usually  fluctuates  between  1  and  1-5 
per  cent. 

Dr.  Prout,  in  his  Bridgewater  Treatise  (p.  350),  has  sug- 
gested the  possibility  of  the  occasional  existence  of  ex- 
tremely minute  portions  of  foreign  and  poisonous  matters 
in  the  air  during  the  prevalence  of  epidemic  disorders ; 
and,  in  reference  to  this  subject,  a  remarkable  observation 
occurred  during  the  prevalence  of  the  cholera.  For  more 
than  six  weeks  previous  to  the  appearance  of  cholera  in 
London,  he  had  been  almost  every  day  engaged  in  accu- 
rately determining  the  weight  of  a  given  quantity  of  air  un- 
der precisely  the  same  circumstances  of  temperature  and 
pressure.  On  the  9th  of  February,  1832,  the  weight  of  the 
air  suddenly  rose  above  the  usual  standard,  and  it  con- 
tinued so  for  six  weeks.  On  the  9th  of  February,  the  wind, 
which  had  been  west,  veered  round  to  the  east,  and  the 
first  cases  of  epidemic  cholera  made  their  appearance. 

Without  reference  to  the  occasional  presence  of  foreign 
matters,  the  average  ordinary  constitution  of  the  atmo- 
sphere may  be  stated  as  follows  : — 

By  measure.        Bii  weight. 
Nitrogen  *  77-50  75-55 

Oxygen      -        •        -        -        2100  23  32 

Aqueous  vapour        -        -  1-42  1-03 

Carbonic  acid    -        •        -  0  03  0-10 


10300 


10000 


Air.  In  Music,  signifies  the  melody,  or  treble  part  of  a 
musical  composition. 

The  word  is  also  used  for  a  tune,  or  song  itself,  that  is, 
for  a  series  of  sounds  whose  movement  is  regular  and 
graceful. 

Air.  In  Painting,  the  medium  in  nature  through  which 
every  object  is  viewed,  and  hence  to  be  transferred  to  the 
imitation  on  canvass.  The  etfects  which  it  produces  are 
an  indispensable  part  of  the  knowledge  of  every  artist.  It 
affects  the  sizes  and  colour  of  objects  according  to  their 
distance. 

AIR-BLADDER,  called  also  Air-bag,  sound,  swim,  &c. 
An  organ  situated  in  the  abdomen  of  most  osseous  fishes, 
which,  by  altering  its  dimensions,  and  the  quantity  or  den- 
sity of  its  contents,  regulates  their  relative  position  to  the 
surface  of  the  water,  and  is  supposed  to  represent  the  ru- 
dimental  condition  of  the  lungs  of  the  higher  vertebrates. 

AIR-CELLS.  Are  cavities  in  the  s<<*-~o  •>».'>  '-  .  -<• 
26 


AIR-PUMP. 

plants,  constructed  of  cellular  tissue,  and  Intended  to  ren- 
der the  part  in  which  they  reside  buoyant  in  water. 

Air-Cells.  In  birds,  are  membranous  receptacles 
communicating  with  the  lungs,  eight  of  which,  of  large  size, 
occupy  the  interspaces  of  the  thoracic  and  abdominal  vis- 
cera ;  the  smaller  ones  extend  around  the  principal  joints 
of  the  four  extremities,  penetrate  the  substance  of  the 
bones,  insinuate  themselves  between  the  skin  and  subja- 
cent muscles,  and  enter  the  quills  of  the  feathers,  so  that 
the  whole  body  of  the  bird  is  permeated  by  the  atmosphere  ; 
whereby  its  specific  gravity  is  diminished,  its  respiration 
extended,  its  circulation  accelerated,  and  its  muscular  en- 
ergies increased,  and  thus  it  is  finally  adapted  to  wing  its 
way  through  aerial  space.  In  the  flying  insects  the  air-ves- 
sels are  more  or  less  dilated  into  air-cells  at  different  parts 
of  their  course,  in  order  to  diminish  the  specific  gravity  of 
the  general  mass  of  the  body. 

AIR-GUN.  An  instrument  for  projecting  bullets  or  other 
missiles,  the  moving  power  being  the  elastic  force  of  con- 
densed air.  A  strong  vessel  of  metal  is  constructed,  into 
which  air  is  forced  by  means  of  a  condensing  syringe, 
through  a  small  hole  with  a  valve  opening  inwards,  and  the 
greater  the  quantity  of  air  thrown  into  the  vessel,  the 
greater  will  be  the  effect,  the  elastic  force  of  air  being  near- 
ly in  proportion  to  its  condensation.  The  magazine  of 
condensed  air  is  then  detached  from  the  syringe,  and 
screwed  to  the  breech  of  the  barrel ;  and  a  trigger,  adapted 
to  the  stock  of  the  gun  in  the  usual  way,  is  constructed  so 
as  to  be  capable  of  opening  the  valve.  The  bullet  is  placed 
near  the  breech,  and  should  fit  the  barrel  very  exactly,  so 
as  to  leave  no  windage.  On  pulling  the  trigger  the  con- 
densed air  escapes  through  the  valve,  and  rushes  with  vio 
lence  into  the  barrel,  propelling  the  bullet  before  it ;  and 
the  instant  the  finger  is  withdrawn  from  the  trigger  the 
valve  is  closed  by  the  pressure  of  the  air  in  the  magazine, 
which  remains  in  a  somewhat  less  condensed  state  for  the 
next  discharge.  Thus  the  same  supply  of  air  in  the  maga- 
zine will  serve  for  several  successive  discharges,  but  the 
force  becomes  weaker  and  weaker  after  each. 

The  air  vessel  nrny  be  of  any  form,  but  it  is  most  conve- 
niently disposed  of  by  placing  it  within  the  stock  ;  and  this 
circumstance  usually  determines  its  shape  and  dimensions. 
Sometimes,  also,  a  reservoir  of  bullets  is  placed  in  a  chan- 
nel under  the  barrel ;  and  by  a  simple  mechanism  these 
are  successively  transferred  into  the  barrel,  whereby  the 
gun  is  quickly  loaded  after  each  discharge.  The  instru- 
ment thus  constructed  is  called  the  magazine  air-gun. 

The  elastic  force  of  inflamed  gunpowder  is  from  1000  to 
2000  times  greater  than  that  of  common  air.  It  would 
seem,  therefore,  that  air  would  require  to  be  condensed 
upwards  of  1000  times  beyond  its  natural  state,  in  order  to 
exert  the  same  propulsive  force  as  gunpowder.  Now  the 
velocities  communicated  are  as  the  square  roots  of  the 
forces  ;  therefore,  if  the  air  in  the  magazine  be  condensed 
only  ten  times,  it  consequently  exerts  a  force  only  equal  to 
1-lOOth  of  that  of  inflamed  gunpowder,  and  communicates 
a  velocity  of  l-10th.  There  is  a  circumstance,  however, 
which  adds  considerably  to  the  effect  of  the  air-gun,  name- 
ly, that  as  the  magazine  is  large  in  proportion  to  the  cavity 
of  the  barrel,  and  the  valve  remains  open  a  sensible  por- 
tion of  time,  the  ball  is  urged  all  the  way  through  the  barrel 
with  nearly  the  same  force  as  at  the  first  instant ;  whereas, 
in  the  case  of  gunpowder,  the  gas  produced  by  the  inflam- 
mation occupies  a  small  space  in  proportion  to  the  capaci- 
ty of  the  barrel,  and  the  force  ceases  to  act  before  the  ball 
has  quitted  the  barrel.  On  this  account  it  happens  that  air 
condensed  only  ten  times  in  a  magazine  of  considerable 
size,  projects  a  ball  with  a  velocity  not  greatly  inferior  to 
that  given  by  gunpowder.  The  time  and  labour  necessary 
for  effecting  the  condensation  of  the  air  prevents  the  instru- 
ment from  being  employed  as  an  engine  of  war;  but,  as  it 
produces  its  effect  with  less  noise  than  the  ordinary  gun,  it 
has  sometimes  been  made  subservient  to  the  purpose  of 
the  assassin. 

AIR-PLANTS.  A  name  given  to  plants  of  any  kind 
which  grow  without  their  roots  penetrating  the  earth. 
They  have  been  so  called,  from  its  being  supposed  that 
they  derive  their  nourishment  exclusively  from  the  atmo- 
sphere ;  but  as  they  are  usually  found  in  places  where  they 
are  in  contact  with  at  least  minute  quantities  of  vegetable 
matter,  or  even  with  the  juices  of  the  plants  upon  which 
they  grow,  it  is  probable  that  their  existence  is  in  part  main- 
tained much  in  the  same  way  as  that  of  other  plants.  The 
most  extensive  natural  order  in  which  air-plants  are  found 
is  orchidaceae,  thousands  of  species  of  which  literally 
crowd  the  forests  of  some  of  the  damp  and  hot  parts  of  the 
world.  Next  to  these  range  bromeliaceous  plants,  some  of 
which  will  live  for  months  suspended  freely  in  the  air,  or 
tied  to  iron  or  stone  balconies.  Various  species  of  ficus,  and 
some  Gesneracepe,  have  similar  habits.  The  only  real  air- 
plant  that  grows  wild  in  Great  Britain  is  cuscuta. 

AIR-PUMP.  A  pneumatic  machine  for  removing  the 
air  out  of  a  vessel.  The  principle  of  this  important  phi- 
i., ..,.o.-„„1  instrument  is  very  simple,  and  may  be  easily 


AIR-PUMP. 

comprehended  from  a  brief  explanation.  The  essential 
part  of  the  machine  consists  of  an  ,i 
exhausting  syringe  (a),  formed  of  a 
tube  or  barrel  of  brass,  closed  at  one  ^N 
end  with  the  exception  of  a  small  ori- 
fice, to  which  a  valve  <b),  opening  in- 
wards, is  attached.  An  air-tiirtit  pis- 
ton is  worked  up  and  down  in  the 
barrel  by  a  rack  and  pinion  turned  by 
a  winch.  The  piston  has  also  an  ori- 
fice with  a  valve  (c),  which  opens  upwards,  or  in  the  same 
direction  as  the  valve  of  the  tube.  The  syringe  communi- 
eati  B,  by  means  of  a  small  pipe  (</)  fitted  into  the  opening 
at  its  lower  extremity,  with  a  vessel  (c)  called  the  receiver, 
from  which  the  air  is  to  be  extracted. 

The  receiver  is  placed  on  a  brass  plate  (/,  g.)  over  a 
small  hole,  into  which  the  other  end  of  the  pipe  is  inserted ; 
and  in  order  that  the  contact  may  be  air-tight,  the  edge  of 
the  glass  is  previously  rubbed  with  lard  or  some  unctuous 
matter. 

Suppose  the  piston  at  the  bottom  of  the  tube.  As  it  be- 
gins to  he  drawn  up.  the  valve  C  of  the  piston  is  immediate- 
ly shut  by  the  pressure  of  the  exterior  atmosphere,  so  that 
no  air  can  enter  the  barrel,  and  a  perfect  vacuum  would 
be  left  under  it,  were  it  not  that  the  valve  at  the  botto 
the  barrel  is  forced  open  by  the  pressure  of  the  air  in  the 
receiver,  which  rushes  into  the  barrel  till  its  density  be- 
comes the  same  both  in  the  receiver  and  barrel.  Winn 
the  piston  has  been  drawn  to  the  top  of  the  barrel,  the 
whole  of  the  air  which  occupied  the  barrel  has  in 
moved,  and  the  receiver  and  barrel  are  now  both  filled 
with  the  air  which  was  previously  contained  in  the  re- 
alone. 

-  ipose  the  capacity  of  the  receiver  to  be  six  times  thai 
of  the  barrel,  the  air  which  at  first  occupied  six  measures 
now  occupies  seven,  and  is  consequently  reduced  to  6-7ths 
of  its  former  density.  Lei  the  piston  now  be  returned  to 
its  first  position.  The  instant  it  begins  to  descend,  the 
valve  6  shuts,  so  that  no  air  can  enter  the  receiver.  As 
soon  as  the  piston  has  descended  throu  enth  of 

the  barrel,  the  air  In  the  b  are    -  restored  to  the  den 
the  exterior  atmosphere;  and  as  it  descends  further,  the 
air  in  the  interior  of  the  barrel  is  condensed,  till  it  acquires 
an  elasticity  sufficient  to  open  the  valve  c  in  the  piston, 

When   it    rushes  out,  and   continues  to  do  so  till  the   piston 

has  quite  returned  to  the  bottom  of  the  barrel.  Thus  by 
one  stroke  of  the  piston  the  density  of  the  air  in  the  inte- 
rior of  the  receiver  is  reduced  to  6-7ths  of  its  previous  den- 
sity ;  and  it  Is  evident  thai  each  succeeding  stroke  will 

produce  the  same  effect,  or  remove  1.7th  p 
maining  air.    Consequently,  after  the  Becond  stroke,  the 
density  of  the  air  In  the  vessel  will  be  reduced  to  6-7ths  of 
6-7ths  =  36-49ths  of  the  exterior  air;  after  the  third  stroke 
it  will  be  reduced  to  6-7ths  of36-49ths  =216-343ds,  and  so 
on.    After  twenty  one  strokes,  it  will  be  reduced  to 
1.25th  of  its  firs!  density;  after  one  hundred  strol 
l-5,000,000th   part.     But' so  high  a  degree  of  rarefaction 
cannot  in  practice  be  obtained;  for  as  soon  as  the  elasticity 
of  the  air  in  the  receiver  is  reduced  so  far  that  it  has  not 
sufficient  force  to  lift  the  valves,  no  more  air  can  , 
from  the  receiver  into  the  tube,  and  the  exhaustion  cannot 
be  carried  further. 

Whal  his  now  been  said  applies  to  all  air-pumps,  fh 
the  form  of  construction  admits  of  great  variety.    T 
ter  sorts  have  two  exhausting  barrels,  and  the  pistons  are 

worked  by  a  rack  and  pinion,  so  thai  when  tl ne  piston 

is  ascending  in  the  barrel,  the  other  is  descending,  by 
which  means  an  uninterrupted  discharge  of  the  air  is  kept 
up.  The  receiver  is  placed  on  a  smooth  plate  of  brass, 
having  a  small  hole  in  the  middle  to  receive  the  end  of  a 
ommunicating  with  the  syringe.  Various  contrivan- 
ces have  hem  employed  to  continue  '! 
the  air  has  been  rarefied  to  thai  degree  thai  it 
tain  sufficient  elasticity  to  lift  the  valves,  lu  order  to  deter- 
mine the  degree  to  which  the  rarefaction  is  carried,  a  ba- 
rometric tube  is  adapted  to  the  machine,  the  upper  end  of 
which  communicates  with  the  receiver,  while  the  lower 
end  is  plunged  into  an  open  basin  of  quicksilver.  I 
receiver  is  exhausted,  the  air  is  withdrawn  from  the  tube 
at  the  same  time,  and  the  external  air  presses  up  the  mer- 
cury in  the  tube  to  a  height  proportional  to  the  degree  of 
raretartion. 

This  is  called  a  gauge  ;  but  the  following  form  is  more 
frequently  employed  A  tube  six  or  eight  inches  in  length, 
sealed  at  one  end  and  filled  with  mercury,  is  inserted  in  a 
basin  of  the  same  liquid.  The  mercury  is  of  course  sup- 
ported by  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere,  and  continues 
to  fill  the  tube.  This  apparatus  is  placed  beneath  a  second 
receiver,  communicating  with  the  pipe  d.  During  the  first 
stages  of  the  exhaustion,  the  mercury  still  remains  sup- 
ported ;  but  so  soon  as  the  tension  of  the  contained  air  be- 
comes less  than  is  sufficient  to  support  the  column  of  mer- 
cury, the  liquid  begins  to  fall,  and  the  height  at  which  it 
stands  above  the  level  of  that  in  the  basin  is  the  measure 
27 


ALANTIXE. 

of  the  tension  of  the  remaining  air.  This  is  called  the 
short  Barometer  Gauge. 

Otto  Guericke,  a  magistrate  of  Magdeburgh,  was  the  first 
who  conceived  the  idea  of  rarefying  the  air  in  a  vessel  by 
means  of  a  pump,  about  the  year  1654.  The  machine 
which  he  constructed  was  of  a  very  rude  kind,  but  it  ena- 
bled him  to  exhibit  experiments  which  at  that  time  were 
regarded  as  astonishing.  The  air-pump  was  afterwards 
greatly  improved  by  Hooke  and  Boyle  ;  and  has  attained 
its  present  state  of  perfection  through  the  successive  inven- 
tions of  Hauksbee,  Smeaton,  Cuthbertson,  and  others. 

AIR-VESSELS.  Are  minute  tubes  composed  of  an  ex- 
ceedingly fine  transparent  membrane,  closed  at  each  end, 
and  furnished  internally  with  a  delicate  elastic  thread 
twisted  spirally,  whence  they  are  now  commonly  called 
spiral  vessels.  '  They  occur  in  the  medullary  sheath,  the 
veins  of  leaves  and  of  flowers,  in  the  stamens,  the  ovary, 
and  the  seed  :  their  office  is  to  convey  oxygenated  air. 

Aik-vessels.  In  insects,  the  atmospheric  air  is  con- 
veyed through  all  parts  of  the  body,  for  the  purposes  of 
respiration,  chiefly  by  means  of  air-vessels,  or  trachea:. 
(S>-  that  word.) 

AISLE,  or  ALA.  (I.at.  ala,  a  win?.')  In  Architecture, 
a  term  used  by  the  English,  more  especially,  to  signify  the 
side  subdivisions  in  a  church,  usually  separated  fri  m  the 
nave,  or  centre  division,  by  pillars  |  but  ai  one 

different  nations  it  bears  different  is  as  applied 

to  architecture.  Strain  informs  us.  thai  an  ong  the  1 
tians.  the  alffi  of  the  temple  were  the  two  walls  that  in- 
closed the  two  sides  ,,f  the  nronaos,  andwhich  were  of  the 
eight  as  the  ten  pie  itself.  The  walls,  he  observes, 
from  above  ground,  were  a  little  farther  apart  than  the 
foundations  of  the  temple,  but.  as  they  rose  were  built  with 

an  inclination  towards  each  other.  The  right  understand- 
ing, however,  of  this  pas  ded  with  difficulty, 
and  seems  to  hai  1  puzzled  Pocock  no  li  ss  than  ourselves. 

•  ek   a';",  railed   ptera.  were   the  colonnades  Which 

surrounded  the  cell  of  the  temple,  the  monopteros  temple 
being  the  only  species  which  bad  columns  without  an  in- 
terior (to  them)  wall.  Th  ■■  tier  of  co- 
lumns round  the  cell,  the  dipteral  two,  and  the  pseudo  or 
false  dipteral,  which  Hermogenes  invented,  was  thai  in 
which  the  ala  was  single,  but  occupied  the  same  spa  :e  on 
the  sides  of  the  cell  as  the  dipteral,  though  one  of  the  tiers 
of  columns  was  left  out :  thus,  by  metaphor,  the  columns 
were  called  the  alas,  or  wings,  of  the  ten  pie.  This  term  is 
also  applied  to  the  sides  of  a  building  winch  are  subordin- 
ate!..the  principal,  and  central  division,  and  are  vulgarly 
bogs 
\ll-s  1  lets,  or  little  islands,  commonly  planted  with 
osiers,  and  which  are  then  called  willow  aits. 

AKE'NIUM.     Set  Achsctuh. 

A  I.  A  MIRE.  In  Music,  the  name  ofone  of  the  notes  in 
the  modern  scale  ofGuido.  ) 

a'I.v    (Lat  ala,  a  wing.)    In  Ornithology,  the  pi 

i  of  which  support  broad  folds  o! 
covered  with  feathers,  and  are  modified  for  flight.    The 

under  part  of  the  base  of  the  wing,  where  it  joins  the 

is  termed  the  axilla;  the  joint  between  the  antibrachium 
and  carpus  is  termed  the  flexure  or  ,  1       wing  is 

said  to  be  armed  (ala  calcarata)  when  the  car]': 
or  two  horny  Bp  ira  :  to  be  impennate  (ala  impi  1 

led  with  equal,  lax  plumes,  unfit  for  flighl  :    to  be 

elongate  taia  elongate)  when,  in  the  folded  state,  it  equals  or 

Is  in  length  the  body  from  the  base  of  the  bill  to  the 

il;  to  be  middle-sized  ^ala  mediums)  when, 

in   the  folded  State,  the  extremity  covers  the  base  of  the 

tail;  to  be  short  (ala brevis) when, in  the  folded  state,  the 

the  sides  of  the  coccyx 

In  Entomology,  the  wings,  or  organs  of  aerial  progres- 
sion, an  irj  productii  ns  simply,  and  consist  ol  a 
brane  ofatender  and  generally  transparent 
tence,  inclosing  numerous  nervures,  or  branched 
tubes  of  a  firmer  sub 

These  organs  present  considerable  differences  of  form 
and  structure  in  the  different  orders  of  insects,  and  also 
varv  in  number  from  two  to  four. 

A'LABASTER.  A  white  semitransparent  variety  of 
gypsum  or  sulphate  of  lime.  It  is  a  mineral  of  common 
occurrence,  and  is  manufactured  into  ornamental  vases, 
and  occasionally  into  small  statues.  The  ancients  used  it 
for  ointment  and  perfume  boxes.  Perhaps  the  term  is  de- 
rived from  a,  privative,  and  Aa§oi\  a  handle,  as  opposed  to 
vessels  with  handles.  This  stone  is  not  slippery,  and 
therefore  the  derivation  is  incorrectly  referred  to  a  and 
\au6avw.  as  if  it  were  difficult  to  grasp. 

ALANGIA'CE.E.  (Alangi.  the  Malabar  name  of  one 
species.)  A  natural  order  of  plants  closely  akin  to  rnyr- 
taceae.  It  consists  of  Indian  species,  with  aromat  c  roots 
and  eatable  fruit.  Their  long  strap-shaped  petals  afford 
one  of  the  principal  distinctions  between  them  and  myr- 
tacese. 

ALA'XTINE.  An  amylaceous  substance  extracted  from 
the  root  of  the  Angelica  archangelica. 


ALARMISTS. 

ALA'RMISTS.  In  a  general  point  of  view,  means  all 
those  individuals  who  are  particularly  prone  to  take  alarm 
at,  and  to  circulate  and  exaggerate,  any  sort  of  bad  news  ; 
but  the  designation  is  more  peculiarly  applied  to  those  who 
lake  alarm  at  political  innovations  or  changes. 

ALA'TE.  (Lat.  ala,  a  icing.)  When  any  solid  body  is 
bordered  bv  a  membranous  or  leafy  expansion. 

ALAU'DA.  (Lat.  alauda,  a  lark.)  The  name  of  a  Lin- 
na?an  genus  of  passerine  birds,  characterised  by  the  claw  of 
their  hinder  toe,  which  is  straight,  strong,  and  longer  than 
the  others.  The  birds  of  this  genus  are  granivorous,  and 
nidificate  on  the  ground.  The  field-lark,  Alauda  arvensis, 
L.,  is  a  well-known  example  :  they  appertain  to  the  coni- 
rostral  division  of  the  passerine  order  of  Cuvier. 

ALB.  (Lat.  albus,  ichite.)  A  vestment  worn  by  priests 
in  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  which  differs  from  the  sur- 
plice in  fitting  more  closely  to  the  body,  and  being  tied  with 
a  girdle  :  it  is  also  commonly  embroidered  on  the  breast 
with  crosses. 

ALBA'RIUM  OPUS.  (Lat.)  In  ancient  Roman  archi- 
tecture, a  term  imagined  by  some  to  have  been  nothing 
more  than  a  species  of  whitewash  applied  to  walls,  but  not, 
as  we  think,  correctly.  In  the  passage  of  the  tenth  chapter 
of  the  fifth  book  of  Vitruvius,  where  he  recommends  the 
use  of  the  albarium  opus,  for  the  ceilings  of  baths,  he  al- 
lows tectorium  opus  as  a  substitute,  so  that  it  was  clearly  a 
species  of  stucco.  Its  employment  at  the  baths  of  Agrippa, 
blowing,  as  we  do,  the  extent  to  which  luxury  was  carried 
in  the  baths  of  the  ancients,  seems  to  prove  that  it  was  a 
superior  sort  of  stucco,  and  it  is  by  no  means  improbable 
that  it  was  susceptible  of  taking  a  polish. 

A'LBATROSS.     (<S'ee  Diomedea.) 

A'LBIGENSES.  A  sect  which  arose  in  the  south  of 
France  in  thelatterhalf  of  the  twelfth  century.  They  have 
been  confounded  with  the  Waldenses,  with  whom,  how- 
ever, they  do  not  appear  to  have  had  any  real  connection. 
Their  tenets  have  been  very  differently  described,  and  pro- 
bably misrepresented,  by  their  opponents ;  and  great  ob- 
scurity is  thrown  upon  the  subject,  by  the  fact  of  the  ap- 
pearance of  various  dissenters  from  the  church  of  Rome  in 
England  and  elsewhere,  about  the  same  time,  whose  re- 
spective views  have  not  been  very  accurately  discrimi- 
nated. It  is  probable  that  the  reformers  of  the  south  of 
France  opposed  themselves  originally  to  the  corruptions  in 
discipline,  which  began  first  at  that  period  to  draw  general 
attention  and  animadversion  upon  the  clerical  order. 
Hence  a  very  easy  step  would  lead  them  to  think  slighting- 
ly of  many  ecclesiastical  ordinances,  and  the  ceremonial 
observances  of  religion  would  seduce  them  into  the  adop- 
tion of  mystical  notions  about  an  internal  light  and  assu- 
rance, and  finally  betray  them  into  the  wildest  extravagan- 
cies. Thus  they  are  charged  with  perpetuating  the  Mani- 
chean  doctrines:  but  Bossuet,  who  accuses  them  of  in- 
clining  to  that  system  on  certain  points,  acquits  them  of 
holding  what  is,  after  all,  the  distinguishing  tenet  of  the 
Oriental  heresy — the  monstrous  doctrine  of  the  two  prin- 
ciples. 

The  origin  of  the  name  is  doubtful.  The  Latin  name  by 
which  Narbonnese  Gaul  was  known  in  the  twelfth  century, 
was  Albigesium,  which  seems  to  put  forth  abetter  claim  to 
the  derivation  than  the  town  of  Albi  in  Languedoc.  In  the 
year  1163,  Alexander  III.  published  a  decree  against  these 
sectarians  in  a  council  held  at  Tours,  and  another  in  1179. 
On  neither  occasion,  however,  did  he  invoke  the  assistance 
of  the  secular  arm.  At  the  close  of  the  century,  when  the 
sect  was  still  nourishing,  and  seemed  to  be  more  particu- 
larly under  the  protection  of  Raymond,  count  of  Thoulouse, 
Innocent  III.  commen  -  I  the  work  of  its  extirpation.  He 
appointed  two  legates  to  ;,o  through  the  country  and  excite 
the  zeal  of  the  clergy  and  laity  against  the  innovators :  he 
instituted  the  Dominican  order  of  friars,  purposely  to  preach 
them  down ;  and  finally,  in  1207,  he  addressed  himself  to 
Philip  Augustus,  king  of  France,  exhorting  him  to  eradicate 
the  heresy  with  the  sword.  The  chief  leader  of  the  expe- 
dition, which  soon  assumed  the  character  and  name  of  a 
crusade,  was  Simon  de  Montfort,  earl  of  Leicester,  to  whom 
the  earldom  of  Thoulouse  was  promised  by  the  pope  as  a 
stimulus  to  his  exertions,  hi  the  siege  of  that  city,  how- 
ever, he  was  killed.  The  contest,  which  was  carried  on 
with  more  or  less  vigour  for  many  years,  and  which  fur- 
nishes the  first  evidence  of  the  disposition  of  the  church  of 
Rome  to  employ  the  extreme  of  violence  against  those  who 
dissent  from  its  doctrines,  ended  in  the  entire  destruction 
of  the  Albigenses,  about  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  centu- 
ry. (See  Mpra'a%_Sismondi,  Hist,  des  Frangais,  torn,  vi.) 
ALBI'NISM.  Astate  in  which  the  skin  is  white,  the  hair 
flaxen,  and  the  iris  pink.     (Se;  Albino.) 

ALBI'NO.  A  term  originally  applied  by  the  Portuguese 
to  negroes  who  were  born  mottled  or  discoloured  with  white 
spots.  It  is  now  generally  applied  to  persons  of  a  preter- 
natural whiteness  of  the  skin  and  hair,  and  a  peculiar  red- 
n  iss  of  the  pupil  of  the  eye,  which  is  so  weak  as  to  be  of 
little  use  in  broad  daylight,  so  that  albinos  sleep  in  the  day- 
tl.ne.  and  are  only  capable  of  seeing  distinctly  in  the  twi- 
23 


ALCABALA. 

light  or  by  moonlight.  The  disease  appears  to  depend  upon 
a  deficiency  or  morbid  state  of  the  rele  mucosurn  over  the 
whole  body. 

A'LBUM.  Literally  means  any  thing  white.  The  term 
is  now  generally  applied  to  a  book  in  which  persons  collect 
autographs,  literary  essays,  <fcc.  The  prastor's  album  was 
a  white  board,  on  which  "the  edicts  of  that  functionary  were 
inscribed. 

ALBUM  GRiECUM.  When  dogs  are  fed  upon  bones, 
they  digest  the  animal  portion,  and  the  earthy  parts  (chiefly 
phosphate  of  lime)  are  voided  in  the  form  of  white  excre- 
ment. This  inert  matter  was  formerly  used  in  medicine 
under  the  above  title. 

ALBU'MEN.  A  peculiar  animal  matter  entering  largely 
into  the  composition  of  animal  bodies,  such  as  the  blood, 
muscles,  bones,  &c. ;  also  the  chief  component  of  white  of 
egg,  to  which  the  term  albumen  was  originally  applied,  and 
which  well  and  familiarly  illustrates  its  leading  peculiarity, 
namely,  that  at  a  certain  temperature  it  coagulates  into  a 
soft  white  solid,  no  longer  soluble  in  water.  It  may  be  ob- 
tained pure  by  coagulating  the  white  of  egg  by  alcohol, 
washing  it  thoroughly  with  that  fluid,  and  then  carefully  dry- 
ing it  at  120°.  It  then  appears  as  a  yellow,  shining,  transpu 
rent  and  brittle  substance,  composed  of — 

Nitrogen    ....     1  atom  =  14        15-05 
Carbon       ....    8  =48        51 61 

Hydrogen  ....    7  =7  753 

Oxygen      ....    3  =24        2581 

1  93      100-00 

The  albumen  of  birds'  eggs  coagulates  at  a  temperature  of 
145°  to  165°  ;  and  when  dried,  shrinks  and  becomes  brittle 
and  semitransparent,  in  all  respects  resembling  horn.  One 
hundred  parts  of  the  albumen  of  the  hen's  egg  lose,  upon 
careful  drying,  about  SO  of  water,  and  leave  34of  solid  resi- 
due. Alcohol,  most  of  the  acids,  and  several  metallic 
salts,  also  coagulate  albumen,  and  some  of  the  latter  are 
very  delicate  tests  of  its  presence  in  animal  fluids :  subace- 
tate  of  lead,  for  instance,  renders  a  solution  of  one  part  of 
fresh  white  of  egg  in  2000  of  water  turbid,  so  that  it  detects 
1  part  of  dry  albumen  in  10,000  of  water.  Corrosive  subli- 
mate is  also  an  excellent  test  of  albumen,  forming  with  it  a 
white  insoluble  compound;  hence  white  of  egg  has  been 
proposed  as  an  antidote  in  cases  of  poisoning  by  corrosive 
sublimate. 

Albumen.  A  solid  fleshy,  bony,  or  horny  substance, 
secreted  in  some  seeds  between  the  embryo  and  the  seed- 
skin.  It  is  supposed  to  be  intended  for  the  nutriment  of 
the  young  embryo  when  it  first  springs  into  life.  The  part 
that  furnishes  the  flour  of  com,  the  flesh  of  the  cocoa-nut, 
tie-  great  mass  of  the  seeds  of  coffee,  are  albumen.  Bota- 
nists have  remarked  that  this  substance  is  never  delete- 
rious, however  poisonous  the  plant  may  be  by  which  it  is 
borne. 

ALBUMEN  OF  VEGETABLES.  Is  a  proximate  princi- 
ple, having  some  of  the  leading  chemical  characters  of  ani- 
mal albumen. 

ALBU'RNUM.  (Lat.  alburnum,  sap-wood.)  The  newly 
formed  and  soft  part  of  the  wood  of  exogenous  trees,  con- 
sisting of  empty  or  nearly  empty  tubes  and  cells,  the  sides 
of  which  are  thin,  and  not  indurated  ;  however  durable  the 
timber  of  a  plant  may  be,  this  part  of  it  is  in  all  casesperish- 
able,  the  vegetable  matter  of  which  it  consists  having  but 
little  power  of  adhesion,  and  readily  yielding  up  its  carbon 
to  the  oxygen  of  the  atmosphere,  the  consequence  of  which 
is  speedy  decomposition.  It  is  only  when  the  tissue  of  this 
pari  becomes  consolidated  by  the  addition  of  resins,  tannin, 
and  various  other  products,  which  change  its  colour  from  a 
pale  yellow  to  various  other  deeper  colours,  that  timber 
really  becomes  valuable,  hi  some  species  this  is  effected 
rapidly,  as  in  oak.  teak,  lignum  vitae,  Ax. ;  in  others  very 
slowly,  or  not  at  all,  as  in  the  poplar  and  willow.  Hence 
the  wood  of  the  latter  class  of  trees  never  acquires  any  du- 
rability. By  some  writers  the  alburnum  is  defined  to  be 
'■wood  only  one  year  old;"  this  is,  however,  erroneous. 
It  is  through  the  alburnum  principally  that  the  ascending 
sap  of  a  plant  moves;  the  course  of  the  sap  is  not,  however, 
confined  to  the  alburnum,  but  is  effected  wherever  the 
woody  tubes  are  sufficiently  open  for  it  to  pass. 

A'LCA.  The  name  ofa  Linna;an  genus  of  anserine  birds, 
characterised  by  a  short,  compressed,  vertically  extended, 
convex  beak,  edged  along  the  upper  surface,  *nd  generally 
transversely  furrowed  ;  feet  toti-palmate,  anJ  wanting  the 
hinder  toe.  Recent  ornithologists  have  divided  the  Lin- 
nsean  awks  or  penguins  into  the  subgenera  fratercula  and 
alca. 

ALCABA'LA,  or  ALCAVA'LA.  A  tax  formerly  imposed 
in  Spain  and  her  colonies,  consisting  originally  of  10,  and 
subsequently  of  14  per  cent,  ad  valorem,  on  all  property 
sold,  and  payable  as  often  as  it  changed  hands.  This  mon- 
strous impost,  by  preventing  the  sale  and  transfer  of  pro- 
perty, necessarily  proved  in  the  highest  degree  injurious. 
(See  Ulloa,  Iietablissement  des  Manufactures  d'Espagyie, 
cap.  3.) 


ALCALDE. 

ALCA'LDE.  A  Spanish  officer  of  justice;  from  the  Ara- 
bic kadi,  fudge.    In  Portugal,  Alcayde. 

ALCAKI'METER.  A  graduated  glass  tube  employed  in 
determining  the  quantity  of  real  alkali  in  com  mercial  potash 
;ni  d  soi  la,  by  the  quantity  of  dilute  sulphuric  acid  of  a  known 
Strength  which  a  certain  weight  of  these  saturates. 

ALCA'MPIIORA.  A  Brazilian  herb,  the  crolon  pcrdi- 
cipes,  whose  leaves  are  used  in  decoction  against  syphilis, 
and  as  a  diuretic. 

ALCANTA'RA,  Order  of:  otherwise  railed  of  Saint 
Julian,  or  of  the  Pear-tree.  An  order  of  knighthood,  insti- 
tuted in  1156  at  Alcantara,  a  town  of  Estramadura,  by  Hay 
drian  II.  king  of  Leon.  Tlie  king  of  Spain  is  sovereign  of 
this  order. 

ALCARA'ZZA.  A  porous  vessel  used  in  Spain  for  cool- 
ing water  by  its  transudation  and  consequent  superficial 
evaporation. 

ALCE'DO.  (Lat.  alcedo,  supposed  to  be  the  king-fisher.} 
The  name  of  a  Linnsan  genua  of  pics,  characterised  by  a 
long,  straight,  angular  and  pointed  beak  ;  the  tongue  and 
tail  very  short.  The  feel  have  the  structure  which  is  the 
basis  "i  Temminck's  order  Syndactyly  viz.  the  external 
toe  is  nearly  as  long  as  the  middle  one,  and  is  united  there- 
to as  far  as  the  penultimate  articulation.  The  kingfisher, 
Alcedo  ispida,  is  a  familiar  example  of  that  genus  The 
Alcedo  (ridactyla,  and  some  others,  are  remarkable  for  the 
absence  of  the  inner  toe;  these  have  accordingly  been 
■  iied  from  the  Linnsangenus  under  the  subgeneric 
term  ceyx.  A  third  subgenus,  dacelo,  receivei  the  great 
laughing  kingfisher  of  New  Holland. 

A'LCHEmx".  An  imaginary  art,  once  much  practised 
among  modern  nations,  and  even  now  perhaps  not  wholly 
exploded,  The  name  is  a  mixture  of  Greek  and  Arabic  ; 
the  List  syllables  being  from  the  same  root  with  chemistry, 
chemist,  fY.  chimie;  probably  the  verb  cheein,  to  pour,  al- 
though the  intermediate  Btages  of  its  derivation  are  dis- 
puted: the  prefix  being  the  Arabic  article  al,  the.  Whether 
alchemy  was  followed  as  an  art  among  the  classical  an- 
cients, seems  questionable  :  some  suppose  it  to  have  origi- 
nated among  the  Arabs  of  the  Califate.  Its  object  was  the 
production  of  gold  and  silver.  The  principle  of  the  alche- 
mists was,  that  the  baser  metals  were  all  convertible  into 
these  two  precious  substances  by  a  long  series  of  processes. 
To  this  fundamental  notion  the' common  followers  of  the 
art  added  an  infinity  of  fantastic  imaginations  respecting  the 
Influence  of  the  plaints,  Ac.  in  hastening  or  retarding  the 
work.  The  instrument  hy  which  it  was  supposed  lhat  this 
mighty  change  was  to  be  effected,  was  a  certain  mineral  to 
be  produced  by  these  processei ,  which,  being  mixed  with 

the  base  metal,  would  transmute  it  ;  and  this  was  called  the 

lapis  philosopnorum  or  philosopher's  stone.  Hence  the 
term  adept,  adeptus,  for  him  w  ho  was  supposed  to  have  at- 
tained the  secret  iif  alchemy  :   Who  had.  lit  the  I. aim  force 

of  the  word,  gained  or  discovered  the  philosopher's  stone. 
Innumerable  instances  an-  on  record  of  persons  who  prac- 
tised on  the  credulity  of  former  limes  by  professing  to  pos- 
sess this  stone,  and  who  actually  wrought  the  transmuta- 
tion required;  and:  it  is  supposed  that  the  philosopher's 
stone  employed  by  these  personages  was  nothing  more 
than  an  amalgam  of  gold,  which,  if  projected  into  tin  and 
cupellated,  would  leave  a  portion  of  the  precious  metal. 
Dr  Price,  of  Guildford,  is  said  to  have  been  the  last  person 
in  England  who  professed  himself  able  to  turn  mercury 
into  gold;  he  destroyed  himself  in  1788,  to  avoid,  it  was 
supposed,  the  detection  of  his  deci  plums.  The  alche- 
misis.  in  the  course  of  their  endless  experiments,  are  said 
to  have  served  the  cause  of  true  science  in  many  ways.  To 
various  adepls  is  ascribed  the  discovery  of  the  Ci  inci  ntrated 
acids  and  of  phosphorus.  Another  object  of  the  adepts. 
often  pursued  by  them,  together  with  ther  research  after 
trans  m  uiation,  was  the  discovery  of  the  elixir  vita-,  or  sup- 
posed universal  medicine.  Alchemy  is  also  denominated 
the  Hermetic  Art,  from  the  imaginary  sage,  Hermes  Tris- 
megistus.    (See  Thomson's  Ilisiory  <if  Chemistry,  Vol.  I.) 

A'LCOHOL.  A  term  of  Arabic  origin,  implying  the 
spirit,  or  essence,  and  originally  applied  to  several  chemi- 
cal preparations.  It  is  retained  in  modern  chemistry  to 
signify  pure  spirit  of  wine. 

Fermented  liquors  were  known  in  the  earliest  ages. 
The  northern  nations  were  probably  acquainted  with  the 
art  of  obtaining  spirits  before  the  Greeks  or  Romans.  Al- 
bucasis,  in  the  twelfth  century,  taught  the  method  of  pro- 
curing spirit  from  wine  ;  and"  Raymond  I.ully,  in  the  thir- 
teenth century,  concentrated  spirit  of  wine  by  carbonate  of 
potash.  The  composition  of  alcohol  was  first  accurately 
demonstrated  by  Lavoisier,  and  its  analysis  was  perfected 
by  Saussure. 

Alcohol  is  exclusively  produced  by  the  process  if  fer- 
mentation :  it  is  obtained  in  combination  with  water  by 
distilling  fermented  liquors,  such  as  wine,  beer,  wash,  Arc.  ; 
the  liquor  thus  obtained  (brandy,  for  instance,  if  from 
wine,)  is  redistilled,  and  the  spirituous  portion,  being  most 
volatile,  first  passes  over ;  in  this  state  it  is  called  ardent  or 
rectified  spirit,  and  often  contains  acetic  acid  and  a  pecu- 
29 


ALDERMAN. 

liar  flavouring  principle,  probably  of  an  oily  nature  :  these 
are  got  rid  of  by  redistillation  wiili  alkaline  substances, 
charcoal,  chloride  of  lime,  Ac. 

Pure  or  absolute  alcohol  is  obtained  by  distilling  the  pu- 
rest rectified  spirit  oil'  dry  and  warm  carbonate  of  potash, 
or  dry  quicklime.  The  specific  gravity  of  rectified  spirit 
is  320  to  828;  that  of  alcohol,  792,81  the  "temperature  of  on 

Pure  alcohol  has  an  agreeable  odour,  a  strong  pungent 
taste,  and  is  eminently  intoxicating.     It  consists  of 

Carbon  -  -  -  2  atoms  =  12  52-18 
Hydrogen  -  -  *  3  "  =  3  1304 
Oxygen        -        -        -        1      "      =   8        3478 

1  23      10000 

Alcohol  burns  with  a  pale  flame,  and  produces  carbonic 
acid  and  water;  the  weight  of  the  water  thus  formed  to 
that  of  the  alcohol  consumed,  is  as  27  to  23.  It  produces 
no  smoke  or  soot,  and  hence  forms  a  cleanly  lamp,  giving 
much  heat  with  little  light.  Mixed  with  water  ami  certain 
vegetable  substances,  especially  <rluten,  and  exposed  to  air 
and  a  due  temperature,  alcohol  hecon.es  \  inegar.  It  is  the 
intoxicating  principle  of  wine  and  of  fermented  and  spirit- 
uous liquors,  and  of  important  use  in  medicine  and  in  some 
of  the  arts,  being  the  solvent  ol  various  resins  for  varnishes, 
Ac     Whin  alcohol  aid  water  are  mixed,  heat  is  evolved, 

and  condensation  ensues,  and  it  is  some  hours  before  the 
two  liquids  perfectly  unite,  So  that  the  bulk  of  a  pint  of 
alcohol  and  a  pint  of  water  falls  far  short  of  two  pints,  a 
series  of  tables  by  Mr.  Gilpin  will  be  found  in  the  Philos. 
Trans,  for  17!»7,  exhibiting  much  information  upon  the 
subject  of  the  specific  gravities  and  composition  of  various 
mixtures  of  alcohi  I  md  water, — a  subject  of  great  impor- 
tance, as  bearing  upon  the  levying  of  duties  upon  spirituous 
liquors. 

Alcohol  has  never  been  frozen ;  hence  as  ■  in  the  con- 
struction of  thermometers  for  measure  low  tempera- 
tures. It  boils  at  the  temperature  of  17dJ,  and  is  converted 
into  a  vapour,  the  specific  gravity  of  which  is  to  that  of  air 
as  16  to  10. 

AI/COHOLATES.  Salts  in  which  alcohol  appears  to 
replace  the  water  of  crystallisation. 

AT.COlt AN,  or  ALKORAN.  (Al  Koran,  or  the  Hook, 
Arabic.)  The  sacred  book  of  the  Mohammedans;  which, 
according  to  their  belief,  was  dictated  to  their  prophet  bj 
the  angel  Gabriel.  The  Koran  consists  of  111  chapters; 
which  are  distinguished,  not  by  i heir  numerical  order,  but 
by  certain  titles,  under  which  they  are  respectivelj  known. 
Every  chapter  is  divided  into  smaller  portions,  analogous 
to  the  verses  of  our  Scriptures.  There  are,  however,  seven 

principal  andenl  copies  of  the  Koran  ;  and  in  all  of  these 
the  number  Of  verses  is  not  the  same.     The  Koran  is  writ- 

ten  in  what  may  be  termed  a  species  of  chiming  or  gingling 
prose.  Ii  is  regarded  among  the  Mohammedans  as  in  itseM 

a  Btanding  miracle,  and  a  proof  of  the  truth  of  their  reli- 
gion ;  and  hence  the  division  between  those  who  believe  the 
Koran  to  he  eternal  and  uncreated  (.the  Sonnilcs  or  ortho- 
dox), and  various  sects  of  heretics. 

AI.co'Yl".  (Alcoba,  Bp.,  I, leant.  Arab.,  a  sleeping 
rln  i  ml  iir.)  In  Architecture,  thai  part  of  a  sleeping  cham- 
ber where  the  bed  is  placed  The  use  of  alcoves,  though 
not  by  that  name,  is  ancient.  They  were  frequently  de- 
signed in  the  form  ofa  niche  ;  such,  for  instance,  as  those 
that  Winckelman  notices  at  Hadrian's  villa  at  Tivoli,  of 
which  species  some  are  also  to  he  seen  at  Pompeii.  They 
were  often  formed  by  an  enclosure  or  balustrade,  some- 
times high  and  sometimes  low.  through  which,  by  m 
of  draperies,  this  part  was  separated  from  the  large  cham- 
ber, win  too  i  :■  was  a  pari.    A  i  in  lica  i  oi  n  may  he  obtained 

from  many  of  the  ancient  has-,  rilievi,  especially  from  the 

celebrated  one  known  by  the  name  of  the  Nozze  Aldobran- 
dine.  In  modern  architecture,  this  part  ofa  room  differs 
according  to  the  rank  and  taste  of  the  proprietor;  in  Eng- 
land it  is  ranly  used,  bin  in  France  and  Italy  it  forms  fre- 
quently a  beautiful  feature  in  the  apartments  of  their  pal- 
aces. 

A'LCVONTTES.  A  collective  term  for  the  fruit-like 
spongiform  flint  fossils  common  in  chalk  formations. 

ALCTO'NIUM,  A  I.inniean  term  for  an  aggregate  genus 
of  marine  polypes,  having  a  fleshy,  coriaceous,  spicular 
axis,  beset  with  stellate  cells,  containing  each  a  polype 
with  eight  radiate  denticulate  arms.  The  axis  is  fixed  to 
foreign  bodies,  and  in  some  species  rises  in  short  branches 
or  lobes,  as  in  that  commonly  known  by  the  name  of 
"  Dead  Man's  Hand."  (Alcyonium  digitatum,  Linn.  ;  Lo- 
bularia  diizitata,  Lorn.) 

A'LCVONS.  (Gr.  dXxvcov,  a  kingfisher.)  The  name 
given  by  Temminck  to  an  order  of  birds  of  which  the  king- 
fisher (alcedo)  is  the  type. 

A'LDLil  (Ellarn  in  Anglo-Saxon.)  A  native  tree  be- 
longing to  the  natural  order  Betulacese.  It  is  chiefly  found 
in  damp  situations,  and  is  of  little  value  except  for  hurdle 
wood,  ami  for  the  manufacture  of  charcoal. 

A'LDERMAN.  Originally  written  ealdor-man,  meaning 
elder-man,  which  was  used  in  the  earlier  parts  of  the  Sax- 


on  period  as  a  name  of  dignity  unconnected  with  office ;  it 
was  also  the  original  title  of  the  officer  who  was  subse- 
quently styled  earl,  whence  counties  were  sometimes 
called  alderman-shires.  It  seems  also  to  have  been  the 
designation  of  the  chief  magistrate  or  judicial  functionary 
of  minor  districts,  in  which  sense  it  first  appears  in  con- 
nection with  boroughs.  Its  application  is  now  confined  to 
the  class  of  municipal  officers  in  a  borough  next  in  order 
to  the  mayor.  By  5  &  6  W.  4.  c.  76.,  the  aldermen  are  to 
be  in  number  one-third  of  the  councillors  in  every  borough 
(London  alone  being  excepted  from  the  provisions  of  the 
act),  one  part  to  be  elected  biennially,  on  the  9th  of  No- 
vember, from  among  councillors  or  persons  qualified  to  be 
such  ;  and  to  form,  with  the  mayor  and  councillors,  the 
council  of  the  borough. 

A'LDINE  EDITIONS.  In  Bibliography,  those  which 
proceeded  from  the  press  of  the  family  of  Aldus  Manutius. 
The  first  of  that  name  established  his  press  at  Venice,  not 
1  o.ag  after  the  year  1490 ;  and  to  his  industry  and  zeal  we 
owe  several  of  the  first  editions  of  Greek  authors,  and 
many  other  valuable  works.  The  Italic  characters  used  in 
Roman  printing  by  Aldus  and  his  family,  first  appear  in 
his  Virgil  of  1501 ;  and  from  that  period  a  series  of  works, 
chiefly  classical,  both  Greek  and  Latin,  proceeded  from 
his  press  in  a  duodecimo  form  :  these  are  the  best  known 
and  most  common  Aldine  editions.  The  family  press  is 
said  to  have  been  broken  up  in  1597,  after  producing  908 
editions.  There  are,  however,  Venetian  publications  of 
the  beginning  of  the  17th  century  which  bear  the  impress 
of  the  Aldine  family  (an  anchor  and  dolphin  engraved  on 
the  last  page).  A' branch  of  the  Aldine  press  was  for  a 
short  period  established  in  Rome.  (See  Raynouard,  An- 
nates de  I' Im priii i trie  des  Aides.) 

ALE.     See  Beer. 

ALEATO'RIUM.  (Lat.)  In  ancient  Roman  architec- 
ture, an  apartment  appropriated  to  the  use  oi  players  with 
dice  or  alea?. 

ALECTO'RIDES.  (Gr.  d^tKrup,  a  cock.)  A  tribe  of 
rasorial  or  gallinaceous  birds,  including  the  curassow,  and 
the  species  which,  like  it,  resemble  the  common  fowl  in  the 
form  of  the  beak. 

ALE'MBIO.  (From  the  Arabic  particle  al,  the,  and 
ambeeq,  corrupted  from  the  Greek  word  dfiSt^,  a  cup  or 
vessel.)  An  obsolete  form  of  still.  Constructed  upon  a 
small  scale  in  glass,  it  is  sometimes  used  in  the  laboratory. 

ALE'JYIBROTH,  or  Salt  of  Wisdom.  A  term  applied  by 
the  old  chemists  to  a  salt  composed  of  ammonia,  muriatic 
acid,  and  oxide  of  mercury.     It  is  poisonous. 

ALEXA'NDRIAN  SCHOOL.  An  academy  for  litera- 
ture and  learning  of  all  kinds,  instituted  at  Alexandria  by 
Ptolemy,  son  of  Lagus,  and  supported  by  his  successors. 
The  grammarians  and  mathematicians  of  this  school  were 
particularly  celebrated.  In  the  former  class  occur  the 
noted  names  of  Aristarchus,  Harpocration,  and  Aristo- 
phanes;  and  among  the  latter  were  numbered  the  astro- 
nomer Ptolemy,  and  geometer  Euclid.  The  grammarians 
of  Alexandria  exercised  a  universal  literary  jurisdiction, 
publishing  canons  of  those  who  were  to  be  considered 
standard  authors,  and  revised  editions  of  ancient  writers. 
For  some  account  of  the  famous  collection  of  books  at 
Alexandria,  see  Library. 

ALEXA'NDRINE.  The  French  heroic  verse  of  twelve 
syllables  or  six  Iambic  feet.  In  English  poetry  it  is  occa- 
sionally used  :  by  Dryden,  sometimes  as  a  second  line  in 
a  heroic  couplet,  more  frequently  as  a  third  line  in  a  trip- 
let ;  and  the  Spenserian  stanza  necessarily  concludes  with 
an  Alexandrine.  The  lines  of  Pope,  defining  the  Alexan- 
drine by  an  example,  are  well  known  : 
"  A  needless  Alexandrine  ends  the  song, 
Which,  like  a  wounded  snake,  diags  its  slow  length  along." 

ALEXIPII  Y'RMIC.  (Gr.  aA^w,  I  avert,  and  fapjuciKOv, 
apoison.)    Antidotes  to  poisons. 

ALEXITE'RICS.  (Gr.  aXsfto,  Invert.)  Preservatives 
against  contagious  and  infectious  diseases  and  the  effects 
of  poison  in  general. 

A'LGiE.  (Lat.  alga,  sea-weed.)  Plants  which  are  desti- 
tute of  all  signs  of  sexual  organs,  and  which  vegetate  exclu- 
sively under  water.  When  they  grow  in  salt  water  they 
are  called  sea-weeds,  when  in  fresh  water  they  are  named 
conferva3.  They  comprehend  in  the  division  Zoospermeae 
some  of  the  lowest  known  forms  of  vegetable  life,  plants 
consisting  of  simple  cells  adhering  in  different  degrees, 
and  emitting  at  maturity  spores  or  seeds  having  a  distinct 
animal  motion.  In  the  case  of  Oscillatorias,  the  whole 
mass  of  the  plant  writhes  and  twists  spontaneously;  and 
Zysmenas  actually  copulate.  It  is  in  this  part  of  the  vege- 
table kingdom  that  plants  approximate  to  animals  in  the 
most  striking  degree.  An  excellent  account  of  the  salt- 
water species  is  given  in  Greville's  Alga?  Britannicae  ;  the 
fresh-water  kinds  may  be  studied  in  the  third  volume  of 
the  English  Flora.  See  Harvey's  Manual  of  the  Brit- 
ish Algje,  Svo.  1841. 

ALGARO'BA.  (Arab,  al,  the,  and  garoba,  a  bean-tree.) 
A  tree  found  in  the  southern  parts  of  Europe,  and  in  Pales- 
30 


iii-,«^. 


,itii. 


tine,  having  pods  filled  with  a  sweetish  nutritious  powder: 
they  are  supposed  to  have  been  the  locusts  on  which  St. 
John  fed  in  the  wilderness.  It  is  the  ceratonia  siliqua  of 
botanists. 

A'LGAROTH,  POWDER  OF.  The  white  powder 
which  falls  when  chloride  of  antimony  is  dropped  into  wa- 
ter :  it  is  a  submuriate  of  antimony,  virulently  purgative 
and  emetic. 

A'LGEBRA.  An  important  branch  of  the  mathematical 
sciences,  and  may  be  defined  to  be  the  method  of  calcula- 
ting indeterminate  quantities.  It  is  a  sort  of  universal 
arithmetic,  founded  on  the  same  principles  as  common 
arithmetic,  and  proceeding  by  rules  and  operations  pre- 
cisely similar.  But  it  is  not  confined  merely  to  questions 
relating  to  numbers,  being  applied  generally  to  investigate 
the  relations  that  subsist  among  quantities  of  all  kinds, 
whether  arithmetical  or  geometrical.  The  reasoning  is 
carried  on  by  general  symbols  ;  and  it  is  to  the  complete 
system  of  notation,  which  has  been  introduced  by  its  suc- 
cessive cultivators  and  improvers,  that  it  owes  its  immense 
superiority  over  the  ancient  analysis. 

The  symbols  employed  in  algebra  are  of  two  kinds : 
those  which  denote  quantities;  and  those  which  denote 
the  affections  or  relations,  or  properties  of  quantities,  and 
operations  to  be  performed  on  them.  For  representing 
quantities  or  magnitudes,  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  are 
employed.  Thus,  in  the  solution  of  an  arithmetical  pro- 
blem, a  number  may  be  represented  by  the  letter  a ;  in 
geometry,  a  may  represent  a  line  or  an  angle  ;  in  mechan- 
ics, a  force.  The  relations  of  quantities  are  expressed  by 
other  conventional  symbols.  The  relation  of  equality  is  ex- 
pressed by  the  sign  = ;  thus,  to  express  that  the  quantity 
represented  by  a  is  equal  to  the  quantity  represented  by  b, 
we  write  a  =  b.  The  symbol  >  or  <  coming  between 
two  quantities  denoles  inequality  ;  thus,  a  >  b  signifies 
that  a.  is  greater  than  b,  and  a  <  b  denotes  that  a  is  less 
than  b.  The  two  primary  operations  of  which  quantities 
are  susceptible,  are  addition  and  subtraction,  and  these 
are  respectively  indicated  by  the  symbols  +  plus,  and  — 
minus.  For  example,  a-\-  b  denotes  the  sum  of  the  two 
quantities  a  and  b,  or  that  a  is  to  be  increased  by  b  ;  and 
a  —  b  denotes  the  difference  between  a  and  b,  or  that  a  is 
to  be  diminished  by  b.  Multiplication  is  indicated  by  the 
symbol  Xi  or  by  simply  placing  the  letters  beside  each 
other  without  an  intervening  symbol.  Thus,  in  numbers, 
a  X  b  or  a  b  denote  the  same  thing,  namely,  the  product 
arising  from  the  multiplication  of  the  number  a  into  /).  In 
geometry,  two  letters  joined  together,  as  a  b,  denote  a  rec- 
tangular parallelogram,  one  of  the  sides  of  which  is  re- 
presented by  a,  and  the  other  by  b.  Division  is  indicated 
by  -r !  or  more  frequently  by  placing  one  of  the  numbers 
above  the  other  in  the  form  of  a  fraction ;  thus : 

30  -i-  10,  or  S£. 

In  'addition  and  subtraction,  the  quantities  connected  by 
the  appropriate  symbols  must  be  homogeneous,  or  of  the 
same  kind  ;  for  it  is  only  such  quantities  that  admit  of  ad- 
dition or  subtraction.  Of  two  quantities  connected  by  the 
symbol  of  multiplication,  one  must  necessarily  be  an  ab- 
stract number,  for  a  quantity  can  only  be  multiplied  by  a 
number,  or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  added  to  itself  once 
or  twice,  or  some  other  number  of  times.  When  division 
is  to  be  performed,  the  divisor  may  either  be  a  quantity  of 
the  same  kind  as  the  dividend,  or  it  may  be  an  abstract 
number ;  in  the  former  case,  the  quotient  is  an  abstract 
number  ;  in  the  latter,  it  is  a  quantity  of  the  same  kind  as 
the  dividend. 

In  the  multiplication  of  quantities,  the  frequent  repeti- 
tion of  the  same  symbol  would  become  inconvenient ;  it  is 
usual,  therefore,  to  write  the  root  only  once,  and  to  place 
over  it,  on  the  right,  the  exponent  or  number  indicating 
the  power:  thus,  oa  denotes  the  same  thing  as  a  a,  or  the 
square  of  a;  a3  is  the  same  as  a  a  a,  or  the  cube  of  a,  and 
on  denotes  the  nth  power  of  a,  or  a  multiplied  by  n  times 

into  itself.    By  analogy,  a*  denotes   the  square  root  of 

a ;  a3  the  cube  root  of  a,  and  so  on.  (See  Notation, 
Symbol.) 

Algebra  is  in  its  nature  essentially  distinct  from  arith- 
metic. In  arithmetic  absolute  numbers  are  given,  from 
which  other  absolute  numbers  are  required  to  be  deter- 
mined. But  in  algebra  the  symbols  that  are  employed  are 
perfectly  general,  and  may  represent  any  numbers  what- 
ever; and  the  expressions  which  result  from  combining 
them  according  to  the  conditions  of  the  problem,  indicate 
the  solution  not  of  a  particular  question,  but  of  all  questions 
whatever,  in  which  numbers  are  subjected  to  the  same 
series  of  operations.  In  this  manner  the  general  proper- 
ties of  numbers  are  discovered.  For  example,  the  expres- 
sion (a-\-b)(a — b),  which  signifies  that  the  sum  of  the 
two  numbers  a  and  b  is  to  be  multiplied  by  their  difference, 
becomes,  on  performing  the  multiplication,  tfi  —  62; 
whence  we  infer  this  general  or  universal  truth,  namely, 
that  the  product  of  the  sum  and  the  difference  of  any  two 


ALGEBRA. 

numbers,  is  equal  to  the  difference  of  the  squares  of  those 
numbers.  Arithmetic  could  only  prove  the  property  to  be 
true  in  respect  of  particular  numbers.  The  systematic 
Dotation,  to  which  algebra  owes  nearly  the  whole  of  its 
power  as  an  instrument  of  research,  is  only  of  recent  in- 
troduction. Indeed,  the  science  itself,  if  known  at  all  to 
the  ancient  Greek  mathematicians,  was  known  only  as  a 
higher  species  of  arithmetic.  The  first  writer  on  the  sub- 
ject, with  whose  works  we  are  acquainted,  is  Diophantus, 
who  lived  about  the  middle  of  the  fourtli  century  of  our 
era,  and  his  work  relates  only  to  a  peculiar  class  of  arith- 
metical (juestions,  in  the  solution  of  which  he  displayed 
considerable  address,  but  the  symbols  which  he  used  were 
only  abbreviations  (such  as  the  initial  or  terminating  letters) 
of  the  ordinary  words.  The  treatise  of  Diophantus  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  Arabians  ;  but  algebra  received  from 
them  no  improvement  or  extension.  From  the  Arabians, 
it  was  transplanted  into  Italy,  in  the  beginning  of  the  13th 
century,  by  Leonardo  Bonacci,  a  merchant  of  Pisa,  who 
had  travelled  frequently  in  the  East,  and  become  acquaint- 
ed with  the  science  of  those  countries.  A  treatise  on  arith- 
metic, comprehending  algebra  as  it  was  then  known,  was 
written  by  him  in  the  year  1202,  and  from  that  time  the 
science  appears  to  have  been  cultivated  with  some  assidui- 
ty in  Italy.  The  earliest  printed  book  on  the  subject  was 
composed  by  Lucas  Paciolus,  or  Lucas  de  Burgo,  a  mino- 
rite  friar,  and  appeared  in  1494.  It  contains  a  pretty  com- 
plete treatise  on  algebra  for  the  time  ;  but  exhibits  the  sci- 
ence in  nearly  the  same  state  in  which  it  was  left  by  Dio- 
phantus. Its  application  was  confined  to  questions  relating 
in  numbers  of  no  great  interest,  and  its  power  extern  I  e.i .  >u 
ly  to  the  solution  of  equations  of  the  first  and  second  de- 
grees. I!ni  ;ifier  this  epoch  it  began  to  be  cultivated  exten- 
sively, and  in  undergo  rapid  improvement.  Scipio  Fer- 
reus,  a  professor  of  mathematics  at  liononia,  about  the  year 
1605,  tirst  broke  through  the  boundary  within  which  it  had 
si  i  long  been  run  fined,  and  accomplished  the  solution  of  a 
problem  of  the  thud  degree,  a  general  method  of  solving 
cubic  equations  was  sunn  alter  discovered  by  Taitalea,  who 
communicated  it,  under  an  oath  of  strict  secrecy,  to  the 
celebrated  Cardan,  Presuming  on  some  improvements  he 
had  made  m  the  rules  given  to  him  by  Taitalea,  ami  on  the 
demonstrations  which  he  certalnlj  had  the  merit  of  invent- 
ing, Cardan,  with  a  remarkable  (though,  unfortunately,  in 
the  history  of  science  not  singular)  instance  of  bad  faith, 
published  the  whole  as  a  supplement  to  a  treatise  which  he 

had    Composed    several    Vears    before.       Cardan,    hoWBVOr, 

considerably  extended  the  methods  given  to  him  by  Taita- 
lea, ami  in  sides,  contributed  to  improve  the  notation,  by 

lrei|iieully  employing  the   letters  of  the   alphabet.     Lewis 

Ferrari,  a  disciple  of  Cardan,  had  the  honour  of  making  the 
next  important  improvement  in  the  science,  by  the  discov- 
ery ofa  method  of  solving  biquadratic  equations,  or  equa- 
tions of  the  fourth  degree;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  all 
the  efforts  of  modern  mathematicians  have  nut  yel  been 
able  to  pass  this  barrier,  or  effect  the  general  solution  of 

(equations  ofa  higher  order  than  the  fourth, 
The  firsl  great  step  to  the  Improvement  of  algebra,  bj  the 

introduction  Of  a  Concise  and  systematic  notation,  was  made 

in  Germany,  by  Btifel,  or  Btifelius,  a  protestant  minister, 
whose  work,  "  Arithmetics  Integra,"  was  published  in  1544. 
Stifel  adopted  the  symbols  +  and  —  for  plus  and  minus,  to 
represent  addition  and  subtraction,  and  also  y/  (the  con- 
traction of  r)  for  radix,  or  root :  he  likewise  introduced  the 
numeral  exponents  of  the  powers,  — 3,  — 2,  —  1,  0,  +  1, 
-j-  2,  +  3>  &c-  Tne  symbol  =,  denoting  equality,  was  first 
used  by  Robert  Recorde. 

In  following  the  chain  of  the  principal  discoveries,  our 
attention  is  next  arrested  by  Vieta,  a  native  of  France,  w  ho 
first  applied  algebra  to  the  improvement  of  geometry,  and 
thereby  laid  the  foundation  of  the  modern  analysis.  He 
was  also  the  first  who  employed  general  symbols  to  repre- 
sent known,  as  well  as  unknown,  quantities,  and  thus  intro- 
duced what  has  been  called  the  specious  algebra,  in  contra- 
distinction to  the  literal,  where  known  quantities  are  repre- 
sented by  numbers.  This  improvement,  simple  as  it  may 
appear,  was  attended  by  important  consequences,  as  it  ren- 
dered the  methods  quite  general, and  enabled  the  algebraist 
to  comprehend  whole  classes  of  problems  in  a  single  for- 
mula. Vieta  likewise  gave  a  method  of  solving  algebraic 
equations  by  approximation:  and  from  his  doctrine  of  an- 
gular sections  have  been  derived  the  arithmetic  of  sines,  and 
some  of  the  most  valuable  processes  of  trigonometry. 

Vieta  was  followed  by  Albert  Girard,  who  first  showed 
the  use  of  the  negative  sign  in  the  solution  of  equations  ; 
and  by  Harriot,  to  whom  the  science  is  indebted  for  the 
very  important  discovery,  that  every  algebraic  equation 
may  be  regarded  as  the  product  of  as  many  simple  equa- 
tions as  there  are  units  in  the  number  expressing  its  order. 
An  equation,  for  instance,  of  the  fifth  degree  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  product  offive  simple  equations.  Descartes 
followed  soon  after,  and  opened  up  vast  fields  of  discovery, 
by  the  application  of  the  algebraic  analysis  to  define  the  na- 
ture and  investigate  the  properties  of  curve  lines.    By  re- 


ALIMENTARY  CANAL. 

ferring  every  point  ofa  curve  to  co-ordinate  or  perpendicu- 
lar axes,  he  expressed  the  relation  between  its  different 
points  by  means  of  an  equation,  which  served  as  a  charac- 
teristic to  distinguish  the  curve,  and  from  which  its  differ- 
ent properties  could  be  investigated  by  Hip  ordinary  opera- 
tions of  algebra.  Descartes  also  pointed  out  the  method  of 
constructing  or  representing  geometrically,  equations  of  the 
higher  orders  ;  gave  a  rule  for  solving  a  biquadratic  equa- 
tion by  means  ofa  cubic  and  two  quadratics ;  and  improved 
the  methods  of  reducing  and  treating  equations  which  had 
been  adopted  by  Cardan,  Girard,  Harriot,  and  others  who 
had  preceded  him. 

Algebra,  as  a  science,  has  undergone  no  revolution  since 
the  time  of  Harriot  and  Descartes;  but  it  has  been  im- 
proved in  all  its  details,  and  greatly  varied  and  extended  in 
its  applications.  During  the  last  century,  and  the  latter 
part  of  the  preceding,  the  method  of  infinite  series,  so  use- 
ful in  many  applications  of  mathematics,  particularly  in  the 
calculation  of  probabilities,  was  successfully  cultivated  by 
Wallis,  Newton,  the  Bernoulli*.  Euler,  De  Moivre,  Stirling, 
Simpson,  and  others.  The  nature  and  composition  of  al- 
gebraic equations  has  been  fully  investigated,  and  the 
methods  of  approximating  to  their  roots  reduced  to  order 
and  system.  The  investigation  of  the  relations  of  angular 
sections,  begun  by  Vieta,  conducted  Euler  to  the  arithmetic 
of  sines  and  a  complete  theory  of  plane  and  spherical  trigo- 
nometry. Applied  to  problems  concerning  the  motion  of 
bodies  or  points,  algebra  has  given  rise  to  the  doctrine  of 
lluxions,  and  the  refined  methods  of  the  differential  and  in- 
tegral calculus.  It  has  completely  superseded  the  use  of 
the  elegant,  but  comparatively  feeble,  ancient  analysis,  and 
may  be  now  regarded  as  forming  the  basis  of  the  whole 
edifice  of  mathematical  science.  (.See  Binomial  Theo- 
rem, Equation,  Notation.) 

ALGEBKA'M  '  (  URVE.  A  curve  of  which  the  relation 
bei ween  the  abscissa  and  the  ord males  is  expressed  In  an 
equation  which  contains  only  algebraic  quantities.  The 
term  algebraic  is  here  used  in  contradistinction  to  transcen- 
dental, under  which  is  comprehended  infinite  series  and 
quantities  of  the  following  kind:   log.  x,  a",  sin.  x,  cos.  x, 

tan.  X.  \r 

LLGEBH  \H  [.hi  \'l  Hi\  An  equation  of  which  the 
terms  contain  only  algebraic  quantities.    {See  Equation.) 

A'LGOIUTII.M.  signifies  the  art  of  computing  in  refer- 
ence  to  some  particular  subject,  or  in  some  particular  way ; 
dgorithm  of  numbers ;  the  algorithm  of  the  differen- 
tial calculus. 

A'l.ci  \/.ll,.  A  Spanish  officer  corresponding  with  the 
English  bailiff,  having  power  to  place  persons  in  custody, 

and  apprehend  criminals. 

a'I.ias.  (Let.  otherwise.)  In  Law,  when  a  defendant 
sued  on  a  specialty, or  a  prisoner,  had  more  than  one  com- 
mon appellation,  he  was  designated  in  1 1  if  Latin  forms  of 
instruments,  as  ••  A.  alias  diet  us  B."     When  it  is  necessary 

for  a  second  writ  of  the  same  description  with  a  former 

one  to  issue,  it  is  headed  "alias,''  as,  an  alias  capias,  &c. 

A'LIBI.    {hat.  elsewhere.)    A  cant  law  phrase,  used  to 

-  the  species  of  defence  set  up  by  one  charged  with 
a  criminal  offence,  who  oilers   evidence   to  prove  that  he 

was  elsewhere  at  the  time  of  the  act  committed. 

A'LIDADE.     An  Arabic  name  given  to  the  index  or  ruler 

which  moves  about  the  centre  of  an  astrolabe  or  quadrant, 
carrying  the  sights  or  telescope,  and  showing  on  the  limb  of 
me  instrument  the  number  of  degrees  and  minutes  the  ob- 
ject observed  is  elevated  above  the  horizon. 

A'LIEN.  generally  speaking,  is  one  born  in  a  country  out 
of  the  allegiance  of  the  sovereign,  unless  his  father  were  a 
natural  born  subject,  in  which  case  he  will  himself  be. 
deemed  a  natural  born  subject,  to  all  intents  and  purposes. 
An  alien  in  England  cannot  hold  landed  property,  but  he 
may  hold  and  dispose  of,  by  will  or  otherwise,  goods,  mo- 
ney, or  other  personal  estate,  and  'nay  take  a  lease  ofa 
house  for  habitation  or  trade.  An  alien  may,  by  letters  pa- 
lent,  become  a  denizen,  and  take  lands  by  purchase  ;  or  he 
may  be  naturalised  by  act  of  parliament,  and  so  take  by  in- 
heritance. In  either  case  he  becomes  an  English  subject, 
but.  nevertheless,  cannot  be  a  member  of  the  privy  council 
orparliament.     (See  Denizen.) 

ALIEN  WATERS.  Any  stream  of  water  carried  across 
an  irrigated  field  or  meadow,  but  which  is  not  employed  in 
the  process  of  irrigation. 

ALIENA'TK  >\  In  Law,  the  act  of  parting  with  proper- 
ty :  more  especially  real  property.  The  alienation  of  real 
property  takes  place  by  deed,  or  in  pais.  (See  Real  Pro- 
perty.) 

ALIME'NTARY  CANAL.  A  cavity  in  the  interior  of  an 
animal  body  in  which  the  nutriment  is  taken  to  be  digested, 
before  it  is  conveyed  by  the  nutritive  vessels  to  the  system  ; 
it  affords  the  best  organical  characteristic  of  an  animal,  but 
presents  various  modifications  of  structure.  Sometimes  it 
is  a  simple  cavity  with  one  opening ;  sometimes  a  true  ca- 
nal, with  an  outlet  or  anus,  distinct  from  the  inlet  or  mouth  ; 
this  canal  may  be  divided  into  stomach  and  intestine,  as  in 
the  oyster ;  or  a  mouth,  pharynx,  and  oesophagus  may  pre- 


ALIMONY. 

cede  the  stomach;  the  (Esophagus,  again,  may  have  one  or 
two  sacculi  appended  to  it,  called  crops.  The  stomach  may 
be  subdivided  into  four  bags,  as  in  the  ruminants,  or 
into  seven,  as  in  the  bottle-nose  whale  ;  and  the  intes- 
tines into  small,  blind,  and  large,  forming,  with  their 
subdivisions,  what  are  termed  duodenum,  jejunum,  ileum, 
caecum,  colon,  and  rectum.  The  caecum,  again,  may  be 
single,  or  double  as  in  most  birds  :  or  a  single  caecum  may 
exist  in  addition  to  a  double  one,  as  in  the  hyrax,  a  small 
pachydermatous  quadruped.  Lastly,  the  various  glandular 
organs  which  communicate  with  the  alimentary  canal  are 
to  be  regarded  as  caecal  processes  of  that  lube,  since  these 
are  developed  from  it,  and  in  this  condition  they  are  per- 
manently retained  by  one  or  other  of  the  lower  animals  ; 
thus,  in  the  sea-mouse,  the  liver  is  represented  by  long, 
branched,  lateral  processes  of  the  intestine  ;  in  the  cod 
fish,  <kc.  the  pancreas  is  similarly  represented  by  nume- 
rous cecal  processes  of  the  duodenum. 

A'LIMONY.  In  Law.  The  allowance  for  which  a 
married  woman  is  entitled  to  sue  on  separation  from  her 
husband.     (See  Marriage.) 

A'LIQUOT  PART  of  a  number.  A  number  which  di- 
vides the  given  number  without  leaving  a  remainder. 
Thus  2, 3,  4,  and  6,  are  aliquot  parts  of  12.  "  To  find  the  ali- 
quot parts  of  any  number,  divide  the  given  number  by  its 
least  divisor ;  divide  the  quotient  also  by  its  least  divisor, 
and  so  on,  always  dividing  the  last  quotient  by  its  least  di- 
visor till  the  quotient  is  1.  The  divisors  thus  used  are  the 
prime  aliquot  parts  of  the  given  number ;  and  the  pro  lucts 
of  every  two,  every  three,  every  four,  <tc.  of  the  prime  ali- 
quot parts,  give  the  compound  aliquot  parts  of  the  given 
number.  Suppose  the  given  number  30;  divide  30  by  its 
least  divisor,  which  is  2,  and  the  quotient  is  15 ;  divide  15 
by  its  least  divisor  3,  and  the  quotient  is  5  ;  divide  5  by  it- 
self (it  has  no  smaller  divisor)  and  the  quotient  is  1. 
Therefore,  2,  3,  and  5,  are  the  prime  aliquot  parts  of  30. 
The  compound  aliquot  parts  are,  2X3  =  6,  2X5=10) 
3  X  5  =  15. 

ALLSMA'CE.E.  (Alisma,  from  alis,  trater,  in  Celtic.) 
A  small  natural  order  of  endogenous  plants,  marked  by  the 
presence  of  numerous  distinct  carpels  in  a  tripetaloideous 
flower.  They  form  a  near  approach  to  ranunculaceae 
anions  exogens.  Alisma  and  sagittaria  are  common  genera. 
ALI-TRUNCK,  ALITRUNCUS.  In  Entomology,  the 
posterior  segment  of  the  thorax  of  an  insect  to  which  the 
abdomen  is  affixed,  and  which  bears  the  legs,  properly  so 
called,  or  the  two  posterior  pairs,  and  the.  wings. 

ALIZARINE.  From  Ali-zari,  the  commercial  name  of 
madder  in  the  Levant;  a  peculiar  colouring  principle  ob- 
tained from  madder. 

A'LKAIIEST.  A  term  of  obscure  Arabic  origin,  applied 
by  the  alchemists  to  asuppos'ed  universal  solvent. 

A'LKALI,  or  ALCALI,  derived  from  the  Arabic  article 
al,  and  kali,  the  name  of  a  plant  in  the  same  lansuage.  A 
term  originally  applied  to  the  ashes  of  plants  ;  now-  gene- 
rally used  to  designate  potash,  soda,  and  ammonia,  which 
are  also  termed  vegetable,  mineral,  and  volatile  alcali. 
These  substances  have  certain  properties  in  common,  such 
as  neutralising  and  forming  salts  with  the  acids,  reddening 
several  vegetable  yellows,  and  changing  some  blues  to 
green,  and  ready  solubility  in  water.  Lime,  baryta,  stron- 
tia.  and  magnesia,  have  been  called  alcaline  earths,  from 
their  analogous  action  on  vegetable  colours.  Lithia  is  also 
one  of  the  alcalis.  A  singular  class  of  bodies  have  been 
discovered  in  vegetables  which  have  been  termed  alcalis,  or 
alkaloids,  chiefly  in  consequence  of  their  power  of  saturat- 
ing and  forming  definite  salts  with  the  acids.  Morphia, 
quinia.  Ac.  are  substances  of  this  description. 
ALKALI.  FOSSIL  or  MINERAL.  Soda. 
ALKALI,  PHLOGISTICATED.  Ferrocyanuret  of  po- 
tassium. 
ALKALI.  VEGETABLE.  Potash. 
ALKALI,  VOLATILE.  Ammonia. 
A'LKALOI'DS.  Substances  analogous  to  alcaline  bases 
of  vegetable  origin,  and  generally  possessed  of  great  medi- 
cinal activity.  Their  ultimate  elements  are  carbon,  hydro- 
gen, oxygen,  and  nitrogen.  The  principal  substances  of 
this  class,  together  with  the  plants  from  which  they  are  ob- 
tained, are  the  following  : 

Aconita         .        .        .     Aconitum  napellus. 

Aricina  .        .        .A  bark  from  Arica. 

Atropia  .        .        .     Atropa  belladonna. 

Brucia  ....     Strychnos  nux  vomica. 

Cinchonia  .        .     Cinchona  lancifolia. 

Codeia  .        .     Opium. 

Conia    ....     Conium  maculatum. 

Corydalia      .        .        .     Corydalis  tuberosa. 

Cynapia        .        .        .     ^Ethusa  cynapium. 

Daturia  .        .        .     Datura  stramonium. 

Delphia         .        .        .     Delphinium  staphisagria. 

Digitalia        .        .        .     Digitalis  purpurea. 

Emetina       .         .        .     Cephaelis  ipecacuanha. 

Hyoscyamia         .        .    Hyoscyamus  niger. 

Meconia       .        .        .    Opium. 
32 


ALLEGORY. 


Morphia 

Narcotina 

Nicotina 

Picrotoxia     . 

Quinia  . 

Sanguinaria  . 

Solania  . 

Thebaia  and  Narceia 

Veretria 


Opium. 

Opium. 

Nicotiana  tabacum. 

Menispermum  cocculus. 

Cinchona  cordifolia. 

Sanguinaria  canadensis. 

Solanum  nigrum. 

Opium. 

Veratrum  sabadilla. 


A'LKANET.  (A  corruption  of  the  French  orcanette ; 
orca,  a  rouge  pot.)  A  kind  of  reddish  purple  dye,  ob- 
tained from  the  roots  of  Anchusa  tinctoria  :  it  was  former- 
ly used  for  staining  the  face. 

Alkanet.  The  Anchusa  tinctoria.  The  root  of  this 
plant,  which  is  a  native  of  the  warmer  parts  of  Europe, 
contains  a  red  resinous  colouring  matter  which  it  imparts 
to  alcohol  and  oils :  it  is  used  to  tinge  some  ointments,  es- 
pecially lip-salves,  of  a  red  colour. 

ALKOO'L.  A  preparation  of  antimony  used  by  the  wo- 
men of  eastern  nations,  to  tinge  the  eyelids  and  lashes  of  a 
black  colour.  Dr.  Shaw,  speaking  of  the  women  in  Barba- 
ry,  says,  "None  of  these  consider  themselves  dressed,  till 
they  have  tinged  the  edges  of  their  eyelids  with  alkoohl." 

A'LLA  BREVE.  (Ital.  according  to  the  breve.)  In 
Music,  the  name  of  a  movement  whose  bars  or  measures 
consist  of  the  note  called  a  breve,  equal  therefore  to  two 
semibreves  or  four  minims.  It  is  denoted  at  the  begin- 
ning of  a  statF  by  a  C  writh  a  bar  drawn  through  it  ver- 
tically. 

A'LLA  CAPELLA.  (Ital.  according  to  the  chapel.)  In 
Music,  the  same  as  alia  breve.  The  name  originates  in  the 
circumstance  of  this  time  being  principally  employed  for 
movements  used  in  the  church  or  chapel. 

A'LLAH.  The  Arabic  name  of  the  Supreme  Being. 
It  signifies  the  True  God,  as  opposed  to  the  deities  of 
idolaters. 

A'LLANrTE.  A  silico  ferriferous  oxide  of  cerium  from 
Greenland  :  named  after  the  late  Mr.  Allan  of  Edinburgh. 

ALLA'NTOIC  ACID.  A  white  crystallisable  acid,  ob- 
tained by  evaporating  the  allantoic  liquid  of  the  foetal  calf. 

ALLA'NTOIS.  (Gr.  aXXaj,  a  sausage,  and  ciSo;.  form.) 
A  thin  membranous  sac  developed  from  the  termination 
of  the  alimentary  canal  of  the  embryo,  situated  between 
the  amnion  and  chorion,  and  organised  by  the  hypogastric 
arteries  and  umbilical  vein.  Its  function,  as  a  respiratory 
organ,  is  of  most  importance  in  those  oviparous  verte- 
brates where  the  embryo  has  no  branchiae :  in  the  mamma- 
lia, its  use  is  more  or  less  superseded  by  the  chorion  and 
placenta.  In  some  quadrupeds  the  allantois  has  the  form 
of  a  sausage  ;  whence  its  name. 

ALLE'GIANCE.  (Ft.  ligence,  from  the  Latin  ligare  and 
allegare,  to  bind.  The  obedience  which  a  citizen  owes  to 
his  prince  or  country.)  The  allegiance  of  a  bom  subject  of 
the  English  Crown  is  inseparable,  and  follows  him  every 
where :  nor  can  he  by  any  act  of  his  own  free  himself  from 
it.  There  is  also  a  temporary  allegiance  which  foreigners 
incur  so  long  as  they  reside  within  the  king's  dominions. 
By  common  law,  all  persons  above  the  age  of  twelve  years 
were  required  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  at  the  court 
leet ;  and  the  oaths  of  alleg;ance  and  supremacy  have  since 
been  imposed  by  many  statutes.  The  present  form  of  the 
oath  of  alleaiance  was  introduced  by  the  Convention  Par- 
liament of  16^S.  In  the  United  States,  it  appeai-s  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  doubtful  point,  whether  the  allegiance  of  the 
citizen  is  necessarily  perpetual,  as  in  Great  Britain.  The 
American  laws  also  require  a  foreigner  to  have  renounced 
(as  far  as  possible  by  his  own  act)  allegiance  to  his  former 
government,  two  years  before  he  takes  the  oath  of  allegi- 
ance to  that  of  his  acquired  country. 

A'LLEGORY.  In  Rhetoric  and  Literature  (from  the 
Greek  words  dWo,  another  thing,  and  riyopeoi,  I  declare,) 
has  been  defined,  "a  figurative  representation,  in  which 
the  signs  (words  or  forms)  signify  something  beyond  their 
literal  or  direct  meaning.  In  this  sense  allegory  may  be 
addressed  to  the  eye,  in  painting  and  sculpture,  by  means 
of  forms,  intended  to  convey,  besides  the  notion  of  those 
sensible  objects  which  they  represent,  certain  abstract 
ideas  to  which  these  objects  are  supposed  to  bear  analogy. 
Allegory  differs,  1.  from  symbolical  writing  or  representa- 
tion ;  because  in  the  first,  the  type  and  antitype,  or  thing 
exhibited  and  thing  intended,  have  some  real  or  natural  re- 
semblance, relation,  or  analogy :  in  the  latter,  the  resem- 
blance is  merely  conventional.  Thus,  to  take  an  instance 
from  modern  literature  :  if  it  be  true,  as  is  now  alleied,  that 
the  earlier  Italian  poets  of  the  middle  ages,  and  Dante  in 
particular,  attached  a  conventional  meaning  to  certain  ideas 
frequently  recurring  in  their  poems  ;  as,  for  example,  that 
Satan  signified  the  papalpower, — the  three  beasts  mentioned 
in  the  commencement  of  Dante's  poem  three  States, — love, 
loyalty  to  the  emperor,  &c.  &c. ;  then  their  poems,  consi- 
dered in  reference  to  this  occult  sense,  must  be  regarded 
as  specimens  not  of  allegory  but  of  symbolical  writing. 
But  if,  as  in  the  more  ordinary  interpretation  of  Dante's 
poem,  Satan  represents  the  abstract  idea  of  eternal  misery, 


ALLEGRETTO. 

the  beasts  particular  vices,  &c,  which  in  common  accepta- 
tion are  supposed  to  have  some  natural  analogy  with  their 
representatives,  the  poem  is  in  this  respect  to  be  regarded  as 
an  allegory.  Thus,  also,  critics  have  endeavoured  to  give 
a  symbolical  sense  to  the  sixth  book  of  Virgil's  JEneid  ; 
while,  independently  of  that  sense,  if  it  really  exist,  there 
is  an  obvious  allegorical  meaning  running  through  the 
whole.  (In  ancient  criticism,  however,  the  words  allegory 
and  symbol  were  not  so  accurately  distinguished  ;  and  in 
our  translation  of  the  Bible,  St.  Paul  is  made  to  use  the 
word  allegory  in  the  clear  sense  of  type.  Gal.  iv.  24.)  Alle- 
gory differs,  2.  from  parable,  only  inasmuch  as  the  latter  is 
a  species  of  the  former :  a  parable  being  a  short,  senten- 
tious, allegorical  narration.  And,  3.  it  is  different  from 
metaphor,  being  in  effect  a  chain  of  metaphors,  or  a  single 
metaphor  continued  and  wrought  out  into  a  lengthened  dis- 
course. 4.  Fables  may  also  be  mentioned  as  a  species  of 
allegory.  {See  Fable.)  An  allegory,  or  allegorical  tale,  in 
the  somewhat  narrower  sense  in  which  the  term  is  used  in 
literature,  is  generally  a  tale  in  which  abstract  ideas  are 
personified:  such  (to  cite  one  of  the  earliest  instances  of 
this  species  of  composition)  as  the  Choice  of  Hercules,  or 
human  youth,  between  virtue  and  vice,  in  the  shape  of  two 
females:  an  allegory  which  descends  to  us  from  Greek 
antiquity.  Entire  poems  are  sometimes  strictly  allegoric- 
al, as  that  of  Spenser;  or  entire  narratives,  as  Iiunyan's 
Pilgrim's  Progress  ;  in  which  case  it  requires  consummate 
art  to  keep  up  the  propriety  of  the  allegory,  which  is  in  fact 
a  compound  of  two  opposite,  and  sometimes  scarcely  com- 
patible qualities — consistency  running  through  its  several  in- 
cidents, when  considered  merely  as  a  narrative  and  without 
reference  to  the  ulterior  meaning,  and  consistency  of  ana- 
logy between  the  thing  represented  and  the  tiling  answered 
ALLEGRETTO,  and  ALLEGRO.  (Hal.  a  little  merry, 
and  merry.)  In  Music.  The  first  term  is  a  diminutive  of 
the  second,  which,  prefixed  to  a  movement,  signifies  thai 
it  is  to  be  performed  in  a  brisk  anil  lively  manner;  not, 
however,  with  hurry  or  precipitation,  bill  quicker  than  any- 
other  time  in  music,  except  that  marked  presto.  The  dif- 
ferent times  used  in  music  are  arranged  as  follows:  pro- 
ceeding from  slow  to  quick,  namely1  grave,  adagio,  allegret- 
to, allegro,  and  presto.  The  word  piu,  more,  added  to  any 
of  these,  and  the  word  poco,  little,  strengthen  the  significa- 
tions in  their  various  kinds. 

A'LLEMAND.  (Fr.)  In  Music.  A  species  of  slow- 
grave  music  or  movement  in  common  time,  andperformi  d 
slow.  From  its  name  it  would  seem  to  belong  to  Germa- 
ny, but  it  is  now  altogether  disused. 

ALL-HA'LLOWS.  The  old  English  name  for  All  Saints' 
day  (the  1st  of  November). 

ALLIA'CEOUS.  (Lat  allium,  garlic.)  Any  thing  havinir 
the  smell  of  onions  or  garlic. 

ALLIACEOUS  PLANTS.  Plants  which  partake  more 
or  less  of  the  qualities  of  garlic  and  onions  :  such  as  onions, 
shallots,  rocambole,  chives,  leeks,  garlic,  &C, 

ALLl'ANCE.  In  Polities  and  International  Law,  a 
league  between  two  or  more  friendly  powers  ;  which  may 
be  either  offensive  and  defensive,  or  defensive  only.  Of 
the  former  species  is  the  alliance  of  1813  against  Napoleon, 
subsequently  called  the  Holy  Alliance.  Of  the  latter,  the 
Quadruple  Alliance,  concluded  in  1833  between  England, 
France,  Spain,  and  Portugal.  Alliances  are  divided  by 
publicists  into  three  classes.  1.  Those  in  which  the  allied 
parties  agree  to  prosecute  a  war  with  their  whole  force. 
2.  Alliances  in  which  auxiliary  states  pledge  themselves  to 
grant  to  a  principal  state  a  fixed  contingent  of  men,  money, 
Arc.  3.  Treaties  to  furnish  troops  tor  stated  subsidies,  to 
make  advances  of  money,  &C. 

ALLIGA'TION.  (Lat!  alhgo,  T bind,  or  tie  together.)  A 
rule  of  Arithmetic,  for  the  solution  of  questions  conci 
the  compounding  or  mixing  together  of  different  ingredi- 
ents, or  ingredients  of  different  qualities.  Therearetwo 
cases,  one  of  which  is  alligation  medial,  and  the  other  alli- 
gation alternate.  To  the  first  case  belongs  a  question  of 
this  sort  :  Suppose  4  gallons  of  wine  at  12  shillings  per  gal- 
lon, to  be  mixed  with  t>  gallons  at  17  shillings  per  gallon, 
what  is  the  worth  of  a  gallon  of  the  mixture  ?  Hut  if  it 
were  asked,  how  many  gallons  of  wine  at  17  shillings  per 
gallon,  must  be  mixed  with  4  gallons  at  12  shillings  per  gal- 
lon, in  order  that  the  worth  of  a  gallon  of  the  mixture  may- 
be 15  shillings,  the  question  would  belong  to  alligation  al- 
ternate. Questions  of  this  kind  are,  however,  most  easily 
resolved  by  elementary  algebra;  of  which  they  form  an 
easy  class  of  indeterminate  problems,  admitting  in  general 
of  an  indefinite  number  of  solutions. 

A'LLIGATOR.  (A  corruption  of  the  Portuguese  word 
'  lagarto,' which  is  derived  from  lacerta,  a  lizard.)  In  mo- 
dern Zoology,  the  term  is  limited  to  those  species  of  croco- 
dile which  have  a  wide  obtuse  muzzle,  unequal  teeth,  the 
fourth  pair  of  which,  counting  backwards  in  the  lower  jaw, 
pass  into  corresponding  cavities  in  the  upper  jaw,  where 
their  points  are  concealed  when  the  mouth  is  closed.  In 
the  time  crocodiles,  the  corresponding  teeth  pass  into  open 
jrrooves  in  the  margin  of  the  upper  jaw,  and  are  conse- 


ALLOY. 

quently  exposed.  In  the  alligators  the  head  is  less  oblong, 
its  length  being  generally  as  to  its  breadth  as  3  to  2 :  the 
teeth  are  more  numerous  than  in  the  crocodiles,  some- 
times amounting  to  twenty-two  in  the  lower  jaw,  and  to 
twenty  in  the  upper.  The  hind  legs  and  feet  are  rounded, 
and  have  neither  crests  nor  dentations  ;  the  interspaces  of 
the  toes  are  only  occupied  for  half  their  extent  by  a  short 
membrane.  The  alligators,  so  far  as  is  yet  known,  are 
peculiar  to  the  New  World. 

ALLITERA'TION.  In  Composition.  The  frequent  re- 
currence of  the  same  letter,  chiefly  at  the  commencement 
of  different  words.  This  is  sometimes  resorted  to,  espe- 
cially in  poetry,  for  the  production  of  effect.  In  the  Celtic 
languages,  alliteration  was  a  recognised  ornament  in  versi- 
fication :  it  was  so  likewise  in  the  early  Gothic  tongues  ; 
and  in  old  English  there  are  entire  poems  composed  in  al- 
literative metre,  of  which  the  celebrated  Vision  of  Piers 
Ploughman  is  the  most  remarkable. 

ALLOCATION.  In  Law.  The  allowance  of  an  ac- 
count in  the  Exchequer.  The  writ  de  allocatiune  facienda 
is  for  allowing  an  accountant  sums  expended  by  him  in  his 
office.  The  certificate  of  allowance  of  costs  of  taxation 
granted  by  the  master,  prothonotary,  or  other  officer  of 
court  is  termed  in  practice  an  allocatur. 

ALLO'CHROITE.  A  massive  mineral  allied  to  the  gar- 
net. Melted  with  phosphate  of  soda  before  the  blowpipe, 
it  exhibits  several  changes  of  colour,  hence  its  name,  from 
aAAoj,  another,  and  \ooia.  colour. 

ALLO'DILM.  In  feudal  Law.  A  word  of  uncertain  de- 
rivation (deduced  by  some  writers  from  the  old  Teutonic 
••  aloud,"  denoting  the  antiquity  of  the  tenure).  Land  held 
by  an  individual  in  his  own  absolute  right,  discharged  of 
ail  feudal  obligation  :  opposed,  therefore,  to  fee,  fief,  or 
feud.  No  allodial  property  can  exist  in  England,  where 
the  kin<:.  in  the  eve  of  the  law,  is  lord  paramount  of  all 
lands  and  hereditaments.  In  ancient  France  the  rule  was, 
"nulle  terre  sans  sci«nenr,"  and  the  presumption  was  in 
some  parts  of  that  country  always  in  favour  of  a  fief,  un- 
less the  land  were  shown'  to  be  allodial.  In  Germany,  on 
tin-  contrary,  the  legal  presumption  was  in  favour  of  the 
allodium. 

ALLOTMENT  OF  LANDS.  Any  piece  of  land,  set 
apart  or  allotted  for  any  particular  purpose.  When  more 
land  is  laid  to  a  cottage  than  suffices  for  a  garden,  it  is  com- 
monly railed  a  cottage  allotment 

ALLOY',  or  ALLAY.  (From  the  French  verb  alloyer, 
to  mis  i,ni  metal  uilh  another,  in  order  to  coinage;  derived 
perhaps  from  i,  lu  lot,  the  proportions  of  the  metals  being 
regulated  by  law;  perhaps  from  allier,  to  unite;  or  allo- 
care,  to  put  together.")  A  term  applied  to  compounds  of 
the  precious  metals  with  others  oi  less  value,  or  to  the  least 

valuable  of  the  metals  in  such  compounds:  thus,  gold  is 
said  to  be  alloyed  With  silver,  and  silver  with  copper, 
chemists  generally  apply  the  term  to  all  combinations  ob- 

tained  by  fusing  metals  with  each  other:  thus,  brass  is  an 

aiio\  of  copper  and  zinc;  and  bronze,  of  copper  and  tin  ; 
except  when  mercury  is  one  of  the  combining  metals,  in 
which  ease  they  call  the  compound  an  amalgam.  Many 
oi  the  alloys  are  importantly  useful  in  the  arts  :  thus.  «iji| 
and  silver,  which  in  their  pure  state  are  too  soft  and  flexi- 
ble for  the  manufacture  of  plate,  coin,  trinkets,  <fcc,  are 
hardened  by  the  addition  of  a  certain  portion  of  copper; 
while  their  colour  and  other  valuable  qualities  are  not  ma- 
terially impaired.  The  standard  gold  m  circulation  in  this 
country,  is  an  alloy  of  11  parts  of  pure  gold,  and  one  of 
copper.  Sometimes  the  alloy  consists  partly  of  silver, 
especially  in  the  older  coins;  and  it  is  to  the  preponde- 
rance of  one  or  other  of  these  alloys  that  the  different  co- 
lour of  gold  coin  is  owing  ;  the  paler  containing  silver,  the 
deeper  coloured,  copper.  A  little  palladium  is  sometimes 
present,  which  nives  the  gold  a  disagreeable  brownish  hue, 
as  seen  occasionally  in  some  sovereigns.  The  English 
standard  silver,  used  for  coin,  consists  in  12  parts,  of 
H_2_  silver,  and  il  copper:  in  these  alloys  it  is  neces- 
sary to  employ  copper  of  the  utmost  purity  ;  for  a  very 
minute  portion  of  some  of  the  other  metals,  especially  of 
lead,  renders  the  precious  metal  brittle.  The  silver  alloy 
used  for  plate  is  the  same  as  that  for  coin,  and  the  purity 
is  guaranteed  by  the  stamp  of  the  Goldsmiths'  Company. 
The  subject  of  alloy  for  coin  underwent  an  elaborate  in- 
vestigation at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  by  or- 
der of  government;  the  inquiry  was  intrusted  to  Mr.  Cav- 
endish and  Mr.  Hatched,  and  the  latter  gentleman  has 
published  a  valuable  account  of  his  experiments  in  the 
"Philosophical  Transactions"  for  1S03,  to  which  the  reader 
is  referred. 

Some  curious  circumstances  ensue  in  the  combination 
of  metals,  as  affecting  their  densities ;  the  specific  gravity 
of  an  alloy  being  sometimes  greater  and  sometimes  less 
than  the  mean  of  its  components,— showing  that  in  some 
cases  expansion  has  taken  place,  and  in  others  contraction. 

Alloys  generally  melt  at  a  lower  temperature  than  that 
required  for  the  fusion  of  their  component  metals  sepa- 


ALLSPICE. 

rately;  and  in  some  cases  the  most  refractory  metals 
form  very  fusible  alloys.  There  are  some  alloys  which 
are  crystallisable,  and  probably  of  definite  composition ; 
but  the  atomic  doctrine  applies  only  in  a  few  cases  to  the 
alloys,  and  it  is  often  difficult  to  get  a  mass  of  alloy  of 
similar  composition  throughout;  thus,  gold  made  standard 
with  copper,  and  then  cast  into  bars  in  upright  moulds, 
does  not  yield  an  uniform  compound  except  under  due 
precautions ;  for  the  upper  end  of  the  bar,  containing 
the  metal  from  the  bottom  of  the  crucible,  will  be  the 
purest. 

A'LLSPICE.  The  dried  immature  berry  of  the  Myrtus 
Pimenta ;  called  also  Jamaica  Pepper.  It  is  supposed  to 
possess  the  mixed  flavour  of  several  spices,  amongst 
which  that  of  the  clove  predominates. 

ALLU'SION,  in  Rhetoric.  (Lat.  ad,  to,  and  hido,  I  play.) 
Strictly,  a  covert  indication,  as  by  means  of  a  metaphor,  a 
play  of"  words,  <fec.  of  something  not  openly  mentioned  and 
extrinsic  to  the  principal  meaning  of  the  sentence.  In 
common  language,  to  allude  to  any  tiling  merely  means  to 
mention  it  indirectly  or  incidentally. 

ALLU'VIUM.  (Lat.  alluo,  I  wash  upon.)  Gravel,  sand, 
and  other  transported  matter  washed  down  by  rivers  and 
floods,  upon  land  not  permanently  submerged  beneath 
water. 

ALMACA'NTAR.  (From  the  Arabic.)  A  term  used  by 
the  old  astronomers  to  denote  a  small  circle  of  the  sphere 
parallel  to  the  horizon. 

ALMAGE'ST.  A  name  given  by  the  Arabs  to  the  cele- 
brated work  of  Ptolemy,  the  astronomer  of  Alexandria  :  it 
signifies  the  createst  work.  The  best  edition  of  this  work 
is  that  of  Paris,  1813-15,  two  vols.  4to.,  Greek  and  French, 
by  M.  Halma. 

A'LMANACK.  (Probably  from  the  Arabic  particle  al 
and  manach,  to  commit ;  whence  Al  Manach,  The  Diary.) 
An  annual  publication  containing  a  calendar  of  the  days 
and  months  of  the  year,  the  ecclesiastical  feasts,  the  time 
of  the  sun's  rising  and  setting,  the  age  of  the  moon,  the  so- 
lar and  lunar  eclipses.  To  these  (the  most  essential  mat- 
ters) are  frequently  added  information  on  various  subjects 
of  astronomy,  chronology,  meteorology,  the  tides,  statis- 
tics, lists  of  posts,  offices,  public  institutions,  &c,  according 
to  the  views  or  fancy  of  their  respective  authors.  Alma- 
nacks correspond  in  some  respects  to  the  Fasti  of  the  Ro- 
mans, and  are  of  very  ancient  date.  The  first  printed  al- 
manack appeared  in  1474,  and  was  drawn  up  by  Regiomon- 
tanus,  nearly,  at  least  so  far  as  regards  the  calendar,  in  the 
form  now  used.  Till  within  a  few  years,  the  numerous  al- 
manacks published  in  England  were  little  creditable  to  the 
taste  or  morals  of  the  country.  They  had  for  a  long  time 
been  monopolised  by  the  Stationers'  Company.  This  mo- 
nopoly was  at  length  broken  through  by  the  publication  of 
a  new  almanack  under  the  superintendence  of  the  Society 
for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge  ;  and  since  that  time 
the  more  exceptionable  ones  have  entirely  disappeared, 
and  their  place  been  supplied  by  others,  which  abound  in 
useful  and  valuable  information.  The  removal  of  the 
heavy  stamp  duty  of  fifteen  pence  per  copy,  to  which  they 
were  subjected  till  1834,  has  been  attended  with  all  the  ad- 
vantages which  usually  result  from  the  exercise  of  free 
competition. 

The  Nautical  Almanack  is  published  by  order  of  the 
board  of  the  admiralty  for  the  use  of  seamen,  and  contains 
a  copious  list  of  astronomical  phenomena  at  sea,  and  of  the 
elements  which  are  used  in  finding  the  longitude.  This 
work  is  also  a  very  complete  astronomical  ephemeris, 
showing  the  instants  of  time  at  which  the  planets  and  prin- 
cipal stars  daily  pass  the  meridian  of  Greenwich  ;  the  sun's 
right  ascension,  and  the  logarithms  of  his  distances ;  the 
moon's  place  at  intervals  of  three  hours,  &c.  &c.  For  a 
more  particular  account  of  works  of  this  kind,  see  Calen- 
dar, Ephemeris. 

A'LMOND.  (Gr.  d/xvySaXov.  Fr.  amande.)  The  seed 
or  kernel  of  the  Amygdalus  communis.  Sweet  almonds 
afford,  in  the  100  parts,  54  of  fixed  oil,  24  of  albuminous 
matter,  9  gum  and  sugar,  4  woody  fibre,  5  husk,  and  4 
water  and  loss.  Bitter  almonds  contain  less  fixed  oil,  and 
a  peculiar  principle  termed  Amygdalin.  When  bitter  alm- 
onds are  cold  pressed,  the  oil  which  exudes  contains  no 
trace  of  prussic  acid  ;  when  hot  pressed,  its  flavour  may 
be  perceived:  the  cake  remaining  after  pressure  yields  a 
volatile  oil  by  distillation,  the  quantity  and  strength  of 
which  in  prussic  acid  is  variable.  The  oil  of  bitter  alm- 
onds is  about  the  specific  gravity  of  water ;  that  which  pass- 
es first  over  is  most  poisonous.  It  changes  when  exposed 
to  air,  and  forms  benzoic  acid  :  in  close  vessels  it  may  be 
long  kept  without  deterioration.  When  used  in  medicine, 
great  care  is  requisite  on  account  of  its  varying  strength. 
Half  an  ounce  of  oil  of  bitter  almonds  was  put  into  the 
mouth  of  a  Newfoundland  dog  (in  a  diseased  state  and 
moaning  with  pain),  with  the  intention  of  immediately  kill- 
ing it;  but  after  some  slight  convulsions  the  animal  be- 
came tranquil,  appeared  easi  er,  and  recovered  the  effect : 
about  a  drachm  of  recently  and  carefully  prepared  oil  was 
34 


ALPHABET. 

then  administered,  when  the  animal  fell  upon  its  side,  be- 
came convulsed,  and  died  in  three  minutes.  The  distilled 
oil  of  peach  leaves  and  of  the  cherry  laurel  also  contain 
prussic  acid,  and  the  water  distilled  from  them  is  poison- 
ous. By  digesting  these  oils  with  finely  powdered  per- 
oxide of  mercury,  crystals  of  cyanuret  of  mercury  are 
formed. 

A'LMONER.  An  officer  in  a  religious  house,  to  whom 
the  distribution  of  alms  was  committed.  The  term  is  still 
retained  by  officers  in  some  of  our  hospitals. 

ALMS.  Charitable  offerings ;  from  the  Greek  tXeij- 
jioavvrj,  pity ;  which  came  in  the  early  ages  of  the  church 
to  be  used  in  the  plural  number  in  the  peculiar  sense  which 
is  represented  in  our  language  by  the  word  Alms. 

A'LOE.  (Arabic,  alloch.)  A  small  tree  with  endoge- 
nous stems,  and  stiff,  fleshy,  hard  pointed  leaves,  abound- 
ing in  a  purgative  principle  which  is  obtained  by  simple 
pressure  of  the  bruised  leaves,  or  by  boiling.  The  juice 
when  inspissated  becomes  the  medicinal  drug  of  the  shops. 
It  varies  much  in  quality.     {See  the  following  article.) 

A'LOES.  The  inspissated  juice  or  extract  of  several 
species  of  aloe.  This  article  is  largely  imported  for  me- 
dical use  from  Bombay.  It  is  of  a  brown  colour,  a  pecu- 
liar and  somewhat  aromatic  odour,  and  a  nauseous  and 
intensely  bitter  flavour :  it  consists  of  extractive  and  resin, 
and  is  nearly  soluble  in  boiling  water,  but  the  solution  as  it 
cools  deposits  flakes  of  resin.  The  best  aloes  was  former- 
ly brought  from  the  island  of  Socotorah,  in  the  Indian  Sea, 
and  hence  all  the  finer  aloes  of  commerce  is  frequently 
termed  Socotorine  aloes.  Another  variety  of  this  drug 
comes  from  Barbadoes,  in  large  gourd-shells  containing 
upwards  of  half  a  hundred  weight  each  ;  it  is  deep  cor 
loured,  opaque,  and  has  a  nauseous  and  peculiar  odour, 
especially  when  breathed  upon.  Aloes  is  a  warm  stimula- 
ting purgative,  operating  as  such  in  the  dose  of  four  to 
eight  grains.  It  stimulates  the  large  intestines,  and  should 
be  administered  with  caution  in  habits  where  there  is  ten- 
dency to  piles,  and  in  cases  in  females  in  which  uterine 
stimulants  are  improper. 

ALO'NSINE,  or  ALPHOXSLSE  TABLES.  An  astro- 
nomical work,  which  appeared  in  the  year  1252,  under  the 
patronage  of  Alonso  X.,  in  the  first  year  of  his  reign. 

ALO'PECU'RUS.  (Gr.  dXo)7r/)£,  a  fox,  and  oipa,  a  tail.) 
A  genus  of  grasses,  called  by  the  farmer  foxtail ;  the  flow- 
ers are  arranged  in  compact  tail-like  stalks.  It  is  very  like 
Phleum  or  vatstail,  from  which  it  differs  in  its  glumes  be- 
ing acute,  not  truncate,  and  its  lower  pales  awned.  Alope- 
curus  jnatensis  forms  a  part  of  all  the  richest  pastures  in 
England. 

ALO'SA.  The  name  of  a  genus  of  Clupeoid  fishes,  in- 
cluding the  alose,  or  shad  ;  separated  from  the  herring  and 
pilchard,  with  which  it  was  classed  by  Linnaeus.  The 
shad  ascends  large  rivers  to  the  fresh  water,  where  it 
spawns.  The  white-bait  used  to  be  regarded  as  the  young 
of  the  shad,  but  is  now  ascertained  to  be  a  distinct  species 
of  the  present  genus. 

A'LPHABET.  (From  the  Gr.  d\<j>a,  Pfjra,  the  two  first 
Greek  letters.)  The  letters  of  a  written  language,  disposed 
in  their  regular  order.  An  alphabetical  language  is  one 
possessing  an  alphabet. 

1.  The  first  and  most  obvious  mode  by  which  thought 
can  be  expressed  and  conveyed  to  the  eye,  is  by  the  re- 
presentation of  actual  objects.  Hence  the  species  of 
writing  which  the  learned  have  termed  ideographic,  i.  e.  in 
which  knowledge  is  conveyed,  first,  by  representations  of 
the  objects  of  thought ;  secondly,  by  symbols.  The  origin 
of  designing  is  coeval  with  that  of  mankind ;  and  men  early 
availed  themselves  of  this  art  to  make  their  thoughts  visi- 
ble. To  make  it  be  understood,  for  example,  that  one 
man  had  killed  another,  they  drew  the  figure  of  a  dead  man 
stretched  on  the  ground,  arid  of  another  standing  by  him 
upright,  with  some  deadly  weapon  in  liis  hand.  To 'let  it 
be  known  that  some  one  had  arrived  by  sea,  they  drew  the 
figure  of  a  man  disembarking  from  a  ship ;  and  so  on. 
This  kind  of  writing,  if  we  may  so  employ  the  word,  was 
very  early  used  in  Egypt,  and  most  probably,  also,  in  most 
of  the  ancient  nations.  In  Greek,  the  word  ypa<j>eiv  signi- 
fies indifferently  either  to  write  or  to  paint.  In  Mexico, 
when  the  Spaniards  landed,  the  inhabitants  of  the  sea 
coast  conveyed  intelligence  of  the  event  to  Montezuma  by 
sending  him  a  large  cloth,  on  which  they  carefully  painted 
what  they  had  seen.  It  is  unnecessary  to  insist  on  the  dif- 
ficulty and  inconvenience  of  this  method  of  writing;  and 
to  lessen  these,  recourse  was  had  to  the  symbolic  or  emble- 
matic variety  of  ideographic  writing.  In  this  method  ab- 
breviations or  characteristic  parts  were  introduced  instead 
of  the  entire  object.  Thus,  the  ancient  Egyptians  are  said 
to  have  represented  a  siege  by  a  scaling-ladder;  a  battle, 
by  two  hands  holding  a  buckler  and  a  bow,  &c.  Abstract 
ideas  were,  also,  represented  by  symbols,  or  sensible  ob- 
jects, supposed  to  have  a  certain  analogy  to  them :  as,  in- 
gratitude by  a  viper,  providence  by  an  eye,  the  head  of  a 
hawk,  «Scc.  2.  From  ideographic  was  derived  syllabic 
writing.      It  must  have  been  early  remarked   that   the 


ALPHABET. 

sounds  formed  by  the  voice  in  speaking  are  articulate  and 
well-defined ;  and  the  idea  occurred  of  endeavouring  to  re 
present  such  sounds  by  appropriate  signs.  Thus  the  word 
republic,  in  the  writing  of  which  we  use  eight  letters,  would 
be  written  with  three  syllabic  characters.  The  President 
de  Goguet  suspects  that  originally  all  the  Asiatic  nations, 
known  to  the  ancients  under  the  names  of  Syrians  and  As- 
syrians, used  the  syllabic  mode  of  writing.  We  may,  he 
thinks,  discern  the  vestiges  of  this  in  an  ancient  tradition 
which  ascribes  the  invention  of  writing  to  the  Syrians ;  but 
acknowledges  that  the  Phoenicians  improved,  made  it  more 
simple,  and  brought  the  characters  to  perfection.  But  this 
mode  of  writing,  though  a  vast  improvement  on  what  is 
purely  ideographic,  is  still  very  imperfect  and  cumbersome. 
The  vast  number  of  characters  required  in  it  overburdens 
the  memory,  and  occasions  the  greatest  confusion.  The 
existing  language  of  the  Chinese,  which  is  partly  ideo- 
graphic and  partly  syllabic,  is  an  example  of  this.  In  it 
there  are  a  certain  number  of  elementary  signs  or  k-eys  (two 
hundred  and  fourteen),  which  are  strictly  hieroglyphic  or 
symbolical ;  that  is,  they  are  abridged  representations  of 
visible  objects.  From  these  214  elements,  all  the  charac- 
ters of  the  language  (80,000,  it  is  said)  are  formed  by  vary- 
ing and  combining  their  figures  :  every  compound  charac- 
ter representing  one  or  more  syllables  having  a  distinct 
meaning.  3.  The  defects  incident  to  ideographic  and  syl- 
labic writing  being  thus  obvious,  ingenious  individuals 
would  early  endeavour  to  find  out  some  more  simple  and 

Jirecise  method  of  communicating  their  ideas.  And  at 
ength  the  method  of  Alphabetic;  writing,  the  greatest  of  all 
the  inventions  made  by  man,  and  which  has  been  the  great 
instrument  of  his  civilisation,  was  introduced  and  perfect- 
ed. In  this  method  syllables  are  decomposed  into  their 
elements  ;  and  the  few  simple  sounds  emitted  by  the  voice 
being  represented  each  by  its  appropriate  mark  or  letter, 
syllables  and  words  are  formed  by  their  combination  ;  the 
latter  serving  Dot  only  to  describe  external  objeets,  but  to 
depict  the  workings  of  the  mind,  and  every  shade  and  va- 
riety of  thought.    Before  entering»into  the  much  disputed 

question  respecting  th igin  of  this  mode  of  writing,  it  is 

necessary  to  indicate  the  new  light  thrown  upon  die  sub- 
ject by  the  recent  discoveries  ol   Dr.  Voting,  and  more  es- 
pecially of  M.  Champollion,  as  to  the  phonetic  writing  of 
the  Egyptians.    We  have  already  seen  that  the  hierogly- 
phical  characters  of  that  people  denoted,  In  the  first  place, 
objects  either  of  sense  or  thought;  i.  e.  they  were  ideo- 
graphic.   But,  according  to  the  new  theory,  they  came  in 
the  course  of  time  to  denote  sounds ;  and  those  not  sylla- 
bic merely,  but  alphabetical,    for  example,  the  Egyptian 
word  Alio  in  signified  an  eagle ;  the  figure  of  an  eagle,  there- 
fore, stood  for  the  letter  A.  with  which  that  word  begins. 
B  was  represented  by  a  censer  (Berbe).     K  sometimes  by 
a  mouth  (Ro),  sometimes  by  a  tear  (Rime").     According  to 
the  views  of  these  recent  discoverers,a  great  proportion  of 
the  inscriptions  on  Egyptian  monuments  and  papyri  are 
partly  ideographic,  partly  alphabetical}  i.  e.  some  charac- 
ters represent  objects  or  ideas  ;  and  these  are  intermingled 
with  others  which  merely  stand  for  letters.     Dr.  Young, 
who  first  conceived  the  notion  of  the  phonetic  alphabet, 
imagined  that  it  was  only  employed  when  foreign  words  or 
names  (as  those  of  Greek   kinsrs)  were   introduced.     M. 
Champollion  carried  the  discovery  further,  and  applied  it 
to  the  deciphering  of  words  and  names  in  the  language  of 
the  country.     The  name  of  the  ancient  kin:;  Sabaco,  among 
others,  being  found  by  this  mode  of  interpretation,  would 
appear  to  show  that  the  phonetic  writing  was  u 
as  700  years  B.  C.    (See  Dr.  Young's  writings,  especially 
the  article  Egypt  in  the  Encyclopozdia  Britannica;  those 
of  Champollion  ;  M.  Klaproth's  Examen  Critiqut  des  Tra- 
vaux  de  Champollion  ;  Quarterly  Review,  vol.  liii.  p.  110, ; 
Salt's  Essay  on  Hi'-  Phonetic  System  of  Mieroglyphtcs,  Svo. 
London,  1825,  &c.)    It  is  not  within  our  present  province  to 
discuss  the  question,  upon  what  ground  of  probability  this 
theory  rests.     But  if  a  complete  phonetic  alphabet  should 
be  discovered,  in  the  language  of  that  country  in  which  the 
earliest  germs  of  knowledge  and  civilisation  seem  to  have 
been  developed,  it   is  probable  that  we  shall  have  made  a 
considerable  step  towards  tracing  the  origin  of  pure  alpha- 
betical writing  in  other  languages.    As  it  is,  although  various 
attempts  have  been  made  to  show  the  symbolical  origin  of 
the  letters  in  the  most  ancient  alphabets,  it  cannot  be  said 
that  any  very  satisfactory  result  has  been  obtained.     And, 
from  the  total  want  of  all  recorded  knowledge  concerning 
themvention  of  alphabetical  writing,  and  the  difficulty  of 
ace  ounting  for  it  on  any  known  principle  of  mental  associ- 
ation, the  hypothesis  of  divine  revelation  has  obtained  con 
siderable  currency ;  but  it  need  hardly  be  observed,  how 
ill  such  a  doctrine  agrees  with  all  that  we  know  by  analogy 
of  the  dealings  of  Providence  with  man. 

It  is  clear  that  writing  was  known  to  the  Hebrews  at  the 
period  when  the  Mosaic  books  were  composed,  from  many 
allusions  contained  in  them.  Exodus,  xxxii.  15, 16.  Num- 
bers, xvii.  18.,  xxxi.  9.  19.,  xxxiii.  1.,  &c.     And  although  it 


ALPHABET. 

to  mav  not  have  been  of  the  symbolical  description  in  use 
among  the  Egyptians,  there  seems,  on  the  other  hand,  lit- 
tle reason  for  supposing  that  the  Hebrew  alphabet  was  not 
in  use  even  at  that  remote  period.  And  the  question  of  su- 
perior antiquity  seems  to  lie  entirely  between  that  alphabet 
and  the  Phoenician.  The  claims  of  the  latter  are  support- 
ed by  Mr.  Astle  (Essay  on  the  Origin  of  Writing,  4to.  Lon- 
don, 1803),  whose  views  are  now  generally  concurred  in. 
The  belief  was  all  but  universal  among  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans, that  the  Phoenicians  were  the  inventors  of  letters. 
According  to  Lucan, 

((  Phcnices  prims  (famae  si  credimus)  ausl 
Mansuram  rudibus  tocciii  signare  tiguris." 

And  Pliny  says  (lib.  v.  cap.  12.),  "Ipsa  gens  Phoenicum  in 
gloria  magna  est  literarum  inventionis."  But  whether  the 
Phoenicians  were  or  were  not  the  inventors  of  alphabetic 
writing,  there  can  be  little  or  no  doubt  that  the  knowledge 
of  it  was  brought  by  Cadmus,  from  Phoenicia,  into  Greece, 
about  1500  years  B.  C.  From  the  Phoenician,  therefore,  or 
the  Hebrew,  are  incontestably  derived,  1.  The  Oriental 
alphabets  used  in  Asia,  West  of  the  Indus  ;  written,  like 
Hebrew,  from  right  to  left ;  the  principal  being  the  Syriac, 
Arabic,  and  Persian.  2.  The  Pelasgic,  or  original  Greek 
alphabet.  Were  there  nothing  else  by  which  to  establish 
the  fact,  the  eastern  origin  of  the  Pelasgic  language  would 
be  obvious  from  its  being  originally  written,  like  the  Phoe- 
nician and  other  eastern  languages,  from  right  to  left.  It 
was  afterwards  written  consecutively  from  right  to  left,  and 
left  to  right,  in  the  manner  that  land  is  ploughed.  This 
procured  for  it  the  name  of  ffovorpoipriSov,  or  furrowed 
writing.  This  species  of  writing  maintained  its  ground  for 
a  lengthened  period.  The  laws  of  Solon,  promulgated 
about  594  years  B.  C,  were  written  in  it ;  and  it  was  used 
till  the  5th  century  B.  C.  But  writing  from  left  to  right 
was  introduced  for  a  considerable  period  before  the  alter- 
nate or  furrowed  method  was  abandoned.  Inscriptions 
dated  742  years  B.  C.  have  been  found  written  from  left  to 
right,  or  in  the  way  now  practised.  (Goguet,  Origin  of 
Lous,  Eng.  trans,  ii.  n  32  ice  i  Prom  the  Pelasgic alpba- 
bi  I  were  derive, 1  the  Etruscan  and  Oscan.     From  the  Ionic, 

variety  of  the  Greek,  came  the  Arcadian,  the  Coptic, 
and  ESthiopic,  the  KaBso-Gothic  and  Runic;  ami.  in  com- 
paratively modern  times,  the  Armenian.  Illvrian,  Sclavonic, 
Bulgarian,  and  Russian.  With  regard  to  Greek  writing,  it 
is  to  be  observed  that  the  most  ancient  mode  was  in  capi- 
tals. The  small  biters  now  in  use  seem  to  have  been  in- 
troduced gradually  ;  for,  in  our  oldest  Greek  MSB.,  even  as 
early  as  floe  fifth  century,  they  appear  intermixed  with 
capitals.  But  the  latter  were  principally  employed,  until 
the  seventh  or  eighth  century.  3.  The  Latin  alphabet  is 
also  derived  from  the  Ionic  Greek;  it  is  said  to  have  been 
introduced  about  the  time  of  Tarquinius  Prisons.  In  the 
earliest  inscriptions  which  we  possess,  the  forms  of  the  let- 

ireely  differ  from  those  in  use  at  the  nresent  day ; 
but  great  varieties  have  been  in  subsequent  times  intro- 
duced  :  first,  in  the  ordinary  method  of  writing  it;  as,  the 
Uncial,  Semi-Uncial,  Lombard,  Italic,  &c.  (See  Charac- 
ter.) Secondly,  in  the  number  and  form  of  the  letters 
contained  in  the  numerous  alphabets  derived  from  it.  4.  A 
fourth  diss  of  alphabetical  languages  consists  of  the  Sans- 
crit and  its  derivatives.     These  are  very  numerous,  and  are 

spoken  in  the  continent  and  islands  of  India.  The  great 
regularity  of  the  Devanagaree,  or  most  elegant  form  of  the 
i  t  alphabet,  and  its  copiousness  (it  contains  100  let- 
ters), seem  to  afford  strong  presumption  that  it  was  com- 
piled by  some  learned  individual,  or  body,  (like  the  Rus- 
sian and  other  modern  Western  alphabets,)  from  other 
forms  of  writing  then  in  use,  and  imported  into  India  from 
the  West.  The  Sanscrit  and  its  derivative  languages  are 
written,  like  European,  from  left  to  riidit.  These  four 
classes  comprehend  all  the  alphabetical  languages  in  exis- 
tence. The  following  table  exhibits  the  number  of  letters 
in  some  of  the  principal 

Class  1.   Phoenician  (known),  17.     Samaritan.  Hebrew  (or 
Chaldean),  and  Syriac,  22  each.     Arabic,  28.    Per- 
sian, 32. 
Class  2.   Greek,  24.     Armenian,  38.     Ethiopic,  or  Abyssi- 
nian. 202.     Modern  Russian,  41. 
Class  3.   (which  is  otdy  a  subdivision  of  Class  2).     Latin, 
22.     English,  "26.     French,  28.     Italian,  20.     Ger- 
man, 26. 
Class  4.   Sanscrit  (Devanagaree),  100. 

Various  learned  persons  have  proposed  the  adoption  of 
a  universal  alphabet ;  and  have  shown  that  the  elementary 
sounds  are  reducible  to  a  still  smaller  number  than  those 
employed  in  our  western  alphabets.  Harris  (Hermes,  book 
iii.  c.  2.)  estimates  them  at  twenty.  Wachter  (Natural  et 
Script ura  Concordia)  conceives  that  the  number  may  be 
diminished  to  ten.  But  Bishop  Wilkins,  in  his  Essay  to- 
wards a  real  Character  and  Philosophical  Language,  fol., 
London,  1668,  estimates  the  necessary  number  at  thirty- 
four. 
We  here  present  the  reader  with  a  table  of  the  principal 


XXXI 

cannot  be  positively  asserted,  that  the  writing  there  alluded  I  alphabets  of  the  family  to  which  our  own  belongs. 
35 


ALPHABET. 


Arabic. 

Syriac. 

Hebrew. 

Samaritan. 

Etruscan. 

Anc   Greek. 

Mod.  Greek. 

Unman. 

Eng.  Script. 

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ALPHONSIN. 

Of  the  Phoenician,  properly  so-called,  the  authentic  re 
mains  are  but  few  in  number  and  of  rude  execution  ;  we 
have,  therefore,  employed  in  lieu  of  it  its  immediate  de- 
scendant, the  Etruscan,  which  we  have  placed  in  the  centre 
of  our  table.  This  alphabet,  it  will  be  perceived,  was  made  to 
be  written  like  the  Phoenician,  from  right  to  left,  which  sys- 
tem lias  been  retained  in  the  Asiatic  alphabets  derived  from 
it  down  to  the  present  day,  as  will  be  seen  on  inspecting  the 
alphabets  placed  on  the  left  of  the  Etruscan  in  thp  order  of 
their  derivation.  To  the  right  of  the  Etruscan  stands  the  al- 
phabet of  a  Greek  inscription,  which  dates  about  400  B.  C, 
when  the  practice  of  writing  from  left  to  right  had  become 
fixed  and  general  ;  next  in  order  are  the  Modern  Greek  al- 
phabet, tin  Roman,  and  lastly  the  small  letters  of  our  pre- 
sent character.  We  have  thus  given  the  principal  alpha- 
bets, both  Asiatic  and  European,  derived  from  the  Phoeni- 
cian, in  what  may  be  termed  thp  lineal  order  of  their  de- 
scent; and  although  the  difference  between  the  two  ex- 
tremes of  each  serii  s  is  certainly  very  great,  the  examples 
given  will  be  sufficient  to  enable  the  reader  to  trace  tin  ir 
mutual  connection,  and  to  account  for  the  changes  that 
have  gradually  been  produced  by  a  desire  to  gn  e  a  rounder 
and  more  current  shape  to  the  letters,  and  to  form  them 
with  fewer  strokes  of  the  re.  d  or  the  pen. 

ALPIIO'Nsin.  An  instrun  enl  for  extracting  balls :  so 
ralieil  from  the  name  of  its  inventor,  Alphonso  Ferrim,  a 
Neapolitan  surgeon. 

A'LPINE  PLANTS.  Low  plants  which  srrow  naturally 
in  hilly  or  mountainous  situations,  where  thev  are  covered 
with  snow  during  ureal  pan  of  the  winter ;  and  for  which 
i.  in  gardens,  they  require  the  protection  of  frames 
and  glass  during  winter,  in  this  respect  alpine  plants  dif- 
fer fro tn  rock  plants;  which,  in  gardens  only  requiri 
grown  among  rocks  or  stones,  without  the  protection  of  a 
frami  and  e 

ALPINIA'I  I  1  One  of  the  names  of  the  natural  or- 
der of  plants  called  Zingiberaceae. 

ALKi    N  i        G  Miami.  Alraun-i'ilder.)    Small  im- 

ages carved  oul  of  the  roots  of  trees,  exhibiting  rude  repre- 
sentations of  the  human  figure,  generally  female.  The 
veneration  paid  to  these  figures  formed  a  peculiar  feature 
in  the  superstition  of  the  northern  nations.  They  were 
looked  on  as  the  Penates,  or  household  gods, of  fai 
laid  in  boxes,  and  presented  with  meat  and  drink.  They 
are  supposed  by  some  to  represent  fei  i  ians  or 

druidi 

\l  -I'.t.NO     (It    To  the  mark-.)    In  Music,  a   D 
the  performer  thai  he  must  recommence  from  thai  part  of 
the  movement  to  which  the  sign  or  mark  $  is  prefixed. 

\i.-in  \  i 'i:.v.  \  i.ui  -  i  extensive  ordei  ol 
plants,  allied  to  the  much  more  beautiful  Silenaces,  from 
which  they  are  known  by  their  calyx  consisting  of  distinct 
sepals.  The  order  derives  its  name  from  Alsine  talons,  n 
sacred  gem,  in  which  places  it  is  found.)  the  common 
chickweed. 

ALT.  (Lat.  alius,  high.)  In  Music.  A  term  applied  to 
the  high  notes  of  tie 

A'LTAR.     (From  alta  Bra,  Lat.  :  or.  according  to 
fn>ni~N.  God,  and  ^N.-.  -  r appointed.}    In  Ar- 

chitecture, a  suit  of  pedestal  whereon  sai  nfice  was  offered. 

Servius  tells  us  that  anion;;  the  ancients  there  was  a  diiTor- 

ence  between  the  ara  and  altare,  the  tatter  being  raised  on 
a  substruction]  and  used  in  tin  service  only  of  me  celestial 
and  superior  divinities,  whilst  the  former  was  merely  on 
the  ground,  and  appropriated  to  the  service  of  the  terrestrial 
To  the  infernal  gods  the  altars  were  made  by  exca- 
vations, which  were  termed  BCrobiCUli.  Bome  authors  have 
maintained  that  the  ara  was  the  altar  before  which  prayers 
were  uttered,  whilst  the  altare  was  used  for  sacrifici  I 
does  not.  however,  appear  that  ancient  authors  made  these 
distinctions,  hut  thai  the  words  were  \i^:A  bj  them  indiscri- 
minately. The  earliest  altars  were  square  polished  stones. 
on  which  were  placed  the  offerings  10  the  gods.  Whilst 
sacrifices  were  confined  to  libations,  perfumes,  and  offerings 
of  ttiat  sort,  the  altar  was  not  of  large  dimensions,  and  was 
even  portable  ;  but  as  soon  as  man  thought  he  was  doing 
honour  to  the  Divinity  by  an  offering  of  blood,  the  altar  ne- 
cessarily expanded  in  dimensions.  Different  forms  were 
contrived,  according  to  the  nature  of  (he  sacrifice,  on  which 
the  throat  of  the  victim  was  cut  anil  the  flesh  burnt.  Of 
this  sort  is  the  circular  altar  of  the  villa  Pamphili  at  Rome, 
"in  ofthe  largest  and  most  elegant  of  existing  remains  of 
that  class.  Upon  it  is  to  be  seen  the  cavity  for  holding  the 
fire,  and  the  grooves  for  earning  off  the  blood.  The  va- 
rieties of  altars  follow  the  service  to  which  they  were 
assigned  by  difference  in  their  forms,  ornaments,  and  situ- 
ations. Some,  as  we  have  already  observed,  served  for 
burning  incense  and  receiving  libations.  Some  were  for 
the  sacrifices  of  blood,  and  others  for  receiving  offerings 
and  sacred  vases.  Many  were  erected  merely  as  monu- 
ments ofthe  piety  of  the  devotee,  whilst  others  were  con- 
structed to  perpetuate  some  great  event.  They  served  for 
adjuration,  as  well  as  for  an  asylum  to  the  unfortunate  and 
evil-doer.  The  forms  varied  from  square  to  oblong,  from 
37 


ALTERNATE. 

trinntrnlar  to  circular.  Those  of  metal  were  usually  tripo- 
dial.  When  of  brick  or  stone,  they  were  generally  square 
on  the  plane.  According  to  Pausanias,  wood  was  occasion- 
ally a  material  of  which  they  were  composed.  They  do 
not  seem  to  have  been  of  any  standard  height,  inasn  uch 
as  we  sometimes  see  them  on  bassi  relievi  reaching  little 
above  a  man's  knee,  whilst  in  others  they  appear  toreach 
his  middle,  though  it  would  seem  that  the  circular  altar  was 
generally  the  highest  in  proportion  to  its  diameter.  Vitru- 
vins  says  they  should  be  kept  down  in  height,  so  that  they 
may  not  intercept  the  statues  of  the  gods  ;  and  he  gives  the 
relative  height  of  those  used  for  the  different  divinities. 
Those  of  Jupiter  and  the  celestial  gods  the  highest  ;  next, 
those  of  Vesta  and  the  terrestrial  gods ;  then  the  sea-gods 
were  to  have  theirs  a  little  lower,  and  so  on.  On  festivals 
they  were  decorated  for  the  occasion  with  such  flowers 
and' leaves  as  were  sacred  to  the  particular  divinity.  But 
besides  this  casual  decoration,  the  ancient  altars  furnish  us 
with  some  of  the  most  elegant  bassi  relievi  and  foliage  or- 
naments that  are  extant,  still  serving  as  models  of  taste, 
which  have  escaped  the  hands  of  the  barbarian  destroyer. 
According  to  Vitruvius,  their  fronts  were  turned  towards 
the  east,  though  often  little  regard  seems  to  have  been  paid 
to  their  position,  as  they  were  occasionally  deposited  under 
the  peristyle  of  a  temple,  and  not  unfrequentlv  in  the  open 
air.  In  tlie  lanrer  temples  there  were  often  three  diffi  nut 
altars  :  the  first  was  in  the  most  sacred  part,  in  front  e!  the 
statue  of  the  god;  the  second  was  before  the  door  of  the 
temple;  and  tin  third  was  portable,  called  anclabris, 
on  which  the  offerings  and  sacred  vases  were  placed. 
Amongst  Christians,  the  altar  is  a  square  or  oblong  table 
or  tablet,  placed  at  the  east  end  ofthe  church,  for  the  cele- 
bration of  the  mass,  or.  in  Protestant  churches,  for  the 
celebration  of  the  sacrament.  These  are  varied  in  their 
form  almost  as  much  as  those  we  have  ril  i  d. 

The  word  Altar  was  adopted  by  the  early  Christians,  to- 
collier  with  the  corresponding  Greek  term  CDtritiortjoioi/, 
(hut  not.  unless,  perhaps,  in  a  sincle  instance.  fio>noi.)  to 
express  tin-  table  of  On  Lord  (1  for.  x.  21.).  Hut  the  word 
altar  is  stated  to  have  been  used  by  the  fathers  in  four  dif- 
ferent senses  (v.  Buicer,  in  VOC.  Svctaorripiov) :  for,  I. 
Christ  himself,  from  llebr.  xiii.  10.  'J.  The  church  of 
Christ  in  general  3.  Individual  men  hers  of  the  church. 
4.  The  Lord's  table,  ll  is  observed  that  the  lathers  of  the 
first  three  centuries  universally  speak  of  the  altar,  ami  not 
of  tie  table,  although  constantly  admitting  the  charge 
which  tin-  heathens  n  ade  against  them  of  their  having  no 
altars,  conceiving  the  term  as  used  by  the  beathi  ns  to  im- 
ply the  offering  of  a  sacrifice  upon  the  altar,  and  the  pre- 
sence of  the  statue  of  the  deit)  to  whom  the  offering  is 
made  I'nin  the  fourth  renturv  the  word  table  is  fre- 
quently ad.  pled,  a-'  by  St.  Chrysr.'sl.  in.  St.  AugUStin,  Arc. 

In  Kiiil'  Edward  L's  Hook  of  Common  Prayer,  the  word 
altar  was  retained  in  the  communion  service:  but  treat 
opposition  being  raise.)  against  it.  especially  by  Bishop 
t  of  the  ambiguity  of  its  meaning  and 
or  II  might  seem  to  lend  to  the  Romish  notions  of 
the  encharist  it  was  abandoned,  and  table  substituted 
throughout.     This,  however,  did  not  satisfv  the   B  ore  vio- 

rty,  and  on  the  restoration  ofthe  reformed  worship 

at  the  accession  of  Elizabeth,  the  people  proceeded  to 
take  the  first  slop  towards  a  real  and  not  a  verbal  sub- 
stitution, by  pulling  down  the  altars  in  many  churches. 
Hereupon  the  queen  issued  an  injunction,  wherein  she 
declares  that  '-it  is  no  matter  of  great  moment  whether 
thei  e  be  altars  or  tables,  so  that  the  sacrament  be  duly  and 
reverentially  administered:"  and  directs  that  where  the 
altars  had  been  pulled  down,  tables  should  be  erected  in 
tie  same  place. 

A'LTLHATIYES.  (Lat.  altero,  I  change.)  Medicines 
which  cure  diseases  by  slow  and  imperceptible  degrees, 
without  producing  sensible  evacuations. 

M.TE'RNATE.  (Lat.  alternants,  rhcins'd  by  turns.) 
In  Botany,  pans  are  said  to  be  alternate  with  each  other 
when  one  is  placed  upon  the  stem  a  little  higher  or  a  little 
lower  than  the  other  :  the  word  is  chiefly  applied  to  leaves, 
and  is  used  in  distinction  to  opposite,  in  which  parts  arise 
the  same  plant  on  opposite  sides  of  the  stern. 

Alternate.    (Geometry.)    When  two  straight  lines  are 

intersected  by  a  third,  the  interior  angles  on  the  opposite 

sides  of  the  intersecting  line    are  said   to    be  alternate. 

Thus  A  M  N  and  M  N  D  are  alternate 

A     \m B     angles  ;  and  so  also  are  B  M  N  and 

M  N  C.     If  the  two  straight  lines  AB 
_          >  and  C  D  be  parallel,  the  alternate  an- 
3 5     g^s  are  eqUa[,     in  proportion,  the  al- 
ternate terms  are  the  first  and  third, 
and  also  the  second  and  fourth,  and  the 
terms  of  a  proportion  are  said  to  be  taken  alternately,  or  by 
alternation,   when  the  second  and  third  are  made  to  change 
places  ;  and  it  is  a  well  known  theorem,  that  a  proportion 
subsisting  among  four  quantities  of  the  same  kind  is  not 
disturbed  by  this  change.    Thus,  if  a  :  b  :  :  c  :  d,  then,  al- 
ternately, a  :  c  :  :  b  :  d. 


ALTICA. 

A'LTICA.  A  name  applied  by  Fabricius  to  a  subdivision 
of  the  Linnsean  Cnrysomelse,  cliaracterised  by  the  oblong 
body,  bifid  lip,  and  thickened  hind  legs. 

A'LTLTUDE.  (Lat.  altus,  high,  altitudo,  height.)  In 
Astronomy,  denotes  the  angle  of  elevation  of  a  celestial  ob- 
iect.  or  the  angle  of  the  visual  ray  with  the  horizon.  The 
altitude  of  a  star  is  apparent  or  true.  The  apparent  alti- 
tude is  the  angle  ascertained  immediately  from  observa- 
tion ;  the  true  "altitude  is  found  by  correcting  the  apparent 
altitude  for  refraction,  parallax,  Ac.  Altitude  is  frequently 
used  in  Elementary  Geometry  instead  of  height.  The  al- 
titude of  a  triangle  is  measured  by  a  straight  line  drawn 
from  the  vertex  perpendicular  to  the  base ;  and  the  alti- 
tude of  a  cone  by  the  straight  line  drawn  from  the  vertex 
perpendicular  to  the  plane  of  the  base. 

ALTO.  (I.at.  altus,  high.)  hi  Music,  the  counter-tenor 
part,  or  that  immediately  below-  the  treble  or  highest.  It  is 
a  word  also  used  to  denote  the  tenor  violin. 

ALTO  RELIEVO.     (See  Rilievo.) 

A'LUDEL.  Apiece  of  chemical  apparatus  used  in  the 
process  of  sublimation,  and  much  resembling  the  ancient 
alembic. 

A'LULA.  (Lat.  ala,  a  icing.)  In  Ornithology,  the  group 
of  ill-feathers,  attached  to  the  joint  of  the  carpus  ;  as  in  the 
snipe.  These  are  also  called  the  'bastard  wings'  (ala 
sj  uria). 

A'LUM.     A  salt  composed  of  alumina,  potash,  and  sul- 
phuric acid,  and  in  its  usual  form  containing  a  large  quantity 
of  water  of  crystallisation.    Its  octohedral  crystals  consist  of 
Alumina     ...        3   atoms  =    54        1076 
Potassa  1        "      =    48  9  95 

Sulphuric  acid  -        -        4        "      =  160        a374 
Water         -        -        -      24        t;      =  216        45-55 

Crystallised  alum      -        1  =478      100-00 

Alum  dissolves  in  about  five  parts  of  water  at  60°.  The 
solution  has  a  sweet  and  astringent  taste,  and  is  a  powerful 
styptic.  When  crystallised  alum  is  heated,  it  melts,  and. 
gradually  losing  water  of  crystallisation,  becomes  a  white 
spongy  mass,  called  burned  alum. 

Alum  is  largely  manufactured  for  the  uses  of  the  arts, 
especially  dyeing  and  calico  printing.  What  is  termed 
alum  ore,  is*  an  aluminous  slate,  containing  sulphuret  of 
iron ;  it  is  calcined,  exposed  to  air,  lixiviated,  and  the  solu- 
tion so  obtained  mixed  with  sulphate  of  potash,  and  crys- 
tallised. The  alum-works  near  Paisley,  and  at  Whitby,  in 
Yorkshire,  are  the  largest  in  England. 

Milk,  curdled  by  stirring  it  with  a  lump  of  alum,  fur- 
nishes alum  whey,  which  is  sometimes  taken  as  a  remedy 
for  relaxed  bowels.  Alum  curd  is  made  by  beating  the 
white  of  esrg  with  a  piece  of  alum  till  it  coagulates. 

ALU'MIXA.  Aluminous  earth;  earth  of  alum ;  argil. 
When  a  solution  of  ammonia  is  dropped  into  a  solution  of 
alum,  a  white  precipitate  falls,  which,  thoroughly  washed, 
dried,  and  heated,  is  pure  aluminous  earth.  There  are 
two  properties  of  this  earth  which  render  it  of  great  impor- 
tance in  the  arts ;  one  is,  that  it  forms  a  plastic  mixture 
with  water,  and,  though  it  is  not  the  predominant  ingredi- 
ent in,  yet  it  confers  the  valuable  property  of  plasticity 
upon,  all  natural  clays,  which  enables  them  to  be  moulded 
into  the  various  forms  of  pottery  and  earthenware ;  the 
other  is  the  remarkable  affinity  "of  alumina  for  colouring 
and  extractive  matter,  whence  its  use  in  the  arts  of  dyeing 
and  calico  printing. 

In  the  pure  and  crystalline  form,  alumina  constitutes  the 
sapphire,  one  of  the  hardest  and  most  valuable  of  the 
gems.  In  its  common  state,  aluminous  earth  is  a  soft 
white  powder,  strongly  attractive  of  moisture  ;  hence,  alu- 
minous fossils  are  often  recognised  by  adhering  to  the 
tongue,  and  many  of  them  exhale  an  earthy  smell  when 
breathed  upon,  as  we  observe  in  common  slate.  Alumina 
consists  of  52-94  aluminum,  and  47  06  oxygen;  like  the 
other  earths,  as  they  are  usually  called,  alumina,  there- 
fore, is  a  metallic  oxide.  Aluminum  is  with  difficulty  ob- 
tained, and  in  small  quantities,  by  heating  chloride  of  alu- 
minum with  potassium;  it  is  a  grey,  difficultly  fusible 
metal,  not  easily  acted  on  by  water,  and  which,  when 
heated  in  the  air,  burns  with  great  brilliancy,  and  forms 
alumina  by  the  absorption  of  oxygen. 

Alumina  has  but  a  feeble  attraction  for  acids,  and  does 
not  fully  neutralise  them  ;  and  when  it  has  been  heated 
red  hot,  or  is  in  an  indurated  state,  as  it  exists  in  the  sap- 
phire, in  corundum,  and  some  other  minerals,  it  is  abso- 
lutely insoluble. 

The  aluminous  salts  are  mostly  colourless,  soluble  in 
water,  and  .of  a  sweetish  astringent  taste.  Exclusive  of 
alum,  the  acetate  of  alumina  is  the  most  important  of  these 
salts,  being  used  as  a  base  or  mordant  by  the  dyers.  (See 
Dyeing.)  It  is  usually  prepared  by  mixing  a  solution  of 
190  parts  of  acetate  of  lead  with  one  of  487  parts  of  alum  ;  a 
white  precipitate  of  sulphate  of  lead  falls,  and  acetate  of 
alumina  remains  in  solution. 

ALU'MINITE.     Native  subsulphate  of  alumina. 

ALU 'MIX  UM.    The  metallic  base  of  alumina. 
33 


AMBARVALIA. 

A'LUMSTOXE.     A  silicious  subsulphate  of  alumina. 

ALU'RXUS.  A  genus  of  coleopterous  insects,  charac- 
terised by  having  short  filiform  antenna?  ;  palpi  four  to  six, 
very  short :  maxillae  horny  and  short. 

ALUTA'CEOUS.  (Lat.  aluta,  tanned  leather.)  A  pale 
brown  colour. 

ALVE'OLAR.  (Lat.  alveolus,  diminutive  of  alveus,  a 
canty.)    Belonging  to  the  alveoli,  or  sockets  of  the  teeth. 

ALVE'OLATE.  In  Botany.  When  the  surface"  is  co- 
vered with  numerous  deep  hollows,  as  in  the  receptacle  of 
some  Compositae. 

ALVEO'LITES.  A  genus  of  fossil  zoophytes,  allied  to 
the  corallines ;  one  species  of  which  (Alv.  suborbicularis) 
occurs  in  the  Portland  stone. 

A'LVIXE.  (Lat.  alvus,  the  belty.)  A  term  generally 
used  as  relating  to  the  intestinal  excretions. 

A'MADOU.  German  tinder;  a  fungus  found  chiefly  in 
old  oaks  and  ash  trees.  It  is  boiled  in  water,  dried,  beaten, 
soaked  in  a  solution  of  nitre,  and  again  dried  for  use. 

AM  A  'IX.  A  sea  term,  signifying  to  yield,  to  let  go. 
Thus,  to  strike  amain  is  to  lower  or  let  fall  the  topsails,  in 
token  of  surrender.  To  wave  amain  is  to  make  a  signal  to 
a  vessel  to  strike  its  topsails.  Amain  is  also  a  term  used 
in  letting  down  a  thing  into  the  hold  or  elsewhere,  or  in 
lowering  a  yard,  or  the  like,  to  denote  that  the  sailors  are 
to  let  go  that  part  of  the  rope  which  they  held  before,  and 
let  down  the  thing  easily  and  by  degrees. 

AMA'LGAM.  A  combination  of  mercury  with  other 
metals.     Medallists  apply  the  term  to  soft  alloys  generally. 

AMALTHJE'A.  In  Mythology.  The  name  of  a  goat  in 
Crete,  alleged  to  have  suckled  Jupiter  :  or  of  the  nymph 
who  tended  the  goat.  The  cormt  Ainalthaa,  or  horn  of 
the  goat  in  question,  was  the  magic  cornu  copia,  or  horn  of 
plenty. 

A'MARAXTH.  (Gr.  a,  priv.,  napaivoi,  I  wither,  and 
dvQos,  a  floicer.)  Plants  with  richly  coloured  flowers, 
whose  parts  are  of  a  thin  dry  texture,  so  that  they  are  a 
long  while  before  they  wither.  They  give  their  name  to 
the  natural  order  of  Amaranthaceee.  Amaranthes  me- 
lancholicus,  hypochondriacus,  caudatus,  Ac,  are  the  an- 
nuals known  in  gardens  by  the  names  of  Love  lies  bleeding, 
Prince's  feather.  Ac.  The  name,  in  composition  with 
other  words,  is  used  to  designate  plants  not  belonging  to 
the  same  genus,  but  to  the  same  natural  order,  Globe-ama- 
ranth is  Gomphrena  elobosa. 

AMARAXTIIA'CEjE.  The  order  which  comprehends 
the  amaranthus,  and  other  similar  dry-flowered  genera. 
Some  of  the  species  are  objects  of  ornament,  as  cocks- 
combs (Celosia  coccinea),  globes  (Gomphrena  globosa).  va- 
rious species  of  amaranthus.  trichinium,  Ac. ;  but  the  prin- 
cipal part  consists  of  tropical  kinds.  The  order  partici- 
pates in  the  harmless  qualities  of  Chenopodiacea?,  from 
which  it  is  not  very  different. 

AMARYLLIDA'CE^:.  (Amaryllis,  one  of  its  genera.) 
A  natural  order  of  beautiful  [Endogens,  with  inferior  fruit, 
six  stamens,  and  six  nearly  equal  segments  of  the  flower. 
The  greater  part  consists  of  bulbous  species  inhabiting  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  the  tropical  parts  of  both  hemis- 
pheres. Snowdrops  are  the  most  northern  form.  A  few, 
such  as  agave  and  doryanthes,  are  trees  in  stature,  al- 
though onlv  herbaceous  plants  in  duration. 

A'MATEUR.  (Fr.)  A  person  familiar  with,  and  who 
encourages  any  particular  art  or  pursuit,  without  being 
professionally  engaged  in  it,  is  said  to  be  an  amateur.  But 
the  term  is  usually  restricted  to  those  who  are  skilled  in 
and  patronize  the  fine  arts. 

AMAURO'SIS.  (Gr.  duavoos,  dark.)  A  loss  of  sight  de- 
pendent upon  defective  action  of  the  nerve  of  vision,  and 
independent  of  visible  injury.  It  is  also  called  gutta  Sere- 
na: drop  serene  of  Milton. 

AMAZO'XTAX  STOXE.  A  beautiful  green  felspar, 
found  in  rolled  masses  near  the  Amazon  river. 

A'MAZONS.  (Gr.  d,  without,  and  pa^os.  breast.)  Fe- 
male warriors.  Tribes,  either  real  or  imaginary,  belonging 
to  Africa  and  Asia,  among  which  the  custom  prevailed  fdr 
the  females  to  go  to  war ;  preparing  themselves  for  that 
purpose  by  destroying  the  right  breast,  in  order  to  use  the 
bow  with  "greater  ease.  According  to  Greek  tradition,  an 
Amazon  tribe  invaded  Africa,  and  was  repulsed  by  The- 
seus, who  afterwards  married  their  queen.  Hence,  all  fe- 
male warriors  have  been  called  Amazons ;  and  the  river 
of  that  name  owes  its  appellation  to  one  of  the  early  Span- 
ish navigators,  who  fancied  he  beheld  armed  women  on  its 
banks.  The  wars  of  the  Athenians  and  Amazons  formed 
favourite  subjects  for  Attic  art :  they  were  depicted  in  the 
Pcecile  or  painted  chamber  of  the  Parthenon.  See  Justin, 
Diod.  Siculus,  Strabo,  Ac. 

AMBARYA'LLA  (Lat.  ambire  arva,  to  go  round  the 
Jields.)  In  Roman  Mythology,  religious  fetes  to  propitiate 
Ceres:  so  called  from  the  victims  being  carried  round  the 
fields  (ter  circum  ibat  hostia  fruges,  Vira.  G.  i.  345.), 
These  sacred  rites  were  performed  by  an  order  of  priests, 
Fratres  Ambarvales,  twelve  in  number.  They  were  ce- 
lebrated in  the  end  of  May,  when  the  blessing  of  the  god- 


AMBASSADOR, 

dess  was  invoked  on  the  coming  harvest.  The  victims 
were  accompanied  by  crowds  of  country  people,  having 
their  temples  bound  with  oak  leaves,  dancing,  and  singing 
the  praises  of  Ceres,  to  whom  libations  were  made  of  ho- 
ney and  wine.     (Facciolati ;  Adam's Antiq.) 

AMBA'SSADOR,  or  EMBASSADOR.  In  Politics,  the 
name  of  the  highest  order  of  foreign  ministers.  An  am- 
bassador is  not  only  the  agent  of  the  country  which  sends 
him,  but  also  represents  personally  the  dignity  of  its  so- 
vereign. The  greater  powers  of  Europe  send  ambassa- 
dors to  each  other,  with  the  exception  of  Prussia,  which 
never  employs  ministers  of  this  class.  The  word  ambas- 
sador is  of  very  uncertain  derivation,  but  is  supposed  to  be 
derived  from  the  Italian  word  ambasciare,  to  solicit.  In 
charters  and  diplomas  of  later  date  than  the  ninth  century, 
the  names  of  those  who  had  solicited  the  grants  are  fre- 
quently signed  at  the  foot  with  the  designation  of  "ambas- 
ciatores,"  or  solicitors ;  and  it  may  hence  be  presumed 
that  the  title  was  originally  given  to  envoys  who  attended 
at  a  court  to  solicit  some  favour  for  another  party.  As  to 
the  rights  and  privileges  of  ambassadors  in  England  :  if  an 
ambassador  commit  any  art  which  is  a  crime  against  the 
law  of  all  countries,  as  treason,  felony,  &c,  he  is  punisha- 
a  private  alien.  Bui  an  ambassador  is  not  criminally 
liable  for  such  acts  as  are  only  mala  prohibits  again 
tuii' or  custom;  as,  infringements  of  the  laws  of  the  ex- 
chequer. By  7  Anne,  c.  12.,  an  ambassador  or  public  min- 
ister, and  his  domestic  servants,  bona  fid\  registered  ac- 
cording to  the  act,  are  privileged  from  arrest :  and  the  goods 
of  an  ambassador  cannot  be  taken  in  distress.  This  statute 
was  passed  in  consequence  of  the  arrest  and  ill  treatment 
of  Count  Matuschef,  the  Russian  ambassador,  As  to  the 
rights  and  duti  isadors  in  modern  intern 

usages,  see  tin  ivork  oi'M  de  Wicquefort, £'  I   . 

bussiuleur  el  sps   Function*,  '.I  lonies.   Ho,   1741       I'  I   M 

sham  on  (Law  of  Europi        '  -.  Landshut  1806); 

and  the  valuable  Manuel  Diplomatique  of  Von  Martens 
(Leipzig,  I  -.'■-').  mat  also  be  consulted:. 

I'MBER.  A  yellow  resin-like  substance,  found  occa- 
sionally in  detache  i  pi  ices  on  the  sea-coast,  but  most  ge- 
nerally dug  up  in  diluvial  sods  :  it  is  probably  an  anteduu- 
vfal  resin,  and  often  contains  leaves  and  I 

rifi.'  gravity  is  about  liiro.  It  is  hard,  and  becomes  strong- 
ly electro-negative  by  friction,  It  contains  a  trace  of  odo- 
rous volatile  oil,  a  resin  easily  soluble  in  alcohol,  a  resin 
difficultly  soluble  in  alcohol,  and  an  insoluble  resin,  which 
is  its  chief  constituent  (80  to  90  per  cenl  i  When  burned, 
■  odour.  Distilled  per  se.  it  yields  in- 
flammable gases,  water  holding  succinic  and  acetic  acids, 
and  empyreumatic  oil  in  solution  (the  spirit  of  amber  of  old 
Pharmacy),  sublimed  succinic  acid  (salt  of  amber),  and  an 
empyreumatic  oil  (oil  of  amber).  The  acid,  when  puri- 
fied, a  Mounts  to  fro  ii  3  to  5  per  cent  The  i 
coal  amounts  to  12  or  13  per  cent.,  and  when  strongly 
heated,  yields  a  little  volatile  matter  resembling  camphor. 

A  suhslanco  resembling  amber,  called  fossil  copal, 
times  occurs  with  it ;  it  is  Less  soluble  in  alcohol,  and  yields 
no  succinic  acid. 

The  largest  known  mass  of  amber  wis  found  near  the 

surface  of  the  ground  in  Lithuania,  al twelve  miles  from 

the  Baltic;  it  weighs  eighteen  pounds,  and  is  in  the  royal 
cabinet  al  Berlin. 

The  chief  use  of  amber  is  as  an  article  of  ornament,  cut 
into  beads  or  necklaces,  and  in  the  manufacture  of  var- 
nish. 

A'MBERGRIS.  (From  ambre,  and  gris,  grey  amber.) 
This  substance  has  been  found  in  the  intestines  oi  the  sper- 
maceti whale:  it  is  probably  a  product  of  disease;  perhaps 
a  kind  of  gallstone.     It  has  also  been  found  oponlhi 

of  various  tropical  i  OUntrieS,  in  masses  of  various  sizes,  of 

a  nr  ly,  speckled  appearance,  and  interspersed  thro 

its  substance  with  the  beaks  of  the  sepia  octopoda,  which 

is  the  co  m  n  ion  food  of  the  whale.  When  genuine,  amber- 
gris has  a  peculiar  odour,  not  easily  described  or  imitated, 
and  which  is  exceedingly  diffusive,  especially  in  solution, 
so  thai  a  very  minute  quantity  of  ambergris  is  perceptible 
in  perfumes,  and  is  thought  to  exalt  their  odour.  A  grain 
or  two,  when  rubbed  down  with  sugar,  and  added  to  a 
hogshead  of  claret,  is  very  perceptible  in  the  wine  and 
gives  it  a  flavour,  by  some  considered  as  an  improvement. 
The  best  ambergris  is  sottish  and  somewhat  waxy  when 
cut :  its  specific  gravity  varies  from  780  to  896 :  it  fuses  at 
140°  or  150°,and  at  a  higher  temperature  fives  out  a  white 
smoke,  which  condenses  into  a  crystalline  fatty  matter. 
Its  chief  component  (about  SO  per  cent.)  is  a  peculiar  fatty 
matter  (ambreine),  which  may  be  obtained  by  boiling  it  in 
alcohol:  as  the  solution  cools.it  deposits  crystals,  which 
may  be  purified  by  pressure  in  folds  of  blotting  paper.  Am- 
breine fuses  at  100°  ;  its  odour  is  agreeable,  and  it  rises  in 
vapour  at  '220°. 

AMBIDE'XTER.     (Lat.  ambo.  both,  and  dexter,  right 
hand.)    One  wdio  uses  both  hands  alike,  the  left  as  well  as 
the  right.     Numerous  theories  have  been  advanced  to  ex- 
plain the  preference  so  generally  given  to  the  right  over  the 
39 


AMENDMENT. 

left  hand  ;  but,  generally,  they  seem  to  be  more  specious 
than  solid. 

A'MBlTUH.  (Lat.  ambio,  I  encompass,  or  circumvent.) 
The  circumference  or  extreme  edge  of  any  thing  ;  the  en- 
compassing border  ofa  leaf. 

Ambitus.  In  Politics.  A  term  used  by  the  ancient  Ro- 
mans to  designate  the  soliciting  and  canvassing  for  offices 
and  honours.  It  was  of  two  kinds,  the  one,  ambitus popu- 
laris,  laudable ;  as,  where  a  candidate  openly  avowed  his 
pretensions,  publicly  stated  the  grounds  on  which  he  so- 
licited the  suffrages  "of  the  electors,  and  left  them  to  form 
their  opinion  upon  his  claims  without  privately  soliciting 
their  votes.  The  other,  and  more  common  kind  of  ambi- 
tus, was  either  disreputable  or  unlawful.  It  consisted  in 
using  artful  solicitations,  cajolery,  offers  of  money  and  pre- 
ferment, and  all  those  resources  for  corrupting  the  free 
choice  of  electors,  so  well  understood,  and  successfully 
practised,  in  our  own  times.  The  bribery  of  electors  was 
forbidden,  although  to  very  little  purpose," by  repeated  acts 
of  the  Roman  legislature.  (Facciolati  Lexicon,  Diction- 
ary of  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities,  Tavlor  &  Walton, 
1842.&C.  > 

A'MBI.E,  AMBLING.  (In  Horsemanship,  Terme  du 
Manage.)  A  peculiar  kind  of  a  pace  in  which  a  horse's  two 
legs  of  the  sa  i  e  side  move  at  the  same  time. 

1  d.o 'TIS  ((Jr.  «ufiA<tj<7i{,  abortion.)  The  generic 
name,  in  the  system  of  Illiger,  of  the  Marsupial  genus,  in- 
cluding the  wombat. 

AMBLYCKPIA.  (Or.  duSXvs,  dull,  and  <Lxp,  the  sight.) 
Imperfect  vision. 

SMBLYTTERTJS.  (Gr.  dft6\vi,  obtuse,  and  irrepov  a 
tin.)  The  name  ofa  fossil  genus  of  fishes,  with  obtuse  and 
rounded  pectoral  and  ventral  tins,  and  characterised  by 
having  small  and  numerous  teeth,  set  close  together  like  a 

brush,  which  shows  the  habit  of  these  fishes  to  have  been 
to   feed   On  d  eed   and  soft  animal  substances 

at  the  bottom  of  the  water. 

\  MHO.  Hie.  dji^ov,  a  boss,  or  knob.)  In  Architecture. 
The  elevated  place,  or  pulpit,  in  the  early  christian 
churches,  from  whence  it  was  usual  to  address  the  con. 
gregation,  and  on  which  certain  parts  of  tl  e  service  were. 
chanted. 

\  MIJRF.IN.  The  fatty  matter  of  ambergris ;  converti- 
ble bv  nitric  arid  Into  ambreic  acid. 

AMBRO'SIA  (Gr.  signifying,  immortal)  The  food  of 
the  gods,  as  nectar  was  their  drink,  the  use  of  which  con- 
ferred itiiinort. dii  r. 

AMBROSIAN  CHANT  In  Music.  So  called  from  St. 
Ambrose,  archbishop  of  Milan,  who  composed  it  for  the 
church  there  in  the  fourth  century  :  itis  distinguished  from 
jori  in  chant  by  a  great  monotony  and  want  of  beau- 
ty in  its  m< 

A  M  lit  H  \  I  i:  \  Syrian  or  Arabic  term,  meaning  mu- 
ds from  Syria,  who  prostituted  themselves  at 
li         6  ib.   i.  sat  '-.'■   v.  1.  and  Facciolati 

,'. 

AMBULA'CRA.     (Lat   ambulacrum,  an  alley.)     The 

narrow  longitudinal  portions  of  the  shell  of  the  sea-urchin 

{Echinus),  which  are  perforated  with  a  number  of  small 

tentacular  suckers,  and  alternate 

witii  the  broad  tuberculate  spine-bearing  portions. 

AMBULATCRES  (Lat  ambulo,  ticalA.)  The  name 
of  an  order  of  birds  in  the  system  of  Illiger,  corresponding 
nearly  with  the  Passeres  of  Linnsus. 

A'MBl  LATORY.  Formed  for  walking.  In  Ornitholo- 
gy, the  term  is  applied  to  the  feel  of  birds  where  the  toes 
are  place  I  three  before  and  one  behind. 

AMBTJ'SC  Mill.  A  military  term  derived  from  the  Ital- 
ian imboscata,  concealed  in  a  wood.  It  is  also  applied  to 
any  snare  laid  for  an  enemy. 

AMBU'STION.    (Lat. amburo,  Iburn.)    Amedicalterm 

for  a  burn  or  scald. 

A'MEN.  (Heb.  |DM,  signifying,  let  if  be,  or  rather,  let  it 
{fixed.)  It  is  understood  to  express  belief  and 
assent  at  tie'  end  ota  prayer.  It  is  sometimes  translated, 
verily,  as  when  used  at  the  beginning  ofa  discourse. 

AME'NDE  HONORABLE.  In  French  Law,  a  species 
of  infamous  punishment,  to  which  criminals  guilty  of  an  of- 
fence against  public  decency  or  morality  were  conden  ned 
under  the  ancient  system,  and  are  so  still  in  some  instances. 
Such  were,  sedition,  forgery,  sacrilege,  fraudulent  bank- 
ruptcy, &c.  The  simp'p  or  dry  amende  honorable  consist- 
ed merely  of  an  acknowledgment  by  the  criminal  of  his  of- 
fence in  open  court,  bare-headed  and  kneeling.  The 
amende  honorable  in  figuris  was  made  by  an  offender, 
kneeling  in  his  shirt,  a  torch  in  the  hand,  a  rope  round  the 
neck,  and  conducted  by  the  executioner.  It  was,  and  still 
is,  usually  conjoined  with  some  other  punishment;  some- 
times capital,  as  in  the  case  of  parricides,  &c. 

AME'NDMENT.  In  a  general  sense,  is  any  change 
made  in  any  thing  for  the  better.  In  Parliamentary  Pro- 
ceedings, it  is  an  alteration  in  the  words  of  any  bill  or  mo- 
tion, which  it  is  competent  for  any  member  to  move  when 
the  bill  or  motion  has  been  read.    {See  Parliament.) 


AMENORRHEA. 

Amendment.  In  Law.  The  correction  of  an  error  com- 
mitted in  any  process :  as  the  amendment  of  a  declaration, 
plea,  <fec.  The  deficiency  of  means  of  amendment  in 
pleading  at  common  law,  led  to  the  statutes  of  amendments 
and  jeofails,  beginning  with  that  of  14  E.  3.  All  amend- 
ments are  held  to  be  within  the  discretion  of  the  court,  and 
allowed  in  furtherance  of  justice  according  to  the  particu- 
lar circumstances  of  each  case. 

AME'NORRHCEA.  (Gr.  d,  without,  upv,  a  month,  and 
p'iio,  Ifioir.)  Morbid  irregularity  or  deficiency  of  the  men- 
strual discharge. 

AMENTA'CEOUS.  Having  amenta  ;  a  name  formerly 
applied  in  Systematic  Botany  to  such  plants  as  have  their 
flowers  arranged  in  amenta.  But  as  very  different  kinds  of 
structure  were  combined  by  this  character,  the  order 
Amentaceae  of  Jussieu  is  broken  up  in  several  others,  and 
the  term  is  but  little  used. 

AME'NTHES,  in  Eastern  Mythology.  Is  the  kingdom 
of  the  dead,  or  Tartarus  of  the  ancient  Egyptians. 

AMENTIA.     (Lat.  aniens,  deprived  of  mind.)    Idiotism. 

AME'NTUM.  (Lat.  amentum,  a  thong,  or  loop.)  A  kind 
of  inflorescence  such  as  is  found  on  willows  and  poplars  ; 
it  differs  from  a  spike  only  in  being  deciduous. 

AMERCIAMENT.  (From  the  French  merci.)  The 
pecuniary  punishment  of  an  offender  against  the  king  or 
other  lord  in  his  court,  when  by  his  offence  he  is  said  to 
stand  at  the  mercy  of  the  king  or  lord. 

AMETABO'LIANS,  AMETABOLIA.  (Gr.  d,  without, 
and  ptTa6o\ri,  change.)  A  subclass  of  insects  which  do 
not  undergo  anv  metamorphosis. 

A'METHYST.  Purple  rock  crystal.  The  finer  varie- 
ties are  in  great  request  for  cutting  into  seals  and  brooch 
stones.     Some  of  the  ancient  vases  and  cups  are    com- 

Posed  of  this  mineral,  and  it  was  an  opinion  among  the 
ersians  that  wine  drank  out  of  an  amethystine  cup  would 
not  intoxicate  :  hence  its  name,  from  the  Greek  djiedvarog. 

A'MIA.  The  name  of  a  Linnaean  genus  of  abdominal 
fishes  founded  on  a  single  species  (Amia  calva,  Linn.)  a 
native  of  the  freshwater  streams  of  Carolina,  North 
America;  and  which  is  still  its  sole  representative.  It  is 
an  example  of  the  Sauroid  fishes  of  Agassiz,  and  is  re- 
markable for  the  cellular  structure  of  its  air-bladder,  which, 
as  Cuvier  remarks,  is  similar  to  the  lung  of  a  reptile. 

AMIA'NTHUS.  (Gr.  dynavrog.)  A  term  applied  to  as- 
bestus,  in  consequence  of  the  resistance  which  it  affords 
to  the  action  of  fire. 

A'MIDES.  Compounds  containing  a  base  apparently 
composed  of  1  atom  of  nitrogen,  and  2  of  hydrogen.  The 
term  Ammonide,  from  their  resemblance  to  ammonia, 
would  perhaps  be  more  correct. 

A'MIDINE.    The  soluble  part  of  starch. 

AMID-SHIPS.  A  nautical  term,  denoting  the  middle  of 
the  ship,  either  with  respect  to  her  length  or  breadth. 

A'MMOCCE'TES.  (Gr.  dupioj,  sand,  and  koittj,  a  bed.) 
The  name  of  a  genus  of  Cyclostomous  fishes,  of  which  the 
'  pride,'  or  'stone  grig'  (Amm.  branchialis),  is  a  well-known 
exa  nple.  This  fish  buries  itself  in  the  sand  or  clay  of  the 
banks  of  rivers  ;  has  many  of  the  habits  of  a  worm  ;  pos- 
sesses a  skeleton  reduced  to  membraneous  consistence  ; 
and  ranks  among  the  lowest  of  organised  vertebral  animals. 

A'MMODYTES.  (Gr.  dftuos,  sand.)  The  name  of  a 
Linnajan  genus  of  apodal  fishes,  characterised  by  a  com- 
pressed head,  narrower  than  the  body ;  and  both  elong- 
ated. Gill-openings  large,  with  seven  branchiostegal  rays ; 
dorsal  fin  extending  nearly  the  whole  length  of  the  back  ; 
anal  fin  of  considerable  length  ;  dorsal  and  anal  fins  sepa- 
rated from  the  caudal  fin.  The  sand  eel  (Anunodytes  tobi- 
anus,  Lin.)  and  the  sand-launce  (Ammodytes  lancea,  Cuv.) 
are  examples  of  this  genus. 

A'MMON.  In  Mythology,  apparently  a  Libyan  divinity. 
adopted  by  the  Greeks,  and  by  them  identified  with  their 
Jupiter. 

"  stat  corniger  illic 

Jupiter,  lit  memorant,  sed  non  aut  fulmina  vibrans, 
Aui  similia  nostro,  sed  tortis  cornibns  Amman." 

The  name  appears  to  be  derived  from  d/</ioj,  sand ;  and 
the  situation  of  his  celebrated  temple  in  an  oasis,  sur- 
rounded by  African  deserts,  indicates  his  origin.  Alexan- 
der visited  the  temple,  and  assumed  the  title  of  son  of  this 
divinity,  in  order  to  impose  on  oriental  imagination.  It 
possessed  a  celebrated  oracle.  The  lines  of  Lucan,  partly 
quoted  above  (Pharsal.  lib.  ix.  lin.  510.  <fcc),  describing  the 
te  nple,  and  the  refusal  of  Cato  to  visit  it,  and  consult  the 
Fates  respecting  an  enterprise,  of  the  justice  of  which  he 
was  convinced,  are  among  the  finest  and  best  known  por- 
tions of  his  poem. 

AMMO'NIA.  Volatile  alcali.  This  important  compound 
is  chiefly  produced  artificially.  It  exists,  combined  with 
acids,  in  some  of  the  saline  products  of  volcanos,  and,  in 
very  small  quantities,  it  is  discoverable  in  sea-water.  It  is 
found  in  putrid  urine  and  in  the  salts  produced  by  the  de- 
composition of  animal  matter;  it  exists  occasionally  in 
very  minute  quantities  in  the  air,  especially  in  large  towns, 
where  pit-coal  is  burned;  and  the  small  stellated  crystals 
40 


AMNESTY. 

which  are  sometimes  observed  on  dirty  windows  in  Lon- 
don, consist  of  sulphate  of  ammonia. 

Ammonia  was  originally  obtained  (in  the  form  of  muri- 
ate of  ammonia)  by  burning  the  dung  of  camels,  which 
was  collected  for  the  purpose  in  Egypt,  especially  about 
the  temple  of  Jupiter  Amnion  (whence  the  term  sal  am- 
moniac). It  was  afterwards  procured  by  the  distillation  of 
putrid  urine  :  at  present,  the  demand  for  ammonia  in  its 
various  states  and  combinations  is  in  this  country  chiefly 
supplied  from  two  sources;  the  distillation  of  pit-coal,  and 
that  of  refuse  animal  substances,  such  as  bone,  clippings 
and  shavings  of  horn,  hoof,  &c. 

When  coal  is  distilled  (see  Gas),  a  large  quantity  of  am- 
moniacal  liquor,  as  it  is  called,  is  formed,  to  which  sulphu- 
ric or  muriatic  acids  are  added  so  as  to  form  a  sulphate  or 
a  muriate  of  ammonia.  When  the  animal  substances  just 
mentioned  are  distilled,  a  quantity  of  impure  ammonia 
passes  off  with  the  other  products,  which  is  also  converted 
into  sulphate  or  muriate  of  ammonia. 

Pure  ammonia  is  obtained  in  the  form  of  a  gas,  by  heat- 
ing a  mixture  of  quicklime  and  muriate  of  ammonia.  It 
is  very  pungent  and  acrid;  and  so- soluble,  that  one  mea- 
sure of  water  absorbs  nearly  500  of  gaseous  ammonia :  this 
solution  is  known  under  the  name  of  liquid  ammonia,  and 
is  used  in  medicine.  Ammonia  is  a  compound  of  nitrogen 
and  hydrogen  ;  it  consists  of 

Nitrogen       -        -        1  atom  =  14  8235 

Hydrogen    -        -        3      "     =    3  17  65 

1  17  10000 

It  is  decomposed  when  passed  through  a  red-hot  tube,  and 
every  100  volumes  of  ammonia  are  resolved  into  200  vol- 
umes of  a  mixture  of  3  volumes  of  hydrogen  and  1  of 
nitrogen. 

Carbonate  of  ammonia  is  used  in  medicine  as  a  stimu- 
lant, and  frequently  employed,  under  the  name  of  smell- 
ing salt,  as  a  restorative  in  faintness.  It  is  obtained  by  sub- 
limation from  a  mixture  of  muriate  of  ammonia  and  car- 
bonate of  lime.  Muriate  of  ammonia  has  been  above  re- 
ferred to  as  the  common  source  of  pure  ammonia.  Sul- 
phate of  ammonia  is  also  manufactured  for  the  same 
purposes. 

Ammonia  is  recognised  by  its  pungent  smell,  by  its  tran- 
sient alcaline  effect  upon  vegetable  colours,  and  by  produ- 
cing white  fumes  when  approached  by  muriatic  acid. 
Thus,  if  we  burn  a  piece  of  quill,  and  hold  a  glass  rod 
dipped  in  muriatic  acid  near  the  smoke  of  it,  dense  white 
fumes  appear,  announcing  the  presence  of  ammonia, 
formed  by  the  action  of  heat  upon  the  animal  matter. 

AMMO.M'ACOI.  A  gum  resin  used  in  medicine  :  it  is 
imported  in  drops  and  cakes  from  Africa  and  the  East 
Indies,  and  is  said  to  be  the  produce  of  the  Dorema  ammo- 
niacum.  It  is  of  a  pale  buff  colour,  and  stands  in  the  ma- 
teria medica  among  the  mildly  stimulating  but  uncertain 
expectorants.  It  is  sometimes  applied  externally  in  the 
form  of  a  plaster. 

A'MMONITE,  AMMONITES.  An  extinct  genus  of  mol- 
luscous animals  which  inhabited  convoluted  chambered 
siphoniferous  shells,  sometimes  called  Cornua  ammonis, 
and  vulgarly  snake-stones.  From  their  affinity  to  the 
nautilites,  and  the  known  organisation  of  the  animal  of  the 
pearly  nautilus,  fossil  shells  of  this  genus  are  referred  to 
the  Tetrabranchiate  order  of  Cephalopods,  and  constitute 
the  typical  aenus  of  the  second  family  of  that  order 
(A/nmonitidtf).  They  are  characterised  by  their  conspi- 
cuous whorls,  and  the  marginal-external  position  of  the 
siphon.  They  abound  in  the  strata  of  the  secondary  for- 
mation, varying  from  the  size  of  a  bean  to  the  dimensions 
of  a  coach-wheel.  Their  name  is  derived  from  their  re- 
semblance to  the  horns  upon  the  statue  of  Jupiter  Amnion. 

AMMONI'TID.E.  A  family  of  Cephalopods,  with  cham- 
bered syphoniferous  shells,  characterised  by  the  septa 
being  sinuous,  with  lobated  margins. 

AMMO'NIL'M.  A  name  given  by  Davy  to  the  hypotheti- 
cal base  (supposed  to  be  metallic)  of  ammonia.  Accord- 
ing to  the  hypothesis  of  Berzelius,  ammonium  is  a  com- 
pound of  1  volume  of  nitrogen  with  4  volumes  of  hydrogen. 

AMMO'PHILA.  (Gr.  djxfioi,  sand,  and  fi\toi,  I  lore.) 
The  name  of  a  genus  of  hymenopterous  insects,  called 
sand-wasps.  The  generic  characters  are,  proboscis  conic, 
inflected,  concealing  a  bifid,  retractile,  tubular  tongue ; 
jaws  forcipated,  3  toothed  at  the  tip ;  antennae  filiform  in 
each  sex,  with  about  14  articulations ;  eyes  oval ;  wings 
plane:  sting  pungent,  concealed  within  the  abdomen. 

AMMUNTTION.  In  Military  Language,  signifies  all  sorts 
of  warlike  stores  and  provisions,  but  more  especially  pow- 
der and  ball. 

A'MNESTY.  (Gr.  d[iV7i<TTia,oblirion.)  In  Politics,  free- 
dom from  penalty,  granted  by  a  solemn  act  to  those  guilty 
of  some  crime.  Usually,  by  an  act  of  amnesty  is  meant 
one  passed  to  comprehend  a  number  of  individuals  guilty 
of  offences  of  a  political  nature,  as  rebellion,  <Src.  Among 
remarkable  amnesties  in  modern  European  history,  may 
be  cited,  that  granted  on  the  restoration  of  Charles  IL,  from 


AMNION. 

which  were  excepted  those  concerned  in  the  death  of 
Charles  I. ;  that  granted  on  the  second  restoration  of  the 
Bourbons,  in  January,  1816,  from  which,  besides  the  regi- 
cides, several  others  were  excepted  by  name  ;  and  the  law 
ofamnesty  for  political  offences  in  France,  in  1836. 

A'MNION.  (Gr.  djivos,  a  lamb.)  The  membrane  which 
surrounds  the  foetus  in  utero  :  it  includes  a  thin  watery 
fluid,  the  liquor  amnii. 

A'MNIOS.  In  Botany,  a  thin,  semitransparent,  gelatin- 
ous substance  in  which  the  embryo  of  a  seed  is  suspended 
when  it  first  appears,  and  on  which  the  embryo  appears  to 
feed  in  its  early  stages.  Sometimes  it  is  wholly  absorbed; 
sometimes  a  portion  of  it  is  solidified  in  the  form  of  albu- 
men ;  occasionally,  as  in  the  cocoa-nut,  a  portion  is  consoli- 
dated into  albumen,  and  a  portion  remains  always  in  a  fluid 
state. 

AMNIOTIC  ACID.  An  acid  supposed  to  be  peculiar  to 
the  liquor  amnii  of  the  cow,  but  now  known  to  belong  to  the 
liquor  of  the  allantois. 

AMO'MEjE.  (See  Amomtjm.)  One  of  the  names  of  the 
plants  more  commonly  called  Zingiberaceae. 

AMO'Ml'M.  (hhamama,  Arabic;  dutouov,  of  Ihe  Greeks.) 
A  Zingiberaceous  plant,  with  aromatic  Beeds,  much  em- 
ploy.d  under  the  name  of  cardamoms,  grains  of  Paradise. 
&c.  The  species  occur  exclusively  in  the  hottest  parts  of 
India  and  Vfrica. 

VMO'KI'JKH  S  (f.'r.  ii,  without,  and  //oc^ij,  form.) 
Bodies  devoid  of  regular  forms. 

Wll'l.l ,I'DE  i:  Botany,  air.  duircAos,  a  vine.)  One 
of  the  names  of  the  natural  order  Vitaces. 

A'MPELIS.    The  name  of  a  Linnsean  genus ol  '' 
rine  birds,  characterised  by  a  straight  convex  beak,  of  which 
the  upper  mandible  is  the  longer,  and  is  Bubincurved,  and 
emarginate  on  both  sides.     The  Bohemian  chatter 
Wax-wing  (An  ,  Linn  .  is  a  well  known  spe- 

ties  of  this  genus ;  but  is  referred  in  the  recent  systems  of 
Ornithology  to  a  distinct  section  or  subgenus,  retaining  the 
name  ofBombycilla,  originall)  applied  to  it  by  Brisson. 

LMPHI'BIANS,  AMPHI'BIA  (Or.  dn<pt,  both,  and 
0io(,lij'e ;  having  the  faculty  of  existing  both  in  water  and 
on  laud. )    In  modern  Zoology  .  this  term  i-  restricted  in  its 

application    to    those    animals    which    |  is    for 

breathing  water,  and  organs  for  breathing  air,  or  gills  and 

lines  conjointl        M         cold-bl led  annuals,  from  the 

slowness  of  their  circulation  and  the  great  capacity  of  their 
lungs  in  proportion  to-the  .  ice  which  alters  the 

chemical  state  of  the  contained  an-,  can  remains  long 
under  water  without  being  ne<  e  i  ited  to  Beek  the  surface 
for  a  fresh  supply  :  such  are  all  the  Verti  brata  called  Rep- 
tiha  by  modern  zoologists,  and  which  Linnteus,  from  the 
mentioned  faculty,  included  under  the  term  Amphi- 
bia :  yel  if  these  animals  were  kept  sub  fer  than 
the  period  necessary  for  rem  wing  the  air  in  then-  lungs, 
owned  :  th<  j  ire,  not 
strictly  atnphihious.  Not  so,  liowe\  n;  with  dial  Bmall  por- 
tion ,,i  the  order  which  retain  their  branchiffi  throughout 
lite  ;    these  perennibranchiate  reptiles  Buffer  nothing  from 

a  prolonged  aquatic  existence,  hut.  on  the  contrary,  are 
most  affected  by  a  too  long  continuance  on  dry  laud  ;  a  de- 
siccation of  their  external  fringed  ndls.  according  to 
recent  experiments  on  the  Siren  lacertina,  occasioning 
th  sir  death  Those  warm-bloodi  I  mammalia  which 
their  general  form  and  locomotive  instruments  adapted  for 
aquatic  life,  as  whales,  porpoisi  s,  wain  Is, are, 

from  tic   rapidity  of  their  circulation   and   the   prodigious 

of  the  vascular  and  respiratory  membrane  of  the 
lungs,  still  more  dependent  upon  a  fresh  supply  of  air  for 

their  existence  than  the  pulmonale!  reptiles,  and  are  COn- 

n  a  true  amphibious  organ- 
n,    This  is.  iii  '  ',all  propor- 

tion of  the  animal  kingdom  ;  besides  the  perennibranchiate 
reptiles,  a  few  species  of  mollusca,  as  the  \  i  pullaria,  and 
■  cts  and  cm  stai  nples. 

AMPHI'BIOLI'TE.  (Gr.  du<j>i6ia,  and"A(0oc.  a  stone.) 
The  name  given  by  Linnteus  to  the  parts  of  reptiles,  or  am- 
phibia, which  were  changed  to  a  fossil  substance, 

AM'PHIBOLE.  air  du<pi6o\os,  equivocal.)  A  name 
which  some  mineralogists  apply  to  hornblende,  because  il 
may  be  mistaken  foraugite. 

kMPHIBO'LI.  In  Ornithology,  the  name  of  a  family  of 
Bcansorial  birds,  in  the  system  of  tlliger,  including  those  in 
which  the  external  posterior  toe  is  versatile. 

AMPHIBO'LOGY.  (Gr.  du<bt,  about,  and  Aoj  og.  dis- 
course.) In  Rhetoric,  an  equivocal  phrase  or  sentence,  of 
which  the  sense  may  bear  more  than  one  interpretation. 

AMPHI'CTYO'NIC  COUNCIL.  This  was  a  congress 
of  the  deputies  of  twelve  northern  Greek  tribes,  viz.  Thes- 
salians,  Boeotians,  Dorians,  Ionians,  Perrhaibians,  Mag- 
netes.  Locrians,  CEnianians.  Achasans  of  Phthia,  Malians, 
Phocians,  and  Dolopians,  or  Delphians.  In  the  Dorians  and 
Ionians  were  included  the  Lacedaemonians  and  Athenians, 
who  each  sent  one  deputy.  Each  of  these  tribes  had  two 
representatives  in  the  council  called  die  Hieromnemon 
(itpoavrjuoiv)  and  Pylagoras  (~v\ayooag).  The  congress 
41 


AMPHITHEATRE. 

met  twice  every  year ;  in  the  spring  at  Delphi,  and  at  Ther- 
mopylae in  the  autumn.  Its  functions  do  not  seem  to  have 
been  of  a  political  nature  further  than  to  see  that  no  n  em- 
ber of  the  union  was  destroyed  ;  but  were  chiefly  directed 
to  religious  matters,  and  more  especially  the  protection  of 
the  temple  of  the  Delphian  Apollo.  The  principal  ancient 
authorities  which  we  possess  respecting  the  objects  and 
constitution  of  the  amphictyonic  council,  are  to  be  found 
in  the  orations  of  ^chines  and  Demosthenes:  the  loth 
book  of  Diodorous  Siculus;  9th  of  Strabo  ;  and  10th  of 
Pausanias.  See  also  Ant  Van  Dale's  Dissertatiane*, 
Amst  1702;  Paper  by  Valois,  in  the  Mem.  at  HAc.des 
Inscriptions,  $c.  iii.  191.  v.  405. ;  St  Croix,  lies  Gouverne- 
mens  Federatifs  ;  Tittmann's  Prize  Essay  on  the  Amphic- 
tyo>is  ;  and  Midler's  Hist  of  the  Dorians. 

AMPHIGA'MOUS.  (Gr.  umpt.  in  the  sense  of  doubtful, 
and  ;  n/ioc.  marriage.')  The  most  imperfect  of  all  plants, 
having  no  trace  whatever  of  sexual  organs.  They  form 
one  of  the  classes  in  De  Candolle's  Natural  System.  (See 
Botany  > 

AMPHTPNEl  STS.  (Gr,  du<ptf,  on  both  sides,  andwu, 
I  breathe.)  Menem  so  calls  a  tribe  of  reptiles  con  pre- 
hending  those  which  have  both  Iuiil's  and  gills  at  the  same 
time,  as  the  true  amphibia  orperennibranchiates. 

AMPIIIPODS.     (<;r.  a/icjis.  on  Imth  sides,   and  Trove,  a 
conformed.)    The  third  order  ofcrus- 
-  in  Latreille's  arrangement,  and  the  only  one  in 
which  subcaudal  natatory  feel  co-exist  with  sessile  eves. 

AMPHI'PROSTYLE.    (Gr.  du6i,  both  or  double,  rr'po,  be- 
m  i    lu  Architecture, a  term  applied 
pie  1  a\  ing  a  portico  or  porch  in  the  rear  as  well  as 
the  fn         u  ut  coin'!  ns  at  the  sides.    This  species 

of  temple  n.  -.  |  the  nun  her  ol  four  a  lumns  in 

front  and  four  in  the  rear.  Ii  differed  from  the  temple  in 
antis,  in  having  columns  instead  of  anta?  at  the  angles  of 
the  portico. 

ATUPHISB  i:  n  \.    (Gr,  Auft,  both,  {Jaivsiv,  to  tralk.) 

A  genus  of  serpents  or  Ophidian  reptili  s,  in  which  the 

tail  and  in-ad  are  equally  obtuse,  and  the  scales  of  the  head 

i  a  to  those  on  the  back,  as  to  render  it  difficult  on 

a  cursor]  inspection,  to  distinguish  one  extren  itj  of  the 

oi  the  other.    Hence  these  reptiles  havi 
suppos'  d  to  have  the  pmverof  creeping  backwards  or  for- 
wards with  equal  facility. 

AMPHI  s<  ||.  or  \MI'1HS<'I  V\.<  (Or.  du<pi,  about, 
and  dKia.  shadow.)  A  term  use. i  by  the  ancient  geogra- 
phers, to  denote  the  inhabitants  of  those  climates  in  which 
the  shadows,  at  noon-day,  fall  in  opposite   directions  at 

different  Unas  of  the  year;  that  is  to  say.  towards  the 
north,  when  the  -mi  at  noon  Is  to  the  south  of  their  zenith, 
and  towards  the  south  when  the  sun  is  to  the  north  of  their 

zenith.  The  t.  rm  consequent^  applies  to  the  people  who 
live  betwi  pn  the  tropics. 

AMl'HITIIK'ATHi:  (Gr.  dfifl,  about,  and  Searnov,  a 
theatre.)  In  Architecture,  a  double  theatre,  or  one  of  an 
elliptical  figure ;  being,  as  its  name  imports,  two  theatres 
joined  at  the  line  of  the  proscenium;  by  which  contrivance 
all  the  spectators,  being  ranged  round  on  seats  rising  the 

one  above  iln- icier,  saw  equally  well  what  was  passing  in 

the  an  □  i.  or  space  inclosed  by  the  lowest  range  of  seals. 
The  origin  of  the  amphitheatre  was  an  ong  the  Etruscans, 
to  whom  also  are  attributed  the  first  exhibitions  of  gladiato- 
rial fights.  From  these  the  Ron  ana  acquired  the  taste  for 
such  bIkh  s,  which  'hey  communicated  to  every  nation 
subject  to  their  dot  inion.  Alhenams  says,  •■Ilomani,  ubi 
primu  n  lerunt,    huic  asciti  artifices  ab 

Etruscis  civitatibus  fuerunt,  ser  autem,  Indi  omnes  qui 
nunc  a  Romania  cell  brari  solent,  Bunt  instituU."  (L.  iv. 
cap.  17.)    The   most   extraordinary  edifice   remaining  in 

Rome  is  the  amphitl  allj  called  thn  Coliseum. 

\  land  finished  by  his  son  Ti'us.    Words 

are  inadequi  te  lo  convey  a  satisfactory  idea  of  its  stupen- 
dous and  gigantic  dimensions. 

"  Onm'i  (  ...  -  amphitheatco, 

Unum  \>ro  aniens  fama  loq  lalur  .pus," 

says  Martial.  It  covers  five  English  acres  and  a  quarter  of 
ground  ;  the  walls  are  ol  the  height  ol  166  feel  ;  it  had  seats 
for  87,000  spectators,  with  standing  room  for 22,008  others: 

and  a  vast  arena,  where  thousands  of  gladiators  and  wild 
beasts  contended  at  once — 

"Bulcher'd  to  make  a  Roman  holiday!" 

This  magnificent  ruin  has  Buffered  much  from  earth- 
quakes, and  the  destroying  influence «f  time;  and  to  the 
disgrace  of  the  Papal  government,  it  was  allowed  to  be 
used,  in  comparatively  recent  times,  as  a  convenient  quar- 
rv,  whence  the  materials  of  many  modern  edifices  have 
been  derived.^Srill,  however,  its  remains  are  such  as  to 
astonish  the  spectator : 

A  ruin — yet  what  ruin  !     From  it?  mass, 
Walls,  palaces,  half-cities,  have  been  reat'd  ; 

Tet  oft  the  enormous  skeleton  ye  |»ass, 

And  marvel  where  the  spoil  couid  have  apper.r'd. 

Latterly,  more  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  preserva- 


AMPHITRITE. 

tion  of  this  noblest  monument  of  Imperial  Rome.  The 
walls  have  been  propped  up  in  some  places,  and  sentinels 
have  been  placed  for  its  protection. — Besides  this  amphi- 
theatre there  were  three  others  in  Rome,  namely,  the  Am- 
phitheatrum  Castrense,  probably  built  by  Tiberius,  on  the 
Esquiline  ;  that  of  Statihus  Taurus  ;  and  that  built  by  Tra- 
jan, in  the  Campus  Martius.  The  other  principal  amphi- 
theatres were  those  of  Otricoli,  on  the  Garigliano,  of  brick, 
Puzzuoli,  Capua,  Verona,  the  foot  of  Monte  Casino,  Paes- 
tum,  Syracuse,  Agrigentum,  Catanea,  Argos,  Corinth,  Pola 
in  Istri'a,  Hipella  in  Spain,  Nismes,  Aries,  Frejus,  Saintes, 
and  Autun.  This  last  has  four  stones,  similar  in  that  re- 
spect to  the  Coliseum.  But  that  in  the  most  perfect  stale 
is  the  amphitheatre  of  Verona,  which,  with  the  exception 
of  the  exterior  wall,  is  still  perfect.  The  first  that  were 
erected,  were,  as  we  learn  from  Pliny,  constructed  of 
wood,  and  usually  seated  in  the  Campus  Martius,  or  in 
some  place  out  of  the  city.  Accidents  occurring  from 
their  insecurity,  they  were  abandoned  for  the  more  sub- 
stantial species  of  fabric  whereof  we  have  been  speaking. 
The  first  person  who  is  said  to  have  erected  an  amphithe- 
atre in  Rome,  was  Caius  Scribonius  Curio,  in  the  games 
he  gave  to  the  people  on  the  occasion  of  his  father's  fune- 
ral obsequies.  Determined  to  surpass,  in  the  way  of 
games,  all  that  had  hitherto  been  seen,  he  constructed  two 
theatres  of  wood,  back  to  back,  which,  after  the  theatrical 
representations  had  been  finished,  were  turned  round  witli 
the  spectators  still  in  them,  leaving  the  stages  and  scenery 
behind,  and,  by  their  opposite  junction,  forming  a  perfect 
amphitheatre,  in  which  the  people  were  gratified  with  a 
show  of  gladiators.  The  part  in  which  the  gladiators 
fought  was  called  the  arena,  from  being  usually  covered 
with  sand  to  absorb  the  blood  spilt  in  the  contlicts  for 
which  it  was  used.  The  arena  was  encompassed  by  a  wall, 
called  the  podium,  fifteen  or  sixteen  feet  in  height,  imme- 
diately round  which  sate  the  senators  and  ambassadors. 
As  in  the  theatres,  the  seats  rose  at  the  back  of  each  other; 
fourteen  rows  in  the  rear  of  the  podium  being  allotted  to 
the  equites,  and  the  remainder  for  the  public  generally, 
who  sate  on  the  bare  stone,  cushions  being  provided  for 
the  senators  and  equites.  Though  generally  open  to  the 
sky,  there  were  contrivances  for  covering  the  whole  space 
with  a  sort  of  awning.  The  avenues  by  which  the  public 
entered  were  many  in  number,  and  bore  the  name  of 
votnitoria.  See  the  work  of  Maffei,  Degli  Amjiteatri ;  and 
the  section  on  Amphitheatres  in  his  learned  and  excellent 
work,  Verona  Illustrata.  The  modern  history  of  the  Coli- 
seum is  given  at  considerable  length  in  Hobhouse's  Illus- 
trations to  Childe  Harold. 

AMPHITRI'TE.  The  name  of  a  genus  of  cephalo- 
branchiate  or  tubicular  Annelides,  characterised  by  golden- 
coloured  short  bristles,  arranged  like  a  crown,  in  one  or 
two  rows,  on  the  anterior  part  of  the  head.  One  species 
inhabits  the  south  coast  of  England,  and  forms  for  its  habi- 
tation a  very  delicate,  straight,  conical  tube  of  grains  of 
sand,  agglutinated  together  by  the  mucus  exuded  from  the 
skin  :  this  is  the  Amphitrite  auricoma. 

AMPHI'TROPAL.  (Gr.  du(j>i,  round,  and  rpswo),  I  turn.) 
In  Botany.  This  is  said  of  an  embryo  which  is  turned 
round  albumen,  or  curved  upon  itself  in  such  a  manner 
that  both  its  ends  are  presented  to  the  same  point. 

AMPHIU'ME,  AMPHIU'MA.  A  genus  of  true  amphibi- 
ous reptiles,  with  a  persistent  branchial  orifice  on  each 
side  of  the  neck  ;  palatal  teeth  in  two  longitudinal  rows;  a 
lengthened  body,  and  fourrudimental  extremities,  each  di- 
vided either  into  three  ortwo  toes  according  to  the  species. 

AM'PIIORA.  (Gr.  dpmopeoi,  two-handled.')  In  Sculp- 
ture and  ornamental  Architecture,  a  vase  or  measure  hav- 
ing two  handles,  used  as  a  measure  for  liquids  by  the 
Greeks  and  Romans:  they  are  frequently  applied  as  orna- 
ments on  sarcophagi,  <fcc. 

Amphora.  A  kind  of  earthenware  vase  with  two  han- 
dles, used  by  the  Romans  to  hold  wine  and  other  liquids. 
Also  a  liquid  measure,  containing  probably  about  nine  gal- 
lons ;  but  its  exact  size  is  not  satisfactorily  made  out. 

AMPLE 'Xir  YUL.  (Lat.  amplecto,  Iembrace,  aud  cau- 
lis,  a  stem.)  A  leaf  or  bract  whose  base  projects  on  each 
side,  so  as  to  clasp  the  stem  with  its  lobes. 

AMPLIFICATION.  In  Rhetoric,  the  lengthening  a  dis- 
course or  a  passage  by  the  enumeration  of  minute  circum- 
stances, the  employment  of  epithets,  particularity  of  de- 
scription, &c,  with  a  view  to  produce  a  deeper  impression. 
Exaggeration  is  properly  a  species  of  amplification,  in 
which  circumstances  and  facts  are  not  merely  dwelt  upon, 
but  represented  beyond  their  true  dimensions. 

AM'PLITUDE.  In  Astronomy,  denotes  the  angular  dis- 
tance of  a  celestial  body,  at  the  time  it  rises  or  sets,  from 
the  east  or  west  points  of  the  horizon.  The  amplitude  of  a 
fixed  star  remains  the  same  all  the  year  round  ;  that  of  the 
sun  or  moon  is  constantly  changing.  At  a  given  latitude, 
it  depends  on  the  declination  of  the  object.  Amplitude  is 
sometimes  used  to  denote  the  horizontal  distance  to  which 
a  projectile  is  expelled  from  a  gun,  or  what  is  more  fre- 
quently termed  the  range  of  the  gun. 
42 


ANABAS. 

A'MULET.  A  substance  worn  about  the  person,  and 
supposed  to  have  the  effect  of  protecting  the  wearer 
against  some  real  or  imaginary  evils.  Those  of  the  Per- 
sians and  Egyptians  are  said  to  have  been  small  cylinders 
ornamented  with  figures  and  hieroglyphics.  The  Greeks 
and  Romans  employed  for  the  same  purpose  a  great  va- 
riety of  gems  and  small  figures  of  deities,  heroes,  or  ani- 
mals, the  bulla,  and  various  other  articles.  Some  of  these 
were  hung  around  the  necks  of  children,  to  defend  them 
from  the  evil  eye.  In  more  modern  times,  scraps  of  paper 
or  parchment  inscribed  with  verses  of  the  Bible,  or  with 
magical  characters  and  jargon,  have  often  been  used  for 
the  same  purposes.  The  celebrated  Arabian  talismanic 
medals  are  called  by  the  Arabs  Ain,  from  the  first  letter  of 
the  inscription  always  beginning  with  that  character. 

AMYGDA'LEiE.  (Gr.  d/xvyda'Xoi',  an  almond.)  A  di- 
vision of  Rosaceous  plants,  con  prehending  the  peach,  the 
plum,  the  apricot,  and  similar  objects.  The  species  have 
all  a  lleshy  or  succulent  fruit,  gum  in  their  bark,  and  hy- 
drocyanic acid  in  their  leaves.  They  occur  principally  in 
cold  and  temperate  latitudes. 

AMY'GDALOl'D.  (Gr.  duvy&aXov,  an  almond,  and 
d6o$,  a  form.)  Almond-shaped.  The  term  is  applied  to 
certain  rocks  in  which  other  minerals  are  occasionally  im- 
bedded like  almonds  in  a  cake. 

AMYRI'DA'CEiE.  Balsamic  exogenous  plants,  consist- 
ing of  shrubs  or  trees,  found  almost  exclusively  in  the  Tro- 
pics. Bdellium,  balsam  of  copaiva,  gum  elemi,  and  balsam 
of  Tolu,  are  all  produced  by  species  of  this  order,  the  type 
of  which  is  the  genus  amyris  (myrrha,  myrrh.) 

ANA.  A  termination  of  the  neuter  plural  form  in  Latin, 
used  in  English  and  French  to  denote  anecdotes  of  emi- 
nent persons,  or  selections  from  their  works.  The  first  of 
the  French  collections  termed  "Ana,"  and  from  which 
that  denomination  originated,  is  the  Valesiana  ;  containing 
detached  observations  on  passages  of  classical  antiquity  by 
the  celebrated  scholar  Valois,  orValesius:  it  appeared  at 
Paris  in  1695.  The  Menagiana  (Paris,  1715)  is  a  more 
amusing  work,  consisting  of  anecdotes,  criticisms,  and 
miscellaneous  observations  on  all  possible  subjects,  attri- 
buted to  the  academician  Menage.  The  popularity  of  this 
work  produced  a  multitude  oi'other  "Ana:"  among  which 
may  be  mentioned  the  Huetiana,  1723 ;  the  Scaligerana, 
Thuana,  Poggiana,  and  a  variety  of  similar  books,  consist 
ing  of  extracts  from  the  works  of  distinguished  writers,  or 
of  thoughts  or  sayings  attributed  to  them. 

Ana,  or  AA  (contracted  from  ana).  In  Medical  pre- 
scriptions, implies  "of  each." 

ANABA'PTISTS.  Properly,  all  sects  are  so  called,  that 
insist  upon  the  repetition  of  baptism' upon  admission  into 
their  communion,  from  a  notion  of  the  invalidity  of  the  re- 
ligious eeremonies  of  other  denominations.  There  were 
several  such  in  the  early  period  of  the  church,  as  the  Ca- 
taphrygians  and  Novatians  :  but  they  are  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  sects  which  arose  in  the  15th  and  the  beginning  of 
the  16th  centuries,  under  the  papal  dominion,  especially  in 
Germany  ;  and  adopted,  in  their  ignorance  and  fanaticism, 
preposterous  notions  of  the  qualifications  requisite  for  ad- 
mission into  the  visible  church.  Their  idea  of  primitive 
society  consisted  in  the  rejection  of  all  the  customs  and 
decencies  of  life  ;  in  the  community  of  goods  and  of  wo- 
men ;  in  uncompromising  hostility  to  all  n  odes  of  artificial 
life,  and  to  government  generally,  as  the  foundation  and 
sanction  of  social  distinctions.  They  had,  of  course,  no  in- 
dulgence for  the  ordinances  of  any  church  but  their  own, 
and  required  baptism  for  themselves  as  the  essential  pre- 
liminary for  admission  within  their  pale.  Early  in  the 
progress  of  the  Reformation,  finding  their  numbers  daily 
increasing  under  the  licentiousness  of  opinion  which  the 
unrestricted  abuse  of  private  judgment  produced  among  a 
rude  and  uneducated  people,  they  united  in  a  hostile  league 
against  all  existing  institutions,  and  declared  open  war 
against  the  government?  of  Lower  Germany.  After  com- 
mitting the  greatest  atrocities,  and  causing  an  universal 
panic  throughout  Europe,  their  progress  was  arrested  by  a 
complete  defeat  in  Saxony,  in  which  their  leader,  Muncer, 
perished.  The  remnant,  however,  escaping,  established 
their  opinions  with  more  or  less  moderation  of  tone  in  Hol- 
land and  elsewhere.  Some  of  the  party  seized,  soon  after, 
upon  the  town  of  Munster,  overthrew  the  magistracy,  and 
established  society  upon  their  own  principles:  but  eventu- 
ally were  put  down  with  great  slaughter.  (See,  as  to  the 
Munster  Anabaptists,  Mosheim's  Ecclesiastical  History, 
sect.  ii.  part  ii.  c.  3,  where  reference  is  made  to  the  best 
works  on  the  subject.)  It  should  be  observed,  that  the 
anabaptists  were  not  dependent  upon  religious  views  only 
for  their  support,  but  that  the  war  soon  assumed  the  cha- 
racter of  a  struggle  between  the  lower  and  upper  classes; 
and  the  enormities  committed  by  the  insurgents  must  be 
attributed  as  much  to  revenge  for  oppression  as  to  religi- 
ous fanaticism.     (See  Baptists.) 

A'NABAS.  A  genus  of  Acanthopterygious  fishes,  in 
which  the  surface  of  the  pharynx  is  broken  into  numerous 
little  branched  appendages  and  cells,  capable  of  retaining 


ANABLEPS. 

water,  and  of  gradually  dropping  it  into  the  branchial  eavi- 
tv,  so  as  to  moisten  the  gills:  whereby  these  fishes  have 
the  curious  faculty  of  voluntarily  quitting  the  water, 
creeping  about  on  land,  and  even,  it  is  said,  of  climbing 
trees.  The  only  known  species  (Anabas  testudineus)  is 
the  Perca  scaiidens,  or  climbing  perch,  of  the  older 
naturalists. 

A'NABLEPS.  (Gr.  dvafTKriro),  Iraise  the  eyes.)  Aname 
applied  to  a  genus  of  malaeopterygian  viviparous  fishes. 
characterised  by  a  remarkable  projection  of  the  eyes  from 
the  sides  of  the  head,  and  a  si  ill  more  singular  structure  of 
the  cornea  and  iris,  from  which  there  result  two  pupils. 
and  the  eyes  appear  to  be  double  on  each  side,  although  they 
have  but  one  crystalline  lens,  one  vitreous  humour,  and  one 
retina. 

ANACLA'STICS.  (Gr.  dva,  up,  and  x\ao}.  F  break.) 
Tliat  part  of  Optics  in  which  the  refraction  of  light  is  con- 
sidered, commonly  called  Dioptrics.  The  term  was  ap- 
plied  by  Desmairau  to  the  apparent  curves  formed  by  the 
bottom  of  a  vessel  when  looked  at  through  a  bodv  of  water. 

anai  \  KM  \ '(  I.  E  A  natural  order  of  exogens, 
founded  upon  the  Anacari  tale,  or  cashew  nut. 

ists  of  tropical  trees,  often  abounding  in  a  fluid  resin 
of  extreme  acridity,  but  forming  a  valuable  varnish  in  some 
cases.  Marking  nuts,  the  fruit  of  Semicarpas  anacardium, 
black  Burmi'ii  varnish  from  Melanorhcea  usitati 
mastich,  Bcio  turpentine,  pistacia  nuts,  sumach,  are  all  pro- 
du-i-'i  by  various  species  of  this  extensive  natural  order. 

AN  WIHiKITE.     See  Anchorite. 

ANA'CHRONISM.      (Gr.    dva,  backward,  and   \oovos, 
time.)    An  inversion  or  disturbance  in  the  order  of  time : 
■  re,  in  Shakspeare's  King  John,  cannon  are  intro- 
duced, which  were  not  in  reality  employed  until  a  hundred 
years  afterwards 

'  V'NACOLU'THON.  (Gr.  dvaico'XovOov,  not  following .) 
A  Grammatical  term,  denoting  the  want  of  sequence  in  ;i 
sentence,  one  of  whose  members  corresponds  not  with  the 
remainder.  This  figure  recurs  more  frequently  in  the 
Greek  than  in  any  other  language. 

\\  \  i  i:i;o'NTIC  In  Poetry.a  speciesof  ode  devoted 
chielly  to  the  praises  of  love  ami  wine; — 

"  Quid  nisi  cnm  multo  Tenerem  eonfundere  vino, 
Prfficiplt  lyrici  Tela  musa  Senis  r 

The  name  is  derived  from  Anacreon  ofTeos,  who  flour- 
ished  in  the  sixth  century  b.  c.  The  genuineness  of  tin- 
Odes  which  pass  under  Irs  name,  bas, however,  been  ques- 
tioned  by  soi critics;  but  Bomeof  them  are,  at  all  events, 

very  ancient  ;  and  they  bave  been  universally  admired  for 
their  simplicity  and  sprightliness  ; — 

*'  All  thy  verse  is  softer  f.ir 
Than  the  downy  feathers  are, 
■vtngs,  or  of  my  arrows. 
Of  my  mother's  doves  and  sparrows  ; 
Graceful,  cleanly,  smooth,  and  round, 
All  with  Venus'  girdle  bound.' ' 

The  poems  of  Anacreon  have  been  rendered  familiar  to 
the  English  reader  by  the  translations  of  Cowley  and 
Moore.  The  best  editions  of  the  original  are  those  of  l-'is- 
cher  and  Brunck. 

WI.stmi    SIA.    (Gr.d,  without. nnddoOavouat.  : 
Diminution  or  loss  of  the  sense  of  touch. 

ANAGLY'PHIC.  (Gr.  dva,  upon,  and  yXv<f>a>,  I  aire.) 
In  antique  Sculpture,  chased  or  embossed  work  on  metal, 
or  any  thing  worked  in  relief  When  raised  on  stone,  the 
production  is  a  cameo.  When  sunk  or  indented,  it  isadia- 
glvphic  or  an  intaglio. 

ANAGNO'STA.  (Gr.  dvayivwaieo),  Tread.)  A  domes- 
tic servant  employed  by  wealthy  Romans  to  read  to  them 
at  their  meals  and  on  oilier  occasions.  The  ancient  monks 
and  clergy  preserved  the  same  custom,  and  name. 

A'NAGRAM.  (fir  dva,back,a.n&ypa<po>,Iwrite.)  The 
most  proper,  and  most  difficult,  species  of  anagram  is  that 
which  is  formed  by  the  reading  of  die  letters  of  a  word  or 
words  backwards  :  as  "  evil,"  "  live." 

11  Live, vile,  aod  evil,  bave  the  self-same  letters  ; 

He  lives  but  V  ile,  Whom  evil  holdfl  In  tellers.'' 

A  less  perfect  anagram  is  that  which  is  made  by  trans- 
position of  letters  ad  libitum  :  and  an  anagram  in  which  the 
transposition  is  helped  out  by  the  admission  of  letters  not 
in  the  origin::!  word,  or  the  rejection  of  some  of  those  which 
it  contains,  is  termed  impure.  The  manufacture  of  ana- 
grams, particularly  out  of  proper  names,  formed  a  favour- 
ite exercise  of  ingenuity  in  the  16th  and  17th  centuries ; 
when  a  common  mode  of  flattery  was  by  inventing  some 
complimentary  transposition  of  the  letters  of  the  name  of 

the  person  addressed.     Dm  n fthe  anagrams  of  that 

period  exceed,  in  felicity,  Dr.  Burney's  on  Lord  Nelson  : 
'•Horatio  Nelson/'  "Honor  estaNilo."  Of  all  the  extrava- 
gances occasioned  by  the  anagrammatic  fever,  when  at  its 
height,  none  probably  equals  what  is  recorded  of  an  eccen- 
tric Frenchman  in  the  17;h  century,  Andre*  Pujom.  He 
read  in  his  own  name  the  anagram  "  pendu  a  Riom"  (the 
seat  of  criminal  justice  in  the  province  of  Auvergne),  felt 
43 


ANALOGY. 

impelled  to  fulfil  his  destiny,  committed  a  capital  offence 
in  Auvergne.  and  was  actually  hung  in  the  place  to  which 
the  omen  pointed. 

ANAL.  In  Ichthyology,  the  fin  which  is  placed  between 
the  vent  and  tail,  and  expands  perpendicularly. 

ANAL  GLANDS.  Comp.  Anat.  Organs  for  secreting 
substances,  sometimes  attractive,  but  generally  repulsive  in 
their  properties,  and  applied  to  purposes  of  defence  ;  they 
present  every  grade  of  the  glandular  structure,  from  the 
simple  cfecum,  or  tube,  to  the  conglomerate  mass  ;  devel- 
oped from,  and  consequently  always  opening  into,  I  he  ter- 
mination of  the  intestine,  near  the  anus.  In  insects,  the 
sweel  fluid  eject.-, 1  by  the  aphides,  and  of  which  the  ants 
are  fond,  is,  at  least  in  some  species,  the  product  of  secern- 
ing tubules  opening  near  the  anus.  Odorous  substances, — 
sometimes  fragrant,  sometimes  fetid,— are  in  different  spe- 
cies of  insects  respectively  emitted  from  the  same  part; 
and  the  singular  defensive  acrid  vapours  discharged  explo- 
sivelv  by  the  insects  called  "bon  bardiers,"  are  the  pro- 
ducts of  anal  glands.  In  the  mollusks,  the  most  remarka- 
ble example  of  the  anal  glands  is  presented  by  the  higher 
organised  cephalopoda,  where  they  are  represented  gene- 
rally hv  a  single,  sometimes  by  a  bilohed  or  trilobed,  cyst, 
With  pari   of  its  paiietes  spongy  and  glandular,  and  which 

-  the  inky  fluid  which  these  animals  eject  to  i  lacken 
the  water  around  them  for  the  i  urpose  of  concealment  in 
time  of  danger.  Among  fishes,  an  anal  bag  opens  by  a  sin- 
gle narrow  duct,  as  in  cephalopoda,  into  the  tern  ination  of 

urn.  in  rays  and  sharks:  but  it  no  longer  exercises 

the  funel ofa  Beeerner  of  colouring  matter.    In  reptiles, 

the  anal  bags  are  either  single,  double,  or  triple:  and  in 
many  species,  as  in  frogs  and  tortoises,  are  developed  to  a 
great  size,  and  serve  for  aquatic  respiration.  In  crocodiles 
they  are  two  in  number,  and  emit  into  the  cloaca  a  n  uco- 
casi  ous  si  cretion,  without  any  strong  odour.  In  birds,  the 
anal  follicles  have  a  similar  function,  bul  the]  art 

gated  into  B  single  cavity,  which  is  called  the -bursa  l'abri- 

cii."    hi  quadrupeds,  the  anal  follicles  are  generally  col- 
lected into  two  Bacciform  groups,  each  having  an  opening 
be  verge  of  the  anus.    The  insupportably  disgusting 

Of  the  secretion  Of  these  glands   has  n  ' 

of  the  viverrine  quadrupeds,  as  the  skunk,  Ac., proverbial ; 

in  others,  tl lour  is  not  stronger  than  serves  to  attract 

the  individuals  of  the  same  species  to  one  another,  which 
is  the  common  function  of  the  anal  glands  in  this  class  of 
animate.  ,  , 

\\  \l.  VALVES.  A  mechanical  structure  fordefendffig 
the  terminal  orifice  of  the  Intestii  oi  the  cepha- 

lopods, which  swim  forward--,  from  the  retrograde  entrance 
of  foreign  or  noxious  substances.  This  mechanism  is  re- 
quired from  the  position  and  direction  of  the  anal  opening, 
which  i<  turned  forwards  towards  the  base  of  the  funnel  or 
respiratory  channel. 

A\  \  I.UME.  A  variety  of  zeolite,  which  by  Inchon 
weakly  electric  :  from  dvaXxis,  weak. 

W\i  i    i  i  \     a  servant  In  great  Roman  houses,  whose 

duty  it  was  to  collect  the  scraps  after  a  meal  :  whence  he 

derived  in-  ii from  the  Greek  dvaXeyw,  1  j 

a\\m;MM\  (Gr.  &va\au6av<a,Itakeup.)  In  Geom- 
etry.    An  orthographic  projection  of  the  sphere  on  the 

plane  of  the  meridian.  In  this  projection  the  eye  is  sup- 
posed to  be  placed  at  an  infinite  distance.  Every  great  cir- 
cle whose  plane  is  pertiendic  ularto  the  plane  of  projection, 
—the  horizon,  for  example,— is  represented  by  the  chord 
which  forms  its  diameter.  A  small  circle  parallel  to  the 
plane  of  projection,  is  represented  by  a  circle.  Every  cir- 
cle, great  or  small,  of  which  the  plane  when  produced  does 
not  pass  through  the  eye,  or  is  nol  perpendicular  to  the 
plane  of  projection,  will  be  seen  obliquely  and  trader  the 
form  of  an  ellipse.  Analemma  also  denotes  an  instrument 
of  brass  or  wood  on  which  the  projection  is  made,  (the 
of  projection  being  the  solstitial  eolure,)  with  a 
Orizon  attached  to  it.  by  means  of  which  son  e  of  the 
common  astronomical  problems  may  be  solved,  though  not 
very  exactly.  Ptolemy  wrote  a  treatise  on  the  Analemma, 
Of  which  there  is  a  Latin  translation  from  an  Arabic  ver- 
sion, with  a  commentary  by  Commanding  According  to 
Delambre,  it  contains  onlv  some  complicated  rules  for 
computing  the  true  values  of  the  arcs  of  the  sphere  from  the 
straight  lines  bv  which  they  are  represented  on  the  ana- 
lemma. Since  "the  invention  of  trigonometry,  contrivances 
of  ibis  sort  have  become  useless. 

A'NALE'PSY.  (Gr.  dva\oaSavay.)  A  species  of  epi- 
leptic attack  of  sudden  and  frequent  recurrence. 

\N  VLE'PTK'.    A  restorative  medicine. 

A'NALOGUE.  A  bodv  that  resembles  another.  A  fos- 
sil shell  of  the  same  species  as  a  recent  one,  is  its  ana- 
logue. 

\N  \T.OGY.  (Gr.  dva\oyo£.  according  to  rule  or  propor- 
tion )  lu  Geometrv,  signifies  the  same  thing  as  proportion, 
or  the  equably  or  s'imilitude  of  ratios.  (.See  Proportion, 
and  Ratio.)  .  ,    ,  , 

\\  \i  ogy.  In  modern  Zoology,  this  term  is  restricted  to 
the  relation  which  animals  bear  to  one  another  in  the 


ANALYSIS. 

Similarity  of  a  smaller  proportion  of  their  oreanisation : 
thus,  the  Ascalaphus  italicus.  in  the  length  and  knobbed  ex- 
tremities of  its  antenna?,  the  colouring  of  its  wings,  and  its 
general  aspect,  exhibits  a  striking  resemblance  to  a  butter- 
fly ;  but  in  all  the  essential  parts  of  its  organisation  it  ad- 
heres to  the  neuropterous  type  of  structure  ;  its  relation  to 
the  Lepidoptera  is  therefore  said  to  be  one  of  analogy, 
while  it  is  connected  to  the  ant-lions  by  the  order  of  affini- 
ty. As  it  has  been  found  in  some  instances,  that  two  se- 
ries of  animals,  arranged  according  to  the  greater  amount 
of  resemblances,  or  the  relation  of  affinity,  are  connected 
to  another  by  analogical  resemblances  at  given  points  of 
the  series,  the  relation  of  analogy  has  been  regarded  as  dif- 
fering from  that  of  affinity  not  only  in  degree,  but  in  kind. 
If  a  zoologist,  for  example,  were  led,  by  a  too  superficial 
glance  at  the  external  resemblances  of  two  animals,  to 
place  them  in  the  same  series  contiguous  to  one  another, 
and  it  were  discovered  that  the  resemblance  was  but  skin- 
deep,  or  limited  to  a  temporary  state  of  being,  as  a  stage  of 
metamorphosis,  but.  contradicted  by  a  dissimilarity  of  a 
greater  proportion  of  the  internal  organisation,  then  it 
would  be  said  that  he  had  mistaken  a  relation  of  analogy 
for  one  of  affinity  ;  a  phrase  which  the  reader,  however, 
will  readily  perceive,  merely  expresses  the  fact,  that  a 
false  judgment  had  been  formed,  from  not  taking  into 
consideration  the  whole  of  the  points  of  comparison  ne- 
cessary for  determining  the  mutual  relation  of  animals  to 
each  other. 

Analogy.  In  its  Rhetorical  sense,  signifies  a  similarity 
of  two  things  in  their  relation  to  a  third,  though  there  may 
be  the  greatest  difference  in  their  structure,  form,  colour, 
&.c.  :  tli us,  a  hat  is  analogous  to  a  turban,  and  both  are 
analogous  to  a  bonnet,  having  a  similar  relation  to  the  head 
of  the  wearer.  In  this  sense,  a  porpoise  is  analogous  not 
only  to  a  fish,  but  to  every  other  animal  which  habitually 
moves  and  seeks  its  food  in  the  water.  It  often  happens, 
however,  in  Zoology,  that  a  similarity  of  relationship  to  a 
medium  of  locomotion,  a  kind  of  food,  &c.,  is  accompanied 
with  a  certain  amount  of  corporeal  and  organic  resem-  I 
blauce;  and  this  is  necessary  to  constitute  an  analogy  in 
the  zoological  sense,  though  by  no  means  in  the  strictly 
logical  application  of  the  word. 

Akal03y.  In  ordinary  Language,  denotes  a  relation  or  I 
similarity  between  different  things  in  certain  respects.  ! 
The  conclusions  to  which  we  are  led  concerning  one  thing, 
by  reasoning  from  our  experience  concerning  another  si- 
7'ilar  thing,  form  what  i*  termed  analogical  knowledge.  ' 
The  word  analosy  is  generally  employed  to  designate  an  j 
imperfect  degree  of  similarity.  Thus,  a  physician,  argu-  \ 
ing  from  the  effects  which  he  had  seen  produced  by  a  drug  i 
on  one  man,  to  its  probable  effects  on  another  man,  would  ! 
be  said  to  reason  from  experience  :  but  reasoning  from  the  ■ 
effects  produced  on  an  inferior  animal,  to  the  probable  j 
effects  on  man,  would  be,  more  properly,  reasoning  by  : 
analogy. — In  Rhetoric,  the  word  analogy  is  employed  in  "a  i 
somewhat  stricter  sense  ;  it  designates,"not  the  specific  re-  ', 
semblance  between  two  objects,  but  a  resemblance  be- 
tween the  relations  in  which  they  stand  to  other  objects.  I 
Thus,  to  term  youth  "  the  dawn  of  life,"  is  said  to  be  a  me-  ( 
taphor  by  analogy  ;  not  because  of  any  actual  resemblance  | 
between  youth  and  morning,  but  because  the  one  is  to  life,  j 
what  the  oiher  is  to  the  day. — In  Mathematics,  analogy  | 
signifies  the  similitude  of  certain  proportions.— In  Gram-  | 
mar,  it  means  a  conformity  in  the  principles  of  organisa-  i 
tion  of  different  words  or  collections  of  words. 

ANA'LYSIS.  (Gr.  dva\vu,  Idissolve.)  A  Greek  word  ! 
which  signifies  the  resolution  of  a  thing  into  its  component 
parts. — In  Logic,  analysis  is  used  in  opposition  to  synthesis, 
as  a  method  of  arriving  at  adequate  definitions.  In  the 
synthetical  method,  we  begin  by  assuming  some  quality 
which  the  subject  is  known  to  possess.  Finding  this  to  be 
common  to  other  subjects  than  the  one  we  wish  to  define, 
we  add  on  some  further  property  and  so  on,  until  we  have 
adequately  distinguished  it  from  all  other  things.  Thus, 
man  is  an  animal,  man  is  a  hot-blooded  animal,  man  is  a 
hot-blooded  viviparous  animal,  <fec.  <tc,  may  be  taken 
as  a  specimen  of  a  synthetical  process.  In  analysis  we 
should  reverse  the  method ;  assuming  the  most  distin- 
guishing characteristic,  and  descending,  through  succes- 
sive gradations,  to  that  which  is  least  so.  Correspondently 
with  this  distinction,  an  analytical  proposition  is  one  in 
which  the  subject  is  implied  in  the  predicate ;  e.  g.  "  mat-  I 
ter  is  extended."  A  synthetical  proposition,  on  the  con- 
trary, is  that  in  which  the  terms  have  no  necessary  con- 
nection :  e.  g.  "John  is  tall:"  "the  world  is  round."  As 
applied  to  mental  phenomena,  analysis  is  the  referring 
them  to  the  acts  or  faculties  of  the  mind  which  they  ne- 
cessarily imply,  either  as  contemporaneously  contribut- 
ing to  tlieir  production,  or  as  rendering  their  production 
possible  by  their  past  operation. 

The  distinction  frequently  made  between  analytic  and 
synthetic  reasoning,  rests  on  a  somewhat  vague  use  of  lan- 
guage.    Strictly  speaking,  all  reasoning  can  be  but  of  one 
kind.    A  process  of  ratiocination  admits,  however,  of  being 
44 


ANALYSIS. 

reversed :  i.  e.  we  may  make  certain  assumptions,  and 
from  them  form  certain  legitimate  deductions:  and  we 
may  then  proceed  to  take  the  truths  thus  deduced  for 
granted,  and  by  a  counter-process  arrive,  as  inferences,  at 
what,  in  the  former  case,  were  the  grounds  from  which  wc 
started.  Here  it  is  evident  that  the  distinction  lies  not  in 
the  reasoning,  but  in  the  subject-matter  concerning  which 
we  reason. 

Analysis.  In  Chemistry,  this  term  is  applied  to  the  re- 
solution of  compound  bodies  into  their  elements.  It  is 
either  qualitative  or  quantitative.  Qualitative  analysis  con- 
sists in  the  determination  of  the  component  parts,  merely 
as  respects  their  nature,  and  without  reference  to  their  re- 
lative proportions:  it  is  an  imperfect,  and  often  a  very  easy 
operation,  as  compared  with  quantitative  analysis,  by  which 
we  determine  not  merely  the  components  of  a  compound, 
but  their  relative  proportions:  to  effect  this,  much  scien- 
tific skill  and  practical  dexterity  are  required,  more  espe- 
cially in  the  identification  of  new  substances.  The  theory 
of  definite  proportionals,  or  the  Atomic  Theory,  as  it  is 
usually  called,  has  materially  facilitated  many  analytical 
processes,  and  is  especially  valuable  in  furnishing  an 
unerring  test  or  criterion  of  the  general  accuracy  of  the 
results. 

hi  reference  to  chemical  analysis  generally,  but  more 
especially  as  regards  organic  products,  we  often  employ 
the  terms  proximate  and  ultimate  analysis :  the  former 
referring  to  the  immediate  combinations  which  form  the 
subject  of  experiment ;  the  latter,  to  their  final  resolutions 
into  elementary  principles.  Thus,  in  regard  to  sulphate  of 
lime,  it  is  resolved  by  proximate  analysis  into  sulphuric 
acid  and  lime,  and  these  are  called  its  proximate  elements ; 
but  sulphuric  acid  is  itself  a  compound  of  oxygen  and  sul- 
phur; and  lime,  of  oxygen  and  calcium;  oxygen,  sulphur, 
and  calcium,  therefore,  are  the  results  of  the  ultimate 
analysis  of  sulphate  of  lime  ;  and  there  are  many  theoreti- 
cal points  in  chemistry  dependent  upon  the  views  which 
are  taken  of  the  various  groupings  of  these  ultimate  princi- 
ples. Wheat  flour  is  a  compound  of  starch  and  gluten ; 
starch  is  compounded  of  oxygen,  hydrogen,  and  carbon ; 
and  gluten,  of  the  same  elements  with  the  addition  of  ni- 
trogen ;  so  that  the  ultimate  components  of  wheat,  are  ox- 
ygen, hydrogen,  carbon,  and  nitrogen.  See  Rose's  Practi- 
cal Treatise  on  Chemical  Analysis ;  Griffin's  Blowpipe 
Analysis.  Ac. 

Analysis.  In  Geometry,  a  method  of  conducting  ge 
ometrical  inquiries,  invented  by  the  philosophers  of  the 
school  of  Plato,  or,  according  to  Theon  of  Alexandria,  by 
Plato  himself,  and  one  of  the  most  ingenious  and  beautiful 
contrivances  in  the  Mathematics.  The  essence  of  the  ana- 
lytic method  of  establishing  the  truth  of  a  proposition  con- 
sists in  assuming  the  proposition  enunciated  to  be  true, 
and  deducing  consequences  from  that  supposition  till  a 
conclusion  is  arrived  at  manifestly  true  or  manifestly  false ; 
or  at  least  known  to  be  true  or  false  by  its  agreement  or 
disagreement  with  some  proposition  which  lias  already 
been  demonstrated.  Analysis  is  thus  the  converse  of  syn- 
thesis, or  composition, — a  "form  of  reasoning  by  which  we 
ascend,  through  a  series  of  propositions,  from  some  known 
truth  to  the  conclusion  we  are  in  search  of.  The  distinc- 
tion between  analysis  and  synthesis,  as  well  as  the  defini- 
tion of  the  two  terms  in  the  sense  in  which  they  were  un- 
derstood by  the  ancient  geometers,  is  concisely  given  by 
Pappus,  in  the  Preface  to  the  Seventh  Book  of  his  Mathe- 
matical Collections.  "Analysis."'  says  Pappus,  "is  the 
course  which,  setting  out  from  the  thing  sought,  and  which 
for  the  moment  is  taken  for  granted,  conducts  by  a  series 
of  consequences  to  something  already  known,  or  placed 
among  the  number  of  principles  admitted  to  be  true.  By 
this  method,  therefore,  we  ascend  from  a  truth  or  a  proposi- 
tion to  its  antecedents  ;  and  we  call  it  analysis,  or  resolu- 
tion, as  if  indicating  an  inverted  solution.  In  synthesis,  on 
the  contrary,  we  see  out  from  the  proposition  which  is  the 
last  in  the  analysis  :  and  proceed  by  arranging,  according 
to  their  nature,  the  antecedents  which  present  themselves 
as  consequents  in  the  analytic  method,  and  combining 
them  together  till  we  arrive  at  the  conclusion  sought.  Ana- 
lysis may  be  distinguished  into  two  kinds :  in  the  first, 
which  maybe  called  contemplative  analysis,  we  propose  to 
discover  the  truth  or  falsehood  of  an  affirmed  proposition  : 
the  other  belongs  to  the  solution  of  problems,  or  the  inves- 
tigation of  unknown  truths.  In  the  firstwe  assume  the 
subject  of  the  proposition  advanced  to  be  true,  and  proceed 
through  the  consequences  of  the  hypothesis  till  we  arrive 
at  something  known.  If  this  result  is  true,  the  proposition 
is  true  also,  and  the  direct  demonstration  is  obtained  by 
stating  in  an  inverse  order  the  different  parts  of  the  analy- 
sis. If  the  ultimate  consequence  at  which  we  arrive  is 
false,  the  proposition  was  also  false.  In  the  case  of  a  pro- 
blem, we  first  suppose  it  to  be  resolved,  and  deduce  the 
consequences  resulting  from  that  proposition  till  we  arrive 
at  something  known.  If  the  last  consequence  involves 
only  something  which  can  be  executed,  or  is  comprised 
among  what  geometers  called  data,  the  proposed  problem 


ANALYSIS. 

can  be  solved  ;  and  the  demonstration,  or  rather  in  this 
case  the  construction,  ie  obtained,  as  in  the  former  case,  by 
taking  the  different  parts  of  the  analysis  in  an  inverse  or- 
der. If  the  last  result  is  impossible,  the  thing  demanded  is 
also  impossible." 

The  names  of  the  ancient  writers  on  the  geometrical  ana- 
lysis have  been  preserved  by  Pappus  in  the  preface  before 
referred  to :  they  are,  Euclid,  in  his  Data  and  Porismata  ; 
Apollonius,  in  his  treatise  De  Sectione  Rationis,  and  in  his 
Conic  Sections;  Aristaus,  De  Locis  Solidis ;  and  Eratos- 
thenes, De  Mediis  Proportionalibus  ;  but  of  these  only  the 
Data  of  Euclid  and  some  fragments  of  Apollonius,  have 
come  down  to  our  times.  The  subject  has,  however,  been 
fully  investigated  by  the  moderns,  and  a  complete  system 
of  the  ancient  geometrical  analysis  may  be  found  in  the 
works  of  Dr.  Simson  of  Glasgow.  (See  also  Leslie's  Geo- 
metrical Analysis.) 

By  the  term  analysis  the  ancient  geometers  understood  a 
certain  mode  of  reasoning  altogether  independent  of  signs 
or  symbols,  and  which  might  be  carried  on  by  ordinary 
language.  In  its  modern  acceptation,  analysis  is  synony- 
mous with  algebra,  or  the  calculus,  and  is  opposed,  not  to 
synthesis,  but  to  geometry.  In  this  sense  the  original 
meaning  of  the  word  is  entirely  lost  sight  of:  and,  instead 
of  being  used  to  denote  a  particular  mode  of  reasoning,  it 
rather  indicates  the  instrument  by  which  the  reasoning  is 
carried  on.  Algebra  may  be  employed  with  advantage, 
whether  the  method  of  demonstration  be  analytical  or  syn- 
thetical. 

One  great  advantage  arising  from  the  use  of  algebra  in  the 
solution  of  geometrical  questions,  consists  in  this, — that  the 
demonstration  is  reduced  to  certain  rules,  and  carried  on 
by  systematic  processes;  in  consequence  of  which,  the 
analyst,  having  reduced  his  problem  to  equations,  can  ge- 
nerally determine  at  a  glance,  whether  the  solution  is  pos- 
sible o'r  not.    It  must  be  admitted,  that  the  demonstral a 

of  many  of  the  propositions  of  elementary  geometry  by  the 
ancient  methods  have  a  peculiar  elegance  which  the  alge- 
braic methods  cannot  always  reach  ;  but.  in  point  of  power 
and  applicability,  the  modern  analysis  is  vastly  superior  to 
the  ancient.  "The  geometrical  synthesis,"  says  I.aplace, 
"has  the  advantage  of  never  losing  sight  of  its  object  and  of 

illuminating  the  whole  path  which  leads  from  tiie  first  ax- 
ioms to  their  last  consequences;  whereas  the  algebraic 
analysis  soon  causes  us  to  forget  the  principal  object  in  or- 
der to  occupy  us  with  abstract  combinations.  But  in  thus 
isolating  the  objects,  after  having  abstracted  from  them 
what  is  indispensable  to  arrive  at  the  result  he  is  in  search 
of,  in  abandoning  himself  to  the  operations  of  analysis,  and 
reserving  all  his  forces  to  overcome  the  difficulties  which 
it  presents,  the  analyst  is  conducted  to  results  inaccessible 
to  synthesis.  Such  is  the  fecundity  of  analysis,  that  it  is 
sufficient  to  translate  particular  truths  into  this  universal 
language,  in  order  to  perceive  a  series  of  other  new  and  un- 
expected truths  arise  from  their  mere  expressions.  No 
language  is  equally  susceptible  of  the  elegance  which  re- 
sults from  the  development  of  a  long  series  of  expressions 
intimately  connected  with  one  another,  and  all  flowing 
from  the  same  fundamental  idea  Analysis  also  unites 
with  these  advantages  that  of  being  always  capable  of  lead- 
ing to  the  simplest  methods  ;  for  tliis  purpose  it  is  only  re- 
quired to  apply  it  suitably,  by  a  skilful  choice  of  indeter- 
minate quantities,  and  to  give  the  results  the  form  the  most 
convenient  for  geometrical  construction  or  numerical  cal- 
culation. Modern  geometers,  convinced  of  the  superiority 
of  analysis,  have  especially  applied  themselves  to  extend 
its  domain,  and  enlarge  its  limits." — (Exposition,  du  Sys- 
teme  du  Monde,  4to.  p.  423. ) 

Analysis  is  in  general  the  instrument  of  invention  ;  and  it 
Is  supposed,  not  without  reason,  that  tt*e  greater  part  of  the 
discoveries,  for  which  the  mathematicians  of  the  17th  cen- 
tury were  distinguished,  were  made  by  its  means,  though 
they  were  given  to  the  world  in  a  synthetical  form.  It  is 
evident,  from  the  posthumous  works  of  Pascal  and  Rober- 
val.  that  they  tirst  obtained  the  solution  of  many  of  their 
problems  by  the  method  of  indivisibles,  and  afterwards  de- 
monstrated" the  truth  of  their  results  in  the  manner  of  the 
ancients.  Newton  himself  thought  that  a  mathematical 
proposition  ought  not  to  be  made  public,  or  was  not  fit  to  be 
seen,  till  invested  in  a  synthetic  dress.  Synthetic  demon- 
stration is  now  rarely  met  with  in  any  other  than  the  most 
elementary  works ;  the  algebraic  analysis  has  become  the 
ordinary  instrument  of  mathematical  investigation.  "  Ne- 
vertheless," says  Laplace,  "  geometrical  considerations 
ought  not  to  be  entirely  abandoned  ;  they  are  of  great  utility 
in  the  arts.  Besides,  it  is  interesting  to  figure  to  one's  self 
in  space  the  divers  results  of  analysis ;  and  reciprocally  to 
read  the  affections  of  lines  and  surfaces,  and  all  the  varia- 
tions of  the  motion  of  bodies,  in  the  equations  which  ex- 
press them.  This  connection  of  geometry  and  analysis 
throws  a  new  light  over  both  sciences ;  the  intellectual  ope- 
rations of  the  latter,  rendered  sensible  by  the  former,  are 
more  easily  apprehended,  and  more  interesting  to  follow ; 
and  when  the  imagination  realises  these  images,  and  trans- 
45 


ANATHEMA. 

forms  geometrical  results  into  laws  of  nature  ;  when  those 
laws,  while  they  embrace  the  universe,  unveil  to  our  eyes 
its  past  and  future  conditions;  the  sight  of  this  sublime 
spectacle  affords  the  noblest  of  the  pleasures  reserved  for 
the  human  race." — (Exposition  du  S'yste?ne  du  Monde,  p. 
424.) 

ANAMORPHO'SIS.  (Gr.  dva,  bachieard,  and  fiop<pv, 
form. )  A  term  employed  in  Perspective,  to  denote  a  draw- 
ing executed  in  such  a  manner  that,  when  viewed  in  the 
common  way,  it  presents  a  confused  or  distorted  image  of 
the  thing  represented,  or  an  image  of  something  entirely 
different ;  but  when  viewed  from  a  particular  point,  or  as 
reflected  by  a  curved  mirror,  or  through  a  polyhedron,  it 
recovers  its  proportions,  and  presents  a  distinct  represen- 
tation of  the  object 

Anamorphosis.  In  Botany,  when  any  part  assumes  an 
appearance  unusual  with  it.  The  calyx  of  the  rose  as- 
suming the  appearance  of  a  fruit,  the  stipule  of  a  prosopis 
become  spiny,  the  stem  of  a  cactus  when  succulent  and 
tube-like,  are  cases  ofanamorphosis. 

ANA'NAS  (Ananas.  Brazilian.')  The  plant  that  pro- 
duces the  delicious  pineapples  of  the  gardens.  It  is  of 
South  American  origin,  but  has  been  gradually  dispersed 
through  similar  climates  till  it  has  become  apparently  wild 
in  Africa  and  many  parts  of  Asia,  especially  the  Malayan 
Archipelago,  where  it  arrives  at  a  greater  degree  of  excel- 
lence than  in  its  native  woods. 

ANA'NDROUS.  (Gr.  d,  without,  and  dvrjp  (genitive 
dvSpos),  a  male  or  stamen.)  When  llowers  are  destitute  of 
Stamens,  they  are  usually  called  female  flowers. 

A'NAPjEjST.  (Gr.  dvaTTouorof.)  A  foot  in  Greek  and 
Latin  metre,  consisting  of  two  short  syllables  followed  by  a 
long,  being  the  name  of  the  dactyle. 

ANA'PIIORA.  (Gr.  dva(pop'a,  raising  up.)  In  Rheto- 
ric^ repetition  of  words  or  phrases  at  the  commencement 
"i  >eritences  or  verses.  Thus  in  Cicero,  Verr.  iv.  c.  in., 
Verres  calurnniatores  apponebat,  Verres  adesse  jubebat, 
1"< r/v.N'  eognoscebcU,  l-  rres  fudicabat. 

ANAPLoTIIK'Ull  M.     Set  Anopi.otherh-m. 

A'NARCHY.  (Gr.  d,  without,  dp\u>,  Igovern.)  In  Poli- 
tics, the  constitution  of  a  country'  in  which  not  only  lawful 
government,  but  regular  government  de  facto,  is  supersede,  I 
by  force.  Ifernc  Milton  metaphorically  terms  his  personi- 
fied Chaos  an  "  Anarch." 

ANARKHI'CHAS.  A  name  conceived  by  Gesner  and 
applied  by  Linnreus  to  a  genus  of  spiny-finned  osseous 
fishes,  characterised  by  having  their  mandibular,  palatine, 
and  vomerine  bones  armed  with  large  osseous  tubercles, 
bearing  on  their  summits  small  enamelled  teeth  ;  anterior- 
ly the  jaws  support  longer  and  more  conical  teeth:  by 
means  of  this  powerful  dental  apparatus  the  species  ofthis 
genus,  which  inhabit*,  the  northern  seas,  called  the  "wolf- 
fish,"  is  enabled  to  break  and  bruise  the  testaceous  defen- 
sive coverings  of  shellfish,  the  soft  parts  of  which  form  its 
ordinary  food 

fl/NAS,  (Lat.  anas,  a  duch.)  The  name  of  a  Linnajan 
germs  of  Anserine  birds,  characterised  by  a  large,  broad, 
Obtuse  bill,  furnished  at  the  margin  with' numerous  thin, 
transverse,  projecting  plates;  and  an  obtuse  papillose  or 
ciliate  tongue.  The  subdivisions  ol  this  extensive  group  of 
web-footed  birds,  which  were  indicated  by  Linna?us.  have 
since  been  raised  to  the  rank  of  genera  (see  Anatid.*:),  and 
the  term  Anas  is  now  restricted  to  the  species  which  pre- 
sent a  flattened  bill,  the  base  of  which  is  always  of  greater 
breadth  than  depth,  as  wide  (or  wider)  at  the  extremity  as 
at  the  beginning;  with  nostrils  placid  nearer  the  upper 
margin  and  base  of  the  bill.  The  legs  are  shorter  and 
placed  farther  hack  than  in  the  goose  (Anser);  they  have  a 
shorter  neck,  and  the  windpipe  is  dilated  at  its  lower  end 
into  two  osseous  capsules,  of  which  the  left  is  usually  the 
larger.  The  ducks,  thus  characterised,  are  subdivided  in- 
to those  which  have  the  hind  toe  provided  with  a  mem- 
brane, and  those  in  which  it  is  naked.  Both  divisions  are 
again  broken  up  into  numerous  minor  groups,  which  are 
distinguished  by  generic  terms. 

AN  ASA'RCA.  (Gr.  dva,  through,  and  aap\,  flesh.)  A 
diffusion  of  water  through  the  cellular  membrane  of  the 
limbs,  as  in  dropsv. 

ANA'SToMo'SIXO.  When  two  parts,  growing  in  dif- 
ferent directions,  meet  and  grow  together,  as  the  veins  in 
leaves. 

AXA'STOMO'SIS.  (Gr.  dva,  through,  and  cropa,  a 
mouth.)  The  communications  of  the  vessels  of  the  body 
with  each  other. 

ANA'STROPHE.  A  name  given  in  Classical  Philology 
to  some  species  of  inversion  (see  Inversion)  or  departure 
from  the  usual  order  of  succession  in  words.  From  the 
Greek  dva<TTOC(fioj,  I  overturn  or  invert.  Such  phrases  as 
mecum,  vobiscum,  &c,  in  which  the  preposition  follows 
the  word  governed  by  it,  or  in  which  it  is  placed  between 
two  words  governed  bv  it.  &c,  are  instances  of  anastrophe. 

ANATHEMA.     (Gr.  dvadzua.)    Properly,  a  thing  laid 
by,  consecrated,  or  devoted  :  hence  a  person  upon  whom 
the  ban  of  the  church  is  laid,  is  said  to  be  anathematised, 
H 


ANATID^E. 

or  In  the  Jewish  phrase,  to  be  "anathema."  St.  Paul 
says,  "  If  we  or  an  angel  from  heaven  preach  any  other 
gospel  to  you  than  that  which  we  have  preacherl,  let  him 
he  anathema:"  and  upon  the  authority  of  this  and  similar 
passages,  the  church  assumed  from  the  first  the  power  of 
anathematising  or  excommunicating  evildoers  and  heretics. 

AXA'TIDjK.  The  name  of  a  family  of  web-footed 
birds,  of  the  swan,  goose,  and  duck  kind,  of  which  the  ge- 
nus Anas  is  the  type. 

ANA'TOMY.  (From  dva,  through,  and  teuvo),  I  cut.) 
This  term  literally  means  dissection,  but  is  generally  under- 
stood to  signify  a  knowledge  of  the  internal  structure  of 
the  human  body,  in  the  acquisition  of  which  dissection  is 
essentially  necessary.  The  anatomy  of  other  animals  is 
usually  designated  Comparative  Anatomy ;  and  that  of 
plants,  Vegetable  Anatomy  ;  which  see. 

Although  some  anatomical  knowledge  must  have  been 
accidentally  acquired  by  the  earliest  inhabitants  of  the 
globe,  and  although  there  are  several  allusions  in  the  early 
books  of  the  Old  Testament  to  the  subject,  no  dissections 
of  the  human  body  were  performed  with  a  view  to  ascer- 
tain the  position  and  structure  of  its  internal  organs,  or  to 
elucidate  their  functions,  till  a  much  later  period. 

Homer  has,  it  is  true,  been  complimented,  and  in  some 
respects  justly  so,  for  the  precision  with  which  he  de- 
scribes the  wounds  of  his  heroes  ;  and  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians are  said  to  have  acquired  great  anatomical  skill  by 
their  practice  in  the  art  of  embalming ;  but  these,  and  simi- 
lar statements,  have  no  bearing  upon  the  pursuit  of  anato- 
my as  a  science,  or  in  connection  with  surgery,  medicine, 
and  physiology.  Thales,  Socrates,  Xenophon.  and  Plato, 
are  each  quoted  by  anatomical  historians,  as  having  ac- 
quired no  inconsiderable  anatomical  knowledge  ;  Plato  is 
even  said  to  have  anticipated  the  celebrated  discovery  of 
the  circulation  of  the  blood.  "  The  heart,"  he  says,  "  is 
the  centre  of  the  blood-vessels,  the  spring  of  the' blood, 
whence  it  flows  rapidly  round  :  blood  is  the  pabulum  of 
the  llesh,  in  order  to  the  nutriment  of  which  the  body  is 
intersected  by  canals,  like  those  of  gardens,  to  convey  the 
blood  like  water  from  a  fountain,  to  the  remote  parts." 

The  first  author  who  is  supposed  to  have  written  on  hu- 
man anatomy  is  Hippocrates ;  and  the  first  recorded  dis- 
section was,  probably,  made  by  his  contemporary  Demo- 
critus  of  Abdera.  This  carries  us  back  to  about  400  years 
before  the  Christian  era,  from  which  period,  to  that  of  Ga- 
len, (that  is,  in  the  space  of  600  years,)  little  progress 
seems  to  have  been  made  in  the  knowledge  even  of  the 
structure  and  position  of  the  viscera  of  the  body,  much  less 
in  their  uses  and  diseases. 

It  would  appear  from  Galen  that  the  most  eminent  anato- 
mists of  antiquity  were  Erasistratus  and  Herophilus,  who 
taught  anatomy  in  the  celebrated  school  of  Alexandria, 
and  are  said  to  have  been  the  first  who  were  authorised  to 
dissect  human  bodies  :  hence,  probablv,  the  high  rank 
which  the  school,  founded  by  the  Ptol'emies,  acquired, 
and  maintained  for  several  hundred  years.  The  works  of 
the  above-menticned  anatomical  professors  have  been  lost, 
but  they  are  abundantly  quoted  by  their  more  immediate 
successors. 

Among  the  Romans  the  first  anatomist  was,  probably, 
Asclepiades,  who  flourished  in  the  time  of  Pom  pey  ;  and 
soon  afterwards  Rome  became  a  celebrated  seat  of  medi- 
cal science.  Celsus,  Aretseus,  and  Galen,  are  the  orna- 
ments of  this  period ;  especially  the  latter,  as  an  anato- 
mist; though  it  appears  probable  that  his  descriptions 
were  often  taken  from  dissections  of  inferior  animals,  and 
applied  to  the  corresponding  organs  of  the  human  body  : 
it  is,  however,  said,  that  he  anticipated  many  subsequent 
discoveries,  and  that  a  great  part  of  his  writings  were  for  a 
long  time  unintelligible,  till  cleared  up  and  explained  by 
the  labours  of  his  successors. 

During  the  dark  ages  anatomy  sustained  the  fate  of  other 
branches  of  knowledge  ;  and,  with  few  exceptions,  little 
progress  was  made  in  it,  till  the  revival  of  learning  in  Eu- 
rope ;  the  prejudice,  too,  aeainst  the  dissection  of  the  hu- 
man body  was  not  only  maintained,  but  sanctioned  by  the 
highest  existing  authorities.  In  the  year  1315.  a  System  of 
Anatomy  was  "drawn  up  by  Mundinus,  chiefly,  it  is  said, 
founded  upon  such  parts  of  Galen's  doctrines  as  had  been 
preserved  by  the  Arabians.  This  work  deserves  notice, 
as  having  been  the  anatomical  text-book  of  the  schools  of 
Italy  for  a  period  of  nearly  200  years.  Mundinus  is,  in- 
deed, celebrated  by  his  contemporaries  as  the  restorer  of 
anatomy.  Early  in  the  fifteenth  century,  when  learning 
began  to  revive  in  Europe,  in  consequence  chiefly  of  the 
introduction  of  the  writings  of  the  Greek  authors,  nume- 
rous treatises  on  the  Sciences  made  their  appearance, 
amongst  which  anatomy  formed  a  prominent  subject ;  and 
among  its  most  successful  followers,  the  name  of  the  cele- 
brated Leonardo  da  Vinci  may  be  recorded,  although  lie 
apparently  only  pursued  it  in  reference  to  his  own  art. 
(See  the  sketches  annexed  to  Memoire  Storiche  di  L.  da 
Vinci,  by  C.  Amoretti,  Milano,  1804.)  In  reference  to  some 
of  the  drawings  and  their  descriptions,  preserved  m  the  li- 
46 


ANATOMY. 

brary  of  George  ni.,  and  which  he  had  access  to,  Dr.  Hun- 
ter observes,  that  he  saw  with  astonishment  that  Leonardo 
had  been  a  deep  student,  "  and  was  at  that  time  the  best 
anatomist  in  the  world."  We  must  give  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury the  credit  of  Leonardo's  anatomical  studies,  as  he  was 
fifty -five  years  of  age  at  its  close.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century  Berengarius  and  Massa  wrote  upon  hu 
man  anatomy;  but  such  was  the  authority  of  Galen  even 
at  that  time,  that  few  dared  publish  any  statement  or  opin- 
ions contradicting  those  of  their  infallible  master.  About 
the  middle,  however,  of  the  sixteenth  century,  this  spell 
was  broken  by  the  celebrated  Vesalius  of  Brussels,  who 
taught  anatomy  at  Paris  and  Lcuvain,  and  afterwards  in 
Italy.  He  boldly  demonstrated  the  errors  of  Galen ;  de- 
scribed accurately  the  dissections  of  the  body,  corrected 
and  improved  anatomical  nomenclature,  and  insisted  upon 
the  necessity  of  diligence  and  actual  observation  in  dissec- 
tion, as  the  only  solid  foundation  of  successful  medical  and 
surgical  practice.  He  had  many  opponents,  and  is  said  to 
have  been  detected  in  the  very  mischievous  error  for 
which  he  blames  Galen  ;  namely,  that  of  describing  the 
human  viscera  from  dissections  made  upon  quadrupeds. 

Among  the  most  remarkable  contemporaries  or  imme- 
diate successors  of  Vesalius,  were  Fallopius  and  Eusta- 
chius, — the  former  of  Padua,  the  latter  of  Venice  ;  whose 
names,  as  annexed  to  their  discoveries,  have  been  handed 
down  to  posterity.  Indeed,  the  schools  of  Italy  seem  to 
have  been  the  only  accessible  sources  of  practical  anatomy 
at  that  period  :  in  France  and  England  an  antipathy  to  dis- 
section prevailed,  which  was  fatal  to  all  anatomical  im- 
provement. Cortesius.  who  wrote  at  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  who,  after  having  been  professor 
of  anatomy  at  Bologna,  filled  the  chair  of  medicine  at  Mas- 
sana,  complains  that  he  was  prevented  finishing  a  treatise 
on  Practical  Anatomy,  in  consequence  of  having  only  been 
able  twice  to  dissect  a  human  body  in  the  course  of  twen- 
ty-four years,  "  whereas  in  the  academies  of  Italy  there  is 
that  opportunity  once  every  year." 

About  this  time  the  name  of  the  renowned  Harvey  be- 
comes conspicuous  in  the  annals  of  anatomy  :  he,  like  his 
most  eminent  contemporaries,  studied  medicine  in  Italy. 
Fabricius  ab  Aquapendente,  who  was  his  master,  had  just 
made  the  highly  important  discovery  of  the  valves  of  the 
veins ;  and  it  was  this  which,  probably,  more  especially  di- 
rected Harvey's  attention  to  the  use  of  the  heart,  and  the 
vascular  system  :  for  at  that  time  the  liver  was  considered 
as  its  great  centre,  and  the  veins  were  supposed  to  convey 
the  blood  from  it  to  the  remote  parts  of  the  body.  Har- 
vey's great  discovery  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood  was 
taught  by  him  in  his  lectures  as  early  as  1616,  though  not 
published  till  1628,  in  consequence  of  his  desire  to  demon- 
strate the  subject  in  detail,  and  to  collect  proofs  and  illus- 
trations of  the  correctness  of  his  doctrines.  This  discovery 
was  not  only  of  vast  intrinsic  importance,  but,  as  is  the 
case  in  all  similar  instances,  it  led  to  others;  and  the  route 
of  the  blood  had  no  sooner  been  traced  and  described, 
than  the  manner  in  which  the  nutritious  part  of  the  food  is 
conveyed  into  the  circulationbecame  an  object  of  research  : 
this  was  successfully  developed  by  Asellius,  an  Italian  phy- 
sician, in  the  year  1627.  He  was  so  fortunate  as  to  see  the 
lacteals  filled  with  chyle,  and  to  trace  them  to  their  com- 
mon trunk,  the  thoracic  duct,  and  thence  into  the  blood- 
vessels. The  lymphatic  system  was  also  soon  afterwards 
detected,  and  first  described  by  T.  Bartoline,  a  Danish  ana- 
tomist ;  and  tins  was  followed  by  important  details  bearing 
upon  the  anatomy  of  the  gravid  uterus  and  of  the  genera- 
tive system,  in  which  nearly  all  the  celebrated  anatomists 
of  Europe  had  a  share  ;  and  among  them  Harvey  was  con- 
spicuous, though  Dr.  Hunter  attributes,  with  apparent  in- 
justice, his  knowledge  upon  this  subject,  and  even  the 
merit  of  detecting  the  use  of  the  arteries,  to  his  master 
Fabricius.  The  physiology  of  generation  was  more  espe- 
cially followed  up  by  Swammerdam,  Malpigbi,  and  Leuen- 
hoek,  who  were  enabled  greatly  to  extend  the  bounds  of 
anatomical  knowledge  by  theif  ingenious  use  of  the  mi- 
croscope. 

Although  England  has  produced  many  celebrated  anato- 
mists, there  is  no  one  to  whom  it  is  so  deeply  indebted  as 
Dr.  William  Hunter,  who  was  born  in  1718,  at  Kilbride,  in 
Lanarkshire,  and  was  contemporary  with  the  celebrated 
Cullen.  Dr.  Hunter  went  to  London  in  1741,  taking  with 
him  an  introduction  to  Dr.  Douglas,  who  was  then  engaged 
in  a  work  upon  the  bones,  and  was  in  search  of  a  young 
man  who  might  assist  in  his  dissections.  He  found  in 
William  Hunter  a  person  so  exactly  suited  to  his  purpose, 
that  he  not  only  engaged  him  as  an  assistant,  but  received 
him  into  his  family  and  made  him  his  son's  tutor.  As  our 
object  here  is  to  give  a  brief  historical  Outline  of  Anatomy, 
rather  than  the  biography  of  its  successful  cultivators,  we 
must  pass  over  many  interesting  points  in  Dr.  Hunter's 
early  history,  tiil  he  came  before  the  public  as  an  anato- 
mist, which  was  in  the  year  1743.  when  he  communicated 
to  the  Royal  Society  an  Essay  '■  On  the  Structure  and  Dis- 
eases of  Articulating  Cartilages;'-'  and  was  remarked  for 


ANATOMY. 

hl9  diligence,  Ingenuity,  and  skill  in  the  arrangement  of  . 
anatomical  preparations,  of  which  he  had  accumulated  a 
considerable  collection,  with  aview  of  pursuing  his  favour- 
ite object,  namely,  that  of  publicly  teaching  anatomy.  He 
commenced  this  arduous  bisk  in  1746,  under  the  auspices 
of  Mr.  Sharpe,  of  Covent  Garden,  in  whose  theatre  he 
made  his  first  appearance  as  a  public  lecturer.  In  1717  he 
became  a  member  of  the  Corporation  of  Surgeons;  and  in 
the  spring  of  the  following  year,  having  concluded  his 
course  of  lectures,  he  accompanied  his  pupil,  Mr.  James 
Douglas,  into  Holland  and  France.  He  returned  in  time 
to  begin  his  winter  course,  during  which  he  not  only  ac- 
quired a  high  character  as  an  anatomist,  but  commenced 
the  practice  of  midwifery,  in  which  he  soon  attained  emi- 
nence, founded  not  merely  upon  his  person  and  address, 
both  of  which  were  agreeable  and  well  suited  to  that  line 
of  the  profession,  but  upon  his  anatomical  skill;  so  thai,  in 
all  cases  of  danger  and  difficulty  it  soon  became  customary 
to  call  in  his  aid  In  this  respect  his  celebrity  became  so 
extended,  that  he  afterwards  acquired  great  and  merited 
reputation  as  a  general  anatomical  physician.  In  1762  Dr. 
Hunter  entered  into  a  spirited  vindication  of  his  claims  to 
certain  anatomical  discoveries,  in  a  work  entitled  •'  Medi- 
cal Commentaries  :"  and  in  the  same  year  he  was  ap- 
pointed physician  to  the  queen  of  George  III.  His  profes- 
sional avocations  now  became  so  numerous  and  urgent, 
that  he  was  obliged  to  take  a  partner  in  his  lectures,  and  for 
that  purpose  selected  his  pupil,  William  Hewson,  who  af- 
terwards joined  Mr.  Cruickshank,  two  gentlemen  whose 
names  occupy  no  unimportant  place  in  the  history  of 
practical  and  structural  anatomy. 

In  1754  Dr.  Hunter  began  his  great  and  splendid  work 
on  the  l;  Anatomy  of  the  Gravid  I'terus,"  which  was  not 
completed  till  1775.  This  gave  him  a  high  rank  among 
European  anatomists,  and  foreign  and  domestic  honours 
were  abundantly  conferred  upon  him  Inconsequence;  but 

it  is  to  the  establishment  of  his  Museum,  and  Bel I,  that 

we  arc  principally  to  look  for  the  new  Impulse  which  was 
given  to  the  study  of  anatomy  in  London,  ami  for  the  cele- 
brity which  that  metropolis  lias  since  maintained.  The  ac- 
countof  the  origin  and  progress  of  tins  Museum.therefore, 
deserves  to  be  briefly  recorded  here.  When  Dr.  Hunter 
had  acquired  a  competent  fortune,  the  result  entirely  of 
his  high  professional  merit  and  unwearied  diligence,  he 
found  wealth  slill  pouring  in  upon  him,  and  became  desi- 
rous of  applying  this  surplus  to  some  great  national  pur- 
pose of  public  utility;  anil  what  more  important  or  useful 
than  a  "Metropolitan  School  of  Anatomy  |"  He  accord- 
ingly, in  tin1  year  1765,  during  the  administration  ol  Mr 
Grenville,  presented  a  memorial  to  that  minister,  in  which 
he  requested  the  grant  of  an  unemployed  piece  of  ground 
near  the  King's  Mews,  at  Charing  Cross,  for  the  site  of  his 
intended  building;  upon  which  he  undertook  to  expend 
7000/.  and  to  endow  a  professorship  of  anatomy  in  perpe- 
tuity. After  waiting  for  some  time  without  a  reply, 
he  renewed  his  request,  or  rather  repeated  his  pro- 
posal ;  and  his  second  application,  which  was  even  in 
more  liberal  terms  than  the  former,  shared  the  same  su- 
percilious treatment.  Although  disgusted,  as  he  well 
might  be,  at  this  unaccountable  neglect,  he  determined 
that  the  town  in  which  he  had  acquired  his  wealth  and  re- 
putation should  not  be  without  some  useful  and  honorable 
memorial  of  his  labours  :  he  accordingly  purchased  apiece 
of  ground  in  Great  Windmill  Street,  near  the  I  lay  market, 
where  he  erected  a  spacious  dwelling-house, behind  which 
was  a  magnificent  fire-proof  room,  fitted  up  as  a  museum 
and  library,  and  communicating  with  a  good  anatomical 
theatre,  and  an  extensive  series  of  apartments  for  dissec- 
tion and  for  the  preparation  of  anatomical  specimens. 
This  building  was  completed  in  1770. 

Dr.  Hunter  expended  upon  this  Museum  a  sum  exceed- 
ing 20,000/.  :  it  included,  besides  its  unrivalled  anatomical 
treasures,  a  splendid  and  valuable  collection  of  books,  coins, 
medals,  and  antiquities;  of  minerals,  shells,  and  other  ar- 
ticles of  natural  history.  By  his  will,  the  use  of  this  Mu- 
seum, under  the  direction  of  trustees,  devolved  upon  his 
nephew,  Dr.  Matthew  Baillie  ;  and  in  case  of  his  death,  to 
Mr.  Cruickshank,  for  the  term  of  thirty  years;  at  the  end 
of  which  period  the  entire  collection  was  bequeathed  to 
the  University  of  Glasgow,  together  with  a  sum  of  8,000/. 
for  its  preservation.  Dr.  Hunter  died  on  the  20th  of  March, 
1783  ;  so  that  his  will,  in  regard  to  his  Museum,  has  long 
since  been  carried  into  effect,  and  it  is  now  in  Glasgow. 
To  say  nothing  of  the  books,  antiquities,  and  objects  of 
natural  history,  it  contained,  when  sent  to  its  final  destina- 
tion, the  finest  series  of  anatomical  specimens  in  Europe. 
Thus,  through  the  apathy  of  the  administration  of  that  day, 
was  this  unrivalled  collection  lost  to  the  metropolis.  Dr. 
Hunter's  munificent  intentions  must,  however,  never  be 
forgotten  :  he  furnishes  a  noble  and  rare  example  of  a  man 
who,  as  soon  as  he  had  rendered  himself  independent  by 
his  own  exertion,  in  a  laborious  and  difficult  profession,  ap- 
plied the  whole  of  his  large  income  to  a  great  public  ob- 
ject; and,  though  thwarted  in  his  original  desire,  that  it 
47 


ANATOMY. 

should  remain  In  the  metropolis  in  which  the  fortune  ex- 
pended upon  it  had  been  amassed,  as  a  monument  of  his 
gratitude,  and  an  example  to  his  successors,  he  was,  never- 
theless, sufficiently  liberal  and  patriotic  to  devote  it  to  the 
use  of  the  public,  by  bequeathing  it  to  the  university  which 
had  granted  him  his  degree. 

Dr.  Hunter  not  only  gave  a  new  impulse  to  anatomical 
science,  the  effects  of  which  have  been  transmitted  to  the 
present  time,  but  his  zeal  in  behalf  of  his  favourite  pur- 
suit tended  to  make  many  converts.  Among  these,  the 
celebrated  John  Hunter  stands  foremost.  Hearing  of  his 
brother's  reputation,  he  offered  his  services  as  an  assist- 
ant in  his  inquiries,  and  his  proposal  was  kindly  accepted. 
Accordingly,  in  September,  1748,  he  left  Lanarkshire,  being 
then  twenty  years  of  age.  His  disposition  to  excel  in 
anatomical  pursuits  soon  became  evident.  In  the  course 
of  the  succeeding  year  he  had  rendered  himself  sufficient- 
ly master  of  the  subject  to  instruct  his  brother's  pupils  in 
the  dissecting-room  ;  and  in  1755  was  admitted  to  a  part- 
nership in  the  lectures.  His  ardour  and  enthusiasm  as  an 
anatomist  were  most  extraordinary,  and  he  became  as 
eminent  in  surgery  as  his  brother  was  in  physic  ;  yet  his 
more  lucrative  professional  avocations  were  never  allowed 
to  supersede  his  scientific  zeal ;  and  the  result  was,  the 
formation  of  a  Museum  of  Comparative  Anatomy,  which 
is  at  once  a  memorial  of  a  scientific  mind  and  a  skilful 
hand.  Mr.  Hunter  died  suddenly  on  the  16th  of  October, 
1793,  at  the  age  of  65.  He  directed  by  his  will  that  his  Mu- 
seum, upon  which  he  had  expended  nearly  the  whole  of 
his  large  professional  income,  should  be  offered  to  the 
purchase  of  the  Englisl i  government;  and,  fortunately  for 
the  credit  of  the  country,  the  proposal  met  with  a  very  dif- 
ferent reception  to  that  which  we  have  above  recorded  in 
reference  to  his  brother.  It  was  purchased  for  the  sum  of 
15,000/.,  and  made  over,  under  certain  conditions,  which 
have  been  not  only  faithfully,  but  liberally,  fulfilled,  to  the. 

Royal  College  of  Surgeons  in  I. Ion.    It  is  one  of  the 

most  splendid  collections  in  the  world,  and  in  many  re- 

spects  unrivalled ;  it  is  open.  ler  proper  regulations,  to 

public  inspection,  in  the  magnificent  building  erected  by 
the  College  for  its  reception,  on  the  south  Bide  of  Lincoln's 
Inn  Fields 

Another  convert  to  anatomical  pursuits,  educated  in  the 
School  Of  William  Hunter,  was  his  nephew,  the  late  Mat- 
thew Baillie.  His  virtues  and  Ins  talents  placed  him  high 
in  public  estimation;  his  anatomical  knowledge  was  the 
foundation  of  his  professional  eminence:  and  the  excel- 
lence of  his  lectures,  both  as  regards  matter  ami  manner, 
tended  to  exalt  the  reputation  of  his  uncle's  school,  and  to 
establish  the  importance  of  anatomy  as  the  basis  of  medi- 
cal, no  less  than  o|  surgical  practice. 

We  have  dwelt  upon  the  llunterian  School,  from  the 
conviction  that  it  gave  a  character  to  anatomical  pursuits, 
which  has  materially  and  beneficially  influenced  their  snh- 
aequenl  progress,  not  only  in  London,  but  throughout  the. 
kingdom.  Their  importance  and  their  necessity  as  the 
basis  of  the  sciences  of  medicine  and  surgery  are  now 
publicly  felt  and  acknowledged  ;  the  aversion  to  the  dissec- 
tion of  "the  human  body  is  on  the  wane;  and  the  degrading 
and  disgraceful  practice  of  allowing  the  schools  of  anato- 
my to  be  supplied  with  subjects  for  dissection,  by  the  re- 
volting process  of  exhumation,  has  been  superseded. 

Human  anatomy  is  usually  subdivided  into  descriptive, 
and  mm  hid,  or,  more  correctly,  pathological. 

Descriptive  Anatomy  embraces  a  description  of  the  dif- 
ferent organs  of  the  body,  together  with  their  relative  situa- 
tions ami  connections;  it  examines  the  textures  of  which 
they  are  formed,  enumerates  the  nerves  and  vessels  by 
which  they  are  supplied,  and  gives  all  general  and  particu- 
lar details  concerning  their  organisation.  Having  done 
this,  it  proceeds  to  the  analogies  that  subsist  among  the 
materials  of  which  different  organs  are  composed  ;  and  is 
thus  led  to  specify  the  proximate  constituent  parts  of  the 
living  body. 

Morbid  or  Pathological  Anatomy  comprehends  all  that 
relates  to  the  effects  of  disease  upon  healthy  structures ; 
and  carefully  traces  and  describes  the  changes  of  texture 
and  of  composition  which  they  thus  suffer,  in  reference  to 
the  entire  organ,  as  well  as  to  its  individual  parts. 

We  shall  now  proceed  to  give  a  short  description  of  the 
parts  of  which  the  human  body  is  constructed,  referring 
for  the  account  of  individual  organs  to  the  separate  terms 
under  which  they  are  enumerated. 

Anatomical  teachers  generally  first  direct  the  student's 
attention  to  that  branch  of  the  subject  which  is  termed 
Osteology  ;  in  other  words,  to  the  bones  or  skeleton,  con- 
stituting' the  hardest  and  most  durable  part  of  the  whole 
structure,  and  that  which  gives  it  its  stability  and  general 
form.  At  the  period  of  birth,  the  bones,  for  obvious  rea- 
sons, could  not  exist  with  the  degree  of  induration  and 
firmness  which  they  possess  in  the  adult ;  we  accordingly 
find  that,  at  that  period,  they  are  mostly  soft  and  flexible, 
resembling  cartilage,  with  certain  specks  of  osseous  matter, 
which  gradually  extend  and  increase,   as  the  process  of 


ANATOMY. 

ossification  advances  during  the  growth  of  the  yonng  ani- 
mal. In  contemplating  this  bony  skeleton  when  it  has  thus 
become  perfect,  we  are  struck  with  the  admirable  adapta- 
tion and  mutual  connection  of  the  various  parts  of  which  it 
consists ;  the  separate  bones  being  extremely  numerous, 
(including  the  teeth,  amounting  to  about  250,)  and  attached 
to  each  other  by  unequal  surfaces,  the  cavities  and  emi- 
nences of  which  mutually  correspond.  These  connec- 
tions, termed  articulations,  are  extremely  various ;  some 
admitting  of  every  variety  of  motion,  others  of  limited  mo- 
tion, and  others,  as  it  were,  continuously  united.  In  the 
former  case  the  evils  of  friction  are  perfectly  provided 
against  by  the  peculiarity  of  the  articulating  surfaces,  which 
are  covered  with  an  extremely  smooth  and  elastic  sub- 
stance, called  cartilage ;  and  lubricated,  or  as  it  were  oiled, 
by  a  slippery  fluid  termed  synoviu,  which  here  performs 
precisely  the  same  office  as  that  of  the  various  anti-atlri- 
tions  which  are  used  in  machinery.  But  as  the  bones  must 
be  more  or  less  restricted  in  their  range  of  motion,  there 
are  peculiar  means  by  which  that  end  is  attained :  some 
being  prevented  from  changing  their  relative  situations  by 
certain  modes  of  articulation ;  others,  where  a  slight  mo- 
tion is  required,  being  united  by  cartilage ;  and  others, 
where  extensive  and  varied  motions  are  wanted,  being  con- 
nected by  ligaments,  membranes,  or  flesh.  Ligaments  are 
white,  fibrous,  glistening,  and  flexible  substances,  occurring 
in  an  infinite  variety  of  forms  and  situations.  They  are,  for 
the  most  part,  exterior  to  the  joint,  and,  by  their  great 
strength  and  trifling  elasticity,  preserve  the  relative  position 
or  connection  of  the  bones  in  their  various  movements. 
Membranes  are  thin,  whitish  webs  or  textures,  more  flexi- 
ble and  elastic  than  ligament.  They  not  only  assist  in  the 
security  and  motion  of  joints,  but  fulfil  a  variety  of  other  of- 
fices. They  surround  or  line  the  cavities  and  the  organs  of 
the  body,  and  contribute  to  unite  and  combine  the  whole ; 
and)  at  the  same  time,  interpose  and  preserve  a  distinc- 
tion, enabling  separate  parts  either  to  co-operate  or  to  act 
independently  of  each  other.  They  vary  in  strength  and 
texture,  and  different  terms  are  applied  to  them  in  different 
parts  of  the  body  :  two  within  the  skull  are  called  matres; 
those  which  envelope  muscular  fibres  are  called  aponeu- 
roses ;  that  which  covers  the  lungs  and  lines  the  cavity  of 
the  chest  is  termed  pleura ;  that  which  lines  the  cavity  of 
the  abdomen  and  its  included  viscera  is  named  peritoneum ; 
those  which  inclose  articular  surfaces  are  termed  capsules; 
that  which  covers  bone,  periosteum ;  and,  in  other  cases, 
they  are  called  coats,  or  tunics.  The  remaining  substance 
concerned  in  the  connection  of  the  bones  is  flesh  :  it  is 
thus,  that  the  upper  extremities  are  connected  with  the 
body,  and  that  many  of  the  joints  are  rendered  secure.  But 
flesh  performs  another  and  more  important  office,  inasmuch 
as  it  constitutes  a  principal  part  of  the  organs  termed  mus- 
cles, through  the  medium  of  which  the  various  movements 
of  the  body  are  effected.  Many  of  the  muscles  contain,  be- 
sides flesh,  a  substance  analogous  to  ligament,  through  the 
medium  of  which  they  are  attached  to  the  bones,  and  to 
which  the  term  tendon  IB  applied :  muscles  and  tendons  are 
composed  of  bundles  of  fibres,  which  maybe  unravelled  to 
extreme  minuteness;  and  when  what  appears  to  be  a  sin- 
gle fibre  is  viewed  under  the  microscope,  it  resembles  a 
chain  of  infinitely  small  globular  particles.  But  though  the 
muscles  are  the  immediate  organs  of  motion,  they  are  de- 
pendent for  their  powers  of  contraction  and  relaxation  upon 
the  nerves  with  which  they  are  supplied.  These,  when 
separately  examined,  appear  in  the  form  of  white  cords  or 
threads ;  and,  when  traced  to  their  origin,  are  found  to  is- 
sue as  it  were  from  the  brain,  and  from  its  elongation, 
termed  the  spinal  marrow.  The  trunks  of  the  nerves  are 
subdivided  into  branches,  and  these  again  into  filaments, 
which  enter  into,  and  are,  as  it  were,  lost  in  the  substance 
of  the  muscles  and  other  organs  of  the  body.  Their  func- 
tions are  in  some  cases  obedient  to,  and  in  others  indepen- 
dent of,  the  will :  to  the  former  belong  the  nerves  of  the  lo- 
comotive muscles  ;  to  the  latter,  those  of  the  heart,  viscera, 
&c.  When  they  are  divided,  the  peculiar  functions  of  the 
organs  which  they  supply  are  impaired  or  impeded  :  thus, 
the  muscles  may  be  deprived  of  the  power  of  contracting, 
the  glands  of  secretion,  the  eye  of  sight,  the  ear  of  hearing, 
and  the  skin  of  feeling.  The  nervous  trunks,  which  issue 
in  pairs  from  the  brain  or  spinal  marrow,  amount  to  about 
forty ;  and  in  tracing  them  and  their  branches,  they  are 
found  in  certain  different  places  to  swell  into  knots,  which 
are  termed  ganglia.,  or  they  are  reticularly  aggregated  into 
plexuses. 

Having  thus  shown  how  the  bones  are  connected  and  put 
into  motion,  and  from  what  sources  their  motion  is  derived, 
it  may  next  be  inquired  how  they  and  the  other  organs  of 
the  body  grow  and  are  nourished.  This  brings  us  to  con- 
sider the  blood  and  its  vessels. 

The  composition  and  properties  of  the  blood,  and  the  ex- 
traordinary changes  which  it  suffers  in  its  passage  through 
the  pulmonary  vessels,  are  elsewhere  defined.  (<S'ee 
Blood,  and  Respiration.)  Without  this  exposure  to  the 
action  of  the  air  in  the  lungs,  the  blood  is  unfit  for  the  sup- 
43 


ANATOMY. 

port  of  life.  We  accordingly  find  that  the  heart  Is  so  con- 
structed as  to  propel  the  blood  which  it  receives  through 
the  structure  of  the  lungs,  and  after  it  has  there  been  aerated, 
to  transmit  it  over  the  body  :  in  fact,  the  heart  is  a  hollow 
muscle  :  when  it  relaxes,  its  two  principal  cavities,  or  ven- 
tricles, are  enlarged,  and  the  blood  flows  in  ;  when  it  con- 
tracts, they  are  diminished,  and  the  blood  is  propelled  into 
two  large  tubes  or  arteries,  one  leading  to  the  lungs,  and 
called  the  pulmonary  artery,  and  the  other  to  the  system 
generally,  and  called  the  aorta :  these  arteries  are  not  only 
elastic,  but  also  muscular,  so  that  they  drive  the  blood  on. 
wards  from  the  heart,  its  retrograde  motion  being  effectu- 
ally prevented  by  valves  placed  at  their  origin. 

The  arteries  are  divided  and  subdivided  into  an  infinite 
number  of  ramifications  ;  and  the  branches  from  the  same 
trunk  are  frequently  observed  to  unite  or  anastomose  in 
their  course  ;  so  that  when,  by  any  accident,  some  are  ob- 
structed, an  adequate  supply  of  blood  may  be  kept  tip  by 
the  others.  As,  however,  the  blood  cannot  return  to  the 
heart  by  these  vessels  or  arteries,  we  find  that  they  inoscu- 
late, or  communicate  at  their  extremities  with  another  se- 
ries of  tubes  or  vessels,  which  are  called  veins.  These  are 
more  numerous  than  the  arteries,  and  generally  accompa- 
ny them  in  their  course.  They  have  a  less  muscular  pow- 
er ;  and  as  they  are  not  assisted  by  the  heart  in  propelling 
the  blood,  they  open  to  it  larger  and  larger  channels  as  it 
advances,  and  are  supplied  with  valves  by  which  its  reflux 
is  prevented.  This  is,  in  fact,  the  circulation  of  the  blood 
(first  made  out  by  Harvey,  as  before  mentioned) ;  the  veins 
ultimately  terminating  in  two  large  trunks  which  pour  the 
blood  into  the  right  auricle  of  the  heart ;  whence  it  is  pro- 
pelled into  the  right  ventricle,  from  which  arises  the  pul- 
monary artery,  transmitting  it  through  the  lungs ;  from  the 
lungs  the  blood  (having  been  aerated)  returns  by  the  pul- 
monary vein  into  the  left  auricle  of  the  heart,  which  con- 
tracting, propels  it  into  the  left  ventricle,  from  which  arises 
the  aorta.  Such,  then,  is  the  extraordinary  mechanism  by 
which  the  circulation  of  the  blood  is  effected  ;  but  it  must 
not  be  supposed  that  the  whole  of  the  blood  is  thus  directly 
returned  from  the  arterial  into  the  venous  system  :  a  part 
of  it  is  transmitted  by  minute  arterial  ramifications  into  the 
different  structures  and  organs  of  which  the  body  is  com- 
posed, each  of  which  is  gifted  with  the  power  of  assimila- 
tion, that  is,  of  converting  the  blood,  or  a  part  of  it,  into  a 
substance  of  its  own  kind.  Some  of  these  minute  or  capil- 
lary vessels  also  terminate  upon  the  surface  of  the  body, 
where  they  exhale  perspirable  matter;  others,  upon  the 
membranes  lining  the  cavities  of  the  body,  where  they  se- 
crete the  fluids  which  lubricate  and  moisten  the  interior  sur- 
faces ;  and  others  again  go  to  the  glands, — those  peculiar 
organs  or  structures,  which  have  not  only  the  power  of 
separating  certain  parts  of  the  blood,  but  of  converting  it 
into  new  forms,  which  are  called  secretions,  some  of  which 
are  ejected,  others  retained,  for  the  purposes  of  the  animal 
economy. 

Tims,  then,  it  appears  that  the  blood  nourishes  and  pre- 
serves the  body  and  all  its  parts,  and  that  it  is  continually 
tending  to  the  renovation  and  reproduction  of  the  different 
organs ;  but  this  very  process  implies  another,  and  no  less 
extraordinary,  function,  which  is  performed  by  a  distinct 
system  ;  namely,  that  of  absorption.  There  are,  in  short, 
a  series  of  vessels  which  are  continually  carrying  away  the 
useless  and  worn-out  materials  ;  removing  them  in  a  state 
of  solution;  furnished,  like  the  veins,  with  valves ;  termi- 
nating in  a  common  trunk,  called  the  thoracic  duct ;  and 
pouring  its  contents  into  the  veins,  just  before  they  enter 
the  right  auricle  of  the  heart. 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  a  continual  system  of  deposi- 
tion and  removal  is  carrying  on  within  the  living  body  ;  that 
the  ramifications  of  the  arterial  system  are  constantly  reno- 
vating the  different  organs,  whilst  the  absorbents  are  as 
constantly  removing  the  materials  of  which  they  consist. 
Nothing,  therefore,  is  stationary  or  permanent ;  and  as  the 
blood,  on  the  one  hand,  conveys  the  materials  required,  so, 
on  the  other,  it  receives  those  which  are  removed :  and 
such  as  are  useless,  or  would  be  hurtful  if  retained,  are 
thrown  off  either  by  the  intestines,  the  kidneys,  the  lungs, 
or  the  skin.  It  now  only  remains  to  show  how  this  waste 
is  compensated  for,  and  by  what  means  those  materials 
which  are  thrown  off  in  one  form  are  replaced  in  another: 
this  leads  us  to  the  functions  of  another  branch  of  the  ani- 
mal machinery,  called  the  organs  of  digestion ;  those  or- 
gans, namely,  by  which  the  food  is  converted  into  blood. 

Different  animals  require  different  kinds  and  quantities 
of  food  ;  some  living  almost  exclusively  upon  animal,  others 
upon  vegetable  substances ;  hence  their  division  into  car- 
nivorous and  graminivorous  tribes.  Man  partakes  of  both ; 
and,  accordingly,  the  structure  of  his  digestive  organs  is  in- 
termediate between  the  comparative  simplicity  of  the  truly 
carnivorous,  and  the  complexity  of  the  graminivorous 
classes.  In  all  the  higher  orders  of  animals,  however,  the 
mechanism  of  digestion  is  of  a  complicated  character. 

The  first  change  which  the  food  undergoes  is  in  tha 
mouth,  where  it  is  torn,  ground,  and  moistened  by  ma- 


ANATOMY. 

chlnery  expressly  adapted  to  those  operations.  The  teeth 
are  admirably  contrived  for  this  purpose;  some  of  them 
cutting,  and  as  it  were  mincing,  others  rubbing  and  grind- 
ing, whilst  a  fluid  is  supplied  by  the  salivary  glands  so  as 
to  render  the  mixture  of  a  proper  consistency  to  be  swal- 
lowed :  this  is  effected  by  the  organs  of  deslutition  :  the 
food  is  propelled  from  the  mouih  into  the  tube  which  con- 
veys it  to  the  stomach,  and  which  is  called  the  oesophagus  ; 
and  is,  at  the  same  time,  prevented,  by  an  extraordinary 
and  complicated  arrangement  of  the  parts  concerned,  from 
passing  in  any  other  direction,  and,  more  especially  from 
entering  the  trachea  or  air-passage  into  the  limns.  In  the 
stomach  the  food  is  subjected  to  the  secretions  of  that  or- 
gan, called  gastric  juice,  which  is  acid,  and  by  which  it  is 
gradually  converted  into  a  greyish  homogeneous  semi-fluid 
substance,  termed  chyme;  bo  that  by  the  time  the  food 
has  reached  the  right  end  of  the  stomach,  or  the  pylorus, 
its  original  characters  are  entirely  changed  ;  its  Beparate 
materials  are  no  longer  discernible,  and  it  has  acquired 
distinct  properties;  it  is.  in  short,  digested.  How  these 
changes  are  effected  we  know  not,  though  many  attempts 
have  been  made  to  explain  them  upon  chemical  and  me- 
chanical principles.  Dr.  Hunter,  in  his  Introductory  Lec- 
ture, has  the  following  apposite  remarks,  in  reference  to 
this  and  similar  phenomena,  "  I  must  therefore  expect,'1 
he  Bays,  "thai  you  will  not  hereafter  he  surprised,  when 
you  find  me  avowing  greal  ignorance  in  many  of  the  most 
considerable  questions  relating  to  animal  operations,  such 
as  sensation,  motion,  respiration,  digestion,  generation,  1  c. 
In  my  opinion,  all  these  subjects  are  much  less  understood 
than  most  people  think  them.    Our  vanity  deceives  us.  and 

Eersuades  us  thai  we  have  gol  the  whole  as  soon  as  we 
ave acquired  a  smattering  of  natural  knowledge.  Hence 
it  is  that  the  different  sects  of  physiologists  have  endea- 
voured i"  explain  animal  functions  upon  such  different 
principles.  Hence,  foi  example,  to  account  for  digestion, 
some  have  made  the  stomach  a  null ;  Borne  would  have  u 
to  be  a  stewing-pot,  and  some  a  wort-trough ;  yet,  all  the 

while would  have  thought  thai  it  must  ha\  e  been  \  ery 

evident  thai  the  stomach  was  neither  a  mill,  nor  a  stewing- 
pot,  nora  wort-trough,  nor  any  thing  bul  a    '  rniach." 

When  the  fond  ha>  been  thus  far  digested  in  the  sto- 
mach, it  passes  into  the  duodenum,  or  upper  end  of  the 
intestinal  canal ;  a  tube,  the  whole  length  of  which  is  aboul 
six  times  thai  of  the  body,  and  u  bich,  therefore,  is  various- 
ly and  strangely  convoluted  to  enable  it  to  be  packed  into 
the  abdominal  cavity.  Into  this  portion  of  the  intestines, 
various  vessels  and  glands  deliver  their  secretions,  partly 
for  the  purpose  of  lubricating  its  surface,  and  parti]  to  as- 
sist in  the  further  changes  which  are  to  be  brought  about 
in  the  chyme.  OLthese  fluids,  two  are  especially  remark- 
able, from  the  importance  and  size  of  the  glands  by  which 
they  are  secreted,  and  of  the  ducts  by  which  tbej  are  con- 
veyed; namely,  the  bile,  winch  is  of  a  green  colour  and 
bitter  taste,  and  is  secreted  in  the  liver  ;  and  the  pancreatic 
juice,  which  appears  to  resemble  saliva,  and  which  i~  se 
creted  by  a  gland  called  the  pancreas.  The  influence  of 
these  fluids  upon  the  chyme  is  direct  and  important;  the 
papcreatic  secretion  probably  acts  as  a  diluent  merely ;  but 
the  effect  of  the  bile  is  more  complicated;  and  it  appears 
to  be  essential  to  the  further  change  of  the  chyme  into 
chyle,  w  huh  is  a  white  milk-like  fluid,  formed  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  intestine,  and  absorbed  by  a  distinct  set  of  ves- 
sels which,  from  the  colour  of  their  contents,  have  been 
called  lacteals,  and  which  convey  the  chyle,  that  is,  the 
portion  of  the  products  of  digestion  fitted  lor  nutrition,  into 
the  above-mentioned  trunk  of  the  lymphatics,  whence  it  is 
transmitted  into  the  veins,  which  open  through  the  medi- 
um of  the  right  auricle  into  the  right  ventricle  of  the  heart. 
The  hitter  principle  of  the  bile,  and  its  colouring  n  itti  r, 
are  obviously  not  absorbed  by  the  lacteals,  but  remain  with 
the  residue  of  the  food,  which  is  slowly  propelled  along 
the  whole  of  the  intestinal  tube,  and,  having  undergone 
certain  changes  in  its  passage,  is  ultimately  voidi  d  as  ex- 
crementitions. 

Having  now  enumerated  the  various  classes  of  organs  in 
the  human  body,  and  adverted  to  their  leading  functions ; 
having  seen  how  the  horns  are  united  by  articulations,  ami 
connected  by  ligaments,  flesh,  and  membranes,  forming  a 
variety  of  levers  adapted  to  the  motions  of  the  limbs,  and 
supporting  and  protecting  the  sofl  parts,  as  in  the  skull  and 
spine  ;  how  the  brain  and  nerves  are  concerned  in  the  sen- 
tient energies,  and  in  presiding  over  and  directing  muscu- 
lar motion,  and  influencing  the  functions  of  the  viscera; 
having  likewise  seen  how  each  part  of  the  body  is  nour- 
ished by  the  blood,  which  is  sent  from  the  heart  by  the  ar- 
teries, and  conveyed  back  to  it  by  the  veins;  how  the  use- 
less and  decayed  parts  are  removed  by  the  lymphatics; 
how  the  nutritious  part  of  the  food  is  earned  into  the  blood 
by  the  lacteals ;  and  how  venous  is  changed  into  arterial 
Wood  in  the  course  of  its  passage  through  the  pulmonary 
vessels  ;  it  only  remains  to  observe,  that  the  whole  fabric 
is  as  it  were  protected  from  external  injuries  by  its  integ- 
uments. Of  these  the  most  exterior  is  a  covering,  varying 
49 


ANCHOR. 

in  thickness  and  Induration  on  different  parts  of  the  body, 
but  every  where  without  feeling,  and  called  the  epidei  mi's  ; 
immediately  beneath  it  is  a  soil  mucous  substance  termed 
rete  mucasum  ;  and  under  it  the  cults,  or  true  skin.  These 
external  coverings  of  the  body  are  attached  to  and  connect- 
ed with  the  parts  beneath,  by  cellular  membrane.  But 
though  the  animal  owes  much  of  its  general  security  to 
these  textures,  it  owes  more  to  the  senses,  instincts,  and 
appetites,  with  which  it  is  so  miraculously  endowed.  "By 
these  it  is  led  to  pursue  what  is  useful,  and  to  guard  against 
danger,  inconvenience,  and  want.  Nor  is  this  all ;  there 
has  likewise  been  conferred,  to  a  certain  extent,  upon  all 
living  bodies,  the  power  of  reproduction,  by  which  they 
are  frequently  able  to  repair  the  slighter  injuries  to  which 
the  different  organs  are  exposed  ;  and  if  this  power  he  ex- 
ceedingly  languid  in  the  latter  periods  of  old  age,  it  is  be- 
cause the  author  of  nature  never  intended  that  the  animal 
structure  should  be  immortal.  He  has  fixed  its  bounds, 
which  it  cannot  pass;  and  has  measured  out  the  time  when 
the  fairest  fabric  must  crumble  into  dust,  and  its  animating 

spirit  return  unto  Him,  the  great  Almighty  Incomprehen- 
sible Being,  who  first  bestowed  it"  ("-.,  Dr.  Barclay's  In- 
troductory Lectures  to  a  Course  of  Anatomy,  and  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Hunter's  Two  Introductory  Lectures.' for  details  re- 
specting the  history,  uses,  and  importance  of  the  study  of 
Anatomy.) 

A.tATojiv,  Comparative.  Ho  called  because  the  organ- 
isation  of  the  lower  animals  was  first    principally  studied 

with  immediate  reference  to  thai  of  the  human  subject. 

Galen,  who  visited  the  schools  of  Alexandria  at  ape I 

when  the  dissection  of  the  human  bodj  was  no  longer  per- 
mitted, sought  in  the  anatomy  of  the  ape  to  acquire  a  vica- 
rious know  led- the   anatomy  of  man.     Yesalius,  alter 

the  revival  of  literature,  dissect)  d  Various  quadrupeds,  and 
compare. 1   their  organisation  With  thai  of  man.  in  order  to 
correct  the  errors  of  Galen,  and  to  establish  the  true  know- 
ledge of  the  peculiarities  of  the  human  structure. 
Succeeding  anatomists  have  Investigated  the  structure 

Of  the  lower  animals,  to  acquire  the   knowledge   necessary 

for  experimi  nting  upon  them  with  Buccess;  and  still  i e 

important  discoveries  in  physiological  si  ience  have  result- 
ed from  tracing  the  modification  and  disappearance  of  dif- 
ferent organs  in  (he  descending  series  oi  animals,  as  the 
only  means  by  which  we  cm  obtain  iusl  notions  of  the 
uses  and  relative  importance  oi  the  different  organs  in  the 
animal  economy,  and  a  perception  of  the  laws  which  regu- 
late their  co  existence  in  tin  [dual. 

Aristotle,  Harvey,  and  Hunter  combined  the  investiga- 
tion ol  the  mature  animals  oi  different  classes  with  ohser- 
of  the  different  stages  of  development  of  the  em- 
bryo, and  their  exan  pie  has  been  assiduously  and  success- 
fully followed  by  the  ablest  con  paratn  e  anatomists  of  the 
present  day.  whereby  some  of  tin-  general  laws  of  animal 
organisation,  ol  development,  and  of  the  analogies  which 
apparently  different  parts  bear  to  one  another  throughout 
the  great  scheme,  have  been  discovered. 

A  very  imporia.nl  application  of  comparative  anatomy  is 
io  the  determination  of  the  relative  degrees  of  complexity 
in  the  organisation  of  different  animals,  and  of  the  number 
and  value  of  the  points  of  resemblance  which  different 
species  manifest  to  each  other  in  the  totality  of  their  organ- 
isation. A  study  id  the  anatomy  of  animals,  guided  by 
these  views,  is  i  issential  io  the  determination  ol  their  natu- 
ral affinities,  which  is  the  highest  aim  of  the  philosophic 
naturalist. 

Lastly,  the  labours  of  the  comparative  anatomists  contin- 
ually tend  to  bring  to  light  examples  of  structures,  designed 
wiih  reference  to  t  spei  ial  purposes,  of  the  most  striking 
and  forcible  description  .  and  thus  provide  for  the  moralist 
and  divine  a  storehouse  of  facts  peculiarly  adapted  t<>  the 
illustration  of  the  doctrine  of  final  causes.  (See  Grant's 
Outlines  of  Comparative  Anatomy ;  also,  A  General  Ouiline 
of  the  Animal  Kingdom,  by  Thus.  Hymer  Jones,  1841.) 

ANA'TROPOUS.  (Gr.  dvarptTzoi,  I  invert.)  Avery 
common  kind  of  embryo,  produced  by  one  side  of  the 
ovule  growing  upon  itself,  while  the  other  remains  im- 
moveable, till,  at  last,  that  part  of  the  ovule  which  was 
originally  next  the  apex,  is  brought  down  to  the  hilum,  the 
base  of  the  nucleus  in  such  cases  being  at  the  apex  of  the 
ovule.  The  common  apple,  and  the  greater  part  of  plants, 
offer  an  example  of  this. 

A'NCHOR.  (Gr.  dyxvpa.)  Con- 
sists of  a  straight  bar,  called  the 
shank,  AB,  which  ends  in  two 
arms,  B  C,  B  D,  on  which  are 
placed  the  triangular  plates  called 
flukes,  or  palms ;  the  extremity 
E  or  F  is  called  the  pea  (peak)  or 
bill;  the  point  B  is  called  the 
crown.  At  the  end  A  is  placed 
the  stock  G  H,  which,  when  ot 
wood,  consists  of  two  pieces  of 
oak,  hooped  together.  When  the 
stock  is  of  iron,  it  passes  through 
I 


ANCHOR. 

a  hole  in  the  end  of  the  shank.  The  stock  is  at  right  angles 
to  the  plane  of  the  flukes,  and  is  a  little  longer  than  the 
shank.  At  A  is  the  ring,  which  is  of  iron,  to  which  the  ca- 
ble is  attached,  and  by  which  the  anchor  is  lifted  or  hung. 

When  a  hemp  cable  is  used,  the  ring  to  which  it  is  bent 
(fastened  in  a  particular  way)  is  covered  first  with  tarred 
canvass,  and  then  with  piecesof  rope  secured  firmly  round 
it ;  this  is  called  a  puddening,  and  protects  the  hemp  from 
the  iron.  When  a  chain  cable  is  used,  it  is  shackled  to  the 
ring,  which  is  not  then  puddened. 

Men  of  war  and  large  ships  carry  two  large  anchors  of 
equal  size,  at  the  bows,  called,  thence,  bower  anchors ; 
and  two  others,  of  the  same  size,  called  the  sheet  and  the 
spare  anchors  ;  besides  two  or  three  others,  which  are  much 
smaller,  for  temporary  occasions. 

The  anchor,  after  being  let  go  from  the  ship's  bow  or 
side,  whether  the  shank  be  vertical  or  horizontal  when  it 
enters  the  water,  arrives  upright  at  the  bottom,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  resistance  of  the  water  on  the  stock,  when  it 
falls  over,  and  rests  on  the  crown,  one  corner  of  a  tluke, 
and  the  end  of  the  stock.  From  this  position  of  stable 
equilibrium  on  three  points,  forming  a  long  narrow  triangle, 
a  small  force  disturbs  it,  when  the  stock,  falling  flat,  one 
of  the  bills  must  pierce  the  ground,  penetrating  deeper  as 
the  cable  pulls,  until  the  arm  is  partly  or  entirely  buried. 

Since  the  security  of  the  vessel  depends  on  the  hold  the 
anchor  has  of  the  ground,  it  is  evident  that  the  direction  of 
the  fluke  should  be  such  that  the  reaction  of  the  soil 
against  it,  from  the  pull  of  the  cable,  may  tend  most  effect- 
ually to  keep  it  down. 

The  pressure  on  the  fluke  being  perpendicular  to  the 
surface,  take  A  B  to  represent  the  pull  of  the  cable,  then 
the  resolved  portion  of  this  perpendicular  to  the  fluke  is 
B  C  or  A  B  cos.  ABC; 
and  the  effect  of  this  in 
keeping  the  fluke  down  is 
B1)  =  BC  cos.  C  B  D  = 
B  C   sin.  ABC,  because 

A    B    is    horizontal,    and  B^^^  A 

C  B  D  is  90°— C  B  A,  ver- 
tical; hence   B  D  =  A  B 

sin.  ABC  cos.  ABC,  which  is  maximum  when  A  B  C  = 
45°.  The  flukes  of  anchors  in  general  make  the  angle 
with  the  shank  much  greater  than  this ;  but  Lieut.  Rodger, 
R.  N.,  has,  among  other  improvements,  adopted  this  angle 
in  his  patent  anchor,  having  established  the  above  conclu- 
sion by  experiment. 

Anchors  are  made  of  broad  flat  bars  forged  together. 
As  the  greatest  strain  upon  the  shank  takes  place  during 
the  act  of  weighing,  the  diameters  of  the  shank  are  made 
unequal,  the  longest  being  placed  vertical.  This  improve- 
ment is,  we  believe,  due  to  Mr.  Pering,  on  whose  plan  an- 
chors have  of  late  years  chiefly  been  made. 

The  weight  of  an  anchor  in  men  of  war  is  estimated 
roughly  at  about  1  cwt.  to  a  gun ;  in  merchantmen,  about 
1  cwt.  for  each  15  tons.  The  weight  of  the  anchor  is  not 
strictly  proportional  to  the  size  of  the  vessel,  as  large  ves- 
sels are  less  affected  by  sudden  or  violent  motions  than 
smaller  ones  are.  Large  anchors  are  thicker  in  proportion 
to  their  length  than  smaller  ones  are  ;  that  is,  the  weight 
increases  faster  than  the  cubes  of  the  dimensions. 

When  an  anchor  is  left  behind,  it  is  recovered  either  by 
lifting  it  by  the  buoy  rope,  or,  where  that  is  not  possible,  by 
sweeping  for  it;  which  is  dragging  a  hawser,  hung  between 
two  boats,  slowly  over  the  bottom  till  it  catches  the  upper 
fluke,  by  which  the  anchor  is  then  weighed. 

When  one  anchor  is  down  the  ship  is  said  to  be  at  single 
anchor;  when  two  are  down,  the  ship  is  generally  moored. 
{See  Mooreu  ;  Cable  ;  Buov.)  Ships  rarely  ride  by 
more  than  two  anchors :  in  bad  weather  a  third  is  often  let 
go  under  foot,  as  a  precaution  in  case  of  one  of  the  cables 
parting. 

When  the  anchor  is  dragged  by  the  pulling  of  the  cable, 
it  is  said  to  come  home.  When  the  cable  gets  twisted 
round  the  anchor  or  stock,  the  anchor  is  said  to  be  foul. 
The  anchor  is  sometimes  hove  up  without  one  of  the 
flukes,  which  has  either  been  fixed  in  a  cleft  of  the  rock 
and  wrenched  off  by  the  force  of  weighing,  or  been  snapped 
off,  as  some  think,  by  striking  against  a  point  of  rocks  in  its 
rapid  descent. 

When  the  ship  is  at  single  anchor,  the  wind  or  tide  may 
carry  her  over  the  anchor;  if  the  water  is  deep,  she  may 
so  drag  the  cable  as  to  foul  the  anchor,  in  which  case  it 
may  not  hold  again ;  if  the  water  is  very  shallow,  she  may 
get  upon  the  anchor,  the  fluke  entering  the  ship's  bottom, 
or  she  may  break  the  shank  by  striking  upon  it.  Keeping 
the  ship  clear  of  her  anchor  is,  therefore,  an  important,  as 
it  is  also  a  nice  point  of  seamanship. 

When  the  anchor  is  lifted  out  of  the  ground,  it  is  said  to 
he  aweigh ;  when  hove  up  to  the.  surface  of  the  water,  it 
is  awash.  The  anchor  being  hove  up  by  the  cable  only  to 
the  hause  holes,  is  lifted  by  the  ring  to  the  cathead  :  this  is 
called  catting  it.  The  fluke  next  the  ship's  side  is  then 
htted  up  to  its  resting-place,  called  the  bill  board  ;  it  is  now 
50 


ANDALUSITE. 

said  to  be  fished.  When  the  ship  is  fairly  af  sea,  the  ring 
is  lashed  close  up  to  the  cathead,  and  the  fluke  brought 
close  to  the  ship's  side,  or  inside  the  bulwark,  and  the  cable 
and  buoy  rope  unbent ;  the  anchor  is  then  secured. 

Messrs.  Porter  <fe  Co.  of  Dunstan,  near  Newcastle,  Eng- 
land, have  recently  patented  a  new  anchor,  of  the  greatest 
practical  utility  and  importance.  It  is  manufactured  in 
two  distinct  parts  ;  one  forming  the  arms  made  of  bars, 
extending  from  pea  to  pea,  without  any  crossing  or  weld- 
ing, moving  as  it  were  on  a  pivot,  and  the  other  the  shank. 
By  1 1  lis  arrangement,  the  fatal  risk  of  an  unsound  weld  at 
the  crown,  the  part  in  which  the  present  anchor  often 
fails  in  the  hour  of  peril,  is  averted.  Among  its  many  advan- 
tages are, — a  strength  threefold  greater  than  that  of  the  or- 
dinary anchor  of  the  same  weight,  it  cants  and  bites  more 
readily  than  the  common  anchor,  even  in  the  most  stub- 
born ground  ;  it  is  impossible  to  foul  it ;  it  cannot  lodge  on 
its  stock  end  ;  it  holds  on  the  shortest  stay  beak ;  it  may  be 
taken  apart  at  will ;  and  it  cannot  injure  a  vessel's  bows, 
when  hanging  a  cock  bill.  (.See  London  United  Service 
Gazette.) 

Anchor.  In  Architecture,  an  ornament  applied  to 
mouldings  somewhat  resembling  an  anchor  intermixed 
with  eggs,  and  by  some  called  a  tongue,  from  the  resem- 
blance it  bears  to  the  forked  tongue  of  a  serpent.  It  is 
found  in  the  mouldings  of  all  the  orders,  but  is  only  applied 
to  that  called  the  echinus  or  quarter  round. 

A'NCHORAGE.  Ground  fit  to  hold  a  ship's  anchor,  so 
that  she  may  ride  safely.  The  ground  best  suited  for  this 
purpose  is  hard  sand  or  stiff  clay  ;  and  the  best  position  is 
that  which  is  land-locked,  or  out  of  the  tide. 

AN'CHORITE.  (Lat.  "anachoreta.  Gr.  avaxcopcto,  I 
retreat,  or  withdraw.)  More  properly,  anachoret,  a  hermit, 
or  person  who  has  retired  from  the  world  with  the  purpose 
of  devoting  himself  entirely  to  meditation  and  prayer. 
Such  was  the  case  with  many  of  the  early  Christians,  be- 
ginning perhaps  with  such  as  fled  from  the  persecutions  of 
Decius  and  Diocletian,  and  retired  into  forests  and  deserts, 
at  first  with  a  view  to  security  merely,  and  afterwards  con- 
tinued, from  religious  motives,  the  mode  of  life  they  had 
there  adopted.  The  adoption  of  perfect  solitude  was  es- 
sential to  the  character  of  an  anchorite  :  but  they  were  ne- 
cessarily bound  by  vows.  The  origin  of  this  class  of  reli- 
gionists preceded  that  of  the  Coenobites,  or  monks  living 
in  societies  :  but  in  later  times  the  monks  used  frequently 
to  leave  their  monasteries,  with  the  permission  of  their 
superior,  and  devote  themselves  for  a  time,  or  for  their 
whole  lives,  to  the  solitude  of  anchorites. 

ANCHO'VY.     (SeeENGRAULis.) 

ANCHYLO'SIS.  (Gr.  ayKv\oco,  I  bend.)  A  stiff,  im- 
moveable, or  bent  joint. 

A'NCIENT  DEMESNE.  In  Law,  all  lands  which,  hav- 
ing been  in  possession  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  and  from 
him  having  passed  to  William  the  Conqueror,  are  named 
in  Doomsday  Book  as  Terra  Regis,  are  said  to  be  held  in 
ancient  demesne.  The  tenure  is  peculiar,  resembling 
copyhold  in  some  respects. 

A'NCIENTS.  (Fr.  anciens.)  Li  the  more  general 
sense  of  the  term,  Ancients  means  those  who  lived  long 
ago,  or  before  the  moderns.  But  the  term  is  now  usually 
employed  to  designate  the  Greeks  and  Romans  ;  and  if 
any  other  people  be  meant,  it  is  customary  to  specify  them  , 
as  the  ancient  Germans,  the  ancient  Jews,  <fec. 

Ancients,  Council  op.  In  French  History,  one  of  the 
two  assemblies  composing  the  legislative  bodies  in  1795. 
It  consisted  of 250  members;  and  derived  its  name  from 
each  of  them  being  at  least  forty  years  of  age.  It  was  put 
an  end  to  by  the  Revolution  of  the  18th  Brumaire. 

ANCI'LE.  The  shield  of  Mars,  which,  according  to 
tradition,  fell  from  heaven  in  the  reign  of  Numa,  and  was 
accompanied  by  an  oracle,  which  declared  that,  while  it 
remained  in  Rome,  the  city  could  never  be  taken,  Its 
figure  was  that  of  an  oval  compressed  in  the  middle,  so  as 
to  be  widest  near  the  two  extremities.  Numa  had  it  pre- 
served in  the  temple  of  Mars,  to  whose  priests,  the  Salii, 
its  care  was  committed  ;  and  at  the  same  time  had  eleven 
more  shields  made'to  exactly  the  same  pattern,  in  order  to 
prevent  the  genuine  one  from  being  distinguished  and 
stolen. 

Every  year,  in  the  month  of  March,  these  ancilia  were 
earned  round  the  city  by  the  Salii,  with  solemn  dances 
and  music,  for  thirty  consecutive  days,  during  which  time 
no  business  connected  with  war  was  allowed  to  be  carried 
on  in  the  city. 

ANCI'PITAL.    Having  two  opposite  edges  or  angles. 

ANCI'PITOUS.  (Lat.  anceps,  two-edged.)  When  any 
thing  is  compressed,  with  the  two  opposite  edges  thin.  It 
is  chiefly  applied  in  Botany  to  leaves  and  stems. 

ANCO'NES.  (Gr.  aynuv,  the  point  of  the  elbow.)  In 
Architecture,  the  consoles  or  ornaments'  cut  on  the  key- 
stones of  arches,  or  on  the  side  of  door-cases.  They  are 
sometimes  used  to  support  busts  or  other  figures. 

ANDALU'SITE.  A  mineral  composed  of  52  alumina, 
58  silica,  8  potass,  2  oxide  of  iron.    It  is  very  hard  and  in- 


ANDANTE. 

fusible,  by  which  characters  it  is  distinguished  from  fel- 
spar.   It  was  first  observed  in  Andalusia  in  Spain. 

ANDA'NTE.  (Ital.  going.)  In  Music,  signifies  that  the 
notes  are  to  be  played  distinctly. 

ANDRiEA'CE^E.  (Andrea,  one  of  the  genera.)  Little 
moss  like  plants,  differing  from  the  mosses  in  the  want  of 
an  operculum  and  peristome,  and  in  having  a  four-valved 
theca. 

A'NDREASBE'RGOLITE.  From  Andreasberg,  in  the 
Hartz.  A  mineralogical  name  of  a  species  of  Ilarmo- 
tome. 

ANDRE'NA.  The  name  of  a  Fahrician  genus  of  bees, 
including  those  which  have  the  tongue  3-cleft,  and  the 
labium  cylindrical,  with  two  membranous  bristles  on  each 
side. 

ANDROCjE'UM.  (Gr.  dvrjp,  a  male,  and  oUos,  a  house.) 
All  that  part  of  a  flower  to  which  the  male  .  irgans  appertain. 
The  ring  of  stamens  in  a  plant  is  an  androca?um  ;  so  is  the 
fringe  at  the  mouth  of  the  tube  iii  die  passion  flower,  taken 
together  with  the  true  stamens.  The  term  may  be  literal- 
ly translated  the  male  apparatus. 

ANDRO'GYNOUS.  (Gr.  dvnp,  a  man,  and  yvvrj,  a  wo- 
man.) An  animal  which  possesses  the  organs  of  both 
sexes,  as  the  snail.     An  hermaphrodite. 

In  Physiology,  l  lie  possession  of  the  organs  of  both  sexes 
in  the  same  individual,  either  naturally,  as  in  the  snail ;  or 
preternaturally,as  in  the  free  martin  and  similar  monsters. 
An  hermaphrodite. 

In  Botany,  a  union  of  both  males  and  females,  either  in 
the  same  flower,  which  is  also  called  hermaphrodite ;  or 
upon  the  same  plant,  the  sexes  being  in  different  flowers, 
as  in  the  birch  and  similar  trees.  The  latter  is  what  I.in- 
na'iis  railed  rnoiiiecious. 

A'NDRON.  (Gr.  dvnp,  a  man.)  In  Grecian  and  Roman 
Architecture,  the  apartment  appropriated  to  the  reception 
of  the  male  branches  of  the  establishment,  and  always  in 
the  lower  part  of  the  house:  the  gyncecea,  or  women's 
apartments,  being  in  the  upper  part. 

ANDROPE'TALOUS.     (Gr.  dvnp,  a  num.  and  iteralov, 
apetal.)    Is  used  in  Bpeaking  of  doable  flowers  which  are 
produced   by  the  conversion  of  the  stations  into  petals,  as 
the  garden  ranunculus.     Most  double  flowers  are  ol 
nature. 

ANDRO'PHORUM.  (Or.  dvqp,  a  man,  or,  in  Botany,  a 
ttamen,  and  ibepetv.  in  bear.)  A  columnar  expansion  ofthe 
centre  ofthe  flower,  on  which  tie-  stamens  Beem  t"  grow, 
as  in  the  passion  flower.  In  reality,  il  is  forme.  I  partly  of 
the  adhering  filaments,  and  partly  of  an  elevation  of  tie- 
growing  point. 

A'NECDOTE.    (Gr.  dvcKo'orov,  something  inedited,  or 

unpublished.)     In   its  original  sense,  some   particular  rela- 
tive to  a  subject  to  which  publicity  had  not  been  given  in 

previous  works  on  that  subject.     In  its  secondary 
the  narrative  of  a  particular  action  or  saying  of  an  individ- 
ual. 

ANE'LLIDES,  ANELLA'TA.  (I.at.  anellus.  a  little  ring  ) 
Generally,  but  improperly,  written  Annelidans  or  Anne- 
lides.  A  class  of  articulate  animals  with  a  long  cylindrical 
body  divided  into  ring-like  segments,  ha\  :iilt  red  blood,  and 
respiratory  organs,  but  no  jointed  extremities.  The  class 
is  divided,  according  to  modifications  of  the  respiratory 
system,  into  Cephalobranchiatos,  Dorsibranchiates,  and 
Abranchiates,  of  which  the  Serpula,  or  tube-worm,  the 
Aphrodita,  or  sea-mouse,  and  the  Lumbricns,  or  earth- 
worm, are  respectively  examples. 

ANELYTROUS.  (Gr.  <i,  priv.,  and  tXvrpov,  a  sheath.) 
A  name  sometimes  given  to  those  insects  w  huh  have  two 
or  four  membranous  wings,  either  naked  or  covered  only 
with  hairs  or  scales. 

ANEMO'METER.  (Gr.  dveuos,  the  wind,  and  fierpov, 
measure.)  An  instrument  for  measuring  the  force  or  velo- 
city of  the  wind.  An  instrument  of  this  sort  was  first  in- 
vented by  Wolfius,  and  described  by  him  in  his  Elementa 
Metheseos.  It  consists  of  four  sails,  like  those  of  a  windmill, 
turning  on  a  horizontal  axis.  On  the  axis  is  a  perpetual 
screw,  which  turns  a  cog-wheel,  to  the  axis  of  which  a 
lever,  carrying  a  weight  at  its  extremity,  is  attached.  When 
it  is  calm,  the  lever  and  weight  assume  the  vertical  posi- 
tion. When  the  wind  acts  on  the  sails,  the  lever  is  raised 
in  a  vertical  circle,  to  an  elevation  at  which  the  weight  ex- 
actly counterbalances  the  force  of  the  wind.  The  angle  of 
elevation  ofthe  weight  is  measured  on  a  dial,  the  index  of 
which  turns  on  the  axis  of  the  cog-wheel.  Several  im- 
provements have  been  made  on  this  form  of  the  instal- 
ment. The  sails  have  sometimes  been  placed  horizontal- 
ly ;  and  Mr.  Benjamin  Martin  gave  the  axis  the  form  ofthe 
fusee  of  a  watch,  having  a  cord  winding  upon  it  with  two 
weights  at  the  ends,  which  answers  the  same  purpose  as 
the  lever  and  weight. 

Dr.  Land's  anemometer  consists  of  a  glass  tube,  bent  in- 
to the  form  of  the  letter  IJ,  and  open  af  both  extremities. 
One  of  the  extremities.  A,  is  also  bent  round  to  the  hori- 
zontal direction,  in  order  that  the  wind  may  blow  into  it. 
The  tube  being  partially  filled  with  water  and  exposed  to  a 
51 


ANGIOSPOROUS. 

current  of  air,  the  water  in  the  branch 
at  wdiich  the  wind  enters  is  depressed, 
for  example,  to  B,  and  consequently 
rises  in  the  other  branch  to  C,  and  the 
difference  at  C,  ofthe  levels  at  which  it 
stands  in  the  two  branches,  is  the  height 
of  a  column  of  water,  the  weight  of  which 
forms  a  counterpoise  to  the  force  ofthe 
wind.  The  relative  velocities  of  the 
9|  i  wind  are  thus  ascertained,  the  variation 
ofthe  velocity  being  nearly  proportional 
to  the  square  root  of  the  resistance. 
The  bore  of  the  tube  is  diminished  at 
the  bottom  to  check  the  undulations 
ofthe  water  caused  by  a  sudden  gust  of 
wind.  Various  other  contrivances  have  been  proposed,  of 
Which  one  ofthe  simplest  is  to  expose  a  flat  board  of  given 
dimensions  to  a  current  of  wind,  and  observe  to  what  ex- 
tent it  will  force  hack  a  spring  attached  to  it,  and  resting 
against  an  immoveable  obstacle. 

ANEMO'NIN,  or  ANEMO'NIA.  An  acrid  crystallisable 
substance  obtained  from  some  species  of  anemone.  It 
burns  like  camphor. 

\  \I'.M<  (SCO'PE.  (Gr.  di/r/ioj,  wind,  and  okottco),  I 
look.)  An  instrument  for  indicating  the  direction  of  the 
wind.  A  common  vane,  or  weathercock,  is  an  instrument 
of  this  kind.  Sometimes  the  vane  turns  a  spindle  which 
.lis,  ends  through  the  roof  of  the  building  into  the  chamber 
where  the  observation  is  to  be  made.  An  index  fixed  to 
the  spindle  points  out  the  direction  of  the  wind,  on  a  com- 
pass card  fixed  to  the  ceiling.  By  means  of  wheel-work, 
the  direction  of  the  spindle,  or  the  axis  of  the  index,  may 
easilv  he  changed,  so  that  the  compass  card  may  be  placed 
on  i  wall  ofthe  chamber,  or  in  any  convenient  position  for 
observation. 

\  NKl'RISM.  (Gr.  dvevpvvo),  I  dilate.)  A  tumour 
formed  by  the  morbid  dilatation  of  an  artery,  and  which  is 
therefore  distinguished  by  its  pulsatory  motion: 

Wilt  J/CTOOl  B.     (I.at.  aufrartus,  uiciridim;  backward 

andforuard.)    \\  hen  the  lobes  of  an  anther,  of  the  margin 
of  any  thing,  is  folded  hack  upon  itself,  and  doubled  and 
bent  till  all  trace  of  its  normal  character  is  lost.     The  anther 
lumber  is  anfractuous. 

A'NGEI..  A  coin  ofthe  value  of  about  ten  shillings.  It 
was  impress.-. 1  with  the  figure  of  an  angel,  in  commemora- 
tion of  a  saying  of  Popi  Gregory,that  the  pagan  Angli  or 
English  w.ie  bo  beautiful,  that  if  they  were  Christians  they 
Would  be  aug.'ls.  ^^ 

Wi.ll.  BO]  DEN,  or  ST.  GEORGE,  or  ST.  CON- 
STWTINE.  An  ancient  order  o!  knighthood,  fabulously 
reported  to  have  been  instituted  hv  <  'unstantine,  but  proba- 
bly by  the  imperial  house  ofComnenus  at  Constantinople, 
and  revived  by  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  The  grand  mas- 
tership of  this  order  was  resigned  by  the  last  representa- 
tion to  the  house  of  Comnenusto  that  of  Farnese,  dukes  of 
Parma  ;  and  now  belongs  to  the  crown  of  Naples. 

WCEL  WATER.  A  mixture  of  rose,  orange-flower, 
and  myrtle  water,  perfumed  by  muskand  ambergris.  It  is 
made  i'u  Portugal.  . 

AN'GELS.  Spiritual  beings  ministering  to  God.  In  the 
Scriptures  they  appear  as  messengers,  which  the  word 
properly  denotes  (Gr.  dyye\of),  by  whom  God  conveys  his 
commands  to  men.  The  term  seems  also  to  be  applied  to 
the  highest  order  of  ministers  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  if 
we  mav  so  interpret  the  "Angel  ofthe  Church  of  Ephesus, 
of  Pergamus,"  &c,  and  the  passage  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians,  -A  woman  ought  to  have,  power  (a  veil,  as 
some  interpret)  on  her  head,  for  fear  of  the  angels."  We 
read  also  of  the  devil  and  his  angels. 

ANCI'NA.  (Gr.  dy%a,  I  strangle.)  A  disease  attended 
With  a  sense  of  anxiety  and  suffocation:  the  term  is  ap- 
plied to  sorethroat,  and  to  certain  symptoms  arising  from 
organic  disease  of  the  heart  ;  the  latter  gives  rise  to  a  dis- 
tressing difficulty  of  respiration,  and  is  hence  termed  An- 
gina Pectoris. 

A'NGIOCA'RPOUS.  (Gr.  ayyttov,  a  case,  and  Kapiros, 
fruit  )  When  seed-vessels  are  inclosed  within  a  covering 
that  does  not  form  a  part  of  themselves ;  as  the  filbert, 
which  is  covered  bv  its  husk,  the  acorn  seated  m  its  cap- 
sule. The  word  is  also  applied  sometimes  to  such  fungi  as 
have  their  spores  included  in  a  peridium,  or  hollow-shell, 
as  Lvcoperdon.  .  ,. 

ANGIO'LOGY.  (Gr.  dyyeiov,  a  vessel,  and  \oyos,  a  ais- 
course.)    The  doctrine  of  the  vessels  of  the  body. 

ANGIOSPE'RMOUS.  (Gr.  dyyeiov,  aressel,  and  aveppa, 
seed  )  When  seeds  are  inclosed  within  a  pericarp,  as  in 
most  plants.  The  word  is  now  chiefly  used  in  opposition 
to  gvmnospermous,when  seeds  are  not  included  m  a  peri- 
carp, as  in  fir-trees  and  others.  Linnasus  intended  to  apply 
it  in  the  same  sense  ;  but  he  contrasted  it  with  small-lobed 
seed-like  fruits,  which  he  mistook  for  naked  seeds 

ANGIO'SPOROFS.  (Gr.  dyyeiov,  a  vessel,  and  oiropa, 
a  seed.)  A  term  applied  to  such  fungi  as  Lvcoperdon, 
which  have  their  spores  inclosed  in  a  hollow  shell  or  bag. 


por- 


ANGIOTOMY. 

ANGIO'TOMY.  (Gr.  dyysiov,  a  vessel,  and  tcjiivu,  I  cut.) 
The  dissection  of  vessels. 

A'NGLE.  (Lat.  angulus,  corner.)  In  Geometry,  this 
term  is  employed  in  several  senses,  and  to  signify  very  dif- 
ferent tilings.  Euclid  defines  a  plane  angle  to  be  "the  in- 
clination of  two  lines  to  one  another,  which  meet  together, 
but  are  not  in  the  same  direction  ;"  a  definition  somewhat 
obscure,  and  also  defective,  inasmuch  as  in  strictness  it 
can  apply  only  to  acute  angles,  and  gives  no  idea  whatever 
of  angular  magnitude.  The  definition  given  by  Apollonius, 
namely,  "the  collection  of  space  about  a  point,"  is  still 
more  exceptionable.  In  fact,  it  is  extremely  difficult  to 
form  a  correct  idea  of  its  nature  from  any  description  that 
can  be  given  in  the  terms  of  a  definition. 

The  simplest  way,  perhaps,  of  obtaining  a  clear  concep- 
tion of  angular  magnitude  is  by  means  of  revolving  motion. 
Suppose  a  straight  line  A  B  to  revolve  about 
the  point  A  from  right  to  left,  and  to  occupy 
successively  the  different  positions  A  B,  A  C, 
A  D,  A  E,  and  A  F.  At  A  C  it  forms  angle 
B  A  C  with  its  first  position  A  B,  of  which  A 
B  and  A  C  are  the  sides,  and  the  point  A  the 
summit  or  vertex.  The  line  A  C  is  then  in- 
clined to  its  first  direction  A  B.  When  at  A  T),  it 
pendicular  to  its  first  direction,  and  the  angle  formed  by  A 
B  and  A  I)  is  called  right.  At  A  E  the  separation  is  equal 
to  two  right  angles,  and  the  line  lies  in  the  same  direction 
as  at  first,  or  A  E  and  A  B  are  in  the  same  straight  line. 
When  it  arrives  at  A  F,  three  right  angles  have  been  de- 
scribed ;  and,  on  returning  to  A  B,  a  whole  circuit  or  four 
right  angles.  The  right  angle  B  A  D  is  considered  the  unit 
of  angular  magnitude.  B  A  C,  which  is  less  than  the  right 
angle,  is  called  acute ;  and  E  A  C,  which  is  greater  than 
the  right  angle,  is  called  obtuse.  The  angle  D  A  C,  or  the 
defect  of  B  A  C  from  the  right  angle,  is  called  the  comple- 
ment of  B  A  G  ;  and  E  A  C,  or  the  defect  of  B  A  C,  from 
two  right  angles,  is  called  the  supplement  of  B  AC. 

When  an  angle  is  considered  in  this  manner  as  result- 
ing from  revolving  motion,  it  is  obvious  that  two  straight 
lines  meeting  in  a  point,  form  not  only  one,  but  an  indefi- 
nite number  of  angles.  Thus,  A  B  may  pass  into  the  posi- 
tion A  C  after  describing  merely  the  angle  B  A  C,  or  after 
describing  that  angle  together  with  one,  two,  three,  or  any 
number  of  revolutions.  If  we  assume  A  to  represent  the 
measure  of  the  angle  B  A  C,  and  C  that  of  the  whole  cir- 
cuit, then  the  same  angle  B  A  C  will  be  represented  not 
only  by  A,  but  also  by  A  +  C,  A  +  2C,  A  +  3C,  and  so  on. 
This  extension  of  the  signification  of  an  angle  is  of  very 
great  importance  in  Trigonometry. 

A  solid  angle  is  defined  by  Euclid  to  be  "  made  by  the 
meeting  of  two  plane  angles  which  are  not  in  the  same 
plane  in  one  point."  These  magnitudes  are  of  a  very  pe- 
culiar kind  ;  and,  unlike  all  other  subjects  of  geometrical 
investigation,  admit  of  no  accurate  comparison  one  with 
another.  No  multiple  or  submultiple  of  such  angles  can 
be  taken,  and  we  have  no  way  of  expounding,  even  in  the 
simplest  cases,  the  ratio  which  one  of  them  bears  to  ano- 
ther. Hence  all  our  reasoning  concerning  them  must  be 
chiefly  confined  to  the  plane  angles  by  which  they  are 
contained. 

Angle,  Facial.  In  Zoology,  signifies  the  angle  made 
by  the  intersection  of  two  lines  drawn,  the  one  from  the 
most  prominent  part  of  the  frontal  bone  over  the  anterior 
margin  of  the  upper  jaw,  the  other  from  the  external  orifice 
ofthe  ear-passage  along  the  floor  of  the  nasal  cavity. 

Angle,  Frontal.  In  Ornithology,  signifies  the  angle 
which  the  culmen,  or  upper  line  of  the  beak,  makes  with 
the  forehead. 

Angle,  Spherical.  In  Trigonometry,  signifies  the 
angle  made  on  a  sphere  by  the  intersection  of  two  great  cir- 
cles, or  the  inclination  ofthe  planes  of  these  circles  to  each 
other.  A  spherical  angle  is  measured  by  the  arc  of  a  great 
circle  intercepted  between  those  two  points  of  its  sides 
which  are  at  the  distance  of  a  semi-circle  from  the  point  of 
intersection,  or  the  vertex  ofthe  angle. 

Angle,  Visual.  (Optics.)  The  angle  formed  by  two 
rays  of  light,  or  two  straight  lines  drawn  from  the  extreme 
points  of  an  object  to  the  centre  ofthe  eye.  The  apparent 
magnitude  of  objects  depends  on  the  magnitude  of  the 
angle  under  which  they  are  seen ;  nevertheless,  in  observ- 
ing distant  objects,  our  ideas  of  their  magnitude  are  greatly 
modified  by  the  judgment  which  we  form  of  their  distances, 
(<Sse  Apparent  Magnitude.) 

A'NGULAR  MOTION.  The  motion  of  a  body  moving 
circularly,  or  oscillating  about  a  fixed  point.  The  angular 
motion  of  a  planet  is  measured  by  the  angle  described  at 
the  centre  of  the  sun,  by  a  straight  line  drawn  from  that 
point  to  the  planet,  called  the  radius  vector ;  and  its  amount 
is  reciprocally  proportional  to  the  periodic  time  of  the 
planet. 

A'NGULAR  SECTION.     The  division  of  an  angle  into 

any  number  of  equal  parts.     The  bisection  of  an  ansle 

is  accomplished  by  elementary  geometry.     The  bisection 

requires  the  oid  of  solid  geometry,  being  equivalent  to 

62 


•    ANIMAL. 

the  solution  of  a  cubic  equation.  The  general  division  of 
an  angle  into  any  proposed  number  of  equal  parts,  is  a 
problem  which  Mathematicians  have  not  yet  been  able  to 
solve.  In  modern  Mathematics,  the  term  Angular  Sections 
is  used  to  denote  that  branch  of  analysis  which  is  employed 
in  the  investigation  of  the  properties  of  circular  functions. 

AMMJI'LLIFORM.  (Lat.  anguilla,  an  eel,  forma, shape.) 
Eel  shaped  fishes,  or  those  belonging  to  the  tribe  of  eels. 

A'NGUIS.  The  name  of  a  Linna?an  genus  of  Amphibia 
serpentes,  characterised  by  having  subcaudal  and  abdomi- 
nal imbricated  scales ;  which  scales  consequently  form  a 
uniform  covering  over  the  whole  body.  The  genus  is  now 
subdivided  into  the  subgenera  Pseudopus,  Ophisaurus, 
Acontias,  and  Anguis,  properly  so  called ;  the  reptiles 
comprehended  under  the  latter  denomination  have  the 
tympanum  concealed  beneath  the  skin ;  the  maxillary 
teeth  compressed  and  hooked,  and  no  teeth  on  the  palate. 
The  Anguis  fragilis,  or  slow-worm,  is  a  well-known  ex- 
ample of  this  genus, 

ANGUSTU'RA  BARK.  The  bark  ofthe  Cusparia  febri- 
fuga,  originally  imported  from  Angustura  in  South  Ameri- 
ca; it  is  occasionally  used  -in  medicine  as  a  tonic,  and  in 
the  case  of  diarrhoea.  It  was  first  described  by  Mr.  Brande 
in  the  year  1791.  A  poisonous  bark  is  occasionally  found 
in  commerce  under  the  name  of  spurious  Angustura, 
which  appears  to  be  the  produce  of  a  species  of  strychnos. 

ANGU'STATE.  (Eat.  angustus,  narrow.)  When  any 
part  sensibly  diminishes  in  breadth.  (See  Attenuated.) 

ANHELA'TION.    (Lat.)    Difficulty  of  breathing. 

A'NHYDRITE.     An  anhydrous  sulphate  of  lime. 

A'NHYDROUS,  (Gr.  a.  without,  and  vSup,  tenter) 
Without  water.  A  term  often  applied  to  salts,  and  to  cer- 
tain acids  when  deprived  of  water. 

A'ML.     One  ofthe  plants  yielding  indigo.' 

Anil.  (Sanscr.  nili,  indigo.)  A  kind  of  indigo,  said  to 
be  a  native  of  America,  although  now  cultivated  in  the 
East  Indies.  It  is  very  like  Indigofera  tinctoria,  the  true 
indigo,  from  which  it  chiefly  differs  in  having  compressed 
legumes  which  are  not  torulose. 

ANILLE'ROS.  In  Politics,  the  name  given  to  the  mod- 
erate party  among  the  principal  actors  in  the  Spanish  revo- 
lution from  1820  to  1823.  They  had  the  greatest  influence, 
and  directed  the  Cortes.  Arguelles  and  Martinez  de  la 
Rosa  were  at  their  head. 

A'NIMAL.  (Lat.  anima,  soul,  or  life.)  The  name  of  the 
higher  division  or  kingdom  of  organised  beings,  distin- 
guished by  endowments  of  sensation  and  voluntary  motion, 
super-added  to  the  organic  functions  which  animals  pos- 
sess in  common  with  plants. 

Ii  has  been  objected  to  this  definition,  that  the  so-called 
sensitive  plant  is  susceptible  of  impressions  which  cause 
action  and  motion  of  its  parts,  and  that  the  embryos  of  Al- 
gae and  Conferva?  have  locomotion,  while  many  ofthe  low- 
er animals  are  fixed  as  imnioveably  to  the  earth  as  plants. 
But  these  objections  have  no  real  value  ;  and  could  only 
have  arisen  from  confounding  irritability  with  sensation, 
which  are  two  very  different  phenomena.  It  is  the  proper- 
ty of  all  living  organised  beings,  and  essential  to  their  exis- 
tence as  such,  to  be  susceptible  of  the  impressions  of  cer- 
tain stimuli,  which  occasion  a  reaction  of  the  part  stimula- 
ted ;  and  the  main  object  of  physiology  is  to  determine  the 
precise  node  in  which  each  organ  of  a  plant  or  animal  re- 
acts when  stimulated.  But  it  is  here  only  necessary  to 
stale,  that  the  muscular  fibre  in  animals  reacts  when  stim- 
ulated by  an  angular  puckering  called  contraction,  and  this 
property  is  termed  irritability.  It  is  independent  of  the 
nerves  and  of  sensation,  for  a  portion  of  muscle  removed 
from  an  animal  body  manifests  the  same  contraction  when 
irritated,  whether  mechanically,  galvanically,  or  chemical- 
ly. In  the  living  animal  the  most  common  stimulus  ofthe 
muscular  contraction  is  the  operation  of  the  nerves,  exci- 
ted by  the  will,  and  is  commonly  the  consequence  of  an 
act  of  sensation  ;  but  this  is  by  no  means  the  only  stimulus 
by  which  the  irritable  property  of  the  muscle  is  or  can  be 
called  into  play.  In  plants,  universally,  there  are  also  irri- 
table parts,  or  parts  which  react  when  stimulated  by  pro- 
ducing motion  of  a  part  or  the  whole  of  the  body.  It  is 
this  property  which  occasions  the  motion  of  the  cambium 
or  sap  ;  it  is  by  the  same  endowment  tl  at  growing  plants 
incline  to  the  light,  and  extend  their  roots  to  the  most  conge- 
nial soil;  or  entwine  their  tendrils  around  the  bodies  which 
serve  as  their  support ;  or  move  the  stamens  in  regular 
succession  towards  the  female  part  or  pistil  (saxifrage),  or 
incline  the  pistil  successively  to  each  stamen  (lily).  By  a 
modification  of  the  same  irritable  property,  some  plants 
close  their  leaflets  or  flowers  at  sunset ;  while  others,  like 
the  nocturnal  animals,  go  to  sleep,  as  it  were,  at  the  ap- 
proach of  day.  By  a  higher  degree  of  this  irritability  the 
leaflets  of  the  fly-trap  (Dionaa)  approximate  each  other, 
and  inclose  the  irritating  insect  which  has  alighted  upon 
them  ;  and  the  Mimosa  pudica  withdraws  its  leaves  from 
the  offending  touch ; — while  the  Desmodium  exhibits  du- 
ring the  day  a  constant  alternate  movement  of  the  lesser 
foholes,  analogous  to  the  quicker  vibration   of  the  cilia 


ANIMAL. 

whlrli  beset  the  respiratory  organs  of  many  molluscous 
animals,  and  which  is  equally  independent  of  the  nerves 
and  of  the  will.  The  conditions  of  all  these  vegetable  mo- 
tions, which  essentially  distinguish  them  from  the  volun- 
tary movements  of  animals,  are,  that  (hey  never  proceed 
from  an  internal  impulse,  but  are  invariably  the  conse- 
quences of  external  stimulus,  and  take  place,  as  it  were, 
mechanically,  and  in  the  self-same  manner;  while  in  ani- 
mals the  motions  arise  out  of  an  internal  determination 
from  parts  not  moving  to  the  moving  powers.  There  isal- 
so  an  essentia]  difference  in  the  nature  of  the  motion  itself, 
even  when  we  compare  the  simplest  animal  with  the  plant. 
If  we  touch  the  feeler  of  a  polype,  it  recedes  from  the  irri- 
tant by  a  true  contraction  of  the  pari  within  itself;  tint  in 
the  case  of  the  sensitive  plant,  there  is  nothing  like  this  con- 
traction of  the  part  touched,  bul  only  an  articular  plication 
of  a  contiguous  part,  without  the  dimensions  of  the  irritated 
leaf  being  altered.  Experiment  has  also  shown  thai  Ihein- 
tumescent  parts  of  the  mimosa,  in  which  the  irritable 
property  ia  concentrated,  move  the  leal  by  an  extension  of 
cells,  and  not  a  contraction  of  fibres. 

It  is  true  thai  many  nf  the  lower  aquatic  animals  are  root- 
ed to  the  bottom  ;  and  these  are  often  i  ed,  and 
grow  in  a  branched  or  plant-like  form,  as  I 
and  other  corallines;  but,  although  voluntary  motion  of 
the  whole  is  impossible,  yel  it  is  sufficiently  conspicuous  in 
the  different  parts,  and  the  vital  endownBhts  of  the  indi- 
vidual polypus  manifest  a  multiplied  animal  enjoy i 
not  the  conditir.n  of  a  ve^,:tahle.  The  simplest  monad  01 
infusions  exhibits  the  voluntary  characteristics  of  the  ani- 
mal, by  varying  its  movements  to  avoid  obstacles  or  seize 
its  foou,  while  the  locomotive  embryo  of  the  Conferva 
dilatata  proceeds  blindlj  onwards  in  an  unvarying  &  i 
till  its  irritability  is  exhausted,  and  excites  no  ideaofani- 
mality  in  the  mind  of  an  observe,  v. h.,  has  had  any  expe- 
rience in  the  observation  "i  animalcules  Bhrenberg  has 
asserted  thai  be  can  distinguish  a  moving  embryo  of 
the  Ugs  from  a  polygastric  mouad  as  easilj  as  a  tree  from 
a  bird. 

The  nerves  are  the  organs  on  which  spontaneous  motion 
asation  depend,  and  they  chiefly  distinguish  the  ani- 
mal from  the  vegetable.  Hence  the  nervous  system  has 
been  termed  the  essence  of  an  animal.  All  the  othi 
terns  of  organs  appear  in  their  plan  of  arrangement  to  be 
subject  to  the  modification  of  the  nervous  systi  m  :  and  it 
is  upon  this  system,  therefore,  that,  in  the  classification  of 
animals,  their  primary  division  is  founded.  Recenl  and 
more  accurate  n  searches  have  proved  the  existence  of 
nerves  in'many  of  the  lower  organised  animals,  when 
presence  had  been  denied;  and,  as  in  every  species  in 
whii  ii  the  nerves  have  been  detected,  sensation  has  been 
found  to  depend  exclusivi  ly  upon  Ihem,  we  are  hence  led 
in  a    time  thai  all  animals  in  wl  I 

must  have  it  depending  on  nervous  matter  present  in  some 
condition  or  other  in  their  tissue;  even  where,  as  in  the 
fresh-water  polype,  this  is  appa  ogeneous,  and 

wh  ire,  from   I  divisil  Uity  of  the    individual 

without  loss  of  vitality  in  the  detached  parts,  we  mayrea- 

s ibly  conclude  the  nervous  u  olecules  to  be  dispersed 

throa  rhout  the  corporeal  mass. 

The  attributes  of  senaati  otion  modify, 

as  might  be  expected,  all  the  other  functions  which  ani- 
mals possess  in  common  with  plants.  For  example,  as  re- 
gards  nutrition :  vegetables  which  are  fixed  to  the  soil  ab- 
sorb immediately  b)  their  roots  the  nutritive  parts  of  the 
surrounding  fluid.  These  roots  are  Indefinitely 
vided;  they  penetrate  the  smallest  inter  paces,  and 

as  it  were,  at  a  distance,  il irishmenl  ol  the  plant  to 

which  they  belong.  Their  action  is  tranquil,  but  uninter- 
mitling ;  being  only  interrupted  when  dryness  has  deprived 
them  of  the  juices'  which  are  neci  ssary  for  them. 

Animals,  on  the  contrary,  which  are  rarely  stationary, 
bin  which  have  the  po'w  er  of  mot  ing,  nol  only  pans  of  the 
body,  but  the  entire  body,  from  place  to  place,  require  the 
means  of  transporting  the  provision  necessary  for  their 
subsistence;  accordingly,  thej  h  <  received  an  internal 
cavity,  appropriated  for  the  reception  of  the  nutriment, 
and  upon  the  parietes  of  which  open  the  pores  of  the 
absorbent  vessels,  which  have  been  justly  compared  to 
internal  reels. 

An  internal  cavity  is  requisite  for  animals  on  another 
ground; — their  food  must  firsl  be  digested.  Plants  are 
supported  by  water  containing  carbonic  aci  !.  or  the  a 
dissolved  organised  material  of  the  soiL  But  nutrition  in 
animals  does  not  immediately  commence  by  the  absorp- 
tion of  such  fluids  as  the  soil  or  the  atmosphere  furnishes, 
hut  their  food  consists  of  substances  already  in  organic 
combination,  which  must  be  prepared  and  submitted  to  in- 
struments for  dividing  and  comminuting  it,  and  to  the  ac- 
tion of  solvent  lluids.  Thus  digestion,  or  the  preparatory 
assimilation  of  the  food,  is  entirely  peculiar  to  animals. 
They  alone  are  endowed  with  organs  of  sensation,  which 
guide  them  in  the  choice  of  aliment.  They  alone  possess 
labial  and  other  prehensile  organs  for  seizing  the  food; 
53 


ANISOBRYOUS. 

teeth  and  jaws  for  comminuting  and  destroying  its  vitality 
if  living  ;  muscular  actions,  by  which  it  is  swallowed,  and 
a  reservoir  for  its  reception  endowed  with  chemical  and 
vital  powers  for  dissolving  and  assimilating  such  parts  as 
are  proper  for  nourishment,  and  which  are  selected  and 
taken  into  the  system  through  the  purely  vital  sensibilities 
ol  the  absorbent  internal  surface,  while  such  parts  as  are 
unfit  for  nourishment  are  expelled. 

A  still  more  important  difference,  in  connection  with  the 
digestive  functions,  arises  out  of  the  limitation  of  the 
powers  of  assimilation  in  the  animal  kingdom.  Animals 
can  convert  into  their  own  substance  only  matter  which 
has  already  been  organised;  while  plants  have  the  power 

milating  the  inorganic  binary  compounds,  carbonic 
acid  and  water.  This  property  of  plants  is  more  impor- 
tant than  perhaps  at  first  sight  might  be  suspected;  for  in 
the  vital  operations  of  animals  a  great  quantity  of  organised 
matter  is  constantly  decomposed,  and  is  rendered,  at  all 
events,  useless  as  nutriment  for  other  animals  ;  while,  by 
means  of  combustion  and  other  decomposing  processes,  an 
incalcu]  ble  quantify  of  vegetable  matter  is  continually  re- 
solved into  binary  compounds,  or  the  ultimate  elements  of 
hence,  If  the  power  of  producing  new  ternary  or- 
ganised compounds  oul  of  carbonic  acid  and  water  had  not 
been  given  to  plants,  both  these  and  animals  must,  in  pro- 
cess o|  time,  inevitably  have  been  annihilated,  and  succi  s 
sive  creations  of  animals  and  vegetables  would  have  bei  n 
indispensable  to  maintain  the  present  system  of  things.  It 
is  a  beautiful  instance  of  the  harmony  which  pervades  the 
relations  of  nature,  thai  animals  contribute  as  essentially  to 
the  support  of  vegetables,  by  a  process  of  excretion,  as 
these  to  the  maintenance  of  animal  life,  by  their  powers 
of  assimilation.  The  product  ofthe  respiratory  interchange 
which  takes  pi.ic..  between  the  circulating  nuidgand  the  at- 
mosphere in  animals,  is  carbonic  acid  ;  w  In.  h  is  the  essen- 
tial aliment  of  plants  ;  and  which,  when  in  heall  h,  and  ex- 
posed to  the  influence  of  the  sun's  rays,  plants  absorb  from 
the  atmosphere  by  their  respiratory  organs,  the  leaves, 
and  exhale  the  superfluous  oxygen  which  is  extricated  in 

their  assimilative  processes.     Thus  the  constitution  of  the 

atmosphere  is  maintained  by  the  different  products  which 
are  evolved  in  the  respiratory  processes  of  plants  and 
animals, 

The  circulation  ofthe  nutrient  juices  Is  much  more  In- 
dependent of  the  external  influences  of  hidit  and  heal  in 
than  in  plants ;  and  in  most  classes  of  the  animal 

on  ol  the  bl I  i<  principally  determini  d 

by  the  contractions  of  an  express  muscular  organ  called 

the   hi 

From  a  general  review,  therefore,  ofthe  nature  and  pro- 
perties oi  living  animals,  their  distinguishing  characteris- 
tics may  be  summed  up  as  follows  : 

Animals  an    the   onlj    beings  in    nature   which  manifest 

sensation  and  spontaneous  movements.    Tiny  digest  or- 
i  substances  alone,  and  are  always  provided  with  a 
nd  an  Internal  digestive  cavity  or  canal. 

Their  nutrient  fluids  are  received  by  an  absorbent  inter- 
nal surface;  while  in  plants  they  are  taken  up  by  an  absor- 
bent external  surface. 

Animals  at  all  times,  in  respiration,  exhale  carbonic  acid 
orb  oxygen     (Set  Carpenter's  Comp.  Physiology.) 

ANIM  M/I'l   LES       (.V-    Im  .  SOHES.) 

LNIMAL  SUBSTANCES.  The  principal  products  of 
the  anin  al  kingdom  are  chemically  characterised  by  the 

presence  ol  nil o  as  one  of  their  ultimate  elements, 

which  Is  generally  in  combination  with  carbon,  hydrogen, 
and  oxygen.  When,  therefore,  they  are  subjected  to  de- 
structive distillation,  ammonia  is  a  common  product;  il  i.s 
also  often  evolved  when  they  are  triturated  with  caustic 
potash,  or  quick  lime. 

\MM\TION.    (Lat.  animare,  to enKren.)    In  Painting, 

il xpression  given  to  a  figure  w  hen  indicating  activity  in 

its  members.  Thus  a  figure  truly  and  vigorously  execu- 
ted, is  said  to  be  animated. 

\  M.MIv  A  resin  which  exudes  from  the  Ilymenrra 
Courbaril.  It  is  brought  from  South  America.  It  was  for- 
mei'h  used  in  medicine,  hut  is  inert. 

I/NIONS.  (Or.  dva,  upwards,  and  iiov,  going.)  Sub- 
stances which  iu  electro-chemical  decompositions  are 
evolved  from  their  combinations  at  the  surface  by  which 
the  ■  lectricity  enters  the  electrolyte.    (<S'ee  Electrode.) 

A'NISE.  (Arab,  anisun.  Gr.  dviirov.)  The  aromatic 
fruit  of  an  eastern  annual  umbelliferous  plant  cal'ed  I*im- 
pinella  anisum.  It  is  principally  employed  in  the  manu- 
facture of  liqueurs,  and  against  flatulence.  Star-anise  is  a 
very  different  thing,  the  produce  of  lllicium  anisatnm,  a 
tree  belonsinuto  Winteraceee. 

ANISE'TTE.  A  French  liqueur,  made  by  distilling 
anise,  fennel,  and  coriander  seed  with  brandy,  and  sweet- 
ening the  produce. 

ANTSO'HRYOUS.  (Gr.  dvioos,  unequal,  and  ftpvu,  I 
grow.)  A  name  given  by  some  writers  to  monocotyledo- 
nous  plants  :  having  only  one  cotyledon  they  grow  at  first 
with  more  force  on  one  side  of  their  axis  than  the  other. 


ANISODACTYLES. 

XKISODAC'TYI.ES,  AMSODACTYL-*:.  (Gr.  dviooc, 
unequal,  and  SoktvXos,  a  digit.)  The  name  given  by  Tern- 
minck  to  an  order  of  birds,  including  those  Insessorial 
species  the  toes  of  which  are  of  unequal  length,  as  in  the 
nuthatch. 

ANISODY'NAMOUS.  (Gr.  dvtoos,  unequal,  and  dvva- 
uis,puwer.)  A  name  given  to  monocotyledonous  plants, 
for  the  same  reason  as  anisobrvous.  which  see. 

ANISOSTE'MONOLS.  (Gr.  dviaoc,  unequal,  and  ctj] 
lliov,  a  stamen.)  When  the  number  of  stamens  in  a  flower 
neither  corresponds  with  the  calyx  nor  corolla  in  number 
or  power ;  as,  for  instance,  when  a  flower  having  five  se- 
pals has  three  or  seven  stamens;  in  such  a  case  the  sta- 
mens are  neither  equal  to  the  number  of  sepals  nor  any 
power  of  their  number. 

ANISO'STOMOUS.  (Gr.  dviaos,  unequal,  and  a-oua,  a 
mouth.)  When  the  divisions  of  a  calyx  or  a  corolla  are  un- 
equal. Seldom  used ;  the  term  unequal  or  irregularis  usu- 
ally emploved  instead. 

ANISOTO'MID.E.  (Gr.  dvuros,  unequal,  and  tzuvw,  / 
cut.)  A  family  of  Coleopterous  insects,  having  moniliform, 
or  beaded,  antennae,  subelongate,  slender  at  the  base,  gradu- 
ally increasing  towards  the  apex,  with  a  terminal  club- 
shaped  multiarticulate  joint;  palpi  various,  generally  fili- 
form ;  head  small  and  ovate ;  body  convex,  never  linear. 
This  family  includes  eight  genera:  Tritoma,  of  which  we 
have  one  indigenous  species,  Tr.  bipustulatum  ;  Phalacrus, 
of  which  Stephens  describes  twenty-eight  British  species, 
remarkable  for  their  brilliant  colours,  and  faculty  of  rolling 
up  the  body  into  a  ball;  Ephistemus,  of  which  only  three 
species  are  known,  which  have  been  detected  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  London ;  Leiodes,  abundant  in  species,  of 
which  twenty-six  are  British;  Agathidium,  of  which  we 
have  twelve  species,  inhabiting  putrid  wood  and  fungi,  also 
found  near  London  ;  Clambus,  of  which  various  species,  all 
extremely  minute  are  known ;  Clypeaster,  a  term  already 
appropriated  to  a  genus  of  Echinida: ;  lastly,  Sericoderus, 
distinguishable  from  the  rest  of  the  family  by  its  truncate 
elvtra. 

A'NKER.  A  measure  of  wine  or  spirits  equal  to  10  of 
the  old  gallons,  or  8X  imperial  gallons,  =  '2310-6  cubic 
inches. 

A'NNALS.  A  chronological  history :  derived  from  the 
Roman  "Annates  Pontificum,"  or  "Annates  Maximi," 
which  were  annual  records  of  passing  events  connected 
with  religious  observances,  kept  by  the  Pontifex  Maxi- 
mus. 

Annals  are  a  species  of  historical  writing ;  but  they  seem, 
notwithstanding,  to  differ  materially  from  history,  as  the 
latter  is  now  understood.  Annals  should  comprise  a  suc- 
cinct account  of  the  events  having  reference  to  some  pecu- 
liar subject,  as  they  occur  in  successive  years.  Inquiries 
as  to  the  remote  causes  and  consequences  of  events  seem 
to  be  misplaced  in  them ;  though  they  are  the  essence  of 
history.  Cicero,  when  speaking  of  annalists,  says,  "  Unam 
dicendi  laudem  putant  esse  brevitalem,  ywn  exurnatores  re- 
rum.,  sedtanlum  narratores."  Annals  are,  in  fact,  rather  ma- 
terials for  history,  than  history.  In  the  one,  events  only 
are  narrated,  in  the  other  they  are  narrated  and  reasoned 
upon.  The  annalist  may,  no  doubt,  reason  upon  facts  as 
well  as  the  historian  ;  but  such  reasonings  are  not  so  well 
or  happily  placed  in  a  book  divided  into  years,  as  in  one 
that  depicts  the  continuous  stream  of  events,  without 
breaking  it  into  limited  compartments.  Hailes's  "Annals 
of  Scotland"  is,  perhaps,  the  best  work  of  its  class  in  English 
literature. 

ANNATES,  or  FIRST  FRUITS.  A  fine  paid  to  the 
king,  as  head  of  the  church,  by  one  promoted  to  an  eccle- 
siastical benefice,  and  supposed  to  amount  to  one  year's 
value  of  that  benefice.  This,  however,  is  evaded  by  as- 
suming as  the  basis  of  the  valuation  that  made  in  1535,  and 
contained  in  what  is  termed  the  "  Liber  Resis."  In  Eng- 
land, first  fruits  go  to  the  augmentation  of  Queen  Anne's 
bounty. 

ANNEA'LLNG.  (Anhelan,  Sax.)  There  are  many  sub- 
stances which,  when  rapidly  cooled,  after  having  been 
heated,  become  exceedingly  brittle ;  an  inconvenience 
often  prevented  by  very  slow  cooling :  this  is  especially  the 
case  with  glass,  which  is  therefore  suffered  to  cool  very 
gradually  in  an  oven  constructed  for  the  purpose,  and  the 
process  is  called  annealing.  Many  of  the  metals  which 
have  become  harsh  and  hard  in  the  process  of  manufac- 
ture, are  softened  in  the  same  way  ;  thus  the  blank  pieces 
for  coinage,  several  metallic  wires,  &c.  are  annealed. 

ANNE  (ST.),  Order  of.  An  order  of  knighthood,  origi- 
nally established  in  Holstein,  and  carried  with  the  princes 
of  that  country  into  Russia.  It  was  made  a  Russian  order 
in  1796 ;  and  is  now  widely  diffused. 

ANNO'TTA.  Is  the  pulp  of  the  seeds  of  the  Bixa  Orel- 
lana,  an  exogenous  tree  common  in  Cayenne  and  other 
parts  of  America:  it  is  made  into  a  pulp,  which,  after  hav- 
ing fermented,  is  rolled  into  pieces  of  two  or  three  pounds' 
weight:  it  is  imported  under  the  names  annotto,  Roucou, 
or  Orleans,  and  is  used  occasionally  as  an  orange  dye  and 
54 


ANNUITY. 

for  colouring  cheese.  It  imparts  little  colour  to  water,  but 
dissolves  in  alcohol  and  in  alkaline  solutions  ;  its  colour  is 
not  materially  altered  by  acids  or  alkalis. 

ANNO'NA.  In  Roman  writers,  means,  in  a  general 
sense,  the  year's  increase,  or  the  fruits  of  the  year;  and  it 
also  means  the  contribution  or  tax  payable  in  corn,  imposed 
on  some  of  the  more  fertile  provinces  of  the  empire,  as 
Sicily.  Egypt,  &c,  for  the  use  of  the  army  and  of  the  capi- 
tal. The  poorer  class  of  citizens  were  entitled  to  a  share  of 
this  tribute  ;  and  their  habitual  dependence  on  it  was  not 
only  a  fruitful  source  of  idleness,  but  of  all  sorts  of  disor- 
der. To  grant  an  increased  allowance  of  corn  was  one  of 
the  surest  methods  by  which  to  attain  popular  favour. 

Summn favoris 

Annona  momenta  trahif.  Xaraque  assent  urbea 
Sola  fames,  emittirqne  reetus,  cum  segue  potente* 
Vulgus  alunt.    Nescit  plebes  jejuna  timere. 

The  office  of  Prasfectus  Annonas  was  of  great  importance 
at  Rome,  and  was  generally,  indeed,  exercised  by  the  em- 
perors. (See,  for  further  particulars,  Contarenus,  De  Re 
Frumentaria,  passim.) 

A'NNUAL.  (Lat.  annus,  a  year.)  A  plant  which  arrives 
at  perfection,  passing  from  a  seed  into  a  perfect  plant,  yield- 
ing its  fruit,  and  perishing,  within  the  space  of  a  year.  The 
term  also  applies  to  all  cases  where  duration  is  for  one 
growing  season  only.  Many  plants  have  perennial  roots 
and  annual  stertlte;  that  is,  stems  perishing  and  being  re- 
newed annually :  such  plants  are  usually  denominated 
Herbaceous. 

ANNUAI'RE.  A  name  given  by  the  French  to  publi'  a- 
tions  on  continuous  or  similar  subjects,  which  appear  in 
yearly  parts  or  numbers.  Of  the  existing  Annuaires.  that 
published  by  the  Bureau  des  Longitudes,  is  the  most  cele- 
brated. There  are  also  an  Anniiaire  Historique.  corres- 
ponding to  our  Annual  Register,  an  Annuaire  de  I'Etat 
Militaire,  an  Annuaire  du  Clerge  de  France,  &x. 

ANNUITY.  A  rentorsum  receivable  yearly  for  a  term 
of  years. 

An  annuity  may  be  receivable  during  a  definite  number 
of  years,  or  during  a  period  of  uncertain  length  ;  for  exam- 
ple, during  the  life  of  one  or  more  individuals.  In  the 
former  case  it  is  called  an  Annuity  Certain ;  in  the  latter, 
a  Contingent  Annuity. 

An  annuity  which  is  not  to  be  entered  upon  immediate- 
ly, but  after  a  certain  number  of  years,  is  called  a  Deferred 
Annuity ;  if  it  is  not  to  be  entered  upon  until  after  the  death 
of  some  person  or  persons  now  living,  it  is  called  a  Rever- 
sionary Annuity.  When  limited  by  the  duration  of  a  given 
life  or  lives,  it  is  called  a  Life  Annuity  :  and  when  it  is  to 
continue  only  for  a  term  of  years,  provided  an  individual 
or  individuals  now  living  shall  survive  that  term,  it  is  called 
a  Temporary  Life  Annuity. 

The  practice  of  raising  or  investing  money  on  annuities 
is  attended  with  many  advantages  in  the  ordinary  affairs  of 
the  world.  A  merchant  or  trader  thus  finds  the  means  of 
clearing  off  his  engagements  gradually  by  the  profits  of  his 
trade,  and  without  losing  possession  of  the  capital  necessa- 
ry for  carrying  on  his  speculations ;  and  one  who  possesses 
unemployed  capital  is  thus  enabled  to  convert  it  into  an 
equivalent  annual  income  for  life,  and  thereby  derive  the 
utmost  benefit  from  it  while  he  lives,  without  the  risk  of 
destitution  from  its  failure.  The  accurate  determination  of 
the  value  of  annuities  in  present  money,  is  therefore  a  sub- 
ject of  very  considerable  importance.  We  propose  to  ex- 
plain the  principles  on  which  the  calculation  is  made,  and 
to  apply  them  to  a  few  of  the  cases  of  most  frequent  occur- 
rence. 

Annuities  Certain. — The  values  of  annuities  of  this  kind 
depend  only  on  the  rate  of  interest  of  money,  and  the  num- 
ber of  years  during  which  they  are  payable  ;  ami  are  easily 
calculated.  Suppose  it  were  required  to  determine  the 
value,  in  present  money,  of  an  annuity  of  j£100per  annum, 
to  continue  five  years,  or  till  five  payments  have  been 
made,  the  interest  of  money  being  5  per  cent.,  we  should 
reason  as  follows:  The  first  payment  of  j£100  becomes 
due  at  the  end  of  a  year  from  the  present  time  ;  but  since 
jtlOO  in  hand  is  equal  to  £105  receivable  at  the  end  of  a 
year,  the  present  value  of  the  first  annual  payment  is  j£100 
reduced  in  the  proportion  of  100  :  105,  or  of  1  to  105;  that 


In  like  manner,  the  present  value 


is,  it  is  eqvial  to  £  —  . 
105 

of  JEIOO,  to  be  received  at  the  end  of  two  years,  is  less  than 
if  it  were  receivable  at  the  end  of  one  year,  in  the  propor- 
tion   of        . ;  consequently,  the  present  value  of  ,£100,  to 

105  lf)0 

be  received  at  the  end  of  two  years,  is  £  Pursu- 

(105)2 
ing  the  same  reasoning,  the  present  value  of  £100,  to  be 

100 
received  at  the  end  of  three  years,  is  £       _  ;   at  the  end 

100  (1'05>3 

of  four  years,  it  is  £         . ;  and  so  on  till  the  end  of  the 
(1-05)4 

term.    But  it  is  evident  that  the  present  value  of  the  whole 


ANNUITY. 

annuity  Is  the  sum  of  the  values  of  all  the  annual  payments; 
hence  the  required  value  of  the  proposed  annuity  is — 
100    ,       100       ,       100      ,       100      ,       100 
f05        (1  03)2        (105)3        (1-05)4        (105)5 
This  reasoning  may  be  easily  generalised.     Let  a  denote 
the  annual  payment,  r  the  rate  of  interest,  n  the  number  of 
years  during  which  it  continues,  and  S  the  present  value  of 
all  the  payments,  we  shall  then  have — 


S  = 


(1  +r)2   +  (l  +  /)3  + 


1+r 

For  the  sake  of  abridging,  put  v 
mula  will  become — 


1  +  r 


(1  +  r)« 

i  and  the  for- 


S  =  a  (v  +  v2  +  r3 +  tn) 

orS=oe(l  +  »  +V2  +  V3  .  .  .  .  +  m-i). 
The   sum   of    the    series   within    the    parenthesis   is 


1 


1—  m 

1 


(1  —  t?n) ;  therefore,  S  = 


1—  v 


.  (1 — r") ;  or,  writ- 


ing _  for. 


.8  =  1  (1  —  r..). 


1 

From  this  it  is  easy  to  see  the  method  of  proceeding  in 
all  other  cases  of  annuities  certain.  For  instance,  let  it  be 
required  to  find  the  present  value  of  an  annuity  deferred 
for  three  years,  that  is,  not  to  be  entered  upon  till  after  the 
end  of  three  years ;  and  to  continue  ten  years  from  that 
time.  It  is  evident  that  we  have  only  to  find  the  value  of 
an  annuity  of  the  same  amount  for  thirteen  years,  and  also 
for  three  years,  and  to  subtract  the  latter  value  from  the 
former.  The  difference  lathe  value  of  the  deferred  annuity. 
Again,  suppose  that  the  annuity,  instead  of  being  payable 
yearly,  is  to  he  paid  half  yearly,  or  quarterly.  It  IS  obvi- 
ous  that  an  annuity  of  JEIOO  per  annum  for  ten  years,  to  be 
paid  in  half  yearly  payments,  the  interest  of  money  being 
5  per  cent.,  is  the  same  thing  as  an  annuity  of  Jt50  per  an- 
num for  twenty  yeara.  payable  yearly,  interest  bt -ins  2X 
per  cent.  ;  or  an  annuity  of  £26  per  annum,  payable  yearly 
for  forty  years,  interest  being  Ik  per  cent.  The  princi- 
ple of  the  calculation  is  the  same  in  all  the  cases. 

Life  Annuities. — When  the  annuity  is  to  cease  with  the 
life  of  an  individual,  or  any  number  of  individuals,  the  cal- 
culation of  its  value  is  a  little  more  complicated,  as  it  be- 
comes necessary  not  only  to  find  the  present  value  of  the 
payment  to  be  made  at  the  end  of  any  given  year,  but  also 
to  take  into  account  the  probability  of  its  being  received, 
that  is  to  say,  the  probability  that  the  individual  or  Individu- 
als, on  the  duration  of  whose  lives  it  depends,  will  be  alive 
at  that  period.  Let  the  annuity  depend  on  the  continuance 
of  a  single  life,  and  let  us  denote  the  probability  that  the  life 
will  be  in  existence  at  the  end  of 

1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  Ax.  years, 

by  pi,         7*2,         p3.        pi,         ps,dcc; 

and,  as  before,  let  v  = t The  present  value  of  jEl,  to 

be  received  certainly  at  the  etui  of  a  >  ear.  is  r  ;  but  the  pro- 
bability of  receiving  it  is  pi;  therefore,  the  value  of  jti  at 
the  end  of  the  year,  subject  to  the  chance  of  the  given  life 
being  then  in  existence,  is /n  r.     In  like  manner,  the  value 

of  jEl,  to  be  received  certainly  at  tl ml  of  two  year-. 

and  the  chance  of  its  being  received  is  p2;  therefore,  the 
value  subject  to  the  contingency  is/<5  p9,  and  so  on.  Let  A 
denote  the  value  of  jEl  to  be  received  yearly  during  the 
whole  continuance  of  the  given  life,  and  we  have  evidently 

A  =  pi  v  +  p2  r2  -+-  pz  t-3  -J-  pi  r-t  ■+-  <tc. 
continued  till  p  becomes  nothing,  or  till  the  extremity  of 
human  life. 

It  is  now  necessary  to  consider  the  nature  of  the  quanti- 
ties represented  by  pi,  p%  ;>3,  &c,  and  to  show  in  what 
manner  they  are  to  be  computed.  By  the  doctrine  of 
chances,  the  probability  of  the  occurrence  of  any  event  is 
measured  by  the  quotient  that  arises  from  dividing  the  num- 
ber of  chances  favourable  to  its  occurrence  by  the  whole 
number  of  ways  in  which  it  can  happen.  Consequently,  if 
n  denote  the  number  of  individuals  living  at  a  given  age, 
n\  the  number  of  the  same  individuals  alive  at  the  end  of 
one  year,  ns  the  number  living  at  the  end  of  two  years, 
n3  the  number  living  at  the  end  of  three  years,  and  so  on, 

we  shall  have  pi  =  7ii  ,  p2  =  VI ,  p3  =  VL,  pi  =  VI  ,    and 

n  n  n  n 

so  on.  The  numbers  n,  m,  n2,  &c.,  are  taken  from  a  table 
of  mortality,  or  a  table  constructed  to  show  the  ratio  of  the 
number  of  individuals  who  enter  upon  every  given  year  of 
life  to  the  number  who  survive  that  year,  or  who  die  in  the 
course  of  it. 

There  is  no  other  method  of  finding  the  value  of  the  se- 
ries represented  by  A  than  that  of  calculating  the  value  of 
its  different  terms  separately,  and  adding  the  whole  into 
one  sum.  Nevertheless,  as  the  object  in  general  is  not  to 
determine  merely  the  value  of  an  annuity  on  a  life  at  a  par- 
ticular age,  but  to  construct  a  table  showing  its  value  for  all 
the  different  ages  of  life,  there  is  a  method  of  deducing  the 
55 


Hence,  p2  =  pi  71,  or  51 


ANNUITY, 

value  at  one  age  from  the  value  at  another  age,  which  great- 
ly abridges  the  labour  of  calculation.  Thus,  suppose  the 
age  of  the  individual  on  whose  life  the  annuity  depends  to  be 
40,  and  the  probabilities  of  a  life  of  40  continuing  1, 2,  3,  &c. 
years  to  bepi,p2,p3,  Ac, we  have,  by  what  is  already  shown, 

A  =  pi  v  -f  p2  r'2  +p3V3  +  .  .  .  .  +p*  »«j 
Now,  let  At  be  the  annuity  on  a  life  of  41,  that  is,  one  year 
older  than  the  former;  and  let  the  probabilities  of  a  life  of 
41  living  over  1,  2,  3,  <fcc.  years,  be  51,  52,  q3,  qi,  &c,  we 
shall  have 

Al  =2  ql  V  +  q2V%  +  rfivi  ....  +  q4  r>x— I. 
But  the  quantities  gl,  g2,  g3,  &c.  are  not  independent  ofpi, 
p'2,p3,  &c. ;  the  one  set  are  evidently  functions  of  the  other. 
In  fact,  the  probability  that  a  life  of  40  will  live  over2  years, 
is  equal  to  the  probability  that  a  life  of  40  will  live  over  1 
year,  multiplied  into  the  probability  that  a  life  of  41  will  live 
over  1  year.  This  is  evident  from  the  manner  in  which  the 
probabilities  are  obtained;  for,  ?i,  ni.  712,  being  the  numbers 
respectively  alive  at  the  ages  of  40,  41,  and  42,  the  probabili- 
ty that  a  life  of  40  will  live  over  1  year,  is!L',  and  that  it  will 

continue  2  years,  —  or  VI  X  —  •    In  like  manner,  the  pro- 

n        ni        n 
bability  of  a  life  of  40  living  over  3  years,  is  equal  to  the  pro- 
bability of  a  life  of  40  living  over  1  year  multiplied  into  the 
probability  that  a  fife  of  41  will  live  over  2years ;  and  so  on. 

£L,q2=lL,  g3=H,  and  so 
pi  pi  pi 

on.    We  have,  therefore, 

At  =?L(pi  v  +p3  r2  +p4  733  ....  -f  px  ri-i); 

and,  multiplying  both  sides  by  pi  r, 

pi  v  Ai  =  p2  v 2  -+•  p3  r3  -f-  pi  v*  .  .  .  .  +  px  V*  . 
On  subtracting  this  equation  from 

A  =  pi  v  +  P2  i'2  +  p3  t3  -f-  pi  v*  .  .  .  .  +  px  V*  , 
we  get 

A  — pi  r  Ai  =pi  r,  whence  A  =  pi  v  (1  ■+-  AI). 

This  formula,  which  was  found  by  the  celebrated  Euler, 
gives  the  following  rule  for  determining  the  value  of  an  an- 
nuity on  a  life  at  any  age  from  the  value  of  the  sameannui- 

iy  on  a  lift ■  year  older,  and  renders  the  computation  of 

the  whole  table  not  much  more  laborious  than  the  direct 
calculation  of  the  annuity  on  the  youngest  life.  "To  the 
value  ofan  annuity  on  a  life  one  year  older,  add  unit;  mul- 
tiply the  sum  by  the  probability  that  the  given  life  will  live 
over  one  year,  and  also  by  the  present  value  of  £1  to  be  re- 
ceived at  the  end  of  a  year.  The  product  is  tho  value  of 
the  annuity  on  Ihe  given  life." 

The  values  of  deferred  and  temporary  annuities  on  single 
lives,  are  easily  found  from  the  table  of  the  values  for  the 
whole  of  life.  For  example,  let  it  be  required  to  determine 
the  present  value  of  an  annuity  on  the  life  of  an  individual 
now  aged  40,  but  deferred  10  years,  that  is  to  say,  not  to 
commence  till  the  expiration  of  10  years.  After  the  10 
years,  if  the  individual  be  then  alive,  the  value  of  the  an- 
nultj  on  the  remainder  of  his  life  is  the  annuity  on  a  life  of 
50:  let  this  be  called  B.  The  present  value  of  £1  payable 
at  the  end  of  10  years  is  TlO  ;  and  the  probability  of  receiv- 
ing ii  in  the  event  of  an  individual  DOW  aged  I11  being  then 
alive,  is/Mo;  therefore,  the  present  value  of  B  subject  to 
the  contingency,  is  pio  rio  B.  In  general,  the  value  of  an 
annuity  deferred  n  years,  ispn  v>  An,  where  An  represents 
the  annuity  on  a  life  n  years  older  than  that  corresponding 
to  A. 

A  temporary  annuity  on  a  single  life  for  n  years,  is  found 
by  adding  together  the  first  »  terms  of  the  series 

pi  v  +  p2  r2  +  p3  r>3,  &c. 
But  it  is  frequently  more  easy  to  find  it  by  means  of  the 
deferred  annuity  on  the  same  life  for  the  same  term  of 
years ;  for  it  is  obvious  that  the  temporary  annuity  and  de- 
ferred annuity  are,  together,  equal  to  the  whole  annuity. 
Thus,  let  A  be  an  annuity  for  the  whole  of  life,  Atn  a  tem- 
porary annuity  of  the  sameamount  for«  years  on  the  same 
life,  and  A<I»  the  same  annuity  deferred  n  years,  we  shall 
have  Am  =  A —  Adn. 

Atumities  un  Joint  Lives. — The  method  of  calculating 
annuities  to  be  paid  so  long  as  two  or  more  individuals 
shall  continue  to  live  together,  is  equally  simple.  Let  the 
probabilities  that  A  and  B  will  live  over 

1,  2,  3,  4,  &c.  years 

be  pi,        pa,        p3,        pi,  &c. 
gi,         g2,         g3,         qi,  &c. 
respectively,  then  the  probability  that  both  will  live  over 
1,  2,  3,  4,  &c.  years 

will  be  pi  gi,    p2  g2,    p3  g3,     pi  qi,  &c. 
and  the  value  ofan  annuity  on  their  joint  lives,  which  we 
may  denote  by  AB,  becomes 

AB  =pl  gl  V  +p2q2V$+p3q3vi  +piqivi  -4-  &C, 
continued  tillp  or  q  becomes  nothing,  or  to  the  last  age  in 
the  table.    When  more  lives  than  two  are  involved,  the 
method  of  proceeding  is  obvious. 

Another  question  of  this  kind  frequently  occurs,  namely, 
to  determine  the  value  ofan  annuity  on  the  survivor  of  two 


ANNUITY. 

or  more  lives.  Let  us  suppose  two  lives  only  are  concern- 
ed ;  and  let  A  be  the  value  of  the  annuity  on  the  first  life, 
B  that  on  the  second,  and  AB  that  on  the  joint  lives  (i.  e.  to 
be  paid  till  one  of  the  lives  shall  drop).  Let  px  3=  the  pro- 
bability the  first  will  live  over  x  years,  and  qx  =  the 
probability  the  second  will  live  over  x  years.  We  shall 
then  have 

1  — pK  =  probability  1st  will  die  before  the  end  of  x  years, 
1  —  cjx.  z=  prob.  2d  will  die  before  the  end  of  x  years, 
(1 — px)  (1 — qx)  =prob.  both  will  die  before  end  of  x  years; 
and  hence  the  probability  that  both  will  not  die  before  the 
end  of  x  years,  is  1  —  (1  —  px)  (1  —  qx),  which  is  equal  to 
px  -\-  qx  — px  qx.  This  expression,  therefore,  is  the  mea- 
sure of  the  probability  that  a  payment  will  be  received  at 
the  end  of  the  arth  year;  and  supposing  the  annuity  to  be 
£1,  the  present  value  of  that  payment  certain  is  vx.  Mul- 
tiplying this  into  the  above  probability,  we  get  the  value  in 
present  money  of  the  payment  to  be  made  at  the  xili  year, 
if  one  or  both  of  the  lives  survive,  viz. 

px  vx  +  qx  vx  — px  qx  r>x. 
Now,  if  we  substitute  successively  the  numbers  1,  2,  3,  4, 
&c.  for  x  in  this  expression,  we  shall  have  the  value  of  the 
1st,  2d,  3d.  4th,  &c.  payment,  and  the  sum  will  be  the  value 
of  the  annuity  to  continue  during  the  life  of  the  survivor. 
But  it  has  been  shown  that 

pi  Vl     +    pi  V2     +    p3  V3     +    pi  Vi     +     &c.  =  A, 

ql  vl  +  q2  v2  +  </3  v3  +  <74  vi  +  &c-  =  B- 
pi  ql  vl  +  P2  T2  v2  +P3  ?3  i>'3-\-pi  'Ji  vl  +  &c.  =  AB ; 
therefore,  the  value  of  the  annuity  is  A  +  B  —  AB  ;  that 
is  to  say,  the  value  of  an  annuity  on  the  survivor  of  tiro  lives 
is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  annuities  on  each  of  the  single  //rev 
diminished  by  the  annuity  on  the  joint  lives.  (For  applica- 
tions of  the  doctrine  of  annuities,  see  the  terms  Assu- 
rance, Survivorship.) 

Annuity  Tables. — In  consequence  of  the  numerous  and 
important  application  of  the  doctrine  of  life  annuities  to 
commercial  purposes,  great  pains  and  labour  have  been 
bestowed  in  the  formation  of  tables  of  their  values  at  all 
the  different  ages  of  human  life.  These  tables  differ  very 
considerably,  not  from  any  difference  in  the  methods  of 
constructing  them,  but  from  the  difficulty  of  estimating 
with  numeral  precision  the  probable  duration  of  human 
life.  The  first  table  of  the  kind  which  we  possess  was 
given  by  Dr.  Halley,  in  a  paper  inserted  in  the  "  Philoso- 
phical Transactions"  for  1693,  and  founded  on  observations 
of  mortality  made  at  Breslaw.  De  Molvre,  in  a  tract  en- 
titled "  Annuities  on  Lives,"  published  in  1724,  gave  a  very 
elegant  formula  for  determining  the  value  of  a  life  annuity 
at  any  age,  founded  on  the  hypothesis  that  the  annual  de- 
crements of  life  are  equal;  or  that  out  of  a  given  number 
of  individuals,  equal  numbers  die  every  year,  till  the  whole 
become  extinct.  In  1742,  Thomas  Simpson  published 
tables  of  annuities  on  single  and  joint  lives,  calculated  from 
observations  of  mortality  made  in  London.  These  were 
extended  in  a  supplementary  work  published  in  1752.  De- 
parcieux,  in  1746,  published  his  excellent  "  Essai  sur  les 
Probabilites  de  la  Duree  de  la  Vie  Humaine,"  with  tables 
of  annuities  on  single  lives,  calculated  from  the  probabili- 
ties deduced  from  the  registers  kept  in  different  religious 
houses,  and  the  lists  of  the  nominees  in  the  French  Ton- 
tines. '  These  tables  were  decidedly  the  best  that  had 
then  appeared,  and  even  now,  when  much  more  extensive 
observations  have  been  obtained,  are  of  great  value.  But 
the  tables  which  acquired  the  most  extensive  reputation 
were  the  celebrated  Northampton  Tables,  calculated  by 
Dr.  Price  from  registers  kept  in  the  city  of  Northampton. 
These,  till  a  late  period  at  least,  have  formed  the  guide  of 
the  transactions  of  all  the  assurance  offices.  They  give  the 
probabilities  of  life,  and  consequently  the  value  of  the  an- 
nuities, considerably  lower  than  all  other  good  observations 
have  subsequently  proved  them  to  be ;  but,  in  proportion 
as  the  annuities  are  too  low,  the  premiums  for  assurance 
deduced  from  them  are  too  high  ;  and  hence  they  were 
extremely  safe  for  the  offices,  though  proportionally  unjust 
for  the  assured.  In  consequence  of  the  competition  re- 
sulting from  the  recent  great  increase  in  the  number  of  as- 
surance offices,  they  now  transact  their  business  on  more 
equitable  terms. 

An  extensive  set  of  annuity  tables  was  given  by  Mr. 
Milne  in  his  "  Treatise  on  the  Valuation  of  Annuities  and 
Assurances  on  Lives  and  Survivorships,"  published  in 
1815.  One  of  these  tables,  founded  on  observations  made 
at  Carlisle,  has  acquired  considerable  reputation,  and  per- 
haps gives  a  nearer  representation  of  the  value  of  life  at 
present  in  England  generally  than  any  other  which  has  yet 
been  published.  The  annuities  granted  by  government 
are  now  valued  according  to  a  table  calculated  by  Mr.  Fin- 
laison  from  the  mortality  experienced  among  the  different 
classes  of  annuitants.  This  table  possesses  a  great  advan- 
tage over  most  others,  inasmuch  as  it  is  founded  on  obser- 
vations of  the  actual  numbers  who  entered  upon  and  passed 
through  the  several  years  of  age  among  a  class  of  individu- 
5C 


:        ANODON. 

als  none  of  which  could  be  lost  sight  of,  that  no  uncertainty 
remains  about  the  accuracy  of  the  data.  The  values  of  the 
annuities  are  in  general  considerably  higher  than  those 
given  by  the  Northampton  Table,  at  the  same  rate  per 
cent.,  and  approach  to  those  of  the  Carlisle  Table.  The 
observations  also  indicate  a  considerable  difference  be- 
tween the  values  of  male  and  female  life  at  the  same  ages; 
a  fact  which  appears  to  be  borne  out  by  all  the  accurate  re- 
gisters of  mortality  which  have  been  kept  in  England  and 
other  European  countries.  (»S'ee  Mortality.  Also  see 
De  Morgan  on  Probabilities,  8vo.) 

Annuity,  hi  Law.  A  sum  of  money  paid  yearly,  and 
charged  on  the  personal  estate,  or  on  the  person,  of  the  in- 
dividual from  whom  it  is  due  :  thus  differing  from  a  rent- 
charge,  which  is  charged  on  real  estate.  Annuities  are 
commonly  employed  as  a  system  of  borrowing  and  lending ; 
the  borrower  of  the  money  being  the  grantor  of  the  annuity, 
and  the  lender  the  grantee.  An  annuity  is  either  for  a  term 
of  years,  for  a  life  or  lives,  or  in  perpetuity  ;  and  the  latter, 
although  charged  on  personal  property,  may  by  the  terms 
of  the  grant,  descend  as  real  estate.  A  perpetual  annuity  is 
redeemable  by  the  grantor,  subject,  however,  to  conditions 
in  the  grant,  by  which  he  may  preclude  himself  from  re- 
deeming for  a  certain  period  of  years.  An  annuity  for  life 
or  years  is  only  redeemable  by  consent  of  the  parties,  unless 
it  has  been  rendered  redeemable  on  specific  conditions  in 
the  original  grant.  Annuities  for  life,  on  account  of  the  risk 
to  which  the  grantee  is  exposed,  are  not  within  the  usury 
laws  :  they  are,  therefore,  commonly  resorted  to  as  a  mode 
of  raising  money  by  loan  at  high  interest.  By  the  stat.  53 
G.  3.  c.  141.,  a  memorial  of  every  instrument  by  which  an- 
nuities for  life  are  granted,  must  be  enrolled  in  the  Court  of 
Chancery,  containing  the  date,  names  of  parties  and  wit- 
nesses, and  conditions  of  contract,  and  the  grantor  may 
have  the  instrument  cancelled,  if  the  consideration  money 
is  not  bona  fide  paid  him.  This  act  is  intended  to  relate 
only  to  annuities,  granted  in  return  for  loans.  Annuities 
created  by  will  are  general  legacies,  and  subject  to  abate- 
ment, in  proportion  with  other  legacies,  on  a  deficiency  of 
the  funds  ofthe  testator.  If  a  person  on  whose  life  an  an- 
nuity is  charged  dies  between  two  days  of  payment,  the 
grantee  has  no  claim  pro  rata,  for  the  proportionate  amount 
of  the  yearly  or  quarterly  sum  incurred  since  his  death. 
This  act  is  further  explained  by  3  G.  4.  c.  92.,  7  G.  4.  c.  75. 

AN'NULAR  ECLIPSE.  An  eclipse  ofthe  sun,  in  which 
the  moon  conceals  the  whole  ofthe  sun's  disk,  excepting  a 
bright  ring  all  round  the  border.     (<S'ee  Eclipse.) 

AN'NULATE.  Formed  or  divided  into  distinct  rings,  or 
marked  with  differently  coloured  annulations. 

AN'NULET.  (Lat.  annulus,  a  little  ring.)  In  Architec- 
ture. A  small  square  moulding  which  crowns  or  accom- 
panies a  larger.  Also  that  fillet  which  separates  the  (lutings 
of  a  column,  though  improperly  used  in  that  sense.  It  is 
sometimes  called  a  list  or  listella ;  which  see. 

ANNULO'SA.  (Lat.  annulus,  a  ring.)  A  term  used  to 
designate,  sometimes  a  part,  sometimes  the  whole,  of  the 
Articulate  division  of  Invertebrate  animals. 

A'NMILUS.  (Lat.  annulus,  a  ring.)  This  word  is  used 
in  Botany  in  several  different  senses.  In  the  mushroom 
and  some  other  fungi  it  is  applied  to  a  collar  which  sur- 
rounds the  stipes  just  below  the  hymenium  ;  in  mosses  it 
signifies  a  rim  external  with  respect  to  the  peristome  ;  in 
ferns  it  is  an  elastic  rib  which  girds  the  theca  nearly  all 
round,  and  which  by  its  contraction  tears  the  theca  open 
ami  disperses  the  spores. 

ANNU'NCIA'TION,  Order  op  the.  Founded  in  Sa- 
voy by  Amadeus  VI.,  in  1335,  as  the  order  of  the  Collar: 
received  its  present  name  from  Charles  III.  The  reigning 
king  of  Sardinia  is  grand  master  ofthe  order. 

Annunciation,  Feast  ofthe.  A  festival  of  the  Christian 
church,  in  commemoration  of  the  announcement  of  the 
conception  of  our  Saviour  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  by  the  an- 
gel Gabriel.  (St.  Luke  i.  26.  38.)  It  is  celebrated  on  the 
25th  of  March,  commonly  called  Lady-day. 

ANO'BIUM.  The  name  of  aFabrician  genus  of  Coleop- 
terous insects,  characterised  by  antenna?  filiform,  the  last 
joints  larger ;  thorax  nearly  round,  not  margined,  receiving 
the  head  ;  palpi  clavate  ;  labium  entire. 

A'NODE.  (Gr.  dva,  upwards,  and  dJos,  a  icay.)  The 
way  by  which  electricity  enters  substances  through  which 
it  passes  :  opposed  to  cathode,  the  road  or  way  by  which  it 
goes  out. 

A'NODON.  (Gr.  d,  priv.,  dSov s,  a  tooth.)  The  name  of 
a  genus  of  Lamellibranchiate  Bivalves,  including  the  com- 
mon freshwater  muscle,  the  shell  of  which  has  no  articu- 
lar processes,  or  teeth,  at  the  hinge.  The  name  has  also 
been  applied  to  a  genus  of  serpents,  which  have  the  teeth 
in  the  mouth  very  minute,  or  rudimental  :  the  Anodon, 
Ti/pus  (Coluber  scaber  of  Linnaeus),  a  South  African  spe- 
cies of  this  genus,  lives  upon  the  eggs  of  birds,  which,  by 
the  structure  ofthe  mouth  above  mentioned,  it  is  enabled 
to  swallow  entire.  The  inferior  spinous  processes  of  the 
cervical  vertebra?  are  prolonged  into  the  gullet,  and  there 
receive  a  coating  of  enamel ;   thus  serving  the  office  of 


ANODYNE. 

teeth  where  the  breaking  of  the  egg  may  take  place  with-  I 
out  the  loss  of  any  of  its  nutritious  contents. 

A'NODYNE.  (Gr.  d,  without,  and  o&vvri,  pain.)  A 
term  applied  in  Physic  to  medicines  which  relieve  pain. 
Anodynes  are  chiefly  of  vegetable  origin,  and  generally 
come  under  the  head  of  sedatives  or  narcotics. 

ANO'LIS.  An  >&*,  anoalU,  is  the  vernacular  name,  in  the 
Antilles,  of  the  lizard  to  which  the  generic  term  Anolis  is 
applied.  This  term  is  restricted  in  Zoology  to  those  Igu- 
anoid  species  of  lizard  which  have  minute  scales  on  the 
under  part  of  the  last  joints  of  the  toes,  while  the  next 
joints  are  extended  into  soft  pads  transversely  striated,  bat 
not  cm  -  i  as  a  sucker,  as  in  the  Geckos.     All  the 

species  of  Anolis. are  natives  of  the  warmer  parts  of  the 
American  continent ;  all  are  remarkable  for  their  power 
of  inflating  the  skin  of  the  throat ;  they  are  light  and  agile 
in  their  movements;  and  in  the  beaut]  and  brilliancy  of 
their  colour  exceed  all  others  of  the  Saurian  order. 

\M>'M  M.I'STIC  YEAR.  The  interval  ol  time  in 
which  the  earth  completes  a  revolution  with  respect  to  any 
point  in  its  elliptic  orbit.  The  tropical  year  is  measured 
by  the  return  of  the  earth  to  the  same  equinox:  the  side- 
real  year  by  its  return  to  the  same  fixed  star;  the  anoma- 
listic year  by  us  return  to  the  same  apsis  or  extremity  of 
the  greater  axis  of  its  orbil  The  major  axis  of  the  diame- 
ter of  the  earth's  orbit  is  not  fixed,  but  has  a  prog! 
motion  eastward  among  the  stars.  Suppose  thai  when  the 
earth  is  at  its  perihelion,  or  point  oearest  the  Bun,  the  other 
extremity  of  the  major  axis  points  to  a  given  star ;  when 
the  earth,  after  having  completed  a  revolution,  returns  to 
it-  perihelion,  the  diamt  ter  will  point  \l"  <  eastward  of  the 
same  star;  consequently  the  anomalistic  year  is  longer 
than  the  sidereal  year  by  the  time  which  thi 
to  describe  ' :  It  is  still  longer  than  the  tropi- 
ca] year,  for  the  line  of  thi  b  ickwards  at 
the  rate  of  50""1  In  a  year:  therefore,  after  the  earth  has 
completed  a  revolution  with  respect  to  the  line  of  the  equi- 
noxes, it  has  still  to  describe  B0r'-1  +  11""8  =  61"-9,  before 
it  overtakes  the  same  point  of  its  ellipse  The  tun.'  occu 
pied  in  describing  this  arc  is  26  minutes,  and  the  length  of 
the  tropical  year  is  366d  Bh.  1 15s.;  therefore  the  ano- 
malistic year  is  365d.  6h.  13m.  !■■ 

\m>'M\I.Y.  i<;r.  dWiiiaXos,  uneouai,  or  irregular.)  A 
term  used  in  Astronomy  to  denote  the  angular  distance  of 
a  planet  from  its  perihelion,  as  seen  from  the  sun  There 
are  three  different  anomalies  ;  the  true,  the  me  in,  and  the 
eccentric.  Lei  A  /'  H  be  the  orbit  "i 
a  planet.  S  the  sun.  A  H  the  trans- 
verse diameter,  and  ('  the  centre. 
Through  p  draw  P  n  perpi 
i"  \  It.  meeting  the  circle  circum- 
scribed at t  tie-  orbil  in  I 

count  of  its  unequal  distances  from 
the  sun.  tie'  angular  motion  "i  i  planet  in  it-  orbit  is  irregu- 
lar; co  fore,  thai  while  the  real  planet  moves 
from  A  to  /i.  another  planet  mo*  ing  in  the  same  orbit,  with 
an  equable  motion,  and  performing  a  revolution  in  ti  - 
time,  has  moved  from  itoP  i  being  supposed,  the 
am.de  a  s  /■  1-  tie'  true  anomaly  :  A  s  1'  i~  i 
malv  ;  and  \  c  ./'  the  eccentric  anomaly.  The  mean  ano- 
maly is  proportioned  to  the  time  of  description  ;  to  find  the 
true  anomaly,  is  a  problem  of  considerable  difficulty,  re- 
quiring the  aid  of  the  higher  mathematics  From  the  cir- 
cumstance of  its  having  r n  first  proposed  by  Kepler,  it  is 

usually  called  Kepler's  problem. 

Anomaly.  In  Qrammar,  an  exception  from  a  general 
rule. 

ANO'MIA.  (Or.  d,  without,  v&ixo%.  a  late  ;  because  not 
easily  reduced  to  Ihe  ordinary  laws  of  classification.)  The 
name  of  a  Linnaean  genus  of  the  \  ermes  Test  icea,  tie- 
characters  of  which  as  given  in  the  Systema  Natural,  apply 
to  the  organisation  of  the  soft  parts  and  shell  of  the  modern 
Terebratulse.  In  the  system  of  Cuvier  the  term  Anomia 
is  limited  to  a  genus  of  Acephalous  Mollusca,  having  two 
unequal  irregular  thin  valves,  of  which  the  flatter 
deeply  notched  at  the  cardinal  margin.  The  greatest  part 
of  the  central  muscle  traverses  this  opening  to  be  inserted 
into  a  third  piece,  which  is  sometimes  calcareous,  and 
sometimes  simply  homy,  but  which  is  always  attached  to 
foreign  bodies.  The  rest  of  the  muscle  serves  to  join  one 
valve  to  the  other.  The  animal  has  a  small  vestige  of  a 
foot,  and  is  remarkable  for  the  length  of  its  labial  tentacles. 

AN'ONA.  (Menona,  the  Malayan  name  of  the  custard 
apple.)  A  genus  of  trees  found  in  hot  latitudes,  with  large 
roundish  pulpy  fruit,  which  in  some  species  is  used  as  food. 
The  custard  apple,  so  named  from  its  seeds  laying  in  a 
whitish  sweet  cream-like  pulp,  is  produced  by  A.  squamosa ; 
the  cherimoyer,  the  most  esteemed  of  all  the  fruits  in  Peru, 
is  yielded  by  another ;  and  other  kinds  are  known. 

ANONA'CEJE.  (.See  Anona.)  An  extensive  natural 
order  of  Exogenous  plants,  comprehending  evergreen  trees 
or  shrubs,  whose  fruit  is  sometimes  eatable,  as  in  Anona, 
more  generally  dry  and  aromatic,  as  in  the  genera  Unona, 
Habzelia,  &c,  whose  ripe  carpels  furnished  the  Piper 
57 


ANTENNA. 

asthiopieum  of  the  old  drug  shops.  The  great  mark  of 
Anonaceae  is  their  having  ternary  (trimerous)  flowers,  and 
a  ruminated  albumen. 

ANO'.NYMors.  (Gr.  dvoiWjioi,  nameless,  from  ai/opa, 
a  name.)  In  Literature,  works  published  without  the  name 
of  the  author.  Those  published  under  a  false  name  are 
termed  Pseudonymous  (ipevSos, falsehood).  The  best  cata- 
logue of  anonymous  works  is  tiiat  of  ltarbier  (Dietionnaire 
.  wages  Anonymes  et  Pseudonymes,  3  vols.  Paris, 
1822  1824).  There  is  also  the  great  work  of  Placcius, 
Thealrum  Anonymorum  et  Pseudonymorum,  t.  foL  Ham- 
burg. 1703. 

AM  >1'I.(  rTHE'RIUM.  (Gr.  avou-Aoj,  unarmed,  and  Sij- 
piov,  beast.)  The  name  of  a  genus  of  extinct  animals  of 
the  order  Pachydermata,  characterised  by  the  shortness 
and  feeble  size  of  the  canine  teeth,  which  resemble  the  in- 
cisors,  and  are  consequently  unfitted  for  being  used  as 
weapons  of  offence.  As  the  canines  in  this  genus  do  not 
project  below  the  level  of  the  incisors  and  molar  teeth,  no 
\  leant  interspace  is  required  in  the  dental  series  of  the  op- 
positejawfor  the  reception  of  their  pointed  extremities, 
and  consequently  the  series  of  teeth  is  uninterrupted  in 
both  jaws. — a  structure  observable  in  no  existing  animal 
save  man.  The  Anoplotherium  has  6  incisors.  2  canines, 
and  11  molars  in  each  taw.  The  best  known  i  Vnoplothe- 
riiun  commune,  Cuv.)  is  about  the  size  of  a  wild  boar,  but 
longer  in  the  body,  with  the  head  of  an  oblong  form,  and 
a  tail  of  considerable   thickness,  and  as  long  as  the  body. 

Its    probable   use   was   to  assist    the  animal  in  swimming. 

Another  species  of  Anoplotherium  <  A.  medium)  is  of  a  size 
and  form  more  nearly  approaching  to  the  light  and  grace- 
ful character  of  the  gazelle ;  a  third  Bpecies  was  about  the 

size  ol  ■      S  I  thi     pecii    .from  the  form  ol  the 

and  Hi  or   horns,  appear  to  have  been 

singularly  deficient  in  defensfc -gans. 

\\iii:i.  X1!  i  (Jr.  d,  without,  and  dpe*is,  appetite.) 
I  tite. 

ANO'SMIA.  (Gr  d,ioithout,Bnd  dour),  smell.)  Loss  of 
the  sins.-  of  smelling. 

aJSO'STOMA  (Gr.  dv<o,  upwards,  and  trroua,  mouth.) 
\  f  P  r  air-breathing  Gastropods,  the 

adult  shell  of  whteh  presents  the  following  peculiarity,— 
the  last  whorl  turns  upwards  towards  the  spire  of  the  shell. 

Will     KANS,     Will    KA        (Gr.    d.    priv.,    and    oipa, 

tail  i     \  I  to  a  tribe  of  Batrachian  reptiles, 

which  lose  the  tan  in  arriving  at  maturity  ;  as  the  toad 

\'\-d:i:i:s     (Lai  anaer,  a  goose.)    In  the  Linnaean  ar- 
i.-nt,  the  name  of  the  third  order  of  birds,  having 
the  bill  broad  at  thi  red  with  a  soft  skin ;  the 

feel  web  v      Natatores.) 

\\  i      See Fo 

\  \T\.  .1:  plur.    (I. at.  ante,  before.)    In  Architecture, 

a  pilaster  or  square  projection  attached  to  a  wall.    When 

they  are  detached  from  the  wall,  Vitruvius  calls  them  pa- 

e.    They  are  not  usually  diminished  even  when  ac- 

iiviiil'  columns  from  whose  capitals,  in  all   Greek 

works,  they  vary. 

\vi\  i  ;ii^  Medicines  which  neutralise  the  acid  of 
the  Btomach. 

\NT\  l.i.K'.  (Gr.  aim,  agamst,  and  d\yo$,  pain  I 
That  which  relieves  pain. 

\\  TAN  \<  I.  A'SIS.  (A  compound  word  from  the  Greek 

fdvri  and  dva,  and  the  verb  K^aoi,  I  b> 
n  Rhetoric  and  Composition,  a  figure  in  which  a  word  is 
•  I.  but  in  a  different  sense  or  different  inflection 
from  the  tii-st  ;  which  gives  a  kind  of  antithetical  force  to 
the  expression. 

"  Labiiur.  et  labetur  in  omne  volubilis  avum." 

The  return  to  the  former  series  of  though!  and  diction  af- 
ter the  interruption  of  a  parenthesis,  is  also  termed  Anta- 
naclasis. 

S/NTAPHRODI'SIACS.  (Gr.  dm,  against,  and  A<ppo- 
nrn.   Venus  i    Medicines  which  quell  amorous  desires. 

ANTARCTIC.  (Gr.  dvri,  against,  and  dpKros,  a  bear.) 
Opposite  to  Arctic.  Antarctic  circle,  one  of  the  small  cir- 
cles of  the  sphere,  parallel  to  the  equator,  and  distant  23° 
27^'  from  the  South  pole.  Antarctic  pole,  the  South  pole, 
or  southern  extremity  of  the  axis  of  the  earth.  (See 
Arctic.) 

ANTECE'DENT.  In  Analysis,  the  name  given  to  the 
first  of  the  two  terms  composing  a  ratio.  Thus  in  the 
ratio  a  :  b,  a  is  the  antecedent,  and  b  is  denominated  the 
consequent. 

Antecedent.  In  Logic,  the  first  member  of  an  hypo- 
thetical proposition  ;  followed  by  the  consequent ;  as  in  the 
following  instance : — 

If  we  say  we  have  no  sin  (antecedent), 
We  deceive  ourselves  (consequent). 

ANTEDILU'YIAN.  (Lat.  ante,  before,  and  deluvium, 
deluge.)    Something  that  existed  before  the  deluge. 

ANTELOPE.     See  Antilope. 

ANTE'NNA.  (Lat.  a  yard  arm.)  A  moveable,  tubular, 
and  jointed  sensiferous  organ  situated  on  the  head;  and 


-< 


ANTENNULyE. 

peculiar  to  the  Condylope  Articulata.  Certain  Annelides 
cany  soft  tentacles  or  filaments  upon  the  head,  which 
have  been  termed  antenna?  ;  but  improperly,  according  to 
the  above  definition,  which  would  restrict  the  phrase  to 
the  jointed  antenna?  of  insects  and  crustaceans.  In  the 
latter  class  the  antenna?  are  commonly  four  in  number, 
consisting  each  of  a  'scape,'  a  'pedicel,'  of  two  joints,  and 
a  '  clavolet' ;  the  latter  is  setaceous,  and  divided  into  a  vast 
number  of  minute  joints.  It  is  simple  in  the  external  an- 
tenna?, but  in  the  internal  pair  is  always  composed  of  two 
and  sometimes  of  three  setaceous  filaments.  The  internal 
pair  of  antenna?  are  situated  before  or  between  the  eyes, 
the  external  behind,  at  the  outer  sides  of  the  eyes,  hi  in- 
sects the  antenna?  are  always  two  in  number,  and  situated 
in  the  space  between  or  before  the  eyes  ;  they  consequent- 
ly correspond  to  the  internal  antenna?  of  crustaceans. 
The  cavity  or  socket  in  which  the  base  of  the  antenna?  is 
planted  is  called  the  '  torulus,'  or  bed.  The  first,  and  in 
many  cases  the  most  conspicuous,  joint  of  the  antenna?  is 
termed  the  scape.  The  base  of  the  scape,  by  which  it  is 
articulated  with  the  torulus,  is  the  bulb.  It  often  looks  like 
a  distinct  joint,  and  is  the  point  upon  which  the  antenna 
turns.  The  pedicellus,  or  second  joint  of  the  antenna,  in 
some  insects,  also  acts  the  part  of  a  pivot  in  the  bed  of  the 
scape,  in  order  to  give  a  separate  motion  to  the  clavola,  or 
clavolet.  This,  which  includes  the  remaining  joints  of  the 
antenna  taken  together,  is  occasionally  terminated  by  a 
capitulum  or  knob ;  a  term  applied  to  the  last  joints  of  the 
clavolet  when  suddenly  larger  than  the  rest.  (.For  the  va- 
rieties of  antenna?  with  respect  to  situation,  approximation, 
proportion,  direction,  figure,  termination,  and  appendages, 
the  reader  is  referred  to  the  4th  vol.  of  Kirby  and  Spence's 
Introduction  to  Entomology.) 

ANTE'NNULjE.  (Dim.  of  antenna.)  A  term  some- 
times applied  to  the  articulated  filaments  attached  to  the 
jaws  or  lower  lip  of  Mandibulate  insects,  and  which  seem 
to  be  endowed  with  a  sensiferous  faculty  specially  adapted 
to  distinguish  kinds  of  food,  and  applied  by  the  animal  to 
that  use :  these  organs  are  more  commonly  called  palps, 
palpi,  or  feelers. 

A'NTEPAGME'NTA.  (Lat.)  In  Architecture,  the  mould- 
ings or  architraves  round  doors  ;  also  the  jambs  of  a  door. 

ANTEPE'CTUS.  hi  Entomology,  signifies  the  under 
side  or  breastplate  of  the  manitrunk,  and  the  bed  of  the 
first  pair  of  extremities  or  arms. 

A'NTEPENU'LT,  or  ANTEPENULTLMA.  In  Gram- 
mar and  Prosody,  the  last  syllable  of  a  word  but  two. 

ANTE'RIOR.  (Lat.  ante,  before.)  This  is  said  either 
when  of  two  lobes  of  a  stigma,  one,  the  anterior,  is  directed 
'  towards  the  front  of  a  flower,  and  the  other,  the  posterior, 
towards  the  back,  or  in  any  other  similar  case.  It  is  also 
applied  to  certain  stipules,  which  stand  between  the  petiole 
and  stem  of  a  plant,  adhering  to  the  former,  as  in  some 
Cinchonaceous  plants. 

ANTESIGNA'NI.  A  class  of  soldiers  in  the  Roman 
army,  who  were  drawn  up  in  front  of  the  standards  (ante 
signa),  whence  they  derived  their  name.  As  their  post 
was  one  that  demanded  great  courage  and  firmness,  they 
were  picked  troops. 

ANTHE'LA.  (Gr.  di/0ijXioi>,  a  little  flower.)  A  name 
given  by  Mever  to  the  inflorescence  of  rushes. 

ANTHE'LIX.  (Gr.  dvri,  against,  and  >;X<£,  the  helix,  or 
external  involute  margin  of  the  auricle.)  hi  Anatomy,  the 
outer  or  external  ridge  of  the  auricle  ear,  which  runs  near- 
ly parallel  with  the  helix.  r 

ANTHELMINTICS.  (Gr.  dvri,  against,  and  t\uivs, 
a  worm.)  Medicines  which  kill  intestinal  worms,  or  effect 
their  expulsion. 

A'NTHEM.  (Gr.  dvTKpwvn,  alternate  singing.)  A 
piece  of  music  performed  in  cathedral  service  by  choris- 
ters who  sing  alternately.  This  manner  of  singing  is  very 
ancient  in  the  church  ;  some  suppose  it  to  have  descended 
from  the  practice  of  the  earliest  Christians,  who,  accord- 
ing to  Pliny,  were  accustomed  to  sing  their  Hymn  to  Christ 
in  parts  or  by  turns  (secum  invicem). 

A'NTHER.  (Gr.  dvdripa,  a  flowery  herb.)  A  hollow 
case,  usually  consisting  of  two  parallel  cells,  and  constitut- 
ing the  apparatus  that  contains  the  pollen,  or  male  part  of 
a  flower.  Theoretically  considered,  an  anther  is  the  blade 
of  a  leaf,  in  a  contracted  state,  with  its  two  sides  hollowed 
out  and  its  parenchyma  converted  into  pollen,  while  the 
midrib  in  a  fleshy  state  divides  the  two  lobes,  and  is  called 
the  connective.  This  part  is  sometimes  highly  developed, 
when  the  lobes  of  the  anther  are  often  placed  at  a  distance 
from  each  other,  as  in  Nympha?a;  or  it  is  altogether  ab- 
sorbed, when  the  lobes  run  together,  and  there  is  but  one 
cell,  as  in  Epacris.  Other  modifications  produce  other 
striking  appearances :  one  lobe,  for  instance,  disappears, 
and  the  connective  is  expanded  into  the  state  of  a  petal,  as 
in  Carina ;  or  it  is  simply  lengthened  and  distorted,  as  in 
Salvia ;  or,  the  anther  remaining  in  its  normal  state,  it  is 
converted  into  a  fleshy  mass,  as  in  Pena?a ;  and  it  under- 
goes many  similar  transformations,  either  from  the  same 
or  other  causes.  What  is  most  curious  about  the  anther, 
53 


ANTHROPOGRAPHY. 

is  its  property  of  opening  to  discharge  iis  pollen  just  at  the 
very  time  when  the  stigma  is  ready  to  receive  the  influence 
of  the  latter.  The  cause  of  this  sympathy  between  two 
really  independent  parts  is  supposed  to  consist  in  an  emp- 
tying and  drying  up  of  the  cellules  forming  the  lining  of 
the  anther  by  the  absorbent  action  of  the  ovary,  which  is 
imagined  thus  by  its  own  efforts  to  bring  about  an  action 
which  is  necessary  to  its  own  complete  operation.  The 
cellules  lining  the  anther,  when  thus  dried  up,  contract, 
and  pull  against  certain  fissures  or  dehiscent  hues  in  the 
valves  of  the  anther,  which  give  way,  and  so  form  openings 
by  which  the  pollen  escapes. 

ANTHERI'FEROUS.  (Lat.  anthera,  an  anther,  and 
fero,  I  bear.)    Forming  a  support  to  an  anther. 

ANTHERO'GENOUS.  (Lat.  anthera,  and  Gr.  ydvopai, 
I  am  produced.)  When,  in  double  flowers,  the  anthers  are 
converted  into  horn-like  petals,  as  in  the  double  columbine. 

ANTHE'ROID.     Resembling  an  anther. 

ANTHE'SIS.  (Gr.  dvdnats,  t/ie  generation  of  flowers.) 
The  period  when  flowers  expand.  It  is  at  that  time  that 
all  the  curious  phenomena  of  fertilisation  occur;  the  parts 
are  all  in  their  most  perfect  state,  and  consequently  it  is 
often  necessary  to  speak  of  that  period. 

ANTHO'DIUM.  (Gr.  dvdos,  a  flower,  or  dvdca&r)s,full  of 
flowers.)  The  head  of  flowers  of  a  thistle  or  a  daisy  ;  it  is 
the  same  thing  as  capitulum,  and  is  applicable  to  all  cases 
where  a  number  of  small  flowers  or  florets  are  combined 
in  a  head,  and  surrounded  by  a  common  involucrum.  An 
anthodium  is  nothing  but  a  depressed  spike. 

ANTHO'LOGY.  (Gr.  dvdoXoyta.)  Signifying  "a  gar- 
land of  flowers,"  and  metaphorically  applied  to  a  collection 
of  short  pieces  of  poetry,  on  amatory,  convivial,  moral,  fu- 
nereal, &c.  subjects,  called  epigrams  ;  not  in  the  English 
sense  of  the  word,  which  implies  a  pointed  conceit,  but  in 
the  more  proper  signification  of  "inscription."  The  first 
collection  of  epigrams  known  by  the  name  of  Anthology 
was  made  by  Meleager,  a  Syrian  Greek  poet,  who  lived 
about  a  century  before  the  birth  of  Christ ;  and  to  this 
several  additions  were  made  by  different  hands  as  low 
down  as  the  times  of  the  Byzantine  empire.  A  selection 
from  the  Greek  Anthology,  translated  into  English  verse 
by  the  late  Mr.  Bland  and  several  friends,  has  gone  through 
two  editions. 

ANTHO'LYSIS.  (Gr.  dvdos,  a  flower,  and  \v<rts,  a 
breaking  up.)  The  changes  of  flowers  from  their  usual  to 
some  other  state,  as  leaves,  branches,  &c. 

ANTHO'PHORUM.  (Gr.  dvdos,  a  flower,  and  (pcpetv,  to 
bear.)  A  columnar  process  arising  from  the  bottom  of  the 
calyx,  and  having  at  its  apex  the  petals,  stamens,  and  pistil. 
It  is  usually  very  short,  and  is  in  reality  an  internode  be- 
tween the  whorls  of  sepals  and  petals. 

ANTHOXA'NTHUM.  (Gr.  dvdos,  a  flower,  and  \avdos, 
yelknc.)  A  dwarf  annual  grass,  found  plentifully  in  pas- 
tures, and  having  sweet-scented  leaves.  It  is  thought  that 
the  fragrance  of  hay  is  owing  to  its  presence.  The  flowers 
are  in  oval  heads,  which  become  dull  yellow  when  ripe. 
Farmers  call  it  the  sweet  vernal  grass. 

ANTHOZA'SIA.  (Gr.  dvdos,  a  flower,  and  ?a&>,  I  flour- 
ish.) When  the  leaves  of  a  plant  assume  the  appearance 
of  petals. 

AN'THRACITE.  (Gr.  dvdpa%,  charcoal.)  Mineral  car- 
bon.    A  difficultly  combustible  species  of  coal. 

A'NTHRACOTHE'RIUM.  (Gr.  dvdpa\,  charcoal,  and 
Sirjpiov,  a  beast.)  A  name  indicative  of  the  stratum  in 
which  the  fossil  genus  of  Pachyderms,  to  which  it  is  ap- 
plied, was  found,  viz.  in  the  tertiary  coal  or  lignite  of  Ca- 
dibona,  in  Liguria.  The  genus  presents  seven  species, 
some  of  them  approximating  to  the  size  and  character  of 
the  hog  ;  others  approaching  nearly  to  the  dimensions  of  a 
hippopotamus. 

A'NTHRAX.  The  name  of  a  Fabrician  genus  of  Dip- 
terous insects,  having  the  mouth  provided  with  a  very  long 
straight  setaceous  sucker,  formed  of  two  unequal  horizon- 
tal valves,  and  containing  setaceous  stings  ;  palpi  two, 
hairy ;  antenna?  distant,  the  last  joint  setaceous.  The  ge- 
nus is  now  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  family,  Anthracidm,  cha- 
racterised by  a  short  body  ;  wings  spreading  widely  out ; 
antenna?  distant,  two  and  sometimes  three  jointed ;  the 
head  as  high  as  the  thorax.  Two  of  the  genera  (So?natia, 
and  Anthrax  proper)  are  British. 

ANTHRE'NUS.  The  name  of  a  Linna?an  genus  of 
Coleopterous  insects,  having  the  antenna?  clavate,  the  club 
solid ;  palpi  unequal,  filiform  :  maxilla?  membranaceous, 
linear,  bifid  ;  labium  entire  ;  head  hid  under  the  thorax. 

A'NTHRIBUS.  The  name  of  a  Fabrician  genus  of 
Coleopterous  insects,  applied  to  that  section  of  the  Linna?an 
Curculiones,  which  has  the  lip  bifid,  the  jaw  bifid  and  short, 
and  the  proboscis  short. 

ANTHROPO'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  dvOpomos,  man,  and 
ypacpctv,  to  describe.)  A  branch  of  Physical  Geography 
which  investigates  the  physical  characteristics,  local  boun- 
daries, and  actually  existing  circumstances,  of  different 
races  or  families  of  men  :  differing  from  Ethnography, 
which  examines  their  origin  and  affinities. 


ANTHROPOLOGY. 

ANTHROPO'I.OGY.  (Gr.  dvOpamot,  man,  and  Aojoc, 
discourse.)  The  science  which  treats  of  human  nature, 
both  physical  and  intellectual :  any  writing  on  the  nature 
and  attributes  of  man  may  be  said  to  be  anthropological. 
But  the  term  is  frequently  used  to  denote  the  science  of 
Anatomy  in  particular. 

\  \  11 1 1!  < )'  J'c  ».M(  )'RPHITES.  Persons  who  conceive  the 
Deity  to  have  naturally  the  human  shape.  Such  sensuous 
conceptions  of  the  nature  of  God  have  been  always  com- 
mon anions  heathens. 

ANTHRO'POMO'RPHOUS.  (Gr.  dv0pomo;,aman, and 
pop<j>n,furm.)  A  name  applied  to  the  labellum  in  some 
Orchidaceous  plants,  in  consequence  of  the  upper  lobes 
having  a  fancied  resemblance  to  human  arms,  and  the  low- 
er to  human  lege. 

A  NTHROPO  I'HAGI.  (Gr.  dvBpwxos,  man,  and  <payav, 
to  eat.)    People  who  feed  upon  human  flesh. 

Willi  'RD8.  ((Jr.  dvvos,  a  flaw  r,  and  ovpa,  a  tail.) 
A  spike  of  minute  flowers  arranged  closely  on  a  long  axis, 
as  in  the  genus  Piper. 

ATTTHuS.  The  name  ofa  subgenus  of  Passerine  birds, 
Including  the  pipits. 

A'NTl.  (Gr.  dvri,  against.)  This  Greek  preposition  is 
constantly  used  as  a  prefix  ;  thus,  antidote,  antibilious,  an- 
tipathy, &.C. 

A'NTIAR.    {See  Upas.)    A  Javan  se  poison. 

A'.VI'I  -ATTRl'TloV  A  compound  applied  to  machine- 
ry to  prevent  the  effects  of  friction.  It  frequently  consists 
ofa  mixture  of  plumbago  with  some  greasy  material. 

wtikkv'i  mi  M  (Qr.  dvri, against,  ft paxtor,  arm.) 
The  fore-arm,  or  third  segment  of  the  anterior  extremities, 
which  is  formed,  in  the  skeleton,  by  the  radius  and  ulna 
conjointly;  or  sometimes  by  the  radius,  either  alone,  or 
with  the  ulna  partially  developed.  And  the  fore-arm  articu- 
lates, aboi  s  with  the  arm,  below  with  the  hand, 

\'\  in  II  UMBER,  (Fr.  antichambre.)  In  Architec- 
ture. Any  outward  chamber  adjoining  or  near  a  bed- 
chamber; also  an  apartment  before  any  principal  cham- 
ber; also  a  lobbj  oi  outerwaiting-roominapaJ 

A'NTICHRIST.  (Gr  ivrtxpicros,  opponent  of  Chriat.) 
Mentioned  bj  8l  John,  Is)  Ep,  ii.  18.,  ana  supposed  to  be 
the  same  with  the  "  man  of  sin''  whose  coming  is  foretold 
by  St.  Paul,  2d  These,  ch.  ii  The  speculations  in  which 
ogical  writers  have  indulged  respecting  this  great  ad- 
versary of  Christianity  have  been  varic  fanci- 
ful ;  but  the  prevalenl  opinion  among  reformed  divh 
always  connected  him  with  the  Romish  church  Al  (he 
council  of  Gap,  in  1603,  the  reformed  miniate: 
Bembled,  inserted  an  article  in  their  Confession  of  Faith,  in 
which  the  pope  is  pronounced  Antichrist.  Grotius,  and 
most  catholic  divines,  consider  Uitichrist  as  symbolical  ol 
Pagan  Rom  is:  Leclerc,  Lightfi at,  and 
others,  of  the  Jewish  Sanhedrim,  or  particular  Jewish  im- 

(See  Dodsworth  lures,  London, 

for  the  opinion  entertained  by  some  lliL'h  Church  divines 
of  the  present  day  | 

ANTICLI'MAX  (Gr.  dvrt,  and  K\iua\,  gradation.)  In 
Rhetoric,  when  a  sentence  oi  discourse,  instead  of  ascend- 
ing from  little  to  great,  descends  from  great  to  little.  Horace 
has  given  a  famous  example, 

11  Parturiunt  monU-s,  nascetur  ridiculua  mua." 
There  an'  also  several  Mtiking  examples  of  this  figure  in 
Pope,  as  in  the  vei     . 

"  Die,  and  endow  a  college  or  a  cat." 

But  in  this  case  the  effeel  is  heightened  by  the  alliteration. 
ANTH'i.i  \\i.  wis.  (Gr.  dvri,  against,  and  kXwsiv, 
to  incline.)  If  a  range  of  hills  or  a  vail.  \  be  composed  of 
Btrata  which,  on  the  two  sides,  dip  in  opposite  directions, 
iip  imaginary  lino  thai  lies  between  them,  towards  which 
the  strata  on  each  side  rise,  is  called  the  anticlinal  axis  In 
a  row  of  houses  with  steep  roofs  facing  the  south,  tin 
represent  inclined  Btrata  dipping  north  ami  south,  and  the 
ridge  is  an  east  and  west  anticlinal  axis  (Lyell.)  In  the 
annexed  diagram,  a  a  are  the  anticlinal,  b  b  the  synclinal 
lines. 


ANTTCOUS.  (Lat.)  In  Botany,  is  applied  to  an  anther 
whose  lobes  are  placed  facing  the  style  ;  or  to  a  petal  which 
is  stationed  on  that  side  of  a  flower  which  is  next  the  eye  of 
an  observer  as  it  grows  upon  its  stem. 

AMTCl'M.  (Lat.)  In  ancient  Architecture.  The 
southern  porch  of  a  building ;  that  which  was  towards  the 
north  being  called  the  posticum.  It  is  also  used  to  signify 
that  part  of  the  temple  between  the  cell  and  the  columns  of 
the  portico. 

59 


ANTINOMIANS. 

A'NTTDOTE.  (Gr.  dvri,  against,  and  6iZwp.i,  I  give.) 
A  remedv  or  preservative  against  sickness.     (,Vee  Poison.) 

A'NTIFI'XA,  or  ANTEF1XA.  (Lat.  ante,  before,  and 
figo,  I  fix.)  In  Architecture.  The  ornaments  of  lions'  and 
other  heads  below  the  eaves  of  a  temple,  through  perfora- 
tions in  which,  usually  by  the  mouth,  the  water  is  cast  away 
from  the  eaves.  By  some  this  term  is  used  to  denote  the 
upright  ornaments  above  the  eaves  in  ancient  Architecture, 
which  concealed  the  ends  of  the  harmi,  or  joint  tiles. 

ANTILI'THICS.  (Gr.  dvri.  against,  and  Aifloc,  a  stone.) 
Medicines  used  in  the  treatment  of  stone  in  the  bladder  and 
urinary  gravel. 

A'NTH.n'GARITHM.  In  its  most  common  acceptation, 
denotes  the  number  to  a  logarithm.  Thus,  in  the  common 
system  of  logarithms,  100  is  the  antilogarithm  of  2,  because 
2  is  the  logarithm  of  100.  Sometimes  the  term  is  used  to 
denote  the  complement  of  the  logarithm,  or  the  difference 
of  the  logarithm  from  the  next  higher  term  in  the  series,  1, 
10,100.  &c 

ANTILOI'MK'.  (Gr.  dvri,  against,  and  \otpos,  conta- 
gion, or  the  plague.)  Remedies  used  in  the  prevention  and 
cure  of  the  plague. 

A'NTILOPE.  (Gr.  dvdos,  ornament,  and  cut//,  eye.)  An- 
telope ;  a  term  which,  according  to  Cuvier,  is  a  corruption 
of  the  word  "antholops,"  applied  by  Eustathius,  an  ancient 
naturalist,  to  the  gazelle,  in  allusion  to  its  beautiful  eyes. 
The  name  is  now  given  to  a  division  of  the  hollow-horned 
Ruminants  (see  Cavicornia).  in  which  the  bony  axis  of 
the  horn  is  without  cavities  or  sinus,  s.  Antilopes  are  fur- 
ther distinguished  by  suborbital  or  maxillary  glandular 
pouches,  and  their  light  and  elegant  figure.  They  are  the 
natives,  for  the  most  part,  of  the  wildest  and  least  accessi- 
ble places  in  the  warmer  latitudes  of  the  globe  ;  frequenting 
the  cliffs  and  ledges  of  mountain  rocks,  or  the  verdure-clad 
hanks  of  tropical  si  iea  ins.  or  the  oases  of  the  desert.  They 
traverse  the  intervening  wildernesses  in  pairs  or  in  troops, 
with  incredible  fleetness,  clearing  obstacles,  which  would 
impede  the  curse  ol  other  quadrupeds,  by  a  succession  of 
niids. 

i  ml  Mopes  are  now  arranged  under  a  number  of  sub- 
generic  divisions,  according  to  the  form  of  the  horns,  which 

are  peculiar  to  the   male. 

\\  I  'IMii'sh  \(  ID.  The  peroxide  of  antimony.  {See 
Antimony   | 

\VTIMu\Y.  \  brittle  metal  of  a  silver  white  colour; 
specific  gravity,  6'7.  Fuses  at  810°,  or  just  at  a  red  heat, 
i  principal  properties  of  this  metal  were  first  described 
in  the  "Currus  Tnumphalis  Smtimonii"  of  Basil  Valentine, 
published  towards  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century., 
heated  In  an  open  vessel,  It  gradually  combines  with  " 
oxygen,  and  evaporates  in  a  while  vapour.  There  are  three 
■  'I  antimony.  The  protoxide  consists  of  65  antimo- 
ny +  12  oxygen  :  it  is  a  greyish  white  ptfwder,  eminently 
purgative,  sudorific,  and  emetic  :  and  as  such,  of  much  im- 
portance in  medicine.  Ii  is  the  active  base  of  emetic  tartar 
and  of  James's  powder.  The  other  oxides  of  antimony, 
from  combining  with  certain  ha.-es.  ha\e  been  called  anti- 

moniousand  antimonic  acid  :  tney  consist  respectively  of  66 

antimony  +  16  oxygen,  and  06  +  20.  The  combination  of 
chlorine  and  antimony  w»s  known  to  the  old  chemists  un- 
der the  name  of  butter of  antimony.  The  principal  ore  of 
antimony  is  the  sulghuret:  it  is  met  With  in  commerce, 
melted  into  conical  ingots,  under  the  name  of  crude  anti- 
mony, h  is  "i  a  bluish  grey  colour,  metallic  lustre,  and  a 
striated  texture;  specific  gravity  4-62;  it  is  much  more 
fusible  than  the  pure  metal.  Antimony  forms  brittle 
alloys  with  some  of  the  most  malleable  metals  :  when  gold 
is  alloyed  with  a  two-hundredth  part  of  antimony,  the  com- 
pound  is  brittle ;  and  even  the  fumes  of  antimony  in  the 
vicinity  of  melted  gold  are  sullicient  to  render  it  brittle. 
Alloyed  With  lead  in  the  proportion  of  1  to  16,  and  a  small 
addition  of  copper,  it  forms  the  metal  used  for  printers' 
types:  with  lead  only, a  white  and  rather  brittle  compound 
is  formed,  used  for  the  plates  upon  which  music  is  en- 
graved.  With  iron  it  forms  a  hard  whitish  alloy,  formerly 
called  martial  rt  fulus:  12  parts  of  tin  and  1  of  antimony 
form  hard  pewter.  The  while  metal  spoons  and  teapots 
are  formed  of  an  alloy  of  100  tin,  S  antimony,  2  bismuth, 
and  2  copper. 

Antimony  is  the  stimmi.  or  stibium,  of  the  old  chemists. 

ANTINOMIANS.  (Gr.  dvri,  against,  and  vopo;,  hnc.) 
Oppugners  of  the  law.  In  Theology.  Antinomians  are  such 
as  interpret  the  law,  to  which  St.  Paul  refers  more  espe- 
cially in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  as  including  all  moral 
ordinances  whatsoever ;  and  push  the  contrast  which  the 
Apostle  maintains  between  faith  and  the  works  of  the  law 
to  an  extreme  extent,  asserting  the  entire  uselessness  of 
good  works,  in  any  case,  and  the  sole  efficacy  of  faith. 
Hence  the  term  Solifidian  is  applied  to  the  same  class  of  re- 
ligionists. The  name  of  Antinomian  was  first  given  by 
Luther,  as  a  term  of  reproach,  to  the  followers  of  the  opin- 
ions of  John  Agricola  on  this  subject,  who  complained, 
however,  that  his  notions  had  been  unfairly  represented. 
Similar  doctrines  appear  to  have  been  held  'in  England  by 


ANTIPJEDOBAPTISTS. 

an  ephemeral  sect  in  the  time  of  the  commonwealth:  but 
antinomiantsm  may  now  be  taken  rather  as  expressing  the 
extreme  to  which  "the  Calvinistic  scheme  of  theology  has 
the  tendency  to  lead  men,  than  as  denoting  any  distinct  sect 
or  congregation,  either  in  this  country  or  abroad. 

ANTIPyE'DQBA'PTISTS.  In  Theology.  Those  who 
object  to  the  baptism  of  infants  on  the  ground  that  they  are 
not  capable  of  understanding  the  nature  of  the  rite,  and  of 
pledging  themselves  to  such  a  course  of  life  as  is  required 
of  all  such  as  come  to  he  baptized.     (See  Baptists.) 

A'NTIPATHES.  A  genus  of  Corticiferous  Polypes,  or 
corals,  in  which  the  central  axis  is  enveloped  by  so  soft  a 
cortex  that  it  falls  off  when  the  specimen  is  removed  from 
the  water.  From  the  colour  of  the  axis,  it  is  commonly 
called  "  black  coral." 

A'NTIPE'DES.  (Lat.  ante,  before,  pes,  foot.)  In  Zoolo- 
gy, the  anterior  or  pectoral  extremities. 

A'NTIPHLOGI'STICS.  (Gr.  eurrt,  against, and  ip\oyia- 
H<is,  inflammation.)  Medicines  which  allay  inflammatory 
action. 

A'NTIPHLOGIS'TIC  SYSTEM.  In  Chemistry,  the 
system  opposed  to  that  of  Phlogiston.  (See  Phlogistic.) 
A'NTIPHON.  (Gr.  dvTKpiovciv,  to  sing  agairtst,  ormutu- 
aUy.)  In  ancient  Church  Music,  the  short  verse  sung  be- 
fore the  psalm  and  other  portions  of  the  Catholic  service. 
(See  Anthem.) 

ANTI'PODES.  (Gr.  dvri,  against,  and  rrovs,  the  foot.) 
Denotes,  literally,  those  who  stand  feet  to  feet;  that  is,  the 
inhabitants  of  opposite  parts  of  the  earth.  They  live  under 
the  same  parallels  of  latitude,  on  opposite  sides  of  the  equa- 
tor, consequently  the  seasons  are  reversed,  or.  when  it  is 
summer  to  the  one,  it  is  winter  to  the  other.  Their  longi- 
tude differs  by  ISO0,  or  12  hours,  consequently  their  days 
and  nights  are  reversed,  that  is,  when  it  is  mid-day  to  the 
one,  it  is  midnight  to  the  other.  They  have  the  same  cli- 
mate, in  so  far,  at  least,  as  climate  depends  on  latitude. 

A'NTIPOPE.  One  that  assumes  the  title  and  functions 
of  pope  without  a  valid  election.  The  term  more  particu- 
larly refers  to  the  popes  who  maintained  themselves  in  op- 
position to  each  other,  during  part  of  the  fourteenth  and  fif- 
teenth centuries.  The  great  western  schism  was  caused  by 
the  rival  jealousies  of  the  French  and  Italian  parties  in  the 
conclave ;  the  French  cardinals  having  been  accustomed  by 
their  numbers,  and  the  influence  of  the  kings  of  France, 
to  carry  the  election  in  favour  of  French  candidates,  while 
the  popes  resided  at  Avignon,  a  period  of  about  70  years, 
from  1305  to  1376.  Accordingly,  when  the  Italian  party  at 
last  succeeded  in  the  election  of  Urban  VI.,  in  1389,  the 
French  cardinals  retired  from  Rome,  and  there  invested 
with  the  functions  of  pope  one  of  their  own  body,  under  the 
title  of  Clement  VII.  They  attempted,  in  the  first  instance, 
to  maintain  themselves  in  Italy,  and  war  was  proclaimed 
between  the  two  rivals.  After  a  short  struggle,  Clement 
retreated  to  Avignon ;  and  there  he,  and  his  successor, 
Benedict  XIII.,  held  their  Court,  while  Urban,  and  after 
him,  Boniface  IX.  and  Gregory  XII., reigned  at  Rome.  They 
were  supported  respectively  "by  different  European  states, 
of  which  France,  Austria,  Castile,  Aragon,  Savoy,  Genoa, 
and  Scotland  sided  with  the  party  of  the  seceders.  The 
schism,  however,  caused  great  scandal  throughout  Chris- 
tendom, and  measures  were  repeatedly  taken,  and  baffled 
only  by  the  artifices  of  the  rival  claimants,  for  an  adjust- 
ment of  the  difference.  There  seemed  lo  be  three  methods 
of  proceeding  to  this  end,  and  each  liable  to  great  difficul- 
ties : — 1st.  By  the  simultaneous  resignation  of  both  pontiffs, 
and  a  fresh  election.  2d.  By  an  arbitration  between  them. 
And,  3d.  By  the  calling  of  a  general  council,  to  declare  the 
holy  see  void,  and  recommend  the  conclave  to  fill  tbe  va- 
cancy. This  last  method  was  finally  adopted  ;  though  it  has 
been  constantly  objected,  that  such  a  council  could  not  be 
lawfully  convened  except  by  the  summons  of  a  reigning 
pope  ;  which  condition  certainly  was  not  fulfilled  in  the  in- 
stance of  the  council  of  Pisa.  However,  in  1409,  the  rival 
parties  were  both  declared  guilty  of  heresy  and  schism,  and 
thereby  the  validity  of  both  claims  greatly  disproved.  Alex- 
ander V.  was  then  elected  in  due  form ;  and  the  antipopes 
were  unable  long  to  maintain  their  pretensions  against  the 
authority  of  a  general  council. 

A'NTIQUARY.  Copiers  of  old  books,  especially  in  con- 
vents, were  termed  Antiquarii  in  the  Latin  of  the  middle 
ages.  In  modern  phraseology,  antiquary  is  defined  "  a  per- 
son who  studies  and  searches  after  monuments  and  re- 
mains of  antiquity,  as  old  medals,  books,  statues,  inscrip- 
tions, &c. ;"  to  which  may  be  added  those  who  make  the 
manners  and  customs  of  ancient  times  an  especial  subject 
of  inquiry.  Henry  VIII.  gave  Leland  the  title  of  his  "  An- 
tiquary." The  Royal  Society  of  Antiquaries,  in  London, 
was  founded  under  the  reign  of  George  II.  (See  Academy.) 
ANTI'QUE.  In  a  restricted  sense,  pieces  of  ancient  art, 
and  by  artists  usually  confined  to  such  aswere  made  by  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  of  the  classical  age. 

ANTI'QUITIES.     Under  this  term,  which  has  not  a  very 
definite  meaning  in  modern  European  languages,  we  appear 
generally  to  comprehend  all  memorable  things  respecting 
60 


ANTISCII. 

Man  in  his  social  state  in  past  time,  except  the  political 
events,  which  form  more  properly  the  subject  of  History. 
Thus,  manners  and  customs,  language,  literature,  topo- 
graphical details,  the  monuments  of  architecture,  sculpture, 
&c.  of  ancient  times,  all  fall  under  the  general  cognizance 
of  the  antiquary.  His  science  is,  as  it  were,  subsidiary  to 
the  more  general  objects  of  the  historian.  In  a  more  re- 
stricted sense,  the  study  of  antiquities  is  confined  to  the  de- 
scription and  interpretation  of  the  existing  relics  of  former 
times,  such  as  architectural  remains,  manuscripts,  medals, 
and  other  objects  of  curious  research.  Among  classical 
writers,  there  is,  perhaps,  only  one  who  falls  exactly  within 
the  definition  of  what  in  modern  times  we  should  term  an 
antiquary  ;  viz.  Pausanias,  whose  work,  written  about  the 
period  of  Marcus  Antoninus,  is  entirely  devoted  to  a  de- 
scription of  the  monuments  of  earlier  periods  then  existing 
in  Greece.  But  about  the  time  of  the  revival  of  letters, 
when  the  study  of  classical  writers  became  the  main  pur- 
suit of  literary  men,  classical  antiquities  became  also  a  dis- 
tinct and  important  branch  of  research.  Besides  the  wri- 
ters who  employed  their  antiquarian  knowledge  in  the 
shape  of  commentary  on  classical  authors,  a  great  number 
devoted  their  talents  to  the  production  of  treatises  exclu- 
sively illustrating  particular  points  in  ancient  customs  and 
usages.  To  enumerate  the  chief  classical  antiquaries  of 
the  16th  and  17th  centuries  would  be  impossible  ;  but  the 
following  works  may  be  named  as  among  the  most  com- 
prehensive and  general  which  we  possess,  containing  an 
immense  repository  of  facts,  which  the  more  refined  criti- 
cism of  modem  times  has  sifted  and  applied  with  better 
success  ;  the  treatises  of  Signonius  and  Mei/rsius — the  lat- 
ter chiefly  on  Greek  antiquities — are  collected  in  12  folio 
volumes,  Florence,  1741;  the  vast  Thesaurus  Antiquitatum 
Grcecarum  of  the  Dutch  commentator  Grwvius  (Leyden,  12 
vols.  fol.  1697,  &c);  and  the  still  more  extensive  work  of 
Gronovius  (Tliesaurus  Antiquitatum  Romanurvm,  Leyden, 
13  vols.  fol.  1697),  together  with  its  continuations  and  sup- 
plements, by  Burmannus,  extending  in  the  whole  to  45  vol- 
umes ;  the  works  of  Polenus,  Pitiscus,  and  Gruterus,  on 
the  same  plan  with  those  two  vast  collections;  the  Anti- 
quite  Expliquee  of  Bernard  de  Montfaucon,  extending,  with 
the  supplements,  to  15  vols,  folio,  Paris.  1719-24.  From 
these  great  works  our  modern  Compendia  in  common  use 
(in  English,  the  Grecian  Antiquities  of  Archbishop  Potter, 
the  Roman  Antiquities  of  Kennett,  Adam,  <kc.)are  chiefly 
compiled.  The  names  of  Boeck  (Public  and  Private 
Economy  of  Athens),  Heeren  (History  of  Ancient  Com- 
merce, fyc),  Miiller,  Niebuhr,  Creuzer.  Biittiger,  Wachs- 
ninth,  ifcc,  attest  the  equal  industry  and  superior  critical 
skill  of  the  classical  antiquaries  of  modern  Germany,  the 
only  country  in  which  this  branch  of  knowledge  is  now  suc- 
cessfully cultivated.  In  that  more  restricted  branch  of 
classical  antiquities,  the  description  of  the  monuments  of 
ancient  art,  among  many  illustrious  names  we  may  men- 
tion those  of  Caylus  (Recueil  d'Antiquites  Egyptiennes, 
Grecques,  et  Romaines,  7  vols.  4to.  Paris,  1752.  &c.)  and  the 
Abbe  Winkelmann.  In  the  peculiar  study  of  Egyptian  an- 
tiquities, the  names  of  Young,  Hamilton,  and  Champollion 
stand  pre-eminent.  In  ecclesiastical  antiquities,  the  huge 
collections  of  Ugolinus  (IViesaurus  Antiquitatum  Sacra- 
rum,  34  t.  fol.  Antv.  1744)  and  Canisius  (Lectiones  Antiqum, 
edited  by  Basnage,4t.  fol.  v.  Antv.  1725)  maybe  mentioned 
among  many  others.  Lastly,  the  antiquities  of  the  middle 
ages  have  received  much  and  accurate  attention,  especially 
in  France  and  England,  within  the  last  century.  Besides 
the  works  of  Leland  and  Camden,  the  fathers  of  English  an- 
tiquities, of  Dugdale  and  Hearne,  &c,  we  may  name,  in 
modern  times,  Fosbrooke  (British  Monachism,  2  vols.  4to. 
1802,  and  Encyclopaedia  of  Antiquities),  Strutt  (Regal  and 
Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  England,  4to.  1773,  and  many 
subsequent  works),  Brand,  Lodge,  Playfair,  &c.  &c,  be- 
sides  many  who  have  devoted  themselves  to  particular 
branches  of  the  subject;  and.  anions  living  authors.  Sir 
Henry  Ellis,  Sir  F.  Palgrave,  Sir  H.  Nicholas,  Mr.  Petre, 
&c.  In  French  antiquities,  the  greatest  name  is  that  of  Mont- 
faucon  (Monumrns  de  la  Munurchie  Frangaise,  5  vols.  foL 
Paris,  1725,  &c);  while  the  Italians,  among  whom  the 
study  of  national  antiquities  has  been  very  sedulously  culti- 
vated, are  peculiarly  indebted  to  the  indefatigable  Muratori. 
His  principal  works  are  the  Antiquitates  Italicai  Medii 
JEvi,  and  Rerum  Italicarum  Scrip/ores:  the  whole  are 
said  to  amount  to  41  vols,  in  folio,  besides  34  in  8vo.  A  Dic- 
tionary of  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities,  1  vol.  8vo.  Taylor 
<t  Walton,  London,  1842,  possesses  great  value. 

ANTIRRHI'NEJE.  A  small  division  of  Scrophularia- 
ceous  plants,  consisting  of  Antirrhinum  (the  snapdragon  of 
the  gardens),  Linaria,  and  a  few  other  genera. 

ANTI'SCII,  or  ANTISCIANS.  (Gr.  dvri,  against,  and 
ciua,  shadoir.)  An  old  term  used  in  Geography  to  denote 
those  inhabitants  of  the  earth  whose  shadows  fall  in  oppo- 
site directions.  The  inhabitants  of  the  north  and  south 
temperate  zones  are  always  Antiscians  ;  those  living  with- 
in the  tropics  may  be  Antiscians  at  one  season  of  the  year, 
and  not  at  another. 


ANTISCORBUTICS. 

ANTISCORBUTICS.     Medicines  against  the  scurvy. 
ANTISE'PTIC      (Gr.  dvri,  against,  and  ai)T;tiv, to  putre- 
fy.)   Antiputrefactive.    Substances  which  prevent  or  check 
the  putrefaction  and  decay  of  animal  and  vegetable  matter, 
are  called  antiseptic. 

ANTISPASMO'DICS.     (Gr.  dvrt,  against,  and  airacrpoi, 
a  spasm.)    Medicines  which  alleviate  or  cure  cramp  and 
spas  n  i. 
ANTIS'TROPHE.     Sfc  Strophe. 

ANTI'THESIS.  (Gr.  dvrt,  and  riOtvai,  to  set.)  In  Rhe- 
toric, a  figure  in  which  two  thoughts,  words,  or  sentences 
are  set  in  opposition  to  each  other,  in  order  to  be  more 
strikingly  brought  forward  by  the  contrast ;  as  in  the  fol- 
lowing sentence  from  Cicero  :  "  Quod  scis,  nihil  prodest: 
quod  nescis,  multum  obest."  "  Pour  knowledge  avails 
you  nothing  :  your  ignorance  hurts  you  much."  Ciuintilian 
translates  the  Greek  word  avrideatt  by  the  Latin  contra- 
positum.  The  following  well  known  passage  of  Spenser 
may  be  cited  as  an  instance  of  mixed  antithesis  and  accu- 
mulation. 

"  Ah  !  little  dost  thou  know,  that  hast  not  tried, 
What  hell  it  is  iii  suing  luiis;  to  bide  : 
To  speed  to-day,  to  be  put  ojf  to-morrow  : 
To  feed  on  hope,  (o  pine  with  can  and  sorrow: 
To  have  tJiy  prince's  grace,  yet  want  tier  peer'*  : 
To  he  I  '  many  years  : 

To  fawn,  to  crouch,  to  wail,  to  ride,  to  run, 
To  guend,  to  give,  to  waul,  to  be  undone." 

AXTITRAGUS.  (Gr.  dvrt,  against,  rpayos,  the  mar- 
ginal process  of  the  external  ear  which  is  immediately  in 
front  of  the  meatus.)  In  Anatomy,  the  process  ol  the  i  in- 
ternal ear  opposite  the  tragus,  and  behind  the  meatus  audi- 
torius,  or 

AN'ITTROI'AL.  (Gr.  riiri,  opposite,  and  rptiruv,  to 
turn.)  When  in  a  seed  the  radicle  of  the  embryo  is  turned 
to  the  end  farthest  away  from  the  hilum.  This,  although 
a  comparatively  unusual  position  ol  parts,  is  nevertl 
the  normal  position,  if  the  exact  nature  of  the  develope- 
ment  of  an  ovule  is  rightly  understood. 

l/NTLIA.  The  oral  instrument  of  Lepidopterous  in- 
sects, in  whicli  the  ordinary  tropin,  or  instruments  for  ob- 
taining, are  replaced  by  a  spiral,  bipartite,  tubular  machine 
for  suction,  with  its  appendages  it  principally  consists  ol 
the  solenaria,  or  two  lateral  Bubcylindrtcal  tubes,  and  tie- 
fistula,  or  intermediate  subquadrangular  pipe,  tonne. i  by 

the  i i  of  the  two  solenaria,  which  intermediate  canal 

conveys  the  nectar  to  the  pharynx.  Theoretically,  the 
solenaria  are  the  maxilla'  Inordinately  elongated,  and  they 
support  at  their  bases  two  minute  p  dpi  Rudiments  of  the 
upper  lip  or  labrum,  and  mandibles,  exist  above  the  max- 
illa1; and  below  these  is  thi  tached  to  the  head, 
and  distinguishi                   ol  large  palpi. 

\\TI.I\  PNEUMATK  \  \  ■  on- tellation  of  the  south- 
ern hemisphere. 

LNTCE  CI.      (Gr.    uiTi.   opposite,    and    dttxoc,   a  house.) 

Those  who  live  over  against  each  other:  a  term  used  In 
Geography  to  denote  the  inhabitants  ol  the  globe  who  live 
underlie  same  meridian,  but  on  opposite  parallels  of  lati- 
tude.   The  hours  of  the  day  or  night  are  the  -a  me  to  each, 

hut  the  seasons  of  the  year  are  opposite  :  that  is,  when  it  is 

summer  with  the  one,  it  is  winter  with  the  other. 
A'NTONOMA'SIA.    (Gr.  dvrt.  instead  of,  and  tvoua, a 

miinc.)  In  Rhetoric  and  Composition,  a  figure  by  which  a 
proper  name  is  put  for  an  appellative  noun ;  as  where  a 
tyrant  is  called  a  Nero,  an  usurper  a  Cromwell,  &c. ;  or, 
vice  versa,  a  complimentary  periphrasis,  or  an  appellation 
derived  from  some  attribute,  is  put  for  a  proper  name  :  as 
where  a  king  is  railed  "His  Majesty,"  or  Tacitus  '•  the 
prince  of  political  historians." 

A'NTRUM.  (Lat  antrum,  a  ran.)  An  old  name  ap- 
plied to  such  hollow  fruits  as  the  apple;  they  are  now 

called  Pomes. 

ANTRU'STIONS,    otherwise    styled    Fideles    (Faithful) 

and  Leudes  (Leute,  Germ,  people).     A  class  of  people 

among  the  Franks,  who  were  the  personal  vassals  or  de- 
pendents of  the  kings  and  counts.  They  were  not  depen- 
dent on  them  by  reason  of  holding  lands  by  their  grant: 
but  rather,  in  consequence  of  being  such  dependents,  were 
favoured  with  donations  of  land,  or  benefices;  which,  in 
process  of  time,  becoming  hereditary,  assumed  the  cha- 
racter of  Fiefs.  (See  Feudal  System.)  The  original 
word  from  which  Antrustion  is  derived,  was  undoubtedly 
the  same  with  that  from  which  our  word  trust,  confidence, 
has  its  descent. 

ANU'BIS.  In  Mythology,  an  Egyptian  deity.  The  se- 
venth, according  to  the  astronomical  Theology,  of  their 
eight  gods  of  the  first  class.  The  Greeks  identified  him 
with  Mercury.  In  Egyptian  painting  and  sculpture  he  is  re- 
presented as  a  man  with  the  head  of  a  dog:  whence  the 
lines  in  the  6th  book  of  Virgil's  ^Eneid,  describing  the  con- 
flict of  Egypt  with  Rome  : — 

Omnieen'imque  De'im  monstra,  et  latrator  Anubis, 
Contra  Neptuuura  et  Veuerem,  coutraque  Miuervam, 
Tela  feruut. 


A'NUS. 


The  excrementary  orifice  of  the  alimentary  ca- 
61 


APHELION. 

nal,  which  sometimes  opens  directly  on  the  exterior  sur- 
face of  the  animal,  as  in  most  Mammals  ;  sometimes  into 
a  cavity  common  to  it  with  the  outlets  of  the  urinary  and 
genital  organs,  called  the  cloaca,  as  in  most  oviparous  Ver- 
tebrates ;  sometimes  into  the  respiratory  cavity,  as  in  most 
Mollusks.  In  Entomology,  it  signifies  the  two  last  segments 
of  the  abdomen,  and  includes  the  podex,  hypopygium,  cu- 
ius, ovipositor,  and  appendices.  In  most  of  the  Acrites 
there  is  but  one  orifice  to  the  alimentary  cavity,  which  thus 
combines  the  functions  of  mouth  and  anus. 

A'ORIST.  (Gr.  doptaroc,  indefinite^)  That  inflexion  of 
the  verb  which  leaves  the  time  of  the  action  denoted  un- 
certain. 

AO'RTA.  (Gr.  drip,  air,  and  rr/otiv,  to  keep.)  The  great 
arterial  trunk  which  issues  from  the  left  ventricle  of  the 
heart.  After  death  it  is  found  empty  ;  whence  the  older 
anatomists,  supposing  that  it  was  for  the  conveyance  of  air, 
gave  it  the  above  name.  It  is  single  in  Mammals  ami 
birds ;  double  in  most  reptiles,  and  in  the  Cephalopods ; 
triple  in  the  Crustaceans. 

APA'GYNOl'S.  (Gr.  u7raf,  once,  and  yvvrj,  a  female.) 
When  a  plant  fructifies  but  once,  perishing  immediately 
after  it  flowers.  It  is  the  same  as  monocarpic,  and  nearly 
the  same  as  annual ;  only  that,  like  the  latter  term,  it  in- 
cludes smh  plants  as  the  American  agave,  which  live 
man]  years  before  they  fructify. 

A 'P  ALUS.  A  Linnfean  genus  of  coleopterous  insects, 
having  the  antenna'  filiform  ;  the  palpi  equal  and  filiform; 
the  maxilla- horny  and  one-toothed ;  the  labium  membra- 
naceous, truncate,  and  entire. 

ATANAGE  An  allowance  to  younger  branches  of  a 
Sovereign  house  out  of  the  revenues  of  the  country  ;  gene- 
rally together  with  a  grant  of  public  domains.  A  district 
witl'i  the  right  of  ruling  it.  when  thus  conferred,  is  termed 
paragium.  An  apanage,  in  ordinary  cases,  descends  to  the 
children  of  the  prince  who  enjoys  it. 

AT  \TI  IT)  Native  phosphate  of  lime  (from  drrarao},  I 
hai  ing  been  confounded  with  other  minerals. 

APATU'RIA.  An  Athenian  festival,  which  came  also  to 
be  observed  by  the  rest  ol  the  Ioniaiis  except  those  of  Co- 
lophon and  Ephesus.  Two  accounts  are  given  of  its  ori- 
gin :  one   of  which   derives  its  name  from  the  Greek  word 

(i-iirri.  deceit,  because  it  was  instituted  in  memory  of  a 
stratagem  by  which  Meianthusthe  Athenian  king  overcame 

Icanthus  king  of  Boeotia  ;  tl ther  from  narnp,  father,  and 

the  prefix  i,  signifying  together,  because  at  this  festival 

children  accompanied  then-  fathers  that  their  names  might 

be  entered  on  the  public  register.    The  festival  took  place 

led  three  days. 

\it.     In  the  Zoological  sense,  is  restricted  to  those 

higher  organised  species  ofthe  Linnsan  Simict  which  are 

hi     Thej  are  included  in  the  modern  sub- 

/  and     Hylobates,    or    the 

ourangs,  chimpanzees,  and  gibbons. 

\l'i;  I  l.i  it  -  (Gr.  d,  priv.  and  pellis,  skin.)  Destitute 
of  skin. 

APF/TALOTS.  (Gr.  d,  priv.,  wcra\ov,  a  petal.)  When 
a  flower  has  a  calyx  only,  and  no  corolla.  The  term  is 
sometimes  extended  to  those  cases  in  which  there  is  nei- 
ther calyx  nor  corolla  ;  thuSj  the  apetalous  plants  of  Jus- 
sieu  are  either  destitute  of  a  corolla  only,  or  of  all  floral 
envelopes  of  whatever  kind. 

A'PEX.  The  summit  or  highest  point  of  any  thing. 
Thus,  the  apex  ofa  cone,  ofa  pyramid,  <fcc. 

APHJE'REUS  (Gr  dfaipetv,  to  take  away.)  In  Writ- 
ing or  Pronunciation,  the  removal  of  a  vowel  from  the  com- 
mencement of  a  word  ;  as.  in  English,  '  it  is'  is  sometimes 

v\  ntteii  •  'lis.'  abide  is  changed  into  •  'bide,'  Ac 

U'HAMTTKRiil  S.  AlTIAM'PTERA.  (Gr.  dtpavris, 
obscure,  wrtpov,  Wing,)  The  name  of  an  order  of  Apterous 
Haustellate  insects,  having  rudimental  elytra  or  wings  in 
the  perfect  state,  and  undergoing  a  metamorphosis,  resem- 
bling that  of  the  Tipulidas,  or  crane-flies.  The  common 
flea  i  Pule*  irritans,  Lin.)  may  be  regarded  as  the  type  of 
this  order.  The  female  flea  ( Pulex  irritans,  Lin.)  deposits 
a  dozen  eggs,  ofa  white  colour  and  rather  viscous  texture, 
from  which  proceed  little  apodal  maggots,  which  are  very 
acth  e  in  then-  motions,  winding  themselves  in  a  serpentine 
manner  through  the  substance  in  which  they  may  be  de- 
posited ;  the  head  of  the  larva  is  protected  by  a  firm  skin, 
and  bears  two  small  antenna;,  but  no  eyes ;  the  body  con- 
sists of  thirteen  segments,  bearing  little  tufts  of  hair,  and 
the  last  is  armed  with  a  pair  of  hooklets  :  the  mouth  pre- 
sents some  small  moveable  instruments  with  which  the 
maggot  hauls  itself  along.  After  having  passed  twelve 
days  under  this  form,  the  larva  spins  itself  a  little  silken 
cocoon,  in  which  it  passes  into  the  pupa  state,  and  in  about 
twelve  days  more  emerges  a  perfect  flea;  this  metamor- 
phosis distinsruishes  the  flea  and  chigoe  from  other  blood- 
sucking parasitic.  Apterous  insects :  and  they  are  further  dis- 
tinguished bv  the  number  of  segments  into  which  their 
body  is  divided,  and  their  pentamerous,  or  five-jointed, 
tarsi. 
APHE'LION.    (Gr.  duo,  from,  and  n\tos   the  sun.)    In 


APHELXIA. 

Astronomy,  is  that  point  of  a  planet's  orbit  which  is  at  the 
greatest  distance  from  the  sun.  It  is  opposed  to  perihe- 
lion, which  signifies  the  point  of  the  orbit  nearest  the  sun. 
The  aphelion  and  perihelion  of  an  orbit  are  consequently 
the  two  extremities  of  its  greater  axis.  In  consequence  of 
the  mutual  attractions  of  the  planets,  the  positions  and  fi- 
gures of  their  orbits  are  constantly  undergoing  a  slow  va- 
riation. The  aphelia  gradually  shift  their  places  on  the 
planes  of  the  orbits  ;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  these  mo- 
tions are  direct,  or  eastward,  in  the  case  of  all  the  planets 
excepting  Venus,  the  aphelion  of  whose  orbit,  when  re- 
ferred to  the  fixed  stars,  moves  westward  at  the  rate  of 
about  4  seconds  annually.  Of  the  old  planets,  Saturn  is 
that  whose  aphelion  undergoes  the  greatest  annual  varia- 
tion; it  amounts  to  about  18  seconds  of  a  degree.  (See 
Perihelion,  Planet.) 

APHE'LXIA.  (Gr.  a<pe\KCiv,  to  abstract.)  Absence  of 
mind. 

_  APHE'RESIS  or  APHE'RESIS.  (Gr.  dcpaiptaig,  from 
dipaipcb),  I  take  airay.)  In  Grammar,  a  figure  by  which  a 
letter  or  a  syllable  is  cut  off  from  the  beginning  of  a  word  ; 
as  in  the  common  abbreviation,  "  't  is,"  for  "  it  is." 

A'PHIDES.  (Gr.  d<pi;,  a  puceron,  or  vine-fretter.)  A 
family  of  Hemipterous  insects,  commonly  called  "plant- 
lice,"  inhabiting  trees  and  plants,  and  living  on  their  juices ; 
remarkable  for  the  anal  saccharine  secretion  referred  to 
in  Anal  Glands,  but  more  especially  for  a  peculiarity  of 
their  generative  economy,  particularly  described  by  Bon- 
net, and  which  consists  in  the  first  fecundation  of  the  fe- 
male influencing  not  merely  the  ova  immediately  devel- 
oped thereafter,  but  those  of  the  females  resulting  from 
that  developement,  even  to  the  ninth  generation,  which 
are  successively  impregnated  and  productive  without  any 
intercourse  with  the  male  insects.  Certain  Coleopterous 
insects,  which  prey  upon  and  keep  in  check  the  Aphides, 
are  termed  Aphidiphagi  and  Aphidivora  (ipayot,  I  eat,  voro, 
/  devour'). 

APIILOGI'STIC.  (Gr.  d(p\oyiaTOS,  uninflammable.) 
Without  flame  or  fire. 

APIILOGI'STIC  LAMP.  A  lamp  with  a  glowing  wick, 
the  combustion  in  which  goes  on  without  flame. 

A'PHONY.  (Gr.  d,  priv.,  and  fcovr/,  voice.)  Loss  of 
voice. 

A'PHORISM.  (From  the  Greek  dtpopigetv,  to  define,  or 
limit.)  A  term  chiefly  used  in  Law  and  Medicine,  but  oc- 
casionally also  in  Moral  Philosophy,  <fcc,  to  denote  a  com- 
prehensive maxim  or  principle  expressed  in  a  few  words. 

APHRI'TE.  (Gr.  d<ppos,  froth.)  A  soft,  friable  carbon- 
ate of  lime. 

APIIRODI'SIAC.  (Gr.  'AtppoStrn,  Venus.)  That  which 
incites  to  venerv. 

APHRODITE.  (Gr.  'AfpoStrri,  the  name  of  the  Goddess 
of  Love,  having  reference  to  her  upposed  origin  from  the 
foam  of  the  sea,  dippoi.)  This  classical  name  was  applied 
by  Linnaeus  to  a  beautiful  genus  of  Annelidans  adorned 
with  resplendent  silky  hairs  and  bristles,  of  which  the  sea- 
mouse  (Aphrodita  aculeata,  Lin.)  of  our  coasts  is  an 
example. 

APHRODI'TID-E.  The  name  of  the  family  of  Anne- 
lides  of  which  the  Aphrodita  aculeata  is  the  type. 

APHYLLA'NTHEyE.  A  small  division  of  the  Junca- 
ceous  order  of  Endogens,  comprehending  the  genus  Aphyl- 
lanthus  from  the  South  of  Europe,  with  Calectasia  and 
Dasypogon  from  New  Holland. 

APHY'LLOUS.  (Gr.  a,  priv..  and  $v\\ov,aleaf)  Leaf- 
less. The  term  is,  however,  often  applied  to  plants  in 
which  the  leaves  are  present,  but  so  small  as  not  to  look  so 
much  like  leaves  as  mere  scales.  Plants  are  also  called 
leafless,  in  which,  although  scales  of  considerable  size  are 
present,  there  are  no  true  green  leave's :  of  this  descrip- 
tion are  Monotropa,  Orobanche,  Pyrolaaphylla,  <&c. 

APIA'CE^E.  (Lat.  apium,  parsley.)  A  name  recently 
proposed  to  replace  that  of  Umbeliifera?,  it  being  construct- 
ed with  more  resemblance  to  the  plan  upon  which  the 
names  of  other  natural  orders  are  formed  in  Botany,  than 
that  of  Umbelliferae. 

A'PIARY.  (Lat.  apis,  a  bee.)  A  place  for  keeping  bee- 
hives. Sometimes  this  is  a  small  house,  with  openings  for 
the  bees  in  front,  and  a  door  behind,  which  is  kept  locked 
for  security ;  and  sometimes  it  is  an  area,  in  which  each 
particular  beehive  is  chained  down  to  a  post  and  padlocked. 
API'CULATED.  (Lat.  apex,  a  sharp  point.)  When  a 
leaf  or  any  other  part  is  suddenly  terminated  by  a  distinct 
point. 

A'PID/E.  (Lat.  apis,  a  bee.)  One  of  the  varieties  re- 
sulting from  the  modern  division  of  the  Linnaean  genus 
Apis,  including  those  species  which  are  distinguished  by 
the  length  of  the  terminal  parts  of  the  inferior  organs  of  the 
mouth,  which  constitute  a  proboscis. 

APIO'CRINITES.  (Gr.  diriov,  a.  pear,  Kpivov,  a  lily.) 
Pear  Encrinite.  (See  Encrinite.)  The  name  of  a  sub- 
genus of  fossil  Encrinites,  in  which  the  body  is  formed  of 
separate  pieces  articulated  with  the  stem,  and  supporting 
the  rays  by  similar  articulations,  in  consequence  of  which 
62 


APIS. 

the  stem  is  rounded  and  dilated  into  a  pyriform  figure  at 
its  upper  part. 

A'PION.  A  genus  of  minute  Coleopterous  insects,  of 
the  weevil  family  (Curculionidai) ;  very  numerous  in  spe- 
cies; distinguishable  by  their  elegant  pear-shaped  form, 
protruded  snout,  and  straight  antennas. 

A'PIS.  In  Mythology,  a  bull,  to  which  divine  honours 
were  paid  by  the  Egyptians,  especially  at  Memphis.  He 
was  required  to  be  black,  with  peculiar  spots  and  marks. 
One  of  this  description  was  always  maintained  :  but  not 
suffered  to  live  beyond  twenty-five  years.  He  was  then 
buried  with  much  solemnity  ;  and  Belzoni  was  of  opinion 
that  the  bones  discovered  in  one  of  the  sarcophagi  disin- 
terred by  him,  belonged  to  such  an  animal.  The  outrage 
made  by  the  Persian  conqueror  Cambyses  on  the  bull 
Apis,  and  the  disasters  which  were  supposed  to  have  be- 
fallen him  in  consequence  of  that  act,  are  detailed  in  the 
history  of  Herodotus,  book  ii. 

Apis.  (Lat.  apis,  a  bee.)  The  Linnaean  genus,  now 
subdivided  into  different  families,  is  thus  characterised  : 
mouth  horny ;  jaw  and  lip  membranaceous  at  the  tip ; 
tongue  inflected  ;  feelers  four,  unequal,  filiform  ;  antennas 
short,  filiform,  those  of  the  female  subclavate  ;  wings  flat; 
sting  of  the  females  and  neuters  pungent,  and  concealed  in 
the  abdomen. 

The  insects  of  this  extensive  genus  live,  some  of  them, 
in  large  societies,  and  some  are  solitary  ;  their  food  is  the 
nectar  of  flowers,  honey,  and  ripe  fruit ;  the  larva  is  soft 
and  without  feet ;  the  pupa  resembles  the  perfect  insect. 

The  characters  of  the  Linnasan  genus  are  applicable  to 
a  variety  of  forms,  now  the  types  of  numerous  subgenera, 
included  by  Latreille  in  a  family  of  Aculeate  Hymenopte- 
rous  insects,  under  the  term  Anthophila,  or  Mellifera.  The 
habits  of  each  of  the  subgenera  of  this  family  are  replete 
with  interest,  arising  from  their  social  economy,  and  the 
separation  of  the  individuals  into  three  sexual  modifica- 
tions, viz.,  the  prolific  females,  or  queens ;  the  unprolific 
females,  or  workers  ;  and  the  males,  or  drones.  The  pol- 
icy of  the-hive  bee  (Apis  mellifica,  Lin.)  has  been  studied 
with  so  much  diligence  and  detail,  that  we  penetrate  this 
mystery  of  nature  with  astonishment,  and  often  feel  in- 
clined to  regard  what  Huber  relates,  as  fabulous.  Never- 
theless, the  highly  interesting  observations  of  the  writer, 
and  those  especially  on  which  his  reputation  chiefly  rests, 
have  been  confirmed  by  subsequent  observers,  both  scien- 
tific entomologists  as  well  as  practical  apiarians. 

The  hive-bee  is  distinguished  from  all  other  species  of 
the  modern  genus  Apis,  by  having  the  femora  of  the  poste- 
rior pair  of  legs  furnished  with  a  smooth  and  concave  plate 
on  the  outer  surface,  and  fringed  with  hair,  forming  a  bas- 
ket adapted  for  the  conveyance  of  pollen  ;  and  in  being 
destitute  of  spines  at  the  extremity  ;  by  the  basal  joint  of 
the  tarsi,  in  the  workers,  being  of  an  oblong  form,  with  its 
inner  surface  clothed  with  hairs  disposed  in  transverse 
rows ;  by  the  trophi  being  of  an  elongated  form,  and  the 
maxillary  palpi  being  almost  obsolete  and  consisting  of  a 
single  joint. 

The  different  individuals  of  the  social  Apis  mellifica 
more  nearly  resemble  each  other  in  their  grade  of  devel- 
opement— as  regards  their  locomotive  powers,  organs  of 
sense,  and  instinctive  endowments — than  the  ants.  No  in- 
dividual among  them  is  without  wings;  and  the  industry 
of  the  workers,  or  imperfect  females,  is  less  astonishing,  at 
least  their  tasks  are  less  arduous,  than  fall  to  the  lot  of  the 
Apterous  labourers  of  the  ant  tribes. 

As  bees,  like  most  other  winged  insects,  are  annuals,  or 
go  through  the  whole  essential  economy  of  their  existence 
within  the  year,  the  history  of  a  year's  existence  includes 
the  whole,  "and  we  have  only  to  choose  the  point  in  the  cir- 
cle at  which  to  commence  it. 

As  some  individuals,  however,  always  survive  the  winter, 
and  begin  to  breed  early  in  spring,  forming  a  colony  which 
quits  the  parent  stock,  we  shall  begin  with  this  colony,  and 
trace  their  operations  through  the  year. 

The  first  young  swarm  in  England  is  generally  sent 
off  in  June.  The  migration  seems  to  depend  on  want  of 
space  in  the  mother-hive,  not  on  an  instinctive  desire  of 
change  on  the  part  of  the  brood ;  for  if  there  be  space  for 
the  operations  of  the  increasing  community,  bees  will  not 
naturally  swarm  ;  and  skilful  apiarians  sometimes  take  ad- 
vantage of  this  circumstance,  and,  by  making  successive 
additions  to  the  hive,  retain  the  whole  year's  increase  in 
the  same  building.  The  swarm  consists  in  general  of 
about  six  or  seven  thousand  individuals,  of  which  about 
l-30th  part  are  males,  the  rest  females ;  and  of  these,  one 
only,  for  the  most  part,  is  prolific,  and  she  is  called  the 
queen.  Her  body  is  longer  than  that  of  either  the  drone 
or  worker ;  her  colours  are  brighter  and  purer,  and  gener- 
ally of  a  darker  shade  ;  the  transverse  bands  across  the 
abdomen  are  of  a  deeper  and  brighter  yellow,  and  are 
sometimes  orange;  the  head  is  smaller  than  that  of  the 
unprolific  female,  and  the  tongue  is  shorter  and  more  slen- 
der; her  mandibles  are  notched,  and  her  sting  is  curved  ; 
but  the  most  obvious  distinctive  character  is  the  propor- 


APIS. 

tional  length  of  the  abdominal  segment  of  the  body,  which 
lodges  the  generative  apparatus,  and  which  is  of  an  elon- 
gate conical  form,  tapering  rather  sharply  to  the  anus.  The 
male  bee  is  readily  distinguished  by  the  short  and  thick 
form  of  his  bodv.  which  is  obtuse  at  each  extremity.  He 
has  no  sting.  The  workers,  like  the  queen,  are  armed 
with  a  sting,  but  it  is  straight,  and  proportionally  larger  and 
stronger.  The  workers  are  essentially  females  in  their  in- 
ternal structure,  but  theirgrowth  is  arrested  before  arriving  at 
the  period  when  the  full  development  of  the  sexual  system 
takes  place,  and  they  consequently  are  smaller  than  either 
the  queen  or  the  drones;  and  their  colours  are  less  bright. 
According  to  Huber,  there  are  two  varieties  of  labourers, 
one  of  a  larger  size,  which  he  calls  '  abeilles  drier,  s.  or 
makers  of  wax ;  the  other,  or  smaller  variety,  he  terms 
'  abeilles  nourrices,'  or  nurse-bees,  whose  crop,  or  first 
stomach,  is  not  capable  of  the  distention  requisite  for  col- 
lecting honey,  but  whose  office  is  to  build  the  combs  and 
cells  after  the  foundation  has  been  laid  by  the  cirieres,  and 
to  feed  the  larva?. 

It  is  also  stated  there  are  two  kinds  of  drones  ;  one  not 
larger  than  the  workers,  the  other  as  above  described.  And 
Huber  has  described  another  variety  of  the  inmates  of  the 
hive,  which  he  terms  '  black  bees,'  and  which  are  supposed 
to  be  the  superannuated  workers. 

The  swarm,  thus  composed,  commonly  leaves  the  hive  in 
the  heat  of  the  day,  and  often  immediately  after  a  shower. 
It  is  supposed  that  the  queen  takes  the  lead  ;  and  she  ever 
afterwards  exercises  an  inscrutable  influence  over  all  their 
itions.     Perhaps  a  stronger  proof  thai  instincts  do  no) 
net  essarily  depend  on  physical  conformation  is  not  afford- 
ed by  any  phenomenon  in  natural  hi 
fects  which  the  loss  or  death  of  the  queen  produces  on  the 
labourers:  this  event  does  not  deprive  them  of  an;  organ, 
or  paralyse  any  limb ;  yet,  the  moment  they  an 
of  bet  loss,  all  their  labours  an'  interrupted  and  forsaken, 
and,  unless  another  queen  be  provided,  they  join  an 
hive,  or  perish  from  inanition, 

The  flight  of  the  swarm  is  directed  to  some  neighbouring 
fixed  place,  and  wherever  the  stand  Is  made  they  all  forth- 
with repair  to  it.  In  the  wild  state,  the  cavity  of  an  ol 
is  commonly  chosen  ;  and  tins,  with  a  Beeming  prudence 
and  foresight  which  cannot  be  sufficiently  admired.  The 
first  care  of  the  bees  is  to  cleanse  it  from  dust  and  rubbish, 
o  gnaw  oil' with  their  mandibles  anj  asperities  ox  pro- 
jections  which  might  interfere  with  tin'  future  construction 
of  the  comb.    Iii  the  state  of  domestication  In  which  the 

bee  is  usually  preserved  m  tins  country,  the  pt 
of  the  above  instinctive  actions  is  rendered  unnecessary, 
by  the  reception  of  the  swarm  into  neat  artificial  hives. 
\ .  this  modification  of  their  habits,  and  many  other  inter- 
ferences to  winch  they  are  Bubji  d  do  effect  in 
inducing  any  varieties  in  the  organisation  of  thebei 

hange  in  those  instinctive  actions  which  the  i 
man  his  not  rendered  indispensable      I  l(  ration 

of  this  curious  exception  to  the  ordinary  consequences  of 
domestication,  and  of  the  conditions  on  which  the  circum- 
scribed limits  of  variation  in  the  bee  depend,  would  lead  us 
far  beyond  the  extent  allotted  to  the  present  subject ;  but 
it  is  an  inquiry  full  of  interest  in  relation  to  the  recondite 
laws  which  govern  the  variation  of  animals  from  their  spe- 
cific standard. 

In  the  wild  state,  the  young  colony  at  first  return  occa- 
sionally to  the  parent  establishment  for  supplies  of  provi- 
sion ;  and  the  domesticate!  bees  always  till  their  crops 
with  honey  before  they  leave  the  hive.  The  wax  is  a  pe- 
culiar secretion  from  the  working  bee  ;  and  having  the  ma- 
terials, therefore,  within  themselves,  they  immediately  be- 
gin to  form  the  comb. 

Before  describing  the  many-chambered  nursery  and 
storehouse  which  our  bees  are  about  to  prepare,  a  few 
words  are  necessary  regarding  the  material  of  which  it  is 
constructed. 

The  formation  of  the  wax  is  a  very  singular  and  complex 
operation.  Huber  says,  "The  wax-makers,  having  taken 
a  due  portion  of  honey  or  sugar,  from  either  of  which  wax 
can  be  elaborated,  suspend  themselves  to  each  other,  the 
claws  of  the  fore  legs  of  the  lowermost  being  attached  to 
those  of  the  hind  pair  of  the  uppermost,  and  form  them- 
selves into  a  cluster,  the  exterior  layer  of  which  looks  like 
a  kind  of  curtain.  This  cluster  consists  of  a  series  of  fes- 
toons or  garlands,  which  cross  each  other  in  all  directions, 
ami  in  which  most  of  the  bees  turn  their  back  upon  the  ob- 
server :  the  curtain  has  no  other  motion  than  what  it  re- 
ceives from  the  interior  layers,  the  fluctuations  of  which 
are  communicated  to  it.  All  this  time  the  nurse-bees  pre- 
serve their  wonted  activity,  and  pursue  their  usual  employ- 
ments. The  wax-makers  remain  immoveable  for  about 
twenty-four  hours,  during  which  period  the  formation  of  wax 
takes  place,  and  thin  laminae  of  this  material  may  be  gene- 
rally perceived  under  their  abdomen.  One  of  these  bees 
is  now  seen  to  detach  itself  from  one  of  the  central  gar- 
lands of  the  cluster,  to  make  a  way  amongst  its  companions 
to  the  middle  of  the  vault  or  top  of  the  hive,  and  by  turning 
63 


APIS. 

itself  round  to  form  a  kind  of  void,  in  which  it  can  move 
itself  freely.  It  then  suspends  itself  to  the  centre  of  the 
space  which  it  has  cleared,  the  diameter  of  which  is  about 
an  inch.  It  next  seizes  one  of  the  laminae  of  wax  with  a 
pincer  formed  by  the  posterior  metatarsus  and  tibia,  and 
drawing  it  from  beneath  the  abdominal  segment,  one  of 
the  anterior  legs  takes  it  with  its  claws  and  carries  it  to  the 
mouth." 

The  wax  has,  perhaps,  the  nearest  analogy  to  the  seba- 
ceous secretion  of  the  integument,  than  to  any  other  ani- 
mal secretion :  it  is  formed  beneath  the  scales  on  the  un- 
der side  of  the  abdomen,  and  when  accumulated  there 
seems  to  irritate  the  part,  for  the  bee  may  then  be  observed 
wagging  her  abdomen,  and  running  round,  or  to  and  fro,  as 
if  endeavouring  to  shake  out  the  little  scales  ;  and  she  is 
generally  followed  by  one  or  two  other  bees,  which  have 
been  attracted  by  her  movements,  and  are  ready  to  seize 
upon  the  plates  of  wax  as  they  fall.  How  the  bees  mould 
the  scales  into  the  walls  of  the  cells  is  not  yet  exactly  un- 
derstood. Some  have  supposed  that  they  bite  pieces  off  and 
join  them  together ;  but  the  smooth  and  uniform  surface  of 
the  cell  shows  that  some  other  operation  must  take  place  : 
besides,  the  wail  of  the  cell  is  sometimes  thicker  than  a 
scale  of  wax.  We  must,  therefore,  suppose  that  the  bees 
have  the  power  of  applying  some  dissolving  or  softening 
menstruum  to  the  wax-scales,  by  winch  they  are  enabled 
to  xnead  and  blend  them  into  a  ductile  paste.  And  when 
we  remember  that  the  secretion  of  the  salivary  tubes  of  in- 
sects is  generally  alkaline,  and  that  wax  is  best  dissolved 
by  alkali,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  thai  it  is  by  this  means 
thai  the  wax-scales  are  brought  into  a  workable  state. 
I!  niiNiir,  indeed,  observed  a  frothy  substance  exuding 
from  the  mouth  of  a  bee  while  working  at  a  cell,  which 
•plied  to  the  proper  place  by  the  nimble  tongue,  and 
then  kneaded  in  by  the  mandibles;  and  Huber  has  de- 
scribed the  process  very  circumstantially  :  he  says  that  the 
bee  holds  the  lamina  01  wax  with  its  claws  vertically, — the 
tongue  rolled  up  serving  fora  support, — and  by  elevating  or 
jsing  it  at  will,  causes  the  whole  of  its  circumference 
to  be  exposed  to  the  action  of  the  mandibles,  so  that  the 
margin  is  soon  gnawed  into  pieces,  which  drop,  as  they  are 
detached,  into  the  double  cavity,  bordered  with  hairs,  of 
the  mandibles.  These  fragments,  pressed  by  others  new- 
orated,  fall  on  one  side  of  the  mouth,  and  issue  from 
II  m  the  f,>rm  of  a  very  narrow  riband.  They  are  then  pre- 
sented to  the  tongue,  which  impregnates  them  with  a  frothy 
liquor.  During  this  operation  the  tongue  assumes  all  sorts 
ms:  sometimes  it  is  flattened  like  a  spatula;  then 
like  a  trowel,  which  applies  itself  to  the  riband  of  wax;  at 
other  times  ||  resembles  a  pencil,  terminating  in  a  point, 
h  iving  moistened  the  whole  of  the  riband,  the  tongue 
pushes  11  mi  as  to  make  it  re-enter  the  mandibles,  but  in  an 
opposite  direction,  where  it  is  worked  up  anew.  The  h- 
quot  mixed  with  the  wax  communicates  to  it  a  whiteness 
•.  hie  h  it  had  not  before,  and  doubtless  gives  it 
thai  ductility  and  tenacity  which  it  possesses  in  its  perfect 
state 

Bees  commonly  begin  at  the  top  or  roof  of  their  cham- 
ber, and  build  downwards,  at  first  working  irregularly,  and 
as  it  were  pasting  over  the  surface;  and  then  building 
horizontal  cells  or  a  more  perfect  form.  These  at  length 
become  so  numerous,  that  they  extend  downwards  in  the 
form  of  a  vertical  wall ;  other  congeries  of  cells  are  formed 
in  succession,  until  the  whole  comb  assumes  the  form  of  a 
of  perpendicular  plates  or  partitions.  Each  plate 
consists  of  a  double  set  of  cells,  the  bottoms  of  which  are 
applied  to  each  other,  and  form  the  partition  between  each 
The  plates  are  not  always  regular,  and  the  irregulari- 
ties which  may  be  observed  are  not  always  necessary  adap- 
tations to  a  peculiar  form  of  the  cavity  in  which  they  are 
built.  The  cells  are  not  all  of  the  same  size  ;  but  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  a  given  depth  are  reserved  for  receiving 
the  eggs,  and  which  are  necessarily  adapted  to  the  size  of 
the  future  maggot:  the  smaller  or  shallower  cells  are  those 
in  which  the  boney  is  stored.  The  breeding  and  store  cells 
are  placed  horizontally,  but  the  mouth  of  the  cell  is  some- 
times a  little  raised— the  better  to  retain  the  honey.  The 
interspace  between  the  vertical  combs  is  generally  about 
half  an  inch  :  these  streets,  as  they  may  be  termed,  in  this 
city  of  industry,  being  just  wide  enough  to  allow  two  bees 
busied  upon  the  opposite  cells  to  pass  without  incommod- 
ing each  other.  In  addition  to  these  interspaces,  the  combs 
are  perforated  in  various  places,  so  as  to  allow  a  passage 
for  the  bees  from  one  street  to  another,  thus  saving  them 
much  time. 

The  shape  of  each  cell  is  not,  as  might  have  been  ex- 
pected, cylindrical,  or  that  which  seems  best  adapted  to 
the  form  of  the  maggot,  or  even  of  the  bee  constructor;  but 
it  is  hexagonal,— the  only  form  which  allows  the  cell  to  be 
of  the  largest  size  in  proportion  to  the  quantity  of  matter 
employed,  and  at  the  same  time  to  be  so  disposed  as  to 
occupv  in  the  hive  the  least  possible  space.  The  form  of 
the  base  of  each  cell,  which  is  in  apposition  with  the  one 
on  the  opposite  side,   is   also  such  as   to  gain  greater 


APIS. 

strength,  and  more  capacity,  with  less  expenditure  of  wax; 
the  latter  consideration  being  one  of  great  importance  to 
bees,  which  do  not  secrete  a  very  large  quantity  of  this  ma- 
terial:  and  the  most  profound  mathematicians  and  most 
skilful  geometers  have  found  the  solution  of  the  problem, 
relating  to  the  attainment  of  the  preceding  objects,  as  de- 
rived from  the  infinitesimal  calculus,  to  have  a  surprising 
agreement  with  the  actual  measure  of  the  different  angles 
formed  by  the  walls  of  the  cell. 

There  may  generally  be  observed  one  or  more  cells, 
wider  and  shallower  than  the  rest,  placed  either  on  the 
edge  of  a  comb,  or  partition ;  or  placed  against  the  mouths 
of  the  cells,  and  projecting  beyond  the  general  surface  of 
the  comb.— These  are  called  the  royal  cells ;  but  as  they 
are  not  adapted  to  the  form  of  the  queen,  nor  ever  lined 
with  the  silken  covering  of  the  chrysalis,  the  supposition 
that  the  queen  is  bred  in  them  seems  improbable. 

Having  now  generally  described  the  comb,  we  return  to 
the  consideration  of  those  instinctive  operations  by  which 
its  several  compartments  are  furnished  with  their  destined 
contents. 

The  comb  seems  at  first  to  be  formed  entirely  for  propa- 
gation, and,  indeed,  to  be  essentially  related  to  that  func- 
tion ;  for  if  the  workers  lose  their  queen,  they  make  no 
combs ;  and  the  reception  of  honey  is,  therefore,  its  se- 
condary use.  Wasps  and  hornets  make  combs,  although 
they  collect  no  honey. 

As  soon  as  the  young  colony  has  prepared  a  few  combs, 
the  female  begins  to  exclude  her  eggs.  The  first  that  she 
lays  produce  the  imperfect  females,  or  workers  ;  the  sub- 
sequent ones  produce  the  males,  and,  perhaps,  the  fer- 
tile females,  or  queens.  The  eggs  are  deposited  at  the 
bottom  of  the  cells,  often  before  they  are  half  completed ; 
they  adhere  generally  by  one  end  to  the  cell.  In  about  five 
days  the  little  maggot  is  hatched,  and  is  seen  lying  at  the 
bottom  of  the  cell,  coiled  up  in  a  transparent  fluid, 

Now  begins  the  additional  employment  of  the  labourers, 
that  of  feeding  and  nursing  the.  young  maggots  ;  for  this 
purpose  new  materials  must  be  collected  abroad,  and 
brought  into  the  hive. 

At  first  the  bees  of  a  young  colony  fly  out  singly,  and 
afterwards  collectively.  They  direct  their  flight  generally 
in  a  straight  line,  or  the  nearest  way  to  the  destined  object, 
and  often  travel  to  great  dislances  from  the  hive.  In  sum- 
mer time  they  may  be  seen  almost  everywhere  where 
flowers  bloom.  In  April  and  May  they  are  abroad  the 
whole  day  ;  but  in  the  hot  months  they  venture  out  less 
frequently,  generally  in  the  morning  and  evening,  at  which 
times  it  is  more  easy  for  them  to  form  the  pellets  of  the 
pollen,  the  grains  of  which  adhere  together  less  strongly 
during  the  heat  of  noon-day. 

Bees  do  not  like  wet  weather ;  yet  it  is,  perhaps,  less  the 
presence  of  rain,  than  the  changes  in  the  degree  of  light, 
which  deters  them  from  venturing  abroad  at  this  time  :  for 
they  possess  large  and  complex  organs  of  sight,  and  when 
clouds  collect  quickly  over  the  clear  sky,  they  are  seen  to 
hurry  back  in  great  numbers  to  the  hive  ;  while,  if  the  sky 
be  uniformly  overcast,  it  is  not  merely  a  shower  of  rain 
that  will  drive  them  back  :  many  of  the  actions  of  the  bee 
prove,  on  the  contrary,  how  essential  moisture  is  for  them. 
The  bee  does  not  take  honey  indiscriminately  from  every 
flower ;  in  the  meadows  thev  may  be  seen  generally  upon 
the  Orchidefe,  Polygonia,  Caryophylacea,  but  seldom,  if 
ever,  upon  the  Ranunculaceae,  perhaps  on  account  of  some 
poisonous  quality.  The  oleander  (Nerium  oleander,  L.), 
which  yields  poisonous  honey  fatal  to  thousands  of  flies,  is 
carefully  avoided  by  bees ;  and  the  crown  imperial  (Fritil- 
laria  imperialis,  L.),  the  white  nectaries  of  which  are  so 
conspicuous,  tempts  in  vain  the  passing  bee.  They  are, 
however,  extraordinarily  active  in  spring  at  the  blossoming 
of  the  Amentaceae,  Rosacea;  (especially  the  dog-rose),  and 
the  balsamic  lilies,  Primulaceae,  <fec. ;  and  are,  above  all, 
allured  by  the  innumerable  flowers  of  the  lime  (especially 
Tilia  paroifolia).  and  their  hum  may  be  heard  among  the 
branches  at  some  distance.  The  finest  flavoured  and 
most  delicate  honey  is  collected  from  aromatic  plants ; 
and  it  is  therefore  always  advisable  to  have  large  beds  of 
borage,  mignionette,  lemon  thyme,  and  sage  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  bee-hives.  Those  flowers  which  yield  a  nectar 
innocuous  to  the  bees  themselves,  but  possessing  poison- 
ous qualities  when  taken  by  man,  are  sometimes  frequent- 
ed by  bees,  and  the  honey  derived  from  them  acts  like  a 
poison.  The  description  by  Xenophon  of  the  intoxicating 
or  maddening  honey,  which  so  violently  affected  a  number 
of  the  ten  thousand  Greek  soldiers  in  his  celebrated  retreat, 
has  been  confirmed  by  the  observations  of  Tournefort. 
And  Dr.  Barton,  in  his  account  of  the  poisonous  honey  col- 
lected from  the  Kalmia  latifolia  by  the  bees  in  Pennsylva- 
nia, justly  observes,  that  there  is  more  of  poetry  than  phi- 
losophy in  the  following  lines  of  Pope  : — 

11  In  the  nice  bee  what  sense  so  subtly  true, 

From  poisonous  herbs  extracts  the  healing  dew." 

The  honey  which  is  swallowed  by  the  bees  passes  into 
the  crop,  where  it  is  accumulated  as  in  a  reservoir,  and 
64 


APIS. 

upon  the  return  of  the  bee  to  the  hive  is  regurgitated  into  a 
honey  cell.  If  any  honey  had  been  previously  accumu- 
lated there,  the  bee  breaks  through  the  firm  cream-like 
crust  which  always  forms  upon  the  exposed  surface  of  the 
honey  ;  and  it  is  this  crust  which  maintains  the  honey  in 
the  horizontal  cells. 

The  collection  of  the  farina,  or  pollen,  of  flowers,  is  a 
great  object  of  the  industry  of  bees.  In  large  flowers,  as 
the  tulip,  the  bee  dives  in ;  and  if  the  pollen  receptacle,  or 
anther,  be  not  burst,  she  bites  it  open,  and  comes  out  sin- 
gularly disguised,  being  covered  over  entirely  with  the  fer- 
tilising dust,  which  adheres  readily  to  the  fringed  hairs  of 
her  body  and  legs. 

Aristotle,  who  was  well  acquainted  with  much  that  is  in- 
teresting in  the  economy  of  the  bee,  was  the  first  to  ob- 
serve that  a  bee,  during  each  single  excursion  from  the 
hive,  limits  her  visits  to  one  species  of  flower.  Modern 
naturalists  have  confirmed  the  general  accuracy  of  this 
statement,  and  have  noticed  that  the  pollen  with  which  a 
bee  comes  home  laden  is  always  of  the  same  colour.  The 
necessity  of  this  instinct  arises  out  of  the  operation  which 
the  pollen  first  undergoes  when  collected  by  the  bee.  She 
rakes  it  out  with  incredible  quickness  by  means  of  the  first 
pair  of  legs  :  then  passes  it  to  the  middle  pair,  which 
transfer  it  to  the  hind  legs,  by  which  it  is  wrought  up  into 
little  pellets.  Now,  if  the  pollen  were  taken  indiscrimi- 
nately from  different  flowers,  it  is  probable  that  the  grains, 
being  heterogeneous,  would  not  cohere  so  effectually. 
Certain  it  is,  that  bees  enter  the  hive,  some  with  yellow 
pellets,  others  with  orange,  pink,  white,  or  even  green 
coloured  ones  ;  but  they  are  never  observed  to  be  party- 
coloured.  Through  this  instinct,  another  important  end  is 
gained,  in  relation  to  the  impregnation  of  flowers;  the  pro- 
duction of  hybrid  plants  by  the  application  of  the  pollen  of 
one  species  to  the  stigma  of  another  is  avoided— while 
those  flowers  are  more  effectually  fertilised,  which  require 
the  aid  of  insects  for  that  purpose. 

When  a  pollen-laden  bee  arrives  at  the  hive,  she  gene- 
rally walks  or  stands  upon  the  comb  beating  her  wings, 
and  three  or  four  of  her  fellow  citizens  assist  in  lightening 
her  of  her  load  ;  or  the  laden  bee  puts  her  two  hind  legs 
into  a  cell,  and  with  the  intermediate  pair,  or  the  extremity 
of  the  abdomen,  brushes  off  the  pellets.  These  are  then 
kneaded  into  a  paste  at  the  bottom  of  the  cell;  and  several 
cells  are  thus  filled  with  the  packed  and  softened  pollen, 
which  is  called  bee-bread. 

Besides  the  honey  and  farina,  bees  also  collect  a  pecu- 
liar substance,  like  gum-resin,  which  was  called  '  propolis' 
by  Pliny  ;  and  this  they  obtain  principally  from  the  bal- 
samic buds  of  the  horse-chestnut,  birch,  and  poplar,  espe- 
cially the  Populus  balsamifera,  L.  The  propolis  is  soft, 
red,  will  pull  out  in  a  thread,  and  is  aromatic.  It  is  em- 
ployed in  the  hive,  not  only  in  finishing  the  combs,  but 
also  in  stopping  up  every  chink  or  orifice  by  which  cold, 
wet,  or  any  enemy  can  enter.  Like  the  pellets  of  pollen, 
it  is  carried  on  the  posterior  tibia?,  but  the  masses  are  lenti- 
cular. Having  thus  traced  the  operations  of  the  working 
bees  relating  to  the  collection  of  the  substances  required  in 
the  economy  of  the  hive,  we  shall  now  return  to  the  larvae, 
which  are  the  immediate  objects  of  all  this  industry. 

The  bees  may  be  readily  detected  feeding  the  young 
maggot,  which  opens  its  lateral  jaws  to  receive  the  bee- 
bread,  and  swallows  it.  The  well-fed  maggot  soon  grows 
too  large  for  its  tough  outer  skin,  and  accordingly  casts  it ; 
when  its  bulk  has  increased  so  that  it  fills  its  cell,  it  then 
requires  no  more  food,  and  is  ready  to  be  inclosed  for  the 
chrysalis  state.  The  last  care  of  the  foster-parents  is  to 
cover  over  the  mouth  of  the  cell  with  a  substance  of  a  light 
brown  colour,  apparently  a  mixture  of  wax  and  farina. 
This  takes  place  generally  four  days  after  the  larva  was 
excluded  from  the  egg.  The  inclosed  larva  now  begins  to 
line  the  cell,  and  covering  of  the  aperture  before  mentioned, 
with  a  silk,  which  it  spins  from  glandular  tubes,  similar  to 
those  of  the  silkworm.  When  the  first  three  segments  of 
the  trunk,  to  which  the  locomotive  organs  of  the  perfect 
insect  are  attached,  begin  to  be  enlarged,  the  last  larva-skin 
splits  along  the  back,  and  is  pushed  off  from  the  head 
backwards,  and  deposited  at  the  bottom  of  the  cell,  and  it 
then  becomes  a  chrysalis.  Now  the  wonderful  changes 
take  place,  partly  by  a  formation  of  new  organs,  partly  by 
a  development  of  pre-existing  ones,  which  end  at  last  in 
the  completion  of  the  perfect  bee. 

Mr.  Hunter  ascertained  the  duration  of  the  pupa  state  of 
the  bee  to  be,  in  one  instance,  thirteen  days  and  twelve 
hours,  exactly ;  making  the  period  of  immature  life,  from 
the  first  deposition  of  the  egg,  to  be  twenty-two  days  and  a 
half, — a  remarkably  brief  time  for  the  completion  of  the  me- 
tamorphoses, as  compared  with  that  in  which  the  corre- 
sponding changes  are  effected  in  other  metabolian  insects. 
When  the  bee  first  comes  forth  it  is  of  a  greyish  colour,  but 
soon  assumes  the  ordinary  brown  tints. 

When  the  season  of  oviposition  and  the  rearing  of  the 
larva?  is  over,  then  the  business  of  collecting  honey  seri- 
ously begins  ;  and  when  the  last  chrysalis  of  the  season  has 


APIS. 

disclosed  its  imago,  the  deserted  cell  is  immediately  filled 
with  honey,  and  covered  over  with  wax,  to  serve  as  a  store 
for  winter. 

In  the  month  of  August  it  is  supposed  that  the  prolific  fe- 
male, which  is  to  produce  the  swarms  of  the  following 
year,  is  impregnated.  This  act  taKes  place  in  the  air.  The 
queen,  being  preceded  by  the  drones,  traverses  the  exte- 
rior of  the  hive,  and  suddenly  rises  aloft  in  the  air,  wheel- 
ing upwards  in  large  circles,  until  she  is  oul  of  sight.  The 
male,  unable  to  extricate  the  intromitted  parts,  generally 
periBhes.  The  rest  of  this  unhappy  sex  share  a  similar 
fate,  and  meet  a  violent  death  from  the  jaws  of  the  unpro- 
lific  females.  It  would  seem  as  if  the  drones  were  con- 
scious of  their  danger  al  this  3eason,  for  they  do  not  loiter 
as  usual  at  the  mouth  of  the  hive,  bul  hurry  in  or  out  How- 
ever, they  are  attacked  by  one,  two,  or  three  workers  at  a 
time,  who  do  not  sting  them,  as  Huber  asserts,  but  pinch 
them  and  pull  them  about,  as  if  to  wear  them  out.  From 
this  instinctive  and  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  the  males, 
we  may  infer  that  the  impregnation  of  thequeen  has  taken 
place  before  the  setting  in  of  the  winter  season  ;  and  that 
the  ova,  the  development  of  which  is  retarded  during  the 
indolent  state  in  winch  bees  pass  through  thecold  months, 
are  in  a  condition  to  be  developed  and  produce  the  larvae 
ai  the  approach  of  spring.  Vet,  although  on  the  setting  in 
of  the  cold  weather  the  bees  remain  very  quiet,  the]  are 
DOl  torpid,  as  is  the  case  with  most  other  insects,  They 
cluster  as  close  together  as  the  comb  will  permit,  and  have 

the  faculty  of  generating  a  degrt f  heat  superior  to  that 

of  the  external  atmosphere, 

Mr.  Hunter  found,  during  an  evening  in  July,  when  the 
temperature  of  the  atmosphere  was  "I  .  thatoi  the  inte- 
rior of  a  hive  full  ol  !  ;  and  in  December,  the 
external  atmosphere  being  35  .  the  bees  preserved  a  tem- 
perature of  73  ';  and,  what  is,  al  this  sea  on,  extremely 
rare  in  the  lower  animals,  they  maintain  their  digestive 
powers,  and  Bubsist  on  ihe  produce  of  the  summer  and 
autumn,    Accordingly,  they  are  ready  to  lake  adi 

of  any  fine  and   mild  day.  and   may   he   seen    then   flying 

>ad  and  appearing  to  enjoy  it  They  void  their  ex- 
crements at  this  time,  for  tiny  are  insects  of  singular 
cleanliness  and  propriety;  and  when  purposely  confined 

in  the  hive,  with  abundance  of  1 1.  thej  have  been  known 

to  fall  a  sacrifice  to  this  instinctive  repugnance  i' 
the  hive. 

The  continuance  of  the  digi  during  the  win- 

ter Influences  the  condition  of  the  oviducts  in  thequeen, 
and  the  impregnated  ova  begin  earlj   to  expand,  and  are 
read]  for  exclusion  In  the  month  ol   Man  1.      1 
the  bee  the  earliest  bre<  the  insects  ol  Eng 

land,    The  labourers  now  resume  their aci  ustomed  duties, 

and.  as  the  season  is  1 art)  foi  collecting  the  provision 

of  the  maggol  abroad,  ihe  sir, re  ,.i  bee  bri  "i.  I  lid  up  In  Ihe 
preceding  year,  ro  me-  mio  u>e,  for  the  sustenanci 
larvae,  which  are  about  to  form  the  first  swarm  as  soon, 
however,  as  the  Mowers  begin  to  blow,  the  bees  fly  forth  to 
gather  fresh  pollen,  propolis,  and  honey,  and  the  labours  of 
the  year  recommence. 

Il  appears  to  be  the  presence  of  the  larva),  wWch  are  des- 
tined to  become  perfect  females,  w  nich  stinwilates  the  old 
queen  to  leave  the  hive.  Ami  repeated  exempts  to  pene- 
trate their  cells,  and  destroy  her  royal  progeny,  she  be- 
comes infuriated,  communicates  lea- '-.'nation  to  a  portion 
of  her  subjects,  which,  together  wen  her.  rush  oul  of  the 
hive,  and  seek  a  new  domicile.  *  is  stated  thai  in  every 
instance  the  bid  queen  leads  tie  firsl  swarm  ;  the  labourers 
that  remain  pay  particular  attention  to  the  royal  larvae  that 
remain  :  and  these,  as  the vare  successively  excluded,  lead 
away  fresh  swarms,  if  tb ■•  hive  be  DOl  sufficiently  enlarged. 
Each  swarm  contains.. mf  only  the  recently  hatched  young 
bees.  I. ill  also  a  portion  of  the  old  inhabit, ints.  Some  as- 
sert that  the  queen, which  leads  each  swarm, is  impregnat- 
ed soon  after  th*  new  colony  is  settled;  and,  as  this  may 
take  place  ear'y  in  the  summer,  she  begins  to  oviposit  the 
same  year. ,  The  number  of  ova  which  are  fertilised  by  a 
single  coupling  is  prodigious :  Huber  calculates  that  the 
queen  lays  bJ.iMhi  eggs  in  two  months;  while,  according  to 
Re.m  iiur,  she  oviposits  at  the  rate  of  200  a  day.  The  du- 
ration of  life  of  the  different  individuals  of  the  hive  varies  : 
that  of  the  male  bee  is  not  more  than  two  or  three  months  ; 
there  is  more  doubt  respecting  the  longevity  of  the  work- 
ers, but  it  is  probable  that  it  does  not  extend  much  beyond 
a  year.  The  term  of  the  queen's  existence  has  been  stated 
to  have  been  prolonged  for  five  years  ;  but  this  is  rendered 
improbable  by  the  fact  that  all  insects  of  the  same  species 
have  nearly  the  same  duration  of  existence  allotted  to 
them. 

The  true  honey-bee  (Apis  meUifica,  L.)  was  originally 
limited  in  its  geographical  range  to  tile  Old  World,  whence 
it  has  been  transported  to  America,  and  other  countries 
where  European  colonies  have  been  established,  and  where 
it  is  now  acclimated.  The  distinguished  entomologist  La- 
treille,  on  whose  authority  we  state  this  fact  (Regne  Animal, 
torn.  v.  p.  365),  is  even  of  opinion  that  the  honey-bee  of 
65 


APOCYNACE^E. 

the  south  and  east  of  Europe,  as  well  as  that  of  Egypt,  dif- 
fers specifically  from  the  Apis  mellifica  of  western  Europe. 
See  (1  uber  on  Hees  ;  Bevan  on  the  Honey-Bee,  &c. 

API'STES.  (Gr.  atnoros,  treacherous.)  A  genus  of 
Acanthopterygious  fishes,  notable  for  a  string  suborbital 
spine,  with  which  they  are  apt  to  inflict  severe  wounds 
11  autiously  handled. 

APEO'ME.  (Gr.  an-Aooj,  simple.)  A  mineralogical  term 
for  a  variety  of  garnet  crystallised  in  rhombic  dodecahedra, 
derived  by  the  simplest  laws  of  decrement  from  the  cube. 

APLY'SlA.  (Gr.  dirXvaia,  undeanness.)  A  genus  of 
Tectibranchiate  Gastropods,  well  known  to  the  ancients  un- 
der the  name  of  Lepvjs  marinus,  or  sea  hare,  from  a  re- 
semblance which  the  long  tentacles  of  the  Aplysia  give  it 
to  the  head  of  the  hare.  By  Aristotle,  the  term  Aplysia  was 
applied  to  certain  zoophytes,  but  was  arbitrarily  transferred 
by  Linnaeus  to  the  molluscous  animals  now  known  under 
tins  denomination. 

APO'CALI  PSE.  (Gr.  dTT0Ka\v7TT0},  I rereal.)  The  Book 
of  Revelations,  the  last  in  the  canon  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. Many  conflicting  opinions  have  been  entertained  as 
to  the  authenticity  of  this  book ;  but,  though  rejected  by 
Luther,  and  neither  admitted  nor  rejected  by  Michaelis,  the 

opinion  of  the  great  majority  of  critics  and  divines  >n  mo- 
dern times  has  been  decidedly  in  favour  of  its  genuineness. 
There  have,  also,  been  great   \arciies  of  opinion  as  to  the 

person  bj  wh and  the  period  when,  the  bo6k  waswrit- 

tl  11  :   but  the  prevalent  opinion  is,  thai  it   is  ihe  work  of  St. 

John  the  Evangelist.  Ditferenl  commentators  have  differed 
widely  in  then-  interpretations  of  different  parts  ol  this 

book  ;   and  il  is  looked  on  by  many  as  being  -'ill  a  "  sealed 

book,"  admitting,  in  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge,  of 
no  satisfactory  explanation,    The  phrase  apocalyptic  writ- 
ings is  frequently  used  to  designate  those  portions  of  the 
ires  which  contain  prophetic  descriptions,  under  the 

form  of  Vis s,  of  the  future  State  of  the  church  ;  such  as 

the  hook  of  Daniel;  and,  among  the  Apocrypha,  the  fourth 
book  of  E8dt 

\l'<x  a'KI'OI  S.    (Gr.  dire,  from,  and  Kapnos,  fruit.) 

\\  len  the  carpels  of  ;<  flower  either  do  not  adhere   i, 

other  ai  all.  as  m  ihe  strawberry,  or  only  by  the  ovaries,  as 

ill  Aigella.      W'leii  a  carpel  is  altogether  single  in  a  flower, 

11  is  considered,  for  systematic  purposes,  apocarpous;  the 
supposition  being,  thai  if  another  carpel  were  present,  it 
would  not  adhere  to  the  first. 

\lo<  RYPHA     (Gr.  dmupvirrstv,  to  hide.)    Properly, 

thing-  01    put  out  of  sight;    applied  to   certain 

books,  in  behalf  of  which  a  claim  to  inspiration  has  been 

apposed   to  be  spurious,  and   ai  e 

re  pie-  nd  from  the  canon  ol  scripture.   One  great 

distinction  between  the  Roman  and  the  Reformed  churches 

■   ii.  latter  reject  certain  books,  admitted  by  the  form- 

,  ,  hi  'he  -,me-  looting  a.,  those  books  ahoiit  which  there  is 
DO  dispute,  from  the  canon  of  the  Old  Testament;  viz.  the 
:;,|  and  1th  id'  Esdras,  the  book  of  Tobias,  that  of  Judith, 
the  rest  of  the  book  of  Esther,  that  of  Wisdom,  of  Jesus 
ihe  son  of  Sirach,  Baruch  the  prophet,  the  Song  of  the 
Tli re.'  Children,  the  story  of  Susanna,  of  Bel  and  the  Dra- 
gon. Ihe  Prayer  ofManasses,  and  the  1st  and  2d  Macca- 
bees; reading  them,  as  the  sixth  Article  of  the  English 
church  declares,  for  example  of  life  and  instruction  of  man- 
ners, but  not  applying  them  to  establish  any  doctrine.  The 
English  church  receives  no  books  into  the  canon  of  the  Old 
Testament  which  were  not  BO  received  by  the  Jews:  and 
it  appears  that  the  writings  thus  excluded  are  not  quoted 
by  Ihe  authors  of  Ihe  New  Testament,  nor  are  admitted  in- 
to any  of  the  earlier  catalogues  set  forth  by  the  Christian 
fathers.  They  are  also  found  to  contain  some  manifest  in- 
consistencies, some  obviously  fanciful  relations,  and,  in  one 
or  two  passages,  to  countenance  tenetsat  variance  with  the 
ter,  or  even  the  express  declarations,  of  revealed  re- 
ligion. There  exist  at  the  present  day  various  writings 
purporting  to  he  the  Gospels  or  Epistles  of  Joseph,  of  James 
the  Apostle,  of  St.  Paul,  an  Epistle  of  Christ  himself  to 
king  Abgamus,  <kc.  ;  which  are,  for  the  most  part,  intrinsi- 
cally absurd  ;  and,  having  no  external  evidence  or  authority 
in  1h.11  favour,  have  never  obtained  currency  in  the  church. 
(See  art.  Canon.) 

APOCYNA'CE^E.  An  extensive  natural  order  of  plants, 
named  after  Apocynum,  one  of  the  more  common  of  its 
genera.  A  few  species  are  found  in  cold  climates,  but  by 
far  the  larger  part  are  natives  of  warm  or  tropical  latitudes, 
in  the  form  of  shrubs  or  trees,  or  twining  plants,  some  of 
which  are  remarkable  for  their  beauty,  as  various  species 
of  Echites ;  others  for  their  poisonous  properties,  as  Cer- 
bera,  which  furnishes  the  Tanghin  poison  of  Madagascar, 
and  Strychnos,  from  various  species  of  which  the  poisons 
called  tiente  and  woorary  are  procured  in  different  coun- 
tries ;  while  a  third  set  produce  bark,  having  useful  bitter 
and  febrifugal  properties;  the  inspissated  milk  that  flows 
from  these  plants,  when  removed,  constitutes  their  poison  ; 
the  febrifugal  bitter  principle  is  an  independent  secretion, 
that  becomes  useful  when  it  can  be  separated  from  the 
milk.  Notwithstanding  these  dangerous  properties,  the 
K 


i? 


APODE. 

fruits  of  some  species  are  eatable,  as  that  of  Carissa,  the 
cream  fruit  of  Sierra  Leone,  and  some  others. 

A'PODE,  APODA.  (Gr.  d,  priv.,  and  kovs,  a  foot.') 
Footless.  A  term  applied  by  Latreille  to  a  section  of  Sauri- 
ans  or  lizards,  by  Mayer  to  a  family  of  serpents,  and  by  Op- 
pel  to  a  family  of  Batrachians  ;  by  Linnaeus  to  his  first  or- 
der of  fishes,  which  have  no  ventral  fins  ;  and  by  Cuvier  a 
suborder  of  Malacopterygia,  or  soft-finned  fishes,  is  thus 
designated,  comprehending  those  which  are  devoid  of  the 
ventral  fins,  or  the  homologues  of  the  posterior  extremities. 
It  is  also  indicative  of  those  larvae  of  insects  which  have 
only  the  soft  tubercles  or  prolegs  ;  and  the  skins  of  the  bird 
of  paradise,  imported  as  an  article  of  commerce,  being  al- 
ways deprived  of  the  legs,  it  was  for  some  time  believed 
that  the  species  was  naturally  without  feet,  and  it  was  con- 
sequently termed  Paradisea  apoda. 

APODO'GYNOUS.  (Gr.  d,  priv.,  wovs,  a  foot,  and  yvvri, 
a  female.)  A  name  given  by  Richard  to  disks  which  do  not 
adhere  to  the  base  of  an  ovary. 

APO'DOSIS.  (Gr.  dTrocjtrSauti,  to  give  back:)  In  Rhe- 
toric, the  second  part  of  a  period.    (See  Protasis.) 

APODYTE'RIUM.  (Gr.  dirodvoOai,  to  strip  one's  self.) 
In  ancient  Architecture,  the  apartment  in  the  palffista,  or 
bath,  in  which  a  person  divested  himself  of  his  dress, 
whether  for  bathing  or  for  gymnastic  exercises.  In  the 
baths  of  Ne.ro,  these  apartments  were  small ;  but  in  those 
of  Caracalla,  the  apodyterium  was  a  magnificent  room  with 
columns  and  other  decorations. 

A'POGEE.  (Gr.  dno,from,sx\il  yH,  the  earth.)  Applied, 
in  Astronomy,  to  the  orbit  of  the  moon  and  the  apparent 
orbits  of  the  sun  or  planets,  to  denote  the  points  of  those  or- 
bits most  remote  from  the  earth.  It  is  opposed  to  perigee, 
which  denotes  the  point  nearest  the  earth.  The  apogee  of 
the  lunar  orbit  advances  eastward  among  the  stars,  and 
completes  a  revolution  in  about  nine  years. 

APOLLIN'ARIANS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  sect 
•who  denied  the  humanity  of  Christ  as  far  as  regards  the 
soul,  believing  its  place  to  be  supplied  by  the  Logos,  or 
Word  of  God.  Apollinaris,  their  founder,  was  a  bishop  of 
Laodicea,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fourth  century  :  his  doc- 
trine was  condemned  by  the  council  of  Constantinople, 
a.  d.  381.  (See  Mosheim's  Eccl.  History,  English  transla- 
tion, i.  423.) 

APO'LLO,  or  PH03BUS.  A  heathen  divinitv.  son  of  Ju- 
piter and  Latona,  in  Homeric  times  the  god  of  archery, 
prophecy,  music,  and  medicine. 

Jupiter  est  genitor.    Per  me  quod  eritque,  fuitqne, 
Estque  patet.     Per  me  concordant  carmina  ntrvis> 
Certaquidem  nostra,  est  nostra  tamen  una  sagitta 
Certiorin  vacuo  qua:  vulnera  pectore  fecit ; 
Tnventum  medicina  meum  est,  opifeique  per  orberr* 
Dicor,  etherbarum  estsubjecta  potentia  nobis. 
Later  poets  represent  him  also  as  the  god  of  day  and  the 
eun.    The  statues  of  Apollo  represent  a  young  man  in  the 
perfection  of  manly  strength  and  beauty,  with  unshorn 
curling  locks,  and  a  bow  or  lyre  in  his  hand.     The  worship 
of  this  god  was  very  general  in  Greece  and  Italy,  especially 
in  the  former,  where  he  uttered  prophetic  responses  from 
many  of  his  temples,  the  most  celebrated  of  which  were 
those  of  Delos  and  Delphi,  in  Phocis :  in  the  latter  of  these 
his  most  esteemed  oracles  were  delivered.     The  mytho- 
logical tales  about  Apollo  are  very  numerous.     His  birth 
took  place  in  the  island  of  Delos,  whither  his  mother  took 
refuge  from  the  persecutions  of  the  jealous  Juno  ;  and  his 
first  exploit  was  the  slaughter  of  the  dragon  Python,  for 
which,  according  to  one  tradition,  he  was  subjected  to  ser- 
vitude under  Admetus,  king  of  Phera?,  inThessaly.     Of  his 
numerous  amours,  that  with  the  nymph  Daphne  is  most 
noted.     She  fled  from  his  embraces,  and,  when  no  other 
means  of  escape  from  the  arms  of  her  pursuer  were  left, 
was  turned  by  her  father,  the  river-god  Peneus,  into  a  bay: 
tree,  which  in  consequence  became  the  peculiar  emblem 
of  Apollo. 

APOLLO  BELVIDERE.  A  beautiful  statue  of  Apollo, 
found,  towards  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  among  the 
ruins  of  the  ancient  Antium.  It  was  purchased  by  Pope 
Julius  II.,  who  placed  it  in  the  Belvidere  of  the  Vatican, 
whence  it  takes  its  name.  It  is,  perhaps,  the  noblest  work 
of  art.  The  god  is  standing,  about  seven  feet  high,  and  al- 
most naked.  His  quiver  hangs  over  his  right  shoulder ;  his 
pallium  over  his  left  arm,  which  is  extended  ;  and  in  his 
hand  are  the  remains  of  a  bow,  out  of  which  he  is  supposed 
to  have  just  discharged  the  arrow  that  killed  the  serpent 
Python.  The  whole  figure  has  about  it  an  indescribable  air 
of  grace,  beauty,  and  majesty. 

"  Or  view  the  Lord  of  the  unerring  bow, 
The  God  of  life,  and  poesy,  and  light — 
The  sun  in  human  limbs  array'd,  and  brow 
All  radiant  from  his  triumph  in  the  fight ; 
The  shaft  has  just  been  shot— the  arrow  bright 
With  an  immortal's  vengeance  :  in  his  eye 
And  nostril  beautiful  disdain,  and  might, 
And  majesty,  flash  their  full  lightnings  by, 
Developing  in  that  one  glauce  the  Deity." 

This  chef-d'c&ivre  of  Greek  sculpture  has  been  supposed 
66 


APOSTOLIC  FATHERS. 

by  some,  but  on  very  slight  grounds,  to  be  alluded  to  by 
Pliny  (Hist.  Nat.  lib.  xxxvi.  §  4.).  The  best  critics  are  of 
opinion  that  the  artist  is  wholly  unknown.  This  noble 
statue  was  conveyed  to  Paris  by  Napoleon  ;  but,  on  the 
downfal  of  the  latter,  it  was  again  restored  to  the  Vatican. 

A'POLOGUE.  (Gr.  d-n6\o}  os.)  In  Literature,  a  fable  or 
fiction,  of  which  the  object  is  moral.  According  to  some 
definitions  of  the  Apologue,  it  is  a  fable  of  which  the  inter- 
locutors or  subjects  are  animals  :  but  this  seems  an  un- 
founded limitation.     (See  Fable.) 

APO'LOGY.  (Gr.  d7roXo^ia.)  In  Literature,  a  defence, 
or  answer  to  an  accusation.  The  two  pieces  of  Xenophon 
and  Plato,  each  commonly  termed  Apologia  Socratis,  differ 
in  character  :  the  first  being  a  defence  supposed  to  be  pro- 
nounced by  the  philosopher  himself ;  the  last,  a  narration 
of  his  last  hours  and  discourses.  Treatises  in  defence  of 
the  Christian  religion,  in  its  early  period,  were  denomi- 
nated Apologies  by  their  writers  ;  as  those  of  Justin  Martyr, 
Tertullian,  and  others,  both  preserved  and  lost.  The  title 
has  been  retained  by  some  writers  in  modern  times  :  as  by 
Robert  Barclay,  in  his  Apology  of  Quakerism,  and  by 
Bishop  Watson,  in  his  Apologies  for  the  Bible  and  for  Chris- 
tianity. 

A'POPHTHEGM.  (Gr.  diroyBeyua,  from  tyBtyyopai,  1 
speak.)  A  short  and  sententious  speech  or  saying.  The 
apophthegms  of  the  ancients  are  generally  sentences  ex- 
pressing some  truth  of  universal  applicalion  in  philosophy} 
the  conduct  of  life,  &c.  &c.  Such  are  Plutarch's  "  Apoph- 
thegmata  Laconiea."  a  collection  of  the  brief  and  pointed 
savings  for  which  the  Lacedaemonians  were  famous. 

A'POPHYGE.  (Gr.,  signify ing  flight,  or  refuge.)  In  Ar- 
chitecture, that  part  of  a  column  between  the  upper  fillet 
which  rests  on  the  base  and  the  cylindrical  part  of  the  shaft 
of  a  column,  usually  moulded  into  a  hollow  or  cavetto,  out 
of  which  the  column  seems  as  it  were  to  fly  or  shoot  up- 
wards. 

APOPHYSIS.  (Gr.  drcotpvui.  I  proceed  from.)  A  protu- 
berance, process,  or  projection.  In  Anatomy,  restricted  to 
processes  of  the  osseous  system. 

A'POPLE'XY.  (Gr.  dnon'Xriao-eiv,  to  strike  doun.)  A 
sudden  suspension  or  loss  of  the  powers  of  sense  or  mo- 
tion ;  the  heart  continues  to  act,  and  respiration  is  contin- 
ued, though  often  with  some  difficulty. 

APOROBRA'NCHIANS,  APOROBRANCHIATA.  (Gr. 
dTTopew,  I  leant,  and  (Ipayx'a,  g'tls.)  A  name  applied  by 
Latreille  to  an  order  of  the  class  Arachnida,  characterised 
by  the  absence  of  stigmata  or  respiratory  pores  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  bodv. 

APOSE'PEDIN.  V3r.  drro,  from,  and  crivtSav,  product 
of  putrefaction.)  A  peculiar  crystallised  substance  obtained 
from  putrid  cheese. 

A'POSIOPE'SIS.  (Gr.  dTrooiioiraoj,  to  leare  off  speaking 
suddenly.)  A  figure  in  Rhetoric  and  Composition,  by  which 
.  a  sentence  is  made  to  break  off  abruptly  when  unfinished 
either  in  sense  or  grammatical  construction  ;  so  that  the 
part  which  was  to  follow  appears  to  be  retained  in  the  mind 
of  the  speaker  or  writer.  In  writing,  the  Aposiopesis  is 
now  often  denoted  by  an  horizontal  fine  or  break  at  the 
point  where  the  sense  is  interrupted. 

APO'STACY.  (Gr.  dQioTtipi,  I  desert.)  A  deserting  or 
abandoning  of  the  true  faith  ;  but  the  word  is  now  used  to 
designate  the  rei»jnciation  of  political  as  well  as  religious 
opinions. 

APOSTASIA'CE  A.  a  very  small  natural  order  of  plants 
found  in  the  tropics  of  lr.dia,  closely  allied  to  Orchidaceae, 
from  which  they  differ  in  having  a  three-celled  ovary  and 
diandrous  flowers,  the  sextS  0f  which  are  partly  free. 
Apostasia  is  the  principal  genus. 
APO'STILL.  In  Literature,  a  inarginal  note  to  a  book. 
APO'STLE.  (Gr.  dToo-roXoc.)  Aperson  sent  forth  upon 
any  business  :  hence  applied,  by  way  of  eminence,  to  the 
twelve  elect  disciples  of  Christ,  who  werp  sent  forth  by  him 
to  convert  and  baptize  all  nations.  In  the  first  centurv,  the 
apostles  assumed  the  highest  office  in  the  c'nurch  ;  and  the 
term  apostle  during  that  period  was  equivalent  to  bishop  in 
after-times.  According  to  Theodoret  (v.  Bingham,  II.  Q. 
1.),  the  titles  of  bishop  and  presbyter  were  originally  ap- 
plied promiscuously  to  the  same,  or  second,  order  in  the 
church. 

APO'STLES'  CREED.  A  confession  of  faith,  supposed 
anciently  to  have  been  drawn  up  by  the  apostles  them- 
selves, and  deriving  the  title  "  Creed"  from  the  word  with 
which  it  begins  in  Latin  (credo,  I  believe).  With  respect  to 
its  antiquity,  it  may  be  affirmed,  that  the  greater  part  of  its 
clauses  is  quoted  by  the  apostolic  father  Ignatius  ;  and  that 
the  whole,  as  it  now  stands  in  our  liturgy,  is  to  be  found  in 
the  works  of  St.  Ambrose,  in  the  fourth  centurv. 

APOSTO'LIC  FATHERS.  The  writers  of  the  Christian 
Church,  who  lived  in  the  apostolic  age,  or  were  during  any 
part  of  their  lives  contemporary  with  the  apostles.  They 
are  five :  Clement  of  Rome,  Barnabas,  Hermas,  Ignatius, 
and  Polycarp  ;  of  whom  the  last  suffered  martyrdom,  a.  d. 
147.  Of  these  the  three  first  are  supposed  to  be  mentioned 
in  the  Epistles  and  Acts;  the  fourth,  according  to  a  preva- 


APOSTROPHE. 

lent  tradition,  was  the  child  whom  Christ  took  in  his 
arms,  whence  ho  was  called  Theophorus ;  and  the  fifth, 
who  suffered  at  a  very  advanced  age,  seems  to  be  the  angel 
or  bishop  of  Smyrna  whom  St.  John  addresses  in  the  Rev- 
elations 

APO'STROPHE.  (Gr.  d-jocrrpeoeiv,  to  turn  off.)  In 
Rhetoric,  a  figure  of  speech  by  which  the  orator  or  writer 
suddenly  breaks  off  from  the  previous  method  of  his  dis- 
course, and  addresses  himself  in  the  second  person  to 
some  person  or  thing,  absent  or  present.  It  is  not  neces- 
sarily  an  address  to  the  absent  or  dead,  although  often  so 
led.  An  orator,  who  should  suddenly  direct  his  speech 
to  one  of  the  audience,  would  be  employing  an  apostrophe. 
It  is,  like  other  figures  of  speech,  an  imitation  of  one  of"  the 
i,  natural  effects  ol  strong  emotion.  In  oratory,  the 
Apostrophe  of  Demosthenes  to  the  gods,  at  the  end  of  the 
Oratio  pro  Corond  in  narrative  writing,  that  of  Tacitus  to 
the  shade  of  Agricola,  in  his  biography  of  that  statesman, 
may  becitedas  splendid  examples  in  ancient  literature  of 
the  use  of  this  i. 

APOTHE'CA.  (Gr.  d-rroOriKri,  a  repository.)  In  ancient 
Architecture,  a  Btori  il,  wine,  &c. 

APCTHECARY.  (Gr.  aVo0ij/t>;,  a  stop.)  Apothecaries 
were  originally  the  venders  and  preparers  of  drugs  and 
compi  '  medicine.    The  Apothecaries' Compa- 

ny, or  the  Society  of  Apothecaries  for  the  <  !ity  of  London. 
was  incorporated  by  James  I  in  1600.    Their  last  charter 
ol  D  cember,  1617.    {See  Companies.) 

APOTHE'CIUM     (.Set    Apotheca.)     A  flat  disk,  con- 
sisting of  a  nucleus  surrounded  byaborder,  inwhii 
asci  of  lichi  Itisco  tiled  a  Bhield. 

ATOTHEO'SIS.  (Gr.  dnoOiuaif.)  The  change  from 
a  mortal  to  a  divine  nature,  whii  ats  supposed 

some  men  to  ander)  i:  as  the  old  heroes  among 

the  Greeks;  and  the  ancient  kings  of  Italy,  and  Rod 
wiih  the  Romans,  who  also  paid  divine  honours,  in  later 
times,  to  their  deceased,  and,  in  some  cases,  to  their  living 
emperors. 

Ar'OTOME.  (Gr.  diroropos,  cutoff.)  In  Music,  the  re- 
maining part  of  an  entire  major  semitone  has 
been  abstracted  from  it;  or  ii  is  the  remainder  ofa  whole 
tone  when  diminished  by  a  limma,  or  smaller  seinitone. 
As  Hie  tone  major  canno  illy  divided  into  two 
equal  parts,  the  Greeks  divided  it  into  a  greater  and  less 

semil :  the  greater  being  the  apotome,  and  the  less  the 

limma.    The  propor i  of  the  apotome  to  ih^  limma  is 

2187  to  204a 

Apotome.  In  Geometry,  B  term  employed  by  1 
and  some  of  the  ancienl  mathematicians  to  denote  the  re- 
mainder or  difference  between  tw  •  jfies  or  quantities  com- 
mensurable  only  In  power.  Thud!  I)  from  the  diagonal  of 
a  square,  a  part  equal  to  the  side  of  the  square  is  cut  off,  the 
rem  Under  is  the  apotome,  an  i  is  represented  numerically 

by  i! Epresaion  \  "J-  1     In  i1 

ments,  Euclid  divides  apotoraes  into  sbi  i  I 

A'POZEM.  (Gi  dirot  and  fs«i>,  to  boil.)  An  old  I'har- 
maceutical  term  foi  a      i  <><tion. 

APPA'RENT.  A  term  used  in  Astronomy  to  denote 
things  as  they  appear  to  the  eye,  in  distinction  I"  wh.it  they 

really  are.  Thus,  the  apparent  altitude  of  a  star  denotes 
the  angle  which  its  line  of  vision  makes  with  the  horizon: 
but  ihe  real  altitude  is  found  by  making  a  correction  for 
the  effects  of  parallax,  which  causes  (he  star  to  app 
little  higher  than  il  would  it  there  were  no 
The  apparent  diameter  ofa  planet  is  l II  the  an- 
gle made  by  two  Btraighl  hues  drawn  from  the  eye  to  oppo 

site  points   of  iis  disk  :   the    n  t    line 

joining  those  points ;  while  astronomers  call  the  angle  un- 
der which  the  diameter  would  be  Been  from  the  i  • 
of  the  earth,  the  true  diameter.    The  apparent  or  si  n 
horizon  denotes  the  plane  which  is  a  tangenl  to  the  i 
surface  at  the  place  of  the  observer;  the  true  horizon  is  a 
plane  parallel  to  the  former,  and  passing  through  the  cen- 
tre of  the  earth.    Apparent  motion  is  the  velocity  and  di- 
rection in  which  a  body  appears  to  move  to  an  observer 
who  is  himself  in  motion.     For  example  :    the  apparent 
diurnal  motion  of  the  stars  from   east  to  Wesl  arises  from 
the  rotatory  motion  of  the  earth,  which  carries  us  along 
with  it  in  an  opposite  direction.     Apparent  time  is  the  same 
as  true  time,  or  the  hour  indicated  by  the  suns  pa 
over  a  meridian  ;  while  mean  time  is  thai  which  would  be 
indicated  by  the  sun  if  its  angular  velocity  in  its  orbit  were 
uniform. 

APPARI'TION.  In  a  general  sense,  means  the  appear- 
ance or  semblance  of  any  thing;  but  the  word  is  now  com- 
monly used  to  denote  a  spectre,  or  the  preternatural  ap- 
pearance of  some  spirit.  A  belief  in  the  reality  of  such 
preternatural  appearances  has  been  entertainedby  many 
eminent  men;  hut  it  has  chiefly  prevailed  in  times  of  ig- 
norance and  superstition,  and  has  either  wholly  disappeared, 
or  had  a  comparatively  limited  influence  in  more  enlight- 
ened times.     See  Hibbert's  Philosophy  of  Apparitions. 

APPEA'L.     In  Law,  1.  The  removal  of  a  cause  from  an 
inferior  court  to  a  superior.    2.  An  accusation  of  a  crimi- 
07 


APPRENTICE. 

nal  offence  by  one  subject  against  another.  The  bringing 
decisions  of  the  courts  of  Scotland  and  Ireland,  or  the  court 
of  chancery  in  England,  before  the  house  of  lords,  is  pecu- 
liarly termed  an  appeal  in  Ihe  first  sense.  Criminal  ap- 
peals are  now  obsolete  :  those  on  charges  not  capital  have 
long  been  so.  Appeals  of  treason  and  of  felony  subsisted 
for  a  much  looser  period :  the  latter  had  doubtless  their 
origin  in  the  early  jurisprudence  of  the  Gothic  nations,  by 
which  acts  of  violence  or  injury  were  redeemable  by  a 
weregild  or  fine  to  the  party  injured  or  his  nearest  relative. 
They' were  put  an  end  to  by  slat.  59  G.  3.  c.  40.  {See  Wa- 
ger of  Battle.) 

APPEA'RANCE.  In  Law,  the  act  whereby  a  defendant 
in  an  action  recognises  the  process  by  which  that  action 
is  commenced  against  him  ;  originally  by  appearing  in 
person,  or  by  attorney,  in  court  :  now,  by"  filing  common 
or  special  had  to  a  writ  of  capias,  by  delivering  a  memo- 
randum in  writing  to  an  officer  of  the  court,  in  answer  to  a 
wril  of  summons,  <S  c 

APPE'LLANT.     In  Law,  the  party  by  whom  an  appeal 

is  made  ;  as  against  an  order  of  magistrate  to  the  quarter 

the  decision  ofa  court  of  equity  to  the 

house  of  lords     The  opposite  parry  is  termed  respondent. 

APPE'NDAGE.  In  Botany,  all"  parts  which  are  regu- 
larly arranged  round  any  other  pan  are  called  appendages; 
-  ire  appendages  of  the  axis :  so  are  all  the  parts  of  a 
flower  theoretically  ;  the  supernumerary  sepals  in  a  straw- 
berry are  ape  the  calyx;  the  abortive  stamens 
that  arise  from  the  calyx  of  a  passion-flower  are  append- 
.  and  so  on. 

\iTi;\l>'i<  i  LATE  Having  appendages.  The  word 
is  sometimes  applied  to  all  those  plants  which  are  furnished 
with  leaves  (at  'i  the  axis.) 

APPE'NDIN.  In  Literature,  a  supplement  added  at  the 
end  of  a  work,  either  to  contain  portions  of  the  subject 
which  bad  been  omitted,  or  separate  pieces  and  extracts 
from  other  works  bearing  on  it :  such  as  are  termed  in 
French  p&a  s  justificativen. 

APPE'NSI'S.  (Lat.  appendo,  I  hang  up.)  When  an 
ovule  is  mil  exactly  pendulous,  bul  is  attached  to  the  pla- 
centa by  Borne  poinl  intermediate  between  the  apex  and 

the  middle. 

A'Pl'iw  \\  w  The  moal  celebrated  of  the  highways 
leading  from  ancjenl  Rome  li  was  constructed  by  the 
censor  Appius  Claudius,  a.  n.  c.  442;  and  commencing  at 
the  gate  ol  <  lapena,  now  St  Sebastian,  extended  to  <  apua, 
the  then  hunt  of  the  empire.     It  was  formed  of  stones 

squared  and  jointed,  and  was  wide  enough  for  two  chariots 
to  go  abreast.  On  each  side'  was  a  ditch  for  carrying  off 
the  water. 

A'PPLE.     (Gr.  drrioc,  a  wild  pear.)    The  cultivated  fruit 
of  Pyrua  moiua,  the  crab  apple  of  our  hedges.    All  the  nu- 
merous varieties  thai  are  now  bo  common  are  said  to  have 
ited  slowly  from  improvements  of  this  wild  sort.    At 
what  period  its  amelioration  commenced  is  unknown  ;  but, 
as  Pliny  was  acquainted  with  several  kinds,  it  is  reasonably 
to  be  supposed  thai  its  improvement  is  to  be  assigned  to  a 
high  antiquity.     If  it  could  be  true  that  pippins,"  that  is, 
ng  improved  apples,  were  introduced  only  at  the  end 
of  the   ltilh  century,  we  should  have  to  give  the  southern 
nations  of  Europe  the  credit  of  having  furnished  us  with 
the  stock  from  which  the  valuable  varieties  we  now  pos- 
h ave  been  derived.     But  there  is  no  doubt  that  apples 
of  some  kind  have  been  known  in  England  from  long  be- 
fore  the  Conquest,  and  although  they  may  have  been  of 
bad  quality,  and  lit  for  food  only  when  roasted,  yet  they 
hardly  have  failed  to  produce  seedlings  of  valuable 
qualities.    The  term  apple  is  employed  in  composition  to 
designate  any  large  fleshy  fruit,  as  love-apple,  thorn-apple, 

AITOGIATU'RA.  (Ital.  appogiare,  to  lean  upon.)  In 
Music,  a  small  note  preceding  a  larger  one  of  greater  dura- 
tion, of  which  it  borrows  one  naif  of  its  value:  sometimes, 
however,  it  is  only  one  quarter  in  duration  of  the  note 
which  ii  pre les. 

APPORTIONMENT.  In  Law,  the  dividing  of  a  rent, 
&c.  into  parts,  according  to  the  number  and  proportion  of 
the  parties  between  whom  the  land  is  divided. 

APPRAI'SEMENT.  The  valuation  of  goods  sold  under 
distress  for  rent  due,  by  sworn  appraisers,  under  several 
statutes.     'See  Distress.) 

APPREIIE'NSION,  SIMPLE.  In  Logic,  is  that  act  or 
condition  of  the  mind  in  which  it  receives  a  notion  of  any 
object,  and  is  said  to  be  either  incomplex  or  complex  :  the 
former  being  the  apprehension  of  one  object,  or  of  several 
without  any  relation  between  them,  as  "  a  man,"  "  cattle  ;" 
complex,  of  several,  with  such  a  relation,  as  "a  man  on 
horseback,"     "a  herd  of  cattle." 

APPRENTICE.  (Fr.  apprendre,  to  learn.)  A  person 
bound  by  indenture,  for  a  certain  term,  to  perform  servi- 
ces for  a  master,  receiving,  in  return,  instruction  in  a  trade 
or  occupation  ;  and,  in  most  instances,  necessary  food  and 
clothing.  Apprenticeship  seems  to  have  originated,  togeth- 
er with  guilds  and  fraternities,  in  the  middle  ages.    Seven 


APPROACH. 

years  is  a  common  term  of  apprenticeship  in  Germany,  as 
well  as  in  England  ;  but  other  periods,  as  three  and  eight, 
have  been  customary  in  different  trades,  places,  and  times. 
The  former  period  was  fixed  in  England  by  the  statute  5 
Eliz.  c.  4.,  which  regulated  apprenticeship  throughout  the 
realm  in  general.  By  54  G.  3.  c.  96.,  the  legal  force  of 
apprenticeship  was  finally  destroyed  ;  that  is,  persons  were 
allowed  to  exercise  their  respective  trades  without  having 
served ;  London,  and  a  few  other  corporate  towns,  being 
excepted.  Apprenticeship  is,  therefore,  now  only  recog- 
nised by  the  law  as  the  mode  of  learning  a  trade. 

APPROA'CII.  In  Fortification,  a  term  given  to  the  trench 
or  covered  way  by  which  a  besieging  army  may  advance 
from  its  camp  to  the  wall  of  a  fortress  without  being  ex- 
posed to  the  fire  of  the  defenders.  Approaches  sometimes 
consist  of  covering  masses  only,  formed  of  earth  in  bags, 
fascines,  stuffed  gabions,  woolpacks,  bales  of  cotton,  or 
other  materials  within  reach. 

Approach,  Curve  of.  In  Geometry,  the  name  given  to 
a  curve  which  possesses  this  property, — that  a  heavy  body 
descending  along  it  by  the  force  of  gravity,  makes  equal 
approaches  to  the  horizon  in  equal  portions  of  time.  It 
was  proposed  by  Leibnitz,  and  its  properties  investigated 
by  Bernoulli  and  others. 

Approach  Road.  In  Landscape  Gardening,  is  the  road 
which  leads  from  the  public  or  main  road,  through  a  park 
or  pleasure  ground,  to  the  mansion  of  a  country  residence. 
In  the  ancient  or  geometric  style  of  gardening,  this  road 
was  bounded  by  lines  either  straight  or  regularly  curved, 
and  was  generally  accompanied  by  one  or  more  rows  of 
trees  on  each  side,  at  regular  distances:  but  in  the  modern 
6tyle,  the  approach  road  is  led  in  graceful  sweeps,  which 
are  made  to  appear  as  if  they  were  determined  by  existing 
circumstances,  either  in  the  surface  of  the  ground,  or  in 
the  trees  or  other  objects  which  are  placed  on  it.  There 
ought  to  be  no  bend  in  an  approach  road  for  which  there 
is  not  an  obvious  and  sufficient  reason,  either  naturally 
existing,  or  created  by  art. 

APPROPRIATION.  In  Landscape  Gardening,  is  the 
art  of  so  blending  the  scenery  of  one  estate  with  that  of 
the  others  that  adjoin  it,  as  to  make  the  one  subservient  to 
the  other,  in  a  scenic  point  of  view.  This  is  effected  by 
forming  appropriate  fore-grounds,  in  the  estate  at  command, 
to  the  distant  views,  in  the  estates  not  at  command  ;  or  in 
fields  immediately  adjoining,  by  imitating  in  our  own  field 
a  part  of  what  is  contained  in  the  field  of  our  neighbour  : 
thus,  if  the  park  of  A.  should  be  chiefly  planted  with  pines 
and  firs,  and  that  of  B.  chiefly  with  oaks ;  A.,  in  order  to 
appropriate  the  scenery  of  B.,  must  substitute  oaks  for  a 
part  of  his  pines  and  firs ;  more  especially  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity  of  the  grounds  of  B. 

APPRO'VER.  In  Law.  a  person  who  being  indicted  of 
treason  or  felony,  and  not  disabled  from  giving  legal  evi- 
dence, upon  his  arraignment,  before  any  plea  pleaded,  con- 
fesses the  indictment,  and  takes  an  oath  to  reveal  all  trea- 
sons and  felonies  that  he  knows  of,  and  therefore  prays  a 
coroner  to  enter  his  appeal  or  accusation  against  those  that 
are  his  partners  in  the  crime  contained  in  the  indictment. 

APPROXIMATE.  In  Zoology,  when  the  teeth  are  so 
arranged  in  the  jaws,  that  one  passes  on  the  side  of  the 
next,  and  there  is  no  intervening  vacancy. 

APPROXIMATION.  (Lat.  proximus,  nearest,  next  to.) 
A  drawing  near  to.  In  Mathematics,  quantities  are  said  to 
be  approximate  which  are  nearly  but  not  absolutely  equal. 

In  a  general  sense,  the  term  approximate  may  be  applied 
to  every  result  of  natural  philosophy  or  experimental 
science.  For  example,  the  magnitude  of  the  earth,  the 
distance  of  the  sun,  the  masses  of  the  plants,  in  fact,  all 
the  elements  of  astronomy,  are  only  known  nearly,  or  by 
approximation.  In  these  cases,  however,  the  want  of  ab- 
solute knowledge  arises  from  the  imperfections  of  our 
senses,  or  the  errors  of  our  instruments.  In  the  language 
of  Analysis,  approximation  is  used  to  denote  those  methods 
of  calculation  hy  which  we  obtain  near  values  of  quantities 
which  cannot  be  found  accurately,  either  on  account  of  the 
nature  of  their  composition,  or  the  imperfections  of  our 
methods  of  calculation. 

The  problem  of  finding  the  length  of  the  circumference 
of  a  circle,  by  means  of  inscribed  polygons,  affords  an  in- 
stance of  approximation  to  the  values  of  geometrical  quan- 
tities. It  is  a  principle  in  Geometry,  that  any  arc  of  a  cir- 
cle, however  small,  is  greater  than  its  chord.  Now,  sup- 
pose a  regular  polygon  of  100  sides  to  be  inscribed  in  a  cir- 
cle, and  that  we  know  the  exact  length  of  one  of  the  sides ; 
it  is  evident  that  the  sum  of  all  these  lengths  will  give  an 
approximation  to  the  length  of  the  circumference,  though 
it  would  fall  short  of  it  by  a  very  sensible  quantity.  But 
suppose  that,  instead  of  a  polygon  of  100  sides,  one  of 
1000  sides  were  inscribed  in  the  circle,  the  aggregate 
lengths  of  the  sides  would  now  approach  much  more  nearly 
to  the  length  of  the  circumference.  By  continuing  to 
multiply  the  number  of  sides,  we  may  obtain  an  approxi- 
mation to  any  degree  of  nearness  we  please  ;  but  whatever 
the  number  of  the  sides  of  the  polyeon  may  be,  their  sum 
68 


APRIL. 

will  never  be  exactly  equal  to  the  circumference,  for  they 
are  only  the  chords  of  small  arcs,  which  of  necessity  are 
smaller  than  the  arcs  to  which  they  belong. 

Numbers  are  formed  by  successive  additions  of  unity, 
which  is  necessarily  a  finite  quantity.  In  consequence  of 
this  finitude,  it  may  be  affirmed  thai  no  magnitudes  which 
tlow,  or  increase,  by  insensible  degrees,  can  be  expressed 
generally  by  numbers.  For  example,  let  a  straight  line  be 
taken  at  random,  and  suppose  that  we  wish  to  determine  its 
length,  our  unit  of  linear  measure  being  one  foot.  On  ap- 
plying successively  a  scale  divided  into  feet  to  the  different 
parts  of  the  given  line,  the  chances  are  infinity  to  one  that 
the  last  division  does  not  exactly  coincide  with  the  extremi- 
ty of  the  line.  We  may  diminish  our  unit  by  reducing  it 
to  an  inch,  or  to  the  hundredth  or  the  thousandth  part  of  an 
inch  ;  the  chances  of  ultimate  coincidence  will  not  thereby 
be  increased,  though  the  difference  between  the  last  divi- 
sion of  the  scale  and  the  extremity  of  the  line  n.ay  be  di- 
minished till  it  becomes  smaller  than  any  quantity  we  n.ay 
be  pleased  to  assign.  Precisely  similar  to  this  is  what  takes 
place  when  we  attempt  to  express  by  decimals  a  vulgar  frac- 
tion whose  denominator  is  not  a  measure  of  any  power  of 
ten.  Thus,  the  fraction  ^',  expressed  decimally,  is  .33333, 
ice.  The  first  figure  of  the  series  gives  the  approximate 
value  3-tenths  ;  the  first  two  figures  give  33-hundredths :  the 
first  three,  333-thousandths,  and  so  on ;  the  addition  of 
every  figure  to  the  series  making  the  difference  of  its  value 
from  1-third  ten  times  smaller.  The  difference  may, there- 
fore, be  diminished  till  it  becomes  smaller  than  any  assign- 
able quantity,  but  it  can  never  entirely  disappear. 

Another  instance  of  the  necessity  of  having  recourse  to 
approximation,  is  presented  in  seeking  to  find  the  roots  of 
numbers.  If  a  number  is  not  an  exact  square,  its  square 
root  cannot  be  expounded  by  rational  numbers,  whether  in- 
tegers or  fractions.  The  same  thing  occurs  with  respect  to 
numbers  which  are  not  cubes,  and  so  on.  In  these  cases, 
exact  numerical  values  of  the  roots  cannot  be  found.  In 
other  cases  exact  values  may  exist,  though  our  methods  of 
analysis  are  not  sufficiently  perfect  to  enable  us  to  discover 
them.  Notwithstanding  'he  successive  efforts  of  the  great- 
est algebraists  since  the  days  of  Lucas  de  Borgo,  no  gene- 
ral method  has  yet  been  discovered  of  solving  equations 
of  a  higher  degree  than  the  fourth  ;  consequently,  the 
values  of  quantities  involved  in  such  equations  can  only  be 
obtained  approximately.  It  is  to  this  subject  that  the  atten- 
tion of  our  best  writers  on  analysis  has  chiefly  been  direct- 
ed ;  in  fact,  the  discussion  of  the  different  methods  of  ap- 
proximating to  the  roots  of  equations  of  thehigherdegrees, 
forms  one  of  the  principal  subjects  of  pure  Algebra. 

The  method  of  exhaustion,  by  which  the  ancient  mathe- 
maticians attempted  to  find  the  rectification  and  quadrature 
of  the  circle,  was  the  first  instance  of  a  systematic  method 
of  approximation.  The  Indivisibles  of  Cavalleri  effected 
the  same  object  in  a  more  rapid  and  general  manner,  and 
prepared  the  way  for  the  differential  calculus.  The  inven- 
tion of  the  method  of  infinite  series  led  immediately  to  ge- 
neral methods  of  approximating  to  the  values  of  all  radical 
quantities,  and  subsequently  to  the  roots  of  all  kinds  of  com- 
pound equations  whatever.  Vieta  was  the  first  who  showed 
how  to  find  successive  values  of  the  roots  of  equations,  each 
approaching  more  nearly  to  the  true  value  than  the  preced- 
ing ;  but  his  method  was  tedious  and  imperfect.  Other 
methods,  more  easy  and  general,  have  been  given  by  vari- 
ous mathematicians ;  among  which,  the  best  known  are 
those  of  Newton,  Halley,  and  Raphson,  and  those  which 
have  been  proposed  at  a  later  period  by  Lagrange,  Legen- 
dre,  Budan,  and  others.  These  methods  are  in  general 
drawn  from  the  most  abstruse  parts  of  the  theory  of  equa- 
tions, and  could  not  be  explained  in  this  place  with  the  de- 
tails necessary  to  render  them  of  any  use.  For  the  best 
information  on  the  subject,  we  may  refer  the  reader  to  the 
excellent  work  of  Lagrange,  "  Traite  de  la  Resolution  des 
Equations  Numeriques ;"  the  "  Nouvelle  Methode  pour 
resoudre  les  Equations  Numeriques"  of  M.  Budan  ;  the 
"  Supplement  a  1'  Essai  sur  la  Theorie  des  Non  bres,"  by 
Legendre  ;  and  the  article  Equations,  in  the  Encyclopedia 
Britannica,  by  Mr.  Ivory.     (See  Eq.uations.) 

A'PRICOT.  (Lat.  praecox,  early,  or  Arab,  berkliach, 
butter  fruit.)  The  fruit  of  Armeniaca  vulgaris,  a  native  of 
Cachmere,  and  probably  of  the  mountains  of  Caubul,  and 
cultivated  from  Persia  and  the  Oases  of  Egypt  throughout 
the  temperate  parts  of  the  world.  In  its  wild  state  the 
apricot  is  a  small  round  pale  waxy  yellow  fruit,  rosy  on  one 
side,  and  agreeably  subacid  ;  in  that  state  it  is  dried  in  large 
quantities  under  the  name  of  mishmish  ;  in  its  most  im- 
proved state  it  becomes  three  times  as  large  and  sweeter : 
but  it  is  then  apt  to  become  insipid.  For  the  confectioner's 
purpose,  the  Brussels  and  Breda  apricots,  which  are  near 
approaches  to  the  wild  fruit,  are  better  adapted  than  the 
larger  and  sweeter  kinds. 

A'PRIL.  The  fourth  month  of  the  year.  The  name  is 
probably  derived  from  Lat.  aperire.  to  open,  either  from 
the  opening  of  the  buds,  or  of  the  bosom  of  the  earth,  in 
producing  vegetation. 


A  PRIORI. 

A  PRIO'RI.  (The  argument  a  priori.)  In  Philosophy 
and  Rhetoric,  is  a  phrase  somewhat  loosely  applied  to  de- 
Big  i  iii  a  class  of  reasonings.  It  is  generally  understood  10 
apply  10  any  argument  in  which  a  consequent  conclusion 
is  drawn  from  an  antecedent  fact,  whether  the  conse- 
quence be  in  the  order  of  time,  or  in  the  necessary  relation 
of  cause  and  effect; — e.g.,  "The  mercury  sinks,  there- 
fore it  will  rain."  This  is  an  argu  nenl  drawn  from  an  an- 
tecedent in  ti  ne,  not  from  a  cause  to  an  effect.  A  murder 
has  been  co  nmitted  ;  a  party  falls  under  suspicion,  as  hav- 
ing h  id  an  interesl  in  the  death  of  the  deceased,  or  a  quar- 
rel with  him;  tins  suspicion  is  founded  on  the  argument 
/.  from  cause  to  effect;  because  the  fact  of  his  cn- 
mtty  "i-  interesl  would  afford  a  cause  for  his  committing 
the  murder.  On  the  other  hand,  another  party  falls  under 
suspicion,  as  having  been  seen  t;>  cpiit  the  house  at  a  par- 
ticular time,  having  marks  of  blood  on  his  clothes:  these 
are  argu  nents  </  posteriori,  in  which  we  reason  either  from 
consequ  ut  in  the  order  of  time  to  antecedent,  or  from  ef- 
fecl  to  antecedent  cause.  The  famous  a  priori  argument 
of  Clarke  and  others  in  favour  of  the  existence  of  a  God, 
was  an  argument  drawn  from  certain  primary  axioms  in 
metaphysics;  while  the  common  course  of  reasoning  to 
prove  the  same  truth  from  the  visible  proofs  of  design  in 
the  works  of  nature,  is  an  instance  of  the  latter  or  a  pos- 
lorm. 

A'PSIDE-'.  or  AI'SES.  (Gr.  dirctf,  circle,  or  curvature.) 
The  two  points  of  the  orbit  of  a  plane!  or  satellite,  at  which 
ii  is  moving  al  mint  angles  to  the  straight  line  joining  it 
with  the  primary  Tins,-  two  points  of  the  orbit  are  the 
two  extremities  of  the  major  axis,  or  the  points  at  which  a 
planet  is  at  its  greatest  and  least  distance  from  the  sun. 
The  point  at  the  greatest  distance  is  called  the  higher  apsis; 
that  at  the  least  is  called  the  lowerapsis;  consequently, 
the  higher  apsis  corresponds  with  the  aphelion,  and  the 
lower  apsis  with  the  perihelion.  The  line  joining  these 
two  pomts,  which  is  the  transverse  axis  of1  the  orbit,  is 
called  the  line  of  the  apsides,  it  lias  a  slow  angular  mo- 
tion in  the  plane  of  the  planet's  orbit;  and  the  time  which 
tb  ■  pi  inel  employs  in  completing  a  revolution  with  regard 
to  its  apsides  is  called  the  anomalistic  period.  (See  Aphe- 
lion      A'.  OH 

APTENOD1  TES  (Gr  d.  priv.,  irrnvos,  that  can  fly ,) 
x  genus  of  diving  web-footed  birds,  peculiar  to  the  antarctic 
shop's,  having  wings  too  short  lor  Might,  covered  with 
short  stiff  feathers,  resembling  scales,  and  used  as  tins  or 
paddles  for  swimming  underwater.  The  legs  are  short, 
thick,  gel  far  back,  with  four  toes,  all  turned  forwards, 
hree  of  them  long  and  webbed,  the  fourth  very  short 
The  lull  is  longer  than  the  head,  Btraight,  and  slightly 
curved  at  the  tip:  nostrils  In  the  upper  pan  oi  the  bil 
cealed  in  from  by  feathers  The  Patagonian  penguin  Is  the 
representative  ol  the  genus. 

A'PTERaNS.  APTERA.  (Gr.d,  priv.,  irrcpov,  awing'; 
wingless  i  \  term  including  a  proportion  of  the  clae 
insects,  the  value  of  which  varies  in  different  systems  of 
Entomology.  In  the  Linneean  system  it  is  the  seventh  or- 
der of  Insects,  distinguished  by  their  having  no  wings, 
lurby  makes  his  Inters  the  twelfth  order  of  the  class  of 
insects,  bui  acknowledges  thai  it  is  not  a  natural  one,  and 
limits  the  definition  of  it  to  those  insects  which  are  apterous, 
or  never  acquire  organs  of  (light  In  Latreille's  last  sys- 
tem, aptera  is  no  longer  applied  to  designate  an  order  of 
insects 

A'PTEROUS.  In  Botany,  denotes  any  part  of  a  plant 
which  is  destitute  of  membranous  expansions.  The  term 
is  usually  employed  in  distinction  to  alale,  or  winged. 

A'PTERYX.  (Gr.  <i.  priv.,  irreov1,  a  wing.)  A  genus 
of  birds  represented  by  an  extremely  rue  species,  a  native 
of  New  Z  'aland,  in  which  thewings  are  red  iced  to  a  single 

defensive'  spur. 

A'PTIIOUS.  (Gr.  airrav,  to  inflame.)  Resembling 
Aphth  i  or  Apiha,  the  disease  called  the  thrush. 

ATI  S.  \  name  applied  by  Scopolo  to  a  curious  genus 
of  Eulomostracans  ;  characterised  by  a  flattened,  semi- 
transparent,  membranous  envelope,  which  protects  the 
body  like  a  shell,  having  a  deep  cleft  posteriorly;  an  1 
bearing  in  front  two  large  eyes,  placed  close  together,  with 
a  third  smaller  one  behind.  The  first  pair  of  legs  are  long, 
filamentary,  and  branched,  representing  antenna?;  the  re- 
maining sixty  pairs  are  short,  compressed,  and  modified 
so  as  to  form  a  respiratory  organ  ;  according  to  the  struc- 
ture which  characterises  the  Branchiopodous,  or  gill-footed 
order,  to  which  the  Apus  belongs.  The  species  of  Apus 
appear  in  immense  numbers  in  our  freshwater  pools ;  they 
prey  chiefly  on  tadpoles  ;  and  some  attain  the  length  of  an 
inch  and  a  half. 

APYRE'XIA.  (Gr.  o.  priv..  and  nvperdi,  fever.)  The 
intermission  of  feverish  disorders. 

A'PYROUS.  (Gr.  d.  priv.,  and  mp,  fire.)  A  term  for- 
merly applied  to  substances  which  resisted  a  strong  heat 
without  change. 

A'QUA.  (A  Latin  word  of  uncertain  derivation,  but  pro- 
bably from  requa,  smooth,  or  level.)  Water.  It  is  often  al- 
69 


AQUEDUCT. 

most  Anglicised,  as  in  the  words  aquavits,  aquafortis, 
aquamarine. 

AQUA  FORTIS.     Nitric  acid. 

A'QUAM  IRI'NE.     See  Beryl. 

AQl'A  REGIA.  A  mixture  of  nitric  and  muriatic  acids, 
so  called  from  its  power  of  dissolving  gold,  the  king  of  the 
metals. 

AQUA  TOFFAXA.     See  Aqcetta. 

AQDA'RIUM.  (Lat.  aqua,  water.)  In  Horticulture.  A 
place  in  gardens,  in  which  only  aquatic  plants  are  grown. 
It  is  generally  a  small  pond  or  cistern,  containing  shelves 
or  benches  at  different  depths  from  the  surface,  in  which 
pots  are  placed  containing  the  plants. 

AQUA'RIl  s  The  WcUerbearer.  The  eleventh  sign  of 
the  zodiac,  through  which  the  sun  moves  in  part  of  the 
months  of  January  and  February.  Also,  one  of  the  twelve 
zodiacal  constellations. 

AULA  Ties  AQJUATILIA.  (Lat.  aquaticus.)  A  name 
applied  by  Nit/.ch  to  an  order  of  birds;  by  Cuvier,  to  a 
family  of  Mollusks  ;  by  Latreille,  to  a  division  of  Crustacea  : 
by  Lamarck,  to  a  family  of  bugs  (Cimicida) ;  each  of  which 
groups  includes  animals  which  live  in,  swim  on,  or  fre- 
quent the  margins  of  waters. 

AQTJA'TIC  PLANTS.  Plants  which  grow  in  water, 
which  may  be  either  running  or  stagnate.  In  the  former 
hey  are  called  river  plants  ;  in  the  latter,  pond  plants. 
Such  as  grow  in  the  sea  are  called  marine  plants. 

A'QUATINT  (Lat  a.pia.  water,  tinta,  dyed.)  In  En- 
graving, a  species  of  execution  resembling  an  Indian  ink 
drawing  in  effect     (Set  Engraving.) 

A'QUEDl  CT.  (  Lat  aqua,  wafer,  and  ductus,  a  conduit.) 
\  aduit  or  channel  for  conveying  water  from  one  place 
i"  another  ;  more  particularly  applied  to  structures  erected 
for  the  purpose  of  conveying  the  water  of  distant  springs 

across  valleys,  for  the  supply  of  large  cities. 

Tin-  largest  and  most  magnificent  aqueducts,  with  the 
existence  of  which  we  an-  acquainted,  were  the  work  of 
the  Romans;  and  the  ruins  of  several  of  them,  both  in 
Italy  and  other  countries  of  Europe,  remain  to  the  present 
time  monuments  of  the  power  and  industry  of  thai  enter- 
prising  people.  The  aqueduct  of  Appius  Claudius  was  the 
most  ancient,  and  constructed  in  the  ll-M  yearofRome. 

It  conveyed  the  Aqua  Appia  to  the  city,  from  a  distance  of 
between  7  and  B  miles,  by  a  deep  subterranean   channel  of 

than  11  miles  in  length.    The  aqueduct  of  Quintets 

Martins  was  a  more  extraordinary  structure.  It  com- 
menced at  a  spring  33  miles  distant  from  Rome,  made  a 
circuit  of  three  miles,  and  afterwards,  forming  a  vault  of 
16  feel  diameter,  it  ran  38  miles,  along  a  series  of  arcades 
.it  an  elevation  of70  English  feet    It  was  formed  of  three 

distinct  channels,    placed    one   above   the  other,  conveying 

water  from  three  different   sources.      In  the  uppermost 

flOWl    I  \  lilia;   in   the   second,  the   Aqua  T.pula  ; 

and  in  the  undermost,  the  Aqua  Martia.  The  Aqua  Vir- 
ginia, constructed  by  Agrippa.  passed  through  a  tunnel  of 

ices  m  length.  The  Aqua  Claudia,  begun  by  Nero 
and  finished  by  Claudius,  conveyed  the  water  from  a  dis- 
tance of  38  miles.  This  aqueduct  formed  a  subterraneous 
stream  ot  :m  miles  in  length,  and  was  supported  on  arcades 
through  the  extent  of  7  miles ;  and  such  was  the  solidity 

construction,  that  it  continues  to  supply  the  modern 
City  with  wafer  to  the  present  day  The  waters  of  the 
river  Aniowere  also  conducted  to  Rome  by  two  different 
channels;  the  first  was  carried  through  an  extent  of  43 
miles,  and  the  latter  through  upwards  of  63  miles,  of  which 
b'j  miles  formed  one  continued  series  of  arches,  many  of 
them  upwards  of  100  feet  in  height.     Nine  great  aqueducts 

■I  at  Rome  at  the  commencement  of  the  reign  of 
\  i  i  I  iv<  others  were  constructed  by  that  emperor, 
under  the  superintendence  of  Julius  Frontinus ;  and  it  ap- 

that  at  a  later  period  the  number  amounted  to  twen- 
ty. The  supply  of  water  furnished  by  these  different 
works  was  enormous.  "  According  to  the  enumeration  of 
Frontinus,  the  nine  earlier  aqueducts  delivered  every  day 
1 1.01S  quinaria.  This  corresponds  to  27,743,100  cubic  feet. 
We  may  therefore  extend  the  supply,  when  all  the  aque- 
ducts were  in  action,  to  the  enormous  quantity  of  50,000.000 
cubic  feet  of  water.  Reckoning  the  population  of  ancient 
Rome  at  a  million,  which  it  probably  never  exceeded,  this 
would  furnish  no  less  than  50  cubic  feet  for  the  daily  con- 
sumption of  each  inhabitant." — (Leslie's  Elements  of  Natu- 
ral Philosophy.) 

The  remains  of  some  Roman  aqueducts  in  other  parts  of 
Europe  give  evidence  of  the  existence  of  works  on  a  still 
more  magnificent  scale  than  those  of  Rome.  Of  these  the 
aqueduct  of  Metz  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable.  A 
number  of  its  arcades  still  remain.  It  extended  across  the 
Moselle,  a  river  of  very  considerable  breadth  at  this  place, 
and  conveyed  the  water  of  the  Gorse  to  the  city  of  Metz. 
The  water  was  received  in  a  reservoir,  whence  it  xvas  con- 
ducted by  subterraneous  canals,  formed  of  hewn  stone,  and 
so  spacious  that  a  man  might  walk  in  them  upright.  The 
arches  appear  to  have  been  50  in  number,  and  50  feet  high 
at  the  deepest  part.     Some  of  the  middle  ones  have  been 


AQUEOUS  SOIL. 

swept  away  by  the  descent  of  ice  down  the  river;  those  at 
the  extremities  still  remain  entire. 

The  aqueduct  of  Segovia,  in  Spain,  is  in  a  still  more  per- 
fect state  than  that  of  Metz.  About  15(3  of  its  arcades  re- 
main, all  formed  of  large  stones  without  cement.  There 
are  two  rows  of  arcades,  the  one  above  the  other,  and  the 
height  of  the  edifice  is  about  100  feet,  passing  over  the 
greater  part  of  the  houses  of  the  city. 

Aqueducts  have  been  constructed  in  modern  times,  par- 
ticularly in  France,  which  rival  those  of  the  ancient  Ro- 
mans. One  of  the  most  remarkable  was  constructed  by 
Louis  XIV.,  for  conveying  the  waters  of  the  river  Eura  to 
Versailles.  It  extends  about  4400  feet  in  length,  or  nearly 
Beven-eighths  of  a  mile,  and  is  upwards  of  200  feet  in 
height.  It  contains  242  arcades,  each  divided  into  three 
rows,  forming  in  all  726  arches  of  50  feet  span.  The  intro- 
duction of  cast-iron  pipes,  which  has  only  taken  place  with- 
in the  last  century,  has  superseded  the  use  of  such  expen- 
sive structures. 

A'QUEOUS  SOIL.  Agr.  and  Hort.  Soil  naturally 
abounding  in  water,  the  fluid  being  supplied  by  springs  in 
the  subsoil. 

AQUE'TTA.  (Ital.  little  water.)  A  celebrated  poison 
used  by  the  Romans  under  the  pontificate  of  Alexander 
VII.  It  was  probably  a  preparation  of  arsenic,  and  was  also 
known  under  the  name  of  aqua  Toffana,  from  a  woman  of 
the  name  of  Toffana.  who  prepared  it  at  Naples. 

AQUIFOLI'ACE.E.  (Lat.  Aquifolium,  the  holhj.)  A  na- 
tural order  of  Exogens,  connecting  the  monopetalous  with 
the  polypetalous  subclasses.  The  whole  of  the  species  are 
either  shrubs  or  trees,  and  scattered  over  most  parts  of  the 
world.     Ilex,  Prinos,  and  Cassia  are  the  commonest  genera. 

A'QUILA.  (Lat.  aquila,  an  eagle.)  The  genus  of  Ac- 
cipitrine  or  Raptorial  birds,  including  the  eagles  proper,  or 
those  species  of  the  Linna?an  Falco  which  have  no  trench- 
ant tooth  and  corresponding  notch  in  the  beak. 

A'QUILA  ALBA.  (Lat.  the ichite eagle.)  An  alchemical 
name  of  calomel.  The  old  chemists  designated  sal  ammo- 
niac and  other  sublimates  by  the  term  aquila. 

AQUILARIA'CE^E.  (Aquilaria,  eagle  wood,  one  of  the 
genera.)  A  very  small  order  of  Indian  plants,  secreting  a 
fragrant  resin,  and  nearly  allied  to  Thymelacea?.  The  spe- 
cies are  but  little  known.  The  Aquillariaagallochum  is  the 
tree  that  produces  the  eagle  or  aggul  wood,  and  which,  in 
all  probabilitv,  was  the  aloes  wood  of  Scripture. 

ARABE'SQUE.  (French.)  Painting  and  Sculpture,  af- 
ter the  Arabian  taste.  This  is  a  term  applied  to  a  species  of 
ornament,  capricious,  fantastic,  and  imaginary,  consisting 
of  fruits,  flowers,  and  other  objects,  to  the  exclusion,  in 
pure  Arabesques,  of  the  figures  of  animals,  which  religion 
forbade.  That  the  Arabians  originated  this  sort  of  orna- 
ment is  not  the  fact ;  it  was  known  to  and  practised  by  the 
ancients  at  a  very  early  period.  Foliage  and  griffins,  with 
ornaments  not  very  dissimilar  to  those  of  the  Arabians, 
were  by  no  means  unfrequent  in  the  friezes  of  temples  ; 
and  on  many  of  the  ancient  Greek  vases  at  Herculaneum, 
on  the  walls  at  the  baths  of  Titus,  at  Pompeii,  and  many 
other  places,  elegant  examples  of  this  species  of  decoration 
are  to  be  found.  It  is,  however,  to  Raphael  that  we  owe 
the  most  splendid  specimens  of  the  style,  which  he  digni- 
fied, and  left  in  it  nothing  to  be  desired.  Since  his  time  it 
has  been  practised  with  varying  and  inferior  degrees  of 
merit,  especially  by  the  French  in  the  time  of  Louis  XIV. 
Arabesques  lose  their  character  when  applied  to  large  ob- 
jects, neither  are  they  appropriate  where  gravity  of  style  is 
required. 

A'RABLE.  (Lat.  arare,  to  plough.)  Land  fit  to  be 
brought  into  a  state  of  tillage,  or  of  aration. 

A'RABO-TEDE'SCO.  (Ital.  arabo,  and  tedescho,  Ger- 
man.) In  Painting  and  Sculpture,  a  style  of  art  composed 
of  Moorish,  Roman,  and  German-Gothic. 

ARA'CE^E,  or  AROIDEJE.  (Arum,  one  of  the  genera.) 
Acrid  Endouens,  with  the  flowers  arranged  upon  a  spadix, 
inclosed  within  a  spathe.  In  hot  countries  they  some- 
times become  arborescent;  in  many  cold  countries  they 
are  unknown.  Most  commonly  they  arise  from  a  fleshy 
underground  tuber,  from  which  an  eatable  fa?cula  is  pro- 
cured by  washing  away  the  acrid  matter.  Their  flowers 
are  almost  destitute  of  floral  envelopes ;  the  sexes  are 
mostly  placed  in  different  flowers,  and  their  embryo  has  a 
slit  on  one  side.  Caladium  seguiman,  the  dumb  cane  of 
the  West  Indies,  derives  its  name  from  its  juice  paralysing 
the  muscles  of  the  mouth,  if  chewed  ;  nevertheless,  the 
leaves  of  certain  caladiums  are  eaten  by  the  negroes  like 
spinach,  but  they  are  too  acrid  for  an  European  palate. 

ARA'CHNOlt).  (Gr.  doaxi'1,  a  spider,  and  eiSos.form.) 
Cobweb-like.  It  is  an  Anatomical  term,  applied  to  the 
tunic  of  the  vitreous  humour  of  the  eye,  and  to  the  thin 
membrane  placed  between  the  dura  and  pia  mater  of  the 
brain. 

ARACHNTDANS,ARACHNIDA.  (.GT.dpaXvn,aspider.) 
A  class  of  Apterous,  spider-like  Condylopes,  having  the 
head  confluent  with  the  chest,  and  the  body,  consequent- 
ly, consisting  of  but  two  segments,  with  eight  legs,  smooth 
70 


ARBORESCENT. 

eyes,  and  the  sexual  orifices  situated  on  the  thorax,  or  an- 
terior part  of  the  abdomen. 

ARiEO'STYLOS.  (Gr.  doaios,  wide,  and  <7rt>Xoj,  a  col- 
umn.) In  Architecture,  that  style  of  building  in  which  the 
distance  between  the  columns  used  is  four  and  sometimes 
five  diameters;  the  former,  however,  is  the  distance  to 
which  the  term  is  strictly  applied.  It  is  only  suited  to  the 
Tuscan  order. 

AR'^EOSY'STYLOS.  (Gr.  dpaios,  wide,  avi>,  with,  and 
crruXos,a  column.)  hi  Architecture  that  style  of  building  in 
which  four  columns  are  placed  in  a  space  equal  to  eight 
diameters  and  a  half.  In  this  arrangement  the  central  in- 
tercolumniation  is  equal  to  three  diameters  and  a  half,  and 
the  others  on  each  side  only  half  a  diameter,  by  which 
coupied  columns  are  introduced. 

ARALIA'CEiE.  (Aralia,  one  of  the  genera.)  An  order 
of  Exogens,  differing  in  little  from  the  Apiaceous  or  umbel- 
liferous plants,  except  in  having  more  than  two  parts  in 
their  fruit.  They  are  commoner  in  hot  than  in  cold  lati- 
tudes, and  form  an  unexpected  transition  from  Apiaceae  to 
VitaceaB.  The  only  state  of  them  in  Europe  is  the  diminu- 
tive Adoxa  moschatellina. 

ARANEI'DANS.  ARAXE'HXE.  (Lat.  aranea,  a  spider.) 
A  tribe  of  the  Pulmonary  order  of  Arachnidans,  with  a  co- 
riaceous integument ;  modified  antenna?,  or  chelicers,  con- 
sisting of  a  single  joint  armed  with  a  claw,  perforated  near 
the  apex  for  the  transmission  of  venom  ;  breathing  by  pul- 
monary ones,  which  are  either  two  or  four  in  number,  with 
the  abdomen  pedicellate,  and  the  arms  provided  with  four 
or  six  spinnarets. 

ARANEO'SUS.  (Lat.  aranea,  a  spider.)  Covered  with 
hairs  crossing  each  other  like  the  rays  in  a  spider's  web. 

A'RAR.  The  Barbary  name  of  "Jliuja  articnlata,  the 
tree  whose  wood  is  chiefly  used  by  the  Mahometans  of  Af- 
rica for  the  construction  of  their  mosques,  and  whose  resin 
is  the  sandarach  of  commerce. 

ARA'TION.  Agr.  Lands  are  said  to  be  in  a  state  of 
aration,  when  they  are  under  tillage. 

ARA'TOR.  Agr.  Literally  a  ploughman,  but  common- 
ly applied  to  an  arable  farmer. 

ARALCA'RIA.  (Araucanous,  a  tribe  of  Indians  in  the 
southern  parts  of  Chili.)  Fir  trees  with  very  rigid  branches, 
having  leaves  like  scales,  either  small  and  sharp  pointed,  or 
stiff,  spreading,  and  lanceolate.  The  cones  consist  of  leaves 
something  like  those  of  the  stem,  only  longer,  and  con- 
taining large  seeds.  Two  species  occur  in  South  America, 
and  two  in  New-Holland. 

A'RBALEST.  (Lat.  arctibalista,  a  cross-bow.)  This 
weapon  is  supposed  to  have  been  introduced  into  European 
armies  by  the  crusaders,  although  used  long  before  in  the 
chase  (in  England  as  early  as  the  reign  of  William  the 
Conqueror).  The  arro%vs  used  with  the  cross-bow  were 
short  and  thick  (quarrels,  bolts).  The  weapon  was  used  in 
the  English  armies  after  the  reign  of  Richard  I.  ;  but  the 
Italians,  and  especially  the  Genoese,  were  most  expert  in 
the  use  of  it  at  one  time.  A  large  force  of  Genoese  cross- 
bow men  served  in  the  French  army  at  Cressy,  where  their 
weapon  was  found  very  inadequate  to  match  the  English 
long-bow.  Yet  so  deadly  a  weapon  was  it  at  one  time  con- 
sidered, that  papal  bulls  were  issued  in  the  twelfth  century, 
condemning  and  forbidding  its  use  in  combats  between 
Christians.  It  was  disused  in  England,  as  a  weapon  of 
war,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  Cross-bows  were  of 
several  sizes :  the  large  or  stirrup  cross-bow  was  bent  by 
the  foot. 

A'RBITRARY.  (Lat.  arbitro,  I  judge.)  In  a  gerferal 
sense,  means  that  which  is  not  defined  by  any  rule  or  law, 
but  is  left  to  the  sole  judgment  and  discretion  of  some  one 
individual  or  body  of  individuals.  It  is  commonly  used  in 
political  discussions  to  designate  despotical  or  irresponsible 
power.     (See  Despotism.) 

ARBITRATION.  In  Law,  the  investigation  before  an 
unofficial  person  of  the  matters  in  difference  between  con- 
tending parties.  His  judgment  is  called  an  award.  The 
reference  to  him  may  be  made,  whether  legal  proceedings 
concerning  the  question  referred  have  been  instituted  or 
not.  The  reference  is  made  by  wilting  under  seal  or 
otherwise,  and  even  by  parole  agreements,  but  in  this  latter 
case  the  submission  cannot,  as  in  the  others,  be  made  a 
rule  of  court.     (Sec  Award.) 

A'RBOR.  The  principal  spindle  or  axis  which  commu- 
nicates motion  to  the  other  parts  of  a  machine. 

ARBOR  DIAN.E.  77ie  tree  of  silver,  that  metal  having 
been  called  Diana  by  old  chemists ;  it  is  made  by  putting 
quicksilver  into  a  solution  of  nitrate  of  silver,  which  causes 
the  separation  of  the  silver  in  a  beautiful  arborescent  and 
crystalline  form. 

ARBO'REOUS.  Woody,  or  growing  on  wood.  Herba- 
ceous plants,  the  stems  of  which  take  a  ligneous  character, 
are  called  suffrutescent,  or  arboreous,  according  to  the  de- 
gree of  woodiness  which  they  exhibit.  Plants  which  grow 
on  trees  are  also  called  arboreous,  such  as  the  arboreous 
lichens,  arboreous  mosses,  arboreous  fungi,  &c. 

ARBORE'SCENT.     Stems  of  plants  which  are  at  first 


ARBORETUM. 

herbaceous,  and  afterwards  become  somewhat  woody  and  ; 
tree  like. 

ARBORE'Tl'M.  In  Gardening,  a  place  in  a  park  or 
pleasure  ground,  or  in  a  large  garden  or  nursery,  in  which 
a  collection  of  trees  and  shrubs,  one  of  each  kind,  is  cul- 
tivated. In  such  a  scene  there  ought  to  be  sufficient  room 
for  each  species  and  variety  to  attain  something  like  its 
natural  size  and  shape;  though,  from  the  limited  space 
generally  allowed  to  collections  of  trees  and  shrubs  in  gar- 
den scenery,  this  is  very  seldom  the  case.  The  most 
complete  arboretums  in  Europe,  so  far  as  respects  the 
Dumber  of  species  collected  together,  are  tho 
Loddiges,  at  Hackney  ;  and  of  the  London  Horticultural 
Society,  at  Chiswick.  See  Loudon's  Arboretum  Britanni- 
cum,  Loudon's  Encyclopaedia  of  the  Trees  and  Shrubs  of 
Great  Britain. 

ARBORICULTURE.  (Lat.  arbor,  a  tree,  and  colere, 
to  cultivate.)  The  art  of  cultivating  trees  and 
which  are  chiefly  grown  for  timber  or  ornamental  pur- 
poses. The  culture  of  trees  and  shrubs  grown  for  their 
fruits  as  food,  is  included  under  horticulture,  and  is  some- 
times called  Pomology.  The  origin  of  arboriculture  may 
be  traced  to  the  progress  of  agriculture  ;  because,  as  popu- 
lation increased  in  anj  given  country,  it  would  become 
necessary  to  clear  away  the  natural  woods  in  order  I 
corn,  and  other  products  of  the  field  and  garden.  After 
this  was  done  i"  a  certain  extent,  a  scarcity  of  wood,  both 
for  fuel  and  building  purposes,  would  be  found,  and  then 
recourse  would  be  had  to  artificial  plantations,  or  arbori- 
culture. This  art  may  be  considered  almost  exclusively 
as  one  of  modern  timi  b  ;  because,  though  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  planted  both  timber  and  ornamental  tret 
they  did  bo  only  on  a  very  limited  scale-,  and  near  their 
houses,  for  the  purposes  of  shade  or  ornament  I 
also  planted  the  elm  and  the  poplar,  for  supports  to 
and  they  cultivated  osier  beds  for  the  punx 
basket  making  ;  but  there  is  no  instance  on  record  of  their 
having  planted  trees  with  a  view  of  cutting  them  down 
either  for  timber  or  fuel.  Wood  for  these  purposes  they 
procured  from  the  native  forests,  to  the  management  of 
which  tiny  paid  particular  attention.  In  Britain,  the  first 
plantations  of  barren  timber  un  a  large  scale,  with  a  view 
to  profit,  were  made  during  the  reign  of  Henry  Vlll. ;  and 
the  kind  ol  tri  e  pi  int<  d  w  is  chieflj  tin  oak, « inch  was 
.  from  the  acorn  where  it  was  finally  to  remain. 
Since  that  period,  the  formation  of  artificial  plantations  has 
been  on  the  inert  ase,  more  especially  during  the  latter  end 
of  the  last  and  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  when 
the  foreign  supply  of  timber  was  comparatively  limited  by 
the  war,  and  when  there  was  a  great  demand  for  timber 
for  ship-bull, linn.  The  discovery  of  coal  mines,  and  more 
especially  the  increased  facility  of  working  them  aft' 
invention  of  the  steam-engine,  by  providing  fuel  exclusive- 
ly of  wood,  has  rendered  the  necessity  of  preserving  natu- 
ral woods,  and  of  forming  artificial  plantations,  less  in  Bri- 
tain than  in  any  other  country  in  the  world.  In  conse- 
quence of  this,  there  is  no  other  country  In  which  so  small 

B  portion  of  its  surface  is  covered  with  forests  ;  the  woods 
being  almost  everywhere  planted  and  maintained  for 
ornamental  purposes.  On  the  continent  of  Europe,  the 
practice  of  sowing  or  planting  barren  timber  was  little 
known  before  the  time  of  Louis  XIV.,  though  the  natural 
woods  both  of  France  and  Germany  were  appropriated, 
and  carefully  preserved,  for  many  generations  before.  At 
the  present  time,  in  consequence  of  the  continental  na- 
tionsjdepending  almost  entirely  on  wood  for  their  fuel,  the 
care  o I  the  natural  forests,  and  the  formation  of  artificial 
plantations,  form  an  important  part  of  the  duties  of  go- 
vernment. In  North  America,  in  the  oldest  cultivated 
parts  of  the  country,  the  formation  of  artificial  plantations 
is  barely  commencing,  while  in  the  back  settlements,  or 
newest  parts,  the  felling  and  clearing  of  timber  is  only  now 
taking  place. 

The  science  of  Arboriculture  depends  on  a  knowledge 
of  the  nature  of  trees,  of  the  different  agents  in  cultivation, 
and  of  the  purposes  to  which  trees  are  applied  in  the  arts. 
The  practice  includes  nursery  culture  :  viz.  propagation  by 
seeds,  by  cuttings,  layers,  grafting,  <fcc.  and  raising  in  beds 
and  rows;  transplanting,  pruning,  thinning,  and,  finally, 
felling,  and  the  succession  of  kinds.  The  nursery  culture 
is  carried  on  in  limited  spots,  called  nursery  grounds,  or 
nursery  gardens,  by  gardeners  or  nurserymen;  and  the 
other  operations  in  woods,  groves,  rows,  hedgerows, 
hedges,  copses,  osier  holts,  &c,  by  foresters,  woodmen, 
or  hedgers. 

ARBU'STUM.  The  classical  name  for  an  orchard,  hop- 
yard,  or  vineyard. 

A'RBUTUS.  (Arbutus,  Lat. ;  ar,  rough,  and  boise,  bush, 
in  Celtic,  according  to  Dr.  Theis.)  A  genus  of  evergreen 
trees,  with  conical  pallid  flowers  and  a  bullet-like  succulent 
austere  fruit,  rough  externally,  and  containing  numerous 
minute  seeds.  Several  species,  all  hardy,  are  known  in 
gardens;  the  most  common  of  which  is  Arbutus  unedo, 
the  most  beautiful  A.  andrachne. 
71 


ARCH. 

ARC.  In  Geometry,  a  portion  of  a  circle  or  other  curve 
line.  The  arc  of  a  circle  is  the  measure  of  the  angle  form- 
ed by  two  straight  lines  drawn  from  its  extremities  to  the 
centre  of  the  circle. 

A'RCA.  The  name  of  a  Linnsan  genus  o  the  Vermes 
Testacea,  characterised  by  a  bivalve  and  equ  valve  shell, 
having  numerous  sharp  alternate  teeth  at  the  hinge.  In 
modern  systems  the  genus  is  placed  among  the  Acephalous 
Lamellibranchiate  mollusca.  and  is  raised  to  the  rank  of  a 
family  (Arrada),  subdivided  into  the  subgenera  Area, 
Cuculkea,  Pectunculus,  and  Nucula. 

ARCA'DE.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture,  a  series  of  arches 
crowned  with  a  roof  or  ceiling,  with  a  walk  or  passage 
thereunder.  The  piers  of  arcades  may  be  decorated  with 
columns,  pilasters,  niches,  and  apertures  of  different 
forms.  The  arches  themselves  are  turned  sometimes 
with  rock-worked  and  sometimes  with  plain  rustic  arch 
stones  or  voussoirs,  or  with  a  moulded  archivolt,  springing 
from  an  impost  or  platband,  and  sometimes,— though  that 
is  not  to  be  recommended, — from  columns.  The  key- 
stones are  generally  carved  in  the  form  of  a  console,  or 
sculptured  with  some  device.  Scamozzi  made  the  size  of 
his  piers  less,  and  varied  his  imposts  and  archivolls  in  pro- 
portion to  the  delicacy  of  the  orders  he  employed,  but 
■  lade  his  piers  always  of  the  same  prop> 
\:;i  \'\i  M  (Lat  a  secret.)  A  term  often  applied  to 
Chemical  and  Medical  preparations  by  the  old  philosophers. 
I  ailed  red  oxide  of  mercury,  obtained  by  the 

action  of  nitric  acid,  Arcanum  corallanum ;  sulphate  of 
potash.  Arcanum  duplicatum,  &c. 

ARCE'STHTDA.  (Gr.  dpxtvdos,  a  jumper  berry.)  A 
small  cone  whose  scales  become  succulent,  and  grow  to- 
gether into  a  fleshy  ball. 

ARCH.  (Lat.  arcus.  a  boic).  In  Building,  a  structure  of 
stones  or  bricks,  or  distinct  blocks  of  any  hard  material, 
disposed  in  a  bow-like  form,  and  supporting  one  another 
by  their  mutual  pressure.  In  describing  arches  some 
technical  terms  are  made  use  of,  which  it  will  be  conv.ni 
ent  to  define.  The  arch  itself  is  formed  by  the  voussoirs, 
or  stones  cut  into  the  shape  of  a  truncated  wedge,  the  upper- 
most of  which  at 
C  is  called  the 
key-stone.  The 
seams  or  planes, 
in  w  inch  two  ad- 
jacent voussoirs 
are  united,  are 
called  the  joints; 
the  solid  mason- 
ry, A  E  and  li  K 
against  which  the 
1  A  £    extremitii 

O  arch  abut  or  rest, 

are  called  the  abutments  ;  and  the  line  from  which  the  arch 
springs  at  A  u  B  6,  the  impost.  The  lower  line  of  the  arch 
-.  A  C  B,  is  the  intrados  or  soffit ;  the  upper  line,  the 
extradoa  or  back.  The  beginning  of  the  arch  is  called  the 
spring  of  the  arch  ;  the  middle,  the  crown;  the  parts  be- 
tween the  spring  and  the  crown,  the  haunches.  The  dis- 
tance A  B  between  the  upper  extremities  of  the  piers,  or 
the  springing  lines,  is  called  the  span,  and  C  I)  is  the 
height  of  the  arch. 

There  is  considerable  difficulty  in  determining  the  form 
which  an  arch  ought  to  have,  in  order  that  its  strength  may 
be  the  greatest  possible,  when  it  sustains  a  load  in  addition 
to  its  own  weight;  in  fact,  the  determination  cannot  be 
accurately  made,  unless  we  know  not  only  the  weight  of 
the  materials  the  arch  has  to  support,  but  also  the  manner 
in  which  the  pressure  is  connected  ;  that  is  to  say,  unless 
we  know  the  amount  and  direction  of  the  pressure  on 
every  point  of  the  arch.  Supposing,  however,  that  the 
arch  has  to  sustain  only  its  own  weight,  and  supposing, 
further,  that  the  friction  of  the  arch-stones  is  reduced  to 
nothing,  a  relation  between  the  curve  and  the  weight  of  the 
voussoirs  may  be  found  by  comparing  the  pressures  which 
are  exerted  on  the  different  joints.  Thus  the  pressure  on 
any  joint,  s  q  for  example,  arises  from  the  weight  of  that 
portion  of  the  arch  which  is  between 8? and  the  summit 
('  II  Now,  the  portion  of  the  arch  C  qs  H  is  sustained 
by  three  forces:  the  pressure  on  the  joint  sq, the  pressure 
on  C  H.  and  its  own  weight.  Let  s  q  be  prolonged  till  it 
meets  C  D  in  O,  and  let  n  be  its  intersection  with  A  B.  It 
is  a  theorem  in  statics,  that  when  a  body  is  held  in  equili- 
brium by  three  forces  balancing  each  other,  these  forces 
are  proportional  to  the  three  sides  of  a  triangle  formed  by 
lines  respectively  perpendicular  to  the  directions  of  the 
forces.  The  three  forces  sustaining  C  q  s  H  are,  therefore, 
proportional  to  the  sides  of  the  triangle  O  D  n ;  for  the 
pressure  onsj  acts  in  the  direction  perpendicular  to  s  q 
or  O  n;  the  pressure  on  C  H  is  perpendicular  to  D  O,  and 
n  D  is  perpendicular  to  the  direction  of  gravity.  The  pres- 
sure on  s  q  is,  therefore,  to  the  pressure  on  C  HasnD  tc 
DO.  In  like  manner,  the  voussoir  jo  r  q  s  being  so  shaped 
that  r  p,  when  produced,  meets  O  II  in  the  point  O;  tL 


t      V 

n 

A\    i 

/        \\       T> 

a 

\           1ft  vyv   ; 

B 

b 

ARCHAEOLOGY. 

pressure  on  the  joint  rp  is  to  that  on  C  H,  as  m  D  to  D  O. 
Hence,  the  pressure,  on  s  q  is  to  the  pressure  on  r  p  as 
D  n  to  D  7>i.  We  are  thus  led  to  infer  that  the  voussoirs 
ought  to  increase  in  length,  from  the  key-stone  to  the 
piers,  proportionally  to  the  lines  Dn,  Dm,  <kc. ;  for  in  this 
case,  the  surfaces  of  the  joints  being  increased  in  propor- 
tion to  the  pressure  they  sustain,  the  pressure  on  every 
pointof  the  arch  will  be  equal.  It  will  also  be  observed  that 
the  angle  n  O  D  is  equal  to  the  angle  made  by  a  tangent  to 
the  curve  at  y,  and  the  horizontal  line  parallel  to  A  B ;  the 
angle  m  O  D  equal  to  that  made  by  the  tangent  at  p  and  the 
horizontal  line  ;  and  the  radius  D  6  remaining  constant,  D  n 
is  the  tangent  of  the  point  of  these  angles,  and  Dm  of  the 
second;  hence  the  pressures  on  the  successive  joints  are 
proportional  to  the  differences  of  the  tangents  of  the  arches 
reckoned  from  the  crown.  From  this  property,  when  the 
intrados  is  a  circle  given  in  position,  and  the  depth  of  the 
key-stone  is  given,  the  curve  of  the  extrados  may  be  found. 
When  the  weights  of  the  voussoirs  are  all  equal,  the  arch 
of  equilibration  is  a  catenarian  curve,  or  a  curve  having  the 
form  which  a  flexible  chain  of  uniform  thickness  would  as- 
sume if  hanging  freely,  the  extremities  being  suspended 
from  fixed  points. 

Such  is  the  form  which  theory  shows  to  be  the  best  adap- 
ted to  give  strength  to  an  arch,  on  the  supposition  that  there 
is  no  superincumbent  pressure.  But  it  seldom  if  ever  hap- 
pens that  this  is  the  case,  and  therefore  it  is  entirely  unne- 
cessary, in  the  actual  construction  of  an  arch,  to  adhere 
closely  to  the  form  determined  on  the  above  supposition. 
Indeed,  on  account  of  the  friction  of  the  materials  and  the 
adhesion  of  the  cement,  the  form  of  the  arch,  wilhin  cer- 
tain limits,  is  quite  immaterial,  for  the  deviation  from  the 
form  of  equilibration  must  be  very  considerable  before  any 
danger  can  arise  from  the  slipping  of  the  arch-stones.  The 
Roman  arches,  which  have  resisted  the  attacks  of  time  for 
so  many  centuries,  are  generally  in  the  form  of  a  semicir- 
cle. For  bridges,  it  is  better  to  employ  a  smaller  segment 
of  a  circle  ;  frequently  the  elliptic  arch  is  preferred,  on  ac- 
count of  the  beauty  of  its  form. 

It  has  not  been  satisfactorily  ascertained  in  what  country 
arches  were  first  erected.  They  do  not  occur  in  any  of  the 
buildings  of  the  Egyptians  that  can  unquestionably  be  re- 
ferred to  an  ancient  date  ;  and  if  they  were  not  altogether 
unknown  to  the  Greeks  before  the  period  of  the  Roman 
conquest,  their  principal  uses  appear  to  have  been  very  lit- 
tle understood.  They  do  not  appear  ever  to  have  been 
employed  in  roofing  the  temples,  or  to  have  formed  a  part 
of  ornamental  architecture.  By  the  Romans,  however, 
the  advantages  of  the  arch  were  well  understood  at  a  very 
remote  period.  The  Cloaca  Maxima,  which  is  an  arched 
structure,  is  referred,  with  the  greatest  probability,  to  the 
age  of  the  Tarquins  ;  the  arched  dome  is  supposed'  to  have 
originated  with  the  Etruscans,  and  to  have  been  employed 
for  the  convenience  of  the  augurs,  affording  them  a  shelter 
from  the  weather,  and  permitting  them  at  the  same  time  to 
have  a  view  of  the  whole  range  of  the  horizon.  In  the  mag- 
nificent buildings  erected  under  the  empire  the  arch  is  of 
frequent  occurrence  ;  and  it  was  by  the  Romans  that  it 
was  first  applied  to  its  most  useful  purposes,  namely,  the 
construction  of  bridges  and  aqueducts.  The  Romans, 
however,  appear  to  have  given  little  attention  to  the  graces 
of  form  in  the  erection  of  their  arches,  forthey  seldom  de- 
viated from  the  semicircle.  It  was  in  the  middle  ages  that 
the  pointed  or  Gothic  arch  was  introduced,  when  Christians 
and  Saracens  vied  with  each  other  in  giving  beauty  to  their 
public  buildings,  by  multiplying  and  combining  arches  in 
all  possible  manners.  The  associated  architects  of  those 
ages,  says  Dr.  Robison  (Ency.  Brit.  art.  Arch),  having 
studied  this  branch  of  the  art  of  building  with  so  much  at- 
tention, were  able  to  erect  the  most  magnificent  buildings 
with  materials  which  a  Greek  or  Roman  architect  could 
have  made  little  or  no  use  of.  There  is  infinitely  more  sci- 
entific skill  displayed  in  a  Gothic  cathedral  than  in  all  the 
buildings  of  Greece  and  Rome  ;  indeed,  these  last  exhibit 
very  little  knowledge  of  the  mutual  balance  of  arches,  and 
are  full  of  gross  blunders  in  this  respect ;  nor  could  they 
have  resisted  the  shock  of  time  so  long,  had  they  not  been 
almost  solid  masses  of  stone,  with  no  more  cavity  than  was 
indispensably  necessary.  It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that 
those  architects  do  not  appear  ever  to  have  studied  or  paid 
any  regard  to  the  theory  of  equilibrated  arches.  The  form 
which  they  adopted  was  strong,  and  capable  of  resisting 
considerable  inequalities  of  pressure,  and  hence  the  dura- 
bility of  their  constructions.  For  further  particulars  on 
this  subject,  see  Bridge.     Dome. 

ARCHiEO'LOGY.  (Gr.  dpxa'°S-  ancient,  and  \oyog,  a 
description.)  The  science  or  study  of  Antiquities,  and  chief- 
ly, in  ordinary  language,  of  those  minor  branches  of  anti- 
quities which  are  discarded  from  the  contents  of  general 
history;  as  genealogies,  national  architecture,  manners,  cus- 
toms, heraldic  and  similar  subjects. 

ARCH/E'TJS.  (Gr.  doxy. principle.)  A  term  used  by  the 
old  chemists  and  physicians  to  imply  the  occult  cause  of 
certain  phenomena.  Van  Helmont  and  Stahl  ascribe  certain 
72 


ARCHITECTURE. 

vital  functions  to  the  influence  and  superintendence  of  a 
spiritus  archajus. 

A'KCHAISM.  (Gr.  dpxaios,  ancient.)  In  Rhetoric  and 
Literature,  the  use  of  an  obsolete  expression  or  phrase, 
giving  an  air  of  antiquity  to  the  passage  in  which  it  occurs. 

ARCHA'NGELS.  A  superior  order  of  angels.  The 
term  occurs  once  in  Scripture,  being  applied  by  st.  Jude  to 
Michael. 

ARCHBI'SHOP,  or  METROPOLITAN.  The  primate  of 
a  province  containing  several  dioceses.  The  term  first 
came  into  use  in  the  fourth  century,  and  was  then  consider- 
ed superior  to  that  of  metropolitan,  and  equivalent  to  patri- 
arch, or  bishop  of  an  imperial  diocese,  such  as  Rome,  Con- 
stantinople, Antioch,  Alexandria,  and  Carthage. 

ARCHDE'ACON.  An  Ecclesiastical  otticer,  ranking 
next  to  the  bishop.  As  deacons  were  originally  attendants 
upon  the  bishop,  so  the  archdeacon  was  one  selected  ironi 
among  the  deacons  of  several  dioceses.  Iiis  functions  were 
confined  to  attending  upon  and  assislmg  the  bishop  in  the 
discharge  of  his  spiritual  duties  and  the  management  of 
his  diocese,  and  had  at  first  no  jurisdiction.  There  are  now 
more  archdeacons  than  one  in  each  diocese,  the  whole 
number  in  England  being  sixty  ;  and  they  are  en  ployed  by 
their  bishops  in  visiting  the  clergy  of  the  diocese,  and  in 
the  dispatch  of  other  matters  relating  to  the  episcopal 
superintendence. 

ARCH-DUKE.  A  title  originally  assumed  by  various 
dukes,  but  in  the  sequel  appropriated  to  those  of  the  house 
of  Austria  by  the  Emperor  Frederic  111.  in  1453.  It  is  now 
strictly  confined  to  the  younger  sons  of  an  Emperor  of 
Austria. 

A'RCHER.  (From  the  Latin  arcus,  a  bote.)  A  bow-man; 
one  who  uses  a  bow.  The  use  of  the  bow  in  war  may  be 
traced  to  the  earliest  antiquity,  and  to  the  history  of  almost 
every  people.  The  exact  time  when  the  English  long-bow 
began  to  be  used  in  war  is  not  exactly  ascertained  ;  the 
Normans  brought  with  them  the  arbalest  or  cross-bow  ;  but 
from  the  reign  of  Edward  II.,  the  long-bow,  the  favourite  na 
tional  weapon,  seems  to  have  been  lully  established.  When 
fire-arms  began  to  come  into  use,  various  attempts  were 
unsuccessfully  made,  by  statute  and  proclamation,  to  pre- 
vent this  ancient  weapon  becoming  obsolete.  In  France  the 
officers  who  attended  the  lieutenant  of  police  were,  before 
the  Revolution,  always  called  archers,  although  provided 
with  carbines.  Artillery  is  a  French  term,  originally  sig- 
nifying archery,  and  the  London  artillery  con  pany  were  a 
fraternity  of  bow-men.     (&ee  Hansard's  Book  of  Archery.) 

A'RCHETYPE.  (Gr.  dpxtrvTzo;,  from  apx'/,  origin,  and 
TViros,type.)  The  original  oi  that  which  is  represented  in 
a  picture  or  statue;  and,  figuratively,  the  reality  which  is 
shadowed  out  in  prophecies  or  mysteries.  Thus,  in  The- 
ology, the  death  of  our  Saviour  is  said  to  be  the  archetype 
of  the  Jewish  sacrifices,  which  were  instituted  as  types  of 
that  event.     (See  Type.) 

A'RCHIL.  (A  corruption  of  orseille,  French.)  A  kind 
of  purple  dye  obtained  from  the  lichens,  called  Rocelta  tine- 
turia  and  Juciformis.  It  is  chiefly  procured  in  the  Ca- 
naries. 

ARCHIMANDRITE.  A  title  of  the  Greek  church,  equi- 
valent  to  abbot ;  the  word  mandia  signifying  a  monastery 
in  the  language  of  the  Lower  Empire. 

A/RCH1TECTURE  (Gr.  dpxn,  beginning,  tcktwv,  ar- 
tificer.) The  art  of  Building,  according  to  certain  propor- 
tions and  rules  determined  and  regulated  by  nature  and 
taste.  Architecture  becomes  an  art  at  that  period  only  in 
the  history  of  nations  when  they  have  reached  a  ce/tain 
degree  of  civilisation,  of  opulence,  and  of  luxury.  In  an 
earlier  state,  it  can  only  be  reckoned  among  the  trades  or 
occupations  necessary  to  the  wants  of  mankind  ;  its  appli- 
cation is  then  very  limited,  its  use  little  more  than  furnish- 
ing man  with  shelter  from  the  waters  of  the  heavens,  and 
protection  from  the  inclement  vicissitudes  of  the  seasons. 
At  its  birth,  however,  it  assumes  a  character  in  all  countries 
which  in  the  sequel  stamps  it  with  such  remarkable  and 
distinguishing  features,  that  in  the  summit  of  its  grandeur 
the  traces  of  its  early  origin  are  still  discernible.  Notwith- 
standing the  interval  of  so  many  ages  from  its  origin,  we 
may  even  trace  the  general  form  of  architecture  to  three 
distinct  states  of  the  human  race,  which  necessarily  influ- 
enced the  nature  of  the  habitations  suitable  to  each,  and 
which  ultimately  became  standard  models  of  the  art. 

People  whose  dependence  for  their  sustenance  was  on 
hunting  the  beasts  of  the  field,  as  well  as  those  who  lived 
on  the  produce  of  the  waters,  from  the  natural  indolence 
induced  by  those  occupations  and  the  little  industry  called 
for  in  such  courses  of  life,  would  not  be  at  an  early  period 
led  to  the  construction  of  dwellings.  They  availed  them- 
selves of  the  natural  caverns  of  the  rock,  or  at  most  hol- 
lowed them  out,  for  shelter  and  protection. 

Nations  occupied  in  a  pastoral  life,  through  a  large  portion 
of  the  year,  obliged,  for  the  sake  of  fresh  pasturage,  fre- 
quently to  change  their  abode,  and  thus  lead  a  wandering 
life,  would  find  the  most  suitable  dwelling  one  which  they 
could  remove  with  themselves ;  hence  the  use  of  tents. 


*} 


ARCHITECTURE. 

Agriculture,  which  requires  continued  and  active  indus- 
try on  the  same  spot,  doubtless  induced  man  to  exert  his 
>ies  in  ilie  erection  of  solid  and  durable  dwellings. 
For  his  produce  no  less  than  for  himself  were  they  neces- 
sary, and  the  wooden  lint  with  its  sloping  roof  was  the  off- 
of  his  wants. 

It  is  not,  however,  to  be  understood  that  in  every  country 
the  art  can  be  traced  to  a  single  principle,  since  among 
some  nations,  as  will  hereafter  be  seen  in  relation  to  Egyp- 
tian architecture,  more  than  one  will  be  found  to  enter  into 
the  combination.  Causes,  independent  of  the  habits  of  the 
people,  may  nave  had  their  influence  on  the  formation  and 
taste  of  different  species  of  architecture;  yet  will  these  in 
their  turn  be  found  dependent  on  the  first  named.  In 
short,  it  is  to  the  three  states  of  mankind  that  we  must  re- 
fer to  account  for  those  striking  peculiarities  which  prevent 
us  from  confounding  the  art  of  one  people  with  thai  of  an- 
other. In  some  of  its  details  caprice  may  have  had  a 
sharp  ;  but  in  every  country  the  great  leading  forms  spring 
from  principles  dependent  on  the  different  states  of  life  we 
have  jusl  enumerated. 

Those  who  have  Bought  for  the  original  types  of  this  art 
in  subterraneous  temples  an  ona  exclusively,  have 

fallen  into  error.  These  are  (bund  in  almost  every  coun- 
try. Many  of  them,  such  as  the  famous  ear  of  Dionysius, 
and  the  quarries  of  Syracuse,  h  quarries  that 

furnished  stone  for  their  neighbourhoods.  By  the  help  of 
history,  and  an  acquaintance  with  the  I  d  ition, 

by  a  knowledge  of  its  origin  and  earliest  mode  of  life,  only, 
are  we  able  to  form  a  just  opinion  on  its  architecture  Bj 
the  aid  of  these  we  recognise  the  origin  of  Egyptian  archi- 
tecture, a  taste  for  subterraneous  dwellings  has  existed 
among  the  Egyptians  from  the  remotest  period  even  to  the 
present  hour  The  massive  and  colossal  character  of  their 
edifices  seems  in  hear  a  strong  relation  to  hollow  caves  of 
rocks:  and  though  the  Egyptians  grafted  on  this  at  a  Liter 
period  tonus  and  details,  whose  types  may  be  traced  to 
carpentry,  j  el  ii  is  quite  clear  thai  the  tj  pes  ol  the  m 
must  be  found  in  a  far  different  origin.  The  same  p 
for  subterranean  works  appears  in  parts  of  Asia.  The  cli- 
mate, and  similar  physical  causes,  wou  ive  led 
to  it.    At  Elephants  none  of  the  parts  appear  to  have  been 

derived  from  imitation  of  any  system  ol  carpentry  ;  tile  Col- 
umns cut  out  of  tii  hori  and  massive  propor- 
tions, the  shape  of  the  capitals,  and  their  details  through- 
out, point  to  an  entirely  'tut' rent  tj  pe  for  their  Invent 

In  the  architecture  of  •  Ihlna  we  ha*  e  remarkable  indica- 
tions of  timber  construction.  M.  de  Pauw  justly  observes, 
it  is  In  ts  which  sei  - 

models  for  the  earliest  Chinese  buildings.    In  them  the 
tenl  is  the  object  ol  imitation,  and  this  ts  quite  in  ch 
with  the  primitive  b  I  !hinese,  who.  like  all  the 

Tartars,  wen  N  ■■■>  d  or  Scenitss,  encamping  with  their 
flocks  ages  before  they  gathered  Into  cities.  Theircities 
of  the  present  day  exhibit  the  appearance  of  a  vast  oncamp- 
iiienr.  ,n ii i  the  greal  extent  ol  tbi  m  seems  to  indicate  an  in- 
solidity  of  construction  that  will  not  allow  ol  a  number  of 
stories  above  each  other. 

The  wooden  hut,  then,  which  lias  been  universally  as- 
sumed as  the  model  or  type  of  all  styles  of  architecture, 
and  among  all  people,  could  nol  have  been  thai  ol  Chinese 
or  Egyptian,  though  it  unquestionably  was  thai  of  Grecian 
architecture.  The  Creeks,  working  upon  this,  transferred  to 
stone  the  forms  of  an  assemblage  ol  carpentry,  a  construc- 
tion which  gave  birth  to  the  members  of  the  orders  of  ar- 
chitecture which  are  to  this  day  the  ornaments  of  our 
buildings.  This  style,  be  it  remembered,  belongs  to  a  na- 
tion whose  chief  occupation  is  agriculture,    In  pursuing 

this  tl ry,  a  few  observations  only  will  be  t led.     The 

first  trees  drh  en  into  the  earth  for  the  purposi 
covering  for  shelter,  were  the  origin  of  the  insulate* 
umns  of  the  portico  of  a  temple,  and  became  one  of  the 
most  splendid  features  of  the  art.  As  the  trees  were  wider 
in  diameter  at  the  bottom  than  the  top,  so  were  the  columns 
diminished  in  thickness  as  they  rose.  Bcamozzi  imagines 
that  the  mouldings  at  the  bases  and  capitals  of  columns  bad 
their  origin  in  cinctures  of  iron,  to  prevent  the  splitting  of 
the  timber;  others,  however,  think  that  the  use  of  the 
former  was  to  elevate  the  shafts  from  the  dampness  of  the 
earth,  and  thereby  prevent  rot.  The  architrave  or  chief 
beam  speaks  its  origin.  It  was  the  great  beam  placed  hori- 
zontally on  the  tops  of  the  columns,  and  destined  to  receive 
the  covering  of  the  entire  building  The  joists  of  the  ceil- 
ing  lay  upon  the  architrave,  the  space  in  height  which  they 
occupy  being  called  the  frieze,  the  ends  of  the  joists  in  the 
Doric  order  bearing  the  name  of  trialyphs.from  their  being 
sculptured  with  two  whole  and  two  half  glyphs  or  chan- 
nels. Sometimes  the  ends  of  them  are  sculptured  into 
consoles,  as  in  the  composite  order  of  the  Coliseum  at 
Rome.  The  space  between  the  triglyphs  was  for  a  long 
period  left  open,  as  we  find  from  a  passage  in  the  Iphigenia 
of  Euripides,  where  Pylades  advises  Orestes  to  slip  through 
the  metopes  in  order  to  get  into  the  temple.  These  inter- 
vals were  afterwards  filled  up  solid  ;  and  in  the  other  or- 


ARCHITECTURE. 

ders,  the  whole  length  of  the  frieze  becomes  one  plain  sur 
face.  The  inclined  rafters  of  the  roof  formed  a  projecture 
beyond  the  face  of  the  building,  which  delivered  the  rain 
free  of  the  walls.  The  ends  of  these  rafters  are  the  origin 
of  mutules  and  modillions.  the  former  whereof  appeared 
in  the  cornice  with  their  undersides  inclined,  as  in  the  Par- 
thenon at  Athens.  The  form  of  the  pediment  followed  from 
the  inclined  sides  of  the  roof,  which  were  regulated  in  re- 
spect of  their  inclination  by  the  nature  of  the  climate. 
(See  art.  Roof.)  Here,  then,  in  the  skeleton  of  the  hut, 
may  be  traced  the  origin  of  the  different  members  of  ar- 
chitecture, which  will  be  better  understood  by  reference  to 
the  subjoined  diagram.     Figs.  1  and  2  exhibit  the  parts  of  a 


Fig.  2. 


Fig.  1. 


roof  in  section  and  elevation  :  a  a  are  the  architraves,  or 
trabes  ;  6  6  the  ridge  piece,  or  columen  ;  c  the  king  post,  or 
columns  of  a  roof;  ad  the  tiebeam,  or  transtrum  ;  e  the 
strut,  or  capreolus;  ff  the  rafters,  or  cantherii;  gggg 
the  purlinos.  ortempla;  hh  the  common  rafters,  orasseres, 

It  has  been  suggested,  but  with  less  probability,  that  the 
main  supports  being  by  degrees  placed  al  gri  ater  distances 
from  each  other  than  the  strength  of  the  architnu  e  would 
admit,  inclined  struts  were  placed  from  the  sides  of 
the  columns  or  supports  to  the  underaid  litrave, 

to  lessen  its  bearing,  and  that  these  gave  the  firs!  notion  of 
the  use  of  arches  in  architecture.  The  subject  has  been 
pursued  into  many  more  details,  on  which  our  limits  do  not 
permit  us  to  enter. 

It  is  difficult,  perhaps  now  impossible,  to  fix  the  exact 
period  of  the  invention  of  architecture  in  Greece.    Every 

art  is  perfected  by  slow  degrees,  and  is  the  result  of  the  la- 
hours  of  many.     In  the  time   of  Homer,  architecture  does 

.  m  to  have  been  in  so  forward  a  state  as  to  have  been 
reduced  to  principles  and  proportions  of  a  fixed  ns 

i  the  use  of  the  orders  of 

architecture.  The  material  seems  with  him  of  more  im- 
portance than  the  form;  and  well  selected  and  polished 

.  more  than  fine  proportions,  are  enumerated  as  the 

principal  ment  of  the  palace  of  AJi  ii 

The  Doric  order,  doubtless  the  earliest  of  the  orders,  re- 
mains withe  Btisfactorily  assure 
OS  of  the  period  of  its  invention.  Its  name  is  not  alonesuf- 
ficienl  proof  thai  it  was  invented  by  Doras,  the  son  of 
Helen,  and  king  of  \  i  i  in  i  Pi  loponnesus.  It  is  possi- 
ble it  might  have  acquired  its  name  from  having  been  used 
at  the  celebrated  tempi,-  which  that  prince  built  at  Axgos  in 

honour  of  the  goddess  Juno;  or  it  might  have  been.  that. 
from  the  nse  of  it  by  the  Dorians,  it  obtained  introduction 
into  the  other  parts  of  Greece.  Certain,  however,  it  is  that 
in  the  time  of  Ues  inder  the  Gri  al  the  three  original  orders 
of  architecture  had  been  brought  to  perfection.  Moral  as 
well  as  physical  causes  had  contributed  to  bring  the  arts  to 
this  state.  Liberty,  love  of  country,  and  ambition,  had  made 
Athens  the  common  centre  of  science  and  art.  The  defeat 
of  the  Persians  at  Marathon,  with  other  victories,  had  re- 
stored peace  to  the  country.  In  the  period  preceding  the 
Peloponnesian  war,  there  was  a  general  burst  of  talent  in 
Greece.  In  it  the  chisel  of  Phidias  was  employed  ;  philoso- 
phy, eloquence,  the  military  art,  the  arts  and  sciences,  all 
conspired  to  give  the  epoch  lustre.  It  was  in  this  age  that 
the  Greeks  commenced  the  rebuilding  of  the  temples  and 
edifices  that  had  been  destroyed  in  the  Persian  war,  build- 
ings whose  ruins  bad  been  carefully  preserved,  perhaps, 
for  the  express  purpose  of  keeping  alive  a  remembrance  of 
the  danger  that  constantly  menaced  them  as  a  nation.  It 
was  not,  indeed,  until  after  the  flight  of  the  general  of 
Xerxes,  and  the  victory  of  Themistocles,  that  a  general 
restoration  of  their  monuments  was  commenced,  and  the 
city  of  Athens  rebuilt ;  a  city  whose  edifices  might  be  con- 
sidered, as  M.  Quatrem&re  de  Quincy  has  well  observed, 
as  so  many  trophies  of  the  victory  at  Salamis.  This  was 
the  epoch  of  a  pure  and  grand  style  of  architecture,  and, 
indeed,  of  art  generally.  The  sculpture  of  that  period  is 
marked  by  the  same  character  of  purity,  sublimity,  and 
grandeur;  and  the  Elgin  marbles,  fortunately  now  pos- 
i  by  England,  exhibit  a  perfection  which  has  never 
been  approached  by  modern  art,  and  which  we  scarcely 
conceive  can  be  surpassed.  It  was  in  this  age  that  the 
temple  of  Minerva,  known  by  the  name  of  the  Parthenon 
(because  that  goddess  preserved  her  virginity  pure  and  in- 
violate), was  erected  ;  a  building  which  displays,  perhaps, 
the  finest  model  of  the  Doric  order. 


ARCHITECTURE. 

The  Ionic  order  seems,  at  this  period,  to  have  likewise 
received  the  finishing  touches  of  that  grace  and  elegance 
whereof  it  was  susceptible.  This  order,  passing  from 
Greece  to  Asia  Minor,  seems,  in  that  enervating  climate,  to 
have  acquired  elegance  and  finish  at  the  expense  almost 
of  solidity.  Whether  we  are  indebted  for  its  invention  to 
the  people  whose  name  it  bears,  is  of  little  importance. 
Upon  the  relation  of  Vitruvius  no  dependence  can  be  placed. 
At  the  period,  however,  of  the  erection  of  the  temple  of 
Minerva  Polias  at  Athens,  which  was  about  the  time  we 
have  alluded  to,  it  seems  to  have  been  brought  to  a  state  of 
perfection  that  leaves  us  nothing  to  desire.  The  capitals 
of  this  example  are  splendid  specimens  of  decorated 
architecture. 

By  a  substitution  of  acanthus  leaves  for  the  olive,  laurel, 
and  lotus  leaves  of  the  Egyptian  capital,  Callimachus  is 
said  to  have  invented  the  Corinthian  capital,  the  feature 
which  distinguishes  the  Corinthian  from  the  Ionic  order. 
The  tale  seems  an  idle  one  ;  but  though  almost  threadbare, 
we  cannot  omit  it,  and  will  give  it  in  the  words  of  the  au- 
thor who  has  recorded  it.  "  A  Corinthian  virgin,  of  mar- 
riageable years,  fell  a  victim  to  a  violent  disorder.  After 
her  interment,  her  nurse,  collecting  in  a  basket  those  arti- 
cles to  which  she  had  shown  a  partiality  when  alive,  car- 
ried them  to  her  tomb,  and  placed  a  tile  on  the  basket,  for 
the  longer  preservation  of  its  contents.  The  basket  was 
accidentally  placed  on  the  root  of  an  acanthus  plant,  which, 
pressed  by  the  weight,  shot  forth,  towards  spring,  its  stems 
and  large  foliage,  and  in  the  course  of  its  growth  reached 
the  angles  of  the  tile,  and  thus  formed  volutes  at  the  ex- 
tremities. Callimachus,  who  for  his  great  ingenuity  and 
taste  was  called  Catatechnos  by  the  Athenians,  happening 
at  this  time  to  pass  by  the  tomb,  observed  the  basket,  and 
the  delicacy  of  the  foliage  which  surrounded  it.  Pleased 
with  the  form  and  novelty  of  the  combination,  he  con- 
structed, from  the  hint  thus  afforded,  columns  of  this  spe- 
cies in  the  country  about  Corinth,  and  arranged  its  pro- 
portions, determining  their  proper  measure  by  perfect 
rules." 

The  annexed  diagram  gives  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  circumstance,  as  usual- 
ly found  in  architectural  works  :  the 
reader,  however,  is  at  liberty  to  make 
his  own  representation  of  it,  which  will 
most  probably  be  as  near  the  truth  as 
that  here  given. 

But  few  ancient  examples  of  the 
Corinthian  order  are  extant  of  so  ear- 
ly a  date  as  the  age  of  Alexander.  Its 
delicacy  and  slenderness  render  it  very  susceptible  of  the 
ravages  of  time  ;  and  it  has  been  suggested,  that  the  value 
of  the  material  of  which  the  columns  and  capitals  of  this  or- 
der were  made,  excited  the  cupidity  of  the  Romans  to  re- 
move them. 

The  general  opinion  runs,  that  architecture,  as  well  as 
the  other  arts,  was  carried  into  Etruria  by  the  Pelasgi,  at 
which  period  Doric  was  the  only  order  in  use  in  Greece, 
and  was  the  only  one,  moreover,  as  far  as  can  be  judged 
of,  adopted  by  the  Pelasgi.  But  they  changed  its  character, 
stripping  it  of  triglyphs,  and  adding  to  it  a  base. — The  Ro- 
mans, who  borrowed  their  earliest  architecture  from  the 
Etruscans,  adopted,  under  the  name  of  Tuscan,  this  Doric 
order,  thus  cheated  of  its  fair  proportions,  which  is  in  truth 
but  a  species  of  Doric. 

Rome  appears  to  have  been  indebted  to  the  people  of 
Etruria  for  its  earliest  work  of  any  note.  It  has  always 
been  supposed,  that  to  an  Etruscan  architect  was  confided 
the  construction  of  the  immense  sewer  which  drained  the 
city,  and  in  which  might  be  discerned  a  presage  of  its  fu- 
ture grandeur.  The  undecorated  and  simple  art  of  Etru- 
ria suited  the  roughness  and  austerity  of  a  warlike  and 
then  needy  people.  The  art  of  architecture  was  long  ne- 
glected among  them.  Their  temples  and  palaces  for  a 
long  period  were  protected  from  the  seasons  by  a  covering 
of  nothing  more  than  clay  and  straw.  Marble  and  slavery 
entered  Rome  together,  under  the  reign  of  Augustus.  Ef- 
feminacy had  been  induced  by  the  riches  of  the  known 
world  which  centered  in  the  city,  whose  inhabitants  did 
not  apprehend  that  slavery  would  follow  in  the  train  of  the 
arts  which  were  bound  to  the  triumphal  chariot. 

Augustus,  sensible  that  the  only  mode  of  tranquillising 
the  people,  when  liberty  was  no  more,  would  be  by  intro- 
ducing the  pleasures  and  luxuries  attendant  on  the  arts, 
exerted  himself  most  zealously  for  their  prosperity :  his 
conduct  on  this  point  is  sufficiently  exemplified  in  the 
boast  attributed  to  him,  "That  he  found  the  city  built  of 
brick,  and  left  it  constructed  with  marble."  Livy  compli- 
ments him  as  the  founder  or  restorer  of  temples,  "  Tern- 
plorum  omnium  conditorem  aut  restitutorem."  His  pa- 
tronage drew  the  most  skilful  Grecian  artists  to  Rome, 
which  now  became  the  capital  of  the  arts,  and  architecture 
reached  all  the  perfec'ion  it  could  there  attain.  It  was  un- 
der Augustus  that  Vitruvius  wrote  his  work  on  architec- 
ture, the  only  ancient  text-book  on  the  art  that  has  reached 
74 


ARCHITECTURE. 

us.  It  has  been  of  late  the  fashion  to  decry  the  utility  of 
this  author.  Those  that  have  done  so  know  little  of  the 
art.  Though  in  matters  relating  to  the  history  of  architec- 
ture, our  author  deals  somewhat  in  fable,  the  more  im- 
portant parts  of  his  work  are  invaluable ;  and  if  one  of  the 
most  profound  architects  that  ever  existed  could  dignify 
Vitruvius  with  the  title  of  "  our  old  master,"  it  ill  becomes 
the  small  fry  of  the  present  age  to  carp  at  him.  Un- 
der Agrippa,  the  son-in-law  of  Augustus,  the  Pantheon  was 
raised  ;  one  of  the  most  magnificent  examples  of  Roman 
grandeur.  Amongst  other  superb  structures  he  introduced 
baths,  and  constructed  a  considerable  number  of  fountains, 
temples,  &c.  Under  the  successors  of  Augustus,  the  pub- 
lic buildings  of  the  nation  continued  to  increase  ;  but  the 
art  bpgan  to  degenerate  in  the  reigns  of  Tiberius,  Caligula, 
and  Claudius.  It  could  not  be  expected,  that  it  would  re- 
vive under  such  a  personage  as  Nero,  who  deprived  the 
finest  statues  of  their  heads  to  substitute  his  own  portrait 
on  their  shoulders.  He  was,  however,  a  great  encourager 
of  buildings  on  a  highly  decorated  and  colossal  scale;  wit- 
ness the  Domus  Aurea,  built  for  him  by  Severus  and  Celer, 
in  which,  from  all  accounts,  richness  and  luxury  them- 
selves were  exhausted.  The  wisdom  and  greatness  of 
character  of  the  emperor  Trajan  were  infused  into  the 
buildings  of  his  reign.  The  triumphal  arches,  but  especi- 
ally his  column  and  forum,  incontestably  prove  the  rise  of 
the  art  under  his  auspices,  at  which  time  his  architect, 
Apollodorus,  who  raised  the  column  to  his  memory,  was 
highly  patronised.  Hadrian  and  the  Antonines  were  also 
much  devoted  to  the  art,  in  which  the  former  himself  prac- 
tised. Marcus  Aurelius  was  so  attached  to  the  arts,  that 
he  became  a  pupil  of  Diognetus.  Antoninus  Pius,  at  an- 
cient Lanuvium,  built  a  country  house,  whose  ruins  at  the 
present  day  astonish  by  their  extent :  as  an  index  to  its 
magnificence,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  a  cock  for  regula- 
ting the  supply  of  water,  of  the  weight  of  forty  pounds,  and 
formed  of  silver,  has  been  extracted  from  its  ruins.  The 
art,  however,  was  then  in  its  decline,  and  soon  after  disap- 
peared under  his  successors.  The  arch  of  Septimus  Seve- 
rus is  an  extraordinary  falling  off  from  what  it  had  been  ; 
and  it  is  difficult,  in  such  a  short  period,  namely,  since  the 
reign  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  to  conceive  how  the  art  of  sculp- 
ture, more  especially,  could  have  become  so  debased. 
The  details  of  what  is  called  the  goldsmiths'  arch  indicate 
the  decay  of  good  taste  ;  its  profiles  are  bad,  and  the  orna- 
ments overloaded. 

For  a  short  time  architecture  was  prevented  from  en- 
tirely sinking,  by  the  fostering  hand  of  Alexander  Severus; 
but  the  fall  of  the  western  empire  completed  its  ruin  :  it  is, 
however,  from  the  reign  of  Gallienus,  whose  arch  proves 
to  what  a  state  it  was  reduced,  that  we  must  reckon  the 
total  extinction  of  the  arts.  Architecture  was  indeed  most 
likely  to  have  survived  the  general  wreck,  and  perhaps 
was  not  completely  involved  in  the  universal  ruin.  In  an 
age  when  no  sculptor  existed,  the  baths  erected  by  Dio- 
cletian exhibited  a  grandeur  manifest  even  in  their  stu- 
pendous remains;  it  seems,  however,  that  a  bad  taste 
must  have  reigned  in  the  design  of  them,  inasmuch 
as  we  learn  from  history,  so  overloaded  with  ornaments 
was  the  edifice,  that  during  the  public  games  a  great  num- 
ber of  spectators  lost  their  lives  by  the  fall  of  some  of  the 
flowers  from  the  ceilings  and  entablatures.  Diocletian's 
palace  at  Spalatro  is  another  proof  of  the  enormous  efforts 
made  by  that  emperor,  and  of  what  the  art  could  then  do. 
About  the  same  time,  or  in  the  time  of  Aurelian,  were 
erected  the  extensive  buildings  in  Coelosyria,  at  Balbec, 
and  Palmyra;  vicious  as  they  are  in  taste,  one  is  astonished 
at  the  vastness  of  the  plans,  the  boldness  of  the  undertak- 
ing, and  the  funds  lavished  on  their  construction.  There 
is  nothing  more  instructive  to  a  student  on  the  rise,  pro- 
gress, and  decline  of  Roman  art,  because  the  eye  can  al- 
most cover  it  at  one  glance,  than  an  examination  of  a  series 
of  Roman  coins ;  and  it  is  recommended,  as  likely  to 
make  an  impression  on  the  mind  much  stronger  than  the 
most  elaborate  treatises  on  the  subject. 

Though  architecture,  from  various  causes,  was  destined 
to  survive  the  other  arts,  its  protracted  existence  could  not 
extend  beyond  the  period  of  the  removal  of  the  seat  of 
empire  to  Byzantium.  The  endeavours  of  Constantine  to 
erect  his  city  into  a  metropolis  that  should  rival  Rome, 
which  he  spoiled  of  its  treasures,  were  vain;  all  his  efforts 
to  embellish  it  with  the  most  splendid  monuments  only 
proved  how  ineffectual  are  the  attempts  of  kings  to  subject 
the  arts  to  their  power.  That  which  Constantine  left  be- 
hind him  in  the  eternal  city  and  the  rest  of  Italy,  fell  a  prey 
to  the  unrestrained  fury  of  the  Visigoths.  The  edifices 
which  they  afterwards  reconstructed  were  from  fragments 
of  those  they  had  destroyed  ;  but  their  ignorance  or  forget- 
fulness  of  the  stations  and  proportions  in  which  they  had 
originally  been  used,  induced  a  sad  confusion  of  the  dif- 
ferent members — entablatures  inverted,  and  other  grotes- 
que arrangements,  were  to  be  seen  in  their  buildings.  The 
vast  number  of  columns  which  the  ruins  supplied  was  used 
as  piers  for  arcades,  from  which  originated,  beyond  doubt, 


ARCHITECTURE. 

the  plan  of  the  Gothic  cathedral,  after  its  passage  through 
various  modifications.  Quatremere  de  Quincy  attributes 
(Enc.  .Method.)  the  use  of  the  arch  springing  from  columns 
to  the  ignorance  of  the  builders  of  the  period,  who  knew 
not,  he  assumes,  the  mode  of  connecting  the  different 
lengths  of  an  architrave ;  but  it  seems  scarcely  probable 
that  they,  who  so  well  knew  the  mode  of  connecting  the 
voussoirs  of  an  arch,  should  have  been  deficient  in  under- 
standing the  principle  in  question,  which  is  either  that  of 
the  arch  itself  or  of  the  simplest  joggling.  From  this 
period  to  the  restoration  of  the  arts  at  a  late  period,  all 
Bight  of  the  original  types  seems  to  have  been  lost ;  and 
in  the  end  arose  a  style  under  the  name  of  Gothic,  which 
Will  be  separately  treated  of.  Here  ocean  a  considerable 
gap  in  the  history  of  the  art :  all  is  dark  on  the  subject, 
though  the  ancient  taste  does  not  seem  to  have  passed 
away  altogether.  The  first  glimmer  of  returning  light  ap- 
pears under  Justinian,  in  the  church  of  St  Sophia  at  Con- 
stantinople, in  the  sixth  and  seventh  centuries.  It  was  the 
chefd'oeuvre  of  the  lower  empire,  and  perhaps,  indeed, 
the  oniv  specimen  it  has  left  us.  The  church  of  St. 
Mark  at  Venice  rose  in  the  tenth  or  eleventh  century; 
it  was  the  work  of  Greek  architects,  and  is  invaluable  in 
tracing  the  history  of  architecture  :  its  plan  and  its  beauti- 
ful proportions  remind  the  spectator  of  the  magnifii 
of  the  ancients.  Nearly  about  the  same  period  other 
cities  of  Italy  began  to  exhibit  advances  in  the  art.  hi 
1013  the  Florentines  laid  the  foundations  of  the  church  of 
s.  Miniato;  but  the  most  extraordinary  movement  of  the 
period  was  the  cathedral  n  Pisa,  erected  by  Buschetto  da 
Dulichio,  a  Greek  architect,  in  1016:  this  building  Is  lined 
both  inside  and  outside  with  marble,  and  the  roof  is  borne 
on  four  ranks  of  columns  ol  material    Thecom- 

merce  of  the  Pisans  enabled  tl i  to  explore  the  J 

the  islands  on  the  .  of  Asia  Minor,  Egypt,  and  Africa. 
for  the  most  costly  and  precious  marbles  which  wi  n 
in  the  work.  Painters  and  sculptors  were  brought  from 
Greece  to  embellish  their  buildings,  and  these  contributed 
to  introduce  a  better  taste  in  the  arts.  Had  Bus 
live. 1  to  form  a  school  here,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
architecture  would  have  been  al  tablished;  but 

such  does  not  appear  to  have  been  the  rase,  and  the  suc- 
cessful cultivation  of  it  was,  consequently,  deferred  for  a 
time.  The  falling  tower,  as  it  is  usually  called,  or  cam- 
panile, at  Pisa,  was  raised  close  to  the  cathedral  in  the 
twelfth  century;  its  Inclination  evidently  arises  from  a 
failure  in  the  foundation;  its  style  evinces  hut  little  pro- 
gress as  compared  with  the  cathedral 

In  the  thirteenth  century  the  church  of  the  Virgin  of 
I  i  was  erected  in  Tuscany,  and  the  castel  del  Ovo  at 
Naples;  the  first  by  Lapo,  and  the  last  by  Fucio,  both 
Florentines.  Nicolo  da  Pisa,  their  countryman  and  co- 
temporary,  was  employed  on  several  edifices  of  consider- 
ation in  Bologna,  Padua,  ana  Venice,  n  -  tesl  work 
was  the  church  a)  Padua,  dedicated  to  St  Anthony,  the 
sculpture  in  which  is  chiefly  from  his  hand.  ^  The  church, 
however,  at  Florence,  della  sanbssima  Trinita.  is  bis  finest 
work,  of  which  it  is  no  small  encomium  to  say  that  it  was 
the  admiration  of  so  great  a  man  as  M.  A.  da  Boonarotti. 
Arnolfo  di  Lapo  built  the  church  of  St.  Croce,  and  design- 
ed the  cathedral  also  at  Florence  of  Santa  .Maria  de'  Fiori. 
All  the  cities  of  Italy,  indeed,  at  this  epoch  seemed  to  be 
emulous  of  outvying  each  other.  Paolo  Barbetta  ■ 
gaged  at  Venice  on  the  church  of  Santa  Maria  Formosa; 
many  works  were  in  progress  al  Bologna;  the  marble 
chapel  of  the  church  of  Santa  Maria  Maggiore  at  Rome, 
about  the  year  1216,  was  executed  byMarchione:  every 
effort  indicated  tie-  speedy  restoration  of  pur.-  art.  These 
scintillations,  however,  of  good  taste  were  confined  to 
Italy  ;  iu  the  other  parts  of  Europe  the  Gothic  style, — one, 
indeed,  in  some  of  its  monuments,  of  stupendous  gran- 
deur, of  which  we  shall  treat  in  another  article. — was  pre 
valent,  and  soon  afterwards  in  Germany  carried  to  the 
utmost  pitch  of  perfection.  It  was  in  the  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  centuries  that  the  cathedral  at  Strasbourg  was 
erected,  under  the  designs  of  Irwin  Steinbeck.  The  four- 
teenth century  produced  also  in  France  and  England  some 
extraordinary  Gothic  structures. 

In  Italy  architecture  was  fast  approaching  to  a  perfect  re- 
storation. John  of  Pisa,  son  of  the  Nicholas  whom  we  have 
iust  mentioned,  was  employed  by  his  townsmen  on  the 
Campo  Santo.  This  public  cemetery  was  in  the  Gothic 
style,  and  is  remarkable  for  the  elegant  simplicity  of  its 
plan  and  the  beauty  of  its  details.  It  is  a  singular  link  of 
the  chain  of  history  of  this  art :  there  is  no  difficulty  in  dis- 
cerning the  straggle  in  the  mind  of  the  architect  to  free 
himself  from  those  Gothic  shackles  which  seemed  to  hang 
on  it  as  an  impediment  to  an  immediate  return  to  the  clas 
sic  taste  of  the  land,  which  became  completely  restored  in 
Italy  in  the  fifteenth  century.  The  troubles  throughout 
Europe  were  stilled  It  the  time  that  Brunetleschi  appeared 
as  the  restorer  of  genuine  art,  to  which  title  he  has  a  just 
and  honourable  claim.  By  a  diligent  investigation  of  the 
remains  of  ancient  Rome,  with  the  scale  and  compasses  in 
75 


ARCHITECTURE. 

his  hand,  he  succeeded  in  reviving  the  ancient  rules  of  art, 
the  just  use  of  the  orders,  and  was  himself  the  first  to 
make  a  practical  application  of  his  discoveries.  He  well 
knew  how  to  unite  theory  with  practice,  and  from  a  pro- 
found acquaintance  with  the  monuments  of  antiquity  was 
led  to  the  principles  of  sound  construction,  without  which 
all  other  knowledge  in  architecture  is  useless. 

The  cathedral  at  Florence,  begun  in  the  Gothic  style  by 
Arnolpho,  was  reserved  for  Brunelleschi  to  finish,  which 
he  effected  with  a  boldness  worthy  his  genius.  He  sur- 
mounted the  church  with  the  tambour  dome,  which  had, 
though  projected  by  the  original  designer,  been  considered 
by  the  artists  of  the  age  more  as  a  phantom  of  the  imagi- 
nation than  a  subject  for  reality.  We  have  not  room  here 
to  record  the  strange  schemes  that  were  proposed  for  car- 
rying the  project  into  execution  ;  the  facility  with  winch 
the  architect  effected  his  object  marks  him  as  an  artist,  in 
that  age.  of  sin  prising  resources  and  ability. 

The  erection  of  the  dome  and  cupola  of  Santa  Maria  de' 
Fiori  opened  the  road  for  some  of  the  grandest  examples 
nan  skill  applied  to  the  art :  it  was  the  subject  of  eu- 
logy  from  Michad  Angelo,  and  is  still  the  astonishment  of 
those  who  know  how  to  appreciate  the  difficulties  by  which 
it  was  surrounded.  The  school  formed  by  Brunelleschi 
spread  by  means  of  his  disciples  through  Italy,  and  propa- 
gated the  art  in  that  revived  state,  which  acquired  liberal 
and  enlightened  protectors  in  the  Bfedicis,  the  dukes  of 
Milan,  and  many  noil,  s  of  Italy,  who  opened  their  palaces 
to  its  professors,  and  the  learned  generally.  These  latter, 
who  had  after  the  arrival  of  cardinal  Bessarion  and  other 
Greeks  rendered  Italy  illustrious  by  their  labours,  soon 
opened  the  works  of  Vitruvius  to  the  architect,  in  which 
they  were  consul. rally  aided  by  Leo  liattista  Alberti,  of 
the  noble  and  ancient  family  of  the  Albertis  of  Florence, 
who  himself  did  not  Hiwfain  to  practise  architecture,  as  an 
art.  Bold  and  Ingenious  as  Brunelleschi  his  predecessor, 
his  designs  have  the  further  charms  of  a  grace  and  elegance 

which  the  former  did  not  exhibit  j  and  his  work  on  the  ail, 
the  only  one  at  that  period  which  could  be  put  in  competi- 
tion with  the  ancient  master  Vitruvius,  whose  obscurity  in 
many  parts  left  much  for  experience  to  dissipate,  displayed 
such  vast  stores  of  erudition,  such  a  profound  knowdedge 
of  construction,  and  so  accurate  an  acquaintance  with  the 
works  of  the  ancients,  that  it  not  only  contributed  to  its 
firm  establishment,  bnl  left  Utde  to  desire  on  the  theory 
and  practice  of  architecture. 

About  the  period  that  Alberti  was  thus  engaged,  an  extra- 
ordinary work  in  the  history  of  the  art  appeared  from  the 
pen  of  France*  o  <  lolonna  i  En  1467  >,  under  the  title  of  "Po- 
liphili  Hypnerotomachia,"  and  published  in  folio  by  Aldus. 
Tins  book  is  now  extremely  rare  ;  it  is  replete  with  plates, 
some  of  great  beauty,  from  wood  blocks,  and  in  it  the  au- 
thor, in  a  supposed  dream,  promulgates  sound  precepts, 
i  leas,  and  principles  valuable  to  the  amateur  and  ar- 
chitect. Felibien  recommends  to  the  artist  its  perusal, 
which  he  considers  almost  as  necessary  as  that  of  Vitruvi- 
us. Indeed  the  poetic  descriptions  in  it  of  pyramids,  niau- 
solea,  colossal  statues,  circi,  amphitheatres,  temples,  and 
palaces,  seem  to  have  made  more  impression  at  the  time 
than  the  dry  doctrinesof  Vitruvius,  and  Italy  soon  saw  re- 
alised the  poetic  dreams  of  the  author.  In  the  period  of  a 
century  and  a  half  the  cities  of  Italy  were  embellished 
with  the  works  of  Bramante,  M.  A.  da  Buonarotti,  Raphael, 
Julio  Romano,  San  Gallo,  Baltazar  Peruzzi,  Giocondo,  San 
Micheh.  Sansovino,  Serlio,  Pirro  Ligorio,  Vignola,  Palladio, 
Bcamozzi,  and  a  long  list  of  others  whose  names  are  an 
honour  to  their  country. 

It  was  late  before  pure  art  reached  England,  hi  it 
Inigo  Jones  is  the  father  of  architecture,  and  we,  fortunate- 
ly, still  possess  some  of  his  beautiful  designs.  He  can 
scarcely  be  said  to  have  completely  emancipated  himself 
from  the  trammels  of  the  debased  Elizabethan  style,  as  it 
is  called,  till  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Charles  L,  which 
-plendid  epoch  of  the  arts  in  that  country.  From 
many  concurrent  causes,  the  French  school  of  architecture 
has  exhibited  and  still  exhibits  a  very  high  degree  of  ex. 
ice,  and  may  perhaps  be  fairly  considered  as  hold- 
ing the  highest  rank  in  the  present  day. 

Architecture,  Chinese.  As  a  description  of  the  build- 
ings of  China  would  be  out  of  place  in  a  work  of  this  na- 
ture, the  subject  of  the  present  article  is  confined  to  a  ge- 
neral view  of  the  principles,  the  character,  and  the  taste  of 
Chinese  architecture.  To  describe  its  general  forms,  for 
the  purpose  of  identifying  them,  is  unnecesary ;  they  are 
universally  known. 

When  we  reflect  on  the  limits  to  which  in  China  the  arts  of 
imitation  have  for  so  long  a  period  been  confined,  we  are  led 
to  the  conclusion,whatever  be  the  cause,thatthe  Chinese  are 
deficient  in  that  activity  of  mind  which  conducts  other  na- 
tions by  degrees  to  perfection.  In  China  the  rise  of  the  arts 
seems  to  have  been  constantly  repressed  by  the  state  of  me- 
chanical drudgery  and  servitude  in  which  the  people  are  re- 
stricted. In  their  painting,  for  example,  the  most  exact 
imitation  of  plants,  fruits,  and  trees,  is  thought  indispen- 


ARCHITECTURE,  CHINESE. 


sable.  A  Chinese  painter  would  think  it  necessary  to  count 
the  scales  between  the  head  and  tail  of  a  carp  he  was  about 
to  represent;  in  other  words,  he  is  more  of  a  naturalist 
than  an  artist.  In  China,  every  matter  relating  to  building 
is  the  subject  of  regulation  by  the  police,  which,  rather  than 
theory,  governs  its  architecture.  The  laws  of  the  empire 
detail  and  enforce  with  the  greatest  precision  the  mode  of 
constructing  a  lou  or  palace  for  a  prince  of  the  first,  second, 
or  third  rank,  of  a  grandee,  of  a  mandarin,  dec.  A  man, 
unless  he  hold  some  office,  who  acquires  a  fortune  by  his 
own  exertions,  is  not  allowed  to  build  a  house  above  his 
rank  in  society  ;  his  condition  has  nothing  to  do  with  it. 
According  to  the  ancient  law  of  the  kingdom,  the  number  and 
height  of  the  apartments,  the  length  and  height  of  a  build- 
ing, are  all  regulated  with  precision,  from  the  plain  citizen 
to  the  mandarin,  and  from  the  latter  up  to  the  emperor  him- 
self. Herein  alone  we  have  sufficient  to  account  for  the 
poverty  and  want  of  invention  in  Chinese  art. 

In  speaking  of  the  principles  of  Chinese  architecture,  the 
word  is  not  applicable  in  the  same  way  as  when  we  speak 
of  classic  architecture,  but  is  meant  to  apply  to  those  pri- 
mitive causes  which  gave  birth  to  it.  Character  and  taste 
in  every  species  of  archiiecture  are  the  necessary  results 
of  these  elements.  M.  de  Pauw  has  well  desci'ibed  it,  in 
respect  of  its  principles  and  elements.  It  is  impossible,  he 
says,  to  be  mistaken  in  the  objects  which  were  the  models 
of  imitation  of  their  first  buildings  :  they  are  imitations  of 
tents,  and  that  is  in  consonance  with  all  our  knowledge  of 
the  primitive  state  of  the  Chinese,  who  were,  like  all  the 
Tartar  tribes,  nomadic.  This,  beyond  doubt,  is  the  true 
origin  of  their  dwellings.  However  the  missionaries  of  Pe- 
kin  may  have  refuted  M.  de  Pauw  upon  some  inaccura- 
cies, there  can  be  little  hesitation  in  agreeing  with  him  on 
this  head.  One  of  its  strongest  proofs  is  the  form  of  the 
Chinese  roof.  Nothing  but  the  form  of  a  tent  or  pavilion 
could  have  given  the  idea  of  it ;  and  though  carpentry  was 
for  a  long  period  made  subservient  to  this  form,  reasoning 
from  the  progress  of  all  inventions,  it  would  be  impossible 
to  believe,  where  carpentry  supplied  the  architecture, 
it  should  all  at  once  have  adopted  combinations  and  cover- 
ings so  light  and  at  the  same  time  so  complex.  There  is 
another  point  of  analogy  with  the  tent  construction,  which 
is,  that  there  is  nothing  like  the  appearance  of  a  member 
of  wood,  similar  to  our  architrave,  destined  to  lie  on  the 
tops  of  the  columns,  and  receive  and  support  the  remain- 
der of  the  carpentry.  The  Chinese  roofs,  on  the  contrary, 
jut  out  beyond  the  columns,  whose  upper  extremity  is 
hidden  by  the  eaves :  hence  the  omission  of  the  use  of 
capitals.  It  is  easy  to  perceive  that  extreme  lightness  must 
result  from  the  imitation  whereof  we  are  speaking.  The 
spirit  and  character  of  tents  earned  into  the  construction 
of  cities  might,  at  least  in  reality,  be  lost  and  altered  by  a 
change  of  materials.  The  semblance  of  lightness  might 
be  found  in  union  with  essential  solidity  of  construction ; 
the  character  would  have  been  intellectually  the  same. 
Here,  however,  identity  of  material  has  contributed  to  the 
identity  of  the  copy  with  the  original.  The  Greeks,  whose 
model  was  carpentry,  copied  in,  as  it  were,  a  figurative 
manner,  and  the  change  from  wood  to  stone  soon  removed 
the  appearance  of  weakness  and  lightness  that  was  found 
in  the  model.  In  China  the  material  remains  the  same, 
and  its  architecture  of  wood  still  copies  the  model  of  wood  ; 
hence,  the  lightness  of  the  original  is  transferred  to  the 
copy. 

Lightness  is  the  essential  character  of  Chinese  archi- 
tecture ;  but  there  is  another  characteristic  quality,  both 
of  the  model  and  the  copy,  that  is  observable  in  the  edifi- 
ces of  China,  which  is  its  gayness  of  appearance.  In  this 
respect  scarcely  any  style  presents  a  more  pleasing  effect. 
Its  roofs,  single  and  double,  brilliantly  painted,  its  gaily 
diapered  porticos,  the  gloss  over  the  whole  surface,  the 
harmony  of  this  species  of  decoration,  with  the  light  and 
flowing  forms  of  the  buildings  themselves,  produce  a  sense 
of  pleasure  to  eyes  constantly  accustomed  to  their  con- 
templation, which  would  doubtless  be  disgusted  with  our 
cold  and  monotonous  mode  of  decoration. 

It  is  particularly  in  ornament  and  decoration  that  we  are 
accustomed  to  investigate  taste,  which  is  the  result  of  a 
combination  of  all  the  physical  and  moral  causes  that  in- 
fluence art.  Yet,  as  every  thing  in  architecture  is  connected 
by  a  sort  of  mutual  relationship,  it  is  difficult  to  fix  the 
exact  proportion  that  exists  between  construction  and  de- 
coration, and  especially  in  Chinese  architecture.  In  speak- 
ing of  ornament  in  architecture,  one  naturally  recurs  to 
sculpture  for  the  purpose;  but  this  is  not  found  in  Chinese 
architecture.  With  the  Chinese,  ornament  consists  in 
varnishing  columns,  colouring  roofs,  coating  walls  with 
porcelain,  and  the  like  expedients.  The  figures  painted 
on  their  buildings  are  connected  with  their  religion,  and 
the  merit  of  the  art  is  secondary.  The  art  of  ornament- 
ing in  China  is  a  sort  of  patchwork,  yet  the  parts  of  Chi- 
nese architecture  are  in  unity  with  each  other.  A  foreign 
style  could  never  be  made  to  amalgamate  with  it ;  it  has 
been  developed  in  a  mode  conformable  to  the  wants  of  the 
76 


country,  and  its  duration  for  such  a  number  of  ages  leads 
us  to  conclude  that  it  will  not  lightly  be  abandoned  by  the 
people  that  have  adopted  it. 

Architecture,  Egyptian.  The  preservation  of  the 
Egyptian  monuments  of  architecture,  in  many  instances 
so  perfect  as  they  still  appear,  is  highly  calculated  to  excite 
our  surprise  and  admiration,  inasmuch  as  ancient  Egypt 
ceased  to  exist  in  its  splendour  long  before  the  period  of 
the  earliest  histories  that  have  come  down  to  us.  Almost, 
as  it  were,  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  by  seas 
of  sand  as  well  as  water,  and  bordering  on  the  most  savage 
tribes,  it  seems  indebted  to  those  circumstances  for  the 
protection  its  edifices  have  received.  Had  the  country 
received  as  successors  to  its  early  inhabitants  a  powerful 
people,  if  rich  and  industrious  cities  had  risen  on  the  sites 
of  the  old  ones,  the  temples  of  Egypt  would  doubtless 
have  been  used  as  quarries  admirably  suited  to  the  pur- 
pose. Arabian  hordes,  and  the  almost  barbarous  and 
wretched  inhabitants  of  the  present  day,  have  indeed  built 
their  villages  on  some  of  the  ancient  sites.  The  terraces 
of  some  of  the  temples  serve  as  floors  to  modern  habita- 
tions ;  and  at  Thebes,  a  town  of  two  stories,  or  raiher  two 
stories  of  towns  built  on  the  ceilings  of  these  everlasting 
ruins,  indicate  that  the  means  of  destruction  have  not  been 
equal  to  the  natural  resistance  of  works  of  such  solidity. 
No  people  ever  existed  whose  whole  feelings  were  so  much 
a  passion  for  ever-enduring  monuments.  Religion,  a  genius 
formed  by  that  religion,  government,  habits,  climate,  mate- 
rials, all  united  to  confer  on  their  buildings  a  durability  as 
great  as  the  power  of  man  can  confer ;  and  the  efforts  re- 
sulting from  such  causes  were  successful. 

In  a  preceding  article  we  have  adverted  to  the  three 
classes  of  mankind,  whose  different  wants  had  an  influence 
on  their  styles  of  architecture.  It  is  not  a  forced  suppo- 
sition that  the  primitive  inhabitants  of  Egypt  used  the  ex- 
cavations with  which  nature  furnished  them  for  protection 
against  the  heat  of  a  sultry  climate.  As  the  inhabitants  of 
Tyre,  Sidon,  and  Palestine  were  indebted  to  their  forests 
of  cedar  for  becoming  great  workers  in  wood,  so  the 
Egyptians,  from  their  earliest  mode  of  life,  from  their 
quarries  and  the  facility  they  acquired  in  hollowing  them 
out,  gained  that  aptitude  for  working  stone,  and  that  high 
degree  of  perfection,  so  manifest  in  their  works.  It  is  true 
that  their  country  is  not  the  only  one  in  which  excavations 
abound;  but  in  most  other  places  these  excavations  have 
been  caused  by  working  them  as  quarries,  and  no  trace  of 
architecture  or  human  abode  can  be  perceived  in  them. 
In  Egypt,  on  the  contrary,  where  the  caverns  still  furnish 
dwellings  for  the  inhabitants,  immemorial  custom  has  as- 
signed them  to  the  use  of  mankind.  The  immense  sub- 
terraneous apartments  of  Egypt  must  not  be  placed  to  the 
account  of  luxury  in  sepulture.  Herodotus  tells  us,  that 
the  priests  would  not  allow  him  to  visit  the  subterranean 
apartments  of  the  labyrinth  in  which  they  dwelt,  and  which 
were  considered  the  most  beautiful.  Now,  if  this  species 
of  dwelling  was  used  in  the  refined  times  of  Egypt,  a 
fortiori  would  it  have  been  so  in  the  earlier  ages.  Through- 
out Egyptian  architecture  its  origin  appears.  A  simplicity 
bordering  on  monotony ;  extreme  solidity,  amounting  to 
heaviness;  are  its  principal  characters.  There  is  entire 
absence  of  every  thing  that  can  be  traced  to  a  type  of  car- 
pentry, as  in  the  Grecian  orders  ;  hence  it  appears  certain, 
that  at  least  its  type  was  different,  and  that  type  was  cavern 
excavation.  The  exception  that  seems  to  arise  from  the 
use  of  columns  does  not  militate  against  the  theory  ;  for 
decoration  invariably  refers  to  nature  for  objects  of  imita- 
tion ;  and  nothing  would  sooner  occur  in  decorating  pillars 
in  every  style  than  the  imitation  of  trees  and  plants,  with- 
out referring  to  them  as  a  type. 

The  honours  of  sepulture  seem  to  have  been  the  cause 
of  the  most  stupendous  of  the  Egyptian  monuments.  Dio- 
dorus  Siculus  tells  us,  that  the  kings  of  Egypt  expended 
sums  upon  their  tombs  more  immense  than  other  kings 
did  upon  their  palaces.  They  were  of  opinion,  he  ob- 
serves, that  the  frailty  of  the  body  during  life  was  not 
worthy  of  a  substantial  and  solid  abode.  They  considered 
a  palace  like  an  inn,  which  is  occupied  by  many  in  succes- 
sion, and  in  which  one  stops  but  for  a  day.  Their  tombs, 
however,  they  considered  as  the  real  palace  in  which  the 
abode  was  to  be  perpetual;  hence,  they  spared  no  expense 
in  rendering  them  worthy  of  such  an  object.  Some  have 
supposed  that  the  pyramids  were  but  immense  cenotaphs, 
and  that  the  bodies  of  the  kings  were  interred  in  some 
neighbouring  subterranean  spot  ;  in  short,  that  these 
masses  of  stone  were  erected  to  mislead  one  from  the  spot 
which  the  body  occupied.  This,  however,  would  not  make 
them  the  less  monuments  of  sepulture.  Some  have  at- 
tributed to  the  pyramids  a  mystic,  others  an  astronomical, 
purpose. 

From  Egypt  were  derived  the  principal  mysteries  that 
passed  into  other  religions,  and  it  was  in  the  darkness  of 
subterranean  apartments  that  those  initiations  had  birth,  in 
which  secrecy  was  the  first  law.  Secrecy  was  there  deified 
under  the  figure  of  Harpocrates.    According  to  Plutarch, 


ARCHITECTURE,  EGYPTIAN. 


the  sphinxes  with  which  the  entrances  of  their  temples 
were  decorated,  signified  that  Egyptian  Mythology  was 
mysterious  and  emblematic.  The  number  of  vestibules 
enclosed  with  a  series  of  doors,  prevented  the  temple  itself 
from  being  seen.  This,  which  none  were  allowed  to  ap- 
proach, was  snail  in  extent,  and  in  it  the  sacred  animal  or 
its  image  was  preserved.  It  was  in  the  galleries,  porticos, 
and  dwellings  of  the  priests,  thai  the  large  area  which  the 
temples  covered  was  occupied. 

Excepting  some  varieties  in  the  plans  of  their  temples,  a 
sameness  of  character  and  uniformity  is  observable  in 
them,  which  pervade  their  fronts,  their  general  forms,  and 
the  details  of  their  decoration  :  which  latter  are  mostly  of 
the  hieroglyphic  species,  certainly  the  most  monotonous 
of  all  decorations.  To  give  the  reader  a  general  idea  of  the 
temples  of  the  country,  a  diagram  of  that  at  Esneh  is  sub- 
joined.   With  the  Egyptians,  heavine  -  seemed  to  be  sy- 


■'■MiwnjaF 


nonymous  with  strength. height  with  grandeur,  and  size  or 
mass  with  power.  Uniformity  of  plan  is  universal.  The 
mlit  line  and  square  was  never  abandoned,  and,  as  M  di 
Caylus  observes,  there  exists  no  circular  monument  in  this 
style.  In  the  elevations  the  uniformity  is  still  more  strik- 
ing, no  division  of  parts,  no  contrast.  DO  effect  II  would 
seem  that  the  ideas  we  have  for  judging  of  art,  were  no 
guide  with  the  architecture  of  that  country.  Uniformity  of 
decoration  was  an  almost  necessary  result  of  the  institu- 
tions of  the  country  :  the  edifices  were  destined  to  receive 
a  inscriptions  in  symbolic  characters,  and  were  not 
allowed  to  be  left  in  that  respect  to  the  caprice  of  the  ar- 
cbitect 

As  respects  the  materials  for  building  which  the  countrv 
afforded,  we  shall  speak  as  concisely  as  possible.  Though 
palm  trees  are  found  about  the  deserts  of  Lybia,  and  near 
Dendcra,  timber  of  every  Borl  is  scarce  i  indeed  the  soil  is 
not  suitable  to  the  growth  of  trees.  The  most  common 
nexl  to  the  palm  tree  is  the  acacia;  but.  with  the  exception 
"i  the  palm  tree,  most  of  the  trees  of  Egypt  are  unfit  for 
building  purposes.  The  oak  does  not  grow  in  Egypt,  and 
the  modern  inhabitants  import  that  from  Arabia,  as  well  as 

the  fir  winch  they  use  m  lliejr  buildings,      thick    seems  to 

have  been  a  material  used  from  the  earliest  date ;  it  was 
unhurni,  being  merely  dried  in  the  sun  Pocock  Bays  it  is 
made  ol  the  mud  deposited  by  the  Nile,  which  is  of  a  black 

colour,  sandy,  and  mixed  With  Hints  and  slell.       i  i 

pyramids  described  by  Pocock,  was  constructed  with  this 

tot  brick,  and  unc tected  by  any  cement     Bricks, 

however,  were  used  after  undergoing  the  heat  of  the  fire  at 
a  very  early  period,  as  we  learn  from  Scripture,  Exod.  v. 
6.,  when-  we  find  the  Israelites  condemned  to  the  labour  of 
making  bricks  without  straw  to  bum  them,  Stone  of  al- 
most every  description,  marbles,  and  granite,  were  to  he  had 
in  prolusion;  and  these,  as  we  have  before  observed,  the 
i  ins  weir  verj  expert  in  working. 

In  construction  there  must  have  been  considerable  me- 
chanical knowledge  employed,  for  some  of  the  blocks  of 
stone  were  of  enormous  dimensions ;  audio  form  an  idea 
of  the  quantity  used,  it  is  only  necessary  to  mention  that 
the  walls  of  some  of  their  temples  extend  to  the  extraordi- 
nary thickness  of  twenty-four  feet.  Indeed,  the  walls  to 
the  principal  entrance  of  the  gati        I  ire  no  less  at 

their  base  than  fifty  feet  in  thickness.    The  si s 

squared  inside  as  well  as  on  the  external  face  ;  no  rubble- 
work  is  to  be  seen;  another  cause  of  the  surprising  dura- 
bility of  their  monuments.  The  roofs  are  all  formed  of 
single  blocks  of  stone  from  pier  to  pier;  no  trace  of  the 
arch  is  any  where  discoverable.  In  the  pyramids  (lie  pas- 
sages are  covered  with  stones  inclined  to  each  other,  ter- 
minatitt'Mn  a  point,  one  stone  lapping  over  the  other. 

The  Egyptian  temple,  unlike  that  of  the  Greeks,  which 
may  be  al  nost  all  taken  in  at  one  view-  both  interiorly  and 
exteriorly,  consists  of  an  assemblage  of  porticos,  courts, 
vestibules,  galleries,  and  other  apartments  communicating 
with  one  another,  each  of  which  in  size  had  little  relation 
to  the  rest  of  the  edifice.  They  were  usually  in  a  spot 
surrounded  with  walls  ;  and  those  which  were  not  so  sur- 
rounded were  inclosed  in  front  by  a  wall  engaged  to  the 
columns,  and  extending  in  height  about  a  half  or  a  third  of 
the  shaft.  Strabo  says  that  at  the  entrance  of  temples  was 
a  large  paved  court  three  or  four  times  or  even  more  of  its 
width  in  length,  which  the  Greeks  called  the  dromos.  This 
was  ornamented  with  sphinxes  in  rows.  Through  the 
dromos  was  the  propylum  or  fore  portico ;  thence  to 
another,  and  from  that  to  a  third,  the  number  of  them  not 
'II 


being  fixed.  Beyond  the  propyla  was  situated  the  temple 
itself  (or  naos),  which  consisted  of  two  parts,  the  pronaos 
or  fore  temple,  and  the  secos  or  sanctuary,  which  in  Egyp- 
tian temples  was  very  small,  and  contained  a  figure  ol  the 
divinity,  usually  represented  under  the  form  of  some  ani- 
mal. Some  of  these  temples  were  of  very  large  dimen- 
sions ;  that  of  Jupiter  at  Thebes  was  more  than  1400  feet 
long  and  300  feet  wide,  exclusive  of  the  porticos  that  led  to 
it.  The  forms  of  all  the  plans  are  either  square  or  rec- 
tangular. The  art  of  designing  a  plan  in  modern  architec- 
ture becomes  difficult  from  the  necessity  of  keeping  the 
apartments  within  such  bounds  that  they  may  be  covered 
or  roofed,  and  of  arranging  the  decorations,  and  of  counter- 
poising thrusts;  but  the  Egyptian  architect  had  no  such 
difficulties  to  contend  with.  Columns  were  brought  to  the 
spot  and  covered  at  once  with  masses  of  stone,  all  com- 
bining without  much  contrivance  with  the  exterior  walls  : 
hem  e,  the  abundant  use  of  columns  in  the  interior  of  their 
buildings.  Great  regularity  appears  in  their  plans.  The 
temple  at  Philae,  evidently  from  its  being  suited  to  the  form 
of  the  island  on  which  it  was  built,  is  the  only  exception  to 
the  observation.  Their  intercolumniations  are  narrow, 
rarely  exceeding  twice  and  a  half  the  width  of  the  column, 
and  usually  not  more  than  a  diameter  and  a  half.  The  ele- 
vation  is  always  uniform  and  monotonous,  always  of  one 
Story ,  and  without  columns  above  columns.  The  pyrami- 
dal form  seems  to  pervade  every  edifice,  and  the  result 
must  be  great  solidity.  Their  columns  may  be  considered 
as  of  two  sorts,  circular  on  the  plan,  and  polygonal ;  the 
former  differ  only  among  each  other  by  their  being  sculp- 
tured or  not  with  hieroglyphics.  Those  representing  as  it 
were  bundles  of  rods  or  trunks,  are  generally  encircled  at 
different  heights  With  hands  like  the  hoops  of  a  cask,  gene- 
rally in  two  or  three  ranges  of  three,  four,  or  five  each. 
This  part  of  the  arrangement  seems  to  have  been  quite  ar- 
bitrary. The  polygonal  column  frequently  occurs,  but 
more  generally  w  here  the  edifice  has  been  formed  out  of  a 
rock  or  quarry,  Ml  the  columns  rise  from  their  bases  in 
right  lines,  diminishing  to  the  top,  without  any  appearance 
ot  entasis  or  swelling.  One  can  hardly  say  that  any  pre- 
cise proportion  is  preserved  between  their  height  and  their 
thickness.  In  describing  them,  we  can  only  say  that  they 
were  short,  thick,  and  of  enormous  diameter,  the  latter  in 
"in.  cases  extending  to  as  much  as  eleven  feet.  What 
lOd  bj  pilasters,  are  not  found  in  Egyptian 
buildings,  though  some  quadrangular  columns  might  give 

:   i.  excepting  "illy  in  the  small  sepulchral  chamber 

-real   pyramid.     Bases  are  also  rarely  found;  but 

the   capitals   of  their  columns   exhibit   great' variety.      In 

general   form    they  are    either   square,  vase  formed,   or 

swelled  ;   some  ol  them  are  very  elegantly  shaped   and  de- 

witli  the  lotus,  the  palm  branch,  and  other  kinds  of 

ilfj   v,  ith  ili'    human  head.     They 

are  usually  wi  i     and  are  connected  to  the  archi- 

a  small  die  or  square  block  out  of  the  same  piece 

me  as  the  capital.     The  entablature  rarely,  if  ever, 

Consisted  of  more  than  an  architrave  surmounted  by  a  huge 

cavelto,  which  finished  upward  with  a  head  or  fillet.     Tins 

o  was  frequently  ornamented  with  glyphs  and  other 

indentations  of  the    surface,    and    the  wings  of  the  vulture 

in  the  centre.  The  covering  of  tin-  temple  was  a  flat  ter- 
race, though  there  are  no  proofs,  by  the  remains  of  steps 
to  ascend  to  it,  that  it  was  so  used. 

Some  years  ago  a  question  was  proposed  by  the  French 
Academy  of  Inscriptions  and  BeUes-Lettres,  whether  the 

Greeks  borrowed  their  architecture  from  the  Egyptians; 
that  question  has  been  well  answered  by  M.  Quatremere 
de  Quincy,  in  the  Encyc  Method.,  to  whom  we  are  indebt- 
ed tor  mucb  in  this  article,  and  the  tubstance  of  his  answer 

is  as  follows:  There  is  no  such  thing  as  general  human 
lure,  because  the  wants  of  mankind  must  vary  in 
different  countries.  The  only  one  in  which  the  different 
species  of  architecture  can  approach  each  other  is  intel- 
lectual ;  n  is  that  of  impressions  which  the  qualities  whose 
effects  the  building  art  accomplishes  can  produce  upon  the 
mind  of  every  man,  of  whatever  country  he  may  be. 
Some  of  these  impressions  result  from  every  species  of 
archtecture.  Architecture  sprung  as  well  from  the  huts  of 
.  as  from  the  subterraneous  excavations  of  Egypt 
and  the  tents  of  Asia,  and  from  several  mixed  principles 
to  us  unknown:  thus  the  use  of  the  word  architecture  is 
absurd.  We  ought  to  name  the  species;  for  between  the 
idea  of  architecture  as  a  genus  and  as  a  species,  there  is 
the  same  difference  as  between  language  and  tongue  ;  and 
to  seek  for  a  simple  origin  of  architecture,  is  as  absurd  as 
a  search  would  be  after  the  primitive  language.  If  so,  the 
hut  of  Vitruvius  would  not  be  an  ingenious  fable,  as  some 
have  said,  but  it  would  be  a  ridiculous  falsehood  if  he  had 
pretended  that  it  was  the  type  of  all  architecture.  Vitru- 
vius, however,  spoke  only  of  Grecian  architecture  :  and  if 
in  Egypt  there  exists  another  type,  that  only  proves  that 
the  hut  was  not  the  type  of  Egyptian  art,  but  that  it  was 
that  of  Greek  art,  and  that  theory  would  be  fabulous  which 
pretended  to  be  universal.     We  will  conclude  this  article 


ARCHITECTURE,  GOTHIC. 


by  adding  that  similarity  between  certain  forms  of  orna- 
ment, certain  details  borrowed  by  the  one  from  another, 
proves  nothing  more  than  that  between  the  people  by 
whom  they  were  used  there  was  some  interchange  of  com- 
merce or  other  intercourse,  which  could  not  long  subsist 
without  some  sort  of  necessary  transfusion  of  the  inven- 
tions and  habits  of  one  of  those  countries  into  the  habits, 
manners,  and  customs  of  the  other. 

Architecture,  Gothic— To  form  a  correct  idea  of  the 
Gothic  style  of  architecture,  it  will  be  necessary  to  trace 
its  progress  through  one  very  different  in  its  details,  though 
not  exactly  so  in  its  plan  and  arrangements.  Its  type  is  of 
a  mixed  character,  and  not,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  two 
foregoing  articles,  founded  on  the  habits  of  a  people. 
Though  a  search  into  the  origin  of  the  pointed  arch  is  an 
idle  and  useless  inquiry,  it  will  be  necessary  in  the  end 
to  glance  at  that  as  incidental  to  the  style  under  con- 
sideration. 

The  ancient  basilica,  which  derived  its  name  from  ba- 
sileus,  king,  and  oikos,  house,  was  the  part  of  the  king's 
palace  in  which  justice  was  administered  to  the  subjects. 
The  building  for  this  purpose  retained  its  name  long  after 
the  extinction  of  the  kingly  office,  and  was  in  use  with  the 
Romans  as  well  as  with  the  Grecians.  Vitruvius  does  not, 
however,  give  us  any  specific  difference  between  those 
erected  by  one  or  the  other  of  those  people.  He  has  (ch. 
i.  1.  5.)  given  the  details  of  its  form  and  arrangement,  and 
we  refer  the  reader  to  his  work  for  the  particulars  of  it. 
The  name  was  afterwards  transferred  to  the  first  monu- 
ments of  Christian  worship,  not  because,  as  some  have 
supposed,  the  first  Christian  emperors  used  the  ancient  ba- 
silica} for  the  celebration  of  their  religion,  but  more  proba- 
bly with  reference  to  the  idea  of  sovereignty  which  the  re- 
ligion exercised,  though  no  assertion  is  here  advanced  that 
such  a  conclusion  is  necessarily  to  be  drawn.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  the  most  ancient  Christian  basilica?  were  con- 
structed expressly  for  the  purpose  of  that  religion,  and  their 
architectural  details  sufficiently  point  to  the  epoch  in  which 
they  were  erected.  Nevertheless  these  new  temples  of 
religion,  both  in  the  whole  and  in  the  details,  borrowed  so 
much  of  those  of  the  ancient  basilica?,  that  even  on  this 
account  it  is  not  suprising  that  they  should  have  retained 
the  name.  A  general  notion  of  one  may  be  formed 
from    the    annexed    diagram,    which    will    immediately 


show  how  admirably  it  was  suited  to  the  reception  of  an 
extremely  numerous  congregation.  The  numberless  col- 
umns which  were  at  hand,  the  remains  and  ruins  of  an- 
cient edifices,  were  put  in  requisition  for  the  construc- 
tion of  these  basilica?,  of  which,  adopting  the  former 
buildings  of  that  name  as  the  type,  they  proportioned  the 
elevation  to  the  extent  of  the  plans,  and  in  some  cases 
decorated  it  with  the  richest  ornaments.  Instead  of  con- 
necting the  columns  together  by  architraves  on  their  top, 
which  were  not  at  hand  as  were  the  former,  arches  were 
thrown  over,  not  only  to  connect  them,  but  that  thereon 
walls  might  be  carried  up  to  bear  the  roofing.  On  this 
sort  of  substruction,  vaults  could  not  with  safety  have  been 
borne.  From  these  the  obvious  and  natural  step  was  to 
piers,  connected  by  arches  and  ornamented  with  pilasters 
or  columns.  The  piers  underwent  a  change  by  being  made 
circular  on  the  plan  ;  these  again,  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
the  interior  a  lighter  appearance,  were  made  polystylic  or 
in  ribs,  and  ultimately  received  a  vaulting  and  cross  vault- 
ings in  character  with  their  plan  below.  Though  the  prac- 
tice of  vaulting  large  areas,  and  the  pointed  arch,  did  not 
appear  till  aconsiderable  time  after  the  building  of  the  first 
Christian  basilica?,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  Temple  of 
Peace  at  Rome  had  previously  to  that  period  exhibited  a 
specimen  of  the  profound  knowledge  of  the  Romans  in  the 
practice  of  vaulting  ;  in  that  example  groined  vaults  of  very 
large  dimensions  were  borne  on  entablatures  and  columns. 
Nor  does  this  knowledge  appear  to  have  been  lost  in  al- 
most the  last  stage  of  decline  of  Roman  architecture  under 
the  emperor  Diocletian.  In  the  baths  of  this  emperor  are 
to  be  seen  not  only  groined  vaults  in  three  divisions,  whose 
span  is  nearly  seventy  feet,  but  at  the  back  of  each  springera 
buttress,  precisely  of  the  nature  of  a  fiving  buttress,  is  con- 
78 


trived  to  counteract  the  thrusts  of  the  vaulting.  If  a  com- 
parison be  made  between  this  large  hall  (now  used  as  a 
church),  of  the  baths  of  Diocletian,  with  the  nave  of  a 
Gothic  church,  the  difference  will  be  found  to  be  more  such 
as  must  result  from  the  nature  and  employment  of  the 
materials,  than  from  difference  of  style.  From  the  age  of 
Constantino  down  to  the  ninth  century,  the  edifices  within 
the  limits  of  the  Roman  empire  are  but  degraded  speci- 
mens of  Roman  architecture ;  and  there  is  no  evidence 
from  their  remains  (few  indeed  they  are)  that  the  Goths 
and  other  barbarians  who  devastated  Italy  had  any  other 
influence  on  the  arts  than  hastening,  perhaps,  that  fall  from 
which  it  would  seem  nothing  could  have  saved  them.  We 
quite  coincide  in  the  opinion  of  Mbller,  who  in  the  text 
to  his  Deukmaehler  der  Deutschen  Baukunst  says,  "  lean- 
not  possibly  agree  to  the  opinion  of  those  connoisseurs 
who  ascribe  an  individual  and  peculiar  style  of  architecture 
to  the  Goths  and  Lombards  in  Italy  and  Spain,  to  the 
Franks  in  Gaul,  and  to  the  Saxons  in  England."  The  Ro- 
man architecture  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries  was  the 
model,  and  the  constant  correspondence  from  every  part 
with  Rome  kept  up  an  influence  from  thence  over  the  arts 
and  sciences.  Fine  proportions  were  lost,  and  the  art 
completely  degenerated  into  a  servile  imitation  of  earlier 
forms.  The  art  of  construction  and  the  preparation  of  ma- 
terials did  not,  however,  fall  away  from  solid  building. 
The  basement  of  the  palace  built,  it  is  supposed,  at  Terra- 
cina,  by  Theodoric,  the  Gothic  king,  who  reigned  in  Italy 
from  a.  d.  493  to  525,  is  in  the  Roman  style.  So  also  is  the 
church  of  St.  Apollinaris  at  Ravenna;  and  the  circum- 
stance mentioned  by  the  writer  above  named,  who  up  to 
the  period  at  which  we  are  writing,  D'Agincourt  excepted, 
is  the  only  writer  of  any  value  on  the  subject,  of  the  em- 
ployment by  Theodoric  as  architects  of  one  Aloysius,  an 
architect  called  Daniel,  and  the  well  known  Boetius,  a  na- 
tive and  senator  of  Rome,  is  a  strong  corroborative  proof 
that  the  edifices  of  the  Goths  were  built  by  Romans  and  in 
the  Roman  style.  Neither  does  it  appear  likely  that  upon 
the  irruption  of  the  Lombards  in  the  year  568,  after  the 
sway  of  the  Goths  had  lasted  so  long,  they  should  have  es- 
tablished a  style  of  their  own.  They  were  a  rude  people, 
whereas  the  Goths,  we  know,  had  become  quite  a  civilised 
nation,  whose  style  was  suited  to  the  wants  and  habits  of 
the  country.  It  is  true  that  D'Agincourt  ascribes  to  the 
Lombards  the  church  of  St.  Julian,  near  Bergamo,  and  some 
others  ;  but  it  has  not  been  proved  that  the  churches  in 
question  were  really  erected  by  the  Lombards.  The  ap- 
pellation of  Lombardic  to  the  style  of  church  building 
which  existed  in  France  and  Germany  stands  on  too  slen- 
der an  assumption  to  be  admitted  ;  indeed,  it  has  been  de- 
monstrated by  Maffei,  Muratori,  and  Tiraboschi,  that 
neither  the  Goths  nor  the  Lombards  introduced  any  style 
in  particular,  but  employed  the  architects  whom  they  found 
in  Italy. 


9th  to  12th  century.  After  the  lith  century. 

The  late  learned  Mr.  Dallaway  says,  in  his  Discourses 
upon  Architecture  in  England,  that  "at  the  beginning  of 
the  eighth  century  all  Europe  formed  but  one  Gothic  king- 
dom ;"  and  it  is  certain  that  anterior  to  a.  d.  600,  there  are 
very  few  Gothic  remains.  From  that  period  to  the  general 
introduction  and  use  of  the  pointed  arch  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, the  leading  form  of  the  churches  was  a  parallelogram, 
consisting  of  a  nave,  side  aisles,  a  transept  on  each  side 
forming  the  arms  of  a  cross,  and  beyond  the  intersection 
of  the  transept  with  the  nave  was  placed  a  choir,  terminated 
by  a  semicircular  added  building  called  the  apsis.  The 
whole  of  these  buildings  were  constructed  with  very  thick 
walls,  pierced  with  comparatively  small  openings.  In  the 
vaulting  of  the  nave  and  aisles,  and  over  all  windows  and 
doors,  the  covering  was  semicircular.  The  nave  was  lofty, 
and  was  mostly  constructed  with  groins.  The  section  A 
shows  the  general  appearance  of  the  arrangement.  The 
gables  were  not  much  inclined,  and  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
building  rows  of  small  pillars  appear  in  the  walls.  The  pro- 
files of  the  different  members  are  all  of  Roman  origin: 
many  are  correctly  copied  in  their  forms.  In  England  en- 
deavours have  been  made  to  subdivide  this  style  into  Saxon 
and  Norman.  The  subdivision  is  useless.  Speaking  of  ar- 
chitecture as  an  art,  they  are  of  the  same  school,  and  the 
style  has  been  by  Miiller  called  the  Christian  or  Roman 
style  ;  by  others,  the  Romanesque  style  :  either  of  which 
are  appellations  suitable,  and  would  sufficiently  carry  their 
meaning  with  them. 


ARCHITECTURE,  GRECIAN. 


Towards  the  latter  end  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  in  the 
beginning  of  the  thirteenth,  very  considerable  deviations 
were  introduced.  For  the  flat  southern  gable,  says  Moller, 
was  substituted  the  high  northern  roof,  which  brought  with 
it  the  pointed  arch  in  place  of  the  semicircular  one,  being  a 
consequence  necessary  for  the  harmony  of  the  parts  among 
each  other.  With  the  elevation  of  the  roof  and  vaulting 
came  a  slender  proportion  of  towers,  columns,  capitals, 
&c. ;  and  at  the  latter  end  of  the  century  the  flat  pilaster 
spreads  outwards,  and  is  converted  into  a  flying  buttress. 
At  this  period  the  edifices  were  in  several  respects  anoma- 
lous, inasmuch  as  we  have  a  mixture  of  circular  and  pointed 
arches,  pillars,  and  vaults  intersected  by  horizontal  cornices 
and  the  like.  The  duration  of  this  heterogeneous  style  was 
very  limited,  being  immediately  succeeded  by  the  univer- 
sal prevalence  of  the  high  pitched  gable  and  the  pointed 
arch.  The  plans  of  the  edifices  were  not  materially 
changed  except  in  the  omission  of  the  apsis,  and  a  general 
idea  may  be  formed  of  the  whole  by  an  inspection  of  the 
section  marked  B  in  the  preceding  cut.  It  appears  incon- 
trovertible that  the  Germans  were  the  first  to  cany  this 
style  to  its  highest  perfection.  As  early  as  a.  d.  1248,  the 
cathedral  of  Cologne  was  begun  upon  its  present  plan,  a 
building  whirl],  if  finished,  would  have  been  the  grandest 
and  most  beautiful  in  the  world.  Erwin  von  Steinbach, 
soon  after  1276,  built  the  porch  of  the  minster  of  Strasbourg; 
a  building  more,  perhaps,  esteemed  than  the  last,  because 
nearly  brought  to  a  state  of  completion.  The  style  which 
we  have  just  been  describing  wants  no  other  distinctive  ap- 
pellation than  the  pointed.  Imagination  seems  after  its  es- 
tablishment to  have  been  tortured  to  invent  new  col 
lions  of  ornaments  and  tracery.  It  overstepped  at  length 
the  true  bounds  of  architecture,  and  was  abandoned  in  the 
sixteenth  century  for  the  introduction  and  restoration  of 
Koman,  or,  more  properly  speaking,  Italian  architecture. 
The  author  above  quoted  says  thai  the  architects  of  these 
tines  were  adapted  to  their  age,  and  that  their  works  are 
the  result  of  the  time  in  winch  they  lived  :  and  that,  how- 
ever we  admire  and  imitate  these  works,  we  are  not  able  to 
reproduce  them,  on  account  of  the  circumstances  under 
which  the  style  arose  not  being  the  same. 

The  powers  of  mechanical  construct  I  In  the 

pointed  style  are  such  as  to  excite  our  admiration  and  as- 
tonishment ;    the    exact    calculated    proportion    between 

strength  and  burthen,  the  counteraction  of  thrusts  of  vault- 
ing, and  the  consequent  lightness  and  boldness  resulting 
from  those  calculations,  evince  an  intimate  acquaintance 
with  the  most  important  and  useful  qualification  which  an 
architect  can  possess,  namely,  the  production ol  thi 
est  possible  effect  with  the  most  limited  means.  This 
qualification  was  possessed  by  the  architects  of  the  thir- 
toenth  century  in  the  bigni  md  loan  extent  quite 

unknown  to  the  Greeks  and  Ron 

The  name  Gothic,  which  baa  I  i  the  styles  of 

architecture  just  described,  is.  from  what  has  been  ad- 
vanced, very  inappropriate.  It  is,  however,  now  no  longer 
used  in  its  application  as  a  term  of  reproach.  That  the 
Goths  had  no  share  in  its  invention  or  perfection  is  quite 
clear,  and,  as  Mr.  Dallaway  justly  observes,  "it  is  not  worth 
the  dispute  whether  the  Gothic  power  was  ever  annihilated 
in  Europe,  or  whether  they  subsisted  in  the  conquered 
countries  as  a  separate  people."  We  subjoin  an  enumera- 
tion of  the  different  hypotheses  upon  which  endeavours 
have  been  made  to  account  for  the  invention  of  the  pointed 
arch.  1st.  Warburton  (notes  to  Pope)  asserts  that  Gothic 
architecture  originated  in  Spain  under  Moorish  architects  ; 
its  type  being  an  avenue  of  lofty  trees,  the  Intersecting 
branches  at  top  forming  the  sharply  pointed  arch,  and  the 
stems  of  a  clump  of  trees  being  represented  by  columns 
split  into  distinct  shafts.  Warburton,  however,  not  only- 
lost  sight  of  accurate  chronology  in  his  hypothesis.  Inn  [g 
wanting  in  originality.  Stukely  had  made  a  similar  re- 
mark. Spence  (Anecdotes  of  Pope)  puts  in  hi*  claim  be- 
fore Warburton,  and  Sir  Christopher  Wren  had  a  notion 
that  the  invention  belonged  to  the  Saracens;  so  also  had 
Thomas  Warton.  2d.  The  hypothesis  of  Sir  James  Hall, 
ingenious  but  far  from  satisfactory.  He  first  assumes  that 
the  first  English  churches  were  made  of  wicker  work,  and 
then  states  them  to  have  been  the  prototypes  of  those  built 
with  stone,  furnishing,  that  is.  the  Wicker  work,  from  its 
sprouts,  the  original  examples  of  every  ornament  or  parti- 
cle that  was  introduced.  3d.  That  it  is  founded  upon  the 
structure  of  framing  in  wooden  buildings.  4th.  That  of 
Mr.  Murphy,  the  editor  of  the  celebrate,)  work  on  the  con- 
vent  of  Hatalha.  in  Portugal.  His  reasoning  is  as  follows: 
The  pyramids  of  the  Egyptians  are  tombs;  the  dead  are 
buried  in  churches,  and  on  their  towers  are  pyramidal 
forms;  consequently,  the  pyramids  of  the  towers  indicate 
that  there  are  graves  in  the  churches  ;  and  as  the  pyrami- 
dal form  constitutes  the  essence  of  the  pointed  arch  stvle, 
and  the  pyramids  of  the  towers  are  imitations  of  the  Egyp- 
tian pyramids,  the  pointed  arch  is  derived  from  the  latter. 
We  cannot  suppose  the  reader  can  require  any  refutation 
of  such  a  set  of  syllogisms  as  this.  5th  and  last  is  that  of 
79 


the  late  Dr.  Milner,  who,  whatever  may  be  the  opinion  on 
his  theory  of  its  origin,  was  well  informed  upon  and  inti- 
mately conversant  with  the  general  subject.  Dr.  Milner 
says  that  it  arose  from  the  imitation  of  pointed  arches,  gen- 

~-»r— ~xr — »r        erated  by  the  intersection  of  semicir- 

/\/\/\/\  cles,thus:  There  are,  however,  many 
i  Y  Y  V  |  reasons  why  this  account  is  not  sat- 
isfactory, though  it  must  be  admitted 
that  in  the  Romanesque  style  this  combination  is  frequent- 
ly to  be  found.  Dr.  Milner  seems  entirely  in  his  hypothe- 
sis to  have  lost  sight  of  a  circumstance  that  is  quite  fami- 
liar to  every  artist,  namely,  that  it  is  a  principle  in  all  art 
that  the  details  of  every  style  are  subordinate  to  and  de- 
pendent on  the  masses,  and  not  the  converse  :  how  then 
could  it  have  been  probable  that  the  leading  features  of  a 
style  so  generally  used  should  have  had  its  origin  in  an  ac- 
cidental and  even  unessential  decoration  like  that  of  the 
learned  doctor's  theory.  In  short,  none  of  the  hypotheses 
mentioned  ran  be  considered  satisfactory  :  and.  as  Moller 
observes,  the  solution  of  the  question,  whether  the  pointed 
style  belongs  to  one  nation  exclusively,  is  attended  with 
greater  difficulties.  After  all.  the  problem  for  solution  is 
not  who  invented  the  pointed  arch,  but  in  what  way  is  its 
prevalence  in  the  thirteenth  century  to  be  accounted  for. 

Architecture,  Grecian. — Grecian  architecture,  wliich 
was  transplanted  after  its  perfection  to  an  Italian  soil, 
where  it  assumed  almost  another  form,  will  not  require  an 
extended  notice  m  this  place.  The  particular  detail  of  the 
changes  it  underwent  will  be  found  in  the  articles  Doric, 
and  Corinthian  orders.  The  architecture  of  the 
Greeks,  adopted  afterwards  by  the  Romans,  has.  indeed, 
with  certain  modifications,  long  been  the  architecture  of 
the  world.  Its  origin  and  types  have  been  considered  in 
the  article  Architecture,  and  an  explanation  of  its  terms 
will  he  found  under  their  several  heads  in  this  work.  We 
shall,  however,  present  a  cursory  sketch  of  its  rise  and 
progress, 

Cadmus,  about  1519  n.r.is  reported  to  have  introduced 
into  Greece  the  worship  of  the  Egyptian  deities,  and  also 
the  practice  of  quarrying  -time-;  to  him  also  is  attributed 
the  instruction  ol  the  Greeks  in  the  art  of  fusing  and  work- 
ing metals,  from  which  period  it  is  said  the  Greeks  rapid- 
ly advanced  in  civilisation.  According  to  Pausanias,  the 
Creeks  at  an  early  period,  had  raised  some  extraordinary 
Structures,  such  as  the  treasury  of  Minyas.  king  of  Orcho- 
menus,  and  the  walls  of  Towns,  which  that  author  de- 
work  worthy  the  admiration  of  every  age. 
Prom  tie  Homeric  writings  we  find  that  the  form  of  go- 
vernment «as  patriarchal,  that  the  chief  buildings  were  the 
of  tie     prii  t   the  altar  was  the  only 

Structure  for  sacred  use.  and  that  even  this  was  little  more 

than  a  hearth,  on  which  the  victim  was  prepared  for  the 

nod:  for.  until  after  Hon  regular  priesthood 

h  seems  probable  that  tin-  temple  was 
not  used  until  the  kingly  and  sacerdotal  offices  were  sepa- 
rated. It  would  he  difficult,  perhaps  now  impossible,  to 
trace  the  degrees  from  the  use  of  the'  simple  altar  to  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  regular  temple,  or  when  the  latter  be- 
came a  necessary  appendage  to  the  religion  of  the  country. 
Eusebius  an. I  others  have  conjectured  that  the  early  tem- 
ples were  but  stately  monuments,  raised  in  honour  of  the 
primitive  heroes  who  had  conferred  benefits  on  mankind. 
In  respect  of  the-  houses  of  the  Greeks,  they  appear  to  have 
been  simple  in  plan,  and  at  an  early  age  consisted  of  two 
stories,  as  was  indeed  the  case  with  the  dwellings  of  the 
East  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures. 

Between  the  period  commonly  assigned  to  the  siege  of 
Troy  to  the  time  of  Solon  and  Pisistratus,  we  have  few 
i  of  investigating  the  progress  of  Grecian  art.  Goguet 
(Origins  des  Loix)  says  that  Asia  Minor  was  the  cradle  in 
which  architecture  was  nursed,  and  thinks  that  to  this 
country  we  are  indebted  for  the  invention  of  the  Doric  and 
Ionic  orders.  All  authors  seem  to  admit  that  the  Corin- 
thian did  not  appear  till  some  time  afterwards,  and  that  it 
had  birth  in  tie  mother  country,  and  not  in  the  colonies. 
Perhaps  the  earliest  temple  recorded  is  that  of  Jupiter,  at 
Olympia,  which,  according  to  Pausanias,  must  have  been 
built  630 years  before  the  Christian  era.  If  Livy  be  right, 
that  of  Diana  at  Ephesue  was  of  a  period  little  less  remote, 
and  at  this  time  the  science  of  mechanics  was  in  its  infan- 
cy :  for  even  in  the  time  of  Thucydides,  though  the  powers 
of  the  crane  were  known,  they  were  not  compendiously 
applied  for  the  purpose  of  raising  weights. 
*  Admitting  that  the  system  of  imitation  in  the  Doric  order 
was  founded  on  the  elementary  forms  and  parts  of  the  hut, 
it  was  in  that  case  guided  by  the  principles  that  nature  her- 
self adopts  in  her  operations,  otherwise  no  bounds  would 
have  limited  the  caprice  and  imagination  of  its  improvers. 
In  the  copy,  no  part  is  precisely  similar  to  the  model:  but 
an  analogy,  and  that  very  strong,  is  observable.  The  pro- 
portions and  parts  of  the  Doric  order,  indifferent  examples, 
plainly  indicate  that  the  Grecian  artists  considered  them- 
selves restricted  only  by  general  rules,  inasmuch  as  we 
find  them  varying  the'  height  of  the  Doric  column  from  four 


ARCHITECTURE.  INDIAN. 


diameters  to  six  and  a  half  in  height  (see  Doric  Order), 
while  the  height  of  the  entablature  varies  in  terms  of  the 
diameter  from  172  to  197.  Lord  Aberdeen,  in  his  Inquiry 
into  the  Principles  of  Beauty  in  Grecian  Architecture,  has 
suggested  that  the  height  of  the  capital  of  this  order,  in 
terms  of  the  upper  diameter  of  the  shaft,  will  afford  some 
indication  of  the  comparative  antiquity  of  an  example  ;  but 
there  is  no  ground  for  the  suggestion,  as  the  author  of  this 
article  has  pointed  out  in  a  treatise  on  Grecian  Architec- 
ture prefixed  to  his  edition  of  Chambers'  Civil  Architecture. 
The  intercolumniations  used  in  the  Doric  order  at  Peestum, 
Corinth,  and  Segesta,  and  the  Parthenon,  are  equal  to 
about  one  diameter  of  the  column.  They  are  about  a 
quarter  of  a  diameter  more  at  the  Temple  of  Theseus, 
whilst  in  an  example  at  Syracuse  they  are  somewhat  less 
than  a  diameter. 

The  age  of  Pericles  exhibited  almost  all  that  art  could  be 
imagined  to  accomplish ;  the  Peloponnesians  and  their 
colonies  had  erected  the  temples  at  Corinth,  Nemea,  Pees- 
tum, Syracuse,  and  other  places  in  Sicily  :  thus,  in  a  space 
of  little  more  than  three  hundred  years  from  its  introduc- 
tion, it  appears  that  the  art  was  raised  to  the  summit  of 
perfection.  It  is  probable  that  the  Ionic  order  is  not  far 
behind  the  Doric  in  antiquity.  In  the  former,  the  different 
examples  exhibit  a  variety  not  less  to  be  noticed  than  that 
we  have  observed  in  the  latter  order.  The  height  of  the 
Ionic  column  varies  in  the  three  examples  of  the  temples 
on  the  Ilyssus,  Minerva  Polias,  and  Erectheus,  from  eight 
diameters  and  a  quarter  to  nine  and  a  half  in  height ;  but 
in  the  heights  of  the  entablatures  there  is  not  so  much  va- 
riance. The  cornice  of  the  Grecian  Ionic  may  be  consid- 
ered as  bearing  a  constant  ratio  to  the  whole  height  of  the 
entablature,  as  two  to  nine  ;  while  the  whole  height  of  the 
latter  seems  nearly  constant  at  two  diameters  in  height. 
This  order  received  the  addition  of  a  base  to  its  shaft, 
which  was  wanting  in  the  Doric  order ;  but,  for  the  varie- 
ties, the  reader  will  refer  to  that  article  in  this  work.  The 
volutes,  which  are  its  distinguishing  features,  are  found 
with  many  varieties.  In  the  temple  on  the  Ilyssus,  that  of 
Minerva  Polias  at  Priene,  and  that  of  Apollo  Didymssus, 
the  volute  contains  only  one  channel  between  the  revolu- 
tions of  the  spiral ;  whereas  in  those  of  Erectheus  and  Min- 
erva Polias,  at  Athens,  each  volute  has  two  distinct  spirals 
with  channels  between  them.  In  the  former  of  (hese  two 
the  column  terminates  with  an  astragal  and  fillet,  just  be- 
low the  eye  of  the  volute  ;  in  that  of  Minerva  Polias,  with  a 
single  fillet.  In  each,  the  neck  of  the  capital  is  ornamented 
with  honeysuckles.  The  shafts  are  usually  cut  with  flutes 
of  an  elliptical  form,  to  the  number  of  twenty-four.  These 
flutes  vary  from  those  of  the  Doric  order,  in  their  separa- 
tion from  each  other,  through  the  intervention  of  fillets. 

The  distinguishing  feature  of  the  Corinthian  as  of  the 
Ionic  order  is  the  capital.  In  a  preceding  article  the  ele- 
gant story  by  Vitruvius  of  its  invention  has  been  told,  be- 
cause that  has  been  rendered  almost  sacred  by  tradition  ; 
but  it  must  be  observed,  that  lone  before  the  age  of  Calli- 
machus,  its  reputed  inventor,  perhaps  even  before  capitals 
or  columns  themselves  were  known  to  the  Greeks,  the 
leaves  of  the  palm  tree,  the  flowers  of  the  lotus,  and  even 
volutes,  were  applied  as  ornaments  to  the  capitals  of 
Egyptian  architecture  ;  and,  be  it  observed,  the  form  of  the 
bell  itself  in  no  small  degree  resembles  the  contour  of  the 
lotus  flower.  The  Greek  Corinthian  and  the  Egyptian  cap- 
itals of  this  class,  are  more  distinguishable  by  their  re- 
spective heights  than  by  peculiarity  of  other  features.  The 
former,  however,  has  a  lightness  and  elegance  which  the 
Egyptian,  perhaps  from  moral  and  political  causes,  never 
attained  ;  but  if  even  a  slight  intercourse  between  the  two 
countries  existed,  there  would  appear  considerable  proof 
of  the  identily  of  the  primitive  inventors. 

Our  knowledge  of  the  Greek  Corinthian  order  is  unfor- 
tunately circumscribed,  from  the  destruction  and  decay  to 
which  from  its  extreme  delicacy  it  was  exposed  ;  never- 
theless, under  even  these  circumstances,  the  few  examples 
that  remain  induce  a  supposition  that  it  was  not  in  such 
high  estimation  as  those  we  have  already  named,  inasmuch 
as  the  only  examples  that  have  come  down  to  us  are  those 
of  what  is  "called  the  Tower  of  the  Winds,  and  the  Choragic 
Monument  of  Lysicrates,  both  at  Athens.  But  the  former 
of  these  is  scarcely  to  be  classed  anion"  examples  of  Co- 
rinthian, and  the  latter  (as  we  now  understand  the  Corin- 
thian order)  is  in  some  respects  a  little  outre  in  the  species. 
In  the  Choragic  Monument  the  height  of  the  entablature  is 
somewhat  less  than  a  fifth  of  the  total  height  of  the  order. 
The  base  varies  little  from  that  of  the  Ionic  order,  except- 
ing in  the  non-appearance  of  the  horizontal  fluting  in  the 
upper  torus. 

To  the  orders  enumerated  may  be  added  one  scarcely  to 
be  named  here,  because  apparently  under  no  rules  which 
regulated  its  proportions,  namely,  the  figures  called  Carya- 
tides, which  were  employed  for  the  support  of  an  entabla- 
ture. For  the  supposed  account  of  their  origin,  the  reader 
is  referred  to  the  article  Caryatides. 

The  only  subject  remaining  for  notice,  under  this  head, 
80' 


is  that  of  the  roofs  of  the  Grecian  temples.  Their  roofs  con- 
sisted, of  course,  of  two  inclined  sides,  which  at  the  ends 
formed  a  pediment.  From  experience  it  was  soon  found 
that  the  angle  at  which  the  sides  of  a  roof  should  be  in- 
clined to  the  horizon,  should  be  such  as  effectually  to  shel- 
ter the  interior  of  the  building  from  the  inclemenciesof  tiie 
seasons.  Hence  greatly  inclined  roots  are  indispensable  in 
northern  climates;  the  reverse  as  the  climate  approaches 
the  equator:  but  this  will  be  more  fully  explained  under 
the  article  Roof.  Here  we  shall  merely  state  that,  ac- 
cording to  the  hypothesis,  the  inclination  of  the  sides  of  a 
roof  should,  for  the  latitude  of  Athens,  be  lfiX  degrees. 
The  actual  inclination  of  the  roof  of  the  temple  of  Erec- 
theus is  )5'i  degrees,  temple  of  Theseus  15  degrees,  the 
Parthenon  16  degrees,  and  that  of  the  Propylea  14/<>.  Com- 
paring the  law  with  the  Roman  examples,  the  climate 
would  require  an  inclination  of  the  sides  of  the  roof  with 
the  horizon  of  22  degrees,  and  the  variation  between  the 
examples  remaining  is  from  22  to  24  degrees. 

The  invention  of  the  arch  does  not  at  present  appear  to 
belong  to  Greek  architecture.  It  was  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant inventions  in  the  history  of  architecture  ;  but  so 
disputed  a  point  is  not  to  be  touched  upon  in  a  work  of  this 
nature.  We  incline  to  the  opinion  that  its  invention  does 
not  belong  to  the  Greeks,  for  this  simple  reason,  that  they 
have  left  us  no  examples  of  it  that  have  come  to  our  know- 
ledge. 

Architecture,  Indian. — It  is  very  properly  observed  by 
M.  Quatremere  de  Quincy,that,  in  spite  of  all  theories,  an 
infallible  mode  of  estimating  the  stale  of  the  architecture 
and  other  arts  of  any  people  is  by  their  representations  of 
the  human  form.  Every  people,  he  says,  who  during  a 
number  of  ages  have  persevered  in  falsely  representing  the 
figure  void  of  all  proportion,  and  according  to  a  certain  bar- 
barous and  ignorant  routine,  must  be  convicted  of  a  want 
of  that  sentiment  which  leads  to  a  knowledge  of  truth,  and 
of  that  intelligence  which  knows  how  to  find  in  nature  rules 
for  the  choice  of  forms  and  arrangements  applicable  to  the 
art  of  building.  Every  people  who  do  not  manifest  in  their 
works  this  conformity  to  nature  must  be  ignorant  of  the 
arts  of  imitation,  and  all  their  productions  n  ust  be  the  re- 
sult of  an  irregular  taste.  These  observations  particularly 
apply  to  Indian  architecture,  whose  exact  antiquity  is  still 
a  problematical  question.  In  a  country  abounding  with 
deserted  monuments,  where  are  found  the  traces  of  an  an- 
cient language  now  no  longer  spoken,  books  no  longer  un- 
derstood, the  vestiges  of  a  religion  whose  creed  and  allego- 
ries seem  to  have  had  some  resemblance  to  those  of 
Greece,  one  is  naturally  led  to  surmise  that  civilisation  ex- 
isted at  a  very  early  period.  These  opinions  would  seem 
corroborated  by  the  extraordinary  chronologies  which  the 
modern  Indians  have  produced  as  incontestable  authorities 
for  their  remote  antiquity.  The  chronology,  however,  of 
the  Hindoos  will  not  bear  the  test  of  strict  investigation  ; 
neither  has  any  inscription  or  historic  monument  been  dis- 
covered, nor  annals  found,  which  give  us  an  idea  of  the 
changes,  revolutions,  or  prosperity  which  the  country  may 
have  experienced.  It  is,  however,  certain,  that  India  has 
been  possessed  and  successively  invaded  by  several  peo- 
ple, and  that  its  creeds,  as  well  as  its  religious  allegories, 
indicate  such  great  diversity  and  mixture  of  opinions  as 
might  lead  us  into  every  species  of  error  in  matters  of  his- 
torical research. 

It  is  natural  to  suppose,  that  the  subterraneous  or  exca- 
vated monuments  of  India  are  prior  in  date  to  raised  or 
constructed  works  ;  and  yet,  in  point  of  fact,  there  are  in  the 
former  neither  less  details,  less  caprice  in  form,  nor  less  pro- 
fusion of  fantastic  ornament,  than  in  the  latter.  Hence  the 
monuments  themselves  afford  us  no  clue  to  their  respec- 
tive antiquities.  M.  Meiners  contends  that  none  of  them 
are  more  ancient  than  the  vulgar  era,  whilst  M.  Langles,  a 
critic  of  no  ordinary  sagacity,  is  of  an  opinion  rather  dif- 
ferent, namely,  that  Indian  art  was  brought  from  Egypt, 
and  that  traces  of  such  an  importation  are  very  distinctly 
marked,  as  well  as  that  Greek  art  is  strongly  indicated  in 
them.  If,  however,  those  monuments,  whose  date  we  have 
good  reason  for  believing  is  recent,  exhibit  the  same  taste 
as  that  manifest  in  those  monuments  whose  date  is  un- 
known, we  may  fairly  assume  that  the  same  style  of  archi- 
tecture existed  in  this  country  at  a  period  preceding  the 
conquest  of  Alexander  and  the  epoch  in  which  this  early 
civilized  country  had  intercourse  with  the  Grecians. 
Though  we  have  no  historical  nor  chronological  guides  to 
enlighten  us  on  the  subject  of  Indian  architecture,  it  is  to 
be  recollected  that  there  is  some  analogy  between  the  ir- 
regular taste  that  prevailed  in  India,  and  that  of  the  rest  of 
Asia.  Southern  India  abounds  with  excavated  monuments 
of  art;  these  are  equally  found  in  the  centre  as  well  as  the 
sides  of  the  vast  peninsula.  Throughout  the  region  nature 
seems  to  have  supplied  the  first  associated  inhabitants 
with  excavations,  eitherready  formed  or  easily  converted  to 
the  purposes  wanted.  It  therefore  appears  probable  that 
the  originating  principal  of  the  building  art  in  India  is  found 
in  the  subterranean  dwelling ;  and  as  we  find  constructed 


ARCHITECTURE,  INDIAN. 


edifices  so  similar  in  proportion,  form,  and  details  to  those 
mature,  as  it  were,  quarried  out,  it  is  fair  to  conclude  that 
the  former  are  the  type  of  the  latter,  which  are,  conse- 
quently, of  a  later  date. 

('instruction  scarcely  seems  a  term  applicable  to  the 
greater  number  of  works  of  Indian  architecture.  It  means 
the  raising  of  a  work  composed  of  divers  materials,  or  of 
pieces  joined  together  to  form  a  mass  ;  hence  it  cannot  be 
properly  applied  to  an  excavated  structure.  The  edifices 
of  India  may  be  divided  into  two  classes,  the  quarried  and 
constructed  ;  the  last  are  mostly  those  towers  improperly 
called  pagodas.  Of  the  unconstructed  class  may  be  ranked 
the  seven  large  pagodas  of  Mavalipouram,  which  consist  "f 
large  masses  o!  stone  more  or  less  engaged  to  the  earth, 
and  contiguous  to  similar  masses.  These  masses  were 
shaped  and  sculptured  exteriorly  in  accordance  with  their 
general  form,  partly  pyramidally  and  partly  by  irregular 
zones,  in  the  same  style  as  the  pyramidal  tower  of  the  con- 
structed pagoda.  No  order  is  apparent  in  the  respective 
dispositions  of  the  masses,  neither  is  regularity  in  tlie  plan 
and  exterior  form  to  be  detected.  These  edifices  are  ex- 
tremely small  in  the  interior,  being  hollowed  out  of  the 
mass,  and  remind  us  of  the  monolythic  temples  of  Egypt, 
which  were  cut  out  of  immense  blocks  of  granite,  and  as 
Herodotus  tells  us,  removed  to  very  considerable  distances. 
In  other  respects,  there  was  clearly  some  resemblance  be- 
tween the  art  of  India  and  Egypt  ;  it  is  found  in  the  excava- 
tions of  monuments,  and  in  working  largi 
stone  in  their  original  situation.  Butto  Infer  from  this  sim- 
ilarity of  taste  that  there  was  communication  between  the 
two  nations,  seems  too  much;  and  still  more  hypotl 
would  it  be  to  infer  a  resemblance  of  style'  in  architecture, 
from  a  similarity  ofpractice  ;  for  nothing  is  more  unlikethe 
Egyptian  than  the  Indian  style  ol  architecture;  ami  in  the 
end  it  will  he  seen  that,  except  in  the  practice  ol  i 
tion,  there  Is  no  similarity  at  all.  The  dimensions  of  the 
pagodas,  as  they  ha  d, compared  with  thoseof 

the  Egyptian  pyramids,  no  less  than  th<  d  tem- 

pleB,  nave  been  much  or  errated  by  travellers.  Of  the  latter, 
the  dimensions  are  generalh  but  moderate,  and  the  diffi- 
culty of  their  execution  could  nol  have  been  verj  consider- 
able. If  the  descripi  omes  to  us  be  correct,  the 
latter  are  hollowed  oul  from  quarries  of  calcareou 
and  the  dimensions  ;ire  on  so  e  ile,  that  even 
the  celebrated  temple  at  Elephants  is  onlj  130  feel  long,  i  in 
feii  wide,  and  bul  1 1  feel  6  I  ition  ol 
hollowing  mil  a  en  ei  ii  ni  this  sort  can  scarcely  he  dignified 

with  the  nan fan:  bul  in  th<  istruction  we 

must  .-1(111111  si  Hue  display  ol  that  which  al  leasl  appro 
it.    The  pagodas  are,  In  n  I  considerable 

height,  but  to  compare  them  with  the  pyramids  of  I 
Is  out  of  the  question :  these,  the  only  buildings  ol  i 
height,  are  pyramidal  in  |  Bonnerat,  vol.  i  p. 

~  1 7 . ,  gives  ns  some  idea  ol  them  ;  he  says,  "  Around  the 
most  celebrated  temples  the  surrounding  walls  are  thick 
and  much  raised.  On  each  side  is  a  gate  surmounted  by 
a  pyramidal  tower,  with  a  curved  mass  of  enormous  siac. 
The  tower  Is  loaded  with  figure  .  to  to  If  we  may 
trust  to  the  representation  of  the  pagoda  of  Cliillambaram 
by  M.  Durocherde  la  Perigne,  given  by  Caylus  in  thi 
vol.  of  the  Mgmoires  de  1'Acaoemie,  the  pyramidal  form 
is  therein  strongly  marked.    In  it  the  height  of  the  whole 

is  hut  1'20  fool,  and  at   its  base  it   is   but  30  feel   wide.     The 

termination  is  not  in  a  point,  but  is  truncated  at  a  height 
which  makes  the  plan  of  its  summil  about  36  feel  wide. 
The  pyramid  is  unequal  sided,  the  flanks  being  much  nar- 
rowerthan  the  faces  But  the  largest  of  these  monuments  is 
thai  described  by  Lord  Valentia,  namely,  the  pagoda  ofTan- 
jore.whichhe  considers  the  finestspecin  vies  of 

building.    This  is  200  feel  high,  placed  on  a  basement  of  10 

feet  in  height.  The  pyramidal  mass  rises  by  twelve  sets  oft", 
or  bands, sculptured  in  various  ways.  Such  samples  of  ma- 
sonry, however,  required  no  great  display  of  constructive 
skill  for  their  execution,  either  in  working  or  transport  of 
the  materials.  At  Cliillambaram,  for  instance,  (he  pyra- 
midal part  is  constructed  to  the  height  of  30  feet  only  in 
masonry,  the  remainder  being  of  brick.  The  mass  is 
coated  with  ornaments  of  stone  and  of  a  species  of  white 
cement  of  the  country.  As  in  Egypt,  none  of  the  monu- 
ments of  this  country  exhibit  any  trace  of  the  arch  :  the 
coverings  of  the  apartments  are  all  horizontal,  and  the  di- 
mensions in  all  are  necessarily  limited  by  the  want  of  that 
expedient  which,  in  modern  architecture,  has  been  the 
parent  of  the  most  stupendous  monuments  whereof  art 
was  capable.  The  ceilings  in  Indian  architecture  are  of 
enormous  blocks  of  stone,  laid  on  the  supports  wherewith 
the  buildings  are  constructed,  being  the  simplest  and  most 
inartificial  mode  of  contriving  a  covering  to  an  apartment. 
It  must  be  apparent  to  every  one,  that  the  art  of  India  was 
many  degrees  below  that  of  Egypt.  Though,  in  the  last- 
named  country,  art  was  limited  by  the  habits  of  the  people, 
yet  it  is  equally  certain  that  their  knowledge  in  the  use  of 
materials  was  of  a  high  character,  and  that  their  skill  in 
masonry  was  carried  to  great  perfection. 
51 


That  which  is  known  to  the  architect  by  the  term  ordon- 
nance,  which  means,  in  its  most  extended  sense,  the  com- 
position of  a  building  and  the  due  arrangement  of  its  se- 
veral parts,  and  which  the  Greeks  and  Romans  practised 
in  their  architecture  with  so  much  success,  is  not  percep- 
tible in  Indian  architecture,  as  far  as  we  are  acquainted 
wilh  it.  It  seems  easy  to  account  for  this,  for  notwith- 
standing some  of  the  existing  monuments  have  received 
the  name  of  palaces,  there  is  little  doubt  of  their  being  all 
destined  originally  for  religious  purposes.  Hence  the  ar- 
chitects, confined  to  certain  established  routines,  were  not 
at  liberty  to  exercise  their  invention  and  ingenuity;  and 
e\  en  had  they  been  so,  the  system  of  castes,  in  perpetua- 
ting uniformity  of  practice,  had  a  tendency  to  repress  them. 
Again:  scarce  any  system  could  be  conceived  less  likely 
to  develope  talent  in  ordonnance  than  the  use  of  subterra- 
nean edifices,  which  admit  of  no  variety  of  plan,  no  extent 
of  elevation,  nor  lead  to  any  of  those  conceptions  which 
the  taste  of  the  architect  generates  when  he  has  length, 
breadth,  and  materials  at  his  command,  hi  the  caves  at 
Ellora,  a  plan  of  the  Indra  Subba  whereof  is  here  sub- 
joined, if  we  examine  what  may  be  called  the  columns, 


rvww 


,i. 


□  DDJ 


M 


we  find  some  of  them  hexagonal,  without  base,  capital,  or 
ornament;  some  square,  with  a  long  cap,  like  carpentry. 
The  greater  number  are  composed  ofthree  pans  ;  a  square 
pedestal,  running  up  more  than  one  half  ol  the  total  height ; 

a  small   portion   of  shall,  if  we    may   so   term   il,   crown. id 

with  a  capital  of  strange  form,  whereof  words  cannot  give 
an)  definite  idea.  The  reader  who  is  desirous  of  acquain 
tance  w  ith  the  tempi  I  maj  advantageously  refer 

to  Daniel  s  plates  "i  these  curious  objects.  Decoration,  in 
architecture,  consists  of  large  and  small  details,  which  re- 
ceive the  name  of  ornaments.  The  larger  parts  are 
columns  and  similar  masses.  In  the  system  of  Indian  de- 
trace  of  what  may  be  called  an  order ; 
bul  among  the  larger  masses  of  decorations  for  support, 
sculptured  elephants  very  frequently  occur.  In  one  of  the 
temples  at  Ellora, for  instance,  there  are  three  masses  of 

building,   On    the    same    line,   whose    bases  are   sculptured 

with  elephants,  seen  in  face.  Lions  are  also  much  used  as 
i  decoration. 
Prom  information  which  Sir  C.  W.  Malct  obtained,  the 
u.uksat  Ellora  were  said  to  he  executed  about  the  year 
900,  by  Elloo,  the  rajah  of  Ellichpour,  who  at  that  period  is 
said  to  have  founded  the  town:  and  the  late  Dr.  Heber, 
bishop  of  Calcutta,  observing  that  no  mention  was  made 

of   these    excavations,   own   incidentally,  in   any   Sanscrit. 

manuscript,  and  thai  the  idols  were  tiie  same  as  those  si  ill 

worshipped  in  India,  dales  them  in  the  l.'ilh  century.  Hut 
all  this  is  conjecture,  unsupported  by  any  historical  docu- 
ment thai  entitles  il  to  any  weight,  and  a  wide  fn -Id  is  open 
to  the  traveller  and  antiquary,  in  investigating  these  curious 
and  fantastic  monuments,  as  illustrative  of  the  early  history 
of  the  art 

A&cmTBCTTTKB.  Moorish  or  Saracenic.  When  the  vic- 
tories of  the  Arabians  had  extended  their  empire  from 
Constantinople  to  the  confines  of  Spain,  the  magnanimity 

Of  their  leaders,  and  the  brilliant  talents  of  their  caliphs, 
I  the  nation  to  a  pitch  of  glory  and  power  which  ex- 
hibited itself  in  some  very  extraordinary  productions  in 
the  architectural  art.  In  Africa  and  in  Spain,  where  their 
empire  became  firmly  established,  the  edifices  they  erect- 
ed sufficiently  prove  with  what  success  they  cultivated  the 
arts  and  sciences.  For  the  notice  here  given  of  some  of 
the  most  extraordinary  edifices  for  which  Spain  is  indebted 
lo  its  ancient  conquerors,  we  are  assisted  from  the  cele- 
brated work  by  Murphy,  published  in  1816,  to  which  the 
reader  who  seeks  further  information  may  refer. 

\\  •■  do  not,  in  the  limited  space  of  such  an  article  as 
this,  think  it  necessary  to  extend  any  inquiry  into  the 
earliest  works  of  the  Saracens,  such  as  the  original  Mos- 
que of  Omar,  built  in  640.  Neither  of  that  nor  other  of 
their  works  (few  indeed  in  number)  have  we  sufficient 
historical  evidence  to  compare  them  with  the  architecture 
of  the  period  in  other 
countries ;  but  we  pro- 
ceed at  once  to  that  pe- 
riod when  some  of  its 
most  distinguishing  fea- 
tures were  such  arches 
as  are  here  exhibited. 
H 


ARCHITECTURE,  MOORISH— MEXICAN. 


Tho  mosque  at  Cordova  was  begun  by  Abdelrahmen, 
the  second  king  of  Cordova,  and  finished  by  his  son  towards 
the  end  of  the  eighth  century.  Its  plan  is  a  parallelogram 
of  600  feet  by  400,  formed  by  an  embattled  wall  with  coun- 
terforts also  embattled ;  the  height  of  this  wall  varies  from 
35  to  60  feet,  and  its  thickness  is  8  feet.  This  large  quad- 
rangular space  is  divided  internally  into  two  parts  ;  viz.  a 
court,  200  feet  long  by  the  length  of  the  edifice,  and  the 
mosque  itself,  which  is  about  400  feet  square.  The  mosque 
consists  of  19  naves,  formed  by  17  rows  of  columns,  from 
south  to  north,  and  32  narrower  naves,  from  east  to  west. 
Each  of  these  naves  is  16  feet  wide,  from  north  to  south, 
by  400  feet  long  ;  the  width  of  them  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion is  less.  Thus  the  intersection  of  the  naves  with  each 
other  produce  850  columns,  which,  added  to  the  52  columns 
of  the  court,  form  a  total  of  near  a  thousand  columns. 
Their  diameter  is  about  a  foot  and  a  half,  and  their  mean 
height  about  15  feet,  and  they  are  crowned  by  capitals  of  a 
Corinthian  or  composite  species.  These  columns,  which 
have  neither  socle  nor  base,  are  surmounted  by  arches 
from  column  to  column.  The  ceilings  are  of  wood  paint- 
ed, each  range  forming  on  the  outside  a  small  roof,  sepa- 
rated from  those  adjoining  by  a  gutter.  One  of  the  most 
striking  effects  of  the  edifice  is  produced  by  the  beautiful 
marbles  whereof  the  columns  are  composed.  It  seems 
probable  that  the  larger  portion  of  these  columns  might 
have  been  procured  from  the  Roman  ruins  in  the  city ;  an 
opinion  which  is  strengthened  by  their  being  without  bases, 
or  such  as  ill  suited  the  style  of  the  columns  or  capitals. 
In  the  commencement  of  the  sixteenth  century  great 
changes  were  made  in  this  mosque,  for  the  purpose  of 
converting  it  into  a  Christian  church ;  these,  it  is  said, 
ruined  the  original  effect,  but  enough  is  left  to  indicate  what 
it  anciently  must  have  been.  It  is  always  considered  as 
one  of  the  earliest  Moorish  buildings  in  Spain.  The  de- 
corations throughout  are  in  stucco,  painted  of  different 
colours,  and  occasionally  gilt,  in  imitation  of  the  churches 
of  the  lower  empire.  One  cannot  doubt  that  its  architects 
were  well  acquainted  with  the  Byzantine  architecture,  in 
which  the  walls,  the  arcades,  the  pavements,  in  short  all 
the  parts,  were  covered  with  paintings :  and  it  is  clear  that 
the  Arabians,  who  really  had  invented  no  architecture  of 
their  own,  spreading  themselves  in  those  countries  wherein 
the  arts  had  been  established,  were  thus  led  to  a  trial  of 
imitating  the  old  masters. 

The  Alhambra,  at  Granada,  is  perhaps  the  most  curious 
and  interesting  Moorish  edifice  in  Spain.  It  served  the 
double  purpose  of  palace  and  fortress,  and  is  situate  on  the 
summit  of  a  rock  that  commands  the  town.  According  to 
travellers  who  have  visited  and  described  this  edifice,  you 
may  here  fancy  yourself  in  a  fairy-built  dwelling.  After 
passing  the  principal  entrance,  you  arrive  at  two  oblong 
courts,  one  of  which  is  called  the  court  of  the  lions,  and 
is  celebrated  in  Arabian  history.  A  portion  of  the  section 
of  this  court  is  given  below.  Round  these  two  courts,  on 
the  ground  floor,  are  disposed  all  the  apartments  of  the 
palace  :  those  for  state  look  out  towards  the  country ;  the 
rest,  cooler  and  more  retired,  have  small  openings  for 
light  under  the  interior  porticos,  the  whole  of  which  are 
decorated  with  painted  stucco,  porcelain,  and  the  most 
valuable  marbles. 


c^t-r ,  -p^SL 


There  is  on  a  neighbouring  hill  another  palace,  called 
the  Generalise,  now  in  a  state  of  ruin ;  but  its  ruins  show 
that  it  was  inferior  to  the  Alhambra  neither  in  size  nor 
splendour.  It  is  precisely  in  the  same  taste,  and  the  de- 
tails are  similar,  proving  that  the  two  edifices  are  contem- 
poraneous. 

Surprising  as  the  works  we  have  just  named  must  be 
considered,  we  do  not  discover  in  them  that  real  grandeur 
which  exists  in  the  works  of  the  Egyptians,  the  Etrurians, 
the  Grecians,  or  the  Romans.  The  mode  of  construction, 
though  sufficiently  durable,  is  not  scientific,  as  respects  the 
working  of  the  materials.  Brick  was  the  material  most  in 
use  ;  the  masonry,  where  employed,  is  covered  with  a  coat- 
ing of  stucco,  the  painting  whereof,  in  different  colours,  is 
a  great  source  of  the  admiration  these  buildings  excite.  In 
82 


the  combinations  of  the  building  art  in  these  edifices,  there 
is  nothing  to  surprise,  from  the  supposition  of  extraordi- 
nary means  used  in  their  erection.  The  domes  which 
crown  their  apartments  are  neither  lofty  nor  large  in  diame- 
ter, neither  do  they  exhibit  great  mechanical  skill.  The 
Moorish  architects  seem  to  have  had  no  notion  of  raising 
vaults  from  lofty  piers.  In  the  mosque  at  Cordova,  the  span 
from  pier  to  pier  would  have  been  less  than  20  feet,  which 
to  vault  would  not  have  required  very  extraordinary  skill ; 
yet  herein  we  find  timber  ceilings  throughout.  The  use  of 
orders  seems  to  have  been  unknown  to  them  ;  they  em- 
ployed the  antique  columns  which  they  found  ready  to 
their  hands,  or  rude  imitations  of  them,  without  any  appa- 
rent acquaintance  with  the  types  from  which  they  were  de- 
rived, their  principles  or  proportions.  Hence  their  columns 
may  be  more  appropriately  termed  posts.  In  the  forms  of 
Moorish  architecture  one  does  not  discover  a  character  of 
originality  arising  out  of  local  causes.  The  Arabians  had 
wandered  far  from  their  country,  in  which  they  had  never 
cultivated  the  arts  ;  their  architecture  was,  therefore,  ne- 
cessarily formed  upon  models  which  were  before  them, 
such  as  the  degenerated  Roman  and  Byzantine.  Such  ele- 
ments as  these,  with  the  materials  %vhich  the  lower  empire 
afforded,  formed  their  taste  and  monuments.  The  form  of 
their  arcades,  whereof  we  have  given  some  examples  above, 
is  confined  to  this  style  of  architecture.  They  may  be  di- 
vided into  two  classes,  both  of  them  vicious  in  construction, 
from  not  affording  the  necessary  resistance  to  thrust  near 
the  abutments.  In  masonry,  failure  would  follow  such 
forms,  if  practised  on  a  large  scale  ;  but  where  arches  are 
formed  of  brick,  the  large  surface  of  cement  used,  if  it  be 
good  and  the  centres  not  struck  until  the  cement  is  set  hard, 
allows  great  caprice  in  their  forms.  If  the  pleasure — we 
might  almost  use  the  word  sensuality — of  the  eye  be  the 
sole  object,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  success  attended  the 
efforts  of  the  Arabian  architects  of  Spain.  The  details  of 
their  decoration,  and  the  fantasticness  of  their  forms,  can- 
not fail  to  please  the  eye ;  and  though  they  may  not  satisfy 
the  spectator,  they  are  capable  of  producing  on  his  mind 
some  of  the  most  seductive  charms  of  which  the  art  is  ca- 
pable. The  embroidery  and  painted  draperies  of  the  East 
appear  to  have  been  transposed  to  their  architecture.  The 
variety  and  profusion  with  which  they  used  their  orna- 
ments, moreover,  give  their  masses  the  appearance  of  a  con- 
geries of  painting,  incrustation,  mosaic,  gilding,  and  foliage  : 
much,  perhaps,  of  this  was  induced  by  the  law  of  their  re- 
ligion, which  forbade  the  representation  of  animals  or  the 
human  figure.  If  taste  be  not  required  to  produce  a  reason 
for  the  admission  of  ornament,  nothing  can  be  more  splen- 
did and  brilliant  than  the  effects  that  resulted  from  their 
combinations.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  in  this  profusion  of 
ornament  we  find  the  details  beautifully  executed,  and 
some  of  their  forms  extremely  fine  ;  and  the  mode  of  pierc- 
ing domes  for  light,  which  they  practised  by  means  of" star- 
like formed  openings,  is  attended  with  an  almost  magical 
effect. 

Architecture,  Mexican.  From  the  historian  Robert- 
son we  collect,  that  the  cities  of  Mexico,  large  and  popu- 
lous as  they  are  described,  were  rather  the  asylums  of 
men  just  emerged  from  barbarism,  than  the  peaceable 
dwellings  of  a  civilised  people.  Tlascala.  according  to  its 
description,  nearly  resembles  that  of  an  Indian  village.  It 
was  but  a  heap  of  low  straggling  huts  ;  according  to  the  ca- 
price of  each  proprietor,  bufit  of  turf  and  stone,  and  thatch- 
ed with  reeds,  the  light  being  received  by  a  door  so  low 
that  it  could  not  be  entered  upright.  In  Mexico,  from  its 
peculiar  situation,  the  disposition  of  the  houses  was  more 
orderly,  but  their  structure  was  equally  mean.  The  Mexi- 
can temples,  and  other  public  edifices,  do  not  appear  to 
have  deserved  the  high  praises  which  Spanish  authors 
have  bestowed  upon  them.  The  great  temple  of  Mexico, 
the  most  celebrated  in  New  Spain,  as  far  as  can  be  gath- 
ered from  the  obscure  and  inadequate  description  of  it, 
has  been  represented  as  a  magnificent  building,  raised  to 
such  a  height  that  the  ascent  to  it  was  by  a  flight  of  114 
steps,  yet  it  was  but  a  solid  square  mass  of  earth,  faced 
partly  with  stone.  Its  base  on  each  side  extended  90  feet : 
it  decreased  gradually  as  it  advanced  in  height,  terminating 
at  top  in  a  quadrangle  of  about  30  feet,  whereon  was  placed 
a  shrine  of  the  deity,  and  two  altars  on  which  the  victims 
were  sacrificed.  All  the  other  celebrated  temples  of  New 
Spain  resembled  that  of  Mexico.  The  temple  of  Cholula, 
which  was  considered  the  most  sacred  in  the  country,  was 
also  the  most  considerable ;  yet,  according  to  Torquemada, 
it  was  but  a  solid  mound  of  earth,  about  a  quarter  of  a 
league  in  circuit 

The  Spanish  historians  led  us  to  suppose  that  the  palace 
of  the  emperor  and  the  houses  of  the  nobles  exhibited 
some  elegance  of  design  and  convenient  arrangement :  we 
have,  however,  no  vestiges  of  these  remaining,  and,  from 
the  mode  in  which  Cortes  conducted  the  siege  of  Mexico, 
it  seems  likely  that  all  the  monuments  of  any  importance 
were  destroyed.  Still,  as  at  the  period  when  Robertson 
wrote  his  history  only  two  centuries  and  a  half  had  elapsed, 


ARCHITECTURE,  ROMAN. 


it  seems  impossible  that  in  so  short  a  time  edifices  of  im- 
portance should  have  left  no  trace  of  their  existence. 

The  great  hillock  at  Cholula,  to  which  the  Spaniards  have 
given  the  name  of  temple,  is  without  any  steps  to  ascend 
it,  and  without  any  appearance  of  stone.  Perhaps  it  has 
never  been  more  than  a  natural  eminence  of  the  ground. 
In  several  accounts,  though  under  different  names  of 
places,  we  find  descriptions  of  monuments  pyramidal,  as 
well  as  in  steps,  of  which  the  ruins  are  sufficient  to  furnish 
a  clue  to  the  whole  design.  The  attempt  to  restore  them 
in  drawing  was  made  in  1S04,  and  published  at  Rome  by 
D.  Pietro  Marquez,  entitled  "  Due  Antichi  Monumenti  di 
Architettura."  His  restoration  was  founded,  we  believe, 
on  descriptions  published  in  the  Literary  Gazette  of  Mex- 
ico, in  1785  and  1791,  by  I),  Gius.  Ant.  Abzate.  The  first 
monument  is  at  a  place  called  Papantla.  Us  form  is  pyra- 
midal, (that  is,  in  general  effect,)  being  built  in  steps  or 
stories,  of  six  ranks,  one  above  the  other.  The  lower  step 
is  100  feet  long,  on  the  four  faces.  The  other  dimensions 
of  the  steps  are  not  given,  but  each  had  in  its  height  a  cer- 
tain number  of  square  niches,  each  3  feet  every  way  ;  the 
Lowest  contained  24  on  every  side,  the  second  20,  the  third 
16,  the  fourth  12,  the  fifth  10,  and  the  sixth  8.  It  is  pre- 
sumed there  was  a  seventh  step,  which  had  6  of  these 
niches  on  every  side.  Upon  one  of  the  faces  of  this  pyra- 
mid there  were  smaller  steps,  serving  as  a  staircase  to 
mount  to  the  top,  whereon,  it  is  supposed,  there  was  a 
small  chapel  enclosing  the  idols  to  which  the  sacrifices 
were  made.  The  author  (Marquez)  above  mentioned 
gathered  from  the  same  documents  Borne  idea 
another  Mexican  monument,  it'  in  architecture  may  be  so 
called  a  hill  surrounded  by  five  or  -iv  em  losures  or  stone, 

Whose  object  was  to  retain  the  eartli  in  its  place.  This  also 
terminates  by  a  platform  at  top,  which  is  suppose,!  to  have 
been  occupied  by  a  small  temple,  alter  the  manner  of  the 
country.  Some  writers  have  thought  tins  last  was  merely 
a  fortification,  but  it  seems  more  probable  thai  it  was  a  re- 
ligious edifice,  inasmuch  as  the  basement  ol  u  is  sculptured 
with  figures  supposed  to  be  the  hieroglyphics  of  the  coun- 
try. The  name  (Xochicalco)  of  this  hill,  interpreted  by 
those  who  possess  a  knowledge  of  the  Mexican  language, 
bears  out  the  conjecture  that  it  was  used  for  the  last  named 
purpose. 

Architecture,  Roman.  It  can  scarcely  be  Baid  thai 
the  Romans  had  an  architecture  peculiar  to  themselves 
That  which  we  understand  by  the  name  is  a  modification, 
some  call  it  a  debasement  (we  disagree  with  them),  of  the 
architecture  of  the  Grecians.  \V  >■  are  ready  to  admit  that 
the  Romans  gave  to  their  arl  the  lasciviouanesa  of  the 
courtesan,  whilst  the  Greeks  presi  rved  in  theirs  the  modest 
demeanour  of  the  staid  matron;  but  our  BenBesmaybe 
charmed  by  the  one,  though  the  other  may  make  a  strong- 
er appeal  in  the  understanding.  In  strictness,  Roman  and 
Grecian  architecture  arc  identical.  Wherever  the  Greeks 
penetrated,  their  genius,  not  less  than  their  arms,  extended 
and  founded  their  influence.  The  religion,  the  language, 
the  habits,  and  the  arts  of  the  Creeks,  appear  to  have  been 
carried  into  Italy  at  a  period  of  very  high  antiquity.  Nu- 
merous colonies  of  that  nation  established  ti 
the  shores  of  that  country,  and  even  in  the  interior  of  the 
peninsula,  where  they  erected  cities  long  before  the  exis- 
tence of  Rome.  Italy,  as  far  as  we  can  trace,  had  no  origi- 
nal arts  of  its  own,  nor  can  any  thing  be  found  in  it  whose 
origin  was  not  Grecian.  Hence,  as  has  been  observed, 
there  is,  strictly,  no  such  thing  as  Roman  architecture. 
But  as  every  nation  which  cultivates  the  arts,  impresses 
them  with  a  character  peculiar  to  itself,  so  when  we  speak 
of  Roman  architecture,  we  mean  that  peculiar  character 
with  which  Greek  art  was  invested  under  the  Roman  em- 
pire,— that  character  which  was  manifest  in  a  greater  exu- 
berance of  ornament  in  all  the  parts  of  the  orders,  and 
wliich  changed  the  sections  of  the  mouldings  of  an  order 
from  profiles  formed  by  the  sections  of  a  cone,  to  those 
formed  by  the  horizontal  sections  of  a  cylinder.  An  inter- 
course of  very  ancient  date  existed  between  Etruria  and 
Greece;  in  the  former  of  which,  at  the  period  in  question, 
the  language  and  mythology  of  Greece  prevailed  to  a  con- 
siderable extent.  From  what  is  known  on  this  subject,  we 
may  safely  state  that  Etrurian  architecture  was  identical 
With  that  of  Greece.  History  tells  that  Rome,  from  its  ori- 
gin, borrowed  from  Etruria  artists  to  execute  their  great 
works,  though,  afterwards,  the  city  possessed  a  large  num- 
ber of  native  architects,  which  was  not  the  case  with  the 
professors  of  the  other  arts.  That  the  Romans  at  this  pe- 
riod were  not  barbarous  and  ignorant  of  the  arts,  more  than 
one  memorial  of  their  skill  in  architecture  still  attests. 
Livy  records  a  circus,  traced  by  Tarquin,  between  the 
Aventineand  Palatine  hills,  for  the  celebration  of  feasts  and 
games  to  commemorate  the  victory  over  the  Latins.  Tar- 
quinius  Superbus  soon  afterwards  encompassed  this  circus 
with  covered  porticos.  This  was  at  the  epoch  of  the  con- 
struction of  the  great  sewer  or  cloaca.  Perhaps  in  no  age 
were  two  more  splendid  undertakings  carried  on  at  the 
same  time.  This  Tarquin,  as  DionysiuB  Halicarnassensis 
83 


asserts,  ornamented  the  Forum,  and  had  centred  in  it  all 
that  could  tend  to  its  beauty  as  well  as  to  its  utility.  The 
first  Tarquin  was  a  native  of  the  city  of  Tarquinium  in 
Etruria,  and  brought  to  Rome  that  taste  for  grandeur  and 
solidity  which  were  the  distinguishing  features  of  the  arts 
in  the  country  he  had  left.  He  constructed  the  immense 
walls  of  the  city  in  regular  masonry,  and  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus,  which,  in  level- 
ling the  hill  on  which  it  stood,  was  attended  with  prodi- 
gious labour  and  expense.  The  temple  mentioned,  ac- 
cording to  Tacitus,  was  continued  by  Serving  Tullius  and 
Tarquinius  Superbus,  the  latter  engaging  workmen  from 
Etruria  ;  but  it  was  not  finished  till  after  the  expulsion  of 
the  kings.  Such  was  its  magnificence,  says  Tacitus,  that 
all  the  victories  of  the  Romans  added  to  its  wealth  and  de- 
coration more  than  to  its  extent.  His  words  are,  "  Horatius 
Pulvillus  dedicavit,  ea.  magnificentia,  quam  immense  pos- 
tea  populi  Romani  opes  ornarent  potius,  quam  augerent." 
The  description  of  it  by  Dionysius  brings  to  mind  the  Gre- 
cian temple,  with  its  two  interior  ranks  of  columns,  its  pe- 
ristyle and  pediment,  eulogised  by  Cicero.  It  was  twice 
destroyed,  and  twice  rebuilt,  on  the  same  foundations. 
These  notices  suffice  to  show  that  the  Romans  at  an  early 
period  wire  inferior  to  no  nation  in  those  matters  of  archi- 
tecture which  were  necessary  and  useful  to  a  people. 
Such  was  the  opinion  of  Strabo,  who  adds,  that  in  some  re- 
spects, such  as  paving  their  great  roads,  constructing  aque- 
ducts  and  sewers,  the  Romans  far  excelled  the  Greeks. 
Usefulness  in  their  enterprises,  and  solidity  in  carrying 
them  into  execution,  were  the  characteristics  of  the  art 
among  the  Romans  at  a  period  when  magnificence  of  a 
high  degree  was  confined  to  the  temple. 

The  necessary  materials  are  wanting  to  enable  us  to  fol- 
low up  historically  the  taste  of  the  arl  during  the  ages  of  the 
republic.  There' is  scarcely  the  vestige  of  arum  of  the 
period  ;  it  is,  however,  easy  to  form,  either  from  the  politi- 
cal state  of  the  times,  or  from  the  encouragement  gives  to 

the  other  arts,  and  especially  to  literature,  some  idea  ofthe 

extent  to  which  the  architecture  ofthe  Romans  flourished. 
The  conquest  of  Greece  by  the  Romans  produced  to  their 
City  not  only  an  importation  of  works  of  art,  hut  the  artists 
themselves,  who,  be  it  observed,  can  be  created  only 
where  opulence  reigns.  In  architecture,  however,  the  Ro- 
mans at  this  lime  had  erected  monuments  of  such  dimen- 
sions as  were  beyond  the  means  of  the  little  and  separated 
Ureece.  The  new  state  of  things  brought  to  its 
aid  all  that  it  needed.  The  great  use  which  at  this  period 
was  made  of  the  Corinthian  order,  is  one  of  the  proofs  of 

■  and  private  wealth.     From  the  time  Of  Augustus 

we  see  the  extent  to  which  richness  of  detail  wa 
A  small  portion  "I"  the  Baths  of  Agrippa,  known  to  us  un- 
der the  name  of  the  Pantheon,  .me  of  the  most  splendid  ex- 

■  the  art,  enables  us  to  appreciate  the  art  of  this  pe- 
riod, though  now  despoiled  ofthe  bronzes  of  its  pediment, 
Its  gill  cais  ons,  and  the  profusion  of  sculptures  that 
adorned  it.     In  the  time  of  Augustus,  Rome  was  not  only 

ipital  of  the  world,  but  the  world  itself;  it  possessed 
within  itself  all  the  food  1 1 i.at  was  necessary  for  the  nourish- 
ment of  the  art.  Private  individuals  in  the  city  possessed 
the  wealth  of  kings,  military  glory  created  a  necessity  for 
monuments,  and  the  amusements  ofthe  theatre,  the  races 
anl  lights  ofthe  circus  and  amphitheatre,  required  accom- 
modation for  such  multitudes  of  spectators,  that  art  ex- 
panded from  the  calls  to  which  it  was  subject.  Rome  now 
began  to  raise  monuments  of  a  description  unknown  to  the 
Grecians — triumphal  arches,  baths  as  large  as  cities,  im- 
mense porticos, amphitheatres,  and  naumachia.  The  mar- 
bles of  all  the  quarries  of  the  then  known  world  were  al- 
most exhausted  in  supplies,  and  even  Egypt  furnished  the 
city  with  means  of  adding  to  the  general  magnificence. 
Applied  to  such  new  species  of  edifices,  it  would  have 
been  indeed  surprising  if  architecture  had  preserved  its 
original  Greek  purity.  It  was  the  medium  for  satisfying  a 
vanity  which  knew  no  bounds,  and  was  ultimately  obliged 
to  gain  its  end  more  by  effect  than  purity,  by  richness  and 
exuberance  of  ornament  rather  than  by  harmony,  and  by 
grandeur  of  lines  rather  than  by  beauty  of  forms.  Archi- 
tecture was  at  all  periods  a  favourite  art  among  the  Ro- 
mans. Not  a  single  name  of  a  Roman  sculptor  has  reached 
ns,  and  Pliny  mentions  only  two  or  three  painters.  From 
Vitruvius  we  learn,  that  before  his  time  several  had  writ- 
ten on  the  art.  The  names  of  Fussitius,  Terentius  Varro, 
Publius  Septimius,  Cossutius,  and  C.  Mutius  are  men- 
tioned bv  him. 

The  Itixurv  in  art  induced  by  the  sculptor,  aided  the  num- 
ber of  different  combination's  in  the  Corinthian  capital, 
which  we  have  above  stated  to  have  been  a  favourite  with 
the  Romans ;  this  was  earned  to  an  excess  which  in  the 
end  produced  a  new  order,  known  by  the  name  of  the 
composite.  Thus,  Roman  architecture  having,  says  Qua- 
tremere  de  Quincv,  exhausted  all  the  resources  of  rich- 
ness guided  by  taste  in  the  use  of  ornaments,  throws  aside 
all  sobriety,  sacrifices  the  whole  to  details  and  accessaries, 
covers  all"  parts  ofthe  surface  without  distinction,  loads  the 


ARCHITRAVE. 

different  members  with  ornaments  and  sculptures,  like  a 
person  who,  to  decorate  a  piece  of  cloth,  covers  it  entirely 
with  embroidery. 

We  close  this  article  with  a  few  observations  on  the  Do- 
ric order.  This,  in  Greece  itself,  at  the  time  of  her  subju- 
gation, had  begun  to  be  affected  by  change.  It  had  lost 
much  of  the  primitive  simplicity  of  its  character  and  the 
severity  of  its  principles.  The  various  wants  in  edifices 
less  simple  in  plan,  a  taste  for  elegance  and  richness  which 
was  found  in  the  other  two  orders,  contributed  to  diminish 
the  severity  of  its  forms  and  profiles.  Thus,  in  the  portico 
of  Augustus  at  Athens  it  was  strangely  changed  in  appear- 
ance. In  Rome  it  was  adopted  with  proportions  still  more 
slender,  and  an  aspect  infinitely  less  severe.  (For  re- 
marks on  English  Architecture,  see  the  word  English.) 

A'RCHITRAVE.  (Gr.  dpxtiv,  to  govern,  and  Lat.  trabs, 
a  beam.)  In  Architecture,  the  lower  of  the  three  members 
of  the  entablature  of  an  order,  being,  as  its  name  imports, 
the  chief  beam  that  is  employed,  and  resting  immediately 
on  the  columns.  Its  origin  is  given  under  the  article  Ar- 
chitecture. A  French  writer  has  called  it  the  founda- 
tion of  the  head  of  an  edifice.  The  architrave  sometimes 
receives  the  name  Epistylium,  from  the  Greek  words,  bri, 
upon,  and  otuAoj,  column. 

A'RCHIVES.  The  repositories  of  the  public  records  of 
a  state  or  community  :  sometimes  the  records  themselves 
are  so  called.  The  word  is  supposed  to  be  derived  from 
the  Greek  dpxcia-,  used  for  public  registers  by  Josephus. 

A'RCHIVOLT.  (Lat.  arcus  volutus,  a  turned  arch.)  In 
Architecture,  the  ornamented  band  of  mouldings  round  the 
voussoirs  or  arch  stones  of  an  arch,  which  terminates  hori- 
zontally upon  the  impost.  The  archivolt  is  decorated  ana- 
logously with  the  architrave,  which  it  may  in  arcades  be 
said  to  represent. 

A'RCHON.  (Gr.  dpxoiv,  ruler.)  The  title  of  the  chief 
magistrate  of  Athens.  The  office  was  originally  instituted 
after  the  death  of  Codrus,  the  last  king  of  Athens,  and  was 
vested  in  one  person  who  enjoyed  it  for  life,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son.  Its  duties  were  those  of  a  limited 
monarchy,  accountable  to  the  assembly  of  the  people  ;  its 
duration  was  afterwards  limited  to  ten,  six,  and,  finally,  one 
year,  when  its  functions  were  divided  among  nine  persons, 
taken  at  first  by  suffrage,  and  afterwards  by  lot,  from  the 
nobles.  One  was  chief  among  them,  and  was  called  Epo- 
nymus,  or,  naming  Archon,  because  the  year  was  distin- 
guished by  his  name.  The  second,  or  king  Archon,  exer- 
cised the  functions  of  high  priest.  The  third,  or  Polemarch 
(polemarchos.)  was  originally  the  chief  military  comman- 
der. The  other  six  were  called  Thesmotheta?,  or  setters 
forth  of  the  law  ;  they  presided  as  judges  in  the  courts,  and 
the  six  formeda  tribunal  which  had  a  peculiar  jurisdiction. 
The  nine  together  formed  the  council  of  state,  on  which  the 
whole  administration  rested  ;  but  this  was  transferred  by 
Solon  to  the  senate.  The  exclusive  right  of  the  nobles  to 
this  office  was  taken  away  by  the  measures  of  Cleisthenes, 
who  threw  it  open  to  the  people  at  large.  See  especially 
Boeckh's  Public  Economy  of  Athens. 

A'RCTIC.  (Gr.  dpicros,  the  bear.)  An  epithet  given  to 
that  part  of  the  heavens,  in  which  are  situated  the  constel- 
lations of  the  Great  and  the  Little  Bear.  Arctic  Pole,  the 
north  pole  of  the  heavens,  or  the  northern  extremity  of  the 
axis  of  the  diurnal  motion.  Arctic  Circle,  in  geography, 
denotes  a  small  circle  of  the  sphere  parallel  to  the  equator, 
and  23  X  degrees  from  the  north  pole.  At  this  latitude,  the 
sun,  at  the  summer  solstice,  comes  exactly  to  the  horizon 
at  midnight,  without  descending  below  it.  The  corres- 
ponding circle  in  the  southern  hemisphere  is  called  the 
Antarctic.  The  arctic  and  antarctic  circles  separate  the 
frigid  from  the  temperate  zones. 

A'RCTOMYS.  (Gr.  dp/croj,  bear,  and  uvs,  mouse.)  The 
name  of  the  subgenus  of  Rodentia,  or  gnawers,  including 
the  marmot. 

ARCTU'RUS.  A  star  of  the  first  magnitude  in  the  con- 
stellation of  Bootes,  designated  in  the  catalogues  as  a  Bootes. 
It  has  a  sensible  proper  motion. 

A'RCUATE.  (Lat.  areus,  a  bow.)  A  part  of  an  animal 
so  called  which  is  linear  and  bent  like  a  bow. 

ARCUA'TION.  (Lat.  arcus,  a  bow.)  An  obsolete  term 
for  the  mode  of  propagating  trees  by  layers,  the  shoots  be- 
ing bent. 

A'RDEA.  The  name  of  a  Linnaean  genus  of  Grallce,  or 
wading  birds,  characterised  by  a  straight,  sharp,  long,  sub- 
compressed  bill,  with  a  furrow  extending  on  each  side, 
from  the  nostrils  to  the  apex  of  the  bill.  The  genus  was 
subdivided  by  Linneeus  into  the  Cristatee,  corresponding  to 
the  modern  genus  Atithropoides  ;  the  Grues,  or  cranes; 
the  Ciconiob,  or  storks  ;  and  the  Ardea,  or  herons ;  which 
latter  have  been  subsequently  subdivided  into  Ardece,  or 
nerons  proper;  Nycticoraces,  or  night- herons;  and  Botauri, 
or  bitterns. 

ARDISIA'CE^E.    (Ardisia,  one  of  the  genera.)  Exogens, 

which  might,  without  much  inaccuracy,  be  termed  woody 

primulaceous  plants.    They  form  herbs  and  trees  in  warm 

countries,  and  have  a  succulent  fruit ;  but  they  really  differ 

54 


ARGONAUT.     . 

in  scarcely  any  positive  point  of  structure  from  primula 
and  its  co-ordinates.     (SeeMYRSiNACEiE.) 

A'RE.     See  A  la  mire. 

A'REiE.  In  Entomology,  the  larger  longitudinal  species 
into  which  the  wing  may  be  divided  :  they  are  termed  cre- 
tal,  intermediate,  and  anal,  according  to  their  relative 
position. 

ARE'CA.  (Areec,  the  Malabar  name.)  An  East  Indian 
palm  tree,  whose  nuts  are  folded  in  the  leaf  of  the  piper 
betel,  and,  mixed  with  a  little  lime,  are  chewed  by  the  na- 
tives of  the  country  bordering  on  the  Indian  Archipelago 
as  a  stimulating  narcotic. 

ARE'NA.  A  Latin  word  signifying,  in  its  original  mean- 
ing, sand,  but  applied  in  a  secondary  sense  to  that  part  of 
the  amphitheatre  in  which  the  gladiators  fought,  which  was 
covered  with  sand.  The  word  is  sometimes  applied  to  the 
whole  amphitheatre. 

ARENA'CEOUS.    (Lat.  arena,  sand.)    Sandy. 

ARENA 'RIA.  (Lat.  arena,  sand.)  A  genus  of  wading 
birds,  wanting  the  hinder  toe  :  of  this  genus  there  is  but 
one  British  species — the  Sanderling. 

ARENA'RIOUS  SOIL.  (Lat.  arena, ,sand.)  In  Agr.  and 
Hort.,  soil  in  which  sand  is  the  prevailing  ingredient. 

ARENA'TION.  (Lat.  arena,  sand.)  The  cure  of  dis- 
eases by  sprinkling  hot  sand  upon  the  body. 

ARE'OLA.  (Dim.  of  area.)  The  ring  or  margin  which 
surrounds  the  pustule  of  small  and  cow  pox. 

ARE'OLiE,  in  Entomology,  are  smaller  spaces  into 
which  the  wing  is  divided  by  the  nervures :  they  are 
termed  vasal,  middle,  and  apical,  according  to  their  rela- 
tive position. 

ARE'OLATE.  In  Entomology,  divided  into  small  spaces, 
or  areolations. 

Areolate.  In  Botany,  in  composite  plants,  when  the 
florets  are  placed  so  completely  upon  the  surface  of  the 
receptacle,  that  many  a  pentagonal  area,  or  space,  is  left 
when  the  ovaries  drop  off. 

AREOLA'TION  (Lat.  area)  means  any  small  space, 
distinctly  bounded  by  something  different  in  colour,  texture, 
&c.  The  spaces  of  parenchyma,  which  in  leaves  are 
bounded  by  veins,  are  areolations. 

AREO'METER.  (Gr.  dpaiog,  rare,  and  pcrpov,  measure.) 
An  instrument  for  measuring  the  density  or  specific  gravi- 
ty of  fluids.     (See  Hydrometer.) 

AREO'PAGUS.  The  science  of  measuring  the  density 
or  specific  gravity  of  fluids. 

AREO'PAGUS.  The  chief  court  of  judicature  at  Athens : 
so  called  because  it  met  in  a  hall  on  an  eminence,  called 
the  hill  of  Mars,  ('Apaos  irayog.)  This  court,  which  was 
of  very  early  origin,  was  raised  to  the  high  character  it 
afterwards  enjoyed,  by  Solon,  who  appointed  that  it  should 
consist  of  the  archons  who  had  undergone,  with  credit,  the 
scrutiny  they  were  subject  to  at  the  expiration  of  their 
office.  The  areopagus  had  cognizance  of  capital  crimes, 
and  from  it  was  no  appeal  to  the  people,  whose  decisions 
it  was  sometimes  known  to  annul.  It  controlled  all  issues 
from  the  public  treasury,  and  exercised  a  censorship  over 
the  citizens.  Its  powers  were  much  reduced  by  the  mea- 
sures of  Pericles  and  his  partizans.  On  the  subject  of  this 
celebrated  institution,  our  best  ancient  authority  is  the 
Oratio  Areopagilica  of  Socrates.  See  also  Meursius,  De 
Areopago ;  Du  Canaye,  Recherches sur  I' A.,  in  the  Mem.  de 
V Acad,  des  Jnscr.,  <Sfc.  vol.  vii.  p.  174.  :  and  Petitus,  Ad 
Leges  Atticas.  See  also  Boeckh's  excellent  work  on  Athens 
and  her  Institutions. 

A'RGEL.  The  Egyptian  name  of  the  leaves  of  the 
Cynanchum  oleafoliuin,  which  are  mixed  with  senna 
leaves. 

A'RGENT,  in  Heraldry.  (Fr.,  argent,  silver.)  One  of 
the  metals  employed  in  blazonry:  it  is  equivalent  to  pearl 
among  precious  stones,  diamond  among  planets.  In  en- 
graving it  is  represented  by  a  plain  surface. 

ARGENTI'NA.  A  Linnasan  genus  of  abdominal  fishes, 
belonging  to  the  salmon  family  ;  characterised  by  a  small 
mouth,  without  maxillary  teeth  ;  the  tongue  armed  with 
curved  teeth  ;  and  a  transverse  row  of  small  teeth  on  the 
vomer ;  banchiostegal  rays,  six.  The  argentines  rank  in 
the  order  Malacopterygia,  or  soft-finned  fishes  of  Cuvier. 
The  name  is  derived  from  the  silvery  glistening  appearance 
in  the  scales  of  these  fishes. 

A'RGENTINE.  In  Mineralogy,  nacreous  carbonate  of 
lime,  so  called  from  its  silvery  lustre. 

ARGILLA'CEOUS  SOIL.  (Lat.  argilla,  clay.)  Soil  in 
which  clay  is  the  prevailing  earthy  ingredient. 

ARGOL.     The  tartar  of  wine. 

A'RGONAUT,  ARGONAUTA.  Applied  by  Linneeus,  in 
the  singular  number,  to  the  testaceous  cephalopod,  desig- 
nated by  Aristotle  and  the  ancients,  nautilus,  and  common- 
ly called  at  the  present  day  the  paper  nautilus,  from  the 
fragile  nature  of  the  boat-like  shell  in  which  the  inhabiting 
cephalopod  occasionally  floats  on  the  still  seas  of  the  warm- 
er latitudes.  Many  modern  naturalists  limit  the  applica- 
tion of  the  term  argonauta  to  the  shell,  supposing  that  its 
true  constructor  is  yet  to  be  discovered,  and  that  the  ce- 


ARGONAUTS. 

phalopod  which  has  hitherto  been  exclusively  found  in  it, 
is  a  parasite.     (See  Ocythoe:  ) 

A'RGONAUTS.  The  name  given  to  the  chieftains  "who 
accompanied  Jason  in  the  ship  Argo  on  his  fabled  expedi- 
tion" to  Colchis,  after  the  golden  tleece  of  Phryxus.  The 
original  facts  on  which  this  mythological  story  is  founded 
cannot  now  be  recalled ;  but  it  is  generally  supposed  to 
represent  the  result  of  some  bold  commercial  expedition 
that  overstepped  the  previous  discoveries  of  its  age,  or 
more  probably  still,  the  series  of  enterprises  by  which 
"Greek  maritime  knowledge  was  extended  to  the  farthest 
shores  of  the  Euxine."  We  have  a  poem  on  the  subject, 
which  falsely  goes  under  the  name  of  Orpheus,  who  is  said 
to  have  been  one  of  the  Argonauts  himself,  and  an  epic  by 
Apollonius  Rhodius,  a  Greek  poet  of  Alexandria,  and  like- 
wise one  in  Latin,  by  Valerius  Flaccus,  who  flourished  in 
the  age  of  Vespasian. 

A'RGUMENT.  In  Astronomy,  denotes  the  angle  or 
quantity  on  which  a  series  of  numbers  in  a  table  depends. 
For  example,  suppose  a  table  were  formed  showing  the 
amount  of  horizontal  refraction  at  every  degree,  <kc,  of 
altitude;  then  the  altitude  would  be  termed  the  argument 
oi  the  refraction;  and  the  table  is  said  to  be  entered  with 
the  argument. 

Argument.  In  Logic,  an  expression  in  which,  from 
something  laid  down  as  granted,  (i.  e.  the  premises,)  some- 
thing else  (;'.  e.  the  conclusion,)  is  to  be  deduced.  In  or- 
dinary discourse,  argument  is  very  often  used  for  the 
premises  alone,  in  contradistinction  to  the  conclusion ;  e.g. 
"the  conclusion  which  this  argument  is  intended  to  estab- 
lish, is,  &c.  <fcc."  This  word  is  also  sometimes  employed 
to  denote  what  is,  strictly  speaking,  a  coum  or  sei 

arguments:  il  is  in  this  sense  that  We  speak  of  War- 
burton's  argument  to  prove  the  divine  legation  of  Moses." 
The  word  argument  is  frequently  used  to  express  what 
may  be  properly  called  a  disputation  :  i.  e.  two  (rains  of 
argument  opposed  to  each  other,  as  when  it  Is  said  thai  \ 
and  B  had  a  long  argument  on  any  subject,  and  that  A 
had  the  best  of  the  argument.  (Vide  Wkiitely's  Logic,  p. 
300.) 

A'RIANS.    The  followers  of  the  theological  opinions  of 
Arms,  a  presbyter  of  the  church  of  Alexandria  in  the  fourth 
century,  who  denied  the  equality  of  the  Father  and  Son, 
and  is  generally  considered  as  the  author  of  a  system 
which  continued,  under  various  modification  . 
the  most  extensive  influence  upon  the  Christian  world  of 
any  heresy  of  ancient  times.     It  was  in  the  year  319,  thai 
views  were  first  promulgated  al  a  meeting  of  the 
clergy  of  Alexandria  ;  and  their  author,  after  some 
hmunicaled  by  the  patriarch  Alexander.    Thi 
gress,  however,  which  the  opinions  continued  to  ma! 
cited,  after  a  few  years,  the  notice  ol  the  emperor  Constan- 
tino, who  addressed  a  letter  to  Alexander  and  Arius  jointly, 
in  which  he  attempted  to 
other  occasions  he  resorted  to  more  violent  methods,  that 

of  reconciling  the  conflicting  parties  upon  whatever  basis, 
and  securing  harmony  at  all  events.  At  the  earnest  de- 
sire, however,  of  the  orthodox  party  at  Alexandria,  he  O  in- 
vene.i  the  general  council  of  Nicsea,  which  assembled  in 
the  year  326,  and  proceeded  to  institute  a  full  investigation 

into  the  matter  in  dispute.  On  tins  occasion  the  \ 
creed  was  drawn  up,  in  which  the  clause  which  principally 
affects  this  subject  is  the  assertion  of  the  consubstantiality 
of  the  Son  with  the  Father,  or  the  Omoousion.  This  the 
Arians  would  not  concede.  A  middle  party  arose  under 
Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  who  proposed,  but  without  effect, 
the  term  Omoiousios,  asserting,  not  the  identity,  hut  the 
similarity  of  substance.  This,  which  is  generally  denomi- 
nated the  Semi-arian  scheme,  satisfied  neither  the  Catho- 
lics nor  the  Arians,  who  from  their  rejectionof  it  acquired 

the  title  of  Am ioi,     The  Catholics  triumphed,  ami  their 

opponents  submitted  to  the  decree  of  the  emperor  which 
required  them  to  acknowledge  the  creed  propounded  for 
their  acceptance.  From  this  time,  according  to  some  writ- 
ers, the  Eusebians  became  a  mere  political  parly,  who  en- 
deavoured to  preserve  the  favour  of  the  prince,  for  which 
they  had  already  made  the  greatest  of  sacrifices,  by  a  repe- 
tition of  similar  unworthy  arts.  At  this  period' another 
Eusebius,  the  courtly  bishop  of  Cresarea,  and  celebrated 
historian  of  the  Christian  church,  became  one  of  the  lead- 
ers of  this  branch  of  Arianism.  His  talents  and  ingenuity 
are  represented  as  being  of  singular  service  to  the  cause  of 
the  heretics,  by  inducing  the  emperor,  after  some  delay,  to 
command  the  restoration  of  Arius  to  the  church  of  Alex- 
andria, and  the  banishment  of  Athanasius.  A  day  was  ap- 
pointed, upon  which  Alexander,  the  aged  bishop,  should 
admit  the  still  suspected  heretic  to  the  holy  communion: 
his  protestations  of  orthodoxy  were  such  as  to  satisfy  the 
prelate  that  God  only  could  discover  his  real  sentiments, 
and  he  solemnly  declared  that  in  His  hands  he  left  the 
matter.  In  the  midst  of  the  fears  and  scruples  of  the  one  par- 
ty, and  the  anticipated  triumph  of  the  other,  the  proceeding 
was  suddenly  terminated  by  the  death  of  Arius  :  a  deliver- 
ance of  the  church,  in  which  the  Catholics  discovered  a 
85 


ARISTOCRACY". 

signal  interposition  of  God,  but  which  the  heretics  confi- 
dentially ascribed  to  assassination  by  poison. 

Under  Constantius,  the  successor  of  Constantine,  in  the 
East,  the  Arian  party  was  taken  into  favour,  and  the  ortho- 
dox persecuted  and  proscribed  :  and  wdien  on  the  death  of 
Constans,  the  whole  empire  fell  into  his  single  hands,  the 
cause  of  heresy  began  to  flourish  in  the  West  also,  and  the 
"  whole  world,"  says  Si.  Jerome,  "groaned  to  find  itself  Ari- 
an." It  was  at  this  period,  also,  that  many  northern  na- 
tions, who  were  just  preparing  to  pour  themselves  upon 
the  western  empire,  were  converted  to  the  Christian  faith, 
in  which  they  were  instructed,  according  to  the  Arian  in- 
terpretation. This  circumstance  contributed  materially  to 
the  permanence  of  these  opinions  ;  for  after  the  orthodox 
emperor  Theodosius  had  re-established  the  doctrine  of  the 
Nicene  creed  throughout  bis  dominions,  the  West  was  sub- 
jected to  a  second  inundation  of  heresy  in  the  preceding 
century.  The  conversion  of  Clovis  to  the  Catholic  faith  at 
the  end  of  the  fifth,  and  of  Theodelinda,  queen  of  the  Lom- 
bards, in  the  sixth  century,  combined  with  the  successesof 
rals  of  Justinian,  in  Italy  and  Africa,  restored  the 
orthodox  opinions  throughout  the  greater  part  of  these  re- 
gions; and  from  that  period  Arianism  dwindled  awav.anc 
all  traces  of  it  seem  to  have  been  lost  for  many  centuries. 

In  modern  times  these  opinions  have  been  revived.  The 
inferiority  of  the  Son  to  the  Father  was  proclaimed  by 
Servetus,  in  1531  :  and  in  Geneva,  the  very  place  in  which 
he  suffered  death,  these  opinions  took  root,  and  have  since 
become  very  prevalent  among  the  disciples  of  the  Church 
which  Calvin  founded.  The  immediate  followers  of  Ser- 
vetus removed,  upon  his  death,  to  Poland.  In  England, 
the  principal  revivers  of  Arianism,  were  Whiston  and 
Samuel  Clarke,  who  flourished  at  the  beginning  of  the  18th 
century,  Their  doctrines  were  embraced  by  great  num- 
ue  Presbyterian  and  Independent  preachers,  and 
gave  rise  to  a  great  deal  of  controversy  among  the  mem- 
bers of  those  communities,  and  of  the  church  also.  It  is 
remarkable  that  the  congregations  which  in  modem  times 
have  embraced  any  form  of  Arianism.  whether  at  Geneva, 
in  Poland,  or  in  England,  have  in  almost  all  cases  degene- 
rated into  Unitarianism.  At  the  present  day,  there  exist 
few,  if  any,  churches  of  professed  Arians. 

It  should  be  remarked,  that  the  term  Arian,  which  is  vul- 
garly attributed  to  those  who  conceive  of  the  second  and 
third  persons,  thai  though  inferior  to  the  first,  they  are  ne- 
vertheless divine,  admits  of  many  distinctions  and  qualifi- 
cations. Questions  arise  among  sects  generally  denomi- 
nated .\rian.  1st.  As  to  the  similarity  of  substance  between 
\  existence  of  the  Son; 

whether  hewa  fore  the  world;  whether  that 

was  from  eternity:  3d,  As  to  the  relation  oi  the 
Son  and  Spirit,  concerning  whose  rank  among  the  Divine 
personages  theri  inflicting  opinions.  Dr.  Clarke, 

though  generally  considered  to  hold  Anan  sentiments,  pro- 
fessed himself  a  believer  in  the  Trinity,  and  continued  a 
member  of  the  established  church.  He  distinguished  the 
Son  from  the  Father,  considering  the  latter  as  the  primary 
author  of  all  good,  to  whom  all  honour  and  worship  is  due  : 
the  power  which  was  original  in  the  Father  being  derivative 
in  the  Son,  who  derives  also  from  him  his  Divinity  and  other 
attributes.  The  Holy  Spirit,  lie  considered  to  hold  a  simi- 
lar subordination  to  the  Son.  When  the  question,  whether 
the  Father  can  annihilate  the  Son.  was  propounded  to  Dr. 
Clarke,  he  confessed  that  he  had  not  reflected  upon  this 
imputed  consequence  of  his  scheme,  and  declined  to  give 
any  answer. 

ARICTNA.  An  alkaloid  discovered  in  1829,  by  Pclletier 
and  Coriol,  in  a  bark  from  Arica,  resembling  a  species  of 
chinchona. 

A'KIEL.  (Axilla,  in  low  Latin,  a  piece  of  red  cloth.)  A 
membrane,  either  fleshy  or  others  ise,  originating  from  the 
placenta,aud  growing  on  a  seed  either  partially  or  entirely. 
Instances  id'  it  occur  in  the  nutmeg,  where  it  constitutes 
mace  ;  and  in  the  Euonymus  Europaeus,  where  it  is  a  red 
succulent  membrane.  It  is  remarkable  that  this  part,  the 
use  of  which  is  unknown,  never  appears  till  after  the  young 
seed  is  fertili 

A'RIES.  (Lat.  the  Ram.)  The  first  constellation  of  the 
ancient  zodiac.  Aries  also  denotes  the  first  sign  or  the  first 
30  degrees  of  the  zodiac  ;  the  first  point  of  Aries  being  the 
point  in  which  the  equator  intersects  the  ecliptic,  and  from 
which  the  longitudes  are  reckoned.  In  ancient  times  the 
signs  and  constellations  of  the  zodiac  coincided  ;  but  owing 
to  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes,  the  twelve  signs  go 
backward  among  the  constellations,  at  the  rate  of  about  50" 
annually,  and  the  first  point  of  Aries  is  now  situate  in  the 
constellation  Pisces. 

Aries.  In  ancient  Military  Science,  the  Latin  name  of 
the  battering  ram,  an  instrument  with  an  iron  head  used  to 
batter  and  beat  down  the  walls  of  besieged  places. 

ARIOSO.    See  Legato. 

ARISTO'CRACY.  (Gr.  dptoros,  the  best,  and  upartiv,  to 
govern.)  According  to  the  acceptation  in  which  the  word 
is  used  by  ancient  writers,  a  government  in  which  all  the 


ARISTOLOCHIA. 

best  citizens  of  the  state,  i.  e.  those  excelling  either  in  he- 
reditary distinction  or  in  wealth,  ruled  their  fellow-citizens. 
When  the  power  was  in  the  hands  of  a  small  class  of  these, 
who  had  acquired  it  by  chance  or  usurpation,  such  a 
government  was  said  to  be  an  oligarchy.  Thus  aristocracy 
is  enumerated  by  Aristotle  among  the  distinct  forms  of 
government ;  oligarchy  is  only  mentioned  as  a  perversion 
of  aristocracy  :  and  the  distinction  as  taken  by  him  is,  that 
in  an  aristocracy  the  governors  rule  for  the  public  good, 
and  in  an  oligarchy  for  their  own.  In  modern  times,  those 
governments  have  usually  been  termed  aristocratic  in 
which  a  small  privileged  class  of  noble  or  wealthy  persons 
either  governed  absolutely,  or  shared  the  government  in 
various  proportions  with  the  sovereign  or  with  the  people. 
Thus  the  Republic  of  Venice  presented  the  purest  example 
of  an  aristocracy  among  the  older  governments  of  Europe  : 
while  the  government  of  the  United  Provinces,  before  the 
French  Revolution,  might  also  be  cited  as  an  instance  of 
aristocratic  commonwealth ;  and  Great  Britain  of  a  mo- 
narchy tempered  by  aristocracy.  In  a  stricter  sense,  how- 
ever, the  word  has  been  used  by  modern  speculative  poli- 
ticians to  signify  any  government  in  which  "  a  minority  of 
adult  males"  constitute  the  ruling  class.  In  this  sense,  the 
government  of  France,  that  of  England  both  in  respect  of 
the  House  of  Commons  and  of  the  House  of  Lords,  and,  in 
short,  almost  every  state  in  which  a  census  is  adopted  as 
the  qualification  of  those  who  elect  representatives  in  the 
national  assembly,  must  be  cited  as  aristocratic.  The  word 
aristocracy  is  also  frequently  used  to  signify  a  class  of  per- 
sons in  the  state  :  the  wealthy  and  noble  classes  in  a  body, 
or  the  latter  class  by  itself. 

ARISTOLO'CHIA.  (Gr.  dpurTos,  best,  and  Aoxtia,  child- 
birth.) A  genus  of  exogenous  plants,  usually  having  twin- 
ing stems  and  one-sided  bent,  yellow  or  purple  variegated 
flowers,  the  odour  of  which  is  often  very  offensive.  They 
are  reputed  to  be  powerful  stimulants  and  aromatics.  One 
species,  but  not  a  twining  one,  is  occasionally  met  with  wild 
in  England  (A.  clematitis,  common  birthwort) :  a  few  are 
natives  of  the  South  of  Europe,  but  the  principal  part  of 
the  genus  is  tropical. 

ARI'STOLO'CHIA'CEjE.  The  natural  order  of  which 
Aristolochia  is  the  type.  Asarum  (see  Asarabacca)  is  the 
only  other  common  genus  associated  with  Aristolochia; 
bat  there  are  several  tropical  forms.  The  wood  of  this 
order  is  remarkable  for  growing  without  forming  concen- 
tric zones,  although  undoubtedly  exogenous. 

ARISTOTE'LIAN    PHILOSOPHY.     In    attempting   to 
give  an  account  of  the  doctrines  of  Aristotle  of  Stagira, 
we  feel  embarrassed  by  peculiar  difficulties.    The  preju- 
dices under  which,  until  lately,  the  name  of  this  philoso- 
pher has  laboured,  and  still,  perhaps,  continues  in  a  great 
measure  to  labour,  would  seem  to  render  a  more  than 
usually  detailed  account  of  his  writings  necessary,  in  order 
to  justify  what,  in  the  view  we  shall  take  of  their  nature 
and  value,  may  contradict  the  ordinary  opinion.     At  the 
same  time,  there  is  perhaps  no  ancient  philosopher,  the 
full  comprehension  of  whose  system  requires  so  extensive 
a  knowledge  of  the  works  of  his  predecessors  in  scientific 
research,  and  so  careful  a  collation  of  detached  passages 
in  his  own  writings,  which  are  composed  for  the  most  part 
in  a  fragmentary  and  unmethodical  manner,  and  an  ob- 
scure and  concise  diction.    The  latter  difficulty  will  be  the 
more  apparent,  when  we  state  the  now  unanimous  opinion 
of  the  learned,  that  the  works  of  Aristotle  which  remain  to 
us  are  entirely  of  the  esoteric  or  acromatic  class,  intended, 
not  for  publication,  but  to  serve  as  notes  to  the  oral  lectures 
which  he  delivered  to  the  more  instructed  of  his  pupils.     It 
requires  no  more  than  a  cursory  glance  at  the  titles  and  the 
bulk  of  Aristotle's  writings,  to  be  convinced  of  the  com- 
prehensiveness of  his  views,  and  the  daringness  of  his  de- 
sign.    He  divides  the  whole  circle  of  knowledge  into  three 
great  provinces,  Metaphysics,  or  the  Philosophia  prima, 
including,  as  its  instrument,  Logic  ;  Physics,  or  the  Second 
Philosophy,  under  which  term,  in  addition  to  the  sciences 
ordinarily  falling  under  that  denomination,  he  embraces  a 
great  portion  of  the  philosophy  of  the  human  mind,  as  the 
phenomena  of  sensation,  memory,  and  fancy  ;  and,  thirdly. 
Ethics,  or  the  science  which  treats  of  the   conduct  and 
duties  of  man,  regarded  both  as  an  individual  and  as  a 
citizen.     His  Logic  is  contained  in  his  Categories,  His  trea- 
tise on  Interpretation  or  the  Nature  of  Propositions,  his 
former  and  latter  Analytics,  and  his  eight  books  of  Topics ; 
to  which  may  be  added  his  work  on  the  exposure  of  So- 
phisms.   These  form  together  what  has  been  called  the 
Organism  of  Aristotle  ;  and  seem  intended  as  a  prepara- 
tory discipline  to  the  study  of  his  Metaphysics.   (See  Arist. 
Metaph.  iv.  3.)    The  common  opinion,  which  attributes  to 
Aristotle  the  discovery  of  the  science  of  Logic,  is,  we 
doubt  not,  substantially  correct.     The  flippant  objection  of 
Locke,  that  this  notion  would  represent  God  as  having 
made  men  mere  animals,  and  having  left  it  to  Aristotle  to 
make  them  rational,  hardly  needs  a  serious  refutation. 
Natural  philosophers  might  with  equal  justice  be  accused 
of  asserting  that.  Sir  Isaac  Newton  changed  the  motion  of 


ARISTOTELIAN  PHILOSOPHY. 

the  heavenly  bodies,  or  that  Locke  himself  created  the 
human  understanding.  The  logic  of  Aristotle  is,  what  it 
professes  to  be,  an  enumeration  of  the  leading  classes,  or 
genera,  to  which  all  our  notions  may  be  referred  ;  an  ac- 
count of  the  various  methods  by  which  we  arrive  at  general 
propositions,  and  reason  from  these  when  formed  ;  and  a 
body  of  rules  for  the  conduct  of  the  understanding  in  going 
through  these  processes.  {See  Logic,  Category,  Ax.) 
Metaphysics  is  the  science  of  being,  as  such  ;  and  herein 
is  distinguished  from  physics,  which  considers  only  the 
modifications  of  being,  and  the  changes  to  which  they  are 
subject.  Each  of  the  physical  sciences  has  its  own  funda- 
mental axioms,  the  truth  of  which  it  is  compelled  to  as- 
sume :  it  is  the  province  of  metaphysics  to  verify  these 
assumptions,  and  to  discover  their  unity  and  connexioa 
Aristotle's  metaphysical  system,  though  it  may  be  said  to 
owe  its  origin  and  many  of  its  peculiarities  to  that  of  his 
great  predecessor,  Plato,  yet  deviates  from  it  in  many  im- 
portant respects.  Both  the  one  and  the  other  admit  the 
existence  of  a  faculty,  the  sphere  of  which  transcends  the 
objects  of  sense  :  they  differ  as  to  the  method  by  which 
this  faculty  is  to  arrive  at  its  determinations.  Plato  doubt- 
less conceived,  that  in  virtue  of  the  necessary  connection 
in  which  all  conceptions  stand  to  each  other,  we  are  able, 
so  soon  as  we  have  awakened  one  idea  in  our  conscious- 
ness, to  arrive  at  the  knowledge  of  all  the  rest.  Aristotle, 
on  the  contrary,  conceived  all  deductive  science  to  be  illu- 
sive which  does  not  rest,  for  the  truth  of  its  fundamental 
principles,  on  a  previous  induction  from  particulars. 
Agreeably  to  this  conviction,  he  begins  his  Ontological 
speculations  with  the  consideration  of  the  individual,  as  it 
presents  itself  in  the  world  of  sense.  To  the  production 
of  each  separate  exercise,  four  causes  are  necessary  :  the 
material  cause,  the  formal,  the  final,  and  the  moving  cause. 
The  three  latter,  he  seems  to  admit,  are  substantially  iden- 
tical, inasmuch  as  in  Nature  the  end  of  a  thing  is  that  very 
thing  itself  in  its  completeness  :  while  the  moving  cause 
may  be  conceived  as  the  type  pre-existing  in  the  mind  of 
the  artificer,  which  is  the  same  with  the  form  which  he 
communicates  to  the  material.  We  should  greatly  mis- 
conceive Aristotle's  meaning,  if,  as  has  sometimes  been 
done,  we  identified  his  forms  of  things  with  their  outward 
figure,  or  even  with  the  notion  of  them  apprehended  by 
the  understanding.  The  form  of  a  thing  may  be  differently 
expressed,  as  the  law  of  its  being,  the  principle  of  life 
within  it,  which  animates  and  gives  an  individual  existence 
to  the  matter;  which,  on  the  other  hand,  without  its  pre- 
sence, would  remain  a  mere  blank  potentiality,  destitute 
of  all  qualities,  and  therefore  unintelligible  and  impercep- 
tible. This  distinction  between  matter  and  form  re-appears, 
under  different  names,  in  various  portions  of  the  Aristo- 
telian philosophy,  and  is  with  him  a  solution  of  most  of  the 
difficulties  in  ontology  and  physics.  He  conceives  it  to  be 
the  only  mode  of  explaining  the  possibility  of  a  thing  com- 
ing into  existence,  the  difficulty  of  comprehending  which 
had  led  the  electic  philosophers  to  deny  any  reality  to  out- 
ward phenomena.  He  himself  conceives  the  universe  to 
be  eternal.  With  Plato,  however,  he  strenuously  asserts 
the  existence  of  reason,  as  something  immutable  and  uni- 
versal :  co-eternal  with,  but  unaffected  by,  the  shifting  phe- 
nomena of  the  world.  He  differs  from  that  philosopher, 
in  making  the  universal  reason  identical  with  God,  instead 
of  being,  with  its  correlative  being,  a  creation  of  the  Divine 
energy. 

Of  Aristotle's  strictly  physical  researches  we  shall  say 
little.  He  does  not  himself  seem  to  conceive  that  great 
certainty  can  be  attained  in  this  department  of  human 
science.  When,  however,  we  remember,  that  his  History 
of  Animals  has  received  very  high  praise  from  no  less  a 
naturalist  than  Cuvier,  and  when  we  reflect  that  this  was 
perhaps  the  only  branch  of  natural  science  in  which  he 
was  furnished  with  experimental  data,  we  shall  be  inclined 
to  attribute  the  errors  and  deficiencies  of  his  physical  theo- 
ries rather  to  the  deficiencies  of  the  Greeks  in  the  neces- 
sary mechanical  apparatus,  than  to  any  disqualification  in 
the  philosopher  himself.  In  his  treatises  on  the  Soul,  on 
Memory  and  Recollection,  and  on  the  Nature  of  Dreams, 
he  has  earned  the  perhaps  still  higher  praise  of  having 
created  the  science  of  Psychology,  and  of  having  discover- 
ed the  guiding  clue  to  the  explanation  of  our  mental  phe- 
nomena, in  the  principle  of  association. 

The  third  great  division  of  the  Aristotelian  philosophy, 
that  which  regards  the  relations  of  man  as  a  "  social  and 
political  animal,"  is  comprised  in  the  Politics,  the  QScono- 
mics,  the  Nicomachean  and  Eudemian  Ethics,  and  those 
books  entitled  the  Magna  Moralia.  In  the  true  spirit  of  an 
ancient  Greek,  Aristotle  regards  the  science  of  ethics  as 
most  intimately  connected  with  that  of  politics.  He  re- 
peatedly expresses  his  aversion  from  all  speculations  on 
merely  ideal  perfection  ;  and  his  conviction  that  the  practi- 
cable, under  the  existing  circumstances  of  humanity,  is 
the  true  object  of  ethical  inquiry.  Among  the  most  in- 
fluential of  these  circumstances  on  the  conduct  of  an  indi- 
vidual, is  the  constitution  of  the  state  to  which  he  may 


ARITHMETIC. 

belong;  in  the  spirit,  anil  according  to  the  maxims  of 
which  he  must  act,  if  he  would  earn  the  praise  of  a  good 
citizen.  Not  indeed  that  a  good  citizen  and  a  good  man 
are  necessarily  identical  terms  :  they  can  only  become  so 
in  the  case  of  one  who  is  a  dutiful  member  of  a  rightly 
constituted  commonwealth.  The  question  necessarily 
arises,  "  How  is  this  perfect  form  of  policy  to  be  deter- 
mined?" The  answer  is,  that  form  of  government  is  the 
best,  which  affords  scope  for  the  developementof  the  best 
part  of  our  nature  ;  in  other  words,  which  produces  the 
best  men.  Out  of  this  circle,  Arislotle  cannot  be  said  to 
have  fairly  extricated  himself.  He  has  in  some  measure 
approximated  to  a  definite  rule  of  morality  in  the  doctrine, 
that  every  virtue  lies  between  two  opposite  excesses.  It 
must  however  be  confessed,  that  a  certain  degree  of  vague- 
ness prevails  in  his  ethical  speculations:  a  vagueness  of 
which  he  was  himself  conscious,  and  apparently  despairt  d 
of  satisfactorily  removing.  Perhaps  the  most  valuable 
part  of  his  moral  writings,  is  thai  in  which  he  disi 
the  much  vexed  question  of  the  relation  of  happiness  to 
morality.  Pleasure,  he  determines,  can  never  be  taken  as 
a  measure  of  actions,  inasmuch  as  it  is  the  uniform  con- 
comitantof  all  natural  action  whatsoever.  (Etli.  Sir.  1.  x.) 
His  politics  comprise  a  most  careful  review  of  the  most 
ited  (irecian  constitutions,  and  a  generalization  of 
the  leading  possible  forms  of  government,  with  their  va- 
rious merits  and  defects,  built  on  a  careful  induction  from 
the  great  mass  of  varied  facta  and  instances  with  which 
the  history  of  his  country  supplied  him.  They  are  conse- 
quently invaluable,  alike  to  the  curious  m  Grecian  history, 
and  to  the  political  theorist  ;  and  traces  of  their  effi 
sufficiently  visible  in  the  writings  of  perhaps  all  who  have 
arrived  at  eminence  in  the  latter  department 

The  besi  edition  of  Aristotli 
Bekker,  3  vols.  4to.   Berlin,  L831.    Of  the  Ethics,  that  of 
Michelet,  with  a  commentary,  2  vols.  8vo.  Berlin,  1835.  Of 
the  Treatise  de  Anima,  with  copii  tl  of  Trende- 

lenburg. Numerous  editions  of  the  Rhetoric  have  been 
published  in  Oxford.  Of  his  Ancient  Commentators,  the 
best  are  Ammonius,  Alexander  Apbrodisien&iB,  Simplicius, 
and  Thomas  Aqnimm.  (.svt-  Hitter's  History  of  Ancient  Phi- 
losophy, vol.  3.) 

ARITHMETIC.  (Gr.  doifyof,  number.)  The  science 
of  numbers,  or  that  part  of  mathematics  which  is  con- 
cerned with  the  properties  of  numbers.  The  elementary 
operations  of  arithmetic,  being  necessary  In  transactingthe 
ordinary  affairs  of  life,  are  perhaps  as  commonly  known  as 
(he  art  of  reading  and  writing,  and  therefore  require  no  ex- 
planation; the  principles,  however,  on  which  they  depend 
areof  a  very  general  and  highly  refined  uaturi  . 

Even  t  m  i  ing  to  the  definition  of  Newton,  is, 

properly  speaking,  only  a  ratio,  or  relation.     In  order  to 
explain  this,  it  may  be  remarked,  thai  every  magnitude 
which  we  compare  with  another  magnitude  is  either  equal, 
or  greater,  or  less,  and,  consequently,  has  a  certain 
lion  in  that  with  which  it  is  compared;  that  is  to  say,  il 
contains  it  or  is  contained  in  it.  in  a  certain  manner.    This 
relation,  or  manner  of  containing  or  being  contained,  is  w  tial 
we  call  number:  thus  the  number  3  expresses  thi 
which  one  magnitude  has  to  another  smaller  than  Itself, 
v  lih-h  is  taken  for  unit,  and  which  the  greater  contains 
three  times.    On  the  contrary,  the  fraction  '.,  expresses  the 
ratio  of  one  magnitude  to  another  greater  than  itself,  which 
is  taken  as  unit,  and  which  contains  the  smaller  three 
times. 

Having  distinguished  the  numbers  or  relations  of  magni- 
tudes, which  we  have  conceived  in  our  minds  by  particular 
signs,  arithmetic  becomes  the  art  of  combining  these  rela- 
n -us  with  one  another;  employing  for  this  purpose  the 
signs  themselves  by  which  lie-  numbers  are  distinguished. 
Hence,  the  four  operations  of  addition,  subtraction,  multi- 
plication, and  division,  include  the  whole  science:  for  all 
the  different  combinations  that  can  be  formed  of  ratios  are 
reduced  ultimately  to  an  examination  of  the  excess  of  some 
above  others,  or  of  the  way  in  winch  they  contain  one  an- 
other. For  the  purpose,  indeed,  of  facilitating  commercial 
accounts,  astronomical  calculations.  Ac,  many  other  very 
useful  rules  have  been  invented,  such  as  the  rules  of  pro- 
portion, interest,  discount,  alligation,  position,  extraction  of 
roots,  progression,  &c.  ;  but,  on  attending  to  the  operations 
prescribed  by  these  rules,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  they  are  only 
different  applications  of  the  four  principal  rules. 

The  particular  operations  of  arithmetic  depend  in  their 
details  on  the  system  of  characters  by  which  numbers  are 
represented.  Our  arithmetic,  which  is  constructed  on  the 
denary  system  of  notation,  would  be  entirely  changed  if 
more  or  fewer  characters  than  ten  were  employed.  The 
Romans  used  a  different  notation,  and  their  rules  of  arith- 
metic were  entirely  different  from  ours.  But  all  arithmetic, 
in  whatever  manner  numbers  may  be  represented,  is  ulti- 
mately reduced  to  the  four  operations  or  rules  already 
mentioned.  Strictly  speaking,  indeed,  the  fundamental 
rules  may  be  reduced  to  two,  addition  and  subtraction  ;  for 
multiplication  is  only  an  abridged  method  of  repeatedly 
87 


ARITHMETIC. 

adding  the  same  number  to  itself,  and  division  only  an 
abridged  method  of  repeatedly  subtracting  one  number 
from  another. 

The  numeral  system  of  the  Romans  was  very  ill  adapted 
to  the  purposes  of  arithmetical  calculation  ;  and,  hence,  in 
keeping  their  accounts,  and  in  all  their  commercial  trans- 
actions, they  made  use  of  the  abacus.  The  astronomers 
of  Greece  contrived  an  ingenious  system,  by  means  of 
which  they  were  able  to  perform  the  most  complex  arith- 
metical operations.  (See  Notation.)  The  Indian  nume- 
rals, on  which  the  modern  system  of  practical  arithmetic  is 
founded,  were  received  from  the  Saracens  of  Spain,  and 
appear  to  have  been  partially  introduced  into  the  other 
countries  of  Europe  in  the  fourteenth  century  ;  but  there  is 
no  evidence  of  their  having  come  into  general  use  before 
the  invention  of  printing.  The  facility  afforded  by  the  In- 
dian numerals  in  the  performance  of  all  numerical  calcula- 
tions has  been  one  of  the  main  causes  of  the  great  and  rapid 
advancement  of  modern  mathematical  science. 

I  ■  lirst  complete  treatise  on  practical  arithmetic,  in 
which  the  numerals  now  in  universal  use  were  employed, 
was  written  by  Tartalea,  and  published  in  the  year  1556.  It 
consists  of  two  bocks,  the  first  containing  the  application  of 
arithmetic  to  the  purposes  of  civil  life  ;  and  the  second  the 
foundations  of  the  principles  of  algebra.  A  less  perfect 
treatise  had  been  published  by  Tunstall  in  1520,  and  another 
by  Stifel  "i-  Stifelius,  1544  :  since  that  time  works  on  the 
science  have  been  almost  in! 

Arithmetic  acquires  several  distinctive  appellations,  from 
the  particular  manner  in  which  it  is  used,  or  the  purpose  to 
Which  it  is  applied  :  thus, 

ic.  The  art  of  expressing  and  combining 
numbers  by  pairs,  and  by  means  of  two  characters  only. 
A  system  of  arithmetic  of  this  sort  was  invented  by  Leib- 
nitz, and  also  by  De  Lagni,  and  traces  of  it  have  been  found 
in  the  early  monuments  of  China.  Suppose  the  two  cha- 
zero  multiplying  any  number  af- 
ter which  it  is  placed  by  2,  as  in  the  denary  scale,  it  multi- 
plies the  preceding  number  by  10,  the  first  ten  numbers  on 
the  binary  scale  would  be  represented  thus  :  l=one,  10  = 
two.U=three,  100=  four.  101  =  five,  110=six,  lll=seven, 
jht,  1001  =  nine,  1010=ten. 

Decimul  Arithmetic,  which  requires  a  series  of  ten  cha- 
racters, the  progres  ding  according  to  the  pow- 
I   ten.     It  is  this  which    is   universally   employed  by 
modern  nations  ;  the  term,  however,  is  generally  applied  to 
those  operations  in  which  fractions  occur,  the  tractions  pro- 
hug  powers  of  ten  ;  that 
unit  is  considered  as  divided  into  tenths,  the  tenths 
into  hundredths,  and  so  on.    It  is  very  remarkable  that  the 
Hindoos,  who  have  bo  long  been  acquainted  with  the  dena- 
ry nol  ■  application  to  fractions. 
I         Moms,  from  whom  it  was  transplanted  into  Europe, 
were  <                    [uainted  with  this  application.    The  in- 
\.  ution  of  decimal  fractions,  which  has  doubled  the  effi- 
ciency of  our  arithmetical  system,  is  generally  ascribed  to 
montanus. 

/>■■■'  hi  Arithmetic,  in  which  the  multiples  and  divi- 
sors of  unity  proceed  according  to  the  powers  of  12.  This 
is  adapted  to  our  system  of  lineal  and  superficial  measures, 
in  which  the  fool  is  divided  into  12  inches,  the  inch  into  12 
lines,  &c.,  and  is  accordingly  generally  used  by  artificers. 

Sexagesimal  or  Si  I  ithmetic,  which  descends 

by  the  powers  of  60.  The  system  of  subdivision  was  intro- 
dn I  into  the  Alexandrian  school  by  Ptolemy,  for  the  pur- 
poses of  astronomical  calculation.  The  partition  of  the  cir- 
cumference of  the  circle  into  360  degrees,  was  probably 
founded  on  the  property  that  the  chord  of  one-sixth  of  the 
circumference  is  equal  to  the  radius.  Having  divided  the 
radius  int oi  primes,  the  angle  of  the  hexa- 

gon naturally  followed  the  same  division  ;  hence,  one  part 
or  prime  was  equivalent  to  the  360th  part  of  the  whole  cir- 
cumference.  The  degree  was  by  analogy  subdivided  into 
60  minutes,  the  minute  into  60  seconds,  and  so  on.  Ptole- 
my ascribes  the  reason  of  adopting  this  method  of  division 
to  the  facility  which  it  affords  in  calculation;  and  his  com- 
mentator Th'eon  adds  that  60  is  the  most  convenient  of  all 
numbers,  inasmuch  as  being  sufficiently  small  it  has  a  con- 
siderable number  of  divisors. 

Political  Arithmetic.  The  application  of  arithmetic  to 
researches  connected  with  civil  government,  such  as  the 
number  of  inhabitants  of  a  country,  the  quantity  of  food  ne- 
cessary for  their  consumption,  the  labour  they  can  accom- 
plish, the  mean  duration  of  life,  the  produce  of  the  soil,  the 
frequency  of  fires  or  shipwrecks,  Ac.  In  applying  arith- 
metic to  inquiries  of  this  sort,  we  have  three  principal  ob- 
jects in  view;  the  first  is  to  procure  precise  facts,  the 
second  to  deduce  from  the  observed  facts  the  conse- 
quences to  which  they  lead,  and  the  third  to  determine  the 
probability  both  of  the  facts  and  the  consequences.  (See 
Statistics.) 

Universal  Arithmetic.  The  name  given  by  Newton  to 
algebra,  or  the  calculation  of  magnitudes  in  general.  The 
operations  of  ordinary  arithmetic  are  founded  on  two  dis- 


ARITHMETICAL  COMPLEMENT. 

tinct  classes  of  principles  ;  the  first  are  independent  of  the 
particular  signs  by  which  numbers  are  expressed,  (he 
second  depend  on  those  signs.  The  general  properties  of 
numbers,  which  are  independent  of  any  particular  system 
of  notation,  form  the  subject  of  universal  arithmetic.  {See 
Lardner's  Treatise  on  Arithmetic  ;  De  Morgan's  Elements 
of  Arithmetic.) 

ARITHMETICAL  COMPLEMENT— of  a  number  is 
what  it  w.mts  of  the  next  higher  decimal  denomination. 
Thus  4  is  the  arithmetical  complement  of  6,  because  it  is 
what  6  wants  of  10.  In  like  manner  43  is  the  arithmetical 
complement  of  57,  and  432  of  568:  the  number  and  its 
complement,  when  added  together,  always  producing  a  sum 
which  is  expressed  by  1,  followed  by  as  many  ciphers  as 
there  are  digits  in  the  number.  It  is  used  in  logarithmic 
calculation  to  avoid  the  trouble  of  subtraction :  for  exam- 
ple, if  two  logarithms  are  given,  and  a  third  is  to  be  sub- 
tracted from  their  sum,  the  whole  operation  may  be  per- 
formed at  once,  by  writing  the  reciprocal  of  the  logarithm 
to  be  subtracted,  and  adding  the  three  together. 

Arithmetical  Mean  between  two  numbers  is  a  number 
such  that  its  excess  above  the  first  is  equal  to  its  defect 
from  the  second,  or  it  is  a  number  equal  to  half  their  sum  : 
thus  10  is  an  arithmetical  mean  between  7  and  13.  An 
arithmetical  mean  among  any  number  of  quantities  is  found 
by  adding  all  the  quantities  together,  and  dividing  by  the 
number.  Thus,  let  there  be  six  numbers,  1,  3,  4,  6,  7,9; 
a  mean  among  them  is  5,  for  their  sum  is  equal  to  30,  and 
30  divided  by  6  gives  5. 

Arithmetical  Progression.  A  series  of  three  or  more 
numbers,  such  that  each  differs  from  that  which  precedes 
or  follows  it  by  the  same  number  :  thus,  3,  5,  J,  9,  11,  form 
an  arithmetical  progression,  in  which  the  common  differ- 
ence of  the  terms  is  2.  The  general  expression  of  this  pro- 
gression is  a.  a  +  rf,  a-\-2d,  a— (-3d,  &c. 

A  rithmetical  Proportion.  Four  numbers  are  said  to  be  in 
arithmetical  proportion,  when  the  difference  between  the 
first  and  second  is  the  same  as  the  difference  betv^een  the 
third  and  fourth  :  for  example,  2,  5,  6, 9. 

Arithmetical  Ratio.  The  difference  between  any  two 
terms  of  an  arithmetical  progression. 

ARMA'DA.  (Spanish  military  or  naval  force.)  This 
name  is  peculiarly  applied  in  English  history  to  the  fleet 
assembled  by  Philip  II.  in  15S8,  for  the  conquest  of  Eng- 
land. The  Spaniards,  with  their  usual  inflation  of  language, 
termed  it  "Invincible."  It  consisted  of  150  ships,  carry- 
in.'  3650  guns,  and  having  on  board  20,000  soldiers,  besides 
volunteers,  and  3000  seamen.  The  account  of  its  misad- 
ventures and  dispersion  is  well  known.  The  reader  who 
is  curious  to  consult  a  new  and  careful  relation  of  this  cele- 
brated passage  in  history,  will  find  it  in  Southey's  Naval 
History  of  Great  Britain,  forming  a  part  of  the  Cabinet 
Cyclopaedia.  The  best  Spanish  account  of  the  transaction 
will  be  found  in  Herrera. 

ARMADI'LLO.  A  Spanish  epithet,  applied  to  a  genus 
of  small  South  American  macronykous  or  edentate  quad- 
rupeds, characterised  by  a  defensive  armourof  small  poly- 
gonal bony  plates,  which  covers  the  head,  trunk,  and  some- 
times the  tail.  Linnaeus  applied  to  this  genus  the  term 
Dasypus,  by  which  the  Greeks,  with  more  propriety,  de- 
signated the  hare  and  rabbit. 

AR'MAMENT.  (Lat.  Armamentum.)  A  force  equip- 
ped for  war,  naval  or  military.  In  Roman  antiquities,  ar- 
mamenta  comprehended  the  rigging  and  tackling  of  a  ship, 
its  sails,  sailyards,  oars,  ropes,  <fec.  Hence  "Arma"  de- 
notes the  sails  (Virg.  JEn.  v.  1. 55.)  and  the  rudder  (ib.  vi. 
1.353.)  of  a  vessel. 

ARMI'LLA.  (Lat.  armilla,  a  bracelet.)  In  Ornithology, 
the  coloured  circle  of  the  distal  naked  end  of  the  tibia, 
above  the  tarsal  joint. 

ARMI'I.LARY  SPHERE.  (Lat.  armilla,  a  bracelet.)  An 
ancient  astronomical -machine,  composed  of  an  assemblage 
of  hoops  or  circles,  representing  the  different  circles  of  the 
system  of  the  world,  as  the  equator,  the  ecliptic,  the  co- 
lures,  >Vc.  put  together  in  their  natural  order,  and  occupy- 
ing their  proper  relative  positions. 

ARMI'NTAN  CHURCH.    The  Arminians  are  Christians 
of  the  Euty  eh  Ian  or  Monophysile  doctrine,  which  recog- 
nises only  one  nature  in  the  Saviour,  viz.  the  Divine;  and 
the  procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost  from  the  Fathi 
They  hold  the   seven   sacraments  of  the   Romish  Church, 

doctrine  of  transubstantiation  :  their  clergy  is  also 
divided  into  secular  and  regular.  From  the  wide  disper- 
sion of  the  Arminians  over  the  commercial  regions  of  the 
east,  their  form  of  Christianity  is  also  considerably  diffused, 
although  it  appears  to  be  strictly  a  national  church  of  which 
tl  Irminians  are  members.  Since  the  last  war  be- 
tween Etu  sia  and  Turkey  (1829),  the  place  where  the  prin- 
cipal of  their  lone  patriarchs  resides (Etchmiadzine), has 
been  transferred  from  the  latter  to  the  former  govi 
There  is  also  at  Constantinople,  and  in  other  parts  of  the 
Levant,  an  Arminian  Roman  Catholic  Church,  owning  the 
supremacy  of  the  Pope.  There  is  a  well  known  congre- 
gation of  Arminian  monks  on  the  island  of  San  Lazaro, 
83 


ARMOUR. 

near  Venice,  who  had  published  a  variety  of  useful  works 
in  the  language  of  their  country. 

ARMENIANS.  Those  who  hold  the  tenets  of  Arminius, 
a  Protestant  divine,  born  in  Holland  in  the  year  1560.  They 
are  thus  summed  up  : — 

1st.  God  from  all  eternity  determined  to  save  all  who  he 
foresaw  would  persevere  in  the  faith,  and  to  condemn  all 
who  should  continue  in  unbelief. 

2d.  Christ  atoned  for  the  sins  of  all  mankind,  but  those 
only  who  believe  partake  of  the  benefit  of  that  atonement. 

3d.  Man  is  of  himself  incapable  of  true  faith  ;  therefore 
regeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  given  of  God  through  Christ, 
is  necessary. 

4th.  All  good  works  are  to  be  attributed  to  the  grace  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  which,  however,  does  not  force  a  man 
against  his  own  inclination. 

5th.  God  gives  to  the  truly  faithful  the  means  of  con- 
tinuing such.  With  respect  to  the  possibility  of  a  defection 
from  this  state  of  grace,  Arminius  and  his  immediate  fol- 
lowers expressed  themselves  undecidedly  ;  but  it  came 
afterwards  to  be  considered  a  part  of  the  character  of  Ar- 
minianism  to  affirm  the  possibility. 

The  asserters  of  these  opinions  in  Holland  were  vehe- 
mently attacked  by  the  Calvinistic  party,  which  was  pre- 
valent at  the  time  ;  and  in  1610  the  Arminians  addressed  a 
petition  to  the  States  of  Holland  for  protection,  from  which 
they  derived  the  name  of  Remonstrants.  In  the  year 
1618,  nine  years  after  the  death  of  Arminius,  the  synod  of 
Dort  was  convened  by  the  States  General,  and  a  hearing 
given  to  both  parties.  The  Arminian  opinions  were  defend- 
ed by  Episcopius,  divinity  professor  at  Leyden;  but  his 
side  complained  that  they  were  unfairly  treated,  and  the 
conditions  of  the  discussion  violated  to  their  prejudice. 
They  were  condemned  by  the  Synod,  and  treated  in  con- 
sequence  with  great  severity,  being  forbidden  to  exercise 
the  ministry  in  public  :  many  of  them  lied  to  Antwerp, 
France,  and  other  quarters. 

From  this  period  their  opinions  underwent  a  consider- 
able change  ;  and  the  articles  above  stated,  which  seem  a 
little  different  from  the  tenets  of  the  Lutherans,  began  to 
be  so  explained  as  almost  to  do  away  entirely  with  the  idea 
of  the  necessity  of  succour  from  the  Holy  Spirit.  From 
hence  they  proceeded  to  reject  many  matters  of  faith,  and 
to  simplify  materially  the  articles  requisite  for  salvation. 
They  proposed  to  draw  up  such  a  comprehensive  and  liberal 
scheme  as  should  embrace  all  Christians,  with  the  exclu- 
sion of  the  Romanists.  They  considered  it  sufficient  that 
a  man  should  receive  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  the  rule  of 
faith,  and  allowed  each  individual  to  interpret  them  for  him- 
self, only  adding  thereunto  the  necessity  of  moral  duties 
and  good  works.  The  Papists  were  excluded  on  the  score 
of  morality,  as  admitting  the  lawfulness  of  persecution. 

There  is' no  longer  any  particular  sect  to  which  the  name 
Arminian  is  exclusively  applied  ;  but  the  opinions  above 
stated  are  adopted  in  England  by  one  branch  of  the  Metho- 
dists, who  follow  therein  the  views  of  their  founder  Wes- 
ley, and  by  many  individuals  of  the  church  of  England, 
and  other  denominations.  The  articles  of  the  English 
church  have  been  represented  by  different  parties  as  in- 
clining both  to  Arminianism  and  Calvinism  ;  and  Whitby, 
and  Taylor,  bishop  of  Norwich,  are  among  the  most  famous 
of  her  friends  who  have  maintained  the  Arminian  tenets. 

A'RMISTICE.  (Lat.  armistitium.).  In  National  Law,  a 
truce  or  suspension  of  hostilities. 

A'RMOUR.  (Lat.  armatura.)  A  term  applied  to  those 
artificial  means  by  which  man  is  wont  either  to  protect 
himself  or  to  annoy  his  enemy,  hence  called  defensive  and 
offensive.  Defensive  armour  includes  those  arms  speci- 
ally used  for  the  defence  or  protection  of  the  body,  as  cui- 
rasses, helmets,  <!cc.  The  materials  used  in  their  construc- 
tion are  exceedingly  multifarious,  varying  in  many  instan- 
ces according  to  the  products  of  the  country  in  which  they 
are  fabricated,  but  depending  in  general  on  the  judgment 
and  experience  of  the  inhabitants.  Offensive  arms,  or  those 
used  in  attack,  are  of  different  kinds  :  1.  For  cutting,  such 
as  the  sabre  ;  2.  For  thrusting,  such  as  the  straight  sword, 
the  bayonet,  pike,  lance,  &c.  ;  3.  For  throwing,  such  as  the 
mortar,  rocket,  howitzer,  &e.  ;  and  lastly,  for  shooting, 
such  as  L'uns,  pistols,  carabines,  rifles,  and  cannons.  Lu- 
cretius traces  the  progress  of  offensive  arms  very  mi- 
nutely : — 

11  Arma  anttquu  mantis,  ungues  deateaque  fnpre, 

Ki  lapides  ft  item  sylvaruro  fragmina,  rami 

Ki  Bamm0)atque  ignes  poatquam  aunt  cogaitaprimusB) 

Poateriufl  ferri  vis  eat,  bi  isque  reperta  ; 

Ki  prior  tana  erat  quam  ft  rri  cogmtus  usus." 
The  history  of  armour  is  identified  with  that  of  every  na- 
tion ;  and  an  elaborate  discussion   of   this  subject  would 

throw  great  Light  upon  questions  of  mythology,  poetry,  ju- 
risprudence and  civil  polity,  and  strikingly  display  the  pro- 
gress of  civilisation.  Into  such  details,  however,  our  limits 
1. 1  preclude  us  from  entering,  and  we  can  only  re- 
nin- to  Mey rick's  work  upon  this  subject  (3  vols. 
4to.  London,  1824),  which  (lie  student  of  the  politics,  arts, 


ARMS. 

manners,  and  wars  of  antiquity  and  the  middle  ages,  may 
consult  with  great  benefit. 

ARMS,  or  ARMORIAJ.  BEARINGS.  In  Heraldry,  the 
name  given  to  the  devices  borne  on  shields  or  coat  armour. 
Family  coats  of  arms  are  divided  by  heralds  into  perfect 
and  imperfect.  Perfect  are,  1.  Abstract,  or  warranted  by 
regular  descent.  2.  Terminal,  belonging  to  the  brethren  of 
the  right  line.  3.  Collateral,  borne  by  brethren  of  the  heir 
male.  4.  Fixal,  in  third  degree  by  right  line  of  male  heirs. 
Imperfect  are,  1.  Granted  by  the  king,  with  a  lordship.  2. 
The  gift  of  a  king,  derived  by  a  herald.  3.  The  ensign  of 
a  Saracen  won  in  the  field.  4.  Heir  female  of  close  branch. 
5.  Arms  of  bastardy. 

A'RMV.  (Fr.)  Lit.  men  in  arms.  A  body  of  men  or- 
ganised and  disciplined  for  military  service,  commanded 
by  a  chief  or  leader,  with  subordinate  officers  in  regular 
gradation,  and  supported  both  in  time  of  peace  and  war  for 
the  preservation  of  internal  quiet  and  defence  against  for- 
eign aggression.  An  arm)-  is  generally  divided  into  a  cer- 
tain number  of  corps,  each  consisting  of  brigades,  regi- 
ments, battalions,  and  squadrons.  When  in  the  field,  it  is 
formed  into  lines :  the  first  is  called  the  vanguard,the  second, 
the  main  body;  the  third,  the  rear-guard  or  body  of  reserve. 
The  middle  of  each  line  is  occupied  by  the  foot ;  the  cavalry 
forms  the  right  and  left  wing  of  each  line,  and  sometimes 
squadrons  of  horse  are  placed  in  the  intervals  between  the 
battalions.  In  the  history  of  armies  we  may  distinguish 
those  of  three  different  periods :  1.  The  ancient  armies, 
which,  from  the  time  of  Sesostris  downwards,  under- 
went a  series  of  progressive  improvements  under  the 
Persians,  Greeks,  and  Carthaginians,  till  they  finally 
reached  a  high  degree  of  perfection  under  the  Romans. 
2.  Those  of  the  middle  ages,  the  offspring  of  the  feudal 
system,  which,  however  well  calculated  to  keep  alive  a 
spirit  of  ferocity,  opposed  a  formidable  barrier  to  the  revi- 
val of  the  military  art,  from  their  contempt  of  discipline  and 
utter  lawlessness.  3.  Those  that  have  existed  since  the 
invention  of  gunpowder  and  the  establishment  of  standing 
armies.  Since  the  use  of  gunpowder  there  have  been  se- 
ven principal  periods  in  the  history  of  the  military  art. 
The  first  extends  from  the  early  part  of  the  fourteenth  to 
the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  second  begins  with 
the  campaign  of  Charles  VIII.  in  Italy,  and  extends  to  the 
commencement  of  the  wars  in  the  Netherlands,  compri- 
sing the  wars  of  the  French,  Germans,  and  Spaniards  in 
Italy.  The  third  period  comprehends  the  great  war  of  in- 
dependence, waged  by  the  Netherlands,  in  order  to  shake 
offthe  yoke  of  Spain,  and  extends  from  1568  to  the  general 
suspension  of  hostilities  in  1609.  The  fourth  period  com- 
prises the  celebrated  Thirty  Years'  War,  and  extends  from 
1618  to  1648.  The  fifth  period  comprehends  the  wars  of 
the  French  in  Italy,  Germany,  and  the  Netherlands,  as  well 
as  the  Northern  and  Turkish  wars,  and  embraces  the  space 
of  90  years,  viz.  from  1648  to  1738.  The  sixth  period  in- 
cludes the  three  Silesian  wars,  viz.  from  the  beginning  of 
the  first  Silesian  war  in  1740,  to  the  breaking  out  of  the 
French  Revolution  in  1792.  During  these  several  periods 
many  improvements  took  place  in  the  composition  and 
discipline  of  armies  ;  but  these  were  destined  to  be  far 
surpassed  in  the  seventh  and  last  period,  which  embraces 
the  military  systems  and  establishments  of  our  own  times. 
In  the  organisation  of  the  Continental  armies  great  unifor- 
mity prevails  ;  but  as  these  are  inseparably  connected  with 
the  political  condition  of  the  people,  a  consideration  of  their 
character  belongs  to  the  history  of  these  various  nations,  to 
which  we  must  refer  the  reader.  The  British  army,  like 
those  of  the  Continent,  is  divided  into  cavalry,  infantry, 
and  artillery,  and  these  again  into  regiments  and  battalions; 
but  in  its  composition  and  organisation  an  entirely  different 
principle  is  adopted.  While  the  Continental  armies  are 
recruited  by  conscription,  and  every  officer  must  have 
served  as  a  private  or  a  cadet,  or  have  acquired  some 
knowledge  of  the  military  art  in  a  preparatory  establish- 
ment, the  ranks  of  the  British  army  are  supplied  by  volun- 
tary enlistment,  and  commissions  are,  with  rare  excep- 
tions, only  attainable,  with  or  without  purchase,  as  a  favour 
from  the  commander-in-chief.  In  addition  to  the  officers 
attached  to  each  separate  regiment,  the  superintendence 
of  the  whole  army  in  its  various  departments  and  ramifi- 
cations is  entrusted  to  a  commander-in-chief,  a  secretary 
at  war,  a  master-general  of  the  ordnance,  a  paymaster-gen- 
eral of  the  forces,  an  adjutant-general,  and  a' quartermas- 
ter-general. There  are,  besides,  a  board  of  general  officers 
for  the  clothing  of  the  army,  an  inspector  of  army  colours, 
commissioners  of  the  military  college,  and  commissioners 
of  the  military  asylum.  (For  an  account  of  armies  in  gen- 
eral, vide  Enryr.  Brit.  art.  Army;  of  the  British  army, 
M'Culloch's  British  Statistics;  of  the  Russian,  Italian,  and 
French   armies,  Tanski,  Oudinot,and  Daniel.) 

A'RNOLDISTS.  The  followers,  or  rather  partisans,  of 
Arnold  of  Bresica,  who  in  the  twelfth  century  was  the  first 
to  raise  his  voice  against  the  abuses  and  vices  of  the  papa- 
cy. He  acquired  for  a  time  considerable  influence  among 
the  lower  orders,  and  the  tumults  which  were  raised  by 
69 


ARREST. 

his  supporters  caused  great  uneasiness  in  Rome,  which 
was  the  chief  scene  of  his  proceedings.  He  was  finally 
put  down  by  an  armed  force,  made  prisoner,  and  burnt  by 
Pope  Adrian  IV.  Certain  heretical  notions  on  the  nature 
of  the  Eucharist  were  charged  against  him  ;  but  the  insur- 
rection which  arose  under  his  auspices  was  clearly  a  polit- 
ical disturbance,  and  his  harangues  seem  to  have  been  di- 
rected rather  against  the  morals  than  the  tenets  of  the 
church  which  he  attempted  to  overturn. 

ARNOTTO.     See  Annotta. 

ARO'MA.  The  characteristic  odour  of  substances,  es- 
pecially the  strong  and  peculiar  odours  of  certain  plants, 
whence  the  term  aromatic. 

ARPE'GGIO  and  ARPEGGIA'TO.  (It.  arpeggiare,  to 
play  on  the  harp.)  In  Music,  the  striking  or  bowing,  if  on 
an  instrument  of  the  violin  species,  the  notes  of  a  chord  in 
quick  and  repeated  succession,  so  as  to  imitate  the  harp. 

ARQUEUUSA'DE.  (From  arquebus,  a  hand  gun.)  An 
aromatic  spirituous  lotion,  applied  to  strains  and  bruises, 
but  originally  invented  as  an  application  to  wounds  inflicted 
by  an  arquebus. 

A'RQUEBUSE,  or  HARQ.UEBUSE.  A  sort  of  hand 
gun,  used  by  infantry  before  the  invention  of  the  musquet. 
The  word  is  of  uncertain  derivation :  the  Italian  archibuso 
is  said  to  come  from  arco,  a  bow,  and  busio,  or  bugio,  but 
the  meaning  of  this  last  seems  unsettled.  The  word  ia 
used  very  loosely  in  old  writers  for  every  sort  of  fire-arms 
used  by  infantry.  Gunsmiths  are  still  called  arquebusiers 
in  France.  In  the  German,  Spanish,  and  Gascon  infantry 
of  the  earlier  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  pike  and 
arquebuse-men  were  intermixed  in  the  same  ranks.  The 
barbarous  English  words  hackbut,  hackbutteer,  which  we 
find  in  military  language  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  are  de- 
rived from  arquebuse,  arquebusier.  The  arquebuse  is  said 
to  occur  first  in  the  descriptions  of  the  battle  of  Morat  in 
1476.  Arquebusiers  on  horseback  are  mentioned  in  that 
of  the  battle  of  Fornosa,  1194. 

AKKACa'CHA.  The  South  American  name  for  an  um- 
belliferous  plant,  the  arracacia  esculenta  of  botanists; 
whose  fleshy  sweet  roots  are  cultivated  in  Columbia  and 
Jamaica,  in  the  mountainous  parts  of  those  countries,  in 
the  same  way  as  parsnips  and  carrots  in  Europe.  The 
runts  are  of  large  size,  and  in  quality  are  when  cooked 
between  a  sweet  chesnut  and  a  parsnip.  Attempts  to  in- 
troduce it  into  common  European  cultivation  have  uni- 
formly failed. 

ARRa'CK.  A  spirituous  liquor,  obtained  by  distilling 
the  fermented  produce  of  rice  ;  but  other  spirituous  liquors 
are  called  by  the  same  name.  Arrack  has  a  very  strong 
and  somewhat  nauseous  flavour  and  odour,  derived  from 
a  peculiar  volatile  oil  which  it  contains,  and  which  corres- 
ponds with  that  which  gives  a  sickly  and  disagreeable  taste 
to  our  corn  spirit. 

ARRAIGNMENT.  In  Law,  the  arraignment  of  a  pri- 
soner on  a  criminal  charge  consists  in  calling  him  to  the 
bar,  and  (in  treason  and  felony)  making  him  hold  up  his 
hand,  or  otherwise  own  himself  to  be  the  party  charged, 
reading  the  indictment  to  him  in  English,  and  demanding 
of  him  his  plea  (guilty  or  not  guilty),  and  entering  it  ac- 
cordinslv. 

ARRE'ST.  In  Law,  in  execution  of  the  command  of 
some  court  of  record  or  officer  of  justice,  may  take  place 
either  in  criminal  or  civil  cases.  1.  For  treason,  felony,  or 
breach  of  the  peace,  any  person  may  arrest  without  war- 
rant or  precept.  Arrests  by  public  officers  may  be  made 
either  with  or  without  process.  Any  constable,  or  even 
private  person,  who  has  a  warrant  directed  to  him  from  a 
justice  of  the  peace  to  that  effect,  may  arrest  for  felony  or 
misdemeanor :  and,  if  the  warrant  was  given  without  suffi- 
cient ground,  the  justice  is  responsible.  Every  warrant 
should  be  under  the  hand  and  seal  of  a  justice  of  peace,  and 
specify  the  day  on  which  it  was  made  out :  it  seems  to  be 
rather  discretionary  than  necessary,  although  it  is  usual  to 
specify  the  cause  of  arrest  in  the  warrant.  2.  Arrest  in  a 
civil  cause  is  by  process,  in  execution  of  the  command  of 
some  court  or  officer  of  justice.  On  affidavit  of  a  cause  of 
action  to  the  amount  of  .£20  (such  cause  of  action  import- 
ing a  contract  or  liability,  express  or  implied,  and  a  breach 
of  such  contract,  and  a  present  debt  overdue,  unless  in 
some  rare  cases,  in  which  special  orders  to  hold  to  bail  are 
given  for  the  causes  of  action),  the  plaintiff"  obtains  a  writ  of 
capias,  which  is  the  proper  process  for  the  arrest  of  one  or 
more  defendants  who  are  at  large.  When  a  defendant  is 
already  in  custody  in  one  of  the  prisons  of  the  superior 
courts,  a  writ  of  detainer  to  continue  such  imprisonment  at 
the  suit  of  the  new  plaintiff  is  the  proper  proceeding.  The 
form  and  effect  of  the  writ  of  capias  (see  Capias),  on  which 
arrest  on  mesne  process  takes  place,  are  now  regulated  by 
the  Uniformity  of  Process  Act,  2  W.  4.  c.  39.  The  sum 
specified  in  the  affidavit,  the  sum  bona  fide  claimed  for 
debt  and  costs,  and  various  other  particularities,  must  be 
indorsed  on  the  capias.  A  writ  of  capias  may,  like  a  writ 
of  summons,  be  merely  served  on  the  defendant;  but 
when  it  is  intended  to  arrest,  a  sheriff's  warrant  is  ob- 
N 


ARRIS. 

tained,  on  which  the  defendant  is  arrested,  and  a  copy  of 
the  writ  then  delivered  to  him.  Arrest  must  be  made 
within  the  county,  and  at  any  time  within  four  months  af- 
ter the  date  of  the  capias,  except  Sundays,  Christmas- 
day,  and  Good  Friday.  If  the  writ  or  warrant  is  so  de- 
fective as  to  be  absolutely  void,  the  party  arrested  might 
legally  resist ;  but  if  the  process  were  only  irregular,  such 
resistance  would  be  an  indictable  offence.  On  arrest,  the 
defendant  and  two  sureties  usually  execute  what  is  termed 
a  bail-bond,  conditioned  for  causing  special  bail  to  be  put 
in.  (See  Bail.)  But  instead  of  giving  bail,  he  may  put 
into  court  the  sum  indorsed  on  the  writ,  together  with  a  lur- 
ther  sum  for  costs. 

Arrest  on  a  writ  of  execution  (see  Capias  ad  Satisfa- 
ciendum) is  an  absolute  and  perfect  execution  of  the  high- 
est nature  against  the  defendant,  under  which  the  debtor 
is  imprisoned  until  satisfaction  is  made,  unless  discharged 
under  the  Insolvent  Act. 

A'RRIS.  (Probably  abbreviated  or  corrupted  from  a  ri- 
sega,  Ital.  at  the  projection,  or  from  the  Saxon  arisan,  to 
arise.)  In  architecture,  the  edge  of  two  surfaces  meeting 
each  other,  or  line  of  concourse  of  two  planes. 

A'RROW  ROOT.  The  commercial  name  of  the  starch 
obtained  by  washing  the  grated  root  of  the  masanta  arundi- 
nacea,  which  it  yields  to  the  amount  of  twenty-five  to  thir- 
ty per  cent.  It  is  sometimes  adulterated  with  potato  starch, 
and  the  fraud  is  not  easily  detected ;  it,  however,  gives  a 
disagreeable  flavour  and  smell,  like  that  of  the  raw  po- 
tato, and  forms  a  less  firm  jelly  with  hot  water  than  when 
the  arrow  root  is  genuine. 

A.'RSENAL.  (It.  arsenale,  from  arx,  a  citadel.)  A  ma- 
gazine of  military  stores,  or  public  establishment  where 
naval  and  military  engines  are  manufactured  or  stored. 

A'RSENIC.  (Gr.  dpoevii<6s,  strong.)  A  very  soft,  brittle, 
and  eminently  poisonous  metal,  of  a  steel  grey  colour:  its 
sp.  gr.  57.  It  volatilizes,  exhaling  a  strong  odour  of  garlic, 
before  it  fuses,  at  a  temperature  of  365°  F.,  and  is  easily 
inflammable.  It  combines  with  oxygen  in  two  propor- 
tions: and  as  both  compounds  are  sour,  and  form  salts  with 
bases,  they  have  been  termed  arsenious  and  arsenic 
acids :  the  former  is  composed  of  38  arsenic  and  12  oxy- 
gen, and  the  latter  of  38  arsenic  and  20  oxygen.  Arsenious 
acid  is  more  commonly  known  under  the  name  of  u/iite 
arsenic,  and  is  the  usual  state  in  which  this  poison  occurs  in 
commerce  ;  it  is  obtained  during  the  extraction  of  several 
of  the  metals  from  their  ores,  and  is  a  white  brittle  semi- 
transparent  substance,  having  little  taste,  but  is  virulently 
poisonous.  Its  sp.  gr.  is  3*7.  It  forms  a  dull  white  powder, 
and  it  is  in  this  form  that  it  is  usually  sold.  When  heated 
in  the  flame  of  a  candle,  it  rises  in  the  form  of  a  white 
poisonous  vapour,  and  exhales,  in  consequence  of  its  par- 
tial reduction,  a  strong  garlicky  smell :  1000  parts  of  cold 
water  dissolve  about  2%  of  white  arsenic  ;  but  when  the 
water  is  boiled  with  the  arsenic,  1000  parts  take  up  between 
77  and  78 ;  and  this  solution,  after  standing  a  few  days,  de- 
posits rather  more  than  half  of  the  white  arsenic,  in  the 
form  of  small  crystals,  retaining  about  30  grains  in  perma- 
nent solution.  White  arsenic  dissolves  in  the  alkalies,  and 
combines  with  the  metallic  oxides,  forming  a  class  of  salts 
called  arsenites :  they  are  all  poisonous.  Of  these  the  ar- 
senate of  potash  is  used  in  medicine,  under  the  name  of 
Fowler's  mineral  solution  :  it  is  employed  in  very  small 
doses  in  the  cure  of  agues,  and  is  an  effective  remedy,  but 
requires  much  care  in  its  administration. 

When  white  arsenic  is  taken  as  a  poison,  that  is,  in  large 
doses,  it  produces  violent  spasmodic  pains  of  the  stomach 
and  bowels,  attended  by  a  sense  of  heat,  and  constriction 
in  the  mouth  and  throat,  an  increased  flow  of  saliva,  tight- 
ness about  the  head,  itching  of  the  face  and  neck,  and  nau- 
sea. These  symptoms  are  succeeded  by  vomiting  and 
purging  and  excruciating  pains  ;  the  pulse,  at  first  full,  hard, 
and  frequent,  sinks  andi  becomes  irregularly  feeble,  and 
clamminess  of  the  skin,  cold  sweats,  purple  spots,  and 
convulsions,  precede  death  ;  or  if  the  patient  escape  this 
catastrophe,  it  often  happens  that  hectic  fever,  paralysis, 
and  mental  and  bodily  debility,  attend  him  for  the  remain- 
der of  his  days.  It  is  often  said  that  the  bodies  of  persons 
poisoned  by  arsenic  are  very  prone  to  putrefaction;  but 
this  does  not  appear  to  be  always  the  case.  After  death 
the  stomach  and  bowels  are  usually  found  inflamed,  but 
often  only  slightly  so ;  and  it  appears  from  Sir  B.  Brodie's 
observations,  that  this  poison  kills  by  some  peculiar  action 
upon  the  heart  and  nervous  system.  The  treatment  of 
persons  thus  poisoned  consists  in  promoting  the  vomiting 
by  an  emetic,  composed  of  a  solution  of  20  grains  of  sul- 
phate of  zinc  in  two  ounces  of  water,  aided  by  copious 
draughts  of  warm  barley-water  or  gruel ;  but  the  most  ef- 
fective means  of  getting  rid  of  the  arsenic,  is  by  the  use  of 
the  stomach-pump,  which,  when  immediately  resorted  to, 
has  often  saved  the  patient  The  after-treatment  requires 
much  circumspection. 

The  only  ready  means  of  ascertaining  the  presence  of 
white  arsenic  is  by  heating  the  suspected  substance  upon  a 
red-hot  coal,  or  in  the  flame  of  a  candle  or  spirit  lamp, 
90 


ARTESIAN  FOUNTAINS 

when  it  will  exhale  the  peculiar  arsenical  odour  resembling 
that  of  garlic ;  but  the  treatment  of  persons  poisoned  by  arse- 
nic, and  its  detection  in  doubtful  cases,  must  be  left  to  the 
medical  man  and  the  chemist.  It  is  impossible  too  strongly 
to  represent  the  evil  which  results  from  the  unfettered  sale 
of  arsenic,  and  from  the  unwarrantable  use  of  it  as  a  poison 
for  rats,  and  as  a  veterinary  remedy,  for  it  is  thus  that  it 
finds  its  way  into  culinary  vessels,  gets  accidentally  mixed 
with  articles  of  food,  and  that  bottles  which  have  contained 
it  are  used  for  beer,  wine,  vinegar,  or  medicine:  its  sale 
should  be  rigidly  prohibited. 

Arsenic  acid  is  more  soluble  and  sour,  but  equally  poi- 
sonous with  the  arsenious  acid.  Its  salts  are  called  arse- 
niates,  and  the  arseniate  of  potash  obtained  by  deflagrating 
a  mixture  of  white  arsenic  and  nitrate  of  potash  is  occa- 
sionally used  in  medicine  :  it  is  the  active  ingredient  in 
the  tasteless  ague  drop. 

A'RSIS  and  THESIS.  (Gr.  apcts,  lifting  up,  8£ois,  lay- 
ing down.)  In  Music,  terms  used  in  composition,  as  when 
a  point  is  inverted  or  turned,  it  is  said  to  move  per  arsin  et 
thesin,  that  is,  when  it  rises  in  one  point  and  falls  in  another ; 
properly  speaking,  it  is  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  hand  in  beat- 
ing time. 

A'RSON.  (Lat.  ardeo,  I  burn.)  At  Common  Law,  sig- 
nifies the  maliciously  and  voluntarily  burning  the  house  of 
another.  This  offence  is  now  defined  and  regulated  in  its 
various  degrees  by  the  stat.  7  &  8  G.  4.  c.  30.  The  subjects 
of  arson  are  defined  in  two  sections  of  this  statute  :  the 
first,  relating  to  buildings  of  every  description,  the  latter 
to  stacks  of  vegetable  productions,  (both  these  classes  of 
offences  being  capitally  punishable,)  and  to  crops  of  corn, 
&c.  standing  or  cut  down,  plantations,  heath,  &c,  the  firing 
of  which  is  punishable  with  transportation  for  seven  years. 

ART.  (Lat.  ars.)  The  application  of  knowledge  or  pow- 
er to  effect  a  desired  purpose.  The  ancients  divided  the 
arts  into  "  artes  ingenues,  bona?,"  or  "  liberales,"  and 
"  artes  serviles."  tinder  the  latter  were  comprehended 
the  mechanical  arts,  because  these  were  practised  only 
by  slaves.  The  former  were  summed  up  in  the  Latin 
verse, 

"  Lingua,  Tropus,  Ratio,  Numerus,  Tonus,  Angulus,  Astra  ;" 
and  the  latter  in  the  pentameter, 

"  Rus,  Nemus,  Arma,  Faber,  Vulnera,  I, run,  Rales." 

In  modern  times  arts  are  divided  into  fine  and  useful, 
comprising  under  the  former  those  which  have  not  utility 
for  their  direct  or  immediate  object ;  such  as  music,  poetry, 
sculpture,  &c.  (For  the  history  and  description  of  the  fine 
and  useful  arts,  see  the  respective  articles.) 

ARTEMl'SIA.  (Artemis,  one  of  the  names  of  the  goddess 
Dimia.)  A  composite  genus  consisting  of  bitter  or  stimu- 
lating plants,  of  which  wormwood,  southernwood,  and  tar- 
ragon form  a  part. 

ARTERIO'TOMY.  (Gr.  dprripia,  an  artery,  and  t£uvo>, 
J  cut.)  The  opening  of  an  artery  :  this  operation  is  occa- 
sionally performed  upon  the  temporal  artery,  with  a  view 
of  relieving  inflammatory  symptoms  about  the  head. 

A'RTERY.  (>S'pe  Aorta.)  These  vessels  are  usually 
found  empty  in  the  dead  body,  and  were  supposed  by  the 
old  anatomists  to  be  air  tubes  ;  they  are  ramifications  of 
the  aorta,  and  convey  the  florid  blood  with  a  pulsating  mo- 
tion to  the  different  organs  and  parts  of  the  body. 

ARTE'SIAN  FOUNTAINS,  or  ARTESIAN  WELLS. 
(Fr.  Puits  Artesiens.)  Vertical  perforations  of  the  exterior 
crust  of  the  earth,  of  small  diameter,  and  frequently  of 
great  depth,  through  which  subterraneous  water  aiises  to 
the  surface,  often  forming  abundant  and  elevated  jets. 
The  name  Artesian  is  derived  from  Artois,  a  province  of 
France,  where  especial  attention  has  been  given  to  this 
means  of  obtaining  water ;  but  it  appears,  from  sufficient 
historical  evidence,  that  wells  of  this  kind  were  perfectly 
well  known  to  the  ancients.  Niebuhr  cites  a  passage  from 
Olympiadorus,  who  flourished  at  Alexandria  about  the 
middle  of  the  sixth  century,  in  which  it  is  stated  that  when 
wells  are  dug  in  the  Oasis  to  the  depth  of  two  hundred, 
three  hundred,  or  sometimes  five  hundred  yards,  rivers  of 
water  gush  out  from  their  orifices  of  which  the  agricultur- 
ists take  advantage  to  irrigate  their  fields.  The  oldest 
Artesian  well  known  to  exist  in  France  is  in  the  ancient 
convent  of  the  Chartreux,  at  Lillers  in  Artois.  It  is  said  to 
have  been  made  in  1126.  Others  exist  at  Stuttgard,  of 
great  antiquity,  though  their  dates  cannot  be  fixed  with 
precision.  The  inhabitants  of  the  great  desert  of  Sahara 
appear  also  to  have  been  long  acquainted  with  this  mode 
of  obtaining  water,  and  the  Chinese  are  said  (but  the  truth 
of  the  statement  is  questionable)  to  have  practised  it  for 
thousands  of  years. 

Various  conjectures  have  been  made  as  to  the  source  of 
the  water  which  comes  from  the  Artesian  wells.  It  was 
long  believed  that  the  water  of  the  sea  must  necessarily 
penetrate  by  way  of  infiltration  into  the  interior  of  the  con- 
tinents, and  at  "length  form  large  bodies  of  subterraneous 
waters,  which,  excepting  for  capillary  influences,  would 
not  rise  above  the  general  level  of  the  ocean.    Another 


ARTESIAN  FOUNTAINS. 

opinion,  maintained  by  Aristotle,  Seneca,  Cardan,  and  even 
Descartes,  was,  that  the  subterraneous  water,  from  which 
the  sources  of  rivers  and  springs  are  supplied,  is  the  pro- 
duct of  the  condensation  ot"  aqueous  vapours  ascending 
from  the  interior  parts  of  the  earth  in  consequence  of  the 
central  heat.  But  these  hypotheses  are  founded  on  mere 
conjecture,  unsupported  by  the  slightest  evidence,  and  con- 
sequently merit  no  attention.  The  simplest  and  most  na- 
tural explanation  is,  that  the  water  of  ordinary  wells,  of 
Artesian  fountains  and  rivers,  is  supplied  by  the  rain  which 
falls  on  the  surface  at  a  higher  elevation,  and  which  pene- 
trates through  the  pores  and  fissures  of  the  ground  till  it 
meets  with  some  impermeable  stratum,  or  is  collected  in 
subterranean  reservoirs.  It  has  been  objected  that  springs 
are  sometimes  situated  on  or  near  the  summits  of  moun- 
tains, which  could  not  be  supplied  in  this  way ;  but  on  an 
attentive  examination  of  all  the  circumstances,  that  is  to 
say,  on  measuring  accurately  the  extent  of  surface  at  a 
greater  elevation  than  the  spring,  and  comparing  it  with  the 
quantity  of  rain  that  falls  annually  in  the  same  climate,  it 
has  hern  found,  in  every  instance,  that  the  aqueous  depo- 
sition from  the  atmosphere  greatly  exceeds  the  supply 
from  the  spring.  It  is  computed  that  not  more  than  a 
third  part  of  the  rain  which  tails  in  the  valley  of  the  Seine 
is  conveyed  to  the  sea  by  the  river ;  the  remaining  two- 
thirds  supi>ort  vegetation,  supply  fountains  and  springs,  or 
are  returned  to  the  atmosphere  I  on.     The  im- 

mense bodies  of  water  which  some  continental  rivers  roll 
towards  the  ocean  are  but  a  small  part  of  the  rain  which 
falls  in  the  surrounding  countries. 

Assuming,  then,  thai  the  subterraneous  water  is  supplied 
from  atmospherical  deposition,  it  remains  to  be  exp 
how  it  arrives  at  the  situation  it  occupii  riorof 

the  earth,  and  by  what  forces  it  is  raised  from  great  depths 
to  the  surface. 

All  persons  who  have  paid  the  slightest  attention  to  g(  sol- 
ogy  are  aware  that  in  sh  ttified  countries  (and  it  is  ii 
only  that  Artesian  wells  exist)  different  beds  of  rocks 
are  superposed  on  one  another,  and  ranged  in  a  certain 
constant  order.  The  strata  sometimes  follow  a  horizontal 
direction  for  a  considerable  extent  of  country;  at  other 
places  they  are  inclined,  and  even  placed  perpendicularly 

vi  the  horizon,  having  the  appearance  of  having  i a  bent 

and  burst  through  by  the  action  of  a  powerful  force  from 
beneath.  In  those  cases  the  edges  ot  the  sti 
exposed,  especially  on  the  summits  and  Hanks  of  hi 
the  action  of  the  atmosphere.  Between  the 
quently  found  beds  of  permeable  sand,  through  wine  h 
water,  coining  in  contact  with  them,  must  necessarily 
pass,  first,  through  the  inclined  part  by  virtue  of  its  specific 
gravity,  and  then  in  the  horizontal  branches,  by  virtue  of 
thi  pressure  of  the  water  remaining  in  the  elevated  portions 
of  the  strata.  In  this  manner  the  water  insinuates  itself 
between  the  different  strata;  and  hen,,'  we  maj  i 
that  In  localities  where  the  tertiary  stratification  prevails. 
as  many  distinct  sources  of  subterraneous  water  w 
met  with  in  penetrating  perpendicularly  through  the  sur- 
face, as  there  are  distinct  layers  of  a  sandy  or  grai  elly  na- 
ture reposing  on  impermeable  strata.  This  conseqi 
of  the  theory  is  perfectly  confirmed  by  experience.  M. 
Arago  mentions,  that  in  digging  for  coal  I  rS  \  cholas 
d'Aliermont,  a  short  distance  from  Dieppe,  seven  distinct 
and  copious  sources  of  water  were  found,  the  respective 
depths  of  which  wen-:  1st,  between  90  and  100  feel 
328  feet ;  3d,  from  570  to  590  feel :  4th,  from  690  to  710  feet; 
5th, 820  feet j  6th,  940  feet;  7th.  1090  feet;  and  the  occa- 
sional force  of  each  source  was  very  great  Similar  oc- 
currences are  frequent  in  the  neighbourhood  of  London, 
and  are  familiar  to  all  miners.  But  it  isnotcno 
structure  of  the  country  is  such  that  water  can  percolate 
between  different  strata;  the  phenomena  of  Artesian  foun- 
tains could  not  be  explained  without  supposing  it  to  be  col- 
lected in  large  quantities,  ami  forming  subterraneous  reser- 
voirs of  immense  extent.  That  such  reservoirs  exist,  no 
doubt  can  be  entertained.  The  celebrated  fountain  of 
Vaucluse  sends  forth  at  all  times  a  stream  of  water  suf- 
ficient to  form  a  considerable  river.  Even  in  the  driest 
seasons,  when  the  water  is  least  plentiful,  it  produces  4780 
cubic  feet  per  minute.  After  great  rains,  its  product  is 
thrice  as  great.  The  mean  quantity  emitted  is  9360  cubic 
feet  per  minute,  or  about  5030  millions  of  cubic  feet  in  a 
year.  Many  other  examples  of  the  same  kind  might  be 
cited  ;  showing  that  water  must  not  only  be  collected  in 
subterraneous  cavities  in  immense  quantities,  but  that  it 
also  passes  freely  from  one  place  to  another.  In  fact,  the 
disposition  of  the  rocks  in  strata  permits  the  water  to  be 
collected  under  the  surface,  and  to  be  conveyed  without 
waste,  as  if  in  close  pipes. 

According  to  the  view  which  has  now  been  taken  of 
the  manner  in  which  subterraneous  water  is  collected,  its 
elevation  to  the  surface  through  a  natural  fissure  or  arti- 
ficial perforation  is  a  simple  result  of  hydrostatic  pressure. 
Generally  speaking,  it  is  only  on  the  acclivities  of  hills,  or 
in  elevated  places,  that  the  edges  of  the  strata  are  exposed, 
91 


ARTICLES  OF  FAITH. 

and  where,  consequently,  the  rain  water  can  be  received 
under  beds  of  impermeable  materials.  Conceive  two  strata 
of  clay  or  rocks,  as  a  and  6,  having  a  bed  of  sand  or  other 


matter  permeable  to  water  interposed,  and  suppose  that  d 
is  the  place  where  the  edges  of  the  strata  crop  out,  or  where 
a  fissure  allows  a  free  entrance  of  the  water  to  the  per- 
mease stratum.  The  water  at  first  descends  through  the 
effect  of  gravity ;  it  then  passes  along  towards  b  in  conse- 
quence of  the  pressure  exercised  by  the  superior  part  of 
the  column  near  d.  Now  suppose  a  perforation  to  be  made 
at  e,  and  continued  till  it  reaches  through  the  stralum  a, 
the  water  will  naturally  continue  to  rise  till  it  gains  the 
same  altitude  as  d,  or  at  least  till  it  reaches  the  surface  if 
l>e|,,w  that  altitude.  The  water  in  fact  between  the  two 
impermeable  strata  is  in  the  same  circumstances  as  in  an 
artificial  pipe  ;  and  if  the  surface  of  the  ground  at  e  is  con- 
siderably lower  than  d.  the  ascensional  force  may  be  suf- 
ti,  m  ui  to  cau  -•   a  considerable  jet. 

Some  Artesian  fountains,  for  example  that  at  Lillers  in 
Artois,  are  situated  in  the  middle  of  immense  plains,  where 
not  the  most  insignificant  hill  is  to  be  seen  on  any  side.  In 
such  cases  it  may  he  inquired  where  we  are  to  look  for 
those  hydrostatic  columns  whose  pressure  causes  the  rise 
of  the  subterraneous  water  to  the  level  of  the  lowest  points  ') 
The  answer  is  obvious  :  we  must  suppose  them  placed  be- 
yond the  limits  of  view;  at  the  distance  of  50,  100,  or  200 
or  even  at  a  greater  distance.  The  necessity  of  sup- 
the  existence  of  a  subterraneous  liquid  column  of 

two  or  three  hundred  miles  of  extent  cannot  appear  a 
BeriOUS  objection,  when  it  is  considered  that  the  same  geo- 
logical structure  has  been  found  to  prevail  sometimes  over 
i  much  greater  extent  of  country.  An  interesting 
paper  on  this  subject  is  given  by  Arago,  in  the  "  Annuaire 
du  Bureau  ,l,  -  Longitudes,"  for  1835. 

ARTHRITIC.  (Gr.  apOpirif,  the  gout,  or  from  upOpov, 
G    ntv  pains,  chiefly  affecting  the   joints. 

IlRTHRO'DIC.  (Gr.  dpOpaois,  articulation.)  A  con- 
Ol  bones  In  W  inch  the  head  of  one  is  received  into 
a  very  superficial  cavity  in  another,  so  as  to  admit  of  mo- 
tion in  almost  all  directions;  as  in  the  joint  between  the 
B 

ARTIIIUt'DIK.K.  (Gr.  upOpov,  a  joint.)  Anamegiven 
to  those  algte  which,  like  conferva  and  oscillatorias,  have 
an  artii  ure. 

sJRTHRODI  NIC.  (Gr.  UpOpov,  a  joint,  and  olvvri.pain.) 
tic  and  other  painful  affections  of  the  joints. 

A'RTH'IIOKK.  (Kharciof,  the  Arabic  name  of  the  plant.) 
A  thistle-like  plant,  called  by  botanists  cynara  scolymus,  a 
native  of  the  south  of  Europe,  and  now  cultivated  for  its 
i,"  thai  is.  for  the  sake  of  the  fleshy  sweet  recep- 
tacle of  its  flowers  ;  the  harsh  hairy  substance  that  is 
pulled  away  consists  both  of  the  hairy  paleae  of  the  recep- 
tacle, and  of  the  feathery  pappus  of  the  ovaries.  The  dried 
artichokes,  called  by  the  French  "culs  d'artichaut,"  are 
the  receptacles  deprived  of  the  choke  and  the  spiny  hard 
hairs  of  the  involucre,  blanched  by  immersion  in  boiling 
water  and  dried  in  the  sun.  Jerusalem  artichokes  are 
quite  different ;  they  are  the  tubers  of  helianthus  tubero- 
sus,  and  derive  their  name,  not  from  the  Holy  City,  but 
irruption  of  the  Italian  girasole,  a  sunflower. 

A'RTK'LE.  A  part  of  speech  prefixed  to  substantives 
in  order  to  render  their  signification  more  or  less  definite. 
(See  Grammar.) 

A'RTICLES  OF  FAITH  are  the  particular  points  of  doc- 
trine which  together  make  up  the  sum  of  the  Christian  be- 
lief. The  various  churches  of  Christendom,  not  being 
agreed  upon  all  these  points,  have  for  the  most  part  set 
forth  their  own  expositions  of  the  whole  ;  and  it  is  to  these 
creeds,  symbols,  or  confessions,  that  the  term  article  is 
most  commonly  applied.  The  articles  of  the  English 
church  are  39  in  number:  the  substance  of  which  was  first 
promulgated  in  42  articles  by  Edward  VI.,  in  1553.  Under 
Henry  VIII.  a  committee  had  been  appointed  for  the  for- 
mation of  ecclesiastical  laws,  which  was  renewed  under 
his  successor  ;  and  in  1551,  according  to  Style,  "the  arch- 
bishop (Cranmer)  was  directed  to  draw  up  a  book  of  arti- 
cles for  preserving  and  maintaining  peace  and  unity  of 
doctrine  in  the  church,  that,  being  finished,  they  might  be 
set  forth  by  public  authority."  From  this  and  the  details 
that  follow,  it  seems  that  Cranmer  composed  the  articles 
in  their  original  form,  with  the  assistance  of  Ridley  and 
others.  A'great  similarity  in  thought  and  expression  may 
be  traced  between  many  of  the  articles  and  the  language 


ARTICLES  OF  WAR. 

of  the  Augsburg  Confession  :  the  Xlth  Article  (on  justifica- 
tion) corresponds  with  what  Cranmer  had  previously  writ- 
ten on  the  subject  in  private  memoranda.  There  has  been 
considerable  question  raised  as  to  the  authorities  from 
which  the  XVIIth  Article  (on  predestination)  is  derived ; 
for  while  some  persons  have  interpreted  expressions  in  it 
according  to  the  Calvinistic  system,  others  have  denied 
the  justice  of  such  interpretation,  and  have  undertaken  to 
show  that  Cranmer  must  have  referred  in  the  composition 
of  the  article  to  the  writings  and  sentiments  of  Luther  and 
Melancthon. 

On  the  accession  of  Elizabeth  these  artirleswere  remod- 
elled by  archbishop  Parker,  who  omitted  four  of  them,  in- 
troducing four  new  ones,  and  altering  seventeen.  These 
were  again  revised  by  convocation  in  1563,  some  alterations 
made,  and  the  number  reduced  to  thirty-eight. 

The  XXXIXth  was  restored  in  a  final  review  by  Parker 
in  1.371,  and  then  imposed  on  the  clergy  for  subscription. 
It  is  remarkable  that  in  the  manuscripts  and  earliest  edi- 
tions there  is  one  important  variation  in  the  admission  or 
rejection  of  the  first  clause  of  the  XXth  Article,  the  author- 
ity of  which  may  be  considered  as  virtually  recognising 
and  establishing  it. 

ARTICLES  OF  WAR,  the  code  of  military  law  embo- 
died in  the  Mutiny  Act,  which  is  passed  each  year. 

ARTI'CULATED.  (Lat.  articulus,  a  joint.)  Literally 
connected  by  an  articulation  or  moveable  joint ;  but  in 
plants  applied  to  cases  where  parts  are  so  slightly  con- 
nected that  they  finally  fall  asunder.  Thus  a  leaf  is  said  to 
be  articulated  with  its  stalk  when  the  two  finally  fall  asun- 
der. A  flower-stalk  is  articulated  in  the  middle  when  it  is 
contracted,  and  finally  separates  there  into  two  parts. 
This  separation  is  called  disarticulating.  It  is  a  curious 
fact  that  the  articulation  of  plants  uniformly  takes  effect 
across  the  longitudinal  or  woody  tissue,  and  never  parallel 
with  it ;  as  in  the  petiole,  in  a  stem  at  its  nodes,  in  the 
middle  of  legumes  and  other  kinds  of  seed  vessels. 

ARTI'CULATES,  ARTICULA'TA.  A  term  applied  by 
Cuvier  to  a  primary  division  of  the  animal  kingdom,  cha- 
racterised by  an  external  skeleton  in  the  form  of  a  series 
of  rings  articulated  together  and  surrounding  the  body  ;  by 
an  internal  gangliated  nervous  system  ;  the  ganglinus  being 
arranged  symmetrically  along  the  middle  line  of  the  body 
(See  Homogangliata),  and  by  having  distinct  respiratory 
organs. 

ARTICUL  A'TION.  The  connection  of  the  bones  of  the 
skeleton  by  joints. 

Articulation.  In  Painting  and  Sculpture,  the  movea- 
ble connection  of  the  bones,  in  the  representation  of  which 
by  the  artist  the  greatest  skill  and  knowledge  of  anatomy 
is  required. 

ARTI'CULATE,  or  HOMOOA'NGLIATE.  Division  of 
the  animal  kingdom.     See  those  words. 

ARTIFICER.  (Lat.  ars,  art,  and  facio,  I  rnalie.)  Lit. 
one  who  makes  according  to  art.  Among  the  Romans,  ar- 
tificers had  peculiar  privileges.  They  possessed  their  own 
temples,  and  enjoyed  an  exemption  from  personal  service. 
An  artificer  is  one"  who  requires  intellectual  refinement  in 
the  exercise  of  his  profession,  in  contradistinction  to  arti- 
san, who  may  practise  either  the  fine  or  useful  arts,  but 
whose  knowledge  is  limited  to  the  general  rules  of  his 
trade. 

ARTI'LLERY.  (Fr.  artiller,  to  fortify.)  In  a  general 
sense,  denotes  all  kinds  of  missiles  used  in  warfare,  with 
the  machines  by  which  they  are  propelled.  Since  the  in- 
vention of  gunpowder,  however,  the  term  has  been  chiefly 
confined  to  large  ordnance,  namely,  cannon,  howitzers, 
mortars,  rockets,  <fcc,  with  their  carriages,  ammunition, 
and  apparatus  of  all  kinds,  including  also  the  troops  espe- 
cially appointed  for  their  management. 

The  principal  military  engines  of  the  Romans,  which  can 
be  properly  classed  under  the  term  artillery,  were  the 
bahsta  and  catapulta;  the  former  for  throwing  stones,  the 
latter  for  propelling  darts  and  arrows.  The  invention  of 
the  balista  is  ascribed  by  Pliny  to  the  Phoenicians ;  but 
other  authors,  among  whom  are  Diodorus  and  Plutarch, 
say  that  both  instruments  were  invented  in  Sicily.  iElian 
ascribes  them  to  Dionysius  the  elder.  They  were  very 
extensively  employed  in  the  latter  periods  of  the  republic, 
and  under  the  empire.  In  the  middle  ages,  engines  for 
assaulting  and  defending  fortified  towns  or  castles  were 
greatly  multiplied.  Among  these  inventions  are  enume- 
rated the  espringal,  trebuchet,  mangona,  mangonel,  brieol- 
la,  petrary,  metafunda,  berfrey,  war- wolf,  <fcc.  It  is  stated 
in  the  chronicle  of  Peter  Langtoft,  that  Richard  I.  in  his 
wars  against  the  Saracens,  had  mills  in  his  barges  and  gal- 
leys which  were  turned  by  the  wind,  and  threw  fire  and 
stones  upon  the  enemy.  If  the  accounts  given  of  the  ef- 
fects of  some  of  these  machines  may  be  credited,  they 
must  have  been  of  great  power,  and  well  adapted  to  the 
purpose  of  battering  down  walls  and  fortifications.  It  is 
related  by  Hemingford,  that  the  engines  used  by  Edward  I. 
at  the  siege  of  the  castle  of  Stirling,  threw  stones  of  300 
pounds  weight. 
92 


ARTS. 

Though  the  explosive  force  of  gunpowder  was  known  to 
Roger  Bacon  in  the  twelfth  century,  it  was  at  a  considera- 
bly later  period  that  fire-arms  began  to  supersede  the  an- 
cient artillery.  Barbour,  in  his  "Metrical  Life  of  Robert 
Bruce,"  says  that  cannon  were  used  by  Edward  HI.  in  his 
first  campaign  against  the  Scots,  a.  d.  1327.  Du  Cange 
says  they  were  employed  by  the  French  at  the  siege  of 
Puy  Guillaume  in  133S ;  but  they  must  have  been  at  that 
time  very  uncommon,  for  Rapin  relates  that  the  four  can- 
non employed  by  Edward  III.  at  the  battle  of  Cressy,  in 
1346,  contributed  as  much  by  the  surprise  they  occasioned 
to  the  French  troops  as  by  their  execution,  to  the  suc- 
cess of  the  day.  A  few  years  later  they  seem  to  have 
been  no  longer  rare.  The  most  ancient  cannon  were 
formed  of  bars  or  pieces  of  iron,  soldered  to  each  other 
lengthwise,  and  bound  together  by  iron  hoops ;  occasion- 
ally lead,  or  even  leather,  protected  in  the  same  manner, 
appears  to  have  been  employed ;  and  the  cannon  balls  were 
made  of  stone.  About  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
cannon  began  to  be  cast ;  and  it  was  about  the  end  of  the 
same  century  that  font  metal,  or  bronze,  was  first  used  for 
this  purpose.  In  1477,  when  Louis  XI.  was  about  to  attack 
the  cities  of  Flanders  and  Picardy,  he  ordered  bombards 
or  cannon  of  prodigious  length  and  weight  to  be  cast  at 
Paris,  Tours,  Orleans  and  Amiens.  He  also  ordered  iron 
bullets  to  be  cast  at  the  foundries  of  Creil,  though  stone 
bullets  were  still  in  use.  Brass  cannon  appear  to  have 
been  first  cast  in  England  by  John  Owen,  in  1535.  A  foun- 
dciy  was  also  established  about  the  same  time  in  Edin- 
burgh, by  Robert  Borthwick,  an  artist  in  the  service  of  James 
IV.  of  Scotland.  Mortars  were  made  in  England  under  the 
n  ign  of  Henry  VIII.  and  cast  iron  cannon  under  that  of 
Edward  VI.  About  the  beginning  of  the  15th  century,  the 
custom  of  applying  to  cannon  the  name  of  birds  or  beasts, 
from  some  fanciful  analogies  respecting  their  cruelty  or 
swiftness,  began  to  prevail ;  thence  the  names  falconet, 
falcon,  sacker,  culverin,  basilisk,  dragon,  syren,  &c.  At 
present  cannon  take  their  names  simply  from  the  weight 
of  the  ball  they  carry.  Thus  a  piece  which  discharges  a 
cast-iron  ball  of  24  pounds,  is  called  a  24-pounder ;  one 
that  carries  a  ball  of  12  pounds,  is  called  a  12-pounder ;  and 
so  on.  The  size  of  the  gun  is  determined  by  the  service 
to  which  it  is  appropriated  ;  and  frequently  by  the  means 
of  transport,  or  facility  of  manoeuvring.  Ship  guns  and 
garrison  guns,  not  requiring  to  be  moved  from  place  to 
place,  admit  of  large  sizes,  and  are  frequently  made  to 
carry  balls  of  32.  36,  or  even  42  pounds.  The  largest  can- 
non known  to  exist  is  a  brass  one  at  Beejapoor,  which  was 
cast  in  commemoration  of  the  capture  of  that  place,  by 
Alum  Geer  in  1685.  Its  extreme  length  is  14  feet  1  inch, 
the  diameter  of  its  bore  2  feet  4  inches.  An  iron  shot  of 
the  proper  size  to  fill  this  bore  would  weigh  1600  pounds. 

Mortars  are  probably  as  ancient  as  cannon,  and  were 
employed  to  throw  red-hot  iron  and  stones  long  before  the 
invention  of  shells.  The  first  account  of  shells  used  for 
military  purposes  is  in  1435,  when  Naples  was  besieged  by 
Charles  VIB.  The  howitzer  is  a  species  of  ordnance  of  a 
medium  length  between  the  cannon  and  the  mortar,  and  is 
used  for  discharging  either  shells  or  large  balls  at  point- 
blanc,  or  at  a  small  elevation.  It  is  said  to  have  been  in- 
vented by  Belidor,  and  was  used  at  the  siege  of  Ath  in 
1697.  It  is  chiefly  made  of  brass.  The  carronade,  a  very, 
short  howitzer,  was  first  cast  at  the  Carron  Iron  Works; 
from  which  it  takes  its  name.  It  began  to  be  employed 
about  the  year  1779.  Iron-rockets,  the  invention  of  Sir 
William  Congreve,  were  first  used  at  the  bombardment  of 
Copenhagen.  (See  Wilkinson's  Engines  of  War ;  Greener 
on  Gunnery  ;  Greener  on  the  Gun,  &c.) 

ARTILLERY  PARK.  The  place  in  a  camp,  or  the  rear 
of  an  army,  where  the  artillery  is  placed.  The  artillery  is 
drawn  up  in  lines,  one  of  which  is  formed  by  the  guns, 
the  others  by  the  ammunition  waggons,  pontoons,  &c. ; 
and  the  whole  is  surrounded  by  a  rope,  which  forms  the  park. 

ARTILLERY  TRAIN.  A  number  of  pieces  of  ordnance 
mounted  on  carriages,  and  ready  for  service. 

ARTISAN.     See  Artificer. 

ARTOCA'RPE^.  (Gr.  apros,  bread,  Kaptrdg,  fruit; 
breadfruit  tree.)  A  considerable  division  among  urti- 
caceous  plants,  having  the  fruit  composed  of  flowers  com- 
bined in  fleshy  heads,  and  the  stem  flowing  with  an  acrid 
milk.  The  bread-fruit  tree  of  the  South  Seas,  and  the  jack- 
fruit,  are  among  the  most  conspicuous  species.  With  them 
are  associated  the  upas  tree,  and  the  fig,  in  different  genera. 
The  bread-fruit  tree  itself  (artocarpus  incisa)  is  a  small 
tree  with  broad  lobed  leaves  and  large  globular  heads  of 
fruit ;  the  jack  (artocarpus  integrifolia)  has  oblong  undivided 
leaves,  and  a  large,  coarser,  and  oblong  fruit.  In  all  the 
species  of  artocarpeae  the  flowers  are  unisexual. 

ARTS,  FINE.  (Lat.  artes.)  Works  imagined  and  exe- 
cuted by  the  mind  and  ingenuity  of  man.  They  include 
painting,  architecture,  sculpture,  poetry,  music,  rhetoric, 
and,  according  to  some,  dancing.  Their  history,  as  res- 
pects the  three  first,  will  be  found  under  several  heads 
in  this  work,  and  a  concise  account  of  the  philosophy  of 


ARUNDINACEOUS. 

them  under  the  article  JEathetics.  They  are  distinct  from 
the  arts  simply  so  called,  commonly  called  the  useful  arts 
from  tlieir  general  utility  to  mankind,  because  their  end  is 
pleasure.  The  fine  arts  are  the  offspring  of  genius,  their 
nature,  and  their  master  taste.  Characterised  by 
simplicity,  they  should  never  wander  into  luxury  nor  de- 
generate  into  extravagance. 

ARUNDINA'CEOUS.  (Lat.  arundo,  aree.d.)  Anything 
having  the  general  appearance  of  a  reed.  The  term  is  con- 
fin. -d  to  glumaceous  plants. 

ARU'SPICES.  Roman  soothsayers,  who  foretold  future 
events  from  the  inspection  of  the  entrails  of  the  victims 
offered  at  the  altars  of  the  g 

Their  college  was  not  held  in  the  same  respect  as  that 
of  the  augurs,  and  did  nol  consist,  like  the  latter,  of  men 
of  high  distinction  :  bo  much  bo,  that  Cicero  mentions  the 
admission  of  one  of  their  order  to  the  senate,  as  an  indig- 
nity to  that  hody.  Like  that  of  the  augurs,  their  art  was 
from  Etruria. 

ARVI'COLA.  (Lat  nrvum,  a  field;  colere,  to  inhabit.) 
A  genus  .if  rodent,  or  gnawing  mammals,  i if  the  numerous 
family  of  the  rat  and  listinguished  by  the 

prismatic  form  and  fangless  structure  of  the  molar  teeth. 
and  of  which  the  field  campagnol  (An  (is)  and 

the  bank  campagnol     I  iparia)  are  indigenous  spe- 

cies; these  are  commonly  confounded  with  oil 
under  the  name  of  field  mice. 

AS.     A  Roman  weight  marly  answering  to  one  pound, 
being  accurately  equal  to  10  oz.  18  dwt.  13-J  grs.  troy 
It  was  divided  into  12  oum 

li  was  also  the  name  of  a  brass  coin,  which  originally 
weighed  one  pound  :  bul  was  subsequently  reduced  by  va- 
rious degrees  al  different  periods  to  half  an  ounce,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  gradual  Increase  of  the  value  of  a 
compared  with  thai  of  pro  tries,  as 

civili  ced.    Its  value  was  a  little  mo 

farthings  of  English  money. 

A'SAPHUa  (Gi  daaiptis,  obscure.)  A  name  devised  to 
express  the  obscure  nature  of  the  genus  trilobites,  fossil 
crustaceans,  t<>  which  it  is  attached  |  and  which  Is  charac- 
terised by  a  tail-like  appendage  terminating  the  posterior 
extremity  of  the  body,  sometimes  of  a  semicircular  form, 
som<  timi  -  in  the  shape  of  a  short  triangle,  and  by  tuber- 
culate  eyes,  which  have  a  granular  Burface  arising  from  the 
number  of  compartments  (al  leas)  400)  on  the  surface  of 
the  cornea,  containing  each  helical  lens. 

AS,\k\i:\      i  irum,  a  kind  of plant,  and  I 

berry.)    A  small,  round,  hard,  Bti  tnless,  hardy  European 
herbaceous    plant,    with    chocolate-coloured    three-lobed 
flowers,  belonging  to  the  natural  order  Aristolochi 
It  is  reputed  to  be  i  h  call  it  caba- 

ret, the  public-house  plant,  as  H  is  said,  because  it  was 
formerly  used  as  an  emetic  to  relieve  the  atom 
pie  who  had  been  drinking  !•>"  lend 

A'SARIN.  A  crysiallisni.li'  substance,  somewhat  re- 
sembling camphor,  extracted  from  the  roots  of  the  Asarum 
rm  opseum. 

VSBE'STUS.  (Gr  itfffsoros,unamaumable.)  Afibrous 
soft  mineral,  composed  ol  easily  separable  filaments  of  a 
silky  In  she.  li  consists  essentiallj  of  silica,  magnesia,  and 
lime.  It  is  sometimes  woven  into  cloth,  which  is  incom- 
bustible, and  may  therefore  be  purified  by  fire  :  hence  the 
term  amianthus,  from  ditiavi  ilea.    This  cloth  was 

used  in  antiquity  to  wrap  th  i  when  about 

to  be  burned,  m  prevent  their  ashes  being  mixed  with  those 
ofthe  funeral  pile. 

\>(  A'l.  Wilis.  A  Fabrician  genus  ..f  insects  sepa- 
rated from  ile-  ant  lions  :  Lit  tnd  cha- 
racterised by  having  nearly  equal  palpi  ;  maxilla  ciliate  ; 
labium  horny,  rounded,  and  entire. 

s.SCA'RIDES  (Gr.  d<r<capic,  a  term  applied  by  Hippo- 
crates i"  .  ertain  intestinal  worms.)  In  modern  /  lology  re- 
stricted to  a  genus  of  round  worms,  or  cselelminthans,  with 
a  trilobate  or  trivalvular  head,  tnd  a  double  spiculumfor 

the  intromittent  organ.    Two  s| ies  of  this  genus  infest 

the  human  body;  one  large,  found  in  the  small  intestines, 
called  Ascaris  lumbricoides  :  the  other  of  v  iry  small  size, 
found  in  the  rectum,  ■  ailed  Ascaris  vermicularis. 

ASI'l'.'MHM;       (l.at     asceiido,  /.         '>up.)     Is  said  of 

any   part   which,  being   horizontal  at  its  base,  gradually 
curves  upwards,  as  is  the  case  in  many  stems.    Ii  a 
to  ovules,  it  means  that  they  are  attached  to  the  placenta 
by  a  point  intermediate  between  the  lower  end  and  the 
middle. 

ASCENDING  NODE.  In  Astronomy,  is  that  point  of  a 
planet's  orbit  in  which  it  crosses  the  ecliptic,  proceeding 
northward     (See  Node.) 

ASCENDING  SIGNS.  The  signs  are  said  to  be  ascend- 
ing when  they  are  eastward  from  the  meridian,  and  conse- 
quently approaching  the  meridian  through  the  effect  ofthe 
diurnal  rotation. 

ASCE'NSION.      In  Astronomy,  is  either  right  or  ob- 
lique :  the  Right  Ascension  of  a  star  denotes  the  arc  of 
93 


ASCIDIUM. 

the  equator  intercepted  between  the  first  point  of  Aries  and 
that  point  of  the  equator  which  comes  to  the  meridian  at 
the  same  instant  with  the  star.  The  most  convenient  way 
of  ccfining  the  place  of  a  star  is  to  refer  it  to  the  equator, 
and  to  a  certain  fixed  point  in  the  equator  from  which  the 
degrees  are  begun  to  be  reckoned.  For  this  purpose 
astronomers  choose  the  point  of  the  equator  at  which  the 
sun's  path  crosses  it  when  he  ascends  into  the  northern 
hemisphere,  which  is  the  first  point  of  Aries,  or  the  vernal 
equinox,  and  reckon  the.  degrees  along  the  equator  east- 
ward, all  round  the  circle.  Now,  to  determine  the  plane 
of  any  star,  a  great  circle  is  conceived  to  pass  through  it, 
intersecting  the  equator  at  right  angles.  The  distance  of 
the  star  from  the  equator,  measured  on  the  circle,  is  called 
iis  declination  ;  and  the  distance  ofthe  pointof  intersection 
of  the  equator  and  the  circle  from  the  vernal  equinox,  is 
called  the  riidit  ascension  ofthe  star.  The  right  ascension 
and  declination  are  thus  the  two  co-ordinates  by  means  of 
which  the  plane  of  any  star  is  determined.  The  right  as- 
cension is  reckoned  in  time,  because  it  is  found  by  ob- 
serving the  time  on  the  sidereal  clock  which  elapses  be- 
tween the  passage  ofthe  first  point  of  Aries  and  that  ofthe 
star  over  the  meridian.  When  the  first  point  of  Aries 
passes  the  meridian  the  astronomical  day  begins  ;  astrono- 
mers then  reckon  ii  hours  0  min.  0  sec.  Suppose  a  star  to 
•n  the  meridian  5  hours  35  min.  26  sec.  after  this  : 
then  ">  hours  35  min.  'Jo  sec.  is  the  star's  risrht  ascension  in 
time,  and  is  equivalent  to  an  arc  of  the  equator  of  83°  51' 
30",  because  an  hour  in  time  corresponds  to  15°  in  space, 
and  a  minute  or  second  in  time  to  15  minutes  or  seconds  in 
spue.  If  the  clock,  therefore,  is  regulated  to  keep  time 
with  the  heavens,  the  time  Indicated  by  the  clock  at  which 
any  starpasses  the  meridian  is  the  right  ascension  of  the 
star  in  I 

Tin  ( in  iq,ub  Ascension  of  a  staris  the  arc  ofthe  equa- 
tor intercepted  between  tin-  vernal  equinox  anil  that  point 
..(' the  equator  which  comes  to  the  horizon  at  the  same 
time  with  the  star.  This  varies  with  the  latitude  ofthe 
place  of  observation  At  the  equator  it  coincides  with  the 
righl  ascension  This  term  is  now  seldom  used  in  astro- 
nomy. 

ONAL  Piffeiience  is  the  differenci  t..t  ween  the 

the  tighl  ascension.     This  term  is  chjeflj  used 

in  respect  Of  the  sun,  because  when   the  arc  which  it  de. 

not.  -  is  turned  into  time  it  shows  tin-  time  before  or  after 
si\  o'clock  of  sunrise.    The  sit i  the  ascensions]  differ- 
ence is  equal  to  the  tangent  of  the  latitude  multiplied  into 
star's  declination;   hence,  when  the 
declination  "I  a   -fir  i-  north,  its  oblique  ascension  is  found 
by  subtracting                    onal  difference  from  the  right  as- 
cension, and  when  the  declination  is  south,  by  adding  the 
iional  difference  to  the  right  ascension. 
On  account  of  the  greatei  precision  with  which  observa- 
tions are  made  with  fixed  meridional  instruments,  all  astro- 
nomical  elements  are  now  computed  from  observations  of 
right  ascension  and  declination  ;  but  iti  ancient  times  the 

positions  of  the  c.les!  la  I  bodies  Were  Chiefly  referred  to  the 
horizon,  and  hence  the  oblique  ascensions  and  uscertsioncd 
iti  nd  constantly  into  the  solutions  of  astro- 
I  problems. 

Ascension.  The  reception  of  our  Saviour  into  glory, 
after  his  last  appearance  on  earth  :  celebrated  in  theChris- 
turch,  from  time  immemorial,  on  the  last  Thursday 
but  one  before  Whit-Sunday.  Rogation  week,  that  in 
which  the  ascension  is  celebrated,  is  so  termed  from  the 
1 1 ions  or  litanies)  which  were  used  in  the  per- 
ambulation of  the  bounds  of  the  parish,  which,  according 
to  ancient  usage,  took  place  in  this  week. 

ASCE'TICS.  (Gr.  atnrcoi,  I  exercise.)  Persons  who,  in 
the  e  uly  ag.s  of  Christianity,  devoted  themselves  to  a  soli- 
tary and  contemplative  life,  following  the  system  ofthe  Es- 
senes  and  TherepeutX  among  the  Jews,  and  practising 
usterities,  with  a  view  to  mortify  the  flesh  and  ab- 
stract the  mind  from  worldly  objects.  They  had  their  origin 
in  Egypt  and  Syria,  and  appear  to  have  suggested  the  first 
i.l.a  ofmonachism. 

A'SCI.  (Gr.  d<r/co?.  a  bottle.)  Little  membranous  bags 
or  bladders,  in  which  the  seed  like  reproductive  particles 
or  spores  of  lichens,  fungi,  <Scc.  are  enclosed. 

A'SCI  ANS.  oi' ASCII.  (Gr.  a.  without,  and  OKia.shadmr.) 
A  term  found  in  the  older  works  on  geography, and  used  to 
denote  those  inhabitants  of  the  globe  who  at  certain  times 
of  the  year  have  no  shadow.  This  can  only  happen  with 
t  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  torrid  zone,  wdio,  twice  a 
year,  have  the  sun  in  the  zenith. 

ASCI'DIAN,  ASCIDIA.  (Gr.  dcricd;,  a  bottle,  or  pouch.) 
A  genus  of  heterobranchiate  acephalous  molluscs,  or  tuni- 
caries, characterised  by  a  body  having  the  form  and  com- 
monly the  consistence  of  a  tousrh  leather  pouch,  attached 
to  some  foreign  substance,  and  with  two  openings,  one 
branchial,  and  the  other  anal,  from  which  streams  of 
wai.r  are  forcibly  ejected  when  the  animal  is  touched  or 
irritated. 

AS'CIDFJM.    (Gr.  doicds,  a  bottle.)    A  hollow  pitcher- 


ASCITES. 

shaped  body  found  upon  the  stems  of  certain  plants,  as  ne- 
penthes, sarracennia,  <fcc.  It  usually  contains  water,  and  is 
sometimes  clothed  with  reflexed  hairs,  which  prevent  the 
escape  of  insects  which  fall  into  it;  its  use  is  unknown. 
In  nepenthes,  sarracennia.  cephalotus,  and  dischidia,  it  is 
in  reality  a  leaf  rolled  up  till  its  edges  touch,  when  they 
grow  together ;  in  marcgraavia,  it  is  a  bract  in  the  same 

ASCITES.     (Gr.  aoKos.)    Dropsy  of  the  belly. 

ASCLEPIADA'CE^.  (Asclepias,  one  of  the  genera.) 
Monopetalous  exogenous  plants,  with  bifollicular  fruit,  the 
stamens  adhering  to  the  stigma,  which  is  large  and  penta- 
gonal, and  an  acrid  milk  in  their  stems.  They  are  exceed- 
ingly different  in  appearance,  some  being  trees  with  showy 
flowers,  others  obscure  twiners  with  very  inconspicuous 
herbaceous  corollas,  others  herbaceous  plants  with  clusters 
of  gaily  coloured  flowers,  and  others  leafless  decumbent 
shrubs  with  angular  stems  and  brown  putrescent  flowers. 
The  latter  are  stapelias.  Hoya,  with  its  delicate  waxen 
flowers  running  with  honey,  is  a  genus  of  the  order;  and 
another  is  the  curious  climbing  water  carrier  called  dischi- 
dia, which  mounts  to  the  tops  of  lofty  trees  with  its  fleshy 
bags  filled  with  a  constant  supply  of  water.  Some  of  the 
species  are  valuable  for  the  toughness  of  the  fibre  extract- 
ed from  their  stems.  The  milky  secretion  of  these  plants 
contains  caoutchouc,  or  Indian  rubber ;  it  is  of  an  emetic 
nature,  and  in  some  cases  it  is  dangerous.  Asclepias  tube- 
rosa,  the  butterfly  weed  of  North  America,  is  the  hand- 
somest of  the  hardy  species.  This  order  only  exists  in 
temperate  climates,  and  is  most  copious  in  the  tropics. 

ASH.  (Celt,  ac,  a  point ;  its  wood  being  used  for  pikes.) 
The  fraxinus  of  botanists,  consists  of  several  species  of 
hardy  trees,  usually  valuable  for  their  timber.  The  tough 
ash  wood  of  carpenters  is  yielded  by  Fraxinus  excelsior, 
and  the  sweet  substance  called  manna  by  Raxinus  ornus. 
They  mostly  bear  flowers  without  petals ;  but  the  latter 
species  having  those  organs  is  called,  in  distinction,  the 
flowering  ash. 

A'SHLAR.  (Ital.  asciare,  to  chip.)  In  Architecture, 
common  freestones,  as  they  are  brought  rough  and  chip- 
ped or  detached  from  the  quarry,  of  different  lengths  and 
thicknesses.     Their  usual  thickness  is  nine  inches. 

ASHLERING.  (From  same  as  last.)  In  Architecture, 
the  upright  timber  or  quarters  towards  the  rooms  or  in- 
wards in  garrets  by  which  the  slope  of  the  roof  is  con- 
cealed—sometimes it  is  only  two  or  three  feet  high,  and 
sometimes  the  whole  height  of  the  room. 

ASH- WEDNESDAY.  The  first  day  in  Lent,  called  in 
the  Latin  church  dies  cinerum,  the  day  of  ashes ;  it  being 
customary  on  that  day  for  penitents  to  appear  in  church 
clothed  in  sackcloth,  upon  which  occasion  ashes  were 
sprinkled  upon  them. 

ASI'LUS.  A  Linneean  genus  of  dipterous  insects,  in 
which  the  mouth  is  furnished  with  a  horny,  projecting, 
straight,  two-valved  sucker,  and  gibbous  at  the  base :  an- 
tennae filiform,  approximate,  of  two  articulations ;  body, 
oblong  and  conical  in  shape.  The  insects  of  this  genus 
prey  on  other  insects,  especially  those  of  the  dipterous  and 
lepidopterous  orders. 

ASP.  (Gr.  ao-iris,  an  asp.)  A  species  of  poisonous  ser- 
pent frequently  mentioned  by  ancient  authors,  some  of 
whom  describe  its  bite  as  being  inevitably  mortal,  and  say 
that  the  bitten  die  within  three  hours,  and  without  pain, 
being  thrown  into  a  deep  sleep  ;  whence  it  was  selected 
by  Cleopatra  as  the  instrument  with  which  at  once  to  ter- 
minate her  existence,  and  bereave  her  conqueror  of  the 
chief  feature  of  his  triumph.  There  is  always  much  diffi- 
culty in  identifying  the  precise  species  mentioned  in  the 
classical  writings  of  antiquity,  from  the  vague  manner  in 
which  they  are  there  alluded  to.  Some  naturalists  are  of 
opinion  that  the  species  of  hooded  viper,  called  by  the 
modern  Arabs  'El  Haje'  [Vipera  (Naja)  Haje,  Cuvier]  is 
the  '  Aspis'  of  the  ancients;  and  as  it  possesses  the  power 
of  distending  the  skin  of  the  neck,  like  the  Indian  Cobra 
di  Capello,  it  agrees  with  one  of  the  characters  assigned  by 
Pliny  to  the  Aspis — "  Colla  aspidum  intumescere,"  lib.  viii. 
The  size,  however,  of  the  Haje,  which  varies  from  three 
to  five  feet,  is  greater  than  that  which  is  usually  attributed 
to  Cleopatra's  asp. 

ASPA'RAGIN.  A  white  crystallisable  substance  obtain- 
ed from  the  expressed  juice  of  asparagus.  It  has  been 
proposed  as  a  diuretic  in  medicine. 

ASPA'RAGUS.  (Gr.  <nrapd<r<ra),  /  tear.)  A  genus  of 
spiny  plants,  many  of  which  are  shrubs,  and  climb  upon 
other  plants.  They  all  have  minute  scale-like  leaves,  small 
white  or  greenish  flowers,  and  berried  fruit ;  very  often 
they  produce  short  leafless  branches,  in  room  of  leaves. 
Asparagus  officinalis,  one  of  the  few  species  which  neither 
climb  nor  bear  spines,  is  found  wild  occasionally  on  the 
seashore  near  Weymouth.  The  succulent  shoots  which  it 
throws  up  from  its  underground  eyes  are  the  asparagus  of 
the  market  gardeners.  It  is  not  a  little  singular,  that  al- 
though this  plant  has  been  an  object  of  careful  cultivation 
for  so  many  vears,  it  should  never  yet  have  produced  a 
94 


ASSASSINS. 

well-marked  permanent  variety ;  the  sorts,  as  they  are 
called  in  the  shops,  are  produced  by  casual  differences  of 
soil  or  cultivation,  and  are  not  distinct  varieties. 

ASPARA'GINOUS  PLANTS.  In  Hort.  In  a  strict  sense, 
this  term  ought  to  be  applied  only  to  such  plants  as  belong 
to  asparagines ;  but  in  horticulture  it  is  used  to  signify  all 
those  culinary  vegetables  the  points  of  the  tender  shoots 
of  which  in  spring,  when  they  nearly  emerge  from  the 
soil,  are  eaten,  in  the  same  manner  as  those  of  asparagus : 
such,  for  example,  as  the  points  of  the  common  hop,  of 
the  sea-kale,  &c. 

ASPA'RTIC  ACID.  When  asparagin  is  boiled  with  mag- 
nesia it  is  resolved  into  ammonia  and  a  peculiar  acid  called 
as  above. 

A'SPECT.  In  Architecture,  the  direction  towards  the 
point  of  the  compass  in  which  a  building  is  placed.  The 
aspectus  is  also  used  by  Vitruvius  to  denote  the  external 
distribution  of  a  temple.  Thus  he  describes  seven  sorts 
of  aspects  of  temples:  that  in  Antis,  the  Prostyle,  Am 
phiprostyle,  Peripteral,  Dipteral,  Pseudodipteral,  and  Hy- 
psethral ;  under  which  words  they  are  severally  described. 

Aspect.  In  Astrology,  the  angle  formed  by  the  rays  of 
light  proceeding  from  two  planets,  and  meeting  at  the  earth, 
and  which  are  supposed  to  possess  some  natural  influence. 
(-S'ee  Astrology.) 

Aspect.  In  Hort.  In  speaking  of  the  inclination  of 
the  surface  of  the  ground,  the  word  aspect  is  used  with 
reference  to  tne  sun,  as  the  word  exposure  is  with  re- 
ference to  the  wind.  Hence,  a  garden,  the  surface  of 
which  slopes  to  the  east,  has  an  eastern  aspect,  and  also 
an  eastern  exposure  ;  but  a  garden  on  a  flat  surface,  shel- 
tered by  plantations  on  the  east,  west,  and  north,  cannot  be 
said  to  have  any  aspect,  while  it  has  a  southern  exposure, 
being  open  to  the  winds  of  the  south,  though  sheltered 
from  those  blowing  from  the  other  cardinal  points  of  the 
compass. 

ASPERGI'LLIFORM.  (Lat.  aspergillus,  the  brush  with 
which  holy  water  is  scattered  about  in  Roman  Catholic  places 
of  icorship.)  Any  thing  shaped  like  that  instrument ;  it  is 
chiefly  used  in  speaking  of  the  stigmas  of  grasses. 

ASPERGI'LLUM.  A  genus  of  tubicolar  Bivalves,  charac 
terised  by  the  soldering  of  both  valves  to  the  inner  surface 
of  the  calcareous  sheath  ;  which  is  dilated  or  club-shaped  at 
the  lower  end,  and  perforated  there  by  many  small  holes, 
whence  it  has  obtained  the  trivial  name  of  the  "Watering- 
pot  Shell."  In  the  system  of  Cuvier,  this  rare  and  re- 
markable genus  ranks  among  the  Family  Clausa,  of  the 
Class  Acephala  testacea. 

ASPERIFO'LI.E.  (Lat.  asper,  rough,  folium,  a  leaf.) 
The  name  given  by  Linnaeus  to  the  plants  now  called  Bo- 
raginaceous. 

ASPE'RMOUS.  (Gr.  d,  without,  ciripaa,  seed.)  Destitute 
of  seed. 

ASPHA'LTUM.  (Gr.  a,  priv.  and  c^aWco,  I  slip,  from 
its  use  as  a  cement  in  ancient  building.)  A  black  brittle  bitu- 
men, very  fusible  and  inflammable  ;  it  is  soluble  in  naphtha, 
and  forms  a  good  varnish.  It  is  found  upon  the  surface 
and  banks  of  the  Dead  Sea  (hence  called  Asphaltic  Lake), 
and  in  large  quantity  in  Trinidad  and  Barbadoes  ;  the  anci- 
ents employed  it  in  some  of  their  cements,  and  it  was  used 
also  in  the  art  of  embalming. 

ASPHODE'LEjE.  (Asphodelus,  the  principal  genus.) 
Subdivision  of  the  natural  order  Liliaceae,  comprehending 
the  onion,  the  squill,  the  ornithogalum,  anthericum.  aspa- 
ragus, and  similar  genera.  They  differ  from  true  liliaceae 
in  little  beyond  their  flowers  being  usually  smaller.     (See 

LlLIACE.E.) 

ASPHY'XIA.  (Gr.  d,  without,  and  <7c£i'£i?, pulsation.)  A 
fainting  fit :  a  state  of  body  in  which  the  pulse  cannot  be 
felt,  and  in  which  the  powers  of  mind  and  body  are  sus- 
pended. 

ASPIDORTRY'NCHUS.  (Gr.  dams,  a  shield,  pvyxou 
a  beak-.)  The  name  of  a  fossil  extinct  genus  of  sauroid 
fishes  characterised  by  the  length  and  bony  covering  of  the 
unper  jaw. 

ASSAl-'CE'TIDA.  A  fetid  gum  resin  obtained  from  the 
root  of  the  ferula  assafa/ida,  whence  it  exudes  by  incision 
in  the  form  of  a  milky  juice,  which,  when  dried  by  expo- 
sure to  the  sun,  acquires  a  mottled  appearance  and  pink 
colour.  It  is  a  native  of  the  south  of  Persia,  and  is  used  in 
medicine  as  a  stimulant  and  antispasmodic  in  hysteric  and 
nervous  disorders,  and  in  spasmodic  cough,  asthma,  and 
flatulent  colic. 

ASSA'I.  (Ital.  enough.)  In  Music,  an  adverb  of  quantity 
prefixed  to  such  words  as  allegro,  adagio,  &c,  signifying 
that  the  motion  of  the  bars  or  measures  should  be  kept  at 
a  mean  rate  of  quickness  or  slowness,  quick  or  slow 
enouiih,  but  not  too  much  so  in  one  or  the  other  case. 

ASSA'SSINS.  Those  who  attack  and  kill  by  treachery 
and  violence  persons  unprepared  for  defence.  The  word 
is  derived  from  a  military  and  reliaious  order,  formed 
in  Persia  by  Hassan  Ben  Sabah,  about  the  middle  of  the 
eleventh  century,  and  called  Assassins  from  their  immode- 
rate use  of  Haschischah  (henbane),  which  produced  an  ex- 


ASSAULT. 

citement  amounting  to  fury.  Hammer,  in  his  History  of 
the  Assassins,  has  opened  some  new  and  striking  views  of 
the  origin,  proceedings,  and  doctrines  of  this  sect.  Their 
principal  seat  was  in  the  mountains;  and  they  were  sub- 
ject to  the  control  of  a  prince,  or,  according  to  Hamm'  r,  a 
grand  master,  who  possessed  such  an  ascendency  ovr  his 
fanatical  subjects  that  they  paid  the  most  implicit  deference 
to  his  commands,  esteemed  assassination  meritorious 
when  sanctified  by  his  mandate,  and  courted  danger,  and 
even  certain  death,  in  the  execution  of  his  orders.  Nor 
did  they  stoop  to  humble  prey  ;  for  the  more  lofty  the  ob- 
ject of  their  hatred,  the  more  sure  and  deadly  was  their 
aim.  In  the  time  of  the  crusades,  they  mustered  to  the 
number  of  50,000,  and  presented  a  formidable  obstacle  to 
the  arms  of  the  Christians.  Among  the  victims  of  their 
swords,  at  this  period,  may  be  mentioned  Conrad.  Mar- 
quis of  Montferrat,  who  was  murdered  in  the  market-place 
of  Tyre,  in  the  year  1192.  Several  historians  have  charged 
upon  Richard  I.  the  instigation  to  this  crime  ;  but  it  is  a 
point  which  none  have  succeeded  in  elucidating.  Longaf- 
ter  this  period  the  Assassins  continued  to  levy  contributions 
in  return  for  the  safety  which  they  afforded  to  distinguish- 
ed individuals  ;  but  they  were  at  length,  after  an  obstinate 
resistance,  effectually  crushed  by  the  sultan  Bibars.  Scat- 
tered abroad,  however,  hated  and  despised,  the  order  of 
the  Assassins,  like  that  of  the  Jesuits,  en  lured  long  after 
its  nominal  suppression,  and  the  mountainous  regions  of 
Kuhistan  offered  for  a  time  a  secure  asylum  to  those  who 
still  lingered  in  their  faith.  Remnants  of  the  Assassins 
still  exist  both  in  Persia  and  Syria,  but  merely  as  one  of  the 
many  sects  and  heresies  of  ismalism,  and  otter  strangers 
to  the  murderous  tactics  of  their  predecessors. 

The  numerous  battles  and  enterprises  of  the  Assassins, 
their  valorous  defence  against  the  armies  of  the  crusaders 
and  the  great  sultan  Bibars,  and  the  adventurous  cb 
of  their  whole  history,  opeued  a  fertile  source  to  the  Sj  rian 
romance  writers,  of  which,  according  to  Hammer,  they 
have  freely  and  skilfully  availed  themselves. 

ASSAU'LT.    (Lai  assilio.  I  leap  upon.)    In  Law,  I 
rally  speaking,  a  violent  kind  of  injury  offen 
person.    The  nature  of  an  assault  has  never  been  precisely 
defined;  some  lawyers  being  of  opinion  i li.it  a  blow  or  an 
attempt  to  strike  alone  constitutes  the  offence,  oiher>  in- 
cluding under  this  category  irritating  or  abusive  Ian.' 

Assault.  In  War,  an  effort  made  to  carry  a  fortified 
post,  camp,  or  fortress,  wherein  the  assailants  do  not 
screen  themselves  by  any  works.  During  an  assault,  to 
avoid  endangering  their  own  parly,  the  batteries  of  the  as- 
sailants cease  to  play. 

Assaclt.  In  Fencing,  a  mock  engagement  with  foils, 
in  imitation  of  a  real  single  combat. 

ASS.v'V.  (Fr.  essay er,  to  try.)  This  term  is  sometimes 
employed  as  synonymous  with  analysis,  bul  mon 
rally  restricted  to  the  determination  of  the  composition 
and  consequent  value  of  alloys  of  gold  and  silver.  From 
the  quantity  of  com.  plate,  and  trinkets  constantly  fabri- 
cated, the  art  of  assaying  is  of  much  lm  and  re- 
quires considerable  practical  skill  in  its  perfbrmanct  v 
the  mint  there  are  two  assay  masters  is  as- 
sayer  and  the  king's  assayer:  the  business  of  the  former 
is  to  receive  the  gold  and  silver  ingots  brought  for  coinage, 
to  cut  one  or  more  pieces  from  each  ingot,  and  to  make  win- 
ten  rpports  of  each  assay.  The  king's  assayer  examines  the 
melted  bars  previous  to  their  passing  into  the  moneyers' 
hands  for  coinage,  and  is  responsible  for  their  standard 

purity:  and  when  the  m ■>  is  coined  it  is  not  allowed  to 

go  out  of  the  mint  until  pixed  ;  that  is,  until  it  has  been  as- 
certained, by  the  assay  of  one  piece  taken  out  of  each 
i'ourney  weight  of  coin,  that  it  is  of  standard  purity:  the 
Ling's  assayer  therefore  is  a  check  officer  upon  the  melter 
and  upon  tite  moneyers,  and  is  responsible  for  the  standard 
purity  of  all  gold  and  silver  coin  issued  from  the  mint. 
About  twelve  grains  of  gold,  and  twenty  grains  of  silver, 
are  usually  employed  for  the  assay. 

ASSE'MBLY.  In  French  history,  the  four  great  legisla- 
tive bodies  which  succeeded  each  other  during  the  period 
of  the  Revolution,  are  usually  termed,  1.  The  \ 
Constituent  Assembly ;  commenced  17th  of  June,  1789,  by 
the  resolution  of  the  deputies  of  the  communes  in  the 
States-General,  constituting  themselves  a  national  assem- 
bly, to  which  the  deputies  of  the  nobles  and  clergy  after- 
wards adhered ;  termed  Constituent  Assembly,  from  hav- 
ing framed  a  constitution  :  dissolved  on  the  acceptance  of 
the  constitution  by  the  King,  30th  of  September,  1791. 
2.  The  Legislative  Assembly:  it  commenced  its  sittings 
October  1,  1791 ;  suspended  the  royal  authority  by  its  de- 
cree of  the  10th  of  August,  1792;  and  was  dissolved  Sep- 
tember 21.  1792.  3.  The  Convention  (see  Convention): 
it  commenced  its  sittings  September  21,  1792,  with  a  pro- 
clamation of  the  Republic  :  was  dissolved  4  Brumaire,  4th 
year  of  the  Republic  (Oct.  26,  1795).  4.  Two-thirds  of  this 
assembly  were  then  included  in  the  new  body  of  the 
"  Corps  Legislatif,"  which  commenced  its  sittings  Oct.  27, 
1795,  forming  two  councils,  1.  of  500  (des  Cinq-cens);  2.  of 
95 


ASSOCIATION. 

the  Ancients  (des  Anciens),  250  in  number.  The  latter 
body  named  the  Directory.  This  assembly  subsisted  until 
the  dissolution  of  the  Directory  by  Bonaparte,  19  Brum. 
8th  year  of  the  Republic  (Nov.  10,  1799).     (See  Direo 

TORY.) 

Assembly,  the  General,  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland,  is  the 
highest  ecclesiastical  court  of  that  establishment.  It  meets 
annually  in  May,  and  sits  for  ten  successive  days,  with 
power  to  appoint  a  commission  to  take  cognizance  of  any 
cases  undecided  within  ihat  period  ;  the  commission  being 
in  fact  a  continuation  of  the  assembly,  with  one  additional 
minister  named  by  the  moderator.  The  assembly  con- 
sists of  representatives  from  the  presbyteries,  royal  burghs, 
and  universities  of  Scotland,  and  from  the  churches  in  the 
East  Indies  connected  with  the  Kirk:  in  all  about  380 
members.  The  meeting  of  the  assembly  is  attended  by  a 
nobleman  as  representative  of  the  king,  with  the  title  of 
Lord  High  Commissioner;  who,  however,  takes  no  part 
in  the  proceedings.  The  moderator,  or  president,  is 
chosen  by  the  assembly  yearly.  The  General  Assembly 
is  a  court  of  appeal  from  the  Presbytery  and  Synod. 

ASSE'SSMENl   OF  DAMAGES.     Sec  Damages. 

a  —  I  SSOR,  In  Law.  a  person  possessed  of  knowledge 
of  the  law,  appointed  to  advise  and  direct  the  decision  of 
the  judge  In  various  inferior  courts  assessors  are  ap- 
pointed by  statute.  Assessors  were  employed,  previously 
to  the  Reform  Act,  to  assist  the  returning  officer  in  deciding 
on  the  cases  submitted  to  his  cognizance  at  the  period  of 
an  election.  By  the  Municipal  Corporation  Reform  Act 
(5  <v  i)  \V.  -1.  c.  76.  s.  o7.)  the  burgesses  of  every  borough 
are  directed  to  elect  two  assessors,  for  the  purpose  ol  as- 
sisting the  mayor  in  his  duty  of  revising  the  burgess  lists 
and  presiding  at  the  elections.  And,  by  sect.  43,  the  bur- 
gesses of  each  ward  are  to  elect  two  assessors  for  the  pur- 
pose of  assisting  the  alderman  at  the  ward  elections. 

A'ssi.'l'S.     In   Law,  are   the   fund  out  of  which  a  de- 
bts are  to  be  paid.     Assets  by  descent 
are  liable  to  those  debts  only  which  are  secured  by  speci- 
alty, as  bond  or  covenant  binding  the  party's  heirs ;  bul  as- 
in  the  hand  of  executors  or  administrators  are  liable 
to  all  dl 

\881E  NTO  TREATIES.  In  History,  the  contracts  en- 
ter.-, i  into  by  Spain  with  several  European  nations  (first 
Portugal,  then  France,  and  after  the  peace  of  Utrecht  in 
171  :.  England),  to  supply  her  South  American  colonies 
with  negro  slaves  from  Africa,  were  so  termed. 

\>-l  '.N  Vis.     Paper-money  issued  by  the  French  go. 
vemment  at  various  periods  during  the  Revolution,  based 
on  the  security  of  the  unsold  lands  of  the  clergy,  emigrated 
S       vhich  bad  income  forfeit  to  the  nation  " 

\ — 1  GNMENT.     In   Law,   i.s  the  total  alienation  of  a 
•     interest  :  which,  by  the  third  section  of  the  Statute 
of  Frauds,  must  be,  if  of  a  term  of  years  in  land,  by  wri- 
ting mil  signature.     Assignee  is  the  party  to  whom  an  as- 
signment is  made. 

\  —  |\ill  \  IMS  (Lat.  assimilatio.)  The  act  by  which 
organised  bodies  incorporate  foreign  molecules,  and  con- 
vert them  into  their  own  proper  substance. 

ASSI'ZE.  (From  the  Norman  French  assise,  session.) 
1.  In  a  sense  now  obsolete,  an  ordinance  or  constitution  of 
the  sovereign  :  thus,  the  code  of  feudal  law  framed  for  the 
kingdom  of  Jerusalem  is  termed  the  Assizes  de  Jerusa- 
lem. 2.  The  ordinances  regulating  the  price  of  bread  and 
other  necessaries,  were  also  called  Assizes.  3.  The  pecu- 
liar jury  by  which  a  writ  of  right  was  tried,  was  termed 
the  Grand  Assize.  4.  In  the  only  sense  in  which  the  word 
is  now  an  existing  law  term,  the  assize  signifies  the  peri- 
odical session  held  by  the  judges  of  the  superior  courts  in 
the  counties  of  England,  for  the  purpose  of  trying  issues 
at  nisi  prius  and  delivering  the  gaols.  (See  Courts,  Su- 
perior.) 

a  SS« >'CI A'TION.  In  Psychology,  a  name  given  to  that 
property  of  our  minds,  by  which  any  object  or  state  of  con- 
sciousness (whether  image,  thought,  or  emotion)  has  a 
tendency  to  recal  other  states  or  objects  of  consciousness 
with  which  it  has  been  previously  in  some  way  connected. 
The  conditions  under  which  this  tendency  exists  were  first 
staled  by  Aristotle,  in  his  "  Treatise  on  Memory  and  Re- 
collection." According  to  him  they  are  threefold,  consist- 
ing of  Resemblance,  Contrast,  and  Contiguity.  If  by  the 
last  word  we  understand  connexion  in  space  and  time,  and 
that  of  cause  and  effect,  this  division  is  the  same  with  that 
given  by  Hume,  and  adopted  by  modem  philosophers. 
The  principle  of  association  has  been  applied  by  Hartley, 
Sir  J.  Mackintosh,  and  other  writers  on  ethics,  to  explain 
the  origin  of  our  more  complex  emotions,  and  in  particular 
of  our  moral  sentiments. 

Association.  In  Politics,  a  society  formed  of  a  num- 
ber of  individuals  acting  under  common  rules  and  an  elec- 
tive government,  for  the  accomplishment  of  some  definite 
object.  The  principle  of  association  is  so  obvious  as  to 
need  no  comment  or  explanation.  But  its  practical  devel- 
opement  in  politics  and  ethics  in  modem  times,  owing  in 
great  measure  to  the  facility  of  communication  and  diffu- 


ASSOCIATION. 

sion  of  intelligence,  is  a  feature  in  society  of  vast  and  daily 
increasing  importance.  The  value  of  a  combination  of 
means  and  wills  is  plain  and  undeniable, — Firstly,  in  cases 
where  the  object  pursued  is  pecuniary  advantage.  Under- 
takings which  it  would  be  impossible  for  individuals  to 
embark  in,  either  from  the  great  actual  outlay  required,  or 
the  great  amount  of  pecuniary  responsibility  imposed 
(such  as  the  establishment  of  banks,  great  public  works, 
distant  commercial  enterprises,  &c),  are  every  day  carried 
into  effect  with  success  and  profit  by  companies.  Second- 
ly, in  cases  where  the  object  is  to  raise  and  direct  the  dis- 
posal of  a  large  amount  of  funds,  with  a  view  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  certain  ends.  Such  are  associations  for  pur- 
poses of  education,  for  the  distribution  of  Bibles,  charitable 
institutions,  &c.  &c.  And  thirdly,  we  may  mention  a  class 
of  associations,  common  in  all  times,  but  which  have  far 
more  frequently  failed  with  actual  loss  than  accomplished 
their  object ;  associations,  namely,  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
trolling the  rate  of  profit  or  of  labour.  (See  Combination.) 
But  besides  these  ordinary  instances  of  association,  the 
present  times  appear  more  peculiarly  favourable  to  the 
formation  of  societies  having  in  view  the  accomplishment 
of  political  or  moral  objects,  by  controlling  the  action  of 
governments  or  individuals.  These  are  wholly  distinct 
from  those  which  we  have  before  enumerated.  Their 
purposes  do  not  generally  require  a  large  outlay,  nor  (ex- 
cept in  some  occasional  contingencies)  much  actual  and 
definite  co-operation.  Their  main  object  generally  is  to 
overrule  by  a  display  of  associated'numbers  ;  occasionally 
also  to  bring  combined  energies  to  bear  upon  particular 
points.  They  serve  to  concentrate  the  action  of  the  wills 
of  many  separate  individuals,  by  inducing  every  man  to 
abandon  a  portion  of  his  own  peculiar  views,  and  take  up 
instead  of  them  the  views  of  the  majority  of  his  co-asso- 
ciates. Of  this  character  were,  in  France,  the  clubs  which 
exercised  so  great  a  power  during  the  Revolution  ;  and 
those  which,  in  calm  times,  are  said  to  have  contributed 
materially  towards  bringing  about  the  second  revolution  of 
1830:  the  society  "Aide  toi  et  le  ciel  t'aidera"  more  espe- 
cially. In  England,  the  history  of  political  unions  and  as- 
sociations of  late  years  is  abundantly  well  known.  The 
most  powerful  that  we  have  hitherto  seen  was  the  famous 
Catholic  Association,  formed  in  May,  1823,  dissolved  in 
March,  1829,  when  its  great  object,  the  passing  of  the  Ca- 
tholic Relief  Bill,  was  attained.  Of  associations  having 
moral  instead  of  political  objects,  and  falling  within  the 
category  last  described,  perhaps  (if  we  exclude  the  Free- 
masons, from  the  want  of  any  definite  purpose  which  ap- 
pears to  distinguish  them)  the  Temperance  Societies  of 
late  years  afford  the  most  singular  examples  ;  the  more  re- 
markable, because  their  great  end  is  one  which  (except  in 
a  very  few  instances,  such  as  the  exclusion  of  spirits  from 
ships,  <fec.)  cannot  be  attained  by  combined  action,  unless 
in  so  far  as  it  may  influence  the  action  and  will  of  indi- 
vidual men. 

It  is  impossible  to  deny  the  power  of  political  associa- 
tions ;  and  it  cannot  be  wondered  at  that  they  are  regarded 
favourably  by  the  state  in  such  countries  as  America, 
where  the  principle  of  democratic  associations  pervades 
everything ;  with  distrust  by  aristocratic  governments,  in 
which  the  power  of  a  ruling  class  is  exposed  to  danger  from 
their  attacks ;  and  altogether  suppressed  as  far  as  possible 
under  arbitrary  governments.  Yet  it  may  be  questioned 
whether  the  tendency  of  modern  opinion  is  not  greatly  to 
overrate  that  power.  It  is  essentially  of  a  temporary  cha- 
racter. At  the  moment  of  a  doubtful  crisis  in  politics,  the 
expression  of  the  will  of  an  associated  multitude  will  often 
turn  the  scale  through  the  mere  weight  of  intimidation. 
But  even  with  the  best  organisation,  they  seem  to  be  radi- 
cally unfit  for  the  accomplishment  of  objects  requiring  un- 
tired  zeal  and  perseverance.  In  the  first  place,  by  fettering 
the  individual  will  of  their  members,  they  destroy  a  great 
portion  of  the  collective  energy  in  the  attempt  to  concen- 
trate what  remains.  No  mind  capable  of  achieving  great 
objects  ever  voluntarily  works  in  the  trammels  of  an  asso- 
ciation. They  become  therefore,  for  the  most  part,  passive 
bodies,  guided  solely  by  the  will  and  management  of  a  few 
individuals  among  them,  who  are  flattered  by  the  exercise 
of  a  power  resembling  sovereignty,  but  who  are  them- 
selves, perhaps,  rather  fettered  than  aided  in  their  activity, 
by  the  necessity  of  managing  the  large  masses  which  they 
drag  along  with  them.  Perhaps  no  history  affords  so  re- 
markable an  example  of  the  apparent  splendour  and  real 
weakness  of  political  associations  on  a  large  scale,  as  that 
of  the  Jesuits.  Their  company  was  formed  on  an  admi- 
rable organisation  ;  it  had  one  precise  object,  the  spread  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  faith  ;  one  definite  principle  of  union, 
implicit  obedience  :  the  means  put  within  its  reach  were 
enormous.  It  spread  and  flourished  amazingly,  exerted 
the  most  boundless  activity,  and  excited  naturally  the  most 
exaggerated  fears  among  its  opponents.  And  yet  it  would 
be  difficult  to  say  in  what  it  has  contributed  to  the  objects 
it  had  in  view.  It  has  made  no  conquests  over  Protestant- 
ism ;  for  in  Bohemia,  France  under  Louis  XIV.  &c,  where 
96 


ASSURANCE. 

it  made  the  greatest  show  of  effectiveness,  its  operations 
merely  followed  in  the  train  of  military  oppression  or  state 
persecution.  It  has  effected  no  permanent  conversions 
among  the  heathen.  It  has  done  little  or  nothing,  notwith- 
standing great  show  and  immense  expense,  in  the  way  of 
national  education  on  Roman  Catholic  principles.  Its 
learned  men,  with  few  exceptions,  have  done  still  less  to- 
ward advancing  the  cause  of  true  knowledge.  Nor  has  a 
single  mind  of  great  originality  and  power  been  developed 
within  the  boundaries  of  the  institution. 

Nor  is  it  possible  to  speak  without  great  doubt  of  the  mo- 
ral good  produced  by  the  extension  of  the  spirit  of  associ- 
ation. Some  valuable  remarks  on  this  subject  will  be  found 
in  an  article  of  Dr.  Channing,  reprinted  from  the  North 
American  Review,  with  the  title  "  Remarks  on  Associa- 
tions." "One  of  the  most  remarkable  features  of  our  age," 
he  says,  "  is  the  energy  with  which  the  principle  of  combi- 
nation, or  of  acting  by  joint  forces  in  associated  numbers, 
is  now  manifesting  itself.  Men  have  learned  what  wonders 
can  be  accomplished  in  certain  cases  of  union,  and  seem 
to  think  that  union  is  competent  to  anything.  You  can 
scarcely  name  an  object  for  which  some  institution  has  not 
been  formed.  Would  men  spread  one  set  of  opinions  and 
crush  another  1  they  make  a  society.  Would  they  improve 
the  penal  code,  or  relieve  poor  debtors  1  they  make  socie- 
ties. Would  they  encourage  agriculture,  or  manufacturers, 
or  science  ?  they  make  societies.  Would  one  class  encou- 
rage horse-racing,  and  another  discourage  travelling  on  a 
Sunday  1  they  make  societies.  We  have  immense  institu- 
tions spreading  over  the  country,  combining  hosts  for  parti- 
cular objects.  We  have  minute  ramifications  of  those  so- 
cieties, penetrating  everywhere,  and  conveying  resources 
from  the  domestic,  the  labourer,  and  even  the  child,  to  the 
central  treasury." — "  Associations  often  injure  free  action 
by  a  very  plain  and  obvious  operation.  They  accumulate 
power  in  a  few  hands,  and  this  takes  place  just  in  propor- 
tion to  the  surface  over  which  they  spread.  In  a  large  in- 
stitution a  few  men  rule,  a  few  do  everything  :  and,  if  the 
institution  happens  to  be  directed  to  objects  about  which 
controversy  exists,  a  few  are  able  to  excite  in  the  mass 
strong  and  bitter  passions,  and  by  these  to  obtain  an  im- 
mense ascendency.  Public  opinion  may  be  so  combined, 
and  inflamed,  and  brought  to  bear  on  odious  individuals  or 
opinions,  that  it  will  be  as  perilous  to  think  or  speak  with 
manly  freedom  as  if  an  inquisition  were  open  before  us.  It 
is  now  discovered  that  the  way  to  rule  in  this  country  is  by 
an  array  of  numbers,  which  no  prudent  man  will  like  to 
face.  Of  consequence,  all  associations  aiming  or  tending 
to  establish  sway  by  numbers  ought  to  be  opposed.  They 
create  tyrants  as  effectually  as  standing  armies.  Let  them 
be  withstood  from  the  beginning.  No  matter  whether  the 
opinion  they  intend  to  put  down  be  true  or  false,  let  no 
opinion  be  put  down  by  such  means  :  let  not  error  be  sup- 
pressed by  an  instrument  which  will  be  equally  powerful 
against  truth,  and  which  must  subvert  that  freedom  of 
thought  on  which  all  truth  depends." 

A'SSONANCE.  In  Rhetoric  and  Poetical  Composition, 
a  jingle  or  imperfect  rhyme,  formed  by  separate  words,  or 
members  of  a  sentence. 

ASSU'MPSIT,  or  trespass  on  the  case  on  promises,  in 
law,  is  an  action  of  an  anomalous  character,  having  the 
form  of  tort  and  the  substance  of  contract.  It  is,  properly, 
a  claim  of  damages  sustained  through  the  breach  of  a  sim- 
ple contract  (;'.  e.  a  promise  not  under  seal),  and  alleges 
that  the  defendant  assumpsit  promised  or  undertook  to 
perform  the  acts  specified.  It  has  become  the  most  ordin- 
ary remedy,  not  only  where  unliquidated  damages,  but  also 
where  debts  are  sued  for ;  the  law  implying  a  promise  to 
pay  or  do  whatever  the  defendant  is  legally  liable  to  pay 
or  do. 

ASSUMPTION.  A  festival  of  the  Romish  church,  kept 
on  the  15th  of  August,  in  celebration  of  the  alleged  miracu- 
lous ascent  of  the  Virgin  into  heaven. 

ASSU'MPTIVE  ARMS.  In  Heraldry,  such  as  may  be 
assumed  with  the  approbation  of  the  sovereign,  or  grant 
In 'in  the  proper  officers  of  arms  :  also,  in  another  sense, 
armorial  bearinas  improperly  assumed. 

ASSU'RANCE,  or  INSU'RANCE.  A  contract  for  the 
payment  of  a  certain  sum  on  the  occurrence  of  a  certain 
event.  The  term  assurance  is  generally  confined  to  those 
contracts  under  which  a  certain  sum  is  to  be  paid  on  the 
death  of  an  individual  or  individuals  now  living  ;  while  in- 
surance is  applied  to  those  which  provide  for  the  payment 
of  a  sum  on  the  occurrence  of  events  not  depending  on  the 
duration  of  human  life,  and  which  may  never  happen,  such 
as  the  loss  of  ships  at  sea,  the  destruction  of  houses  by 
fire,  &c. 

Assurances  on  Lives,  are  contracts  which  stipulate  for 
the  payment  of  a  certain  sum  of  money  on  the  death  of 
one  or  more  individuals,  in  consideration  of  an  immediate 
payment,  or,  more  frequently,  of  an  annuity  or  annual  con- 
tribution, to  be  continued  during  the  existence  of  the  lives 
assured.  Contracts  of  this  kind  are  of  immense  impor- 
tance to  society.    Every  man  whose  income  depends  ou 


ASSURANCE. 

his  own  life  or  exertions,  and  on  whom  others  are  depen- 
dent for  support,  must  be  sensible  of  the  advantages  of  ar- 
rangements by  means  of  which,  at  a  small  sacrifice  of  im- 
mediate comfort,  he  is  enabled  effectually  to  provide 
against  Ihe  casualties  of  life.  They  are  of  a  totally  differ- 
enf  nature  from  gambling.  Though  nothing  can  be  more 
uncertain  than  Ihe  continuance  of  an  individual  life,  yet 
nothing  is  more  invariable  than  the  duration  of  life  in  the 
mass;  consequently,  the  exact  value  of  life  assurances  can 
be  calculated  without  any  uncertainty  whatever,  and  a  man, 
by  effecting  an  assurance,  secures  to  his  representatives, 
against  the  risk  of  accident,  the  advantages  they  would  have 
from  his  enjoying  his  exact  proportion  of  the  average  du- 
ration of  life.  Such  transactions  provide  against  destitu- 
tion, and  tend  directly  to  the  accumulation  of  capilal :  they 
will,  therefore,  be  encouraged  and  protected  in  all  well  go- 
vemed  communities. 

Method  of  computing  the  Value  of  Assurances.  The  value 
of  assurances  on  lives  are  computed  in  nearly  the  same 
manner  as  those  of  annuities,  the  principles  being  the 
same  in  both  cases.  A  table  of  mortality  must  fust  be  se- 
lected, from  which  we  deduce  the  probabilities  of  living 
over  the  different  years  of  life.  Having  ol 
and  assumed  a  rate  of  interest,  we  proceed  as  follows  :  let 
the  probabilities  that  an  individual  of  a  given  age  will  live 
over 

1,    2,    3,    4,    5,    &c.  years, 
be  pi,  jfi,  pa,  p*,  p%  &c.  respectively  ; 

also,  let  r  be  the  rate  of  interest,  and  v  =  — — ,  and  sup- 

l+r 

pose  that  the  sum  assured  is  to  be  paid  at  the  end  of  the 
year  in  which  the  life  tails.  Now,  the  value  "I"  jL  1  to  be  re- 
ceii  ed  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  is  r,  but  it  will  not  be  re- 
ceived  if  the  life  continues  to  I  and  as 

the  probability  that  the  individual  will  ]  year  is 

pi,  the  probability  that  he  will  not  live  over  it  is  1  — pi,  I 
fore  the  value  of  jEl  to  bi  year, 

subiei  i  i"  the  contingency  of  the  life  failing  m  the  first  yi  ar, 
is  (1  — pi.)  v.    The  probability  that  (hi  tinue  i" 

second  yeai  lap*,  and  that  it  will  continue  one 
year  only,  pi,  the' re  fore  pi  —  pS  is  the  chance  it  will  drop  in 
the  second  year  ;  and  the  value  of  XI  to  be  rec<  ived  at  the 

end  of  'he    second    year  :  Dl  value 

o{  £]  to  be  received  if  the  in.  tails  in  the  Becond  j 
(y,t  j,  )  i- ■'.  In  like  manner,  the  probability  that  U 
will  fail  in  the  third  year  it  ,        ,  ofJElto 

be  received  at  the  i 

presi  m  value  ol  £1  to  bi  r<  i  eived  at  the  end  of  threi 
it'  the  given  life  fails  in  the  third  year,  is (p2—p3)T3.     i 

i it iuued  from  year  to  year,  oil  the  proba- 
bility of  living  o\ .  r  .,  \,  .a   \-  i 1 

whole  value  ol'  lh<     I  II    8UD0 

of  all  its  partial  values  for  the  different  yean 

denoting  Ihe  value  by  1,  we  get 

I  =  (l—  pl)V  +  <pi  —  p2)r2  +  (p2—  p3)r3  +  &C 
or,  separating  this  into  two  scries. 

I  =  r  (1  +  7-1  o  +  ;<:■  r-  +  ;-3  r3  +  ice.) 

—  (pi  V  +p2  «2  +  p3  t3  ■+■  &C.) 
Bui  it  is  shown  in  the  article  AlTOUITY  that  Ihe  series  pi  v 
4.  y...  r'i  -4-/13  r3  -{-  Ac.  denotes  Ihe  value  of  an  annuity  of 
XI  on  a  life,  the  probabilities  of  the  continuance  of  which 
are  represented  as  above  ;  therefore,  calling  this  annuity  A, 
we  have  I  =  V  (1  -f  A)  —  A. 
Since  v  =  i  this  formula  becomes  by  substitution 

1+r 
I=_l_(l-r  A). 

1  +  r 

The  sum  now  found  is  what  ought  to  be  paid  down,  in  or- 
der to  receive  XI  on  the  failure  of  the  given  life  :  but  by 
far  the  most  usual  practice  is  to  pay  for  the  assurance  by 
means  of  an  annual  pr<  mium,the  firsl  payment  being  imme- 
diate, and  the  others  at  the  end  of  each  successive  year. 
Let  ?r  be  the  annual  premium;  then  the  value  of  all  the 
premiums  after  the  first  is  obviously  the  same  thing  as  the 
value  of  an  annuity  of  the  same  amount,  and  is.  eon-' 
quently,  equal  to  -n  A.  Hence,  the  value  of  all  the  pre- 
miums.is  it  +  ?r  A,  or7r(l  +  A),  which  is  necessarily  equiv- 
alent to  the  assurance.     We  have  therefore  the  equation 

ir(l  +  A)=T(l  +  A)  — A,whencew  =  r  —  _^ 

1  +  A 

This  formula  is  very  easily  computed  when  we  are  in 
possession  of  a  table  of  annuities,  and  it  shows  at  once  the 
annual  sum  which  an  individual  of  any  age  ought  to  pay, 
in  order  to  secure  to  his  representatives  XI  (and,  conse- 
quently, any  other  sum)  at  his  death. 

Temporary  Assurances.  The  values  of  temporary  assu- 
rances, or  engagements  to  pay  a  certain  sum  in  case  a  given 
individual  dies  within  a  given  number  of  years,  are  easily 
found  from  those  on  the  whole  of  life.  For  example,  let  it 
be  required  to  find  what  sum  ought  to  be  paid  for  £1,  to  be 


ASTHMA . 

received  if  an  individual  now  aged  40  shall  die  within  seven 
years.  Let  I  be  the  value  of  £1  to  be  paid  on  the  death  of 
a  person  aged  40,  and  17  the  present  value  of  the  same  sum, 
to  be  paid  on  the  death  of  a  person  aged  47.  Seven  years 
after  this  the  value  of  an  assurance  of  XI  on  the  death  of  the 
person  now  aged  40  will  be  17;  but  the  present  value  of  XI, 
to  be  received  certainly  at,  the  end  of  seven  years  is  r7,  and 
the  probability  that  the  life  will  continue  seven  years  is  p7; 
therefore  ihe  present  value  of  17,  on  the  contingency  that 
the  life  will  not  fail  within  seven  years,  is p7  r7  17  ;  subtract- 
ing this  from  I,  the  value  of  XI  to  be  received  certainly  at 
his  death,  there  remains  I — p7  r7  17,  to  denote  the  value 
of  the  temporary  assurance.  This  may  be  expressed  by 
the  following  rule.  Multiply  the  assurance  on  a  life  seven 
years  older  than  the  given  life  by  the  present  value  of  XI, 
payable  seven  years  hence,  and  also  by  the  probability  that 
the  given  life  will  survive  seven  years;  subtract  the  pro- 
duct from  the  assurance  on  the  given  life,  and  the  remain- 
der is  the  value  of  a  temporary  assurance  for  seven  yeara 
in  a  single  payment 

In  order  to  find  ihe  equivalent  annual  payment,  it  must 
be  recollected  that  the  first  payment  is  made  immediately, 
and  thai  seven  payments  are  to  be  made  in  all ;  conse- 
quently, all  the  payments  after  the  first  are  equal  to  a  tem- 
porary annuity  of  the  same  amount  for  six  years,  or  one 
year  less  than  the  given  term;  consequently,  if  ir  repre- 
-•  nl  the  annual  pn  mium,  and  A' a  temporary  annuity  of 
XI  for  one  year  less  than  the  given  term,  the  value  of  all 
the  premiums  to  be  received  \sir-\-7rA'  or  n  (\  +  A'), 
which  by  hypothesis  is  equal  to  the  assurance  ;  consequent- 
ly, to  find  tne  annual  premium,  we  have  to  divide  the 
value  ol  the  temporary  assurance  in  a  single  payment  by 
1  +  A'. 

In  the  same  manner,  the  value  of  an  assurance  on 
any  number  of  joint  lives  is  found  ;  it  is  only  necessary  to 
substitute  for  A  in  the  above  formulas,  the  value  of  an  an- 
nuity on  the  joint  lives.  Thus,  let  M  be  the  value  of  an  an- 
nuity, to  continue  while  A  and  B  both  live,  then  B  (1  +  M) 
—  >i  is  the  value  of  an  assurance  to  be  paid  at  the  end  of 
the  year  in  which  the  first  of  the  two  lives  shall  fail,  and  the 

equivalent  annual  pavmenl  is  r  — 

1  +  M 

A  very  important  class  of  assurances  comprehends  those 

in  which  the  contract  is  to  pay  a  sum  on  the  death  of  one 

party,  provided  thai  another  ('arty  shall  be  then  alive.    The 

compntatii  n  of  the  values  of  such  contracts  is  somewhat 

more  intricate,  and  cannot  be  explained  without  entering 

ng  the  manner  of  combining  the  proba- 

limits  will  not  permit    <  Si  ■  \ 

Familiar  Ex]  N  iture,  Advantages,  and  Im- 

portani  ■•  es  upon  Lives,  by  Lewis  Pocock,8vo. 

:ilies.) 

|.  aces  on    nips  and  goods,  see  Insurance. 

U3S1  RG1  NT  (Lai  -  nrgere,  to  rise  up.)  Rising  in 
a  curve  from  a  decurvi  d  base. 

\  STAC1  8.  (Lat.  astacus,  a  lobster.)  The  name  of  a 
Fabriclan  g<  .  and  now  the  type  of  a  family 

i1  I,  M     .   utoub,  or  long-tailed  frusta- 

Including  the  lobsters  (Astacus  Leach),  the  craw- 
fish (Potcunebhu  I. each.)  and  the  cray-fish  or  spiny  lob- 
Palinurius  Leach).  The  distinguishing  character  is 
derived  from  the  antenna',  the  two  pairs  of  which  are  in- 
serted in  the  same  horizontal  line;  the  mesial  ones  hav- 
ing moderate  or  long  footstalks,  terminated  by  two  fila- 
.  the  outer  ones  naked,  or  furnished  wi!h  a  scale, 
which  never  entirely  conceals  the  base. 

\  8TERISK.  In  Diplomatics,  a  sign  in  the  figure  of  a 
star,  frequently'  met  with  in  ancient  Latin  manuscripts, 
and  seeming  to  serve  various  purposes ;  sometimes  to 
denote  an  omission,  sometimes  an  addition,  sometimes  a 
which  appeared  remarkable  on  any  account  to  the 
copyist 

A'STERISM,  in  Astronomy,  denotes  a  collection  of  stars. 

It  was  formerly  used  in  the  same  sense  as  constellation, 

but  is  now  generally  appropriated  to  any  small  cluster  of 

r  forming  part  of  a  particular  constellation,  or 

otherwise. 

A  STEROI'PS.  A  fantastical  name  by  which  the  four 
small  and  recently  discovered  planets,  namely,  Juno,  Vesta, 
Ceres,  and  Pallas,  have  been  sometimes  designated. 

ASTE'RN.  (A.  and  stern.)  A  sea  term,  denoting,  in 
the  hinder  part  of  the  ship,  or  behind  the  ship. 

ASTHE'MC.  (Gr.  d,  without,  and  <r0sVoc,  strength.) 
Asthenic  diseases  are  those  which  are  prominently  marked 
by  great  and  direct  debilitv. 

'  A'STHMA  (Gr.  dedjxaivo).  I  breathe  hard.)  A  disease, 
the  leading  symptoms  of  which  are  difficulty  of  breathing, 
coming  on  at  intervals,  accompanied  with  cough,  and  more 
or  less  expectoration.  The  fit  most  frequently  occurs  in 
the  night  during  the  first  sleep,  suddenly  awaking  the  pa- 
tient, and  lasting  for  three  or  four  hours  or  more.  It  is  a 
terrible,  but  in  itself  rarelv  a  fatal  disease,  though  it  often 
lays  the  foundation  of  organic  mischief.  Its  proximate 
cause  has  not  been  very  clearly  ascertained. 
O 


ASTOMOUS. 

A'STOMOIJS.  (Gr.  d,  without,  and  ar6\ia,  a  mouth.') 
Certain  mosses  whose  theca  has  no  aperture. 

A'STRAGAL.  (Gr.  dorpdyakos,  a  die  or  huckle.  bone.) 
In  architecture,  a  small  moulding  whose  profile  is  semi- 
circular. Some  have  said  that  the  French  call  it  talon, 
and  the  Italians  tondine ;  but  this  is  a  mistake,  and  the 
word  is  only  properly  applied  to  the  ring  which  separates 
the  capital  from  the  column.  The  astragal  is  sometimes 
cut  into  representations  of  beads  and  berries,  and  a  similar 
sort  of  moulding  is  used  to  separate  the  faces  of  the  archi- 
trave. 

ASTRA'GALUS.  (Gr.  dvrpdya'Kos,  a  die.)  The  ancle 
bone.  The  ancients  used  the  corresponding  bones  of  ani- 
mals as  substitutes  for  dice. 

ASTRiE'A.  (Gr.  acrrpov,  a  star.)  A  genus  of  lithophy- 
tous  Polypes ;  the  polypiary  or  calcareous  skeleton  of 
which  is  characterised  by  sessile,  star-shaped  lammellate 
cells,  crowded  upon  the  upper  surface.  The  species  are 
divided  into  rayed  Astreee  (Ast.  radiata),  with  the  stars 
separated  from  the  base  ;  and  toothed  Astrea:,  (Astrece, 
denticulatcb),  with  the  stars  contiguous. 

A'STROLABE.  (Gr.  aarpov,  a  star,  and  Xafiffavo),  J 
take.)  A  circular  instrument  used  for  taking  or  observing 
the  stars.  The  ancient  astrolabe  consisted  of  two  or  more 
circles,  having  a  common  centre,  and  so  inclined  to  each 
other  as  to  enable  the  astronomer  to  observe  in  the  planes 
of  different  circles  of  the  sphere  at  the  same  time.  For  ex- 
ample, if  the  circles  were  at  right  angles,  the  instrument 
would  give  both  longitude  and  latitude,  or  the  right  ascen- 
sion and  declination  of  a  star.  The  equatorial,  the  altitude 
and  azimuth  instrument,  and  the  theodolite,  are  instru- 
ments which  answer  the  same  purpose  as  the  ancient  as- 
trolabe. Ptolemy  changed  the  form  of  the  ancient  instru- 
ment, and  reduced  it  to  a  plane  surface,  to  which  he  gave 
the  name  of  planisphere  ;  and,  from  this  circumstance  the 
term  astrolabe  has  been  used  in  modern  times  to  denote  a 
planisphere,  or  stereographic  projection  of  the  sphere  on 
the  plane  of  one  of  its  great  circles. 

ASTRO'LOGY.  (Gr.  aarpov,  a  star,  and  Xfyoj,  dis- 
course.') According  to  its  derivation,  this  term  should  siir- 
nify  the  science  or  knowledge  of  the  stars.  Originally,  the 
terms  astrology  and  astronomy  were  used  indifferently  in 
the  same  sense  ;  but  for  a  long  time  the  former  has  been 
employed  to  denote  the  vain  and  superstitious  study  of 
predictions  and  horoscopes  ;  while  the  latter  has  been  re- 
served to  denote  the  true  science  of  the  celestial  motions. 
According  to  Lalande,  this  distinction  began  to  be  observed 
in  the  time  of  Clement  of  Alexandria,  that  is,  in  the  se- 
cond century.  Astrology  is  generally  coupled  with  the 
epithet  judicial,  from  the  judgments  drawn  from  it  relative 
to  future  events. 

Judicial  astrology  is  supposed  to  have  had  its  orisin  in 
Chaldea,  whence  it  passed  into  Egypt,  Greece,  and  Italy. 
The  desire  of  penetrating  into  futurity  is  so  congenial  to  the 
human  mind,  that  this  pretended  science  has  found  favour 
in  all  ages  and  countries  ;  and  it  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that 
astronomy,  which  demonstrates  the  frivolity  and  absurdity 
of  its  predictions,  was  long  indebted  to  it  for  the  principal 
part  of  its  own  progress.  Kepler,  in  the  preface  to  the  Ru- 
dolphine  Tables,  observes,  that  astrology,  though  a  fool, 
was  the  daughter  of  a  wise  mother,  to  whose  support  and 
life  the  foolish  daughter  was  indispensable.  At  the  present 
day  it  is  only  among  the  most  ignorant  vulgar,  or  the  unen- 
lightened tribes  of  Asia  and  Africa,  that  astrology  is  held  in 
esteem ;  but  the  triumph  of  sound  science  and  the  spirit 
of  philosophy  has  been  slow  and  difficult.  So  late  as  the 
year  1705  the  conductor  of  "the  Connaissance  des  Terns" 
thought  it  necessary  to  apologise  for  the  absence  of  all  pre- 
dictions in  that  astronomical  work,  by  stating  that  the 
Academy  had  never  recognised  the  solidity  of  the  rules 
which  were  given  by  the  ancients  for  discovering  the  fu- 
ture by  the  configurations  of  the  stars ;  and,  what  is  still 
more  surprising,  the  first  lunar  tables  calculated  according 
to  the  Newtonian  theory  were  intended  to  be  subservient 
to  the  calculation  of  nativities. 

Astrological  predictions  are  founded  on  the  positions  or 
aspects  which  the  sun,  moon,  and  planets  have  relatively 
to  each  other  at  the  moment  of  birth,  or  some  other  criti- 
cal period  of  a  person's  life,  and  certain  arbitrary  influences 
supposed  to  belong  to  each  of  those  bodies.  For  the  pur- 
pose of  facilitating  the  determination  of  the  aspects,  the 
whole  heaven,  visible  and  invisible,  is  divided  into  twelve 
equal  parts  by  the  horizon,  the  meridian,  and  four  other 
circles  passing  through  the  north  and  south  points  of  the 
horizon,  and  the  points  of  the  equator  (or  rather  the  prime 
vertical,  or  sometimes  the  ecliptic,  for  the  practice  was  not 
uniform),  which  are  at  the  distance  of  30  and  GO  degrees  from 
the  meridian.  These  equal  spaces  are  called  the  twelve 
houses  of  the  heavens,  and  the  circles  by  which  they  are 
circumscribed  are  called  circles  of  position.  The  circles  of 
position  are  supposed  to  remain  fixed,  so  that  a  celestial 
body  is  carried  through  each  of  the  twelve  houses  in  the 
course  of  a  day  by  the  diurnal  rotation.  The  first  house  is 
contained  between  the  eastern  horizon  and  the  next  circleof 
93 


ASTRONOMY. 

position,  going  to  the  eastward  ;  consequently  the  seventh 
will  commence  with  the  western  horizon,  and  the  tenth  with 
the  meridian  or  culminating  point  of  the  ecliptic.  The  be- 
ginning of  the  first  house,  or  the  point  of  the  ecliptic  just 
rising,  is  called  the  horoscope.  The  first  house  is  the 
house  of  life;  the  second,  of  riches;  the  third,  of  brothers; 
the  fourth,  of  parents  ;  the  fifth,  of  children  ;  the  sixth,  of 
health  ;  the  seventh,  of  marriage  ;  the  eighth,  of  death  ; 
the  ninth,  of  religion  ;  the  tenth,  of  dignities;  the  eleventh, 
of  friends  ;  and  the  twelfth,  of  enemies.  Each  of  the 
houses  has  one  of  the  heavenly  bodies  as  its  peculiar  lord. 
They  have  also  different  powers,  the  strongest  of  all  being 
the  first,  and  the  next  in  power  the  tenth ;  so  that  if  two 
planets  are  equally  powerful,  ceteris  paribus,  that  will  pre- 
vail which  is  in  the  stronger  house. 

Having  made  the  preliminary  arrangement  of  the  hea- 
vens, the  next  object  is  to  consider  the  aspects  or  configu- 
rations of  the  influential  bodies.  Aspect,  as  defined  by 
Kepler,  is  the  angle  formed  by  the  rays  proceeding  from 
two  planets,  and  meeting  at  the  earth,  and  which  have  the 
property  of  producing  some  natural  influence.  The  an- 
cients reckoned  five  aspects,  namely,  the  conjunction  de- 
noted by  the  character  c$  ,  the  opposition  by  §  ,  the  trine  by 
A,  the  quadrile  by  □  ,  and  the  sextile  byK-  These  names 
and  characters,  besides  several  others  added  in  more  re- 
cent times,  are  retained  in  our  almanacks  to  the  present 
day.  In  the  aspect  of  conjunction  the  angle  made  by  the 
two  planets  is  0  ;  in  the  opposition  it  is  180°.  The  trine  is 
the  third  part  of  a  circle,  or  120°  ;  the  quadrile  is  90°,  and 
the  sextile  60°.  With  regard  to  the  influences  of  the  as 
pects,  they  are  benignant,  malignant,  or  indifferent.  The 
quadrile  and  opposition  are  considered  as  malignant  or  ad- 
verse ;  the  trine  and  the  sextile  as  benignant  or  propitious ; 
and  the  conjunction  an  indifferent  aspect. 

It  now  remains  only  to  ascribe  certain  influences  to  each 
of  the  planets,  ami  to  suppose  all  animals,  plants, countries, 
&c.  subject  to  their  control,  in  order  to  obtain  an  idea  of 
the  nature  of  the  astrological  art.  The  influences  ascribed 
to  Hie  planets  were  of  course  as  arbitrary  as  those  ascribed 
to  the  aspects.  Saturn  being  at  the  greatest  distance  from 
the  sun,  was  supposed  to  be  of  a  cold  nature  ;  Jupiter, 
Venus,  and  the  Moon,  temperate  and  benignant.  Saturn 
and  Mars  were  the  most  dangerous.  The  Sun  and  Mer- 
cury participated  in  the  properties  of  the  one  and  the  other, 
according  to  circumstances.  But  these  influences  were 
exerted  in  an  infinite  number  of  ways,  according  to  the 
houses  which  the  planets  happened  for  the  time  to  occupy. 

It  would  be  superfluous  at  the  present  day  to  adduce  any 
serious  argument  against  a  system  of  imaginary  influences 
and  arbitrary  rules,  having  no  other  foundation  than  the 
ignorance  and  superstition  of  mankind,  and  contradicted 
by  every  result  of  true  science,  and  every  dictate  of  com- 
mon sense.  The  celestial  bodies  pursue  their  courses  in 
obedience  to  unalterable  laws;  and  the  legitimate  business 
of  the  philosopher  is  to  discover  those  laws,  to  trace  out 
their  consequences,  and  to  apply  the  results  of  his  dis- 
coveries to  alleviate  the  wants  or  multiply  the  comforts  of 
humanity. 

ASTRONOMY.  (Gr.  aarpov,  a  star,  and  vofio;,  a  law.) 
The  science  which  treats  of  the  motions,  distances,  ar- 
rangement, and  magnitudes  of  the  celestial  bodies;  of 
their  constitution  and  physical  condition,  and,  in  general, 
of  whatever  can  be  known  respecting  them. 

There  is  no  branch  of  human  knowledge  of  which  the 
results  appear  at  first  sight  more  at  variance  with  the  im- 
pressions of  our  senses.  The  first  aspect  of  the  heavens 
leads  us  almost  irresistibly  to  imagine  ourselves  placed  in 
the  centre  of  a  starry  sphere  ;  which,  in  its  diurnal  revolu- 
tion, carries  along  with  it  all  the  heavenly  bodies.  But  the 
changes  of  relative  position  which  some  of  the  most  re- 
markable among  them  continually  undergo,  soon  make  it 
evident  that  they  do  not  all  belong  to  the  same  sphere. 
Further  observation  and  reflection  lead  us  to  conclude 
that  the  apparent  daily  revolution  of  the  firmament  is 
merely  an  illusion  occasioned  by  the  diurnal  rotation  of 
our  own  earth,  which,  instead  of  remaining  fixed  at  the 
centre,  is  carried  forward  about  the  sun  with  a  velocity  of 
about  19,000.000  of  miles  in  a  second  of  time,  or  four  times 
that  of  a  cannon-ball  when  it  leaves  the  mouth  of  a  cannon. 
The  sun,  which  appears  to  be  of  very  moderate  dimen- 
sions, is  a  body  whose  volume  is  1,364,470  times  greater 
than  that  of  the  earth,  and  placed  at  a  distance  of  95,000,000 
of  miles  ;  and  the  stars,  which  even  in  the  best  telescopes 
appear  only  as  luminous  points,  are  bodies  of  the  same 
nature  as  tlie  sun  ;  many  of  them,  probably,  far  surpassing 
it  in  magnitude. 

Different  Classes  of  Heavenly  Bodies.  By  far  the  greater 
part  of  the  celestial  bodies  appear  to  be  fixed  in  the  firma- 
ment, and  to  preserve  invariably  the  same  relative  posi- 
tions. These  are  the  fixed  stars.  A  second  class  com- 
prehends a  small  number  which  are  continually  shifting 
their  positions  among  the  stars,  and  are  perceived  to  ac- 
complish a  complete  revolution  of  the  sphere  in  stated 


ASTRONOMY. 


Intervals  of  lime.  Ilence  they  were  called  Planets,  that 
is,  wandering  stars,  from  a  Greek  word  signifying  to  wan- 
der. They  describe  orbits,  very  nearly  circular,  about  the 
sun.  Some  of  them  are  accompanied  by  smaller  bodies 
revolving  round  them,  as  the  moon  revolves  round  the 
earth,  and  which  are  called  Satellites,  or  attendants.  A 
third  class  comprehends  bodies  differing  greatly  from 
those  now  mentioned,  and  which  sometimes  exhibit  very 
extraordinary  appearances.  These  are  the  Comets.  Like 
the  planets  they  are  obedient  to  the  attractive  force  of  the 
sun  ;  but  the  orbits  which  they  describe  are  exceedingly 
elongated,  and  they  are  only  visible  when  near  the  sun. 
Hence  they  appear  at  distant  or  uncertain  intervals,  and 
only  for  a  short  time  ;  and  consequently  their  physical 
nature  is  very  imperfectly  known.  The  sun.  planets, 
satellites,  and'  comers  form  a  system  of  Which  all  the 
members  are  connected  with  and  act  upon  om-  another  in 
obedience  to  the  law  of  universal  gravitation.  {See  Plan- 
ets, Satellites,  Sew,  and  the  other  terms,  in  their  res- 
pective places.) 

/  I    I    ,    nomy.     Mere  curiosity,  without  reference 

to  practical  utility,  would  prompt  mankind  to  study  the 
movements  of  the  vast  machine  which  rolls  over  our 
heads;  but  the  applications  of  astronomy  to  the  affairs  of 
life  arc  bo  numerous  and  import  i  curate  know- 

ledge of  its  principles  is  almost  indispensable  to  society. 
1st,  li  Is  bj  >•■  celestial  bodies  that  we  are  ena- 

bled to  determine  the  relative  positions  of  points  on  the 
surface  of  the  earth  ;  to  fix  geographical  latitudes  and  lon- 
gitudes, and  ascertain  the  form  and  dimensions  of  our 
planet.  2d,  It  is  to  astronomj  thai  we  are  indebted  for  all 
the  advantages  resulting  from  navigation.  Without  an  ac- 
curate Knowledge  ol  the  positions  and  motions  of  the 
heavenly  bodies,  it  would  be  im;  e  maimer  to 

traverse  the  ocean,  or  to  venture  in  safety  beyond  the  Bight 
of  the  Bbore,  With  this  knowledge  be  can  dire 
course  with  unerring  certaint]  to  any  given  coast;  and  i  he 
ocean,  which,  without  this  science,  would  present  an  in- 
superable barrier  to  the  intercourse  of  distant  countries, 
is  rendered  "the  highway  of  nations."     3d,   Astronomy 

also  presents  us  with  the  means  of  establishing  the  divi- 
sions of  time  necessary  for  the  regulation  of  civil  affairs, 

and  of  fixing  chronological   epochs      The  diurnal    revolu- 
tion of  the  sphere  gives  the  smaller  dii  isions  ol  timi 
revolution  or  the  moon  gives  the  month;  that  of  the  sun, 
the  year;  and  the  various  configurations  of  the  | 
mark  out  periods  of  all  magnitudes,  from  a  few  months  or 
years  to  millions  of  a 

Dim  i  astro- 

nomer is  to  ascertain,  with  all  possible  precision,  the  ap- 
parent places  of  the  stars,  or  their  projections  on  the 
sphere,  in  order  to  obtain  an  accurate  knowledge  of  their 
apparent  motions  and  periods.  Bui  il  is  not  enough  to  have 
ascertained  their  posil s  and  motions  ;  the  results  of  ob- 
servations made  al  different  places  an  i  distant  times  must 
be  compared,  in  order  that  we  maybe  enabled  to  distin- 
guish the  movements  which  are  real  from  those  which  are 
only  apparent,  and  depend  on  our  own  position  with  ri 
to  objects  observed.  An. I  when  the  real  paths  described 
by  the  d  nl'e  n- 1,1  bodies  have  il  hi,  tie,  u  ,  li  i ,- 1  in  i  ne,  1 .  we  are 
next  led  to  investigate  the  causes  of  the  phenomena,  and 
the  expressions  of  the  mechanical  forces  necessary  to  pro- 
duce them.  Ilence,  the  science  of  astronomy  may  be  di- 
vided into  practical,  rational,  and  physical:  the  lirst  em- 
bracing all  that  is  necessary  (or  determining  the  appari  m 
motions;  the  second  being  devoted  to  the  real  motions ; 
and  the  third  to  the  physical  causes  by  which  the  different 
motions  are  regulated  and  perpetuated. 

Prat  l  .hi/.  In  order  to  determine  the  positions 

and  motions  of  the  celestial  bodies,  it  is  necessary  to  have 
the  means  of  measuring  time  and  space  with  the  utmost 
precision.  But  neither  time  nor  space  can  be  measured 
without  the  aid  of  very  refined  instruments  and  contri- 
vances. Hence,  the  theory  of  instruments, the  method  of 
using  them,  and  the  determination  of  the  different  correc- 
tions that  must  be  applied  in  order  to  free  the  observed  po- 
sitions from  the  various  instrumental  and  physical  errors 
by  which  they  are  affected,  belong  to  this  division  of  the 
science.  A  complete  knowledge  of  the  sphere  and  its  va- 
rious circles,  as  also  of  the  methods  of  spherical  trigonome- 
try, is  requisite  to  the  practical  astronomer.  Observation 
gives  him  the  place  of  a  star  only  with  reference  to  his 
own  zenith,  or  horizon,  or  to  another  star  whose  place  is 
already  determined.  But  their  positions  must  be  reduced  ; 
that  is,  referred  to  invariable  planes  or  circles,  in  order 
that  the  observations  made  in  different  places  may  be  ca- 
pable of  comparison  with  one  another.  Without  such  re- 
ductions, the  observations  are  of  no  use. 

Rational  Astronomy.  This  division  includes  the  deter- 
mination of  the  real  orbits,  and  the  laws  of  motion  which 
the  different  bodies  observe,  and  the  construction  of  hypo- 
theses by  the  aid  of  which  we  may  calculate  the  positions 
in  advance.  In  the  infancy  of  astronomy,  and  before  ob- 
servations became  very  numerous,  or  were  made  with  pre- 
99 


cision,  various  hypotheses  were  invented  to  explain  the  ap- 
parent motions.  Thus  Ptolemy  explained  the  inequalities 
of  the  planetary  motions,  by  supposing  each  of  the  planets 
to  describe  a  circle  about  a  centre  moving  uniformly  round 
the  earth  in  the  circumference  of  another  circle.  Ty  cho  Bra- 
he  supposed  the  planets  to  revolve  in  circular  orbits  about 
the  sun  ;  and  the  sun,  accompanied  by  the  planets,  to  re- 
volve round  the  earth.  Copernicus  supposed  the  earth,  as 
well  as  all  the  other  planets,  to  revolve  in  circular  orbits 
around  the  sun.  All  these  hypotheses  served  to  explain  the 
phenomena  that  were  known  at  the  time  they  were  respec- 
tively invented  ;  and  have  been  successively  exploded  by 
more  accurate  observations,  which  have  proved  that  the 
planetary  orbits  are  not  circles  but  ellipses,  having  the  sun 
in  the  focus  which  is  common  to  all  of  them. 

Physical  Astronomy.  By  this  term  is  generally  under- 
stood the  application  of  mathematical  science  to  the  inves- 
tigation of  the  laws  by  which  the  motions  of  the  celestial 
bodies  are  regulated,  the  nature  of  the  forces  by  which 
their  motions  are  maintained,  and  the  effects  of  their  ac- 
tion on  one  another.  By  comparing  the  momentary  de- 
flection of  the  moon's  orbit  from  a  straight  line  with  the  ef- 
fects of  terrestrial  gravity,  as  manifested  in  the  descent  of 
falling  bodies  near  the  surface  of  the  earth,  Newton  found 
thai  both  the  phenomena  were  produced  by  one  and  the 
same  cause,  and  that  the  moon  is  retained  in  her  orbit  by 
tionoftheearth.  Subsequentinvestigauons,  found- 
1  laws  of  the  planetary  motions,  d 
ed  by  Kepler,  led  him  to  the  conclusion,  that  a  force  of  the 
same  nature  extends  through  the  universe;  and  that  all 
bodies  in  the  heavens  and  on  the  earth  gravitate  towards 
each  other  with  forces  directly  as  their  quantities  of  mat- 
ter and  inversely  as  the  squares  of  their  distances.  By 
this  single  principle  he  explained  the  elliptic  motions  of 
tnets  and  satellites;  the  facts  which  concern  their 

I,   and   the   position  of  their  axis;  and   the 

oscillations  of  the  fluids  with  which  they  are  surrounded. 

The  quantity  of  matter  in  the  sun  is  vastly  greater  than  in 

t  of  the  planets:  hence  all  the  planets  areprin- 

ci|iallv  controlled  by  the  sun,  and  circulate  about  him  in 
hits,  nearly  in  the  same  manner  as  If  thej  Were 

ni  of  the  attraci ther.    ^nll  their 

mutual  influences  are  sufficiently  perceptible;  though, 
I  are  regarded  merely 
as  disturbing  the  sun's  action.  The  calculation  of  the  dis- 
turbing fori  effects  produced  by  the  mutual  at- 

i  all  the  bodies  in  the  solar  system,  forms  the 
most  difficult  and  the  most  important  problem  ever  sub- 

mathematical  analysis.    Its  solution   has  occupied 

the  most  eminent  mathematicians  ol  the  lasl  and  the  pre- 
sent century;  at  Ive  advances  made  towards 
it  by  Newton,  Clairaut,  D'Alembert,  Euler,  Lagrange,  and 
have  surrounded  their  names  with  a  halo  of 
glory. 

History  of  Astronomy.  The  study  ol  the  heavens  has 
occupied  the  attention  of  mankind  in  all  ages  of  the  world. 
At  the  remotest  epochs  of  historical  record,  the  Chaldean 

shepherds  and  the  Egyptian  priests  had  found  a  mar  ap- 
proximation to  i  he  length  of  the  solar  year,  and  determined, 

inparisnii  ol  a   long  series  of  recorded  or  tradi- 

i,  me  alter  which  the  eclipses  of 

tic  sun  and  moon  return  in  nearly  the  same  order,and  were 

itl v  able  to  predict  these  phenomena.    The  early 

philosophers  of  Greece  exhausted  their  imagination  in  idle 

speculations  about  the  formation  and  nature  of  the  inn 
it  the  name  of  the  constellations  which  they  have 
transmitted  to  us  with  then-  theogoniea  prove  that  th  y  had 
[cud  considerable  attention  to  the  arrant  nenl  of  the  prin- 
cipal stars.  Pythagoras  appears  to  have  had  a  distim  I  no- 
tion of  the  true  system  of  the  world;  affirming  thai  the 
earth  was  not  placed  in  the  centre,  but  revoh  ,  d  aboul  the 
sun.  But  the  first  recorded  observations  which  contributed 
in  any  way  to  the  real  progress  of  astronomy  were  made 
at  Alexandria,  under  the  Piolemies,  about  300  years  before 
our  era,  by  Aristilus  and  Timocharis,  who  determined  the 
positions  of  some  of  the  principal  zodiacal  stars,  and  there- 
by afforded  Hipparchus  the  means  of  arriving  at  his  im- 
portant  discovery  of  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes. 

Hipparchus,  the  founder  of  Grecian  astronomy,  observed 
at  Rhodes  about  110  vears  B.  C  This  illustrious  man  ap- 
pears to  have  paid  little  regard  to  the  theoretical  speculations 
of  his  contemporaries,  but  adopted  the  only  method  by  which 
a  correct  knowledge  of  nature  can  be  obtained,  namely, 
assiduous  and  accurate  observation.  Among  his  import- 
ant discoveries  are  the  precession  already  mentioned  ;  the 
length  of  the  solar  year ;  the  eccentricity  of  the  sun's  or- 
bit; the  periodic  time  of  the  moon's  revolution  with  respect 
to  the  stars,  to  the  sun,  to  her  nodes,  and  her  apogee  ;  the 
eccentricity  and  inclination  of  the  lunar  orbit.  He  invented 
the  planisphere,  determined  the  places  of  1030  stars,  and 
was  the  first  who  introduced  into  geography  the  method  of 
fixing  the  positions  of  places  on  the  surface  of  the  earth  by 
means  of  their  latitudes  and  longitudes. 

The  name  of  Ptolemy  is  still  more  celebrated  than  that 


ASTRONOMY. 

of  Hipparchus ;  though,  as  an  astronomer,  he  occupies  a 
far  inferior  rank.  His  principal  astronomical  discovery  is 
the  inequality  of  the  moon's  motion,  technically  called  the 
evection ;  but  his  fame  chiefly  rests  on  his  great  work  called 
Syntax,  or  Composition ;  in  which  he  explains  the  appa- 
rent motions  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  planets,  according  to  a 
hypothesis  invented  by  Apollonius  of  Perga,  some  centu- 
ries before,  and  which  consists  in  supposing  each  of  these 
bodies  to  be  carried  by  a  uniform  motion  round  the  cir- 
cumference of  a  circle  called  the  epicycle,  the  centre  of 
which  is  carried  uniformly  forward  in  the  circumfer- 
ence of  another  circle  called  the  deferent.  This  second 
circle  may  be  the  epicycle  of  a  third,  and  so  on  as 
long  as  inequalities  remain  to  be  explained ;  the  earth 
occupying  a  position  near,  but  not  at,  the  centre  of  the 
last  circle.  This  hypothesis  is  utterly  demolished  by  a 
few  accurate  observations  of  the  present  day  ;  but  in  the 
time  of  Ptolemy  it  served  to  explain  all  the  deviations 
from  circular  motion  then  known,  particularly  the  pheno- 
mena of  the  stations  "and  retrogradations  of  the  planets; 
and  it  was  even  of  service  to  astronomy,  by  offering  a  means 
of  reducing  the  apparent  irregularities  of  the  planetary 
motions  to  arithmetical  calculation.  Ptolemy's  share  of  the 
merit  belonging  to  the  invention  of  this  ingenious  hypothe- 
sis consists  in  the  determination  of  the  proportion  between 
the  radius  of  the  epicycle  and  that  of  its  deferent  circle, 
and  between  the  velocity  of  the  planet  and  the  velocity 
of  the  centre  of  its  epicycle.  The  Ptolemaic  system  con- 
tinued in  vogue  till  the  revival  of  astronomy  and  the  other 
sciences  in  the  fifteenth  century,  when  it  gave  place  to 
theories  founded  on  more  enlarged  views  and  more  accu- 
rate observations. 

Fourteen  centuries  elapsed  between  Ptolemy  and  Co- 
pernicus ;  and  during  this  long  interval,  astronomy  con- 
tinued nearly  in  the  same  state.  The  elements  of  the 
solar  and  lunar  tables  had  indeed  received  many  correc- 
tions ;  and  various  improvements  in  the  methods  of  ob- 
serving and  calculating  had  been  introduced,  principally  by 
the  Arabs  ;  but  in  respect  of  theory,  no  change  had  taken 
place.  But  an  epoch  had  now  arrived  when  men's  minds 
could  no  longer  be  held  in  thraldom  by  reverence  for  an- 
cient authority  ;  and  a  spirit  of  investigation  and  inquiry 
had  arisen,  which  produced  the  happiest  results  in  all  the 
departments  of  natural  science.  Copernicus,  guided 
perhaps  in  some  measure  by  the  opinions  of  Pythagoras, 
but  more  by  his  own  meditations  on  the  planetary  pheno- 
mena, and  the  comparison  of  the  numerous  observations 
accumulated  by  Purbach,  Regiomontanus,  and  Walther,  in 
the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  century,  had  the  glory  of  es- 
tablishing the  system  of  the  world  on  its  true  basis.  In  his 
great  work,  "  De  Revolutionibus  Orbium  Coilestium," 
published  in  1543,  he  showed  that  all  the  apparent  motions 
are  easily  explained  by  simply  attributing  a  double  motion 
to  the  earth ;  a  diurnal  rotation  about  its  axis,  and  an 
annual  motion  about  the  sun.  The  doctrine  of  the  earth's 
motion  was  opposed  to  the  religious  dogmas  of  the  age, 
and  accordingly  the  theory  of  Copernicus  met  with  great 
resistance  ;  but  as  observations  now  began  to  be  greatly 
multiplied,  and  to  be  performed  with  greater  accuracy,  the 
evidences  in  favour  of  it  daily  acquired  strength,  and  in  a 
short  time  commanded  universal  assent  among  astrono- 
mers. Tycho  Brahe,  indeed,  an  excellent  observer,  and 
one  to  whom  astronomy  is  under  the  greatest  obligations, 
made  an  attempt  to  save  the  ancient  prejudices  ;  while  he 
explained  the  phenomena  by  supposing  the  sun,  accom- 
panied by  the  planets,  to  perform  a  diurnal  revolution  about 
the  earth.  This  system,  however,  on  account  of  its  physi- 
cal improbability,  never  obtained  many  followers. 

The  next  important  step  in  astronomy  was  made  by 
Kepler.  By  means  of  a  laborious  comparison  and  calcu- 
lation of  observations,  Kepler  discovered  that  the  orbits  of 
the  planets  are  not  circles  but  ellipses,  having  the  sun  in 
one  of  the  foci.  He  also  found  that  the  motion  of  any 
planet  in  its  elliptic  orbit  is  so  regulated,  that  the  spaces 
passed  over  by  a  straight  line  drawn  from  the  planet  to 
the  sun  are  equal  in  equal  times ;  and  that  the  periodic 
times  of  the  different  planets  are  in  a  certain  given  ratio 
to  their  distances  from  the  sun.  It  is  difficult  to  estimate 
the  importance  of  these  discoveries  ;  either  with  reference 
to  the  amount  of  prejudice  they  overthrow,  or  their  in- 
fluence  on  astronomical  theory.  The  circular  and  uni- 
form motion  of  the  celestial  bodies  was  an  axiom  that  had 
never  been  disputed.  It  was  even  admitted  by  Copernicus ; 
who  was  obliged,  in  order  to  reconcile  it  with  the  observa- 
tions, to  suppose  the  sun  placed  at  a  little  distance  from 
the  centre  of  each  of  the  planetary  circles.  The  elliptic 
motion  was  a  proposition  as  bold  as  original ;  and,  com- 
bined with  the  equal  description  of  areas  in  equal  times,  led 
to  the  discovery  of  universal  gravitation,  and  all  the  sub- 
lime results  of  physical  astronomy. 

About  this  time,  or  a  little  earlier,  two  discoveries  were 

made  which  gave  an  immense   impulse  to  astronomy. 

These  were  the  logarithms,  invented  by  Napier,  and  the 

telescope.    Without  the  aid  afforded  by  the  logarithms,  it 

1U0 


ASYLUM. 

would  have  been  impossible  to  accomplish  the  calcula- 
tions which  Kepler's  discoveries  rendered  necessary  ;  and 
to  the  telescope  we  are  indebted  not  only  for  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  visible  boundaries  of  the  universe,  and  the 
knowledge  of  numerous  bodies  whose  existence  would 
otherwise  never  have  been  suspected,  but  also  for  all  the 
precision  of  modern  observation. 

From  the  time  of  these  great  discoveries,  the  progress 
of  astronomy  has  been  uninterrupted.  By  combining  the 
laws  of  the  planetary  motions  discovered  by  Kepler,  with 
the  theory  of  central  forces  established  by  Huygens,  New- 
ton completed  the  theory  ;  and  proved  that  all" the  motions 
of  the  universe,  from  the  fall  of  a  body  on  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  to  the  oscillations  of  the  celestial  sphere,  are  the 
necessary  consequences  of  a  single,  invariable,  and  simple 
law.  This  is  the  law  of  universal  gravitation  ;  which  not 
only  affords  a  physical  explanation  of  all  the  phenomena 
that  have  been  observed,  but  which,  in  the  hands  of  mathe- 
maticians, has  led  to  the  discovery  of  many  important  facts 
which  observation  subsequently  confirmed,  though  it  could 
not  have  detected  them.  The  progress  of  the  practical 
parts  of  the  science  has,  also,  since  the  same  epoch,  been 
commensurate  with  the  improvements  of  the  theory. 
Observatories  were  established  in  different  countries,  where 
a  continued  series  of  observations  has  been  kept  up.  Aca- 
demies and  societies  were  founded  for  the  purpose  of 
effecting,  by  combined  efforts,  what  surpassed  individual 
exertion  ;  voyages  and  expeditions  have  been  undertaken 
to  distant  parts  of  the  world  for  the  purpose  of  measuring 
the  earth,  and  determining  other  elements  necessary  to  a 
complete  knowledge  of  the  planetary  system. 

The  state  of  perfection  to  which  astronomy  is  now 
brought,  may  be  regarded  as  the  greatest  triumph  of 
human  exertion  and  reason.  The  motions  of  the  moon 
and  the  planets  are  know7n  with  the  utmost  accuracy  ; 
and  the  tables  have  all  the  precision  which  the  navigator 
or  practical  astronomer  can  desire.  Our  knowledge  of 
the  planetary  system  may  be  regarded  as  complete.  That 
of  the  sidereal  heavens  must  always  be  limited  by  the  op- 
tical powers  of  the  human  eye  and  the  telescope.  In  this 
department  of  astronomy,  a  boundless  field  has  of  late 
years  been  thrown  open  for  future  research  and  specula- 
tion. Stars  are  observed  revolving  about  one  another  in 
elliptic  orbits.  Are  they  then  connected  with  each  other 
by  forces  of  the  same  nature,  and  observing  the  same  laws, 
as  solar  attraction  1  The  periodic  times,  and  consequently 
the  mean  distances  of  one  or  two  comets,  are  observed  to 
be  diminished.  Are  we  then  to  infer  that  the  regions  of 
space  are  filled  with  matter  of  sufficient  density  to  resist 
the  motions  of  comets'!  Are  the  comets  themselves  per- 
manent bodies ;  or  are  they  merely  formed  by  the  occa- 
sional collapse,  as  it  were,  of  nebulous  matter,  and  again 
dissipated  after  a  few  revolutions'?  The  resistance  of  the 
ether,  the  nature  of  comets,  the  constitution  of  the  nebula?, 
the  laws  which  regulate  the  formation  and  motions  of  side- 
real systems  :  such  are  the  questions  (questions  remote  in- 
deed from  any  practical  application  to  the  affairs  of  man- 
kind) which  astronomers  now  aspire  to  solve. 

For  further  information  on  this  extensive  and  very  im- 
portant science,  we  must  refer  the  reader  to  the  particular 
terms  which  belong  to  it,  and  also  the  general  terms,  Co- 
met, Moon,  Planet,  Satellite,  Star,  Sun.  The  physi- 
cal theory  of  the  planetary  motions  will  be  found  explained 
under  Gravitation  ;  and  astronomical  instruments  de- 
scribed under  their  respective  names.  Works  on  astrono- 
my are  so  abundant  in  every  European  language,  that  it 
could  serve  no  purpose  to  make  any  references  to  them 
in  this  place.  The  best  popular  treatise  is  that  of  Sir  John 
Herschel  in  Lardner's  Cabinet  Cyclopedia. 

ASTA'RTE — the  queen  of  heaven — a  Phoenician  god- 
dess, called  in  the  Scripture  Ashtaroth.  There  is  some  ob- 
scurity with  respect  to  her  worship,  and  the  attributes  as- 
signed to  her,  which  were  held  by  different  of  the  ancients 
to  correspond  with  those  of  the  Grecian  divinities  Juno, 
Diana,  or  Venus,  but  most  generally  the  latter.  Indeed  it 
is  probable  that  the  worship  of  this  latter  goddess  was  bor- 
rowed by  the  Greeks  from  that  of  Astarte,  which  prevailed 
to  a  great  extent  in  the  island  of  Cyprus,  the  fabled  resi- 
dence of  Venus. 

ASY'LUM.  (Gr.  d,  vot,  and  cv\aoy,  I  rob.)  A  place  of 
refuge  to  which  criminals  might  fly,  and  from  which  it  was 
considered  the  greatest  impiety  to  move  them  by  force. 
This  privilege  was  given  to  many  of  the  temples,  altars, 
and  statues  of  the  gods,  and  its  violation  subjected  the  per- 
petrator, and  all  his  posterity,  to  the  vengeance  of  the  tu- 
telary deity,  and  consequently  they  were  driven  from  their 
native  country  as  accursed.  The  sacredness  of  the  asylums 
was  preserved  till  the  reign  of  Tiberius  Cffisar,  who,  on 
account  of  their  inconvenience,  abolished  many,  and  re- 
stricted the  privileges  of  the  rest. 

Thebes  and  Athens  each  claimed  the  establishment  of 
the  first  asylum.  Romulus  set  apart  a  particular  spot  on 
the  descent  from  the  Capitoline  hill  for  this  purpose,  and 
thereby  materially  augmented  the  population  of  his  infant 


ASYMPTOTE. 

city.  Ilence  Juvenal  satirically  refers  all  the  aristocracy 
ol  Rome  to  this  ignoble  stock  : 

l<  Fa  larnen  ut  longe  repetas.  Inngeqne  revolvas 
Nomen  abinfami  genteni  deduclfl  afcylu." 

AsYLrM.  The  modern  signification  of  this  word  differs 
widely  from  its  ancient  acceptation,  and  the  purposes  for 
which  it  is  now  employed  will  be  best  inferred  from  the 
epithets  with  which  it  is  connected.  The  must  prominent 
of  these  are  asylums  for  the  blind,  deaf  and  dumb,  lunatics, 
and  the  destitute.  There  is  no  feature,  perhaps,  which 
distinguishes  a  civilised  from  a  savage  slate  of  society  more 
than  the  establishment  of  institutions  which  tend  to  allevi- 
ate the  condition  of  those  whom  moral  or  physical  defects 
incapacitate  for  the  purposes  of  self-exertion  or  competi- 
tion with  their  fellow-citizens.  In  this  view  England  has  a 
right  to  claim  a  place  in  the  foremost  ranks  of  civilisation, 
whether  we  regard  the  number,  the  principles,  or  the  in- 
ternal management  of  its  asylums.  It  would  be  out  of 
place  here  to  enter  into  detail  upon  so  wide  and  compre- 
hensive a  question  as  the  word  asylum  involves,  but  the 
reader  will  find  in  the  parliamentary  papers  both  of  France 
and  England,  and  in  the  reports  published  from  time  t<> 
time  by  the  managers  of  asylums,  a  mass  of  information, 
on  this  subject,  at  (nice  amusing  and  instructive. 

ASY'MPTOTE.     The  name  given  to  a  straight  line  or 
curve  which  continually  approaches  nearer  and  nearer  to 
the  infinite  branch  ofa  given  curve,  in  such  a  manner  that 
when  they  are  both  indefinitely  produced,  the  distam 
tween  them,  though  it  never  entirely  vanishes,  becomes 
less  than  any  assignable  finite  di  itance     The  term,  \\  hich 
was  first  employed   by  Apollonius,  is  derived   from   the 
Greek  d,  priv.,  civ,  with,  and  irfirrto,  J  full,  and  then  fore 
signifies  Literally,  not  coincident,  or  that  which  does  not  meet. 
Beginners  (eel  Borne  difficulty  in  assenting  to  the  truth 
of  the  proposition  that  lines  may  continue  in  appi 
each  other  without  meeting.     It  is,  in  fact,  apropo 
which  cannot  be  made  evidenl  to  I 

from  our  inability  to  effect  the  division  of  magnitude  be- 
yond certain  limits,  a  familiar  instance  of  continual  ap- 
proach to  equality  is  afforded  by  a  repeating  decimal;  (or 
Instance,  -99999,  Sat  ;  the  difference  of  which  from  unity 
is  made  ten  times  smaller  by  the  addition  of  evi  ry  succes- 
sive digit  ;  but  ii  does  nol  become  equal  to  unity  till  the 
number  of  digits  is  supposed  infinite!]  greal     The 

and  properties  Of  an  8SJ  mp- 
tote  m  iv  be  illustrated  ;:'•" 
metrically  by  the   common 

l:.ni    <>!' 

which  is  t  y  =  a  I  \  i; 
be  Hie  .,ii~-  Lss,  and  \.C  thi 

I    point    I',  aiel 

the  parallelogram  a  Pis  equal 
in  a  constant  quantit]  e  in 
like  manner,  the  parallelo- 
grams   made    by  Hi di 

if  my  other  points,  p,j> 
will  be  each  equ  il  ti  I 

is  evident,  therefore,  thai  the 
o       B  6  more  \  I!  Is  in- 

creased, ihe  more  the  corresponding  ordinate  A  C  is  di- 
minished.    If  A  b  is  equal   to  twice  A  1!.  then/,  I,  is  only 

half  of  1*  B,  and  so  on.  The  curve,  therefore,  continually 
approaches  to  the  axis  of  the  abscissa,  bul  qi  vet 
for  supposing  the  poini  p  to  be  taken  al  Buch  a  distance 
that  A  h  would  be  a  million  of  times  greater  than  A  It.  p  i> 
would  be  a  millionth  part  of  P  IS.  a  small  quantity,  in- 
deed, but  still  not  zero.  However  greal  A  p  may  be  sup- 
posed, pb  must  always  have  some  value,  otherwise  a 
straight  line  would  pal  to  a  parallelogram,  which 

is  impossible,  h  is  obvious  that  all  thai  has  now  been  said 
of  the  axis  A  B  applies  equally  to  AC;  therefore  the  two 
lines  A  B  and  A  C  arc  asymptotes  to  the  curve. 

The  asymptotes  of  curve  lines  are  most  readily  deter- 
mined from  the  properties  of  then-  algebraic  equations.  Lef 
us  take,  for  example,  the  equation  B2r2 — A2</'.'  =  A2B2, 
which   is  that  of  the  common  hyperbola  referred  to  ils 

B2j'J     /  A2\ 

diameters.     We    easily   deduce   y2  =  — -- — (1_ — ) 

A2        v  Tl' 

whence    the    absolute    value    of   y    is    found,    namely, 

B              /        A? 
y  —  -r- x   \/  1 •     But  the  quantity  under  the  ra- 
dical  sinn  in  this  expression  is  always  less  than  unify 
while  *  retains  a  finite  value  (for  x  cannot  be  less  than 
A);  the  value  of  the  ordinate  y  is  therefore  always  less 

B 
than  -jX-    Now  let  a  straight  line  A  R  be  drawn  through 

the   centre  A  (the    origin  of  the    co-ordinates)  making 

with  the  axis  an  angle  R  A  Q,  whose  tangent  is  equal  to 

B 

— ;  and  let  the  ordinate  P  Q  be  produced  to  meet  it  in  R, 

101 


c \* 


ATELLAN.E  FABUL^E. 
and  let  R  Q  be  denoted  by  Y.    We  shall  then  have  the 

two   equations  Y  =  —  x,  y  =  —  x\ /  1—   -~i  whence  it 

is  easy  to  see  that  the  more  x  is  increased,  the  more  the 
difference  between  Y  and  y,  that  is  RP.  is  diminished  ;  and 
that  it  vanishes  altogether  when  x  is  infinite. 


The  trigonometrical  value  of  the  cotangent  of  the  angle 
P  T  Q,  which  a  tangent  at  P  makes  with  the  axis,  is 
_A2y. 
—  BTr'    or'    SUDStitutulg    f°r   V   'ts  value    in   terms  of 


When  the  value  of  x  is  supposed 
A 
infinite,  this   expression  is  reduced  to  tt  ;   consequently, 

B         a 
the  tangent  of  the  same  angle  is  ^r\     But  this  is  the  tan- 

genl  of  the  angle  made  by  the  asymptote;  and  hence  the 
ts\  mptole  to  a  curve  is  frequently  defined  and  considered 
as  a  tangent  at  an  infinite  distance. 

In  order  to  discover  whether  a  curve  has  an  asvmptote, 
draw  ('  B,  meeting  the  tangent  in  D.  In  proportion  as  the 
poinl  P  is  taken  at  a  greater  distance,  the  point  T  ap- 
proaches to  A.  and  D  to  E.  But  the  asymptote  is  the 
limiting  position  of  the  tangents;  therefore  we  have  only 
Tu  find  whether  the  expressions  of  C  T  and  C  D,  relative 
to  the  given  curve,  are  susceptible  of  finite  limits,  and 
when  this  is  the  case  the  construction  of  those  limits  will 
I  const  quently  the  asymptote. 

An  algebraic  curve  cannot  have  more  asymptotes  than 
there  are  units  in  the  exponent  of  its  order.  Of  the  curves 
of  the  second  order,  the  hyperbola  alone  has  asymptotes, 
and  they  are  two  in  number.  All  curves  of  the  third  order, 
or  which  are  defined  by  a  cubic  equation,  have  some  in- 
finite branches,  bul  these  branches  nave  nol  always  asymp- 
Wiih  respecl  to  carves  <>i  the  fourth  order,  there 
are  an  infinity  of  them  which,  so  far  from  having  four 
asyni|  ne  at  all,  and  which  have  not  even  in- 

liiuie  brain  hes;  for  instance,  the  curve  of  Cassini.  The 
id,  cissoid,  and  logarithmic,  though  not  classed 
among  algebraic  curves,  base  each  an  asymptote. 

Ii  may  appear  a  sort  of  paradox  that  t fie  areas  bounded 
by  curves  and  their  asymptotes,  though  indefinitely  ex- 
tended,  have  sometimes  finite  limits  which  they  cannot 

exc 1     This  is  the  ease  with  the   logarithmic   curve, 

and  with  hyperbolas  of  all  kinds,  except  the  common  or 
Apollonian. 

In  wha}  precedes  we  have  regarded  an  asymptote  always 
as  a  straight  line  ;  bul  two  curves  are  sometimes  said  to  be 
as]  m pi i  lies  of  each  other  when  they  are  such  that  on  being 
produced  they  continually  approach  without  ever  meeting 
Thus  two  parabolas,  having  the  same  parameter,  and  Iheir 
axes  in  the  same  straight  line,  fulfil  the  conditions  of 
as\  mpto 

AS\  N  AKTE'TA.  (Gr.  d,  priv.,  and  avvaprau),  to  con- 
In  Grammar,  sentences  which  follow  each  other 
immediately,  without  the  intervention  of  any  connecting 
p  utii  le  :  as,  "  I  came,  I  saw,  I  conquered." 

ASY'N DETOX.  (Gr.  d,  without,  cvvieo),  I  connect.) 
A  figure  by  which  the  conjunctions  in  a  sentence  are 
omitted:  as  in  the  famous  phrase  of  Caesar,  "  Veni,  vidi, 
vici." 

A'TE.  (Gr.  urij.)  In  Greek  Mythology,  the  personifi- 
cation of  Revenge,  Punishment,  or  Fatality.  See  Horn.  11. 
lib.  xi. v. 

A'TELES.  (Gr.  dre\fii,  imperfect.)  A  genus  of  South 
American  monkeys,  characterized  by  the  absence  or  rudi- 
mental  condition  of  the  thumb  of  the  anterior  hands.  The 
deterioration  of  these  members  as  prehensile  organs  is 
compensated  bv  a  very  efficient  prehensile  tail. 

ATEI.I.A'NVF,  FA'BI'LjE.  A  species  of  comedy  which 
had  ils  origin  among  the  Oscan  inhabitants  of  Campania, 
from  a  town  of  which  country,  Atella,  it  derived  its  name. 
It  was  much  in  vogue  at  Rome,  and  it  was  not  thought  dis- 
graceful for  persons  of  gentle  blood  to  take  parts  in  its  ex- 
hibitions, as  was  the  case  in  the  other  species  of  drama. 
The  language  used  in  the  attellanae  fabulae  was  Oscan,  and 
the  plots  and  style  of  the  dialogue,  unrestrained  by  any 
fixed  rules,  partook  of  the  nature  of  comedy,  farce,  and 
burlesque,  but  was  not  stained  by  licentiousness,  till  the 
degenerate  morals  of  the  empire  drew  them  too  into  the 
general  vortex  of  corruption. 


A  TEMPO  GIUSTO. 

A  TEMPO  GIUSTO.  (Ital.  in  correct  time.)  In  Music, 
a  direction  to  the  performer,  generally  after  a  recitative, 
to  keep  the  measure  true  and  correct,  which,  during  the 
recitative,  was  performed  to  suit  the  action  and  passion  of 
the  same. 

ATHA'LAMOUS.  (Gr.  d,  without,  and  SdAa/JOc,  a  bed.) 
Lichens  whose  thallus  is  not  furnished  with  shields  or  beds 
for  the  spores  ;  in  these  the  reproductive  matter  is  sup- 
posed to  be  dispersed  through  the  substance  of  Ihe  crust, 
as  in  lepraria. 

ATHANA/SIAN  CREED.  A  confession  of  faith,  which 
is  described  in  the  rubric  of  the  Common  Prayer  Book, 
which  appoints  it  to  be  read  on  certain  days,  as  commonly 
called  the  Creed  of  St.  Athanasius.  That  it  was  really 
composed  by  that  father  is  more  than  doubtful :  modern 
divines  seem  generally  to  assent  to  the  judgment  of  Water- 
land,  who  considers  it  to  have  been  written  by  Hilary. 

A'THEIST.  (Gr.  d,  without,  and  5tds,  God;  without 
God.)  One  who  denies  the  existence  of  a  God,  or  a  Pro- 
vidence. 

ATIIEN^'UM.  (Greek.)  In  Antiquity,  a  public  place 
where  the  professors  of  the  liberal  arts  held  their  assem- 
blies, the  rhetoricians  declaimed,  and  the  poets  rehearsed 
their  performances.  There  were  various  places  of  this 
kind  at  Athens.  The  emperor  Adrian  established  a  fa- 
mous Athenaeum  on  the  Capitoline  hill  at  Rome,  and  at  a 
later  period  there  was  another  of  nearly  equal  celebrity  at 
Lyons.  In  modern  times  the  name  has  been  frequently 
bestowed  upon  establishments  connected  with  learning, 
and  upon  public  clubs  or  libraries  frequented  for  convivial 
or  literary  purposes. 

ATHERl'CERA.  (Gr.  ddrip,  a  point,  Ktpas,  a  horn.) 
The  name  given  by  Cuvier  and  Lalreille  to  one  of  the  pri- 
mary divisions  of  the  Dipterous  order  of  insects.  It  com- 
prehends the  modern  families  SyrphidcB,  Astridct,  Cono- 
pida,  and  Muscidce,  in  all  of  which  the  antenna?  have  only 
two  or  three  joints,  the  last  being  furnished  with  a  bristle. 

ATHERI'NA.  A  Linnaean  genus  of  abdominal  fishes, 
having  an  elongated  body,  two  widely-separated  dorsal  fins, 
and  a  very  protractile  mouth  armed  with  very  small  leeth. 
All  the  known  species  have  a  broad  silvery  band  along 
€ach  side,  six  branchiostegal  rays.  It  was  to  the  fishes  of 
this  genus  that  the  ancients  attributed  an  origin  by  equivo- 
cal generation  ;  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  shores  of  France, 
which  are  washed  by  the  Mediterranean,  still  call  them 
"nonnats." 

ATHEROSPERMA'CE^E.  (Atherosperma,  one  of  the 
genera.)  Incomplete  aromatic  exogenous  shrubs  found  in 
New  Holland  and  South  America,  remarkable  for  having 
their  flowers  in  a  cup-shaped  involucre,  and  the  peculiar 
anthers  of  lauracea?. 

ATHLE'TES.  (Gr.  aQ\ov,  a  prize.)  Men  who  con- 
tended at  (he  public  games  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  in 
boxing,  wrestling,  running,  leaping,  and  throwing  the  quoit. 
The  name  was  more  particularly  applied  in  the  two  former 
cases.  Their  dress  consisted  merely  of  a  linen  bandage 
round  the  loins,  the  rest  of  the  body  being  left  naked,  and 
anointed  with  an  unctuous  mixture  called  ceroma.  The 
boxers  used  a  kind  of  glove  called  caestus,  which  consisted 
of  leather  thongs  wrapped  round  the  hand  with  pieces  of 
lead  and  iron  sewed  into  them,  to  give  greater  weight  to 
the  blows. 

Among  the  Greeks  these  contests  were  considered  highly 
honourable,  and  the  victors  at  their  national  games  at 
Olympia,  and  elsewhere,  were  received  in  their  native 
states  with  great  distinction,  and  were  rewarded  with  valu- 
able privileges ;  indeed,  one  of  their  most  popular  divini- 
ties, Pollox,  was  celebrated  for  his  skill  in  boxing.  Among 
the  Romans  they  were  slaves,  or  hired  persons  of  lower 
rank,  or  foreigners. 

ATLA'NTES.  (Gr.  tXikj,  I  hear.)  In  Architecture,  the 
statues  of  men  used  instead  of  columns  to  support  an  en- 
tablature.    The  word  is  used  by  Vitruvius. 

ATLA'NTIDES.  In  Astronomy,  a  name  given  to  the 
Pleiades,  because  they  were  supposed  to  be  daughters  of 
Atlas,  or  his  brother  Hesperus,  who  were  translated  to 
heaven. 

ATLA'NTIS.  (Greek.)  An  island  mentioned  in  Plato's 
Dialogue  entitled  I.imasus,  as  having  once  existed  in  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  opposite  to  the  Pillars  of  Hercules.  It  was 
said  to  have  exceeded  Europe  and  Africa  jointly  in  magni- 
tude ;  and  after  existing  for  0000  years,  during  which  peri- 
od its  inhabitants  extended  their  conquests  throughout  the 
known  quarters  of  the  globe,  to  have  been  uprooted  by 
prodigious  earthquakes  and  inundations,  and  submerged 
in  the  ocean.  The  question  of  the  reality  and  site  of  this 
island  has  been  frequently  discussed  by  modern  geogra- 
phers, who  have  displayed  much  critical  perspicacity  in 
its  elucidation.  M.  Bailly  supported  the  Platonic  view  of 
the  existence  and  site  of  the  island  on  the  authority  of  the 
ancients,  and  cited  Homer  and  Diodorus  Siculus  in  cor- 
roboration of  his  opinion.  Rudbeck,  Kircher,  Beckman, 
and  others,  concur  in  opinion  respecting  its  reality,  but 
each  assigns  to  it  a  different  locality.  According  to  the 
102 


ATMOSPHERE. 

conjectures  of  Buffon  and  Whitehurst,  who  regarded  the 
Canaries  and  the  Peak  of  Teneriffe  as  the  summits  of 
mountains  belonging  to  some  submerged  continent,  Atlan- 
tis was  the  land  which,  at  a  former  period,  united  Ireland 
to  the  Azores  and  the  Azores  to  America.  On  the  other 
hand,  D'Anville  and  Heeren  regard  Plato's  account  of  the 
Atlantis  as  altogether  a  fanciful  speculation  ;  while  there 
are  not  wanting  many  who  discover  in  it  proofs  that  the 
American  continent  was  known  at  some  remote  period  to 
the  people  of  the  Eastern  hemisphere,  but  that  the  know- 
ledge was  subsequently  lost. 

A'TLAS,  in  Anatomy,  is  the  term  applied  to  the  upper- 
most of  the  cervical  vertebra; ;  so  named  from  its  sup- 
porting the  head,  as  Atlas  was  supposed  to  support  the 
globe. 

Atlas.  In  Literature,  a  name  given  to  collections  of 
geographical  maps  and  charts  ;  so  called  from  the  mytho- 
logical giant  who  was  said  to  support  the  globe.  The  name 
was  first  applied  in  this  sense  by  Gerard  Mercator,  the 
geographer,  in  the  16th  century.  It  is  now  used  also  for 
works  in  which  other  subjects  are  displayed  in  a  tabular 
form  :  as,  genealogy,  chronology,  ethnography,  &c. 

Atlas.  In  Geography  and  Mythology,  the  name  of  an 
extensive  chain  of  lofty  mountains,  some  of  their  summits 
having  an  elevation  of  above  13.000  feet,  in  the  N.  W.  of 
Africa.  The  early  Phoenician  and  Greek  navigators,  who 
saw  this  vast  chain  from  a  distance,  and  were  unacquainted 
with  the  intervening  country,  naturally  formed  the  most 
extravagant  notions  of  its  height.  This  gave  rise  to  a  num- 
ber of  fables.  The  summits  of  the  mountains  were  be- 
lieved to  pierce  the  skies;  and  the  poets  represented  Atlas 
as  an  old  man  of  gigantic  stature  who  supported  the  hea- 
vens on  his  shoulders.  Virgil  has  described  Atlas,  con- 
sistently with  the  popular  belief,  in  some  of  the  finest  lines 
of  the  JEneid : — 

■  Jamque  vnlansapicem  et  bteranrdua  cernit 

Atlantusdui-i,cslum  qui  vertice  fulcit ; 

Atlantis,  cinctum  assidue  cui  ntihibu?  atris 

Pinilerum  caput  et  ventopulsatur  et  imbri  ; 

Nix  humeros  infusa  tegit  ;  turn  tlumina  rnento 

Precipitant  senis,  et  giacie  riaet  horrida  barba. — IV.  246 — 252. 

ATMO'METER.  (Gr.  driids,  vapour,  and  pirpov,  mea- 
sure.) An  instrument  for  determining  the  rate  of  evapora- 
tion from  a  humid  surface. 

A'TMOSPHERE.  (Gr.  aTjids,  vapour,  and  trdaTpa,  a 
sphere.)  The  assemblage  of  aeriform  vapours  wh'ich  form 
the  invisible  medium  which  surrounds  the  earth.  For  an 
account  of  the  different  gases  which  enter  into  the  compo- 
sition of  atmospheric  air,  see  Air.  We  shall  here  confine 
ourselves  to  an  account  of  the  mechanical  properties  of  the 
atmosphere. 

Weight  of  the  Atmosphere.  The  first  circumstance  con- 
nected with  Ihe  atmosphere  which  attracts  our  attention  is 
its  weight,  or  the  pressure  which  it  exerts  on  solid  bodies 
at  the  surface  of  the  earth.  It  is  well  known  that  the  rise 
of  water  in  the  sucking  pump,  and  the  suspension  of  the  col- 
umn of  mercury  in  the  barometric  tube,  are  caused  by  the 
pressure  of  the  atmosphere;  we  have,  therefore, in  either 
of  these  phenomena,  the  means  of  exactly  measuring  its 
weight.  The  column  of  mercury  in  the  tube  of  a  barome- 
ter is  exactly  equal  in  weight  to  a  cylinder  of  air  of  equal 
diameter  reaching  to  the  top  of  the  atmosphere.  Now,  the 
mean  height  of  the  barometer  at  the  level  of  the  sea  is 
about  28  6  inches ;  and  a  cubic  inch  of  mercury  weighs 
342592  grains,  or  048956  lbs.  avoirdupois.  It  follows, 
therefore,  that  a  column  of  mercury  whose  base  is  a  square 
inch,  and  height  the  mean  height  of  the  barometer,  weighs 
0-489.30X28'6  =  14-6  lbs.  avoirdupois  nearly,  or  that  the  at- 
mosphere exerts  a  pressure  equal  to  146  lbs.  on  every 
square  inch  at  the  surface  of  the  earth. 

This  pressure  of  the  atmosphere  plays  a  very  important 
part  in  the  animal  and  vegetable  economy.  Like  that  of  all 
other  fluids,  it  is  exerted  equally  in  all  directions ;  thus  the 
air  in  a  tube  presses  not  only  on  the  bottom  but  also  on  the 
sides  of  the  tube,  with  a  force  equal  to  146  lbs.  for  every 
square  inch.  The  surface  of  a  man  of  ordinary  stature  is 
about  15  square  feet,  or  2160  square  inches,  whence  the 
whole  atmospheric  pressure  which  his  body  sustains 
amounts  to  the  enormous  sum  of  31,536  lbs.  This  great 
pressure  is  not  sensible,  because  it  is  balanced  by  the  re- 
action of  the  elastic  fluids  in  the  interior  of  our  bodies  ;  but 
if  the  equilibrium  were  to  be  suddenly  destroyed,  the  con- 
sequences might  be  fatal.  Under  the  exhausted  receiver 
of  an  air  pump,  animal  life  is  soon  destroyed  :  on  the  sum- 
mit of  a  very  high  mountain  a  man  experiences  extreme 
fatigue,  respiration  becomes  difficult,  the  pulse  is  accele- 
rated, and  it  has  happened  that  the  blood  has  started  from 
the  eyes  and  ears,  and  other  tender  parts  of  the  body,  in 
consequence  of  the  diminished  pressure. 

Density  of  the  Atmosphere.  The  density  of  the  atmos- 
phere is  not  the  same  at  different  distances  from  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth,  but  diminishes  in  the  duplicate  ratio  of 
the  altitude  :  that  is  to  say,  if  at  a  certain  altitude  above  the 
earth's  surface  it  be  one  half  what  it  is  at  the  surface,  then 


ATMOSPHERE. 

at  twice  that  altitude  the  density  will  be  only  one  fourth  of 
what  it  is  at  the  surface.  This  may  be  proved  as  follows. 
Conceive  a  vertical  tube  filled  with  air,  reaching  from  the 
surface  of  the  earth  to  the  limits  of  the  atmosphere  ;  it  is 
evident  that  each  particle  of  the  inclosed  air  will  sustain 
the  pressure  of  all  those  above  it ;  and  as  the  air,  in 
consequence  of  its  elasticity,  is  condensed  proportional- 
ly to  the  pressure,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  density  will 
go  on  diminishing  from  below  upwards.  To  discover 
the  law  of  this  diminution,  let  x  be  the  height  of  any 
point  of  this  column  above  the  surface  of  the  earth,  ?/  = 
the  density  and  p  =  the  pressure  of  the  air  at  x ;  and 
in  order  to  simplify  the  problem,  we  shall  suppose  the 
temperature  to  be  the  same  throughout  the  column,  and 
neglect  the  difference  of  pressure  arising  from  the  diminu- 
tion "1  gravity.  Supposing  the  area  of  the  column  =  1  the 
volume  of  an  infinitely  thin  stratum  is  the  differential  of  the 
height,  or  d  .'".  and  therefore  the  weight  of  all  the  strata  or 
tin'  whole  column  above  the  point  x  expressed  bj  the  in- 
tegral/—  u  d  x  (d  x  being  taken  with  the  negative  si'_rn.  be- 
cause when  *  increases  the  weight  diminishes),    lint  it  is 

evident  that  Hie  weight  <>(  the  column  above  x  must  make 
.in  equilibrium  with  the  pressure  at  x,  therefore  we  have 
the  equation  p  =f —  udi.  But  the  density  is  propor- 
tional to  the  pressure,  therefore,  A  being  a  constant  quan- 
tity, p  =  A  u  and  consequently  A  u  =f — udr.     Hence, 


A  d  u  =  —  ud.r  and  di  =  —  A 


(I  ii 


I  nig  this  c- 


quation  we  get  x  =  C  —  A  log.  u.  Let  U  be  the  density  at 
the  surface,  where  x  =  o;  the  equal  inn  then  becomes  o  =  C 
—  A  log.  II ;  whence  eliminating  C,x=  A  log.  D—  A  log.  u  i 
U 


orx  =  Alog. 


It  follows  therefore  that  as  the  altitude  x 


increases,  the  logarithm  of  the  density  u  diminishes  ; 
whence  we  dense  this  important  conclusion,  that  [flhe  al- 
titudes above  the  surface  of  the  earth  be  taken  in  arith- 
metical progression,  the  densities  of  the  air  at  these  alti- 
tudes v.  ill  he  a  geometrical  progression  d<  creasing. 

By  means  of  this  theorem  we  can  easily  find  the  density 
of  the  atmosphere  al  different  altitudes,  with  the  help  of  a 
common  table  of  logarithms.  Suppose  that  at  the  height 
oi  .11,  mile  above  the  surface  the  density  is  represented 
by  unity,  the  densities  at  other  altitudes  will  tie  represented 
as  follows : — 

Height  in        )  ,        0  o  a  r  r  t 

miles  J1'       2>         3'  4>  5>  C' 

ii,,'r'TieMl'',i'i'e's  s  |i°'739.  0-6309,  0-6011,  0  39S1,  0  3103,  02511 
So  that  in  an  elevation  of  seven  miles  the  density  is  re. 
duieil  to  one-fourth,  and  at  II  miles  to  one  sixteenth,  and 
soon.  Conversely,  when  the  variation  of  the  density  or 
pressure  at  different  points  is  ascertained,  the  difference 
of  altitude  becomes  known  ;  In  iu-i        ■  'i  the  bar- 

ometer we  ire  enabled  to  ascertain  the  elevations  of  the 
different  countries  or  mountains  of  the  earth  above  the 

level  ol  the  sea 

Height  of  the  Atmosphere.  It  the  air  were  of  the  same 
density  throughout,  it  would  he  very  easj  to  determine  the 
limits  of  the  atmosphere.    It  has  been  found  by  accurate 

experiments,  that  at  the  temperature  of  60°  and  under  a 
pressure  measured  by  29*62  inches  of  mercury,  a  cubic 
inch  of  atmospheric  air  weighs  9-311446  grains.  Compar- 
ing this  with  the  weigh)  oi  a  cubic  inch  of  mercury,  it  is 

found  that  ifthe  density  continued  the  same,  the  height  of 
the  atmosphere  Would  be  328,02]  inches,  or  6  17  miles. 
Hut  on  account  of  the  rapid  diminution  of  the  density,  it  is 

very  evident  thai  the  heighl  of  the  atmosphere  musl  great- 
ly exceed  5  miles,  though  we  have  no  means  of  direct!) 
determining  how  much.  There  are.  however,  various  me- 
thods of  obtaining  an  approximate  estimate.  Oneof  them, 
proposed  by  Kepler,  is  derived  from  observations  on  the 
twilight,  which  is  occasioned  by  the  power  the  atmosphere 
possesses  of  refracting  and  reflecting  light    It  is  generally 

assumed  that  twilight  ceases  when  the  sun  lias  di 

18°  below  the  horizon.    Now  it  may  he  considered  that 

this  takes  place  when  a  ray  of  light  proceeding  from  the 

sun,  and  passing  by  the  surface  of  the  earth,  just  reaches 
the  highest  stratum  of  the  atmosphere,  and  is  reflected 
back  to  the  earth  in  the  direction  of  a  tangent  to  its  surface 
at  the  place  of  observation.  On  this  principle  it  is  calcula- 
ted that  reflection  cannot  take  place  at  a  greater  altitude 
than  -1")  miles.  There  are  other  considerations  which  lead 
us  to  infer  that  the  height  of  the  atmosphere  cannot  be  much 
less  than  this  sum.  With  a  good  air  pump,  air  may  be  rare- 
fied 300  limes;  supposing  this  to  be  the  utmost  limit  to 
which  rarefaction  can  he  carried,  the  atmosphere  would 
still  extend  to  an  altitude  of  about  40  miles. 

Limits  of  the  Atmosphere.  Though  we  are  unable  to  as- 
sign the  precise  boundaries  of  the  atmosphere,  there  are 
phenomena  which  prove  that  it  has  a  limit;  that  it  does 
not  extend  indefinitely  into  the  celestial  spaces,  but  belongs 
exclusively  to  our  earth.  If  matter,  or  rather  if  atmosphe- 
ric air,  were  infinitely  divisible,  the  extent  of  the  aUnos-  | 
103 


ATMOSPHERIC  TIDES. 

phere  would  also  be  infinite ;  but  in  this  case  the  fluid 
could  not  be  in  equilibrio  unless  the  sun  and  all  the  planets 
as  well  as  the  earth  had  respectively  portions  of  it  con- 
densed around  them  proportional  to  their  respective  at- 
tractions. Hut  it  is  known,  from  the  phenomena  of  the 
eclipses  of  Jupiter's  satellites,  that  the  atmosphere  of  that 
planet  does  not  by  any  means  exceed  that  of  the  earth  in 
proportion  to  the  great  superiority  of  his  mass  and  attrac- 
tive power;  hence  there  can  be  no  communication  be- 
tween (he  atmosphere  of  the  earth  and  that  of  Jupiter.  It 
has  also  been  shown  by  Dr.  Wollaston,  from  phenomena 
attending  the  passage  of  Venus  near  the  sun,  that  the  sun 
has  no  sensible  atmosphere.  We  are  therefore  warranted 
in  concluding  that  the  atoms  of  air  are  not  infinitely  divisi- 
ble, and  consequently  thai  the  atmosphere  has  a  limit;  and 
the  limit  must  be  situated  at  that  height  above  the  earth 
when-  the  gravitation  of  the  atoms  is  just  equal  to  the  force 
ol  Hi'  ir  repulsion. 

Effects  of  the  Atmosphere  on  Zdght.  Like  all  other  dia- 
phanous  substances,  the  atmosphere  attracts  the  molecules 
of  light,  and  deth  cis  them  from  their  rectilinear  course. 
This  phenomenon  is  called  refraction.  It  increases  the 
apparent  elevation  of  all  the  celestial  bodies  above  the 
horizon;  but,  fortunately  for  astronomy,  its  effects  can  be 
rigorously  calculated.  The  atmosphere  also,  notwith- 
standing its  transparency,  intercepts  and  reflects  the  rays 
of  light,  and  multiplies  and  propagates  them  by  an  infinity 
of  repercussions,  Ifthe  atmosphere  did  not  exist,  objects 
would  not  be  illuminated  unless  exposed  to  the  direct  light, 
of  the  sun.  As  soon  as  we  ceased  to  look  at  the  sun,  or 
objects  illuminate,]  by  his  rays,  we  should  be  left  in  total 
darkness.  The  solar  rays  reflected  from  the  earth  would 
be  lost  in  the  regions  of  space,  and  an  excessive  cold  con- 
tinually prevail.  The  sun  would  continue  to  shine  with 
nsity,  till  it  reached  the  horizon,  and  the  tran- 
sition from  'he  glare  of  meridian  splendour  to  absolute 
darkness  would  be  almosl  instantaneous.  All  these  effects 
ion  be  judged  oi  bywhat  is  experienced  on  the  summits 
oi  very  nigh  mountains,  where  the  air  is  greatly  ran 
The  c,,i,|  i^  insupportable.  Scarcely  any  other  light  is  re- 
ceived bj  the  eye, than  that  which  comes  direct  from  the 
sun  and  the  stars.    The  illuminating  power  of  the  atmos- 

is  so   feeble,   thai    to   an   eye   placed  in  the  shade  the- 

stars  are  \  isible  in  broad  day. 

i        irqftfu    1         phert      The  general  blue  colour  of 
the  atmosphere,  and  the  brilliant  and  glowing  tints  of  the 

ig  and  evening,  arise  from  the  different  n 

lions  which  the  different  rays  of  light  receive  in  passing 

through  the  air.    When  the  sun  is  near  the  horiz the 

stratum  of  air  through  which  the  light  must  pass  bel 

reaches  iis  is  greatly  thicker  than  when  he  is  at  a  consider- 
able altitude.  Now  the  red  rays  posses-  a  greater  momen- 
tum   than    those    of  the    upper   portion   of  the   spectrum, 

w  hence  thej  foi  ce  their  way  In  greater  abundance  through 
the  resisting  mass  of  air,  and  penetrate  to  the  earth,  while 

the  violet  and  Mo,  are  collected  or  absorbed.  Hence  the- 
ruddy  colour  ol  the  morning  ami  evening  skies.  The  pre- 
vailing blue  colour  of  the  atmosphere  is  to  be  ascribed  t» 
the  greater  facility  with  which  the  blue  and  violet  rays  are 
reflected,  or  from  possessing  less  power  to  penetrate 
through  the  aerial  strata  Ma  great  height  in  the  atmos- 
phere, the   line  tinge  disappears,  and  the  sky  becomes  a 

'lack. 

The  atmosphere  Is  a  region  of  clouds  and  vapours  through 
the  agency  of  which  the  earth  is  fertilised  ami  rendered  fit 
for  the  support  of  animal  and  vegetable  life.  The  various 
i  which  h  is  the  theatre,  and  the  effect  of 
the  changes  Which  are  continually  takiiiL'  place  in  its  phy- 
sical condition,  form  one  of  the  most  important  branches 
of  natural  philosophy  <  See  Climate,  Meteorology,  Va- 
pour, Wind,  a 

Atmosphere,     in    Electricity,  denotes   a    medium     eon- 
ceived  to  be  diffused  over  the  surface  of  electric  bodies, 

and   to    extend    to   some    distance    from    them.     It   is   not 

proved  that  any  such  thud  medium  exists,  al  least  of  a  pe- 
culiar kind,  though  it  figured  greatly  in  the  language  of  the 
early  writers  on  electricity.  Phenomena  that  were  ex 
plained  by  the  agency  of  a  peculiar  fluid,  are  now  known 
to  depend  on  the  modification  which  common  air  receives 
from  electric  substances.  Sep.  Electricity.  (See  Lard- 
ner's  Meteorology,  Electricity,  <fec.  in  Cabinet  Cyclopedia, 
Hutchison's  Meteorological  < >h, -nations.  &c.) 

ATMOSPHE'RIC  STONES.     See  Aerolites. 

ATMOSPHE'IUC  TIDES  Certain  changes  in  the  bar- 
ometric, pressure  of  the  atmosphere,  depending  on  the  at- 
traction of  the  sun  and  moon.  Laplace  ascribes  the  lunar 
influence  indicated  by  the  observations  on  the  diurnal  var- 
iations of  the  barometer  to  the  elevation  and  depression  of 
the  waters  of  theocpan,  instead  of  the  direct  effect  of  the 
moon's  attraction.  The  solar  action  he  attributes  wholly 
to  the  expansion  caused  by  the  heat  of  the  sun.  It  is  ex 
tremely  doubtful  if,  in  our  latitudes,  the  attraction  of  the 
sun  and  moon  produces  any  perceptible  oscillation  of  the 
atmosphere. 


ATOM. 

A'TOM.  (Gr.  d,  not,  and  rljivu,  I  cut.)  A  part  so  small 
bs  not  to  be  divisible. 

ATO'MIC  THEORY.  (In  Chemistry.)  When  sub- 
stances combine  chemically,  they  are  found  to  unite  in 
certain  weights  ;  thus,  water  is  constituted  of  one  part  by 
weight  of  hydrogen  and  eight  of  oxygen,  and  the  gases  only 
combine  in  those  proportions  to  form  it.  It  is  assumed 
that  water  is  a  compound  of  an  atom  of  hydrogen  and  an 
atom  of  oxygen,  and  that  the  relative  weight  of  the  atom 
of  hydrogen  to  the  atom  of  oxygen  is  as  1  :  8 ;  hence  the 
atomic  weight  of  water  is  1  +  8,  or  =  9.  The  same  theo- 
retical views  are  applicable  to  all  other  simple  and  com- 
pound bodies,  and  the  numbers  which  represent  their 
combining  weights  are  hence  called  their  atomic  or  equi- 
valent numbers.  See  EauivALENTS  and  Affinity.  {See 
Daubeny  on  the  Atomic  Theory.) 

ATOMOGY'XIA.  (Gr.  oltouos,  uncut,  and  yvvrj,  a  fe- 
male.) A  word  proposed  to  be  substituted  for  angiosper- 
mia,  the  name  of  the  second  order  of  the  sixth  class  of  Lin- 
naeus, signifying  that  the  ovary  is  not  cleft  into  distinct 
parts. 

ATO'NEMEXT.  (From  the  old  English  verb  to  atone, 
or  reconcile  :  the  phrase  is  still  used  adverbially,  as  where 
we  say  that  two  persons  are  "  at  one,''  i.  e.  agreed.)  In 
Theology,  the  reconcilement  of  God  with  man  by  virtue  of 
the  death  of  our  Saviour.  The  sacrifices  of  Jewish  and 
patriarchal  antiquity  were  types  of  this  great  event,  and 
were  in  themselves  offered  for  the  purpose  of  atoning  for 
sin;  and  the  idea  attached  to  the  practice  of  sacrifice  by 
the  numerous  heathen  nations  of  antiquity,  and  of  the  pre- 
sent time,  has  always  been  the  same.     (See  Sacrifice.) 

A'TRIUM.  (According  to  Scaliger,  from  the  Greek 
aWptoi,  expostd  to  the  air.)  In  ancient  Architecture,  the 
atrium  is  by  some  considered  the  same  as  the  vestibule, 
and  Aulus  Gellius  intimates  that  in  his  time  these  two 
words  were  frequently  confounded.  There  is  reason  for 
supposing  that  the  vestibule  was  not  properly  a  part  of  the 
house,  but  merely  a  portion  of  the  entrance  ;  for  Cicero,  in 
a  letter  to  Atticus,  describing  the  attack  made  on  him  in 
the  via  sacra,  says,  he  took  refuge  to  defend  himself  in  the 
vestibule  of  Tatiiis.  "  Secessi  in  vestibulum  Caii  Tatii  Do- 
mionis."  If,  however,  in  the  time  of  Aulus  Gellius  these 
words  were  used  ambiguously,  it  is  not  probable  that  at 
this  period  the  question  will  be  settled  ;  and  that  this  was 
the  case  is  quite  certain,  for,  in  describing  the  spot  where 
the  colossal  statue  of  Nero  stood,  Martial  places  it  in  the 
atrium,  and  Suetonius  in  the  vestibulum.  That  the  atrium 
was  in  an  inner  part  the  verse  of  Virgil,  "  Apparet  domus 
intus  et  atria  longa  patescunt."  According  to  the  descrip- 
tion of  Vitruvius,  it  seems  to  have  been  a  sort  of  covered 
portico,  composed  of  two  ranks  of  columns,  forming  a  cen- 
tre and  two  side  aisles,  and  to  have  been  beyond  the  cavae- 
dium  or  court,  and  before  the  tablinium  or  cabinet.  The 
atrium  was  decorated  with  the  statues  of  the  proprietor's 
ancestors.  Festus  derives  its  name  from  its  first  use  at 
Atria  in  Etruria.  "  Dictum  atrium  quia  id  genus  edificii 
primum  Atriae  in  Etruria  sit  institutum." 

A'TKOPHY.  (Gr.  d,  priv.,  and  rpi<j>o>,  Inourish.)  A 
wasting  away  of  the  flesh. 

ATRO'PIA.  (Gr.  utoottos,  one  of  the  Fiites.)  A  highly 
poisonous  alkaline  substance,  extracted  from  the  atropa 
belladonna,  or  deadly  nightshade. 

a'TTA.  The  name  of  a  Fabrician  genus  of  Hymenop- 
terous  insects  belonging  to  the  ant-tribe  (Formicida;),  cha- 
racterised by  their  minute  palpi,  and  the  large  size  of  the 
heads  of  the  neuters.  Some  of  the  largest  species  of  ant, 
as  the  visiting  ant  of  South  America,  {Formica  cephalotes 
L.).  are  included  in  this  genus. 

ATTA'CHMENT.  In"  Law,  a  process  issuing  in  a  sum- 
mary manner  from  a  court  of  record  against  the  person 
of  any  one  guilty  of  a  contempt  of  its  rules.  Attachment  is 
most  commonly  granted  against  attorneys  for  malpractice, 
against  sheriffs  for  making  a  false  or  no  return  to  a  writ. 
and  against  any  parties  neglecting  to  pay  costs  when  ruled 
to  do  so. 

Foreign  Attachment.  Under  the  custom  of  the  city  of 
London,  whenever  process  for  debt  from  the  mayor  or 
sheriffs'  court  is  returned  nihil,  the  plaintiff  may,  upon  its 
appearing  that  a  third  person  is  indebted  to  the  defendant, 
obtain  satisfaction  of  his  claim  by  attaching  the  debt.  This 
is  called  foreign  attachment. 

ATTATNDER,  BILL  OF.  A  species  of  extraordinary 
proceeding  against  parties  accused  of  treasons  or  felonies 
which  cannot  be  reached  by  the  ordinary  course  of  jus- 
tice. During  the  reigns  of  the  Tudors  the  more  constitu- 
tional process  of  impeachment  was  entirely  laid  aside,  and 
attainders  were  generally  adopted  in  the  case  of  state  crimi- 
nals. These  bills  usually  commenced  in  the  Lords.  They 
have  been  very  unusual  in  later  times  :  the  last  recorded 
in  Mr.  Hatsell's  Precedents  of  Parliament  was  directed 
against  some  persons  concerned  in  the  Scotch  rebellion  in 
1746.  Parliament  is  now  bound,  in  passing  these  acts,  to 
adhere  to  the  rules  of  evidence  which  are  followed  in  or- 
dinary courts  of  justice. 
104 


ATTORNEY. 

Attainder  is  the  supposed  stain  or  corruption  of  the  blood 
of  a  criminal  legally  condemned,  which,  by  the  common 
law  of  England,  immediately  follows  the  pronouncing  sen- 
tence of  death.  The  attainder  of  a  criminal  follows  upon 
judgment,  and  not  upon  conviction.  Attainder  is  either  on 
appearance  (by  confession  or  by  verdict)  or  by  process, 
otherwise  termed  by  default  or  outlawry,  in  case  of  non- 
appearance. For  the  effect  of  attainder  on  the  lands.  &c. 
of  the  criminal,  see  Forfeiture.  It  is  enacted  by  54  G.  3. 
c.  143.  that  no  attainder  for  felony,  except  in  cases  of  high 
treason,  petty  treason,  or  murder,  or  abetting  and  counsel- 
ling the  same,  shall  extend  to  the  prejudice  of  the  rights 
of  any  persons  except  the  offender  during  his  life. 

ATTE'LABUS.  The  name  of  a  Linnaean  genus  of  Cole- 
opterous insects,  characterised  by  moniliform  antennae, 
thicker  towards  the  tip,  and  situated  on  the  rostrum:  the 
head  pointed  behind,  and  inclined.  The  species  thus  hete- 
rogeneously  grouped  together  are  now  divided  into  the 
genera  Attelabus  proper,  Apoderus,  and  Rhynchites.  The 
latter  includes  some  of  the  most  beautiful  weevils  in  this 
country,  amongst  which  is  the  rare  and  splendid  Carculio 
auratus. 

ATTE'XTIOX.  (Lat.  attentio.)  In  Metaphysics,  a  steady 
exertion  or  application  of  the  mind  to  any  object  of  sense 
or  intellect,  in  order  to  its  being  thoroughly  understood,  and 
afterwards  retained.  Attention  is  regarded  by  Stewart  as 
a  distinct  faculty  of  the  mind ;  and  though  this  arrange- 
ment does  not  coincide  with  the  views  of  many  philoso- 
phers, his  illustrations  of  the  results  or  effects  of  atten- 
tion are  universally  considered  as  a  masterpiece  of  meta- 
physical disquisition.  (Vide  Inquiry  into  the  Human 
Mi/id.  ch.  2.) 

ATTE'XUAXTS.     Remedies  which  dilute  the  blood. 

ATTENl'A'TUS.  (Lot.  made  thinner.)  When  the  thick- 
ness of  any  part  diminishes  in  some  particular  direction,  it 
is  often  used  in  the  sense  of  narrowed,  or  anirustate. 

A'TTIC.  (Gr.  drriKdi,  Athenian  ;  derived,  in  the  seventh 
edition  of"  Ency.  Brit..''  art.  "  Architecture,"  from  aretxov, 
icithout  a  irall,  which,  if  true,  would  make  everything  attic 
that  was  detached  from  a  wall.)  In  Architecture,  a  low 
order  of  architecture,  commonly  used  over  a  principal  or- 
der, never  with  columns  in  it,  but  always  antae,  orpilasters. 
It  is  employed  to  decorate  the  facade  of  a  floor  of  small 
height,  terminating  the  upper  part  of  a  building,  and  is 
doubtless  called  attic  from  its  resemblance  in  proportional 
height  and  concealed  roof  to  some  of  the  buildings  of 
Greece.  Pliny  describes  it,  after  speaking  of  the  other 
orders,  thus :  "  Praeter  has  sunt  qua}  vocantur  atticae  co- 
lumnar quaternis  angulis  pari  laterum  intervallo."  We, 
however,  find  no  examples  of  square  pillars  in  the  remains 
of  ancient  art,  though  almost  all  the  triumphal  arches  ex- 
hibit specimens  of  pilastral  attics,  having  no  capitals  save 
the  cornice  breaking  round  them.  In  modern  architecture 
the  proportions  of  the  attic  order  have  never  been  subject 
to  fixed  rules,  and  their  good  effect  is  entirely  dependent 
on  the  taste  of  the  architect. 

ATTIC  RASE.     See  Base. 

A'TTICISM.  (Gr.)  An  elegant  or  concise  form  of  ex- 
pression. Milton,  in  his  Apology  for  Smectymnuus,  thus 
uses  it :  "  They  made  sport,  and  I  laughed  :  they  mispro- 
nounced, and  I  misliked;  and,  to  make  up  the  atticism, 
they  were  out,  and  I  hissed."  The  term  Sal  Aiticum  was 
employed  by  the  Romans  at  once  to  characterise  the  poign- 
ancy of  wit  and  brilliancy  of  style  peculiar  to  the  Athe- 
nian writers,  and  to  desiunate  the  liveliness,  spirituality, 
and  refined  taste  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  city,  which  form- 
ed the  focus  and  central  point  of  all  the  eloquence  and  re- 
finement of  the  Greeks. 

A'TTITUDE.  (Fr.)  In  Painting  and  Sculpture,  the  ges- 
ture and  position  of  a  figure,  in  which  the  action  or  senti- 
ment of  the  person  is  represented.  It  should  be  natural 
and  unconstrained,  expressive,  varied.  Where  more  than 
one  figure  occurs  there  should  be  contrast  in  the  limbs, 
and  at  the  same  time  a  balancing  of  each  other. 

ATTO'RXEY.  (From  the  modem  Latin  torno,  whence 
attorno,  attornatus,  signifying  one  who  serves  the  turn,  or 
is  set  in  the  place  of  another  to  do  his  business.)  An  at- 
torney is  either  private  or  public.  A  private  attorney  is  a 
person  who  acts  for  another  in  the  conduct  of  his  affairs 
out  of  court :  for  which  purpose  a  verbal  authority  is  in 
general  sufficient ;  but  for  the  performance  of  some  acts, 
as,  to  deliver  seisin  of  land,  to  transfer  bank  stock,  or  to 
execute  a  deed  for  another,  he  must  be  authorised  by  a 
formal  power  of  attorney.  He  is  not  necessarily  of  the 
profession  of  the  law  ;  and  the  above,  and  all  other  the  va- 
rious matters  unconnected  with  actual  litigation  in  which  he 
may  be  employed,  such  as  the  preparation  of  legal  instru- 
ments, and  the  giving  of  advice  and  assistance  in  the  trans- 
fer and  management  of  property,  may  be  undertaken  by 
any  other  person.  A  public  attorney,  or  an  attorney  at 
law,  has  been  defined  to  be  an  officer  of  a  court  of  record, 
legally  qualified  to  prosecute  and  defend  actions  in  courts 
of  law  on  the  retainer  of  clients.  The  circumstance  of 
his  being  an  officer  of  the  court  in  which  he  may  practise 


ATTORNEY. 

Is  important,  as  bringing  him  immediately  within  its  sum- 
mary jurisdiction,  and  thereby  giving  rise  to  his  peculiar 
privileges  and  disabilities.  A  solicitor  differs  from  an  at- 
torney in  practising  in  courts  of  equity  instead  of  common 
law. 

Anciently  parties  were  not  allowed  to  appear  in  court  by 
attorney  without  the  king's  special  warrant  by  writ  or  let- 
ters patent,  and  if  this  could  not  be  obtained  were  com- 
pelled every  day  during  the  pendency  of  their  suit  to  be 
present  in  their  own  proper  persons.  The  power  of  suing 
and  being  sued  by  attorney  was  first  given  by  statute  in  the 
time  of  Edward  i.  All  persons  may  now  appear  in  court 
by  an  attorney  of  their  own  appointment,  except  infants, 
who  must  appear  by  next  friend  or  guardian  ;  married  wo- 
men, for  whom,  unless  when  proceeding  in  chancery  in 
respect  of  their  separate  estate  against  their  husbands,  the 
attorney  must  be  appointed  by  their  husbands;  idiots,  and 
persona  charged  with  any  criminal  offence,  must  appear  in 
person ;  lunatics,  if  of  full  aire,  and  corporations,  cannot 
appear  otherwise  than  by  attorney. 

The  admission  and  practice  of  attorneys  is  now  chiefly 
regulated  by  the  2  G.  2.  c.  23.,  and  other  statutes  made  in 
the  same  and  succeeding  reign.  The  first  requisite  to  be 
complied  with  in  order  to  become  an  attorney  is  to  enter 
into  a  contract  in  writing,  called  articles  of  clerkship,  on 
which  a  heavy  stamp  duty  is  payable,  with  an  attorney  or 
solicitor  actually  practising,  or  other  officer  of  court  speci- 
fied by  statute  to  serve  him  iti  Che  capacity  of  clerk  for 
five  years.  No  attorney  or  solicitor  can  take  more  than 
two  articled  clerks  at  the  same  time,  but  some  of  the  offi- 
cers above  referred  to  are  allowed  to  take  three  persons 
who  have  taken  the  degree  of  u.  .\.  or  B.  C.  L.  at  ( Ixford, 
Cambridge,  or  Dublin,  within  a  certain  fixed  period  after 
matriculation  at  the  university,  and  before  execution  of 
their  articles  maybe  admitted  as  attorneys  after  a  clerk- 
ship of  three  years.  Clerks  also  who  are  bound  for  five 
years  are  allowed  to  reel  t  their  term  a  year 

passed  as  bona  fide  pupils  to  a  barrister  or  special  pi 
Alter  the  expiration  oi  the  service,  and  notice  given  of  bis 
intention  to  apply  for  admission,  the  clerk  must  go  I 
aboard  of  examiners  recently  established  by  the  judges 
under  rule  of  court,  and  his  fitness  and  capacity  having 
been  approved,  be  sworn  in  open  court  to  demean  himself 
honestly  in  his  practice.    His  name  Is  then  entered  on  one 
of  the  records  of  the  court,  called  the  roll  of  attorney^  and 
he  is  duly  admitted  an  attorney  of  that  particular  i 
He  may,  however,  when  admitted  of  any  one  court  al 
Westminster,  practise  Inany  one  of  the  other  courts  there, 
in  the  name  of  an  attorney  ol    -  OUIt,  With  Ins 

consent  in  writing.    He  may,  at  a  trifling  exp 
mitted  a  solicitor  in  any  of  the  courts  of  equity,  as  a 
tor  in  equity  may  in  like  manner  be  admitted  an  attorney 
of  any  of  the  courts  of  common  law.    After  admls 
must,  before  the  16th  December  la  every  year,  paj 
tain  duty,  and  obtain  bis  certificate.    Should  be  for  one 
whole  year  neglect  to  take  out  his  certificate,  he  would, 
besides  incurring  a  penalty  for  practising  without  one,  be 
thenceforth  Incapable  of  acting  In  cowl  in  any  professional 

character;  hut  upon  payment  of  all  arrears  of  duty  since 
the  expiration  of  his  last  certificate,  and  of  a  further  sum 
by  way  of  penalty,  may  lie  readmitted. 

An  attorney  actually  practising  is  supposed  to  be  always 
present  in  court,  and  has  for  that  reason  many  privileges 
in  common  with  its  other  officers.  He  is  accordingly  ex- 
empted from  serving  on  juries  and  inquests,  and  generally 
from  filling  all  offices  which  require  personal  service;  he 
has  the  privilege  in  all  personal  actions  of  suing  in  his  own 
court,  and  of  retaining  the  venue  in  Middlesex,  and  as  de- 
fendant is  not  liable  to  be  arrested  on  mesne  process.  He 
is  in  general  privileged  from  giving  evidence  of  any  confi- 
dential communication  made  to  him  by  his  client :  this, 
however,  is  the  privilege  not  of  the  profession  but  of  the 
client,  who  may  waive  it  if  he  please.  An  attorney  cannot 
fill  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace,  sheriff,  and  many 
other  offices,  and  cannot  be  bail  for  another  unless  in 
criminal  cases.  He  is  not  permitted  to  deal  with  his  clients 
in  the  same  unrestrained  manner  in  which  ordinary  men 
may  deal  with  each  other ;  and  when  a  purchaser  of  his 
client's  property,  is  sometimes  required  to  show  affirma- 
tively in  the  first  instance  that  he  has  given  for  it  its  full 
value.  To  restrain  him  from  extortionate  and  vexatious 
conduit,  he  is  required,  one  month  at  least  before  bring- 
ing an  action  to  recover  fees  for  business  done  in  court,  to 
deliver  to  his  client  a  bill  of  costs,  which,  upon  application 
of  the  client  and  his  undertaking  to  pay  what  shall  appear 
due,  will  be  taxed  by  an  officer  of  the  court,  and  if  exorbi- 
tant be  reduced  to  a  fair  and  reasonable  amount.  Where 
an  attorney  has  been  guilty  of  gross  ignorance,  neglect,  or 
misbehaviour,  in  the  management  of  his  client's  business, 
the  court  will  frequently  interpose  in  a  summary  manner, 
and  compel  the  attorney  to  pay  the  costs,  or  make  repara- 
tion for  any  loss  occasioned  by  his  default ;  and  in  cases 
of  fraudulent  malpractice  grant  an  attachment  against  him, 
or  even  strike  him  off  the  roll.  He  is  besides  liable  to  an 
105 


ATTRACTION. 

action  for  any  gross  and  culpable  negligence,  by  which  tho 
interest  of  his  client  may  have  been' prejudiced.  In  mat- 
ters of  difficulty,  not  lying  within  his  own  department  of 
the  profession,  he  is  protected  from  responsibility  by  act- 
ing on  the  opinion  of  counsel;  but  in  matters  of  simple 
and  ordinary  practice,  where  the  law  will  presume  him  to 
have  the  requisite  knowledge  himself,  he  cannol  avoid  his 
responsibility  bv  consulting  another. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL.  An  officer  made  bv  letters 
patent.  He  is  the  public  prosecutor  on  behalf  of  the 
crown,  his  duty  being  to  exhibit  informations  in  criminal 
matters  which  concern  the  crown,  ex  officio,  or  by  virtue 
of  his  office.  (See  Information.)  He  also  files  bills  in 
the  exchequer  for  any  thing  concerning  the  king's  inheri- 
tance and  profits,  and  bills  are  filed  against  him  by  others. 
The  attorney-general  has  precedence  of  all  other  counsel. 
As  chief  legal  adviser  of  the  crown,  in  all  matters  falling 
within  the  purview  of  his  office,  his  place  is  one  of  great 
importance,  and  is  usually  entrusted  to  new  hands  when- 
ever an  extensive  change  is  made  in  the  cabinet.  It  is 
generally  understood  that  the  attorney-general  for  the  time 
being  has  a  priority  of  claim  for  preferment  to  anv  of  the 
high  law  offices  which  may  fall  vacant,  if  he  is  willing  to 
accept  it ;  but  this  rule  has  by  no  means  been  uniformly 
acted  on. 

ATTRA'CTION.  (Lat.  ad,  to,  and  tralio.  Idrair.)  Used 
in  physics  to  denote  the  tendency  which  we  observe  in 
certain  bodies  to  approach  one  another,  and  to  resist  sepa- 
ration. The  meaning  of  this  term  has  been  greatly  ob- 
scured by  metaphysical  disputations.  When  a  body  A,  is 
connected  with  another  hotly  1!.  by  a  rod,  or  chain,  or  in 
general  by  the  Intervention  of  any  mechanical  means,  we 
see,  or  fancy  we  see,  the  reason  why  B  attracts  A,  or  A  is 
compelled  to  follow  the  motions  of  B.  But  when  two  dis- 
tini  l  bo  inected  by  any  visible  bond  of  union  are 

ed  i  i  approacl e  another,  the  phenomenon  seems 

to  assume  a  greater  degree  of  mystery,  from  our  being  no 
longer  able  to  perceive  any  mode  by  which  the  one  body 
I  on  the  other.  On  reflecting,  however,  on  the  con- 
stitution of  material  BUDStai  nsidering  that  they 
I  of  distinct  particles,  which  there  are  many 
-  for  believing  are  not  in  contact  with  each  other, 
we  may  soon  Batisfj  ours.  Ives  that  there  is,  in  reality,  as 
much  difficulty  in  conceiving  how  the  different  particles  of 
a  bod]  cohere,  or  act  on  each  other  by  impulse,  as  in  con- 
ceiving how  one  body  can  be  the  cause  of  motion  in  another 
placed  at  a  distance. 

It  is  well  remarked  by  Maupertuis,  that  the  manner  in 
which  the  different  properties  reside  masubjecl  is  always 
The  vulgar  are  not  astonished  when 
Ij  in  n lot n in  communicate  its  motion  to  other 
bodies;  we  are  accustomed  to  the  phenomenon,  which 
prevents  our  perceiving  in  it  any  thing  marvellous.  But 
philosophers  will  not  readily  believe  that  an  impulsive  force 
is  more  conceivable  thin  an  attractive  one.  What,  in  fact, 
is  tins  impulsive  force?  Mow  does  it  reside  in  bodies? 
Who  could  bave  predicted  its  existence  before  seeing  the 
bodies  impinge  on  each  other?  The  existence  of  other 
properties  in  bodies  is  not  more  clear.  In  what  way  does 
impenetrability  and  the  ether  properties  become  joined  to 
'  Ktension  ?     In  these  things  there  will  always  be  mysteries 

Before  the  time  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  the  term  attraction 
was  used  to  denote  a  species  of  quality  inherent  in  certain 
bodies;  at  the  present  time,  however,  philosophers  use 
the  word  not  to  express  any  particular  mode  or  species  of 
action,  or  any  physical  cause  of  such  action,  but  simply 
the  fact,  that  the  different  parts  of  matter  tend  to  approach 
each  other,  without  any  reference  to  the  question  whether 
the  power  which  produces  that  tendency  is  inherent  in 
the  bodies,  or  consists  in  the  expulsion  of  an  external 
agent.  They  regard  it  as  one  of  the  ultimate  phenomena 
to  which  the  analysis  of  matter  leads.  Newton  himself 
particularly  cautions  his  readers  against  supposing  that 
there  is  really  an  attractive  force  residing  in  the  centre  to- 
wards which  bodies  tend,  the  centres  being  only  mathema- 
tical points.  He  takes  care  to  mention  that  he  uses  the 
term  to  denote  a  fact,  and  not  a  cause  ;  that  he  used  it 
only  for  the  purpose  of  avoiding  systems  and  explications; 
that  this  tendency  might  be  caused  by  some  subtle  matter 
proceeding  from  bodies,  and  be  the  effect  of  a  real  impul- 
sion ;  but  whatever  its  cause  might  be,  it  was  clearly  a 
primary  fact  from  which  we  might  set  out  in  explaining 
other  facts  depending  on  it.  At  present,  objections  of  the 
sort  which  Newton  here  attempts  to  avoid,  carry  little 
weight  with  them,  but  in  the  time  of  Newton  they  were 
considered  of  the  greatest  importance.  Leibnitz  called  at- 
traction an  occult  quality,  a  term  then  held  in  horror ;  and 
the  fact  is  certain,  that  the  physical  or  metaphysical  diffi- 
culties of  explaining  the  nature  of  attraction  contributed 
not  a  little  to  retard,  on  the  Continent,  the  adoption  of  the 
Newtonian  theory  of  the  universe. 

Attraction,  with  reference  to  the  laws  which  it  observes, 
may  be  divided  into  two  kinds ;  one,  taking  place  among 


ATTRACTION  OF  MOUNTAINS. 


bodies,  placed  at  measurable  distances  from  each  other ; 
the  other  among  the  small  particles  of  matter,  where  the 
effect  is  only  sensible  at  insensible  or  inappreciable  dis- 
tances. Among  the  instances  of  attraction  at  sensible  dis- 
tances, even  at  the  greatest  distances,  the  most  remarkable 
is  that  of  the  attraction  of  gravitation,  which  belongs  to  all 
matter ;  which  determines  the  motions  and  the  figures  of 
the  planets  and  comets,  and  causes  the  descent  of  heavy 
bodies  to  the  ground.  For  an  account  of  the  law  which 
this  species  of  attraction  observes,  and  the  astronomical 
phenomena  which  it  produces,  see  Gravitation.  The 
attraction  of  magnetism,  of  electricity,  <Scc,  are  also  in- 
stances of  the  action  of  bodies  on  each  other,  at  sensible 
distances.     Slse  Magnetism  ;  Electricity. 

The  second  species  of  attraction  exists  only  among  the 
molecules  or  small  particles  of  matter,  and  is  hence  called 
molecular  attraction.  The  distances  to  which  it  extends 
are  extremely  small,  or  insensible.  This  species  of  attrac- 
tion is  the  cause  of  the  coherence  of  solids;  of  crystallisa- 
tion ;  the  refraction  of  light;  the  ascent  of  fluids  in  capilla- 
ry tubes ;  the  roundness  of  a  drop  of  water;  and  in  general, 
of  all  chemical  actions.  (-S'ee  Capillarity,  Cohesion, 
Affinity,  &c.)  It  is  to  Newton  that  we  owe  the  first  dis- 
tinct announcement  of  this  last  species  of  attraction,  as  it 
is  to  him  that  we  owe  the  discovery  of  the  law  of  the  at- 
traction of  gravitation,  and  that  it  pervades  celestial  as  well 
as  terrestrial  matter.  The  law  of  molecular  attraction  is 
not  known  ;  all  that  can  be  positively  affirmed  of  it  is,  that 
it  decreases  in  a  much  quicker  ratio  than  the  inverse  square 
of  the  distance,  and  in  many  instances  becomes  prodi- 
giously great,  when  the  distance  between  the  panicles  is 
diminished  to  its  utmost  limit. 

It  would  not  be  possible  to  explain  the  constitution  of 
matter,  or  account  for  the  different  forms  under  which  it 
presents  itself,  by  molecular  attraction  alone,  without  call- 
ing to  aid  the  antagonist  principle  of  repulsion.  If  the 
particles  of  matter  only  attracted  each  other,  they  would 
continue  to  advance  nearer  and  nearer  to  each  other,  till 
further  approach  was  rendered  impossible  by  their  impen- 
etrability. But  this  does  not  take  place  ;  for  all  bodies  are 
capable  of  contraction  and  dilatation,  and  in  fact  do  dilate 
and  contract,  by  the  application  of  heat  and  cold.  Thus,  the 
particles  of  matter  being  solicited  at  the  same  time  by  two 
kinds  of  opposite  forces,  naturally  assume  that  state  of 
equilibrium  which  results  from  the  compensated  energies, 
and  approach  or  recede,  according  as  the  attractive  or  the 
repulsive  force  predominates.  All  terrestrial  phenomena 
depend  on  forces  of  this  kind,  as  the  celestial  phenomena 
depend  on  universal  gravitation.  The  repulsive  force  ap- 
pears to  be  produced  by  the  principle  of  heat :  the  attrac- 
tion cannot  be  referred  to  any  principle  with  which  we  are 
more  familiar  than  we  are  with  itself.  Some  philosophers 
have  attempted  to  confound  molecular  attraction  with  the 
general  attraction  of  gravity,  or  at  least  to  regard  the  form- 
er as  a  modification  of  the  other;  but  in  the  laws  which 
they  obey  they  are  totally  different. 

Most  of  the  disputes  which  have  taken  place  about  the 
nature  of  attraction  have  proceeded  from  the  indistinct 
ideas  which  we  attach  to  the  term  force.  By  force  is 
meant  the  cause  of  motion  ;  but  we  know  not  in  general 
what  that  cause  is ;  we  only  judge  of  its  degree  by  the  ef- 
fect which  we  see  produced.  We  have  no  means  of  mea- 
suring or  comparing  forces  directly  ;  what  we  do  measure 
and  compare  are  the  changes  of  motion  ;  and  when  we  see 
bodies  in  motion,  we  immediately  conclude  that  it  is  occa- 
sioned by  the  action  of  a  force.  Attraction  and  repulsion 
are  principles  of  action ;  and  if  they  are  more  difficult  to 
be  conceived  than  any  other  causes  of  action  or  motion, 
the  obscurity  arises  merely  from  their  implying  action  at  a 
distance. 

Of  all  the  different  kinds  of  attraction  mentioned  above, 
there  is  only  one  of  which  the  laws  have  been  fully  inves- 
tigated, namely,  the  attraction  of  gravitation.  The  electric 
and  magnetic  attractions  are  rather  terms  employed  in 
physics  for  the  purpose  of  giving  a  name  to  what  we  im- 
perfectly understand,  than  used  as  principles  from  which 
to  deduce  the  phenomena  to  which  they  give  rise.  The 
laws  of  capillary  attraction  have  been  investigated  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  by  Laplace;  but  molecular  attractions  in 
general,  which  play  so  important  a  part  in  the  economy  of 
the  world,  have  seldom  been  made  the  subject  of  mathe- 
matical invpstisation. 

ATTRACTION  OF  MOUNTAINS.  That  power  or  force 
by  which  all  the  celestial  motions  are  regulated,  and  to 
which  we  give  the  name  of  gravitation,  does  not  act  merely 
on  the  large  masses  of  the  universe  :  the  smallest  mole- 
cules of  matter  equally  partake  of  its  influence,  and  have 
an  inherent  and  natural  tendency  to  approach  one  another. 
This  mutual  action,  in  the  case  of  small  bodies,  is  insensi- 
ble ;  because  the  attraction  resulting  from  the  whole  mass 
of  the  earth  absorbs,  as  it  were,  altogether,  that  which  they 
exercise  on  one  another ;  and  renders  their  mutual  ap- 
proach infinitely  small  or  imperceptible.  But  though  the 
attractive  force  of  matter  is  insensible  in  regard  to  small 
106 


masses,  it  may  become  quite  appreciable  in  the  caseof  large 
mountains  acting  on  the  plummet  of  a  delicate  astronomi- 
cal instrument.  Newton  himself  was  the  first  who  de- 
duced this  consequence  from  his  theoryof  universal  gravita- 
tion. In  his  tract  uDe  Mundi  Systemate,"  §22.,  he  com- 
putes that  a  plummet,  at  the  foot  of  a  hemispherical  moun- 
tain three  miles  high,  and  six  broad  (at  the  base),  would  be 
drawn  about  one  minute  and  eighteen  seconds  out  of  the 
perpendicular.  Some  time  elapsed,  however,  before  any 
attempt  was  made  to  investigate  the  subject  experimentally. 

Those  who  are  unaccustomed  to  consider  the  intimate 
relation  that  subsists  among  the  different  parts  of  physical 
science,  and  the  light  which  the  accurate  solution  of  one 
question  frequently  throws  on  a  multitude  of  others,  will 
naturally  inquire  what  useful  purpose  is  to  be  gained  by 
determining  the  attraction  of  a  mountain, — a  determina- 
tion, moreover,  of  an  extremely  nice  and  delicate  kind, 
and  by  no  means  easily  executed.  Nevertheless,  the  sub- 
ject is  one  of  very  great  importance  in  astronomy,  and  its 
investigation  necessary,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  figure  of 
the  earth,  and  determine  its  interior  density.  The  magni- 
tude and  figure  of  the  earth  are  found  by  comparing  the 
lengths  of  lines  measured  at  different  places  on  its  surface 
with  the  corresponding  celestial  arcs,  the  extremities  of 
which  are  the  zenith  points  of  the  extremities  of  the  ter- 
restrial line.  Now  if,  by  the  attraction  of  a  mountain,  or 
any  other  local  cause,  the  plumbline  is  drawn  aside  from 
the  perpendicular,  or  the  direction  of  gravity  is  not  perpen- 
dicular to  the  general  surface,  the  position  of  the  apparent 
zenith  will  be  altered ;  and  a  very  small  deviation  of  this 
kind  will  produce  a  great  error,  for  every  second  of  the  ce- 
lestial arc  corresponds  to  about  100  feet  on  the  ground.  It 
is  necessary,  therefore,  to  possess  the  means  of  making  a 
correct  allowance  for  such  causes  of  local  irregularity  where 
they  cannot  be  avoided.  Again,  the  attraction  of  a  moun- 
tain gives  the  means  of  determining  the  mean  density  of 
the  earth.  For  suppose  this  attraction  to  be  known  by  its 
effect  on  the  plumbline,  as  the  dimensions  of  the  moun- 
tain can  be  determined  by  measurement,  and  the  density 
of  its  materials  can  in  general  be  ascertained  with  tolerable 
accuracy,  the  quantity  of  matter  which  it  contains  becomes 
known.  But  the  dimensions  of  the  earth,  and  the  amount 
of  its  attraction,  are  also  known  ;  therefore  we  are  in  pos- 
session of  all  the  data  necessary  to  enable  us  to  compute 
its  mean  density. 

There  are  various  ways  by  which  the  quantity  of  the  at- 
traction of  a  mountain  may  be  ascertained.  One  of  the 
must  obvious  is  to  take  two  stations,  one  on  the  south  and 
the  other  on  the  north  side  of  the  mountain,  and  as  nearly 
as  possible  in  the  same  meridian.  From  the  zenith  dis- 
tances of  the  same  stars  observed  at  each  station,  the  dif- 
ference of  their  apparent  latitudes  may  be  accurately  de- 
termined. But  the  real  difference  of  the  latitudes  can  also 
be  determined  by  trigonometrical  measurement  on  the 
ground  of  the  distance  between  the  same  stations.  The 
difference  of  these  determinations  gives  the  sum  of  the  de- 
viations of  the  plumbline  on  the  opposite  sides  of  the  moun- 
tain ;  and  when  divided  in  the  inverse  ratio  of  the  squaies 
of  the  distances  of  the  stations  from  the  centre  of  gravity 
of  the  mass,  will  give  the  deflection  of  the  plummet  at  each 
station.  Another  method  supposes  one  observer  to  be 
placed  at  the  eastern  foot  of  the  mountain,  and  another  at 
the  western,  having  the  means  of  accurately  determining 
astronomically  the  difference  of  their  meridians.  This 
difference,  compared  with  the  measured  distance  by  which 
the  one  station  is  east  or  west  of  the  other,  will  show  the 
effect  of  the  attraction  of  the  mountain ;  but  as  there  is 
greater  difficulty  in  determining  accurately  the  difference 
of  longitude  than  of  latitude,  this  method  cannot  be  so 
easily  applied  as  the  former.  But  it  is  not  absolutely  ne- 
cessary, indeed  it  may  be  impracticable,  to  make  observa- 
tions on  the  opposite  sides  of  the  mountain.  Let  the  me- 
ridian altitudes  of  the  same  stars  be  observed  first  on  north 
or  south  sides  of  it,  and  then  at  a  station  on  the  same 
parallel  of  latitude,  but  at  such  a  distance  from  the  moun- 
tain as  to  be  out  of  the  reach  of  its  action.  The  difference 
of  the  altitudes  in  the  two  cases  will  show  the  amount  of 
the  attraction  of  the  mountain. 

The  first  attempt  to  ascertain  the  attraction  of  a  moun- 
tain by  actual  observation  was  made  by  the  French  acade- 
micians, Bouguer,  Godin,  and  Condamine,  who,  about  the 
year  173S,  were  dispatched  to  Peru  for  the  purpose  of  mea- 
suring the  length  of  an  arc  of  the  terrestrial  meridian. 
Theii  experiments  were  made  on  the  mountain  Cliimbara- 
co,  the  highest  of  the  Cordilleras,  and  the  result  seemed  to 
show  that  the  zenith  point  was  altered  by  the  attraction  of 
the  mountain  to  the  extent  of  about  7y2  seconds  of  a  de- 
gree. But  this  quantity  was  much  too  small  to  determine, 
with  certain  evidence,  whether  the  mountain  had  or  had 
not  a  sensible  effect  on  the  plumbline,  for  their  instruments 
were  not  so  perfect  but  that  inconsistencies,  amounting 
sometimes  to  upwards  of  £0  seconds,  entered  into  their  ob- 
servations. From  that  time  no  farther  attempt  was  made 
to  determine  this  interesting  fact  in  physical  astronomy  to 


ATTRACTION,  CHEMICAL. 

the  year  1774,  when  Dr.  Maskelyne,  the  astronomer  royal 
at  Greenwich,  made  an  experiment  of  the  same  kind  on 
the  mountain  Schehallien  in  Perthshire,  with  instruments 
capable  of  measuring  the  minute  quantities  in  question. 
The  difference  of  latitude  of  two  stations  on  the  north  and 
south  side  of  the  mountain,  compared  with  lhat  which  was 
inferred  from  the  measurement  of  the  distance  on  the 
ground,  gave  decidedly  5  8  seconds  on  each  side,  for  the  ac- 
tion of  the  mountain  on  the  plummet  of  the  zenith  sector. 
The  magnitude  of  the  mountain  was  accurately  measured 
at  the  same  time ;  and  with  the  data  thus  obtained  a  labori- 
ous calculation  was  made  by  Dr.  Hutton,  from  which  it  re- 
sulted that  the  mean  density  of  the  earth  is  about  five  times 
that  of  water,  or  twice  that  of  the  ordinary  rockstone  near 
its  surface.  A  third  experiment  of  the  same  kind  was 
made  in  1810  by  Baron  Zach  on  the  mountain  Mimet,  at  a 
little  distance  from  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean  near 
Marseilles.  The  instrument  which  he  employed  for  de- 
termining the  latitudes,  a  repeating  circle  of  12  inches  ra- 
dius, was  much  less  to  be  depended  on  for  accurate  results 
than  the  zenith  sector  of  Dr.  Maskelyne;  but  in  other  re- 
spects his  operations,  particularly  those  connected  with 
the  terrestrial  measurements,  appear  to  have  been  con- 
ducted with  far  greater  science  and  practical  skill.  The 
result  was,  that  the  deviation  of  the  plumbline  from  the  true 
vertical,  caused  by  the  attraction  of  the  mountain,  amount- 
ed to  two  seconds  of  a  degree.  Daron  Zach  didnotatti  mpl 
the  further  researches  required  for  comparing  the  density 
on  the  mountain  with  lhat  of  the  earth  ;  such  comparison, 
indeed,  can  only  be  mad.'  with  respect  to  an  insu 
mountain,  which  Mime)  is  not 

Though  the  experiments  hitherto  made  "ii  this  subject 
are  few  and  imperfect,  they  are  quite  sufficient  to 

blisb  die  fact,  that  mountains  are  capable  ol   i lucing 

sensible  deflections  of  the  plumblines  of  astronomical  in 
struments.  It  is,  therefore,  ol  very  greal  importance,  in 
the  measurement  ol  degrees  of  the  terrestrial  meridian, 
to  select  for  the  station  where  the  astronomical  latitudes 
are  observed,  places  remote  from  large  mountains,  and 
where  the  local  irregularities  of  the  surface  are  not  very 
considerable.    After  every  precaution  ol  this  sort  has  been 

taken,  some  uncertainty  will  still  remai i  account  of 

local  attraction  ;  for  it  is  obvious  that  a  sudden  and 
derable  variation  of  density  in  the  strata  under  the  surface 
will  produce  the  same  effect  on  the  plumbline  as  a 
of  matter  elevated  above  it.  To  this  cause  is  attributed, 
with  much  probability,  a  great  part  of  the  discrepancies 
among  the  results  ol  the  operations  made  to  determine 
the  figure  of  the  earth,  particularly  among  those  for  ascer- 
taining the  vari&l a  of  density  by  mi  ana  of  the  pen- 
dulum. See  Zach' a  Attraction  des  Montagnes,  Avignon, 
1814;  Play  fair' a  FRwvfcs,  voL  iii. ;  Hutton' $  Tracts,  vol.  ii. ; 
Phil.  Trans,  vol.  Lxviii.  :  also  Buuguer's  Figure  de  la 
Terr, 

ATTRACTION,  CHEMICAL.     See  Affinity. 

ATTRIBUTES.  (Lat  ad.  to,  and  tribuo,  I  give.)  In 
the  Fine  arts,  certain  symbols  which  are  used  to  distin- 
guish and  chat  rtain  figures,     i gleand 

thunderbolt  are  thu  attributes  of  Jupiter;  the  trident,  thai 
of  Neptune;  the  caduceus.  of  Mercury;  the  how  and 
quiver  attend  Love;  the  balance  and  sword  accompany 
Justice,  Ac.  Ax. 

UJBAINE,  DROIT  1)'.  In  French  Jurisprudence,  the 
right  of  the  sovereign  to  the  succession  of  a  foreigner  not 
naturalised,  or  of  a  naturalised  foreigner  dying  intestate 
without  heirs  resident  within  the  realm.  The  word  is  de- 
rived from  the  old  French  n\i\>ain, foreigner  :  said  to  come 
from  the  Latin  alibi  oatus,  born  elsewhere.  The  droit  d'au- 
baine  still  exists  in  various  countries;  ami,  although  abol- 
ished at  the  Revolution,  was  restored  by  the  Code  Civil  of 
Napoleon. 

AIICHE'NIA  (Gr.  aix'iv.  the  neck.)  In  Mammalogy 
this  term  is  restricted  to  the  region  of  the  neck  below  the 
nucha,  or  nape.  Also,  the  name  of  a  genus  of  Camelidae, 
in  which  the  above  region  of  the  neck  is  remarkably 
elongated. 

AU'DITOR.  One  who  examines  and  verifies  the  accounts 
of  officers  and  others  entrusted  with  money.  The  term 
is  derived  from  the  Latin  audio,  I  hear :  probably  from  the 
ancient  practice  of  delivering  accounts  viva  voce.  Re- 
ceivers-general of  fee  farm  rents,  <Src.  are  termed  auditors. 
Officers  with  the  same  title  are  assisned  by  courts  of  law 
to  settle  accounts  in  actions  of  account,  <fec.  The  auditors 
of  the  exchequer  were  officers  appointed  to  take  the  ac- 
counts of  receivers  of  public  revenues.  The  present 
board  of  commissioners  for  auditing  the  public  accounts, 
exercising  the  duties  formerly  divided  between  various 
officers  of  the  exchequer,  was  constituted  in  the  year  1806. 
In  Germany  the  junior  legal  functionaries  are  termed  audi- 
tors. Its  most  usual  sense  seems  to  have  been  originally 
given  to  the  word  in  France,  where  the  members  of  the 
Chambres  des  Comptes  were  divided  into  conseillers- 
maitres.  and  conseillers-auditeurs. 

AU'GEll.    An  instrument  for  boring  the  soil  for  the  pur- 
107 


AUGUSTINE  AGE. 

pose  of  ascertaining  the  nature  of  the  subsoil,  the  mineral, 
and,  in  agriculture  more  especially,  the  existence  of  water. 
There  are  various  kinds  of  augers,  according  to  the  pur- 
poses to  which  they  are  to  be  applied ;  but  they  all  con- 
sist of  three  parts,  viz.  the  bit,  mouth,  or  cutting  piece  ; 
the  handle  ;  and  the  connecting  rods.  The  handle  is  for 
the  purpose  of  working  the  instrument  by  the  means  of 
two  or  more  men  :  the  rods  for  connecting  the  handle  with 
the  bit.  or  cutting  piece  ;  and  the  bit  for  penetrating  the 
soil.  When  it  is  necessary  to  pass  through  stony  soil  or 
rocks,  a  chisel  is  substituted  for  the  bit:  and  after  the  rock 
is  broken  in  small  pieces,  the  chisel  is  removed,  and  re- 
placed by  the  common  auger,  by  which  the  loose  matters 
are  drawn  up. 

AUGMENTATION,  ARMS  OF.  In  Heraldry,  coats 
given  by  sovereigns  to  subjects  as  a  mark  of  honour,  to  be 
quartered  with  their  own;  or  charges,  such  as  ordinances 
charged  with  some  device,  to  be  borne  in  their  family  shield. 
Such  coats  or  devices  are  in  general  either  significant,  i.  e. 
bearing  some  relation  to  the  nature  of  the  achievement  for 
which  the  honour  is  bestowed  ;  or  they  are  portions  of  the 
royal  arms. 

AUGMENTATION  OF  STIPENDS.    (Church  of  Scot- 
land. )    The  stipends  of  ministers  are  under  the  control  of 
the  Court  of  Session.     That  court  has  the  power  to  enter- 
tain applications  for  augmentation  from  clergymen,  and 
either  to  grant  or  dismiss  them.     But  twenty  years  must 
fore  such  application  can  be  renewed. 
\l    i.SHI  RC  CONFESSION  OF.     A  formulary  drawn 
up  by  Luther  and  Melanclhon, and  presented  to  Charles  V. 
at  the  diet   held  at  Augsburg  in  1530.     It  is  adopted  by  the 
i  in  church,  but  did  not  at  the  time  succeed  in  com- 
prehending all  the  reformers,  and  was  the  occasion  of  a 
separation  between  the  followers  of  Luther  and  the  party 
who  called  themselves  the  Evangelical  Keiormeii  church, 
which  has  continued  ever  since. 

\l  1. 1  US.  (Lat.  augures.)  Roman  soothsayers,  who 
professed  to  foretel  events  by  the  flying,  singing,  or  feed- 
ing of  birds.  Their  office  was  one  of  great  importance  in 
the  state,  as  no  enterprises  or  ceremonies  were  performed 
unless  they  declared  the  omens  favourable.  Accordingly 
the  members  of  their  college  were  always  elected  from  the 
le  citizens. 

Their  divinations  were  called  auguries  or  auspices,  be- 
tween  which  there  is  sometimes  a  distinction  made;  the 
latter  meaning  such  as  were  derived  from  the  inspection 
ot  birds,  the  former  being  extended  to  all  omens  or  pro- 
digies whatever. 

Romans  di  rived  their  knowledge  of  augury  from  the 
Tuscans,  who  were  celebrated  for  their  skill  in  this  and 
other  religious  ci  remonies, 

\l  GUST  The  eighth  month  of  the  year.  The  an- 
cient Roman  year  commenced  with  March,  and  the  sixth 
month  was  called  Sextilia.  The  name  was  changed  to 
\  i  in  compliment  of  Augustus  Caesar.  In  the  calen- 
Julius  Caesar,  the  distribution  of  the  days  through 
the  several  months  was  more  commodious  than  the  present. 
arrangement  The  first,  third,  fifth,  seventh,  ninth,  and 
eleventh  months  consisted  of  thirty-one  days  each,  and  the 
other  months  of  thirty,  excepting  February,  which  in  com- 
mon  years  contained  twenty-nine  days,  but  in  leap  years 
thirty.  In  order  to  gratify  the  frivolous  vanity  of  Augustus, 
who  though!  it  a  disparagement  that  the  month  bearing 
his  name  should  contain  fewer  days  than  July,  which  was 
named  after  the  first  Caesar,  a  day  was  taken  from  February 
and  given  to  August  Such  was  the  origin  of  the  capri- 
iistrihution  of  the  days  among  the  different  months 
which  now  prevails  over  the  whole  Christian  world  ;  and 
w  inch,  being  founded  on  no  principle,  requires  some  pains 
membered. 

\l  01  STA'LES.  The  epithet  given  to  the  priests  or 
flamens  of  Augustus  Caesar.    See  Flamen. 

AUGUSTA'Lie  I'ICKl'K/CTLS  The  prsefect  or  gov- 
ernor of  Egypt  when  it  became  a  Roman  province.  This 
officer  was  a  military  viceroy  appointed  immediately  by 
the  emperor,  and  not  selected  from  the  senate,  but  from  the 
order  of  knights  ;  and  he  enjoyed  greater  power  than  the 
proconsuls  and  propraetors,  under  whose  care  the  other 
provinces  fell.  The  epithet  Augustalis  was  derived  from 
the  circumstance  of  Augustus  having  appointed  the  first 
praefect  of  Egypt. 

AUGUSTA'LlA.  A  festival  instituted  in  honour  of  Au- 
gustus Caesar  on  the  occasion  of  his  pacifying  Sicily,  Greece, 
Syria,  Asia  Minor,  and  Parthia. 

AUGU'STAN  HISTORY.  A  series  of  history  of  the 
Roman  empire  from  the  year  157  a.  d.  to  285  a.  d.,  written 
by  the  following  six  authors :  JE\.  Spartianus.  J.  Capitolinus, 
JBL  Lampridius,  Vulcatius  Gallianus,  Trebellius  Pollio,  and 
Flavins  Vopiscns. 

AUGU'STINE  AGE.  A  term  used  to  designate  the 
reign  of  Augustus,  the  most  brilliant  period  in  the  literary 
history  of  Rome.  The  civil  wars  that  had  long  distracted 
the  Roman  empire  had  stifled  the  cultivation  of  literature 
and  the  arts ;  and  when  the  battle  of  Actium  had  termi- 


AUGUSTINE. 

nafed  internal  commotion,  nothing,  it  was  supposed,  could 
eo  effectually  celebrate  and  adorn  the  restoration  of  peace 
and  the  happy  reign  of  Augustus,  as  the  appearance  of 
great  national  poets,  who  might  supply  the  chief  defect  in 
the  literature  of  their  country,  and  create  a  body  of  classi- 
cal works,  in  which  the  ancient  Roman  traditions  might 
be  transmitted  to  posterity.  To  accomplish  this  object, 
men  of  genius  were  flattered,  courted,  and  enriched,  in  an 
unexampled  manner,  by  the  liberality  of  Augustus ;  and 
after  a  brief  interval,  the  verses  of  Virgil,  Horace,  Pro- 
pertius,  Ovid,  and  Tibullus  resounded  throughout  the  em- 
pire in  their  respective  epic,  lyric,  and  elegiac  strains.  But 
it  was  not  merely  for  ornamental  literature  that  the  age  in 
question  was  distinguished.  The  science  of  jurisprudence, 
the  only  original  intellectual  possession  of  great  value  to 
which  the  Romans  can  lay  undisputed  claim,  then  received 
its  full  development :  the  immense  and  nearly  inexplica- 
ble masses  of  Roman  statutes  were  perspicuously  arrang- 
ed ;  and  the  boundaries  of  strict  law  on  the  one  hand,  and 
equity  on  the  other,  were  respectively  ascertained.  In  this 
age,  too,  Rome  became  the  seat  of  universal  government 
and  wealth  ;  and  so  numerous  and  splendid  were  the  ar- 
chitectural decorations  with  which  it  was  embellished,  as 
to  justify  the  saying  of  Augustus — that  he  found  Rome  of 
brick,  and  left  it  of  marble. 

AUGU'STINE.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  an  order  of 
monks  and  nuns  established  in  the  eleventh  century,  ap- 
parently in  commemoration  of  the  monastic  societies  as- 
sembled by  Saint  Augustine  in  the  fourth,  but  which  had 
long  ceased  to  exist.     .See  Orders,  Ecclesiastical. 

AU'LIC  COUNCIL,  or  REICHSHOFRATH.  A  council 
of  high  powers  and  dignity  in  the  German  empire.  The 
Aulic  Council  and  Imperial  Chamber  (reichskammerge- 
richt)  were  the  two  supreme  courts  in  that  empire.  The 
former  consisted  of  a  president,  vice-president,  and  eigh- 
teen councillors,  six  of  whom  were  Protestants,  with  the 
peculiar  privilege  that,  if  unanimous,  their  votes  could  not 
be  overruled  by  those  of  the  Catholics.  This  court  had 
exclusive  jurisdiction  in  various  affairs,  principally  those 
which  concerned  the  imperial  government. 

AULO'STOMA.  (Gr.  aiAdc,  a  pipe,  o-TO>a,  a  mouth.) 
A  genus  of  Acanthopterygians  belonging  to  the  family  called 
by  Cuvier  Bouches  en  flute ;  including  the  pipe-fishes,  or 
those  species  which  are  characterised  by  a  mouth,  which 
is  lengthened  into  a  kind  of  tuhe  or  pipe. 

AU'RA.  (Lat.  the  air.)  The  subtle  essence  which  is 
contained  within  the  grains  of  pollen,  and  in  which  is  sup- 
posed to  reside  the  power  of  fertilising  the  ovules.  It  is 
now  generally  considered  that  this  essence  is  imaginary, 
and  that  fertilisation  is  produced  by  the  descent  of  minute 
organic  particles  through  the  stigma  to  the  ovules. 

Aura.  A  sensation  resembling  a  wind,  or  being  breathed 
upon.  Aura  epileptica  is  a  sensation  often  experienced  by 
epileptic  patients,  resembling  the  ascent  of  a  blast  of  cold 
air  from  the  extremities  upwards. 

AURANTIA'CE^I.  (Lat.  aurantium,  an  orange.)  A 
considerable  natural  order  of  Exogens,  with  polypetalous 
flowers,  confined  to  the  warmer  parts  of  Asia,  or  the  near- 
est parts  of  Africa.  They  have  dotted  leaves  filled  with  a 
fragrant  oil,  and  succulent  eatable  fruit,  covered  by  an  aro- 
matic skin.  The  orange,  the  shaddock,  the  lime,  the 
lemon,  are  all  species  of  the  genus  Citrus,  and  the  best 
known  in  Europe.  In  the  woods  of  India,  there  are  some 
Bpecies  that  climb ;  and  in  the  Himalaya  exists  a  species, 
Limonia  laureola,  which  would  probably  be  a  hardy  ever- 
green if  introduced  into  this  country. 

AURE'LIA.  In  Entomology,  the  name  given  to  the 
nymph,  or  quiescent  stage  of  transformation  of  an  insect, 
on  account  of  the  metallic  golden  lustre  which  is  reflected 
from  the  case  of  the  nymphs  of  some  diurnal  Lepidoptera. 
AURE'OLA.  (Lat.  of  the  colour  of  gold.)  In  Painting, 
the  glory  with  which  the  ancient  painters  decorated  the 
heads  of  the  saints,  martyrs,  and  confessors  which  they 
executed. 

AU'REUS.  A  Roman  gold  coin  worth  a  little  more  than 
sixteen  shillings,  according  to  the  proportion  given  by  Taci- 
tus. But  it  varied,  as  appears  from  the  different  values  as- 
signed to  it,  from  It  4s.  to  12s.  Its  weight  was  about  2)4  oz. 
avoirdupois. 

AU'RICLE.  (Lat.  auricula,  a  little  ear.)  Signifies,  in 
Mammalogy,  the  external  ears,  which  are  said  to  be  '  mar- 
ginate'  {auricula,  marginata)  when  bordered  by  a  helix,  or 
involute  margin  ; — to  be  '  operculate'  (auricula,  operculata) 
when  provided  with  a  largely  developed  tragus,  which 
stands  out  like  a  subsidiary  auricle ; — to  be  '  concealed' 
(auricula,  abscondita)  when  covered  by  the  hair.  In  Orni- 
thology, the  circle  of  feathers  surrounding  the  entry  to  the 
ear-passage  are  called  auriculars.  In  Anatomy,  the  venous 
chambers  of  the  heart  are  termed  auricles. 

AURI'CULAR  CONFESSION.  Confession  of  sins  to  a 
priest  in  private,  distinguished  from  the  public  confession 
which  was  enjoined  as  a  duty  by  the  primitive  church,  but 
was  early  allowed  to  drop  into  disuse.  It  was  on  occasion 
of  the  scandal  which  the  original  practice  produced,  that 
103 


AURORA  BOREALIS. 

Leo  the  Great,  in  the  fifth  century,  first  recommended  pri- 
vate confession  to  a  priest  in  certain  cases.  It  was  not  till 
the  fourth  council  of  Lateran  in  1215,  that  the  doctrine  of  the 
necessity  of  this  practice  was  formally  established. 

AURI'CULATE.  (Lat.  auricula,  a  little  car.)  When  the 
base  of  a  leaf  or  similar  part  projects  on  each  side  of  the 
axis  in  the  form  of  a  little  round  lobe. 

AURO'RA.  In  the  ancient  Mythology,  the  goddess  of 
the  morning.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Titan  and  Terra, 
and  was  deified  as  the  light  which  precedes  the  rising  of 
the  sun  above  our  hemisphere.  So  lovely  a  being  as  she 
was  represented  to  be  could  not  fail  to  attract  a  host  of  ad- 
mirers ;  and,  accordingly,  we  find  her  engaged  in  nume- 
rous amours.  But  the  object  of  her  peculiar  favour  was 
Tithonus,  son  of  Laomedon,  king  of  Troy,  for  whom  she 
cherished  so  permanent  an  attachment  as  to  obtain  for  him 
the  gift  of  immortality.  She  unfortunately  neglected,  how- 
ever, to  combine  this  privilege  with  an  immunity  from 
age  ;  and  in  the  course  of  time  Tithonus  became  so  decre- 
pid  that  Aurora  out  of  pity  transformed  him  into  a  grass- 
hopper, in  which  shape  he  still  retained  the  garrulity  of  old 
age.  She  is  supposed  generally  to  rise  from  the  couch  of 
Tithonus : — 

Etjam  prima  novo  spargebat  lumine  terras, 
Tithoni  croceum  linquens  Aurora  cubile. —  Virg. 

Milton,  in  a  passage  teeming  with  poetic  imagery  and  truth, 
thus  opens  the  fifth  book  of  Paradise  Lost : — 

Now  Morn ,  tier  rosy  steps  in  th'  eastern  clime 
Advancing,  sowed  the  earth  with  orient  pearl ; 
When  Adam  waked,  so  customed,  for  his  sleep 
Was  aery,  light,  from  pure  digestion  bred 
And  temperate  vapours  bland,  which  th'  only  sound 
Of  leaves  and  fuming  rills,  Aurora's  fan, 
Lightly  dispersed,  and  the  shrill  matin  song 
Of  birds  on  every  bough, 

AURO'RA  BOREALIS.  Northern  lights,  Polar  lights,  or 
Streamers.  A  luminous  meteor,  generally  appearing  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  sky,  and  presenting  a  light  somewhat 
resembling  the  dawn  or  break  of  day.  The  appearances 
which  it  exhibits  and  the  forms  it  assumes  are  so  prover- 
bially unsteady,  that  it  is  not  possible  to  comprehend  them 
under  any  general  description.  Most  frequently  the  phe- 
nomenon appears  to  proceed  from  a  sort  of  horizontal  cloud 
or  haze  in  the  northern  part  of  the  sky,  rising  a  few  de- 
grees above  the  horizon,  and  stretching  from  the  north  to- 
wards the  east  and  west,  so  as  to  form  an  arc,  which  in 
some  instances  has  been  observed  to  extend  upwards  of 
100°.  The  upper  edge  of  the  cloud  is  whitish  and  lumin- 
ous, the  lower  part  often  dark  or  thick,  and  sometimes  the 
clear  sky  may  be  seen  between  it  and  the  horizon.  From 
the  upper  part  of  the  cloud  streams  of  light  shoot  up  in  co- 
lumnar forms,  reaching  sometimes  only  a  few  degrees, 
sometimes  to  the  zenith,  or  even  beyond  it.  Instances  oc- 
cur in  which  the  whole  hemisphere  is  covered  with  corus- 
cations ;  but  the  brilliancy  is  greatest,  and  the  light  strong- 
est, in  the  north  near  the  main  body  of  the  meteor.  The 
streamers  have  in  general  a  tremulous  motion,  and,  when 
close  together,  present  the  appearance  of  waves  or  sheets 
of  light  following  each  other  in  rapid  succession.  When 
several  columns,  issuing  from  different  points,  meet  at  the 
zenith,  a  small  meteor  is  formed  of  greater  brilliancy  than 
the  separate  columns.  The  phenomenon  sometimes  con- 
tinues a  few  hours,  occasionally  the  whole  night,  and  even 
for  several  nights  in  succession.  It  generally  commences 
at  most  two  or  three  hours  after  sunset,  and  very  rarely  in 
the  morning  or  much  after  midnight.  Auroras  have  been 
observed  even  before  the  evening  twilight  has  disappeared. 
In  the  Shetland  Islands,  and  other  countries  in  high  lati- 
tudes, the  northern  lights  are  the  constant  attendants  of 
clear  and  frosty  evenings  in  winter.  They  are  most  fre- 
quent in  autumn. 

In  Captain  Franklin's  Narrative,  the  Auroras  observed  at 
Fort  Enterprise,  in  North  America,  are  described  by  Lieut. 
Wood  as  follows  : — 

"  They  rise  with  their  centres  sometimes  in  the  mag- 
netic meridian,  and  sometimes  several  degrees  to  the  east- 
ward or  westward  of  it.  The  number  visible  seldom  ex- 
ceeds five,  and  is  seldom  limited  to  one.  The  altitude  of 
the  lowest,  when  first  seen,  is  never  less  than  4°.  As  they  ad- 
vance towards  the  zenith,  their  centres  (or  the  parts  most  ele- 
vated) preserve  a  course  in  the  magnetic  meridian,  or  near 
to  it.  But  the  eastern  and  western  extremities  vary  their 
respective  distances,  and  the  arches  become  irregularly 
broad  streams  in  the  zenith,  each  dividing  the  sky  into 
two  unequal  parts,  but  never  crossing  one  another  till  they 
separate  into  parts.  Those  arches  which  were  bright  at  the 
horizon  increase  their  brilliancy  in  the  zenith,  and  discover 
the  beams  of  which  they  are  composed,  when  the  interior 
motion  is  rapid.  This  interior  motion  is  a  sudden  glow,  not 
proceeding  from  any  visible  concentration  of  matter,  but 
bursting  out  in  several  parts  of  the  arch,  as  if  an  ignition  of 
combustible  matter  had  taken  place,  and  spreading  itself 
rapidly  towards  each  extremity.  In  this  motion  the  beams 
are  formed.    They  have  two  motions ;  one  at  right  angles 


Aurora  borealis. 

to  their  length,  or  sideways;  and  the  other  a  tremulous 
and  short  vibration,  in  winch  they  do  not  exactly  preserve 
their  parallelism  to  each  other.  The  wreaths,  when  in  the 
zenith,  present  the  appearance  of  corona?  boreales.  The 
second  motion  is  always  accompanied  by  colours ;  for  it 
must  be  observed,  that  beams  are  often  formed  without 
any  exhibition  of  colours,  and  I  have  not  iu  that  case  per- 
ceived the  vibratory  motion." 

The  noil  hern  lights  are  sometimes  seen  tinged  with  the 
various  prismatic  colours,  among  which  orange  and  green, 
but  more  frequently  the  different  shades  of  red,  predomi- 
nate. Maupertius  describes  one  seen  by  him  in  Lapland, 
by  which  an  extensive  region  of  the  heavens  towards  the 
soutli  appeared  tinged  in  so  lively  a  red  that  the  whole  con- 
stellation of  Orion  seemed  as  if  dyed  in  blood.  Some  ob- 
Bervera  of  this  meteor  have  affirmed  thai  they  have  heard 
a  rustling  or  crackling  sound  proceed  from  it.  Doubts 
have,  however,  been  entertained  on  this  point,  from  the 
circumstance  that  no  such  noises  were  heard  by  Scoresby, 
Richardson,  Franklin,  Parry,  and  Hood,  who  observed  the 
polar  lights  with  great  care,  under  the  most  favourable 
circumstances,  in  very  high  latitudes.  But  the  testimony 
of  other  observers  is  of  so  positive  a  kind  as  to  leave  no 
reasonable  doubt  that  the  phenomenon  has,  at  least  in 
particular  instances,  been  accompanied  by  sounds. 

From  the  accounts  which  have  been  collected  of  the  po- 
lar lights,  it  would  seem  thai  the  phenomenon  was  less  fre- 
epienl  iii  former  ages  than  it  is  now  ;  but  it  must  be  kept  in 
mind  thai  meteoric  observations  have  not  always  been  so 
much  attended  to  as  at  present.  Aristotle  descril" 
phenomenon  with  sufficient  accuracy  in  his  book  of  Mete 
ors.  Allusions  an-  also  made  to  it  by  Pliny,  Cicero,  and 
Seneca;  so  that  it  must  have  been  often  witnessed  by  the 
ancients,  even  in  the  climates  of  Greece  and  Italy.  The 
descriptions  of  armies  fighting  in  the  air,  and  similar  pro- 
digiea  observed  iu  the  dark  agi  owed  their 

origin  to  the  striking  and  fantastic  of  the 

era  Lights,  It  is  remarkable,  however,  that  no  men- 
tion is  made  by  any  English  writer  of  an  Aurora  Borealis 
having  been  observed  in  England  from  the  year  Ll 
1707.  Celsius  says  expressly  that  tin'  oldest  inhabitants  of 
Upsala  considered  the  phenomenon  a greal  ranty  before 
1716.  In  the  month  of  march  in  that  year  a  verj  splendid 
one  appealed  in  England,  and  bj  reason  of  its  brilliancy 
attracted  universal  attention,     I'  has  been  described  by 

J)r.  lialley  in  the  Phil.  Trans.,  No.  347.  Since  then,  the 
meteor  lias  been  much  more  common.  A  complete  BC 
count  of  all  the  appearances  of  Auroras  recorded  previous 
to  1754  may  be  found  In  the  work  of  Mairan,  "Traill*  de 
i'Aurore  Boreale." 

The  Aurora  is  not  confined  to  the  Northern  hemisphere, 
similar  appearances  being  observed  in  high  southern  lati- 
tudes.   An  Aurora  was  witnessed  by  Don  Antonio  d  I  Uoa 

at  Cape  Horn  in  1745 J  our  appeared  al  CUZCO  in  IT  II  ;  and 

another  is  described  by  Mr.  Porster  (who  accompanied 
Captain  Cook  in  Ids  last  voyage  round  the  world),  which 

u  >>  seen  by  him  in  177:1.  in  latitude  58  '  south,  and  resem 
bled,  entirely,  those  of  the  northern  hemisphere,  excepting 
thai  the  light  exhibited  no  tints,  but  was  of  a  clear  white. 
Similar  testimony  is  given  by  subsequent  navigators- 
There  is  greal  difficulty  in  determining  the  exact  height 
of  the  Aurora  Borealis  above  the  earth,  and  accordingly 
the  opinions  given  on  this  subject  by  different  observers 
are  widely  discordant  Mairan  supposed  the  mean  height 
to  be  17.")  French  leagues.  Bergman  says  460  miles,  and 
Euler  several  thousand  nines,  Prom  the  comparison  of  a 
number  of  observations  of  an  Aurora  (hat  appeared  in 
March  1826,  made  at  different  places  in  the  north  of  Eng- 
land and  south  of  Scotland,  Dr.  Dalton,  in  a  paper  present- 
ed to  the  Royal  Society,  computed  its  height  to  be  about 
100  miles.  But  a  calculation  of  this  sort,  in  which  it  is  of 
necessity  supposed  thai  the  meteor  is  seen  in  exactly  the 
same  place  by  the  different  observers,  is  subject  to  very 
greal  uncertainly.  The  observations  of  Dr.  Richardson, 
Franklin,  Hood,'  Parry,  and  others,  seem  to  prove  that  the 
place  of  the  Aurora  is  far  within  the  limits  of  the  atmos- 
phere, and  scarcely  above  the  region  of  the  clouds;  in  fact, 
as  the  diurnal  rotation  of  the  earth  produces  no  change  in 
its  apparent  position,  it  must  necessarily  partake  of  that 
motion,  and  consequently  be  regarded  as  an  atmospherical 
phenomenon. 

No  satisfactory  theory  has  yet  been  given  of  the  cause 
of  the  polar  lights.  Mairan  ascribed  the  phenomenon  to 
the  sun's  atmosphere  ;  Euler,  to  particles  of  the  earth's 
atmosphere  driven  beyond  its  limits  by  the  impulse  of  so- 
lar light.  Beccaria,  Canton,  Franklin,  and  others,  refer  it 
to  electricity,  an  agent  to  whose  mysterious  influence  all 
the  inexplicable  phenomena  of  meteorology  are  conveni- 
ently ascribed.  An  absurd  theory  proposed  by  M.  Libes 
(Uictionnaire  de  Physique)  formerly  met  with  consider- 
able favour.  He  had  observed  that  on  passing  an  electric 
spark  through  a  compound  of  oxygen  and  nitrogen,  nitrous 
vapours  of  a  reddish  colour  are  produced.  He  therefore 
supposed  that  the  higher  regions  of  the  atmosphere  near 
109 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

the  pole  contain  little  or  no  hydrogen  ;  and  that  conse- 
quently the  discharges  of  electricity,  which,  by  producing 
a  combination  of  oxygen  and  hydrogen,  form  water  in  the 
lower  strata,  in  the  more  elevated  strata  produce  nitrous 
vapours,  which  constitute  the  polar  lights.  That  some 
connexion  subsists  between  the  Aurora  and  magnetism,  or 
rather  electricity,  which  is  now  regarded  as  the  primary 
cause  of  magnetism,  is  made  certain  by  the  fact  that  du- 
ring the  continuance  of  brilliant  Auroras  the  magnetic 
needle  is  generally  disturbed,  sometimes  violently  agitated. 
The  air  at  the  same  time  is  often  observed  to  behighly 
charged  with  electric  matter.  An  experiment  contrived 
by  M.  Canton  also  seems  to  indicate  an  electric  origin.  If 
a  glass  tube  be  partially  exhausted  of  air,  hermetically 
sealed,  and  applied  to  the  conductor  of  an  electric  ma- 
chine, the  whole  tube  is  illuminated  from  end  to  end,  and 
continues  luminous  for  a  considerable  time  after  it  has 
been  removed  from  the  conductor.  If,  after  this,  the  tube 
be  drawn  through  the  hand,  the  light  will  be  remarkably 
intense  through  its  whole  length;  and  if  it  is  grasped  in  boih 
hands,  near  the  extremities,  strong  flashes  of  light  will  dart 
from  one  end  to  the  other,  and  continue  many  hours 
without  fresh  excitation.  The  only  conclusion  which,  in 
the  present  state  of  our  knowledge,  we  are  warranted  in 
deducing,  is,  that  the  Aurora  Borealis  must  be  ascribed  to 
the  agency  of  electricity  in  the  upper  regions  of  the  atmos- 
phere :  in  what  way  the  excitement  is  produced,  it  re- 
mains for  future  discoveries  to  make  known. 

The  most  systematic  series  of  observations  which  we 
possess  on  the  subject,  was  made  by  the  Rev.  James  Far- 
quharson,  of  Aberdeenshire,  in  1829,  with  an  apparatus 
furnished  by  the  Royal  Society,  and  of  which  an  account 
is  published  in  the  Transactions  for  1830. 

AU'RUM  MUSIVDM.  An  obsolete  chemical  name  of 
the  bisulphuret  of  tin. 

\i    SPK  l>.  \i  SPIt  I  \      See  Augurs. 

\t  SCULTA'TION.  (Lat.  auscultare,  in  listen.)  Ameth- 
od  of  distinguishing  healthy  and  diseaseil  states  of  the  body 
by  the  study  of  the  sounds  produced  by  the  movements  of 
the  different  organs,  and  which  differ  more  or  less  when 
the  parts  are  diseased  from  those  which  belong  to  their 
healthy  functions.    Set  Stethoscope. 

AUTHE'NTIC,  AUTHENTICATED.  A  word  of  Greek 
origin.  In  Diplomatics,  ancient  MSS.  were  formerly 
I  auiheniica  when  originals, in  opposition  to  copies. 
In  the  modem  acceptation  of  the  word,  it  is  only  applied 
tn  Instruments  bearing  marks  of  having  been  executed  by 
the  proper  authority. 

AUTHENTIC  MELODIES.  In  Music,  such  as  have 
then  -principal  notes  cuit.  line,  |  between  the  key  note  and 
its  octave.  This  term  is  applied  by  the  Italians  to  four  of 
the  church  modes  or  tones  in  music  which  rise  a  fourth 
above  their  dominants,  which  are  always  tilths  above  their 
finals,  thai  is.  rise  to  complete  their  octaves,  Ihus  distin- 
guished from  plagal  melodies,  which  fall  a  fourth  below 
their  finals. 

AUTO-DA-FE,  properly  AUTO  DE  FE.  (Span,  act  of 
faith.)  A  public  solemnity  held  by  the  Court  of  the  In- 
quisition  in  Spain  and  Portugal.  It  was  a  gaol-delivery,  at 
which  extracts  from  the  trials  of  offenders,  and  the  sen- 
tences pronounced  by  the  judges,  were  read  ;  after  which 
absolution  was  conferred  on  those  who  were  penitent,  and 
discharged:  after  which,  those  condemned  to  death  (re- 
lajados)  were  transferred  to  the  secular  authority:  and 
here  the  auto,  properly  so  called,  ended ;  the  execution 
of  the  victims  taking  place  immediately  afterwards,  under 
the  authority  of  the  civil  judge,  a  secretary  fo  the  inquisi- 
tion attending.  The  ceremonial  of  the  autos,  processions, 
horrible  executions,  <fcc,  are  amply  described  by  many 
writers.  Bee  especially  Uorenie's  History  of  lite  Inquisi- 
tion :  A  Relation  if  the  Inquisition  in  Portugal,  published 
by  Bishop  Burnet ;  and  Ouno's  Account  of  the  Senual  Auto- 
da  Feat  Madrid  in  1680,  from  which  the  account  in  the 
Penny  Cyclopaedia  is  abridged.  Autos  were  of  several 
sorts :  the  public  general  act  (auto  publico  general),  to 
which  the  above  descriptions  apply;  the  particular  act,  at 
which  only  the  officials  of  the  inquisition  were  present ; 
autillo,  or  little  act;  and  auto  singular,  the  condemnation 
of  a  single  individual.     Sec  Inquisition. 

AUTOBIO'GRAPHY.  (This  word  is  of  Greek  origin, 
and  signifies  literally  the  life  of  a -person  written  by  him- 
self.) One  of  the  most  fascinating,  and,  if  properly  under- 
stood, one  of  the  most  instructive,  species  of  composition. 
But  none  is  more  calculated  to  mislead  the  incautious 
reader,  or  to  give  more  false  impressions,  both  of  men 
and  events.  These  memoirs  may  be  divided  into  two 
classes  :  those  in  which  the  chief  object  of  the  writer  is  to 
illustrate  the  history  of  his  own  mind  and  heart,  and  the 
manner  in  which  these  were  swayed  by  the  destinies  of 
his  life  ;  and  those  in  which  his  purpose  is  merely  to  give 
a  sketch  of  the  scenes  and  events  which  have  occurred 
within  his  own  experience,  and  of  characters  with  which 
he  has  been  brought  in  contact.  Of  the  first  class  of  wri- 
tings, from  the  Confession  of  Saint  Augustine  down  to  tho 


AUTOCARPIOUS. 

Confessions  of  Rousseau,  and  the  many  works  which  have 
since  been  produced  in  imitation  of  the  latter,  it  may  be 
said  that  the  general  defect  is  a  morbid  spirit  of  exaggera- 
tion. The  mind  dwells  with  intense  recollection  on  its 
own  pains  and  pleasures,  errors  and  victories;  it  magnifies 
contrasts,  paints  every  thing  in  extremes,  and  leaves  out 
of  the  portrait  all  neutral  and  moderate  features,  because 
the  recollection  of  ordinary  feelings  and  actions  passes 
away,  while  that  of  strong  excitement  is  indelible.  Of  the 
more  narrative  class  of  memoirs,  it  is  sufficient  to  say, 
that  where  the  writer  was  himself  a  prominent  actor  in 
passing  events,  they  are  usually  little  better  than  apologies 
or  self-justifications,  such  as  the  famous  Memoirs  of  the 
Cardinal  de  Retz,  and,  in  our  own  times,  the  various  frag- 
ments of  autobiography  which  have  been  published  from 
the  hand  of  Napoleon. 

AUTOCA'RPIOUS.  (Gr.  avrds,  himself,  and  xapiros, 
fruit.)  A  name  given  to  such  fruit  as  consists  of  nothing 
but  pericarp,  without  any  additional  organ,  such  as  the 
calvx  adhering  to  the  outside. 

AUTO'CHTHONS.  (Gr.  avros.  self,  and  xQuv,  earth.) 
The  Greek  term  for  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  a  country, 
implying  that  they  were  sprung  from  the  soil.  The  Athe- 
nians, whose  territory  had  been  held  by  the  same  race 
from  time  immemorial,  chiefly  on  account  of  its  sterility, 
which  offered  no  incitement  to  foreign  aggression,  particu- 
larly laid  claim  to  this  title,  in  memorial  of  which  they  wore 
the  emblematic  grasshopper  as  part  of  their  head-dress. 

AU'TOCRAT.  In  Politics,  a  word  derived  from  the 
Greek  avroKparoip,  sole,  or  independent  governor.  This 
title  of  Autocrator  was  given  to  Athenian  generals  invested 
with  full  command  by  the  republic  ;  also  to  envoys,  in 
which  case  it  corresponded  in  meaning  with  the  barbarous 
Latin  word  plenipotentiaries.  In  modern  political  phrase- 
ology, the  term  autocrat,  signifying  a  sovereign  possessed 
of  absolute  power,  is  usually  confined  to  the  emperor  of 
Russia. 

AU'TOGRAPH.  (Gr.  avrds,  self,  and  ypdQoi,  I  write.) 
The  autograph  of  an  individual  is  a  piece  of  writing  in  his 
hand. 

AUTO'MATON.  (Gr.  avrds,  self,  and  uarrjv,  easily.) 
A  name  applied  to  pieces  of  mechanism  so  constructed  as 
to  imitate  the  actions  of  living  animals.  The  term  Android 
(from  the  Gr.  dvt]p,man)is  sometimes  applied  to  such  ma- 
chines as  resemble  the  figures  and  imitate  the  actions  of 
mankind. 

The  extent  to  which  these  useless  but  ingenious  contri- 
vances has  been  sometimes  carried  is  very  surprising.  Ar- 
chytas  of  Tarentum,  about  400  years  before  our  era,  is  said 
to  have  made  a  wooden  pigeon  that  could  fly.  Friar  Ba- 
con's speaking  head  is  a  well-known  tradition.  Albertus 
Magnus  constructed  an  automaton  to  open  his  door  when 
any  one  knocked  ;  the  celebrated  Regiomontanus,  a  wood- 
en eagle  that  flew  forth  from  the  city,  saluted  the  emperor, 
and  returned :  and  likewise  an  iron  fly  which  flew  out  of 
his  hand,  and  returned  after  flying  about  the  room.  These 
instances  may  perhaps  have  been  exaggerated  in  the  des- 
cription ;  but  there  are  some  of  recent  date,  and  not  less 
remarkable,  respecting  which  the  testimony  is  clear  and 
strong.  The  following  are  a  few  of  the  best  authenticated  : — 
The  flute-player  of  Vaucauson,  described  by  D'Alembert 
in  the  Eneyclopcdie  Methodique,  was  exhibited  in  Paris  in 
1738.  It  played  on  the  flute  exactly  in  the  same  manner 
as  a  living  performer,  and  commanded  three  octaves,  the 
fullest  scale  of  the  instrument.  Its  height  was  nearly  six 
feet.  In  Hutton's  Mathematical  Recreations,  a  description 
is  given  of  an  automaton  group,  constructed  by  M.  Camus 
for  the  amusement  of  Louis  XIV.,  consisting  of  a  coach 
and  horses,  with  coachman  and  page,  and  lady  inside,  <fcc, 
by  which  the  action  of  driving  up,  alighting,  presenting  a 
petition  to  the  king,  and  setting  oif  again,  was  mimicked 
with  wonderful  accuracy.  In  1741,  Vaucauson,  produced 
a  flagelet-player,  which  played  the  flagelet  with  the  left 
hand,  while  it  beat  a  tambourine  with  the  right.  He  also 
produced  a  duck,  which  dabbled  in  the  water,  swam, 
drank,  and  quacked  like  a  real  duck ;  raised  and  moved  its 
wings,  dressed  its  feathers  with  its  bill,  took  barley  from 
the  hand  and  swallowed  it,  and  even  digested  its  food  by 
means  of  materials  for  its  solution  placed  in  the  stomach. 
(Montucla,  Histoiredes  Math.,  tome  iii.  p.  802.) 

Automaton  flute-players  have  likewise  been  exhibited  in 
England,  of  the  size  of  real  life,  which  performed  ten  or 
twelve  duets.  Maelzel,  the  inventor  of  the  metronome, 
exhibited  an  automaton  trumpeter  at  Vienna,  of  which  a 
description  is  given  in  the  Journal  des  Modes  for  1809.  It 
was  a  martial  figure,  in  the  uniform  of  a  trumpeter  of  an 
Austrian  dragoon  regiment,  which  played  not  only  the 
Austrian  and  French  cavalry  marches,  and  all  the  signals 
of  those  armies,  but  also  a  march  and  an  allegro,  by  Weigl, 
accompanied  by  the  whole  orchestra,  &c.  {Dictionary  of 
Musicians,  London,  1827.) 

Automata  have  also  been  constructed  which  wrote,  drew 
likenesses,  played  on  the  pianoforte,  Asc.    The  celebrated 
chess-playing  automaton  is  now  considered  as  a  solved 
110 


AVERAGE,  GENERAL. 

mystery,  it  being  supposed  (and  not  denied)  that  a  boy 
was  concealed  inside  the  figure.  The  machinery,  how- 
ever, which  produced  such  motions  must  have  been  highly 
ingenious.  See  Penny  Cyclopaedia;  Hutton's  Math.  Dic- 
tionary ;  Encyc.  Brit.,  article  "  Androides." 

AU'TOPSY.  (Gr.  avrds,  self  and  o<//ij,  sight.')  Ocular 
evidence. 

AU'TUMN.  The  third  of  the  four  seasons  of  the  year. 
In  a  popular  sense  it  denotes  that  period  of  the  year  in 
which  the  fruits  of  the  earth  are  gathered  in.  Astronomi- 
cally speaking,  it  is  the  time  during  which  the  sun  is  pass- 
ing from  the  autumnal  equinox  to  the  winter  solstice.  Ow- 
ing to  the  elliptic  form  of  the  earth's  orbit,  the  seasons  are 
not  all  of  the  same  length  ;  and  owing  to  the  precession  of 
the  equinoxes,  their  lengths  vary  a  little  from  age  to  age. 
In  the  present  century,  the  time  which  elapses  between  the 
sun's  passage  through  the  autumnal  equinox  and  his  reach- 
ing the  winter  solstice,  or  while  he  passes  through  the  three 
signs  of  Libra,  Scorpio,  and  Sagittarius,  is  89  days  16  hours 
and  47  minutes.  The  autumn  of  the  northern  hemisphere 
corresponds  to  the  spring  of  the  southern. 

AUTU'MNAL  EQUINOX.  The  day  on  which  the  sun 
passes  through  the  equator,  going  southward,  or  on  which 
his  declination  changes  from  north  to  south.  When  the 
sun  is  in  the  equator,  the  day  is  equal  in  length  to  the  night 
all  over  the  world.  See  Eciuinox.  The  autumnal  equinox 
falls  generally  on  the  22d  or  23d  of  September 

AUTU'MNAL  POINT.  One  of  the  two  points  in  which 
the  ecliptic  intersects  the  equator.  It  is  the  same  as  the 
first  point  of  the  sign  Libra. 

AVALA'NCHES.  Masses  of  snow  which  collect  upon 
the  heights  of  mountains,  and  gradually  sliding  down  their 
sides,  acquire  enormous  bulk  by  fresh  accumulations : 
when  they  ultimately  reach  the  valleys  below,  they  often 
cause  great  destruction. 

AVa'ST.  A  sea  term,  signifying,  enough  ;  stop  ;  cease. 
The  etymology  of  this  word  is  doubtful. 

AVELLA'NA.  (Abella  or  Avella,  a  town  of  Campania, 
celebrated  for  its  fine  filberts. )  One  of  the  names  of  the  com- 
mon hazel  nut.  The  Spaniards  in  Chili  apply  the  name  to 
the  fruit  of  Quadria  heterophylla,  because  of  its  resem- 
blance to  filberts. 

A  VENA  SATIVA.  (Diandria  trigynia  Lin.,  Graminese 
Juss.)  The  Linnsan  name  of  the  common  oat.  A  grami- 
neous plant  characterised  by  a  loose  compound  equal 
panicle  and  two-flowered  spikelet.  The  oat  is  very  exten- 
sively cultivated  in  most  of  the  northern  countries  of  Eu- 
rope as  a  bread  corn.  It  has  long  occupied  the  same  place 
in  Scotland  that  rye  occupies  in  Germany  and  the  potatoe 
in  Ireland.  In  England  it  is  chiefly  used  in  the  feeding  of 
horses  ;  but  there,  also,  it  is  used  to  a  considerable  extent 
as  food  for  man,  particularly  in  the  northern  counties. 
There  are  three  leading  varieties  of  the  common  oat  culti- 
vated in  England — black  :  grey,  dun-brown,  or  red  ;  and 
white.  The  first  two  varieties  being  comparatively  hardy, 
may  be  raised  on  very  inferior  soils,  and  in  situations  un- 
suitable for  the  other.  The  black  is  now,  however,  hardly 
known  in  England  ;  but  it  is  still  cultivated  to  a  considera- 
ble extent  in  some  parts  of  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  and 
in  the  Western  Islands.  The  dun  or  red  oat  is  principally 
confined  to  the  moors  of  Cheshire,  Derbyshire,  and  Staf- 
fordshire. White  oats  are,  speaking  generally,  less  hardy 
than  either  of  the  other  varieties,  and  require  a  better  soil ; 
but  they  are  also  earlier,  heavier,  and  yield  a  greater  quan- 
tity of  meal.  There  are  numberless,  and  some  widely  dif- 
ferent, sub-varieties  of  the  white  oat.  That  which  is  called 
the  potatoe  oat  has  long  enjoyed  the  highest  reputation  in 
England,  and  is  almost  the  only  variety  that  is  at  present 
raised  on  good  land  in  most  parts  of  England  and  the  south 
of  Scotland.  The  produce  of  oats  varies  very  greatly. 
When  the  ground  is  foul  or  exhausted,  not  mere  than  20 
bushels  an  acre  are  obtained  :  but  in  a  rich  soil  well  man- 
aged and  in  favourable  years,  60,  70,  and  sometimes  even 
SO  bushels  and  upwards,  have  been  reaped,  weighing  from 
35  lbs.  to  45  lbs.  a  bushel,  and  yielding  7  lbs.  meal  for  14 
lbs.  oats  ;  but  the  proportion  of  meal  increases  as  the  oats 
become  heavier.  The  price  ofoats  amounted  at  an  average 
of  the  7  years  ending  with  the  31st  December,  1835,  to  22s. 
per  Imp.  quarter. 

A'VENUE.  (Lat.  ad,  to,  and  venio,  I  come.)  In  Land- 
scape Gardening,  is  a  road  leading  from  some  other  road, 
and  forming  the  main  approach  to  a  house;  but  it  is  also 
applied  to  any  broad  walk  or  road  of  grass  or  gravel,  bor- 
dered on  each  side  by  lines  of  trees.  When  the  modern 
style  of  gardening  began  to  take  the  place  of  the  ancient 
style,  the  term  avenue  gave  way  to  that  of  approach 
road,  which  subsequently  became  shortened  into  that  of 
approach. 

A'VERAGE,  GENERAL.  In  Mercantile  Law,  whatever 
damageorloss  is  incurred  by  any  part  of  the  ship  or  cargo  for 
the  preservation  of  the  rest.  When  such  damage  accrues, 
the  several  persons  interested  in  the  ship,  freight,  and  cargo, 
contribute  theirrespective  proportions  to  indemnify  the  own- 
ers of  the  part  in  question  against  the  damage  or  necessary  ex- 


AVERNUS. 

pense  which  has  been  incurred  for  the  good  of  all.  Gene- 
ral average,  therefore,  cannot  be  unless  the  whole  adven- 
ture has  been  in  jeopardy.  Every  species  of  loss  incurred 
on  any  part  of  the  cargo  in  the  course  of  the  voyage,  is 
somewhat  loosely  denominated  average,  or  particular  ave- 
rage.    See  Insueancb. 

AVE'RNUS.  (Lat.)  A  lake  of  Italy  10  miles  west  of 
Naples,  celebrated  in  antiquity  as  the  entrance  to  the  in- 
fernal regions.  Strabo's  description  of  this  lake  was  well 
fitted  to  impress  the  minds  of  the  '•jjrofanv.m  xulgus"  with 
superstitious  awe.  "Its  steep  and  perilous  banks  were 
studded  with  mighty  oaks  that  stretched  their  boughs  over 
the  walery  abyss  and  excluded  every  ray  of  wholesome 
light ;  mephitic  vapours  ascending  from  the  hot  bowels  of 
the  earth  floated  along  the  surface  of  the  lake  in  poisonous 
mist,  while  the  dark  and  savage  practices  of  the  neighbour- 
ing people  enhanced  the  horrors  of  the  gloomy  scene." 
A  cave  adjoining  the  lake  is  represented  by  Virgil  as  the 
habitation  of  the  Cumsan  sybil : — 

14  Spelnnca  alta  fnit,  raeloque  [mmanlj  hJatn, 
Scrupea,  luta  tarn  nigro  neinorumque  leiiehris  ; 
(iu.iru  *uperhaud  nlbe  poleram  impune  volaotcs 
Temlere  ilei  peimis  •  lu  lis  Fete  halitus  alris 

•  ra  ad  convexa  ferebal ;  w  birds. 

L'nde  locum  Graii  dixerunl  nomine  Avernum."       (aopVOS,  without 

This  place  continued  to  be  the  favourite  haunt  of  supersti- 
tion (ill  the  time  of  Augustus,  who  violated  us  sanctity,  and 
dispelled  the  impenetrable  darkness  in  which  it  had  hith- 
erto been  enshrouded,  by  cutting  down  the  surrounding 
(rood,  and  connecting  it  with  the  Lucrine  lake,  then  an  arm 
of  the  sea.  Tins  lake  Still  exists  under  the  name  Lago 
d'Averno  ;  it  is  about  a  mile  and  a  half  in  circumference, 
and  in  many  places  I '.XI  feet  deep.  Averni  is  a  generic 
name  for  certain  lakes  or  other  places  thai  infecl  the  at- 
mosphere with  pestilential  vapours,  called  also  nfephites 

AVEBR1  m   \"n»it.    (Lat  ,• 1( ,.   /.  ...  weed.) 

In  Arboriculture,  is  an  instrument  for  cutting  off  the 
branches  id  trees,  consisting  of  two  blades  fixed  i$n  the  end 
of  a  rod ;  one  of  which  has  a  moveable  joint,  which,  by 
means  of  a  line  fixed  to  it,  operates  like,  a  pair  of  scissors. 
In  the  Improved  forms  of  tins  instrument,  the  point  on 
which  the  moving  or  cutting  blade  lurns.  instead  of  being 
confined  to  a  circular  opening,  works  m  a  longitudinal  one : 
in  consequence  of  which,  instead  of  a  crushing  cat,  like 
that  produced  by  common  hedge  shears,  a  draw  cul  is 
formed,  which  leaves  the  section  from  which  He-  branch 

or  shoot  has  been  amputated  as  clean  as  that  produt 

a  pruning  knife 

AVE'Ksiv  i  i.at.  avereus,  turned  back.)  In  Ornithology, 
when  the  posterior  extremities  are  attached  to  the  trunk 

near  the  anus,  so  that  Hie  body  Is  supported  erect,  as  m  lie 

penguin,  Ihi     are  tei  med  "  pedes  a 

A'VES.  (Lat.  avis,  a  bird.')  Tin-  name  of  a  class  of 
warm-blooded  vertebrated  animals,  characterised  by  a 
double  circulation  and  respiration,  oviparous  generation,  a 
covering  of  feathers,  and  by  their  anterior  extremities  be- 
ing organised  for  flight  The  posterior  extremities  present 
five  principal  modifications, affording  characters  which  dis- 
tinguish five  primary  orders,     in  the  first  order  the  foot 


(a  fig.)  has  three  toes  before  and  one  behind,  all  armed 
with  long,  strong,  crooked,  and  more  or  less  retractile  talons, 
111 


AVOIRDUPOIS. 

adapted  to  seize  and  lacerate  a  living  prey  ;  this  structure 
is  associated  with  a  strong,  curved,  sharp-edged  and  sharp- 
pointed  beak,  often  armed  with  a  lateral  tooth  ;  a  very 
muscular  body,  and  capability  of  rapid  and  long-continued 
flight.  The  order  is  termed  Ri'ptores  or  Accipitres.  The 
second  type  of  foot  presents  three  toes  before  and  one  be- 
hind, and  placed  on  the  same  level ;  slender,  flexible,  of 
moderate  length,  and  provided  with  long,  pointed,  and 
slightly  curved  claws.  The  two  external  toes  are  united  by 
a  very  short  membrane.  A  foot  so  constructed  (6  fig.)  is 
especially  adapted  for  the  delicate  operations  of  nest  build- 
ing, and  lor  grasping  and  perching  among  the  slender 
branches  of  trees  ;  hence  the  order  so  characterised  has 
been  termed  Insessores,  and,  from  including  the  smaller 
tribes  of  birds,  Passeies.  In  the  third  type  of  foot  (c  fig.) 
the  hinder  toe  is  raised  above  the  level  of  the  three  anterior 
ones;  this  deteriorates  the  power  of  perching  ;  hut  the  other 
toes  are  strong,  straight,  and  terminated  by  robust  obtuse 
claws,  adapted  for  scratching  up  the  soil,  and  for  running 
along  the  ground  ;  the  legs  are  for  this  purpose  very  strong 
and  muscular,  and  the  order  so  characterised  is  termed  Raso- 
res,  or  Gallina?.  The  modification  by  which  birds  are  ena- 
bled to  wade  and  seek  their  food  in  water  along  the  mar- 
gins of  rivers,  lakes,  and  estuaries,  is  gained  simply  by 
elongating  the  bones  of  the  leg  (tibia  and  metatarsus),  which 
are  covered  with  a  naked  scaly  skin.  The  three  anterior 
toes  are  sometimes  very  long  and  slender,  as  in  the  Parraja- 
cana,  by  which  the  bird  can  support  itself  upon  the  broad 
floating  leaves  of  aquatic  plants;  sometimes  they  are  of 
moderate  length.  The  hind  toe  is  elevated,  short,  and 
sometimes  wanting  (d  fig  )  The  order  of  birds  character- 
ised by  tin-  form  of  leg  and  loot  is  termed  (Jrallatores, 
from  the  resemblance  of  the  posterior  extremities  to  stilts. 
In  the  last  form  of  foot  <.  tig.)  the  toes  are  united  by  inter- 
vening w.lis;  the  hgs  are  placed  behind  the  centre  of 
equilibrium  ;  the  body  is  protected  by  a  dense  covering  id' 
i  -.  and  a  thick  down  nevt  the  skin  ;  and  the  whole 
organisation  is  .specially  adapted  for  aquatic  life.     Hence 

th.-  order  is  termed  Natatores. 

A'VIAKY.  d.ai  avis,  a  bird.)  A  place  for  keeping 
birds,  in  gardens,  aviaries  for  singing  birds  are  generally 
limited  spaces  attached  to  summer-houses,  or  hot-houses, 
in  which  a  temperature  is  kept  up  during  winter  suitable  to 
the  kind  of  turd  or  buds  in  the  aviary.  When  an  aviary 
which  live  In  climates  analogous  to  that 
of  Britain,  h  is  formed  in  the  open  garden  or  pleasure 

ground,  each  kind  o|  bird  having  a  separate  house  ;  or,  in- 
stead ot  a  house,  a  Bmall  encl08UTf  covered  with  netting  to 

prevent  it  from  flying  away.  The  most  common  exotic  sing- 
tngbtrds  kept  in  aviaries  are  canaries;  and  the  most  common 
exotic  ornamental  birds  are  turtle  doves,  and  birds  oi  the 
parrot  tribe.    The  ornamental  ami  curious  birds  «  Inch  live 

in  climates  similar  In  that  ol  Britain  may  he  divided  into 
two  classes,  the  terrestrial  ami  the  aquatic.  Of  the  former, 
the  most  ornamental  are  the  gold  and  silver  pheasants,  and 
the  common   pigeon,  including   its  numerous   varieties  ; 

and  among  the  latter,  the  white  and  black  swans,  the  Mus- 
covy duck,  <fcc.  'f'  Maries  in  ibe  neigh- 
bour]  I  of   London,  exclusive  of  those    ill   the  Zoological 

Gardens, are  those  at  Woburn  Abbey,  and  at  Knowsley. 

AVI'Cl'LA.  A  name  applied  to  a  genus  of  bivalves,  in 
some  of  the  species  of  which  the  shell,  when  expanded, 
"Hi-  a  slight  resemblance  10  a  bird  (lying.  The  shell  is 
eqnivalve,  with  a  rectilinear  hinge,  notched  at  the  anterior 
edge  lor  the  passage  of  a  hyssus  :  Ihe  anterior  adductor 
muscle  very  small.  To  this  genus  belongs  the  celebrated 
pearl  oyster,  Avictda  margantifera. 

AVori>\\t  i:  p  Ecclesiastical  Law,  signifies  the  con- 
dition of  a  benefice  when  void  of  an  incumbent,  and  is  op- 
pose, i  to  plenarty. 

A'YOIKM  I'O'lS.orAYERIHPOIS.  (Fr.  avoirdu  pois, 
to  have  weight;  or  perhaps  from  an  old  French  verb, 
averer,  tu  verify.)  The  name  given  to  the  common  system 
of  weights  in  England,  by  which  goods  in  general,  except- 
ing the  precious  stones  and  medicines  are  weighed.  The 
standard  weight  of  this  country  is  the  grain,  which  is  or- 
dered by  art  of  parliament.  5  Geo.  IV.  c.  7-4. ,  to  be  such 
that  "a  cubic  inch  of  distilled  water,  weighed  in  air  by 
brass  weights,  at  the  temperature  of  62  degrees  ol  Fahren- 
heit's thermometer,  the  barometer  being  at  30  inches,  is 
equal  to  two  hundred  and  fifty-two  grains,  and  four  hundred 
and  fifty  eight  thousandth  parts  of  a  grain.  A  pound  avoir- 
dupois contains  7000  grains.  The  pound  is  subdivided  into 
16  ounces,  and  the  ounce  into  10  drams.  The  higher  de- 
nominations are  the  quarter-hundred,  the  hundredweight, 
and  the  ton  ;  2S  pounds  making  a  quarter,  112  pounds  a 
hundredweight,  and  20  hundredweights  a  ton.  The  pound 
avoirdupois  is  greater  than  the  pound  troy  ;  the  latter  con- 
taining only  5700  grains.  But  the  troy  ounce,  which  con- 
tains the  twelfth  part  of  5700,  or  480  grains,  is  greater  than 
the  ounce  avoirdupois,  which  contains  the  sixteenth  part  of 
7000,  or  437>2  grains.  The  avoirdupois  ounce  is  considered 
as  being  the  Roman  uncia,  which,  according  to  Dr.  Ar- 
buthnot,  contains  437^-  grains,  though  other  authorities 


AVOSET. 

make  it  several  grains  less.  The  term  averdupois  occurs 
in  some  orders  of  Henry  VIII.,  a.  d.  1532 ;  and  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, in  1588,  ordered  a  pound  of  this  weight  to  be  deposit- 
ed in  the  Exchequer  as  a  standard.     See  Weights. 

AVOSE'T.  A  native  wading  bird,  characterised  by  a 
long  recurved  bill.     See  Recurvirostra. 

AVOWRY.  In  Law,  the  justification  advanced  in  plead- 
ing by  one  who  has  taken  a  distress  in  his  own  right  when 
sued  in  replevin.  The  avowry  must  contain  a  sufficient 
averment  of  right  to  have  return.  One  who  justifies  as 
having  taken  in  the  right  of  another,  is  said  to  make  cog- 
nizance.    See  Replevin. 

AWA'RD.  In  Law,  the  judgment  pronounced  by  one 
or  more  arbitrators,  at  the  request  of  two  parties  who  are 
at  variance,  for  ending  the  matter  in  dispute  without  the 
decision  of  a.  public  tribunal.  The  act  of  reference  to  an 
arbitrator  is  termed  a  submission. 

By  the  stat.  9  <fc  10  W.  3.  c.  15.  it  is  provided  that  parties 
desirous  to  end  a  controversy  may  agree  that  their  submis- 
sion of  the  suit  to  arbitration  shall  be  made  a  rule  of  any 
court  of  record  ;  and,  after  such  rule,  the  party  disobeying 
the  award  is  liable  to  be  punished  for  a  contempt  of  the 
court.  But  the  award  may  be  set  aside  for  various  causes, 
as  corruption,  informality,  &c,  by  motion  in  court  within 
one  term  after  the  award  is  made.  When  submission  to 
arbitration  has  been  made  a  rule  of  court,  it  is,  by  3  &  4  W. 
4.  c.  42.  s.  39.,  not  revocable  by  either  party  without  leave 
of  the  court.  The  arbitrators  have  a  jurisdiction  over  the 
costs  of  the  action  as  well  as  over  the  matter  in  controver- 
sy ;  and,  in  case  of  a  reference  at  nisi  prius,  they  may  re- 
fer the  costs  to  be  taxed  by  the  proper  officer  of  the  court. 
An  award  must  be  made  in  writing,  signed  and  sealed  by 
the  arbitrators. 

AWN.  (Derivation  unknown.)  A  stiff,  usually  rough, 
bristle,  proceeding  from  the  end  or  some  other  part  of  a 
leaf,  or  of  a  leafy  organ  ;  it  is  the  beard  of  grasses,  and  often 
proceeds  in  those  plants  from  the  base  of  either  glumes  or 
paleae.  An  awn  is  in  reality  either  a  vein  separating  from 
its  parenchyma,  or  a  rigid  sharp-pointed  barren  branch  of 
inflorescence.  A  part  is  said  to  be  awned,  or  arislate, 
when  furnished  with  this  organ. 

AWNING.  In  Hort.,  a  temporary  covering  for  plants, 
generally  consisting  of  cloth  of  some  kind,  stretched  by 
means  of  ropes,  cords,  or  wooden  rods,  so  as  to  protect 
fruit  trees  against  a  wall,  or  flowers  in  a  bed.  An  awning 
for  a  tulip  bed  is  the  most  complete  structure  of  this  de- 
scription, and  is  so  constructed,  by  means  of  lines  and 
pullies,  that  the  sheeting  can  either  be  pulled  up  or  let 
down  over  a  bed  of  considerable  length  in  two  or  three 
minutes. 

A'XESTONE.  A  tough  silico-magnesian  stone,  some- 
times shaped  into  cutting  instruments.     See  Nephrite. 

AXI'FEROUS.  (Lat.  axis,  a  centre, &nd  fero,  I  bear.)  A 
name  given  to  those  plants  which,  like  lichens,  fungi,  &c, 
consist  exclusively  of  an  axis,  without  any  leaves  or  appen- 
dages of  it. 

A'XIL.  (Lat.  axilla,  the  armpit.)  That  part  of  a  plant 
where  a  leaf  fits  on  a  branch,  forming  an  angle  with  it :  or 
where  two  branches  diverge  from  each  other. 

A'XILE.  (Axis.)  Lying  in  the  axis  of  any  thing  ;  as  an 
embryo,  which  lies  in  the  axis  of  a  seed,  that  is,  from  the 
base  to  the  end  diametrically  opposite. 

AXI'LLA.  (Lat.  axilla,  the  armpit.)  In  Anatomy,  the 
hollow  below  the  base  of  the  arm,  at  its  insertion  into  the 
chest.  An  interesting  region  in  topographical  anatomy, 
containing  important  arteries,  veins,  nerves,  glands,  &c. 
which  are  termed  'axillary.' 

AXI'LLARY.  Growing  in  an  axil.  The  term  is  modi- 
fied by  the  prefixing  different  Latin  prepositions:  thus, 
infra  axillary,  signifies  growing  from  below  the  axil ; 
extra  axillary,  on  one  side  of  it ;  and  supra  axillary,  from 
above  it. 

A'XINITE.  (Gr.  &%ivri,  an  axe.)  A  mineral  usually  oc- 
curring in  axeshaped  crystals ;  it  is  an  alumino-silicate  of 
lime  and  iron. 

A'XIOM.  (Gr.  df  i<5co,  /  demand.)  In  Geometry,  a  pro- 
position which  it  is  necessary  to  lake  for  granted,  and 
which  therefore  admits  of  no  demonstration.  The  follow- 
ing are  among  the  propositions  of  this  kind  enunciated  by 
Euclid  :  "  Things  that  are  equal  to  the  same  thing  are 
equal  to  one  another."  "  The  whole  is  greater  than  its 
part."  "If  two  figures  when  placed  the  one  on  the  other 
entirely  coincide,  they  are  equal  in  every  respect."  The 
formal  statement  of  such  propositions  is  totally  useless,  or 
rather  tends  only  to  produce  obscurity. 

Axiom.  In  Philosophy,  properly  that  which  is  demand- 
ed, or  postulate.  It  is  used,  in  the  mathematical  and  physi- 
cal sciences,  in  the  sense  of  a  proposition,  to  which  the  as- 
sent of  the  student  is  demanded  without  proof,  as  a  foun- 
dation for  farther  argument. 

A'XIS.    (Lat.  an  axletree.)    That  part  in  plants  about 

which  particular  organs  are  arranged.     Thus,  the  stem  is 

an  axis  for  the  branches  ;  a  branch,  an  axis  for  leaves  ;  the 

rachis,  an  axis  for  the  divisions  of  inflorescence  ;  and  the 

112 


AZURE. 

receptacle,  gynobase,  or  columella,  is  the  axis  of  the  fruit. 
The  term  is  also  applied  to  the  imaginary  point  round 
which  parts  of  any  sort  are  arranged. 

Axis.  (Lat.  axis.)  In  Architecture,  a  real  or  imaginary 
straight  line  passing  through  any  body  on  which  it  may 
revolve  ;  the  axis  of  a  column,  for  instance,  is  a  straight 
line  drawn  down  through  its  centre  ;  the  axis  of  the  Ionic 
volute  is  a  line  drawn  through  the  two  eyes,  front  and 
rear. 

Axis.  (Lat.  axis.)  In  Mechanics,  signifies  in  general 
the  straight  line,  real  or  imaginary,  about  which  a  body 
turns.  In  this  sense  it  is  called  the  axis  of  rotation,  of  os- 
cillation, &c,  according  to  the  motion  of  the  body.  In 
Geometry,  the  axis  of  a  figure  is  a  straight  line  about  which 
the  parts  of  the  figure  are  symmetrically  disposed.  Thus, 
the  axis  of  a  cone  is  the  line  drawn  from  the  vertex  to  the 
centre  of  the  base ;  and  the  axis  of  a  cylinder,  the  line 
drawn  through  the  centre  of  its  two  ends.  In  the  ellipse 
and  hyperbola,  the  transverse  axis  is  the  straight  line  drawn 
through  the  two  foci ;  and  the  conjugate  axis,  that  drawn 
through  the  centre,  perpendicular  to  the  transverse.  In 
general,  by  the  axis  of  a  curve  line  is  meant  that  diameter 
which  has  its  ordinates  at  right  angles  to  it.  We  also 
speak  of  the  axes  of  the  co-ordinates  of  a  curve,  meaning 
the  line  on  which  the  abscissa  are  taken. 

AXIS  IN  PERITROCHIO.  One  of  the  five  mechanical 
powers,  consisting  of  a  peritrochium  or  wheel  fixed  im- 
movably to  an  axle,  so  that  both  turn  together  round  the 
axis  of  motion.  The  power  is  applied  at  the  circumference 
of  the  wheel,  and  the  weight  raised  by  a  rope  wound  round 
the  axle.  The  power  gained  is  the  same  as  that  gained  by 
a  lever,  the  longer  arm  of  which  is  equal  to  the  radius  of 
the  wheel,  and  the  shorter  equal  to  the  radius  of  the  axle; 
so  that  if  we  suppose  the  radius  of  the  wheel  to  be  30 
inches,  and  the  radius  of  the  axle  6  inches,  a  weight  of  one 
pound  suspended  by  a  rope  passing  round  the  wheel 
would  raise  a  weight  of  five  pounds  similarly  suspended 
from  the  axle. 

A'XOLOTL.  (Axolotes,  is,  em,  ibus.)  A  term  derived 
from  the  Mexican  language,  and  applied  to  a  genus  of 
Perennibranchiate  Amphibians,  found  in  the  lake  of 
Mexico. 

AYE-AYE.  The  name  of  a  singular  nocturnal  quadru- 
ped of  Madagascar,  indicative  of  its  peculiar  cry  ;  it  is 
placed  by  Cuvier  in  the  Rodent  order,  under  the  generic 
name  Cheiromys,  from  the  hand-like  structure  of  the 
hinder  feet ;  a  structure  which  approximates  the  genus  to 
the  monkey  tribe,  or  Quadrumana,  in  which  other  natural- 
ists have  placed  it. 

AZA'LEA.  (Gr.  dla\eos,  dry.)  A  genus  of  beautiful 
plants  inhabiting  North  America  and  China.  They  have 
trumpet-shaped  or  bell-shaped  richly  coloured  flowers, 
which  are  in  some  species  fragrant.  The  name  has  appa- 
rently been  derived  from  the  dry  brittle  nature  of  their 
branches.  They  differ  from  rhododendron  chiefly  in  being 
deciduous. 

A'ZIMUTH.  (From  the  Arabic.)  A  term  used  in  as 
tronomy,  to  denote  the  arc  of  the  horizon  intercepted  be- 
tween the  meridian  and  the  vertical  circle  passing  through 
a  star  or  other  celestial  body  ;  or  the  angle  made  at  the 
zenith  by  the  meridian  and  the  vertical  circle  in  which  the 
body  is  situated.  The  azimuth  may  be  counted  either 
from  the  north  or  the  south  point  of  the  horizon  :  modern 
astronomers  seem  to  prefer  beginning  at  the  north  point, 
and  counting  eastward  and  westward  to  1S0°  ;  but  it  is  not 
one  of  those  elements  usually  observed  in  astronomy,  be- 
ing easily  deduced  from  the  declination,  which  can  be 
measured  much  more  conveniently  and  accurately.  In 
trigonometrical  surveys,  however,  on  the  earth's  surface, 
the  accurate  determination  of  the  azimuth  of  an  object  is 
an  operation  of  very  great  importance.  It  is  usually  made 
with  the  theodolite. 

AZIMUTH  CIRCLES,  or  VERTICAL  CIRCLES,  are 
great  circles  of  the  sphere  passing  through  the  zenith,  and 
intersecting  the  horizon  at  right  angles. 

AZIMUTH  COMPASS.  A  compass  used  at  sea  for  find- 
ing the  horizontal  distance  of  the  sun  or  a  star  from  the 
magnetic  meridian. 

AZIMUTH  DIAL.  A  dial  of  which  the  stile  or  gnomon 
is  perpendicular  to  the  plane  of  the  horizon.  It  is  so  called 
because  the  shadow  marks  the  sun's  azimuth. 

A'ZOTANE.  Sir  H.  Davy  proposed  to  designate  the 
compounds  of  chlorine  by  the  termination  ane,  and  conse- 
quently distinguished  the  compound  of  chlorine  and  azote, 
or  chloride  of  azote,  by  the  above  name. 

A'ZOTE.  (Gr.  d,  not.  and  $wr),  life.)  A  simple  gase 
ous  body,  unfit  for  respiration  ;  it  forms  four-fifths  of  our 
atmosphere.     See  Nitrogen. 

A'ZURE.  (Fr.  azur.)  In  Painting,  a  sky-coloured  blue. 
That  made  of  lapis  lazuli,  called  ultramarine,  is  of  great 
value  to  the  painter. 

A'zure.  (Fr.  azur,  blue.)  In  Heraldry,  one  of  the  co- 
lours, or  tinctures,  employed  in  blazonry.  It  is  equivalent 
to  sapphire  among  precious  stones,  and  Jupiter  among 


AZURITE. 

planets.  In  engraving,  it  is  represented  by  horizontal 
lines. 

A'ZURITE.    See  Lazulite. 

A'ZYGOS.  (Gr.  d,  without,  and  $vyov,  a  yoke,  because 
it  has  no  fellow.)  In  Anatomy,  some  single  muscles, 
bones,  veins,  &c,  are  so  called. 


B. 


B.  The  second  letter  in  all  European  alphabets,  and  in 
that  of  most  other  languages.  B  is  one  of  those  letters 
which  the  Eastern  grammarians  call  labial,  because  the 
principal  organs  employed  in  its  pronunciation  are  the  lips. 
It  lias  a  close  affinity  to  the  other  labial  letters  P  and  V ; 
and  by  the  Saxons  it  is  confounded  with  the  former,  and 
with  the  latter  by  the  modern  Greeks,  Spaniards,  una  Gas- 
cons. Hence  the  sarcastic  remark,  that  in  Gascony  "  vi- 
vere"  and  "bibere"  are  the  same  thing.  Among  the 
Greeks  and  Hebrews,  B  signified  2 ;  anions  the  Romans 
300  (et  B  tricrntum  per  se  retinere  videtur) ;  with  a  dash 
over  it  it  denoted  3000.  and  with  a  kind  of  accent  below  it 
200.  The  Romans  also  use. |  ii  in  inscriptions  as  an  abbre- 
viation for  Baccho,  Beleno,  Benemerenti,  <tc. ;  B.  B.  for 
bene  bene  (i.e.  Optime),  II  L.  for  lector  1  .  Ii   P. 

(affixed  to  decrees  or  senatus  consulta)  for  bonum  factum. 
In  modern  times  also  it  is  used  as  an  abbreviation  for  before, 
as  B.  C.  (before  Christ) ;  and  for  bachelor,  as,  B.  A.,  B.  LL., 
B.  I),  (bachelor  of  arts,  of  laws,  of  divinity).  In  music,  B 
is  the  note  on  the  second  line  in  the  bass,  and  the  third  in 
the  trclile  :  and  in  the  chemical  alphabet,  according  to  Ray- 
mond  Luliy,  it  denotes  mercury. 

B  Molle.  (Lat.  taoWe,  soft.)  In  Music,  one  of  the  notes 
in  the  musical  scale,  usually  called  soft  or  flat  [>,  to  dis- 
tinguish it  from  B  quadro  (square),  t). 

BAAL,  or  BEL.  (Heb.)  A  sod  of  the  Phoenicians  and 
Carthaginians,  worshipped  chiefly  at  Tyre.  The  term 
Baal,  common  to  all  the  Eastern  languages,  Bignifii 
or  master ;  and  this  circumstance  has  probabl)  given  rise 
to  the  various  contradictor;  opinions  thai  prevail  i 
ing  this  divinity.  Senilis  (in  Am.  I.),  who  is  followed  by 
Vossius  CJ'ii'  >!■  Gh  hi.  b.  xi.  c.  '1  ).  observes  thai  Baal  in  the 
Runic  language  bad  two  significations:  the  one  denoting 
Saturn.  Hh  other  equivalenl  to  the  Greet  '/./>■<,.  Accord 
ingly,  if  Baal  and  Ztus  be  words  of  similar  import  in  dif- 
ferent languages,  we  may  apply  to  the  former  what  Varro 
relates  of  the  latter,  that  the  number  of  divinities  worship- 
ped under  this  title  amounted  to  three  hundred.  This  opin- 
ion, it  would  appear,  was  held  also  by  Milton, 

With  these  came  they  who,  from  the  bordering  flood 
Of  old  Euphrates,  to  the  brook  thut  parts 

from  Syrian  around,  had  general  oamea 
Of  Utinlim  and  Aetaroth,  ic.  &c. 

It  is  probable  that  the  Baal  of  the  Phoenicians,  and  the  Be- 
lus  of  the  Babylonians,  whose  worship  was  so  assiduously 
cultivated  (Herod,  i.),  were  one  and  the  same  divinity. 
The  priests  of  Baal  amounted  to  450;  anil,  among  other 
sacrifices  offered  upon  his  shrine,  the  Bible  mentions  hu- 
man victims.  To  the  zealous  devotion  paid  by  the  Eastern 
nations  to  this  divinity,  and  the  wide  circulation  of  his 
worship,  the  adoption  of  his  name  in  the  appellation  of 
distinguished  individuals,  such  as  Hannibal,  Belshazar,  As- 
drubal,  <fcc,  bears  ample  testimony.  (Selden,  de  Dim  Sy- 
ria :  ShuckfonPs  Connection,  b.  v.) 

BA'BEL.  (Heb.)  A  tower  undertaken  to  be  built  shortly 
after  the  Hood  by  the  posterity  of  Noah,  and  remarkable 
for  the  frustration  of  the  attempt  by  the  confusion  of  lan- 
guages. About  1700  years  after  the  erection  of  the  tower 
of  Babel,  Herodotus  saw  at  Babylon  a  structure  consisting 
of  eight  towers,  raised  one  above  another,  and  each  75  feet 
high  (Herod,  b.  i.);  but  whether  this  structure  was  the 
famed  tower  of  Babel  or  not,  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain. 
It  is  generally  supposed,  however,  both  by  ancient  and 
modern  writers,  that  the  city  of  Babylon  afterwards  occu- 
pied the  site  of  Babel,  and  that  the  famous  temple  of  Belus 
was  built  from  its  ruins.  A  great  difference  of  tradition 
prevails  as  to  the  height  of  the  tower  of  Babel.  While  the 
orientalists  maintain  that  it  was  10,000  fathoms,  or  about  12 
miles  high,  St.  Jerome  asserts,  on  the  authority  of  eye-wit- 
nesses who  had  examined  the  ruins  of  a  tower  at  Babylon, 
that  it  was  4  miles  high,  and  there  are  other  statements 
still  more  extravagant.  With  regard  to  modem  travellers 
who  pretend  to  identify  the  ruins  found  on  or  near  the  site 
of  ancient  Babylon  with  the  tower  of  Babel,  their  accounts 
are  so  discrepant  and  indefinite,  as  to  render  it  doubtful 
if  any  of  them  have  seen  the  genuine  ruins  of  this  cele- 
brated tower.  (Rich's  Travels;  Buckingham's  Travels 
in  Mesopotamia  ;  Rennet's  Remarks  on  Herodotus.) 

BABIA'NA.     A  genus  of  Cape  plants  belonging  to  the 

natural  order  Iridacea.     The  name  is  derived  from  Babi- 

aner,  a  term  given  by  the  Dutch  colonists  to  these  plants  in 

113 


BACCHANALIA. 

consequence  of  the  avidity  with  which  their  roots  are  de- 
voured by  the  baboons. 

BA'BILLARD.  The  name  of  a  small  frugivorous  Pas- 
serine bird,  the  Curruca  gurntia:  also  called  the  white- 
breasted  or  babbling  fauvette,  lesser  white  tliroat,  and  net 
tie-creeper. 

BABOO'N.  The  monkeys,  or  quadrumana,  which  have 
projecting  ridges  above  the"  eyes,  long  and  truncate  muz- 
zles, cheek-pouches,  ischiatic  callosities,  and  generally 
short  tails. 

BABYROU'SSA,  The  name  of  an  animal  of  the  hog 
kind  (Sus  babirussa,  Cuv.)  inhabiting  the  forests  of  the  In- 
dian Archipelago,  with  longer  legs  and  longer  tusks  than 
the  other  species  of  hog  ;  but  the  upper  and  the  lower  tusks 
curve  upwards  and  backwards,  and  serve  as  a  defence  to 
the  eyes  while  the  animal  forces  its  passage  through  the 
entangled  jungles. 

BAX'CA.  A  berry  ;  usually  a  succulent  fruit  containing 
several  seeds.  In  its  most  exact  application  it  is  a  succu- 
lent fruit  filled  with  pulp,  in  which  the  seeds  lie  loosely,  as 
in  the  euoseberrv. 

BACCALAU'REAT.  (Lat.)  The  first  or  lowest  aca- 
demical degree  in  the  English  and  French  universities. 
The  mode  by  which  this  degree  is  attainable  is  different  in 
different  universities.  Oxford  and  Cambridge  have  two 
ways  of  conferring  ii :  1.  By  examination,  to  which  those 
students  alone  are  admissible  who  have  pursued  the  pre- 
scribed course  of  study  for  the  space  of  three  years.  2. 
By  extraordinary  diploma,  granted  to  individuals  wholly 
unconnected  with  the  university.  The  former  class  are 
styled  Baccalaurei  Formati,  the  latter  Baccalaurei  fur- 
rentes.  In  Prance,  the  degree  of  Baccalaureat  (Baccalau- 
rcus  Literarum)  is  conferred  indiscriminately  upon  such 
natives  or  foreigners  as.  after  a  strict  examination  in  the 
classics,  mathematics,  and  philosophy,  are  declared  to  be 
qualified.  In  the  German  universities,  the  title  "Doctor 
Philosophise,"  has  long  been  substituted  for  Baccalaureus 
Allium  or  Literatom.  In  the  middle  ages,  the  term  Baccalau- 
reus  was  applied  to  an  Inferior  order  of  knights,  who  came  in- 
to the  field  unattended  by  vassals:  from  them  it  was  trans- 
ferred  to  tin  lowest  diss  of  ecclesiastics;  and  thence 
again,  by  Pope  Gregory  IX.,  to  the  universities.  There  are 
few  words  v.  hose  origin  has  been  more  controverted  than 
that  of  Baccalaureat  ;  and  both  the  military  and  literary 
I  their  claims  to  this  honour  with  equal 
Zealand  ingenuity.  While  the  former  maintain  that  it  is 
either  derived  from  the  bat  ukta  or  staff  with  which  knights 
usually  invested,  or  from  baa  chevalier  (an  inferior 
kind  of  knight),  the  latter,  perhaps  with  more  plausibility, 

its  origin  to  tl ustom  which  prevailed  universally 

among  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  which  was  followed 
eve Italy  till  the  thirteenth  century,  of  crowning  distin- 
guished Individuals  with  laurel:  hence  the  recipient  of  this 
honour  was  styled  Baccalaureus  (quasi  baccis  laureis  do- 
natus). 

BACCAULA'RIS.  A  fruit  consisting  of  several  distinct 
carpels,  having  a  succulent  coating,  and  seated  upon  a 
short  receptacle. 

BA'Ct'HA.  In  Entomology,  a  genus  of  the  order  Diptera, 
and  family  Syrphida  .  The  two  basal  joints  of  the  abdomen 
are  long  and  slender,  with  the  remaining  joints  depressed 
and  broad ;  they  are  bronze  colour  marked  with  yellow, 
and  are  found  upon  flowers  in  the  neighbourhood  of  London. 

BACCHANA'LIA.  (Lat.)  Festivals  in  honour  of  Bac- 
chus. In  the  mythology  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  allu- 
sion is  constantly  made  to  the  conquest  which  Bacchus  a- 
chieved  over  India,  and  it  is  generally  supposed  that  these 
festivals  were  instituted  to  commemorate  that  event.  They 
consisted  originally  of  a  grand  procession,  in  which  the 
priests  and  priestesses  of  Bacchus  bore  the  principal  part, 
and  were  accompanied  with  games,  spectacles,  and  thea- 
trical representations.  But,  at  a  later  period  of  Grecian 
history,  they  assumed  a  totally  different  character:  vice, 
debauchery,  and  licentiousness  became  their  distinguish- 
ed characteristics;  and  Plato  (de  Leg.  1.  i.)  asserts  that 
during  the  celebration  of  these  festivals  he  has  seen  the 
whole  Athenian  populace  in  a  state  of  drunkenness.  At 
Athens,  there  were  two  principal  Bacchanalia  held  annu- 
ally :  viz.  Bacchanalia  Dionysia  or  Majora,  celebrated  in  the 
city  about  spring-time  ;  and  Bacchanalia  Lenaea  or  Minora 
(so  called  from  Xr/voj,  a  wine  press),  celebrated  in  the  coun- 
try during  autumn.  On  these  occasions,  the  Bacchae  or 
priestesses  of  the  god  ran  up  and  down  the  mountains  in  a 
frantic  manner  (.Stat.  Theb.  vi.  92.),  clad  in  doe-skins, 
with  spears  in  their  hands,  bound  at  the  points  with  ivy- 
leaves  (thyrsi),  and  using  the  wildest  gestures  and  excla- 
mations.    (See  the  Baccho.  of  Euripides.) 

These  festivals  were  introduced  from  Greece  into  Etru- 
ria,  and  thence  by  an  easy  transfer  into  Rome,  where  they 
were  at  first  celebrated  chiefly  by  young  men  on  their  lay- 
ing aside  the  toga  praetexta  for  the  toga  virilis.  But  they 
soon  after  extended  among  all  classes  of  the  community  ; 
and  in  the  course  of  time  such  were  the  enormities  prac- 
tised at  their  celebration,  that  the  senate  (a.  u,  c.  566)cama 


BACCHUS. 

to  the  resolution  of  abolishing  them  entirely.  Virgil,  in  the 
7th  book  of  the  jEneid,  gives  a  graphic  description  of  these 
festivals,  and  says  that  the  priestesses 

tremulis  nlulatibus  aeihera  eomplent, 
Pampineasque  gerunt,  incinctee  pellibus,  haBtas. 
And  Juvenal  uses  the  term  Bacchanalia  to  express  a  disso- 
lute and  licentious  life : 

Q.ui  Curios  simulant,  et  Bacchanalia  vivunt. 
BA'CCHUS,  or  DIONY'SUS  (blovvoot).  The  god  of 
wine,  and  son  of  Jupiter  and  Semele  daughter  of  Cadmus. 
His  mother  perished  in  the  burning  embraces  of  the  god, 
whom  she  persuaded  to  visit  her  with  his  attribute  of  roy- 
alty, the  thunderbolt ;  the  embryo  child  was  sewn  up  in  Ju- 
piter's thigh,  whence  in  due  time  he  was  produced  to  light. 
Mythology  abounds  with  the  adventures  of  Bacchus,  the 
most  noted  of  which  are,  the  transformation  of  the  Tyr- 
rhenian pirates,  who  carried  him  off  to  sell  for  a  slave,  into 
dolphins ;  his  revenge  on  the  scoffing  Pentheus ;  and  his 
invasion  and  conquest  of  India.  Bacchus  was  generally 
represented  as  a  young  man  of  effeminate  appearance, 
with  a  garland  of  ivy  binding  his  long  hair ;  in  his  hand  he 
bore  a  thyrsus  or  rod  wreathed  with  ivy,  and  at  his  feet  lay 
his  attendant  panther. 
BaCCI'FEROUS.  Bearing  berries. 
BA'CHELOR.  In  the  English  Universities,  the  lowest 
degree  in  arts,  law,  divinity,  medicine,  and  music.  It  is, 
like  other  university  honours,  of  French  origin.  For  the 
various  derivations  that  have  been  suggested  for  this  word, 
see  Baccalaureat. 

Bachelor.  In  Heraldry,  the  lowest  order  of  knight- 
hood.    See  Knight. 

Bachelor.  In  the  Livery  Companies  of  London,  is  one 
who  is  not  yet  admitted  of  the  livery  ;  also  called  yeoman. 

BACILLA'RE^E.  A  small  group  of  Algaceous  plants, 
having  an  extremely  simple  structure,  and  in  part  the  same 
as  what  are  called  Cymbelleee.  They  stand  on  the  limits 
of  the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms,  and  are  said  to  have 
a  power  of  spontaneous  motion. 

BACI'LLUS.  A  name  given  to  the  cotyledon  of  the  hya- 
cinth by  Link. 

BACK  (from  the  Saxon  btec)  OF  A  HIP.  In  Architec- 
ture, the  upper  faces  of  the  hip-rafter  between  the  two 
sides  of  a  hipped  roof,  so  formed  to  an  angle  as  to  be  in  the 
same  plane  with  the  rafters  on  each  side  of  it. 

BACKER.  In  Architecture,  a  term  used  to  denote  a 
narrow  slate  laid  on  the  back  of  a  broad  square-headed 
slate  where  the  slates  begin  to  diminish  in  width. 

BACKGA'MMON.  A  game  played  with  dice  by  two 
persons  on  a  table  divided  into  two  parts,  upon  which  there 
are  12  black  and  as  many  white  spaces,  called  points. 
Each  player  has  15  men,  black  and  white,  to  distinguish 
them.  This  game  is  of  Welch  origin,  and  is  said  to  have 
been  invented  in  the  period  preceding  the  Conquest. 
(Gloss,  ad  Leges  Wallic,  cited  by  Henry,  vol.  iv.  p.  404.) 
Backgammon  can  only  be  learned  by  observation  and  prac- 
tice ;  and  though  much  depends  on  chance,  still  great  skill 
may  be  displayed  in  the  course  of  the  game.  Hoyle,  the 
received  oracle  in  these  matters,  has  evinced  great  accura- 
cy in  calculating  the  odds  of  backgammon,  and  has  em- 
bodied a  variety  of  rules  and  instructions  respecting  it, 
which  must  prove  of  great  service  to  every  player. 
BACK  THE  OARS.  To  row  the  oars  backwards. 
BACK  AND  FILL.  To  keep  a  ship  in  the  middle  of  the 
stream  of  a  narrow  river,  by  alternately  advancing  ahead 
from  one  shore  and  moving  backwards  from  the  opposite 
shore,  while  the  stream  carries  her  along,  the  wind  being 
contrary  to  the  direction  of  the  stream. 

BACK  STAFF.  An  instrument  used  before  the  inven- 
tion of  the  quadrant  and  sextant,  for  taking  the  sun's  alti- 
tude at  sea.  In  using  it  the  observer  turned  his  back  to  the 
sun,  whence  the  instrument  had  its  name.  It  was  invented 
by  Cant.  John  Davis,  about  the  year  1590. 

BACK-STAYS.  In  Sea  language,  ropes  stretched  from 
the  top-mast  heads  to  the  starboard  and  larboard  sides  of 
the  ship,  their  use  being  to  support  the  top-masts,  and  se- 
cond the  efforts  of  the  shrouds.  They  are  distinguished 
into  bTeasI  back-stays  and  after  back-stays,  according  as  the 
strain  on  the  mast  is  caused  by  a  side-wind,  or  a  wind  fur- 
ther aft.     See  Rigging. 

BACO'NIAN  PHILOSOPHY.  The  system  propounded 
by  Francis  Bacon,  Lord  Verulam.  It  is  usual  to  speak  of 
this  philosophy  as  if  it  were  a  new  invention  of  its  illus- 
trious founder — as  if  the  method  of  induction  were  a  mode 
of  philosophising  unknown  before  hi3  time,  and  in  direct 
opposition  to  preceding  systems,  especially  that  of  Aristo- 
tle :  this  opinion,  we  conceive,  is  entirely  erroneous.  Aris- 
totle has  in  many  parts  of  his  works  clearly  and  satisfacto- 
rily explained  the  inductive  method,  and  has  himself,  in 
his  physical  writings,  given  examples  of  its  application. 
Lord  Bacon's  distinguishing  merit  consists,  we  believe,  ra- 
ther in  the  attention  which,  by  his  splendid  eloquence,  his 
wonderful  power  of  illustration,  his  comprehensive  views 
of  the  relations  of  the  sciences  to  each  other,  and  his  un- 
114 


BAGPIPE. 

hesitating  faith  in  the  boundless  progressiveness  of  human 
knowledge,  he  succeeded  in  awakening  in  the  minds  of 
his  countrymen,  than  in  any  philosophical  discoveries  pro- 
perly so  called.     No  man,  we  admit,  ever  obtained  a  clear- 
er insight  into   the  nature   and  province  of  inductive  re- 
search ;  no  man,  certainly,  has  laid  down  with  such  rigour 
and  accuracy  the  rules  for  its  successful  prosecution.     The 
various  modes  of   experimenting  and  observing  (in  the 
language  of  Bacon  instances)  are  classed  under  twenty-se- 
ven heads:  and  the  circumstances  under  which  each  kind  is 
applicable  are  stated  with  great  fulness  and  accuracy.  This 
is  done  in  the  second  book  of  his  Novum  Organon;  the 
former  book  of  which  consists  of  aphorisms  on  the  errors 
of  the  human  intellect  generally,  and  in  particular  of  prece- 
ding philosophical  systems.     These  delusions,  under  the 
name  of  idols,  he  reduces  to  four  classes:  the  idols  of  the 
tribe,  or  those  common  to  human  nature  generally  ;  the 
idols  of  the  cave,  or  those  generated  by  individual  peculiari- 
ties ;  the  idols  of  the  marketplace,  produced  by  the  incorrect 
use  of  words  in  ordinary  discourse;  and  lastly,  the  super- 
stitions introduced  by  false  and  visionary  systems  of  phi- 
losophy, to  which  the  name  is  assigned  of  the  idols  of  the 
theatre.     His  own  method  he  designates  as  holding  an  inter- 
mediate place  between  the  merely  empirical  and  the  dog- 
matical schools.  "While  the  one,"  says  he,  "like  ants,  con- 
tent themselves  with  heaping  up  materials  for  immediate 
use,  the  latter,  after  the  manner  of  spiders,  spin  webs  out 
of  their  own  train  :  there  is  a  middle  and  a  better  way — 
that  of  the  bee,  which  derives,  indeed,  its  material  from 
the  flowers  of  the  garden  and  the  field,  but  converts  and 
digests  it  by  its  own  proper  virtue."    These  two  books  of 
the  Organon  form  the  second  great  division  of  his  project- 
ed undertaking,   the   Inslauratio  Magna,  or  Reform  of 
Philosophy,  and  relate  to  the  interpretation  of  nature.     The 
treatise  De  Augmcntis  Scientiarum  (of  the  Advancement 
of  Learning)  constitutes  the  first  division  :  the  third  was 
to  consist  of  a  history  of  the  phenomena  of  the  universe  : 
the  fourth  (ScaJa  Intetlettus)  was  to  comprise  an  account 
of  the  processes  of  the  human  understanding,  with  exam- 
ples from  various  sciences :  in  the  fifth  was  to  be  contained 
the  introduction  to  the  Philosojihia  Secunda,  or  Active  Phi- 
losophy, which,  as  the  combined  result  of  history  and  ex- 
perience, was  itself  to  constitute  the  sixth  and  last  division. 
(See  his  Distributio  Operis ;  Bacon's  Works,  4to  ed.  vol. 
iv.)    Of  this  mighty  work  Bacon  only  completed  the  first 
two  divisions.     For  a  comprehensive  and  impartial  esti- 
mate of  the  value  of  the  Baconian  philosophy,  the  Ger- 
man  scholar  may  consult  Tennemann's   Oeschichte  der 
Philosophic,  lOter  band.    (Leipzig,  1817.)    An  account  of 
the  Novum  Organon  has  been  published  by  the  Society 
for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge.     (The  best  and 
most  complete   edition  of  Lord  Bacon's  Works,  is  that 
edited  by  Basil  Montague,  Esq.,  17  vols.  Svo.     London, 
1825.    It  contains  the  Latin  Works,  with  Translations,  Por- 
traits,Views,  and  Fac- similes,  and  a  new  Life  by  the  Editor.) 
BA'CTRIS.     (Gr.  (HaKrpov,  a  cane.)    A  genus  of  palms 
with  spiny  slender  stems   and    pinnated   leaves.     Their 
fruit  is  succulent,  and  manufactured  into  a  kind  of  wine ; 
walking  sticks  are  made  from  their  stems. 

BA'CULITES.  (Lat.  baculum,  a  stick.)  A  genus  of 
fossil  Tetrabranchiate  Cephalopods,  the  chambered  shells 
of  which  are  quite  straight,  but  differ  from  those  of  the 
Orthoceratites  in  having  sinuous  or  undulated  partitions 
with  lobated  margins :  in  this  structure  they  are  aUied  to 
the  Ammonites. 
BA'DGER.     See  Meles. 

BA'DISTER.  In  Entomology,  a  genus  of  the  order 
Coleoptera,  and  family  Harpalidce.  This  genus,  with  some 
others,  forms  a  leading  group  among  the  carnivorous 
beetles. 

BA'GGAGE.  (Fr.  bagage.)  In  the  art  Military,  the 
clothes,  tents,  provisions,  and  other  necessaries  belonging 
to  an  army.  In  regard  to  the  conveyance  of  baggage,  a 
striking  contrast  is  presented  between  the  military  systems 
of  ancient  and  modern  times.  The  Roman  soldiers  had 
four  kinds  of  baggage  (bucellatum  or  corn,  utensils  of 
various  kinds,  valli,  and  arms),  termed  by  a  felicity  of  lan- 
guage impedimenta ;  and  were  so  heavily  laden,  that  they 
were  called  by  way  of  jest  muli  Mariani,  and  arvmnce. 
In  modern  times,  the  plan  is  every  where  adopted  of  rid- 
ding the  soldier  of  all  unnecessary  encumbrance;  and 
with  this  view  waggons  attached  to  each  battalion  are  em- 
ployed for  the  conveyance  of  baggage,  and  guarded  and 
regulated  by  a  body  of  men  set  apart  for  the  purpose, 
called  the  waggon-train. 

BA'GGING.  A  mode  of  reaping  corn  or  pulse  with  a 
hook,  in  which  the  operator  effects  his  object  by  striking 
the  straw  or  haulm,  instead  of  drawing  the  hook  through 
it.  In  other  words,  it  is  separating  the  straw  or  haulm 
from  the  root  by  chopping,  instead  of  by  a  drawing  cut. 

BA'GPIPE.  This  instrument  appears  to  be  of  ancient 
origin,  and  is  very  similar  to  the  tibia  utricularis  described 
by  Blanchinus.  A  representation  of  it  is  given  by  Lus- 
cinius  in  his  Musurgia  (1536),  whence  it  appears  that  at 


BAIKALITE. 

that  time  the  instrument  was  similar  to  that  now  In  use. 
It  consists  of  a  leather  bag,  inflated  through  a  valved  tube 
by  the  mouth  (or  a  bellows),  and  of  three  pipes  ;  two  of 
which  give  only  one  note  each,  and  are  called  the  great 
and  little  drone  ;  and  the  third,  somewhat  like  the  oboe, 
has  eight  finger  holes.  The  bagpipe  is  peculiar  to  the 
Scotch  and  Irish  nations. 

li  A'lK  ALITE.  A  manganesian  epidote  from  lake  Baikal 
in  Siberia. 

HAIL  (Old  Fr.  bailler,  to  deliver  or  give  up),  in  Law,  is 
the  liberation  of  one  in  custody,  whether  for  a  civil  or  cri- 
minal cause,  on  surety  taken  for  his  appearance  at  a  day 
and  place  certain.  In  civil  cases  bail  IS  chiefly  of  two 
kinds,  called  bail  to  the  sheriff,  and  bail  to  the  action  ;  or, 
in  other  terms,  bail  above  and  bail  below.  When  a  person 
is  arrested  upon  an  affidavit  made  that  he  is  indebted  to 
the  plaintiff  in  the  sum  of  JK20  or  upwards  (which,  since 
the  recent  act  for  abolishing  arrest  on  mesne  process,  1  <t 
2  Vict.  c.  10.,  must  also  state  that  there  is  probable  cause 
for  believing  that  the  defendant  is  about  to  quit  England), 
he  has  then,  in  order  to  regain  his  liberty  (unless  previous- 
ly discharged  under  a  judge's  order),  to  execute  a  bail 
bond  to  the  sheriff  the  condition  of  which  is,  that  he  will 
at  the  proper  period  put  in  special  bail,  which  amounts  to 
an  appearance  in  court :  at  this  period  he  either  puts  in 
special  bail,  who  are  two  or  more  persons,  who  undertake 
generally  that  if  the  defendant  lose  the  verdict  be  shall 
pay  the  amount  awarded  against  him,  or  render  himself  to 
custody,  or  that  they  will  do  it  for  him.  In  default  of  spe- 
cial bail  he  returns  again  into  custody. 

Bail,  in  cases  of  felony,  is  taken  by  two  magistrates  in 
cases  where  the  evidence  again.>t  the  prisoner  is  not  such 
as  to  raise  a  strong  presumption  of  his  guilt. 

BAIL-BOM),  in  Law,  is  a  deed  executed  by  a  party  ar- 
rested on  mesne  process  (see  Arrest),  and  two  persons  as 
his  sureties,  to  the  sheriff,  conditioned  for  his  causing 
special  bail  to  be  put  in.  If  the  defendant  neglect 
wards  to  pul  to  and  perfeel  such  bail,  the  plaintiff  usually 
takes  from  the  sheriff  an  assignment  of  the  bail-bond,  and 
proceeds  against  the  defendant  in  a  separate  action. 

BAl'LIE.  The  name  by  which  the  municipal  magistrates 
ol  B  Gotland  are  designated.  The  term  is  synonymous  with 
alderman. 

BAI'LIFF.  (Fr.  bailler,  (odelirer.)  The  term  properly 
meant  "  lessee  :"  whence  it  came  to  signify  more  general- 
ly deputy,  and  was  applied  to  those  officers  Who,  by  virtue 
of  deputation  either  from  the  sheriff  orthe  lords  of  private 
jurisdictions,  exercised  within  the  hundred,  or  whatever 
might  be  the  limits  of  their  bailiwick,  certain  judicial  and 
ministerial  functions.  With  the  disuse  of  private  and  local 
jurisdictions,  the  meaning  of  the  term  became  commonly 
restricted  to  such  persons  as  were  deputed  by  the  sheriff 
to  assist  him  in  the  merely  ministerial  portion  of  his  duty, 
such  as  the  summoning  of  juries  and  the  execution  of  writs. 
These  persons  are  called  bound  bailiffs,  so  termed  from  the 
obligation  which  they  enter  into  to  indemnify  the  sheriff 
against  the  consequences  of  his  responsibility  for  their  right 
conduct  in  the  discharge  of  their  duty. 

BAT LIYV1CK.  (Fr.  bailli,  bailiff. anil Lat.  vicus, a  village.) 
The  dwelling-place  or  district  of  the  bailiff:  it  also  signifies 
a  county,  which  is  the  bailiwick  of  the  sheriff,  or  the  par- 
ticular franchise  of  some  lord  who  has  exclusive  authority 
within  its  limits, 

BAI'LMENT.  In  Law,  is  a  delivery  of  goods  in  trust 
upon  a  contract,  express  or  implied,  that  the  trust  shall 
be  faithfully  executed  on  the  part  ol  the  bailee,  or  receiver. 
Transactions  with  carriers,  agents,  pawnbrokers,  and  many 
Other  mercantile  proceedings,  are  affected  by  the  law  of  bail- 
ment 

BA'IUAM.  A  Mohammedan  feast,  institute, 1  in  imita- 
tion of  the  Easter  of  the  Christian  church,  and  following 
the  Rhamaan,  or  month  of  fasting,  which  answers  to  our 
Lent.  In  consequence  of  the  Turkish  mode  of  reckoning 
by  lunar  months,  these  periods  fall  successively  in  all  the 
seasons  during  a  cycle  of  thirty-three  years.  Sixty  days 
after  the  greater  follows  a  second  feast,  termed  the  lesser 
Bairam. 

BA'JADERES.  The  name  given  by  the  Portuguese  to 
the  Indian  dancing  girls,  who,  under  various  appellations, 
are  partly  employed  as  priestesses,  and  instructed  in  music 
and  dancing  by  the  priests  of  Schiva  and  Vishnu,  partly 
employed  by  the  grandees  of  India  to  cheer  their  festivities 
and  minister  to  their  pleasure.  Their  dress  consists  of 
costly  materials,  tastefully  arranged  ;  and  their  movements 
are  most  dextrous,  graceful,  and  fascinating,  at  least  if  we 
mav  judge  of  them  from  the  Bajaderes  that  appeared  at  the 
Adelphi  theatre  in  the  autumn  of  1833.  In  their  whole 
character  and  proceedings,  they  bear  a  strong  resemblance 
to  the  Hierodouloi  of  the  Greeks. 

BA  JUI.1TS.  (Lat.  porter.)  In  the  Lower  Greek  Empire, 
the  tide  of  the  officer  to  whom  the  education  of  a  prince 
was  entrusted.  The  name  was  borrowed  by  various  West- 
ern courts  which  imitated  the  etiquette  of  Constantinople, 
and  from  it  some  have  erroneously  derived  that  of  bailiff. 
JJALjE'NA.  (Gr.  <pa\aiva.)  The  Greenland  whale  ;  also 
115 


RAUENA. 

a  generic  term,  comprehending  the  species  which  agree 
with  it  in  the  presence  of  whalebone  in  the  mouth  and  the 
absence  of  a  dorsal  fin. 

It  is  to  this  genus  that  the  whale,  properly  so  called,  or 
large- whalebone  whale  (Balrtna  mysticetus,  Linn.)  belongs, 
the  value  of  which  to  man  is  such  that  large  fleets  are  an- 
nually fitted  out  expressly  for  its  capture.  The  food  of  the 
whale  consists  exclusively  of  small  molluscous  and  crus- 
taceous  animals,  but  chiefly  the  Clio  borealis ;  and  as  these 
animals  abound  only  in  the  Arctic  seas,  the  whale  cannot 
be  expected  to  frequent  for  any  length  of  time  those  lati- 
tudes in  which  its  food  is  scarce  or  altogether  wanting.  The 
long-continued  annual  destruction  of  the  Balttna  mystice- 
tus  has  greatly  diminished  the  numbers  of  this  species, 
and  driven  those  which  remain  to  the  extremest  limits  of 
the  northern  seas  where  their  means  of  subsistence  can  be 
obtained. 

The  large-whalebone  whale  is  often  spoken  of  as  the 
largest  of  existing  animals,  but  it  is  inferior  in  magnitude 
to  the  small-whalebone  whale  (Bula-iioptera).  The  latter 
attains  the  length  of  from  90  to  100  feet  ;  while  the  ordinary 
dimensions  of  the  true  whale  are  from  50  to  60  feet  in 
length,  and  from  30  to  40  feet  in  circumference.  The  terms 
"large-whalebone"  and  ''small-whalebone"  relate  to  the 
size  of  the  whalebone  or  baleen-plates,  which  is  always 
much  greater  in  the  genus  Balana  than  in  Balanurptera; 
and  it  is  this  structure,  combined  with  the  greater  amount 
of  blubber  in  the  true  whale,  which  renders  it  an  object  of 
so  much  more  value  to  the  whale  catchers  ;  while  its  less 
courageous  habits,  and  less  violent  efforts  to  escape  when 
wounded,  make  it  a  more  sure  and  safe  prey  than  the  small- 
whalebone  whale. 

The  true  whale  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  the  immense 
size  of  its  head,  which  constitutes  a  full  third  of  the  entire 
length  of  the  animal :  it  is  narrow  above,  but  very  broad 
below,  where  it  consists  chiefly  of  a  large  under  lip,  which 
rises  five  or  six  feet,  and  completely  overlaps  the  upper 
lip.  The  eyes  are  very  small,  and  are  placed  just  above 
the  angles  of  the  mouth.  The  external  opening  of  the  ears 
is  scarcely  perceptible.  The  pectoral  fins  are  of  moderate 
size,  and  placed  about  two  feet  behind  the  angles  of  the 
mouth.  The  neck  is  indicated  by  some  furrowing  of  the 
skin,  but  there  is  no  constriction.  '  The  greatest  circumfer- 
ence of  the  cylindrical  body  is  a  little  behind  the  pectoral 
fins.  The  tail-fin  consists  of  two  lobes  of  great  breadth, 
measuring  20  feet  across  from  tip  to  tip  in  a  full  grown  spe- 
cimen ;  and  wield.., I  by  muscles  of  enormous  power.  It  is 
this  part  which  constitutes  the  sole  organ  of  offence  and  de- 
fence in  the  whale,  lor  it  has  no  teeth  wherewith  to  bite  or 
lacerate  ;  a  single  blow  of  the  tail  well  delivered  suffices  to 
cut  a  stout  boat  in  two,  or  to  send  it  whirling  through  the 
air. 

The  plates  of  whalebone  are  the  substitutes  for  teeth  in 
the  mouth  ;  they  have  a  similar  mode  of  development  from 
a  pulp  and  external  membrane,  and  differ  only  in  form,  and 
in  a  less  proportion  of  earthy  matter  in  their  composition. 
They  are  arranged  vertically  and  transversely,  in  two  se- 
ries, consisting  each  of  300  plates,  descending  from  the  pa- 
latal surface  of  the  upper  jaw,  and  terminating  in  a  fringe 
of  coarse  hairs  on  their  oblique  lower  and  inner  margins, 
which  hairs  are  in  contact  with  the  upper  surface  of  the 
bulkv  tongue  when  the  mouth  is  closed.  It  is  thus  that  the 
mechanism  of  the  sieve  is  realised  on  an  enormous  scale; 
and  while  the  water  gulped  at  each  successive  mouthful  is 
drained  off  through  the  interstices  of  the  baleen  plates,  the 
molluscousandcrustaceous  animals  are  retained,  bruised  in- 
to a  pulp  between  the  muscular  tongue  and  coarse  fibres  ot 
the  whalebone,  and  swallowed.  The  area  of  the  gullet  corres- 
ponds with  the  minute  character  of  the  food,  and  is  rela- 
tively smaller  in  the  whale  than  in  any  other  animal.  The 
stomach  is  divided  into  four  cavities  ;  the  intestinal  canal  is 
long  and  narrow,  and  provided  with  a  short  and  simple 
coecum. 

The  whale  has  usually  but  one  young  at  a  birth,  and 
brings  forth  in  the  early  spring.  The  period  of  gestation  is 
unknown,  that  of  suckling  lasts  a  year.  In  this  stage  of 
their  growth  the  young  are  called  short  heads  by  the  whale- 
fishers  ;  at  two  years  old,  and  until  they  are  able  to  find 
their  appropriate  food  in  due  abundance,  these  are  termed 
stunts  ;  when  they  begin  to  get  fat,  and  until  they  have  ar- 
rived at  their  full  size,  they  are  called  skull-Jish. 

The  interesting  details  of  the  profitable  but  perilous  oc- 
cupation of  whale-fishine,  will  be  found  most  amply  and 
correctly  given  in  Scorcsby's  Account  of  the  Arctic  Regions, 
from  which  many  popular  narratives  have  been  compiled. 
The  baleen  and  the  blubber  are  the  only  parts  of  the  ani. 
mal  of  any  commercial  value,  and  the  quantity  of  both 
yielded  by  these  enormous  animals  is  of  course  consider- 
able. The  length  of  the  largest  whalebone  plates  in  a 
whale  of  60  feet  is  as  much  as  12  feet ;  and  the  blubber  of 
such  a  one  will  yield  more  than  20  tuns  of  pure  oil,  the  pro- 
portion of  oil  to  the  blubber  from  which  it  is  extracted  be- 
ing as  three  to  four.  The  blubber  is  principally  accumu- 
lated at  the  circumference  of  the  body,  beneath,  and  in 
the  extended  tissue  of  the  skin ;  an  immense  quantity  of 


BALANCE. 

fine  oil  is  also  lodged  in  the  cellular  substance  of  the 
tongue  ;  and  the  coarse  and  porous  bones,  particularly  the 
lower  jaw,  are  full  of  pure  oil. 

BA'LANCE.  (Lat.  balanx  or  bilanx,  probably  a  corrup- 
tion of  valentia,  denoting,  in  low  Latin, price  or  value.)  A 
machine  for  weighing  substances.  The  process  of  weigh- 
ing may  be  performed  in  various  ways,  and  accordingly 
there  are  several  kinds  of  balances :  as  the  common 
balance  or  scales,  the  bent  lever  balance,  the  spring 
balance,  the  steel-yard,  the  hydrostatic  balance,  &c.  (for 
which  see  the  respective  words).  The  term  is  also  applied 
to  any  apparatus  employed  for  comparing  the  intensities  of 
very  small  forces,  as  the  electric  balance,  the  balance  of 
torsion,  <fcc.  We  shall  here  confine  our  remarks  to  the 
philosophical  balance,  the  instrument  used  when  great  ac- 
curacy is  necessary;  for  instance  in  assaying,  and  in  the 
more  delicate  investigations  of  physics  and  chemistry. 

Neglecting  the  mere  circumstance  of  construction,  and 
the  particular  methods  of  suspension,  the  balance  may  be 
represented  thus : — 


A  and  B  are  the  points  from  which  the  scales  are  sus- 
pended at  the  extremities  of  the  beam,  C  the  point  of 
support,  G  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the  beam,  D  the  point 
in  which  the  straight  line  C  G  intersects  the  straight  line 
joining  A  and  B. 

The  properties  required  in  a  good  balance  are  sensibility 
and  stability.  The  balance  must  be  sensible  ;  that  is  to 
say,  when  it  is  properly  poised  a  very  small  addition  of 
weight  to  either  scale  should  disturb  the  equilibrium,  and 
cause  the  beam  to  turn ;  and  it  must  be  stable,  that  is  to 
say,  when  the  equilibrium  has  been  disturbed  it  should 
quickly  return,  and  oscillate  about  the  position  of  rest. 
These  two  properties  are  in  some  degree  opposed  to  each 
other ;  in  order  to  attain  them  both,  as  far  as  possible,  it  is 
necessary  to  attend  to  certain  mechanical  principles,  as 
well  as  to  the  physical  circumstances  of  construction.  Let 
us  suppose 

W  =the  weight  of  the  beam. 

L  =  the  load,  j.  e.  the  weight  of  the  scales  and  whatever 
is  in  them  when  the  beam  is  poised. 

P  =  the  preponderating  weight,  or  that  which  causes  the 
beam  to  turn. 

Suppose  now  the  beam  to  be  poised,  or  that  the  scales 
being  loaded  the  position  of  the  line  A  B  is  perfectly  hori- 
zontal. The  sensibility  will  evidently  be  measured  by  the 
angular  space  through  which  the  beam  turns  when  a  small 
weight  P  is  added  to  either  scale ;  but  the  force  which  acts 
in  turning  the  beam  is  proportional  to  PXD  B,  that  is, 
proportional  to  the  weight  multiplied  into  the  length  of  the 
lever  at  the  extremity  of  which  it  acts  ;  therefore  for  a 
given  weight  P,  the  sensibility  of  the  balance,  all  other 
circumstances  being  equal,  is  proportional  to  the  length  of 
the  beam.  Let  us  next  consider  the  force  which  tends  to 
restore  the  beam  when  the  equilibrium  is  disturbed.  This 
is  made  up  of  two  parts;  the  first  of  which  is  proportional 
to  W  X  C  G,  that  is  to  say.  proportional  to  the  weight  of  the 
beam  (which  may  be  regarded  as  concentrated  at  the 
centre  of  gravity)  multiplied  into  the  length  of  the  lever 
on  which  it  acts  ;  and  the  second  proportional  to  L/CD, 
that  is,  to  the  load  also  multiplied  into  its  length  of  lever. 
The  whole  restoring  force  is  therefore  proportional  to 
WXCG  +  LXCD.  Now  this  force  is  precisely  that 
which  the  preponderating  weight  P  has  to  overcome  in 
turning  the  scale  ;  consequently  any  circumstance  which 
tends  to  increase  it,  increases  thie  stability  and  diminishes 
the  sensibility  of  the  balance  ;  and  anything  which  tends 
to  diminish  it.  diminishes  the  stability  and  increases  the 
sensibility.  By  bending  the  arms  of  the  balance,  or  alter- 
ing the  points  of  suspension  of  the  scales,  the  points  G 
and  D  may  acquire  different  positions  relatively  to  C.  Sup- 
posing G  to  be  above  C  in  the  vertical  line  joining  those 
points;  the  termW'XCG  would  become  negative,  and 
the  restoring  force  proportional  to  L  X  C  D  —  WXC  G.  In 
this  case,  if  the  load  L,  or  the  distance  C  D,  were  dimin- 
ished till  LXC  D  became  less  than  WXC  G,  the  balance 
would  be  useless ;  because  if  moved  ever  so  little  from 
the  position  of  rest,  it  would  have  no  tendency  whatever 
to  return.  The  best  construction  is  to  make  Cb=0,  that 
is,  to  place  the  three  points  of  action  A,  C,  B,  in  the  same 
straight  line,  and  to  construct  the  beam  so  that  G,  the  cen- 
tre of  gravity,  shall  fall  a  little  below  the  line  A  B.  The 
sensibilitv  is  then  independent  of  the  load,  and  is  simply 
in  the  inverse  portion  of  WXC  G  ;  so  that  by  diminishing 
the  weight  of  the  beam,  or  the  distance  C  G,  it  may  be  in- 
creased to  any  required  degree.  It  is  supposed  that  the 
two  arms  are  precisely  of  the  same  length,  or  that  C  is 
placed  exactly  in  the  middle  between  A  and  B,  and  also 
that  they  are  perfectly  inflexible. 

ne 


BALANCE  OP  TORSION. 

The  conditions  now  determined  from  theory  must  be 
the  guide  of  the  artist  in  the  construction  of  a  good 
balance.  It  is  of  importance  that  the  beam  be  as  light  as 
possible,  consistent  with  inflexibility  ;  for  not  only  the  in- 
ertia, but  also  the  friction,  is  increased  in  proportion  to  the 
weight,  and  the  sensibility  consequently  diminished.  In 
order  to  give  lightness  and  strength  at  the  same  time,  the 
beam  should  be  formed  of  two  hollow  cones  of  brass, 
joined  together  at  the  broad  ends.  A  cylinder  of  steel, 
passing  through  the  middle  of  the  beam  at  right  angles, 
forms  the  axis ;  and  its  extremities,  ground  into  sharp 
edges  on  the  lower  side,  serve  as  the  points  of  support. 
The  two  edges  must  be  accurately  in  the  same  straight 
line,  and  turn  on  smooth  planes  of  agate  or  polished  steel 
carefully  levelled.  The  scales  should  likewise  be  sus- 
pended from  the  extremities  of  the  beam  on  knife  edges, 
crossing  each  other  at  right  angles  ;  those  in  the  beam  be- 
ing sharp  upwards,  and  those  to  which  the  scales  are  at- 
tached sharp  downwards.  A  needle,  or  tongue,  is  usually 
attached  to  the  beam,  pointing  directly  upwards  or  down- 
wards when  the  beam  is  horizontal,  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
dicating the  deviations  of  the  beam  from  the  horizontal 
position  on  a  graduated  scale.  It  is  better,  however,  to 
bring  the  arms  to  terminate  in  sharp  points,  and  to  place  a 
scale  behind  each  ;  in  this  way  the  slightest  flexure  of  the 
beam  will  be  rendered  evident,  if  the  zeros  of  the  scales 
are  placed  exactly  in  the  same  level.  The  scale  is  indis- 
pensably necessary,  because  the  balance,  if  very  sensible, 
would  require  a  long  time  to  come  to  rest ;  but  it  is  known 
to  be  poised,  when  the  excursions  of  the  needle  on  both 
sides  of  the  zero  of  the  scale  are  equal.  In  order  to  pre- 
serve the  knife  edges,  the  beam,  when  not  in  use,  is  sup- 
ported on  rests.  Props  should  also  be  placed  under  the 
scales  while  loading  or  unloading  the  balance.  The  whole 
apparatus  must  be  placed  under  a  glass  case,  to  protect  it 
from  the  disturbing  influence  of  currents  of  air. 

The  sensibility  of  a  balance  constructed  with  due  care, 
according  to  the  principles  now  explained,  may  be  carried 
to  an  almost  inconceivable  extent.  There  is  one  in  the 
possession  of  the  Royal  Society,  made  by  Ramsden,  which 
weighs  ten  pounds,  and  is  said  to  turn  with  the  ten-mil- 
lionth part  of  that  load,  or  the  thousandth  part  of  a  grain. 
Nevertheless,  whatever  skill  may  be  employed  in  the  con- 
struction, it  is  plain  that  the  conditions  necessary  to  math- 
ematical accuracy  can  never  be  entirely  fulfilled.  It  is 
impossible  to  make  the  two  arms  of  the  beam  exactly  sim- 
ilar, or  exactly  equal  in  length.  Absolute  precision  is  un- 
attainable in  practice.  This  difficulty,  however,  may  be 
overcome  by  the  following  simple  method,  imagined  by 
Borda,  by  wiiich  accurate  results  are  obtained  independent- 
ly of  extreme  precision  in  the  construction  of  the  balance  : 
it  is  only  necessary  that  it  be  very  sensible.  Let  P,  the 
substance  be  weighed,  be  placed  in  the  scale  A ;  instead  of 
placing  known  weights  in  the  scale  B,  put  into  it  some  other 
substance,  for  instance  bits  of  iron,  chips  of  wire,  or  sand, 
added  in  minute  quantities  till  the  substance  P  is  exactly 
counterpoised,  or  the  beam  becomes  exactly  horizontal. 
This  being  done,  let  the  substance  P  be  gently  removed  out 
of  the  scale  A,  and  let  known  weights,  as  grains,  be  put  into 
it  till  the  substance  in  the  scale  B  is  again  exactly  counter- 
poised. It  is  now  of  no  consequence  whether  the  balance 
was  accurate  or  not,  or  whether  the  body  P  was  exactly 
equal  in  weight  to  the  substance  against  which  it  was 
weighed  in  B.  The  weight  of  P  must  be  precisely  equal  to 
that  of  the  grain  weights  ;  because,  under  exactly  the  same 
circumstances,  they  both  formed  a  counterpoise  to  the 
substance  placed  in  B. 

Chinese  Bulance.  This  is  formed  of  a  slender  tapering 
rod  of  wood  or  ivory,  about  a  foot  in  length.  A  silk  thread 
passed  through  a  hole  perforated  nearer  one  of  its  extrem- 
ities than  the  other  serves  as  the  point  of  suspension.  The 
balance  has  thus  two  unequal  arms.  From  the  extremity 
of  the  shorter  a  small  scale  is  suspended  to  hold  the  sub- 
stance to  be  weighed.  A  sliding  weight  passes  along  the 
other  arm,  on  which  divisions  are  marked ;  and  when  the 
counterpoise  is  made,  the  distance  of  the  standard  weight 
from  the  fulcrum  indicates  the  weight  of  the  substance.  In 
order  to  procure  a  greater  range,  the  rod  has  generally  four 
holes  or  points  of  support,  at  different  distances  from  the 
extremity,  and  a  corresponding  set  of  divisions  is  marked 
on  each  of  its  four  sides.  The  principle  of  this  machine  is 
exactly  the  same  as  that  of  the  common  steel-yard. 

The  Danish  Balance,  much  used  in  the  north  of  Europe 
for  weighing  coarse  commodities,  is  usually  formed  of  an 
iron  bar  or  a  batten  of  hard  wood,  having  a  lump  of  lead  at 
one  of  its  extremities.  The  goods  are  fixed  in  a  hook  in 
the  other  end  ;  and  the  whole  is  suspended  through  a  loop 
of  cord,  which  is  passed  backwards  and  forwards  under 
the  rod  till  equilibrium  is  obtained.  The  weight  of  the 
goods  is  then  to  the  weight  of  the  lead  reciprocally  as  their 
respective  distances  from  the  loop. 
Roman  Balance  or  Steelyard.  See  Steel-yahd. 
BALANCE  OF  TORSION.  A  machine  invented  by 
Coulomb  for  measuring  the  intensities  of  electric  or  mag- 


BALANCE  OP  A  WATCH. 

r.etic  forces,  by  establishing  an  equilibrium  between  therti 
and  the  force  of  torsion.  Conceive  a  metallic  wire  sus- 
pended  from  a  fixed  point,  and  kept  stretched  by  a  small 
Weight  attached  to  its  lower  extremity  ;  where  also  a  hori- 
zontal needle  or  lever  is  fixed,  which  may  be  rendered 
magnetic,  or  is  so  formed  that  one  of  its  ends  is  a  conductor 
and  the  other  a  non-conductor  of  electricity.  The  force  is 
brought  to  act  on  the  extremity  of  this  lever,  and  its  inten- 
sity measured  by  the  length  of  the  arc  which  the  needle 
passes  over,  reckoning  from  the  point  of  repose  ;  or  an 
index  may  be  attached  to  the  upper  extremity  of  the  wire, 
and  the  force  measured  by  the  number  of  degrees  through 
which  It  can  be  turned  before  the  lower  lever  begins  to 
move.  The  force  of  torsion  is  inversely  proportional  to 
the  length  of  the  wire,  and  directly  to  the  fourth  power  of 
its  diameter.  The  wire  must  therefore  be  of  considerable 
length  (two  or  three  feet  for  example),  and  very  fine  ;  and 
also  formed  of  a  substance  possessing  considerable  elasti- 
city. Brass  wire  is  greatly  preferable  to  iron  wire  ;  and  in 
some  instruments  recently  constructed  a  fine  thread  of 
spun  glass  has  been  used  instead  of  metallic  wires,  at  the 
suggestion  of  the  late  Professor  Ritchie.  One  of  the  most 
interesting  applications  of  the  torsion-balance  was  that 
made  by  Cavendish  to  measure  the  force  of  attraction  of 
two  leaden  spheres,  in  his  celebrated  experiment  to  deter- 
mine the  mean  densitv  of  the  earth. 

BALANCE  OF  A  WATCH.  That  part  of  the  machine 
which,  by  its  inertia,  regulates  the  beat  and  produces 
equable  motion.  It  is  formed  of  a  wheel  or  rim.',  having 
its  weight  principally  accumulated  in  its  rim,  and  connected 
with  a  spiral  spring  in  such  a  manner  that  when  drawn 
aside  from  the  position  of  rest  it  acquires  an  oscillatory 
motion  from  the  alternate  contraction  and  expansion  of  the 
spring.  The  balance  answers  the  same  purpose  in  watch- 
work  as  the  pendulum  in  clock-work,  and  is  affected  in  a 
similar  manner  by  variatiotis  of  temperature.  Supposing 
the  length  of  the  spring  to  remain  constant,  the  time  of  *  i- 
bration  is  directly  proportional  to  the  distance  of  the  centre 
of  gyration  from  the  axis  of  the  balance  ;  consequently  the 
duration  of  the  vibration  is  increased  by  heat  and  dimin- 
ished by  cold.  To  remedy  this  inconvenience,  various 
contrivances  have  been  applied  ;  but  that  which  is  most 
generally  adopted  is  the  expansion  or  compensation  balance, 
the  principle  of  which  depends  on  the  unequal  expansion 
of  two  different  metals.  It  may  be  constructed  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner  :  The  rim  con- 
sists of  two  lamina?,  the  inner  of 
steel  and  the  outer  of  brass,  united 
by  fusion.  After  being  turned  to 
the  proper  size,  the  rim  is  cut  in 
three  places,  A,  B,  and  c ;  and 
one  end  of  each  of  the  parts  thus 
formed  being  fixed  to  an  arm  of 
the  balance,  the  other  is  left  at 
liberty  to  move  inwards  or  out- 
wards according  to  the  variation 
of  the  relative  lengths  of  the  two 
metals.  I).  F,.  F.  are  three  equal  weights  placed  near  the 
free  ends,  and  which,  when  adjusted  at  the  proper  dis- 
tances, are  fixed  in  their  places  by  means  of  Bcrews, 
Three  heavy-headed  screws.  (;,  H,  I,  enter  the  arms  of 
the  balance,  and  serve  to  adjust  its  centre  of  gravity  to  Ihe 
axis  of  vibration,  and  also  to  increase  or  diminish  the  mean 
rale  of  motion.  Now,  suppose  the  balance  to  receive  an 
increase  of  temperature,  this  will  tend  to  lengthen  the 
arms,  and  consequently  to  throw  the  centre  of  gyration 
further  from  the  axis,  and  thereby  diminish  the  velocity  of 
vibration ;  but  as  the  brass  expands  more  than  the  steel, 
the  compound  bars  will  at  the  same  time  be  bent  inwards, 
and  the  weights  D,  E,  F,  thereby  thrown  nearer  the  ,  ■  , 
by  which  the  velocity  will  be  increased.  When  Ihe  tem- 
perature is  diminished,  the  arms  are  shortened;  but  the 
weights  are  now  thrown  to  a  greater  distance  from  the  axis 
by  reason  of  the  contraction  of  the  brass  being  greater  than 
that  of  the  steel,  and  the  consequent  tendency  of  the  com- 
pound bars  to  assume  a  less  curved  form.  It  is  easy  to  see 
that  in  so  small  a  machine  the  adjustment  of  the  parts  to 
procure  exact  compensation  is  a  matter  of  great  nicety, 
and  requiring  much  practical  skill ;  in  fact,  it  is  only  possi- 
ble to  obtain  a  tolerable  compensation  by  repeated  trials. 
{See  Thomson  on  Time  and  Timekeepers;  Dent  on  the 
Construction  and  Management  of  Chronometers,  Watches, 
and  (Mocks,  <fcc.) 

BALANCE  OF  POWER.  In  Politics,  a  system  by 
which  the  relative  power  of  different  states  and  alliances  is 
so  maintained  as  to  render  any  extensive  derangement  im- 
probable. The  idea  of  preserving  a  balance  of  power  na- 
turally suggested  itself  to  statesmen  in  ancient  Greece, 
where  so  large  a  number  of  independent  states  with  oppo- 
sing interests  existed  on  a  narrow  territory.  In  Europe, 
this  portion  of  political  science  scarcely  began  to  be  under- 
stood until  the  16th  century  ;  since  which  time  the  main- 
tenance of  the  balance  of  power  has  formed  a  favourite  ob- 
ject, often  pursued  with  unreasonable  avidity,  by  those 
117 


BALANITES. 

who  have  controlled  the  international  relations  of  Christen> 
dom.  The  great  aim  of  neutral  politicians  during  that  cen- 
tury was  to  establish  a  balance  between  the  power  of 
France  and  that  of  Austria :  the  latter  united  with  that  of 
Spain  became  so  enormously  powerful  in  the  course  of  it, 
as  to  render  this  an  object  of  great  anxiety.  But  after  the 
commencement  of  the  17th  century  the  power  of  France 
steadily  increased,  and  that  of  Austria  abated.  Cromwell's* 
alliance  with  Mazarin  was  the  last  result  of  the  ancient  sys- 
tem :  for  the  alliances  of  Charles  H.  with  the  French  were 
for  personal  objects,  and  strongly  reprobated  by  all  Euro- 
pean statesmen.  At  the  end  of  the  17th  century  France 
stood  predominant,  and  it  became  the  great  problem  of  Eu- 
ropean politics  to  find  a  counterpoise  to  her  influence.  This* 
was  the  aim  of  William  III.,  Eugene,  and  the  Whigs  under 
Queen  Anne  ;  and  the  treaty  of  Utrecht  in  1713,  which  ac- 
knowledged the  French  supremacy  in  Spain,  was  con- 
demned as  one  of  the  severest  blows  ever  struck  at  tlie 
balance  of  power.  Nevertheless,  this  fear,  like  so  many 
others  sedulously  cherished  by  speculative  statesmen, 
proved  to  have  little  foundation.  The  power  of  France  re- 
mained stationary  during  the  18th  centnry,  while  the  forces 
of  Austria,  Russia,  and  Britain  increased;  and  Prussia  sud- 
denly arose  from  a  third-rate  power  to  the  lowest,  but  still 
a  respectable  position,  among  the  first-rates.  During 
Ihat  century  the  alliances  were  formed  with  no  very  steady 
regard  to  the  balance  of  power:  France  and  Austria 
were  usually,  but  not  uniformly,  rivals.  In  1756,  the  three 
great  Continental  powers  were  united  in  a  fruitless  endea- 
vour to  crush  the  new  state  of  Prussia.  The  wars  of  the 
French  revolution  entirely  altered  the  ancient  equilibrium, 
it  was  restored  by  the  congress  of  Vienna,  and  the  long 
maintenance  of  that  peaceful  arrangement  certainly  speaks 
in  favour  of  the  sagacity  of  its  constructors.  At  present 
Europe  is  divided,  singularly  enough,  by  two  different  sets 
of  causes,  producing  different  alliances,  or  rather  tenden- 
cies towards  alliances,  for  mutual  defence.  In  the  first 
place,  the  opposition  between  constitutional  and  monarchal 
principles  has  ranged  on  the  one  side  Austria,  Russia,  and 
Prussia,  with  their  dependent  states:  on  the  other,  Britain 
and  Fiance,  with  the  Western  kingdoms  which  have  liberal 
governments.  In  the  next  place,  the  interests  engendered 
by  purely  external  politics  cause  a  different  line  of  division. 
The  enormous  increase  of  Russian  dominion,  particularly 
towards  the  East,  coders  Austria  necessarily  distrustful, 
and  hostile  to  the  former  power.  England  may  be  expected 
to  take  part  with  Austria  in  this  quarrel;  Prussia,  which 
has  no  direct  interest  in  the  result,  will  be  ranged  by  po- 
sition against  Austria;  while  the  ultimate  decision  of 
France  is  doubtful,  and  will  In  effect  determine  the  struggle. 

BALANCE  OF  TRADE.  The  term  commonly  used  to 
express  the  difference  between  the  value  of  the  exports 
from  and  the  imports  into  a  country.  The  balance  is  said 
to  be  favourable  when  the  value  of  the  exports  exceeds 
that  of  the  imports,  and  unfavourable  when  the  value  of  the 
imports  exceeds  that  of  the  exports.  The  notion  was  once 
entertained  that  the  prosperity  of  a  country  depended  on 
exporting  merchandise  exceeding  the  value  of  the  imports, 
and  receiving  the  balance  in  the  precious  metals.  This 
mode  of  estimating  the  balance  of  trade,  which  is  evidently 
founded  on  ihe  assumption  that  the  precious  metalsconsti- 
tute  the  wealth  of  a  country,  has  been  proved  to  be  com- 
pletely fallacious,  and  it  is  now  conceded  on  all  hands  that 
gold  and  silver  are  nothing  but  commodities,  whose  expor- 
tation or  importation  it  is  necessary  neither  to  prevent  nor 
encourage  by  any  legislative  enactments.  But  the  theory 
of  the  balance  of  trade  is  not  erroneous  merely  from  the 
false  notions  which  its  advocates  entertain  with  respect  to 
money  :  it  proceeds  on  radically  mistaken  views  as  to  the 
nature  of  commerce.  For  it  will  be  found  that  so  far  from 
an  excess  of  exports  over  imports  being  any  criterion  of  an 
advantageous  commerce,  it  is  directly  the  reverse  ;  since, 
were  the  value  of  the  exports  greater  than  the  value  of  the 
imports,  merchants  would  lose  on  every  transaction  with 
li  ireigners,  and  the  trade  with  them  would  be  speedily  aban- 
doned. For  a  succinct  statement  and  exposition  of  the 
errors  which  were  till  lately  generally  prevalent  upon  this 
subject,  see  M'-Culloch's  Commercial  Dictionary. 

BALANI'NUS.  In  Entomology,  the  name  applied  by 
Germar  to  the  subgenus  of  Weevils  (Curculionidcb),  of 
which  the  nut  grub,  or  nut  weevil  (Balanimts  nucum),  is  a 
species.  In  the  perfect  insect  the  rostrum  or  borer  is  near- 
Iv  as  long  as  the  body.  It  is  by  means  of  this  instrument 
that  the  parent  weevil  drills  a  hole  through  the  soft  shell  of 
the  immature  filbert,  into  which  she  introduces  a  single 
brown  egg  :  this  is  hatched  in  about  a  fortnight ;  and  by  the 
time  the  nut  is  full  ripe,  the  grub  has  attained  its  full 
growth :  it  then  proceeds  to  bore  a  hole  with  its  jaws 
through  the  shell,  and  emerges  from  the  cavity  of  the  nut : 
falling  to  the  ground  it  burrows  into  the  earth,  and  there 
remains  all  winter,  changing  to  the  proper  state,  and  ap- 
pearing as  a  perfect  insect  in  August. 

BA'LANITES.  (Lat.  balanus,  an  acorn.)  In  Botany, 
acorn-barnacles,  an  order  of  Cirripeds,  comprehending 


BALANOPHORACEiE. 

those  which  have  a  shelly  tube,  adherent  by  its  base  to 
foreign  substances,  and  closed  at  its  apex  by  four  opercular 
valves. 

BA'LANOPHORA'CE-E.  (Balanophora,  one  of  the 
genera.)  A  natural  order  of  Rhiganths,  consisting  of  fun- 
gus-like parasitical  plants,  with  small  monoecious  flowers 
collected  in  dense  heads  arranged  upon  fleshy  receptacles. 

BA'LAS  RUBY.  A  term  applied  by  lapidaries  to  the 
bright  red  varieties  of  the  spinel.  It  is  much  less  rare  and 
valuable  than  the  oriental  ruby  or  red  sapphire. 

BALAU'ST  A.  In  Botany,  a  kind  of  fruit  having  a  leathery 
rind,  a  superior  calyx,  and  several  cells  irregularly  dispos- 
ed, with  many  drupaceous  seeds  in  each. 

BALCO'NY.  (It.  balcone.)  In  Architecture,  a  projec- 
tion from  the  external  wall  of  a  house,  borne  by  columns 
or  consoles,  usually  placed  before  windows  or  openings. 

BALDACHI'NO.  (It.  a  canopy.)  In  Architecture,  a 
species  of  canopy  over  the  principal  altar  of  a  church,  si- 
milar to  that  at  St.  Peter's,  where  it  is  supported  by  co- 
lumns ;  or  that  of  St.  Sulpice  at  Paris,  where  it  is  suspend- 
ed from  above.  It  succeeded  to  the  ancient  ciborium  (see 
that  word),  which  was  a  cupola  supported  on  four  columns, 
still  to  be  seen  at  many  of  the  altars  in  Rome.  Bernini 
may  claim  the  merit  of  its  invention.  The  height  of  that 
which  he  erected  in  St.  Peter's  is  128  feet,  and  being  en- 
tirely of  bronze  weighs  near  90  tons.  It  was  built  by  or- 
der of  the  Pope  Barberini,  from  the  robbery  of  the  Panthe- 
on, and  occasioned  the  bitter  sarcasm — "  Quod  non  fece- 
runt  Barbari,  fecerunt  Barberini." 

BA'LDRIC.  (Lat.  baldrellus.)  A  girdle  used  by  the 
warriors  of  feudal  times :  it  was  often  splendidly  ornament- 
ed, and  marked  the  rank  of  the  wearer. 

BA'LDWIN'S  PHOSPHORUS.     Fused  nitrate  of  lime. 

BALEA'RIC  CRANE.     .See  Crane. 

BALL.  (Ger.  bal.)  Literally,  any  thing  made  in  a  glo- 
bular form.  The  word  signifies  also  at  once  a  well-known  di- 
vertissement, and  a  game  familiar  in  Europe  and  America. 
Ball  playing  was  a  favourite  amusement  among  the  ancients, 
who  practised  it  in  various  ways.  They  had  their  hand- 
ball (pila  trigonalis),  their  foot-ball  (follis  or  pita  paganica, 
because  played  by  the  rustics),  and  some  other  kinds  not 
used  by  the  moderns.  In  country  villas  a  tennis-court  or 
place  for  playing  ball,  called  Spharisterium,  was  usually  to 
be  found.  (Sue.  lesp.  20.)  In  the  middle  ages,  there  were 
houses  appropriated  to  ball-playing  ;  and  in  Italy  there  are 
still  public  places  where  this  amusement  is  practised,  and 
great  dexterity  displayed. 

Ball.  In  the  art  Military,  any  round  substance  of  lead 
or  iron  which  is  discharged  from  fire-arms,  as  musket- 
balls,  cannon-balls,  <fec.  The  word  Ball,  with  a  prefix  more 
or  less  expressive  of  its  purposes,  such  as  fire-balls,  chain- 
balls,  denotes  a  composition  of  various  ingredients  gene- 
rally combustible.  (For  an  account  of  these  terms  see  se- 
parate articles.)  Cannon-balls  are  made  of  iron,  balls  for 
pistols  and  fusees  of  lead.  The  experiment  has  been  tried 
of  employing  iron  balls  for  pistols  or  fusees,  but  without  ef- 
fect ;  as  their  lightness  prevents  their  flying  straight,  and 
they  are  apt  to  furrow  the  barrel  of  the  pistol.  As  was  re- 
marked, cannon-balls  are  made  of  cast-iron,  and  are  dis- 
tinguished as  follows  by  their  respective  diameters :— Thus 
the  diameter  of  a 


42  lbs.  ball  is  6684  inches. 
32       —         6105       — 
24        —         5-547       — 
18       —         5040 
12       —         4403 


9  lbs.  ball  is  4-000  inches. 
6        —  3493      — 

3       —  2-775      — 

2       —  2-423 

1        —  1-923 


BA'LLAD.  (It.  ballata.)  A  species  of  narrative  poetry, 
founded  either  in  history  or  fiction,  displaying  the  condition 
and  the  habits,  the  tastes  and  the  sentiments  of  the  various 
nations  among  whom  it  is  found.  The  term  Ballad  is  very 
indefinite  in  its  general  acceptation,  including  classes  of 
composition  wholly  different  in  themselves,  of  which  the 
only  common  characteristics  are  brevity  of  metre  and  sim- 
plicity and  perspicuity  of  style.  The  opinion  entertained 
by  Schlegel  of  the  ballad  is,  that  it  is  not  an  original  species 
of  composition ;  but  that  in  general  poems  of  this  kind  are 
to  be  found  in  the  greatest  abundance  among  nations  pos- 
sessed of  truly  poetical  feelings,  whose  legends,  traditions, 
and  national  recollections  have  been  interrupted  or  muti- 
lated by  long-protracted  civil  wars,  or  by  some  universal 
revolution  or  concussion  of  opinions.  While  some  authors 
have  assigned  the  ballad  an  Arabian,  some  an  Armorican 
origin,  and  others  have  claimed  this  distinction  for  the  Nor- 
mans and  Provencials,  Percy,  Bouterweck,  and  Schlegel 
concur  in  awarding  to  it  a  Teutonic  descent.  Be  this  as  it 
may,  it  is  agreed  that  the  Scandinavian  nations  delighted, 
at  a  very  early  period,  to  celebrate  in  song  the  deeds  of  he- 
roes, lovers,  knights,  &c.  ;  and  the  three  great  divisions  of 
the  Teutonic  poetry  of  the  middle  ages — the  stories  of  the 
Niebelunien,  those  of  Charlemagne  (particularly  such  as 
relate  to  his  wars  against  the  Arabians,  and  the  battle  of 
Roncesvalles),  and  the  tales  of  King  Arthur's  Round  Table, 
consist  of  what  at  a  later  period  were  called  Ballads. 
Though  the  name  Ballad  is  Italian,  the  spirit  of  chivalry 
118 


BALLET. 

had  at  no  period  during  the  middle  ages  much  dominion  of 
influence  on  the  other  side  of  the  Alps ;  a  circumstance 
that  sufficiently  accounts  for  the  meagreness  of  the  Italians 
in  this  department  of  poetry.  The  French  too  never  at- 
tained any  perfection  in  the  ballad,  as  their  fabliaux,  le- 
gends, &c.  soon  degenerated  into  long  prose  romances, 
which  were  quite  destitute  of  the  spirit  of  the  ancient 
minstrelsy.  The  Spaniards,  on  the  other  hand,  are  rich  in 
ballads  of  a  highly  chivalrous  character.  These,  however 
along  with  some  Portuguese  ballads  which  bear  infallible 
marks  of  a  Spanish  origin,  may  with  more  propriety  be 
classified  under  the  denomination  of  Romantic  Poetry. 
(See  an  Essay  "  On  the  Origin,  Antiquity,  Character,  and  In- 
fluence of  the  Ancient  Ballads  of  Spain,"  from  the  Edin- 
burgh Review,  prefixed  to  the  Amer.  edition  of  Lockhart'a 
Spanish  Ballads.)  Among  the  Welsh,  even  so  early  as 
the  12th  century,  music  and  this  species  of  poetry  seem  to 
have  attained  a  high  degree  of  excellence  ;  but  the  ruthless 
hand  of  Edward  I.,  by  his  massacre  of  the  bards,  doomed 
both  the  one  and  the  other  to  an  almost  total  annihilation. 
Of  all  the  species  of  ballad,  the  Irish,  among  other  charac- 
teristics, appears  to  be  pre-eminently  fitted  for  adaptation 
to  music,  as  is  witnessed  in  the  universally  admired  "Na- 
tional Melodies"  of  Thomas  Moore.  While  a  variety  of 
opinion  exists  among  the  learned  as  to  the  nature  and  re- 
quisites of  the  ballad,  it  is  admitted  on  all  sides  that  Eng- 
land and  Scotland  have  the  honor  of  possessing  a  collection 
of  ballads  superior  to  that  of  every  other  nation.  There 
can  be  little  doubt,  too,  that  the  home  of  the  English  and 
Scottish  ballads  is  either  in  the  north  of  England,  or  in  the 
southern  counties  of  Scotland,  as  there  the  influence  of  the 
Normans  was  less  than  in  the  south  of  England.  To  the 
proximity,  also,  of  those  parts  of  the  two  countries  where 
the  ballad  was  cultivated,  and  the  small  circle  which  they 
embraced,  may  be  attributed  the  difficulty  that  exists  in 
assigning  to  each  country  its  proper  share  in  the  collection 
of  ballads.  In  modern  times,  if  we  except  the  romantic 
legends  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  (which  can  scarcely  be  de- 
nominated ballads),  the  Germans  have  cultivated  this  spe- 
cies of  poetry  with  more  success  than  any  other  nation  ; 
and  they  can  boast  of  Schiller,  Goethe,  and  Burger,  not 
only  as  distinguished  poets,  but  as  the  revivers  of  that  chi- 
valrous spirit  which  formed  the  grand  characteristic  of  our 
British  ancestors.  For  remarks  on  the  Ballad,  vide 
Aikin's  History  of  Song ;  Warton's  History  of  English 
Poetry ;  Barney's  History  of  Music ;  Motherwell's  Ancient 
and  Modern  Minstrelsy  ;  Jones's  Musical  and  Poetical 
Relics;  Schlegel' s  Kritische  Schrifteji  (article  on  Burger) ; 
Sir  W.  Scott's  Minstrelsy  of  the  Scottish  Border ;  Bishop 
of  Dromore's  Collection  of  Ballads.  (See  also  the  Con- 
versations Lexicon.) 

BA'LLAST.  Is  a  mass  of  weighty  material  placed  in 
the  bottom  of  a  ship  or  vessel  to  give  her  stiffness;  that 
is,  to  increase  her  tendency  to  return  to  the  upright  posi- 
tion when  inclined  or  heeled  over  by  the  force  of  the  wind 
or  other  cause.  Ballast  consists  of  shingle  (the  coarse 
gravel  of  the  sea-beach),  stones,  &c.  In  the  royal  navy 
iron  ballast  alone  is  used,  in  pigs  of  nearly  3  cwt.  This 
has  the  advantage  of  lying  in  small  compass  ;  but  iD  con- 
sequence of  its  great  weight  it  tends  to  give  excess  of  sta- 
bility, which  renders  the  vessel  uneasy  from  the  sudden- 
ness of  the  motion :  this  defect  is  remedied  by  winging 
up  the  ballast,  whereby  its  centre  of  gravity  is  raised.  For 
the  like  reason  in  stowing  the  ballast  it  is  tapered  to  a  point 
at  the  fore  and  after  extremities.  Iron  ballast,  from  its 
greater  cleanliness,  is  more  healthy  for  the  crew  than  that 
of  other  materials.  When  a  ship  has  no  other  loading  she 
is  said  to  be  in  ballast. 

The  quantity  of  ballast  and  the  mode  of  its  stowage  differ 
greatly  in  different  vessels ;  and  the  connection  between 
the  motions  of  a  ship  and  her  stowage  has  not  yet  been 
analysed  sufficiently  to  lead  to  the  discovery  of  direct  rules 
on  these  important  points. 

BALL-COCK.  A  hollow  sphere  or  ball  of  metal  at- 
tached to  the  end  of  a  lever,  which  turns  the  stopcock  of 
a  cistern  pipe,  and  regulates  the  supply  of  water.  As  the 
surface  of  the  water  rises  in  the  cistern,  the  ball  is  raised 
by  its  buoyancy  ;  and  as  the  water  descends,  it  falls  by  its 
own  weight.  The  cock  is  thus  closed  when  the  water 
rises  to  a  certain  height,  and  the  supply  stopped  ;  but 
when  a  part  of  the  water  is  drawn  off  from  the  cistern, 
the  cock  is  again  opened,  and  the  water  admitted  through 
the  pipe. 

BA'LLET.  (Fr.)  A  theatrical  representation  of  ac- 
tions, characters,  sentiments,  and  passions,  by  means  of 
mimic  movements  and  dances,  accompanied  by  music. 
The  ballet  is  divided  into  three  kinds — historical,  mytholo- 
gical, and  allegorical ;  and  consists  of  three  parts — the 
entry,  the  figure,  and  the  retreat.  (Noverre,  Lettres  sur 
les  Arts  imitatevrs,  el  surlaDunse  en  particulier.)  The 
chief  merit  of  the  ballet  lies  in  an  ingenious  adaptation  of 
music  to  the  sentiments  of  the  mind  as  developed  in  the 
dance,  and  in  its  power  of  representing  every  variety  of 
human  conduct  and  emotion,  whether  of  a  tragic  or  comio 


BALLISTA. 

nature.  It  has  been  frequently  asserted  that  the  ballet  was 
unknown  to  the  ancients  ;  and  yet  if  the  meaning  of  the 
Greek  term  uopxi("t"  and  the  Latin  term ''saltatio"  be 
duly  considered,  it  will  be  found  that  both  these  nations 
Indulged  in  pantomimic  dances  of  a  peculiar  kind  ;  the 
province  of  gesticulation  or  of  dancing  being  assig 
one  individual,  that  of  declamation  to  another.  (Xen. 
Symposion  and  Anab.  vi.  1.  3.  8.)  Hence  it  would  appear 
that  the  only  merit  which  the  moderns  can  claim  in  re- 
ference to  the  ballet  consists  in  the  substitution  of  music 
and  scenery  in  the  room  of  declamation.  Be  this  as  it 
may,  it  is  generally  admitted  that  the  ingenious  artist 
Baltazarini,  director  of  music  to  the  princess  Catherine  de 
Medicis,  first  gave  its  present  form  to  the  regular  ballet, 
and  that  after  a  considerable  interval  it  was  introduced  into 
France.  There  it  continues  to  flourish  like  an  indigenous 
plant:  while  Germany  and  England,  whither  it  was  after- 
wards transplanted,  have  not  been  remiss  in  fosti  ring  its 
growth.  There  are  many  persons  who  object  to  the  in- 
corporation of  the  ballet  with  the  opera;  and  in  a  few 
instances,  such  as  the  opera  "  Der  Gott  und  die  Bajadere," 
their  objections  may  be  well  founded.  lint  assuredly 
ry  one  who  has  witnessed  the  dances  introduced  into 
the  opera  of  Guillaume  Teh",  Robert  le  Diaole.  La  I 
•ton  tie  St.  Antoine,  and  Masaniello,  must  be  of  opinion 
that  in  these  cases  at  least  the  adoption  of  the  ballet  pro- 
duces a  peculiar  charm,  by  enhancing  the  power  and 
beautv  of  the  representation.     ('  /.        on.) 

It  W.I.I'STA.  (C.r.  /?(iAA(j,  I  Ihrmr.)  A  military  engine. 
used  by  the  ancients  for  throwing  stones,  darts,  arrows, 
&c.  The  Uallista  is  sometimes  confounded  with  the 
Cataptilta  ;  but  a  distinction  is  made  by  Polybius,  who 
confines  the  latter  term  to  those  machines  whirl:  throw 
■tones  only  The  particular  mechanism  <>f  these  engines 
is  tint  very  certainty  understood.  According  to  VKruvius 
they  were  tn.ele  111  divers  manners;  but  the  principle  of 
all  seems  to  have  been  the  same.  A  beam  "I  wen. I  or 
plate  of  metal  is  firmly  fixed  al  one  extremity  ;  the  other 
extremity  is  drawn  hack  by  means  of  cords  and  pulleys; 
and  being  suddenly  Bet  tree,  the  elastic  force  with  which 
it  seeks  to  recover  Itself  propels  the  missiles. 

BALLISTIC  PENDULUM.  An  Instrument,  invented 
by  Benjamin  Robins,  for  measuring  the  force  or  velocity 

of  cannon  and  musk  I  halls.  To  one  extremity  of  an  iron 
bar  is  fixed  B  heavy  cubical  block  of  wood,  lined  at  the 
back  with  iron.  A  transverse  bar  of  iron  at  the  other  ex- 
tremity of  the  first  bar  serves  as  an  a\is  of  suspension,  in 
which  the  pendulum  swings  freely  backwards  and  for- 
wards. The  Instrument  being  thus  fitted,  If  the  weigh!  of 
the  pendulum  be  known,  and  likewise  the  reapectivi 
lances  of  its  centres  of  gravity  and  oscillation  from  the 
avis  of  suspension,  it  is  easy  to  determine  the  quantity  of 
motion  that  will  be  communicated  to  the  pendulum  by  the 
percussion  of  a  body  of  a  given  weight  moving  with  a 

velocity  and  Striking  it  al  a  given  point.     Conversely. 

If  the  pendulum,  when  al  rest,  is  struck  by  a  body  of  a 
known  weight,  and  the  vibration  which  the  pendulum 
makes  after  the  blow  is  known,  the  velocity  of  the  striking 
body  may  thence  be  determined.  In  order  to  measure 
the  extent  of  the  vibration, a  riband  is  attached  to  the  lower 
end  of  the  pendulum,  passing  loosely  through  an  orifice  in 
a  horizontal  bar  in  the  frame-work;  when  the  pendulum 
is  raised  it  draws  the  riband  along  with  if,  and  the  quan- 
tity which  thus  passes  through  the  orifice  measures  the 
chord  of  the  arc  of  vibration.  (See  Pobins's  New  Prin- 
ciples of  Gunnery,  voL  i.  Prop.  8. ;  also  Hutton's  Mathe- 
matical Tracts^  vol.  ii.) 

BA'LLIUM.  In  the  Architecture  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
the  open  space  or  court  of  a  fortified  castle.  This  has 
acquired  in  English  the  appellation  Bailey;  thus  St.  Pe- 
ter's in  the  Bailey  at  Oxford,  and  the  Old  Bailey  in  Lon- 
don, are  so  named  from  their  connection  with  the  sites  of 
castles 

BALI.OO'X.  (Fr.  ballon,  a  little  tin!!.)  The  name  of 
a  machine,  which,  consisting  of  an  envelope  containing  a 
gas  specifically  lighter  than  common  air,  rises  into  the  at- 
mosphere with  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  ascensional  force. 
A  car,  supported  by  a  network  which  extends  over  the 
balloon,  supports  the  aeronaut ;  and  a  valve,  usually  placed 
at  the  top,  to  which  a  string  is  attached  reaching  to  the  car, 
gives  him  the  power  of  allowing  the  gas  to  escape,  and  of 
descending  at  pleasure. 

During  the  dark  ages,  and  for  some  time  after  the  re- 
vival of  science,  numerous  projects  were  entertained  for 
navigating  the  air;  but  it  is  only  in  very  recent  times, 
since  1783,  that  any  of  them  have  been  realized.  The  first 
idea  was  to  employ  some  mechanieal  contrivance  resem- 
bling the  wings  of  birds  ;  but  Borelli  demonstrated  that  all 
attempts  on  the  part  of  man  to  fly  must  necessarily  fail, 
from  the  utter  disproportion  of  his  muscular  power  to  the 
force  that  would  be  necessary  to  give  impulsion  to  wings 
of  such  enormous  magnitude  as  would  be  required  to  sus- 
tain his  weight  in  the  air. 

The  principle  by  which  a  balloon  rises  in  the  atmosphere 
119 


BALLOON. 

i3  exactly  the  same  as  that  which  causes  the  ascent  of  a 
cork  irom  the  bottom  of  a  vessel  filled  with  water.  The 
weight  of  the  volume  of  air  which  it  displaces  must  ex- 
ceed the  weight  of  the  balloon  and  all  that  it  can  ies  with 
it.  That  bodies  must  rise  and  remain  suspended  in  a 
fluid  denser  than  themselves  was  proved  by  Archimedes; 
but  the  weight  of  the  air  is  a  modern  discover] 
was  only  in  the  latter  half  of  the  last  century  that  chemis- 
try detected  the  nature  and  differences  of  specific  gravities 
of  aeriform  fluids.  Mr.  Cavendish,  in  17b6,  by  some  in- 
genious experiments,  recorded  in  the  Philosophical  Trans- 
actions, vol.  Ivi.,  found  hydrogen  gas  to  be  from  about 
seven  to  eleven  times  lighter  than  common  air,  according 
to  the  mode  of  its  preparation.  In  its  pure  state  it  is 
found  to  be  nearly  sixteen  times  lighter  than  common 
air.  This  substance,  therefore,  if  prevented  from  diffus- 
ing itself,  and  allowed  to  obey  the  force  by  which  it  is  im- 
pelled upwards,  will  Continue  to  mount  till  it  arrives  at  a 
stratum  of  the  atmosphere  sixteen  times  more  auenuated 
than  at  the  surface  of  the  earth.  Accordingly,  no  sooner 
had  Cavendish  announced  his  discovery,  than  it  occurred 
to  Dr  Black  that  a  very  thin  bag  filled  with  hydrogen  gas 
would  mount  to  the  ceiling  of  a  room.  Through  some  im- 
perfection, the  experiment  when  he  attempted  to  execute 
it  failed  ;  and  it  was  several  years  later  before  an  envelope 
was  thought  of  sufficiently  light,  and  at  the  same  time  im- 
pi  rateable  to  the  gas.  Cavallo  made  a  series  of  e\ 
mints  on  this  subject  jn  1782,  DUt  (|j(j  not  succeed  in  rais- 
ing any  thing  heavier  than  a  soap  bubble.  The  expense 
attending  the  preparation  of  the  gas  probably  prevented 
the  experiment  from  being  made  on  a  great  sci 

Knowing  thl  specific  gravities  of  atmospheric  air,  of  the 
gas  with  which  the  balloon  is  to  be  filled,  and  the  weight 
,'•  in  winch  it  is  confined,  it  is  not  difficult  to 
compute  the  size  the  balloon  must  have  in  order  to  rise 
from  the  ground,  or  carry  a  given  weight  to  a  given  height 
in  the  atmosphere.    A  globe  of  air,  one  foot  in  diameter,  at 

the  level  of  the  sea  and  under  the  ordinary  pressure,  weighs 
about  l-J-'th  of  a  pound  avoirdupois.  An  equal  globe  of  hy- 
btained  in  the  usual  way  by  dissolving  iron  fil- 
ings in  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  may  be  assumed  (making eve- 
ry allowance  for  imperfect  preparation)  to  be  about  six 
tunes  lighter  than  atmospheric  air;  con  6thsof 

its  whole  buoyant  force  will  act  in  impelling  it  upwards  ; 
that  is  to  say,  the  force  with  which  a  sphere  of  such  gas, 
one  foot  in  diameter,  will  tend  to  rise  in  the  atmosphere 
will  be  A  X  g'j  =  3Y  of  a  pound  avoirdupois.  The  as- 
censional forces  of  different  spheres  will  be  proportional  to 
their  magnitudes,  that  is,  to  the  cubes  of  their  diameters; 
therefore  a  sphere  12 feel  in  diameter  would  rise  with  a 
force  of  57  pounds,  and  one  of  24  feet  in  diameter  with  a 
t",,ri  e  of  8  X  57  =  456 pounds.  But  these  determinations 
must  be  diminished  by  the  weight  of  the  envelope.  The 
best  material  tor  the  purpose  at  present  known  is  thin  sillt 
varnished  with  elastic  gum,  or  Indian  rubber.  The  quanti- 
ty of  this  material  required  to  cover  a  globe  one  foot  in  di- 
ameter weighs  about  l-20th  of  a  pound.  Now,  for  a  globe 
of  a  greater  size,  the  quantity  required  will  increase  with 
the  square  of  the  diameter;  hence  the  covering  of  a  bal- 
loon 12  feet  in  diameter  must  weigh  about  7  pounds,  and  of 
one  24  feel  in  diameter  28  pounds.  It  follows,  therefore, 
that  a  balloon  of  12  feet  diameter  will  only  raise  from  the 
ground  a  weight  of  50  pounds,  and  one  of  24  feet 428 pounds. 
Computing  in  the  same  manner,  it  is  found  that  a  balloon 
60  feet  in  diameter  would  raise  a  weight  equal  to  aboul 
6950  pounds;  and  that  one  of  a  foot  and  a  half  would  barely 
float,  the  weight  of  the  bag  being  just  equal  to  that  of  the 
imprisoned  gas. 

The  height  to  which  a  balloon  will  rise  is  determined 
from  the  law  according  to  which  the  density  of  the  atmos- 
pheric strata  diminishes  as  the  distance  from  the  earth  is 
increased.  The  buoyant  force  diminishes  with  the  densi- 
ty ;  and  when  it  is  reduced  to  a  quantity  only  equal  to  the 
weight  of  the  balloon  and  its  appendages,  no  further  ascen- 
sion can  take  place.  Another  circumstance  also  confines 
the  possible  elevation  within  moderate  limits.  As  the  pres- 
sure of  the  external  air  is  diminished,  the  expansive  force 
of  the  confined  gas  becomes  greater,  and  would  ultimately 
overcome  the  resistance  of  any  material  of  which  a  balloon 
can  be  made.  A  balloon  quite  filled  at  the  surface  of  the 
earth  would  inevitably  be  torn  to  shreds  at  the  height  of  a 
few  miles  in  the  atmosphere,  unless  a  portion  of  the  gas 
were  allowed  to  escape.  For  this  purpose  the  balloon  is 
furnished  with  a  safety  valve,  which  can  be  opened  and 
shut  at  pleasure  ;  but  to  prevent  unnecessary  waste  of  gas, 
it  ought  to  be  made  of  such  a  size  that  it  requires  only  to  be 
partly  filled.  A  balloon  half  filled  at  the  surface  of  the  earth 
would  become  fully  distended  at  the  height  of  33<  miles. 

We  have  hitherto  spoken  only  of  balloons  filled  with  hy. 
drogen  gas  ;  but  it  is  evident  that  any  other  substance  spe 
cifically  lighter  than  air  would  answer  the  purpose  ;  ir 
fact,  the  first  balloons  by  which  any  one  was  raised  into  th« 
atmosphere  were  not  filled  with  hydrogen,  but  simply  wit! 


>s« 


BALLOON. 

rarefied  air,  the  rarefaction  being  produced  by  kindling  a 
fire  under  them  ;  and  as  they  thus  became  filled  with 
smoke,  they  were  called  smoke-balloons.  The  ascen- 
sional force,  however,  which  can  be  gained  in  this  way  is 
not  great ;  besides  the  aeronaut  must  carry  a  portion  of 
fuel  with  him  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  the  fire,  which 
adds  sensibly  to  the  weight  to  be  raised.  The  keeping  up 
of  the  fire  is  also  attended  with  inconvenience,  and  even 
danger. 

Two  brothers,  Stephen  and  Joseph  Montgolfier,  proprie- 
tors of  a  paper  manufactory  at  Annonay  in  France,  have 
the  honour  of  first  preparing  and  sending  up  a  balloon  into 
the  air.  After  one  or  two  previous  trials,  they  announced 
a  public  ascent  on  the  5th  of  June,  1783.  The  balloon  was 
prepared  of  linen  cloth  ;  a  fire  was  kindled  under  it,  and 
fed  with  bundles  of  chopped  straw.  This  substance  was 
used  with  a  view  to  produce  a  large  quantity  of  smoke.  It 
would  seem  that  they  attributed  the  elevation  of  the  balloon 
to  the  ascending  power  of  the  smoke,  instead  of  its  true 
cause,  the  rarefaction  of  the  heated  air.  In  the  space  of 
five  minutes  it  was  completely  distended ;  and  on  being 
let  slip,  ascended  rapidly.  It  reached  an  elevation  of  about 
a  mile,  remained  suspended  ten  minutes,  and  fell  at  the 
distance  of  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  place  of  its  ascen- 
sion. When  the  news  of  this  experiment  was  carried  to 
Paris,  the  surprise  was  general,  and  the  virtuosi  began  im- 
mediately to  consider  how  it  could  be  repeated.  It  was 
determined  to  apply  hydrogen  gas  on  this  occasion ;  and 
Charles,  a  celebrated  lecturer  on  natural  philosophy,  un- 
dertook the  superintendence  of  the  process.  On  the  26th 
of  August,  1783,  the  preparations  were  complete,  and  the 
balloon  was  transported  with  much  ceremony  to  the 
Champ-de-Mars.  On  the  following  day,  at  five  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  the  report  of  a  cannon  announced  to  the  as- 
sembled multitude  that  every  thing  was  ready.  "The 
globe,  liberated  from  its  stays,  shot  upwards,  to  the  great 
surprise  of  the  spectators,  with  such  rapidity  that  in  two 
minutes  it  reached  the  height  of  3000  feet.  It  traversed 
successively  several  clouds,  by  which  it  was  repeatedly 
obscured.  The  violent  rain  which  began  to  fall  at  the  mo- 
ment of  its  ascent  did  not  retard  its  rapid  progress,  and  the 
experiment  was  attended  with  complete  success.  The 
satisfaction  was  so  great  that  even  elegantly  dressed  ladies 
remained  with  their  eyes  intently  fixed  on  the  balloon,  re- 
gardless of  the  rain,  which  fell  on  them  in  torrents." 
(Libes,  Dictionnarie  de  Physique.)  This  balloon  remained 
in  the  atmosphere  only  three  quarters  of  an  hour  ;  it  fell  at 
a  distance  of  about  fifteen  miles,  when  it.  was  discovered 
that  a  rent  was  made  in  its  upper  part,  through  which  the 
gas  had  escaped. 

The  first  adventurers  who  had  courage  to  undertake  an 
aerial  ascent  in  a  balloon,  were  Pilatre  de  Rosier,  a  young 
naturalist,  and  the  Marquis  d'Arlandes.  On  the  21st  of  No- 
vember, 1783,  they  took  their  seats  in  the  basket  of  asmoke 
balloon  ;  and  after  rising  to  an  elevation  of  upwards  of  3000 
feet,  descended  safely  to  the  earth.  The  next  ascent  was 
made  by  MM.  Charles  and  Robert  in  a  balloon  filled  with 
hydrogen  gas,  on  the  1st  of  January,  17S4.  After  a  flight 
of  a  hour  and  a  half  they  alighted  on  the  meadow  of  Nesle, 
about  twenty-five  miles  from  Paris,  without  the  slightest 
accident.  As  the  balloon  still  retained  a  considerable 
buoyant  force,  M.  Charles  resolved  on  another  ascent  alone. 
It  rose  to  the  height  of  near  two  miles  in  about  ten  min- 
utes; and  the  aeronaut  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the 
sun,  which  had  set  when  he  left  the  earth,  again  rise  above 
the  horizon.  After  remaining  about  thirty-five  minutes  in 
the  air  he  descended  safely,  at  a  distance  of  about  nine 
miles  from  the  spot  from  which  he  had  risen. 

So  many  aerial  voyages  executed  with  safety  encouraged 
other  attempts  ;  and  no  accident  occurred  till  the  accom- 
plished Pilatre  de  Rosier,  with  his  companion  Romain, 
was  killed  in  an  attempt  to  cross  the  channel  from  France 
to  England.  On  the  13th  of  June,  1785,  they  ascended 
from  Boulogne.  Under  the  principal  balloon,  which  was 
of  hydrogen  gas,  they  had  suspended,  for  the  purpose  of 
increasing  or  diminishing  the  ascensional  power  at  plea- 
sure, a  smoke  balloon,  which  occasioned  the  disastrous  is- 
sue. Scarcely  a  quarter  of  an  hour  had  elapsed  when  the 
whole  apparatus,  at  the  height  of  3000  feet,  was  perceived 
to  be  on  fire ;  and  the  unfortunate  voyagers  were  precipi- 
tated to  the  ground.  This  calamitous  occurrence,  how- 
ever, did  not  damp  the  courage  of  aeronauts.  It  was  obvi- 
ous that  it  had  been  occasioned  by  the  want  of  proper  pre- 
cautions; accordingly  ascents  continued  to  be  multiplied, 
and  have  since  become  so  common  as  to  be  an  ordinary 
spectacle  in  the  principal  cities  of  Europe. 

When  balloons  first  began  to  be  constructed,  it  was  ex- 
pected that  they  would  be  found  applicable  to  many  im- 
portant purposes.  These  expectations  have  been  disap- 
pointed, chiefly  because  it  has  been  found  impossible  to 
guide  or  controul  their  course.  The  only  power  the  aero- 
naut possesses  over  his  balloon  is  to  regulate  its  elevation 
within  certain  limits.  In  one  or  two  instances  they  have 
been  successfully  used  for  military  reconnoissance.  The 
120 


BALLOT. 


victory  'which  Jonrdan  obtained  over  the  Austrians  at  Fieri- 
rus,  in  1794,  was  ascribed  to  the  knowledge  obtained  of  the 
enemy's  movements  by  means  of  a  balloon.  A  very  inte- 
resting ascent  was  made  by  Biot  and  Gay  Lussac,  in  Au- 
gust 180-1,  and  by  Gay  Lussac  alone  in  September  of 
the  same  year,  with  a  view  to  make  meteorological  obser- 
vations in  the  upper  strata  of  the  atmosphere.  In  the  first 
voyage,  the  two  philosophers,  at  an  elevation  of  between 
9,500  and  13,000  English  feet,  found  the  oscillations  of  the 
magnetic  needle  to  be  performed  in  the  same  time  as  at  the 
surface  of  the  earth.  At  12,800  feet  the  thermometer, 
which  stood  at  63>£0  at  the  observatory,  had  sunk  to  51° 
of  Fahrenheit,  being  only  a  decrease  of  1°  for  every  thou- 
sand feet.  The  hygroscope  indicated  increased  dryness  in 
proportion  to  the  elevation.  In  the  second  ascent,  per- 
formed by  Gay  Lussac  alone,  the  variation  of  the  compass, 
at  the  height  of  12,680,  was  found  to  remain  unaltered.  At 
14,480  feet  a  key  held  in  the  magnetic  direction  attracted 
with  one  end  and  repelled  witli  the  other  the  north  pole  of 
the  magnetic  needle.  The  same  was  the  case  at  20,150 
feet.  At  18,000  feet  the  thermometer  fell  to  the  freezing 
point,  and  at  22,912  feet  to  14-9°  of  Fahr.  Two  flasks, 
which  had  been  previously  emptied  of  air,  were  opened 
and  filled  at  an  elevation  exceeding  21,400  feet ;  and  the  air 
brought  down  from  this  region  was  found,  on  being  ana- 
lysed, to  contain  exactly  the  same  proportions  of  the  con- 
stituent elements  as  at  the  surface.  The  utmost  elevation 
which  he  reached  was  23,040  feet,  or  four  miles  and  a  quar- 
ter above  the  level  of  the  sea,  considerably  higher  than  the 
loftiest  peak  of  the  Andes. 

Excepting  in  these  two  remarkable  ascents  of  Gay  Lus- 
sac, nothing  has  been  gained  to  science  by  the  use  of  bal- 
loons. The  numerous  other  ascents  undertaken,  both  be- 
fore and  since,  have  as  yet  served  no  other  purpose  than  to 
gratify  idle  curiosity  ;  and  from  the  total  failure  of  every 
scheme  that  has  been  proposed  for  directing  their  course 
through  the  air,  there  is  little  reason  to  anticipate  any  great 
advantages  from  them  to  society.  Nevertheless,  the 
comparative  cheapness  and  facility  with  which  they  can 
be  filled  by  coal  gas,  now  so  generally  used  for  the  pur- 
poses of  illumination,  have  been  the  cause  of  directing  pub- 
lic attention  again  to  the  subject;  and  the  recent  feat  of 
Mr.  Green  and  two  companions,  who,  with  a  stupendous 
balloon,  and  carrying  with  them  a  ton  of  ballast,  ascended 
from  Vauxhall  in  November,  1836,  crossed  the  channel, 
and,  after  a  journey  through  the  air  of  eighteen  hours, 
safely  descended  in  the  territory  of  Nassau  in  Germany, 
has  contributed  to  revive  the  hope  of  rendering  balloons 
available  to  useful  purposes. 

BA'LLOT.  (Fr.  balloter.)  A  method  of  voting  at 
elections,  <&c,  by  means  of  little  balls,  of  different  colours, 
which  are  put  secretly  into  a  box,  and,  when  counted,  dis- 
close the  result  of  the  poll  without  any  discovery  by  whom 
each  vote  is  given.  The  origin  of  the  ballot  may  be  traced 
to  the  commonwealth  of  the  Israelites,  from  whom  it  was 
adopted  by  many  eastern  nations.  The  voting  by  tablets 
began  with  the  earliest  operations  of  Athenian  polity.  But 
it  appears  questionable  whether  the  ballot  at  Athens,  at 
least  in  its  more  flourishing  times,  was  anything  more  than 
a  contrivance  for  securing  rapidity  of  voting,  and  whether 
any  secrecy  was  necessarily  attached  to  it.  It  was  em- 
ployed in  judicial  proceedings.  Secret  voting  was,  how- 
ever, the  custom  of  the  Areopagus.  (Scott  on  the  Athenian 
Ballot,  1838.)  The  same  system  of  voting  prevailed  also  at 
Carthage,  and  to  this  is  attributed  by  Ray  (Travels  through 
Germany  and  Italy)  the  cause  of  the  grandeur  and  inde- 
pendence of  its  inhabitants.  In  the  early  periods  of  Ro- 
man history,  the  people  voted  by  word  of  mouth  ;  and,  in 
creating  magistrates,  used  the  form — Consules,  <Scc.  nomi- 
no,  or  dico  ;  and  it  was  not  until  the  614th  year  of  the  city, 
that  the  Gabinian  law,  Lex  Tabellaria,  was  introduced,  for 
the  purpose,  as  Cicero  alleges  (De.  Off.  2.  7.),  of  giving  to 
the  people  more  liberty  in  voting.  But  from  this  period. as 
is  universally  admitted,  the  practice  of  bribery  made  rapid 
strides;  and  notwithstanding  every  effort  was  made  for  its 
suppression  by  the  enactment  of  penal  statutes,  such  was 
its  success  that  Julius  Cffisar  saw  himself  necessitated  to 
deprive  the  people  not  only  of  the  ballot,  but  even  of  the 
right  of  suffrage.  Since  the  Christian  era,  the  ballot  was 
adopted  at  a  very  early  period  by  the  Maltese  and  the  Ve- 
netians. At  Venice,  in  particular,  a  most  curious  and  in- 
tricate system  of  voting,  consisting  of  ten  previous  ballota- 
tions,  prevailed  for  the  space  of  1300  years  ;  and  Postellus 
(in  a  work  De  Magislratibvs  Atheniensivm)  pointedly  as- 
serts that  the  abolition  of  this  practice,  combined  with  other 
causes,  led  to  the  decline  of  this  once  flourishing  state. 
Another  author,  after  an  elaborate  dissertation  on  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  Venetian  ballot,  sums  up  his  account  of  an 
election  of  which  he  had  been  an  eyewitness  in  the  follow- 
ing words : — "  All  was  easily  performed  in  a  short  time, 
without  tumult  without  noise,  without  animosities,  and  the 
most  deserving  always  elected."  In  our  own  times,  as  is 
well  known,  the  system  of  voting  by  ballot  in  the  election 
of  representatives,  magistrates,  &c.  is  adopted  in  France 


i 


BALSAM  OF  SULPHUR. 


and  America ;  and,  among  ourselves,  in  cases  of  applica- 
tion for  admission  into  private  clubs  and  societies.  Of  all 
controvertible  subjects,  perhaps  there  is  none  which  has 
excited  the  attention  of  all  political  parties  so  vividly,  and 
formed  so  large  an  arena  for  the  display  of  argumentative 
skill,  as  the  ballot.  While  its  opponents  foresee  in  its  in- 
troduction into  the  public  business  of  England  a  tissue 
of  hypocrisy  and  falsehood,  and  ultimately  danger  and  ruin 
to  the  state,  it  seems  to  its  supporters  to  contain  the  germ 
of  all  that  is  admirable  in  government  and  advantageous  to 
the  community.  Our  limits  necessarily  preclude  us  from 
doing  more  than  merely  noticing  the  principal  arguments 
on  both  sides.  The  advocates  of  the  ballot,  on  whom  the 
onus  probandi  naturally  rests,  assume  as  an  axiom  that  the 
great  body  of  the  electors  are  dependent,  and  consequent- 
ly in  an  unfit  condition  to  give  a  free  and  unbiassed  vote. 
On  this  assumption  is  hinged  not  merely  the  validity,  but 
even  the  necessity  of  all  their  demonstrations  in  favour  of 
the  ballot.  The  ballot,  it  is  maintained,  will  not  only  place 
tin  elector  on  a  footing  of  independence,  but  will  remove 
all  inducement  to  bribery,  as  no  candidate  will  choose  to 
offer  a  bribe  when  the  elector  is  at  liberty  to  deceive  him 
by  giving  a  secret  vote  :  in  a  word,  that  it  will  annihilate 
the  two  species  of  corrupt  influence  by  which  electors  are 
liable  to  be  swayed. — the  influence  of  threats,  and  the  in- 
fluence of  bribes  Nor,  as  they  allege,  are  their  opinions 
upon  this  head  merely  speculative  ;  for  they  point  with  tri- 
umph ti<  tlir  example  of  France  and  America,  where  the 
ballot  is  practised,  and  where  it  has  long  been  regarded  as 
the  safeguard  of  the  people's  liberty.  The  opponents  of 
the  ballot,  "ii  ihc  other  hand,  maintain  that,  even  under  the 
ballot,  the  canvassing  of  constituents  by  candidates  would 
still  be  practised;  in  which  case,  the  ballot  would  prove 
serviceable  only  to  the  dishonest  elector-,  who  promises  his 
suffrage  to  one  candidate  and  votes  for  another.  More- 
over, that  even  here  secrecy  would  be  impracticable,  as  the 
elector  would  not  only  be  subjected  to  a  process  of  the 
must  searching  cariosity, bul  thai  the  landlord  would  be  in- 
r lini-. I  to  visit  with  more  signal  marks  nf  his  displeasure 
that  tenant  on  whom  his  suspicions  of  deceit  should  rest, 
than  him  who  came  boldly  forward,  and  voted  in  the  face 
of  day  for  the  candidate  of  his  choice.  Again,  that  even 
were  secrecy  practicable  (vide  Burke's  Reflections,  p.  370), 
it  would  not  be  desirable.  For,  as  every  elector  holds 
his  vote  for  the  benefit  of  the  community  at  large,  he  is 
bound  to  show  by  an  open  vote  his  opinion  of  the  fit- 
ness of  the  candidate  for  his  suffrage:  that  a  secret  vote 
Is  eminently  calculated  to  counteract  the  legitimate  Influ- 
ence of  public  opinion,  and  to  lower  the  standard  of  politi- 
cal ami  moral  principle,  inasmuch  as  it  removes  from  a 
public  ad  that  responsibility  from  which  no  public  act 
ought  to  be  exempted.  And  lastly,  that  the  argumi  I 
rived  from  the  practice  of  France  ami  America  can  have 
but  little  weight,  unless  it  can  at  the  same  lime  be  demon- 
strated that  the  condition  of  these  countries  in  other  re- 
spects is  precisely  analogous  to  that  of  our  own:  that,  as 
far  as  America  is  concerned,  vote  by  ballot  was  not  in- 
grafted upon  Its  peculiar  form  of  government,  but,  as  in  the 
case  of  Athens,  was  coeval  with  its  existence  :  and  that,  as 
regards  France,  only  200.000  in  a  population  of  33  millions 
enjoy  the  elective  franchise;  and  these,  from  their  rank 
and  condition  in  society,  are  least  likely  either  to  be  in- 
fluenced by  intimidation  or  seduced  by  bribery.  Whether 
the  opponents  or  the  advocates  of  the  ballot  nave  the  best 
of  the  argument,  it  is  not  for  us  to  determine  ;  but  one 
tiling  is  certain,  that  whether  we  regard  the  Athenian  or 
the  Roman,  the  French  or  the  American  form  of  govern- 
ment, it  will  be  found  that  the  people  either  stipulated  for 
the  adoption  of  the  ballot  in  the  original  framing  of  their 
several  constitutions,  or,  as  soon  as  they  ascertained  the 
nature  of  their  rights,  insisted  on  its  introduction,  from 
some  fancied  security  it  afforded  them  in  the  exercise  of 
their  privileges.  For  some  apposite  remarks  on  the  bal- 
lot, see  ft  'est.  Review  for  July,  1S30 ;  and  a  Treatise  enti- 
tled Reflections  on  the  Ballot,  1831,  Hatchard  and  Son  ;  see 
also  Montesquieu,  Esprit  des  Lois,  ii.  cap.  20.  ;  and  Fergu- 
son's Roman  History,  p.  81. 

BA'LSAM  OF  SULPHUR.  Solution  of  sulphur  in  olive 
oil.     A  brown  fetid  liquid. 

BALSAMA'CE/E.  A  natural  order  of  imperfect  exoge- 
nous balsamiferous  trees,  related  to  the  Platanaceae  ;  a  spe- 
cies of  the  only  genus,  Liquidambar,  yields  the  fragrant  re- 
sin called  storax. 

BALSAMINA'CE  J2.     (Balsamina,  one  of  the  genera.) 
A  natural  order  of  polypetalous  Exogens  allied  to  Gerania- 
ceae.     They  have  irregular  flowers,  with  a  spur  to  one  of 
the  sepals,  and  are  chiefly  annual  stemmed  plants,  with  a 
succulent  foliage  and  showy  flowers.     The  common  Im- 
patiens  nolitangere  is  a  species  of  this  order. 
BALSAMODE'NDRON.     See  Myrrh. 
Ba'LSAMS.     Exudations  from  certain  plants,  which  are 
liquid  or  soft  solid,  and  consist  of  a  substance  resembling  a 
resin,  either  combined  with  benzoic  acid  or  with  an  essen- 
tial oil,  or  both. 
121 


BANDED. 

BA'LTEUS.  (Lat.  a  girdle.)  In  Architecture,  the  wide 
step  in  theatres  and  amphitheatres  which  afforded  a  pas- 
sage round  them  without  disturbing  the  sitters.  Nobody 
sat  on  it,  hut  it  served  as  a  landing  or  resting  place.  In  the 
Greek  and  Roman  theatres  every  eighth  step  was  a  bal- 
teus.  Vitruvius  gives  the  rules  for  constructing  it  in  the 
third  chapter  of  his  fifth  book.  The  same  term  is  also 
used  by  ttiat  author  to  denote  the  strap  which  seems  to 
bind  the  coussinet  or  cushion  of  the  Ionic  capital. 

BA'LL'STER.  (Said  to  be  from  balaustrum,  or  0a\avc- 
tiov,  the  flower  of  the  wild  pomegranate,  to  the  form  of 
which  a  resemblance  is  pretended.)  In  Architecture,  a 
species  of  small  short  column,  used  between  piers  on  the 
upper  parts  of  buildings,  under  windows,  in  balconies, 
<kc.  It  is  quite  of  modern  introduction,  that  is  to  say, 
soon  after  the  revival  of  architecture.  The  form  of  tlie 
most  ancient  that  are  met  with  in  Florence  and  other  ci- 
ties of  Italy  is  that  of  a  column,  a  puerility  which  has  even 
in  these  days  found  admission  into  some  of  what  are  called 
Greek  buildings  in  the  metropolis.  Blondel  gives  rules 
for  proportioning  the  baluster  in  its  use  where  the  orders 
are  employed. 

ISAM  si'RA'DE.  A  parapet  or  protecting  fence  formed 
with  balusters. 

BAMHO'O.  An  Asiatic  genus  of  arborescent  grasses, 
with  hollow  jointed  stems,  and  a  hardy  woody  texture. 
They  are  externally  coated  with  silex,  and  sometimes 
secrete  the  same  substance  in  the  hollows  of  their  stems, 
when  it  is  called  tabasheer.  Bamboos  grow  with  great 
rapidity,  and  their  shoots  are  cut  when  young,  and  boiled 
like  asparagus.  They  vary  in  size,  according  to  the  spe- 
cies, from  6  feet  to  150  feet  in  length.  When  small,  they 
form  handles  to  umbrellas  and  parasols  or  walking  sticks; 
when  sufficiently  large,  they  are  used  for  the  frame-work 
of  Indian  cottages,  bedsteads,  floors,  and  a  variety  of  do- 
mestic purposes.  If  split  into  slips,  they  form  bow  strings, 
and  sometimes  the  arrows  discharged  from  the  blow-tubes 
of  the  Malays.  A  few  species  inhabit  the  tropical  parts  of 
America. 

HAMlsi  SA'CEJE.  A  section  of  the  natural  order  of 
grasses,  comprehending  the  bamboo  as  its  type. 

I!\\  a.  word  bearings  variety  of  significations  in  the 
Teutonic  jurisprudence  and  usages,  but  all  apparently  con- 
nected win  the  original  meaning  of  "to  proclaim,  or  give 
public  notice. "  Hence,  1  Ban,  the  proclamation  against 
an  outlaw:  e.  g.  the  ban  of  the  German  Empire,  equiva- 
lent to  ecclesiastical  excommunication  or  declaration  of 
outlawry  ;  whence  the  words  banish,  bandits,  banditti,  and 
to  •ban''  or  curse;  in  German  barmen,  verbannen.  2. 
I  an,  in  the  sense  of  the  national  army  of  a  Teutonic 
people  levied  by  proclamation  .  hence  the  French  "lever 
le  ban  et  l'arriere  ban"  (the  latter  word  being  a  corruption 
of  ht  1 1  i'ii  a  mi  m  ,  from  lair,  an  army).  The  French  ban  and 
arrifere  ban  was  levied  for  the  last  time  in  1672,  and  com- 
manded by  Turenne,  but  behaved  so  ill  that  this  feudal  ar- 
mament was  thenceforth  discontinued.  3.  The  banns  of 
marriage,  being  notice  given  by  public  proclamation  to  the 
parish  of  the  intended  solemnization.  In  the  Sclavonic 
tongues  ban  means  master:  the  lords  of  some  of  the  fron- 
tier provinces  of  Turkey  were  so  styled  ;  hence  the  bannat 
or  lordship  of  Temeswar,  now  belonging  to  Austria. 

BANA'NA.  A  tall  herbaceous  endogenous  plant,  the 
Musa  supientum  of  botanists,  having  broad  convex  leaves 
with  fine  oblique  veins,  and  growing  in  a  tuft  from  the  top 
of  a  stem  formed  by  the  union  of  the  broad  bases  of  the 
leaves.  The  fruit  ripens  in  succession  in  large  clusters 
weighing  many  pounds ;  it  is  of  the  same  nature  as  the 
plantain  'quod  ride).  It  is  a  native  of  the  West  Indies, 
where  it  contributes  essentially  to  the  food  of  the  better 
classes. 

BA'NCHUS.  A  Fabrician  genus  of  Hymenopterous  in- 
sects, of  the  tribe  Pupivora.  and  family  Ichneumonida. ; 
characterised  by  long  threadlike  antenna,  abdomen  com- 
pressed at  the  extremity,  ovipositor  not  extended.  Of  this 
genus  there  are  five  British  species,  which,  like  the  rest  of 
the  family,  are  parasitic  in  the  larva  state,  feeding  on  the 
bodies  of  other  insects. 

BA'NCO.  In  commerce,  a  word  of  Italian  origin,  signi- 
fying a  bank,  and  commonly  employed  to  describe  the 
bank  of  Venice.  Banco  is  also  used  to  distinguish  banco 
money  from  current  money  at  Hamburg,  &c.  See  Ex- 
change. 

Banco.  In  Law,  superior  courts  of  common  law  are 
said  to  sit  in  banco  during  term,  the  judges  occupying 
the  bench  of  their  respective  courts.  See  Courts  op 
Law. 

BAND.  (Fr.  bande.)  In  Architecture,  a  term  used  to 
denote  what  is  generally  called  a  face  or  fascia.  To  speak 
correctly,  it  signifies  a  "flat,  low,  square,  profiled  member, 
without  respect  to  its  place.  That  member  in  a  cornice  on 
which  modillions  or  dentils  are  cut  is  called  the  modiliion 
band  in  the  former,  and  the  dentil  band  in  the  latter  case. 

BA'NDED.    (Lat.  fasciatus.)  When  any  body  is  striated 
across  with  coloured  bands. 
Q 


BANDITTI. 

BANDI'TTI.  (It.)  Persons  declared  to  be  banished,  ex- 
iled, or  outlawed.  (Home  Tooke.)  At  the  present  time, 
bandit  and  robber  are  nearly  synonymous  terms.  The 
Italian  bandits  formed  a  peculiar  class,  and  were  frequently 
employed  by  the  petty  princes  and  grandees  in  executing 
their  projects  either  of  love  or  ambition.  As  late  as  the 
year  1820,  they  were  frequently  employed  as  escorts  ;  and 
in  their  case  the  proverb  ''honour  among  thieves"  was 
amply  verified,  for,  on  the  payment  of  a  stipulated  sum, 
travellers  might  repose  in  them  unlimited  confidence. 

BANDOLE'ER.  In  ancient  Military  History,  a  large 
leathern  belt  worn  over  the  right  shoulder, and  hanging  un- 
der the  left  arm,  to  carry  military  weapons.  The  term  is 
also  applied  to  small  leather  case's,  of  which  each  muske- 
teer wore  twelve,  hanging  upon  a  shoulder-belt :  each  of 
these  contained  the  charge  of  powder  for  a  musket.  They 
are  disused,  but  may  be  seen  in  the  armoury  in  the  Tower. 

BA'NTANS.  A  peculiar  class  among  the  Hindus,  whose 
office  or  profession  is  trade  and  merchandise.  In  this 
sense  Banians  stand  contradistinguished  from  Brahmins. 
Cuttery  (Eschatrya),  and  Wyse  (Vaisya),  the  three  other 
castes  into  which  the  Indians  are  divided.  (See  Gemelli 
Carreri,  and  Sir  W.  Jones.)  They  are  scattered  over  the 
whole  of  Asia,  and  have  appropriated  to  themselves  the 
sole  management  of  traffic  in  the  East.  They  retain  every 
where  their  native  language  and  relieion  (the  doctrine  of 
the  Metempsychosis) ;  and  are  distinguished  by  their 
honesty,  fidelity,  and  good  nature. 

BA'NISHMENT.  "Expulsion  from  any  country,  pro- 
vince, or  town,  by  the  judgment  of  some  court  or  compe- 
tent authority."  Banishment  as  a  species  of  punishment 
has  been  practised  by  all  governments,  both  ancient  and 
modern.  Among  the  Greeks  two  kinds  of  banishment 
were  in  use  :  (pvyq,  which  involved  confiscation  of  property, 
and  was  inflicted  only  upon  those  convicted  of  certain 
crimes;  and,  at  Athens,  us! racism,  by  which  persons  were 
banished  on  mere  suspicion  that  their  power  or  riches 
might  prove  subversive  of  liberty.  The  Romans  made 
use  of  three  kinds — relegatio,  exilium,  and  deportatio, — 
which  involved  various  grades  of  punishment ;  (lie  last, 
however,  being  the  most  severe,  as  it  subjected  the  delin- 
quent to  the  confiscation  of  his  property,  and  the  loss  of 
his  rights  as  a  Roman  citizen.  The  second  was  introduced 
by  the  Emperor  Augustus,  and  formed  the  kind  of  banish- 
ment to  which,  among  others,  Ovid  was  condemned.  Du- 
ring the  first  French  revolution,  banishment  (deportation) 
was  substituted  for  the  guillotine,  and  towards  the  end  of 
Robespierre's  administration  became  very  general.  It 
still  forms  part  of  the  French  code,  where  it  is  classed  in 
the  third  degree  of  infamous  punishments,  and  gives  rise 
to  civil  death.  As  a  criminal  punishment  banishment  was 
unknown  to  the  ancient  unwritten  law  of  England,  although 
voluntary  exile  was  often  adopted  in  order  to  evade  legal 
prosecution.  It  was  first  towards  the  end  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth's reign  that  a  statute  was  enacted  which  condemned 
persons  convicted  of  certain  delinquencies  to  leave  the 
town  or  village  where  they  lived  ;  but  it  was  at  a  much  later 
period  that  the  punishment  of  transportation  (quod  vide) 
was  legalised  by  parliamentary  statute.  In  Germany,  nu- 
merous instances  have  recently  occurred  of  persons  con- 
victed of  treasonable  practices  having  had  their  sentence 
commuted  into  perpetual  banishment ;  and  in  the  univer- 
sities of  the  same  country  this  punishment  (relegatio)  is  in- 
flicted upon  those  who  are  convicted  of  a  gross  infringe- 
ment of  the  academical  laws,  and  involves  die  forfeiture  of 
all  right  to  enter  upon  a  professional  career. 

BANISTERIEyE.  (Banisteria,  one  of  the  genera.)  That 
division  of  Malpighiaceous  plants  in  which  the  fruit  is  sa- 
maroid,  not  baccate,  and  analogous  to  what  is  found  in 
Aceraceffi. 

BANK.  In  Natural  History,  an  elevation  of  the  ground. 
Banks  at  sea  are  indicated  by  a  decrease  of  the  soundings, 
and  sometimes  by  the  elevation  of  the  land  above  low- 
water  mark.  Of  these,  one  of  the  largest  and  best  known 
is  the  great  bank  of  Newfoundland,  famous  for  the  resort 
of  cod-fish. 

Bank.  In  Commerce,  an  establishment  for  the  custody 
and  issue  of  money.  The  individual  who  manages  a  bank, 
or  who  carries  on  the  business  of  banking,  is  called  a 
banker. 

Banks  are  of  various  kinds ;  some  confining  themselves 
entirely  to  the  custody  and  issue  of  the  money  deposited  in 
their  hands  by  their  customers,  while  others  issue  notes  or 
paper  money  of  their  own.  They  are  sometimes  conduct- 
ed by  private  individuals,  and  sometimes  by  companies 
consisting  of  an  indefinite  number  of  persons. 

Utility  of  Banks. — Notwithstanding  the  precious  metals 
are,  in  many  respects,  admirably  fitted  to  serve  as  a  medi- 
um of  exchange  (see  Money),  they  have  two  very  serious 
drawbacks, — their  cost,  and  the  difficulty  and  expense  of  car- 
rying them  from  place  to  place.  If  the  currency  of  Great 
Britain  consisted  only  of  gold,  it  would  amount  to  at  least 
sixty  millions  of  sovereisns ;  and  the  expense  attending 
such  a  currency,  allowing  only  M  per  cent,  for  wear  and 
122 


BANK. 

tear  and  loss  of  coins,  could  not  be  reckoned  at  less  than 
£3,250,000  a  year.  The  weight  of  1000  sovereigns  exceeds 
21  lbs.  troy  ;  so  that  were  there  nothing  but  coins  in  circu- 
lation, the  conveyance  of  large  sums  from  place  to  place 
to  discharge  accounts  would  be  a  very  laborious  process, 
and  even  small  sums  could  not  be  conveyed  without  con- 
siderable difficulty  ;  hence  it  is  that  most  commercial  and 
highly  civilised  nations  have  endeavored  to  fabricate  a  por- 
tion of  their  money  of  less  costly  and  heavy  materials,  and 
have  resorted  to  various  devices  for  economising  the  use  of 
coin.  Of  the  substitutes  for  coin  hitherto  suggested,  paper 
is,  in  all  respects,  the  most  eligible.  Instead  of  discharg- 
ing their  debts  by  a  payment  of  the  precious  metals,  indi- 
viduals, on  whose  solvency  the  public  may  rely,  pay  them 
by  giving  a  bill  or  draft  for  the  sum,  payable  in  coin  at  sight, 
or  at  so  many  days  after  date  ;  and  as  this  bill  or  draft  pass- 
es currently  from  hand  to  hand  as  cash,  it  performs  all  the 
functions  of  coin,  while  it  saves  its  expense  to  the  public. 
A  sense  of  the  advantages  that  might  be  derived  from  the 
circulation  of  such  bills  or  drafts  led  to  the  institution  of 
banks  for  their  regular  issue. 

By  a  bank  of  this  description,  or  a  bank  of  circulation,  is 
meant  an  establishment  founded  by  one  or  more  individu- 
als, known  or  believed  to  be  possessed  of  large  property, 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  public  with  loans.  A  banker, 
on  being  applied  to  for  a  loan,  does  not  make  the  advance 
in  gold  or  silver,  or  other  valuable  material,  but  in  his  own 
promissory  notes  or  engagements,  binding  him  to  pay  the 
sums  specified  in  them  at  si<:ht,  when  presented  at  the 
bank,  or  at  some  specified  period.  When  a  bank  is  in  good 
credit,  its  notes  are  deemed  by  the  public  equivalent  to  a 
corresponding  amount  of  gold  or  silver ;  and,  being  freely 
accepted  in  payment  of  debts  of  all  sorts,  and  easily  carried 
about  or  conveyed  by  post,  they  are  even  more  useful  to 
those  who  originally  borrowed  them  from  the  bank, 
and  to  their  subsequent  holder,  than  an  equal  sum  in 
coin.  The  borrowers,  therefore,  do  not  scruple  to  pay  the 
same  interest  for  the  loan  of  a  promissory  note  of  £100  or 
£1,000  than  they  would  do  for  the  loan  of  a  hundred  or  a 
thousand  sovereigns.  But  the  note  costs  the  issuer  com- 
paratively little.  He.  in  fact,  deals  in  credit,  or  in  obliga- 
tions to  pay,  and  not  in  real  values  ;  his  profits  consisting 
in  the  excess  of  interest  derived  from  the  notes  or  obliga- 
tions he  has  issued  over  and  above  the  interest  of  the  cash 
or  unproductive  stock  he  is  obliged  to  keep  in  his  coffers  to 
meet  the  demands  of  the  public  for  payment  of  his  notes, 
and  the  expenses  of  his  establishment. 

Besides  this  sort  of  bank,  there  are  also  banks  of  depo- 
site,  or  banks  for  keeping  the  money  of  individuals.  A 
merchant,  or  other  person,  using  a  bank  of  this  sort,  makes 
all  his  considerable  payments  by  drafts  upon  his  bankers, 
and  sends  all  the  bills  due  to  him  to  them  to  be  presented, 
and  noted,  if  not  duly  paid.  By  this  means  he  saves  the 
trouble  and  expense  of  keeping  a  quantity  of  unemployed 
money  at  home,  of  receiving  coins  or  notes  that  are  not 
genuine,  and  of  making  any  mistakes  with  respect  to  the 
presentation  of  due  bills  ;  and  in  consequence  of  the  saving 
of  money  that  is  thus  effected,  a  much  less  quantity  serves 
for  the  demand  of  the  public. 

If  a  bank  of  circulation,  or  an  establishment  for  the  issue 
of  notes,  fall  into  discredit,  its  notes  must  obviously  cease 
to  circulate.  Unless  when  guaranteed  by  government,  or 
made  legal  tender,  no  one  ever  takes  promissory  notes, 
except  on  the  supposition  that  they  will  be  paid  when  pre- 
sented or  when  due,  and  that  they  are  substantially  equi- 
valent to  cash.  The  moment  any  suspicion  (whether  well 
or  ill  founded  is  so  far  of  little  consequence)  arises  that  the 
issuers  of  notes  are  unable  to  meet  their  obligations,  there 
is  a  run  upon  them  for  payment,  and  their  notes  are  re- 
jected by  every  one. 

All  banks  of  circulation  are  necessarily  almost  at  the 
same  time  banks  of  deposit ;  but  there  are  in  all  civilised 
and  commercial  countries  a  good  many  of  the  latter  class 
of  banks  only.  Banks  of  deposit  derive  their  profit  either 
from  their  paying  no  interest  on  the  sums  deposited  in 
their  hands,  as  is  the  case  with  most  of  the  London  banks ; 
or  from  their  paying  a  less  rate  of  interest  on  deposits 
than  that  for  which  they  lend  them  to  the  public,  as  is  the 
case  with  the  Scotch  banks. 

English  Banks. — Banking  establishments  for  the  issue  of 
notes,  and  for  taking  care  of  other  people's  money,  have 
existed  in  that  country  since  the  latter  part  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  The  Bank  of  England  was  founded  in 
1694,  and  has  long  been  the  greatest  bank  of  circulation 
and  deposit  in  the  world.  It  grew  out  of  a  loan  of  £1,200,- 
000,  for  the  public  service,  for  which  (such  was  the  low 
state  of  public  credit  at  the  time)  the  subscribers  were 
to  receive  8  per  cent,  interest,  with  £4,000  a  year  as  the 
expense  of  management,  and  be  incorporated  into  a  bank- 
ing company,  denominated  the  Governor  and  Company 
of  the  Bank  of  England.  The  charter  was  granted  for  ten 
years  ;  and  it  has  since  been  prolonged  by  various  renew- 
als till  the  1st  of  August  1S45.  The  loans  made  by  the 
bank  to  government  were  gradually  increased,  till  in  1300 


BANK. 


they  amounted  to  JE14,03G,000.  But  at  the  last  renewal  of 
the  charter  in  1833,  a  fourth  part  of  the  standing  dent  due 
to  the  bank  was  paid  off,  making  the  sum  now  (1833)  due 
by  the  public  to  that  establishment,  exclusive  of  advances 
on  account  of  dead  weight  and  other  public  securities, 
£11,647,750. 

From  its  foundation  the  bank  has  enjoyed  several  pecu- 
liar privileges.  The  principal  of  these  was  conferred  upon 
it  in  1708,  by  an  act  which  prohibited  any  company  from 
being  established  for  the  issue  of  notes  payable  on  demand 
in  England  and  Wales  with  more  than  six  partners,  This 
restriction  continued  till  l>citi,  when  it  was  abolished,  in  bo 
far  as  respects  all  places  more  than  66  miles  distant  from 
London  ;  but  within  that  distance  it  still  prevails. 

The  Bank  of  England  is,  and  has  always  been,  tl 
vernment  bank,  transacting  for  it  all  the  banking  business 
of  the  nation,  receiving  the  produce  of  the  taxes,  loans, 
<fec. ;  and  paying  the  interest  of  the  public  debt,  the  drafts 
of  the  treasury  and  other  public  departments,  transferring 
stock,  <fec.  Tor  this  the  bank  has  received  since  1834,  ex- 
clusive of  the  use  of  the  balances  of  the  public  money  in 
her  hands,  about  £130,000  a  year. 

In  consequence  of  its  employment  by  the  government, 
of  the  restriction  confining  the  number  of  partners  mother 
banks  to  sir,  and  of  its  great  capital  and  credit,  Bank  of 
England  notes  have  always  been  held  Id  the  highest  esti- 
mation;  and  no  hank  for  the  issue  of  promissory  notes 
payable  on  demand  has  been  established  in  or  near  Lon- 
don, in  the  provinces,  however,  numerous  privatt  banks 
(that  is,  banks  with  not  more  than  Ha  partners)  of  issue 
and  deposite  have  always  existed.  In  1/92,  their  number 
is  suppose. |  in  have'  exceeded  350.  Many  were  desln  yed 
by  the  revulsion  of  that  year;  but  subsequently 
tiny  began  rapidly  to  increase.  In  1809,  they  amounted 
to  782;  and  iii  1814,  when  most  numerous,  to  940.  Since 
the  abolition  of  the  restriction  on  the  number  of  partners, 
in  1820,  many  banks  have  been  established;  some  with 
very  large  bodies  of  proprietors.  Except  in  the  case  of 
the  Mink  of  England,  all  the  holders  of  stock  in  the  other 
English  banks  are  liable  not  merely  for  the  amount  of 
their  share  in  the  capital  stock  of  the  Company,  bin  for  its 
whole  debts,  whatever  maybe  their  amount  All  notes 
an-  made  payable  on  demand  ;  and  since  1826  no  notes  for 

less  than  X7<  havo  hern  allowed  to  circulate. 

From  the  first   establishment  of  the   Hank  of  England, 

down  to  1797,  it  had  always  paid   its  notes   regularly  when 

nted.     Bui  in  the  course  of  1796,  and  the  early  part 
of  1797,  there  was,  owing  to  the  prevalence  of  rep 
invasion,  a  pretty  severe  run  upon  the  Bank  of  England, 
and  it  was  at  length  apprehended  that  she  might  be  o 
to  make  a  temporary  Btoppage.    To  avert  a  contingency 
of  ilos  sort,  an  order  In  council  was  Issued  in  February, 
1797,  authorising  the  bank  not  to  pa]  hex  notes  in  gold; 
and  this  order  was  subsequently  confirmed  by  parti  u 
and  prolonged  nil  after  the  conclusion  of  a  definite  treaty 

Of  peace. 

Contrary  to  what  might  have  been  and  was  anticipated 
by  many,  the  order  referred  to  did  nol  stop  the  circulation 
of  Hank  of  England  notes,  or  diminish  the  confidence  of 

the  public  in  that  establishment.  The  report  of  a  commit- 
tee of  the  House  of  Commons,  published  soon  after  the 
suspension,  showed  thai  the  bank  was  not  merely  pos- 
sessed of  the  most  ample  funds  to  meet  all  her  i  n 
ments,  bul  thai  she  had  a  surplus  stork,  after  all  demands 
upon  her  were  deducted,  oi  no  less  than  £15,513,000.  This 
report,  and  the  fart  that  Hank  Ol  England  Holes  became 
practically  legal  tender,  secured  their  circulation. 

The  obligation  on  the  issuers  of  paper  to  pay  their  notes 
on  demand  is  necessary,  not  only  to  give  them  circulation, 
but  to  prevent  their  being  issued  in  excess  ;  for  as  soon  as 
any  considerable  overissue  takes  place,  the  currency  be- 
comes depreciated  as  compared  with  that  of  other  coun- 
tries, and  notes  are,  in  consequence,  returned  upon  the 
banks  for  payment,  in  order  to  get  gold  and  silver  to  send 
abroad,  where  their  value  is  higher;  and  the  banks,  to  ob- 
viate the  drain,  are  obliged  to  narrow  their  issues.  London 
being  the  centre  where  the  exchanges  with  other  countries 
are  adjusted,  the  value  of  its  currency  determines  the 
state  of  the  exchange ;  and  it  ultimately  also  determines 
the  value  of  the  currency  of  the  provinces,  there  being  a 
constant  demand  upon  the  country  banks  for  gold  or  bills 
on  London.  While  the  Bank  of  England  was  obliged  to 
pay  in  specie,  the  value  of  her  notes  could  not,  and  in  point 
of  fact  did  not,  differ  materially  from  that  of  gold.  But  in 
171*9,  or  1800,  after  the  check  of  cash  payments  was  re- 
moved, they  began  to  he  depreciated,  partly  in  conse- 
quence of  their  own  over-issue,  but  far  more  through  the 
over-issue  of  the  paper  of  the  country  banks.  The  latter 
were  multiplied  to  an  unprecedented  extent.  It  is  of  im- 
portance, too,  to  observe  that  previously  to  1797  neither 
the  Bank  of  England  nor  any  of  the  country  banks  issued 
notes  for  less  than  j£5 ;  but  both  parties  having  commenced 
their  issue  in  the  course  of  that  year,  a  new  outlet  was 
opened  for  the  emission  of  paper  that  was  particularly  ac- 
123 


cessible  to  the  country  bankers.  And  such  was  the  eager- 
ness of  the  greater  number  of  the  latter  to  get  their  paper 
afloat,  that  individuals  who  could  barely  afford  to  buy  stamps 
for  bills  frequently  succeeded  in  getting  the  command  of 
immense  sums  ;  and,  as  they  had  nothing  of  their  own  to 
lose,  boldly  ventured  on  the  most  hazardous  speculations. 
During  the  last  half  dozen  years  of  the  war  the  deprecia- 
tion of  paper  resulting  from  circumstances  now  glanced  at 
was  such,  that  the  ounce  of  standard  gold,  which  should  be 
worth  only  3/.  17s.  I0%d.,  was,  in  1814,  actually  worth 
5/.  !■?..  being  a  depreciation  ol  -ii '._,  per  cent. 

The  difficulties  which  had  been  thrown  during  the  latter 
years  ol  the  war  in  the  way  of  importation  from  abroad, 
combined  with  deficient  crops  at  home,  caused  an  extraor- 
dinary rise  in  the  price  of  corn.  But  no  sooner  had  the 
northern  ports  been  opened,  in  the  autumn  of  1814,  than  a 
importation,  accompanied  by  a  heavy  fall  of  prices, 
began  to  take  place;  winch  was  still  further  increased 
after  the  general  pacification  in  1815.  This  fall  proved  ru- 
inous to  many  larmers,  who  had  been  large  borrowers 
from  the  country  hanks.  In  consequence  of  the  losses  aris- 
ing from  this  and  other  cauaes  thai  grew  out  of  the  altered 
situation  of  the  country,  a  wain  of  confidence  was  experi- 
enced  ;  and  the  country  banks  being  generally  without  the 
means  id'  meeting  any  emergency,  no  fewer  than  240  of 
these  establishments  stopped  payment.  There  is,  in  fact, 
believed  to  have  been,  in  1814,  1815,  and  1810,  a  greater 
destruction  of  bank  paper  in  this  country,  and  a  wider 
range  of  bankruptcy,  than  had  ever  previously  taken  place 
anj  who]-,-  else,  except  perhaps  in  France  at  the  breaking 
up  of  the  Mississippi  scheme.  The  contraction  of  the  cur- 
rency that  had  ti.rn  thus  violently  brought  about,  raised  its 
value  nearly  to  par,  and  paved  the  way  tor  the  act  of  1819, 
the  596.3.  c.  7--,  commonly  called  "Peel's  Act,"  from 
its  being  introduced  by  Sir  Robert  Peel,  which  provided  for 
the  return  to  cash  payments  by  the  Bank  of  England  at  the 
old  standard.     These  were  resumed  in  1821. 

The  policy  of  tin-  act  ol  1819  was  much  questioned  at  the 
time,  ami  sue-,.;  i. m  it  ha-  been  successfully  vindicated 
over  and  ovet  again.  But  admitting  thatwhen  enacted  it 
might,  in  some  respects,  be  obji  ctionable,  that  would  add 
nothing  to  the  plea  of  those  who  still  continue  to  urge  its 
repeal  The  restored  standard  has  now  (1838)  been  main- 
tained for  nearly  twenty  years  :  and  99  out  of  every  100  of 
the  existing  contracts  have  bei  n  entered  into  with  refer- 
ence to  it.  To  Bet  it  aside  would  not  hi' to  repair  former 
ce,  if  such  were  committed,  but  to  commit  it  afresh 
—to  perpetrate'  an  abuse  in  1838  for  no  better  reason  than 
that  ii  is  alleged  that  a  similar  abuse  had  bi  en  perpetrated 
in  18191  Bo  long  as  there  is  either  common  sense  or  com- 
mon honesty  in  parliament,  we  are  pretty  secure  against 
pi  of  this  aorl  succeeding. 

Notwithstanding  that  the  bankruptcy  which  overspread 
the  country  in  1814,  1816,  and  L816,  was  mainly  ascnbable 
to  the  defective  constitution  of  tin- country  banks,  and  to 
Me'  reckless  and  Improvident  manner  in  which  they  were 
managed,  no  steps  were  taken  when  the  resumption  of 
cash  payments  was  decided  upon  in  lsl'J  to  obviate  any 
one  or  these  sources  of  mischief.  The  consequences  were 
such  as  might  have  been  anticipated.  A  peculiar  combi- 
nation of  circumstances  having  conspired  to  produce  an 
extraordinary  rage  for  speculative  undertakings  in  1824 
and  1826,  the  country  bankers  gave  in  to  the  infatuation, 
and  made  the  most  sudden  and  excessive  additions  to 
their  issues.  In  consequence  the  currency  became  re- 
dundanl :  and  this  having  occasioned  a  heavy  drain  for 
gold  on  the  Bank  of  England,  the  latter  was,  in  the  end, 
obliged  to  contract  her  issues.  The  country  banks,  whose 
engagements  bad  in  many  instances  been  carried  to  an  ex- 
tent quite  incommensurate  with  their  capital,  began  to  give 
way  the  moment  they  experienced  an  increased  difficulty 
of  obtaining  pecuniary  accommodation  in  London  :  and  so 
rapid  and  sweeping  was  the  destruction,  that  in  less  than 
six  weeks  above  seventy  banking  establishments  were 
swept  off,  and  a  vacuum  created  in  the  currency  that  ab- 
sorbed from  eight  to  ten  millions  of  additional  issues  by  the 
Bank  of  England  ! 

This  catastrophe  seems  at  length  to  have  satisfied  the 
parliament  and  people  of  England  that  the  private  banking 
system  was  weak  and  vicious,  and  that  it  was  imperatively 
necessary  it  should  be  amended  and  strengthened.  In  this 
view  the  clause  in  the  act  of  1708  already  referred  to,  pro- 
hibiting any  private  bank  from  having  more  than  six  part- 
ners, was  repealed  ;  and  the  issue  of  notes  for  less  than  JE5 
was  also  forbidden. 

The  last  measure  has,  no  doubt,  shut  up  one  of  the  easi- 
est channels  through  which  the  inferior  order  of  country 
bankers  used  to  get  their  paper  into  circulation,  and  has 
been  so  far  advantageous.  But  abundance  of  other  chan- 
nels are  still  open  to  them  ;  and  the  fact  that  a  third  part  of 
all  the  private  banks  existing  in  England  and  Wales  in  1792 
were  destroyed  during  the  revulsion  of  that  year,  though 
no  notes  for  less  than  jE5  were  then  in  circulation,  shows 
how  little  the  suppression  of  6mali  notes  can  do  to  obviate 


BANK. 


the  mischiefs  complained  of.  Very  important  advantages 
were,  however,  expected  to  result  irom  the  other  measure, 
or  that  repealing  the  act  of  1708,  and  consequently  allowing 
the  formation  of  joint  stock  banks,  or  banks  with  any  num- 
ber of  partners.  But  these  anticipations  proved  to  be 
nearly,  if  not  quite,  fallacious.  There  cannot,  in  fact,  be  a 
greater  error  than  to  suppose  that  because  a  bank  has  a 
considerable  number  of  partners  it  will  necessarily  be 
either  rich  or  well  managed.  It  may  be  neitiier  the  one 
nor  the  other.  A  single  individual  may  possess  more 
wealth  than  a  number  of  individuals  associated  together  ; 
and  the  chances  are,  that  if  he  engage  in  banking,  or  any 
other  business,  it  will  be  better  managed  than  by  a  com- 
pany. Under  the  present  system,  and  in  fact  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  prevent  it  under  any  system,  the  partners  in  joint 
stocks,  or  in  other  banks,  may  be  men  of  straw,  or  persons 
without  property,  and  unable  to  fulfil  their  engagements. 
It  is  of  the  essence  of  a  secure  and  well  established  paper 
currency  that  the  notes  of  which  it  consists  should  be  of 
the  exact  value  of  the  gold  or  silver  they  profess  to  repre- 
sent, and  that,  consequently,  they  should  be  paid  the  mo- 
ment they  are  presented.  But  it  is  not  enough  to  order  that 
this  condition  shall  be  uniformly  complied  with.  Such  or- 
der is  obeyed  only  by  the  opulent,  prudent,  and  conscien- 
tious banker,  and  forms  little  or  no  check  on  the  proceed- 
ings of  those  of  a  contrary  character.  It  is  the  latter  class, 
however,  that  it  is  especially  necessary  to  look  after;  and 
it  is  needless  to  say  that  any  system  that  permits  notes  to 
be  issued  without  let  or  hindrance  by  speculative,  ignorant, 
or  unprincipled  adventurers,  must  be  essentially  vicious. 

The  progress  of  the  system  of  joint  stock  banking,  or  of 
banks  with  more  than  six  partners,  since  1826,  when  it 
commenced,  has  been  as  follows : — 


Banks. 

In  1826  were 

registered 

3 

In  1833 

1827     " 

" 

4 

1834 

1828     " 

IC 

0 

1835 

1829     " 

" 

7 

1836 

1830     " 

" 

1 

1831      " 

" 

9 

1832     " 

" 

7 

104 


In  point  of  fact,  however,  the  joint  stock  banks  have  each 
at  an  average  from  five  to  six  branches ;  and  as  these 
branches  transact  all  sorts  of  banking  business,  and  enjoy 
the  same  credit  as  the  parent  establishment,  from  which 
they  are  frequently  at  a  great  distance,  they  are  to  all  in- 
tents and  purposes  so  many  distinct  banks.  Hence,  in- 
stead of  104,  there  were  really  above  500  joint  stock  banks 
in  England  and  Wales  in  1836,  of  which  no  fewer  than  200 
were  opened  in  the  course  of  that  year !  Some  private 
banks  have  latterly  been  converted  into  joint  stock  banks, 
and  others  have  wound  up  their  affairs  and  ceased  to  exist ; 
still,  however,  their  number  amounts  to  about  550 ;  so  that, 
in  all,  there  are  at  this  moment  nearly  1,100  joint  stock  and 
private  banking  establishments  in  England  and  Wales. 
From  a  half  to  two  thirds  of  these  establishments  issue 
notes. 

Previously  to  1833,  the  notes  of  the  country  banks  were 
made  payable  in  gold ;  but  it  was  then  enacted  that  they 
might  be  paid  either  in  gold  or  Bank  of  England  notes, 
at  the  option  of  the  issuers.  Bank  of  England  notes  are 
now,  in  fact,  legal  tender  everywhere  except  at  the  bank 
and  her  branches. 

The  dividends  on  Bank  of  England  stock  from  1767  to 
the  present  time  have  been — from  1767  to  1781,  h%  per 
cent,  per  annum  ;  from  1781  to  1788,  6  per  cent. ;  from  1788 
to  1807,  7  per  cent. ;  from  1807  to  1823,  10  per  cent.  ;  and 
from  1823  to  1838,  8  per  cent.  The  dividends  are  exclu- 
sive of  the  sums  occasionally  advanced  as  bonuses:  the 
latter  amount  since  1799,  to  JK3,783,7S0  over  and  above  an 
increase  in  the  capital  of  the  bank  in  1816,  which  amounted 
to  .£2,910,600. 

Defects  in  our  present  Banking  System. — Suggestions  for 
its  Improvement.- — The  issue  of  notes  is  of  all  businesses 
that  which  seems  to  hold  out  the  greatest  prospect  of  suc- 
cess to  the  schemes  of  those  who  attempt  to  get  rich  by 
preying  on  the  public.  The  cost  of  engraving  and  issuing 
notes  is  but  an  inconsiderable  item  compared  with  the 
sums  for  which  they  are  issued ;  and  provided  they  get 
into  anything  like  extensive  circulation,  they  become,  at 
once,  considerably  productive.  They  are  not  issued,  ex- 
cept on  the  deposit  of  bills  or  other  securities  yielding  a 
considerable  rate  of  interest ;  so  that  if  an  individual,  or  set 
of  individuals,  with  little  or  no  capital,  connive,  by  fair  ap- 
pearances, promises,  and  similar  devices,  to  insinuate  him- 
self or  themselves  into  the  public  confidence,  and  can 
maintain  20,000,  50,000,  or  .£100,000,  in  circulation,  he  or 
they  secure  a  good  income  in  the  meantime ;  and  when 
the  bubble  bursts,  and  the  imposture  is  detected,  they  are 
no  worse  off  than  when  they  set  up  their  bank.  On  the 
contrary,  the  presumption  is  that  they  are  a  great  deal  bet- 
ter off;  and  that  they  have  taken  care  to  provide,  at  the 
cost  of  the  credulous  and  deceived  public,  a  reserve  stock 
for  their  future  maintenance ;  hence,  seeing  the  facilities  for 
124 


committing  fraud  are  so  very  great,  the  propriety,  or  rather 
necessity,  of  providing  against  them. 

It  has  sometimes  been  contended,  in  vindication  of  our 
present  system,  which  allows  any  individual  or  set  of  in- 
dividuals, how  bankrupt  soever  in  fortune  and  character,  to 
issue  notes  without  check  or  limitation  of  any  kind  other 
than  the  promise  to  pay  them  on  demand,  that  they  are 
essentially  pricate  paper;  that  the  accepting  of  them  in 
payment  is  optional ;  and  that  as  they  may  be  rejected  by 
every  one  who  either  suspects  or  dislikes  them,  there  is  no 
room  or  ground  for  interfering  with  their  issue  !  But 
every  body  knows  that  whatever  notes  may  be  in  law,  they 
are  in  most  parts  of  the  country  practically  and  in  fact  legal 
tender.  The  bulk  of  the  people  are  totally  without  power 
to  refuse  them.  The  currency  of  many  extensive  districts 
consists  in  great  part  of  country  notes  ;  and  such  small  far- 
mers or  tradesmen  as  should  decline  taking  them  would  be 
exposed  to  the  greatest  inconveniences.  Every  one  makes 
use  of  or  is  a  dealer  in  money.  It  is  not  employed  by  men 
of  business  only,  but  by  persons  living  on  fixed  incomes, — 
women,  labourers,  minors  ;  and  in  short  by  every  class  of 
individuals,  very  many  of  whom  are  necessarily,  from  their 
situation  in  life,  quite  unable  to  form  any  estimate  of  the 
solidity  of  the  different  banks  whose  paper  is  in  circulation. 
Such  parties  are  uniformly  severe  sufferers  by  the  failure 
of  banks.  The  paper  that  comes  into  their  hands  is  a  part 
of  the  currency  or  money  of  the  country  ;  and  it  is  quite  as 
much  a  part  of  the  duty  of  government  to  take  measures 
that  this  paper  shall  be  truly  and  substantially  what  it  pro- 
fesses to  be,  as  that  it  should  take  measures  to  prevent  the 
issue  of  spurious  coins  or  the  use  of  false  or  deficient 
weights  and  measures. 

Now  it  will  be  found,  should  the  circulation  of  provin- 
cial notes  be  allowed  to  continue,  that  there  is  but  one 
means  of  making  sure  of  the  solvency  of  the  issuers,  and 
of  providing  for  their  being  paid  when  presented  ;  and  that 
is,  by  compelling  all  issuers  of  such  notes  to  give  security 
for  their  payment.  This,  and  this  only,  will  hinder  the 
circulation  of  spurious  paper,  and  afford  a  sufficient  guar- 
antee that  the  notes  the  public  are  obliged  to  take  are  real 
ly  and  in  fact  what  they  profess  to  be.  The  measure,  too, 
is  one  that  might  be  easily  enforced.  To  carry  it  into  ef- 
fect, it  would  merely  be  necessary  to  order  that  all  indi- 
viduals or  companies,  on  applying  for  stamps,  should  be 
obliged,  previously  to  their  obtaining  them,  to  lodge  in  the 
hands  of  the  commissioners  an  assignment  to  government 
of  stock,  mortgages,  landed  or  other  fixed  property,  equiva- 
lent to  the  amount  of  the  stamps  issued  to  them,  to  be  held 
in  security  for  their  payment. 

It  has  been  objected  to  this  plan,  that  it  would  be  inju- 
rious, by  locking  up  a  portion  of  the  capital  of  the  banks; 
but  this  is  plainly  an  error.  Its  only  effect  in  this  respect 
would  be  to  force  such  banks  as  issued  notes  to  provide  a 
supplemental  capital,  as  a  security  over  and  above  the  cap- 
ital required  for  conducting  their  business.  But  this  sup- 
plemental capital  would  not  be  unproductive.  II  it  consist- 
ed of  lands,  the  owners  would  receive  the  rents;  and  if  it 
consisted  ofgovernment  securities,  they  would  receive  the 
dividends  or  interest  due  upon  them,  precisely  in  the  same 
way  that  they  are  received  by  other  persons  ;  while  the 
fact  being  known  that  they  possessed  this  supplemental 
capital,  or  that  they  had  lodged  security  for  the  payment 
of  their  notes,  would,  by  giving  the  public  perfect  confi- 
dence in  their  stability,  enable  them  to  conduct  their  busi- 
ness with  a  less  supply  of  floating  or  immediately  available 
capital  than  would  otherwise  be  necessary. 

It  is  absurd  to  object  to  this  plan  on  the  ground  of  its  in- 
terfering with  the  private  pursuits  of  individuals.  It  is  the 
duty  ofgovernment  to  interfere  to  regulate  every  business 
or  pursuit  that  might  otherwise  become  publicly  injurious. 
On  this  principle  it  interferes  to  prevent  the  circulation  of 
spurious  coins,  and  of  notes  under  a  certain  sum  and  not 
payable  on  demand  ;  and  on  the  same  principle  it  is  called 
on  to  interfere  to  present  the  act  ordering  the  payment  of 
notes  becoming  again,  as  it  has  very  frequently  done  al- 
ready, a  dead  letter,  by  making  sure  that  it  shall  be  com- 
plied with.  The  interference  that  would  take  place  under 
the  proposed  measure  is  not  only  highly  expedient,  but 
would  be  of  the  least  vexatious  kind  imaginable.  All  that 
is  required  of  the  persons  applying  for  stamps  for  notes  is, 
that  they  should  deposit  in  the  hands  of  the  commissioners 
a  certain  amount  of  exchequer  bills,  or  available  securities, 
according  to  their  demand  for  stamps.  They  are  not  asked 
to  state  how  they  mean  to  dispose  of  these  stamps, — to 
whom  or  in  what  way  they  are  to  be  issued.  They  are 
merely  required  to  give  a  pledge  that  they  shall  be  paid,  or 
that  they  shall  not  be  employed,  as  so  many  others  have 
been,  to  deceive  or  defraud  the  public.  It  is  little  else 
than  an  abuse  of  language  to  call  this  an  interference  with 
private  affairs. 

The  taking  of  security  in  the  way  now  suggested,  from 
the  issuers  of  notes,  would  effectually  provide  for  their 
payment  when  presented.  Adventurers  without  capital, 
and  sharpers  anxious  to  get  themselves  indebted  to  the 


BANK. 

Statement  of  the  Affairs  of  the  Bank  of  England,  February  29, 1832. 


Dr. 

To  bank  notes  outstanding 

To  public  deposits,  viz. — ■ 

Drawing  accounts  ....    2,034,790 

Balance  of  audit  roll   -    •    -       650,550 

Life  annuities  unpaid  -    -    -         85,030 

Annuities  for  terms  of  years 

unpaid 38,360 

Exchequer  bills  deposited  -        490,000 


To  private  deposits,  viz. — 
Drawing  accounts  -  -  ■ 
Various  other  debts    -    - 


5,683/370 

54,560 


£18,051,710 


3,198,730 


5,738,430 

To  the  Bank  of  England  for  the  capital    14,553,000 
To  balance  of  surplus  in  favour  of  the 
Bank  of  England 2,637,760 


.£44,179,630 


By  advances  on  government  securities, 
viz. — 

Exchequer  bills  on  the  growing  produce 
of  the  consolidated  fund  in  the  quar- 
ter ending 

5th  of  April.  1S32 3,428.340 

5th  of  July,  1832 697,0.0 

Exchequer  bills  on  supplies 
1825 7.600 

Ditto  for  £10,500,000  for  1825  2,000 


£4,134.940 


By  the  advances  to  the  trustees  ap- 
pointed by  the  Act  3.  Geo.  4.  c.  51.  to- 
wards the  purchase  of  an  annuity  of 
£585,740  for  44  years,  from  5th  of 

April,  1823 10,897,880 

By  other  creditors,  viz. — 

Exchequer  bills  purchased   -    2,700,000 

Stock  purchased 764,600 

City  bonds 500.000 

Bills  and  notes  discounted    -    2,951,970 
Loans  on  mortgages     -    -    -    1,452,100 
London  Dock  Company  •    •       227,500 
Advances  on  security  of  vari- 
ous articles 570,690 

9,166,860 

By  cash  and  bullion 5,293,150 

By  the  permanent  debt  due  from  go- 
vernment     14,686,800 


£44,179,630 


Rest,  or  surplus  brought  down  - 
Bank  capital  due  to  proprietors 


-  2.637.760 

-  14,553,000 

£17,190,760 


Average  Quarterly  Account  of  the  Liabilities.  Assets,  and  Surplus  or  Rest,  of  the  Bank  of  England, 
as  ordered  by  the  Act  3  &  4  Will.  IV.  cap.  98. 


Notes  la 
Circulation. 

Deposits. 

Securities. 

Bullion. 

Rett. or  Surplus 
Capital. 

1834. 
January  1. 
April  1.      - 
July  1. 

September  23.  - 
December  18.    - 

L. 

18.216.000 
l'.UW.OOO 
18,89     •• 

l'.U:.'6.000 
18,304,000 

L. 

13,101,000 

H.nil.OOO 
15,096.000 
14,754.000 
12,256,000 

L. 

23.5%,000 
25,970,000 
8,000 
28,691,000 
26,362,000 

L 
9,948.000 

9,4  si.OOO 
R,695,O00 
7,695,000 

6,720,000 

L. 

2.-.1  '7.000 
2,293,000 
2.261.000 
2,506,000 
2,522,000 

1 835. 

January  15. 
April  7. 
June  30. 

September  22.   - 
December  15.    • 

18.012,000 
'1,000 
18,315,000 
1-  .'10,000 
17,821,000 

12,566,000 

11.289.000 
10,954.000 
13£30,000 

17,729,000 

26.390.000 
16.328,000 

;>.ooo 

27,881-..' mi 
31,048,000 

6,741.000 
6.329,000 
6.219.000 
6.261.000 
6,626,000 

2,534,000 
2,677.000 

2,628.000 
2,679.000 
2,624,000 

1836. 
January  12. 
April  5. 
July  1. 

September  22.  - 
December  15.    - 

17,262.000 
18,063.000 
17,899.000 

1-.  147.00(1 
17,361,000 

19.169,000 
14.751,000 
lii.MO.OOO 
14,118,000 
13,330,000 

31.954,000 
27,927.000 
27.153.000 
29,406,000 
28,971,000 

7,076,000 
7,801,000 
7,362,000 
5.719,000 
4,545,000 

2.599,000 
2,914.000 
2,806.000 
0,000 
2,825,000 

1837. 
January  10. 
April  4.      -        - 
June  27. 

September  19.  - 
December  14.    - 

17.422.000 
18,432,000 
18,202,000 
18,  -14.000 
17,998,000 

14.354.000 
11.192,000 
10,424.000 
11,093,000 
10,195,000 

30.365.000 
28,843,000 

26,932,000 
26,605.000 
22,727,000 

4.287.000 
4.071.000 
4,750,000 
6,303.000 
8,172,000 

2.876.000 
3.263.000 
3.056,000 
3.001,000 
2,706,000 

1838. 
January  12.        -     t 

17,900.000 

10,992,000 

22,606,000 

8,895,000 

2.609.000 

N.  B.— The  rest  is  foi-od  bj  adding  together  the  circulation  and  deposits,  and  deducting  their  amount  from  the  amount  of  the  securities  and  bullion. 


public,  would  find  that  banking  was  no  longer  a  field  on 
Which  they  could  advantageously  enter.  Notes  would  be 
made,  in  fact  as  well  as  in  law,  equivalent  lo  the  specie 
they  profess  to  represent ;  and  the  paper  currency  would 
acquire  a  solidity  of  which  it  is  at  present  wholly  destitute. 
But  though  the  plan  of  taking  security  would  completely 
obviate  the  risk  of  loss  from  the  circulation  of  worthless 
paper,  or  of  paper  issued  by  parties  without  the  means, 
and  probably  also  the  inclination  to  pay  it  on  presentation, 
it  would  not  touch  another  abuse  inherent  in  the  present 
system  ;  that  is,  it  would  leave  the  currency  exposed  as 
at  present,  to  all  those  constantly  recurring  fluctuations  in 
its  amount,  those  alternations  of  glut  and  deficiency,  by 
which  it  has  been  affected  since  provincial  banks  became 
125 


considerably  multipled,  and  which  are  in  the  last  degree 
injurious.  A  paper  currency  is  not  in  a  sound  or  whole- 
some state,  unless,  1st,  means  be  taken  to  insure  that  each 
particular  note  or  parcel  of  such  currency  be  paid  imme- 
diately on  demand  ;  and  unless.  2nd,  the  whole  currency 
rary  in  amount  and  value  exactly  as  a  metallic  currency 
would  do  were  the  paper  currency  withdrawn  and  coins  sub- 
stituted in  its  stead.  The  last  condition  is  quite  as  indis- 
pensable to  the  existence  of  a  well-established  currency  as 
the  former ;  and  it  is  one  that  cannot  be  realised  other- 
wise than  by  confining  the  issue  of  paper  to  a  single 
source. 

It  is  supposed  by  many  that  there  can  be  no  greater  fluc- 
tuations in  a  paper  than' in  a  metallic  currency,  provided 


BANK. 

Account  of  the  Amount  of  the  Notes  of  the  Bank  of  England  in  Circulation,  of  the  Deposits  in  the  Hands  of  the  Bank,  of 
all  Securities  held  by  the  Bank,  of  Bullion  in  her  Coffers,  and  of  the  Rest  or  Surplus  Capital  of  the  Bank,  on  the  last 
day  of  February  in  each  of  the  following  years  : — 


Notes  in 

Deposits. 

Public 

Private 

Rest,  or  Surplus 

Years. 

Circulation. 

Securities. 

Securities. 

u 

{  apital. 

1778 

7,440,a30 

4,662,150 

7,898,292 

3,322,228 

2.010,690 

1,128.730 

1779 

9,012,610 

4,358,160 

8,862,242 

2,073,668 

3,711,150 

1 .276.290 

1780 

8,410,790 

4,723.89) 

9,145,659 

1,755,371 

3,581.060 

1,347.410 

1781 

7,092,450 

5,796;S30 

8,640,073 

2,546,067 

3,279.940 

1.576,800 

1782 

8,028,880 

6,130,300 

10,346,055 

3,448,015 

2,157;S60 

1.792,750 

1783 

7,675,090 

4.465.000 

10.016,349 

2,779,431 

1,321.190 

1.  '.176,880 

1784 

6,202,760 

3,903,920 

7,789,291 

3,829,929 

655,840 

2,168,380 

1785 

5,923,090 

6,669,160 

7,198,564 

4.973,926 

2,740.820 

2,321,060 

1786 

7,581,960 

6.151,660 

6,836,459 

3,516,781 

5,979.090 

2,598,710 

1787 

8,329,840 

5,902,080 

7,642,587 

3.716,463 

5.626,690 

2,753,820 

1788 

9,561,120 

5,177.050 

7,833,857 

4,030,653 

5j743,440 

2,869,780 

1789 

9,807,210 

5,537,370 

8,249,582 

2.711,108 

7,228.730 

2,844,840 

1790 

10,040,540 

6,223,270 

8.347,387 

1,984,733 

8,633,000 

2,701,310 

1791 

11,439.200 

6,364,550 

10,380,358 

2:222,282 

7,869,410 

2,668,300 

1792 

11,307,380 

5,523,370 

9,938,799 

3,129,761 

6468,060 

2,705,870 

1793 

11,888,910 

5,346.450 

9,549,209 

6.456,041 

4,010,680 

2,780,570 

1794 

10,744.020 

7,89i;810 

9,950,756 

4,573,794 

6,987,110 

2,875.830 

1795 

14,017,510 

5,973,020 

13,164.172 

3,647.168 

6,127,720 

2.948,530 

1796 

10,729,520 

5,702,360 

12,951,812 

4,188,028 

2,539,630 

3i247,590 

1797 

9,674,780 

4,891,530 

11,714,431 

5,123,319 

1,086,170 

3,357,610 

1798 

13,095,830 

6,148,900 

11,241,333 

5,558,167 

5,828,940 

3.383,710 

1799 

12,959,800 

8,131,820 

11,510,677 

5.528.353 

7,563,900 

3,511.310 

1800 

16,844.470 

7,062,680 

13,975,663 

7,448,387 

6,144,250 

3,661,150 

1801 

16,213,280 

10,745,840 

15,958,011 

10,466,719 

4,640,120 

4,105,730 

1802 

15,186,880 

6,858,210 

14,199,094 

7,760,726 

4,152,950 

4.067,680 

1803 

15,319,930 

8,050,240 

9,417,887 

14.497,013 

3,776,750 

4.321,4s) 

1804 

17,077,830 

8.676,830 

14,684,686 

12,314,284 

3,372,140 

4,616,450 

1805 

17,871,170 

12,083,620 

16,889,501 

11,771,889 

5,883,800 

4.590.400 

1806 

17,730,120 

9,980,790 

14,813,599 

11,777,471 

5,987,190 

4.867.350 

1807 

16,950,680 

11,829,320 

13,452,871 

13,955,589 

6,142.840 

4,771,300 

1808 

18,188,860 

11,961,960 

14^149,501 

13,234.579 

7,855,470 

5.088.730 

1  -i  i'.i 

18,542,860 

9,982,950 

14,743,425 

14,374;775 

4,488,700 

5.081  ;090 

1810 

21,019,600 

12,457,310 

14,322,634 

21,055,946 

3,501,410 

5,403,080 

1811 

23,360,220 

11. -II  5,650 

17,201,800 

19,920,550 

3,350.940 

5,667,420 

1812 

23,408,320 

11,595,200 

22,127,253 

15,899,037 

2,983,190 

6,005,960 

1813 

23,210,930 

11,268,180 

25,036,626 

12,894,324 

2,884,500 

6.336.340 

1814 

24,801,080 

12,455,460 

23,630,317 

18,359,593 

2.204,430 

6,937,800 

1815 

27,261,650 

11,702,250 

27,512,804 

17,045,696 

2,036,910 

7,631,510 

1816 

27,013,620 

12.388,890 

19,425,780 

23,975,530 

4,640,880 

8,639.680 

1817 

27,397,900 

10,825,610 

25,538,808 

8,739,822 

9,680,970 

5,736,090 

1818 

27,770,970 

7,997,550 

26,913,360 

3,991,970 

10.055.460 

5,192,270 

1819 

25,126.700 

6,413,370 

22,355.115 

9,099,885 

4,184,620 

4.099,550 

1820 

23.484,110 

4,093,550 

21,715,163 

4,472,322 

4,911,050 

3,520,880 

1821 

23;884,920 

5,622,890 

16,010,990 

4,7&5,280 

11,869,900 

3,158,360 

1822 

18,665,350 

4,689,940 

12,478,133 

3,494,947 

11.057,150 

3,674,940 

1823 

18,392.210 

7,181,100 

13,658,829 

4,660,901 

10,384.230 

3,130.620 

1824 

19,736,990 

10,097,a50 

14,341,127 

4,530,873 

13,810,060 

2,847,220 

1825 

20,753,760 

10,168,780 

19,447,588 

5.503,742 

8.779,100 

2,807,820 

1826 

25,467,910 

6,935,940 

20,573,258 

12,345,322 

2,459,510 

2.974,240 

1827 

21,890,610 

8,801,660 

18,685,015 

4,844,515 

10,159,020 

2.996.280 

1828 

21,980,710 

9.198,140 

19,818,777 

3,762.493 

10,347,290 

2,749,710 

1829 

19,870,850 

9,553,960 

19,736,665 

5.648,085 

6,835.020 

2,794,960 

1830 

20,0:50,730 

10,763,150 

20,038,890 

4,165.500 

9.171.000 

2.561.510 

ia3i 

19,600,140 

11.213,530 

19,927,572 

5,281,408 

8.217,050 

2,612,360 

1832 

18,051,710 

8,937,170 

18,497,448 

5,836,042 

5,293.150 

2.637,760 

An  Account  of  the  Aggregate  Number  of  Notes  circulated  in  England  and  Wales  by  Private  Banks,  and  by  Joint  Stock  Banks 
and  their  Branches,  distinguishing  Private  from  Joint  Stock  Banks.     From  Returns  directed  by  3  &4  Will  IV.  c.  83. 


1*33. 
1834. 


1836. 


1837. 


Quarters  ended 


December  28.     - 
March  29.    - 
June  28.      - 
September  27.    - 
December  28.     - 
March  28.    - 
June  27.      - 
September  26.    - 
December  26.     • 
March  26.    - 
June  25. 

September  24.    - 
December  31.     - 
April  1. 
July  1. 

September  30.    . 
December  30. 


Private  Banks 


8,836,803 
8,733,400 
8.875.795 
8,370.423 
8,537.655 
8,231,206 
8,455,114 
7,912,587 
8..334.863 
8,353,894 
8.614.132 
7,764,824 
7,753,500 
7,275,784 
7.187,673 
6^01 ,996 
7,043,470 


1,315.301 
1,458,427 
1,642,887 
1,783,689 
2.122,173 
2,188,954 
2,484,687 
2,508,036 
2,799,551 
3.094,025 
3,588,064 
3.969,121 
4.258,197 
3.755.279 
3,684,764 
3,440,053 
3,826,665 


Total. 


10,11 52.1 04 
10,191,827 

10.518.6^2 
10,154,112 
10.659.82S 
10,420,160 
10,939,801 
10,420,623 
11,134,414 
11,447,919 
12.202,196 
11,733,945 
12,011.697 
11.031,063 
10,872,437 
10,1 42,049 
10,870,135 


the  paper  rest  on  an  undoubted  basis,  and  be  regularly  paid 
the  moment  it  is  presented.  But  this  is  an  error.  Where- 
ever  there  are  numerous  issuers,  there  may  be,  and  the 
chances  are  fifty  to  one  there  will  be,  perpetually  recur- 
ring fluctuations  in  the  amount  and  value  of  the  currency. 
An  over-issue  of  convertible  paper  is  not,  of  course,  indica- 
126 


ted  by  any  difference  between  the  value  of  such  paper  and 
gold  at  home  ;  but  it  is  indicated  by  a  fall  of  the  exchange, 
and  by  an  efflux  of  bullion  to  other  countries.  If  paper 
were  only  issued  by  the  Bank  of  England,  or  some  one 
source  in  London,  and  then  only  in  exchange  for  bullion, 
the  currency  would  be  in  its  most  perfect  state,  and  would 


BANK. 


fluctuate  exactly  as  it  would  do  were  it  wholly  metallic. 
Bui  at  present  it  is  quite  otherwise.  The  currency  is  sup- 
plied by  hundreds  of  individuals  and  associations,  all  actu- 
ated by  different  and  frequently  conflicting  views  and  inte- 
rests. Tlie  issues  of  the  Bank  of  England,  though  not  al- 
ways, are  generally  governed  by  the  state  of  the  exchange, 
or  rather  by  the  influx  and  efflux  of  bullion,  increasing 
when  it  flows  into  and  decreasing  when  it  flows  out  of  the 
country.  But  it  is  quite  otherwise  with  the  provincial 
bankers.  Their  issues  are  not  regulated  by  any  such 
standard,  but  by  the  state  of  credit  and  prices  in  the  dis- 
tricts in  which  they  happen  to  be  situated.  Iftheir  mana- 
gers suppose  that  these  are  good  or  improving,  they  rarely 
hesitate  about  making  additional  issues.  Hence,  when  the 
state  of  the  exchange  and  the  demand  on  the  Bank  of  Eng- 
land for  bullion  show  that  the  currency  is  redundant,  and 
ought  to  be  contracted,  the  efforts  of  the  bank  to  effect  its 
diminution  are  often  impeded,  and  met  by  a  contrary  ac- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  country  banks.  This  is  not  owing 
to  the  ignorance  of  the  latter.  Under  the  supposed  cir- 
cumstances, the  country  bankers  see,  speaking  generally, 
that  they  ought  also  to  contract ;  but  being  a  very  numer- 
ous body,  comprising  several  hundred  establishments  scat- 
tered over  all  parts  of  the  country,  each  is  impressed  with 
the  well  founded  conviction  that  all  that  he  could  do  in  the 
way  of  contraction  would  be  next  to  imperceptible  ;  and  no 
one  ever  thinks  of  attempting  it.  so  long  as  he  feels  satis- 
fied of  the  stability  of  those  with  whom  he  deals.  On  the 
contrary,  every  banker  knows,  were  he  to  withdraw  a 
portion  of  his  notes,  that  some  of  his  competitors  would 
most  likely  embrace  the  opportunity  of  filling  up  the  va- 
cuum so  creatrd ;  and  that  consequently  he  should  lose  a 
portion  of  lu<  business,  without  in  any  degree  lessening 
the  amount  of  paper  afloat.  Hence,  in  nineteen  oul  of 
twenty  instances,  the  country  banks  go  on  increasing  their 
aggregate  issues  long  after  the  exchange  has  been  notori- 
ooslj  against  the  country,  and  the  Bank  of  England  has 
been  striving  to  pull  up. 

The  circumstances  now  stated  were  strikingly  exempli- 
fied in  the  course  of  Kit)  and  the  early  part  of  HIT.  The 
excessive  multiplication  of  joint  stock  banks  in  1836,  the 
great  additions  they  made  to  the  number  of  notes  afloat, 
and  the  still  gre  iter  additions  'hey  made  to  the  numl 
bills,  checks,  and  oilier  substitutes  for  money,  occasion!  I 
a  redundancy  of  the  currency,  a  fall  of  the  exchange,  and 
a  drain  upon  He'  Bank  of  England  for  gold,  lint  while  the 
latter  was  narrowing  her  issues,  by  supplying  the  exporters 
of  bullion  with  gold  in  exchange  for  notes,  the  country 
banks  went  on  Increasing  their  issues  '  What  the  former 
diil  by  contracting  on  the  one  hand,  the  latter  more  than 
undid  by  letting  out  on  the  other.  The  vacuum  created  by 
the  withdrawal  of  Hank  of  England  paper  was  immediate- 
ly filled  up.  anl  made  to  overflow  by  'he  issue  of  a  more 
than  equal  amount  of  provincial    paper;  so  that  had  ;t  not 

been  for  the  rise  in  the  rate  of  interest,  and  tl ther  re. 

pressive  measures  adopted  by  the  bank,  the  probability  is 
thai  -lie  might  have  gone  on  paying  away  bullion  for  notes 
till  she  was  drained  of  her  last  sixpence,  without  in  any 
degree  affecting  the  exchange.  But  this  is  not  all.  Not 
only  do  the  country  banks  almost  universally  increase  their 
issues  when  thej  nugbl  lo  be  diminished,  but  the  moment 
they  are  compelled  to  set  about  their  reduction  they  run 
headlong  into  the  opposite  extreme,  and  unreasonable  sus- 
picion takes  the  place  of  blind  unthinking  confidence. 
The  cry  of  smive  qui  prut  then  becomes  all  but  universal. 
It  is  seldom  that  a  recoil  takes  place  without  destroying 
more  or  fewer  of  the  provincial  banks;  and.  provide. 1  the 
others  succeed  in  securing  themselves,  little  attention  is 
usually  paid  to  the  interests  of  those  they  have  taught  to 
look  to  them  for  help, 

We  have  previously  noticed  the  bankruptcy  and  distress 
entailed  on  the  country  by  the  overissue  and  consequent 
failure  of  the  country  banks  in  1M4.  1815,  and  1816,  and 
again  in  1825-26.  The  influence  of  the  revulsion  in  1792 
was  similar,  and  equally  disastrous;  and  though,  owing  to 
the  assistance  afforded  by  the  Bank  of  England,  the  crisis 
of  1836  was  very  much  mitigated,  it  seriously  affected  the 
Industry  and  commerce  of  the  empire,  and  inflicted  ablow 
upon  them  both  from  the  effects  of  which  they  have  not  as 
yet  (l-m>  recovered. 

Although,  therefore,  the  exacting  of  security  for  their 
payment  from  the  issuers  of  notes  would  protect  the  bidd- 
ers from  loss,  and  be  in  so  far  advantageous,  it  would  not 
hinder  that  competition  among  the  issuers  that  is  so  very 
iniurious,  nor  prevent  the  supply  of  paper  being  at  one 
time  in  excess  and  at  another  deficient.  If  we  would  pro- 
vide for  that  unity  of  action  on  the  part  of  the  issuers,  anil 
that  equality  in  the  value  of  money,  that  are  so  indispensa-  | 
ble,  it  must  all  emanate  from  one  source.  Were  one  body- 
only  entrusted  with  the  issue  of  notes,  it  would  be  able  im- 
mediately to  narrow  the  currency  when  bullion  began  to 
be  exported,  and  to  expand  it  when  it  began  to  be  im- 
ported; and  it  would  be  easy  for  the  legislature  to  lay 
down  and  enforce  such  regulations  as  would  effectually  ' 
127 


prevent  the  fluctuations  in  the  amount  and  value  of  the 
currency  ever  exceeding  those  that  would  take  place  were 
it  wholly  metallic.  But  nothing  of  the  sort  need  be  ex- 
pected so  long  as  it  is  supplied  by  more  than  one  source. 
Everything  must  then  be  left  to' the  discretion  of  the  par- 
ties. And  it  will  certainly  happen  in  time  to  come,  as  it 
has  invariably  happened  in  time  past,  that  some  of  them 
will  be  increasing  their  issues  when  they  should  be  di- 
minished, and  diminishing  them  when  they  should  be  in- 
creased ;  and  that  the  country  will  continue  to  be  exposed 
to  the  incessant  recurrence  of  the  most  destructive  revul- 
sions. 

Scotch  Banks. — The  act  of  1708,  preventing  more  than 
six  individuals  from  entering  into  partnership  for  carrying 
on  the  business  of  banking,  did  not  extend  to  Scotland.  In 
consequence  of  this  exemption,  several  banking  companies, 
with  numerous  bodies  of  partners,  have  always  existed  in 
that  part  of  the  empire.  The  Bank  of  Scotland  was  es- 
tablished by  act  of  parliament  in  1695.  By  the  terms  of 
its  charter  it  enjoyed,  for  twenty -one  years,  the  exclusive 
privilege  of  issuing  notes  in  Scotland.  Its  original  capital 
was  only  £100,000;  but  it  was  increased  to  200.000  in 
17 14,  and  now  amounts  to  1,500,000,  of  which  1,000,000 
has  been  paid  up. 

The  Royal  Bank  of  Scotland  was  established  in  1727. 
Its  original  capital  was  £151.000;  at  present  it  amounts  to 
2,000.000,  which  has  been  all  paid  up. 

The  British  Linen  Company  was  incorporated  in  1746, 
for  the  purpose,  as  its  name  implies,  of  undertaking  the 
manufacture  of  linen.  But  the  views  in  which  it  originated 
were  speedily  abandoned,  and  it  became  a  banking  com- 
pany only.     Its  paid  up  capital  amounts  to  £500,000. 

Exclusively  of  the  above,  there  are  two  other  chartered 
banks  in  Scotland:  the  Commercial  Hank,  established  in 
1810;  and  the  National  Bank  of  Scotland,  established  in 
1825.  The  former  has  paid  up  capital  of  £600,000,  and  the 
latter  of  500,000. 

None  of  the  other  banking  companies  established  in 
md  are  chartered  associations ;  and  the  partners  are 
jointly  and  individually  liable  to  the  whole  extent  of  their 
fortunes  for  the  debts  of  the  firms.  Some  of  them,  as  the 
Aberdeen  Town  and  Country  Hank,  the  Dundee  Commer- 
cial Bank,  the  Perth  Banking  Company,  &C,  have  very 
numerous  bodies  of  partners.  Generally  speaking,  they 
have  been  eminent]]  An  original  share,  £150, 

of  the  stock  ot  tie     \  Banking  Company,  estab- 

lished in  1767,  is  now  (1833)  worth  no  less  than  £2,500. 
Their  affairs  are  uniformly  conducted  by  a  board  of  direc- 
isen  by  the  shareholders 

There  are  very  few  banks  with  less  than  six  partners  in 
Scotland.  Almost  all  the  great  joint  stock  banks  have  nu- 
merous branches  ;  so  that  there  is  hardly  a  town  or  village 
of  any  consequence  without  two  or  more  banks. 

The  Bank  of  Scotland  began  to  issue  one-pound  notes 
as  early  as  1704,  and  their  issue  has  since  been  continued 
without  interruption.  With  only  one  exception,  all  the 
Scotch  banks  issue  notes  ;  and  taking  their  aggregate  circu- 
lation at  tr  in  £3,500.000  to  4.(»m.i««i,  it  is  supposed  that 
from  £2,000,000  to  2.5" u»» i  consists  of  notes  for  £1.  In 
1826  it  was  proposed  to  suppress  one-pound  notes  in  Scot- 
land as  well  as  in  England  ;  but  the  measure  having  been 
strongly  objected  to  by  the  people  of  Scotland,  as  being  at 
p pressive  and  unnecessary,  was  abandoned. 

There  have  been  very  few  bankruptcies  among  the 
Scotch  banks.  This  superior  stability  is  to  be  ascribed 
to  a  variety  of  causes;  partly  to  the  great  wealth  of  the 
early  established  banks,  which  had  a  considerable  influence 
in  preventing  an  inferior  class  of  banks  acquiring  any 
hold  on  the  public  confidence  ;  partly  to  the  compara- 
tively little  risk  attending  the  business  of  banking  in 
Scotland  :  partly  to  the  facilities  afforded  by  the  Scotch 
law  for  attaching  a  debtor's  property,  whether  it  consist  of 
land  or  moveables;  and  partly  and  principally,  perhaps, 
to  the  fact  of  the  Scotch  banks  being  but  indirectly  and 
slightly  affected  by  a  depression  of  the  exchange  and  an 
efflux  of  bullion. 

The  circumstances  now  mentioned  render  it  unneces- 
sary to  enforce  that  suppression  of  local  issues  in  Scot- 
land which  is  so  indispensable  in  England,  where  the  sys- 
tem of  provincial  banking  is  of  a  very  inferior  description, 
the  risk  attending  the  business  much  greater,  and  where 
any  excess  in  the  amount  of  the  currency  necessarily  oc- 
casions a  fall  of  the  exchange  and  a  demand  for  bullion. 
The  commerce  and  population  of  Scotland  are  too  limited, 
and  that  country  is  too  remote  from  the  metropolis,  or 
from  the  centre  of  the  moneyed  world,  the  pivot  on  which 
the  exchanges  turn,  to  make  it  of  importance  that  her 
currency  should  be  identical  with  that  of  England.  We 
believe  that  the  Scotch  attach  much  more  importance  than 
it  deserves  to  the  issue  of  paper,  and  especially  to  the  issue 
of  one-pound  notes ;  still,  however,  we  do  not  think  that 
the  circumstances  are  at  present  such  as  to  call  for  or  to 
warrant  any  attempt  to  introduce  any  material  changes  in 
their  banking  system. 


BANK  FOR  SAVINGS. 

All  the  Scotch  banks  receive  deposits,  even  of  the  low 
amount  of  £10,  and  allow  interest  on  them  at  from  one  to 
two  per  cent,  below  the  market  rate.  But  should  a  deposit 
be  unusually  large,  as  from  £5,000  lo  10,000,  a  special 
agreement  is  usually  made  with  regard  to  it.  This  part  of 
the  system  has  been  particularly  advantageous.  It,  in 
fact,  renders  the  Scotch  banks  a  sort  of  savings'  banks 
for  all  classes  ;  and  their  readily  receiving  all  sorts  of  de- 
posits at  a  reasonable  rate  of  interest,  has  tended  to  dif- 
fuse a  spirit  of  economy  and  parsimony  among  the  people 
that  would  not  otherwise  have  existed.  The  total  deposits 
in  the  hands  of  the  Scotch  banks  are  believed  at  present 
(1838)  to  exceed  £25,000,000,  of  which  fully  a  half  is  un- 
derstood to  be  in  sums  of  from  .£10  to  200. 

The  Scotch  banks  make  advances  in  the  way  of  dis- 
counts and  loans,  and  on  what  are  called  cash-credits  or 
cash-accounts.  By  the  latter  are  meant  credits  given  by 
the  banks  for  specified  sums  to  individuals,  each  of  whom 
gives  a  bond  for  the  sum  in  his  account,  with  two  or  more 
individuals  as  sureties  for  its  payment.  Persons  having 
such  accounts  draw  upon  them  for  whatever  sums  within 
their  amount  they  have  occasion  for,  repaying  these 
advances  as  they  find  opportunity,  but  generally  within 
short  periods.  Interest  is  charged  only  on  the  average 
balance  which  may  be  found  due  to  the  bank.  The  total 
number  of  these  accounts  in  Scotland  in  1826  was  esti- 
mated at  about  12,000 ;  and  it  may  now,  perhaps,  be  taken 
at  about  14.000.  They  are  believed  to  average  about 
.£500 ;  few  are  for  less  than  100,  and  fewer  still  above 
5,000. 

It  has  been  contended  by  no  less  an  authority  than  Adam 
Smith,  that  this  species  of  accommodation  gives  the 
Scotch  merchants  and  traders  a  double  command  of  capi- 
tal. "  They  may  discount  their  bills  of  exchange,"  says 
he,  "as  easily  as  the  English  merchants,  and  have,  be- 
sides, the  additional  conveniency  of  their  cash  accounts." 
But  this  is  an  obvious  error.  The  circulation  will  take  off 
only  a  certain  quantity  of  paper ;  and  to  whatever  ex- 
tent it  may  be  issued  by  means  of  cash  accounts,  so  much 
the  less  can  be  issued  in  the  way  of  discounts.  The  ad- 
vantage of  a  cash  account  does  not  really  consist  in  its 
enabling  a  banker  to  enlarge  his  advances  to  his  customers, 
but  in  the  extreme  facility  it  affords  of  making  them.  An 
individual  who  has  obtained  such  an  account  may  operate 
upon  it  at  any  time  he  pleases,  and  by  drafts  for  any 
amount;  an  advantage  he  could  not  enjoy  to  any  thing  like 
the  same  extent,  without  an  infinite  deal  of  trouble  and 
expense,  were  the  loans  and  advances  made  to  him  through 
the  discounting  of  bills.  The  Scotch  banks  draw  upon 
London  at  twenty  days'  date.  This  is  denominated  the 
par  of  exchange  between  London  and  Edinburgh. 

Irish  Batiks. — The  Bank  of  Ireland  was  established  in 
1783,  and  the  same  restriction  as  to  the  number  of  partners 
in  other  banks  that  formerly  prevailed  in  England  was 
enacted  in  its  favour.  Owing  to  that  and  other  causes  the 
bankruptcies  of  private  banks  have  been  more  frecpient  in 
Ireland  than  in  England.  In  1821  this  restriction  was  re- 
pealed, as  respects  all  parts  of  the  country  more  than  50 
Irish  miles  from  Dublin.  Since  that  period  several  bank- 
ing companies,  with  large  bodies  of  partners,  have  been 
set  on  foot  in  different  parts  of  the  country  :  of  these  the 
Provincial  Bank,  founded  on  the  Scotch  model,  is  among 
the  most  flourishing.  The  charter  of  the  Bank  of  Ireland 
expired  in  1838  ;  but  it  will  continue  to  go  on  till  it  receive 
notice  to  that  effect.  The  Irish  as  well  as  the  Scotch  banks 
issue  notes  for  £1. 

For  accounts  as  to  Foreign  Banks,  see  the  art.  "  Paper 
Money  and  Banks,"  in  the  new  ed.  of  the  Encyclopedia 
Brittaniciu,  and  the  authorities  there  referred  to.  Also, 
Hardcastle's  Banks  and  Ba?ikers,  8vo.,  London,  1842. 

BANK  FOR  SAVINGS.  A  bank  established  for  the  re- 
ceipt of  small  sums  deposited  by  the  poorer  class  of  per- 
sons, and  for  their  accumulation  at  compound  interest. 

Though  not  so  well  calculated  as  friendly  societies  to 
enable  the  labouring  classes  to  provide  against  sickness 
and  old  age,  savings'  banks  are  very  valuable  institutions, 
and  are  eminently  entitled  to  the'  public  patronage  and 
support.  The  want  of  a  safe  place  of  deposit  for  their 
savings,  where  they  would  yield  them  a  reasonable  in- 
terest, and  whence  they  could  withdraw  them  at  plea- 
sure, has  formed  one  of  the  most  serious  obstacles  to  the 
formation  of  a  habit  of  accumulation  among  labourers. 
Public  banks  do  not  generally  receive  a  less  deposit  than 
£10;  and  there  are  but  very  few  amongst  the  labouring 
classes  who  find  themselves  suddenly  masters  of  so  large 
a  sum ;  while,  to  accumulate  so  much  by  the  weekly  or 
monthly  saving  of  a  few  shillings,  appears  at  first  view 
almost  a  hopeless  task  ;  and  should  an  individual  have 
the  resolution  to  attempt  it,  the  temptation  to  break  in 
upon  his  little  stock  at  every  call  of  necessity  might  be 
too  strong  to  resist.  At  all  events,  the  progressive  ad- 
dition of  interest  is  lost  during  the  period  of  accumulation; 
and  it  even  frequently  happens  that  the  chest  of  the 
servant  or  labourer  is  not  safe  from  the  depredations  of 
12S 


BANKRUPTCY. 

the  dishonest;  while  the  very  feeling  of  insecurity  which 
such  a  circumstance  inspires  must  operate  as  a  fatal 
check  to  habits  of  saving.  A  similar  effect  results  from 
the  instances  that  have  often  occurred,  where  those  poor 
persons  who  had,  in  despite  of  every  discouragement, 
accumulated  a  little  capital,  have  been  tempted,  by  the 
offer  of  a  high  rate  of  interest,  to  lend  it  to  persons  of 
doubtful  characters  and  desperate  fortunes,  whose  bank- 
ruptcy has  involved  them  in  irremediable  ruin.  It  is 
plain,  therefore,  that  nothing  could  be  more  advantageous 
with  a  view  to  the  formation  of  those  improved  habits  that 
must  necessarily  result  from  the  diffusion  of  a  spirit  of 
frugality  and  forethought  among  the  poor,  than  the  institu- 
tion of  savings'  banks,  or  places  of  safe,  convenient,  and 
advantageous  deposit  for  their  smallest  savings.  They  are 
no  longer  tempted,  from  the  want  of  facility  of  invest- 
ment, to  waste  what  little  they  can  save  from  their  expen- 
diture in  frivolous  or  idle  gratifications.  They  now  feel 
assured  that  their  savings,  and  the  interest  accumulated 
upon  them,  will  be  faithfully  preserved  to  meet  their  future 
wants ;  and  as  there  are  very  few  who  are  insensible  of  the 
blessings  of  independence,  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  they  will  be  slow  to  avail  themselves  of  the  means  of 
accumulation  now  in  their  power. 

All  moneys  paid  into  any  savings'  bank  established  ac 
cording  to  the  provisions  of  the  act  9  Geo.  4.  c.  92.,  are 
ordered  to  be  paid  into  the  banks  of  England  and  Ireland, 
and  vested  in  bank  annuities  or  exchequer  bills.  The 
interest  payable  to  depositors  is  not  to  exceed  2%d.  per 
cent,  per  diem.,  or  3/.  8s.  5&d.  per  cent,  per  annum.  No 
depositor  can  contribute  more  than  £30,  exclusive  of  com 
pound  interest,  to  a  savings' bank  in  anyone  year;  and 
the  total  deposits  to  be  received  from  any  one  individual 
are  not  to  exceed  £150;  and  whenever  the  deposits,  and 
compound  interest  accruing  upon  them,  standing  in  the 
name  of  any  one  individual,  shall  amount  to  £i.00,  no 
farther  interest  shall  be  paid  upon  such  deposit.  The 
number  of  depositors  in  savinss'  banks,  in  England.  Wales, 
and  Ireland,  on  the  20th  of  November,  1834,  amounted  to 
499.207,  and  the  deposits  to  £15,369,844,  giving  an  average 
deposit  of  30/.  16s.  to  each.  As  far  as  we  are  aware,  no 
return  of  the  Scotch  savings'  banks  has  been  published. 

BA'NKRUPTCY,  in  Law,  is  a  peculiar  condition,  with 
reference  to  legal  liabilities  and  disabilities,  into  which 
certain  classes  of  persons  only  are  liable  to  fall.  The  word 
is  said  to  be  of  Italian  origin,  and  derived  from  the  cere- 
mony usual  in  some  towns  in  the  middle  ages  of  breaking 
the  bench  or  counter  (bancus)  occupied  in  the  public  ex- 
change by  the  merchant. 

The  statutes  respecting  bankruptcy  begin  at  the  34 
H.  8.,  and  end  with  those  of  the  6  G.  4.  and  1  W.  4.,  in 
which  the  principles  of  the  law  on  this  head  are  now  con- 
tained. 

All  persons  engaged  in  trade,  if  in  other  respects  capable 
of  making  valid  contracts,  are  liable  to  be  made  bank- 
rupts. The  proof  of  trading  is,  buying  and  selling  with  a 
view  to  profit  by  dealing  generally  with  the  public  ;  and  it 
is  a  question  of  fact  for  the  decision  of  a  jury,  whether  a 
party  be  a  trader  or  no.  Acts  of  bankruptcy  are  of  two 
sorts.  1.  Such  as  tend  to  defraud  or  delay  creditors. 
Such  as  departing  from  the  realm  under  suspicious  cir- 
cumstances ;  keeping  house  ;  making  a  fraudulent  con- 
veyance, gift,  or  delivery  of  goods  and  chattels  (in  which 
all  conveyances  without  a  consideration,  or  voluntary  con- 
veyances, are  included,  and  also  conveyances  or  gifts  to 
creditors  with  a  fraudulent  preference).  2.  Such  as  are 
evidence  of  insolvency  :  as,  for  instance,  a  declaration  of 
insolvency  in  the  Gazette,  a  petition  of  insolvency  in  the 
Insolvent  Debtors'  Court,  lying  in  prison  twenty-one  days 
after  being  arrested  for  a  bond  Jide  debt,  or  compounding 
under  certain  circumstances  with  a  petitioning  creditor. 
An  assignment  of  the  whole  of  a  trader's  effects  for  the 
benefit  of  his  creditors  is  also  an  act  of  bankruptcy,  on 
which  a  commission  may  be  supported  either  imme- 
diately, or,  under  certain  circumstances,  within  six  months 
after  such  assignment  has  been  made.  An  act  of  bank- 
ruptcy, concerted  between  a  trader  and  his  creditor  with 
fraudulent  views,  is  a  contempt  of  court,  and  also  an  in- 
dictable offence. 

When  an  act  of  bankruptcy  has  been  committed  by  a 
trader,  a  commission,  or,  as  it  is  now  termed,  ajiat  in  the 
nature  of  a  commission,  may  be  sued  out  (with  certain 
exceptions)  immediately,  by  a  creditor  or  creditors  to  a 
stated  amount :  such  creditor  is  then  termed  a  petitioning 
creditor.  The  bankruptcy  will  then  be  held  to  have  com- 
menced at  the  time  when  the  act  of  bankruptcy  on  which 
the  petition  is  supported  was  committed.  The  striking 
what  is  termed  a  docket  in  the  bankrupt  office  gives  priori- 
ty of  petitioning  to  a  creditor.  The  fiat  when  issued  is 
opened,  and  the  circumstances  necessary  to  constitute  a 
bankruptcy  proved  before  a  commissioner  of  bankrupts. 
There  are  six  commissioners,  nominated  according  to  the 
act  of  the  1st  year  of  W.  4. ;  and  of  these  three  together 
form  a  subdivision  court  for  the  purpose  of  acting  in  con 


BANKSIA. 

cert  on  questions  of  difficulty.  The  assignees  of  the  estate 
and  effects  of  the  bankrupt  are  then  chosen  by  the  credi- 
tor.-' among  themselves  ;  and  to  these,  in  conjunction  with 
an  official  assignee  appointed  by  the  court,  the  whole  pro- 
perty  of  the  bankrupt  is  assigned  by  adjudication.  From 
the  decision  of  a  commissioner  or  subdivision  court  there 
is  an  appeal  to  the  court  of  review  in  bankruptcy,  instituted 
by  the  same  art ;  and  from  thence  to  the  lord  chancellor, 
and  finally  to  the  House  of  Lords.  The  jurisdiction  in 
bankruptcy  is  both  legal  and  equitable. 

By  the  assignment^  the  whole  property,  real  and  per- 
sonal, of  the  bankrupt,  is  vested  in  the  assignees  from  the 
period  of  the  act  of  bankruptcy,  to  the  avoidance  of  all 
the  bankrupt's  subsequent  transactions,  except  such  as 
liave  been  performed  bona  fide  with  parties  having  no 
notice  of  such  act ;  the  notice  being  understood  according 
to  ordinary  rules  in  equity.  Besides  the  bankrupt's  own 
properly,  such  property  of  third  parties  as  shall  have  been 
in  his  use  and  disposition,  or  reputed  ownership,  by  per- 
mission of  the  true  owner,  passes  to  Ids  assignees.  Die 
bankrupt's  right  of  action  of  contract,  andoftort  to  pro- 

Serty,  but  not  personal  torts,  pass  likewise  to  his  assi. 
utaci  him,  except  for  the  recovery  of  specific 

real  property,  do  not  lie  against  the  assignees,  the  amount 
claimed  being  proveable  as  a  debt  under  the  commission  ; 
unless  in  some  c.is.-s.  where  the  right  of  action  lias  ac- 
crued  subsequently  to  the  appointment  of  the  assignees. 
The  debts  which  maybe  proved  by  en 
bankrupt's  estate  are  either  certain  or  uncertain  in  their 
amount :  the  first  class,  including  such  as  are  either  specific 
sums  of  money  lent  or  due,  or  such  as  are  originally  un- 
certain, but  capable  of  being  liquidated  or  reduced  to  a 

certain  amount ;  the  sec i.  such  as  can  only  be  estim  ited 

on  general  principles  of  equity.     It  is  the  business  of  the 
-  i  the  estate  '>r  the  bankrupt,  as  ascer- 
nation  upon  oath  and  by  inspection  of 
his  bonks;  but  mon  tnt  of  the  bankrupt's  i 

are  received  by  the  official  assignee  alone,  and  paid  by  him 
into  the  It  ink  of  England  in  the  name  of  the  accountant- 
general  of  the  Court  ol  I 

N  I  oner  than  four  months,  nor  later  than  twelve  after 
the  issuing  of  the  fiat  fun  court  of  re- 

view), a  public  meeting  of  creditors  is  appointed  for  the 
purpo  t  the  first  dividend  of  the  nel  estate  after 

certain  necessary  liabilities  have  been  provided  for  out  of 

it.    A  second  dividend,  If  i ssary,  Is  made  within 

teen  months  of  the  issuing  of  the  nal :  after  which  a  third 
or  more  may  follow,  according  to  circumstances.  A  bank- 
rupt refusing  to  surrend  i  i  fall  dis- 
covery respecting  it.  is  liable  to  transportation  for  life. 

While  the  pro dings  are  going  on,  he  is  entitled  to  m  tin- 

tenance  out  of  his  estate.  The  certificate  "f  conformity 
is  a  testimony  given  to  the  bankrupt  of  his  having, 
his  bankruptcy,  complied  with  the  requisitions  of  the  law: 
it  cannot, however,  be  obtained  without  the  consent  of  a 
certain  proportion  of  the  creditors;  and  it  is  open  for  any 
creditor  certain  of  misconduct  on  the  part  of  the  bank- 
rupt, subsequent  or  even  previous  to  the  bankruptcy,  to 
ie  the  granting  of  this  certificate.  The  effect  of  the 
certificate,  besides  entitling  the  bankrupt  to  an  allowance, 
wlore  a  dividend  of  10s.  in  the  pound  or  upwards  has 
paid  to  the  creditors  (being  a  per-centage  on  his  estate, 

limited,  a irding  to  circumstances,  so  as  not  to  exceeuj  in 

any  case  £600  per  annum),  is  to  discharge  his  person  and 
future  estate  from  all  claims  and  debts  which  might  have 
been  proved  under  the  bankruptcy.  But  in  case  of  a 
second  bankruptcy,  or  a  bankruptcy  after  discharge  under 
the  Insolvent  Act  or  composition  with  creditors,  unless 
15s.  in  the  pound  has  been  paid,  the  effect  of  the  certificate 
is  only  to  discharge  the  person 

BA'NKSIA.  (In  honour  of  Sir  Joseph  Banks,  Bart., 
the  great  patron  of  natural  history,  and  one  of  the  com- 
panions of  Captain  Cook  in  his  second  voyage.)  A  genus 
of  Proteaceous  plants  forming  a  conspicuous  feature  in  the 
landscape  of  Australia,  where  the  species  are  called  by  the 
colonists  wild  honeysuckle,  and  reckoned  a  sign  of  bad 
land.  They  have  flowers  and  fruit  growing  in  close  hard 
downy  or  woolly  cones,  and  hard  broad  leaves  on  branches 
so  close  and  rigid  that  the  traveller,  it  is  said,  may  literally 
walk  without  inconvenience  upon  the  top  of  a  wood  form- 
ed of  these  trees. 

BA'M.IEUE.  (Fr.)  The  territory  without  the  walls, 
but  comprised  within  the  legal  limits  of  a  city  or  town. 
The  word  is  evidently  derived  from  Ban  (bannus,  <fcc),  but 
the  immediate  origin  is  unknown. 

BAXN.  A  proclamation  commanding  or  forbidding 
any  thing.  Hence  the  public  notices  of  marriage  given  in 
church,  derived  from  the  civil  law,  are  called  Banns  of 
Marriage.  According  to  the  law  of  England,  the  banns 
must  be  published  three  successive  Sundays ;  and  if  the 
marriage  be  not  performed  within  three  months  from  the 
last  publication,  the  same  process  must  be  repeated. 
Bishops  have  the  power  of  appointing  surrogates,  who  may 
grant  a  faculty  or  licence  to  parties  applying  to  be  mar- 
129 


BAPHOMET. 

ried  without  banns.  But  this  licence  may  only  be  given 
under  certain  conditions,  and  upon  good  caution  and  se- 
curity taken,  such  as  to  supersede  the  necessity  of  public 
proclamation. 

BA'NNER.  (Swed.  baner;  Fr.  banniere.)  A  flag  or 
standard  under  which  men  are  united  or  bound  for  some 
common  purpose.  This  word,  found  in  all  the  modern 
languages  of  Western  Europe,  is  of  very  doubtful  origin ; 
it  is  a  word  of  which  our  ancient  English  authors  were 
lingly  fond,  and  to  which  they  invariably  attach  the 
same  m<  ring  (Chaucer,  the  Knight's  T4ile,v,  978;  i8Sr 
Thomas  to  -  II  r£s,  207;  Drayton,  Battle  of  AgincourL; 
to  Sir  II  MacJcteorth,  &c.)  Among  the  ancient 
Germans,  the  honour  of  bearing  a  banner  was  conferred 
by  the  emperor  on  that  individual  who  could  bring  ten 
vassals  into  the  field.  In  later  times,  petty  princes  assum- 
ed this  privilege  ;  and  in  the  year  1424  Pope  Eugene  IV. 
created  Count  Sforza  banneret  (bannerherni)  of  the  Ro- 
man empire.  In  the  free  towns  on  the  Continent,  the 
banner  was  always  carried  by  the  chief  magistrate  ex  offi- 
cio, in  cases  of  solemnities  or  of  grand  processions,  In 
i  ;  i.  a  kuiL'ht  banneret  was  created  by  the  ceremony 

of  cutting  off  the  four  corners  of  his  standard  and  making 
it  square.  Some  antiquarians  trace  the  origin  of  this  cus- 
tom to  Conan,  the  lieutenant  of  Maximus,  who  governed 
Britain  in  the  year.  383  (Gwillim  B       >nn); 

while  Others  maintain  it  took  its  rise  from  the  Black  Prince 
on  the  field  of  Cressy.  A  wonderful  similarity  seems  to 
exist  between  the  duties  and  privileges  of  the  old  knights 
bannerets  of  England  and  those  of  the  priminili  (the  stan- 
dard bearers)  among  the  Romans.  (Toe.  fiittor.  iii.  22.) 
Several  banners  are  famous  in  history  :  such  as  the  Danish 
banner,  taken  from  the  Danes  by  Alfred  the  Great;  and 
the  oriflamme  of  the  French,  which,  after  passing  through 
various  hands,  became  eventually  the  great  standard  of 
Prance.    (Lanzelot,  Memm  1  lions.') 

B.vNNKH.  The  ordnance  flag,  fixed  on  the  forepart  of 
the  drum-major's  kettle-drum  carriage,  formerly  used  by 
the  royal  artillery.  At  present,  when  such  a  ll  ig  is  carried 
it  is  affixed  to  the  carriage  of  the  right  hand  gun  of  the 
park — generally  a  twelve  pounder. 

In  the  hors [uipage  the  hum. it  of  the  drums  and 

trumpets  must  be  or  the  colour  of  the  facings  of  the  re- 
giment :  it  heirs  the  royal  cypher  and  crown, and  the  rank 
of  the  regiment. 

BA'NNERET.  A  knight  who  in  the  feudal  times  pos- 
sessed a  certain  amount  of  fiefs,  and  had  the  right  of  car 
rying  a  "banner."  This  honour  was  also  very  generally 
adopted  among  European  nations,  and  was  awarded  on 
the  field  oi  bal  had  there  distinguished  them- 

selves.     Knights  bannerets  were  considered,  in  England, 
next  to  barons  in  precedence.    The  dignity  has  not  been 
conferred  for  a  long  period.    The  banner  of  a  banneret 
was  oblong,  thai   of  a  baron   square.     When  a  knight 
i   was  made  banneret  on  the  field  of  battle,  the 
uy  was  performed  by  cutting  off  the  ends  or  tails 
pennon,  and  thus  converting  it  into  a  banner.    See 
Knight. 

BA'NYAN.  A  kind  of  Indian  fig,  the  Ficvs  indicaof 
I  is,  forming  a  very  large  tree,  which  sends  down 

roots  from  its  branches,  and  those  roots  striking  into  the 
ground  themselves  become  trunks,  which  serve  as  props 
to  the  extending  branches ;  and  as  the  tree  is  very  long- 
lived,  the  quantity  of  ground  an  individual  will  thus  cover 
is  incredible.  Dr.  Roxburgh  says,  he  has  seen  the  tree 
100  feet  high,  and  full  500  yards  in  circumference  round 
the  extremities  of  the  branches.  It  is  found  wild  in  the 
skirts  of  the  Circar  mountains  ;  its  leaves  are  used  by  the 
Brahmins  as  plates  to  eat  off;  a  species  of  birdlime  is 
obtained  from  its  juice,  and  the  fruit  is  eaten  by  birds. 

BAOBAB.  The  African  name  of  Adansonia  digitata^ 
a  tree  inhabiting  the  western  side  of  Africa,  and  cultivated 
in  Egypt  and  Abyssinia.  It  increases  more  in  proportion 
in  diameter  than  in  height;  so  that  it  may  be  seen  with  a 
trunk  10  yards  in  thickness  and  only  73  feet  high,  its  ap- 
pearance being  lumpish  and  inelegant.  It  is  supposed 
that  the  most  remarkable  cases  of  longevity  in  the  vege- 
table kingdom  are  afforded  by  this  tree.  Adanson  is 
quoted  by  De  Candolle  as  asserting  that  he  saw  individuals 
which  must  have  been  6000  years  old;  and  other  travel- 
lers declare  that  however  ancient  the  individuals  may  be, 
the  bark  is  always  green  and  shining,  and  so  full  of  life 
that  an  abundant  discharge  takes  place  at  the  least  wound.  . 

It  is  probable  that  the  data  upon  which  these  calculations 
are  made  will  not  bear  strict  investigation  ;  nevertheless, 
there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  of  the  Baobab  trees  ar- 
riving at  a  most  unusual  age.  The  leaves  are  employed  in 
powder  as  an  ingredient  in  African  cookery  ;  and  the  fruit 
has  a  subacid  juice,  which  makes  it  valuable  in  fevers. 

BA'PHOMET.  The  imaginary  idol,  or  rather  symbol, 
which  the  Templars  were  accused  of  employing  in  their 
mysterious  rites.  (See  Templars.)  The  distinguished 
orientalist  Hammer  has  published  a  dissertation  on  this 
subject,  in  which  he  endeavours  to  revive  the  ancient  ac» 
R 


BALSAM  OP  SULPHUR. 

cusations  against  that  military  order.  These  images,  which 
he  calls  Baphomet,  are  to  be  found  in  some  of  the  muse- 
ums of  continental  cities ;  they  are  small  human  figures 
with  two  heads,  and  covered  with  emblems,  to  which 
Hammer  attaches  a  very  horrible  signification.  He  de- 
rives the  name  (very  improbably)  from  the  Greek  words 
0a<pri,  dipping  or  baptism,  and  /xx/rij,  counsel  or  wisdom  : 
as  if  they  represented  the  admission  of  the  initiated  to  the 
secret  mysteries  of  the  sect.  It  is  proper  to  observe,  that 
other  writers  have  treated  all  this  discovery  as  a  mere  fan- 
cy of  the  learned  orientalist,  and  maintain  that  the  figures 
which  he  terms  Baphomets  are  in  reality  relics  of  the  art 
magic  :  while  the  word  itself  is  supposed  to  be  a  corrup- 
tion (arising  from  the  negligence  of  some  transcriber)  of 
the  name  Mahomet,  occurring  in  the  depositions  of  wit- 
nesses against  those  unfortunate  knights. 

BA'PTISM.  (Gr.  fianroj,  I  dip.)  The  rite  of  initiation 
into  the  community  of  Christians,  ordained  by  Christ  him- 
self, when  he  commissioned  his  apostles  to  go  and  baptize 
all  nations  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

It  is  recorded  by  the  Evangelists,  that  our  Saviour  him- 
self received  baptism  from  John  ;  and  the  ceremony  which 
the  Baptist  performed  is  allowed  generally  to  have  been 
an  imitation  of  a  rite  in  common  practice  among  the  Jews, 
who  appear  to  have  admitted  proselytes  by  circumcision 
and  baptism.  Lustration,  however,  by  water,  as  an  initi- 
atory rite,  is  of  great  antiquity  and  general  practice,  especi- 
ally in  the  East;  and  Christian  baptism  maybe  considered 
as  an  adaptation  of  a  form  which  was  generally  understood 
to  have  a  symbolical  meaning.  Accordingly,  it  has  been 
recognised  by  all  Christian  communities  as  a  sacrament, 
although  they  have  differed  in  their  explanation  of  its  na- 
ture and  meaning.  It  is  upon  this  point  that  the  question 
of  the  validity  of  infant  baptism  principally  depends  ;  the 
words  of  Scripture  in  that  particular  not  being  allowed  on 
all  hands  to  be  decisive,  nor  even  the  practice  of  the  early 
church  universally  admitted.  Those,  therefore,  who  con- 
sider baptism  to  be  a  symbol  of  a  covenant  thereupon  en- 
tered into  between  God  and  the  person  baptized,  require 
the  understanding  of  the  person  to  accompany  the  act,  and 
reject  the  notion  of  sponsors  undertaking  to  promise  on  the 
part  of  infants  :  the  more  common  notion,  however,  con- 
ceives this  sacrament  to  have  in  itself  a  regenerative  virtue, 
by  which  an  infant  may  be  received  into  participation  in  the. 
promises  made  to  the  church,  and  be  really  and  truly  from 
that  time  forth  put  into  the  way  of  salvation. 

Baptism  was  originally  administered  by  immersion, 
which  act  is  thought  by  some  to  be  necessary  to  the  sacra- 
ment. It  is  not  clear,  however,  even  in  the  Scripture  his- 
tory, and  this  ceremony  was  always  adhered  to.  At  pre- 
sent sprinkling  is  generally  substituted  for  dipping,  at  least 
in  northern  climates.  See  Wall's  Hist,  on  Infant  Baptism,  &c. 
BA'PTISTERY.  (Gr.  (tairrigw,  I  baptize.)  In  Archi- 
tecture, a  building  destined  for  the  purpose  of  administer- 
ing the  rite  of  baptism.  Some  authors  have  contended  that 
the  baptistery  was  anciently  placed  in  the  interior  vesti- 
bules of  the  early  churches,  as  are  in  our  days  baptismal 
fonts.  But  this  is  not  so  :  the  baptistery  was  entirely  sepa- 
rated from  the  basilica,  and  even  placed  at  some  distance 
from  it.  Up  to  the  end  of  the  sixth  century,  after  which 
period  the  interior  vestibule  of  the  church  received  it,  the 
baptistery  was  distinct  from  the  church  ;  and  excepting  in 
a  few  churches,  such  as  that  at  Florence,  and  those  of  all 
the  episcopal  cities  of  Tuscany,  Ravenna,  and  San  Giovan- 
ni Laterano,  and  perhaps  of  a  few  other  places,  the  prac- 
tice was  general.  The  last  mentioned  is  perhaps  the  most 
ancient  remaining.  One  at  Constantinople  was  so  large 
that,  on  one  occasion  it  held  a  very  numerous  council. 
The  baptistery  of  Florence  is  nearly  90  feet  in  diameter, 
octagonal,  and  covered  with  a  dome.  The  celebrated 
bronze  gates  by  Lorenzo  Ghiberi,  which  Buonarroti  said 
were  fit  to  be  the  gates  of  Paradise,  enclose  it.  The  bap- 
tistery at  Pisa,  designed  by  Diotisalvi,  was  finished  about 
1160.  It  is  octagonal,  about  129  feet  in  diameter,  and  179 
feet  high.  We  are  not  aware  of  any  building  of  this  sort 
having  been  erected  in  England. 

BA'PTISTS.  A  denomination  of  Christians,  who  deny 
the  validity  of  infant  baptism,  and  maintain  the  necessity 
of  immersion.  These  were  also  the  principal  tenets  of  the 
Anabaptists,  or  Rebaptizers,  with  whom,  however,  the 
modern  Baptists  ought  not  to  be  confounded.  They  are 
subdivided  into  two  classes,  the  Particular  (Calvinist)  and 
the  General  (Arminian)  Baptists.  The  mode  of  church 
government  is  similar  with  both,  acknowledging  three  or- 
ders of  ministers ;  of  whom  the  messengers  correspond  to 
bishops,  the  elders  to  priests,  and  ministering  brethren  to 
deacons.  Their  churches  are  congregational,  and  in  re- 
spect to  the  election  of  their  own  ministers  independent. 
Each  denomination  has,  however,  its  general  assembly, 
possessing  some  kind  of  authority  over  the  whole  commu- 
nity. The  Baptists  are  numerous  in  Holland,  where  they 
are  known  by  the  title  of  Mennonites ;  and  in  England  they 
form  one  of  the  principal  Dissenting  bodies. 
130 


BARBER. 

BAR.  A  shoal  often  found  lying  across  the  mouth  of 
rivers,  and  also  of  harbours ;  thence  called  bar  harbours. 
As  the  sea  breaks  on  these  places,  in  bad  weather  the  pas- 
sage of  a  bar  is  generally  dangerous.   See  Brooks  on  Rivers. 

Bar,  Confederation  op.  In  Politics,  was  an  associa- 
tion of  a  few  influential  Polish  nobles,  formed  at  Bar,  a 
small  town  of  Podolia,  in  the  year  1767,  for  the  purpose  of 
freeing  their  country  from  foreign  influence.  Their  ef- 
forts, however,  were  eminently  unsuccessful :  the  small 
bands  of  the  patriots  were  annihilated  one  by  one,  and 
their  defeat  gave  rise  to  an  event  almost  unprecedented  in 
history,— the  partition  of  Poland  by  the  three  neighbouring 
powers. 

Bar.  The  bar  or  place  in  the  courts  of  law  where  bar- 
risters or  advocates  plead  :  also  where  prisoners  accused 
of  felony  are  stationed  for  arraignment  and  trial. 

Bar.  In  Heraldry,  a  kind  of  ordinary,  resembling  the 
fess,  but  containing  only  the  fifth  part  of  the  field.  Where 
two  bars  are  borne  in  an  escutcheon,  they  are  so  arranged 
that  the  whole  field  appears  divided  into  five  parts.  A 
field  divided  by  horizontal  lines  into  four,  six,  eight,  ten,  or 
twelve  equal  parts,  with  alternate  tinctures,  is  termed  har- 
ry of  four,  six,  eight,  <fcc. 

Bar.  (Sax.  beosgan,  to  bar.)  In  Music,  a  line  drawn 
vertically  across  the  lines  of  the  staff,  including  a  certain 
quantity  or  measure  of  time,  varying  as  the  music  is  either 
triple  or  common. 

Bar,  Eloquence  of  the.     See  Eloquence. 

BA'RBA.  (Lat.  barba,  a  beard.)  In  Mammalogy,  sig- 
nifies the  long  tuft  of  hair  dependent  from  the  under  jaw. 
In  Ornithology,  the  same  term  is  applied  to  the  setiformor 
simple  feathers,  which  in  some  species  of  birds  depend 
from  the  skin  covering  the  gullet  or  crop.  In  Ichthyology, 
a  kind  of  spine,  with  the  teeth  pointing  backwards. 

Barba.  A  beard  ;  a  term  used  in  Botany  to  denote  any 
collection  of  long  loose  hairs  into  a  tuft  or  crest,  as  on  the 
petals  of  the  iris. 

BARBA'DOES  LEG.  A  disease  indigenous  to  Barba- 
does,  in  which  the  limb  becomes  tumid,  hard,  and  mis- 
shapen. 

BA'RBARISM.  (Gr.)  In  Rhetoric,  an  offence  against 
purity  of  style  or  language,  which  consists  in  employing 
uncouth  or  antiquated  expressions,  or  in  assigning  to  terms 
a  different  signification  from  that  which  usage  has  con- 
ferred on  them. 

BA'RBASTELLE.  A  small  indigenous  bat;  Plecotaa 
barbasteUus,  Lisson. 

BA'RBEL.  An  indigenous  fresh- water  fish  (Cyprinus 
barbus,  Linn.)  which  takes  its  name  from  the  processes 
termed  Barbels. 

BA'RBELLATE.  (Lat.  barba.)  When  the  pappus  of 
composite  plants  is  bearded  by  short,  stiff,  straight  bristles, 
as  in  Centaurea.  Barbellulate  is  used  when  the  rough- 
ness of  the  pappus  is  caused  by  extremely  short  points,  as 
in  Aster. 

BA'RBELS.  Small  cylindrical  vermiform  processes 
appended  to  the  mouth  of  certain  fishes,  and  subservient 
to  the  sense  of  touch. 

BA'RBER.  (Lat.  barba.)  A  person  who  makes  a  trade 
of  shaving  and  dressing  the  hair  of  other  people  formoney. 
It  would  seem  that  it  is  only  where  a  state  has  made  con- 
siderable progress  in  civilisation  that  this  art  begins  to 
flourish.  If  we  believe  Varro,  for  instance  (Plin.  7.  56.),  it 
was  not  until  the  454th  year  of  the  city  that  Ticinius  Mena 
first  imported  barbers  into  Rome  from  Sicily.  Their  shops 
(Tonstrinee)  soon  became  the  resort  of  fashionable  loun- 
gers and  idlers ;  and  Horace,  to  indicate  the  extreme  noto- 
riety of  a  story,  says  that  it  was  "  omnibus  et  lippis  notum 
et  tonsoribus."  Even  the  poorest  citizens,  according  to 
the  same  author,  sought  refuge  from  their  ennui  in  making 
a  round  of  the  barbers'  shops  : — 


That  the  Romans  paid  great  attention  to  this  department 
of  the  toilet,  is  obvious  from  the  ridicule  that  was  excited 
against  any  citizen  whose  hair  bore  marks  of  being  cut 
"inaequali  tonsore"  (by  a  bungling  barber). 

But  besides  shaving  the  beard,  to  the  barbers  of  the  Ro- 
mans was  assigned  the  delicate  task  of  trimming  the  nails. 
Hence  Plautus,  Aulul.  ii.  4.  33.- — "  Quin  ipsi  pridem  tonsor 
ungues  dempserat ;"  and  Tibullus,  1.  9.  11.  : — 

Quid  ungues 
Artificis  docta  subsecuisse  manu. 

As  early  as  the  time  of  HippocratPS,  some  surgical  ope- 
rations were  considered  as  degrading  to  physicians,  and 
consequently  fell  to  be  performed  by  barbers.  In  France 
the  council  of  Tours,  in  the  year  1163,  prohibited  the  cler- 
gy, who  then  shared  with  the  Jews  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine in  Christian  Europe,  from  performing  any  bloody  ope- 
ration ;  and  from  that  time  the  barbers  remained  for  some 
centuries  in  uninterrupted  possession  of  the  practice  of 
surgery.  In  England  also,  early  in  the  16th  century,  the 
barbers  were  incorporated  with  the  surgeons  of  London 


BARBERRY. 

(32  Hen.  8.  c.  42.);  but  at  the  commencement  of  last  cen- 
tury, when  a  new  impulse  was  given  to  the  science  of  sur- 
gery by  the  attainments  and  ability  of  many  practitioners 
throughout  Europe,  the  barbers  were  degraded  from  their 
honourable  association  with  surgeons.  (IS  Geo.  2.  c.  15.) 
In  Holland  and  Germany  to  this  day  the  barbers  are  wont 
to  wield  1 1]  r-  lancet  and 'the  razor  alternately.  Nowhere, 
however,  in  these  countries  is  the  business  of  haircutling 
carried  on  by  the  barbers,  but  by  a  distinct  and  superior 
class,  the  friseurs.  The  barber's  pole  has  given  rise  to 
many  speculations  and  ingenious  absurdities.  The  fact  is. 
that  the  pole  was  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  a  few 
only,  being  a  mark  of  superior  skill,  and  indicated  on  the 
part  of  him  who  possessed  it  surgical  as  well  as  tonsorial 
ability.  (For  some  curious  remarks  on  the  barbers  of 
Edinburgh,  vide  Creech's  Statistical  Account  of  Edin- 
burgh) 

BA'RBERRY.     See  Berberry. 

BA'RBIG'AN.  A  watch  tower  for  the  purpose  of  descry- 
ing the  enemy  :  also  the  outer  work  or  defence  of  a  castle, 
or  the  fort  at  the  entrance  of  a  bridge.  Apertures  in  the 
walls  ota  fortress  for  firing  through  upon  the  enemy  are 
also  called  barbicans.  Authors  have  ascribed  to  this  word 
a  French,  Italian,  Spanish,  Saxon, and  Arabic  origin. 

BA'RBITON.  An  ancient  musical  instrument,  some- 
what resembling  the  lyre. 

BAR'IUTLA.  (Lat.  barba,  a  beard.)  A  finely  divided 
beard-like  apex  to  the  peristome  of  some  mosses,  as  in  the 
genu-;  Tortula. 

BA'RCAROLLE.  A  song  sung  by  the  Venetian  gondo- 
liera      \  boal  song  (from  t tie  Italian  barcarola). 

BARDS.  The  ancienl  po els  of  the  Celtic  tribes  are  so 
termed  by  the  Roman  writers.  The  etymology  of  the 
word  is  uncertain.  According  to  the  ancients,  they  appear  j 
to  have  been  the  priests  as  well  as  the  instructors  of  these 
tribes,  and  regarded  with  peculiar  veneration.  Lucan  ex- 
pressly  mentions  the  doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the 

soul  a •  characteristic  tenets.    After  the 

[action  of  Christianity  the  importance  of  the  bards  In 
society  diminished  ;  but  in  Wales,  Ireland,  and  other  Cel- 
tic districts,  they  continued  to  be  beld  in  much  honour. 
Tin  most  ancient  compositions  of  Welsh  hards  which  we 
pos  )  (those  of  Taliessin,  Aneurin,  and  Lywarch)are 
supposed  to  be  of  the  sixth  century. 

B  IRE  POLES.  The  masts  without  any  sails  upon  them, 
the  Bhip  being  al  sea.  Under  ban'  poles,  In  general,  implies 
that  the  wind  La  bo  high  thai  no  Bail  can  be  exposed  to  it. 

BA'RGAIN,     See  Contract. 

BARGE.  (Gt.  P&pic,  a  kind  of  ship.)  A  general  name 
given  to  flat-bottomed  craft  ofa  certain  size  employed  on 
rivers  and  canals.  Also  one  of  the  larger  boats  of  a  man 
of  war,  between  30  and  40  feet  long      Ba  i  gene- 

ral term  for  boats  of  state  or  pleasure. 

BARGE  BOARDS  (Sax  wyrgan,  to  bar.)  In  Archi- 
tecture, the  inclined  projecting  I  I  at  the  gable 
of  a  building,  which  hide  the  ends  of  the  horizontal  timbers 
ofarnni,  and  are  frequently  carved  with  trefoils,  quatre- 
foiis.  flowers,  and  other  ornaments. 

BARGE  COURSE.  In  Architecture,  that  part  of  the 
tiling  of  a  roof  which  projects  beyond  the  external  face  of 
the  gable  of  a  building. 

BARI'LLA.  The  name  given  in  commerce  to  the  im- 
pure carbonate  of  soda,  imported  from  Spain  and  the  Le- 
vant. It  is  made  by  burning  certain  plants  thai  grow  upon 
the  sea-shore,  especially  the  salsola  soda,  to  ashes,  which 
are  fused  into  grey  porous  masses.  (For  an  account  of 
the  places  where  it  is  produced,  the  quantities  shipped 
from  them,  and  the  uses  to  which  it  is  applied,  see  M'Cul- 
loch's  Commercial  Dictionary.') 

UA'UITONE.  (Gr.  ffapvs,  heavy,  and  rovos.  a  tone.) 
In  Music,  a  high  bass,  which,  in  the  ancient  church  music, 
is  written  with  the  F  clef  on  the  third  line  of  the  staff.  By 
the  French  it  is  called  basse-taille. 

BA'RIUM.  The  metallic  base  of  baryta ;  it  is  of  a  grey 
colour,  more  than  twice  as  heavy  as  water,  and  is  instantly 
oxidized  by  air  and  by  water. 

BARK.  (Ger.  bergen,  to  corer.)  The  exterior  covering 
of  the  trunk  of  a  tree.  It  is  composed  of  cellular  tissue, 
traversed  by  woody  tissue  passing  down  it  longitudinally, 
and  connected  with  the  medullary  processes  of  the  wood. 
It  is  increased  in  frees  by  annual  layers  formed  on  its  in- 
ner face,  and  gradually  perishes  on  the  outside  as  it  is  dis- 
tended by  the  growth  of  the  interior.  It  seldom,  however, 
shows  any  very  distinct  trace  of  concentric  circles,  be- 
cause the  latter  are  continually  displaced  and  disturbed  by 
its  distention.  Its  inner  face  is  named  liber.  At  the  com- 
mencement of  the  annual  growth  of  a  tree,  it  separates 
spontaneously  from  the  wood,  in  order  to  make  room  for 
the  new  matter  forming  beneath  it.  It  is  the  depositary 
of  many  of  the  secretions  of  plants,  and  seems  to  act  as  a 
living  filler  of  a  curious  kind,  separating  certain  secretions 
from  others,  and  allowing  a  part  only  to  pass  off  horizon- 
tally in  the  medullary  processes  on  their  way  to  the  centre 
of  the  tree.  Its  use  is  to  act  as  a  protector  to  the  wood, 
131 


BAROMETER. 

and  as  the  channel  of  the  sap  in  its  descent  from  the 
leaves.  Its  fibre  is  often  tenacious,  and  manufactured  into 
linen  or  cordage.  True  bark  only  exists  in  Exogens  and 
Gymnosperms ;  in  Endogens  its  place  is  supplied  by  a 
cortical  integument,  which  cannot  be  separated  from  the 
subjacent  wood  without  violence. 

Bark,  Peruvian.     See  Cinchona. 

Bark.  Originally  a  general  term  for  a  vessel,  is  now 
restricted  to  a  particular  form  of  rig ;  namely,  that  of  a 
ship,  but  having  a  gaff  topsail  instead  of  the  square  mizen 
topsail. 

Bark,  Use  of  in  Tanning.     See  Tanning. 

BA'RKING  IRONS.  Instruments  for  removing  the 
bark  of  oak  and  other  trees  which  is  used  for  tanning. 
They  consist  of  a  blade  or  knife  for  cutting  the  bark, 
while  yet  on  the  trunk,  across  at  regular  distances,  and 
of  chisels  or  spatula?,  of  different  lengths  and  breadths,  for 
separating  the  bark  from  the  wood. 

BARK  STOVE.  A  glazed  structure  for  tropical  plants, 
in  which  there  is  a  bed  of  tanner's  bark,  or  of  some  other 
fermentable  material,  which  will  produce  a  moist  heat. 

BA'RLEY.  (Hordeum,  L. ;  Triandria  monogynia,  L.  ; 
Graminese,  Juss. :  characterised  by  an  imbricated  spiked 
inflorescence,  consisting  of  one-flowered  spikelets  in  twos 
or  threes.)  A  bread  corn  of  considerable  importance.  Its 
native  country  is  unknown,  some  ascribing  it  to  Tartary, 
others  to  Siberia,  and  a  few  to  Scotland.  In  Spain  and 
Sicily  it  produces  two  crops  in  the  year;  but  in  countries 
as  fir  north  as  Britain  it  produces  only  one,  and  is  rather 
a  delicate  species  of  grain.  In  England  it  is  second  in  im- 
portance to  wheat.  It  is  a  most  valuable  crop  in  the  rota- 
tion best  adapted  to  light  or  turnip  soils,  which,  from  that 
circumstance,  are  sometimes  called  barley  lands.  Where 
us  culture  is  best  understood,  as  in  Norfolk,  it  is  generally 
preceded  by  turnips  or  other  green  crop.  There  are  two 
leading  species  of  this  grain  in  cultivation, — the  Hordeum 
m,  two  rowed  or  common  barley  ;  and  the  Hordeum 
hexastirliun,  or  six  rowed  barley.  One  of  the  best  known 
varieties  of  the  latter,  and  the  only  one  in  common  cultiva- 
tion in  Scotland,  is  called  bear  or  bigg.  It  is  not  now  very 
extensively  used  as  a  bread  corn;  but  it  is  used  very  ex- 
tensively in  malting,  and  in  the  fatting  of  black  cattle,  hogs, 
and  poultry.  The  crops  differ  widely,  according  to  the 
land  and  the  season,  varying  from  28  to  6-1  bushels  an 
acre;  but  the  most  usual  crop  is  from  28 to 40  bushels. 
The  common  weight  of  barley  is  50  or  51  lbs.  per  Win- 
i  bushel;  but  the  best  Norfolk  barley  weighs  53  or 
51  lbs.    The  price  of  barley  in  1837  was  30s.  Ad.  a  quarter. 

B\'K\  \(   l.l'.S.      Set   ClRBIPEDS. 

BARO'METER  (Gr  0apos,  uh  ight,  and  pcrpov,  mea- 
sure.)   A  well-known  instrument  for  measuring  the  weight 

or  pressure  of  the  atmosphere.  The  invention  of  the  ba- 
rometer was  in  some  decree  owing  to  an  accident.  Some 
workmen  employed  by  the  Duke  of  Florence  to  prepare  a 
sucking-pump  for  a  deep  well,  found  to  their  surprise  that 
notwithstanding  their  utmost  care  In  forming  and  fitting 
.  es  and  piston,  the  water  would  not  rise  higher  than 
18  palms,  or  about  32  English  feet.  For  an  explanation  of 
this  unexpected  difficulty  they  applied  to  the  illustrious 
Galileo,  then  passing  the  evening  of  his  life  at  his  villa  near 
Arretri ;  but  the  philosopher  was  not  yet  prepared  with 
the  true  answer.  In  that  age  the  doctrine  of  a.  plenum  was 
an  axiom  in  philosophy;  and  the  ascent  of  water  in  the 
barrel  of  the  pump  was  universally  ascribed  to  nature's 
horror  of  a  vacuum,  tialileo,  either  fearing  to  encounter 
further  persecutions  by  propounding  opinions  at  variance 
with  the  prejudices  of  the  times,  or  preoccupied  by  ihe 
prevailing  metaphorical  modes  of  expression,  evaded  the 
difficulty  by  saying  that  the  power  of  nature  to  overcome 
a  vacuum  was  limited,  and  did  not  exceed  the  pressure  of 
a  column  of  water  32  feet  in  height.  That  he  was  himself 
little  satisfied  with  this  explanation,  is  evident  from  the 
circumstance  that  previously  to  his  death,  which  happened 
soon  after,  in  1642,  he  earnestly  recommended  to  his  pupil 
Torricelli  to  undertake  the  investigation  of  the  subject, 
which  the  infirmities  of  advanced  age  no  longer  permitted 
him  to  prosecute.  Torricelli,  suspecting  the  true  cause  of 
the  suspension  of  the  water,  namely,  the  weight  of  the  at- 
mosphere, happily  conceived  the  idea  of  trying  the  expe- 
riment with  mercury.  He  perceived  that  if  the  weight  of 
the  atmosphere  forms  a  counterpoise  to  a  column  of  wa- 
ter of  32  feel,  it  must  also  counterpoise  a  column  of  mercu- 
ry of  about  28  inches  in  height,  the  weight  of  mercury 
being  about  14  times  greater  than  that  of  water.  Having 
accordingly  procured  a  glass  tube  of  about  3  feet  in  length 
and  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  hermetically  sealed 
at  one  end,  he  filled  it  with  mercury  ;  and  covering  the 
open  end  with  the  finger,  he  immerged  it  in  an  open  ves- 
sel containing  mercury.  On  bringing  the  tube  to  the  ver- 
tical position,  and  removing  the  finger,  the  mercury  in- 
stantly sunk,  leaving  a  vacuum  at  the  top  of  the  tube,  and, 
after  making  several  oscillations,  stood  in  the  tube  at  the 
height  of  about  28  inches  above  the  surface  of  that  in  the 
vessel.    On  covering  the  mercury  in  the  vessel  with  a  por- 


BAROMETER. 


tion  of  water,  and  raising  the  tube  till  the  lower  end  came 
into  contact  with  the  water,  the  mercury  all  ran  out,  and 
the  water  rushed  up  to  the  top  of  the  tube.  This  experi- 
ment, called  after  its  author  the  Torricellian  experiment, 
demonstrated  that  the  mercury  was  sustained  in  the  tube, 
and  the  water  in  the  barrel  of  the  pump,  by  exactly  the 
same  counterpoise,  whatever  the  nature  of  it  might  be. 
Torricelli  died  shortly  after,  in  the  flower  of  his  age,  with- 
out completing  his  great  discovery ;  but  the  fame  of  his 
experiment  was  soon  carried  into  other  countries,  and  the 
subject  engaged  the  attention  of  the  most  eminent  philoso- 
phers ;  among  others  the  celebrated  Pascal.  After  a  va- 
riety of  ingenious  experiments  on  the  subject,  all  of  which 
tended  to  establish  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere,  it  at 
length  occurred  to  Pascal  that  if  the  mercurial  column  was 
realty  supported  by  atmospheric  pressure,  it  must  be 
affected  by  the  weight  of  the  superincumbent  mass  of  air, 
and  consequently  be  diminished  at  considerable  elevations. 
In  order  to  verify  this  conjecture,  he  requested  his  brother- 
in-law,  Perier,  to  try  the  experiment  on  the  Puy  dc.  Dome, 
a  lofty  conical  mountain  in  the  province  of  Auvergne, 
which  rises  to  the  height  of  500  toises.  At  the  foot  of  the 
mountain  Perier  filled  two  tubes,  and  observed  the  mercu- 
ry in  each  to  stand  at  precisely  the  same  height,  nearly  28 
English  inches.  Leaving  one  of  them  under  the  care  of 
a  person  to  watch  its  rise  or  fall,  he  carried  the  other  to 
the  top  of  the  mountain  ;  and  on  repeating  the  experiment 
there,  the  mercury  stood  at  the  height  of  only  247  Eng- 
lish inches.  At  two  intermediate  stations  in  his  descent, 
the  mercury  was  observed  successively  to  rise,  and  at  the 
foot  of  the  mountain  it  stood  at  exactly  the  same  height  in 
the  tube  as  at  first.  This  experiment  was  decisive;  the 
result  of  it  was  communicated  to  Pascal  at  Paris,  who, 
after  confirming  it  by  similar  observations  made  succes- 
sively on  the  ground,  and  at  the  top  of  a  glass-house  and 
the  belfry  of  a  church,  proposed  the  barometer  as  an  in- 
strument for  measuring  the  height  of  mountains,  or  the 
relative  altitudes  of  places  above  the  surface  of  the  earth. 
The  barometer  had  been  but  a  short  time  invented  be- 
fore it  was  observed  that  the  height  of  the  mercurial 
column  is  subject  to  variations  connected  in  some  way 
with  the  changes  of  weather.  But  the  variations  are  con- 
fined within  a  limited  range,  scarcely  exceeding  3  inches 
in  all,  and  often,  for  many  days  together,  do  not  exceed  a 
few  hundredths  of  an  inch.  It  therefore  was  considered 
desirable  to  render  these  minute  oscillations  more  appar- 
ent by  increasing  their  range  ;  and  accordingly,  of  the 
numerous  forms  which  the  barometer  has  received,  .or 
which  have  been  suggested,  the  greater  part  have  been 
proposed  with  a  view  to  this  purpose.  The  most  remark- 
able or  useful  constructions  are  the  following,  the  des- 
criptions of  which  will  be  readily  understood  with  the 
assistance  of  the  diagrams  : — 


Fig.  1.  is  the  Cistern  Barometer,  and  is  merely  the  in- 
verted tube  of  Torricelli  already  described.  The  tube 
must  be  about  34  inches  long.  When  placed  in  the  cis- 
tern, the  mercury  sinks  till  the  column  between  the  two 
surfaces  m  and  n  just  counterbalances  the  pressure  of  the 
air.  The  space  above  the  mercury,  a  m,  is  or  ought  to  be 
a  perfect  vacuum,  or  only  filled  with  the  vapour  of  mer- 
cury. In  this  barometer,  as  the  diameter  of  the  cistern  is 
generally  very  much  greater  than  that  of  the  tube,  almost 
the  whole  effect  of  the  rise  or  fall  is  perceived  in  the  varia- 
tion of  the  upper  surface  at  m.  For  supposing  the  section 
of  the  cistern  20  times  greater  than  that  of  the  tube,  and 
that  the  height  of  the  column  m  n  surfers  a  diminution  of 
one  inch  ;  it  is  evident  that,  as  all  the  mercury  which  goes 
out  of  the  tube  passes  into  the  cistern,  when  it  falls  at  m  it 
must  rise  at  n,  but  less  in  proportion  as  the  section  of  the 
cistern  exceeds  that  of  the  tube  In  the  case  supposed, 
therefore,  the  alteration  of  the  level  at  m  will  be  20  times 

greater  than  at  n;  that  is  to  say,  there  willbeafa!lof|-y  of  an 

inch  at  m,  and  a  rise  of  J_  of  an  inch  at  n. 

Fig.  2.  is  the  Siphon  Barometer,  which  was  also  pro- 
posed by  Torricelli,  as  being  more  convenient  than  the 
former.    It  is  merely  a  tube  hermetically  sealed  at  the 
132 


upper  end,  having  the  lower1  or  open  end  bent  upwards 
in  the  form  of  a  siphon.  The  variations  in  this  are  only 
half  asjrreat  as  in  the  cistern  barometer;  for  the  tube 
being  of  the  same  width  throughout,  a  diminution  of  the 
column  m  n  amounting  to  one  inch  will  be  marked  by  a 
fall  of  half  an  inch  at  m  and  a  rise  of  half  an  inch  at  n. 
This  inconvenience  may,  however,  be  remedied  by  hav- 
ing the  lower  branch  blown  into  a  wide  bulb  ;  but  as  it  is 
very  difficult  to  procure  the  bulb  to  be  blown  into  a  perfect- 
ly regular  shape,  this  enlargement  of  the  bulb  is  found  to 
give  rise  to  inaccuracies. 

Fig.  3.  is  a  barometer  suggested  by  Descartes,  and  exe- 
cuted by  Huygens,  in  which  the  sensibility  is  greatly  in- 
creased. Two  tubes  are  cemented  to  the  opposite  ends  of 
a  pretty  wide  cylinder,  b  c.  The  lower  tube  and  a  por- 
tion of  the  cylinder,  c  p,  are  filled  with  mercury ;  above 
which  water  or  spirit  of  wine  is  introduced,  reaching  to 
the  top  of  the  upper  tube,  which  is  hermetically  sealed. 
The  vacuum  is  made,  as  in  the  Torricellian  barometer, 
by  inverting  the  compound  tube  in  a  basin  of  mercury. 
The  enlargement  of  the  scale  obtained  by  this  construc- 
tion is  found  thus  :  Suppose  the  horizontal  section  of  the 
cylinder,  b  c,  to  be  10  times  that  of  the  tube,  and  the  spe- 
cific gravity  of  mercury  14  times  that  of  water.  Let  x  be 
the  fall  of  the  mercury  in  the  cylinder  <Ap,  corresponding 
to  a  fall  of  one  inch  of  the  common  Torricellian  barome- 
ter. The  descent  of  the  water  x  inches  at  p  will  be  mark- 
ed by  a  descent  of  10  x  inches  in  the  tube  at  m.  But  the 
diminution  of  the  height  of  the  column  of  water  must 
correspond  to  a  diminution  of  (1— x)  inches  in  the  height 
of  the  column  of  mercury  of  equal  weight  with  the  water; 
therefore,  the  diminution  of  the  column  of  water  is  14 

(1 — x)  inches.    Hence  10  x=14  (1 — x),  or  jr=y\-,  and  the 

descent  of  the  water  at  f»=y-§=5^  ;  that  is  to  say,  when 
the  Torricellian  barometer  falls  one  inch,  the  barometer 
of  Descartes  falls  5^-  inches.  The  defect  of  this  construc- 
tion is,  that  the  air  contained  in  the  water  escapes  into 
the  vacuum  above,  and  destroys  the  accuracy  of  the  in- 
strument. 

Fig.  4.  is  a  form  proposed  by  Huygens,  to  obviate  the  de- 
fect of  the  former.  The  siphon  barometer  terminates  in 
two  equal  cisterns,  or  enlarged  tubes  ;  that  at  the  open  end 
communicating  with  a  narrow  tube  containing  water.  In 
this  case  we  may  neglect  the  weight  of  the  water  between 
n  and  p,  or  consider  it  as  a  small  addition  to  the  weight  of 
the  atmosphere  ;  the  variations  at  n  will  be  then  as  much 
greater  than  in  the  common  siphon  barometer  as  the  hori- 
zontal section  of  the  cisterns  exceeds  that  of  the  tube  at  n. 
Thus,  suppose  the  section  of  the  cistern  10  times  that  of 
the  tube  ;  a  variation  of  atmospheric  pressure  causing  a 
fall  of  one  inch  in  the  Torricellian  barometer  will  cause 
the  mercury  at  p  in  this  barometer  to  rise  half  an  inch, 
and  the  water  at  n  to  rise  10  times  as  much,  or  5  inches. 
The  defects  of  this  barometer  are  these  :  first,  as  the 
water  descends  at  n,  a  portion  of  it  adheres  to  the  sides 
of  the  tube,  and  consequently  diminishes  the  length  of  the 
column  ;  secondly,  the  volume  of  the  fluid  in  the  reser- 
voir is  considerably  affected  by  the  influence  of  heat  and 
cold ;  and,  thirdly,  the  instrument  is  subject  to  constant 
derangement  from  the  evaporation  of  the  water. 

Fig.  5.  is  the  Wheel  Barometer,  proposed  by  Hooke.  A 
small  weight  floats  on  the  surface  of  the  mercury  in  a 
siphon  barometer,  which  is  very  nearly  counterpoised  by 
another  weight,  to,  connected  with  the  former  by  a  string 
passing  over  a  pulley,^.  When  the  mercury  rises  at  n, 
the  weight  w  descends,  and  turns  the  pulley.  An  index 
attached  to  the  axle  of  the  pulley  shows  on  a  dial  the 
quanlity  of  revolution.  This  barometer,  though  very  com- 
monly met  with,  is  a  mere  toy;  and  indicates  neither  the 
absolute  height  of  the  mercurial  column,  nor  its  variations, 
with  sufficient  accuracy  to  be  of  the  slightest  use  for  any 
philosophical  purpose  whatever.  Even  as  a  weather-glass, 
it  is  the  worst  of  all  the  common  forms  of  the  barometer. 

Sir  Samuel  Moreland  proposed  to  enlarge  the  scale,  by 
inclining  the  upper  part  of  the  tube  so  as  to  form  a  con- 
siderable angle  with  the  perpendicular.  By  this  contri- 
vance the  scale  is  increased  in  the  proportion  of  radius  to 
the  cosine  of  the  angle  of  inclination  ;  but  the  friction  on 
the  sides  of  the  tube  is  greatly  increased,  and  it  is  very 
difficult  to  determine  the  exact  plane  of  the  top  of  the 
column  which  requires  to  be  read  off  on  a  vertical  scale. 
This  construction  is  easily  conceived  without  a  diagram. 

Fig.  6.  is  a  form  proposed  by  John  Bernoulli.  The  tube 
terminates  in  a  horizontal  branch  of  considerable  length 
and  small  diameter :  the  pressure  of  air  on  the  column  of 
mercury  is  exerted  horizontally,  and  by  making  the  vacuum 
in  a  cistern  at  the  top.  the  range  becomes  very  great ;  but 
the  mercury  moves  along  the  horizontal  branch  with  diffi- 
culty, and  by  starts.  No  reliance  can  be  placed  on  its  in- 
dications. 

Fig.  7.  represents  an  extremely  elegant  and  ingenious 


BAROMETER. 


form  of  the  barometer  proposed  by  Amintons.  A  conical 
tube  about  4  feet  long,  closed  at  the  top,  is  partly  filled 
With  mercury,  and  inverted.  The  diameter  of  the  tube 
must  be  small,  scarcely  exceeding  3-20ths  of  an  inch  at 
the  wide  end,  and  tapering  away  to  about  l-10th  near  the 
top.  The  pressure  of  the  atmosphere  from  beneath  pre- 
vents the  mercury  from  falling  out,  but  it  descends  in  the 
tube  till  it  comes  into  such  a  position  that  the  height  of  the 
vertical  column  forms  an  exact  counterpoise  to  the  atmos- 
pheric pressure.  If  the  pressure  is  diminished,  the  mer- 
cury sinks  a  little  at  n ;  but  as  it  there  fills  a  tube  of  larger 
diameter,  its  vertical  height  undergoes  a  corresponding 
diminution.  The  height  of  the  upper  surface  at  m  there- 
fore marks  the  absolute  height  "t  the  vertical  column,  sup- 
posing the  tube  to  taper  equally  ;  but  the  difficulty,  or  rather 
the  impossibility,  of  fulfilling  this  condition  "practically, 
prevents  this  kind  of  barometer  from  being  used. 

We  shall  notice  only  one  or  two  other  forms  of  the  bar- 
ometer, proposed  With  a  different  view  from  that  of  en- 
larging the  scale.  Fig.  8.  is  a  modification  of  the  siphon 
barometer  proposed  by  Gay  I.ussac.  It  differs  from  the 
common  form  in  this  respect,  that,  after  the  tube  has  been 
filled,  the  short  branch  i-  ly  closed  at  the  top, 

and  the  communication  with  the  atmosphere  takes  place 
through  a  small  capillary  hole  drilled  laterally  throng 
tube  at  o,  so  fine  that  though  it  admits  the  air  to  pass  freely, 
it  prevents  the  passage  of  the  mercury.  The  barometer  is 
thus  rendered  very  convenient  for  carriage;  but  notwith- 
standing the  promising  appears]  barometer,  it 
has  been  found,  particularly  in  travelling,  that  a  portion  of 
air  will  frequently  insinuate  itself  through  the  mercury. 
In  order  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  the  accident, 
nioug  modification  has  been  made  by  M  Bunten,  a  Parisian 
artist.  It  consists  in  causing  the  part  ol  tin-  tube  a  b  to 
terminate  in  a  very  fine  point,  and  to  penetrate  li 
depth  into  the  other  part');,  to  which  it  Is  joined  at  c,  in 
the  manner  represi  nt'  'I  111  fig  9  V  W  if  an  air  bubble  from 
the  end  o,  which  communicates  with  the  atmosphere, 
should  find  its  way  through  the  bent  capillary  tube,  it  will 

long  the  sides  of  the  bulging  part,  and  instead  of  pen- 
etrating to  the  vacuum  at  ".  will  it  c,  whence  it 
Is  easily  expelled  bj  n  versing  the  ban  m 

N  ol  the  contrivances  which  have  bei  n  described  for 
increasing  the  range  of  the  oscillations   have  I  ei  n  found  to 

succeed  well  in  practice.    It  is  found  |  ly  bet- 

ter to  apply  minute  divisions,  than  to  attempt  to  enlarge 
the  scale ;  accordingly,  experimenters  now  adhen 
or  other  of  the  two  ancient  forms,  the  cistern  barometer 

and  the  siphon  barometer.  The  height  of  the  column  in 
the  siphon  I 

of  a  moveal !'  me  which  su 

the  tube  :  bj  i  .  the  si  ale  is 

or  lowered  till  its  zero  coincides  exactly  with  the  surface 
ofthe  mercury  in  the  lower  branch;  and  with  thi 
lance  of  a  vernier,  the  height  can  be  read  off  to  the  hun- 
dredth or  two-hundredth  of  an  inch  with  sufficient  preci- 
sion.    The  scale  of  the  cistern  barometer  is  usually  fixed, 
and  the  bottom  ofthe  cistern  is  raised  or  lower 
screw  till  the  surface  of  the  mercury  in  it  coincides  with 
the  zero  ofthe  scale  ;  but  the  scale  may  he  mnvi  abli 
its  zero  brought  to  coincide  with  the  surface  ofthe  mercu- 
ry in  the  basin,  as  in  the  former  case.    In  order  to  deter- 
mine when  this  coincidence  takes  place,  various  expe- 
dients may  be  had  recourse  (.,      The  most  usual  is  to  place 
on  the  surface  of  the  mercury  a  float  carrying  a  vertical 
needle,  gome  point  on  which  answers  to  a  fixed  point  on 
the  scali .  and  th<  coincidence  obtains  when  the  two  points 
are  brought  into  the  same  level.    Another  contrii  n 
effect  the  same  purpose  wis  employed  by   rerun. 

I  French  artist    An  ivory  needle  is  attached  to  the 
pointing  downwards,  and  having  its  point  exactly  in 
me  level  with  the  zero  of  the  scale.     The  image  of 
the  needle  is  clearly  reflected  from  the  surface  ofthe  mer- 
cury in  the  cistern,  and  the  cistern  is  raised  or  lowered  till 
the  point  ofthe  needle  and  its  imag 

In  order  to  construct  a  good  barometer,  it  is  indispensa- 
bly necessary  that  the  mercury  be  perfectly  free  from  im- 
puritii  fully  purged  of  air:  this  is  obtained  by 

boiling  it.  The  particles  of  air  and  moisture  which  cling 
obstinately  to  the  sides  ofthe  tube  must  also  be  expelled 
by  heat;  the  mercury  must  then  be  introduced  slowly  and 
continuously  in  a  hot  state,  and  while  the  tube  continues 
hot.  Since  the  time  ofDeluc  it  has  been  usual  to  boil  the 
mercury  in  the  tube  before  inverting  it  and  forming  the  va- 
cuum ;  but  doubts  now  begin  to  be  entertained  among  the 
most  skilful  makers  of  the  expediency  of  this  very  trouble- 
some process.  The  mercury  is  partially  oxydated  by  boil- 
ing, and  a  thin  crust  formed,  which  keeps  the  column  sus- 
pended at  a  greater  height,  and  obstructs  the  freedom  of 
the  motion.  It  is  important  that  the  diameter  of  the  tube 
be  not  very  small ;  for  it  is  found  that  the  mercury  moves 
with  more  freedom  in  a  tube  of  considerable  width,  the  os- 
cillations following  the  atmospheric  changes  with  more 
promptitude  than  in  one  of  smaller  dimensions ;  besides 
133 


which,  there  is  less  disturbance  from  capillary  attraction. 
The  interior  diameter  should  in  every  case  exceed  one 
fourth  of  an  inch. 

The  value  of  the  barometer  as  a  scientific  instrument  de- 
pends on  the  purity  ofthe  mercury,  and  the  total  exclusion 
of  atmospheric  air.  By  proper  care  in  the  construction,  it 
is,  perhaps,  possible  to  expel  every  particle  of  air  Irom  the 
mercury  and  the  interior  of  the  tube  when  the  barometer 
is  made  ;  but  it  seems  doubtful  if.  by  any  means  whatever, 
it  can  be  preserved  for  a  considerable  length  of  time  in 
this  state.  The  most  carefully  constructed  barometers  are 
liable  to  a  slow  and  gradual  deterioration  by  the  intrusion 
of  air,  which  has  been  supposed  to  insinuate  itself  between 
the  metal  and  the  tube,  and  not  through  the  mercury.  To 
obviate  thisi?  Professor  Daniell  conceived  the 

ingenious  idea  of  fixing  to  the  open  end  of  the  tube  of  the 
cistern  barometer  a  substance  having  a  greater  affinity  than 
glass  for  mercury.  "I  caused,'' says  he,  "a  small  thin 
piece  of  platinum  tube  to  be  made,  about  the  third  of  an 
inch  in  length,  and  of  the  diameter  of  the  glass  tube  ;  this 
was  carefully  welded  to  its  open  end,  so  that  the  barometer 
tube  terminated  in  a  ring  of  platinum.  The  tube  was  filled 
and  boiled  as  usual,  and  the  infiltration  of  air  was  complete- 
ly prevented  by  the  adhesion  ofthe  mercury  both  to  the 
interior  and  exterior  surface  of  the  platinum  guard.  Ihave 
no  doubt  that  a  mere  ring  of  wire  welded,  or  even  cement- 
ed, upon  the  exterior  surface  of  the  glass,  which  would  be 
a  much  easier  and  less  expensive  operation,  would  be  a 
sufficient  protection,  as  the  slightest  line  of  perfect  contact 
must  effectually  am  e  air."— Metei 

/  ;      Be  farther  states,  that  though  time 

■  ,n  fully  confirm  the  ifficacy  of  the  platinum  guard, 
I  eriments,  as  far  as  they  have  gone,  have  been  com- 
pletely 

'  ru    necessary. — In   all    barometic    observations 

.  two  essential  corrections  to  be  n  ade  ; 

one  for  the  capillarity  or  d'  ;  r<  ssii  D  of  the  mercory  in  the 

tube,  and  the  other  for  temperature.    Pure  mercury  in  a 

glass  tube  always  assumes  a  convex  surface.    The  follow- 

of  different  diameters,  ac- 

•  ory  of  Mr.  Ivory.     'Encyc.  Brit.,  art. 

''(Capillary  Ai  I 


iam.  of  Tube, 

De|ireuloD. 

Diam.  of  Tube. 

Dm   •  -■■:, 
Inches. 

Indus. 

Id 

•14 

■40 

•0153. 

15        - 

<w;:t. 

••!.-. 

•0112. 

■20        - 

581. 

•50 

•0083. 

■25 

•0-in:. 

•60 

•0044. 

•30 

OS 

0023. 

•35 

0211. 

■80 

I                           s,  which  must  always  be  applied  to  cis- 
tern barometers,  show  that   wide   tubes  ought  to  be  pre- 
:.   in   fact,  when  the  diameter  ofthe  tube  exceeds 
half  an  inch,  they  may  be  safely  omitted.     In  siphon  bar- 
-  having  loth  branches  of  the  same  diameter,  the 
depression  is  equal  at  both  ends ;  const  qui  ntly  the  effect 
I,  ind  no  correction  is  required.    This  is  a  con- 
siderable advantage;    for  notwithstanding  the  most  elabo- 
rate calculations,  some  uncertainty  must  always   remain 
with  regard  •  no. t  ofthe  capillary  repulsion. 

The  correction  for  the  temperature,  which  is  the  most 
important,  depends  on  the  expansion  of  the  mercury,  and 
the  expansion  of  the  scale  on  which  the  divisions  are 
marked.  If  we  make  a  =  the  height  ofthe  thermometer 
in  dee-.  freezing  point,  x=  the  fractional  part 

lllk  which  mercury  expands  tor  one  degree  of  heat 
on  Fahrenheit's  scale,  y=  the  fractional  part  of  its  length 
by  which  the  scale  increases,  h  =  the  observed  height  of 
the  barometer;  then  the  height  which  would  have  been 
observed  had  the  thermometer  stood  at  the  freezing  point  is 

h  —  ha'x  —  y). 
The  expansion  of  mercury  in  part  of  its  bulk  is  0001001. 
The  scale  is  gi  Derail]  ol  si  me  mixed  metal  of  which  the 
expansion  is  not  very  well  ascertained  :  supposing  it  to  be 
equal  to  that  of  cop]  would  be  0000096; 

theref  sufficiently  accurate  to  neglect  the  tem- 

perature ofthe  scale,  and  assume  that  of  the  mercury  to 
be  0001.  Hence  the  following  practical  rule  for  reducing 
an  observed  height  to  the  corresponding  height  at  the  tem- 
perature of  the  freezing  point  :  M  Substract  the  ten-thou- 
sandth part  of  the  observed  altitude  for  every  degree  of 
Fahrenheit  above  32."  Suppose  the  thermometer  54° 
and  the  barometer  30  inches,  the  correction  will  be  (54 — 32) 
X  30  X  0001  = -066,  to  be  subtracted  from  30  inches.  In 
order  to  find  the  value  of  this  correction  a  thermometer 
must  be  attached  to  the  barometer,  and  observed  at  the 
same  time.  A  table,  showing  the  correction  for  tempera- 
ture for  everv  degree  of  Fahrenheit  from  30°  to  90°.  and 
for  even-  difference  of  half  an  inch  in  the  height  of  the 
mercury  from  28  to  30  5  inches,  was  constructed  by  Pro- 
fessor Schumacher,  and  is  given  by  Mr.  Baily  in  the  Phil. 
Trans,  for  1837,  p.  434. 

Cause  of  the  variations  of  the  barometer.—  Various  the- 
ories have  been  proposed  to  account  for  those  frequent 


BAROMETER. 

atmospherical  changes  which  cause  the  rise  and  fall  of  the 
barometer,  but  none  of  them  can  be  regarded  as  very  satis- 
factory. Whatever  tends  to  increase  or  diminish  the  ver- 
tical pressure  will  obviously  cause  the  barometer  to  rise  or 
fall ;  but  the  vertical  pressure  may  be  increased  either  by  an 
influx  of  winds  and  the  accumulation  of  air  at  any  place,  or 
by  a  diminution  of  the  elasticity  of  the  atmosphere.  The  pre- 
sence of  heat  orof  moisture  augments  the  elasticity,  and  con- 
sequently reduces  the  weight  of  the  vertical  column.  During 
the  prevalence  of  northerly  and  easterly  winds  the  barome- 
ter stands  high,  the  elasticity  being  diminished  by  the  cold. 
But  the  real  difficulty,  Professor  Leslie  remarks,  "  consists 
in  explaining  why  the  variations  of  the  barometer  should 
be  greater  in  the  high  latitudes  than  between  the  tropics, 
and  why  they  should  exceed  in  all  cases  the  quantities 
which  calculation  might  assign.  The  only  mode,  perhaps, 
of  removing  the  difficulty  is  to  take  into  consideration  the 
comparative  slowness  with  which  any  force  is  propagated 
through  the  vast  body  of  the  atmosphere.  An  inequality 
may  continue  to  accumulate  in  one  spot  before  the 
counterbalancing  influence  of  the  distant  portions  of  the 
serial  fluid  can  arrive  to  modify  the  result.  In  the  higher 
latitudes,  the  narrow  circle  of  air  may  be  considered  as  in 
some  measure  insulated  from  the  expanded  ocean  of  at- 
mosphere ;  and  hence,  perhaps,  the  variations  of  the  ba- 
rometer are  concentrated  there,  and  swelled  beyond  the 
due  proportion."    (Encyc.  Brit.) 

Uses  of  the  barometer. — The  barometer  is  an  instrument 
of  great  importance  in  astronomy,  its  indications  forming 
an  essential  element  in  determining  the  amount  of  atmos- 
pherical refraction.  (See  Refraction.)  It  is  also,  on  ac- 
count of  its  application  to  the  measurement  of  altitudes, 
indispensable  in  all  researches  connected  with  the  climate. 
(See  Heights,  Measurement  of.)  The  purpose  forwhich 
it  is  most  commonly  sought  after  is  to  prognosticate  the 
state  of  the  weather.  On  land  this  is  perhaps  the  least  im- 
portant of  its  applications,  but  the  case  is  widely  different 
at  sea.  A  remarkable  instance  of  its  utility  to  the  mariner 
is  given  by  Dr.  Arnott.  "  The  marine  barometer  has  not 
yet  been  in  general  use  for  many  years,  and  the  author  was 
one  of  a  numerous  crew  who  probably  owed  their  preser- 
vation to  its  almost  miraculous  warning.  It  was  in  a  south- 
ern latitude;  the  sun  had  just  set  with  placid  appearance, 
closing  a  beautiful  afternoon  ;  and  the  usual  mirth  of  the 
evening  watch  was  proceeding,  when  the  captain's  order 
came  to  prepare  with  all  haste  for  a  storm  ;  the  barometer 
had  begun  to  fall  with  appalling  rapidity.  As  yet  the  oldest 
sailors  had  not  perceived  even  a  threatening  in  the  sky, 
and  were  surprised  at  the  extent  and  hurry  of  the  prepara- 
tion ;  but  the  required  preparations  were  not  completed, 
when  a  more  awful  hurricane  burst  upon  them  than  the 
most  experienced  had  ever  braved.  Nothing  could  with- 
stand it ;  the  sails,  already  furled  and  closely  bound  to  the 
yards,  were  riven  away  in  tatters  :  even  the  bare  yards  and 
masts  were  in  great  part  disabled,  and  at  one  time  the  whole 
rigging  had  nearly  fallen  by  the  board.  In  that  awful  night, 
but  for  the  little  tube  of  mercury  which  had  given  the 
warning,  neither  the  strength  of  the  noble  ship  nor  the  skill 
and  energies  of  the  commander  could  have  saved  one  man 
to  tell  the  tale."    {Elements  of  Nat.  Phil.  vol.  i.  p.  353.) 

No  certain  rules  can  be  laid  down  for  prognosticating  the 
state  of  the  weather  from  the  barometer.  The  following, 
taken  from  the  Saturday  Magazine,  are  probably  of  as  ge- 
neral application  as  any  that  can  be  given.  It  is  always  to 
be  remembered  that  what  the  barometer  actually  shows  is 
the  present  pressure  of  the  atmosphere  ;  ami  that  its  vari- 
ations correspond  to  atmospherical  changes  which  have  al- 
ready taken  place,  the  effects  of  which  may  follow  their 
cause  at  a  greater  or  less  interval. 

1.  After  a  continuance  of  dry  weather,  if  the  barometer 
begins  to  fall  slowly  and  steadily,  rain  will  certainly  ensue  ; 
but  if  the  fine  weather  has  been  of  long  duration,  the  mer- 
cury may  fall  for  two  or  three  days  before  any  perceptible 
change  takes  place,  and  the  longer  time  elapses  before  the 
rain  comes  the  longer  the  wet  weather  is  likely  to  last. 

2.  Conversely,  if  after  a  great  deal  of  wet  weather,  with 
the  barometer  below  its  mean  height,  the  mercury  begins  to 
rise  steadily  and  slowly,  fine  weather  will  come,  though  two 
or  three  wet  days  may  first  elapse  ;  and  the  fine  weather 
will  be  more  permanent  in  proportion  to  the  length  of  time 
that  passes  before  the  perceptible  change  takes  place. 

3.  On  either  of  the  two  foregoing  suppositions,  if  the 
change  immediately  ensues  on  the  motion  of  the.  mercury 
the  change  will  not  be  permanent. 

4.  If  the  barometer  rise  slowly  and  steadily  for  two  days 
together  or  more,  fine  weather  will  come,  though  for  those 
two  days  it  may  rain  incessantly,  and  the  reverse ;  but  if 
the  barometer  rise  for  two  days  or  more  during  rain,  and 
then  on  the  appearance  of  fine  weather  begins  to  fall  again, 
that  fine  weather  will  be  very  transient,  and  vice  versa. 

5.  A  sudden  fall  of  the  barometer  in  the  spring  or  autumn 
indicates  wind  ;  in  the  summer,  during  very  hot  weather,  a 
thunderstorm  may  be  expected  ;  in  winter,  a  sudden  fall 
after  frost  of  some  continuance  indicates  a  change  of  wind, 

134 


BARONET. 

with  thaw  and  rain  ;  but  in  a  continued  frost  a  rise  of  the 
mercury  indicates  approaching  snow. 

6.  No  rapid  fluctuations  of  the  barometer  are  to  be  inter- 
preted as  indicating  either  dry  or  wet  weather  of  any  con- 
tinuance ;  it  is  only  the  slow,  steady,  and  continued  rise 
or  fall  that  is  to  be  attended  to  in  this  respect. 

7.  A  rise  of  the  mercury  late  in  the  autumn,  after  a  long 
continuance  of  wet  and  windy  weather,  generally  indicates 
a  change  of  wind  to  the  northern  quarters,  and  the  approach 
of  frost. 

See  also  the  Phil.  Trans.,  No.  187.,  for  Dr.  Halley's  Rules. 
Patrick's  Rules,  which  have  long  been  popularly  known, 
were  first  published  in  Harris's  Lexicon  Technicum,  art. 
"  Barometer." 

BA'ROMETZ.  The  hairy  stem  of  a  species  of  fern  or 
Aspidium,  which,  from  its  procumbent  position  and  shaggy 
surface,  looks  like  a  crouching  animal ;  hence  called  Scy- 
thian lamb. 

BA'RON.  The  lowest  but  most  ancient  title  of  British 
nobility.  The  dignity  appears  to  have  been  originally  ter- 
ritorial. The  higher  feudatories  of  England,  after  the  Nor- 
man conquest,  possessed  baronies  on  which  a  certain  num- 
ber of  knights'  fees  were  dependent,  and  were  bound  to  at- 
tend the  king  with  a  certain  retinue  of  knights.  But  in  pro- 
cess of  time,  many  of  the  barons  having  lost  by  alienation 
great  part  of  their  lands,  the  distinction  between  greater 
and  lesser  barons  began  to  arise  ;  and  the  former  alone  con- 
stituted part  of  the  great  council  of  the  sovereign,  in  their 
own  right,  until  at  some  early  period  (supposed  to  have 
been  about  the  reign  of  Henry  III.)  the  practice  of  sum- 
moning individuals  to  parliament  by  the  king's  writ  pre- 
vailed over  the  former  usage.  But  this  subject  is  involved 
in  great  uncertainty.  It  has,  however,  been  very  generally 
supposed  that  the  dignity  of  baron,  together  with  the  right 
to  sit  in  parliament,  was  at  an  early  period  annexed  in  many 
instances  to  the  possession  of  certain  lands  or  castles, 
which  have  thus  been  believed  to  confer  baronies  by  tenure. 
But  Sir  Harris  Nicolas,  in  his  Introduction  to  the  Peer- 
age, gives  strong  reasons  to  show,  in  the  first  place,  that  it 
is  by  no  means  clear  that  persons  seised  of  lands  per  baro- 
niam  were  entitled  to  a  summons  to  parliament  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  the  First ;  and,  in  the  next  place,  that 
there  is  no  positive  proof  of  such  a  tenure  having  been  le- 
gitimately established  at  any  subsequent  period.  Baronies 
by  writ  were  created  by  the  king's  writ  of  summons  to  par- 
liament, when  addressed  to  individuals  by  name.  The  first 
thus  created  were  in  49  H.  3..  of  which  two  (Despenserand 
Roos)  exist  at  the  present  day.  Whether,  however,  the 
dignity  thus  created  was  originally  hereditary,  admits  of  a 
doubt ;  no  words  to  that  effect  are  found  in  the  ancient 
writs.  But,  in  point  of  fact,  the  next  heir  was  summoned 
by  writ,  after  the  decease  of  his  ancestor,  in  a  great  ma- 
jority of  instances  ;  and  it  has  been  long  settled,  that  a  sum- 
mons to  parliament  by  the  king's  writ,  addressed  to  an  in- 
dividual, creates  a  barony  descendible  to  heirs  general. 
The  earliest  creation  of  a  barony  by  letters  patent  took  place 
in  the  11th  year  of  Richard  II.  (that  of  Beauchamp  of  Kid- 
derminster) ;  and  therefore  when  a  dignity  of  earlier  cre- 
ation than  that  year  is  claimed,  it  is  presumed  to  have  ori- 
ginated in  a  summons  by  writ,  and  consequently  to  be  de- 
scendible to  heirs  general.  On  the  death  of  a  baron  by 
writ  without  issue  male,  but  with  more  daughters  than  one, 
the  barony  falls  into  abeyance  until  only  one  daughter  or  the 
sole  heir  of  one  daughter  survives.  The  word  Baron 
(baro,  or  varo,  to  which  some  give  a  Latin  and  others  a 
German  derivation)  appears  to  have  simply  signified 
''man,"  and  in  some  cases  freeman  or  citizen,  in  the  laws 
of  the  Franks  and  other  early  nations.  In  France,  the  tide 
of  baron  originally  belonged  only  to  those  who  were  im- 
mediate vassals  of  the  crown  :  it  afterwards  became  ap- 
plied in  common  usage  to  those  who  had  the  right  of  exe- 
cuting justice  on  their  fiefs.  The  title  of  baron  ranked,  as 
in  England,  after  those  of  duke,  marquis,  count,  and  vis- 
count ;  except  in  Dauphine  and  Britanny,  where  the  baron 
had  precedence  of  the  three  latter.  In  Germany  the  title 
of  Baron  (Frayherr)  is  extremely  common  ;  but  a  great  dis- 
tinction existed,  under  the  Empire,  between  the  barons  who 
were  created  by  sovereign  lords  who  had  no  voice  in  the 
Diet. 

BA'RONET,  KNIGHT  BAKONET.  The  lowest  degree, 
and  the  barons  of  the  Empire,  the  former  being  those  imme- 
diate lords  of  hereditary  dignity  in  England.  This  order  was 
instituted  by  King  James  I.  in  161 1,  as  a  reward  forthe  services 
of  those  who.  came  forward  to  quell  the  insurrection  in  Ire- 
land, and  especially  in  the  province  of  IHster  ;  each  person 
who  received  it  furnishing  a  supply  sufficient  to  maintain 
thirty  soldiers  for  three  years.  The  creation  isby  patent  under 
the  great  seal,  and  generally  limited  to  the  heirs  male  of  the 
body  of  the  grantee,  although  sometimes  otherwise  entail- 
ed. Baronets  rank  amons  themselves  according  to  cre- 
ation, and  come  next  after  the  younger  sons  of  barons.  By 
a  clause  in  the  patent  of  creation,  the  heir  male  apparent  to 
the  title  can  claim  the  honourof  knighthood,  on  attaining  the 
age  of  twenty-one,  in  the  life  of  his  father  or  grandfather. 


BARONS  OF  EXCHEQUER. 

Baronets  bear  for  distinction  on  their  paternal  coats  the 
arms  of  Ulster,  in  a  sinister  hand,  erect,  open,  and  cooped 
at  the  wrist,  gules  in  a  field  argent.  This  augmentation  is 
placed  sometimes  in  the  middle  chief  point,  sometimes 
on  the  fess  point,  &c.  as  may  be  most  convenient,  but 
subject  to  certain  rules  of  heraldry.  Baronets  of  Ireland 
were  instituted  by  James  I.  nine  years  after  the  creation 
of  baronets  in  England,  with  similar  privileges  and  badge. 
Baronets  of  Scotland,  or  Nova  Scotia  baronets,  were 
created  by  Charles  I.  in  1625,  in  furtherance  ofaprojpct 
of  colonization  in  that  part  of  America.  Their  badge  is 
the  ensign  of  Nova  Scotia.  It  had  long  fallen  into  disuse  : 
but  was  borne  again  in  1775,  by  way  of  revival  of  the 
order. 

BA'RONS  OF  EXCHEQUER.  Certain  Judges  in  Eng 
land  and  Scotland,  to  whom  the  administration  of  justice 
is  committed  in  causes  between  the  sovereign  and  his  sub 
lating  to  the  revenue.  In  the  former  country  the; 
Court  of  Exchequer  takes  cognizance  of  private  causes 
also.     See  Exchequer. 

BA'RONY.  A  territorial  subdivision  in  Ireland,  which 
nearly  corresponds  with  the  hundred  in  England.  Each 
barony  is  supposed  to  have  been  originally  the  district  of 
a  native  chief.    There  are  in  all  252  baronies  in  Ireland, 

BA'ROSCOPE.  (Gr.  0apof.  ueight,  and  oKoxeu).  I  ob- 
serve.) A  term  which  has  been  sometimes  given  to  the 
barometer.  According  to  its  derivation  it  signifies  observer 
of  weight, and  is  properly  applied  to  instruments  which 
indicate  variations  in  the  weight  of  the  atmosphere,  with- 
out giving  the  means  of  absolutely  measuring  it.  The 
wheel  barometer  of  Hooke  is  properly  a  baroscope 

BA'RRAS.  The  resin  which  exudes  from  wounds  made 
in  the  barb  of  fir  trees. 

BA'RRATRY.  A  name  applied  by  our  law  an 
other  countries  to  various  offences.  In  England,  a  "  com- 
mon barreter"  is  defined  by  Lord  Coke  to  be  a  common 
mover  and  maintainer  ol  suns  In  disturbance  of  the  pi  ace, 
and  in  taking  and  detaining  the  possession  of  houses  and 
lands  or  goods  by  false  inventions.  Barratry-in  this  sense, 
is  an  indictable  offence  at  common  law.  The  obtaining 
benefices  at  Rome  was  also  an  offence  of  barratry.  In 
maritime  insurance,  barratry  is  any  act  of  the  Blaster  or 
mariners  of  a  criminal  nature,  or  which  is  grossly  negli- 
gent, tending  to  their  own  benefit,  to  the  prejudice  of  the 
owner  of  the  ship,  and  without  bis  permission.  In  Scot- 
land, the  crime  ofa  judge  who  receives  a  bribe  for  a  judg- 
turn!  is  called  barratry. 

BA'RREL.  An  English  measure  of  capacity,  varying 
with  the  nature  of  the  liquid  measured.  In  the  old  mea- 
sures, a  barrel  denoted  31X  gallons  of  wine.  32  gallons  of 
ale,  or  36  gallons  of  beer.  By  a  statute  of  l  W.  A;  M.,  the 
ale  and  beer  barrels  were  equalized  for  every  part  of  Eng- 
land except  London,  and  ordered  to  contain  34 
The  term  Barrel  was  formerly  in  use  to  denote,  in  a  rough 

way,  Other  sorts  of  g Is.     Tims,  a  barrel  of  salmon.   12 

gallons;  a  barrel  Of  soap,  256  pounds.     In  common  Ian- 
oiv  hollow  cylinder  is  called  a  barrel. 

BARREN  FLOWERS.  Are  those  which  either  have 
stamens  and  no  pistil,  or  which  have  neither  stamens  nor 
pistil. 

BARRICA/DO.     (Fr.  barricade.)    A  defence  either  by 

oil 1 1 iii i-n t  or  raised  work,  made  in  a  hasty  manner,  by 

barrels  filled  with  earth,  heaps  of  stones  piled  i 

trunks  of  trees,  or  any  other  materials  which  would  ob- 
struct the  passag ■advance  of  an  opposing  force.    The 

famous  daj  of  the  Barricades  at  Paris  took  place  on  the 
12tli  of  May,  1588,  when  the  populace  invested  the  troops 
of  the  king,  Henry  III.,  in  the  Louvre,  and  forced  that  so- 
vereign   to  escape    from   Paris.      The   Barricd 
formed  an  important  feature  in  the  revolution  of  July,  1830. 

BARRIER.  (Fr.  barrier.)  A  piece  of  wood  work 
erected  to  defend  the  entrance  of  a  passage  or  intrench- 
ment,  with  a  moveable  bar  in  the  centre,  which  maybe 
removed  at  pleasure.  It  is  usually  erected  between  the 
citadel  and  town. 

BARRIER  TREATY.  In  1713,  a  negotiation  concluded 
between  the  Dutch  and  the  King  of  France  shortly  before 
the  peace  of  Utrecht,  by  which  the  former  reserved  the 
right  to  hold  garrisons  in  "certain  fortresses  of  the  Spanish 
Netherlands 

R.V'KRIS     A  large  baboon  of  the  Guinea  coast. 

BARRISTER.  An  advocate  admitted  to  plead  at  the 
bar  in  the  English  courts  of  common  law  and  equity.  Bar- 
risters were  anciently  styled  apprentices  at  law,  until  their 
admission  to  the  degree  of  sergeant  A  student  intending 
to  be  called  to  the  bar  must  be  admitted  a  member  of  one 
of  the  four  Inns  of  Court  (Inner  and  Middle  Temple,  Lin- 
coln's Inn,  and  Gray's  Inn),  and  reside  for  a  certain  time, 
during  three  years  in  some  cases  and  five  in  others.  The 
disputations  or  arguments  (termed  exercises)  which  were 
formerly  required  ofa  student  have  been  reduced  to  mere 
matters  of  form.  A  barrister  has  no  legal  mode  of  reco- 
vering fees  for  his  services. 

BA'RROWS,  or  TUMULI,  says  air.  Gough,  in  his  Se- 
135 


BASE. 

pulchral  Monuments,  are  the  most  ancient  monuments  in 
the  world.  The  sepulchres  of  the  heroes  of  the  war  of 
Troy  are  still  distinguished,  if  tradition  is  to  be  relied  upon, 
by  the  mounds  raised  over  them.  In  these  ancient  bar- 
rows the  base  is  said  to  have  been  generally  formed  of 
stones,  the  upper  part  consisting  of  a  mound  of  earth. 
Barrows  are  found  scattered  over  the  plains  of  the  Ukraine 
and  of  Tartary,  and  in  great  numbers  in  the  Mississippi 
valley  of  North  America.  The  barrows  of  England  are 
supposed  to  be  almost  all  of  British  construction  ;  although 
the  mounds  properly  so  called  are  sometimes  confounded 
With  those  tumuli  found  in  Roman  camps,  where  they 
serve  as  land  marks,  or  for  some  military  purpose.  Of  the 
antiquaries  who  have  treated  of  these  relics  of  ancient 
eras,  Dr.  Stukely  and  Sir  R.  Colt  Hoare  are  the  most  emi- 
nent. They  have  been  distinguished,  according  to  pecu- 
liarities of  form  and  construction,  into  long  barrows,  howl, 
bell,  pond,  twin,  cone,  broad,  &c.  In  the  most  ancient 
barrows,  the  bodies  found  are  deposited  within  a  cist  or 
stone  receptacle,  with  the  head  towards  the  north  :  in 
those  of  later  date,  this  direction  is  not  observed.  The 
bones  which  have  been  discovered  within  the  numerous 
barrows  that  have  been  opened  were  generally  accompa- 
nied by  utensils,  weapons.  <tc.  ;  and  from  the  form  and 
finish  of  these,  some  conjecture  has  been  made  as  to  the 
period  of  the  interment.  But  these  barrows,  although  ge- 
nerally sepulchral,  are  not  uniformly  so :  in  some,  bones 
of  animals  only  have  been  found.  Barrow  burial  is  said 
by  Sir  R.  Hoare  to  have  lasted  from  a  period  of  unknown 
antiquity  down  to  about  the  eighth  century.  Barrows  are 
chiefly  found  in  the  chalk  districts  of  Wilts  and  Dorset- 
shire. 

BA'RTER.  A  rule  of  Arithmetic  by  which  the  values 
of  commodities  of  different  kinds  are  compared. 

BARY'TA.  (<ir  $apvs,  heavy.)  The  oxide  of  barium, 
composed  of  70 barium  and  8 oxygen.  Baryta  is  common- 
ly called  an  alkaline  earth.  It  is  of  a  grey  colour,  diffi- 
cultly fusible,  and  poisonous.  It  is  soluble  In  about  20  parts 
of  cold  water,  it  forms  white  salts  with  the  acids,  all  of 
which  are  poisonous  except  the  sulphate.  The  soluble 
salts  of  baryta  are  excellent  tests  of  the  presence  of  sul- 
phuric acid,  which  they  indicate  in  solution  by  a  white 
precipitate,  insoluble  in  water  and  in  acids,  and  com 
of  77  baryta  and  10  sulphuric  acid;  117  parts,  therefore,  of 
pore  and  dry  sulphate  of  baryta  are  equivalent  to  40  of 
sulphuric  acid.  There  are  only  two  abundant  natural 
i.  rnpounds  of  baryta  :  the  sulphate,  which  occurs  crystal- 
line, and  the  carbonate.  Native  sulphate  of  baryta,  heavy 
sjmr,  or  baroselenite,  is  found  in  this  country  in  Cumber- 
land and  Westmoreland;  a  variety  from  Derbyshire  is 
provincially  called  eatek.    Nativi  '</,  or 

barolite,  was  tir~t   discovered  at   AngleBarh  in  Lancashire 
by  l'r  Withering,  and  hence  called  Wifherite.    It  occurs 
oel  massive.     Ii  consists  of  77  baryta  and  22 
carbonic  acid  ;  us  equivalent,  therefore,  is  99. 

BARYTO-CALCITE.  A  mineral  found  at  Alston  in 
Cumberland :  it  occurs  both  massive  and  crystallised  in 
oblique  rhombic  prisms.  It  contains  about  66  per  cent,  of 
carbonate  of  baryta,  and  34  of  carbonate  of  lime. 

BA'RYTONE.  (Gr.  Baouj,  grave,  and  rdvof,  tone.) 
The  male  voice,  the  compass  of  which  is  between  tenor 
and  base.  Also  a  musical  instrument  similar  to  the  viol  di 
gamba. 

BASA'LT.  A  common  species  of  trap-rock;  it  is  es- 
sentially composed  of  felspar  and  augite,  of  a  compact 
texture,  and  dark  green,  grey,  or  black  colour.  It  is  often 
found  in  regular  columns,  of  which  the  Giant's  Causeway 
and  the  bland  ol  Siarla  furnish  magnificent  examples. 

BASANITE.  A  variety  of  silicious  slate,  sometimes 
used  as  a  touchstone  to  determine  the  purity  of  gold  by  the 
colour  of  its  streak.     (From  flaoavoi.  tit*  trier.) 

BA'SCINET.  or  BA'SINET.  A  light  basin-shaped 
helmet,  worn  by  the  infantry  in  the  reigns  of  Edward  II. 
and  III.,  and  of  Richard  II.  (See  Grose  on  Ancient  Ar- 
mour. ) 

BASE.  In  Geometry,  the  lowest  side  of  any  figure  ;  as 
the  base  ofa  triangle,  ofa  cone,  &c.  Any  side  ofa  figure 
may  be  taken  as  its  base. 

Base.  A  chemical  term,  chiefly  applied  to  metallic 
oxides,  or  to  the  leading  constituent  of  compounds.  Thus, 
soda  is  called  the  base  of  sulphate  of  soda;  and  sodium  is 
the  metallic  base  of  soda.  Hence  the  distinction  into  salifi- 
able and  metallic  bases. 

Base.  In  Music  (frequently  written  Bass),  the  lowest 
part  in  a  concert,  whether  vocal  or  instrumental.  By 
some  it  is  considered  the  fundamental  or  most  important 
part ;  others  regard  the  melody,  or  highest  part,  in  that 
light. 

Base.  Plep.     See  Clef. 

Base,  Thorough.     See  Thorough  Bass. 

Base.  (Gr.  0ao  u,  a  foundation.)  In  Architecture,  gen- 
erally a  body  which  bears  another.  In  the  orders,  it  is  the 
lower  part  of  a  column,  moulded  or  plain,  on  which  the 
shaft  is  placed.    In  the  Grecian  Doric   the  columns  are 


BASELLA. 

without  bases,  and  stand  immediately  oa  the  floor  or  pave- 
ment of  the  portico.  The  different  bases  are  represented 
below,  including  the  Attic  base. 


Tuscan.  Roman  Doric.     Ionic.     Corinthian.  Composite.        Attic. 

BASE'LLA.  (A  Malabar  word.)  A  turning  succulent- 
leaved  Chenopodiaceous  plant,  native  of  the  tropical  parts 
of  Asia,  and  commonly  cultivated  instead  of  spinach  in  the 
East  Indies. 

BA'SEMENT.  (From  Base.)  In  Architecture,  the  low- 
est story  of  a  building. 

BASIGY'MUM.  (Gr.  0aois,  the  base,  yvvtj,  female.)  A 
stalk  rising  above  the  origin  of  the  calyx,  and  bearinsr  an 
ovary  at  its  apex,  as  in  Capparis. 

BA'SIL.  A  fragrant  aromatic  herbaceous  plant,  the  Ocy- 
mum  basiticum,  a  native  of  India,  whose  leaves  are  much 
used  in  cookery  for  the  purpose  of  giving  a  savoury  flavour 
to  dishes. 

BA'SILIC.  (Gr.  /3aoi\iK0(,  royal.)  A  pharmaceutical 
term,  formerly  applied  to  certain  powders,  ointments,  &c. 
of  pre-eminent  virtues  and  activity. 

BASI'LICA.  (Gr.  Paai^evs,  king.)  In  Architecture, 
properly  the  palace  of  a  king ;  but  it  afterwards  came  to 
signify  an  apartment  which  was  usually  provided  in  the 
houses  of  persons  of  consequence,  where  assemblies  were 
held  for  dispensing  justice.  The  Gordian  family  in  their 
magnificent  country-house  in  the  Via  Prenestina  had  three 
basilica;,  each  upwards  of  a  hundred  feet  long.  There  was 
usually  a  basilica  attached  to  every  market  for  summary 
settlement  of  disputes  that  might  arise,  and  it  was  sur- 
rounded by  shops  and  other  conveniences  for  traders. 
The  difference  between  the  Roman  and  Grecian  basilica  is 
described  by  Vitruvius,  to  whose  work  the  reader  may  re- 
fer. We  have  in  the  article  Architecture  (quod  ride) 
given  some  account  of  the  rise  of  the  modern  basilica  for 
religious  uses  from  the  form  of  the  more  ancient  one.  Its 
form  was  that  of  a  parallelogram,  with  a  portico  at  each  end, 
being  covered  by  a  roof  supported  by  ranks  of  columns. 
Palladio  applied  the  term  to  those  buildings  in  the  cities  of 
Italy  somewhat  similar  in  use  to  our  town-halls. 

BASILI'SCUS.  A  basilisk.  The  epithet  is  applied  in 
Zoology  to  a  most  harmless  genus  of  saurian  reptiles,  of  the 
Iguanoid  family,  having  no  femoral  pores;  but  with  pala- 
tal teeth  ;  a  covering  of  small  scales  ;  and  an  elevated  dor- 
sal crest,  supported  by  the  vertebral  spines,  and  extending 
from  the  neck  to  the  middle  of  the  tail.  One  of  the  species 
(Basiliscns  mitratus)  supports  a  mitre-shaped  crest  on  the 
head. 

BA'SIN.  In  Physical  Geography,  the  space  of  country 
drained  by  a  particular  river;  as  the  Basin  of  the  Thames, 
Rhine,  Rhone,  &c.  In  Geology,  depressed  portions  of 
strata,  forming  a  hollow  surrounded  by  hills,  as  the  "  Lon- 
don Basin,"  tlie  "  Parisian  Basin,"  <fcc. 

BA'SIS.     See  Base. 

BASI'SOLUTE.  (Lat.  basis,  and  solutus,/ree.)  A  name 
sometimes  applied  to  those  leaves  which  are  prolonged  at 
the  base  below  the  point  of  origin,  as  in  the  bracts  of  Fiona- 
via.  the  leaves  of  Sedum  rejlexum,  &c. 

BA'SKET.  (Lat.  bascauda.)  In  Architecture,  part  of 
the  Corinthian  capital.     See  Capital. 

I!  ASS.     ,SW>Base. 

ISASSETTE.  (Diminutive  of  Basso.)  In  Music,  the 
smallest  species  of  the  bass  violin. 

BASSOO'N.  (Fr.  basson.)  A  musical  wind  instrument 
made  of  wood,  serving  as  the  proper  bass  to  the  oboe  and 
clarionet.  The  Italians  call  it  fagotto,  because  composed 
of  two  pieces  of  wood  fagotled  as  it  were  together.  It  is 
played  by  means  of  a  bent  mouth-piece  and  reed,  and  its 
compass  is  shown  in  the  synoptical  view  of  the  different 
instruments  at  the  end  of  the  article  Music. 

BASSO  R1I.IEVO.     See  Rilievo. 

BASSO'RINE.  A  modification  of  gum,  originally  disco- 
vered bv  Vauquelin  in  gum  bassora. 

BA'STARD.  A  word  of  which  the  etymology  is  entirely 
uncertain.  By  the  ancient  legal  course  of  precedent  in  Eng- 
land, the  fact  of  birth  during  the  marriage  of  the  parents, 
or  within  a  certain  time  after  the  death  of  the  husband  (ex- 
tended in  some  cases  to  a  great  length,  as  in  that  of  the 
Countess  of  Gloucester,  temp.  E.  2.,  to  one  year  and  seven 
months),  was  conclusive  in  favour  of  legitimacy.  But  this 
fact  is  now  held  to  amount  only  to  strong  presumptive  evi- 
dence, repellable  by  proof  of  non-access.  The  legal  inca- 
pacities of  an  illegitimate  child,  by  the  law  of  England,  re- 
late wholly  to  the  powers  of  inheritance  and  succession,  to 
which  he  is  in  no  respect  entitled  either  as  to  real  or  per- 
sonal property.  In  case  of  a  divorce  "a  vinculo  matrimo- 
nii" in  the  spiritual  court,  children  born  during  the  mar- 
riage are  bastards  by  the  law  of  England.  The  Scottish 
136 


BATH. 

law  1b  less  strict  in  favour  of  legitimacy  than  that  of  Eng- 
land. Two  species  of  legitimation  have  been  adopted  in  it 
from  the  civil  law :  one,  "  per  subsequens  matrimonium," 
by  the  subsequent  intermarriage  of  the  parents,  (but  a  child 
born  in  Scotland,  and  legitimated  by  subsequent  intermar- 
riage in  Scotland,  is  not  entitled  to  succeed  to  real  property 
in  England  ;  and,  if  born  in  England,  remains  a  bastard  to 
all  intents  and  purposes) ;  and  secondly,  "  per  rescriptum 
principis,"  by  letters  of  legitimation  from  the  crown. 

BASTARD  STUCCO.  In  Architecture,  plastering  of 
three  coats,  whereof  the  first  is  usually  roughing  in,  or 
rendering;  the  second  floating,  as  in  trowelled  stucco ;  and 
the  third  or  finishing  coat  contains  a  small  quantity  of  hair 
besides  the  sand.  Bastard  stucco  is  not  hand-floated,  and 
the  trowelling  is  done  with  less  labour  than  what  is  called 
trowelled  stucco. 

BASTARD  WING.  (Ahda  spuria,  Linn.)  Three  or 
five  quill-like  feathers,  placed  at  a  small  joint  rising  at  the 
middle  part  of  the  wing. 

BASTI'LLE.  In  France,  in  the  middle  ages,  towers  and 
other  outworks  erected  without  the  limits  of  towns  were 
so  called.  The  famous  Bastile  of  Paris  was  an  edifice  of 
the  same  description,  originally  erected  outside  the  city, 
ui'ar  the  modern  Porte  Saint  Antoine.  It  was  built  by 
Hugues  Aubriot,  prevot  des  marchands,  in  1369  ;  and  he  is 
said  to  have  been  the  first  prisoner  of  state  confined  in  it 
after  it  was  employed  for  that  purpose.  The  Bastille  was 
taken  by  the  people  of  Paris  on  the  14th  of  July,  17&9,  and 
demolished. 

BASTINA'DO.  (Ital.  bastonnala,  from  bastone,  a  stick.) 
An  ordinary  mode  of  punishment  in  oriental  countries,  es- 
pecially China,  Turkey,  and  Persia.  It  is  commonly  in- 
flicted upon  the  soles  of  the  feet.  According  to  the  Turk- 
ish law,  slaves  and  rayalis  or  tributaries  alone  are  liable  to 
it ;  but  no  such  limitation  is  observed  when  the  temper  of 
a  magistrate  possessing  summary  authority  is  inflamed. 
This  punishment  is  termed  zarb  in  Turkish.  It  is  ex- 
tremely severe,  although  limited  by  law  to  the  Jewish 
number  of  39  blows,  or  75  in  some  aggravated  cases;  but 
this  regulation,  like  the  other,  is  little  observed  in  practice. 
(See  generally,  as  to  this  species  of  infliction  in  penal  law, 
the  essay  of  Lanjuinais,  Sur  la  Bastomiade  et  la  Flagella- 
tion penales.) 

BA'STION.  A  large  projecting  mass  of  earth  or  mason- 
ry at  the  angles  of  a  fortified  work,  anciently  called  a  bul- 
wark. The  modern  bastion  consists  of  two  flanks,  serving 
for  the  defence  of  the  adjacent  curtains,  and  two  faces, 
making  with  each  other  an  angle  of  60°  or  upwards,  which 
command  the  outworks  and  the  ground  before  the  fortifi- 
cation. The  space  between  two  bastions  is  called  the  cur- 
tain. The  use  of  the  bastions  is  to  bring  every  point  at  the 
foot  of  the  rampart  as  much  as  possible  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  guns,  so  that  on  whatever  point  a  besieging 
army  approaches  it  may  be  attacked  sideways. 

BAT.     See  Vespertilio,  Dermoptera.  Cheiroptera. 

BATA'TAS.  A  species  of  convolvulaceous  plant,  Con- 
volvulus batatas,  a  native  of  the  East  Indies,  with  fleshy 
sweet  tubers.  It  is  much  cultivated  for  the  sake  of  the  lat- 
ter in  all  the  hotter  parts  of  the  world,  where  they  are 
much  esteemed  as  an  article  of  food.  Its  name  has  now 
been  popularly  transferred  to  the  potatoe,  which  has  ex- 
pelled it  from  cultivation  in  all  temperate  climates. 

BATH.  (From  the  Saxon  bad.)  In  Architecture,  a 
place  for  bathing.  Among  the  ancients,  the  public  baths 
were  of  very  considerable  extent,  and  consisted  of  a  great 
number  of  apartments.  These  prodigious  monuments  of 
Roman  magnificence  seem  to  have  been  borrowed  in  some 
respects  from  the  gymnasia  of  the  Greeks,  both  the  one 
and  the  other  being  instituted  with  a  view  to  the  exercise 
and  health  of  the  people.  The  word  thermal,  which  the 
Romans  called  these  edifices,  signifies  a  place  for  the  re- 
ception of  hot  baths  ;  hut  both  hot  and  cold  were  generally 
comprised  in  the  same  building.  In  later  times,  the  Ro- 
mans used  the  bath  before  they  took  their  supper.  The 
rich  usually  had  hot  and  cold  baths  in  their  own  houses, 
and  it  was  not  till  the  time  of  Augustus  that  the  baths  as- 
sumed an  air  of  grandeur  and  magnificence.  Different 
authors  reckon  nearly  eight  hundred  baths  in  Rome.  The 
most  celebrated  were  those  of  Agrippa,  Antoninus,  Cara- 
calla,  Diocletian,  Domitian,  Nero,  and  Titus.  Those  of 
Diocletian  are  said  to  have  been  capable  of  accommodating 
eighteen  hundred  bathers.  The  vestiges  of  these  stupen- 
dous buildings  indicate  the  amazing  magnificence  of  the 
age  in  which  they  were  erected.  Their  pavements  were 
mosaic;  the  ceilings  vaulted,  and  richly  gilt  and  painted; 
the  walls  encrusted  with  the  rarest  marbles.  Many  exam- 
ples of  ancient  Greek  sculpture  have  been  restored  to  the 
world  from  these  edifices.  It  was  from  the  recesses  of 
these  buildings  that  Raphael  took  the  hint  for  his  decora- 
tions of  the  Vatican,  and  largely  from  these  resources  drew 
the  first  restorers  of  the  art. 

Bath.  In  Chemistry,  heated  sand  is  often  used  as  a 
medium  for  communicating  heat,  as  glass  and  other  ves- 
sels may  be  conveniently  placed  upon  or  immersed  in  it: 


BATHOS. 

sometimes  water  is  used  in  the  same  way ;  hence  sand 
bath,  water  bath,  &c.  The  water  bath  is  called  by  the  old 
chemists  Balneum  Maria?,  and  often  abbreviated  B.  M. 

Bath.  Order  of  the.  A  British  order  of  knighthood. 
On  the  day  of  his  coronation,  Henry  IV.  conferred  the 
dignity  of  knighthood  on  forty-six  esquires  who  had  watch- 
ed during  the  previous  night,  and  bathed  themselves,  in 
pursuance  of  a  very  ancient  custom,  derived  from  the 
usages  of  the  ancient  Franks.  It  was  usual,  from  this 
period,  to  make  similar  creations  of  knights  on  royal  coro- 
nations, espousals,  and  similar  solemnities;  but  the  cus- 
tom was  discontinued  after  the  coronation  of  Charles  II., 
Until  George  I.,  in  the  eleventh  year  of  his  reign,  institut- 
ed the  present  order  of  the  Bath  by  letters  patent.  It  con- 
Bisted,  exclusive  of  the  sovereign,  of  a  grandmaster  and 
thirty-six  companions  ;  and  was  a  military  order.  In  1815, 
the  order  was  greatly  extended  (after  several  intermediate 
alterations),  and  is  now  composed  of  three  classes — mili- 
tary and  civil  knights  grand  crosses,  knights  commanders, 
and  knights  companions,-  who  do  not  take  the  title  or  pri- 
vilege of  a  knight  bachelor,  but  take  precedence  of  es- 
quires. The  badge  worn  by  thi  -  now  a 
golden  cross  of  eight  points,  enamelled  white,  with  a  lion 
of  England  between  tie'  four  principal  angles;  on  the 
centre  a  sceptre  erect,  or.  having  on  the  sides  a  rose,  this- 
tle, and  shamrock,  engrafted  between  three  imperial  crowns 
proper,  encircled  with  a  riband  gules;  thereon  the 
of  the  order,  "Tria  junria  in  uno."  They  also  wear  a 
silver  star.  The  badge  of  the  knights  commanders  is  the 
same  with  that  of  the  knights  grand  crosses,  but  smaller ; 
their  cross  somewhat  different  The  companions  have 
only  the  badge  without  a  star. 

BA'THOS.     (.Qr.0&6os,  depth.)     A  word  invented  to  sig- 
nify a  ludicrous  descent,  in  rhetoric,  from  elevated  to 
thoughts      (  Sii    Climax.)     It   has  been  chiefly  rendered 
popular  by  Pope  and  arbuthnot'a  jeu  d'esprit,  the  "  Trea- 
tise on  ilo-  Bathos,  by  IVfartinus  Scribli 

It  ATI 'III;.  K.  A  small  division  Of  I  ill  car  eons  plants  con- 
taining hut  ■.in'  genus,  Batis,  after  which  it  is  named.  It 
yields  soda  in  great  quantity. 

BA'TOLITES.  A  genus  of  fossil  shells,  considered  by 
( 'ie.  o  r  as  hippuj  ites, 

BATON,  ill  i  In  Music,  a  term  denoting  a  rcstof  four 
semihi 

Baton  is  also  the  start"  of  a  field  marshal. 

BA'TONNI'ER.  (Mod  Lat.  bastonarius.)  In  French, 
in.'  i  lected  president  of  an  order  or  fraternity.  Tie'  baton- 
trier  of  the  order  ol  advoi  i  by  the  whole  body. 

In  ancient  times  be  carried  in  their  processions  a  staff 
(baton)  with  the  flag  "i  Saint  Nicholas,  whence  the  name. 
Id  i<  president  of  the  council  of  discipline. 

BATRA'CHIANS,  BATRACH1A  if.'r  fiarpaxos,  a 
frog.)  An  order  of  Reptilia  including  the  frogs  and  toads, 
and  all  reptiles  which,  like  them,  have  naked  skins  and 
■  itemal  branchiae,  in  the  early  stage  of  existence  j  those 
balrachia  which  retain  tie-  gills  ,,r  gill-apertures  through- 
out lib-  are  called  "  perennibranchiate,"  or  "  amphil 

BA'TRACHOMT'OMA'CHIA.  (Gr.  0arpaxopvoiia\ia .) 
The  Battle  of  the  Frogs  and  Mice,  a  mock  heroic  poem 
Which  has  come  down  to  ns.  and  is  attributed  to  Homer; 
but  their  is  no  probability  that  it  was  written  by  the  author 
of  tie'  Iliad  or  0  lyssey. 

BATRACHOSPE  R.MA.  (Or.  (Sdrpaxos,  a  frnS.  and 
oiripjui.  seed  )  A  name  proposed  for  such  ilgaceous  genera 
as  are  articulated  and  live  in  fresh  water. 

BATTA'I.ION.  A  division  of  the  infantry  in  an  army, 
composed  of  a  variable  number  of  men  :  at  present,  in  the 
English  service,  it  is  about  750.  One  battalion  generally 
constitutes  a  regiment ;  hut  some,  as  those  of  the  Guards, 
consists  of  two  battalions,  ami  a  regiment  of  artillery  of 
eight.  Each  battalion  is  generally  divided  into  ten  com- 
panies ;  it  is  commanded  by  its  own  colonel ;  and  several 
battalions  or  regiments  are,  on  service,  all  united  under  one 
general  officer,  forming  a  brigade. 

BA'TTARDEAU.  (Fr.  battre,  and  eau.)  In  Architec- 
ture, the  same  as  Cofferdam,  which  see. 

BATTEN.  (Probably  from  the  French  baton,  from  its 
slender  width.)  In  Architecture,  a  name  given  by  workmen 
,  to  slips  of  wood,  from  two  to  four  inches  broad  and  one 
'  inch  thick  ;  the  length  considerable,  but  undefined. 

BA'TTENED  DOWN.  Covering  the  hatchways  in  very 
bad  weather  with  strong  gratings,  and  these  with  painted 
canvass  nailed  under  long  pieces  of  wood  (battens),  to  keep 
the  water  from  setting  below  the  decks. 

BA'TTENING.  (From  batten.)  In  Architecture,  nar- 
row battens  fixed  to  a  wall,  to  which  the  laths  for  the  plas- 
tering are  nailed. 

BA'TTER  (Probably  from  battre,  Fr.)  In  Architecture, 
a  term  used  by  artificers  to  signify  that  a  body  does  not 
stand  upright,  but  inclines  from  you  when  you  stand  before 
it  ;  when,  on  the  contrary,  it  leans  towards  you,  they  des- 
cribe its  inclination  by  saying  it  overhangs. 

BA'TTERING-RAM.  An  ancient  military  engine  em- 
ployed for  beating  down  the  walls  of  besieged  fortresses. 
137 


BATTLE. 

It  consisted  of  a  long  heavy  beam  of  timber,  armed  with 
iron  at  one  extremity,  and  the  effect  was  produced  by 
pushing  it  violently  with  successive  blows  against  the  wall. 
The  ram  was  worked  in  various  ways.  Sometimes  it  was 
simply  supported  by  two  files  of  soldiers,  and  the  impetus 
given  by  a  simultaneous  thrust.  More  frequently  it  was 
slung  from  a  cross  beam,  supported  by  two  posts,  by  a  rope 
or  cable  about  its  middle ;  in  which  case  it  had  an  oscillat- 
ing motion,  like  a  pendulum.  A  third  sort  was  moved  on 
rollers  or  wheels.  Generally  they  were  worked  under  a 
cover  or  shed  ( tinea  or  testudines)  to  protect  the  assailants. 
These  machines  were  often  of  immense  size,  and  exceed- 
ingly ponderous,  requiring  100  men  to  work  them.  Justus 
Lipsius  describes  a  battering  ram  as  180  feet  long,  and  two 
feet  four  inches  in  diameter,  armed  with  an  iron  head 
weighing  at  least  a  ton  and  a  half.  The  momentum  of 
this  ram,  pushed  forward  by  the  united  strength  of  100 
men,  must  have  been  equal  to  that  of  a  36-pound  shot  dis- 
charged point-blank  from  a  modern  piece  of  heavy  ord- 
nance, and  its  efficacy  in  communicating  a  sf  ock  to  the 
whole  building  very  much  greater. 

I:  \  'TTERV.  A  military  term,  denoting  any  raised  place 
where  cannon  or  mortars  are  planted.  Batteries  haM  va- 
rious names,  according  to  the  different  kinds  of  artillery 
employed,  or  the  purposes  they  are  designed  to  effect. 
Breach  batteries  are  used  to  attack  the  face  of  a  bastion,  in 
order  to  make  an  accessible  breach.  Batteries  en  echarpe 
are  those  which  play  obliquely.  Ricochet  battery,  one  from 
which  cannon  an-  discharged  with  a  very  small  quantity  of 
powder  and  a  little  elevation.  SO  as  to  carry  the  ball  just 
over  the  parapet,  where  it  rolls  aloiiir  the  opposite  rampart, 
and  produces  a  destructive  effect  They  are  placed  per- 
pendicular  to  the  line  to  be  enfiladed.  In  a  ricochet  battery, 
small  mortars  and  howitzers  are  frequently  used  with  ef- 
fect in  enfilading  an  enemy's  ranks. 

BATTLE.  (Fr.  bataille.)  In  the  art  Military,  an  engage- 
in.  ni  between  two  hostile  armies  for  tin-  accomplishment 
ni  some  important  object  A  battle  is  the  most  important 
event  in  war:  it  is  tin-  consummation  to  winch  all  the  pre- 
i  ombinations  of  a  general  necessarily  tend  :  it  is  that 

grand  act  of  war  which   may  decide  the  fate  of  kingdoms 

and  of  nat s  as  wall  as  thai  of  armies  ami  campaigns.  In 

the  early  ages  of  the  world  a  battle  was  merely  a  fierce  and 
bloody  struggle,  the  issue  of  which  depended  more  on  the 
physical  strength  of  the  combatants  than  on  any  scientific 
combinations  which  the  general  could  adopt;  but  as  the 
aits  and  see  n  military  system  was  im- 

proved; and  the  bat  bon  (the  first  well  authen- 

ticated battle  in  profane  history)  demonstrated  how  far  su- 
periority in  physic  d  sen  ngth  may  he  compensated  by  ge- 
neralship  and  discipline.  A  further  illustration  of  this  tact 
Is  afforded  in  the  subsequent  battles  of  Plataea,  Mantinea, 
and  Leuctra.  am.  ne  the  Greeks;  and  the  banks  of  the  Ti- 
cinus,  the  lake  of  Thrasymenus,  aid,  above  all.  the  plains 
of  Cannae,  are  memorable  for  engagements,  winch  for  in- 
I  I  dexterity  of  i  xecution  have  excited 
the  admiration  of  soldiers  in  every  age.  But  to  give  even 
a  faint  sketch  of  the  various  exploits  which  were  achieved 
by  the  Grecian  so-called  oblique  system,  the  Macedonian 
phalanx,  and  the  Roman  legion,  and  of  the  different  mili- 
tary principles  involved  in  their  construction,  would  be  to 
furnish  a  history  of  these  different  nations;  and  we  must 
content  ourselves  with  referring  the  reader  to  the  article 
"  Bataille,"  in  the  Encydopedie  des  Gensdu  Munde.  where 
some  concise  though  scientific  details  upon  this  subject 
will  he  found.  Though  the  weapons  employed  in  battle  in 
modern  times  are  widely  different  from  those  in  use  among 
the  ancients,  and  though  many  circumstances  have  com- 
bined to  give  an  entirely  different  aspect  to  the  military 
systems  of  the  two  periods,  still  it  is  surprising  how  strong 
a  resemblance  to  each  other  is  displayed  in  their  ground- 
work ;  and  it  will  be  found  on  examination  that  the  grand 
principles  which  even  in  the  present  century  were  adopted 
by  Napoleon  and  the  Duke  of  Wellington  were  practised, 
though  imperfectly,  by  Epaminondas  on  the  field  of  Leuc- 
tra. Indeed,  it  is  a  circumstance  worthy  of  note,  that  the 
changes  which  in  every  age  have  taken  place  both  in  the 
manners  and  the  weapons  of  nations  have  had  no  perceptible 
influence  on  the  grand  leading  principles  of  military  tactics. 
•■  Les  tetrarchies,"  says  a  French  author,  "etlesmanipules 
sont  representees  chez  les  modernes  par  les  compagnies :  les 
xenagies  ou  syntagmes  et  les  cohortes  Romaines,  par  les  ba- 
taillons ;  enfin,  les  phalanges  et  les  legions,  par  les  regi- 
mens, les  brigades  ou  les  divisions."  There  are  three  com- 
binations of  which  a  battle  is  susceptible: — I.  Defensive, 
which  consists  in  taking  up  a  position,  and  defending  it 
against  the  enemy.  2.  Offensive,  in  which  the  enemy 
is  sought  to  be  harassed  at  all  points  and  on  all  occasions. 
The  third  is  a  medium  between  these  two,  and  presup- 
poses on  the  part  of  the  general  sufficient  skill  to  know 
when  to  make  an  attack,  and  when  to  act  on  the  defen- 
sive. It  is  impossible  to  state  precisely  the  principles 
which  should  guide  a  general  in  the  adoption  of  one  or 
otherof  these  three  systems,  from  the  difficulty  of  provid- 


BATTLE-AXE. 

Ing  against  unexpected  events  which  often  occur  to  perplex 
or  overturn  the  most  matured  and  ingenious  plans ;  but 
making  due  allowance  for  casualties  of  this  nature,  a  refe- 
rence to  history  will  prove  that  design  and  ingenuity  have 
generally  triumphed  over  chance  and  accident;  and  that  a 
skilful  disposition  of  the  troops,  and  the  seizure  of  the  pro- 
per moment  for  assuming  the  initiative,  combined  with 
courage  and  adroitness  in  prosecuting  success,  will  ulti- 
mately be  crowned  with  victory.  For  a  full  and  elaborate 
view  of  the  principles  involved  in  a  battle,  the  reader  may 
consult  with  advantage  Jomini's  Traite  ties  Grandes  Ope- 
rations Militaires  (Paris,  1824);  a  system  which  is  founded 
on  the  united  principle  of  a  concentration  of  the  forces,  and 
the  commencement  of  hostilities. 

BA'TTLE  AXE.  '  A  military  weapon,  which  is  purely 
offensive,  and  owes  its  origin  to  the  Celts.  It  was  not  em- 
ployed by  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  though  it  was  found 
among  contemporary  nations.  At  the  siege  of  the  Roman 
capital  by  the  Gauls  under  Brennus,  the  most  distinguished 
warriors  were  armed  with  battle-axes ;  and  Ammianus 
Marr.ellinus  states  that  this  instrument  formed  part  of  the 
offensive  armour  of  the  Gauls  from  time  immemorial.  In 
England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  the  battle-axe  was  much 
employed:  the  Lochaber  axe,  in  particular,  was  long  a 
formidable  implement  of  destruction  in  the  hands  of  the 
Scottish  Highlanders,  and  obtained  almost  a  universal  re- 
putation. 

BA'TTLEMENTS.  (From  battle.)  In  Architecture,  a 
wall  or  parapet  on  the  top  of  a  building,  with  embrasures 
or  open  places  to  look  through,  or  discharge  missiles  for 
the  annoyance  of  an  enemy. 

BATTUE.  (Fr.)  In  Sporting,  a  term  indicating  a  prac- 
tice of  huntsmen  which  consists  in  encompassing  a  certain 
portion  of  tlie  forest,  and  in  endeavouring,  by  beating  the 
bushes  and  with  loud  exclamations,  to  bring  out  wolves, 
foxes,  or  other  animals  of  the  chase. 

BATTU'TA.  (It.  a  beating.)  In  Music,  the  motion  of 
beating  with  the  hand  or  foot"  in  directing  the  time 

BAUERA'CEiE  (so  called  from  Mr.  Bauer,  their  disco- 
verer), a  small  natural  order  of  New  Holland  shrubs  with 
pretty  purple  flowers,  related  to  Saxifragacea.  There  is 
but  one  genus. 

BAULK.  (From  the  Dutch.)  Sometimes  called  Dram 
Timber.  In  Architecture,  a  piece  of  whole  fir,  being  the 
trunk  of  a  tree  of  that  species  of  wood  usually  squared  for 
building  purposes.  In  the  metropolis  the  term  is  only  ap- 
plied to  small  lengths  from  18  to  25  feet,  mostly  under  10 
inches  square,  tapering  considerably,  and  with  the  angles 
so  left  that  the  baulk  is  not  an  exact  square. 

BAXTE'RIANS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  name  ap- 
plied to  those  English  theologians  who  adopted  the  senti- 
ments of  Richard  Baxter  on  the  subject  of  grace  and  free 
will,  forming  a  sort  of  middle  way  between  Calvinism  and 
Artninianism.  They  never  formed,  strictly  speaking,  a 
sect,  and  the  name  is  now  disused  :  nevertheless,  similarly 
modified  religious  opinions  are  common  among  noncon- 
formists at  this  day. 

BAY.  (From  the  Dutch  baye.)  In  Architecture,  a  di- 
vision of  a  barn  or  other  building,  generally  from  15  to  20 
feet  in  length  or  breadth.  In  plasterers'  work  it  is  the 
space  between  the  screeds  prepared  for  regulating  and 
working  the  floating  rule.     See  Screeds. 

Bay.  (Fr.  buie.llal  baia,  Span,  bahia.)  In  Geography, 
a  portion  of  the  sea,  inclosed  between  two  capes  or  head- 
lands, so  that  the  opening  is  the  widest  part  and  the  inlet 
gradually  narrows  within.  It  is  thus  dintinguished  from 
gulf,  in  which  the  opening  is  comparatively  narrow.  The 
distinction,  however,  is  not  always  observed  in  nomencla- 
ture ;  e.  g.  Baffin's  Bay,  and  Chesapeake  Bay  in  America, 
are  both  more  properly  gulfs. 

BA'YONET.  A  short  triangular  sword  or  dagger  fixed 
upon  the  muzzle  of  a  musket,  which  is  thus  transformed 
into  a  thrusting  weapon.  The  original  invention  and  sub- 
sequent improvement  of  the  bayonet  are  due  to  the 
French,  who  first  used  it  in  the  Netherlands  in  1647,  and 
the  advantages  which  this  weapon  gained  to  that  nation 
60on  attracted  notice  to  its  merits.  In  the  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  it  was  every  where  substituted  for 
the  pike,  and  in  some  instances  it  has  decided  the  issue 
of  an  engagement  without  a  single  shot  being  fired.  Many 
plans  have  been  devised  at  different  times  to  augment  the 
efficiency  of  the  bayonet,  by  turning  it  to  the  purposes  of 
tilting  and  fencing;  but  when  the  cumbrousness  of  the  in- 
strument to  which  it  is  attached  is  considered,  it  will  not 
seem  surprising  that  all  schemes  of  this  nature  have 
proved  abortive.  Cavalry  are  often  counted  by  horses,  and 
infantry  by  bayonets.  (See  Guibert's  Essai  general  de 
Tactique.     Mitchell,  on  the  Use  of  the  Bayonet .) 

BAY  SALT.  (See  Salt.)  A  large  grained  salt,  ob- 
tained by  the  spontaneous  evaporation  of  sea  water  in  large 
shallow  pits  (bays)  exposed  to  the  full  influence  of  sun  and 
air;  all  coarsegrained  salt  is  frequently  known  under  the 
name  of  bay  salt. 
BAZA' AR.  (From  an  Arabic  word,  signifying  traffic  or 
138 


BEASTS. 

merchandise.)    A  large  square  or  street  where  merchants 
in  eastern  countries  have  their  shops  or  warehouses. 

BDE'LLIUM.  An  African  gum  resin  of  a  bitter  nause- 
ous taste,  and  a  dark-brown  colour.  It  is  sometimes  mixed 
with  myrrh. 

BDE'LLOSTOMES,  BDELLOSTOMA.  (Gr.  B<5uXXw, 
and  sropa.  a  mouth  adapted  for  suction.)  A  genus  of  Cy- 
clostomous  fishes. 

BEACH.  In  Geography,  a  shelving  tract  of  sand  or 
shingle  washed  by  the  sea  or  a  freshwater  lake,  and  inter- 
posed between  the  water  and  the  land  on  which  vegetation 
grows.  The  beach  of  the  ocean  is,  generally  speaking, 
little  more  than  the  space  between  low  and  high  water 
mark  ;  the  beach  of  a  lake,  that  between  the  water  marks 
of  the  highest  and  lowest  ordinary  level  of  the  lake.  An 
inland  sea  without  tide,  such  as  the  Mediterranean,  has 
generally  little  beach,  except  on  flat  coasts,  where  the  wa- 
ters are  apt  to  rise  and  fall  considerably,  according  to  the 
prevailing  winds.  liaised  beaches  exhibit  a  curious  phe- 
nomenon in  geology  :  they  are  tracts  of  shingle  and  gravel, 
indurated  for  the  most  part  into  the  consistency  of  pub- 
dingstone  or  breccia,  lound  on  the  sides  of  shelving 
ground  at  a  level  above  that  of  some  neighbouring  lake  or 
sea,  in  such  a  position  as  to  leave  no  doubt  that  they  had 
in  ancient  times  been  washed  by  its  waters.  They  are 
found  extending  along  large  tracts  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
great  American  Jakes. 

BE'ACON.  (Sax.  beacn  or  beacen,  allied  to  the  words 
beck,  beckon,  i.  e.  to  point  out,  in  the  English  language.)  A 
fire  lighted  by  way  of  signal  on  a  height,  or  the  place 
where  such  signals  are  usually  made.  Along  the  southern 
coast  of  England,  many  of  the  highest  hills  are  provincially 
termed  "beacon,"  from  this  circumstance.  There  is  a 
celebrated  poetical  description  of  the  transmission  of  news 
by  the  fire  signals,  from  height  to  height,  in  the  Agamem- 
non of  JEschylus.  The  English  beacons  were  erected  un- 
der the  superintendence  generally  of  the  lord  high  admi- 
ral ;  they  were  usually  pitch  boxes,  or  fire  pots,  and  their 
maintenance  and  watching  was  defrayed  by  a  rate  levied 
on  the  county.     (See  ArchanJogia,  vols.  i.  and  viii.) 

BEAD.  (Sax.  beade.)  In  Architecture,  a  moulding 
whose  vertical  section  is  semicircular. 

BEAK.  In  Botany,  a  hard  sharp  termination  of  any  part 
of  the  fructification.     It  is  Latinized  hy  rostrum. 

BEAM.  (Sax.  beam,  a  tree.)  In  Architecture,  an  hori- 
zontal piece  of  timber,  used  to  resist  a  force  or  weight;  as 
a  tie  beam,  which  acts  as  a  string  or  chain  by  its  tension  ; 
as  a  straining  piece,  where  it  acts  by  compression  ;  as  a 
bressummer,  where  it  bears  an  insisting  weight. 

Beam.  In  sea  phrase,  the  width  of  a  vessel.  Thus  a 
wide  vessel  is  said  to  have  more  beam  than  a  narrow  one : 
the  beams  being  the  strong  pieces  of  timber  stretching 
across  the  ship  from  side  to  side,  for  the  purpose  of  sup- 
porting the  decks  and  retaining  the  sides  at  their  proper 
distance.  When  a  ship  is  lying  entirely  on  her  side,  she 
is  said  to  be  on  Iter  beam  ends.  When  this  is  the  case  in  a 
hurricane  or  heavy  gale,  there  is  often  no  other  resource 
to  right  the  ship  than  cutting  the  masts  away. 

A-bearn.  In  the  direction  perpendicular  to  the  ship's 
length,  a-midships.  Thus  an  object  seen  from  the  middle 
of  a  vessel,  90  degrees  or  8  points  from  the  head  or  stern, 
is  said  to  be  a-beim. 

BEA'MFILLING.  In  Architecture,  the  filling  in  mason- 
ry or  brickwork  between  beams  or  joists,  its  height  being 
equal  to  the  depth  of  the  timbers  filled  in. 

BEAM-TREE.  A  deciduous  British  tree  of  small 
growth,  inhabiting  the  mountainous  parts  of  the  country, 
and  resembling  a  small  apple  tree,  with  berries  like  those 
of  the  mountain  ash.  Its  leaves  are  strongly  veined  in  a 
plaited  manner,  and  white  underneath ;  the  wood  is  hard, 
compact,  and  tough,  and  is  used  for  axletrees,  naves  of 
wheels,  and  cogs  of  machinery.  The  Pyrus  aria  of  bo- 
tanists. 

BEAR.     See  TJrsus. 

BE'ARBERRY.  The  Arctostaphylus  uva  ursi.  The 
leaves  of  this  plant,  under  the  name  uva  ursi,  are  used  as 
an  astringent  and  tonic  in  medicine. 

BEARD.  (See  Barba.)  When  applied  to  corn  it  is 
used  in  the  sense  of  Aim,  which  also  see. 

Beard.  The  gills  or  breathing  organs  of  the  oyster  and 
other  bivalves  are  vulgarly  so  called. 

BE'ARER.  (Sax.  baran,  to  bear.)  In  Architecture,  any 
upright  piece  used  to  support  another. 

BE'ARING.  In  Geography  and  Navigation,  the  direc- 
tion or  point  of  the  compass  in  which  an  object  is  seen  ; 
thus  an  object  bears  north,  south,  &c.  when  seen  in  these 
directions.  When  the  distance  of  an  object  or  point  of  land 
is  specified  besides  the  bearing,  the  place  of  the  ship  with 
respect  to  such  object  is  obviously  fixed  ;  thus,  the  Land's 
End  N.  43°,  E.  141  miles,  determines  the  ship  to  be  141 
miles  in  the  S.  48°  W.  direction,  or  nearly  south-west 
from  the  Land's  End. 

BEAR  S  FOOT.     See  Hei-leborus. 

BEASTS.     As  charges  in  Heraldry,  are  said  to  be  ram- 


BEAT. 

pant,  when  represented  rearing  ;  sejant,  when  seated  ;  sta- 
tant,  when  standing  ;  couchant,  when  lying;  salient,  when 
springing ;  passant,  when  walking  (but  the  words  lodged, 
springing,  and  tripping,  are  used  of  a  beast  of  chase  in 
these  positions);  gardant,  when  full-faced;  regardant, 
looking  back;  dormant,  sleepy;  nascent,  rising  out  of  the 
middle  of  an  ordinary  ;  is.su.ant,  rising  from  its  top  or  bot- 
tom. Two  animals  represented  side  by  side,  but  moving 
in  opposite  directions,  are  said  to  be  connterpassant,  &c. 

BEAT.  (Sax.  Beatan,  to  heat.)  In  Music,  a  reversed 
shake  without  a  turn. 

To  In  nt.  beat  up,  or  beat  to  windward,  in  Navigation, 
making  progress  against  the  wind  by  a  zigzag  course,  and 
is  the  same  as  working  to  windward. 

BEAU  IDEAL.  (Fr.)  In  Painting,  that  beauty  which  is 
freed  from  the  deformity  and  peculiarity  found  in  nature 
in  all  individuals  of  a  species.  All  the  objects  which  na- 
ture exhibits  to  us  have  their  blemishes  and  defects,  though 
every  eye  is  not  capable  of  perceiving  them  ;  and  it  is  only 
by  long  habii  of  observing  what  any  objects  of  the  same 
kind  have  in  common  ihat  it  acquires  the  faculty  of  dis- 
cerning what  each  wants  in  particular.  By  such  means  the 
artist  gains  an  idea  of  perfect  nature,  or  what  is  called  the 
Beau  liU  ni.    See  Ideal 

BEAU'TY.  (Fr.  beaute*.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  thi 
of  all  the  various  perfections  whereof  an  object  is  suscep- 
which  pleases  the  senses,  and  more  particularly  the 
eye  and  the  ear.  Willi  the  painter  ami  sculptor,  nature,  re- 
fined by  selecting  from  the  most  perfect  of  the  species,  is 
the  index  and  guide;  but  with  the  architect  the  creative 
powei  ol  i)  is  the  model  of  imitation.    Some 

of  the  sources  of  beauty  have  been  seriously  considered 
by  no  less  a  writer  than  Burke  as  consisting  in  smal 
smoothness,  delicacy,  and  the  like;  bul  such  speculations 
at  e  too  absurd  for  notice  here.    The  primary  source  of  all 
beauty  in  the  three  arts  is  form;  on  that  alone  must  the 
artist  depend  If  he  would  produce  a  work  capable  of  pleas- 
ing.   There  is  no  doubt  that  in  painting  colour  is  a  hand- 
maid that  decks  her  works  with  many  charms;  but  they 
are  all  subordinate  to  that  great  effect  which  form,  un 
by  all  accessaries,  is  capable  of  producing  on  the  mind. 
\    form  is  constituted  by  lines,  it   seems  probable  tl 
inquiry  into  their  Nature  might  lead  the  artist  to  the  inven- 
tion of  beautiful  tonus;  and  it  was  doubtless  this  i 
which  led  Hogarth,  m  his  Analysis  of  Beauty,  to  place  so 
much  to  the  account  of  the  serpentine  line,    Bui  in  the  arts 

uly  the  principles  are  infinitely  more  extended  ;  for 
Inns  n  hich,  from  their  propriety  in  one  art,  are  strikingly 
beautiful,  become  absolutely  absurd  as  sources  of  beauty 
in  others  Hence  we  arrive  atone  general  conclusion,  that 
in  till  of  them  liniess  for  the  purpose  and  proportion  to  ef 
feet  the  object  are  the  surest  guide  to  beauty  of  line,  and 
thence  naturally  to  beauty  of  form.  If  this  be  so.  no  gene- 
ral laws  save  those  dependent  on  fitness  and  proportion 
can  be  laid  down  ;  and  perhaps  it  would  not  be  a  difficult 
task  to  trace  to  them  all  those  associations  v.  bjch  set  in  to 

be  connected  with  the  subject  in  us  effect  on  the  mind. 

Alison,  in  his  elegant  Essays  on  the  Natu/rt  and  Principles 

of  Taste,  appears  to  be  much  impressed  with  the  feeling 

ive  on  this  point ;  for  he  observes  that  "if  then 

any  original  and  independent  beauty  in  any  pm  ' 
form,  the  preference  of  this  form  would  be  early  and  de- 
cidedly marked  both  in  the  language  of  children  and  the 
ons  of  mankind."  We  trust  it  may  not  be  irreverent 
to  close  this  article  with  a  quotation  which  is  as  expressive 
of  our  notions  of  beauty  as  resulting  from  form  as  the  in- 
spired writer  who  km  w  it  to  be  true  of  qualities  :  •  All  flesh 
is  not  the  same  flesh;  but  there  is  one  kind  of  flesh  of 
men,  another  flesh  of  beasts,  another  of  fishes,  and  another 
of  birds.  There  are  also  celestial  bodies,  and  bodies  ter- 
restrial ;  but  the  glory  of  the  celestial  is  one,  and  the  glory 
of  the  terrestrial  is  another." 

BE'AVER.     See  Castor. 

1(1.  <  'HICUS.  (Gr.  /?;>£,  0nxot<  «  cough.)  A  medicine 
for  the  relief  of  coughs. 

BED.  (Sax  bed.)  In  Architecture,  the  horizontal  sur- 
face on  which  the  stones  or  bricks  of  walls  lie  in  courses. 

Bed  of  a  Stone,  Brick,  or  Slate.  In  Architecture, 
tllP  lower  surface. 

BE'DCHA'MBER,  LORDS  OF  THE,  or.  as  they  were 
called  before  the  accession  of  the  House  of  Hanover,  Gen- 
tlemen  of  the  Ihdchamber,  are  officers  of  the  royal  house- 
hold, under  the  groom  of  the  stole  ;  their  number  has 
usually  been  twelve,  and  they  wait  in  turn,  a  week  each. 
This  office  is  performed  by  ladies  during  the  reign  of  a 
queen. 

BED  MOULDING.  In  Architecture,  those  mouldings 
in  all  the  orders  which  are  between  the  corona  and  frieze. 

BED  OF  JUSTICE.  (Fr.  lit  de  justice.)  In  French  His- 
tory, a  solemn  proceeding  to  which  the  monarchs  of 
France  had  recourse  on  particular  occasions.  As  is  well 
known,  the  parliament  of  that  country  had  a  right  to  resist 
any  commands  or  decrees  issued  by  the  sovereign.  If, 
however,  the  king  insisted  on  the  fulfilment  of  his  wishes, 
139 


BEGHARDS. 

he  proceeded  to  hold  a  "  lit  de  justice  :"  i.  e.  he  went  in 
person  to  parliament,  attended  by  the  chief  officers  of  the 
court,  and  there,  mounting  the  throne  (called  in  the  old 
French  language  "  lit"),  caused  those  commands  or  de- 
crees which  the  parliament  had  rejected  to  be  registered 
in  his  presence.  This  had  the  effect  of  intimidating  the 
parliament  into  compliance  ;  and  the  means  which  it  usu- 
ally adopted  to  intimate  its  dissatisfaction  was  to  enter  a 
protest  against  the  whole  proceeding. 

BF.DS.     In  Geology,  seams  of  strata,  thick  or  thin. 

BEE.     See  Apis. 

BEECH.  One  of  the  forest  trees  of  the  north  of  Europe, 
the  Fagus  sylvatica  of  botanists,  belonging  to  the  natural 
order  Corylaeea.  Its  fruit,  or  mast,  consists  of  triangular 
nuts  enclosed  in  a  spiny  husk  or  cupule,  of  the  same  na- 
ture as  the  cup  of  the  acorn,  only  of  a  different  shape,  and 
covering  the  nuts  all  over.  Its  wood,  which  is  hard  and 
rather  handsome,  i.s  brittle  and  perishable,  and  particularly 
liable  to  become  wormeaten.  It  is  chiefly  used  by  turners  and 
millwrights.  The  purple  and  copper  beeches  seen  in  plan- 
latii  us  are  seedling  varieties  of  Fagus  sylvatica, 

BEE-EATJEB      See  Merops. 

BEEF  -EATER.  ( By  corruption  from  the  French  beavf- 
fetter,  an  officer  appointed  to  watch  the  beauffet,  buffet,  or 
side-board.)  A  popular  appellation  for  the  yeoman  of  the 
king's  guard,  partially  derived  from  the  circumstance  that 
some  of  them  originally  were  ranged  at  table  on  solemn 
festivals 

BEE'LZEBUB.  (Heb.)  A  god  of  the  Philistines,  who 
had  a  famous  temple  at  Ekron.  His  name  signifies  literal- 
ly the  destroyer  of  flies;  and  if  we  consider  the  torment 
which  those  insignificant  insects  occasion  in  the  East,  it 
will  not  seem  surprising  that  the  Philistines  conferred  on 
him  this  appellation.  Besides,  it  is  quite  in  conformity 
with  the  practice  of  other  idolatrous  nations  to  consider 
their  gods  as  the  destroyers  of  offensive  vermin.  Take, 
for  instance,  the  Apollo  Y.ynvQivi  (the  destroyer  of  rats)  of 
the  Greeks.  Milton  in  his  epic  poein  assigns  him  the  second 
rank  ;  and  in  the  second  hook,  where  he  is  represented  as 
rising  to  address  the  fallen  angels,  there  is  all  air  of  ma- 
jesty in  his  demeanour  nowhere  surpassed. 

BEER.  (From  the  German  bier.)  The  wine  of  grain. 
It  is  usually  made  by  fermenting  an  infusion  of  barley 
mall  and  of  hops,  and  bears  different  names  according  to 
its  Strength  and  colour.  Il  is  nutritious  from  the  sugar  and 
mucilage  which  it  contains,  exhilarating  from  the  spirit,  and 
Strengthening  and  narcotic  from  the  hops,  Mr.  Brande  ob- 
tained the  following  quantities  of  alcohol  from  100  parts  of 
different  beers  Burton  ale,  between  •*:  and  1) ;  Edinburgh 
ale,  6  to  7  ;  Dorchester  ale,  5  to  C  ;  the  average  of  strong 
ales  being  between  6  and?;  brown  stout,  6  to  7;  London 
pTter,  about  4  (average) ;  and  London  brewers' small  beer 
between  1  and  2.     See  Fermentation. 

BEET.  (Celt,  bett,  red.)  The  sweet  succulent  root  of 
/;.  ta  vulgaris,  a  Chenopodiaceous  plant  of  biennial  dura- 
tion. It  is  used  in  the  winter  as  a  salad,  for  which  purpose 
the  red  and  yellow  beets  of  Castelnaudari  are  the  best;  for 
the  food  of  cattle,  under  the  name  of  mangel  wur/.el ;  and 
for  the  extraction  of  sugar:  for  the  last  object  a  white- 
rooted  variety  with  a  purple  crown  is  the  most  esteemed. 
Sea  beet.  Beta  maritima,  is  a  well-known  and  excellent  sub- 
stitute for  spinach. 

BE'ETLE.  (Sax.  bytel.)  In  Architecture,  a  large 
wooden  hammer  or  mallet,  with  one,  two,  or  three  han- 
dles, for  as  many  persons,  with  which  piles,  stakes,  wedg- 
es, &c.  are  driven. 

Beetle.  A  name  commonly  given  to  the  insects  of  the 
1  pterous  order,  especially  to  such  as  are  of  a  dark  or 

obscure  colour;  it  i.s  also  applied,  but  improperly,  to  the 
common  pest  of  our  kitchens,  the  blatta,  or  cockroach, 
which  is  an  insect  of  the  Orthopterous  order. 

BEGHA'RDS.  A  German  word,  signifying  one  who 
begs  with  importunity.  In  this  sense,  it  was  frequently 
applied  to  the  Franciscan  and  other  mendicant  orders,  de- 
noting the  practice  by  which  they  gained  their  subsistence. 
The  Beghards  formed  a  sort  of  intermediate  class  between 
the  monks  and  laity,  and  were  known  under  various  de- 
nominations; as  the  tertianes  or  half  monks  of  the  mendi- 
cant orders,  the  fraternity  of  the  weavers,  the  brethren  of 
St.  Alexius,  &c.  But  the  term  has  also  been  affixed  to  a 
set  of  persons  who,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  became  no- 
torious for  the  frequency  and  ardour  of  their  prayers. 

The  Beguins  were  a  class  of  women  throughout  Ger- 
many and  the  Netherlands,  who  as  early  as  the  eleventh 
century,  without  taking  vows  or  following  the  rules  of  any 
order,  united  themselves  for  devotional  and  charitable  pur- 
poses, and  were  distinguished  from  the  great  body  of  the 
laity  of  those  times  by  their  industrious,  pious,  and  seclu- 
ded habits,  and  by  their  attention  to  the  education  of  the 
young.  Their  conduct  was  imitated  by  men.  who  formed 
a  union  for  similar  purposes,  and  were  called  Beghards 
(see  above).  The  Beguins  continued  to  exist  in  Germany 
up  to  the  Reformation,  under  the  name  of  "seelen  weiber" 
(spiritual  women),  from  the  interest  they  took  in  the  spi- 


BEGONIACE^. 

ritual  concerns  of  their  sex;  and  a  society  of  them  was 
even  seen  at  Louvain,  in  the  Netherlands,  towards  the 
close  of  last  century.  There  are  now  in  some  Roman 
Catholic  countries  societies  or  beguinages  of  females,  who 
live  together  after  the  manner  of  nuns  without  taking 
vows  ;  but,  by  their  mode  of  life  and  profession,  maintain- 
ing the  same  intermediate  state  between  the  laity  and  the 
clergy  which  was  first  remarkable  in  the  Beghards  and 
Beguins  of  the  eleventh  century.  The  most  celebrated  is 
at  Ghent. 

BEGONIA'CE^.  (Begonia,  the  principal  genus.)  A 
natural  order  of  Polypetalous  Exogens,  with  showy  pink  or 
white  flowers  and  handsome  succulent  leaves,  which  are 
frequently  richly  coloured  or  gaily  variegated,  and  have 
one  side  considerably  larger  than  the  other.  Their  leaves 
have  large  stipules,  and  a  subacid  flavour.  Much  differ- 
ence of  opinion  exists  among  botanists  as  to  their  affinity. 
They  generally  inhabit  the  dampest  parts  of  the  tropics, 
and  are  favourites  with  cultivators  both  for  their  beauty 
and  the  facility  with  which  they  are  maintained,  in  health. 
BEHE'MOTH.  (Hebrew.)  The  name  of  an  animal,  of 
which  some  of  the  characters  and  attributes  are  described 
in  poetical  language  in  the  40th  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Job. 
Much  pains  have  been  taken  to  identify  the  creature  here 
referred  to ;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  discovery 
and  general  adoption  of  a  mode  of  description  which  com- 
bines at  once  exactness  with  brevity,  and  is  applicable  only 
to  the  object  described,  are  the  results  of  a  recent  and 
highly  advanced  state  of  zoological  science.  Even  the 
prosaic,  and,  so  far  as  they  went,  scientific  descriptions  of 
animals  in  the  writings  of  Aristotle,  are  rarely  so  copious 
and  precise  as  to  enable  a  modern  naturalist  to  identify  the 
existing  species  there  referred  to.  But  the  aim  of  Job  in 
the  verses  in  which  he  sings  of  Thau,  Leviathan,  Behe- 
moth, was  to  show  forth  the  power  and  wisdom  of  the  Dei- 
ty, and  lower  the  pride  of  man,  by  appealing  to  the  won- 
derful powers  assigned  to  some  of  the  most  remarkable 
and  formidable  objects  of  animated  nature  with  which  he 
was  acquainted  ;  and  it  can  hardly  therefore  be  expected 
that  curiosity,  eager  to  hunt  out  the  precise  species  alluded 
to,  should  be  gratified.  Sufficient  source  of  doubt  has  al- 
ways been  left  to  shake  the  most  sagacious  conjectures  ; 
and  some  recent  inquirers  into  Biblical  zoology,  perceiving 
that  the  properties  of  Behemoth  were  not  manifested  to 
the  letter  in  any  known  existing  species,  have  endeavoured 
to  make  the  scriptural  allusions  square  with  the  characters 
of  one  of  the  gigantic  extinct  animals  which  the  study  of 
fossil  remains  has  brought  to  light:  the  Iguanodon,  for  ex- 
ample, a  supposed  herbivorous  reptile,  with  a  horn  on  the 
nose  and  a  long  and  flexible  tail,  has  been  selected  as  the 
species  described  by  Job.  The  allusion,  in  verse  17,  to  a 
part  of  the  generative  organs,  which  is  visible  externally 
only  in  the  class  of  mammalia,  renders  it  very  improbable 
that  Behemoth  could  be  one  of  the  Reptilia.  The  excla- 
mation, also,  "  Behold  he  drinketh  up  a  river  and  hasteth 
not !  He  trusteth  that  he  can  draw  up  Jordan  into  his 
mouth,"  could  not  with  any  appearance  of  truth  be  applied 
to  aspeciesof  a  class  of  animals  of  which  the  organization 
requires  them  to  drink  so  little  and  so  seldom.  If  a  mam- 
miferous  quadruped,  then  Behemoth  was  a  herbivorous 
and  ungulate  species  :  "He  eateth  grass  as  an  ox"  (verse 
15) ;  but,  unlike  the  males  of  the  larger  ruminants,  he  had 
not  a  divided  scrotum,  for  "the  sinews  of  his  stones  were 
wrapt  together"  (verse  17.)  Thus  from  the  few  zoological 
characters  which  are  brought  under  our  consideration,  we 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  some  huge  pachyderm, 
"  whose  haunt  was  in  the  fens,  whose  place  of  retreat  was 
encompassed  by  the  willows  of  the  brook,  and  overshad- 
owed by  trees,  was  "  the  chief  of  the  ways  of  God,"  in  the 
language  and  mind  of  the  sacred  poet. 

As  there  exist,  differences  of  opinion  among  the  best  He- 
brew scholars  as  to  the  exact  signification  of  the  first  part 
of  verse  17,  which  some  have  rendered  "He  sitteth  up," 
and  of  the  second  part  of  verse  19,  where  allusion  is  made 
to  some  weapon,  these  become  obviously  unsafe  elements, 
in  the  consideration  of  the  zoological  problem. 

BELE'MNLTES.  (Gr.  0e\euvov,  a  dart.)  A  genus  of 
fossil  Dibranchiate  Cephalopods,  the  shells  of  which  are 
chambered  and  perforated  by  a  siphon,  hut  internal. 
They  are  long,  straight,  and  conical ;  and  commonly 
called  "  thunder  stones."  These  fossil  remains  are  often 
found  in  chalk. 

BEL-ESPR1T.  (Fr.)  A  term  formerly  naturalized  in 
England,  applied  to  those  individuals  whose  conversation 
or  writings  display  an  agreeable  sprightliness  or  vivacity. 
{Diet.  Acad.  Franr-.) 

BE'LFRY.  (Sax.  bell,  and  Lat.  ferre,  to  carry.)  In  Ar- 
chitecture, a  tower  or  other  place  in  which  bells  are  hung. 
See  Campanile. 

BE'LIAL.  A  Hebrew  word,  signifying  wicked,  worth- 
less, and  unprofitable.  In  Scripture,  the  sons  of  Eli  are 
called  sons  of  Belial,  for  their  idolatrous  and  criminal  con- 
duct (Sam.  ii.  12.);  and  likewise  the  inhabitants  of  Gibeah, 
who  abused  the  prophet's  wife.  (Judg.  xix.  22.)  The 
140 


BELLES-LETTRES. 

apostle  Paul  (2  Cor.  vi.  15.),  in  order  to  indicate  in  the 
strongest  terms  the  high  degree  of  virtue  after  which  the 
Christian  should  strive,  places  Christ  in  direct  opposition 
to  Belial.  Our  own  epic  poet  has  immortalized  the  infamy 
of  Belial,  by  assigning  him  a  prominent  place  in  his  Para- 
dise Lost. 

A  fairer  person  lost  not  heaven  ;  he  teemed 

For  dignity  composed,  and  high  exploit. 

But  alfwao  false  and  hollow,  though  his  tongue 

Dropped  manna,  and  could  make  the  worse  appear 

The  better  reason,  to  perplex  and  dash 

Maturest  counsels,  for  his  thoughts  were  low  : 

To  vice  industrious,  but  to  nobler  deeds 

Timorous  and  slothful,  &c. 

In  the  Paradise  Regained,  Milton  represents  even  Satan 
as  fired  with  indignation  at  the  impiety  of  Belial,  and  as 
administering  to  him  a  sharp  rebuke.  ( Vide  Addison's 
Critique  on  Milton  in  the  Spectator.)  To  these  quotations 
may  be  added  an  allusion  to  Belial  by  Wierns.  (Pseudo- 
monarchia  Damonum,  p.  919.)  "Sunt  quidam  necroman- 
tici  qui  asserunt  ipsum  Salomonem,  quodam  die  astutia 
cujusdam  mulieris  sednctum,  orando  se  inclinasse  versus 
simulacrum  Belial  nomine." 

BELL.  A  vessel  or  hollow  body  of  cast  metal,  formed 
to  emit  sound  by  the  act  of  some  instrument  striking 
against  it.  Bells  are  probably  of  very  ancient  origin  ;  they 
are  mentioned  as  worn  upon  the  high  priest's  robes,  in  the 
book  of  Exodus  (ch.  xxviii.  ver.  3.)  They  were  used 
among  the  Greeks  in  camps  and  garrisons.  Church  bells 
are  said  to  have  been  invented  by  Paulinus,  bishop  of  Nola 
in  Campania  (whence  the  term  Campana),  about  the  year 
400.  They  are  first  mentioned  in  England  by  Bede,  to- 
wards the  end  of  the  seventh  century. 

BELLA  DONNA.  (Atropa  be/la  donna.)  The  deadly 
nightshade  :  it  is  an  acro-narcotic  poison.  The  name  bella 
donna  (handsome  lady)  is  said  to  have  been  given  from  its 
having  been  used  to  improve  the  complexion.  It  contains 
the  alkaloid  atrojiia. 

BELLE'ROPHON.  (Gr.  PiXXtpo^ovrrn ;  called  also 
Hipponous.)  In  the  fabulous  history  of  Argos,  the  son  of 
Glaucus,  and  grandson  of  Sisyphus  (Pavs.  2.  4.),  who  was 
obliged  to  flee  from  Corinth  for  the  murder  of  Bellerus, 
and  seek  refuge  at  the  court  of  Proetus.  There  Anlaea,  the 
wife  of  Proteus,  conceived  a  violent  attachment  for  him, 
which  he  requited  as  Joseph  did  the  advances  of  Potiphar's 
wife.  Nor  does  the  analogy  between  the  cases  end  here ; 
for  Antfea  forthwith  accused  him  to  her  husband  of  at- 
tempts on  her  virtue.  Proetus,  however,  unwilling  to  vio- 
lale  the  laws  of  hospitality,  sent  him  to  Tobates,  king  of 
Lycia,  his  wife's  father,  with  a  letter  desiring  him  to  put 
Bellerophon  to  death,  and  mentioning  the  cause.  (Hence, 
a  letter  unfavourable  to  the  bearer  was  called  "Literie  Bel- 
lerophontis.")  With  this  Tiew,  Tobates  sent  him  on  va- 
rious perilous  expeditions :  first,  against  the  Chimaera,  a 
dreadful  monster,  which  continually  vomiled  flames 
(Lucre,  v.  902.  ;  Virg.  JEn.  vi.  288.  785.),  and  which  at  that 
time  devastated  the  country  of  Lycia,  having  the  head  of  a 
lion,  the  middle  of  a  goat,  and  the  tail  of  a  serpent.  ( Ovid. 
Met.  ix.  646.)  This  monster,  however,  Bellerophon  suc- 
ceeded in  destroying  by  the  aid  of  a  winged  horse  called 
Pegasus  (see  Pegasus),  which  he  had  caught  while  drink- 
ing at  the  fountain  Pirene  in  Corinth.  In  his  next  expedi- 
tions against  the  Solymi  and  the  Amazons,  he  was  equally 
successful  (Horn.  II.  vi.  155.),  and  consequently  obtained 
the  forgiveness  of  Tobates.  Elated  by  his  success,  Bellero- 
phon tried  to  fly  to  heaven  on  Pegasus  ;  but  Jupiter,  en- 
raged at  his  presumption,  frustrated  his  attempts  by  send- 
ing an  insect  (restrum)  which  stung  the  horse  so  violently 
that  he  became  restive  and  threw  his  rider.  Though 
maimed  and  shattered  by  the  fall,  Bellerophon  was  not 
killed  ;  but  he  never  perfectly  recovered,  and  continued 
during  the  rest  of  his  life  to  wander  up  and  down  in  sorrow 
and  dejection.  (Horn.  II.  vi.  201.)  Bellerophon,  we  may 
add,  was  celebrated  for  his  skill  in  horsemanship  (Hot.  Od. 
iii.  12.  7.),  and  is  said  to  have  first  taught  the  art  of  riding. 
(Plin.  iv.  56.) 

Belle'rophon.  A  fossil  shell,  the  animal  of  which  was 
probably  allied  to  that  of  argonauta.  The  genus  belongs 
to  the  carboniferous  and  older  strata. 

BELLES-LETTRES.  (Fr.)  Polite  Literature.  Almost 
all  authors  concur  in  censuring  the  vague  and  indefinite 
character  of  this  term,  as  at  one  time  every  branch  of 
knowledge  has  been  included  under  this  denomination, 
at  another,  excluded  from  it.  Sometimes  we  are  told 
that  by  the  belles-lettres  is  meant  a  knowledge  of  the 
arts  of  orator)'  and  poetry ;  sometimes  that  the  true 
belles-letlres  include  natural  philosophy,  geometry, 
and  other  essential  parts  of  learning ;  and  one  author,  in 
treating  of  the  belles-lettres,  introduces  a  discourse  on  the 
seven  sacraments  of  the  Romish  church.  In  the  division 
of  the  departments  at  the  Lyceum  of  Arts,  established  at 
Paris  in  1792,  the  belles-lettres  comprehended  general 
grammar,  languages,  rhetoric,  geography,  history,  antiqui- 
ties, and  numismatics;  whilst  philosophy  and  the  various 
branches  of  the  mathematics  were  called,  in  contracts- 


BELLES-LETTRES. 

tinction,  sciences.  Rollin  and  Rosenstein,  who  professedly 
treat  of  the  belles-lettres,  comprehend  under  the  term  all 
those  instructive  and  pleasing  branches  of  knowledge 
which  chiefly  occupy  the  memory  and  the  understanding, 
and  do  not  form  part  either  of  the  superior  sciences  or  of 
the  mechanical  professions.  Belles-lettre3,  says  Blair 
(after  pointing  out  the  tendencies  of  logical  and  ethical  dis- 
quisitions),  consider  man  as  a  being  endowed  with  those 
powers  of  taste  and  imagination  which  were  intended  to 
embellish  his  mind,  and  to  supply  him  with  rational  and 
useful  entertainment.  All  that  relates  to  beauty,  harnii  my, 
grandeur,  and  elegance — all  that  can  soothe  the  mind,  gra- 
tify the  fancy,  or  move  the  affections,  belongs  to  their  pro- 
vince. In  an  inquiry  of  this  kind,  n'li-reuce  must  neces- 
sarily be  made  to  Hume,  who,  both  from  the  nature  of  his 
pursuits  and  the  bent  of  his  mind,  was  well  qualified  to 
give  an  opinion.  Paraphrasing  the  well-known  passage  of 
a  classic  author, — 

Ingenuafi  tliilicisse  fi<leliter  artes 
Bmollit  morea    nw  -ink  esse  feros,— 
he  asserts,  that  the  belles-lettres  improve  our  sensibility 
for  all  the  tender  and  agreeable  passions,  at  the  same  time 
that  they  render  the  mind  incapable  of  the  rougher  and 
more  boisterous  emotions.     Still  the  difficulty  is  not  re- 
moved; for  while  all  those  writers  concur  in  awarding  a 
distinguished  place  in  the  category  of  learning  to  the  "in- 
genues artes,"  the  " liters  humaniores,"  as  tl 
Ires  are  called,  they  have,  if  nol  thrown  a  veil  of  obscurity 
over  the  precise  definition  of  the  term,  at  least  nol  Ci 
scended  to  remove  it.    If  we  have  recourse  to  the  Ger- 
mans, we  shall  find  thai  they  comprehend  under  the  de- 
nomination belles-lettres  everj  bi  inch  of  learning  that  is 
not  cultivated  with  an  ulterior  view  to  pecuniary  emolu- 
ment ;  but  their  adoption  of  the  term  bi  ueti  iatic,  to  express 
all  thai  re  I. ties  to  works  of  taste  or  aesthetics,  does  nol  ap- 
pear to  coincide  with  the  definition  above  given  by  their 
professed  lexicographers. 

lint  though  it  would  appear  difficult  to  reduce  this  term 
within  the   limits  of  a  precise  and  accurate  definil 

there  can  he   little   doubt    that   there  are  few  terms  which 

present  so  distinct  a  meaning  to  each  individual  mind, 
The  Influence  of  the  belles-lettres  has  been  fell  and  ac 
knowledged  in  all  ages.  The  beautiful  tribute  paid  to  them 
by  Cicero  in  his  defence  of  Archias  is  famili  tr  to  all.  Hut 
we  shall  advert  to  the  sentiments  of  another  Roman,  with 
whom  we  are  more  hkely  to  sympathise,  as  he  al 

co i  be  charged  with  special  pleading,     in  the  beautiful 

letter  to  Maecenas,  who  was  afflicted  with  Borne  mental 
distemper,  Horace  first  ui\  Ises  his  friend  to  b  ive  recourse 
to  the  study  of  polite  literature  in  particular, — 

Sm.i  1 1  Inlorem 

Pos^  I 

and  then  concludes  in  these  general  terms, — 

[nvidUB]  Ir&cuadui,  Inert,  vtnoiui,  urnutor, 
Nemo  .1.1,  n  ferufl  e-i,  iu  Don  taileacere  ponsit, 
S(  i Hint,  i  iiImi  .-  paueateni  coramodet  .un-ciii. 

Rut  the  high  importance  with  which  the  same  accomplish- 
ed author  has  Invested  polite  literature  may  be  still  belter 
perceived  in  another  of  his  epistles, — 

Trojani  belli  senptorem 

Prssnette  relegi, 

Qui,  quid  sit  p-itctii  urn.  q  i  hIiIl-,  quiJnoo 

Piuuiua  et  melius  i  ihryalppo  et  Oi 
In  this  passage  Horace  pronounces  Homer  to  be  the 
most  instructive  teacher  of  moral  and  political  philosophy; 
and  indeed  the  tribute  of  respect  which  all  the  European 
nations  pay  to  the  Greeks  in  general,  and  to  Homer  in  par- 
ticular, us  the  authors  of  their  refinement,  sufficiently  cor- 
roborates the  opinion  of  the  poet. 

It  would  greatly  exceed  our  limits  to  give  even  a  cursory 
view  of  the  belles-lettres  in  the  decline  and  fall  of  the  Ro 
man  empire;  but  we  refer  the  [leader  to  Schlegel'a  Histo- 
ry of  LiU  rnfiii, .  and  to  HaUam'a  Introduction,  Ace,  for  full 
information  on  this  head.  It  may.  however,  be  remarked, 
tint  during  the  long  period  of  the  middle  ages  (which  has 
been  often,  though  erroneously,  considered  as  a  blank  in 
the  history  of  the  human  mind)  learning  was  almost  whol- 
ly confined  to  the  church  ;  and  though  there  was  little  ori- 
ginal genius  displayed  in  the  province  of  imagination,  yet 
here  was  preserved  the  germ  of  the  future  polite  literature 
of  Europe.  As  early  as  the  14th  century,  the  spirit  of  po- 
lite literature,  that  had  long  been  slumbering,  was  reani- 
mated by  the  genius  of  Petrarch,  and  burst  forth  like  a 
meteor  in  the  Italian  republics.  Its  genial  influence  was 
soon  felt  on  this  side  the  Alps  ;  and  in  the  year  1400,  as 
Mr.  Hallam  observes,  Spain,  France,  England,  and  Ger- 
many were  in  possession  of  a  national  literature.  The 
traces  of  this  spirit,  however,  were  soon  obliterated,  and 
its  effects  gradually  swallowed  up  in  the  wars  that  every- 
where ensued,  and  in  the  all-absorbing  taste  for  metaphy- 
sical and  theological  disquisitions  that  subsequently  pre- 
vailed. 
It  is  to  the  Reformation  that  may  properly  be  ascribed 
141 


EELOMANCY. 

the  origin  of  polite  literature  in  modern  times  ;  though,  to 
use  the  words  of  Schlegel,  the  authors  of  that,  mighty 
spiritual  revolution  probably  contemplated  no  other  result 
from  It  than  the  emancipation  of  Europe  from  ecclesiasti- 
cal bondage.  Among  the  first-fruits  of  its  effects  upon  the 
interests  of  the  belles-lettres  in  England,  it  may  suffice  to 
mention  the  names  of  Spenser,  Shakspeare.  Dryden,  and 
Milton,  who  have  embodied  in  their  writings  al!  the  riches 
of  the  English  language,  and  whose  works  are  of  them- 
selves sufficient  to  furnish  any  nation  with  a  polite  litera- 
ture of  which  it  might  justly  be  proud.  In  France,  too, 
shortly  afterwards,  literature  assumed  a  novel  and  sub- 
stantial form  ;  and  in  the  age  of  Louis  XIV.  there  arose  a 
mighty  host  of  literary  stars,  which  were  only  equalled  in 
brilliancy  by  a  contemporaneous  galaxy  of  British  genius. 

The  close  of  the  last  and  the  dawn  of  the  present  centu- 
ry may  be  regarded  as  an  era  in  the  history  of  polite  lite- 
rature throughout  Europe.  Never  at  any  former  period 
were  the  true  nature  and  object,  the  wide  extent  and  dig- 
nity, of  the  belles-lettres  so  universally  appreciated. 
While,  on  the  Continent,  Gothe  and  Schiller  were  scatter- 
ing from  their  rich  and  inexhaustible  stores  "thougl  I 
breathe,  and  words  thai  burn,"  England  could  at  the  same 
time  boast  of  the  brilliant  productions  of  the  Great  Un- 
known, whose  influence  on  polite  literature  has  been  well 
compared  to  that  of  the  bright  luminary  on  the  terrestrial 
globe.  The  rapid  strides,  too,  thai  have  been  made  in  the 
art  of  criticism,  the  establishment  of  reviews  in  every 
country  on  a  more  comprehensive  plan  than  was  ever  pre- 
viousl]  adopted,  and  the  general  ability  with  which  these 
are  executed,  have  great!]  contributed  to  the  formation 
and  confirmation  of  a  literary  taste.  In  his  admirable  Es- 
say  on  the  Rise  of  the  Arts  and  Sciences,  Hume  has  re- 
marked, that  nothing  is  more  favourable  to  the  rise  of  po 
liteness  and  learning  than  a  number  of  neighbouring  and 
independent  states  conni  i  ted  together  by  commerce  and 
policy.    Now.  it  we  apply  this  observation  to  the  various 

-  of  society  in  the  sat :ountry.  and  contrast  the 

present  state  i,t  society  with  thai  which  existed  even  in 
the  time  of  Hume,  we  may  perhaps  find  another  clue  to 

the  wide    spread   and  cultivation  of  polite  literature  among 

\t  no  very  distant  period,  i  broad  line  ol  demarcation 
was  drawn  between  the  literary  and  commercial  classes 
•  ■I  the  community  ;  In  fact,  literature  and  commerce  stood 
lull  rent  worlds  revolving  in  different 
But  the  scene  i<  changed;  the  framework  of 
society  has  become  mon  artificial  and  complicated:  and 
we  may  now  see  the  learning  of  the  philosopher,  the'  acute- 
ind  promptitude  "i  tie    man  of  business,  and  the 
earnestness   ami    enthusiasm    ol    the    solitary    artist,    all 
brought  into  actual  contact,  and  shedding  each  its  influ- 
ence upon  the  rest.    SchlegePs  History  of  Literature.   (See 
art.  Literature  in  this  work,  and  the  authorities  there 
d  too 
BELL  METAL,     \u  alloy  of  SO  parts  of  copper  and  20 
Ol   tin        The   Indian  gong   metal   is  a  similar  alloy.      An 

English  bell  metal  analysed  by  Dr.  Thomson  was  found  to 
consist  ol  BOO  copper,  101  tin,  50  zinc,  and  43  lead.  Small 
shnil  bells  generally  contain  zinc. 

BELLO'NA.  (I.'at.  helium.)  In  the  mythology  of  the 
ancients,  was  the  wife  or  sister  or  the  sister  wife  of  Mar-, 
and  was  especially  worshipped  by  the  Romans  as  the  god- 
i  war,  Shi  possessed  a  temple,  built  and  dedicated 
to  her  by  Appius  Claudius,  which  stood  in  the  Circus  I'la- 
miniiis,  near  the  Porta  Carmentalis  Ii  was  here  that  the 
senate  granted  audiences  to  foreign  ambassadors,  and  re- 
ceived  generals  on  their  return  from  abroad.  In  front  of 
this  temple  also  stood  the  pillar  against  which  the  javelin 
was  hurled,  the  usual  preliminary  among  lie-  Romans  to  a 
declaration  of  war.     Hellona  is  generally  depicted  as  the 

cht I i  Mars,  with  wild  dishevelled  hair,  bloody  gar 

ments,  and  a  torch  in  her  hand.  Though  the  Romans 
were  her  chief  worshippers,  there  were"  many  temples 
de, heated  to  her  service  in  Cappadocia  and  Paphlagonia. 
The  priests  of  this  goddess,  who  were  termed  BeUonarii, 
consecrated  themselves  by  incisions  in  their  bodies,  and 
sacrificed  to  her  honour  the  blood  which  flowed  from  their 
wounds. 

BE'LLOWS.  A  machine  contrived  to  propel  airthrough 
a  tube:  or  orifice.  It  is  used  for  blowing  fires,  supplying 
the  pipes  of  organs,  and  other  purposes,  and  is  constructed 
according  to  various  forms,  but  the  principle  is  the  same 
in  all  of  them.  The  dimensions  of  a  space  in  which  air  is 
confined  are  contracted;  the  air,  being  permitted  to  escape 
only  at  a  small  opening,  rushes  out  with  a  velocity  pro- 
portional to  the  pressure  and  to  the  smallness  of  the  open- 
ing. 

BE'LLUjE.  (Lat  bellua,  any  great  beast.)  The  term  by 
which  Linnaeus  designated  an  order  of  Mammalia,  nearly 
corresponding  to  the  Pachyderms  of  Cuvier. 

BE'LOMANCY.  (Gr.  fteXos,  javelin,  arid  [lavreta,  pro- 
phecy.) Divination  by  the  flight  of  arrows,  common  to  va- 
rious oriental  nations,  and  especially  observed  by  the  Ara- 
bians.   It  has  been  performed  in  various  modes;  one  of 


BELTANE. 

the  most  common  is,  to  let  fly  arrows,  with  inscriptions  on 
labels  attached  to  them,  and  take  for  a  guide  the  contents 
of  that  belonging  to  the  arrow  first  found. 

BEL'TANE,  or  BE'LTIN.  (Said  to  be  the  "fire  of 
Bel"  or  Belus.)  May-day,  and  the  traditional  Celtic  cus- 
toms attached  to  it.  The  month  of  May  is  thus  called  in 
the  present  Irish  language.  This  day  is  particularly  cele- 
brated by  the  herdsmen  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland. 
The  Beltane-fire,  Beltane-cake,  &c,  are  all  observances  of 
this  day. 

BELTS.  A  name  given  to  the  zones  or  bands  which  ap- 
pear on  the  disk  of  the  planet  Jupiter.  They  are  situated 
near  and  parallel  to  the  equator  of  the  planet,  and  are  sup- 
posed to  be  produced  by  clouds  in  its  atmosphere  arranged 
in  parallel  strata,  by  currents  of  wind,  which,  by  reason  of 
the  rapid  rotation  of  the  planet,  must  in  the  equatorial  re- 
gions blow  always  in  the  same  direction. 

BELVEDE'RE.  Qt.  a  fine  prospect.)  In  Architecture, 
a  small  building  at  the  top" of  a  house  or  palace,  construct- 
ed, as  the  name  implies,  to  obtain  a  view  of  the  country. 

BELVISl'E^:.  (Belvisia,  one  of  the  genera.)  In  Bot- 
any, a  natural  order  of  monopetalous  Exogens,  inhabiting 
Africa  on  the  west  side.  Scarcely  anything  is  known  of 
the  species,  and  its  affinities  are  quite  unsettled.  One  of 
the  species  was  called  Napoleona  imperialis  by  its  discover- 
er, Palisot  de  Beauvois,  after  whom  the  genus  typical  of 
the  order  is  now  named. 

BE'MBEX.  A  genus  of  Hymenopterous  aculeate  in 
sects  of  the  tribe  Fossores,  or  burrowing  sand-wasps^  rais- 
ed by  Dr.  Leech  to  the  rank  of  a  family  {Bembecida),  and 
including  the  genera  Bembex  proper,  Monedula,  and  Stizus. 
Head  transverse,  with  the  upper  lip  exposed  ;  tongue  long, 
legs  short ;  the  brachia  of  the  female  furnished  at  the  sides 
with  very  strong  spines  for  burrowing  in  the  sand.  For  the 
habits  of  this  family,  see  Fossores. 

BEMBI'DIUM.  A  name  applied  by  Latreille  to  a  genus 
of  Coleopterous  insects,  of  the  tribe  Carabidce.  Now  raised 
to  the  rank  of  a  family  (Bembidiidm),  including  the  genera 
Lymneum  1,  Cillenum  1,  Tachys  8,  Philochlhus  6,  (Jcys  3, 
Peryphus  16,  Notaphus9,  Sopha  11,  Tac!iypus9,  Bembidium 
proper  4 :  the  figures  refer  to  the  number  of  indigenous 
species  in  each  of  the  genera.  The  common  characters 
of  the  group  are,  cubits  notched,  elytra  rounded  at  the  ex- 
tremity, abdomen  not  pedicellate,  external  maxillary  palpi 
terminated  by  a  very  minute  and  acute  joint,  antennae  sub- 
elongate.  The  Bembidiidoe  are  generally  found  in  low  and 
damp  situations,  are  of  very  small  size,  and  glitter  with 
polished  metallic  colours. 

BEND.  In  Heraldry,  an  ordinary  bounded  by  parallel 
lines,  equally  distant  from  the  line  joining  the  dexter  base 
to  the  sinister  chief.  It  contains  the  fifth  part  of  the  es- 
cutcheon if  charged,  and  the  third  if  not  charged.  The 
bend  sinister  descending  from  the  sinister  chief  to  the  dex- 
ter base,  is  the  well  known  difference  which  denotes  bas- 
tardy, being  borne  on  the  paternal  escutcheon  of  the  bastard. 

To  Bend.  The  general  sea  term  for  fastening  any  thing ; 
as  to  bend  one  rope  to  another,  the  cable  to  the  anchor,  a 
sail  to  a  yard  or  gaff.  Certain  knots  are  called  bends ;  as  a 
carrick  bend,  a  fisherman's  bend,  <fec. 

BENDS,  called  also  WALES.  A  certain  number  of 
thick  planks  of  the  ship's  side,  from  the  water  upwards. 

EENEDI'CTINE  MONKS.  An  order  of  monks  that 
followed  the  rule  of  St.  Benedict,  which,  as  early  as  the 
6lh  century,  had  extended  itself  through  Italy,  France, 
Spain,  Germany,  and  England.  The  rules  of  Benedict, 
although  founded  no  doubt  on  the  old  monastic  institutions 
of  Cassian  (Cassiatii  Opera,  Lips.  1733),  were  of  a  much 
more  rational  and  comprehensive  character.  Avoiding 
the  extreme  rigour  of  the  Eastern  systems,  he  not  only 
exacted  a  promise  from  all  who  entered  a  convent  that 
they  would  remain  for  life,  and  strictly  observe  its  rules 
{Marten.  Commen.  in  liegulas  Bened.  Paris,  1690),  but 
prescribed  to  them  a  variety  of  suitable  employments. 
This  system  soon  made  rapid  progress,  and  the  monks  be- 
gan to  be  useful  to  society  in  various  ways:  reclaiming 
waste  lands,  promoting  zealously  the  cause  of  education, 
preserving  the  hislory  of  the  times  in  their  chronicles,  and 
multiplying  the  treasures  of  antiquity  by  their  copyists. 
Under  Charles  the  Great  this  order  of  monks  was  prefer- 
red to  every  other ;  and  the  spirit  of  inquiry  which  they 
then  called  into  existence  was  perpetuated  by  the  depth  of 
their  enthusiam  and  the  extent  of  their  learning.  To  give 
even  a  cursory  history  of  this  order  would  far  exceed  our 
limils,  as  it  embraces  perhaps  the  palmiest  days  of  eccle- 
siastical domination.  (Vide  Gieseler' s  Kircken-geschichte  ; 
a  work  of  great  learning,  and,  as  a  book  of  reference,  in- 
comparable.) As  is  universally  known,  it  is  to  the  Bene- 
dictine monks  that  England  (a.  d.  596)  is  indebted  for  its 
conversion  from  idolatry.  This  order  has  produced  a  vast 
number  of  ancient  writers  and  men  of  learning.  Among 
others,  Placidius  Maurus  founded  the  school  of  Germany  ; 
Alcuinus  the  university  of  Paris ;  Guido  invented  the  scale 
of  music  ;  Dionysius  Exiguus  completed  the  collection  of 
papal  decrees  (a.  d.  510)  :  and  the  most  learned  man  of  his 
142 


BENZOIN. 

time,  the  admiration  of  the  whole  Western  world,  the  Ve- 
nerable Bede,  belonged  to  this  order. 

BE'NEFICE.  (Lat.  beneficium.)  A  word  denoting  a 
certain  class  cf  church  preferments,  viz.  rectories,  vicar- 
ages, perpetual  curacies,  and  chaplaincies  ;  and  distinguish- 
ed from  a  dignity,  under  which  title  are  comprehended 
bishoprics,  deaneries,  and  prebends.  Under  the  Romans, 
certain  grants  of  lands  made  to  the  veteran  soldiers  were 
called  beneficia  ;  and  the  same  term  was  applied  at  the 
commencement  of  the  feudal  system  to  estates  conferred 
by  the  sovereign  and  held  under  him :  which  afterwards 
assuming  a  hereditary  character  became  "fiefs"  properly 
so  called.  In  the  middle  ages  the  popes  assumed  the  feu- 
dal right  with  reference  to  ecclesiastical  "patronage,"  and 
the  term  beneficium  was  hence  applied  to  livings,  &c,  on 
the  assumption  that  they  were  held  under  the  pope  as  a 
superior  lord.  It  was  the  assertion  of  this  claim  by  Inno- 
cent III.  and  his  successors,  which  roused  the  jealousy  of 
the  European  sovereigns,  especially  those  of  England  and 
France  ;  and  from  the  contentions  consequent  upon  this 
the  first  opening  was  made  to  the  cause  of  Reformation. 

BE'NEFIT  OF  CLERGY.  In  law,  originated  in  the  im- 
munities from  municipal  jurisdiction  enjoyed  in  many 
states  of  Europe  by  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  during  the 
middle  ages.  When  a  person  indicted  for  certain  offences 
(most  of  those  subjecting  the  offender  to  capital  or  corpo- 
real punishment,  excepting  high  treason)  pleaded  that  he 
was  a  clerk  or  clergyman,  and  claimed  privilege,  he  was 
demanded  by  his  ordinary  :  a  jury  was  summoned,  and  he 
was  tried;  and,  according  lo  their  verdict,  delivered  to  the 
ordinary  as  acquit  or  convict,  to  undergo  canonical  purgation, 
and  to  be  discharged  or  punished  according  to  the  result  of 
such  purgation.  The  proof  of  clergy ,  at  first  strictly  required, 
was  at  last  so  relaxed,  that  it  was  only  necessary  lor  the  of- 
fender to  show  that  he  was  able  to  read.  The  bishop's  com- 
missary was  present,  to  decide  whether  or  not  he  passed  the 
test  satisfactorily.  This  loose  mode  of  acquiring  the  pri- 
vilege was  first  restricted  by  the  stat.  4  H.  7.  c.  13.,  which 
provided  that  offenders  who  had  been  allowed  their  clergy 
should  be  "  burnt  in  the  thumb,"  and  if  they  claimed  it  a 
second  time,  be  required  to  give  proof  of  being  actually  in 
orders.  By  18  Eliz.  c.  7.,  the  second  trial  by  compurgation 
before  the  ordinary  (which  had  become  a  mere  fiction) 
was  abolished,  and  the  judges  were  empowered  lo  im- 
prison the  person  who  had  benefit  of  clergy  for  a  year,  if 
they  thought  proper.  By  various  subsequent  statutes,  the 
burning  in  the  hand  was  commuted  for  transportation, 
whipping,  &c,  at  the  discretion  of  the  judges  ;  and  the  be- 
nefit was  taken  away  altogether  from  a  number  of  statu- 
table felonies.  By  5  Anne,  c.  6.,  the  ceremony  of  reading 
was  abolished,  benefit  of  clergy  being  granted  indiscrimi- 
nately to  all  entitled  to  it ;  and  finally  by  one  of  the  enact- 
ments commonly  called  Peel's  Acts  (7  Ac  8G.4.  c.  28.  s.  6.) 
benefit  of  clergy  was  abolished  altogether. 

BENE'VOLENCE.  (Lat.)  In  English  History,  a  species 
of  tax  levied  by  the  sovereign.  As  its  name  implies,  it  was 
nominally  a  gratuity  ;  but  was,  in  point  of  fact,  exacted  as 
a  forced  loan,  with  or  without  the  condition  of  repayment, 
under  the  reigns  of  the  Plantagenet  kings.  By  a  statute  of 
Richard  III.  benevolences  were  declared  illegal;  but  they 
were  again  exacted  by  Henry  VII.,  and  occasionally,  by 
means  of  circulars  under  the  privy  seal,  by  his  successors. 
By  13  C.  2.  stat.  1.  c.  4.  no  voluntary  aid  can  be  raised  on  be 
half  of  the  king  without  the  authority  of  parliament ;  and 
the  general  illegality  of  levying  money  for  the  use  of  the 
crown  without  such  authority  was  declared  in  1688  by  the 
Bill  of  Rights. 

BEN  NUTS.  The  seeds  of  an  Arabian  plant  called  Mo 
ringa  aptera ;  they  yield  an  oil,  called  oil  of  ben,  and  have 
been  employed  in  syphilitic  diseases. 

BEN,  OIL  OF.  The  expressed  oil  of  the  nut  of  the  Mo- 
ringa  aptera.  This  oil  is  remarkable  for  not  becoming 
rancid  by  age  ;  and  as  it  is  perfectly  insipid  and  inodorous, 
it  is  used  for  extracting  the  fragrancy  of  certain  flowers, 
such  as  jessamin,  orange.  <fec.  The  same  tree  furnishes 
the  Ligntm  nephnticum,  supposed  to  be  useful  in  certain 
affections  of  the  kidneys. 

BENT  GRASS.  A  species  of  Agrostis,  the  bent  and 
creeping  stems  of  which  are  very  difficult  to  eradicate. 

BENTS.  The  withered  stalks  of  grass  standing  in  a 
pasture  after  the  seeds  have  dropped. 

BE'NZAMIDE.  A  compound,  obtained  by  exposing 
chloride  of  benzule  to  ammoniacal  gas. 

BENZOTC  ACID.  This  acid  forms  a  constituent  of 
many  balsams ;  it  is  generally  obtained  by  heating  benzoin, 
and  collecting  the  acid  vapours  which  are  evolved  and  con- 
dense in  brilliant  acicular  crystals.  It  is  a  compound  of 
carbon,  hydrogen,  and  oxygen;  its  equivalent  being  120. 
Its  combinations  are  called  Benzoates. 

BENZOTN.  The  resinous  exudation  of  the  Styraxben- 
zoe,  a  tree  which  is  a  native  of  Sumatra.  Benzoin  is  a 
combination  of  resin  and  benzoic  acid.  It  has  a  mottled  or 
amygdaloid  texture,  and  is  composed  of  a  mixture  of 
brown  and  white  parts.    It  has  a  fragrant  odour. 


BENZULE. 

BENZULE.  (From  benzoin,  and  6X>;,  principle.)  A 
compound  of  carbon,  hydrogen,  and  oxygen,  regarded  as 
the  base  of  benzoic  acid. 

BERBERA'CE.E.or  BERBERIDEjE.     A  natural  order 

of  plants,  named  after  the  genus  Berberis,  which  is  in  fact 

the  most  important  genus  it  contains     It  is  the  only  one 

e  fruit  is  succulent  and  eatable  ;  that  of  the  others  is 

dry  and  hard. 

BE'RBEREN.  A  yellow  bitter  principle,  contained  in 
the  alcoholic  extract  of  the  root  of  the  barberry  tree. 

BK'RBERRV.  (Lat.  berberis.)  A  spiny  shrubby  plant, 
bearing  yellow  flowers,  and  succulent  one  celled  fruit 
growing  in  racemes  It  is  one  of  a  genus  in  which  the  fruit 
is  universally  fleshy  and  acid,  although  often  less  so  than 
in  the  commou  kind  (Berberis  vulgaris).  Some  of  the  spe- 
cies  have  pinnated  leaves,  many  are  ever-greens,  and  seve- 
ral have  a  black  fruit ;  even  the  common  sort  has  a  variety 
of  this  description,  as  well  as  others  with  pale  yellow  and 
Btoneless  fruit.  There  is  an  idea  among  people  in  the 
country  thai  a  berberry  bush  brings  blight  to  a  wheat  field  ; 
but  the  parasitical  fungus  which  attacks  the  berberry  is 
altogether  different  from  that  which  produces  the  mildew 
of  wheat,  which  cannot  possibly  be  communicated  by  the 
one  io  the  other. 

BE'RGAMOT,  ESSENCE  OF.  The  essential  oil  of  the 
rind  ol'a  small  pear  shaped  fruit,  the  produce  of  the  Citrus 
limetta  bergamium.  It  is  much  used  as  a  perfume,  and 
apt  to  h«  adulterated  with  the  oils  of  orange  and  lemon 
peel,  and  with  alcohol. 

BERO'SCS.  In  Entomology,  a  genus  of  Coleopterous 
insects  of  the  family  HydraptutidtB.  They  inhabit  points, 
in  which  they  may  often  be  seen  swimming  in  an  inverted 
position 

BE  KYI..  A  mineral  allied  to  the  emerald,  composed  of 
G3  silica.  IS  alumina.  II  glucine,  J  lime,  1  oxide  ol  iron.  It 
Is  usually  transparent,  pale  green, and  in  beautiful  crystals, 
much  larger  than  those  of  the  emerald.  It  is  the  aqua- 
marine  of  the  jewellers.  The  finest  comes  from  Dauria,  on 
the  frontiers  of  China,  from  Siberia,  and  from  Brazil. 

BESI'MEN.  An  obsolete  term  for  the  spores  or  seeds 
of  the  lowest  kinds  of  plants,  especially  < 

BE'TEL.      The   leaf  of  the   betel   or  Siriboa   pepper, 

.  is  chewed  by  the  inhabitants  of  many  parts  of  India 

along  with  a  nut  of  the  areca  palm  iree  and  lime;  which 

ire  wrapped  in  the  betel  leaf.     It  is  acrid  and 

and  s'ains  die  saliva  red. 

BETIIV  I.I  s  1  i  Entomology,  a  genus  of  Hymenopte- 
rotis  insects  of  the  family  Proctotruptda. 

BETRO'THMENT.  A  mutual  compact  between  two 
parlies,  by  which  they  bind  themselves  to  marry.  Be- 
trothmenl  wis  a  legal  contract  by  the  Roman  law,  as  it 
now  is  mi  that  of  various  continental  countries.  In  (Germa- 
ny, betrothments  are  either  public,  with  the  consent  of  re- 
l aiions  and  presence  of  witnesses  :  or  private  (clandestine), 
which  in  some  countries  are  void.— in  others,  although 
valid  as  contracts,  punishable  as  misdemeanors.  Public 
betrothment  induces  the  obligation  to  marry.  But  accord- 
ing to  modern  practice  an  action  for  damages  is  almost  the 
only  way  of  enforcing  it;  a  small  fine  or  imprisonment 
being  the  utmost  criminal  penalty  for  the  violation  of  the 
engagement. 

BETULA'CE.E.  (Betula,  one  of  the  genera.)  A  small 
natural  order  of  plant;,  containing  the  birch,  after  which  it 
takes  iis  name,  and  the  common  alder.  The  order  formed 
part  of  what  were  formerly  called  Amentacere. 

BE'VEL.  (I. at.  bivium,  branching  road  )  In  Architec- 
ture, an  instrument  for  taking  angles.  One  side  of  a  solid 
body  is  said  to  he  bevelled  with  respect  to  another  when 
the  angle  contained  between  their  two  sides  is  greater  or 
less  than  a  right  angle. 

BEVEL  ANGLE.  A  term  used  among  artificers  to  de- 
note an  angle  which  is  nether  a  right  angle  nor  half  a  right 
angle. 

BEVEL  GEER.  In  Mechanics,  a  species  of  wheel- 
work,  in  which  the  axles  of  two  wheels  working  into  each 
other  are  neither  parallel  nor  perpendicular,  but  inclined 
to  niie  another  in  a  certain  angle.  Wheels  of  this  kind  are 
also  i  i  rase  their  teeth  may  be  re- 

garded as  cut  in  the  frustrum  of  a  cone.     See  Wheel. 

BEY.  or  BEG.  A  Turkish  and  Tartar  title  of  dignity, 
use  I  with  no  very  accurate  application  for  lord,  prince,  or 
chief,  and  frequently  subjoined  to  the  proper  names  of 
persons  of  rank. 

BEZA'NT.  A  gold  coin  struck  at  Byzantium  (Constan- 
tinople) :  they  varied  in  weight  and  in  value.  Bezants  ap- 
pear to  have  been  current  in  England  from  the  tenth  cen- 
tury to  the  time  of  Edward  III.  Some  of  them  weighed 
about  twenty  grains.  According  to  Camden,  a  piece  of 
gold  which  was  anciently  offered  by  the  king  on  high  fes- 
tivals was  called  a  bizantine.  and  valued  at  j£15.  There 
were  also  white  or  silver  bezants. 

Bezant.  In  Heraldry,  a  circle,  or.  The  name  is  de- 
rived from  the  gold  coins  of  the  Greek  empire,  termed 
bezants,  or  bvzajitines,  by  the  people  of  the  West.  It 
143 


BIBLICAL  HISTORY. 

was  probably  introduced  into  coat  armour  by  the  Crusa- 
ders. 

BE'ZOAR.  A  Persian  word  implying  destructive  of 
poison,  and  applied  to  certain  intestinal  concretions  of  ani- 
mals, called  bezoar  stones,  and  supposed  to  possess  such 
powers. 

BI.  (Lat.  bis,  turice.)  Signifies,  when  attached  to  other 
words,  two,  twice,  or  double  ;  as  bicarbonate  of  potash,  a 
compound  of  potash  with  two  atoms  of  carbonic  acid;  bi- 
locular.  two  cells  ;  bivalve,  two  valves.  &c. 

BIARTI'CLLATE.  (Lat.  bis,  articulus.jofn/.)  Applied 
in  entomology  to  the  antennae  of  insects  when  they  consist 
but  of  two  joints,  and  also  to  the  abdomen  under  the  same 
circumstances,  as  in  the  Nycteribia  biarticulata. 

BIAURI'CULATE.  (Lai  his.  auricula,  an  auricle.)  In 
Comparative  Anatomy,  signifies  a  heart  with  two  auricles, 
as  in  most  bivalve  molluscs,  and  in  all  reptiles,  birds,  and 
mammals. 

BI'BLE.  (Gr.  0i$\os,  a  book  ;  from  whence  the  word 
came  to  be  applied  emphatically  to  the  volume  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments.) 

The  sixth  article  of  the  English  Church  enumerates  the 
books  of  the  Old  Testament,  which  it  considers  of  canoni- 
cal authority  :  in  which  it  follows  the  canon  received  by 
the  Jews  in  the  time  of  our  Saviour.  The  apocryphal 
writings,  which  are  accounted  authentic  by  the  Roman 
Catholics,  are  of  undoubted  antiquity,  being  comprised  in 
the  Septuagint  edition  of  the  Scriptures  ;  but  their  authori- 
ty has  never  been  acknowledged  by  the  Jews,  who  reckon 
twenty-four  canonical  books;  nor  are  tiieir  originals  found 
in  the  Hebrew  language. 

The  canon  of  the  New  Testament  is  now  received  with- 
out variation,  we  believe,  in  all  Christian  communities. 
In  the  early  period  of  the  church,  the  authenticity  of  parti- 
cular 1 k-  was  frequently  disputed,  and  heretical  sects 

attempted  to  foist  other  apocryphal  writings  into  their 
place.  The  general  consent,  however,  of  ihe  orthodox 
church  may  be  inferred  from  catalogues  extant  in  tho 
writings  of  many  of  the  Fathers  throughout  the  first  four 
centuries,  and  the  express  declaration  of  the  council  of 
Laodicea  and  others.  Some  latitude  of  opinion  seems, 
however,  to  have  been  allowed  in  early  times  respecting 
the  book  of  Revelation:- :  and  some  of  the  Fathers  confess 
that  the  genuineness  of  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 

of  that  of  James,  of  the  second  of  Peter,  and  two  last  oi 
John,  was  helil  by  some  to  be  undecided. 

BIBLE  SOCIETY.  THE  BRITISH  AND  FOREIGN. 
A  society  established  in  England  in  the  year  1804,  "  with 
the  sole  object,''  as  it  is  expressed  in  its  regulations,  "of 
encouraging  a  wider  circulation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures 
without  m,ie  or  comment."  The  society  took  its  rise  from 
the  circumstance  of  the  complaints  which  had  been  made  in 
Wales  for  some  years  previous,  respecting  the  great  defi- 
ciency of  Bibles  in  the  language  of  the  Principality — a  want 
which,  it  was  urged,  the  Society  for  Promoting  Christian 
Knowledge  had  very  imperfectly  supplied.  The  earliest 
promoters  of  this  institution  were  the  Rev.  Mr.  Charles  of 
liala.  Mr  Hugh.  8,  and  Mr.  SteinkofF,  minister  of  the  Ger- 
man Lutheran  Church.  Among  iis  principal  patrons  may 
be  mentioned  Lords  Teignmooth  and  Gambier,  Messrs. 
W  rforce,  Granville  Sharp,  and  Charles  Grant.  This 
;.  has  now  auxiliary  establishments  connected  with 
it  not  only  in  all  the  principal  cities  of  the  United  Kingdom, 
but  throughout  Europe  and  North  America. 

The  principle  upon  which  the  Bible  Society  acts  has  al- 
ways been  regarded  with  jealousy  by  the  high  church 
party  in  England.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  looked  upon  not 
only  as  a  rival  to  the  venerable  Society  for  Promoting 
Christian  Knowdedge.  which  had  been  in  action  since  the 
year  1699  ;  but  as  casting  some  slur  upon  the  latter  as  in- 
efficient in  its  operation  and  erroneous  in  its  principles. 
The  younger  society  also  admits  as  members  the  adhe- 
rents of  every  religious  denomination,  and  in  its  proceed- 
ings maintains  an  absolute  neutrality  among  them — wdiich 
its  opponents  consider  incompatible  with  the  profession 
of  true  churchmanship.  Accordingly  many  controversies 
have  been  carried  on  between  the  champions  of  the  two 
institutions ;  in  the  course  of  which,  however,  it  would 
seem  that  the  Bible  Society  has  gained  ground  in  the  fa- 
vour of  the  established  church,  from  whence  a  large  pro- 
portion of  its  subscribers  are  now  derived.  Among  them 
are  the  names  of  several  bishops,  and  many  other  digni- 
taries. 

In  the  report  for  15-10.  we  find  the  total  number  of  Bibles 
and  Testaments  issued  by  this  society  since  its  foundation 
to  be  12,322.471.  The  number  issuer!  during  the  year  end- 
ing March,  1>40,  was  776,360.  The  income  of  the  society 
for  that  vear  was  £111,449.  13s.  Id. 

BI'BLICAL  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.  The  ac- 
counts of  the  books  of  the  Jewish  Scriptures  antecedent  to 
the  captivitv  are  few  and  indistinct;  but  they  are  referred 
to  under  the  titles  of  "  the  law."  "  the  books  of  Moses," 
and  "  the  books  of  the  law  of  Moses."  by  Daniel  (ix.  11.), 
Ezra  (vi.  18.),  and  Nehemiah  (viii.  1.):  there  are  also  other 


BIBLICAL  HISTORY. 

passages  from  which  it  may  be  inferred,  independent  of  the 
internal  evidence  of  the  books  which  we  possess,  that 
there  existed  such  from  an  early  period. 

The  canon  of  the  Old  Testament  appears,  however,  to 
have  been  settled,  and  the  limits  of  inspired  Scripture  de- 
termined about  50  years  after  the  return  from  the  captivity, 
by  the  authority  of  Ezra  and  the  prophets  of  his  clay;  the 
books  of  Nehemiah,  Malachi,  and  Ezra  himself  being  sub- 
sequently added.  The  sacred  writings  which  came  in 
later  times  to  be  incorporated  in  the  collection  of  the  Jew- 
ish Scriptures  are  known  by  the  name  of  Apocrypha,  or 
secret :  they  were  undoubtedly  held  in  respect  by  the 
Jews,  and  by  the  Christians  afterwards;  but  Protestants 
deny  that  they  were  ever  held  to  be  inspired,  or  their  au- 
thority placed  on  the  same  footing  as  that  of  the  canonical 
Scriptures. 

At  a  later  period  we  find  passages  in  the  New  Testament, 
in  Philo,  and  most  distinctly  in  Josephus,  to  prove  the  fact 
of  this  collection  of  the  Scriptures  into  a  volume.  The 
books  themselves  are  first  specified  by  Origen,  who  enu- 
merates twenty-two,  in  which  number  he  coincides  with 
Josephus.  His  list  embraces  all  that  we  consider  canoni- 
cal, and  rejects  the  Apocrypha. 

The  early  versions  which  illustrate  the  question  of  the 
antiquity  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  are  the  Samaritan  Pen- 
tateuch, and  the  Septuagint  or  Greek  translation.  It  is  not 
to  be  supposed  that  the  Samaritans  would  have  adopted 
and  translated  the  books  of  the  Jews,  unless  they  had 
been  received  prior  to  the  separation  and  enmity  of  the 
two  peoples,  the  period  at  latest  of  the  return  from  the 
captivity.  The  Samaritan  Pentateuch  now  extant  is  said 
to  be  a  version  from  the  earlier  Hebrew  Samaritan  into 
the  more  modern  Samaritan,  and  was  made  before  the 
time  of  Origen.  The  part  of  the  Septuagint  which  com- 
prises the  Pentateuch  was  made  about  the  year  b.  c.  285; 
the  translation  of  the  other  book  into  Hellenistic  Greek  ap- 
pears to  be  of  different  and  somewhat  later  dates. 

Next  in  order  to  these  may  be  mentioned  the  versions 
of  the  Old  Testament  in  the  earliest  periods  of  Christiani- 
ty, which  are  important,  not  as  assisting  us  to  ascertain 
the  antiquity  of  the  original,  but  as  contributing  to  our 
knowledge  of  the  genuine  text.  These  may  be  divided 
into  three  classes. 

f.  The  Oriental,  comprising — 

The  Syriac  or  Peschito  (literal),  from  the  Hebrew, 
about  the  end  of  the  first  century — embracing  both 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 

The  Coptic,  from  the  Septuagint — between  centuries 
two  and  five.  This  embraces  also  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

The  Ethiopic,  from  the  Septuagint — in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury :  embraces  the  N.  T. 

II.  The  Latin,  or  Western  : — 

The  Italic,  from  the  Septuagint,  in  either  the  first  or 
second  century  ;  only  fragments  remain :  it  em- 
braced also  the  New  Testament. 

The  Vulgate,  made  from  the  Hebrew  by  Jerome,  A.  d. 
390.  This  translation  is  considered  an  ultimate  au- 
thority by  the  church  of  Rome. 

The  Gothic  version  of  Ulphilas,  which  was  made  from 
the  Greek  of  both  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  in 
the  fourth  century,  has  not  come  down  to  us  entire. 
Only  a  small  part  is  in  print. 

in.  The  Greek,  comprising — 
The  version  of  Aquila. 

of  Theodotian. 
of  Symmachus. 
All  translated  from  the  Hebrew;  all  of  or  near 
the  second  century  ;  all  exist  only  in  the  fragments 
of  the  Hexaple  or  combination  of  six  versions  by 
Origen. 

The  genuineness  of  the  Hebrew  text  was  preserved  after 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  sedulous  care  of 
learned  academies  which  flourished  at  Tiberias,  Babylon, 
and  other  places,  from  the  first  to  the  twelfth  centuries. 
The  date  of  the  Masora  is  generally  fixed  about  the  fifth 
century.  This  work  consisted  of  a  most  minute  enume- 
ration of  the  sections,  verses,  words,  and  letters  of  the 
Scriptures ;  which  has  been  so  successful  in  fixing  the 
genuine  reading,  that  although  there  were  discovered  up- 
wards of  800  discrepancies  between  the  Oriental  and  Oc- 
cidental Recensions,  they  all  relate,  with  one  single  excep- 
tion, to  vowel  points,  and  are  of  no  kind  of  importance. 
For  an  account  of  the  labours  of  the  early  Jewish  schools 
of  criticism  in  the  interpretation  of  the  Hebrew  text,  see 
art  Talmud. 

The  integrity  of  the  text  of  the  New  Testament  has  been 
established  by  the  collation,  wholly  or  in  part,  of  674  manu- 
scripts, existing  either  entire  or  in  fragments.  These  have 
been  classified  by  modern  critics  according  to  recensions 
or  families,  the  most  simple  of  whose  systems  and  that 
144 


EIBLIOGRAPHY. 

most  approved,  is  Scholz's,  who  considers  all  the  variations 
that  exist  in  these  MSS.  to  be  resolvable  into  their  having 
been  transcribed  from  Constantinopolitan  or  Alexandrian  ex- 
emplars. The  former  he  considers  to  have  been  from  ihe 
earliest  times  the  most  strict  and  faithful  recension.  It 
was  that  which  was  principally  used  in  the  liturgical  offices 
of  the  East ;  and  its  fidelity  is  argued  from  the  exact  uni- 
formity of  all  the  MSS.  which  can  be  traced  historically  to 
a  Constantinopolitan  origin.  This  may  be  accounted  for 
by  the  authority  inherent  in  the  text  received  in  the  centre 
of  the  imperial  power  and  of  the  patriarchal  jurisdiction. 
It  is  also  consistent  with  the  minute  care  with  which  the 
rites  of  the  Constantinopolitan  church  were  enjoined  by  its 
missionaries  upon  their  converts;  and  also  with  the  char- 
acter of  the  Greek  fathers,  who  present  much  greater  ex- 
actness and  unifoi-mity  in  their  quotations  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament than  the  African.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Alexan- 
drian copies  have  been  written  with  a  considerable  degree 
of  carelessness,  and  do  not  appear  to  have  been  intended, 
even  in  their  own  country,  for  reading  in  public  service. 
They  are  said  lo  partake  in  the  rash  and  speculative  spirit 
of  the  theologians  of  the  Alexandrian  church.  The  former 
of  these  recensions  has  been  adopted  in  the  Syriac,  Gothic, 
and  Sclavonic  versions.  It  is  that  also  which  forms  the 
basis  of  our  modern  texts.  The  latter  was  followed  by 
several  Latin,  the  Coptic,  and  Ethiopic  translations.  Eras- 
mus conceived  the  idea  of  the  Greek  text  having  been  pur- 
posely corrupted  to  suit  the  Vulgate,  and  assigns  the  coun- 
cil of  Florence  in  1439  as  the  authority  by  which  this  trans- 
action was  effected.  This  opinion  continued  to  be  held 
under  the  title  of  the  Fcedus  cum  Graecis,  with  more  or  less 
discussion  till  modern  times,  by  which  it  seems  to  be  very 
generally  rejected  as  untenable.  It  is  known,  on  the  con- 
trary, that  in  the  compilation  of  his  translation,  which  bears 
the  name  of  the  Vulgate,  the  existing  Latin  version  was 
corrected  by  Jerome  from  the  Greek.  See  Home's  Man- 
ual of  Biblical  Literature,  8vo.  London,  1839. 

BIBLIO'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  /?<£X<oi>,  a  book,  and  ypwpuy, 
/describe.)  The  science  of  books.  The  knowledge  which 
is  required  to  classify  books,  according  to  the  various  sub- 
jects on  which  they  treat,  has  been  termed  intellectual  bi- 
bliography ;  that  of  the  external  peculiarities  of  books,  their 
editions,  &c,  material  bibliography.  The  first  branch  bor- 
ders closely  on  the  province  of  criticism;  for  the  most 
valuable  bibliographical  works,  being  what  are  termed  in 
French  "  catalogues  raisonnees,"  are  those  in  which  the 
lists  of  books  are  accompanied  with  some  remarks  on  the 
character  of  their  contents.  The  second  branch  of  bibli- 
ography has  been  of  late  years  cultivated  with  all  the  ar- 
dour attached  to  a  fashionable  and  somewhat  eccentric 
pursuit.  The  lovers  of  rare  editions  and  curious  copies  of 
works,  from  being,  to  borrow  a  French  term,  "  bibliophiles," 
have  formed  of  late  a  peculiar  sect  entitled  "  biblioman- 
iacs," with  whom  the  fancy  for  books  has  become  a  pas- 
sion, like  those  of  Dutch  speculators  for  tulips  and  pic- 
tures. Many  works  of  novel  and  curious  research  in  this 
department  of  literature  have  been  recently  produced  to 
guide  their  taste,  and  gratify  their  appetite.  For  the  pur- 
poses of  the  common  student,  Brunei's  Manuel  du  Li- 
Irraire,  although  by  no  means  complete,  is  still  the  most 
useful  index  to  general  literature.  Many  books  of  a  similar 
character  exist  in  English,  but  none  that  can  be  recom- 
mended as  generally  valuable  ;  although  some  of  those  de- 
voted to  particular  branches  of  the  subject,  especially  to 
the  learning  of  early  editions,  display  much  curious  re- 
search. Watt's  Bibliotheca  Britanniea,  although  useful, 
from  its  double  arrangement  according  to  subjects  and  au- 
thors, is  a  very  imperfect  work. 

The  following  list  contains  a  selection  from  among  the 
most  valuable  works  which  we  possess,  in  different  depart- 
ments of  bibliography.  But  many  of  them,  from  the  criti- 
cal matter  which  they  contain,  may  be  considered  to  be- 
long to  the  history  of  literature,  as  well  as  of  books  and 
editions. 

I.  Introductory  Works  on  the  Science  of  Bibliography. 
Peignot,  Manuel  Bibliographique.  1800. 
Peignot,  Dictionnaire  Raisonnee  de  Bibliologie,  3  vols. 

8vo.  1804. 
Achard,  Cours  de  Bibliographie,  3  vols.  8vo.  Marseilles, 

1807. 
Home,  Tliomas  Hartwell,  Introduction  to  the  Study  of 

Bibliography,  2  vols.  8vo.  Lond.  1814. 
De?ris,  Einleitung  zur  Biicherkunde,  2  vols.  4to.  Vienna, 

1796. 
Boulard,  Traite  Elementaire  de  Bibliographie,  1806. 
Breit/ropf,  Ueber  Bibliograpliie  und    Bibliopholie,   4to. 

Leipzig,  1793. 
Ebert,  die  Bildung  der  Bibliothekars,  8vo.  Leipzig,  1820. 
Hoffmann,  Handbuch  der  Biickerkunde,  8vo.   Leipzig, 

1838. 
Molbech,  Ueber  Bibliothekroissenschaftubers  von  Ratjen, 

8vo.  Leipzig,  1833. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


II  Bibliography  of  the  Oriental  and  Classical  Languages. 
Clarice,  Dr.  Adam,   Bibliographical  Dictionary  and  Mis- 
cellany, 8  vols.  12mo.     London,  1802-6. 
Le  Long,  Bibliotheea  Sacra,  2  vols.  fol.  Paris,  1723. 
Fabric  ins,  Bibliotheea  Graca,  edited  by  Harles,  12  torn. 

4to.  Hamburg,  1700.  1809. 
Fabricius,  Bibliotheea  Latina.     By  Ernesti.     3  vols.  8vo. 

1773-74. 
Fabricius,  Mediae  et  Infimae  iEtatis.     By  Manso.  3  vols. 

4to.  Patav.  1759. 
Hartoood'a  View  of  the  various  Editions  of  the  Greek 

and  Roman  Classics,  1775. 
Dibdin's  Introduction  to  the  Knowledge  of  rare  and  valu- 
able Editions  of  the  Classics,  2  vols.  8vo.  1827  (last  ed.) 
Moss's  Manual  of  Classical  Bibliography,  2  vols.    8vo. 

1837. 
Degli  Autori  Classici  BibliotecaPortabile(Boniand  Gam- 

ba),  2  vols.  12mo.     Venice,  1793. 
Bri'n:L" ■inn nn.  View  of  the  English  Editions,  Translations, 

and   Commentaries  of  the  ancient  Greek  and  Latin 

Authors,  2  vols.  3vo.     Stettin.  1798. 
Schireigtrer,   llandhurh   der   classischen   Bibliographic, 

2  vols.  8vo.     Leipzig.  1834. 
Brehm,    Bibliographisches  Handbuch  der  gesammten 

Gr.  and  Rom.  Litteralur,  3  vols.  Bvo.     Leipzig,  1800 
Jlnil iiimiii,  Bibliogr.  Lex.  der  gesammten Litteratur der 

Griechen,  2  vow.  8vo.     Leipzig,  1838. 

,  The  same,  in  Latin,  3  vols.  8vo.    Leipzig,  1836. 

Hebi  nstreit,  Dictionarinm  editionum  Auctorum  Classico- 

rum,  8vo.    Vien  ,  1838. 

III.  Bibliography  of  particular  Sciences  and  Branches  of 

Lill  I  lit  III  r. 

JJpenvus,  Bibliolhecs  (Theologica,Juridica,PhOosophica 
Medlca),  (i  vols.  fol.  The  Juridica  by  itself  has  been  re- 
printed, with  supplements,  <fcc.  in  4  vols.  Leipzig, 
1775-89,  and  Ihree  large  supplements.  The  whole  col- 
lection passes  under  the  title  of  Bibliotheea  Itealis. 
Brestl.  1817-1830. 

Meusel,  Bibliotheea  Ilistorica,  22  vols.  8vo.  Leipzig, 
17-2-1804. 

LeLong,  Bibliotheque  Historique  do  la  France,  5  vols. 
folio,  1768,  1778 

Bndgman's  Legal  Bibliography,  8vo.    Lond 

Murhard,  Bibliotheea  Mathemalica,  5  rota.  Bvo.  L80B. 

Dryander,  Catologus  Bibliothecs  Historiae  NaturalisJo- 
si  pin  Banks  (a  general  account  of  books  on  natural 
history  >.  I  vola  Svo. 

Lain  mi' ,  Bibliotheque  Astronomique,  4to.    Paris,  1803. 

Boucher de  In  Richarderie,  Bibliotheque  de  Voyages.  6 
vols.  Svo.     Pans.  UK 

Martin,  Bibliographical  Catalogue  of  Books  privately 
printed  In  England,  Bvo.    I 

Hit  in',    Manual  of  Biblical  Bibliography,  8vo.     London, 

Miltilz,     Bibliotheea  Botanica,  Svo.     Berlin,  1689. 

Ploucquet,  I.iteratura  Medica  Digesta,  4  voi's.  4tc.  and 
Siippt.    Tubing.  1808-14. 

Percneron,  Bibhographie  Entomologique,  2  vrls.  8vo. 
Paris,  1836. 

Forbes,  Manual  of  Select  Medical  Bibliography,  8vo. 
London,  1835. 

Jiay,  Catalogue  Bibliothccae  Medicac,  5  vcls.  Svo.  Am- 
sterdam,  1830. 

Atkinson,  Medical  Bibliography,  vol  1.  A— B.  8vo. 
London,  1834. 

Choulant,  Handb.  der  Biicherkonde  fur  die  Aelterc  Me- 
dian, 8vo.    Liepzig,  1841. 

IV.  Bibliography  of  Modern  Xations. 

Watt's  Bibliotheea  Britanniea,  4  vols.  4to.  Edin.,  1819. 
This  very  laborious  work  contains  a  mere  catalogue  of 
works,  arranged  alphabetically,  first  under  the  head  of 
writers,  and  then  of  subjects.  A  more  complete,  and 
more  critical  work  on  English  Bibliography,  is  among 
the  greatest  disiderata  of  the  present  day.  Dr.  Watt's 
work  contains  many  foreign  articles ;  but  is  chiefly  de- 
voted to  English  literature. 

Querard,  La  France  Litte"raire  ;  a  very  valuable  catalogue 
of  French  works  in  all  departments  of  literature,  10 
vols.  8vo.    Paris,  1828-1842. 

Mazzuchelli,  Autori  d'ltalia;  a  work  containing  literary 
history  and  biography,  with  bibliographical" science. 
2  t.  fol.  Brescia.  1753-63. 

Foppen.  Bibliotheea  Belgica,  2  vols.  4to.  1739. 

Founder,  Nouveau  Dictionn.  de  Bibhographie,  1  vol. 
Paris,  1809. 

Gamba,  delle  Novelle  Italiane  in  Prose  Bibliographia, 
8vo.     Firen.,  1*35. 

Memorias,  de  Litteratura  Portugueza,  6  vols.  4to.  Lis- 
bon, 1792-96. 

Otlo,   The  History  of  Russian  Literature  ;  with  a  Lexi- 
con of  Russian  Authors.     Translated  from  the  Ger- 
man, by  Geo.  Cox,  8vo.     Oxford,  1839. 
145 


Strald,  Gelehrtes  Russland,  Svo.     Leipzig,  1898a 
£rsch,  Gelehrtes  Frankreich,  5  vols.  8vo.     Ilamh.,  1S06. 
Antonio,  Bibliotheea  Hispana  Vetus  et  Nova,  cura  Bay- 

erii,  -1  vols,  folio.     Mat.,  1788. 
Warmholtz,  Bibliotheea  Historica  Sue-Gothica,  15  vols. 

8vo.     Stockholm,  1782-1817. 
Brydges,    British  Bibliographer,  4  vols.  8vo.     London, 

1810-14. 
Lowndes,  Bibliographer's  Manual  of  English  Literature, 

4  vols.  8vo.     London,  1834. 
• ,    British  Librarian.      Parts  1-10.     1S39-1841.      In 

course  of  publication. 
Cotton,  Typographical  Gazetteer, Svo.     Oxford,  1831. 
Geysbeck's  Bibliog.  Diet,  of  the  Poets  of  the  Nether- 
lands, 6  vols.  8vo.     Amst.,  1827. 
Michel,  Bibliotheque   inglo-Saxonne,  8vo.    Paris,  1837. 
Petheram,   An  Historical  Sketch    of  the  Progress  and 

Present  State  of  Anglo-Saxon   Literature  in  England, 

8vo.     London,  1840. 

V.     Bibliographical  Works  on  rare  Books,  Typographical 
Antiquities,  early  Editions,  tec. 
Vogt    Catalogue  Librorum  Rariorum,  Svo.  1732. 
Gerdeaius,  Florilegium  Librorum  Rariorum,  8vo.     1731. 
c<">  in-  ,it.  Bibliotheque  Curieuse,  ou  Catalogue  Raisonne" 
des  Livres  Rares,  4to.    1750-60.    A  minutely  critical 
work. 
Bauer,   Bibliotheea  Librorum  Rariorum  Universalis,  7 

vols.  Bvo.     1770-91. 
Mnitiiiin ,  Annates  Typogrannici  ab  Artis  invents  On- 
gine,  6  vols    Ito.    Hamb.,  1719-41.    Several  supple- 
ments have  been  published. 
Panzer,  Annales  Typographic!  ab  Artis  invents  Origins 
ad  Annum    1500.    (Ii  Is,  however,  carried  down  to 
1636  )    n  vols  4to     Nfuremb.,  1793.  1803 
Ames's  Typographical   Antiquities,  first  edition,   1749; 
republished  by  Mr.  Huhetin  3  vols.  4to.  1790  j  and  again 
b;  Mr.  Pih.lin. 
Di/'/tlin,  Bibliotheea  Spenceriana  (a  catalogue  of  books 
in  theSpi  ncer  library,  pruned  before  1500), 4  vols.  8vo. 
1814     Wei]  known,  like  most  of  the  other  works  of 
this  distinguished  bibliographi  r,  for  the  minuteness  of 
its  research  and  extreme  beauty  of  embellishment. 

.  Dictionnaire  Bibliographique  Choi- 
si  du  Quinzieme  Steele,  3  vols.  svo.    1806. 

Bibliographic  Instructive,  ou  Traite  de  la  Con- 
naissance  des  Livres  rares  el  singuliers,  with  supple- 
ments, in  all  lOvols.  mi,     Paris,  1713, 1782.  The  most 
i  ally  useful  work  on  the  subject. 

Dictionnaire  des   Livres  rares,  2  vols.   Svo. 
Paris.  176s. 

Renouard,  Historic  de  l'lmprimerie  des  Aides.     See 

Aldine  Em  i 

sexiana,2  vols.  8vo. 
Georgi,  Allgemeines  Furopaisches  Bueher-Lexicon.  8 

vols,  folio.     Leipzig.  171s!. 
Audiffredus,     Catalogue    et    Specimen    Historiro-Crit. 

Editionum  Italicaruin  Sacculi  xv.  2  vols.  4to.     Roma?, 

1783-1794. 
Uain,  Repertorium  Bibliographicum  in  quo  libri  omnes 

ab  arte  typographies  inventa  usqne  ad  annum  M.  I). 

lypis expressi  online  ahphabetico  vel  simpliciter,  enu- 
iiusrecensentur,4vols.  8vo.  Stutt., 

[831. 
Fischer,  Beschreibung  einiger  typngraphisch»n  Selten- 

heifen,6vols  Bvo.     Niiremb,  1*800-4.    (Aworkofdeep 

and  curious  research. 
Longman's  Bibliotheea  Anglo-Poetica;  or  a  descriptive 

Catalogue  of  a  rich  and  rare  Collection  of  Early  Eng- 
lish Poetry,  8vo.    1815.    By  Mr.  A.  F.  Griffiths. 

VI.     General  Bibliographies,  and  Miscellaneous  Works. 
Dictionnaire  Bibliographique,  3  vols.  Svo.     Paris,  1790. 
Brunei,  Manuel  du   Libraire,  3rd  and  enlarged  edition. 

4  vols.   Svo.     JS20.      A  work   of   the  greatest   ntility. 

Three  supplementary  volumes  were  published  in  1832. 
Morhof,  Polyhistor  Literarius,  Philosophicus  et  Practi- 

cus.  first  edition  by  Fabricius.  2  vols.  4to.     1747. 
Saxii  Onomasticon  Liferarium,  8  vols.  Svo.     1759.  1803. 
Eberts,  Allgemeines  Bibliogr  Lexicon,  2  vols.  4to.  ;  and 

2  Supplements.    Leipzig,  1830.    The  first  part  has  been 

translated  into  English,  and  published  at  Oxford,  in  4 

vols.  Svo.     1S37. 
VTI.  American  Bibliography. 

Warden,  Bibliotheea  Americo-Septentrionalis,8vo.  Paris, 

1820. 

,  Bibliotheea  Americana,  Svo.     Paris,  1831. 

Bibliotheea  Americana  Primordia,  4to.     1713. 
Bibliotheea  Americana,  4to.     London,  1789. 
Mensel.  Bibliotheea  Historica.     Tom.  iii.  and  x. 
Rich,  Bibliotheea  Americana,  2  vols.  Svo. ;  and  Sup. 
Ternaux,  Bibliotheque  Americaine,  Svo.     Paris,  1837. 
Aspimcail,  Catalogue  of  Books  relating  to  America. 
T 


BICALCARATE. 

BICA'LCARATE.  (Lat.  bis,  twice,  and  calcar,  a  spur.) 
When  a  limb  or  part  is  armed  with  two  spurs. 

BICE.  In  painting,  a  light  blue  colour  prepared  from 
smalt.  From  it,  by  a  mixture  with  yellow  orpiment,  another 
colour  is  formed  of  a  green  hue,  bearing  the  same  name. 

Bl'CEPS.  (Lat.  bis,  twice,  and  caput,  head.)  An  ana- 
tomical term,  applied  to  muscles  having  a  double  insertion, 
or  which  arise  bv  two  heads. 

BICO'LLIGaTE.  (Lat.  bis,  twice,  coWigo,  I  bind  together  ) 
In  Ornithology,  a  term  signifying  the  connexion  of  all  the 
anterior  toes  by  a  basal  web. 

Bl'COLOR.  (Lat.  bis,  color,  colour.)  When  an  animal 
or  part  is  of  two  colours. 

BICO'RNIS.  (Lat.  bis,  cornu,  a  horn.)  In  Zoology, 
Winn  an  animal  or  part  has  two  horns,  or  two  horn-like 
processes.  In  Anatomy,  when  the  uterus  has  two  divisions, 
like  horns,  as  in  most  quadrupeds. 

BICU'SPIS.     (Lat.)    A  tooth  with  two  points. 
BIDE'NTATE.     (Lat.   bis,   dens,  a  tooth.)     When  an 
animal  has  but  two  teeth,  as  the  Delphinus  bide7is ;  or  when 
a  part  has  two  tooth  like  processes. 

BIE'NMAI..  (Biennis,  of  two  years'  duration.)  A  term 
applied  to  plants  which  grow  one  year  and  (lower  the  next, 
after  which  they  perish  ;  they  only  differ  from  annuals  in 
requiring  a  longer  period  to  fruit  in.  Most  biennials,  if 
sown  early  in  the  spring,  will  flower  in  the  autumn  and 
then  perish,  thus  actually  becoming  annuals. 

B1ESTINGS.     The  name  given  to  the  first  milk  yielded 
bv  a  cow  after  calving. 
'BIFA'RIOUS.     (Lat.)    Arranged  in  two  rows. 
BI'FORATE.     (Lat.  bis,  foro,  I  pierce.)    Having  two  per- 
forations, as  the  anthers  of  a  Rhododendron. 

BI'FORINES.  Singular  bodies  lately  discovered  in  the 
interior  of  the  green  pulpy  part  of  the  leaves  of  some  Ara- 
ceous  plants.  They  are  minute  oval  sacs,  tapering  to  each 
end,  where  they  are  perforated  ;  they  are  apparently  com- 
posed of  two  bags  one  within  the  other,  the  space  between 
the  bags  being  filled  with  a  transparent  fluid,  and  the  inner 
hag  itself  with  fine  spicula;.  When  the  biforine  is  placed  in 
water  it  discharges  its  spicula;  with  considerable  violence, 
first  from  one  end,  and  then  from  another,  recoiling  at 
every  discharge,  and  eventually  emptying  itself,  when  it  be- 
comes a  flaccid  motionless  bag.  Nothing  is  known  of  the 
nature,  use,  or  origin  of  these  bodies. 

BIFU'RCATE.  (Lat.  bis,  furca,  a  fork.)  When  a  part 
has  two  prongs  like  a  fork. 

BI'GAMY.  (Lat.  bis,  twice,  and  Gr.  yafioi,  marriage.) 
The  offence  of  contracting  a  second  marriage  during  the 
life  of  the  husband  or  wife,  which,  by  the  law  of  England, 
is  felony,  punishable  by  transportation  for  seven  years,  or 
imprisonment  for  two.  Bigamy,  by  the  canon  law,  signified 
a  second  marriage  after  the  death  of  the  first  wife,  or  a 
marriage  with  a  widow  ;  and  incapacitated  the  party  con- 
tracting.    See  Marriage,  Law  of. 

BIGHT.  Part  of  a  rope  between  the  ends ;  bight  is  also 
a  shallow  bay  or  hollow  in  the  line  of  sea-coast. 

BIGNONIA'CEjE.  (So  called  from  Bignon,  a  French 
man  of  letters,  and  the  friend  of.  Tournefort.)  A  natural 
order  of  Didynamous  plants,  usually  having  a  twining 
stem,  large  trumpet-shaped  flowers,  and  a  pod-like  capsule 
with  winged  seeds.  Some  of  them  are  trees  of  consider- 
able size,  and  furnish  timber  valuable  in  the  countries 
where  it  is  produced  ;  but  the  greater  part  are  interesting 
only  for  the  beauty  of  their  flowers,  in  which  respect  this 
order  yields  to  no  other.  Bignonia  venusta,  Pan  dora, 
a-quinoctialis,  cherere,  and  grandifiora,  are  probably  the 
handsomest  twining  plants  known. 

BI'JUGATE.  (Lat.  bis,  and  jugum,  a  yoke.)  Composed 
of  two  pairs  of  any  thing  ;  a  term  applied  to  leaves  pinna- 
ted with  two  pairs  of  leaflets. 

B1KH.  A  deleterious  plant  inhabiting  Nepal,  and  used 
by  the  natives  of  that  country  to  poison  their  wells  when 
the  British  troops  invaded  it.  The  Aconitum  ferox  has 
been  ascertained  to  be  this  poison,  which,  like  that  of  all 
other  Ranunculaceous  plants,  is  volatile  ;  and  although 
highly  dangerous  when  fresh,  soon  loses  its  activity  when 
exposed  to  the  air. 

BILA'BIATE.  (Lat.  bis,  and  labium,  a  lip.)  When  a 
flower  has  all  or  any  of  its  parts  collected  into  two  separate 
parcels  or  lips.  Thus  a  calyx  having  two  of  its  sepals  col- 
lected into  one  parcel,  and  the  others  into  a  second  parcel, 
or  a  corolla  with  its  five  petals  adhering  two  and  three  to- 
gether, are  bilabiate. 

BILAME'LLATE.  (Lat.  bis,  lamella,  aplate.)  When  a 
part  is  divided  longitudinally  into  two  lamella;. 

BI'LBERRY.  "A  small'  bush  inhabiting  the  northern 
parts  of  Europe  in  mountainous  situations,  and  bearing 
small  black  berries,  which  are  eaten  by  country  people, 
and  are  a  favourite  food  of  deer.  It  is  the  Vacciuium  myr- 
tillus  of  Botanists. 

BILDSTEIN.  (German.)  A  mineral  composed  chiefly 
of  silica  and  alumina,  with  a  little  oxide  of  iron.  It  is  com- 
monly seen  carved  into  Chinese  figures. 

BILE.    (Lat.  bilis ;  said  to  be  derived  from  bis,  twice, 
146 


BILOBATE. 

and  lis,  contention,  as  being  the  supposed  cause  of  anger 
and  dispute.)  A  fluid  secreted  in  the  liver,  of  a  yellow 
colour,  and  a  nauseous  taste,  compounded  of  sweet  and 
bitter;  it  sinks  in  water,  and  mixes  with  it  in  all  propor- 
tions ;  it  it  slightly  alkaline,  and  feels  soapy.  It  contains  a 
peculiar  bitter  principle,  which  has  been  called  picromel, 
and  a  little  free  soda  and  saline  matters.  According  to 
Berzelius,  the  solid  constituents  of  bile  amount  to  about 
one  tenth  of  its  weight. 

BILGE.  The  lower  or  flat  part  of  the  bottom  of  a  ship 
on  which  she  rests  when  aground. — Bilge  of  a  cask,  the 
middle  part  between  the  ends,  in  which  the  bunghole  is 
placed. 

BILGED.     Having  the  bottom  stove  in. 

BILGE  WATER.  The  water  that  collects  in  the  bot- 
tom, by  leakage  or  otherwise.  It  has  usually  a  peculiar 
and  offensive  smell.  When  a  ship  is  tight  the  bilge  water 
when  pumped  up  is  dark;  and  in  a  leaky  ship,  it  comes 
up  quite  clear. 

BI'LIARY  CALCULI.  Are  concretions  which  form  in 
the  gall-bladder  (gall  stones)  or  bile-ducts.  They  are  gene- 
rally composed  of  a  peculiar  crystalline  fatty  matter,  which 
has  been  called  cholesterine. 

BILL.  A  legislative  measure  introduced  into  parlia- 
ment is  so  called  until  it  has  acquired  the  force  of  law  by 
receiving  the  royal  assent.  Bills  are  either  public  or  pri- 
vate ;  a  distinction  founded  rather  on  usage  and  precedent, 
than  on  any  exact  definition.  The  immediate  parliament- 
ary consequence  of  the  distinction  is  the  payment  of  cer- 
tain fees  to  the  officers  of  the  house,  winch  are  due  by 
custom  on  private  bills.  According  to  Hatsell,  this  differ- 
ence between  private  and  public  bills  was  recognised  as 
long  ago  as  1607.  It  is  a  general  rule  of  parliamentary 
proceeding,  that  the  same  bill  or  question  cannot  be  twice 
offered  in  the  same  session.  But  at  every  stage  of  a  bill, 
the  whole  of  it  is  supposed  to  be  before  the  house  ;  and 
consequently  if  words  have  been  inserted  by  way  of 
amendment,  the  sense  of  the  house  may  again  be  taken 
respecting  them  at  a  subsequent  stage.  See  Parlia- 
ment. 

BILL  OF  SALE.  In  Law,  a  contract  under  seal,  by 
which  a  man  passes  his  interest  in  goods  and  chattels  to 
another,  and  which  does  not  require  either  valuable  con- 
sideration or  actual  transfer  of  the  goods  to  support  it,  as 
between  the  vendor  and  vendee;  although  as  between  the 
vendee  and  the  vendor's  creditors  the  absence  of  such 
consideration  and  transfer  would  in  general  be  held  indi- 
cative of  fraud,  and  invalidate  the  contract. 

BILL  OF  HEALTH.  A  certificate  or  instrument,  signed 
by  proper  authorities,  delivered  to  the  masters  of  ships  at 
the  time  of  their  clearing  out  from  all  ports  or  places  sus- 
pected of  being  infested  by  particular  disorders,  certifying 
the  state  of  health  at  the  lime  that  such  ships  sailed.  Bill3 
of  health  are  of  three  kinds — clean,  foul,  and  suspected, 
which  are  self-explanatory  terms. 

BILL  OF  LADING.  A  memorandum,  subscribed  by 
the  master  of  a  ship,  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  goods 
intrustesj  to  him  for  transportation,  and  binding  himself 
(under  certain  exceptions)  to  deliver  them  to  the  person 
to  whom  they  are  addressed,  in  good  condition,  for  a  cer- 
tain remuneration  or  freightage.  Of  bills  of  lading  there 
are  usually  triplicate  copies  ;  one  for  the  party  transmit- 
ting the  goods,  another  for  the  person  to  whom  the  goods 
are  addressed,  and  the  third  for  the  master. 

BILL  OF  EXCHANGE.     See  Exchange. 

BILL  OF  RIGHTS.  In  Law,  the  declaration  delivered 
by  the  two  houses  of  parliament  to  the  Prince  of  Orange, 
February  13,  1688,  at  the  period  of  his  succession  to  the 
British  throne  ;  in  which,  after  a  full  specification  of  vari- 
ous acts  of  James  II.  which  were  alleged  to  be  illegal,  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  the  people  were  asserted. 

Bl'LLET.  In  Heraldry,  a  bearing  of  which  the  origin 
is  very  uncertain  ;  represented  of  an  oblong  square  form, 
sometimes  showing  the  thickness,  and  always  with  a  flat 
surface.  Billetty,  or  semee  of  billets,  signifies  that  the 
escutcheon  or  charge  is  strewed  over  with  these  bearings, 
without  regard  to  particular  number  or  station. 

BULLION.  In  Numeration,  denotes  a  million  of  mil- 
lions, and  is  expressed  by  1,0000.0000,0000.  The  French 
use  the  same  word  to  denote  a  thousand  millions.  The 
term  is  probably  a  contraction  of  bis  and  million;  whence 
the  English  signification,  a  million  of  millions,  appears  more 
according  to  analogy.  Thus  biquadratic  means  the  square 
of  a  square,  or  the  product  of  two  quadratics. 

BILLS  OF  MORTALITY,  are  accounts  of  Ihe  number 
of  births  and  burials  within  a  certain  district  in  every  week, 
month,  quarter,  or  year.  These  were  first  compiled  in 
London,  after  the  great  plague  of  1593 ;  and  ten  years  after- 
wards began  to  he  returned  weekly.  Several  of  the  pa- 
rishes now  included  within  the  metropolis  (as  Marylebone 
and  Pancras)  are  not  within  the  bills  of  mortality.  See 
Mortality. 

BI'LOBATE.  (Lat.  bis,  lobus,  a  lobe.)  When  a  part  is 
divided  into  two  lobes,  or  obtuse  processes. 


BILOCULAR. 

BILO'CTTLAR.  (Lat.  bis,  locula,  a  cell.)  Having  two  cells. 

BIMA'CULATE.  (Lat.  bis.  macula,  a  spot.)  When  an 
animal,  or  part,  is  marked  with  two  spots. 

Itl'MAW  (Bimana,  two-handed.)  The  term  applied 
byCuvterto  the  highest  order  of  mammalia,  of  which  man 
is  the  type  and  sole  genus. 

BIME'DIAL.  In  Geometry,  when  two  lines  commen- 
surable only  in  power  (for  example,  the  diagonal  and  side 
of  a  square)  are  joined  together,  the  sum  is  irrational  with 
respect  to  either  of  the  two  lines,  and  is  called  by  Euclid  a 

BI'NARV  ARITHMETIC.  (Fr.  binaire,  from  binus, 
dual,  or  by  tteos.)  A  species  of  arithmetic,  proposed  by 
Leibnitz,  and  founded  on  the  shortest  and  simplest  pro- 
gression;  namely,  that  which  terminates  with  the  second 
cipher.  In  the  binary  notation,  therefore,  only  two  cha- 
racters are  required,  1  and  0,  the  zero  having  the  power  of 
multiplying  the  number  it  follows  by  two,  as  in  the  com- 
mon notation  it  multiplies  by  ten.  The  number  out 
presented  by  1 ;  tico,  bv  10;  three,  by  11;  four,  by  100: 
Jive,  by  101;  six,  by  110;  seven,  by  111;  ttght,  by  1000; 
nine,  by  li'M  ;  ten,  by  1010,  &e.  This  method  of  o»  I 
though  it  may  be  applied  with  advantage  in  the  investiga- 
tion of  some  properties  of  numbers,  would  be  inconve- 
nient for  common  purposes,  on  account  of  the  great  num- 
ber of  characters  required  even  when  the  numbers 
to  be  expressed  are  smalL  We  will  give  an  exam- 
ple from  the  Encyclopedu  method  of 
-ing  a  number  by  the  binary  scale,  and  of  finding 
the  value  of  a  number  so  expressed. 

It  is  convenient  to  begin  with  forming  a  table  of  the 
powers  of  2,  namely,  2  .  -",  '..'-.  2*,  &c.  They  are  1.  .'.  1. 
8,  16,  32,  64,  IS 

press  the  number  230  by  the  binary  scale.  Seek  in  the 
table  the  greatest  power  of  2  contained  In  230;  it  is  found 
to  be  128,  which  is  the  8th  number  in  the  table  :  hence  the 
expression  will  contain  B  ciphers,  and  the  first  on  ihe  left 
hand  is  1  Subtract  129  from  230,  there  remains  102 ;  the 
highest  power  of  2  contained  in  ibis  is  64,  which  is  the 
nth  number  in  the  table.  The  second  cipher  will 
therefore  be  also  l.  Subtract  64  from  102,  and  there  re- 
mains 38.  Butthe8ixth  number  in  thi  which 
is  contained  in  38;  therefore  the  third  cipher  in  I 
pression  is  still  1.  Subtr  remains 6; 
but  the  fifth  number  in  the  table  is  16,  which  is  not  con- 
tained in  6;  therefore  the  fourth  cipher  of  the  expression 
is  0.  The  fourth  number  in  the  table  is  8,  which  is  no) 
contained  in  I  her  must  also  in-  0. 
The  third  number  in  the  table  is  t.  which  is  contained  in 
C;  the  Subtracting  l  from 
6  there  remains  2 ;  but  the  second  number  in 
2,  thei  ■  nth  is  I.  The  last  difference  is  zero ; 
therefore  the  lasl  cipher  in  the  expression  is  0  • '■ 
ing  all  these  results,  we  find  the  number  230  is  expressed 

in  lh(    binary  scab-  by  lll'iOUO. 

v  ...      ppose  it  were  required  to  determine  the  value 

of  the  expression  110101  in  the  binary  scale.     As  there  are 
hi  re  six  ciphers,  we  look  for  the  sixth  number  in  the 

tabic,   and   find  32,   which   is  the  value  of  the  first 

cipher.  The  following  cipher  represents  the  fifth  number, 
and  is  consequently  equal  to  in.  The  third  cipher  isO, 
ami  its  value  ii, ill, ing.  The  fourth  cipher  corresponds  to 
the  third  number  in  the  table,  and  represents  4.  The  fifth 
cipher  is  0,  and  us  value  nothing.  The  lasi  cipher  I 
ponds  in  the  firsl  numbi  r  of  the  table,  which  is  1.  The 
whole  expression,  therefore,  1 10,101,  is  equivalent  to  32  + 
16  +  l  +  1  =53.  It  has  been  imagined,  though  on  very 
Slight  ground  -  of  the  binary  notation  are  d:s- 

cernible  among  the  early  monuments  of  China. 

For  in  format  ion  on  the  subject  of  arithmetical  scales, 
see  Ia  tlu  's  P 

BINARY  MEASURE.  (Lat.  binarius,  belonging  to  too.) 
In  Music,  that  in  which  the  raising  the  hand  or  fool  is 
equal  to  that  of  falling,  usu  illy  called  common  time.  The 
Italians  are  accustomed  after  a  recitative  to  use  the  phrase 
a  tempo giusto,  to  indicate  that  the  measure  is  to  be  beat 
true  and  correct,  which  is  otherwise  conducted  in  the  reci- 
tative in  order  to  express  passion,  &c 

lil'NAT.  (Lat.  bis,  and  natus,  born.)  When  two  bodies 
of  the  same  nature  spring  from  the  same  point,  as  often 
happens  in  the  segments  of  leaves. 

HIND.  (Ger.  binden,  to  fasten  togetlter.)  In  Music,  the 
same  as  a  ligature  or  tie  for  the  purpose  of  grouping  notes 
toaether. 

Bind.  The  indurated  clay  of  coal  mines.  Binding  in 
agriculture  is  tving  up  sheaves  of  corn. 

BINE'RVATE.  (Lat.  bis,  nerva,  a  nerve.)  In  Entomo- 
logy, when  the  wing  of  an  insect  is  supported  by  only  two 
nerves. 

BINNACLE.  The  case  or  stand  in  which  the  steering 
compass  is  placed  ;  it  is  fixed  near  the  tiller  or  wheel  At 
night  the  compass  is  illuminated  bv  a  lamp  placed  over  it. 

BI'NOCLE,  or  BINOCULAR  TELESCOPE.     (Lat.  bi- 
nus, double,  and  oculus,  the  eye.)    A  telescope  to  which 
147 


BIOGRAPHY. 

both  eyes  may  be  applied  at  once,  and  in  which,  conse- 
quently, an  object  may  be  observed  with  both  eyes  at  the 
same  time. 

BINO'.MIAL.  (Lat.  bis,  ttcice,  and  Gr.  vo/ios,  laic.)  In 
Algebra,  signifies  a  quantity  composed  of  two  terms,  con- 
nected together  by  the  signs  -f-  or — ;  thus,  a-\-b  and 
c  —  5  are  binomial  quantities. 

BINO'MIAL  THEOREM.  A  formula  discovered  by 
Newtmi.  of  singular  use  in  algebra,  by  which  a  binomial 
quantity  may  be  raised  to  any  power  in,  the  exponent  m 
being  either  a  whole  number  or  a  fraction,  positive  or  ne- 
gative.    The  formula  is  this  : — 

m(m— \)  ,  ,,  , 


(a+6)"i  =am  +  '11  am-1  b+  . 


m  (m—\)  (m—2) 


am— 3  63+ 


m  (m— I)  (m—  2)  (m— 3) 
1        2  3  4~~ 


1         2 
am — 1  61+  <tc. 

And  the  mere  inspection  of  the  terms  will  give  a  better  idea 
of  the  manner  in  which  they  are  successively  formed  than 
any  explanation. 

When  the  exponent  »i  is  a  whole  positive  number,  it  is 
evident  thai  the  series  has  a  finite  number  of  terms;  sup- 
pose, li ir  example.  m=3,  then  m— 3=0;  and  all  the  terms 
into  winch  m  -3  enters  as  a  co-efficient  become  equal  to 
zero,  or  vanish.  But  on  looking  al  the  series,  we  find  m — 3 
mi.  and  it  will  continue  in  all  the  suc- 
ceeding :  therefore,  when  m=3  the  series  can  only  have 
four  terms ;  and.  generally,  the  number  of  terms  of  the  se- 
ine exponent  by  one.  When  m  is  a  fraction- 
al number,  or  is  negative,  the  series  does  not  terminate, 
and  will  only  express  approximately  the  value  of  (a+oyn 
when  it  is  convergent;  that  is  to  say,  when  every  individual 
term  of  the  series  is  greater  than  that  which  succeeds 
For  example,  let  Ihe  expression  to  be  developed  be 
(xr+y)*,  which  signifies  the  square  root  of  the  binomial 
(r'--f-i/)  Comparing  this  with  the  above  formula,  we  have 
evidently —  .  . 

(xx+y)$=xxh+lxxi—  \y 

+h  (!r-l)  xx*-*  y'+Stc. 

=x+  -L+11+&C. 

a  series  which  goes  on  for  ever;  but  which,  supposing  x 

I  t!i an   unity,   approaches  nearer  and  nearer  to  the 

tlue  of  the  root  of  x'-r-y,  as  the  number  of  terms  in- 

tea  greater. 

In  order  to  determine  whether  in  any  given  case  the  se- 

rgent,  we  ha\ ily  to  compare  two  succes- 

ni-  "t  the  development  of  (o-r-o)*".     For  example, 
take  the  fourth  and  fifth;  rejecting  the  common  factors, 

the  fourth  is  to  the  fifth  as  a"*— 3;  "'~    qm-i  6;  that  is,  as 

1  to  ?!=?•*■ 

4 

fourth,  or  the  series  will  be  convergent  if  (m — 3)6  is  small- 
er than  b'.  In  general,  let  n  be  the  order  of  any  term  in 
the  development  of  (a-(-6)">:  this  term  will  be  to  the  suc- 
ceeding in  the  ratio  of  1 :    "*     "~1— :      ;  and  the  terms  will 

n         a 
always  go  on  decreasing,  or  the  series  will  be  convergent 
when  (m — n-f-l)6  is  smaller  than  no. 

The  principal  use  of  the  binomial  theorem  is  to  find  ap- 
proximate valms  of  the  roots  of  quantities  by  expanding 
them  into  series.  The  demonstrations  which  have  been 
given  of  it  are  very  numerous,  and  one  or  other  of  them 
may  be  found  in  any  work  on  algebra.  For  one  of  the 
neatest  and  most  concise  we  refer  to  the  article  "Algebra" 
in  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  7th  edition. 

BIO'CEi.LATE.  (Lat.  bis,  ocellus,  an  eyelet.)  In  En- 
tomology, when  an  insect's  wing  is  marked  with  two  eye- 
like Spots. 

BIO'GRAPHY.  (From  the  Greek  word  /?i'oc,  life,  and 
ypii(po),  I  describe.)  The  history  of  the  life  of  an  individual. 
Bi  igrapby,  in  the  progress  of  literature,  appears  to  be  near- 
ly coeval  with  history  itself.  It  has  been  ingeniously  de- 
scribed as  "  history  teaching  by  example  ;"  and  this  mode 
of  instruction  was  perhaps  peculiarly  appropriate  to  early 
and  simple  times,  in  which  the  relative  importance  of  indi- 
vidual men  to  the  society  in  which  they  lived  was  greater 
1  than  it  can  ordinarily  be  in  periods  of  more  advanced  civili- 
•  sation.  But,  although  we  have  notices  of  many  biographi- 
cal writers  among  the  classical  authors  of  Greece,  none  of 
!  their  works  have  been  preserved  to  us  (if  we  except  the 
short  narrative  of  the  exploits  of  Agesilaus  by  Xenophon, 
for  his  celebrated  Memorabilia  of  Socrates  are  rather  in  the 
form  of  a  collection  of  sayings  and  anecdotes  than  a  me- 
moir) of  earlier  date  than  the  Roman  Empire.  It  is  to  a 
comparativelv  late  age  that  we  owe  all  the  more  interesting 
works  of  this' description  which  antiquity  has  bequeathed 
to  us,  some  of  which  are  among  the  most  popular  relics  of 


! ;  therefore  the  fifth  will  be  smaller  than  the 


BIPECTINATE. 

the  classical  ages— the  Lives  of  Illustrious  Men,  by  Plu- 
tarch, and  Cornelius  Nepos ;  the  Lives  of  the  Cctsars,  by 
Suetonius,  a  work  of  which  the  details  are  strictly  biogra- 
phical ;  and  the  Lives  of  the  Philosophers,  by  Diogenes 
Laertius.  Biography  may  be  said  in  strictness  to  differ 
from  history  not  merely  in  the  extent  of  the  subject,  but 
also,  and  perhaps  more  characteristically,  in  the  mode  in 
which  that  subject  is  treated.  Thus,  in  classical  literature, 
the  works  of  Quintus  Curtiusand  Arrian,  although  devoted 
exclusively  to  the  actions  of  a  single  individual  (Alexander), 
are  not  usually  termed  biographies;  not  only  because  the 
individual  in  question  was  the  leader  and  foremost  charac- 
ter in  a  course  of  great  public  events,  but  also  because 
those  public  events  form  the  subject  matter  of  their  works, 
and  not  the  more  peculiar  details  of  the  personal  life  of 
their  heroes.  They  are  therefore  more  accuratelv  deno- 
minated histories  than  biographies.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  Lives  of  the  Ticelve  Casars  by  Suetonius  form,  as  has 
been  said,  a  series  of  Biographies,  although  the  persons 
who  furnish  the  subject  were,  like  Alexander,  arbiters  of 
the  destinies  of  a  great  part  of  mankind ;  because  the  de- 
tails which  they  contain  are  chiefly  of  a  private  and  per- 
sonal nature.  It  is  the  object  of  history,  among  its  other 
lessons,  to  make  us  acquainted  with  the  influence  which 
the  actions,  the  characters,  and  the  thoughts  of  individual 
men  have  produced  on  the  course  of  events  affecting  soci- 
ety in  general :  conversely,  it  appears  to  be  the  province 
of  the  biographer  to  detail  the  effects  which  have  been 
produced  by  external  occurrences  and  circumstances  on 
the  character  and  conduct  of  individuals.     See  Memoir. 

BIPE'CTINATE.  (Lat.  bis,  pecten,  a  comb.)  When  a 
part  has  two  margins  toothed  like  a  comb. 

BI'PELTATE.  (Lat.  bis,  pelta,  a  buckler.)  When  an 
animal  or  part  has  a  defence  like  a  double  shield. 

BIPU'PILLATE.  (Lat.  bis,  pupilla.  a  pupil.)  In  Ento- 
mology, when  an  eye-like  spot  on  the  wing  of  a  butterfly 
has  two  dots  or  pupils  within  it  of  a  different  colour. 

BIQUADRA'TIC.  In  Algebra,  denotes  the  power  imme- 
diately succeeding  the  cube ;  that  is,  the  square  of  the 
square,  or  fourth  power. 

BIQUADRA'TIC  EQUATION.  Is  an  equation  in  which 
the  unknown  quantity  rises  to  the  fourth,  but  not  to  a  high- 
er power.  An  equation  of  this  kind,  when  complete,  is  of 
the  form  I'+A^+B^+Cr+D^,  where  A,  B,  C,  and  D, 
denote  any  known  quantities  whatever.  Lewis  Ferrari,  an 
Italian  geometer,  and  a  pupil  of  the  celebrated  Cardan, 
made  the  discovery  that  the  resolution  of  a  biquadratic 
equation  can  always  be  reduced  to  that  of  a  cubic  equa- 
tion. Of  the  various  ways  in  which  this  reduction  can  be 
effected,  the  following,  proposed  by  Euler,  and  explained 
at  length  in  his  Algebra,  is  perhaps  the  simplest.  The  first 
step  of  the  process  is  to  transform  the  given  equation  into 
another  in  which  the  second  term  is  wanting.  This  can 
always  be  done  by  assuming  y — \\.=x,  and  substituting  it 
for  x  in  the  proposed  equation  ;  a  new  equation  will  result, 
having  the  form 

y*+py"-+qy+r=o,  (i> 

and  it  is  only  to  the  solution  of  this  that  our  attention  need 
be  confined. 

Assume  yz=\/a-\-\/b-\-\/c,  and  suppose  a,  b,  c,  to  be 
three  roots  of  the  cubic  equation  23+P;2-|-Q2 — R=o.  By 
the  theory  of  equations  the  co-efficient  of  the  second  term 
is  the  sum  of  all  the  roots  with  their  signs  changed  ;  the 
co-efficient  of  the  third  is  the  sum  of  the  products  of  the 
roots  combined  by  pairs  ;  and  the  last  term  is  the  product 
of  all  the  roots  with  the  signs  changed.  We  have  there- 
fore a+6+e=: — P,  a6-t-ac+5c=Q,  and  a6c=R.  From  the 
assumed  equation  y=\/a-\-\/b-\-\/c,  we  get  by  squaring 
5  2=a+6+c+2  (\/ab+\/ac+-\/bc) ;  whence,  substituting 
— P  for  a-\-b-\-c,  and  transposing 

3/*+ P=2  (.Val'+Vac+Vbc). 
Squaring  this  equation  also,  we  get  after  reduction  y4-|-2P 

y%+P-=4(.ab+ac+bc)+8\/abc  (.V^+Vb+VO,  which,  on 
substituting  R  and  y  for  their  values  given  above,  becomes 

J/4+Pys+P2=4Gl+8i/VR» 
and  by  transposing 

j/4+2Pi/2— Sy-v/R+P8— l<Z=o.  (2) 

Now,  one  of  the  roots  of  this  biquadratic  equation  is  ?/= 
■\/a+\/b+\/c  ;  and  a,  b,  c,  are  the  three  roots  of  the  cubic 
equation,  z3+Pz"-\-Q,z — R:=o  ;  consequently,  by  resolving 
the  cubic  we  get  the  values  of  a,  b,  c;  and  thence  y,  the 
root  of  the  biquadratic,  becomes  known. 

To  apply  this  solution  to  the  proposed  equation  (I),  the 
co-efficients  P,  Q,  R,  of  the  resolved  equation  (2),  must  he 
determined  in  terms  ofp,  q,  r.  Comparing  the  two  equa- 
tions, 

y*+rnf+qy+r=°,  d) 


BIRD  OF  PARADISE. 

q_P8-4r  r=7^    jt  follows,  therefore,  that  the  roots  of 

16  B4 

the  proposed  equation  are  expressed  generally  by  y=z\/a 
+\/b  -4-  V^'i  where  a,  b,  c  denote  the  roots  of  the  cubx 
equation 

«i+P  ,»+*»'-*•  «-ga^o  (3) 

2  16  64 

All  the  four  roots  of  the  biquadratic  are  involved  in  the  ex- 
pression y  =  \/a  -4-  \/b  -4-  -\/c  ;  in  order  to  discover  each 
of  them  in  particular,  it  is  necessary  to  consider  the 
changes  of  sign  of  which  they  admit.  As  the  square  root 
of  any  quantity  a  may  be  either  ■+■  \/a  or  —  -\/a,  each  of 
the  three  quantities,  \/a,  \/b,  \/c,  may  have  either  the 
sign  -4-  or  —  prefixed  to  it ;  whence  the  formula  will  give 
eight  different  expressions.  But  as  the  product  of  the  three 
roots,  \/a,  \/b,  \/c,  is  equal  to  \/R  or  '°  — s?i  it  >s  obvi- 
ous that  when  q  is  positive,  their  product  must  be  negative, 
and  this  can  only  be  the  case  when  either  only  one  or  all 
three  of  them  are  negative.  When  q  is  negative  the  pro- 
duct must  be  positive,  which  can  only  be  the  case  either 
when  all  three  are  positive,  or  two  of  them  negative.  There 
are  consequently  only  four  different  expressions  for  q  posi- 
tive, and  four  for  q  negative,  which  in  either  case  form  the 
four  roots  of  the  biquadratic  equation. 

The  co-efficients  of  the  equation  (3)  involve  fractions; 
but  these  may  be  removed  by  assuming  vzzziz,  and  sub- 
stituting for  2  its  value  in  terms  of  v.  It  then  becomes, 
more  simply, 

v3+2pv*+(p*— 4r)v— q*  =  o,  (4) 

the  roots  of  which  are  $a,  \b,  \c. 

The  rule  for  the  resolution  of  a  biquadratic  equation  Is 
therefore  as  follows  : — 

Let  yi-\-py'2-\-qy-{-r  =  o  be  the  proposed  equation, 
wanting  its  second  term.  Form  the  cubic  equation  v  a4- 
2py2+(pa — ir)v — q"=o,  and  find  its  roots,  which  call  a,  6,  c. 
Then  the  roots  of  the  proposed  biquadratic  are, 


when  q  is  negative, 
y=i(Va+VHV/cj 
y=i(Va  —  Vb  —  Vc) 
y=H—\/a  +  V»  —  Vc') 
y  =  h(—Va  —  Vb  +  Vc) 


when  q  is  positive, 
y  =  J(—  Va  —  \/b  —  -v/c) 
j/=J(—  Va  +  Vb  +  Ve) 
y=±(\/a  +  Vb-  Vc) 

y=h  (Va  +  \/b  —  \/c). 


y*+2Vy*— S\/Ry+~Pl-4Q.=o, 


(2) 


'/' 


we  find  2P=p,  — 8\/R=?,  P8— lQ=r;   whence    P="2 
148 


BIRA'DIATE.  (Lat.  bis,  radius,  a  ray.  When  a  part 
has  two  rays. 

BIRCH.  A  hardy  tree  inhabiting  the  north  of  Europe, 
Asia,  and  America.  The  common  birch  (Betula  alba)  is 
valuable  for  its  capability  of  resisting  extremes  of  both 
heat  and  cold  ;  its  timber  is  chiefly  employed  for  firewood 
Its  bark  is  extremely  durable.  The  American  birch  (B. 
lenta)  produces  a  hard  heavy  timber,  much  used  by  cabi- 
net-makers  ;  and  the  bark  of  B.  Papyracea  is  employed  by 
the  NorthAmerican  Indians  for  a  variety  of  useful  purposes. 

Bl'RDLlME.  A  glutinous  substance  extracted  by  boil- 
ing the  bark  of  the  holly  tree  ;  a  similar  substance  may  be 
obtained  from  misletoe,  from  the  young  shoots  of  elder, 
and  some  other  plants. 

BIRD  OF  PARADISE.  A  name  originally  applied  to 
the  sppcies  Paradisea  apoda,  Linn. ;  of  which  the  skins, 
deprived  of  the  wings,  the  feet,  and  the  tail,  have  long 
formed  a  high-priced  article  of  export  from  the  eastern 
parts  of  the  world.  The  value  of  these  mutilated  speci- 
mens of  natural  history  arises  chiefly  from  the  extraordi- 
nary development  and  light  and  beautiful  structure  of  the 
plumes  which  grow  from  the  scapular  and  lateral  regions 
of  the  body  ;  and  these  plumes,  combined  with  the  velvety 
texture  and  brilliant  metallic  reflections  of  the  ordinary 
feathers,  especially  those  covering  the  head,  render  skins 
of  the  Paradisea  ornaments  highly  and  justly  esteemed 
by  the  fair  inhabitants  of  the  most  civilised  countries.  The 
presence  of  the  remarkable  plumage  just  alluded  to,  and 
the  constant  absence  of  the  ordinary  organs  of  locomotion 
in  the  imported  specimens,  easily  gave  rise  to  strange  spe- 
culations as  to  the  nature  of  the  rare  bird  of  the  east;  and 
the  older  naturalists  delighted  to  describe  it  as  destitute  of 
feet,  dwelling  constantly  in  the  air,  wafted  about  in  the 
bright  beams  of  the  sun  independently  of  the  ordinary 
mechanism  of  wings,  and  nourished  with  dew,  and  the 
nectar  and  even  odour  of  flowers.  To  beings  thus  imagin- 
ed to  be  raised  above  the  dull  earth,  to  enjoy  etherial  food 
and  a  perpetual  habitation  in  the  air,  no  name  could  be 
more  appropriate  than  Birds  of  Paradise  or  Heaven.  The 
march  of  inquiry  has,  however,  dispelled  the  fancied  attri- 
butes and  false  charms  of  these  lovely  beings,  and  has  re- 
stored to  them  their  wings  and  feel.  The  latter,  indeed, 
are  remarkable  for  their  robustness :  they  have  three  toes 
in  front  and  one  behind,  as  in  other  Passeres  of  Cuvier, 
with  the  middle  toe  shorter  than  the  tarsus,  the  outer  toe 
united  to  it  at  its  base,  and  the  inner  one  joined  to  it  for 
half  the  length  of  the  first  phalanx.  The  form  of  the  beak 
corresponds  with  that  which  characterises  the  tribe  Coni- 
rostres  of  Cuv. ;  and  their  true  food,  which  consists  not 
only  of  the  pulpy  and  farinaceous  parts  of  fruit,  but  also 


BIRD  PEPPER. 

of  worms,  insects,  the  egzs  and  young  of  smaller  birds, 
and  even  carrion,  causes  them  to  be  ranked  with  the  family 
of  Omnirores,  Cuv.  In  fact,  they  closely  resemble  iu  their 
habits  our  magpies  and  jays.  The  principal  species  of  the 
genus  Paradisea  are  the  Great  or  Common  Bird  of  Para- 
dise (Par.  apoda  of  Linnaeus);  the  Royal  Bird  of  Paradise 
(Par.  regia):  the  Red  Bird  of  Paradise  (.Par.  rubra);  the 
Magnificent  Bird  of  Paradise  (Par.  magnifica) ;  the  Six- 
threaded  Bird  of  Paradise  (Par.  sexesetacea),  which  is 
characterized  by  three  long  and  threadlike  feathers,  which 
grow  from  each  side  of  the  body  ;  the  Superb  Bird  of  Pa- 
radise (Par.  superba),  which  is  smaller  than  the  preceding, 
but  perhaps  the  most  beautiful  of  the  genus ;  the  Small 
Bird  of  Paradise  (Par.  minor),  which  measures  about  nine 
inches  from  the  point  of  the  bill  to  the  end  of  the  tail ;  and, 
lastlv.  the  White  Bird  of  Paradise  (Par.  alba). 

BIRD  PEPPER.  The  small  Capsicum,  a  species  of  the 
plant  which  affords  Cayenne  pepper. 

BIRDS.  In  Heraldry,  are  said  to  be  rising,  displayed, 
close,  volant,  «fcc.  according  to  the  different  postures  in 
which  they  are  represented.  Birds  of  prey,  and  cocks, 
when  beaked  and  legged  of  a  different  tincture  from  the 
bodv.  are  said  to  be  armed  of  that  tincture. 

BIRD'S  EYE  VIEW.  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a  term  used  to 
denote  a  view  arranged  according  to  the  laws  of  perspec- 
tive, in  which  the  point  of  sight  or  situation  of  the  eye  is 
placed  at  a  very  considerable  height  above  the  objects 
viewed  and  delineated.  In  Architectural  representations,  it 
is  used  chietly  for  the  purpose  of  exhibiting  the  disposition 
of  the  different  courts  or  quadrangles  and  roofs  of  a  build- 
ing. It  is  a  useful  method  of  representing  battles,  as  also 
of  giving  a  general  notion  of  a  small  district  of  a  country. 
As  before  observed,  it  is  entirely  dependent  upon  the  same 
principle!  as  those  detailed  in  the  article  Perspective, 
which  see. 

BIRD'S  MOUTH.  In  Architecture,  an  interior  angle  or 
notch,  cut  across  the  grain  at  the  extremity  of  a  piece  of 
timber  fur  its  reception  on  the  edge  of  another  piece  :  as  a 
rafter,  for  instance,  is  received  on  a  pole  plate.  Bird's 
month  signifies  also  the  Interna]  angle  of  a  polygon,  its  ex- 
ternal angle  beinc  called  a  bull's  nose 

BIRTH,  EVIDENCE  OF.  By  the  French  code  civil  it  is 
required  that  a  declaration  shall  be  made  of  every  birth  to 
the  proper  officer,  within  three  days,  with  production  of 
the  child.  The  "act  of  birth."  setting  forth  the  time  and 
place  of  the  event,  Bex  and  name  of  the  child,  and  descrip- 
tion of  the  father,  is  then  immediately  drawn  up  in  the 
presence  of  two  witnesses.  It  is  entered  on  the  register, 
and  a  copy  kept  by  the  parent.  (.Code  Civil  arl  Bo.)  In 
England,  by  the  70th  Canon,  and  statutes  of  6  «.v  7  William 
3  and  1  G.  -1.  r.  76..  the  minister  of  every  parish  is  requir- 
ed to  keep  a  register  of  births.  But  now.  by  the  recent  act 
for  registering  births,  deaths,  and  marriages,  6  .v  7  W  1  c. 
86.,  it  is  enacted  thai  the  parent,  or  occupier  of  a  house  in 
which  a  child  is  born,  may,  within  \i  days  after  the  birth, 
give  notice  to  the  district  registrar;  and  shall  give  such  in- 
formation on  being  requested  by  the  district  registrar  with- 
in the  same  time.  After  42 days,  the  birth  may  be  regis- 
tered only  in  presence  of  the  superinten  hint  registrar,and 
on  a  peculiar  declaration.  After  six  months,  registration 
of  a  birth  cannot  take  place.  Certified  registers  of  births, 
as  well  as  deaths,  are  to  be  forwarded  after  a  certain  time 
to  the  superintendant  registrar,  and  copies  of  registers  to 
the  L'<"ieraL  register  office.    (Sects.  19.  21,  22,  23.  33,  34.) 

BIRTH,  or  BERTH.  OF  A  SHIP.  The  ground  or  space 
in  which  she  is  anchored,  and  which  is  said  to  be  a  good 
birth,  or  a  bail  birth  ;  also,  an  apartment,  as  the  midship- 
man's birth  ;  also,  the  space  allotted  a  seaman  to  sleep  or 
hang  his  hammock  in. 

HIS  ( I. at.  twice. )  In  Music,  a  word  placed  over  passages 
which  have  do's  postfix.'-!  to  one  b;ir.  and  prefixed  to  a  sub- 
sequent bar,  signifying  that  the  passage  between  the  dots 
is  to  be  twice  plaved. 

BI'SCUIT.  (Fr.  bis.  twice,  and  cuit,  baked.)  In  Sculp- 
ture, a  species  of  porcelain,  of  which  groups  and  figures 
in  miniature  are  formed,  which  are  twice  passed  through 
the  furnace  or  oven.  It  is  executed  without  "laze  upon  it. 
In  Pottery,  this  term  is  applied  to  earthenware  and  porce- 
lain, after  it  has  been  hardened  in  the  fire,  and  before  it  re- 
ceives the  glaze  :  in  this  state  it  is  permeable  to  wafer. 

BISE'TOUS.  (Eat.  bis.  seta,  a  bristle. )  In  Zoology,  when 
an  animal  or  pan  is  furnished  with  two  bristle-like  appen- 
dages 

BISE'XTTAL.  (Of  two  sexes.)  Is  a  term  applied  to 
flowers  which  contain  both  stamens  and  pistil  within  the 
6ame  envelop  :  it  is  the  same  as  the  word  hermaphrodite 
in  botany. 

BI'SHOP.  (A  word  contracted  from  the  Greek  i-ioKowos, 
Lat.  episcopus,  signifying  literally  an  overseer.)  In  all  de- 
nominations of  Christians  which  admit  the  episcopal  form 
of  government,  the  bishop  is  the  superior  of  the  three  or- 
ders, standing  in  rank  and  office  distinct  from  the  presbyter 
or  priest.  (See  art.  Episcopacv.)  This  distinct  office  con- 
sists in  the  power  of  ordination,  confirmation  and  conse- 
149 


BISSEXTILE. 

cration.  none  of  which  ceremonies  may  be  performed  by 
an  inferior  clergyman.  The  clergy  of  a  diocese  are  sub- 
jected also  to  the  ecclesiastical  authority  of  their  bishop, 
who  alone  institutes  to  benefices,  licenses  curates,  and  has 
considerable  discretionary  power  in  requiring  the  resi- 
dence of  his  clergy  on  their  cures,  and  in  superintending 
the  discharge  of  their  duties  in  them. 

The  mode  of  the  appointment  to  bishoprics  varies  in 
different  establishments.  In  early  times  the  bishop  was 
generally  elected  by  his  clergy.  In  the  middle  ages  the 
pope  assumed  in  most  cases  the  absolute  nomination, 
which  claim  has  been  given  up  in  later  times  in  many 
Catholic  countries,  where  the  king  or  clergy  recommend, 
and  the  holy  father  only  ratifies  the  appointment.  In  Eng- 
land the  appointment  is  virtually  in  the  hands  of  the  sove- 
reign, who  upon  the  demise  of  the  bishop  receives  from 
the  dean  and  chapter  intimation  of  the  event,  with  a  re- 
quest for  permission  to  supply  the  vacancy.  The  king  ac- 
cords his  permission  to  that  effect,  and  at  the  same  time 
recommends  a  person  to  their  choice — a  recommendation 
which  is  equivalent  to  a  command,  as  it  cannot  be  waived 
without  incurring  the  severe  penalties  o(  a  praemunire. 

BI'SMUTH.  A  brittle,  yellowish-white  metal,  of  a  crys- 
talline texture.  Its  specific  gravity  is  10-  ;  it  fuses  at  476°, 
and  at  a  red  heat  it  sublimes  in  close  vessels.  It  conducts 
heat  less  perfectly  than  most  of  the  other  metals.  When 
strongly  heated  it  burns  with  a  bluish  white  flame,  and  is 
rapidly  oxidized.  Its  equivalent  upon  the  hydrogen  scale 
is  71  ;  and  it  forms  only  one  salifiable  oxide,  the  equivalent 
of  which  is  79.  When  nitrate  of  bismuth  is  dropped  info 
water  a  white  powder  is  thrown  down,  formerly  called 
magistery  of  bismuth  or  pearl  white:  it  is  a  subnitrate.  A 
brown  j>croxide  of  bismuth  is  obtained  by  fusing  the  protox- 
ide with  caustic  potash.  Some  of  the  alloys  of  bismuth 
are  remarkable  for  their  fusibility  :  a  compound  of  8  parts 
of  bismuth,  5  of  lead,  and  3  of  tin,  melts  in  boiling 
water,  and  is  commonly  called /us/Me  metal.  The  ores  of 
bismuth  are  not  common  ;  but  it  occurs  yutfite,  and  com- 
bined with  oxygen,  sulphur,  and  arsenic.  The  Germans 
call  it  irixmut/i. 

IM'SON.  The  trivial  name  of  certain  species  of  the 
I. mucin  genus  Bos,  which  differ  from  their  congeners  in 
having  fourteen  (Bos  bison),  or  fifteen  (Bos  Americanus), 
instead  of  thirteen  pairs  of  ribs.  The  common  bison  of 
the  north  of  Europe  (Bos  bison),  and  the  American  bison, 
or  bonassus  (Bos  Americanus),  are  the  only  known  exist- 
ing species  ol  this  group. 

BISPINO'SUS  (Lat  bis,  spina,  a  spine.)  When  an 
animal  or  part  is  aimed  with  two  spines. 

BISSEXTILE.  (Eat.  bis,  twice, and  sextifis, sir/A.)  The 
name  given  to  the  year  which  contains  366  days.  The  cal- 
endar used  in  all  European  countries  is  founded  on  that  of 
the  Romans,  as  reformed  by  Julius  Caesar.  In  the  calen- 
dar of  Caesar,  the  length  of  the  year  was  fixed  at  365# 
days  :  and  in  order  tli.it  the  year  should  always  begin  with 
the  beginning  of  a  day,  it  was  directed  that  every  fourth 
year  should  contain  366  days,  the  other  years  having  each 
365.  The  additional  day,  which  thus  occurred  every  fourth 
year,  was  given  to  February,  the  shortest  month,  and  was 
inserted  in  the  calendar  between  the  24th  and  25th  days. 
In  the  peculiar  method  of  reckoning  the  days  of  the  month 
adopted  by  the  Romans,  namely,  of  reckoning  backwards 
from  the  1st  of  the  succeeding  month,  it  would  have  been 
very  inconvenient  to  have  interrupted  the  order  of  nume- 
ration ;  accordingly  the  24th,  which  was  called  sexto  Calen- 
das  Startii,  was  reckoned  twice,  and  the  supernumerary  or 
repeated  day  called  bis  sexto  Caleridas.  Hence  the  term 
bissextile.    In  English,  leap  year  has  the  same  signification. 

In  the  Julian  calendar  every  fourth  year  was  bissextile; 
but  this  supposes  the  year  to  be  36514  days,  which  errs  in 
excess  by  11  minutes  1035  seconds.  Accordingly  in  the 
course  of  a  few  centuries,  the  error  will  amount  to  days, 
and  cause  the  commencement  of  the  year  to  change  its 
place  with  respect  to  the  seasons.  When  the  Julian  ca- 
lendar wis  introduced,  the  equinox  fell  on  the  25th  of 
March  :  in  1582,  when  the  calendar  was  reformed  by  Pope 
Gregory  XIII.,  it  had  fallen  back  to  the  11th  ;  and  as  it  was 
then  supposed  that  the  error  of  the  Julian  calendar 
amounted  to  three  days  in  400  years,  it  was  ordered  that 
the  intercalary  day  should  be  omitted  in  all  the  years  which 
terminate  centuries,  excepting  those  which  are  multiples 
of  400.  The  Gregorian  rule  of  intercalation  is  therefore  as 
follows : — Every  year  of  which  the  number  is  divisible  by  4 
is  a  leap  year;  excepting  the  centesimal  years,  which  are 
only  leap  years  when  divisible  by  4  after  suppressing  the 
two  zeros.  Thus  1600  was  a  leap  year;  but  1700,  1800, 
and  1900,  which  would  be  bissextile  in  the  Julian  calen- 
dar, are  common  years  in  the  Gregorian. 

This  regulation,  though  it  would  for  a  long  time  preserve 
the  commencement  of  the  year  at  the  same  place  in  the 
seasons,  is  not  yet  quite  correct.  It  supposes  the  length  of 
the  year  to  be  365  days  5  h.  43  m.  12  seconds,  which  is  too 
great  by  2238  seconds  ;  an  error  which  amounts  to  a  day 
ia  3866  years.    As  this  number  3866  approaches  to  4000,  it 


BISTORT. 

was  proposed  by  Delambre  to  correct  the  Gregorian  rule 
by  making  the  year  4000  and  all  its  multiples  common 
years.  Should  our  present  calendar  continue  to  be  in 
use  2000  years  hence,  posterity  may  then  begin  to  con- 
sider whether  they  will  adopt  this  suggestion.  See  Cal- 
endar. 

BI'STORT.  The  root  of  the  Polygonum  bistorta,  an 
indigenous  plant ;  it  is  used  in  medicine  as  a  powerful  as- 
tringent. 

BI'STRE.  In  Painting,  a  dark  brown  colour,  made  from 
the  soot  of  dry  wood,  whereof  for  this  purpose  beech  is 
preferable. 

Bl'SULCATE.  (Lat.  bis,  twice,  sulcus,  a  Jissure.)  In 
Mammalogy,  a  term  signifying  a  foot  resting  upon  two  hoof- 
ed digits. 

BIT.  That  part  of  the  bridle  which  goes  into  the  mouth 
of  a  horse. 

BITTER  PRINCIPLE.  This  term  has  been  applied  to 
certain  products  of  the  action  of  nitric  acid  upon  animal 
and  vegetable  matters  of  an  intensely  bitter  taste.  See 
Carbazotic  Acid. 

BITTERN.     See  Ardea. 

Bittern.  The  residue  of  sea  water  after  the  common 
salt  has  been  separated  by  evaporation.  It  contains  muri- 
ate of  magnesia,  which  gives  it  a  hitter  taste. 

BITTER  SALT.  Sulphate  of  magnesia,  or  Epsom 
salt. 

BITTER  SPAR.  A  Mineralogical  term,  generally  ap- 
plied to  certain  crystallized  varieties  of  dolomite,  or  double 
carbonates  of  lime  and  magnesia.  It  occurs  in  rhomboidal 
crystals,  consisting  of  about  55  per  cent,  of  carbonate  of 
lime  and  45  of  carbonate  of  magnesia,  sometimes  with 
tracps  of  iron  and  maganese. 

BITU'MEN.  (From  mrvs,  the  pitch  tree ;  because  it  re- 
sembles pitch.)  A  variety  of  inflammable  mineral  sub- 
stances, which,  like  pitch,  burn  with  flame  in  the  open  air, 
is  included  under  this  term;  such  as  naphtha,  pilroleum, 
and  asphalt  um. 

Bitumen.     Mineral  pitch. 

BITU'MINOUS  SHALE.  An  argillaceous  shale  impreg- 
nated with  bitumen  :  it  commonly  accompanies  coal. 

BIVA'LVES.  (Lat.  bis,  two,  and  valva,  a  valve.)  A  term 
commonly  applied  to  the  Lamellibranchiate  Acephalous 
Molluscs,  on  account  of  the  structure  of  their  shell,  which 
consists  of  two  parts  or  valves,  joined  together  by  an  elas- 
tic ligament  at  the  cardo,  or  hinge.  The  testaceous  cover- 
ing of  the  Palliobranchiates  is  also  composed  of  two  valves 
or  shelly  pieces  ;  but  these  are  never  joined  by  elastic  lig- 
ament. 

BI'VOUAC.  (Fr.)  A  term  in  the  Military  art,  employed 
to  denote  the  system  by  which  soldiers  on  a  march,  or  in 
expectation  of  an  engagement,  remain  all  night  in  the  open 
air, in  contradistinction  to  the  systemsof  encampmentand 
cantonment.  This  word  is  derived  from  the  Lat.  bis,  twice, 
and  the  German  wache,  a  guard,  and  signified  originally 
the  guard  which  was  selected  from  the  body  of  a  regiment 
to  keep  watch  during  the  night. 

B1XA'CE.E.  A  small  natural  order  of  plants,  so  called 
after  the  genus  Bixa,  the  genus  which  produces  the  sub- 
stance called  arnotto,  with  which  English  cheeses  are  dyed 
of  their  peculiar  reddish  ochre  colour.  The  species  are 
all  trees  or  shrubs  inhabiting  the  tropics. 

BLACK.  (Sax.  blac  )  In  Painting,  the  darkest  colour 
of  all ;  whereof  the  different  sorts  are  lamp  black,  ivory 
black.  Frankfort  black,  Spanish  black,  and  Hart's  black. 

BLACK  BIRD.     See  Turdds. 

BLACK  CAP.  This  term  is  generally  applied  and  un- 
derstood to  signify  a  species  of  frugivorous  warbler  (Cur- 
ruca  atracapilla  of  Bisson);  but  it  is  also  occasionally  given  to 
the  great  titmouse  (Parus fringillago),  the  marsh  titmouse 
(Parus  palustris),  the  black-headed  bunting  (Emberiza 
schtemilus),  the  stonechat  (Rubetra  rubicola),  and  even  to 
the  black-headed  gull. 

BLACK  COCK.  The  name  of  a  native  species  of  grouse 
(Ti'trao.) 

BLACK  FLUX.  A  mixture  of  carbonate  of  potash  and 
charcoal,  obtained  by  deflagrating  tartar  with  half  its 
weight  of  nitre. 

BLACK  JACK.  A  term  applied  by  the  miners  to  cer- 
tain sulphurets  of  zinc  :  the  ore  is  also  called  blende. 

BLACK  LEAD.     See  Plumbago  and  Graphite. 

BLACK  LETTER.  Is  the  name  now  applied  to  the  old 
English  or  modern  Gothic  letter,  which  was  introduced  in- 
to England  about  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and 
became  the  character  generally  used  in  MS.  works  before 
the  art  of  printing  was  publicly  practised  in  Europe.  On 
the  application  of  that  art  to  the  multiplying  of  books,  about 
the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  block  books,  and 
subsequently  those  written  with  moveable  types,  were  in 
this  character,  to  imitate  writing,  and  were  disposed  of  as 
manuscripts:  and  so  perfect  was  the  imitation,  that  it  re- 
quired great  discrimination  to  distinguish  the  printed  from 
the  written.  The  first  printed  Bible,  known  as  "  the  Mentz 
Bible  without  date,"  "was  an  instance  of  this.  Fust,  the 
150 


BLAZONRY. 

printer,  sold  copies  in  Paris  as  manuscripts  ;  and  as  the  de- 
mand increased  on  account  of  their  beauty  and  correct- 
ness, he  not  only  promptly  supplied  that  increased  de- 
mand, but  even  lowered  the  price  :  this  excited  suspicion  ; 
and  on  comparing  the  copies  they  were  found  to  be  perfect 
facsimiles  of  each  other,  and  being  produced  with  such  ra- 
pidity it  was  held  to  be  totally  impossible  for  the  most  ex- 
pert scriptores  to  execute  them  with  equal  accuracy  and 
despatch  ;  and  Fust  was  accused  of  producing  them  by 
means  of  magic.  To  avoid  punishment  for  this  crime,  he 
was  obliged  to  reveal  the  process  by  which  they  were  pro- 
duced. 

Books  printed  before  the  year  1500  are  generally  in  this 
character,  and  are  styled  black-letter  books. 

BLACK  WASH.  A  lotion  composed  of  calomel  and 
limewater. 

BLA'NCHING.  In  Gardening,  is  the  whitening  of  the 
stems,  stalks,  or  leaves  of  plants,  by  tying  them  together, 
or  earthing  them  up,  so  as  to  exclude  the  light,  and  thus 
to  diminish  the  intensity  of  their  native  properties. 

BLA'NK  VERSE.  In  some  modern  languages,  the 
heroic  verse  of  five  feet  without  rhymes.  Blank  verse  is 
peculiar  to  the  Italian,  English,  and  German  languages ; 
having  been  imported  into  the  two  latter  from  the  first. 
In  Italian  the  line  is  of  eleven  syllables ;  and  is  used  inva- 
riably in  the  drama,  and  frequently  in  serious  poetry,  epic 
or  didactic.  In  English  it  was  also  first  adopted  by  the 
dramatists,  and  transferred  to  epic  poetry  by  Mdton.  The 
Miltonic  verse  is  constructed  with  closer  attention  to  the 
melody  of  the  cadence  and  caesura  than  the  dramatic  :  it 
admits  also  less  frequently  of  the  eleventh  syllable,  which 
in  English  poetry  must  be  regarded  as  a  sort  of  license  ; 
while  Shakspeare  and  other  dramatists  occasionally  double 
the  short  syllable  at  the  end,  and  thus  extend  the  number 
to  twelve. 

BLAPS.  A  Fabrician  genus  of  Coleopterous  insects, 
now  the  type  of  a  family  (Blapsida;),  characterized  by  the 
absence  of  wings;  maxillary  palpi  terminated  by  a  large 
hatchet-shaped  joint ;  body  oblong  and  oval.  All  the  spe- 
cies are  of  a  dark  or  black  colour,  and  have  the  elytra 
soldered  together,  and  bent  down  at  the  sides  of  the  abdo- 
men so  as  to  embrace  that  part.  There  are  three  British 
species  of  the  genus  Blaps  proper,  which  are  known  by 
the  trivial  names  of  "  darkling"  or  "  church  yard  beetles," 
and  are  regarded  by  the  vulgar  of  this  and  other  countries 
as  insects  of  evil  omen. 

BLAS'PHEMY.  (Gr.  faacrfpriuia,  probably  from  P'Xair- 
to),  I  injure  ;  iprjuri,  rumour.)  According  to  its  supposed 
etymology  signifies  the  offence  of  using  injurious  language, 
as  calumny,  reviling,  &c. ;  and  in  this  sense  it  is  used  in 
the  New  Testament;  the  word  "railings,"  in  1  Tim.  vi.  4. 
being  in  the  original  "blasphemies."  But  in  the  modern 
and  restricted  sense,  "  blasphemy"  signifies  the  use  of  in- 
sulting, or  derogatory,  or  unbelieving  language,  with  re- 
spect to  God  and  divine  things.  Under  this  meaning  it  has 
been  considered  a  civil  crime  in  most  Christian  countries, 
in  imitation  of  the  practice  which  prevailed  among  the 
Jews.  (Levit.  xxix.)  In  England,  by  common  law,  it  was 
punishable  with  fine,  imprisonment,  and  other  corporal 
punishment.  By  9  W.  3.  c.  35.  it  was  first  made  a  statuta- 
ble offence,  and  extended  so  as  to  comprehend  even  the 
mere  denial  of  some  fundamental  doctrines  of  Christiani- 
ty ;  and  subjected  to  very  severe  inflictions.  Unitarians 
wTere  relieved  from  the  penalties  of  this  act  by  3  G.  3.  c. 
170.  But  it  is  almost  obsolete  in  practice  with  respect  to- 
other offenders. 

BLASTE'MA.  In  Botany,  the  axis  of  growth  of  an  em- 
bryo ;  that  is  to  say,  the  plumula,  the  radicle,  and  the  part 
which  connects  them,  the  cotyledons  being  removed. 

Blastema.  In  Anatomy,  the  homogeneous  gelatinous 
and  granular  basis  of  the  ovum,  in  which  the  organic  ele- 
ments characteristic  of  the  different  tissues  are  deposited 
in  the  earlv  stages  of  development. 

BLASTING.     See  Mining. 

BLASTOCA'RPOUS.  (Gr.  B\aoros,  a  germ,  and  tcapiros, 
fruit.)  That  kind  of  fruit  which  germinates  inside  the 
pericarp,  as  the  mangrove. 

BLASTODE'RM.  (Gr.  /JXaoroj,  germ,  Sepua,  skin.y 
In  Anatomy,  the  germinal  skin  or  membrane,  or  that  gran- 
ular membrane  or  stratum  which  lies  immediately  beneath 
the  membrana  vitelli  of  the  ovum,  and  which  is  the  seat 
of  development  of  all  parts  of  the  body  of  birds. 

BLA'STUS.  (Gr.  BAaorai/cj,  /  germinate.)  A  name 
sometimes  given  to  the  plumula  and  radicle  of  grasses. 

BLATTA.  A  genus  of  nocturnal  Orthopterous  insects, 
commonly  called  cock-roaches,  or  black  beetles.  In  mo- 
dern Entomology,  it  forms  the  type  of  a  family,  including 
many  genera. 

BLA'ZONRY.  The  art  of  deciphering  coats  of  arms; 
also,  that  of  expressing  or  describing  a  coat  of  arms  in  ap- 
propriate language.  The  word  is  supposed  to  be  derived 
from  the  German  blasen,  to  blow,  and  to  have  originated 
in  the  ceremonial  of  tournaments,  from  which  so  many 
other  terms  and  usages  in  heraldry  are  derived  ;  it  having 


BLEACHING. 

been  customary  on  these  solemn  occasions  for  the  herald 
to  blow  a  trumpet  when  he  called  out  the  arms  of  a  knight 
on  ushering  him  into  the  lists.  Blazonry  requires  a  know- 
ledge  of,  1.  The  points  of  the  shield,  which  are  nine  in 
number  (see  Points)  ;  2.  The  field,  that  is,  the  tincture  or 
tinctures  forming  tiie  ground  of  the  coat  (see  Tincture)  : 

3.  The  charges,  or  devices  borne  on  the  field  (see  Charge)  ; 

4.  The  ordinaries. 

BLEA'CHING.  (Ger.  bleichen.)  This  process  consists 
in  a  series  of  operations,  by  which  the  natural  colours  of 
various  substances  are  discharged,  so  as  to  whiten  them. 
It  is  effected  either  by  the  action  of  various  solvents,  aided 
by  exposure  to  light,  air,  and  moisture,  upon  the  bleaching 
ground  ;  or  by  the  aid  of  chlorine.  Cotton  is  more  easily 
bleached  than  linen,  in  consequence  of  its  being  originally 
whiter,  and  having  a  less  powerful  attraction  for  the  co- 
louring matter.  In  bleaching  these  goods  upon  the  old 
principle,  warm  water  is  first  liberally  applied  to  remove 
the  weaver's  paste  or  dressing;  they  are  then  bucked,  or 
boiled  in  a  weak  alkaline  ley  ;  and  after  having  been  well 
washed,  are  spread  out  upon  the  grass,  so  as  to  be  freely 
exposed  to  the  joint  agencies  of  light,  air,  and  moisture; 
the  bucking  and  exposure  are  alternately  repeated  as  often 
as  necessary  ;  the  goods  are  soured,  that  is.  immersed  in 
water  slightly  acidulated  by  sulphuric  acid;  lastly,  they 
are  very  thoroughly  washed  and  dried.  By  these  opera- 
tions the  texture  of  the  goods  is  to  a  certain  extent  im- 
paired, and  much  time  is  required  to  complete  the  process, 
which  also  cannot  be  carried  on  in  the  winter  months. 
But  the  exposure  upon  the  bleaching  ground  is  now  to  a 
great  extent  discontinued  ;  and  the  same  effect  is  obtained, 
after  the  process  of  backlog,  by  the  action  of  weak  solu- 
tions of  chlorine,  or  of  chloride  of  lime,  which,  if  skilfully 
used,  can  scarcely  be  said  to  injure  the  goods  more  than 
the  long-continued  exposure.  The  theory  of  bleaching 
has  not  been  satisfactorily  developed  ;  but,  from  such  ex- 
periments as  have  been  made  in  reference  to  it.  it  appears 
to  be  a  process  of  oxidizemenl,  and  to  depend  upon  some 
peculiar  inlluence  of  Tiascent  oxygen  upon  the  colouring 
matter. 

The  colour  of  manufactured  wool  depends  partly  upon 
its  own  oil,  and  partly  upon  the  applications  made  to  it  in 
the  loom.  These  are  got  rid  of  in  the  fulling  mill  by  the 
jolnl  action  of  fullers' earth  and  soap;  the  cloth  is  then 
well  washed  and  dried,  and  is  tolerably  white ;  iftheslighl 
yellow  tint  which  it  retains  is  objectionable,  it  is  prevented 
by  adding  a  little  stone-blue  to  the  washing  water,  or  by 
exposure  to  the  fumes  of  burning  sulphur  ;  this  latter  me- 
thod, however,  L'ives  it  a  harsh  feel,  and  if  afterwards 
soaped  its  yellowishness  returns. 

Tin-  colour  of  raw  silk  depends  upon  a  natural  yellow 
varnish,  which  is  got  nil  of  by  boiling  it  in  white  soap  and 
water,  and  by  repeated  rincings.  Certain  articles  of  wove 
cotton,  such  as  stockings,  are  bleached  as  usual,  and  fin- 
ished  by  the  action  of  sulphurous  acid,  or  the  fumes  of 
burning  sulphur.  Straw  Is  also  whitened  by  a  similar 
operation  ;  and  hence  blear  lied  straw  hats  are  apt  to  have 
a  disagreeable  sulphurous  smell.  A  good  account  of  bleach- 
ing will  be  found  in  Parkes'  chemical  Essays. 

BLE' ACHING  POWDER.  Chloride  of  lime,  made  by 
exposing  slaked  lime  to  the  action  of  chlorine. 

BLENDE     Native  sulphuret  of  zinc. 

BLE'NNIUS.  (Gr.  (i\cvva.  slime.)  In  Ichthyology,  a 
genu30fAcanthopterygiousfisb.es,  of  the  family  of  Gud- 
geons (QobioidtB),  remarkable  for  the  quantity  of  mucus 
secreted  from  the  skin,  and  for  the  viviparous  generation 
of  some  of  the  species,  of  which  the  Blennuis  phoUs, 
a  species  common  along  the  shores  of  Britain,  is  an  ex- 
ample. 

BLE'NNORRIKE'A.  (Gr.  0\cvva,  munis,  and  pcoi,  I 
Jloir.)    An  inordinate  discharge  or  secretion  of  mucus. 

BLE'PHARITES.  (Gr.  0\e<papov,  the  eyelid.)  Inflam- 
mation of  the  eyelids. 

BLIGHT.  A  term  in  common  use  for  supposed  atmos- 
pherical injuries  received  by  plants.  Before  effects  were 
traced  to  their  causes  with  the  same  care  that  they  are  at 
present,  the  sudden  discolouration  of  the  leaves  of  plants, 
their  death,  or  their  being  covered  with  minute  insects  or 
small  excrescences,  was  called  by  the  general  name  of 
blight  ;  and  this  blight  was  attributed  to  some  mysterious 
inlluence  in  the  air,  to  the  east  wind,  or  to  thunder,  be- 
cause these  states  of  the  atmosphere  commonly  accom- 
panied the  phenomena  alluded  to.  It  is  now  found  that 
what  is  called  blight  is  in  some  cases  the  effect  of  insects, 
to  the  progress  of  which  the  dry  state  of  the  atmosphere 
produced  by  the  east  wind  is  peculiarly  favourable  ;  while 
in  other  cases,  it  is  caused  by  parasitical  fungi.  The  ap- 
pearance of  these  fungi  on  corn  crops  is  frequently  desig- 
nated by  farmers  as  the  fire  blast ;  while  on  peach  and 
other  trees  in  gardens  it  is  called  mildew.  The  sudden 
d»ath  of  plants,  and  also  the  withering  and  drying  up  of 
part  of  their  leaves  and  branches,  to  which  appearance 
the  term  blight  should  perhaps  be  restricted,  are  produced 
by  the  transpiration  of  water  from  the  leaves  taking  place 
151 


BLOOD. 

|  with  greater  rapidity  than  it  can  be  supplied  by  the  ab- 
sorption of  the  roots.  In  very  hot  weather  in  summer 
branches  of  fruit  trees  trained  against  walls,  or  of  goose- 
berry bushes  on  espaliers,  are  sometimes  withered  up  in. 
a  few  minutes  from  this  cause.  What  countrymen  call 
the  blight  on  standard  apple  or  other  fruit  trees  in  orchards 
is  commonly  nothing  more  than  the  injuries  done  the 
leaves  and  buds  by  the  caterpillars  of  certain  moths  ;  that 
on  thorn  hedges,  by  the  caterpillar  of  the  saw  fly,  or  of  the 
ermine,  or  of  some  other  moths ;  and  that  on  roses,  by  the 
aphides  or  green  fly. 

BLIND  WORM.  An  ophidian  or  serpent-like  reptile, 
which  is  the  type  of  the  genus  Cecilia  (see  that  word) 
The  term  is  also  sometimes  applied  to  the  slow-worm. 
.S'ee  Anguis. 

BLI'NKERS.  Expansions  of  the  sides  of  the  bridle  of 
a  horse,  to  prevent  him  from  seeing  on  either  side,  but  at 
the  same  time  not  to  obstruct  his  vision  in  front. 

BLIS'TERFLY.     See  Cantharis. 

BLOCK.  (Teutonic.)  In  Architecture,  a  large  un- 
worked  mass  of  marble  or  other  stone.  It  is  also  vulgarly 
used  to  denote  a  modillion  in  a  cornice. 

Block.  In  Navigation,  the  case  that  contains  the  wheel 
or  sheere  of  the  pulley  (which  last  term  is  not  used  at  sea). 
Two  or  moreblocks,  with  the  rope,  constitute  a  tackle 
(pronounced  tacle).  Blocks  are  also  the  pieces  of  wood 
and  iron  on  which,  piled  up,  the  ship's  keel  is  supported 
when  she  is  in  dock. 

HI.OCKA'DE.  In  International  Law,  the  right  to  block- 
ade the  ports  of  an  enemy  in  war,  and  to  exclude  neutrals, 
is  limited  by  the  following  recognised  principles:  1.  The 
blockade  must  be  substantial,  by  means  of  a  sufficient 
force  to  prevent  the  entry  or  exit  of  vessels  ;  otherwise  a 
neutral  is  not  bound  to  respect  it.  2.  It  is  essential  that 
the  neutral  should  have  notice  of  the  blockade:  otherwise 
his  ship  cannot  be  justly  condemned.  A  counter  notice 
should  also  be  given  by  the  blockading  power  when  the 
blockade  has  ceased.  In  England,  a  blockade  is  properly 
declared  bv  the  king  in  council. 

BLO'CKTNG  COURSE.  In  Architecture,  a  finishing 
course  ol  masonry  above  a  cornice. 

BLOCS  TIN.  Tin  cast  into  blocks  or  ingots:  it  is  ge- 
m  grain  tin. 

BLOOD.  The  fluid  which  circulates  in  the  heart  and 
blood-vessels.  When  viewed  under  the  microscope  it  ap- 
pears to  consist  of  very  minute  red  globules  or  spheroids 
floating  in  a  colourless  fluid.  The  average  quantity  in  an 
adult  man  is  estimated  at  about  28  lbs. :  it  is  of  two  distinct 
colours  in  the  arterial  and  venous  systems  ;  florid  red  ap- 
proaching to  scarlet  in  the  former,  and  dark  crimson  in  the 
latter.  Its  specific  gravity  is  between  1050  and  1070. 
When  drawn  from  its  vessels  it  gelatinises  or  coagulates 
in  the  course  of  a  few  minutes  of  common  temperature, 
and  soon  separates  spontaneously  into  serum  and  coagu- 
lum.  The  serum  is  a  yellowish  soapy-feeling  fluid,  of  the 
specific  gravity  of  about  1030.  It  exhibits  a  slight  alkaline 
reaction  upon  test  papers ;  when  heated  it  becomes  opaque, 
and  at  156°  it  coagulates.  It  is  also  coagulated  by  alcohol, 
and  by  most  of  the  acids;  acetic  acid  and  ether  do  not  co- 
agulate it;  solutions  of  corrosive  sublimate,  of  subacetate 
of  lead,  and  of  chloride  platinum  occasion  precipitates  in 
it,  even  when  considerably  diluted  with  water.  These 
properties  of  serum  are  dependent  upon  'he  presence  of  a 
peculiar  proximate  animal  principle  called  albumen;  the 
same  substance,  and  with  very  nearly  the  same  properties, 
constitutes  the  white  of  egg,  the  coagulability  of  which  by 
heat  is  well  known.  Besides  the  above  there  is  another 
most  delicate  test  of  albumen  in  solution,  which  consists 
in  adding  to  the  liquid  suspected  to  contain  it  a  little  strong 
acetic  acid,  and  afterwards  a  few  drops  of  ferrocyanate  of 
potash.  If  albumen  be  present,  a  white  cloud  is  produced. 
This  is  even  a  more  accurate  test  than  corrosive  sublimate. 
White  of  egg  is  coagulated  by  ether,  while  serum  is  not 
According  to  Marcet  1000  parts  of  serum  of  human  blood 
are  composed  of  water  900,  albumen  868,  muriates  of  po- 
tassa  and  soda  6-6,  muco-extractive  4,  carbonate  of  soda 
165,  sulphate  of  potassa  0  35,  earthy  phosphates  060. 

The  coagulum  of  the  blood  is  of  a  more  or  less  firm  tex- 
ture, and  has  a  greater  specific  gravity  than  the  serum.  It 
contains  the  colouring  particles  of  the  blood  ;  and  when 
carefully  washed,  these  are  carried  out  of  it,  and  a  tena- 
cious whitish  matter  remains,  which  has  been  termed 
fibrine,  but  which,  in  all  essential  points,  has  the  proper- 
ties of  coagulated  albumen. 

The  colouring  matter  of  the  blood,  haimatosine,  may  be 
obtained  by  evaporating  its  aqueous  solution  at  a  tempera- 
ture below  100°  ;  it  then  appears  almost  black,  but  resumes 
its  red  colour  when  dissolved  in  water.  It  is  soluble 
in  acids  and  in  alkalies ;  these  solutions  are  dark-co- 
loured ;  but  when  mixed,  so  as  to  become  neutral,  the 
heematosine  falls  of  a  bright  red  colour.  Accordingly, 
when  the  clot  of  blood  is  put  into  acids  it  becomes  brown 
or  blackish,  and  is  very  similarly  discoloured  by  alkalies  ; 
but  roost  neutral  salts  render  it  florid.     Dr.  Stevens  has 


BLOOD  ROOT. 

ehown  that  carbonic  acid  in  venous  blood  is  the  probable 
cause  of  its  dingy  hue,  and  that  the  saline  matter  of  the 
serum  confers  the  florid  red  upon  arterial  blood  ;  and  that 
by  washing  the  saline  matters  out  of  the  bright  coagulum 
of  arterial  blood  it  gradually  loses  its  brilliancy  and  resem- 
bles venous  coagulum. 

The  following  table  shows  the  results  of  an  analysis  of 
human  blood  by  Lecanu  (Annates  de  Chimie  et  Physique, 
vol.  xlviii.);  considered  quantitively,  it  must  only  be  taken 
as  a  mean  or  approximate  result. 

Water 780145 

Fibrine 2100 

Colouring  matter  - 133  000 

Albumen 65090 

Fat  and  oily  matter 3-740 

Extractive  matter  ....--  1 790 

Albumen  combined  with  soda     •  1265 

Chloride  of  sodium  \ 

potassium  / 

Carbonates     )„,-„„,,„,„      V  •        •  8370 

Phosphates  r/P^f  C 
Sulphates  S  and  SOdd  ) 
Carbonates  of  lime  . 

magnesia         J 
Phosphate  of  lime  '      •  2100 

magnesia        f" 
iron  \ 

Peroxide  of  iron  ' 

Loss       ........  2-400 

1000000 
BLOOD  ROOT.     The  root  of  the   Sanguinaria  cana- 
densis, the  juice  of  which  is  of  a  red  colour. 

BLO'ODSTONE.  A  dark  green  silicious  mineral,  va- 
riegated hy  red  spots  (heliotrope). 

BLO'WPIPE.  An  instrument  by  which  a  small  jet  of 
air  is  directed  laterally  into  the  flame  of  a  lamp  or  candle, 
so  as  to  divert  it  in  a  long  slender  cone  upon  a  piece  of 
charcoal  or  other  substance  so  placed  as  to  receive  it. 
When  a  flame  is  thus  urged  by  the  blowpipe  the  extreme 
heat  is  just  at  the  tip  of  the  outer  white  flame,  where  the 
combustion  is  most  perfect,  and  where  substances  are 
rapidly  burned  or  oxidized  ;  whilst  the  interior  blue  flame, 
in  consequence  of  its  excess  of  combustible  matter,  ab- 
stracts oxygen  from,  or  reduces,  substances.  So  that  seve- 
ral metals,  when  thus  heated  before  the  blowpipe,  are  al- 
ternately oxidized  and  deoxidized  by  being  placed  in  the 
outer  and  inner  flame.  The  blowpipe  is  of  important  ser- 
vice to  the  chemist  in  enabling  him  to  ascertain  easily  and 
quickly  the  effects  of  inlense  heat  upon  a  variety  of  sub- 
stances; and  he  frequently  has  recourse  to  it  in  order  to 
distinguish  metallic  and  earthy  minerals  from  each  other, 
and  to  ascertain  in  a  general  way  the  nature  of  their  com- 
ponent parts :  it  is,  in  fact,  a  most  important  auxiliary  in 
all  cases  of  qualitative  analysis.  Several  treatises  have  been 
written  on  the  use  and  indications  of  the  blowpipe  :  the 
reader  is  especially  referred  to  Faraday's  Chemical  Mani- 
pulation, Sect.  IV.  §  3.  Griffin's  Chemical  Recreations, 
Part  I.     Blowpipe  Analysis.     Glasgow,  1838. 

BLU'BBER.  The  cellular  membrane  in  which  the  oil 
or  fat  of  the  whale  is  included.     See  Whale. 

BLUE.  (Germ,  blau.)  In  Painting,  the  colour  of  the 
sky.  It  is  one  of  the  seven  original  colours,  and  is  of 
many  sorts,  whereof  the  principal  are  ultramarine,  Prus- 
sian blue,  blue  bice,  and  indigo. 

BLUFFS  High  banks  presenting  an  abrupt  form  to- 
wards the  sea  or  river. 

BO'A.  A  genus  of  serpents,  with  the  transverse  scutae 
of  the  abdomen  and  tail  in  a  single  row,  and  without  a 
rattle  or  spur  at  the  end  of  the  tail.  Some  species  attain 
an  immense  size  ;  but  the  large  serpents  brought  to  this 
country,  and  called  boa  constrictors,  are  generally  Pythons, 
and  natives  of  Asia.  The  true  boas  are  from  South  Ame- 
rica. 

BOARD.  (Equivalent  to  the  French  bureau.)  A  word 
applied  usually  to  certain  individuals  in  a  collective  capa- 
city, who  are  intrusted  with  the  management  of  some 
public  office  or  department.  Thus  the  Commissioners  of 
Customs,  the  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council  for  the  Af- 
fairs of  Trade,  the  Commissioners  of  Excise,  dec,  when 
assembled  to  transact  the  business  of  their  respective  offi- 
ces are  styled  the  Board  of  Customs,  the  Board  of  Trade, 
the  Board  of  Excise,  <fcc.  But  the  term  Board  is  used 
also  in  a  more  general  sense,  being  applied  to  any  individ- 
uals appointed  by  competent  authority  to  deliberate  on  or 
superintend  the  operations  of  any  private  business  or  spe- 
culation. 

Board.  (Sax.  bord.)  In  Architecture,  a  piece  of  timber 
of  undefined  length,  more  than  four  inches  in  breadth,  and 
not  more  than  two  inches  and  a  half  in  thickness.  The 
section  of  a  board  is,  however,  sometimes  triangular,  or 
rather  trapezoidal,  one  edge  being  very  thin.  This  is  called 
a  feather  edged  board. 
BOA'TSWAIN.  The  second  of  the  three  warrant  ofll- 
152 


BOLTHEAD. 

cersof  a  man  of  war;  he  has  charge  of  the  boats,  rigging', 
anchors,  and  cables.  It  is  his  duty  to  turn  the  hands  up,  or 
summon  the  whole  crew,  whenever  they  are  required  for 
any  duty.  He  should  fiom  the  nature  of  his  duties  be  an 
active  man,  and  a  thorough  seaman.  The  boatswain's 
mates  assist  the  boatswain,  summon  the  watches  or  other 
portions  of  the  crew  to  duty,  and  inflict  punishments. 

BOAT.  (Sax.  baet.)  A  term  used  in  a  general  sense  to 
denote  any  small  ship  or  vessel,  whether  open  or  decked, 
and  which  may  be  propelled  by  oars,  or  by  sails,  or  by 
steam.  They  are  accordingly  of  very  different  forms  and 
constructions,  according  to  the  different  purposes  they  are 
intended  to  serve.  Under  this  term  are  comprehended 
barges,  cutters,  pinnaces,  yawls,  &c.  See  Ship;  Steam 
Navigation. 

BO'BSTAYS.  Stays  or  strong  ropes  to  keep  down  the 
bowsprit  during  the  plunging  of  the  ship,  and  against  the 
upward  action  of  the  head  sails  (jibs,  fore-staysail,  &c),  and 
to  sustain  the  action  of  the  stays  or  ropes,  which  keep  the 
foremast,  fore-topmast,  <fec,  and  therefore  the  main-top- 
mast, from  falling  aft.  They  are  necessarily  very  strong  ; 
they  are  attached  to  the  bowsprit  by  collars  placed  about  % 
of  its  length  outside,  and  to  the  hull  of  the  ship,  by  passing 
through  holes  in  the  cutwater  or  projecting  head,  and  make 
an  angle  of  about  30°  more  or  less  with  the  axis  of  the  bow- 
sprit.   They  are  often  made  of  chains. 

BO'DY.  In  Physics,  is  a  term  applied  to  any  portion  of 
matter  of  which  the  existence  can  be  perceived  by  any  of, 
our  senses.  According  to  the  Peripatetics,  body  is  com- 
posed of  matter,  form,  and  privation.  In  modern  physics, 
body  is  regarded  as  an  agglomeration  of  material  particles. 
According  to  the  different  forms  in  which  matter  exists, 
bodies  may  be  solid,  liquid,  or  gaseous. 

In  Geometry,  body  is  synonimous  with  solid.  Thus 
we  say  the  five  regular  bodies,  or  five  regular  solids.  See 
Solid. 

BOG  EARTH.  A  soil  consisting  chiefly  of  silicious  and 
vegetable  fibre  ;  it  is  often  accumulated  in  considerable 
quantity  where  waters  have  deposited  the  mud  of  boggy 
places.  Many  American  shrubs  and  other  plants  and 
flowers  will  only  thrive  in  such  or  similar  soils,  so  that  bog 
earth  is  in  great  request  for  such  purposes.  It  may,  to  a 
certain  extent,  be  artificially  imitated  by  mixing  the  cuttings 
of  grass  with  the  mud  of  ponds  and  a  sufficient  quantity  of 
sharp  sand. 
BOHE'A.  A  species  of  black  tea.  See  Tea. 
BOI'LING  POINT.  The  temperature  at  which  liquids 
are  rapidly  converted  into  vapour  with  the  phenomena  of 
ebullition.  Thus  the  boiling  point  of  water  is  212°  ;  of  alco- 
hol, 176°  ;  of  ether,  96°  ;  of  oil  of  turpentine,  316°  ;  and  of 
mercury,  662°  ;  these  being  the  respective  temperatures  at 
which  these  bodies  continuously  pass  into  the  state  of 
vapour. 

BO'LDNESS.  (Sax.  bald.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  that  fear- 
lessness which  an  artist  exhibits  in  his  designs,  arising 
from,  and  grounded  on,  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  his  art.     Its  antagonist  is  tameness  or  insipidity. 

BOLE.  (Gr.  0co\os,  a  mass.)  An  argillaceous  earthy 
mineral,  generally  reddened  by  oxide  of  iron ;  as  is  the 
case  in  the  Armenian  bole,  which  is  used  in  tooth-powder, 
and  to  give  colour  to  the  fish  sauce  called  essence  of  an- 
chovies. 

BOLE'RO.  A  peculiar  species  of  dance  very  popular  in 
Spain,  and  so  called  from  the  name  of  its  inventor. 

BOLE'TIC  ACID.  An  acid  contained  in  the  juice  of  the 
Boletus  pseudo  ignarius. 

BOLE'TUS.  (Gr.  0oj\os,  a  mass.)  A  genus  of  fungi, 
numerous  large  species  of  which  spring  from  the  sides  of 
trees  when  the  rind  is  decayed,  formins  firm  fleshy  masses, 
which  are  generally  smooth  on  the  upper  side,  and  pierced 
with  holes  on  the  lower.  The  spawn  of  such  plants  often 
forms  what  is  called  dry-rot,  insinuating  its  fine  delicate 
filamentous  ramifications  between  the  tubes  of  the  wood, 
forcing  them  asunder,  and  so  destroying  the  cohesion  and 
solidity  of  timber.  Boletus  igniarius  and  foment arius  are 
the  fungi  which,  when  cut  into  thin  slices,  dried,  and  pre- 
pared with  saltpetre,  form  common  amadou,  or  the  Ger- 
man tinder  of  the  shops.  B.  tuberosus  is  used  in  Sweden, 
as  a  substitute  for  cork.  B.  bovnius  is  said  to  be  a  favour- 
ite food  of  oxen,  deer,  swine,  and  some  other  animals ;  it 
is  even  used  for  human  food. 

BOLOGNE'SE  SCHOOL.  In  Painting,  sometimes  called 
the  Lombard  school  of  painting.  It  was  founded  by  the  Ca- 
racci,and  its  object  was  to  unite  the  excellencies  of  the 
preceding  schools  (see  Painting)  ;  hence  it  is  occasionally 
called  the  Eclectic  school.  Among  the  principal  painters 
which  it  numbered  were  Domenichino,  Lanfranco,  Cor- 
regio,  Guido,  Schidone,  Caravagio,  Zampieri,  Primaticcio, 

BOLO'GNIAN  STONE.  A  sulphate  of  baryta,  found 
near  Bologna,  which,  when  heated  with  charcoal,  becomes 
a  powerful  solar  phosphorus. 

BO'LTHEAD.  A  globular  flask  with  a  tubular  neok, 
used  in  the  chemical  laboratory. 


BOLUS. 

BO'LUS.  (Latin,  a  mass.)  A  very  large  pill ;  or  a  med- 
icine formed  into  an  olive-shaped  mass,  not  too  large  to  be 
swallowed. 

BOMB.  In  Artillery,  a  hollow  ball  or  shell  of  cast-iron, 
having  an  orifice  through  which  it  is  filled  with  gunpowder, 
and  into  which,  when  filled,  a  fusee  is  inserted,  so  adjusted 
that  when  the  bomb  falls  at  the  place  intended,  the  fusee 
ignites  the  powder  in  the  shell,  and  blows  it  to  pieces. 
The  havoc  which  is  thus  produced  in  a  besieged  town  or 
the  ranks  of  an  enemy  is  often  very  great.  Bombs,  or 
shells,  as  they  are  more  frequently  called,  are  of  all  sizes, 
from  about  IS  inches  downwards,  and  are  in  general  thrown 
from  mortars  or  howitzers ;  sometimes  from  cannon. 
They  appear  to  have  been  first  used  as  part  of  the  regular 
materiel  of  an  army  about  the  year  1634,  in  the  wars  of  the 
Netherlands.  The  principal  art  in  throwing  shells  is  to 
make  them  fall  at  or  near  a  given  point.  For  this  purpose 
the  distance  is  calculated,  and  the  charge  of  powder  and 
elevation  of  the  mortar  regulated  accordingly.  Theoreti- 
cal rules  are  of  no  great  use.  They  must  be  derived  from 
experiment  and  practice. 

BO'MBARDIERS.  See  Brachinus. 
BO'MBAX.  (f.'r.  Bo^</?a£.)  A  genus  containing  many 
species  of  very  large  trees,  whose  capsules  are  filled  with 
a  fine  cottony  substance  enveloping  the  seeds.  It  gives  its 
name  to  the  natural  order  Bomoaceee,  allied  to  Malvaceous 
plants,  where  it  is  associated  with  the  celebrated  Baobab, 
and  many  more  gigantic  inhabitants  of  tropical  forests. 
The  bombax  trees  are  remarkable  for  forming  on  their 
sides  next  the  ground  huge  buttresses,  projecting  so  far 
from  the  parent  trunk  as  to  be  capable  o(  screening  many 
men.  The  quantity  of  cotton  yielded  by  these  trees  is 
normous,  and  often  covers  the  earth  around  the  roots  to 
the  depth  of  several  feet ;  il  is  unfortunately  of  too  short  a 
staple  to  he  used  for  manufacturing  purposes. 

BO'MBAZINE.  (Gr.  Bo/i/?u(,  a  silk  ir„r/7i.)  A  fabric 
of  which  the  warp  is  silk  and  the  weft  (or  shoot)  worsted. 
It  is  chiefly  made  in  black,  and  as  an  article  of  mourning 
for  female  dress.  The  capital  employed  in  Norwich,  du- 
ring the  most  flourishing  period  of  the  bombazine  trade, 
amounted  to  £300,000,  but  at  present  it  is  below  £  100,000. 

BOMB  VESSEL.  A  ship  of  war,  intended  for  the  bom- 
bardment of  a  town  or  place  situated  on  the  sea  coast. 
They  are  of  about  350  tons  burthen,  and  carry  one  13-inch 
and  one  10-inch  mortar,  together  with  two  6  pounder  guns, 
one  1'2-pounder,  and  eighl  J I  pounder  carronades,  having 
a  crew  of  sixty-seven  men,  with  the  usual  complement  of 
officers,  and  a  detachment  of  marine  artillerymen  for  the 
purpose  of  working  the  guns.  See  Spearman's  British 
Gunner. 

BO'MBIC  ACID.  The  acid  contained  in  the  silk-worm, 
especially  in  its  chrysalis  state.  It  is  supposed  to  resemble 
formic  acid. 

BO'MBYCI'LLA.  A  genus  of  omnivorous  Passerine 
birds,  of  which  the  Bohemian  wax  win;'  {Bombycitla gar- 
rula)  is  an  example,  and  an  occasional  winter  visitor  of 
Britain. 

BOMBY'LIUS.  A  Linnajan  genus  of  Dipterous  insects, 
and  now  the  type  of  a  family  (Bombyliid/t),  characterized 
by  the  great  length  of  the  oral  instruments,  which  forma 
long  and  slender  proboscis  ;  body  thick,  short,  hairy  ;  tho- 
rax gibbous ;  wings  extended  horizontally  ;  halteres  ex- 
posed ;  antennae  short,  approximate,  composed  of  three 
joints,  the  last  the  longest,  thickened  and  terminating  ob- 
tusely ;  legs  long  and  slender.  The  insects  of  this  family 
have  a  rapid  flight,  and  are  very  active  ;  they  subsist  en- 
tirely on  the  nectar  of  (lowers.  They  are  of  small  size, 
and  mostly  exotic,  affording  types  of  many  genera,  of 
which  only  BombyUus  proper  and  Pthiria  afford  British 
examples. 

BO'MBYX.  A  Linnaean  genus  of  Lepidopterons  insects, 
now  the  type  of  a  family  (Bombycidai),  including  many 
genera  of  nocturnal  and  post-meridian  moths.  These  have 
been  arranged  under  the  following  sub-families: — Hepiali- 
dte,  N')>odiTiidm,  AretiidtB,  and  Bombycidm  proper. 

BONA  DEA.  In  Roman  Mythology,  a  goddess  concern- 
ing whom  a  great  diversity  of  opinion  prevails,  even  among 
the  writers  of  antiquity.  On  the  authority  of  C.  Labeo,  she 
is  represented  by  Macrobius,  who  treats  at  length  upon  her 
nature  and  worship,  as  svnonimous  with  the  Grecian  Rhea 
or  Cybele.  The  Bona  Dea  had  two  temples  at  Rome  ;  but 
her  rites  were  generally  solemnised  in  the  house  of  the 
consul  or  prretor.  In  the  celebration  of  these  rites  only 
women  participated,  thereby  indicating  the  peculiar  chas- 
tity of  the  goddess.  But  a  perusal  of  the  ancient  writers 
will  convince  the  most  sceptical  that  the  exclusion  of  men 
from  the  solemnities  of  the  Bona  Dea  was  purely  nominal, 
and  that  in  the  course  of  time  the  grossest  licentiousness 
was  practised  during  their  celebration.  (See  Cic:  pro 
MOone:  Juv.  Sat.  VI.) 
BONA'SSUS.     See  Bison. 

BOND.  (Sax.  bond.)  In  Architecture,  the  connection 
of  one  stone  or  brick  with  another  by  lapping  them  over 
each  other  in  carrying  up  work,  so  that  an  inseparable 


20KE. 

mass  of  building  may  be  formed,  which  could  not  be  the 
case  if  every  vertical  joint  was  over  that  below  it. 

Bond.  In  Law,  a  deed  whereby  the  obligor,  or  parly 
binding  himself,  obliges  himself,  his  heirs,  executors,  and 
administrators,  to  pay  a  certain  sum  of  money,  called  the 
penalty,  to  another  (the  obligee)  at  a  day  appointed.  There 
is  a  condition  added,  that  if  the  obligor  does  some  particu- 
lar act  the  obligation  shall  be  void,  or  else  remain  in  full 
force.  In  case  this  condition  is  not  performed,  the  bond 
becomes  forfeited  or  absolute  at  law,  and  charges  the  obli- 
gor while  living;  and  after  his  death  the  obligation  de- 
scends on  the  heir,  who  (in  default  of  personal  assets  in 
the  hands  of  the  executor  or  administrator)  is  bound  to  dis- 
charge it,  provided  he  have  real  assets  by  descent.  The 
condition  is  usually  (although  not  necessarily)  included  in 
the  same  deed,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  obligation. 

A  bond  without  a  condition  is  termed  single  (or  simplex 
ohligatio) ;  and  it  becomes  single  by  forfeiture,  on  non-per- 
formance of  the  condition.  At  law,  the  whole  penalty 
mentioned  in  the  bond  was  recoverable  on  such  non-per- 
formance. But  by  the  interposition  of  equity  the  obligee 
was  discharged  from  paving  more  than  the  sum  to  which 
the  obligor  was  reasonably  entitled  :  viz.  his  principal,  in- 
terest, and  expenses,  if  the  bond  was  for  payment  of  a 
debt ;  or  the  damages  accruing  to  him,  if  it  was  for  the  per- 
formance of  a  stipulated  act.  But  by  4  &  5  Ann.  c.  16.  it 
was  enacted  that  in  case  of  a  bond  conditioned  for  pay- 
ment of  money,  the  payment  of  the  sum  due,  with  inter- 
est and  costs,  even  though  the  bond  be  forfeited,  and  suit 
commenced  thereon,  shall  be  a  full  satisfaction  and  dis- 
charge ;  and  on  this  footing  the  law  now  stands. 

A  bond  on  which  neither  principal  nor  interest  has  been 
demanded  for  twenty  years  will  be  presumed  to  have  been 
satisfied  ;  but  length  of  time  is  not,  strictly,  a  legal  bar,  but 
only  a  ground  for  the  jury  to  presume  satisfaction. 

In  a  bond  where  several  are  bound  severally,  the  obli- 
gee may,  at  his  election,  sue  all  the  obligors  together,  or  all 
of  them  apart,  and  have  several  judgments  and  executions  : 
but  he  shall  have  satisfaction  but  once  ;  for  if  it  be  by  ono 
only,  that  is  sufficient  to  discharge  the  debt. 

Bond,  English.  In  Architecture,  that  disposition  of 
bricks  in  a  wall  wherein  the  courses  are  alternately  com- 
posed of  headers,  or  bricks  laid  with  their  heads  or  ends 
towards  the  faces  of  the  wall,  and  in  the  superior  and  in- 
ferior courses  of  stretchers  or  bricks,  with   

their  lengths  parallel  to  the   faces  of  the    — — '    '    '    I    '. 

walls,  as  in  the  margin,  in  which  the  upper    — - ! — 

is  called  the  heading,  and  the  lower  the  stretching  course. 
Bond,  Flemish.     In  Architecture,  that  disposition  of 

bricks  in  a  wall  wherein  each  course  has 

h(  aders  and  stretchers  alternately,  as  in  the  — !- — — 

margin.  '■ — — 

Bond  or  Lap  op  a  Slate.  In  Architecture,  the  distance 
between  the  nail  of  the  under  slate  and  the  lower  edge  of 
the  upper  slate. 

BOM)  STONE.  In  Architecture,  a  stone  running 
through  the  whole  thickness  of  a  wall  at  right  angles  to  its 
face,  for  the  purpose  of  binding  the  wall  together  in  the  di- 
rection of  its  thickness. 

BOND  TIMBER.  In  Architecture,  timber  worked  in 
with  a  wall  as  it  is  carried  up,  for  the  purpose  of  tying  it 
together  in  a  longitudinal  direction  while  the  work  is 
setting. 

BONE.  An  important  organ  in  the  higher  orders  of  ani- 
mals (see  Anatomy),  forming  the  solid  support  of  their 
fabric,  and  protecting  the  vital  organs,  such  as  the  brain  and 
the  heart  and  lungs,  from  external  pressure  and  injury. 
In  the  human  skelelon  there  are  commonly  enumerated 
260  distinct  bones.  They,  however,  admit  of  classification 
under  three  heads  ;  namely,  long  or  cylindricalboaea,  such 
as  those  of  the  extremities  ;  broad  and  flat  bones,  such  as 
those  of  the  skull ;  and  short,  square,  irregular,  or  solid 
bones,  such  as  the  vertebras,  and  those  of  the  wrist  and  in- 
step, and  the  patella  or  knee-pan  :  the  first  bones  are  gene- 
rally filled  with  marrow,  and  are  admirable  specimens  of 
strength  of  structure  with  the  least  possible  weight.  The 
bones  are  covered  by  a  membrane  called  periosteum,  by 
which  the  ramifications  of  blood-vessels  and  nerves  pass 
into  the  bone.  In  the  growth  of  a  bone,  the  gelatinous  or 
cartilaginous  portion,  as  it  has  sometimes  been  called,  is 
first  formed,  and  the  earthy  or  indurating  part  is  afterwards 
deposited.  We  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Hatchett  for  our  prin- 
cipal information  respecting  the  proximate  chemical  com- 
ponents of  bone.  (Phil.  Trans.  1799  and  1S00.)  The  soft 
parts  consist  of  gelatine  and  albumen  ;  and  the  hard  por- 
tion is  composed  of  phosphate  of  lime  and  carbonate  of 
lime,  with  small  quantities  of  other  salts.  The  animal 
matter  of  bones  amounts  on  an  average  to  about  half  their 
weight,  or,  when  dried,  to  between  30  and  40 per  cent.  ;  so 
that  they  contain  a  large  relative  proportion  of  nutritive 
matter.  The  bones,  including  their  animal  matter,  are  the 
most  durable  parts  of  the  animal  fabric  ;  hence  the  propo- 
sal of  storing  them  up,  as  occasional  sources  of  nutriment ; 
for  not  only  is  the  cartilaginous  portion  unimpaired,  hi 


BONE  DUST. 

bones  which  have  been  kept  dry  for  many  years,  but  It  has 
even  been  found  perfect  in  bones  of  apparently  antedilu- 
vian origin.  The  best  mode  of  extracting  the  nutritious 
pan  of  bone  lor  human  food  consists  in  grinding  it  fine, 
and  subjpclinu  it  With  water  lo  a  heat  of  about  290 
gester  :  or  the  earthy  part  may  be  removed  hy  dilute  run- 
riatic  acid.  When  dogs  and  some  other  animal 
bones,  the  nutritive  part  is  abstracted  by  their  gastric  juice, 
and  the  earthy  part  is  voided  in  their  excrement,  forming 
what  was  formerly  called  album greseum. 

When  hones  are  submitted  to  destructive  distillation,  the 
gelatine  and  albumen  which  they  contain  is  abundantly 
productive  of  ammonia  :  hence  a  copious  source  of  that 
alkali  and  its  compounds ;  the  residue  is  a  mixture  of  the 
earthy  part  of  the  bone  with  charcoal,  commonly  termed 
irory  or  bone  black.  For  an  account  of  the  Economical 
Uses  of  Bones,  see  Aikin's  Illustrations  of  Ans  and  Manu- 
factures.  lvJmo.     London,  1841. 

BONE  DL'ST.  or  ground  bones,  has  recenlly  been  used 
with  the  best  effect  as  a  manure.  It  is  usually  applied  to 
light  or  turnip  soils,  which  it  has  rendered  in  no  ordinary 
degree  productive.  For  further  details  on  this  curious  and 
interesting  subject,  see  article  "Agriculture"  in  M  ■• 
Statistics.  The  importation  of  bones  from  distant  coun- 
tries to  be  used  as  manure  is  now  carried  on  lo  a  great 
extent. 

HON  E  EARTH.  The  residue  of  bones  which  have  been 
calcined  so  as  to  destroy  the  animal  matter  and  carbon, 
and  become  converted  into  a  white  porous  and  friable  sub- 
stance, composed  chielly  of  phosphate  of  lime.  Accord- 
ing to  Berzelius,  100  parts  of  human  bones  are  composed 
of  51  04  phosphate  of  lime,  11  30  carbonate  of  lime,  2  flu- 
oride of  calcium,  1-iO  soda  and  chloride  of  sodium,  110 
phosphate  of  magnesia,  and  33-30  animal  matter.  Albu- 
men, gelatine,  and  fat  constitute  the  animal  part  of  bone, 
tl.i.  greater  part  of  which  remains  in  the  form  of  a  tough 
cartilage  when  bones  are  steeped  in  dilute  muriatic  acid. 

BOM'TO.  The  name  of  a  species  of  Scomberoid  fishes 
(Tliynnu.i  pehimis,  Cuv  ),  common  in  the  tropical  ocean, 
and  well  known  to  voyagers  from  its  persecution  of  the 
living  fish  (Exocatus  volitatis),  and  flying  squid  (Lciigo 
sagillata). 

BO'.NZES.  The  priests  of  the  religion  of  Fo  are  so 
called  by  Europeans ;  especially  in  China,  the  Birman  Em- 
pire. Japan,  and  other  districts  of  Eastern  Asia. 

BO'OBY.  The  English  name  of  a  genus  of  Pelecanidat ; 
they  are  also  called  gannets.  noddies,  and  soland  geese. 

BOOK.  (Ger.  buch.)  "The  general  name  of  almost 
every  literary  composition,  but  in  a  more  limited  sense  ap- 
plied only  to  such  compositions  as  are  large  enough  to  form 
a  volume."  Short  and  fugitive  pieces  are  denominated 
pamphlets,  in  contradistinction  to  books,  which  are  of 
greater  length,  and  embrace  more  general  and  permanent 
topics.  To  the  various  sizes  and  forms  in  which  books  appear 
appropriate  appellations  have  been  given  ;  as  folio,  quarto, 
octavo,  duodecimo,  &c.  The  materials  of  which  books  have 
been  composed  have  been  extremely  different  in  different 
nations,  and  in  different  periods  of  the  progress  of  civili- 
zation. Plates  of  lead  and  copper,  bricks,  stone,  and  wood, 
were  anciently  employed  for  this  purpose.  At  a  later  pe- 
riod the  bark  of  trees  formed  the  chief  material  in  the 
composition  of  books,  as  is  indicated  by  the  original  signi- 
fication of  the  term  liouk  itself,  and  its  equivalent  in  some 
other  languages.  The  materials  of  books  were  afterwards 
derived  from  the  Egyptian  plant  papyrus ;  but  as  the  de- 
mand for  books  increased,  more  durable  materials  were 
sought  for,  and  leather,  made  chiefly  from  the  skins  of 
goats  or  sheep,  was  employed  for  this  purpose.  Next  fol- 
lowed the  use  of  parchment,  on  which  the  ancient  MSS. 
were  chiefly  written  :  but  all  these  systems  were  swallow- 
ed up  by  the  invention  of  paper  (quod  ride),  which  took 
place  about  the  13th  century,  and  facilitated  the  circulation 
of  knowledge  to  an  incalculable  extent.  The  first  books 
were  in  the  form  of  blocks  and  tablets  :  but  when  flexible 
materials  came  into  use,  it  was  found  more  convenient  to 
roll  them  up  in  scrolls,  called  by  the  Greeks  k6vto.$,  and 
by  the  Romans  rohtmen. 

BOOKKEEPING.  In  Commerce,  the  art  of  recording, 
in  a  regular,  concise,  and  systematic  manner,  the  transac- 
tions of  merchants,  traders,  or  other  persons  engaged  in 
pursuits  connected  with  money.  It  has  not  only  the  au- 
thority of  experience  to  recommend  it,  but  that  of  some  of 
the  sagest  observers  of  human  affairs  :  Dr.  Johnson  re- 
marks, '■  that  the  counting-house  of  an  accomplished  mer- 
chant is  a  school  of  method,  where  the  great  science  may 
be  learned  of  ranging  particulars  under  generals,  of  bring- 
ing the  different  parts  of  a  transaction  together,  and  of 
showing  at  one  view  a  lonMeries  of  dealing  and  exchange. 
Let  no  man  (the  Doctor  adds)  venture  into  large  business 
while  he  is  ignorant  of  the  method  of  regulating 
never  let  him  imagine  that  any  degree  of  natural  abilities 
will  enable  him  to  supply  this  deficiency,  or  preserve  ■ 
multiplicity  of  affairs  from  Inextricable  confusion."  There 
are  two  modes  of  keeping  books  of  account ,  the  one  by 
101 


BOOK-KEEPING 

what  Is  termed  Singh  and  the  other  by  Double  Er.try. 
Both  arc  in  very  general  use.  The  system  of  single  entry 
is  chiefly  confined  to  the  business  of  retail  dealers  ;  it  is 
much  the  simples)  method  of  book-keeping,  consisting 
only  of  a  day-hook  and  a  ledger.  In  the  day  booh  the 
dealer  enters  his  sales  and  purchases,  and  in  his  ledger  he? 
carries  the  former  to  the  debit  of  his  customers,  and  the 
latter  to  the  credit  of  the  merchants  who  supply  him  with 
goods.  By  making  at  any  time  a  list  of  the  sums  due  lo 
him  by  his  customers,  and  of  those  due  by  him  to  wholesale 
merchants,  the  retail  dealer  may,  after  adding  to  the  debta 
due  to  him  the  value  of  his  stock  on  hand,  arrive  at  an  ap- 
proximation to  the  real  state  of  bis  d<  bts  and  assets.  This, 
however,  is  but  an  imperfect  and  unsatisfactory  mode  of 
hook  keeping  ;  and,  therefore,  in  the  ease  ot  wholesale 
anl  mercantile  business,  where  extensive  and  multifarious 
ons   have  to  hi  recourse  is  had  to  the 

system  ofdoubk  entry.  This  By  stem  possesses  all  the 
advantages  of  single  entry,  besides  being  so  complete  and 
comprehend  e  in  its  principles,  and  so  certain  in  its  re- 
sults, as  to  admit  of  universal  application.  It  m^y  with 
equal  advantage  be  adopted  in  the  most  limited  as  well  as 
in  the  most  extensive,  in  the  most  plain  and  simple  as  well 
as  the  most  intricate  and  complicated  concerns. 

No  very  authentic  accounts  exist  of  the  origin  of  book- 
keeping. The  double  entry  system  appears  to  have  been 
first  practised  towards  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  centu- 
ry, in  Venice  and  other  towns  in  Italy,  then  the  great  em- 
porium of  the  mercantile  world,  and  from  this  circum- 
stance it  actpiired  the  name  of  the  Italian  method  of  book- 
The  advantages  of  the  system,  and  the  sound- 
ness ol  the  principles  on  which  it  is  based,  soon  became 
apparent ;  for  we  find  it  was  adopted  in  England  and 
France  early  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  has  continued 
to  be  more  and  more  practised  down  to  the  present  day. 

The  areat  objects  of  a  good  method  of  book-keeping  are 
to  exhibit  transactions  as  they  occur,  in  the  most  minute 
detail,  and  ultimately  in  the  most  condensed  form  ;  ad- 
vancing from  the  earliest  stage  lo  the  latest  by  such  char 
and  lucid  steps  as  at  all  times  to  admit  of  every  fact  being 
traced  in  its  progress,  and  security  being  obtained  at  every 
step  acainst  omission  or  error.  For  the  attainment  of  such 
important  objects,  no  mode  of  book-keeping  has  hitherto 
been  devised  at  all  approaching  to  the  perfection  of  the 
Italian  system  hy  double  entry.  Every  transaction  in  bu- 
siness is  two-fold  ;  there  can  be  no  receipt  without  a  pay- 
ment, and  no  purchase  without  a  sale,  and  consequently 
by  presenting  the  same  event  or  fact  on  both  sides  of  the 
hooks,  whence  the  name  of  double  entry,  the  entries  being 
simultaneous,  become  corroborative  of  each  other.  The 
circumstance  of  every  transaction  being  entered  on  both 
sides  of  the  ledger  affords  one  of  the  most  valuable  results 
derived  from  the  system  of  double  entry,  namely,  a  lest 
of  accuracy  :  inasmuch  as  the  entries  on  the  credit  side 
must  be  equal  to  the  entries  on  the  debit  side,  otherwise 
the  books  will  not  balance. 

The  three  principal  books  required  under  Ihe  Italian 
system  of  double  entry  are,  a  cash  book,  journal,  and 
ledger.  In  the  first  of  these  every  transaction  is  recorded 
where  money  forms  one  of  its  elements,  and  in  practice 
these  transactions  are  by  some  book-keepers  carried  di- 
rect from  the  cash  book  to  the  ledger  without  being  passed 
through  the  journal  at  all.  The  journal,  however,  forms  a 
most  important  part  of  the  system.  It  exhibits  a  narrative 
of  every  transaction  of  which  an  actual  transfer  of  money 
does  not  form  one  of  the  elements,  arranging  the  facts  in 
as  simple  and  condi  nsi  d  a  form  as  correctness  and  intel- 
ligibility will  admit  of,  and  the  results  of  those  entries  in 
the  journal  are  afterwards  introduced  into  the  ledger, 
which  thereby  becomes  a  sort  of  key  to  the  detail 
ry  of  every  transaction  ;  whilst  at  the  same  time  it  furnish- 
es a  luminous  compendium  of  the  whole.  In  like  manner 
when  the  cash  transactions  are  passed  through  the  journal 
they  are  at  staled  periods  classed  and  arranged  in  a  con- 
densed  form,  and  thence  transferred  to  the  ledger.  This 
plan  of  introducing  the  cash  transactions  into  the  journal 
is  considered  mnrh  the  best  systt  m.  though  attended  with 
a  little  more  trouble  to  the  book-keeper,  as  it  affords  great 
facilities  in  balancing  the  books  and  testing  the  accuracy 
of  the  ledger,  more  particularly  when  the  recent  im- 
provements upon  the  form  of  the  journal,  which  were  ori- 
ginally suggested  by  the  late  Mr.  Jones,  are  adopted.  By 
the  plan  referred  to,  the  journal  is  advantageously  ruled 
with  four  cash  columns,  two  upon  the  left  hand  side  for 
entries  debtor,  wad  two  upon  the  right  (or  entries  creditor ; 
and  all  the  transactions  being  connected  either  with  per- 
I  proper  Ixj  accounts  or  nominal  accounts,  such  as 
charges,  profit  ana  loss,  and  so  forth,  they  arc  classed  ac- 
;  in  the  columns  on  the  Dr.  or  Cr  side  of  the 
journal  respectively;  and  as  the  debit  entries  are  at  all 
times  equal  to  the  credit  entries,  the  aggregate  of  the  two 
columns  on  the  l>r.  side  must  laUj  "  ill)  the  aggi  egate  of  the 
two  on  the  Cr.  aide  oi  the  journal.  This  too  te  found  in 
practice  to  be  a  most  useful  check  against  posting  the  en- 


BOOM. 

tries  to  wrong  accounts  in  the  ledger ;  for  on  balancing  the 
books,  by  taking  the  amounts  Dr.  and  Cr.  posted  to  per- 
sonal and  property  accounts,  and  the  amounts  Dr.  and  Cr. 
posted  to  nominal  accounts  in  the  ledger,  and  comparing 
them  with  the  total  amounts  in  the  corresponding  columns 
of  the  journal,  it  will  be  seen  whether  they  agree  :  if  they 
do  not,  it  demonstrates  that  some  entries  must  have  been 
erroneously  posted,  which  can  then  only  be  discovered  by 
collating  the  books;  but  if  the  amounts  do  agree,  then  it 
affords  at  least  strong  presumptive  evidence  that  the  whole 
of  the  entries  have  been  carried  to  the  proper  accounts. 
Experience  and  practice  are  occasionally  suggesting  minor 
improvements  upon  the  forms  of  the  cash  book,  journal, 
and  ledger,  to  suit  particular  cases,  as  well  as  upon  the 
subsidiary  books  required  for  gathering  together  the  facts 
preparatory  to  their  being  transferred  in  a  condensed  form 
into  the  journal;  and  indeed  an  intelligent  book-keeper 
may  accomplish  much  by  a  judicious  classification  of  the 
facts  in  the  auxiliary  books  ;  but  the  fundamental  princi- 
ples of  the  Italian  system  of  book-keeping,  notwithstand- 
such  occasional  facilities  and  improved  arrangements  in 
the  working  of  it,  remain  perfect  and  unchanged ;  and 
after  the  length  of  time  they  have  successfully  withstood 
all  attempts  at  innovation  or  change,  it  may  safely  be 
affirmed  that  the  system  is  the  best  hitherto  discovered, 
and  is  deserving  of  the  utmost  confidence  and  general 
adoption. 

We  have  already  stated  that  the  Italian  system  of 
book-keeping  admits  of  universal  application  ;  and  we  may 
now  observe  that  it  is  not  confined  to  merchants'  accounts, 
but  is  equally  applicable  to  government  accounts.  In  evi- 
dence of  its  being  so,  we  may  instance  the  East  India 
Company,  where  the  double  entry  system  is  used  with  the 
most  perfect  success  in  all  the  branches  ol  that  great  and 
well-conducted  establishment,  financial  as  well  as  com- 
mercial. One  great  desideratum  in  a  system  of  book- 
keeping for  government  accounts  is  centralization,  which 
can  alone  be  attained  by  a  proper  and  well  organized  me- 
thod of  condensing  the  facts  or  elements  of  the  accounts  ; 
and  the  Italian  system  unquestionably  affords  the  most  ef- 
ficacious means  of  collecting  and  grouping  the  widely 
scattered  elements  of  government  accounts  in  a  concise 
and  intelligible  shape,  and  ultimately  exhibiting  them  in 
the  clearest  and  most  perfect  state  of  centralization  admit- 
ted of.  Several  of  the  ablest  ministers  of  France  from  the 
days  of  Sully  downwards,  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  a 
good  system  of  book-keeping  in  the  management  of  the 
public  money,  and  satisfied  of  the  efficiency  and  sound- 
ness of  the  principles  of  the  Italian  method,  successively 
attempted  to  get  the  government  accounts  kept  on  that 
system.  But  it  was  not  till  the  present  century  that  it  was 
successfully  introduced.  It  has  since,  however,  fully  real- 
ized all  that  was  anticipated  of  it  by  those  great  men  ;  and 
has  been  found  to  answer  so  completely  that  it  has  been 
universally  adopted  in  all  the  different  departments  of  the 
state.  Equally  beneficial  effects  have  resulted  from  the 
adaptation  of  the  system  to  the  public  accounts  in  Holland, 
and  confirmed  the  advantage  of  its  application  to  govern- 
ment business.  Similar  laudable  attempts  have  been 
more  recently  made  in  England  by  some  of  the  ablest 
practical  statesmen  (among  whom  Sir  Henry  Pamell  de- 
serves particular  notice),  to  introduce  the  Italian  mode  of 
book-keeping  in  the  government  offices ;  and  from  the 
signal  success  with  which  the  experiment  has  been 
crowned,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  in  a  few  years  the  whole  of 
our  public  accounts  will  be  placed  on  one  uniform  plan  of 
book-keeping  by  double  entry,  and  be  thereby  rendered  as 
clear  and  intelligible  as  the  accounts  of  any  merchant  in 
London,  instead  of  being  wrapped  up,  as  formerly,  in  im- 
penetrable obscurity  and  useless  mystery. 

BOOM.  (Dutch,  boom,  a  tree.)  A  nautical  term,  signi- 
fying a  long  pole  run  out  from  any  part  of  a  ship  to  stretch 
the  bottoms  of  particular  sails  :  whence  jib-boom,  main- 
boom,  siuddingsuil-boom,  &c. 

Boom.  In  Marine  Fortification,  signifies  a  strong  chain 
or  cable  stretched  across  the  mouth  of  a  harbour  or  river, 
to  prevent  the  enemy's  ships  from  entering,  and  having 
a  number  of  poles,  bars,  &c.  fastened  to  it ;  whence  the 
name. 

BOOPS.  A  genus  of  fishes  of  the  order  Acanthopterygii : 
most  of  them  occur  in  the  Mediterranean. 

BOO'TES.  (Gr.  fiovs,  a?i  ox.)  One  of  the  constella- 
tions. 

BORA'CIC  ACID.     S«e  Boron. 

BORACI'TE.     Native  borate  of  magnesia. 

BORA'GINA'CE^E.  Plants  resembling  the  genus  Bo- 
rago,  after  which  they  are  named.  They  usually  have  a 
mucilacinous  sap,  in  which  nitre  exists  in  small  quantities : 
wherefore  they  decrepitate  when  thrown  upon  the  fire. 
It  is  found  that  liquor  into  which  borago  itself  is  plunsred 
when  fresh  becomes  cooled,  and  hence  the  Borago  offici- 
nalis was  the  principal  ingredient  in  what  was  called  a 
"  cool  tankard."  Boraginaceous  plants  have  usually  pretty, 
and  sometimes  very  handsome  flowers,  arranged  in  a  gy- 
155 


BOROUGH. 

rate  manner.  Forget-me-not  (Myosotis),  Bugloss  (Echium), 
Anchusa,  and  various  species  of  Lithospermnm  are  well- 
known  favourites  either  among  wild  or  cultivated  plants. 
Most  of  them  have  their  leaves  covered  with  asperities, 
whence  their  old  name  of  Asperifotia. ;  and  some,  as  An- 
chusa  tincloria,  Lithospcrmum  linctorium,  and  several 
others,  yield  a  deep  purple  dye  from  their  roots. 

BORA'SSUS.  (Gr.  Bopaaaos.lhesldnof the  date.)  A  eenus 
of  palm  trees,  usually  called  fan  palms,  because  their  gi- 
gantic leaves  are  formed  of  plates  radiating  from  the  top  of 
the  petiole,  and  folded  up  after  the  manner  of  a  lady's  fan. 
Borassus flabiltiformis  is  an  Indian  species,  with  a  trunk 
from  thirty  to  fifty  feet  high,  and  leaves  with  from  seventy 
to  eighty  rays.  The  Hindoos  consider  it  the  king  of  trees. 
A  most  intoxicating  liquor  is  obtained  by  fermenting  its 
sap,  which  is  also  capable  of  yielding  sugar  in  considerable 
quantity  under  proper  management. 

BORA'TES.     Salts  of  the  boracic  acid. 

BORAX.  This  salt  is  found  native  in  some  of  the  lakes 
of  Thibet  and  Persia,  and  is  imported  from  India  under 
the  name  of  tincal,  which  after  purification  forms  the  re- 
fined borax  of  commerce.  Of  late  years  borax  has  been 
obtained  by  combining  native  boracic  acid  with  soda.  Bo- 
rax forms  hexsedral  prisms,  slightly  efflorescent,  and  re- 
quiring 20  of  cold  and  6  of  boiling  water  for  solution. 
When  heated,  water  of  crystallization  is  driven  off,  and  the 
residuary  salt  fuses  into  what  is  called  glass  of  borax. 

Crystallized  borax  consists  of  ti8  boracic  acid  +  32  soda 
-(- 90  water.  It  has  upon  some  tests  an  alkaline  reaction, 
and  has  hence  been  called  sub-borate  of  soda.  Borax  is 
chiefly  used  by  workers  in  metals  as  a  flux  :  it  is  also  em- 
ployed in  medicine. 

BO'RDER.  In  Gardening,  a  marginal  space,  always 
connected  with  a  w,alk  or  some  other  object,  to  which  it 
forms  an  accompaniment. 

Border,  or  Bordure.  In  Heraldry,  according  to  French 
heralds,  an  honourable  ordinary,  which  should  occupy  a 
third  part  of  the  shield.  In  English  blazonry,  it  has  gener- 
ally been  considered  as  a  mark  of  difference  to  distinguish 
one  branch  of  a  family  from  another.  It  surrounds  the 
field,  is  of  equal  breadth  in  every  part,  and  occupies  one 
fifth  of  the  field.  When  there  is  a  chief  on  the  coat,  the 
bordure  is  supposed  to  run  under  the  chief;  but  it  passes 
over  other  ordinaries,  as  a  fess,  &c. 

BORE.  A  word  used  to  express  the  sudden  rise  of  the 
tide  in  certain  estuaries. 

BO'REAS.  In  Grecian  Mythology,  the  son  of  Astraens 
and  Aurora,  and  usually  worshipped  as  the  god  of  the  north 
wind.  There  are  few  of  the  minor  Grecian  divinities  of 
whom  so  strange  and  multifarious  exploits  are  recorded  as 
of  Boreas ;  and  it  is  interesting  to  trace  to  its  source  the  al- 
legory of  all  his  adventures  aud  achievements,  and  thence 
to  elucidate  the  causes  of  his  deification.  The  assiduity, 
for  instance,  with  which  the  worship  of  Boreas  was  culti- 
vated at  Athens  proceeded  from  gratitude,  the  north  wind 
having  on  one  occasion  destroyed  the  fleet  of  the  Persians 
when  meditating  the  invasion  of  Attica.  A  similar  cause 
induced  the  inhabitants  of  Megalopolis  to  consider  Boreas 
as  their  guardian  divinity  in  whose  honour  they  instituted 
an  annual  festival.  With  his  usual  partiality  for  mytholo 
gical  allusion,  Milton  has  given  Boreas  a  place  in  his  Para 
dise  Lost. : — 

Now  from  the  north 
Of  Norumbega,  and  the  Samoed  shore, 
Bursting  their  brazen  dungeon,  armed  wit]]  ice, 
And  snow   and  hail,  and  stormy  gust  and  flaw, 
Boreas  and  Czeclas  and  Argestea  loud, 
And  Thrascias  rend  the  woods  and  seas  upturn. 

Boreas  was  usually  represented  with  the  feet  of  a  serpent, 
his  wings  dripping  with  golden  dew-drops,  and  the  train  of 
his  garment  sweeping  along  the  ground. 

BO'RON.  The  base  of  boracic  acid,  discovered  by 
Davy  in  1807.  It  may  be  procured  by  heating  dry  boracic 
acid  with  potassium.  It  is  a  dark  olive-coloured  substance, 
a  nonconductor  of  electricity,  insoluble  in  water,  infusible, 
and  of  a  specific  gravity  =  2.  Heated  to  redness  it  burns 
into  boracic  acid,  which  consists  of  20  boron  •+-  48  oxygen. 

Boracic  acid  is  found  in  the  hot  springs,  and  amongst  the 
volcanic  products  of  the  Lipari  islands,  and  in  the  waters 
of  Sasso  in  the  Florentine  territory  ;  it  also  occurs  in  some 
minerals.  It  may  be  obtained  by  adding  excess  of  sul- 
phuric acid  to  a  strong  solution  of  borax.  Its  specific  gra- 
vity is  1  48.  In  its  usual  state  of  scaly  crystals  it  is  a  hy- 
drate, composed  of  68  dry  acid  ■+-  27  water.  In  this  state  it 
requires  about  30  parts  of  cold  and  3  of  boiling  water  for  its 
solution.  It  dissolves  in  alcohol,  and  the  solution  burns 
with  a  characteristic  green  flame.  It  reddens  litmus  ;  but 
renders  turmeric  brown,  like  an  alkali.  When  its  water  is 
driven  off  by  fusing  it  at  a  high  beat,  the  anhydrous  acid 
concretes  into  a  glassv  substance  of  the  specific  gravity  of 
1-8.  It  is  a  useful  flux,  and  was  formerly  used  in  medicine 
under  the  name  of  Homberg's  sedative  salt. 

BO'ROUGH.  A  town  possessed  of  certain  municipal 
institutions,  of  which  the  name  is  derived  by  some  from 


BOROUGH. 

the  Saxon  word  burg,  meaning  an  inclosed  place  ;  by 
others  from  another  word  of  the  same  language — borg, 
meaning  pledge,  which  was  applied  to  some  of  the  associ- 
ations for  mutual  liability  established  by  the  Saxon  law. 
Boroughs,  in  the  sense  of  the  definition  above  given,  must 
have,  in  some  shape,  existed  very  early  in  this  as  well  as 
in  other  countries ;  but  the  origin  as  well  in  constitution  as 
in  name  of  the  existing  municipal  system  in  England  can 
be  traced  no  higher  than  Saxon  times,  and  the  general  and 
connected  history  of  English  boroughs  does  not  begin  be- 
fore the  Conquest. 

According  to  Doomsday  Book  there  were  in  England  at 
that  time  eighty-two  boroughs,  including  cities,  differing 
considerably  in  the  extent  of  their  franchises  as  well  as  in 
their  customs  and  mode  of  government ;  but  agreeing  in 
this  general  character,  that  they  were  communities  estab- 
lished chiefly  for  the  purposes  of  trade,  endowed  to  that 
effect  with  certain  franchises,  such  as  that  of  a  fair  or  mar- 
ket, and  possessing  as  boroughs  a  special  jurisdiction  ex- 
ercised in  the  borough  court-leet,  and  exclusive  of  the  ju- 
risdiction of  the  hundred,  with  which  in  the  political  scale 
a  borough  was  co-equal.  Some  of  them  then  held,  and  all 
were  capable  of  holding,  lands  in  common  ;  and  in  respect 
of  such  land  they  held,  as  did  also  each  burgess  in  respect 
of  his  own  tenement,  of  some  lord,  by  a  species  of  tenure 
called  burgage  tenure,  which  was  in  fact  only  the  ancient 
tenure  in  common  socage,  t.  e.  tenure  by  rent  or  service 
certain,  which  continued  to  prevail  in  boroughs  after  the 
general  imposition  upon  other  lands  of  the  feudal  or  milita- 
ry service.  The  lordship  of  the  land  of  the  borough,  and 
of  the  different  tenements  which  it  contained,  must  have 
belonged  in  the  first  instance  to  the  lord  of  the  manor  with- 
in which  it  was  situate  ;  but  all  boroughs,  in  contemplation 
of  law,  held  their  franchises  of  the  king. 

Great  obscurity  prevails  as  to  what  was  originally  the  in- 
ternal constitution  of  boroughs,  and  as  to  how  far  it  was 
popular  or  not,  and  how  far  also  it  was  or  was  not  uniform. 
It  is  certain  that  as  early  as  the  date  of  Doomsday  Book 
the  proportion  between  the  number  of  burgesses  and  that 
of  other  inhabitants  was  very  different  in  different  bo- 
roughs ;  though  the  fact  may  be  reconciled  with  the  notion 
of  a  system  originally  popular  (which  has  all  along  pre- 
vailed in  some  boroughs),  upon  the  supposition  that  the 
franchise  had  either  been  usurped  on  the  one  hand,  as  has 
frequently  happened  in  the  case  of  larger  communities,  or 
abandoned  on  the  other  hand  as  of  little  value,  on  account 
of  the  liability  that  attached  to  it  of  contributing  to  the  com- 
mon charges.  Much  perplexity  also  arises  on  this  subject 
from  the  intermixture  in  the  same  place  of  the  guild  and 
borough  franchises  (see  Guild),  which  prevailed  to  that  ex- 
tent that  the  guild-merchant,  which  appears  to  have  been 
an  incorporation,  or  an  association  by  licence  of  all  trades 
within  the  borough,  is  by  some  considered  as  identical  in 
its  constitution  with  the  borough  itself;  and  it  is  certain,  at 
any  rate,  that  the  guild-merchant,  though  it  did  not  in  the 
first  instance  constitute  the  borough,  yet  in  many  places 
usurped  its  franchises  and  government,  and  finally  as- 
sumed its  name ;  so  that,  with  the  exception  of  burgage 
tenure,  which  still  prevailed  in  some  few  places,  and  of 
birth,  which  was  common  to  both  institutions,  the  other 
modes  of  obtaining  the  freedom  of  a  borough, — i.  e.  those 
of  apprenticeship,  purchase,  or  gift, — were  introduced  into 
the  municipal  system  from  the  guild-merchant.  Distinct 
from  this  in  their  relations  and  contests  with  the  community 
of  the  borough  at  large  were  the  guilds  of  particular  trades, 
which  succeeded  in  London  in  engrossing  and  parcelling 
among  themselves,  under  the  name  of  liveries,  the  whole 
of  the  municipal  franchises. 

All  borough  rights,  being  exceptive,  rested  either  upon 
charter,  or  upon  prescription,  which  supposes  a  charter. 
Some  few  of  such  charters  were  granted  by  Saxon  kings: 
but  they  became  much  more  frequent  after  the  Conquest, 
the  style  and  purport  of  these  early  documents  being  sim- 
ply that  of  a  grant  to  the  wiejiand  burgesses  of  such  a  place 
of  certain  franchises,  whether  relating  to  trade,  as  that  of 
a  fair  or  market,  or  exemption  from  toll,  or  to  jurisdiction, 
such  as  a  commission  of  the  peace  and  the  right  of  holding 
sessions,  which  was  first  granted  to  any  borough  by  Rich- 
ard II.  In  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.,  a  remarkable  alteration 
took  place  in  the  style  of  these  royal  grants,  it  being  then 
first  that  were  granted,  as  it  is  said,  charters  of  incorpora- 
tion, strictly  so  called  ;  though  previous  to  that  time  bo- 
roughs, or  the  governing  bodies  that  represented  them,  en- 
joyed all  the  privileges  of  a  corporation,  and  since  that 
time  many  have  continued  to  enjoy  them  without  any  such 
special  grant.  From  that  time  forth,  however,  the  history 
of  boroughs  becomes  identical,  except  as  to  the  parliamen- 
tary franchise,  with  that  of  municipal  corporations.  These 
charters  of  incorporation  did  not,  any  more  than  did  those 
which  preceded  them,  pretend  to  regulate  the  internal  con- 
stitution of  boroughs.  This  very  generally  assumed  the 
form  of  a  government  by  a  small  and  in  great  measure 
self-elected  body,  which  had  in  most  cases  succeeded  in 
engrossing  not  only  the  whole  administration,  and  in  a 
156 


BOS. 

great  degree  the  enjoyment  also  of  the  borough  fran- 
chises and  property,  but  the  right  also  of  granting,  accord- 
ing to  rules  more  or  less  arbitrary,  admission  into  the  sub- 
ordinate body  of  burgesses  or  freemen.  And  even  that 
body,  where  it  existed,  which  was  not  always  the  case, 
was  small  in  proportion  to  the  whole  number  ot  inhabitants. 
It  was  the  great  object  of  the  charters  granted  by  the  Tu- 
dor sovereigns  to  sanction  and  confirm  the  usurpations, 
if  such  they  were,  of  these  municipal  oligarchies,  with  the 
view  apparently  of  throwing  the  representation  of  boroughs 
(a  right  which  had  been  conferred  in  the  first  instance  by 
Edward  I.,  had  since  been  extended  by  fresh  grants,  and 
was  then  becoming  of  considerable  importance)  into  the 
hands  of  such  as  were  most  likely  to  be  easily  guided  or 
controlled,  either  by  the  crown  itself  or  by  the  great  lords 
upon  whose  support  itreckoned,  and  with  whom  it  became 
usual  about  the  same  lime  to  connect  themselves  with  the 
boroughs  in  the  neighbourhood  of  their  possessions,  under 
the  honorary  title  of  high  stewards.  The  exclusive  system 
of  municipal  government,  which  attained  its  height  during 
the  Stuart  dynasty,  continued  unimpaired  till  the  present 
time,  when  it  was  effectually  put  an  end  to  by  the  Act  for 
the  Regulation  of  Municipal  Corporations,  passed  in  the 
year  1335.  For  an  account  of  which,  as  well  as  of  the 
other  remarkable  incidents  in  the  history  of  the  municipal 
institutions,  which  happened  from  the  time  of  the  Tudors 
to  the  present  period,  see  title  Municipal  Corporations  ; 
and  for  an  account  of  the  representation  of  boroughs,  and 
particularly  of  the  reform  in  their  representation,  see  tide 
Parliament. 

The  account  above  given  of  English  boroughs,  both  as  to 
their  origin  and  constitution,  applies  in  all  its  general  fea- 
tures to  Scotch  boroughs  ;  with  this  qualification,  that  the 
government  by  close  corporations  was  in  the  latter  country 
more  thoroughly  and  more  generally  prevalent  until  the 
reform  in  them,  which  preceded  by  a  year  the  Municipal 
Regulation  Bill  applicable  to  England  ;  and  resembled  it  ia 
almost  every  thing  but  this,  that  it  made  the  qualification 
for  burgesship  identical  with  that  required  to  give  a  vote  in 
the  election  of  members,  namely,  the  occupancy  of  a 
house  of  the  yearly  value  of  £\0. 

In  Ireland  the  municipal  system,  as  it  now  exists,  is  of 
considerably  later  origin  than  in  Scotland  or  in  England. 
It  was  transplanted,  and  gradually  introduced  from  the  lat- 
ter country  ;  and  though  with  the  same  names  and  form  of 
constitution  as  then  existed  there,  had  much  more  in  it  of 
a  political  character,  being  intended  in  the  first  instance  as 
a  support  to  the  English  against  the  Irish,  and  in  later  times 
to  the  Protestant  against  the  Catholic,  and  was  so  used  to  the 
neglect  of  functions  more  properly  municipal,  which  have 
therefore  in  many  instances  been  intrusted  to  other  hands 
by  local  acts  of  parliament.  These  distinctions  of  religion 
and  birth  aggravated  also  in  other  respects  the  vices  of  a 
close  and  exclusive  system,  which  was  there,  as  in  Scot- 
land, more  generally  and  thoroughly  established  than  it 
ever  was  in  England.  A  measure  fof  the  reform  or  aboli- 
tion of  the  existing  municipal  corporations  of  Ireland  is 
now  pending  before  the  legislature. 

BOROUGH  ENGLISH.  In  Law,  is  a  customary  mode 
of  descent  of  lands  in  some  ancient  boroughs  and  manors, 
by  which  estates  descend  to  the  owner's  youngest  son  ;  or 
if  he  has  no  issue,  to  his  younger  brother.     See  Descent. 

BOS.  (Lat.  bos,  an  ox.)  A  genus  of  ruminating  mam- 
mals, which  is  one  of  the  most  important  in  relation  to  the 
necessities  and  conveniences  of  man.  To  this  genus  be- 
longs the  domestic  ox,  in  all  its  various  breeds  and  va- 
rieties. With  respect  to  the  wild  original  of  our  numerous 
herds  there  is  yet  some  obscurity  ;  less,  however,  than 
hangs  over  the  origin  of  other  domesticated  species.  The 
wild  cattle  which  approach  nearest  to  the  tame  are  those 
which  inhabit  the  forests  oft  he  north-east  of  Europe;  and  the 
white  cattle,  which  are  still  preserved  in  a  state  of  purity 
at  Craven,  at  Chillinaham  Park,  and  in  Scotland.  These 
are  both  referred  to  the  species  called  Bos  taurns,  or  Bos 
urus,  or  Urus  Scoticus  ;  but  there  is  much  reason  for  sup- 
posing this  species  to  have  been  the  domestic  ox  reverted 
to  a  state  of  nature.  Another  well  marked  variety  of  this 
species  is  the  Brahminy  bull ;  characterised  by  the  hump 
on  the  shoulders  and  the  pendent  dewlap. 

The  other  known  wild  species  of  ox  are  the  Gayal  of  In- 
dia 'Bos  gavaus) ;  the  Yak  of  the  mountains  of  Central 
Asia  (Bos  grunniens);  lastly,  there  are  the  Buffaloes, 
which,  though  anatomically  less  distinct  than  the  Bisons 
from  the  typical  Bores,  yet  differ  from  the  oxen  as  a  group 
in  many  points.  They  have  larger  horns,  which  sometimes 
form  a  horny  covering  of  great  thickness  to  the  whole  fron- 
tal region ;  and  they  approach  the  Paehydermafa  in  the 
thickness  of  the  skin  and  the  thinly  scattered  coarse  hair. 
They  frequent  marshy  grounds,  and  feed  on  a  ranker  and 
coarser  herbage  than  the  ox.  The  flesh  of  buffaloes  is 
rank  and  coarse,  and  they  are  used  chiefly  as  beasts  of 
draught  or  burden.  The  two  best  marked  species  are  the 
Indian  or  Amee  buffalo  (Bosarnee),  and  the  South  African 
buffalo  (.Bos  coffer). 


BOSSAGE. 

BO'SSAGE.  (French.)  In  Architecture, any  projection 
left  unwrought  on  the  face  of  a  stone  for  the  purpose  of 
afterwards  sculpturing  thereon,  the  sculpture  being  usually 
the  last  thing  finished. 

BO'STRICHUS.  A  genus  of  Coleopterous,  Xylopha- 
gous,  or  wood-boring  insects,  now  raised  to  the  rank  of  a 
family  (Bostrichida,),  including  amongst  its  numerous  ge- 
nera three  which  contain  species  whose  ravages  have  call- 
ed forth  the  attention  of  the  legislature  both  in  England 
and  other  countries,  in  consequence  of  the  extensive  des- 
truction of  valuable  timber  caused  thereby.  The  species 
in  question  are  the  Bostrichus  ligniperda,  Scolyttus  destruc- 
tor, and  Tomicus  typographies ;  but  the  two  latter  are  the 
most  mischievous,  and  astonish  by  the  amount  of  damage 
which  is  produced  by  insects  of  so  small  a  size.  The  elm 
tree  is  the  object  of  attack  to  the  -S.  destructor ;  while  the 
T.  typographies  restricts  its  operations  to  the  fir.  The  fe- 
males attack  the  crevices  of  the  bark,  and  perforate  it  in 
diverging  lateral  channels,  in  which  from  sixty  to  eighty 
eggs  are  deposited.  At  the  end  of  fifteen  days  the  larvae 
are  hatched,  and  forthwith  commence  the  work  of  des- 
truction, each  gnawing  a  serpentine  gallery  between  the 
bark  and  the  wood,  and  gradually  enlarging  its  burrow  until 
the  period  when  it  is  ready  to  pass  into  the  pupa  state  ; 
whpn,  having  finally  become  a  perfect  beetle,  it  directly 
bores  through  the  portion  of  the  tree  which  remains  be- 
tween the  wood  and  the  outer  bark,  and  escapes  through  a 
small  circular  aperture  in  the  latter.  This  emergence  of 
the  perfect  insect  takes  place  in  trie  month  of  May  ;  and  in 
seasons  favourable  to  their  development  they  appear  in 
swarms,  and  rise  to  a  height  exceeding  that  of  the  trees, 
and  may  be  carried  by  the  wind  to  another  and  distant 
part  of  the  forest.  The  impregnation  of  the  female  takes 
place  in  the  air ;  so  that  wherever  they  alight  they  are  ready 
to  recommence  the  work  of  destruction.  The  chief  pre- 
cautions and  remedies  which  experience  has  suggested  are 
to  cut  down  the  trees  which  are  once  attacked,  immedi- 
ately to  bark  them  and  to  burn  the  bark,  and  to  remove  all 
felled  timher  without  delay. 

HOSWE'LLIA.     A  genus  of  Indian  trees  belonging  to 
the  natural  order  Burscracece,  one  species  of  which,  B. 
thurifera,  yields  the  resin  called  Olibanum,  which 
to  be  a  corruption  of  Luban,  the  name  given  by  the  Hin- 
doos to  this  plant. 

DOT.  The  name  of  the  larvae  of  the  Dipterous  insects 
of  the  (;\m\\y  (Est ridre  (which  see). 

BOTANY.  (V.r.  fioravri,  herb  or  grass.)  That  branch 
of  natural  history  which  relates  to  the  vegetable  kingdom  ; 
not  merely  including  the  nomenclature  and  classification  of 
plants,  as  some  have  supposed,  but  embracing  all  the  phe- 
nomena of  vegetable  life  in  their  widest  extent. 

Looking  only  at  the  first  principles  of  the  science,  it  is 
generally  divided  into  the  following  heads  : — 

Organography,  or  the  Structure  (organization)  of  Plants. 
— This  is  a  most  important  department ;  it  comprehends 
whatever  relates  to  the  various  forms  of  tissue  of  which 
plants  are  anatomically  constructed  ;  it  explains  the  exact 
organization  of  all  those  parts  through  which  the  vital  func- 
tions are  performed  ;  and  it  also  teaches  the  relation  that 
one  part  bears  to  another,  with  the  dependence  of  the 
whole  upon  the  common  system.  Without  a  perfect  know- 
ledge of  Organography  no  systematical  arrangement  can 
be  understood  ;  for,  being  that  part  of  science  in  which  the 
laws  of  the  symmetry  of  parts  is  comprehended,  it  must 
necessarily  he  the  basis  of  all  theory  of  classifications :  and 
as  to  l>  iscriptive  Botany,  which  may  be  called  the  language 
of  the  science,  it  cannot  have  any  logical  precision,  or  be 
intelligible,  unless  the  mind  is  distinctly  impressed  with 
the  fundamental  laws  of  this  branch  of  study.  Physiology 
itself,  the  highest  branch  of  all  natural  science,  depends  so 
absolutely  upon  an  exact  knowledge  of  the  structure  of 
parts,  that  any  attempt  to  investigate  the  important  laws  of 
vegetable  life  must  necessarily  be  abortive  without  a  strict 
acquaintance  with  the  more  important  details  of  organiza- 
tion. And  by  this  is  not  meant  merely  a  general  idea  of 
external  form,  or  a  vague  notion  of  internal  anatomy,  but 
the  most  precise  knowledge  that  the  nature  of  the  subject 
will  admit. 

Connected  with  this  branch  of  study  is  what  German 
botanists  call  Morphology,  but  which  others  think  it  better 
to  consider  a  section  of  Organography.  The  word  Mor- 
phology signifies  literally  the  "science  of  changes  or  trans- 
formations." As  applied  to  botany,  it  embraces  a  very  in- 
teresting subject  of  inquiry,  and  one  which,  to  all  those 
who  know  the  importance  that  attaches  to  comparative 
anatomy  in  the  animal  kingdom,  cannot  fail  to  be  peculiarly 
interesting.  Within  the  last  thirty  or  forty  years  it  has  been 
clearly  made  out  that  all  those  parts  which  are  familiarly 
known  under  the  name  of  leaves,  flowers,  and  fruit,  are 
constructed,  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  upon  a  simple  uni- 
form plan,  out  of  one  single  organ  in  different  states  of  mo- 
dification and  combination  ;  and  that  there  is  no  other 
difference  between  the  flower  of  a  rose  and  that  of  a  net- 
tle than  what  arises  from  modifications  and  combinations 
157 


BOTANY. 

of  this  organ— which  is  the  leaf.  If  it  be  doubted  whether, 
considering  the  anomalous  character  of  some  of  the  lower 
orders  of  plants,  all  vegetables  are  without  exception  form- 
ed upon  one  and  the  same  plan,  it  is  impossible  not  to  ad- 
mit that,  at  least  in  all  Phaenogamous  plants,  the  flowers 
are  composed  of  the  same  elements;  that  these  elements 
are  arranged  in  conformity  to  a  few  simple  laws,  far  less 
variable  than  their  appearance  seems  to  indicate,  and  the 
study  of  which  constitutes  the  basis  of  the  theory  of  bot- 
any. These  laws  are  so  evident  in  a  great  number  of  cases, 
that  one  scarcely  pays  attention  to  them  ;  but  curiosity  is 
at  once  excited  when  they  seem  to  be  violated.  Exact  ob- 
servation, however,  shows  that  in  such  cases  they  are  only 
masked  ;  that  is  to  say,  an  unusual  application  of  two  or 
three  different  laws  produces  an  apparent  anomaly,  which 
is  easily  explained  by  a  reference  to  the  numerous  cases  of 
degeneracy,  abortion,  and  cohesion  with  which  the  vege- 
table kingdom  abounds.  In  such  instances  as  this  the  bot- 
anist may  be  compared  to  the  mineralogist,  who  discovers 
the  primitive  forms  of  crystals  by  means  of  their  second- 
ary forms.  We  are  so  accustomed  to  talk  of  plants  bearing 
leaves  and  flowers  and  fruit,  and  it  is  so  evident  to  our 
senses  that  extremely  different  organs  really  do  exist  under 
such  names,  that  it  seems  inconceivable  that  parts  so  very 
dissimilar  should  all  be  only  leaves  in  different  states  ;  that 
the  pure  white  petals  of  the  lily,  the  rich  red  flowers  of  the 
rose,  the  sweet-smelling  blossoms  of  the  jasmine  and  the 
orange,  or  the  long  trumpet-shaped  corollas  of  the  honey- 
suckle, should  all  be  leaves ;  that  the  stamens  in  which 
the  fertilizing  powder  is  locked  up,  the  pistils  which  are 
destined  to  receive  the  influence  of  the  pollen,  the  ovula 
that  they  contain,  and,  finally,  that  the  fruit  which  is  the  re- 
sult of  the  action  of  the  two  last,  are  all  so  many  parts 
formed  out  of  one  common  organ,  which  in  a  particular 
and  very  frequent  state  is  what  we  call  a  leaf.  Botanists 
do  not  mean  to  say  that  he  who  eats  an  apple,  or  an  orange, 
or  a  peach,  is  in  a  state  of  mental  delusion,  and  that  while 
he  fancies  himself  to  be  enjoying  the  pleasure  of  gratify- 
ing his  palate  by  the  most  delicious  flavours,  he  is  really 
only  chewing  the  leaves  of  these  plants  ;  but  they  assert 
that  those  appendages  of  a  plant  which  are  commonly 
called  the  leaves  have  a  peculiar  anatomical  structure,  and 
a  certain  relation  to  the  stem  on  which  they  are  borne,  and 
being  developed  according  to  certain  fixed  laws,  are  always 
arranged  upon  a  certain  and  uniform  plan  with  respect  to 
each  other;  and  that  all  the  other  organs,  whether  calyx, 
corolla,  stamens,  pistils,  or  fruit,  have  an  anatomical  struc- 
ture essentially  the  same,  bear  the  same  relation  to  the 
axis  that  they  grow  upon,  are  developed  according  to  the 
same  laws,  are  arranged  upon  the  same  certain  and  uni- 
form plan  with  respect  to  each  other,  and,  finally,  are  con- 
stantly becoming  transformed  into  leaves  of  the  ordinary 
appearance,  thus  losing  the  condition  in  which  they  are 
usually  found,  and  reverting  to  their  structural  type.  The 
admission  of  such  propositions  as  these  does  not  render 
our  notions  of  the  distinctions  between  the  various  organs 
more  obscure  than  it  was  before,  as  some  would  assert ; 
but  on  the  contrary  it  enables  us  the  better  to  understand 
the  real  nature  of  the  organization  of  any  part,  and  the 
plan  upon  which  the  most  complicated  arrangements  of 
these  organs  have  been  affected.  For  example,  who  is  to 
explain  how  it  happens  that  buds  occasionally  spring  from 
the  axillre  of  petals  or  sepals,  that  anthers  are  found  having 
ovules,  that  branches  push  forth  from  the  centre  of  pistils, 
that  petals  become  antheriferous  and  stamens  petaloid, 
unless  the  proposition  is  admitted  that  all  those  apparently 
different  parts  are  formed  upon  a  common  plan,  the  type 
of  which  is  a  leaf,  and  are  all  therefore  convertible  into 
each  other? 

Another  branch  into  which  the  science  separates  is  Phy- 
siology, or  the  department  which  treats  of  the  vital  actions 
of  plants.  While  organography  is  applicable  to  objects 
whether  living  or  dead,  physiology  solely  refers  to  them  in 
a  state  of  vitality.  There  is  scarcely  any  part  of  natural 
history  more  difficult  than  this,  if  rigorous  demonstration 
is  required,  nor,  at  the  same  time,  one  upon  which  there 
was  in  former  days  a  greater  degree  of  mere  speculation. 
Like  many  other  of  the  higher  departments  of  natural 
philosophy,  hypothesis  preceded  experiment ;  so  that  in 
the  earlier  history  of  botany  we  find  scarcely  a  trace  of 
those  ideas  which  modern  observation  has  certainly  de- 
veloped in  a  verv  remarkable  manner. 

In  vegetable  physiology  it  is  not  as  in  animal— we  have 
not  our  highest  order  of  beings  endued  with  reason  which 
we  can  studv  by  aid  of  our  own  personal  feelings  and  sen- 
sations, and  "from  our  knowledge  of  which  we  can  proceed 
in  a  descending  series  to  the  determination  of  the  vital 
functions  of  all  other  tribes.  On  the  contrary,  we  are  in 
the  same  position  with  regard  to  plants  as  a  new  and  totally 
distinct  race  of  animated  beings  would  be  to  mollusca  and 
the  lowest  orders  of  existing  things,  supposing  such  a  race 
to  have  no  knowledge  whatever  of  animal  economy  be- 
vond  what  could  be  learned  from  the  study  of  mollusca 
themselves,  to  have  a  class  of  sensations  and  a  structurs 


BOTANY. 


wholly  unlike  our  own,  and  finally  to  deduce  its  notions  of 
the  anatomy  and  vital  system  of  mollusca.  not  from  a  com- 
parison of  them  with  other  beings  gradually  and  perhaps 
insensibly  rising  in  perfection  of  organization  till  the  relation 
of  one  part  to  another  and  the  uses  of  all  become  more 
manifest,  but  wholly  from  the  abstract  consideration  of  the 
mollusca  themselves.  In  such  a  case,  speculation  would 
most  likely  precede  experimental  observation,  as  was  ac- 
tually the  case  with  plants. 

It  was  not  till  after  the  invention  of  the  microscope  that 
even  an  imperfect  knowledge  of  vegetable  anatomy  could 
be  gained  ;  and  only  when  this  great  step  was  taken  vege- 
table physiology  began  to  establish  itself  upon  a  sure  foun- 
dation. Consequent  upon  this  discovery  has  been  the 
accumulation  of  a  considerable  amount  of  positive  know- 
ledge of  a  world  of  organized  beings  having  nothing  in 
common  with  the  race  of  man;  with  which  we  cannot 
communicate  in  the  slightest  degree ;  that  have  no  voli- 
tion by  which  we  may  occasionally  regulate  our  judgment ; 
whose  texture  is  so  frail  that  we  cannot  anatomise  them 
without  the  destruction  of  life ;  whose  functions  are  per- 
formed within  an  opaque  dense  covering  that  excludes 
every  thing  from  our  view ;  and  which  finally  are  so  ex- 
ceedingly simple  in  their  organization,  have  so  few  differ- 
ent organs  with  which  to  execute  their  functions,  that  we 
are  lost  in  amazement  at  effects  so  complicated  and  forms 
so  various  being  brought  about  by  means  that  were  seem- 
ingly so  inadequate.  The  world  has  learned  from  the  ve- 
getable physiologist,  not  only  that  plants  breathe,  feed, 
and  digest,  and  how  the  functions  of  breathing,  feeding, 
and  digesting  are  carried  on ;  they  have  ascertained  by 
what  means  an  increase  in  their  dimensions  is  brought 
about,  how  their  want  of  locomotive  power  is  compensated 
for,  and  by  what,  precise  means  their  reproduction  and 
multiplication  are  so  wisely  ordained  as  to  be  placed  be- 
yond obstruction  by  any  natural  impediments.  In  short, 
the  exact  use  of  every  part  of  every  plant,  various  as  their 
forms  and  uses  doubtless  are,  has  been  ascertained  ;  and 
we  are  now  entitled  to  say  of  plants  as  of  animals,  that 
their  kingdom  is  rendered  subject  to  the  power,  not  only 
of  man's  physical  energy,  but  of  his  mental  resources. 
Perhaps  no  part  of  the  creation  illustrates  more  forcibly 
than  the  vegetable  world,  the  admirable  skill  and  foresight 
with  which  all  the  phenomena  of  the  universe  have  been 
adapted  by  the  Great  Author  of  our  being  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  objects  for  which  they  have  been  seve- 
rally intended. 

Take,  for  example,  vegetable  tissue.  What  can  be  con- 
ceived more  wisely  prepared  1  The  cellular,  capable  of 
great  extensibility,  possessing  also  prodigious  compressi- 
bility, its  particles  cohering  either  firmly  or  loosely  ac- 
cording to  circumstances,  its  sides  composed  of  a  most 
delicate  membrane,  through  which  fluid  and  gaseous  mat- 
ter passes  readily  in  every  direction,  is  destined  to  form 
the  principal  mass  of  the  vegetable,  and  to  execute  all 
those  functions  with  which  absorption  and  respiration  are 
connected ; — the  fibrous  tissue,  composed  of  myriads  of 
threads  compactly  combined  into  bundles,  dispersed 
through  the  cellular  substance,  how  admirably  does  it  sup- 
ply the  place  of  bones  and  nerves  in  the  animal  economy, 
affording  strength  and  solidity  and  elasticity  to  the  most 
delicate  parts!  While  the  vascular  tissue,  exclusively  in- 
tended for  the  reception  and  rapid  transmission  of  gaseous 
matter  or  of  highly  attenuated  fluid  from  the  roots  to  the 
extremities,  how  wisely  is  it  contrived  by  its  greater  size 
and  length,  and  how  carefully  is  it  prepared  by  its  spiral 
structure,  for  extending  and  turning,  as  the  cellular  sub- 
stance develops,  to  those  parts  where  the  peculiar  matter 
that  it  contains  is  most  required  !  Here  there  is  no  confu- 
sion of  offices  to  perform  ;  each  has  its  peculiar  part  as- 
signed it,  for  which  it  has  been  especially  destined,  and 
for  which  it  is  alone  adapted. 

Look  at  the  leaves.  The  leaves  are  the  organs  in  plants 
that  correspond  with  the  stomach  in  animals;  that  is  to 
say,  it  is  in  them  that  the  fluid  matter  taken  up  by  the 
roots  and  injected  into  them  from  the  stem,  is  digested 
and  inspissated,  and  separated  into  the  nutritious  and  ex- 
cremental  portions.  To  the  naked  eye  the  leaves  appear 
to  be  merely  flat  plates  of  cellular  substance  traversed  by 
veins  ;  but  examined  with  a  microscope  they  are  at  once 
seen  to  be  constructed  upon  a  most  simple  plan — of  any 
that  can  be  conceived  the  most  perfectly  adapted  to  the 
end  in  view. 

Digestion  takes  place  in  leaves  chiefly  by  the  absorption 
of  carbonic  acid  and  the  respiration  of  oxygen,  and  by  the 
evaporation  of  water  ;  if  this  process  were  to  be  carried  on 
without  any  provision  against  the  variations  which  are  con- 
stantly occurring  in  the  state  of  the  atmosphere,  it  is  easy 
to  conceive  that  in  excessively  dry  weather  leaves  would 
lose  all  their  moisture  and  constantly  become  parched  up, 
while  in  wet  weather  they  would  be  so  gorged  with  mois- 
ture as  to  burst  from  distension.  In  order  to  prevent  the 
occurrence  of  this,  nature  has  enclosed  leaves  in  a  cuticle 
scarcely  pervious  either  to  air  or  moisture ;  and  in  this 
158 


cuticle  ehe  has  placed  numerous  mouth?,  called  stomafa, 
which  have  the  power  of  opening  and  closing,  according 
to  the  state  of  either  the  atmosphere  or  of  the  leaf  itself,  to 
regulate  the  absorption  or  respiration  of  either  water  or 
air.  And  in  order  to  expose  the  tissue  lying  beneath  this 
cuticle  to  the  greatest  possible  atmospheric  influence,  the 
leaf  is  not  a  solid  mass,  as  it  appears  to  be,  but  is  traversed 
in  all  directions  by  passages  terminating  in  the  mouths, 
and  opening  into  cavities,  where  the  air  both  of  absorption 
and  exhalation  can  freely  circulate,  and  pass  in  or  out  so 
long  as  the  mouths  permit  it.  Nor  is  this  all.  Many  leaves 
are  constantly  submerged  beneath  the  surface  of  water, 
where  they  are  never  exposed  to  atmospheric  vicissitudes, 
can  never  evaporate,  and  being  cut  off  from  the  air,  can 
neither  absorb  carbonic  acid  from  the  air,  nor  discharge 
oxygen  back  into  it  in  return.  It  is  therefore  obvious  that 
the  curious  provision  that  has  been  made  for  the  regula- 
tion of  the  action  of  aerial  leaves  would  be  useless  in  sub- 
mersed ones  ;  and  accordingly  we  find  that  the  latter  have 
neither  cuticle,  nor  mouths,  nor  cavernous  parenchyma, 
but  are  thin  but  solid  plates,  the  whole  surface  of  whose 
cellular  substance  is  in  direct  contact  with  the  water,  from 
the  air  contained  in  which  the  leaves  must  exclusively  de- 
rive their  nutriment  The  employment  of  the  same  kind 
of  organ,  in  different  forms,  for  the  purpose  of  effecting 
the  varied  objects  that  are  to  be  provided  for  in  the  vege- 
table economy,  is  another  and  a  most  remarkable  instance 
of  the  consummate  wisdom  and  wonderful  simplicity  that 
are  discoverable  in  all  these  things.  Upon  the  birth  of  a 
plant  one  or  two  leaves  are  developed,  which  feed  the  in- 
fant until  it  is  strong  enough  to  develop  one  or  two  more ; 
these  last,  not  only  like  the  first  proceed  without  exception 
from  opposite  sides  of  the  stem  or  body,  but  are  so  placed 
as  to  alternate  with  the  first ;  and  this  goes  on  with  unvary- 
ing uniformity,  as  long  as  growth  continues;  so  that  view 
a  plant  in  whatever  way  you  will,  whether  in  its  earliest 
state,  or  at  the  most  advanced  period  of  its  existence,  it 
will  always  be  seen  to  exhibit  the  same  beautiful  symme- 
try as  the  most  highly  developed  animals:  one  side  coun- 
terpoises the  other;  whatever  is  discoverable  on  one  side, 
equally  exists  upon  the  other.  If  it  is  necessary  that  a 
protection  should  be  formed  for  securing  the  young  and 
tender  buds  against  cold,  the  leaves  surrounding  the  buds 
suddenly  contract  into  hard  scales,  perhaps  exude  some 
resinous  or  gummy  matter,  or  clothe  themselves  in  a  deep 
covering  of  wool,  and  an  impenetrable  living  shield  is  thus 
interposed  between  the  bed  and  danger.  A  plant  is  to  be 
rendered  more  beautiful  to  the  eye — its  leaves  again  con- 
tract, the  spaces  that  usually  separate  them  are  obliterated, 
new  colours  are  assumed,  and  petals  are  created  resplen- 
dent with  brilliant  hues  or  exhaling  the  softest  perfumes. 
Propagation  is  to  be  effected — the  petals  contract  into  sta- 
mens, their  central  substance  becomes  disintegrated  in  the 
form  of  pollen,  and  the  interior  of  each  grain  of  the  latter 
is  resolved  into  that  living  matter  of  which  in  a  state  of  co- 
hesion all  nature  is  composed.  A  few  leaves  are  rolled 
together  in  the  form  of  pistillum,  the  apex  of  the  midrib 
becomes  denuded,  and  young  buds  are  developed  at  the 
margins.  A  grain  of  pollen,  the  disintegrated  tissue  of  the 
flowering  leaf,  falls  upon  the  denuded  apex  of  the  fructi- 
fying leaf,  absorbs  moisture  from  it,  distends,  and  finally 
produces  a  tube  of  inconceivable  fineness,  which  abstracts 
from  the  pollen  its  impregnating  matter,  some  of  which 
descends  the  midrib  into  the  womb  of  the  leaf,  and  thence 
entering  the  young  buds  that  are  developed  at  its  margins, 
is  finally  hatched,  and  appears  at  last  in  the  form  of  em- 
bryo plants. 

Such  is  the  simplicity  of  the  arrangements  that  are  ob- 
servable in  the  most  perfectly  formed,  the  most  elaborate- 
ly constructed  plants.  In  the  lower  orders,  the  mode  of 
formation,  development,  and  propagation  is  still  more 
simple.  A  vesicle  elongates  and  distends  until  it  becomes 
a  tube  ;  from  the  end  of  this  tube  more  are  generated  that 
themselves  give  birth  to  others,  and  thus  a  simple  branch- 
ing plant  is  formed.  In  the  inside  of  each  tube  by  degrees 
a  green  matter  is  deposited  ;  and  after  a  certain  period  has 
elapsed  is  emitted  in  the  form  of  little  green  vesicles,  like 
that  from  which  the  plant  originally  sprang,  and  them- 
selves capable  of  developing  as  new  plants.  In  certain 
tubes,  this  dissolution  takes  place  in  a  much  more  aston- 
ishing manner  ;  not  into  inert  green  matter,  but  into  mov- 
ing particles  having  all  the  properties  of  spontaneous  mo- 
tion and  animal  existence.  Soon,  however,  the  moving 
particles  elongate  ;  thus  losing  their  power  of  motion  and 
becoming  plants,  to  whose  laws  of  life  they  ever  after  sub- 
mit. Turpin  has  seen  the  Mnnema  comoides  resolve  it- 
self into  navicular  ;  Desmazieres  has  shown  the  plants 
called  Mycodermata,  or  what  we  name  the  mothery  film  of 
fermented  liquor,  to  consist  of  monads  growing  end  to 
end  {Ann.  des  Sc.  x);  and  Treviranus  (Ann.  des  Sr.  x.) 
has  detailed  with  exactness  the  metamorphoses  in  the  life 
of  the  compound  plant  called  Batrachospermum  glomera- 
tum.  In  this  the  filaments  discharge  a  green  matter  and 
become  colourless  ;  the  green  matter  consists  of  myriads 


BOTANY. 


of  infusoria,  of  a  round  or  elliptical  figure  ;  the  latter  col- 
lect by  fives  or  sixes  into  a  kind  of  star,  become  motion- 
less, lengthen,  and  finally  are  transformed  into  young  in- 
dividuals of  this  undoubted  plant. 

These  are  far  from  being  all  the  divisions  into  which 
Botany,  or  the  study  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  may  be 
subdivided ;  although  they  are  no  doubt  among  the  most 
interesting.  Besides  these  there  is  Taxonomy,  or  the 
principles  of  classification.  It  would  be  of  little  use  that  a 
man  should  know  anatomy,  and  structure,  and  compara- 
tive organization,  and  have  informed  himself  of  all  the 
leading  principles  of  physiology,  if  he  were  unacquainted 
with  the  names  of  the  objects  he  had  been  studying,  and 
were  consequently  incapable  of  communicating  his  know- 
ledge to  others.  At  least,  of  whatever  use  it  might  be  to 
him  ielf,  it  could  not  be  of  advantage  to  any  one  else.  But 
If  he  is  acquainted  with  the  names  of  known  objects,  and 
if  he  understands  the  rules  of  classification,  he  can  then 
render  his  information  available  to  others  as  well  as  to 
himself.  And  in  like  manner  he  can  at  all  times  determine 
what  is  known  about  any  particular  plant  that  lie  may  have 
been  studying;  or  if  it  be  a  kind  previously  unknown,  he 
can  find  its  place  in  the  system,  and  by  publishing  a  descrip- 
tion of  it,  he  can  fix  it  there  for  the  information  of  others. 

But  there  is  another  way  of  looking  at  the  utility  of 
classification,  which  shows  that  what  may  to  some  appear 
but  a  dry  and  barren  subject,  is  in  reality  one  of  the  most 
important  branches  of  the  science.  No  man  can  know  all 
things  relating  to  such  a  science  as  this,— few  men  can 
learn  many  things;  for  this  reason  it  is  of  importance  that 
a  means  should  he  discovered  of  judging  of  what  is  un- 
known by  what  is  known  ;  and  that  by  judiciously  select- 
ing a  moderate  number  of  objects  for  particular  study,  the 
Inquirer  may  have  a  ready  and  by  no  means  burthensome 
means  of  forming  a.  clear  knowledge  of  tin'  ivln>lc  veneta- 
ble  kingdom.  This  is  not  difficult,  if  attention  be  paid  to 
the  doctrine  of  affinities.  Every  one  must  have  seen  that 
Borne  species  of  plants  are  more  like  each  other  than  they 
am  like  different  species  ;  without  considering  the  matter 
botanically,  every  one  must,  for  example,  have  remarked 
thai  a  radish  is  more  like  a  turnip  than  it  is  like  a  currant 
bush,  that  a  pea  is  more  like  a  bean  than  an  apple,  and 
that  a  cherry  blossom  is  more  like  an  apple  blossom  than 
a  horse  chestnut.  These  are  rude  instances  of  affinity  on 
the  one  hand,  and  discrepancy  on  the  other  ;  but  they  are 
nevertheless  perfectly  explanatory  of  what  is  meant.  Bo- 
tanists find  that  classification  may  be  founded  upon  a  con- 
sideration of  general  resemblances  and  differences;  and 
that  by  carefully  examining  the  characteristic  organs  of 
plants,  those  species  may  be  classed  most  nearly  together 
which  have  the  greatest  degree  of  resemblance  and  the 
most  perfect  constitutional  agreement.  Now  this  being 
the  case,  it  follows  that  a  knowledge  of  one  species  is  to  a 
gnat  extent  a  knowledge  of  many  ;  and  that  a  correct  idea 
of  a  single  individual  of  a  group  in  the  classification,  pro- 
vided that  individual  is  well  selected,  amounts  to  a  know- 
ledge  to  a  considerable  extent  of  all  the  other  species  of 
the  same  group.  For  example,  in  the  Iribe  of  Orueifem, 
consisting  of  about  900  species,  the  study  of  the  common 
radish,  the  mustard,  or  the  cress,  will  give  the  student  a 
very  accurate  general  knowledge  of  the  remaining  899,  be- 
cause they  are  all  (lose  modifications  of  the  same  forms, 
Again,  the  common  potatoe,  rightly  understood,  n  presents 
tin?  greater  part  of  Solanacno\  or  at  least  of  some  hundred 
species  belonging  to  that  tribe  ;  while  the  dead  nettle,  Lu- 
minal album  or  rubrum,  stands  as  the  representative  of 
some  IS  or  1600  species  called  Labiata.  This  would  be 
of  eminent  importance  if  its  advantage  stopped  here;  but 
when  it  is  considered  that  the  properties  of  plants  also  ac- 
cord in  a  very  remarkable  manner  with  their  structure, 
and  that  those  which  are  most  closely  approximated  in  a 
classification  will  most  nearly  resemble  one  another  in 
their  sensible  properties,  the  advantages  to  be  derived 
from  a  study  ot  the  laws  of  affinity  cannot  fail  to  be  clearly 
perceived.  For  example,  to  use  the  same  illustration  as 
before,  any  person  acquainted  with  Cruel/era  would  know 
that  there  is  no  instance  of  a  poisonous  or  deleterious 
plant  in  the  tribe,  a  point  of  creat  importance  to  be  aware 
of;  on  the  contrary,  he  would  know  that  if  they  had  suc- 
culent roots,  they  might  be  employed  like  the  radish,  and 
that  their  leaves  are  antiscorbutic  ;  but  if  he  met  with  an 
unknown  plant,  which,  from  its  resemblance  to  the  pota- 
toe, he  knew  belonged  to  Solanacea?,  he  would  at  once  re- 
ject it  as  poisonous,  or  at  least  suspicious,  unless  it  had 
tubers  filled  with  faecula,  when  he  would  except  that  por- 
tion, because  all  fsecula  is  wholesome,  however  poisonous 
the  trees  or  plants  may  otherwise  be  that  produce  it,  pro- 
vided the  deleterious  matter  that  lies  among  it  is  removed 
by  washing,  or  volatilized  by  the  action  of  heat. 

It  is  not,  however,  any  kind  of  classification  that  leads  to 
such  ends.  All  artificial  systems,  as  for  instance  that  of 
Linnaeus,  are  unproductive  of  such  results.  It  is  only  the 
natural  system  of  botany  from  which  these  importaut  ad- 
vantages are  to  be  derived. 
159 


A  fourth  division  of  the  science  is  the  meaning  of  the 
terms  employed  in  the  science  ;  or  what  was  formerly 
called  Terminology,  anrl  now  more  correctly  Glossology. 
This  is  the  least  interesting  part  of  the  subject ;  but  at  the 
same  time  it  is  too  important  to  be  passed  over  lightly,  be- 
cause it  is  impossible  either  to  understand  the  writings  of 
botanists,  or  to  make  oneself  intelligible  to  others,  without 
being  correctly  informed  of  the  meaning  of  the  terms  pe- 
culiar to  the  science.  The  state  of  Terminology  at  any 
given  time  may  indeed  be  safely  taken  as  indicative  of  the 
state  of  the  whole  science  ;  for  in  proportion  as  ideas  are 
multiplied  and  knowledge  rendered  exact,  are  the  terms 
required  to  express  those  ideas  multiplied  and  their  apuli- 
cation  rendered  definite.  A  curious  exemplification  "of 
this  is  to  be  found  in  the  Historia  Plantarum  of  Fuchs,  a 
learned  botanist  of  the  16th  century.  In  the  glossary  pre- 
fixed to  that  work  are  comprehended  only  132  terms'  of  all 
kinds,  many  of  which  refer  to  measures,  and  are  therefore 
not  appertaining  to  botany  ;  and  of  the  remainder  29  be- 
long to  modifications  of  stems,  15  to  differences  of  inflo- 
rescence, 6  to  the  fruit,  but  not  one  to  any  other  part  of 
the  fructification.  In  the  present  state  of  botany,  the 
terms  that  relate  to  the  seed  alone  are  probably  as  nume- 
rous as  the  whole  that  are  comprehended  in  Fuchs'  Glos- 
sology. 

Another  and  very  distinct  branch  of  inquiry  is  into  the 
rules  to  be  observed  in  describing  and  naming  plants  ;  or 
what  is  called  Phytography.  The  great  object  of  descrip- 
tions in  natural  history  is  to  enable  any  person  to  recognise 
a  known  species,  after  its  station  has  been  discovered  by 
classification,  and  also  to  put  those  who  may  not  have  had 
the  opportunity  of  examining  a  plant  themselves  into  pos- 
session of  all  the  facts  necessary  to  acquire  a  just  notion 
of  its  structure  and  affinities.  It  is  therefore  important 
that  such  descriptions  should  be  drawn  up  according  to 
certain  conventional  well-known  Piles,  and  not  according 
to  the  caprice  of  individuals;  and  this  not  only  for  the 
sake  of  ensuring  a  uniformity  of  language,  and  in' all  cases 
the  same  order  of  treating  the  subject,  but  also  to  prevent 
descriptions  being  too  general,  to  ensure  attention  to  the 
most  important  points  of  structure,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  prevent  their  being  more  prolix  than  is  really  necessary. 
The  rules  of  description  are  more  especially  intended  to 
guard  against  the  latter  evil ;  for  no  mistake  can  be  more 
common  than  to  confound  prolixity  with  precision, 

The  last  branch  into  which  the  study  of  the  science  may 
be  divided  is  the  application  of  the  preceding  subjects  to 
the  art  of  discriminating  species.  This  may  be  ca&ed  the 
I'Tiiriin  »/'  Hn/any,as  the  former  belonged  to  its  theory, 
and  is  by  far  the  most  difficult  part  of  the  subject.  There 
is  no  difficulty  in  becoming  acquainted  with  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  the  science,  because  they  naturally 
arise  out  of  each  other,  and  are  dependent  upon  the  just 
appreciation  of  a  few  simple  laws  ;  the  various  combina- 
tions of  which,  upon  principles  that  it  is  easy  to  compre- 
hend, constitute  the  the  differences  that  exist  between  or- 
gans themselves  and  their  numerous  modifications.  But 
the  practice  of  botany,  although  its  study  is  essentially 
facilitated  by  an  acquaintance  with  fundamental  principles, 
and  indeed  cannot  be  usefully  pursued  without,  yet  it  lias 
peculiar  difficulties  of  its  own.  It  is  often  difficult  to  recog- 
nise organs  in  consequence  of  the  manner  in  which  they 
are  masked  by  the  modifications  they  have  undergone; 
their  combinations  are  frequently  so  intricate  that  great 
experience  is  necessary  to  enable'an  observer  to  judge  of 
them  correctly  ;  their  minuteness  is  often  such  as  to  ren- 
der indispensable  a  use  of  the  microscope,  which  requires 
peculiar  dexterity  and  a  good  deal  of  practice  ;  and  finally 
the  number  of  species  is  so  great,  that  to  bear  in  mind 
their  distinctions  is  a  heavy  tax  upon  the  memory.  Diffi- 
culties of  this  nature  are  almost  insurmountable  by  a  stu- 
dent who  is  unaided  by  the  experience  of  a  teacher. 

At  what  period  of  the  world  botany  first  began  to  be  stu- 
died as  a  science,  has  not  been  satisfactorily  ascertained. 
By  some  it  has  been  referred  to  the  highest  ages  of  anti- 
quity. We  are  assured  that  Moses  and  Solomon  and  other 
Jewish  writers,  especially  the  last,  were  botanists,  and 
that  traces  of  much  knowledge  of  the  science  are  to  be 
found  throughout  the  scriptures;  but  it  seems  difficult  to 
assign  Botany  any  such  antiquity.  That  in  the  most  re- 
mote ages  man  had  his  herbs  and  his  roots;  that  he  was 
acquainted  with  the  properties  of  one  plant,  and  the  uses 
of  another:  that  he  gave  them  names,  and  that  poets  de- 
rived many  of  the  beauties  of  their  language  from  them, — 
was  natural  enough  ;  but  this  had  nothing  to  do  with  bota- 
ny. The  first  dawn  of  that  science  broke  from  out  of  the 
deep  investigations  of  the  nature  of  matter  and  mind  by 
the  philosophers  of  Greece.  How  much  they  knew  we 
have  no  accurate  means  of  judging  ;  but  that  they  knew  a 
great  deal  of  vegetable  physiology  is  obvious  from  their 
famous  paradox,  that  plants  are  only  inverted  animals, — 
a  sentiment  which,  however  strangely  it  may  sound,  could 
only  have  arisen  from  an  extensive  knowledge  of  the  vital 
phenomena  of  Vegetation,     Nor  could  the  doctrine  of  Aris- 


BOTANY. 


tolle,  that  all  organic  matter  exhibits  a  series  of  successive 
degrees  of  development,  have  been  conceived  or  pro- 
mulgated, unless  the  philosophers  of  his  day  had  possessed 
a  practical  acquaintance  with  vegetation  much  beyond  that 
of  the  ages  that  succeeded. 

Happy  had  it  been  for  those  ages  if,  instead  of  retro- 
gading  in  the  path  of  science,  or  rather  stepping  out  of  it 
altogether,  they  had  only  pursued  the  course  commenced 
by  Theophrastus  350  years  before  Christ.  By  that  natural- 
ist the  beginning  was  made  of  applying  particular  terms  to 
particular  modifications  of  structure  ;  he  demonstrated  the 
absence  of  all  philosophical  distinction  between  trees, 
shrubs,  and  herbs, — a  distinction  upon  which  his  succes- 
sors were  fond  of  insisting  ;  he  speaks  clearly  of  the  paren- 
chyma and  the  woody  fibre  of  wood,  the  former  of  which 
he  calls  the  flesh  ;  and  he  described  accurately  the  differ- 
ence between  palm  wood  and  that  of  trees  with  concentric 
layers;  so  that  in  point  of  fact  the  discovery  of  the  dif- 
ference between  Dicotyledonous  and  Monocotyledonous 
wood  was  made  by  Theophrastus  above  2000  years  ago, 
although  it  was  never  applied  to  the  purposes  of  systematic 
division  till  about  thirty  years  since.  Subsequently  to  this 
period,  botanists  almost  disappeared  for  a  long  season. 
Those  who  have  been  dignified  by  historians  with  that  title 
were  either  pharmacologists,  like  Dioscorides;  or  com- 
pilers, who,  like  Pliny,  knew  little  themselves,  and  mis- 
understood those  they  copied ;  or  poets,  who  drew  much 
of  the  beauty  of  their  language  from  the  charms  of  nature  ; 
or  geoponkal  writers,  who  were  acquainted  with  those 
parts  of  husbandry  which  relate  to  phvsiological  botany. 

With  whom  the  curious  arts  of  budding  and  grafting,  and 
striking  plants  by  layers,  or  propagating  them  by  taking 
advantage  of  the  divisibility  which  distinguishes  the  vege- 
table from  the  animal  kingdoms  originated,  is  now  un- 
known ;  but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  greater  part 
of  the  modifications  of  those  processes  was  in  the  classical 
ages  as  well  understood  as  now.  That  grafting  was  exclu- 
sively undertaken,  is  obvious  from  these  lines  of  a  well- 
known  poet  of  the  Augustan  age  : — 

Et  ssepe  altetius  ramos  impune  videmils 

Verlere  alterius,  mulutaq  insita  mala 

Ferre  pyrum,  et  pruius  lapidosa  rubescere  coma. 

But,  what  is  much  more  curious,  the  delicate  process  of 
budding  was  as  scientifically  performed  at  that  period  as 
by  the  most  skilful  gardener  of  the  present  century. 
Nothing  can  be  more  precise  than  the  following  elegant 
description  of  Roman  budding  : — 

Nee  modus  inserere,  alqueoculos  imponere  simplex. 
Nam  qua  se  medio  truriunt  de  tortice  gemmee, 
Et  tenues  rumpunt  milieus,  angusius  in  ipso 
Fit  nodo  sinus  ;  hue  aliena  ex  arbore  germen 
Ineludiuit,  udoque  docent  inolescei  e  libro. 

Again  of  crown  grafting : — 

Aut  rursuroenodeslrunci  resecantur,  et  alte 
Finditur  in  solidnm  cuueia  via  :  delude  feraces 
Plants  immittuntnr  :  nee  longum  lempus  et  iogens 
Exiit  ad  ccelum  ramis  felicibus  arbos, 
Miralurque  novas  frondes  et  noil  sua  poma. 

A  cessation  of  all  philosophical  inquiry  into  the  nature  of 
vegetation  endured  about  1700  years,  during  the  whole  of 
which  time  scarcely  a  single  addition  was  made  to  the 
stock  of  knowledge  left  behind  him  by  Theophrastus.  But 
with  the  revival  of  letters,  a  new  direction  was  given  to  re- 
searches in  natural  history.  Men  ceased  to  content  them- 
selves with  blindly  copying  the  writers  of  antiquity,  and  set 
themselves  in  earnest  to  examine  the  objects  of  nature 
that  surrounded  them.  The  woods,  the  plains,  the  rivers, 
the  ocean,  the  valleys,  and  the  mountains,  were  inves- 
tigated with  an  ardour  that  soon  made  amends  for  ancient 
indifference.  The  first  consequence  of  this  was  a  dis- 
covery of  the  worthlessness  of  the  greater  part  of  those 
writers  to  whom  the  world  had  so  long  been  bound  in  ser- 
vile obedience.  The  spirit  of  inquiry  once  excited,  men 
speedily  learned  to  estimate  rightly  the  greater  value  of 
facts  than  of  assertions ;  one  discovery  produced  another, 
and  in  a  few  years  a  new  foundation  was  laid  of  that  im- 
perfect but  beautiful  science  which  constitutes  modern 
botany.  In  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  John 
Manardi,  a  native  of  Ferrara,  described  the  real  nature  of 
the  anther.  He  was  followed  by  a  long  train  of  writers  of 
various  merit,  who  at  first  indeed  applied  themselves  ex- 
clusively to  the  collection  of  new  species,  but  subsequently 
to  an  examination  of  the  physiological  characters  of  plants, 
and  to  the  laws  applied  by  nature  to  the  government  of  the 
vegetable  kingdom. 

Up  to  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  vegetable 
physiology  had  been  grounded  upon  observations  entirely 
independent  of  anatomical  investigation.  But  about  this 
time  the  accurate  inquiries  of  two  naturalists,  one  an  Eng 
lishman,  and  the  other  an  Italian,  gave  a  new  feature  to  the 
study  ;  and  what  was  vague  or  imaginary  in  the  opinions 
entertained  upon  the  vital  functions  of  vegetables  gave 
way  to  conclusions  precise,  and  supported  upon  the  firm 
bas'is  of  careful  observation.  The  nature  of  cellular  tissue, 
160 


of  spiral  vessels,  of  ducts,  of  woody  tissue  ;  the  composition 
of  the  internal  parts  of  plants,  and  the  functions  of  the 
whole — excited  inquiry,  and  received  reasonable  if  not  ac- 
curate explanations.  Collections  of  facts  and  of  ideas  ac- 
cumulated on  all  hands,  and  the  confusion  that  had  once 
been  caused  by  ignorance  threatened  again  to  overwhelm 
the  science,  in  consequence  of  the  rapid  addition  of  new 
matter  which  there  was  no  means  of  keeping  in  order. 
Hence  systematists  sprung  up  ;  a  race  of  inquirers  to  whose 
labours  the  present  advanced  state  of  botany  is  no  doubt 
much  to  be  ascribed.  That  the  efforts  of  the  earliest  of 
these  writers  should  have  proved  unsuccessful,  will  excite 
no  surprise  :  with  little  knowledge  of  vegetable  physiology 
or  anatomy,  for  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  for  a  long  time, 
and  even  now,  vegetable  physiology  and  systematic  botany 
were  considered  as  distinct  sciences,  and  with  scarcely 
any  notion  of  the  laws  of  affinity  and  metamorphosis,  they 
could  not  be  expected  to  succeed.  We  should  rather 
wonder  at  what  they  did,  than  at  what  they  omitted  to  do. 
Many  of  them  had  great  merit,  especially  John  Ray,  an 
English  deprived  clergyman,  and  Joseph  Pitton  de  Toume- 
fort,  a  professor  of  botany  at  Paris,  who  flourished  in  the 
end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  upon  whose  systems 
the  modern  arrangement  according  to  natural  orders  is 
essentially  founded.  This,  however,  and  all  others,  was  for 
a  time  eclipsed  by  another,  better  adapted  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  times,  and  emanating  irom  a  writer  who, 
having  the  courage  and  talent  to  carry  reformation  into 
every  branch  of  natural  history,  imparted  a  lustre  to  his 
peculiar  system  of  classification  which  has  only  now,  after 
the  lapse  of  a  century,  fallen  into  disuse  among  men  of 
science. 

Charles  Linne,  or  Linnaeus,  as  he  is  usually  called,  was 
a  person  exactly  adapted  to  the  science  of  the  time  in 
which  he  lived.  The  various  departments  of  natural  his- 
tory had  not  at  that  time  any  thine  like  their  present  exten- 
sive range,  and  might  without  difficulty  be  investigated  by 
a  single  naturalist.  They  were  all  equally  in  need  of  re- 
vision and  improvement ;  they  all  wanted  a  settled  code  of 
laws  to  reconcile  the  fluctuating  and  jarring  opinions 
which  at  that  time  prevailed,  and  above  all  things  the 
nomenclature  of  natural  history  required  to  be  reduced  to 
one  uniform  standard.  For  this  Linnaeus  was  peculiarly 
well  adapted.  Nature  had  gifted  him  with  a  logical  accu- 
racy of  reasoning,  and  a  neatness  and  perspicuity  of  ex- 
pression, which  carried  with  them  a  charm  that  the  world 
was  not  slow  to  appreciate  ;  and  these  produced  the  strong- 
er impression,  because  naturalists  had  previously  been  hut 
little  accustomed  to  them.  The  opinions  of  Linnaeus 
were  received  as  if  oracular,  and  their  faults  were  lost  in 
the  splendour  which  they  drew  over  the  whole  of  the  or- 
ganic world.  But  unfortunately  Linnaeus  knew  nothing 
ofvegetable  physiology.  His  opinions  upon  this  subject 
are  among  the  most  worthless  which  are  recorded  in  the 
history  of  science  ;  and  consequently  his  writings  lost 
much  of  the  permanent  value  which  the  originality  of  his 
ideas  and  the  acuteness  of  his  perception  would  have 
otherwise  insured  them.  But  notwithstanding  this  defect, 
he  not  only  established  his  famous  method  of  arrangement, 
which  for  a  long  time  superseded  all  others,  but  laid  the 
foundation,  although  upon  imaginary  principles,  of  the 
curious  laws  of  morphology,  upon  which  modern  botany 
founds  one  of  its  greatest  claims  to  perfection.  The  notion 
that  all  the  parts  of  plants  are  mere  modifications  of  leaves, 
faintly  shadowed  forth  by  Linnaeus  in  his  Species  P/avta- 
rum,  became  the  subject  of  a  special  and  most  original 
dissertation  by  the  German  poet  Gbthe,  in  1790.  This 
doctrine  was  believed  by  the  botanists  of  that  day  to  be 
worthy  only  of  the  poetical  fame  of  its  illustrious  author; 
but  he  lived  to  see  his  opinions  received,  almost  without 
change,  by  every  botanist  of  reputation. 

After  the  artificial  system  of  Linnaeus  followed  the  na- 
tural system  of  Jussieu.  Vegetable  anatomy  became  an 
important  branch  of  inquiry  in  the  hands  of  Kieser;  the 
researches  of  Knight  and  others  gave  a  new  character  to 
vegetable  physiology;  and  the  earlier  part  of  the  present 
century  has  seen  the  science  by  these  and  other  means  as- 
sume an  entirely  new  appearance.  Our  knowledge  of  the 
vital  functions  of  plants  reposes  upon  the  sure  basis  of  ex- 
act observation  and  careful  experiments;  the  theory  of  the 
plan  upon  which  the  organs  of  vegetation  and  fructifica- 
tion are  severally  combined  into  so  many  numerous  forms 
is  settled  upon  the  clearest  evidence  ;  and  classifications, 
to  a  great  degree  freed  from  the  trammels  of  prejudice  or 
narrow  views,  have  assumed  that  position  in  science  to 
which  their  importance,  when  rightly  studied,  entitles 
them. 

The  only  two  botanical  arrangements  now  in  use  are  tn  . 
Linnaean  and  the  Natural.  The  former  is  an  attempt  at 
classifying  plants  according  to  their  agreement  in  some 
single  characters,  without  reference  to  their  resemblances 
or  differences  in  any  other  respect,  just  as  words  are  s? 
ranged  in  a  dictiei wy  by  t'.,e  accordance  of  their  initial 
letters ;  the  other  is  a  scheme  for  placing  next  each  other 


BOTANY. 


all  those  plants  which  have  the  greatest  resemblance,  and 
at  the  greatest  distance  those  which  are  most  dissimilar. 
To  effect  this,  every  kind  of  structure  that  plants  possess 
ismadeuseof;  distinctions  derived  from  great  physiolo- 
gical peculiarities  are  considered  fundamental,  and  form 
classes;  subordinate  to  lliem  are  characters  derived  from 
diversities  of  external  structure,  and  they  are  valued  ac- 
cording to  their  permanence  or  frequency,  &c.  The  final 
result  being  the  making  up  of  the  vegetable  Kingdom  into 
associations,  called  natural  orders,  which  are  supposed  to 
consist  of  genera  more  closely  allied  to  each  other  than  to 
any  thing  else.  Koran  explanation  of  the  details  of  these 
two  kinds  of  classification  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  se- 
parate works  that  have  been  published  on  the  subject; 
space  can  be  given  in  this  place  only  to  a  very  general  ac- 
count of  them. 

The  sexual  system  of  Linnaeus  depends  upon  the  num- 
ber and  relative  position  or  degree  of  combination  of  the 
stamens  and  styles.  It  has  been  so  often  explained,  and  is 
so  rapidly  fallina  into  disuse,  that  we  shall  content  our- 
selves with  the  shortest  possible  description  of  the  classes 
and  orders. 

Class      I.  Stamen      1   -        •        -        -        Monandria. 
II.  Stamens    2  -        -        -        •        Diandria. 

III.  Stamens    3   -  -        -        Triandria. 

IV.  Stamens    4   -        -        •  Tetrandria. 
V.  Stamens    5   -        •        -        -        Pentandria. 

VI.  Stamens    6   -        -        -        -        Hexandria. 
VII.  Stamens    7  -       -       -       -       Heptandria. 
VIII.  Stamens    8  -        ...        Octandria. 
IX.  Stamens    9  -        -        -  Ennean^ria. 

X.  Stamens  10  -        -        -        -        Decandria. 
XI.  Stamens  12 — 19    -        -        -        Dodecandria. 
XII.  Stamens  20  or  more,  inserted 

into  the  calyx  -        -        -        Icosandria. 

XIII.  Stamens  20  or  more,  inserted 

into  the  receptacle         -        Polyandria. 

XIV.  Stamens  2  long  and  2  short         Didynamia. 
XV.  Stamens  4  long  and  2  short         Tetfadynamia. 

XVI.  Stamens  united  by   their  fila- 
ments into  a  tube  Monadelphia. 
XVII.  Stamens  united  by  their  fila- 
ments into  two  parcels    -        Diadelphia. 
XVIII.  Stamens  united    by   their  fila- 
ments into  several   parcels  Polyadelphia. 
XIX.  Stamens    united   by   their    an- 
thers into  a  tube       -        -        Syngenesia. 
XX.  Stamens  united  with  the  pistil    Gynandria. 
XXI.  Stamens    and  pistils    in   sepa- 
rate flowers,  but  both  grow- 
in;  on  the  same  plant      -        Monoecia. 
XXII.  Stamens  and  pistils  not  only  in 
separate  flowers,  but  those 
flowers  situated  upon  two 
different  plants         -        -        Dioecia. 
XXin.  Stamens  and  pistils  separate  in 
some    flowers,     united    in 
others,  either  on  the  same 
plant,  or  two  or  three  differ- 
ent ones    -.-        -        Polygamia. 
XXIV.  Stamens  and  pistils  either  not 
ascertained,    or  not    to  be 
discovered   with    any  cer- 
tainty,   insomuch  that  the 
plants  cannot    be   referred 
to    any    of    the     foregoing 
classes       ....        Cryptogamia. 
The  characters  of  the  orders  depend  upon  the  number 
of  the  styles,  or  of  the  stigmas,  if  there  be  no  style,  in  the 
first  thirteen  classes;  such  are  accordingly  named, — 

Mnnogynia style  1 

Disynia 2 

Trigynia 3 

Tetragynia 4 

Pentagynia 5 

Hexagynia 6 

Heptagynia 7 

Octogynia 8 

Enneagynia 9 

Decagynia 10 

Dodecagynia 12 

Polygynia  ....  more  than  12 
In  the  14th  class,  Didynamia,  the  orders  depend  upon 
the  nature  of  the  ovary.  In  Gymnospermia,  the  first  order, 
the  ovary  is  divided  into  four  lobes,  from  the  base  of 
which  proceeds  a  single  style,  and  within  each  of  which  is 
contained  a  single  seed.  In  Angiuspermia,  the  2nd  order, 
the  ovary  is  not  lobed,  and  is  usually  two-celled,  and  many- 
seeded. 

In  the  15th  class,  Tetradynamia,  the  orders  are  charac- 
terized by  the  form  of  the  fruit :  SiliquoscB  have  a  long 
pod  ;  Siliculosa  have  a  short  one. 

The  orders  of  the  16th,  17th,  and  18th  classes,  Monadel- 
phia, Diadelphia,  and  Polyadelphia.  depend  upon  the  num- 
161 


ber  of  the  stamens,  and  have  the  same  nomenclature  as  the 
thirteen  first  classes. 

The  orders  of  Synsenesia  are  determined  by  the  ar- 
rangement of  their  flowers,  and  by  the  sex  of  their  florets: 
thus — 

Polygamia  has  flowers  crowded  together  in  heads. 

1.  Polygamia  a-'/ualis  has  each  floret  hermaphrodite,  or 
furnished  with  perfect  stamens  and  pistil. 

2.  Polygamia  superjiua  has  the  florets  of  the  disk  her- 
maphrodite; those  of  the  ray  female  only. 

3.  Polygamia/rustranea  has  the  florets  of  the  disk  her- 
maphrodite ;  those  of  the  ray  sterile. 

4.  Polygamia  nccessaria  has  the  florets  of  the  disk  male, 
of  the  ray  female. 

5.  Polygamia  segregata  "  has  several  florets,  either  sim- 
ple or  compound,  but  with  a  proper  calyx,  included  within 
one  common  calyx." 

Monogamia  has  the  flowers  separate,  not  crowded  in 
heads.  This  order  is  generally  abolished  by  Linnaean  bota- 
nists, but  for  no  good  reason. 

The  orders  of  the  20th,  21st,  and  22nd  classes  are  distin- 
guished by  the  number,  <tc.  of  the  stamens. 

The  two  orders  of  the  23rd  class  depend  upon  whether 
the  genera  are  monoecious  or  dioecious. 

The  last  class,  Cryptogamia,  is  divided  into  orders  ac- 
cording to  the  principles  of  the  natural  system,  namely,  1. 
Filiies  ;  2.  Musci ;  3.  Hepatica; ;  4.  Algae;  5.  Fungi. 

With  regard  to  the  natural  system  of  botany,  that  formed 
by  Jussieu  out  of  the  views  of  Hay,  Tournefoft,  and  others, 
in  combination  with  very  numerous  observations  of  his 
own,  is  the  basis  of  what  is  at  present  understood  by  that 
name.  It  has,  however,  been  much  modified  by  succeed- 
ing systematists,  and  will  undoubtedly  undergo  many  more 
changes  in  its  details.  The  view  taken  of  the  subject  by 
De  Candolle,  the  learned  professor  at  Geneva,  is  thus  sta- 
ted by  himself : — "I  have  established  in  my  Tiieorie  Ele- 
mentaire,  that  the  proof  of  a  classification  of  plants  being 
natural  is  furnished  when  similar  results  are  arrived  at, 
whether  from  considerations  drawn  from  the  reproductive 
organs  or  from  those  of  vegetation.  Considered  with  re- 
ference to  the  organs  of  reproduction  (or  fructification),  the 
vegetable  kingdom  has  been  divided  by  Linnaeus  into  two 
erand  series,  the  Phanerogamous  and  the  Cryptogamous. 
These  series  are  not  merely  distinguished  because  in  the 
first  the  sexual  organs  are  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  and  is 
the  latter  are  microscopical.  Such  a  difference,  which 
might  depend  only  upon  the  absolute  size  of  trie  organs, 
could  be  in  itself  of  little  moment ;  but  it  is  connected  with 
a  real  difference  of  structure.  Phanerogamous  plants  have 
their  organs  of  fructification  arranged  upon  a  more  or  less 
symmetrical  plan,  and  surrounded  by  integuments  them- 
selves also  arranged  symmetrically.  Cryptogamous  plants 
have  the  sexual  organs  disposed  without  order,  and  sur- 
rounded by  integuments  scarcely  perceptible,  and  still 
more  disorderly  ;  or  they  have  no  sexual  organs  that  have 
been  proved  to  be  so." 

Phanerogamous  plants  have  long  been  divided  into  Dico- 
tyledons, or  plants  whose  embryos  present  cotyledons  op- 
posite or  verticillate  upon  the  same  plane,  and  whose  mini- 
mum is  consequently  2 ;  and  into  Monocotyledons,  whose 
cotyledons  or  earliest  leaves  are  alternate,  so  that  the 
minimum  is  1,  or  that  the  first,  when  there  are  two,  is 
more  particularly  intended  to  nourish  the  young  plant. 

Cryptosamous  plants  should  in  like  manner  be  divided 
into  two  classes,  the  ^Etheogamous  and  the  Amphigamous. 
For  the  first  I  take  ihe  name  of  JEtheogamous,  invented  by 
Beauvois,  but  limiting  its  application.  This  term,  which 
signifies  plants  with  unusual  fructification,  suits  well 
enough  the  class  here  indicated,  and  which  is  character- 
ised by  having  sexual  organs  distinct  and  visible  under  the 
microscope,  but  formed  upon  a  plan  totally  different  from 
that  of  Phanerogamous  plants;  such  are  Equisotaceae, 
Ferns,  Lycopodiaceae,  Mosses,  and  Hepaticae.  I  give  the 
second  class  the  name  of  Amphigamx,  to  indicate  the 
doubtful  nature  of  their  fructification;  some  authors  have 
called  them  Agamae,  but  that  is,  I  think,  to  assert  more 
than  is  quite  certain.  The  character  of  Amphigamae  is  to 
present  to  view  no  sexual  organ,  even  under  the  micro- 
scope ;  but  we  cannot  affirm  that  the  spores  that  they  pro- 
duce have  not  received  a  sort  of  impiegnation  in  the  very 
cells  which  generated  them.  It  is  for  thi  sake  of  express- 
ing this  doubt  that  I  employ  the  word  Amphigamae.  Thus 
with  respect  to  their  organs  of  reproduction,  plants  are 
clearly  divided  into  four  great  classes.  Let  us  next  exam- 
ine them  with  reference  to  their  organs  of  vezetation. 
The  first  division  that  may  be  established  is  deduced  from 
the  absence  or  presence  of  vessels  ;  and  in  this  view  I  se- 
parate plants  into  two  series — the  vascular,  which  have 
vessels  and  stomates  manifest  during  their  whole  life  ;  and 
cellular,  or  those  which  consist  of  nothing  but  cellules 
either  throughout  their  life  or  in  their  first  foliaceous  or- 
gans. Vascular  plants  are  divided  into  Eiogens,  of  which 
the  wood  increases  by  the  addition  of  new  layers  placed 
on  the  outside  of  the  older;  and  Endogens,  whose  trunk 
X 


BOTANY. 

Increases  by  the  addition  of  new  fibres  to  the  centre  of  the 
cylinder  already  formed.  Cellular  plants,  in  like  manner, 
are  subdivided  into  se?}i.i-rascii.lar  and  cellular.  Under  the 
first  of  these  names  I  comprehend  the  orders  which  grow 
with  leafy  cotyledons,  but  composed  of  cellular  tissue  only, 
and  destitute  of  stomates.  Eventually  they  assume  or- 
gans in  which  vessels  and  stomates  exist :  this  develop- 
ment, which  gives  them  some  resemblance  to  Endogens, 
takes  place  rapidly  in  Equisetaceae,  Ferns,  and  Lycopodi- 
aceae  ;  and  the  observations  of  anatomists  have  shown  that 
the  same  thing  occurs,  but  later  and  less  perfectly,  in 
Mosses  and  Hepatica? ;  so  that  it  is  a  matter  of  some  doubt 
whether  they  ought  to  be  referred  to  the  semi-vascu'.ar  or 
succeeding  class.  Cellular  plants  have  long  been  known 
to  be  destitute  of  both  vessels  and  stomates,  and  to  present 
only  a  homogeneous  mass,  where  the  distinction  of  stem, 
leaves,  and  roots  can  only  be  established  analogically. 

Looking  back  at.  this  explanation,  it  is  obvious  that  the 
vegetable  kingdom  may  be  represented  by  the  following 
table. 

Divisions  formed  by  the 
Organs  of  Nutrition. 
Vascular. 
Exogens. 
Endogens. 
Cellular. 
Semi-vascular. 
Cellular. 


Divisions  formed  by  the 
Organs  of  Fructification. 
I.  Phanerogamous, 
Class  I.  Dicotyledons, 

2.  Monocotyledons, 
II.  Cryptogamous, 

3.  ^theogamous, 

4.  Amphigamous, 
Or,  if  it  is  preferred,  in  this  other  form,  which  is  almost 

equally  regular : — 


Having  vessels  and  sto- 
mates at  some  period 
of  their  existence. 

Etvogens. 

Endogens. 

Spmi-vascular. 

Without  either  vessels 
or  stomates  at  any  age. 

Cellular. 


I.  Sexual,  being  furnish-  ) 
ed  with  sexual  organs  \  or 

Class  1.  Dicotyledons,  or 

2.  Monocotyledons,       or 

3.  iElheogamous,  or 

II.  Without  distinct  sexes,  or 

4.  Amphigamous,  or 
But  notwithstanding  the  apparent  clearness  of  this  sys- 
tem, and  the  importance  of  the  arguments  upon  which  it 
is  founded,  it  is  far  from  being  unobjectionable.  In  the 
first  place,  the  distinction  drawn  between  the  two  classes 
of  Cryptogamic  plants  is  unfounded,  both  as  regards  the 
presence  or  absence  of  both  vessels  and  sexes.  Ferns  and 
I.vcopodiacae,  in  which  the  vascular  system  is  most  de- 
veloped, have  no  more  trace  of  sexes  than  Fungi ;  and 
on  the  other  hand,  in  Mosses  and  Hepaticaa,  in  which  there 
is  the  most  distinct  formation  of  something  analogous  to 
sexes,  there  is  no  trace  whatever  of  a  vascular  system. 
The  difference,  then,  between  Amphiganife  and  .SiHheoga- 
mss  falls  to  the  ground,  and  in  fact  is  analogically  bad  ;  for 
there  are  vascular  and  cellular  orders  in  both  the  great 
classes  of  Exogens  and  Endogens,  which  ought  therefore 
themselves  to  be  subdivided  into  vascular  and  cellular,  in 
order  to  form  a  consistent  system  ;  and  this  difference  ap- 
pears to  be  connected  with  a  very  general  tendency,  visible 
in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  to  produce  an  impoverished  or 
degraded  condition  of  all  great  types  of  structure.  Thus, 
among  Exogens,  Onagracae  are  merely  cellular  in  Hippuris 
and  Myriophyllum,  Urticaceae  in  Ceratophylleae,  and  the  or- 
ders of  Callitrichacea?  and  Podostemaceae  are  other  in- 
stances of  the  same  fact ;  and,  in  Endogens,  Naiadaceae 
and  Pistiaceae,  or  at  least  Lemna,  are  as  completely  cellu- 
lar as  Algaceae. 

In  the  next  place,  circumstances  of  greater  importance 
are  omitted  by  M.  De  Candolle  from  his  statement  than 
some  of  those  included  in  it  If  Cryptomagic  are  to  be 
separated  from  Phanerogamous  plants  by  their  vegetation, 
it  is  rather  by  their  manner  of  growth  than  by  any  peculi- 
arity in  their  vascular  system.  Phanerogamous  plants 
might  be  called  Pleurogens,  from  theirgrowing  by  the  sides 
as  well  as  at  the  ends,  thus  increasing  symmetrically  both 
in  length,  density,  and  thickness.  Cryptogamous  plants 
grow  either  by  simple  elongation,  without  increasing  ma- 
terially in  density  ;  or  they  expand  irregularly  in  all  direc- 
tions, and  hence  have  been  termed  Acrogens.  No  circum- 
stance can  well  be  more  important  than  the  manner  in 
which  impregnation  takes  place.  In  common  Exogens 
there  is  an  ovarian  covering,  through  the  tapering  apex  of 
which,  called  style,  impregnation  takes  effect  by  aid  of  a 
part  called  the  siigma  ;  but  in  other  Exogens  impregnation 
is  effected  by  direct  contact  between  the  egg  or  ovule  and 
the  pollen ;  and  a  simple  mode  of  veining  in  the  leaves, 
together  with  a  very  small  development  of  the  vascular 
system,  accompany  this.  Hence  such  plants,  called  Gym- 
nosperms,  ought  to  be  regarded  as  a  class  of  as  much  im- 
portance as  Exogens  themselves.  Again,  among  plants  in 
some  respects  participating  in  the  organization  of  Endo- 
gens are  species  called  Rhizanths,  having  a  fungoid  vegeta- 
tion, a  nearly  total  absence  of  the  vascular  svstem,  and  a 
most  remarkable  method  of  propagation.  With  the  ordi- 
nary sexes  of  Endogens  they  are  said  to  combine  the 
162 


BOTTOMRY. 

spores  of  Cryptogamic  plants,  and  thus  hold  a  sort  of  mid- 
dle station  between  the  two  great  series  of  plants  recog- 
nised by  Linnaeus.  Such  a  kind  of  vegetation  is  far  too  im- 
portant to  be  omitted  from  consideration  in  determining 
the  classes,  as  the  fundamental  divisions  of  the  vegetable 
kingdom  are  termed. 

For  these  reasons  the  writer  of  the  present  notice  has 
proposed  a  material  modification  of  De  Candolle's  state- 
ment, which  may  be  expressed  as  follows. 
Plants. 


According  to  their 
Fructification. 

I.  Having  flowers  and  sex- 
es (Phanerogamous), 

a.  Minimum  of  cotyle- 
dons 2, 
Class  1.  Dicotyledons, 
U.  Gym/uisperms, 


./' 


6.  Minimum  of  cotyle-  }      ) 


According  to  their 
Vegetation. 
Their    axis    increasing 
symmetrically  in  dens- 
ity and  breadth  as  well 
as  length  (Pleurogens). 

a.  Stem    in    concentric 

layers  (Exogens). 
Veins  of  leaves  netted 
Veins   of  leaves  netted 

or  forked. 

b.  Stem  a  confused  mass 
of  wood  and  cellular 
tissue. 

Veins  of  leaves  parallel, 
and  not  netted. 

c.  A'egetation  fungoid. 
Class  4.  Rhizanths. 
II.  Theiraxisincreasingby 

simple  elongation  or  ir- 
regular expansion. 


dons  1, 
Class  3.  Monocotyledons, 

c.  Acotyledons, 
Class  4.  Rldzantlts, 

II.  Having  neither  flowers  ) 
nor  sexes,  \ 

Class  5.  Cryptogamic  plants, or    Class  5.  Acrogens. 

For  the  details  of  this  system  the  reader  is  referred  to 

Lindlei/'s  Natural  System  of  Botany,  2nd  ed. 

BO-Ta'NIC  GARDEN.  A  garden  devoted  to  the  culture 
of  a  collection  of  plants,  with  reference  to  the  science  of 
botany.  The  legitimate  object  of  gardens  of  this  descrip- 
tion appears  to  be  to  collect  and  cultivate,  at  the  public  ex- 
pense, all  the  species  and  varieties  of  plants  that  can  be  cul- 
tivated in  the  given  climate,  with  or  without  the  aid  of 
glass  ;  and  then  to  distribute  these  to  private  individuals 
throughout  the  district  by  which  the  botanic  garden  is  sup- 
ported. The  most  complete  system  of  this  kind  ever  es- 
tablished appears  to  have  been  that  of  France  soon  after 
the  revolution.  All  the  botanical  articles  that  could  be  pro- 
cured from  other  countries  were  sent  to  the  botanic  garden 
at  Paris  ;  and  after  they  had  borne  seeds  or  been  propa- 
gated there,  the  progeny  was  distributed  among  the  pro- 
vincial botanic  gardens,  of  which  there  is  one  or  more  ill 
every  department.  After  being  propagated  in  the  provin- 
cial botanic  gardens,  the  seeds  or  progeny  were  given  out, 
free  of  expense,  to  whoever  in  the  district  to  which  the 
garden  belonged  thought  fit  to  apply  for  them.  As  the  use- 
ful species  and  varieties  were  as  much  attended  to  in  these 
gardens  as  those  which  were  cultivated  only  in  a  scientific 
point  of  view,  the  greatest  facilities  were  thus  given  to  the 
spread  of  every  useful  grain,  pulse,  culinary  vegetable,  and 
fruit,  over  the  whole  of  France.  Something  of  the  same 
kind  may  be  considered  as  taking  place  in  Great  Britain  ; 
but  it  is  more  the  effect  of  accident  than  the  result  of  de- 
sign, as  the  giving  out  of  plants  is  not  considered  in  Britain 
as  an  essential  part  of  the  system  of  management  of  a 
royal  or  government  botanic  garden.  See  Loudon's  Ency- 
clopedia of  Gardening. 

BO'TANY  BAY  RESIN.  A  yellow  aromatic  resin  whicb 
exudes  from  the  trunk  of  the  Acarois  resinifera  of  New 
Holland. 

BOTRYLLA'RIANS,  BOTRYLARIiE.  (Gr.  /Jorpvs, 
a  bunch  of  grapes.)  In  Zoology,  a  family  of  singular  com- 
pound Tunicaries  or  Ascidians,  in  which  several  distinct 
individuals  are  arranged  in  a  circle  round  a  central  aper- 
ture common  to  the  rectum  of  each,  while  the  mouths  are 
distinct  and  placed  at  the  circumference. 

BOTRYO'lDAL.  (Gr.  (SoTpvs,  a  bunch  of  grapes  ;  tido;, 
like.)    When  a  part  is  clustered  like  a  bunch  of  grapes. 

BO'TRYOLFTE.  (Gr.  fiorpv;,  a  cluster  of  grapes  ;  Aiflof, 
st07ie.)    Botryoidal  silicious>borate  of  lime. 

BO'TTOM  HEAT.  A  term  applied  in  Horticulture,  to 
the  temperature  communicated  to  certain  soils  by  fer- 
menting and  decomposing  substances  placed  underneath 
them  ;  leaves,  fresh  dung,  and  the  refuse  bark  of  the  tan- 
yard,  are  often  used  for  this  purpose ;  and  the  system  is 
applied  to  pineapples,  melons,  cucumbers,  and  other 
plants  grown  in  pits  or  frames. 

BOTTOM  RAIL.  (Sax.  botm.)  In  Architecture,  a 
term  used  for  denoting  the  lowest  horizontal  rail  of  a 
framed  door. 

BO'TTOMRY.  In  Commercial  Law,  is  in  effect  a  mort- 
gage of  a  ship,  being  an  agreement  entered  into  by  an 
owner  or  his  agent,  whereby,  in  consideration  of  a  sunnof 
money  advanced  for  the  use  of  the  ship,  the  borrower  un- 
dertakes to  repay  the  same,  with  interest,  if  the  ship  ter- 
minate her  voyage  successfully  :  and  binds  or  hypotho- 


BOUDOIR. 

cates  the  ship  for  the  performance  of  the  contract.  The 
instrument  by  which  this  contract  is  effected  is  sometimes 
in  the  shape  of  a  deed  poll,  and  sometimes  in  that  of  a 
bond.  On  bottomry  contracts  the  lender  runs  the  risk  of 
the  voyage,  and  in  consideration  of  the  risk  the  interest  he 
may  take  is  unlimited.  The  master  has  authority  to  hy- 
pothecate a  ship  or  its  freight  (see  Respondentia)  at  a 
foreign  port,  in  case  of  necessity,  for  the  purposes  of  the 
voyage.  In  such  case,  if  the  loan  be  not  repaid  within  the 
time  prescribed,  the  agent  of  the  lenders  applies  to  the 
Court  of  Admiralty,  with  certain  affidavits,  and  procures 
authority  to  arrest  the  ship,  which  may  be  sold,  if  neces- 
sary, uiider  the  authority  of  the  court  Where  several 
loans  of  this  description  have  been  made  on  the  same  voy- 
age, the  last  lender  is  entitled  to  priority  of  payment  out 
of  the  proceeds  of  the  sale. 

BOU'DOIB.  (Fr.  bonder,  to  pout.)  In  Architecture,  a 
small  room  or  cabinet,  usually  near  the  bed-chamber  and 
dressing  room,  for  the  private  retirement  of  the  master  or 
mistress  of  the  house. 

BOU'GET,  WATER  BUDGET,  or  DOSSER.  In  He- 
raldry, a  bearing  supposed  to  represent  a  vessel  for  carry- 
ing water. 

BOU'LTIN.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture,  a  name  given  to 
a  moulding  whose  section  is  nearly  a  quadrant  of  a  circle, 
whose  diameter  being  horizontal,  the  contour  is  convex  in 
respect  of  a  vertical  to  such  diameter.  It  is  more  usually 
called  the  ejg  or  cpiarter  round. 

BOUN'TY.  In  Commerce  and  the  Arts,  a  premium 
paid  by  government  to  the  producers,  exporters,  or  im- 
porters of  certain  articles,  or  to  those  who  employ  ships 
in  certain  trades,  when  the  profits  resulting  from  these  re- 
spective branches  of  industry  are  alleged  In  he  insufficient. 
Bounties  on  production  are  usually  given  in  the  view  of 
encouraging  the  establishment  of  some  new  branch  of  in- 
dustry, or  of  fostering  and  extending  a  branch  that  is  be- 
lieved to  be  of  paramount  importance.  Bounties  on  ex- 
portation and  importation  are  granted  to  the  exporters  of 
certain  British  commodities  on  their  taking  oath,  or  in 
.some  cases  giving  bond,  not  to  reland  the  same  in  Eng- 
land. Public  opinion  was  formerly  very  divided  as  to  the 
advantage  of  granting  bounties  j  but  at  present  the  impoli- 
cy of  such  a  practice  appears  to  be  almost  universally  ad- 
mitted. For  it  will  be  found  that  in  all  old  Bettled  and 
wealthy  countries,  numbers  of  individuals  are  always  ready 
to  embark  in  every  new  undertaking,  if  it  promise  to  be 
really  advantageous,  without  any  stimulus  from 
merit ;  and  if  a  branch  of  industry  already  established  be 
really  important  and  suitable  for  the  country,  it  will  as- 
suredly be  prosecuted  to  the  necessarj  extent  without 
any  encouragement  beyond  the  natural'  demand  for  its 
produce.  For  further  details  upon  this  subject,  see  the 
article  Tariff. 

BOIJ'NTY,  QUEEN  ANNE'S.    The  produce  of  the  first 
fruits  and  tenths  due  to  the  crown  (see  art.  First  : 
winch  were  made  over  by  Queen  Anne  to  a  corporation 
established  in  the  year  1704  for  the  purpose  of  augmenting 
poor  livings  under  £50  a  vear 

BOUSTROPHB'DON. "  (Gr.  flovs,  an  ox ;  arpt^oy,  I 
turn.)  A  word  descriptive  of  a  moile  of  writing  common 
among  the  early  Greeks  until  nearly  the  middle  of  the 
fifth  century  before  Christ;  viz.  in  alternate  lines  from 
right  to  left  and  from  left  to  right,  as  fields  are  ploughed  in 
furrows  having  an  alternate  direction,  from  whence  the 
derivation.     See  Alphabet. 

BOUT.  In  Agriculture,  is  one  turn  or  course  of  a  plough 
in  ploughing  a  ridge. 

BO'VEY  COAL.  A  species  of  bituminous  wood  found 
at  Bovey  Hayfield,  near  Exeter. 

BOW.  An  ancient  weapon  of  offence,  made  of  wood, 
horn,  steel,  or  some  other  elastic  substance,  by  which  ar- 
rows are  thrown.  The  force  with  which  the  arrow  is  pro- 
pelled is  proportioned  to  that  with  which  the  bow  is  bent, 
and  to  the  quickness  with  which  it  recovers  its  former 
position.     See  Hansard's  Archery. 

BOW  or  BAY  WINDOW.  (Sax.  boga, afiow.)  In  Archi- 
tecture, a  window  projecting  from  the  general  face  of  a 
building,  of  a  curved  or  polygonal  form  on  the  plan. 

BOWLDERS.  Rounded  masses  of  stone  lying  upon 
the  surface,  or  loosely  imbedded  in  the  soil. 

BO'WLINE.  A  i-ope  from  near  the  middle  of  the 
weather  edge  or  leech  of  a  sail,  leading  forward.  Its  use 
is  to  keep  the  leech  forward,  that  the  wind  may  get  at  the 
after-side  of  the  sail  when  very  oblique  to  its  direction. 

BOWS.  The  two  sides  of  the  fore  extremity  of  a  vessel, 
as  the  starboard  and  larboard  bows. 

BO'WSPRIT.  In  Naval  Architecture,  is  a  kind  of  mast 
which  rests  slopewise  on  the  head  of  the  main  stern,  hav- 
ing its  lower  end  fastened  to  the  partners  of  the  fore  mast. 
It  carries  the  sprit-sail,  sprit  topsail,  and  jack-staff  It  is 
exposed  to  violent  action,  especially  from  beinn  struck  by 
heavy  seas,  into  which  the  ship,  in  plunging,  dips  it ;  and 
though  very  firmly  secured  by  the  bob-stays  and  side  ropes 
called  shrouds,  is  very  often  carried  away  or  sprung. 
163 


BRACHYSTOCHRONE. 

BOX.  (ni'(oy,  the  Greek  name  of  the  plant.)  The 
hard  compact  wood  of  Buxus  sempervirens,  so  much  used 
by  wood  engravers,  and  for  the  turner's  purposes.  This 
evergreen  bush  or  small  tree  is  found  all  over  Europe, 
even  upon  the  chalk  hills  of  England ;  but  it  acquires  its 
largest  dimensions  in  the  south.  It  is  from  Turkey  that 
the  principal  part  of  the  wood  is  imported  into  England, 
under  a  duty  of  £o  a  ton  :  whether  or  not  all  this  is  really 
furnished  by  Buxus  sempervirens  is  not  known.  It  is  not 
improbable  that  Buxus  bulearica,  a  larger  species,  too  ten- 
der to  thrive  in  this  country,  may  furnish  a  part  at  least  of 
that  which  comes  from  the  Mediterranean.  It  is  said  that 
the  wood  of  this  species  is  coarser  and  of  a  brighter  yellow 
than  that  of  the  common  species  The  box  plant  is  best 
known  for  its  use  in  gardens  as  edging  to  borders  ;  the  kind 
so  employed  is  a  dwarf  variety  of  Buxus  sempervirens. 

BOX  DRAIN.  An  under-ground  drain,  regularly  built 
with  upright  sides  and  a  flat  stone  or  brick  cover,  so  that 
the  close  section  has  the  appearance  of  a  square  box. 

BOX  HAULING.  In  Navigation,  is  bringing  a  ship  when 
close-hauled  round  upon  the  other  tack,  when  she  refuses 
to  tack  and  there  is  not  room  to  wear.  By  throwing  the 
head  sails  aback  she  gets  sternway  ;  the  helm  thereupon 
being  put  alee,  the  ship's  head  falls  rapidly  off  from  the 
wind,  which  she  soon  brings  aft ;  she  is  then  speedily 
rounded-to  with  but  little  loss  of  ground. 

BO'XING  OFF.  Throwing  the  head  sails  aback  to  force 
the  shin's  lead  rapidly  offthe  wind. 

BO'XING  THE  COMPASS.  Repeating  the  points  in 
order. 

BO'XINGS.     See  Lining. 

BRA'CCATE.  (Bracca,  breeches.)  In  Ornithology, 
when  the  feet  are  concealed  by  long  feathers  descending 
from  the  tibiffl, 

BRACE.  In  Sea  language,  a  rope  fastened  to  the  ex- 
tremity of  the  yard,  for  the  purpose  of  traversing  the  sails 
when  it  is  necessary  to  change  their  position. 

Brace.  (Fr.  embrasser,  to  embrace.)  In  Architecture, 
an  inclined  piece  of  timber  used  in  trussed  partitions  and 
in  framed  roofs,  in  order  to  form  a  triangle  by  which  the 
assemblage  of  pieces  composing  the  framing  is  stiffened. 
If  a  brace  is  used  to  support  a  rafter,  it  is  called  a  strut. 
When  braces  are  used  in  root's  and  partitions  they  should 
be  disposed  in  pairs,  and  introduced  in  opposite  directions. 

Bracb.  (Fr.  embrasser,  to  embrace.)  In  Music,  the 
line  or  bracket  at  the  beginning  of  each  set  of  slaves  which 
ties  them  together  in  a  vertical  direction. 

BRAt  IIAI.Y  TKA  (Gr ,  0pax»t,  short ;  tKvrpov,  sheath.) 
I  hi  name  of  an  extensive  group  of  Coleopterous  insects, 
including  all  such  as  have  the  elytra  so  short  as  not  to  ex- 
ceed  one  third  the  length  of  the  abdomen.  To  this  section 
belongs  the  well-known  species  called  the  devil's  coach- 
horse  (Staphylinus  olios  ) 

BRA'CHIAL.  (LaL  braehium,  the  arm.)  Belonging  to 
the  arm  ;  a-<  brachial  nerves,  vessels,  &.C. 

BRACHI'NUS.  A  aenus  of  Coleopterous  insects,  now 
the  type  of  a  family  (Brachinida),  including  those  singu- 
lar beetles  which  from  their  defensive  anal  explosions  are 
termed  '"bombardiers."  Of  these  there  are  five  British 
species,  the  best  known  of  which  is  the  Brachinus  crepi- 
tans of  Linnasus, 

BRA'CIIIOMIS.  The  name  given  by  Midler  to  a  genus 
ofRotiferous  Infusorial  Animalcules,  now  subdivided  into 
many  distinct  genera. 

BRA'CIHOPODS,  BRACHIOPODA.  (Gr.  (3pax">v,  an 
arm;  jroiif,  a  foot.)  An  order  of  Acephalous  or  headless 
bivalve  Molluscs,  characterised  by  having  the  mantle  or- 
ganised so  as  to  be  serviceable  for  respiration,  and  by  hav- 
ing two  long  fleshy,  ciliated,  spiral  arms,  or  labiate  pro- 
cesses ;  whence  Cuvier  conceived  the  name,  which  in  his 
system  designates  a  distinct  class  of  Acephala.     See  Pai,- 

LIOBRANCHIATES. 

BRA'CHIUM.  (Lat.)  In  Mammalogy,  is  restricted  to 
the  second  segment  of  the  anterior  extremity,  which  is  ar- 
ticulated proximally  with  the  scapula,  and  distally  with  the 
antibrachium.  In  Entomology,  signifies  the  first  pair  of 
legs  of  Hexapods,  the  direction  of  which  is  usually  towards 
the  head. 

BRA'CHYCATALECTIC.  (Gr.  /ffpa^uc,  short,  and 
Kara\r)KTiKOs,  deficient.)  A  verse  wanting  two  syllables  to 
complete  its  length  (in  Greek  and  Latin  poetry). 

BRACHY'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  0paxvs,  short,  and  ypoupui,  I 
write.)  The  art  of  writing  by  abbreviations.  (See  Tachy- 
graphy  )  The  nota?  Tironianae,  among  the  Romans,  were 
a  species  of  shorthand  invented  by  one  Tiro,  a  freedman 
of  Cicero. 

BRACHY'PTEROUS.  (Gr.  ffpaxvs,  short  ;  itrtpov,  a 
wing. )  In  Ornithology,  when  the  folded  wings  of  a  bird  do 
not  reach  to  the  base  of  the  tail. 

BRACHY'STOCHRONE.  (Gr.  0pa\vs,  s)iort,  and 
Xpovos,  time.)  The  name  given  by  John  Bernoulli  to  the 
curve  which  possesses  this  property,  that  a  body  setting 
out  from  a  given  point  A,  and  impelled  merely  by  the  force 
of  gravity,  will  arrive  at  another  point  B  in  a  shorter  time 


BRACHYSTOCHRONE. 

by  moving  in  this  curve,  than  if  it  followed  any  other  di- 
rection. The  problem  of  the  brachystochrone  is  famous  in 
the  history  of  the  new  geometry.  It  was  first  proposed  by 
John  Bernoulli  in  the  Leipsic  Acta  Eruditorum  for  June 
1696.  in  the  following  terms  :— 

'•  Two  points,  A  and  B,  being  given  in  the  same  vertical 
plane ;  it  is  required  to  assign  the  path  through  which  a 
body  descending  by  its  own  gravity,  and  beginning  to  move 
from  the  point  A,  will  arrive  at  Bin  the  least  time  possible." 
According  to  the  fashion  of  that  age,  it  was  proposed  as 
a  challenge  to  other  mathematicians,  ad  cujvs  solulioneni 
mathematici  invitantur ;  with  the  declaration  that  if  no  one 
announced  the  nature  of  the  curve  before  the  end  of  the 
year  he  himself  would  make  it  known.  The  time  was  subse- 
quently extended  to  a  year,  within  which  solutions  appear- 
ed by  Newton,  James  Bernoulli  (the  celebrated  brother  of 
the  proposer),  and  the  Marquis  de  l'Hopital.  From  re- 
flecting on  this  problem,  James  Bernoulli  was  led  to  the 
discovery  and  solution  of  a  kindred  but  much  more  diffi- 
cult class  of  questions  ;  namely,  those  relating  to  isoperi- 
metrical  figures,  the  investigalion  of  which  required  a  dif- 
ferent kind  of  analysis  from  that  with  which  mathematici- 
ans were  yet  acquainted.  One  of  these  he  proposed  in  his 
turn  as  a  challenge  to  his  brother  John  ;  and  some  mistakes 
into  which  the  latter  fell  in  the  solution  of  it  became  the 
occasion  of  an  angry  quarrel  between  the  illustrious  broth- 
ers, which  unfortunately  was  never  healed.  The  prosecu- 
tion of  a  similar  speculation  afterwards  led  Lagrange  to 
one  of  the  most  important  theories  in  the  higher  mathe- 
matics— the  Calculus  of  Variations. 

The  following  is  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  the  bra- 
chys'ochrone  given  by  James  Bernoulli.  (Opera,  p.  76S.) 
Let  A  be  the  point  from  which  the  body  is  to  move,  B  that 
to  which  it  is  to  go,  and  A  C  D  B  the  path  it  follows,  which 
by  hypothesis  is  wholly  situited  in 
the  same  plane.  It  is  not  necessary, 
however,  that  the  plane  be  vertical. 
Take  any  small  portion  of  the  curve 
C  D  ;  then  it  is  obvious  that  if  A  B  be 
the  path  through  which  the  body  will 
descend  from  A  toB  in  the  least  time 
possible,  it  must  also  pass  from  C  to 
D  in  a  shorter  time  than  if  it  fol- 
B  lowed  any  other  direction.  For, 
suppose  it  to  pass  from  C  to  D  by 
another  path,  C  L  N  D,  in  shorter  time  than  by  C  M  G  D ; 
then  it  must  also  pass  from  A  to  B  in  shorter  time  through 
A  C  L  N  D  than  through  ACMGD,  which  is  contrary  to 
the  hypothesis.  This  being  premised,  let  A  H  be  drawn 
horizontally  through  A,  C  H  perpendicular  and  D  F  parallel 
to  A  H  through  the  points  C  and  D  ;  also  let  C  F  be  divided 
into  two  equal  parts  in  E.  and  complete  the  parallelogram 
E  F  D  I;  the  object  is  to  find  the  point  G  in  the  straight  line 
E  I,  or  (which  comes  to  the  same  thing)  the  inclination  of 
the  two  elements  of  the  curve  C  G  and  G  D  to  each  other, 
so  that  the  time  of  descent  through  C  G+time  of  descent 
through  G  D  (which  may  be  thus  denoted,  t  C  G+t  G  D)may 
be  a  minimum.  For  this  purpose  assume  another  point  L  in 
E  I,  so  that  G  L  may  be  regarded  as  infinitely  small  in  com- 
parison of  E  G  ;  and  having  drawn  C  L  and  D  L,  let  L  M 
and  G  N  be  respectively  perpendicular  to  C  G  and  D  L. 
Now,  variable  quantities,  when  they  are  infinitely  near  their 
maxima  or  minima,  may  be  regarded  as  constant ;  there- 
fore t  C  L+t  L  D=t  C  G+t  G  D,  and  consequently  t  C  G— 
t  C  L=t  L  D— t  G  D.  By  the  theory  of  the  descent  of 
heavy  bodies, 

C  E  :  C  G=t  C  E  :  t  C  G, 
and  C  E  :  C  L=t  C  E  :  t  C  L ; 
therefore, 

C  E  :  C  G— C  L  (  or  M  G)=t  C  E  :  t  C  G— t  C  L. 
But  by  similar  triansles, 

M  G  :  G  L=E  G  :  C  G  ; 
therefore,  combining  the  two  last  proportions, 

(1)  C  E  :  G  L=E  GXt  C  E  :  C  GX(t  C  G— t  C  L) 
In  like  manner, 

E  F  :  G  D=t  E  F  :  t  G  D 

E  F  :  L  D=t  E  F  :  t  L  D . 
therefore, 

E  F  :  L  D— G  D  (or  L  N)=t  E  F  :  t  L  D— t  G  D. 
But     L  N  :  G  L=G  I  :  G  D ; 
therefore. 

(2)  E  F  (or  C  E)  :  G  L=G  IXt  E  F  :  G  DV(t  L  D— t 
GD). 

From  the  two  analogies  (1)  and  (2),  we  have  now  E  GX 
tC.E  :  CGX(t  C  G— t  CL)=GIXt  E  F  :  GDXttLD 
— t  G  D) ;  or,  E  GXt  C  E  :  G  IXt  E  F=C  GX(t  C  G-- 1 
C  L)  :  G  DX(t  L  D— t  G  D).  But  it  was  proved  that  t  C  G 
— t  C  L=t  L  D— t  G  D  ;  and  by  the  laws  of  falling  bodies, 

t  C  E  is  reciprocally  proportional  to  VH  C,  and  t  E  F  re- 
ciprocally as  VH  E  ;  therefore  by  substitution, 

-2±:    _£L  =  CG:GD, 
VHC      VHE 

164 


BRAHMANS. 

a  known  property  of  the  common  cycloid  ;  which,  there- 
fore, is  the  brachystochrone,  or  curve  of  quickest  descent. 
In  the  modern  analysis  the  investigation  of  the  brachysto- 
chrone is  usually  proposed  as  an  example  of  the  method 
of  Variations. 

BRA'CHYURES,  BRA'CHYU'RA.  (Gr.  0paXvi,  short, 
and  ovpa,  a  tail.)  A  tribe  of  Decapodous  Crustacea,  in 
which  the  tail  or  post-abdomen  is  short,  and  folded  beneath 
the  trunk  ;  commonly  called  "crabs." 

BRA'CKET.  (From  brachietto,  Hal.)  In  Architecture, 
a  projecting  piece  for  carrying  a  superincumbent  weight. 
In  large  cornices  executed  in  plaster  the  series  of  project- 
ing pieces  to  which  the  laths  arc  nailed  is  called  bracketing. 

BRA'CON.  A  Fabrician  genus  of  Hymenopterous  in- 
sects of  the  parasitic  tribe  of  Pupivorous  Ichneumons :  it  is 
now  the  type  of  a  family  (Braconida),  distinguished  from 
the  true  Ichneumons  by  having  the  maxillary  palps  five- 
jointed,  and  the  labial  ones  either  three  or  four-jointed,  and 
by  wanting  the  internal  discoidal  cell  of  the  upper  wings. 
The  genera  of  this  family  are  Bracon  proper  ;  Aphidius, 
the  species  of  which  prey  upon  the  plant-lice ;  Sler/ihunus, 
Ccelinius,  Spalhius,  Perititus,  Hybrizon,  Leiophron,  Agathis, 
Microdus,  Hormiits,  Ichnentes,  Microgasler,  and  Blacus. 

BRACT.  An  altered  leaf,  which  is  placed  at  the  base  of 
a  flower  on  the  outside  of  the  calyx.  It  is  the  first  attempt 
made  by  the  common  leaves  to  change  into  the  floral  or- 
gans. In  general  the  bract  is  small  and  inconspicuous, 
but  it  occasionally  acquires  a  considerable  size  anil  a  bril- 
liant colour,  as  in  Saiira  comosa  and  spleridens,  and  the 
Brazilian  pine-apple,  and  more  especially  in  the  various 
kinds  of  Arum,  where  it  constitutes  the  large  enveloping 
leaf,  called  spath,  in  which  the  spadix  of  those  extraordi- 
nary plants  is  enveloped.  This  word  forms  the  adjectives 
bractiscent,  assuming  the  appearance  of  a  bract;  braclial, 
furnished  with  bracts  ;  bractiolate,  having  little  bracts.  A 
cupule  is  a  collection  of  bracts  united  into  a  cup ;  an  invo- 
lucre is  the  same  organs  arranged  in  a  whorl.  The  flowers 
of  grasses  and  cyperaceous  plants  consist  of  nothing  but 
little  bracts  called  paleoz  and  glumes. 

BRA'DYPODS,  BRADY'PODA.  (Gr.  BpaSvf,  slow, 
rrov;,  foot;  slow-footed.)  A  family  of  Macronyhous  or  E- 
dentate  Mammals,  including  the  two  toed  and  three-toed 
sloths. 

BRA'HMANS.  (Hpa\uavos  among  the  Greeks,  Brahman 
in  the  Indian  dialects,  and  Bramin  arncnu  the  Europeans.) 
The  first  or  highest  of  the  four  castes  of  Hindoos,  said  to 
have  proceeded  from  the  mouth  of  Brahm  (the  seat  of 
wisdom).  They  form  the  learned  or  sacerdotal  class  ;  and 
its  members  have  maintained  a  more  extensive  sway  than 
the  priests  of  any  other  nation.  Their  chief  privileges 
consist  in  reading  the  Veda  or  sacred  volume,  in  institut- 
ing sacrifices,  in  imparting  religious  instruction,  in  asking 
alms,  and  in  exemption  from  capital  punishment.  The 
whole  life  of  the  Brahmans  is  devoted  to  the  study  of  the 
sacred  writings,  and  is  divided  into  four  periods.  The  first 
begins  at  the  age  of  seven,  when  the  duty  of  the  young 
novitiate  consists  in  learning  to  read  and  write,  in  studying 
the  Veda,  and  in  familiarising  himself  with  the  privileges 
of  his  order.  In  the  second  stage  of  a  Brahman's  life  he 
is  allowed  to  marry,  and  to  engage  in  commercial  specu- 
lations. In  the  third  stage,  his  religious  duties  become 
more  numerous,  and  must  be  rigidly  performed.  But  in 
the  fourth  period,  the  Brahman  is  admitted  to  personal 
communication  with  the  Deity  ;  and  this  stage  is  reckoned 
so  pre-eminently  holy,  that  in  a  single  generation  it  imparts 
a  greater  stock  of  religious  importance  than  is  attainable 
by  any  other  means  in  a  thousand  years.  (Menou's  Ins'it.) 
The  origin  of  the  Brahmans  is  merged  in  obscurity.  While 
some  ancient  writers  regard  them  as  a  branch  of  the  old 
Gymnosophists  (Str.  Geo.  t.  ii.  p.  1038.),  Diodorus  Siculus 
maintains  that  they  are  of  much  earlier  origin.  According 
to  the  accounts  of  the  best  Jewish  writers,  adopted  by 
Shorestani  (an  Arabian  author  of  great  repute),  and  sanc- 
tioned by  the  authority  of  the  learned  Dr.  Hyde  (De  Rel. 
Vet.  Persarum,  31,  32),  the  progenitor  of  the  Brahmans 
was  the  patriarch  Abraham,  who  in  their  language  is  styled 
Brachman  or  Brahman.  But  whatever  may  have  been  the 
origin  of  the  Brahmans,  it  is  certain  that  the  whole  learn- 
ing of  India  was  for  ages  in  their  hands.  Many  of  the  Gre- 
cian sages  travelled  into  India  to  learn  wisdom  in  that 
great  storehouse  of  knowledge  ;  and,  among  others,  Pytha- 
goras seems  to  have  borrowed  from  them  the  sreater  part 
of  his  mystical  philosophy ;  nay,  it  is  even  doubtful 
whether  Aristotle  himself  did  not  derive  both  the  materials 
and  the  arrangement  of  his  system  of  logic  from  the  same 
source.  Of  ancient  Brahminical  science  the  principal  re- 
mains are  their  astronomical  and  trigonometrical  methods, 
both  of  which  have  given  rise  to  frequent  and  learned 
discussion.  Among  the  modern  Brahmans  we  look  in 
vain  for  the  deep  learning  that  characterized  the  ancient 
members  of  this  order;  for,  with  the  exception  of  meta- 
physical disquisitions,  which  have  always  been  a  favourite 
study  among  them,  the  learning  of  the  present  race  of 
I  Brahmans  is  exceedingly  meagre,  being  limited  almost 


BRAIN. 

entirely  to  the  construction  of  the  almanack.  Nor  Is  it 
merely  in  point  of  learning  that  the  modern  Brahmans 
have  degenerated  from  their  ancestors.  Their  morals  too 
are  wofully  deteriorated  ;  and  while  they  are  the  sole  de- 
positaries and  ministers  of  a  religion  which  in  point  of 
purity  and  sublimity  of  doctrine  yields  only  to  the  Chris- 
lain,  their  conduct  is  characterized  by  the  most  vile  and 
licentious  practices ;  a  spirit  of  avarice,  falsehood  and  re- 
venue is  every  where  visible  ;  and  in  many  cases  super- 
stition and  fanaticism  have  been  exchanged  for  infidelity 
and  atheism.  But  in  spite  of  these  grievous  defects,  this 
system  maintains  its  ground ;  and  neither  the  march  of 
time,  the  inroads  of  the  conqueror,  nor  any  of  the  causes 
that  operate  in  modifying  or  undermining  other  institu- 
tions, have  been  able  to  weaken  or  subvert  the  influence 
of  the  Brahmans.  Whether  Great  Britain  be  destined,  by 
the  introduction  and  dissemination  of  education  and  Chris- 
tianity, ultimately  to  effect  what  has  hitherto  baffled  every 
effort,  it  is  not  for  us  to  prognosticate  ;  but,  assuredly,  what- 
ever may  be  successful  in  eradicating  the  Brahminical  sys- 
tem, and  in  substituting  in  its  room  a  religion  whose  min- 
isters will  practise  what  they  teach,  will  have  achieved  the 
brightest  moral  triumph  in  the  annals  of  history.  (See 
Mills's  British  India  ;  Asiatic  Researches,  passim ;  Cole- 
mint's  Hindoo  Mythology;  Sir  William  Jones's  History. 

BRAIN.  The  chemical  examination  of  the  brain  of  ani- 
mals was  first  undertaken  by  Vauquelin,  who  found  in  the 
human  brain  80  water,  7  albumen,  453  white  fatty  matter, 
070  red  fatty  matter,  112  osmazome,  15  phosphorus; 
acids,  salts,  and  sulphur,  515.  An  elaborate  dissertation 
upon  the  composition  of  brain  has  more  lately  been  pub- 
lished by  M.  Couerbe  {Annates  de  Clnm.  el  Phjs.  Ivi.  160). 
He  finds  a  large  proportion  of  clmlesterine  in  it ;  and  asserts, 
as  the  result  of  repeated  examinations,  that  the  propor- 
tions of  phosphorous  in  the  brain  of  persons  of  sound  in- 
tellect is  from  2  to  25  per  cent. ;  in  the  brain  of  maniacs  it 
is  from  3  to  45,  and  in  that  of  idiots  only  from  1  to  15  per 
cent. 

Brain,  HtTMAN,  Anatomy  of.  The  brain,  or  the  gene- 
ral mass  of  nervous  matter  which  occupies  the  cavity  of 
the  skull,  constitutes  about  one  thirty-fifth  of  the  weight  of 
the  body  :  it  is  divided  by  anatomists  into  the  cerebrum, 
which  occupies  the  whole  of  the  superior  part  of  the  r;i\  ily 
of  thecranium  ;  the  cerebellum,  which  occupies  the  lower 
back  part ;  and  the  medulla  oblongata,  which  is  the  smallest 
portion,  lying  at  the  base  of  the  cranium,  beneath  the 
cerebrum  and  cerebellum,  and,  passing  out  of  the  great 
foramen  of  the  occipital,  becomes  as  it  were  the  origin  of 
the  spinal  marrow.  The  brain  is  covered  by  three  mem- 
branes, two  of  which  arc  termed  matres,  from  the  old  idea 
of  their  giving  rise  to  all  the  other  membranes  of  the  body. 
The  external  membrane,  more  firm  than  the  others,  is 
termed  dura  maler :  it  is  very  dense  and  fibrous,  and  ad- 
heres every  where  to  the  inner  surface  of  the  cranium,  to 
which  it  is  connected  by  its  vessels;  its  inner  surface  is 
smooth,  ami  it  sends  off  several  folds,  or  processes,  as  they 
are  called,  which  descend  between  certain  portions  of  the 
brain.  Of  these  the  principal  is  the  superior  longitudinal 
process,  or  falX  cerebri,  which  descends  from  the  fore  to 
the  back  part  of  the  skull,  between  the  hemispheres  of  the 
brain  ;  from  its  posterior  termination  it  sends  offa  layer  or 
expansion,  which  extends  across  the  backof  the  skull,  and 
is  called  the  tentorium,  separating  the  cerebrum  from  the 
cerebellum  ;  from  the  middle  of  the  tentorium  another 
membranous  expansion  descends  between  the  lobes  of  the 
cerebellum,  and  terminates  at  the  edge  of  the  great  occi- 
pital hole,  or  foramen  magnum;  this  is  termed  the  fake 
cerebeUi.  There  are  certain  spaces  or  sinuses  formed  in 
the  layers  of  the  dura  mater,  which  perform  the  office  of 
veins  in  regard  to  the  blood  returning  from  different  parts 
of  the  brain,  by  which  any  venous  pressure  upon  the  sub- 
stanre  of  the  brain  is  prevented. 

When  the  dura  mater  is  removed,  a  thin  transparent 
membrane  investing  the  surface  and  convolutions  of  the 
brain  is  brought  to  view,  which  from  the  delicacy  of  its  tex- 
ture has  been  called  the  arachnoid  membrane ;  it  is  not 
apparently  vascular,  and  does  not  pass  into  the  depressions 
between  the  convolutions;  and  it  is  difficultly  separable 
from  the  third  membrane,  or  pia  mater,  which  is  also  ex- 
tremely tender  and  delicate,  but  is  highly  vascular,  and 
from  it  the  blood  vessels  merge  into  the  substance  of  the 
brain,  ramifying  with  great  minuteness  upon  its  surface  :  it 
lines  all  the  convolutions  and  cavities  of  the  brain.  On  re- 
moving the  upper  part  of  the  cranium,  and  turning  aside 
the  dura  mater,  the  brain  is  seen,  divided  longitudinally 
into  ovoid  hemispheres,  separated,  as  already  stated,  by 
the  falx  ;  upon  the  under  side  each  hemisphere  is  seen  to 
be  divided  into  three  lobes  ;  the  two  anterior  lobes  rest  upon 
the  orbital  plates  of  the  frontal  bone  ;  the  middle  lobes  lie 
upon  the  fossae,  formed  by  the  temporal  and  sphenoid 
bones ;  and  the  posterior  lobes  rest  upon  the  tentorium. 
The  superficial  convolutions  of  the  brain  are  divided  by 
clefts  of  about  an  inch  in  depth.  On  cutting  into  its  sub- 
stance, the  exterior  part  of  the  brain  appears  of  a  different 
165 


BRAMA. 

colour  from  the  interior,  and  has  been  termed  the  cinert- 
tious  or  cortical  substance ;  it  is  greyish  brown,  very  soft, 
and  exhibits  no  appearance  of  a  fibrous  texture.  Some 
suppose  that  it  is  glandular,  and  constituted  almost  entirely 
of  vessels  and  cellular  membrane  ;  it  covers  the  whole  of 
the  brain,  and  is  about  the  tenth  of  an  inch  in  thickness. 
The  inner  substance,  termed  the  white  or  medullary  part 
of  the  brain,  is  of  a  firmer  texture,  highly  vascular,  and 
when  minutely  examined  appears  fibrous,  the  fibres  de 
cussating  with  each  other,  and  occasionally  combining  to 
form  commissures. 

The  cerebellum,  when  viewed  from  below,  is  of  an  ellip 
tical  shape,  its  longest  diameter  being  from  side  to  side, 
and  is  divided  into  two  hemispheres  separated  by  the  falx 
cerebeUi.  In  the  centre  of  the  upper  part  of  the  cerebellum 
there  is  a  prominence,  termed  the  vermiform  process ;  and 
the  whole  surface  is  fissured  or  sulcated,  the  pia  mater 
passing  between  the  fissured  and  conveying  vessels  to  the 
substance,  whilst  the  arachnoid  tunic  is  merely  extended 
over  them. 

Such  is  an  outline  of  the  anatomy  of  the  human  brain  ; 
the  details  can  only  be  fully  understood  by  reference  to 
illustrative  plates  upon  an  adequate  scale,  which  would  be 
incompatible  with  the  plan  of  this  work. 

It  has  been  already  stated  that  in  man  the  brain  averages 
in  weight  l-35th  of  the  body  ;  it  weighs,  in  fact,  about  two 
pounds  and  a  half :  in  quadrupeds  its  relative  bulk  is  remark- 
ably smaller;  in  the  dog  it  averages  1120th  of  the  weight 
of  the  animal ;  in  the  horse  l-450th  ;  in  the  sheep  1 -750th  ; 
and  in  the  ox  l-800th.  This  statement  has  been  adduced 
to  show  the  direct  relation  between  the  bulk  of  the  brain 
and  the  quantity  of  mind,  the  above  animals  being  ranged 
in  the  order  of  their  docility  and  intelligence. 

On  making  a  vertical  section  of  either  hemisphere  of  the 
cerebellum,  a  central  white  substance  becomes  apparent, 
which  ramifies  in  an  arborescent  form,  and  is  called  arbor 
vita  ;  the  exterior  covering  is  grey.  In  front  of  the  cere- 
bellum is  a  protuberance,  termed  pons  Varolii  or  tuber 
annulare  ;  it  is  divided  by  a  central  groove  into  two  halves, 
and  connected  with  the  cerebrum  and  cerebellum  each  by 
two  thick  while  chords  called  crura  :  the  former  or  crura 
cerebri,  pass  from  the  tuber  forwards  and  outwards,  under 
the  middle  part  of  each  hemisphere,  in  which  they  are 
lost ;  and  the  latter,  the  crura  cerebeUi,  are  continued  back- 
wards and  outwards,  and  terminate  in  either  hemisphere 
of  the  cerebellum.  The  portion  of  the  brain  between  the 
tuber  annulare  and  the  foramen  of  the  occipital  bone  is 
called  the  medulla  oblongata,  and  is  continued  into  the  spinal 
chord  ;  on  its  anterior  surface  are  four  contiguous  projec- 
tions ;  the  two  interiorones  are  called  corpora  pyramidalia, 
and  the  two  exterior  corpora  oliraria.  On  carefully  re- 
moving the  membranes  which  cover  the  medulla  oblongata, 
and  gently  opening  its  middle  groove,  several  white  bands 
are  seen  passing  obliquely  from  one  side  to  the  other,  and 
mutually  interwoven,  and  are  termed  the  decussating 
bands. 

The  two  sides  of  the  brain  are  mutually  connected  by 
commissures  or  medullary  bands,  and  those  of  the  cere- 
bellum by  the  pons  varolii.  The  principle  connection  of 
the  hemispheres  of  the  cerebrum  is  by  a  broad  medullary 
band,  called  the  corpus callosum.  The  occasional  intervals 
which  separate  the  parts  of  the  brain  are  termed  ventricles, 
the  largest  of  which  are  the  two  Intern/  ventricles  in  the  in- 
terior of  each  hemisphere;  their  figure  is  irregular,  and 
they  are  separated  by  a  tender  layer  of  cerebral  matter 
termed  the  septum  'lucidum  ;  they  are  lined  by  the  pia 
mater.  The  middle  or  third  ventricle  is  a  fissure  between 
two  convex  eminences,  situated  at  the  rriddle  and  back  of 
the  lateral  ventricles,  and  termed  thalami  optici.  The 
fourth  ventricle,  or  ventricle  of  the  cerebellum  is  a  cavity 
between  the  cerebrum,  the  tuber  annulare,  and  the  me- 
dulla oblongata. 

BRAIRD.  In  the  agriculture  and  gardening  of  Scotland, 
the  term  braird  is  applied  to  the  springing  up  of  seeds 
which,  when  they  come  up  well,  are  said  to  have  a  fine 
braird. 

BRAKE.     In  Agriculture,  a  large  harrow. 

BRA'MA.  (Hin  )  The  name  of  a  divinity  in  the  Hindu 
Mythology,  the  fables  concerning  whom  are  so  numerous, 
that  an  accurate  development  of  his  character  has  been 
hitherto  unattainable.  As  we  learn  from  the  Sanscrit  lex- 
ilogists,  the  epithets  applied  to  this  divinity  are  very  nu- 
merous: some  of  the  most  usual  being  "  Suayambhu,  the 
self-existent,  Parameshti,  who  abides  in  the  most  exalted 
places,  Pitamaha,  the  great  father,  Prajapati,  the  lord  of 
creatures,  Lokesa,  the  ruler  of  the  world,"  Ac.  But  the 
most  distinct  account  of  his  nature  and  attributes  is  to  be 
found  in  Coleman's  Mythology  of  the  Hindus,  where  he  is 
represented  as  the  grandfather  of  the  gods,  and  equivalent 
to  the  Saturn  of  the'Romans.  Brnhm,  the  highest  divinity 
of  the  Hindus,  to  whose  name  so  deep  reverence  is  attach- 
ed that  it  is  considered  criminal  to  pronounce  it,  is  said  to 
have  given  birth  to  Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Siva,  simultan- 
eously ;  and  to  have  allotted  to  the  first  the  province  of  creat- 


BRAN. 

tng,  to  the  second  that  of  preserving,  and  to  the  third  that 
of  destroying.  Accordingly,  ever  since  the  creation  of  the 
world  Brahma  has  had  little  or  nothing  to  do,  and  it  will 
not  be  till  the  tenth  avatar  or  incarnation  that  his  ser- 
vices will  be  put  in  requisition,  when  this  world  is  to  under- 
go total  annihilation.  Meanwhile,  however,  the  other 
deities,  Vishnu  and  Siva,  are  constantly  engaged  in  their 
respective  duties  of  preservation  and  destruction ;  and  the 
Hindoos,  with  that  recklessness  of  the  future  which  is 
common  to  them  with  more  civilized  communities,  lavish 
all  their  adoration  upon  those  divinities  from  whom  they 
expect  to  derive  immediate  advantage.  Hence,  through- 
out all  India,  the  worship  of  Brahma  is  neglected;  his  al- 
tars are  overturned,  his  temples  destroyed  ;  in  short,  noth- 
ing has  been  left  but  his  name,  and  even  that  none  of  the 
best.  Brahma  is  usually  represented  with  four  heads 
and  four  hands,  either  reclining  upon  a  lote  tree  (the 
emblem  of  creation  among  the  Hindoos),  or  riding  upon  a 
swan. 

BRAN.  The  husk  of  wheat  which  immediately  covers 
the  grain,  and  which  remains  in  the  bolting  machine.  It  is 
gently  laxative  ;  an  infusion  of  it,  under  the  name  of  bran 
tea.  is  frequently  used  as  a  domestic  remedy  for  coughs 
and  hoarseness.  Calico  printers  employ  bran  and  warm 
water  with  great  success  to  remove  colouring  matter  from 
those  parts  of  their  goods  which  are  not  mordanted. 

BRA'NCHLE.  (Gr.  hpayx^i  the  gills  of  a  fish.)  The 
term  applied  to  all  vascular  organs  of  an  animal  body 
which  are  destined  to  submit  the  circulating  fluid  in  a  state 
of  minute  subdivision,  for  the  purpose  of  respiration,  to  the 
influence  of  air  contained  in  water. 

BRANCHI'Of  ODS,  BRANCHIO'PODA.  (Gr.  Ppayx^ 
gills;  and  novs,  afoot.)  An  order  of  Crustaceans,  in 
which  the  locomotive  extremities  fulfil  the  functions  of 
gills. 

BRANCHIO'STEGANS,  BRANCHIOSTEGI.  (Gr. 
/?P«)X<a>  g'-ltst  vtyoj,  I  cover.)  A  tribe  of  cartilaginous 
fishes,  comprehending  those  in  which  the  gills  are  free, 
and  covered  by  a  membrane ;  including  the  sturgeon  and 
chimaera. 

BRA'NDY.  The  spirituous  liquor  obtained  by  the  dis- 
tillation of  wine.  When  pure  it  is  perfectly  colourless,  and 
only  acquires  a  pale  brown  or  yellow  tint  from  the  cask. 
The  deep  colour  of  common  brandy,  intended  to  imitate 
•hat  which  it  acquires  from  great  age  in  the  cask,  is  gener- 
ally given  by  the  addition  of  burned  sugar.  The  average 
proportion  of  alcohol  in  brandy  varies  from  48  to  54  per 
cent.  The  best  brandy  is  made  in  France,  the  preference 
being  generally  given  to  that  shipped  from  Cognac.  The 
imports  of  brandy  for  home  consumption  in  England, 
amount  to  about  1,400,000  gallons  a  year ;  but  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  quantity  would  be  much  larger,  were  it 
not  for  the  oppressive  duty  of  22s.  6d.  a  gallon,  with  which 
it  is  charged. 

BRASS.  An  alloy  of  copper  and  zinc.  The  proportions 
vary  according  to  the  required  colour :  four  parts  of  cop- 
per and  one  of  zinc  form  an  excellent  brass.  It  is  usually 
made  by  heating  copper  plates  in  a  mixture  of  native  oxide 
of  zinc,  or  calamine  and  charcoal. 

BRA'SSAGE.  A  sum  formerly  levied  to  defray  the  ex- 
pense of  coinage,  and  taken  out  of  the  intrinsic  value  of  the 
coin.  The  term  is  supposed  to  be  derived  from  brachio- 
rum  labor. 

BRA'SSART.  In  Plate  Armour,  the  piece  which  pro- 
tected the  upper  arm,  between  the  shoulder-piece  and  the 
elbow. 

BRASSICA'CE^.  (Brassica,  one  of  the  genera.)  One 
of  the  names  of  Cruciferous  plants,  which  see. 

BRAZI'L  NUT.  A  South  American  fruit,  commonly 
sold  in  the  markets  of  London  ;  it  is  the  seed  of  a  large 
fruit  tree,  called  Berllwletia  excelsa. 

BRAZIL  WOOD.  A  valuable  wood,  imported  from 
South  America  and  the  West  Indies,  where  it  is  produced 
by  certain  species  of  Casaipinia,  especially  C.  echinata 
and  Braziliensis ;  large  trees  with  repeatedly  pinnated 
leaves,  showy  yellow  flowers,  and  long  richly  coloured  sta- 
mens. It  is  used  for  the  preparation  of  a  red  dye,  but  the 
consumption  of  it  in  this  country  is  inconsiderable.  It 
fetches  from  60  to  j£80  a  ton  in  the  London  market,  exclu- 
sive of  the  duty  of  £2  a  ton. 

BREACH.  In  Fortification,  a  gap  or  opening  made  in 
any  part  of  the  walls  of  the  besieged  place  by  the  cannon  or 
mines  of  the  besiegers. 

BREAD.  (Ger.  brod.)  This  important  article  of  food 
is  made  of  the  flour  of  different  grains  ;  but  it  is  only  those 
which  contain  gluten  that  admit  of  conversion  into  a  light 
or  porous  and  spongy  bread,  of  which  u-heaten  bread  fur- 
nishes the  best  example.  When  flour  is  made  into  a 
lough  paste  or  dough  by  the  addition  of  a  little  water,  rolled 
out  into  thin  cakes,  and  more  or  less  baked,  it  forms  bis- 
cuit. For  the  formation  of  bread  a  certain  degree  of  fer- 
mentation, not  unlike  vinous  fermentation,  is  requisite,  care 
being  taken  to  avoid  acetous  fermentation,  which  renders 
tiie  bread  sour,  and  to  most  persons  disagreeable.  If  dough 
166 


BREAD. 

be  left  to  itself  in  a  moderately  warm  place  (between  80° 
and  120°),  a  degree  of  fermentation  comes  on,  which,  how- 
ever, is  sluggish,  or,  if  rapid,  acetous •  so  that  to  effect  that 
kind  of  fermentation  requisite  for  the  production  of  the 
best  bread,  a. ferment  is  added,  which  is  either  leurenoe 
dough  which  is  already  in  a  fermenting  state,  and  which 
tends  to  accelerate  the  process  in  the  mass  to  which  it  is 
added;  or  yeast,  the  peculiar  matter  which  collects  in  the 
form  of  scum  upon  beer  in  the  act  of  fermentation.  Of 
these  ferments  leaven  is  slow  and  uncertain  in  its  effect, 
and  gives  a  sour  and  often  slightly  putrid  flavour.  Yeast  is 
more  effective ;  and  when  clean  and  good,  it  rapidly  in- 
duces panary  fermentation;  but  it  is  olten  bitter,  and 
sometimes  has  a  peculiarly  disagreeable  smell  and  taste. 

All,  then,  that  is  essential  to  make  a  loaf  of  bread  is 
dough  to  which  a  certain  quantity  of  yeast  has  been  added. 
This  mixture  is  put  into  any  convenient  mould  or  form,  or 
merely  shaped  into  one  mass  ;  and  after  having  been  kept 
for  a  short  time  in  rather  a  warm  place,  so  that  fermenta- 
tion may  have  begun,  it  is  subjected  to  the  process  of  ba- 
king in  a  proper  oven.  Carbonic  acid  is  generated  ;  and 
the  viscidity  or  texture  of  the  dough  preventing  the  imme- 
diate escape  of  that  gas,  the  whole  mass  is  puffed  up  by  it, 
and  a  light  porous  bread  is  the  result.  Along  with  the  car- 
bonic acid  traces  of  alcohol  are  at  the  same  time  produced, 
but  so  insignificant  and  impure  as  not  to  be  worth  notice  ; 
hence  the  attempts  which  have  been  made  to  collect  it 
upon  the  large  scale  have  entirely  failed  in  an  economical 
point  of  view.  Other  flour  besides  that  of  wheat  will,  un- 
der similar  circumstances,  undergo  panary  fermentation ; 
but  the  result  is  a  heavy,  unpalatable,  and  olten  indigestible 
bread  ;  so  that  the  addition  of  a  certain  quantity  of  wheat 
flour  is  almost  always  had  recourse  to.  It  is  the  gluten  in 
wheat  which  thus  peculiarly  fits  it  for  the  manulacture  of 
bread,  chiefly  in  consequence  of  the  tough  and  elastic  vis- 
cidity which  it  confers  upon  the  dough. 

It  is  well  known  that  home-made  bread  and  baker's  bread 
are  two  very  different  things  :  the  former  is  usually  sweet- 
er, lighter,  and  more  retentive  of  moisture :  the  latter,  if 
eaten  soon  after  it  has  cooled,  is  pleasant  and  spongy  ;  but 
if  kept  for  more  than  two  or  three  days,  it  becomes  harsh 
and  unpalatable.  The  cause  of  this  difference  may  perhaps 
be  obvious  from  the  following  details  of  the  operations  of 
the  wholesale  baker. 

In  making  his  dough  he  takes  the  water,  or  part  of  it, 
which  he  intends  to  use,  and  having  slightly  warmed  it, 
dissolves  in  it  a  certain  portion  of  salt ;  then  he  adds  the 
yeast,  and  then  a  certain  quantity  of  flour.  This  mixture 
is  set  aside  in  a  warm  place,  where  it  soon  begins  to  fer- 
ment. This  process  is  called  setting  the  sponge ;  and  ac- 
cording to  the  relation  which  the  water  in  it  bears  to  the 
whole  quantity  to  be  used  in  the  dough,  it  is  called  whole, 
half,  or  quartern  sponge.  The  evolution  of  carbonic,  acid 
causes  the  sponge  to  heave  and  swell ;  and  when  the  sur- 
face bursts  it  subsides,  and  then  swells  again,  and  so  on  ; 
but  the  baker  is  careful  to  use  it  before  this  fermentation 
has  communicated  sourness  to  the  mass.  He  then  adds 
to  the  sponge  the  remaining  quantity  of  flour,  water,  and 
salt  which  may  be  required  lo  form  dough  of  proper  quali- 
ty and  consistence,  and  incorporates  the  whole  by  long 
and  laborious  kneadings  till  the  entire  mass  acquires  uni- 
formity, and  is  so  tough  and  elastic  as  to  bear  the  pressure 
of  the  hand  without  adhering  to  it.  It  is  then  left  for  a  few 
hours,  during  which  fermentation  goes  on  ;  and  the  inflated 
mass  is  again  kneaded,  so  as  to  break  down  any  lumps  or 
portions  which  had  accidentally  escaped  diffusion  in  the 
first  operation,  and  to  confer  perfect  uniformity  on  the 
whole.  The  dough  is  then  weighed  out  into  loaves,  which 
are  shaped,  and  put  aside  in  a  warm  place  for  an  hour  or 
two,  during  which  they  swell  up  to  about  double  their  origi- 
nal size  ;  they  are  then  put  into  the  oven  and  baked  ;  du- 
ring which  operation  they  again  enlarge  considerably  in 
bulk,  in  consequence  of  the  dilatation  of  the  previously 
generated  carbonic  acid  pent  up  in  the  dough ;  for,  as  soon 
as  the  mass  is  exposed  to  the  heat  of  the  oven,  the  fermen- 
tation is  put  an  end  to. 

If  we  compare  the  baked  loaf  with  the  flour  of  which  it 
is  composed,  we  shall  find  that  panary  fermentation  has 
produced  a  considerable  change  in  the  latter.  The  gluten 
and  the  starch,  which  (exclusive  of  a  trace  of  sugar)  were 
the  components  of  the  flour,  have  mutually  acted  upon  and 
altered  each  other ;  the  toughness  and  viscidity  of  the  gluten 
is  gone,  and  the  starch  no  longer  forms  a  gelatinous  mixture 
with  hot  water ;  a  little  sugar  is  generally  formed,  as  well  as 
alcohol ;  but  the  principal  cause  of  the  change  in  the  char- 
acters of  the  flour  is  the  evolution  of  carbon  and  of  oxygen 
in  the  form  of  carbonic  acid,  the  production  of  which  is  in- 
dependent of  the  presence  of  external  oxygen  (or  of  air). 
Small  quantities  of  alum  are  also,  it  is  said,  invariably  used 
by  the  London  bakers,  with  the  view  of  whitening  or 
bleaching  the  bread  ;  for  it  may  be  observed,  that  what- 
ever may  be  the  quality  of  the  flonr  which  is  used,  home- 
made bread  is  always  of  a  comparatively  dingy  hue.  Ac- 
cording to  Mr.  Accum  (On  the  Adulteration  of  Food),  the 


BREAK. 

requisite  quantity  of  alum  for  this  purpose  depends  upon  | 
the  quality  of  the  flour.     The  mealman,  he  says,  makes  dif- 
ferent sorts  of  flour  from  the  same  kind  of  grain.  The  best  | 
flour  is  chiefly  used  for  biscuits  and  pastry,  and  the  inferior  | 
kinds  of  bread.     In  London  no  fewer  than  six  kinds  of  , 
wheaten  flour  are  brought  into  the  market ;  they  are  call- 
ed tine  flour,  seconds,  middlings,  coarse  middlings,  and 
twenty-penny.     Beans  and  peas  are  also,  according  to  the  I 
same  authority,  frequently  ground  up  with  London  flour. 
The  smallest  quantity  of  alum  used  is  from  three  to  four  l 
ounces  to  the  sack  of  flour  of  240  pounds. 

Another  article  occasionally  employed  in  bread-making 
is  carbonate  of  ammonia.  As  it  is  wholly  dissipated  by 
the  heat  of  the  oven,  none  remains  in  the  baked  loaf.  It 
renders  the  bread  light,  and  perhaps  neutralizes  any  acid 
that  may  have  been  formed  (exclusive  of  carbonic  acid); 
but  it  is  too  dear  to  be  much  employed.  To  some  kind  of 
biscuits  it  gives  a  peculiar  shortness,  and  a  few  of  the  most 
celebrated  manufacturers  use  it  largely.  The  French  chem- 
ists have  accused  the  bakers  of  employing  sulphate  of  cop- 
per or  blue  vitriol,  for  the  purpose  of  improving  the  colour 
of  the  bread  ;  but  so  dangerous  and  easily  detected  an  ad- 
dition can  scarcely  be  supposed  to  be  common.  Accord- 
ing to  Mr.  E.  Davy,  bread,  especially  that  of  indifferent 
tlour,  is  materially  improved  by  the  addition  of  a  little  car- 
bonate of  magnesia,  in  the  proportion  of  twenty  to  thirty 
grains  to  the  pound  of  flour ;  it  requires  to  be  very  inti- 
mately mixed  with  the  dough.  The  most  nefarious  adul- 
teration of  bread  consists,  however,  in  the  addition  of  cer- 
tain insipid  and  colourless  earthy  substances,  with  a  view 
of  increasing  its  weight  ;  such  as  pipe-clay,  porcelain  clay,- 
chalk,  and  plaislerof  Paris.  These,  however,  are  probably 
very  rarely  resorted  to;  though  in  one  instance  the  writer 
of  this  article  had  occasion  to  examine  a  quantity  of  bis- 
cuits, which  were  adulterated  with  gypsum  to  the  amount 
of  10  per  cent.    (See  Donovan's  Domestic  Economy,  vol.  i. ) 

BREAK.  (Teut.  brache.)  In  Architecture,  any  projec- 
tion from  the  general  surface  of  a  building. 

BREA'KERS.  Waves  that  break,  or  fall  over,  from  the 
shallowness  of  the  water,  [n  a  gale,  the  tops  of  the  seas 
generally  break  in  this  way  more  or  less,  from  the  pro- 
gressive motion  of  the  water  at  the  surface  before  the 
wind,  which  is  exceedingly  dangerous  for  open  boats.  This 
is  never  confounded  with  the  falling  over  of  the  whole 
wave,  as  the  surf  falls  over  on  the  beach. 

BREA'KING  JOINT.  In  Architecture,  that  disposition 
of  stones  and  bricks  in  their  courses  by  which  vertical 
joints  are  not  allowed  to  tall  over  each  other.  See  Dia- 
grams to  Bond,  English  and  Flemish. 

BREAKWATER.  An  artificial  bank  of  stones,  or  the 
hull  of  a  vessel,  sunk  to  break  the  sea  before  its  entrance 
into  a  roadstead  or  harbour.  The  breakwater  at  Plymouth, 
(Eng.)  is  a  great  work  of  this  kind.  It  is  built  across  the 
sound,  which  it  completely  defends  from  a  very  heavy  sea 
from  the  channel  in  south  westerly  winds,  and  which 
formerly  caused  the  loss  of  many  ships.  It  is  composed 
of  large  stones  dropt  from  vessels  constructed  for  the  pur- 
pose. The  sea,  which  for  a  time  offers  serious  obstacles  to 
the  construction,  works  the  stones  together,  and  washes  up 
shingle  and  sand,  which,  with  the  growth  of  sea-weed, 
consolidate  the  whole.  The  outer  mole  of  the  harbour  of 
Civita  Vecchia,  still  in  good  repair,  was  formed  by  the  Em- 
peror Trajan  exactly  in  the  same  way  as  the  breakwaterat 
Plymouth.  (Plinii  Epist.  lib.  vi.  ep.  31.)  The  break- 
water at  Cherbourg,  constructed  by  Napoleon,  is  one  of 
the  greatest  modern  works  of  this  class. 

BREAM.  The  name  of  a  sofl-finned  fish,  common  in 
many  of  the  lakes  and  rivers  of  England,  and  one  that 
breeds  freely  and  thrives  in  ponds,  if  there  be  sufficient 
depth  of  water.  It  is  the  type  of  a  particular  subgenus  of 
the  Carp  family  (Cyprim'da),  which  Cuvier  has  character- 
ized under  the  name  of  Ahramis.     See  Abramis. 

BREA'MING.  In  Nautical  language,  signifies  cleaning 
the  bottom  of  a  vessel  by  fire.  When  the  vessel  is  aground, 
fire  hems  applied  to  the  bottom  loosens  the  pitch,  or  com- 
position of  sulphur  and  tallow,  with  which  the  bottom  is 
sometimes  covered  to  defend  it  from  the  worms,  and 
which  is  then  scraped  off.  together  with  the  barnacles, 
grass,  weeds,  <fcc.  that  adhere  to  it. 

BRE  A  STING.  Breasting  up  a  hedge  is  cutting  the  face 
of  it  on  one  side,  so  as  to  lay  bare  the  principal  upright 
stems  of  the  plants. 

BREAST  PLOUGH.  A  kind  of  spade  or  shovel,  with  a 
cross  piece  at  the  extremity  of  the  handle,  which  is  ap- 
plied to  the  breast,  and  by  which  the  operator  skims  off  a 
thin  slice  of  turf  from  a  grassy  surface,  as  if  he  were 
ploughing.     Turf  thus  obtained  is  chiefly  used  in  thatching. 

BRE  A'STSUMMER.  (From.  Sax.  breost,  and  summer  ; 
quare,  trabs  summaria?)  In  Architecture,  a  beam  which 
supports  an  exterior  wall,  the  beam  itself  being  carried  by 
wooilen  or  iron  posts. 

BREAST  WORK.     In  Fortification,  an  elevation  of  earth 
thrown  up  round  a  fortified  place  to  protect  the  garrison 
from  the  enemy's  fire. 
167 


BRICK. 

BRE'CCIA.  (It.)  A  rock  composed  of  an  agglutina- 
tion of  angular  fragments. 

BREECH  OF  A  GUN.     The  solid  part  behind  the  bore. 

BRE'ECHING,  or  BREECH  BAND.  Part  of  the  har- 
ness of  a  carriage  horse,  by  means  of  which  he  is  enabled 
to  push  the  carriage  to  which  he  is  attached  backwards,  or 
to  support  its  pressure  in  going  down  a  hill. 

BREEZE-FLIES.     Sec  (Estridk. 

BREHON  LAWS.  The  ancient  laws  of  the  Irish  are  so 
termed,  from  an  Irish  word  signifying  judges.  It  is  sup- 
posed that  some  of  the  numerous  written  collections  of 
these  laws  which  still  exist  are  of  great  antiquity  ;  as  old, 
perhaps,  as  the  earlier  ages  of  the  Christian  Era.  Prior  to 
the  Anglo-Norman  invasion,  Ireland  was  entirely  governed 
by  these  laws.  For  an  account  of  the  nature  of  these  laws, 
see  Lord  Lyttleton's  Henry  II.  vol.  v.  p.  28,  and  the  au- 
thorities there  referred  to. 

ISItE'NTUS.  A  Fabrician  genus  of  Coleopterous  insects, 
belonging  to  the  Weevil  tribe,  or  Curcidiunidm  ;  now  the 
type  of  a  family,  called  Brenthid/z,  including  about  eight 
genera  and  seventy  species.  These  insects  are  peculiar  to 
hot  climates:  only  one  species,  the  Brenti/s  Ilalicus,  is 
found  in  Europe,  and  this  has  been  referred  by  Germar  to 
a  particular  sub-genus,  Arrhenodes.  all  the  other  species  of 
which  are  natives  of  the  new  world. 

BRE'TTICES.  In  coal  mines,  wooden  plankings  to  pre- 
vent the  falling  in  of  the  strata. 

BREVE.  (Ital.)  In  Music,  a  note  formed  thus  r=l  with- 
out a  tail,  and  equivalent  to  two  semibreves,  or  four  mi- 
nims. It  is  also  that  measure  of  quantity  contained  in  two 
beats  of  the  hand  up  and  two  down,  but  this  only  in  com- 
mon tune  with  the  mark  c. 

BRE'VET.  In  the  French,  signifies  a  royal  act  in  writ- 
ing conferring  some  privilege  or  distinction ;  as  brevet 
d'invention,  a  patent.  It  is  applied,  in  England,  to  a  com- 
mission giving  nominal  rank  higher  than  that  for  which 
pay  i3  received  ;  thus,  a  brevet  major  serves  and  draws 
pay  as  captain,  &c. 

BREVIARY.  A  book  containing  the  offices  of  daily 
prayer  according  to  the  usage  of  the  R.  C.  church.  The 
offices  are  seven  ;  viz.  matins,  lauds,  first,  third,  sixth,  and 
ninth  vespers,  and  the  compline.  Anciently  all  Catholics 
were  required  to  recite  the  breviary  daily.  The  injunction 
is  now  confined  to  the  clergy ;  of  whom  it  is  still'  strictly 

exacted 

BRE'VIPENNATES,  Brempermes.  (Lat.  brevis,  short ; 
prima,  i/uill ;  Bhort-quiUed.)  All  epithet  applied  by  Cuvier 
to  distinguish  the  first  family  of  his  order  Gratia;  (Echas- 
siers) ;  the  ostrich  is  the  type  of  this  family.  See 
Cursores. 

BREWING.     See  Fermentation. 

BRl'BERY.  In  English  Law,  is  a  term  comprehending 
the  offences  of  judges,  ministerial  officers,  &c,  receiving 
rewards  or  considerations  to  act  contrary  to  their  respec- 
tive duties,  which  are  severally  misdemeanors  at  com mou 
law,  and  also  punishable  under  several  statutes.  But  in  its 
most  ordinary  signification,  it  is  the  giving  or  receiving 
money  to  procure  votes  at  parliamentary  elections,  or  elec- 
tions to  public  offices  of  trust.  The  statutes  which  at  pre- 
sent chiefly  regulate  the  offence  of  bribery  at  parliamen- 
tary elections  are  2  G.  2.  c.  24.,  and  49  G.  3.  c.  118.  The 
latter  statute  imposes  a  penalty  of  jEIOOO  on  any  one  (if 
not  returned,  incapacity  to  serve  in  parliament  for  that 
place  if  returned)  who  "  shall  give  or  cause  to  be  given,  di- 
rectly or  indirectly,  any  sum  of  money,  <fec.  upon  any  en- 
gagement that  the  person  receiving  shall  procure,  or  en- 
deavour to  procure,  &c,  the  return  of  any  member,"  and 
imposes  a  fine  of  j£800  on  the  person  receiving  the  bribe 
on  such  a  promise  or  agreement.  The  former  makes  it 
an  offence  in  any  person  "to  procure  or  corrupt  another  to 
vote  ;"  and  it  has  been  recently  held,  that  the  corruption  is 
complete,  as  far  as  the  corrupter  is  concerned,  by  the  act 
of  giving  the  money,  whether  the  voter  intended  or  not  to 
act  according  to  the  wish  of  the  briber. 

BRICK.  (Dutch,  bricke.)  In  Architecture,  amass  of  clay 
earth,  sometimes  mixed  with  coal  ashes,  chalk,  and  other 
substances,  formed  in  a  mould,  and  burnt  in  a  kiln  or 
clamp.  The  earth  used  for  this  purpose  is  of  two  sorts. 
The  one  a  stiff  clay,  with  little  or  no  extraneous  mixture, 
which  produces  a  hard  red  brick;  the  other  a  yellowish- 
coloured  fat  earth,  called  loam,  which  produces  a  grey- 
coloured  brick.  The  clay  is  usually  tempered  in  a  clay 
mill.  For  the  sea  coal  ashes  that  are  mixed  with  it  in 
London,  they  substitute  in  the  country  a  light  sandy  earth. 
In  making  the  paste  as  little  water  should  be  introduced  as 
possible.  In  moulding  them,  which  is  done  in  a  wooden 
mould,  a  clever  workman  wilt  mould  about  five  thousand 
in  fifteen  hours.  The  kiln  in  which  they  are  burnt  is 
a  large  building,  about  13  feet  long,  10  feet  6  inches 
wide,  and  12  feet  high,  furnished  with  a  proper  furnace. 
When  otherwise  burnt,  the  clamp,  as  it  is  called,  is  formed 
of  the  bricks  themselves,  generally  oblong  on  the  plan, 
and  the  foundations  made  with  place  bricks.  Each 
course  of  bricks  is  laid  on  a  layer  of  breeze  or  cinders; 


BRICK-LAYING. 

and  flues  are  formed,  filled  with  coals,  breeze,  and  wood. 
The  burning  continues  from  twenty  to  thirty  days.  The 
size  of  bricks,  when  burnt,  is  required  by  the  statute  to  be 
%lA  inches  long,  2%  inches  thick,  and  4  inches  wide.  The 
different  varieties  of  bricks  are,  malms,  which  are  of  a  yel- 
lowish uniform  colour  and  texture  ;  seco7id$,  not  quite  so 
uniform  in  colour  and  texture  as  malms  ;  red  and  grey  stocks, 
the  former  being  burnt  in  kilns,  both  of  a  quality  rather  in- 
ferior lo  seconds;  place  bricks  or  peckings,  sometimes 
called  sandel  orsamel  bricks,  which  are  those  furthest  from 
the  fire,  and  rarely  well  burnt, — these  should  never  be 
used  in  a  building  where  durability  is  required  ;  burrs  or 
clinkers,  which  are  masses  of  several  bricks  run  together 
in  the  clamp  or  kiln  from  the  violent  action  of  the  fire; 
fire  bricks,  of  a  red  colour,  about  9  inches  long,  4%  inches 
broad,  and  an  inch  and  a  half  thick, — they  are  made  for 
use  in  furnaces  to  resist  the  action  of  the  fire,  and  from 
having  been  formerly  manufactured  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Windsor,  they  are  sometimes  called  Windsor  bricks; 
paving  bricks,  made  for  the  purpose  their  name  implies; 
compass  bricks,  are  circular  on  the  plan,  chiefly  used  in 
walling  wells  and  the  like ;  Dutch  clinkeis  or  Flemish 
bricks,  chiefly  used  in  stables;  the  Dutch  clinker  is  6 
inches  long,  3  inches  broad,  and  1  inch  thick.  (See  Aikin's 
Illustrations  of  Arts  and  Manufactures,  1841.) 

BRICKLA'YING.  In  Architecture,  the  act  of  building 
with  bricks,  which  is  of  very  great  antiquity.  Pausanias 
mentions  many  structures  in  Greece  which  were  built  of 
bricks;  and  in  Rome  such  buildings  were  very  common. 
The  walls  of  Babylon,  attributed  by  Herodotus  to  Semira- 
mis.  were  also  of  brick. 

BRICKNO'GGIXG.  In  Architecture,  brickwork  carried 
up  and  filled  in  between  timber  framing. 

BRICK  TRIMMER.  (Sax.  trimman,  to  build.)  In  Arch- 
itecture, a  brick  arch  abutting  against  the  wooden  trim- 
mer in  front  of  a  fireplace,  to  guard  against  accidents  by 
fire. 

BRl'DEWELL.  A  house  of  correction  for  offenders  is 
commonly  so  called  in  England.  The  name  is  derived 
from  the  locality  of  the  ancient  London  house  of  correc- 
tion, which  was  an  hospital,  founded  by  Edward  VI.  on 
the  site  of  St.  Bride's  well,  in  Black-Friars,  a  well-known 
object  of  pilgrimage  in  Roman  Catholic  times.  The  origi- 
nal Bridewell  is  under  the  control  of  the  lord  mayor,  and 
used  as  a  receptacle  for  vagrants,  place  of  punishment  for 
apprentices,  ifcc,  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  city. 

BRIDGE.  (Sax.  brigge.)  In  Architecture,  a  structure 
for  the  purpose  of  connecting  the  opposite  banks  of  a  river, 
gorge,  valley,  <fec.  &c,  by  means  of  certain  materials,  form- 
ing a  roadway  from  one  side  to  the  other.  It  may  be  of 
stone,  brick,  iron,  timber,  suspended  chains  or  ropes;  or 
the  roadway  may  be  formed  by  means  of  boats.  Long 
previous  to  the  introduction  of  bridges  constructed  upno 
geometrical  principles,  the  modes  of  crossing  rivers  by 
throwing  the  trunks  of  trees  across  them,  or  by  suspension 
of  ropes,  or  twisting  together  the  branches  of  trees  from 
bank  to  bank,  were  so  obvious  that  they  must  have  been 
resorted  to  at  an  early  period.  The  former  method,  how- 
ever, could  only  have  been  practised  over  narrow  streams, 
whilst  the  latter  might  have  been  carried  to  almost  any  re- 
quired extent.  Mungo  Pirk  found  this  mode  employed  in 
Africa  ;  and  in  South  America  rope  bridges  of  bujuco,  or 
thongs  made  from  the  hides  of  oxen,  are  in  use  at  the  pre- 
sent day.  Don  Antonio  de  Ulloa  tells  us,  that  over  some 
of  the  rivers  of  Peru  the  bujuco  bridges  are  of  such  dimen- 
sions that  loaded  mules  in  droves  pass  over  them,  and  es- 
pecially on  the  river  Apurimac,  forming  the  high  road  for 
the  trade  carried  on  between  Lima,  Cuzco.  and  other 
places  to  the  southward.  Though  such  bridges  are  the 
contrivance  of  man  in  a  less  civilized  state,  they  are  the 
only  means  by  which  many  streams  whose  currents  are 
deep  and  rapid  can  be  crossed  :  and  the  stupendous  sus- 
pension bridges  of  the  present  day  are  but  improvements 
on  the  simple  scheme  of  the  untutored  architect  of  a  sav- 
age tribe.  When  a  stream  is  neither  deep  nor  rapid,  its 
breadth  seems  to  present  no  obstacle  to  forming  a  roadway 
over  it.  Large  stones  placed  across  at  intervals,  on  which 
other  stones  or  beams  of  timber  maybe  laid  horizontally, 
would  be  the  first  step.  Of  this  species  appears  to  have 
been  the  bridge  which,  according  to  Herodotus,  Nitocris 
constructed  at  Babylon  over  the  Euphrates,  and  which  is 
said  by  Diodorus  Siculus  to  have  been  five  furlongs  in 
length.  Of  this  sort  also  are  many  of  the  bridges  in  China. 
The  bridges  of  the  Chinese,  however,  appear  to  have  been 
rather  too  highly  extolled  in  the  accounts  of  Du  Halde  and 
the  missionaries,  as  may  he  gathered  from  the  informa- 
tion obtained  of  the  Foo  chow-foo  bridge,  during  the  voy- 
age of  the  ship  Amherst  in  1832.  It  appears,  from  the  tes- 
timony of  Captain  Parish,  that  the  use  of  the  arch  with 
wedge-shaped  stones  converging  towards  the  centre  of  the 
curve  must  have  been  known  to  the  Chinese  at  a  very 
early  period. 

In  tracing  the  history  of  bridges  among  different  nations, 
we  shall  see  that  local  causes  had  great  influence  on  ths 
163 


BRIDGE. 

species  of  construction  adopted  by  them.  A  nation  may 
have  reached  the  highest  point  of  art  in  its  other  public 
monuments,  and  have  nevertheless  done  nothing  worthy 
of  our  admiration  in  the  construction  of  a  bridge.  In 
Egypt,  for  example,  intersected  as  it  is  by  a  large  and  wide 
river  subject  to  periodic  inundations,  the  construction  of 
bridges  would  have  been  as  difficult  as  it  would  have 
been  useless.  All  the  intercourse  which  commerce 
required  was  easily  carried  on  by  the  assistance  of 
boats  ;  and  as  respects  the  passage  over  the  canals  which 
abounded  in  the  country,  their  depth  and  breadth  were 
so  small  as  to  require  none  but  the  most  simple  ex- 
pedients for  connecting  their  opposite  banks,  nor  any 
which  involved  the  employment  of  science.  In  Greece, 
no  vestige  of  a  bridge  occurs  whose  date  is  anterior 
to  its  occupation  by  the  Romans ;  but  this,  had  they 
even  been  acquainted  with  the  use  of  the  arch,  might  be 
accounted  for  on  reasons  directly  the  reverse  of  those 
which  operated  in  Egypt.  Greece  is  intersected  by  no 
river  of  any  magnitude  ;  and  even  those  which  seem  to 
have  some  title  to  the  name,  are  rather  mountain  torrents 
than  those  immense  sheets  of  water,  swelled  in  their 
course  by  innumerable  tributary  streams,  that  are  to  be 
found  in  other  parts  of  the  world.  Here  scarcely  more 
could  be  wanted  than  a  single  arch,  whose  abutments 
would  be  found  in  the  solid  rocks  which  the  stream  sepa- 
rated. 

Following  up  the  history  of  bridges  into  Italy,  we  find  a 
country  much  watered  by  large  rivers,  where  the  architec- 
ture of  bridges  became  a  necessary  study,  not  only  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  cities  with  which  it  abounded,  but 
also  for  the  service  of  the  frequent  military  expeditions  of 
the  restless  conquerors  who  occupied  its  lands.  Rome, 
from  its  earliest  foundation,  must  have  put  in  requisition 
considerable  skill  in  bridge  architecture  over  the  Tiber, 
rapid  and  subject  as  it  is  to  sudden  floods.  The  earliest 
bridges  here  were  of  timber  ;  such  was  that  which  joined 
the  Janiculum  to  the  Mons  Aventinus,  and  was  called  the 
Pons  Sublicius,  from  the  subUcce  (stakes)  of  which  it  was 
formed.  (Liv  i.  33.)  Without  enumerating  the  bridges 
of  Rome,  some  of  which  are  still  standing  to  attest  the  sci- 
ence of  their  architects,  we  must  mention  the  Pons  Narai- 
ensis,  on  the  Fiaminian  way,  near  Narni,  and  about  sixty 
miles  from  Rome.  It  was  built  by  Augustus  ;  and  vestiges 
of  it  remain  to  the  present  day,  one  arch  above  150  feet 
span  and  100  feet  high  being  still  entire.  But  of  works  of 
art,  perhaps  the  most  wonderful  ever  raised  was  the 
bridge  built  by  Trajan  over  the  Danube.  It  consisted  of 
twenty  piers,  whose  height  from  their  foundation  was  150 
feet,  and  170  feet  apart :  its  breadth  being  sixty  feet.  This 
stupendous  work  was  demolished  by  Hadrian,  the  succes- 
sor of  Trajan,  under  the  pretence  that  it  might  serve  as  a 
passage  for  trie  barbarians,  if  they  became  masters  of  it; 
but  some  writers  have  said  it  was  through  envy  of  the  fame 
that  attached  to  its  founder.  Over  the  Tagus  in  Spain  an 
ancient  Roman  bridge,  near  Alcantara,  is  still  partly  stand- 
ing. It  consisted  of  six  arches  of  eighty  feet  span,  extend- 
ing altogether  600  feet  in  length,  and  some  of  the  arches 
200  feet  high  above  the  water.  Of  the  temporary  bridges 
of  the  Romans,  the  most  famous  was  that  of  timber  thrown 
by  Caesar  over  the  Rhine. 

From  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  to  the  revival  of  the 
arts,  the  history  of  bridge  architecture  is,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  Moorish  works  in  Spain,  of  no  interest.  It  ap- 
pears from  Gautier,  who  uses  the  authority  of  Mag.  Agri- 
cola  of  Aix,  that  when  the  arts  began  to  revive  in  Europe 
an  order  was  founded  by  St.  Benezet,  under  the  title  of 
Brethren  of  the  Bridge  ;  and  that  under  them  was  begun, 
in  1176,  the  bridge  at  Avignon,  consisting  of  eighteen 
arches  and  about  3000  feet  in  length.  During  the  conten- 
tions of  the  Popes  in  1385,  some  of  its  arches  were  destroy- 
ed, and  in  1602  three  others  fell.  In  1670  the  ice  destroyed 
all  but  the  third  pier,  which,  with  the  Chapel  of  St.  Nicholas 
upon  it,  still  remains.  In  1354  a  bridge  of  three  arches 
was  constructed  at  Verona,  the  roadway  sloping  from  the 
city  :  the  largest  of  its  arches,  which  are  segmental,  is  160 
feet  span  ;  but  a  still  larger  arch  was  built  at  Vielle-Brionde 
in  France,  over  the  Allier,  in  1454,  of  nearly  184  feet  span, 
which  is  the  largest  stone  arch  upon  record.  Among  the 
most  celebrated  bridges  of  Italy,  is  that  of  the  Rialto  at 
Venice,  whose  span  is  9834  feet.  It  was  begun  in  158S 
and  finished  in  1591,  from  the  designs  of  Antonio  da)  Ponte 
(Sansorino's  Venice),  though  by  most  authors  absurdly  at- 
tributed to  M.  A.  Buonarroti.  In  this  city  alone  there  are  no 
Ipss  than  339  bridges  ;  but  they  are  mostly  of  small  spans. 
We  must  not  omit  in  this  place  the  bridge  Delia  Santissima 
Trinita  at  Florence,  by  Ammanati,  which,  as  Milizia  truly 
observes,  has  not  been  surpassed  since  the  revival  of  ar- 
chitecture. It  is  of  three  arches,  the  middle  one  of  96  and 
the  two  side  ones  of  86  feet  span,  the  width  of  the  piers 
being  26  feet  9  inches  ;  the  breadth  of  the  carriage  and  foot- 
ways between  the  parapets  is  33  feet.  It  has  been  usual 
for  writers  to  call  the  form  of  the  arches  of  this  bridge 
cycloidal;  but  from  our  own  measurements  and  most 


BRIDGES. 


particular  investigation,  we  can  assert  that  they  are  not  of 
that  form.  They  are  very  slightly  pointed,  after  the  fashion 
Df  what  is  called  the  Tudor  arch  of  this  country  ;  the  point 
at  the  summit,  which  is  extremely  obtuse,  being  hidden 
by  the  ram's  head  sculptured  on  the  key-stones.  During 
the  two  last  centuries,  the  French  have  advanced  their 
bridge  architecture  to  very  great  perfection  ;  but  more  par- 
ticularly in  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century,  in  which 
appeared  Perronet,  the  father  of  the  modem  system  of  the 
art,  whose  elegant  designs  have  not  since  been  improved 
upon  either  in  France  or  any  other  country.  His  is  the 
beautiful  bridge  of  Neuilly  over  the  Seine.  It  consists  of 
five  arches,  each  about  128  feet  span  and  32  feet  rise  :  it  was 
finished  in  1774,  and  remains  a  splendid  monument  of  the 
powers  of  its  architect.  Some  of  the  more  modern  speci- 
mens of  their  bridges  do  great  honour  to  the  French  school, 
La  which  beauty  of  form  is  united  with  sound  engineering. 

In  England,  the  progress  of  bridge  architecture  has  kept 
pace  with  that  of  the  Continent ;  and  if  her  bridges  can- 
not boast  the  elegance  in  design  of  her  lively  neighbours, 
they  are  fully  equal  to  them  in  boldness  of  conception  and 
execution  of  the  work.  Indeed,  if  the  designs  of  the  late 
Messrs.  Telford  and  Rennie  had  been  equal  to  their  en- 
gineering skill,  no  country  in  the  world  would  have  been 
able  to  compete  with  what  she  would  have  been  able  to 
exhibit.  And  here  must  not  be  forgotten  the  bridge  over 
the  river  Taaf,  near  Llantrissart,  in  Glamorganshire,  cele- 
brated for  its  great  span  ;  the  work  of  William  Edwards,  a 
country  mason,  in  1755.  The  chord  line  is  140  feet,  and 
the  versed  sine  35  feet.  As  we  can  allow  but  short  space 
for  an  account  of  the  bridges  which  within  the  last  eighty 
years  have  been  built  in  that  country,  we  must  be  content 


with  the  mention  of  that  over  the  Thames,  called  tho 
Southwark  bridge,  which  is  a  stupendous  exhibition  of  en- 
gineering skill,  and  far  better  in  design  than  many  of  the 
other  works  of  the  late  Mr.  Rennie.  This  bridge  is  of  cast- 
iron,  and  consists  of  three  arches,  the  chord  of  the  centre 
arch  being  240  feet,  and  its  versed  sine  24  feet,  or  one  tenth 
of  its  span.  The  frame-work  of  the  arch  at  the  vertex  is 
6  feet  in  height.  We  are  not  aware  of  any  cast-iron  bridge 
whose  dimensions  exceed  those  of  this  bridge,  and  do  not 
think  it  therefore  necessary  to  mention  minor  ones,  of 
which  there  are  many  fine  specimens  in  Great  Britain. 

Of  timber  bridges  the  boldest  and  most  ingeniously  con- 
structed in  Europe  was  that  at  Schaffhausen,  in  Switzer- 
land, destroyed  by  the  French  in  1799.  It  was  designed 
and  executed  by  Ulric  Orubenmann,  a  common  carpenter 
of  Tueffen,  in  1758.  The  total  length  of  this  bridge  was 
364  feet,  but  it  was  relieved  by  a  pier  in  the  middle  of  the 
river.  In  America  are  some  extraordinary  specimens  of 
timber  bridges.  Such  is  the  Trenton  bridge,  over  the  Dela- 
ware, built  in  1804,  by  Burr :  its  chord  line  is  200  feet,  and 
its  versed  sine  32  feet,  the  height  or  thickness  of  the  tim- 
ber framing  at  the  crown  being  only  32  inches.  The 
bridge  called  the  Colossus  at  Philadelphia,  over  the  Schuyl- 
kill, lately  burnt,  was  340  feet  span,  with  a  versed  sine  or 
rise  of  only  20  feet,  and  the  thickness  of  the  timber  at  the 
vertex  only  7  feet.  It  was  the  work  of  a  person  named 
Wernwag.  Besides  these  two,  there  are  many  other  tim- 
ber bridges  in  America  worthy  the  notice  of  the  reader, 
which  we  regret  we  have  not  space  to  notice. 

We  here  subjoin  a  table  of  some  of  the  most  celebrated 
bridges,  chiefly  in  reference  to  their  dimensions,  and  the 
relative  spans  and  heights  of  their  arches. 


STONE  BRIDGES. 


Vv 

idest  Arch. 

Name  of  Bridge. 

Spa 

D. 

Height. 

Ft. 

In. 

Ft.  In. 

Vielle-Brioude 

Mlier 

Brioude 

183 

3 

70    3 

Segm.  of  circle 

Orrnier  &  Estone 

1454 

Ulm 

Danube 

Ulm 

181 

o 

22    3 

Segm     if  circle 

Wiebeking 

1806 

Castle  Vecchio 

Adige 

Verona 

159 

l<l 

53    3 

Segm,  of  circle 

Unknown 

1354 

Lavaur 

Agout 

Lavaur 

159 

10 

64    8 

Ellipse 

Saget 

1775 

Claix 

Drac 

Gn  noble 

LS0 

2 

62    3 

Segm.  of  circle 

Unknown 

1611 

Pont  y  prydd 

Taafe 

Glamorgan 

140 

0 

35    0  Segm.  of  circle 

Edwards 

1755 

Ni'iiilly 

Seine 

Near  Paris 

127 

Id 

31  10 

Ellipse 

Perronet 

1774 

Mantes 

Seine 

Mantes 

127 

10 

Ellipse 

Bupean  &  Perronet 

1/65 

Waterloo 

Thames 

London 

120 

0 

32    0 

Ellipse 

Rennie 

1816 

Tongueland 

Kirkcudbright 

118 

0 

38    0 

Segm.  of  circle 

Telford 

1806 

St.  Esprit 

Rhone 

Languedoc 

108 

7 

26    6 

Segm.  of  circle 

Unknown 

1305 

Munich 

Isar 

Munich 

102 

3 

17    0 

Segm.  of  circle 

Wiebeking 

1814 

Orleans 

Loire 

1  • 

|06 

7 

29    9 

Ellipse 

Hupeau 

1760 

Sarah 

Liffey 

Dublin 

106 

0 

22    0 

Ellipse 

Stevens 

1791 

Monition 

Durance 

Montlion 

102 

0 

25    6 

Ellipse 

Delbergue-Cormont 

1805 

Vicenza 

Bacchiglione 

Vicenza 

101 

2 

29    9 

Segm.  of  circle 

Unknown 

Blackfriars 

Thames 

London 

100 

0 

41     6 

Ellipse 

Mylne 

1771 

Rialto 

Canal 

Venice 

96 

10 

20    7 

Segm.  of  circle 

Ant.  da  Ponte 

1591 

Holy  Trinity 

Arno 

Florence 

95 

3 

14  10 

Pointed 

Ammanati 

1569 

Pont  de  la  Concorde 

Seine 

Paris 

93 

9 

9    8 

Segm.  of  circle 

Peronnet 

1791 

Jena 

Seine 

Paris 

91 

6 

10    9 

Segm.  of  circle 

La  Maude" 

1815 

Sisto 

Tiber 

Rome 

83 

4 

41    8 

Semicircle 

Unknown 

1474 

Ponte  Molle 

Tiber 

Rome 

77 

8 

38  10 

Semicircle 

Unknown 

100B.C 

St.  Maxence 

Oise 

St.  Maxence 

76 

B 

6    3 

Segm.  of  circle 

Perronet 

1784 

TIMBER  BRIDGES. 


Name  of  Bridge. 

River. 

Place. 

Widest  Arch. 

Curve. 

Architect. 

Date. 

Span. 

Height. 

Colossus 

Piscataqua 

Bamberg 

Trenton 

Writtenghen 

Pont  Louis 

Freysingen 

Elsingen 

Pont  de  la  Cite 

Schuylkill 
Piscataqua 
Regnitz 
Delaware 

Isar 

Isar 

Wertach 

Lech 

Seine 

Philadelphia 

N.  America 

Germany 

Pennsylvania 

Switzerland 

Freysingen 

Bavaria 

Elsingen 

Near  Augsburg 

Paris 

Ft.     In. 
340    0 
250    0 
208    0 
200    0 
198    0 
154    0 
153    0 
139    0 
114    0 
104    5 

Ft.     In. 
20    0 
27    4 
17    4 
32    0 
30  10 
13    6 
11    6 

7  8 

8  9 
6    2 

Segm.  of  circle 
Segm.  of  circle 
Segm.  of  circle 
Segm.  of  circle 
Segm.  of  circle 
Segm.  of  circle 
Segm.  of  circle 
Segm.  of  circle 
Segm.  of  circle 
Segm.  of  circle 

Wernwag 

Palmer 

Wiebeking 

Burr 

Orubenmann 

Wiebeking 

Wiebeking 

Wiebeking 

Wiebeking 

Dumoutier 

1813 

1794 
1809 
1804 

1809 
1808 
1809 
1808 
1802 

IRON  BRIDGES 

Name  of  Bridge. 

River. 

Place. 

Widest  Arch. 

Architect. 

Span 

Height. 

Ft.   In. 

Ft.   In. 

Southwark 

Thames 

London 

240    0 

24    0  Segm.  of  circle 

Rennie 

1818 

Sunderland 

Wear 

Sunderland 

240    0 

30    0  (Segm.  of  circle 

Wilson 

1796 

Buildwas 

Severn 

Buildwas 

130    0 

27    0  Segm.  of  circle 

Telford 



Austerlitz 

Seine 

Paris 

106    0 

10    6   Segm.  of  circle 

Lamande" 

1806 

Bristol 

Avon 

Bristol 

100    0 

15    0  Segm.  of  circle 

Jessop 

— — 

169 

Y 

BRIDGING  JOISTS. 

We  will  now  proceed  to  give  a  short  account  of  the 
celebrated  suspension  bridge  over  the  Menai  Strait,  by 
the  late  Mr.  Telford,  as  being  the  giant  of  its  species,  and 
rendering  unnecessary  any  enumeration  of  others.  It  con- 
sists of  one  opening  of  560  feet  between  the  points  of  sus- 
pension, the  height  between  high  water  and  the  under  side 
of  the  roadway  being  100  feet.  The  platform  is  30  feet  in 
breadth.  The  whole  is  suspended  from  four  lines  of  strong 
iron  cables  by  perpendicular  rods  5  feet  apart.  On  the 
tops  of  the  pillars  the  cables  pass  over  iron  rollers,  and  are 
fixed  under  ground  to  iron  frames,  which  are  retained  in 
their  places  by  masonry.  The  weight  of  the  whole  bridge 
between  the  points  of  suspension  is  489  tons.  In  suspen- 
sion bridges  it  has  been  found  that  the  most  trying  circum- 
stances under  which  they  can  be  placed,  as  affecting  the 
stability  of  their  equilibrium,  is  the  heavy  and  measured 
tread  of  a  long  line  of  infantry,  whose  feet  drop  at  the  same 
instant  of  time. 

In  the  building  of  bridges,  where  piers  are  required  in 
the  stream  for  the  support  of  the  arches,  it  is  important  to 
place  them  as  nearly  as  possible  at  right  angles  to  the 
stream  or  current ;  and  the  piers  should  be  made  convex 
towards  the  stream,  for  their  better  resistance  to  floods. 
The  position  of  a  bridge,  moreover,  should  not  be  in  a  nar- 
row part,  nor  one  liable  to  swell  with  tides  or  floods,  inas- 
much as  the  contraction  of  the  waterway  increases  the 
depth  and  velocity  of  the  current,  and  may  thus  endanger 
the  navigation  as  well  as  the  bridge  itself.  It  is  usual  to 
construct  bridges  with  an  odd  number  of  arches,  and  this 
on  several  accounts ;  among  which  are,  that  the  stream 
being  usually  most  powerful  in  the  middle,  an  egress 
through  that  partis  best  provided  for  by  having  a  central 
arch  ;  and  again,  if  the  bridge  be  not  perfectly  horizontal, 
symmetry  is  gained  by  rising  from  the  sides  to  the  centre, 
and  the  whole  roadway  may  be  made  one  continued 
curve.  When  a  bridge  is  equally  high  throughout,  much 
saving  of  centering  is  made.becau.se  the  arches  being  all 
equal  two  sets  of  centres  will  be  sufficient.  If,  however, 
the  bridge  be  higher  in  the  middle  than  at  the  extremities, 
the  arches  on  each  side  the  centre  one  must  diminish  sim- 
ilarly, so  as  to  be  respectively  symmetrical ;  and  by  this 
arrangement  beauty  is  gained,  and  the  centering  for  one 
side  equally  suits  the  other.  It  is  desirable  to  construct  a 
bridge  with  as  few  arches  as  circumstances  will  allow,  that 
there  may  be  a  free  passage  for  the  water,  as  well  as  for 
the  vessels  that  have  to  pass  up  and  down,  not  to  mention 
the  saving  of  materials  and  labour  where  there  are  fewer 
piers  and  centres.  When  a  single  arch  can  be  compassed, 
no  more  should  be  permitted.  (For  the  mode  of  estimat- 
ing the  equilibrium  of  an  arch,  see  the  article  Arch.)  The 
piers  should  be  of  sufficient  solidity  to  resist  the  thrust  or 
push  of  the  arch,  independent  of  other  arches,  so  that  the 
centering  of  an  arch  may  be  struck  without  danger  of  over- 
turning the  pier  left  naked  ;  and  the  piers  should  also  be 
spread  as  much  as  possible  on  their  bases,  and  diminish 
gradually  upwards  from  their  foundations.  The  method 
of  laying  the  foundations  in  a  river  is  now  usually  by  means 
of  coffer-dams,  which  are  large  enclosures,  made  by  piling 
round  the  space  to  be  occupied  by  the  pier,  so  as  to  render 
it  water-tight,  and  then  pumping  out  the  water,  and  keep- 
ing the  space  dry  till  the  pier  is  built  up  to  the  ordinary 
level  of  the  water:  but  if  the  ground  about  be  loose,  this 
method  cannot  well  be  practised,  and  recourse  is  had  to 
caissons,  which  are  a  species  of  flat-bottomed  boat,  in 
which  the  pier  is  built  up  to  a  certain  height,  and  then 
sunk  over  the  place  where  it  is  intended  to  remain,  the 
bed  of  the  river  being  dredged  out  to  receive  it,  or  piles 
driven  on  which  it  may  lodge  when  the  sides  of  the  chest 
or  caisson  are  knocked  away.  In  constructing  the  centres 
great  care  must  be  taken  to  make  them  incapable  of  bend- 
ing or  swerving  while  the  arch  is  being  turned,  otherwise 
the  form  of  the  arch  will  be  crippled. 
BRI'DGING  JOISTS.  See  Joists. 
BRIEF.  (Lat.  brevis,  short.)  A  word  applied  originally 
to  a  small  written  scroll ;  but  it  is  used  at  present  in  sever- 
al significations.  In  modern  German  the  word  brief  signi- 
fies a  letter. 

1.  In  Ecclesiastical  Law,  letters  addressed  from  the  pope 
to  temporal  princes  or  communities  on  subjects  of  disci- 
pline or  public  affairs,  are  termed  apostolical  briefs.  The 
name  appears  to  have  originated  either  in  the  concise 
formula  with  which  they  begin  ("  dilecto  filio  salutem  et 
apostolicam  bonedictionem"),  or  in  the  difference  that  ex- 
ists between  this  smaller  kind  of  instrument  and  the  ample 
bullae  (bulls)  of  the  popes.  Apostolical  briefs  are  usually 
written  upon  paper,  though  sometimes  parchment  is  used. 
They  are  sealed  in  red  wax  with  the  seal  of  the  Fisherman 
(sub  annulo  Piscatoris),  which  is  a  symbol  of  St.  Peter 
casting  a  net  into  the  sea.  (Ciampini,  Dissertatio  de 
Abbrev.  Munere,  cap.  iii.) 

2.  In  Law,  the  term  brief  is  applied  to  an  abridged  narra- 
tion of' the  facts  of  a  case  prepared  for  trial,  with  or  without 
a  reference  to  points  of  law  involved  in  it  drawn  up  for  the 
preliminary  instruction  of  an  advocate. 

170 


BROKERAGE. 

3.  The  term  brief  is  applied  in  England  to  king's  letters, 
issued  to  the  archbishops,  bishops,  clergy,  magistrates,  and 
parochial  officers,  to  authorize  collections  of  money  at  the 
doors  of  the  several  churches  and  chapels  throughout  the 
country,  in  individual  cases,  wherein  application  has  been 
made  for  such  assistance  towards  the  building  or  repair  of 
a  particular  church.  This  custom  is  supposed  to  have 
commenced  after  the  disuse  of  papal  briefs  consequent  on 
the  Reformation.  Within  the  last  few  years  this  practice 
has  been  dropped,  and  a  king's  letter  is  sent  round  at  cer- 
tain intervals  to  collect  money  for  the  use  of  the  Incorpora- 
ted Society  for  the  Buildingof  Churches  generally  through- 
out the  country.  The  last  collections  were  made  in  1329, 
when  something  more  than  £40,000  was  received  ;  an i  in 
1834,  when  the  sum  collected  amounted  to  rather  more 
than  £30,000. 

BRIG.  The  general  term  for  a  vessel  having  two  masts, 
with  a  boom  mainsail,  being  otherwise  square-rigged  :  that 
is,  having  her  sails  brought  to  yards  hung  horizontally  by 
the  middle. 

BRIGA'DE.  This  term  either  implies  the  union  of  two 
or  more  regiments  or  battalions  in  one  corps,  or  of  a  cer- 
tain number  of  men  or  guns  in  one  subdivision.  A  brigade 
of  infantry  may  consist  ot  from  one  to  six  battalions,  and  a 
brigade  of  cavalry  of  two  or  three  regiments.  Six  pieces 
of  ordnance  form  a  brigade  of  artillery  ;  and  the  horse  ar- 
tillery consists  of  twelve  troops,  to  each  of  which  is  at- 
tached one  such  brigade  of  guns.  A  brigade  of  sappers 
consists  of  eight  men.  The  commander  of  a  brigade  is 
called  a  brigadier-general. 

BRl'GANTINE.  A  name  often  applied  to  a  small  brig 
of  a  foreign  nation. 

BRIGHT.  (Sax.  beort.)  In  Painting,  shining  with  light ; 
a  term  applied  to  a  picture  in  which  the  lights  preponder- 
ate over  the  shadows. 

BRILLa'NTE.     (Ital.)    In  Music,  prefixed  to  a  move- 
ment, denotes  that  it  is  to  be  played  in  a  gay  and  lively 
manner. 
BRl'MSTONE.     See  Sulphur. 

BRI'STOL  STONES,  BRISTOL  DIAMONDS.  These 
are  small  and  brilliant  crystals  of  quartz,  found  in  the 
vicinity  of  Bristol,  and  occasionally  used  for  ornamental 
purposes. 

BRI'TISH  GUM.  When  starch  is  exposed  to  a  tempera- 
ture of  about  GOO3  it  becomes  of  a  brownish  colour,  and  so 
far  altered  in  its  chemical  characters  as  no  longer  to  form 
a  blue  colour  with  iodine:  it  is  also  soluble  in  cold  water. 
In  this  state  it  is  used,  under  the  above  name,  by  calico 
printers. 

BRO'ADCAST.  Sowing  seeds  by  casting  them  or  scat- 
tering them  abroad,  so  as  to  distribute  them  evenly  over  the 
entire  surface  of  the  soil,  in  opposition  to  sowing  in  drills 
or  rows.  The  operation  of  sowing  broadcast  is  generally 
performed  by  the  hand,  the  operator  carrying  the  seeds  in 
a  bag  or  sowing  sheet,  or  in  a  basket.  There  are  also  ma- 
chines for  sowing  broadcast,  but  they  are  not  much  in  use. 
In  general,  all  corns  and  grasses  are  sown  broadcast ; 
while  pulse  and  broad-leaved  plants,  grown  for  their  roots 
or  leaves,  are  sown  in  drills  or  rows.  The  term  is  some- 
times applied  to  planting,  but  it  is  more  generally  restricted 
to  sowing. 

BRO'ADSIDE.  A  nautical  term,  signifying  the  dis- 
charge of  the  whole  of  the  artillery  on  one  side  of  a  ship  of 
war. 

BRO'KEN-BACKED.  A  ship  is  said  to  be  broken- 
backed  when,  in  consequence  of  being  loosened  from  age 
or  injurv.  her  frame  droops  at  either  end. 

BRO'KEN  WINDED.  A  ruptured  state  of  the  air  cells, 
chiefly  on  the  edges  of  the  lungs,  in  the  horse,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  the  expiration  occupies  more  time  than 
the  inspiration  of  the  air,  and  is  laboriously  and  generally 
spasmodically  effected.  It  is  a  disease  which  may  admit 
of  palliation,  but  not  of  cure  ;  the  animal  becomes  grad- 
ually less  capable  of  exertion,  and  if  urged  on,  he  drops 
and  dies. 

BRO'KER.  In  Mercantile  Law,  a  person  employed 
about  contracting  for  the  disposal  of  property  without  be- 
ing put  in  actual  possession  of  it,  as  is  the  case  with  a  fac- 
tor. (See  Factor.)  But  all  agents  answering  to  this  defi- 
nition are  not  brokers,  nor  has  the  term  any  very  exact 
legal  signification.  Particular  classes  of  brokers  are.  bill 
or  exchange  brokers,  stock  brokers,  insurance  brokers, 
pawnbrokers,  and  brokers  who  sell  or  appraise  household 
furniture  for  rent.  By  8  <k  9  W.  3.  c.  20.  brokers  in  the 
city  of  London  must  be  licensed  by  the  mayorand  alder- 
men, and  grant  a  bond  with  a  penalty  of  £300  on  their  ad- 
mission. According  to  mercantile  usage,  if  goods  within 
the  city  of  London  are  sold  by  a  broker  to  be  paid  for  by  a 
bill  of  exchange,  the  vendor,  if  not  satisfied  with  the  sol- 
vency of  the  purchaser,  has  a  right  within  a  reasonable 
time  to  annul  the  contract. 

BRO'KERAGE.  The  per-centage  paid  the  broker  for 
his  trouble  in  effecting  a  sale,  or  in  negotiating  any  particu- 
lar business. 


BROMELIACE^. 

BROME'LIA'CEvE.  (Bromelia,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  Endogenous  plants  inhabiting  the  tropical 
parts  of  the  world,  where  they  grow  in  the  rich  vegetable 
soil  of  forests,  or  upon  the  branches  of  trees,  to  which 
they  cling  by  their  twisting  slender  roots.  They  usually 
have  hard  leaves  covered  with  a  scurfiness  easily  rubbed 
off,  and  are  so  arranged  as  to  be  able  to  hold  the  water  that 
lodges  in  their  centre.  Many  of  them  will  grow  for 
months,  and  flower,  when  suspended  in  the  air,  after  be- 
iti lt  severed  from  their  roots.  Their  flowers  are  usually 
white,  crimson,  blue,  or  purple,  and  often  exceedingly 
handsome.  In  the  genus  Ananassa  the  bracts  and  flowers 
are  so  fleshy,  that  they  all  grow  together  into  a  solid  mass, 
and  thus  form  the  well-known  fruit  called  the  pine  apple. 
TiUandsia  itsneoides  is  a  curious  species  of  this  order, 
hanging  down  in  long  grey  threads  from  the  branches  of 
trees  in  American  forests,  and  so  seldom  flowering  that  it 
might  be  taken  for  some  species  of  lichen  ;  it  is  easily 
dried,  and  then  used  for  stuffing  mattresses,  &c. 

BROMINE.  (Gr.  flpujios,  a  strong  odour.)  An  unde- 
enmpounded  substance  discovered  in  1826  by  M.  Balard  of 
Montpelier.  In  its  general  chemical  habitudes  it  much  re- 
sembles chlorine  and  iodine,  and  is  generally  associated 
with  them.  It  exists,  but  in  very  minute  quantities,  in  sea- 
water,  and  in  the  ashes  of  marine  plants.  It  is  usually  ex- 
tracted from  bittern  by  the  agency  of  chlorine.  At  com- 
mon temperatures  it  Is  a  very  dark  reddish  liquid,  of  a 
powerful  and  suffocating  odour,  and  emitting  red  vapour. 
Its  specific  gravity  is  about  3.  It  boils  at  116°,  and  con- 
geals at  4°.  The  density  of  its  vapour  is  55;  100  cubic 
inches  at  mean  temperature  and  pressure  weighing  167-25 
grains.  It  is  an  electronegative;  it  has  bleaching  powers, 
and  it  is  very  poisonous.  Its  equivalent  number  is  about 
73  ;  i:  combines  with  hydrogen  to  form  hydrobromic  acid 
gas.  100  cubic  inches  of  which  weigh  81  7  grains.  With 
oxygen  it  forms  the  bromic  acid.  Its  combinations  are 
termed  bromides;  they  have  not  hitherto  been  applied  to 
any  use,  but  some  of  them  are  probably  possessed  of  pow- 
erful medic  il  qualities, 

BRO'NCHIA.  (Ft.  Ppoyxos,  the  throat.)  The  smaller 
ramifications  ofthe  windpipe. 

BR(  >v:n   lis      lull  unm  ition  ofthe  bronchia. 

BRONCHOCE'LE.  (Gr.  ffpoyx^i,  thethroat,  and  Kri\n, 
a  tumour.)  A  tumour  -on  the  fore  part  ofthe  neck,  being 
a  morbid  enlargement  ofthe  thyroid  L'land.  From  its  pre- 
valence in  Derbyshire  it  is  sometimes  called  the  Derby- 
shire neck,  and  it  is  a  very  common  disease  among  the  in- 
habitants of  mountainous  districts,  especially  of  the  Alps. 
It  has  been  attributed  to  some  peculiarity  of  the  water  of 
tbose  districts,  but  upon  no  satisfactory  evidence.  Iodine 
has  lately  been  administered  successfully  in  the  cure  of 
this  and  other  glandular  enlargements,  but  it  is  a  medicine 
requiring  to  hi'  used  with  csutiMi. 

BRONCIIO'TOMY.  (Gr.  Ppoyx»i,  and  wpa,  /  cut.) 
The  operation  of  making  an  opening  into  the  trachea  In  or- 
der to  prevent  suffocation. 

BRONZE.  (It.  bronzo.)  In  Sculpture,  a  material  used 
for  casting  statues,  groups,  &C.,  in  a  mould  similar  in  prin- 
ciple to  that  wherefrom  all  plaister  casts  are  produced. 
From  the  extraordinary  dimensions  which  involve  the 
chief  differences  between  the  operations  of  casting  in  br.iss 
and  plaister,  much  intelligence  and  care  on  the  part  ofthe 
sculptor  is  necessary  to  produce  the  fac-simile  ofthe  work 
on  which  his  labour  has  been  expended.  The  material 
employed  for  the  purpose  is  a  compound  chiefly  consist- 
ing of  copper,  tin.  and  other  metals.  The  process  of  pro- 
curing the  cast  depends  on  circumstances  requiring  much 
nice  arrangement  ;  but  the  reader  will  immediately  con- 
ceive that  though  the  difficulty  of  making  such  a  mixture 
insinuate  itself  into  every  part  of  the  often  colossal  mould 
is  great,  it  is  no  more  in  reality  than  many  of  the  large 
cast-iron  foundings  which  are  every  day  effected;  though, 
from  the  nature  ofthe  human  and  other  animal  forms,  it  is 
difficult  to  conduct  such  an  operation  with  any  thing  like 
a  degree  of  certain  attainment  of  the  object  without  extra- 
ordinary means. 

BRO'NZITE.  A  variety  of  diallage  of  a  metallic  or 
bronz?  colour. 

BROOM.  The  Spartium  seoparium  or  Cytisus  scoparius 
of  botanists,  is  an  evergreen,  green-branched  shrub,  native 
of  sandy  soils  throughout  Europe.  It  is  sown  extensively 
in  this  country  as  a  shelter  for  game,  and  among  the  other 
plants  in  young  plantations  as  a  screen  from  the  wind  and 
a  protection  till  the  more  important  species  can  establish 
themselves.  Its  branches,  which  are  tough,  are  made  up 
into  brooms,  to  which  they  have  given  their  name. 

BROWN.  (Sax.  brun.)  In  Painting,  a  dark  dusky  co- 
lour inclining  towards  red,  of  various  degrees  of  depth,  of 
which  there  are  manv  sorts. 

BROWN  COAL.  'An  imperfect  kind  of  coal,  which 
burns  with  a  peculiar  bituminous  odour  resembling  that  of 
peat.  Its  ligneous  structure  is  sometimes  so  distinct  that 
it  has  been  called  bituminous  wood. 

BROW'NISTS.  The  followers  of  Robert  Brown,  who 
171 


BUCCINUM. 

In  the  year  15-91  seceded  from  the  English  church,  and  es- 
tablished a  sect  upon  the  principle  that  every  congregation 
should  forma  church  independent  (in  matters  of  discipline 
and  doctrine)  of  all  others.  In  matters  of  doctrine  he  did 
not  differ  from  the  church;  to  which  indeed  he  returned, 
and  took  preferment  after  some  years.  The  Brownists 
underwent  great  persecution  under  Elizabeth,  and  retired 
in  considerable  numbers  to  Holland.  From  them,  how- 
ever, have  sprung  the  Congrega'ional  Brethren  and  Inde- 
pendents, a  very  powerful  sect  in  England  at  the  present 
day.     See  Independents. 

BROWN  SPAR.  A  magnesian  carbonate  of  lime  tinged 
by  oxide  of  iron  and  manganese. 

BRU'CHUS.  A  Linnsean  genus  of  Coleopterous  insects, 
of  the  tribe  RJiyncophora,  now  the  type  ol  a  family  (Bru- 
chidce),  with  the  following  characters  : — upper  lip  distinct ; 
head  produced  anteriorly  into  a  broad  flattened  snout; 
palpi  filiform  ;  antenna?  filiform  or  serrate  ;  eyes  notched  ; 
wing-sheaths  not  covering  the  extremity  ofthe  body.  The 
insects  of  this  family  deposit  their  eggs  in  the  young  grains 
or  seeds  of  leguminous  plants ;  the  time  of  the  hatching  of 
the  eggs  is  when  the  seeds  have  approached  to  maturity, 
and  then  the  larv®  begin  to  feed  voraciously  upon  them. 
One  species,  the  Bruchus granarius,  infests  our  peas;  and 
the  ravages  of  this  insect,  and  the  Bruchus  ]>isi,  have  been 
so  extensive  as  to  call  for  legislative  interference ;  in 
France,  for  example  in  the  year  ITS'),  the  sale  of  peas  in 
the  market  was  prohibited,  in  consequence  ofthe  damaged 
and  unwholesome  condition  of  those  vegetables  through 
the  operations  of  the  species  of  the  Bruchida,  above  cited. 

BRU'CIA.  A  vegeto-alkaloid,  discovered  by  Pelletier 
and  Caventou  in  the  bark  of  the  Brucea  ontidysenlerica; 
and  also  associated  in  small  relative  proportion  with 
strychnia  in  the  nux  vomica  and  St.  Ignatius's  bean.  It  is 
very  bitter  and  poisonous. 

BRU'NSWICK  GREEN.  A  pigment  obtained  by  ex- 
posing metallic  copper  to  the  action  of  muriate  of  am- 
monia. It  is  a  compound  of  chloride  and  oxide  of  copper. 
It  is  also  generated  by  the  action  of  sea  water  upon  copper, 
as  in  the  green  matter  which  incrusts  the  copper  sheath- 
iiu  of  ships. 

BRUSH.     (Fr.  brousse.)    In  Painting.     See  Pencil. 

BRU'TA.  The  term  by  which  Linnaeus  designated  an 
order  of  Mammals,  including  the  elephant,  manatee,  ami 
walrus,  with  the  quadrupeds  now  forming  the  order  Eden- 
tata of  Cuvier. 

BKYO'NIA.  A  bitter  and  somewhat  poisonous  princi- 
icted  from  the  root  ofthe  Bryoniaalba. 

BR'YONY.  ((Jr. /ioi",j,  I  grow  rapidly.)  A  wild  climb- 
ing  plant  belonging  to  the  Cucurbitaceous  order,  with  a 
large  woody  perennial  root,  and  annual  stems,  which  re- 
semble those  »f  a  gourd,  except  that  they  are  more  slen- 
der, clinging  to  bushes  by  means  of  their  twisting  tendrils. 
The  berries  are  scarlet,  with  a  disagreeable  odour  when 
bruised.  The  leaves  have  five  angular  lobes,  and  are  three 
or  four  inches  broad,  with  many  callous  tubercles.  The 
roots  are  violently  purgative  :  they  are  now  disused.  It 
has  been  known  to  produce  violent  vomiting,  tormina, 
profuse  watery  evacuations,  and  fainting.  Cases  are  men- 
tioned by  Orfila  and  others  where  over-doses  have  proved 
fatal.  Bryonine,  an  active  extractive  principle,  is  among 
the  most  dangerous  of  vegetable  poisons. 

BU'BO.  (Gr.  fiov6<i>v,  the  groin.)  A  tumour  very  fre- 
quently occurring  in  the  glands  of  the  groin,  and  also  in  the 
arm  pit.  It  is  often  the  result  of  local  absorption  of  irritat- 
ing matter,  as  in  venereal  buboes;  or  is  symptomatic  of 
constitutional  disease,  as  in  the  plague,  scrofula,  and  some 
fevers. 

BUBONO'CELE.  (Gr.  (3ov6wv,  the  groin,  and  Kn\n,  tu- 
mour.)   A  rupture  forming  a  tumour  in  the  groin. 

BU'CC  ANEE'RS.  (Fr.  boucanier,  from  boucan,  a  word 
ofthe  Caraib  Indians,  signifying  meat  preserved  in  a  par- 
ticular manner,  which  was  adopted,  together  with  the  cus- 
tom, by  the  French  in  the  West  Indies.)  The  pirates  who 
infested  the  coasts  of  the  West  Indies  and  South  America 
during  the  17th  and  16th  centuries  were  so  called.  The 
association  of  these  pirates  is  said  to  have  commenced  as 
early  as  the  middle  of  the  16th  :  but  in  1625  they  obtained 
possession  of  St.  Kitt's.  and  afterwards  of  Tobago,  which 
thenceforward  became  for  a  long  time  the  head-quarters 
ofthe  buccaneers,  who  formed  a  sort  of  seafaring  republic, 
composed  chiefly  of  English  and  French  adventurers. 
Their  chief  object  was  war  against  the  Spaniards,  and 
plunder  of  their  ships  and  settlements.  After  the  peace 
of  Ryswick,  in  1697,  they  gradually  disappeared  from  the 
seas.  The  History  of  tlie  Buccaneers  of  America,  by 
James  Burney,  is  a  well  known  and  entertaining  work. 
By  French  writers  these  pirates  are  commonly  called 
FHibustiers  ,  apparently  a  corruption  of  the  English  word 
freebooters. 

BUCCINA'TOR.  (Lat.  buccina,  a  trumpet.)  A  mus- 
cle of  the  cheek  called  into  action  in  various  motions  of 
the  mouth,  and  especially  in  blowing  a  wind  instrument. 

BU'CCLNUM.    (Buccinum,  a  trumpet  or  sheltftsh.)  The 


BUCCO. 

name  of  a  Linntean  genus  of  Vermes  Testacea,  character- 
ised by  having  a  shell  with  a  smooth  non-plicated  columella, 
and  with  a  fissure  or  short  respiratory  canal  inflected  to- 
wards the  left.  The  mollusca  with  shells  corresponding 
to  this  character  are  ranked  amongst  the  Pectinibranchiate 
Gastropods  by  Cuvier,  and  have  been  subdivided  into  the 
following  subgenera: — Buccinum  proper,  Brug.,  of  which 
the  whelk,  Buc.  undatum,  is  an  example  ;  Nassa.  Lam.  ; 
Eburna,  Lam.  ;  Ancillaria,  Lam.  ;  Dolium,  Lam.  ;  Perdix, 
Mart. ;  Harpa,  Lam.  ;  Purpura,  Brug. ;  Monoceros,  Lam. ; 
Ricinula,  Lam. ;  Concholepas,  Lam.  ;  Cassis,  Brug.  ;  Morio, 
Montf. ;  Terebra,  Brug. 

BU'CCO.  (Lat.  bucca,  cheek.)  The  name  of  a  genus 
of  Lygodactyle  birds,  called  barbets.  The  scientific  term 
relates  to  the  tumefaction  of  the  sides  of  the  base  of  the 
bill ;  the  trivial  English  name  is  derived  from  the  bristly 
feathers  which  surround  the  base  of  the  bill,  and  project 
beneath  the  chin  like  a  beard.  The  genus  is  now  the 
type  of  a  family,  including  the  barbets  proper  (Bucco),  the 
Brazilian  barbets  or  tamatias  (Tamatid),  and  the  barbicans 
of  Buffon,  which  are  limited  to  the  warmer  parts  of  India 
and  Africa. 

BUCENTAUTl.  (Gr.  /3ov;,  an  ox;  Ktvravpog,  a  cen- 
taur.) A  mythological  monster,  half  man  and  half  ox,  as 
the  Greek  etymology  of  the  word  imports.  This  was  also 
the  name  of  the  state  galley  of  the  Venetian  doges,  in 
which  they  annually  sailed  over  a  portion  of  the  Adriatic 
on  Ascension  Day,  and,  dropping  a  ring  into  the  sea,  es- 
poused it  in  the  name  of  the  republic,  with  the  words, 
"  Desponsamus  te,  mare,  in  signum  veri  perpetuique  do- 
minii." 

BU'CEROS.  (Gr.  0ovs,  an  ox,  and  ncpas,  a  horn.)  A 
genus  of  Syndactylous  Insessorial  birds,  remarkable  for 
the  prodigious  size  of  the  mandibles,  the  superior  of  which 
in  some  species  supports  a  large  horn-like  protuberance. 
The  birds  of  this  genus  are  commonly  called  horn-bills  ; 
they  are  peculiar  to  the  old  world,  and  perform  the  same 
offices  in  wild  nature  as  the  toucans  of  America. 

BU'CKA.  A  strong-smelling  leaf  imported  from  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  used  medicinally  as  an  anti- 
spasmodic. It  is  produced  by  Diosma  crenata  and  some 
allied  species. 

BU'CKWHEAT.  (A  corruption  of  beechwheat.)  A 
kind  of  grain,  produced  by  the  Polygonum  fagopyrum  of 
botanists.  It  has  a  triangular  form,  and  is  not  unlike  beech- 
mast.  In  some  countries  it  is  cultivated  as  food  for  man, 
and  even  in  this  country  its  flour  is  said  to  enter  into  the 
composition  of  the  thin  cakes  called  crumpets;  but  its 
chief  value  is  as  food  for  pheasants,  which  are  so  fond  of 
it  that  they  may  be  decoyed  from  their  preserves  by  its 
employment.  It  is  said  that  some  estates  have  been 
rapidly  stocked  with  this  description  of  game,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  neighbouring  coverts,  by  the  aid  of  a  few  fields 
of  buckwheat. 

BUCO'LICS.  The  Greek  term  for  pastoral  poems, 
meaning  literally  the  songs  of  herdsmen  (06vko\oi).  We 
have  considerable  remains  of  this  species  of  poetry  in  the 
poems  of  Theocritus,  Bion,  and  Moschus,  and  the  Eclogues 
of  Virgil.  The  metre  universally  employed  is  the  hex- 
ameter or  heroic  ;  but  in  pastoral  poetry  an  easier  flow  of 
the  lines  was  studied  than  in  epics,  and  this  was  generally 
accomplished  by  introducing  a  larger  proportion  of  the 
metrical  feet  called  dactyls  in  the  former  than  in  the  latter; 
but  no  rules  were  laid  down  on  this  point.  This  species 
of  poetry  has  been  cultivated  also  by  most  modern  nations, 
and  in  England,  France,  and  especially  in  Germany,  with 
great  success.  Indeed,  the  last-mentioned  country  can 
boast  among  others  of  a  Gessner,  whose  Idyls  have  been 
pronounced  by  some  modern  critics  to  be  models  of  pas- 
toral poetry,  combining  the  most  finished  harmony  of 
numbers  with  a  simplicity  and  tenderness  of  sentiment  and 
expression  worthy  of  Theocritus  himself. 

BU'DDHISM.  A  religion  which  prevails  over  a  great 
part  of  Asia;  and,  according  to  the  estimates  of  some 
geographers,  has  a  much  greater  number  of  worshippers 
than  any  other  form  of  faith  among  mankind.  China,  the 
peninsula  beyond  the  Ganges,  Japan,  and  various  Indian 
islands,  are  chiefly  peopled  by  Buddhists.  The  founder 
of  this  relision,  according  to  tradition,  was  an  Indian  prince, 
to  whom  the  title  of  Buddha,  or  "The  Sage,"  is  assigned 
by  his  worshippers.  The  period  to  which  his  life  is  assign- 
ed is  variously  estimated,  according  to  a  variety  of  oriental 
traditions ;  but  several  of  them  coincide  in  referring  it 
nearly  to  the  tenth  or  eleventh  century  before  Christ. 
Buddhism  was  expelled  from  India  by  the  persecutions 
of  the  Brahmans,  between  the  fifth  and  seventh  centuries 
of  our  era.  The  doctrines  of  the  Buddhists  seem  mainly 
to  rest  on  the  principle,  that  the  world, and  sensible  objects 
contained  in  it,  are  manifestations  of  the  Deity,  but  of  a 
transient  and  delusive  character;  that  the  human  soul  is 
an  emanationjrom  Deity  ;  that  after  death  it  will  again  be 
bound  to  mafter,  and  subjected  to  the  miseries  and  acci- 
dents of  this  life,  unless  the  individual  to  whom  it  belongs 
by  the  attainment  of  wisdom  through  prayer  and  contem- 
172 


BULE. 

plation  succeeds  in  liberating  it  from  that  necessity,  and 
secures  its  absorption  into  that  divine  essence  from  which 
it  sprang. 

BU'DGET,  in  a  general  sense,  means  a  condensed  state- 
ment of  the  income  and  expenditure  of  a  nation,  or  of  any 
particular  public  department.  In  England,  however,  the 
term  is  usually  employed  to  designate  the  speech  made  by 
the  chancellor  of  the  exchequer  when  he  gives  a  general 
view  of  the  public  revenue  and  expenditure,  and  intimates 
whether  government  intend  to  propose  the  imposition  or 
repeal  of  any  taxes,  &c. 

BU'FFALO.  (Lat.  bubalis.)  A  term  originally  applied  to  a 
species  of  antelope  ;  but  afterwards  transferred,  in  the  age  of 
Martial,  to  different  species  of  the  ox.  In  modern  zoology 
the  Buffaloes,  or  the  "  Bubaline  group"  of  the  genus  Bos, 
include  those  species  which  have  the  bony  core  of  the  horn 
excavated,  with  large  cells  or  sinuses  communicating  with 
the  cavity  of  the  nose  ;  the  horns  are  flattened,  and  bend 
laterally  with  a  backward  direction,  and  are  consequently 
less  applicable  for  goring  than  in  the  Bisons,  or  Taurine 
group  of  oxen  :  the  head  is  large,  with  a  narrow  but  con- 
vex forehead,  and  terminates  in  a  broad  muzzle.  The 
Buffaloes  are  of  large  size,  but  low  in  proportion  to  their 
bulk  ;  they  have  no  hunch  on  the  back,  and  only  a  small 
dewlap  on  the  breast :  the  hide  is  generally  black  ;  the  tail 
long  and  slender.  The  Buffaloes  occupy  the  warm  and 
tropical  regions  of  the  earth  ;  they  avoid  hills,  and  prefer 
the  coarse  vegetation  of  the  forest  and  swampy  regions  to 
those  of  open  plains ;  they  love  to  wallow  and  lie  for  hours 
sunk  deep  in  water  ;  they  swim  well,  and  cross  the  broad- 
est rivers  without  hesitation  ;  their  gait  is  heavy,  and  they 
run  almost  always  with  the  nose  horizontal,  being  princi- 
pally guided  by  the  sense  of  smelling.  In  their  combats, 
they  usually  strike  or  butt  with  the  forehead,  and  when 
their  opponent  is  thrown  they  endeavor  to  crush  him  with 
their  knees;  they  trample  on  the  body;  and  their  vindic- 
tive fury  is  so  lasting,  that  they  will  return  again  and  again 
to  glut  their  vengeance  upon  the  same  inanimate  corpse  : 
they  herd  together  in  small  flocks,  or  live  in  pairs,  but  are 
never  strictly  gregarious  in  a  wild  state.  The  females  bear 
calves  two  years  following,  but  remain  sterile  the  third; 
they  propagate  at  four  and  a  half  years  old,  and  discontinue 
after  twelve.  Their  extreme  aversion  to  red  colours  has 
been  remarked  both  in  India  and  at  the  Cape.  The  Arnee 
Buffalo  (Bos  Ami)  is  the  species  in  which  the  horns  attain 
the  greatest  size  :  there  is  a  pair  of  horns  in  the  British 
Museum  considered  by  Col.  Smith  (from  whose  excellent 
description  of  theRuminautia  in  the  translation  of  the  Ani- 
mal Kingdom  of  Cuvier  the  preceding  observations  are 
chiefly  derived)  to  be  of  the  true  or  Great  Arnee  :  each  of 
these  horns  measures  along  the  curve  from  base  to  tip,  six 
feet  three  inches;  circumference  at  the  base,  eighteen 
inches. 

BUG.     See  Cimex. 

BU'GLE  HORN.  (From  bucula,  a  heifer.)  A  musical 
wind  brass  instrument,  latterly  improved  by  keys,  so  as  to 
be  capable  of  all  the  inflexions  of  the  scale. 

BUHL.  Ornamental  furniture,  in  which  tortoise-shell 
and  various  woods  are  inlaid  with  brass.  The  name  is  de- 
rived from  its  inventor. 

BULB.  (Gr.  fiovSo;.)  A  collection  of  fleshy  scales,  ar- 
ranged like  those  of  a  bud,  of  which  the  bulb  is  a  slight 
modification,  separating  spontaneously  from  the  stem  to 
which  it  belongs,  and  emitting  roots  from  its  base.  It  is 
usually  found  underground,  as  in  the  hyacinth ;  but  some- 
times upon  the  surface  of  the  stem  in  the  axils  of  the 
leaves,  as  in  thebulbiferous  lily.  The  old  botanists  used  to 
distinguish  two  sorts  of  bulbs,  the  tunicated  and  the  solid : 
the  former  is  the  only  one  to  which  the  name  is  now  ap- 
plied ;  the  latter  is  the  cormus,  as  in  crocus. 

BULBO'DIUM.  A  kind  of  underground  stem,  resem- 
bling a  rhizoma. 

BU'LBOGE'MMA.  A  name  forthose  bulbs  which  grow 
on  the  stems  of  plants,  as  in  the  tiger  lily  and  other  species 
of  that  genus. 

BU'LBOTU'BER.  That  kind  of  stem  which  the  old 
botanists  called  a  solid  bulb,  and  the  moderns  more  gene- 
rally a  cormus.  It  is  a  round  solid  underground  stem, 
clothed  with  the  withered  remains  of  leaves,  and  producing 
buds  on  its  surface,  as  in  crocus. 

BU'LE.  (Gr.  0ov\ti,  a  council.)  By  this  name  the 
Athenian  senate  was  designated,  the  constitution  of  which 
was  as  follows  : — When  the  people  were  divided  into  four 
tribes,  each  of  these,  according  to  the  regulation  of  Solon, 
elected  100  representatives,  thus  making  in  all  a  delibera- 
tive body  of  400  members.  But  when  Cleisthenes  increas- 
ed the  number  of  tribes  to  ten,  the  complement  of  the 
senate  was  raised  to  500,  fifty  of  which  were  sent  by  each 
tribe ;  when  the  tribes  were  finally  increased  to  twelve,  100 
more  senators  were  added.  All  free-born  Athenian  citi- 
zens above  thirty  years  of  age  were  eligible  to  this  office, 
but  they  were  obliged  to  undergo  a  strict  examination  of 
their  characters  and  morals.  The  senate  was  originally  in- 
stituted by  Solon  to  be  a  cheGk  on  the  assembly  of  the 


BULIMIA. 

whole  people  (ucxXfcria),  before  which,  according  to  the 
Athenian  constitution,  no  measures  were  allowed  to  be 
brought  before  they  had  first  met  with  its  approbation. 
See  Prytanes. 

BULl'MIA.  (Or.  ffovj  a  syllable  denoting  greatness  in 
compound  words,  and  \ijiot,  hunger.)  A  morbid  appe- 
tite lor  food. 

BULKHEAD.  The  sea  term  forany  partition,  as  of  wood, 
canvass,  or  other  material. 

BULL,  PAPAL.  (Lat.  bulla.)  An  instrument,  ordinance, 
or  decree  of  the  pope,  equivalent  to  the  proclamations, 
edicts,  letters  patent,  or  ukases  of  secular  princes.  Bulls 
are  written  on  parchment,  to  which  a  leaden  seal  is  affixed, 
and  are  granted  for  the  consecration  of  bishops,  the  pro- 
motion to  benefices,  and  the  celebration  of  jubilees,  &c. 
The  publication  of  papal  bulls  is  termed  fulmination  ;  and  it 
is  done  by  one  of  three  commissioners,  to  whom  they  are 
usually  addressed.  The  bull  is  thus  described  by  Matthew 
Paris  : — Anno  Dom.  1257.  In  bulla  domini  Papee  stat  imago 
Pauli  a  dextris  crucis  in  medio  bullae  figurata,  et  Petri  a 
sinistris. 

Bull,  Golden.  In  German  History,  a  term  applied  par- 
ticularly to  a  statute  or  enactment  of  the  emperor  Charles 
IV.,  published  a.  d.  1356,  in  two  diets  held  in  succession  at 
Nurimberg  and  Metz,  for  the  purpose  of  fixing  the  laws 
in  the  election  of  the  emperor,  and  of  regulating  the  num- 
ber and  privileges  of  the  electors.  (Churfursten.)  The 
original  copy  of  this  instrument  (which  was  long  regarded 
as  the  Magna  Charta  of  the  German  Empire,  and  continued 
in  operation  till  its  dissolution  in  lsoti)  is  preserved  at 
Frankfort  on  the  Maine,  and  has  a  seal  of  gold  appendant ; 
whence  the  appellation  Golden  Bull  is  derived. 

BU'LLA.  (Lat.)  A  stud  or  boss,  but  more  particularly 
an  ornament  in  the  shape  of  a  heart,  worn  round  the  neck 
by  noble  Roman  children  till  they  were  seventeen  years 
old  ;  when  they  assumed  the  manly  dress  of  the  toga,  and 
suspended  the  bulla  as  a  consecrated  offering  to  the  lares 
or  household  gods. 

Bu'lla.  (Lat.  bulla,  a  bubble.)  A  genus  of  Acerous 
Gastropodous  Mollusks,  the  shell  of  which  is  more  or  less 
globose,  or  inflated  like  a  bubble  ;  having  no  visible  or  pro- 
jecting spire,  which  is  concealed  by  the  large  external 
whorl,  which  is  elevated  above  the  rest.  The  columella 
makes  a  convex  prominence,  which  gives  a  crescentic  form 
to  the  aperture  of  the  shell ;  the  animal  breathes  by  gills, 
but  has  no  respiratory  tube  or  siphon,  and  consequently  the 
margin  of  the  aperture  of  the  shell  is  entire,  or  without  a 
fissure  or  canal.  All  the  species  of  bulla  are  remarkable 
for  a  shelly  apparatus  of  three  pieces,  which  converts  the 
stomach  into  a  gizzard  or  triturating  cavity.  These  gastric 
calcareous  pieces  have  been  described  as  a  bivalve  shell  of 
a  Dew  L"rnis. 

BU'LLETIN.  (Mod.  Lat.  bulleta.)  In  Diplomatics,  a  term 
equivalent  to  schedule,  and  variously  applied  to  different 
sorts  of  public  acts.  In  modern  times,  this  name  has  been 
applied,  especially  in  France,  to  reports  of  a  state  of  facts 
issued  by  authority  ;  as  bulletins  of  health,  bulletins  of 
military  events,  Arc. 

Bd'LLION.     Uncoined  gold  and  silver. 

BULL'S  EYE.  In  Architecture,  a  small  circular  open- 
ing or  window. 

BULL'S  NOSE.  In  Architecture,  the  external  angle  of 
a  polygon,  or  of  two  lines  which  meet  at  an  obtuse  angle. 

BU'MBOAT.  A  boat  allowed  to  altend  a  ship  regularly 
to  supply  the  sailors  with  articles  of  provisions,  clothing, 
&c. 

BUOYS.  Vessels  formed  of  wood,  cork,  or  some  light 
substance,  moored  or  anchored  so  as  to  float  over  a  certain 
spot,  in  order  to  indicate  the  situation  of  a  shoal  or  sand 
bank,  and  mark  out  the  course  a  ship  is  to  follow.  When 
used  for  this  purpose,  buoys  are  usually  close  vessels  in 
the  form  of  a  cone,  of  large  dimensions,  in  order  that  they 
may  be  seen  from  a  distance ;  and  generally  painted  of 
some  particular  colour,  in  order  that  they  may  be  more 
readily  distinguished  from  one  another.  Public  buoys  in 
England  are  placed  by  warrant  of  Queen  Elizabeth  un- 
der the  management  of  the  Corporation  of  the  Trinity 
House,  and  the  amount  of  revenue  annually  collected  for 
their  use  is  between  JEU.ODO  and  £12,000.  Private  buoys 
are  used  for  the  purpose  of  indicating  the  situation  of  ships' 
anchors  (to  which  they  are  fastened  by  a  rope),  in  order 
that  the  ship  may  be  prevented  from  running  foul  of  the 
anchor,  and  that  the  anchor  and  cable  may  be  recovered 
when  the  latter  happens  to  be  broken,  or  has  been  cut. 

BU'PHAGA.  (Gr.  /?ovc,  ox;  <j>ayo>,  I  eat.)  A  genus  of 
Conirostral  Passerine  birds,  of  which  the  African  beef- 
eater (Buphaga  Africana)  is  the  sole  example.  It  derives 
its  name  from  its  habit  of  sedulously  extracting  from  the 
backs  of  cattle  the  larva;  of  aestri  and  other  Dipterous  insects 
which  are  deposited  therein.  The  French  name  of  this 
bird,  "pique-boeuf,"  or  "  cattle  picker,"  more  correctly  de- 
notes the  peculiar  habits  of  the  bird  than  the  scientific 
generic  term. 

BL'PRE'STIS.  (Lat.  buprestia,  a  noxious  insect.)  The 
173 


BURGHERS. 

name  of  a  Linnaean  genus  of  Coleopterous  Serricorn  in- 
sects,  now  the  type  of  a  family  (Buprestida),  including  the 
most  splendid  and  brilliant  beetles.  Of  this  family  up- 
wards of  a  thousand  species  are  known :  by  the  French 
they  are  termed  "Nichards." 

BU'RDEN.  (Fr.  bourdon,  a  staff.)  In  Music,  the  drone 
or  bass  in  some  musical  instruments,  and  the  pipe  or 
string  that  plays  it.  The  bass  pipe  in  the  bagpipe  is  so 
called.  Hence,  that  part  of  a  song  that  is  repeated  at  the 
end  of  every  stanza  is  called  the  burden  of  it. 

BUREAU'.  (Fr.)  Originally  a  writing  table ;  afterwards 
applied  to  the  office  of  any  public  or  private  functionary 
where  business  is  transacted. 

BUREAU'CRATIE,  or  BUREAUCRACY,  is  the  system 
by  which  the  business  of  administration  is  carried  on  in 
departments,  each  under  the  control  of  a  chief,  in  contra- 
distinction to  those  systems  in  which  the  officers  of  govern- 
ment have  a  co-ordinate  authority. 

BURE'TTE.  An  instrument  occasionally  used  in  the 
chemical  laboratory,  and  in  the  assay  office,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  dividing  a  given  portion  of  any  liquid  into  100  or 
1000  equal  parts.  (Gay  Lussac,  Instruction  3ur  VEssai  des 
Chlvrures  de  Chaux.) 

BU'RGAGE  TENURE.  In  Law,  an  ancient  tenure  pro- 
per to  boroughs  ;  under  which  tenements  are  held  of  the 
king,  or  other  person,  at  a  rent  certain.  In  several 
boroughs  such  holdings  conferred  the  electoral  franchise 
previous  to  the  Reform  act 

BU'RG  GRAVE.  (Germ,  burg,  castle;  graf,  count.)  In 
the  German  Empire,  a  castellan  or  lord  of  a  castle,  having 
the  riaht  of  private  justice,  imposing  taxes,  &c. 

BU'RGHERS  and  ANTIIU'RGHERS.  In  Ecclesiastical 
History.  Owing  to  an  undue  exercise  of  patronage,  which 
took  place  under  the  authority  of  the  church  of  Scotland, 
or  to  the  induction  of  a  clergyman  into  a  parish  (Kinross) 
auainst  the  declared  sentiments  of  the  congregation,  a 
schism  took  place  in  the  church,  which  occasioned  a  se- 
cession from  that  establishment,  and  ultimately  led  to 
what  is  called  the  Burgher  and  Antiburgher  denomina- 
tions. Several  clergymen,  after  years  of  painful  discus- 
sion, having  protested  against  the  violent  procedure  in 
question,  and  having  thrown  off  subordination  to  the  ec- 
clesiastical authorities,  were  deposed  (1740)  from  the  office 
of  the  ministry  and  their  parishes  declared  vacant.  (Gil- 
Ion's  Acts  of  Assembly,  sect.  Patronage.)  These  clergy- 
men, eight  in  number,  though  cut  off  from  all  connection 
with  the  church,  enjoyed  the  unabated  confidence  of  their 
respective  congregations,  who  almost  to  a  man  adhered  to 
them.  Previously  to  their  final  separation  from  the  estab- 
lishment, namely,  in  1733,  four  of  that  number  had  virtu- 
ally proclaimed  their  independence,  and  had  constituted 
themselves  into  an  ecclesiastical  court,  called  the  Associ- 
ate Synod.  To  ihe  deposed  ministers  and  their  adherents 
the  name  of  Seceders  was  applied  ;  and  hence  the  origin 
of  the  Secession  Church  in  Scotland.  And  so  rapidly  did 
this  body  increase,  that  so  early  as  1745,  they  formed  them- 
selves into  a  synod,  which  consisted  of  three  different  pres- 
byteries. But  while  their  numbers  were  thus  augmented, 
and  while  the  sphere  of  their  influence  was  rapidly  extend- 
ing, a  breach  took  place  among  themselves  which  wm 
characterised  by  as  much  agitation  and  violence  as  that 
which  had  recently  caused  their  ejection  from  the  estab- 
lished church.  The  Secession  Synod  having  instituted  an 
inquiry  into  the  lawfulness  of  certain  oaths,  not  imposed 
by  parliament,  but  generally  practised,  a  question  arose  as 
to  the  nature  of  the  oath  imposed  in  royal  burghs  on  per- 
sons when  admitted  to  the  privileges  of  a  burgess.  The 
great  point  of  debate  was,  whether  it  was  lawful  for  a  Se- 
ceder  to  swear  the  following  clause  : — ''  1  profess  and  allow 
with  my  heart  the  true  religion  presently  professed  within 
this  realm,  and  authorized  by  the  laws  thereof.  I  shall  a- 
bide  thereat,  and  defend  the  same  to  my  life's  end,  re. 
nouncing  the  Roman  religion  called  Papistry."  The  Synod 
was  divided  into  two  parties  on  this  subject.  The  one  con- 
tended, that  though  they  had  condemned  the  manner  in 
which  the  established  church  was  at  present  administered, 
they  had  not  expressed  and  did  not  feel  any  objection  to  her 
standards ;  that,  in  seceding,  they  had  not  set  up  a  new 
religion,  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  they  had  merely  en- 
deavoured to  maintain  in  their  original  strictness  and  purity 
her  constitutional  principles  both  theological  and  ecclesi- 
astical. The  other  party  took  a  totally  different  view  of 
the  question,  and  insisted  that  the  oath,  being  administered 
by  members  of  the  established  church,  must  necessarily 
be  taken  in  the  sense  in  which  it  was  understood  by  them ; 
namely,  as  including  all  the  corruptions  and  inconsisten- 
cies that  attached  to  that  establishment,  and  as  consequent- 
ly incompatible  with  Seceding  principles  and  the  solemn 
testimony  they  had  raised  against  her  errors  and  back- 
sliding. This  dispute,  which  commenced  at  the  meeting 
of  the  Synod  in  1745,  continued  to  be  maintained  with  in- 
creasing acrimony  for  two  years,  or  till  1747.  The  party 
that  were  in  favour  of  the  oath  were  called  Burghers ,  the 
party  that  opposed  it  were  termed  Antiburghers.    la  vaia 


BURGHERS. 

did  the  Burghers  offer  to  agree  to  a  declaration  discharging 
Seceders  from  swearing  the  oath  as  inexpedient  under  ex- 
isting circumstances.  The  Antiburghers  preremptorily  re- 
fused any  compromise,  and  insisted  on  an  act  being  passed 
by  (he  Synod  declaring  it  sinful  for  a  Seceder  to  adopt  the 
oath.  Nay,  to  such  an  extent  was  the  controversy  carried, 
and  so  violent  were  the  opinions  entertained  on  the  side  of 
the  Antiburghers,  that  the  ministers  of  this  party  had  mean- 
while made  the  oath  a  test  of  church  communion,  and  had 
debarred  from  the  Lord's  Table  such  as  maintained  its 
lawfulness.  At  the  spring  meeting  of  the  Synod  in  1746, 
the  party  just  named  succeeded  in  carrying  a  vote  to  the 
effect  that  the  oath  was  subversive  of  Secession  principles. 
The  Burghers  protested  against  this  decision.  But  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Synod  in  the  subsequent  year,  the  Anti- 
burghers, being  in  a  minority  in  a  division  on  the  same  sub- 
ject, withdrew  in  a  body  ;  Mr.  Mair,  one  of  their  number, 
having  previously  protested  that  "  hereby  the  Burghers 
had  forfeited  all  their  sy nodical  powers,  and  that  the  whole 
power  of  the  Synod  devolved  on  himself  and  his  party 
and  such  as  clave  to  them."  Next  day,  the  Antiburghers 
held  a  synod  composed  exclusively  of  their  own  adherents, 
twenty-two  in  number,  including  ministers  and  elders,  con- 
stituted themselves  into  a  distinct  and  separate  sect  of 
Christians,  and  refused  all  connection  or  conference  with 
the  opposite  party,  except  on  the  condition  that  the  latter 
should  appear  as  penitents  at  their  bar.  Nay,  they  libelled 
and  cited  them  to  this  effect ;  but  as  the  one  party  did  not 
recognize  themselves  as  responsible  to  the  other,  nothing 
resulted  from  the  step  ;  and  the  two  bodies,  followed  by 
their  respective  congregations,  constituted  themselves  into 
separate  and  independent  churches.  (Brown's  Hist.  Ace. 
of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Secession.) 

But,  while  the  Secession  was  thus  divided  into  two  con- 
flicling  parlies,  the  Burghers  and  Antiburghers,  they  both 
continued  their  separation  from,  and  condemnation  of,  the 
established  church.  They  adopted,  it  is  true,  her  stand- 
ards, namely,  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  the 
Catechism,  Larger  and  Shorter,  the  Directory  for  Public 
Worship,  and  form  of  Presbyterian  government;  but  they 
abrogated  patronage  unconditionally,  and  vested  the  choice 
of  a  minister  exclusively  in  the  members  of  each  separate 
congregation.  Indeed,  the  chief  practical  difference  that 
obtained  between  the  church  of  Scotland  and  the  Seceding 
bodies  consisted  in  the  one  cleaving  to  patronage,  and  in  the 
other  having  abolished  that  system,  and  introduced  popular 
election  in  its  stead.  Besides,  though  the  church  has  al- 
ways been  governed  by  kirk  sessions,  presbyteries,  synods, 
and  a  general  assembly,  the  Burghers  and  Antiburghers, 
owing  to  the  comparative  paucity  of  their  numbers,  never 
adopted  a  general  assembly.  With  them  the  synod  was 
the  supreme  court,  whose  authority  was  final  in  all  religi- 
ous and  ecclesiastical  matters.  The  Seceders  also  were 
stricter  Calvinists,  and  adopted  more  rigid  discipline  as  to 
admission  to  church-membership,  and  to  sealing  ordinan- 
ces (baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper),  than  the  church  party 
had  perhaps  ever  done.  (lb.) 

Both  the  Burghers  and  Antiburghers  continued  each  as 
rapidly  to  increase  after  their  separation  as  the  Secession 
had  done  when  it  formed  one  body  ;  and  the  animosity 
which  had  characterised  their  disjunction  gradually  sub- 
sided. Indeed,  by  the  time  that  the  generation  which  wit- 
nessed this  unhappy  schism  had  passed  away,  all  traces  of 
hostility  or  opposition  had  disappeared.  The  burgess  oath, 
too,  which  had  been  the  cause  of  their  disunion,  fell  into 
desuetude  or  had  ceased  to  be  imposed.  The  views  of  the 
two  parties  being  otherwise  identical,  and  both  coinciding 
in  their  opposition  to  the  established  church,  it  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at  that  a  wish  became  general  among  the  mem- 
bers of  both  parties  for  a  re-union.  Overtures  to  that  ef- 
fect were  accordingly  made  by  their  respective  synods; 
and  after  having  had  many  conferences  and  much  discus- 
sion on  the  subject,  this  happy  result  was,  without  any  com- 
promise on  either  side,  effected  in  1820 ;  and  the  two 
bodies,  now  united,  assumed  the  denomination  of  the 
United  Associate  Synod  of  the  Secession  Church.  At  that 
time,  the  Burgher  persuasion  comprehended  10  presby- 
teries, embracing  120  congregations  ;  and  the  Antiburghers 
11  presbyteries,  consisting  of  141  congregations.  Since 
their  union,  their  conjoint  influence  and  extension  have 
been  considerably  on  the  increase ;  so  that  at  this  date 
(1841)  the  Associate  Synod  comprises  no  fewer  than  360 
congregations,  with  an  equal  number  of  ministers.  They 
have  not  hitherto  introduced  a  general  assembly  ;  nor  do 
we  hear  that  they  intend  to  do  so.  But  as  they  form  a  nu- 
merous, so  they  are  a  most  respectable  body  of  Christians ; 
and  their  clergy  are  eminent  not  more  for  professional  as- 
siduity than  for  learning  and  talents.  They  are  hostile  to 
the  establishment  of  a  national  church,  and  are  in  favour 
of  what  is  now  denominated  voluntaryism.  They  nomi- 
nate professors  of  divinity  within  their  own  body  for  the 
instruction  of  young  men  intended  for  the  ministry  ;  but 
these  young  men  pursue  their  philosophical  and  literary 
studies  at  any  of  the  Scottish  Universities.  Their  curri- 
174 


BURNING  GLASSES. 

culum  of  study,  like  that  of  the  established  church,  ex- 
tends to  eight  years.  (M'Cutloch's  Stat.  Ace.  of  the  British 
Umpire,  vol.  ii.  pp.  425 — 7.) 

BURGH  MOTE.  (Borough  meeting.)  A  Saxon  term 
for  the  borough  court.  Bergh  mole  is  the  title  of  a  court 
of  miners,  held  in  Derbyshire. 

BU'RGLARY.  (Lat.  burgi  latrocinium,  robbery  commit- 
ted in  a  burg  or  fenced  place.)  In  Law,  is  the  breaking  and 
entering  the  dwelling-house  of  another  in  the  night  time, 
with  intent  to  commit  a  felony.  If  the  goods  were  actually 
stolen,  it  is  usual  to  add  a  count  for  larceny  in  an  indict- 
ment for  burglary.  This  offence  is  punishable  by  trans- 
portation or  imprisonment. 

BU'RGOMASTER.  (Ger.  burgermeister,  chief  of  the 
citizens.)  The  usual  title  of  the  chief  municipal  officer  in 
German  and  Dutch  towns.  In  the  German  free  cities,  the 
president  of  the  executive  council  is  styled  burgermeister; 
but  in  many  towns  of  importance,  the  title  stadt-director 
(town-governor)  has  been  recently  substituted  in  its  stead. 

BURLE'SQUE.  (Ital.  burlare,  to  jest.)  The  Italian  poesia 
burlesca  signifies  merely  comic  or  sportive  poetry  ;  but 
the  term,  in  French  and  English,  is  more  commonly  re- 
stricted to  compositions  of  which  the  humour  consists  in  a 
ludicrous  mixture  of  things  high  and  low :  as  high  thoughts 
clothed  in  low  expressions;  or,  vice  versa,  ordinary  or 
base  topics  invested  in  the  artificial  dignity  of  poetic  dic- 
tion. The  humour  of  parody  or  travestie  (see  Parody) 
arises  from  the  burlesque.  Burletta,  a  slight  comic  musical 
drama,  is  derived  from  the  same  origin. 

BU'RNET.  A  British  plant,  whose  leaves  have  been 
used  as  a  food  for  sheep.  It  grows  on  poor  calcareous 
soils,  where  few  other  plants  will  succeed  ;  and  in  this  its 
principal  value  consists,  together  with  its  being  perennial 
and  remaining  green  all  the  winter.  It  is  the  Poterium 
sanguisorba  of  botanists. 

BURNING  GLASSES  and  BURNING  MIRRORS.  The 
name  given  to  glasses  or  mirrors  so  formed  as  to  collect 
the  sun's  rays  which  fall  on  them  into  a  point  or  small  sur- 
face, and  thereby  produce  an  intense  heat,  and  set  fire  to 
combustible  substances.  The  point  at  which  the  rays 
meet,  and  where  the  greatest  heat  is  produced,  is  called 
the  focus  or  burning  point.  The  rays  of  light  or  heat  may 
be  concentrated  either  by  refraction  or  reflection  :  in  the 
former  case  they  must  pass  through  a  transparent  refract- 
ing substance,  as  glass  formed  into  a  proper  shape  ;  in  the 
latter  they  fall  on  a  concave  polished  surface  of  silvered 
glass  or  bright  metal.  Reflectors  made  of  glass  are  usually 
termed  mirrors,  those  of  metal  specula. 

In  preparing  a  burning  glass,  the  first  thing  to  be  con- 
sidered is  the  figure  necessary  to  collect  all  the  rays  into 
the  smallest  possible  space.  Descartes,  in  his  Optics, 
showed  that  a  disk  of  glass,  convex  on  the  one  side  and 
concave  on  the  other,  the  convex  side  being  a  portion  of 
an  elliptic  surface,  and  the  concave  a  portion  of  a  sphere, 
would  cause  parallel  rays  falling  on  its  convex  side  to  con- 
verge in  a  single  point;  but  the  practical  difficulties  of 
forming  a  glass  accurately  into  this  shape  are  insuperable  ■ 
both  sides  are  therefore  ground  into  portions  of  a  sphere 
In  a  refracting  mirror  the  focal  length  depends  on  the  cur- 
vature, or  the  radius  of  the  sphere,  and  the  refractive 
power  of  the  substance  of  which  the  lens  is  formed  ;  the 
focal  length  in  a  double  convex  lens  of  glass  is  exactly 
equal  to  the  radius  of  curvature.  The  true  form  of  the  re- 
flecting mirror  is  parabolic,  and  this  form  is  frequently  at- 
tempted in  metal,  which  can  be  cast  or  hammered  nearly 
into  the  proper  shape  ;  but,  as  in  the  case  of  the  refractor, 
it  is  the  spherical  form  only  which  is  attempted  in  glass. 
The  focal  distance  is  equal  to  the  radius  of  the  concavity 
at  the  centre  of  the  mirror. 

Although  the  forms  given  by  theory  could  be  obtained  in 
practice  with  mathematical  precision,  the  solar  rays  could 
not  even  then  be  collected  into  a  single  point ;  the  focus 
would  still  have  a  sensible  magnitude.  The  reason  of  this 
is,  that  the  rays  which  fall  on  the  lens  or  mirror  are  not  all 
parallel.  Those  which  come  from  different  parts  of  the 
sun's  disk  are  very  sensibly  convergent,  forming  an  angle 
of  32  minutes  of  a  degree,  equal  to  the  apparent  diameter 
of  the  sun.  Hence  the  focal  image  must  be  of  such  a 
magnitude  that  lines  drawn  from  its  opposite  edges  to  the 
centre  of  the  lens  or  mirror  must  form  an  angle  of  32'. 
Supposing,  therefore,  the  glass  or  mirror  to  have  a  proper 
form,  the  space  covered  by  the  focus  will  be  proportional 
only  to  the  focal  distance,  and  entirely  independent  of  the 
magnitude  of  the  lens  or  mirror.  Hence  it  follows,  that  if 
a  portion  of  the  exterior  edge  of  the  lens  or  mirror  were 
covered,  the  maanitude  of  the  focal  image  would  remain 
unaltered.  The  figure  of  the  image  is  also  always  circular, 
independently  of  the  shape  of  the  lens ;  for  example,  if 
one  half  of  the  lens  were  covered,  the  image  would  be 
round  as  before,  though  the  intensity  of  the  light  would 
then  be  reduced  to  one  half. 

In  preparing  telescopes  or  microscopes,  where  distinct 
ness  of  vision  is  the  most  essential  object,  it  is  indispensa- 
ble that  the  figure  of  the  lens  or  mirror  be  perfectly  true. 


BURSARS. 


In  burning  glasses  perfect  accuracy  of  figure  is  not  so  much 
required ;  it  is  only  necessary  that  the  rays  be  concentra- 
ted, the  confusion  of  the  image  being  of  no  consequence. 
The  effect,  however,  depending  on  the  number  of  rays  that 
are  brought  within  the  limits  of  the  focus,  will  necessarily 
be  diminished  by  the  aberration  as  well  as  imperfection  of 
figure.  When  the  lens  is  accurately  constructed,  and  all 
the  rays  fall  within  the  focus,  the  heating  power  of  the  solar 
rays  is  increased  in  the  proportion  of  the  square  of  the  di 
ame'.er  of  the  lens  to  the  square  of  the  diameter  of  the 
focus.  But  it  is  found  that,  supposing  the  concentration 
the  same,  a  much  greater  effect  is  produced  by  a  focus  of 
considerable  magnitude  than  a  very  small  one.  A  glass, 
for  instance,  of  two  inches  diameter,  with  a  concentrating 
power  of  300,  will  produce  a  much  feebler  effect  than  an- 
other six  inches  in  diameter  of  the  same  power;  the  latter 
will  inflame  paper  in  two  or  three  seconds,  while  the 
former  will  hardly  inflame  it  at  all.  The  reason  is  that 
when  the  heat  is  concentrated  in  a  very  small  space  it  is 
rapidly  dispersed  into  the  surrounding  mass;  as  the  focus 
is  increased  the  accumulation  increases  in  a  greater  ratio 
than  the  dispersion,  and  the  temperature  rises.  Hence  a 
bod;  in  a  mass  of  charcoal,  or  other  substance  of  very 
slow  conducting  power,  is  fused  much  more  readily  than 
when  exposed  on  all  sides  to  the  atmosphere,  or  imbedded 
in  metal. 

The  method  of  exciting  heat  or  producing  fire  by  the 
concentration  of  the  sun's  rays  was  known  from  remote 
antiquity  ;  but  the  most  famous  recorded  achievement  of 
this  kind  Is  that  of  Archimedes,  who  is  reported  to  have 
burned  by  means  of  mirrors  the  Roman  fleet  in  the  har- 
bour of  Syracuse.  Considerable  doubts  have  prevailed  re- 
specting the  truth  of  the  relation,  chiefly  grounded  on  the 
circumstance  that  although  the  setting  fire  to  the  fleet  is 
positively  affirmed  by  Dion,  Diodorus  Siculus,  Pappus,  and 
Others,  no  mention  is  made  of  it  by  Livy,  Polybius,  or  Plu- 
tarch, who  are  otherwise  minute  in  detailing  the  mechani- 
cal contrivances  of  Archimedes,  and  who  were  not  likely 
to  pass  over  so  notable  an  occurrence  without  notice. 
Descartes  went  so  far,  indeed,  as  to  treat  the  whole  rela- 
tion as  fabulous,  affirming  the  thing  to  be  impracticable. 
Is  practicability  was,  however,  experimentally  demonstrat- 
ed by  the  celebrated  Buffon,  who,  by  a  combination  of  plain 
reflecting  mirrors,  produced  results  which  must  be  regard- 
ed as  of  still  greater  difficulty.  With  His  mirrors,  each 
about  6  inches  square,  he  set  fire  to  planks  of  beech  150 
In  t  distance,  and  with  Ihe  faint  rays  of  the  sun  at  Paris  in 
the  month  of  March.  It  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that 
Archimedes  could  not  place  his  apparatus  within  that  dis- 
tance  of  the  fleet  of  Marcellus;  besides,  by  multiplying 
the  number  of  classes,  the  concentration  of  the  rays  may 
be  increased  almost  to  any  extent.  All  this,  however,  does 
not  prove  the  actual  fact  related  of  Archimedes.  Buffon, 
with  all  the  resources  afforded  by  the  advanced  state  of  the 
arts  in  the  middle  of  the  18th  century,  and  after  a  number 
of  experiments,  succeeded,  with  considerable  difficulty,  in 
constructing  an  apparatus  by  means  of  which  he  could 
Inflame  combustible  substances  at  a  considerable  distance. 
The  low  state  of  the  arts  in  the  time  of  Archimedes  must 
have  rendered  the  undertaking  considerably  more  difficult. 
The  silence  of  those  historians  who  have  detailed  his 
other  mechanical  contrivances  can  hardly  be  accounted 
for,  supposing  the  relation  to  be  true.  It  seems,  therefore, 
that  though  something  of  Ihe  kind  was  contemplated,  and 
to  a  certain  extent  practised,  the  effect  has  been  much  ex- 
aggerated. 

Among  those  who  have  amused  themselves,  in  modern 
times,  with  the  effects  of  burning  glasses  or  mirrors,  are 
reckoned  Baron  Napier,  the  illustrious  inventor  of  the  lo- 
garithms, Kircher,  Dr.  James  Gregory,  Sir  Isaac  Newton, 
and  numerous  others.  The  most  powerful  solid  lens  ever 
constructed  was  the  work  of  Mr.  Parker,  an  ingenious  Lon- 
don artist.  It  was  made  of  flint  glass,  was  three  feet  in  di- 
ameter, 3\  inches  thick  at  the  centre,  its  focal  distance  6 
feet  8  inches,  the  diameter  of  the  burning  focus  1  inch,  and 
its  we;ght  212  pounds.  The  rays  refracted  by  this  lens 
were  received  on  a  second,  the  diameter  of  which  in  the 
frame  was  13  inches,  and  its  focal  length  29  inches.  The 
diameter  of  the  focus  of  the  combined  lenses  was  half  an 
inch  ;  consequently,  by  the  addition  of  the  second  lens, 
the  burning  power  was  increased  four  times.  With  this 
lens  some  of  the  most  refractory  substances  were  fused  in 
a  very  short  space  of  time  :  for  example,  10  grs.  of  com- 
mon slate  in  2  seconds;  10  grs.  of  cast  iron  in  3  sec. ;  10 
grs.  of  lava  in  7  sec. ;  10  grs.  of  jasper  in  25  seconds.  &c. 
This  glass  was  afterwards  carried  to  China  by  one  of  the 
officers  who  accompanied  Lord  Macartney,  and  left  at  Pe- 
kin.  (For  detailed  information  on  this  subject,  the  reader 
may  consult  the  article  Burning  Glasses  in  the  Ency. 
Brit.  7th  edition.) 

BU'RSARS.     (Lat.   bursa.)    Originally  clerks  or  trea- 
surers in  convents:  in  more  modern  times,  persons  en- 
abled to  prosecute  their  studies  at  a  university  by  means 
of  mads  derived  from  endowments.     It  is  a  singular  cir- 
175 


cumstance  that  the  latter  acceptation  of  this  term  originat- 
ed among  the  Poles,  who,  even  in  the  14th  century,  were 
accustomed  to  supply  young  men  of  talent  with  the  means 
of  travelling  to  Germany,  and  there  studying  philosophy 
under  the  guidance  of  ihe  monks.  This  practice  was  soon 
adopted  by  other  nations ;  and  there  is  now,  perhaps,  no 
civilised  country  in  which  it  does  not  exist,  under  the  name 
of  bursaries,  fellowships,  exhibitions,  scholarships,  &c. 
These  endowments  are  of  two  kinds :  either  furnishing 
the  student  with  the  means  of  prosecuting  his  studies  du- 
ring the  academical  curriculum;  or  enabling  him  to  de- 
vote himself,  without  distraction,  to  literary  pursuits  even 
after  the  expiration  of  this  period.  The  Scottish  and  the 
Continental  universities  have  adopted  the  former  method  ; 
but  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge  both  kinds  prevail.  The 
following  statistical  observations  on  this  subject,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  principal  universities  of  England  and  Ireland, 
are  extracted  from  a  paper  compiled  by  the  Rev.  jl  I. 
Jones.  M.  A.,  from  the  most  authentic  private  as  well  as 
public  documents,  and  read  at  Newcastle  in  August  1*38, 
before  the  British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science  : — In  Oxford  there  are  24  heads  of  colleges  with  a 
revenue  of  .£18,350  ;  557  fellows  with  £116,560  ;  393  scho- 
larships with  £6,030;  199  college  officers  with  £15,650;  885 
benefices  and  incumbents  with  £136,500.  The  revenues 
of  Cambridge,  containing  17  colleges,  are  for  an  equal  num- 
ber of  heads  £12,650;  431  fellows,  whose  revenue  is 
£90,330;  793  scholarships  with  £13,390;  179  college  offi- 
cers with  £17,750;  252  prizes  of  the  value  of  £1,038;  591 
benefices  and  incumbents  with  £93,300.  In  Dublin  the 
head  of  Trinity  College  receives  £2,000;  25  fellows, 
£25,400;  70  scholars.  £2,100  ;  10  college  officers,  £20,000; 
62  benefices  and  incumbents.  £9,300.  These  honours,  how- 
ever, are  not  open  to  general  competition,  being  restricted 
in  most  cases,  by  the  will  of  the  testator,  to  natives  of  cer- 
tain countries,  or  to  the  alumni  of  particular  schools. 

At  Edinburgh  University  there  are  but  few  bursaries. 
George  Heriot's  Hospital  (the  most  wealthy  institution  in 
Edinburgh)  grants  ten  bursaries  of  £20  per  annum  each, 
for  four  years,  to  individuals  not  connected  with  the  hos- 
pital, who,  after  a  comparative  trial  before  a  committee  of 
the  governors  of  the  institution,  are  found  duly  qualified. 
There  are,  besides,  a  few  bursaries  of  £7  and  £10  each, 
given  by  the  city  of  Edinburgh  to  students  in  the  first  year 
of  their  academical  course  ;  two  of  £10  each  to  students 
named  Stewart  in  the  second  year,  and  one  of  £100  to  a 
student  selected  from  those  called  M'Pherson  in  the  fourth 
year.  To  these  may  be  added  two  ancient  bursarii 
stiluted  for  the  benefit  of  Poles  resident  in  Scotland,  which, 
after  lying  dormant  upwards  of  a  century,  were  discovered 
and  brought  to  light  in  Ki7.  At  St.  Andrews,  there  are 
several  bursaries  in  the  gift  of  the  university  :  and  at  Aber- 
deen, besides  the  interest  of  £7000  devoted  to  the  main- 
tenance of  certain  students  at  that  university,  there  are  a 
few  valuable  exhibitions  to  Cambridge.  At  Glasgow  the 
most  important  endowments  of  this  kind  are  a  few  exhi- 
bitions to  Oxford ;  and  those  left  by  Dr.  Williamson  for 
Englishmen  not  connected  with  the  established  church. 
In  France  and  Italy  there  are  no  bursaries  allowed  for  the 
maintenance  of  students ;  but  any  individual,  on  the  pay- 
ment of  a  trifling  sum,  may  frequent  all  the  lecture  rooms 
of  the  professors,  who  of  course  are  maintained  by  govern- 
ment. 

But  it  is  in  Germany  that  the  system  of  bursaries  is  in 
full  vigour.  There  every  faculty  in  the  different  univer- 
sities, every  academy,  every  cloister  (for  cloisters  are  still 
maintained  even  in  the  Protestant  parts  of  Germany,  though 
not  for  the  education  of  priests),  every  noble  family  of  im- 
portance, have  bursaries,  or,  as  they  are  called,  Freytische 
(free  tables),  at  their  disposal.  These  vary  in  value  from  10 
to  £40  a  year,  and  cease  at  the  expiration  of  the  literary 
curriculum.  As  the  different  bodies  or  individuals  in  whom 
the  presentation  to  these  emoluments  is  vested  may  select 
the  beneficiary  at  pleasure,  little  regard  is  paid  to  the  real 
merit  or  to  the  necessitous  condition  of  the  latter. 

Whether  endowments  tend  to  the  promotion  of  science 
and  learning,  is  a  question  that  is  often  discussed,  but  has 
not  hitherto  been  solved.  Those  who  maintain  that  endow- 
ments are  prejudicial  found  their  arguments  on  the  well- 
known  axiom  of  Smith, — that  in  no  employment  ought  the 
competition  to  be  increased  beyond  what  it  naturally  de- 
mands. Now,  as  endowments  allure  into  the  learned  pro- 
fessions, and  particularly  into  the  church,  a  host  of  individ- 
uals who  would  otherwise  have  adopted  a  different  occupa- 
tion, the  unavoidable  consequence  is  that  the  market  is 
glutted,  and  the  supply  becomes  greater  than  the  demand. 
Besides,  there  are,  and  ever  will  be,  sufficient  numbers  to 
work  of  their  own  accord  in  the  accumulation  of  learning, 
and  this  spontaneous  industry  will  be  sufficient  to  keep  up 
an  adequate  supply  to  be  distributed  throughout  the  coun- 
try ;  for  supply  always  equals  demand,  and  iemand  is  al- 
ways commensurate  with  the  real  wants  of  the  people.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  advocates  of  endowments,  while  they 
admit  the  correctness  of  the  above-mentioned  axiom  as  a 


BURSCHE. 

general  rule,  maintain  that  there  are  many  exceptions.  In 
every  scientific  occupation,  they  allege,  the  profits  should 
be  proportioned  to  the  time  and  the  labour  bestowed  in  its 
prosecution.  Now,  from  abstruse  studies,  such  as  the  high- 
er branches  of  mathematics,  metaphysics,  and  classical  lit- 
erature, no  adequate  remuneration  results  ;  so  that  none 
but  the  wealthy  can  pursue  these  studies,  and  a  reference 
to  history  will  prove  that  this  class  has  not  been  the  fore- 
most in  classical  or  scientific  attainment.  Hence  external 
encouragement  is  necessary  at  once  to  compensate  for  that 
want  of  remuneration  to  which  such  studies  are  exposed, 
and  to  divert  into  this  channel  a  mass  of  applicable  talent 
which  would  otherwise  be  turned  to  pursuits  of  more  im- 
mediate profit  and  attraction. 

BU'RSCHE.  (Germ.)  A  youth,  especially  a  student  at 
a  university. 

BU'RSCHENSCHAFT.  A  league  or  secret  association 
of  students,  formed  in  1815,  for  the  purpose,  as  was  assert- 
ed, of  the  political  regeneration  of  Germany,  and  sup- 
pressed, at  least  in  name,  by  the  exertions  of  the  govern- 
ments.    (See  Howitt's  Student  Life  in  Germany.) 

BUR8CHEN  COMMENT.  The  code  of  laws  adopted 
by  the  students  for  the  regulation  of  their  demeanour 
amongst  themselves,  &c. 

BURSERA/CEA  A  natural  order  of  fragrant  trees  and 
shrubs  inhabiting  the  tropical  parts  of  the  world.  They 
all  are  resinous  and  fragrant,  although  related  botanically 
to  Rhamnaceous  plants  which  have  no  such  properties. 
Indian  frankincense,  olibanum,  colophon,  the  balsams  of 
Acouchi,  Gilead,  and  Mican,  gum  elim,  and  other  similar 
substances,  are  obtained  from  plants  of  this  order ;  besides 
oil,  pitch,  and  turpentine,  resembling  the  vegetable  secre- 
tions bearing  those  names  in  Europe.  They  all  have  alter- 
nate unequally  pinnate  dotless  leaves,  and  racemes  or  pani- 
cles of  small  green  flowers.   Their  fruit  is  usually  a  drupe. 

BURTHEN,  or  BURDEN.  OF  A  SHIP.  The  weight  of 
merchandise,  &c.  she  is  intended  to  carry.    See  Tonnage. 

BU'SHEL.  An  English  measure  of  capacity,  containing 
8  gallons.  By  act  of  parliament,  5  George  4.  c.  74.,  the  Im- 
perial gallon  is  declared  the  standard  measure  of  capacity, 
and  is  directed  to  be  made  such  as  to  contain  10  lbs.  avoir- 
dupois of  distilled  water,  weighed  in  air  at  the  temperature 
of  62°  of  Fahrenheit's  thermometer,  the  barometer  stand- 
ing at  30  inches ;  or  to  contain  377  cubic  inches  and  274 
thousandth  parts  of  a  cubic  inch.  Consequently  the  Im- 
perial bushel  contains  80  lbs.  of  distilled  water,  or  2818192 
cubic  inches. 

By  the  same  act  the  bushel  is  declared  the  standard 
measure  of  capacity  for  coals,  culm,  lime,  fish, potatoes,  or 
fruit,  and  all  other  goods  or  things  commonly  sold  by 
heaped  measure,  and  is  prescribed  to  contain  2815  cubic 
inches;  the  goods  to  be  heaped  up  in  the  form  of  a  cone  to 
a  height  above  the  rim  of  the  measure  of  at  least  three 
fourths  of  its  depth. 

The  Winchester  bushel,  used  in  England  from  the 
time  of  Henry  VII.  to  1826,  contained  2150  42  cubic  inches. 
The  Imperial  bushel  is  therefore  to  the  Winchester  bush- 
el as  2218-192  to  2l5042,or  as  1  to  -969447.  Hi»nce  to  con- 
vert Winchester  bushels  into  Imperial,  multiply  by  -969447. 
See  Measures. 

BU'SHMEN.  (Dutch,  Bosjesmannen,  men  of  the  wood.) 
A  name  given  by  the  Dutch  colonists  to  some  roaming 
tribes  akin  to  the  Hottentots,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope.  The  description  given  by  Governor  Janssens 
of  this  people  is  very  interesting.  So  deep  are  they  sunk 
in  barbarism  as  to  be  unacquainted  even  with  the  con- 
struction of  huts  or  tents :  "  the  burning  sky  being  their 
canopy,  and  the  scorching  sand  their  bed."  They  are  of 
a  dark  copper  complexion,  small  in  stature,  and  of  a  sin- 
gularly malicious,  wild,  and  intractable  disposition. 

BUSI'RIS.  In  Egyptian  Mythology,  a  fabulons  person- 
age, of  whose  origin,  exploits,  and  character  Apollodorus, 
Herodotus,  Diodorus  Siculus,  and  other  ancient  writers 
have  given  a  most  discrepant  account.  His  history  is  so 
intimately  blended  with  that  of  Osiris,  that  we  must  refer 
the  reader  to  that  article  for  further  particulars. 

BU'SKIN.  (Probably  bootikin, or littleboot.)  A  species 
of  covering  for  the  leg,  or  rather  for  the  ancle  and  foot : 
generally  used  by  the  English  writers  as  a  translation  of 
cothurnus,  caliga,  and  various  other  Greek  and  Latin  words 
denoting  different  kinds  of  boots,  &.c.  Hence  buskin,  in 
the  sense  of  cothurnus,  stands  for  the  tragic  drama,  that 
species  of  dress  having  been  worn  in  antiquity  by  tragic 
actors,  in  contradistinction  to  soccus,  the  boot  or  sock  worn 
by  comedians,  and  used  for  the  comic  drama. 

Great  Fletcher  never  treads  in  buskins  here , 

Nor  greater  Jonson  dares  in  socks  appear. — Drydcn. 

BUST  or  BUSTO.  (It.  busto.)  In  Painting  and  Sculp- 
ture, the  head,  breast,  and  shoulders  of  the  human  figure. 

BU'STARD.     See  Otis. 

BU'TTER.  (Gr.  (Sovrvpov,  from  fiovs,  a  cow,  and  rupo  j, 
cheese  or  coagulum.)  The  oily  part  of  milk :  100  parts  of 
cream  contain  about  4-5  of  butter  and  35  curd ;  they  are 
176 


BUTTERFLY. 

separated  by  the  process  of  churning,  during  which  the 
butter  aggregates.  Butter  soon  becomes  sour  and  rancid, 
unless  purified  by  melting  and  straining  it  so  as  to  separate 
adhering  curd ;  it  is  generally  preserved  by  the  addition 
ofsalt.  Its  elain  or  oily  part  has  been  called  butyrine. 
When  converted  into  soap  it  is  said,  in  addition  to  the 
usual  products,  to  afford  three  odorous  volatile  compounds, 
which  have  been  termed  by  Chevreul  the  butyric,  capric, 
and  caproic  acids. 

BU'TTERFLY.  The  common  English  name  of  an  ex- 
tensive group  of  insects,  as  they  appear  in  their  last  and 
fully  developed  state,  when  they  constitute  the  most  beauti- 
ful and  elegant  examples  of  their  class.  These  insects  be- 
long to  the  order  Lepiduptera,  and  to  the  section  Diurna 
of  Latreille,  or  the  genus  Papilio  of  Linnasus.  (See  those 
words.     See  also  Naturalist's  Library,  vols.  10.  14.  18.) 

The  changes  of  an  animal  form  produced  by  the  pro- 
gressive expansion  of  the  enclosed  organs  of  the  body,  and 
the  successive  shedding  of  the  outer  case  or  skin,  are  in  no 
instance  so  striking  or  so  extraordinary  as  in  the  present 
group  of  insects.  The  changes  or  metamorphoses,  as  they 
are  commonly  but  incorrectly  termed,  have  been  a  favour- 
ite theme  to  the  divine  and  the  poet,  and  a  most  attractive 
subject  of  research  to  the  naturalist.  The  transition  of  the 
humble  grub  to  the  gorgeous  imago  is  the  subject  of  the 
following  beautiful  passage  in  the  classical  work  (the  In- 
troduction to  Entomology)  of  Kirby  and  Spence  :— "  Were 
a  naturalist  to  announce  to  the  world  the  discovery  of  an 
animal  which  for  the  first  two  years  of  its  life  existed  in 
the  form  of  a  serpent ;  which  then,  penetrating  into  the 
earth,  and  weaving  a  shroud  of  pure  silk  of  the  finest  tex- 
ture, contracted  itself  within  this  covering  into  a  body  with- 
out external  mouth  or  limbs,  and  resembling  more  than 
any  thing  else  an  Egyptian  mummy  ;  and  which,  lastly, 
after  remaining  in  this  state,  without  food  and  without  mo- 
tion, for  three  years  longer,  should  at  the  end  of  that 
period  burst  its  silken  cerements .  struggle  through  its 
earthy  covering,  and  start  into  day  a  winged  bird, — what, 
think  you,  would  be  the  sensation  excited  by  this  piece  if 
intelligence'?"  The  subterraneous  locality  of  the  insect  in 
its  passive  state,  and  the  silken  shroud,  are,  indeed,  less 
applicable  to  the  butterflies  than  to  other  insects  ;  but  the 
circumstances  attending  the  transformations  of  these 
beautiful  objects  are  not  less  remarkable  than  those  of  the 
beetles  and  moths. 

The  eggs  of  the  butterfly  are  deposited  on  such  plants  as 
afford  the  nutriment  most  appropriate  to  the  caterpillars 
that  are  to  be  excluded  from  them  ;  thus  the  common 
white  butterfly  (Pieris  brassica,  Latr.)  and  other  species 
oviposit  upon  cabbages,  and  hence  have  been  termed  Bras- 
sicaria. :  the  gaudy  peacock-butterfly  lays  her  eggs  upon 
the  nettle.  The  eggs  are  coated  with  a  glutinous  secretion 
as  they  are  excluded  from  the  parent,  and  thus  provided 
with  the  means  of  adhesion  to  the  leaves  or  stems  of  the 
plants  selected. 

The  larvae  are  long  and  cylindrical,  and  consist  of  thir- 
teen segments,  including  the  head  ;  they  have  eight  feet, 
and  nine  spiracles  on  each  side.  Those  feet  which  are 
attached  in  pairs  to  the  first  three  segments  of  the  trunk 
inclose  the  parts  which  are  developed  into  the  permanent 
legs  of  the  future  butterfly ;  the  remaining  pairs  of  feet  are 
membraneous,  short  and  thick,  and  are  finally  lost  with 
the  moultings  of  the  skin,  whence  they  are  called  "  pro- 
legs"  by  Kirby.  The  sides  of  the  head  are  studded  with 
twelve  simple  globular  eyes  extremely  minute,  and  very 
unlike  the  single  large  compound  eye  of  the  perfect  insect. 
The  mouth  is  provided  with  an  apparatus  characteristic  of 
the  mandibulate  class  of  insects,  having  a  pair  of  large  and 
strong  horny  jaws  working  in  a  horizontal  plane,  and  re- 
presenting the  "  mandibulae  ;"  beneath  these  a  pair  of 
smaller  and  softer  jaws  or  "  maxillae,"  and  a  fleshy  lower 
lip  or  '•  labrum"  united  to  the  latter,  and  which  is  perfora- 
ted by  the  outlets  of  the  ducts  of  the  complicated  apparatus 
for  secreting  the  silk.  Such  a  condition  of  the  "  instru- 
menta  cibaria"  or  mechanism  of  the  mouth  is  in  perfect 
harmony  with  the  habits  of  the  caterpillar,  and  with  the 
part  assigned  to  this  larva  or  masked  Lepidopterous  insect 
in  the  great  theatre  of  nature.  It  is  there  distined  to  crop 
and  devour  the  solid  succulent  parts  of  the  otherwise  too 
luxuriant  vegetation,  and  must  have  awns  and  teeth  to  per- 
form its  task.  In  its  subsequent  and  final  character  the 
butterfly  luxuriates  on  the  exquisitely  elaborated  juices  of 
the  flower,  and  has  the  power  to  raise  itself  above  the  dull 
earth,  and  to  transport  itself  through  aerial  space. 

Where  he  arriving  ronnd  about  doth  fly 

'    From  bed  to  bed,  from  one  to  other  border  ; 

And  takes  s-trvey,  with  cntious  busy  eye. 

Of  every  flower  and  herb  there  set  in  order. 
Now  this,'  now  that,  he  tasteth  tenderly, 

Yet  none  of  them  he  rudely  does  disorder; 
Ne  with  his  feet  their  silken  leaves  deface, 
But  pastuies  on  the  pleasure  of  each  space. — Spenser. 

But  to  exchange  a  solid  for  a  fluid  diet,  the  instruments  of 
mastication  must  be  converted  into  those  of  suction,  and 


BUTTER  TREE. 

the  mandibulate  insect  be  transformed  into  the  haustellate 
one.  This  is  effected  by  an  excessive  elongation  of  the 
maxilla;,  which  are  grooved  each  on  that  side  which  is 
turned  towards  its  fellow ;  and,  by  the  union  of  their  op- 
posed margins,  these  grooves  are  converted  into  a  capilla- 
ry canal,  by  which  the  nectar  is  pumped  up  into  the  mouth. 
When  not'in  action,  this  siphon  is  coiled  up  in  a  series  of 
spiral  turns,  and  is  protected  by  the  other  parts  of  the 
mouth,  which  retain  their  rudimental  condition.  The 
nymphs  are  almost  always  naked,  and  of  an  angular  form  : 
they  are  generally  suspended  by  the  tail,  and  reflect  more 
or  less  of  a  golden  lustre,  whence  they  are  termed  chrysa- 
lides and  aurelicB.  Reaumur  has  given  the  best  account 
of  the  singular  operations  by  which  the  butterflies  attach 
their  aurelian  cases  to  the  points  of  suspension,  anil  after- 
wards extricate  themselves  from  these  cases  when  their 
transformation  is  completed. 

Some  butterflies  have  all  their  six  feet  in  the  imago  state 
■well  developed,  and  alike  in  both  sexes  ;  and  the  chrysa- 
lis, in  addition  to  the  ordinary  terminal  or  posterior  attach- 
ment, is  looped  up  in  a  horizontal  position  by  a  silken  band 
or  sling  passing  round  the  body.  The  internal  margin  of 
the  hinder  lower  pair  of  wings  is  concave  or  folded,  and 
the  tarsal  hooks  or  spurs  are  well  developed.  These  are 
the  butterflies  proper,  the  Papiliones  cquitcs  of  Linna?us. 
Those  "  knights"  which  bear  red  spots  on  the  chest  are 
the  "  Trojans"  of  Linnreus,  and  those  without  red  spots  on 
the  chest  bear  the  name  of  the  Grecian  heroes.  Some  of 
these  butterfly -knights  have  the  anterior  pair  of  feet  re- 
markably shorter  than  the  others;  and  this  arrest  of  de- 
velopment would  seem  to  be  compensated  by  greater 
powers  of  flight.  The  butterflies  of  the  section  thus  char- 
acterized, or  the  Nynvphalida  ,  are  also  remarkable  for  the 
brilliancy  of  their  colouring.  Numerous  other  sections 
and  subdivisions  have  been  founded  by  modern  entomolo- 
gists upon  character*  afforded  by  modifications  of  the  an- 
tennae, palpi,  and  other  parts.  In  the  "  Plebeian"  butter- 
flies of  Linnaeus  the  larva  are  oval,  the  chrysalides  short, 
and  the  tarsal  spurs  of  the  imago  are  extremely  small. 

BUTTER  TREE.  A  remarkable  plant  found  by  Park 
in  the  interior  of  Africa,  especially  in  Bambarra,  yielding 
from  its  kernels,  by  pressure,  a  white,  firm,  rich  butter, 
which,  even  in  tli.it  climate,  will  keep  well  for  a  yearwith- 
oiii  sill.  Another  species  is  the  l'lmlwara  tree  of  India 
(Bassia  butyraeeay,  whose  s Is  produce  a  firm,  agreea- 
ble, buttery  substance,  of  about  the  consistence  and  colour 
of  hog's  lard  ;  it  is  used  medicinally  in  rheumatic  affec- 
tions. The  lliupietree  of  Coromandel(Bossta hmgifoUa), 
and  the  Madhuca  tree  of  Bengal  (.Bassia  latifolta),  are 
other  species  having  similar  properties.  They  are  large 
tropical  trees,  belonging  to  tin"  natural  order  Sapotacea, 
and  their  timber  is  sometimes  of  excellent  quality. 

BUTTERS,  MINERAL.  A  name  given  by  the  old 
chemists  to  some  of  the  cfdoridt  s  on  account  of  their  soft 
butyraceous  texture  when  recently  prepared  ;  such  as  Inci- 
ter of  antimony,  of  arsenic,  and  qj  bismuth. 

BUTTERS,  VEGETABLE.  "The  concrete  fixed  oils, 
such  as  those  of  the  cocoa  and  chocolate  nuts,  of  the  nut- 
meg, <fcc,  which  are  solid  at  common  temperatures,  are 
often  distinguished  by  the  above  term. 

BUTTON.  The  round  mass  of  metal  collected  at  the 
'  bottom  of  a  crucible  after  fusion,  or  which  remains  in  the 
cupel  in  the  process  of  assaying,  is  called  by  this  name. 

BUTTRESS.  (Fr.  aboutir,  to  lieout.)  In  Architecture, 
a  mass  of  brickwork  or  masonry,  built  to  resist  the  hori- 
zontal thrust  of  another  mass.  Buttresses  are  much  used 
in  Gothic  architecture,  to  resist  the  thrust  of  the  vaulting 
which  covers  the  naves  and  aisles  of  cathedrals.  When 
open  they  are  called  flying  buttresses. 

BUTTS.  Short  ridges  of  different  lengths,  which  neces- 
sarily occur  in  the  angle  of  afield  when  the  direction  of 
the  ridges  is  not  parallel  to  one  of  the  sides. 

BUZZARD.     See  Falco. 

BY'aRD.  A  piece  of  leather  crossing  the  breast,  used 
by  the  men  who  drag  the  sledges  in  coal  mines. 

BY-LAWS,  or  BYE-LAWS.  (The  first  syllable  from 
the  Danish  By,  town  or  hamlet.)  Orders  and  constitutions 
of  corporations,  courts-leet  and  courts-baron,  commoners, 
or  inhabitants  of  vills,  &c,  of  which  the  effect  is  to  impose 
obligations  not  enforced  by  common  or  statute  law.  The 
validity  of  by-laws  rests  on  the  authority  of  the  parties 
making  them,  established  either  by  immemorial  custom, 
or  by  their  corporate  character;  for  the  power  of  making 
by-laws  is  inherent  in  a  corporation.  But  the  superior 
court  of  law  have  the  power  of  annulling  a  by-law,  if  it  be 
unreasonable,  or  in  restraint  of  trade,  or  imposing  a  charge 
without  any  apparent  benefit  to  the  party,  Ax.  By  the 
Municipal  Corporations  Amendment  Act  (5  <fe  6  W.  4.  c. 
76.  s.  90.)  by-laws  are  to  be  made  by  the  town  council  of 
the  borough,  and  to  be  valid  unless  disallowed  by  the  king 
in  council  within  forty  days. 

BYRE.     A  word  used  in  Scotland  for  a  cow  house. 

BY'RRHUS.  A  Linnrean  genus  of  minute  Clavicom 
Coleopterous  insects,  now  the  type  of  a  family,  including 
177 


CAABA. 

those  pests  of  museums  which  feed  In  the  larva  state  on 
bird-skins,  preserved  insects,  Ax.  The  genera  in  this 
family  are  Byrrhvs  proper,  Simplocaria,  Oomorphus,  Syn- 
calapta,  Nosodendroji,  Asjndiphurus,  Trinodes,  and  Anthre- 
nus.  Of  the  latter  genus  there  are  six  British  species,  of 
which  the  Anth.renti-s  mustBOrum  may  be  regarded  as  the 
type. 

BY'SSIFERS,  Byssifera.  (Lat,  Byssus,  and  fero,  T car- 
ry.) A  family  of  Lamellihranchiate  Acephalous  Mollusks, 
comprehending  those  species  which  are  attached  to  foreign 
bodies  bv  means  of  a  byssus. 

BY'SSOLITE.  (Gr.  fiverao;,  flax,  and  Xi0oj,  a  stone.) 
A  soft  fibrous  mineral  from  the  Alps. 

BY'SSUS.  ((Jr.  (ivao-os,  fine  flax.)  A  fasciculus  of 
shining  semitransparent  horny  or  silky  filaments,  secreted 
by  a  gland  at  the  base  of  the  foot  in  certain  Lamellibran- 
chiate  Bivalves,  and  serving  as  an  organ  of  adhesion  to 
submarine  rocks  or  other  foreign  bodies. 

Byssus.  A  name  formerly  given  to  all  those  filament 
ous  plants  which  inhabit  cellars  and  other  under-ground 
close  places,  and  on  which  no  fructification  is  found  ;  it 
was  also  applied  to  vegetation  of  a  similar  kind  when  found 
growing  In  the  air.  It  is  now  certain  that  a  large  number 
of  these  supposed  plants  are  merely  the  young  state  of 
certain  kinds  of  fungi,  or  other  plants  of  a  low  organization  ; 
and,  although  a  few  species  are  still  retained  in  the  genus, 
as  Bi/ssus  fioccosa,  and  others,  it  is  by  no  means  certain 
that  thev  a're  reallv  of  a  different  nature. 

BYZA'NTLNE  HISTORIANS.  A  series  of  Greek  his- 
torians and  authors,  who  lived  under  the  Eastern  Empire 
between  the  6th  and  the  16th  centuries.  They  may  be  di- 
vided into  three  classes  ;  1.  Historians  whose  works  form 
a  continuous  history  of  the  Byzantine  Empire  from  the 
fourth  century  of  the  Christian  era  down  to  the  Turkish 
conquest  of  Constantinople.  They  are  nearly  thirty  in 
number,  with  various  shades  of  literary  merit ;  but  their 
works  constitute  the  almost  only  authentic  source  of  the 
history  of  that  eventful  period.  2.  General  chroniclers  or 
historians,  whose  works,  embracing  a  wider  range  than 
of  the  former,  treat  chiefly  of  the  chronography  of 
the  world  from  the  oldest  times."  :!.  Authors  who  confined 
their  attention  to  the  politics,  statistics,  antiquities,  man- 
ners, Ac.  of  the  Romans.  These  two  classes  combined 
amount  al  0  to  aboul  thirty,  and  their  writings  give  an  ex- 
cellent illustration  of  tile  times  of  which  they  treat,  whether 
as  historians,  chroniclers,  antiquaries,  or  politicians.  The 
works  of  the  Byzantine  historians.  Ax.  were  collected  and 
published  by  order  of  Louis  XIV.  in  36  vols,  folio,  Paris, 
1645-1711.  Another  and  more  complete  edition  was  pub- 
lished at  Venice  in  1729  and  the  following  years.  Besides 
these  many  of  the  Byzantine  historians  were  published 
separately  at  different  places.  But  all  that  had  previously 
been  done  to  evince  the  importance  of  these  historians,  by 
the  publication  of  their  works,  was  destined  to  be  eclipsed 
in  our  own  times.  The  late  professor  Niebuhr  of  Bonn, 
eminently  fitted  for  the  task  by  his  attainments  both  natu- 
ral and  acquired,  projected  a  new  edition  of  the  Byzantine 
Historians  ( Corpus  Scriptorum  ESatoria  Byzantines,  Ed- 
itio  emendatior  et  Copinsior,  Svo.  Bonns,  1828),  which  he 
superintended  till  his  death.  Upwards  of  39  volumes  have 
already  appeared,  comprising  38  authors ;  the  work  will  be 
completed  in  60  vols.  An  elaborate  review  of  the  merits  of 
this  edition  may  be  found  in  the  Foreign  Quarterly  Review, 
vol.  10. 


c. 

C,  the  third  letter  of  the  English  and  most  other  Euro- 
pean alphabets,  is  borrowed  immediately  from  the  Latin 
alphabet,  in  which  it  first  appears ;  but  is  derived  originally 
from  the  *  or  y  of  the  Greeks.  In  English  it  is  pronounced 
like  s  before  e  and  i,  and  like  k  before  a,  o,  u,  and  may 
consequently  be  considered  as  superfluous  in  the  alphabet. 
According  to  orthographers  there  are  few  letters  so  sus- 
ceptible of  interchanges  as  this  letter,  and  much  ingenuity 
has  been  expended  in  exhibiting  its  convertibility.  As  an 
abbreviation,  C  is  used  in  ancient  MSS.  for  Caius,  Caesar, 
Consul,  Civitas,  <fcc.  ;  and  as  a  numeral  for  a  hundred.  It 
was  the  symbol  of  condemnation  in  the  Roman  tribunals 
(being  abbreviated  for  Condemno) ;  and  was  consequently 
termed  litera  tristis.  in  contradistinction  to  A  (used  for 
Absolvo),  symbolical  of  acquittal,  and  thence  called  litera 
salutaris. 

C.  In  Music,  the  name  of  one  of  the  notes  in  the  scale. 
It  is  a  character  also  used  for  the  signification  of  the  time. 
See  Music. 

CAA'BA.  The  famous  square  stone  in  the  temple  of 
Mecca,  the  object  of  the  adoration  of  the  entire  Moham- 
medan world.  According  to  the  tradition  of  the  Arabs,  it 
is  the  first  spot  on  earth  which  was  consecrated  to  the 
Z 


CABAL. 

worship  of  the  Deity,  having  been  presented  by  the  angel 
Gabriel  to  the  patriarch  Abraham  on  the  occasion  of  the 
building  of  the  temple.  As  is  well  known,  Mohammed 
enjoined  all  his  followers  to  visit  the  shrine  of  Mecca  once 
in  their  lifetime  ;  and  to  preserve  continually  on  their 
minds  a  sense  of  their  obligation  to  perform  this  duty,  he 
directed  that  in  all  the  multiplied  acts  of  devotion  which 
his  religion  prescribes,  true  believers  should  always  turn 
their  faces  towards  this  holy  place,  called  Kebla.  It  may 
be  added,  that  the  eastern  authors  frequently  designate  the 
temple  in  which  the  square  stone  is  concealed,  with  all  its 
appendages,  as  Caaba. 

CABA'L.  (Fr.)  In  History,  was  applied  originally  to 
the  five  cabinet  ministers  of  Charles  II. — Clifford,  Ashley, 
Buckingham,  Arlington,  and  Lauderdale — whose  initials 
happened  to  form  the  word  ;  and  it  lias  since  been  used 
for  a  junto  of  individuals,  who,  too  insignificant  in  point  of 
numbers  to  form  a  party,  endeavour  to  effect  their  pur- 
poses by  underhand  measures. 

CA'BALa.  A  Hebrew  word  signifying  the  oral  tradition 
which  the  Rabbins  conceive  to  complete  the  system  of 
scriptural  interpretation.  They  maintain  that  it  was  de- 
livered in  the  first  instance  to  Adam,  and  again  to  Abraham 
and  Moses,  by  direct  revelation  ;  but  that  since  the  time  of 
Esdras  the  memories  of  the  priests  and  elders  have  suf- 
ficed to  preserve  it  in  all  its  purity.  As  the  Masora  details 
the  literal  explanation  of  the  language  of  scripture,  so  the 
Cabala  reveals  the  bidden  truths  of  which  it  is  the  symbol. 
Every  sentence,  word,  and  letter  of  the  inspired  volume 
contain,  according  to  these  interpreters,  a  figurative  as  well 
as  a  direct  sense.  The  former  is  also  not  uncommonly 
manifold  ;  and  a  word  may  be  interpreted  according  to  the 
arithmetical  power  of  the  letters  which  compose  it,  which 
species  of  cabala  is  called  gematria  ;  or  according  to  the 
meaning  of  each  individual  letter,  the  entire  word  thus 
constituting  a  sentence,  which  is  called  notaricon ;  or  fi- 
nally according  to  certain  transpositions  of  the  letters, 
which  is  denoted  by  the  term  themurah.  What  the  mys- 
terious doctrines  of  the  cabala  which  were  thus  discovered 
actually  were,  is  not  very  clearly  ascertained  ;  but  the  sys- 
tem seems  to  have  been  an  invention  of  the  philosophising 
Jews  of  the  latter  centuries  preceding  our  era,  with  the 
view  of  accommodating  the  speculations  of  the  Gnostics  to 
the  religion  of  the  Old  Testament. 

The  Christian  cabalists  in  later  times  practised  a  kind 
of  magic  under  this  name,  pretending  to  the  power  of  di- 
vination by  certain  combinations  of  scriptural  characters. 

CABA'LLUS.     In  Mythology.     See  Pegasus. 

CABIAT.  In  Zoology,  the  name  under  which  the  Capi- 
bara  or  water-hog  (Hydro-chorus  capibara,  Erxl.)  is  de- 
scribed by  Buffon.     See  Capibara. 

CA'BINET.  In  Politics,  the  governing  council  of  a 
country  :  from  the  cabinet  or  apartment  in  which  the  ruler 
transacts  public  business  and  assembles  his  privy  council. 
In  England  a  few  of  the  ministers  only  are  ex  officio  mem- 
bers of  the  cabinet.  The  ministers  who  are  raised  to  this 
honour  are  styled  by  way  of  eminence  Cabinet  ministers, 
and  are  more  immediately  responsible  for  the  acts  of  the 
sovereign,  as  well  as  for  public  measures.  The  distinction 
between  the  king's  cabinet  ministers  and  the  rest  of  his 
privy  council  seems  not  to  have  been  established  in  public 
usage  in  England  before  the  reign  of  William  III. 

CAB'IRI.  In  Pagan  Mythology,  sacred  priests  or  deified 
heroes,  venerated  by  the  Phoenicians  originally  as  the 
founders  of  religion.  Various  opinions  have  been  enter- 
tained concerning  the  nature  and  origin  of  the  Cabin  ;  but 
from  the  multiplicity  of  names  applied  to  them,  together 
with  the  profound  secrecy  observed  in  the  celebration  of 
their  rites,  an  almost  impenetrable  veil  of  mystery  has 
been  thrown  around  their  history.  They  seem  to  have 
been  men  who,  having  communicated  the  art  of  melting 
metals,  &c,  were  deified  by  a  grateful  posterity.  Their 
worship  was  chiefly  cultivated  in  the  island  of  Samothra- 
cia,  whence  it  was  afterwards  transferred  to  Lemnos,  Im- 
bros,  and  certain  towns  of  Troas.  (Strabo,  x.  473.)  They 
were  styled  the  offspring  of  Vulcan,  though  their  name  was 
derived  from  their  mother  Cabera,  daughter  of  Proteus. 
Their  number  is  variously  given.  Those  who  were  initia- 
ted in  their  rites  were  held  to  be  secured  against  all  dan- 
ger by  sea  and  land.  Their  distinguishing  badge  was  a 
purple  girdle.  An  ingenious  account  of  the  Cabiri  has  been 
given  by  Professor  Miiller  of  Gottingen,  in  a  dissertation  ap- 
pended to  his  work  on  Orchomenus,  wherein  he  rejects 
the  Phoenician  or  oriental  origin  of  the  Cabiri,  and  regards 
their  worship  as  purely  Pelasgic,  and  down  to  a  certain 
point  the  principal  religion  of  the  Greeks. 

CA'BLE.  (Gr.  Kaniiov,  a  rope.)  The  rope  or  chain  by 
which  the  anchor  of  a  ship  is  held.  Cables  in  Europe,  un- 
til within  a  recent  period,  were  usually  made  of  hemp,  but 
of  late  years  iron  chains  have  come  much  into  use.  A 
hempen  cable  of  12  inches  girth,  and  length  120  fathoms, 
weighs  30751bs.  Since  the  weights  of  two  cables  of  equal 
lengths  will  be  as  their  sections,  or  squares  of  the  girths,  it 
is  easy  to  deduce  the  following  rule  for  the  weight  of  any 
178 


CADDICE-WORMS. 

hempen  cable  :— Multiply  the  square  of  the  girth  in  inches 
by  213  (or  21  nearly  enough),  the  product  is  the  weight  in 
lbs.  Since  also  as  the  breaking  strain,  or  resistance  against 
the  force  to  part  the  cable,  will  be  as  the  section,  it  will  be 
as  the  weight,  and  will  be  found  nearly  by  dividing  the 
weight  in  lbs.  by  100  ;  the  quotient  is  the  breaking  strain  in 
tons.  This  rule  is  of  course  liable  to  great  uncertainty  from 
the  quality  or  wear  of  the  cable.  Chain  ca'bles  possess 
great  advantages  over  hempen  cables ;  they  are  not  liable 
to  be  destroyed  by  chafing  on  rocky  grounds,  nor  to  be- 
come rotten  and  insecure  from  alternate  exposure  to  the 
air  and  water ;  and  by  reason  of  their  greater  weight  the 
strain  is  exerted  on  the  cable  rather  than  on  the  ship.  In 
order  that  the  ship  may  be  enabled  to  let  slip  her  cable  in 
case  of  necessity,  chain  cables  are  furnished  with  bolts  at 
distances  from  each  other  of  a  fathom  or  two,  which  can 
be  readily  withdrawn.  A  chain  of  which  the  section  is  . 
inch  in  diameter  breaks  with  16  tons  ;  such  a  chain  is 
equivalent  to  a  10  inch  hemp  cable  nearly.  And  the  di- 
mensions of  the  chain  cable  corresponding  to  any  hemp 
cable  are  therefore  easily  found  by  merely  dividing  the 
circumference  of  the  hemp  cable  by  10.  The  strength  of 
every  part  of  the  chain  is  proved  before  it  leaves  the  man- 
ufactory. The  first  patent  for  a  chain  cable  was  taken  out 
in  1808  by  Mr.  Slater,  a  surgeon  in  the  Royal  Navy. 

CA'BLED.  In  Architecture,  the  filling  up  the  lower 
part  of  the  liute  of  a  column  with  a  cylindrical  piece  like  a 
cable. 

CABO'MBEjE.  (Cabomba,  the  name  of  one  of  the  gen- 
era.) In  Botany,  the  name  given  by  Richard  to  the  natural 
order  now  called  Eydropeltidea,. 

CA'CHALOT.  In  Ichthyology,  a  name  for  the  sperma- 
ceti or  sperm  whale  (Pliyseter  macrocephalus,  Linn.) 

CACHE'T,  LETTRES  DE.  In  France,  under  the  an- 
cient government,  letters  signed  with  the  private  seal 
(cachet)  of  the  king.  As  warrants  for  the  detention  of 
private  citizens,  they  appear  to  have  been  rarely  employed 
before  the  17th  century.  In  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  their 
use  became  frightfully  common.  But  in  other  respects 
they  had  been  not  unfrequently  made  use  of,  even  in  ear- 
lier times,  to  interfere  with  the  course  of  justice  ;  as,  by 
way  of  injunction  to  a  party  not  to  exercise  certain  authori- 
ty, or  pursue  certain  legal  steps,  &c.  Lettres  de  cachet 
were  never  so  multiplied  as  under  the  administration  of 
Cardinal  Fleury  :  not  less  than  80,000  are  said  to  have  been 
issued,  without  any  legal  judgment,  in  the  proceedings 
against  the  Jansenists.  Fifty-nine  are  said  to  have  been  is- 
sued against  the  family  Mirabeauin  the  reigns  of  Louis  XV. 
and  XVI.,  of  which  twenty-two  against  the  famous  count 
himself.  So  scandalously  were  they  abused,  that  there  is 
an  instance  of  a  countess  obtaining  one  for  the  imprison- 
ment of  her  maid,  who  had  repeated  some  scandal  against 
her  !    They  were  abolished  Jan.  15. 1790. 

CACHE'XIA.  (Gr.  xaicos,  bad,  and  ?£<?,  a  habit.)  A. 
bad  state  or  habit  of  body  ;  whence  the  term  cachexia.,  or 
cachectic  disorders. 

CA'CHOLONG.  A  milk-white  chalcedony,  originally 
found  on  the  borders  of  the  river  Cach  in  Bucharia. 
Cholong,  in  the  language  of  the  Calmucks,  is  said  to  signify 
a  stone. 

CACHU'NDE.  A  celebrated  Chinese  medicine,  com- 
posed chiefly  of  aromatic  stimulants. 

CA'CODiE'MON.  (Gr.  KaicoSaifuov,  an  evil  spirit.) 
See  D.«mon. 

CACO'PHONY.  (Gr.  kokoc,  bad,  and  <pa)VT),  a  so7i7id.) 
In  Rhetoric,  a  defect  of  style,  consisting  in  a  harsh  or  disa- 
greeable sound  produced  by  the  meeting  of  two  or  more 
letters  or  syllables,  or  by  the  too  frequent  repetition  of  the 
same  letters  or  syllables :  e.  g. 

And  oft  the  ear  the  open  vowels  tire. — Pope. 

CACTA'CE^.  (Cactus,  one  of  the  genera.)  A  small 
natural  order  of  Exogens,  remarkable  for  their  gay  and 
large  flowers,  and  for  the  grotesque  forms  of  some  of  the 
species.  They  are  found  wild  in  hot  dry  countries,  in  arid 
situations,  where  they  are  enabled  to  exist  because  of  the 
thickness  of  their  skin,  which  allows  very  little  moisture 
to  be  lost  through  it.  Many  of  the  species  are  like  succu- 
lent Euphorbias,  from  which  they  are  however  known  by 
their  not  milking  when  wounded.  All  the  species  are 
harmless ;  some  have  eatable  fruit ;  and  one,  the  Opvntia 
cochinillifera,  is  the  favourite  haunt  of  the  cochineal 
insect. 

CA'CUS.  In  Fabulous  History,  the  son  of  Vulcan,  a 
robber  of  Italy,  whose  dwelling  was  in  the  Aventine  wood. 
His  exploits  form  the  subject  of  a  fine  episode  in  the  8th 
book  of  the  Mneid.  He  was  represented  as  a  frightful 
monster  of  enormous  strength,  who,  after  a  long  life  of 
crime,  was  at  length  slain  by  Hercules,  from  whom  he  had 
stolen  some  oxen.  To  express  his  gratitude  for  his  victory. 
Hercules  erected  the  Ara  Maxima  ;  and  Evander,  with  his 
infant  colony  of  Arcadians,  performed  divine  honours  to 
Hercules  as  their  benefactor. 

CA'DDICE-WORMS,  or  CASE-WORMS.  The  larvfe 
or  grubs  of  theTrichopterous  insects  are  so  called,  on  ac« 


CADENCE. 

count  of  being  inclosed  in  a  sheath  or  case.  This  Is  al- 
ways composed  of  extraneous  substances  glued  together 
by  a  cement  excreted  from  the  skin  of  the  grub  ;  and  dif- 
ferent species  of  the  caddis-worm  protect  themselves  by 
means  of  ditferent  materials  thus  joined  together.  Some, 
which  pass  their  larva  state  under  water  and  creep  along 
the  bottom,  combine  bits  of  sticks  or  rushes  with  small 
pebbles  or  shells,  to  make  their  cases  heavier  than  water ; 
others,  which  float  on  the  top  and  gather  their  food  from 
thence,  form  a  slight  and  slender  tube  of  a  narrow  slip  of 
grass,  which  is  rolled  round  the  body  in  a  spiral  direction, 
with  the  edges  so  nicely  fitting  as  to  seem  but  one  piece. 
In  every  case  the  worm  adheres  by  a  pair  of  hooks  at  its 
hinder  extremity  to  the  bottom  of  the  sheath,  and  only 
protrudes  the  head  and  two  following  segments,  the  skin 
of  which  is  harder  than  that  covering  the  rest  of  the  body. 
Those  which  creep  at  the  bottom  drag  themselves  along 
by  means  of  their  mandibles.  At  the  conclusion  of  their 
existence  as  grubs,  they  moor  their  case  to  some  large 
stone  or  other  fixed  and  submerged  body,  and  close  the 
outlet  by  a  network  of  silken  threads,  which  prevents  the 
entry  of  any  inimical  intruder,  but  admits  the  water  ne- 
cessary for  respiration.  They  then  cast  their  outer  skin, 
and  for  a  while  remain  in  the  usual  passive  condition  of  a 
pupa  ;  ;i  1 1 <  1  now  the  organizing  energy  is  vigorously  effect- 
ing the  wonderful  changes  which  lead  to  the  full  perfec- 
tion of  the  insect.  But,  as  it  would  be  obviously  dangerous 
tn  the  air-breathing  imago  to  be  excluded  in  its  first  feeble 
stale  under  water,  the  pupa  here  exhibits  a  locomotive 
power  which  is  without  a  parallel  in  other  orders  of  the 
metamorphotic  insects;  being  provided  with  a  pair  of  small 
and  sharp  hooks  at  the  head,  it  cuts  the  threads  with  which 
in  a  previous  state  it  had  confined  itself,  and  creeping  out 
nl  i  lie  water  casts  off  its  pupa  skin,  and  emerges  a  May-fly 
or  Ph-ryganea, 

CA'DENCE.  (Ital.  cadenza,  in  falling:)  In  Music,  the 
conclusion  of  a  song,  or  of  some  parts  thereof,  in  certain 
places  of  the  piece,  dividing  it  as  it  were  into  so  many 
numbers  or  periods.  The  cadence  takes  place  when  the 
parts  fall  or  terminate  on  a  note  or  chord  naturally  expect- 
ed by  the  car,  just  as  a  period  closes  the  sense  in  the  para- 
graph of  a  discourse.  A  cadence  is  either  perfect  or  im- 
perfect  The  former  when  it  consists  of  two  notes  sung 
after  each  other,  or  by  degrees  conjoined  in  each  of  the 
two  parts,  the  harmony  of  the  filth  preceding  that  of  the 
key  note;  and  it  is  called  perfect,  because  it  satisfies  the 
ear  more  than  the  latter.  The  latter  imperfect ;  that  is, 
when  the  key  note  with  its  harmony  precedes  that  of  the 
fifth  without  its  added  seventh.  A  cadence  is  said  to  be 
broken  or  interrupted  when  the  bass  rises  a  major  or  mi- 
nor second,  instead  of  falling  a  fifth. 

CADE'T.  (Fr.)  A  pupil  in  a  military  academy,  whose 
aim  is  to  qualify  himself,  by  a  due  course  of  study,  to  en- 
ter the  military  service  or  tin1  service  of  the  English  East 
India  Company  as  an  officer  of  the  line,  artillery,  or  engi- 
neers. In  England  there  are  three  grand  institutions  for 
the  education  of  cadets:  Sandhurst  lor  the  British  line; 
Woolwich  for  the  artillery  and  engineers ;  and  Addiscombe 
for  the  Indian  army,  both  line  and  artillery.  The  Academy 
at  Sandhurst  was  instituted  by  George  III.  for  the  purpose 
of  affording  general  and  professional  instruction  to  the 
sons  of  private  or  military  gentlemen,  with  the  view  of 
their  obtaining  commissions  in  the  British  army  without 
purchase.  Before  the  commission  is  conferred,  the  cadet 
must  undergo  an  examination  before  a  comftetent  board  in 
the  classics,  mathematics,  military  drawing,  &c.  The 
expenses  of  this  academy  were  formerly  defrayed  by 
government ;  but  a  change  was  recently  introduced,  by 
which  the  sons  of  private  gentlemen  must  pay  an  annual 
sum  of  jE125,  and  the  sons  of  general  or  other  officers  less 
sums  in  proportion  to  their  rank. 

The  academy  at  Woolwich  was  established  with  the  view 
of  qualifying  cadets  for  the  artillery  or  engineers  ;  and  to 
this  institution  the  master-general  of  the  ordnance  has  the 
sole  right  of  granting  admission.  As  the  nature  of  the  es- 
tablishment at  Woolwich  requires  the  prosecution  of  a 
more  strict  and  professional  course  of  study  than  at  Sand- 
hurst, the  attention  of  the  cadets  is  specially  directed  to 
geography  ;  general  history,  ancient  and  modern  ;  modern 
languages  ;  military  drawing  and  surveying  ;  mathematics  ; 
engineering  and  fortification.  After  the  lapse  of  four  years, 
generally,  the  cadets  undergo  an  examination  in  the  above 
mentioned  branches  of  science  ;  when  the  most  distin- 
guished are  selected  for  the  engineers,  the  others  for  the 
artillery.  And  here  it  may  be  observed,  that  not  merely 
the  cadet  academy,  but  the  whole  vast  establishment  at 
Woolwich,  its  arsenal,  its  repository,  its  laboratory,  are  com- 
ponent parts  of  one  and  the  same  great  school  of  military 
science. 

As  the  college  of  Addiscombe  is  established  for  the  edu- 
cation of  officers  of  the  line,  artillery,  and  engineers  for 
the  Indian  army,  the  plan  of  instruction  pursued  there 
combines  the  two  systems  adopted  at  Sandhurst  and  at 
Woolwich.  In  order  to  become  a  cadet  in  this  institution, 
179 


C^SURA. 

it  is  necessary  to  have  the  promise  of  a  commission 
from  a  director  of  the  East  India  Company  ;  and  after  a 
prescribed  examination,  an  appointment  is  obtained  in  one 
of  the  branches  of  the  Indian  army,  according  to  the  merit 
or  pleasure  of  the  cadet.  We  may  here  incidentally  re- 
mark, that  no  cadet,  even  after  being  thoroughly  versed  in 
the  theory  of  military  science,  is  suffered  to  join  the  engi- 
neers either  of  the  Queen's  service  or  that  of  the  E.  1. 
Company,  before  he  has  gone  through  a  regular  course  of 
practical  instruction  in  sapping,  mining,  and  the  whole  pro- 
cesses of  a  siege, as  well  as  in  other  departments  of  field  en- 
gineering, pontooning,  the  construction  of  military  bridges, 
&c,  in  the  admirable  establishment  for  these  purposes  at 
Chatham.     {United  Service  Jour.) 

In  France  the  academies  for  cadets  which  existed  pre- 
viously to  the  French  Revolution  have  been  merged  in  the 
Polytecriic  schools. 

The  Dutch  possess  two  institutions  of  this  nature  ;  one 
at  Breda,  the  other  at  Delft. 

In  the  United  States  there  is  one  at  West  Point,  on  near- 
ly the  same  principle  as  that  at  Addiscombe. 

In  Germany  every  small  state  has  a  military  school: 
while  those  at  Berlin,  Vienna,  and  Munich  are  on  so  ex- 
tensive a  scale  as  to  challenge  a  comparison  with  any  simi- 
lar institutions  in  Europe.  In  Germany,  too,  the  word  cadet 
has  a  wider  signification  than  in  England,  being  applied  to 
those  persons  who,  without  having  frequented  a  military 
school,  join  the  army  in  the  expectation  of  obtaining  a  com- 
mission when  they  have  gained  a  competent  knowledge  of 
the  service. 

In  Russia  there  is  a  famous  academy  for  cadets,  which 
was  instituted  by  Ann  at  St.  Petersburg  in  1732  ;  and  since 
its  foundation  has  afforded  instruction  in  military  science 
to  upwards  of  9000  pupils,  many  of  whom  have  acquired 
celebrity  in  the  annals  of  Russian  literature. 

CA'DI.  (In  Arabic,  a  judge.)  Among  the  Turks  the 
inferior  judges  are  styled  Cadi.  The  Spanish  Alcayde  or 
Alcalde  is  derived  from  the  same  root. 

CA'DMIIIM.  A  white  metal,  much  like  tin;  it  fuses  and 
volatilizes  at  a  temperature  a  little  below  that  at  which  tin 
melts.  Specific  gravity  about  9.  Its  ores  are  associated 
with  those  of  zinc.  It  was  discovered  in  1818  by  Professor 
Stromeyer  of  Gottingen.  Its  equivalent  number  is  56.  It 
forma  a  yellow  salifiable  oxide,  composed  of  56  cadmium 
+  8  oxygen  =64  oxide  of  cadmium.  Its  scarcity  prevents 
its  employment  in  the  arts,  but  the  oxide  has  been  used  as 
a  pigment. 

CADU'CEUS.  In  Antiquity,  a  rod  of  laurel  or  olive  with 
a  representation  of  two  snakes  twisted  round  it.  It  was 
the  symbol  of  peace,  and  formed  the  chief  badge  of  the 
Grecian  heralds,  whose  persons  were  held  sacred.  In  My- 
thology.  the  Caduceus  was  the  symbol  of  Mercury,  thence 
called  Caducifer,  to  whom  it  was  said  to  have  been  pre- 
sent.■.  I  l>v  Apollo  in  return  for  his  Invention  of  the  lyre. 

CADU'CIBR'ANCHIATBS.  (Lat.  caducus,  fading; 
branchiae,  gillx.)  Those  Bratrachians  which  undergo  a  me- 
tamorphosis, and  lose  their  branchial  apparatus  before  ar- 
riving at  the  period  of  maturity ;  as  the  frog,  toad,  sala- 
mander, and  newt. 

CADU'COl  S.  (Lat  cado,  //afl.)  In  Botany,  when  a 
part  is  temporary,  and  soon  disappears  or  falls  off. 

CiE'CA.  (Lat.  csecus,  blind.)  In  Comparative  Anatomy, 
the  blind  processes  of  the  alimentary  canal  are  generally 
so  called.  Those  in  fishes  occur  at  the  beginning  of  the 
intestines,  where  they  are  oftennumerous  and  long,  repre- 
senting the  pancreas.  In  birds  they  are  found  near  the 
termination  of  the  intestines,  and  are  generally  two  in 
number.  In  mammals  the  efficum  is  commonly  single, 
and  situated  at  the  beginning  of  the  large  intestines  ;  it  is  of 
enormous  size  in  the  herbivorous  species  with  simple 
stomachs.  In  the  lower  animals  the  intestinal  glands  which 
communicate  with  the  intestines  generally  retain  their  pri- 
mitive form  of  csca. 

CjE'CUM.  (Lat.  caucus,  blind.)  In  Human  Anatomy, 
the  first  portion  of  the  large  intestines,  in  which  the  ileum 
terminates  by  a  valve.  The  csecum  is  a  kind  of  append- 
age to  the  intestinal  canal,  open  at  one  end  only,  whence 
the  name  blind  gut ;  it  has  a  small  process  attached  to  it, 
called  the  appendix  ccevirermiformis. 

CjE'SAR.  This  title,  originally  the  name  of  a  branch  of 
the  Julian  family  at  Rome,  was  assumed  as  a  mark  of  dig- 
nity by  the  emperors  after  Nero.  It  became  subse- 
quently the  title  of  the  presumptive  heir  to  the  empire,  and 
the  next  title  of  dignity  after  Augustus  ;  but  was  superseded 
in  the  Greek  empire  under  Alexis  Comnenus  by  that  of 
Sebastocrator.  In  the  West,  it  was  assumed  by  the  em- 
perors of  Germany  ;  and,  in  German,  "Kaiser"  is  now  the 
peculiar  title  of  the  emperor  of  Austria,  who  has  succeeded 
to  several  of  the  dignities  of  the  former. 

CiESA'REAN  OPERATION.  The  extraction  of  the 
child  from  the  womb  by  an  operation.  Julius  Cffisar  is  said 
to  have  been  thus  brought  into  the  world. 

CflESU'RA.  (Lat.  ctedo,  I  cut.)  In  prosody,  a  metrical 
break  in  the  verse,  occasioned  by  the  separation  of  the  first 


CAFFEIN. 

syllable  of  a  foot,  forming  the  last  of  a  word,  from  the  nest 
syllable,  forming  the  first  of  another.  In  the  Latin  hex- 
ameter the  principal  c;esura.  without  which  the  line  is  un- 
musical, occurs  generally  after  the  fourteenth  time  (each 
long  syllable  containing  two  times,  each  short  syllable  one  : 
see  Rhythm)  ;  thus, 

Arma  virumque  cano  |  Trojffi  qui  primus  ab  oris 
Spelunca  vivique  lacus  |  at  frigida  Tempe. 

The  slight  pause  which  follows  the  syllable  at  which  the 
interruption  takes  place  Is  termed  the  caesural  pause.  In 
English  verse  a  line  is  frequently  musical  without  any  cae- 
sura at  all ;  i.  e.  in  which  the  pause  takes  place  always  at 
the  end  of  a  foot.  But  a  caesura  in  the  middle  of  the  third, 
and  in  the  middle  of  the  fourth  foot  of  an  heroic  verse,  are 
by  no  means  uncommon,  and  particularly  appropriate  in 
blank  verse,  in  which  they  represent  the  two  common 
Ccesuras  of  the  Latin  hexameter. 

I  sing  the  sofa  |  I  who  lately  sang 

Of  man's  first  disobedience  )  and  the  fruit. 

In  the  first  of  these  lines  the  caesura  is  in  the  third,  in 
the  latter  in  the  fourth  foot. 

CAFFE'LN.  A  bitter  crystallizable  substance  contained 
in  coffee.  A  portion  of  it  volatilizes  during  the  roasting  of 
coffee.     It  has  not  been  applied  to  any  use. 

CAHIE'R.  (Fr.)  Derived  by  some  from  the  Lat.  codex, 
by  others  from  quaternio.  It  signifies  in  its  proper  sense 
a  number  of  sheets  of  paper  loosely  tied  together.  In 
French  history,  it  denotes  the  reports  and  proceedings  of 
certain  assemblies;  as  those  of  the  clergy,  states  general, 
the  notables,  <fcc.  The  famous  cahiers  presented"  by  the 
states  general  to  the  king  of  France  at  their  convocation 
on  the  24th  of  June,  1789,  contain  the  best  account  of  the 
then  state  of  France.  They  were  systematized  and  con- 
densed in  a  book  in  3  volumes,  called  "L'Espritdes  Ca- 
hiers," to  which  the  reader  is  referred. 

CAI'NCIC  ACID.  A  peculiar  acid  discovered  by 
Pelletier  and  Caventou  in  the  bark  of  the  cainca  root,  a 
Brazilian  shrub  employed  for  the  cure  of  intermittent 
fever. 

CAI'NTTES.  A  strange  sect  of  heretics,  who  appeared 
about  159  a.  d.  They  probably  originated  in  some  of  the 
various  schools  of  Manicheism  ;  and,  if  their  doctrines  are 
truly  reported  to  us,  they  are  said  to  have  asserted  that 
the  power  which  created  heaven  and  earth  was  the  evil 
principle  ;  that  Cain,  Esau,  Korah,  the  people  of  Sodom, 
and  others  whom  the  Old  Testament  represents  as  vic- 
tims of  peculiar  divine  judgments,  were  in  fact  children 
of  the  good  principle,  and  enemies  of  the  evil.  Some  of 
them  are  said  to  have  published  a  gospel  of  Judas  on  the 
same  principle.  The  Uuintilianists,  so  called  from  a  lady 
named  Quintilia,  of  whom  Tertullian  speaks,  were  an  off- 

CA.  IRA.  £A  IRA.  (Literally,  it  (the  Revolution)  shall 
go  on.)  The  burden  of  a  famous  revolutionary  song,  which 
was  composed  in  the  year  1790  in  denunciation"  of  the 
French  aristocracy.  The  tune  and  sentiments  of  this  song 
were  much  inferior  to  those  of  the  Marseillaise  Hymn 
("  Allons  enfans  de  la  patrie"),  the  object  of  which  was  to 
rouse  the  French  to  defend  their  country  against  foreign 
aggression. 

CAIRN.  A  word  of  Celtic  origin,  used  to  denote  the 
piles  of  stones  of  a  conical  form  so  frequently  found  on 
the  tops  of  hills,  &c.  in  various  districts ;  erected  probably, 
as  Sir  R.  C.  Hoare  observes,  in  general,  for  the  mere  pur- 
pose of  memorials,  although  some  have  assigned  to  them 
a  peculiar  character,  as  receptacles  for  the  bodies  of  cri- 
minals burnt  in  the  wicker  images  of  the  Druids,  <fcc.  Ac- 
cording to  some  antiquaries,  cairn  is  distinct  from  carnedd, 
the  Welsh  name  for  heaps  of  stones  on  the  tops  of  high 
mountains  (Carnedd  David,  Carnedd  Llewellyn,  <kc), 
which  are  said  to  have  been  sacrificial.  Some  cairns  are 
undoubtedly  sepulchral.  In  common  language,  a  cairn  is 
distinguished  from  a  barrow,  the  former  being  a  heap  of 
stones,  the  latter  a  mound  of  earth  ;  but  in  all  probability 
they  had  for  the  most  part  the  same  object,  and  the  dif- 
ference of  materials  was  merely  occasioned  by  local  cir- 
cumstances.    See  Barrow. 

CAIRNGO'RM  STONE.  A  yellow  or  brown  variety  of 
rock  crystal  or  crystallized  silica,  from  the  mountain 
Cairngorm  in  Scotland. 

CAISSON.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture,  a  sunken  panel  in 
a  flat  or  vaulted  ceiling,  or  in  the  soffit  of  a  cornice.  In 
ceilings  they  are  of  various  geometrical  forms,  and  often 
enriched  with  rosettes  or  other  ornaments.  Caisson,  in 
bridge  building,  is  a  large  chest  or  vessel  in  which  the 
piers  of  a  bridge  are  built.  This  sinking  as  the  work  ad- 
vances, its  bottom  at  last  comes  in  contact  with  the  bed  of 
the  river,  when  the  sides  are  disengaged,  its  construction 
being  such  as  to  admit  of  their  being  thus  detached  without 
injury  to  the  floor  or  bottom. 

CA'JEPUT  OIL.  A  volatile  oil  obtained  by  distilling  the 
leaves  of  the  Melaleuca  minor,  a  shrub  abundant  in  Am- 
boyna  and  Borneo,  whence  the  oil  is  imported.  This  oil 
180 


CALCULUS. 

is  of  various  shades  of  green,  highly  pungent  and  aromatic, 
and  powerfully  stimulant  and  diaphoretic.  It  has  been 
much  extolled  as  a  remedy  in  the  Asiatic  cholera,  but 
other  essential  oils  are  probably  as  effectual. 

CA/LAMARY.  (Calamus,  a  pen  ;  theca  calamaria,  the 
penjish.)  A  Cephalopod  ;  so  called  because  it  has  a  horny 
substance  shaped  like  a  quill  in  its  back,  and  contains  an 
ink-bag  in  its  visceral  sac:  it  is  the  Loligo  vulgaris  of 
Cuvier. 

CA'LAMINE.  A  native  carbonate  of  zinc,  Lapis  cola- 
minaris.  It  is  a  zinc  ore  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
brass. 

CA'LAMUS.  (Gr.  xa\afios.  a  reed.)  A  name  occasion- 
ally employed  in  botany  for  such  simple  fistular  stems, 
without  articulations,  as  occur  in  rushes  and  similar 
plants. 

CA'LAMTJS  AROMA'TICUS.  The  rhizoma  of  the  Aco- 
rus  calamus,  common  over  the  whole  of  Europe  in  moist 
situations ;  it  is  usually  known  under  the  name  of  sweet 
flag.  An  infusion  of  the  root  is  a  good  aromatic  tonic.  It 
yields  a  very  small  portion  of  essential  oil  when  distilled 
with  water  (scarcely  exceeding  a  thousandth  part  of  its 
weight),  which  is  used  by  perfumers. 

CALA'THIUM,  or  CALATHID1UM.  (Gr.  xa\a6os,  a 
cup.)  Is  a  botanical  term,  employed  by  some  German  bo- 
tanists to  denote  that  kind  of  depressed  contracted  inflo- 
rescence which  is  found  in  composite  flowers.  It  is  in  re- 
ality an  umbel  with  all  the  flowers  sessile. 

CALATRA'VA,  ORDER  OF,  IN  SPAIN,  so  denomi- 
nated from  a  castle  taken  from  the  Moors,  was  instituted 
by  Sancho  III.  King  of  Castile,  in  1158.  The  kings  of 
Spain  are  perpetual  grand  masters  of  this  order  of  knight- 
hood. 

CA'LCAR.  (Lat.  calcar,  a  spur.)  This  term  is  applied 
by  botanists  to  all  hollow  prolongations  downwards  of 
leaves  or  the  parts  of  a  flower.  The  long  hollow  horns 
which  hang  down  from  one  of  the  sepals  of  a  Tropcelum, 
or  from  the  labellum  of  an  Orchis,  or  the  curved  bodies 
enclosed  within  the  hood  of  an  Aconite  flower,  are  de- 
scribed by  this  name. 

CALCA'REOUS  SOIL.  (Lat.  calx,  lime.)  Soil  of  which 
lime  forms  a  principal  component  part.  Kirwan  alleges 
that  no  soil  will  continue  long  fertile  that  does  not  contain 
some  proportion  of  lime  ;  and  this  has  been  subsequendy 
proved  by  what  takes  place  in  North  America.  See  Ruf- 
fin's  Essay  on  Calcareous  Manures.  Johnston's  Agricultu- 
ral Chemistry. 

CALCEOLA'RIA.  (Calceolus,  a  small  slipper.)  Agenus 
of  beautiful  herbaceous  or  shrubby  plants  with  yellow,  or 
orange,  or  purple  flowers,  the  lower  half  of  which  is  shaped 
sometimes  like  an  old-fashioned  slipper.  They  naturally 
inhabit  rocks,  rich  plains,  and  woods,  in  Chill,  Peru,  or 
New  Grenada.  In  this  country  many  of  them  are  hardy 
enough  to  live  in  the  open  air  in  summer ;  and  some  will 
even  endure  our  winters,  if  not  very  severe.  They  are, 
however,  all  cultivated  with  most  success  if  regarded  as 
greenhouse  plants. 

CALCINATION.  The  reduction  of  substances  to  cinder 
or  ash.  The  term  is  derived  from  the  Latin  word  calx, 
quicklime,  which,  as  is  well  known,  is  prepared  by  the  ac- 
tion of  heat  upon  limestone  ;  and  hence  the  old  chemists 
employed  the  word  calcination  to  express  any  supposed 
analogous  change,  metallic  substances  being  apparently 
converted  into  earthy  matter  by  calcination. 

CA'LCIDM,  The  metallic  base  of  lime,  discovered  in 
1808  by  Davy.  This  substance  has  hitherto  been  obtained 
in  such  small  quantities,  that  its  properties  have  not  been 
accurately  investigated.  It  is  probably  a  brilliant  white 
metal,  highly  inflammable,  and  more  than  twice  as  heavy 
as  water.  Combined  with  oxygen  it  forms  lime,  which 
consists  of  20  calcium  +  8  oxygen  =2S  lime. 

CALC-SI'NTER.  (German.  From  kalk,  lime,  and  sin- 
tern,  to  drop.)    The  calcareous  deposit  of  certain  springs. 

CALC-SPAR.  Calcareous  spar,  or  crystallized  carbo- 
nate of  lime. 

CALCULATION,  CAT.CULUS.  (Lat.  calculus,  a 
small  pebble,  the  Romans  having  made  use  of  pebbles  in 
casting  up  accounts.)  In  modern  language,  the  term  cal- 
culus is  employed  to  denote  any  branch,  or  any  operation 
of  mathematics,  which  requires  or  may  involve  numerical 
calculation  ;  and  therefore  may  be  applied  to  the  whole  of 
the  mathematical  sciences,  excepting  pure  geometry. 
Thus  that  part  of  algebra  which  treats  of  exponents  is 
called  the  experimental  calcidus.  In  like  manner  the 
phrases  calculus  of  definite  integrals,  calculus  of  functions, 
calculus  of  variations,  $c,  are  used  to  denote  certain 
branches  of  the  higher  mathematics.  See  Differential 
Calculi's.  Integral  Calculus.  Variations. 

CA'LCULUS.  (Dimin.  of  calx,  a  limestone.)  In  Phy- 
siology, the  general  term  for  inorganic  secretions  of  various 
kinds,  formed  in  various  parts  of  the  body,  and  bearing  in 
shape  or  composition  a  general  resemblance  to  stones. 
The  term  calculus  is,  however,  generally  confined  to  urin- 
ary concretions.    See  Urine. 


CALDARIUM. 

CALDA'RHTM.  (Lat.)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  by 
some  authors  used  in  the  same  sense  as  Laconicum,  was 
an  apartment  in  the  baths  heated  for  the  purpose  of  causing 
perspiration.  Vitruvius,  however,  used  the  word  to  signify 
a  hot  bath. 

CALEA'NTHUM.     Pliny's  term  for  copperas. 

CA'LEMBOURG.  A  French  expression  for  that  kind 
of  witticism  which  in  England  is  denominated  a  pun.  A 
certain  Westphalian  Count  Calemberg  (Kahlenberg),  who 
visited  Paris  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XV.,  and  was  famous  for 
his  blunders  in  the  French  language,  is  said  to  be  the  per- 
son immortalized  by  the  employment  of  his  name  to  de- 
signate this  species  of  jeu  de  mots. 

CA'LENDAR.  A  distribution  or  division  of  time  into 
periods  adapted  to  the  purposes  of  civil  life  ;  also  a  table 
or  register  of  such  divisions,  exhibiting  the  order  in  which 
the  seasons,  months,  festivals,  and  holidays  succeed  each 
other  durini  the  year.  The  word  is  derived  from  the 
ancient  Latin  verb  calare,  to  call.  In  the  early  ages  of 
Rome,  it  was  the  custom  for  the  pontiffs  to  call  the  people 
together  on  the  first  day  of  each  month,  to  apprise  them 
of  the  days  that  were  to  be  kept  sacred  in  the  course  of  it. 
Hence  dies  calenda,  the  calends  or  first  days  of  the  differ- 
ent months. 

The  calendars  in  use  throughout  Europe  are  borrowed 
from  that  of  the  Romans.  Romulus  is  supposed  to  have 
first  undertaken  to  divide  the  year  in  such  a  manner  that 
certain  epochs  should  return  periodically  after  a  revolu- 
tion of  the  sun  ;  but  the  knowledge  of  astronomy  was  not 
then  sufficiently  advanced  to  allow  this  to  be  done  with 
much  precision.  He  placed  the  commencement  of  the 
year  in  spring,  and  divided  it  into  10  months — March,  April, 
May,  June,  Quintilis,  Se.xtilis,  September,  October,  Novem- 
ber, and  December.  March,  May,  Quintilis,  and  October, 
contained  thirty-one  days  each  ;  the  other  six  contained 
only  thirty.  The  names  Quintilis  and  Sextilis  remained 
in  the  calendar  till  the  end  of  the  republic,  when  they  were 
changed  into  July  and  August ;  the  former  in  flattery  of 

Julius  Csesar,  and  the  latter  of  Augustus. 

The  year  of  Romulus  contained  only  304  days.  Numa 
added  two  months;  January  to  the  beginning  of  the  year, 
and  February  to  the  end.  About  the  year  452  b.  c.  this 
arrangement  was  changed  by  the  Decemvirs,  who  placed 
February  after  January  ;  since  that  time  the  order  of  the 
months  has  remained  undisturbed.  In  Numa's  year  the 
months  consisted  of  29  and  30  days  alternately,  to  corres- 
pond with  the  synodic  revolution  of  the  moon.  The  year 
would  therefore  consist  of  354  days;  but  one  day  was 
added  to  make  the  number  odd,  as  b^ing  more  lucky.  In 
order  to  produce  a  correspondence  with  the  solar  year, 
Noma  ordered  an  intercalary  month  to  be  inserted  every 
second  year  between  the  '23rd  and  '24th  of  February,  con- 
sisting alternately  of  '22  and  23  days.  Had  this  regulation 
been  strictly  adhered  to,  the  mean  length  of  the  year 
would  have  been  365JSf  days,  and  the  months  would  have 
continued  for  a  long  time  to  correspond  with  the  sain 
sons.  But  a  discretionary  power  over  the  intercalary  month 
was  exercised  by  the  pontiffs,  who  frequently  abused  it  for 
the  purpose  of  hastening  or  retarding  the  days  of  the  elec- 
tion of  magistrates  :  and  the  Roman  calendar  continued  in 
a  state  of  uncertainty  and  confusion  till  the  time  of  Julius 
Caesar,  when  the  civil  equinox  differed  from  the  astrono- 
mical by  three  months. 

Under  the  advice  of  the  astronomer  Sosigenes,  Caesar 
abolished  the  lunar  year,  and  regulated  the  civil  year  en- 
tirely by  the  sun.  He  decreed  that  the  common  year 
should  consist  of  365  days  ;  but  that  every  fourth  year 
should  contain  3110.  In  distributing  the  days  among  the 
different  months,  he  ordered  that  the  odd  months,  that  is, 
the  first,  third,  fifth,  seventh,  ninth,  and  eleventh,  should 
contain  each  31  days,  and  the  other  months  30;  excepting 
February,  which  in  common  years  was  to  contain  only  29 
days,  but  every  fourth  year  30  days.  This  natural  and 
convenient  arrangement  was  interrupted  to  gratify  the 
frivolous  vanity  of  Augustus,  by  giving  August,  the  month 
named  after  him,  an  equal  number  of  days  with  July, 
which  was  named  after  the  first  Caesar.  The  intercalary 
day,  which  occurred  every  fourth  year,  was  inserted  be- 
tween the  24th  and  25th  of  February.  According  to  the 
peculiar  and  awkward  manner  of  reckoning  adopted  by  the 
Romans,  the  24th  of  February  was  called  the  sixth  before  the 
calends  of  March,  sexto  calendas.  In'  the  intercalary  year 
this  day  was  repeated,  and  called  bis  sexto  calendas; 
whence  the  term  bissextile.  The  corresponding  English 
term,  leap  year,  appears  less  correct,  as  it  seems  to  imply 
that  a  day  was  leapt  over  instead  of  being  thrust  in.  It 
may  be  remarked,  that  in  the  ecclesiastical  calendar  the 
intercalary  day  is  still  inserted  between  the  24th  and  25th 
of  February. 

The  Julian  year  consisted  of  365!-}  days,  and  conse- 
quently differed  in  excess  by  11  minutes  10  35  sec.  from 
the  true  solar  year,  which  consists  of  365  d.  5  h.  48  m. 
49-62  sec.  In  consequence  of  this  difference  the  astrono- 
mical equinox,  in  the  course  of  a  few  centuries,  sensibly  fell 
131 


CALENDAR. 

back  towards  the  beginning  of  the  year.  In  the  time  of 
Julius  Caesar  it  corresponded  to  the  25th  of  March  ;  in  the 
sixteenth  century  it  had  retrograded  to  the  11th.  The 
correction  of  this  error  was  one  of  the  purposes  sought  to 
be  obtained  by  the  reformation  of  the  calendar  effected  by 
Pope  Gregory  XIII.  in  1582.  By  suppressing  10  days  in 
the  calendar.  Gregory  restored  the  equinox  to  the  21st  of 
March,  the  day  on  which  it  fell  at  the  time  of  the  Council 
of  Nice  in  325  ;  the  place  of  Easter  and  the  other  moveable 
church  feasts  in  the  ecclesiastical  calendar  having  been 
prescribed  at  that  council.  And  in  order  that  the  same 
inconvenience  might  be  prevented  in  future,  he  ordered 
the  intercalation  which  took  place  every  fourth  year  to  be 
omitted  in  years  ending  centuries;  that  is  to  say,  on  the 
100th,  200th,  <kc.  ;  excepting  on  the  400th,  and  the  years 
which  are  multiples  of  400.  The  Gregorian  rule  of  inter- 
calation may  therefore  be  expressed  as  follows  : — 

"  Every  year  of  which  the  number  is  divisible  by  4  with- 
out a  remainder  is  a  leap  year,  excepting  the  centesimal 
years,  which  are  only  leap  years  when  divisible  by  4  after 
suppressing  the  two  zeros."  Thus  1600  was  a  leap  year; 
1700  and  1800  were  common  years ;  1900  will  be  a  common 
year,  2000  a  leap  year,  and  so  on. 

The  Gregorian  method  of  intercalation  thus  gives  97  in- 
tercalations in  400  years  ;  consequently  400  years  contain 
400X365+97=146097  days,  and  therefore  the  length  of  one 
year  is  3652425  days,  or  365  d.  5  h.  49  m.  12  sec,  which 
exceeds  the  true  solar  year  by  22-38  sec,  an  error  which 
amounts  only  to  one  day  in  3866  years. 

If  an  astronomer  were  required,  without  any  reference 
to  established  usages,  to  give  a  rule,  of  intercalation  by 
which  the  commencement  of  the  civil  year,  while  it  al- 
ways coincided  with  the  commencement  of  a  day,  should 
deviate  the  least  possible  from  the  same  instant  of  the 
solaryear,  be  would  proceed  as  follows  : — The  length  of  the 
mean  solar  year  being  365*24224  I  days,  the  excess  above  a 
whole  number  of  days  is  212241,  which  converted  into  a 
continued  fraction  becomes 


4+1 

7+1 

4+1 

7+L_ 

1+,  <fcc. 
Whence  the  following  series  of  approximative  fractions  is 
derived. 

_t_        _7_       _8_         39  281  320 

4,  29,         33,        161,         1160,         1321,  Ax. 

Of  these  the  first  gives  an  intercalation  of  1  day  in  4 

years,  which  suppose  the   year  to  be  365 X  days.     The 

second  gives  7  intercalations  in  29  years,  and  supposes  the 

length  of  the  year  to  be  365  d.  5  h.  47  m.  35  sec,  which  is 

somewhat  too  small.     The  third  fraction,  _i $_  js  remarka- 

'  3  3' 
hie.  as  giving  a  year  which  differs  in  excess  from  the  true 
solar  by  153S  seconds ;  so  that  by  intercalating  8 times  in 
33  years,  or  7  times  successively  at  the  end  of  every  fourth 
year,  and  once  at  the  end  of  the  fifth  year,  the  difference 
between  the  civil  and  solar  year  would  only  accumulate  to 
a  day  in  about  5600  years,  while  in  the  Gregorian  calendar 
the  error  amounts  to  a  day  in  3S60  years.  Nevertheless 
the  Gregorian  rule  has  this  advantage,  that  leap  year  is  al- 
ways readily  distinguished. 

The  Gregorian  calendar  was  received  immediately  or 
shortly  after  its  promulgation  by  all  the  Roman  Catholic 
countries  of  Europe.  The  Protestant  states  of  Germany, 
and  the  kingdom  of  Denmark,  adhered  to  the  Julian  calen- 
dar till  1700 ;  and  in  England  the  alteration  was  success- 
fully opposed  by  popular  prejudices  till  1752.  In  that  year 
the  Julian  calendar,  or  old  style,  as  it  was  called,  was 
formally  abolished  by  the  act  of  parliament,  and  the  date 
used  in  all  public  transactions  rendered  coincident  with 
that  followed  in  other  European  countries,  by  enacting 
that  the  day  following  the  2nd  of  September  of  the  year 
1752  should  be  called  the  14th  of  that  month.  When  the 
alteration  was  made  by  Gregory  it  was  only  necessary  to 
drop  10  days  ;  the  year  1700  having  intervened,  which  was 
a  common  year  in  the  Gregorian  but  a  leap  year  in  the 
Julian  calendar,  it  was  now  necessary  to  drop  11  days. 
The  old  style  is  still  adhered  to  in  Russia  and  the  coun- 
tries following  the  communion  of  the  Greek  church  ;  the 
difference  of  date  in  the  present  century  amounts  to  twelve 
days. 

Ecclesiastical  Calendar. — The  adaptation  of  the  civil  to 
the  solar  year  is  attended  with  no  difficulty  ;  but  the  church 
calendar  for  regulating  the  moveable  feasts  imposes  con-, 
ditions  less  easily  satisfied.  The  early  Christians  borrowed 
a  portion  of  their  ritual  from  the  Jews.  The  Jewish  year 
was  luni-solar ;  that  is  to  say,  depended  on  the  moon  as 


CALENDAR. 

well  as  on  the  sun.  Easter,  the  principal  Christian  festival, 
in  imitation  of  the  Jewish  Passover,  was  celebrated  about 
the  time  of  the  full  moon.  Differences  of  opinion,  and 
consequently  disputations,  soon  arose  as  to  the  proper  day 
on  which  the  celebration  should  be  held.  In  order  to  put 
an  end  to  an  unseemly  contention,  the  Council  of  Nice 
laid  down  a  specific  rule,  and  ordered  that  Easter  should 
always  be  celebrated  on  the  Sunday  which  immediately 
follows  the  full  moon  that  happens  upon  or  next  after  the 
day  of  the  vernal  equinox.  In  order  to  determine  Easter 
according  to  this  rule  for  any  particular  year,  it  is  necessa- 
ry to  reconcile  three  periods  ;  namely,  the  week,  the  lunar 
month,  and  the  solar  year.  To  find  the  day  of  the  week 
on  which  any  given  day  of  the  year  falls,  it  is  necessary  to 
know  on  what  day  of  the  week  the  year  began.  In  the  Julian 
calendar  this  was  easily  found  by  means  of  a  short  period 
or  cycle  of  28  years  (see  Cycle),  after  which  the  year  be- 
gins with  the  same  day  of  the  week.  In  the  Gregorian  cal- 
endar this  order  is  interrupted  by  the  omission  of  the  in- 
tercalation in  the  last  year  of  the  century.  But  to  render 
any  calculation  unnecessary  a  table  is  given  in  the  prayer 
books,  showing  the  correspondence  of  the  days  of  the 
year  and  the  week  for  the  current  century.  (.See  also  Do- 
minical Letter.)  The  connection  of  the  lunar  month 
with  the  solar  year  is  an  ancient  problem,  for  the  resolu- 
tion of  which  the  Greeks  invented  cycles  or  periods,  which 
remained  in  use  with  some  modifications  till  the  time  of 
the  Gregorian  reformation.  (See  Metonic  Cycle,  Gold- 
en Number.)  The  author  of  the  Gregorian  calendar,  Lui- 
gi  Lilio  Ghiraldi,  or,  as  he  is  frequently  called,  Aloysius 
Lilius,  employed  for  the  same  purpose  a  set  of  numbers 
called  Epacts  (for  an  explanation  of  the  use  of  which  see 
Epact).  It  is  to  be  desired  that  this  complicated  system 
of  rules  and  tables  were  rendered  unnecessary  by  abolish- 
ing the  use  of  the  lunar  month,  and  causing  Easter  to  fall 
invariably  on  the  same  Sunday  of  a  calendar  month;  for 
example,  on  the  first  or  second  Sunday  of  April. 

New  French  Calendar. — A  new  reform  of  the  calendar 
was  attempted  to  be  introduced  in  France  during  the  pe- 
riod of  the  Revolution.  The  commencement  of  the  year 
was  fixed  at  the  autumnal  equinox,  which  nearly  coincided 
with  the  epoch  of  the  foundation  of  the  republic.  The 
names  of  the  ancient  months  were  abolished,  and  others 
substituted  having  reference  to  agricultural  labours,  or  the 
state  of  nature  in  the  different  seasons  of  the  year.  But 
the  alteration  was  found  to  be  inconvenient  and  impracti- 
cable, and  after  a  few  years  was  formally  abandoned. 
(Cycle,  Era,  Hejira,  Year.  See  Nicolas's  Chronology 
of  History.) 

CA'LENDER.  A  machine  for  pressing  and  smoothing 
cloth  and  other  articles,  which  when  so  prepared  are  said 
to  be  calendered.  It  literally  means  hot-pressing ;  from 
color,  heat. 

CA'LEXDS,  in  the  ancient  Roman  calendar,  were  the 
first  days  of  each  month.  The  Roman  month  was  divided 
into  three  periods  by  the  Calends,  the  Nmxes,  and  the  Ides. 
The  Calends  were  invariably  placed  at  the  beginning  of  the 
month;  the  Ides  at  the  middle  of  the  month,  on  the  13th  or 
I5tb  ;  and  the  Nones  (novem,  nine)  were  the  ninth  day  be- 
fore the  Ides,  counting  inclusively.  From  these  three 
terms  the  days  were  counted  backwards,  in  the  following 
manner  : — Those  days  comprised  between  the  calends  and 
the  nones  were  denominated  days  before  the  nones ;  those 
between  the  nones  and  the  ides,  days  before  the  ides ;  and 
those  from  the  ides  to  the  end  of  the  month,  days  before 
the  calends.  Hence  the  phrases  pridie  ccdendas,  tertio  ca- 
lendas,  &c;  meaning  the  second  day  before  the  calends, 
or  last  day  of  the  month,  the  third  day  before  the  calends, 
or  last  but  one  of  the  month  (the  calends  or  first  day  of  the 
following  month  being  included  in  the  reckoning),  and  so 
on.  In  the  months  of  March,  May,  July,  and  October,  the 
ides  fell  on  the  15th  day,  and  the  nones,  consequently,  on 
the  7th.  In  all  the  other  months  the  ides  fell  on  the  13th, 
and  the  nones,  consequently,  on  the  7th.  The  number  of 
days  receiving  their  denomination  from  the  calends  de- 
pended on  the  number  of  days  in  the  month  and  the  day 
on  which  the  ides  fell.  For  example,  if  the  month  had 
thirty-one  days,  and  the  ides  fell  on  the  13th  (as  happened 
in  January,  August,  and  December),  there  would  remain 
eighteen  days  after  the  ides,  which,  added  to  the  first  of 
the  following  month,  made  nineteen  days  of  calends. 
Hence  the  14th  day  of  January  was  styled  the  nineteenth 
before  the  calends  of  February ;  the  following  day,  or  loth 
of  the  month,  was  the  eighteenth  before  the  calends,  and  so  on. 

CALE'NDULIN.  A" mucilaginous  substance  or  species 
of  gum  obtained  from  the  marigold. 

CA'LENTURE.  (Lat.  caleo.)  A  delirious  fever,  pro- 
duced by  the  sun,  in  which  it  is  common  for  the  patient  to 
imagine  the  sea  to  be  green  fields. 

CA'I.IBER,  or  CALIPER.  (Fr.  calibre.)  The  thickness 
or  diameter  of  any  round  or  cylindrical  body,  as  of  the  bore 
of  a  gun  or  of  its  ball. 

CALICO-PRINTING.  The  art  of  producing  figured 
patterns  upon  calico ;  they  are  transferred  to  its  surface  by 
182 


CALIXTINES. 

blocks,  copper  plates,  or  engraved  cylinders,  by  which  the 
colours  are  directly  printed,  or  by  which  mordants  are  so 
applied  that  when  the  calico  is  immersed  in  a  colouring 
bath,  the  colour  only  adheres  or  is  produced  upon  the 
parts  to  which  the  mordant  had  been  previously  applied. 
See  Dyeing.  See  also  Berthollet  on  Dyeing  and  Bleaching, 
edited  by  Dr.  Ure,  new  edition,  8vo.  1841. 

CA'LIDUCT.  (Lat.  calidus,  hot,  and  ductus,  a  convey- 
ance.) In  Architecture,  a  pipe  or  flue  for  the  distribution 
of  heat  in  an  apartment  or  house. 

CALIGI'D^.  A  family  of  parasitic  Entomostracous 
Crustaceans,  belonging  to  the  order  Siphonostoma,  charac- 
terized by  having  the  mouth  organized  for  piercing  and 
suction.  The  parasites  of  this  family  prey  almost  exclu- 
sively upon  fish,  and  are  commonly  called  fish-lice.  Gold- 
fish are  sometimes  infested  to  an  almost  incredible  extent 
with  a  species,  the  Monoculus  foliaceus  of  Linnaeus,  which 
is  nearly  a  quarter  of  an  inch  long,  having  the  body  covered 
with  a  broad  round  transparent  shield,  notched  behind  to 
give  free  motion  to  the  tail.  The  first  pair  of  legs  are 
shaped  like  a  cupping-glass,  and  for  the  purpose  of  holding 
on  ;  the  four  last  pairs  are  formed  for  swimming  and  ter- 
minated each  by  two  long  and  feathered  filaments,  proba- 
bly subservient  to  respiration. 

CA'LIPER  COMPASSES,  or  simply  Calipers,  are  com- 
passes with  curved  legs,  for  measuring  the  caliber  or  di- 
ameter of  cylinders,  balls,  or  other  round  bodies.  Calipers 
of  the  best  sort  are  made  with  a  scale  having  different  sets 
of  numbers  engraved  on  it,  like  a  sliding  rule,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  exhibiting  at  once  various  relations  depending  on 
the  magnitude  of  the  diameter  of  the  body  measured. 
Thus,  as  the  weights  of  balls  of  the  same  metal  are  in  a 
constant  ratio  to  the  cubes  of  their  diameters  the  scale 
may  be  so  graduated  and  numbered  that  the  observer  may 
read  off  either  the  diameter  in  inches,  or  the  weight  in 
pounds.  Other  numbers  having  a  less  immediate  applica- 
tion are  also  frequently  attached  :  for  example,  the  de- 
grees of  a  circle,  the  proportions  of  troy  and  avoirdupois 
weight,  tables  of  the  specific  gravities  and  weights  of 
bodies,  &c.  It  is  obvious  that  these  may  be  varied  infi- 
nitely, according  to  the  purposes  proposed  to  be  accom- 
plished. This  word  is  probably  derived  from  the  Greek 
Ka\Xetiroy.  I  leave  behind. 

CA'LIPH.  (Arab,  khalifah.)  Orisinally  a  deputy  or 
lieutenant,  but  afterwards  applied  chiefly  to  the  successors 
or  representatives  of  Mohammed,  who  exercised  the  high- 
est spiritual  and  temporal  jurisdiction  over  the  "Faithful.'' 
At  first  there  was  little  difficulty  in  determining  the  right 
of  succession  to  the  caliphat,  as  it  devolved  on  the  imme- 
diate descendants  or  relations  of  the  prophet:  but  in  the 
course  of  time  violent  disputes  arose  upon  this  point 
among  several  Mohammedan  dynasties,  and  led  to  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  caliphats  of  Africa  (Fatimide),  and  of 
Spain  (Omayzade),  which  were  contemporary  with  that  of 
the  Abassides  of  Bagdad.  The  splendour  of  the  empire 
founded  by  Mohammed  reached  its  highest  pitch  towards 
the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century,  under  the  famous 
Haroun  al  Raschid.  The  period  of  its  decline  may  be  da- 
ted from  the  commencement  of  the  tenth  century  ;  and 
for  the  last  200  years  the  appellation  of  caliph  has  been 
swallowed  up  in  Shah,  Sultan,  Emir,  and  other  tides  pe- 
culiar to  the  east. 

CALl'PPIC  PERIOD.  In  Ancient  Chronology,  is  a 
correction  of  the  Me  tonic  cycle  proposed  by  Calippus. 
The  Metonic  cycle  was  a  period  of  nineteen  solar  years,  at 
the  end  of  which  time  the  new  moons  return  again  on  the 
same  days  of  the  year.  The  period  contained  exactly 
6940  days.  Now  6940  days  exceeds  235  lunations  by  only 
seven  hours  and  a  half.  At  the  end  of  four  cycles,  or  76 
years,  the  accumulated  excess  of  7%  hours  amounts  to 
one  whole  day  and  six  hours.  Calippus  therefore  pro- 
posed to  quadruple  the  period  of  Melon,  and  to  deduct  a 
day  at  the  end  of  it  by  changing  one  of  the  months  of  30 
days  into  a  month  of  29  days.  (See  Metonic  Cycle.) 
The  period  of  Calippus  is  sometimes  referred  to  as  a  date 
by  Ptolemy. 

CALI'XTINES.  One  division  of  the  Bohemian  Refor- 
mers, who  in  the  loth  century  protested  against  the  errors 
of  the  church  of  Rome,  and  maintained  their  indepen- 
dence by  force  of  arms.  After  the  death  of  Huss,  his  fol- 
lowers split  into  two  principal  parties,  under  the  names  of 
Taborites  and  Calixtines ;  of  which  the  latter  were  the 
most  moderate,  and  held  out  chiefly  on  the  ground  of  the 
refusal  of  the  cup  (calix)  to  the  laity,  whence  they  de- 
rived their  name.  Their  hostility  was  at  length  propitiated 
by  indulgence  on  this  point :  the  church  of  Rome  declar- 
ing expressly  at  the  same  time  that  the  giving  or  withhold- 
ing of  the  sacramental  wine  is  a  matter  of  ecclesiastical 
ordinance  merely,  and  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  es- 
sential to  the  reception  of  the  benefits  of  the  eucharist. 
The  counsel  of  Basle  (1431)  says,— Sive  sub  una  specie 
sive  duplici  quis  communicat,  secundum  ordinationem  seu 
observationem  ecclesiae,  proficit  digne  communicantibus 
ad  salutem. 


CALLIGRAPHY. 

The  same  name  is  given  to  the  followers  of  Calixtus,  a 
German  divine  of  the  17th  cenlury,  who  proposed  a  recon- 
ciliation between  the  Roman  Catholics,  Lutherans,  and  Re- 
formed church,  on  the  basis  of  the  Apostles'  Creed. 

CALLIGRAPHY.  (Gr.  kcjXXo?,  beauty,  and  ypd<p(o,  I 
write.')  The  art  of  beautiful  writing.  The  scribes  who 
made  a  profession  of  copying  manuscripts,  before  the  in- 
vention of  printing,  have  been  termed  Calligraphers.  Their 
art  consisted  not  merely  in  writing,  but  also  in  embellishing 
their  work  with  ornamental  devices,  although  illumination 
(which  see)  was  also  practised  as  a  distinct  employment. 
Among  the  MSS.  of  the  early  part  of  the  middle  ages  which 
we  possess,  there  are  some  sumptuous  specimens  of  the 
art,  written  in  letters  of  gold,  vermilion,  &c,  and  on  leaves 
of  different  colours,  but  that  fashion  went  early  out  of  use  ; 
and  in  general  it  may  be  said,  that  the  current  writing  of 
calligraphers  diminished  in  beauty  and  in  laborious  minute- 
ness, especially  in  Italy,  during  the  centuries  immediately 
ig  the  invention  of  printing. 

CALLICNYMUS.  (Gr.  ivaXXoc,  beauty,  and  ovopa,  a 
name.)  A  genus  of  beautiful  spiny-finned  fishes,  with  very 
small  gill  openings ;  ventral  fins  under  the  throat,  and  larger 
than  the  pectorals;  head  oblong,  llattened;  eyes  placed 
near  to  each  other,  and  directed  upwards  ;  no  teeth  on  the 
palate ;  intermaxillaries  capable  of  considerable  protru- 
sion. They  have  no  air  bladder.  The  gemmeous,  or 
golden  dragonet  (Callionymus lyra),  is  a  British  example  of 
this  L'enus. 

CALLI'OPE.  (Gr.  xaXXoc,  beauty,  and  oxp,  the  voice.) 
In  Mythology,  one  of  the  Muses  usually  associated  with 
Homer  in  the  statues  of  antiquity,  and  thence  considered 
as  the  patroness  of  heroic  poetry. 

CALLI'TRICHA'CEJE.    (Cauitriche.  the  only  genus.) 

A  small  cluster  of  imperfectly  organized  water  plants,  the 

natural  relation  of  which  is  unsettled.     By  some  they  are 

'■■]■<;[  allies  of  UrticacetB,  by  others  of  Araiadacem, 

anil  cithers  Monocotyledons. 

CALLORHY'NCHUS.     See  Chimkra. 

CA'LLUS.  In  Osteology,  the  matter  which  unites  the 
divided  ends  of  broken  bones  ;  it  is  a  secretion  of  new  bony 
matter. 

CA'LOMEL.  The  old  chemical  name  of  chloride  of 
mercury.  The  word  is  perhaps  derived  from  «viiXoc,  fair, 
and  /'■>"<;.  black.  It  is  prepared  by  rubbing  mercury  with 
corrosive  sublimate,  which  forms  a  black  mixture,  which, 
liv  the  application  of  heat,  yields  a  white  sublimate  of  calo- 
mel. It  is  much  used  in  medicine,  especially  as  a  purga- 
tive. It  consists  of  200  mercury  ■+-  36  chlorine  =  'ZA>  chlo- 
ride  of  mercury  or  calomel. 

CALO'RiC. '  vl, at.  caleo,  I  am  warm.)    A  term  applied 

by  the  French  chemists  to  designate  the  matter  of  Keat,H 

being  tl  the  phenomena  of  heat  are  dependent 

ence  of  a  highly  attenuated,  mobile,  and  im- 

ponderable  form  of  matter.    See  Heat. 

CALORIFIC  RAYS.  A  term  applied  to  the  invisible 
heating  rays  which  emanate  from  the  sun,  and  from  burn- 
ioir  and  heated  bodies. 

CALORIMETER.  (Lat.  calor,  fteat,  and  metrum,  a 
measure.)  An  instrument  for  measuring  the  quantity  of 
heat  given  out  by  bodies  in  passing  from  one  temperature 
to  another. 

CALORIMO'TOR.  (Lat.  calor,  heat,  and  moveo,  /  put 
in  motion.)  This  term  has  occasionally  been  applied  to  a 
peculiar  form  of  the  voltaic  apparatus  composed  of  one  pair 
of  plates  of  great  extent  of  surface,  the  electricity  of  which, 
when  transmitted  through  good  conductors,  produces  in- 
tense heat. 

CA'LOSO'MA.  (Gr.  *aXoc,  beautiful ;  cu/ia,  body.)  A 
conns  of  most  splendid  Coleopterous  insects,  belonging  to 
the  family  CarabidcB,  or  ground  beetles.  In  this  genusthe 
jaws  are  toothless,  or  rather  devoid  of  notches ;  the  maxil- 
lary palpes  terminate  in  a  large  joint,  and  the  abdomen  is 
broad.  There  are  two  British  species:  Calosoma  syco- 
phanta,  so  called  because  its  grub  insinuates  itself  into  the 
nests  of  gregarious  caterpillars,  and  feeds  upon  them  ;  and 
Calosoma  inquisitor.  In  speculating  on  the  exception 
which  the  Calosomes  present  among  the  Carabida,  in  the 
brilliant  colours  which  are  developed  in  them,  an  explana- 
tion seems  to  be  afforded  by  a  difference  in  their  habits : 
they  frequent  trees,  and  are  more  exposed  to  the  light  than 
their  hole-and-corner  congeners,  the  ground-beetles. 

CALOTYPE  is  the  name  given  by  Mr.  H.  Fox  Talbot  to 
his  improved  Photographic  method.  The  method  of  ob- 
taining  Calotype  pictures  is  as  follows  : — Take  a  sheet  of 
the  best  writing  paper.  Dissolve  100  grains  of  crystallized 
nitrate  of  silver  in  6  ounces  of  distilled  water.  Wash  the 
paper  with  this  solution,  with  a  soft  brush,  on  one  side, 
and  put  a  mark  on  that  side,  whereby  to  know  it  again. 
Dry  the  paper  cautiously  at  a  distant  fire,  or  else  let  it  dry 
spontaneously  in  a  dark  room.  When  dry,  or  nearly  so, 
dip  it  into  a  solution  of  iodide  of  potassium,  of  500  grains  to 
a  pint  of  distilled  water,  and  let  it  stay  two  or  three  minutes 
in  this  solution.  Then  dip  it  into  a  vessel  of  water,  dry  it 
lightly  with  blotting  paper,  and  finish  drying  it  at  a  fire,  or 
183 


CALVINISTS. 

spontaneously.  All  this  is  best  done  by  candlelight.  The 
paper  so  far  prepared  the  author  calls  iodized  paper.  It  is 
scarcely  sensitive  to  light ;  nevertheless  it  ought  to  be  kept 
protected  from  the  light.  Shortly  before  this  paper  is 
wanted  for  use,  wash  a  sheet  of  it  with  this  liquid :— Dis- 
solve 100  grs.  of  crystallized  nitrate  of  silver  in  2  oz.  of  dis- 
tilled water;  add  one  sixth  of  its  volume  of  strong  acetic 
acid  :  let  this  mixture  be  called  A.  Make  a  saturated  so- 
lution of  crystallized  gallic  acid  in  cold  distilled  water; 
the  quantity  dissolved  is  very  small ;  call  this  solution  B. 
When  a  sheet  of  paper  is  wanted  for  use,  mix  together  the 
liquids  A  and  B,  in  equal  volumes,  but  only  mix  a  small 
quantity  of  them  at  a  time,  because  the  mixture  will  not 
keep  long  without  spoiling  :  call  this  mixture  the  Gullo-ni- 
trate  of  silver.  With  it  wash  the  iodized  paper  on  the 
marked  side,  by  candlelight.  Let  the  paper  rest  half  a 
minute,  and  then  dip  it  into  water.  Then  dry  it  lightly  with 
blotting  paper,  and  at  a  distance  from  the  fire.  The  author 
has  named  the  paper  thus  prepared  Calotype  paper,  on  ac- 
count of  its  great  utility  in  obtaining  the  pictures  of  objects 
with  the  camera  obscura.  If  this  paper  be  kept  in  a  press, 
it  will  often  retain  its  qualities  in  perfection  for  three 
months  or  more,  being  ready  for  use  at  any  moment ;  but 
this  is  not  uniformly  the  case.  It  is  best  used  a  few  hours 
after  it  has  been  prepared.  The  Calotype  paper  is  sensi- 
tive to  light  in  an  extraordinary  degree,  which  transcends  a 
hundred  times  or  more  that  of  any  kind  of  photogenic  pa 
per;  it  will  take  an  impression  from  simple  moonlight  not 
concentrated  by  a  lens. 

Use  of  the  Paper.  Take  a  piece  of  this  paper,  and  hav- 
ing covered  half  of  it,  expose  the  other  half  to  day-light  for 
the  space  of  one  second  in  dark  cloudy  weather  in  winter, 
when  there  will  be  a  strong  impression  upon  the  paper,  but 
latent  and  invisible,  and  its  existence  not  to  be  suspected 
by  any  one.  To  make  it  visible,  wash  the  paper  once 
more  with  the  gallo-nitrate  of  silver,  and  then  warm  it 
gently  before  the  fire.  In  a  few  seconds,  the  part  of  the 
paper  upon  which  the  light  has  acted  begins  to  darken,  and 
finally  grows  entirely  black,  while  the  other  part  of  the  pa- 
per retains  Us  whiteness.  This  paper  is  well  suited  to  re- 
ceive images  in  the  camera  obscura.  When  the  aperture 
of  the  lens  amounts  to  one  third  of  the  focal  length,  and  the 
object  is  very  white,  as  a  plaster  bust,  <fcc,  one  second  is 
sufficient  to  obtain  a  pretty  good  image  of  it,  made  visible 
by  washing  and  warming. 

The  Fixine  Process.  First  wash  the  picture  with  water, 
then  lightly  dry  it  with  blotting-paper,  and  next  wash  it 
with  a  solution  of  bromide  of  potassium,  containing  100 
grains  of  that  salt  dissolved  in8or  lOounces  of  distilled  water. 
After  a  minute  or  two  it  should  be  again  dipped  in  water, 
and  then  finally  dried.  The  picture  is  in  this  manner  very 
strongly  fixed  :  and  with  this  great  advantage,  that  it  re- 
mains transparent;  and  that,  therefore,  there  is  no  diffi- 
culty in  obtaining  a  copy  of  it.  The  Calotype  picture  is  a 
negative  one.  in  which  the  lights  of  nature  are  represented 
by  shades ;  but  the  copies  are  positive,  having  the  lights 
conformable  to  nature.  A  negative  calotype  may  serve  to 
furnish  several  positive  ones",  but  after  a  while  it  grows 
faint;  but  it  maybe  restored  by  washing  by  candlelight 
with  gallo-nitrate  of  silver,  and  warming.  A  second  series 
may  now  be  taken.  (See  Brewster's  London  and  Edin- 
burgh Philosophical  Journal,  vol.  19,  1841.) 

CA'LOYERS.  Monks  of  the  Greek  church,  who  follow 
the  rule  of  St  Basil. 

CALP.    An  argillo-ferruginous  limestone. 

CALU'MBA.  The  root  of  the  Cocadus  palmatus.  It  is 
dried  in  slices  of  a  yellowish  grey  colour,  and  is  generally 
worm-eaten.  It  has  a  bitter  and  slightly  pungent  taste,  and 
is  very  mucilaginous.  Calumba  root  is  an  excellent  tonic 
medicine,  especially  in  debility  of  stomach  and  intestines: 
about  ten  grains  of  the  powder  may  be  taken  twice  or 
thrice  a  day.  The  Mozambique  name  of  this  plant  is  Ka- 
lumba. 

CA'LUMET.  (Lat.  calamus,  a  reed.)  In  Modem  His- 
tory, a  large  beautifully  adorned  pipe,  used  by  the  North 
American  Indians  as  the  emblem  of  peace.  (Harris's 
Voyages,  vol.  ii.  p.  908.)  The  first  notice  of  the  calumet 
among  European  writers  is  to  be  found  in  Ferdinand  de 
Soto's  account  of  his  expedition  through  the  southern  pro- 
vinces in  1470.     See  Catlin's  North  American  Indians. 

CA'LVINISTS.  The  followers  of  Calvin,  the  second 
great  reformer  of  the  16th  centnry,  and  founder  of  the 
church  of  Geneva.  The  distinguishing  tenets  of  this  cele- 
brated theologian  refer  to  points  both  of  discipline  and  doc- 
trine. He  was  the  first  to  reject  tbe  episcopal  form  of 
church  government,  originally,  it  is  said,  with  great  reluc- 
tance, and  compelled  thereto  by  the  want  of  regularly  or- 
dained ministers ;  but  he  afterwards  maintained  the  exclu- 
sive divine  appointment  of  the  Presbyterian  system,  which 
has  since  obtained  favour  in  Scotland,  and  among  the 
Protestants  of  France,  and  has  had  numerous  adherents 
in  England  and  America.  The  doctrinal  opinions  of  Cal- 
vin, however,  have  not  been  permanently  received  among 
those  who  have  adopted  his  views  i  especting  the  ministry. 


CALX. 

On  the  contrary,  in  England  and  Geneva,  there  are  many 
Presbyterians  Arminian  in  sentiment.  It  was  at  the  Sy- 
nod of  Dort,  in  1618,  that  the  points  in  dispute  between  the 
Calvinlsts  and  Arminians  were  most  accurately  distin- 
guished, and  arranged  under  five  heads,  upon  which  the 
former  party  asserted  the  following  opinions : — 

1.  Of  predestination — that  all  men  have  sinned  in  Adam, 
and  are  become  liable  to  the  curse  ;  but  that  God  has  by 
an  eternal  decree  chosen  some  from  the  beginning,  to 
whom  he  should  impart  faith  of  his  free  grace,  and  conse- 
quently salvation. 

2.  Of  the  death  of  Christ— that  it  is  a  sufficient  sacrifice 
for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world  ;  and  that  some  only  be- 
lieve and  are  saved,  whereas  many  perish  in  unbelief, 
arises  not  from  any  defect  in  this  sacrifice,  but  from  the 
perversity  of  the  non-elect. 

3.  Of  man's  corruption— that  all  men  are  conceived  in 
sin  and  born  the  children  of  wrath,  and  are  neither  will- 
ing nor  able  to  return  to  God  without  the  aid  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

4.  Of  grace  and  free  will— that  the  influence  of  the 
Spirit  upon  our  fallen  natures  does  not  force,  but  only 
quickens  and  corrects  them,  inducing  them  gently  to  turn 
themselves  towards  God  by  an  exercise  of  their  free  will. 

5.  Of  perseverance — that  God  does  not  wholly  take  away 
his  Spirit  from  his  own  children,  even  in  lamentable  falls ; 
nor  does  he  permit  them  to  fall  finally  from  the  grace  of 
adoption  and  the  state  of  justification. 

These  opinions,  which  were  laid  down  at  the  Synod  of 
Dort,  represent  the  sentiments  of  the  founder  of  this  school, 
and  of  the  ancient  or  strict  Calvinists.  In  modern  times 
another  class  of  Moderate  Calvinists  has  arisen,  who  differ 
from  these  in  holding  lower  notions  concerning  reproba- 
tion and  the  extent  of  Christ's  sacrifice.  For  other  subdi- 
visions among  the  Calvinists,  see  articles  Sub-Lapsarians 
and  Supra-Lapsarians. 

CALX.  A  name  applied  by  the  alchemists  to  all  pro- 
ducts of  combustion,  especially  those  obtained  from  the 
metals,  which  were  supposed  to  be  converted  into  a  spe- 
cies of  earth. 

CALY'BIO.  (Gr.  Ka\v6ri,  a  cottage.)  A  name  adopted 
by  some  carpologists,  for  such  a  one-celled,  inferior,  one 
or  few-seeded  fruit,  enclosed  in  a  cupule,  as  the  acorn  of 
the  oak,  the  mast  of  beech,  &c. 

CA'LYCANTHA'CEvE.  (Calycanthus,  one  of  the  gen- 
era.) A  small  natural  order  of  plants  related  to  Rosacea;. 
They  are  all  shrubs  with  fragrant  flowers,  and  inhabit 
North  America  or  Japan.  Some  of  them  resemble  the  ge- 
nus lllicium  in  their  flowers. 

CA'LYCERA'CE^.  (Calycera,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  plants  related  to  Composites,,  from  which 
they  differ  very  little,  excepting  that  their  seeds  are  pendu- 
lous and  albuminous,  and  their  anthers  half  united.  The 
species  are  woody  herbaceous  plants,  inhabiting  the  warm- 
er parts  of  South  America. 

CALY'CULUS.     A  diminutive  of  Calyx,  which  see. 

CALY'MENE.  (Gr.  KtKaXvjtyitvrt,  concealed.)  A  name 
devised  to  express  the  obscure  nature  of  a  genus.  Trilo- 
bites  (fossil  crustaceans),  to  which  it  is  attached,  and 
which  is  distinguished  from  all  other  Trilobites  by  the  fa- 
culty which  the  species  possesses  of  rolling  the  body  up 
into  the  form  of  a  ball,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  recent 
genera  Sphmroma,  Armadillo,  Glomeris ;  viz.  by  approxi- 
mating the  two  extremes  of  the  trunk  at  the  under  part. 
The  anterior  segment  or  shield  of  Calymene  is  as  broad  or 
broader  than  it  is  long,  and  supports  two  compound  promi- 
nent eyes  ;  the  posterior  or  terminal  segment  forms  a  sort 
of  triangular  elongated  tail. 

CALY'PSO.  (Gr.)  In  Fabulous  History,  a  daughter  of 
Atlas,  according  to  Homer,  but  of  Oceanus  and  Thetys,  ac- 
cording to  Hesiod,  was  the  queen  of  the  island  Ogygia. 
On  this  island  Ulysses  suffered  shipwreck  ;  and  Calypso, 
by  the  united  influence  of  her  love  and  spells,  prevailed 
on  him  to  remain  and  share  her  sceptre.  After  the  lapse 
of  seven  years,  however,  his  desire  to  revisit  his  native 
country  became  irrepressible,  and  he  resolved  to  forego 
his  honours  in  Ogygia.  Calypso  tried  every  expedient, 
offering  him  even  the  bribe  of  immortality,  to  induce  him 
to  remain  ;  but  all  her  efforts  proved  unavailing,  and  on 
his  departure  she  died  of  grief.  The  island  of  Ogygia, 
placed  by  Pliny  (iii.  10.)  off  the  Lacinian  promontory,  be- 
tween the  Tarentine  and  Scyllian  bays,  has  long  since 
been  engulfed  in  the  ocean,  along  with  the  famous  islands 
of  the  Sirens. 

CALYPTRjE'A.  (Gr.  Ka\viTTpa,  a  covering.)  The 
name  of  a  genus  of  Gastropods,  having  a  patelliform  shell, 
to  the  concavity  of  which  adheres  either  a  smaller  conical 
shell,  like  a  cup  in  a  saucer,  or  a  semi-circular  testaceous 

Erocess,  forming  the  commencement  of  a  columella.  The 
ranchiae  consist  of  a  single  row  of  long  and  slender  fila- 
ments. The  foot  is  circular,  expanded,  and  furnished  with 
two  anterior  processes.  The  genus,  originally  established 
by  Lamarck,  is  now  divided  into  the  sub-genera  Calypeop- 
eis,  Crepipatella,  and  Calyptrwa. 
184 


CAMELID.E. 

CA'LYX.  (Gr.  ko.\v£,  a  cup.)  The  name  given  by  bot- 
anists to  the  outermost  of  the  enveloping  organs  of  a  flow- 
er. It  is  usually  green,  and  sometimes  bears  a  great  re- 
semblance to  leaves ;  but  it  is  also  frequently  richly  co- 
loured, as  in  the  Mirabilis,  Salvia  spttndens,  &c.  This 
organ  appears  to  have  the  office  of  protecting  the  more 
tender  parts  lying  within  it,  and  is  therefore  usually  pre- 
sent in  flowers ;  when  absent,  its  protecting  office  is  al- 
ways performed  by  some  modification  of  bracts,  as  in  the 
Arum  and  the  Willow.  If  it  is  adherent  to  the  sides  of  the 
ovary,  it  is  called  superior ;  if  partially  adherent,  half  su- 
perior ;  and  if  quite  free  from  the  sides  of  the  ovary,  it  is 
inferior.  In  systematical  botany  these  differences  are  of 
great  importance. 

CAMARFLLA.  (Span.)  The  little  or  private  chamber 
of  the  sovereign  of  Spain  (equivalent  to  the  petits  apparle- 
ments  of  the  old  French  regime) ;  but  the  term  is  generally 
applied  to  his  immediate  confidants,  who  are  usually  all- 
powerful  in  the  government  of  the  country.  In  England 
the  term  is  nearly  synonymous  with  clique. 

CA'MBER.  (Fr.  cambrer,  to  bend.)  In  Architecture, 
the  convexity  of  the  upper  and  concavity  of  the  under  side 
of  a  beam,  by  which  it  is  prevented  from  becoming  straight 
or  concave  at  top  either  by  its  own  weight,  or  by  the  load- 
ing it  may  have  to  carry. 

CA'MBHJM.  (A  low  Latin  word  for  liquid  which  be- 
comes glutinous.)  A  viscid  secretion  formed  between  the 
fiber  and  alburnum  of  Exogenous  trees  in  the  early  spring, 
when  vegetation  recommences.  It  is  supposed  by  some 
physiologists  to  be  the  matter  out  of  which  new  wood  and 
bark  are  formed ;  by  others  to  be  a  preparation  of  organi- 
zable  matter,  out  of  which  the  horizontal  growth  of  the 
cellular  system,  and  the  vertical  growth  of  the  woody  sys- 
tem, may  be  nourished  during  their  respective  develop- 
ment. It  disappears  as  soon  as  the  new  wood  and  bark 
have  been  completely  formed. 

CA'MBRIC.  A  delicate  linen  fabric,  winch  was  origi- 
nally manufactured  at  Cambray. 

CA'MEL.  A  machine  invented  by  the  Dutch  for  carry- 
ing vessels  into  harbours  where  there  is  not  a  sufficient 
depth  of  water.  It  consisted  of  two  large  boxes,  or  half 
ships,  built  in  such  a  manner  that  they  could  be  applied  on 
each  side  of  the  hull  of  a  large  vessel.  On  the  deck  of 
each  part  of  the  camel  a  number  of  horizontal  windlasses 
were  placed,  from  which  ropes  proceeded,  on  one  side, 
and  being  carried  under  the  keel  of  the  vessel,  were  at- 
tached to  the  windlasses  on  the  deck  of  the  other  part. 
When  about  to  be  used,  as  much  water  as  necessary  was 
suffered  to  run  into  them ;  all  the  ropes  were  then  cast 
loose,  and  large  beams  were  placed  horizontally  through 
the  port-holes  of  the  vessel,  the  ends  resting  on  the  camels 
alongside.  When  the  ropes  were  made  fast,  and  the  ves- 
sel properly  secured,  the  water  was  pumped  out,  on  which 
the  camels  rose  and  bore  up  the  vessel.  (Bcckman's  His- 
tory of  Inventions,  vol.  iii.  p.  337.) 

CAME'LEON,  or  CHAM^LION  MINERAL.  Man- 
ganesate  of  potash,  obtained  by  melting  a  mixture  of  pot- 
ash and  black  oxide  of  manganese.  When  put  into  water 
the  solution  is  first  green,  and  then  passes  through  a  variety 
of  tints  of  green,  purple,  and  red,  till  at  length  it  becomes 
colourless. 

CAME'LID.5:.  (Cameras,  a  camel.)  A  family  of  rumi- 
nant Mammalia,  whieh  deviates  from  the  rest  of  the  order 
in  the  presence  of  two  incisors  in  the  upper  jaw,  and  the 
absence  of  cotyledons  in  the  uterus  and  leetal  membranes. 
The  camel  and  dromedary  of  the  old  world,  and  the  llama, 
guanacho,  and  vicugna  of  the  new  world,  are  the  existing 
species  of  this  family. 

The  old  world  Camelidee  (Camelus)  are  especially  orga- 
nized for  existence  in  the  arid  and  barren  deserts  of  Asia 
and  Africa.  They  have  a  broad,  expanded,  elastic  foot, 
terminated  in  front  by  two  comparatively  small  hoofs,  and 
well  defended  beneath  by  a  felt  of  coarse  hair.  The  new 
world  Camelidae  (Auchenio)  have  narrower  feet,  and  the 
hoofs  are  bent  in  the  form  of  claws,  adapted  to  climb  the 
steep  passes  of  the  mountain  ranges  of  South  America,  to 
which  continent  they  are  confined. 

Besides  the  peculiar  characters  above  mentioned,  the 
camels  present  a  modification  in  the  structure  of  the  sto- 
mach which  is  not  present  in  any  other  family  of  Rumin- 
antia.  There  are  developed  from  the  sides  of  the  first  ca- 
vity of  the  stomach  or  paunch  two  series  of  cells,  into 
which  experiment  has  proved  that  the  water  which  the  an- 
imal drinks  almost  exclusively  passes,  and  where  it  can  be 
kept  apart  from  the  solid  contents  of  the  paunch  in  a  quan- 
tity of  several  quarts.  Surely  the  final  relation  of  such  a 
modification  of  structure  to  the  peculiar  physical  charac- 
teristic of  the  localities  to  which  the  animal  possessing  it  is 
confined  must  force  itself  irresistibly  on  the  mind.  Bat 
besides  a  reservoir  of  water  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  long 
journeys  across  the  desert,  the  dromedary  and  camel  are 
provided  with  a  storehouse  of  solid  nutriment  on  which 
they  can  draw  for  supplies  long  after  every  digestible  part 
has  been  extracted  from  the  contents  of  the  stomach  :  this 


CAMELLIA. 

storehouse  consists  of  one  or  two  large  collections  of  fat 
Stored  up  in  ligamentous  cells  supported  by  the  spines  of 
the  dorsal  vertebrae,  and  forming  what  are  called  the 
humps.  When  the  camel  is  in  a  region  of  fertility  the 
hump  becomes  plump  and  expanded  ;  but  after  a  protract- 
ed journey  in  the  wilderness  it  becomes  shrivelled  and  re- 
duced to  its  ligamentous  constituent,  in  consequence  of  the 
absorption  of  the  fat.  Button  carried  his  teleological  rea- 
soning, or  the  ascription  of  design,  so  far  as  to  assert  that 
the  humps  on  the  backs  of  the  camel  were  badges  of  slave- 
ry, and  intended  to  adapt  them  to  the  burthens  of  their 
task-masters  ;  and  he  supported  this  ingenious  idea  by  the 
unfounded  assertion  that  the  dorsal  prominences  did  not 
belong  to  the  camels  in  free  nature.  But  the  true  uses  of 
the  fatty  humps,  as  of  the  water-cells,  relate  to  the  exigen- 
cies of  the  Camelidae  of  the  deserts  under  every  condition. 
The  complete  adaptation  of  the  camel  for  the  dreary 
wastes  in  which  it  is  destined  to  exist,  is  further  illustrated 
by  some  minor  modifications  in  its  structure.  The  nos- 
trils are  narrow  oblique  slits,  defended  with  hair  at  their 
margins,  and  provided  with  a  sphincter  muscle,  like  the 
eyelids ;  so  that  the  animal  can  close  them  at  pleasure. 
This  action  is  of  great  service  in  excluding  the  fine  and 
penetrating  sand  which  is  drifted  along  in  clouds  by  the 
storms  of  the  desert.  The  expanded  sole  of  the  foot,  elas- 
tic as  a  cushion,  prevents  the  ieg  from  sinking  in  the  loose 
surface ;  the  long  joints  and  lofty  tread  of  the  camel  are 
equally  adapted  for  a  rapid  progress  along  loose  sandy 
plains.  Thus  to  the  Arab  of  the  scorching  desert  the  ca- 
mel is  as  valuable,  and  indeed  as  essential,  as  the  reindeer 
to  the  Laplander  in  his  region  of  perpetual  snow.  The  one 
animal,  like  the  other,  serves,  while  living,  for  all  the  pur- 
I"-  ea  of  draught  and  burden,  and  supplies  his  master's 
family  with  milk.  When  dead  the  flesh  of  the  camel  is 
eaten,  though  it  is  coarser  than  that  of  the  ordinary  Rumi- 
nants: its  hide,  which  approaches  that  of  the  Pachyderms 
in  thickness  and  strength,  is  applied  to  the  manufacture  of 
saddles,  harness,  pitchers,  shields,  and  various  other  arti- 
cles. The  finer  hair  is  manufactured  into  articles  of  cloth- 
ing, and  the  coarser  hair  is  woven  into  a  kind  of  matting 
for  the  covering  of  tents.  By  day  the  camels  transport 
their  owner  and  his  family,  with  all  their  property,  from 
place  to  place.  By  night  the  body  of  the  recumbent  beast 
of  burden  serves  as  a  pillow  for  hi*  master  ;  or  if  the  air 
be  agitated,  thi  c  unels  are  arranged  to  windward,  so  as  to 
form  a  barrier  against  the  ever-shifting  sands. 

The  camel  is  the  sole  medium  of  communication  be- 
tween those  countries  which  are  separated  by  extensive 
deserts  ;  in  the  beautiful  and  expressive  metaphorof  eastern 
speech,  it  is  "the  ship  of  the  desert,"  and  in  truth  it  is  the 
only  ship  by  which  the  wilderness  can  be  navigated  with 
certainly  and  safety.  A  stout  Arabian  camel  can  travel 
with  a  load  of  miii  pounds  at  the  rate  of  about  three  miles 
in  the  hour.  The  swifter  varieties,  as  the  tighl  dromedary 
or  ''  mahairy,"  are  said  to  carry  a  single  rider  over  a  space 
of  from  70  to  100  miles  in  24  hours,  and  that  for  several 

CAME'LLIA.  (In  honour  of  Kamel,  a  Spanish  Jesuit.) 
A  beautiful  genus  of  evergreen  shrubs  inhabiting  Chinaand 
Japan.  Several  speciesare  known  ;  one  of  which,  C. 
oleifera,  furnishes  the  Chinese  with  abundance  of  oil  used 
for  various  domestic  purposes ;  others  are  small-flowered 
and  unimportant;  but  one,  C  japonica,  is  among  the  most 
beautiful  species  in  the  vegetable  kingdom.  It  is  from  this 
that  the  multitudes  of  double  varieties,  now  common  or- 
naments of  gardens  in  the  spring,  have  been  obtained  by 
sowing  seeds.  Most  of  the  varieties  originated  with  the  Chi- 
nese and  Japanese  ;  but  many  very  fine  ones  have  been 
raised  in  England  and  Belgium.  They  are  usually  culti- 
vated in  pots,  but  are  never  seen  in  perfection  unless  plant- 
ed in  the  open  ground  beneath  a  glass  roof;  under  such 
circumstances  they  only  require  to  be  guarded  from  severe 
frost  by  some  kind  of  heating  apparatus.  In  some  parts 
of  England,  and  even  near  London,  they  are  occasionally 
grown  in  the  open  air,  hut  with  little  success. 

CA'MELOPARD.     SVe  Giraffe. 

CAME'LOPARDA'LIS.  One  of  the  constellations  form- 
ed by  Hevelius  in  the  northern  hemisphere.  It  is  situated 
between  Cepheus,  Cassiopeia,  Perseus,  Ursa  Major,  Ursa 
Minor,  and  Draco. 

CA'MEO.  A  word  of  doubtful  origin,  applied  to  gems 
of  various  colours  sculptured  in  relief.  The  art  of  en- 
graving on  gems  boasts  of  high  antiquity,  having  been  prac- 
tised with  various  degrees  of  success  by  the  Egyptians, 
Greeks,  and  Romans.  It  was  again  revived  in  Italy  in  the 
15th  century,  and  is  even  at  the  present  day  cultivated  with 
great  avidity  and  considerable  success.  The  cameos  of  the 
ancients  were  usually  confined  to  the  agate,  onyx,  and  sard, 
which,  on  account  of  the  variety  of  their  strata,  were  bet- 
ter accommodated  to  a  display  of  the  artist's  talents  ;  but 
they  are  also  occasionally  found  executed  on  opal,  beryl, 
or  emerald,  and  even  on  a  sort  of  factitious  stone,  the 
Vitrum  obsidianum  of  Pliny,  distinguished  by  the  moderns 
as  the  antique  paste.  (Encyc.  Metr.)  One  of  the  most 
185 


M 


CAMERA  OBSCURA. 

famous  cameos  is  the  onyx  at  present  in  Paris,  called  the 
apotheosis  of  Augustus.  It  is  one  foot  in  height  and  ten 
inches  in  width. 

CA'MERA  LU'CIDA.  The  name  given  by  Dr.  Hooke 
to  an  instrument  contrived  by  him  for  making  the  image 
of  any  object  appear  on  a  wall  in  a  light  room  either  by 
day  or  by  night.  It  is  described  in  the  Phil.  Trans,  vol. 
xxxviii.  p.  741. 

The  instrument  now  known  by  the  name  of  Camera  Lu- 
cida  is  a  very  ingenious  invention  of  the  late  Dr.  Wollas- 
ton,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  any  one,  without  a  know- 
ledge of  the  rules  of  drawing  or  perspective,  to  delineate 
distant  objects,  or  trace  the  outlines  of  landscapes,  &c. 
with  perfect  accuracy.  It  con- 
sists of  a  quadrangular  glass 
prism,  «,  b,  c,  d,  by  means  of 
which  rays  of  light  are  bent, 
by  two  reflections,  into  a  path 
at  right  angles  to  their  previous 
direction.  A  ray  of  light  pro- 
ceeding from  O  enters  the  face 
^  of  the  prism  at  a,  and  con- 
—  tinues  its  course  in  a  straight 
line  till  it  meets  the  adjacent  side  of  the  prism  at  b,  and 
making  with  it  a  very  acute  angle,  is  wholly  reflected  in  the 
direction  be.  At  c  it  again  meets  the  side  of  the  prism, 
and  is  in  like  manner  reflected  in  the  direction  c  E.  The 
eye  being  placed  at  E,  sees  the  image  of  the  object  on  the 
surface  of  the  prism  at  c,  and  refers  it  to  P,  on  a  plane 
M  N,  which  may  be  covered  with  a  sheet  of  white  paper. 
The  point  of  a  pencil  can  also  be  seen  on  the  paper,  and 
thus  the  accurate  outline  of  the  object  may  be  traced.  It 
is  easy  to  see  from  this  the  proper  form  which  the  crystal 
should  have.  Suppose  the  two  reflections  to  be  equal,  then 
the  ray  will  be  bent  45°  from  its  original  path  by  the  first, 
and  also  45°  by  the  second  ;  and  the  four  angles  which  it 
makes  with  the  faces  of  the  prism  at  b  and  c  are  each 
22k° ;  hence  the  faces  a  and  d  being  perpendicular,  the 
faces  a  and  b  must  be  inclined  in  an  angle  equal  to  three 
fourths  of  a  right  angle,  or  67£°  ;  b  and  c  must  make  an 
angle  of  135°,  or  three  fourths  of  two  right  angles  ;  and  c 
and  d  make  an  angle  of  67J°.  By  the  laws  of  optics,  the 
size  of  the  picture  will  bear  the  same  relation  to  the  object 
delineated,  that  the  distance  of  the  eye  from  the  paper 
bears  to  the  distance  of  the  object.  Hence,  in  order  to  in- 
crease or  diminish  the  size  of  the  picture,  the  prism  is 
mounted  in  a  brass  frame,  supported  by  brass  tubes  ca- 
pable of  being  lengthened  or  shortened  at  pleasure.  A 
thin  brass  plate,  affixed  to  the  upper  surface  of  the  prism, 
and  having  a  small  hole  in  it  for  the  observer  to  look 
through,  keeps  the  eye  in  its  proper  place,  and  procures 
steadiness  of  vision.  A  convex  lens  may  be  placed  over 
the  hole  in  the  brass  plate,  for  the  purpose  of  magnifying 
the  image  ;  or  a  concave  lens  placed  before  the  prism  at  a 
will  adapt  it  to  short-sighted  persons.  The  instrument  is 
extremely  convenient,  on  account  of  its  portability. 

The  construction  of  the  camera  lucida  may  be  varied  in 
several  ways.    The  following  was  proposed  by  professor 
Amici.      A  parallel  piece  of  plate 
glass,  efg,  is  connected  with  a  re- 
flecting speculum  A.    The  ray  of 
,flight  proceeding  from  O  is  reflect- 
ed from  the  speculum  at  a  to  the 
plate  glass  at  b,  and  there  reflected 
again  to  the  eye  at  E.     The  frame 
in  which  the  instrument  is  placed 
has  a  rectangular  opening  at  the 
top,  through  which  the  eye  receives 
the  image,  and  is  prevented  from 
receiving  the  rays  coming  directly 
from    the   metallic  mirror.      The 
'*       image  is  referred  to  a  plane  below 
at  P,  where  the  pencil  is  seen  through  the  glass. 

CA'MERA  OBSCU'RA,  or  DARK  CHAMBER,  is  an  op- 
tical apparatus,  by  which  the  images  of  external  objects 
are  thrown  on  a  white  surface,  and  represented  in  a  vivid 
manner  in  their  proper  colours,  shapes,  <fec.  Hence  the 
apparatus  may  be  used  for  the  purposes  of  delineation,  as 
well  as  the  camera  lucida  ;  but  as  it  is  from  its  construc- 
tion less  convenient,  it  is  chiefly  used  as  a  source  of  amuse- 
ment, or  for  explaining  the  nature  of  vision. 
The  theory  of  the  Camera  Obscura  is  shortly  this. 
Through  a  convex  lens,  or 

ty\  /*,  small  circular  hole  at  C,  the 

— (T       r~fvi  light  is  admitted  into  a  dark- 

"  \'.:.-3^  C'^vp  f  |  ened  room  or  box,  so  that 
. — - ~'T"*i-vl  ravs  proceeding  from  an  ob- 

XI  a-t — y*  J  ject  A  B,  and  falling  on  a 
white  ground  within  the 
room,  paint  an  image  of  the  object  on  it  in  an  invert- 
ed position,  a  b.  But  the  image  is  easily  restored  to 
its  natural  position  by  causing  the  rays  to  pass  through 
two  convex  lenses  inserted  in  a  draw  tube  placed  in 
the  opening  C.  Sometimes  a  mirror  D  is  placed  ia 
A  A 


CAMERALISTICS. 

the  interior  of  the  box,  making  an  angle  of  45°  with  its 
sides,  whereby  trie  image  is  thrown  down  on  the  bottom  of 
the  box  at  a  b,  and  by  means  of  the  reflection  restored  to 
its  natural  position.  The  best  ground  for  receiving  the 
image  is  plaster  of  Paris,  formed  somewhat  concave. 
The  image  is  viewed  through  an  oblong  aperture  cut  in  the 
box.  The  most  perfect  camera  obscura  is  formed  by 
placing  an  inclined  mirror  in  a  revolving  frame  at  the  top 
of  a  building,  by  which  the  rays  are  thrown  down  on  a  con- 
vex lens  in  the  roof,  and  the  images  of  all  the  surrounding 
objects  received  on  a  table.  The  images  being  accom- 
panied by  the  motions  belonging  to  the  objects,  a  very 
pleasing  picture  is  formed.  The  invention  of  the  camera 
obscura  is  usually  ascribed  to  Baptista  Porta ;  it  was,  how- 
ever, known  to  Friar  Bacon,  in  the  13th  century. 

CAMERALI'STICS.  (Lat.  camera,  a  chamber.)  A  word 
that  has  recently  been  introduced  into  the  English  language 
to  signify  the  science  of  public  finance.  It  is  of  German 
origin  (the  equivalent  term  in  that  language  being  Kammer- 
alien),  and  derives  its  signification  from  certain  officers 
(called  Kammer-rathe)  appointed  by  most  of  the  petty 
princes  of  Germany  to  superintend  their  accounts,  and  dis- 
burse all  payments. 

CA'MERATED.  (Lat.  camera.)  A  term  applied  to  the 
shells  of  certain  Cephalopods  which  are  divided  by  trans- 
verse partitions  into  a  series  of  chambers  which  are  tra- 
versed hv  a  siphon.     Most  of  the  species  are  now  extinct. 

CAMERO'NIANS.  The  strictest  sect  of  Scottish  Pres- 
byterians ;  so  called  from  the  Rev.  Richard  Cameron,  one 
of  the  most  eminent  of  their  leaders.  The  origin  of  this 
sect  is  briefly  told.  Charles  II.,  on  his  restoration  in  1600, 
found  presbytery  to  be  the  existing  national  church  ;  and 
though  he  had,  at  one  time,  sworn  to  maintain  that  faith, 
yet  thinking  it  incompatible  with  monarchical  government, 
he  lost  no  time  in  superseding  it,  and  establishing  episco- 
pacy in  its  room.  This  he  did  in  direct  opposition,  not 
merely  to  his  own  solemn  obligations,  but  to  the  principles 
and  predilections  of  his  Scottish  subjects.  And  the  result 
was  such  as  might  have  been  anticipated.  The  presbyte- 
rian  clergy,  though  driven  from  their  parishes  and  deprived 
of  their  incomes,  continued  to  preach  and  hold  meetings, 
or  conventicles,  as  these  assemblages  were  contemptuously 
called,  for  the  celebration  of  religious  ordinances ;  and 
their  influence  with  the  people  seemed  to  increase  in  pro- 
portion as  means  were  taken  to  silence  or  crush  them, 
under  these  circumstances,  Charles,  finding  that  rigour 
failed  in  producing  the  effect  at  which  he  aimed,  and  the 
number  of  episcopalian  ministers  being  insufficient  to  fill 
the  vacancies  that  had  been  occasioned  by  his  violent 
change  of  the  national  religion,  had  recourse  to  a  plan,  os- 
tensibly liberal  and  mild,  but  which  did  by  no  means  rea. 
lize  the  views  which  he  had  anticipated  from  it.  In  1669, 
he  granted  what  he  called  an  indulgence,  or  permission  to 
such  of  the  ejected  ministers  as  had  meanwhile  "  lived 
peaceably  and  orderly,"  or,  in  other  words,  who  had  not 
signalized  themselves  by  holding  conventicles,  to  return 
to  their  several  parishes  (if  these  were  vacant),  or  to  accept 
presentation  to  such  other  parishes  as  were  vacant.  A 
similar  indulgence  was  issued  in  1672 ;  but  both  of  them 
were  marked  by  restrictions  and  conditions  which  were 
anv  thing  but  agreeable  to  tender  consciences.  ( Wodrmt's 
Church  Hist.  8vo  ed.,  vol.  ii.  p.  130-31.)  This  indulgence 
emanated  solely  from  the  king,  and  had  not  been  submit- 
ted to  the  consideration  of  the  church,  and  was,  in  conse- 
quence, regarded  by  many  as  tantamount  to  a  recognition 
of  the  royal  authority  in  matters  ecclesiastical  as  well  as 
civil,  and  as  subversive  both  of  the  national  covenants 
(.Acts  of  Assembly,  apud  an.  1649),  to  which  they  had  sworn, 
and  of  presbytery  itself,  which  acknowledged  no  head  but 
Jesus  Christ.  Some  of  the  more  moderate  of  the  clergy, 
however,  did  not  think  it  inconsistent  either  with  their 
vows  or  principles  to  accept  it;  others  complied  with  it, 
regarding  it  as  an  encroachment  on  their  religious  rights, 
but  satisfying  their  conscience  by  giving  an  open  testimony 
against  it  and  the  ecclesiastical  authority  assumed  by  the 
king ;  while  there  were  some  who  preferred  principle  to 
expediency,  and  peremptorily  refused  compliance  on  any 
terms,  and  resisted  every  effort  to  procure  their  acquies- 
cence. These  were  the  persons  who  were  afterwards  de- 
nominated Cameronians.     (Wodroic,  iii.  202.) 

The  Cameronians  were  influenced  in  the  line  of  conduct 
which  they  pursued  solely  by  conscientious  motives. 
Rather  than  acknowledge  the  authority  of  the  king  in  mat- 
ters ecclesiastical,  or  abate  one  iota  of  their  indefeasible 
rights  and  privileges,  they  were  willing  to  separate  from 
their  conforming  brethren,  and  to  encounter  all  the  evils 
and  disabilities  which  such  a  step  had  evidently  a  tenden- 
cy to  produce.  They  became  at  once  the  object  not  only 
of  the  disapprobation  of  their  indulged  brethren,  but  of  the 
vindictive  and  cruel  rage  of  a  tyrannical  government.  On 
the  principle  that  "  oppression  drives  a  wise  man  mad," 
they  pushed  their  views  to  the  utmost  extremity  ;  and, 
while  they  vilified  the  Presbyterians  whose  opinions,  both 
religious  and  ecclesiastical,  were  more  moderate  than 
186 


CAMERONIANS. 

their  own,  they  stigmatized  the  king  and  government  as 
unscriptural  and  Erastian.  In  short,  while  they  arrogated 
to  themselves  absolute  liberty  of  conscience  and  of  judg- 
ment, they  exhibited  the  greatest  intolerance  towards 
others  who  entertained  different  sentiments.  When  per- 
secuted and  proscribed,  when  many  of  them  were  impri- 
soned, and  not  a  few  of  them  suffered  martyrdom,  they 
began  to  consider  their  king  as  a  tyrant ;  and  they  publicly 
declared,  that  "  by  his  perjury  in  violating  his  covenanted 
vows,  by  his  arbitrary  government,  and  his  usurpation  over 
their  civil  and  religious  liberties,  he  had  dissolved  their 
allegiance  and  forfeited  all  right  and  title  to  the  crown." 
(Leung's  Hist,  of  Scot.  vol.  iv.  p.  iii.)  They  also  protested 
against  the  succession  of  his  brother,  on  account  of  his 
popery  and  his  breach  of  covenant  to  God  and  the  church. 
To  these  sentiments  Cameron,  their  leader,  and  a  party  of 
about  twenty  others,  all  armed,  gave  public  utterance  in  a 
declaration  read  at  Sanquhar,  and  affixed  to  the  market- 
cross  of  that  town.  ( Wodrow,  iii.  312.)  This  was  the  sig- 
nal for  more  prompt  and  decisive  measures  on  the  part  of 
government.  The  party  were  soon  after  (20lh  July,  1680) 
surprised  at  Airsmoss,  a  morass  on  the  confines  of  the 
counties  of  Ayr  and  Dumfries.  Cameron  and  his  brother 
fell  on  the  field  ;  while  sixteen  were  taken  prisoners,  and 
soon  after  perished  as  traitors  on  the  scaffold  ;  the  remain- 
der of  the  party,  with  some  peasants  who  had  joined  them, 
fled.  But  their  spirit  was  not  intimidated,  nor  was  their 
enthusiasm  abated.  Cargill,  who  was  now  their  leader, 
and  who  was  shortly  after  apprehended  and  publicly  exe- 
cuted, pronounced  at  a  public  meeting  of  the  party  at  Tor- 
wood,  near  Stirling,  a  solemn  excommunication  against 
their  persecutors,  including  the  Duke  of  York  and  the 
king  himself.  (.Hind  Let  Loose,  passim  ;  Laing,  iv.  112- 
13.) 

Meanwhile,  the  Cameronians  had  formed  themselves 
into  a  more  regular  body ;  and,  in  1631,  agreed  to  hold 
quarterly  or  more  frequent  meetings,  and  took  the  name 
of  The  Societies  United  in  Correspondence.  They  thus 
acted  more  in  concert ;  and  their  fortitude  and  zeal  be- 
came, if  possible,  more  intense.  They  were  now  alto- 
gether alienated  from  the  indulged  ministers  and  the  gene- 
ral public  ;  and  their  meetings  for  religious  worship  and 
for  the  celebration  of  ordinances  were,  for  the  sake  of 
safety,  confined  to  the  mountains,  or  to  sequestered  and 
remote  spots.  They  still  continued  the  objects  of  the 
most  ruthless  persecution.  But  while  proscribed  and 
chased  like  beasts  of  prey  by  the  government,  no  respect 
being  shown  to  age  or  sex  or  condition,  and  while  numbers 
of  them,  including  their  most  popular  ministers,  perished 
on  the  scaffold  or  at  the  stake,  they  began  to  disagree 
among  themselves.  Some  of  them  having  been  dissatis- 
fied with  the  language  of  the  Sanquhar  Declaration,  certain 
portions  of  it  had  been  amended  or  explained.  A  consid- 
erable number  took  offence  at  the  violence  of  Renwick, 
now  at  the  head  of  the  party  ;  and  not  only  separated  from 
them,  but  published  testimonies  against  some  of  their  pro- 
ceedings. The  one  party  were  averse  to  unite  with  such 
as  would  not  go  to  the  same  extreme  as  themselves  ;  while 
the  other,  more  moderate  in  their  principles,  were  for 
making  common  cause  with  all  who  held  the  same  gene- 
ral sentiments,  and  were  exposed  to  the  same  persecutions. 
It  was  at  this  period  (1687)  that  Renwick  drew  up  their  In- 
formatory  Vindication,  which  in  spirit  was  the  same  as 
the  Sanquhar  Declaration.  But  the  breach  was  never 
healed.  It  is  unnecessary,  however,  to  give  a  more  minute 
account  either  of  their  proceedings  or  their  sufferings. 
Renwick,  who  was  beheaded  in  168S,  was  the  last  Scottish 
martyr.  The  revolution  put  an  end  to  the  sufferings  of  the 
Cameronians,  and  to  persecution  for  conscience'  sake. 
(Scotch  Worthies,  §  Renwick,  Hackston  of  Rathillet,  &c. ; 
Hind  Let  Loose.) 

The  services  of  this  proscribed  party  at  this  crisis  were 
of  an  important  kind.  Suffering  as  they  had  long  done  at 
the  hand  of  a  sanguinary  government,  and  alive  as  they 
were  to  the  value  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  they  es- 
poused the  cause  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  with  an  enthusi- 
asm and  bravery  worthy  of  their  character.  A  regiment 
of  800  Cameronians  was  speedily  raised  ;  and  their  hero- 
ism as  displayed  at  Dunkeld  and  other  places  has  extorted 
the  praise  of  history.  A  regiment  bearing  the  name  still 
exists.     (Laing,  iv.  194, 208,  232.) 

But  the  Cameronians,  though  they  occupy  a  prominent 
place  in  the  history  of  the  reigns  of  Charles,  and  of  James 
II.  his  successor,  never  formed  a  very  numerous  body. 
After  tho  revolution,  when  they  were  allowed  to  worship 
God  according  to  their  conscience  without  fear  or  danger, 
they  gradually  became  an  obscure  as  they  were  a  small 
sect.  Nor  did  they  think  of  forming  themselves  into  a  re- 
gular church,  till  1743,  when,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Rev.  M.  M'Millan  and  other  leaders,  they  "  formed  and 
established  a  presbytery  in  the  name  of  Christ,  the  alone 
king  and  head  of  the  church,  under  the  title  of  the  Re- 
formed Presbytery."  As  they  became  more  numerous, 
they  took  the  title  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Synod. 


CAMISARDS. 

But  at  this  moment  (1841)  the  synod  consists  only  of  six 
presbyteries,  embracing  thirty-five  congregations,  most  of 
them  being  very  small.* 

The  nature  of  the  tenets  and  doctrines  of  the  Camero- 
nians  may  account  for  their  never  having  become  a  nume- 
rous sect.  They  denied  the  authority  of  civil  rulers,  unless 
these  had  sworn  and  subscribed  the  national  covenants  ; 
and  of  course  they  refused  to  include  the  names  of  such 
rulers,  even  that  of  the  sovereign  himself,  either  in  their 
public  or  private  prayers.  They  contended  that  the  civil 
magistrate  is  bound  to  suppress  emir,  and  to  encourage 
the  true  religion  ;  and  that  the  covenants  are  binding  on  all 
posterity.  These  opinions,  however,  they  have  gradually 
modified  or  abandoned.  They  now  pray  for  the  sovereign 
and  civil  magistrates,  and  have  virtually  renounced  the  co- 
venants. They  are  also  in  favour  of  a  national  church ; 
and  would  have  no  hesitation  to  unite  with  the  present  es- 
tablished church  of  Scotland  if  patronage  was  abolished, 
and  if  the  right  of  electing  their  own  ministers  were  con- 
ferred on  the  people.  They  adopt  the  Westminster  Con- 
fession of  Faith,  and  all  the  standards  and  formulas  of  the 
church  of  Scotland.  Their  ministers  are  strict  disciplina- 
rians, adopt  the  Calvinistic  creed  in  its  most  rigid  sense, 
are  peculiarly  assiduous  and  faithful,  and  as  a  body  the 
Cameraman.?  now  form  a  most  unobtrusive,  respectable, 
and  exemplary  sect  of  Christians. 

CA'MISARDS.  In  French  History,  the  Protestant  insur- 
gents in  the  Cevennes,  after  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of 
Nantes,  were  so  called,  from  having  worn  their  shirts  over 
their  dress  by  way  of  disguise  on  the  occasion  of  some 
nocturnal  attacks.  Their  principal  leader,  Cavalier,  suc- 
ceeded so  far  as  to  effect  a  capitulation  in  their  favour  with 
the  French  government.  He  subsequently  entered  the  Eng- 
lish service,  and  at  his  death  was  governor  of  Jersey. 

CA'MLGT.  A  stuff  or  cloth,  consisting  of  a  mixture  of 
wool  ami  silk,  or  of  wool  and  camel's  hair. 

i '  \MO'K\.E.  (Durivation  unknown.)  A  Roman  ap- 
pellation of  the  Muses. 

<  AMI*.  In  the  art  Military,  a  word  of  doubtful  etymolo- 
gy, signifying  the  station  of  an  army,  with  its  artillery,  bag- 
gage, and  other  appendages,  when  it  has  taken  the  field  for 
the  purposes  of  war.  The  history  of  camps  involves  that 
of  the  military  art  in  all  ages  and  in  all  countries  ;  and  in 
proportion  to  the  skill  displayed  by  any  nation  in  the  sci- 
ence of  castrainetation,  may  an  accurate  estimate  be 
formed  of  its  attainments  in  other  departments  of  military 
tactics.  The  Lacedaemonians  appear  to  have  been  the  first 
people  in  profane  history  who  directed  their  attention  to 
this  subject.  Their  camps,  whenever  it  was  practicable, 
were  of  a  circular  form,  which  was  said  to  possess  the  ad- 
vantage that  from  the  centre,  where  the  general  with  the 
flower  of  the  troops  lay,  help  could  soonest  be  afforded  to 
any  point  menaced  by  the  enemy.  The  other  states  of 
Greece,  Macedonia,  and  Carthage  borrowed  the  grand  prin- 
ciples of  choosing  and  tracing  their  camps  from  the  Lace- 
daemonians ;  but  accommodated  the  form,  the  arrange- 
ment, and  disposition  of  the  same  to  the  nature  and 
strength  of  the  ground  which  they  intended  to  occupy.  It 
was  from  the  Romans  that  the  art  of  castrametation  first 
acquired  any  systematic  regularity.  The  form  of  the  Ro- 
man camp  was  invariably  quadrangular ;  it  was  surrounded 
by  regular  intrenchments,  and  was  so  admirably  arranged 
that  each  cohort,  lesion,  and  individual  knew  exactly  the 
point  which  he  ought  to  occupy,  and  the  part  to  which  in- 
stant attention  should  he  directed  in  the  event  of  alarm.  It 
would  exceed  our  limits  to  give  an  account  of  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Roman  camps,  and  of  the  arrangement  of  the 
troops  in  them.  The  reader  will  find  ample  details  and 
comments  upon  this  subject  in  the  works  of  Polybius  and 
Vegetius,  ami  in  General  Roy's  Military  Antiquities  of  the 
Romans  in  Britain.  The  Penny  Cyclopazdia  contains  an 
able  account  of  the  different  systems  of  castrametation. 

Camp.  In  Agriculture,  a  heap  of  turnips,  potatoes,  or 
other  roots,  laid  up  for  preserving  through  the  winter;  in 
some  places  called  a  pie,  and  in  others  a  bury. 

CAMPAI'GN.  (Fr.)  An  uninterrupted  series  of  mili- 
tary operations  in  the  field.     See  War. 

CaMPANI'LE.  (It.  campana,  a  bell.)  In  Architecture, 
properly  a  tower  for  containing  a  bell  or  bells.  Though 
the  word  has  been  adopted  in  the  English  language,  and 
applied  to  the  bell  towers  of  churches,  it  more  properly 
belongs  to  those  towers  near  churches,  but  detached  from 
them,  to  be  seen  in  many  of  the  cities  of  Italy.  The  prin- 
cipal of  these  are  the  Campanile  of  Cremona,  which  is  of 
the  extraordinary  height  of  396  feet;  that  of  Florence,  26S 
feet  high,  built  from  the  design  of  Giotto ;  the  Garisendi 
tower  at  Bologna,  built  in  1110,  which  is  147  feet  high,  and 

•  They  are  oflen  called  M-  Millanites,  in  honour  of  this  person.  They 
are  also  known  by  the  name  of  Hills  People,  from  the  circumstance  that, 
till  within  the  last  fifty  years,  they  held  public  worship  almost  exclusive- 
ly in  the  open  air  on  the  side  of  some  hill,  in  honour  of  their  persecuted 
forefathers  in  the  time  of  Charles  II.  This  practice  they  have  now  laid 
aside,  and  avail  themselves  of  stoue  edifices  for  churches  like  other  sects. 
See  Macmillanitcs. 

197 


CANAL. 

is  8  feet  8  inches  out  of  an  upright ;  and  very  near  to  it  in 
the  same  city  another  tower,  bearing  the  name  of  Asinelli, 
327  feet  in  height,  and  leaning  from  the  perpendicular  3  feet 
8  inches,  but  which,  seen,  as  it  always  is,  in  company  with 
the  first,  seems  to  lean  but  little.  The  last  we  shall  name 
is  that  which  is  commonly  called  the  leaning  tower  of 
Pisa,  and  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  of  all.  It  is  151 
feet  high,  and  overhangs  12  feet  9  inches.  Its  general  form 
possesses  elegance,  and  is  that  of  a  cylinder  encircled  by 
8  tiers  of  columns  over  each  other,  and  each  with  an  en- 
tablature. The  columns  are  all  of  marble,  and  the  upper 
tier  is  recessed  back. 

CAMPA'NULA.  (Lat.  campana,  a  bell.)  A  very  large 
genus  of  hardy  herbaceous  plants  and  annuals,  inhabiting 
the  temperate  parts  of  both  the  eastern  and  western  hem- 
ispheres, but  most  abundant  in  the  latter.  They  have  blue 
or  white  flowers,  often  of  considerable  size,  on  which  ac- 
count most  of  the  species  are  favourites  in  gardens.  In 
M.  Alphonsode  Candolle's  account  of  the  genus,  published 
in  1830,  after  separating  from  it  several  groups,  152  species 
are  enumerated.  The  only  useful  plant  among  (hem  is 
C.  rapunculus,  the  radish-like  sort  of  which  is  sometimes 
eaten  under  the  name  of  Rampion. 

CAMPE'ACHY  WOOD.  Logwood.  Brought  from 
Campeachy,  in  the  bay  of  Honduras. 

CAMPHE'NE,  or  CAMPHOGEN.  A  term  applied  by 
chemists  to  a  hydrocarbon,  composed  often  atoms  of  car- 
bon =  60,  and  eight  of  hydrogen  =8;  it  is  therefore  re- 
presented by  the  equivalent  number  68.  It  is  identical  with 
pure  oil  of  turpentine ;  and  camphor  is  its  protoxide,  that 
substance  being  composed  of  68  camphogen  -"-  8  oxygen  ; 
camphor  is  therefore  represented  by  the  equivalent  num- 
ber 76. 

CA'MPIIOR.  A  concrete  volatile  and  highly  odorous 
substance,  obtained  by  distillation  from  the  Laurus  cam- 
phora,  or  camphor  laurel,  which  is  a  native  of  Japan.  It  is 
also  found  ready  formed  in  the  wood  of  the  Dnabalanopa 
campliora,  a  tree  which  flourishes  in  Borneo  and  Sumatra. 
What  is  called  crude  or  rough  camphor  is  in  small  grey 
pieces  and  crystals ;  it  is  purified  by  sublimation,  and  is 
found  in  commerce  in  circular  cakes  weighing  about  8  lbs. 
each,  white,  translucent,  and  somewhat  tough  and  crystal- 
line in  texture.  Camphor  is  chiefly  used  in  medicine  :  it 
dissolves  very  sparingly  in  water,  and  the  solution  is  called 
camphor  julep ;  it  dissolves  abundantly  in  alcohol,  forming 
camphorated  spirit  of  xeine. 

CA'MPHORATElS.    Compounds  of  camphoric  acid. 

CAMPHCRIC  ACID.  An  acid  obtained  by  boiling 
camphor  in  nitric  acid.  It  consists  of  60  carbon,  8  hydro- 
gen, and  5  oxygen ;  or  of  one  atom  of  camphor  and  four 
atoms  of  oxygen. 

CA'MPLLI'TROPOUS.  (Gr.  Kafnrroi,  I  curve,  and 
rpcTTOt),  I  turn.)  In  Botany,  a  name  given  to  such  ovules 
as  bend  down  upon  themselves  till  their  apex  touches  the 
base.  They  are  extremely  common  in  plants,  and  are 
more  particularly  those  in  which  a  raphe  exists  ;  the  latter 
being  a  bundle  of  vessels,  whose  office  is  to  maintain  a 
communication  between  the  base  of  the  nucleus  and  the 
base  of  the  seed. 

CANA'L.  (Lat.)  An  artificial  channel  filled  with  wa- 
ter, formed  for  the  purposes  of  draining,  of  irrigation,  of 
supplying  towns  with  water,  or  of  inland  navigation.  Illus- 
trative of  the  first,  may  be  cited  the  canal  which  extends 
from  the  Fucine  Lake  (now  Lake  Celano)  into  the  river 
Liri ;  of  the  second,  the  canals  with  which  ancient  Egypt 
was  intersected  ;  of  the  third,  the  artificial  aqueducts  of 
antiquity,  or  in  modern  times  the  New  River,  by  which 
London  is  in  a  great  measure  supplied  with  water  from 
Hertfordshire ;  but  it  is  to  channels  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
land navigation  that  the  term  canal  is  usually  confined. 

That  the  importance  of  canals  as  a  means  of  inland  navi- 
gation attracted  attention  even  in  the  earliest  ages,  is  mani- 
fest from  the  "  fossa?  Philistine,"  large  canals  (Pliny,  iii. 
16.)  at  the  south  of  the  Eridanus  in  Liguria,  the  origin  of 
which  is  ascribed  by  Mr.  Bryant  to  the  Canaanites,  who  at 
an  early  period  migrated  from  Philistia ;  as  well  as  from 
the  grand  designs  of  the  Cnidians,  a  people  of  Caria  in 
Asia  Minor,  to  dig  a  channel  through  the  isthmus  which 
joined  their  territory  to  the  continent.  (Her.  ii.  78.)  The 
attempt,  too,  of  the  Egyptians  at  a  later  period  to  unite  the 
Nile  with  the  Red  Sea  by  a  canal  has  been  often  recorded, 
though  it  is  difficult  at  the  present  day  to  discover  the  least, 
traces  of  its  existence.  The  Greeks,  who  received  the 
first  principles  of  commerce  and  the  arts  from  the  Egyp- 
tians and  Phoenicians,  and  who,  improving  upon  the  mo- 
dels transmitted  to  them,  afterwards  reached  an  unexam- 
pled pitch  of  civilisation,  conceived  the  magnificent  design 
of  making  a  navigable  passage  from  the  Ionian  Sea  into  the 
Archipelago,  by  cutting  a  canal  across  the  isthmus  of  Co- 
rinth. This  undertaking,  however,  proved  abortive :  and 
though  the  attempt  was  again  renewed  by  several  of  the 
Roman  emperors,  it  still  remained  without  success.  In 
the  reign  of  Augustus,  Drusus  succeeded  in  excavating  a 
canal  from  the  Rhine  to  the  Issel,  and  formed,  as  we  are 


CANAL. 


told  by  Pliny,  a  new  mouth  from  the  Rhine  to  the  sea.  A 
canal  between  the  Rhine  and  the  Maese,  supposed  to  be 
that  now  commencing  at  Leyden  was  passing  Delft  to  its 
junction  with  the  Maese  at  Sluys,  and  likewise  formed  by 
the  Romans.  But,  as  has  been  often  observed,  it  was  by 
bending  nations  under  the  same  yoke,  and  not  by  uniting 
them  in  commercial  ties,  that  the  Romans  sought  to  extend 
international  communications ;  hence  their  canals  were 
usually  formed  for  the  purposes  of  draining  or  of  warfare. 
There  can  be  little  doubt,  however,  that  it  was  the  Ro- 
mans who  introduced  into  their  provinces  the  models  of 
internal  communication  which  in  modern  times  have  un- 
dergone such  immense  improvement,  and  which  have 
been  converted  to  a  purpose  nobler  than  conquest— the  in- 
terchange of  the  productions  of  labour. 

There  is  no  country  in  the  world  where  the  advantages 
of  canals  are  more  appreciated  than  in  China.  From  time 
immemorial  the  rivers  that  intersect  that  vast  empire  have 
been  united  by  innumerable  canals  ;  and  the  Grand  Canal 
is  said  to  be  the  most  stupendous  work  of  the  kind  that 
has  ever  been  executed.  (Raynal,  Hist.  Phil.  i.  102.)  Rus- 
sia, too,  exhibits  a  remarkable  degree  of  enterprise  in  the 
construction  of  canals  for  the  purpose  of  inland  naviga- 
tion ;  and  though  innumerable  difficulties  peculiar  to  that 
country  for  a  long  period  impeded  the  progress  of  works 
of  Ibis  description,  that  empire  is  now  traversed  by  an  un- 
broken line  of  water  communication  from  St.  Petersburg 
to  the  Caspian  Sea. 

The  canals  constructed  during  the  period  of  the  glory 
of  Italy  are  very  numerous ;  but  though  many  of  these 
are  navigable,  their  primary  object  has  been  to  communi- 
cate to  both  banks  of  the  Po  the  various  productions  of  the 
country. 

In  the  Netherlands,  the  construction  of  canals  com- 
menced in  the  12th  century,  when  Flanders  became  the 
commercial  entrepot  of  Europe  ;  and  to  the  large  share 
which  canals  possess  in  its  economical  arrangements  is  to 
be  ascribed  chiefly  the  prosperity  of  Holland  in  the  present 
day.  From  the  structure  of  that  country,  canals  are  form- 
ed with  peculiar  facility  ;  and  there  is  not  a  town  or  a  vil- 
lage which  is  not  furnished  with  a  canal  of  greater  or 
smaller  dimensions.  France  has  from  a  distant  period  ex- 
ercised its  skill  in  the  construction  of  canals  for  inland 
navigation.  The  first  was  the  canal  of  Briare,  which  opens 
a  communication  between  the  Loire  and  the  Seine,  and 
then  between  Paris  and  the  western  provinces,  and  is  of 
immense  importance  in  inland  commerce.  Omitting  many 
works  of  this  kind,  completed,  in  progress,  or  projected  in 
that  country,  the  canal  of  Languedoc  may  be  mentioned, 
which  was  intended  to  unite  the  Mediterranean  with  the 
Atlantic,  and  was  considered  a  stupendous  undertaking. 
It  is  150  miles  long,  is  supplied  by  a  number  of  rivulets, 
and  is  provided  at  proper  intervals  with  114  locks  and 
sluices. 

A  reference  to  the  earlier  history  of  Spain,  Sweden, 
and  Denmark,  and  to  the  more  recent  accounts  of  Austria, 
Prussia,  and  above  all  America,  will  show  to  what  extent 
these  several  states  have  endeavoured  by  the  construction 
of  canals  to  develop  internal  resources,  and  to  distribute 
universally  the  productions  of  labour. 

It  is  a  singular  circumstance  that  Great  Britain,  general- 
ly foremost  in  the  race  of  civilisation,  and  possessing  so 
many  natural  means  for  the  formation  of  canals,  from  its 
insular  position  and  its  numerous  rivers,  was  the  last  coun- 
try in  Europe  to  avail  itself  of  its  advantages.  It  is  true 
that  at  different  periods  of  her  history  the  import- 
ance of  inland  navigation  was  deeply  felt,  and  various  ex- 
pedients were  adopted  for  removing  obstructions  in  the 
rivers  of  that  country,  with  the  view  of  facilitating  internal 
commerce  ;  but  it  was  not  till  the  middle  of  the  last  century 
that  the  construction  of  canals  began  to  enter  into  the  sys- 
tem of  British  economy.  In  the  year  1755  an  impulse  was 
given  to  the  progress  of  British  industry  by  the  project, 
which  originated  with  the  Duke  of  Bridgewater,  of  form- 
ing a  canal  between  Worsley  and  Manchester;  a  project 
which  was  altered  and  extended  by  three  successive  acts 
of  parliament  to  admit  of  greater  comprehensiveness  in  its 
execution,  and  has  formed  the  basis  of  every  succeeding 
plan  of  canalisation  in  England.  The  example  then  set  by 
the  Duke  of  Bridgewater  was  speedily  followed :  the  large 
amount  of  capital  in  England,  which  is  ever  ready  to  be 
invested  in  undertakings  that  are  likely  to  prove  profitable, 
soon  found  its  way  into  this  channel,  and  in  a  short  time 
the  country  became  intersected  with  navigable  canals. 

The  section  of  a  canal  is  usually  a  trapezium,  of  which 
two  sides  are  parallel  and  horizontal,  and  the  other  two 
equally  inclined  to  the  horizon.  The  inclination  depends 
on  the  nature  of  the  soil.  It  is  least  in  tenacious  earth, 
and  greatest  in  loose  soil ;  but  no  soil  will  maintain  itself, 
unless  the  base  of  the  slope  exceeds  its  height  at  least  in 
the  ratio  of  four  to  three.  In  loose  soils  the  base  requires 
to  be  twice  as  great  as  the  height. 

A  canal  is  usually  confined  between  a  bank  on  one  side, 
and  a  towing  path  on  the  other,  the  breadth  of  whose  up- 
188 


per  surface  must  be  sufficient  for  a  road  on  which  the  ani- 
mals employed  in  draught  may  easily  pass.  This  requires 
the  breadth  of  the  upper  surface  to  be  at  least  9  feet.  The 
usual  rule  for  the  other  bank  is  to  make  the  breadth  at  top 
equal  to  the  height,  measured  from  the  bottom  of  the  ca- 
nal: but  in  this  case  there  should  be  a  berm  of  a  foot,  or 
a  foot  and  a  half,  at  the  level  of  the  water,  which  increases 
the  thickness  of  the  bank  at  bottom,  and  prevents  the  wash 
of  the  banks  from  falling  into  the  canal.  To  prevent  the 
entrance  of  rain-water,  a  counter-ditch  is  formed  on  the 
outside  of  each  of  the  banks.  The  profile  of  a  well-con- 
structed canal  will  therefore  present  the  following  figure  : — 

Towing 

Path  Bank 

— V^/  V  Canal 


0  C| 

The  dimensions  of  navigable  canals  must  depend  on  the 
size  of  the  vessels  intended  to  navigate  them.  In  order 
that  they  may  permit  two  vessels  to  pass  each  other  with 
freedom,  the  breadth  at  bottom  is  usually  made  twice  as 
great  as  the  breadth  of  the  beam  of  the  vessels  :  the  depth 
requires  to  be  at  least  one  foot  more  than  the  vessel's 
draught  of  water. 

The  bed  of  a  canal  must  be  absolutely  level,  or  have  no 
more  slope  than  is  necessary  to  convey  wafer  to  replace 
that  which  has  been  wasted.  Hence,  when  a  canal  inter- 
sects a  sloping  country  in  a  series  of  channels  at  different 
levels,  means  must  be  provided  to  enable  vessels  to  pass 
from  one  level  to  another.  This  is  commonly  effected  by 
means  of  a  lock. 

The  invention  of  locks  as  a  means  of  carrying  a  canal 
through  an  undulating  country  has  given  an  entirely  new 
feature  to  the  inland  navigation  of  Europe.  Various  na- 
tions have  claimed  the  honour  of  this  invention  :  but  it 
would  appear  that  the  controversy  which  has  arisen  on  the 
subject  is  not  yet  settled.  "  A  lock  is  a  chamber,  formed 
of  masonry,  occupying  the  whole  bed  of  the  canal  where 
the  difference  of  level  is  to  be  overcome.  This  chamber 
is  so  contrived  that  the  level  of  the  water  which  it  contains 
may  be  made  to  coincide  with  either  the  upper  or  lower 
level  of  the  canal.  This  is  effected  by  two  pairs  of  gates, 
one  of  which  pairs  is  placed  at  each  end  of  the  chamber 
of  the  lock.  By  this  means,  while  the  gates  at  the  lower 
end  of  the  chamber  are  opened,  and  those  at  the  upper 
end  are  closed,  the  water  in  the  chamber  will  stand  at  the 
lower  level  of  the  canal ;  and,  on  the  contrary,  when  the 
lower  gates  are  closed,  and  the  upper  gates  are  opened,  the 
level  of  the  water  in  the  lock  will  coincide  with  the  level 
of  the  water  in  the  upper  part  of  the  canal.  In  the  first 
case,  a  boat  may  be  floated  into  the  lock  from  the  lower 
part  of  the  canal ;  and  if  then  the  gates  be  closed,  and 
water  is  admitted  into  the  lock  from  the  upper  level  until 
the  surface  of  the  lock  is  in  a  line  with  the  water  above, 
the  boat  will  be  floated  up,  and  on  the  opening  of  the  up- 
per gates  may  be  passed  onward.  By  reversing  the  course 
of  procedure,  boats  may  be  as  readily  conveyed  from  the 
upper  to  the  lower  level."     See  Lock. 

The  supply  of  water  required  for  maintaining  a  canal  de- 
pends on  the  lockage  or  quantity  wasted  in  passing  a  vessel 
through  the  locks,  on  the  evaporation  from  the  surface, 
and  on  the  leakage.  It  has  been  found  by  experiment  that 
the  annual  quantity  of  evaporation  from  the  canal  of  Lan- 
guedoc is  32  inches  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  body  of  water  re- 
quired to  supply  this  waste  is  equal  to  a  parallelopiped 
whose  base  is  the  whole  surface  of  water  in  the  canal,  and 
whose  altitude  is  32  inches:  in  most  calculations  it  has 
been  customary  to  take  this  altitude  at  36  inches.  With 
respect  to  the  leakage,  when  the  soil  is  porous  the  inner 
surface  of  the  banks  may  be  lined  with  an  earth  reten- 
tive of  water,  or  a  portion  of  the  middle  of  each  bank 
may  be  built  up  with  earth  of  this  character.  The  opera- 
tion of  lining  a  bank  with  clay,  or  earth  retentive  of  moist- 
ure, is  called  puddling. 

The  advantages  derived  from  canals  are  now  so  gene- 
rally known  and  acknowledged,  as  to  render  it  almost  su- 
perfluous to  allude  to  the  question.  The  beneficial  effects 
of  canals  are  felt  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  by  all  classes 
of  society  :  by  their  means  the  manufacturer  is  enabled  to 
collect  his  materials  and  his  fuel  with  less  labour  and  ex- 
pense ;  the  farmer  obtains  a  supply  of  manure  at  a  cheap 
rate,  and  a  ready  conveyance  of  his  produce  to  the  most 
profitable  market ;  and  the  merchant  is  enabled  to  extend 
his  commerce  by  exporting  greater  quantities  and  varieties 
of  guods  from  places  remote  from  the  sea,  and  by  more 
easily  supplying  a  wider  extent  of  inland  country  wilh  ar- 
ticles of  foreign  produce.  In  short,  general  arguments  in 
favour  of  canals  are  superseded  by  the  rapidly  improving 
and  thriving  state  of  all  the  cities,  towns,  and  villages  in 
their  neighbourhood  ;  while  the  great  works  of  every  kind 
to  which  they  have  been  conducted,  and  to  which  a  large 


CANALICULATE. 

portion  of  tliem  owe  their  rise,  are  their  best  recommen- 
dation. Some  years  ago,  when  the  formation  of  railroads 
became  a  favourite  speculation,  no  small  degree  of  alarm 
was  experienced  by  those  interested  in  the  prosperity  of 
canals,  lest  they  should  diminish  in  importance,  or  in  fact 
be  entirely  superseded  by  the  introduction  of  railroads. 
Experience  has,  however,  hitherto  shown  that  the  fears 
entertained  on  this  subject  were  perfectly  groundless  ;  for, 
as  railways  are  constructed  chiefly  for  the  expeditious 
transport  of  passengers  and  goods,  and  from  the  expense 
incurred  in  their  construction  and  maintenance  a  higher 
rate  of  toll  must  be  levied  in  order  to  pay  the  proprietors, 
this  mode  of  conveyance  is  not  likely  to  interfere  with  that 
description  of  goods  which  form  the  chief  frame  of  canals, 
and  for  which  cheapness,  not  expedition  of  transport,  is  re- 
quired. (For  detailed  information  on  the  subject  of  canals, 
the  reader  is  referred  to  Phillips's  General  History  of  In- 
land Navigation ;  and  to  Nichols,  Priestley,  and  Walker's 
Historical  Account  of  the  Navigable  Rivers,  Canals,  fyc.  of 
Great  Britain. ) 

CANALI'CULATE.  (Lat.  canalis,  a  water  pipe.)  In 
Zoology,  is  said  of  a  surface  when  it  has  a  longitudinal  im- 
pressed line  or  channel. 

Canaliculate.  (Lat.  canalis,  a  water  pipe.)  Is  said 
of  leaves  or  other  parts  when  the  edges  are  so  much 
turned  upwards  as  to  produce  the  appearance  of  a  channel 
or  gutter. 

CANALI'FERA.  (Lat.  canalis,  a  canal;  fero,  I  bear.) 
The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Zoophagoua  Univalves,  or  Gastro- 
pods, of  which  the  shell  is  characterized  by  a  long  straight 
canal  terminating  its  mouth. 

CANA'RY-BIRI).  Two  distinct  species  of  finch  (Car- 
duelis)  appear  to  have  afforded  the  different  varieties  of 
sinning  bird  familiarly  known  by  this  name.  The  one 
which  is  best  known  In  its  wild  State  is  the  Carduelis  carta- 
ria  of  Olivier,  and  is  very  abundant  in  Madeira,  where  its 
characters  and  habits  have  been  observed  with  much  at- 
tention by  Dr.  Hi  ineken.  "  It  builds,"  says  this  natural- 
ist, "in  thick  bushy  tuirli  shrubs  and  trees,  with  roots, 
moss,  feathers,  hair,  <tc. ;  pairs  in  February  ;  lays  from 
four  to  six  pale  blue  eggs ;  and  hatches  five,  and  often  six 
times  in  the  season.  It  is  a  delightful  songster,  with,  be- 
yond doubt,  much  of  the  nightingale's  and  sky-lark's,  but 
none  of  the  wood-lark's  song."—"  A  pure  wild  song  from 
an  island  canary,  at  liberty,  in  full  throat,  in  a  part  of  the 
country  so  distant  from  the  haunts  of  men  that  it  is  quite 
unsophisticated,  is  unequalled,  in  its  kind,  by  any  thing  I 
have  ever  heard  in  the  way  of  bird-music."  The  canary- 
bird  was  brought  into  Europe  as  early  as  the  16th  century, 
and  is  supposed  to  have  spread  from  the  coast  of  Italy, 
where  a  vessel,  which  was  bringing  to  Leghorn  a  number 
of  these  birds  besides  its  merchandise,  was  wrecked.  As, 
however,  they  were  males  chiefly  which  were  thus  intro- 
duced, they  were  for  some  time  scarce  ;  and  it  is  only  of 
late  years  that  their  education  and  the  proper  mode  of 
treating  them  have  been  known.  See  Bechstein  on  Cage 
Birds. 

CANA'STER.  The  rush  basket  in  which  tobacco  is 
packed  in  Spanish  America  ;  whence  canaster  tobacco. 

CA'NCEI,.  (Fr.  canceller.)  In  Printing,  is  the  sup- 
pression of  a  leaf  or  more  of  a  book,  owing  to  some  error 
of  importance  having  escaped  detection,  or  some  fact  being 
mis-stated,  or  some  new  discovery  being  made,  or  some 
change  having  taken  place  in  the  author's  arrangements 
after  that  part  of  a  work  has  been  printed,  anil  substituting 
for  the  portion  cancelled  a  corrected  leaf,  &c.  which  is 
usually  distinguished  by  one  of  the  following  signs  at  the 
bottom  ofthe  page,  ",  t,"t,  §,  as  a  guide  to  the  book-binder. 

CANCELLA'RIA.  (Fr.  canceller.)  A  I.amarckian  ge- 
nus of  Trachelipod  Testacea,  having  the  shell  oval  or  tur- 
reted  ;  base  of  the  aperture  sub-canaliculate;  canal  very 
short;  columella  plicate;  the  plaits  usually  transverse, 
varying  in  number;  lip  internally  furrowed;  operculum 
horny.  The  reticulated  Cancellaria  (Cancellaria  reticu- 
lata, Lam.)  is  a  well-known  species,  from  the  Atlantic 
Ocean. 

CA'NCELLATE.  (Lat.  cancelli,  lattices.)  Is  a  term 
applied  to  leaves  consisting  entirely  of  veins,  without  con- 
necting parenchyma ;  so  that  the  whole  leaf  looks  like  a 
plate  of  open  network.  Instances  of  this  kind  occur  in  Hy- 
druqeton  fenestralis,  but  are  extremely  rare. 

CA'NCER.  (Lat.)  The  Crab.  The  fourth  sign  of  the 
zodiac,  which  the  sun  enters  about  the  21st  of  June,  when 
he  reaches  his  greatest  northern  declination.  The  par- 
allel circle  through  this  point  is  called  the  Tropic  of  Cancer. 

Cancer.  The  Linnsan  generic  name  for  the  modern 
Brachyurous  family  of  Crustaceans. 

Cancer.  A  disease  chiefly  attacking  the  glands,  consist- 
ing of  a  schirrous  tumour  terminating  in  an  ill-conditioned 
and  deep  ulcer,  generally  attended  by  excruciating  pain. 
When  the  cancerous  character  of  a  tumour  is  once  ascer- 
tained, its  extirpation,  where  practicable,  is  the  only 
chance  of  effectual  relief.  The  large  blue  veins  which 
ramify  round  a  cancer  of  the  breast  were  compared  by  old 
189 


CANDIDATI. 

authors  to  the  claws  of  a  crab,  whence  the  name  of  this 
disease. 

CANCRO'MA.  A  genus  of  Grallatores  or  wading  birds 
belonging  to  Cuvier's  family  of  Pressirostres,  or  com- 
pressed-billed waders,  including  only  one  known  species, 
the  Boatbill;  so  called  from  the  form  and  structure  ofthe 
bill,  which  characterizes  the  genus.  The  bill  is  flattened 
or  depressed,  not  compressed  ;  and  is  composed  of  two 
boat-shaped  or  spoon-shaped  mandibles,  with  their  conca- 
vities applied  towards  each  other,  the  upper  one  having  a 
strong  and  sharp  tooth  near  the  point.  The  Boatbill  in- 
habits the  banks  ofthe  Orinooko,  and  other  large  rivers  of 
South  America  which  are  subject  to  flooding  in  the  rainy 
season. 

CAXDELA'BRUM.  (Lat.  candela,  a  lamp  or  candle.) 
A  stand  or  support  on  which  the  ancients  placed  a  lamp. 
Candelabra  varied  in  form,  and  were  highly  decorated  with 
the  stems  and  leaves  of  plants,  parts  of  animals,  flowers, 
and  the  like.  There  was  no  article  of  ancient  furniture  in 
which  more  taste  and  elegance  were  displayed  than  in  the 
designs  of  candelabra.  The  etymology  of  the  word  would 
seem  to  assimilate  the  candelabrum  to  our  candlestick  ;  it 
is,  however,  quite  certain  that  the  word  candela  was  noth- 
ing more  than  a  lamp,  and  that  the  candelabrum  was  but  a 
support  more  or  less  heavy  in  construction  upon  which  the 
lamp  was  placed,  or  whose  top  was  hollowed  out  for  the 
reception  of  oil  or  some  other  combustible.  The  great  va- 
riety observable  in  ancient  candelabra  was  not  so  depen- 
dent on  the  caprice  ofthe  artist,  as  on  the  different  uses  to 
which  they  were  first  applied.  Before  the  employment  of 
oil  the  mode  of  illuminating  an  apartment  was  by  means 
of  dry  wood  burnt  on  braziers  (basins  for  holding  fuel)  sup- 
ported by  tripods.  The  Greeks,  always  delighting  to  pre- 
serve some  reminiscence  of  an  ancient  usage,  thence  ad- 
hered to  the  triangular  form  in  this  article  of  furniture,  and 
their  example  was  imitated  by  the  Romans.  Generally 
speaking,  there  are  two  species  of  candelabra :  those  which 
ending  upwards  in  the  form  of  a  brazier,  so  nearly  approach 
the  form  of  a  portable  altar  as  to  be  almost  confounded 
with  it.  This  species  must  be  classed  with  the  tripod,  and 
there  seems  ground  for  believing  that  it  was  used  only  in 
temples  or  in  small  chapels.  Of  this  sort  was  that  carried 
off  by  Verres;  and  Cicero  informs  us  that  in  Sicily  every 
house  was  supplied  with  one  in  silver.  Of  this  species  al- 
so are  those  most  frequently  sculptured  in  friezes,  usually 
accompanied  by  genii  and  instruments  of  sacrifice.  The 
other  species  of  candelabra,  whose  accessaries  and  orna- 
ments are  ofthe  same  character  as  in  those  first  described, 
are  much  higher,  and  of  marble.  Of  this  kind  Rome  fur- 
nishes an  abundance  of  examples ;  but,  as  Winkelman  ob- 
serves, not  one  has  been  found  in  bronze. 

The  marble  candelabra  exhibit  as  much  variety  in  the 
forms  ofthe  vase  or  brazier,  which  it  is  their  principal  end 
to  support,  as  in  the  body  and  base  of  the  support  itself. 
Sometimes  they  are  capricious  to  excess,  the  foliage,  con- 
trivance, and  design  being  such  as  to  display  more  skill 
than  propriety  of  taste.  Others,  however,  there  are  which 
are  exquisite  models  of  form,  taste,  ornament,  and  execu- 
tion. The  museum  at  the  Vatican  contains  possibly  the 
finest  collection  in  Europe  of  this  species.  There  is  one 
to  be  seen  there  upwards  of  seven  feet  high,  resting  on 
griffins'  or  lions'  paws.  The  general  form  of  its  shaft  i3 
that  of  a  baluster,  which  supports  a  vase  shaped  basin  ;  it 
is  highly  decorated  with  foliage  and  bassirilievi  of  bac- 
chantes. The  British  museum  presents  some  specimens; 
beautiful,  but  not  ofthe  first  class.  For  full  information  on 
this  species,  the  reader  should  turn  to  the  splendid  works 
of  Piranesi.  Lachausse  thinks  that  marble  candelabra 
were  used  in  temples  more  for  the  purpose  of  adding 
splendour  to  the  service  than  of  lighting  it;  but  it  seems 
probable  that  many  with  which  we  are  acquainted,  such  as 
those  that  were  found  in  the  bathsof  Titus,  where  numbers 
ofthe  apartments  did  not  receive  the  light  of  day,  actually 
held  artificial  light.  The  most  curious  specimens  of  can- 
delabra, as  respects  form,  use,  and  workmanship,  are  those 
excavated  at  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii.  These  are  all  of 
bronze  ;  and  that  they  were  employed  for  domestic  pur- 
poses is  proved  from  the  representation,  on  an  Etruscan 
vase,  of  one  which  serves  to  give  light  to  the  guests  assem- 
bled round  a  banquet  table.  They  are  slender  in  their  pro- 
portions, and  perfectly  portable,  rarely  exceeding  five  feet 
in  height.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  none  of  the  candelabra 
hitherto  found  exhibit  any  appearance  of  a  socket  or  of  a 
spike  at  top,  from  which  an  inference  of  the  use  of  candles 
could  be  drawn. 

CANDIDA'TI.  (Lat.  candidus,  white.)  In  Roman  An- 
tiquities, so  called  from  their  being  arrayed  in  white  gar- 
ments, were  the  aspirants  for  public  offices.  In  this  dress 
they  canvassed  the  different  tribes,  harangued  the  people, 
extolled  their  own  exploits,  and  as  the  case  might  happen, 
exhibited  the  wounds  which  they  had  received  in  the  ser- 
vice of  their  country.  The  forms  of  election  among  the 
Romans  were  remarkably  strict.  Every  candidate  for 
public  offices  was  compelled  to  pass  two  years  in  proba- 


CANDLEMAS. 

tionary  service ;  and  even  then  his  appointment,  which 
could  only  be  ratified  by  numerous  and  imposing  so- 
lemnities, did  not  generally  take  place  until  he  had  spent 
five  months  as  magistrate  elect  in  familiarizing  himself 
with  the  duties  of  his  office.  Notwithstanding  the  severity 
of  the  Roman  laws  against  corruption,  the  practice  of  bri- 
bery was  constantly  resorted  to,  and  a  full  purse  and  fair 
promises  went  far  to  supply  the  want  of  ability  and  in- 
tegrity. 

CA'NDLEMAS.  A  church  festival,  held  on  the  2nd  of 
February,  to  commemorate  the  purification  of  the  Virgin. 
The  name  probably  arose  from  the  number  of  lighted 
candles  used  in  the  processions  of  the  day  ;  or  perhaps 
from  a  custom  of  consecrating  candles  on  that  day  for  the 
rest  of  the  year.  This  practice  was  abolished  in  England 
in  the  second  year  of  the  reign  of  Edward  VI. 

CA'NDLES.  These  are  an  important  article  of  manufac- 
ture, and  may  be  composed  of  a  variety  of  materials :  the 
principal  are, — 1.  Wax  candles,  which  are  made  by  pour- 
ing melted  wax  over  the  wicks,  which  for  the  convenience 
of  turning  and  placing  them  successively  over  the  caul- 
dron, are  usually  attached  to  the  circumference  of  a  hoop  ; 
when  of  a  proper  thickness,  they  are  rolled  smooth  upon  a 
table,  and  the  ends  are  cut  and  trimmed.  It  is  in  conse- 
quence of  this  method  of  manufacture,  that  when  we  cut 
a  wax  candle  we  observe  it  composed  of  successive  layers 
or  coats.  Attempts  have  been  made  to  cast  wax  candles 
in  moulds,  but  those  which  are  thus  made  never  burn  so 
well  as  those  which  are  poured.  2.  Spermaceti  candles,  or 
mixtures  of  wax  and  spermaceti.  This  material  forms  a 
very  good  and  cleanly  candle  ;  but  in  consequence  of  its 
ready  fusibility  and  hardness  when  concrete,  it  does  not 
admit  of  being  earned  about  without  spilling  the  melted 
material.  The  fused  portions  also,  which  run  down  the 
candle,  are  apt  to  curl  and  fall  upon  the  table.  3.  Composi- 
tion candles.  This  term  was  originally  conferred  by  a 
manufacturer  who  had  a  large  stock  of  spermaceti  candles 
on  hand  which  were  of  a  dirty  hue,  and  which  therefore 
were  unsaleable  ;  he  advertised  them  under  the  above 
name,  and  they  were  soon  disposed  of,  under  the  notion 
of  their  being  composed  of  some  new  combination  of  ma- 
terials. The  term  has  since  been  applied  to  various  mix- 
tures ;  but  what  are  now  sold  under  the  name  of  composi- 
tion candles  are  chiefly  mixtures  of  spermaceti,  tallow,  and 
a  little  resin,  and  occasionally  wax.  4.  Tallow  candles, 
which  are  either  cast  upon  the  wick  in  pewter  moulds,  or 
made  by  dipping  the  wicks,  attached  in  rows  to  proper 
frames,  into  melted  tallow.  5.  Stearine  candles.  Under 
this  term  we  may  include  cocoa-nut  oil  candles,  and  a  few 
others  made  of  the  stearine,  or  what  may  be  compared  to 
the  spermaceti  of  the  vegetable  oils.  The  stearine,  or 
rather  the  stearic  acid  of  tallow,  is  also  now  extensively 
employed  for  making  candles. 

A  candle  may  be  considered  as  a  portable  gas  apparatus, 
and  its  philosophical  history  involves  a  number  of  very 
curious  points,  which  we  can  only  superficially  advert  to 
here.  The  combustible  material,  in  a  state  of  fusion,  is 
drawn  up  in  successive  portions  by  capillary  attraction  into 
the  heated  part  of  the  wick,  the  texture,  materials,  and  di- 
mensions of  which  are  matters  of  much  importance.  If 
the  wick  be  too  large,  the  candle  flares  and  smokes,  pro- 
ducing a  peculiar  suffocating  smell  in  the  room,  and  often 
wanting  snuffing,  as  we  constantly  see  in  badly  made  mould 
candles ;  if,  on  the  contrary,  the  wick  be  too  small,  the 
candle  burns  dimly  and  gutters,  in  the  former  case,  un- 
burned  carbon  soon  collects  in  the  upper  part  of  the  flame, 
and  if  not  removed  is  apt  to  fall  into  the  cup  of  the  candle, 
where  it  forms  a  kind  of  second  wick,  rapidly  melting 
away  the  tallow  and  disfiguring  the  candle,  and  occasion- 
ally, where  candles  are  inadvertently  left  burning,  falling 
upon  the  table  and  setting  fire  to  any  tiling  within  its  reach. 
This  evil  may  to  a  great  extent  be  prevented  by  inclining 
the  candle  at  an  angle  of  about  45  degrees,  so  as  to  keep 
the  upper  part  of  the  wick  out  of  the  flame.  In  this  way 
the  air  has  access  to  it,  and  the  charcoal  which  otherwise 
collects  into  a  head  is  burned  as  soon  as  deposited. 
Where  it  is  required  to  keep  a  common  tallow  candle 
burning  during  the  night,  the  necessity  for  snuffing,  and 
the  risk  of  mischief,  may  be  prevented  by  so  inclining  it ; 
and  candlesticks  have  been  contrived  for  the  purpose, 
which  are  useful  and  effective,  but  very  unseemly. 
With  good  wax  the  wick  is  more  easily  adjusted  to  the 
wants  of  the  flame,  and  the  necessity  of  snuffing  to  a  great 
extent  prevented ;  but  adulterated  wax  is  often  more 
troublesome  than  tallow.  Great  care  is  also  requisite  in 
selecting  the  cotton  for  the  wicks  of  candles,  which  should 
be  of  such  a  nature  as  to  leave  no  ash,  or  scarcely  any, 
when  burned.  The  wick  is  occasionally  impregnated  with 
different  substances,  and  sometimes  so  platted  as  to  curl 
out  of  the  flame ;  but  the  details  of  these  contrivances 
would  be  foreign  to  the  object  of  this  work.  The  follow- 
ing table  contains  the  results  of  some  experiments  made 
by  Dr.  Ore,  with  a  view  of  ascertaining  the  relative  inten- 
sities of  fight  and  the  duration  of  different  candles  :— 
190 


CANIS. 


c 

°« 

a 

iMm 

c 

a 

a 

£  ° 
1" 

6" 

£  a 

_  - 

ill 

~  a.  si 

o  ~  e 

si 

=  =  c 

?         IB 

S-aB 

10  Mould   5h.  9  m. 

682 

132 

12-25 

6S-0 

5-70 

10  Dipped 

4    36 

672 

150 

1300 

65-5 

5-25 

8  Mould 

6    31 

856 

132 

10-50 

59-5 

6-60 

6  Ditto 

7      21 

1160 

163 

14  66 

66  0 

5  00 

4  Ditto 

9    36 

1787 

186 

20-25 

80-9 

3-50 

Argand  oil  flame 

-    -        512 

69-40 

100  0 

In  reference  to  the  above  table,  it  appears  from  Dr. 
Ure's  experiments  that  one-eighth  of  a  gallon  of  good  oil, 
weighing  6010  grains,  or  13  and  110th  ounces  avoirdupois, 
lasts  in  a  bright  argand  lamp  11  hours  44  minutes.  The 
weight  of  oil  it  consumes  per  hour  is  equal  to  four  times 
the  weight  of  tallow  in  candles  eight  to  the  pound,  and  3 
and  l-7th  times  the  weight  of  tallow  in  candles  six  to  the 
pound  ;  but,  its  light  being  equal  to  that  of  five  of  the  lat- 
ter candles,  it  appears  from  the  above  table,  that  two 
lbs.  weight  of  oil,  value  one  shilling,  (sterling),  in  an  ar- 
gand lamp,  are  equivalent  in  illuminating  power  to  3  lbs.  of 
tallow  candles,  which  cost  about  three  shillings,  sterling. 
The  larger  the  flame  in  the  above  candles,  the  greater  the 
economy  of  light.  (Ure's  Dictionary  of  Chemistry.)  In 
reference  to  the  comparative  cost  of  coal  gas,  oil,  tallow, 
and  wax,  it  appears  that  the  cost  of  a  lamp  fed  by  gas,  and 
giving  the  light  of  seven  candles,  will  be  about  one  penny 
sterling  per  hour ;  of  an  argand  lamp  fed  with  spermaceti 
oil,  about  threepence,  of  mould  candles  about  threepence 
halfpenny,  and  of  wax  candles  about  one  shilling.  Ninety 
cubic  feet  of  good  coal  gas,  value  about  one  shilling  ster- 
ling, will  produce  the  light  of  about  10  wax  candles  for 
one  hour. 

CANE'LLA.  (Dim.  of  canna,  a  reed.)  The  bark  of  the 
Canella  alba,  imported  from  the  West  Indies  in  quilled 
pieces  of  a  pale  buff  colour,  and  a  biting  aromatic  flavour. 
It  is  occasionally  used  in  medicine. 

CANE'LLE^E.  (Canella,  one  of  the  genera.)  A  small 
natural  order  of  plants,  supposed  to  be  related  to  Clusi- 
acea  ;  but  very  imperfectly  known.  They  consist  of  South 
American  shrubs  or  trees ;  one  of  which,  Canella  alba,  is 
aromatic,  and  yields  the  wild  cinnamon  of  the  West  In- 
dies. The  bark  of  that  species  is  used  medicinally  against 
scurvy. 

CANE'PHORiE.  (Gr.  xavntyopos,  bearing  a  basket.)  In 
Architecture,  figures  of  young  persons  of  either  sex,  bear- 
ing on  their  heads  baskets  containing  materials  for  sacri- 
fice. They  are  frequently  confounded  with  caryatides, 
from  their  resemblance  in  respect  of  attitude  and  the 
modern  abuse  of  their  application.     See  Caryatides. 

CA'NES  VENA'TICI.  The  Greyhounds.  One  of  the 
constellations  formed  by  Hevelius  in  the  northern  hemi- 
sphere. It  is  represented  on  the  celestial  globes  and  charts 
by  the  figures  of  two  dogs,  which  are  also  distinguished 
by  the  names  of  Asterion  and  Chara. 

CANI'CULAR  DAYS,  or  DOG  DAYS.  The  name  given 
to  certain  days  of  the  year,  during  which  the  heat  is  usu- 
ally the  greatest.  They  are  reckoned  about  forty,  and  are 
set  down  in  the  almanacs  as  beginning  on  the  3d  day  of 
July,  and  ending  on  the  11th  of  August.  In  the  time  of  the 
ancient  Astronomers,  the  remarkable  star  Sirius.  called  al- 
so Canicula,  or  the  Dog  Star,  rose  heliacally,  that  is,  just 
before  the  sun,  about  the  beginning  of  July  ;  and  the  sultry 
heat  which  usually  prevails  at  that  season,  with  all  its  disa- 
greeable effects,  among  which  the  tendency  of  dogs  to  be- 
come mad  is  not  one  of  the  least  disagreeable,  were  as- 
cribed to  the  malignant  rage  of  the  star.  Owing  to  the 
precession  of  the  equinoxes,  the  heliacal  rising  of  Sirius 
now  takes  place  later  in  the  year,  and  in  a  cooler  season; 
so  that  the  dog  days  have  not  now  that  relation  to  the  par- 
ticular position  of  the  Dog  Star  from  which  they  obtained 
their  name. 

CANI'CULAR  YEAR.  The  ancient  solar  year  of  the 
Egyptians  ;  so  called  because  its  commencement  was  de- 
termined by  the  heliacal  rising  of  the  Dog  Star.  The  Egyp- 
tians chose  this  star  for  their  observations,  either  on  ac- 
count of  its  superior  brightness,  or  because  its  heliacal 
rising  corresponded  with  the  annual  overflow  of  the  Nile. 
At  a  very  early  period  of  history  the  Egyptians  had  per- 
ceived that  the  solar  year  contains  365J^  days ;  for  their 
common  years  consisted  of  365  days,  and  every  fourth 
year  of  366,  as  in  the  Julian  Calendar. 

CANI'NES.  (Lat.  canis,  a  dog.)  The  pointed,  often  long 
teeth,  which  succeed  the  incisors;. called  denies  canini,  or 
laniarii. 

CA'NIS.  (Lat.  canis,  a  dog.)  The  name  of  a  genus  of 
Digitigrade  Mammalia,  restricted  in  the  modern  systems 
of  Zoology  to  the  species  of  dog,  wolf,  and  jackal:  but  by 
Linnsus  applied  in  a  wider  sense  to  include  the  fox  and 
hyena.    With  respect  to  the  latter  animal  its  enormously 


CANIS. 

developed  anal  scent-glands,  its  brief  coition,  and  its  mane 
indicate  it  to  belong  to  the  family  of  the  skunks  and  genets 
rather  than  to  that  of  the  dogs,  while  the  prickly  tongue 
and  dentition  of  the  hyena  approximate  it  to  the  cats.  The 
foxes  are  generically  distinguished  from  the  dogs  by  the 
pupils  of  the  eye,  which  during  the  day  have  the  form  of 
a  venical  fissure,  by  their  less  notched  upper  incisors,  and 
by  their  longer  and  more  bushy  tail.  The  true  characters 
of  the  genus  canis  are  six  incisors  and  two  canines  in  each 
jaw,  six  molars  on  each  side  of  the  upper  jaw,  and  seven 
molars  on  each  side  of  the  lower  jaw,  making  in  all  forty- 
two  teeth,  of  which  there  are  twenty  in  the  upper  and 
twenty-two  in  the  lower  jaw.  The  first  three  molars  in  the 
upper,  and  the  first  four  molars  in  the  under  jaw,  are 
trenchant  and  pointed  or  lacerating  teeth  ;  the  succeeding 
molar  in  the  upper  jaw  is  very  large,  with  two  sharp  cut- 
tinir  points  towards  the  outer  edge,  and  a  small  tubercle  on 
the  inner  side  interiorly  ;  the  others  are  smaller,  and  all 
furnished  with  tubercles  :  the  first  of  these  tuberculate  mo- 
lars in  the  upper  jaw  is  very  large.  In  all  the  wild  varie- 
ties of  the  species  of  canis  the  muzzle  is  elongated,  and  the 
ears  are  carried  erect ;  the  tongue  is  unprovided  with  cuti- 
cular  spines ;  the  fore  feet  have  five  toes,  the  hind  feet  four 
only ;  both  are  armed  with  non-retractile  claws ;  the  cae- 
cum is  cylindrical,  and  coiled  upon  itself;  the  anal  glands 
are  of  moderate  size ;  the  coitus  is  prolonged.  The  dog 
(Canis  fayniliaris,  L.)  is  distinguished  from  the  wolf  and 
jackal  by  his  recurved  tail ;  but  the  varieties,  as  to  size, 
form,  colour,  and  quality  of  the  hair,  are  almost  infinite. 
The  dog  is  the  most  complete,  singular,  and  useful  con- 
quest ever  made  by  man  over  the  brute  creation  :  each  in- 
dividual is  devoted  to  his  particular  master,  assumes  his 
manners,  knows  and  defends  his  property,  and  remains 
attached  to  him  till  death ;  and  all  this  neither  from  con- 
straint nor  want,  but  solely  from  the  purest  gratitude  and 
truest  friendship.  The  swiftness,  strength,  and  scent  of 
the  doz  have  rendered  him  man's  powerful  ally  against  all 
other  animals,  and  have  perhaps  mainly  contributed  to  the 
establishment  of  society.  Some  naturalists  tlnnk  the  dog  is 
a  reclaimed  wolf,  and  others  that  he  is  a  dome 
jackal;  nevertheless,  those  dogs  that  have  become  wild 
again  revert  neither  into  the  one  nor  the  other  species. 
The  wild  duns,  and  those  that  belong  to  savages,  as  the 
dingo,  resemble,  it  is  true,  the  wolf  in  the  shape  of  the 
head,  their  straight  pricked  ears,  rough  and  thick  hair.long 
bushy  tail,  and  lounging  gait;  moreover,  they  never  bark, 
but  utter  a  sharp  cry  or  Long  melancholy  howl,  like  the 
jackal  and  wolf;  yet  they  are  plainly  distinct  from  both. 
The  Esquimaux  dogs  present  the  first  traces  of  a  deviation 
from  the  wild  type;  the  figure  of  the  legs  is  more  deter- 
mined, and  their  pace  bolder  and  more  rapid  :  still  they 
manifest  their  near  relationship  to  the  wulf  in  their  sharp 
nose,  pricked  ears,  and  inability  to  bark.  The  Esquimaux 
and  the  people  of  Kamtschatka  use  these  dogs  as  beasts  of 
draught:  six  or  seven  dogs  will  draw  a  sledge  laden  with 
eight  or  ten  hundred  weight  at  the  rate  of  seven  or  eight 
miles  an  hour,  and  will  easily,  under  these  circumstances, 
perform  a  journey  of  fifty  or  sixty  miles  a  day,  when  the 
snow  is  hard  and  smooth,  and  the  road  level.  The  dogs 
thus  employed  have  a  simple  harness  of  deer  or  seal  skin 
going  round  the  neck  by  one  bight,  and  another  for  each  of 
the  fore-legs,  with  a  single  thong  leading  over  the  back, 
and  attached  to  the  sledge  as  a  trace.  "  Though  they  ap- 
pear," says  Captain  Parry,  "  to  be  at  first  sight  huddled  to- 
gether without  regard  to  regularity,  there  is  in  fact  consid- 
erable attention  paid  to  their  arrangement,  particularly  in 
the  selection  of  a  dog  of  peculiar  spirit  and  sagacity,  who  is 
allowed  by  a  longer  trace  to  precede  the  rest  as  leader,  and 
to  whom,  in  turning  to  the  right  or  left,  the  driver  usually 
addresses  himself." 

The  Newfoundland  dog  may  be  regarded  as  the  next  re- 
move from  the  Esquimaux  variety.  These  fine  and  saga- 
cious animals  are  employed  in  their  native  island  to  draw 
sledges  and  carts  laden  with  wood  and  fish,  and  to  render 
many  other  useful  services  performed  elsewhere  by  the 
horse.  The  readiness  with  which  the  Newfoundland  dog 
takes  the  water,  his  aptitude  to  fetch  and  carry,  and  his 
powerful  and  active  swimming,  have  been  the  means  of 
preserving  the  lives  of  many  human  beings.  Another  va- 
riety of  dog  nearly  allied  to  the  Newfoundland  breed,  and 
belonging  to  the  same  subdivision  (Avicuiarius,  Linn.,  or 
spaniel-tribe),  has  been  trained  by  the  benevolent  monks 
of  the  convent  situated  near  the  top  of  the  mountain  of 
Great  St.  Bernard,  to  hunt  out  and  extricate  such  unfortunate 
travellers  as  may  have  been  buried  under  the  snowdrifts 
or  avalanches,  while  attempting  the  neighbouring  dangerous 
pass  between  Switzerland  and  Savoy.  One  of  these  noble 
animals  was  decorated  with  a  medal  in  commemoration 
of  his  having  saved  the  lives  of  twenty-two  persons,  who 
must  otherwise  have  perished.  In  the  museum  at  Berne 
is  still  preserved  the  stuffed  skin  of  u  Barry,"  another  of 
these  dogs,  together  with  the  bottle  and  collar  which  he 
bore  in  his  lifetime ;  for  the  good  fathers,  with  a  provident 
care  to  afford  every  chance  of  escape  to  the  unfortunate 
191 


CANNIBALS. 

travellers,  fasten  a  flask  of  spirits  about  the  neck  of  the  dog 
before  he  starts  on  his  search.  Barry  having  discovered  a 
boy  whose  mother  had  been  destroyed  by  an  avalanche, 
unhurt  and  asleep  in  the  hollow  of  a  glacier,  and  almost 
stiff  with  cold,  delivered  to  him  the  bottle  suspended  from 
his  neck ;  and  when  he  had  refreshed  himself,  found 
means  to  induce  him  to  mount  upon  his  back,  and  thus 
carried  him  to  the  gate  of  the  convent.  This  dog  had  been 
the  means  of  rescuing  from  death  upwards  of  forty  persons 
before  he  was  superannuated;  when  he  was  sent  to  pass 
the  remainder  of  his  days,  on  a  pension,  in  a  more  genial 
climate  at  Beme. 

In  our  own  country  the  shepherd's  dog  offers  the  exam- 
ple of  one  of  the  purest  races  of  the  domesticated  animal, 
and  that  which,  in  its  straight  ears,  its  hair,  and  tail,  ap- 
proaches nearest  to  the  original  stock.  The  sagacity  of 
this  variety  in  the  peculiar  department  in  which  his  ser- 
vices are  rendered  to  man  is  well  known,  and  has  been  il- 
lustrated by  a  hundred  interesting  anecdotes.  The  shep- 
herd's dog,  though  outwardly  resembling  in  many  points 
the  "dingo,"  possesses  a  greater  cerebral  development, 
which  continues  to  increase  together  with  intelligence  in 
the  spaniel  and  barbet.  Guided  by  the  form  of  the  cra- 
nium, we  should  associate  the  spaniel  and  its  immediate 
varieties  with  the  shepherd's  dog,  the  wolf  dog,  the  New- 
foundland and  Mount  St.  Bernard's  dog,  and  the  Esqui- 
maux dogs  in  one  family  (Sagaces). 

A  comparison  of  the  crania  indicates  a  closer  affinity  of 
the  "dingo"  with  the  family  Pugnaces,  including  the  mas- 
tiff and  Danish  dog,  than  with  the  Sagaces.  After  the  pug- 
naceous  mastiff  and  its  varieties,  as  the  bulldog,  remarka- 
ble for  the  shortness  and  strength  of  its  jaws,  come  the 
hound,  the  pointer,  and  the  terrier  in  the  order  of  cerebral 
development.  The  varieties  of  this  family  |  I",  nantes)  dif- 
fer between  themselves  chiefly  in  the  size  and  proportions 
of  the  limbs  ;  the  greyhound  is  longer  and  more  lank,  its 
frontal  sinuses  are  smaller,  and  its  scent  weaker. 

The  bandy-legged  turnspits,  and  the  small  pet  doss,  as 
the  pugs,  poodles,  Italian  greyhounds,  king  Charles's  breed, 
<fec,  are  the  most  degenerated  productions  of  the  genus, 
and  exhibit  the  most  striking  instances  of  that  power  to 
which  man  subjects  all  nature. 

With  some  exceptions  among  this  latter  anomalous  group 
all  the  domestic  varieties  of  the  genus  Canis  are  easily  and 
naturally  referable  to  one  or  other  of  the  three  great  tribes 
above  mentioned,  of  which  the  mastiff,  the  hound,  and  the 
spaniel  may  be  regarded  as  the  several  types,  and  which 
we  have  named  Pn  umtes,  and  Sagaces,  from 

their  prominent  aptitude  respectively  for  the  combat,  the 
chase,  and  those  more  varied  and  complicated  services 
which  seem  to  demand  for  their  fulfilment  a  greater 
amount  of  intelligence  in  our  canine  auxiliaries. 

In  all  the  varieties  of  the  dog  the  following  circumstances 
in  his  economy  are  constant : — He  is  born  with  his  eyes 
closed  ;  he  opens  them  on  the  tenth  or  twelfth  day ;  his 
teeth  commence  changing  in  the  fourth  month  ;  and  his 
full  growth  is  attained  at  the  expiration  of  the  second  year. 
The  period  of  gestation  is  sixty-three  days,  and  from  six  to 
twelve  pups  are  produced  at  a  birth.  The  dog  is  old  at  fif- 
teen years,  and  seldom  lives  beyond  twenty.  His  vigi- 
lance and  bark  are  universally  known.  (See  Naturalist's 
Library,  vols.  25  and  28,— -Dogs,  by  Lieut  Col.  Hamilton 
Smith;  Hell's  British  Quadrupeds,  8vo.,  1837.) 

CA'NIS  MA'JOR.  (Lat.)  The  Greater  Dog.  One  of 
the  48  constellations  of  Ptolemy,  in  the  southern  hemi- 
sphere, and  under  the  feet  of  Orion.  Sirius,  the  brightest 
of  all  the  fixed  stars,  belongs  to  this  constellation. 

CA'NIS  MINOR.  The  Lesser  Dog.  Is  also  one  of  Pto- 
lemy's 43  constellations.  It  is  in  the  northern  hemisphere, 
just  below  Gemini.  Its  most  conspicuous  star  is  Procyon, 
of  the  first  magnitude. 

CA'NNELL  COAL.  (Perhaps  candle  coal,  from  the 
flame  with  which  it  burns.)  A  species  of  coal  found  in 
most  of  the  English  collieries,  especially  at  Wigan  in  Lan- 
cashire. It  is  difficultly  frangible,  and  does  not  soil  the  fin- 
gers ;  when  burning  it  splits  and  crackles,  but  does  not 
cake,  and  leaves  3  or  4  per  cent,  of  ash.  It  is  sometimes 
worked  into  ornamental  utensils,  like  jet. 

CA'NNIBALS.  or  ANTHROPOPHAGI.  Persons  that 
devour  human  flesh.  The  ancient  authors,  but  especially 
Herodotus,  have  recorded  instances  both  of  individ- 
ual and  national  addiction  to  this  revolting  practice,  as  in 
the  case  of  Polyphemus,  the  Massagetee,  and  the  Isse- 
dones:  and  though  there  is  unquestionably  a  large  portion 
of  fable  grafted  on  these  traditional  facts,  it  would  be  rash 
wholly  to  reject  an  account  which  the  testimony  of  subse- 
quent history  so  strongly  corroborates.  In  the  middle  ages 
it  was  customary  for  parties  engaged  in  hostilities  to  make 
mutual  accusations  of  cannibalism  ;  but  there  is  sufficient 
ground  for  believing  that  such  allegations  originated  more 
in  a  desire,  natural,  perhaps,  to  sworn  enemies  in  those 
rude  times,  of  fixing  upon  each  other  the  most  barbarous 
practices,  than  in  any  actual  perpetration  of  this  deed  on 
either  side.     At  the  present  day  cannibalism  is  practised 


CANNON. 

by  some  of  the  Indian  tribes  of  North  America,  the  Battas 
of  Sumatra,  and  the  New  Zealanders ;  though  it  must  be 
admitted,  to  the  honour  of  humanity,  that  the  most  violent 
passions,  such  as  revenge  or  haired,  or  the  pressure  of 
want,  must  be  in  operation  before  even  the  wildest  savage 
will  indulge  in  so  horrible  a  banquet. 

CA'NNON.      A  military    engine   for  projecting  balls, 
shells,  <fec.  by  the  force   of  gun-powder.     The  principal 
parts  of  a  cannon  are,    1.    The  breech,   which 
is  the  solid  metal  from  the  bottom  of  the  bore  c 

or  concave  cylinder  to  the  extremity  of  the 
cascabel,  a.  2.  The  trunnions,  b  b,  which  pro- 
ject on  each  side,  and  serve  to  support  the  can- 
non in  equilibrio,  their  axis  being  in  the  vertical 
plane  passing  through  the  centre  of  gravity,  but 
intersecting  it  below  that  point.  3.  The  bore  or  6| 
cylindrical  cavity.  This  in  several  sorts  of  can- 
non is  made  of  smaller  diameter  towards  the 
breech,  thus  assuming  the  shape  of  two  cylin- 
ders united  by  a  portion  of  a  spherical  surface. 
The  smaller  part  of  the  bore  is  of  such  a  length 
as  to  receive  the  maximum  service  charge  of 
gun-powder,  and  is  called  the  chamber.  The 
entrance  of  the  bore,  c,  is  called  the  mouth  or  muzzle. 

Cannon  are  made  either  of  cast  iron  or  brass,  the  latter 
being  an  alloy  of  copper  and  tin  in  the  proportion  of  about 
10  parts  of  copper  to  1  of  tin,  and  called  gun-metal.  This 
has  a  greater  tenacity  than  iron,  but  is  objectionable  on  ac- 
count of  its  greater  density  and  higher  price,  besides  being 
liable  in  rapid  service  to  soften  and  droop  at  the  muzzle, 
whereby  it  is  rendered  unserviceable.  Since  the  advan- 
tage of  using  smaller  charges  of  gun-powder  was  disco- 
vered, cast  iron,  though  possessing  less  tenacity  than  gun 
metal,  has  been  substituted  for  ship,  garrison,  and  batter- 
ing guns.  But  the  smaller  species  of  cannon  (field-pieces) 
continue  to  be  made  generally  of  brass  :  for  by  reason  of 
the  rapid  cooling  of  the  iron  in  small  masses  its  strength  is 
considerably  impaired,  so  that  it  is  difficult  to  be  procured 
of  the  requisite  quality. 

Cannon  were  formerly  cast  with  a  cave  or  hollow,  but 
they  are  now  always  cast  solid  ;  experience  having  shown 
that  when  cast  solid  they  are  stronger,  and  less  liable  to 
burst ;  that  the  metal  is  freer  from  honeycombs ;  and  that 
the  bore  can  be  rendered  more  perfect,  and  ils  axis  made 
to  coincide  more  accurately  with  that  of  the  piece.  In 
boring  cannon,  the  gun  itself  is  made  to  revolve  about  the 
bit  or  borer,  the  size  of  which  is  successively  increased. 

In  service  cannon  are  mounted  on  carriages,  by  which 
they  may  be  removed  from  place  to  place.  They  are  sup- 
ported on  the  carriage  by  the  trunnions,  about  which  they 
move  as  on  an  axle  ;  and  the  form  of  the  carriage  is  such 
as  to  admit  of  their  being  elevated  or  depressed  a  few  de- 
grees above  or  below  the  horizontal  plane.  See  Gun,  Gun- 
nery, Howitzer,  Mortar.  See  Greener  on  Gunnery  ; 
and  Wilkinson's  Engines  of  War. 

CA'NNON  BONE.  In  Farriery,  signifies  the  single 
metarcarpal  or  metatarsal  bone  of  the  horse. 

CA'NNON  METAL.  Bronze  ;  an  alloy  of  copper  with 
eight  or  tender  cent,  of  tin. 

CANOE'.  A  boat,  made  of  a  single  trunk  of  a  tree  hol- 
lowed out.  Some  are  made  of  pieces  of  bark  fastened 
together ;  these  should  be  properly  called  boats.  They 
are  of  various  sizes,  and  are  generally  propelled  by  one,  or 
if  large  by  two  or  more  paddles,  like  wooden  shovels. 

CA'NON.  (Gr.  tcai/iov,  a  rule.)  A  word  of  various  sig- 
nifications, of  which  we  can  only  enumerate  the  princi- 
pal. 

1.  In  cathedral  and  collegiate  churches  there  are  canons 
who  perform  some  of  the  services,  and  are  possessed  of 
certain  revenues  connected  with  them.  These  are,  strict- 
ly speaking,  residentiary  canons  :  foreign  canons  are  those 
to  whom  collegiate  revenues  are  assigned  without  the  ex- 
action of  any  duty. 

2.  The  laws  and  ordinances  of  ecclesiastical  councils  are 
called  canons. 

3.  The  canon  of  scripture  signifies  the  authorized  and 
received  catalogue  of  the  sacred  books.  The  canon  of  the 
Old  Test.,  as  received  by  the  Romanists,  differs  from  that 
of  the  Protestant  churches  in  regarding  as  inspired  those 
books  which  we  reject  under  the  term  Apocrypha.  The 
catalogue  received  by  the  Jews  themselves,  which  we 
adopt,  was  first  enlarged  by  the  Council  of  Carthage  to 
the  extent  in  which  it  is  held  by  our  opponents,  and  that 
decision  was  formally  confirmed  by  the  Council  of  Trent. 
In  the  canon  of  the  New  Test.,  however,  the  agreement  of 
Christian  churches  may  be  considered  unanimous.  There 
exist  a  series  of  enumerations  of  the  sacred  books  of  the 
latter  covenant  in  the  writings  of  the  first  four  centuries, 
the  general  agreement  of  which,  and  the  satisfactory  rea- 
sons which  can  be  assigned  in  most  cases  of  omission- 
there  are  no  additions — distinctly  mark  the  universality  of 
the  judgment  of  the  early  churches  in  this  matter. 

Ca'non.     In  Music,  a  perpetual  fugue.     This  original 
method  of  writing  this  was  on  one  line,  with  marks  there- 
192 


CANTON. 

on,  to  show  where  the  parts  that  imitate  were  to  begin  and 
end.  This,  however,  was  what  the  Italians  more  particu- 
larly call  cunone  chiuso  (shut),  or  canone  in  corpo. 

CA'NONESS.  A  description  of  religious  women  in 
France  and  Germany.  Their  convents  were  termed 
colleges.  They  did  not  live  in  seclusion.  The  college  of 
Remiremont  was  the  oldest  establishment  ol  this  order  in 
France.  Similar  noble  monasteries  still  exist  in  Germany, 
and  the  revenues  and  dignities  of  some  belong  to  .Protestants. 

CANO'NICAL  HOURS.  Stated  times  of  the  day  set 
apart,  more  especially  by  the  Romish  church,  for  devo- 
tional purposes.  In  England  the  canonical  hours  are  from 
8  to  12  in  the  forenoon,  before  or  after  which  the  ceremo- 
ny of  marriage  cannot  be  legally  performed  in  any  parish 
church. 

CA'NONIZA'TION.  A  ceremony  in  the  Romish  church, 
by  which  holy  men  deceased  are  enrolled  in  the  catalogue 
of  saints.  The  privilege  of  canonizing  was  originally  com- 
mon to  all  bishops,  and  was  first  confined  to  the  Pope  by 
Alexander  HI.  in  1170.  When  it  is  proposed  to  canonize 
any  person,  a  formal  process  is  instituted,  by  which  his 
merits  or  demerits  are  investigated.  Hereupon  the  beatifi- 
cation of  the  person  in  question  is  pronounced  by  the  Pope, 
and  his  canonization  follows  upon  the  production  of  testi- 
mony to  miracles  performed  at  his  tomb  or  by  his  remains. 
The  day  of  his  death  is  generally  selected  to  be  kept  in  his 
honour,  and  is  inserted  as  such  in  the  calendar.  The  last 
instance  of  canonization  took  tilace  in  1803. 

CANO'PUS,  or  CANOBUS.  (Gr.  Kavwwos,  the  name 
of  a  place  in  Egypt.)  A  bright  star  of  the  first  magnitude 
in  the  rudder  of  Argo,  one  of  the  southern  constellations. 
As  its  declination  is  about  52/i°  south,  it  is  not  visible  in 
in  our  hemisphere  beyond  the  40th  degree  of  latitude. 

CA'NOPY.  (Gr.  Kavontiov.)  In  Architecture,  an  orna- 
mented covering  over  a  seat  of  state,  and  in  its  extended 
signification  any  covering  which  affords  protection  from 
above. 

CANT.  In  sea  phrase,  to  turn  over  or  round  ;  a  cant  is 
also  a  piece  of  wood  laid  on  the  deck  for  the  support  of  a 
bulk-head. 

CANTA'TA.  (It.  cantare,  to  sing.)  In  Music,  a  song  of 
composition  intermixed  with  recitative,  usually  for  a  single 
voice  with  a  thorough  bass. 

CANTHA'RIDES.  (Gr.  Kovdapos,  a  beetle.)  Spanish 
flies.  The  Canlharis  vesicatoria,  or  blistering  fly.  These 
insects  are  chiefly  brought  from  Astracan  and  Sicily  :  they 
should  be  free  from  mould  and  dust,  of  a  peculiar  but  not 
very  strong  or  nauseous  odour,  and  of  a  brilliant  golden 
green  colour.  These  flies  furnish  us  with  the  only  ready 
and  certain  means  of  raising  an  effective  blister  upon  the 
skin,  for  which  purpose  they  are  reduced  to  powder, 
mixed  with  ointment  or  lard,  and  spread  thinly  upon  a 
piece  of  leather,  which  is  then  applied  to  the  part  affected. 
Their  operation  is  very  different  in  different  habits  and 
constitutions  :  sometimes  they  produce  much  local  pain 
and  inconvenience,  and  great  general  excitement  and  irri- 
tation of  the  urinary  organs ;  at  others  they  are  compara- 
tively quiet  in  their  action  ;  and  the  blister  being  applied  at 
bed-time,  is  found  in  the  morning  to  have  raised  the  cuti- 
cle with  a  large  quantity  of  serous  fluid  underneath  it,  and 
the  patient  lias  scarcely  been  aware  of  its  agency.  The 
object  of  applying  a  blister  is  generally  to  transfer  internal 
inflammatory  action  to  the  surface  ;  and  in  deep-seated  in- 
flammations, and  painful  affections  of  the  viseera  and  larg- 
er joints  and  muscles,  they  are  often  astonishingly  effective. 
But  blisters  should  not  be  incautiously  applied  :  they  some- 
times produce  troublesome  sores,  and  are  followed  by  eri- 
sipelatous  inflammation.  Care  should  also  be  taken  to 
confine  them,  by  a  margin  of  adhesive  plaster  or  other 
means,  to  the  part  upon  which  they  are  intended  to  operate, 
as  they  sometimes  are  displaced,  and  give  rise  to  awk- 
ward accidents.  When  cantharides  are  taken  internally, 
they  are  violently  stimulant  to  the  urinary  and  generative 
organs. 

CA'NTHUS.  (Lat.)  The  corner  of  the  eye,  where  the 
upper  and  under  eyelids  meet. 

CANTILE'VER.  (Probably  from  canterii  labrum,  the 
lip  of  a  rafter.)  In  Architecture,  apiece  of  wood  framed 
into  the  front  or  side  of  a  house,  and  projecting  from  it,  to 
sustain  the  eaves  and  mouldings  over  them. 

CA'NTO.     See  Soprano. 

CA'NTO-FE'RMO.  (Ital.  firm  song.)  In  Music,  the 
subject  song.  Every  part  that  is  the  subject  of  counter- 
point, whether  plain  or  figured,  is  called  by  the  Italians 
canto  fermo. 

CA'NTON.  In  Heraldry,  an  ordinary  formed  either  at 
the  dexter  or  sinister  chief  of  the  escutcheon,  by  two  lines 
meeting  at  right  angles,  proceeding  from  the  top  or  sides 
of  the  shield.  By  the  word  canton  is  always  understood  a 
canton  dexter,  unless  otherwise  expressed. 

Canton.  (Gr.  navdos,  an  angle ;  or  Lat.  centum,  a  hun- 
dred.) In  Geography,  originally  a  quarter  of  a  city  regard- 
ed as  separated  or  detached  from  the  rest ;  but  applied 
chiefly  at  present  to  the  twenty-two  districts  of  which 


CANTONMENT. 

Switzerland  is  composed,  and  which,  though  forming  a 
confederate  union  like  the  United  States  of  America,  arc 
governed  each  bv  a  separate  judicature  and  particular  laws. 
CAM't )  NMENT.  In  the  art  Military,  that  distinct  situ- 
ation which  soldiers  occupy  when  quartered  in  different 
parts  of  a  town,  for  want  of  barracks  or  caserns  to  contain 
them. 

(  \'\\  kS.  (Ital.)  A  very  clear  unbleached  cloth  of 
hemp  or  flay,  woven  regularly  in  little  squares,  chiefly 
used  to  make  sails  for  shipping.  Besides  serving  for  vari- 
ous domestic  purposes,  such  as  for  the  ground  of  tapestry 
work,  canvas  forms  the  cloth  on  which  painters  usually 
draw  their  pictures. 

t  \NZO.NE.  (Latin,  Provencal,  and  Italian,  cantare,  to 
sing.)  A  kind  of  lyric  poem.  Adopted,  with  some  alter- 
ation,  from  the  poetry  of  the  Troubadours,  it  found  its  way 
into  Italy  in  the  thirteenth  century.  It  is  divided,  like  the 
Greek  atrophic  ode,  into  stanzas,  in  which  the  number  and 
place  of  rhymes  and  metre  of  verses  respectively  corres- 
pond. The  last  stanza,  commonly  shorter  than  the  others 
(the  epodus  of  the  ode),  is  called  congedo,  or  ripressa  (in 
old  French  Venvoy),  and  consisted,  generally,  of  a  valedic- 
tory address  to  the  canzon  itself.  This  form  of  poetry  was 
adapted  by  Petrarch  to  the  expression  of  many  different 
veins  of  thought — sonorous,  elevated,  and  heroic.  The 
Pindaric  ode,  somewhat  more  regular  than  the  canzon, 
was  introduced  by  Chiabrera.  The  canzonet  was  a  son 
of  canzon  in  short  verses,  a  favourite  form  with  the  poets 
of  the  fifteenth  century. 

CANZONE'TTA.  '(Dimin.  of  canzone. )  In  Music,  a 
short  song.     The  Neap'  ! 

each  of  which  is,  like  the  French  vaudeville,  sung  twice 
over.    The  Sicilian  canzonet  is  in  a  species  of  jig-time, 
with  six  <>r  twelve  quavers  in  the  bar.    Sometimes  both 
I  ■  at  the  first  Btrain  for  an  ending. 

CAOIl  TCHOl  C.  This  curious  substance  is  the  inspis- 
sated juice  or  sap  of  several  plants  :  the  principal  supplies 
are  from  South  America,  ai  ed  from  the  Sipho- 

niaela  .and  probably  from  other 

.■us  plants.    It  is  often  termed  gumelasl 
Indian  rubber.    Its  general  properties  and  uses  are  well 
known.     Among  il  I  applications 

elastic  wove  fabrics,  formed  of  caoutchouc  stretched  into 
threads  and  covered  with  cotton;  and  various  water-proof 
clothing,  which  is  made  by  interposing  a  layer  of  caout- 
chouc between  two  folds  of  the  cloth,  and  then  forcibly 
uniting  them  by  pressure.  For  this  purposi 
chouc  is  dissolved  by  coal  naphtha,  and  in  that  state 
brushed  over  the  surfaces  which  are  to  be  unit 

i  loutchouc  is  a  compound  of  carbon  and  hydrogen; 
when  heated  it  fuses,  an 

■ 
it  yields  four  fifths  of  its  weight  of  a  highly  innamn 
and  very  light  volatile  Oily  liquid  {hydrocarbon);  which 
has  bee. i  called  caoutchoucine,  and  which  is  ;t  good  solvent 
of  the  unaltered  caoutchouc.  Washed  sulphuric  ethei 
bc,  and  it  is  also  Boluble  in  several  es- 
sential oils;  Inn  of  these  latter  solutions  the  greater  num- 
ber leave  it  in  a  sticky  state  on  evaporation. 

CAPA'CITV  FOR  HEAT.  Experiment  shows  that  dif- 
ferent quantities  of  heat  are  required  to  raise  different  bo- 
dies to  the  same  temperature,  and  those  substances  which 
require  the  largest  quantity  of  heat  to  be  raised  to  a  given 
temperature  are  said  to  have  the  greatest  capacity  fur  h-a:. 
See  Specific  Heat. 

CAPE.  (Lat.  caput,  a  head.)  In  Geography,  is  the  term 
used  to  indicate  the  extreme  point  of  a  promontory,  or  of 
that  portion  of  land  which  juts  out  into  the  sea  beyond  the 
general  line  of  the  coast ;  as  Cape  Taenams  or  Matapan, 
the  most  southern  part  of  Europe  :  the  Cape  ot  I 
Hope,  the  most  southern  part  of  Africa  ;  Cape  Horn,  the 
southern  extremity  of  America,  <fcc.  On  rocky  and  much 
indented  coasts  capes  generally  terminate  in  acute  angles, 
whence  they  are  sometimes  denominated  points  ;  and  if 
the  portion  of  the  land  which  projects  is  small  or  not 
high,  the  appellation  ness  in  England,  and  in  Scotland  that 
of  mull,  is  assigned  to  it,  as  Sheerness,  the  Mull  of  Gallo- 
way. 

CAPE'I.LA.  A  star  of  the  first  magnitude  in  the  left 
shoulder  of  Auriga. 

Ca'PERS.  The  buds  or  unexpanded  flowers  of  the 
Capparis  s])inosa,  in  common  use  as  a  pickle. 

CATIAS  AD  RESPONDENDUM.  In  Law,  a  writ  for 
the  commencement  of  personal  actions  to  arrest  a  party 
who  is  at  laree  or  alreadv  in  custody  of  a  sheriff. 

CA'PIAS  AD  SA'TISFA'CIE'NDIM.  (Shortly  called 
ca.  so.)  In  Law,  a  judicial  writ  of  execution  which  issues 
out  on  the  record  of  a  judgment,  where  there  is  a  recovery 
in  the  courts  of  Westminster,  of  debt,  damages,  &c.  By 
this  writ  the  sheriff  is  commanded  to  take  the  body  of  the 
defendant  in  execution.  This  is"  the  highest  execution  I 
which  can  be  had  against  a  defendant,  and  no  other  can  be 
afterwards  had  against  his  lands  or  goods,  unless  he  die  in 
custody. 

193 


CAPILLARY  ACTION. 

CAPI'P>ARA.  The  largest  known  Rodent  quadruped. 
It  is  of  aquatic  habits,  and  frequents  the  rivers  of  South 
America.  It  is  the  type  of  the  genus  Hydro*  ha  us,  signi- 
fying '•  water- bos,"  by  which  name  it  is  sometimes  known. 

CAI'ILLA'IRE.  Simple  syrup  flavoured  with  orange 
flowers,  or  orange  flower  water,  generally  goes  under  this 
name,  which  is  derived  from  the  mucilaginous  syrup  di- 
rected in  old  Pharmacopeias  to  be  made  of  the  Adiantum 
capiUus  ot 

CAPI'LLAMENTUM.  (Lat.  capillus,  a  hair.)  An  old 
name  of  the  filament  of  a  flower.     See  Filament. 

CAPI'LLARV.     Lonsr  and  slender,  like  a  hair. 

CAITI.I.AKV  A'CTION.  (Lat  capillus,  a  hair.)  When 
a  very  narrow  glass  tube,  open  at  both  ends,  is  inserted  in 
a  vessel  containing  water,  the  water  immediately  rises  in 
md  remains  suspended  at  some  height  above  its 
level  in  the  vessel.  If  the  same  tube  is  plunged  into  mer- 
cury, the  mercury  in  the  tube  stands  at  a  lower  level  than 
in  the  vessel.  These  effects  are  most  conspicuous  when 
the  width  of  the  bore  of  the  tube  is  so  small  as  to  resemble 
a  hair;  whence  the  cause  of  the  phenomena  has  been 
termed  capillary  action,  from  the  Latin  capillus,  which 
signifies  a  hair. 

The  operation  of  the  same  forces  which  cause  the  ele- 
vation of  water  and  depression  of  mercury  in  idass  tubes, 
gives  rise  to  a  multitude  of  other  phenomena  with  which 
everyone  is  familiar.  If  a  piece  of  sugar,  or  sponge,  or 
blotline  paper,  is  brought  into  contact  with  water  atone 
extremity,  the  fluid  immediately  passes  through  it  and 
moistens  its  whole  substance.  A  mass  of  wetted  thread 
or  cloth,  banging  over  the  edge  of  a  basin  from  the  water 
within  it,  will  empty  it  as  a  siphon  would.  The  rise  of  the 
oil  in  the,  wick  of  a  lamp,  of  the  sap  in  trees,  the  functions 
of  the  excretory  vascular  system  in  plants  and  animals, 
depend  on  the  same  causes.  Capillary  action  is,  in  short, 
only  an  instance  of  the  operation  of  that  species  of  attrac- 
tion which  is  exerted  among  the  elementary  particles  of 
matter  within  very  small  or  insensible  distances,  which  is 
called  molecular  attraction,  and  which  gives  rise  to 
of  the  most  important  phenomena  of  the  physical  w 
such  as  the  vibrations  of  solid  bodies,  the  refraction  of 
light,  and  chemical  actions  of  all  kinds- 
phenomenon  of  thi  i  1"  water  in  narrow 
tubes  began  t"  attract  the  attention  of  experimental  philo- 
sophers about  the  beginning  of  the  last  century :  hut  nei- 
ther the  method  id'  calculating  the  effects  of  the  forces  ex- 
erted amoiii!  the  elementary  molecules  of  matter,  nor 
their  mode  of  operation,  was  then  understood,  and  c 
quenlly  no  satisfactory  theory  was  proposed.  Two  facts, 
considerable  importance  were  established  by 
Hauksbee.  The  first  is,  that  the  ascent  of  the  liquid  is 
quite  independent  of  the  thickness  of  the  tube;  and  the 
I,  that  if  two  rectangular  plates  of  ".lass  having  their 
i  in  a  vertical  line,  and  forming  a  very  acute 

angle  with  each  other,  are  dipped  into  water,  the  fluid 
which  rises  between  them  takes  the  form  of  the  equilate- 
ral hyperbola.  On  considering  the  phenomenon  attentive* 
lively,  it  was  easy  to  see  that  as  the  height  of  the  fluid  be- 
tween the  plates  at  any  point  in  the  cone  was  inversely 
proportional  to  the  distance  of  the  plates  at  that  point,  it 
must  follow  that  in  capillary  tubes  the  ascent  would  be 
inversely  proportional  to  the  diameter  of  the  tube.  The 
theory  of  the  phenomenon,  however,  still  remained  unex- 
plained. 

Dr.  .Turin  ascribed  the  ascent  of  the  liquid  to  the  attrac- 
tion of  the  ring  of  the  tube  immediately  above  it.  But  this 
was  merely  a  vague  explanation,  and  is  now  known  to  be 
altogether  erroneous.  Clairaut,  in  his  celebrated  work  on 
the  Figure  of  the  Earth,  was  the  first  who  analyzed  exactly 
the  different  forces  which  concur  in  elevating  the  liquid  in 
a  capillary  tube,  and  reduced  fhe  phenomena  to  the  ordi- 
nary laws  of  tin-  equilibrium  of  fluids.  Some  of  his  sup- 
positions respecting  the  nature  of  the  forces  in  action  were 
erroneous  ;  for  example,  he  supposed  the  attraction  of  the 
internal  surface  of  the  tube  on  the  liquid  to  be  exerted  not 
only  at  a  sensible  distance,  but  to  extend  even  to  the  diam- 
eter. He  failed  to  prove  from  theory  that  the  ascent  must 
be  inversely  proportional  to  the  diameter  of  the  tube  ;  but 
he  showed  that  several  hypotheses  might  be  made  with 
respect  to  the  law  of  attraction  from  which  that  law  of  as- 
cent would  follow ;  and  he  demonstrated  a  very  remarka- 
ble result,  namely,  that  if  the  attraction  which  the  panicles 
of  the  tube  exercise  on  the  fluid  and  the  attraction  which 
the  particles  of  the  fluid  exercise  on  each  other  follow  the 
same  law,  and  differ  from  each  other  only  in  intensity, 
the  fluid  will  rise  in  the  tube  when  the  first  of  these  attrac- 
tions exceeds  half  the  second.  The  error  of  Dr.  Jurin's 
hypothesis  was  first  clearly  pointed  out  by  Professor  Les- 
lie, in  a  paper  inserted  in  the  Philosophical  Magazine,  in 
1802.  Mr.  Leslie's  argument  was  shortly  this  :  If  the  ring 
of  the  tube  immediately  above  the  liquid  in  a  capillary 
tube  attract  it  upwards,  how  does  it  happen  that  the  ring 
immediately  below  the  surface  does  not  attract  it  down- 
wards, in  which  case  the  forces  would  be  balanced,  and 
Bb 


CAPILLARY  ACTION. 

there  would  be  no  elevation  1  The  fact  is,  that  as  the  ac- 
tion of  the  molecules  of  the  tube  is  confined  within  very 
narrow  limits,  its  direction  must  be  at  right  angles  to  the 
sides  of  the  tube.  Nor  is  it  difficult  to  conceive  how  a  la- 
teral action  may  yet  cause  a  perpendicular  ascent.  It  is 
a  fundamental  property  of  fluids,  that  any  force  impressed 
in  one  direction  is  propagated  equally  in  every  direction ; 
the  tendency  of  the  fluid,  therefore,  to  approach  the  glass 
will  occasion  it  to  spread  over  the  internal  cavity  of  the 
tube,  and  consequently  to  mount  upwards.  Mr.  Leslie's 
explanation,  though  correct  in  principle,  served  in  no  way 
to  advance  the  theory  ;  indeed  little  notice  appears  to  have 
been  taken  of  it  till  its  importance  was  pointed  out  by  Mr. 
Ivory.  Another  important  fact  was  discovered  by  Dr. 
Young,  who  showed,  in  a  paper  on  the  Cohesion  of  Fluids, 
in  the  Phil.  Trans,  for  1805,  that  the  angle  made  by  the 
surface  of  the  fluid  with  the  sides  of  the  tube  is  invariable, 
the  fluid  and  the  materials  of  the  tube  remaining  the  same, 
and  being  supposed  homogeneous. 

But  a  complete  exposition  of  the  theory  of  capillary  phe- 
nomena was  reserved  for  Laplace.  In  two  Supplements 
to  the  Mecaniqup  Celeste,  published  in  1806  and  1807,  La- 
place, assuming  the  force  of  molecular  action  to  extend 
only  to  insensible  or  imperceptible  distances,  determin- 
ed the  separate  influences  of  the  cohesive  attraction  of  the 
molecules  of  the  fluid  to  each  other,  and  the  adhesive  force 
with  which  they  cling  to  the  tube.  This  analysis  of  the 
forces  by  which  the  capillary  phenomena  are  produced 
conducted  him  to  an  equation  in  which  the  whole  theory 
is  included.  It  consisted  of  two  parts :  the  first  belonging 
to  those  points  of  the  surface  of  the  fluid  whose  distance 
from  the  sides  of  the  tube  is  greater  than  the  radius  of  the 
sphere  of  molecular  action  ;  and  the  other  belonging  to 
those  points  of  the  surface  which  are  in  immediate  contact 
with  the  sides  of  the  tube,  or  at  least  within  the  sphere  of 
the  action  of  its  molecules.  The  first  term  is  general,  and 
the  same  for  all  surfaces ;  the  other  varies  with  the  curva- 
ture in  each  particular  case.  Mr.  Ivory  afterwards  showed 
that  of  the  two  quantities  which  enter  into  the  formula  of 
Laplace,  the  one  denotes  the  direct  pressure  caused  by  the 
attraction  of  a  fluid  mass  bounded  by  a  plane  ;  and  the 
other  the  derivative  force  acting  laterally,  which  is  a  neces- 
sary consequence  of  the  direct  pressure.  (Ency.  Brit.  art. 
"Capillary  Action.") 

The  latest  and  most  important  work  on  capillary  action 
is  by  Poisson.  NouveUe  Theorie  de  V Action  Capil/aire, 
1831.  Its  object  was  to  correct  the  theory  of  Laplace  by 
supplying  an  important  omission  in  the  physical  data, 
namely,  the  rapid  diminution  of  density  which  takes  place 
near  the  free  surface  of  the  fluid,  and  near  the  sides  of  the 
tube.  Now  this  circumstance,  though  it  had  been  entirely 
overlooked  by  all  former  inquirers,  is  not  only  essential  to 
the  right  investigation  of  the  effects  of  capillary  action,  but 
it  is  demonstrated  by  Poisson  that  if  there  was  no  diminu- 
tion of  density  near  the  superficial  parts  of  the  liquid,  the 
surface  would  remain  plane  and  horizontal,  and  there  would 
neither  be  elevation  nor  depression  in  the  capillary  tube. 
The  molecular  forces,  therefore,  which  produce  the  ca- 
pillary phenomena,  are  modified  not  only  by  the  curvature 
of  the  surface,  according  to  the  previous  theory,  but  also 
by  the  particular  state  of  liquids  at  their  surfaces. 

The  power  of  supporting  the  fluid  column  depends  en- 
tirely on  the  width  of  the  tube  at  its  upper  extremity.  If 
the  tube  bulge  out  below,  the  water  will  not  rise  in  it  spon- 
taneously ;  but  if  plunged  into  a  basin  till  the  water  reach- 
es the  capillary  part,  and  then  lifted  up,  the  water  will  re- 
main suspended  at  exactly  the  same  height  as  in  a  tube 
having  the  same  capillary  bore  throughout.  The  lower  and 
wide  part  of  the  vessel  may  consist  of  metal,  or  any  other 
substance,  different  from  glass.  It  is  sufficient  that  the 
cavity  terminate  above  in  a  capillary  glass  tube. 

The  phenomenon  of  the  depression  of  mercury  in  ca- 
pillary tubes  may  be  considered  as  the  inverse  of  that  of 
the  elevation  of  water.  The  molecules  of  water  have  a 
greater  attraction  for  glass  than  for  each  other ;  those  of 
mercury,  on  the  contrary,  attract  each  other  more  power- 
fully than  they  are  attracted  by  glass.  If  a  drop  of  mer- 
cury, adhering  to  the  edge  of  a  plate  of  glass,  is  presented 
to  a  mass  of  the  same  fluid,  it  immediately  leaves  the  glass 
and  unites  with  the  mass.  When  a  plate  of  glass  is  plung- 
ed into  mercury,  the  mercury  is  depressed^  and  forms  a 
convex  surface  on  both  sides  of  the  plate.  In  a  glass  tube 
the  surface  of  mercury  is  always  convex,  provided  the  in- 
side of  the  tube  be  perfectly  clean,  and  the  mercury  free 
from  impurities.  All  these  phenomena  clearly  indicate 
the  excess  of  the  mutual  attraction  of  the  particles  of  mer- 
cury above  their  adhesion  to  the  sides  of  the  glass. 

From  some  experiments  made  by  Casbois  at  Metz,  it 
appeared  to  result,  that  mercury  purified  with  great  care 
forms  a  concave  surface  in  the  interior  of  a  glass  tube,  and 
consequently  rises  above  the  level,  like  an  aqueous  fluid. 
It  is  now  generally  admitted,  however,  that  these  experi- 
ments were  fallacious,  in  consequence  of  the  inner  surface 
of  the  tube  having  been  lined  with  a  slight,  and  perhaps 
194 


CAPITULATION. 

imperceptible,  oxydation  produced  by  the  boiiing  of  the 
mercury.  In  preparing  barometers,  it  has  been  the  cus- 
tom to  boil  the  mercury  in  the  tube ;  when  this  operation 
is  performed,  great  caution  is  requisite  to  prevent  the  oxy- 
dation from  taking  place. 

The  form  of  the  surface  of  the  fluid  in  the  tube  indicates 
the  relation  of  the  cohesive  force  of  its  particles  to  their 
attraction  for  the  tube.  The  attraction  of  water  to  glass  is 
superior  to  half  the  cohesion  of  the  aqueous  particles  to 
one  another ;  consequently  water  within  a  capillary  tube 
assumes  a  concave  surface,  and  rises.  Mercury,  on  the 
other  hand,  assumes  a  convex  surface,  and  is  depressed  : 
because  its  molecules  attract  one  another  with  a  force 
more  than  double  that  with  which  they  adhere  to  glass. 
The  radius  of  curvature  of  the  bounding  surface  at  the 
middle  point  is  proportional  to  the  width  of  the  tube.  It 
is  stated  by  Professor  Leslie  as  the  result  of  his  experi- 
ments, that  the  depression  of  mercury  in  capillary  tubes 
may  be  estimated  at  unity  divided  by  68  times  the  diame- 
ter expressed  in  inches.  Hence  if  the  width  of  the  bore 
is  one  fourth  of  an  inch,  the  depression  of  the  mercury  is 
one  seventeenth  of  an  inch.  On  this  account  it  is  necessary, 
in  accurate  barometric  observations,  to  apply  a  correction 
for  capillary  action,  which  is  less  in  proportion  as  the  di- 
ameter of  the  tube  is  greater.  The  best  treatises  on  this 
subject  have  already  been  referred  to  ;  viz.  that  of  Laplace, 
in  the  Mecanique  Celeste,  tome  iv.  ;  of  Mr.  Ivory,  in  the 
Encyclopedia  Briiannica  ;  and  of  Poisson,  NouveUe  Theorie 
de  V  Action  Capillaire. 

CAPI'LLARY  VESSELS.  (Lat.  capillus,  a  hair.}  A- 
natomists  give  this  term  to  the  minutest  ramifications  of 
the  arteries  and  other  vessels. 

CAPILLI'TUM.  (Lat.  capillus,  a  hair.)  A  kind  of 
purse  or  net  in  which  the  spores  of  Trichia  and  similar 
fungi  are  retained. 

CA'PITAL.  (Lat.  caput,  a  head.)  In  Architecture,  the 
head  or  uppermost  member  of  any  part  of  a  building ;  but 
it  is  generally  applied  in  a  restricted  sense  to  that  of  a 
column  or  pilaster  of  the  several  orders,  as  in  the  figures 
here  given,  in  which  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Tuscan  capi- 
tal (No.  1.)  consists  of  an  abacus  or  square  shelf  at  the  top, 
and  thereunder  an  ovolo  or  quarter  round,  and  under  that 
a  neck  terminated  by  an  astragal  or  fillet,  which  latter  is 


always  considered  as  part  of  the  column  itself.  The  Ro- 
man Doric  capital  (No.  2.)  here  given  has  an  abacus,  ovolo, 
and  neck  like  the  last ;  and  also  in  addition  three  annulets 
under  the  ovolo,  and  a  cyma  or  ogee  with  its  fillet  over  the 
abacus.  The  Grecian  Doric,  however,  has  only  a  square 
abacus,  ovolo,  and  small  fillets.  The  Ionic  (No.  3.)  capital 
consists  of  three  leading  parts  :  an  abacus,  composed  of  an 
ogee  and  fillet;  a  rind,  which  forms  the  scrolls;  and  an 
ovolo  and  astragal  at  the  lower  part.  The  Corinthian  and 
Composite  capitals  (Nos.  4.  and  5.)  consist  of  an  abacus 
(see  Abacus)  of  peculiar  form,  and  are  decorated  with 
leaves. 

Capital.  In  Political  Economy,  that  portion  of  the 
produce  of  labour  saved  from  immediate  consumption 
which  is  employed  to  maintain  productive  labourers,  or  to 
facilitate  production.  (See  Political  Economy.)  In  Com- 
merce, and  as  applied  to  individuals,  capital  is  understood 
to  mean  the  sum  of  money  which  a  merchant  embarks 
in  any  undertading,  or  which  he  contributes  to  the  com- 
mon stock  of  a  partnership. 

CAPITA'TION.  (Lat.  caput,  head.)  A  tax  imposed  on 
the  population  by  the  head ;  e.  g.  on  every  one,  or  every 
male,  every  one  above  a  certain  age,  &c.  (See  Poll- 
Tax.)  In  France,  the  ancient  capitation  is  now  replaced 
by  personal  and  other  direct  contributions. 

CA'PITE.  In  Law,  tenure  in  eapile  (Ang.  in  chief)  sig- 
nifies in  the  language  of  feudal  law  a  direct  holding  of  the 
king,  the  ultimate  sovereign,  without  the  intervention  of 
any  mesne  lord.  In  England,  tenants  in  capite  were  either 
by  knight-service  or  socage  ;  which  were  converted  into 
socage  bv  the  act  12  Ch.  II.  c.  24.,  abolishing  feudal  tenures. 

CA'PITE  CENSI.  In  Roman  Antiquity,  the  lowest 
rank  of  Roman  citizens ;  so  called  because  they  were 
rather  counted  by  their  heads  than  by  their  estates.  (Aul. 
Gcll.  lib.  vii.  cap.  13.) 

CAPI'TULATION.  In  its  original  sense,  a  writing  drawn 
up  in  several  capitula  or  heads.  In  the  language  of  Mili- 
tary Law,  the  articles  of  surrender,  when  a  garrison  or 
other  force  surrenders  to  an  enemy  on  terms,  and  not  at 
discretion.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  articles  sworn  by 
bishops  and  other  prelates  on  admission  to  their  dignities 
were  styled  capitulations.  So  also  was  the  oath  tendered 
first  to  Charles  V.,  and  then  to  the  emperors  of  Germany 


CAPNOMANCY. 

who  succeeded  him.  by  the  electors,  termed  the  election 
capitulation  (wahl  capitulation). 

CA'PNOMA'NCY.  (Gr.  Ka-xvos,  smoke ;  jiavrcta,  pro- 
pftecy.)  Divination  by  smoke  was  practised  among  the 
ancients,  both  by  throwing  on  the  fire  seed  of  poppy  and 
other  herbs,  and  observing  the  figures  which  might  be 
fancied  in  the  smoke ;  and  by  observing  the  smoke  of 
sacrifices. 

CA'PN'OMOR.  (Gr.  xairvos,  smoke,  and  noipa.part.)  An 
oily  substance  of  a  pungent  and  rather  agreeable  odour  ob- 
tained from  the  tar  of  wood. 

«  IPONNIE'RE.  In  Fortification,  a  passage  leading 
from  one  work  to  another,  protected  on  each  side  by  a 
wall  or  parapet,  generally  of  earth,  sloping  to  the  bottom 
of  the  ditch.  When  a  passage  is  thus  protected  on  one 
side  only,  it  is  called  a  demi-caponniere. 

CAPPA'RIDA'CE/E.  (Capparis,  one  of  the  genera.) 
A  natural  order  of  Exogenous  plants,  consisting  of  annuals, 
perennials,  bushes,  and  trees,  inhabiting  the  warmer  parts 
of  the  new  world.  They  have  .ill  a  powerful  pungent  or  even 
acrid  taste,  and  have  been  in  some  cases  used  as  substi- 
tutes for  the  common  mustard ;  in  others  they  have  proved 
severe  poison?.  In  general  their  flowers  are  very  beauti- 
ful, on  account  not  only  of  their  size,  but  of  their  long  silk- 
en stamens,  which  are  often  gaily  coloured.  The  common 
caper-bush,  a  native  of  rocky  places  in  the  North  of  Eu- 
rope, is  a  species  of  th(  genua  Capparis,  and  yields  the 
flower-buds  which, pickled  in  vinegar,  arc  sold  in  the  shops 
as  an  agreeable  sauce  for  various  dishes. 

i  Vl'lf  E'LLA.  A  genus  of  Crustaceous  animals  belong- 
ing to  the  order  Lctmodipoda,  found  commonly  on  sea- 
weed. Montague,  who  describes  a  species  of  this  genus 
in  the  seventh  volume  of  the  Linn/nut  Transactuma.,Ba.ya 
the  female  differs  in  possessing  several  plates  or  valves 
beneath  the  body,  situated  between  the  two  pairs  of  fins, 
the  use  of  which  is  to  carry  and  protect  its  eggs  or  young ; 
at  which  lino-  they  extend  'very  considerably,  and  form  a 
kind  of  pouch  distended  with  ova,  fifteen  or  twenty  of 
which  are  easily  distinguished  between  the  transparent 
plates.    In  this  put  a  very  Strong  pulsation  is  visible.   While 

examining  a  female  under  a  water  microscope,  the  author 
was  surprised  to  observe  nol  less  than  ten  young  ones 
crawl  from  the  abdominal  pouch  of  the  parent,  all  perfectly 
formed,  and  moving  with  considerable  agility  01  er  the  body 
of  the  mother,  holding  fast  by  their  hind  claws  and  erecting 
their  heads  and  arm-.     Tl  tracti  rs  of  the  genus.  ,,r 

rather  family  (  OaprelUdor)taxe,  body  of  narrow  linear  form : 
eyes  composite,  and  placed  behind  ;  legs  long  and  slender, 
and  variable  in  number,  the  last  joint  of  the  second  pair 
being  often  toothed  on  the  under  side. 

CAPRE'OLUS.  (The  tendril  of  a  vine.)  The  old  bo- 
tinic.il  name  ol  the  tendril  of  a  plant ;  the  term  cirrltua  is 
now  preferred. 

CAPRTCCIO.  (ltal.  tchim,  fancy.)  In  Music,  a  term 
applied  to  certain  pieces,  wherein  the  composer  gives  way 
to  his  fancy,  without  confining  himself  to  particular  mea- 
sures or  kevs  :  called  also  Fantasia. 

CA'PRICO'RNS.  (Lat.  capricornus.)  The  name  of 
the  three  divisions  of  Tetramerous  beetles;  including 
those  which  have  the  antennas  filiform  or  setaceous,  and 
generally  exceeding  the  length  of  the  body  :  eyes  lunate, 
and  enclosing  the  base  of  the  antennae  ;  jaws  very  robust, 
with  short  palpi;  thorax  often  spined  at  the  sides;  the 
three  basal  joints  of  the  tarsi  dilated,  and  cushioned  on 
the  under  surface  ;  the  third  deeply  cleft  at  the  extremity, 
and  receiving  the  minute  ball  at  the  base  of  the  slender 
and  long  terminal  joint.  This  division  comprehends  four 
great  families, — Prionid/B,i  it  rambyeida,  Lamiida .  and  Lep- 
turitjrr  ;  ami  corresponds  very  nearly  with  the  Linnrean 
geneva  Ceramhyx,  Necydalis,  and  Leptura.  The  offices  of 
the  Capricorn  beetles  in  the  economy  of  nature  is  to  re- 
strain the  excessive  multiplication  of  vegetable  species  in 
the  warmer  climates  of  the  globe.  The  larva;  reside  with- 
in the  wood  or  beneath  the  bark  of  trees. 

CA'PRICO'RNUS.  (Lat.)  The  Wild  Goat.  The  tenth 
sign  of  the  Zodiac,  which  the  sun  enters  about  the  21st  of 
December,  at  the  winter  solstice.  The  parallel  circle  pass- 
ing through  the  first  point  of  this  sign  is  called  the  Tropic 
of  Capricorn. 

Ca'PRIFO'LIA'CE.E.  (Caprifolium,  one  of  the  nenera.) 
A  rather  large  natural  order  of  plants,  consisting  of  twining 
and  erect  shrubs,  and  herbaceous  or  woody  plants,  and 
even  of  trees,  with  simple  or  pinnated  leaves,  and  flowers 
of  most  dissimilarfonns,  but  all  monopetalous.  Themost 
common  plants  belonging  to  this  order  are  the  woodbine, 
the  St.  Peter's  wort,  the  Tartarian  and  fly  honeysuckle, 
the  numerons  species  of  viburnum,  and  the  elder-tree. 
These  all  agree  with  the  natural  order  Cinchonacem  in 
most  respects,  except  the  absence  of  stipules  at  the  base 
of  the  leaves. 

CAPRIFO'LIUM.  (Lat.  capra,  agoat,  and  folium,  a  leaf.) 
Is  the  genus  to  which  the  wild  honeysuckle  (C.  pericly- 
fnenum)  belongs.  It  consists  of  twining  shrubs  inhabiting 
195 


CAPTAIN. 

the  northern  hemisphere  exclusively,  and  in  most  cases 
having  long  tubular  flowers  of  singular  sweetness.  Many 
species  are  known  to  botanists,  the  most  interesting  of 
which  are  those  from  the  north  of  India,  China,  and  Ja- 
pan, the  fragrance  of  which  ig  superior  to  that  of  all  others  ; 
of  these  C.  Jlexuosum,  now  common  in  gardens,  is  the 
best. 

CA'PROIC  ACID.  (Lat.  capra,  a  goat.)  One  of  the  acids 
formed  during  the  saponification  of  butter ;  it  has  a  rank 
goat  like  odour. 

CA'PROMYS.  (Gr.  tcairoos,  a  boar,  and  fivs,  a  mouse.) 
The  name  of  a  genus  of  Rodent  Mammalia,  exclusively 
confined  to  the  island  of  Cuba,  where  they  go  by  the  name 
of  Houtias. 

They  have  four  molars  on  each  side  of  each  jaw,  in 
which  the  enamel  is  so  folded  as  to  form  three  angles  on 
the  outer  margin  and  one  on  the  inner,  in  the  upper  teeth  ; 
the  reverse  in  the  lower  teeth.  The  liver  is  remarkably 
subdivided  in  the  rodents  of  this  genus. 

CA'PROS.  (Gr.  xaTrfjos,  a  boar.)  A  name  applied  by 
Lacipede  to  a  subgenus  of  Acanthopterygious  fishes, 
which  he  separated  from  the  dories  (Zeus),  and  of  which 
the  boar  fish  (.Zeus  aper,  Linn.)  may  be  regarded  as  the 
type.  A  specimen  of  this  fish  has  been  taken  at  Mount's 
Hay,  and  another  near  Bridgewater,  but  is  rare  as  a  British 
species. 

CA'PSICIjM.  (Gr.  KawTbi,  I  bile  ;  from  its  pungency.) 
The  berry  or  seed-vessel  of  different  species  of  capsicum. 
The  larger  pods  of  the  '  'apsicum  annuvm,  and  the  smaller 
ones  of  the  ( '  baccatum  or  bird  pepper,  when  powdered, 
form  the  Syanpepper  of  commerce,  so  well  known  as  a 
powerful  condiment,  and  often  useful  as  a  stimulating  me- 
dicine. Kvan  pepper  is  often  grossly  adulterated  with 
common  salt,  and  occasionally  red  lead  and  earthy  pow- 
ders are  said  to  be  added  to  it  :  it  often  has  a  disagreeable 
rancid  odour,  owing  to  its  being  sprinkle. I  with  oil  to  pre- 
vent its  ibis-  affecting  those  who  powder  and  sift  It. 

CA'PSTAN,  sometimes  called  CAPSTERN.  (Fr.  ca- 
bestan.)  A  strong  massive  piece  of  limber,  in  the  form  of 
a  cylinder  or  truncaled  cone,  round 
-^  which  a  rope  is  coiled  ;  and  being  turn- 
=*  ed  by  means  of  bars  or  levers,  it  affords 
an  advantageous  mode  of  applying  pow- 
er to  overcome  an  obstacle.  The  cap- 
stan is  chiefly  employed  in  ships,  where 
I  for  weighing  anchors,  hoisting 
sails,  <fcc.  It  is  generally  place. I  verti- 
cally, the  lower  end  being  let  down  through  the  deck  of 
nip,  and  the  levers  inserted  in  holes  in  the  head  or 
top;  so  that  the  force  of  the  men  can  be  exerted  continu- 
ously, and  that  there  may  be  no  necessity  for  removing  the 
levers  from  one  hole  to  another,  as  is  the  case  when  it  is 
placed  horizontally.  The  power  of  the  capstan  may  be 
greatly  increased  by  adapting  an  arrangement  of  wheel 
work  to  it — an  improvement  which  has  been  adopted  for 
several  years  past  in  the  English  navy. 

CA'PSFLA.  (Dim.  of  capsa,  a  box.)  This  word  is  ge- 
nerally applied  by  botanists  to  all  dry  fruits  which  are  de- 
hiscent, whether  they  are  many-seeded  or  few-seeded, 
simple  or  compound  ;  and  in  such  cases  some  expletive  it 
is  added  to  indicate  the  particular  nature  of  the  fruit.  Thus 
Capsxla  circumscissa  is  cut  round  by  a  circular  line  divid- 
ing it  into  two  parts  :  C.  siliauiformis  is  lung  and  taper,  like 
the  pod  of  a  mustard  plant ;  C.  baccata  is  when  the  peri- 
carp is  succulent ;  C.  Iricoccea,  when  a  dry  capsule  bursts 
into  three  separate  closed  pieces.  Sometimes,  for  special 
carpological  purposes,  the  word  capsula  is  limited  in  its  ap- 
plication to  such  dry  compound  fruits  as  open  by  valves, 
and  have  an  indefinite  number  of  seeds  ;  as  in  Digitalis, 
Scrophularia,  the  common  lilac,  &c. 

CA'PSULE.  In  Chemistry,  a  small  shallow  evaporating 
vessel  or  dish. 

CA'PTAIN.  In  the  Army,  the  commander  of  a  troop 
of  cavalry  or  of  a  company  of  infantry.  The  price  of  a 
captain's  commission  is  different  in  different  branches  of 
the  British  service:  in  the  life  guards,  for  instance,  it  is 
£3,500;  in  the  dragoons  j£3.'225;  in  the  foot  guard?  with 
the  rank  of  lieut.-colonel,  £4,800;  in  the  infantry  j61,800. 
The  full  pay  of  a  captain  in  the  life  and  foot  guards  is  15s. 
a  dav.  in  horse  regiments  14s.  Id.,  and  in  the  infantry 
lis.  Id. 

Captain.  In  the  Navy,  is  the  title  of  the  officer  com 
manding  a  ship  of  a  certain  size.  The  title  of  post  captain, 
which  was  the  proper  rank  of  caplain,  and  answered  to 
colonel  in  the  army,  has  been  for  some  time  in  disuse. 
The  captain  is  next 'in  rank  above  the  commander :  he  rises 
by  regular  succession  to  the  rank  of  admiral ;  under  the 
condition,  however,  that  he  must  at  some  time  have  com- 
manded a  ship  of  the  line. 

The  heads  of  small  parties  or  gangs  of  men  in  certain 
stations  of  the  ship  are  also  called  captains ;  as  of  the  fore- 
castle, the  tops.  &c.  The  pay  of  a  captain  in  the  navy  va- 
ries with  the  rate  of  the  ship,  from  £61  7s.  per  month  for  a 
first-rate,  to  £26  17s.  for  a  sixth-rate. 


CAPTION. 

CA'PTION.  (Lat.  capio,  I  take.)  In  Law,  a  certificate 
signed  by  commissioners,  to  testify  their  execution  of  any 
commission  in  law  or  equity.  Also,  the  act  of  taking  a 
man  into  arrest.  The  caption  of  an  indictment  is  the  de- 
signation of  the  style  of  the  court  before  winch  the  jurors 
make  their  presentment. 

CAPTI'VITY.  Li  Sacred  History,  a  punishment  which 
God  inflicted  upon  the  Jews  for  their  vices  and  infidelity. 
The  first  captivity  was  that  of  Egypt,  from  which  the 
Israelites  were  delivered  by  Moses ;  then  followed  six 
captivities  during  the  government  of  the  judges ;  but  the 
greatest  and  most  remarkable  were  those  of  Judah  and 
Israel,  which  happened  under  the  kings  of  those  different 
kingdoms. 

CA'PUCHINS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History.  See  Fran- 
ciscans. 

CA'PUT  MO'RTUUM.  The  inert  residue  of  the  distilla- 
tion and  sublimation  of  different  substances.  When  sul- 
phate of  iron,  for  instance,  or  green  vitriol,  is  distilled  at  a 
red  heat  it  leaves  a  residue  of  red  oxide  of  iron,  which  the 
old  chemists  called  caput  mortuum  vitrioli.  These  resi- 
duary products  were  represented  in  alchemical  writings 
by  the  symbol  ofa  death's  head  and  cross  bones. 

CAR.  (Lat.  caiTus,  a  cart.)  Any  rude  cart.  The  Irish 
car  is  a  one-horse  bait,  with  very  low  broad  wheels,  used 
for  carting  out  manure  and  carting  home  grain  in  the 
case  of  soft  peaty  soils.  The  Irish  jaunting  car  is  a  kind 
of  one-horse  chaise,  commonly  without  springs,  in  which 
the  people  sit  back  to  back,  and  with  their  faces  looking 
sideways. 

CARABI'D^.  (LaL  carabus.)  A  family  of  Pentame- 
rous  beetles,  characterized  by  having  a  bilobed  upper  lip, 
smooth  jaws  (masilla),  an  entire  tooth  in  the  centre  of  the 
notch  of  the  mentum  or  chin  process,  and  dilated  tarsi  in 
the  males.  The  majority  of  the  British  species  have  the 
elytra  soldered  together.  The  Carabida  generally  defend 
themselves  by  discharging  from  the  extremity  of  the  body 
an  acrid  fluid,  and  emit  a  fetid  odour.  They  are  amongst 
the  most  ravenous  of  beetles,  and  prey  on  other  insects,  for 
which  thev  lurk  beneath  stones,  the  bark  of  trees,  &c. 

CA'RABINE.  (It.  carabine)  Called  also  Petronel.  A 
fire-arm  used  by  cavalry,  smaller  in  the  bore  and  shorter 
in  the  barrel  than  a  musket.  The  soldiers  who  use  this 
species  of  arms  are  called  Carabineers. 

CARAGA'NA.  (Carachana,  the  Mogul  name.)  A  genus 
of  pretty  hardy  shrubs,  inhabiting  the^Russian  dominions 
in  Asia.  C.  sibirica,  attagana,  and  chamlagu  are  common 
in  the  shrubberies  of  this  country,  where  they  flower  in 
the  months  of  June  and  July.  C.  jubata  is  a  singular 
scrubby  plant,  with  the  branches  closely  covered  by  the 
leafy,  spiny,  ragged  petioles. 

CARA'NXA.  A  resin  brought  from  South  America,  of 
an  aromatic  odour ;  formerly  used  in  plasters. 

CA'RANX.  (Derivation  unknown.)  A  genus  of  spiny- 
finned  fishes,  belonging  to  the  Scomberidce  or  mackerel 
family  ;  but  differing  from  the  true  mackerel  in  having  a 
series  of  scales,  with  ridges  or  keels  in  the  middle,  ranged 
along  the  lateral  line.  From  this  resemblance  they  are 
commouly  termed  "  bastard  mackerel." 

CARA'SSJE.  The  bony  vault  which  protects  the  upper 
part  of  the  body  of  the  Chelonians,  or  tortoises  and  turtles, 
and  which  results  from  the  union  by  suture  of  the  dilated 
and  flattened  parts  of  the  vertebrae  and  ribs.  The  analo- 
gous part  of  the  body  of  the  crab  is  also  called  carassae ; 
but  this  is  not  composed  of  corresponding  parts  to  those  of 
the  tortoise,  but  ofa  calcified  integument. 

CA'RAT.  "  The  fruit  of  the  tree  called  Kuara  is  a  red 
bean,  which  seems  in  the  earliest  times  to  have  been  used 
for  a  weight  of  gold.  This  bean  is  called  carat  (Bruct's 
Travels.)  Morin  derives  the  word  from  the  Arab  kyrat, 
a  weight ;  which  he  thinks  is  from  the  Greek  Kcpariov,  a 
small  weight."  (Todd's  Johnson.)  A  carat  is  a  weight  of  4 
grains,  used  in  weighing  diamonds.  The  term  carat  is 
also  used  in  reference  to  the  fineness  of  gold  ;  in  express- 
ing which  the  mass  spoken  of  is  supposed  to  weigh  24 
carats,  of  12  grains  each  ;  and  the  pure  cold  is  called  fine. 
Thus,  if  gold  be  said  to  be  22  carats  fine  (or  standard), 
it  is  implied  that  22-24ths  are  pure  gold,  and  2-24ths 
alloy.  In  the  process  of  assaying  gold,  the  real  quantity 
taken  is  very  small,  generally  from  6  to  12  grains  ;  and 
this  is  termed  the  assay  pound.  It  is  subdivided  into  24 
carats,  and  each  carat  into  4  assay  grains,  and  each  grain 
into  quarters  ;  so  that  there  are  3S4  separate  reports  for 
gold.  When  the  gold  assay  pound  is  only  6  grains,  the 
quarter  assay  grain  only  weighs  l-64th  of  a  grain.  This 
will  give  an  idea  of  the  accuracy  required  in  the  weights 
and  scales  used  for  such  delicate  operations.  See  Alloy 
and  Assay. 

CA'RAYAN.  (Pers.  carvan.  a  trader.)  A  company  of 
merchants,  travellers,  or  pilgrims,  who  associate  together 
in  many  parts  of  Asia  and  Africa,  that  they  may  travel 
with  greater  security  through  deserts  and  other  places  in- 
fested with  robbers  or  exposed  to  other  dangers.  The 
commercial  intercourse  of  Eastern  and  African  nations 
196 


CARBONIC  ACID. 

has  from  the  remotest  ages  been  chiefly  carried  on  by 
means  of  caravans,  as  the  governments  that  have  sprung 
up  in  those  continents  have  seldom  been  able,  even  if  they 
had  had  the  will,  to  render  travelling  safe  or  practicable  for 
individuals.  Since  the  establishment  of  the  Mohammedan 
faith,  religious  motives,  conspiring  with  those  ofa  less  ex- 
alted character,  have  tended  to  augment  the  intercourse 
between  different  parts  of  the  Eastern  world,  and  to  in- 
crease the  number  and  magnitude  of  the  caravans.  Mo- 
hammed, as  is  well  known,  enjoined  all  his  followers  to 
visit  Mecca  once  in  their  lifetime  ;  and  in  obedience  to  a 
command  so  solemnly  enjoined  and  sedulously  inculcated, 
large  caravans  assemble  for  this  purpose  in  every  country 
where  the  Mohammedan  faith  is  established.  There  are 
four  regular  caravans  which  proceed  annually  to  Mecca; 
the  first  from  Damascus,  composed  of  pilgrims,  travellers, 
and  merchants,  from  Europe  and  Asia  ;  the  second  from 
Cairo,  for  the  Mohammedans  of  Barbary  ;  the  third  from 
Zibith,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Red  Sea,  where  those  of 
Arabia  and  India  meet ;  the  fourth  from  Babylon,  where 
the  Persians  assemble.  Every  caravan  is  under  the  com- 
mand of  a  chief  or  aga  (caravanbachi),  who  has  frequently 
under  him  such  a  number  of  troops  or  forces  as  is  deemed 
sufficient  for  its  defence.  When  it  is  practicable  they  en- 
camp near  wells  or  rivulets,  and  observe  a  regular  disci- 
pline. Camels  are  almost  uniformly  used  as  a  means  of 
conveyance,  in  preference  to  the  horse  or  any  other  ani- 
mal, on  account  of  their  wonderful  patience  of  fatigue,  and 
their  peculiarity  of  structure,  which  so  admirably  fits  them 
fur  travelling  through  desert  wastes.  (See  Camel.)  For 
further  details  on  the  subject  of  caravans  the  reader  may 
consult  M'Oulloch's  Commercial  Dictionary,  and  the  au- 
thorities there  referred  to. 

CARAYA'XSERA.  A  large  public  building,  or  inn,  ap- 
propriated for  the  reception  and  lodgment  of  caravans  in 
the  desert.  Though  serving  in  lieu  of  inns,  there  is  this 
essential  difference  between  them,  that  the  traveller  finds 
nothing  in  the  caravansera  for  the  use  either  of  himself  or 
his  cattle,  but  must  carry  all  his  provisions  and  necessaries 
with  him.  Caravanseras  are  also  numerous  in  cities, 
where  they  serve  not  only  as  inns,  but  as  shops,  ware- 
houses, and  even  exchanges. 

CA'RAWAYS.  The  fruit  or  seed  of  the  Cunnn  carui, 
an  indigenous  umbelliferous  plant.  English  caraways  are 
more  plump  and  aromatic  than  the  Dutch  or  foreign, 
which  are  apt  to  be  mouldy  and  of  little  flavour.  They 
yield  about  3  per  cent,  of  essential  oil  when  carefully  dis- 
tilled with  water.  They  are  a  good  addition  to  purgative 
and  other  remedies  to  prevent  griping  and  flatulency":  but 
their  chief  consumption  is  among  gingerbread  bakers,  con- 
fectioners and  pastrycooks. 

CARBAZO'TIC  ACID.  A  crystallizable  acid  and  bitter 
substance,  composed  of  carbon,  azote,  and  oxygen ;  ob- 
tained by  the  action  of  nitric  acid  on  indigo  and  some  other 
vegetable  and  animal  substances.  It  is  the  bitter  principle 
of  Welter. 

CA'RBON.  (Lat.  carbo.)  This  term  is  used  in  chem- 
istry to  signify  the  pure  combustible  base  of  the  varieties 
of  charcoal  and  other  carbonaceous  matters  ;  the  diamond 
is  pure  carbon  in  a  crystalline  form.  Carbon  is  an  ele- 
mentary substance,  which  combines  with  oxygen  in  two 
proportions,  forming  carbonic  acid  andcarbonic  oxide. 

CA'KBOXATES.  Salts  containing  carbonic  acid.  They 
are  recognised  by  the  effervescence  which  is  excited  when 
they  are  put  into  dilute  muriatic  acid.  Carbonate  of  lime 
is  one  of  the  most  important  of  these  compounds,  forming 
the  varieties  of  marble,  limestone,  calcareous  spar,  chalk, 
&c.     Carbonate  of  lime  consists  of 

Lime  -       -    1  atom  =  28       -       -    56 

Carbonic  acid     -     1      -      =  22        -        .44 

1  50  100 

Carbonate  of  potash  and  carbonate  of  soda  are  also  impor- 
tant salts.  (See  Potash,  Soda.)  Carbonate  of  ammonia 
is  used  in  medicine  ;  it  is  a  white  pungent  salt,  commonly 
known  under  the  name  of  smelling  salt.  Spirit  of  harts- 
horn is  a  solution  of  impure  carbonate  of  ammonia,  ob- 
tained by  distilling  bone  or  horn. 

CARBO'NIC  ACID.  This  important  compound  is  ob- 
tained when  any  form  of  carbon,  such  as  the  diamond  or 
pure  charcoal,  is  burned  in  oxygen  gas.  It  consists  of  6 
carbon+16  oxygen:=22  carbonic  acid  ;  or  of 

Carbon    1  atom       -    -      6        -        -        2727 
Oxygen    2 16        -        .        7273 

1  22  100  00 

100  cubical  inches  of  carbonic  acid  gas  weigh  47  3  grains. 
Under  a  pressure  of  36  atmospheres,  at  the  temperature 
of  32°,  it  becomes  liquid;  and  when  the  pressure  which 
retains  it  in  the  liquid  state  is  removed,  the  rapidity  of  the 
evaporation,  and  the  sudden  and  enormous  expansion  of 
the  vapour,  are  such  as  to  produce  a  degree  of  cold  under 
which  the  acid  solidifies,  forming  a  white  concrete  sub- 
stance possessed  of  very  extraordinary  properties.    Mr. 


CARBONIC  OXIDE. 

Faraday  was  the  first  who  liquefied  carbonic  acid,  but  it 
was  first  described  as  a  solid  by  M.  Thilourier. 

At  common  temperatures  and  pressures  water  absorbs 
its  own  volume  of  carbonic  acid  ;  under  a  pressure  of  2  at- 
mospheres it  dissolves  twice  its  volume,  and  so  on.  Car- 
bonic acid  imparls  briskness  and  a  slightly  pungent  and 
sour  taste  to  water  thus  impregnated  with  it :  it  also  con- 
fers the  effervescent  quality  upon  many  mineral  springs. 
Carbonic  acid  is  recognized  by  its  rendering  lime-water 
turbid.  It  extinguishes  flame  and  suffocates  animals  ; 
hence  the  miners  call  it  choke  damp.  Carbonic  acid  is 
contained  in  marble,  chalk,  and  all  the  varieties  of  lime- 
stone, from  which  it  is  extracted  by  strong  heat,  as  in  the 
process  of  burning  lime ;  or  by  the  action  of  stronger 
acids,  in  which  case  the  carbonic  acid  escapes  with  effer- 
vescence. Mountains  of  limestone,  therefore,  are  great  na- 
tural repositories  of  carbonic  acid.  This  gas  is  also  pro- 
duced during  the  respiration  of  animals,  and  is  evolved  in 
the  process  of  fermentation. 

CARBO'NIC  OXIDE.     A  gas  composed  of 

Carbon  1  atom    ...    6 428 

Oxygen  1 8 57  2 

4  14  1000 

100  cubical  inches  weigh  302  grains.  It  is  fatal  to  animals, 
and  extinguishes  flame  ;  but  it  burns  in  contact  with  air, 
and  forms  carbonic  acid.  It  is  obtained  by  passing  carbo- 
nic acid  over  red-hot  charcoal,  or  by  beating  a  mixture  of 
chalk  or  pounded  marble  and  iron  or  zinc  filings  to  red- 
ness.   It  is  not  absorbed  by  water. 

CA'RBONI'FEROUS.  (Lat.  carbo,  coal,  and  fero,  / 
bear.)  A  geological  term,  generally  applied  to  beds  or 
strata  containing  coal. 

CA'RBOV.  A  large  globular  bottle  of  green  glass  pro- 
tected by  basket-work.  Carboys  are  seldom  used,  except 
for  containing  certain  acids  and  other  highly  corrosive  li- 
quids likely  to  act  upon  stone-ware.  A  carboy  of  oil  of 
vitriol  usually  contains  about  160  lbs.  of  that  acid,  or  12 
gallons  hi  w  iter. 

CARBU'NCLE.  The  ancient  name  of  a  gem,  probably 
corresponding  with  our  precious  garnet. 

Carbuncle.  V  hard  circumscribed  inflammatory  tu- 
mour, which  generally  arises  on  the  neck  or  back,  and 
soon  forms  a  fetid  discbarge,  and  acquires  a  tendency  to 
gangrene.  It  is  a  kind  of  malignant  boil,  spreading  under 
the  skin,  and  producing  a  morbid  inflammatory  action  of 
the  surrounding  parts  Poultices  and  free  incisions  to  lei 
out  the  matter,  and  afterwards  emollient  fomentations,  are 
the  must  effective  remedies,  Tins  disease  is  called  an- 
thrax,  from  the  Greek,  signifying  a  burning  coal;  of  which 
cat  bunculus,  from  carbo,  is  the  Latin  diminutive 

CA'KHliKKTS.  In  Chemistry,  the  generic  term  for 
compounds  of  carbon  with  tin-  simpli'  emnlmstililes. 

Carburet  op  Sulphur.  A  liquid  compound  of  carbon 
and  sulphur,  obtained  by  passing  the  vapour  of  sulphur 
over  red-hot  charcoal.  It  was  formerly  termed  alcohol  of 
sulphur.  It  forms  compounds,  which  have  been  termed 
carbo-sulphurets. 

CA'RBURETTED  HT'DROGEN.  Under  this  term 
chemists  describe  two  gaseous  compounds  of  carbon  and 
hydrogen  ;  the  one  they  call  light  hydrocarbonate,  the 
other  olefiant  gas. 

Light  carburetted  hydrogen  is  evolved  abundantly  in 
some  coal  mines,  where  it  is  known  under  the  name  of 
fire  damp,  and  is  the  cause  of  those  tremendous  explo- 
sions winch  wore  so  frequent  before  the  invention  of  the 
safely  lamp  by  Sir  H.  Davy  :  il  is  also  evolved  by  the  mud 
at  the  bottom  of  stagnant  waters,  where  it  results  from  the 
decay  of  vegetable  matter.  This  gas  is  much  lighter  than 
atmospheric  air,  100  cubical  inches  weighing  between  17 
and  18  grains.  It  burns  with  a  yellow  flame,  is  inodorous, 
and  not  absorbed  by  water.  It  consists  of  6  carbon  +  2 
hydrogen.  When  mixed  with  three  volumes  of  oxygen, 
or  with  eight  or  ten  of  common  air,  it  explodes  with  great 
violence  when  inflamed,  and  produces  water  and  carbonic 
acid. 

Olefiant  gas  received  its  name  from  its  property  of  form- 
ing, when  mixed  with  chlorine,  a  liquid  of  an  oily  appear- 
ance. It  is  obtained  by  distilling  a  mixture  of  alcohol  with 
twice  its  bulk  of  sulphuric  acid,  and  may  be  collected  over 
water;  which,  however,  absorbs  about  one  eighth  of  its 
volume  of  the  gas.  It  has  a  slightly  ethereal  odour  ;  it  extin- 
guishes flame ;  is  unrespirable  ;  burns  with  a  dense  white 
light ;  and  when  mixed  with  three  or  four  volumes  of  ox- 
ygen or  ten  or  twelve  of  air,  it  detonates  on  the  approach 
of  flame  with  great  violence.  It  is  nearly  of  the  same  spe- 
cific gravity  as  atmospheric  air;  and  from  the  quantity  of 
oxygen  required  to  convert  its  elements  into  carbonic 
acid  and  water,  it  is  shown  to  consist  of  two  atoms  of  car- 
bon and  two  of  hydrogen,  its  equivalent  being  14 ;  or  of 
one  volume  of  carbon  vapour  and  two  volumes  of  hy- 
drogen, so  condensed  as  to  form  one  volume  of  olefiant,  gas. 

CA'RCASS.     hi  Artillery,  a  hollow  case  formed  of  ribs 
of  iron,  covered  with  cloth,  or  sometimes  iron  with  holes 
197 


CARDUELIS. 

in  it.  The  carcass,  being  filled  with  combustible  materials' 
is  thrown  from  a  mortar  into  a  besieged  place  with  a  view 
to  set  the  buildings  on  fire. 

CA'RCERES.  (Lat.  career,  a  prison.)  In  Ancient  Ar- 
chitecture, the  cells  at  the  end  of  a  circus,  in  which  were 
stationed  the  chariots  and  horses  that  contended  for  tho 
prizes,  so  that  they  might  be  able  to  start  simultaneously 
at  the  given  signal. 

CARCE'RULUS.  (Lat.  dim.  of  career,  a  little  prison.) 
A  name  given  by  botanists  to  such  fruits  as  those  of  tho 
lime  tree,  the  Tropaolum,  &c. ;  which  consist  of  a  small 
number  of  dry  indehiscent  few-seeded  cells  cohering 
round  a  central  axis. 

CARCINO'MA.  (Gr.  Kapnivos,  a  cancer.)  A  cancerous 
tumour. 

CA'RDAMOMS.  Seeds  of  the  Alpinia  cardamomum. 
These  seeds  are  imported  from  Bengal :  there  are  seve- 
ral varieties ;  but  those  pods  which  are  small,  short  and 
thick,  and  heavy,  are  preferred.  The  seeds  themselves 
are  very  pungent  and  aromatic ;  the  containing  capsule  is 
quite  insipid.  Their  chief  use  is  in  medicine,  especially 
in  combination  with  cathartics  and  bitters.  They  yield  an 
essential  oil  by  distillation,  to  which  their  virtues  are  to  be 
ascribed. 

CA'RDIAC.  (Gr.  xapSia,  the  heart.)  Belonging  to  or 
connected  with  the  heart.  The  superior  opening  of  the 
stomach  is  called  the  cardia,  or  cardiac  end,  Irom  its  prox- 
imity to  the  heart. 

CA'RDIA'CEANS,  or  CARDIACEA.  (Lat.  cardium, 
acockle.)  A  numerous  and  beautiful  family  of  Lamelli- 
branchiate  Dimiary  Bivalve  Mollusks,  including  those  spe- 
cies in  which  the  mantle  is  open  anteriorly  for  the  foot; 
and  also  has  two  distinct  orifices,  one  for  respiration,  the 
other  for  excretion,  as  in  the  cockle  (Cardium  edule). 
The  shell  is  characterized  by  having  at  the  hinge  irregular 
primary  teeth,  both  in  form  and  situation,  and  generally 
accompanied  by  one  or  two  lateral  teeth.  The  genera 
composing  this  family  are  Isocardia,  Iliatella,  Oypricardia, 
Cardita,  Cardium. 

CARDIA'LGI.V  (Gr.  xaoiia,  and  a\yo{,  pain.)  Anxi- 
ety and  pain  about  the  region  of  the  stomach,  frequently 
attended  by  a  sense  of  gnaw  ing  and  leal,  and  hence  called 
heartburn.  It  is  a  common  symptom  of  indigestion,  and 
accompanied  by  salt  and  acid  eructations.  After  excess 
in  eating  and  drinking,  a  tit  of  heartburn  may  often  be  pre- 
vented by  a  teaspoonni)  of  carbonate  ol  magnesia,  taken 
in  cinnamon  or  in  soda  water,  at  bed  nine  ;  20  or  30  grains 
of  bicarbonate  of  soda  in  cold  chamomile  tea  is  also  an  ef- 
fective preventive.  Where  the  disease  is  symptomatic 
of  organic  mischief,  these  antacid  remedies  must  be  cau- 
ti.Hisiy  admini 

CARDINAL.  (Lat  caxAo, ahingi  )  An  epithet  imply- 
ing importance  ;  in  which  sense  it  is  applied  to  the  princi- 
pal virtues,  the  four  points  of  the  compass,  &c.  ;  and  in 
theological  language  originally  to  parish  churches,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  chapels  and  oratories;  from  whence  it 
was  transferred  to  the  clergy  who  ministered  in  such 
churches.  In  later  times  the  epithet  was  restricted  to  the 
seven  bishops  of  Rome,  and  the  sees  within  its  territory, 
and  the  clergy  of  the  eight-and-twenty  principal  churches 
of  that  city  :  from  whence  the  college  of  cardinals  takes 
its  origin.  The  number  of  which  this  college  consisted 
has  varied  in  the  course  of  time.  It  has  for  some  centu- 
ries been  limited  to  seventy ;  of  whom  six  are  bishops, 
fifty  presbyters,  and  fourteen  deacons ;  and  the  election 
of  the  pope,  which  is  performed  by  these  personages  as- 
sembled in  conclave,  is  thus  concurred  in  by  the  three  or- 
ders of  clergy  through  their  representatives.  The  period 
at  which  this  election  was  confined  to  the  cardinals  is  va- 
riously stated.  Some  have  asserted  that  such  was  the 
case  as  early  as  1058;  others  not  before  1562.  It  is  now 
understood  that  the  pope  must  be  chosen  from  among  this 
body.  The  cardinals  are  distinguished  by  a  scarlet  hat, 
and  a  short  purple  mantle  worn  over  the  rochet.  Their 
rank  is  next  to  that  of  the  pope,  to  whom  they  form  a 
political  and  ecclesiastical  council.  For  further  details  on 
the  duties  of  cardinals,  see  C'onsistorium  and  Conclave. 

CA'RDINAL  POINTS.  (Lat.  cardo,  a  hinge.)  In  Geo- 
graphy, the  east,  west,  south,  and  north.points  of  the  hori- 
zon. In  Astrology,  the  cardinal  points  are  those  of  the 
rising  and  setting  of  the  sun,  and  the  zenith  and  nadir. 
(Compass.) 

CA'RDIOID.  (Gr.  Kapha,  heart,  and  ttSos,  form.)  An 
algebraic  curve,  so  called  from  its  resemblance  to  a  heart. 

CARDITIS.     Inflammation  of  the  heart. 

CARDOO'N".  A  kind  of  artichoke.  The  Cynara  car- 
dunculus. 

CARDUE'LIS.  (Lat.  carduus,  a  thistle.)  A  genus  of 
Conirostral  Perchers  (Insessores)  or  Passerine  birds,  of 
the  finch  tribe  (Fringillidce),  including  the  goldfinch  (Car- 
i  duelis  elegans),  aberdevine  (Carduelis  spi?ms),  and  other 
'  British  siskins,  the  habits  of  which  are  less  arboreal  than 
in  the  true  finches,  and  which  feed  principally  on  the  seeds 
of  the  thistle  and  other  composite  plants. 


CAREENING. 

CAREE'NING.  The  lay  ing  of  a  ship  over  to  get  at  leak3 
or  injuries  in  the  bottom.  This  is  commonly  called  heav- 
ing down.  To  careen  implies  also  to  heel  or  lie  over  gen- 
erally. Heaving  down  is  never  practised  with  a  large  ship, 
except  where  there  are  no  docks,  as  the  great  forces 
which  must  be  applied  to  the  mast  heads  to  get  her  over 
are  liable  to  strain  the  hull. 

CA'RET.  (Lat.  careo,  1  am  wanting  )  In  Grammar,  a 
character  in  this  form  a,  denoting  that  something  has  been 
omitted,  and  is  interlined. 

CARIA'MA.     See  DicHOLOPHtis. 

CA'RICATU'RE.  (Lat.  caricare,  to  load  or  charge.) 
In  Painting,  an  exaggerated  representation  of  any  object, 
in  which  any  natural  defects  are  overcharged,  so  as  to 
make  it  appear  ridiculous. 

CARI'CHIUM.  (Lat.  carex,  sedge.)  A  genus  of  land- 
snails,  so  called  from  their  habitat  among  sedge,  wet 
leaves,  grass,  <fcc.  Of  these  sedge-shells,  Carichium  mini- 
mum is  British,  and  may  be  found  about  Acton. 

CA'RIES.     A  decayed  bone  or  tooth. 

CARI'LLON.     A  tune  performed  upon  bells. 

CARI'NA.  (Lat.  carina,  the  keel  of  a  boat.)  In  Botani- 
cal language,  is  the  sharp  thin  back  of  any  organ  ;  the 
back  of  a  leaf  folded  up  if  thin  and  sharp,  the  winged  rim 
that  occupies  the  back  of  certain  fruits,  the  sharp-backed 
part  of  a  glume  or  bract,  all  bear  this  name.  It  is  also  ap- 
plied to  the  two  anterior  petals  of  a  Papilionaceous  flower, 
which  adhere  by  their  lower  edges  into  a  body  something 
like  a  boat. 

CARINA'RIA.  (Lat.  carina,  a  keel.)  A  genus  of  He- 
teropodous  Mollusks,  characterized  by  having  the  viscera, 
as  the  heart,  liver,  branchiae,  generative  organs,  &c,  pro- 
truded from  the  body,  and  encased  in  an  extremely  fra- 
gile, beautiful,  sub-transparent,  symmetrical,  compressed 
shell.  The  summit  of  the  shell  is  slightly  involuted,  but 
never  enters  the  aperture  ;  the  convexity  of  the  shell  is 
terminated  by  a  single  keel. 

CA'RINATE.  (Lat.  carina,  a  keel.)  In  Zoology,  when 
a  surface  has  a  longitudinal  elevated  line,  like  the  keel  of  a 

CA'RMELITE.     -See  Orders,  Mendicant. 

CA'RMINE.  A  brilliant  lake,  made  of  the  colouring 
matter  of  the  cochineal  insect  combined  with  alumina  and 
a  little  oxide  of  tin. 

CA'RMINATIVE.  (Lat.  carmen,  a  verse  or  charm.) 
Medicines  which  allay  flatulency,  and  pain  of  the  stomach 
and  bowels  arising  from  it. 

CARNA'TION.  (Lat.  carneus,  flesh-coloured.)  A  fa- 
vourite florist's  plant,  obtained  by  art  from  the  wild  Dian- 
thus  caryophyllus.  Its  flowers  are  deliciously  fragrant ;  and 
although  in  the  unimproved  state  they  are  a  uniform  deep 
red,  they  have  been  rendered  beautifully  striped  and  va- 
riegated by  successive  changes  in  the  hands  of  the  garden- 
er. The  most  successful  cultivators  of  carnations  are  the 
Germans,  who  possess  some  hundred  varieties,  and  sup- 
ply the  principal  part  of  the  seed  used  in  other  parts  of 
Europe.  These  varieties  are  arranged  in  three  classes, 
flakes,  bizarres,  and  piccotees :  the  first  have  ten  colours  in 
their  flowers,  and  broad  stripes ;  the  second  have  irregu- 
lar spots  and  stripes,  and  not  fewer  than  three  colours ; 
the  last  are  spotted  or  dotted  with  scarlet,  red,  purple,  &c. 
upon  a  white  or  yellow  ground. 

CARNA'TION  GRASS.  (Lat.  caro, flesh.)  Any  coarse 
species  of  carex  is  so  named  in  the  north  of  England  and 
Scotland. 

CARNA'TIONS.  (Lat.  caro,  flesh.)  In  Painting,  the 
parts  of  a  picture  which  represent  the  naked  limbs,  <kc. 

CARNE'IA.  (Gr.  Kapvsia.)  A  festival  observed  in 
most  of  the  cities  of  Greece,  and  especially  at  Sparta,  in 
honour  of  Apollo,  surnamed  Cameius.  The  festival  last- 
ed nine  days,  and  was  conducted  in  imitation  of  the 
method  of  living  in  camps;  for  nine  tents  were  erected, 
in  each  of  which  nine  men  of  three  different  tribes  lived 
nine  days. 

CARNE'LIAN.  A  red  or  flesh-coloured  calcedony.  The 
finest  specimens  come  from  India,  and  are  in  great  request 
for  seal-stones,  beads,  &c. 

CAR'NEONS.  (Lat.  caro,  flesh.)  A  soft  fleshy  sub- 
stance. 

CA'RNIVAL.  (Lat.  cami  vale,  farewell  to  meat.)  A 
festival  celebrated  with  much  merriment  and  revelry  in 
Catholic  countries,  and  especially  at  Rome  and  Venice, 
during  the  week  before  the  commencement  of  Lent;  de- 
riving its  Italian  name  from  the  farewell  to  flesh  or  meat 
which  introduces  the  great  fast  of  the  church. 

CARNI'VORA.  (Lat.  caro,  flesh,  and  voro,  I  devour.) 
The  second  tribe  of  Cuvier's  order  Ferce  (Carnassiers), 
including  those  species  of  which  the  teeth  are  peculiarly 
adapted  for  destroying  living  prey,  and  for  tearing,  divi- 
ding, or  bruising  flesh.  They  have  incisors  in  each  jaw, 
two  long  and  pointed  canines ;  and  the  molars  are  never 
beset  with  small  conical  points  or  tubercles,  as  in  the  in- 
sectivorous tribe  of  the  same  order.  The  carnivorous 
tribe  is  divided  into  those  which  tread  on  the  sole  of  the 


CART. 

foot  (Plantigrades),  and  those  which  ran  on  the  last  joint3 
of  the  toes  (Digitigrades). 

CAROCO'LLA.  (Lat.  caro,  flesh  ;  and  Gr.  koWti,  glue.) 
A  genus  of  land- snails,  so  named  from  the  tenacity  with 
which  their  fleshy  foot  adheres  to  limestone  rocks.  The 
variegated  carocolla  (Car.  lapicida,  Lam.)  is  a  native 
species,  and  has  been  found  on  Juniper  Hill,  Box  Hill, 
Surrey. 

CA'ROMEL.  Sugar  melted  till  it  acquires  a  brown  co- 
lour and  exhales  a  peculiar  odour. 

CARO'TID.  An  artery  of  the  neck.  There  is  one  on 
each  side  of  the  cervical  vertebrae  which  supply  the  head 
with  blood.  If  these  vessels  are  tied,  the  animal  becomes 
insensible  ;  hence  the  term,  from  Kapow,  I  put  to  sleep. 

CARP.     See  Cyprinds. 

CA'RPADE'LIUM.  (Gr.  Kapiros,  fruit,  and  <5?iXoc, 
plain.)  A  little-used  name,  applied  in  botany  to  all  inde- 
hiscent,  many-celled,  inferior  fruits,  with  a  single  seed  in 
each  cell ;  as  in  Umbelliferous  or  Apiaceous  plants. 

CA'RPEL.  (Gr.  Kapiros,  fruit.)  A  name  contrived  by 
modern  botanists  to  denote  the  separate  pistils  out  of 
which  a  fruit,  consisting  of  more  pistils  than  one,  is  com- 
posed. In  its  most  simple  slate  a  fruit  consists  of  a  one- 
celled  ovary,  and  a  style  and  stigma,  united  into  a  pistil,  as 
in  the  plum ;  but  in  most  cases  several  such  pistils  are 
formed  within  the  same  flower,  and  are  united  in  various 
ways  into  one  compound  body,  to  which  the  name  of  pistil 
is  also  applied.  In  the  latter  case  the  single  pistils  are 
called  carpels.  The  pistil  may  nevertheless  consist  of 
one  carpel  only.  The  theory  of  the  structure  of  the  fruit 
of  plants  turns  upon  the  relative  position  which  carpels 
bear  to  each  other  in  their  united  state ;  and  upon  their 
correspondence  in  this  respect  with  leaves,  of  which  they 
are  undoubtedly  modifications. 

CA'RPENTER.  The  third  warrant  officer  on  board 
a  man  of  war.  He  has  the  charge  of  the  boats.  It  is  his 
duty,  with  his  mates,  to  attend  constantly  to  the  state  of 
the  well,  in  order  that  a  leak  may  be  immediately  re- 
ported. 

CA'RPENTRY.  (Lat.  carpentum,  carved  wood.)  In 
Building  and  Architecture,  an  assemblage  of  pieces  of  tim- 
ber connected  by  framing  or  letting  them  into  each  other, 
as  are  the  pieces  of  a  roof,  floor,  centre,  &c.  It  is  distin- 
guished from  joinery  by  being  put  together  without  the  use 
of  other  edge  tools  than  the  axe,  adze,  saw,  and  chisel; 
whereas  joinery  requires  the  use  of  the  plane.  The  lead- 
ing points  to  be  attended  to  in  sound  carpentry  are,  1st, 
The  quality  of  the  timber  used  ;  2nd,  The  disposition  of 
the  pieces  of  timber,  so  that  each  may  be  in  such  direc- 
tion, considered  with  reference  to  the  fibres  of  the  wood, 
as  to  be  most  capable  of  performing  its  office  properly  ; 
3rd,  The  forms  and  dimensions  of  the  pieces ;  4th,  The 
manner  of  framing  the  pieces  into  each  other,  or  otherwise 
uniting  them  by  means  of  iron  or  other  metal. 

CA'RPET.  An  ornamental  covering  for  the  floor.  The 
manufacture  of  carpets  is  carried  on  in  great  perfection  in 
this  country.  The  principal  varieties  are  the  Brussels, 
Axminster,  Wilton,  Kidderminster,  and  Venetian.  They 
are  eenerally  composed  of  linen  and  worsted.  In  some 
the  pile  is  cut  so  as  to  give  the  carpet  the  character  of  vel- 
vet ;  as  in  the  Wilton  carpets.  Kidderminster  or  Scotch 
carpets  are  entirely  fabricated  of  wool. 

CA'RPET  WAY.  Any  strip  or  border  of  green  sward 
left  round  the  margin  of  a  ploughed  field. 

CA'RPOBA'LSAMUM.  (Gr.  Kapiros,  fruit,  and  Palca- 
pov.  balsam.)  The  exudation  of  the  fruit  of  the  Amysis 
Gileadensis ;  a  variety  of  balm  of  Gilead. 

CA'RPOLITES.  (Gr.  Kapiros, fruit,  and  ai0oc,  astone.) 
Fossil  fruits  and  seeds. 

CARPO'PHORTJM.  (Gr.  Kapiros,  fruit,  and  Qepw,  I 
bear.)  The  name  of  the  central  column,  which,  in  the 
fruit  of  the  Geranium,  the  Euphorbia,  or  Apiaceous  plants, 
bears  the  ripe  carpels,  and  holds  them  together  when  they 
attempt  to  separate  at  maturity. 

CA'RREL,  or  QUARREL.  The  arrow  used  in  cross- 
bows, the  head  of  which  was  four-sided  ;  a  cross-bow  bolt. 

CA'RRONADE.  A  kind  of  short  iron  gun,  which  is  at- 
tached to  its  carriage  by  a  joint  and  bolt  underneath  the 
piece,  instead  of  trunnions.  It  is  only  in  this  respect  and 
in  its  dimensions  that  it  differs  from  other  guns  or  howit- 
zers. The  name  is  derived  from  Carron,  a  village  in  Stir- 
lingshire, where  this  gun  was  first  made. 

CARSE  LAND.     Alluvial  soil  in  a  state  of  aration. 

CART.  An  open  box,  placed  upon  two  or  more  wheels, 
and  constructed  with  shafts,  so  as  to  admit  of  being  drawn 
by  one  or  more  horses.  In  agriculture,  carts  are  used  for 
carting  or  carrying  from  one  point  to  another  soils,  ma- 
nures, and  produce.  For  this  purpose  there  are  the  close 
cart,  single  or  double,  that  is,  for  one  or  for  two  horses ; 
the  corn  cart,  single  or  double,  constructed  of  open  work, 
and  used  for  carrying  hay,  and  for  conveying  com  in  the 
sheaf  from  the  field  to  the  rickyard,  &c,  and  the  stone  or 
quarry  cart,  consisting  of  a  strong  bottom  and  low  wheels, 
for  conveying  large  stones.    Besides  these,  there  are  the 


CARTE  BLANCHE. 

three-wheeled  cart,  with  low  wheels,  for  carting  soil, 
stones,  <&c,  to  a  short  distance ;  the  timber  cart,  which  is 
nothing  more  than  two  pairs  of  wheels  and  axles  joined  by 
a  pole,  and  used  for  conveying  large  trunks  of  trees  from 
the  place  where  they  have  been  felled  to  the  place  where 
they  are  to  be  manufactured  ;  and  the  box  cart,  or  cart 
with  close  bottom  and  sides,  which  is  used  for  conveying 
soils,  manure,  and  small  articles,  commonly  constructed 
so  as  to  admit  of  discharging  the  load  by  elevating  one  end 
of  the  box  and  lowering  the  other;  and  to  carts  having  this 
contrivance  the  term  coup  cart  is  applied  in  Scotland,  and 
till  cart  in  England. 

CARTE  BLANCHE.  (Fr.)  A  paper  containing  nothing 
but  the  signature  of  the  party  who  grants  it,  in  order  that 
the  party  to  whom  it  has  been  delivered  may  insert  such 
conditions  as  he  chooses  to  prescribe.  This  term  is  used 
in  a  general  sense  to  express  an  unlimited  authority  dele- 
gated by  one  individual  to  another:  thus  a  general  is  said 
to  have  a  carte  blanche,  when  his  sovereign  has  granted 
him  permission  to  use  his  own  discretion  in  conducting  the 
operations  of  war. 

CA'RTEL.  In  Military  language,  an  agreement  for  the 
exchange  of  prisoners.  Also,  a  challenge  to  fight  a  duel. 
A  cartel  ship  is  one  commissioned,  in  time  of  war,  to  carry 
proposals  of  any  kim I  between  belligerent  powers. 

CAKTK'SIAN  PHILOSOPHY.  The  philosophical  sys- 
tem of  Rene  des  Cartes  (born  15%;,  a  native  of  France, 
perhaps  the  mo..,t  original  thinker  that  country  has  pro- 
duced. Des  Cartes  was  the  contemporary  of  Bacon,  and 
exercised  an  equally  powerful  mlluence,  though  in  a  man- 
ner widely  different,  on  the  progress  of  philosophy  in  Eu- 
rope. Both  equally  undertook  the  task  of  demolishing  the 
old  scholastic  system,  and  of  substituting  in  its  place  a 
more  living  spirit  of  philosophy.  Bui  whal  Bacon  strove 
to  accomplish  by  calling  men's  attention  to  experiment  and 
observation  of  nature,  Des  Cartes  proposed  to  attain  by 
the  search  for  a  first  and  self-evident  ground  of  all  know- 
ledge.  This  he  finds  in  the  art  of  consciousness,  involving 
a  of  self  or  mind.  (Cogilo  ergo  sum  ) 
(  onsciousness  is  the  act  of  thought,  constitutes  the  essence 
of  the  soul,  ami  is  thai  which  distinguishes  it  from  matter. 
The  ideas  or  objects  of  consciousness  are  of  three  kinds, 
— acquired,  compounded,  and  innate.  Of  the  last  sort  is 
tin  idea  of  God,  or  the  Absolute  Being,  which,  as  being  the 
ground  of  all  reality,  is  itself  its  own  demonstration.  God, 
the  Author  of  the  universe,  upholds  it  in  its  course  by  his 
perpetual  co-operation,  or,  in  Cartesian  lang 
ance.  All  physical  phenomena  Des  Cartes  endeavoured 
to  account  for  by  hi  motions  excited 

bj  God,  the  source  of  all  motion.  The  singular  mixture 
of  philosophical  depth  and  extravagant  hypothesis  that  pre- 
vails in  the  writings  of  tins  philosopher  obtained  for  him, 
as  might  have  been  expect*  a,  a  large  number  of  warm  ad- 
herents,  and  of  equally  violent  opponents.  Among  the 
former  may  be  enumerated  the  celebrated  Pascal,  Male- 
branche,  hu.i  Spinoza,  The  two  latter  deviated  indeed  in 
many  important  points  from  the  views  of  Descartes;  but 
the  main  features  ol  ins  philosophy  are  preserved  alike  in 
the  religious  mysticism  of  the  one  and  the  systematic 
pantheism  of  the  other. 

CA'RTHAMUa      Sei  Safflower. 

CARTHXJ'SIANS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  religious 
order,  instituted  by  St.  Bruno  in  H.k;  :  so  railed  from  their 

original  seat.  Chartreuse.  They  followed  the  rule  of  the 
Benedictines  (quod  vide),  with  the  addition  of  various  aus- 
terities, anil  employed  themselves  in  the  same  literary  and 
mechanical  pursuits.  Soon  after  their  institution  the' Car- 
thusians were  introduced  into  England,  where  in  the  lapse 
of  lime  they  succeeded  in  establishing  nine  houses  of  their 
order,  among  which  was  the  Charter-house  in  London. 
(See  Within  rfes  Orrlres  .\Itnmstiinits,  vol.  vii.) 

CA'RTILAGE,  CARTILAGO  (Lat.  caro,  Jlesk.)  A 
white  elastic  substance,  intermediate  between  bone  and 
ligament,  and  having  the  chemical  properties  of  condensed 
albumen.    Ii  is  commonly  called  gristle. 

CARTILAGI'NEANS, '  CARTILAGINEI.  A  sub-class 
of  fishes,  in  which  the  endo-skeleton  never  passes  beyond 
the  primitive  condition  of  gristle  or  cartilage.     See  Chon- 

DliOPTEKYGII. 

CARTOO'N.  (It.  cartone.)  In  Painting,  a  sketch  made 
as  a  pattern  for  tapestry.  The  name  is  also  given  to  large 
sketches  on  coarse  or  other  paper  for  fresco  subjects  ;  in 
which  case,  when  the  stucco  is  setting  the  outlines  are 
pricked  through  on  to  it  so  that  a  correct  outline  may  be 
expeditiously  obtained.  We  subjoin  the  following  account 
of  the  cartoons  of  RalTaelle  at  Hampton  Court. — These  ce- 
lebrated works,  originally  thirteen  in  number,  are  a  mag- 
nificent series  of  coloured  designs,  representing  the  ori- 
gin, sanction,  economy,  and  progress  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion. They  were  made  originally  for  the  copies  in  tapes- 
try, still,  we  believe,  annually  exhibited  in  the  colonnade  of 
the  Vatican,  wrought  at  Arras  by  command  of  Leo  X. 
at  an  expense  of  7000  crowns  of  gold.  These  were 
carried  off  at  the  plundering  of  Rome  in  1527  by  the  Span- 
199 


CARYATIDES. 

ish  army ;  but  Montmorenci.  the  French  general,  found  and 
restored  them  to  their  former  station.  In  our  own  days 
they  were  again  carried  off  when  the  French  seized  the 
government  of  Rome,  and  were  afterwards  purchased  by 
that  excellent  pontiff  Pius  VII. 

Seven  of  the  original  pictures  were  purchased  by 
Charles  the  First,  and  are  now  preserved  at  the  royal  pa- 
lace at  Hampton  Court.  Richardson  (Tlieory  of  Painting) 
gives  a  historical  and  critical  description  of  them,  and  con- 
siders them  better  calculated  to  convey  a  true  notion  of  the 
genius  of  Raffaelle  than  even  the  loggia  of  the  Vatican. 
The  object  that  Charles  had  in  view  when  he  purchased 
the  seven  cartoons  above  mentioned,  was  to  supply  the 
manufacture  then  at  Mortlake  with  subjects  of  a  higher 
character  than  Francis  Cleyre,  its  superintendent,  could 
invent ;  and  there  is  evidence  that  some  of  them  were  ac- 
tually copied  there,  and  that  they  are  still  preserved,  pro- 
bably at  Petworth. 

In  whatever  light,  says  Fuseli,  we  consider  their  inven- 
tion— as  parts  of  one  uhole  relative  to  each  other,  or  inde- 
pendent each  of  the  rest  and  as  single  subjects, — there  can 
be  scarcely  named  a  beauty  or  a  mystery  of  which  the 
cartoons  furnish  not  an  instance  or  a  clue.  They  are  pois- 
ed between  perspicuity  and  pregnancy  of  moment :  the 
Death  of  Ananias,  the  Sacrifice  at  Lystra,  Paul  on  the  Areo- 
pagus, will  furnish  us  with  conclusions  for  the  remainder. 
In  Paul  announcing  his  God  from  the  height  of  Areopagus, 
the  same  sagacious  critic  observes  that  enthusiasm  and 
curiosity  make  up  the  subject.  Simplicity  of  attitude  in- 
vests the  speaker  with  sublimity;  the  parallelism  of  his 
action  invigorates  his  energy  ;  situation  gives  him  com- 
mand over  the  whole ;  the  light  in  which  he  is  placed  at- 
tracts the  first  glance ;  he  appears  the  organ  of  a  supe- 
rior [lower.  The  assembly,  though  selected  with  charac- 
teristic art  for  the  purpose,  are  the  natural  offspring  of  the 
place  and  moment.  The  involved  meditation  of  the  Sto- 
ic, the  Cvnic's  ironic  sneer,  the  incredulous  smile  of  the 
elegant  Epicurean,  the  eager  disputants  of  the  academy, 
the  elevated  attention  of  Plato's  school,  the  rankling  malice 
of  the  Rabbi,  the  magician's  mysterious  glance,  repeat  in 
louder  or  in  lower  tones  the  novel  doctrine;  but  whilst  cu- 
riosity and  meditation,  loud  debate  and  fixed  prejudice,  tell, 
ponder  on,  repeat,  reject,  discuss  it,  the  animated  gesture 
of  Dionysius  and  Damaris  announce  the  power  of  its  ten- 
ets, and — what  the  artist  chiefly  aimed  at — the  established 
belief  of  immortality.  We  have  selected  the  above  as  a 
specimen  of  the  critical  examination  which  the  reader 
may  apply  to  ing  six  of  this  extraordinary  se> 

pictures,  in  which  the  power  of  combining  the  dra- 
ma with  pure  historic  fact  has  never  been  surpas:  ed 

The  cartoons  have  been  several  times  engraved;  first 
by  Gribelin  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne  ;  then  by  Dorigny  ; 
and  afterwards  by  inferior  artists,  most  probably  from  the 
engravings  themselves  of  those  that  preceded  them.  They 
were  likewise  engraved  on  a  small  scale  by  Fitller,  and 
more  recently  in  a  superior  style  by  Holloway.  The  late 
Prince  Hoare,  Esq..  secretary  for  foreign  correspondence 
to  the  Royal  Academy,  was  possessed  of  a  very  fine  car- 
toon by  Raffaelle,  the  subject  of  which  was  the  Murder  of 
the  Innocents. 

CARTOU'CH.  (It.  rartoccio.)  In  Architecture,  the 
same  as  modiliion  (which  see),  except  thai  this  term  is  used 
almost  exclusively  to  signify  the  blocks  or  modillions  ap- 
plied at  the  eaves  of  a  house.  Some  have  used  the  term 
to  denote  the  ornament  of  the  key-stone  of  an  arch,  which 
seems  to  represent  a  scroll  of  paper  partly  unrolled. 

CARTOU'CIIE.  A  Military  term,  signifying  a  strong 
case  or  box  for  holding  balls. 

CA'RTRIDGE.  A  case  of  paper  or  pasteboard  holding 
the  exact  charge  of  a  firearm.  Those  of  cannon  and  mor- 
tars are  sometimes  of  tin  or  wood,  but  most  frequently 
flannel,  bags  of  this  material  being  found  the  most  con- 
venient. 

CARU'NCLE.  (Dim.  of  caro,  flesh.)  A  naked  soft 
fleshy  excrescence,  often  ornamenting  some  parts  of  the 
head  of  birds ;  as,  e.  g.  the  caruncle  on  the  cere  of  the 
king  vulture  (  Vultitr  papa,  I. in.). 

CARL'NCliLA.  (Dim.  of  caro,  flesh ;  a  little  piece  of 
flesh.)  A  small  protuberance  found  near  the  hilum  upon 
the  seed  of  Euphorbia  UUhyris  and  other  plants. 

CA'RYA.  (Gr.  xanvov,  a  nut.)  The  genus  of  plants 
which  includes  the  hickory  nut  of  North  America;  a  tree 
of  the  greatest  value,  for  its  tough  elastic  wood,  as  well  as 
for  the  nuts,  which  resemble  walnuts,  except  that  their 
shell  is  not  furrowed,  and  which  are  much  eaten  and  press- 
ed for  their  oil  in  their  native  country.  There  are  several 
species  of  Carya  ;  but  C.  alba,  the  white  hickory,  a  hardy 
ornamental  tree  in  England,  is  the  most  valuable. 

CARYA'TIDES.  (Gr.  icapva,  a  nut  tree.)  In  Architec- 
ture, figures  used  instead  of  columns  to  support  an  emab- 
lature.  The  origin  of  them,  according  to  Vitruvius,  is  as 
follows — "Carya,  a  city  of  Peloponnesus,  took  part  with 
the  Persians  against  the  Grecian  states.  When  the  coun- 
try was  freed  from  its  invaders,  the  Greeks  turned  their 


CARYOCAR. 

wins  against  the  Caryans,  and  upon  the  capture  of  the  city 
put  the  males  to  the  sword,  and  led  the  women  into  cap- 
tivity. The  architects  of  that  time,  for  the  purpose  of  per- 
petuating the  ignominy  of  this  people,  instead  of  columns 
in  the  porticos  of  their  buildings,  substituted  statues  of 
these  women,  faithfully  copying  their  ornaments,  and  the 
drapery  with  which  they  were  attired  ;  the  mode  of  which 
they  were  not  permitted  to  change."  The  writer  of  the 
articles  on  art  in  this  work  was  the  first  author  on  archi- 
tecture who  endeavoured  to  show  the  want  of  truth  in  this 
account,  and  that  on  two  grounds  : — first,  because  the  cir- 
cumstance is  not  mentioned  by  any  of  the  Greek  histori- 
ans ;  and  secondly,  because  long  previous  to  the  time  as- 
signed by  Vitruvius,  figures  of  men,  women,  and  animals 
were  employed  for  this  purpose.  They  appear  to  have 
acquired  their  name  from  their 
employment  in  temples  to  Diana, 
by  whom  the  Lacedaemonians  are 
supposed  to  have  been  made  ac- 
quainted with  the  story  of  Carya, 
turned  into  a  nut  tree  by  Bacchus, 
who  at  the  same  time  trans- 
formed her  sisters  into  stones, 
and  thence  worshipped  under  the 
name  of  Caryatis.  From  their 
employment  in  temples  dedica- 
ted to  the  goddess,  they  were 
used  in  other  buildings  as  repre- 
sentations of  the  nymphs  who 
assisted  at  the  mysteries  of  the 
patron  goddess.  The  figure  No. 
1.  here  given  is  a  Caryatid,  from 
the  Pandroseum  at  Athens ;  No.  2.  is  a  Canephora  (see 
that  word).  When  figures  of  the  male  sex  are  used  they 
are  called  Persians. 

CARYO'CAR.  (Gr.  napvov,  a  hard-shelled  fruit.)  A 
genus  of  trees  inhabiting  the  forests  of  tropical  America, 
especially  Guayana ;  one  of  them,  found  in  woods  near 
Mariquita,  is  said  to  attain  the  height  of  240  feet.  The 
Saouari  (vulgarly  called  Sawarrow)  nuts  of  the  shops,  a  de- 
licious fruit,  with  a  large  soft  buttery  kernel,  are  the  seeds 
of  Caryocar  glahrum  and  other  species.  Properly  the  name 
Saouari  applies  to  Caryocar  butryosum. 
CA'RYOPHY'LLIA.  See  Madrepore. 
CA'RYOPHYLLA'CEOUS.  (Lat.  caryophyllus,  the 
garde?i  pink),  is  sometimes  said  of  corollas  consisting  of 
petals  having  long  claws  dilating  into  abroad  limb,  as  in  the 
garden  pink. 

CA'RYO'PSIS.  (Gr.  napvov,  a  nut,  and  oxpis,  resem- 
blance.) The  technical  name  of  the  grain  of  corn.  It  is  an 
indehiscent  one-celled  fruit,  with  a  membranous  pericarp 
adhering  firmly  to  the  seed. 

CASCARl'LLA.  (Span.  dim.  of  cascara,  bark.)  The 
bark  of  the  Oroton  eleutheria,  imported  for  medical  use 
from  Jamaica  and  the  Bahama  Islands.  It  is  bitter  and  aro- 
matic, and  when  burned  it  diffuses  an  odour  much  resem- 
bling that  of  musk. 

CASE.  (Lat.  casus  ;  from  cado,  I  fall.)  In  Grammar, 
that  modification  of  a  noun  which  designates  the  relation 
in  which  a  substance  is  conceived  to  exist  in  regard  to 
some  other  substance.  This  end  is  commonly  attained  in 
language  by  changes  in  the  termination  of  nouns.  In  Eng- 
lish there  are  but  three  cases ;  the  nominative,  the  genitive 
or  possessive,  and  the  accusative  or  objective  case;  the 
last  only  in  pronouns.  All  other  varieties  of  relation  are 
expressed  by  prepositions.     See  Grammar. 

Case.  (Fr.  casse.)  Is  the  receptacle  for  the  types, 
from  which  the  compositor  gathers  them  separately,  and 
arranges  them  in  lines  and  pages  to  print  from.  They  are 
always  in  pairs  ;  one  of  which  is  styled  the  upper  case, 
and  is  divided  into  ninety-eight  boxes  or  recesses  of  equal 
size,  in  which  are  deposited  the  capitals,  small  capitals, 
accented  letters,  figures,  &c. ;  the  other  is  styled  the  lower 
case,  and  is  divided  into  fifty-four  boxes  or  recesses  of 
unequal  size,  containing  the  small  letters,  spaces,  &c,  the 
letters  most  in  use  having  the  largest  boxes  assigned  to 
them.  The  cases  are  two  feet  nine  inches  long,  one  foot 
four  inches  and  a  half  broad,  and  a  full  inch  deep. 

CA'SEIC  ACID.  A  peculiar  acid  extracted  from 
cheese. 

CA'SEMATE.  In  Fortification,  a  vault  or  arch  of  stone- 
work in  the  flank  of  a  bastion,  serving  as  a  battery. 

CA'SEMENT.  (It.  casamento.)  In  Architecture,  a 
portion  of  a  window  sash  hung  on  hinges.  It  is  used  also 
to  denote  the  moulding  called  ascotia,  which  see. 

CASE'RNS,  or  CAZERNS.  Huts  erected  on  the  ram- 
parts, or  between  the  ramparts  and  the  houses,  of  fortified 
towns,  serving  as  temporary  lodgings  for  the  soldiers  on 
duty. 

CASE-SHOT,  or  CANISTER-SHOT,  signifies  musket 
balls,  stones,  pieces  of  iron,  <fcc.  put  into  cases  or  tin  can- 
isters, and  discharged  from  pieces  of  ordnance. 

CA'SEUM.  (Lat.)  The  basis  of  cheese.  The  purified 
curd  of  milk 

200 


CASTANEA. 

CASH.  In  Commerce,  the  ready  money,  bills,  drafts, 
bonds,  and  all  immediately  negotiable  paper  in  an  individ- 
ual's possession. 

CASSAMU'NAR.  A  root  brought  from  the  East  Indies, 
and  formerly  used  in  medicine  as  a  warm  bitter. 

CASSATION,  COIRT  OF.  The  highest  judicial  insti- 
tution in  France  ;  so  termed  from  possessing  the  power  to 
quash  (casser)  the  decrees  of  inferior  courts.  It  is  a  court 
of  appeal  in  criminal  as  well  as  civil  cases.  The  tribunal 
of  cassation  was  first  introduced,  as  a  court  wholly  inde- 
pendent of  the  king  and  his  council,  in  1790.  This  court 
has  a  president,  and  three  presidents  of  sections ;  but  the 
minister  of  justice,  as  keeper  of  the  seals  (garde  des 
sceauz),  has  the  right  of  presiding  in  cases  where  it  sits  on 
appeal  from  the  cours  royales.  The  three  sections  are, — 
1.  Des  requites,  which  decides  on  the  admissibility  of  peti- 
tions of  appeal  in  civil  cases;  2.  De  cassation  civile;  3.  De 
cassation  criminelle.  The  decision  of  the  court  of  cassa- 
tion has  the  effect  of  sending  back  the  case  to  the  inferior 
courts.  If,  after  a  decision  has  been  reversed,  a  second 
court  decides  the  same  case  in  the  same  way,  on  appeal 
being  entered  again  the  court  of  cassation  must  either  re- 
peat its  reversal  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  all  the  three 
sections,  or  it  must  request  an  authentic  explanation  of  the 
law  from  the  government ;  and,  after  a  third  conflicting 
decision,  such  authentic  explanation  becomes  absolutely 
necessary.  The  inferior  judges  of  the  three  sections  of 
the  court  of  cassation  are  styled  counsellors. 

CASSA'VA.  A  species  of  starch  obtained  from  the  roots 
of  the  Jatropha  manihot. 

CA'SSIA.  (From  the  Arabic.)  The  bark  of  the  Laurus 
cassia;  its  flavour  somewhat  resembles  that  of  cinnamon, 
and  it  yields  an  essential  oil,  which  is  pungent  and  stimu- 
lant. 

CASSI'DEOUS.  (Lat.  cassis,  a  helmet.)  When  the  up- 
per petal  of  a  flower  is  dilated  into  a  broad  helmet-shaped 
leaf,  as  in  the  genus  Aconitum. 

( ASSI'DIDJE.  (Lat.  cassis,  a  helmet.)  A  family  of  Te- 
tramerous  Coleopterans,  generally  known  by  the  name  of 
tortoise-beetles,  distinguished  by  having  straight  short  fili- 
form antennas,  inserted  close  together  in  the  upper  surface 
of  the  head  ;  mouth  situated  on  the  under  surface  of  the 
head,  with  strong  and  broad  mandibles ;  legs  short,  with 
the  tarsi  flattened,  the  third  joint  deeply  cleft,  receiving 
between  its  lobes  the  terminal  joint ;  margins  of  the  thorax 
and  elytra  much  dilated,  so  as  to  give  the  insects  the  ap- 
pearance of  small  tortoises.  The  larva  of  the  Cassidida,  is 
remarkable  for  an  apparatus,  or  anal  fork,  by  which  it  col- 
lects and  forms  of  its  excrements  a  kind  of  parachute,  or 
defensive  covering. 

The  genera  of  Cassidida  are,  Alurnus,  Hispa,  Chalepus, 
Imatidium,  and  Cassida ;  the  latter  is  the  only  indigenous 
genus,  and  of  this  the  most  common  example  is  the  Cus- 
sidn  ripiestria  of  Fabricius. 

CA'SSIOPE'IA.  One  of  the  constellations  of  the  north- 
ern hemisphere. 

CA'SSIS.  (Lat.)  A  genus  of  Gastropodous  Mollusks, 
separated  by  Lamarck  from  the  Linneean  genus  Buccinum, 
and  including  the  species  of  which  the  shells  are  common- 
ly called  "helmets."  The  nacreous  or  inner  layer  of 
these  shells  are  exquisitely  sculptured  by  Italian  artists  in 
imitation  of  antique  cameos  ;  the  different  coloured  strata 
resembling  the  onyx  and  other  precious  stones. 

CA'SSIUS,  PURPLE  OF.  So  called  from  its  inventor. 
A  beautiful  purple  used  in  porcelain  painting,  and  for 
staining  glass.  It  is  formed  by  immersing  tin  in  a  solution 
of  gold.  It  is  probably  a  mixture  of  oxide  of  tin  and  finely 
divided  gold. 

CA'SSOWARY.  (Casuarius,  from  the  Malay  word  cas- 
suwaris.)  A  genus  of  Coursers  or  Struthious  birds,  inhab- 
iting the  island  of  Java,  in  which  the  wings  are  shorter 
than  in  the  ostrich,  and  are  armed  with  strong  spines,  for 
the  purpose  of  combat  or  defence.  The  head  is  sur- 
mounted by  a  bony  protuberance  covered  with  horn. 

CASSYTHA'CE^.  (Cassytha,  the  only  genus.)  A 
most  singular  natural  order  of  plants,  having  the  fructifica- 
tion of  Lauracea,  and  the  manner  of  growth  and  general 
appearance  of  a  Rhipsalis,  or  rather  a  Cuscuta.  They  in- 
habit the  tropical  parts  of  the  world. 

CAST.     In  Sculpture.     See  Moulding. 

CASTA'NEA.  (Castana,  a  city  of  Thessaly.)  A  genus 
of  trees  or  shrubs,  related  to  the  oak,  and  producing  for 
fruit  the  seed-like  nuts  called  chesnuts  in  this  country. 
The  common  Spanish  chesnuts,  of  which  upwards  of  20,- 
000  bushels  are  annually  imported  from  the  south  of  Eu- 
rope, are  the  fruit  of  C.  vesca ;  a  much  smaller  nut  is  ob- 
tained in  North  America  from  the  C.  puviila,  or  the 
Chinquapin  chesnut.  The  timber  of  the  common  Spanish 
chesnut  is  good  and  durable,  more  so  than  that  of  the  oak, 
when  the  latter  is  young ;  but  it  is  a  mistake  to  suppose 
that  the  ancient  roofs  and  beams  occasionally  found  in 
buildings  of  the  Norman  era,  and  which  carpenters  call 
chesnut,  are  the  wood  of  this  tree.  Such  instances  all  be- 
long to  the  kind  of  oak  called  Quercus  sessiliflora.    The 


CASTANETS. 

genus  Castanea  differs  from  Quercus,  among  other  things, 
in  having  the  nuts  enclosed  in  a  spiny  closed  up  cup,  in- 
stead of  a  shallow  open  one ;  but  in  the  East  Indies,  where 
both  oaks  and  chesnuts  assume  very  remarkable  forms, 
the  two  approach  each  other  sometimes  so  nearly  in  ttiis 
particular,  that  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish  them. 

CA'STANETS.  (Fr.  castagnettes.)  Small  wooden  or 
ivory  musical  instruments,  played  by  being  tied  to  the  fin- 
gers, and  thus  rattled  by  dancers  to  the  time  of  the  music 
Of  the  dance.     They  are  chiefly  used  in  Spain. 

CASTE.  A  term  borrowed  from  the  Portuguese  settlers 
in  India,  which  is  used  to  denote  the  hereditary  classes  in- 
to which  the  population  of  Hindoostan  is  divided,  accord- 
ing to  the  religious  law  of  Urama.  The  origin  of  these 
religious  classes  is  detailed  in  the  sacred  book  which  con- 
tains the  ordinances  of  Menu.  According  to  rhis  authority, 
the  Brahmin,  the  Cshatriya,  the  Vaisya,  and  the  Sudra 
sprang  respectively  from  hie  mouth,  the  arm,  the  thigh, 
and  the  foot  of  Brahma.  1.  The  class  of  Brahmins,  or 
priests,  whose  name  signifies  scripture,  are  far  exalted 
above  the  rest  in  honour  and  privilege,  and  should  be  de- 
voted entirely  to  prayer  and  meditation,  or  at  least  to  the 
most  exalted  concerns  of  life.  Many  Brahmins,  however. 
do  in  fact  engage  tn  secular  pursuits,  not  only  as  ministers 
of  sovereign  princes  (an  office  for  which,  according  to  the 
ordinances  above  cited,  they  are  indeed  peculiarly  fitted), 
but  also,  in  Guzerat  and  other  parts  of  Western  India,  as 
merchants,  or  in  the  lower  employment  of  messengers 
and  porters;  while  many  enter  the  Company's  service  as 
private  soldiers.  These,  however,  are  Brahmins  of  the 
first  and  second  classes  (Brachmachari  and  Grihast'ha), 
youths  or  married  men  who  as  yet  live  in  the  world  ; 
from  which  two  higher  classes,  Vanaprastha  and  Sunny- 
assi,  are  wholly  divorced :  from  these  spring  the  various 
orders  of  fanatics  with  which  India  swarms.  2.  The  Ksha- 
triya,  or  soldier  caste,  whose  name  indicati 
To  this  belong  not  only  tin'  high  military  classes,  but  in 
some  parts  of  India  whole  tribes,  as  the  Seikhs,  a 
The  Vaisya,  or  commercial  class  (wealth).  4.  The  Sudra, 
ir  caste  "t  the  soil  (/«/«<»/•).    These  are  deeply 

degraded  be-low  not  only  the  Brahmins,  but  the  Other  two 
castes  :  and  even  the  readingof  the  Vedas  or  sacred  books 
is  forbidden  to  them.  Besides  these  four  grand  divisions, 
the  Hind. .ms  have  many  subdivisions  of  caste,  and  no  fewer 
than  thirty-six  are  reckoned  which  are  all  inferior  to  the 
Sudra.  These  descend,  according  to  the  mythological  his- 
tory of  the  Hindoos,  from  the  "  Burren  Sunker"  or  mixed 
class,  proceeding  from  the  confusion  of  castes  which 
place  under  the  reign  of  a  wicked  and  irreligious  monarch. 
Finally,  the  Pariahs  and  some  other  races  are  considered 
as  having  no  caste  at  all,  and  mere  our.  unani- 

ty.  Traces  of  the  system  of  caste,  which  confines  em- 
ployments to  hereditary  classes,  are  to  be  found  in  the  in- 
stitulions  of  many  countries,  and  in  the  history  of  many 
more.  That  the  Egyptian  nation  was  thus  divided,  is  well 
known  ;  and  it  is  supposed  that  similar  institutions  prevail- 
ed in  the  ancient  Assyrian  empires.  If  Plato  can  be  relied 
on  as  an  authority,  the  Athenians  in  the  first  ages  of  their 
commonwealth  were  divided  into  five  classes  of  the  same 
description — priests,  handicraftsmen,  shepherds  and  hunt- 
ers, ploughmen,  soldiers.  Ami  it  is  said  that  the  Cretans 
were  divided,  according  to  the  laws  of  Minos,  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  Egyptians. 

CA'STELLATED.  (Lat  castellum,  a  castle.")  In  Ar- 
chitecture, a  building  in  style  of  a  castle. 

CA'STING.  (Dan.  kaster,  to  throw.)  In  Architecture, 
a  term  used  to  denote  the  bending  of  the  surfaces  of  a 
piece  of  wood  from  their  original  state,  caused  either  by 
the  gravity  of  the  material,  or  by  its  being  subject  to  un- 
equal temperature,  moisture,  or  the  uniform  texture  of  the 
material.     Called  also  Warping. 

Casting.  In  Foundery,  the  running  of  liquid  metal  into 
a  mould  prepared  foi  thai  purpose.     Slee  Foundery. 

CA'STINC  OF  DRAPERIES.  In  Painting,  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  folds  of  the  garments  wherewith  the  figures  in 
a  picture  are  clothed.  Carlo  Maratti  thought  that  the  dis- 
position of  drapery  was  a  more  difficult  art  than  even  that  of 
drawing  the  human  figure,  and  that  a  student  might  be  more 
easily  taught  the  latter  than  the  former.  Inferior  painters 
enter  into  the  minute  discriminations  of  quality  in  drapery  ; 
but,  as  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  has  well  observed  in  his  Fourth 
Discourse,  with  the  historical  painter  "the  clothing  is 
neither  woollen  nor  linen,  nor  silk,  satin,  nor  velvet :  it  is 
drapery  :  it  is  nothing  more." 

CA'STING  OFF  COPY.  In  Printing,  is  to  ascertain 
accurately  how  many  pages  in  print  a  "given  quantity  of 
manuscript  copy  will  make :  or  how  many  pages  a  given 
quantity  of  printed  copy  will  make  when  the  size  of  the 
book  and  the  type  are  changed  :  also  when  agiven  quantity 
of  manuscript  copy  is  delivered,  with  directions  that  it  is 
to  make  a  certain  number  of  pages  in  print,  to  determine 
the  size  of  the  page  and  the  size  of  the  type.  This  is  usu- 
ally done  by  composing  a  line  or  two  of  the  copy,  when, 
supposing  a  line  and  a  half  of  it  makes  a  line  of  print,  it 
201 


CATACHRESIS. 

]  becomes  a  mere  arithmetical  question.    Supposing  there 

!  are  12,000  lines  of  copy,  it  will  make  8,000  lines  in  print, 

which,  at  24  lines  to  a  page,  will  be  333  pages,  and  with  the 

title,  short  pages,  &c.  equal  to  14  sheets  in  12mo. ;  about 

the  general  quantity  in  a  volume  of  modern  novels. 

CA'STLE.  (Eat.  castellum;  or  Sax.  castel.)  In  Archi- 
tecture, a  building  fortified  for  military  defence  ;  also  a 
house  with  towers,  usually  encompassed  with  walls  and 
moats,  and  having  a  donjon  or  keep  in  the  centre.  The 
principal  castles  of  England  at  present  are,  the  Tower  of 
London,  Windsor,  Norwich,  Ace.  ;  but  at  one  time  those  of 
Harwood,  SpotFord,  Kenilworth,  Warwick,  Arundel,  and 
others  might  have  vied  with  them  in  importance.  The 
characteristics  of  a  castle  are  its  valla  (embankments)  and 
fossae  (ditches) ;  from  the  former  of  which  the  walls  rise, 
usually  crowned  by  battlements,  and  flanked  by  circular  or 
polygonal  bastions  at  the  angles  formed  by  the  walls  ;  these 
latter  were  pierced  for  gates  with  fixed  or  draw  bridges 
and  towers  on  each  side ;  the  gates,  which  were  of  con- 
siderable strength,  were  further  guarded  by  descending 
gratings,  called  portcullises ;  all  the  apertures  were  as 
small  as  they  could  be  made,  consistently  with  internal 
lighting.  The  component  parts  of  a  castle  were,  the  foss 
of  mote,  with  its  bridge ;  the  barbican,  which  was  in  ad- 
vance of  the  castle,  being  a  raised  mound  or  tower,  the 
outer  walls  having  terraces  towards  the  castle,  with  their 
bastions,  as  above  mentioned ;  the  gate  house,  flanked  by 
towers,  and  crowned  with  projections,  called  machicola- 
tions, through  which  heavy  materials  or  molten  lead 
were  dropt  on  the  assailants  entering  the  gateway  ;  the 
outer  ballium,  or  area  within  the  castle,  which  was  sepa- 
rated from  the  inner  ballium  by  an  embattled  wall  with  a 
gate-house,  and  in  which  the  stables  and  other  offices  usu- 
ally stood  ;  and  the  inner  ballium,  for  the  residence  of  the 
owner  or  governor  and  his  retinue  ;  this,  at  one  corner,  or 
in  the  centre,  had  a  donjon  or  keep  tower,  which  was  the 
strong  bold  of  the  place,  wherein  was  a  state  apartment; 
a  well  and  a  chapel ;  the  former  usually,  and  the  latterfre- 
quently,  are  found  in  ancient  cas' 

For  further  information  on  the  subject  the  reader  is  re- 
ferred to  King's  Mun.  Antiq.  fol.  4  vols;  the  Archaologia 
in  several  places  :  /.  ct.  vol.  ii. ;  Woolnoth's  An- 

cient Castles  of  'England  and  Wales,  &c.  &c. 

CA'STOR.     The  generic  name  of  the  beaver.     (.Castor 
Linn.) 

Castor.    A  peculiar  concrete  subs-  ined  in 

oval  pouches  situated  near  the  anus  of  the  Castor  fiber  or 
There  are  four  of  these  pouches  ;  two  contain  a 
species  of  fat;  while  the  two  larger  ones  include  in  their 
membranous  cells  a  viscid  fetid  substance,  which  is  the 
castor  of  the  Materia  Medica.  It  is  imported  from  Russia, 
Prussia,  and  Poland,  and  from  Canada  ;  the  latter,  known 
in  trade  under  the  name  of  Neu>  England  ca-itor,  is  very 
inferior.     It  is  said  to  he  an  antispasmodic. 

CA'STOR  AM)  PO'LLUX  The  name  given  to  a  me- 
teor which  sometimes  appears  at  sea,  attached  to  the  ex- 
tremities of  the  masts  of  ships  under  the  form  of  balls  of 
fire.  When  one  ball  only  is  seen,  it  is  called  Helena.  The 
meteor  is  generally  supposed  to  indicate  the  cessation  of 
a  storm,  or  a  future  calm  ;  but  Helena,  or  one  ball  only,  to 
bad  vi  eather. 

i  \  'SUA'RINA'CKiE.  (Casuarina,  one  of  the  genera.) 
A  curious  natural  order  of  plants,  inhabiting  New  Holland, 
some  parts  of  India,  and  the  South  Sea  Islands,  with  long 
slender  creeping  branches,  resembling  those  of  Enuisetwn, 
and  bearing  scales  only  in  the  place  of  leaves.  The  order 
is  nearly  allied  to  Myricancem,  and  belongs  to  the  most  im- 
perfect forms  of  Exogenous  vegetation. 

CA'SDIST,  CA'SUISTRY.  In  Theology,  a  casuist  is  a 
doctor  charged  with  the  decision  of  cases  of  conscience. 
The  Jesuits  were  distinguished  for  the  cultivation  of  this 
mixed  subject  of  theology  and  ethics ;  which  was  admira- 
bly calculated  to  promote  the  crafty  policy  of  that  order. 
The  science  of  casuistry,  however,  has  been  cultivated  in 
the  Protestant  as  well  as  the  Papal  church ;  and  until  very 
recently  there  was  a  professor  of  casuistry  at  Cambridge. 
(See  Mayer's  Bibliothecaof  Casuists.) 

CAT.     See  Felis,  or  Felix.*:. 

Cat.     A  ship  employed  in  the  coal  trade. 

Cat.  Tackle  by  which  the  anchor  is  raised  to  the  cat- 
head.    See  Falconer's  Diet. 

CA'TABA'PTISTS.  (Gr.  Kara,  against,  and  Panrt^o), 
I  baptize.)  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  general  term  to  de- 
signate all  the  sects  which  have  denied  the  necessity  of 
baptism  generally,  or  have  opposed  infant  baptism.  See 
Baptists,  Quakers.  Socinians.  <fec. 

CA'TACA'USTICS.  (Gr.  KaraKaiu,  I  burn.)  In  Optics 
or  Geometry,  are  the  caustic  curves  formed  by  the  reflec- 
tion of  the  favs  of  light,  and  so  called  to  distinguish  them 
from  the  diacaustic,  which  are  formed  by  refracted  rays. 
See  Caustic. 

CA'TACHRE'SIS.  (Gr.  Kara,  in  the  sense  of  beside,  and 
xpne'i,  use.)    In  Rhetoric,  a  figure  by  which  a  word  is  used 
in  a  sense  analogous  to  its  own.    See  Metaphor. 
Cc 


CATACLESIUM. 

CA'TACLE'SnJM.  (Gr.  Kara,  against,  and  kAeiw,  I  en- 
close.) A  name  applied  sometimes  to  such  fruit  as  that  of 
Mirabilis,  which  consists  of  a  membranous  indehiscent  pe- 
ricarp enclosed  within  a  hard  pericarp-like  tube  of  the  calyx. 

CA'TACLY'SM.  (Gr.  (cara/tAuo^os,  an  inundation,  a 
deluge.)  Geologists  apply  the  word  to  signify  the  various 
great  inundations  which  they  conceive  to  have  occurred  at 
different  periods  in  the  history  of  the  globe. 

CATACOMBS.  (Gr.  Kara,  against,  and  kv^Sos.  a  hollow 
place.)  In  Architecture,  subterraneous  places  used  for  bu- 
rying the  dead.  The  hypogaea,  crypta,  and  cimeteria  of 
the  ancients  were  used  for  the  same  purpose.  In  some 
cities  those  vast  excavations  were  made  use  of  for  other 
purposes  than  those  of  sepulture  ;  at  Syracuse,  for  instance, 
the  same  cavern  served  for  a  prison  as  well  as  a  public 
cemetery.  It  has  been  said  that  in  the  early  aires  of 
Christianity  they  also  served  as  places  of  devotion.  The 
most  celebrated  for  their  extent  are  those  of  Rome.  Naples, 
Syracuse,  &c. :  and  the  more  modern  ones  of  Paris,  which 
have  been  formed  by  quarrying  for  the  stone  with  which 
the  citv  is  built. 

CA'TACOU'STICS,  or  CATAPHO'NTOS.  (Gr.  Kara, 
about;  clkovio,  I  hear ;  (jxiivtut.  I  speak.)  The  science  of 
reflected  sounds ;  or  that  part  of  acoustics  which  treats  of 
the  properties  of  echoes,  or  in  general  of  sounds  which  do 
not  come  to  the  ear  directly,  but  after  having  been  reflected 
by  some  substance.     See  Echo  and  Sound. 

CA'TAFA'LCO.  (Ital.  a  scaffold.)  In  Architecture,  a 
temporary  structure  of  carpentry,  decorated  with  painting 
and  sculpture,  representing  a  tomb  or  cenotaph,  and  used 
in  funeral  ceremonies.  That  used  at  the  final  interment 
of  Michael  Angelo  at  Florence  was  of  the  most  magnificent 
description,  and  perhaps  unequalled  as  to  the  art  employed 
on  it  bv  anv  used  before  or  since. 

CA'TALE'CTIC.  (Gr.  KaTa\nKTiK0S,  deficient.)  In 
Greek  and  Latin  poetry,  a  verse  wanting  one  syllable  of  its 
proper  length  :  acataJeciic,  a  verse  complete  in  length ;  hy- 
percatalectic,  having  one  syllable  too  many  ;  brachycatalec- 
tic,  wanting  two  syllables. 

CATALEPSY.  (Gr.  KardXauPavM,  I  seize.)  A  disease 
in  which  the  functions  of  the  organs  of  sense  and  motion 
are  suspended,  whilst  the  heart  continues  to  pulsate.  The 
patients  are  said  to  be  in  a  trance  ;  and  in  this  state  they  re- 
main for  some  hours,  or  even  days.  Ammoniacal  and 
etherial  stimulants  are  the  most  eff»ctin!  restoratives. 

CATALOGUE  RAISONNE'.  In  Bibliography,  a  cata- 
logue of  books,  classed  under  the  heads  of  their  several 
subjects,  and  with  a  general  abstract  of  the  contents  of 
works  where  the  title  does  not  sufficiently  indicate  it ;  thus 
serving  as  a  manual,  to  direct  the  reader  to  the  sources  of 
information  on  any  particular  topic.  The  want  of  alpha- 
betical arrangement  is  supplied  by  an  index  at  the  end. 
The  catalogue  of  the  French  Bibliothcque  Royale  (10  vols. 
fol.  1739-53)  is  said  to  be  the  best  work  of  this  description, 
as  far  as  it  extends. 

CATAMARAN".  A  sort  of  raft  used  chiefly  by  the  In- 
dians on  the  Coromandel  coast  for  the  purposes  of  fishing. 
It  is  composed  of  three  pieces  of  wood  lashed  together, 
the  middle  piece  being  longer  and  broader  than  the  others; 
and  it  is  almost  the  only  kind  of  boat  that  can  live  in  the 
surf  that  prevails  on  that  coast.  Catamaran  was  also  the 
name  given  to  the  floating  batteries  with  which  the  French 
at  the  commencement  of  the  present  century  meditated 
the  invasion  of  England. 

CATAME'NTA.  (Gr.  Kara,  according  to,  and  pnv,  a 
month.)    The  monthly  uterine  evacuation. 

CA'TAPE'TALOUS.  (Gr.  Kara,  against;  irtra'Xov,  a 
petal)  When  the  petals  of  a  flower  are  held  together  by 
stamens  which  grow  to  their  bases,  as  in  the  mallow. 

CA'TAPHRA'CTED.  (Gr.  Ko.TO.tbpo.KTos.)  Covered 
with  a  hard  callous  skin,  or  with  horny  or  bony  plates  or 
scales  closely  joined  together.  Among  the  ancients, 
cavalry  equipped  with  complete  defensive  armour  were 
termed  equites  cataphracti. 

CATAPLASM.     (Gr.  Karankaotra  )    A  poultice. 

CATAPULT.  (Gr.  Kara,  against,  and  ireATJj,  a  shield.) 
A  military  engine  used  by  the  ancients  for  throwing  stones, 
long  darts,  or  javelins.  The  catapult  is  often  confounded 
with  the  balista ;  but  the  latter  engine  seems  to  have  been 
chiefly  used  for  the  purpose  of  propelling  stones,  while  the 
former  more  frequently  was  employed  with  other  missiles. 
Their  size  and  construction  were  various,  but  the  princi- 
ple of  action  was  the  same  in  all ;  namely,  the  elastic  force 
with  which  twisted  rope  uncoils  itself. 

CA'TARACT.  (Gr.  Karappaicoi,  I  confound.)  An  opa- 
city of  the  crystalline  lens  of  the  eye,  producing  confused 
or  indistinct  vision,  or  total  blindness,  according  to  the  less 
or  greater  extent  of  the  thickening:  it  is  sometimes  rapid, 
and  often  very  slow  in  its  progress.  It  is  distinguished 
from  gutta  serena  by  the  visible  opacity  of  the  lens,  and  by 
the  iris  contracting  upon  exposure  of  the  eye  to  light. 
This  disease  is  curable  either  by  depressing  or  extracting 
the  lens,  operations  which  are  performed  with  wonderful 
dexterity  by  some  of  our  oculists. 
202 


CATEGORY. 

CATA'RRH.  (Gr.  Karappeio,  IJlotc  darn.)  The  com 
plaint  commonly  called  a  cold  in  the  head,  generally  at- 
tended by  running  from  the  eyes  and  nose,  sneezing, 
hoarseness,  and  commonly  ending  in  cough.  It  is  pro- 
duced by  sudden  changes  of  air  or  temperature,  and  by 
exposure  to  draughts  of  air.  In  its  usual  form  domestic 
remedies  relieve  it, — diluents,  mild  aperients,  and  absti- 
nence from  wine  and  animal  food ;  but  when  attended  by 
fever,  headache,  tightness  about  the  forehead,  and  difficult 
breathing,  it  often  requires  more  serious  attention,  for,  if 
neglected,  it  mav  lead  to  much  mischief. 

CA'TARRHINES.  Catarrhina.  (Gr.  Kara,  at,  and  piv, 
nose.)  A  tribe  of  Quadrumanes,  including  those  which 
have  the  nostrils  approximated,  and  the  intervening  sep- 
tum narrow  :  as  in  the  apes  of  the  old  world. 

CATA'STROPHE.  (Gr.  KaratrrpicbbJ,  I  overturn.)  In 
modern  literary  language,  the  final  event  of  a  drama  or  ro- 
mance, to  which  the  other  events  are  subsidiary.  The 
vepiirirzia,  or  revolution,  indicated  by  Aristotle  as  one  of 
the  parts  of  the  drama,  was  a  change  in  the  fortunes  of  the 
principal  personages  of  the  play  ;  as,  the  fall  of  CEdipus 
from  sovereignty  into  extreme  misery  and  banishment,  in 
the  CEdipus  Tyrannus.  Some  such  change  is  generally 
involved  in  the  idea  of  a  catastrophe :  thus,  marriage  is 
the  ordinary  catastrophe  of  a  comedy  or  a  novel,  as  some 
disastrous  change  is  that  of  a  tragedy. 

CA'TCH  DRAINS.  Open  drains  across  a  declivity  to 
intercept  surface  water.  The  term  is  sometimes  also  ap- 
plied to  under  drains  across  a  declivity. 

CATCIIWORKMEADOWS.      Grass  land  with  very 
regular  surfaces,  subjected  to  irrigation,  the  water  as  it  de- 
•  declivities  being  intercepted  by  catchdrains. 

CATECHISM.  (Gr.  kottixIu,  I  instruct:)  A  form  of 
instruction  by  question  and  answer,  appropriated  by  gene- 
ral usage  to  instruction  in  religious  subjects,  and  more 
especially  to  the  set  forms  which  most  churches  have  au- 
thorised for  the  instruction  of  children  in  the  elements  of 
religion.  The  English  church  catechism  is  intended  to  be 
an  exposition  of  the  vow  made  at  baptism,  and  till  the  time 
of  James  I.  consisted  only  of  the  renunciation  or  repetition 
of  the  baptismal  vow.  the  creed,  and  the  Lord's  Prayer. 
The  latter  portion,  explaining  the  nature  of  the  sacraments, 
was  added  after  the  conference  at  Hampton  Court.  The 
catechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  or  Catechismus  ad  Pa- 
rochos,  was  set  forth  by  the  Roman  Catholic  divines  for  the 
use  and  direction  of  the  clergy,  and  contains  an  ample  ac- 
count of  the  whole  sum  of  the  Romish  doctrines.  It  was 
approved  by  Pius  V.,  and  published  in  1566.  (See  Bins- 
hums  Antiq.  b.  x.  ch.  1,  2.) 

CATECHU.  A  Japanese  word,  signifying  the  juice  of 
a  tree.  The  extract  of  the  Acacia  catechu,  an  astringent 
substance,  consisting  of  tan  and  extractive  matter,  im- 
ported chiefly  from  Bengal  and  Bombay.  Its  principal  use 
is  in  medicine. 

CATECHTJ'MEN.  (Gr.  Karrixovpzvos)  He  who  learns 
the  elements  of  any  science ,  one  who  is  undergoing  a 
course  of  religious  instruction  with  a  view  to  his  admission 
into  the  church.  The  Christian  society  in  the  early  ages 
was  divided  into  two  classes.  Fideles  and  Cateehumeni; 
the  former  being  those  who  had  been  admitted  by  baptism 
into  the  entire  privileges  of  the  church,  the  latter  such  as 
were  preparing  for  that  admission. 

CA'TEGOREMA'TIC.  (Gr.  Kartiyopsa,  I  predicate.) 
In  Logic,  when  a  word  is  capable  of  being  employed  by  it- 
self as  a  term,  or  predicate  of  a  proposition. 

CATEGORICAL  PROPOSITION.  (Gr.  Karnyoptw, 
I  declare  something  of  another.)  In  Logic,  a  proposition 
which  affirms  or  denies,  absolutely  and  without  any  con- 
dition, that  the  subject  does  or  does  not  agree  with  the 
predicate.  (See  Proposition.)  Categorical  propositions 
are  said  to  be  pure  (those  which  simply  assert  one  thing 
of  another),  and  modal  (those  which  assert  one  thing  of 
another  under  a  certain  mode  or  form).  .  But  this  is  a  dis- 
tinction arising  out  of  the  poverty  of  language  only,  and  no 
essential  difference  between  the  two  classes;  e.g.  "the 
king  reigns"  is  a  pure  categorical  proposition  :  "  the  king 
reigns  justly''  is  said  to  be  modal.  But  it  is  evident  that  if 
our  language  had  a  single  word  to  express  the  whole  idea 
(to  reign  justly),  the  latter  would  be  called  pure  likewise. 
All  cases  of  modal  categoricals  may  probably  be  resolved 
into  similar  instances  of  the  deficiency  of  words  to  express 
complicated  notions. 

CATEGORY.     (Gr.  Karvyooia.)    In  Logic  and  Meta- 
physics, a  Greek  word,  signifying  originally  that  which 
may  be  said  or  predicated  of  a  thing  ;  a  general  term  in  re- 
ference to  a  less  general  one  which  is  included  under  it. 
!  By  Aristotle,  from  whom  the  word,  and  its  corresponding 
;  Latin  term  predicate,  was  borrowed  by  the  schoolmen,  it 
|  was  applied  to  denote  the  most  general  of  the  attributes 
that  may  be  assigned  to  a  subject.     Of  these  he  attempted 
j  an  enumeration,  under  the  name  of  substance,  quantity, 
i  quality,  relation,  place,  time,  condition,  state  or  habitude, 
]  action,  and  passion.     The  word  has  been  revived  in  mo- 
i  dern  times  by  Kant,  to  express  the  most  general  of  the 


CATENARIAN  ARCH. 

modes  in  which  a  thing  can  be  raised  from  an  object  of 
sense  to  an  object  of  intellect ;  or,  in  other  words,  the 
forms  or  conditions  which  must  pre-exist  in  the  under- 
standing, in  order  that  an  act  of  intelligence  may  take 
place.  For  an  account  of  these  see  art.  Kantian  Philo- 
sophy. The  difference  between  the  categories  of  Kant 
and  those  of  Aristotle  is  this,  that  the  latter  are  mere  gen- 
eralizations from  experience,  which  may  consequently  be 
multiplied  indefinitely  ;  whereas  the  former  result  from  a 
professedly  exhaustive  analysis  of  the  human  understand- 
ing as  it  is  in  itself,  or  formally,  that  is,  apart  from  all  con- 
sideration of  its  object-matter. 

CATENA'RIAN  ARCH.  (Lat.  catena,  a  chain.)  In  Ar- 
chitecture, an  arch  whose  form  is  that  of  a  chord  or  chain 
suspended  from  two  fixed  points  at  its  extremities. 

C  VTE'XARY.  (Lat.  catena,  a  chain.)  The  curve  into 
which  a  chord  or  flexible  chain  of  uniform  density  and 
thickmss  forms  itself  when  suspended  or  allowed  to  hang 
freely  from  two  points.  This  curve  was  first  noticed  by 
Galileo,  who  proposed  it  as  the  proper  figure  for  an  arch 
of  equilibrium  ;  but  he  imagined  it  to  be  the  same  as  the 
parabola.  Its  true  nature  was  first  demonstrated  by  James 
Bernoulli,  and  its  various  propi  rties  soon  alter  pointed  out 
by  John  Bernoulli,  Huygens,  and  Leibnitz.  It  is  interest- 
ing on  account  of  the  lighl  ii  throws  on  the  theory  of 
arches,  and  also  by  reason  of  its  application  to  the  con- 
struction  of  suspension  bi  i 

The  equation  of  the  catenary  may  be  found  as  follows: 
lei  \  and  Ii  be  the  points  of  suspension,  and  C  the  lowest 
point  in  the  curve.  Draw  C  l>  per- 
pendicular to  the  horizon,  and 
through  any  two  points  P  and  p  ve- 
ry near  eai  h  other,  draw  P  D  and 
pi  ndicular  to  C  1) ;  draw  also 
J'  /  parallel  m  C  I),  and  lei  PS  be 
the  tangent  al  P  Now,  tl 
having  assumi  d  this  form,  the  equi- 
librium would  not  bed  by  supposing  the  part  CP 
to  become  rigid.  In  this  <■::>••  it  would  be  kept  at  rest  by 
three  forces;  namely,  the  tension  at  its  two  extren 
and  its  own  weight.  The  tension  al  C  is  exerted  in  the  di- 
rectionCEor  pr,  thai  at  Pin  the  direction  p  s  or  Pp, 
and  the  weight  in  the  vertical  P  r.  These  three  forces  are 
therefore,  by  the  principles  ol  m  i  iportionalto 
pr,  p  P,  and  P  r:  that  is,  making  C  D=x,  1)  P=y,  and  < '  P 
=z,  proportional  to  the  differentials  of  these  quantities,  or 
to  ■''-.  '/'/.  '/:.     Bui  tl 

of  the  chain  CB)  is  constant;  suppose  it  therefore  equal  to 
a,  and  the  chain  I  ing  uniform,  the  weightofCP  is  pro- 
portional to  its  length,  or  to  t ;  therefore  we  have  a : z= 
ay  :  dx,  or  adr=zdy,  which  is  the  differential  equation  of 
the  curve.  On  substituting  \  dz* — dx1  fordy,  and  inte- 
grating, then    re  ults af'+S!  n.i=-.-,  which  is  an  equation 

i  ii  the  arc  and  the  absciss.  The  curve  cannot  be 
expressed  by  a  simple  algebraic  equation  between  the  ab- 
sciss and  ordinate,  and  is  consequently  of  the  mechanical 

kind.      The   constant    quantity  a   is    called  tin;  para'; 

and  one  of  the  mosl  remarkable  properties  of  the  curve  is, 
that  the  rectangle  contained  by  the  parameter  and  an  or- 
dinate  is  equal  to  the  natural  logarithm  of  the  ratio  of  the 
parameter  to  the  sum  of  the  parameter,  the  absciss,  and 
the  arc. 

CATE'NTJLATE.  (Lat.  catena,  a  chain.)  When  a  sur- 
face presents  a  series  of  elevated  ridges  or  oblong  tuber- 
esembling  a  chain. 

CA'TEKPILLAR.  The  name  of  the  larvae  of  Lepidop- 
terous  insects. 

CA'THARI.  (fir.  xaOapo(,pure.)  An  oriental  sect  of 
Christians.    See  Pailicians. 

CATHAR'TIC.  (fir.  KaOaipw,  I  purge.)  That  which 
increases  the  action  of  the  bowels.  The  term  is  common- 
ly applied  to  medicines  which  do  this  with  some  degree  of 
violence  :  among  the  milder  cathartics,  jalap,  senna,  calo- 
mel, and  saline  purges  are  the  most  used;  those  which 
are  drastic  are  croton  oil  ami  elaterium. 

CATHA'RTIN.  The  active  or  purgative  principle  of 
senna. 

CAT  HEAD.  A  Nautical  term,  signifying  a  strong  in- 
clined piece  of  timber  projecting  from  either  bow  of  a 
ship,  to  which  the  ring  of  the  bower  anchor  is  secured. 
The  block  or  pulley  hooked  to  the  ring  is  called  the  cat- 
block,  the  rope  the  cat/all. 

CATHE'DRAL.  (fir.  xaOcSpa,  a  seat  or  throne.)  The 
principal  church  of  a  diocese,  in  which  is  the  throne  of  the 
bishop.  The  term  cathedra  was  originally  applied  to  the 
seats  in  which  the  bishop  and  presbyters  sate  in  their  as- 
semblies, which  were  held  in  the  rooms  in  which  the 
worship  of  the  first  Christians  was  also  performed  before 
they  had  liberty  to  erect  temples  for  that  purpose.  In 
after-times  the  choir  of  the  cathedral  church  was  made  to 
terminate  in  a  semicircular  or  polygonal  apsis  ;  and  in  the 
recess  thus  formed  were  placed  the  throne  of  the  bishop 
in  the  centre,  and  seats  of  an  inferior  class  for  presby- 
ters. In  modern  cathedrals  the  bishop's  throne  i3  in 
203 


CATTLE. 

the  choir,  and  generally  on  the  south  side.  (Bingfiam, 
viii.  6.  10.) 

CA'THETa,  and  CATHETUS.  (fir.  KaOeros,  let  down.) 
In  Architecture,  a  vertical  line  falling  from  the  extremity 
of  the  underside  of  the  cymatium  of  the  Ionic  capital 
through  the  centre  of  the  volute. 

CA'THETER.  (Gr.  Kaduim,  I  thrust  into.)  A  tube 
which  may  be  introduced  by  the  urethra  into  the  bladder 
for  the  purpose  of  drawing  off  the  urine. 

CA'THOLIC.  (fir.  ko.6o\ikos,  universal.)  A  word 
which  occurs  in  the  New  Test,  in  the  titles  of  certain  of 
the  Epistles. — those  of  James,  Peter,  and  John,— signifying 
that  they  are  addressed  to  the  whole  or  universal  body  of 
Christians,  and  not  to  a  particular  section  of  them.  Hence 
the  term  has  been  used  in  later  times  to  distinguish  the 
church  of  Christ  from  all  heretics  and  schismatics,  and 
has  been  assumed  by  particular  churches  either  to  sepa- 
rate themselves  from  all  others,  as  the  Romish ;  or  to  in- 
clude themselves  as  individual  members  of  the  univer- 
sal bodv,  represented  under  different  and  subordinate 
local  names,  as  the  English  episcopal  church.  The  Ro- 
mish church  appeals  to  the  decisions  of  the  Council  of 
Trent  for  its  most  complete  and  definite  rule  of  faith,  and 
allows  no  one  to  be  a  member  of  the  Catholic  church 
who  rejects  any  of  the  tenets  therein  enforced.  (See  art. 
Roman  Catholic.)  The  English  church  considers  it- 
si  It  a  member  ol  the  Catholic,  but  passes  no  judgment  as 
to  whal  varii  tions  from  its  own  formularies  incur  the  guilt 
of  heresy  and  incapacitate  from  such  incorporation.     See 

CATHO'LICON.  (In  old  Pharmacy.)  An  universal 
medicine. 

CATKIN.  The  English  name  of  the  inflorescence  of 
the  poplar,  willow,  and  similar  trees.  A  calkin  is  a  close 
spike,  com  p.  overlapping  each  othi  r.  and  falls 

off  the  parent  plant  as  soon  as  its  office  of  flowering  or 
fruitine  is  accomplished. 

CATO'PTRICS.  (Gr.  Karoirrpov,  a  mirror ;  compound- 
ed of  Kara  and  Burrofiai,  I  see.)  Is  thai  part  of  the  science 
of  optics  winch  treats  ol  the  laws  ofn  fleeted  light,  and  the 
imena  of  vision  produced  by  reflection.  For  details 
connected  with  thi  branch  of  natural  philoso- 

ION. 

principal  authors  who   i  i   Catoptrics 

are,  Euclid;  Albazen  and  Vitellion,  in  the  nil.  and  12th 
centuries;  James  Gregory,  in  his  Optica  Promota;  Bar- 
row, Smith,  Tacquet,  and'  all  modern  writers  on  the  sub- 
ject of  Lighl  or  ( i|  ti 

CAT'S  !.\i;  A  beautiful  siliceous  mineral  (probably 
quartz),  penetrated  by  fibres  of  asbestos,  which,  when  pol- 
ished, reflects  an  effulgen  |  I  much  resembling 
reflections  from  the  eye  of  a  cat.  Hence  the 
:      i             m             yant. 

i  ATS  TAIL  GRASS.  In  Botany,  valuable  meadow 
grass,  usually  forming  part  of  all  good  lowland  pastures. 
It  is  tie  plan!  with  a  soli  narrow  cylin- 

drical head,  resembling  that  of  the  meadow  foxtail. 

i  \  TTLB  Dome  ticated  animals  of  the  cow  kind, 
which  are  found  accompanying  man  in  every  civilized 
country,  and  in  every  climate.  The  native  country  of  the 
type  of  British  cattle  is  supposed  by  some  to  be  Asia,  and 
by  others  to  be  Africa  ;  but  in  this  case,  as  in  all  others 
where  an  animal  or  a  plant  has  been  long  in  a  state  of  do- 
mestication, the  origin  of  the  species  is  involved  in  obscu- 
rity. When  the  tame  cattle  of  any  country  are  allowed  to 
run  wild  and  breed  in  that  country,  uncontrolled  by  man, 
the  habits  which  belong  to  the  animal  in  its  savage  slate 
become,  in  the  course  of  three  or  lour  generations,  modi- 
fied according  to  the  natural  supplies  of  food  and  the  char- 
acter of  the  climate.  Hence,  though  cattle  are  not  indige- 
nous to  Britain,  South  America,  or  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
we  have  in  the  former  country  a  breed  of  wild  cattle  in 
one  or  two  gentlemen's  parks,  as  at  Chillingham  in  North- 
umberland, which  are  quite  different  from  the  wild  cattle 
of  the  fertile  soils  of  South  America,  as  these  again  are  dif- 
ferent from  the  wild  cattle  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  though 
all  undoubtedly  the  descendants  of  tame  animals.  Those 
in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  in  particular,  are  known  to  be  the 
offspring  of  the  tame  cattle  that  were  left  there  by  Vancou- 
ver, and  which  can  now  be  only  caught  alive  by  entrap- 
ping them  in  disguised  pits;  into  one  of  which  the  unfor- 
tunate botanist  Douglas  fell,  and  was  gored  to  death  by  a 
bull  who  happened  to  be  in  it  at  the  time.  The  domestic 
cattle  of  Britain  may  be  divided  into  two  races:  those  of 
large  size  adapted  for  the  plains,  and  those  of  smaller  size 
adapted  for  the  mountains.  Of  each  of  these  classes  there 
are  several  breeds ;  such  as  the  Highland  and  the  Welch 
cattle,  among  the  latter;  and  the  Lancashire,  the  York- 
shire, and  the  Herefordshire  cattle,  among  the  former. 
There  is  also  an  intermediate  breed,  adapted  for  mode- 
rately hilly  countries ;  such  as  the  Galloway  and  Fife 
breeds  in  Scotland,  and  the  Alderney  and  Guernsey  cattle 
in  England.  The  best  beef  brought  to  the  London  market 
is  that  of  cattle  of  the  Highland  breed  fed  in  English  pas- 


CATULUS. 

tures,  or  on  turnips.  The  best  milk  cow  for  general  pur- 
poses is  the  Ayrshire  ;  the  best  for  cream  and  butter,  the 
Alderney  ;  and  the  best  for  immense  quantities  of  milk, 
the  Lancashire.  Hence  the  latter  are  generally  employed 
in  public  dairies,  the  Ayrshire  by  farmers  and  cottagers. 
and  the  Alderney  by  the  higher  classes.  See  Lib.  Useful 
Knowledge,  Farmer's  Series — Cattle.  Low's  Illustrations  of 
the  Breeds  of  Domestic  Animals.  4to.  1842. 

CATULUS.  (Lat.  catulus,  the  young  of  any  thing.) 
The  old  botanical  name  of  the  catkin  of  a  plant,  which 
see. 

CAU'DA.  (Lat.)  That  portion  of  an  animal  which  is 
supported  by  vertebra  behind  the  sacrum  ;  or  which,  as  in 
fishes,  have  inferior  spinous  processes.  In  Entomology  it 
signifies  that  part  of  the  abdomen  which  becomes  suddenly 
slender,  and  terminates  in  a  long  jointed  tail,  as  in  the 
scorpion. 

CAU'DAT.  (Lat.  cauda,  a  tail.)  When  the  apex  of 
any  organ  in  a  plant  is  prolonged  into  a  long  slender 
point ;  this  is  not  of  rare  occurrence,  and  is  more  especi- 
ally common  in  Araceous  and  Aristolochiaceous  plants. 

CAU'DEX.  (Lat.  caudex,  a  trunk.)  The  Linnaean 
name  of  what  is  now  more  generally  called  the  axis 
of  vegetation ;  the  woody  centre  round  which  the  leafy 
and  leaf-like  organs  are  arranged.  The  caudex  ascendens 
was  the  stem,  the  c.  descendens  the  root  of  a  plant. 

CATJDl'CULA.  (Lat.  dim.  of  caudex.)  A  thin,  elastic, 
semitransparent  process  of  the  pollen  masses  of  Orchida- 
ceous plants,  by  means  of  which  the  pollen  is  brought  in 
contact  with  the' stigma  or  stigmatic  gland.  Its  exact  nature, 
use,  and  origin  are  unknown. 

CAUL.  The  trivial  appellation  of  the  amnion  when  it 
comes  away  in  child-birth.  It  is  regarded  by  the  super- 
stitious as  a  charm  against  shipwreck. 

CAULI'COLUS.  (Lat.  caulis,  a  stall:  )  In  Architecture, 
the  small  stalk  under  the  volutes  of  the  Corinthian  capital, 
which  it  seems  to  support. 

CAULI'CULUS.  (Dim.  of  caulis,  a  stern.)  In  Botany, 
the  slender  part  which  connects  the  cotyledon  of  a  seed 
with  the  radicle.  It  is  usually  considered  a  part  of  the  ra- 
dicle, but  recent  observations  seem  to  show  that  it  is  rather 
an  extension  of  the  stem.  Its  office  is  to  lengthen  rapidly 
when  germination  takes  place,  and  thus  to  bring  the  true 
radicle  into  contact  with  the  earth  upon  which  it  has  to 
feed. 

CAU'LINE.  (Lat.  caulis,  a  stem.)  Any  thing  that  grows 
to,  or  springs  from,  the  stem  of  a  plant.  Cauline  leaves 
are  those  which  grow  upon  the  stem,  prickles  such  as  are 
borne  by  the  same  part,  and  so  on. 

CAULK,  or  CALK.  To  stuff  the  seams  or  openings  be- 
tween the  planks  of  a  ship  with  oakum,  which  is  rope  un- 
twisted into  its  original  state  of  fibre.  The  oakum  is  forc- 
ed in  by  a  caulking  chisel  and  mallet.  It  has  been  found 
necessary,  when  a  ship  has  worked  the  oakum  out  of  the 
seams,  to  fill  them  with  rope.  Caulking  affords  fixedness 
to  the  whole  frame,  and  is  therefore  a  great  support.  The 
quantity  of  oakum  used  in  a  large  ship  is  very  great ;  in  a 
large  three-decker  it  is  near  30  tons,  or  upwards  of  four 
cables. 

When  the  seams  are  caulked,  melted  pitch  is  poured  on 
the  seams  of  the  decks  out  of  a  pitch  ladle  ;  in  other  places 
it  is  laid  on  with  a  pitch  mop  :  this  is  called  paying  the 
seams. 

CAULOCa'RPOUS.  (Gr.  kov\os,  the  stem  of  a  plant, 
and  KapTTos,  fruit.)  A  name  applied  by  De  Candolle  to 
such  plants  as,  like  trees  and  shrubs,  annually  produce 
flowers  and  fruit  on  their  branches  without  perishing. 

CAUSE.  Four  kinds  of  causes  have  been  distinguished 
by  logicians  : — the  material,  Vie  efficient,  the  formal,  and  the 
final.  The  material  cause  of  a  thing  is  that  out  of  which 
that,  thing  is  made  ;  in  other  words,  that  which  is  the 
ground  of  the  possibility  of  a  thing's  coming  into  exist- 
ence :  e.  g.  the  marble  out  of  which  a  statue  is  made. 
The  efficient  cause  is  that  in  which  resides  the  moving 
power  requisite  in  order  to  render  the  possible  existence 
actual;  as  the  sculptor.  The  final  cause  of  the  thing  is 
that  very  tiling  in  its  completeness ;  as  the  statue  when 
made.  The  formal  cause  is  that  which  must  supervene  to 
the  matter,  in  order  to  give  the  thing  its  precise  individual 
existence  as  that  thing  and  no  other;  as  the  shape  which 
the  sculptor  communicates  to  the  marble.  This  distinc- 
tion is  derived  originally  from  Aristotle,  with  whom,  how- 
ever, it  is  rather  a  metaphysical  than  a  logical  determina- 
tion.    See  Aristotelian  Philosophy. 

In  popular  language,  the  final  cause  is  synonymous  with 
the  purpose  to  which  any  object  is  supposed  to  contribute, 
though  that  purpose  be  wholly  external  to  the  thing  caused. 

CAU'STIC  CURVE.  (Gr.  kulw,  I  bum.)  In  the  Tran- 
scendental Geometry,  is  the  name  given  to  the  curve  to 
which  the  rays  of  light,  reflected  or  refracted  by  another 
curve,  are  tangents.  Caustics  are  consequently  of  two 
kinds,  catacaustics  and  diacauslics :  the  former  being  caus- 
tics by  reflection,  and  the  latter  caustics  by  refraction.  Ca- 
tacaustics are  generated  thus :  Suppose  rays,  as  B  M,  B  M' 
201 


WML 


CAV^DIUM. 

fig.  1.  &c.  (fig.  1.)  to  issue  from  a  luminous 

point*  B,  and  to  be  reflected  by  the 
curve  A  M  D,  so  that  the  angle  of  in- 
cidence equals  the  angle  of  reflec- 
tion ;  the  curve  line  H  F  F',  which 
touches  all  the  reflected  rays  (pro- 
duced, if  necessary),  is  called  the 
catacaustic,  or  caustic  by  reflection. 
Diacaustics  are  produced  in  a  way 
entirely  similar.  Thus:  Suppose 
rays,  B  M,  B  M',  &c.  (Jig.  2),  issu- 
ing from  a  luminous  point  B,  to  be 
refracted  by  the  curve  A  M  M',  so 
that  the  sines  of  incidence  are  to 
the  sines  of  refraction  in  a  constant 
given  ratio  ;  then  the  curve  H  F  F', 
which  touches  all  the  refracted 
rays,  is  called  the  diacaustic,  or 
caustic  by  refraction. 
The  term  causticYms  been  applied  to  these  curves  because 
the  rays  of  light  being  collected  along  the  curve  in  a  greater 
quantity  than  elsewhere,heat  is  produced,  particularly  if  the 
collection  of  rays  is  considerable.  In  parabolic  mirrors, 
when  the  luminous  rays  strike  the  mirrors  in  a  direction 
parallel  to  the  axis,  the  caustic  merges  in  a  single  point, 
which  is  the  focus  of  the  mirror.  All  the  conic  sections 
have  this  property,  that  luminous  rays  issuing  from  one  fo- 
cus are  reflected  by  the  curve  into  the  other  focus  ;  but  in 
respect  of  all  other  curves,  the  several  reflected  pencils 
are  collected,  not  into  a  single  point,  but  into  a  series  of 
brilliant  points  or  foci,  the  assemblage  of  which  forms  a 
bright  curved  track,  or  caustic,  which  is  mathematically 
defined  as  above. 

The  attention  of  geometers  was  first  called  to  this  species 
of  curve  lines  by  Tchirnhausen,  who  demonstrated  some 
of  their  properties  to  the  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Paris  in 
1682.  One  property,  common  to  all  of  them,  is  remark- 
able ;  namely,  that  when  the  curves  by  which  they  are 
produced  are  algebraic,  the  caustics  are  rectifiable ;  in 
other  words,  straight  lines  can  be  found  to  which  they  are 
equal.  In  fact,  any  portion  H  F  of  the  catacaustic  (  fig.  1) 
is  equal  to  the  difference  between  the  sums  of  B  M  and 
M  F,  and  B  A  and  A  H ;  or  H  F=B  M+M  F— (B  A+A  H). 
In  the  diacaustic  (fig.  2),  we  have  for  the  length  of  the 
curve  H  F=A  H— Si  F— n  (B  M— B  A),  where  n  is  the  con- 
stant ratio  of  the  sine  of  incidence  to  refraction.  If,  there- 
fore, the  lengths  of  the  radii  and  tangents  can  be  expressed 
algebraically,  the  length  of  the  caustic  can  also  be  exhibit- 
ed by  an  algebraic  expression.  This  circumstance  having 
been  noticed  before  the  invention  of  the  infinitesimal  cal- 
culus, excited  much  interest  among  mathematicians,  be- 
cause it  was  then  generally  imagined  that  no  curve  line 
could  be  rectified. 

The  catacaustic  may  be  experimentally  exhibited  by  ex- 
posing the  inside  of  a  smooth  bowl,  containing  any  liquid 
not  diaphanous  (milk,  for  example,  or  still  better,  ink)  to 
the  sunbeams,  or  any  strong  light.  The  caustic,  which  in 
this  case  is  an  epicycloid,  will  appear  beautifully  delineated 
on  the  surface  of  the  fluid.  Another  experiment,  proposed 
by  Sir  David  Brewster,  exhibits  the  curves  still  more  strik- 
ingly. Take  a  plate  of  polished  metal,  thin  enough  to  be 
bent  easily  into  a  concave  form,  and  place  it  perpendicular- 
ly on  a  sheet  of  white  paper.  If  we  expose  this  apparatus 
to  the  sun,  holding  the  plane  of  the  paper  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  it  may  pass  near  the  sun,  without,  however,  inter- 
secting it,  the  caustic  will  be  exhibited,  on  the  paper  as  a 
well-defined  curve  of  light.  The  interior  part  will  be  more 
brilliant  than  the  exterior,  and  the  light  will  diminish  gra- 
dually and  very  rapidly  at  a  little  distance  from  the  caus- 
tic. By  varying  the  size  of  the  plate,  and  bending  it  into 
curves  of  different  shapes,  all  the  different  kinds  of  cata- 
caustics, with  their  points  of  inflexion,  &c,  will  be  beauti- 
fully developed.  (Breicster's  Optic*.  Cabinet  Cyclopedia.) 
This  subject  being  intimately  connected  with  the  con- 
sideration and  dispersion  of  the  rays  of  light  by  reflecting 
and  refracting  surfaces,  is  of  great  importance  in  practic  1 
optics.  (De  la  Hire.  TYaite  des  Epicycloides ;  Smith's  Op- 
tics :  J.  Bernoulli,  Opera  Omnia,  vol.  iii. ;  L'Hopital,  Ana- 
lyse des  Infiniments  Fetits ;  Gergonne,  Annates  des  lUathe- 
matiqttes;  De  la  Rive,  Dissertation  sur  les  Caustiques  ; 
Ency.  Met,  art. li  Light.") 

CAU'STIC  LUNAR.     Fused  nitrate  of  silver. 
CAU'STICS.     Substances  which  corrode   and  destroy 
the  texture  of  the  skin  and  of  organized  bodies. 

CAUTERY.  The  ancients  divided  cauteries  into  actual 
and  potential.  The  former  term  is  applied  to  red-hot  iron ; 
the  latter  to  pure  potash. 

CAUTIONARY.  In  Scottish  Law,  is  the  obligation  by 
which  a  party  becomes  surety  for  another ;  answering  to 
the  English  term  guarantee.  It  is  defined  by  Stair,  '•  the 
promise  or  contract  of  a  man  not  for  himself  but  another." 
The  guarantor  is  termed  "cautioner." 

CAViE'DIUM.  (Lat.)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  an  open 
quadrangle  or  court  within  a  house.    The  cavaedia  describ- 


CAVALIER. 

cd  by  Vifruvius  are  of  five  species ;  Tuscanicum,  Corinthi- 
urn,  Tetrastylon  (with  four  columns),  Displuviatum  (un- 
covered),  and  Testudinatum  (vaulted).  Though  some  au- 
thors make  the  cavajdium  the  same  as  atrium  and  vestibu- 
lum,  it  was  essentially  different. 

CA'VALIER.  In  Fortification,  a  sort  of  interior  bastion, 
several  feet  more  elevated  than  the  principal  bastion  of  the 
fortress  in  which  it  is  formed.  The  use  of  the  cavalier  is 
twofold  :  it  serves  either  to  defilade  the  works  from  the 
fire  of  an  enemy  on  an  adjacent  height,  or  to  command 
the  trenches  of  the  besiegers.  Cavaliers  are  sometimes 
constructed  in  the  gorges,  or  on  the  middle  of  the  curtain, 
and  their  form  is  the  semicircular ;  but  when  they  are 
within  the  bastion  they  are  now  built  with  straight  faces 
and  flanks  parallel  to  those  of  the  work  in  which  they  are 
placed.  French  cavaliers  are  works  raised  by  the  besie- 
gers on  the  glacis  of  a  fortress,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling 
them  to  direct  a  fire  of  musketry  into  the  covered  way. 

Cavalier  (derived  probably  from  the  Latin  word  cabal- 
lus,  a  pack-horse),  was  used  originally  in  a  general  sense 
for  a  horse  soldier ;  but  the  term  has  acquired  historical 
importance  from  its  having  been  applied  to  the  adherents 
of  Charles  I.  in  contradistinction  to  the  Roundheads  (quod 
vide),  the  supporters  of  the  parliament. 

CA'VALRY.  (Kr.)  A  body  of  soldiers  furnished  with 
horses  for  war.  This  arm  can  boast  of  high  antiquity,  and 
is  so  peculiarly  useful  and  necessary  for  a  great  variety  of 
operations,  that  it  has  in  all  ages  been  held  by  the  greatest 
generals  in  high  estimation.  The  efficacy  of  cavalry  arises 
principally  from  its  adaptation  to  speedy  movements, 
which  enables  a  commander  to  avail  himself  immediately 
of  a  decisive  moment  when  the  enemy  exposes  a  weak 
point,  or  when  disorder  appears  in  his  ranks,  for  complet- 
ing his  defeat  by  disconcerting  him  by  a  sudden  attack. 
It  i  ingularly  useful  in  protecting  the  wings  and  centre  of 
an  army,  for  furnishing  detachments,  for  escorts,  for  form- 
ing blockades,  for  intercepting  the  supplies  of  the  enemy, 
for  foraging,  for  procuring  intelligence,  for  covering  a  re- 
treat, <&c.  The  successful  services  which  troops  of  this 
description  have  performed,  and  the  number  of  di 
advantages  which  have  been  obtained  by  moans  of  them 
in  the  most  important  battles  of  which  history  ancient  and 
modern  furnishes  the  details,  prove  incontestably  the  utili- 
ty of  this  arm.  The  use  of  cavalry,  however,  is  ni 
rily  limited  by  the  nature  of  the  ground.  Open  and  level 
countries  are  favourable  to  its  operations :  in  forests,  in 
mountainous  districts,  on  a  marshy  soil,  <fcc.  it  is  but  of 
little  avail.  Among  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  the  cavalry 
was  regarded  as  the  most  respectable  class  of  troop 
its  ranks  were  supplied  especially  from  the  elite  of  the 
nobility.  In  the  middle  ages  a  similar  feeling  seems  to 
have  prevailed;  for,  in  the  early  French  monarchy,  and 
in  the  Anglo-Saxon  kingdoms  of  Britain,  the  men  of  wealth 
and  noble  birth  distinguished  themselves  in  the  field  from 
those  of  inferior  rank  by  being  well  armed  and  mounted 
on  horses  ;  and  from  the  mode  of  warfare  then  pr 
as  well  as  from  the  peculiarities  adopted  in  the  <.<  _ 
tion  of  troops,  cavalry  constituted  almost  the  only  efficient 
arm  of  battle  down  to  the  introduction  of  Standing  armies. 

The  invention  of  gunpowder,  ami  the  subsequent  em- 
ployment of  artillery  in  the  field,  deprived  the  heavy- 
armed  cavalry  of  those  times  of  all  the  advantages  it  pos- 
sessed over  the  infantry,  and  rendered  its  movements 
awkward  and  inefficient.  It  was  reserved,  however,  for 
Gustavus  Adolphus  to  show  the  real  utility  of  this  arm  by 
discovering  the  services  on  which  it  should  properly  be 
employed,  and  by  Stripping  it  of  all  unnecessary  encum- 
brances, to  supersede  by  rapidity  of  motion  the  value  it 
formerly  possessed  in  weight.  Since  that  time  cavalry 
has  often  turned  the  scale  of  fortune  in  war:  the  battle  of 
Rosshaeh,  for  instance,  in  17j",  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
victories  either  of  ancient  or  modern  times,  was  entirely 
decided  by  this  arm. 

Modern  cavalry  consists  of  two  grand  classes — heart/ 
and  light  horse;  which  are  again  susceptible  of  further 
subdivisions,  according  to  the  purposes  to  which  they  are 
subservient.  The  British  cavalry  consists  of  two  regiments 
of  life  guards,  the  royal  regiment  of  horse  guards,  seven 
regiments  of  dragoon  guards,  and  seventeen  regiments  of 
light  dragoons,  of  which  four  are  called  hussars  and  four 
lancers.  (For  the  history,  use,  accoutrements,  and  arms 
of  these  different  branches,  see  the  separate  articles.)  A 
regiment  of  cavalry  is  divided  into  four  squadrons,  and 
each  of  these  into  two  troops.  A  troop  consists  of  SO  men  ; 
and  to  each  troop  there  is  attached  a  captain,  a  lieutenant, 
and  a  cornet. 

CAVATI'NA.  at.  dimin.  of  cavata,  cutoff.)  In  Music, 
a  species  of  air,  generally  short,  and  having  neither  a  re- 
peat nor  second  strain,  often  inserted  in  obligato  recita- 
tives. The  sudden  changes  from  recitative  to  a  measured 
movement  and  the  reverse  are  useful  in  producing  ex- 
pression. 

CA'VEA.     (Lat.)    In  Ancient  Architecture,  the  subter- 
ranean cells  in  an  amphitheatre  wherein  the  wild  beasts 
205 


CELIBACY. 

were  confined  in  readiness  for  the  fights  of  the  arena.  In 
the  end,  the  amphitheatre  itself,  by  synechdoche,  was 
called  cavea;  in  which  sense  it  is  employed  byAmmianus 
Marcellinus:  "  Alter  in  amphitheatrali  cavea  cum  adfutu- 
rus  spectaculis  introiret."    Lib.  xxix.  cap.  1. 

CA'VEAT.  In  Law,  a  notice  or  caution  given  by  a 
party  interested  to  a  judge  or  other  officer,  in  order  to 
stay  proceedings  by  him ;  as,  in  the  spiritual  courts,  a  ca- 
veat is  put  in  to  stop  the  granting  of  probate  or  administra- 
tion. 

CAVE'TTO.  (Lat.  cavus,  hollow.)  In  Architecture,  a 
hollowed  moulding,  whose  profile  is  a  quadrant  of  a  circle  : 
it  is  principally  used  in  cornices. 

CA'VIA.  The  Linna?an  generic  name  of  a  Cuvierian 
family  of  Rodents,  including  the  guinea-pig, — Agouti,  Paca, 
and  Capibara. 

CAVIA'RE.  The  salted  roe  of  the  sturgeon,  much  es- 
teemed by  the  Russians  as  an  article  of  food  ;  it  is  an  oily 
unwholesome  article. 

CA'VICORNS,  Caricornia.  (Lat.  cavus,  hollow,  and 
cornu,  horn.)  The  name  of  the  tribe  of  Ruminants  com- 
prehending those  which  have  the  horns  hollowed  out  like 
a  sheath  and  implanted  on  bony  processes  of  the  os  frontis, 
as  in  the  antelope. 

CA'VITARIES,  Entozoa  cavitaria.  (Lat.  cavitas,  a  hol- 
low.) Intestinal  worms,  or  Entozoa,  which  have  an  intes- 
tinal canal  floating  in  a  distinct  abdominal  cavity. 

CAY'MAN.  or  CAIMAN.  A  name,  says  Marcgrave,  ap- 
plied to  the  crocodiles  by  the  negroes  of  Congo.  Accord- 
ing to  Bontias  it  was  originally  derived  from  an  eastern 
dialect  (per  totam  Indiam  cayman  audit).  It  appears, 
however,  that  Marcgrave  is  correct;  for  the  negroes  in 
the  West  Indies  have  been  heard  to  call  the  crocodiles 
which  they  have  seen  there  for  the  first  time  caiman;  and 
the  name  has  been  diffused  over  the  new  continent  by  the 
negroes,  and  applied  to  most  of  the  American  species  in- 
discriminately. It  is  restricted  by  C'uvier  to  the  alligators. 
See  \  i  i.ic-.ATOR. 

CE'DKELA'CI'.-E.  (Cedrela,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
very  important,  though  small,  natural  order  of  plants,  al- 
lied to  Meliacem,  from  which  they  differ  in  having  winged 
indefinite  seed.  Most  of  the  species  are  trees  of  large 
size.  Swiett  nia  mahogani  yields  mahogany,  in  the  woods 
of  the  Spanish  main  ;  Chloroxyhm  stoietenia,  Indian  satin- 
wood  :  while  the  yellow  wood  and  the  cedar  of  New  Hol- 
land are  the  produce  of  others.  In  general  I  heir  bark  is 
powerfully  astringent ;  that  of  Soymida/ebrifiiga  and  ma- 
hogany itself  is  a  potent  febrifuge  ;  that  of  Cedrela  toona  is 
a  most  valuable  tonic  in  the  Malayan  archipelago ;  and 
Khaya  yields  a  similar  remedy  for  the  dan- 

gerous levers  of  the  Gold  Coast. 

CE'll.INt;.  (I'r.  ceil,  a  canopy  or  covering.)  In  Archi- 
tecture, the  upper  horizontal  or  curved  surface  of  an  apart  - 
ment  opposite  the  floor,  usually  finished  with  plastered 
work.  In  executing  ceiling  the  best  mode  is  that  in  which 
the  setting  coat  is  composed  of  putty  and  plaster,  techni- 
cally called  guusre.  Common  ceilings  are  executed  with 
plaster  without  hair,  the  same  as  the  finishing  coat  in  walls 
lefl  for  paper. 

(  i;i.ASTI;a'('I:.E  (Celastrus,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  shrubby  Ezogens,  formerly  confounded 
with  RharrmaceeB,  but  separated  by  Brown,  chiefly  because 
of  the  relation  that  the  stamens  bear  to  the  petals  and  the 
different  aestivation  of  the  calyx.  Allied,  according  to 
Brongniart,  ti  -  s,  through  HqppocratecB,  a  small 

orderwhich  scarcely  differs  from  this  order.  Celastraecas 
are  natives  of  the  warmer  climates,  especially  of  the  tro- 
pics, and  their  general  characters  appear  to  be  of  a  stimu- 
lating acrid  nature:  none  of  any  popular  interest. 

CE'LERES.  (Lat.  celer,  sicift.)  In  Ancient  History, 
the  body  of  cavalry  instituted  by  Romulus  when  he  settled 
the  constitution  of  Rome.  They  consisted  of  those  among 
the  citizens  who  were  rich  enough  to  furnish  a  horse. 
They  are  said  to  have  been  300  in  number,  and  to  have 
been  subdivided  into  three  centuries,  under  the  name  of 
Ramnes,  Titienses,  and  Luceres ;  but  this  seems  to  pro- 
ceed on  the  false  supposition  that  the  three  tribes  known 
by  these  names  were  among  the  institutions  of  Romulus. 
The  number  of  the  centuries  of  the  Celeres  was  raised  to 
six  by  Tarquinius  Priscus :  this  was  the  origin  of  the 
Equites  or  knights,  who  in  after-times  formed  a  separate 
class  of  citizens. 

CE'LIBACY.  (Lat.  cjelebs,  unmarried.)  The  legal 
condition  of  unmarried  persons.  This  condition  was  sub- 
jected by  the  laws  of  the  Roman  emperors  to  a  variety  of 
penal  consequences.  The  most  remarkable  of  their  en- 
actments, and  that  on  which  the  subsequent  jurisprudence 
on  this  subject  was  in  a  great  measure  founded,  was  the 
Lpi  Julia  or  Papia-Poppasa,  enacted  under  the  authori- 
zation of  Augustus.  By  these  laws  unmarried  persons 
could  receive  nothing  by  will  from  strangers,  and  were 
subjected  to  many  other  legal  disabilities  (see  Law,  Ro- 
man) ;  from  which,  however,  they  were  successively  re- 
lieved by  later  laws  passed  in  the  decline  of  the  empire, 


CELL. 

and  especially  after  the  mistaken  zeal  of  the  Christian  di- 
vines of  that  age  had  invested  celibacy  with  attributes  of 
sanctity.  It  was  at  an  early  period  in  the  history  of  the 
Christian  church  that  ministers  were  exhorted  to  celibacy 
by  those  who  laid  claims  to  a  higher  degree  of  sanctity. 
At  the  Council  of  Nice,  in  a.  d.  325,  the  proposition  to  en- 
force it  as  a  general  law  was  rejected.  But  at  that  of 
Aries,  in  340,  it  was  adopted ;  married  persons  being  in- 
deed held  admissible  into  the  church,  but  only  on  the 
terms  of  separating  from  their  wives  on  ordination.  It  had 
become  the  common  practice  of  the  Latin  church  in  the 
reign  of  Gregory  the  Great  (end  of  the  6th  century),  and 
was  more  fully  enforced,  after  a  period  of  relaxation,  in 
the  11th.  It  was  proposed  to  the  Council  of  Trent  by 
Charles  V.  (in  the  interim),  that  married  priests  should  re- 
tain their  wives ;  but  this  was  rejected.  In  the  Greek 
church,  celibacy  was  ordained  for  bishops  at  the  council 
ofTralle,  a.  D.  695;  but  clergymen  below  the  degree  of 
episcopacy  are  allowed  to  marry.  Hence  the  higher  dig- 
nities of  that  church  are  necessarily  filled  by  monks. 

CELL.  (Lat.  cella.)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  the  part 
of  a  temple  within  the  walls;  also  called  the  naos.  The 
part  of  the  temple  in  front  of  the  cell  was  called  the  pronaos, 
and  that  in  the  rear  the  posticum. 

CE'LLAR.  (Fr.  cellier.)  In  Architecture,  the  lower 
story  of  a  building,  when  wholly  or  partly  under  the  level 
of  the  ground. 

CE'LLEPORES,  CELLEPORiE.  (Lat.  cella,  a  cell; 
porus,  a  pore.)  A  genus  of  flexible  cellular  Polyps,  inclu- 
ding those  in  which  each  of  the  cells  is  pierced  with  a 
minute  pore. 

CE'LLULAR  TISSUE.  A  substance  consisting  of  little 
bladders  or  vesicles  of  various  figures  adhering  together 
in  masses.  It  constitutes  the  principal  part  of  all  plants, 
and  may  be  regarded  as  an  organic  basis,  into  which  other 
kinds  of  tissue  are  introduced,  or  from  which  they  are 
created.  It  exists  exclusively  in  the  embryo  of  a  plant  un- 
til vitality  has  been  excited,  and  new  forms  of  tissue  devel- 
oped in  consequence.     Si-e  Botany. 

CEME'NT.  (Lat.  cementum.)  In  Architecture,  the 
medium  for  causing  the  adherence  of  stones  or  bricks  to 
each  other,  formed  of  lime,  sand,  and  water.  The  best 
cement  is  obtained  from  limestone,  in  preference  to  chalk ; 
and  the  sand  best  adapted  to  the  formation  of  it  is  that  of 
a  river,  called  drift  sand. 

Cement.  In  Anatomy,  the  substance  which  joins  toge- 
ther the  plates  of  compound  teeth,  like  those  of  the  ele- 
phant, and  which  fills  up  the  folds  and  cavities  in  the  teeth 
of  Ruminants  and  Pachyderms  ;  and  which  also  covers  all 
that  part  of  a  simple  tooth  which  is  not  coated  with  enam- 
el. The  cement  is  characterized,  like  true  bone,  by  the 
presence  of  the  Purkinjian  corpuscles. 

Cem"nt,  Parker's.     See  Septaria. 

CEMENT A'TION.  When  a  solid  body  is  surrounded 
by  the  powder  of  other  substances,  and  the  whole  heated  to 
redness,  the  process  is  termed  cementation.  Iron  is  said 
to  be  converted  into  steel  by  cementation  with  charcoal. 

CE'METERY.  (Gr.  Ktipai,  I  lie  dead.)  In  Architec- 
ture, an  edifice  or  area  where  the  dead  are  interred.  The 
most  celebrated  public  cemeteries  of  Europe  are  those  of 
Naples,  one  near  Bologna,  of  Pisa,  and  the  more  modern 
Parisian  one  of  Pere  la  Chaise.  That  of  Pisa  is  particu- 
larly distinguished  by  the  beauty  of  its  form  and  architec- 
ture, which  is  early  Italian  Gothic.  It  is  490  feet  long,  170 
feet  wide,  and  60  feet  high,  cloistered  round  the  four  sides, 
and  contains  50  ship-loads  of  earth,  which  the  Pisans 
brought  from  Jerusalem.  It  was  long  matter  of  complaint 
and  regret  that  England  possessed  no  public  cemeteries  ; 
and  in  the  year  1832  a  company  was  formed  in  London 
with  the  view  of  supplying  this  desideratum.  The  land 
selected  for  the  first  experiment  contains  in  extent  about 
50  acres,  and  is  situated  at  Kensal  Green  on  the  south  of 
the  Harrow  road.  This  receptacle  for  the  dead  is  denom- 
inated "  All  Souls  Cemetery  ;"  and  whether  we  regard  the 
good  taste  or  the  public  spirit  displayed  by  its  projectors, 
it  is  well  entitled  to  the  support  of  the  community.  (See 
the  British  Cydopadia.)  Since  that  time  various  cemete- 
ries have  been  designed  and  formed  in  different  parts  of 
the  country  ;  and  there  is  every  ground  to  believe  that,  in- 
dependently of  other  advantages,  the  benefits  which  can- 
not fail  to  accrue  to  the  health  of  large  towns,  particularly, 
from  schemes  of  this  nature,  will  ultimately  lead  to  their 
general  adoption.  In  the  Companion  to  the  British  Alma- 
nac for  1839,  there  is  an  excellent  description  of  the  Nor- 
tcood  and  High  gate  cemeteries,  and  some  of  the  previous 
numbers  of  the  same  publication  contain  an  account  of 
all  similar  works  in  England  then  in  progress  or  com- 
Dieted. 

CENO'BIO.  A  term  invented  by  Mirbel  to  denote  a 
regular  fruit,  divided  from  the  base  into  several  acephalous 
pericarpia;  that  is  to  say,  pericarpia  not  marked  on  the 
summit  by  the  stigmatic  scar,  the  style  having  been  insert- 
ed at  their  base,  as  in  Labialce,  Boraginaceat. 
CE'NOTAPH.  (Gr.  Ktvos,  empty,  and  raipoj,  a  sepid- 
206 


CENTRAL  FORCE. 

chre.)  In  Architecture,  a  monument  erected  to  the  mem- 
ory of  a  person  who  lies  interred  elsewhere. 

CE'NSOR.  In  Ancient  History,  the  title  of  two  Roman 
magistrates  originally  created  for  the  purpose  of  takingthe 
census,  or  register  of  the  number  and  property  of  citizens. 
But  their  powers  were  much  increased  subsequently, 
when  they  had  the  inspection  of  the  morals  of  the  citizens 
committed  to  them,  with  authority  to  degrade  senators 
and  knights  from  their  respective  orders,  and  remove 
other  citizens  from  their  tribes,  depriving  them  of  all 
their  privileges  except  liberty  ;  which  was  termed  ma- 
king them  iErarians.  They  had  also  the  power  of  making 
contracts  for  public  buildings  and  the  supply  of  victims  for 
sacrifices. 

The  office  of  censor  was  not  a  permanent  one,  but  was 
renewed  from  time  to  time,  as  its  functions  were  felt  to  be 
needed  in  the  state.  It  was  always  filled  by  consulars  of 
the  highest  merit,  and  was  esteemed  an  honour  even 
greater  than  that  of  the  consulate  itself;  no  person  might 
be  twice  invested  with  it;  and  if  one  of  the  censors  died, 
another  was  not  substituted  in  his  room,  but  his  surviving 
colleague  was  obliged  to  resign.  The  office  of  censor  was 
abolished  under  the  emperors,  who,  however,  exercised 
the  greater  part  of  its  functions.  It  was  attempted  to  be 
revived  in  the  person  of  Valerian  by  Decius,  but  he  was 
cut  off  before  he  could  accomplish  his  purpose. 

CE'NSUS.  In  Ancient  History,  a  population  return  of 
the  Roman  citizens,  including  a  valuation  of  each  man's 
property,  and  a  registration  of  his  tribe,  family,  children, 
and  servants. 

The  secondary  senses  of  the  word  are,  a  tax  levied  ac- 
cording to  the  above-mentioned  valuation  ;  and  the  amount 
of  any  individual's  properly.  A  senator's  census  was  the 
amount  of  property  necessary  for  a  member  of  the  senate, 
which  was  equal  to  between  .£0000  and  £7000  of  our  mo- 
ney ;  but  this  was  raised  by  Augustus  to  about  £10,000.  A 
knight's  census  was  something  more  than  £3000. 

The  term  census,  in  modern  political  phraseology,  sig- 
nifies an  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  of  a  country  ;  such 
as  has  taken  place  in  England  by  an  act  of  parliament  in 
1801,  1811.  1821,  1831,1841. 

CE'NTAURS.  In  Greek  Mythology,  a  fabulous  race  of 
beings,  half  man  and  half  horse,  who  are  said  to  have  in- 
habited part  of  Thessaly,  and  waged  constant  war  with  the 
hostile  tribe  of  Lapitha?. 

CENTAU'RUS,  the  CENTAUR.  One  of  the  forty  eight 
ancient  constellations  formed  by  Ptolemy,  situated  in  the 
southern  hemisphere,  and  under  the  tail  of  Hydra.  The 
Centaur  is  represented  as  half  man,  half  horse  ;  the  human 
part  onlv  of  the  figure  is  visible  above  our  horizon. 

CE'NTERING.  (Lat.  centrum.)  In  Architecture,  the 
temporary  woodwork  or  framing  on  which  any  vaulted 
work  is  constructed  ;  sometimes  called  also  a  centre. 

CE'NTIGRADE  DIVISION.  The  division  into  grades 
or  degrees  by  hundredth  parts.  A  unit  of  any  denomina- 
tion being  divided  into  100  equal  parts,  forms  a  centi- 
grade scale  ;  but  the  term  most  frequently  occurs  in  sci- 
entific works,  in  reference  to  the  French  division  of  the 
scale  of  the  thermometer.  The  fixed  points  of  the  fher- 
mometric  scale  are  the  points  at  which  water  freezes  on 
the  one  hand,  and  boils  on  the  other ;  the  distance  be- 
tween these  two  points  being  divided  into  100  degrees, 
the  centigrade  scale  is  formed.  In  Fahrenheit's  scale, 
which  is  usually  applied  to  the  thermometer  in  this  coun- 
try, the  same  distance  is  divided  into  ISO  degrees ;  a  de- 
gree of  the  centigrade  scale  is  therefore  greater  than  a  de- 
gree of  Fahrenheit  in  the  proportion  of  ISO  to  100,  or  of  9  to 
5.  Any  number  of  degrees,  therefore,  on  the  centigrade 
scale,  being  multiplied  by  9  and  divided  by  5,  will  give  the 
equivalent  number  of  degrees  of  Fahrenheit.  But  in  com- 
paring temperatures  expressed  by  the  two  scales,  it  is  ne- 
cessary to  recollect  that  the  zero  of  Fahrenheit's  scale  is 
not  placed  at  the  freezing  point,  but  32°  below  it.  An  ex- 
ample will  best  show  how  this  is  to  be  taken  into  account. 
Let  it  be  required  to  express  on  Fahrenheit's  scale  the 
temperature  corresponding  to  10°  centigrade.  Here  10  X 
9  -;-  5  =  18  ;  to  this  add  32,  and  we  have  18  +  32  =  50 ;  so 
that  10  degrees  of  the  centigrade  scale  correspond  to  50  de- 
grees of  Fahrenheit's. 

CE'NTIPEDE.  (Lat.  centum,  alnmdred,and  pes,/oo«.) 
The  name  of  the  Myriapodus  insects  belonging  to  the  ge- 
nus Scolopendra  of  Linnaeus.  They  are  wingless  ;  and  the 
largest  species  possess,  when  full  grown,  more  than  fifty 
and  less  than  two  hundred  pairs  of  feet. 

CE'NTO.  (Gr.  Ktvrptov,  a  patc/iicork  cloak- or  garment.) 
A  word  employed  to  designate  a  collection  of  separate 
verses  from  the  works  of  one  or  more  poets,  arranged  so 
as  to  form  a  distinct  poem.  The  only  classical  example 
of  a  cento  left  to  us  is  that  of  Ausonius,  who  composed  a 
nuptial  idyll  out  of  Virgilian  verses ;  in  which,  however, 
the  words  are  also  perverted  into  a  new  meaning.  In  his 
prologue  to  this  piece  Ausonius  describes  the  cento,  and 
gives  rules  for  its  composition. 

CE'NTRAL  FORCE.    The  power  or  energy  in  virtue 


CENTRAL  FORCE. 


of  which  bodies  in  motion  tend  to  approach,  or  recede 
from,  a  centre.  Hence  central  forces  are  of  two  kinds ; 
centrifugal  (Lat.  fngere,  to  avoid),  when  the  moving  body 
tends  to  recede  from  the  centre ;  and  centripetal  (Lat. 
petere,  to  seek),  when  the  body  tends  to  approach  it. 

It  is  a  general  law  of  matter,  that  all  bodies  tend  to  move 
in  a  straight  line  ;  consequently,  when  a  body  moves  in 
a  curve,  there  must  necessarily  be  some  force  which  acts 
upon  it,  and  deflects  it  from  the  rectilinear  direction,  and 
constrains  it  to  move  in  the  curve;  and  if  this  force  were 
removed,  or  its  action  suspended,  the  body  would  imme- 
diately fly  off  in  a  straight  line,  forming  a  tangent  to  the  curve 
at  the  point  in  which  it  was  moving  when  the  force  ceased 
to  act.  A  stone  whirled  rapidly  round  the  hand  in  a  sling 
affords  a  familiar  illustration.  The  effort  with  which  it 
tends  to  tly  off  is  the  centrifugal  force  ;  the  reaction  of  the 
hand,  communicated  through  the  string,  may  be  regarded 
as  a  centripetal  force,  which  confines  the  stone  to  its  circu- 
lar path.  When  the  string  is  let  slip,  the  centrifugal  force 
is  not  counteracted,  and  the  stone  flies  off  in  the  direction 
of  the,  tangent. 

The  laws  of  central  forces,  of  the  greatest  importance  in 
the  theory  of  the  planetary  revolutions,  were  first  proposed 
by  Huygens,  in  his  celebrated  work,  entitled  Horohgium 
Oscillatorium.  The  case  which  it  is  most  important  to  ana- 
lyse is  that  of  a  body  moving  in  the  circumference  of  a  cir- 
cle with  a  uniform  velocity.  To  find  an  expression  for  the 
centrifugal  force  of  a  body  revolving  uniformly  in  a  cir; 
cle,  let  7'  =  the  radius  of  the  circle,  r  =  the  velocity  of  the 
body,  and  let  A  B  be  the  arc  described  in  the 
infinitely  small  time  t  ;  we  have  then  (the 
space  described  being  as  the  velocity  and  the 
time  of  description)  A  B—Vt.  liutABbeing 
by  hypothesis  a  very  small  arc,  may  be  con- 
sidered as  equal  to  its  chord,  which  is  a  mean 
proportional  between  the  diameter  2r,  and 
the  versed  sine  A  C.  Hence,  AC  2r  =  A  B" 
?■'-  /-' 

=  »'  t',  and  consequently  A  C  =  — 5-7.  Now  A  C  is  the  ef- 
fect produced  by  the  central  force,  or  rather  the  accelerat- 
ing force  exerted  in  the  direction  of  the  centre  (that  which 
prevents  the  body  at  A  from  flying  off  in  the  direction  of 
the  tangent  A  D),  in  the  time  / ;  and  the  accelerating  force 
being  measured  by  the  quotient  whir],  is  obtained  by  divid- 
ing twice  the  space  described  by  the  square  of  the  time 
Dynamics,  Force),  the  accelerating  force  in  the  direc- 
2AC 
(ion  of  the  centre  becomes — 7^—.  Calling  this  central  force 

V* 
/,  and  substituting  for  A  C  its  value,  we  find/=  —  ;  that  is 

to  say,  the  central  force  of  a  body  describing  a  circle  with 
a  uniform  velocity  is  directly  proportional  to  the  square  of 
tie  velocity,  and  inversely  as  the  radius  of  the  circle. 

This  expression  may  be  put  under  a  different  form.  Let 
(  =  the  time  required  to  describe  the  whole  circumference 

27rr,  and  we  have  2  Trr  =  vt;  whence  v  =  — — '  anucon- 

4  tt2  r  c 

sequently  /=— 75 — •;  whence  the  central  force  is  directly 

as  the  radius  of  the  orbit,  and  inversely  as  the  square  of 
the  periodic  time. 

If  the  law  of  the  force  he  such  that  its  intensity  is  reci- 
procally proportional  to  the  square  of  the  distance  from  the 
centre,  then  the  squares  of  the  periodic  times  of  two  bodies 
describing  different  «  it  cli  ab  >ui  the  same  centre  are  pro- 
portional In  the  cubes  ol  the  distances.  For  let  F  and  /"be 
the  two  forces,  V  and  v  the  velocities  of  the  two  bodies, 
R  and  r  the  radii  of  their  circles,  and  T  and  t  the  times  re- 
spectively ;  then,  by  what  has  been  already  shown, 
Vs  t- 

f=r'/=7; 


but  by  hypothesis,  F  :  /  : 
therefore, 


r*  :  R- 


—  •  —  :  :  r* 
R      r 


:  R' 


but 


V3  :  v* 


R2 
fa 


therefore,  T2  :  ;a  :  :  R=  :  r3  ; 

or  the  squares  of  the  times  are  as  the  cubes  of  the  radii. 
This  remarkable  property  was  discovered  by  Kepler  to 
belong  to  the  planetary  orbits.     See  Kepler's  Laws. 

When  a  point  is  urged  by  one  accelerating  force  only, 
constantly  directed  towards  a  fixed  point,  the  path  will  be 
a  plane  curve,  and  the  areas  described  around  this  point  by 
the  radius  vector  are  proportional  to  the  times  employed 
in  describing  them.  Suppose  the  time  to  be  divided  into 
equal  portions,  and  that  in  the  first  portion  of  time  the 
body,  in  virtue  of  the  projectile  force  impressed  on  it, 
describes  the  line  A  B.  If  no  otherforce  acted  upon  it,  in  the 
second  portion  of  time  it  would  describe  B  C=AB;  there- 
207 


fore,  on  drawing  the  radii  A  S,  B  S,  C  S,  to 
the  centre  of  force,  the  triangles  A  S  B  and 
BSC  would  be  equal.  But  suppose  the 
central  force  acting  on  the  body  while  it 
would  move  from  B  to  C  to  act  instan- 
taneously at  B,  so  as  to  cause  the  body  to 
descend  through  B  V  ;  draw  V  D  parallel 
and  equal  to  B  C,  and  join  B  D,  then  at 
the  end  of  the  second  portion  of  time 
the  body  will  be  at  D.  Now  as  the  cen- 
tral force  acts  in  the  direction  B  V  in  the 
plane  of  A  SB,  the  body  must  continue 
to  move  In  that  plane  ;  and  on  joining  C  D  and  SD,  the  tri- 
angle BDS,  on  account  of  the  parallel  lines,  is  equal  to 
B  CS,  and  therefore  equal  to  A  B  S.  In  like  manner  it  may 
be  proved  that  if  E  be  the  point  at  which  the  body  arrives 
at  the  end  of  the  third  instant,  the  triangle  D  E  S  is  equal  to 
A  B  S.  Suppose,  therefore,  the  number  of  the  triangles  to 
become  infinitely  great,  and  their  areas  infinitely  small,  the 
path  of  the  body  will  become  a  curve  line;  and  the  ele- 
mentary spaces  being  proportional  to  the  elements  of  the 
time,  their  sums  or  integrals  must  continue  to  have  the 
same  proportion.     (Newton's  Principia,  Sect.  II.) 

From  this  proposition  it  follows,  that  when  a  body  des- 
cribes a  curve  in  virtue  of  a  central  force,  the  centrifugal 
force  at  every  point  varies  as  the  cube  of  the  distance  from 
the  centre,  whatever  the  nature  of  the  force  by  which  it  is 
attracted  to  the  centre  may  be.  For  let  A  B  and  a  b  be  the 
two  arcs  described  at  different  points  of  the 
curve  in  the  infinitely  small  time  /,  then  by 
the  proposition  just  demonstrated,  ASB  = 
I  aSb.  But  make  BC  and  be  respectively 
/,  perpendicular  to  S  A  and  S  a,  then  A  S  B  =  h 
V  A  S  X  B  • ',  and  i;S«  =  |aSX4c;  hence 
A  S  X  B  C  =  a  S  X  *  c  and  HC':  :  b  cs  :  : 
oS':A  Sa.  Now  BCa  =  2ASXAC 
(the  square  of  A  C  being  neglected  as  infi- 
nitely small),  and  6  c2  =  2  a  S  X  n  c  !  therefore,  A  SX 
AC  :  aSX.ac  :  :  a8*  :  AS3,  and  consequently 

AC:ac:  :  jgj  :  ^-gr 

But  A  C  is  the  measure  of  the  centrifugal  force  at  A,  and 

a c  is  its  measure  at  a;  therefore,   denoting  the  distances 

e  points  by  R  and  r,  we  have  the  centrifugal  force 


1 


1 


at  A  to  the  centrifugal  force  at  a,  as —  : 

RJ      r3 


Hence  we 


may  perceive  the  reason  why  a  body  in  moving  round  a 
centre  of  force  may  alternately  approach  to,  and  recede 
from,  that  centre,  as  the  planets  in  describing  elliptic  orbits 
about  the  sun.  Suppose  the  attractive  force,  like  gravity, 
to  vary  inversely  as  the  square  of  the  distance  from  the  at- 
tracting point  :  if  the  planet  approached  10  times  nearer  to 
the  sun, the  attractive  force  would  be  augmented  100  times  ; 
but  the  centrifugal  force  would  become  1000  limes  greater, 
and  consequently  there  must  be  some  point  at  which  this 
force  will  overcome  the  former,  and  determine  the  planet 
again  to  rei  ede. 

The  doctrine  of  centra]  forces  has  its  principal  applica- 
tion in  astronomy.  By  the  comparison  ofa  great  number 
of  planetary  observations,  Kepler  discovered  that  each  of 
the  planets,  while  its  distance  from  the  sun  is  variable, 
moves  in  such  a  manner  that  a  straight  line  drawn  from  it 
to  the  sun  describes  equal  areas  in  equal  limes.  But  this 
is  the  law  by  which  bodies  move  under  the  influence  ofa 
central  force  (as  is  demonstrated  above).  It  follows,  there- 
fore, that  the  force  by  which  the  planets  describe  their  or- 
bits is  a  central  force,  and  directed  to  a  point  within  the 
orbit.  Newton  demonstrated  that  the  velocities  of  a  body 
at  different  points  of  the  curve  which  it  describes  about 
a  centre  of  force,  are  inversely  as  the  perpendiculars  drawn 
from  the  centre  to  the  tangents  at  these  points.  The  com- 
parison of  this  proposition  with  the  elliptic  motion  of  the 
planets  leads  directly  to  the  conclusion  that  the  forces  by 
which  the  planetary  motions  are  sustained  are  directed 
to  the  centre  of  the  sun,  and  vary  inversely  as  the  squares 
of  the  distances  of  the  planets  from  that  body. 

Mathematicians  have  investigated  the  orbits  which  bo- 
dies must  describe  under  various  hypotheses  respecting 
the  law  of  the  central  force,  and  they  have  found  that 
there  are  only  two  cases  in  which  a  system  of  bodies  like 
the  sun  and  planets,  mutually  attracting  each  other,  could 
permanently  exist.  One  of  these  is  an  imaginary  case,  in 
which  the  force  varies  directly  as  the  distance  of  the  body ; 
the  other  is  the  case  presented  by  nature,  in  which  the 
force  follows  the  inverse  ratio  of  the  square  of  the  distance. 
In  all  other  cases  the  mutual  action  of  the  bodies  would 
produce  permanent  derangements,  which  at  length  would 
of  necessity  subvert  the  system. 

When  the  force  varies  inversely  as  the  square  of  the  dis- 
tance, the  orbit  which  is  described  about  a  fixed  centre 
must  necessarily  be  one  of  the  three  conic  sections;  but 
it  will  depend  upon  the  velocity  with  which  it  is  at  first 
projected  whether  the  orbit  be  an  ellipse,  a  parabola,  or  an 


CENTRE. 

hyperbola.  If  the  central  force  were  supposed  to  vary  as 
the  inverse  cube  of  the  distance,  a  body  would  describe  a 
circle  in  one  particular  case,  namely,  when  the  velocity  of 
projection  is  equal  to  that  which  would  be  acquired  by  fall- 
ing from  an  infinite  distance,  and  then  applied  in  a  direc- 
tion at  right  angles  to  the  radius  vector.  In  all  other  cases 
it  would  describe  a  spiral.  If  the  central  force  diminishes 
more  rapidly  than  the  inverse  cube  of  the  distance,  the  or- 
bit would  in  all  cases  describe  a  spiral ;  so  that  if  the  solar 
force  acted  according  to  a  law  of  this  sort,  every  planet 
would  at  length  either  fall  into  the  sun,  or  rly  off  to  an  infi- 
nite distance.  (Principia,  Book  I.  See  also  Herschel's 
Astronomy,  Cab.  Encyc.) 

CE'NTRE.  (Lat.  centrum.)  This  term  has  numerous 
applications  in  Geometry  and  Mechanics:  thus,  centre  of 
a  circle,  or  of  an  ellipse,  is  the  middle  point  of  any  diame- 
ter ;  centre  of  a  curve  is  the  point  where  two  diameters  in- 
tersect each  other  ;  and  in  mechanics  we  speak  of  centres 
of  attraction,  conversion,  equilibrium,  gravity,  percussion, 
oscillation,  &c. 

Centre  of  Attraction,  also  called  Centre  of  Gravita- 
tion, is  the  point  to  which  bodies  tend  in  consequence  of 
the  action  of  gravity. 

Centre  of  Conversion  is  the  point  in  a  body  about 
which  it  turns  when  a  force  is  applied  to  any  part  of  it,  or 
unequal  forces  to  its  different  parts.  For  example,  sup- 
pose a  rod  laid  on  a  table  to  be  struck  near  one  extremity 
in  a  direction  perpendicular  to  its  length;  the  rod  will  turn 
round,  but  there  will  be  one  point  in  it  which  remains  at 
rest,  or  about  which,  as  a  centre,  the  other  points  turn. 
This  point  is  the  centre  of  conversion. 

Centre  of  Equilibrium  of  a  system  of  bodies  is  a  point 
such  that  if  the  system  were  suspended  from  it,  the  whole 
would  remain  in  equilibrium.  Thus,  the  fulcrum  or  point 
of  support  of  a  lever  is  its  centre  of  equilibrium. 

Centre  of  Gravity.  A  term  employed  in  Mechanics 
to  denote  a  certain  point  in  the  interior  of  a  body,  or  sys- 
tem of  bodies  connected  with  each  other  in  an  invariable 
manner,  so  situated  that  any  plane  whatever  which  passes 
through  it  divides  the  body  into  two  segments  of  which 
the  weights  are  exactly  equal.  Hence,  if  the  centre  of 
gravity  of  any  body  or  system  of  bodies  be  sustained,  the 
whole  will  remain  at  rest ;  for  the  weights  on  both  sides  of 
a  vertical  plane  passing  through  the  point  of  support  being 
equal,  the  body  can  have  no  tendency  to  angular  motion. 

Let  there  be  a  system  of  bodies  A,  B,  C.  D,  E,  placed 
horizontally  in  the  same  straight  line, 

S  A  B  O  C  D  E 


and  connected  with  each  other  in  an  invariable  manner; 
and  suppose  O  to  be  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the  system : 
by  the  definition  of  the  centre  of  gravity,  if  the  system  is 
supported  at  O,  the  weights  on  both  sides  of  O,  or  the  ef- 
fort which  the  bodies  make  to  turn  about  that  point  on  op- 
posite sides  of  O,  will  exactly  counterbalance  each  other, 
and  the  whole  will  remain  at  rest.  But  the  effect  of  A  in 
turning  the  system  about  O  depends  on  the  quantity  of 
matter  in  A,  and  its  distance  from  O,  or  the  length  of  the 
arm  of  the  lever  at  the  extremity  of  which  it  acts.  The 
whole  effect  of  the  body  A  is  therefore  proportional  to  the 
mass  of  A  multiplied  into  the  length  of  the  line  O  A.  The 
same  reasoning  obviously  applies  to  each  of  the  other  bo- 
dies, B,  C,  D,  and  E  ;  consequently,  taking  these  letters  to 
represent  the  masses  of  the  bodies  respectively,  we  have, 
by  the  definition, 

A  O  A  4-  B  O  B  =  C  O  C  +  DO  D  +  E  O  E. 

Tsow  suppose  it  were  required  to  determine  from  this  pro- 
perty the  position  of  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the  united  bo- 
dies, or  its  distance  from  a  given  point  S  in  the  same 
straight  line :  on  making  SA  =  a,  SB  =  J,SC  =  c,  S  D 
=  d.  S  E  ■=.  e,  and  the  unknown  distance  SO=i,  we  shall 
have  OA  =  i-o,0  B  =  x  —  b,  O  C  =  c  —  x,  O  D  =  d  —  x, 
and  O  E  =  e  —  x.     Therefore  by  substitution, 

A(z  —  o)  +  B  (x  —  b)  =  C(c  —  x)  +  T>(d  —  :r)4-E(e  —  a); 
and  by  transposition, 
(A  +  B-(-C-rD-rE)i=aA  +  6B  +  cC+dD  +  eE; 

oA  +  SB  +  cC+riD+eE. 
whence  x  = A+B+c+D+E        ' 

that  is  to  say,  the  distance  of  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the 
given  system  from  a  given  point  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the 
products  of  all  the  masses  into  their  distances  from  the 
point  divided  by  the  sum  of  the  masses. 

It  is  obvious,  from  the  equation  now  given,  that  the  effect 
of  all  the  bodies  to  produce  motion  about  the  point  S,  is 
the  same  as  if  they  were  all  united  in  their  common  centre 
of  gravity  O.  It  is  also  obvious  that  the  form  of  the  equa- 
tion will  be  exactly  the  same,  whatever  may  be  the  num- 
ber of  bodies  belonging  to  the  system  ;  and  as  every  body 
may  be  regarded  as  composed  of  elementary  particles, 
the  reasoning  which  applies  to  a  system  of  particles,  con- 
208 


s 

P 

\   o 

/ 
V 

Ay 

0 

/ 

'       B^ 

*            yf 

CENTRE  OF  GRAVITY. 

nected  with  one  another  in  an  invariable  manner,  also  ap- 
plies to  solid  bodies  of  any  kind. 

The  bodies  composing  the  system  have  been  supposed 
to  be  arranged  in  a  straight  line  ;  but  the  centre  of  gravity 
will  be  found  precisely  in  the  same  manner,  whatever 
their  relative  situations  may  be.  Suppose  them  to  be  sit- 
uated all  in  the  same  plane,  and  that  their  centre  of  gravity 
is  O,  the  position  of  which  it  is  required  to  find.  Let  P  Q 
be  any  straight  line,  in  the  same  plane 
with  the  bodies,  passing  through  O  ; 
then  in  order  that  there  may  be  no 
tendency  to  motion  about  the  line  P 
Q..  the  sum  of  the  products  of  all  the 
bodies  on  one  side  of  PQ  into  their 
respective  distances  from  that  line, 
must  be  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  pro- 
ducts of  all  the  bodies  on  the  other 
side  of  P  Q.  into  their  respective  dis- 
tances. If,  therefore,  S  T  be  a  straight  line  parallel  to  P  Q. 
and  if  the  distances  of  A,  B,  C,  <fcc7  from  ST,  be  denoted 
respectively  by  a,  b,  c,  <&c,  and  the  distance  of  O  from 
the  same  line  by  x,  then  we  shall  have  as  before, 
a  A  +  6B  +  cC-r&c. 
X  ~  A  4-  B  +  C  4-  <kc. 
This  does  not  yet  give  us  the  centre  of  gravity  ;  but  it  gives 
its  distance  from  a  given  straight  line  ST,  and  consequent- 
ly gives  the  position  of  the  straight  line  P  Q,  in  which  the 
centre  of  gravity  is  situated.  If  then  we  draw  another 
line  S'  T',  and  denote  its  distances  from  A,  B,  C,  <fec,  by 
a',  b',  c',  <fcc,  respectively,  and  put  x'  equal  to  its  distance 
O  Q  from  O,  we  shall  have 

,      a'  A  +  b'  B  4-  c'  C  +  &c.  . 
x  —        A+B  +  C  +  &C.         ' 
and  consequently  the  position  of  another  straight  line  P'O.' 
passing  through  the  centre  of  gravity,  and  parallel  to  S'T'. 
Therefore,  the  centre  of  gravity  is  given  by  the  intersec- 
tion of  the  two  straight  lines  P  Q  and  P'  Q'. 

Lastly,  suppose  the  bodies  composing  the  system  not  to 
be  situated  all  in  the  same  plane.  In  this  case,  the  situa- 
tion of  each  of  the  given  bodies  must  be  referred  to  three 
planes  given  in  position  ;  and  it  is  most  convenient  to  as- 
sume three  planes  which  intersect  each  other  at  right  an- 
gles ;  one  of  them  horizontal,  and  consequently  the  other 
two  vertical.  Let  the  distances  of  the  given  bodies  A,  B.  C, 
<fcc.  from  the  given  horizontal  plane  be  respectively  a,  b,  c, 
&c. ;  their  distances  from  one  of  the  vertical  planes  a',  b', 
c',  <fec. ;  and  from  the  other,  a",  b",  c",  <kc. ;  then,  if  we 
take 

a  k  +  b  B+cC-f&c. 
x~      A  +  B  +  C  +  &C.     ' 
the  centre  of  gravity  is  in  a  horizontal  plane,  at  the  dis- 
tance x  from  the  given  horizontal  plane. 

,      a'  A  +  b'  B  -f  c'  C  +  &c. 
Take  also  x  = *  _i_  n  -u  f  ■  +  &c >and  the  cen- 
tre of  gravity  is  in  a  plane  parallel  to  the  first  of  the  two 
given  vertical  planes,  and  distant  from  it  by  the  line  x' . 

In  the  intersection  of  these  two  planes,  take  a  point 
distant  from  the  second  vertical  plane  by  a  quantity  x"  = 
a"  A  +  b"  B  +  c"  C  +  <tc. 

A  4-  B  -4-  C  4-  &c '  tu's  P°'nt  w'^  be  ^e  centre 

of  gravity  of  the  given  bodies. 

In  the  notation  of  the  differential  calculus,  these  formu- 
las are  expressed  as  follows  :— Letdzn  be  the  element  of 
the  mass,  the  co-ordinates  of  which,  referred  to  three  rec- 
tangular planes,  are  x,  y,  z ;  and  let  the  distances  of  the 
centre  of  gravity  of  the  mass  from  the  same  planes  be  re- 
spectively X,  Y,  Z  ;  then  the  position  of  that  centre  is  de- 
termined by  the  three  equations : 

■£ fx  d  m  y fy  d  m  7 f z  d  m 

J     m  J     m  J     m 

The  determination  of  the  centre  of  gravity  of  solids  in 
general  requires  the  application  of  the  integral  calculus, 
and  is  sometimes  effected  with  considerable  labour ;  there 
are,  however,  many  particular  cases  in  which  it  is  known 
immediately,  and  requires  no  calculation.  Thus,  the  cen- 
tre of  gravity  of  a  sphere  or  ellipsoid  is  evidently  at  the 
centre-of  the  figure  ;  that  of  a  parallelopiped  is  at  the  com- 
mon intersection  of  its  four  diagonals ;  that  of  a  cylinder 
with  parallel  ends  at  the  middle  of  its  axis.  The  centre 
of  gravity  of  a  circle  or  ellipse  is  also  at  the  centre  of  the 
figure;  and  that  of  a  parallelogram  at  the  intersection  of 
its  diagonals.  The  centre  of  gravity  of  a  straight  line  is  at 
the  middle  of  the  line,  whence  we  easily  find  that  of  the 
perimeter  of  any  polygon.  "  When  the  body  can  be  divi- 
ded into  two  parts,  their  common  centre  of  gravity  may 
be  found  by  dividing  the  distance  between  the  centres  of 
gravity  of  the  two  parts  in  the  reciprocal  proportion  of  their 
weights.  This  principle  may  be  extended  to  bodies  which 
are  more  complex.  Thus  the  centre  of  gravity  of  two  por- 
tions being  determined,  they  may  be  conceived  to  be  uni- 


CENTRE  OF  GYRATION,  AND  OF  OSCILLATION. 


ted  in  that  point,  and  connected  with  a  third  portion,  and 
the  centre  of  the  three  portions  found.  All  these  again 
may  be  supposed  collected  in  this  last  point,  and  made  to 
balance  against  a  fourth  position,  and  their  common  cen- 
tre of  gravity  computed.  In  this  way  the  process  may  by 
successive  steps  be  carried  to  any  extent,  and  whatever 
order  is  followed  the  result  will  be  always  the  same." 
(.Leslie's  Elements  of  Nat.  Phil.) 

The  centre  of  gravity  of  a  triangle  is  in  the  straight  line 
drawn  from  any  one  of  its  angles  to  bisect  the  opposite  side, 
and  at  the  distance  of  two-thirds  of  the  whole  line  from  the 
vertex.  The  centre  of  gravity  of  a  pyramid  is  in  the  straight 
line  drawn  from  the  vertex  to  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the 
base,  and  at  three-fourths  of  the  distance  of  this  line  from 
the  vertex.  The  centre  of  gravity  of  a  hemisphere  is  in 
the  diameter,  and  at  the  distance  of  five-eighths  of  the  ra- 
dius from  the  summit. 

The  centre  of  gravity  of  irregular  bodies  may  be  found 
mechanically  in  various  ways.  If  the  body  be  poised  in 
two  different  positions  on  a  sharp  edge,  the  vertical  drawn 
from  the  point  of  intersection  will  pass  through  the  centre 
of  gravity.  Or  if  a  loose  thread  or  string  have  its  ends  fast- 
ened to  two  distinct  points  of  the  body,  and  the  body  be 
thus  suspended  in  two  different  positions  from  a  fixed 
point,  the  verticals  let  fall  from  this  will  cross  in  the  centre 
of  gravity.  • 

It  is  a  remarkable  property  of  the  centre  of  gravity,  that 
if  a  plane  figure  be  generated  by  the  revolution  of  a  given 
line,  or  a  solid  by  the  revolution  of  a  given  plane  figure,  the 
area  in  the  first  case,  or  the  volume  in  the  second,  is  equal 
to  the  product  of  the  generating  quantity  into  the  length  of 
the  line  described  by  its  centre  of  gravity.  This  property, 
which  is  frequently  of  use  in  determining  the  quadrature 
of  curves  and  the  cubature  of  solids,  is  called  Guidin'a 
theorem  ;  though  it  is  found  In  the  Collections  of  Pappus. 

Another  elegant  geometrical  property  of  the  centre  of 
gravity  is,  that  in  any  given  plane  the  sum  of  the  squares 
of  the  distances  of  any  number  of  physical  points  from  their 
common  centre  of  gravity,  is  less  than  the  sum  of  the  squares 
of  their  distances  from  any  point  in  the  circumference  of 
a  circle  described  about  that  centre,  by  the  square  of  the 
radius  multiplied  by  the  number  of  those  points.  Bence 
it  follows  that  the  sum  of  the  squares  of  the  distances  of 
any  number  of  points  from  their  common  centre  of  gravity 
is  always  a  minimum. 

For  a  complete  explanation  of  the  method  of  applying 
the  calculus  to  the  determination  of  the  centre  of  gravity 
of  bodies,  we  refer  to  the  Traill  <b  Meeanique  of  Poisson. 
torn.  i.  The  subject  necessarily  occupies  a  part  of  every 
work  on  statics. 

Centre  of  Gyration  of  a  body,  or  system  of  bodies,  is 
a  point  in  which,  if  the  whole  mass  were  collected,  a  force 
applied  at  any  distance  from  the  axis  of  suspension  would 
Communicate  to  the  mass  thus  collected  the  same  angular 
velocity  that  it  would  have  communicated  to  the  system  in 
its  first  condition. 

It  is  evident  from  the  definition  that  the  point  in  question 
must  have  tl  lis  property,  that  if  the  whole  mass  were  united 
in  it,  the  moment  of  inertia,  or  the  power  of  resisting  the 
effort  of  any  force,  will  be  the  same  as  the  moment  of  in- 
ertia of  the  body  in  its  first  state.  Let,  therefore,  p 
A,  It,  and  C  be  a  system  of  bodies,  connected  in 
an  invariable  manner,  and  turning  about  an  axis  P. 
Let  a,  b,  and  c  be  the  respective  distances  of  A,  B, 
and  C  from  P  ;  and  conceive  X  to  be  another  body 
placed  at  a  distance  x  from  the  axis,  such  that  its  _ 
moment  of  inertia  is  equal  to  the  moment  of  iner-  _ ' 
tia  of  A.  Then,  by  the  principles  of  mechanics,  "^ 
the  moment  of  inertia  of  A  is  Aa?,  and  that  of  X 
is  X\rs;  therefore,  by  hypothesis,  Xi—A'd1. 
In  like  manner,  conceive  another  body  Y  to  be  placed  at 
the  distance  x  from  the  axis,  such  that  its  moment  of  in- 
ertia is  equal  to  that  of  B,  or  such  that  Y\r*  =  Bb'2 ;  and 
a  third  body  Z  be  placed  at  the  same  point,  such  that  Zi' 
=  C'f'.  Taking  the  sums  of  these  equals  we  have  (X  + 
Y  +  Z)  x2  =  Aa2  +  B.68  -f-  Cc".  Now  in  this  equation 
we  are  at  liberty  to  give  either  to  X  +  Y  -(-  Z  or  to  x  any 
value  we  please.  Let  us  then  suppose  X  -)-  Y  +  Z  =  A 
+  B  +  C  (which  is  evidently  the  same  as  supposing  all  the 
matter  in  the  system  united  at  the  point  whose  distance  is 
x),  and  we  shall  have 

x=  fA-»'+  B-6"+C-c'U 
V         A+B+C  / 

to  express  the  distance  of  the  centre  of  gyration  from  the 
axis. 

Centre  op  Oscillation  is  that  point  in  a  body,  oscil- 
lating about  a  fixed  axis,  into  which,  if  the  whole  mass 
were  collected,  the  body  would  vibrate  through  a  given 
angle  by  the  force  of  gravity  in  the  same  time  as  in  its  first 
condition. 

In  order  to  find  the  point  having  this  property,  conceive 
the  weights  A,  B,  and  C  fixed  to  a  slender  inflexible  rod, 
vibrating  about  the  point  S,  the  centre  of  oscillation  being 
203 


atO.  In  every  position  of  the  system,  the  tangents  to  the 
arcs  which  the  bodies  respectively  describe  make  equal 
angles  with  the  horizon ;  consequently  the  bodies 
are  all  urged  by  the  same  proportion  of  the  total 
force  of  gravity.  But  if  the  bodies  had  not  been 
connected  with  each  other,  their  descent  through 
similar  arcs,  A  E,  B  F,  C  H,  in  the  same  interval 
of  time,  would  require  the  accelerating  forces  to 
be  proportional  to  those  arcs,  or  to  S  A,  S  B,  8 
C.  Let  S  O,  therefore,  represent  the  accelerat- 
ing force  at  O ;  then  A  O  and  B  O  will  denote 
the  excess  of  the  force  by  which  A  and  B  are 
respectively  accelerated,  and  C  O  the  excess 
of  the  force  by  which  C  is  retarded.  But  the  effects  of 
these  forces  on  the  motion  of  the  system  must  be  propor- 
tional to  the  weights  of  the  bodies  ;  and  by  the  principles 
of  the  lever,  they  must  also  be  proportional  to  the  respec- 
tive distances  of  the  bodies  from  the  point  of  suspension. 
They  are  consequently  represented  bv  A  •  S  A  ■  A  O,  B  •  S 
B  •  B  O,  and  C  •  S  C  •  C  O.  But  the  accelerating  action  at 
the  centre  O  must  necessarily  be  equal  to  that  of  retarda- 
tion ;  consequently  ASAAO  +  BSBBO  =  CSC- 
C  O.  Now  let  S  A  =  a,  S  B  =  b,  S  C  =  c,  and  S  O  =/, 
and  the  equation  becomes  by  substitution  A  ■  a  if—  <*)  + 
B  •  b  (/—  b)  =  C  ■  c  (c  — /),  or  (A  •  a  +  B  •  b  +  C  •  c)/ 
=  A  •  as  +  B  •  6"  +  C  ■  c    ,  whence 

J         A-a  +  B    b  +  C    c     ' 

that  is  to  say,  the  distance  of  the  centre  of  oscillation  from 
the  point  of  suspension,  or  the  length  of  the  simple  pendu- 
lum which  vibrates  in  the  same  time  with  the  compound 
body,  is  found  by  taking  the  sum  of  the  products  of  the 
weights  into  the  squares  of  their  distances  from  the  axis  of 
the  "pendulum,  and  dividing  this  sum  by  the  sum  of  the 
products  of  the  weights  into  their  distances  simply. 

Though  the  system  has  here  been  supposed  to  be  formed 
of  separate  bodies,  the  principle  is  universal,  and  applies 
to  bodies  of  any  form.  Let  d  m  represent  an  element  of 
the  body,  and  x  its  distances  from  the  point  of  suspension, 

fx-  '/  "l 

then/=/jc   ilm- 

It  may  be  remarked,  that  the  denominator  A  •  a  +  B  •  b 
-f  C  ■  c  is  equal  to  (A  +  B  +  C)  •  S  G,  the  point  G  being 
the  centre  of  gravity  of  the  bodies.  Now  if  we  denote  the 
distances  of  A,  B,  and  C  from  the  centre  of  gravity  G  by 
a,  /?,  y  respectively,  and  make  SG  =  /i,  we  shall  have  a 
z=.h  —  a,b  =  h  —  (S,  and  c  =  li  +  y :  whence  by  involution 
and  substituting  in  the  numerator,  and  observing  that  A  a. 
+  B  /?  —  C  v  =  0.  we  shall  find  A  •  «-  +  B  •  68  +  C.  ca 
=  h*  (A  +  B  +  C)+  A  •  a"  +  B  •  0'  +  C  •  y2  ;  therefore, 
since  OG  =  SO-SG  =/—  h, 


OG  =  A-a*  +  B-/?«-fcC-r' 
(A+B  +  C)SG 


an  equation  which  gives  the  distance  of  the  centre  of  oscil- 
lation from  the  centre  of  gravity. 

This  last  equation  indicates  a  very  remarkable  property 
of  the  centre  of  oscillation.  As  the  two  quantities  OG  and 
S  G  may  change  places  without  disturbing  the  equality,  it 
follows  that  the  centre  of  oscillation  and  the  point  of  sus- 
pension are  interchangeable;  in  otherwords,  if  the  system 
were  suspended  from  O,  it  would  vibrate  exactly  in  the 
same  time  as  when  suspended  from  S.  This  property  was 
noticed  by  Huygens,  and  was  first  practically  applied  to  the 
purpose  of  findins  the  length  of  the  seconds'  pendulum  by 
Captain  Kater.  The  application  is  made  as  follows  :— Let 
a  bar  of  iron,  for  example,  about  four  feet  long,  be  sus- 
pended from  a  point  A,  at  the  distance  of  four  or  five  inches 
from  one  of  its  extremities,  and  observe  the  number  of  vi- 
brations it  makes  in  a  given  time.  Then  suspend  it  from 
another  point  B,  near  its  other  extremity,  and  let  the  point 
of  suspension  B  be  moved  backwards  or  forwards  till  it 
makes  exactly  the  same  number  of  vibrations  in  agiven  time 
as  when  suspended  from  A.  Then  the  distance  between 
A  and  B  is  the  length  of  the  isochronous  simple  pendu- 
lum. 

On  comparing  the  three  expressions  for  the  centre  of 
gravity,  the  centre  of  gyration,  and  the  centre  of  oscillation, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  distance  of  the  centre  of  gyration 
from  the  axis  is  a  mean  proportional  between  the  distances 
of  the  centres  of  gravity  and  oscillation. 

The  method  of'determining  the  centre  of  oscillation  of 
compound  pendulums  was  first  given  by  Huygens  in  hia 
celebrated  work  Horologium  OsciUatorium.  His  demon- 
stration, however,  was  founded  on  an  indirect  principle, 
which  was  rather  assumed  than  proved.  It  consists  in 
this,  that  if  several  weights  attached  in  any  manner  to  an 
inflexible  rod  or  pendulum  descend  by  the  action  of  gravi- 
ty, and  if  at  any  instant  they  were  detached  or  disengaged 
from  each  other,  each  of  them,  in  virtue  of  the  velocity  it 
had  acquired  during  its  descent,  would  mount  to  such  a 
height  that  the  common  centre  of  gravity  of  all  of  them 
D  d 


CENTRIFUGAL. 

would  reach  exactly  the  same  height  as  that  from  which  it 
descended.  The  first  direct  demonstration  on  the  princi- 
ple of  the  lever  was  given  by  James  Bernoulli,  in  the 
Memoirs  of  the  Academy  of  Puris  for  1703.  An  interesting 
history  of  this  problem  may  be  found  in  the  first  volume  of 
Lagrange's  Mecanique  Analylique. 

Centre  of  Percussion.  The  point  in  a  solid  body, 
or  system  of  bodies,  into  which,  if  the  whole  matter  were 
supposed  to  be  collected,  the  effect  produced  by  striking 
against  another  body  would  be  the  greatest  possible  ;  or 
it  may  be  defined  to  be  the  point  in  the  axis  of  a  moving 
body  at  which,  if  stopped  by  an  immoveable  obstacle,  the 
body  would  rest  in  equilibrio,  without  inclining  to  either 
side,  or  acting  on  the  centre  of  suspension. 

When  the  percutient  body  revolves  about  a  fixed  axis, 
the  centre  of  percussion  is  at  the  same  point  with  the 
centre  of  oscillation  ;  but  when  it  moves  with  a  parallel 
motion,  the  centre  of  percussion  is  the  same  as  the  centre 
of  gravity. 

Centre  op  Pressure,  of  a  fluid  against,  a  surface,  is 
that  point  at  which  if  a  force  were  applied  equal  to  the 
pressure,  and  acting  in  an  opposite  direction,  the  surface 
would  remain  at  rest. 

Centre  op  Rotation.  The  point  about  which  a  body 
circulates.    It  is  the  same  as  the  centre  of  motion. 

Centre  op  Spontaneous  Rotation.  The  name  first 
applied  by  John  Bernoulli  to  the  point  about  which  a  body, 
all  whose  parts  are  at  liberty  to  move,  and  which  has  been 
struck  in  a  direction  not  passing  through  the  centre  of 
gravity,  begins  to  turn. 

CENTRI'FUGAL.  (Lat.  centrum,  and  fugio.  I  retreat.-) 
A  term  employed  in  describing  the  inflorescence  of  plants, 
when,  in  a  head  of  flowers,  the  central  one  opens  first,  and 
those  of  the  circumference  last.  It  is  also  used  by  car- 
pologists  in  describing  seeds  when  the  apex  of  an  embryo 
is  turned  away  from  the  centre  of  a  fruit. 

CENTRI'FUGAL  FORCE.  The  force  by  which  a  body 
in  rotation  tends  to  recede  from  the  centre  of  motion  : 
Centripetal  Force,  that  by  which  a  body  in  motion  is 
urged  towards  a  centre,  and  compelled  to  describe  a 
curve  instead  of  a  straight  line.     See  Central  Force. 

CENTRI'FUGAL  MACHI'NE.  A  machine  moved  by 
the  centrifugal  force  of  water;  frequently  called,  from  its 
inventor,  Barker's  Mill.  It  consists  of  a  hollow  metal  cy- 
linder or  pipe  of  metal  placed  upright,  and  resting  on  a 
pointed  steel  pivot  at  A.  The  pipe  is  widened  or  extended 
into  a  funnel  shape  at  the  top  B,  and  is  kept  in  its  position 
by  a  vertical  steel  axis  C  D,  passing  through  a  frame  at  the 
top.  Towards  the  lower  extremity,  two  or  more  small 
pipes  A  E,  A  F,  with  closed  external  ends,  are  inserted  at 
right  angles  to  the  axis.  In  the  side  of  each  of  these  an 
orifice  is  made  as  near  as  possible  to  the  end,  and  on  oppo- 
site sides,  so  that  water  from  them  may  spout  horizontally 
in  opposite  directions.  Water  is  con- 
veyed into  the  funnel  at  the  top,  through 
the  pipe  G,  in  such  quantities  that  the 
tube  is  kept  constantly  full,  while  the 
discharge  is  going  on  at  the  orifice  near 
the  extremities  of  the  horizontal  pipes. 
In  this  state  of  things  the  resistance  or 
reaction  generated  by  the  water  issuing 
from  the  side  holes  is  such  as  to  throw 
the  vertical  pipe,  with  its  arms  and 
axis,  into  rapid  rotatory  motion  ;  and 
this  axis  may  communicate  its  motion 
or  power  to  wheelwork  or  machinery, 
or  to  a  mill-stone  connected  with  its 
upper  end.  (See  Library  of  Useful  Knowledge,  ''  Treatise 
on  Hydraulics  ;"  also  Ferguson's  Lectures,  by  Brewster; 
or  Lar drier's  Cabinet  Cyclopedia,  "  Hydrostatics  and 
Pneumatics.")  A  machine  of  the  same  construction,  but 
having  the  arms  at  the  upper  end,  and  turned  rapidly  by 
means  of  a  wheel  and  pinion,  was  invented  by  a  Mr.  Ers- 
kine  for  raising  water.  Centrifugal  Machine  is  also  used 
synonvmously  with  Whirling  Machine. 
CENTRI'NG.     See  Centering. 

CENTRI'PETAL.  (Lat.  centrum,  and  peto,  Iseek.  )  A 
term  employed  in  describing  the  inflorescence  of  plants, 
when  in  the  unfolding  of  a  head  of  flowers,  those  at  the 
circumference  open  first,  and  those  in  the  centre  last.  It 
is  also  used  by  carpologists  in  describing  seeds  when  the 
apex  of  an  embryo  is  directed  towards  the  centre  of  a 
fruit. 

CENTRI'SCUS.  (Gr.  Ktvrpn,  aspme.)  Agenus  of  Aean- 
thoplerygious  fishes,  having  the  foremost  dorsal  placed 
far  backwards,  and  with  its  first  spine  remarkable  for  its 
length  and  strength  ;  the  mouth  is  slender  and  elongated, 
whence  they  have  obtained  the  name  of  "sea-snipes." 

CE'NTRUM.  (Gr.  Ktvrpov,  centre.)  A  term  applied 
by  Fries  technically  to  designate  the  typical  division  of 
the  groups  of  species  and  genera,  in  his  circular  arrange- 
ment  of  Fungi.  Many  generic  names  are  compounded, 
having  this  word  for  their  root,  as  Centrogaster,  Centroto- 
phus,  Centroprictis,  and  Centronotus,  all  genera  of  spiny- 
210 


CEPHALO-THORAX. 

finned  fishes ;  Centropus,  a  genus  of  birds,  allied  to  the 
cuckoos,  &c. 

CENTU'MVIRI.  In  Ancient  History,  Roman  judges 
chosen  three  from  each  of  the  thirty-five  tribes,  so  that 
properly  there  were  105;  but  they  were  called  centumviri, 
or  the  hundred,  from  the  round  number.  The  principal 
causes  that  came  under  them  were  those  concerning  tes- 
taments and  inheritances.  In  the  time  of  Augustus  they 
formed  the  council  of  the  praetor  ;  but  afterwards  their 
number  was  increased  to  ISO,  and  they  were  divided  into 
four  councils,  which, however,  were  sometimes  combined 
into  two  courts,  or  even  into  one.  Ten  persons  (decemviri) 
were  appointed,  five  senators  and  five  equites,  to  assemble 
these  councils  and  preside  in  them  in  the  absence  of  the 
praetor. 

CE'NTURIES.  (Lat.  centuriae.)  In  Ancient  History, 
the  divisions  in  which  the  Roman  people  voted  at  the 
Comitia  Centuriata.  They  were  instituted  by  Servius 
Tullius  for  the  purpose  of  throwing  political  power  into  the 
hands  of  the  plebeians.  The  patricians  were  represented 
by  six  centuries  of  knights,  and  twelve  centuries  of  knights 
were  added  to  these  from  the  plebeians.  The  rest  of  the 
plebeians  and  clients  were  divided  into  five  classes,  accord- 
ing to  the  amount  of  their  property  ;  the  lower  limits  of 
each  being  respectively  100,000,  75.000,  50,000,  25,0l0,  12,- 
500  asses.  The  fi^t  of  these  classes  was  subdivided  into 
eighty  centuries  ;  the  next  three  into  twenty  each  ;  and  the 
last  into  thirty.  The  centuries  of  each  class  were  again 
separated  into  two  equal  numbers  of  old  and  young.  By 
this  distribution  the  preponderance  was  given  to  property, 
though  the  rich  classes  were  of  course  outnumbered  by 
the  poorer.  Besides  these  centuries  there  were  divisions 
in  other  bodies  that  went  by  the  same  name,  as  in  the  army 
half  a  maniple  was  called  a  century. 

CENTU'RION.  In  Ancient  History,  an  officer  in  the 
Roman  army,  who  had  the  command  of  half  a  maniple,  or 
one  sixtieth  part  of  a  legion.  The  word  centurion  signifies 
the  commander  of  100  men  ;  but  this  number  was  in  fact 
seldom  complete,  as  the  legion  generally  fell  far  short  of 
its  full  complement.  One  of  the  two  centurions  of  each 
maniple  had  a  precedence  before  the  other  ;  and  the  cen- 
turion of  the  first  century  of  the  first  maniple  of  the  Tria- 
rians  presided  over  all  the  others,  and  had  the  charge  of 
the  eagle  or  chief  standard  of  the  legion,  which  gave  him 
the  privilege  of  ranking  with  the  knights.  The  badge  of  a 
centurion  was  a  vim'  rod. 

CEPHALA'NTHIl  M  (Gr.  K£tj>a\r,,  the  head,  and  avdos, 
a  flower.)  A  term  invented  by  Richard  to  express  the 
head  or  capitate  inflorescence  of  a  composite  plant. 

CEPHA'LIC.     (Gr.  Kupa\n,  the  head.)    Medicines  used 
for  the  relief  of  diseases  of  the  head  are  frequently  termed 
■  remedies. 
CEPHALITIS.     Inflammation  of  the  brain, 
CEPHALO'DIUM.     (Gr,  Ki<j>a\ji,  ahead,)    In  Botany,  a 
term  used  by  systematic  writers  or.  lichens,  and  signifying 
l  lie  figure  of  a  convex  shield  without  an  elevated  rim  :  it  is 
called  also  a  luberculum. 

CE'PIIALOTIIORA.  (Gr.  Ktfa'Xi/,  the  head,  and  <j>tpa), 
I  bear.)  A  name  substituted  by  De  Blainville  in  his  system 
of  Malacolosv  for  the  "  Cephalopoda"  of  Cuvier. 

CEPHA'LOPODS,  Cephahrpnda.  (Gr.  K£<pa\n.  the  head, 
and  ttovs,  the  foot.)  A  class  of  Molluscous  animals  having 
the  head  situated  between  the  body  and  the  feet;  these 
latter  organs  consist  of  a  number  of  fleshy  processes, 
which  project  forwards  from  the  circumference  of  the 
head,  and  more  or  less  conceal  the  mouth.  The  Cepha- 
lopods  are  the  first  class  of  Mollusca  in  the  system  of  Cuvier, 
urn]  the  most  highly  organized  of  invertebrate  animals. 
They  alone  present  indubitable  rudiments  of  an  internal 
skeleton,  developed  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  a  brain 
and  lodging  organs  of  sight,  and,  in  most  of  the  existing 
species,  organs  of  hearing.  In  these  also  there  are  dis- 
tinct hearts,  both  for  the  systemic  and  pulmonary  circu- 
lations ;  and  highly  complicated  digestive,  secretory,  respi- 
ratory, and  generative  organs.  The  sexes  are  in  distinct 
individuals.  All  the  species  are  marine.  The  principal 
features  of  the  organization  of  this  class  of  Invertebrata 
are  described  by  Aristotle,  and  their  habits  wer§  better 
understood  by  that  ancient  author  than  by  modern  natu- 
ralists of  the  present  day.  The  Cephalopoda  are  described 
and  grouped  toaether  in  the  Historia  Animalium,  under 
the  name  of  "  Malakia." 

CE'PHALOTA'CE^l.  (Cephalotus,  the  only  genus.) 
A  small  natural  order  of  Exogens,  allied,  according  to 
Labillardiere,  to  Rosaceaz,  according  to  Brown  to  Fran- 
coaceos.  and  Crassidacea:..  Its  affinity  appears,  however,  to 
be  greater  with  Dionea  than  with  the  previous  orders.  It 
consists  of  a  single  species,  with  pitcher-like  bodies  mixed 
willi  its  leaves;  it  is*  a  marsh  plant  inhabiting  New  Hol- 
land. 

CE'PHALO  THO'RAX.  (Gr.  KStpa^ri,  the  head,  and 
■S-topaJ,  the  chest.)  The  first  segment  of  Arachnidans  and 
Crustaceans,  which  includes  the  head  and  thorax  of  in- 
sects. 


CEPOLA. 

CF/POLA.  (Der.  unknown.)  The  name  of  a  genus  of 
Epiny-finned  fishes,  including  the  common  riband-fish  (Ce- 
jtula  rubescens)  of  the  British  coasts. 

CERA'CEUS.  (Lat.  cera,  it  ax.)  In  Botany,  waxy. 
Applied  to  the  substance  of  such  bodies  as  have  the  texture 
and  colour  of  new  wax,  as  the  pollen  masses  of  particular 
kinds  of  Orchis. 

CE'RAMBY'CIDjE.  A  family  of  Capricorn  beetles, 
characterized  by  antennae  generally  exceeding  the  length 
of  the  body;  a  large  and  distinct  labium;  strong  horny 
mandibles;  maxilla;  terminated  by  two  distinct  hairy  lobes; 
eyes  kidney-shaped,  with  the  antenna1  situated  in  the  con- 
cavity ;  body  generally  long  and  narrow.  Tim  numerous 
insects  of  this  vegetable-feeding  family  are  arranged  in 
many  subgenera,  of  which  the  following  are  indigenous  : 
Acanthocinue,  Apfu  ( 

Lamia,  Molorchus,  Monochamus,  Obrium,  Pogonoeherus, 
Saperaa,  and  Stenopterus.  One  of  the  most  remarkable 
species  of  our  country  is  the  musk-beetle  (  Ct  rambyx  mos- 
chalus  of  Linnaeus,  CaUichroma  of  Latreille),  which,  when 
alive,  disseminates  an  odour  resembling  sometimes  that 
ol  the  otto  of  roses. 

•  L'rasin*  Cherry-tree  gum.  A  generic  name  given 
to  those  kinds  of  gum  which  swell  and  soften,  but  do  not 
readily  dissolve  in  water. 

CERA'STES.    (Qr.  xspat,  a  horn.)    Tim  name  of  a  ge- 
nus of  poisonous   serpents,   characterized  by   f 
pointed  recurved  horny  process   Standing   up   over  each 
eye:  the  horned  vipers,  as  they  are  termed,  are  peculiar 
to  Africa. 

CE'RATE.  (Or.  ktjpoc,  or  Lat.  cera,  wax.)  An  oint- 
ment generally  compounded  of  was  and  oil  or  Bpei  n 

I  IK  \  'III  M,    (Gr.  Kepas,  a  horn.)    A  one-celled,  ma- 
ny-seeded, superior  linear  fruit;  dehiscent  by  two 
separating  from  the  replum;  Hie  seeds  attached  to  two 
spnr>"  adhering  to  the  replum,  and  alternate 

with  liie  lobes  of  the  stigma.  It  differs  from  the  Siliqua  in 
the  lobes  of  the  stigma  being  alternate  with  the  placenta, 
not  opposite. 

CE'RATOPHYLLA'CE.E.  (Ccratophyllnm.  the  only 
genus.)  A  small  natural  order  ol  Exogens,  allied,  accord 
ing  to  Richard,  to  Conifera,  in  it  to  winch  it  seems  to  have 
no  kind  of  affinity.  According  to  De  ( 
placed  near  Hippuria  and  atyrio\  hyllum,  from  which  it 
differs  in  its  superior  ovat  rig  to  Agai  Ih   il  be- 

longs to  Fhiviates:  its  affinity,  however,  ap 

greatest  Willi    /  Y/e  ,  .. 

deration.    The  order  consists  but  ol  which 

is  found  in  the  dtp-lies  oi"  Europe,  being  ci  i 
merged,  and  floating  with  its  long  green  leaves  after  the 
manner  of  a  Conferva     The  embryo  appears  to  be  deci- 
:i.   Polycotj  ledonous  :  otherwise  the  plant  would  cer- 
tainly be  referred  to 

CERATO'PHYTES.  Ceratophyta.    (Gr.  Ktpag,  a 
and  fvTov,  a  plant.  |     \  name  applied  by  Cuvier  to  a  fami- 
ly of  Corliciferous  Polyp  riding  those  in  which 
the  Interna]  axis  resembles  horn  or  wood. 

CE'RATRIN.    The  bitter  principle  of  Iceland  moss. 

CE'RBERl  8.     In  Mythology, a  monster  usually  repre- 
sented  as  the  guardian  of  the  entrance  to  the  infernal  re- 
gions, ami  described  by  the  ancient  authors  as  possessing 
fifty,  or  even  a  hundred  heads. 

CERCA'RLE.    (Gr.  KcpKtrs,  a  tail.)    A  family  of  Infu- 
soria, having  an  enlarged  body  with  a  slender  tail-like  ap- 
fiendage.    The  body  of  the  true  Cercaria    ol 
nfusiores  is  rounded,  that  of  the  Zoospi 
rules   of  the   seminal  secretion  is   flattened.     See  Zoo- 
SPERMI 

GKIM'O  I'ID.F.       Sir  ClCADEIAANS. 

CE'RCOPfTHE'CUS.  (Gr.  KtpKOS,  a  tail,  and  iridrjicos, 
an  ape.)  The  name  of  the  genus  of  Quadrumanes,  inclu- 
ding those  which  have  long  tails,  bul  not  prehensile;  or 
the  "  monkeys"  of  the  old  world. 

CERE.     (Lat.  cera,  ira.r.)     In   Ornithology,  the   naked 
and  generally  coloured  skin  which  covers  the  b 
hill  in  some  birds,  as  in  those  of  the  hawk  tribe  (Falcon- 
idm.) 

CE'REAL  GRASSES.  (Lat  ceres,  corn.)  Grasses 
which  produce  the  bread  corns;  such  as  wheat,  rye,  bar- 
lev,  oats,  maize,  rice,  and  millet. 

'CEREBE'LLUM.  '  (Lat.  dim.  of  cerebrum,  the  brain.) 
The  little  brain  ;  the  posterior  of  the  medullary  masses 
which  compose  the  brain  of  vertebrate  animal's.  It  is  a 
single  organ.     Set  Brain. 

CERE'BRUM.  (Lat.)  The  third  medullary  mass  of 
the  brain,  counting  from  behind  forwards;  il  is  divided  in 
the  mesial  line  into  two  lateral  lobes  or  hemispheres,  and 
is  the  only  part,  of  the  cerebral  organ  whose  development 
bears  relation  lo  the  int  el  licence  of  the  species 

CEREMO'NIAL  OF  EUROPEAN  POWERS,  compri- 
ses— 1.  The  particular  titles  due  to  sovereigns  in  different 
slates;  the  imperial  tille  being  considered  as  expressing 
some  sort  of  superiority  over  the  royal,  and  having  been 
in  consequence  assumed  by  various' kings  in  their  public 
211 


CEROSTROTUM 

acts  (as  the  King  of  England  since  the  union  of  the  crowns). 
2.  The  acknowledgment  of  sovereign  titles,  the  right  to 
confer  which  was  formerly  claimed  by  the  Popes  as  their 
own  prerogative,  but  they  are  now  assumed  by  princes, 
and  confirmed  by  the  acknowledgment  of  other  sover- 
eigns. 3.  The  respective  prerogatives  of  different  sover- 
eigns ;  which  species  of  precedence  is  that  which  has  oc- 
casioned the  greatest  amount  of  discussion  and  dispute 
when  sovereigns,  or  their  representatives,  have  been 
brought  together.  In  1504,  Pope  Julius  II.  arranged  the 
rank  of  European  powers  in  the  following  order:  1.  The 
Roman  Emperor ;  2.  The  King  of  Rome  ;  3.  France ;  4. 
Castile;  5.  Aragon  ;  6.  Portugal;  7.  England;  8.  Sicily;  9. 
Scotland:  10.  Hungary:  11.  Navarre  ;  12.  Cyprus;  13.  Bo- 
hemia; 14.  Poland  ;  15.  Denmark  :  16.  Republic  of  Venice; 
17.  Duke  of  Britanny;  IS.  Burgundy;  19.  Elector  of  Bava- 
ria; 20.  Saxony;  21.  Brandenburg;  22.  Archduke  of  Aus- 
tria;  23.  Dukeol  Savoy  ;  24.  Grand  Duke  of  Florence  ;  25. 
Duke  of  Milan  ;  26.  Bavaria;  27.  Lorraine.  This  arrange- 
ment, however,  gave  birth  to  repeated  contests.  At  pre- 
sent, where  precedence  is  not  considered  as  established 
between  rulers  of  equal  dignity,  each  concedes  to  the 
other  precedence  at  home;  and  when  they  meet  on  the 
territory  of  a  third  party,  they  lake  precedence  alternately 
until  some  arrangemenl  is  effected. 

CEREMONIES,  MASTER  OPTHE.  An  officer  of  the 
king's  household  instituted  by  .lames  I.  for  the  more  hon- 
ourable reception  of  ambassadors  and  strangers  of  quality  . 
it  is  his  duly  io  attend  and  regulate  all  matters  of  etiquette 
in  the  drawing  room  and  the  levee,  mid  on  all  occasions 
where  the  state  ol  ;i  courl  is  to  he  maintained. 

CEREOTSIS  The  generic  name  of  an  Australian 
goose,  characterized  by  a  green  cere-like  naked  membrane 
covering  the  upper  parts  of  the  base  of  the  bill.  Il  has  bred 
frequently  in  England,  and  there  is  every  probability  that 
it  will  ultimately  become  naturalized. 

CE'RES.    One  of  He-  four  new  or  telescopic   planets 

which  revolve  between  the  orbits  of  Mars  ami  Jupiter.    It 

was  discovered  by  Piazzi  on  the  1st  of  January,  1801.  Ceres 

ry  small  planet,  iis  apparent  diameter,  according  to 

Schroeter,  i  ch  at  its  mean  dista 

corresponds  to  about   1600  miles;  but  according  to  Sir  W. 

Herscnel   ii  jd  35",  or  160  miles. 

The  difficult)  I  ing  Its  real  disk,  on  account  of 

ebulosity  bj   which  ii   is  surrounded,  accounts  for 

I     mean  i       i m  thi     an  i    rather 

more  than  three  times  the  distance  of  the  sun  from  the 
earth.      See  PLANET. 

i  i  res.     In  Mythology,  the  Latin  goddess  correspond- 
ing to  the  Grecian  Demeter  (Aij/iijrijp),  was  the  patroness 
the  daughter  of  Saturn  and  Rhea,  and, 

by  Jupiter,  mi  er\ The  most  remarkable 

mnected  with  this  goddess  was  the  celebration  of 
in  mysteries,  over  which  she  presided. 
CE'RKl  s.    (Lat  cera.  wax.)    In  Botany,  a  colour,  sur- 
face, or  texture  which  resembles  thai  of  wax. 

(K'RIN.  The  portion  of  wax  which  dissolves  in  boiling 
alcohol.  Also  a  peculiar  waxy  substance  obtained  by  boil- 
,  in  alcohol, 
Cldil'VIIII  \NS  Followers  of  Cerinthus,  a  heretic  of 
the  first  or  second  century,  who  embraced  certain  gnosti- 
cal  views  respecting  the  natures  and  relations  of  God  the 
Father  and  Son.  He  concervi  I  the  supreme  God  to  be 
the  father  or  originator  both  of  the  Deitv  from  whom  pro- 
ceeded the  O.  Test,  ami  of  Christ;  thai  the  God  of  the 
Jews  was  also  the  creator  of  this  world  ;  and  that  his  do- 
minion over  it  was  superseded  by  the  mission  of  Christ, 
who  was  a  son  of  the  supreme  Deity  residing  in  a  human 
body.    See  Gnostics. 

CE'RIO.  A  term  invented  by  Murleel  to  denote  the 
fruit  called  a  Caryopsis,  which  see. 

(  T'.'RITE.  A  silicious  oxide  of  cerium. 
CE'RIUM.  A  metal  named  after  the  planet  Ceres,  and 
discovered  in  1803 by  Hisinger  ami  Berzelius  in  a  Swedish 
mineral  termed  cerite,  and  since  found  by  Dr.  Thomson  in 
Allanite,  a  mineral  from  Greenland.  It  is  said  to  be  a 
white  brittle  metal,  very  difficult  of  fusion,  and  volatile 
when  intensely  heated  ;  but  we  are  scarcely  acquainted 
widi  it  in  iis  metallic  state.  Its  equivalent  number  appears 
to  be  48.  on  the  hydrogen  scale. 

CE'RINFS.  'Lat.  cera.  ira.r. )  In  Botany,  waxy  yel- 
low ;  a  term  used  in  describing  colour,  to  denote  a  dull 
yellow  with  a  slight  mixture  of  reddish  brown. 

CERO'MA.  (Gr.  Kfipoiixa.)  In  Ancient  Architecture, 
the  apartment  in  a  bath  or  gymnasium  in  which  persons 
anointed  themselves  Willi  a  composition  of  oil  and  wax. 

CEROPI.A'STIC.  (Gr.  Kr/nos.  irax. and  7r>coru-J7  rE^r^, 
theartoj  tn  >      ;       I     The  art  of  modelling  in 

wax,  one  of  very  high  antiquity.  From  the  testimony  of 
Pliny  we  learn  that  Lysistratus,  the  brolher  of  Lysippus, 
was  the  first  that  used  wax  for  modelling  the  human  fi- 
gure. He  lived  in  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and 
was  a  nativ"  of  Sicyon. 
CEROSTRO'TUM,    or    CESTRO'TUM.     (Gr.    Kvpos 


CERTIIIA. 

wax,  and  arptoros,  spread.)  A  species  of  encaustic  paint- 
ing, executed  chiefly  on  horn  or  ivory  with  a  particular 
sort  of  stylum  called  a  cestrum,  which  was  pointed  at  one 
end  and  flat  on  the  other.  The  cestrum  was  heated,  and 
with  it  the  lines  of  the  subject  were  burnt  in,  and  wax  in- 
troduced into  the  furrows  made  by  the  heated  instrument. 
(See  Pliny,  lib.  xi.  cap.  37.,  also  lib.  xvi.  cap.  48. ;  also 
Salinas,  ad  Solin.  p.  231.)  Doors  were  sometimes  orna- 
mented with  this  species  of  painting.  Ausonius,  Epigr. 
26.  v.  10.— 

Ceris  inurens  januarum  limina, 
Et  atriorum  pegmata. 

CE'RTHIA.  (Gr.  KepOeig,  part  of  Keipco,  1  clip  or  shear.) 
A  genus  of  Anisodactyle  or  uneven-toed  Tenuirostral  or 
slender-billed  Passerine  birds,  commonly  known  by  the 
name  of  Creepers.  The  common  tree-creeper  (Certhia 
familiaris,  Linn.)  is  a  well-known  native  species. 

CE'RTIORA'RI.  In  Law,  is  an  original  writ  issuing  out 
of  Chancery  or  the  King's  Bench,  directed  to  the  judges 
or  officers  of  inferior  courts,  commanding  them  to  certify 
or  return  the  records  of  a  cause  depending  before  them. 
By  this  writ  indictments  and  many  other  proceedings  may 
be  removed  from  any  inferior  court  of  jurisdiction  into  the 
King's  Bench.  It  lies  generally  in  all  judicial  proceedings 
in  which  a  writ  of  error  does  not  lie ;  but  not,  in  common 
cases,  to  remove  a  cause  out  of  an  inferior  court  after 
verdict. 

CE'RULIN.  Indigo  which  has  been  dissolved  in  sul- 
phuric acid. 

CERU'MEN.  (Lat.  cera,  wax.)  The  secretion  which 
lines  the  external  auditory  canal.  It  consists  of  albumen, 
an  oily  matter,  a  colouring  matter,  soda,  and  phosphate  of 
lime. 

CE'RUSE.  (Lat.  cerussa.)  Carbonate  of  lead,  the  basis 
of  white  oil-paint.     It  is  commonly  called  white  lead. 

CERVI'NUS.  (Lat.  cervus,  a  stag.)  In  Botany,  fawn- 
coloured. 

CE'RVIX.  (Literally  the  lower  part  of  the  neck.)  An 
obsolete  botanical  term,  superseded  by  that  of  Rhizoma, 
which  see. 

CE'SSIO  BONO'RUM.  In  the  Civil  Law  (and  in  the 
modern  jurisprudence  of  France,  Spain,  Holland,  and 
Scotland),  a  yielding  up  on  the  part  of  an  insolvent  trader 
of  his  estate  and  effects  to  creditors,  under  the  authority 
of  the  competent  court ;  analogous  to  the  assignment  of 
estate  and  effects  under  a  fiat  in  bankruptcy  in  England. 
See  as  to  the  several  regulations  respecting  the  cessio  bo- 
noriun  in  these  different  countries,  Burge's  Commentaries 
on  Colonial  and  Foreign  Laws,  iii.  890.  <&c. 

CE'STOI'DEANS,  Cestoidea.  (Gr.  wards,  embroidered, 
and  etdos,  likeness ;  riband  like.)  The  name  of  an  order 
of  Sterelmintha,  or  Parenchymatous  Entozoa,  including 
those  which  are  commonly  called  tape-worms. 

CESTRA'CEiE.  (Cestrum,  one  of  the  genera.)  In 
Botany,  a  very  small  group  of  plants,  most  usually  com- 
bined with  Solanacea},  but  by  some  botanists  separated  on 
account  of  their  straight  embryo,  foliaceous  cotyledons, 
and  valvate  corolla.  Some  of  the  species  have  fragrant 
flowers,  especially  at  night ;  others  emit  an  unpleasant 
odour.  Some  are  astringent,  others  are  said  to  be  poi- 
sonous. 

CESTRA'CION.  (Gr.  ncarpaios,  the  name  of  a  fish.) 
In  Ichthyology,  a  genus  of  sharks,  characterized  by  having 
two  kinds  of  teeth,  disposed  in  oblique  subspiral  rows; 
those  at  the  anterior  part  of  the  jaws  are  pointed,  and 
adapted  for  seizing  or  grappling  shell-fish,  <fec. ;  those  at 
the  middle  and  back  part  of  the  jaws  are  flattened  for 
crushing  the  same  :  the  fishes  of  this  genus  are  also  re- 
markable for  the  large  spine  placed  in  front  of  the  first 
dorsal  fin.  Only  two  existing  species  of  this  genus  are 
known,  one  of  which  is  called  "the  Port  Jackson  shark;" 
the  fossil  remains  of  Cestracions  are  numerous. 

CE'STRUM.  (Lat.)  In  Painting,  a  tool  used  by  the  an- 
cients in  executing  the  species  of  pictures  called  cerostroti. 
Sec  Gerostrotum. 

CETA'CEANS,  Cetacea.  (Gr.  kt\tos,  a  tchale.)  An  or- 
der of  Mammals  living  in  the  sea  or  large  rivers,  and 
shaped  like  fishes  for  moving  habitually  in  the  watery  ele- 
ment, having  the  posterior  part  of  the  spine  disencumbered 
of  a  sacrum  and  hinder  extremities  to  allow  the  tail  to  have 
a  due  freedom  and  extent  of  motion.  They  breathe  air, 
have  warm  blood,  and  a  double  circulation,  like  the  rest 
of  the  class  to  which  they  belong  ;  they  are  consequently 
compelled  to  resort  to  the  surface  for  the  purpose  of  res- 
piration ;  and  the  tail-fin  is  accordingly  horizontal,  and  not 
vertical,  as  in  true  fishes. 

CE'TE.  (Gr.  Kinros,  a  vthale.)  The  name  of  the  sixth 
order  of  Mammalia  in  the  Systemm  Natures,  of  Linnaeus, 
containing  those  marine  species  which  are  devoid  of  hind- 
er extremities.  The  group  corresponds  with  the  carnivo- 
rous group  of  the  modern  Cetacea,  the  manatee  being  as- 
sociated in  the  Linnrean  system  with  the  elephant. 

CE'TIC  ACID.  The  result  of  the  action  of  alkalis  upon 
tetine. 

212 


CHALLENGE. 

CE'TINE.     Pure  spermaceti. 

CE'TUS.  (Gr.  Krjros,  the  whale.)  One  of  Ptolemy's 
forty-eight  constellations,  in  the  southern  hemisphere. 

CEVA'DIC  ACID.  An  acid  contained  in  the  seed  of 
the  Veratrum  sabadilla. 

CEVADI'LLA.     See  Sabadilla. 

CE'YLANITE.  A  mineral  found  in  rounded  grains  or 
small  crystals,  nearly  opaque,  and  of  a  dark  blue  or  black 
colour :  it  was  first  observed  in  the  sand  of  the  rivers  of 
Ceylon. 

CHABA'SIE.  A  variety  of  zeolite.  (From  a  Greek 
word  signifying  a  particular  kind  of  stone.) 

CHACO'NE,  or  C1ACONE.  (Spanish.)  In  Music,  a 
kind  of  dance  resembling  a  saraband,  of  Moorish  origin. 
The  bass  of  it  consists  of  four  notes,  which  proceed  in 
conjoint  degrees,  whereon  the  harmonies  are  made  with 
the  same  burden.  Some  have  derived  this  dance  from 
cieco,  a  blind  man,  its  supposed  inventor. 

CHAFF.  The  husk  or  withered  calyx  of  grasses,  and 
more  especially  of  the  bread  corns.  The  term  is  also  ap- 
plied to  straw  or  hay  cut  into  very  short  lengths,  and  used 
for  mixing  with  corn,  roots,  or  other  food  for  horses  or 
cattle.  This  kind  of  chaff,  in  greater  lengths,  is  also  used 
for  mixing  with  mortar  on  some  parts  of  the  Continent, 
more  particularly  in  Germany  and  Russia;  and  it  is  used 
as  a  substitute  for  hair  in  making  plaster  for  rooms. 
Both  stubble  and  cut  hay  were  used  by  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians in  making  bricks. 

CHAFF  OF  THE  RECEPTACLE.  A  term  used  by 
some  botanists  to  denote  the  bracts  which  are  stationed 
upon  the  receptacle  of  Composite  flowers,  between  the 
florets ;  they  have  generally  a  membranaceous  texture, 
and  no  colour,  and  are  usually  called  Paleee. 

CHA'FFY,  PALEACEOUS.  When  a  surface  is  co- 
vered with  small,  weak,  erect  membranous  scales,  re- 
sembling the  chaff  of  corn,  as  the  receptacle  of  many 
Composite  plants. 

CHAI'LLETIA'CEjE.  (Chailletia,  one  of  the  genera.) 
A  natural  order  of  shrubby  arborescent  Exogens,  placed 
by  De  Candolle  between  Homaliacea  and  Aquilariacece ; 
agreeing  with  the  former  in  the  presence  of  glands  round 
the  ovary,  but  differing  in  its  superior  ovary,  with  the  pla- 
centa in  the  axis,  and  in  many  other  characters.  Its  affin- 
ity, however,  appears  to  be  greater  with  Rhamnacea.,  with 
which  it  agrees  in  habit.  It  inhabits  the  hotter  parts  of 
the  world,  and  some  species  are  said  to  be  poisonous. 

CHALA'ZA.  (Gr.  %aXa£a,  in  the  sense  of  a  £no6.)  In 
Botany,  the  vascular  disk  caused  by  the  expansion  of  the 
vessels  of  the  raphe,  upon  reaching  the  base  of  the  nu- 
cleus of  an  ovule,  after  passing  up  the  side  of  the  latter. 

CHALA'ZA.  (Gr.  xaXo^a,  hail.)  A  name  applied  to 
the  two  membranous  twisted  chords  attached  to  near  the 
poles  of  the  yolk  of  an  egg,  and  serving  to  maintain  it  in 
such  a  position  that  the  cicatricula  shall  always  be  upper- 
most, and  consequently  nearest  the  source  of  heat  during 
the  process  of  incubation. 

CHALCE'DONY.  A  semitransparent  silicious  mineral, 
apparently  formed  by  the  infiltration  of  silicious  matters 
originally  in  a  state  of  solution.  It  is  of  various  colours, 
and  often  banded.  The  finest  specimens  are  said  to  have 
been  originally  found  at  Chalcedon  in  Asia. 

CHALCI'DICUM.  (Lat.)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  ac- 
cording to  Festus  so  named  from  Chalcis,  a  city  in  Eubcea. 
A  term  used  by  Vitruvius  to  denote  a  large  building  appro- 
priated to  the  purpose  of  administering  justice,  or  accord- 
ing to  others  Ihe  tribunal  itself. 

CHALCO'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  \a\Kos,  brass,  and  ypa<j>oj, 
I  write.)    The  art  of  engraving  on  copper  or  brass. 

CHA'LDRON.  (Lat.  chaldarium  ;  Fr.  chaudron,  whence 
also  cauldron.)  A  measure  containing  36  bushels  heaped 
measure. 

CHALK.  (Germ,  kalk.)  Earthy  carbonate  of  lime.  It 
forms  an  important  geological  feature  of  England,  the 
chalk  hills  which  form  the  white  cliffs  of  the  shores  hav- 
ing conferred  the  name  of  Albion  upon  the  island.  Geo- 
logically considered,  it  is  an  important  feature  among  the 
secondary  rocks.  The  cretaceous  formation  is  character- 
ized by  peculiar  fossils,  and  especially  by  containing  flints. 
The  ranges  of  chalk  hills  in  the  south  of  England  are  very 
extensive,  and  the  landscape  which  they  constitute  pecu- 
liar for  the  smooth  and  rounded  outline  of  its  hills,  their 
monotony  of  surface,  and  the  singular  cup-shaped  conca- 
vities and  deep  hollows  in  which  their  sides  abound.  Be- 
tween Dunstable  and  Shaftesbury  the  chalk  hills  attain  an 
elevation  of  nearly  1000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 
Between  Lewes  in  Sussex  and  Alton  in  Hampshire  there 
are  several  similar  elevations. 

CHALK  STONES.  The  concretions  formed  in  the 
joints  of  persons  who  have  long  suffered  from  gout  were 
once  supposed  of  a  chalky  nature,  and  acquired  the  above 
name.  They  are  chiefly  composed  of  uric  acid  in  combi- 
nation with  soda. 

CHA'LLENGE.  In  Law,  an  exception  to  jurors  who 
are  returned  to  serve  on  a  trial.    See  Jury. 


CHALYBEATE. 

CHALY'BEATE.  (Gr.  x^vrp.)  The  Chalybes  were 
a  Scythian  people  who  dug  iron.  Medicines  and  mineral 
waters  containing  iron  are  called  chulybeates. 

cif.V'MA.     (Gr.  xa™,  I  gape.)    The  cockle. 

CHAMA'CEANS.  (Lat.  chamacea.)  In  Conchotomy, 
the  family  of  Acephalous  Lamellibranchiate  Mollusks,  of 
which  the  genus  Chama,  or  clam-shells,  is  the  type.  The 
group  is  characterized  among  bivalves  by  having  the  mantle 
perforated  by  three  apertures;  one  for  the  passage  of  the 
foot,  another  for  the  respiratory  currents,  and  a  third  for 
the  escape  of  the  excrements. 

CHAME'LEOX,  Chameleo.  (Gr.  Ka^al\cu>v,  a  lizard.) 
A  genus  of  Saurian  reptiles  with  small  tubercular  scales, 
and  the  tail  and  feet  organized  for  clinging  to  the  branches 
of  trees.  The  chameleons  subsist  not  on  air,  as  poets  feign 
and  the  uninformed  believe,  but  on  flies  and  other  insects, 
which  are  caught  by  means  of  a  remarkably  long  and  ex- 
tensible tongue,  terminated  by  a  finger-shaped  process  like 
the  elephant's  proboscis,  and  which  the  chameleon  can 
dart  upon  its  prey  with  great  rapidity.  The  rete  mucosum 
or  coloured  layer  of  the  skin  contains  two  kinds  of  pigment, 
situated  in  different  layers  ;  the  deeper  seated  layer  is  of  a 
deep  green  or  violet  red  colour,  the  superficial  pigment  is 
of  a  grayish  colour ;  the  deep-seated  pigment  is  contained 
in  branched  cavities,  and  is  moveable,  producing  by  its 
partial  accumulation  and  varying  proportions  with  the  su- 
perficial layer  the  changes  of  colour  for  which  the  chame- 
leon has  in  all  ases  been  remarkable. 

CHAM.F.'LLON  MINERAL.  A  compound  of  manga- 
nesic  acid  and  potash,  which  presents  a  variety  of  tints 
when  dissolved  in  water. 

CHA'MBER.  (Fr.  chambre.)  In  Architecture,  proper- 
ly a  room  vaulted  or  arched  ;  but  now  generally  used  in  a 
more  restricted  sense  to  mean  an  apartment  appropriated 
to  lodging.  With  the  French  the  word  has  a  much  more 
extensive  meatiinz;  but  with  us  the  almost  only  use  of  it, 
beyond  what  is  above  stated,  is  as  applied  in  a  palace  to  the 
room  in  which  the  sovereign  receives  the  subject,  which 
is  called  the  Presence  Chamber. 

CHA'MBERLAIN.  (Fr.  chatnbellan ;  Germ,  kammer- 
herr  )  A  hiirh  officer  in  all  European  courts.  On_r 
the  chamberlain  was  the  keeper  of  the  treasure-chamber 
(camera,  in  the  10th  century ) ;  and  (his  meaningof  the  word 
is  still  preserved,  in  tbe  usages  of  the  corporations  of  Lon- 
don and  other  places,  where  the  chamberlain  is  the  officer 
who  keeps  the  money  belonging  to  the  municipal  body. 
Bat,  in  modern  times,  the  court  officer  styled  chamberlain 
has  the  charge  of  the  private  apartments  of  the  sovereign 
or  noble  to  whom  he  is  attached.  In  England,  the  lord 
great  chamberlain,  or  kina's  chamberlain,  is  one  of  the 
three  great  officers  of  the  king's  household.  He  has  the 
control  of  all  the  officers  above  stairs,  except  the  precinct 
of  the  bedchamber,  which  is  under  the  government  of  the 
groom  of  the  stole.  Under  him  are  the  vice-chamberlain, 
lord  of  the  bedchamber,  &c. ;  the  chaplains,  officers  of  the 
wardrobe,  physicians,  tradesmen,  artizans.  and  others  re- 
tained in  his  majesty's  service  are  in  his  department,  and 
sworn  into  office  by  him.  He  is  commonly  one  of  the  high- 
est nobility  of  the  country  ;  in  virtue  of  his  situation  he  pre- 
cedes dukes.  The  emblem  of  office  appropriated  to  the 
chamberlain  in  European  courts  is  a  gold  key,  generally 
suspended  from  two  gold  buttons. 

The  Lord  Great  Chamberlain  of  England  (not  of  the 
household)  is  the  sixth  great  officer  of  state.  This  office 
belonged  for  many  centuries  to  the  noble  family  of  Do  V.  re, 
Earls  of  Oxford ;  afterward  to  that  of  Bertie,  Lords  Wil- 
loughby  de  Eresby  and  Dukes  of  Ancaster.  In  that  line  it 
became  vested  in  coheiresses,  by  whom  the  present  deputy 
chamberlain  (Lord  Gwydir)  is  appointed. 

CHA'MBRE  ARDENTE.  In  French  History,  a  name 
given  to  the  tribunal  which  was  instituted  by  Francis  I.  for 
the  purpose  of  trying  and  burning  heretics;  and  also  the 
extraordinary  commissions  established  under  Louis  XIV. 
for  the  examination  of  prisoners,  and  under  the  regent 
Duke  of  Orleans  against  public  officers  charged  with  cer- 
tain offences  against  the  revenues,  and  those  guilty  of  fraud 
in  the  matter  of  Law's  bank. 

CHA'MBRE  DES  COMPTES.  (Chamber  of  Accounts.) 
In  French  History,  a  great  court  established  for  various 
purposes;  as  for  the  registration  of  edicts,  ordinances,  let- 
ters patent,  treaties  of  peace,  &c.  The  sovereign  chambre 
des  comptes  was  at  Paris  :  there  were  also  inferior  courts 
in  ten  provincial  cilies. 

CHA'MFER.  (Fr.  chamfrein  )  In  Architecture,  the 
edge  of  anything  originally  right-angled  cut  aslope  or  bevel, 
so  that  the  plane  it  then  form?  is  inclined  less  than  a  right 
ansle  to  the  other  planes  with  which  it  intersects. 

CHA'MOMILE  FLOWERS.  The  flower-heads  of  the 
An'hemis  yiohi'is,  or  common  chamomile.  They  are  used 
in  medicine  in  consequence  of  their  bitter  extract,  which 
is  strengthening,  and  of  their  essential  oil,  which  is  aro- 
matic and  stimulant. 

CHAMP  DE  MARS.     In  French  History,  the  public  as- 
semblies of  the  Franks,  which  were  held  in  the  open  air, 
213 


CHANCELLOR. 

and  annually  in  the  month  of  March ;  from  whence  the 
name.  Under  Pepin  and  some  of  his  successors  they  were 
termed  Champs  de  Mai.  An  extensive  open  space  in  Paris, 
appropriated  to  various  public  solemnities,  is  termed  the 
Champ  de  Mars  ;  a  name  which  seems  also  intended  to  re- 
call the  ancient  Campus  Martius,  or  public  field  of  Rome. 

CHA'MPERTY.  In  Law,  is  a  species  of  maintenance, 
being  a  bargain  with  the  plaintiff  or  defendant  in  a  suit  for 
the  ':campi  partitio,"  or  division  of  the  land  or  thing  in 
dispute  between  the  party,  if  he  prevails  at  law.  and  the 
champerter,  on  the  latter's  bearing  the  expense  of  the  suit. 
It  is  a  punishable  offence  both  by  common  law  and  by 
statute. 

CHA'MPION.  (From  the  Italian  campione,  derived 
from  campOj^e/d ;  or  from  the  ancient  German  and  Gothic 
kempe,  kiempe,  a  warrior;  whence  some  have  derived 
also  the  Spanish  campeador,  a  title  of  the  Cid.)  One  who 
fights  a  public  combat,  or  engages  to  do  so,  in  his  own  or 
another  man's  quarrel.  On  the  issue  in  a  writ  of  right,  trial 
by  battle  might  formerly  be  demanded;  and  in  this  case 
(see  Wager  of  Battle),  each  party  appeared  in  the  field 
by  his  champion.  The  judicial  combat  in  criminal  cases 
miiiht  in  some  countries,  although  not  in  England,  be  fought 
by  a  champion  for  either  of  the  parlies,  if  an  ecclesiastic, 
woman,  or  child.  The  office  of  champion  of  the  crown  of 
Ensland  is  of  great  antiquity  ;  the  manor  of  Scrivelsby  in 
Lincolnshire  having  been  held  from  time  immemorial  in 
erand  serjeantcy,  on  condition  that  the  lord  thereof  shall 
be  the  king's  champion.  This  manor  was  long  held  by  the 
family  of  Marmion  ;  it  passed,  in  the  20th  year  of  Edward 
I.,  to  the  family  of  Dymocke,  in  which  it  has  since  con- 
tinued. The  champion  appears  in  Westminster  Hall  at 
the  coronalion,  between  the  covirses  of  the  royal  banquet, 
incomplete  armour;  his  challenge  is  proclaimed  by  the 
herald,  waging  battle  with  any  person  who  shall  deny  or 
gainsay  the  title  of  the  king,  three  times;  and  the  cham- 
pion throws  down  his  gauntlet.  In  1821.  at  the  coronation 
of  Georee  IV.,  it  was  decided  that  this  office  could  be  per- 
formed by  deputy  ;  and  W.  Dymocke  being  in  orders,  his 
place  was  supplied  by  his  eldest  son. 

i  HANCE.  A  term  applied  to  events  that  are  supposed 
to  happen  without  any  known  or  necessary  cause ;  or  ra- 
ther, of  winch  the  cause  is  such  that  they  may  happen  in 
one  way  as  well  as  another.  Thus,  when  a  piece  of  money 
is  tossed  up  into  the  air,  as  no  reason  can  be  given  why  it 
should  fall  on  one  side  rather  than  on  the  other,  it  is  said 
to  be  an  even  chance  which  of  the  sides  shall  turn  up.  For 
an  account  of  this  branch  of  mathematics,  sometimes  called 
thi  /'  '.rineof  Chances,  see  Probability.  (See  De  Mor- 
gan's Theory  of  Probabilities.) 

i  l[\'VF.L.  (Lat.  canceling)  In  Architecture,  the 
part  of  die  choir  of  a  church  between  the  altar  and  the  lat- 
tices (cancelli)  or  balustrades  that  enclose  it.  This  is  the 
strict  meanins  ;  but  in  many  cases  the  chancel  extends 
much  further  into  the  churcli,  the  original  divisions  having 
been  removed  for  the  greater  accommodation  of  the  con- 
gregation. 

CHA'NCELLOR.  (Lat.  cancellarius .)  A  high  officer  in 
many  European  states.  The  cancellarius  under  the  Roman 
emperors  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  notary  or  scribe,  and 
his  title  to  have  been  derived  from  the  cancelli  or  railing 
behind  which  he  sate.  In  ecclesiastical  matters,  every 
bishop  had  (and  continues  to  have)  his  chancellor,  the  prin- 
cipal judge  of  his  consistory.  The  chancellor  of  France 
began  to  be  an  officer  of  importance  under  the  Frankish 
kings,  especially  after  the  office  of  referendary  had  become 
merged  in  his.  about  the  ninth  century.  In  1223  he  was 
made  the  first  minister  of  the  crown,  and  rank  next  after 
the  princes  of  the  blood  was  assigned  to  him.  The  offices 
of  chancellor  and  keeper  of  the  seals  were  frequently 
united. 

Chancellor,  Arch,  of  the  Empire.  This  office,  under 
the  elective  empire  of  Germany,  belonged  to  the  arch- 
bishop elector  of  Mentz.  The  archbishop  of  Cologne  was 
titular  arch-chancellor  of  Italy,  the  archbishop  of  Treves 
of  Gaul  and  Aries. 

Chancellor  of  a  Diocese.  The  keeper  of  the  seals 
of  an  archbishop  or  bishop.  This  office  now  includes  those 
of  official  principal,  whose  duty  is  to  hear  and  decide  mat- 
ters of  temporal  cognizance  determinable  in  the  bishop's 
court;  and  vicar-general,  who  exercises  the  jurisdiction 
properly  spiritual. 

Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer.  The  highest  finance 
minister  of  the  British  government.  This  office  is  from  its 
nature  necessarily  entrusted  to  a  commoner,  and  is  com- 
monly united  to  that  of  first  lord  of  the  treasury  when  the 
premier  happens  to  be  below  the  peerage.  The  chancel- 
lor, as  an  officer  of  the  Court  of  Exchequer,  has  precedence 
above  the  barons  of  that  court. 

Chancellor  of  a  University.  The  head  of  the  cor- 
porate bodies  by  whom  he  is  elected.  He  exercises  exclu- 
sive jurisdiction  in  all  civil  actions  and  suits  where  a  mem- 
ber of  the  university  or  privileged  person  is  one  of  the  par- 
ties, except  in  cases  where  the  right  to  freehold  is  concerned. 


CHANCELLOR,  CHANCERY. 


The  duties  of  the  respective  chancellors  of  Oxford  and 
Cambridge  are  in  nearly  all  cases  discharged  by  a  vice- 
chancellor. 

Chancellor,  Chancery.  The  office  of  chancellor  is 
the  most  ancient  as  well  as  the  highest  of  all  judicial  offi- 
ces in  England ;  for  though  the  superior  antiquity  of 
his  jurisdiction  has  been  questioned,  the  establishment  of 
the  office  itself  was  certainly  prior  to  the  institution  of  any 
existing  court  of  justice,  the  name  as  well  as  some  of  the 
functions,  which  were  borrowed  from  the  "cancellarii"  of 
the  later  Roman  emperors,  having  been  introduced  into 
the  country  within  the  first  three  centuries  that  followed 
the  dissolution  of  the  Western  Empire. 

In  addition  to  his  judicial  functions,  which  are  various 
and  extensive,  the  chancellor  is  now  by  virtue  of  his  office 

£rivy  councillor,  and  when  a  peer,  speaker  of  the  House  of 
ords ;  over  all  the  members  of  which,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  he  then  has  prece- 
dence in  rank.  As  chief  conservator  of  the  peace,  he  has 
the  nomination  of  all  magistrates  throughout  the  kingdom  ; 
and  he  is  the  patron  of  all  livings  of  the  crown  under  the 
value  of  twenty  marks  in  the  king's  books.  He  has  also 
the  right  of  appointment  to  almost  all  the  offices  in  the  Court 
of  Chancery,  particularly  to  the  office  of  master;  and  has 
very  great  inriuence  over  the  appointment  of  any  of  the 
other  judges  both  of  common  law  and  equity.  He  still  re- 
tains also  the  title  of  keeper  of  the  king's  conscience,  a  duty 
originally  incident  to  his  situation  in  the  king's  chapel,  over 
the  service  of  which  he  presided  ;  and  this  office  may  per- 
haps have  afforded  a  ground  for  that  part  of  his  jurisdic- 
tion which  professes  to  remedy  what  is  contrary  to  equity 
and  good  conscience.  It  is  further  his  duty  to  issue  the 
writs  for  the  convocation  of  parliament ;  and  all  acts  there 
passed,  as  well  as  many  records  and  documents  affecting 
the  rights  of  individuals, — as  to  the  latter  in  order  to  their 
validity, — are  enrolled  and  kept  in  chancery,  under  the  im- 
mediate care  and  custody  of  the  master  of  the  rolls,  him- 
self an  officer  of  that  court.  The  custody  of  the  great  seal 
is  the  peculiar  and  essential  mark  of  the  chancellor's  dig- 
nity ;  and  by  delivery  of  that  and  the  proper  oaths  taken  the 
office  is  created,  with  all  such  of  its  rights  as  can  be  exer- 
cised by  a  chancellor  not  being  a  peer. 

The  jurisdiction  ofthe  chancellorisof  various  sorts.  And, 
first,  as  to  his  common  law  jurisdiction.  By  this  is  meant 
that  part  ofthe  chancellor's  jurisdiction  which  is  regulated 
by  the  same  principles,  and  exercised  according  to  similar 
forms,  as  the  jurisdiction  of  the  other  courts  of  common 
law.  This  is  by  far  the  most  ancient  branch  of  the  chan- 
cery judicature,  and  seems  to  have  been  originally  incident 
to  the  nature  of  the  chancellor's  office,  whose  chief  busi- 
ness it  was  to  advise  the  sovereign  on  the  subject  of  grants, 
charters,  and  letters  patent,  and  to  authenticate  them  by  af- 
fixing the  great  seal  after  the  introduction  of  that  symbol. 
Out  of  this  naturally  arose  a  jurisdiction  in  all  matters  be- 
tween the  crown  and  its  grantees,  and  the  right  to  repeal  or 
cancel  all  grants,  charters,  and  letters  patent,  which  should 
afterwards  appear  to  be  contrary  to  law,  or  in  other  re- 
spects improperly  obtained.  In  like  manner  the  chancel- 
lor had  jurisdiction  in  other  matters  arising  out  of  commis- 
sions under  the  great  seal ;  such  as  returns  made  in  pur- 
suance of  inquiries  under  such  commissions  as  to  the  right 
of  the  crown  to  goods  or  lands  of  the  subject  either  by  es- 
cheat, forfeiture,  or  any  other  cause ;  these  were  legally 
called  offices. 

To  the  same  court  also  belonged  originally,  in  the  time 
of  feudal  tenures,  jurisdiction  in  the  case  of  wardship,  and 
some  other  matters  arising  out  of  such  tenures  between 
the  crown  and  its  tenants  in  capite ;  but  it  should  be  ob- 
served, that  as  this  court  has  not  the  power  of  summoning 
a  jury,  it  can  in  no  case  try  an  issue  of  fact.  It  is  called 
the  Court  of  the  Petty  Bag,  literally  from  the  size  of  the 
bag  in  which  its  writs  are  deposited.  To  the  common  law 
department  of  chancery  belongs  also  the  issuing  of  origi- 
nal writs  ;  that  is  to  say,  precepts  addressed  to  the  party 
complained  of,  stating  the  nature  of  the  complaint  made 
against  him,  requiring  him  to  do  justice  to  it,  or  show  cause 
to  the  contrary  ;  such  writs  being  originally  the  first  and  a 
necessary  step  in  all  causes  which  were  tried  before  either 
of  the  great  courts,  or  in  the  "aula  regia,"  before  its  divi- 
sion into  separate  courts. 

In  tins  department  of  his  office  the  chancellor  was  as- 
sisted by  officers  named  cursitors,  whom  he  was  empow- 
ered to  nominate  for  that  purpose,  and  upon  whom  the 
whole  business  of  devising  writs  soon  devolved.  The 
chancery  has  hence  been  called  OfficinaBrevium,  or  work- 
shop of  writs;  and  it  is,  or  was,  in  respect  of  the  neces- 
sity of  such  writs,  the  foundation  or  fountain  head  of  all 
justice ;  but  this  necessity,  which  had  in  practice  long  been 
satisfied  by  a  fiction,  has  "been  in  terms  dispensed  with  by 
the  2d  W.  IV.  c.  39.  The  receptacle  in  which  these  writs 
were  kept  was  called  the  Hanaper,— literally  a  basket ;  and 
hence  the  office  from  which  they  issued  was  called  Hana- 
per Office. 

But  by  far  the  most  extensive  as  well  as  most  important 
214 


branch  of  the  chancellor's  jurisdiction  is  the  equitable  ;  in- 
deed,  it  is  that  branch  alone  which  is  commonly  meant  by 
the  term  chancery.  In  this  department  of  his  office  the 
chancellor  is  assisted  by  the  master  ofthe  rolls  and  the 
vice-chancellor  ;  the  first  of  which  is  a  very  ancient  office, 
and  the  second  was  established  by  act  of  parliament  in  the 
53d  year  of  George  III. ;  who,  though  they  each  sit  in  sepa- 
rate courts,  and  exercise  their  jurisdiction  severally,  yet 
together  with  the  lord  chancellor  constitute  one  court  of 
chancery,  in  which  all  orders  and  decrees,  though  most 
commonly  made  either  by  the  master  of  the  rolls  or  the 
vice-chancellor,  require  the  signature  of  the  chancellor 
himself,  to  whom  an  appeal  also  lies  from  the  decisions  of 
either  ofthe  two  inferior  judges  ;  but  such  appeals  are  in 
strictness  of  speech  rehearings,  the  chancellor  being  by 
legal  fiction  supposed  to  be  present  in  every  department  of 
the  Court  of  Chancery.  The  hearing  of  such  appeals,  and 
of  incidental  applications,  called  motions,  in  original  causes, 
constitutes  the  ordinary  business  of  the  lord  chancellor, 
it  not  being  the  usual  practice  to  bring  causes  in  the  first 
instance  before  him. 

The  general  object  and  character  of  this  equitable  juris- 
diction is  to  suppiy,  in  civil  matters,  the  deficiencies  ofthe 
other  courts  of  justice,  whether  those  deficiencies  consist 
in  the  imperfections  of  the  machinery  of  those  courts,  or 
in  their  too  rigid  adherence  to  peculiar  forms,  whereby 
certain  classes  of  rights  become  excluded  from  the  benefit 
of  their  protection.  The  origin  of  this  equitable  jurisdic- 
tion is  generally  sought  for  in  that  remnant  of  judicial 
power  which  is  alleged  to  have  been  left  in  that  part  of  the 
"  aula  regia"  which  is  not  included  in  either  of  its  subdi- 
visions (see  King's  Bench,  Common  Pleas),  and  of  which 
residuary  part  the  chancellor  was  certainly,  since  the  sup- 
pression of  the  office  of  justiciary,  the  principal  member, 
and  was  thus  easily  enabled  to  assume  whatever  judicial 
power  was  left  undelegated  to  the  other  courts.  That  such 
remnant  of  power  was  adequate  to  all  purposes  to  which  it 
was  moulded,  is  inferred  from  the  supreme  and  compre- 
hensive nature  ofthe  "aula  regia"  itself,  which  must  be 
supposed  to  have  been  invested  originally  with  full  power 
to  do  complete  and  perfect  justice,  and  of  which  the  rem- 
nant therefore  still  retained  an  undefined  measure  of  au- 
thority sufficient  to  supply  what  should  prove,  on  experi- 
ence, to  be  wanting  in  the  other  courts.  This  view  of  the 
subject  is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  the  Court  of  Ex- 
chequer, which  was  not  a  part  of  the  aula  regia,  but  a  col- 
lateral and  equal  court,  or  rather  perhaps  the  aula  regia  in 
a  different  shape,  has  also  its  equitable  jurisdiction,  as  if 
that  were  a  necessary  part  of  all  complete  systems  of  ju- 
dicature. Possibly  also  the  idea  of  paramount  and  univer- 
sal authority  annexed  to  the  right  of  framing  writs  in  all  ac- 
tions, or,  in  other  words,  of  devising  remedies  for  every 
species  of  wrong,  may  have  laid  the  foundation  in  theory 
for  this  supplemental  code,  asit  was  certainly  the  discovery 
of  a  new  writ,  or  a  new  application  of  an  old  one,  which 
practically  enabled  the  chancellors  to  carry  their  equitable 
views  into  effect. 

This  was  the  writ  of  subpoena :  a  writ  returnable  in 
chancery,  and  calling  upon  the  person  to  whom  it  was  di- 
rected to  appeal  there,  and  answer  upon  oath  the  com- 
plaint that  was  made  against  him.  The  invention  of  this 
writ  is  attributed  to  John  Waltham,  Bishop  of  Salisbury, 
who  was  chancellor  in  the  reign  of  Richard  II.  ;  and  it  is 
upon  the  power  thereby  acquired  that  rests  even  now  the 
equitable  jurisdiction  of  the  chancery. 

Similar  in  principle  to  this  is  the  equitable  jurisdiction  of 
the  Court  of  Exchequer ;  which  is  concurrent  with  that  of 
the  Court  of  Chancery  in  all  matters  of  equitable  relief, 
though  it  can  only  be  called  into  action  by  a  fiction  stated 
in  the  pleadings,  and  which  it  is  not  allowable  to  deny — that 
the  plaintiff  is  a  debtor  of  the  crown,  and  will  by  depriva- 
tion of  the  right  for  which  the  suit  is  brought  be  less  able 
to  satisfy  such  debt.  Wherever,  therefore,  in  the  course 
of  this  or  other  articles,  the  words  equity  or  courts  of  equity 
occur,  they  must  be  taken  as  applying  to  the  principles  and 
jurisdiction  as  well  of  the  Exchequer  as  of  the  Chancery. 

The  usual  division  of  the  objects  of  equitable  jurisdic- 
tion is  into  Trust,  Fraud,  Accident,  Agreement,  and  Ac- 
count. 

As  courts  of  equity  take  into  their  consideration  a  far 
greater  variety  of  circumstances  than  do  courts  of  law,  and 
as  evidence  of  no  fact  not  suggested  by  the  pleadings  is 
admissible,  the  written  pleadings  are  necessarily  more 
copious  and  important  than  they  are  at  law  ;  and  there  is 
further  this  most  essential  difference,  that  the  pleadings  on 
the  part  of  the  defendant,  i.  e.  his  answer,  are  upon  oath. 
With  regard  to  evidence  the  same  general  rules  prevail  in 
equity  as  in  law,  and  to  the  admissibility  of  proofs,  the  re- 
levancy of  facts,  and  the  competency  of  witnesses,  and 
even  the  propriety  of  the  questions  that  may  be  put;  but 
the  manner  of  taking  evidence  is  different,  for  with  few 
exceptions,  and  those  as  to  very  simple  facts,  evidence  in 
equity  is  taken  either  under  a  commission  to  examine,  or 
by  the  official  examiners  in  London,  and  is  produced  be- 


CHANCE-MEDLEY. 

fore  the  court  in  a  written  shape.  Where  special  applica- 
tions are  made  during  a  cause  for  something  to  be  done  in 
that  cause,  or  as  may  sometimes  be  done,  when  applica- 
tions for  an  order  of  the  court  are  made  without  institu- 
ting a  suit,  the  evidence  adduced  is  by  affidavit.  The  hear- 
ing of  such  applications,  which  is  either  upon  written  pe- 
tition or  by  motion  upon  written  notice,  constitutes  a  great 
part  of  the  business  of  the  court.  Evidence  of  facts  not 
essential  in  the  lirst  instance  to  the  interposition  of  the 
court,  is  usually  taken  in  the  master's  office  upon  a  refer- 
ence made  to  him.  The  Court  of  Chancery  has  also  ju- 
risdiction in  the  guardianship  of  infants  and  the  manage- 
ment of  charities;  and  the  lord  chancellor  personally  has, 
by  special  delegation  from  the  crown,  jurisdiction  in  the 
case  of  lunatics,  which  is  exercised  according  to  the  forms 
of  the  old  common  law  jurisdiction  of  the  court  upon 
commission  issued. 

The  appellate  jurisdiction  of  the  chancellor  in  bank- 
ruptcy is  stated  under  that  title. 

CHANCE-MEDLEY.  (A  corruption  of  the  French 
chaude  melee).  In  Law,  signifies  originally  a  casual  affray 
or  riot,  accompanied  with  violence,  but  without  delibera- 
tion or  preconceived  malice  ;  but  is  applied  at  present  to  a 
particular  kind  of  homicide, — viz.  the  killing  of  another  in 
self-defence  in  a  sudden  encounter,  without  malice  pre- 
pense. 

CHANGE  OF  SEED.  In  Agriculture,  the  practice  of 
procuring  seed  produced  in  a  different  soil  and  climate 
from  that  in  which  it  ifl  I"  be  grown  as  a  crop  :  and  which 
is  found  to  be  sometimes  beneficial  and  sometimes  injuri- 
ous, according  as  the  new  seed  may  have  been  matured  in 
a  better  or  worse  climate  and  soil  than  those  in  which  it  is 
to  be  grown. 

CHA'NNEI.S  OF  A  SHIP.  Strong  narrow  platforms 
of  thick  plank,  projecting  from  the  outside  of  the  ship, 
abreast  each  mast,  to  extern!  the  shrouds,  and  thereby  in- 
crease tin-  support  of  the  rigging. 

CHANT.  (Fr.  chanter,  tuning.)  In  Music,  an  ecclesi- 
astical song  usually  adapted  to  the  psalms  and  litanies. 
There  have  been  several  sorts,  of  which  the  first  was  the 
Ambrosian,  invented  by  St.  Ambrose,  bishop  of  Milan 
The  Gregorian  chant,  which  was  introduced  by  Pope 
Gregory,  is  still  in  use  in  the  Unman  church,  and  is  the 
foundation  of  all  that  is  grand  and  elevated  in  music. 

CHA'NTRV.  (Lat.  cantaria.)  A  little  chapel  or  altar, 
commonly  in  some  church  endowed  (before  the  Reforma- 
tion) with  revenues  lor  the  maintenance  ol  a  priest  to  per- 
form prayers  for  the  soul  of  the  founder  and  others. 
Chantries  were  dissolved  in  England  by  1  Ed.  0,  c.  14. 

CHA'PEL.  (Lai.  capella.)  In  Architecture,  a  building 
for  religious  worship,  erected  separately  from  a  church, 
and  served  by  a  chaplain.  In  Catholic  churches  and  Pro- 
testant cathedrals,  chapels  are  usually  annexed  in  the  re- 
cesses on  the  sides  of  the  aisles ;  these  are  also  called 
chantries. 

Chapel.  (Fr.  chapelle.)  In  Printing  is  the  junction 
of  the  workmen  in  an  office  for  the  purpose  of  promoting 
and  enforcing  order  and  regularity  in  the  business,  the 
preservation  of  the  materials,  the  arrangement  of  the 
price  of  any  doubtful  work,  and  the  care  of  the  lights. 
These  objects  an-  accomplished  hy  fines. 

Moxon,  who  published  Ins  work  on  printing  in  1683,  says, 
"  every  Printing  house  is  by  the  custom  of  time  out  of 
mind,  called  a  cnappeL"  It  is  supposed  thai  the  term  ori- 
ginated from  the  circumstance  of  Caxton,  on  the  introduc- 
tion of  Hip  art  into  England,  practising  it  in  a  chapel  at- 
tached to  Westminster  Abbey. 

The  president  is  termed  "  the  father  of  the  chapel,"  and 
is  elected  ;  the  workmen  are  styled  "  members  of  the 
chapel ;"  and  this  association  takes  cognizance  of  all  offen- 
ces, real  or  imaginary,  committed  within  the  office,  and 
punishes  the  offender  by  inflicting  a  fine  in  proportion  to 
the  offence.  The  process  of  calling  a  chapel  is  by  giving 
the  father  a  halfpenny  and  desiring  him  to  summon  a 
chapel,  stating  to  him  the  object;  the  fattier  then  directs 
the  younger  journeyman  to  announce  to  all  the  members 
the  time  when  it  will  be  held  ;  when  the  subject,  is  dis- 
cussed, and  the  decision  taken  by  vote. 

It  is  an  axiom  that  the  chapel  is  always  right,  conse- 
quently Ihere  is  no  appeal  from  its  decision,  and  to  dispute 
this  would  subject  the  party  to  its  displeasure.  It  has  vari- 
ous ways  of  enforcing  obedience  to  its  dictates.  See  Sa- 
vage's Dictionary  of  Printing.  8vo.  1341. 

Chapel.  A  place  of  divine  worship,  either  connected 
■with  a  private  establishment,  as  a  nobleman's  house,  a 
college,  &c.  :  or  subsidiary  to  a  parish  church  for  the  sake 
of  additional  accommodation  (in  which  case  it  is  called  a 
chapel  of  ease)  ;  or  a  meeting  house  belonging  to  a  Dis- 
senting congregation. 

CHA'PLAIN.  (Lat.  capellanus.)  Properly  the  minis- 
ter of  a  chapel.  The  privilege  which  the  king  and  nobility 
enjoy  of  appointing  private  chaplains  arises  from  the  an- 
cient custom  of  using  domestic  chapels  for  family  worship. 

The  limitations  under  which  this  privilege  may  be  exer- 
215 


CHARACTER. 

cised  are  set  forth  in  certain  statutes  of  Henry  VIII.  Under 
the  existing  law  a  nobleman's  chaplain  may  hold  two  bene- 
fices ;  but  the  chaplain  of  a  judge,  <fec.  only  one :  on 
which,  however,  he  is  not  obliged  to  reside. 

CHA'PLET.  (Ital.  ciappellelto.)  A  string  of  beads 
used  by  Roman  Catholics  to  count  the  number  of  their 
prayers  ;  these  prayers  consist  for  the  most  part  of  Ave 
Marias,  Paternosters,  and  Credos.  Another  name  for  the 
chaplet  is  Rosary.  The  invention  of  the  practice  is  gener- 
ally attributed  to  St.  Dominic. 

Chaplet.  (Fr.  chapelet.)  In  Architecture,  a  moulding 
carved  into  beads,  olives,  and  the  like. 

CHA'PTER.  (Lat  capitulus  :  from  caput,  head.)  The 
society  of  canons  in  a  cathedral  or  collegiate  church,  of 
which  the  dean  is  the  head,  which  forms  the  council  of 
the  bishop,  and  in  which  his  election  rested  before  Henry 
VIII.  ;  since  whom  the  power  of  the  chapter  in  this  par- 
ticular (in  the  English  church)  has  become  merely  nomi- 
nal.    See  art.  Bishop. 

CHA'PTER-HOUSE.  (Lat.  capitulum.)  In  Architec- 
ture, the  apartment  (usually  attached)  of  a  cathedral  or 
collegiate  church  in  which  the  heads  of  the  church  or  the 
chapter  meet  to  transact  business. 

CHARa'CE^E.  (Chara,  one  of  the  genera.)  A  natural 
order  of  Acrogens  entirely  destitute  of  a  vascular  system, 
and  composed  almost  exclusively  of  tubes  ;  placet!  by  Lin- 
naeus near  to  Lichens  and  to  Pha'nogamous  plants;  by 
Jussieu  and  De  Candolle,  with  Naiadacea  ;  by  Iirown,  at 
the  end  of  Hydrocharacea  ;  by  Leman,  to  IJalorageas  ;  by 
Von  Martins,  Agardh,  and  W'allroth.  to  Conferva :  and 
finally  admitted  as  a  distinct  order  by  Richard,  Kunth,  De 
Candolle.  Adolphe  lirogiuart,  dreville,  Hooker,  and  others  : 
consists  of  but  two  genera,  which  inhabit  the  fresh  and 
salt  waters  of  most  countries.  They  are  remarkable  for 
the  distinctness  with  which  the  rotation  of  their  lluids 
may  be  seen  under  the  microscope.  Iu  the  opinion  of 
some  Italian  writers  the  insalubrity  of  the  neighbourhood 
of  Home  is  owing  to  the  great  quantity  of  chara  which  in- 
habits all  the  pools,  and  renders  them  intolerably  offen- 
sive. 

CHA'RACTER.  (C.r.  xapaxrrjp.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a 
distinctive  property  or  mark  by  which  any  object  is  sepa- 
rated from  another.  In  physics  as  in  morals,  and  also  in 
the  fine  arts,  there  are  three  species  of  character  :  Essen- 
tial, Distinctive  or  Accidental,  and  Relative.  Essential 
character  is  that  type  stamped  by  nature  on  all  her  works; 
that  great  indication  observable  in  the  general  divisions  of 
the  three  kingdoms  of  nature  ;  those  distinctions  of  differ- 
ent classes  ol  beings,  ol  sexes  and  ages  ;  in  short,  of  all 
those  great  external  marks  which  prevent  the  confusion  of 
one  species  with  another.  Distinctive  ox  accidental  char- 
acter is  that  dependent  on  particular  circumstances  ;  on 
all  those  varieties  of  dei  elopment  which  a  vast  number  of 
visible  or  invisible  causes  stamp  on  the  same  species,  ac- 
cording to  the  difference  of  the  elements  which  modify 
their  forms  and  the  influences  which  some  actions  may 
have  upon  them.  Relative  character  is  a  more  particular 
indication  of  certain  faculties  relative  to  the  different  pro- 
perties with  which  nature  has  endowed  certain  species  or 
individuals,  in  which  may  be  recognized  the  purposes  to 
which  they  are  more  especially  destined.  In  morals,  es- 
sential  character  consists  in  that  uniformity  of  general  hab- 
its which  forms  the  peculiar  instinct  of  each  species  of 
beings,  and  which  indicates  uniformly  their  inclinations, 
their  predominating  tastes,  and  those  propensities  which 
can  never  be  changed  by  accidental  causes.  Distinctive 
character  is  that  which  peculiar  habits  of  organization, 
circumstances,  social  institutions,  and  all  those  exceptions 
which  in  the  very  order  of  nature  become  suitable  to  an 
individual  or  one  of  the  same  species,  being  in  fact  but  a 
modification  of  essential  character.  Relative  character 
is  the  impression  or  development  in  a  particular  manner 
of  certain  qualities  suited  to  a  certain  end,  or  to  a  certain 
mode  of  existence,  indicating  to  what  purposes  the  beings 
in  question  are  suited,  and  manifesting  a  co-relation  be- 
tween what  the  species  appears  and  that  for  which  it  is 
adapted. 

The  arts  are  and  indeed  can  be  but  the  result  of  nature 
in  all  countries,  of  the  nations  that  inhabit  them,  and  of 
the  individuals  of  which  a  nation  is  composed.  Nature 
influences  nations,  nations  men,  and  men  the  arts.  These 
are  governed  either  mediately  or  immediately  by  an  influ- 
ence more  or  less  dependent  on  the  great  natural  causes 
of  climate,  government,  and  education,  which  constitute 
the  essential  character  of  every  country  ;  on  secondary 
and  political  causes,  in  which  nations  differ  ;  and  on  par- 
ticular causes,  which  modify  individuals.  The  arts  do  but 
imitate  this  process  :  according  to  the  particular  spot  in 
which  they  spring  up,  their  imitation  embraces  either  na- 
ture in  general  or  parts  of  nature  ;  either  material  forms 
and  the  sensible  images  of  things,  or  the  moral  affections 
and  intellectual  ideas  of  things';  but  of  whatever  kind  the 
imitation  be,  to  whatever  object  it  may  be  directed,  the 
arts  are  but  the  faithful  mirrors  which  reflect  in  every 


CHARACTERISTIC. 

country  the  physical  and  moral  qualities  of  nature,  of  na- 
tions, and  of  the  individuals  of  which  the  latter  are  com- 
posed. Before  judging,  therefore,  of  the  imitation,  it  be- 
comes necessary  to  judge  of  the  model ;  and  before  we 
can  ascertain  in  what  the  character  of  the  arts  consists,  we 
must  know  on  what  its  character  depends  in  nature.  We 
have  been  thus  particular  in  giving  some  general  notions 
of  character,  which  must  be  felt  belbre  we  can  be  qualified 
to  judge  of  the  character  of  the  arts  in  any  country.  The 
character  peculiar  to  himself  which  an  artist  imparts  to 
his  work  is  but  a  modification  of  the  foregoing  principles  : 
more  easily,  perhaps,  may  be  understood  that  distinctive 
character  which  a  work  of  art  requires  that  it  may  seem 
proper  and  suitable  to  its  end.  That  character '  which 
marks  species  was  well  understood  by  the  ancients;  and 
if  we  may  trust  Martial,  Phidias  excelled  in  catching  it.  Of 
his  fishes  the  poet  says,  "  Adde  aquam,  natabunt." 

CHARACTERISTIC  OF  A  LOGARITHM.  The  same 
as  index  or  exponent ;  meaning  the  figure  prefixed  to  the 
logarithm,  or  preceding  the  point,  and  which  indicates  the 
integer  places  or  figures  in  the  number  to  which  the  loga- 
rithm corresponds. 

CHA'RACTERS.  (Gr.  x^P^^IP,  a  mark.)  In  Music, 
the  conventional  forms  in  musical  writing  and  printing 
used  for  the  signs  of  clefs,  notes,  rests,  &c. 

CHARA'DE.  (Fr.)  A  species  of  riddle,  the  subject  of 
which  is  a  name  or  a  word  that  is  proposed  for  solution 
from  an  enigmatical  description  of  its  several  syllables 
taken  separately  as  so  many  individual  words,  and  then 
from  a  similar  description  of  the  whole  name  or  word.  A 
charade  can  only  be  called  complete  if  the  different  enig- 
mas which  it  contains  are  brought  into  a  proper  relation 
to  each  other,  and  as  a  whole  unite  in  an  epigrammatic 
point.  The  following  charade,  which  we  borrow  from  the 
Dictionnaire  de  VAcademie  Prangaise,  may  be  resarded 
as  a  good  specimen  of  this  species  of  riddle  :— "My  first 
makes  use  of  my  second  to  eat  my  whole  ;"  the  solution 
being  chien-dent,  or  dog's  grass.  The  word  charade,  like 
the  term  calembourg  (quod  vide),  has  been  applied  to'  this 
sort  of  amusement,  from  the  name  of  its  inventor. 

CHARA'DRIUS.  (Lat.)  A  bird  mentioned  by  Pliny. 
The  name  of  a  very  interesting  genus  of  wading  birds,  or 
GraUatores,  including  the  British  plover  and  allied  species. 
In  modern  Ornithology,  the  Linnaean  genus  which  inclu- 
ded the  long-legged  plover  (Himantopus),  the  stone  cur- 
lew (CEdicnemus),  and  olher  species,  is  raised  to  the  rank 
of  a  family  called  Charadriada,. 

CHA'RCOAL.  A  form  of  carbon,  obtained  by  burnin" 
wood  with  the  imperfect  access  of  air,  or  by  heating  or 
distilling  it  in  iron  cylinders  so  constructed  as  to  allow  of 
the  collection  of  the  volatile  products  ;  among  which  are 
tar,  and  pyroligneous  acid,  which  is  impure  vinegar 
Charcoal,  exclusive  of  its  important  use  as  a  fuel,  is  pos- 
sessed of  some  curious  and  valuable  properties.  It  is  a 
very  bad  conductor  of  heat;  and  hence  powdered  char- 
coal is  used  to  surround  tubes  and  vessels  which  are  re- 
quired to  retain  their  heat.  It  is  not  injured  by  air  and 
moisture  ;  hence  stakes  and  piles  are  superficially  charred 
to  preserve  them.  It  is  infusible  ;  and  provided  aii  be 
carefully  excluded,  it  undergoes  no  change  in  most  intense 
heats.  It  absorbs  air  and  moisture,  and  also  the  colouring 
and  odoriferous  parts  of  many  animal  and  vegetable  sub? 
stances.  Tainted  flesh  and  putrid  water  are  "thus  sweet- 
ened by  the  action  of  powdered  charcoal,  especially  by 
what  is  called  animal  charcoal,  obtained  by  burnin"-  bone 
or  the  clippings  of  hides,  leather,  .fee.  Coloured  vegetable 
solutions  filtered  through  well  burned  charcoal  are"mate- 
rially  decoloured  by  it :  when  burned  in  oxygen  or  air,  it 
is  converted  into  carbonic  acid.  'See  Diamond  and  Car- 
bon.) Common  charcoal  intended  merely  for  fuel  is  pre- 
pared by  cutting  pieces  of  wood  from  1  in.  to  3  in.  in  diam- 
eter into  lengths  of  from  1  ft.  to  3  ft.,  forming  them  into  a 
conical  pile,  and  covering  them  with  turf  or  clay  ;  leaving 
two  or  three  small  holes,  close  to  the  ground,  for  liWitin? 
the  wood,  and  boring  through  the  turf  in  the  upper  part  of 
the  cone,  a  few  other  small  holes  for  the  escape  of  the 
smoke.  The  pile  being  lighted  at  the  several  holes  alon<r 
the  bottom,  continues  burning  with  a  slow  smouldering 
flame  for  a  week  or  two,  and  is  allowed  to  cool  before  the 
turf  is  removed.  In  the  case  of  very  high  winds,  the  holes 
to  the  windward  are  stopped,  to  prevent  combustion  from 
going  on  with  too  great  rapidity.  Charcoal  obtained  by 
distilling  beech-wood,  log-wood,  willow,  and  other  woods 
which  are  free  from  resin,  is  called  cylinder  charcoal.  The 
charcoal  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  gunpowder  is 
now  always  so  prepared. 

CHARDS.  The  footstalks  and  midrib  of  artichokes, 
cardoons,  and  the  white  beet,  are  so  called.  In  the  case 
of  the  artichoke  and  r.ardoon,  the  leaves  are  tied  up,  and 
the  light  excluded  by  straw  ropes  or  by  soil,  in  order  to 
blanch  the  chard,  and  deprive  it  of  its  natural  bitterness  ; 
after  which,  when  dressed,  it  becomes  an  agreeable  vege- 
table. The  leaves  of  the  white  beet,  not  being  naturally 
bitter,  do  not  require  blanching  to  render  them  fit  for  use. 
216 


CHART. 

CHA'RFRON,  or  CHAMP-  FREIN.  In  Plate-armour, 
plates  of  steel  or  pieces  of  leather,  to  protect  the  face  of  a 
horse. 

CHA'RGE.  In  Gunnery,  is  the  quantity  of  powder  and 
weight  of  ball  with  which  guns  are  loaded.'  For  proving 
cannon,  the  charge  of  powder  is  equal  to  the  weight  of  the 
ball ;  but  for  service  it  is  about  one  half,  or  more  frequent- 
ly about  one  third  the  weight  of  the  ball.  Dr.  Hutton  in 
his  Mathematical  Dictionary  states  that  different  charges 
of  powder,  with  the  same  weight  of  ball,  produce  different 
velocities  in  the  ball,  which  are  in  the  sub-duplicate  ratios 
of  the  weight  of  powder;  anil  when  the  weight  of  powder 
is  the  same,  and  the  ball  varied,  the  velocity  produced  is 
in  the  reciprocal  sub-duplicate  ratio  of  the  weight  of  the 
ball ;  which  is  agreeable  both  to  theory  and  practice.  He 
states  also,  that  from  many  experiments  made  by  him  on 
this  subject,  he  found  the  length  of  the  charge  producing 
the  greatest  velocity  in  guns  of  various  lengths  of  bore, 
from  15  to  40  calibers,  to  be  as  follows  : — 

Length  of  bore  in  Length  of  charge  fox 

calibers.  greatest  velocity. 

15 3-16ths. 

20 3-12ths. 

30 3-16ths. 

40 3-20ths- 

(See  Greener  on  Gunnery.) 

Charge.  In  Heraldry,  signifies  the  various  bearings, 
i.  e.  ordinaries  and  figures,  depicted  on  the  escutcheon.  A 
shield  is  said  to  be  charged  with  the  bearings  depicted  on 
it ;  and  so  is  an  ordinary  or  other  charge,  when  it  bears 
another  device  upon  it. 

Crarge  and  Overcharge.  In  Painting,  a  term  applied 
to  any  exaggeration  of  character,  expression  from  colour, 
&c. 

CHARGE'  D'AFFAIRES.  The  third  or  lowest  class  of 
foreign  ministers,  according  to  the  regulations  adopted  at 
the  congress  of  Vienna. 

CHA'RITY,  SISTERS  OF.  The  name  by  which  an  in- 
stitution of  females  is  known  in  France,  whose  office  is  to 
attend  the  sick,  and  who  form  a  similar  society  to  that  of 
the  Besuins  in  Flanders.     See  Beguins. 

CHA'RLES'S  WAIN.  A  name  sometimes  given  by  as- 
tronomical writers  to  the  constellation  Ursa  Major,  o? 
Great  Bear.  It  has  sometimes  been  applied  to  the  Little 
Bear. 

CHA'RLOCK.  A  common  name  in  the  north  of  Eng- 
land for  one  of  the  most  common  weeds,  Raphanus  ra- 
phanistrum.  The  plants  when  young  are  remarkably  like 
those  of  the  common  turnip ;  but  they  are  easily  distin- 
guished by  the  taste,  which  is  hot  and  bitter ;  while  that  of 
the  turnip  is  mild.  Cold  wet  lands  are  more  subject  to 
the  charlock  than  warm  calcareous  soils.  As  sheep  are 
remarkably  fond  of  the  plant,  they  are  frequently  turned 
into  corn  fields  where  it  abounds,  in  which  case  it  is  found 
that  they  do  not  touch  the  com  while  any  of  the  charlock 
remains.  That  excellent  husbandman,  Mr.  Lisle,  having 
sown  charlock  seed  and  turnip  seed  at  the  same  time, 
found  that  the  latter  came  up  in  three  days,  while  the 
charlock  required  ten.  The  seed,  when  buried  in  the  soil 
to  a  certain  depth,  will  retain  its  vital  properties  for  an  un- 
known length  of  time  ;  grass  lands  that  have  not  been 
ploughed  within  the  memory  of  man,  having,  when  broken 
up,  produced  abundance  of  this  plant. 

CHA'RON.  (Gr.  xd,o<i»>.)  1°  Mythology,  the  ferryman 
of  hell,  who  conducted  the  souls  of  the  departed  in  a  boat 
across  the  Stygian  lake  to  receive  judgment  from  (Eacus, 
Rhadamanthus,  and  Minos,  the  judges  of  the  infernal  re- 
gions. He  received  an  obolus  from  every  passenger,  for 
which  reason  the  ancients  used  to  put  that  piece  of  money 
in  the  mouths  of  the  dead.  He  was  said  to  be  the  son  of 
Erebus  and  Night. 

CHA'RRED  WOOD.  Wood,  the  outer  surface  of  which 
has  been  carbonized  by  burning,  in  order  to  preserve  it 
from  decav  when  it  is  buried  in  the  soil. 

CHA'RRING  OF  POSTS.  Ttie  practice  of  carbonizing 
by  burning  that  portion  of  the  surface  of  wooden  posts 
which  is  to  be  inserted  in  the  ground.  The  object  is  to 
prevent  the  posts  from  decaying,  more  especially  at  the 
surface  of  the  ground,  or,  as  the  common  phrase  is,  be- 
tween wind  and  water.  The  practice  is  common  in  most 
parts  of  Europe,  and  even  in  Russia  and  Sweden,  though 
timber  is  there  so  abundant. 

CHART.  A  hydrographic  map  for  the  nse  of  naviga- 
tors, being  a  projection  of  some  part  of  a  coast  on  a  plane 
surface.  Charts  as  well  as  ordinary  maps  may  be  con- 
structed on  any  of  the  principles  by  which  a  spherical  sur- 
face is  represented  on  a  plane  ;  but  they  are  generally  laid 
down  according  to  Mercator's  projection,  in  which  the  me- 
ridians, and  consequently  also  the"  parallels  of  latitude,  are 
represented  by  parallel  straight  lines,  the  degrees  of  longi- 
tude on  all  the  parallels  being  equal  to  those  of  the  equa- 
tor, and  the  degrees  of  latitude  being  increased  from  the 
equator  towards  the  pole,  so  as  to  bear  always  the  same 


CHARTACEUS. 

ratio  to  the  degrees  of  longitude  which  they  do  on  the 
Bphere  itself.     See  Map  and  Projection. 

CHARTA'CEDS.  (Lat.  charta,  paper.)  Papery;  indi- 
cafitii;  the  paper-like  texture  and  surjstance  of  most  leaves. 

CHA'RTA,  MA'GNA.  in  English  History.  The  "Great 
Charter  of  the  Realm"  was  signed  by  King  John  in  1215, 
and  confirmed  by  his  successor  Henry  III.  It  is  reported 
to  have  been  chiefly  drawn  up  by  the  Earl  of  Pembroke 
and  Stephen  Langton,  Archl  ishop  of  (Canterbury.  Its  most 
important  articles  are  those  which  provide  that  no  free- 
man  shall  be  taken  or  imprisoned  or  proceeded  against, 
"  except  by  the  lawful  judgment  of  his  peers  or  by  the  law 
of  the  land/'  and  that  no  scutate  or  aid  should  be  imposed 
in  the  kingdom  (except  certain  feudal  dues  from  tenants 
of  the  crown)  unless  by  the  common  council  of  the  king- 
dom. The  remaining  and  greater  part  of  it  is  directed 
against  abuses  of  the  king's  power  as  feudal  superior. 

CHARTE.  (Lat.  charta.  paper.)  In  French  History, 
originally  used  to  indicate  the  rights  and  privileges  granted 
by  th"  French  kings  to  various  'owns  and  communities; 
but  applied  at  present  to  the  fundamental  law  of  the  French 
monarchy,  as  established  on  the  restoration  of  Louis  Will, 
in  1814  The  Charte  consists  of  69  articles,  and  is  founded 
on  principles  analogous  to  those  of  the  British  constitu- 
tion, as  embi  ma  Charta,  and  sub- 
sequently '■ .  wll  known, 
it  was  the  violation  of  an  article  of  the  Charte  bv  the  -Min- 
isters of  Charles  X  thai  led  to  the  revolution  of  1830,  the 
expulsion  of  that  monarch  from  the  throne,  and  the  i 
Usbmenl  of  the  present  dynasty.  Since  that  time  the' 
has  un  w  modifications,  the  chief  of  which  con- 
sists in  the  abolition  of  the  hereditary  peerage.  (Seethe 
Aim*/.                                    ablished  annually.) 

CHA'RTER-PARTY.  i    In  Mercan- 

tile Law,  is  defined  to  be  a  o  mtract,  by  which  the  owner  or 
master  of  a  ship  hires  or  lets  the  whole  or  a  principal  part 
of  it  to  a  freighter  for  the  conveyance  of  goods,  under  cer- 
tain specified  conditions,  on  a  determined  voyage  to  one  or 
more  places.  A  charter-party  is  generally  under  seal ;  but 
a  printed  or  written  instrument  signed  by  the  p 
called  a  memorandum  of  a  charter-party,  is  binding  if  no 
charter-party  be  executed  k.  voyage 'may  be  performed 
in  part  under  a  charter-party,  and  in  part  under  a  parol 
menl ;  but  the  terms  of  a  charter-party  cannot  be  al- 
tered by  parol  evidence,  although  they  may  be  explained 
by  mercantile  usage.  Theinstrum  i  3  the  freight 

tobi'j'  rally, but  nol  necessarily, the  burden 

of  the  ship;  together  with  some  usual  covenants,  and 
other     i  i  ties. 

CHA'RTDLARY.  la  Diplomatics,  a  collection  of  the 
charters  belonging  to  a  church  or  religious  house. 

CHASE,  (Fr.  chassis.)  In  Printing,  an  iron  frame  six 
tenths  of  an  inch  in  thickne 

up  to  secure  the  letters  from  separating  or  dropping  out  in 
the  process  of  printing.  Chases  are  of  different  dimen- 
sion-', according  to  the  number  of  pages  in  a  sheet,  and 
the  size  of  the  paper:  in  the  printing  of  books  there  are 

I  across  at  right  angles,  called  cros 
to  divide  the  chase  into  quarters  for  greater  security.    The 
is  always  the  same,  however  large  the  chase, 
being  lower  than  the  types,  lor  the  purpose  of  keeping  the 
margin  of  the  paper  clean. 

(.'iia.se.  A  row  or  rank  of  plants  or  trees,  and  more  es- 
pecially of  hedge  plants;  also  an  extent  of  waste  or  forest 
land. 

Chase.  In  Nautical  language,  pursuit ;  also  the  vessel 
pursued. 

CHA'SER,  The  vessel  pursuing.  •  Also  guns  at  the 
head  and  stern  for  firing  when  in  chase. 

CHA'SING,  or  ENCHASING.     In  Sculpture,  the  art  of 
embossing  or  making  bassi  nlievi  in  metals.     The  work  is 
punched  out  from  the  back,  and  then  cut  on  steel  blocks 
or  puncheons,  and  cleared  with  small  chisels  and  gravers. 
CHAT-POTATOES.     Small  potatoes,  only  fit  for  giving 
to  pigs  or  boiling  for  poultry. 
CHAT  WOOD.    Small  sticks  and  spray,  only  fit  for  fuel. 
CHAIT'XTRY.     See  Chapel. 
CHAYA  ROOT.    The  root  of  the  Oldenkmdia  u 
cultivated  upon  the  Coromandel  coast  as  a.red  dye  stuff. 

CHEESE.  The  curd  of  milk  compressed  into  solid 
masses  of  different  sizes  and  shapes ;  and,  when  intended 
for  keeping,  salted  and  dried,  and  sometimes  coloured  and 
flavoured.  It  is  almost  always  made  from  the  milk  of 
cows,  but  occasionally  from  that  of  ewes,  and  sometimes, 
though  very  rarely,  from  the  milk  of  goats.  The  following 
are  the  principal  British  cheeses : — Brickbat,  formed  of 
new  milk  and  cream,  chiefly  in  Wiltshire,  in  the  autumn, 
and  sold  in  little  square  pieces  about  the  size  of  brickbats. 
CheMar,  round  thick  cheeses,  weighing  about  150  or  200 
pounds,  with  a  spongy  appearance,  and  the  eyes  or  vesicles 
filled  with  a  rich  oil.  Cheshire,  large  round  thick  cheeses, 
commonly  weighing  from  100  to  200  pounds  each  ;  solid,  ho- 
mogeneous, and  dry  and  friable  rather  than  viscid.  They 
are  made  from  the  whole  of  the  milk  and  cream ;  the 
217 


CHEIRONECTES. 

morning's  milk  being  mixed  with  that  of  the  preceding 
evening  previously  warmed.  Derbyshire,  is  a  small  white 
rich  cheese.  Dunlop,  originally  made  in  Ayrshire,  hut 
now  general  throughout  Scotland,  is  large,  round,  white, 
buttery,  and  weighs  from  30  to  60  pounds.  This  and  the 
Derbyshire  cheese  are  very  much  alike  in  form,  colour, 
and  flavour.  Gloucester,  large,  round,  and  mild  ;  buttery 
rather  than  friable.  There  are  two  kinds,  the  single  and 
double  Gloucester:  the  single  is  made  of  the  milk  de- 
nt halt  the  cream,  and  the  double  of  the  milk 
with  the  whole  of  the  cream.  Green  or  Sage  cheese  may 
be  made  of  any  of  the  other  kinds,  by  mixing  the  milk  be- 
fore it  has  curdled  with  a  decoction  of  sage  leaves,  among 
which  some  put  a  few  (lowers  of  marigold  and  leaves  of 
parsley.  In  the  Highlands  of  Scotland  the  leaves  or  seeds 
of  lovage  are  added  to  the  sage,  which  communicate  a 
very  strong  flavour.  Lincolnshire  is  made  of  new  milk 
and  cream  ;  it  is  quite  soft,  not  above  2  inches  thick,  and 
will  not  keep  more  than  two  or  three  months.  Norfolk, 
the  weight  is  generally  from  30  to  50  pounds;  the  curd  is 
dyed  yellow  with  arnotto  or  saffron  ;  and  though  not  a  rich 
cheese,  it  is  considered  a  good  keeper.  Soft  or  SKpcoat 
is  a  small  soft  rich  ch<  ese,  which  might  almost  be  mis- 
taken for  butter,  if  it  were  not  while,  and  which  must  be 
eaten  in  a  week  or  two  after  making.  Stilton,  so  named 
from  the  town  in  Huntingdonshire  where  it  was  first 
brought  into  notice,  bul  which  is  made  principally  in  Lei- 
ci  stershire.  It  is  solid,  rich,  buttery,  and  white  ;  and,  on- 
like  all  the  other  cheeses  which  have  been  mentioned,  it 
is  twice  as  high  as  it  is  broad.  It  is  much  improved  by 
keeping,  and  is  seldom  used  before  it  is  two  years  old.  It 
is  the  dearest  of  all  English  cheeses,  the  price  being  gene- 
rally to  that  of  Chester  as  2  to  1,  or  2  to  lj.  In  order  to  in- 
duce premature  decay  and  the  consequent  appearance  of 
-  iid  the  makers  sometimes  bury 
them  in  masses  of  fermenting  straw,  Cottenham,  so  named 
from  a  town  in  Cambridgeshire  ;  it  differs  chiefly  from  the 
cream  cheese  of  Stilton  in  being  flat,  broader,  and  supe- 
riorly flavoured.  The  flavour  is  said  to  be  owing  to  the 
rich  grasses  which  grow  on  the  fens.  Suffolk,  or  skim- 
milk,  is  round  and  thin,  weighing  from  25  to  30  pounds 
each,  and  is  the  best  keeping  cheese  made  in  England. 
Wiltshire  resembles  the  Cheshire;  but  is  poorer,  and  of 
inferior    '  II   is  apt  to  become  scurfy,  to  prevent 

which  it  is  generally  coated  over  with  red  paint     York- 
-■' -,  is  the  same  as  the  slip-coat  cheese, 
already  mentioned. 

Fori  I  —The  most  remarkable  of  these  are 

the  following: — Parmesania  chiefly  made  at  Parma  and 
other  places  in  Lombardy,  of  the  curd  of  skimmed  milk 
hardened  by  heat.  Its  flavour  is  said  to  be  owing  to  the 
rich  pastures  of  that  part  of  Italy,  where  all  plants,  from 
ater  quantity  of  bright  sunshine  than  in  Britain, 
have  dot  taticpJ  reatly  increased. 

is  of  various  kinds  ;  but  the  chief  sorts  are  the 
Gruyere  or  Jura  cheese,  and  Schabzieger  or  green  cheese; 
the  iast  is  flavoured  with  the  seeds  and  leaves  of  the  meli- 
lot  {Melilotis  officinalis).  German  cheeses  are  of  different 
kinds  :  but  none  are  celebrated,  unless  we  except  that  of 
Westphalia,  which  is  made  up  into  round  balls  or  short 
cylinders,  under  a  pound  weight  each.  The  peculiar  fla- 
vour which  this  cheese  acquires  arises  from  the  curd  be- 
ing allowed  to  become  putrid  before  it  is  compressed.  In 
Holland  very  good  cheese  is  made,  particularly  the  Edam 
and  Gouda  cheeges;  the  former  is  very  salt,  and  keeps 
well  at  sea.  In  many  pails  of  the  Continent,  and  even  in 
the  interior  of  Poland  and  Russia,  there  are  imitations  of 
English  cheese  made;  but  what  may  be  called  the  indi- 
genous cheese  of  the  Russian  empire  is  nothing  more  than 
salted  curd  put  into  a  bag  and  powerfully  pressed,  and 
taken  to  market  as  soon  as  it  is  made,  in  the  same  manner 
as  butter  is.  In  some  places,  instead  of  a  press,  the  whey 
is  forced  out  of  the  curd  by  putting  it  into  a  long  cloth  mid- 
way between  the  two  ends,  while  a  person  at  each  end 
twists  the  cloth  in  an  opposite  direction,  and  thus  wrings 
out  the  whey.  In  some  miserable  Russian  villages  the 
curd  is  exposed  for  sale  in  small  lumps,  retaining  the 
marks  of  the  fingers,  which  shows  that  no  other  pressure 
has  been  employed  than  what  can  be  given  with  the  hand. 
In  France  the  Roquefort  cheese  is  the  most  esteemed, 
and  next  that  of  Neufchatel.  The  former  somewhat  re- 
sembles Stilton,  but  is  much  inferior;  and  the  latter  is  a 
cream  cheese,  seldom  exceeding  a  quarter  of  a  pound  in 
weight.  (See  Johnston's  Lectures  on  Agricultural  Chem- 
istry, Part  IV.) 
CHEESE -MITE.     See  Piophila. 

CHEE'TAH,  or  CHEETA  A  Mahratta  vernacular 
name,  applied  both  to  the  Felis  jubala  and  the  Felis  leo- 
pardus.  It  is  to  the  former  species,  or  hunting  leopard, 
that  the  term  is  confined  in  England. 

CHEI'RONE'CTES.      (Gr.  \ti(>,  hand,  and    vrtx^,  I 

su-im.)    A  genus  of  spine-finned  fishes,  having  the  pectoral 

fins  supported,  like  short  feet,  upon  peduncles.    By  means 

of  this  organization  the  cheironects  can  creep  over  the 

Ee 


CHEIROPTERA. 

mud  or  sand  when  left  dry  by  the  receding  tide ;  they  also 
propel  themselves  along  by  short  leaps,  and  in  this  way 
seize  upon  insects  which  may  be  hovering  about ;  whence 
they  have  obtained  the  name  of  frog -fishes.  The  gill  cavi- 
ty is  large,  but  the  outlet  very  small,  and  the  quantity  of 
water  which  can  thus  be  retained  enables  the  cheironects 
to  remain  out  of  water  longer  than  fishes  in  general  can 
do.  The  term  Gheironectea  is  applied  by  Illiger  to  a  genus 
opossum  having  the  hinder  hands  webbed.  Some  natu- 
ralists adopt  this  application  of  the  term,  and  apply  to  the 
genus  of  fishes  so  called  by  Cuvierthe  name  Antennariua, 
originally  givpn  to  the  cheironects  by  Commerson. 

CHEIRO'PTERA.  (Gr.  \ElPi  «  hand,  and  ttcoov,  a 
wing.)  An  order  of  Mammalia,  characterized  by  having 
the  anterior  extremities,  and  especially  the  hands,  so  mo- 
dified as  to  serve  the  office  of  wings,  the  fingers  being  ex- 
tremeij  lengthened,  and  connected  together  by  athin  mem- 
brane. Of  this  order  the  common  bat  ( Vespertilio  muri- 
nus)  may  be  regarded  as  the  type.  The  order  includes 
very  numerous  and  diversified  species,  which  have  been 
grouped  by  De  Blainville,  who  has  devoted  an.  especial 
study  to  them,  into  three  principal  divisions.  Of  these  the 
first  includes  the  largest  species,  called  ''flying-foxes:" 
they  are,  however,  vegetable-feeders,  and  are  characterized 
by  having  the  ears  and  nose  of  a  simple  form  ;  the  two  in- 
nermost fingers  of  the  hand  armed  with  claws,  and  of  the 
ordinary  structure  ;  the  tail,  and  the  web  of  skin  connect- 
ing the  hind-legs,  and  called  the  "  interfemoral"  web,  very 
short,  or  wanting  :  and  lastly,  by  having  the  molar  teeth 
separated  by  intervals,  and  of  simple  structure.  These 
bats  are  distributed  over  the  warmer  latitudes  of  the  old 
continent,  and  extend  to  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  ocean. 
The  second  division  has  the  nose  complicated  by  various- 
ly shaped  and  grotesque  membranous  foliations  ;  the  first 
or  innermost  digit  alone  retains  its  ordinary  structure  and 
armature  ;  the  molar  teeth  are  beset  witli  sharp  tubercles ; 
and  the  food  of  these  species  consists  of  insects,  or  the 
blood  of  higher  organised  and  larger  animals.  The  vam- 
pire-bats of  South  America  belong  to  this  group,  which  also 
includes  the  horse-shoe  bats  ( Rhinolophi).  and  other  uenera 
distributed  over  all  parts  of  the  old  world.  The  third  di- 
vision of  Cheiroptera  has  the  nose  constantly  simple;  the 
other  characters  as  in  the  second.  It  includes  the  bats 
properly  so  called,  which  are  uniformly  insectivorous,  and 
of  small  size. 

CHE'LA.  (Gr.  %rfKr],  pincers.)  The  first  pair  of  forci- 
pated  extremities  of  the  crab,  lobster,  and  other  crusta- 
ceans. 

CHE'LICERES.  (Gr.  %ri\ri,  pincers,  and  nspa;,  a  horn.) 
The  term  applied  by  Latreiile  to  two  appendages  of  the  head 
of  the  Arachnidans,  or  spiders  and  scorpions,  which  ap- 
pendages he  considers  as  representing  the  mesial  antenna? 
of  the  Decapod  Crustacea,  here  converted  into  manduca- 
tory organs. 

CHELO'NIANS,  Chelonia.  (Gr.  x^wvrli  a  tortoise.) 
The  order  of  Reptiles,  including  the  tortoises,  terrapenes, 
and  turtles;  characterized  by  the  body  being  inclosed  be- 
tween a  double  shield  or  shell,  out  of  which  extend  the 
head,  tail,  and  four  extremities.  The  land  tortoises  have 
the  power  of  retracting  all  these  parts  within  the  shell. 

CHEMISTRY.  (The  word  is  probably  derived  from  the 
Coptic  root  eheins  or  hhems,  signifying  obscure  or  secret. 
The  German  word  geheim  is  apparently  of  the  same 
origin.) 

Chemistry  is  a  department  of  science,  the  objects  of 
which  are  to  investigate  the  nature  and  properties  of  the 
elements  of  matter,  and  their  mutual  actions  and  combina- 
tions ;  to  ascertain  the  proportions  in  which  they  unite, 
and  the  modes  of  separating  them  when  united  ;  and  to  in- 
quire into  the  laws  and  powers  which  preside  over  and  af- 
fect these  agencies.  As  an  art,  chemistry  may  be  traced 
to  a  very  remote  period  ;  but  it  can  scarcely  be  said  to 
have  existed  as  a  science  previous  to  the  commencement 
of  the  seventeenth  century  :  and  in  tracing  its  early  history 
we  shall  find  the  principal  materials  upon  which  it  is  found- 
ed in  the  works  of  Bacon,  Boyle,  Hooke,  Mayow,  and 
Newton. 

As  induction  from,  experiment  is  the  exclusive  basis  of 
chemical  science,  little  progress  could  be  made  in  it  till  the 
futility  of  the  ancient  philosophical  systems  had  been  ex- 
posed, and  their  influence  annihilated,  and  till  the  neces- 
sity of  that  form  of  severe  experimental  inquiry  had  been 
established  which  "  first  procures  the  light,  and  then  shows 
the  way  by  its  means."  Upon  such  foundations,  laid  by 
Bacon,  the  other  philosophers  whose  names  have  been 
mentioned  proceeded  to  bring  together  and  arrange  the 
materials  winch  had  been  furnished  by  their  predecessors, 
and  were  thence  led  into  that  train  of  true  philosophical 
reasoning  and  research  which  served  as  an  emulatory  ex- 
ample to  their  immediate  successors,  and  which  has  led  in 
our  times  to  the  gigantic  results  of  modern  discovery. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  alchemists  had  accumulated  a 
number  of  valuable  but  isolated  chemical  facts,  and  that 
they  had  explored  with  considerable  diligence  the  abstract 
218 


CHEMISTRY. 

properties  and  mutual  agencies  and  relations  of  the  greater 
number  of  natural  products;  but,  with  few  exceptions, 
they  neglected  their  useful  and  obvious  applications,  and 
wasted  their  labours  upon  unattainable  and  chimerical  ob- 
jects. Their  discoveries  and  inventions,  as  Lord  Bacon 
justly  and  forcibly  observes,  "are  well  represented  in  the 
fable  of  the  old  man  who  left  an  estate  to  his  children, 
buried,  as  he  said,  in  his  vineyard,  which  therefore  they 
fell  to  dig  and  search  for  with  great  diligence;  whereby, 
though  they  found  no  gold  in  substance,  yet  they  receiv- 
ed an  abundant  vintage  for  their  labour.  So  assuredly 
has  the  search  and  stir  to  make  gold  produced  a  great 
number  of  fruitful  experiments." 

Alchemical  speculations,  including  the  attempts  at  the 
conversion  of  mercury  into  gold,  and  the  search  after  an- 
tidotes and  universal  remedies,  were  vigorously  carried  on 
during  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  ;  and  many 
amusing  accounts  of  the  professors  and  adepts  of  those 
periods  have  been  handed  down  to  us  by  the  chemical 
historians  of  the  time.  Those  who  are  curious  upon  these 
subjects  may  consult  Mangetus,  Bibliotheca  Chemica,  and 
the  Theatrum  Chemicum  of  Elias  Ashmole  :  the  latter  con- 
tains "  several  poeticall  pieces  of  our  famous  English  philo- 
sophers, who  have  written  the  hermetique  mysteries  in 
theirowne  ancient  language,"  but  their  perusal  is  labour  lost; 
not  so,  however,  with  Basil  Valentine,  Paracelsus,  Van  Hel- 
mont,  and  Glauber,  in  whose  writings  we  not  only  find  the 
materials  so  happily  worked  upon  by  Hooke  and  Mayow, 
but  which  also  abound  in  announcements  of  imporlant 
practical  discoveries,  and  in  hints  to  which  many  of  the 
improvements  of  modern  times  may  be  plausibly  traced. 

Basil  Valentine  of  Erfurt  was  born  about  the  year  1400; 
his  writings,  although  tinctured  with  the  follies  of  alchemy, 
are  full  of  shrewd  and  intelligent  remarks :  he  was  the 
discoverer,  apparently,  of  nitric  and  of  sulphuric  acid, 
and  of  many  antimonial  preparations,  which  are  fully 
described  in  his  Triumphal  Chariot.  Philip  Hochener, 
more  commonly  known  under  the  name  of  Paracelsus, 
and  who  died  in  1511  at  Saltzburgh,  in  the  forty-third  year 
of  hi*  age,  is  chiefly  celebrated  for  the  boldness  and  ossi- 
duity  with  which  he  introduced  chemical  preparations  into 
the  practice  of  medicine  ;  he  did  little,  however,  as  a  dis- 
coverer. Van  Helmont,  one  of  the  soundest  writers  of  his 
period,  was  the  first  who  seems  to  have  paid  attention  to 
the  nature  of  gaseous  bodies,  and  to  the  distinction  between 
permanent  gases  and  vapours  :  the  word  gas  first  occurs 
in  his  works  ;  and  under  the  term  gas  siliiestre,  he  seems 
to  allude  to  what  was  afterwards  termed_/?,j;ed  air.  None, 
however,  of  these  early  practical  chemists  come  into  com- 
petition with  Glauber.  He  was  an  active  experimentalist, 
and  an  acute  reasoner;  and  in  reference  to  his  discoveries 
we  may  enumerate  among  them  the  distillation  of  muri- 
atic acid  from  a  mixture  of  sulphuric  acid  and  common 
salt;  the  purification  of  the  residuary  sulphate  of  soda, 
which  he  termed  sal  rairabVe,  and  which  still  bears  his 
name  ;  the  production  of  ammonia  by  the  distillation  of 
bone,  and  its  conversion  into  sal  ammoniac  by  the  addition 
of  spirit  of  salt ;  the  preparation  of  sulphate  of  ammonia, 
which  he  terms  secret  sal  ammoniac ;  the  formation  of  blue 
vitriol  by  the  action  of  sulphuric  acid  upon  the  green  rust 
of  copper;  the  composition  of  numerous  earthy,  alkaline, 
and  metallic  salts;  and  lastly,  the  evolution  of  vinegar  du- 
ring the  destructive  distillation  of  wood,  for  which  he  des- 
cribes and  delineates  the  distillatory  apparatus,  under  the 
name  of  "a  press  for  extracting  the  juice  of  wood,"  and 
the  uses  of  which,  together  witii  those  of  the  oil  of  tar  and 
other  products,  he  describes  at  length,  closing  his  discourse 
with  a  statement  of  his  apprehension  that  he  shall  be  by 
many  disbelieved  ;  but  "  it  contented  me,"  he  says,  '-that 
I  have  written  the  truth,  and  lighted  a  candle  to  my  neigh- 
bours." Glauber  also  published  a  pamphlet,  entitled  "  'Hie 
Consolation  of  Navigators ;  in  which  is  taught  how  they 
who  travel  by  sea  may  preserve  themselves  from  hunger 
and  thirst,  and  edso  from  those  diseases  which  are  wont  to 
happen  in  long  voyages :  written  for  the  health,  comfort, 
ana  solace  of  all  those  who  travel  by  water  fir  the  good  of 
their  country."  The  sensible  plan  of  employing  extract 
of  malt  as  a  portable  vegetable,  diet,  and  diluted  muriatic 
acid  to  quench  thirst,  is  here  recommended  ;  and  many  of 
the  medicinal  uses  of  that  acid  are  dwelt  upon,  among 
which  are  some  that  have  been  claimed  as  recent  discov- 
eries. On  the  whole,  there  is  no  author,  contemporary 
with  Glauber,  who  has  written  so  much  to  the  purpose,  and 
who,  as  it  were,  anticipated  so  many  of  our  modern  scien- 
tific improvements. 

Reverting  to  the  names  of  Boyle  and  his  eminent  associ- 
ates, we  are  reminded  of  the  origin  of.the  Royal  Society  of 
London  for  the  Improvement  of  Natural  Knowledge,  which 
was  incorporated  by  Charles  n.  in  the  year  1602,  and  of 
which  Boyle  and  Hooke  were  active  and  distinguished 
members.  Boyle  died  in  1691.  His  station  in  life,  his  mild 
and  prepossessing  disposition,  his  strict  honour  and  integ- 
rity, and  the  unaffected  earnestness  with  which  he  pro- 
moted experimental  inquiry,  tended  to  shed  a  lustre  on 


CHEMISTRY. 


his  pursuits,  to  elevate  their  character  with  the  world,  and 
to  draw  into  (heir  precincts  many  who  without  such  an  ex- 
ample would  have  passed  their  lives  in  that  listless  inactivi- 
ty then  too  common  with  those  upon  whom  fortune  smiled  : 
among  these  Mr.  Boyle  made  many  converts. 

Boyle's  Essays  on  the  successfulness  and  unsuccessful- 
tiess  of  Experiments,  and  the  Preface  to  his  Philosophical 
Writings,  are  in  the  genuine  spiritof  experimental  research ; 
but  the  new  and  important  aspect  assumed  about  this  time 
by  such  pursuits  is  perhaps  chiefly  due  to  Dr.  Robert  Hooke 
(born  in  the  Isle  of  Wight  in  1635,  and  died  in  London  in 
1702).  Among  his  views  and  discoveries  which  bear  upon 
the  progress  of  chemical  philosophy,  the  most  important 
are  those  relating  to  the  phenomena  of  combustion,  and  to 
the  part  which  the  air  performs  in  that  process ;  his  notions 
upon  these  subjects  are  remarkable  for  their  boldness  as 
differing  from  the  prevailing  theories  of  the  day,  and  for 
their  correctness  as  superseding  the  objections  to  which 
those  theories  were  liable.  From  the  hints  contained  in 
the  writings  of  the  alchemists,  it  appears  that  tin3  phenome- 
na of  combustion  were  referred  to  a  subtile  and  highly  vola- 
tile principle,  which,  agitated  and  expanded  by  heat,  pro- 
duced JUiuik  and  fire.  When  metals  wore  exposed  to  the 
action  of  heat  the  greater  number  of  them  were  observed 
to  alter  their  appearance,  and,  losing  their  brilliancy,  be- 
came converted  into  an  earth  like  powder  or  ca)x.  It  was 
generally  admitted  thai  in  this  process  the  panicles  of  the 
iU8tible  were  thrown  into  violent  vibrations,  and  in 
that  way  transformed  into  heat  and  light.  But  it  had  been 
also  remarked  that  in  certain  cases  of  combustion,  an  I 
especially  as  regal  ,  the  phenomenon'.' 

tended  by  an  actual  increase  of  weight  in  the  burning  I 
and  that  this  result  was  incompatible  with  the  theory  which 

assumed  (he  conversion  ol  tl ombustible  into  heat  and 

light,  or  the  evolution  of  thai  principle  of  inflammability 
which  by  lieecher  and  St.ihl  and  the  chemists  of  that 
school  was  tenner!  phlogiston.  About  the  year  1630  a  re- 
markable tract  appeared  in  Prance  relating  to  this  su 
by  .lean  Rey,  a  physician  of  Perigord.  Le  Bran  bad  melted 
two  pound.-  six  ounces  of  lead,  and  found  that  in  six  hours 
the  whole  bad  been  converted  into  calx;  but  that  instead 

fiston,  or  any  other  ponderable  m 
It  had  actually  increased  in  weight  to  the  extent  of  many 
ounces.    Puzzled  by  this  result,  he  consulted  R< 
cause,  who  immediately  undertook  an  experimental  in- 
quiry, which  led  him  to  refer  the  increase  in  weight  in  this 
and   similar  cases  to  R  of  air.     Tins   infi 

was  amply  supported  by  i  a  of  Boyle  an  I  ol 

Hooke  :  the  former  found  that  no  combustible  would  burn 
under  the  exhausted  receiver  of  the  air-pump,  and  conse- 
quently that  the  presence  of  air  was  t  [uisite  :  an  I  1 1 
finding  that  however  intensely  charcoal  was  heated,  it 
would  not  burn  when  air  was  excluded,  infers  "thai  air  is 
the  universal  dissolvent  of  inflammable  bodies,  and  that 
this  dissolution  generates  heat,  which  we  call  fire."  But 
he  went  a  slep  beyond  this,  and  attributes  the  power  of 
supporting  combustion  to  a  principle  in  the  atmosphere, 
'•like  unto,  or  the  very  same  as, that  which  is  fixed  in  salt- 
petre:'' for  he  had  observed  the  power  of  that  salt  as  a  sup- 
l  of  combustion.  His  words  are  as  follow: — "The 
dissolving  parts  of  the  air  are  but  few,  and  hence  the  atmo- 
sphere is  like  3  which  have  much  phlegm  mixed 
with  them,  and  become  soon  glutted;  whereas"  saltpetre 
abounds  more  in  those  solvent  particles,  and  hence  a  little 
will  dissolve  a  great  sulphurous  body  quickly  and  violent- 
ly :  and  as  other  solvents,  though  but  weak,  quickly  con- 
sume the  dissoluble  bo.lv  if  the  supply  be  renovated,  so  air 
applied  to  a  shining  body  by  a  bellows  will  dissolve  it  as 
rapidly  as  saltpetre."  From  all  which  he  concludes  that 
there  is  no  element  of  fire,  but  that  flame  results  from  the 
mutual  chemical  action  of  the  combustible  noon  a  part  of 
the  atmosphere,  i  Ho  ike's  Micrographia.)  Hooke  also  al- 
ludes to  the  part  performed  by  oar  in  the  process  of  respi- 
ration :  and  in  his  Lam/mi.  published  in  1677,  has  given  a 
be  of  in!  explanation  of  the  burning  of  a  candle.  He  attri- 
butes the  light  and  heat  to  the  action  of  the  air  upon  the 
combustible  matter  of  the  flame,  and  shows  that  the  inte- 
rior of  the  flame  is  not  luminous,  hy  the  simple  exp  idient 
of  viewing  its  section  through  a  thin  piece  of  glass  or  of 
mi  •&. 

These  doctrines  of  Hooke  were  further  illustrated  by 
John  Mayow  (born  in  Cornwall  1615.  died  in  London  1679), 
who  i.  mentally  corroborated  them,  but  pointed 

out  the  connection  between  combustion  and  respiration, 
and  showed  that  that  part  of  the  air  concerned  in  the  sup- 
port of  flame  was  also  essential  to  the  life  of  animals.  He 
placed  a  candle  under  a  bell-glass,  and  when  it  would  no 
longer  burn,  he  found  that  on  rekindling  it  it  was  immedi 
ately  extinguished  by  the  same  air;  he  then  placed  a  mouse 
in  a  confined  portion  of  air,  and  it  soon  manifested  the 
want  of  its  renewal;  he  then  put  the  mouse  under  the  same 
bell-glass  with  the  candle,  and  found  that  it  only  lived  half 
the  time  that  it  had  survived  without  the  candle ;  he  then 
reversed  the  experiment,  and  endeavoured  to  burn  a  can- 
219 


die  in  air  which  had  been  breathed,  and  finding  that  it  went 
out,  he  concluded  that  the  "  nitro-aerial  particles"  of  the  air 
were  as  essential  to  respiration  as  to  combustion,  and  that 
they  were  in  both  cases  absorbed ;  and  he  even  refers  ant- 
mo/  heat  to  the  influence  of  the  air  upon  the  blood. 

But  Mayow's  claim  to  a  distinguished  place  in  the  history 
of  chemistry  is  not  merely  founded  upon  the  sagacity  with 
which  he  followed  up  these  views;  he  was  the  first  who 
distinctly  expounded  the  nature  of  chemical  affinity,  and 
who  taught  its  independence  of  those  mechanical  forms  of 
the  particles  of  matter  to  which  it  had  been  referred,  and 
showed,  contrary  to  the  prevailing  tenets,  that  in  cases  of 
combination  the  particles  of  the  acting  bodies  were  not  an- 
nihilated, but  that  they  still  existed  in  the  compound,  and 
might  again  be  elicited  from  it  with  all  their  former  powers 
and  properties.  These  notions  he  illustrates  by  a  series  of 
extremely  apposite  experiments  ;  and  proceeds  to  explain 
decomposition  upon  the  principle  of  inequality  in  the  respec- 
tive attractive  forces  of  the  acting  bodies,  a  doctrine  which 
was  afterwards  verified  and  further  explained  by  Newton, 
whose  masterly  sketch  of  a  theory  of  chemical  attraction, 
given  in  the  queries  to  the  third  book  of  Optics,  is  nearly 
in  the  language  and  entirely  in  the  spirit  of  his  predecessor. 
The  theory  of  combustion  and  of  affinity,  thus  established 
upon  the  basis  of  experiment  by  ;  I  Mayow,  con- 

stitute the  foundation  upon  which  most  of  the  superstruc- 
ture of  modern  chemistry  rests  ;  the  former  was  exti 
and  embellished  by  Lavoisier,  and  the  latter  has  gradually 
risen  into  the  atomic  and  equivalent  doctrine.  There  are 
three  principal  points  connected  with  the  vast  extension 
and  importance  of  chemical  science  as  we  now  find  it.  to 
which  it  becomes  n  refore  to  allude;  namely, 

the  investigations  relating  to  the  philosophy  of  heat,  those 
connected  with  piu  umaticchi  mistry,  and  those  establishing 
the  connection  of  electrical  w  phenomena. 

It  was  not  till  towards  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury that  such  perfection  was  given  to  the  construction  of 
the  thermometer  as  to  enable  it  to  be  used  as  an  accurate 
and  comparative  measure  of  temperature.  Dr.  Halley 
seems  to  have  been  the  firsl  who  applied  the  uniform  tem- 
perature of  boiling  w  iter  to  obtain  one  fixed  point  for  its 
graduation;  the  constant  temperature  of  water  in  the  act 
of  freezing  seems  also  to  have  been  noticed  about  the  same 
time  by  the  '  ademicians,  and  by  Newton  :  and 

these  two  points  being  thus  determined  and  ascertained, 
ir  with  the  causes  of  their  occasional  discrepancies, 
the  graduation  of  the  thermometer  became  easy,  especial 
Iv  when  the  advanl  n  pointed  out 

by  Halley,  togi  ther  with  the  mo  le  of  sealing  it  in  the  ther- 
mometer tiii  umometer.)  But  the  great  and 
important  step  in  the  philosophy  of  heal  was  the  conse- 
quence of  Dr.  Black's  discovery  of  the  state  in  which  heat 
i  v  (pours,  and  upon  which  he  founded 
his  beautiful  I  entheat.  This  theory  gave  a  sa- 
tisfactory solution  of  a  multitude  of  natural  and  artificial 
phenomena  previously  unexplained  or  unobserved,  and  laid 
the  foundation  of  those  wonderful  improvements  in  the 
theoretical  and  practical  construction  of  the  steam  engine 
on  afterwards  carried  into  effect  b\ 

Dr.  Black  was  born  in  17'->i  on  the  banks  of  the  Garonne, 
located  at  Belfast,  and  afterwards  at  Glasgow :  in  17*16 
he  was  appointed  to  the  chemical  chair  in  the  university 
of  Edinburgh,  where  he  died  in  1799.  He  not  only  made 
the  grand  discovery  of  the  latency  of  heat,  but  he  enriched 
chemistry  with  other  discoveries  ;  among  which  that  of 
the  presence  of  carbonic  acid  in  the  mild  earths  and  alka- 
lies, and  the  cause  of  their  causticity,  was  especially  per- 
fect and  important.  These  facts,  including  also  the  dis- 
covery of  carbonic  acid,  or,  as  it  was  then  caOed,fixed  air, 
were  first  published  in  1756;  his  ideas  respecting  the  com- 
binations of  heat  with  ponderable  matter  were  perfected  in 
1764. 

Another  and  distinct  set  of  inquiries,  having  important 
bearings  upon  the  philosophy  of  heat,  had  its  origin  with 
the  Florentine  academicians  towards  the  end  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  and  was  afterwards  sagaciously  followed 
up  by  Bcheele,  Leslie,  and  others  ;  it  relates  to  the  pheno- 
mena of  radiation,  to  the  manner  in  which  heat  is  propa- 
th  rough  space,  and  to  those  of  its  emanation  from 
luminous  and  incandescent  bodies,  and  to  its  connection 
with  light. 

Pneumatic  Chemistry  had  its  origin  in  the  experiments 
of  Hooke  and  Mayow,  and  was  subsequently  extended  by 
Hales,  and  more  especially  by  Priestley.  Mayow  obtained 
hydrogen  gas  by  theaction  of  iron  on  dilute  sulphuric  acid, 
and  observed  the  formation  of  nitrous  gas  during  the  action 
of  aquafortis  upon  the  same  'metal ;  but  it  was  not  till  the 
commencement  of  the  last  century  that  the  distinctive 
characters  of  the  gases  and  their  importance  as  chemical 
agents  began  to  he  duly  appreciated.  Connected  also  with 
this  subject  is  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  chemical  physi- 
ology of  vegetation.  Dr.  Stephen  Hales  was  born  in  Kent 
in  1677.  and  died  at  Teddington  in  1761.  He  began  the 
communication  of  his  researches  to  the  Royal  Society  in 


CHEMISTRY. 


1717,  and  in  1727  published  his  "  Statical  Essays,  containing 
an  essay  towards  a  natural  iiistory  of  vegetation,  of  use  fo 
those  who  are  curious  in  the  culture  and  improvement  of 
gardening  ;  also  a  specimen  of  an  attempt  to  analyse  the  air 
by  a  great  variety  of  chemico-statical  experiments,  which 
were  read  at  several-meetings  before  the  Royal  Society."  In 
1733  a  second  volume  of  these  Essays  was  published,  con- 
taining "  Haemostatics,  and  experiments  on  the  stone  of  the 
kidney  and  bladder."  In  his  various  experimental  re- 
searches detailed  in  these  essays,  Dr.  Hales  describes 
many  curious  facts,  and  shows  much  ingenuity  in  the  con- 
trivance of  apparatus ;  but  he  furnishes  a  striking  instance 
of  the  facility  with  which  the  mind  is  led  away  from  the 
true  path  of  discovery  by  preconceived  opinions  ;  for  hav- 
ing predetermined  that  the  various  gaseous  products  which 
he  obtained  were  mere  modifications  and  contaminations 
of  common  air,  he  missed  much  that  was  fairly  within  his 
grasp.  He  observed,  for  instance,  that  air  was  absorbed 
during  the  combustion  of  phosphorus  in  close  vessels,  but 
he  examined  none  of  the  products;  he  collected  the  air 
evolved  during  the  destructive  distillation  of  wood,  and 
found  it  fatal  to  animals ;  from  Newcastle  coal  he  obtained 
one  third  of  its  weight  of  gas ;  and  from  nitre,  180  times  its 
bulk ;  but  he  did  not  leisurely  examine  any  of  these  por- 
ducts.  He  found  that  iron  filings  ami  oil  of  vitriol  would 
not  evolve  gas  unless  water  was  present ;  but  instead  of 
stopping  to  examine  the  properties  of  the  hydrogen  gas 
which  he  thus  obtained,  he  hastens  on  to  irrelevant  obser- 
vations, being  more  eager  to  multiply  experiments  than  to 
examine  their  results.  In  the  same  way  he  details  with 
minute  accuracy  the  quantity  of  the  air  generated  during 
the  distillation  of  blood,  tallow,  sal  ammoniac,  and  many 
other  substances,  without  drawing  a  single  useful  infe- 
rence. In  his  experiments  on  respiration  too,  he  obtained 
results  of  extreme  interest,  and  is  often  upon  the  verge  of 
most  important  discoveries;  but  instead  of  being  incited 
by  the  novelty  of  his  results,  and  the  extent  of  the  field  of 
investigation  opened  by  his  researches,  he  drops  them 
upon  the  occurrence  of  the  slightest  difficulty.  His  exam- 
ination, however,  of  the  motion  of  the  sap  in  vegetables 
was  pursued  upon  a  more  regular  and  satisfactory  plan  ; 
he  ascertained  the  quantity  of  matter  imbibed  and  per- 
spired by  several  plants  and  trees ;  the  proportion  daily 
lost  by  the  leaves,  and  their  influence  upon  the  absorptive 
powers  of  the  root;  and  the  relation  of  various  states  of 
the  atmosphere  as  to  temperature  and  moisture  upon  these 
functions.  He  endeavoured  to  confer  different  flavours 
upon  fruits  by  impregnating  the  soil  with  perfumed  waters, 
and  he  found  that  the  odorous  particles  were  rejected  by 
the  living  vessels,  but  that  they  affected  the  dead  parts  of 
the  tree  ;  he  compares  the  functions  of  the  leaves  of  ever- 
green with  those  of  deciduous  shrubs  and  trees ;  he  no- 
tices the  effect  of  cutting  a  ring  of  bark  off  the  branch  of  a 
tree  in  promoting  the  growth  of  its  leaves  and  fruit ;  and, 
lastly,  shows  that  air  is  sometimes  absorbed  or  inspired  by 
plants,  and  gives  some  interesting  views  relative  to  the  ger- 
mination of  seeds. 

When  it  is  recollected  that  Hales  wrote  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  last  century,  that  few  models  of  good 
scientific  composition  were  then  extant,  and  that  a  pom- 
pous and  obscure  style  was  prevalent  among  most  of  his 
contemporaries,  we  must  admire  the  perspicuous  and  un- 
adorned manner  in  which  he  details  his  facts  and  obser- 
vations. He  has  in  this  respect  all  the  merit  which  be- 
longs to  Boyle  without,  his  diffusiveness  :  and  a  pleasing 
vein  of  sound  and  unaffected  morality  accompanies  his  ar- 
guments, and  leads  him,  whilst  endeavouring  to  unveil  the 
mysteries  of  nature,  to  direct  our  attention  with  becoming 
modesty  to  the  extreme  penury  of  man's  wisdom,  when 
compared  with  the  admirable  adjustments  of  causes  and 
effects  discoverable  in  the  lowliest  works  of  the  Creator. 

But  although  Jlayow,  Hooke,  and  Hales  had  done  much 
towards  establishing  the  interest  and  importance  of  gas- 
eous chemistry,  it  is  to  Dr.  Joseph  Priestley  (born  at  Field- 
head,  near  Leeds,  1733 ;  died  in  Pennsylvania,  1804)  that 
we  owe  the  principal  progress  in  this  branch  of  our  science. 
He  directed  his  attention  to  it  with  a  degree  of  activity  and 
skill  then  peculiarly  his  own,  and  in  the  number  of  his  dis- 
coveries left  his  contemporaries  far  behind,  while  he  cer- 
tainly rivalled  them  in  their  interest  and  importance,  which 
is  the  more  surprising  when  we  reflect  that  he  generally 
seems  to  have  considered  his  philosophical  studies  as  sub- 
ordinate to  his  more  severe  and  serious  occupations.  He 
first  turned  his  attention  to  chemistry  about  the  year  17G8. 
He  used  to  amuse  himself  with  experiments  on  fixed  air 
and  on  artificial  mineral  waters  ;  and  one  experiment,  as 
he  says,  leading  to  another,  he  soon  collected  those  mate 
rials  which  he  laid  before  the  Royal  Society  in  1772,  under 
the  title  of  Observations  on  different  Kinds  of  Air.  It  was 
on  the  1st  of  August,  1774,  that  he  made  the  great  discove- 
ry upon  which  so  much  of  the  subsequent  progress  of 
chemical  science  has  depended,  namely,  that  of  oxygen 
gas.  He  obtained  it  by  exposing  a  quantity  of  red  precipitate 
of  mercury  to  the  action  of  the  sun's  rays  concentrated 


upon  it  by  a  lens ;  tho  red  precipitate  was  contained  in  a 
flask  filled  up  with  mercury,  and  inverted  in  a  basin  con- 
taining the  same  metal.  "I  presently  found,"  he  says, 
"  that  by  means  of  this  lens  air  was  expelled  from  it  very 
readily.  Having  got  several  times  as  much  as  the  bulk  of 
my  materials,  I  admitted  water  to  it,  and  found  that  it  was 
not  imbibed  by  it ;  but  what  surprised  me  more  than  1  can 
well  express  was  that  a  candle  burned  in  this  air  with  a  re- 
markably vigorous  flame,  very  much  like  that  enlarged 
flame  with  which  a  candle  burns  in  nitrous  air  exposed  to 
iron  or  liver  of  sulphur;  but,  as  1  got  nothing  like  this  re- 
markable appearance  from  any  kind  of  air  besides  this  par- 
ticular modification  of  nitrous  air,  and  I  knew  no  nitrous 
acid  was  used  in  the  preparation  of  the  mercurius  calcina- 
tus,  I  was  utterly  at  a  loss  how  to  account  for  it."  He  then 
goes  on  to  show  that  red  lead  and  nitre  also  affords  oxygen 
at  a  red  heat,  and  calls  it,  consistently  with  the  theory  of 
combustion  which  was  then  prevalent,  dephlogisticated  air, 
regarding  it  as  common  air  deprived  of  phlogiston,  and 
consequently  possessed  of  a  powerful  affinity  for  that  im- 
aginary principle. 

Shortly  after  the  discovery  of  oxygen,  Priestley  ascer- 
tained that  plants  had  the  power  of  purifying  air  which 
had  been  vitiated  by  the  respiration  of  animals,  and  that 
oxygen  was  evolved  by  aquatic  plants  in  water  containing 
carbonic  acid.  Nitrous  and  nitric  oxide,  muriatic  acid, 
and  ammonia  were  also  amongst  his  gaseous  discoveries. 
In  1772  Dr.  Rutherford  had  demonstrated  that  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  atmosphere  consisted  of  a  peculiar  gas  differing 
from  fixed  air,  yet,  like  it,  extinguishing  flame  and  unfit 
for  respiration  ;  to  this  component  part  of  the  atmosphere 
Dr.  Priestley  gave  the  name  of  phlogisticated  air,  and  point- 
ed out  the  means  of  ascertaining  its  relative  proportion  to 
the  oxygen  of  the  air  by  the  agency  of  nitrous  gas. 

Another  celebrated  name  connected  with  the  progress 
of  this  department  of  chemical  science  is  that  of  Caven- 
dish. In  1776  he  presented  the  Royal  Society  with  a  dis- 
sertation on  inflammable,  fixed,  and  nitrous  air.  The  two 
latter  gases  had  been  well  described  by  his  contempora- 
ries ;  but  nothing  very  precise  was  known  respecting  in- 
flammable air,  till  its  sources  and  properties  were  de- 
scribed in  Cavendish's  masterly  paper.  He  found  that  it 
was  the  lightest  known  substance,  and  in  conjunction  with 
Watt  he  showed  that  by  combustion  with  oxygen  water 
was  the  only  result;  hence  the  term  hydrogen  subsequent- 
ly applied  to  this  gas.  Cavendish  also  discovered  the 
composition  of  nitric  acid  ;  and  by  passing  a  succession  of 
electric  sparks  through  common  air,  and  through  artificial 
mixtures  of  oxygen  and  nitrogen,  he  succeeded  in  effect- 
ing their  combination,  and  in  producing  that  acid. 

Two  capital  and  extremely  important  steps  were  thus 
made  in  chemical  science,  chiefly  by  the  joint  labours  of 
Priestley  and  of  Cavendish  ;  namely,  the  composition  of 
the  atmosphere  and  of  water;  and  about  the  same  time 
Scheele  (born  at  Stralsund  in  1742,  and  died  at  Kbping 
near  Stockholm  in  1786),  in  his  dissertation  on  Manganese, 
made  known  the  existence  of  chlorine,  or,  as  he  then 
termed  it,  of  dephlogisticated  muriatic  acid  gas.  His  "  Ob- 
servations and  Experiments  on  Air  and  Fire,"  and  on 
"Heat  and  Light,"  are  also  masterly  productions,  and  con- 
tributed, in  conjunction  with  the  "labours  of  his  eminent 
contemporaries,  to  invest  chemistry  with  a  degree  of  in- 
terest and  importance  which  gave  it  an  entirely  new 
and  distinct  aspect,  and  an  elevated  rank  in  physical 
science. 

It  was  at  this  period  that  Lavoisier  and  his  associates  in 
Paris  undertook  that  celebrated  reform  of  chemical  no- 
menclature which  ended  in  the  banishment  of  phlogiston, 
and  introduced  a  logical  precision  before  unknown  into 
the  precincts  of  chemistry.  Lavoisier  experimented  upon 
a  magnificent  scale,  and  with  a  degree  of  statical  accuracy 
which  stamped  his  researches  with  a  new  and  valuable 
character.  By  a  series  of  beautiful  experiments  he  de- 
termined the  relative  proportions  of  the  elements  of  the  at- 
mosphere and  of  those  of  water;  he  rejected  all  support- 
ers of  combustion  except  oxygen,  and  regarded  it  as  11, o 
sole  source  of  the  heat  and  light  evolved  during  that  pro- 
cess ;  he  endeavoured  to  prove  that  gases  were  constituted 
by  the  union  of  ponderable  bases  with  caloric,  or  the  matter 
of  heat,  and  examined,  upon  a  splendid  scale  and  with 
princely  apparatus,  the  results  of  the  combustion  of  sul- 
phur, phosphorus,  carbon,  and  the  metals  ;  he  inferred 
that  oxygen  was  the  universal  acidifying  principle  ;  and 
by  a  series  of  well  conceived  researches  lie  demonstrated 
the  identity  of  charcoal  and  the  diamond,  and  showed  that 
when  burned  in  oxygen  they  yielded  carbonic  acid  gas. 
Lavoisier  was  also  the  first  who  examined  with  requisite 
accuracy  the  products  of  the  distillation  of  animal  and  ve- 
getable substances ;  he  also  inquired  with  more  success 
than  any  of  his  predecessors  into  the  phenomena  of  fer- 
mentation, and,  by  examining  the  contents  of  certain  vege- 
table juices,  previous  to  and  after  that  process,  he  drew 
some  curious  and  important  conclusions  respecting  the 
changes  that  take  place ;  he  also  extended  and  corrobo- 


CHEMISTRY. 


rated  Scheele'sviewsasto  the  importance  of  the  chemical 
agencies  of  light. 

These,  and  a  variety  of  other  details  are  embodied  in 
Lavoisier's  Siemens  de  Chimie,  which  appeared  at  Paris  in 
1789  ;  a  work  which  eminently  displays  the  extent  and  per- 
spicuity of  his  views  as  a  theorelical  and  experimental 
philosopher,  and  which  contains  a  masterly  refutation  of 
the  phlogistic  doctrines.  The  abstract  facts,  however,  upon 
which  this  refutation  rests  may  be  traced  toMayow.  Hooke, 
Priestley,  and  Scheele.  It  has  been  stated  that  the  pro- 
minent features  of  the  French  theory  were  its  explanation 
of  the  phenomena  of  combustion  and  of  acidification,  the 
presence  of  oxygen  being  deemed  essential  in  both  cases. 
That  air  is  the  food  of  fire  was  known  at  a  very  remote 
period  ;  that  it  causes  the  increase  of  weight  sustained  by 
metals  during  their  calcination  was  shown  by  Rey  early  in 
the  seventeenth  century  ;  that  a  part  only  of  the  atmos- 
phere, identical  with  a  matter  contained  in  saltpetre,  is 
rned  in  the  support  of  flame,  was  explained  by 
Hooke  in  1667  ;  and  that  the  vital,  or  igneous  spirit,  as 
he  terms  it,  contributes  to  the  formation  of  acids  was  as- 
serted by  Mayow  in  1674  Here  therefore,  without  even 
infringing  upon  the  eighteenth  century,  we  have,  in  ex- 
p licit  detail,  the  principal  facts  nts  requisite 

for  the  construction  of  the  French  theory  ;  and  it'tothese 
we  add  the  discovery  of  oxygen  by  Priestley,  and  of  the 
composition  of  water  and  of  nitric  acid  by  Watt  and  Caven- 
dish, u  ii,ii  then  becomes  ol  its  title  to  originality  t 

The  inihii'iii ■<■.-  of  the  researches  connected  with  the 
philosophy  of  heal  and  of  those  relating  to  the  production, 
properties,  and  constitution  of  the  gases,  upon  the  improve- 
ment and  extension  of  chemistry,  will  now  he  apparent ; 
but  one  of  the  most  fertile  sourci  s  ol  its  recent  progress  is 

of  a  distinct  and  remarkabl igin,  namely  the  discovery 

of  the  chemical  influt  nces  of  electricity. 

In  1790  Galvani  of  Bologna  ascertained  that  certain  spas- 
modic or  convulsive  contractions  might  be  produced  by 
tion  of  electricity  upon  the  nerves  of  a  recently  killed 
animal;  and  that,  if  the  sciatic  re 

and  touched  with  a  piece  of  zinc,  whilst  at  the  same  time 
the  muscle  is  touched  with  gold,  similar  effects  to  these  of 
electricity  are  produced  whenever  the  metals  were  bi 
into  contact,  or  connected  together  by  conductors  of  elec- 
tricity :  if  non-conductors  were  used,  no  spasms  en 
lie  accounted  for  these  and  similar  effects  by  assuming 
that  the  nerves  and  must         '    !  ■    In 

is  were  the  consequence  of  their 
annihilation  or  discharge. 

Volta,  on  the  other  hand,  finding  that  two  different  me- 
tals were  essential,  referred  the  p 

motive  power  of  the  metals;  and  following  up  this  idea, 
he  soon  succeeded  in  producing  that  extraordinary  form 
of  electro-gent  rative  apparatus  whit  h  is  now  known  under 
the  name  ol  the  Voii.iie  j . 1 1 .  ■  or  i,,ii;e,-v,  consisting  of  alter- 
nations of  two  metals  with  an  intervening  fluid  :  zii 
per,  and  diluted  acids  are  the  substances  now  generally 
resorted  to.  It  has  lately  bt  en  shown  by  Faraday  that  che- 
mical  action  is  the  exclusive  source  of  the  electricity 
of  these  Voltaic  arrangements;  but  their  history  and  the 
theory  of  theii  .  here. 

In  the  year  of  the  Voltaic  pile 

were  first  observed  in  regard  to  the  decomposition  of  water 
and  certain  saline  solutions,  by  Messrs.  Nicholson  and 
Carlisle;  these  were  more  accui  rated  in  1803 

by  Hisinger  and  Berzelius  ;  and  in  1806  Sir  II  Davy  com- 
municated his  celebrated  lecture  "On  some  chemical 
Agencies  of  Electricity"  to  the  Royal  Society.  He  had 
previously  118  I]  I  given  a  paper  to  the  Society  containing  an 
account  ot  some  galvanic  combinations  formed  by  thear- 
nent  of  single  metallic  plates  and  fluids,  analogous 
to  the  galvanic  apparatus  of  Volta  ;  but  it  was  not  till  the 
publication  of  the  Bakerian  Lecture  above  alluded  to  that 
the  importance  of  >  nee  could  be  appre- 

ciated. It  contains  a  masterly  outline  ofthe  subject  ;  and 
its  details  present  a  fine  specimen  of  experimental  inquiry, 
especially  in  reference  to  the  manner  in  which  he  traces 
out  the  decomposing  powers  of  an  electrical  current  in  ef- 
fecting  the  separation  of  the  elements  of  water,  the  skill 
with  which  the  conflicting  results  of  other  experimental- 
ists are  examined  and  explained,  the  caution  with  which 
he  proceeds  from  experiment  to  theory,  and  the  sagacity 
with  which  he  employs  theoretical  views  as  the  source  of 
new  experimental  inquiries.  Following  the  path  which  he 
had  thus  opened  for  himself,  it  led  him  on  to  the  most  im- 
portant and  extraordinary  results,  among  which  were  the 
decomposition  ofthe  alkalis  and  earths,  and  the  discovery 
of  an  entirely  new  class  of  metals. 

But  the  eradication  of  established  errors  is  perhaps  a 
more  difficult  task  than  the  promulgation  of  new  theories  ; 
and  in  this  Davy  rendered  a  memorable  service  to  che- 
mistry by  his  several  papers  on  "  Oxymuriatic  Acid."  in 
which  he  successfully  establishes  the  views  of  Scheele  re- 
garding its  nature,  and  refutes  and  subverts  those  ofthe 
French  school,  and  which  had  been  sanctioned  by  the 
221 


chemist3  of  Europe :  he  demonstrates  the  existence  of 
acids  without  oxygen,  and  lays  the  foundation  ofthe  theory 
of  the  hydracids. 

To  these  masterly  researches  Davy  added  a  third  series, 
of  equal  if  not  superior  importance  ;  those  relating  to  the 
safety  lamp.  His  first  paper  upon  this  subjectis  printed  in 
the  Philosophical  Transaction*  for  1S15,  and  was  followed 
by  four  others.  Finding  that  flame  would  not  recede 
through  tubes  of  very  small  diameter,  the  idea  occurred  to 
him  of  constructing  a  lamp  which  should  have  no  connec- 
tion with  the  surrounding  air  except  by  capillary  tubes  ;  and 
he  inferred  from  previous  experiments  that  such  a  lamp 
might  safely  be  employed  in  coal  mines  infested  by  fire 
damp.  He  then  endeavoured  to  ascertain  the  extent  to 
which  the  tubes  might  be  s/wrtened  without  interfering 
with  this  principle  of  safety,  and  was  thus  led  to  cut  them 
down,  till  their  transverse  section  resembled  a  series  of 
meshes.  This  approached  so  closely  to  wire-gauze  that 
he  was  induced  to  try  how  far  that  tissue  would  prevent 
the  passage  of  flame;  and  finding  it  effectual,  he  employed 
it  in  the  construction  of  his  lamp,  and  ultimately  adopted 
the  simple  and  efficient  arrangement  now  in  general  and 
successful  use  During  the  experimental  investigations 
upon  which  the  discovery  ofthe  safety  lamp  was  founded, 
Davy  ascertained  a  number  of  curious  facts  respecting  the 
constitution  and  temperature  of  flame,  which,  with  other 
parts  of  his  general  inquiry,  are  not  less  ingenious  than 
original.  In  Novembi  i.  I  20,  Sir  U.  Davy  became  presi- 
dent of  the  Koyal  Society,  and  continued  to  contribute  pa- 
pers as  heretofore,  some  of  them  upon  subjects  of  much 
interi  St,  ably  and  philosophically  discussed  :  among  them 
the  essays  on  the  modes  of  protecting  the  copper  sheath- 
ing of  ships  deserve  especial  notice;  they  have  furnished 
hints  for  the  preservation  of  iron  and  other  corrodible  me- 
tals from  the  influence  of  air  and  water,  and  promised  to 
lead  to  results  of  great  practical  importance.  In  the  course 
of  the  year  1827,  his  health  became  seriously  impaired  ; 
he  passed  the  greater  part  of  the  year  1828  in  Italy,  and 
terminated  his  memorable  existence  at  Geneva  in"  May, 
1829,  in  the  fifty-second  year  ol  hi 

We  have  now  briefly  sketched  the  principal  circum- 
stances in  the  history  of  chemistry  bearing  upon  its  origin 
and  progress  as  a  science,  without,  however,  adverting  to 
the  labours  of  contemporaries  ;  it  remains  to  add  a  short 
notice  respecting  the  art  of  A  nalysis  and  the  important 
consequences  of  which  the  prosecution  of  that  branch  of 
the  science  has  been  produi 

Analysis  was  first  scientifically  pursued  by  Bergman  of 
i.  He  was  born  in  1735,  and  died  in  1784,  in  conse- 
quence, as  is  said,  of  too  intense  application  to  his  studies. 
eats  for  the  discover}  of  certain  substances 
held  in  aqueous  and  other  solutions,  is  first  particularly 
dwelt  upon  by  Boyle.  He  used  vegetable  colours  for  the 
di  tection  of  acids  and  alkalis,  and  noticed  the  cloudiness 
produced  by  nitrate  of  silver  in   solution   of  common  sail. 

In  1667  Du  Clos  undertook  an  examination  of  the  min- 
eral waters  of  France,  and  in  1686  lie  rne  published  some 
clever  experiments  upon  the  same  subject  in  Sweden.  In 
1726  Boulduc  used  spirit  of  wine  to  precipitate  the  salts 
insoluble  in  that  menstruum  :  in  177.".  Venel  pointed  out 
the  existence  of  fixed  air  in  the  waters  of  Sellers.  Spa, 
and  Pyrmont ;  Fane,  in  1760,  showed  the  method  of  imita- 
ting chalybeate  springs ;  and  in  1772  Priestley  published  di- 
i  iturating  water  with  fixed  air.  The  above 
and  other  tests  w  ere  particularly  examined,  their  accuracy 
compared,  and  the  best  modes  of  applying  them  pointed 
out  by  Bergman  ;  his  dissertations  on  the  waters  ofUpsal, 
on  sea-water,  and  on  the  artificial  preparation  of  medicated 
waters,  each  exhibit  proofs  of  his  skill  as  an  analyst,  and 
accuracy  as  an  experimenter.  lie  also  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  the  analysis  of  minerals  ;  his  essay,  entitled  JDe 
Minerarum,  Docimasia  Humidft,  must  be  considered  as 
the  parent  source  of  that  branch  of  analytic  chemistry  so 
successfully  followed  up.  though  upon  a  limited  scale,  by 
Scheele,  and  in  the  improvement  and  extension  of  which 
Klaproth  passed  his  long  and  laborious  life.  Klaproth 
was  born  at  Wernigerode  in  Prussia  in  1743,  and  died 
at  Berlin  in  1817.  He  published  207  essays  in  his 
"  Contributions  towards  the  Chemical  Knowledge  of  Min- 
eral Substances."  Another  eminent  name  among  chemi- 
ical  analysts  is  that  of  Vauquelin  who  died  at  an  advanced 
ase  in  Paris  in  1829.  He  was  originally  a  peasant  boy,  in 
Normandy,  and  afterwards  was  employed  in  Fourcroy's 
laboratory,  where  he  not  only  acquired  great  dexterity  in 
the  ordinary  duties  of  his  situation,  but  became  an  expert 
and  original  analyst.  He  afterwards  rose  to  high  eminence 
in  his  profession  ;  and  his  numerous  and  important  con- 
tributions and  discoveries  are  lasting  monuments  of  his 
skill  and  industry. 

Among  the  improvers  of  analytical  chemistry  in  Eng- 
land, Chenevix,  Howard,  and  Tennant  deserve  particu- 
lar mention  ;  but  to  none  is  this  part  of  the  science  more 
deeply  indebted  than  to  Dr.  Wollaston.  With  him  and 
Davy  all  that  is  practically  useful  in  the  theory  of  definite 


CHEMISTRY. 


proportionals,  or,  as  it  is  often  called,  the  Atomic  Theory, 
may  be  said  to  have  originated  ;  though  the  facts  upon 
which  it  is  founded  were  chiefly  furnished  by  the  German 
analysts,  and  by  Higgins  of  Dublin. 

We  have  in  another  place  given  some  account  of  this 
important  subject,  and  have  endeavoured  to  explain  the 
facts  upon  which  it  is  founded,  and  the  results  to  which  it 
leads :  its  promulgation  with  us  is  mainly  attributable  to 
Wollaston's  suggestions  contained  in  his  paper  "  On  a  Sy- 
noptic Scale  of  Chemical  Equivalents,"  brought  before  the 
Royal  Society  in  November,  1813.  Many  years  previously 
he  had  established  the  important  doctrine  of  multiple  pro- 
portions in  a  paper  "  On  Superacid  and  Subacid  Salts." 
He  now  showed  the  practical  applications  of  which  the  the- 
ory was  susceptible  ;  and,  by  connecting  the  scale  of  equiva- 
lents with  Gunter's  sliding  rule,  has  put  into  the  hands  of 
the  chemist  an  instrument  infinite  in  its  uses,  and  equally 
essential  to  the  student,  the  adept,  and  the  manufacturer. 

There  remains  to  be  noticed  a  distinct  branch  of  chemis- 
try of  extreme  interest  and  importance,  but  beset  with  pecu- 
liar difficulties ;  namely,  that  relating  to  organic  substances. 
Some  progress  was  made  in  it  by  Scheele  ;  but  it  has  chiefly 
been  enriched  by  the  labours  of  modern  and  contemporary 
philosophers,  and  in  their  hands  has  assumed  an  entirely 
new  aspect.  The  composition  of  organic  bodies  may  be 
viewed  in  two  ways;  either  as  relates  to  their  ultimate  ele- 
ments, or  to  their  proximate  groups.  The  former  are  re- 
markably few  in  number,  and  are  almost  exclusively  con- 
fined to  four ;  namely,  carbon,  hydrogen,  oxygen,  and 
nitrogen.  These,  by  their  varied  and  extraordinary  union, 
give  rise  to  innumerable  secondary  products  or  proximate 
principles.  That  the  same  elementary  forms  of  matter 
should  give  rise  to  such  infinitely  varied  products,  merely 
in  consequence  of  the  varying  proportions  in  which  they 
are  combined  and  the  circumstances  under  which  they 
have  been  presented  to  each  other;  that  food  and  poisons, 
alkalis  and  acids,  sweets  and  bitters,  and,  in  short,  the 
most  opposite  and  dissimilar  qualities,  should  arise  out 
of  such  causes— is  extremely  remarkable ;  and  although 
every  day  is  adding  to  our  information,  and  clearing  diffi- 
culties from  this  department  of  chemistry,  it  is  but  in  its 
infant  state. 

In  looking  at  the  present  state  of  chemistry,  it  must  be 
allowed  that  it  exhibits  a  most  promising  aspect;  the  study 
of  its  abstract  principles  is  calculated  to  keep  the  curiosity 
constantly  on  the  alert,  and  awaken  an  intense  and  peculiar 
interest ;  and  it  is  quite  impossible  to  glance  at  its  recent 
progress,  and  at  the  extraordinary  discoveries  which  are 
daily  rewarding  the  labours  of  its  skilful  cultivators,  with- 
out anticipating  most  important  consequences.  Should  its 
progress  during  the  ensuing  century  only  equal  that  of  the 
past",  it  must  lead  to  results  deeply  affecting  the  interests 
and  welfare  of  mankind ;  but  as  it  has  hitherto  acquired 
strength  with  its  progress,  its  wonders  may  be  expected  to 
accumulate  in  a  much  higher  ratio.  We  already  seem  to 
be  on  the  brink  of  some  great  discovery  connected  witli 
those-  powers  and  properties  of  matter  which  we  call  elec- 
trical. Their  association  with,  and  convertibility  as  it 
were  into,  heat,  light,  and  magnetism,  and  their  identity 
with  the  cause  of  chemical  affinity,  have  already  been 
turned  to  great  account ;  and  it  is  only  necessary  to  assume 
the  possession  of  a  more  unlimited  command  than  we  at 
present  enjoy  over  the  production  or  evolution  of  this  ex- 
traordinary agent,  less  dependent  and  scanty  means  of 
summoning  it  into  existence  or  activity,  and  a  more  inti- 
mate acquaintance  with  its  forms  and  qualities,  to  confer 
the  highest  interest  upon  our  speculations.  Its  chemical 
powers  would  then  be  perpetually  called  into  action  as  a 
substitute  for  the  more  sluggish  or  circuitous  and  difficult 
methods  of  ordinary  decomposition.  Its  single  application 
to  the  evolution  of  oxygen  and  hydrogen  from  water  would 
alone  work  wonders ;  whilst  the  facility  of  its  conveyance 
and  transmission,  its  ubiquity,  and  its  varied  attributes  in 
those  different  states  which  for  want  of  more  explicit 
knowledge  of  their  cause  have  been  termed  quantity  and 
tension,  seem  to  point  it  out  as  of  unlimited  application  to 
human  uses.  Through  its  instrumentality  telegraphic  com- 
munication has  not  only  been  accelerated,  but  rendered 
independent  of  weather,  and  equally  facile  by  night  as  by 
day  ;  and  even  in  the  present  state  of  this  invention  there 
seems  no  reason  against  such  conveyance  of  our  thoughts, 
wants,  and  wishes,  so  as  to  transmit  them  over  the  globe  with 
a  rapidity  as  much  beyond  all  previous  experience,  as  the 
travelling  on  a  rail-road  exceeds  that  of  a  common  car- 
riage. 

Connected,  therefore,  with  the  progress  of  the  higher 
departments  of  chemical  science,  and  indeed  intimately 
interwoven  with  it,  is  the  advancement  of  its  application  to 
all  the  arts  of  life.  It  is  often  supposed  that  the  successful 
applications  of  chemistry  to  the  arts  have  been  rather  the 
result  of  accident  or  chance  than  the  consequence  of  those 
apparently  abstract  studies,  and  curious  rather  than  useful 
discoveries,  as  they  are  called,  in  which  the  truly  philoso-  i 
phical  chemist  is  engaged,  and  in  which  bis  labours  tenni-  I 
222 


nate;  but  experience  justifies  no  such  conclusion.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  Black's  researches  into  those  effects 
of  heat  which  are  connected  with  changes  in  the  state  and 
form  of  bodies,  and  especially  with  the  constitution  of 
vapour,  led  Watt  into  that  train  of  reasoning  by  which  his 
improvements  in  the  steam  engine  were  ultimately  effected. 
Most  of  the  wonders  of  modern  chemistry  must  be  referred 
to  Galvani's  experiments  on  a  dead  frog.  They  led  Volta 
to  the  construction  of  the  electric  pile;  and,  in  the  hands 
of  Davy  and  his  successors,  what  important  conquests  have 
been  attained,  and  what  extraordinary  consequences  are 
daily  flowing  from  a  source  so  apparently  unpromising  and 
irrelevant !  Independent  of  the  new  agents  which  have 
been  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  experimentalist,  and  of 
the  new  and  important  theoretical  considerations  which 
arise  out  of  them,  the  whole  aspect  and  character  of  a  great 
department  of  physical  science  has  been  wonderfully 
changed,  extended,  and  improved ;  the  cause  of  magnetism 
has  been  developed ;  and  a  power  no  less  extraordinary 
and  applicable  to  human  uses  than  light  and  heat,  perhaps 
indeed  the  parent  of  both,  is  gradually  showing  us  its  mys- 
terious relations.  Of  two  great  practical  consequences 
have  these  inquiries  already  been  productive  ;  namely,  the 
electrical  telegraph,  and  the  preservation  of  metals  from 
corrosion.  That  others  are  upon  the  eve  of  their  develop- 
ment cannot  be  doubted  ;  and  in  proportion  as  our  know- 
ledge of  this  agent  and  consequent  power  over  it  is  extend- 
ed, those  ends  must  certainly  be  attained  which  we  have 
above  ventured  to  anticipate. 

From  other  departments  of  this  science  we  are  constant- 
ly acquiring  similar  benefits :  the  progress  of  gas  illumina- 
tion, the  great  improvements  in  metallurgic  operations,  in 
the  arts  of  dyeing  and  calico-printing,  in  the  manufacture  of 
cements,  in  the  preservation  of  timber  from  dry-rot,  in  gild- 
ing and  silvering  the  metals,  are  only  a  few  of  the  cases  in 
point ;  even  the  difficult  and  apparently  isolated  researches 
into  the  relative  proportions  of  the  ultimate  elements  of 
the  proximate  organic  products,  and  the  application  of  the 
atomic  theory  to  those  researches,  have  not  been  fruitless, 
considered  in  reference  to  what  are  termed  their  practical 
results  and  popular  and  useful  applications.  The  brewer 
and  the  distiller  are  reaping  the  benefits  of  such  inquiries; 
the  conversion  of  starch,  and  even  of  wood,  into  sugar,  are 
the  practical  consequences  of  theoretical  inferences;  from 
the  destructive  distillation  of  ligneous  matter  we  are  al- 
ready furnished  with  our  chief  supply  of  vinegar,  and  with 
a  liquid  which,  as  a  combustible  and  a  solvent,  has  to  a 
great  extent  superseded  the  use  of  alcohol,  and  may  pos- 
sibly take  its  place  at  no  very  remote  period  as  an  intoxi- 
cating stimulant :  the  saw-dust  of  certain  woods  has  been 
shown  susceptible  of  conversion  into  nutriment :  and  the 
analysis  of  bone  points  it  out,  when  properly  prepared,  as 
almost  equal  to  its  weight  of  flesh  as  an  article  of  human 
food.  In  short,  of  the  arts  of  life  the  greater  number  are 
dependent  upon  chemical  principles ;  many  of  them,  anc. 
perhaps  the  most  important,  are  exclusively  so ;  others 
though  apparently  mechanical,  involve  chemical  princi- 
ples :  hence  the  great  and  growing  importance  of  chemical 
science  as  a  branch  of  general  education  bearing  upon 
political  economy,  and  upon  the  prosperity  of  the  arts  and 
manufactures. 

Having  given  this  outline  of  the  rise,  progress,  uses,  and 
applications  of  chemical  science,  we  must  refer  to  other 
articles  for  more  explicit  information  upon  the  different 
heads  that  have  been  alluded  to.  In  reference  to  further 
details  respecting  the  history  of  this  department  of  know- 
ledge, especially  as  relates  to  alchemy  and  to  the  history  of 
chemical  inventions,  we  may  refer  to  Dr.  Thomson's  His- 
tory of  Chemistry,  and  to  the  prefatory  chapter  of  Mr. 
Braniie's  Manual. 

The  extent  necessarily  occupied  by  chemistry  in  a  map 
of  human  knowledge  will  be  evident  from  the  brief  defini- 
tion of  the  science  given  at  the  outset  of  this  article  ;  for  it 
not  only  leads  us  to  inquire  into  the  composition  of  every 
product  of  nature  and  of  art,  but  to  examine  the  elements 
of  all  the  forms  of  matter,  and  the  laws  which  govern  their 
mutual  actions  and  reactions.  The  questions  which  a 
chemist  propounds  to  himself,  in  examining  any  newly 
discovered  substance,  involve  therefore  a  long  train  of  in- 
quiries, which  can  only  be  answered  and  worked  out  by 
multiplied  'experiments;  for  it  is  impossible  to  move  on- 
wards in  this  science  except  upon  the  basis  of  experimental 
research.  Accordingly,  when  a  body  of  unknown  nature 
is  presented  to  us,  we  endeavour  first  to  ascertain  whether 
it  be  a  simple  or  a  compound  substance.  If  simple,  to  what 
class  of  elementary  bodies  does  it  belong :  is  it  combustible 
or  incombustible  ;  is  it  electro-negative  or  electro-positive ; 
how  is  it  affected  by  heat;  what  are  its  relations  to  other 
forms  of  matter ;  what  its  powers  of  combination  ;  what 
are  the  proportions  in  which  it  unites  with  other  substances; 
what  are  its  characters  and  those  of  its  combinations  as  a 
chemical  and  physiological  agent;  what  are  its  uses  in  the 
arts  and  in  medicine?  If  it  be  a  compound  substance,  we 
inquire  into  the  nature  and  number  of  its  component  parts : 


CHEMISTRY. 


are  they  new,  or  are  they  known  elements ;  in  what  pro- 
portions are  they  combined  ?  We  also,  as  before,  exam- 
ine its  thermal  and  electrical  relations,  and  its  useful  ap- 
plications. These,  and  many  other  questions  which  arise 
in  (lie  course  of  chemical  investigation,  involve  as  it  were 
several  distinct  branches  of  inquiry,  and  lead  us  to  con- 
template chemistry  under  two  points  of  view ;  namely,  as 
an  independent  science,  which  embraces  the  whole  field 
of  chemical  knowledge,  and  investigates  the  chemical  re- 
lations of  bodies  without  reference  to  any  extraneous  con- 
siderations— this  is /we,  theoretical,  or  philosophical  chem- 
istry;  and  secondly,  as  a  science  having  certain  objects  in 
common  with  others,  as  with  mineralogy,  medicine,  physi- 
ology, and  the  arts — this  b-iiiLr  applied  chemistry. 

In  a  subject  then  so  extensive  and  complicated  as  chem- 
istry, systematic  arrangement  is  of  the  utmost  importance 
to  the  teacher  and  student  In  the  broad  principles  of  ar- 
iient  most  writers  agree  ;  but  in  minor  details  each 
generally  pursues  a  path  of  his  own.  It  would  be  useless, 
even  if  it  were  possible,  to  enumerate  the  detads  of  these  ar- 
rangements  as  adopted  by  the  leading  didactic  writers  on 
chemistry ;  but  the  basis  upon  which  they  are  founded  de- 
serves a  few  words  of  explanation. 

Table  of  the  Simple  Substances,  with   their  Symbols  and 
Equivalent  or  Combining  Weights. 


Equiva- 

Symbol. 

Symbol. 

Equiva- 

tents, Hy. 

Braiide. 

Berze- 

lents,  Or-  1 

drogea    1 

lius- 

ygen     I.     [ 

1  Aluminum 

10 

al. 

Al. 

1-25 

2  Antimony 

65 

ant. 

Sb. 

8125 

3  Arsenic 

38 

ar. 

As. 

475 

i  Barium 

69 

ba. 

Ba. 

8  625 

5  Bismuth 

72 

bi. 

Bi. 

9- 

6  Boron 

20 

bo. 

B. 

25 

7  Bromine 

78 

b. 

Br. 

9-75 

8  Cadmium 

56 

cad. 

I'd. 

7- 

9  Calcium 

20 

cat. 

Ca. 

2  5 

in  i  'arbon 

6 

cut. 

C. 

075 

1 1  i  ledum 

43 

ce. 

Ce. 

6- 

12  Chlorine 

36 

c. 

CI. 

4-5 

13  <  Ihromium 

28 

ill  r. 

Cr. 

35 

1 1  Cobalt 

30 

cob. 

Co. 

15  Columbium 

185 

col. 

T.i. 

16  <  'upper 

32 

CU. 

Cu. 

4' 

1"  Fluorine 

18 

/• 

F. 

2-28 

ium 

18 

gl- 

G. 

2-25 

19  Gold 

2,u 

au. 

Au. 

25- 

D)  Hydrogen 

1 

h. 

11. 

0125 

21  Iodine 

125 

i. 

I. 

15-625 

22  Iridium 

96 

jr. 

Ir. 

12- 

23  Iron 

28 

fe. 

Fe. 

3-5 

•21  Lead 

104 

t 

Pb. 

13- 

25  Lithium 

10 

L 

1  25 

lesium 

12 

mag. 

He. 

1  :. 

uiese 

man. 

Mn. 

3-5 

28  Mercury 

200 

hg- 

Hg. 

25- 

29  Molybdenum 

48 

mol. 

Mo. 

6- 

30  Nickel 

28 

nic. 

Ni. 

3.5 

31  Nitrogen 

14 

n. 

N. 

1-75 

32  <  tsmium 

100 

OS. 

Os. 

12-5 

3  Oj   jen 

8 

0. 

O. 

I- 

bum 

5-1 

pal. 

Pd. 

6  75 

35  Phosphorus 

16 

P- 

P. 

2- 

38  Pi  aluum 

96 

pla. 

PI. 

12- 

(7  Potassium 

40 

po. 

K. 

5- 

IS  R  lodium 

45 

rh. 

R. 

5-625 

39  Selenium 

40 

se. 

Se. 

5- 

10  Silicium 

8 

si. 

Si. 

1- 

■11  Silver 

110 

ag. 

Aq. 

1375 

42  Sodium 

24 

so. 

Na. 

3- 

43  Strontium 

44 

str. 

Sr. 

5-5 

44  Sulphur 

10 

s. 

S. 

2* 

15  Tellurium 

32 

tel. 

Te. 

4- 

It)  Thorium 

60 

th. 

Th. 

7-5 

47  Tin 

58 

sta. 

Sn. 

7-25 

43  Titanium 

24 

li. 

Ti. 

3- 

49  Tungsten 

100 

tu. 

W. 

12-5 

50  Vanadium 

68 

rn. 

V. 

85 

51  Uranium 

217 

ur. 

u. 

2712 

52  Yttrium 

32 

yt. 

Y. 

•     4- 

53  Zinc 

32 

zn. 

Zn. 

4- 

54  Zirconium 

30 

zir. 

Zr. 

3  75 

The  objects  of  chemistry  are  all  included  under  one  or 
other  of  the  following  heads  ;  namely, — 

1.  The  general  powers  and  properties  of  matter. 

2.  The  chemistry  of  elementary  substances. 

3.  The  chemistry  of  compounds. 

And  each  of  these  require  several  subdivisions.     Thus,  un- 
der the  first  head,  we  include  attraction  and  affinity,  heat, 
light,  and  electricity  ;  under  the  second  head  are  included 
223 


the  chemical  history  and  properties  of  the  ponderable 
elementary  substances,  and  their  mutual  reactions,  which  of 
course  leads  on  to  the  third  head  ;  namely,  to  the  chemi- 
cal history  and  properties  of  compound  bodies.  To  render 
the  systematic  arrangements  of  the  elements  and  their 
compounds  intelligible,  it  will  be  necessary  to  enumerate 
the  former,  and  point  out  such  of  their  characters  as  are 
connected  with  their  classification. 

Every  substance  upon  our  globe  contains  one  or  more  of 
the  fifty/our  elementary  orsimple  bodies, above  enumerat- 
ed :  some  of  them  are  of  extremely  rare  occurrence,  others 
abundant  and  always  with  and  about  us.  It  will  be  observed 
that  by  far  the  greater  number  of  them  come  under  the  de- 
nomination of  metals ;  of  the  others,  oxygen,  hydrogen, 
carbon,  and  nitrogen,  are  by  far  of  most  frequent  occur- 
rence, as  will  be  obvious  when  it  is  recollected  that  air  and 
water  and  all  vegetable  and  animal  products  include  two 
or  more  of  the  last-mentioned  substances. 

The  equivalent  or  combining  proportions  of  these  ele- 
ments, although  mentioned  under  individual  substances  in 
this  work,  are  also  above  enumerated  (see  the  articles  Af- 
finity, Atomic  Theory,  and  EaUTVALBNTS),  and  also  the 
symbols  by  which  they  are  represented. 

The  examination  of  the  physical  and  chemical  proper- 
ties of  the  preceding  elements  of  matter  leads  us  to  classify 
them  according  to  their  analogies.  The  greater  number 
of  them  possess  the  characters  of  metals.  Several  resem- 
ble the  metals  in  certain  respects,  but  are  in  others  widely 
different ;  these  therefore  have  been  termed  metalloids. 
A  few  are  distinguished  by  entering  into  peculiar  and  dis- 
tinct saline  combinations,  of  which  common  salt  may  be 
taken  as  the  type;  these  therefore  have  been  termed 
And  lastly,  three  of  the  elements  are  only 
known  in  the  gaseous  form;  they  have  neither  been  liqui- 
fied nor  solidified,  but  whenever  they  are  isolated  they 
present  themselves  as  permanent  gases ;  hence  they  have 
been  designated  gazolytes.  This  is  the  classification  of  the 
elementary  bodies  suggested  by  Berzelius,  and  it  repre- 
sents them  as  follows  : — 


I. 
I 

Oxygen. 
Hydrogen. 

Nitrogen. 


II. 
Halogens, 

Chlorine. 
Iodine. 
Bromine. 
Fluorine. 


III. 
Metalloids. 
Sulphur. 
Phosphorus. 

Carbon. 
Boron. 


IV. 

Melals. 


The  metals,  by  far  the  most  numerous  of  the  elementary 
-.  are  themselves  the  subjects  of  various  classifica- 
tions, among  which  the  following  is  perhaps  the  most  con 
venient ;  they  are  arranged  nearly  in  the  order  of  their 
respective  attractions  for  oxygen  : — 


I 

II. 

III. 

ium. 

Manganese. 

Copper. 

Sodium. 

Iron. 

Lead. 

Lithium. 

Zinc. 

Antimony. 

Calcium. 

Tin. 

Bismuth. 

Barium. 

Cadmium. 

Uranium. 

Strontium. 

Cobalt. 

Titanium. 

Magnesium. 

Nickel. 

Cerium. 

Tellurium. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

Arsenic. 

Mercury. 

Olucium. 

Molybdenum. 

Silver. 

Zirconium. 

Chromium. 

Gold. 

Yttrium. 

Vanadium. 

Platinum. 

Thorium, 

Tungsten. 

Palladium. 

Aluminum. 

Columbium. 

Rhodium. 

Silicium. 

Osmium. 
Iridium. 

The  substances  in  the  last  division  have  been  but  imper- 
fectly examined,  and  silicium  should  perhaps  rather  be 
regarded  as  a  metalloid  than  a  metal. 

In  one  or  other,  then,  of  these  classes  each  elementary 
body  will  find  a  place,  but  the  arrangement  only  relates  to 
the  simple  substances;  the  classification  of  their  combina- 
tions, which  are  almost  indefinite,  is  a  much  more  intri- 
cate and  difficult  subject,  and  it  would  be  impossible  here 
to  give  even  an  outline  of  the  different  plans  which  have 
been  pursued  or  suggested.  As  far,  however,  as  the 
teacher  of  chemistry  is  concerned,  none  of  the  systematic 
arrangements  of  compounds  can  be  conveniently  adopted ; 
his  best  plan,  therefore,  is  to  develope  their  history  and 
properties  as  he  proceeds.  Having,  for  instance,  discussed 
the  abstract  properties  of  oxygen  and  hydrogen,  he  pro- 
ceeds to  the  compound  which  they  form,  and  which  is  wa- 
ter; then  he  proceeds  to  the  third  element,  nitrogen,  and 
its  combinations  with  those  previously  described ;  thus, 
nitrogen  and  oxygen  form  five  distinct  compounds,  name- 
ly, protoxide  and  binoxide  of  nitrogen,  and  hyponitrous,  ni- 
trous, and  nitric  acids.  Nitrogen  also  combines  with  hy- 
drogen to  form  ammonia,  and  ammonia  combines  with 
nitric  acid  to  form  the  salt  called  nitrate  of  ammonia.  In 
a  state  of  mixture,  nitrogen  and  oxygen  constitute  the  great 
bulk  of  the  atmosphere. 


CHENOPODIACE.E. 

From  this  brief  notice  of  the  mode  of  dealing  with  the 
three  elementary  bodies  of  the  first  class,  the  reader  will 
readily  understand  the  method  of  applying  the  same  prin- 
ciple to  the  entile  list  ;  the  student  will  thus  be  conducted, 
step  by  step,  from  the  simplest  to  the  most  complicated 
chemical  combinations.  It  is  always  convenient,  however, 
in  adopting  this  plan,  to  exclude  the  products  of  organiza- 
tion, and  to  consider  them  apart,  under  a  separate  head, 
entitled  organic  chemistry,  which  is  of  course  subdivided 
into  the  chemistry  of  vegetable,  and  of  animal  products. 

If,  having  studied  chemistry  upon  this  plan,  we  look  back 
upon  the  path  which  has  been  traversed,  we  shall  immedi- 
ately see  that  the  compounds  may  be  grouped  into  classes, 
related  to  each  other  by  certain  analogies  both  of  proper- 
ties and  composition.  Thus  we  have  the  class  of  oxides, 
or  combinations  of  oxygen  which  are  not  acid ;  of  chlo- 
rides, iodides,  &c,  and  of  acids;  and  these  again  subdivid- 
ed into  oxyacids,  and  hydracids ;  and  lastly,  the  numerous 
class  of  salts,  or  compounds  of  the  acids  with  salifiable 
bases. 

When  compound  bodies  are  susceptible  of  electro-che- 
mical decomposition  (or  electrolytes)  the  elements  al- 
ways tend  to 'one  or  other  pole;  in  other  tcords,  they  are 
either  separated  at  the  point  or  surface  at  which  the  (pre- 
sumed) electrical  current  enters,  Or  at  the  surface  at  which 
it  leaves  the  electrolyte  ;  hence  the  arrangement  of  the 
elements  into  electro-negative  bodies,  or  those  which 
tend  to  the  anode,  and  electro-positive  bodies,  or  those 
which  tend  to  the  cathode  (using  the  lerms  anode  and  ca- 
thode in  reference  to  the  ingress  and  egress  of  the  electric 
influence)  ;  oxygen,  the  halogens,  and  sulphur  are  anions, 
or  electro-negatives ;  hydrogen,  and  probably  all  the  met- 
als, are  cathions,  or  electro-positives.  A  good  arrangement 
of  the  elementary  bodies  is  founded  upon  such  properties  ; 
and  although  there  are  several  whose  electrical  relations 
have  not  hitherto  been  accurately  determined,  the  electro- 
chemical arrangement  is  that  which  will  probably  be  most 
generally  adopted.  (Among  the  numerous  modern  Trea- 
tises on  "Chemistry  the  following  may  be  considered  as  the 
most  valuable  :  Kane's  Elements  of  Chemistry  ;  Graham's 
Elements ;  Turner's  do.  ;  Thomson's  Inorganic  Chemis- 
try ;  Thomson's  Vegetable  Chemistry  ;  Brande's  Manual ; 
Daniell's  Chemical  Philosophy  ;  Hoblyn's  Manual ;  D.  B. 
Reid's  Elements  ;  and  the  Works  of  Berzelius,  Dumas, 
Liebig,  Raspail,  Thenard,  Mitscherlich,  lire  :  and  Fara- 
day's" Chemical  Manipulation ;  Parnell's  Elements  of 
Chemical  Analysis.  1842. 

CHE'NOPODIA'CE^E.  (Chenopodium,  one  of  the  ge- 
nera.) A  natural  order  of  herbaceous  Exogens,  distin- 
guished with  difficulty  from  Amuranlaceoz  by  their  herba- 
ceous calyx ;  from  Phytolaccacea.  by  their  solitary  carpel, 
and  the  stamens  never  exceeding  the  number  of  the  seg- 
ments of  the  calyx,  to  which  they  are  opposite.  They  con- 
sist of  weeds  inhabiting  most  parts  of  the  world,  abound- 
ing least  within  the  tropics ;  and  they  possess  few  sensible 
properties.  Chenopodium  anthelminticum  produces  the 
wormseed  oil  of  the  shops  ;  but  in  consequence  of  their  in- 
sipidity the  species  are  often  used  for  food,  as  in  the  case 
of  spinach,  &c.  Chevalier  has  remarked  the  curious  fact 
of  Chenopodium  vulvaria  exhaling  pure  ammonia  during  its 
whole  existence. 

CHE'QUY,  CHE'CKY,  or  CHE'QUERED.  In  Herald- 
ry, a  term  used  when  a  field  or  charge  is  divided  by  trans- 
verse lines,  paleways  and  fessways,  into  equal  parts  or 
squares  of  different  tinctures. 

CHERT.  A  silicious  mineral  approaching  the  charac- 
ters of  flint. 

CHE'RUBIM.     See  Seraphim. 

CHEVA'L  DE  FRISE.  A  large  and  strong  piece  of 
timber,  traversed  with  wooden  spikes,  pointed  with  iron. 
It  is  laid  in  abroach  to  impede  the  advance  of  cavalry. 

CHEVALIE'R  (Fr.  cheval,  a  horse),  is  used  synony- 
mously with  the  Eng.  knight,  Lat.  eques,  and  Germ,  ritter. 

CHEVRE'TTE.  In  Artillery,  an  engine  used  for  rais- 
ing guns  or  mortars  into  their  carriages. 

CHE'VRON.  In  Heraldry,  one  of  the  nine  honourable 
ordinaries.  It  may  be  defined  as  consisting  of  the  lower 
half  of  a  saltire  (see  Saltire),  brought  to  a  point  on  the  up- 
per side ;  and  the  object  from  which  its  name  is  derived 
accurately  resembles  it  in  shape  :  chevron,  in  old  French, 
meaning  the  support  of  a  roof  formed  by  two  rafters  lean- 
ing against  one  another.  A  chevron  standing  on  one  side 
of  the  escutcheon  is  said  to  be  tourny,  dexter,  or  sinister. 

CHE'VRONEL.  In  Heraldry,  an  ordinary  of  the  same 
shape  with  the  chevron,  but  containing  only  half  its  dimen- 
sions. 

CHI'AN  TURPENTINE.  A  species  of  turpentine 
brought  originally  from  the  island  of  Chios :  it  is  the  pro- 
duce of  the  Pislacia  terebinthvs. 

CHIA'RO  SCURO.  (It.  clear  obscure.)  In  Painting,  the 
art  of  so  disposing  the  lights,  both  positive  and  reflected, 
and  the  shadows  of  a  picture  in  such  a  manner,  that  the 
objects  may  stand  out  and  be  naturally  relieved  from  one 
another.  Its  name,  however,  seems  more  naturally  to 
284 


CHILTERN  HUNDREDS. 

point  to  those  parts  of  represented  objects  which,  though 
in  shadow,  have  the  intensity  of  such  shadow  lessened  by 
the  reflection  of  a  light  body  against  them.  It  is  a  branch 
of  the  doctrine  of  Sciography. 

CHI'CA.  A  red  colouring  matter  used  by  some  tribes 
of  American  Indians  to  stain  the  skin  :  it  is  extracted  from 
a  species  of  Bignonia. 

CHI'CKEN  POX.  (.Varicella  of  medical  writers.)  An 
eruptive  disease,  which,  though  frequently  very  mild  in  its 
attack,  is  often  also  violent  and  attended  by  much  fever. 
The  eruption  consists  of  smooth  vesicles  of  various  sizes, 
which  afterwards  become  whitish  and  straw-coloured ; 
about  the  fourth  day  they  break  and  scab  off,  seldom  leav- 
ing marks,  or  at  least  not  more  than  a  few,  upon  the  most 
delicate  parts  of  the  face,  or  where  they  happen  to  have 
been  large  or  accidentally  scratched  or  irritated.  In  very 
warm  weather  the  fluid  in  the  vesicles  becomes  yellow,  and 
apparently  purulent,  so  as  closely  to  resemble  small-pox 
in  appearance  ;  and  under  some  circumstances  the  erup- 
tive fever  has  not  only  been  considerable,  but  preceded  by 
delirium.  The  distinctive  or  diagnostic  characters  by  which 
we  distinguish  chicken-pox  from  small-pox  are,— 1st,  the 
comparative  mildness  of  the  preliminary  fever,  which  in- 
deed is  often  unobserved  in  strong  and  merry  children, 
and  nothing  known  of  the  complaint  till  the  spots  are  ob- 
served about  the  face  and  breast :  2d,  the  rapidity  with 
which  the  eruption  attains  maturity  and  proceeds  through 
its  stages,  the  scabs  forming  crusts  about  the  fourth  or  tilth 
day,  which  does  not  happen  in  the  small-pox  till  the  tenth 
or  eleventh  :  3d,  the  fluid  in  the  vesicles  is  usually  trans- 
parent, or  only  milky,  whereas  in  smallpox  it  has  a  puru- 
lent appearance  from  the  commencement.  Like  the  small- 
pox, it  very  rarely  attacks  the  same  individual  more  than 
once.  In  the  treatment  of  this  disease  little  else  is  in  most 
cases  requisite  than  to  keep  the  patient  cool,  to  abstain 
from  meat,  to  give  diluents  and  mild  aperients,  and  occa- 
sionally, at  the  commencement,  a  dose  of  calomel  and 
rhubarb.  In  bad  cases,  the  whole  body  is  covered  with 
eruption,  in  mild  ones  there  shall  only  be  a  very  few  vesi- 
cles ;  and  it  not  uncommonly  happens  that  where  several 
children  have  it  in  succession,  one  or  two  will  escape  with 
little  else  than  slight  restlessness  and  very  trivial  febrile 
symptoms.  It  is,  however,  by  no  means  so  trifling  a  dis- 
ease as  many  writers  have  represented  it.  and  if  not  close- 
ly watched  over,  may  be  mistaken  for  small-pox. 

CHIEF.  (Fr.  chef,  head.)  In  Heraldry,  the  upper  part 
of  the  escutcheon,  divided  into  three  points,  dexter,  mid- 
dle, and  sinister.  A  chief,  as  an  ordinary,  is  a  fess  remov- 
ed to  the  upper  part  of  the  escutcheon.  Charges,  in  the 
situation  of  the  chief,  are  described  as  "in  chief.'' 

CIII'LBLAIN.  An  inflammatory  swelling,  of  a  purplish 
colour,  produced  by  exposure  of  the  extremities  to  cold: 
it  is  generally  attended  with  itching,  and  often  with  shoot- 
ing pains.  Children,  especially  those  of  a  scrofulous  habit, 
and  old  persons,  suffer  most  from  chilblains  ;  but  they  are 
not  unfrequently  produced  at  all  times  by  holding  the 
hands  or  feet  to  the  fire  after  they  have  been  exposed  to 
great  cold  ;  in  which  case,  the  difference  of  temperature  is 
such  as  actually  to  burn  the  part,  for  few  persons  are  aware 
of  the  high  temperature  excited  by  the  radiant  heat  of  a  com- 
mon fire  upon  substances  held  near  it.  Warm  socks  and 
gloves  are  the  best  preventives  against  this  affection,  and 
the  itching  and  pain  are  generally  relieved  by  moderately 
stimulating  applications;  such  as  equal  parts  of  solution 
of  acetate  of  ammonia  or  of  vinegar  and  spirit  of  wine,  or 
of  oil  of  turpentine  and  soap  liniment.  If  the  part  should 
break  or  ulcerate,  stimulating  dressings,  such  as  the  resin 
or  elemi  ointment,  are  most  serviceable,  or  in  some  cases 
mild  escharotics. 

CHI'LIAD.  (Gr.  %iXioj,  a  thousand)  An  assemblage 
of  things  grouped  or  ranged  by  thousands.  The  word  is 
chiefly  used  by  the  early  "computers  of  logarithmic  tables, 
who  expressed  the  extent  of  the  table  by  saying  it  con- 
tained the  logarithms  of  so  many  chiliads  of  "absolute 
numbers. 

CHI'LIASTS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  believers  in  the 
second  advent  of  Christ  to  reign  a  thousand  years  on  earth. 
See  Millennium. 

CHILOGNA'THES,  Chilognatha.   (Gr.  \ei\os,  alip.  and 
yvaOo;,  a  jaw.)    An  order  of  the  class  Myriapuda  or  ' 
tipedes,  in  which  the  two  mandibles  and  the  tongue  are 
united  together  to  form  a  large  lower  lip. 

CHILO'MA.  In  Zoology,  the  upper  lip  or  muzzle  of  a 
quadruped  is  so  called  when  it  is  tumid,  and  continued  un- 
interruptedly from  the  nostril,  as  in  the  camel. 

CIII'LOPODS,  Chilopuda.  (Gr.  x^'^os,  a  lip,  and  irovs, 
afoot.)  An  order  of  the  class  Myriapoda  or  Centipedes,  in 
which  die  lower  lip  is  formed  by  a  pair  of  feet. 

CHI'LTERN  HUNDREDS.  In  Politics.  The  tract  an- 
ciently called  the  Chiltern  Hundreds  extends  through  part 
of  Buckingham  and  Oxford  shires.  The  steward  of  these 
hundreds  was  an  officer  appointed  by  the  crown  to  keep 
the  peace  there.  As  members  of  parliament,  strictly  speak- 
ing, cannot  resign  their  seats,  the  mode  of  abandoning  them 


CHIMERA. 

is  by  accepting  a  nominal  office  (such  as  this  stewardship) 
under  the  crown,  which  vacates  the  seat  of  the  party  tak- 
ing it. 

<"HIMjE'RA.  In  Mythology,  a  fabulous  monster,  slain 
bv  Bellerophon  in  Lycia.  According  to  the  lines  in  the 
Iliad,  vi.  HI.  (which,  however,  are  suspected  of  spurious- 
ness),  it  had  the  head  of  a  lion,  the  body  of  a  goat,  and  tail 
of  a  serpent.  (See  Heyne's  observations  on  this  passage.) 
Many  other  forms  were  assigned  to  the  Chimaera,  the  poets 
having  vied  with  each  other  in  representing  it  as  the  per- 
sonification of  all  that  is  horrible  and  terrific.  It  has  usu- 
ally been  depicted  as  vomiting  forth  flames : — 

Tremendse 

riamrnachimarj;.— line.  Od.  IV.  2.  13. 

From  this  fabulous  story  is  probably  derived  the  appli- 
cation of  the  term  chimera,  in  nearly  all  the  modern  lan- 
guages of  Europe,  to  any  wild  or  incongruous  fancy  arising 
in  the  mind. 

Ciiimkka.  In  Ichthyology,  the  name  of  a  genus  of 
Branchiostegous  cartilaginous  fishes;  the  best  known  spe- 
cies, which  inhabits  the  northern  seas,  and  has  occasionally 
been  taken  on  the  English  coast,  is  sometimes  called  "king 
of  the  herrings." 

CUI'MXEY.  (Fr.  cheminee.)  The  place  in  a  room 
where  the  fire  is  burnt,  and  from  which  the  smoke  is  car- 
ried away  by  means  of  a  conduit  called  a  Hue.  Chimneys 
are  usually  made  by  projection  from  a  wall,  and  recess  in 
the  same  from  the  floor,  ascending  within  the  limits  of  the 
projection  and  recess.  That  part  of  the  opening  which 
faces  the  room  is  properly  the  fur  place,  the  stone  or  mar- 
ble under  which  is  called  Ihe hearth.  Thai  on  a  level  with, 
and  in  front  of  it,  is  called  the  slab,  The  vertical  sides  of 
the  opening  are  called  jambs.  The  head  of  the  foreplate 
resting  on  the  jambs  is  called  the  mantle  ;  and  the  cai  tty  or 
hollow  from  the  lire-place  to  the  top  of  the  room  is  called 
the  funnel.  The  part  of  the  funnel  which  contracts  as  il 
ascends  is  termed  the  gathering,  or  by  some  the  gathering 
of  the  tilings.  The  tube  or  cavity  of  a  parallelogrammatic 
form  on  the  plan,  from  where  the  gttthi  ring  ceases  up  to 
the  top  of  the  chimney,  is  called  the  flue.  The  pari  be 
tween  the  gathering  and  the  flue  is  called  the  throat.  The 
part  of  the  wall  facing  the  room  and  forming  one  side  of 
the  funnel  parallel  thereto,  on  the  part  of  the  wall  forming 
the  sides  of  the  funnels,  where  there  are  more  than  one,  is 
the  breast.  In  external  wills  thai  side  of  the  funnel  oppo- 
site the  breast  is  called  the  back.  When  there  is  more 
than  one  chimney  in  the  same  wall,  the  solid  parts  that  di- 
vide them  are  called  withe.  And  when  several  chimneys 
are  collected  into  one  mass,  it  is  called  .1  ttack  ofcliimneys. 
The  part  which  rise3  above  the  roof  for  discharging  Hie 
smoke  into  the  air  is  called  a  chimney  shaft,  whose  hori 
zontal  upper  surface  is  termed  the  chimney  t»i>. 

The  covings  we're  formerly  placed  at  righl  angles  to  the 
face  of  the  wall,  and  the  chimney  was  finished  in  that 
manner;  but  Count  Rum  ford  showed  that  more  heat  is 
obtained  from  the  fire  by  reflexion  when  the  covings  are 
placed  in  an  oblique  position.  He  likewise  directed  thai 
the  fire  itself  should  be  kept  as  near  to  the  hearth  a 
sible,  and  that  the  throat  of  the  chimney  should  he  eon- 
structed  much  narrower  than  had  been  practised,  with  a 
view  to  prevent  the  escape  of  so  much  heated  air  as  hap- 
pened with  wide  throats.  If  the  throat  bo  too  near  the  lire, 
the  draught  will  be  too  strong,  and  the  fuel  will  be  wasted  ; 
and  if  it  be  too  high  up,  the  draught  will  be  too  languid, 
and  there  will  be  a  danger  of  the  smoke  being  occasionally 
beat  back  into  the  room.  Before  Count  Rumford  directed 
his  attention  to  this  subject,  smoky  chimneys  were  very 
common  ;  but  by  studying  his  principles,  these  at  present 
seldom  occur.     See  Firkplace.  Ckatb,  Stove. 

CHIMPANZEE,  CHIMPAN8E,  or  QUIMPESE'.  \> 
tive  names  of  the  African  orang  (Simia  troglodytes,  Blum  ). 
It  is  of  a  black  colour,  and  attains  the  height  of  between  four 
and  five  feet,  measured  in  a  straight  line  from  the  vertex  to 
the  heel.  This  species,  which  of  all  the  brute  creation 
approaches  nearest  to  man,  has  been  hitherto  taken  alive 
to  England  onty  in  a  young  state  :  and  a  knowledge  of  the 
osteological  structure  of  the  adult  has  been  but  very  recent- 
ly acquired. 

It  differs  from  the  Asiatic  or  red  Orang  not  only  in 
colour,  but  in  the  greater  size  of  the  external  ears,  the 
more  prominent  ridge  above  the  eyes,  the  relative  short- 
ness of  the  arms,  and  the  greater  development  of  the  thumb 
jbf  the  hind  foot,  which  has  constantly  two  phalanges  and 
a  nail. 

The  principal  osteological  differences  are  the  following: 
— The  cranium  is  flatter  and  broader  in  proportion  to  the 
face.  The  supraciliary  ridges  are  more  developed;  and 
the  great  interparietal  and  lambdoidal  crests,  which  render 
so  remarkable  the  skull  of  the  adult  orang,  are  wanting. 
The  interorbital  space  is  broader.  The  occipital  foramen 
has  a  more  central  position.  The  anterior  condyloid  fora- 
men is  single  on  each  side,  while  in  the  orang  it  is  double. 
The  intermaxillary  sutures  are  -obliterated  before  the  de- 
ciduous incisors  are  shed.  The  incisive  and  canine  teeth 
225 


CHIVALRY. 

are  of  smaller  proportional  size.  There  are  thirteen  pairs 
of  ribs  instead  of  twelve  pairs,  as  in  the  orang  ;  and  conse- 
quently there  are  thirteen  dorsal  vertebras.  The  sternal 
bones  form  a  single  row.  The  chimpanzee  further  dif- 
fers from  the  orang  utan  in  the  non-division  of  the  pisiform 
bone  of  the  wrist ;  and  in  the  depression  at  the  head  of  the 
femur,  corresponding  to  the  interarticular  ligament  of  the 
hip-joint,  which  is  wanting  in  the  orang. 

The  habits  and  deportment  of  the  chimpanzee,  as  ob- 
served in  those  young  specimens  which  have  been  taken 
alive  to  England,  are  of  peculiar  interest,  from  the  high  de- 
gree in  which  inqnisitiveness,  perception,  memory,  and 
docility  are  manifested.;  and  by  the  gravity  and  considera- 
tion with  which  many  even  of  its  ludicrous  and  playful  ac- 
tions are  performed.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  in  the 
adult  much  of  this  intelligence  gives  way  to  the  fiercer 
traits  of  the  brute  nature.  The  negroes  which  inhabit  the 
forests  in  the  interior  of  Africa  have  a  general,  and  doubt- 
less well-founded  dread  of  the  great  black  ape.  Vague  ac- 
counts are  repeated  in  succeeding  systems  of  natural  his- 
tory of  the  gregarious  habits  of  the  chimpanzee;  its  policy 
as  shown  in  the  construction  of  rude  huts,  and  other  hut 
much  less  probable  feats.  The  truth  is,  however,  that  we 
have  much  more  certain  knowledge  of  the  habits  of  the 
duck-billed  platypus  of  Australia  than  cf  the  adult  chim- 
panzee, which  is  the  most  interesting  of  all  the  Mammalia, 
from  the  close  approach  which  it  makes  to  the  human 
species.    Set  Martin's  Man  and  Monkeys,  8vo.  1841. 

CHINA  ROOT.  The  root  of  the  Smilax  China,  so 
called  because  imported  from  China.  It  was  formerly  used 
in  the  same  cases  in  which  sarsaparilla  is  nowgiven. 

CHINCHl'LLA.  The  generic  appellation  founded  on 
the  ^outh  American  or  local  name  >' chinchille,"  or  "little 
chinelie,  '  and  applied  to  a  genus  of  grieving  Mammalia 
or  Rodents,  peculiar  to  the  South  American  continent  It 
is  from  a  species  of  this  genus  (.Chinchilla  lanigera)  that 
Ihe  grey  fur  is  obtained,  which  has  been  so  much  prized  in 
le  for  many  yens;  but  the  exact  nature  of  the  animal 
itself  has  been  only  very  recently  ascertained,  by  the  ex- 
amination  of  specimens  which  have  been  procured  for  the 
menagerie  of  the  Zoological  Society. 

cili'N  COUGH      See  Whooping  Cough. 

t  HlM.'r-i:  ARCHITECT!  RE.     See  Architecture. 

CHINTZ.  A  peculiar  pattern  upon  printed  calicos,  in 
which  Qowers  and  other  devices  are  printed  in  five  or  six 
different  colours,  upon  white  and  coloured  grounds.  A 
good  chintz  pattern  in  fast  colours  is  one  of  the  most  sur- 
p rising  and  difficult  efforts  of  the  art. 

<  IIIKA'GKA.  (6r.  \f';>,  tin:  hantl,  and  aypa,  a  seizure.') 
(Join  in  He-  hands. 

CHI'ROGRAPH.  (Or.  \tip,  and  ypa<bu>,  I  write.)  In 
Diplomatics,  a  species  of  instrument  contrived  for  the  pur- 
pose for  which  indentures  were  devised;  viz.  the  enabling 
different  parties  to  retain  authenticated  counterparts  of  the 
deed  Some  word  (commonly  ihe  word  chirographum, 
Whence  the  name)  was  written  between  the  two  copies  on 
Ihe  same  sheet,  and  cut  through  Lengthwise  when  they 
were  divided. 

CHIRO'LOGY.  (Gr  x«Pi  and  \6yoc.  discourse.)  The 
language  of  the  fingers;  sometimes  called  dactylology,  from 
(Ju/cruXo?,  the  finger. 

CIUKOMANCV,  or  PALMISTRY.  (Gr.  xty,  and 
pavrtia,  divination.)  The  imaginary  art  of  divination  by 
the  lines  of  the  hand.  Accordins  to  the  science  of  Chiro- 
mancy, the  lines  on  the  palm  of  the  hand  are  divided  into 
principal  and  inferior:  the  former  are  five — the  line  of  life  ; 
the  line  of  the  liver,  or  natural  mean  ;  the  line  of  the  brain  ; 
the  thoral  line,  or  line  of  fortune  ;  the  dragon's  tail,  or  dis- 
criminal  line,  between  the  hand  and  the  arm.  Various 
other  modes  of  divination  were  practised  by  observation 
of  the  hand  and  its  parts  ;  onychomancy  (from  onyx,  a 
nail),  dactylomancy  (from  the  finsers),  &c.  The  practice 
of  chiromancy,  once  defended  and  explained  by  grave  and 
learned  authors,  is  now  chiefly  left  to  be  exercised  by  the 
gipsies.     Sec  Borrow's  Zincali,  8vo.  1842. 

CIIIRO'iS'OMY.  (Gr.  xttp,  and  vdpos,  law.)  The  sci- 
ence which  treats  of  the  rules  of  gesticulation,  or  panto- 
mime, and  oratorical  action. 

CHI'TON.  (Gr.  xlTl,)vi  a  garment.)  The  name  of  a 
genus  of  Gastropodous  Mollusks,  which  have  a  series  of 
testaceous  symmetrical  pieces  implanted  in  the  back  part 
of  (lie  mantle. 

CIII'VALRV.  (From  the  French  chevalier,  knight.) 
The  usages  and  customs  pertaining  to  the  order  of  knight- 
hood. The  general  system  of  manners  and  tone  of  senti- 
ments which  the  institution  of  knighthood,  strictly  pursued, 
was  calculated  to  produce,  and  did  in  part  produce,  during 
the  middle  ages  in  Europe,  is  comprehended  in  ordinary 
languase  under  the  term  of  chivalry.  This  imaginary  in- 
stitution of  chivalry,  sueh  as  it  is  represented  in  the  old  ro- 
mances, had  assuredly  no  full  existence  at  any  period  in 
the  usages  of  actual  life.  It  was  the  ideal  perfection  of  a 
code  of  morals  and  pursuits  which  was  in  truth  only  par- 
tially adopted  ;  and  bore  the  same  relation  to  the  real  life 
O 


CHIVALRY. 


of  the  middle  ages,  which  the  philosophical  excellence 
aimed  at  by  the  various  sects  of  antiquity  bore  to  the  real 
conduct  of  their  professors.  But,  in  both  instances,  a  sys- 
tem of  abstract  perfection  was  propounded  in  theory,  which, 
although  the  defect  of  human  nature  prevented  it  from 
being  reduced  into  practice,  yet  exercised  a  very  important 
influence  in  modelling  the  minds,  and  even  controlling  the 
actions,  of  those  who  adopted  it.  The  vivifying  principle 
of  ancient  philosophy  was  ideal  virtue  ;  that  of  chivalry,  the 
ideal  point  of  honour. 

The  origin  of  chivalry  has  often  been  traced  to  the  Ger- 
man tribes ;  nor  has  its  spirit  ever  penetrated  very  deeply 
into  the  usages  of  any  country  in  which  these  tribes  have 
not  either  produced  the  ancestors  of  the  great  body  of  the 
nation,  or  at  least  the  conquering  and  governing  class, 
which  transfused  its  habits  and  sentiments  into  that  body. 
Thus  Germany  and  France,  and  England,  whose  gentry 
derive  their  origin  from  both,  have  been  the  countries  most 
distinguished  for  the  prevalence  of  this  institution.  The 
martial  spirit  of  the  Spaniards  was  indeed  partly  animated 
by  it;  but  in  their  country  it  always  bore  something  of  the 
character  of  a  foreign  importation,  modified  by  the  circum- 
stances of  their  juxtaposition  with  the  Arab  race.  In  Italy, 
it  existed  only  among  those  classes  which  imitated  the 
manners  of  France  and  Germany,  and  never  entered  into 
the  general  character  of  the  natives,  notwithstanding  the 
popularity  of  the  poetical  romances  of  chivalry.  Among 
the  Sclavonic  nations  it  has  never  prevailed  extensively  ; 
although  the  feudal  constitution  of  Polish  society  derived 
a  certain  tincture  from  it,  it  never  penetratpd  into  Russia. 
It  has  been  often  remarked,  that  it  is  only  within  the  last 
two  or  three  generations  that  the  nobility  of  that  country, 
by  their  intercourse  with  the  nations  of  Western  Europe, 
have  derived  something  of  the  spirit  of  the  chivalrous  code, 
so  far  as  it  stin  subsists  among  ourselves :  the  point  of 
honour,  and  its  peculiar  concomitant  the  usage  of  the  duel, 
were  scarcely  known  in  Russia  before  the  present  century. 

Chivalry  originated  in  the  feudal  attachment  of  warriors 
to  the  person  of  their  king  or  chief,  which  has  been  so  often 
described  as  characteristic  of  the  ancient  Germans.  Hence 
the  English  word  knight,  which,  when  the  Norman  "  che- 
valiers" were  first  known  among  us,  was  spontaneously 
used  as  the  translation  of  their  title,  signifies  in  its  origin 
our  "knit,"  or  attached  to  another, — a  servant  or  attendant. 
At  what  precise  time  the  devotional  character  was  added 
to  the  original  martial  impress  of  national  usages,  and  the 
compound  system  of  chivalry  were  thus  produced,  it  is  not 
easy  to  ascertain.  It  has  been  said  that  the  investiture  of 
the  knight  was  purely  military  until  the  reign  of  Charle- 
magne ;  and  it  may  be  supposed  that  the  wars  of  the  Franks 
against  the  Saracens  first  blended  the  ardour  of  war  and 
religion  together,  and  that  the  Crusades  completed  the 
union.  At  the  latter  period  were  instituted  the  two  cele- 
brated military  orders  of  monks,  the  Templars  and  Hos- 
pitallers, (see  those  articles,)  the  code  of  whose  govern- 
ment combined  monastic  and  knightly  usages.  After 
valour  and  devotion,  the  third  characteristic  feature  of  chi- 
valry was  gallantry  to  the  fair  sex;  and  the  source  of  this 
sentiment  also  has  been  traced  to  the  habits  and  feelings 
of  the  Northern  tribes,  among  whom  woman  was  looked 
on  with  a  much  more  exalted  sense  of  her  dignity  than  in 
the  most  civilized  countries  of  antiquity.  It  is  needless  to 
add,  that  this  romantic  feeling,  however  high  its  precepts 
may  have  sounded  in  theory,  degenerated  into  licentious- 
ness in  actual  life.  M.  de  Sainte  Palaye,  the  learned  French 
historian  of  the  usages  of  chivalry,  has  brought  instances 
enough  to  prove  the  extreme  depravation  of  manners  which 
prevailed,  even  at  those  courts  and  at  those  periods  in 
which  the  spirit  of  chivalry  was  most  prevalent.  If  the 
Crusades  communicated  to  chivalry  its  devotional  charac- 
ter, it  is  in  the  poetry  of  the  Troubadours  about  the  same 
period,  in  the  12th  and  13th  centuries,  that  we  find  its  pecu- 
liarity of  devotion  to  the  female  sex  first  developed.  But 
in  their  verses  it  does  not  appear  clothed  with  the  romantic 
purity  with  which  it  was  afterwards  invested  by  the  writers 
of  the  heroic  tales  of  chivalry  ;  and  still  less  in  those  of  the 
contemporary  French  writers  of  the  Fabliaux,  from  whose 
compositions  we  draw  the  most  authentic  monuments 
which  we  possess  in  this  curious  branch  of  antiquarian  re- 
search. The  knight,  or  even  the  esquire,  was  bound  to 
follow  a  single  lady  and  dedicate  himself  to  her  service  ; 
but  little  delicacy  is  either  intimated  or  enjoined  in  the  rela- 
tions which  subsisted  between  them,  and  his  devotion  to  her 
was  considered  as  entitling  him  to  every  recompense  love 
could  bestow. 

The  14th  century  was  the  brilliant  period  of  chivalry; 
when  its  usages,  originally  formpd  in  the  manners  of  the 
people,  had  become  fixed  and  embellished  by  the  fictions 
of  the  writers  of  romances;  and  when  princes  and  chief- 
tains, forming  their  idea  of  the  institution  rather  from  the 
descriptions  contained  in  them  than  from  real  life,  sought 
to  bring  back  their  courts  and  camps  to  the  likeness  of  those 
ideal  models  of  perfection.  It  may  be  more  truly  said  that 
the  romances  of  chivalry  were  the  prototypes  of  that  state 
226 


of  courtly  society  which  existed  in  the  reigns  of  Ed- 
ward III.  and  Richard  II.,  and  of  which  Froissart  has  left 
us  such  accurate  and  lively  representations,  than  that  ex- 
isting manners  and  sentiments  furnished  the  subject-matter 
of  those  romances.  These  fictions,  of  which  the  heroes 
were  taken  from  among  a  long  list  of  fanciful  personages, 
in  whose  history  a  little  tradition  of  past  events  was  blended 
with  a  much  larger  proportion  of  fable,  represented  the 
knight  not  only  as  devoted  to  the  service  of  his  religion,  his 
lord,  and  his  mistress,  but  also  as  consecrated  to  the  general 
service  of  the  oppressed  and  maintenance  of  right  all  over 
the  world.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  peculiar 
ceremonies  which,  in  the  14th  and  15th  centuries,  accom- 
panied the  creation  of  a  knight, — the  vow  of  chivalry,  the 
watching,  prayer,  and  fasting,  &c, — were  borrowed  by  ro- 
mantic imaginations  from  such  fabulous  recitals,  which 
were  read  and  related  in  every  courtly  company.  In  the 
reign  of  Edward  III.,  the  romantic  part  of  chivalry,  as  we 
have  said,  was  more  closely  transfused  into  real  manners 
than  at  any  period  either  preceding  or  subsequent.  Before 
that  period,  the  manners  of  the  knights  and  dames  had  ex- 
hibited but.  little  of  that  polish  and  refinement,  their  senti- 
ments but  little  of  that  generosity,  which  were  the  subjects 
of  so  much  imaginary  description  ;  and,  in  later  times,  chi- 
valry gradually  decayed.  Its  usages  were  maintained  with 
even  more  of  magnificence  than  before  ;  its  various  rites, 
titles,  and  distinctions  subsisted  for  a  long  period  in  most 
European  countries,  and  partly  remain  to  this  day;  but  the 
spirit  of  feudal  devotedness  was  quenched  by  the  multipli- 
cation of  mercenary  troops;  adherence  to  a  feudal  lord  was 
superseded  by  the  more  general  feelings  of  national  patriot- 
ism (which,  singularly  enough,  was  almost  wholly  omitted 
in  the  chivalric  code,)  and  the  extravagances  into  which 
the  imaginary  point  of  honour  had  led  its  votaries  fell  into 
discredit  and  ridicule. 

It  is,  therefore,  to  the  14th  century,  and  especially  to  that 
part  of  its  chronicles  preserved  by  the  true  annalist  of  chi- 
valry, Froissart,  that  we  must  look  for  the  period  when  the 
line  between  real  society  and  that  represented  in  romances 
was  most  nearly  broken  down.  When  the  usages  of  chi- 
valry were  most  flourishing,  all  men  of  noble  birth,  (except 
the  highest)  were  supposed  to  pass  through  three  orders  or 
gradations.  They  first  lived  as  pages  in  the  train  of  nobles 
and  chiefs  of  high  rank  ;  next,  as  esquires,  they  attached 
themselves  to  the  person  of  some  individual  knight,  to 
whom  they  were  bound  by  a  strict  law  of  obedience,  and 
for  whom  they  were  bound  to  incur  every  danger,  and,  if 
necessary,  sacrifice  their  lives  ;  and,  thirdly,  they  were 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  knighthood.  (For  the  different 
orders  of  knighthood  see  Knight.)  It  is  sufficient  to  ob- 
serve here,  that  however  great  the  distinction  might  be 
between  knights  in  point  of  rank  and  wealth,  custom  es- 
tablished a  species  of  equality  among  all  of  the  same  order, 
which  may  be  said  to  subsist  among  gentlemen  of  the  pre- 
sent day.  They  formed,  all  over  Europe,  a  common  cor- 
poration, as  it  were,  possessing  certain  rights,  and  owing 
each  other  certain  mutual  duties  and  forbearances.  They 
were  united,  not  by  the  ties  of  country,  but  by  those  of 
feudal  obedience,  which  attached  every  knight  to  the  ban- 
ner of  his  liege  lord,  from  whom  he  held  his  fee  ;  but  little 
or  rather  no  dishonour  attached  to  knights  who  were  under 
no  such  feudal  tie,  if  they  chose  their  own  chieftain  wher- 
ever they  thought  fit :  they  were  free  adventurers,  whose 
order  was  a  passport  in  every  service ;  and  in  the  actual 
conflict,  the  hostility  of  knights  was  moderated  by  usage. 
Thus,  it  was  dishonourable  in  any  knight  to  take  a  knight's 
life  if  disarmed,  and  not  to  set  him  free  when  a  prisoner  on 
receiving  a  fitting  ransom.  Manny  and  Chandos,  the  two 
most  celebrated  of  Edward  III. 's  knights,  were  attached 
wholly  to  the  banner  of  their  sovereign,  and  not  to  that  of 
their  country  ;  and  although  the  French  constable  Duguesc- 
lin,  the  third  among  these  mirrors  of  chivalry,  appears  to 
have  been  devoted  to  the  cause  of  France  as  well  as  that  of 
his  master,  this  double  loyalty  found  few  imitators.  In 
peace,  also,  knights  of  all  countries  were  welcome  visitors 
at  the  courts  of  chivalric  sovereigns  :  and  all  enjoyed  the 
privilege  of  presenting  themselves  at  the  tournament,  and 
contending  there  for  the  prize. 

With  regard  to  the  point  of  honour,  which  forms  the  most 
important  feature  in  the  usages  of  chivalry,  see  some  de- 
tails under  the  article  Duel.  The  principal  objects  to 
which  it  related  were,  religious  belief;  fealty  to  the  feudal 
superior;  devotion  to  some  one  selected  lady;  and,  finally, 
the  general  character  for  honour  and  courtesy  which  it  was 
incumbent  on  a  knight  to  maintain  ;  for  although  his  imagi- 
nary duties,  as  a  knight  errant,  to  avenge  wrong  and  suc- 
cour the  oppressed  on  every  occasion,  were  not  of  course 
very  strictly  put  in  practice,  yet  his  vow  to  perform  those 
duties  attached  to  his  character  a  certain  degree  of  sarred- 
ness  which  it  was  necessary  to  maintain.  Chivalrous 
honour  was  chiefly  supported  in  two  ways  ;  first,  by  the 
single  combat  or  duel,  whether  on  account  of  serious  pro- 
vocation or  by  way  of  trial  of  strength  ;  secondly,  by  the 
performance  of  vows,  often  of  the  most  frivolous  and  ex- 


CHLAMYPHORE. 

travagant  nature.  These  latter  were  generally  undertaken 
for  the  honour  of  the  ladies.  Many  historical  instances  of 
these  absurd  yet  daring  lollies  are  preserved  by  Froissart. 
They,  with  other  usages  of  knighthood,  were  long  pre- 
served among  thuse  who  aimed  at  the  reputation  of  chi- 
valry; after  these  usages  had  ceased  to  form  a  part  of  the 
ordinary  customs  of  society.  Thus,  the  instances  which 
Froissart  relates  of  knights  riding  alone  up  to  the  barriers 
of  fenced  cities,  <fec,  were  imitated  in  after-times,  and  at 
no  less  personal  hazard,  by  such  romantic  personages  as 
Lord  Herbert  of  Cherbury,  whose  feats  performed  in  ri- 
valry with  the  French  champion  Balagny  are  mentioned 
in  his  Memoirs.  But  the  vows  did  not  only  relate  to  mar- 
tial achievements,  but  to  others  of  a  more  extravagant  and 
grotesque  character.  We  need  only  refer  to  Monstrelet's 
narrative  of  the  company  called  "  Galois"  of  knights  and 
ladies,  who  bound  themselves,  for  love  of  each  other,  to 
follow  a  particular  code  of  usages;  ofwhichapart  con- 
sisted in  wearing  thick  clothes  in  summer  and  thin  in  win- 
ter, to  show  that  the  power  of  their  love  rendered  them  in- 
sensible to  the  difference  of  seasons ;  a  vow  which  was 
maintained  with  such  perseverance,  that  the  greater  part 
of  the  devoted  company  actually  died  of  cold.  (See  also 
the  History  of  the  Vote  of  the  Heron  Sainte  Palaye,  vol. 
iii.)  The  commencement  of  extravagances,  however,  was 
rather  a  sign  of  the  decline  of  the  true  spirit  of  chivalry. 
Ii  decayed  with  the  progress  of  mercenary  armies  and  the 
decline  of  feudal  institutions  through  the  15th  century  ;  in 
the  10th,  it  was  little  more  than  a  lively  recollection  of  past 
ages,  which  knights  such  as  Bayard  and  sovereigns  such 
as  Francis  I.  and  Henry  VIII.  strove  to  revive  ;  and  finally, 
it  became  extinguished  amid  religious  discords,  leaving  as 
its  only  relic  the  code  of  honour,  which  is  still  considered 
as  governing  the  conduct  of  the  gentleman. 

CHLA'MYPHORE.  ChlamypMorus.  (f;r.  xXa</rc,  a 
cloak,  and  <ptpo>,  I  carry.)  A  name  given  to  a  small  spe- 
cies of  Armadillo,  which  is  covered  by  its  coat  of  mail  as 
by  a  cloak.  The  animal  is  not  above  6  inches  lonir,  and, 
lik'>  the  rest  of  its  genus,  inhabits  exclusively  the  continent 
of  South  America.  It  is  interesting  from  the  analogy  of  its 
skeleton  and  coat  of  mail  to  those  of  the  gigantic  extinct 
megatherium. 

CHLENA'CEiE.  (Gr.  x^iva,  a  cloak.  All  the  names 
belonging  to  this  order  are  compounded  of  this  word,  used 
in  a  figurative  sense  for  an  involucrum.)  A  natural  order 
of  shrubby  or  arborescent  Exogens,  allied  to  Malvaceae,  on 
account  of  their  monadelphous  stamens  and  invohicrated 
flowers,  but  referred  by  .lussieu  to  the  vicinity  of  Ehen&- 
ce<B  ;  it,  however,  appears,  from  their  imbricated  calyx, 
regular  llowers,  and  albumen,  that  they  have  the  greatest 
affinity  with  Cistaceai.  They  are  all  natives  of  Madagas- 
car ;  beautiful  in  their  llowers,  but  of  no  known  use  ;  and 
are,  in  fait,  but  little  known  even  to  botanists. 

CHI.O'RAL.  (From  the  first  syllables  of  chlorine  and 
alcohol.)  A  liquid  composed  of  chlorine,  carbon,  and  oxy- 
gen, obtained  by  the  action  of  chlorine  upon  alcohol. 

CHLORANTHA'CE.£.  (Chloranthus,  one  of  the  gen- 
era.) A  small  natural  order  of  apetalous  Exogens.  nearly 
allied  to  Saururacem,  and  Piperacem  ;  from  both  of  which 
it  differs  in  wanting  a  sac  to  the  embryo,  and  in  having  a 
pendulous  ovule  and  opposite  leaves  with  intermediate  sti- 
pules. Blume  places  these  plants  near  to  Opercularincm. 
They  are  natives  of  the  hotter  parts  of  the  world,  and  ap- 
pear to  possess  stimulating  properties  of  great  importance. 
Chloranthus  officinalis  and  brachystachys,  although  not  offi- 
cinal in  Europe,  are  believed  to  be  among  the  most  power- 
ful of  stimulating  agents. 

CHLO'RATES.  Combinations  of  chloric  acid  with  sali- 
fiable bases.  Of  these  salts  the  chlorate  of  potash  is  best 
known ;  it  was  formerly  called  oxymuriate  of  potash. 
When  mixed  with  combustibles,  such  as  sulphur  or  char- 
coal, and  some  of  the  metals,  it  forms  highly  explosive 
compounds,  which  ignite  by  a  blow  or  by  friction,  or  upon 
the  contact  of  sulphuric  acid.  A  mixture  of  this  salt  with 
sugar,  or  with  sulphuret  of  antimony,  is  used  for  tipping 
the  matches  which  inflame  when  dipped  into  sulphuric 
acid,  or  when  briskly  drawn  through  a  piece  of  emery 
paper.  Chlorate  of  potash  consists  of  76  chlorine  acid -j- 
43  potassa  =  124  of  the  chlorate. 

CHLO'RIDES.  Combinations  of  chlorine,  correspond- 
ing with  the  oxides.  Common  salt  is  a  chloride  of  sodium ; 
that  is,  a  binary  compound  of  chlorine  and  sodium.  Where 
there  are  two  chlorides  of  the  same  base,  the  relative  pro- 
portions of  chlorine  in  them  are  almost  invariably  as  1  to 
2;  hence  the  terms  protochioride  and  bichloride.  Calomel 
and  corrosive  sublimate  are  the  protochioride  and  bichlo- 
ride of  mercury.  The  latter  is  frequently  termed  per- 
ch'oride.  In  calomel  200  of  mercury  are  combined  with  36 
of  chlorine,  and  in  corrosive  sublimate  with  twice  36 
or  72. 

CHLO'RINE.  (Gr.  x*MP°?!  green.)  This  gas  was  dis- 
covered in  1774  by  Scheele,  who  called  it  dephlogisticated 
muriatic  acid ;  the  French  nomenclaturists  afterwards 
termed  it  oxygenated  muriatic  acid,  conceiving  it  to  be  a 
227 


CHOANITES. 

compound  of  oxygen  and  muriatic  acid.  This  erroneous 
view  of  its  nature  was  corrected  in  1809  by  Sir  H.  Davy, 
who  gave  it  the  present  name,  indicative  of  its  colour. 
Chlorine  is  a  simple  substance,  existing  at  common  tem- 
peratures and  pressures  in  the  gaseous  state  ;  but  when 
subjected  to  a  pressure  of  about  four  atmospheres  it  be- 
comes condensed  into  a  yellow  transparent  liquid,  which 
is  a  non-conductor  of  electricity.  100  cubical  inches  of 
chlorine,  at  mean  temperature  and  pressure,  weigh  be- 
tween 76  and  77  grains  :  water  absorbs  twice  its  volume, 
and  acquires  a  yellow  colour,  and  the  peculiar  suffocating 
odour  of  the  gas.  When  humid  chlorine  is  exposed  to  a 
temperature  of  32°,  it  assumes  a  crystalline  form ;  this  hy- 
drate of  chlorine  consists  of  1  equivalent  of  chlorine  =  36 
+  10  of  water  =  9  X  10  or  90.  Chlorine  is  not  only  unre- 
spirable,  but  very  injurious  when  breathed,  even  if  largely 
diluted :  a  taper  burns  in  it  with  a  red  smoky  tlame,  and  is 
soon  extinguished.  Some  of  the  metals,  when  finely  divi- 
ded, spontaneously  take  fire  in  chlorine,  such  as  brass 
leaf,  or  powdered  antimony.  A  remarkable  property  of 
chlorine  is  its  power  of  destroying  almost  all  vegetable  and 
animal  colours;  hence  the  important  application  of  this 
gas  and  of  some  of  its  combinations  to  the  art  of  bleaching. 
It  also  destroys  the  putrid  odour  of  decomposing  vegetable 
and  animal  substances,  and  infectious  ellluvia  of  all  kinds, 
whence  its  use  in  fumigation,  and  in  preventing  the  spread 
of  infectious  and  contagious  matter,  and  purifying  noxious 
atmospheres. 

The  great  natural  source  of  chlorine  is  common  salt, 
which  contains  it  in  the  proportion  of  about  60 per  cent.  It 
is  procured  by  decomposing  common  salt  by  the  joint 
agency  of  sulphuric  acid  and  peroxide  of  manganese.  The 
best  proportions  are  3  parts  of  salt  and  1  ojpxide  of  man- 
ganese ;  these  are  well  mixed,  and  put  intoa  retort  with  2 
parts  of  sulphuric  acid  previously  diluted  with  2  of  water. 
Chlorine  is  evolved,  and  its  extrication  is  quickened  by 
the  application  of  a  gentle  heat.  Chlorine  may  also  be  ob- 
tained from  a  mixture  of  muriatic  acid  with  half  its  weight 
of  black  oxide  of  manganese.  The  gas  may  be  collected 
over  water,  and  should  be  preserved  in  bottles  with  glass 
stoppers;  if  left  in  the  contact  of  water,  it  is  soon  absorbed. 
Set  Muriatic  Acid. 

CHLORI'ODINE,  or  CHLORIO'DIC  ACID.  A  com- 
pound of  chlorine  and  iodim-. 

(  III.O'RITE.  (6r.  xXwpof.)  An  earthy  mineral  of  a 
green  colour,  often  found  in  the  cavities  and  veins  of  slate 
rocks. 

CHLO'RO.  (Gr.  x^wpoj.)  A  term  used  in  the  compo- 
sition of  botanical  and  other  scientific  words  formed  from 
the  Greek,  to  indicate  a  clear  lively  green  colour  without 
any  mixture. 

CHLO'ROCARBO'MC  ACID.  A  compound  formed 
by  exposing  a  mixture  of  chlorine  and  carbonic  oxide  to 
the  action  of  light. 

CHI.O'ROCYA'MC  ACID.  A  compound  of  chlorine 
and  cyanogen. 

CHLORO'METF.R.  (Gr.  xAwpoy.  and  uerpov,  a  mea- 
sure.) An  instrument  for  the  purpose  of  testing  the  de- 
colouring or  bleaching  powers  of  chloride  of  li?ne,  by 
which  the  relative  values  of  different  samples  of  that  im- 
portant bleaching  and  disinfecting  compound  may  be  as- 
certained. 

(  HI.O'ROPIIAITE.  (Gr.  x*u/">?>  and  <patoc,  black.) 
A  mineral,  which  when  recently  broken  is  green,  but  after- 
wards becomes  black. 

CIILO'ROPHANE.  (Gr.  x*".00?-  and  <paivw,  I  shine.) 
A  species  of  iluor  spar,  which,  when  heated,  shines  with 
a  beautiful  pale  green  light. 

CHLOROPHYLL.  (Gr.  xW«.  and  QvWov,  a  leaf.) 
The  green  colouring  matter  of  the  leaves  of  plants. 

<  IIl.ORO'SIS,  (Gr.  xV"<>«),  or  ETIOLATION.  In 
Botany,  is  a  species  of  constitutional  debility  ;  the  affected 
individual  being  pale,  and  destitute  of  a  healthy  green  :  the 
stems  are  weak,  long,  and  slender;  no  llowers  are  pro- 
duced ;  and  the  plant  is  readily  killed.  It  is  believed  that 
this  malady  is  exclusively  produced  in  plants  by  want  of 
sufficient  light. 

Chlorosis.  (Gr.  x^oipos.)  In  Medicine,  a  disease 
giving  a  peculiar  sallowness  to  the  countenance,  hence 
called  the  green  sickness.  It  chiefly  affects  young  females ; 
its  symptoms  are  extremely  various,  but  generally  refera- 
ble to  imperfect  or  suppressed  menstrual  evacuation. 
Tonics,  chalybeates,  aloetics,  sea  and  cold  bathing,  and 
slight  electric  shocks  passed  through  the  pelvis,  together 
with  due  amusement  and  exercise,  are  among  the  princi- 
pal remedial  agents. 

CHLO'ROXA'LIC  ACID.  A  compound  obtained  by 
exposing  acetic  acid  and  chlorine  to  bright  sunshine.  Its 
elements  are  in  such  proportion,  that  it  may  be  regarded 
as  a  compound  of  1  equivalent  of  hydrochloric  acid  and  1 
of  oxalic  acid. 

CHLO'RURETS.  Compounds  of  chlorine.  See  Chlo- 
rides. 

CHO'ANITES.     (Gr.  x0"""?!  a  funnel.)    A  genus  of  ex- 


CHOCOLATE. 

flnct  Zoophytes,  so  called  on  account  of  their  fossil  skele- 
ton or  polypary  presenting  in  general  a  funnel-shaped 
figure,  though  sometimes  they  are  globular  or  subcylindri- 
cal.  This  genus  holds  an  intermediate  place  between 
Alcyonium  and  Ventriculites:  it  is  distinguished  from  the 
former  by  having  a  central  caviry  at  the  upper  part,  and 
from  the  latter  by  not  having  an  outer  reticulate  surface. 
One  species,  the  Choanites  kiinigii,  is  found  in  abundance 
in  the  loose  flints  beneath  the  turf  near  the  race  course  at 
Lewes  in  Sussex,  and  appears  to  have  been  common  in  the 
upper  beds  of  the  chalk. 

CHO'COLATE.  A  term  said  to  be  compounded  of  two 
Indian  words,  choco,  sound,  and  alta,  irater>  from  the  noise 
made  in  its  preparation.  Chocolate  is  made  by  triturating 
the  roasted  cocoa  nut  into  a  paste  in  a  heated  mortar,  sugar 
and  some  aromatics  being  occasionally  added ;  the  oily 
matter  of  the  nut  gives  it  whilst  hot  a  due  consistence,  so 
that  it  is  cast  in  tin  moulds,  in  which  it  concretes,  on  cool- 
ing, into  cakes.  It  is  a  rich  article  of  diet,  and  apt  to  dis- 
agree with  weak  stomachs. 

CHOIR.  (Gr.  x°P»s)  In  Architecture,  the  part  of  a  church 
in  which  the  choristers  sing  divine  service.  In  former 
times  it  was  raised  separate  from  the  altar,  with  a  pulpit 
on  each  side,  in  which  the  epistles  and  gospels  were  sung, 
as  is  still  the  case  in  several  churches  on  the  Continent.  It 
was  separated  from  the  nave  in  the  time  of  Constantine.  In 
nunneries,  the  choir  is  a  large  apartment,  separated  by  a 
grate  from  the  body  of  the  church,  where  the  nuns  chant 
the  service.  This  term  is  used  also  in  music  to  signify  a 
band  of  singers  in  different  parts. 

CHOKE  DAMP.  A  term  applied  by  well-diggers  and 
miners  to  carbonic  acid  gas. 

CHO'LAG«CUE.  (Gr.  xoX>j,  bile,  and  ayia,  I  evacuate.) 
A  term  applieaby  ancient  medical  writers  to  certain  pur- 
gative remedies  which  produce  bilious  evacuations. 

CHOLE'DOCHUS.  (Gr.  x°^'l,  and  Sexofiai,  J  receive.) 
One  of  the  ducts  of  the  liver  is  called  the  ductus  communis 
choledochus. 

CHO'LERA.  (Gr.  x0^!  and  piai,  I Jloic.)  A  disease 
accompanied  by  vomiting  and  purging,  with  great  pain  and 
debility,  and  apparently  arising  from  excess  of  acrimony 
of  bile:  it  is  most  common  at  the  close  of  summer  and 
beginning  of  autumn,  and  seems  to  be  produced  by  cold, 
suppressed  perspiration,  indigestible  fruits,  &c.  It  general- 
ly commences  with  a  sense  of  pain  about  the  bowels,  fever, 
thirst,  an  irregular  pulse,  and  severe  vomiting  and  purging 
of  bilious  matter  :  in  favourable  cases  these  symptoms 
subside  in  a  few  days  with  the  aid  of  opiates,  mucilaginous 
diluents,  and  mild  aperients  followed  by  tonics  ;  but  in  se- 
vere cases  great  exhaustion  ensues,  attended  by  depression 
of  spirits,  anxiety,  hurried  respiration,  cold  sweats,  hiccup. 
low  and  fluttering  pulse,  and  the  patients  rapidly  sink,  and 
are  sometimes  carried  off"  within  twenty-four  hours.  In 
such  cases  warm  fomentations  sometimes  relieve  the  pain, 
and  effervescent  saline  draughts  check  the  sickness,  and 
enable  the  stomach  to  bear  large  doses  of  opium. 

Cho'lera,  Asia'tic.  The  term  Asiatic  or  Spasmodic 
Cholera  has  been  applied  to  a  new  and  most  appalling  form 
of  pestilential  disease,  which  seems  to  have  been  but  indis- 
tinctly known  prior  to  the  year  1817.  It  made  its  appear- 
ance in  August  that  year  at  Jessore,  after  having  previously 
raged  to  a  formidable  extent  in  the  south  of  Bengal,  and 
thence  it  spread  over  a  great  part  of  Asia,  carrying  off  mil- 
lions of  human  beings.  In  1823  it  broke  out  at  Astracan, 
but  did  not  at  that  time  extend  further  into  Russia;  in  1828, 
however,  it  appeared  at  Orenburg,  and  during  the  autumn 
of  that  year  and  the  spring  of  1829  it  spread  over  a  consider- 
able part  of  the  Russian  dominions.  It  raged  at  Moscow 
in  September,  1830  ;  and  having  been  apparently  carried  by 
the  Russian  army  into  Poland,  it  propagated  itself  through 
different  parts  o"f  Europe,  and  reached  England.  The 
symptoms  of  this,  as  of  other  disorders,  vary  considerably 
at  different  limes  and  in  different  individuals  ;  but  as  our 
object  here  is  briefly  to  describe  the  characteristic  features 
of  the  disease  in  their  unalloyed  form,  we  shall  omit  all 
unnecessary  details,  and  place  before  our  readers  a  short 
account  of  its  effects  in  its  worst  and  by  no  means  uncom- 
mon form. 

The  first  circumstance  that  strikes  us  in  regard  to  the 
attacks  of  this  disease  is  their  suddenness.  A  person  in 
apparent  health  feels  slightly  giddy,  chilly,  or  sick,  and  in 
the  course  of  two  or  three  hours  sinks  into  a  state  of  extra- 
ordinary and  alarming  debility  ;  the  countenance  assumes 
a  deadly  paleness,  and  the  skin  feels  and  looks  like  that  of 
a  corpse  ;  the  pulse  falls,  flutters,  and  is  almost  impercep- 
tible; a  livid  circle  surrounds  the  sunken  eyes;  the  tongue 
is  slightly  furred,  and  the  breath  cold.  Under  this  exces- 
sive and  extraordinary  prostration  the  patients  sometimes 
die  in  the  course  of  a  very  few  hours  ;  otherwise  it  is  suc- 
ceeded by  vomiting  and  purging,  the  voided  matters  re- 
sembling turbid  whey,  and  being  in  fact  a  serous  fluid  with 
floating  shreds  or  flocculi  of  coagulated  albumen  ;  and  now 
cramp  assails  the  extremities,  and  afterwards  the  abdo- 
men, producing  spasms  of  varying  but  sometimes  of  ex- 
338 


CHOLERA,  ASIATIC. 

treme  violence ;  great  pain  and  heat  about  the  region  of 
the  stomach,  and  intolerable  weight  and  anguish  round  the 
heart,  are  complained  of,  with  much  thirst  and  anxiety  ;  the 
voice  falters,  and  the  unfortunate  sufferer  asks  frequent- 
ly, in  plaintive  and  broken  whispers,  for  cold  water ;  the 
secretions  of  urine,  bile,  and  sali%a  appear,  in  this  state  of 
things,  as  if  entirely  suspended ;  the  evacuations  have  a 
singular  foetor,  and  the  breath  and  perspiration  have  that 
peculiar  odour  which  announces  the  rapid  approach  of 
death.  Towards  the  close  of  this  horrid  scene,  the  respi- 
ration becomes  very  slow,  the  tendons  of  the  extremities 
quiver,  the  sufferer  is  unable  to  swallow,  insensibility  suc- 
ceeds, and  after  one  or  two  long  and  convulsive  sobs  he 
dies.  The  mind,  even  at  last,  is  scarcely  ever  much  dis- 
turbed ;  but  towards  the  close  the  patient  sinks  into  a  state 
of  apathy,  and  appears  desirous  of  being  left  to  his  late. 
Attacks  of  this  kind  generally  prove  fatal  in  from  four  to 
eight  hours. 

If  from  this  exlreme  case  we  turn  to  what  may  be  term- 
ed milder  forms  of  the  disease,  the  same  general  train  of 
symptoms  are  observed ;  but  they  are  less  rapid  in  their 
succession,  and  there  is  more  time  and  opportunity  to  re- 
sort to  the  resources  of  art.  The  attack  begins  with  sick- 
ness or  purging,  succeeded  by  uneasiness  and  heat  about 
the  pit  of  the  stomach  ;  the  matters  which  are  thrown  off 
from  the  stomach  and  bowels  gradually  assume  the  appear- 
ance of  rice  water ;  the  countenance  shrinks ;  the  constric- 
tion of  the  thorax  and  cramps  and  spasms  follow ;  and  in 
the  course  of  twenty-four  to  thirty  six  hours  the  patient 
dies,  in  many  instances  delirious  or  comatose. 

Those  who  survive  seventy-two  hours  generally  recover, 
as  far  as  the  primary  symptoms  are  concerned ;  the  spasms 
and  difficulty  of  breathing  give  way,  the  natural  warmth  of 
the  body  is  restored,  and  the  pulse  returns  to  something 
like  its  natural  standard.  The  most  favourable  symptoms 
are  sleep,  perspiration,  return  of  the  secretion  of  urine  and 
of  bile,  accompanied  by  proportionate  improvement  in  the 
pulse  and  aspect  of  the  features ;  but,  even  under  these 
apparently  and  really  favourable  symptoms,  fever  of  a  low 
or  continued  character  may  ensue, — it  indeed  sometimes 
immediately  follows  the  blue  stage  or  collapse  ;  and  if  not 
relieved  by  a  critical  perspiration  on  the  second  or  third 
day,  the  pulse  quickens,  the.  face  is  flushed,  there  is  drowsi- 
ness and  suffusion  of  the  eyes,  stupor,  a  foul  mouth,  and 
other  symptoms  of  mixed  or  typhus  fever,  which  terminate 
fatally  from  the  fourth  to  the  eighth  day,  or  even  later,  in 
those  very  individuals  who  had  been  saved  in  the  first  or 
cold  stage. 

The  appearances  observed  on  dissection  of  those  who 
died  within  eight  or  ten  hours  were,  a  relaxed  and  pale 
state  of  the  stomach  and  intestines;  absence  of  bile  and  of 
faeces  in  the  intestines;  an  empty  and  contracted  bladder; 
congestion  in  the  venous  circulation  of  the  large  vessels  ; 
the  gallbladder  full  of  bile,  but  not  passing  into  the  intes- 
tine. In  more  protracted  cases  other  appearances  occa- 
sionally occurred,  more  especially  serous  effusion  upon  and 
in  the  brain,  with  congestion  of  the  vessels,  and  otherusual 
appearances  of  febrile  disease.  In  all  cases  the  blood  pre- 
sents a  more  or  less  morbid  appearance,  and  is  often  of  a 
very  dark  colour  and  increased  consistence,  so  as  to  have 
been  compared  to  tar. 

The  pathology  of  cholera  is  as  yet  most  imperfectly  un- 
derstood ;  nor  has  it  been  satisfactorily  ascertained  whether 
it  is  or  is  not  contagious ;  the  general  opinion,  however,  is 
in  favour  of  its  contagious  nature,  and  there  cannot  be  the 
least  doubt  of  the  propriety  of  enforcing  the  most  rigid  pre- 
cautionary measures  founded  upon  such  an  opinion. 

Details  respecting  the  medical  treatment  of  cholera  would 
be  out  of  place  in  this  work ;  and  the  plans  to  be  pursued 
vary  so  much  with  circumstances,  as  to  render  it  impos- 
sible to  condense  into  small  limits  a  general  view  of  this 
important  subject. 

Emetics  are  among  the  earliest  measures  which  should 
be  put  in  practice  ;  they  should  be  such  as  act  certainly  and 
rapidly,  and  conjoined  with  stimulants,  such  as  essential 
oils  and  capsicum.  Blood-letting  has  been  adopted  by 
many  practitioners  in  the  early  stages  of  the  disease.  Its 
favourable  effect  is  to  cause  the  pulse  to  rise ;  if  it  produce 
faintness,  it  must  be  immediately  put  a  stop  to,  and  should 
be  followed  by  the  application  of  warm  air,  and  other  dry 
warmth.  Large  doses  of  calomel,  with  or  without  opium, 
are  resorted  to  to  remove  local  congestion,  and  especially 
to  stimulate  the  liver;  and  these  means  are  assisted  and 
the  general  powers  of  the  system  kept  up  by  ether,  ammo- 
nia, brandy,  and  volatile  oils,  in  such  quantities  and  forms 
as  the  particular  circumstances  of  the  respective  cases 
may  point  out.  If  the  irritability  of  the  stomach  continues, 
flannels  soaked  in  very  hot  water,  and  then  sprinkled  with 
oil  of  turpentine,  should  be  applied  to  the  region  of  the 
stomach  and  abdomen. 

The  great  object  of  all  those  remedies  applicable  to  the 
first  stage  of  the  disease  is  to  enable  the  system  lo  rally 
from  its  depressing  effects,  to  bring  about  reaction,  and  to 
stimulate  the  nervous  and  vascular  systems  ;  but  then  the 


CHOLESTERINE. 

utmost  circumspection  is  required  in  reference  to  the  inju- 
rious effects  which  this  plan  will  induce,  if  carried  loo  far. 
Here,  however,  the  symptoms  are  usually  those  of  typhoid 
or  continued  fever,  and  are  to  be  treated  accordingly,  great 
attention  being  always  paid  to  the  state  of  the  biliary  and 
urinary  secretions,  and  to  the  evacuations  from  the  bowels. 
Besides  the  treatment  founded  upon  the  above  outline, 
other  and  very  dissimilar  plans  have  been  adopted,  founded 
upon  ihe  change  which  the  blood  appears  to  suffer  in  this 
disease.  It  has  been  by  some  presumed  that  in  all  cases 
of  cholera,  the  saline  matters  of  the  blood,  along  with  a 
large  quantity  of  its  water,  are  thrown  off  by  the  intestines, 
constituting  the  characteristic  serous  discharge  above  ad- 
verted to  ;  "and  that  the  residuary  blood  becomes  thick  and 
black,  iu  consequence  of  the  deficiency  of  its  salts.  Dr. 
Stevens  therefore  proposed  the  administration  of  large 
doses  of  common  salt,  occasionally  mixed  with  nitre  and 
chlorate  of  potash;  and  from  this  plan  the  best  effects 
have,  according  to  some,  resulted,  while  in  the  hands  of 
others  it  has  entirely  failed.  The  truth  is,  that  in  the  worst 
attacks  of  the  disease  the  approach  of  death  is  so  quick 
that  there  is  scarcely  time  for  any  thing  to  take  etfecl;  and 
where  it  is  less  rapid,  the  symptoms  must  guide  the  treat- 
ment :  amongst  these  it  must  be  confessed  that  there  are 
seldom  any  which  would  justify  the  prudent  practitioner 
in  drenching  the  bowels  with  salt  and  water. 

But  the  bolder  advocates  of  what  has  been  termed  the 
saline  treatment  of  cholera  have  gone  a  step  further,  and 
have  dared  to  inject  saline  solutions  into  the  veins ;  how 
far  such  extraordinary  means  are  justifiable,  will  appear 
from  the  following  statement.  (Pereira,  Elements  of  Ma- 
teria Medico,  part  i.  313.)  ''This  plan  was,  I  believe,  first 
practised  by  Dr.  Latta,  (Med.  Gaz.  x.  257.)  The  quantity 
of  saline  solution  which  has  been  in  some  cases  injected  is 
enormous,  and  almost  incredible.  In  one  case  120  ounces 
were  injected  at  once,  and  repeated  to  the  amount  of  330 
ounces  in  twelve  hours.  In  another,  370  ounces  were 
thrown  into  the  veins,  between  Sunday  at  eleven  o'clock 
a.m.  and  Tuesday  at  four  P.  m.  ;  that  is,  in  the  course  of 
filly-three  hours,  upwards  of  31  pounds.  The  solution  used 
consisted  of  two  drachms  of  muriate  and  two  scruples  of 
carbonate  of  soda  to  60  ounces  of  water.  It  was  at  the 
temperature  of  108°  or  110°  Fahr.  In  another  series  of 
cases  40  pounds  were  injected  in  twenty  hours ;  132  ounces 
in  the  first  two  hours  ;  8  pounds  in  half  an  hour  !  The  tin- 
mediate  effects  of  these  injections,  in  a  large  majority  of 
cases,  were  most  astonishing; — restoration  of  pulse,  im- 
provement in  the  respiration,  voice,  and  general  appear- 
ance, return  of  consciousness,  and  a  feeling  of  comfort 
In  manyinstances,  however,  these  effects  wire  only  tem- 
porary, and  were  followed  by  collapse  and  death." 

The  reports  as  to  the  ultimate  benefit  of  this  treatment 
in  cholera  are  so  contradictory,  that  it  la  difficult  to  form  a 
correct  estimate  of  it.  ''That  it  failed  in  a  large  proportion 
of  cases  after  an  extensive  trial,  and  greatly  disappointed 
some  of  its  stanchest  supporters,  cannot  be  doubted.  Dr. 
Griffin  states  that  all  the  published  cases  of  injection  which 
he  can  find  recorded  amount  to  2*2,  of  which  221  died,  while 
61  only  recovered  ;  but  he  thinks  that  the  average  reco- 
veries from  collapse  by  this  method  of  treatment  far  ex- 
ceeded the  amount  of  any  other  treatment  in  the  same 
district  and  under  the  same  circumstances."  'Med.  Uaz. 
xxii.  319.) 

A  vast  quantity  of  matter  has  been  published  in  reference 
to  Ihe  history,  symptoms,  and  treatment  of  pestilential 
cholera.  Among  those  works  upon  the  subject,  the  general 
reader  may  consult  the  following  with  advantage  ;  namely, 
the  Reports  published  by  order  of  Government  under  the 
superintendence  of  the  Medical  Board  ;  History  of  tin'  Epi- 
demic Cholera,  by  B.  Hawkins,  M.  D  .  $c.  :  Mr.  Rill's  Let- 
ter to  Sir  H.  Half ord;  the  Report  of  Ore.  Russell  and  Bar- 
ry ;  Dr.  James  Copt  anil  on  Pestilential  Cholera;  and  a  pa- 
per in  the  Ninetv-first  Number  of  the  Quarterly  Review 
for  November,  1831. 

CHOLE'STERINE.  (Gr.  x«Xij,and  areoeos.  solid.)  The 
matter  which  forms  the  basis  of  most  irall  stones. 

CHONDRO'LOGY.  (Gr.  x<"'<5,coc,  a  cartilage,  and  Xoj/oc, 
a  discourse.)    The  historv  of  cartilages. 

CHO'NDROPTERY'GIANS,  Chondropterygii.  (Gr. 
XovSoof,  a  cartilage,  and  irreov%,  a  fin ;  gristly-finned.) 
The  name  of  Cuvier's  last  order  of  fishes,  characterized 
bv  the  gristly  nature  of  all  the  spines  which  support  the  fins. 
The  whole  internal  skeleton  in  this  order  is  cartilasinous. 

CHORA'GIC  MONUMENT.  (Gr.  xopoc.)  In  Grecian 
Architecture,  a  monument  erected  in  honour  of  the  Cho- 
ragus  who  gained  the  prize  by  the  exhibition  of  the  best 
musical  or  theatrical  entertainment  at  the  festivals  of  Bac- 
chus. The  Choragi  were  the  heads  of  the  ten  tribes  at 
Athens,  who  overlooked  and  arranged  the  games  at  their 
own  expense.  The  prize  was  usually  a  tripod,  which  the 
victor  was  bound  publicly  to  exhibit,  for  which  purpose  a 
building  or  column  was  usually  erected.  The  remains  of 
two  very  fine  monuments  of  this  sort,  viz.  those  of  Lysi- 
crates  and  Thrasyllus,  are  still  to  be  seen  at  Athens. 
229 


CHOUAN8. 

CHORD.  (Gr.  x°P°*li  t,ie  string  of  a  lyre.)  In  Music, 
a  combination  of  two  or  more  sounds  heard  contempoia- 
neously,  forming  a  concord  or  a  discord  between  them. 

Chord.  In  Geometry,  is  the  straight  line  which  joins 
the  two  extremities  of  the  arc  of  a  curve  ;  so  called  from 
the  resemblance  which  the  arc  and  chord  together  have  to 
a  bow  and  its  suing,  the  chord  representing  the  string. 
The  chord  of  an  arc  is  equal  to  the  size  of  half  the  arc  ; 
hence,  to  find  the  length  of  the  chord  of  any  given  arc, 
multiply  the  diameter  by  the  sine  of  half  the  arc.  Tables 
of  chords  are  given  in  some  of  the  older  works  on  trigo- 
nometry ;  but  they  have  been  superseded  by  the  tables  of 
sines,  which  are  much  more  convenient  for  trigonometri- 
cal calculations. 

CHOREA..  (Gr.  x°P°Si  a  chorus  ;  the  ancient  accompa- 
niment to  dancing.)  The  disease  commonly  called  St. 
Vilas's  dance.  It  shows  itself  by  convulsive  motions  of 
the  limbs,  face,  head,  and  trunk,  varying  extremely  in  ex- 
tent and  violence  ;  the  speech  is  often  more  or  less  affected, 
and  frequently  the  mental  energies  become  grievously  im- 
paired. It  is  most  common  in  early  life,  as  from  the  age 
often  or  twelve  to  puberty  ;  and  makes  its  approach  grad- 
ually in  persons  chiefly  of  debilitated  constitutions:  the 
appetite  is  generally  ravenous  at  first,  and  the  bowels  cos- 
tive ;  various  convulsive  motions  then  ensue,  and  only 
cease  during  sleep,  which,  however,  is  seldom  sound. 
This  is  one  of  those  diseases  which  require  especial  atten- 
tion in  its  early  stages,  and  which  even  in  its  slightest 
forms,  when  once  habitual,  is  very  difficult  to  manage. 
The  leading  treatment  consists  in  the  judicious  adminis- 
tration of  aperients  and  brisk  purges,  so  as  to  clear  the  sto- 
mach and  bowels  thoroughly  of  all  irritating  matters  ;  the 
constitution  may  at  the  same  time  be  strengthened  by  ton- 
ics and  chalybeates,  with  occasional  stimulants  ;  and  soma 
of  the  more  urgent  spasmodic  symptoms  may  be  some- 
times cautiously  encountered  by  opium,  camphor,  hen- 
bane, and  ether.  Cold  bathing  also  has  its  advantages 
when  circumspectly  resorted  to;  and  the  mind  must  be 
diverted  by  change  <>f  air  and  scene.  This  diet  should  be 
very  regular,  nutritive,  and  never  in  excess.  In  this  com- 
plaint much  will  depend  upon  the  exertions  of  the  patient 
himself,  who,  though  relieved  of  the  more  urgent  symp- 
toms, will  often  retain  relics  of  his  disorder  through  a  long 
life. 

CIIO'REPI'SCOPI.  (Gr.  xuPai  a  country  place,  and 
cxhtkottos,  a  liistufft  )  Country  bishops  :  persons  appointed 
by  the  bishops  in  the  early  periods  of  Christianity  to  super- 
intend the  rural  districts  which  appertained  to  their  dioce- 
ses,  but  which  were  at  an  inconvenient  distance  from  the 
city  in  which  they  abode  themselves.  The  class  of  chore- 
piscopi  is  represented  as  holding  a  middle  rank  between 
the  bishops  and  the  presbyters. 

CHORION.  (Gr.  \(>>pa,  a  receptacle.)  The  external 
membrane  which  envelopes  the  foztas  in  utero,  between 
which  and  the  amnion  there  is  a  gelatinous  fluid.  Its  in- 
terior surface  is  smooth,  but  exteriorly  it  is  shaggy  and 
vascular. 

CIIOKO'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  xw/>a,  district,  and  ypa-poy, 
I  describe.)  The  description  of  a  district,  in  contradistinc- 
tion to  geography  (the  description  of  the  earth  or  of  coun- 
tries) and  topography  (the  description  of  particular  spots.) 

CHO'ROID  MEMBRANE  OF  THE  EYE.  The  second 
tunic  of  the  eye  lying  under  the  sclerotic,  with  which  it 
has  a  vascular  connection ;  it  commences  at  the  optic 
nerve,  and  passes  forward  with  the  sclerotic  to  the  begin- 
ning of  the  transparent  cornea,  where  it  firmly  adheres  to 
the  sclerotic  by  a  cellular  membrane,  forming  a  white 
fringe  called  the  ciliary  circle ;  it  then  recedes  from  the 
sclerotic  and  cornea,  forming  a  round  coloured  disc  called 
the  iris,  and  its  posterior  surface  is  termed  uvea.  The 
choroid  membrane  is  very  vascular,  and  its  external  stel- 
lated vessels  are  called  vasaverticosa.  Its  internal  surface 
is  covered  by  a  black  pigrru  nt. 

CHO'ROID  PLEXUS.  A  plexus  of  blood-vessels  situ- 
ated in  the  lateral  ventricles  of  the  brain. 

CHO'RUS.  (Gr.  \6po(.)  A  band  of  singers  and  dan- 
cers who  performed  odes  in  honour  of  the  gods,  particu- 
larly Bacchus.  The  chorus  formed  an  important  part  of 
the  Greek  tragedies  and  early  comedies,  which  were  in- 
terspersed with  odes.  There  were  likewise  several  other 
choruses  besides  these,  as  the  Dithyrambic  ;  and  the  ex- 
hibition of  these  was  one  of  the  public  burthens  imposed 
on  the  richest  private  citizens  of  Athens.  It  was  called 
the  choregia  (xopryyia).  See  Drama,  and  Choragic  Mon- 
ument. 

Chorus.  In  Music,  the  joint  performance  of  music  by 
the  whole  of  the  members  of  the  orchestra. 

CHOU'ANS.  In  French  History,  the  royalist  insurgents 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  Loire  during  the  revolution  when 
the  Yendeans  rose  on  the  left,  were  thus  popularly  named  ; 
according  to  some,  from  the  cry  of  the  screech-owl  (chat- 
huant).  an  imitation  of  which  was  a  signal  during  their 
nightly  meetings.  They  were  for  the  most  part  brigands, 
and  their  object  rapine  rather  than  civil  war.    After  the 


CHREMATISTICS. 

revolution  of  1830,  they  made  a  transient  reappearance  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Nantes  and  Le  Mans. 

CHREMATI'STICS.  (Gr.  xprniara,  wealth.)  The  sci- 
ence of  wealth  ;  a  name  given  by  Continental  writers  to 
the  science  of  political  economy,  or  rather  to  what  in  their 
view  constitutes  a  portion  of  the  science.  They  consider 
political  economy  as  a  term  more  properly  applicable  to 
the  whole  range  of  subjects  which  comprise  the  material 
welfare  of  states  and  citizens,  and  chrematistics  (by  which 
they  mean  nearly  the  same  science  which  M'Culloch  and 
most  other  English  writers  describe  as  political  economy) 
as  merely  a  branch  of  it.  See  especially  M.  de  Sismondi, 
Etudes  sur  VEconomie  Politique.     See  also  Chrysology. 

CHRESTO'MATHY.  (Gr.  xPn°Tos,  useful,  and  pav- 
6avu>,  I  learn.)  According  to  the  etymology,  that  which  it 
is  useful  to  learn.  The  Greeks  frequently  formed  com- 
monplace books  by  collecting  the  various  passages  to 
which,  in  the  course  of  reading,  they  had  affixed  the  mark 
X  (%P>7otos).  Hence  books  of  extracts  chosen  with  a  view 
to  utility  have  received  this  name. 

CHRISM.  (Gr.  xpic><a,  from  XP'™,  1  anoint.)  The  oil 
which  is  used  both  in  the  Greek  and  the  Roman  churches 
in  the  administration  of  baptism,  confirmation,  ordination, 
and  extreme  unction. 

CHRl'STENDOM.  A  word  sometimes  employed  in 
euch  a  sense  as  to  comprehend  all  nations  in  which  Chris- 
tianity prevails  :  more  commonly,  all  realms  governed  un- 
der Christian  sovereigns  and  institutions.  Thus  European 
Turkey,  although  three  fourths  of  its  inhabitants  are  Chris- 
tians, is  not  in  ordinary  language  included  within  the  term 
Christendom.  The  history  of  the  fortunes  of  Christianity, 
in  respect  of  its  geographical  extension,  presents  remark- 
able periods  of^dvanee  and  decline.  After  the  conversion 
of  Constantine,  and  the  gradual  decay  of  Paganism,  Chris- 
tianity continued  to  spread,  but  chiefly  in  the  direction  of 
east  and  south,  for  more  than  three  centuries,  the  barbari- 
an conquerors  of  the  Roman  provinces  soon  adopting  it. 
About  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century,  Christendom 
comprehended  Europe  south  and  west  of  the  Rhine  and 
Danube ;  Africa  north  of  the  Great  Desert ;  Abyssinia ; 
parts  of  Nubia ;  Asia  to  the  Euphrates ;  Armenia,  and  part 
of  Arabia  ;  and  that  small  colony  in  southern  India  which 
subsists  to  this  day.  The  Saracen  power  rose  by  conquest 
from  this  extensive  empire.  In  little  more  than  a  century, 
Christendom  was  deprived  of  nearly  all  its  Asiatic  provin- 
ces, of  which  the  faithful  inhabitants  were  reduced  to  a 
tributary  condition  :  of  the  whole  of  northern  Africa,  in 
which  they  were  exterminated  or  converted  :  and  of  Spain. 
Sicily,  the  latest  conquest  of  the  Saracens,  was  occupied  by 
them  about  830.  But  just  at  the  same  epoch,  or  that  of 
lowest  decline,  Charlemagne  began  to  extend  the  limits  of 
Christendom  in  the  north  ;  and  the  second  period  of  ad- 
vance extends  through  the  9th,  lOlli,  and  11th  centuries, 
in  which  "the  reign  of  the  gospel  and  the  church  was  ex- 
tended over  the  north  :  Bulgaria,  Hungary,  Bohemia,  Sax- 
ony, Denmark,  Norway,  Sweden,  and  Russia."  'Gibbon, 
chap.  55.)  From  that  time  to  the  16th  century,  Christianity 
gradually  reconquered  Spain  on  the  one  hand  ;  while,  on 
the  other,  the  newly  arisen  power  of  the  Turks  wrested 
from  it  the  remainder  of  its  Asiatic  territories  and  the  Eu- 
ropean provinces  of  the  Greek  empire.  Since  that  period 
no  important  changes  have  taken  place  in  the  relative  ex- 
tent of  Christendom  and  Islamism :  but  the  vast  conti- 
nent of  America,  as  far  as  it  has  been  colonized,  has  been 
added  to  the  former,  and  the  rapid  increase  of  its  commu- 
nities in  numbers  and  civilization  has  greatly  enhanced 
their  comparative  importance.  The  number  of  Christians 
inhabiting  Europe  and  America,  and  scattered  in  the  other 
parts  of  the  globe,  may  perhaps  be  estimated  conjecturally 
as  follows  :— 

Roman  Catholic  church  -        -        144,000,000 

Reformed  churches  -        -        -         60,000,000 

Greek  and  other  Oriental  churches    •      66,000,000 

270,000,000 
CHRISTIA'NITY.  The.  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  From 
the  period  when  the  disciples  "  were  called  Christians  first 
in  Antioch"  (Acts,  xi.  26.)  down  to  the  present  day,  the 
main  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  and  the  great  moral  princi- 
ples which  it  reveals  and  confirms,  have  been  preserved 
without  interruption  in  the  church.  But  notwithstanding 
this  substantial  unity,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  character 
of  the  religion  has  been  very  materially  coloured  through- 
out all  its  history  by  the  circumstances  and  genius  of  dif- 
ferent nations  and  ages.  The  first  marked  forms  of  opin- 
ion which  acquired  consistency  among  the  general  body  of 
Christians  tended  in  two  very  different  directions.  The 
Judaizing  Christians  clung  to  the  ordinances  of  the  elder 
religion,  and  strove  to  teach  the  separation  from  it  as  slight- 
ly as  possible;  under  the  names  of  Nazareans,  &c,  they 
existed  as  late  as  the  fourth  century,  but  ceased  after  the 
first  to  exercise  any  very  extensive  influence  on  the  church. 
The  speculative  Christians  placed  figurative  interpretations 
both  on  the  external  facts  and  mysteries  of  the  religion,  or 
230 


CHRISTIANITY. 

sought  to  connect  it  with  the  philosophical  and  theurgical 
systems  of  the  ancient  world.  Apollos  of  Alexandria  was 
the  first  teacher,  it  is  commonly  said,  who  introduced  this 
speculative  tendency  into  Christianity;  and  St.  Paul, while 
he  does  not  condemn  Apollos,  dwells  on  the  evils  produced 
by  those  who  from  his  teaching  deduced  as  it  were  a  sepa- 
rate body  of  doctrine  (I  Cor.  hi.).  In  this  way  arose, — 1. 
The  early  heretics  the  Nicolaitanes  and  followers  of  Ce- 
rinthus,  and  the  Gnostics,  professors  of  the  "knowledge 
falsely  so  called"  (xpcvdoivv^oi  yvcoois)  of  St.  Paul.  2.  At 
a  later  period,  the  Manichreans,  who  imported  into  Chris- 
tianity the  notion  of  the  rival  principles  of  good  and  evil, 
which  continued  for  many  ages  to  possess  adherents.  3. 
Within  the  church  itself,  the  Alexandrian  school  of  theology, 
which  has  exercised  a  more  permanent  influence.  This 
school,  in  the  second  and  third  centuries,  became  partially 
tinged  with  the  sentiments  of  Platonic  philosophy  ;  and 
was  characterized  by  the  acute  and  refining  spirit  of  the 
East.  Like  the  Gnostics,  its  chief  doctors  encouraged  the 
notion  of  a  mystical  or  second  meaning  in  the  revelations 
of  the  faith,  of  which  the  key  was  in  the  possession  of  the 
learned  only  (Clemens,  Origen,  &c.)  In  the  mean  time, 
the  main  body  of  believers,  comparatively  unaffected  by 
the  influence  of  science  and  speculation,  was  gradually  ac- 
quiring new  views  of  a  different  and  more  positive  charac- 
ter. During  the  first  three  centuries  after  the  apostolical 
times,  the  opinions  respecting  the  authority  of  the  priest- 
hood, attachment  to  forms  and  ordinances,  the  honour  paid 
to  individual  purity  of  life  (and  especially  to  constancy  un- 
der persecution),  gradually  and  steadily  increased  and 
strengthened.  In  the  West,  and  particularly  in  Africa, 
these  tendencies  became  peculiarly  strong.  The  Montan- 
ists,  Donatists,  and  Novatians  separated  successively  from 
the  church,  on  the  score  of  its  defection  from  an  imaginary 
standard  of  personal  purity  ;  and  when  Africa  began  to 
have  a  school  of  theology  of  her  own  (Tertullian,  Cyprian, 
and  others,  to  Augustine),  this  was  the  direction  of  its  la- 
bours. In  that  theology  all  is  dogmatical,  nothing  specula- 
tive. Every  tiling  is  taken  in  its  most  literal  and  naked 
sense  :  God  himself  is  not  personal  only,  but  invested  al- 
most with  the  attributes  of  a  human  agent.  Both  doctrines 
and  ordinances  are  as  definite  as  possible,  and  the  utmost 
rigour  of  practice  enjoined.  The  history  of  the  African 
church  affords  a  momentous  commentary  on  their  strain- 
ings after  imaginary  perfection.  After  two  centuries  of 
discord  and  decay  from  the  time  of  Augustine,  it  was  not 
subdued  but  obliterated  by  the  first  assault  of  the  Moham- 
medans. The  early  heretics  had  entertained  theoretical 
notions  respecting  the  inferiority  of  Christ  to  the  Father; 
but  the  Arians,  in  the  last  half  of  the  3d  century,  were  the 
first  to  preach  it  as  the  doctrine  of  the  church,  and  seek  to 
confirm  it  by  appeal  to  antiquity.  The  council  of  Nice 
(A.  d.  325)  condemned  this  opinion  ;  and  by  the  concurring 
declarations  of  bishops  from  all  parts  of  Christendom  af- 
forded the  strongest  testimony  to  the  fact,  that  the  Catho- 
lic sentiment  of  the  church  had  always  been  opposed  to  it. 
But  the  Arians,  and  other  sects  differing  from  the  church 
by  various  shades  of  opinion  on  the  same  subject,  continu- 
ed to  subsist  until  the  6th  century,  during  which  these  con- 
troversies partly  died  away  in  the  West,  amidst  the  misery 
and  barbarism  of  the  age,  and  partly  were  extinguished  by 
the  authority  of  the  church.  It  was  thus  that  the  govern- 
ors of  the  church  were  first  driven  to  protect  its  funda- 
mental doctrines  by  reducing  them  to  formal  propositions 
embodied  in  creeds  and  the  canons  of  councils  (especially 
the  six  (Ecumenical  or  general,  which  were  held  from 
a.  d.  381  to  680).  Thus,  in  the  West,  speculation  was  ef- 
fectually subdued.  In  the  East,  it  still  lingered  in  vain  but 
refined  distinction  respecting  the  nature  and  relations  of 
the  persons  of  the  Trinity  (the  Nestorian,  Monophysite, 
and  Monothelite  heresies).  Meantime  a  new  and  most  im- 
portant feature  of  Christianity  was  developing  itself.  A 
solitary  believer,  who  left  the  world  and  retired  into  the  de- 
serts of  Egypt  (Antonius,  a.  d.  311),  set  an  example  which 
was  followed  by  innumerable  Christians  with  a  fervour 
alike  contagious  and  irresistible.  The  calamities  of  the 
empire,  and  the  wretched  state  of  society,  seem  to  have 
aided  the  mistaken  tendencies  of  devotion  in  producing 
this  carelessness  of  life  and  its  duties.  It  is  scarcely  possi- 
ble to  exaggerate  the  evils  produced  by  the  spirit  of  mona- 
chism  in  the  4th  and  5th  centuries :  the  contempt  for  all  the 
social  habits  and  social  virtues ;  the  ferocious  zeal,  some- 
times venting  itself  against  Paganism  and  sometimes 
against  brethren  ;  the  unregulated,  wandering,  untameable 
disposition  which  it  engendered,  and  which  the  spirit  of  the 
age  dignified  with  the  title  of  celestial  piety.  Whatever 
Christianity  may  owe  to  the  great  fathers  of  the  church, 
Augustine,  Ambrose,  Jerome,  Basil,  Chrysostom,  we  must 
not  forget  the  encouragement  which  they  all  administered 
to  this  destructive  error,  far  more  mischievous  than  any  of 
the  heresies  which  they  combated.  At  length,  when  the 
evils  of  this  anarchical  system  had  become  almost  intoler- 
able, arose  the  lawgivers  of  monachism  in  the  West.  Be- 
nedict .(a.  d.  529)    and  still  more  Cassiodorus,  strove  to 


CHRISTIANITY. 

bring  religious  persons  under  a  temperate  and  liberal  rule 
of  government :  their  attention  was  called  to  what  they  had 
hitherto  despised  as  secular  pursuits,  especially  agriculture 
and  literature,  together  with  a  more  regulated  piety;  and  thus 
monachism,  which  in  a  time  of  declining  civilization  had 
powerfully  accelerated  decay,  became,  in  a  time  of  bar- 
barism, an  agent  of  preservation  and  improvement.  In  a.  d. 
716,  the  separation  between  the  Greek  and  Western  church- 
es, which  had  long  been  provoked  by  the  gradual  usurpations 
of  the  Roman  bishop  over  the  latter,  became  really  complete 
through  the  controversy  respecting  images,  although  not 
formally  acknowledged  until  the  middle  of  the  1 1th  century. 
This  era  is  important,  as  those  corruptions  of  Christianity 
which,  according  to  Protestants,  disfigure  both  the  Greek 
and  Roman  Catholic  churches,  are  evidently  anterior  to  it, — 
those  peculiar  to  the  latter  posterior.  Thus,  the  honour 
paid  to  saints,  relics,  <&c,  the  adoration  of  the  Virgin 
Mary  (which  seems  to  have  been  partly  a  result  of  the 
Nestorian  controversy),  monachism,  &c,  are  common  to 
both,  and  therefore  ancient:  the  exclusively  Roman  tenets, 
transubstantiation,  papal  infallibility,  purgatory,  <kc,  are 
accounted  by  Protestants  comparatively  modern  doctrines, 
to  which  the  whole  church  has  never  agreed  ;  while  celi- 
bacy, which  the  Roman  pontiffs  with  great  difficulty  suc- 
ceeded in  imposing  on  the  whole  clergy  in  the  11th  century, 
is  observed  iu  the  Greek  church  only  by  the  higher  digni- 
taries. For  several  centuries  after  this  separation,  the  ex- 
ternal history  of  Christianity  in  the  West  presents  us  with 
little  more  than  the  vicissitudes  and  disputes  of  monastic 
orders,  the  strife  of  ecclesiastical  dignitaries  with  each 
other  and  with  temporal  sovereigns,  the  growth  of  super- 
stitious observances  among  the  laity,  the  union  of  the  re- 
ligious with  the  military  spirit,  and  the  increasing  power 
of  the  pope;  yet,  under  all  these  disadvantages,  the  impar- 
tial observer  may  discern  the  great  principles  of  religion 
still  preserved,  and  still  working  beneath  the  surface  of 
society  for  its  gradual  purification.  The  12th  century  was 
a  period  of  revival  in  the  West,  both  in  point  of  learning 
and  religion.  The  military  spirit  of  devotion  found  ample 
employment  in  the  crusades.  The  rise  of  the  scholastic 
philosophy  (a.  d.  1100)  gave  a  new  and  peculiar  character 
to  the  study  of  theology.  Among  the  lower  classes  a  power- 
ful spirit  of  religious  reform  began  rapidly  to  extend  itself, 
especially  in  Italy  and  the  south  of  France.  A  Strictness 
of  life  amounting  almost  to  asceticism,  a  revolt  rather 
against  the  wealth  and  temporal  supremacy  of  the  clergy 
than  their  doctrines,  were  the  first  characteristics  of  the 
reforming  sects ;  but  to  these  was  soon  added  an  addiction 
to  mystical  tenets  and  observances.  The  Cathari,  Wal- 
denses,  Albigenses,  <kc.  all  partook  more  or  less  of  these 
common  peculiarities;  but  how  far  they  had  really  adopted, 
if  at  all,  those  Manichtcan  opinions  (derived  through  the 
medium  of  the  Paulicians,  a  sect  which  long  subsisted  in 
the  Bast,)  with  which  they  were  charged  by  their  oppo- 
nents, will  probably  never  be  ascertained.  These  sectaries, 
in  their  hostility  to  the  Catholic  priesthood,  had  to  a  great 
extent  usurped  their  province  as  religious  advisers  of  the 
poor  and  uninstructed  with  prayer,  preaching,  and  even 
auricular  confession.  It  was  this  peculiar  form  of  the 
impending  danger  which  induced  the  church  (after  it  had 
openly  condemned  the  new  doctrines)  to  give  ample  en- 
couragement to  the  institution  of  the  Mendicant  orders  (in 
the  beginning  of  the  13th  century),  one  of  the  most  import- 
ant events  in  the  history  of  Christianity.  These  bodies 
met  the  sectaries  on  their  own  ground,  by  the  assumption 
of  asceticism,  poverty,  and  the  popular  practices  which 
had  availed  the  former.  They  were  also  employed  by  the 
church  in  the  sterner  task  of  putting  down  by  force  hereti- 
cal opposition,  and  completed  the  extirpation  of  the  Albi- 
genses begun  by  the  sword  of  the  Crusaders.  But  they 
extended  their  hostility  to  learning  and  science,  and  to  all 
the  established  institutions  of  the  time,  and  became  as 
much  hated  by  the  secular  priesthood  (or  parish  clergy,  so 
called  in  distinction  to  those  who  have  renounced  the  world 
and  are  bound  by  monastic  rule,  called  regulars),  and  by 
the  old  and  wealthy  orders,  as  by  the  heretics  themselves. 
Under  the  influence  of  persecution  the  development  of  the 
age  was  checked.  From  the  middle  of  the  13th  century  to 
the  end  of  the  14th  the  church  of  Rome  met  with  little 
opposition  from  sectaries,  and  underwent  little  change  in 
respect  of  doctrine  and  discipline ;  but  during  the  same 
period  the  increasing  power  of  princes,  the  long  removal 
of  the  seat  of  papal  power  from  Rome,  and  various  other 
causes,  sensibly  diminished  its  temporal  authority.  In  the 
next  century,  the  same  causes  continued  to  act,  while  the 
revived  energy  of  reforming  sects  (Lollards,  Hussites.  <fcc.) 
and  the  rapid  spread  of  literature  and  learning,  proved  still 
more  hostile  to  its  spiritual  power.  Thus  the  way  was 
prepared  for  the  great  events  of  the  Reformation.  To 
trace  the  history  of  Christianity  from  that  period  onwards, 
would  be  impossible  within  our  present  limits.  It  may  be 
sufficient  to  direct  the  reader  to  the  general  outline  of 
the  most  marked  events,  omitting  those  of  a  nature 
merely  political  or  ecclesiastical.  In  the  Roman  Catholic 
231 


CHROMATICS. 

church,  the  definite  establishment  of  her  doctrines  by  the 
council  of  Trent,  which  met  a.  d.  1546;  the  foundation  of 
the  order  of  Jesuits,  its  rapid  increase  in  power  and  influ- 
ence, and  the  gradual  decline  of  the  other  monastic  orders ; 
the  rise,  progress,  and  condemnation  of  Jansenism  in 
France,  in  the  17th  and  18th  centuries ;  the  suppression  of 
the  Jesuits,  in  1773,  and  overthrow  of  other  monastic  orders 
in  France  at  the  revolution, — an  example  since  followed  in 
other  countries ;  the  revival  of  the  Jesuits,  1814.  In  Re- 
formed countries,  the  early  division  of  Protestants  into  Lu- 
theran and  Calvinist,  besides  many  subordinate  sects;  the 
foundation  of  the  church  of  England  under  Edward  VI., 
partaking  in  some  degree  the  character  of  the  two ;  the 
rapid  advance  of  Calvinism  and  kindred  opinions  in  the 
17th  century  in  England,  Holland,  and  Scotland ;  their  de- 
cline in  the  firstof  these  countries  by  the  re-establishment 
of  the  church  in  1660,  and  the  prevalence  of  Arminian  sen- 
timents within  it,  and  on  the  Continent  of  Europe  by  a 
gradual  tendency  to  a  more  liberal  system  of  theology  ;  the 
establishment  of  the  three  confessions  (Roman  Catholic, 
Lutheran,  and  Reformed  or  Calvinist)  on  an  equal  footing 
in  Germany  by  the  peace  of  Westphalia,  1648 ;  the  gradual 
approach  of  Protestant,  especially  Lutheran,  divines  to- 
wards what  has  been  called  the  rationalist  system  of  religion 
in  the  last  part  of  the  18th  century  ;  the  rise  of  Methodism 
in  England,  and  of  cognate  systems  on  the  Continent;  the 
union  effected  by  the  present  king  of  Prussia  and  other 
German  sovereigns  between  the  Lutheran  and  Calvinistic 
bodies  in  their  respective  dominions.  (See  Milman's  His- 
tory of  Christianity ;  Neanders  History  of  the  Planting  and 
Training  of  the  Christian  Church  ;  Neander's  History  of 
the  Christian  Religion  and  Church  during  the  three  first 
centuries  :  Archbishop  Whately's  Kingdom  of  Christ.) 

CHRISTIAN  KNOWLEDGE,  SOCIETY  FOR  PRO- 
MOTING. This  society  was  founded  in  the  year  1699  for 
the  objects  which  the  name  imports.  It  promotes  these 
objects  principally  by  the  diffusion  of  religious  and  moral 
tracts.  It  has  also  circulated  vast  numbers  of  copies  of  the 
Bible  and  Testament,  and  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer 
and  Other  authorized  expositions  of  faith.  It  is  entirely 
supported  by  the  established  church,  and  is  a  powerful 
engine  for  the  instruction  of  the  people  in  the  principles  of 
It. 
CHROMA'TIC.  (Gr.  xpoipa,  colour.)  In  Music,  the 
introduction  of  semitones  between  each  of  the  tones  in  the 
diatonic  scale. 

CHROMA/TICS.  (Gr.  x.ocjua.)  That  part  of  optics 
which  treats  of  the  colours  of  light  and  of  natural  bodies. 
This  is  a  very  important  branch  of  physical  science,  and 
one  which  of  late  years  has  been  prosecuted  with  great 
assiduity.  Until  Newton  undertook  his  memorable  experi- 
ments on  the  refraction  of  light,  the  cause  of  the  different 
colours  of  bodies  had  never  received  any  satisfactory  ex- 
planation :  such,  indeed,  was  the  difficulty  which  the  an- 
cients attached  to  this  subject,  that  Plato  considered  it  to 
be  an  usurpation  of  the  rights  of  the  Deity  to  attempt  the 
investigation  of  this  mystery  of  nature.  The  discovery  of 
the  difference  of  refrangibility  in  the  coloured  rays  of  the 
solar  spectrum  afforded  a  clue  to  the  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem ;  and  Newton  demonstrated,  by  a  series  of  decisive 
experiments,  that  colour  depends  not  on  any  modification 
of  light  acquired  by  reflection  or  refraction,  but  is  inherent 
in  the  lichl  itself;  the  solar  beam  being  composed  of  rays 
of  all  the  colours  contained  in  the  spectrum,  which  are 
differently  affected  in  passing  through  refracting  media. 
This  hypothesis  of  the  existence  of  different  species  of  lu- 
minous molecules  is  founded  on  the  other  hypothesis,  that 
light  is  a  substance  emitted  from  the  sun  or  luminous  body, 
and  is  indeed  a  necessary  consequence  of  that  theory  ;  for 
if  colour  depended  merely  on  a  difference  of  the  masses, 
or  of  the  initial  velocities  of  the  particles,  it  would  follow 
that  the  dispersion  of  the  rays,  in  passing  through  a  prism, 
would  always  be  proportional  to  the  refraction,  which,  as  is 
well  known,  is  contrary  to  experience. 

Colours  of  tli "  Solar  Spectrum. — Let  a  beam  of  solar  light 
be  admitted  through  a  small  aperture  in  the  window  shutter 
of  a  darkened  room,  and  it 
will  form  on  the  opposite 
wall,  or  on  a  screen,  a  cir- 
cular image  of  the  sun.  But 
if  a  prism,  P,  be  interposed, 
the  refracted  beam,  instead 
of  forming  a  bright  white 
spot,  will  produce  an  oblong 
image,  A  B,  called  the  solar  spectrum,  the  sides  of  which 
are  terminated  by  two  vertical  straight  lines,  and  the  ends 
by  semicircles.  This  lengthened  image  consists  of  seven 
principal  colours,  which  melt  into  each  other  by  insensible 
gradations ;  namely,  red,  orange,  yellow,  green,  blue,  indigo, 
and  violet,  arranged  in  the  order  now  written,  the  red  being 
at  the  lower  end  B.  Newton,  by  whom  this  experiment 
was  first  performed,  conceived  these  to  be  produced  by  so 
many  distinct  species  of  homogeneous  light  co-existing  in 
the  solar  beam,  and  that  all  other  shades  of  colour  are 


CHROMATICS. 


produced  by  Mending  them  together  in  certain  propor- 
tions.    As  it  is  impossible  to  define  the  limit  at  whicli  one 
colour  ends  and  another  begins,  and  as  the  spectrum  is  in 
fact  composed  of  an  infinite  number  of  different  shades, 
the  above  division  is  entirely  arbitrary.    Another  observer 
of  the  phenomenon  for  the  first  time  would  probably  have 
fixed  on  a  greater  or  smaller  number.    Newton,  it  appears, 
was  influenced  by  a  fanciful  idea  that  an  analogy,  or  rather 
identity  of  ratios,  subsists  between  the  divisions  of  the 
spectrum  formed  by  the  seven  colours  which  he  assigned 
to  it,  and  those  of  the  musical  scale.     But  the  resemblance 
which  suggested  this  analogy  to  Newton  was  purely  acci- 
dental, and  depended,  as  has  since  been   found,  on  the 
nature  of  the  substance  of  which  his  prism  was  formed  ; 
for  though  the  colours  are  invariably  arranged  in  the  same 
order,  they  expand  very  differently,  according  to  the  na- 
ture of  the  refracting  substance  ;  and,  consequently,  the 
relative  magnitudes  of  the  spaces  which  they  occupy  in 
the  spectrum  are  entirely  altered.     Tobias  Mayer,  in  an 
essay,  De  AJfimtate   Cohrum   (Opera  inedila,   1775),  re- 
gards all  colours  as  arising  from  three  primitive  colours, 
red,  yellow,  blue.     But  a  mixture  of  red  and  green  in  cer- 
tain proportions  produces  a  colour  which,  so  far  as  the  eye 
can  judge,  is  perfectly   identical  with  the  yellow  of  the 
spectrum ;   and  a  mixture  of  green  and  violet  also  pro- 
duces a  perfect  blue  :  hence  it  was  suggested  by  Dr.  Young 
that  the  innumerable  shades  of  the  spectrum  are  all  com- 
pounded of  red,  green,  and  violet.    Sir  David  Brewster, 
however,  inferred  from  experiments  on  the  absorption-of 
light  in  passing  through  coloured  media,  that  green  and 
violet  are  both  compound  colours,  separable  by  prisms  of 
coloured  glass ;  and  he  adopts  the  hypothesis  of  Mayer, 
that  the  three  simple  homogeneous  colours  are  red,  yellow, 
and  blue.     He  supposes  the  solar  spectrum  to  consist  of 
three  spectra  of  equal  lengths ;  a  red  spectrum,  a  yellow 
spectrum,  and  a  blue  spectrum.     The  primary  red  spec- 
trum has  its  maximum  of  intensity  about  the  middle  of  the 
red  space  in  the   solar  spectrum  ;    the  primary  yellow, 
about  the  middle  of  the  yellow  space  ;  and  the  primary 
blue  has  its  maximum  between  the  blue  and  the  indigo 
space  ;  the  two  minima  of  each  of  the  three  spectra  coinci- 
ding at  the  two  extremities  of  the  solar  spectrum.     From 
this  view  of  the  subject  it  follows  that  red,  yellow,  and  blue 
light  exist  at   every  point  of  the  solar  spectrum  ;  and  that 
as  a  certain  portion  of  red,  yellow,  and  blue  constitutes 
white  light,  the  colour  of  every  point  of  the  spectrum  may 
be  considered  as  consisting  of  the  predominating  colour  at 
any  point  mixed  with  white  light. 

The  existence  of  three  primary  colours  in  the  spectrum, 
and  the  mode  in  which  they  produce  by  their  combination 
the  seven  secondary  or  compound  colours  which  are  de- 
veloped by  the  prism,  are  illustrated  by  Sir  D.  Brewster 
as  follows: — Let  MN  be  the  pris- 
matic spectrum  consisting  of  three 
primary  spectra  of  the  same  lengths, 
M  N,  viz.  a  red,  a  yellow,  and  a 
blue  spectrum.  The  red  spectrum 
has  its  maximum  intensity  at  R; 
and  this  intensity  may  be  represented  by  the  distance  of 
the  point  R  from  M  N.  The  intensity  declines  rapidly  to 
M  and  slowly  to  N,  at  both  of  which  points  it  vanishes. 
The  yellow  spectrum  lias  its  maximum  intensity  at  Y,  the 
intensity  declining  to  zero  at  M  and  N ;  and  the  blue  has 
its  maximum  intensity  at  B,  declining  to  nothing  at  M  and 
N.  The  general  curve  which  represents  the  total  illumi- 
nation at  any  point  will  be  outside  these  three  curves,  and 
its  ordinate  at  any  point  will  be  equal  to  the  sum  of  the 
three  ordinates  at  the  same  point.  Thus  the  ordinate  of 
the  general  curve  at  the  point  Y  will  be  equal  to  the  ordi- 
nate of  the  yellow  curve,  which  we  may  suppose  to  be  10; 
added  to  that  of  the  red  curve,  which  may  be  2;  and  that 
of  the  blue,  which  may  be  1.  Hence  the  general  ordinate 
will  be  13.  Now,  if  we  suppose  that  3  parts  of  yellow,  2  of 
red,  and  1  of  blue,  make  while,  we  shall  have  the  co- 
lour at  Y  equal  to  3  +  2  +  1,  equal  to  6  parts  of  white 
mixed  with  7  parts  of  yellow  ;  that  is,  the  compound  tint 
at  Y  will  be  a  bright  yellow,  without  any  trace  of  red  or 
blue.  As  these  colours  all  occupy  the  same  space  in  the 
spectrum,  they  cannot  be  separated  by  the  prism  ;  and  if 
we  could  find  a  coloured  glass  which  would  absorb  7  parts 
of  the  yellow,  we  should  obtain  at  the  point  Y  a  white 
light,  which  the  prism  would  not  decompose.  (.Brewster's 
Optics,  in  Lard?ier's  Cyclopcedia,  p.  74.) 

Dark  Lines  in  the  Spectrum. — One  of  the  most  curious, 
and,  with  reference  to  the  theory  of  light,  one  of  the  most 
important  optical  discoveries  of  modern  times,  is  the 
existence  of  a  great  number  of  dark  lines,  or  fixed  rays, 
in  the  solar  spectrum,  parallel  to  one  another,  and  perpen- 
dicular to  its  length.  These  dark  lines  were  first  per- 
ceived by  Dr.  V^ollaston ;  but  it  was  Fraunhofer,  a  cele- 
brated optician  of  Munich,  who  first  accurately  described 
the  phenomenon,  and  pointed  out  the  uses  to  which  it 
could  be  applied.  In  order  to  perceive  these  lines,  con- 
siderable management  is  necessary.  The  prism  employed 
232 


most  be  perfectly  free  from  veins,  and  the  light  must  en- 
ter and  emerge  from  it  at  equal  angles;  it  is  necessary 
also  to  employ  a  telescope.  They  are  distributed  very  une- 
qually through  the  spectrum,  and  the  whole  number 
amounts  nearly  to  600.     Seven   groups,  which  are  more 


"."   ,r  .^:  ,„ii.r~^  ^..v 


easily  perceived  than  the  others,  a»d  which  are  distributed 
over  the  principal  colours  of  the  spectrum,  have  been  dis- 
tinguished by  Fraunhofer  by  the  letters  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  G, 
H.  Of  these  B  is  in  the  red  space,  near  its  outer  end.  C, 
which  is  a  single  line,  and  blacker  than  others  contiguous 
to  it,  is  near  the  limit  of  the  red  next  the  orange.  D  is  in 
the  orange,  and  near  the  yellow  ;  it  is  composed  of  two 
lines  of  equal  darkness  very  close  to  each  other,  and  ia 
easily  distinguished.  E  is  in  the  green,  and  consists  of 
seven  or  eight  rays.  F  is  in  the  blue,  G  in  the  indigo,  and 
H  in  the  violet.  Besides  these  there  are  several  other 
very  remarkable  groups,  particularly  one  in  the  green,  be- 
tween E  and  F,  which  is  composed  of  three  strong  lines. 
The  circumstance  which  renders  the  discovery  of  these 
lines  extremely  important  is,  that  they  always  preserve 
the  same  relative  positions  in  respect  of  the  boundaries  of 
the  coloured  spaces;  and  though  their  distances  vary  with 
the  nature  of  the  prism  by  which  they  are  produced,  their 
number  and  order  remain  absolutely  invariable,  so  long  as 
the  light  proceeds  from  the  same  source.  For  an  account 
of  the  spectra  formed  by  different  lights,  see  Brewster's 
Optics,  p.  87. 

Colours  of  Natural  Bodies. — The  separation  of  light  into 
different  colours  by  refraction  having  been  established  as 
an  optical  fact,  a  different  task  remained,  viz.  that  of  show- 
ing in  what  manner  refraction  could  take  place  so  as  to 
produce  the  permanent  colours  of  natural  bodies.  Newton 
proved  that  the  colour  of  any  body  is  not  the  result  of  any 
quality  inherent  in  that  body,  or  in  the  particles  by  which 
it  may  be  tinged,  but  is  merely  a  property  of  the  light  in 
which  they  happen  to  he  placed.  The  peculiar  colours  of 
bodies  are  only  exhibited  in  a  white  light.  If  they  are 
viewed  by  simple  and  homogeneous  light  of  any  colour, 
they  appear  of  the  colour  of  that  light  and  no  other.  Thus-, 
the  leaf  of  a  plant,  for  example,  whicli  in  the  white  light  of 
day  appears  green,  if  illuminated  by  homogeneous  red 
light,  appears  red ;  if  by  homogeneous  yellow  light,  yellviv, 
and  so  on.  Hence  we  conclude  that  one  body  is  red,  and 
another  violet,  because  the  one  is  disposed  to  reflect  the  red 
or  least  refrangible  rays,  and  the  other  the  violet  or  most 
refrangible.  But  the  difficulty  consists  in  explaining  the 
cause  of  this  disjiosition  or  transient  condition  of  the  body, 
which  renders  it  fit  to  reflect  rays  of  one  colour  and  absorb 
those  of  another.  Newton  has  attempted,  in  his  Treatise 
of  Ojitics,  to  refer  it  to  the  constitution  or  elementary 
structure  of  bodies.  The  principles  or  propositions  on 
which  his  theory  are  founded  are  the  following:— -1.  Bodies 
that  have  the  greatest  refractive  powers  reflect  the  greatest 
quantity  of  light ;  and  at  the  confines  of  equally  refracting 
media  there  is  no  reflexion.  2.  The  least  parts  of  almost  all 
natural  bodies  are  in  some  measure  transparent.  3.  Between 
the  particles  of  bodies  are  many  pores  or  spaces,  either  emp- 
ty or  filled  with  media  of  less  density  than  the  particles.  4. 
The  particles  of  bodies,  and  their  pores  or  spaces  between 
the  particles,  have  some  definite  size. 

Upon  these  principles,  Newton  thus  explains  the  origin 
of  transparency,  opacity,  and  colour.  Transparency  he 
considers  as  arising  from  the  particles  and  their  intervals 
or  pores  being  too  small  to  cause  reflexion  at  their  common 
surfaces,  so  that  all  the  light  which  enters  transparent 
bodies  passes  through  them  without  any  portion  of  it  being 
turned  from  its  path  by  reflexion.  Opacity  in  bodies  arises, 
he  thinks,  from  an  opposite  cause  ;  viz.  when  the  parts  of 
bodies  are  of  such  a  size  as  to  be  capable  of  reflecting  the 
light  which  falls  on  them,  in  which  case  the  light  is  stopped 
or  stifled  by  the  multitude  of  reflexions.  The  colours  of 
natural  bodies  have  the  same  origin  as  the  colours  of  thin 
plates  or  soap  bubbles ;  their  transparent  particles,  accord- 
ing to  their  several  sizes,  reflecting  rays  of  one  colour  and 
transmitting  those  of  another.  For  if  a  thinned  or  plated 
body,  which,  being  of  an  uneven  thickness,  apitears  all 
over  of  one  uniform  colour,  should  be  slit  into  threads,  or 
broken  into  fragments  of  the  same  thickness  with  the 
plate  or  film,  every  thread  or  fragment  should  keep  its  co- 
lour; and,  consequently,  a  heap  of  such  threads  or  frag- 
ments should  constitute  a  mass  or  powder  of  the  same 
colour  which  the  plate  exhibited  before  it  was  broken  ; 
and  the  parts  of  all  natural  bodies  being  like  so  many  frag- 
ments of  a  plate,  must,  on  the  same  grounds,  exhibit  the 
same  colour.  (See  Neicton's  Optics,  book  ii.  ;  or  Brews' 
ter's  Life  of  Newton,  p.  81.) 
Such  are, the  general  principles  of  the  Newtonian  theory 


CHROMIUM. 

of  colours  ;  but  there  are  numerous  classes  of  phenome- 
na, some  of  which  were  known  in  the  lime  of  Newton, 
but  many  "more  which  have  been  discovered  since,  of 
which  they  fail  to  afford  any  explanation,  and  to  which, 
indeed,  they  are  wholly  inapplicable.  The  ingenuity  of  its 
warmest  supporters  has  not  yet  been  able  to  explain  by  this 
theory  the  toial  absence  of  all  reflected  light  from  the  par- 
ticles of  transparent  coloured  media,  such  as  coloured 
gems,  coloured  glasses  or  fluids.  &c.  For  these  reasons, 
and  many  others  depending  on  optical  phenomena  not 
connected  with  colours,  philosophers  have  of  late  years 
manifested  a  disposition  to  abandon  the  theory  of  the  emis- 
sion of  light,  and  to  return  to  that  of  Huygens,  who  sup- 
posed light  to  be  produced  by  the  vibrations  or  undulations 
of  an  ethereal  fluid  of  great  elasticity,  which  pervades  all 
space  and  penetrates  all  substance.     .See  Light. 

Without  entering  into  the  subject  of  the  propagation  of 
li.dit.  it  may  be  sufficient  to  remark,  that  the  ordinary  phe- 
Domeua  of  colours  may  be  explained  on  the  principle  of 
absorption.  Every  substance,  how  opake  soever  it  may  be, 
transmits  light,  at  least  through  a  very  small  thickness  ;  thus 
gold  when  reduced  into  thin  leaf  is  translucent.  From  this 
fact  it  is  assumed  as  a  principle,  that  every  particle  of  pon- 
derable matter  has  the  facully  of  absorbing  or  extinguish- 
ing a  determinate  fraction  of  the  luminous  rays  which  fall 
on  it  or  pass  very  near  it,  the  remainder  being  reflected 
or  transmitted.  This  fraction  varies  with  the  colour  or 
species  of  colour  of  the  incident  luminous  rays,  and  with 
the  nature  of  the  particle.  For  tight  of  the  same  colour 
we  may  suppose  it  constant,  whatever  be  the  number  of  in- 
cident rays  :  so  that  the  intensity  of  a  homogeneous  light, 
which  has  traversed  a  diaphanous  plate  composed  of  equi- 
distant particles  of  the  same  nature,  will  diminish  in  a  ge- 
ometrical, when  the  thickness  of  ihe  plate  increases  in  an 
arithmetical,  progression.  White  tight  falling  on  the  sur- 
face of  an  opake  body  is  not  totally  reflected  at  the  surface, 
for,  as  has  been  just  remarked,  no  substance  is  perfectly 
opake:  a  portion  of  the  incident  light  therefore  penetrates 
the  superficies  of  every  body  on  which  it  falls,  and  is  re- 
flected by  particles  beneath  Ihe  surface,  and,  in  conse- 
quenceof  this  interior  reflection,  ie again  emitted  from  the 
medium.  But  whilst  the  ray  is  thus  penetrating  and  escap- 
ing from  the  body,  the  different  colours  of  which  it  is  com- 
posed suffer  unequal  absorptions  ;  and  on  the  totality  of 
these  absorptions  depends  the  compound  colour  of  the  re- 
flected ray,  or  the  natural  colour  of  the  body.  In  this 
manner  are  explained  the  effects  produced  by  coloured 
glasses,  the  blue  colour  of  the  sky,  and  the  various  tints  of 
great  masses  of  water. 

The  phenomena  of  t lie  colours  of  thin  lamina,  as  soap 
bubbles,  plates  of  mica,  and  of  Striated  and  grooved  sur- 
faces, are  among  the  most  difficult  of  explanation  ;  and  it 
is  here  that  the  undulating  theory,  which  accounts  for  them 
by  the  interferenct  of  the  tight  reflected  from  the  second 
surface  of  the  plate  with  that  reflected  from  the  second, 
possesses  itsgn  atesl  advantage.  For  further  information  on 
this  subject,  see  the  terms  Interference,  Light,  Re- 
fraction. 

CHROMIUM.  (Gr.  xpw/ia,  cotour.)  A  metal  discovered 
by  Vauquelin  in  1797.  It  exists  chiefly  in  two  native  com- 
pounds; the  one  formerly  called  red  lead  of  Siberia,  which 
is  a  chromafe  of  lead ;  the  other,  a  compound  of  the  oxides 
of  ehromiom  and  iron.  Chromium  is  a  whitish,  brittle, 
and  very  infusible  metal;  sp.  ST.  5*5.  When  heated  With 
nitre  it  is  converted  into  chromic  acid.  Its  equivalent  num- 
ber is  28.  It  forms  two  compounds  with  oxygen, — a  green 
oxide,  and  a  red  peroxide  ;  the  latter  being  sour,  and  com 
billing  with  salefiable  bases,  is  called  chromic  acid.  The 
oxide  consists  of  2*  chromium  + 12  oxygen;  and  chro- 
mic acid  of  28  chromium  +24  oxygen.  Chromic  acid  is 
of  a  red  colour,  and  forms  a  variety  of  coloured  compounds, 
some  of  which  are  much  used  in  the  arts;  such  as  the 
chromate  and  bichromate  of  potash,  largely  manufactured 
for  the  use  of  calico  printers,  and  the  chromales  of  lead, 
employed  as  yellow  and  red  dyes  and  paints.  The  oxide 
of  chroma  is  green,  and  furnishes  a  valuable  colour  for 
porcelain  and  in  enamel.  Chromic  acid  gives  colour  to  the 
ruby,  and  the  green  of  the  emerald  is  due  to  oxide  of 
chroma. 

CHRO'NIC.  (Gr.  x.""""?,  (hue.)  Diseases  of  long  du- 
ration are  termed  chronic,  in  opposition  to  those  of  more 
rapid  progress,  which  are  called  acute. 

CHRO'NICLE.  In  Literature,  an  historical  register  of 
events  in  the  order  of  time.  Most  of  the  historians  of  the 
middle  ases  were  chroniclers  who  set  down  the  events 
which  happened  within  the  range  of  their  information,  ac- 
cording to  the  succession  of  years. 

CHRO'NICLES.  The  name  of  two  books  in  the  canon 
of  scripture.  They  consist  of  an  abridgment  of  sacred 
history  from  its  commencement  down  to  the  return  of  the 
Jews  from  the  Babylonish  captivity,  and  are  called  by  the 
Septuagint  irapaXcmoixtva  (lit.  things  omitted),  because 
they  contain  many  supplemental  relations  omitted  in  the 
other  historical  books.    It  has  been  generally  supposed 


CHRONOLOGY. 

that  the  Chronicles  were  compiled  by  Ezra,  though  cir- 
cumstances are  not  wanting  to  diminish  the  probability  of 
this  conjecture.  Eichhorn  (Einleitung,  vol.  ii.)  gives  as 
his  reasons  for  attributing  them  to  Ezra  their  similarity  in 
point  of  style,  idiom,  and  orthography  to  the  books  of 
Kings  and  Ezra;  while  the  opponents  of  this  view  base 
thejr  opinion  on  the  discrepancies  that  occur  throughout 
Chronicles  and  Kings,  in  regard  to  facts,  dates,  numbers, 
names,  and  genealogies.  (For  a  learned  exposition  of  this 
subject,  see  the  Penny  Cyclopedia,  and  the  authorities 
there  referred  to.) 

CHRO'NOGRAM.  (Gr.  xpovos,  time,  and  yda&u,  I 
describe.')  An  inscription  comprehending  a  date,  which 
may  be  read  by  selecting  all  or  some  of  the  numeral  let- 
ters, which  are  frequently  written  in  these  curious  trifles  in 
larger  characters  than  the  rest ;  as, 

"ChrlstVs  DVX  ergo  trIVMphVs." 
(A  medal  of  Gustavus  Adolphus.)    Sometimes  united  with 
an  anagram  ;  as  one  in  honour  of  General  Monk, 

'■  George  IVs  MonCe  DVx  de  AumarLe  ;" 
which  may  be  read, 

;-  Ego  Regem  reduxi.  Ano.  Sa.  MDCLW." 

CIIRONO'LOGY.  (Gr.  xP0V°Si  *"d  ^oyos,  discourse.) 
Literally,  the  doctrine  of  time  :  is  the  science  which  treats 
of  the  various  divisions  of  time,  and  of  the  order  and  suc- 
cession of  events. 

In  order  to  ascertain  and  register  the  intervals  of  time 
between  different  events,  two  things  must  necessarily  he 
assumed: — 1st,  An  epoch  or  fixed  point  in  time  to  which 
all  events,  whether  preceding  or  succeeding,  may  be  re- 
ferred :  and  2nd.  A  measure  or  definite  portion  of  time, 
by  which  the  intervals  between  the  fixed  epoch  and  other 
events  may  be  estimated.  Of  these  the  first  is  entirely  ar- 
bitrary, and  (he  second  arbilrary  to  a  certain  extent ;  lor 
though  certain  periods  are  marked  out  by  the  recurrence 
of  natural  phenomena,  a  choice  of  these  phenomena  must 
be  made  It  is  on  account  of  the  arbitrary  nature  of  these 
two  elements,  on  which  all  chronological  reckoning  de- 
pends, that  so  much  confusion  and  uncertainty  exist  re- 
spi  cting  the  dates  of  historical  events. 

The  diversity  of  epochs  which  have  been  assumed  as 
the  origin  of  Chronological  reckoning,  is  a  natural  conse- 
quence of  the  manner  in  which  science  and  civilization 
have  spread  over  the  world.  In  the  early  ages  the  differ- 
ent communities  er  tribes  into  which  mankind  were  di- 
vided  began  lo  date  their  years  each  from  some  event  re- 
markable only  in  reference  to  its  own  individual  history, 
but  of  which  other  tribes  were  either  ignorant,  or  regarded 
with  indifference  Hence  not  only  different  nations,  but 
almost  every  individual  historian  or  compiler  of  annals, 
adopted  an  epoch  of  his  own.  Events  of  local  or  tempo- 
rary interest  were  also  constantly  occurring  in  every 
community  which  would  appear  of  greater  importance 
than  those  which  were  long  past,  and  consequently  be 
adopted  as  new  historical  dates.  The  foundation  of  a 
monarchy  or  a  city,  or  the  accession  of  a  king,  were  events 
of  this  class;  and  accordingly  are  epochs  of  frequent  oc- 
currence in  the  ancient  annals.  Religion  also  came  in  to 
increase  the  confusion  caused  by  political  changes.  Soon 
after  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  the  various  sects  be- 
gan to  establish  eras,  commencing  with  events  connected 
with  the  appearance  of  Christ ;  but  no  regard  was  given  to 
uniformity.  In  like  manner,  the  Mohammedans  employ 
dates  having  reference  lo  the  origin  of  their  faith.  All 
these  circumstances  have  conspired  to  render  it  a  task  of 
extreme  difficulty  for  modern  historians  to  ascertain  the 
order  of  Ihe  political  occurrences  of  ancient  times. 

But  it  is  not  merely  the  number  of  chronological  epochs 
and  the  various  origins  of  eras  that  have  caused  the  per- 
plexity ;  the  measure  by  which  long  intervals  were  com- 
pared varied  in  different  countries,  and  in  different  ages, 
and  hence  arises  another  source  of  confusion  in  arranging 
the  order  of  time.  In  the  scripture  history,  the  lapse  of 
time  is  frequently  estimated  by  generations  or  reigns  of 
kings.  Some  of  the  historians  of  early  Greece  reckoned 
by  the  succession  of  the  priestesses  of  Juno  ;  others  by 
that  of  the  ephori  of  Sparla ;  and  others  again  by  the  ar- 
chons  of  Athens.  Even  when  the  length  of  the  solar  year 
began  lo  be  used  as  the  measure  of  time,  uniformity  was 
not  obfained.  The  length  of  the  solar  year  is  a  fixed  ele- 
ment in  nature,  and  liable  to  no  variation.  But  neither  the 
commencement  or  termination  of  the  year  is  marked  by 
any  conspicuous  sign.  Its  precise  lenglh  can  only  be  as- 
certained by  a  long-continued  series  of  astronomical  ob- 
servations. Rude  nations  were  therefore  unacquainted 
with  it ;  and  even  when  it  had  become  known  with  con- 
siderable accuracy,  it  was  still  necessary  to  form  a  civil 
year,  and  adapt  it  to  the  seasons,  the  solar  year  not  being 
composed  of  an  exact  number  of  days.  Most  nations  had 
recourse  to  intercalations  (see  Calendar)  for  this  purpose. 
The  ancient  Egyptians  followed  a  purely  solar  year,  which 
consisted  of  exactly  365  days.  Its  commencement,  there- 
fore, fell  one  day  earlier  with  respect  to  the  seasons  every 
four  years,  and  in  the  period  of  about  1460  years  would 
O* 


CHRONOMETER. 

successively  fall  on  every  day  in  the  year,  and  awfiole  year 
be  gained  in  the  reckoning.  The  civil  year  of  the  Jews, 
the  Greeks,  and  many  other  nations,  was  regulated  partly 
by  the  sun  and  partly  by  the  moon,  which  rendered  its  ad- 
justment still  more  complicated  and  difficult.  The  Moham- 
medan year  is  purely  lunar;  and  we  can  only  pass  from 
their  calendar  to  the  Gregorian,  which  is  used  in  Christian 
countries,  by  first  finding  the  number  of  days  from  the 
commencement  of  their  era  to  any  given  event,  and  then 
turning  them  back  into  Gregorian  years.  (-See  Hegira.) 
The  Chinese,  Hindoos,  and  some  other  Asiatic  nations,  have 
epochs  and  methods  of  reckoning  peculiar  to  themselves. 

For  these  reasons,  and  numerous  others  that  might  easily 
be  adduced,  it  is  very  seldom  that  the  precise  interval  be- 
tween the  events  mentioned  in  ancient  history  and  modern 
dates  can  be  determined  with  any  degree  of  certainty,  and 
great  discrepancies  exist  among  the  computations  of  differ- 
ent chronologers.  A  remarkable  instance  of  this  occurs 
with  regard  to  the  computations  made  to  determine  the 
epoch  of  the  creation  of  the  world  from  the  scripture  his- 
tory. Desvignoles,  in  the  preface  to  his  Chronology  of 
Sacred  History,  mentions  that  he  had  collected  upwards 
of  two  hundred  different  calculations,  the  shortest  of  which 
reckons  only  3483  years  between  the  creation  and  com- 
mencement of  the  common  era,  and  the  longest  6984  ;  the 
difference  being  no  less  than  thirty-five  centuries.  The 
most  important  works  on  chronology  are,  Usher's  Annates 
Veteris  et  Novi  Testamenti ;  Newton's  Chronology  ;  Blair s 
Chronology  arid  History  of  the  World  ;  Playfair's  Chrono- 
logy ;  Tables  Chronologioues  de  V Histoire  Ancienne  et  Mo- 
derm,  by  Thouret ;  and  above  all  others,  L' Art  de  Verifier 
les  Dates ;  Nicolas's  Chronology  of  History,  in  Lardner's 
Cyclopaedia. 

CHRONO'METER.  (Gr.  xpovoy,  time,  and  perpov, 
measure.)  A  watch  of  peculiar  construction,  and  great  per- 
fection of  workmanship,  used  for  determining  geographical 
longitudes,  or  other  purposes  where  time  must  be  measur- 
ed with  extreme  accuracy.  The  chronometer  differs  from 
the  ordinary  watch  in  the  principle  of  its  escapement, 
which  is  so  constructed  that  the  balance  is  entirely  free 
from  the  wheels  during  the  greater  part  of  its  vibration  ; 
and  also  in  having  the  balance  compensated  for  variations 
of  temperature.  Marine  chronometers  generally  beat  half 
seconds,  and  are  hung  in  gimbals,  in  boxes  about  six  or 
eisrht  inches  square.  The  pocket  chronometer  does  not 
differ  in  appearance  from  the  ordinary  watch,  excepting 
that  it  is  generally  a  little  larger.  Chronometers  are  of  im- 
mense utility  in  navigation  ;  and  ships  going  on  distant 
voyages  are  usually  furnished  with  several,  for  the  purpose 
of  checking  one  another,  and  also  to  guard  against  the 
effects  of  accidental  derangement  in  any  single  one.  The 
accuracy  with  which  some  of  the  better  sort  of  chronome- 
ters have  been  found  to  perform  is  truly  astonishing;  the 
error  in  a  two  months'  voyage  not  exceeding  two  or  three 
seconds.  (See  Dent  on  the  Construction  and  Management 
of  Chronometers.) 

CHRY'SALIS.  (Gr.  xpucros,  gold.)  The  second  state  of 
a  Metabolian  or  changeable  insect,  in  which  it  becomes  in- 
active, takes  no  food,  and  is  inclosed  in  a  transparent  cover- 
ins,  which  in  many  instances  reflects  a  metallic  lustre ; 
whence  the  name. 

CHRY'SOBA'LANA'CE.E.  (Chrysobalanus,  one  of 
the  genera.)  A  natural  order  of  shrubby  or  arborescent 
Exogens,  chiefly  inhabiting  the  hotter  parts  of  the  world. 
They  are  very  nearly  related  to  Rosacea-,  from  which  they 
differ  in  having  a  siyle  proceeding  from  the  very  base  of 
the  ovary,  and  irregular  stamens  and  petals.  The  species 
are  of  little  importance.  The  fruit  of  Chrysobalanus  icaco 
is  eaten  in  the  West  Indies  under  the  name  of  the  cocoa 
plum,  and  that  of  some  others  is  used  in  other  countries  in 
a  similar  way. 

CHRYSO'BERIL.  This  mineral  occurs  in  small  round- 
ed misses,  and  in  crystals;  it  is  very  hard,  transparent  or 
translucent,  and  of  different  shades  of  greenish  yellow.  It 
is  employed  in  jewellery.  It  has  been  brought  from  Bra- 
zil ;  and  is  associated  in  the  sand  of  the  Ceylonese  rivers 
with  rubies  and  sapphires.  The  cymophane  of  Hauy,  which 
is  a  species  of  chrysoberil,  consists  of  alumina  76  7,  glucina 
17-8,  oxide  of  iron  55. 

CHRYSOCHLORE.  (Gr.  xpwos,  gold,  and  x\o>pos, 
green.)  A  species  of  mole,  Chrysochloris  capensis,  inhabit- 
ing the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  the  fur  of  which  reflects  most 
brilliant  metallic  hues  of  green  and  gold. 

CHRYSOCO'LLA.     The  Greek  name  for  borax. 

CHRYSO'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  xpv<">s,  gold,  and  ypa<pu,  I 
write.)  The  art  of  writing  in  letters  of  gold  :  a  sumptuous 
fashion,  practised  by  the  writers  of  manuscripts,  chiefly  in 
the  early  part  of  the  middle  ages,  when  the  leaves  of  parch- 
ment which  contained  the  writing  were  also  dyed  with 
purple  and  other  colours. 

CHRY'SOLITE.  (Gr.  xpuiroy,  and  XiQoj,  a  stone.)  A 
crystallized  mineral,  often  of  a  golden  yellow  colour.  It  is 
a  ferriferous  silicate  of  magnesia,  and  is  sometimes  used 
in  jewellery. 

231 


CHYLE. 

CHRYSO'LOGY.  (Gr.  XP^oos,  gold,  and  \oyos,  dis- 
course.) A  name  by  which  some  continental  writers  dis- 
tinguish that  branch  of  political  economy  which  relates  to 
the  production  of  wealth. 

CIIRYSO'MELA.  (Gr.  xptxroj.  gold,  and  juXaj.  black.) 
The  name  of  a  Linnaean  genus  of  Coleopterous  insects, 
now  the  type  of  an  extensive  group,  divisible  into  three 
families ;  viz.  the  Chrysomelida^  proper,  characterized  by 
having  the  antennae  remote  from  each  other  at  the  base  ; 
Cassidida,  having  the  antennae  arising  close  together,  but 
concealed  at  the  base  by  the  thorax ;  and  GaJeracidct, 
having  the  antennae  close  together  at  the  base,  but  not 
concealed  by  the  thorax.  The  characters  which  these 
three  families  possess  in  common  are.  a  small  body  of  an 
oval  or  rounded  form ;  antennae  seldom  so  long  as  the 
body;  legs  of  a  moderate  length,  but  rather  thickened; 
and  tarsi  with  the  three  basal  joints  dilated  and  spongy 
benealh,  forming  a  kind  of  cushion.  The  insects  of  the 
present  tribe  are  of  sluggish  habits,  and  feed  upon  the 
leaves  of  various  vegetables,  both  in  the  larva  and  imago 
state,  being  characterized  in  the  latter  period  by  their 
brilliant  meiallie  tints  ;  whence  their  name.  The  larva  of 
one  of  the  British  species  (Eumolpus  ritis,  Fabr.)  preys 
upon  the  young  buds  and  leaves  of  the  vine,  and  by  its 
attacks  upon  the  footstalk  of  the  grape  bunch  so  injures 
the  nutrient  vessels  as  to  cause  the  destruction  or  de- 
terioration of  the  fruit.  In  the  wine  countries  of  Europe 
the  ravages  of  this  insect  are  often  very  serious,  and  much 
dreaded. 

CHRY'SOPRASE.  (Gr.  xP^ooirpaaoi.)  A  pale  green 
silicious  mineral,  generally  semitransparent.  It  is  tinged 
by  oxide  of  nickel,  and  much  esteemed  for  ornamental 
purposes. 

CHURCH.  (Gr,  KvpiaKov.  from  icvpios,  Lord.)  A  build- 
ing dedicated  to  the  Lord.  The  word  church,  however,  is 
not  confined  to  this  signification,  but  answers  to  all  the 
senses  in  which  £/«A>;<7ia  (Fr.  eglise)  is  used  in  the  New 
Testament,  which  from  its  original  meaning  of  a  convened 
assembly,  is  employed,  1st,  to  denote  the  whole  body  of 
true  believers,  or  the  visible  church ;  2nd,  in  addition  to 
these,  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect,  or  the  invisible 
church  ;  3rd,  any  congregation  of  Christians  met  together 
in  a  single  place,  or  the  body  of  believers  resident  in  a 
town  or  district ;  and  4th,  the  edifice  in  which  they  meet 
for  divine  worship.  To  these  we  may  add  a  fifth  sense  of 
the  modern  term  church,  when  it  is  applied  to  a  distinct 
religious  community  ;  as  the  Romish,  the  English,  the  Lu- 
theran, <fcc.  The  true  definition  of  the  visible  church  has 
been  a  matter  of  much  controversy.  The  English  church, 
in  her  19th  article,  explains  it  to  be  "a  congregation  of 
faithful  men,  in  which  the  pure  word  of  God  is  preached 
and  the  sacraments- duly  administered,  according  to 
Christ's  ordinance,  in  all  those  things  that  of  necessity  are 
requisite  to  the  same."  What  these  necessary  requisites 
are  is  not  dogmatically  laid  down,  whence  many  commu- 
nities come  to  be  comprehended  in  the  visible  church  by 
English  divines  which  the  Romish  and  other  authorities 
exclude.  Many  sects,  however,  extend  the  pale  still  fur- 
ther, not  considering  the  reception  of  the  sacraments  as 
any  test  of  churchmanship,  but  referring  it  solely  to  the 
earnest  belief  and  moral  conduct  of  individuals. 

Church.  In  Architecture,  a  building  dedicated  to  the 
performance  of  Christian  worship.  Under  the  art.  Archi- 
tecture an  account  is  given  of  the  Basilicas  which  were 
first  used  for  the  assembly  of  the  early  Christians,  to 
which  the  reader  is  referred.  Among  the  first  of  the 
churches  was  that  of  St  Peters  at  Rome,  about  the  year 
326,  nearly  on  the  site  of  the  present  church  ;  and  it  is 
supposed  that  the  first  church  of  St.  Sophia  at  Constanti- 
nople was  built  somewhat  on  its  model.  That  which  was 
afterwards  erected  by  Justinian  seems  in  its  turn  to  have 
afforded  the  model  of  St.  Mark's  at  Venice,  which  was 
the  first  in  Italy  constructed  with  pendentives  and  a  dome, 
the  former  affording  the  means  of  covering  a  square 
plan  with  an  hemispherical  vault.  The  four  most  celebra- 
ted churches  in  Europe  erected  since  the  revival  of  the 
arts  are,  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  which  stands  on  an  area  of 
227,069  feet  superficial ;  Sta.  Maria  del  Fiore  at  Florence, 
standing  on  S4,S02  feet ;  St.  Paul's.  London,  which  stands 
on  B4,025  feet;  and  St.  Genevieve  at  Paris,  60.287  feet. 
The  churches  on  the  Continent  are  usually  ranged  under 
seven  classes :  Pontifical,  as  St.  Peter's,  where  the  pope 
occasionally  officiates ;  Patriarchal,  where  the  govern- 
ment is  in  a  patriarch ;  Metropolitan,  where  an  archbishop 
is  the  head;  Cathedral,  where  a  bishop  presides ;  Colkgi- 
ate,  when  attached  lo  a  college  ;  Parochial,  attached  to  a  pa- 
rish ;  and  Conventual,  when  belonging  to  a  convent. 

CIIU'SITE.  (Gr.  xV(0>  I  pour.)  A  very  fusible  mineral 
found  near  Limbnurg. 

CHYA'ZIC  ACID.  From  the  initials  of  carbon,  hydro- 
gen, and  azote.  A  term  applied  to  the  compounds  of  hy- 
drocyanic acid. 

CHYLE.  (Gr.  x^0? ■)  The  nutritious  fluid  prepared 
from  the  chyme,  and  imbibed  by  the  lacteals  to  be  con- 


CHYLOPOIETIC. 

veyed  to  the  thoracic  duct  and  venous  system.  It  contains 
about  10  per  cent,  of  solid  matter.  In  most  mammals  it  is 
white;  in  birds  transparent,  except  in  some  that  live  on 
ants  and  insects,  as  the  woodpecker,  which  has  been  ob- 
served to  be  opake  ;  it  is  white  in  the  crocodile,  but  colour- 
Ipss  and  transparent  in  other  reptiles  and  in  fishes.  (See 
Liebig's  Animal  Chemistry.") 

CHY'LOPOIE'TIC.  (Gr.  xvAoc,  and  ttoucj,  I  make.) 
Organs  concerned  in  the  formation  of  chyle ;  hence  the 
stomach,  duodenum,  and  liver  are  termed  chylopoietic 
viscera. 

CHYME.  {Gr.  xvpos,  juice.)  The  pulpy  layer  of  nu- 
tritious digested  matter  which  adheres  to  the  inner  surface 
of  the  intestine,  and  yields  the  chyle  by  admixture  with 
the  biliarv  secretion. 

CIBO'RIUM.  (Gr.  KiSoypiov.)  In  Architecture,  an  in- 
sulated erection  open  on  each  side,  with  arches,  and  hav- 
ing a  dome  of  ogee  form  carried  or  supported  by  four 
columns.  It  is  also  used  to  denote  the  coffer  or  case  which 
contains  the  Host. 

CICA'DA.  (Lat.  a  grass  hopper.)  The  name  ofaLin- 
naean  genus  of  insects,  celebrated  in  all  ages  for  their 
powers  of  song  or  shrill  chirp. 

Et  cautu  querulse  rumpent  arbusta  ckadoe, 

Georgics,  iii. 
sings  Virgil ;  which  Dryden  renders, 

When  creakiug  grass-hoppers  on  shrubs  complain  : 

although  it  is  evident  that  Virgil  alluded  to  the  insects  of 
the  present  genus,  which  habitually  frequent  shrubs  and 
trees,  and  feed  on  their  juices,  having  a  peculiar  apparatus 
for  piercing  the  bark  and  sucking  out  the  juice.  They  are 
therefore  more  accurately  described  by  Lord  Byron,  as 

The  shrill  Cicadx,  people  of  the  pine. 
The  manna  of  the  shops  is  the  inspissated  juice  of  the 
Fraxinus  ornus,  poured  out  from  the  wounds  iullicted  by 
the  Cicada  orni.  The  organ  of  sound  is  peculiar  to  the 
male,  and  is  situated  on  each  side  of  the  under  and  ante- 
rior part  of  the  abdomen.  The  insects  referable  to  the 
Linnsan  genus  Cicadaz  are  now  separated  into  three  fami- 
lies—  CicadidcB,  Fulgerida,  and  Cercopidtr. 

CICA'TKIX.  (Lat.)  The  scar  which  remains  after  the 
skinning  over  of  a  wound. 

CICERO'NE.  (Ital.)  A  name  originally  given  by  the 
Italians  to  those  persons  who  pointed  out  to  travellers  the 
Interesting  objects  with  which  Italy  abounds;  but  applied 
universally  at  present  to  any  individual  who  acts  as  a 
guide.  This  application  of  the  term  Cicerone  has  pro- 
bably its  origin  in  the  ironical  exclamation,  "  E  un  Cice- 
rone" (he  is  a  Cicero),  being  elicited  from  the  traveller  by 
the  well-known  garrulity  of  the  Italian  guides. 

CICHORA'CE.E.  (Gr.  Kix^pn,  name  of  the  herb 
Cichory.)  One  of  the  four  divisions  of  Composite^  a  very 
extensive  order  of  herbaceous  or  shrubby  Exogens.  The 
plants  belonging  to  this  division  have  a  milky  juice,  and 
Form  a  connecting  link  between  Composita  and  Campanu- 
lacem.  They  inhabit  the  whole  world,  and  are  character- 
ized by  all  the  florets  of  the  flower  heads  being  alike  and 
ligulate.  Lettuce,  succory,  and  endive  are  familiar  exam- 
ples of  CichoracecB,  which  are  generally  bitter,  with  a  so- 
porific quality  resembling  that  of  opium. 

CICI'NDELA.  (Lat.  cicendela,  aglow-icorm .)  A  name 
applied  by  Linnaeus  to  a  genus  of  beetles,  which  is  placed 
at  the  head  of  the  order  Coleoptera,  from  the  circumstance 
of  the  outer  lobe  of  the  maxilla;  being  converted  into  an 
additional  pair  of  feelers,  called  internal  maxillary  palpi. 
The  mandibles  are  very  strong,  and  armed  with  strong 
teeth;  the  maxilla?  are  terminated  by  a  moveable  spur; 
the  eyes  are  large  and  prominent ;  and  the  wings  gener- 
ally well  developed.  Endowed  with  such  powers  of  per- 
ception, locomotion,  and  destruction,  it  may  be  readily 
inferred  that  these  insects  are  a  cruel  and  predatory  race. 
Like  the  carnivora  of  a  higher  class,  they  are  remarkable 
for  the  beauty  of  their  colours,  and  were  termed  by  Lin- 
naeus the  tigers  of  the  insect  world.  The  species  referable 
to  the  Linnncan  Cicindela  are  extremely  numerous,  and 
are  divided  into  twenty  sub-genera ;  of  which  one  only  is 
British,  and  to  this  the  term  Cicindela  is  restricted. 

CICISBE'O.  (Ital.)  A  word  synonymous  with  cavalier 
servente,  and  applied  to  a  class  of  persons  in  Italy  who 
attend  on  married  ladies  with  all  the  respect  and  devotion 
of  lovers.  Formerly  the  establishment  of  a  fashionable 
lady  was  not  considered  complete  without  a  cicisbeo, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  accompany  her  to  private  parties 
and  public  amusements,  to  escort  her  in  her  walks,  and  in 
short  to  be  always  at  her  side  ready  for  her  commands. 
This  practice  is  now,  however,  on  the  decline.  Though 
the  office  of  a  cicisbeo  has  been  the  subject  of  frequent 
invective,  it  has  not  been  without  its  advocates  and  ad- 
mirers. Among  others,  Baretti  has  taken  great  pains  to 
vindicate  this  custom  in  his  Account  of  the  Manners,  $e. 
of  Italy,  vol.  i.  c.  8.  He  ascribes  it  to  a  spirit  of  gallantry 
derived  from  the  ages  of  chivalry,  and  much  heightened 
and  refined  bv  the  revival  of  the  Platonic  philosophy  in 
235 


CINCHONA. 

Italy  about  the  13th  century,  and  by  the  verses  of  Petrarch 
and  his  numerous  imitators. 

CICO'NIA.  (Lat.  astork.)  A  genus  of  wading  birds  of 
the  tribe  Cultrirostres  of  Cuvier  ;  including  the  while  stork 
(Ciconia  alba),  the  black  stork  (Ciconia  nigra),  and  the 
American  stork  (Ciconia  magnari). 

CID.  (Arab,  seid,  lord.)  The  name  given  to  an  epic 
poem  of  the  Spaniards  which  celebrates  the  exploits  of 
their  national  hero,  Roderigo  Diaz,  Count  of  Bivar.  It  is 
supposed  to  have  been  written  in  the  13th  century,  about 
150  years  after  the  hero's  death  ;  but  unfortunately  the  au- 
thor's name  has  not  been  transmitted  to  posterity.  (See 
Soulhey's  Chronicle  of  the  Cid,  and  Lockhart's  Spanish 
Ballads.  Am.  ed.,  1842.) 

CI'DER.  A  fermented  liquor  made  from  the  juice  of 
apples.  Cider  is  made  in  all  the  temperate  climates  of  the 
world  which  are  not  sufficiently  warm  for  maturing  the 
grape,  and  where  the  cold  is  not  so  great  as  to  reduce  the 
inhabitants  to  only  the  beer  produced  by  a  fermented  de- 
coction of  grain.  Cider  is  formed  by  grinding  or  crushing 
the  apples  when  ripe,  either  in  a  circular  stone  trough  by 
a  stone  roller  turned  by  a  horse  (which  is  the  common 
practice  in  Worcestershire,  Herefordshire,  <fec),  or  be- 
tween fluted  or  spiky,  and  afterwards  between  smooth 
rollers  of  wood  or  iron,  driven  by  men  (as  practised  in  De- 
vonshire, and  in  most  places  where  cider  is  made  on  a 
small  scale).  The  apples,  including  the  core  and  the  seeds, 
being  reduced  to  a  pulp  by  crushing  or  grinding,  the  mass 
is  put  into  a  hair  cloth  and  powerfully  pressed  ;  and  the 
liquor  which  runs  from  it  is  put  into  casks,  where  it  is  al- 
lowed to  ferment,  the  casks  being  freely  exposed  to  the  air 
in  the  shade  ;  the  progress  of  the  fermentation  is  then  care- 
fully watched,  and  as  the  sediment  has  subsided  the  liquor 
is  racked  off;  on  the  proper  time  being  chosen  for  doing 
this  depends  the  excellence  of  the  cider.  The  best  cider, 
other  circumstances  being  the  same,  is  that  in  which  the 
fermentation  has  gone  on  slowly,  and  where  the  vinous  fer- 
mentation has  not  gone  so  far  as  to  become  acetous.  The 
check  to  fermentation  consists  in  racking  off  from  one  cask 
to  another.  Before  winter  the  casks  arc  removed  to  a  cel- 
lar, and  by  the  following  Bpring  the  liquor  is  fit  for  use,  or 
for  buttling.  The  principal  cider  counties  in  England  are 
Worcestershire,  Herefordshire,  and  Devonshire.  The 
Worcestershire  and  Herefordshire  cider  will  keep  from 
twenty  to  thirty  years ;  while  the  best  Devonshire  cider 
will  rarely  keep  more  than  five  or  six  years. 

CI'LIA.  (Lat.  cilium,  an  eyelash.)  The  hairs  which 
grow  from  the  margin  of  the  eyelids  ;  the  term  is  also  ap- 
plied to  microscopic  filaments  or  plates  which  project  from 
animal  membranes  and  are  endowed  with  quick  vibratile 
motion.  In  most  of  the  lower  animals  the  respiratory 
function  is  effected  by  means  of  the  viliratile  cilia;  many 
animalcules  and  the  gemmules  of  the  Acriles  move  by  a 
similar  mechanism;  and  it  has  recently  been  ascertained 
that  vibratile  cilia  have  a  share  in  the  performance  of  some 
important  functions  in  the  highest  classes  of  the  animal 
kingdom,  where  they  have  been  detected  on  the  membrane 
lining  the  female  generative  and  respiratory  passages,  and 
the  ventricles  of  the  brain. 

Cilia.  In  Bolanv.  long  hairs  situated  upon  the  margin 
of  a  vegetable  body,  as  on  the  leaves  of  the  Semperviviun 
tectorum. 

CI'LIARY.  (Lat  cilium.)  The  ciliary  ligament  of  the 
eye  is  the  circular  portion  that  divides  the  choroid  mem- 
brane from  the  iris,  and  which  adheres  to  the  sclerotic 
coat.  The  ciliary  processes  are  the  white  folds  at  the  mar- 
gin of  the  uvea  in  the  eye,  which  proceed  from  it  to  the 
crystalline  lens. 

CI'LIATED.  (Lat.  cilium.)  A  term  used  in  describing 
the  surface  of  an  organ,  to  denote  the  presence  at  the  mar- 
gin "I  fine  hairs  resembling  the  eyelash, as  in  the  leavesof 
Liiztiln  pilosa. 

Cl'LIOGRADE,  CUiograda.  (Lat.  cilium  and  gradior,  1 
proceed.)  The  name  of  atribe  of  Acalephansorsea  nettles, 
comprehending  those  which  swim  by  means  of  cilia. 

CI'MEX.  (Lat.  cimex,  a  bug.)  A  Linnsean  genus  of 
Heniipterous  insects,  now  subdivided  into  the  following 
families, — Pantatomidat,  Coroidce,  Lygoida,  Cyprida,  Ci- 
micidn .  Reduviida},  Acanthida,  Hydrometrida..  Each  of 
these  families  includes  several  genera,  and  each  genus 
comprises  many  species;  in  all  the  mouth  consists  of  one 
lengthened  and  jointed  proboscis,  including  several  fine 
sharp  bristle-like  processes,  which  are  employed  in  wound- 
ing the  vegetable  or  animal  substances  on  the  juices  of 
which  these  insects  feed.  The  bed-bug  (Cimex  lectula- 
rius)  may  be  regarded  as  a  type  of  this  extensive  tribe  of 
insects. 

CI'MOLITE.  A  mineral  found  in  the  island  of  Cimola 
in  amorphous  earthy  masses:  it  is  a  hydrated  silicate  of 
alumina. 

CINCHO'NA.  The  generic  name  of  certain  trees  yield- 
ing a  bitter  febrifuge  bark,  the  virtues  of  which  are  to  be 
ascribed  to  the  presence  of  the  vegetable  alkaloids  called 
ci?ichonia  and  quinia. 


CINCHONACEA. 

Three  species  of  cinchona  bark  are  directed  in  the  Lon- 
don Pharmacopoeia  to  be  kept  for  medical  use;  namely, 
the  pale,  yellow,  and  red  barks.  The  first  of  these  is  fur- 
nished by  C.  condaminea,  and  contains  cinchonia ;  the 
second,  yielded  by  C  lanceolata,  produces  quinia;  and  the 
third,  whose  origin  is  not  ascertained,  possesses  a  mixture 
of  the  two. 

CINCHONA'CEJE.  (Cinchona,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  shrubby  or  arborescent  Exogens,  almost 
exclusively  inhabiting  the  tropics  and  the  hotter  parts  of 
the  world.  They  are  in  some  respects  allied  to  Composi- 
te, from  which  their  distinct  stamens,  bilocular  or  plurilo- 
cular  ovary,  and  inflorescence,  distinguish  them.  They  are 
divided  from  A/iocynaceas  by  the  aestivation  of  the  corolla, 
the  presence  of  stipules,  and  the  inferior  ovary  ;  although, 
according  to  Brown,  there  exists  a  genus  in  equinoctial 
Africa  which  has  the  interpetiolary  stipules  and  seeds  of 
Cinchonaceat,  and  the  superior  ovary  of  Apocynacea, 
thus  connecting  the  two  orders.  They  are  most  nearly  re- 
lated 10  Caprifoliacea,  being  only  separated  from  them  by 
their  interpetiolary  stipules.  Brown  describes  a  tribe  called 
Opercularinea  as  having  hut  one  seed,  and  the  number 
ol  stamens  unequal  to  the  lobes  of  the  corolla ;  thus  oc- 
cupying, as  it  would  seem,  an  intermediate  position  be- 
tween Cinchonacea:  and  Dipsaceat.  Powerful  febrifugal 
properties  in  their  bark  or  emetic  in  the  roots  are  the  great 
features  of  this  order,  the  most  efficient  products  of  which 
are  cinchona  and  ipecacuanha.  Many  of  the  plants  of  the 
order  are  fragrant  and  of  great  beauty ;  but,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  Gardenea,  Lucula,  and  a  few  others,  the 
handsome  kinds  are  hardly  known  to  cultivators. 

CINCTURE.  (Lat.  cingo,  I  surroimd.)  In  Architecture, 
the  ring,  list,  or  fillet  at  the  top  and  bottom  of  a  column, 
which  divides  the  shaft  of  the  column  from  its  capital  and 
base. 

CINE'REOUS.  (Lat.  cinis,  ashes.)  Grey  ;  the  colour 
of  wood-ashes. 

CI'NGULUM.  (Lat.  cingulum,  a  girdle.)  In  Zoology, 
is  technically  applied  to  the  neck  of  a  tooth,  or  to  that 
more  or  less  distinct  constriction  which  separates  the 
crown  from  the  fang.  The  term  tingula  is  also  given  to 
the  transverse  series  of  bony  pieces  connected  together  by 
tegumenlary  flexile  joints,  as  in  the  middle  part  of  the  ar- 
mour of  the  armadillo. 

CI'NNABAR.  An  Indian  name,  given,  according  to 
Pliny,  to  a  mixture  of  the  blood  of  the  dragon  and  ele- 
phant, and  other  substances  of  similar  colour.  It  is  now 
exclusively  applied  to  the  red  pigment  called  vermilion. 
It  is  a  bisulphuret  of  mercury,  composed  of  200  mercury  -4- 
32  sulphur. 

CI'NNAMON.  The  bark  of  the  Cinnamomum  zeylani- 
cum.  This  tree  is  a  native  of  Ceylon,  whence  the  finest 
cinnamon  is  obtained  ;  it  is  of  an  as  ringent  and  highly  aro- 
matic and  warm  flavour,  and  yields  by  distillation  an  ex- 
tremely fragrant  and  pungent  volatile  oil,  kept  for  pharma- 
ceutical use  under  the  name  of  oil  of  cinnamon.  An  in- 
ferior kind  of  cinnamon  is  often  met  with  in  commerce, 
which  is  remarkably  deficient  in  flavour. 

CI'NNAMON  STONE.  (So  called  from  its  colour.)  A 
silicate  of  lime,  alumine,  and  oxide  of  iron,  from  Ceylon. 
It  occurs  massive  and  in  rounded  pieces  in  the  sand  of 
rivers  ;  some  of  these  are  occasionally  cut  and  polished  for 
jewellery. 

CINQUE  POUTS,  or  FIVE  PORTS.  The  seaport  towns 
of  Dover,  Sandwich,  Hastings,  Hithe,  and  Romney  ;  to 
which  three  others  were  afterwards  added,  viz.  Winchil- 
sea,  Rye,  and  Seaford.  These  towns  are  incorporated, 
with  peculiar  privileges ;  are  under  the  government  of  a 
lord  warden,  to  whom  writs  for  the  return  of  members  to 
parliament  from  them  are  directed ;  and  the  members  so 
returned  are  termed  Barons  of  the  Cinque  Ports. 

crPUER.  (Heb.  saphar,  to  number.)  The  character 
0  in  numeral  notation,  which,  standing  by  itself,  signifies 
nothing,  or  the  privation  of  value.  When  combined  with 
other  numeral  characters,  its  use  is  to  determine  their  posi- 
tion with  regard  to  the  unit's  place,  and  consequently  the 
power  often,  by  which  their  absolute  values  must  be  seve- 
rally multiplied  to  produce  the  number  they  are  intended 
to  represent. 

Cipher  is  sometimes  used  in  common  language  to  signify 
any  arithmetical  character  ;  hence  the  verb  to  cipher,  which 
signifies  to  perform  an  arithmetical  operation.  This  term, 
which  is  found  in  all  European  languages,  was  no  doubt  in- 
troduced into  Spain  by  the  Saracens,  along  with  the  Arabic 
figures,  which  appear  to  have  come  into  use  among  the 
astronomers  in  the  thirteenth  or  early  in  the  fourteenth 
century  (for  the  time  of  their  first  introduction  is  not  cer- 
tainly known),  and  to  have  been  gradually  circulated  over 
Europe  in  the  almanacs. 

CI'POLIN.  A  green  marble  with  white  zones,  some- 
what like  the  section  of  an  onion. 

CI'RCINNATE.  (Lat.  circino,  I  make  a  circle.)  A  term 
used  in  describing  the  aestivation  of  flowers,  and  the  direc- 
tion of  plants  in  general,  to  denote  those  which  are  rolled 
236 


CIRCLE. 

spirally  downwards,  so  that  they  are  bent  like  the  head  of 
a  crosier  ;  as  the  shoots  of  young  ferns,  the  inflorescence 
of  Boraginaceous  plants,  the  leaves  of  the  Sundew. 

CI'RCLE.  (Lat.  circulus.)  In  Geometry,  a  plane  fi- 
gure contained  by  one  line,  which  is  called  the  circumfer- 
ence, and  such  that  all  straight  lines  drawn  from  a  certain 
point  within  the  figure  to  the  circumference  are  equal  to 
one  another.  The  point  which  possesses  this  property  is 
called  the  centre  of  the  circle.  The  straight  line  and  the 
circle  are  the  only  figures  admitted  into  plane  or  elemen- 
tary geometry,  all  questions  in  that  branch  of  mathematics 
depending  on  the  intersections  of  straight  lines  with  straight 
lines,  of  straight  lines  with  circles,  or  of  circles  with  cir- 
cles. This  distinction  was  established  by  the  ancient  geo- 
metricians, who  regarded  the  other  geometrical  figures  as 
formed  by  the  intersections  of  planes  with  solids,  and 
thence  denominated  problems,  for  the  solution  of  which 
the  properties  of  other  figures  than  the  straight  line  and 
the  circle  were  required, — solid  problems.  The  algebraic 
analysis  points  to  a  different  distinction.  An  equation  be- 
tween two  indeterminate  quantities,  neither  of  which  rises 
above  the  first  degree,  represents  a  straight  line.  When 
either  or  both  of  the  indeterminate  quantities  rise  to  the  se- 
cond degree,  the  equation  may  represent  a  circle,  an  el- 
lipse, an  hyperbola,  or  a  parabola.  The  circle  thus  be- 
longs to  the  same  class  of  curve  lines  as  those  which  have 
been  termed  conic  sections  ;  and  in  fact  a  cone  may  be 
cut  by  a  plane  so  that  the  section  shall  be  a  circle,  as  well 
as  any  one  of  the  other  three  curves. 

The  circle  derives  its  chief  importance  from  its  applica- 
tion to  trigonometry,  or  the  measurement  of  angles.  In- 
stead of  directly  comparing  angles  with  one  another,  it  is 
more  convenient  to  compare  the  arcs  (described  with  the 
same  radius)  contained  between  the  sides  of  the  angle. 
The  numerical  relations  of  different  angles,  or  the  corres- 
ponding arcs,  are  expressed  as  follows  : — The  circle  is  di- 
vided into  four  equal  parts,  and  the  four  portions  of  the 
circumference  thus  formed  serve  as  the  measure  of  four 
right  angles,  which  comprehend  the  whole  space  about 
the  centre.  Each  of  these  quarters  of  the  circumference 
is  divided  into  90  equal  parts,  called  degrees.  The  whole 
circumference,  therefore,  contains  four  times  90,  or  3G0  de- 
grees. This  division,  adopted  in  the  most  ancient  times, 
appears  sufficiently  capricious ;  nevertheless  it  is  very 
convenient,  inasmuch  as  the  number  360  contains  many 
primes,  and  consequently  permits  many  subdivisions  into 
pails  expressible  by  whole  numbers.  Thus,  the  half  con- 
tains ISO  degrees  ;  the  third,  120;  the  fourth,  90;  the  fifth, 
72;  the  sixth,  GO;  the  eighth, 45;  lhetenth,36  ;  the  twelfth, 
30 ;  the  fifteenth,  24,  &c.  In  order  to  measure  smaller 
parts  of  an  angle  than  a  degree,  the  degree  is  subdivided 
into  GO  minutes  or  primes,  and  the  minute  into  60  seconds. 
Since  the  decimal  arithmetic  came  into  general  use,  the 
sexagesimal  division  is  not  carried  farther  than  seconds  in 
expressing  angular  magnitude,  the  parts  of  a  second  being 
now  always  represented  by  decimals.  The  whole  circum- 
ference of  the  circle  contains  21,600  minutes  or  1,296,000 
seconds. 

The  rectification  of  the  circle,  or  the  determination  of 
the  ratio  of  the  circumference  to  the  diameter,  is  a  prob- 
lem which  has  exercised  the  ingenuity  of  mathematicians 
in  all  ages.  It  cannot  be  expressed  in  finite  numbers  ;  but 
numerous  series  have  been  invented  from  which  it  may 
be  computed  to  any  required  degree  of  precision.  Archi- 
medes, in  his  treatise  De  Dimensione  Circuli.  proved  that 
if  the  diameter  is  expressed  by  7,  the  circumference  is 
very  nearly  22.  A  nearer  ratio,  which  is  generally  used  in 
ordinary  measurements,  is  113  to  355;  and  it  has  the  ad- 
vantage of  being  easily  remembered,  the  numbers  being 
formed  of  the  three  first  odd  numbers,  each  repeated. 
Vieta  carried  the  approximation  to  10  places  of  figures, 
and  Van  Ceulen  to  36.  Mr.  Abraham  Sharp  computed  the 
ratio  to  72  places  of  figures ;  and  finally  De  Lagny.  in  the 
Memoirs  of  tlte  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Paris,  extended  it 
to  128;  an  example  of  patient  industry  without  a  use. 
Supposing  the  diameter  1,  the  first  thirty-six  figures  by 
which  the  circumference  is  expressed  (or  the  ratio  found 
by  Van  Ceulen)  are 

3-14159,26535,89793,23846.26433,83279,50288. 

Of  the  series  by  which  the  circumference  is  expressed 
in  terms  of  the  diameter,  one  of  the  simplest  is 

c  =  4  x  (1  -  \+\— \+h- TT+tV-tV+,  &c)  ; 

but  the  following  is  better  adapted  for  calculation, 
1  1  13  1-3-5 


c  =  4Xd-~. 
23 


"  2-4-5     2-46  7— 2-4  6-89 


,  &c.) 


The  areas  of  circles,  as  of  plane  similar  figures,  are  to 
one  another  in  the  ratio  of  the  squares  of  their  diame- 
ters. If  the  diameter  is  unit,  the  area  is  X  of  the  circum- 
ference, and  is  expressed  by  the  decimal  -78539816:339741  s'i, 
&c.  to  sixteen  places.  This  is  nearly  in  the  proportion 
of  U  to  11,  which  was  the  approximation  given  by  Archi- 


CIRCUITS. 

Archimedes.  Some  of  the  series  by  which  the  ratio  of 
the  area  of"  a  circle  to  the  square  of  its  diameter  is  ex- 
pressed are  curious.  The  following  was  given  by  Dr.  Wal- 
1U  in  his  Arithmetic  of  Infinities  : — 

2  X  4  X  4  X  6  X  6  X  3  X,  &c. 
3X3X5X5X7X7X,&c. 
This  is  the  same  as  fX^IXifXr  &c,  the  denomina- 
tors being  the  squares  of  the  odd  numbers,  and  the  nume- 
rators differing  from  the  denominators  by  unity.  Sinee 
the  invention  of  the  infinitesimal  calculus  the  discovery  of 
series  for  the  rectification  and  quadrature  of  the  circle  is 
a  matter  of  comparative  facility.  A  number  of  them  may 
be  seen  in  Elder's  Introduclio  in  Analysin  Infinitorum. 

CI'RCUITS.  (Lat.  circumeo,  I  go  round.)  In  England, 
Scotland,  and  Ireland,  divisions  of  the  kingdom  appointed 
for  the  judges  of  assize ;  two  of  whom  go  each  circuit 
twice  a  year,  to  deliver  the  gaols  and  try  issue's  at  nisi  pri- 
us.  England  is  divided  into  six  circuits — Home,  Midland, 
Oxford,  Norfolk,  Western,  Northern ;  Wales  into  the 
North  and  South  Welsh  circuits.  A  single  judge  travels 
each  of  the  Welsh  circuits,  and  these  two  meet  at  Chester 
to  transact  the  business  of  that  county.  The  judges  choose 
their  own  circuits  ;  the  three  chiefs,  and  the  puisne  judges, 
in  order  of  seniority,  making  their  election.  The  circuits 
are  after  Hilary  and  Trinity  Terms,  and  vary  in  their  dura- 
tion from  three  to  seven  or  eight  weeks.  (See  Cor rts, 
Superior  ;  and  Assize.)  The  circuit  or  assize  towns  in 
most  counties  have  been  fixed  by  immemorial  usage,  but 
some  changes  have  recently  been  made  by  the  authority 
of  the  privy  council.  Barristers  at  the  common  law  bar 
choose  their  circuits  on  first  embarking  in  their  profession, 
and  etiquette  allows  of  only  one  subsequent  change.  The 
Insolvent  commissioners  also  make  circuits  thrice  a  yeai 
through  the  kingdom  for  the  discharge  of  debtors. 

CIRCULAR  INSTRUMENTS.  The  name  given  to  any 
astronomical  or  nautical  instrument  for  measuring  angles, 
in  which  the  graduation  extends  round  the  whole  circum- 
ference, or  to  360°.  Formerly  it  was  thought  sufficient  to 
carry  the  divisions  over  a  portion  of  a  circle  only,  whence 
the  quadrants,  sextants,  and  octants,  once  so  common  ;  but 
experience  has  shown  that  entire  circles  (especially  where 
the  instruments  are  of  considerable  size)  have  a  meat  ad- 
vantage over  graduated  segments;  and  hence,  excepting 
the  sea  sextant,  the  latter  are  now  seldom  used.  The 
principal  circular  instruments  used  in  astronomy  are  alti- 
tude and  azimuth  circles,  mural  circles,  reflecting  < 
and  repeating  circles.  The  altitude  and  azimuth  circle,  as 
its  name  implies,  is  used  for  measuring  the  altitudes  and 
azimuths  of  stars  ;  it  is  consequently  composed  of  two 
graduated  circles,  one  vertical  and  the  other  horizontal. 
This  is  a  sort  of  universal  instrument,  being  applicable  to 
almost  all  the  purposes  of  as'ronomy.  The  mural  circle  is 
so  called  because  it  is  supported  by  means  of  a  long  axis 
passing  into  a  tcall,  the  plane  of  the  circle  being  parallel  to 
the  wall.  The  instrument  is  placed  in  the  meridian,  and 
is  used  for  determining  the  polar  or  zenith  distances  of  ce- 
lestial objects.  (See  Mural  Circle.)  The  reflecting  cir- 
cle carries  a  mirror,  by  means  of  which  an  object  is  seen 
by  reflected  vision  ;  another  object  is  viewed  directly  ;  the 
two  are  brought  to  coincide,  and  the  angular  distance  be- 
tween them  is  measured  by  the  inclination  of  the  mirror 
to  the  axis  of  the  telescope.  (See  Sextant.)  Therepeat- 
ing  circle,  or  multiplying  circle,  is  so  contrived  that  the  ob- 
server is  enabled  to  repeat  or  multiply  the  observation,  by 
reading  it  off  successively  on  different  parts  of  the  gradu- 
ated limb.  A  number  of  values  being  thus  found,  the 
mean  of  the  whole  is  taken  as  the  correct  result.  This  in- 
strument is  sometimes  called  Borda:s  circle,  from  the 
name  of  its  improver.     See  Repeating  Circle. 

CI'RCULAR  PARTS.  In  Trigonometry,  the  name  given 
to  a  proposition  invented  by  Lord  Napier,  and  demon- 
strated in  his  Mirifici  Logarithmorum  Carwnis  Descriptio, 
which  gives  all  the  relations  between  the  parts  of  a  right- 
angled  spherical  triangle,  in  two  formula.  It  is  this  : — In 
any  right  angled  spherical  triangle,  let 
a  and  b  denote  the  sides,  c  the  hypo- 
thenuse,  and  A  and  B  the  angles  oppo- 
site to  a  and  6  respectively.  Take  the 
two  sides,  and  the  complements  of  the 
hypothenuseand  of  the  two  angles,  and 
write  them  in  order  round  a  circle,  as 
in  the  annexed  diagram;  then,  if  any 
one  part  be  called  the  middle  part,  the 
two  next  to  it  are  the  adjacent  parts,  and  the  other  two 
the  opposite  parts;  and  the  two  following  rules  will  hold 
good  : — 

1.  The  sine  of  the  middle  part  is  equal  to  the  product 
of  the  tangents  of  the  adjacent  parts.  2.  The  sine  of  the 
middle  part  is  equal  to  the  product  of  the  cosines  of  the 
opposite  parts.     Thus, 

Sin.  a  =  tan.  b.  tan.  (90  — B). 
Sin.  a  =  cos.  (90°— A)  cos.  (90°—  c) 
237 


CIRRHOUS. 

CIRCULATING  DECIMALS.  Are  decimals  in  which 
two  or  more  figures  are  constantly  repeated  in  the  same 
order ;  thus,  0y,09.09,  &c.  ;  234,234,234,  &c  ;  UzbbT, 
'142587,  1,  &c.  A  decimal  of  this  sort  is  equal  to  a  vulgar 
fraction  of  which  the  numerator  is  the  period  or  circulating 
figures,  and  the  denominator  as  may  nines  as  there  are 
figures  in  the  numerator. 

CIRCUMCl'SION.  The  initiatory  rite  of  the  Jewish  cove- 
nant;  which,  as  is  recorded,  was  first  enjoined  to  Abraham 
by  God,  and  after  his  posterity  had  neglected  it  during  their 
wanderings  through  the  desert,  was  solemnly  renewed 
upon  the  passage  of  the  Jordan.     (Josh.  v.  1— 10.) 

This  custom  of  cutling  off  the  foreskin  has  been  long 
prevalent  among  Eastern  nations.  Herodotus  refers  to  it 
as  the  practire  of  the  Egyptians  and  Ethiopians,  and  as 
borrowed  from  them  by  the  Phoenicians  ami  Syrians.  It 
does  not  appear,  however,  to  have  been  considered  by 
these  nations  in  the  light  of  a  religious  ceremony.  It  is 
enforced  by  the  Koran  upon  all  the  disciples  of  Mahomet, 
whether  from  an  idea  of  salubrity  vulgarly  attributed  to  it 
in  the  East,  or  merelv  as  a  distinguishing  rite. 

CIRCU'MFERENTOR.  An  instrument  used  by  sur- 
veyors for  faking  angles.  It  consists  of  a  graduated  brass 
circle  and  an  index  all  of  one  piece,  and  carrying  a  mag- 
netic  needle  suspended  above  the  centre  of  the  circle. 
The  index  being  direcled  to  an  object,  the  angle  which  it 
makes  with  the  magnetic  meridian  is  noted.  "  The  index 
is  then  directed  to  the  second  object,  and  the  angle  it 
makes  with  the  same  meridian  observed  in  like  manner. 
The  difference  (or  sum,  as  the  case  may  be)  of  the  two 
observed  angles  gives  the  angle  between  the  two  ob- 
jects. It  is  evident  that  only  a  very  rough  approximation 
can  be  obtained  in  this  manner.  For  the  purposes  of  sur- 
veying, a  pocket  sextant  is  a  far  preferable  instrument. 

CI'RCUMFLE'XUS.  A  muscle  of  the  palale  :  the  term 
is  also  applied  to  arteries  which  wind  round  bones  or 
joints 

fTRCUMPO'LAR  STARS.  Are  those  stars  which  at 
any  given  place  move  round  the  pole,  or  complete  their 
diurnal  circles,  without  setting.  The  number  of  slars  so 
circumstanced  increases  with  the  latitude  of  the  place  or 
the  elevation  of  the  pole  above  the  horizon. 

ClR't  I'MSCI'SSILE.  (Lat.  circumscindo,  I  cut  round.) 
A  mode  of  dehiscence  observed  in  the  fruit  of  some  plants; 
it  occurs  by  a  transverse  circular  separation  of  the  sides 
of  the  ovary,  as  in  AnagaOia,  Hyoacyamua,  and  is  analo- 
gous to  the  transverse  articulations  found  in  the  leaf  of  the 
orange  or  the  pod  oforairhopua 

(TIUTMSCIUTTION.  (Lat.  circumscriplio,  a  bounda- 
ry) The  line  representing  the  two  edges  of  a  leaf,  I.  e.  its 
margin  ;  it  is  also  used  to  denote  the  figure  represented  by 
the  margin  of  any  other  body. 

CI'RCUMVALLA'TION.  (Lat.  circ urn,  about,  and  val- 
lum, a  rampart.)  In  Fortification,  a  trench  or  bulwark 
thrown  up  about  a  camp  or  besieged  city,  composed  of  (he 
earth  dug  up  from  the  ditch  and  of  sharp  stakes  planted 
in  it. 

CI'RCUS.  A  straight  long  narrow  building,  whose 
length  to  its  breadth  was  generally  as  five  to  one.  It  was 
divided  down  the  centre  by  an  ornamented  barrier  called 
the  spina,  and  was  used  by  the  Romans  for  the  exhibition 
of  public  spectacles  and  chariot  races.  There  were  sev- 
eral of  these  at  Rome,  of  which  the  most  celebrated  was 
the  Circus  Maximus. 

Julius  Caesar  improved  and  altered  the  Circus  Maximus; 
and  that  it  might  serve  for  the  purpose  of  a  naumachia, 
supplied  it  with  water.  Augustus  added  to  it  the  celebra- 
ted obelisk  now  standing  in  the  Piazza  del  Popolo.  No 
vestiges  of  this  circus  remain.  Besides  these  were  at 
Rome  the  Circi  of  Flaminius,  near  the  Pantheon  ;  Agona- 
lis,  occupying  the  site  of  what  is  now  the  Piazza  Navona  ; 
of  Nero,  on  a  portion  whereof  St.  Peter's  stands  ;  Florus, 
Antoninus,  and  Aurelian,  no  longer  even  in  ruins;  and 
that  of  Caracalla,  which  was  738  feet  in  length,  and  is  suffi- 
ciently perfect  in  the  present  day  to  exhibit  its  plan  and 
distribution  in  (he  most  satisfactory  manner. 

The  spectacles  exhibited  in  the  circus  were  called  the 
Circensian  Games,  and  consisted  chiefly  of  chariot  and 
horse  races.  The  Romans  were  passionately  fond  of  them, 
and  more  particularly  of  the  chariot  races,  which  excited 
so  great  an  interest  in  the  times  of  the  emperors  as  to  di- 
vide the  whole  population  of  the  city  into  factions,  known 
by  the  names  of  the  colours  worn  by  the  different  chariot- 
eers. The  disputes  of  these  factions  sometimes  led  to 
serious  disturbances,  and  even  bloodshed. 

Cl'RRHOl'S.  (Lat.  cirrus,  a  tendril.)  A  term  nsed  in 
describing  the  apices  of  bodies,  to  indicate  those  'hat  are 
terminated  by  a  spiral  or  flexuose  filiform  appendage, 
arising  from  an  elongation  of  the  costa,  as  in  the  leaf  of 
Gloriosa  lupercha.  It  is  also  applied  to  modifications  of 
branches,  inflorescence,  the  petiole,  &c.  when  such  parts 
assume  the  state  of  a  twisting  body,  which  enables  the 
plant  belonging  to  it  to  raise  itself  upon  neighbouring  ob- 
jects. 


CIRRIPEDS. 

CI'RRIPEDS,  Cirripedia.  (Lat.  cirrus,  and  pes,  afoot ; 
curly  fooled.)  A  class  of  fixed  homogangliate  animals, 
characterized  by  having  a  number  of  long,  curled,  articu- 
lated, setigerous  processes,  analogous  to  the  feet  of  the 
Crustaceans,  which  project  from  the  central  aperture  of 
the  multivalve  shell  protecting  the  body.  These  animals 
are  commonly  called  barnacles  and  acorn-shells.  See 
Lepaoites  and  Balanites. 

CI'RROUS.     Furnished  with  tendril-!ike  appendages. 

CI'RSOCE'LE.  (Gr.  Kipaos,  a  dilated  rein,  and  xri'Xri, 
a  tumour. )  A  morbid  enlargement  of  the  spermatic  veins 
in  the  groin. 

CI'SSOID.  In  Geometry,  a  curve  line  of  the  second 
order,  invented  by  Diocles,  with  a  view  to  the  solution  of 
tlie  famous  problem  of  the  duplication  of  the  cube,  or  the 
insertion  of  two  mean  proportionals  between  two  given 
straight  lines.  Its  name  is  derived  from  from  Ktercros,  ivy ; 
because  the  curve  appears  to  mount  along  its  asymptote 
as  ivy  climbs  oh  the  tall  trunk  of  a  tree.  The  curve  is 
described  as  follows : — 

From  A,  one  of  the  extremities  of  the  diameter  of  a 
circle,  draw  a  straight  line,  AC  (or  a  e), 
to  meet  the  tangent  through  the  other 
extremity,  and  make  C  P  equal  to  the 
intercepted  chord  A  D;  the  point  P  will 
trace  the  cissoid.  The  line  A  C  may  be 
conceived  to  turn  on  both  sides  of  the 
diameter  A  B  till  it  falls  into  the  position 
of  a  tangent  to  the  circle  at  A.  The 
curve,  therefore,  consists  of  two  infinite 
branches,  which  approach  always  nearer 
to  the  tangent  C  B  c  without  ever  meeting 
it,  whence  this"line  is  an  asymptote  to  the 
cissoid.  The  point  A  being  taken  for  the 
origin  of  the  co-ordinates,  and  the  diame- 
ter A  B  as  the  axis  of  the  abscissa,  the 
equation  of  the  curve  is  x*  =  (a— x)  y*,  a  being  the  diame- 
ter of  the  generating  circle.  One  of  the  most  remarkable 
properties  of  the  cissoid  is,  that  the  whole  space  lying  be- 
tween the  double  branches  and  the  asymptote  is  equal  to 
triple  the  area  of  the  generating  circle.  A  method  of  de- 
scribing the  cissoid  mechanically  by  the  motion  of  a  rec- 
tangular  rule,  is  given  in  Newton's  Universal  Arithmetic. 

CIST.  (Gr.  kictt),  a  chest.)  In  Architecture  and  Sculp- 
ture, a  chest  or  basket.  It  is  a  term  usually  applied  to  the 
mystic  baskets  employed  in  processions  connected  with 
the  Eleusinian  mysteries.  They  were  originally  of  wicker 
work,  and  when  afterwards  made  of  metal  the  form  and 
texture  were  preserved  in  imitation  of  the  original  mate- 
rial. When  sculptured  on  antique  monuments  it  indi- 
cates some  connection  with  the  mysteries  of  Ceres  and 
Bacchus. 

CISTA'CEjE.  (Cistus,  one  of  the  genera.)  A  natural 
order  of  shrubby  or  herbaceous  Exogens  inhabiting  chiefly 
the  countries  of  the  south  of  Europe  and  North  America. 
They  are  distinguished  from  Violacece  by  their  indefinite 
stamens  and  inverted  embryo ;  from  Bixacecb  by  the  last 
character,  by  their  mealy  albumen,  habit,  and  not  having 
the  leaves  ever  dotted  ;  from  Hypericacem  by  the  latter 
character,  and  the  structure  of  the  fruit.  They  are  allied 
to  Papaveracea,  by  the  genus  Dendromecon ;  but  their  true 
station  appears  to  be  in  the  vicinity  of  Linacea,  to  which 
they  approach  by  the  genus  Lechea.  They  are  often  plants 
of  great  beauty,  but  possess  no  sensible  properties,  except- 
ing the  Cistus  creticus  and  a  few  others,  which  yield  the 
resinous  balsamic  substance  called  gum  laudanum. 

CI'STERN.  (Lat.  cisterna,  from  Gr.  kicti).)  In  Archi- 
tecture, a  reservoir  or  receptacle  of  water  for  public  or 
domestic  use.  When  made  of  brick  or  stone  it  is  com- 
monly called  a  tank. 

CI'STVAEN.  A  species  of  stone  receptacle,  often  found 
in  barrows  (generally  at  the  east  end),  containing  the  bones 
of  the  persons  interred  there.  Cistvaens  are  "commonly 
three  stones  placed  on  edge,  like  the  three  sides  of  a  box, 
with  a  stone  cover.  Some  which  are  styled  cistvaens  by 
Sir  R.  Hoare  and  other  antiquaries  are,  however,  not  se- 
pulchral. 

CITA'TION.  (Lat.  cito,  I  call.)  In  Ecclesiastical  Law, 
an  act  whereby  the  defendant,  on  the  application  of  the 
plaintiff,  is  commanded  to  appear  in  court  on  a  certain  day 
in  order  to  enter  into  a  suit.  In  the  Civil  Law,  reference 
to  an  authority  or  precedent  in  the  course  of  a  pleading  is 
termed  a  citation  ;  and  hence  the  common  use  of  the  word 
in  the  same  sense  with  quotation,  allegationof  instances,  &c. 

CI'TRATES.     The  salts  of  citric  acid. 

CITRE'NE.  A  crystalline  compound  of  hydrogen  and 
carbon,  obtained  from  the  essential  oil  of  lemons. 

CI'TRIC  ACID.  (Lat.  citrus,  the  lemon.)  The  pure 
acid  part  of  lemon  and  lime  juice  ;  it  is  also  found  in  other 
fruits.  Crystallized  citric  acid  is  largely  prepared  for  do- 
mestic use. 

CI'TY.  (Lat.  civitas.)  A  borough  or  town  corporate, 
which  is  or  has  been  the  seat  of  a  bishop,  or  the  capital  of 
his  see ;  and  it  differs  in  no  respect  but  that  of  superior 


CLASSIC. 

dignity  from  another  borough.  Some  cities  and  a  few 
boroughs  are  counties  in  themselves. 

Cl'VET.  A  brown  semifluid  matter  contained  in  a  gland 
near  the  anus  of  the  Viverra  civelta  or  civet  cat;  its  odour 
is  offensive  unless  extremely  diluted,  and  then  in  combi- 
nation with  other  perfumes  it  adds  to  their  energy. 

CI'VIL  ARCHITECTURE.     See  Architecture. 

CIVI'LIAN.  One  learned  in  the  Civil  or  Roman  Law; 
particularly  a  member  of  the  "  College  of  Doctors  of  Law 
exercent  in  the  Ecclesiastical  and  Admiralty  Courts"  in 
England  and  Wales,  in  which  courts  the  civil  law  is  recog- 
nized. (See  Law,  Civil.)  Practice  as  an  advocate  in 
those  courts  is  confined  to  members  of  this  college,  who 
must  have  taken  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Law  in  the  uni- 
versity of  Oxford  or  Cambridge. 

CI'VIL  LIST.  The  term  formerly  applied  to  the  list 
of  all  the  expenses  of  the  government,  or  "  of  all  the  heads 
of  public  expenditure,  excepting  those  of  the  army,  the 
navy,  and  the  other  military  departments ;"  but  confined 
at  present  by  the  act  1  W.  4.  c.  25.  to  expenses  proper  for 
the  maintenance  of  her  majesty's  household.  In  England 
the  civil  list  is  fixed  in  the  first  session  of  parliament  after 
the  accession  of  the  sovereign,  and  is  then  understood  to 
be  granted  for  the  whole  period  of  his  reign. 

CLAMP.  (From  the  French.)  In  Architecture,  a  piece 
of  wood  fixed  to  another  with  a  mortise  and  tenon,  or  a 
groove  and  tongue,  so  that  the  fibres  of  the  piece  thus 
fixed  cross  those  of  the  other,  and  thereby  prevent  it  from 
casting  or  warping. 

Clamp.  In  Brickmaking,  a  large  mass  of  bricks,  gene- 
rally quadrangular  on  the  plan,  and  6,  7,  or  8  feet  high,  ar- 
ranged in  the  brick  field  for  burning,  which  is  effected  by 
flues  prepared  in  stacking  the  clamp,  and  breeze  or  cinders 
layed  between  each  course  of  bricks. 

CLAN.  (Said  to  be  derived  from  the  Gaelic  clann,  de- 
scendants or  issue.)  The  clans  of  the  Scottish  Highlands 
are  tribes  consisting  of  many  families  all  bearing  the  same 
surname,  which  according  to  tradition  descend  from  a 
common  ancestor.  But  it  is  more  probable  that  most 
clans  were  formed  of  an  aggregate  of  different  families, 
the  inferior  standing  to  the  superior  in  the  same  sort  of  re- 
lation as  the  Roman  clients  to  their  patrons,  and  by  de- 
grees assuming  the  same  name.  Some  clans,  however, 
are  divided  into  branches,  each  possessing  a  distinct  sur- 
name. The  chieftainship  of  every  clan  descends  regularly 
through  heirs  male  ;  but  in  the  earliest  times  of  their  his- 
tory the  ruthts  of  primogeniture  were  not  very  distinctly 
defined.  The  Gaelic  clans  occupy  the  northern  and  west- 
ern with  part  of  the  central  shires  of  the  country.  A  Gaelic 
manuscript  lately  discovered  containing  genealogies  of  the 
Highland  clans,  and  supposed  to  have  been  written  about 
the  year  1440,  should  seem  to  carry  back  the  antiquity  of 
the  singular  institution  of  clanship  even  to  a  remoter  period 
than  was  previously  believed. 

CLA'RET.  This  term  is  applied  to  several  of  the  Bour- 
deaux  wines ;  it  is  derived  from  the  Latin  claretum,  from 
clarere,  to  he  clear.     See  Wine. 

CLA'RINET.  (It.  clarino.)  A  wooden  musical  wind 
instrument,  whose  mouth  partakes  of  the  trumpet  form, 
and  is  played  by  holes  and  keys:  said  to  have  been  in- 
vented about  the  year  1600  by  John  Christopher  Denner  of 
Leipsic.  Like  the  oboe  it  is  played  with  a  reed  mouth 
piece,  though  it  is  of  some  what  different  form. 

CLA'SSES.  In  Ancient  History,  this  term  is  particu- 
larly applied  to  the  division  of  the  Roman  people  made  by 
Servius  Tullins  for  the  purpose  of  distributing  them  into 
centuries.     <S"ee  Centuries. 

CLA'SSIC.  (Lat.  classis,  a  class.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a 
term  denoting  such  an  arrangement  of  a  subject  that  all 
the  accessories  or  parts  are  suitable  to  the  general  design, 
and  such  that  nothing  be  introduced  which  does  not  strictly 
belong  to  the  particular  class  under  which  it  is  placed. 

Classic.  In  Antiquity,  the  Roman  people  were  divided 
into  classes,  and  the  highest  order  were  by  pre-eminence 
termed  classici.  Hence  the  name  came  to  signify  the 
highest  and  purest  class  of  writers  in  any  language  ;  al- 
though, down  to  a  comparatively  recent  period,  the  term 
was  used  merely  to  denote  the  most  esteemed  Greek  and 
Latin  authors.  Nothing  marks  more  strongly  the  increased 
attention  to,  and  appreciation  of,  modern  literature,  than 
the  now  universal  application  of  the  term  to  modern  lan- 
guages also,  and  the  establishment  in  this  manner  of  a  line 
between  those  authors  whom  we  regard  as  models  and  au- 
thorities in  point  of  style,  and  those  who  are  not  so  highly 
esteemed.  An  author  is  said  to  be  classical  if  public  opin- 
ion has  placed  him  in  the  former  order:  language,  or  an 
expression,  to  be  classical,  if  it  be  such  as  has  been  used 
in  a  similar  sense  anrl  under  similar  rules  of  construction 
by  those  authors.  The  epithet  classical,  as  applied  to  an- 
cient authors,  is  determined  less  by  the  purity  of  their  style 
than  by  the  period  at  which  they  wrote.  Thus  we  speak 
of  the  classical  age  of  Greek  or  Latin  writing.  With  re- 
spect to  the  former,  the  classical  age  begins  with  Homer, 
the  earliest  Greek  writer  with  whom  we  are  acquainted. 


CLASSIFICATION. 

The  purest  age  of  Greek  classical  literature  may  be  said  to 
em)  about  the  time  of  the  Macedonian  conquest,  or  about 
300  b.  c. ;  but,  in  a  wider  sense,  it  extends  to  the  time  of 
the  Antonines,  and  embraces  a  much  larger  catalogue  of 
authors;  while  the  centuries  subsequent  to  that  time  pro- 
duced a  few,  who  by  the  purity  of  their  style  deserve  to  be 
ranked  with  earlier  classics.  The  Latin  classical  period  is 
shorter :  its  earliest  writer  is  Plautus,  and  the  language  may 
i  to  have  lost  its  classical  character  about  the  same  time 
wiih  the  Greek.  i.  e.  the  reigns  of  the  Antonines;  although 
this  limit  is  arbitrary,  and  some  later  writers  (even  down 
to  ClaUilian)are  generally  included  among  classics.  With- 
in the  Latin  classical  era  there  is  a  more  restricted  period 
of  the  purest  Latinity,  comprising  the  age  of  Cicero  and 
that  of  Augustus. 

CLASSIFICATION.  (Lat.  classis,  a  class.)  In  the 
Fine  Arts,  an  arrangement  by  which  objects  of  the  fine 
arts  are  distributed  in  classes;  as,  for  instance,  in  galleries 
of  paintings,  the  works  should  be  arranged  in  schools,  each 
school  being  subject  to  a  chronological  order  of  the  mas- 
ter-. Iri  Numismatology,  the  coins  should  be  arranged  by 
countries,  and  these  again  in  chronological  order  of  the 
is;  and  the  like  of  other  branches  of  the  arts. 

Classification,  in  Natural  History,  denotes  the  ar- 
rangement  or  assortment  of  various  objects  into  those  se- 
veral eU-sses  denoted  by  appellatives  which  are  called  ge- 
ii era  and  species.  For  classification  in  Botany,  Zoology, 
Medicine,  Chemistry,  <fcc,  see  the  separate  articles. 

CLAU'SA  (Lat.  claosus,  shut.')  A  name  given  by  Cu- 
vier  to  a  family  of  Acephalous  bivalves,  comprehending 
those  which  have  the  mantle  open  at  one  end,  or  ne 
middle,  for  the  passage  of  the  fool,  and  prolonged  at  the 
oppo  :i'1  cud  into  a  double  tube  for  respiration  and  ex- 
cretion. 

CLAUSI'LIA.  (Lat  claosus.)  A  genus  of  land-snails, 
so  named  because  the  aperture  of  the  shell  is  closed  inter- 
nally by  a  spiral  lid.  Many  species  of  this  genus  are  na- 
tives of  Great  Britain  The  rugose  or  dark  close-shell 
(Clausi/ia  rugosu,  Drip  )  is  not   uncommon  at  Charlton, 

it  may  be  found h-r  stones.     Clausilia  biplicala, 

Leach,  is  round  at  Battersea. 

CLA'VATE.  (Lat.  clava,  a  club.)  Club-shaped;  as  when 
a  bo  ly  is  linear  at  the  base,  but  towards  the  apex  growing 
gradually  broader. 

CLA'VICLE.  (Lat  clavicula,  from  clavis,  a  key.)  The 
hone  situated  between  the  sternum  or  breast  bone  and  the 
acromion  process  of  the  scapula  or  blade  bone.  The 
megatherium  is  the  largest  mammal  which  possesses  this 

CLA'VUS.  (Lat  clavus.  a  nail.)  In  Agriculture,  an  ex- 
crescence from  the  grains  of  rye,  of  a  brown  or  blackish 
colour.  It  is  a  parasitical  fungus,  called  Spermoedia  clurus, 
and  is  a  valuable  agenl  in  exciting  uterine  action  during  la- 
bour. A  ^r\i-i-r  pain  in  the  forehead  compared  to  the  driv- 
ing of  a  nail  into  the  skull  has  been  called  clavus  by  medi- 
cal writers. 

CI. AW.  or  UNGUIS.  The  narrow  part  at  the  base  of  a 
petal  winch  takes  iln-  place  of  the  footstalk  of  a  leaf,  of 
which  it  is  a  modification. 

(  l.  VY.  In  Chemistry,  a  term  generally  applied  to  a  vari- 
ety of  plastic  earthy  compounds  of  different  colours,  and 
having  much  attraction  forwater.  They  are  essential  in  the 
manufacture  of  pottery,  and  consist  of  silica,  with  variable 
quantities  of  alumina,  and  generally  some  oxide  of  iron. 

Clay.  In  Agriculture,  one  of  the  most  common  ingre- 
dients that  enter  into  the  composition  of  soils.  Indeed,  it 
may  he  asserted  that  no  soil  whatever  will  maintain  its  fer- 
tility for  any  length  of  time  without  a  due  proportion  of 
clay  in  its  composition.  The  most  fertile  soils  in  the  world 
are  the  alluvial  deposits  on  the  banks  of  rivers  ;  and  these, 
in  an  agricultural  sense,  all  belong  to  clayey  soil.  In  many 
cases  the  clays  of  agriculture  are  intimately  united  with 
calcareous  earths,  and  in  others  with  sand  ;  but  in  both 
cases  these  earths  are  in  a  state  of  such  minute  division, 
that  the  mixture  has  all  the  appearance  and  the  mechani- 
cal properties  of  a  strong  clay,  and  they  are  treated  by  cul- 
tivitors  accordingly.  Among  the  most  tenacious  clays  of 
Britain  are  those  of  Middlesex;  and  these,  when  examined, 
are  found  in  many  cases  to  contain  a  considerable  propor- 
tion of  lime',  and  in  others  of  sand.  The  best  wheats  are 
everywhere,  both  in  Britain  and  on  the  Continent,  grown 
on  calcareous  clays ;  and  also  the  best  fruits  and  flowers 
of  the  Rosaceous  kind,  such  as  apples,  pears,  plums,  cher- 
ries, roses,  &c. ;  but  it  is  remarkable  that  the  grape,  when 
grown  on  clayey  soil,  produces  neither  high-flavoured 
fruit,  nor  good  wine.  (See  Morton  on  Soils.  Johnston's 
Agricultural  Chemistry  and  Geology,  Part  2.) 

CLAYEY  SOIL.  Soil  in  which  clay  is  the  principal 
earthy  ingredient.  Soils  of  this  description  when  first  sub- 
jected to  cultivation  are  expensive  to  labour,  and  uncertain 
in  their  produce ;  but  after  they  have  been  drained,  culti- 
vated, limed,  and  manured  for  two  or  three  generations, 
they  become  the  most  fertile  of  all  soils,  producing  im- 
mense crops  of  wheat,  beans,  clover,  rye-grass,  &c. 
239 


CLIENTS, 

CLEA'RING  OF  LAND.  Removing  such  objects  S3 
impede  the  progress  of  the  plough  ;  such  as  stones,  bushes, 
hillocks,  and  other  obstructions. 

CLEF.  (Fr.)  In  Music,  a  mark  prefixed  to  a  staff,  show- 
ing the  tone  or  key  in  which  a  piece  of  music  begins;  or 
it  is  a  letter  or  other  sign  marked  on  a  line,  which  deter- 
mines the  name  of  all  those  of  the  degree  whereon  it  ia 
placed.  A  clef  is  always  placed  on  a  line,  never  on  a 
space. 

CLE'FT-GRAFTING.  A  mode  of  grafting,  in  which 
the  scion  is  inserted  in  a  cleft  made  in  the  stock.  See 
Grafting. 

CLEPSY'DRA.  (Gr.  ic\ei[fvSpa,  from  /cAj7rra>,  I  conceal, 
and  iSoip,  ica'er.)  Water  clock:  an  ancient  instrument 
for  measuring  time  by  the  gradual  emptying  of  a  large  ves- 
sel of  water  through  an  orifice  of  a  determinate  magni- 
tude. Clepsydras  were  first  brought  into  use  in  Egypt  un- 
der the  reign  of  the  Ptolemys,  and  seem  to  have  been 
common  in  Rome,  though  they  were  employed  chiefly  in 
winter;  in  summer  sun-dials  were  used.  Though  clep- 
sydras are  attendeti  with  several  inconveniences,  the  prin- 
cipal of  which  is  the  unequal  rapidity  of  the  flow  caused 
either  by  a  variation  in  the  depth  of  the  water  in  the  con- 
taining vessel,  or  of  temperature,  or  barometric  pressure, 
they  are  nevertheless  susceptible  of  considerable  accura- 
cy ;  and  before  the  invention  of  clocks  and  watches,  astro- 
nomers had  no  other  dependence  than  on  them  for  mea- 
suring small  portions  of  time.  At  present  they  are  aban- 
doned, because  pendulum  clocks  and  watches  are  much 
more  convenient,  as  well  as  infinitely  more  exact.  In  one 
case  has  the  revival  of  their  use  been  proposed  ;  namely, 
for  the  accurate  measurement  of  very  small  intervals  of 
time  by  the  flowing  of  mercury  from  a  small  orifice  in  the 
bottom  of  a  vessel  kept  constantly  filled  to  a  fixed  height. 
The  stream  is  intercepted  at  the  moment  of  noting  any 
event,  and  diverted  aside  into  a  receiver,  into  which  it 
continues  to  run  till  the  moment  of  noting  any  other  event, 
when  the  intercepting  cause  is  suddenly  removed.  The 
Stream  then  flows  in  its  original  course,  and  ceases  to  run 
into  the  receiver.  The  weight  of  mercury  received,  com- 
pared with  the  weight  of  that  which  passes  through  the 
orifice  in  a  given  time,  observed  by  the  clock,  gives  the  in- 
terval between  the  events.  This  ingenious  application  of 
the  principle  of  the  clepsydra  is  due  to  the  late  Captain 
Eater 

CI.E'RGY.  The  ecclesiastical  body  as  distinguished 
from  the  laity.  The  word  clergy  seems  to  be  derived 
from  Gr.  itXijooj,  a  lot  or  inheritance  ;  Lat  clems,  whence 
clericus,  a  dirk  or  clergyman  :  plur.  clerici,  whence  clerge, 
and  is  -opposed  to  allude  to  a  custom,  which,  how- 
e\  er,  was  never  general,  of  choosing  the  clergy  by  lot ;  or, 
as  St.  Jerome  says,  to  signify  that  the  clergy  are  the  lot 
and  portion  of  the  Lord,  or  the  Lord  is  their  lot.  Perhaps 
the  true  derivation  is  rather  to  be  traced  from  the  lots 
(ifXijpoO  by  which  the  apostles  chose  Matthias  to  be  one 
<jf  their  number.     (Acts,  11.  26.) 

Clerk  (Lat  clericus)  is  still  the  legal  appellation  of  a  cler- 
gyman. The  clergy  being  exclusively  the  learned  part  of 
the  community  in  the  middle  ages,  the  word  hence  came 
to  signify  an  educated  person  ;  and  thus  acquired  the 
sense  of  a  scribe  or  writer  in  France  and  England. 

CLI'ENTS.  (Lat.  cliens,  from  the  old  word  cluo.  I  hear 
or  obey.)  In  Ancient  History,  a  numerous  body  of  the  Ro- 
man citizens,  so  termed  relatively  to  their  patrons  or  pro- 
tectors. This  relation  was  in  many  respects  similar  to  that 
of  a  serf  to  his  feudal  lord,  but  bore  a  much  milder  form. 
It  was  the  duty  of  the  patron  to  watch  over  the  interests 
of  his  clients  and  protect  them  from  aggression,  and  ap- 
pear for  them  in  lawsuits.  He  also  frequently  made  them 
grants  of  land  on  lease.  In  return  the  client  was  bound  to 
defend  his  patron,  and  contribute  towards  any  extraordina- 
ry expenses  he  might  be  subject  to  ;  as  the  portioning  his 
daughters,  the  payment  of  a  fine  imposed  by  the  state,  &c. 
He  might  not  appear  as  accuser  or  witness  against  him  in 
judicial  proceedings,  a  prohibition  which  was  reciprocal. 
If  he  committed  any  offence  against  his  patron,  he  was 
obliged  to  submit  to  him  as  his  judge  ;  and  in  ancient  times 
it  appears  that  the  power  of  life  and  death  was  held  by  the 
latter.  On  the  other  hand,  his  security  against  oppression 
at  the  hands  of  his  patron  lay  in  the  injunctions  and  au- 
thority of  religion,  which  rendered  the  bond  of  union  invi- 
olably sacred,  as  that  between  father  and  son.  The  origin 
of  this  relation  cannot  now  be  traced ;  but  it  seems  to  have 
existed,  with  various  modifications,  throughout  Italy  and 
Greece.  In  Rome  it  appears  at  the  foundation  of  the  city 
by  Romulus,  when  every  family  not  included  among  the 
patricians  was  obliged  to  find  itself  a  patron  from  their 
number.  The  body  of  clients  was  afterwards  increased 
by  the  institution  by  which  foreigners,  who,  as  allies  of 
Rome,  had  a  share  in  its  franchise,  might  choose  them- 
selves patrons  on  their  coming  to  settle  in  the  city.  The 
obligations  of  clients  were  hereditary,  and  could  not  be 
shaken  off  unless  through  the  decay  of  the  family  of  the 
patron.    This  body  alone  in  earlier  times  furnished  arti- 


CLIMAGTERICAL  YEAR. 

zms  and  shopkeepers;  they  had  votes  in  the  Cnmitia 
Centuriata;  and  though  generally  confounded  with  the 
plebeians,  were  undoubtedly  perfectly  distinct  from  them, 
as  we  continually  meet  in  history  with  instances  of  their 
joining  the  patricians  in  opposition  to  the  former;  and 
when  some  of  the  plebeian  houses  became  powerful,  they 
themselves  attached  bodies  of  clients. 

It  has  been  seen  that  among  the  other  duties  of  a  Roman 
patron  towards  his  client  was  that  of  maintaining  his 
cause  gratuitously  in  legal  proceedings.  Hence  the  term 
"  client"  has  become  appropriated  in  modern  times  to 
one  whose  cause  is  prosecuted  or  defended  and  his  person 
represented  by  an  advocate.  The  custom  of  practising 
gratuitously  as  advocates  long  prevailed  among  the  Roman 
patricians ;  and  from  it  the  usage  was  derived,  which  still 
obtains  among  ourselves,  of  considering  the  fee  of  a  coun- 
sel as  "  quiddam  honorarium,"  a  gratuity,  which  cannot 
be  legally  claimed.  At  present,  the  etiquette  of  the  Eng- 
lish bar  appears  to  be  this— that  a  barrister  cannot,  refuse, 
without  strong  grounds  for  such  refusal,  to  undertake  any 
cause  which  is  offered  him  ;  that  he  cannot  refuse,  with- 
out reasonable  excuse,  to  plead  gratuitously  the  cause  of  a 
client  who  sues  regularly  "  in  forma  pauperis  ;"  or  to  de- 
fend a  prisoner,  if  called  on  to  do  so  by  the  court ;  and 
that  he  can  receive  no  instructions  with  a  fee  except 
through  the  medium  of  a  regularly  authorized  agent  of  his 
client  (attorney  or  solicitor).  An  application  to  a  barrister, 
with  the  customary  fee,  to  undertake  a  cause  in  which  he 
is  not  yet  instructed,  is  called  a  "  retainer,"  and  secures 
his  services  for  the  client.  An  application  to  undertake 
all  causes  for  a  particular  client  is  a  general  retainer. 

CLIMACTE'RICAL  YEAR.  (Gr.  K\ina«Trtp,  from 
KKifial,  ladder,  scale.)  Certain  years  in  the  life  of  man 
have  been  from  great  antiquity  supposed  to  have  a  peculiar 
importance,  and  to  be  liable  to  singular  vicissitudes  in  his 
health  and  fortunes.  This  superstitious  belief  is  said  to 
have  originated  in  the  doctrines  of  Pythagoras.  The  well- 
known  notice  of  the  climacterical  year  sixty- three,  sup- 
posed to  be  particularly  dangerous  to  old  men,  in  a  letter 
of  Augustus  Cwsar  preserved  by  Aulus  Gellius,  evinces 
its  prevalence  among  the  Romans.  This  year  has  been 
called  by  some  astrological  writers  "heroicus,"  as  having 
been  peculiarly  fatal  to  great  men.  The  virtue  of  this  year 
seems  to  consist  in  its  being  a  multiple  of  the  two  mystical 
numbers,  seven  and  nine.  It  is  certainly  singular  that 
usage  should  have  attached  in  all  countries  peculiar  dis- 
tinctions to  those  years  which  are  denoted  by  compounds 
of  the  number  seven.  Thus  fourteen  has  been  fixed  for 
various  purposes  as  the  epoch  of  puberty,  twenty-one  of 
full  age  ;  thirty-five  is  selected  by  Aristotle  as  the  period 
when  the  body  is  in  its  highest  physical  vigour.  The  same 
author  supposes  the  vigour  of  the  mind  to  be  perfected  at 
forty-nine:  sixty-three  is  the  grand  climacterical  year; 
seventy  the  limit  of  the  ordinary  age  of  man.  Bodinus 
says  that  seven  is  the  climacterical  number  in  men  and 
six  in  women.  The  term  climacteric  disease  has  more 
lately  been  applied  to  that  declension  of  bodily  and  vital 
powers  which  is  frequently  observed  to  come  on  in  the 
latter  period  of  life,  and  from  which  many  persons  again 
rally  so  as  to  attain  extreme  old  age. 

CLI'MATE.  (Gr.  kXi/io,  from  kXivco,  I  incline.)  Among 
the  ancient  geographers  was  applied  to  denote  that  obli- 
quity of  the  sphere  with  respect  to  the  horizon  which  gives 
rise  to  the  inequality  of  day  and  night.  They  divided  the 
space  comprehended  between  the  equator  and  the  pole 
into  thirty  parts,  which  they  denominated  Climates  or  In- 
clinations ;  viz.  twenty-four  between  the  equator  and  polar 
circle,  and  six  between  the  polar  circle  and  the  pole.  The 
first  are  called  half-hour  climates,  because  from  one  to 
another  the  longest  day  receives  an  augmentation  of  half 
an  hour ;  the  second  are  called  month  climates,  because  at 
the  two  parallels  between  which  any  one  of  them  is  com- 
prehended the  difference  of  the  time  of  perpetual  sunshine 
is  one  month.  The  first  half-hour  climate  reaches  from 
the  equator  to  that,  parallel  of  latitude  where  the  length  of 
the  longest  day  is  twelve  hours  and  a  half;  the  second 
ends  at  the  parallel  where  the  longest  day  is  thirteen 
hours,  and  so  on.  If,  therefore,  from  the  number  of  hours 
in  the  longest  day  at  any  particular  place  we  subtract 
twelve,  the  number  of  half  hours  remaining  will  indicate 
the  climate  in  which  that  place  is  situated.  Thus,  the 
longest  day  at  London  being  a  little  more  than  sixteen 
hours  and  a  half,  London  is  situated  in  the  tenth  cli- 
mate. 

The  first  month  climate  extends  from  the  polar  circle  to 
the  parallel  under  which  the  sun  continues  above  the  hori- 
zon during  a  month  ;  the  second  reaches  from  the  first  to 
the  parallel  where  the  sun  continues  visible  during  two 
months  ;  and  so  on  to  the  poles,  at  which  the  sun  is  alter- 
nately visible  and  invisible  during  half  the  year. 

Listead  of  the  divisions  which  we  have  now  described, 

Ptolemy  adopted  climates  corresponding  to  the  increase 

of  a  quarter  of  an  hour  in  the  length  of  the  longest  day. 

The  space  from  the  equator  to  the  polar  circle  would  thus 

240 


CLIMATE. 

be  divided  into  forty-eight  instead  of  twenty-four  zones ; 
but  as  these  in  the  higher  latitudes  became  very  narrow, 
he  carried  the  quarter-hour  climates  only  to  the  twenty- 
fourth,  that  is,  to  the  parallel  at  which  the  longest  day  is 
eighteen  hours.  From  eighteen  to  twenty  hours  he  pro- 
ceeds by  half  hour  climates;  from  twenty  to  twenty-four 
hours  the  breadth  of  the  climate  is  estimated  by  the  differ- 
ence of  a  whole  hour  in  the  length  of  the.  day.  The  de- 
termination of  the  parallels  at  which  the  different  climates 
begin  and  end  is  equivalent  to  this  problem  : — Having 
given  the  length  of  the  longest  day  to  find  the  latitude  of 
the  place?  The  tangent  of  the  latitude  is  equal  to  the  sine 
of  the  excess  of  the  semi-diurnal  arc  above  a  quadrant 
multiplied  into  the  cotangent  of  the  obliquity. 

Climate,  in  its  most  ordinary  and  general  acceptation, 
embraces  all  those  modifications  of  the  atmosphere  by 
which  our  organs  are  sensibly  affected  ;  such  as  tempera- 
ture, humidity,  variations  of  barometric  pressure,  the  tran- 
quillity of  the  atmosphere  or  the  effects  of  winds,  the  in- 
tensity of  electric  pressure,  the  purity  of  the  air  or  its  mix- 
ture with  gaseous  emanations  more  or  less  salubrious; 
and  lastly,  the  habitual  diaphaneity  of  the  atmosphere, — 
that  serenity  of  the  sky  so  important  on  account  of  the  in- 
fluence which  it  exercises  not  only  on  the  radiation  of  the 
ground,  on  the  development  of  organic  tissues  in  vegeta- 
bles and  the  ripening  of  fruits,  but  also  on  the  ensemble  of 
moral  sensations  which  mankind  experience  in  the  diffrr- 
ent  zones.  There  are  two  general  causes  on  which  the 
climate  peculiar  to  any  country  principally  depends— 1st, 
its  distance  from  the  equator;  and  2nd,  its  altitude  above 
the  level  of  the  sea;  but  their  effect  is  generally  modified 
by  many  circumstances  exerting  a  partial  influence. 
Among  these  may  be  enumerated  the  ronfigurafion  and 
extent  of  the  country  ;  its  inclination  and  local  exposure  ; 
the  direction  of  the  chains  of  mountains  by  which  it  is  in- 
tersected or  which  are  in  its  vicinity  ;  the  nature  of  the 
soil  as  it  is  more  or  less  favourable  to  radiation  and  evap- 
oration ;  the  proximity  to,  or  distance  from  seas ;  the  ac- 
tion of  winds  blending  the  temperatures  of  different  lati- 
tudes; and  even  the  changes  produced  by  cultivation. 
The  appreciation  of  all  these  causes,  which  modify  the  re- 
sults deduced  from  the  consideration  of  latitude  and  eleva- 
tion alone,  and  the  effect  produced  by  their  combined  op- 
eration, constitutes  the  science  of  climatology. 

Effect  of  Geographical  Position. — The  principal  part  of 
the  temperature  enjoyed  by  any  country  depends  on  the 
heat  which  it  receives  directly  from  the  sun.  In  estima- 
ting the  amount  of  solar  heat  received  by  any  given  space 
on  the  surface  of  the  earth  in  the  course  of  a  whole  year, 
we  may  suppose  the  sun  to  remain  constantly  in  the  equa- 
tor, because  the  excess  of  heat  above  the  mean  in  summer 
is  exactly  balanced  by  its  defect  in  winter.  Now,  the  ef- 
fect produced  on  any  given  portion  of  the  surface  will  de- 
pend on  the  number  of  rays  that  fall  on  that  surface,  and 
on  the  obliquity  of  their  direction  with  respect  to  it.  But 
the  number  of  rays  falling  on  a  zone  of  any  given  breadth, 
a  degree  for  example,  is  proportional  to  the  cosine  of  its 
latitude  ;  and  the  effect  of  a  single  ray  in  consequence  of  its 
oblique  impact  is  diminished  also  in  proportion  to  the  co- 
sine of  the  latitude  ;  the  diminution  of  the  mean  tempera- 
ture, therefore,  in  going  from  the  equator  to  the  poles, 
must,  be  proportional  to  the  square  of  the  cosine  of  the  lat- 
itude. It  hence  follows  that  the  variations  of  the  mean 
temperature  must  be  most  rapid  about  the  middle  latitude 
of45°  ;  and  this  result  of  theory  agrees  perfectly  with  ob- 
servation. Within  the  temperate  zone  the  character  of 
the  climate  changes  rapidly.  Thus  in  the  south  of  France, 
and  in  Italy,  nearly  under  the  45th  parallel  the  region  of 
the  vine  is  found  contiguous  to  that  of  the  olive  and  fig-tree. 
On  the  other  hand,  very  little  increase  of  heat  is  observed 
from  the  tropic  to  the  equator;  and  at  the  other  extremity 
of  the  arc,  from  the  arctic  circle  to  the  highest  latitude  that 
has  been  reached,  the  intensity  of  cold  is  not  greatly  aug- 
mented. The  law  of  the  square  of  the  cosine  gives  a  var- 
iation of  only  about  eight  degrees  of  Fahrenheit' s  scale 
from  the  polar  circle  to  the  pole.  In  the  system  of  cli- 
mates of  western  Europe,  the  mean  temperature  at  the 
latitude  of  45°  is  about  13°  or  135°  of  the  centigrade  scale 
(55°  to  56°  of  Fahrenheit).  The  mean  temperature  under 
the  equator  ought  therefore  to  be,  by  the  theory,  26°  or  27° 
(centigrade) ;  and  at  any  other  place  it  will  be  found  by 
multiplying  the  constant  number  27  into  the  square  of  the 
cosine  of  the  latitude 

Effect  of  Altitude. — That  a  greater  degree  of  cold  pre- 
vails in  the  upper  regions  of  the  atmosphere  than  at  low 
levels  would  be  manifest  by  the  snowy  covering  of  the 
summits  of  very  elevated  mountains  in  all  latitudes,  even 
if  no  direct  experiments  had  been  made  on  the  tempera- 
ture that  prevails  there.  These,  however,  have  been 
made  in  great  number ;  and  the  constant  and  regular 
decrease  of  the  temperature  in  ascending  above  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth,  to  such  altitude  at  least  as  can  be  reach- 
ed, has  not  only  been  fully  established,  but  the  law  accord- 
ing to  which  the  decrease  takes  place  determined  with 


CLIMATE. 

considerable  certainty.  According  to  theory  the  decre- 
ments of  heat  in  ascending  the  higher  regions  should  follow 
the  same  proportion  as  the  decrements  of  the  density  ;  but 
this  law  is  greatly  disturbed  by  local  peculiarities.  The 
variation  of  temperature  at  different  altitudes  is  the  simul- 
taneous effect  of  three  general  causes, — 1st,  the  absorption 
of  rays  of  light  in  their  passage  through  the  atmosphere, 
which  is  much  greater  in  the  dense  strata  near  the  surface 
of  the  earth  than  in  the  upper  regions ;  2d,  the  radiation 
from  the  surface  ;  and  3d,  the  ascending  current ;  the  two 
last  also  producing  a  greater  effect  on  the  strata  near  the 
surface.  Any  circumstance,  therefore,  which  modifies 
these  causes,  must  also  modify  the  law  which  connects 
the  decrease  of  heat  with  the  elevation.  It  will  be  slower 
above  the  surface  of  the  sea  or  a  country  covered  with 
snow  than  above  a  desert  destitute  of  vegetables,  or  a  sur- 
face of  sand  ;  and  it  will  be  more  rapid  above  the  sloping 
sides  of  a  conical  mountain  than  over  a  Cordillera  which 
presents  plains  of  great  magnitude  elevated  in  stages  above 
one  another.  Nevertheless  at  great  altitudes  the  disturb- 
ing influences  of  these  causes  become  insensible,  and  a 
very  considerable  degree  of  uniformity  in  the  temperature 
constantly  prevails.  In  the  torrid  zone,  Humboldt,  from  a 
mean  of  many  observations,  found  that  between  the  alti- 
tudes of  3000  and  5800  metres  (9840  and  19,000  feet)  an  in- 
crease of  elevation,  amounting  to  191  4  metres,  produced 
a  diminution  of  1°  of  the  centigrade  thermometer.  This 
corresponds  to  349  English  feet  for  1°  of  Fahrenheit.  Pro- 
fessor Leslie  {Ency.  Slit.  art.  "  Climate")  estimates  that 
the  diminution  of  temperature  of  1°  of  Fahrenheit's 
scale  corresponds  to  an  ascent  of  300  feet.  But  this  will 
hold  true  only  of  moderate  elevations.  At  the  altitudes  of 
1  mile,  2  miles,  3  miles,  4  miles,  and  5  miles,  the  increase 
of  elevation  corresponding  to  1°  Fah.  will  be  respectively 
295,  277,  252,  223,  and  192  feet.  The  allowance  of  1°  of 
Fan.  for  every  100  yards  of  ascent  is,  however,  a  rule  of 
easy  recollection,  and  in  ordinary  cases  may  be  taken  as  a 
sufficient  approximation. 

Configuration. — The  form  of  the  limits  of  any  large 
mass  of  land  as  determined  by  its  contact  with  the  ocean, 
that  is  to  say,  the  greater  or  less  extent  of  coast  it  possess- 
es in  proportion  to  its  area,  exercises  a  considerable  influ- 
ence on  the  climate.  The  small  amount  of  variation  in 
the  temperature  of  the  ocean  tends  to  equalize  the  periodic 
distribution  of  heat  among  the  different  seasons  of  the 
year,  and  the  proximity  of  a  great  mass  of  water  mode- 
rates by  its  action  on  the  winds  the  heat  of  summer  and 
the  cold  of  winter.  Hence  the  t,reat  contrast  between  the 
climate  of  islands  and  coasts,  and  the  climate  of  the  inte- 
rior of  vast  continents.  Europe  presents  a  remarkable  ex- 
ample of  this  contrast.  From  Orleans  and  Paris  to  Lon- 
don, Dublin,  Edinburgh,  and  even  farther  north,  the  mean 
temperature  of  the  year  decreases  very  little,  notwith- 
standing the  increase  of  latitude  ;  while  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  Continent  each  degree  of  latitude,  according  to 
Humboldt,  produces  a  variation  of  11°  Fah.  in  the  mean 
temperature.  A  small  island,  a  tongue  of  land,  or  an  in- 
dented coast,  in  contact  with  a  great  mass  of  water,  which 
preserves  in  winter  a  considerable  portion  of  the  heat  ac- 
quired during  the  summer,  possesses  a  more  moderate 
climate,  mild  winters,  and  fresher  summers,  and  in  the 
higher  latitudes  a  somewhat  higher  mean  temperature, 
than  the  interior  of  great  continuous  masses  of  land  under 
the  same  latitude.  The  diminution  of  the  mean  annual 
temperature  from  the  western  shores  of  Europe  to  beyond 
the  meridian  of  the  Caspian  is  remarkable.  Amsterdam 
and  Warsaw  are  situated  very  nearly  under  the  same  pa- 
rallel of  latitude,  that  of  the  first  being  52°  22',  and  that  of 
the  second  52°  14';  but  the  mean  annual  temperature  of 
Amsterdam  is  534°  Fah.,  while  that  of  Warsaw  is  only 
46.43°.  The  latitude  of  Copenhagen  is  55°  41',  and  that  of 
Kasan  55°  48' ;  but  the  mean  annual  temperature  of  Co- 
penhagen is  45  7°,  that  of  Kasan  37  0°.  The  climate  of  a 
country  is  influenced  not  only  by  its  horizontal  configuration, 
but  also  by  its  relief,  or  vertical  configuration.  Mountains  af- 
fect the  adjacent  climate  of  the  plains  in  various  way  s — by  the 
reverberation  of  heat  from  naked  rocks ;  by  affording  shelter 
from  certain  predominating  winds ;  and  by  giving  rise  to 
descending  currents  of  cold  air  from  the  higher  regions  of 
the  almdSphere,  in  consequence  of  the  disturbance  of  the 
equilibrium  of  heat  produced  by  the  radiation  from  their 
sides  and  summits.  The  local  exposure  of  a  country  also, 
or  its  inclination  to  or  from  the  equator,  which  may  be  in- 
cluded under  the  title  configuration,  has  a  powerful  influ- 
ence on  its  mean  annual  temperature.  Generally  speak- 
ing, the  local  exposure  is  connected  with  and  depends  upon 
the  position  of  the  mountain  chains,  and  both  conspire  to 
increase  or  diminish  the  mean  temperature  at  the  same 
time.  For  example,  when  the  general  inclination  of  an 
extensive  tract  of  country  is  towards  the  south,  the  north- 
ern side  is  b/mnded  by  ranges  of  mountains ;  so  that  while 
the  sun's  rays  fall  upon  it  at  a  less  oblique  angle,  it  is 
sheltered  from  the  cold  winds  blowing  from  a  higher 
latitude. 

241 


CLIO. 

Climate  of  Europe.— In  a  general  view,  Europe  may  be 
regarded  as  a  peninsular  prolongation  of  the  ancient  con- 
tinent, broken  and  intersected  by  numerous  arms  of  the 
ocean,  and  by  inland  seas.  The  predominating  winds  are 
from  the  west ;  and  these,  for  the  whole  of  the  western 
portion,  are  sea  winds,  greatly  softened  by  blowing  over  a 
mass  of  water,  of  which  the  superficial  temperature,  even 
in  the  month  of  January,  at  the  parallels  of  45°  and  50°, 
does  not  fall  below  48°  and  51°  of  Fahrenheit.  It  is  placed 
directly  north  of  an  immense  tract  of  tropical  land  (Africa 
and  Arabia),  which  by  its  diurnal  radiation  contributes 
powerfully  to  elevate  the  temperature.  On  the  northern 
side  the  cold  belonging  to  the  latitude  is  mitigated  by  nu- 
merous favourable  circumstances.  A  very  small  portion 
of  land  lies  within  the  polar  circle  ;  and  the  whole  of  the 
northern  extremity  is  separated  from  the  polar  ice  by  a 
zone  of  open  sea,  the  temperature  of  which  is  maintained. 
at  a  considerable  elevation  in  consequence  of  its  commu- 
nication with  the  Atlantic  ocean,  and  of  the  existence  of 
the  gulf  stream,  which  conveys  a  portion  of  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  gulf  of  Mexico  into  the  polar  seas. 

Climate  of  Asia. — The  circumstances  which  contribute 
to  render  the  climate  of  Europe  mild  and  temperate  are 
nearly  all  reversed  in  respect  of  Asia.  Its  northern  bound- 
ary extends  beyond  the  parallel  of  70°,  and  in  some  places 
reaches  to  75°.  In  every  part  it  extends  to  the  winter  limit 
of  the  polar  ice,  and  only  a  very  narrow  zone  of  water  is 
interposed  between  the  ice  and  the  land  during  the  short 
summer  of  these  high  latitudes.  The  north  winds,  not  ob- 
structed by  any  chain  of  mountains,  blow  with  unmitigated 
severity  over  an  icy  plain,  extending  northward  to  the  pole, 
and  eastward  to  the  point  of  maximum  cold,  which  appears 
to  be  situated  near  the  meridian  of  Behring's  straits.  The 
refrigerating  influence  of  these  winds  is  not  counteracted 
by  arid  deserts  on  the  southern  side  of  the  continent. 
From  the  meridian  of  the  Ourals  to  that  of  Cape  Tchou- 
kotski,  tlirough  140  degrees  of  longtitude,  there  is  no  land 
under  the  equator,  excepting  the  inconsiderable  portion 
formed  by  the  islands  of  Sumatra,  Borneo,  Celebes,  and 
Gilolo  ;  consequently  the  Asiatic  countries  situated  in  the 
temperate  zone  are  not  warmed  by  ascending  currents  of 
heated  air,  such  as  those  which  rise  from  the  deserts  of 
Africa  and  are  so  beneficial  to  Europe.  The  position  of  the 
great  mountain  chains  and  the  general  elevation  of  the 
country  also  powerfully  contribute  to  diminish  the  tempe- 
rature. The  Himalaya  and  Kuen-lun,  through  a  great  ex- 
lent  of  the  continent,  present  an  effectual  barrier  to  the 
warm  winds  which  come  from  the  equator.  Elevated 
plains  and  groups  of  lofty  mountains  accumulate,  and  pre- 
serve the  snow  till  late  in  the  summer,  and  give  rise  to  de- 
scending currents  of  air  which  cool  down  the  temperature 
of  the  circumjacent  countries.  Lastly,  Asia  being  bounded 
on  the  western  side  by  Europe,  the  west  or  predominating 
winds  are  land  winds  for  the  greater  part  of  the  continent, 
and  their  severity  is  increased  by  the  great  enlargement  of 
the  land  towards  the  north.  (Humboldt,  Frngmens  Asi- 
atiqiies  ;  DanielVs  Meteorological  Essays  ;  Murray's  Ency. 
of  Geography  ;  Forrey  on  the  Climate  of  the  United  Slates. 
8vo.  1<342.) 

CLI'MAX.  (Or.  %X(tia£,  gradation.")  In  Rhetoric,  a 
figure  by  which  several  propositions,  or  several  objects, 
are  placed  before  the  mind  of  the  hearer  or  reader  in  such 
an  order  that  the  proposition  or  object  calculated  to  pro- 
duce the  least  impression  shall  strike  it  first,  and  that  the 
rest  shall  follow  in  regular  gradation.  Anti-climax  is  the 
converse  figure,  in  which  the  ideas  sink  in  succession. 
This  forms  a  principal  cause  of  that  vice  of  composition 
of  which  so  many  ludicrous  illustrations  have  been  given 
under  the  name  of  Bathos. 

CLINAN'THII'M.  (Gr.  >c\ii>n,  a  bed,  and  avOos,  afloucr.) 
A  term  used  to  express  the  receptacle  of  a  composite 
plant.  It  is  the  dilated  apex  of  a  flowering  branch  covered 
over  by  small  flowers  enclosed  within  an  involucre. 

CLI'NICAL.  (Gr.  jrX""/-)  This  term  is  generally  used 
medically  ;  aclinicai  lecture,  for  instance,  is  the  instruction 
which  tho  teacher  gives  his  pupil  at  the  bedside  of  the 
patient. 

CLI'XrcM.  (Gr.  (tXivr/.)  A  term  occasionally  used  in 
botany  to  denote  the  summit  of  a  floral  branch,  of  which 
the  carpella  are  the  termination.  It  is  the  same  as  the 
torus  of  the  modern  French  school,  and  one  of  the  parts 
called  receptacle  by  Linna?us,  as  in  the  strawberry. 

CLI'NKERS.     See  Bricks. 

CLI'XOID.  (Gr.  k~\ivtj,  and  £<<5of,  likeness.)  This  term 
has  been  improperly  applied  to  certain  processes  of  the 
sphenoid  bone. 

CLINO'METER.  (Gr.  k\ivco,  I  bend,  and  utrpov,  a  mea- 
sure.) An  instrument  for  measuring  the  dip  of  mineral 
strata.     (Geol.  Trans,   vol.  iii.) 

CLI'O.  (Gr.  (tXtio),  /  celebrate.)  In  Mythology,  the 
muse  who  was  usually  supposed  to  preside  over  history, 
thoush  she  sometimes  invaded  the  province  of  her  sister 
Calliope,  the  goddess  of  epic  poetry.  In  his  magnificent 
ode  (Book  1.  Ode  12.)  addressed  to  Augustus,  Horace  in- 


CLOACA. 

•vokes  Clio  as  the  patroness  of  the  flute  or  the  lyre,  or  in 
other  words  of  lyric  poetry  :  — 

Q.uem  viruxn  aut  heroa  lyra  vel  acri 

Tibia  sumea  ceiebraie,  (.  lio,  &c 

Clio.  In  Zoology,  applied  by  Linnsus  to  a  genus  of 
Vermes,  and  by  Cuvier  to  a  genus  of  Pteropodous  Mollusks ; 
one  species  of  which,  the  Clio  borealis,  abounds  in  the 
northern  seas  ;  and  although  not  exceeding  an  inch  in 
length,  it  forms  a  great  proportion  of  the  food  of  the  whale- 
bone whale,  Balaam  mysticetus. 

CLOA'CA.  (Lat.)  The  excrementory  cavity  in  which, 
in  birds,  reptiles,  many  fishes,  and  some  mammals,  the 
intestinal  canal,  urinary  ducts,  and  genital  passages  ter- 
minate. 

CLOCK.     See  Horology'. 

CLOI'STER.  (Lat.  claustrum.)  In  Architecture,  an 
arcade  or  colonnade  round  an  open  court. 

CLOSE.     In  Music.     See  Cadence. 

Close.     A  small  field,  enclosed  or  hedged  about. 

CLO'SE  HAULED  ;  that  is,  the  tacks  close  down,  the 
sheets  aft,  the  yards  braced  sharp  up,  and  the  bowlines 
hauled,  the  ship  making  her  progress  as  near  the  direction 
of  the  wind  as  she  can. 

CLO'SERS.  In  Architecture,  the  pieces  (or  bats),  less 
or  greater  than  half  a  brick,  that  are  used  to  close  in  the 
end  of  a  course  of  brickwork.  In  English  as  well  as  Fle- 
mish bond  (see  Bond),  the  length  of  a  brick  being  but  nine 
inches  and  its  width  four  inches  and  a  half,  in  order  that 
the  vertical  joint  may  be  broken  at  the  end  of  the  first 
stretcher,  a  quarter  brick  (or  bat)  must  be  interposed  to 
preserve  the  continuity  of  the  bond ;  this  is  called  a  queen 
closer.  A  similar  preservation  of  the  bond  may  be  ob- 
tained by  inserting  a  three-quarter  bat  at  the  angle  in  the 
stretching  course  ;  this  is  called  a  king  closer.  In  both 
cases  a  horizontal  lap  of  two  inches  and  a  half  is  left  for 
the  next  header. 

CLOUD.  A  visible  mass  or  collection  of  minute  parti- 
cles of  water  suspended  in  the  atmosphere.  Clouds  differ 
from  fogs  or  mists  only  in  occupying  a  more  elevated  posi- 
tion ;  in  all  cases  the  origin  is  the  same,  namely,  the  va- 
pours which  rise  from  collections  of  water,  and  indeed  from 
the  whole  surface  of  the  earth.  These  aqueous  vapours 
are  condensed  in  the  higher  and  colder  regions  of  the  at- 
mosphere, and  thus  lose  their  transparency  and  become 
visible.  Clouds  differ  very  greatly  in  respect  of  form, 
magnitude,  density,  &c.  These  differences  depend  on  the 
quantity  of  vapour  of  which  they  are  composed,  and  the 
situations  which  they  take  as  they  unite  with  one  another ; 
and  are  determined  in  a  great  measure  by  the  direction 
and  velocity  of  the  motion  communicated  to  them  by  the 
wind.  The  height  at  which  they  float  in  the  atmosphere  is 
determined  by  their  specific  gravity,  and  consequently 
varies  with  their  density.  Thin  light  clouds  are  observed 
higher  than  the  summits  of  the  loftiest  mountains,  while 
those  which  are  dense  and  thick  rise  only  to  a  small  dis- 
tance above  the  surface  of  the  earth.  It  is  very  difficult  to 
determine  their  average  elevation  :  it  is  supposed  to  be  be- 
tween two  and  three  miles,  but  it  varies  at  different  times 
of  the  year. 

Clouds  were  distributed  by  Mr.  Luke  Howard  into  three 
primary  formations, — the  Cirrus,  the  Cumulus,  and  the 
Stratus.  But  besides  these  he  admitted  four  other  varie- 
ties,—the  Cirro-cumulus,  the  Cirro-stratus,  the  Cumulo- 
stratus  and  the  Cimiulo-cirrostratus  or  Nimbus.  The  Cir- 
rus consists  of  fibres  or  curling  streaks,  which  diverge  in 
all  directions.  It  occupies  the  highest  region,  and  is  fre- 
quently the  first  cloud  which  is  seen  after  a  continuance  of 
clear  weather.  The  Cumulus  is  a  convex  aggregate  of 
watery  particles,  increasing  upwards  from  a  horizontal 
base,  and  assuming  more  or  less  of  a  conical  figure.  The 
Stratus  consists  of  horizontal  layers,  and  comprehends 
fogs  and  mists.  It  is  the  lowest  of  the  clouds,  its  under 
surface  usually  resting  on  the  earth  or  water.  The  Cirro- 
cumulus  is  intermediate  between  the  cirrus  and  cumulus, 
and  is  composed  of  small  well-defined  masses  closely  ar- 
ranged. The  Cirro-stratus,  intermediate  between  the  cir- 
rus and  stratus,  consists  of  horizontal  masses  separated 
into  groups,  with  which  the  sky  is  sometimes  so  mottled 
as  to  suggest  the  idea  of  resemblance  to  the  back  of  the 
mackerel.  The  prevalence  of  the  cirro-stratus  is  usually 
followed  by  bad  weather.  The  Cumulo-stratus,  or  twain 
cloud,  partakes  of  the  appearance  of  the  cumulus  and 
stratus  or  cirro-stratus.  The  Nimbus,  or  rain  cloud,  is 
that  into  which  the  others  resolve  themselves  when  rain 
falls. 

The  above  nomenclature  is  sufficiently  fanciful ;  never- 
theless it  enables  the  meteorologist  to  convey  more  pre- 
cise ideas  in  describing  the  diversified  forms  under  which 
masses  of  clouds  present  themselves  and  their  connection 
with  the  changes  of  the  weather.  These  forms  are,  how- 
ever, frequently  so  indefinite  and  shapeless,  that  it  is  diffi- 
cult, if  not  impossible,  to  refer  them  to  any  one  of  the  pre- 
ceding modifications.  A  tendency,  however,  to  one  or 
other  of  them  may  in  general  be  traced,  (.Howard's  Ar- 
242 


COAL. 

rangement  and  Nomenclature  of  Clouds,  in  the  16th  and 
17th  vols,  of  the  Philosophical  Magazine  ;  Foster  on  Atmo- 
spheric Phenomena  ;  Murray's  Encyclopedia  of  Geography, 
p.  168;  Companion  to  the  British  Almanac  lor  1830,  &c. 
See  also  Button's  Meteorological  Essays,  1703  ) 

CLOU'TED  or  CLO'TTED  CREAM.  The  cream  pro- 
duced  on  the  surface  of  milk  by  setting  a  pan  of  new  milk 
on  a  hot  hearth  is  so  named.  It  is  chiefly  used  as  a  kind 
of  entremet,  and,  when  mixed  with  new  milk,  is  eaten 
along  with  fmit  pies,  strawberries,  raspberries,  &c.  :  it  is 
also  eaten  without  milk,  spread  on  bread. 

CLOVES.  (Lat.  clavus,  a  nail.)  The  smaller  bulbs 
formed  in  the  axilla?  of  the  scales  of  a  mother  bulb,  as  in 
garlic. 

Cloves.  The  unexpanded  flower-buds  of  the  Caryo- 
phyllus  aromaticus,  a  low  branching  tree  cultivated  in  the 
Dutch  settlements  in  India.  The  finest  cloves  are  from 
Amboyna;  they  are  of  a  bright  brown  colour,  extremely 
fragrant,  and  hot  and  acrid  upon  the  tongue ;  they  abound 
in  essential  oil,  which  may  be  pressed  out  of  their  pores 
by  the  nail,  and  which  is  generally  obtained  by  distillation 
with  water,  to  the  amount  of  from  15  to  20  per  cent.  It  is 
sold  in  commerce  under  the  name  of  oil  of  cloves,  and 
chiefly  used  in  medicine,  and  occasionally  in  perfumery. 
The  fruit  of  the  clove  tree  was  employed  in  old  pharmacy 
under  the  name  of  anthophylli. 

CLUBS.     See  Societies. 

CLUB  MOSS.  (Lycopodium  clavatvm.)  The  seeds  of 
this  moss,  which  are  very  minute,  and  resemble  an  impal- 
pable yellow  powder,  are  used  in  theatres  to  imitate  light- 
ning; when  thrown  across  a  flame,  they  produce  a  sudden 
flare  :  they  contain  a  peculiar  nil. 

CLUMP.  A  mass  of  trees  or  shrubs,  or  both,  generally 
roundish  and  compact  in  its  outline,  and  always  small  as 
compared  with  extensive  plantations.  The  word  appears 
to  have  been  first  used  in  planting  and  gardening  in  the 
time  of  the  celebrated  landscape  gardener  Brown,  about 
the  middle  of  the  18th  century.  Brown  distributed  bis 
clumps  at  irregular  distances  over  the  entire  surface  of 
any  piece  of  ground  that  was  intended  to  be  made  a  park  ; 
surrounding  the  park  at  the  same  time  with  a  belt  of  plan- 
tation. The  intention  of  Brown  in  planting  these  clumps 
was  to  nurse  up  a  few  trees  in  each  clump,  which  should 
remain  as  groups  or  single  objects  after  all  the  other  trees 
of  the  clump  were  removed  ;  bui  as  thinning  and  the  re- 
moval of  the  boundary  fence  of  these  clumps  very  seldom 
took  place,  they  have  grown  up  in  most  cases  deformities 
rather  than  beauties.  The  term  clump  as  applied  to  a 
plantation  has  long  since  become  one  of  reproach. 

Clump.     The  compressed  clay  of  coal  strata. 

CLYPEA'STER.  (Lat.  clypeus,  a  buckler,  and  astrum, 
a  star.)  A  genus  of  sea-urchins  (Echinida)  of  a  flattened, 
shield-like  form,  with  a  submarginal  vent.  This  genus  is 
termed  Echinanthus  by  Klein. 

CLY'PEATE.  (Lat.  clypeus.)  Shield-like  :  it  is  the 
same  as  scutate. 

CLY'SSUS.  An  alchemical  name  for  the  water  obtain- 
ed by  deflagrating  nitre  with  charcoal:  the  vessels  were 
generally  burst  in  the  operation ;  but  when  it  succeeded 
the  few  drops  of  water  obtained  were  highly  prized  for 
medical  use. 

COACE'RVATE.  (Lat.  con,  together,  and  acervus,  a 
heap.)  Accumulated.  A  term  applied  by  older  physiolo- 
gists to  certain  secretions  or  excretions  long  retained. 

COADJU'TOR.  In  Ecclesiastical  matters,  the  assistant 
of  a  bishop  or  other  prelate  (in  some  instances  even  of  a 
canon  or  prebendary,  but  the  latter  usage  was  irregular). 
These  assistants,  in  France  and  other  countries,  were  in 
stituted  by  the  pope.  A  coadjutor  was  equal  in  rank  to  the 
dignitary  whose  functions  he  might  on  occasion  supply  ; 
hence  the  coadjutor  of  a  bishop  was  himself  consecrated  a 
bishop  in  partialis  infidelium.  The  celebrated  Cardinal  de 
Retz  was  known  by 'the  title  of  the  Coadjutor  of  Paris  dur- 
ing the  most  active  period  of  his  career,  having  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  temporalities  of  that  see,  which  belonged  to 
his  uncle  the  Archbishop  de  Retz.  Coadjutors  usually 
succeeded  their  principals  in  their  dignities ;  and  hence 
arose  an  abuse  which  tended  towards  making  ecclesiasti- 
cal dignities  hereditary,  nephews  and  other  relatives  of 
bishops  being  named  their  coadjutors.  The  institution  of 
coadjutors  to  bishoprics  is  preserved  by  the  French  con- 
cordat of  1801. 

COA'DUNATE.  (Lat.  con,  ad,  and  una,  together.)  Two 
or  more  parts  joined  together. 

COAL.  (Germ,  kohle.)  This  highly  important  substance 
is  found  in  bedsorstratain  thatgroupofthe  secondary  rocks 
which  includes  the  red  sandstone  and  mountain  lime- 
stone formations,  and  which  is  commonly  called  the  car- 
boniferous group,  or  coal  measures.  From  the  peculiarities 
of  their  deposition  they  are  often  spoken  of  under  the 
names  of  coal  basins,  and  coal  fields.  There  are  two  or 
three  points,  and  those  of  much  theoretical  importance, 
respecting  the  origin  of  coal,  on  which  geological  authori- 
ties are  nearly  unanimous.     The  one  is,  that  our  present 


COBALT. 

coal  is  exclusively  of  vegetable  origin,  formed  apparently 
from  the  destruction  of  vast  forests  ;  and  the  prodigious 
quantities  of  timber  drifted  by  some  of  the  great  rivers  of 
the  world  into  the  present  ocean  render  it  not  improbable 
that  a  similar  formation  may  now  be  carrying  on  in  the 
depths  of  certain  parts  of  the  sea.  Secondly,  from  the 
nature  of  the  preserved  vegetables  it  appears  probable  that 
the  climate  of  these  parts  was  not  merely  tropical,  but  ul- 
txatropical.  It  may  also  be  inferred  that  the  coal  strata 
were  deposited  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  often  probably 
upon  the  verge,  of  extensive  tracts  of  dry  land  ;  for  the 
trees  that  are  found  in  coal  strata  are  often  like  those  of 
our  submarine  forests,  as  far  as  position  goes.  And, 
finally,  the  deposits  of  coal  appear  afterwards  to  have  been 
elevated,  and  often  singularly  dislocated  and  contorted  by 
forces  acting  from  below,  and  probably  of  a  volcanic  na- 
ture. 

In  some  coal  fields  there  are  appearances  which  justify 
the  term  coal  basin  :  they  are  of  limited  extent,  frequently 
dip  as  it  were  to  a  common  centre,  and  consist  of  various 
beds  of  sandstone,  shale,  and  coal,  irregularly  stratified; 
and  sometimes  mixed  with  conglomerates,  showing  a  me- 
chanical origin. 

That  these  deposites  have  taken  place,  and  that  the 
change  of  wood  into  coal  has  often  been  effected  under 
great  pressure,  and  often  under  pressure  and  heat,  seems 
evident  from  the  appearance  of  some  of  the  vegetable 
masses,  and  also  from  the  manner  in  which  the  carburet- 
ted  hydrogen  escapes  in  the  form  of  blowers  and  eructa- 
tions from  the  strata,  as  if  pent  up  in  their  cavities  under 
vast  condensation,  and'  evep  sometimes,  perhaps,  in  a  li- 
quid form. 

Though  there  are  often  many  beds  and  seams  of  coal 
in  one  field,  it  is  seldom  that  many  of  them  are  worked. 
They  are  generally  of  uniform  thickness  through  a  great 
extent,  but  are  sometimes  subject  to  irregularities.  When 
less  than  two  feet  thick  they  are  seldom  worked  to  any 
great  extent.  The  nature  of  the  upper  stratum,  or  stony 
matter  of  the  roof,  is  very  important :  if  compact,  it  is  se- 
cure from  falling,  and  keeps  out  water;  if  loose,  the  ex- 
pense  incurred  in  supporting  it  absorbs  the  profits  of  the 
coal. 

The  deepest  coal  mines  in  England  are  those  of  North- 
umberland and  Durham,  which  are  worked  nearly  1000 
feet  below  the  surface.  The  thickest  bed  of  coal  is  said 
to  be  at  Wood  Mill  Hill  colliery  in  Staffordshire,  and  to 
exceed  40  feet.  From  6  to  9  feet  is  the  average  thickness 
of  the  most  productive  scams.  The  coal  generally  most 
esteemed  is  that  of  the  northern  districts, — Northumber- 
land, Durham,  and  Yorkshire.  It  abounds  in  bitumen, 
softens  and  swells  in  the  fire,  and  throws  out  jets  of 
flame  ;  it  coheres,  and  therefore  burns  hollow  and  re- 
quires poking;  it  furnishes  cinders,  and  hut  little  ash. 
Most  of  the  coal  from  the  west  of  England  blazes  and 
burns  briskly,  being  much  more  easily  kindled  than  the 
other;  it  requires  no  poking,  because  it  has  no  tendency 
to  cake ;  it  affords  no  cinders,  and  leaves  a  dusty  white 
ash.  Culm  contains  scarcely  any  bitumen  ;  it  abounds  in 
earthy  matter,  and  somewhat  resembles  had  coke. 

Coal  is  the  most  valuable  of  all  the  mineral  substances 
from  which  Britain  derives  her  prosperity,  and,  indeed, 
may  be  regarded  as  the  main  support  of  the  whole  system 
of  British  production.  It  fuses  the  metals,  produces  the 
steam  which  sets  the  machinery  in  motion,  and,  in  short, 
may  be  said  to  render  all  the  resources  of  that  country 
available  for  use.  The  annual  consumption  of  coal, 
throughout  the  British  Empire,  is  estimated  at  28,575.01  H3 
tons.  The  coal  trade  aives  occupation  to  nearly  200,000 
persons.  In  1835,  the  total  quantity  of  coal  shipped  was 
7.190.433  tons:  of  which,  from  the  Tyne  and  Wear, 
4,6-28,000;  South  Wales,  1,228,300;  Whitehaven,  395,000.' 
The  export  was  2,449,417  tons,  chiefly  to  Ireland,  France, 
the  Netherlands,  Germany,  Denmark,  British  America, 
and  the  United  States.  The  imports  into  London  in  1839 
amounted  to  2,638,256  tons,  carried  by  7,500  vessels.  (See 
Holland's  History  and  Description  of  Fossil  Fuel,  the  Col- 
lieries, and  Coal  Trade  of  Great  Britain.  8vo.  2nd  edi- 
tion. 1°41.) 

CO'BALT.  (Germ,  kobold,  aderil.)  A  term  applied  to 
this  metal  by  the  German  miners,  who  considered  it  unfa- 
vourable to  the  presence  of  the  more  important  metals. 

Cobalt  is  a  brittle  metal  of  a  reddish  grey  colour ;  its 
specific  gravity  is  7  8.  It  fuses  at  a  temperature  a  little 
below  that  required  for  the  fusion  of  iron.  It  is  magnetic. 
When  heated  red  hot,  and  freely  exposed  to  air,  cobalt 
absorbs  oxygen.  Its  equivalent  number  is  30  ;  and  the  sa- 
lifiable, or  protoxide  of  cobalt,  consists  of  30  cobalt  +  8 
oxygen  =  38  oxide  of  cobalt.  The  oxide  of  cobalt  is  nearly 
black;  but  when  in  the  state  of  hydrate,  or  when  largely 
diluted  by  fusion  with  glass  or  borax,  it  produces  its  char- 
acteristic blue  colour;  and  as  this  colour  is  permanent  at 
very  high  temperatures,  it  is  an  invaluable  article  in  the 
manufacture  of  porcelain  and  pottery,  all  the  blue  colours 
of  which  are  derived  from  oxide  of  cobalt.  When  fused 
243 


COCHLEAN. 

with  glass  it  communicates  a  blue  tint  without  Impairing 
its  transparency.  A  very  deep  blue  glass  of  this  kind 
when  finely  powdered  acquires  a  pale  and  brilliant  colour, 
and  is  called  smalt.  Impure  oxide  of  cobalt  is  known  in 
commerce  under  the  name  of  zaffre.  Cobalt  is  said  by 
Stromeyer  to  exist  in  all  meteoric  iron,  although  in  very 
small  quantity.  In  its  ores  it  is  always  associated  with 
arsenic,  and  zaffre  is  prepared  by  roasting  these  native  ar- 
seniurets  of  cobalt. 

CO'BBLES.  Lumps  of  coal  from  the  size  of  an  egg  to 
that  of  a  football. 

COBI'TIS.  (Lat.  cobio,  a  gudgeon.)  A  genus  of  soft- 
finned  fishes,  belonging  to  the  Cyprinidre  or  carp  family  ; 
and  characterized  by  a  small  head  ;  an  elongated  body ; 
the  skin  covered  with  small  scales  ;  ventral  tins  placed 
far  backwards,  with  one  small  dorsal  fin  above  them  ; 
mouth  small  and  toothless  ;  gill-openings  very  small,  and 
with  three  rays.  Of  this  genus  the  loche  (Cobilis  Oarbatu- 
la)  inhabits  the  clear  running  streams  of  Britain.  The 
pond  loche  'Cobitis  fossilis)  is  a  larger  species.  It  is  re- 
markably sensitive  to  atmospheric  changes,  and  when 
confined  in  a  glass-globe  may  be  observed  to  sink  to  the 
bottom  in  a  state  of  quiescence  when  the  weather  is  cold 
and  gloomy;  but  in  boisterous  weather  it  comes  to  the 
surface  and  swims  about  with  great  rapidity.  It  also  swal- 
lows air,  which  it  discharges  from  the  vent,  partly  con- 
verted into  carbonic  acid  gas. 

CO'BLE.  A  small  boat  or  canoe,  used  chiefly  on  the 
rivers  and  lakes  of  Wales,  and  the  borders. 

CO'B-WALLS.  Walls  formed  of  mud  mixed  with 
straw ;  not  uncommon  in  some  districts  of  England. 
The  best  cob-walls  are  in  Somersetshire. 

COCCINE'LLA.  (Dim.  of  LaL  coccinus,  crimson.)  A 
genus  of  Trimerous  Coleopterous  insects,  including  many 
small  species,  usually  ornamented  with  scarlet  spots,  and 
familiarly  known  as  ladybirds,  lady-cows,  <Scc.  In  France 
these  small  beetles  are  dedicated  to  the  Virgin,  and  called 
Betes  de  la  Vierge.  Tiiey  are,  in  fact,  of  great  service  to 
t lie  agriculturist,  and  especially  to  the  hop-grower;  for 
they  destroy  the  Aphides,  or  plant-lice,  in  vast  numbers, 
feeding  on  them  both  in  the  larva  and  perfect  state. 

CO'Ct  OL1TE.  (Gr.  kokkos,  a  grain,  and  X1G05,  stone.) 
A  mineral  of  a  concretional  or  granular  texture. 

COCCOO'N.  The  silken  case  which  the  larvae  of  cer- 
tain insects  spin  for  the  purpose  of  a  covering  during  the 
period  of  their  metamorphosis,  and  which  some  spiders 
prepare  as  a  protection  to  their  ova  during  the  develope- 
ment  of  the  young.  The  cod  or  coccoon  of  the  silk-worm 
is  a  well-known  example  of  the  most  valuable  of  these  pro- 
ductions. 

CO'CCULUS  INDICUS.  The  fruit  of  the  Mmupermum 
cocculus,  imported  from  the  East  Indies.  It  contains  a 
nous  principle,  which  has  been  termed  picrotoxia. 
It  is  often  used  to  poison  fishes:  a  few  handfuls  of  it 
ground  into  coarse  powder,  and  thrown  into  a  pond,  bring 
the  fish,  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours,  to  the  surface  in  an 
intoxicated  or  poisoned  state  ;  but  if  quickly  removed  into 
fresh  water,  they  recover.  It  is  sometimes  added  to  ale 
to  increase  its  stupefying  quality. 

CO'CCTM.  'Gt.kokkwv,  a  pomegranate  stone.)  A'erm 
invented  by  Gaertner  to  denote  a  pericarp  of  dry  elastic 
pieces  or  cocci,  as  in  Diosnia,  &c. 

CO'CCTJS.  (Lat.  coccus,  scarlet  cloth.)  A  name  given 
by  Linnaeus  to  a  genus  of  Hemipterous  insects,  including 
the  Mexican  species,  the  cochineal  insect  (Coccus  carti, 
L),  which  feeds  on  Cactece,  and  which  affords  the  well- 
known  fine  red  dye. 

CO'CHINEAL.  The  Coccus  cacti.  This  valuable  in- 
sect was  first  introduced  into  Europe  about  the  year  1523. 
It  is  imported  from  Mexico  and  New  Spain.  It  feeds  on 
several  species  of  cactus.  It  is  small,  rugose,  and  of  a 
deep  mulberry  colour.  They  are  scraped  from  the  plants 
into  bags,  killed  by  boiling  water,  and  dried  in  the  sun. 
Those  are  preferred  which  are  plump,  of  a  peculiar  sil- 
very appearance,  and  which  yield  a  brilliant  crimson  when 
rubbed  to  powder.  Cochineal  is  sometimes  adulterated 
by  the  admixture  of  a  manufactured  article  composed  of 
coloured  dough.  This  is  detected  by  the  action  of  boiling 
water,  which  dissolves  and  disintegrates  the  imitation,  but 
has  little  effect  upon  the  real  insect.  The  principal  com- 
ponent of  cochineal  is  a  peculiar  colouring  matter,  which 
has  been  called  carminium  and  cochinelia.  It  is  obtained 
by  digesting  the  powder  of  cochineal  first  in  ether,  which 
takes  up  fat,  and  then  in  alcohol,  which  dissolves  the  co- 
chinelia. Acids  change  its  colour  from  crimson  to  an 
orange  red,  and  alkalies  turn  it  violet.  When  mixed  with 
recently  precipitated  aluminous  earth,  it  forms  a  beautiful 
lake.  Cochineal  yields  a  brilliant  scarlet  dye,  which  is 
produced  by  fixing  the  colouring  matter  of  the  insect  by  a 
mordant  of  alumina  and  oxide  of  tin,  and  exalting  the  co- 
lour by  the  action  of  supertartrate  of  potash. 

CO'CHLEAN.  (Lat.  cochlear,  a  spoon.)  A  term  used 
in  describing  the  aestivation  of  a  flower,  to  express  one 
piece  being  larger  than  the  others,  and  hollowed  like  a 


COCHLEARE. 

helmet  or  bowl,  covering  all  the  others,  as  in  Aconitum, 
&c. 

COCHLEARE.  A  spoon;  the  bowls  of  spoons  being 
formerly  made  of  the  shape  of  a  cockle- shell,  and  often 
fluted. 

CO'CHLEA'TE.  (Lat.  cochlea,  a  shell,  a  cockle.)  A  term 
used  in  describing  the  general  form  of  bodies,  to  denote 
any  that  are  twisted  in  a  short  spire,  so  as  to  resemble  the 
convolutions  of  a  snail-shell;  as  the  pod  of  Medicago  coch- 
leata.  It  also  means  a  concave  body  like  that  of  one  of  the 
valves  of  a  cockle-shell,  as  in  Epidendrwm  cochlealum. 

CO'CKET.  In  Commerce,  a  scroll  of  parchment, 
signed  and  delivered  by  the  officers  of  the  custom-house 
to  merchants  upon  entering  their  goods,  to  certify  that 
their  merchandise  is  customed  and  may  be  discharged. 

CO'CKLE-OAST.  That  part  of  a  hop-kiln  or  oast  where 
the  fire  is  made. 

CO'CK-LOFT.  The  highest  loft,  or  garret,  in  any 
building. 

CO'CKNEY.  A  contemptuous  appellation  of  a  citizen 
of  London.  Various  derivations  have  been  assigned  to 
this  word,  all  of  which  are  more  distinguished  for  ingenuity 
than  probability.  But  whatever  may  be  the  origin  of  the 
term,  its  antiquity  cannot  be  disputed,  as  it  is  mentioned 
in  some  verses  generally  attributed  to  Hugh  Bagot,  Earl  of 
Norfolk,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  : — 

Were  I  in  my  castle  at  Bungey, 

Upon  the  river  of  Waverney, 

1  would  ne  care  for  the  king  of  Cockeney  (i.  e.  of  London,- 

CO'CK-PIT.  The  after  part  of  the  orlop  deck,  or  deck 
below  the  lower  deck,  and  altogether  below  the  water. 
Here,  in  line-of-battle  ships,  are  the  cabins  of  several  of 
the  officers.  The  cock-pit  is  appropriated  to  the  use  of  the 
wounded  in  time  of  action.  There  is  also  a  fore  cock-pit 
in  the  fore  part  of  the  ship,  and  sometimes  an  after  cock- 
pit. 

Cock-Pit  is  the  name  given  to  the  place  where  game 
cocks  fight  their  battles.  The  room  in  Westminster  in 
which  her  Majesty's  privy  council  hold  their  sittings  is 
called  the  cockpit,  from  its  having  been  the  site  of  what 
was  formerly  the  cock-pit  belonging  to  the  palace  at 
Whitehall. 

COCY'TUS.  (Gr.  kukvtos,  lamentation ;  from  kcokvoj, 
I  bewail.)  In  Mythology,  the  river  of  Lamentations,  which 
was  one  of  the  streams  that  washed  the  shores  of  the  my- 
thological hell,  and  prevented  the  imprisoned  souls  from 
returning  to  the  earth.  Milton  alludes  to  it  thus  (Par.  Lost, 
bookii.): 

Cocytus  named  of  lamentations  loud 
Heard  on  the  rueful  stieam. 

CO'DA.  (It.  coda,  a  tail.)  In  Music,  the  passage  at  the 
end  of  a  movement  which  follows  a  lengthened  perfect 
cadence.  In  some  cases  it  consists  of  merely  one  phrase, 
in  others  it  is  carried  to  a  great  extent.  At  the  conclusion 
of  a  canon  or  fugue,  it  often  serves  to  end  the  piece  which 
might  otherwise  be  carried  on  to  infinity. 

CODE  (from  the  Latin  codex,  a  manuscript),  signifies,  in 
the  language  of  jurisprudence,  any  collection  of  laws  di- 
gested and  reduced  into  an  orderly  arrangement,  whether 
by  public  authority  or  by  the  private  labour  of  learned  men. 
But  in  the  ordinary  sense,  the  word  Code  is  only  used  to 
signify  a  compilation  of  laws  by  authority.  Five  collections 
of  Roman  laws  are  designated  by  the  title  of  codes : — that  of 
Sextus  Papirius,  which  only  exists  in  fragments  discovered 
by  various  authors,  but  which  contained  the  laws  of  the 
Roman  kings ;  the  Gregorian,  the  compilation  of  an  un- 
known author,  about  the  reign  of  Constantine  ;  the  Hermo- 
genian,  of  which  the  author  is  also  doubtful,  and  the  date 
nearly  the  same  ;  the  Theodosian,  framed  under  the  order 
of  the  emperor  Theodosius  the  younger,  and  containing  the 
constitutions  of  the  emperors  from  the  time  of  Constantine 
to  his  own  (from  which,  until  the  greater  works  of  Justinian 
became  publicly  known  in  modern  Europe,  the  juriscon- 
sults of  the  dark  ages  drew  the  greater  part  of  their  know- 
ledge of  Roman  law);  and,  lastly,  that  of  Justinian,  a.  d.  529. 
Of  the  codes  of  law  now  recognised  in  modern  states  the 
most  remarkable  are,  in  order  of  time- — the  code  of  Frede- 
ric the  Great  of  Prussia;  that  of  Catherine  of  Russia,  con- 
fined to  criminal  jurisprudence  ;  that  of  Joseph  II.  of  Aus- 
tria; and  the  Code  Napoleon  in  France.  This  title,  though 
sometimes  given  in  general  language  to  all  the  digests  of 
law  made  under  that  emperor,  is  appropriated  by  French 
lawyers  to  the  greatest  of  his  works,  the  Code  Civil.  The 
project  for  this  code  was  drawn  up,  in  1801,  by  five  com- 
missioners, by  them  reported  to  the  Court  of  Cassation, 
and  thence  carried  to  the  Conseil  d'Etat;  in  that  body  it 
was  fully  discussed,  clause  by  clause.  Besides  the  Code 
Civil,  the  written  French  law  comprises  five  other  codes  ; 
viz.  the  Code  Penal ;  the  two  Codes  of  Procedure,  civil  and 
criminal ;  the  Code  de  Commerce  ;  and,  finally,  the  Code 
Forestier,  or  collection  of  laws  relative  to  the  administra- 
tion of  the  woods,  published  in  1827  under  Charles  the 
Tenth. 

244 


COFFER-DAM. 

CODE'INE,  or  CODEIA.  (Gr.  KwSta,  the  poppy  head.) 
An  alkaline  substance,  discovered  in  1S32  by  Robiquet  in 
opium.     It  was  at  first  confounded  with  morphia. 

CODE'TTA.  (Dimin.  of  coda.)  In  Music,  a  short  pas- 
sage which  connects  one  section  with  another,  and  not 
composing  part  of  a  regular  section. 

CO'DEX.  A  manuscript :  in  its  original  sense  (Latin) 
the  inner  bark  of  a  tree,  which  was  used  for  the  purposes 
of  writing.  The  word  was  thence  transferred  by  the  Ro- 
mans to  signify  a  piece  of  writing,  on  whatever  material ; 
e.  g.  with  tile  stylus  on  tablets  lined  with  wax,  or  on  a  roll 
of  parchment  or  paper.  In  modern  Latin,  a  manuscript 
volume.  Codex  rescriptus  or  palimpsestus  is  a  manuscript 
consisting  of  leaves,  from  which  some  earlier  writing  has 
been  erased  in  order  to  afford  room  for  the  insertion  of 
more  recent.  Many  such  codices  exist ;  and  from  the 
imperfect  nature  of  the  erasing  process,  the  earlier  writing 
has  in  some  instances  been  restored.  Considerable  frag- 
ments of  classical  works,  previously  considered  as  lost, 
have  been  thus  recovered  by  the  Abate  Mai  from  among 
the  contents  of  the  Ambrosian  Library  at  Milan. 

CO'DICIL.  (Lat.  codicillus,  diminutive  of  codex,  a 
manuscript.)  In  Law,  an  addition  or  supplement  to  a  will, 
for  the  purpose  of  altering,  explaining,  or  adding  to  its  con- 
tents. Of  codicils,  as  of  wills,  the  latter  prevails  where  it 
contains  provisions  contradictory  to  those  of  a  former. 
By  the  recent  Wills  Act  (1  Vict.  c.  26.),  every  codicil  must 
be  executed  in  the  same  manner  as  is  thereby  made  re- 
quisite in  the  case  of  a  will ;  viz.  signed  by  the  testator  in 
the  presence  of  two  witnesses  at  one  time.     See  Will. 

COEFFICIENT.  In  Algebra,  a  number  or  known 
quantity  prefixed  as  a  multiplier  to  a  variable  or  an  un- 
known quantity.  Thus,  in  the  equation  a  im  +  6  b  in  =  o, 
a  is  the  multiplier  or  coefficient  of  pn,  and  6  b  is  the  coeffi- 
cient of  xn.  When  no  number  or  coefficient  is  prefixed, 
unity  or  1  is  understood.     jS'ee  Equation. 

CCTXACA'NTHIDjE.  (Gr.  koiaoc,  holloip,  and  aicav6os, 
a  spine.)  A  family  of  Ganoid  fishes  in  the  system  of 
Agassiz  ;  so  called  on  account  of  the  species  composing 
it  being  armed  with  hollow  spines.  The  following  inte- 
resting fossil  genera,  Holoptychius  and  Coelacanthus  pro- 
per, belong  to  this  family. 

CCTl'LELMI'NTHA.  (Gr.  koiAoc,  and  tX/zivc,  a  trorm.) 
The  name  of  a  class  of  Entozoa  including  part  of  the  cavi- 
tary intestinal  worms  of  Cuvier,  or  those  which  are  char- 
acterized by  having  an  alimentary  canal  contained  in  a 
distinct  abdominal  cavity. 

CfELE'STINE.  A  mineralogical  name  of  sidphate  of 
strontia  (from  its  blue  tint). 

CCE'LIAC.  (Gr.  jcoiXta,  the  belly.)  A  painful  species 
of  diarrhoea  has  been  by  some  medical  writers  called  the 
cozHac  passion.  The  coeliac  artery  is  the  first  branch  of  the 
aorta  in  the  abdomen. 

C03NA'CULUM.  (Lat.)  In  ancient  Architecture,  the 
eating  or  supper  room  of  the  Romans.  In  the  early  peri- 
ods of  the  Roman  history,  the  upper  story  of  their  houses, 
which  rarely  consisted  of  more  than  two,  seems  to  have 
been  called  by  this  name. 

COZNA'TIO.  (Lat.)  In  ancient  Architecture,  an  apart- 
ment for  taking  refreshment  in  the  lower  part  of  the  Ro- 
man houses. 

CODNO'BIO.  (Gr.  koivo(,  common,  and  /3ws,  life.)  A 
name  invented  by  the  French  botanists,  to  distinguish  that 
class  of  fruits  which  consists  of  two  or  more  carpels 
separate  at  the  apex  and  united  at  the  base,  from  the  mid- 
dle of  which  a  single  style  arises.  It  occurs  in  Lamiacea?, 
&c. 

COS'NOBITE.  (Gr.  koivos,  and  ffios,  life.)  One  who 
lives  under  a  rule  in  a  religious  community,  as  distinguish- 
ed from  an  anchoret  or  hermit,  who  lives  in  solitude.  See 
Anchoret. 

COE'NURE,  Canurus.  (Gr.  koivo;,  and  ovpa,  a  tail.) 
The  hydatid  which  infests  the  brain  of  sheep  is  so  called, 
because  the  dilated  cyst  is  the  common  termination  or 
basis  of  attachment  of  many  heads  and  bodies.  The  dis- 
ease called  "  staggers"  is  produced  by  this  parasite. 

CO'FFEE.  The  berries  of  the  Coffea  arabica.  These, 
when  roasted,  powdered,  and  infused  in  boiling  water, 
yield  the  well-known  beverage  called  coffee.  It  is  exhila- 
rating, and  operates  upon  many  persons  as  an  aperient. 
See  Caffein. 

CO'FFER.  (Sax.  cofre.)  In  Architecture,  a  sunk  panel 
in  vaults  and  domes,  and  also  in  the  soffit  or  under  side  of 
the  Corinthian  cornice,  usually  decorated  in  the  centre 
with  a  flower. 

CO'FFER  DAM.  In  Architecture,  and  Bridge-build- 
ing, a  case  of  piling,  water-tight,  fixed  in  the  bed  of  a 
river  for  the  purpose  of  laying  the  bottom  dry  for  a  space 
large  enough  to  build  the  pier  on.  Coffer-dams  are  formed 
in  various  ways,  either  by  a  single  inclosure  or  a  double 
one,  with  clay  or  chalk  rammed  in  between  the  two  to  pre- 
vent the  water  from  coming  through  the  sides.  They  are 
also  made  either  with  piles  only,  driven  close  together,  and 
sometimes  notched  or  dovetailed  into  one  another;  or, 


COGNIZANCE. 

if  the  water  is  not  very  deep,  by  piles  driven  at  a  distance 
of  five  or  six  feet  from  each  other,  and  grooved  in  the 
sides  with  boards  let  down  between  them  in  the  grooves. 
In  order  to  build  in  coffer-dams  a  very  good  natural 
bottom  of  solid  earth  or  clay  is  required ;  for  though  the 
sides  be  made  water-tight,  if  the  bed  of  the  river  be  of  a 
loose  consistence,  the  water  will  ooze  up  through  it  in  too 
great  a  quantity  to  permit  the  operations  to  be  carried  on. 
It  is  almost  needless  to  remark  that  the  sides  must  be  very 
strong,  and  well  braced  in  the  inside  to  resist  the  pressure 
of  the  ambient  water.     (Hutton's  Tracts,  vol.  i.) 

CO'GMZANCE,  Conusance.  In  Law,  an  acknowledg- 
ment of  a  fine,  of  taking  a  distress,  <tc.  It  also  signifies 
the  power  which  a  court  has  to  hear  and  determine  a  par- 
ticular species  of  suit. 

COGNO'MEN.  In  Antiquities,  the  last  of  the  three 
names  by  which  all  Romans,  at  least  those  of  good  family, 
were  designated.  It  served  to  mark  the  house  (see  Fami- 
lia)  to  which  they  belonged,  as  the  other  two  names,  viz. 
the  pramomen  and  nomen,  served  respectively  to  denote 
the  individual  and  the  class  (see  Gens)  to  which  his  family 
belonged. 

COGNO'VIT.  (Lat.)  In  Law,  is  a  confession  whereby 
a  defendant  admits  that  the  plaintiff's  cause  of  action  against 
him  is  just  (cognovit  actionem),  and  suffers  judgment  to  be 
entered  against  him  without  trial. 

COHESION.  (Lat.  coh<ereo,  I  hold  together.)  In  Na- 
tural Philosophy,  is  the  force  or  attraction  with  which  the 
particles  of  homogeneous  bodies  are  kept  attached  to  each 
other,  or  with  which  they  resist  separation.  Cohesion  is 
thus  distinguished  from  adhesion  :  the  latter  term  denoting 
the  attractive  force  existing  between  two  different  bodies 
brought  into  contact,  as  a  drop  of  water  on  a  plate  ofglaas  : 
or  between  two  bodies  of  the  same  matter,  as  two  lumps 
of  lead,  when  their  smooth  surfaces  have  been  pressed  to- 
gether. The  three  different  forms  which  matter  assumes, 
— solid,  liquid,  and  gaseous, — are  determined  by  the  degree 
of  cohesive  force  existing  among  the  elementary  particles. 
In  solids  this  force  is  great,  and,  in  (act,  is  that  which  cau- 
ses solidity  ;  in  liquids  it  is  less  powerful,  but  still  suffici- 
ently manifest  in  the  drops  or  globular  form  assumed  by 
small  quantities  of  water  or  mercury  poured  on  a  table. 
In  the  case  of  aeriform  fluids  it  may  be  regarded  as  nega- 
tive, the  particles  having  a  tendency  to  repel  each  other. 
The  cohesive  force  of  the  elementary  particles  of  matter 
depends  on  the  distances  of  the  particles  from  each  other; 
but  of  the  law  according  to  which  its  intensity  increases  or 
diminishes  nothing  is  known,  excepting  that  the  force  de- 
creases rapidly  as  the  distance  increases,  and  vanishes  al- 
together when  the  distance  becomes  so  great  as  to  be  ap- 
preciable to  the  senses. 

It  is  a  problem  of  very  gTeat  importance  to  determine 
the  cohesive  power  of  the  materials  employed  in  mechani- 
cal structures.  Numerous  experiments  have  been  made 
for  this  purpose  ;  and  their  results  have  not  only  a  practi- 
cal utility,  but  throw  much  light  on  the  constitution  of  bo- 
dies. When  a  bar  of  metal,  a  beam  of  wood,  or  a  rope,  is 
stretched  lenethwise,  the  tension  which  it  bears,  or  the  co- 
hesive power  evolved,  is  equal  to  the  accumulated  attrac- 
tion of  all  the  particles  in  any  transverse  section.  The 
longitudinal  distension  which  lakes  place  before  disrupture 
is  at  first  proportional  to  this  attraction,  but  afterwards  in- 
creases in  a  more  rapid  progression.  "  A  bar  of  soft  iron 
will  stretch  uniformly  by  continuing  to  append  to  it  equal 
weights  till  it  be  loaded  with  half  as  much  as  it  can  bear  : 
beyond  that  limit,  however,  its  extension  will  become 
doubled  by  each  addition  of  the  eighth  part  of  the  disrup- 
tive force.  Suppose  the  bar  to  be  an  inch  square,  and  1000 
inches  in  length  ;  36,000  lbs.  avoirdupois  will  draw  it  out 
one  inch,  but  45,000  lbs.  will  stretch  it  2  inches,  54,000  lbs.  4 
inches,  63,000  lbs.  8  inches,  and  72,000  lbs.  16  inches,  where 
it  would  finally  break."     (Leslie's  Xat.  Philosophy.') 

The  following  is  a  tabular  view  of  the  absolute  cohesion 
of  the  principal  kinds  of  timber  employed  in  building  and 
carpentry,  showing  the  load  which  would  rend  a  prism  of 
an  inch  square,  and  the  length  of  the  prism  which,  if  sus- 
pended, would  be  torn  asunder  by  its  own  weight : — 

Teak       ....  12,915  lbs.  —  36.049  feet 

Oak         ....  11,880  —  32.900 

Sycamore       -        -        -  9,630  —  35,800 

Beech     ....  12.225  —  38,940 

Ash         ....  14.130  —  42,080 

Elm         ....  9,720  —  39,050 

Memel  fir        .        -        -  9,540  —  40,500 

Christiana  deal      -        -  12,346  —  55,500 

Larch     ....  12.240  —  42,160 

The  above  numbers  must  be  regarded  as  only  approxi- 
mative, and  representing  the  average  cohesive  force  of  the 
different  kinds  of  wood  specified  ;  for  the  force  differs 
greatly  in  different  specimens  of  the  same  sort,  and  even 
in  different  parts  of  the  same  timber.  Thus  in  the  tables 
given  by  Professor  Barlow  of  experiments  on  the  direct 
cohesion  of  different  woods,  we  find  the  weight  required 
245 


Cast  steel 

Swedish  malleable  iron 

English  ditto 

Cast  iron 

Cast  copper  - 

Yellow  brass 

Cast  tin  ... 

Cast  lead 


COINAGE. 

to  tear  asunder  a  prism  of  an  inch  square  varying  as  un- 
der:—Fir,  from  11,000  to  13,448  lbs.  :  ash,  from  15,784  to 
17,850  lbs. ;  oak,  from  8,839  to  12,008  lbs.  ;  teak,  from 
14,662  to  15,405  lbs. ;  pear,  from  8,834  to  11,537  lbs.,  <kc. 
(Barlotc  on  the  Strength  of  Materials,  1837.) 

The  metals  differ  more  widely  from  each  other  in  their 
cohesive  strength  than  the  several  species  of  wood  or  ve- 
getable fibres.  According  to  the  experiments  of  Mr. 
George  Rennie  in  1817,  the  cohesive  power  of  a  rod  an 
inch  square  of  different  metals,  in  pounds  avoirdupois, 
with  the  corresponding  length  in  feet,  is  as  follows  :— 

134.256  lbs.  —  39,455  feet 
7<;,064  —  19,740 
55,872  —  19.740 
19.(196  —  6.110 
19.072  —  5.093 
17,958  —  5JS0 
4,736  —    1,496 

1,824  —  348 
It  is  difficult  to  measure  directly  the  cohesion  of  fluids 
(and  it  is  very  considerably  affected  by  the  temperature) ; 
but  an  approximation  may  be  derived  from  the  magnitude 
of  drops,  and  the  thickness  of  liquid  sheets,  heaped  upon 
a  horizontal  surface.  In  this  view,  says  Professor  Leslie, 
let  us  trace  the  formation  of  a  drop  of  water  as  it  slowly 
collects  at  the  end  of  a  capillary  siphon.  The  mutual  at- 
traction of  the  particles  always  rounds  the  under  part  of 
the  pendant  fluid,  which  continues  to  lengthen  till  its  accu- 
mulating weight  begins  to  overcome  the  cohesion  of  the 
particles.  But  this  force  being  75  grains  for  each  horizontal 
square  inch,  while  a  cubical  inch  of  water  weighs  2521; 
grains,  must  correspond  to  the  pull  of  a  cylinder  of  18 
inch  high,  which  will  influence  also  the  breadth  of  the  pen- 
dant liquid.  Beyond  this  limit  a  separation  will  ensue, 
when  the  cylinder  merges  into  a  sphere  a  little  wider,  or 
about  2-10ths  of  an  inch  diameter. 

The  cohesion  among  the  particles  of  alcohol  and  of  sul- 
phuric acid  being  respectively  the  fifth  part  of  215  and  460 
grains,  the  weight  of  a  cubic  inch  of  each  of  these  fluids,  a 
drop  of  them  should  measure  17  of  an  inch  in  diameter. 
The  cohesive  force  of  quicksilver  at  the  ordinary  tempera- 
ture amounts  to  312  grains  on  each  horizontal  inch,  while 
a  cubic  inch  of  it  weighs  3424  grains  ;  the  drop  must  sepa- 
rate when  its  mean  depth  approaches  to  the  9- 100th  part 
of  an  inch.     (Elements  of  Kat.  Philosophy,  p.  369.) 

With  respect  to  the  ultimate  agent  by  which  the  effects 
of  cohesion  are  produced,  it  is  remarked  by  Dr.  T.  Young, 
that  if  it  is  allowable  to  seek  for  any  other  agent  than  a 
fundamental  property  of  matter,  appearances  extremely 
similar  mi;;ht  be  derived  from  the  pressure  of  a  universal 
medium  of  great  elasticity.  But  all  suppositions  founded 
on  such  analogies  must  be  considered  as  merely  conjectu- 
ral ;  and  our  knowledge  of  every  thing  which  relates  to  the 
intimate  constitution  of  matter,  partly  from  the  intricacy 
of  the  subject,  and  partly  for  want  of  sufficient  experiments, 
is  at  present  in  a  state  of  great  uncertainty  and  imperfec- 
tion. (  Young's  Lectures  on  Nat.  Philosojihy,  vol.  i.  p.  630.) 
.See  Strenoth  of  Materials. 

COHOBA'TION.  The  repeated  distillation  of  the  same 
liquid  from  the  same  materials.  The  term  was  invented 
by  Paracelsus. 

CO'HORT.  The  tenth  part  of  a  Roman  legion.  (See 
Legion.)  The  Prntorian  cohort  was  a  body  of  picked 
troops  who  attended  the  general,  and  was  first  instituted 
by  Scipio  Africanus. 

COI'NAGE.  Vnder  this  term  we  shall  give  a  brief  out- 
line of  the  proceedings  in  reference  to  the  manufacture  of 
coin,  as  carried  on  in  the  Royal  Mint  of  London. 

When  a  parcel  of  gold  is  brouaht  to  the  mint  in  ingots, 
they  are  deposited  with  the  master's  assay-master,  who 
makes  an  assay  of  each  ingot ;  and  when  he  is  ready  to 
deliver  his  reports  upon  them,  the  importers  are  required 
to  attend  at  the  mint,  where  the  weigher  and  teller  reads 
over  the  said  reports  to  them.  They  are  then  recorded  in 
the  journals  of  the  master,  comptroller,  and  master's  first 
clerk  and  melter;  and  a  mint  bill  is  given  to  the  importer, 
certifying  the  weight,  fineness,  and  value  of  the  ingots,  and 
signed  by  the  deputy  master,  comptroller,  and  king's  (or 
queen's)  clerk,  which  bill  is  returned  upon  the  delivery  of 
the  bullion  to  the  importers  in  the  state  of  coin.  The  bul- 
lion is  then  delivered  to  the  melter,  who,  guided  by  the  as- 
sayer's  report,  adds  either  alloy  or  fine  gold  (when  either 
are  required),  so  as  to  reduce  the  mass  to  standard  fineness 
(that  is,  22  parts  of  pure  gold  and  2  of  alloy),  and  melts  and 
casts  the  metal  into  bars  of  convenient  form  for  rolling  ; 
each  bar,  when  intended  for  coinage  in  sovereigns,  being 
an  inch  and  a  half  by  one  inch  square,  and  about  two  feet 
in  length,  and  weighing  about  26  pounds.  A  piece  is  then 
taken  from  each  extremity  of  each  bar  and  delivered  to  the 
king's  assay-master,  whose  duty  it  is  to  ascertain  that  the 
said  bars  are  of  standard  fineness  before  he  allows  them 
to  be  delivered  to  the  moneyers,  who  next  receive  them 
for  the  purpose  of  coinage. 


COINS. 

These  preliminary  operations  are  nearly  the  same  as 
regards  silver  bullion. 

When  the  moneyers,  or  responsible  manufacturers  of 
the  coin,  receive  bars  from  the  melter,  they  are  rolled  and 
drawn  into  plates  of  proper  thickness,  which  require  to  be 
most  nicely  adjusted,  so  that  a  piece  of  proper  size  punch- 
ed out  of  any  part  of  the  plate  may  have  the  exact  weight 
of  the  intended  coin  ;  the  blanks  are  then  cut  out  of  these 
plates,  which  are  thus  reduced  to  the  state  of  scissel,  and 
remelted  (under  due  checks  and  precautions),  to  be  again 
cast  into  bars.  The  blanks  (amounting  to  about  two  thirds, 
and  the  scissel  to  one  third  of  the  weight  of  the  original 
plate  of  metal)  are  next  annealed,  and  passed  through  the 
marking  machine,  by  which  the  edge  of  each  piece  is  made 
smooth  and  a  little  raised  ;  they  are  then  cleaned  or  blanched 
by  being  put  for  a  few  minutes  into  a  hot  and  very  dilute 
sulphuric  acid,  after  which  they  are  thoroughly  washed 
and  dried,  and  are  ready  to  be  stamped  or  coined.  This 
operation  is  performed  in  presses  moved  by  mechanical 
power,  and  consists  in  placing  the  blanks  between  two  steel 
dies,  upon  one  of  which  is  engraved  the  obverse  and  upon 
the  other  the  reverse  of  the  coin,  so  as  to  give  an  impres- 
sion in  relief;  while  the  spreading  of  the  piece  in  a  lateral 
direction  is  prevented  by  the  rising  of  a  collar  at  the  mo- 
ment the  blow  is  struck,  in  which  collar  is  engraved  the 
milling,  which  is  thus  transferred  to  the  edge  of  the  piece 
at  the  same  moment  that  the  impressions  of  the  dies  are 
taken  upon  its  two  surfaces.  The  coining  presses  at  the 
mint  are  attended  by  boys,  who  only  have  to  fill  a  tube  or 
species  of  hopper  with  the  blanks  ;  the  operation  of  laying 
the  blank  upon  the  dies,  and  again  throwing  it  off  when 
stamped,  being  effected  by  the  machinery  connected  with 
the  press,  thus  preventing  the  risk  of  crushing  the  fingers 
of  the  persons  who  used  to  be  employed  in  this  depart- 
ment before  these  layers  on,  as  they  are  technically  called, 
were  adopted.  In  the  coining  room  at  the  mint  there  are 
eight  presses,  each  adapted  for  every  species  of  coin  ; 
each  press  strikes  upon  an  average  60  pieces  per  minute, 
or  3600  per  hour ;  so  that  in  the  day's  work  of  10  hours 
each  press  produces  36,000  pieces ;  and  the  eight  presses 
(supposing,  which  is  rarely  the  case,  that  they  are  all  in 
use)  stamp  23S.000  pieces  daily.  The  money  when  thus 
completed  is  weighed  up  in  what  are  called  journey  weights 
for  delivery  to  the  importers  of  the  bullion  ;  the  gold  in  15 
lbs.  and  the  silver  in  60  lbs.  troy.  But,  before  any  coin  is 
suffered  to  pass  out  of  the  mint,  it  is  inspected  as  to  its 
workmanship  ;  and  if  any  journeys  are  faulty  or  imperfect 
in  this  respect,  they  may  be  cut  and  returned  to  the 
moneyers  for  recoinage.  The  weight  and  fineness  of  the 
money  are  also  ultimately  examined  and  insured  by  the 
process  of  piling,  which  consists  in  taking  promiscuously 
from  every  journey  weight  of  coin  a  pound  in  tale,  which 
is  delivered  by  the  weigher  and  teller  to  the  king's  assay- 
master,  who  carefully  weighs  it,  and  declares  aloud  the 
minus  or  phcs  upon  each  pound  (if  it  be  not  standard  or  ex- 
act), which  is  recorded  by  the  king's  assayer,  by  the  comp- 
troller, and  by  the  king's  clerk.  This  determines  whether 
the  moneyers  have  made  the  money  within  the  remedy  al- 
lowed upon  the  pound  troy  ;  but,  as  the  remedy  upon  the 
pound  is  divided  among  the  number  of  pieces  in  it,  the 
comptroller  weighs  several  of  the  pieces  individually,  and 
if  they  are  not  within  the  allowed  limits,  can,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  other  check  officers  assembled  on  this  duty, 
return  the  coin  to  the  moneyers  to  be  remelted  and  re- 
coined  at  their  expense.  From  the  same  pound  weight  of 
gold  or  silver  the  comptroller  also  takes  two  pieces,  one  of 
which  is  handed  to  the  king's  assay-master  to  assay,  in 
order  to  prove  that  the  metal  has  undergone  no  deteriora- 
tion in  any  of  the  processes  of  its  manufacture  ;  the  other 
piece  is  sealed  up  in  a  packet  and  consigned  to  the  pix  box, 
which  is  locked  by  the  separate  keys  of  the  check  officers, 
where  it  remains  until  the  trial  of  the  pix  by  jury  before 
the  king  or  certain  of  his  council,  which  usually  takes 
place  once  every  three  or  four  years  in  the  Court  of  Ex- 
chequer at  Westminster. 

The  term  journey  weight  is  applied  at  the  mint  to  the 
weight  of  certain  parcels  of  coin,  which  were  probably 
considered  formerly  as  a  day's  work.  The  journey  of 
gold  is  15  troy  pounds,  which  is  coined  into  701  sovereigns, 
or  1402  half  sovereigns.  A.  journey  of  silver  weighs  60  lbs. 
troy,  and  is  coined  into  792  crowns,  or  15S4  half  crowns,  or 
3960  shillings,  or  7920  sixpences. 

COINS.     See  Numismatics.     Money. 

COKE.  The  charcoal  obtained  by  heating  coal  with  the 
imperfect  access  of  air,  or  by  its  distillation.  The  former 
is  usually  called  oven  coke ;  the  latter  gas  coke,  being  abun- 
dantly produced  in  gas-works.  The  weight  of  coke  usual- 
ly amounts  to  between  60  and  70  per  cent,  of  the  coal  em- 
ployed. Coke  is  a  valuable  fuel  for  many  purposes  in  the 
arts 

COL'CHICTJM.  (From  Colchis  in  Armenia,  where  the 
plant  is  said  to  have  abounded.)  This  term  is  generally  ap- 
plied to  the  cormus  or  bulb  of  the  Colchicum  autumnale,  or 
meadow  saffron,  a  plant  common  in  England,  and  largely 


COLEOPTERANS. 

collected  for  medical  use.  It  was  much  employed  form- 
erly as  a  diuretic  in  dropsy  ;  then  fell  into  disuse  ;  and 
more  recently  again  largely  prescribed  for  the  cure  of 
gout,  it  having  been  ascertained  that  the  celebrated  French 
remedy  for  gout  called  Eau  medicinale  d'Husson  was  a 
tincture  of  colchicum.  Its  efficacy  may  probably  be  ascrib- 
ed to  the  presence  of  a  peculiar  alkaloid,  which  has  been 
termed  colchicia.  When  the  cormi  are  intended  for  medi- 
cal use,  they  should  be  dug  tip  in  summer  (July),  and  im- 
mediately cut  into  thin  transverse  slices,  placed  separately 
upon  paper,  and  dried  by  a  very  gentle  heat.  The  best 
preparation  is  the  wine  of  colchicum,  made  by  infusing  an 
ounce  and  a  half  of  the  bulb  prepared  and  dried  as  above, 
and  coarsely  powdered,  in  12  ounces  of  sherry,  for  six  or 
seven  days,  shaking  it  daily  :  then  filter  it  for  use.  The 
dose  is  from  20  drops  to  1  drachm,  taken  at  bed-time  in  a 
little  water. 

COLCO'TIIAR.  A  red  oxide  of  iron,  being  the  residue 
of  the  distillation  of  green  vitriol  or  sulphate  of  iron. 

COLD.     In  Natural  Philosophy.     -See  Heat. 

Cold.     In  Medicine.     See  Catarrh. 

CO'LEOPHY'LLUM.  (Gr.  koAeoj,  asheath,Knd  <pv\\ov, 
a  leaf}  A  term  introduced  into  botany,  to  indicate  a  mo- 
nocolyledonous  structure,  the  young  leaves  being  evolved 
from  within  a  sheath,  while  those  of  Dicotyledons  are  al- 
ways naked. 

COLEO'PTERANS,  Coleoptera.  (Gr.  ico\eo;,  and  nnpov, 
sheath-iringed.)  The  name  of  the  order  of  insects  com- 
prehending those  in  which  the  first  pair  of  wings  have  the 
consistence  of  horn,  and  serve  as  defensive  coverings  to 
the  second  pair,  or  true  wings,  which  are  of  large  size,  and 
are  folded  transversely  when  not  in  use. 

By  means  of  this  mechanism  the  Coleoptera  are  enabled 
to  burrow  in  the  soil,  or  bore  the  trunks  of  trees,  with- 
out injury  to  their  delicate  organs  of  flight,  which  are  the 
true  or  second  pair  of  wings  ;  these  being  of  ample  size 
are  peculiarly  folded,  being  bent  at  neariy  right  angles, 
so  as  to  pack  up  in  small  compass  beneath  the  elytra  or 
wing-covers  when  the  beetle  is  at  rest.  In  some  species 
the  membranous  wings  are  wanting,  but  the  elytra  are  al- 
ways present :  although  in  this  case,  as  they  are  never  re- 
quired to  be  expanded  for  flight,  they  are  generally  solder- 
ed together  by  a  straight  suture  at  the  middle  line.  In  or- 
dinary cases  the  inner  straight  margins  of  the  wing-covers 
are  simply  but  accurately  applied  to  each  other. 

The  Coleopterous  are  of  all  the  orders  of  insects  the 
most  numerous. and  the  best  known.  Their  singular  forms, 
the  brilliant  and  agreeable  colours  which  many  of  them  pre- 
sent, the  large  size  of  some  of  the  species,  the  solid  con- 
sistence of  their  teguments,  which  renders  their  preserva- 
tion easy,  and  the  regular  series  of  affinities  traceable 
through  several  of  the  groups,  all  combine  to  render  them 
objects  of  particular  interest  and  attention. 

The  head  supports  two  antennae  of  various  forms,  but 
almost  always  consisting  of  eleven  joints.  They  have  two 
t compound  eyes,  but  no  ocelli.  The  mouth  is  composed  of 
six  principal  pieces  ;  of  which  four,  called  the  mandibular 
and  maxillae,  move  transversely  in  pairs,  while  the  remain- 
ing two  are  fixed,  and  close  the  mouth  vertically.  The  up- 
permost of  the  two  vertical  pieces  is  called  the  labrum; 
the  lowermost  is  termed  the  labium,  and  is  itself  subdivid- 
ed into  the  mentum  and  lingua,  and  together  with  the  max- 
illae, or  the  lowest  of  the  vertical  pieces,  supports  a  pair  of 
articulated  processes,  called  palpi  or  feelers. 

The  anterior  segment  of  the  thorax,  or  manitrunk,  sup- 
ports the  first  pair  of  feet,  and  greatly  surpasses  in  extent 
the  two  other  segments  which  form  the  alitrunk.  The  ab- 
domen is  sessile,  and  united  to  the  trunk  by  a  great  part  of 
its  breadth.  It  is  externally  composed  of  six  or  seven 
wings. 

The  tarsi  vary  as  to  the  number  of  their  joints,  in  some 
Coleoptera  having  but  three,  in  others  four,  in  others  five  ; 
modifications  upon  which  I.atreille  founds  his  primary  di- 
vision of  the  order.  See  Pentamera,  Tetramera,  Tri- 
mera. 

The  Coleoptera  undergo  a  complete  metamorphosis. 
The  larva  resembles  a  worm ;  the  head  is  encased  in  a 
firm  horny  substance  ;  the  mouth  is  analogous  in  the  num 
ber  and  functions  of  its  parts  to  that  of  the  perfect  insects; 
it  has  also  generally  six  feet,  but  some  species  have  instead 
only  simple  tubercles.  When  perfect  the  larva  generally 
burrows  in  the  earth,  and  excavates  an  oval  cell,  within 
which  it  undergoes  its  change  into  an  inactive  pupa  ;  this 
is  generally  of  a  whitish  colour,  with  the  wings  and  legs 
folded  upon  the  breast.  The  habitation  and  manner  of 
life  of  these  insects  varies  much,  both  in  their  immature 
and  perfect  stages.  The  affinities  of  the  Coleoptera  to  the 
Orthoptera  are  of  a  closer  and  more  manifest  nature  than 
can  be  traced  between  the  Coleoptera  and  any  other  order 
of  the  mandibulate  insects.  The  genas  Forficula  forms  the 
intervening  link.  It  was  formerly  placed  by  Linmeus  at  the 
end  of  the  Coleoptera.  and  was  subsequently  referred  by 
Latreille  to  the  order  Orthoptera  ;  but  now  constitutes  the 
type  of  an  order  apart  and  intermediate  to  these  two.  The 


COLEOPTILUM. 

absence  in  some  ants  of  the  wings,  sting,  and  ocelli,  has 
led  Mr.  Macleay  to  suspect  that  these  Hymenupiera  make 
an  approach  to  the  Coleoptera.  Mr.  Kirby  would  place  the 
Stre/tsiptera  in  juxlaposilion  with  the  Coleoptera,  observing 
that  i  he  metamorphosis  in  the  former  "being  different  from 
that  of  Orthoptera  and  Hemiptera,  and  nearer  to  that  of  the 
Coleoptera,  this  seems  its  most  natural  station,  considered 
as  an  Elytrophorous  order." 

COLEO'PTILUM.  (Gr.  koXsoc,  a  sheath,  and  kti\ov.  a 
feather.)  A  term  sometimes  applied  to  the  young  leaves  of 
Monocotyledons,  from  the  circumstance  of  their  always 
being  developed  within  a  sheath,  while  those  of  Dicotyle- 
dons are  always  naked.  This  is,  however,  a  mistake  both 
in  fact  and  theory. 

CO'LEORHI'ZA.  (Gr.  Ko'Xtos,  a  sheath,  and  pi^a,  a 
root.)  A  term  invented  by  Mirleel  to  denote  the  sheath 
within  which  the  radicle  of  monocotyledonous  plants  is 
enclosed. 

CO'LIC.  (Gr.  k<o\ov,  the  colon ;  one  of  the  large  intes- 
tines, to  the  seat  of  which  the  principal  pain  is  generally 
referred.)  There  are  many  varieties  of  this  complaint,  and 
it  arises  from  various  causes,  and  exhibits  different  symp- 
toms. The  general  indications  of  cure  are  to  evacuate  the 
bowels  by  the  least  irritating  means,  and,  when  the  lower 
intestines  are  loaded,  by  the  use  of  glysters;  opiates  and 
elherial  remedies  may  be  resorted  to  to  allay  spasms,  and 
warm  bath  and  fomentations  are  often  necessary.  There 
is  a  peculiar  disease  called  the  painters'  colic  or  dry  belly- 
ache, which  appears  to  arise  from  the  absorption  of  lead 
into  the  system,  and  which  therefore  commonly  attacks 
plumbers,  painters,  and  makers  of  white  paint  and  other 
colours  and  preparations  in  which  lead  is  used  ;  the  per- 
sons employed  also  in  the  lead  mines  and  furnaces  are 
subject,  to  it.  It  is  often  named  from  certain  places  in 
which  it  is  peculiarly  prevalent ;  as  Poictou,  Devonshire 
colic,  &c.  It  begins  with  restlessness  and  uneasiness 
about  the  stomach,  nausea,  and  obstinate  cosliveness. 
There  is  a  general  spasm  of  the  bowels,  often  accompanied 
by  great  pain,  which  is  somewhat  relieved  by  pressure  ; 
and  this  circumstance  enables  us  to  distinguish  the  com- 
plaint in  question  from  inflammation  of  the  bowels;  into 
which,  however,  it  runs,  if  not  timely  relieved  by  opiates, 
emollient  glysters,  warm  bath,  and  gentle  aperients,  espe- 
cially castor  oil  when  it  will  lie  on  the  stomach,  by  which 
the  spasm  is  allayed  and  the  bowels  evacuated  of  their 
hardened  and  irritating  feces.  This  is  the  acute  slate  of  the 
disease;  but  it  often  occurs  in  a  chronic  form,  in  which 
case  pains  ami  constipation  of  the  bowels  are  follow 
occasional  delirium,  epilepsy,  paralysis,  especially  of  the 
hands,  and  wasting  away  of  the  muscles.  This  disease 
terminates  fatally  if  not  timely  relieved,  and  above  all  the 
patient  should  be  cautiously  removed  from  all  contact  with 
lead,  and  allowed  fresh  air  and  a  nutritious  but  not  stimu- 
lating diet. 

COLLA'PSE.  (Lat.  collabor,  /  shrink  down.)  A  wast- 
ing of  the  body  ;  or  a  sudden  and  extreme  depression  of 
its  strength  and  energies. 

CO'I.LAR.  (Lat.  collte.)  In  Architecture,  an  horizon- 
tal piece  of  timber  connecting  two  rafters. 

Collar.  In  Ornithology,  the  coloured  ring  round  the 
neck  of  birds.  In  Malacology,  the  thickened  secreting 
margin  of  the  mantle  in  the  testaceous  Gastropods. 

Collar,  signifies  a  peculiar  badge  worn  round  the  neck 
by  knights  of  different  orders.  It  consists  of  a  gold  chain, 
enamelled,  <fcc,  to  which  is  attached  the  badge  of  the  order 
of  knighthood  ;  and  it  is  worn  at  court  chiefly  on  state  oc- 
casions, which  are  thence  called  collar  days. 

COLLARI'NO.  (Fr.  collarin.)  In  Architecture,  that 
part  of  the  Tuscan  and  Roman  Doric  columns  on  the  upper 
part  of  the  shaft  encircling  them  like  a  small  collar.  The 
more  proper  name  is  an  astragal. 

CO'LLECT  (Lat.  con,  together,  and  lego,  /  read,)  sig- 
nifies, as  the  derivation  of  the  word  implies,  a  prayer  read 
together  icith  other  parts  of  the  Church  of  England  service, 
either  usually  or  on  a  particular  occasion. 

COLLECTA'NEA,  is  applied,  in  Literature,  to  a  selec- 
tion of  passages  made  from  various  authors,  usually  for  the 
purpose  of  instruction. 

COLLE'CTORS.  In  Botany,  dense  hairs  covering  the 
styles  of  some  species  of  Composita;,  <fcc. :  and  acting  as 
brushes  to  clear  the  pollen  out  of  the  cells  of  the  anthers. 

CO'LLEGE.  (Lat.  collegium.)  According  to  the  pri- 
mary meaning  of  the  word,  any  society  or  number  of  per- 
sons bound  together  by  the  same  laws  and  customs  (Col- 
lesa-.,  colleagues).  Among  the  Romans  not  only  societies 
invested  with  a  character  resembling  that  of  modern  cor- 
porations, enjoying  certain  political  rights  in  common  (as 
the  colleges  of  augurs,  pontifices,  &c),  were  termed  Col- 
legia ;  but  bodies  of  men  who  appear  to  have  had  no  bond 
of  union  except  common  employment  (as  the  collegia 
opificum,  or  colleges  of  the  different  trades)  were  also  thus 
designated.  Hence  has  originated  the  erroneous  notion 
that  the  guilds  of  modern  Europe  were  derived  from  simi- 
lar institutions  among  the  ancients,  by  attributing  to  the 
247 


COLLEGE. 

last  mentioned  collegia  a  corporate  character,  which  it  is 
not  sufficiently  proved  that  they  possessed  ;  although  some 
of  these  bodies,  as  we  learn  from  the  fragments  of  the 
lawyer  Gaius,  did  in  effect  hold  common  property,  and  had 
their  affairs  administered  by  by-laws  of  their  own.  In 
England  many  corporate  bodies  are  termed  Colleges  ;  e.  g. 
the  colleges  of  physicians  and  surgeons,  of  heralds,  <fec. 
&c.  A  college,  in  the  academical  meaning  of  the  word, 
signifies  an  academy  established  for  academic  purposes 
under  royal  or  private  foundation,  endowed  with  revenues, 
and  subject  to  a  private  code  of  laws.  Where  such  a  so- 
ciety possesses  within  itself  all  the  means  of  instruction 
and  the  rights  and  faculties  which  are  incident  to  a  univer- 
sity, the  terms  University  and  College  are  in  effect  con- 
vertible, and  indiscriminately  used.  Thus,  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  affords  a  specimen  of  an  institution  called  indis- 
criminately by  either  title.  On  the  other  hand,  the  univer- 
sities of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  are  composed  of  a  number 
of  colleges  united  together  under  the  same  discipline  and 
government,  and  in  which  those  powers  peculiarly  belong- 
ing to  a  university  are  wielded  by  one  class  of  authorities, 
the  functions  of  the  colleges  superintended  by  another. 
The  Scottish  universities,  not  being  in  the  strict  sense  of 
the  words  endowed  societies  (i.  e.  not  possessing  a  regular 
body  of  fellows  and  scholars  receiving  stipends),  cannot  be 
properly  termed  collegiate  bodies. 

The  early  history  of  colleges  is  somewhat  obscure ;  al- 
though there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  were  originally 
founded,  in  the  various  universities  of  the  middle  ages,  with 
similar  objects  and  from  the  same  charitable  motives.  The 
first  students  at  these  universities  assembled  together 
under  no  common  bond  of  union,  except  that  of  academic 
study  and  discipline,  and  lodged  as  suited  their  own  con- 
venience. Next,  hostels  or  boarding-houses  were  estab- 
lished (in  the  first  instance,  it  is  said,  by  the  religious 
orders  for  students  of  their  own  fraternities),  in  which 
the  scholars  lodged  together  under  certain  superintend- 
ence. Charitable  individuals  afterwards  endowed  these 
hostels,  for  the  purpose  of  providing  poor  scholars  with 
fyc^  lodgings.  Finally,  to  these  endowments  were  added 
(by  gifts  or  bequests)  stipends  for  all  or  a  certain  number 
of  the  scholars  frequenting  these  inns  or  hostels;  and 
thus  the  foundation  of  a  college  was  completed.  The  dis- 
tinction of  language  arising  from  ancient  usages  is  still 
preserved  at  Oxford,  where  societies  endowed  for  the 
maintenance  of  fellows  and  scholars  are  termed  Colleges, 
—societies  unprovidi  d  with  such  endowments,  Halls.  But 
at  Cambridge  there  is  no  distinction  between  Colleges  and 
Halls.  At  the  university  of  Paris  fifteen  colleges,  or  more, 
are  said  to  have  been  founded  in  the  13th  century  ;  and  the 
whole  number,  In  the  course  of  time,  amounted  to  eighteen 
greab  r  and  aboul  eighty  lesser.  But  these  institutions 
assumed  a  different  shape  from  that  which  they  took  in 
England,  The  greater  colleges  became  appropriated  to 
particular  faculties,  or  departments  of  a  faculty.  Thus,  for 
example,  the  Sorbonne  was  the  college  of  the  theological 
faculty  ;  and,  in  process  of  time,  the  lectures  and  disputa- 
tions of  most  of  the  faculties  became  confined  to  the  walls 
nt  those  colleges  w  hieh  were  exclusively  devoted  to  them. 
Hence  the  university  became,  in  fact,  a  collection  of  acade- 
mies for  instruction  in  particular  subjects,  and  its  corporate 
character  for  purposes  of  education  vanished  altogether  as 
early  as  the  15th  century.  (See  Maiden  on  the  Origin  of 
Universities,  and  the  authorities  there  cited.) 

The  name  and  institution  of  colleges  were  derived  by  the 
English  universities,  together  with  most  of  their  other  pe- 
culiarities, from  Paris;  but  their  history  is  very  different. 
The  colleges  now  subsisting  in  both  these  universities 
were  constituted  by  royal  or  private  munificence  ;  either 
as  original  foundations,  or  (more  commonly)  by  the  endow- 
ment of  formerly  subsisting  halls  or  hostels  with  stipends 
for  students.  They  were  all  formed  on  the  same  principle, 
consisting  of  a  head  (variously  termed  master,  principal, 
provost,  (fee);  of  a  body  of  higher  graduates  (generally 
termed  fellows);  and  another  of  inferior  graduates  (schol- 
ars), who,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  several  founda- 
tions, were  or  were  not  eligible  as  a  matter  of  right  to  the 
fellowships.  The  colleges  were  thus  founded  simply  for 
the  purpose  of  assisting  scholars  in  their  progress  through 
the  university,  not  for  that  of  conferring  instruction.  All 
those  of  Catholic  foundation,  it  must  be  added,  were  in- 
tended to  supply  the  church  with  ministers  ;  hence  the  still 
subsisting  regulations  prohibiting  the  marriages  of  fellows. 
In  the  course  of  time  independent  members, ;'.  e.  members 
not  upon  the  foundation  nor  sharing  in  the  endowments, 
were  admitted  to  reside  within  the  walls  of  the  colleges; 
and  the  task  of  superintending,  and  finally  of  instructing 
them,  was  gradually  transferred  from  the  university  autho- 
rities to  those  appointed  by  and  resident  within  the  col- 
leges. And,  by  the  present  constitution  of  our  national 
universities,  the  only  powers  retained  by  the  university 
as  such  are  of  a  general  character,  as  of  conferring  degrees 
and  other  honours,  <fec.  <fcc.  ;  while  the  function  of  educa- 
tion for  the  purpose  of  qualifying  for  those  degrees  has 


COLLEGE  OF  JUSTICE. 

entirely  passed  into  the  bands  of  the  colleges  of  which  that 
university  is  composed,  every  member  of  the  university 
being  now,  by  usage  which  has  acquired  the  force  of  law, 
also  member  of  some  college  or  hall.  And,  with  respect 
to  discipline  and  government,  the  power  is  shared  between 
the  university,  which  through  its  vice-chancellor  and  proc- 
tors exercises  a  general  superintendence ;  and  the  col- 
leges, which  by  their  own  officers  maintain  order  within 
their  own  walls.  A  college,  therefore,  in  the  sense  in  which 
the  term  is  applied  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  has  a  double 
character, — 1.  as  an  endowed  society ;  2.  as  a  house  of  ed- 
ucation. In  the  first  sense,  the  college  is  composed  of  the 
head,  fellows,  and  scholars.  It  is  under  the  government 
of  the  original  laws  framed  by  its  founder,  with  such  varia- 
tions as  in  some  cases  time  has  introduced ;  but  alteration 
is  always  jealously  watched.  According  to  the  tenure  of 
these  statutes,  the  head  is  either  chosen  by  the  fellows 
from  among  themselves,  or  in  some  instances  appointed 
by  the  crown  or  other  authority.  The  fellows,  again  (who 
are  mosUy,but  not  universally,  graduates  who  have  passed 
the  lowest  degree,  that  of  Bachelor  of  Arts),  and  the  scho- 
lars, who  are  admitted  when  under-graduates,  are  either 
chosen  from  particular  localities,  schools,  &c.  &c,  ac- 
cording to  the  will  of  the  founder,  or  elected  according  to 
merit  after  free  competition  between  members  of  the  col- 
lege or  of  the  university  at  large.  Every  college  is  finally 
under  the  superintendence  of  a  visitor,  generally  some 
high  ecclesiastical  functionary.  2.  As  a  place  of  education, 
the  college  receives  within  its  walls  not  only  fellows  and 
scholars,  but  also  (in  the  great  majority  of  instances)  inde- 
pendent members,  limited  in  number  only  by  the  extent 
of  the  lodging  which  it  can  afford  ;  it  being  usual  at  Oxford 
(although  not  at  Cambridge)  that  every  student  on  entering 
the  university  should  not  only  belong  to  a  college  or  hall, 
but  reside  within  its  walls.  The  under-graduate  members 
of  the  college  are  under  the  superintendence  of  the  tutors. 
These  are,  in  general,  resident  fellows,  appointed  by  the 
head  to  perform  this  office.  In  some  colleges  each  tutor 
has  under  his  special  control  a  certain  number  of  under- 
graduates ;  in  others  the  tutors  divide  among  them,  not  the 
students,  but  the  different  branches  of  instruction  which 
are  to  be  communicated.  Such  is  a  very  general  outline  of 
the  system  of  English  colleges  ;  but  each  of  these  founda- 
tions is  exclusively  governed  by  its  own  laws  and  usages, 
and  no  comprehensive  description  will  apply  without  ex- 
ception to  all.  Oxford  has  nineteen  colleges  and  five  halls; 
Cambridge  seventeen  colleges  or  halls.  In  both  universi- 
ties the  oldest  are  supposed  to  have  existed  from  the  mid- 
dle of  the  13th  century  ;  the  greater  part  were  founded  be- 
tween that  period  and  the  Reformation,  but  a  few  are  of 
Protestant  foundation. 

CO'LLEGE  OF  JUSTICE.  In  Scottish  Law,  a  term 
applied  to  the  supreme  civil  courts,  composed  of  the  lords 
of  council  and  session;  together  with  the  advocates,  clerks 
of  session,  clerks  of  the  bills,  writers  to  the  signet,  &c. 
See  Session. 

CO'LLECT.     See  Collum. 

COLLUM  A'TION.  (Lat.  collimo,  I  aim  at.)  The  line 
of  collimation,  in  a  telescope,  is  the  line  of  sight,  or  the 
straight  line  which  passes  through  the  centre  of  the  object 
glass  and  the  intersection  of  the  wires  placed  in  its" focus. 
The  error  of  collimation  is  the  difference  between  the 
actual  line  of  sight  and  the  position  which  that  line  ought  to 
have  in  reference  to  the  instrument. 

COLLIMA'TOR.  Captain  Katergave  the  name  of 'float- 
ing collimator  to  an  instrument  invented  by  him  for  ascer- 
taining the  horizontal  point.  It  consists  of  a  small  telescope, 
furnished  with  cross-wires  in  its  focus,  and  fastened  hori- 
zontally on  a  flat  iron  float,  which  is  made  to  swim  on 
mercury,  and  which  of  course,  when  left  to  itself,  will  al- 
ways assume  one  and  the  same  invariable  inclination  to  the 
horizon.  If  the  cross- wires  of  the  collimator  be  illuminated 
by  a  lamp  placed  in  the  focus  of  its  object  glass,  the  rays 
from  them  will  issue  parallel,  and  consequently  be  in  a  fit 
state  to  be  brought  to  a  focus  by  the  object  glass  of  any 
other  telescope,  in  which  they  will  form  an  image  as  if 
they  came  from  a  celestial  object  in  their  direction,  i.  e.  at 
an  altitude  equal  to  their  inclination.  By  transferring,  then, 
the  collimator  still  floating  on  a  vessel  of  mercury  from 
one  side  of  a  circular  instrument  to  the  other,  we  are  fur- 
nished with  two  quasi-celestial  objects,  at  precisely  equal 
altitudes,  or  opposite  sides  of  the  centre  ;  and  if  these  be 
observed  in  succession  with  the  telescope  of  a  circle, 
bringing  its  cross  to  bisect  the  image  of  the  cross  of  the 
collimator,  the  difference  of  the  two  readings  on  the  limb 
will  be  twice  the  zenith  distance  of  either;  whence  the 
horizontal  or  zenith  point  is  immediately  determined. 
Another  form  of  the  collimator  has  the  telescope  placed 
vertically,  whereby  the  zenith  point  is  directly  ascertained. 
{Phil  Trans.  182S  ;  Pearson's  Practical  Astrojioniy,  vol.  ii.) 

COLLIQUATIVE.  (Lat.  colliqueo,  I  melt.)  Excessive 
evacuations  are  so  termed,  which  appear  to  melt  down  the 
strength  and  substance  of  the  body. 

COLLUSION.  (Lat.  collisio,  from  collido,  I  strike 
248 


COLLISION. 

against.)  In  mechanics,  the  action  of  one  body  impinging 
against  or  striking  another  with  a  certain  degree  of  force. 
In  order  to  explain  the  phenomena  which  take  place  when 
two  bodies  in  motion  impinge  against  each  other,  we  sup- 
pose the  bodies  either  perfectly  non-elastic,  or  perfectly 
elastic,  and  that  they  move  in  a  medium  which  offers  no 
resistance.  As  none  of  these  suppositions  have  place  ex- 
actly in  nature,  the  results  deduced  from  them  must  in 
practice  undergo  certain  modifications. 

In  the  case  of  non-elastic  bodies,  let  us  suppose,  first,  that 

the  body  A  strikes  against  another  body  B,  which  is  either  at 

rest  or  is  moving  in  thesame  direc- 

& 1 £    tion  with  A  toward  C,  but  with  a  less 

velocity.  The  body  B  presents  an 
obstacle  to  the  motion  of  A  ;  part  of  the  force  of  A  must 
therefore  be  expended  in  overcoming  the  obstacle,  that  is  to 
say,  in  causing  B  to  move  with  a  velocity  equal  to  its  own. 
But  when  the  quantity  of  motion  necessary  for  this  purpose 
has  been  communicated,  B  no  longer  opposes  the  motion  of 
A ;  so  that  both  bodies  have  the  same  velocity  after  the 
shock.  Now,  since  a  body  cannot  impart  force  to  another 
without  losing  precisely  an  equal  quantity  itself,  the  sum  of 
the  forces,  or  moments,  must  remain  the  same  after  as  before 
collision ;  but  it  has  just  been  shown  that  the  velocities  of 
both  bodies  are  the  same  after  the  shock ;  therefore  (this 
momentum  being  measured  by  the  product  of  the  mass 
into  the  velocity)  the  sum  of  the  moments  is  distributed 
betwen  the  two  bodies  in  the  proportion  of  their  masses, 
and  the  common  velocity  is  found  by  dividing  the  sum 
of  the  moments  before  the  impact  by  the  sum  of  their 
masses. 

Let  us  next  consider  the  shock  of  two  bodies  moving  in 
opposite  directions.  If  the  forces  by  which  they  are  ani- 
mated are  equal,  they  will  destroy  each  other  at  the  instant 
of  collision  ;  if  they  are  not  equal,  the  greater  will  destroy 
the  smaller,  and  the  two  bodies  will  then  move  in  the  di- 
rection of  that  whose  moment  was  the  greater,  and  the  two 
moments  will  be  equal  to  the  difference  of  the  moments 
before  the  impact.  In  this  case  also  the  velocity  after  the 
impact  is  the  same  for  both  bodies,  and  equal  to  the  differ- 
ence of  the  moments  divided  by  the  sum  of  the  masses, 
and  the  remaining  force  is  distributed  between  the  two 
bodies  in  proportion  to  their  respective  masses. 

In  the  case  of  elastic  bodies,  the  results  are  modified  by 
a  new  force  being  brought  into  action.  Let  an  ivory  ball  A 
strike  against  another  B  advancing  in  the  same  direction 
but  with  a  less  velocity.  The  first  effect  of  the  collision  is 
to  produce  a  momentary  union  of  the  two  balls,  and  to 
compress  or  flatten  the  impinging  surfaces ;  the  next  is  the 
effort  of  the  bodies  to  recover  their  figure,  and  when  the 
elasticity  is  perfect  (as  it  is  here  supposed  to  be)  the  com- 
pressed surfaces  are  restored  with  a  force  exactly  equal  to 
that  by  which  they  were  displaced.  This  restoring  force 
produced  by  the  elasticity  is  called  the  recoil,  and  its  effect 
is  to  double  precisely  the  effect  that  would  be  produced  if 
the  bodies  were  non-elastic.  When  the  balls  A  and  B  come 
into  closest  union,  they  take  a  common  velocity,  A  losing 
exactly  as  much  as  B  gains.  But  in  recovering  their 
figure,  the  loss  of  A's  velocity  and  the  gain  of  B's  velocity 
are  each  doubled.  In  order,  therefore,  to  obtain  the  actual 
velocities  of  the  impact,  we  may  estimate  the  velocities 
that  would  be  gained  or  lost  by  each  if  non-elastic,  and  add 
or  subtract  this  to  or  from  the  common  velocity  they  would 
have  upon  the  same  hypothesis. 

If  the  masses  of  the  two  bodies  are  equal,  their  velocities 
are  interchanged.  If  only  one  of  the  equal  bodies  be  in 
motion,  it  will  come  to  rest  after  the  impact,  and  the  other 
will  move  forward  in  the  direction  in  which  the  first  was 
moving,  and  with  the  same  velocity  :  if  they  move  in  op- 
posite directions,  each  will  return  in  the  contrary  direction 
with  the  velocity  the  other  had.  Whether  the  bodies  be 
equal  or  unequal,  the  difference  of  their  velocities,  or  their 
relative  velocity,  will  be  the  same  in  amount  both  before 
and  after  the  impact. 

A  result  of  this  theory,  which  at  first  sight  appears  para- 
doxical, is,  that  when  several  elastic  bodies  increasing  in 
magnitude  are  arranged  in  the  same  straight  line,  touching 
each  other,  and  one  smaller  than  the  least  of  them  strikes 
against  the  least,  each  will  in  turn  be  reflected,  and  com- 
municate to  the  succeeding  one  a  greater  quantity  of  mo- 
tion than  it  has  itself.  This  increase  of  momentum  is 
greatest  when  the  masses  of  the  bodies  increase  in  geome- 
trical progression. 

In  all  cases  of  collision  the  state  of  the  centre  of  gravity, 
whether  at  rest  or  in  motion,  remains  the  same  after  the 
impact  as  before.  If  it  was  at  rest,  it  remains  in  that 
state  ;  and  if  it  was  in  motion,  it  continues  to  move  in  the 
same  direction  and  with  the  same  velocity,  notwithstand- 
ing the  impact.  This  is  the  case  both  in  respect  of  non- 
elastic  and  elastic  bodies ;  and  it  is  a  constant  law  in  what- 
ever manner  the  bodies  act  on  each  other,  and  whatever  be 
their  respective  natures.  (For  a  full  and  elementary  ex- 
planation of  this  subject,  see  MaclaurMs  Account  of  New- 
ton's Prhicipia.) 


COLLUM. 

CO'LLUM.  (Lat.  collum,  the  neck.)  That  part  of  the 
axis  of  a  plant  whence  the  stem  and  root  diverge.  In  the 
beginning  it  is  a  space  which  there  is  no  difficulty  in  dis- 
tinguishing, so  long  as  the  embryo  or  young  plant  has  not 
undergone  any  considerable  change  ;  but  in  the  process  of 
time  it  is  externally  obliterated,  so  as  to  become  a  mere 
matter  of  theory. 

COLLUTOR1UM.  (Lat.  colluo,  /  wash,  and  so,  the 
mouth.)    A  lotion  forrincins  the  mouth. 

COLLY'RIUM.  (Gr.  kio\vo>,  I  cherk,  and  povs,  a  de- 
fluxion.)  Lotions  intended  to  check  inordinate  dis- 
charges. The  term  is  now  exclusively  applied  to  eye- 
wafers. 

CO'LOBUS.  (Gr.  koXo/?oj,  mutilated.)  A  genus  of 
long-tailed  Quadrumanes,  or  monkeys ;  so  called  be- 
cause the  fore  hands  are  deficient  in,  and,  as  it  were, 
mutilated  of,  a  thumb.  In  this  respect  the  Colobi,  which 
are  exclusively  limited  to  the  African  continent,  resemble 
the  spider-monkeys  (Ateles)  of  South  America:  but  they 
have  not  a  prehensile  tail  to  compensate  for  the  imper- 
fection of  the  hands;  their  long  caudal  appendage  is,  on 
the  contrary,  terminated  by  a  tuft  of  hairs.  The  Culobi 
differ  also  from  the  Ateles  in  having  five  molar  teeth  in- 
stead of  six  on  each  side  of  each  jaw,  and  in  having  cheek- 
pouches. 

CO'LOCYNTH.  (Gr.  koi\ov,  the  colon,  and  kivioi,  1 
move.)  This  term  is  applied  in  the  Materia  Medica  to 
the  pith  of  bitter  apple,  the  fruit  of  the  Cucumti  co- 
locynlhis,  which  is  violently  purgative.  It  is  imported 
dried,  and  generally  peeled,  from  Turkey:  it  is  rarely 
used  alone  ;  but  one  of  the  most  valuable  purgatives  is 
the  compound  extract  of  colorynth,  which  is  a  combina- 
tion of  this  drug  with  aloes,  scammony,  cardamum  seeds, 
and  soap. 

COLOCY'NTIN.  The  bitter  purging  principle  of  the 
colocynlli . 

CO'LON.  (Gr.)  This  name  is  given  to  the  greater 
part  of  the  large  intestines  :  the  colon  passes  upwards  to- 
wards the  liver,  funning  the  transverse  arch  which  de- 
scends upon  the  left  side,  forming  its  sigmoid  flexure  ; 
entering  the  pelvis,  it  passes  into  the  rectum. 

Colon.     In  Grammar.     See.  Punctuation. 

COLONNA'DE.  (Lat.  columna.)  In  Architecture,  a 
series  of  columns  placed  at  certain  intervals,  called  inter- 
columniations,  from  each  other,  varying  according  to  the 
rules  of  art  and  the  order  employed. 

COLONEL.  The  commander  of  a  regiment  or  battal- 
ion of  troops  :  Vie  is  the  highest  in  rank  of  field  officers,  and 
immediately  subordinate  lo  a  general  of  division.  The 
word  is  of  uncertain  origin.  The  lieutenant-colonel  is  im- 
mediately under  the  colonel,  assisting  in  his  duties,  and 
beins  his  substitute  when  required. 

COLONY.  (Gr.  airoiKia,  Laf.  colonia.)  Colonies  are 
establishments  formed  in  foreign  countries  by  bodies  of 
men  who  voluntarily  emigrate  from,  or  are  forcibly  sent 
abroad  by,  their  mother  country.  Various  motives  have, 
at  different  periods,  led  to  the  formation  of  colonies. 
Sometimes,  as  in  the  case  of  most  of  the  Greek  colonies 
of  antiquity,  they  were  formed  by  citizens  driven  from 
their  native  country  by  the  violence  of  political  factions  ; 
sometimes,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Roman  colonies,  they 
were  formed  for  the  purpose  of  bridling  subjugated  pro- 
vinces: the  latter,  indeed,  were  a  species  of  camps  or 
military  stations,  forming,  as  it  were,  the  advanced  posts 
of  that  mighty  army  which  had  its  head-quarters  at  Rome  : 
and  sometimes,  again,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Phoenician 
colonies,  and  of  most  of  those  established  in  modern 
times,  they  have  been  formed  for  commercial  purposes, 
or  in  the  view  of  enriching  the  mother  country,  by  open- 
ing new  markets  from  which  she  might,  if  she  chose, 
exclude  foreigners. 

The  nature  of  the  connection  that  has  existed  between 
colonies  and  their  mother  countries  has  been  exceedingly 
various.  Most  of  the  Greek  colonies  being  founded  by 
private  adventurers,  who  received  no  assistance  from  the 
government  of  the  parent  state,  were  really  independent ; 
the  duty  which  they  owed  to  their  metropolis  being  such 
only  as  is  due  to  kinsmen  and  friends,  and  not  that  due  by 
subjects  to  their  rulers.  The  Roman  colonies,  on  the 
other  hand,  being  founded  by  the  state  for  an  important 
political  purpose,  always  maintained  an  intimate  connec- 
tion with,  and  dependence  upon,  Rome.  They  formed 
the  great  bulwarks  of  the  empire  ;  nor  was  the  conquest  of 
any  province  ever  supposed  to  be  completed  till  colonies 
had  been  established  in  it,  and  roads  had  rendered  it  ac- 
cessible to  the  legions.  The  colonies  established  for  com- 
mercial purposes  have  generally  been  subjected  to  such 
regulations  as  were  deemed  most  for  the  advantage  of  the 
parent  state.  Their  growth  has  thus  in  many  instances 
been  retarded  ;  and  they  have  been  rendered  less  service- 
able to  their  founders  than  they  would  have  been  had  they 
been  treated  with  greater  liberality. 

The  very  narrow  limits  within  which  this  article  must 
be  compressed  make  it  necessary  that  we  should  limit 
249 


COLONY. 

our  statements  to  a  few  remarks,  having  more  particular 
reference  to  those  questions  of  colonial  policy  most  inter- 
esting lo  the  English  reader. 

The  advantages  supposed  to  result  from  that  monopoly 
of  the  colony  trade  which  all  modern  countries  possessed 
of  colonies  have  endeavoured  to  enforce,  seem  to  be  alto- 
gether imaginary.  The  ties  of  kindred,  and  the  identity  of 
language,  customs,  and  manners,  give  the  merchants  of 
the  mother  country  great  advantages,  and  enable  them, 
provided  their  goods  be  about  as  cheap  as  those  of  others, 
to  supply  the  colonial  markets  in  preference  to  every  one 
else.  But  all  attempts  to  establish  a  monopoly  in  favour 
of  the  mother  country,  by  prohibiting  the  importation  of 
the  produce  of  other  nations  into  the  colony,  are  necessa- 
rily either  useless  or  prejudicial,  not  merely  to  its  inter- 
ests, but  even  to  those  of  the  mother  country .  If  the  latter 
can  produce  the  articles  required  by  the  colony  as  cheap 
or  cheaper  than  others,  she  will  command  the  supply  of 
the  colonial  markets,  without  any  interference  whatever; 
and  if  she  cannot  do  this,  unless  by  excluding  the  cheaper 
products  of  others,  then  it  is  plain  the  goods  sent  to  the 
colony  can  only  be  produced  by  diverting  a  portion  of  the 
capital  and  industry  of  the  mother  country  into  compara- 
tively disadvantageous  channels,  or  into  businesses  in 
which  she  is  excelled  by  others  :  it  is  plain,  too,  that  no 
artificial  monopolies  can  be  maintained,  except  in  the  case 
of  small  and  easily  guarded  colonies.  The  British  mer- 
chants have  at  present  the  supply  of  by  far  the  greater 
part  of  the  manufactured  goods  required  by  her  North 
American  possessions ;  because  the  goods  they  send  to 
them  are  generally  cheaper  than  those  sent  thereby  other 
parties.  But  were  competitors  capable  of  underselling 
her  merchants  to  appear  in  the  field,  they  would  have  very 
little  difficulty  indeed  in  depriving  them  of  these  markets. 
Cheap  goods  are  sure  to  make  their  way  through  every 
barrier ;  and  the  frontier  of  her  North  American  colonies 
is  so  very  extensive,  and  the  impossibility  of  guarding  it  so 
obvious,  that  the  smallest  saving  in  point  of  expense 
would  occasion  the  clandestine  introduction  of  prohibited 
goods  in  unlimited  quantities.  In  such  a  case  custom- 
house enactments  are  good  for  nothing.  All  the  tyran- 
nical regulations  and  sanguinary  punishments  of  Spain 
and  Portugal  were  unable  to  prevent  their  transatlantic 
possessions  being  deluged  with  the  prohibited  commodi- 
ties of  Britain,  France,  and  Germany.  The  ability  to  sup- 
ply it  with  comparatively  cheap  goods  is  the  only  means 
by  which  it  is  possible  to  preserve  any  market.  It  is  this 
that  secures  for  England  at  this  moment  the  same  superi- 
ority in  the  markets  of  the  United  States  that  she  possessed 
in  them  when  they  were  her  dependencies;  and  the  mo- 
ment we  lose  this  advantage  we  shall  not  merely  lose  their 
market,  but,  with  it,  the  markets  of  all  our  colonies. 
Nothing,  therefore,  can  in  reality  be  more  futile  than  lo 
found  colonies,  or  to  retain  them  in  a  state  of  unwilling 
dependency,  in  the  view  of  monopolising  their  trade.  If 
we  can  undersell  others,  we  shall  command  their  markets 
without  any  sort  of  interference ;  and  if  we  cannot  do 
this,  the  attempt  to  force  upon  them  comparatively  dear 
goods  is  sure  to  be  defeated  ;  or  if,  unhappily,  it  should 
have  a  partial  success,  it  would  be  injurious  alike  to  the 
mother  country  and  the  colony. 

A  colony  might  be  advantageous,  and  might  contribute 
to  increase  the  wealth  of  the  mother  country,  if  it  yielded 
a  greater  revenue  than  was  required  for  its  government 
and  defence :  but  this  is  rarely  the  case.  Most  colonies 
require  a  heavy  outlay  on  Iheir  first  foundation  ;  and  when 
they  attain  to  any  considerable  importance,  all  attempts  to 
make  them  contribute  directly  to  increase  the  income  of 
the  mother  country  are  very  apt  to  excite  discontent,  and 
probably  even  rebellion:  an  unfortunate  attempt  of  this 
sort  led,  in  fact,  to  the  American  war.  To  obviate  all 
chance  of  any  such  disastrous  event  occurring  in  future, 
we  have  distinctly  renounced  all  pretensions  to  make  our 
colonies  contribute  any  thing,  unless  it  be  towards  defray- 
ing the  expense  of  their  local  government  and  militia.  All 
the  troops  and  squadrons  required  for  their  protection  and 
security  are  furnished  gratuitously  by  England ;  and,  in- 
stead of  deriving  any  revenue  from  our  colonial  posses- 
sions, they  cost  us  annually,  in  time  of  peace,  a  direct 
outlay  of  about  2.500,000/.  (Official  Account,  16th  of  Au- 
gust, 1836.)  In  time  of  war,  or  when  dissatisfaction  pre- 
vails in  any  important  colony,  the  direct  outlay  may  be 
twice  or  three  times  as  great. 

A  colony  may,  however,  be  advantageous  in  a  pecuniary 
point  of  view,  even  when  it  costs  the  mother  country  a 
considerable  direct  outlay,  provided  it  afford  great  facili- 
ties to  individuals  for  making  fortunes,  with  which  to  re- 
turn to  the  mother  country.  A  large  sum  is  annually 
brought  in  this  way  into  England  from  India ;  but  our 
colonial  possessions  are,  in  this  respect,  of  little  advantage. 
Few,  comparatively,  of  those  individuals  who  acquire  pro- 
perty in  the  N.  American  colonies  return  to  England;  and 
but  few  situations  under  the  colonial  government  give  the 
means  of  acquiring  fortunes. 
P* 


COLONY. 


If  a  colony  enjoy  a  natural  monopoly  of  any  product  or 
article  in  extensive  demand,  it  is  supposed  that,  by  laying 
a  heavy  duly  on  its  exporiation,  a  considerable  advantage 
may  be  made  to  accrue  to  the  mother  country  :  but  this 
does  not  really  appear  to  be  the  case.  Ceylon  possesses  a 
monopoly  of  the  trade  in  cinnamon;  but  the  enormously 
high  duty  (3s.  per  lb.)  laid  on  the  article  when  exported  has 
restricted  the  demand  for  it  to  the  narrowest  limits,  and 
reduced  its  culture,  and  the  revenue  derived  from  it,  to  a 
comparatively  trifling  amount.  Most  of  our  readers  have 
no  doubt  heard  of  the  immense  profits  made  by  the  Dutch 
on  spices,  of  which  the  possession  of  the  Moluccas  gave 
them  the  monopoly.  But  these  high  profits  were  wholly  a 
consequence  of  the  limitation  of  the  quantity  sold ;  and  to 
prevent  a  fall  of  price  by  an  increase  of  the  supply  brought 
to  market,  the  Dutch  occasionally  destroyed  a  portion  of 
the  produce  !  There  is  no  longer,  however,  so  much  even 
as  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  that  they  were  heavy  losers  by 
this  oppressive  and  shortsighted  policy.  The  sales  were 
confined  to  an  amount  hardly  sufficient  to  employ  the  cap- 
ital even  of  a  single  merchant ;  and  the  total  sum  realized 
by  the  government  is  not  supposed  to  have  amounted  to 
the  tenth  part  of  what  it  would  have  risen  to  had  the  trade 
been  left  free,  under  a  moderate  duty. 

When  a  nation  derives  the  whole  or  any  considerable 
portion  of  any  important  article  from  abroad,  it  is  necessar- 
ily exposed,  especially  when  the  supply  comes  from  one  or 
a  few  foreign  countries,  to  the  risk  of  more  or  less  incon- 
venience, from  an  interruption  of  the  friendly  intercourse 
subsisting  with  such  countries.  When  such  important  ar- 
ticles are  furnished  by  a  colony,  their  supply  is  compara- 
tively secure  ;  and,  in  such  cases,  colonial  possessions  may 
be  very  valuable.  At  this  moment  any  interruption  of  the 
trade  between  England  and  the  United  States  would  most 
probably,  by  interfering  with  the  supply  of  raw  cotton,  be 
productive  of  the  most  calamitous  results  ;  and  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  if  the  whole,  or  any  considerable  part  of 
the  supply  of  cotton,  were  derived  from  a  colony,  it  would 
be  an  important  advantage.  This,  however,  is  not  the  case. 
It  is  not  improbable  but  that,  at  some  future  period,  India 
may  yield  abundant,  supplies  of  cotton  ;  but  at  present  the 
cotton  she  sends  to  Europe  is  neither  considerable  in 
amount  nor  of  good  quality. 

It  was  long  supposed  that  the  West  Indian  colonies  were 
peculiarly  valuable  from  their  furnishing  Great  Britain  with 
a  secure  and  abundant  supply  of  sugar,  an  article  now  be- 
come a  necessary  of  life,  and  yielding  a  very  large  revenue. 
We  doubt,  however,  whether  there  was  ever  any  good 
foundation  for  such  an  opinion  ;  but,  whatever  may  have 
been  the  case  formerly,  there  is  none  now.  Sugar  is  not 
produced  iti  one  or  a  few  countries  only  ;  but  is  a  staple 
product  of  almost  all  intertropical  regions:  and  it  is  now 
largely  produced  even  in  the  northern  parts  of  Europe. 
(See  Sugar.)  So  far,  indeed,  is  it  from  being  true  that  Eng- 
land is  indebted  to  her  West  Indian  colonies  for  abundant 
supplies  of  sugar,  that  the  fact  is  nearly  the  reverse  Foreign 
sugar  is,  and  has  long  been,  excluded  from  her  markets  by 
oppressive  discriminating  duties  ;  and  were  these  repealed, 
and  the  duties  on  all  sugars  placed  on  the  same  level,  it  is 
exceedingly  doubtful  whether  she  would  continue  to  de- 
rive any  considerable  portion  of  her  supplies  of  sugar  from 
her  sugar  colonies  in  the  west. 

Great  stress  is  frequently  laid  on  the  advantage  of  colo- 
nies established  in  unoccupied  countries,  in  affording  a 
field  for  the  ready  and  beneficial  employment  of  the  sur- 
plus or  unemployed  population  that  occasionally  abounds 
in  old  settled  and  densely  peopled  countries;  neither  can 
there  be  a  doubt  that  this  is  of  very  material  importance. 
But  it  is  pretty  obvious  that,  having  founded  a  colony,  it  is 
unnecessary  to  retain  it  in  a  state  of  dependence  if  it  wish 
to  become  free,  to  realize  the  advantage  referred  to.  La- 
bour, in  such  colonies,  is  always  in  great  demand,  and  a 
regard  for  their  own  interests  always  disposes  the  colonists 
to  give  every  fair  facility  to  the  immigration  of  labourers. 
Notwithstanding  the  advantages  occasionally  held  out  by 
the  British  government  to  encourage  emigration  to  her 
North  American  colonies,  the  great  current  of  emigration 
has  always  been  directed  to  the  United  Slates;  and,  even 
of  the  emigrants  that  sail  from  Great  Britain  to  Canada, 
scarcely  a  fourth  part  remain  in  the  province,  but  imme- 
diately leave  it  for  the  contiguousstat.es  of  the  Union.  It  is 
idle,  therefore,  to  attempt  to  excuse  the  policy  of  attempt- 
ing to  retain  colonies  in  a  state  of  reluctant  dependence  on 
the  mother  country,  on  pretence  of  their  affording  a  profit- 
able outlet  for  poor  or  unemployed  persons.  The  interest 
of  the  settlers  will  keep  this  outlet  open,  and  will  secure 
every  real  advantage  that  could,  in  this  respect,  be  derived 
from  the  most  complete  colonial  domination. 

We  beg,  however,  that  it  may  not  be  supposed,  from  any 
thing  now  stated,  that  we  regard  the  foundation  of  colonies 
as  inexpedient;  on  the  contrary,  their  establishment  has 
been  highly  advantageous  to  that  as  it  has  been  to  most  old 
settled  countries  in  all  ages.  It  is  not  their  foundation,  pro- 
vided they  be  placed  in  proper  situations  and  judiciously 


managed,  but  to  the  needless  interference  with  their 
government,  the  trammels  imposed  on  their  industry,  the 
prevention  of  their  free  intercourse  with  other  people,  and 
the  attempt  to  govern  them  after  they  are  able  and  deter- 
mined to  govern  themselves,  that  we  object.  A  nation  that 
founds  a  colony  in  an  unoccupied  country,  or  in  a  country 
occupied  only  by  savages,  extends  by  so  doing  the  empire 
of  civilization  to,  it  may  be,  an  indefinite  degree.  Such 
colony  not  only  forms  a  desirable  outlet  for  the  re- 
dundant or  unemployed  population  of  the  mother  coun- 
try, but  it  forms  a  new  and  rapidly  increasing  market 
for  its  products  and  those  of  other  countries.  No  one 
can  doubt  that  Europe  has  been  signally  benefitted  by  the 
discovery  and  civilization  of  America  ;  but  the  advantages 
thence  arising,  how  great  soever,  would  have  been  incom- 
parably greater,  but  for  the.  various  impolitic  regulations 
imposed  by  the  mother  states  on  their  colonies.  The 
British  colonies,  though  fettered  in  various  ways,  enjoyed 
a  much  greater  degree  of  freedom  than  those  of  any  other 
country ;  and,  in  consequence,  their  progress,  both  before 
and  since  the  a?ra  of  their  independence,  has  been  pro- 
portionally rapid.  The  colonies  of  Spain,  on  the  other 
hand,  though  occupying  the  finest  provinces,  had  their 
progress  thwarted  by  the  blind  jealousy  and  short-sighted 
rapacity  of  the  mother  country,  and  were  kept  as  much 
as  possible  in  a  slate  of  pupilage.  The  government 
was  entirely  administered  by  natives  of  Old  Spain  ;  the 
colonists  were  carefully  excluded  from  every  office  of 
power  and  emolument;  one  colony  was  prohibited  from 
trading  with  another  ;  ami  had  foreigners  presumed  to  set- 
tle amongst  them,  they  would  have  been  liable  to  capital 
punishment.  In  consequence  their  progress  was  very  slow ; 
and  when  at  length  they  succeeded  in  throwing  off  the 
galling  yoke  of  the  mother  country,  they  became,  from 
their  inexperience  in  self-government,  a  prey  to  all  sorts 
of  disorders.  It  is  very  questionable  whether  her  South 
American  colonies  were  of  the  least  service  to  Spain  ;  and 
it  is,  at  all  events,  certain  that  they  have  not  conferred 
either  on  her  or  on  other  countries  a  tenth  part  of  the  be- 
nefit they  would  have  done  had  they  been  treated  with 
greater  liberality,  and  permitted  freely  to  avail  themselves 
of  all  the  advantages  of  their  situation. 

The  American  war  seems  to  have  decided,  in  so  far  as 
experience  can  decide  any  thing,  the  question  as  to  the 
policy  of  retaining  colonies  in  a  state  of  dependency  that 
are  determined  to  govern  themselves.  No  colonies  were 
ever  reckoned  half  so  valuable  as  those  which  now  form 
the  republic  of  the  United  States  ;  and  it  was  generally  sup- 
posed that  their  emancipation  would  be  decisive  of  the 
fate  of  Britain, — that  her  sun  would  then  set,  and  forever! 
But  has  Great  Britain  really  lost  any  tiling  by  that  event  1 
Has  her  trade,  her  wealth,  or  her  power,  been  in  any  de- 
gree impaired  by  the  independence  of  the  United  Slates? 
The  reverse  is  distinctly  and  completely  the  fact.  The  no- 
tion that  Great  Britain  could  have  continued  for  any  length 
of  time  to  retain  such  rapidly  growing  countries  in  a  state 
of  dependence,  or  that  we  could  have  been  advantageously 
united  in  a  federal  union  with  vast  regions  situated  in 
another  hemisphere,  is  too  wild  and  extravagant  to  require 
examination.  But  notwithstanding  its  independence  Eng- 
land has  continued,  and  will  necessarily  continue  in  all  time 
to  come,  to  reap  all  the  advantage  she  can  reasonably 
claim  as  founder  of  this  mighty  empire  in  the  wilderness. 
Englishmen  will  necessarily  always  command  a  preference 
in  the  American  markets.  And  while  England  is  disen- 
cumbered of  the  impossible  task  and  enormous  expense 
attending  the  uovernment  and  defence  of  all  but  boundless 
countries  3,000  miles  distant,  her  intercourse  with  them 
grows  with  their  growth  ;  and  she  is  as  much  benefitted  and 
enriched  by  them  as  she  would  have  been  had  they  con- 
tinued in  the  same  state  of  dependency  as  Australia  or  the 
Cane  of  Good  Hope. 

The  previous  remarks  are  not,  of  course,  meant  to  apply 
to  such  dependencies  as  Malta  or  Gibraltar.  These  are 
not  colonies,  but  naval  stations,  necessary  for  the  accom- 
modation of  British  ships  of  war  and  merchantmen,  and 
serving  also  as  secure  depots  for  her  produce.  Every 
commercial  and  maritime  nation  that  takes  a  just  view  of 
its  real  interests  will  always  take  care  to  possess  itself  of 
some  such  strongholds. 

Neither  are  the  previous  remarks  meant  to  apply  to  the 
conquest  and  occupation  of  foreign  countries,  in  the  view 
of  increasing  national  opulence  and  power.  Such  policy 
may  be  either  good  or  bad,  according  to  the  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances affecting  each  particular  case.  Our  remarks 
apply  only  to  colonies  strictly  so  called  ;  that  is,  to  the  case 
of  foreign  territories,  peopled  principally  or  wholly  by  emi- 
grants, or  by  the  descendants  of  emigrants,  from  the  mother 
country,  and  not  held  as  a  mere  military  station. 

Sometimes,  in  order  to  carry  on  a  trade  with  a  colony,  it 
is  necessary  lo  give  its  products  peculiar  advantages  in  the 
markets  of  the  mother  country  ;  and  consequently  at  the 
expense  and  to  the  prejudice  of  the  consumers  in  the  latter. 
Werather  think  that  no  small  portion  of  the  trade  of  England 


COLONY. 


with  the  West  Indies  is  forced  in  this  way  ;  and  that  were 
the  discriminating  duties  on  foreign  sugar  abolished,  she 
would  derive  a  considerable  part  of  her  supplies  from  other 
quarters.  But  whatever  may  be  the  case  with  the  West 
India  trade,  this,  at  all  events,  is  the  case  with  the  Canada 
trade.  It  employs  a  large  number  of  ships  and  seamen, 
and  seems  to  a  superficial  observer  highly  valuable.  In 
truth  and  reality,  however,  it  is  very  much  the  reverse. 
Two-thirds  and  more  of  this  trade  is  forced  and  fictitious; 
originating  in  the  oppressive  discriminating  duty  of  45s.  a 
load  imposed  on  timber  from  the  north  of  Europe,  over 
and  above  what  is  imposed  on  that  brought  from  a  British 
settlement  in  North  A'merica  !  This  obliges  her  to  resort  to 
Canada,  whence  she  imports  an  inferior  article  at  a  compa- 
ratively high  price.  The  disadvantages  of  this  impolitic 
system  are  numerous  and  glaring.  To  a  manufacturing 
country,  having  a  great  mercantile  and  warlike  navy,  timber 
is  indispensable  ;  and  yet,  instead  of  supplying  herself 
with  it  where  it  may  be  found  best  and  cheapest,  she  loads 
the  superior  and  cheaper  article  with  an  exorbitant  duty  ;  and 
thus  does  the  most  she  can  to  make  her  houses  and  ships 
be  built  and  her  machinery  constructed  of  what  is  inferior 
anil  dear!  But  the  mischief  does  not  stop  here.  By  re- 
fusing to  import  the  timber  of  the  north  of  Europe,  she 
proportionally  limits  the  power  of  the  Russians,  Prussians, 
(Swedes,  and  Norwegians  to  buy  her  manufaclured  goods  ; 
while,  by  forcing  the  importation  of  limber  from  Canada, 
she  withdraws  the  attention  ol  its  inhabitants  from  the  most 
profitable  employment  they  can  carry  on,— that  is,  from 
the  cultivation  of  the  soil, — and  make  them  waste  their 
energies  in  comparatively  disadvantageous  pursuits !  Such, 
either  in  a  less  or  a  greater  degree,  is  the  uniform  result 
of  all  attempts  to  interfere  with  the  natural  order  of  things, 
and  to  force  a  trade,  whether  with  a  colony  or  a  foreign 
country  matters  not,  that  would  not  otherwise  be  carried  on. 

But  the  existing  slate  of  her  relations  with  Canada  affords 
other  matter  for  serious,  and  not  very  pleasant  reflection  : 
that  colony  is  not,  and  never  has  been,  of  advantage  to 
England.  Were  the  duties  on  Canmla  limber  reduced  to 
the  same  level  as  those  on  Baltic  timber,  we  question  whe- 
ther it  would  be  found  to  possess  a  single  article  that  could 
be  advantageously  exported  to  Great  Britain  or  that  she 
might  not  buy  cheaper  and  better  elsewhere.  Itnodoubl 
affords  an  outlet  for  emigrants,  and  is  in  so  far  useful ;  but 
in  all  other  respects  its  occupation  has  always  been,  and 
will  nmst  probably  continue  to  be,  productive  of  little  ex- 
cept hiss.  And  even  as  re  ipects  emigration,  it  is,  as  already 
explained,  by  no  means  clear  that  tin:  field  would  be  at  all 
narrowed  by  Canada  becoming  independent,  or  connei  i<  d 
with  the  United  Slates. 

But  useless  as  Canada  has  been  to  England  in  time  past, 
the  connection  with  it  will,  in  all  probability,  become  much 
more  onerous  in  time  lo  come.  We  shall  not  stop  to  in- 
quire whether  the  Canadians  have  good  grounds  for  the 
dissatisfaction  that  prevails  so  generally  amongst  them.  It 
is  enough  to  know  that  it  exists  ;  and  that  nothing  but  the 
presence  of  a  large  British  army  is  able  to  maintain  a 
nominal  ascendency  in  that  province.  While  this  state  of 
things  cotitinues,  the  prosperity  of  the  colony  must  be  at  a 
stand  ;  emigration  to  it  will  cease  or  be  greatly  narrowed  ; 
and  the  distresses  in  which  the  settlers  will  be  involved  will 
give  additional  strength  to  the  parly  wishing  to  break  off 
the  connection  with  the  mother  country.  The  people  of 
Britain  would  do  well  to  reflect  dispassionately  on  the  state 
of  the  Canadian  question.  There  are  not,  perhaps,  a  dozen 
men  of  sense  in  the  empire,  who  are  not  ready  to  admit 
that  in  some  ten  or  twenty  years  Canada  will  be  independ- 
ent, or  be  incorporated  with  the  United  States.  But  if  so, 
what  should  be  the  policy  of  England  in  the  mean  time  1  Is 
she  resolved  to  maintain  an  army  ol  10,000  or  15,000  men  in 
Canada  ?— to  expend,  directly  and  indirectly,  some  three  or 
four  millions  a  year  in  preserving  a  mere  nominal  ascend- 
ency in  a  colony  her  connection  with  which  is  really  a  loss? 
If  such  be  her  determination,  it  may  be  doubted  whether 
she  has  profited  much  by  the  dear-bought  experience  af- 
forded by  the  American  war.  National  pride  may  prevent 
her  relinquishing  this  costly  and  barren  dominion  ;  but 
good  sense,  and  the  most  obvious  views  of  expediency, 
would  seem  to  suggest  the  policy  of  voluntarily  anticipating 
what  there  is  every  reason  to  think  must  in  the  end  neces- 
sarily happen,  and  of  providing  for  the  independence  of 
Canada  under  a  system  of  friendly  and  mutually  beneficial 
relations. 

The  explanation  given  by  Dr.  Smith  in  the  Wealth  of 
Notions  (book  iv.  cap.  7.)  of  the  causes  of  the  rapid  growth 
and  prosperity  of  colonies  founded  in  advantageous  situa- 
tions, though  impugned  by  Sismondi  (Etudes  sur  V Econo 
mie  Politique,  ii.  cap.  "  Colonies")  and  others,  seems  to  be 
consistent  alike  with  principle  and  historical  evidence. 
When  a  colony  is  founded  in  an  uninhabited  or  but  thinly 
peopled  district,  each  colonist  getsa  large  extent  of  the  best 
land  ;  he  has  no  rent,  and  but  few  if  any  taxes  to  pay  ;  and 
being  able  to  procure  supplies  of  manufactured  articles 
251 


from  the  mother  country,  or  one  equally  advanced,  lie 
applies  all  his  energies  to  agriculture,  which  under  the  cir- 
cumstances is  most  productive.  The  demand  for  labour 
in  such  colonies  is  very  great;  for  the  high  rate  of  wages, 
combined  with  the  cheapness  of  the  land,  speedily  changes 
the  labourers  into  landlords,  who  in  their  turn  become  the 
employers  of  fresh  labourers.  In  consequence,  population 
and  wealth  advance  with  unusual  rapidity  ;  and  in  some 
instances,  as  in  that  of  the  United  States,  they  have  con- 
tinued for  a  lengthened  period  to  go  on  doubling  every 
twenty  or  five-and-twenty  years  ! 

But  in  stating  that  the  facility  of  obtaining  supplies  offer- 
tile  and  unoccupied  land  is  the  principal  cause  of  the  rapid 
progress  of  new  colonies,  it  is  not  meant  to  affirm  that  it  is 
the  only  cause.  An  advantageous  situation  for  the  prose- 
cution of  commercial  pursuits,  and  great  superiority  in 
navigation,  may  enable  a  colony  to  advance  at  its  outset, 
though  without  any  considerable  extent  of  territory,  with 
even  more  rapidity  than  if  it  enjoyed  an  unlimited  com- 
mand of  fertile  land.  This  seems  to  have  been  the  princi- 
pal cause  of  the  speedy  extension  of  the  Greek  colonies  in 
antiquity.  The  most  famous  of  these,  as  Syracuse  and 
Agrigentum  in  Sicily,  Tarentum  and  Locri  in  Italy,  and 
Ephesusand  Miletus  in  Asia  Minor,  were  amongst  the  piin- 
cipal  emporia  of  the  ancient  world.  They  were  all  sea-port 
towns;  were  founded  in  the  most  advantageous  situations 
for  carrying  on  an  extensive  commerce,  and  owed,  in  fact, 
their  wealth  and  greatness  mainly  to  trade  and  navigation. 
Owing,  however,  to  the  limited  extent  of  their  territorial 
acquisitions,  a  consequence  partly  of  the  difficulty  of  sub- 
duing the  indigenous  population,  and  partly  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  other  colonies  founded  by  rival  states,  their 
power  rested  on  no  very  broad  or  solid  foundation  ;  so  that 
the  fall  of  the  capital  city  and  the  annihilation  of  the  state 
were  all  but  synonymous. 

The  colonies  founded  in  modern  times  have  been  placed 
under  very  different  circumstances.  The  countries  in  which 
they  were  planted  were  either  so  very  thinly  inhabited  as 
to  be  almost  deserts,  or  they  were  occupied  by  a  feeble  and 
inferior  race  unable  to  oppose  any  effectual  obstacle  to  the 
diffusion  of  the  colonists;  so  that  the  latter  easily  spread 
themselves  over  a  large  extent  of  country,  and  have  had  in 
general  more  ot  an  agricultural  than  of  a  commercial  cha- 
racter, lint  while  this  has  given  them  greater  strength,  it 
has  not,  alter  the  difficulties  attendant  on  their  first  estab- 
lishment were  got  over,  in  any  degree  impeded  their  pro- 
gress, but  the  contrary.  The  most  flourishing  of  the  colo- 
niesof  antiquity  will  not  bear  to  be  compared  in  respect 
oi  rapidity  of  growth,  magnitude  and  power,  with  the  United 
Slates;  and  the  slower  progress  of  the  Spanish  and  Portu- 
guese colonies  is  not  owing  to  the  colonists  having  distri- 
buted themselves  over  a  wide  extent  ol  country,  but  to  the 
oppressive  interference  of  ihe  mother  country  with  their 
domestic  arrangements,  and  Ihe  vexatious  restrictions  laid 
on  their  intercourse  with  foreigners. 

A  \erv  great  degree  of  equality  prevailed  among  the  free 
settlers  in  Creek  colonies;  and  in  consequence  ihe  lands 
acquired  by  the  colonists  were  distributed  amongst  them  in 
nearly  equal  portions.  But  in  modern  times  it  is  very  dif- 
ferent. Owing  to  the  vast  extent  and  almost  desert  slate  of 
the  countries  in  which  Ihey  have  been  principally  planted, 
the  poorest  individuals  have  generally  succeeded  in  ac- 
quiring slips  of  land  ;  while  the  superior  class  of  colonists, 
or  those  who  had  influence  with  the  colonial  government, 
or  with  that  of  the  mother  country,  frequently  succeeded 
in  getting  grants  of  vast  tracts  of  land,  not  in  the  view  of 
cultivating,  but  of  holding  them  till  in  consequence  of  the 
increase  of  population  in  the  vicinity  they  had  acquired  a 
considerable  value.  These  large  reserves,  by  interrupting 
the  communications  between  different  parts  of  the  colony, 
and  increasing  the  difficulty  and  cost  of  conveyance,  have 
frequently  proved  not  a  little  injurious  to  its  interests.  But 
there  are  various  ways  in  which  an  abuse  of  this  sort  might 
be  obviated  ;  and  perhaps  the  best  would  be  to  apportion 
the  land  according  to  the  available  capital  of  the  settlers,  it 
being  stipulated  that  no  individual  should  receive  above  a 
certain  number  of  acres,  and  that  it  should  revert  back  to 
the  public  unless  certain  improvements  were  effected  upon 
it  within  a  specified  time  alter  the  grant  was  made. 

But  not  satisfied  with  attempting  to  put  down  an  abuse  of 
this  sort,  we  are  now  told  that  all  the  difficulties  incident  to 
colonization  have  originated  in  the  too  great  dispersion  of 
Ihe  colonists;  and  that  to  obviate  them,  and  to  ensure  to 
all  new  colonies  the  acme  of  prosperity,  we  have  merely 
to  compel  the  colonists  to  keep  close  togeiher  by  exacting 
a  high  price  for  the  surrounding  waste  or  unoccupied  land; 
in  other  words,  by  making  the  colony  as  like  an  old  settled 
country  as  possible  !  Perhaps  such  a  crude  project  was 
hardly  worth  notice.  If,  on  the  one  hand,  the  price  set  on 
the  waste  land  were  inconsiderable,  it  would  not  prevent 
the  purchase  of  large  tracts  of  land  on  speculation,  and  the 
entailing  on  the  colony  all  the  disadvantages  that  have  re- 
sulted from  the  making  of  injudicious  grants  ;  and  if,  on 
1  the  other  hand,  the  price  demanded  for  the  land  were 


COLOPHON. 

pretty  high,  it  would  go  far  to  oppose  an  insuperable  ob- 
stacle to  the  progress  of  the  colony.  Rich  men  do  not 
leave  their  native  country  to  expose  themselves  to  the  in- 
conveniences and  hardships  attending  the  establishment 
of  new  settlements  in  the  wilderness.  This,  if  it  be  done 
at  all,  must  be  done  in  time  to  come  as  in  time  past,  by 
individuals  in  straitened  circumstances,  and  anxious  to 
improve  their  fortunes.  But  to  exact  a  high  or  consider- 
able price  lor  land  from  such  persons  would,  by  sweeping 
away  the  whole  or  a  considerable  portion  of  their  capital, 
deprive  them  of  the  means  of  clearing  and  cultivating  the 
land,  and  proportionally  retard  their  progress  and  that  of 
the  colony.  The  plan  of  letting  lands  by  fine  is  admitted 
by  every  one  who  knows  any  thing  of  agriculture  to  be  one 
of  the  worst  that  can  be  devised;  and  this  colonization 
project  is  bottomed  on  the  same  principle,  and  will  no 
doubt  be  as  pernicious. 

It  is  said  that  in  consequence  of  the  exaction  of  a  price 
for  the  land,  and  the  concentration  of  the  colonists,  their 
employments,  being  more  combined  and  divided,  will  be 
prosecuted  with  a  great  deal  more  success  than  at  present. 
All  this,  however,  proceeds  on  the  false  and  exploded  as- 
sumption that  the  colonists  are  not,  like  other  individuals, 
the  best  judges  of  what  is  for  their  own  advantage.  Dr. 
Smith  says  truly  that  it  is  the  highest  impertinence  for 
kings  and  ministers  to  attempt  to  direct  private  people  how 
they  should  employ  their  capitals.  But  it  is,  if  possible,  a 
still  greater  impertinence  to  attempt  to  direct  them  where 
they  shall  employ  them.  A  regard  to  their  own  interest 
will  draw  people  sufficiently  together;  and  to  enact  regu- 
lations in  the  view  of  concentrating  them  still  more,  is  in 
every  respect  as  contradictory  and  absurd  as  it  would  be 
to  set  about  increasing  the  public  wealth  by  regulating  the 
sort  of  employments  to  be  carried  on,  and  the  countries 
with  which,  and  the  commodities  in  which,  to  deal. 

We  have  already  sufficiently  explained  the  principal 
cause  of  the  rapid  progress  made  by  some  of  the  Greek 
colonies :  it  should,  however,  be  borne  in  mind  that  these 
colonies  had  great  numbers  of  slaves,  who  carried  on  most 
part  of  the  more  common  employments.  Hence,  in  Sy- 
racuse or  Tarentum,  every  rich  individual  might  have  as 
many  obsequious  servants  as  he  pleased,  and  all  sorts  of 
luxurious  accommodations  were  to  be  had  in  the  greatest 
profusion.  But  in  those  modern  colonies  where  slavery 
is  abolished,  the  different  ranks  and  orders  of  men  are 
more  nearly  assimilated,  less  by  the  depression  of  the  rich 
than  by  the  elevation  of  the  poor.  What  is  wanted  in  re- 
finement and  attention  is  far  more  than  compensated  by 
the  well-being  and  comfort  of  the  lower  classes. 

It  is  a  part  of  this  new  project,  on  the  supposed  excel- 
lence of  which  much  stress'  is  laid,  that  the  sums  got  by 
the  sale  of  lands  in  the  colony  are  to  be  expended  in  de- 
fraying the  expense  attending  the  conveyance  thither  of 
labourers.  This  is  a  species  of  bait  held  out  to  tempt  capi- 
talists to  buy  Und,  by  making  them  believe  that  though 
land  be  artificially  dear,  labour  will  be  artificially  cheap, 
and  that  on  the  whole  they  will  be  very  well  off!  This, 
however,  is  merely  attempting  to  repair  an  injury  done 
the  capitalists,  by  inflicting  a  still  more  serious  injury  on 
the  labourers.  In  a  colony  where  a  large  portion  of  the 
capital  is  swallowed  up  in  the  purchase  of  land,  the  de- 
mand for  labour  must  be  comparatively  limited;  and  this 
limited  market  is  to  be  glutted  by  throwing  upon  it  crowds 
of  paupers  transported  gratis  from  England !  We  say 
crowds  of  paupers;  for  few  labourers,  aware  of  the  facts 
of  the  case,  who  can  afford  to  pay  for  a  passage  to  the 
United  States,  will  voluntarily  go  to  a  colony  where  land 
is  to  be  artificially  raised  to  a  high  price,  and  labour  artifi- 
cially reduced.  The  whole  scheme  seems,  in  fact,  to  be 
little  else  than  a  tissue  of  delusions  and  contradictions, 
and  it  says  little  for  the  discernment  of  the  public  that  it 
should  have  attracted  any  notice. 

It  is  true  that  the  Americans  sell  their  unoccupied  lands  ; 
but  they  sell  the  richest  and  finest  lands  in  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi  at  $•]$■  an  acre,  whereas  Great  Britain 
exacts  5s.  an  acre  for  the  worst  land  at  the  antipodes,  or  in 
that  terra  incognita  called  Southern  Australia !  If  these 
regulations  be  intended  to  divert  the  current  of  voluntary 
emigration  from  her  own  colonies  to  the  United  States, 
they  do  honour  to  the  sagacity  of  those  by  whom  they 
were  contrived,  and  there  is  not  a  word  to  be  said  against 
them  ;  but.  in  all  other  respects  they  seem  to  be  as  impolitic 
and  absurd  as  can  well  be  imagined.  (For  further  informa- 
tion on  this  important  subject,  see  St.  Croix,  de  I'Etat  et 
du  Sort  des  Anciennes  Colonies  ;  the  art.  "Colony"  in  the 
Encyclopaedia  Britannica;  and  M'Cviloch's  Commercial 
Dictionary,  and  Edition  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations.) 

CO'LOPHON.  In  Bibliography,  the  postscript  con- 
tained in  the  last  sheet  of  an  early  printed  work  (before 
the  introduction  of  title-pages,)  containing  the  printer's 
name,  date,  Alc,  is  so  termed;  from  a  fanciful  allusion  to 
a  Greek  satirical  proverb,  in  which  the  people  of  Colo- 
phon, in  Asia  Minor,  are  reproached  with  being  always  the 
hindmost. 

252 


COLUMBA. 

COLO'PHONITE.  A  variety  of  garnet  of  a  resinous 
fracture. 

COLO'PHONY.  (Gr.  KoAu^wixa,  the  city  whence  it 
was  first  brought.)  The  dark-coloured  resin  which  re- 
mains after  the  distillation  of  oil  of  turpentine. 

COLO'SSAL.  (From  Colossus,  a  very  large  statue  at 
Rhodes.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a  term  applied  to  any  work 
of  art  remarkable  for  its  extraordinary  dimensions.  It  is, 
however,  more  applied  to  works  in  sculpture  than  in  the 
other  arts.  It  seems  probable  that  colossal  statues  had 
their  origin  from  the  attempt  to  astonish  by  size  at  a  period 
when  the  science  of  proportion  and  that  of  imitation 
were  in  their  infancy.  Colossal  statues  of  the  divinities 
were  common  both  in  Asia  and  Egypt.  By  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  palace  or  temple  attributed  to  Semiramis  it 
abounded  with  colossal  statues,  among  which  was  one  of 
Jupiter  forty  feet  in  height.  In  Babylon  we  learn  from 
Daniel  that  the  palaces  were  filled  with  statues  of  an  enor- 
mous size,  and  in  the  present  day  the  ruins  of  India  pre- 
sent us  with  statues  of  extraordinary  dimensions.  The 
Egyptians  surpassed  the  Asiatics  in  these  gigantic  monu- 
ments, considering  the  beautiful  finish  they  gave  to  such  a 
hard  material  as  granite.  Sesostris,  according  to  history, 
appears  to  have  been  the  first  who  raised  these  colossal 
masses,  the  statues  of  himself  and  his  wife,  which  he 
placed  before  the  temple  of  Vulcan,  having  been  thirty 
cubits  in  height.  This  example  was  imitated  by  his  suc- 
cessors, as  the  ruins  of  Thebes  sufficiently  testify.  The 
taste  for  colossal  statues  prevailed  also  among  the  Greeks. 
The  statue  of  Apollo  at  Rhodes,  executed  by  Cnares,  a 
disciple  of  Lysippus,  has  indeed  given  this  species  of  art 
the  name  it  bears ;  and  the  great  Phidias  contributed  sev- 
eral works  of  this  order.  The  colossus  at  Tarentum  by 
Lysippe  was  no  less  than  forty  cubits  in  height;  and  the 
difficulty  of  removing  it,  rather  than  the  moderation  of  the 
conqueror,  prevented  Fabius  carrying  it  oif  with  the  Her- 
cules from  the  same  city.  But  the  proposition  made  to 
Alexander  of  cutting  Mount  Athos  into  a  statue,  in  one  of 
whose  hands  a  city  was  to  be  placed  capable  of  holding 
ten  thousand  inhabitants,  whilst  in  the  other  he  was  to 
hold  a  vessel  pouring  out  the  torrents  from  the  mountain, 
exceeds  all  others  in  history.  Before  the  time  of  the 
Romans  colossal  statues  were  frequently  executed  in  Italy. 
The  first  monument  of  this  nature  set  up  in  Rome  was 
one  placed  in  the  capitol  by  Sp.  Carvilius  after  his  victory 
over  the  Samnites.  This  was  succeeded  in  after-times  by 
many  others,  of  which  those  now  on  Monte  Cavallo,  said 
to  be  of  Castor  and  Pollux,  are  well  known  to  most  per- 
sons. In  modern  times  the  largest  that  has  been  erected 
is  that  of  S.  Carlo  Boromeo  at  Arona  near  Milan.  This 
gigantic  statue  is  upwards  of  sixty  feet  in  height. 

COLOSSE'UM.     See  Amphitheatre. 

COLO'STRUM.  The  first  milk  after  delivery.  A  mix- 
ture of  turpentine  with  the  yolk  of  egg. 

CO'LOUR.  (Lat.  color.)  In  Painting,  that  quality  of  a 
body  which  affects  our  sensation  in  regard  to  its  hue.  Lo- 
cal colours  are  those  which  are  natural  to  a  particular  object 
in  a  picture,  and  by  which  it  is  distinguished  from  other 
objects.  Neutral  colours  are  those  in  which  the  hue  is 
broken  by  partaking  of  the  reflected  colours  of  the  objects 
which  surround  them.  Positive  colours  are  those  un- 
broken by  such  accidents  as  affect  neutral  colours.  (See 
Field's  Chromatography,  8vo.  1841 ;  Goethe's  Theory  of 
Colours,  translated  by  Eastlake,  8vo.  1840.) 

CO'LUBER.  A  Linnaean  genus  of  serpents,  including 
all  those  in  which  the  subcaudal  scale-plates  or  scut*  are 
arranged  in  pairs.  This  extensive  group  are  now  subdi- 
vided into  numerous  subgenera. 

CO'LUM.  A  term,  now  obsolete,  denoting  that  part  of 
the  ovarium  from  which  the  ovula  arise ;  commonly  called 
the  Placenta. 

COLU'MBA.  (Lat.  columba,  a  pigeon.)  A  genus  of 
birds  which  form  the  transition  from  the  Passerine  to  the 
Gallinaceous  orders.  They  fly  well;  live  in  a  state  of 
monogamy  ;  build  their  nests  in  trees  or  in  the  crevices 
and  fissures  of  rocks  ;  and  lay  but  few  eggs  ai  a  time,  ge- 
nerally two  ;  their  tail  is  composed  of  twelve  quill- feathers; 
so  far  the  Columboe  resemble  the  Passerine  birds.  But. 
their  beak  is  vaulted ;  the  nostrils  perforated  in  a  broad 
membranous  space,  and  covered  with  a  cartilaginous 
scale,  which  even  forms  a  bulge  at  the  base  of  the  bill ; 
the  sternum  is  deeply  and  doubly  notched  ;  a  dilated  crop 
is  developed  from  both  sides  of  the  oesophagus;  the  sto- 
mach is  a  true  gizzard  ;  and  the  lower  larynx  has  only  a 
single  pair  of  muscles :  all  these  important  modifications 
of  structure  indicate  the  close  affinity  of  the  Dove  tribe  to 
the  Gallinaceous  birds.  And  it  may  be  further  remarked, 
that  although  the  pigeons  lay  but  few  eggs  at  each  brood, 
they  breed  frequently,  and  at  short  intervals.  The  male 
assists  his  mate  in  the  business  of  incubation  and  rearing 
of  the  young,  which  are  at  first  supported  by  a  milky  se- 
cretion prepared  from  the  slandular  coat  of  the  crop,  and 
regurgitated,  together  with  the  macerated  grain.  The  Lin- 
naean genus  is  subdivided  into  numerous  but  unimportant 


COLUMBA  NOACHI. 

subsenera,  characterized  by  the  greater  or  less  length  of 
the  Ml,  and  the  proportions  of  the  feet  and  tail.  (See  Na- 
turalist's Library,  vol.  9.) 

COLU'MBA  NOACHI.  (Noah's  Dove.)  A  small  con- 
stellation in  the  southern  hemisphere,  near  the  hinder  feet 
of  Canis  Major,  formed  by  Halley. 

COLUMBA'RIUM.  (Lat.)  In  Architecture,  a  pigeon- 
house  or  dovecote.  From  the  similarity  the  arched  and 
square  headed  recesses  in  the  walls  of  cemeteries,  which 
were  made  to  receive  the  cinerary  urns,  were  also  called 
Columbaria. 

COLU'MBIA.  A  bitter  crystalline  principle,  obtained 
from  colomba  root. 

COLU'MBIUM.  A  metal  discovered  by  Mr.  Hatchett  in 
1301,  in  a  mineral  from  Massachusetts  in  North  America. 
It  has  since  been  found  in  a  Swedish  mineral  called  tanta- 
lite,  but  its  ores  are  extremely  rare.  It  is  acidifiable,  and 
hence  the  peroxide  has  been  termed  columbic  acid. 

COLUMELLIA'CEJE.  (Columellia,  one  of  the  genera.) 
An  obscure  natural  order  of  shrubby  or  arborescent  Exo- 
gens,  inhabiting  Mexico  and  Peru  ;  distinguished  from 
Jasminaeeez,  to  which  order  they  have  been  referred,  by 
having  an  adherent  ovary,  a  perigynous  disk,  undivided 
stigma,  and  inferior  capsule  with  polyspermous  cells.  Of 
its  "true  affinity  little  is  known. 

CO'LUMN.  (Lat.  columna.)  In  Architecture,  a  mem- 
ber of  an  order  whose  section  through  the  axis  is  usually  a 
frustum  of  an  elongated  parabola.  It  is  circular  on  every 
height  of  its  plan,  and  consists  of  a  base,  shaft  or  body,  and 
a  capital.  Il  differs  from  a  pilaster,  which  is  square  on  the 
plan.  The  use  of  the  column  is  to  support  the  entablature. 
See  Order. 

CO'LURES.  In  Astronomy,  two  imaginary  great  circles 
of  the  celestial  sphere  intersecting  in  the  poles  of  the 
world  ;  one  passing  through  the  equinoctial  points  of  Aries 
and  Libra,  and  the  other  through  the  solstitial  points  of 
Cancer  and  Capricorn.  For  this  reason  the  first  is  called 
the  equinoctial,  and  the  second  the  xnlstitial  colure.  The 
name  Colure,  derived  from  Gr.  ko\ovoo(  (cauda  truncus, 
imperfect),  is  supposed  to  have  been  given  to  those  circles 
because  a  portion  of  them  is  always  concealed  from  new 
under  the  horizon.  But  this  is  the  case  with  every  other 
meridional  circle  as  well  as  the  colures. 

CO'LZA,  OIL  OF.  The  oil  expressed  from  the  seed  of 
the  Brassica  oleracea,  a  species  of  cabbage.  Colza  oil  is 
much  used  in  France  and  Belgium  for  burning  in  lamps 
and  other  purposes. 

CO'MA.  (Gr.  koui,  hair.)  The  assemblage  of  branches 
forming  the  head  of  a  forest  tree.  Also  used  to  denote 
bracts  that  are  empty  and  terminate  an  inflorescence,  as  in 
Salcia  horminum. 

Coma.  (Gr.  xoyua,  a  stroon.)  Lethargy,  or  unnatural 
drowsiness ;  whence  the  term  comatose. 

CO'MA  BERENICES.  (Literally  Berenice's  hair.)  A 
constellation  of  the  northern  hemisphere,  between  the  tail 
of  the  Lion  and  Bootes.     See  Constellation. 

COMB,  or  COOMB.  A  measure  of  corn,  commonly 
four  Winchester  bushels. 

Comb,  or  Combe,  in  the  western  counties  of  England, 
signifies  a  small  valley.  The  same  ancient  word  of  Celtic 
derivation  is  used  in  Wales  (cwm),  and  in  the  Alps  be- 
tween France  and  Piedmont  (combe),  in  the  same  sense. 

COMBINATION.  (Lat.  con,  and  binus,  double.)  In 
Algebra,  signifies  the  disposition  or  arrangement  of  any 
number  of  objects  or  symbols  in  all  possible  ways.  The 
two  principal  problems  that  occur  in  the  theory  of  combi- 
nation are  the  following  : — 1st,  Any  number  of  things  with 
the  number  in  each  combination  being  given  ;  to  find  the 
number  of  combinations.  2d,  To  find  the  number  of  alter- 
ations which  any  number  of  quantities  can  undergo  when 
combined  in  every  possible  variety  of  ways.  In  the  solu- 
tion of  the  first  problem  we  have  to  consider  that  in  com- 
bining things  by  pairs,  two  things,  a,  b,  admit  of  one  combi- 
nation only,  viz.  a  b  ;  three  things,  a,  b,  c,  admit  of  three, 
viz.  ab,  ac,  be  ;  four  admit  of  six,  viz.  ab,  ac,  ad,  be,  bd,  cd ; 
five  admit  of  ten,  viz.  ob,  ac,  ad,  ae,  be,  bd,  be,  cd,  ce, 
de.  Generally,  if  n  denote  the  number  of  things,  the 
formula  which  expresses  the  number  of  all  their  combi- 
.      .    n'ji—1)      _.         ..  .    .        5-4 

nations  by  pairs  is 


1  •  2 


Thus,  if  n  =  5,  then 


=  10 ;  if  n  =  6,  then       °  =  15  is  the  number  of  combina- 
tions. *  '  " 

When  the  things  are  combined  by  threes,  the  number 
of  combinations  that  can  be  made  out  of  a  given  number  n, 

is   -  X  — o—  X  — o— ■    If  combined  by  fours,  the  number 

n      n — 1       n — 2      n — 3         , 
of  combinations  is  -  X  -=-  X  -s-  X  -r-«  an     so  on" 

The  number  of  combinations  of  all  sorts  that  can  be 

made  of  n  things  (that  is.  by  first  taking  the  things  one  at  a 

time,  then  taking  them  by  twos,  then  by  threes,  and  so  on) 

is  2a — 1.    Thus,  all  the  possible  combinations  or  selections 

253 


COMBINATION. 

that  can  be  made  of  three  things  are  2' — 1  =  7,  viz.  abc,  ab, 
ac,  be,  a,  b,  c. 

The  second  problem  requires  us  to  take  into  account  not 
only  the  different  combinations  of  the  things  themselves, 
but  also  the  order  of  their  arrangement.  Admitting  this 
element  of  variation, 

Two  things  may  be  varied  by  pairs  in  four  ways :  thus, 
aa.  ab,  ba,  bb. 

Three  quantities,  taken  by  pairs,  may  be  varied  nine 
ways  ;  thus,  aa,  ab,  ac,  ba,  ca,  bb,  be,  cb,  cc. 

Generally  the  number  of  variations  by  pairs  which  can 
be  made  of  n  tilings  is  equal  to  ?is  ;  when  taken  by  threes, 
the  number  of  variations  is  nz ;  when  by  fours,  the  number 
of  changes  is  »*,  and  so  on.  Hence  the  whole  number 
of  changes  in  n  things,  taken  by  ttcos,  by  threes,  by  fours, 
and  so  on  to  n,  is  the  sum  of  the  geometrical  series  n  + 
1 


n-  +  n3  +  n* +  n»= 


X  n.    Thus,  if  »=5,  the 


X  5=3905  ;  and  if  n 


n—\ 
5! 

number  of  possible  changes  is  — 

=24  (the  number  of  letters  in  the  alphabet),  the  theorem 
gives  1391724286887252999425128493402200,  a  number  con- 
sisting of  34  digits.     See  Permutation. 

Combination.  In  Law,  may  take  place  for  the  per- 
formance of  any  unlawful  act,  and  is  punishable  before 
such  act  is  executed.  But  the  word  has  been  commonly 
used  in  a  particular  sense;  viz.  that  of  a  combination 
among  workmen  to  demand  wages  at  a  particular  rate  ; 
which  was  an  unlawful  act  prior  to  the  6  G.  4.  c.  129.  re- 
pealing former  statutes.  Workmen  are  now  at  perfect 
liberty  to  form  such  combinations ;  but  penalties  are  enacted 
by  the  statute  against  such  as  use  threats  or  violence  to- 
wards those  who  refuse  to  join  in  them.  And  the  offence 
of  administering  unlawful  oaths  (whether  preparatory  to  a 
combination  among  workmen,  or  for  any  other  purpose) 
remains  unaffected  by  the  statute. 

Combinations  to  raise  wages,  or  "  strikes,"  have  formed 
for  the  last  fifty  years  the  most  embarrassing  difficulties 
with  which  British  manufacturers,  and  the  labouring 
classes  themselves,  have  had  to  contend  ;  and  it  can 
scarcely  be  said  that  the  repeal  of  the  combination  laws  in 
1824  has  produced  much  effect  either  to  encourage  or  di- 
minish them.  On  this  subject  we  shall  make  an  extract 
from  a  note,  or  rather  a  dissertation  on  "  wages  of  labour," 
in  Mr.  M'CuUocb's  Edition  of  .Smith's  Wealth  of  Nations, 
in  which  the  tendency  of  combinations  to  fetter  commer- 
cial operations  is  set  lorth  with  a  brevity  and  perspicuity  no 
where  surpassed. 

•■  The  repeal  of  the  act  against  voluntary  combinations  in 
1824  was  a  just  and  wise  measure.  If  any  number  of  per- 
sons choose  to  combine  to  refuse  to  work,  except  for  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  wages,  or  for  certain  hours  per  day,  or  week, 
to  forbid  them  would  seem  to  be  a  most  oppressive  inter- 
ference with  one  of  the  distinguishing  privileges  of  free 
labourers.  It  was  found  too  that  practically  the  laws 
against  such  combinations  were  good  for  nothing,  and  that, 
instead  of  putting  them  down,  they  gave  them  a  secret 
character,  and  made  them  be  easily  perverted  to  other  and 
more  objectionable  objects.  But  when  workmen  have 
power  to  refuse  to  employ  themselves  on  terms  of  which 
they  disapprove,  they  have  got  all,  in  this  respect,  to  which 
they  are  entitled.  None  of  them  have  any  right  to  dictate 
to  their  fellows  ;  or  to  say  that  because  they  object  to  cer- 
tain stipulations  in  the  terms  offered  by  such  and  such  em- 
ployers, no  one  else  shall  be  allowed  to  accept  them.  A 
pretension  of  this  sort  strikes  at  the  very  foundations  of  so- 
ciety ;  and  if  tolerated  might  enable  juntos  of  designing 
individuals  to  indict  irreparable  injury,  not  only  on  the 
employers  of  labour,  hut  on  the  manufacturers  of  the  coun- 
try, and  consequently  on  the  lasting  interests  of  the  labour- 
ing class.  We  need  not,  however,  be  surprised  to  learn 
that  this  is  what  numbers  of  workmen  in  various  places 
have  attempted  to  do  ;  and  that  combinations  have  been 
formed,  not  for  the  legitimate  purpose  of  refusing  to  work 
except  on  certain  conditions,  but  for  preventing  other  work- 
people who  may  disapprove  of,  or  not  choose  to  insist  on, 
these  conditions,  accepting  the  terms  offered  by  their  em- 
ployers. The  measures  taken  to  enforce  this  most  unjus- 
tifiable pretension  have  in  some  instances  been  of  a  very 
obnoxious  description,  and  have  evinced  the  existence  of 
a  very  dangerous  spirit.  Nothing  should  be  omitted  that 
may  serve  to  root  out  and  suppress  combinations  for  such 
illegal  ends.  They  are  completely  subversive  of  that  se- 
curity essential  to  the  prosecution  of  all  industrious  under- 
takings; and  are,  at  bottom,  as  hostile  to  the  interests  of 
those  that  enter  into  them  as  they  are  to  the  interests  of 
every  one  else."  (For  further  details  on  this  subject,  see 
A.  Smith,  Book  i.  chap.  8.  ;  the  Parliamentary  Debates  of 
the  Year  1824  ;  Torrens  on  Wages  and  Combinations,  Lon- 
don, 1334  ;  Edinb.  Review,  vol.  39.  59.) 

CO'MBRETA'CE^:.  (Combretum,  one  of  the  genera.) 
A  natural  order  of  shrubby  or  arborescent  Exogens,  all 
living  within  the  tropics,  and  placed  indifferently  in  the 


COMBUSTION. 

vicinity  of  Santalacea  and  Elozagnacem,  or  of  Onagraeeai 
and  MyrtacetB.  They  all  possess  an  astringency,  and  some 
are  employed  in  dyeing.  Some  are  polypetalous,  some 
apetalous.  They  are  especially  distinguished  by  their  con- 
volute embryo. 

COMBU'STION.  This  term  is  generally  applied  to  the 
phenomena  exhibited  by  burning  bodies,  and  which  depend 
upon  the  rapid  union  of  the  combustible  with  the  oxygen 
of  the  air.  The  evolution  of  heat  and  light  which  attends 
this  process  announces  intense  chemical  action  ;  and  we 
consequently  find  that  combustion  is  always  attended  by 
the  production  of  new  compounds.  See  Heat. 
^  CO'MEDY.  (From  the  Greek  words  KMjj.n,  village,  and 
diSri,  a  song ;  because  the  original  rude  dialogues,  intermix- 
ed with  singing  and  dancing,  out  of  which  the  early  Greek 
comedy  arose,  were  sung  by  rustic  actors  at  village  festi- 
vals.) A  species  of  drama,  of  which  the  characteristics 
in  modern  usage  are,  that  its  incidents  and  language  ap- 
proach nearly  to  those  of  ordinary  life  ;  that  the  termina- 
tion of  its  intrigue  is  happy ;  and  that  it  is  distinguished  by 
greater  length  and  greater  complexity  of  plot  from  the 
lighter  theatrical  piece  entitled  a  farce.  The  original  Attic 
comedy  was  a  burlesque  tragedy  in  lorm,  in  substance  a 
satire  on  individuals,  and  founded  on  political  or  other  mat- 
ters of  public  interest.  The  modern  comedy  is  derived 
from  the  new  comedy  of  the  Greeks,  of  which  Menander 
and  Philemon  were  the  principal  authors,  and  which  has 
been  preserved  to  us  through  the  Latin  imitations  of  Plau- 
tus  and  Terence.     See  Drama. 

CO'MET.  (Gr.  KouriTris,  from  ko/)i),  hair.)  The  name 
given  to  a  numerous  class  of  celestial  bodies  belonging  to  the 
solar  system.  The  luminous  point  which  shines  with  great- 
er or  less  brilliancy  at  the  centre  of  a  comet  is  called  its  nu- 
cleus. The  nucleus  is  generally  surrounded  by  a  nebulosity, 
or  luminous  aurora.  The  train  of  light,  of  greater  or  less 
extent,  with  which  most  comets  are  accompanied,  is  called 
the  tail.  Formerly  this  name  was  only  applied  to  the  lu- 
minous train  when  it  fell  behind  the  comet  in  its  diurnal 
motion  ;  if  it  preceded  the  comet,  it  was  called  the  beard; 
but  this  distinction  has  disappeared  in  modern  works  on 
Astronomy. 

The  ancients  gave  the  name  of  comet  to  every  nebulous 
star  or  meteor  which  was  observed  to  pass  successively 
through  different  constellations.  Modern  astronomers  ap- 
ply the  name,  notwithstanding  the  etymology,  to  stars 
which  have  neither  nebulosity  nor  tail.  According  to  them, 
the  distinctive  characters  of  a  comet  are,  1st,  that  it  pos- 
sesses a  proper  motion ;  2d,  that  it  traverses  space  in  a 
curve  so  elongated  that  in  the  distant  parts  of  its  orbit  it 
ceases  to  be  visible.  The  proper  motion  distinguishes 
comets  from  those  new  stars  which  occasionally  appear, 
and  become  extinguished  without  changing  their  place  in 
the  sky.  The  elongated  form  of  the  orbit  establishes  a 
distinction  equally  marked  between  the  comets  and  the 
planets. 

Orbits  of  Comets. — Some  of  the  ancient  philosophers 
regarded  comets  as  simple  meteors,  engendered  in  the  at- 
mosphere. In  order,  however,  to  be  convinced  that  they 
occupy  a  far  more  remote  situation,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
compare  simultaneous  observations  at  very  distant  places 
on  the  earth.  Tycho  Brahe  was  the  first  who  showed  that 
their  true  place  is  in  the  planetary  regions :  since  the  time 
of  Tycho,  it  has  been  discovered  that  they  revolve  about 
the  sun  according  to  regular  laws,  similar  to  those  which 
govern  the  planetary  motions ;  and  that  their  orbits  are 
very  elongated  ellipses,  having  the  sun  in  one  of  their 
foci. 

Comets  are  only  visible  during  the  short  time  they  are 
near  the  perihelia  of  their  orbits.  But  an  elongated  ellipse, 
and  a  parabola  having  the  same  summit  and  focus,  only 
begin  to  diverge  sensibly  at  a  considerable  distance  from 
the  common  summit.  In  order,  therefore,  to  represent 
the  different  positions  of  a  comet  during  the  short  time  it 
is  visible,  we  may  in  general  without  any  inconvenience 
substitute  a  parabola  for  an  ellipse.  If  it  happens  that  the 
orbit  cannot  be  represented  by  a  parabola,  we  conclude 
that  the  ellipse  is  not  very  elongated.  Now,  by  means  of 
three  positions  of  a  comet  seen  from  the  earth,"  all  the  ele- 
ments of  its  parabolic  orbit  may  be  determined.  These 
elements  are,  1st,  the  line  of  the  nodes;  2d,  the  inclina- 
tion of  the  orbit  to  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic  ;  3d,  the  peri- 
helion distance,  or  least  distance  of  the  comet  from  the 
sun,  expressed  in  parts  of  the  earth's  semidiameter;  4th, 
the  instant  of  the  passage  through  the  perihelion  ;  5th,  the 
longitude  of  the  perihelion.  When  these  elements  are 
known,  the  path  of  the  comet  is  completely  determined ; 
and  it  is  only  necessary,  in  addition,  to  indicate  the  direc- 
tion of  the  motion,  that  is  to  say,  whether  it  is  in  the  order 
of  the  signs,  or  the  contrary. 

The  proper  motion  of  all  the  planets  is  performed  from 
west  to  east  in  the  order  of  the  signs;  comets,  on  the 
other  hand,  appear  lo  traverse  the  heavens  in  all  directions 
indifferently.  Of  129  comets  whose  orbits  have  been  de- 
termined there  are  68  whose  motion  is  direct,  and  61  whose 
254 


COMETS. 

motion  Is  retrograde,  and  their  orbits  intersect  the  ecliptic 
at  all  possible  angles.  Out  of  the  whole  number  there  are 
only  three  whose  returns  to  the  sun  in  successive  revolu- 
tions have  been  verified  by  observation.  These  are,  1st, 
Ilalley's  comet,  of  which  the  period  is  about  seventy-five 
and  a  half  years ;  2d,  Encke's,  whose  period  is  about  three 
and  one  third  years ;  and  3d,  Biela's,  which  performs  its 
revolution  in  six  years  and  about  eight  months. 

Halley's  Comet. —Newton  was  the  first,  who  submitted 
the  motion  of  a  comet  to  calculation,  and  pointed  out  a 
method  of  determining  its  orbit  from  three  of  its  observed 
positions.  Halley  applied  Newton's  method  to  a  great 
number  of  comets,  of  which  the  positions  had  been  ob- 
served ;  and  on  comparing  the  resulting  elements,  per- 
ceived that  the  comet  which  appeared  in  1682  moved  near- 
ly in  the  same  orbit  as  one  which  had  been  observed  in 
1607,  and  another  which  had  been  observed  by  Apian  in 
1531.  As  the  interval  between  these  successive  apparitions 
was  nearly  the  same,  namely,  about  seventy  six  years,  the 
identity  of  the  three  comets  appeared  to  Halley  to  be  es- 
tablished, and  he  accordingly  predicted  its  return  in  1759. 
Clairaut,  a  celebrated  French  mathematician,  computed 
the  time  at  which  it  would  arrive  at  its  perihelion  ;  and  his 
results  were  confirmed  by  observation,  the  comet  actually 
passing  its  perihelion  within  about  a  month  of  the  time 
predicted. 

The  computation  of  the  comet's  return  to  its  perihelion 
is  a  work  of  great  difficulty  and  labour;  for  in  consequence 
of  the  attractions  of  the  larger  planets,  the  path  of  the 
comet  is  considerably  changed  at  each  revolution,  and  all 
these  changes  or  perturbations,  as  they  are  called,  must  be 
computed  from  the  theory  of  gravitation. 

The  reappearance  of  this  comet  in  1835  was  expected 
with  great  interest.  Its  perturbations  in  the  previous  revo- 
lution were  calculated  by  Damoisean  and  Pontecoulant  in 
France,  and  by  Rosenberger  in  Germany,  and  the  time  of 
its  perihelion  passage  fixed  for  the  month  of  November  in 
thai  year.  Damoisean's  calculation  gave  the  4th,  Ponte- 
coulant's  the  7th,  and  Rosenberger's  the  3d  of  the  month. 
The  comet,  true  to  its  appointed  laws,  became  visible 
about  the  end  of  August,  in  the  part  of  the  heavens  pre- 
dicted ;  and  it  appears  from  the  comparison  of  the  numer- 
ous observations  that  were  made  of  it,  to  have  actually 
passed  its  perihelion  on  the  16th  of  November.  The  po- 
sition of  its  orbit  was  such  that  it  could  scarcely  be  seen  in 
Europe  after  the  passage,  on  account  of  its  proximity  to 
the  horizon;  but  it  was  then  caught  by  the  astronomers  of 
the  southern  hemisphere,  and  continued  to  be  observed  by 
Sir  John  Herschelat  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  till  the  end 
of  March,  1836,  when  its  increasing  distance  from  the  earth 
rendered  it  invisible.  For  some  weeks  it  continued  visible 
to  the  naked  eye,  but  its  splendour  was  not  very  remark- 
able. 

Encke's  Comet. — Two  other  comets  have  more  recently 
been  identified  as  having  been  seen  in  preceding  revolu- 
tions about  the  sun.  One  of  these  is  called  Encke's  comet, 
from  Professor  Encke  of  Berlin,  who  first  computed  its 
elliptic  elements.  Its  orbit  is  very  elongated,  the  eccen- 
tricity being  nearly  =  845,  and  inclined  to  the  ecliptic  in 
an  angle  of  about  13°  22£'.  The  period  of  its  revolution  is 
1207  days,  or  about  3  and  l-3d  years.  Though  this  comet 
was  not  recognized  as  periodic  till  1819,  it  had  frequently 
been  observed  in  previous  revolutions — in  1785,  1795, 1801, 
and  1805.  From  the  ellipse  calculated  by  Encke,  its  return 
was  predicted  in  1822.  On  this  occasion  it  was  invisible  in 
Europe,  but  was  observed  at  Paramatta  in  New  South 
Wales.  In  the  subsequent  returns  of  1825,  1828,  and  1832, 
it  was  observed  in  the  principal  observatories  both  in  the 
northern  and  southern  hemispheres.  In  comparing  the 
intervals  between  the  successive  returns  to  its  peri- 
helion, it  is  found  that  the  period  of  this  comet  is  con- 
tinually diminishing.  This  is  exactly  the  effect  that  would 
be  produced  if  it  moved  through  a  resisting  medium;  for 
the  resistance,  by  diminishing  the  actual  velocity,  dimin- 
ishes the  centrifugal  force,  in  consequence  of  which  the 
solar  attraction  preponderates,  and  the  comet  is  drawn 
nearer  to  the  sun,  and  completes  its  revolution  in  a  shorter 
time.  Accordingly,  as  there  appears  no  other  way  of  ac- 
counting for  the  observed  acceleration,  it  seems  now  to  be 
the  general  opinion  of  astronomers  that  an  ethereal  medium 
pervades  the  regions  of  space,  of  sufficient  density  to  affect 
the  motions  of  comets,  though  so  rare  as  to  offer  no  sensible 
resistance  to  the  denser  masses  of  the  planets,  whose  pe- 
riods of  revolution  have  continued  exactly  the  same  since 
the  epoch  of  the  first  astronomical  observations.  If  this 
medium  really  exists,  the  comet  must  ultimately  fall  into 
the  sun,  unless  it  is  dissipated  altogether;  an  event  which 
seems  not  improbable,  from  the  observed  fact  of  its  having 
been  less  conspicuous  at  each  reappearance. 

Biela's  Comet. — The  third  periodic  comet  at  present 
known  was  discovered  by  Biela,  an  Austrian  officer  then 
residing  at  Prague,  in  February,  1826  ;  and  by  M.  Gambart 
of  Marseilles  in  April  of  the  same  year.  It  has  been  iden- 
tified with  comets  observed  in  1772,  17S9,  1795,  1846,  &c. 


COMET. 


It  performs  its  revolution  in  2461  days,  in  an  ellipse  inclined 
to  the  ecliptic,  in  an  angle  of  13°  33'  15",  having  an  eccen- 
tricity of  0  74701,  its  greater  semi-axis  being  3-56705.  Us 
last  apparition  took  place,  in  accordance  with  calculation, 
in  1839 ;  and  its  next  return  will  be  in  1846.  It  is  a  small 
cornet,  having  no  tail,  and  presenting  no  appearance  of  a 
solid  nucleus,  but  only  a  slight  increasing  density  towards 
the  centre  ;  and  small  stars  were  seen  through  it.  Its  orbit, 
by  a  singular  coincidence,  nearly  intersects  that  of  the 
earth  ;  and  had  the  earth,  at  the  time  of  the  comet's  pas- 
sage in  1832,  been  a  month  in  advance  of  its  actual  place, 
it  would  have  passed  through  or  very  near  the  comet. 

Effects  of  the  Action  of  the  Planets  on  the  Orbits  of  Comets. 
— Comets  in  passing  near  the  larger  planets  are  drawn  aside 
from  their  paths,  and  have  their  orbits  sometimes  entirely 
changed.  In  June,  1770,  a  comet  was  discovered  by  Mes- 
sier; and  as  soon  as  three  observations  had  been  obtained, 
the  elements  of  its  parabolic  orbit  were  determined.  The 
comet  continued  visible  for  a  long  time,  and  it  was  found 
that  the  parabolic  elements  could  not  be  made  by  any  com- 
bination to  represent  the  observations.  It  followed,  there- 
fore, that  the  orbit  could  not  be  a  parabola.  Lexell  under- 
took the  compulation  of  an  elliptic  orbit,  and  found,  in  fact, 
that  the  comet  was  describing  an  ellipse,  of  which  the 
greater  axis  was  only  equal  to  three  times  the  diameter  of 
the  terrestrial  orbit,  and  would  consequently  complete  its 
revolution  in  about  five  years  and  a  half.  He  accordingly 
predicted  its  return  al  the  end  of  that  period  ;  nevertheless, 
the  comet  did  not  appear  at  the  expected  time,  and,  though 
very  conspicuous  in  1770,  has  never  been  seen  since.  On 
examining  the  catalogues,  no  trace  was  found  of  a  comet 
describing  the  same  orbit  having  been  seen  before.  The 
question,  therefore,  occurred,  in  what  manner  was  this 
mysterious  appearance  and  disappearance  to  be  explained? 
The  solution  was  found  in  the  disturbing  influence  of  Jupi- 
ter. On  submitting  lo  calculation  the  action  of  this  planet 
on  the  comet,  it  was  found,  in  the  first  place,  that  in  the 
year  1707,  before  the  comet  had  approached  Jupiter,  the 
ellipitc  orbit  which  it  described  corresponded  to  a  revolu- 
tion, not  of  five,  but  of  fifty  years  ;  and  in  the  second  place, 
it  was  found  that  in  1779,  when  getting  beyond  the  Bphere 
of  attraction  of  the  same  planet,  the  orbit  in  which  u  then 
moved  could  only  be  described  in  twenty  years.  Previ- 
ously to  1767  it  moved  in  so  wide  an  orbit  that  it  could  not 
be  seen  from  the  earth  ;  the  attraction  of  Jupiter  threw  it 
into  the  orbit  in  which  it  was  observed  by  Messier.  On  a 
second  approach  to  Jupiter,  it  was  again  deflected  from  its 
path,  and  thrown  into  an  orbit  in  which  it  was  invisible  as 
at  first. 

Physical  Nature  of  Comets. — Notwithstanding  the  atten- 
tion which  has  been  given  to  the  observation  of  comets 
whenever  they  make  their  appearance,  nothing  whatever 
is  known  of  their  physical  constitution  ;  nor  has  any  ration- 
al or  even  plausible  explanation  been  offered  of  the  volu- 
minous appendage  denominated  the  tail.  The  following 
remarks  of  Sir  John  Herschel  on  this  subject  are  extreme- 
ly interesting. 

"The  smaller  comets,  such  as  are  visible  only  in  tele- 
scopes, or  with  difficulty  by  the  naked  eye,  and  which  are 
by  far  the  most  numerous,  offer  very  frequently  no  appear- 
ance of  a  tail,  and  appear  only  as  round  or  somewhat  oval 
vaporous  masses,  more  dense  towards  the  centre  ;  where, 
however,  they  appear  to  have  no  distinct  nucleus,  or  any 
thing  which  seems  entitled  lo  be  considered  as  a  solid  body. 
Stars  of  the  smallest  magnitudes  remain  distinctly  visible, 
though  covered  by  what  appears  to  be  the  densest  portion 
of  their  substance  ;  although  the  same  stars  would  be  com- 
pletely obliterated  by  a  moderate  fog,  extending  only  a  few 
yards  from  the  surface  of  the  earth.  Whenever  powerful 
telescopes  have  been  turned  on  these  bodies,  they  have  not 
failed  to  dispel  the  illusion  which  attributes  solidity  to  that 
more  condensed  part  of  the  head  which  appears  to  the 
naked  eye  as  a  nucleus;  though  it  is  true  that  in  some  a 
very  minute  stellar  point  has  been  seen,  indicating  the  ex- 
istence of  a  solid  body. 

"  It  is  in  all  probability  to  the  feeble  coercion  of  the  elastic 
power  of  their  gaseous  parts  by  the  gravilation  of  so  small 
a  central  mass,  that  we  must  attribute  this  extraordinary 
development  of  the  atmosphere  of  comets.  If  the  earth, 
retaining  its  present  size,  were  reduced  by  any  internal 
change  (as  by  hollowing  out  its  central  parts)  to  one  thou- 
sandth part  of  i;s  actual  mass,  its  coercive  power  over  the 
atmosphere  would  be  reduced  in  the  same  proportion,  and 
in  consequence  the  latter  would  expand  to  a  thousand  times 
its  actual  bulk  ;  and  indeed  much  more,  owing  to  the  still 
further  diminution  of  gravity  by  the  recess  of  the  upper 
part  from  the  centre. 

That  the  luminous  part  of  a  comet  is  something  in  the 
nature  of  a  smoke,  fog,  or  cloud,  suspended  in  a  transpa- 
rent atmosphere,  is  evident  from  a  fact  which  has  been 
often  noticed  ;  viz.  that  the  portion  of  the  tail,  where  it 
comes  up  to  and  surrounds  the  head,  is  yet  separated  from 
it  by  an  interval  less  luminous,  as  if  sustained  and  kept  off 
from  contact  bv  a  transparent  stratum,  as  we  often  see  one 
255 


layer  of  clouds  laid  over  another,  with  a  considerable  spaee 
between.  These,  and  most  of  the  other  facts  observed  in 
the  history  of  comets,  appear  to  indicate  that  the  structure 

of  a  comet,  as  seen  in  section  in  the  di- 

f rection  of  its  length,  must  be  that  of  a 

( -f^V^ hollow  envelope,  of  a  parabolic  form, 

vA—^"  enclosing  near  its  vertex  the  nucleus 

^-- and  head,  something  as  is  represented 

in  the  annexed  figure.  This  would  ac- 
count for  the  apparent  division  of  the  tail  into  two  lateral 
branches,  the  envelope  being  oblique  to  the  line  of  sight  at 
its  borders,  and  therefore  a  greater  depth  of  illuminated 
matter  being  there  exposed  to  the  eye.  In  all  probability, 
however,  they  admit  great  varieties  of  structure,  and  among 
them  may  very  possibly  be  bodies  of  widely  different  physi- 
cal constitution."  (Astronomy ;  Cabinet  Cyclopaedia,  p.  304.) 

From  the  same  authority  we  extract  the  following  state- 
ment respecting  the  actual  dimensions  of  some  of  the  most 
conspicuous  comets  : — "  The  tail  of  the  great  comet  of  1680, 
immediately  after  its  perihelion  passage,  was  found  by 
Newton  to  have  been  no  less  than  20,000,000  of  leagues  in 
length,  and  to  have  occupied  only  two  days  in  its  emission 
from  the  comet's  body  ! — a  decisive  proof  this  of  its  being 
darted  forth  by  some  active  force,  the  origin  of  which,  to 
judge  from  the  direction  of  the  tail,  must  be  sought  in  the 
sun  itself.  Its  greatest  length  amounted  to  41,000,000 
leagues,  a  length  much  exceeding  the  whole  interval  be- 
tween the  sun  and  the  earth.  The  tail  of  the  comet  of  1769 
extended  16.000,000  leagues,  and  that  of  the  great  comet  of 
1811,  36,000,000.  The  portion  of  the  head  of  this  last  com- 
prised within  the  transparent  atmospheric  envelope  which 
separated  it  from  the  tail  was  180,000  leagues  in  diameter. 
It  is  hardly  conceivable  that  matter  once  projected  to  such 
enormous  distances  should  ever  be  collected  again  by  the 
feeble  attraction  of  such  a  body  as  a  comet — a  considera- 
tion which  accounts  for  the  rapid  progressive  diminution 
of  the  tails  of  such  as  have  been  frequently  observed." 
(Ibid.  p.  311.) 

It  is  extremely  probable  that  the  comets  are  merely  col- 
lections of  gaseous  matter,  of  which  a  part  may  be  dissi- 
pated in  space  al  every  revolution  :  but  further  observations 
are  wanted  to  make  this  hypothesis  certain.  In  1682  Hal- 
ley's  comet  appeared  as  round  and  clear  as  Jupiter;  in  1759 
it  was  not  visible  lo  the  naked  eye;  in  1836  it  was  again 
sufficiently  visible,  but  it  was  then  in  a  much  more  favour- 
able position  than  in  1769. 

In  former  times  comets  were  regarded  as  preternatural 
appearances,  betokening  the  displeasure  of  the  superior 
powers,  and  accordingly  viewed  with  the  terror  and  appre- 
hension naturally  excited  by  harbingers  of  indefinite  and 
unavoidable  calamity.  Since  they  have  been  discovered  to 
be  component  parts  of  the  solar  system,  their  appearance 
excites  no  other  interest  than  thai  which  astronomers  feel 
to  determine  their  orbits,  and  to  deduce  from  their  physi- 
cal aspects  such  conclusions  as  they  are  calculated  to  afford 
relative  to  the  constitution  of  the  universe. 

COMETA'RIUM.  An  astronomical  toy,  intended  to  re- 
present the  motion  of  a  comet  about  the  sun.  Any  instru- 
ment capable  of  describing  an  elongated  ellipse  may  be 
called  a  cometarium.     See  Elliptic  Compasses. 

COMI'TIA.  In  Ancient  History,  the  assemblies  of  the 
Roman  people,  which  were  of  three  kinds,  distinguished 
by  the  epithets,  Curiata,  Centuriata,  and  Tributa. 

1.  The  Comitia  Curiala  were  the  assemblies  of  the  patri- 
cian houses  or  populus ;  and  in  these,  before  the  plebeians 
attained  political  importance,  was  vested  the  supreme 
power  of  the  s'ate.  The  name  Curiata  was  given  because 
the  people  voted  in  curim,  each  curia  giving  a  single  vote 
representing  the  sentiments  of  the  majority  of  the  members 
composing  it;  which  was  the  manner  in  which  the  tribes 
and  centuries  also  gave  their  suffrages  in  their  respective 
comitia.  After  the  institution  of  the  Comitia  Centuriata, 
the  functions  of  the  curiata  were  nearly  confined  lo  the 
election  of  certain  priests,  and  passing  a  law  to  confirm  the 
dignities  imposed  by  the  people. 

2.  The  Comitia  Centuriata  were  the  assemblies  of  the 
whole  Roman  people,  including  patricians,  clients,  and  ple- 
beians, in  which  they  voted  by  centuries.  By  the  consti- 
tution of  the  centuries,  these  comitia  were  chiefly  in  the 
hands  of  the  plebeians,  and  so  served  originally  as  a  coun- 
terpoise to  the  powers  of  the  comitia  curiata,  for  which 
purpose  they  were  first  instituted  by  the  lawgiver  king 
Servius  Tullius.  These  comitia  quickly  obtained  the  chief 
importance,  and  public  matters  of  the  greatest  moment 
were  transacted  in  them  ;  as  the  elections  of  consuls,  prae- 
tors, and  censors,  and  the  passing  laws  and  trials  for  high 
treason. 

3.  The  Comitia  Tributa  were  the  assemblies  of  the  ple- 
beian tribes.  They  were  first  instituted  after  the  expulsion 
of  the  kings;  and  in  them  were  transacted  matters  pertain- 
ing to  the  plebeians  alone,  as  the  election  of  their  tribunes 
and  aidiles. 

CO'MMA.  (Gr.)  In  Music,  the  smallest  of  all  the  sub- 
divisions, being  about  the  ninth  part  of  a  tone. 


COMMANDER. 

Comma.    In  Grammar.     See  Punctuation. 

COM.MA'NDER.  In  the  Navy,  otherwise  called  mas- 
ter, an  officer  next  in  rank  above  lieutenant,  corresponding 
with  major  in  the  army. 

COMMANDER  IN  CHIEF.  The  officer  in  whom  is 
vested  the  supreme  command  of  all  the  land  forces  of  the 
British  Empire.  This  officer  is  appointed  by  the  ministry 
of  the  day,  whose  confidence  he  is  supposed  to  enjoy,  and 
he  is  assisted  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  by  several 
subordinate  officers,  such  as  the  adjutant-general,  the 
quartermaster-general,  &c.  (see  these  terms),  who  are 
each  nt  the  head  of  a  particular  department. 

COMMA'NDERY,  or  PRECEPTORY.  According  to 
the  usages  of  some  orders  of  Knights,  a  district  attached 
to  a  manor  or  chief  messuage  under  the  control  of  a  mem- 
ber of  the  order,  who  receives  the  income  of  that  district 
arising  from  the  estates  of  the  order,  taking  out  of  it  his 
own  pension,  and  accounting  for  the  rest. 

COMMELINA'CEjE.  (Commelina,  cne  of  the  genera.) 
A  natural  order  of  herbaceous  Endogens,  chiefly  inhabit- 
ing the  East  and  West  Indies.  Brown  remarks  that  the 
order  greatly  differs  from  Juncacea  both  in  habit  and  struc- 
ture, and  agrees  better  with  Restiaceca,  having  but  little 
affinity  with  Palms  ;  and  Agardh  adds,  that  it  agrees  with 
Orchidacea,  in  the  structure  of  the  stamens  and  seeds,  but  in 
what  respect  he  does  not  state.  The  species  are  very  often 
mere  weeds,  but  occasionally  are  beautiful  flowering  plants. 
A  common  example  is  the  Tradescantiavirginica. 

COMME'NDAM.  (Lat.)  A  term  of  the  Canon  Law. 
A  person  to  whom  custody  of  a  void  ecclesiastical  benefice 
is  committed  by  the  superior,  without  the  profits  apper- 
taining lo  if,  was  said  to  hold  the  benefice  in  commendam, 
i.  e.  entrusted  to  his  care ;  but  by  various  devices  Ihe  re- 
striction on  the  receipt  of  profits  was  evaded,  and  the  hold- 
ing benefices  in  commendam  became  a  mode  of  enjoying 
pluralities.  By  the  English  law,  no  one  can  hold  in  com- 
mendam without  license  from  the  crown.  An  ordinary 
case  is  where  clergymen  promoted  to  bishoprics  with  in- 
sufficient revenues  are  allowed  in  this  manner  to  retain  the 
profits  of  livinss. 

COMME'NSURABLE.  Quantities,  in  Geometry,  are 
said  to  be  commensurable  when  they  have  some  common 
measure  or  divisor,  which  divides  each  of  them  without 
leaving  a  remainder.  Thus  a  yard  and  a  furlong  are  com- 
mensurable magnitudes,  because  a  foot  is  a  measure  or 
aliquot  part  of  each  of  them,  being  contained  in  the  yard 
three  times,  and  in  the  furlong  660  times.  Fractional  num- 
bers and  surds  are  also  said  to  be  commensurable  when 
they  have  a  common  measure  of  the  same  kind  as  them- 
selves. Thus  f  and  f  are  commensurable,  being  each  di- 
visible by  }{  ;  and  so  are  2\/2  and  3-V/2,  being  each  mea- 
sured by  \/2 

CO'MMENTARY.  (Derived  from  the  Latin  verb  com- 
miniscor,  Icall  to  mind.)  In  Literature,  a  word  used  in 
different  significations:—!.  In  the  same  sense  with  me- 
moirs, as  a  short  narrative  of  particular  events  and  occur- 
rences, composed  by  an  actor  or  spectator  of  those  events 
with  the  professed  object  of  calling  back  the  circumstan- 
ces to  his  own  mind  ;  e.  g.  the  Commentaries  of  Caesar. 
2.  Critical  observations  on  the  text  or  contents  of  a  book. 
These  are  either  in  the  form  of  detached  notes,  containing 
remarks  on  particular  passages ;  or  they  are  embodied  in 
what  is  termed  a  running  commentary,  or  series  of  re- 
marks written  and  printed  in  a  connected  form. 

CO'MMERCE  (from  commutatio  mercium),  is  the  ex- 
change of  one  sort  of  produce  or  service  for  some  other 
sort  of  produce  or  service. 

Exchanges  of  this  description  have  their  rise  in  the  na- 
ture of  man  and  the  circumstances  under  which  he  is 
placed,  and  their  origin  is  coeval  with  the  formation  of  so- 
ciety. The  varying  powers  and  dispositions  of  different 
individuals  dispose  them  to  engage  in  preference  in  par- 
ticular occupations ;  and  in  the  end  every  one  finds  it  for 
his  advantage  to  confine  himself  wholly  or  principally  to 
some  one  employment,  and  to  barter  or  exchange  such 
portions  of  his  produce  as  exceed  his  own  demand,  for 
such  portions  of  the  peculiar  produce  of  others  as  he  is 
desirous  to  obtain  and  they  are  disposed  to  part  with. 
The  division  and  combination  of  employments  is  carried 
to  some  extent  in  the  rudest  societies,  and  it  is  carried  to 
a  very  great  extent  in  those  that  are  most  improved  ;  but 
to  whatever  extent  it  may  be  carried,  commerce  must  be 
equally  advanced.  The  division  of  employments  could 
not  exist  without  commerce,  nor  commerce  without  the  di- 
vision of  employments  :  they  mutually  act  and  react  upon 
each  other.  Every  new  subdivision  of  employments  oc- 
casions a  greater  extension  of  commerce  ;  and  the  latter 
cannot  be  extended  without  contributing  to  the  better  di- 
vision and  combination  of  the  former. 

In  rude  societies,  the  principal  business  of  commerce,  or 
the  exchange  of  one  sort  of  commodities  for  some  other 
sort,  is  carried  on  by  those  who  produce  them.  Individu- 
als having  more  of  any  article  than  is  required  for  their 
own  use  endeavour  to  find  out  others  in  want  of  it,  and  who 
256 


COMMERCE. 

at  the  same  time  possess  something  that  they  would  like 
to  have.  But  the  difficulties  and  inconveniences  insepar- 
able from  a  commercial  intercourse  carried  on  in  this  way 
are  so  obvious  as  hardly  to  require  being  pointed  out. 
Were  there  no  merchants  or  dealers,  a  farmer,  for  ex- 
ample, who  had  a  quantity  of  wheat  or  wool  to  dispose  of, 
would  be  obliged  to  seek  out  those  who  wanted  these  com- 
modities, and  to  sell  them  in  such  portions  as  might  suit 
them  ;  and  having  done  this,  he  would  next  be  forced  to 
send  to,  perhaps,  twenty  different  and  distant  places,  be- 
fore he  succeeded  in  supplying  himself  with  the  various 
articles  he  might  wish  to  buy.  His  attention  would  thus  be 
perpetually  diverted  from  the  business  of  his  farm ;  and 
while  the  difficulty  of  exchanging  his  own  produce  for  that 
of  others  would  prevent  him  from  acquiring  a  taste  forim- 
proved  accommodations,  it  would  tempt  him  to  endea- 
vour to  supply  most  things  that  were  essential  by  his  own 
labour  and  that  of  his  family  ;  so  that  the  division  of  em- 
ployments would  be  confined  within  the  narrowest  limits. 
The  wish  to  obviate  such  inconveniences  has  given  rise  to 
a  distinct  mercantile  class.  Without  employing  themselves 
in  any  sort  of  production,  merchants  or  dealers  render  the 
greatest  assistance  to  the  producers ;  they  collect  and  dis- 
tribute all  sorts  of  commodities  they  buy  of  the  farmers 
and  manufacturers  the  things  they  have  to  sell ;  and  bring- 
ing together  every  variety  of  useful  and  desirable  articles 
in  shops  and  warehouses,  individuals  are  able,  without 
difficulty  or  loss  of  time,  to  supply  themselves  with  whatever 
they  want.  Continuity  is  in  consequence  given  to  all  the 
operations  of  industry  ;  for,  as  every  one  knows  before- 
hand where  he  may  dispose  to  the  best  advantage  of  all 
that  he  has  to  sell,  and  obtain  all  that  he  wishes  to  buy,  an 
uninterrupted  motion  is  given  to  the  plough  and  the  loom. 
Satisfied  that  they  will  have  no  difficulty  about  finding  mer- 
chants for  their  produce,  agriculturists  and  manufacturers 
think  only  how  they  may  improve  and  perfect  their  respec- 
tive businesses.  Theiraltention,  no  longer  dissipated  upon 
a  variety  of  objects,  is  fixed  upon  one  only.  It  becomes 
the  object  of  every  individual  to  find  out  machines  and 
processes  for  facilitating  the  separate  task  in  which  he 
is  engaged ;  and  while  the  progress  of  invention  is  thus  im- 
measurably accelerated,  those  who  carry  on  particular  bu- 
sinesses acquire  that  peculiar  dexterity  and  sleight  of  hand 
so  astonishing  to  those  who  live  in  places  where  the  divi- 
sion of  labour  is  but  imperfectly  established.  Facility  of 
exchange  is,  in  truth,  the  vivifying  principle,  the  very  soul 
of  industry  ;  and  no  interruption  is  evergiven  to  it  without 
producing  the  most  ruinous  consequences. 

The  merchants,  or  dealers,  collect  their  goods  in  differ- 
ent places  in  the  least  expensive  manner;  and  by  carrying 
them  in  large  quantities  at  a  time  they  can  afford  to  sup- 
ply their  customers  at  a  cheaper  rate  than  the  latter  could 
supply  themselves.  Not  only,  therefore,  do  they,  by  en- 
abling every  employment  to  be  carried  on  without  interrup- 
tion, and  the  divisions  of  labour  to  be  perfected,  add  pro- 
digiously to  the  powers  of  industry,  and,  by  consequence, 
to  the  wealth  of  the  community,  but  they  also  promote  the 
convenience  of  every  one,  and  reduce  the  cost  of  mer- 
chandising to  the  lowest  limit.  According  as  commerce 
is  extended,  each  particular  business  becomes  better  un- 
derstood, better  cultivated,  and  carried  on  in  the  best  and 
cheapest  melhod  :  where  it  is  far  advanced,  the  whole  soci- 
ety is  firmly  linked  together ;  every  man  is  indebted  to  every 
other  man  for  a  portion  of  his  necessaries,  conveniences, 
and  enjoyments;  every 'thing  is  mutual,  and  reciprocal ; 
and  a  large  country  becomes  in  effect,  from  the  intimate 
correspondence  kept  up  through  the  medium  of  the  mer- 
cantile class,  like  a  large  city. 

The  annihilation  of  the  class  of  traders  would  deprive 
society  of  all  these  advantages.  The  difficulties  that  would 
then  be  experienced  in  selling  and  buying  would  oblige 
every  one  to  attempl,  in  so  far  as  possible,  directly  to  sup- 
ply his  own  wants  ;  the  division  of  employments  would  be 
contracted  on  all  sides,  and  Great  Britain  would  gradually 
relapse  into  a  state  little,  if  at  all,  superior  to  its  state  at  the 
Norman  conquest. 

The  celebrated  Italian  economist,  the  Count  di  Verri,has 
defined  commerce  to  be  the  conveyance  of  commodities 
from  place  to  place  (transporto  delle  mercanzie  da  un  luogo 
a  luogo).  This  definition  has  been  adopted  by  M.  Say,  who 
contends  that  commerce  does  not  consist  in  exchanges,  but 
in  bringing  commodities  wilhin  reach  of  the  consumers 
(il  consiste  essentiellernent  a  placer  un  produ.it  a  laportee  de 
ses  consommateurs).  But  this  is  plainly  to  confound  the 
means  with  the  end  ;  the  preparations  for  an  exchange  with 
Ihe  exchange  itself.  The  conveyance  of  commodities 
from  place  to  place  is  necessary  to  enable  commerce 
to  be  carried  on  ;  but  unless  they  be  conveyed  in  the 
view  of  being  sold  or  exchanged  for  other  commodi- 
ties, and  unless  that  exchange  actually  take  place,  there 
is  no  room  or  ground  for  considering  the  conveyance 
in  the  light  of  a  commercial  operation.  It  is  obvious, 
too,  that  though  the  Count  di  Verri's  definition  were 
not  erroneous  in  this  respect,  it  is  not  sufficiently  compre- 


COMMERCE. 


hensive.  Suppose  that  a  hat  manufactory  is  establish- 
ed in  Regent  street,  and  that  a  shop  is  attached  to  it, 
where  the  hats  are  sold  ;  no  one  doubts  that  those  employ- 
ed in  this  shop  are  engaged  in  a  commercial  undertaking, 
and  yet  they  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  carriage  of  com- 
modities. Whatever,  therefore,  may  be  the  particular  sort 
of  commerce  carried  on,  whether  the  commodities  have 
been  brought  from  a  distance  or  produced  on  the  spot,  its 
object  and  end  is  an  exchange ;  when  this  end  is  not  at- 
tained, no  act  of  commerce  can  be  said  to  have  taken 
place. 

The  erroneous  definition  of  commerce  which  M.  Say 
has  adopted  has  hindered  him  from  rightly  appreciating 
its  influence.  " In  commerce,"  says  he,  "there  is  a  ge- 
nuine production,  because  there  is  a  modification  produc- 
tive of  utility  and  value.  The  merchant,  after  buying  a 
commodity  at  its  current  price,  sells  it  again  at  its  current 
price  ;  but  the  last  price  is  greater  than  the  former,  be- 
cause the  merchant  has  brought  the  commodity  into  a  sit- 
uation which  has  really  augmented  its  price,  and  the  soci- 
ety is  enriched  by  this  augmentation ."  (Cours  d/ Econo- 
mic Politique,  t.  ii.  p.  213.)  But  though  this  be  true,  it  is 
not  the  whole  truth,  nor  even  the  greater  part  of  it.  Sup- 
pose that  a  hat  maker  and  a  shoe-maker  live  in  contiguous 
nouses  :  if  the  one  exchange  his  hats  for  the  other's  shoes 
society  will  not  certainly  gain  much  by  the  change  in  the 
locality  of  the  commodities,  but  it  will  notwithstanding  be 
materially  benefitted  by  the  transaction  ;  for,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  exchange,  each  tradesman  will  be  able  to 
confine  himself  to  his  own  business  :  the  hat-maker  will 
not  be  obliged  to  waste  his  time  in  clumsy  attempts  to 
make  his  own  shoes,  nor  will  the  shoe-maker  be  compelled 
to  make  his  own  hat.  It  is  in  this  that  the  peculiar  advan- 
tage of  commerce  consists.  What  an  individual  gives  for 
anything  is,  speaking  generally,  the  fair  equivalent  of  what 
he  gets.  But  the  facility  of  exchansing  allows  every  one, 
as  has  been  already  seen,  to  apply  his  entire  time  and  en- 
ergies to  some  one  department ;  and  in  this  way  occasions 
the  production  of  an  incomparably  greater  quantity  of  all 
Borts  of  wealth  than  it  would  otherwise  be  possible  to  pro- 
duce. 

The  mercantile  class  has  been  divided  into  two  leading 
classes. — the  wholesale  dealers  and  the  retail  dealers. 
This  division,  like  the  divisions  in  other  employments,  has 
grown  out  of  a  sense  of  its  utility.  The  wholesale  mer- 
chants buv  the  goods  at  first  hand  of  the  producers ;  but 
instead  of  disposing  of  them  to  the  consumers,  they  gene- 
rally sell  them  to  the  retailers  or  shopkeepers,  by  whom 
they  are  retailed  or  distributed  to  the  public  in  such  quan- 
tities and  in  such  a  way  as  is  most  suitable  for  them.  The 
interest  of  all  parties  is  consulted  by  this  division.  Had 
the  wholesale  dealers  attempted  also  to  retail  their  goods. 
they  could  not  have  given  that  undivided  attention  to  any 
part  of  their  business  so  necessary  to  ensure  its  success. 
A  retailer  should  be  constantly  at  his  shop;  not  merely 
that  he  may  attend  to  the  orders  daily  sent  to  him.  but  that 
he  may  learn  all  that  transpires  with  respect  to  the  situa- 
tion of  his  customers,  their  wants,  and  their  circumstances. 
But  wholesale  dealers  being  obliged  to  attend  to  what  is 
going  on  in  different  and  distant  quarters,  cannot  give  this 
minute  attention  to  what  happens  in  their  immediate  vi- 
cinity ;  and  though  they  could,  the  capital  required  to 
carry  on  a  wholesale  business  would  not  be  sufficient  for 
that  purpose,  were  the  business  of  retailing  joined  to  it. 
Were  there  only  one  class  of  merchants,  the  capital  and 
the  number  of  individuals  employed  in  commercial  under- 
takings would  not  probably  be  less  than  at  present;  but 
the  merchant,  being  obliged  to  apply  himself  principally  to 
one  department,  would  have  to  leave  the  chief  share  of  the 
other  to  servants  ;  a  change  which,  as  every  one  knows, 
would  be  productive  of  the  most  mischievous  conse- 
quences. 

There  can,  therefore,  be  no  doubt  that  the  separation  in 
question  has  been  highly  advantageous.  The  classes  of 
merchants,  like  those  of  artificers,  are  mutually  service- 
able to  each  other  and  to  the  public.  Without  this  subdi- 
vision, commerce  would  have  been  impeded  in  its  opera- 
tions ;  particular  branches  of  it  would  have  been  compara- 
tively neglected  ;  nor  would  any  branch  have  been  carried 
on  with  the  same  economy  and  attention  with  which  all 
are  now  conducted. 

In  a  highly  civilized  country  like  Great  Britain,  the  trade 
in  every  commodity  in  considerable  demand,  as  corn, 
sugar,  tea,  timber,  <fec,  affords  employment  for  a  separate 
class  of  traders.  But  for  all  purposes  of  general  inquiry, 
it  is  sufficient  to  consider  commerce  under  three  heads, 
viz.  : — 1.  The  Home  trade,  or  that  carried  on  between  in- 
dividuals of  the  same  country;  2.  Foreign  trade,  or  that 
carried  on  between  individuals  of  different  countries;  and, 
3.  The  Colony  trade,  or  that  carried  on  between  the  in- 
habitants of  any  particular  country  and  its  colonists.  We 
subjoin  a  few  remarks  upon  each  of  these  heads. 

I.  Home  Trade. — It  has  been  already  seen  that  the  vary- 
ing capacities  and  dispositions  of  different  individuals  oc- 
257 


casion  the  introduction  of  a  division  of  employments,  and 
the  practice  of  exchange  or  barter.  But  the  external  cir- 
cumstances under  which  different  individuals  are  placed 
vary  still  more  than  their  natural  powers  or  tastes.  One 
set  inhabit  a  rich  fertile  plain,  suitable  for  the  growth  of 
corn  and  other  culmiferous  crops.  Another  set  inhabit  a 
mountainous  district,  the  soil  of  which  is  comparatively 
sterile,  but  which  is  well  fitted  for  rearing  cattle  ;  another 
set  are  planted  upon  the  margin  of  a  river,  or  arm  of  the 
sea,  abounding  in  every  facil^y  for  carrying  on  the  busi- 
ness of  fishing;  and  so  on.  Now  it  is  so  obvious,  that 
though  the  individuals  belonging  to  any  particular  district 
had  not  established  a  division  of  labour  amongst  themselves, 
it  would  be  highly  for  their  advantage  to  establish  one  with 
those  occupying  other  districts,  the  productions  of  which 
are  materially  different.  When  the  inhabitants  of  New- 
castle (Eng.)'  apply  themselves  principally  to  the  coal 
trade,  those  of  Essex  to  the  raising  of  wheat,  and  those  of 
the  highlands  of  Scotland  to  the  raising  of  cattle  and  wool, 
each  set  avail  themselves,  in  carrying  on  their  employ- 
ments, of  the  peculiar  powers  of  production  conferred  by 
Providence  on  the  districts  they  occupy ;  and  by  exchang- 
ing such  portions  of  their  produce  as  exceed  their  own 
consumption,  for  the  surplus  articles  raised  by  others,  their 
wealth  and  that  of  everyone  else,  is  immeasurably  increas- 
ed. It  is  in  this  territorial  division  of  labour,  as  it  has  been 
happily  designated  by  Colonel  Torrens,  that  the  main  ad- 
vantage of  commerce  consists.  In  commercial  countries, 
each  individual  may  not  only  enter  at  pleasure,  on  such 
pursuits  as  he  deems  most  advantageous,  but  the  entire 
population  of  districts  and  provinces  are  enabled  to  turn 
their  energies  into  those  channels  in  which  they  are  sure 
to  receive  the  greatest  assistance  from  natural  powers. 
Suppose  England  were  divided  into  separate  parishes,  or 
even  counties,  surrounded  respectively  by  Bishop  Berke- 
ley's wall  of  brass,  and  having  no  intercourse  with  each 
other,  in  what  a  miserable  situation  would  they  be  !  In- 
stead of  1,500.000,  London  could  not  under  such  circum- 
stances contain  15,000  inhabitants  ;  and  these  would  be 
exposed  to  numberless  privations  of  which  we  have  not  the 
slightest  idea.  Unless  the  territorial  division  of  labour 
were  carried  to  some  extent,  the  division  of  employments 
amongst  individuals  occupying  the  same  district,  could  be 
but  very  imperfectly  established,  and  would  be  of  compa- 
ratively little  use.  It  is  only  when  one  is  able  both  to  grati- 
fy his  taste  and  to  avail  himself  of  the  varying  capacities 
of  production  given  to  different  districts  that  the  benefits 
of  commerce  can  be  fully  appreciated,  and  that  it  becomes 
the  most  copious  source  of  wealth  as  well  as  the  most 
powerful  engine  of  civilisation. 

••  With  the  benefits  of  commerce,"  says  an  eloquent 
writer,  "or  a  ready  exchange  of  commodities,  every  indi- 
vidual is  enabled  to  avail  himself  to  the  utmost  of  the  pe- 
culiar advantage  of  his  place ;  to  work  on  the  peculiar  ma- 
terials with  which  nature  has  furnished  him ;  to  humour 
his  genius  or  disposition,  and  betake  himself  to  the  task  in 
which  he  is  peculiarly  qualified  to  succeed.  The  inhabit- 
ant of  the  mountain  may  betake  himself  to  the  culture  of 
his  woods,  and  the  manufacture  of  his  timber,  the  owner 
of  pasture  lands  may  betake  himself  to  the  care  of  his 
herds;  the  owner  of  the  clay  pit  to  the  manufacture  of  his 
pottery  ;  and  the  husbandman  to  the  culture  of  his  fields, 
or  the  rearing  of  his  cattle ;  and  any  one  commodity, 
however  it  may  form  but  a  small  part  in  the  whole  accom- 
modations of  human  life,  may,  under  the  facilities  of  com- 
merce, find  a  market  in  which  it  may  be  exchanged  for 
what  will  procure  any  other  part,  or  the  whole  ;  so  that  the 
owner  of  the  clay  pit,  or  the  industrious  potter,  without 
producing  any  one  article  immediately  fit  to  supply  his 
own  necessities,  may  obtain  the  possession  of  all  that  he 
wants.  And  commerce,  in  which  it  appears  that  com- 
modities are  merely  exchanged,  and  nothing  produced,  is 
nevertheless,  in  its  effects, "very  productive ;  because  it 
ministers  an  encouragement  and  facility  to  every  artist  in 
multiplying  the  productions  of  his  own  art,  thus  adding 
greatly  to  the  mass  of  wealth  in  the  world,  in  being  the  oc- 
casion that  much  is  produced. "—(Ferguson's  Principles  of 
Moral  and  Political  Science,  vol.  ii.  p.  424.) 

II.  Foreign  Trade. — The  trade  carried  on  between  indi- 
viduals of  different  countries  is  founded  on  precisely  the 
same  circumstances — the  difference  of  soil,  climate,  and 
productions,  on  which  is  founded  the  trade  between  differ- 
ent districts  of  the  same  country.  One  country,  like  one 
district,  is  peculiarly  fitted  for  the  growth  of  corn  ;  another 
for  the  cultivation  of  the  grape  ;  a  third  abounds  in  mine- 
rals ;  a  fourth  has  inexhaustible  forests  ;  and  so  forth  : — 

Hie  segetes,  ilHc  veniual  felicius  wvs, 
Arborei  felus  alibi,  atque  injussa  virescunt 
Gramma.     Nonne  rides,  croceoa  lit  Tmotus  odores, 
India  mittit  ebur,  molles  Eua  Ihura  Sabsi  ? 
AtChalyhss  nudi  ferrum,  virosaque  Pontus 
Castorea,  E'iadum  pnlmas  Epiros  equarum? 
Contiuuo  has  leges  aternaqiie  federa  eerlis 
Imposuil  nal'ira  locia. — Geor.  lib.  i.  lin.  54. 

Providence,  by  thus  distributing  the  various  articles  suit- 


COMMERCE. 


able  for  the  accommodation  and  comfort  of  man  in  differ- 
ent countries,  has  evidently  provided  for  their  mutual  in- 
tercourse. In  this  respect,  indeed,  foreign  trade  is  of  far 
more  importance  than  the  home  trade.  There  is  infinitely 
less  difference  between  the  products  of  the  various  districts 
of  the  most  extensive  country,  than  there  is  between  the 
products  of  different  and  distant  countries;  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  territorial  division  of  labour  amongst  the 
latter  must  therefore  be  proportionally  advantageous. 

"  As  the  same  country  is  rendered  richer  by  the  trade  of 
one  province  with  another;  as  its  labour  becomes  thus 
infinitely  more  divided,  and  more  productive  than  it  could 
otherwise  have  been  ;  and  as  the  mutual  interchange  of  all 
those  commodities  which  one  province  has  and  another 
wants  multiplies  the  comforts  and  accommodation  of  the 
whole,  and  the  country  becomes  thus,  in  a  wonderful  de- 
gree, more  opulent  and  more  happy  ;  so  the  same  beau- 
tiful train  of  consequences  is  observable  in  the  world  at 
large, — that  vast  empire,  of  which  the  different  kingdoms 
may  be  regarded  as  the  provinces.  In  this  magnificent 
empire,  one  province  is  favourable  to  the  production  of  one 
species  of  produce,  and  another  province  to  another.  By 
their  mutual  intercourse,  mankind  are  enabled  to  distribute 
their  labour  as  best  fits  the  genius  of  each  particular  coun- 
try and  people.  The  industry  of  the  whole  is  thus  render- 
ed incomparably  more  productive  ;  and  every  species  of 
necessary,  useful  and  agreeable  accommodation  is  ob- 
tained in  much  greater  abundance  and  with  infinitely  less 
expense." — (Mills's  Commerce  Defended,}).  38.) 

But  to  enable  the  advantages  of  foreign  commerce  to  be 
rightly  appreciated,  it  will  be  proper  to  consider  it  under 
the  following  heads: — viz.  1.  Its  influence  in  supplying  us 
with  useful  and  desirable  articles,  of  which  we  should 
otherwise  be  wholly  destitute  ;  2.  Its  influence  in  multiply- 
ing and  cheapening  the  peculiar  productions  of  our  owu 
country  ;  3.  Its  influence  in  making  us  acquainted  with 
foreign  discoveries  and  inventions,  and  in  exciting  inven- 
tion by  means  of  competition  and  example  ;  and,  4.  Its  in- 
direct influence  upon  industry,  by  increasing  the  sources 
of  enjoyment. 

1.  With  respect  to  the  first  of  these  influences,  or  the 
effect  of  commerce  in  furnishing  every  people  with  com- 
modities not  otherwise  attainable,  it  is  too  obvious  and 
striking  to  require  any  lengthened  illustrations.  Great 
Britain  is  as  abundantly  supplied  with  native  products  as 
most  countries;  and  yet  any  one  who  reflects  for  a  moment 
on  the  nature  and  variety  of  the  articles  we  import  from 
abroad,  must  be  satisfied  that  we  are  indebted  to  trade  for 
a  very  large  part  of  our  superior  accommodations.  Tea, 
sugar,  coffee,  wine,  and  spices ;  silk  and  cotton,  the  mate- 
rials of  our  most  extensive  manufactures  ;  gold  and  silver  ; 
and  an  endless  variety  of  other  highly  important  articles, 
are  sent  to  us  by  foreigners.  And  were  the  importation 
put  an  end  to,  what  a  prodigious  deduction  would  be  made, 
not  from  our  comforts  and  enjoyments  merely,  but  also 
from  our  means  of  supporting  "and  employing  labourers  ! 
If  foreign  commerce  did  nothing  more  than  supply  us  with 
so  many  new  products,  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  over- 
rate its  value  and  importance. 

2.  But  such  is  the  beneficent  influence  of  commerce, 
that  while  it  supplies  an  endless  variety  of  new  produc- 
tions, it  multiplies  and  cheapens  those  that  are  peculiar  to 
every  country.  It  does  this,  by  enabling  each  separate 
people  to  employ  themselves,  in  preference,  in  those  de- 
partments in  which  they  enjoy  some  natural  or  acquired 
advantage,  and  by  opening  the  markets  of  the  world  to 
their  productions.  When  the  demand  for  a  commodity  is 
confined  to  a  particular  country,  as  soon  as  it  is  supplied 
improvement  is  at  a  stand.  The  subdivision  and  combina- 
tion of  employments  is,  in  fact,  always  dependent  upon 
and  regulated  by  the  extent  of  the  market.  Dr.  Smith  has 
shown,  that  by  making  a  proper  distribution  of  labour 
among  ten  workmen,  in  a  pin  manufactory,  48,000  pins 
might  be  produced  in  a  day  ;  and  since  his  time  the  num- 
ber has  been  nearly  doubled.  But  had  the  demand  not  been 
sufficient  to  take  off  this  quantity  of  pins,  the  divisions  and 
improvements  in  question  could  not  have  been  made  ;  and 
the  price  of  pins  would  in  consequence  have  been  com- 
paratively high.  This  principle  holds  universally.  The 
most  important  manufacture  carried  on  in  Great  Britain — 
that  of  cotton — is  entirely  the  result  of  commerce.  Sup- 
posing, however,  that  cotton  wool  had  been  a  native  pro- 
duct, we  could  never  have  made  such  astonishing  advances 
in  the  manufacture  had  we  been  denied  access  to  foreign 
markets.  Notwithstanding  the  splendid  discoveries  in  the 
machinery,  and  the  perfection  to  which  every  department 
of  the  trade  has  been  brought,  the  vast  extent  of  the  market 
has  prevented  its  being  glutted,  and  has  stimulated  our 
manufacturers  and  artizans  to  persevere  with  unabated  ar- 
dour in  the  career  of  improvement.  Our  cotton  mills  have 
been  constructed,  not  that  they  might  supply  the  limited 
demand  of  Great  Britain,  but  that  they  might  supply  the 
demand  of  the  whole  world.  And  in  consequence  of  the 
extraordinary  subdivision  of  labour,  and  the  scope  given  to 

258 


the  employment  and  improvement  of  machinery  by  the 
unlimited  extent  of  the  market,  the  price  of  cottons  has 
been  reduced  to  less,  probably,  than  a  fourth  part  of  what 
it  would  have  been  had  they  met  with  no  outlet  in  foreign 
countries.  The  hardware,  woollen,  leather,  and  other 
manufactures,  exhibit  similar  results.  The  access  their 
products  have  had  to  other  markets  has  led  to  important 
improvements  in  their  production  ;  so  that,  as  was  previ- 
ously stated,  commerce  not  only  supplies  us  with  a  vast  va- 
riety of  new  and  desirable  articles,  but  it  also  cheapens  the 
staple  productions  of  the  country,  and  renders  them  more 
easily  attainable  by  the  great  mass  of  people. 

3.  The  influence  of  commerce  in  making  the  people  of 
each  country  acquainted  with  foreign  inventions  and  dis- 
coveries, and  in  stimulating  ingenuity  by  bringing  them  into 
competition  with  strangers,  is  obvious  and  powerful.  It 
distributes  the  gifts  of  science  and  art,  as  well  as  those  of 
nature.  It  is  the  great  engine  by  which  the  blessings  of 
civilization  are  diffused  throughout  the  world,  the  inter- 
course to  which  it  gives  rise  making  every  one  acquainted 
with  the  processes  carried  on  and  the  inventions  made  in 
the  remotest  corners  of  the  globe.  Were  any  consider- 
able improvement  made  in  any  important  art  either  in  Chi- 
na or  Peru,  it  would  be  very  speedily  understood  and  prac- 
tised in  England.  It  is  no  longer  possible  to  monopolize 
an  invention.  The  intimate  communication  that  now  ex- 
ists amongst  nations  renders  any  important  discovery, 
wherever  it  may  be  made,  a  common  benefit.  The  inge- 
nious machine  invented  by  Mr.  Eli  Whitney,  of  the  United 
States,  for  separating  cotton  wool  from  the  pod,  has  been 
quite  as  advantageous  to  the  English  as  to  the  Americans  ; 
and  the  inventions  of  Watt  and  Arkwright  have  added  to 
the  comforts  of  the  inhabitants  of  Siberia  and  Brazil,  as 
well  as  of  England.  The  genuine  commercial  spirit  is 
destructive  of  all  sorts  of  monopolies.  It  enables  every 
separate  country  to  profit  by  the  peculiar  natural  powers 
and  acquired  skill  of  all  the  others ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  communicates  to  them  whatever  advantages  it 
may  enjoy.  Every  nation  is  thus  intimately  associated 
with  its  neighbours.  Their  products,  their  arts,  and  their 
sciences,  are  reciprocally  communicated  ;  and  the  emula- 
tion that  is  thus  excited  and  kept  up,  forces  routine  to  give 
place  to  invention,  and  inspires  every  people  with  zeal  to 
undertake,  and  perseverance  to  overcome,  the  most  for- 
midable tasks.  It  is  not  possible  to  form  any  accurate  no- 
tions as  to  what  would  have  been  our  state  at  this  moment, 
had  we  been  confined  within  our  own  little  world,  and  de- 
prived of  all  intercourse  with  foreigners.  We  know,  how- 
ever, that  the  most  important  arts,  such  as  printing,  glass- 
making,  paper-making,  &c,  have  been  imported  from 
abroad.  No  doubt  we  might  have  invented  some  of  these 
ourselves ;  but  there  is  not  the  shadow  of  a  ground  for 
supposing  that  we  should  have  invented  them  all ;  and 
without  foreign  example  and  competition,  we  could  hardly 
have  carried  any  of  them  beyond  the  merest  rudiments. 

4.  The  influence  of  commerce  upon  industry,  by  its  in- 
creasing the  number  of  desirable  articles,  though  not  quite 
so  obvious,  perhaps,  as  the  influences  already  specified,  is 
not  less  powerful  and  salutary.  Industry  is  in  no  respect 
different  from  the  other  virtues,  and  it  were  idle  to  expect 
it  should  be  strongly  manifested  where  it  does  not  bring 
along  with  it  a  corresponding  reward.  In  the  early  stages 
of  society,  before  artificial  wants  have  been  introduced,  and 
men  are  satisfied  if  they  can  avert  the  attacks  of  hunger, 
and  procure  an  inadequate  defence  against  the  cold,  in- 
dustry is  confined  within  the  narrowest  limits ;  and  pro- 
vided the  mildness  of  the  climate  renders  clothing  and 
lodging  of  little  importance,  and  the  earth  spontaneously 
pours  forth  an  abundant  supply  of  fruits,  the  inhabitants 
are  immersed  in  sloth,  and  seem  to  place  their  highest  en- 
joyment in  being  free  from  occupation.  Sir  William 
Temple,  Mr.  Hume,  and  some  other  sagacious  inquirers 
into  the  progress  of  society,  have  been  struck  with  this 
circumstance,  and  have  justly  remarked  that  those  nations 
that  have  laboured  under  the  greatest  national  disadvan- 
tages have  made  the  most  rapid  advances  in  industry. 

But  in  civilized  and  commercial  societies,  new  products 
and  new  modes  of  enjoyment,  brought  from  abroad,  or 
invented  at  home,  stimulate  the  inhabitants  to  continued 
exertions.  Their  acquired  tastes  and  the  wants  which 
civilization  introduces,  and  custom  and  example  render 
universal,  become  infinitely  more  numerous,  and  as  ur- 
gent as  the  tastes  or  wants  of  those  that  are  less  advanced. 
The  passion  for  luxuries,  conveniences,  and  enjoyments, 
when  once  excited,  becomes  quite  illimitable.  The  grati- 
fication of  one  desire  leads  immediately  to  the  formation 
of  another.  "The  natural  flights  of  the  human  mind  are 
not  from  pleasure  to  pleasure,  but  from  hope  to  hope." 
The  happiness  of  a  civilized  nation  is  not  placed  in  indo- 
lence or  enjoyment,  but  in  continued  exertion  ;  in  devising 
new  contrivances  to  overcome  new  difficulties  ;  in  extend- 
ing still  further  the  boundaries  of  science,  and  increasing 
their  command  over  luxuries  and  enjoyments.  The  re- 
mark of  the  Abbe  Mably  is  as  true  as  it  is  forcibly  ex- 


COMMERCE. 


pressed  : — "  N'est  on  que  richr.  ?  On  veut  aire  grand. 
N'est  on  que  grand")  On  veut  ttre  riche.  Est  on  et  riche 
et  grand!  On  veut  litre  plus  riche  et  plus  grand  encore." 
(CEiivres,  t.  iv.  p.  76.) 

Without  commerce  this  progress  would  never  be  real- 
ized. The  commodilies  possessed  by  particular  nations 
are  but  few,  and  may  be  obtained  with  comparatively  little 
labour.  Generally  speaking,  a  man  may  easily  supply 
himself  with  corn,  cloth,  and  beer  ;  and  if  the  utmost  ex- 
ertions of  ingenuity  and  the  most  laborious  efforts  of  in- 
dustry could  only  furnish  additional  quantities  of  those  ar- 
ticles, they  would  very  soon  cease  to  be  made.  Men  do 
not  practise  industry  and  economy  for  their  own  sakes,  but 
for  the  advantages  that  result  from  them;  and  the  more, 
consequently,  that  these  advantages  are  multiplied,  that  is, 
the  greater  the  variety  of  wants  they  are  made  to  supply, 
and  of  gratifications  they  are  made  to  command,  the  greater 
will  be  the  energy  displayed  in  their  prosecution.  "Le 
travail  de  la /aim,"  as  Raynal  has  well  observed,  "  et  tou- 
jours  borne  comme  elle  ;  tnais  le  travail  de  V ambition  croit 
avec  ce  vice  (vertu  ?)  meme." 

And  hence  the  true  way  to  render  a  people  industrious 
is  to  endeavour  to  inspire  them  with  a  taste  for  the  luxu- 
ries and  enjoyments  of  civilized  life  ;  and  this  will  be  al- 
ways most  easily  done  by  giving  every  facility  to  the  culti- 
vation of  foreign  commerce.  The  number  of  new  articles, 
or,  in  other  words,  of  new  motives  to  stimulate,  and  new 
products  with  which  to  reward  the  patient  hand  of  indus- 
try, is  then  prodigiously  augmented.  The  home  producers 
exert  themselves  to  increase  their  supplies  of  disposable 
articles,  that  they  may  exchange  them  for  those  of  other 
countries  and  climates ;  and  the  merchant,  finding  a  ready 
demand  for  such  articles,  is  stimulated  to  import  a  greater 
variety,  to  find  out  cheaper  markets,  and  thus  constantly 
to  apply  new  incentives  to  the  vanity  and  ambition,  and 
consequently  to  the  industry  of  his  customers.  Every 
power  of  the  mind  and  body  is  thus  called  into  action  ; 
and  the  passion  for  foreign  commodities — a  passion  which 
some  shallow  moralists  have  ignorantly  censured — be- 
comes one  of  the  most  efficient  causes  of  industry,  wealth, 
and  civilization. 

IV.  Colony  Trade. — For  some  remarks  on  this  head,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  article  Colonies. 

Principle  and  Influence  of  Restrictions  on  Commerce. — 
The  commercial  intercourse  carried  on  between  the  inhab- 
itants of  different  districts  of  the  same  country,  and  those 
of  different  countries,  is  founded  on  the  principle  which 
prompts  each  member  of  the  same  family,  or  each  inhab- 
itant of  the  same  village,  to  apply  himself  to  some  one  busi- 
ness. It  would  therefore  seem  that  thai  freedom  of  com- 
merce which  is  universally  admitted  to  be  productive  of  the 
most  beneficial  consequences  when  established  between 
the  occupants  of  different  districts  of  the  same  country  must 
be  equally  beneficial  when  established  between  those  of 
different  countries.  It  appears  to  be  generally  believed, 
that  to  occasion  a  commercial  intercourse,  nothing  more  is 
necessary  than  to  remove  such  legal  or  physical  obstacles 
as  may  interpose  to  prevent  it.  But  this  is  not  by  any 
means  enough.  A  of  Yorkshire  does  not  sell  to  or  buy 
from  B  of  Kent,  merely  because  there  is  nothing  to  hinder 
him  from  doing  so  ;  he  must  further  believe  that  his  interest 
will  be  promoted  by  the  transaction  :  unless  he  do  this,  the 
utmost  facility  of  exchanging  will  be  offered  to  him  in  vain ; 
nor  will  the  finest  roads  or  the  speediest  conveyances  oc- 
casion the  least  intercourse.  We  neither  buy  nor  sell  for 
the  mere  pleasure  of  the  thing.  We  do  so  only  when  we 
believe  it  will  be  a  means  of  promoting  some  end,  of  pro- 
curing some  peculiar  advantage  for  ourselves,  that  we  could 
not  so  easily  procure  in  any  other  way.  If  any  one  sup- 
posed he  could  better  attain  his  object  in  entering  upon  a 
commercial  transaction  with  some  particular  individual  by 
entering  upon  a  similar  transaction  with  some  one  else,  or 
by  any  other  means,  he  would  most  certainly  decline  en- 
gaging in  it.  We  may,  and  often  do,  make  a  false  estimate 
of  what  is  for  our  advantage  ;  but  its  promotion  is  the  main- 
spring of  our  actions ;  and  it  is  it,  and  it  only,  that  we  have 
in  view  when  we  buy  of  a  particular  individual,  or  resort  to 
a  particular  market,  in  preference  to  others. 

Unless  therefore  it  could  be  satisfactorily  established  that 
princes  and  rulers  have  a  better  understanding  of  what  has 
a  tendency  to  promote  the  wealth  and  industry  of  their 
subjects  than  themselves,  it  is  difficult  to  see  on  what  ground 
any  restriction  on  the  freedom  of  commerce  is  to  be  vindi- 
cated. The  person  who  buys  French  wine  or  Polish  corn, 
does  so  only  that  he  may  benefit  himself;  and  the  fair  pre- 
sumption is  that  he  does  what  is  right.  Human  reason  is, 
no  doubt,  limited  and  fallible  ;  we  are  often  swayed  by  pre- 
judice, and  are  apt  to  be  deceived  by  appearances.  Still, 
however,  it  is  certain  that  the  desire  to  promote  our  own 
purposes  contributes  far  more  than  any  thing  else  to  ren- 
der us  clear-sighted  and  sagacious.  "  Nid  sentiment  dans 
I'homme,"  says  M.  Say,  "  ne  tienl  son  intelligence  eveillee 
autant  que  Vinteret  personnel.  11  donne  de  V esprit  aux  plus 
simples."  The  principle,  that  individuals  are,  speaking 
259 


generally,  the  best  judges  of  what  is  most  beneficial  fol* 
themselves,  is  universally  admitted  to  be  the  only  one  that 
can  be  safely  acted  upon.  No  writer  of  authority  has  lat- 
terly ventured  to  maintain  the  exploded  and  untenable  doc- 
trine, that  governments  may  advantageously  interfere  to 
regulate  the  pursuits  of  their  subjects.  It  is  their  duty  to 
preserve  order,  to  prevent  one  from  injuring  another;  to 
maintain,  in  short,  the  equal  rights  and  privileges  of  all. 
But  it  is  not  possible  for  them  to  go  one  step  further,  with- 
out receding  from  the  principle  of  non-interference,  and 
laying  themselves  open  to  the  charge  of  acting  partially  by 
some,  and  unjustly  by  others. 

"The  statesman,"  says  Dr.  Smith,  "who  should  attempt 
to  direct  private  people  in  what  manner  they  ought  to  em- 
ploy their  capitals,  would  not  only  load  himself  with  a  most 
unnecessary  attention,  but  assume  an  authority  which  could 
safely  be  trusted  not  only  to  no  single  person,  but  to  no  coun- 
cil or  senate  whatever,  and  which  would  nowhere  be  so 
dangerous  as  in  the  hands  of  a  man  who  had  folly  and 
presumption  enough  to  fancy  himself  fit  to  exercise  it." 
(  Wealth  of  Nations,  p.  200.) 

In  every  discussion  as  to  any  point  of  public  economy,  it 
is  essential  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  legislature  abandons  its 
duty,  or  rather  acts  in  direct  opposition  to  it,  the  moment  it 
begins  to  legislate  in  the  view  of  promoting  the  interest  of 
particular  classes.  The  question  never  ought  to  be,  whether 
any  proposed  measure  or  regulation  has  a  tendency  to 
benefit  agriculturists,  manufacturers,  or  merchants  ;  but 
whether  its  tendency  be  to  benefit  the  public.  Certain  in- 
dividuals or  classes  may  be  benefitted  by  what  is  prejudicial 
to  others  ;  but  it  would  be  a  contradiction  to  contend  that 
a  system  of  policy  which  enriches  A  by  impoverishing  B 
can  be  publicly  advantageous ;  and  it  is  upon  this  latter 
consideration  that  the  attention  of  the  legislature  should 
always  be  fixed.  Whatever  has  any  tendency  to  increase 
the  security  of  property,  to  perfect  the  divisions  of  labour, 
to  stimulate  industry  and  ingenuity,  and  to  increase  the 
wealth  and  comforts  of  ail  classes,  deserves  the  encourage- 
ment of  government.  But  when  it  goes  further,  and  inter- 
feres to  prohibit  individuals  from  carrying  on  certain 
branches  of  trade  that  others  may  be  promoted,  it  arro- 
gates to  itself  that  authority  the  assumption  of  which  is  so 
justly  censured  by  Smith.  Such  prohibition  is,  in  fact, 
quite  subversive  of  the  right  of  private  property  ;  for  that 
right  is  violated,  not  merely  when  a  man  is  unjustly  de- 
prived of  any  part  of  his  fortune,  but  also  when  he  is  pre- 
vented from  disposing  of  it  in  any  way,  not  hurtful  to  others, 
he  may  think  fit. 

It  does  not  therefore  appear,  considering  this  question  on 
general  grounds,  that  there  is  so  much  as  the  shadow  of  a 
foundation  for  those  commercial  restrictions  that  make  so 
prominent  a  figure  in  the  policy  of  all  modern  nations.  If 
it  could  be  shown  that  statesmen  and  ministers  were  the 
best  judges  of  the  means  by  which  those  subject  to  their 
authority  might  improve  their  condition,  the  case  would  be 
different.  But  no  such  pretension  is  set  up,  and,  if  it  were, 
it  would  be  universally  scouted.  We  may  safely  leave  the 
conduct  of  individuals  to  be  determined  by  their  own  pru- 
dence and  sagacity.  They  act  under  the  most  serious  re- 
sponsibility ;  and  we  have  the  best  attainable  security,  the 
plain  and  obvious  interest  of  the  parties,  that  they  will,  in 
the  peculiar  circumstances  under  which  they  are  placed, 
follow  that  course  which  is  most  advantageous  for  them- 
selves, or,  in  other  words,  for  the  community.  All  systems 
of  policy  that  would  regulate  the  pursuits  of  private  persons 
according  to  the  views  of  government  must  be  arbitrary 
and  violent  in  their  nature,  and  any  attempt  to  act  upon 
them  could  not  fail  to  be  productive  of  the  most  mischiev- 
ous consequences.  A  wise  government  will  confine  its 
efforts  to  the  maintenance  of  that  order  of  things  which 
nature  has  established.  It  will  not  mix  itself  up  with  the 
affairs  of  its  subjects,  but  will  leave  them  to  pursue  their 
own  interest  in  their  own  way  ;  to  bring  their  industry  and 
capital  into  the  freest  competition  with  those  of  others ;  and 
will  interpose  only  when  they  swerve  from  the  rules  of  jus- 
tice. Freedom  and  security  are  all  that  is  necessary  to 
stimulate  industry,  and  to  insure  the  most  rapid  advance- 
ment in  the  career  of  improvement. 

We  cannot,  however,  feel  any  surprise  that  these  prin- 
ciples should  have  been  so  widely  departed  from,  and  that 
commerce,  and  indeed  most  sorts  of  industry,  should  be 
everywhere  subjected  to  restrictions  and  regulations.  They 
originated  in  a  comparatively  unenlightened  age,  before  the 
genuine  sources  of  public  wealth  and  the  limits  of  proper 
interference  on  the  part  of  governments  had  been  explored 
and  defined.  The  fallacies  on  which  most  of  them  are 
founded,  however  obvious  they  may  now  seem,  were  not 
speedily  or  easily  detected  ;  and,  after  their  hollowness  has 
been  exposed,  the  return  to  a  better  system  is  a  work  of 
extreme  difficulty.  Every  regulation  affecting  the  employ- 
ment of  capital  and  industry,  though  always  injurious  to 
the  public,  is,  for  the  most  part,  productive  of  advantage  to 
a  greater  or  smaller  number  of  individuals.  The  moment 
that  any  change  is  proposed,  these  persons  lay  before  gov- 


COMMERCE. 


rrnment  the  most  exaggerated  representations  of  the  in- 
jury that  would  result  from  the  abolition  or  modification  of 
the  regulation  ;  and  not  satisfied  with  this,  they  most  com- 
monly enlist  a  portion  of  the  press  into  their  service,  and 
availing  themselves  of  all  the  aid  that  sophistry  and  inge- 
nuity can  supply,  labour  to  make  the  public  believe  that 
the  regulation  complained  of  is  a  national  benefit,  and  that 
they  are  interested  in  its  support!  This  device  has  very 
often  been  attended  with  the  most  complete  success  ;  and 
it  is  to  this  circumstance,  more  than  any  thing  else,  that 
the  tenacity  with  which  erroneous  theories  in  commerce 
are  supported  is  to  be  ascribed,  and  that  sophisms,  that 
have  been  again  ancl  again  exposed,  are  put  forward  anew 
with  as  much  seeming  confidence  as  if  they  had  never  been 
questioned. 

All  the  great  branches  of  industry  carried  on  in  every 
country  depend  on  peculiarities  of  soil  or  climate,  or  on  the 
genius  of  the  people,  and  not  on  customhouse  regulations. 
What  should  we  have  to  fear  from  the  abolition  of  all  pro- 
hibitions? We  export  the  produce  of  every  one  of  our 
principal  manufactures,  as  cotton,  wool,  iron,  leather,  &c, 
to  every  market  in  the  world  ;  ?o  that  the  possibility  of  our 
being  injured  by  the  admission  of  similar  articles  from 
abroad  is  quite  out  of  the  question.  Admitting,  however, 
that  the  abandonment  of  the  protective  system  might  force 
a  few  thousand  workmen  to  abandon  their  employments, 
it  is  material  to  observe  that  equivalent  nezc  ones  would,  in 
consequence,  be  opened  to  receive  them,  and  that  the 
aggregate  demand  for  their  services  would  not  be  in  any 
degree  diminished.  Suppose  that,  under  a  system  of  free 
trade,  we  imported  a  part  of  the  silks  and  linens  we  now 
manufacture  at  home  ;  it  is  quite  clear,  inasmuch  as  neither 
the  French  nor  Germans  would  send  us  their  commodities 
gratis,  that  we  should  have  to  give  them  an  equal  amount 
of  Britisli  commodities  in  exchange,  so  that  such  of  our 
artificers  as  had  been  engaged  in  the  silk  and  linen  manu- 
factures, and  were  thrown  out  of  them,  would,  in  future, 
obtain  employment  in  the  production  of  the  articles  that 
must  be  exported  as  equivalents  to  the  foreigner.  It  is  idle, 
therefore,  to  pretend  that  the  repeal  or  modification  of  a 
restrictive  regulation  can  ever  be  a  means  of  diminishing 
the  demand  for  labour.  We  may,  by  giving  additional  free- 
dom to  commerce,  change  the  species  of  labour  in  demand, 
and  make  it  be  employed  more  profitably,  but  we  cannot 
lessen  its  quantity.  Should  our  imports  this  year  amount 
to  ten  or  twenty  millions  more  than  they  did  last  year,  we 
shall,  it  is  certain,  have  to  pay  them  by  exporting  an  equally 
increased  amount  of  our  peculiar  products.  And  there- 
fore if  exportation  be  desirable,  and  the  most  ardent  ad- 
mirers of  the  restrictive  system  admit  it  to  be  such, impor- 
tation  must  also  be  desirable,  for  the  two  are  indissolubly 
connected  ;  and  to  separate  them,  even  in  imagination,  in- 
fers a  total  ignorance  of  the  most  obvious  principles.  Com- 
merce, whether  carried  on  between  individuals  of  the 
same  or  of  different  countries,  is  founded  on  a  fair  princi- 
ple ot  reciprocity  ;  buying  and  selling  are  in  it  what  action 
and  reaction  are  in  physics,  equal  arid  contrary.  Those 
who  will  not  buy  from  others  render  it  impossible  for 
others  to  buy  from  them.  Every  sale  implies  an  equal 
purchase,  and  every  purchase  an  equal  sale.  Hence  to 
prohibit  buying  is  exactly  the  same  thing,  in  effect,  as  to  pro- 
hibit selling,  rso  merchant  would  ever  export  a  single  bale 
of  goods  were  he  prevented  from  importing  a  greater  value 
in  its  stead.  But  it  is  impossible  he  can  do  this  if  foreign 
commodities  be  excluded.  In  whatever  degree,  therefore, 
an  unrestricted  trade  might  lead  us  to  receive  commodities 
from  other  countries,  in  the  same  degree  it  would  render 
them  customers  for  our  commodities,  would  promote  our 
manufactures,  and  extend  our  trade.  To  suppose  that 
commerce  may  be  too  free,  is  to  suppose  that  labour  may 
be  turned  into  too  productive  channels,  that  the  objects  of 
demand  may  be  too  much  multiplied  and  their  price  too 
much  reduced  ;  it  is  like  supposing  that  our  agriculture 
may  be  too  much  improved,  and  our  crops  rendered  too 
luxuriant 

It  is  often  affirmed,  though  we  believe  without  the  least 
foundation  for  the  statement,  that  had  it  not  been  for  re- 
strictions on  importation,  several  manufactures  that  now 
furnish  employment  for  a  considerable  population  would 
most  probably  never  have  existed  amongst  us.  But  sup- 
posing this  statement  to  be  admitted,  it  would  not  form  any 
valid  objection  to  the  principle  now  laid  down.  It  is  quite 
as  much  for  the  advantage  of  communities  as  of  sinsle  fa- 
milies to  respect  tha  principle  of  the  division  of  labour. 
The  interests  of  every  people  will  always  be  best  promoted 
by  addicting  themselves,  in  preference,  to  those  branches 
of  industry  in  which  they  have  a  superiority  over  others; 
for  it  is  by  this  means  only  they  can  ever  fully  avail  them- 
selves of  their  peculiar  facilities  of  production,  or  employ 
themselves  and  their  capital  most  beneficially. 

When  importation  from  abroad  is  restricted,  that  some 
new  or  incipient  manufacture  may  be  promoted,  govern- 
ment assumes,  though  perhaps  unconsciously,  that  it 
knows  better  than  its  subjects  what  is  the  most  profitable 
260 


line  for  them  to  engage  in.  Never  was  there  an  assump- 
tion more  entirely  unfounded.  Individuals  are  always  on  the 
alert  to  find  out  wha"  are  the  most  advantageous  businesses 
in  which  to  embark ;  and  though  they  sometimes,  no 
doubt,  form  erroneous  conclusions,  the  chances  are  ten  to 
one  in  favour  of  their  being  right.  Were  it  otherwise  the 
number  of  well-advised  and  prosperous  undertakings  en- 
tered upon  in  all  tolerably  well  governed  countries  would 
not,  as  is  the  case,  infinitely  exceed  those  of  a  contrary 
description.  But  though  it  were  different,  the  interference 
of  government  would  not  certainly  abate  the  evil.  How- 
ever well  intended,  all  attempts  to  introduce  or  extend 
some  particular  business  cannot  fail  of  being  productive  of 
immediate  injury  to  others ;  and,  should  the  object  ever 
be  realized,  it  would  most  probably  not  be  found  to  be  a 
national  benefit,  but  the  reverse.  If,  instead  of  directly 
producing  linens,  a  manufacturer  finds  it  more  profitable  to 
produce  cottons  or  hardware,  and  to  exchange  these  with 
the  Germans  for  linen,  how  ridiculous  would  it  be  to  at- 
tempt to  promote  the  public  interests  by  shutting  out  fo- 
reign linens,  and  compelling  them  to  be  produced  at  home ! 
It  is  not  disputed  that  the  linen  manufacture  might  be 
somewhat  promoted  by  such  a  measure  ;  but  it  admits  of 
demonstration  that  other  and  more  advantageous  businesses 
would  sustain  a  corresponding  depression.  Governments 
may  depend  upon  the  fact,  that  their  subjects  are  incom- 
parably better  informed  with  respect  to  these  matters  than 
they  can  ever  be.  It  is  not  possible  for  them,  do  what  they 
will,  to  interfere  to  encourage  one  set  of  producers,  with- 
out at  the  same  time,  and  by  the  same  act,  proportionally 
discouraging  some  other  set.  Their  obvious  duty  is,  there- 
fore, to  abstain  from  all  interference  with  the  legitimate 
pursuits  of  individuals.  To  the  clamourers  for  protection 
they  may  always  answer,  that  they  would  be  happy  to 
meet  their  wishes,  provided  they  could  do  so  without  in- 
juring others,  but  that  being  impossible,  they  feel  them- 
selves bound  not  to  interfere,  but  to  allow  every  one  to  reap 
the  profit  or  abide  the  loss  of  the  speculations  into  which 
he  may  enter. 

We  have  not  entered  in  this  article  into  any  investigations 
with  respect  to  that  great  class  of  exchanges  which  consist 
in  the  rendering  of  labour  or  services  for  money  or  com- 
modities. The  laws  by  which  they  are  governed  may  be 
more  appropriately  stated  under  the  head  Labour.  It  is 
sufficient  here  to  observe,  that  prohibitions  are  to  the  full 
as  injurious  and  inconsistent  when  applied  to  this 
description  of  exchanges  as  to  the  exchange  of  commo- 
dities. 

Our  object  in  this  article  has  merely  been  to  lay  before 
the  reader  a  brief  view  of  the  principles  that  govern  com- 
mercial transactions,  and  of  the  mode  in  which  commerce 
contributes  to  increase  private  and  public  opulence.  To 
have  entered  into  a  detail  of  the  various  ways  in  which 
commerce  may  be  facilitated,  would  have  engaged  us  in 
discussions  that  would  have  added  too  much  to  the  length 
of  this  article  ;  and  the  reader  is,  therefore,  referred  for 
information  on  these  points  to  the  articles  Banks,  Colo- 
nies, Exchange,  Money,  Roads,  Weights  and  Mea- 
sures, &c. 

We  subjoin  some  tables,  derived  from  official  sources, 
illustrative  of  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  commerce  of 
Great  Britain  during  the  last  few  years :  — 

I.  An  Account  of  the  Real  or  Declared  Value  of  the  prin- 
cipal Articles  of  British  and  Irish  Produce  and  Manu- 
facture exported  in  1838. 


Articles. 

Declared  Value, 
1838. 

L 

Coals  and  Culm 

4S4.305 

Cotton  Manufactures 

16,700.468 

"     Yarn 

7,430,582 

Earthenware    - 

670,985 

Glass          .... 

376.524 

Hardwares  and  Cutlery    - 

1,507.478 

Linen  Manufactures 

2,919;719 

"      Yarn 

655.699 

Metals  ;  viz.  Iron  and  Steel 

2,530,903 

Copper  &  Brass 

1,226.558 

Lead 

156.150 

Tin  in  Bars,  &c. 

103.530 

Tin  Plates    - 

434.749 

Salt 

223,372 

Silk  Manufactures    - 

778.031 

Sugar,  Refined 

550.506 

Wool,  Sheep's  or  Lamb's 

432,067 

Woollen  Manufactures    - 

5,792:i56 

"       Yarn  - 

Total  of  the  above  articles 

365,657 

43,338,839 

COMMERCE. 

II.  Account  of  the  Quantities  of  the  principal  Articles  of  Foreign  and  Colonial  Merchandise  imported  into,  exported 
from,  and  retained  for  Consumption  in  the  United  Kingdom,  with  the  Nett  Revenue  accruing  thereon,  during  the 
Years  ending  5th  January,  1837  and  1838. 


Description 

Quantities  imported. 

Quantities 

xport.  d. 

Quantity  retained  for 
t  nnsump'.ion. 

Nett  Revenue. 

of  Merchandise. 

1836. 

1837. 

1836. 

1837. 

1836 

1837. 

1836.        | 

13^7. 

L 

L 

Ashes,  pearl  and  pot      cwts. 

152,955 

147,329 

19,137 

18,810 

130,176 

12S,09S 

998 

193 

Gross  rev.  Gross  rev.  | 

Barilla  and  alkali         •    — 

70,211 

102,135 

1,680 

3,441 

97,202 

91,404 

9,678 

8,995' 

Drawbacks* 
repayments. 

I        5,532 

4,019 

4,146s 

4,976 

Dark  for  tanning  or  dyeing  — 

772,119 

736,730 

3,345 

8,003 

784.819 

781,113 

25,855 ! 

26,458 

Coffee,  viz.  : — 

1 

British  plantation     -      lbs. 

18,877,912 

15.154.413 

108.493 

329,017 

17,532.731 

17.135.138 

)                r       ' 

East  India  &  Mauritius  — 

9,906,710 

9,950,005 

3,622,895 

1,320,255 

7,412,725 

9,205.634 

>    691,616 

696,645 

Foreign  plantation          — 
Totals 
Cocoa           -        -        •      lbs. 

5,270,215 

11,278,096 

6.950.370 

6,411,703 

2,234 

3,169 

I      11,165 

13,922 

34,054,837 

36,412,514 

10,631.758 

8,060,975 

24,947,690 

26,346.961 

2,788,224 

2,a53,000 

332.587 

933,276      1,130,168 

1,416.613 

Husks  and  shells            — 

425,648 

511,757 

16,800 

364,144 

431,170 

Cotton  wool  from  foreign 

countries,  viz.  : — 

IT.  Stales  of  America      lbs. 

289,615,692 

320.651,716 

Brazil        ...       — 

27,501,272 

20,940.145 

Turkey  and  Egypt          — 

6,426,721 

7,881,540 

Other  foreign  countries  — 

6,734,413 

4,616,829 

Cotton  wool  from  British 

, 

possessions,  viz. : — 

E.  Indies  and  Mauritius  — 

75,957,887 

51,577,197 

British  West  Indies,  the 

growth  of      -        -       — 

1,312,806 

1,199,162 

British  West  Indies,  im- 

ported from  -        -       — 

401,531 

396.540 

Other  British  possessions  — 

Total  quantities 

Indigo           -       -       -      lbs. 

835 

23,654 

430,006 
36,356 

450,658 
29.8S9 

406,959,057 

407,2S6,783 

31,739,763 

39,722,031 

363,684,232 

368,445,035 

7,710,544 

6,545.873 

3,691.951 

3,587.561 

2,840398 

2226.194 

Lac  dye        ...       — 

663.675 

1,011,674 

200.975 

133.959 

620  248 

423,135 

1,717 

1.140 

Logwood      •        •         •     tons 

12,881 

14.699 

4.385 

3,316 

12,361 

12,023 

2.473 

2,543 

Madder         -         -        -   cwts. 

108,906 

R4.841 

364 

8-42 

105,445 

78,830 

10,712 

8.037 

Madder  roots        •        •        — 

85,251 

109,235 

3 

2 

84,101 

100,503 

2,114 

2,532 

Flax  and  tow,  or  codilla  of 

flax  and  hemp          -       — 

1,529,116 

1,000.865 

16,789 

6,970 

1,611,428 

993.654 

6,441 

4.234 

Currants      ...       — 

17,841 

175.774 

174,842 

194,821 

193.893 

Lemons  and  oranges  -  chests 

265,864 

349,830 

1,456 

1,536 

249.651 

311.490 

52.226 

62.431 

Raisins         -        -        -    cuts. 

182,286 

169.590 

36.496 

11.526 

156,194 

152,102 

117,095 

114.095 

Hats  of  straw      -        •      No. 

14,042 

26.228 

16.172 

12,714 

3,435 

5.624 

1.009 

1.632 

Platting  .  f  straw          -       lbs. 

42.890 

30;S62 

11,846 

7,546 

29.681 

23,962 

24.558 

20,003 

Hemp,  undressed       -    cwts. 

586,032 

773,621 

38,105 

16,574 

567,892 

651,613 

2,482 

2,/66 

Hides— buffalo,   bull,  ox, 

cow.  or  horse,  viz.  : 

Untanned,  -        -       — 

352.061 

338,652 

37,795 

46,649 

330,214 

290.739 

45,769 

36,485 

Tanned,     -        -      lbs. 

70,410 

87.673 

32,305 

19,903 

63.010 

63.895 

794 

814 

Leather  gloves     -        -    pairs 

1,490.999 

1,255,920 

31,405 

18.894 

1,459,363 

1,218.470 

27.507 

22.9Z 

Molasses       •        -        -   cwts. 

528,306 

582.283 

1,600 

1.641 

657.082 

592.019 

295.645 

266,324 

Oil— Olive    -        -        -   galls. 

2,6*2,016 

1.721,914 

150.561 

209,472 

1,844,622 

1,496.656 

46.514 

34.986 

Palm    -        •        -  cwts. 

277.017 

223,337 

34,379 

16,732 

234,357 

211,919 

14,678 

13,29? 

Train,    spermaceti, 

and  blubber      -    tuns 

19.489 

21,803 

1.365 

393 

18,722 

20.878 

1,292 

1437( 

Saltpetre  and  cubic  nitre  cwts. 

279.902 

349,993 

38!444 

36.959 

231.134 

240,222 

6.045 

6.33< 

1 

Flax  and  linseed          bushels 

3.339,215 

3.321.089 

1.371 

6.879 

3.179,097 

3.381.643 

19.905 

21.11! 

! 

Silk,  raw      -        -        -      lbs. 

4,453,081 

4,146,481 

113,600 

345.971 

4.239,254 

3,520,105 

13.072 

15.4& 

Waste  and  knubbs    — 

1,608,289 

943^281 

87,646 

21.268 

1,524.968 

876.456 

712 

38? 

Cassia  lignea         -        •      ■ — 

837,413 

984.674 

633,083 

760,141 

89.396 

105  485 

2,242 

2.64- 

1 

Pepper          ...      — 

7.724.9::2 

5,291,993 

4,151,569 

4.76S.860 

2.794.491 

2,625,075 

99.134 

65,62 

Pimento        ...      — 

3,269,233 

2,113,300 

2,337,9S2 

1,37G,C45 

400,914 

3:j5,40C 

6,359 

4,19. 

>, 

Sugar,  viz.  : — 

Raw. 

Raw. 

West  India        -        -  cwts. 

3,600,517 

3,305,233 

C    27S.09S 

448,382 

) 

>  3.488,399 

East  India  &  Mauritius    — 

720,997 

912,967 

•  Refined. 

Refined. 

3,954,8U 

4,184,165 

4,760,56 

Foreign                            — 

327.647 

265.073 

(    248.644 

227.807 

Tallow                           -      — 

1,186.364 

1.314.64? 

18.709 

52.375 

1.314.085 

1,289.514 

207.789 

203.97 

■ 

Tea       ....      lbs. 

49,307,701 

36,973,9S1 

4,269,863 

4,716,24c; 

49,142,23t 

30,625,20t 

4,674,535 

3,223,84 

i 

Timber,  viz.  : — 

Battens  Ac  b.  ends,    gt.  hun. 

17.247 

15,982 

80 

12= 

15,677 

14.451 

|        152,596 

133,80 

Deal  and  deal  ends         — 

69,315 

72,83'. 

1,022 

946 

68,30C 

66,651 

j       647,531 

580,57 

) 

Masts,  6  and  under  8 

inches  in  diameter     No 

8,414 

9,47-1 

345 

19£ 

9,24/ 

9,761 

i        2,7a 

2,86 

') 

Masts,  8  and  under  12 

inches  in  diameter      — 

3,381 

3.62c 

26? 

16t 

3.291 

3.44^ 

1           2,11? 

2.31 

I 

Masts.  12  and  upwards  loads 

2,64? 

4.27-' 

t                35 

If 

3.20C 

4.07- 

ri           3.44C 

4.57 

Oak  planks      -        -        — 

3,m( 

1,96! 

!     - 

e 

2.87 

2.19' 

)          H49f 

8,81 

3 

Staves      -        -      gt.  hund 

93.69£ 

85.72 

2,124 

1,63- 

90811 

1         84.45* 

I          57.334 

51.69 

1 

Fir,  8  in.  sq.  &  upw:ds.  loads 

622,68( 

)        579.96( 

)              46C 

84! 

612.86; 

.        531.03 

)        545.074 

456.38 

1 

Oak,  ditto          -        -      — 

25.68- 

31,651 

>                If 

S 

26.061 

>          30.94( 

)          31  31f 

41  20 

VJnermmerated,  ditto       — 

39,42-; 

!          48.48' 

1                75 

8f 

39.3 1^ 

l!         48.02f 

;       10.04:: 

12.0731 

Wainscot  togs,  ditto        — 

4,215 

»            5.59, 

1     . 

3,98! 

1            4.02( 

)           10,954 

10  938 

261 


COMMERCE. 


- 

Description 
of  Merchandise. 

Quantities  imported. 

Quantities 

exported. 

Quantity  retained  for 
Consumption. 

Nett  Revenue 

1836. 

1837. 

1836. 

1837. 

1836. 

1837. 

1836. 

1837. 

Tobacco,  viz.  : — 
Unmanufactured      -      lbs. 
Manufactured  or  cigars  — 
Snuff                                  — 

Wool,  sheep  and  lambs'    — 

Wine,  viz.  . — 
Cape          -        -  imp.  galls. 
French       -                        — 
Portugal    -                       — 
Spanish     ...      — 
Madeira     -                       — 
Other  sorts       -       -      — 

Totals  of  Wine 

32,232,907 

168,668 

13,580 

64,239,977 

5S0,275 
533,241 
4,089,235 
3,164,244 
233,979 
805,109 

27,144,107 

632,186 

4,153 

48,379,708 

618,105 
725,140 
2,693,365 
2,802,585 
289,400 
904,885 

12,319,405 

432,661 

3,496 

613,707 

10,876 
99,112 
381,026 
645,822 
152,368 
385,320 

17,341,587 

302,869 

3,472 

2,831,352 

6.766 
106,935 
199,518 
492,345 
148,107 
381,122 

22,150,785 

158,182 

508 

60,366,415 

541,511 
352,063 
2,878,359 
2,388,413 
133,673 
515,193 

22,321,489 

144,385 

351 

42,515,899 

500,727 
438,594 
2,560,252 
2,278,263 
111,376 
502,319 

L. 

(  3,397,102 

189,524 

74,435 
96,534 

(  1,622,994 

L 

3,417,663 

118,168 

68,854 
120,286 

1,497,957 

9,406,083 

8,033,480 

1,674,524 

1,334,793 

6,809,212 

6,391,531 

1,793,963 

1.687,097 

III  Account  of  the  Real  or  Declared  Value  of  the  various  Articles  of  the  Manufacture  and  Produce  of  the  United  King- 
dom exported  to  Foreign  Countries  in  1828,  and  during  each  of  the  Eight  Years  ending  with  1837;  specifying  their 
Value,  the  Countries  to  which  exported,  and  the  Value  of  those  annually  shipped  for  each. 


EXPORTS. 

Countries  to  which 

exported. 

1828. 

1530.    |      1831. 

1832. 

1833.      |     1834.     |     1835.     |     1836.     |     1837. 

L. 

L.      1 

L. 

L. 

L.      \        L.      \        L. 

L. 

L. 

Russia 

1,318,936 

1,489,538 

1,191,565 

1,587,250 

1,531,002   1,382,300|  1,752,775 

1,742,433 

2,046,592 

Sweden 

42,699 

40,488 

57,127 

64,932 

59,549! 

63,094 

105.156 

113,308 

101,121 

Norway 

53,582 

63.926 

58,580 

34.528 

55.038 

61,988 

79,278 

79,469 

72,413 

Denmark    • 

111,880 

118,813 

92,294 

93,396 

99,951 

94,595 

107,979 

91,302 

103,448 

Prussia 

179,145 

177,923 

192,816 

258.556 

144,179 

136.423 

188,273 

160,722 

131,536 

Germany    - 

4,394,104 

4,463,605 

3,642,952 

5,068,997 

4,355.548 

4,547,166 

4,602,966 

4,463,729 

4,898,016 

Holland       - 
Belgium 

I  2.142,736 

2,022,458 

2,082,536 

2,789,398 

S  2,181,893 
I    886,429 

2,470,267 
750,059 

2,648,102 

818.487 

2,509,622 
839,276 

3,040,029 

804,917 

France 

498,938 

475,884 

602,688 

674.791 

848,333 

1,116,8S5 

1,453.636 

1,591.381 

1,643,204 

Portugal,  Proper 

945.016 

1,106,695 

975,991 

540,792 

967,091 

1,600.123 

1,554,326 

1.085,934 

1,079,815 

Azores 

27;940 

23,629 

41,638 

77,920 

54,430 

63i275 

49.717 

'  53,574 

56.405 

Madeira 

39,802 

38,444 

38.960 

28,038 

33,4)1 

38.455 

40,082 

52,168 

46,044 

Spain  &  Balearic  Islands 

301,153 

607,068 

597,848 

442,926 

442,837 

325.907 

405,065 

437.076 

2S6,636 

Canary  Islands  • 

38,152 

42,620 

33,282 

21,053 

30,507 

30.686 

24,308 

40,370 

41,904 

Gibraliar     - 

1,038,925 

292,760 

367,285 

461,470 

385,460 

460.719 

602,580 

756,411 

906,155 

Italy  and  Italian  Islands 

2,176.149 

3,251,379 

2,490,376 

2,361,772 

2,316,260 

3,282,777 

2,426,171 

2,921,466 

2,406,066 

Malta  ■ 

239,458 

189,135 

134,519 

96,994 

135,438 

242,696 

136,925 

143,015 

103,680 

Ionian  Islands     - 

41,078 

56,963 

50,883 

55,725 

38,915 

94,498 

107,804 

109,123 

124,465 

Turkey   and    Continen- 

tal Greece  (exclusive 

of  the  Morea)  - 

185,842 

1,139,616 

888,654 

915,319 

1,019,604 

1,207,941 

1,331,669 

1,775,034 

1,163,426 

Morea  &  Greek  Islands 

335 

9,694 

10,446 

10,149 

25,914 

37.179 

28,834 

12,003 

15,431 

Egypt    (Ports    on    the 

Mediterranean) 

35,302 

110,227 

122,832 

113,109 

145,647 

158,877 

269,225 

216,930 

220,0S0 

Tripoli,    Barbary,    and 

Morocco 

13,745 

1,138 

426 

751 

2,350 

14,823 

29,040 

29,322 

54.007 

Western  Coast  of  Africa 

191,452 

252,123 

234,768 

290,061 

329,210 

326,483 

292,540 

467,186 

312.938 

Cape  of  Good  Hope  - 

218,049 

330.036 

257,245 

292,405 

346,197 

304,382 

326,921 

482,315 

488.814 

Cape  Verd  Islands 

5,856 

1,710 

215 

146 

530 

575 

413 

751 

St.  Helena 

31,362 

38.915 

39,431 

21,236 

30,041 

31,615 

31,187 

11,041 

9,645 

Isle  of  Bourbon 

35,188 

"10:042 

. 

7.091 

. 

- 

3,795 

Mauritius    - 

185,972 

161,029 

148,475 

163,191 

83,424 

149,319 

196,559 

260.855 

349,488 

250 

6,049 

16,358 

787 

East   India  Company's 

Territories  &  Ceylon 

4,256,582 

3,895,530 

3,377,412 

3,514,779 

3,495,301 

2,578,569 

3,192,692 

4,285,829 

3,612,975 

842,852 

1,074,708 

1,326,388 

678,375 

Sumatra  and  Java 

189,200 

162,102 

285,296 

150.606 

471,712 

410,273 

353,892 

234,852 

313,791 

Phillippine  Islands    • 

300 

71,220 

39,513 

102,284 

185,298 

76,618 

129,743 

51,778 

33,808 

New  South  Wales,  Van- 

Diemen's   Land,  and 

Swan  River     - 

443,839 

314,677 

398,471 

466,238 

558,372 

716,014 

696,345 

835,637 

921,568 

New  Zealand,  and  South 

Sea  Islands 

2,487 

1,396 

4,752 

1,576 

936 

. 

2,687 

Ports  of  Siam     - 

. 

10,467 

19,742 

British  North  American 

Colonies 

1.691,044 

1,857,133 

2,089.327 

2,075,72r 

2,092.550 

1,671,069 

2,158,158 

2.732.291 

2.141.035 

British  West  Indies   - 

3,289,704 

2,838.446 

2,581,949 

2,439,R0S 

2.597,589 

2,680,024 

3,187,540 

3,786.453 

3,456.745 

Hayti 

248,328 

321.793      376,103 

543,104 

381,528 

357,297 

365,798 

251,663 

171,050 

Cuba  and  other  Foreign 

' 

West  Indies    - 

569.728 

618.029      663.531 

633.70C 

577,228 

913,005 

787,043 

987,122 

891.713 

U.  States  of  America  - 

5,810,315 

6,132,346!  9,053,583 

5,468,27-. 

7,579,699 

6.844,989 

10,568,455 

12,425.605 

4,695.225 

Mexico 

307,029 

978,441       728,858 

199,821 

421,487 

'459.610 

402,820 

254,822 

520,200 

Guatemala 

6,191 

. 

3,700 

30.366 

15.244 

764 

78 

Colombia    - 

261,113 

216,751,      248.25C 

283,56c" 

121,826 

199.906 

132,242 

185.172 

170,451 

Brazil 

3,518,297 

2,452,103 

1,238,371 

2,144,903 

2,575,680 

2,460,679 

2,630,767 

3,030,532 

1,824,082 

States  of  the  Rio  de  la 

Plata 

312,38£ 

632,175 

339,870 

660,155 

515.362 

831,564 

658,525 

697,334 

696,104 

Chili    .... 

709,371 

540.62( 

651.617 

708,193 

816,817 

896,221 

606.176 

861,903 

625.545 

Peru   -       -       -       - 

374,6H 

368,46$ 

409,003 

275,61C 

387,524 

299,235 

441,324 

606,332 

476,374 

Isles  of  Guernsey,  Jer 

sey,  Alderney,  &  Man 
Totals    - 

329,425 

344,03f 

>      324,634 

317,496 

335,934 

360,665 

351,6121     31S,609 

330,017 

36,812,756  38,271,59' 

37,164.375 

36,450,59- 

[\  39,667,347  41,^49,191 

47,372,270'53,368,572 

42,070,744 

262 


COMMERCE. 

IV.  Account  specifying  the  different  Articles,  and  the  Real 
or  Declared  Value  of  each,  of  the  Produce  and  Manufac- 
ture of  the  United  Kingdom,  exported  to  Foreign  Parts 
during  each  of  the  Three  Years  ending  with  1837. 


Species  of  Exports. 


GREAT    BRITAIN. 

Alum  • 

Apparel,  Slops,  and  Ne- 
gro Clothing        -     - 
Arms  and  Ammunition 
Bacon  and  Hams 
Beef  and  Pork,  salted 
Beer  and  Ale 
Books,  printed    - 
Brass  and  Copper  Man- 
ufactures 
Bread  and  Biscuit 
Butter  and  Cheese     - 
Cabinet  and  Upholstery 

Wares 
Coals  and  Culm 
Cordage 

Corn,Grain,Meal,&.Flour 
Cotton  Manufactures 

"       Yarn 
Cows  and  Oxen 
Earthenware  of  all  sorts 
Fish  of  all  sorts 
Glass  of  all  sorts 
Haberdashery  and  Milli- 
nery 
Hardwares  and  Cutlery 
Hats,  Beaver  and  Felt 
"   of  all  other  sorts 
Hops  -        -        -        - 
Horses 
Iron  and  Steel,  wrought 

and  unwrought 
Lard    - 

Lead  and  Shot    - 
Leather,    wrought    and 
unwrought 

"        Saddlery   and 
Harness     ' 
Linen  Manufactures  - 

"       Yarn 
Machinery  &  Mill-work 
Mathematical  and  Opti- 
cal Instruments 
Mules 

Musical  Instruments 
Oil,  Train,  of  Greenland 

Fishery    - 
Painters'  Colours 
Plate,  Plate  Ware,  Jew 
ellery,  and  Watches 
Potatoes 
Salt      - 

Sail  petre,  British  refined 
Seeds  of  all  sorts 
Silk  Manufactures 
Soap  and  Candles 
Spirits 

Stationary  of  all  sorts 
Sugar,  refined     • 
Tin,  unwrought 
"    and  Pewter  Wares 
and  Tin  Plates 
Tobacco  (manufactured) 

and  Snuff 
Tongues 

Umbrellas  and  Parasols 
Whalebone 
Wool  Sheep's    - 

"       of  other  sorts  - 
Woollen   and   Worsted 

Yarn 
Woollen  Manufactures 
All  other  Articles 

Total  real  or  declared  "l 
Value  of  the  Produce 
and  Manufacture  of ! 
the  U.  K.  exported  f 
from  Great  Britain  to  I 
Foreign  Parts  J 

IRELAND. 

Total  Exports  from, 

Total  from  the  United 
Kingdom 

263 


1835. 


1,359 

494,861 
407,490 
27,573 
104,782 
225,641 
148,098 

1,093,949 

5.405 

178,657 

51,003 

242,746 

79,541 

25,109 

16,393,170 

5,706,563 

1,445 

539,990 

217,652 

636,928 

516,775 
1,831,766 

135.048 
27,437 
16,616 
99,465 

1,640,939 
11,881 
195,096 

278,978 

73,348 
2,838,050 

216,635 
307,316 

25,004 

1,762 

60,810 

39,074 
169,861 

231,900 

5,954 

142,412 

20,284 

8,549 

973,479 

248,803 

16,866 
257,877 
851,745 

32,290 

381,068 

13,594 
2,422 
45,46 
12,960 
387,834 
45,080 

309,091 
6,836,735 
1,034,142 


1836. 


L. 

3,898 

604,863 
411,286 
42.319 
136,898 
264,560 
178,034 


681,980 
2,270,630 
147,907 
41,753 
11,788 
98,302 

2,340,207 
26,585 
224,931 

316,322 

93,388 

3,249,053 

315,608 

30J,852 

25,030 

5.366 

76; 120 

5,636 
210,811 


46,926,370 


445,900 


47,372,270 


L. 

2,761 

533,301 
289,142 
35,840 
119,117 
268.235 
147,430 


1,072.002 

1,166,082 

8,184 

9,991 

205,858 

179,073 

75,511 

67,357 

329,760 

428,690 

84,475 

73,231 

31,297 

34,781 

18,482,586 

13,632,146 

6,120,326 

6,955,936 

3,072 

6,107 

837,493 

563,082 

185,433 

185,120 

551,599 

475,995 

53,015,431 


353,141 


53,368,572 


414,687 
1,460,404 
104,600 
46,290 
10.547 
7^215 

2,003,708 

14,782 

155,210 

250,308 

87,037 

2,109,897 

415,726 

493,298 

27,259 
5,104 

71,618 

5,700 
151,307 


338,869 

257,726 

4,915 

7,030 

171,463 

190,444 

14,411 

19,393 

8,920 

7,466 

916.777 

503.653 

276,222 

230.835 

24,297 

10,485 

297,945 

197,489 

697,920 

602,377 

61,847 

74,657 

387,528 

371,518 

13,654 

13,124 

3,599 

3,744 

62.336 

39.464 

10,550 

6,347 

323,549 

185,350 

39,967 

10,076 

359,690 

337,140 

7,636,117 

4,654,397 

1,293,932 

1,113,069 

41,911,898 


363,040 


42,274,938 


COMMON-FIELD  LANDS. 

(See  McCuUoch's  Commercial  Diet. ;  see  also  the  Treatise 
on  Commerce  by  the  same  author,  from  which  part  of  the 
above  article  has  been  abstracted.) 

CO'MMISSARY  (Lat.  committo,  I  entrust),  is  used  in 
various  ways  as  nearly  synonymous  with  deputy.  In  mili- 
tary affairs,  the  parties  who  provide  clothing,  <kc.  for  the 
army  are  styled  commissaries ;  and  the  whole  body  of  offi- 
cers belonging  to  this  department,  the  commissariat. 
COMMISSION.  In  the  Army.  See  Army. 
Commission.  In  the  Navy,  the  title  of  the  appointment 
or  warrant  of  officers  of  the  rank  of  lieutenant  and  above, 
to  hold  their  office.  The  commission  is  signed  by  the 
lords  commissioners  of  the  Admiralty. 

Commission,  in  Law,  an  appointment,  usually  by  war- 
rant or  letters  patent,  to  one  or  more  as  commissioners,  to 
perform  certain  duties  specified  in  the  instrument.  In  this 
mode  many  of  the  highest  judicial  or  ministerial  function- 
aries of  the  realm  are  appointed  ;  thus,  the  judges  of  the 
superior  courts  hold  several  commissions,  as  of  oyer  and 
terminer,  gaol  delivery,  &c.  And  high  offices  of  state, 
when  not  regularly  filled,  are  often  entrusted  to  commis- 
sioners for  the  time  being,  and  said  to  be  put  in  commis- 
sion ;  thus  the  custody  of  the  great  seal  is  put  in  commis- 
sion in  the  absence  of  a  lord  chancellor  and  lord  keeper. 
The  Treasury  and  Admiralty  have  of  late  times  been  usu- 
ally entrusted  to  commissioners,  no  lord  high  treasurer  or 
lord  high  admiral  having  been  appointed.  The  Court  of 
High  Commission  consisted  of  persons  appointed  under 
letters  patent  to  examine  into  matters  of  ecclesiastical  ju- 
risdiction, under  stat.  1.  Eliz.  c.  1.  (abolished  16  Car.  1.) 
Magistrates  or  justices  of  the  peace  are  appointed  by 
means  of  a  commission  occasionally  renewed,  commonly 
termed  the  commission  of  the  peace. 

COMMISSU'RjE.  A  term  applied  in  Anatomy  to  certain 
parts  of  the  brain  which  cross  from  one  of  its  sides  to  the 
other.  (See  Brain)  In  Botany,  it  signifies  the  place  of 
junction  of  two  carpels. 

COMMITMENT.  In  Law,  the  sending  to  prison  of  one 
charged  with  any  crime.  It  appears  to  have  been  the  an- 
cient usage  that  whoever  could  lawfully  arrest  a  person  for 
felony  or  treason  could  also  send  or  bring  him  to  the  com- 
mon gaol ;  but  since  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act  it  is  the  uni- 
form practice  that  offenders  are  committed  by  the  warrant 
in  writing  of  a  justice  of  the  peace.  The  privy  council  and 
secretary  of  state  can  also  commit  in  cases  of  treason.  A 
commitment  in  writing  must  declare  the  authority  of  him 
who  makes  it,  and  also  the  nature  of  the  offence  with 
which  the  parly  is  charged. 

COMMITTEE,  in  the  language  of  Parliament,  is  either 
a  committee  of  certain  members,  or  a  committee  of  the 
whole  house.  (See  Parliament.)  Select  committees  are 
bodies  appointed  by  open  nomination  or  by  a  peculiar 
mode  of  election  for  the  transaction  of  business,  either  ac- 
cording to  the  standing  orders,  or  by  accustomed  usage. 
All  private  bills  are  referred  in  the  first  instance  to  select 
committees.  Joint  committeesin  former  times  consisted  of 
bodies  deputed  by  the  two  houses,  and  met  for  the  purpose 
of  adjusting  differences,  sometimes  after  free  conferences 
had  failed.  They  were  free  from  the  forms  observed  in 
conferences.  As  in  the  latter,  the  Lords  deputed  only  half 
the  number  of  members  sent  by  the  Commons.  They 
have  been  Ions  disused. 

CO'MMODORE.  A  naval  officer  having  the  temporary 
rank  of  rear-admiral ;  the  senior  captain  of  several  ships  is 
called  the  commodore  by  courtesy. 

CO'MMON.  (Lat.  communis.)  In  Law,  is  the  right 
which  one  person  has  of  taking  a  part  of  the  produce  of 
land,  while  the  whole  property  in  the  land  is  vested  in 
another.  Common  of  pasture  is  either,  1.  Common  ap- 
pendant, which  is  the  right  of  the  tenant  of  a  manor  to  pas- 
ture his  beasts  on  the  lord's  waste ;  2.  Common  appurtenant, 
annexed  to  land  by  grant  of  prescription ;  3.  Common  in 
gross,  a  right  severed  from  the  land. 

When  a  common  is  under  pasture  all  those  who  have  a 
right  of  pasturage  may  turn  out  on  it  a  certain  number  of 
animals,  according  to  the  extent  of  the  enclosed  grounds 
which  they  cultivate.  When  the  common  consists  wholly 
or  partly  of  arable  land,  this  arable  land  is  formed  into 
ridges,  generally  with  a  narrow  riband  or  balk  of  turf  be- 
tween each  ridge,  or  between  each  two  or  three  ridges. 
The  right  of  cultivating  these  ridges  is  distributed  among 
the  holders  of  the  enclosed  lands  of  the  parish,  according 
to  the  extent  of  their  possessions;  and  in  order  that  there 
may  be  no  partialitv,  and  that  every  one  may  have  as  much 
interest  in  preserving  his  neighbour's  ridge  as  his  own,  the 
ridges  which  any  individual  has  the  right  of  cultivating  do 
not  lie  together,  but  are  distributed  among  the  ridges  of  his 
neighbours. 

CO'MMONABLE  LANDS.  A  common  in  which  the 
greater  part  of  the  land  is  arable. 

CO'MMON-FIELD  LANDS.  When  the  whole  of  a 
common  belonging  to  a  parish  is  not  in  a  ring  fence,  but 
lies  in  different  places,  these  places  are  called  common 
fields. 


COMMON  MEASURE. 

CO'MMON  MEASURE.  In  Arithmetic,  is  a  number 
which  divides  two  or  more  other  numbers  without  leaving 
a  remainder. 

CO'MMON  PLEAS,  or  COMMON  BENCH,  COURT  OF. 
In  Law,  was  originally  that  branch  or  side  of  the  aula  regia 
in  which  civil  causes"  between  subjects  were  tried.  It  was 
separated  and  rendered  stationary,  while  that  portion  of 
the  court  from  which  the  King's  Bench  is  derived  followed 
the  person  of  the  king  by  a  provision  of  Magna  Charta. 
This  court  has  concurrent  jurisdiction  with  the  other  two 
superior  common  law  courts  (see  Courts,  Superior)  in 
personal  actions  and  ejectments.  But  it  retains  exclusive 
jurisdiction  over  all  other  mixed,  and  all  real  actions  or 
pleas  of  land.  These,  however,  have  now  nearly  fallen 
into  disuse.  (See  Pleading.)  The  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  has  one  chief  and  four  puisne  judges. 

COMMON  PRAYER  BOOK.  The  name  given  to  the 
collection  of  all  the  offices  of  regular  and  occasional  wor- 
ship according  to  the  forms  of  the  church  of  England.  The 
basis  of  this  book  is  to  be  found  in  the  King's  Primer,  set 
forth  in  1546  by  Henry  VIII.,  which  was  intended  to  con- 
vey instruction  to  the  people  in  the  most  important  parts 
of  the  church  service  ;  but  contained  little  more  than  the 
Creed,  Lord's  Prayer,  Commandments,  and  Litany.  This 
Primer  underwent  two  revisions  and  republications  under 
Edward  VI.,  whose  second  Liturgy  approaches  very  near 
in  its  contents  to  that  which  exists  at  present.  It  was  at 
that  review  that  the  Sentences,  Exhortation,  Confession, 
and  Absolution  were  prefixed  to  the  Daily  Service  ;  the 
Decalogue  was  introduced  into  the  Communion  Service  ; 
and  certain  remnants  of  the  Romish  customs  were  finally 
abolished,  as  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  confirmation  and  ma- 
trimony, the  anointing  of  the  sick,  and  the  prayers  for  the 
dead. 

On  the  accession  of  Elizabeth,  another  review  of  the  Li- 
turgy was  instituted  ;  but  the  alterations  effected  were  little 
more  than  in  the  selection  of  the  lessons.  At  the  review 
in  the  reign  of  James  I.,  after  the  conference  with  the 
Presbyterians  at  Hampton  Court,  no  change  of  importance 
was  introduced,  except  the  addition  of  the  explanation  of 
the  Sacraments  in  the  Catechism.  Again,  when  on  the 
restoration  of  Charles  II.  a  conference  had  been  held  with 
the  Dissenters  at  the  Savoy,  the  subject  of  the  Common 
Prayer  Book  was  reconsidered  in  convocation.  The  ser- 
vices for  the  30th  of  January  and  29th  of  May  were  then 
added,  as  also  the  Form  to  be  used  at  Sea.  A  few  trifling 
alterations  were  made  also  in  the  other  services ;  but  these 
were  the  last  that  have  been  effected.  On  the  accession 
of  William  III.  another  revision  took  place,  and  a  consider- 
able number  of  alterations  were  proposed  and  supported 
by  many  of  the  bishops  and  clergy  ;  but  they  were  re- 
jected by  convocation,  and  have  never  since  been  revived 
by  authority.  The  following  is  a  chronological  list  of  the 
revision  of  the  Prayer  Book  in  which  any  alterations  have 
taken  place.  It  is  taken  from  the  Rev.  T.  V.  Short's  His- 
tory of  the  Church  of  England. 
154S.  The  King's  Primer. 

1548.  The  Communion  Service. 

1549.  First  Liturgy  of  Edward  VI. 

1550.  First  Ordination  Service. 
1552.  Second  Liturgy  of  Edward  VI. 
1552.  Second  Ordination  Service. 
1560.  Liturgy  of  Elizabeth. 

1604.  Alterations  introduced  by  James  I. 
1633.  Alterations  introduced  by  Charles  I. 
1661.  Last  Revision  ;  authorized  Liturgy. 

COMMONS,  HOUSE  OF.     See  Parliament. 

CO'MMON  TIME.  In  Music,  that  in  which  every  mea- 
sure or  bar  contains  one  semibreve,  two  minims,  four 
crotchets,  eiaht  quavers,  and  so  on. 

CO'MMONWEALTH.     See  Republic. 

COMMONWEALTH  OF  ENGLAND.  In  History  the 
form  of  government  established  in  England  on  the  death 
of  Charles  I.  in  1649,  and  which  existed  during  the  protec- 
torate of  Oliver  Cromwell  and  his  son  Richard,  until  the 
abdication  of  the  latter  in  1659.  The  substitution  of  a  de- 
mocratical  for  a  monarchical  form  of  government  was  pro- 
vided for  and  enjoined  by  two  successive  charters.  The 
first  charter  of  the  commonwealth  was  drawn  up  in  De- 
cember, 1653,  by  the  council  of  officers,  who,  on  the  volun- 
tary resignation  of  the  parliament  in  the  early  part  of  the 
same  year,  had  declared  Cromwell  "  Protector ;"  it  was 
styled  the  "Instrument  of  Government."  The  second 
charter,  called  the  "  Petition  and  Advice,"  was  framed  in 
May,  1657,  by  the  parliament  which  the  protector  had  as- 
sembled in  the  previous  year.  Uuder  the  first  charter,  as 
has  been  well  observed,  the  English  government  may  be 
classed  among  republics  with  a  chief  magistrate  at  its 
head  ;  under  the  second,  it  became  substantially  a  mon- 
archy, and  Oliver  Cromwell  from  1657  to  the  period  of  his 
death  was  de  facto  King  of  England.  (Hallam's  Constit. 
History,  421.)  On  the  demise  of  Cromwell,  the  succession 
of  his  son  Richard  was  at  first  cordially  recognized ;  but 
264 


COMPANY. 

soon  afterwards  discontents  and  cabals  having  sprung  np 
in  the  country,  his  inability  or  disinclination  to  govern  in- 
duced him  to  abandon  the  protectorship  after~a  reign  of 
eight  months  ;  and  on  the  29th  of  May,  1659,  the  restora- 
tion of  the  monarchy  under  the  old  regime  was  effected  by 
the  triumphal  entry  into  London  of  Charles  II.  It  would 
be  out  of  place  to  give  here  a  detailed  view  of  the  slate  of 
England  during  the  commonwealth.  Suffice  it  to  observe, 
all  authors  have  concurred  in  opinion,  that,  whatever  were 
the  defects  of  the  home  government,  arising  partly  from 
the  ambition  of  the  protector,  and  partly  from  the  stub- 
bornness and  opposition  of  his  councils,  the  energy  and 
decision  which  Cromwell  maintained  in  every  department 
of  the  state  not  only  laid  the  foundation  of  England's  mari- 
time greatness,  but  raised  her  to  a  pitch  of  prosperity  that 
has  rarely,  if  ever,  been  equalled. 

COMMU'NION,  is  used  in  various  ways  in  the  general 
sense  of  participation : — 1.  A  person  is  said  to  be  in  com- 
munion with  a  church,  who  declares  his  acquiescence  in 
its  doctrines  and  participates  in  its  worship  ;  and  hence 
the  term  communion  is  used  sometimes  for  a  church. 
2.  Communion  is  confined  emphatically  to  participation  in 
the  Eucharist.  (.See  Eucharist.)  3.  The  Communion 
of  Saints,  an  article  of  the  Apostles'  Creed  is  variously  ex- 
plained. 

COMMUTA'TION.  In  Astronomy,  the  angle  of  com- 
mutation of  a  planet  is  the  angle  formed  at  the  earth  by  a 
straight  line  drawn  from  the  earth  to  the  sun  and  the  or- 
thographical projection  on  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic  of  the 
straight  line  which  joins  the  earth  with  the  planet.  It  is 
measured  by  the  difference  between  the  sun's  longitude 
and  the  geocentric  longitude  of  the  planet. 

COMMUTATION  OF  TITHES.     See  Tithes. 

C<  )MO'SE.     Ending  in  a  tuft  or  kind  of  brush. 

COMPA'NION.  The  hut  or  covering  over  a  ladder  (or 
staircase)  in  a  ship. 

COMPANY  (Fr.  compagnie),  in  its  most  general  sense, 
means  any  two  or  more  individuals  associated  for  any 
common  object,  whether  of  business  or  pleasure. 

In  its  more  limited  sense,  however,  and  that  in  which  it 
is  usually  understood  in  this  country,  the  term  company 
means  an  association  of  individuals  for  the  prosecution  of 
some  industrious  undertaking.  Such  associations  may  be 
of  very  various  descriptions,  inasmuch  as  the  terms  of  the 
association  or  partnership  may  be  varied  in  an  infinity  of 
ways.  Generally,  however,  they  may  be  said  to  be  either 
private  or  public  companies  ;  that  is,  according  to  the  law 
of  England,  companies  with  not  more  than  six  partners 
and  with  more  than  six  ;  and  public  companies  may 
farther  be  divided  inlo  joint  stock  and  regulated  companies, 
and  these  again  into  incorporated  and  unincorporated  com- 
panies. 

I.  The  principle  on  which  associations  for  industrious 
purposes  are  established  is  too  obvious  to  require  much 
illustration.  All  great  results  are  brought  about  by  co- 
operation, and  could  not  be  effected  otherwise.  Isolated 
man  is  comparatively  feeble  and  helpless  ;  the  capacity  of 
associating  for  a  common  purpose  is,  in  fact,  the  main 
source  of  his  power,  and  the  principal  distinction  between 
him  and  the  lower  animals- — Quo  alio  fortes  sumus  quain 
quod  mutuis  juvumur  offi.ciis  7  One  man  has  capital  with- 
out skill,  and  another  skill  without  capital :  if  such  persons 
act  independently,  they  will  be  able  to  effect  little  or  no- 
thing;  but  if  they  combine  their  efforts,  and  the  capital  of 
the  one  be  applied  and  directed  by  the  skill  of  the  other, 
the  effect  of  their  exertions  will  be  incomparably  greater. 
But  this  is  not  all.  Many  of  the  greatest  and  most  import- 
ant works  undertaken  in  modern  times  could  not  have 
been  attempted  by  one  individual,  how  opulent  or  skilful 
soever.  Some  of  them  require  a  vast  outlay  ;  while  the 
returns  being  frequently  remote  and  contingent,  no  single 
individual,  and,  indeed,  no  small  number  of  individuals, 
would  be  willing  to  put  their  fortunes  to  hazard  by  en- 
gaging in  them.  But  such  undertakings  are  readily  and 
advantageously  carried  on  by  large  associations;  for,  in 
that  case,  individuals  being  called  upon  only  to  subscribe 
comparatively  small  sums  to  the  common  stock,  they  can 
afford  to  lose  them  without,  in  most  instances,  suffering 
any  material  inconvenience  ;  while  the  aggregate  amount 
of  the  subscriptions  may,  notwithstanding,  amount  to  a 
very  large  sum,  and  be  adequate  to  the  greatest  under- 
takings. In  fact,  some  of  the  most  gigantic  works  ever 
entered  upon  either  in  this  or  any  other  country  have 
been  accomplished  by  the  joint  contributions  of  the  sub- 
scribers of  100/.  shares.  It  is  true  that  wealthy  individuals 
usually  subscribe  for  a  number  of  such  shares;  but  this 
does  not  affect  the  principle  of  the  system  which  is  to  dis- 
tribute the  risk  according  to  the  ability  of  the  individuals 
associated. 

II.  In  private  companies  the  business  is  usually  con- 
ducted by  one  or  more  of  the  partners  on  the  principles 
laid  down  in  the  deed  of  partnership.  The  rights  and 
obligations  of  the  partners  as  respects  each  other  are,  of 
course,  mainly  determined  by  this  deed  :  as  respects  the 


COMPANY. 

pjblic,  the  law  regards  the  act  of  one  partner  as  the  act  of 
the  company  ;  and  each  partner  is  bound,  without  any  re- 
gird  to  the  sum  he  has  subscribed  to  the  company's  stock, 
tc  the  whole  extent  of  his  fortune,  for  the  debts  and  en- 
gagements of  the  firm.  Certain  formalities  are  necessary 
at  the  withdrawal  of  a  partner;  such  as  advertizing  in  the 
Gazelle,  and  the  sending  of  special  information  of  the  fact 
to  all  individuals  in  the  habit  of  dealing  with  the  company. 
See  Partnership. 

III.  Public  companies  may,  as  already  stated,  be  either 
joint  stock  or  regulated  ;  and  these  again  may  be  either 
incorporated  or  unincorporated. 

1.  By  a  joint  stock  company  is  meant  a  company  the 
stock  of  which  is  subscribed  by  a  certain  number  of  per- 
sons in  shares  of  a  certain  amount.  Thus,  supposing  that 
a  joint  stock  association  is  to  be  formed  for  carrying  on  the 
business  of  banking  or  insurance,  for  excavating  a  dock  or 
a  canal,  or  for  constructing  a  railway,  and  that  its  capital  is 
to  amount  to  1,000,000?.  to  be  subscribed  in  shares  of  100?. 
each  ;  any  individual  (unless  exceptions  be  made  in  the 
conditions  under  which  the  company  is  to  be  formed)  who 
can  command  100/.  may  become  a  partner  of  this  associa- 
tion, and  will  be  registered  in  the  company's  books  as  the 
holder  of  a  share  of  100/  of  the  company's  stock.  It  is 
customary,  too,  in  the  vast  majority  of  instances,  to  allow 
individuals  to  transfer  their  stock  or  shares  to  others,  who 
succeed  to  all  the  rights  and  obligations  of  their  predeces- 
sors. The  price  which  shares  or  portions  of  stock  fetch  in 
the  market  depends,  of  course,  on  the  real  or  supposed 
state  of  the  company's  affairs  :  if  it  be  known  or  supposed 
to  be  in  a  flourishing  and  prosperous  condition,  and  pay- 
ing a  high  interest  or  dividend  on  its  stock,  the  latter  may 
sell  for  10,  20,  50,  or  100  per  cent,  or  upwards  of  advance  ; 
whereas  if  it  be  known  or  supposed  to  be  in  an  unprosper- 
ous  condition,  its  shares  may  not  bring  a  third  or  a  tenth 
part  of  their  original  cost. 

The  affairs  of  companies  of  this  description  are  usually 
conducted  by  salaried  officers,  who  are  appointed  by  and 
act  under  the  orders  of  a  board  of  directors  chosen  by  the 
company  at  large,  according  to  the  conditions  in  their  deed 
of  association.  The  partners  in  such  companies  are  all  in- 
dividually liable,  without  regard  to  the  magnitude  of  their 
stock  or  shares,  for  the  entire  debts  and  obligations  of  the 
company. 

At  common  law  no  action  can  be  raised  by  or  against 
such  companies  without  making  all  the  shareholders  par- 
ties to  the  action.  But  the  obvious  and  insuperable  incon- 
veniences that  would  result  from  the  enforcement  of  this 
rule  have  made  it  be  enacted,  by  the  1st  Victoria,  cap.  73, 
that  the  crown  may  at  pleasure  grant  to  joint  stock  associa- 
tions letters  patent,  authorizing  them  to  sue  and  be  sued  in 
the  names  of  particular  officers  of  their  own  ;  without,  how- 
ever, unless  government  judge  proper,  incorporating  the 
company,  or  affecting  the  liability  of  the  different  partners 
for  it«  debts. 

2.  When  joint  stock  companies  are  incorporated  by  royal 
charter,  or  by  letters  patent,  the  liability  of  the  partners  is 
limited  to  the  amount  of  their  stock,  and  they  cease  to  be 
responsible  beyond  that  amount.  This  is  the  case  with 
some  great  joint  stock  associations ;  as  the  banks  of  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  and  Ireland  ;  the  East  India  Company, 
the  Royal  Exchange  Assurance,  and  a  few  more.  But 
government  has  hitherto  been,  and  that  for  the  best  reasons, 
very  chary  of  granting  charters  of  incorporation.  It  is  dif- 
ficult, in  fact,  to  imagine  a  case  in  which  they  ought  to  be 
granted.  Individuals  are  always  ready  to  embark,  without 
stipulating  forany  restriction  of  their  liability,  in  any  scheme, 
however  hazardous,  that  holds  out  any  promise  of  even  a 
moderate  return.  And  this  unlimited  responsibility  of  the 
partners  is,  in  all  ordinary  cases,  the  only  security  worth  a 
pinch  of  snuff  on  which  the  public  can  ever  rely  for  pro- 
tection against  the  fraud  or  misconduct  of  the  managers  of 
joint  stock  companies. 

The  grand  distinction  between  unincorporated  and  incor- 
porated joint  stock  companies  is,  that  in  the  case  of  the 
former,  the  law  looks  only  to  the  individuals  forming  the 
association :  while,  in  the  latter,  it  looks  only  to  the  corpo- 
rate body,  and  pays  no  attention  to  the  individuals  of  which 
it  is  made  up.  On  judgment  against  an  incorporation,  exe- 
cution can  only  pass  on  the  corporate  property  ;  and  sup- 
posing it  to  become  insolvent,  the  partners  can  only,  as 
already  stated,  be  called  upon  to  make  good  the  amount  of 
the  stock  of  the  incorporation  standing  in  their  names.  But 
it  is  quite  otherwise  with  an  unincorporated  joint  stock 
company  :  should  it  become  insolvent,  the  partners,  to  use 
the  words  of  Lord  Eldon,  are  severally  liable  for  the  whole 
debts  and  engagements  of  the  company,  even  "to  their  last 
shilling  aiui  their  last  acre." 

We  have  already  sufficiently  explained  (see  art.  Banks) 
the  advantages  that  would  result  from  Ihe  periodical  publi- 
cation of  the  names  of  the  partners  in  joint  stock  compa- 
nies. The  public  are  clearly  entitled  to  know  who  the 
parties  are  that  embark  in  such  concerns.  Nothing  on 
which  it  would  be  prudent  to  place  much  reliance  can  be 
2C5 


COMPARISON,  DEGREES  OF. 

learned  from  prospectuses  and  professions.  Without 
knowing  who  the  partners  really  are,  the  public  have  no 
means  of  forming  any  fair  estimate  of  the  character  of  any 
association,  or  of  the  credit  to  which  it  may  be  justly  en- 
tilled.  But  we  doubt  whether  it  would  be  prudent  to  carry 
interference  with  joint  stock  companies  farther  than  this. 
It  is  excessively  difficult,  and  in  most  cases  quite  impos- 
sible, to  enforce  such  regulations  in  regard  to  such  compa- 
nies as  would  serve  to  disclose  the  real  state  of  their  affairs, 
provided  they  had  an  interest  in  concealing  it ;  and  it  is 
needless  to  say,  that  the  leading  of  the  public  to  depend  on 
regulations  that  cannot  be  carried  into  effect,  is  one  of  the 
most  likely  means  that  can  be  resorted  to  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  imposture  and  fraud. 

3.  Regulated  companies  consist  of  a  number  of  uncon- 
nected individuals  or  associations  engaged  in  the  same 
business  or  department  of  trade,  under  condition  of  their 
conforming  to  regulations  laid  down  for  their  common 
guidance.  Such  companies  have  been  mostly  formed  for 
the  prosecution  of  the  trade  with  distant  and  peculiarly  situ- 
ated countries.  Their  principle  is  not  to  exclude  individual 
competition,  but  merely  to  make  the  different  parlies  en- 
gaged in  the  trade  observe  the  same  general  rules.  Com- 
panies of  this  description  were  at  one  time  common  ;  but 
they  have  now  mostly  fallen  into  desuetude,  though  it  be 
easy  to  imagine  circumstances  in  which  they  might  be  ad- 
vantageously revived. 

4.  Civic  companies,  of  which  there  are  many  in  the  city 
of  London  and  other  large  towns,  are  in  reality  guilds  or 
fraternities.  Originally  they  consisted  of  the  parlies  car- 
rying on  a  peculiar  trade  or  profession  ;  and  in  most  in- 
stances they  gradually  acquired  the  privilege  of  prescribing 
the  conditions  ami  limitations  under  which  individuals  not 
belonging  to  the  fraternity  might  obtain  leave  to  engage  in 
its  peculiar  trade  within  the  precincts  of  the  city  or  borough 
to  which  it  belonged.  In  more  modern  times,  however, 
the  injurious  influence  of  such  restrictions  on  the  free  ex- 
ercise of  industry  became  obvious;  and  in  consequence 
the  powers  formerly  exercised  by  civic  companies  or  guilds 
over  individuals  not  free  of  their  society,  who  attempted  to 
carry  on  the  same  trade,  have  been  either  wholly  repealed 
or  greatly  modified.  At  present,  therefore,  the  companies 
in  question  exist  principally  as  charitable  institutions,  or  as 
incorporated  associations,  having,  in  many  instances,  the 
management  of  large  amounts  of  property  appropriated 
for  the  use  of  their  poorer  brethren,  or  for  some  similar 
purpose. 

Company.  In  the  Army,  a  body  of  men,  forming  one 
of  the  chief  divisions  of  a  battalion  of  infantry.  In  the 
guards  and  artillery,  a  company  consists  of  120  men, 
but  in  all  other  infantry  regiments  of  100.  A  company  in 
the  infantry  corresponds  to  troop  in  cavalry  regiments; 
and  is  under  the  inspection  of  a  captain,  a  lieutenant,  and 
an  ensign,  besides  the  non-commissioned  officers  ;  with 
the  exceptions  of  the  artillery,  engineers,  marines,  and  the 
rifle  brigade,  in  which  second  lieutenants  are  substituted 
for  ensigns. 

COMPA'RISON,  or  SIMILE.  In  Rhetoric,  appears  to 
differ  from  Metaphor  (which  see)  only  in  form  ;  the  resem- 
blance being  stated  in  the  first  case,  implied  in  the  second. 
This  is  the  sense  in  which  the  term  Comparison  is  use  1 
and  defined  by  Aristotle,  in  his  Art  of  Rhetoric.  Frequently 
the  same  idea  furnishes  at  the  same  time  fofh  comparison 
and  metaphor ;  as  in  the  following  line,  "  They  melted  from 
the  field  as  snow."  The  word  "melted"  is  used  by  trans- 
ferring the  property  of  the  snow  to  a  multitude  of  individu- 
als ;  so  far,  therefore,  the  phrase  is  a  metaphor ;  but  the 
additional  words,  "  as  snow,"  transform  it  into  a  direct 
comparison.  Perhaps,  however,  it  might  be  more  correct- 
ly said,  in  this  instance,  that  the  predicate  "melted"  is 
transferred  by  the  figure  termed  Hypallage  from  the  snow 
to  the  multitude,  both  words  being  used  as  subjects  in  the 
same  sentence.  The  comparison,  being  as  it  were  a  meta- 
phor resolved  and  rendered  more  flowing  and  less  concise, 
is  more  appropriate  to  poetry  than  to  prose  composition. 
In  fact,  the  only  figures  of  this  description  which  are  gene- 
rally admissible  in  prose  writing  are  illustrations ;  i.  e.  argu- 
ments drawn  from  analogy  in  the  form  of  comparisons. 
(See  Illustration.)  It  will  generally  be  found  that  in 
every  language  the  earliest  writers,  especially  the  poets, 
are  the  most  addicted  to  the  use  of  comparisons  and  meta- 
phors of  a  highly  figurative  and  bold  character,  as  is  espe- 
cially observable  with  respect  to  the  sacred  poets,  and  to 
Homer;  while  as  language  advances  in  cultivation  the  me- 
taphor comes  more  and  more  into  ordinary  use,  and  forms, 
as  it  were,  the  basis  of  composition,  while  at  the  same  time 
it  gradually  loses  the  energetic  and  poetical  cast  which  at 
first  distinguished  it. 

COMPARISON.  DEGREES  OF.  Those  varieties  in  the 
inflexions  of  adjectives  which  denote  the  degree  in  which 
a  quality  is  possessed  by  a  substance,  either  generally  or 
in  reference  to  one  or  more  other  substances.  In  English 
there  are  only  two  degrees  of  comparison,  commonly  named 
the  comparative  and  the  superlative.  The  first  compares 
Q 


COMPARTMENTS. 

two  conceptions  only,  as  "John  is  taller  than  Charles." 
The  second  either  compares  one  conception  with  a  definite 
number  of  others  as '•John  is  the  tallest  of  all  the  four;" 
or  expresses  general  superiority, as  "the/cures?  of  women." 

COMPA'RTMENTS.  (Ital.  compartimenti.)  In  Archi- 
tecture, the  subdivisional  parts  of  larger  divisions  for  orna- 
ment, to  which  alone  this  term  is  properly  applicable. 

CO'MPASS.  A  name  given  to  instruments  contrived  to 
indicate  the  magnetic  meridian,  or  the  position  of  objects 
with  respect  to  that  meridian.  According  to  the  purposes 
to  which  the  instrument  is  chiefly  applied,  it  becomes  the 
mariner's  compass,  the  azimuth  compass,  the  variation  com- 
pass, each  particular  application  requiring  some  peculiarity 
of  construction  ;  but  whatever  modifications  it  may  re- 
ceive, the  essential  parts  are  the  same  in  all  cases.  These 
are  a  magnetized  bar  of  steel,  called  the  needle,  having 
fitted  to  it  at  its  centre  a  cap  which  is  supported  on  an  up- 
right pivot,  made  sharp  at  the  point  in  order  to  diminish 
the  friction  as  much  as  possible  and  allow  the  needle  to 
turn  with  the  slightest  force.  The  mariner's  compass  has 
a  circular  card  attached  to  its  needle,  which  turns  with  it ; 
and  on  the  circumference  of  which  are  marked  the  de- 
grees, and  also  the  32  points  or  rhumbs,  likewise  divided  into 
half  and  quarter  points.  The  pivot  rises  from  the  centre 
of  the  bottom  of  a  circular  box,  called  the  compass  box, 
which  contains  the  needle  and  its  card,  and  which  is  cover- 
ed with  a  glass  top  to  prevent  the  needle  from  being  dis- 
turbed by  the.  agitation  of  the  air.  The  compass  box  is 
suspended  within  a  large  box,  by  means  of  two  concentric 
brass  circles  or  gimbals ;  the  outer  one  being  fixed  by  hori- 
zontal pivots,  both  to  the  inner  circle  which  carries  the 
compass  box,  and  also  the  outer  box,  the  two  sets  of  axes 
being  at  right  angles  to  each  other.  By  means  of  this  ar- 
rangement the  inner  circle,  with  the  compass  box,  needle, 
and  card,  always  retain  a  horizontal  position  notwithstand- 
ing the  rolling  of  the  ship. 

The  notation  of  the  mariner's  compass  is  as  follows : — 
The  circumference  being  divided  into  the  four  quadrants 
by  two  diameters  at  right  angles,  the  extremities  of  these 
diameters  are  the  four  cardinal  points  (cardo,  a  hinge), 
marked  N.,  S.,  E.,  W.  (north,  south,  east,  west).  Bisect- 
ing each  of  the  quadrants,  the  several  points  of  bisection 
are  denoted  by  placing  the  two  letters  at  the  extremities  of 
the  quadrant  in  juxtaposition.     Thus,  N.  E.  (north-east) 


denotes  the  point  which  is  halfway  between  north  and  east; 
and  so  with  N.  W.,  S.  E.,  S.  W.  (north-west,  south-east, 
south-west).  Let  the  octants  next  be  bisected  ;  the  points 
of  division  are  denoted  by  prefixing  to  each  of  the  above 
combinations  first  the  one,  and  then  the  other  of  the  two  car- 
dinal points  of  which  it  is  formed.  Thus  N.  E.  gives  N.  N. 
E.  and  E.  N.  E.  (north  north-east,  and  east  north-east) ;  and 
so  in  respect  of  the  others.  Sixteen  points  have  thus  been 
named.  Let  the  distances  be  again  bisected,  then  each  of 
the  points  so  found  is  expressed  by  that  one  of  the  preceding 
points  already  named  to  which  it  is  nearest,  followed  by  the 
name  of  the  cardinal  point  towards  which  its  departure 
from  the  nearest  point  leads  it,  the  two  being  separated  by 
the  letter  b  (by).  Thus,  the  point  half  way  between  N. 
and  N.  N.  E.  is  N.  by  E.  (north  by  east) ;  that  which  is 
halfway  between  N.  N.  E.  and  N.  E.  by  N.  (north-east  by 
north),  &c.  The  whole  of  the  thirty-two  points  are  thus 
distinguished  in  the  figure. 

The  principal  requisites  of  a  compass  are  intensity  of 
directive  force,  and  susceptibility.  The  first  of  these  is 
obtained  by  constructing  the  needle  of  the  material  and 
form  best  suited  to  receive  and  retain  the  magnetic  virtue. 
A  number  of  experiments  on  this  subject  were  made  by 
Coulomb,  and  more  recently  by  Captain  Kater,  an  account 
of  which  is  given  in  the  Phil.  Trans,  for  1821.  Captain 
Kater  found  that  the  kind  of  steel  capable  of  receiving  the 
greatest  magnetic  force  is  shear  steel;  and  that  the  best 
form  is  that  of  a  lozenge  or  rhomboid  (.fig-),  cut  out  in  the 
266 


COMPOSITE  NUMBERS. 

middle,  so  as  to  diminish  the  extent  of  surface  in  proportion  io 
the  mass,  it  being  found  that  the  directive  force  of  the  needle, 
when  magnetized  to  saturation,  de- 
pends not  on  the  extent  of  surface, 
but  on  the  mass.  Beyond  a  certain 
limit  (about  five  inches)  no  ad- 
ditional power  is  gained  by  increas- 
ing the  length  of  the  needle;  and  needles  exceeding  a  very 
moderate  length  are  apt  to  have  several  consecutive  poles, 
the  effect  of  which  is  to  produce  a  great  diminution  of  di- 
rective force.  On  this  account  short  needles,  made  very 
hard,  are  to  be  preferred. 

Like  many  other  of  the  most  valuable  arts  of  life,  the  origin 
of  the  compass  is  entirely  unknown.  By  some  writers  it  is 
ascribed  to  Flavio  Gioja,  who  lived  in  the  13th  century  ;  yet 
Guyot  de  Provence,  who  lived  a  century  earlier,  speaks  of 
the  loadstone,  to  which  he  gives  the  name  of  marinetti,  or 
mariner's  stone,  as  useful  to  navigation.  Others  pretend  that 
it  was  invented  in  France ;  but  there  seems  to  be  no  other  rea- 
son for  this  supposition  than  the  fact  that  from  time  immemo- 
rial the  north  point  of  the  compass  card  has  been  distin- 
guished and  ornamented  with  a  fieur  de  lis.  For  a  reason 
of  a  different  kind,  but  perhaps  of  the  same  degree  of 
weight,  Dr.  Wallis  and  others  have  supposed  the  invention 
to  belong  to  England,  the  name  compaes,  which  is  given 
to  the  instrument  by  most  European  countries,  being  used 
in  England  to  signify  a  circle.  The  term  bussola  in  Italian, 
and  boussole  in  French,  has  also  been  supposed  to  be  de- 
rived from  our  term  box,  by  which  the  compass  is  fre- 
quently designated.  Gilbert,  in  his  celebrated  work  De 
Magnete,  affirms  that  Marco  Polo  brought  the  invention  to 
Europe  from  China,  about  the  year  1260.  It  appears  very 
probable  that  the  Chinese  were  acquainted  with  the  direc- 
tive property  of  the  loadstone  at  an  early  period.  Their 
method  is  to  place  it  on  a  small  piece  of  cork  and  set  it  to 
float  on  water.  The  art  of  communicating  the  magnetic 
virtue  to  steel,  and  suspending  the  needle  on  a  pivot,  is  un- 
doubtedly an  European  invention. 

The  azimuth  compass,  being  intended  to  show  the  bear- 
ing of  objects  in  respect  of  the  magnetic  meridian,  has  iis 
circle  divided  merely  into  degrees,  instead  of  the  rhumbs 
used  in  navigation,  and  is  provided  with  sights  to  allow  the 
angles  to  be  taken  more  accurately. 

The  variation  compass,  is  designed  to  exhibit  the  diurnal 
changes  in  the  deviation  of  the  magnetic  from  the  true  me- 
ridian ;  and  the  needle  is  generally  made  of  much  greater 
length  than  the  mariner's  compass,  in  order  to  render  mi- 
nute variations  more  sensible.     See  Magnetism. 

COMPITA'LIA.  (Lat.  compiium,  a  street.)  A  Roman 
feast  celebrated  in  honour  of  the  Lares  and  Penates.  Un- 
der Tarquinius  Superbus,  it  is  said  that  human  victims  were 
sacrificed  at  this  solemnity.  The  gods  invoked  at  it  were 
termed  Compitales,  as  presiding  over  the  streets. 

CO'MPLEMENT.  (Lat.  compleo,  J  fill  up.)  What  is 
wanted  to  complete  or  fill  up  some  quantity  or  thing. 
Thus,  the  complement  of  an  angle  is  what  is  wanted  to 
make  the  angle  a  quadrant  or  90°.  Complement  of  a  num- 
ber is  what  is  necessary  to  be  added  in  order  to  make  the 
number  1,  or  10,  or  100,  or,  in  general,  1  with  zeros.  In 
Geometry,  the  complements  of  a  parallelogram  are  the 
two  spaces  which,  with  the  parallelograms  about  the  diago- 
nal, make  up  the  whole  parallelogram. 

COMPLU'VIUM.  (Lat.)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  an 
area  in  the  centre  of  the  Roman  houses,  so  constructed 
that  it  might  receive  the  waters  from  the  roofs.  It  is  also 
the  gutter  or  eave  of  a  roof. 

COMPO'SIT^E.  In  Botany,  the  largest  of  all  known 
natural  groups  of  plants  ;  and  so  called  because  the  old 
botanists  who  invented  the  name  regarded  the  flower-heads 
as  compound  flowers.  They  answered  to  the  Syngentsia 
polygamia  of  Linnaeus,  and  are  positively  characterized  by 
having  capitate  flowers,  syngenesious  anthers,  and  an  in- 
ferior ovary  with  a  single  erect  ovule.  In  the  most  recent 
account  of  this  order,  by  M.  De  Candolle,  nearly  8000  spe- 
cies are  enumerated  in  about  900  genera,  and  the  subject 
is  not  nearly  exhausted  ;  they  exist  all  over  the  world 
where  vegetation  can  develope,  and  are  sometimes  trees, 
although  more  generally  herbaceous  plants  or  shrubs. 
Although  medical  species,  the  chamomile,  wormwood, 
southernwood,  elacampane,  and  opium  lettuce  are  con- 
spicuous ;  of  esculents,  the  order  contains  the  artichoke, 
the  Jerusalem  artichoke,  the  lettuce,  succory,  and  endive  ; 
and  among  ornamental  plants,  the  aster,  dahlia,  coreopsis, 
sunflower,  &c.  But  by  far  the  greater  part  of  this  large 
assembly  consists  of  species  which  are  either  weeds  or  of 
no  known  use.  The  readerjppho  wishes  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  this  order  must  consult  De  Candolle's  Pro- 
dromus  Reg7ii  Vegetabi/is,  vols,  v.,  vi.,  and  vii. 

COMPOSITE  NUMBERS,  in  Architecture,  are  numbers 
which  can  be  divided  by  some  other  number  greater  than 
unity.  They  are  consequently  opposed  to  prime  numbers, 
which  admit  of  no  divisor.  In  Music,  composite  numbers 
are  such  as  are  composed  by  the  multiplication  of  the 
prime  integers,  2,  3,  5. 


COMPOSITE  ORDER. 

CO'MPOSITE  ORDER.  In  Architecture,  one  of  the 
five  orders  of  architecture,  and,  as  its  name  imports,  com- 
posed of  two  others,  the  Corinthian  and  the  Ionic.  Its 
capital  is  a  vase  wilh  two  tiers  of  acanthus  leaves,  like  the 
Corinthian  ;  but  instead  of  stalks,  the  shoots  appear  small 
and  adhere  to  the  vase,  bending  round  towards  the  middle  of 
the  face  of  the  capital  ; 
the  vase  is  terminated  by 
a  fillet,  over  which  is  an 
astragal  crowned  by  an 
ovolo.  The  volutes  roll 
themselvesoverthe  ovolo 
to  meet  the  tops  of  the 
upper  row  of  leaves, 
whereon  they  seem  to 
rest.  The  corners  of  the 
abacus  are  supported  by 
an  acanthus  leaf  bent  up- 
wards. The  abacus  re- 
sembles that  of  the  Co- 
rinthian capital  (see  Cap 
ital.)  In  detail  the  Com- 
posite is  richer  than  the 
Corinthian,  but  less  light 
and  delicate.  Its  archi- 
trave has  usually  only 
two  fasciae,  and  the  cor- 
nice varies  from  the  Co- 
rinthian in  having  double 
modillions.  The  column 
is  ten  diameters  high. 
The  principal  examples  of 
this  order  are  the  Tem- 
ple of  Bacchus  at  Rome, 
the  arch  of  Septimius 
Severus,  those  of  the 
Goldsmiths  and  of  Titus,  and  that  in  the  baths  of  Dio- 
cletian. The  example  here  given  is  from  the  arch  of 
Titus,  which  is  considered  a  fine  specimen  of  the  order. 
See  Ohder. 

COMPOSITION.  In  Law,  an  agreement  made  between 
the  owner  of  lands  and  the  parson,  with  the  consent  of  the 
ordinary  and  the  patron,  that  such  lands  shall  be  discharged 
from  the  payment  of  tithes,  by  reason  of  some  land  or 
other  real  recompense  given  to  the  parson  in  satisfaction 
thereof.  Such  an  agreement,  since  the  13  Ehz.  c.  10.,  is 
not  good  for  a  longer  term  than  three  lives  or  twenty-one 
years.  Composition  signifies  also  the  agreement  between 
a  bankrupt  after  his  last  examination  and  nine  tenths  of 
his  creditors  for  the  satisfaction  of  their  claims,  and  has 
the  effect  of  superseding  the  fiat  of  bankruptcy. 

Composition.  In  the  Fine  Arts,  that  combination  of 
the  several  parts,  whereby  a  subject  is  agreeably  presented 
to  the  mind,  each  part  being  subordinate  to  the  whole. 
See  Invention. 

Composition.  In  Music,  the  art  of  disposing  and  ar- 
ranging musical  sounds  into  airs,  songs,  <fec,  either  in  one 
or  more  parts,  for  voices  or  instruments,  or  both.  Zarlino 
defines  it  to  be  the  art  of  joining  and  combining  concords 
and  discords  together,  which  are  the  matter  of  music. 

COMPOSITION  OF  FORCES  or  MOTION.  In  Me- 
chanics, signifies  combining  or  uniting  several  forces  or 
motions,  and  determining  the  result  of  the  whole.  If  a 
body  is  solicited  by  two  forces  which  act  in  the  same  di- 
rection, the  resulting  force,  or  resultant,  is  equal  to  the  sum 
of  both  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  effect  produced  is  the  same  as 
would  be  produced  by  a  single  force  acting  in  the  same  di- 
rection, and  equal  to  their  sum.  If  the  two  forces  act  in 
opposite  directions,  the  resultant  is  equal  to  their  differ- 
ence, and  the  body  will  move  in  the  direction  of  the 
greater.  If  the  lines  of  direction  of  the  two  forces  make 
an  angle  with  each  other,  the  resultant  will  be  a  mean  force 
in  an  intermediate  direction.  Thus,  if  the  two  forces  be 
represented  in  intensity  and  direction  by  the  two  sides  of 
a  parallelogram,  then  the  resultant  is  represented  in  in- 
tensity and  direction  by  the  diagonal  of  the  parallelogram 
which  passes  through  the  angle  formed  by  those  two  sides. 
(See  Willis's  Principles  of  Mechanism.  8vo.  1841.) 

COMPOSI'TOR.  (Fr.  compositeur.)  In  Printing,  the 
workman  who  arranges  the  types  in  lines  and  pages,  and 
prepares  them  for  being  printed  off. 

COMPOSTE'LLA,  ST.  .JAMES  OF,  or  ST.  JAMES  OF 
THE  SWORD.  An  ancient  order'of  knighthood  in  Spain, 
the  chief  of  the  four  military  orders  (Compostella,  Cala- 
trava,  Alcantara,  Manresa) ;  probably  founded  either  by 
Alphonso  IX.  of  Castile  (11*1214),  or  Ferdinand  II.  of 
Leon  (1157,  1183).  It  originflp  began  from  the  voluntary 
association  of  certain  gentlemen  to  defend  the  great  road 
leading  to  the  celebrated  shrine  of  St.  James  at  Compos- 
tella. Pope  Alexander  III.  gave  the  order  its  rules  of 
government.  The  order  possessed  at  one  period  eighty- 
four  commanderies,  with  two  cities  and  numerous  burghs 
and  villages.  The  knights  take  the  vows  of  poverty,  obe- 
dience, and  conjugal  chastity ;  to  which  they  add  a  fourth, 
267 


CONCETTI. 

"to  defend  and  maintain  the  immaculate  conception  of  the 
Holy  Mother  of  Jesus  Christ." 

CO'MPOUND  INTEREST,  is  interest  charged  not  only 
on  the  principal,  but  also  on  the  interest  forborne.  Thus, 
if  money  is  invested  so  that  the  interest  is  not  paid  as  it  be- 
comes due,  but  successively  added  to  the  capital,  the  capi- 
tal is  said  to  accumulate  at  compound  interest.  Let  r  = 
the  amount  of  j£l  for  I  year ;  that  is  to  say,  =  jEl  with  its 
interest  added  to  it ;  then  the  amount  of  JEl  at  the  end  of  2 
years  will  be  r! ;  at  the  end  of  3  years,  rs ;  at  the  end  of  4 
years,  r*  ;  and  so  on.  The  law  of  England  does  not  allow 
compound  interest  to  be  charged  on  money  lent. 

COMPRESSIBILITY.  The  quality  of  bodies  in  virtue 
of  which  they  can  be  reduced  to  small  dimensions.  All 
bodies,  in  consequence  of  the  porosity  of  matter,  are  com- 
pressible, though  liquids  resist  compression  with  immense 
force. 

CO'MPTONITE.  A  mineral  found  in  ejected  masses  on 
Vesuvius ;  named  after  Lord  Compton,  who  first  brought 
it  to  England  in  1818. 

COMPURGATION.  An  ancient  mode  of  trial  both  in 
civil  and  criminal  cases.  In  the  latter,  by  the  law  of  the 
Saxons  (which  William  the  Conqueror  confirmed  in  this 
respect,  at  least  as  to  its  main  features),  the  accused 
party  was  allowed  to  clear  himself  by  the  oath  of  as 
many  of  his  neighbours  to  his  innocence  as  amounted  in 
collective  worth,  according  to  the  legal  arithmetic  of  the 
Anglo-Saxons,  to  one  pound  (see  Weregild),  if  he  could  in 
the  first  instance  (being  a  villein)  obtain  the  testimony  of 
his  lord  that  he  had  not  been  previously  convicted.  If 
otherwise,  he  is  bound  to  undergo  ordeal,  or  wage  his  law 
wilh  a  greater  number  of  compurgators.  Compurgation 
in  criminal  cases  was  abolished  in  general  by  Henry  II. 's 
assizes,  the  ordeal  being  enforced  in  lieu  of  it.  But  it  was 
retained  as  a  special  franchise  in  some  boroughs,  to  which 
those  assizes  did  not  extend  ;  and  the  last  instances  of  it 
on  record  are  to  be  found  in  the  rolls  of  the  hundred  court 
of  Winchilsea,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.  (See  Sir  F1. 
Palgrave  on  the  British  Commonwealth.  A  singular  usage 
of  the  same  description  long  remained  in  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal courts,  by  which  convicted  clerks,  allowed  their  clergy 
and  delivered  up  to  the  ordinary,  were  admitted  to  purge 
themselves  by  the  oaths  of  compurgators,  which  was 
abolished  by  18  Eliz.  c.  7.  Wager  of  law,  in  civil  cases, 
lay  in  some  personal  actions  only,  and  in  incidental  tra- 
verses in  real  actions  (see  Blacksto7ie,  lib.  iii.  c.  23);  and 
in  these  cases,  although  many  technical  difficulties  prevent 
defendants  from  availing  themselves  of  it,  it  is  not  yet  abo- 
lished. 

COMB,  COOMS,  COOMES,  or  CHIVES.  The  points  of 
the  radicles  of  malted  grain,  which  after  kiln-drying  drop 
off  during  the  process  of  turning.  They  are  sold  by  malt- 
sters under  the  name  of  malt  dust,  and  are  considered  ex- 
cellent manure. 

CONCE'PTACLES.  (Lat.  conceptaculum,  a  receiver.) 
The  cases  containing  the  reproductive  organs  of  such 
plants  as  ferns,  in  which  they  are  produced  from  the  back 
of  the  leaves,  growing  in  the  form  of  spots  at  the  anasto- 
moses, margins,  or  extremities  of  the  veins,  and  then  col- 
lectively called  Sori.  The  conceptacles  are  also  termed 
Capsules,  Thecse,  and  Sporangia. 

CONCEPTA'CULUM.  (Lat.  a  receiver.)  A  term  in 
Botany,  denoting  a  one  valved  fruit  opening  longitudinally 
on  one  side,  and  distinct  from  the  seeds.  It  is  a  folliculus 
without  any  attachment  between  the  placenta  and  the  ven- 
tral suture,  as  in  Asclepias. 

CONCE'PTION.  (Lat.  concipere,  to  conceive.)  In 
Mental  Philosophy,  that  faculty  or  act  of  the  mind  by 
which  we  combine  a  number  of  individuals  together  by 
means  of  some  mark  or  character  common  to  them  all. 
We  may  observe,  for  instance,  that  equilateral  isosceles 
and  scalene  triangles  all  agree  in  one  respect,  that  of  having 
three  sides :  and  from  this  perceived  similitude  we  form 
the  conception  triangle. 

CONCERT  A'NTE.  (It.  concentare,  toco^n're.)  In  Music, 
a  term  expressive  of  those  parts  of  a  musical  composition 
that  sing  or  play  throughout  the  piece,  as  distinguished 
from  those  that  play  only  occasionally  in  particular  places. 

CONCE'RTO.  (It.)  In  Music,  a  piece  composed  for 
a  particular  instrument,  which  bears  the  greatest  part  in  it, 
or  in  which  the  performance  is  partly  alone  and  partly  ac- 
companied by  other  parts. 

CONCE'TTI.  (It.  ;  rendered  by  English  writers  on  rhe- 
toric, conceits.)  Ingenious  thoughts  or  turns  of  expression, 
points,  jeux  d'esprit,  <fcc.  in  serious  composition.  In  the 
16th  century,  the  taste  for  this  species  of  brilliancy,  often 
false  and  always  dangerous,  spread  rapidly  in  the  poetical 
composition  of  European  nations,  especially  in  Spain  and 
Italy  ;  where  the  name  of  concetti  was  applied  rather  in  a 
good  than  a  bad  sense,  the  critical  taste  being  much  per- 
verted. Tasso  is  not  free  from  concetti.  After  his  time 
they  became  offensively  prominent  in  Italian  poetry  for  a 
century  afterwards ;  Marino  and  Filicaia  offer  strong  ex- 
amples.    In  France,  the  mode  of  concetti  was  equally  pre- 


CONCHIFERS. 

valent  in  the  17th  century,  and  was  peculiarly  in  vogue  with 
the  fair  crilics  of  the  Hotel  Rambouillet,  so  well  known  by 
Moliere's  "  Precieuses  Ridicules."  In  England,  Donne 
and  Cowley  are  instances  of  a  style  full  of  concetti. 

CO'NX'HIFERS.  (Lat.  concha,  a  shell,  and  fero,  I  carry.) 
A  name  applied  by  Lamarck,  Schweigger,  and  Latreille  to 
all  mollusks  which  are  protected  by  a  bivalve  shell. 

CO'NCHOID.  (Gr.  Koyxn,  a  shell,  and  tiSos,  form.) 
The  name  given  to  a  curve  invented  by  Nichomedes  for 
the  solution  of  the  two  famous  geometrical  problems  of 
antiquity, — the  duplication  of  the  cube,  and  the  triplication 
of  an  angle.     It  is  constructed  as  follows : — 

Let  Pbe  a  given  point  through  B 

which  any  straight  line  is  drawn 
to  cut  or  meet  another  straight  line 
CD  given  in  position  ;  if  a  segment 
AB  (or  AB')  of  a  given  length  be 
taken  on  either  side  of  C  D,  the 
point  B  (or  B')  will  trace  the 
conchoid.  The  curve  has  different  forms,  according  to  the 
different  relative  positions  of  the  point  B  with  respect  to 
the  pole  P  and  the  given  straight  line  C  D.  The  conchoid 
is  a  curve  of  the  fourth  order,  the  equation  between  the 
rectangular  co-ordinates  (the  origin  being  placed  at  A  in  the 
straight  line  perpendicular  to  C  D)  being  x2  y*  =  (a2  — y") 
(6  +  y'),  in  which  AB  =  a,  and  A  P  (perpendicular  to  C  D) 

CONCHO'LOGY.  (Gr.  xoyxn,  a  shell,  and  \oyos,  a  dis- 
course.) The  science  of  shells  :  that  department  of  Ma- 
lacology which  treats  of  the  nature,  formation,  physiologi- 
cal relations,  and  classification  of  the  hard  parts  or  skele- 
tons of  the  molluscous  animals. 

As  Osteology,  inasmuch  as  it  relates  to  the  nature,  devel- 
opment, and  physiological  subserviencies  of  the  skeletons 
of  the  vertebrate  animals,  is  a  science  in  the  strict  accept- 
ation of  the  term,  so  also  is  Conchology  under  the  like 
applications  ;  but  as  no  naturalist  has  yet  conceived  a  clas- 
sification of  vertebrate  skeletons  independently  of  the 
softer  organs  of  the  body  which  they  support  and  protect, 
and  as,  notwithstanding  that  the  complex  internal  skele- 
tons of  the  Vertebrates  are  closely  related  to  their  general 
structure  and  habits,  the  classification  of  these  parts  would 
not  in  all  cases  tally  wiih  the  natural  arrangement  of  the 
animals  to  which  they  belonged,  therefore  still  less  scien- 
tific must  be  a  classification  of  shells  merely,  apart  from 
a  consideration  of  the  molluscous  animals  by  which  they 
are  secreted.  For  shells,  instead  of  consisting,  like  bones, 
of  living  organized  substance  permeated  by  blood-vessels, 
absorbents,  and  nerves,  are  mere  inorganic  laminated,  con- 
cretionary, or  crystalline  deposits  of  calcareous  earth,  more 
or  less  combined  with  albuminous  matter:  they  are  also 
formed  in  the  skin,  and  are  appendages  to  the  dermal  sys- 
tem, which  in  all  classes  of  animals  is  the  principal  seat 
of  variety.  In  many  cases,  therefore,  there  exists  very 
little  correspondence  between  the  structure  or  even  the 
presence  of  a  shell  and  the  general  character  of  the  organi- 
zation of  a  mollusk;  and  the  absence  of  uniformity  be- 
tween the  condition  of  the  shell  in  closely  allied  species  is 
exemplified  in  the  highest  as  well  as  the  lowest  classes  of 
the  molluscous  sub- kingdom.  The  argonaut,  the  poulp 
( Octopus^,  the  calamary,  the  cuttle-fish,  and  the  spirula, 
all  possess  the  same  peculiar  and  highly  developed  or- 
ganization ;  and  in  a  classification  founded  on  general 
structure,  a  :d  expressive  of  the  true  affinities  of  its  ob- 
jects, they  must  rank  in  the  same  order  of  their  class. 
But  the  shells  of  these  mollusks  present  respectively  the 
following  conditions  : — the  first,  a  simple,  external,  light, 
elastic,  subtransparent,  but  calcareous  discoidal  univalve  ; 
the  second,  two  internal,  friable,  subtransparent  styles ; 
composed  of  hardened  albumen  ;  the  third,  an  elongated, 
feather-shaped,  horny  plate  ;  the  fourth,  an  internal,  com- 
pressed, oval,  laminated,  friable,  calcareous  mass ;  the 
fifth,  an  elongated,  cylindrical,  conical  shell,  twisted  spi- 
rally in  the  same  plane,  divided  into  chambers  by  calca- 
reous partitions,  perforated  by  a  siphon,  and  partly  inter- 
nal, partly  external,  in  its  situation.  Now,  in  a  system  of 
Conchology,  understood  as  the  classification  of  shells  in 
the  abstract,  these  productions  would  necessarily  be 
dispersed  into  five  widely  different  groups ;  and  in 
like  manner,  the  small,  thin,  and  flat  plate,  which  is 
buried  in  the  s'^stanee  of  the  mantle  of  the  slug,  would 
be  far  removed  trom  the  large  external  spiral  shell  of  the 
snail. 

But  no  conchologist  groups  together  his  shells  strictly 
and  exclusively,  according  to  their  resemblances ;  all  the 
testaceous  productions  of  the  Cephalopods,  now  that  the 
real  affinities  of  these  molhisks  are  known,  are  arranged 
in  the  same  group,  notwithstanding  their  striking  discre- 
pancies of  texture  and  form,  and  in  their  relative  size  and 
position  to  the  bodies  of  their  fanricators  :  so  likewise  with 
the  shells  or  their  rudiments  of  the  air  breathing  Gastro- 
pods, or  of  the  Pteropodous  Mollusca.  In  short,  every 
purely  conchological  system  must  undergo  modifications 
correspondins  with  the  progress  which  is  made  in  the 
268 


CONCHOLOGY. 

knowledge  of  the  true  natural  affinities  of  the  molluscous 
animals  ;  and  the  progress  of  Conchology  is  therefore  es- 
sentially connected  with  that  of  Malacology,  under  which 
term  an  outline  of  the  most  approved  classification  of  the 
Mollusca  and  their  shells  will  be  found. 

Under  the  present  head  will  be  briefly  treated  those 
points  which  relate  to  Conchology  as  a  science  ;  viz.  the 
development,  structure,  configuration,  and  physiological 
subserviencies  of  shells. 

The  formation  of  a  shell  commences  with  the  exudation 
of  layers  of  albumen  from  the  outer  surface  of  the  mantle 
or  skin  of  the  embryo  mollusk,  which  is  generally  followed 
by  the  admixture  of  rhombic  or  prismatic  crystalline  par- 
ticles of  the  carbonate  of  lime  :  and  this  first- formed  shell 
of  the  embiyo  constitutes  the  nucleus  of  the  shell  of  the 
mature  mollusk.  The  nucleus  is  developed  in  most  cases 
before  the  embryo  quits  the  egg-coverings,  but  it  is  never 
"  coeval  with  the  first  formation  of  the  animal ;"  it  is  pre- 
ceded by  several  distinct  stages  in  the  development  ot  the 
embryo.  The  subsequent  growth  of  the  shell  depends 
upon  the  deposition  of  fresh  layers  to  the  inner  surlace  of 
the  circumference  of  those  previously  formed  ;  beyond 
which  the  new-formed  layers  extend  in  proportions  which 
determine  the  figure  of  the  future  shell. 

Sometimes  the  calcifying  margin  of  the  mantle  extends 
outwards  at  an  obtuse  or  right  angle  to  the  last-formed 
margin  of  the  shell ;  and  after  having  deposited  a  calcare- 
ous plate  in  this  position,  is  retracted  and  absorbed,  to  be 
again  similarly  produced  and  extended  after  ordinary 
growth  has  proceeded  to  a  certain  extent.  It  is  to  this  pe- 
riodical growth  of  the  mantle  and  plethoric  condition 
of  the  calcifying  vessels  that  the  ridges  on  the  exterior  of 
the  shell  in  the  Venus plicata  among  Bivalves,  and  in  the 
ScaUiria  pretiosa  among  Univalves,  are  due.  Should  the 
mantle,  instead  of  being  uniformly  extended,  send  out- 
wards a  number  of  detached  tentaculiform  calcifying  pro- 
cesses, these  will  form  a  row  of  spines  corresponding  in 
length  and  thickness  to  the  soft  parts  on  which  they  are 
moulded  ;  and  as  the  calcifying  processes  continue  to  de- 
posit shelly  material  during  the  progress  of  their  absorp- 
tion, the  spines,  which  were  at  first  hollow,  thus  become 
solidified,  and  are  soldered  to  the  margin  of  the  shell. 
This  development  of  calcifying  processes  or  filaments  of 
the  mantle  and  spines  may  likewise  alternate  with  periods 
of  the  ordinary  formation  of  the  shell;  and  thus  the  exte- 
rior of  the  shell  may  become  bristled  with  rows  of  spines, 
as  in  some  species  of  Spondylus,  and  in  the  Murex  crassi- 
spina. 

The  most  simple  form  of  shell  is  the  cone,  which  may 
be  much  depressed,  as  in  the  genus  Umbrella;  or  ex- 
tremely elevated  and  contracted,  as  in  the  Dentalium ;  or 
of  more  ordinary  proportions,  as  in  the  limpets  (Patella;). 
The  apex  of  the  cone  is  oblique  and  excentric  ;  directed, 
in  the  limpets,  the  argonaut,  and  the  nautilus,  towards  the 
head,  but  in  most  other  mollusks  towards  the  opposite  ex- 
tremity of  the  body.  A  shell  may  consist  of  one  piece,  as 
in  the  Inoperoi'.ar  Univalves  ;  or  of  two  pieces,  as  in  the 
Opercular  Univalves  and  most  Bivalves ;  or  of  three  pieces, 
as  in  Terebratula ;  or  of  four  or  more  pieces,  as  in  some 
of  the  P/wlades  and  the  Multivalves  proper,  or  Chitons. 
With  respect  to  the  operculum,  this  part  is  sometimes  cal- 
careous, but  it  consists  frequently  of  albuminous  mem- 
brane only,  or  is  horny;  thus  presenting  the  condition 
which  the  univalve  shell  itself  presents  in  certain  genera, 
as  Aplysia,  Loligo,  &c. 

The  conical  univalve  shell  is  generally  spirally  convolu- 
ted ;  sometimes,  as  in  the  Nuutilus  (,fig.  3),  in  the  same 
plane,  more  usually  in  an 
oblique  direction,  as  in  fig. 
1  and  2.  As  a  general  rule, 
the  spiral  univalve,  if 
viewed  in  the  position  in 
which  its  inhabitant  would 
carry  it  if  it  were  moving 
forwards  from  the  obser- 
ver, is  twisted  from  the 
apex  downwards,  from  left 
to  right,  the  spire  being  di- 
rected obliquely  towards 
the  right  (a,  fig.  1,  indicates 
the  spiral  turns  of  Pleuroto- 
ma).  In  certain  genera,  as 
Clausilia,  Physo,  the  shell 
is  twisted  in  the  opposite 
direction  :  such  shells  are 
called  "  perverse,"  or  sinis- 
tral. Some  species  of  Eu- 
linus,  Partula,  and  Pupa 
are  sinistral  ;  and  a  few 
marine  shells,  as  Fusus  sinislrorsus,  also  exhibit  the  re- 
verse of  the  ordinary  disposition  of  the  spire.  The  part 
around  which  the  spiral  cone  is  wound  is  termed  the  "co- 
lumella." This  is  sometimes  simple,  sometimes  plicated, 
as  in  the  Valuta  musica  (fig.  2)  ;  it  is  also  sometimes  solid, 


CONCHOLOGY. 


sometimes  hollow:  when  the  latter,  its  aperture  is  termed 
the  umbilicus,  (f.  fig.  1.)  The  opening  forming  the  base 
of  the  spiral  univalve  is  bounded  by  an  inner  lip  d,  and  an 
outer  lip  e  :  the  inner  lip  offers  a  smooth  convex  surfiice, 
over  which  the  foot  or  locomotive  disk  of  the  molltisk 
glides  to  reach  the  ground. 

In  many  Univalves,  the  aperture  of  the  shell  is  entire  ; 
in  others,  it  is  broken  by  a  notch,  or  perforated  by  one  or 
more  holes ;  or  a  portion  of  it  is  produced  into  a  canal  or 
siphon  (c,  fig.  1) ;  or  it  may  present  a  pallia!  notch  (b,  fig. 
1,)  opposite  to  the  siphon.  These  modifications  are  im- 
portant, on  account  of  the  constancy  of  their  relation  to 
certain  conditions  of  the  respiratory  organs :  thus  the 
conchologist,  in  grouping  together  all  the  spiral  univalve 
shells  of  which  a  part  of  the  margin  was  either  notched  or 
produced  into  a  grooved  siphon,  would  really  indicate  a 
very  natural  tribe  of  Mollusca,  every  species  of  which  he 
might  be  assured  was  aquatic  and  marine,  and  breathed 
by  means  of  two  gills  having  a  pectinated  structure,  to 
which  the  water  is  conducted  by  a  fleshy  tube.  Were  a 
like  correlation  between  the  shell  and  its  inhabitant  to  hold 
good  in  other  families  of  Mollusca,  the  classification  of 
shells  would  then  be  a  subject  of  much  importance,  and 
worthy  the  attention  of  the  scientific  naturalist:  unfortu- 
nately', the  reverse  of  this  is  frequently  the  case. 

The  part  called  the  operculum,  which  is  present  in  cer- 
tain univalve  mollusks,  is  a  plate  consisting  of  layers  of 
sometimes  calcified,  sometimes  uncalcified,  albumen,  at- 
tached to  a  disk  at  the  back  part  of  the  foot,  and  forming, 
when  this  is  retracted,  a  more  or  less  perfect  defence  to 
the  outlet  of  the  shell. 

Some  opercula  increase  by  the  addition  of  matter  to 
their  entire  circumference  ;  and  these  are  either  concen- 
tric, as  in  Bithynia  and  Paludina,  or  excentric,  as  in  Am- 
pullaria  and  most  of  thePeclinibranchiate  mollusks:  other 
opercula  grow  by  the  addition  of  matter  to  part  of  their 
circumference  ;  and  these  are  cither  spiral  or  imbricated  : 
in  the  latter,  the  layers  of  growth  succeed  each  other  in  a 
linear  series.  No  operculum  presents  an  annular  form. 
As  the  operculum  sometimes  varies  in  structure  in  species 
of  the  same  genus,  as,  e.  g.,  of  Vermetus ; — since,  more- 
over, this  part  is  inconstant  even  as  to  its  presence  in  spe- 
cies of  the  same  genus,  as  in  the  Volutes,  Cones,  Mitres, 
and  Olives ;  and  as  some  genera  in  a  natural  family,  as 
Ilarpa  and  Dolium,  among  the  Buccinoids,  are  without  an 
operculum,  while  the  other  genera  of  the  same  family  pos- 
sess that  appendage,  it  obviously  affords  characters  of  very 
secondary  importance  in  a  scientific  classification  of  the 
Univalve  Mollusca.  Much  confusion  indeed  might  have 
been  introduced  into  the  science  of  Malacology  if  the  opin- 
ions of  those  conchologists  who  have  proposed  to  classify 
shells  from  the  modifications  of  the  operculum  had  been 
much  respected  by  naturalists. 

True  bivalve  shells  are  peculiar  to  the  Acephalous  Mol- 
lusca; and  their  presence  is  constant,  although  they  are  in 
a  few  instances  too  small  to  cover  the  whole  of  the  body, 
and  in  the  ship-borers  (Teredo)  exist  only  as  small  instru- 
ments, limited  to  the  function  of  excavating  the  burrows 
inhabited  by  these  mollusks.  But  all  the  species  in  which 
the  bivalve  shell  is  inadequate  to  the  protection  of  the 
whole  of  the  body  derive  extrinsic  defence  by  burrowing 
in  sand,  or  stone,  or  wood  ;  and  they  also  commonly  line 
their  burrows  with  a  layer  of  smooth  and  compact  calca- 
reous matter,  forming  a  tube.  This  calcareous  tube,  in 
some  cases,  is  of  considerable  size  and  thickness,  as  in 
the  Teredo  gigantea  or  Septaria  of  Lamarck.  In  the 
Clavagella  one  valve,  and  in  the  Asjiergillum  both  valves, 
are  soldered  to  this  tube,  which,  in  the  latter,  presents  a 
peculiar  modification  of  its  exposed  extremity,  which  re- 
sembles the  end  of  the  spout  of  a  watering-pot.  No  two 
shells  can  present  a  greater  contrast  than  do  those  of  the 
Placuna  and  Asper^illum ;  yet  the  organization  of  their 
respective  constructors  is  essentially  the  same.  In  a  clas- 
sification of  shells,  the  calcareous  tubes  of  the  Dentalium, 
Serpula,  Aspergillum,  Vermetus,  &c,  would  be  associated 
in  the  same  general  group  ;  but  it  needs  only  to  observe 
how  these  products  of  animals,  belonging  not  only  to  dif- 
ferent classes,  but  to  distinct  primary  divisions  of  the  ani- 
mal kingdom,  are  arranged  in  the  cabinets  of  collectors, 
to  be  convinced  that  Conchology,  as  a  classificatory 
science,  apart  from  Malacology,  no  longer  exists. 

With  regard  to  the  structure  and  physiological  relations 
of  bivalve  shells,  it  may  be  observed,  first,  that  in  all  Ace- 
phalous Mollusca  which  breathe  by  distinctly  developed 
lamellated  gills  (Lamellibranchiata),  one  valve  corresponds 
to  the  left,  the  other  to  the  right  side  of  the  animal  ;  but  in 
the  Brachiopodous  Bivalves,  one  valve  is  applied  to  the 
ventral,  and  the  other  to  the  dorsal  aspect  of  the  animal. 

In  all  the  Lamellibranchiate  Bivalves  which  are  free,  the 
two  valves  are  symmetrical,  and  the  shell  is  termed  equi- 
valve  ;  in  all  those  which  adhere  by  one  of  their  valves  to 
foreign  bodies,  this  valve  is  deeper  and  larger  than  the  un- 
attached valve:  such  shells  are  termed  inequivalve.  Of 
those  Acephalans  which  are  attached  to  foreign  bodies  by 
269 


means  of  a  byssus,  some,  as  Tridacna,  Saxicara,  and 
Bysso-arca,  are  equivalve,  and  both  valves  are  notched,  to 
form  the  hole  for  the  passage  of  the  byssus  ;  while  others, 
as  the  Pectines,  Aviculce,  and  Peda,  are  inequivalve,  the 
byssus  passing  through  a  groove  in  the  rigU  valve. 

Linnaeus,  who  first  introduced  precision  into  the  descrip- 
tion of  shells,  defined  several  points  requisite  to  be  noticed 
in  the  outer  and  inner  surface  of  a  bivalve  shell,  but  the 
prurient  epithets,  which  his  comparison  of  the  bivalve  se- 
lected for  illustration  induced  him  lo  attach  to  those  parts, 
have  been  abandoned  and  changed.  If  the  shell  of  the 
common  cockle  (Cardium  edule)  be  examined,  each  valve 
will  be  seen  to  be  produced  into  a  conicil  prominence, 
bent  towards,  and  nearly  meeting  at,  that  part  by  which 
the  valves  are  joined  together.  These  prominences  are 
termed  the  umbones.  The  apex,  or  beak  of  the  umbo, 
corresponds  to  the  apex  of  the  univalve  shell,  and  is  the 
point  at  which  the  development  of  the  bivalve  commences. 
When  the  apex  is  directed  in  the  transverse  plane  of  the 
shell,  and  so  placed  that  a  bisection  of  the  shell  in  that 
plane  through  the  apices  shall  divide  the  valve  into  two 
equal  parts,  the  shell  is  termed  equilateral :  of  this  form 
the  common  scallop  (Pecte/i)  is  an  example.  When,  upon 
a  similar  division,  a  slight  difference  is  observed  in  the 
two  valves,  the  shell  is  termed  sub-equilateral :  but  where 
the  difference  is  well  marked,  it  is  an  inequilateral  bivalve. 
When  the  apex  is  bent,  as  is  commonly  the  case,  out  of 
the  transverse  plane,  it  is  always  directed  more  or  less  to- 
wards the  anterior  part  of  the  shell ;  if  such  a  Bivalve  shell 
as  a  Cytherea  or  Isocardia  be  held  before  the  observer, 
with  the  umbones  directed  forwards  and  the  hinge  above, — 
in  the  position,  in  fact,  in  which  the  living  animal  would 
place  itself  if  it  were  creeping  forwards  from  the  observer, 
— the  right  valve  will  of 
course  correspond  with 
the  right  hand  of  the 
observer,  and  the  left 
with  the  left.  (Fig.  4 
is  the  left  valve  of  a 
j  Cytherea ;  a  is  the  up- 
per  or  dorsal  margin, 
b  the  lower  or  ven- 
tral margin,  c  the  an- 
terior, d  the  posterior 
margin,  e  the  apex  of 
the  umbo,  f  the  hi- 
nule.)  Now,  if  a  Bi- 
valve in  which  the 
apices  have  a  spiral 
twist,  as  an  Isocardia 
or  Diceras,  be  placed 
In  the  above  position, 
ami  compared  with  the 
univalve  shell  of  a  Con- 
cholepas  or  Purpura, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the 
left  valve  corresponds 
with  the  ordinary  or 
dextral  spiral  Univalve, 
and  the  right  valve  to 
the  perverse  or  sinis- 
tral Univalve.  Instan- 
ces, however,  have 
been  met  with  where 
the  characters  of  the 
valves  of  the  Bivalve 
were  reversed,  like  the 
occasional  exceptions 
in  the  "  perverse"  sinistral  Univalves  before  mentioned. 

When  the  circumference  or  margin  of  one  valve  fits  ex- 
actly at  every  part  to  that  of  its  fellow,  it  is  said  to  be 
"  regular,"  or  entire  ;  but  if  it  be  notched  at  any  part,  so 
as  not  to  come  into  contact  with  the  corresponding  part  of 
the  opposite  valve,  it  is  "  irregular,"  or  emarginate. 

With  respect  to  the  outer  surface  of  a  Bivalve,  the  parts 
called  timbones  and  apices  have  already  been  defined,  and 
the  upper  or  dorsal  and  anterior  margins  of  the  valve  de- 
termined ;  if  we  continue  our  examination  of  the  f  xterior 
surface  of  the  Bivalve,  we  shall  find,  in  most  cases,  ante- 
rior to  the  apices,  a  depression  of  variable  extent  and 
depth.  This  is  the  "  lunule"  (/,  fig.  5) :  it  may  be  cordi- 
form,  or  crescentic,  lanceolate,  oval,  oblong,  deep,  super- 
ficial, <fec.  Behind  the  apices  is  another  depression,  longer 
and  narrower  than  the  lunule,  and  which  is  called  the  "  fis- 
sure" (g,  fig.  5),  and  its  margins  lips.  Behind  the  fissure 
there  is" sometimes  a  small  depression,  called  the  "  suture" 
(/;,  fig.  5).  The  general  more  or  less  convex  surface  of 
each  valve  is  called  the  "  venter,"  or  belly,  which  termi- 
nates in  the  limb,  circumference,  or  margin. 

The  most  important  part  of  the  margin  is  that  which  is 
modified  to  form  the  joint  or  hinge  upon  which  the  two 
valves  open  and  shut.  This  part  is  called  the  "cardinal 
edge,"  and  generally  presents  certain  prominences  and 
depressions,  the  projections  of  one  valve  interlocking  with 


CONCHOLOGY. 

the  depressions  of  the  other.  The  projections  of  "teeth," 
together  with  the  cavities  or  "  cardinal  pits,"  are  very  regu- 
lar in  their  formation  in  each  genus  and  species  of  Bivalve. 
What  is  of  more  importance  is,  that  every  modification  in 
the  structure  of  the  hinge  is  generally  found  to  coincide 
with  some  recognizable  and  more  or  less  important  differ- 
ence in  the  organization  of  the  soft  parts  ;  so  that  concho- 
logists  have  justly  attached  great  value  to  the  characters 
derivable  from  the  hinge,  especially  for  the  purpose  of  ge- 
neric distinctions.  When  the  teeth  are  situate  beneath  the 
apex  or  centre  of  the  hinge,  they  are  called  cardinal ;  when 
they  are  removed  from  the  centre  of  the  hinge,  they  are 
named  lateral  teeth  (i,  fig.  6)  ;  when  two  only  are  present, 
one  is  called  anterior,  the  other  posterior ;  when  there  are 
three,  they  are  distinguished  respectively  as  the  anterior, 
median,  and  posterior  teeth  ;  but  when  the  hinge  is  com- 
posed of  a  great  number  of  teeth,  it  is  said  to  be  "  serial," 
as  in  Area.  The  direct  medium  of  union  of  the  two  valves 
is  a  dense  fasciculus  of  elastic  albuminous  fibres,  generally 
of  a  brown  colour,  called  the  "ligament,"  or  "elastic  liga- 
ment." The  fibres  of  this  part  are  attached  by  their  ex- 
tremities to  the  two  valves,  which,  in  most  cases,  present  a 
particular  depression  for  their  reception.  The  ligament  is 
always  so  long  as  to  prevent  the  actual  closing  of  the  valves, 
except  when  its  elasticity  is  overcome  by  a  certain  force, 
as  by  that  of  the  contraction  of  the  adductor  muscle  or 
muscles ;  thus  the  inorganic  power  of  elasticity  is  made 
the  direct  antagonist  of  a  vital  and  muscular  contraction  ; 
and  as  the  patent  condition  of  the  bivalve  shell  is  that  which 
the  exigencies  of  the  animal  most  constantly  require,  it 
is  assigned  to  a  force  which  can  act  without  ever  causing 
fatigue,  while  the  occasional  or  protective  action  of  forci- 
bly closing  the  valves  is  due  to  an  action  under  the  imme- 
diate control  of  the  will  or  instinctive  sensation.  The  modi- 
fications of  the  internal  surface  of  a  bivalve  shell  are,  per- 
haps, the  most  interesting  and  important ;  as  they  relate 
immediately  to  the  structure  of  the  soft  parts,  and  bespeak 
the  general  nature  of  the  organization  of  the  animal. 
Hence  they  afford  the  characters  by  which  the  habits  and 
structure  of  an  extinct  genus  may  be  to  a  great  extent 
determined. 

The  adductor  muscles  leave  well-marked  impressions  on 
the  inner  surface.  If  there  be  but  one  muscular  impres- 
sion on  a  valve,  then  it  belongs  to  a  "  monomyary"  or  "  uni- 
muscular"  Bivalve  ;  and  if  neither  valve  of  a  fossil  shell 
presenting  this  character  have  been  immediately  attached 
to  foreign  bodies,  then  the  laws  of  co-existence  warrant  the 
inference  that  the  constructor  of  such  a  Bivalve  possessed 
a  byssus,  and  the  muscular  organ  called  the  foot ;  but  that 
the  foot  was  developed  only  to  the  extent  adapted  to  serve 
as  an  instrument  fur  moulding  the  soft  fibres,  and  regulat- 
ing the  attachment  of  the  byssus. 

If  each  valve  of  a  bivalve  shell  exhibit  two  muscular  im- 
pressions, it  proves  the  species  to  be  "dimyary"  or"bi- 
muscular"  (k  is  the  anterior,  and  I  the  posterior  muscular 
impression  in  the  Cytherea,  fig.  6) ;  if,  moreover,  there  be 
a  thin  small  muscular  depression  beneath  the  cardinal 
hinge,  we  have  then  an  indication  that  the  animal  possessed 
a  large  foot,  organized  to  serve  as  a  locomotive  or  burrow- 
ing fleshy  organ,  the  retractive  muscle  of  which  was  in- 
serted in  the  above  depression.  The  line  continued  be- 
tween the  impressions  of  the  two  adductors  indicates,  by 
its  depth  and  breadth,  the  development  of  the  muscular 
margin  of  the  mantle,  and  is  called  the  pallial  impression 
(m,  fig.  6).  If  this  line  be  continued  uninterruptedly,  pa- 
rallel with  the  margin  of  the  valve,  we  may  be  assured  that 
the  animal  was  either  without  siphons,  or  had  them  of  very 
small  size  ;  but  if  the  pallial  line  be  broken  by  an  angular 
notch  (n,  fig.  6)  continued  inwards  before  its  junction  with 
the  posterior  muscular  impression,  then  it  may  be  certain- 
ly inferred  that  the  animal  had  well  developed  muscular 
tubes  or  siphons  for  respiration,  with  all  the  concomitant 
powers  and  habits.  Thus  the  general  organization  of  the 
soft  and  perishable  fabricator  of  a  bivalve  shell  may  be  as 
certainly  determined  by  the  evidence  of  its  fosselized  en- 
during case,  as  that  of  a  vertebrate  species  by  the  structure 
of  its  skeleton.  The  more  immediate  affinities  of  the  Bi- 
valve are  revealed  by  the  modifications  of  the  hinge. 

It  sometimes  happens,  however,  that  the  whole  of  the 
internal  or  nacreous  stratum  of  a  fossil  bivalve  shell  is  des- 
troyed, especially  if  it  have  been  imbedded  in  porous 
chalk  ;  and  as  the  muscular  impressions  and  the  articular 
structure  of  the  hinge  are  composed  exclusively  of  the  in- 
ner stratum  of  the  shell,  the  means  of  determining  the  na- 
ture and  affinities  of  the  animal  in  that  case  are  lost;  and, 
unless  the  observer  were  acquainted  with  the  texture  and 
structure  of  the  bivalve  shell,  he  would  run  the  risk  of 
mistaking  the  part  of  a  decomposed  Bivalve  for  the  whole 
of  some  nondescript  "Arcadian"  species,  as  those  Bivalves 
are  termed  in  which  the  hinge  is  naturally  wanting. 

Each  valve  of  a  bivalve  shell  consists  of  two  strata,  dis- 
tinct in  texture  and  in  their  organs  of  formation:  the  in- 
ternal stratum  is  deposited  in  nearly  parallel  layers,  by  the 
central  and  posterior  parts  of  the  mantle :  it  forms  the 
270 


CONCORDANCE. 

smooth  iridescent  lining  of  the  shell  called  "  mother  of 
pearl ;"  the  outer  stratum  is  secreted  by  the  thick  glandular 
margin  of  the  mantle,  and  consists  of  conical  fibres,  rest- 
ing obliquely  by  their  apices,  or  narrower  ends,  upon  the 
nacreous  laminae.  The  thickness  of  the  two  strata  of  the 
shell  always  preserves  an  inverse  ratio,  the  outer  one  being 
thinnest  at  the  umbo,  and  thickest  at  the  margin  ;  the  inner 
one  the  reverse. 
One  hundred  parts  of  oyster  shell  give — 

Of  carbonate  of  lime   -        -    983 
Phosphate  of  lime  -       12 

Insoluble  animal  matter       0.5 

1000 

Most  univalve  shells  are  composed  of  three  strata,  which 
consist  of  layers  of  rhombic  or  prismatic  crystals,  different- 
ly arranged  in  the  adjoining  strata.  The  chief  difference 
of  structure  depends  on  the  relative  quantity  of  the  animal 
to  the  earthy  constituents  of  the  shell. 

Hunter  discovered  that  the  molluscous  inhabitants  of 
shells  had  the  power  of  absorbing  a  part  of  the  shell  previ- 
ously formed ;  a  fact  which  has  been  confirmed  by  subse- 
quent observers,  and  which  gives  rise,  in  several  species, 
to  singular  modifications  in  the  form  and  structure  of  the 
shell  in  the  progress  of  growth.  Another  change  of  form  is 
due  to  the  physical  decomposition  or  destruction  of  a  part 
of  a  shell :  this  occurs  to  the  apex  of  certain  Univalves,  after 
they  have  been  evacuated  by  their  original  occupant,  in  the 
widening  and  lengthening  the  shell  to  accommodate  it  to  an 
increase  of  bulk.  Such  shells  are  said  to  be  "decollated," 
as  in  Cerithium  decollatvm,  Helix  decollata,  &c.  An  analo- 
gous partial  decomposition  always  obtains  in  many  Uniones 
and  Anodonla,,  of  which  the  "umbones"  are  then  said  to 
be  "decorticated,"  the  external  coloured  layer  or  bark  of 
the  shell  being  worn  away.  There  is  no  general  law  or 
uniformity  in  the  mode  in  which  the  inhabitants  of  either 
univalve  or  bivalve  shells  dispose  of  that  part  of  their  cal- 
careous abode  which  they  evacuate  in  the  progress  of  their 
growth.  In  the  decollated  shells,  the  vacated  spire  is  par- 
titioned off  by  the  formation  of  a  thin  nacreous  plate  ;  and 
its  walls  being  thin  and  fragile,  it  is  then  broken  away,  as 
above  described.  In  Vermetus  gigas,  the  vacated  portions  of 
the  tube  are  successively  partitioned  off,  and  a  series  of 
concave  plates  or  septa  developed  ;  but  the  part  of  the  shell 
thus  divided  into  chambers,  or  "  camerated,"  is  retained. 
The  Spondylus  varius,  among  Bivalves,  offers  an  analogous 
structure.  In  the  pearly  nautilus,  the  vacated  portion  of 
the  shell  is  converted  into  a  series  of  chambers  by  the  de- 
velopment of  calcareous  septa  in  greater  number  and  regu- 
larity than  in  any  Gastropodous  Univalves;  and  the  parti- 
tions are  perforated  by  a  membranous  tube  or  siphon,  and 
the  deserted  chambers  are  converted,  by  the  superaddition 
of  this  part,  into  a  hydraulic  machine,  perfectly  adapted  to 
the  habits  and  exigencies  of  the  animal.  The  like  structure, 
with  various  modifications,  obtains  in  the  extensive,  but 
mostly  extinct,  race  of  "  Siphoniferous"  Cephalopods.  In 
the  argonaut,  the  vacated  spire  of  the  shell  is  not  partitioned 
off,  but  is  retained  in  full  communication  with  the  inhabited 
part,  and  made  subservient  to  the  reproductive  economy 
of  the  species.  In  the  Magilus  untiquus,  the  posterior  part 
of  the  shell,  as  it  is  deserted,  is  progressively  filled  up  with 
a  dense,  solid,  subtransparent  crystalline  deposit  of  car- 
bonate of  lime.  A  deposit  of  similar  calcareous  material, 
in  a  less  degree,  fills  up  the  deserted  spire  of  the  shell  in 
some  species  of  Cassis,  Mitra,  Triton,  &c. ;  and  in  the 
long  "  turreted"  shells  of  the  Terebra,  Cerithice,  &c.  the 
deposition  of  this  dense  material  in  the  vacated  apex  is  the 
preventative,  instead  of  the  cause,  of  decollation.  (See 
Sipainson's  Treatise  on  Malacology,  in  Lardner's  Cyclopcb- 
dia  ;  Reeves'  Conchologia  Syste?natica,  4to.  1842.) 

CO'NCLAVE.  (Lat.  con,  together,  and  Gr.  ic'Xtico,  lshut 
up.)  The  assembly  of  cardinals  for  the  election  of  a  pope. 
It  begins  the  day  following  the  funeral  of  the  deceased  pon- 
tiff. The  cardinals  are  locked  up  in  separate  apartments, 
and  meet  once  a  day  in  the  chapel  of  the  Vatican  (or  other 
pontifical  palace),  where  their  votes,  given  on  a  slip  of 
paper,  are  examined.  This  continues  until  two-thirds  of 
the  votes  are  found  to  be  in  favour  of  a  particular  candidate. 
The  ambassadors  of  France,  Austria,  and  Spain  have  each 
the  right  to  put  in  a  veto  against  the  election  of  one  cardi- 
nal, who  may  be  unacceptable  to  their  respective  courts. 

CONCLU'SION.  In  Logic,  that  proposition  which  is  in- 
ferred from  certain  former  propositions,  termed  the  pre- 
mises of  the  argument. 

CO'NCORD.  (Lat.  concordia.)  In  Music,  the  relation 
of  two  sounds  agreeable  to  the  ear  either  in  succession  or 
consonance. 

CONCO'RDANCE.  (Lat.)  A  biblical  index,  in  which 
all  the  leading  words  used  in  scripture  are  arranged  alpha- 
betically, and  a  reference  made  to  the  various  places  in 
which  they  occur,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  the  student 
to  collate  with  facility  one  passage  with  another  in  the  view 
of  determining  its  meaning.  The  importance  of  this  class 
of  works  was  early  appreciated,  and  a  vast  deal  of  labour 


CONCORDAT. 

has  been  expended  in  compiling  them.  Concordances 
have  been  made  of  the  Greek  Septuagint,  the  Greek  Tes- 
tament, the  Latin  Vulgate,  and  the  English  Old  and  New 
Testaments ;  a  full  list  of  which  will  be  found  in  Watt's 
Bibliotheca  Britannica,  and  in  Orme'a  Biblio.  Biblka.  The 
first  Concordance  was  compiled  by  Cardinal  Hugues  de  St. 
Cher,  who  died  in  1262.  The  best  English  Concordance  is 
that  of  Cruden,  which  appeared  in  1737,  and  still  maintains 
its  ground  as  an  authority. 

CONCO'RDAT.  An  agreement  or  convention  upon 
ecclesiastical  matters  made  between  the  Pope  and  some 
temporal  sovereign,  as  that  between  Pius  VII.  and  Bona- 
parte in  1802,  by  which  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  was 
reestablished  in  France  ;  oh  which  occasion  the  Pope  re- 
cognized the  new  division  of  France  into  60  sees,  instead 
of  The  much  greater  number  which  had  existed  before  the 
revolution,  the  payment  of  the  clergy  from  the  national 
revenues,  and  the  appointment  of  the  bishops  by  the  civil 
authority!  Originally  the  term  was  aoplied  to  agreements 
regulating  mutual  rights  between  bishops,  abbots,  priors,  «tc. 
The  liberties  of  the  French  church  were  first  established  by 
the  pragmatic  sanctions  of  Saint  Louis  (1268),  and  Charles 
VII.  (1439).  In  1516  a  concordat  between  Francis  I.  and 
Pope  Leo  X.  divided  the  privileges  of  the  church  between 
them,  and  the  king  assumed  the  nomination  of  bishops. 
The  slates  of  Orleans  restored  their  election  to  the  chapters 
in  1560.  The  pragmatic  sanctions  were  still  considered  as 
forming  the  base  of  ecclesiastical  law  in  France  down  to 
the  revolution. 

CO'NCRGTE.  (Lat.  concrescere,  to  coalesce  inone  mass.) 
In  Architecture  and  Engineerings  mass  composed  of  stone 
chippings  or  ballast  cemented  together  through  the  medium 
of  lime  and  sand,  usually  employed  in  making  foundations 
where  the  soil  is  of  itself  too  light  or  boggy,  or  otherwise 
insufficient  for  the  reception  of  the  walls.  The  employment 
of  concrete  in  this  country  owes  perhaps  its  introduction  to 
Mr.  George  Semple,  the  engineer  who  erected  the  Essex 
bridge  at  Dublin,  and  who  in  1776  published  a  Treatise  on 
Building  in  Water ;  but  there  is  no  doubt  it  was  well  known 
at  least  to  the  Italian  architects,  if  not  to  those  of  higher 
antiquity.  The  riemputa  of  Palladio.  and  the  instructions 
in  Alberti's  3d  Book,  chap,  viii.,  clearly  point  to  what  is 
now  called  concrete.  The  essential  quality  of  concrete 
seems  to  be  that  the  materials  used  should  be  of  small  di- 
mensions, so  that  the  cementing  medium  may  act  in  every 
direction  round  them,  and  that  the  latter  should  on  no  ac- 
count be  more  in  quantity  than  is  necessary  for  that  pur- 
pose. Architects  ami  engineers  have  much  varied  the  pro- 
portions of  lime  and  sand  used.  If  the  lime,  which  should 
he  fresh  and  ground  to  powder,  be  good  stone  lime,  such  as 
that  from  Dorking,  used  in  the  neighbourhood  of  London, 
it  will  bear  three  or  four  times  its  measure  by  bulk  of  sand. 
These,  and  the  ballast  or  gallots,  as  the  stone  chippings 
are  called,  should  be  thoroughly  turned  over  and  mixed 
together.  If  the  foundations  be  wet,  the  mixture  will  want 
very  little  if  any  water;  indeed  sometimes  the  ballast  only 
is  wetted,  and  then  covered  over  with  the  lime  and  sand. 
It  is  then  filled  into  the  barrows,  and  run  on  to  be  dropped 
from  a  stage  into  the  foundations.  This  latter  operation 
should  be  performed  at  as  great  a  height  as  possible  above 
the  level  of  the  trench,  in  order  that  the  whole  of  the  differ- 
ent particles  of  the  composition  may  be  compressed  toge- 
ther so  as  to  occupy  the  least  possible  space.  The  stones 
employed  should  not  exceed  the  size  of  a  common  hen's 
egg.  The  mass  very  quickly  sets  and  becomes  extremely 
hard.  On  the  lop  of  it,  which  is  kept  as  level  as  possible, 
a  tier  of  what  is  called  Yorkshire  stone  landings  is  laid,  and 
very  often  throughout  the  lengths  a  chain  of  timber  is  buried 
in  the  footings,  whose  durability  is  requisite  only  while  the 
work  is  settling;  over  the  landings  and  timber  thus  laid, 
the  latter,  it  is  to  be  observed,  occupying  but  a  very  small 
portion  of  the  thickness  of  the  footings,  and  quite  buried  in 
them,  the  walls  are  carried  up.  (See  Davy  on  Artificial 
Foundations,  and  Totten  on  Mortars,  Cements,  Sfc.) 

CONCRETE  TERM,  in  Logic,  is  so  called  when  the 
notion  derived  from  the  view  taken  of  any  object  is  ex- 
pressed with  a  reference  to,  or  in  conjunction  with,  the 
object  that  furnished  the  notion;  as  "  foolish,"  or  "  fool." 
When  the  notion  is  expressed  without  any  such  reference, 
it  is  called  an  abstract  term;  as  "folly."  (See  Whately's 
Logic,  p.  124.) 

CONCU'SSION.  (Lat.  concutio,  /  shake.)  A  term 
generally  applied  to  injuries  sustained  by  the  brain,  inde- 
pendent of  fracture  of  the  skull,  as  from  blows  and  falls. 
More  or  less  insensibility,  sickness,  impeded  respiration, 
and  irregular  pulse,  are  the  first  symptoms ;  but  these  sub- 
side, and  the  sufferer  often  becomes  more  easy  and  collect- 
ed ;  yet,  although  the  symptoms  apparently  abate,  danger- 
ous inflammation  may  be  going  on,  and  a  fatal  termination 
ensue.  In  all  accidents  of  this  kind,  where,  as  is  commonly 
said,  persons  are  stunned,  the  most  cautious  treatment 
should  he  adopted,  and  no  time  lost  in  obtaining  skilful 
professional  aid. 

CONDENSATION.  The  rendering  a  body  more  dense, 
271 


CONE. 

compact,  or  of  greater  specific  gravity,  by  bringing  its  par- 
ticles into  closer  union.  The  term  is  commonly  applied  to 
the  conversion  of  vapour  into  fluid  by  distillation  or  other- 
wise.    See  Gas. 

CONDE'NSER.  An  instrument  for  reducing  an  elastic 
fluid  of  a  given  mass  into  a  smaller  volume.  The  pneu- 
matic condenser  is  a  syringe  by  which  a  large  quantity  of 
air  may  be  forced  into  a  given  space.  It  is  constructed  on 
the  same  principle  as  the  air-pump  ;  only  the  valves  are  dis- 
posed in  the  contrary  order,  that  is,  to  open  inward  instead 
of  outward. 

CONDITION.  In  Law,  has  been  defined  in  the  most 
general  sense,  "A  restraint  annexed  to  a  thing,  so  that  by 
the  non-performance  the  party  shall  receive  loss,  and  by 
the  performance  advantage."  It  is  most  commonly  used 
to  signify  a  term  whereon  a  grant  is  made  :  e.  g.  grant  of  an 
estate  to  A.,  on  condition  that  the  grantee  shall  pay  such  a 
sum  on  such  a  day,  or  else  his  estate  shall  cease.  Condi- 
tions of  this  description  may  be  implied  by  law:  as,  where 
tenant  for  life  enfeoffs  a  stranger  in  fee  simple,  he  forfeits 
his  estate  for  the  breach,  as  it  is  said,  of  the  implied  condi- 
tion not  to  grant  a  greater  estate  than  his  own.  Conditions 
are  precedent,  when  an  estate  is  gained  on  the  performance 
of  them  ;  subsequent,  when  the  condition  is  to  be  perform- 
ed after  the  acquisition  of  the  estate  which  is  lost  by  its 
non-performance.  But  the  distinctions  between  these  two 
classes  are  numerous  and  minute.  In  general,  where  a  con- 
dition is  of  such  a  nature  that  compensation  can  be  made 
for  its  non-performance,  equity  will  relieve  the  party  break- 
ing it  from  the  consequences  of  the  breach  on  making  such 
compensation. 

CONDITIONAL  PROPOSITION,  in  Logic,  is  one  which 
asserts  the  dependence  of  one  categorical  proposition  on 
another :  e.  g.  "  If  the  wind  changes,  it  will  rain."  The  pro- 
position from  which  the  other  results  is  termed  the  Antece- 
dent; the  resulting  proposition  the  Consequent.  A  condi- 
tional syllogism  is  one  in  which  the  reasoning  depends  on 
a  conditional  proposition.  It  is  of  two  sorts,  constructive 
and  destructive;  as,  1.  If  A=B,  then  C=D ;  but  A=B, 
therefore  C=D.  2.  If  A=B,  then  C=D ;  but  C  is  not  equal 
to  D,  therefore  A  is  not  equal  to  B.  The  connection  between 
the  antecedent  and  consequent  of  a  conditional  proposition 
is  termed  the  Consequence. 

CONDOTTIE'RI.  (It.  leatlers.)  In  Italian  History,  a 
class  of  mercenary  adventurers  in  the  14th  and  15th  centu- 
ries, who  commanded  military  bands,  amounting  to  armies, 
on  their  own  account,  and  sold  their  services  for  temporary 
engagements  to  sovereign  princes  and  states.  One  of  the 
earliest  and  most  famous  among  those  leaders  was  the 
Englishman  Sir  John  Hawkwood,  who  commanded  in  va- 
rious Italian  wars  about  the  time  of  Edward  III.  The 
bands  under  command  of  the  Condottieri  were  well  armed 
and  equipped.  Their  leaders  had  in  many  instances  con- 
siderable military  skill ;  but  as  they  took  no  interest  in  na- 
tional contests,  except  to  receive  pecuniary  advantages,  the 
wars  between  them  became  a  sort  of  bloodless  contests,  in 
which  the  only  object  of  each  party  was  to  take  as  many 
prisoners  as  possible  for  the  3ake  of  the  ransom.  This 
singular  system  of  warfare  was  only  put  an  end  to  by  the 
more  serious  military  operations  of  the  French,  who  in- 
vaded Italy  under  Charles  VIII.  Although  many  Condot- 
tieri acquired  much  honour  as  well  as  emolument,  one  only 
attained  to  high  rank  and  independent  power ;  this  was 
Francesco  Sforza,  originally  a  peasant,  who  in  1451  made 
himself  duke  of  Milan,  and  transmitted  that  sovereignty  to 
his  descendants. 

CONDU'CTOR.  In  Electricity.  See  Electricity. 
CO'NDUIT.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture,  a  passage  of  very 
narrow  dimensions,  usually  subterranean,  for  the  purpose 
of  secret  communication  between  apartments,  many  of 
which  exist  in  ancient  buildings.  Also  a  pipe  for  the  sup- 
ply of  water  to  any  place. 

CO'NDYLE.  (Gr.  kovSv\os,  a  knuckle.)  The  rounded 
head  of  a  bone. 

CONDY'LOPEDS,  Condylopoda.  (Gr.  kovSv\o;,  and 
irovs,  afoot.)  A  name  applied  by  Latreille  to  that  subdivi- 
sion of  Encephalous  articulate  animals  which  have  jointed 
feet  :  the  Acephalous  Cirripeds  are  excluded  from  this 
group,  which  consequently  includes  the  My  riapods,  Insects, 
Arachnidans,  and  Crustaceans. 

CONE.  In  Geometry,  a  solid  body,  having  a  circle  for 
its  base,  and  terminating  in  a  point,  which  is  called  its  ver- 
tex. The  cone  may  be  described  as  fol- 
lows : — Suppose  a  fixed  point  A  without 
the  plane  of  the  circle  BCD,  and  through 
the  point  A  let  a  straight  line  A  B  indefi- 
nitely produced  on  both  sides  be  drawn, 
and  carried  round  the  circumference  of 
the  circle  BCD;  the  two  surfaces  ABC 
D  and  Abed  generated  by  this  motion 
are  the  surfaces  of  two  opposite  or  verti- 
cal cones.  The  circle  B  C  D  is  called  the 
base  of  the  cone,  and  the  straight  line  A  O 
drawn  from  its,  vertex  to  the  centre  of  the 


CONE  OF  RAYS. 

base  is  called  its  axis.  If  the  axis  is  perpendicular  to  the 
plane  of  the  base,  the  cone  is  said  to  be  right ;  if  the  axis 
is  inclined  to  the  plane  of  the  base,  the  cone  is  oblique. 
Some  of  the  principal  properties  of  the  cone  are  the  follow- 
ing : — The  area  or  surface  of  a  right  cone,  exclusive  of  its 
base,  is  equal  to  a  triangle  of  which  the  base  is  equal  to  the 
periphery  of  the  base  of  the  cone,  and  altitude  equal  to  the 
slant  side  of  the  cone  ;  or  equal  to  the  sector  of  a  circle 
whose  radius  is  the  side  of  the  cone,  and  its  arc  equal  to 
the  circumference  of  the  base  of  that  solid.  It  is  much 
more  difficult  to  determine  the  surface  of  an  oblique  cone, 
which  cannot  be  reduced  to  the  measure  of  the  sector  of 
a  circle.  The  solid  contents  of  a  cone,  whether  right  or 
oblique,  are  equal  to  one-third  of  a  cylinder  having  the 
same  base  and  altitude.  The  centre  of  gravity  of  a  right 
cone  is  distant  from  the  vertex  f  of  the  axis.  Sometimes 
the  name  cone  is  given  to  other  solids  than  those  whose 
surfaces  are  produced  by  the  motion  of  a  straight  line  about 
the  circumference  of  a  circle.  It  is  applied  generally  to 
all  bodies  which  can  be  formed  in  the  same  manner,  as- 
suming any  curve  whatever  for  the  circumference  of  the 
base.  The  beautiful  relation  which  connects  the  cone, 
the  sphere,  and  the  cylinder,  namely,  that  they  are  to  each 
other  in  the  proportion  of  1,  2,  and  3,  was  discovered  by 
Archimedes. 

CONE  OF  RAYS.  In  Optics,  includes  all  the  rays  which 
fall  from  a  luminous  point,  or  from  a  single  point  of  a  lu- 
minous object,  upon  a  given  surface;  for  example,  the  ob- 
ject glass  of  a  telescope. 

CONFEDERACY.  (Lat.  con,  together,  fcedus,  a  league.) 
In  Politics,  an  alliance  of  independent  states  for  a  common 
object :  sometimes  also,  but  less  properly,  of  individuals. 

CONFEDERATION,  THE  GERMANIC,  was  formed 
at  the  congress  of  Vienna  :  the  instrument  by  which  it  is 
constituted  bears  date  June  8,  1815.  This  union  was 
framed  to  supply  the  want  of  the  ancient  imperial  govern- 
ment, dissolved  in  1S06.  The  constituent  members  are 
thirty-four  monarchical  states  and  four  free  cities,  which 
enter  the  confederation  as  equal  and  independent.  The 
diet  of  plenipotentiaries,  which  forms  the  representative 
body  of  the  league,  is  permanent,  and  sits  at  Frankfort-on- 
the-Maine.  When  this  diet  meets  as  a  general  assembly 
(plenum)  six  states,  viz.  Austria,  Prussia,  Bavaria,  Saxony, 
Hanover,  Wurtemberg,  have  four  votes  each  ;  five  other 
states  three  each  ;  four  two  ;  the  rest  one  ;  making  seventy 
in  all.  But  in  the  making  of  fundamental  laws,  admission 
of  new  members  into  the  confederacy,  and  on  religious 
questions,  unanimity  is  required.  In  the  ordinary  assem- 
bly of  the  diet,  the  votes  are  so  apportioned  as  to  make 
only  seventeen  in  all :  this  is  the  assembly  in  which  pro- 
positions are  discussed,  which  are  decided  without  discus- 
sion in  the  plenum.  This  ordinary  diet  manages  the  ge- 
neral affairs  of  the  confederation.  Austria  presides  in  both 
diets.  The  principal  objects  of  the  confederation  are,  the 
examination  of  disputes  between  its  members  ;  mutual 
protection  ;  reciprocal  assistance  towards  securing  internal 
tranquillity  ;  the  establishment  of  constitutions  of  estates  in 
all  the  states  ;  the  establishment  of  certain  central  courts 
of  appeal ;  legal  equality  of  Christian  sects;  an  interna- 
tional community  of  civil  rights  in  some  points  ;  and  finally, 
the  regulation  of  the  condition  of  mediatized  princes  and 
states.     See  Mediatization. 

CO'NFERENCE.  In  English  Parliamentary  usage,  a 
meeting  of  certain  delegated  members  of  the  two  houses 
to  discuss  the  provisions  of  a  bill  respecting  which  there 
is  a  disagreement  between  them  ;  usually  on  the  subject 
of  amendments  introduced  by  one  and  rejected  by  the 
other.  The  principal  rules  relating  to  conferences  are, 
1.  That  a  conference  must  be  demanded  by  that  house 
which  is  in  possession  of  the  bill.  2.  It  is  the  privilege  of 
the  House  of  Lords  to  name  the  time  and  place  at  which 
the  conference  shall  be  holden.  3.  The  house  which  asks 
the  conference  must  in  its  message  clearly  express  the 
subject  matter  respecting  which  it  is  to  be  holden.  4.  It  is 
usual  for  the  house  desiring  the  conference  to  appoint  a 
committee  to  draw  up  reasons  to  be  offered  in  support  of 
the  measure  which  the  house  has  adopted.  These  rea- 
sons are  communicated  by  its  managers  (i.  e.  delegates) 
to  those  of  the  other  house  ;  and  it  is  irregular  for  any 
member  to  go  beyond  these  reasons,  or  to  speak  anything 
except  by  way  of  introduction  to  their  delivery.  5.  If  the 
reasons  alleged  on  both  sides  fail  in  producing  agreement 
between  the  houses,  what  is  termed  a  free  conference  is 
demanded  ;  usually  after  two  conferences  have  been  hold- 
en without  effect.  In  a  free  conference  the  managers  are 
not  tied  down  to  follow  a  particular  line  of  instructions 
(although  they  may  have  received  such  instructions  from 
their  house),  but  may  discuss  the  provisions  of  the  mea- 
sure in  a  more  liberal  manner. 

Conference  has  also  been  the  frequent  denomination  of 
meetings  of  divines  for  ecclesiastical  purposes.  The  con- 
ferences of  Hampton  Court  (1604)  and  the  Savoy  (1660), 
between  the  clergy  of  the  church  of  England  and  Puritans 
and  Presbyterians,  are  well  known  in  English  history. 
272 


CONFIRMATION. 

The  annual  meetings  of  Wesleyan  preachers  are  styled 
conferences. 

CONFE'SSION,  AURI'CULAR,  (Lat.  auricula,  ear), 
is  accounted  by  the  church  of  Rome  part  of  the  sacrament 
of  penance.  It  must  be  made  to  a  priest,  who  is  under 
solemn  obligation  not  to  reveal  it ;  and  must  be  of  every 
mortal  sin.  The  Roman  Catholics  cite  several  passage's 
of  scripture,  particularly  Matt.  iii.  6,  Acts  xix.  18,  and 
James  v.  16,  as  indirectly  establishing  this  usage;  which, 
however,  as  an  authorized  practice  of  the  church,  does  not 
appear  to  be  older  than  about  a.  d.  1215.  Confession  is 
also  prescribed  by  the  Greek  church.  Among  Protestants, 
the  Lutherans  for  some  time  retained  it ;  but  confession 
to  God  alone  is  recognized  in  our  church  as  preparatory 
to  absolution.  (See  especially  Bingham,  Orig.  £ccl.,book 
xviii.  c.  4  ) 

CONFESSION  OF  FAITH.  A  formulary  setting 
forth  the  opinions  held  by  a  religious  community.  The 
most  important  documents  of  this  nature  published  prior 
to  the  Reformation  are  the  Apostles',  the  Nicene,  and  the 
Athanasian  creeds.  (See  these  articles.)  Since  that  period 
the  Romanists  refer,  1.  To  the  decrees  and  catechism  of 
the  council  of  Trent,  as  containing  a  complete  exposition, 
accompanied  by  an  elaborate  defence,  of  their  opinions ; 
2.  To  the  Creed  of  Pius  IV.,  published  in  1564,  which 
begins  with  a  statement  of  the  Nicene  creed,  and  proceeds 
to  declare  briefly  and  explicitly  the  additional  tenets  of  the 
Romish  church  ;  3.  The  exposition  of  the  Catholic  faith 
by  Bossuet,  as  having  been  sanctioned  by  the  Pope,  is 
considered  of  secondary  authority. 

The  most  authentic  symbol  of  the  Greek  church  is  that 
which  was  drawn  up  in  1642  by  Mogila,  the  metropolitan 
of  Kiow.  It  was  approved  with  great  solemnity  by  the  pa- 
triarchs and  principal  clergy  of  that  communion. 

The  reformed  churches  have  in  almost  all  cases  drawn 
up  summaries  of  their  peculiar  tenets,  and  require  their 
ministers  to  express  their  assent  to  them.  The  church  of 
England  requires  subscription  upon  ordination  to  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles,  and  the  three  articles  of  the  36th 
Canon  which  relate  to  the  supremacy  of  the  King,  &c. 
The  Book  of  Common  Prayer  and  the  Homilies  are  also 
authorized  statements  of  the  doctrine  of  this  community. 

The  symbolic  books  of  the  Lutheran  church  are  numer- 
ous: the  principal  are,  the  Confession  of  Augsburgh,  drawn 
up  by  Melancthon  in  1530  ;  the  articles  of  Smalcald  by 
Luther  (1538);  the  Great  and  Little  Catechisms  of  Luther 
(1529);  and  the  Form  of  Concord  (1579).  The  original 
symbol  of  the  Scotch  church  is  called  the  General  Con- 
fession of  the  true  Christian  Faith,  which  was  adopted  by 
the  King  and  nation,  together  with  the  Solemn  League  and 
Covenant,  in  1581.  A  second  was  drawn  up  in  1660  by 
some  of  the  principal  ministers,  in  consequence  of  an  order 
in  parliament  for  that  purpose.  The  Confession  of  the 
Westminster  Assembly  (in  1643)  was  declared  in  1690  by 
an  act  of  parliament  to  be  the  national  standard  of  faith  in 
Scotland. 

In  this  country  the  imposition  of  formularies  for  sub- 
scription which  are  conceived  in  other  than  the  words  of 
scripture  has  frequently  been  made  a  ground  of  dissent 
and  separation  from  the  English  church.  The  Presby- 
terians also  and  Independents  have  suffered  many  seces- 
sions upon  this  ground,  which  is  maintained  as  a  clear 
deduction  from  the  Protestant  principle  of  the  right  of 
private  interpretation.  It  may  be  answered,  that  a  church, 
like  the  Romish,  which  forbids  private  interpretation, 
might  reasonably  enough  express  its  belief  in  the  words 
of  scripture,  the  meaning  of  which  in  its  mouth  would  be 
sufficiently  intelligible  ;  but  that  a  Protestant  church,  on 
the  contrary,  must  paraphrase  the  language  of  the  Bible 
to  make  itself  understood,  and  that  its  alternative  must  be 
between  a  confession  of  this  nature  and  none  at  all ;  and 
the  impracticability  of  the  latter  course  has  been  shown 
by  the  experience  of  several  minor  sects  in  this  country 
and  elsewhere. 

CO'NFESSOR.  (In  Greek,  bpoXoyrirris.)  In  Ecclesi- 
astical History,  the  title  given  to  those  who  have  under- 
gone persecution  for  Christianity  short  of  death.  They 
were  peculiarly  honoured  in  the  primitive  church,  to- 
gether wish  the  memory  of  those  who  had  actually  suf- 
fered (martyrs).  Cyprian,  Epist.  37.  (See  Gieseler's 
Eccl.  Hist.     1st  Period,  2nd  Division,  ch.  3.) 

CONFIGURATION.  In  Astronomy,  denotes  the  posi- 
tion which  the  planets  occupy  relatively  to  each  other. 

CONFIRMATION.  The  laying  on  of  hands  by  the 
bishop,  for  the  conferring  of  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit; 
a  rite  by  which  a  person  arrived  at  years  of  discretion 
takes  upon  himself  the  performance  of  the  baptismal  vow 
made  for  him  by  his  sponsors.  This  ceremony  is  derived 
from  the  practice  of  the  Apostles,  of  whom  we  read  (Acts, 
viil  16.  xix.  16.)  that  after  certain  disciples  at  Samaria 
and  Ephesus  had  been  baptized,  they  laid  their  hands 
upon  them,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  came  upon  them.  The 
descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  the  Apostles  themselves 
on  the  day  of  Pentecost  is  considered  also  as  an  example 


CONFLICT  OF  LAWS. 

of  confirmation  succeeding  baptism.  In  the  early  ages 
this  ceremony  seems  to  have  been  accompanied  very 
generally  with  the  unction  of  the  forehead.  This  cere- 
mony is  retained  by  the  Roman  Catholics,  who  consider 
confirmation  a  sacrament. 

CO'NFLICT  OF  LAWS.  The  opposition  between 
the  municipal  laws  of  different  countries,  in  the  case  of  an 
individual  who  may  have  acquired  rights  or  become  sub- 
ject to  duties  within  the  limit  of  more  than  one  state.  In 
the  language  of  Mr.  Burge  (Colonial  and  Foreign  Law, 
1.  5.),  "the  right  or  claim  which  is  in  contestation  before 
a  judicial  tribunal  may  present  a  conflict  between  the 
laws  of  the  country  in  which  he  was  born,  or  had  a  domi- 
cile, or  had  taken  up  a  temporary  residence,  or  in  which 
his  property,  the  subject  of  the  claim,  was  situated,  or  in 
which  the  act,  instrument,  or  testament  on  which  the 
claim  is  founded  was  executed,  or  in  which  the  contesta- 
tion tikes  place.  In  this  conflict  of  laws  it  becomes  an 
important  branch  of  jurisprudence  to  ascertain  which 
should  be  selected,  and  the  principles  on  which  the  se- 
lection is  to  be  made."  The  following  are  among  the 
principal  works  on  this  subject: — Rodenburg  on  the  Con- 
flict of  Statutes,  an  Essay  appended  to  his  treatise  De 
Jure  Conjugum ;  Hortius,  De  Collisione  Legum ;  Bout- 
lenois,  De  la  Pcrsonnalite  et  de  la  Realite  des  Lois ;  the 
American  judge  Story's  treatise  on  the  Crmflict  of  Laics ; 
and  the  above  cited  work  of  Mr.  Burge,  Commentaries  on 
Colonial  and  Foreign  Laics  generally,  in  their  Conflict 
with  each  other  and  with  the  Law  of  England,  4  vols.  Svo. 
Lond.  1837. 

CO'iNFI.UENT.  (Lat.  confluens,  flowing  together.) 
Running  together.  Applied  to  eruptive  diseases  in  which 
the  pimples  or  pustules  are  not  detached,  but  so  numerous 
as  to  form  confluent  patches,  or  even  to  cover  the  whole 
surface  of  the  body  ;  hence  the  term  confluent  small  pox. 

CONFO'RMITY,  OCCASIONAL.  The  participation  of 
one  in  any  of  the  observances  (more  particularly  sacra- 
ments) of  a  church  from  which  he  dissents.  Much  con- 
troversy existed  among  the  English  Dissenters,  especially 
in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  with  respect  to  the  lawfulness 
of  occasional  conformity. 

CONGE'.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture  the  same  sort  of 
moulding  as  the  echinus  or  quarter-round  ;  also  a  term 
used  for  the  cavetto  ;  the  former  being  called  the  swelling 
conge.  the,latter  the  hollow  conge. 

CONGE  D'ELIRE.  (Fr.  leave  to  choose.)  The  kind's 
writ  or  license  to  the  dean  and  chapter  to  choose  a  bishop 
in  the  time  of  vacancy  of  the  see ;  a  mere  formal  pro- 
ceeding. 
CO'NGENERS.  Species  belonging  to  the  same  genus. 
CONGE'STION.  When  there  is  an  unnatural  accu- 
mulation of  blood  in  the  capillary  vessels  of  any  part  of 
the  sanguiferous  system,  the  organ  in  which  it  takes  place, 
and  the  functions  of  which  are  disturbed,  is  said  to  suffer 
under  congeslioji :  it  induces  a  morbid  condition  of  the 
vessels  of  the  part  affected,  which  when  once  established 
is  difficult  of  removal.  Congestion  of  the  brain,  liver,  or 
lungs,  is  a  frequent  effect  of  fevers,  though  generally  con- 
sequent upon  a  previous  morbid  condition  of  the  organs. 

CONGLO'MERATE.  (Lat.  conglomero,  /  keep  togeth- 
er.) In  Anatomy,  glands  which  are  made  up  of  many 
small  glands,  the  ducts  of  which  unite  into  one,  as  the 
salivary  glands,  are  so  called.  In  Botany,  the  term  is  ap- 
plied to  flowers  closely  compacted  upon  one  footstalk. 

Conglomerate.  In  Geology,  a  rock  composed  of  peb- 
bles cemented  together  by  another  mineral  substance, 
either  calcareous,  silirious,  or  argillaceous. 

CONGREGA'TION.  (Lat.  congrego,  from  con,  togeth- 
er, and  grex,  a  flock.)  At  Oxford  and  Cambridge  the  as- 
sembly of  masters  and  doctors  is  so  called,  in  which  the 
ordinary  business  of  giving  degrees.  <fcc.  is  transacted. 

Congregation.  In  Ecclesiastical  language,  properly  an 
assembly  of  the  people  for  the  purpose  of  divine  worship. 
Companies  of  religious  persons,  forming  sub-divisions  of 
monastic  orders,  are  styled  in  the  church  of  Rome  congre- 
gations. For  an  account  of  the  congregations  of  cardinals 
at  Rome,  a  species  of  committees  for  the  transaction  of 
business  of  the  see  of  Rome,  see  Enc.  Metropol.,  art. 
"Congregation."  The  "Congregation  of  the  Lord"  was 
an  appellation  assumed  by  the  first  Scotch  Presbyterian 
Dissenters,  in  contradistinction  to  the  Church  of  England, 
which  they  styled  the  "Congregation  of  Satan."  They 
first  came  into  notice  in  1557,  under  the  Duke  of  Argyle, 
and  were  at  a  later  period  led  by  John  Knox. 

CO'NGREGA'TIONALI'STS.  A  sect  of  Protestant 
Dissenters,  who  arose  in  this  country  as  early  as  the  reign 
of  Queen  Elizabeth,  when  Robert  Brown  maintained  that 
every  society  of  Christians  meeting  in  one  place  for  reli- 
gious worship  under  its  own  laws  and  ministers  formed  a 
legitimate  and  independent  congregation.  The  Congrega- 
tionalists  have  been  called  from  their  founder  Brownists, 
and  in  later  times  Independents.  They  form  a  powerful 
body  in  England,  and  are  very  numerous  in  America. 
Each  congregation  appoints  its  own  ministers  by  vote, 
273 


CONIC  SECTIONS. 

and  can  remove  them  at  pleasure,  and  reduce  them  to  the 
rank  of  laymen.  They  believe  in  the  Trinity,  predestina- 
tion, total  depravity,  particular  redemption,  effectual 
grace  and  final  perseverance ;  and  maintain  that  every 
congregation  of  visible  saints  furnished  with  a  pastor  is 
under  no  other  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  whatever.  (See 
Neale's  Hist.  Puritans.)  The  number  of  Independent 
congregations  in  England  and  Wales  was  stated  in  1836  to 
be  about  1840.  'M-Culloch's  Statistical  Account  of  the  Br. 
Empire. ) 

CO'NGRESS.  (Lat.  congredior,  I  go  together.)  In  Poli- 
tics, a  meeting  of  the  sovereigns  of  states,  or  their  repre- 
sentatives, for  the  purpose  of  arranging  international 
matters.  The  first  general  European  congress  was  after 
the  conclusion  of  the  thirty  years'  war  in  Germany,  at 
Monster  and  Osnabriick,  1648,  which  was  followed  by  the 
peace  of  Westphalia.  Remarkable  general  congresses 
have  been — 1.  of  the  Pyrenees,  1659 ;  2.  of  AixlaCha- 
pelle,  1668;  3.  Nimeguen,  1676;  4.  Ryswick,  1697;  5. 
Utrecht,  1713  ;  6.  Aix-la-Chapelle,  1748;  7.  Teschen,  1779; 
8.  Paris,  1782;  9.  Versailles,  1785;  10.  the  Hague,  1790; 
11.  Rastadt,  1797  ;  12.  Erfurt,  1808  :  13.  Vienna,  1814,  con- 
cluded at  Paris,  1815;  14.  Aix-la-Chapelle,  1818;  15.  Trop- 
pau,  1820;  16.  Laybach,  1821;  17.  Verona,  1S22. 

Congress  is  also  the  title  of  the  national  legislature  of 
the  United  States  of  America.  It  consists  of  a  house  of 
representatives,  and  of  a  senate.  The  former  is  composed 
of  members  chosen  every  second  year.  The  qualification 
of  electors  is  the  same  with  that  required  in  their  respec- 
tive states  for  electors  to  the  lower  house  in  trie  state  legis- 
lature. The  number  of  representatives  is  apportioned 
according  to  the  population  of  each  state,  and  is  altered 
every  ten  years,  when  the  census  is  taken  by  authority. 
In  making  this  estimate,  the  slave  population  is  reckoned 
only  at  three-fifths  of  its  amount.  There  cannot  be  more 
than  one  representative  for  60,000  free  persons.  The 
senate  is  composed  of  two  members  from  each  state  :  the 
senators  are  chosen  for  six  years  by  the  legislature  of  the 
state.  The  house  of  representatives  chooses  its  own 
speaker:  the  vice-president  of  the  United  States  is,  ex 
officio,  president  of  the  senate.  Bills  for  revenue  purposes 
must  originate  in  the  house  of  representatives ;  but  are 
liable  to  the  proposal  of  amendments  by  the  senate.  The 
senate  has  the  sole  power  of  trying  impeachments  ;  but 
can  only  convict  by  a  majority  of  two-thirds  of  the  mem- 
bers present,  and  its  sentence  extends  only  to  removal 
from  office  and  incapacitation  for  holding  it.  The  regular 
meeting  of  congress  is  on  the  first  Monday  in  December 
annually.  Every  bill  which  passes  the  two  houses  is  sent 
to  the  president  for  approval  or  disapproval ;  in  the  latter 
case,  he  returns  it,  with  his  reasons,  to  the  house  in  which 
it  originated  :  if,  on  reconsideration,  it  is  passed  again  by 
a  majority  of  two  thirds  in  each  house,  it  becomes  law. 
The  powers  of  congress  are  strictly  limited,  and  separated 
from  those  of  the  various  state  legislatures,  by  the  constitu- 
tion. 

CO'NIC  SE'CTIONS.  In  Geometry,  lines  formed  by 
the  intersections  of  a  plane  with  the  surface  of  a  cone, 
which  assume  different  forms,  and  acquire  different  pro- 
perties, according  to  the  different  positions  of  the  plane  in 
respect  of  the  axis  of  the  cone.     There  are  five  species  : — 

1.  If  the  cone  be  cut  by  a  plane  passing  through  its  ver- 
tex, the  common  intersection  of  the  conical  superficies 
and  the  plane  will  be  two  straight  lines  meeting  in  the 
vertex. 

2.  If  the  intersecting  plane  be  parallel  to  the  base,  or,  in 
the  case  of  the  oblique  or  scalene  cone,  if  it  be  so  situated 
as  to  cut  off  from  the  vertex  a  cone  similar  to  the  original 
cone,  the  section  will  be  a  circle. 

3.  If  the  intersecting  plane  be  parallel  to  a  plane  which 
touches  the  cone,  the  section  will  be  a  parabola. 

4.  If  the  intersecting  plane  pass  through  both  sides  of 
the  cone,  and  is  neither  parallel  to  the  base  nor  to  the 
plane  of  a  subcontrary  section,  the  section  will  be  an 
ellipse. 

5.  If  the  intersecting  plane  have  such  a  position  that, 
when  produced,  it  meets  the  opposite  cone,  the  section  is 
a  hyperbola. 

These  five  are  the  only  lines  which  can  be  formed  by 
the  common  intersection  of  a  plane  and  the  surface  of  a 
cone,  and  they  all  equally  arise  from  that  intersection  ;  but 
as  the  straight  line  and  the  circle  form  the  peculiar  subject 
of  elementary  geometry,  their  properties  are  usually 
treated  apart;  and  the  three  last, namely,  the  parabola,  the 
ellipse,  and  the  hyperbola,  considered  as  the  curves  espe- 
cially designated  by  the  term  Conic  Sections. 

Some  of  the  principal  and  distinctive  properties  of  the 
curves  are  easily  deduced  from  this  mode  of  generation. 
Let  V  A  C  B  be  the  cone,  and  C  D  E  the  sec'ioh  made  by 
a  plane  parallel  to  the  plane  which  touches  the  cone  in  the 
line  VA;  then,  by  the  definition,  C  E  D  is  a  parabola. 
Now  let  PQ  be  the  intersection  of  the  plane  which  touches 
the  cone  in  VA  with  the  plane  of  the  base  A  C  B  ;  then 
P  Q,  being  a  tangent  to  the  circle  A  C  B  D,  is  perpendicu- 
R 


CONIC  SECTIONS. 


lar  to  A  B,  the  diameter  of  that  circle,  and  consequently 
C  D,  which  is  parallel  to  P  Q,  is  also  perpendicular  to 
A  B ;  therefore  C  F  is 
equal  to  F  D.  In  F  E 
take  any  point  G,  through 
which  let  there  pass  a 
plane  H  L  K,  parallel  to 
the  base  A  C  B,  intersect- 
ing the  plane  C  E  D  in 
the  straight  line  L  G  M  ; 
then  L  M  will  be  parallel 
to  C  D,  and  perpendicu- 
lar to  H  K,  and  L  G  equal 
to  G  M.  We  have  there- 
fore, from  the  property 
of  the  circle,  C  F2  = 
A  F  •  F  B,  and  L  G2  =  H  G  •  G  K ;  therefore  since  by  rea- 
son of  the  parallels  VA  and  EF  the  line  A  F  is  equal  H  G, 
C  F^  :  L  G2  :  :  F  B  :  G  K.  But  F  B  :  G  K  :  :  E  F  :  E  G ; 
therefore  C  F2:LG2::EF:EG;  consequently,  since 
C  F  and  E  F  are  constant  quantities,  the  ratio  of  L  G*  to 
E  G  (or  of  L  Mi  to  E  G)  is  constant ;  whence  we  infer  that 
in  the  parabola  the  square  of  any  ordinate  L  G  is  equal  to 
the  rectangle  of  the  corresponding  absciss  E  G  into  a  con- 
stant quantity.  From  this  all  the  other  properties  of  the 
curve  may  be  deduced.  It  is  in  fact  the  common  equation 
of  the  parabola.     See  Parabola. 

For  the  ellipse  and  hyperbola,  let  E  M  F  L  be  the  sec- 
tion ;  through  V  draw  a  plane  parallel  to  E  M  F  L,  and  let 
P  Q  be  its  intersection  with  the  plane  of  the  base.  Through 


C,  the  centre  of  the  base,  draw 

C    S    perpendicular    to    P    Q, 

meeting  the  base  in  A  and  B. 

Let  E  F  be  the  intersection  of 

the  plane  ELM  with  the  plane 

A  V  B,  which   passes  through 

the  axis  of  the   cone  ;    and  in 

E  F  take  any   point  G,  through 

which  let  a  plane  HMKLbe 

drawn  parallel  to  the  plane  of 

the  base,  the  line  L  M  being  its 

intersection  with  the  plane  E  L 

M.     Lastly,  through  the  points 

E  and  F  let  E  N  and  F  O  be 

drawn,    meeting    the    opposite 

sides  of  the  cone  in  N  and  O. 

Because  of  the  similar  triangles, 

we  have  EG:GK::EF:FO, 

and  F  G  :  G  H  :  :  F  E  :  E  N, 

therefore  EGGF:GKGH::EF2:FOEN. 

Now  E  F2  and  the  rectangle  F  O  •  E  N  are  constant 
quantities,  independent  of  the  position  of  the  point  G  ;  and 
GKGII  =  GL'i(LM  being  parallel  to  P  Q,  and  there- 
fore perpendicular  to  H  K) ;  consequently  the  rectangle 
E  G  •  G  F  is  to  the  square  of  G  L  in  a  constant  ratio.  This 
property  furnishes  an  equation  to  the  ellipse  and  hyper- 
bola, from  which  all  the  properties  of  those  curves  may  be 
deduced.     See  Ellipse  and  Hyperbola. 

The  mutual  relations  of  all  the  curves  to  each  other  may 
be  rendered  sensible  by  supposing  the  plane  V  P  Q  to  re- 
volve about  an  axis  passing  through  V  parallel  to  P  Q,  and 
the  intersecting  plane  E  M  L  to  accompany  it  in  its  revolu- 
tion, always  maintaining  its  parallelism.  Suppose  the  re- 
volution to  commence  when  the  plane  V  P  Q  is  parallel  to 
the  base  ;  in  this  position  the  intersection  of  the  cone  with 
E  M  L  is  a  circle.  When  VPQ  changes  its  position,  and 
becomes  inclined  to  the  plane  of  the  base,  the  section  E  M 
F  L  (Jig.  2)  becomes  an  ellipse.  As  the  plane  VPQ  con- 
tinues to  revolve,  the  ellipse  becomes  more  and  more 
elongated,  till  at  length  P  Q  touches  the  plane  of  the  base 
( Jig.  1),  when  the  curve,  instead  of  returning  into  itself, 
exhibits  two  infinite  branches,  and  passes  into  the  parabola. 
The  revolution  continuing,  the  line  P  Q  falls  within  the 
base  of  the  cone  (Jig-  3);  the  section  E  M  L  still  presents 
infinite  branches,  but  its  axis  E  G  now  meets  the  opposite 
cone  in  F,  the  vertex  of  another  section  entirely  similar 
and  equal  to  E  M  L  ;  whence  the  hyperbola  has  two  pairs 
of  branches,  which,  from  the  opposite  cones,  are  called 
opposite  hyperbolas.  Suppose  that  in  this  position  (while 
P  Q  falls  within  the  base)  the  distance  between  the  two 
planes  VPQ  and  E  M  L  is  diminished  ;  as  the  distance 
274 


diminishes  the  curvature  of  the  hyperbolic  branches  will 
also  diminish ;  and  when  the  distance  vanishes  the  curva- 
ture vanishes,  and  the  two  branches  pass  into  a  system  of 
two  straight  lines  intersecting  each  other  in  the  apex  of 
the  cone. 

The  sections  of  the  cone  were  first  studied  by  the  geo- 
metricians of  the  school  of  Plato.  They  admitted,  how- 
ever, only  the  right  cone  into  their  geometry  ;  and  they 
supposed  the  section  to  be  formed  by  a  plane  perpendicu- 
lar to  its  side.  Consequently  the  three  sections  were 
formed  from  three  different  cones,  the  angles  at  the  vertex 
being  right,  acute,  or  obtuse.  The  parabola  was  produced 
from  a  right-angled  cone,  the  ellipse  from  an  acute-angled 
cone,  and  the  hyperbola  from  an  obtuse  cone.  Apollonius 
of  Perga,  according  to  Eutocius,  was  the  first  who  showed 
that  the  three  sections  may  be  obtained  from  every  cone, 
whether  right  or  oblique,  and  whatever  the  angle  of  its 
apex,  the  species  of  the  curve  depending  on  the  different 
inclinations  of  the  plane  of  the  section  to  the  cone  itself. 
It  has,  however,  been  established  that  Archimedes,  who 
flourished  about  forty  years  prior  to  Apollonius,  was  ac- 
quainted with  the  fact  that  the  three  sections  may  be  de- 
rived from  the  same  cone.  Pappus,  in  his  Mathematical 
Collections,  ascribes  to  Apollonius  the  names  by  which 
the  three  sections  are  designated :  the  term  Parabola, 
however,  occurs  in  the  writings  of  Archimedes 

Although  the  three  curves  were  first  noticed  as  resulting 
from  the  sections  of  the  cone,  they  still  decidedly  belong 
to  plane  geometry;  and  their  genesis  may  be  defined,  and 
all  their  properties  investigated,  without  having  any  refe- 
rence whatever  to  the  solid.  Accordingly  many  geometers, 
in  modern  times,  have  treated  the  curves  as  generated  by 
the  motion  of  points  on  a  plane  ;  and  this  method  has  un- 
doubtedly the  advantage  of"  relieving  the  student  from  the 
difficulty  of  conceiving  the  positions  and  intersections  of 
different  planes,  and  following  out  the  relations  of  the  lines 
drawn  on  them,  which  become  so  complicated  when  re- 
presented on  the  same  surface.  Dr.  Wallis  of  Oxford,  and 
the  celebrated  De  Witt,  seem  to  have  been  the  first  who 
adopted  this  method,  which  has  been  followed  by  Decha- 
les,  De  La  Hire,  Boscovich,  Dr.  Simson,  and  many  others. 
The  ancient  mode  of  defining  them  from  the  sections  of 
the  cone  is  seldom  adopted  in  the  recent  treatises. 

Various  definitions  of  the  curves  in  piano  have  been  pro- 
posed. The  parabola  is  usually  defined  from  this  proper- 
ty, that  the  distance  of  any  point  in  the  curve  from  the 
focus  is  the  same  as  its  distance  from  the  directrix.  For 
the  ellipse  and  hyperbola  the  property  which  has  been 
most  generally  assumed  as  the  definition  is,  that  if  any 
point  be  taken  in  the  curve,  and  straight  lines  be  drawn 
from  it  to  the  two  foci,  the  sum  of  those  lines  in  the  case 
of  the  ellipse,  and  their  difference  in  the  case  of  the  hy- 
perbola, is  a  constant  quantity.  This  property  seems  to 
have  been  chosen  rather  from  considerations  respecting 
the  facility  of  the  description  of  the  curves  by  mechanical 
means,  than  from  any  peculiar  advantage  which  it  affords 
for  the  investigation  of  their  other  properties.  It  does  not 
indicate  the  relationship  of  the  three  curves,  and  is  in  fact 
not  applicable  to  the  parabola,  which  has  only  one  focus. 
On  this  account  Boscovich  selected  a  property  which  gives 
a  definition  applicable  alike  to  all  the  three  sections,  and 
from  which  the  general  properties  common  to  all  of  them 
are  established  by  the  same  demonstration.  It  is  this — a 
point  and  a  straight  line  being  given  by  position  on  a  plane, 
another  point  which  moves  in  such  a  manner  in  the  same 
plane  that  its  distance  from  the  given  point  has  to  its  dis- 
tance from  the  given  straight  line  a  constant  ratio,  describes 
a  conic  section.  When  the  constant  ratio  is  a  ratio  of 
equality,  the  curve  traced  out  by  the  moving  point  is  a  pa- 
rabola ;  when  a  ratio  of  minority  the  curve  is  an  ellipse, 
and  when  a  ratio  of  majority  an  hyperbola.  This  general 
definition  of  the  conic  sections  has  also  been  adopted  by 
Thomas  Newton,  Walker  of  Nottingham,  and  Professor 
Leslie,  in  their  respective  treatises. 

The  different  properties  of  the  conic  sections  may  also 
be  investigated  by  the  modern  algebraic  analysis ;  and  as 
all  the  curves  are  derived  from  the  same  cone,  so  all  their 
equations  are  included  in  one  general  equation,  of  the  se- 
cond degree,  between  two  variables.  The  equation  of  the 
second  degree  between  the  two  variables  x  and  y,  in  its 
most  general  form,  is 

'  Ay2  +  Bxy  +  Csfi  +  Dy  +  Ear  +  F  =  0, 

which,  by  assigning  certain  values  to  the  constant  coeffi- 
cients A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  or  assuming  certain  relations  to 
exist  among  them,  becomes  the  equation  of  an  ellipse,  an 
hyperbola,  a  parabola,  a  circle,  or  that  of  a  system  of  two 
straight  lines  ;  and  it  may  be  demonstrated  that  whatever 
be  the  values  of  the  coefficients,  it  can  only  express  one 
or  other  of  those  curves.  (See  Biot's  Essai  de  Geometrie 
Analytique ;  Hamilton's  Analytical  System  of  the  Conic 
Sections  ;  or  the  Traile  Analytique  des  Sections  Coniques, 
fyc.  by  the  Marquis  de  l'Hopital.) 
The  conic  sections  have  acquired  a  remarkable  interest 


C0NID1A. 

in  modern  times  on  account  of  their  use  in  natural  philoso- 

Shy  and  astronomy.  A  body  projected  in  space,  and  urged 
y  a  central  force  which  varies  inversely  as  the  square  of 
the  distance,  must  describe  a  conic  section  ;  and  all  the 
planets  move  in  ellipses  about  the  sun.  The  knowledge 
of  the  properties  of  the  ellipse  doubtlessly  facilitated  the 
discovery  of  the  true  nature  of  the  planetary  orbits ;  and 
hence  it  has  been  said,  with  some  appearance  of  truth, 
that  to  the  seemingly  barren  speculations  of  the  Greeks 
relative  to  the  sections  of  the  cone  we  are  indebted  for  the 
sublime  theories  of  Kepler  and  Newton.  A  considerable 
number  of  the  most  interesting  properties  of  the  curves 
are  demonstrated  in  the  first  Book  of  the  Principia,  where 
Newton  has  considered  the  method  of  solving  this  problem 
— Straight  lines  and  points  being  given  by  position  on  a 
plane,  to  describe  a  conic  section  which  shall  pass  through 
the  given  points  and  touch  the  given  straight  lines. 

Treatises  on  the  conic  sections  are  exceedingly  numer- 
ous ;  in  fact  there  is  no  part  of  the  mathematics  which  has 
been  more  studied  by  geometricians,  both  ancient  and 
modern,  than  the  properties  of  these  curves.  To  the  an- 
cients they  furnished  an  excellent  field  for  the  exercise  of 
their  elegant  geomerrical  analysis;  and  the  more  difficult 
investigations  of  series  for  their  quadrature  and  rectification 
have  given  occasion  to  some  of  the  most  elegant  applica- 
tions of  the  modern  calculus.  The  following  are  some  of 
the  principal  geometrical  treatises — Apollonii  Pergati  Coni- 
corum  Libri  Oclo,  <fcc,  Oxford,  1710,  by  Dr.  Halley  ;  Vivi- 
ani's  two  works— I.  De  Maximiset  Minimis  Geometrica  Di- 
vina'io,  2.  De  Locis  Solidis  Secunda  Divinalio  Geometrica ; 
De  La  Hire's  Sections  Conica,  Paris,  1635 ;  Hamilton,  De 
Sectionibus  Conicis  Tractatus  Geometricus,  Dublin,  1753 ; 
Simson's  Treatise,  in  Latin  and  English  ;  Robertson's  ditto  ; 
A  short  Treatise  on  the  Conic  Sections,  by  the  Rev.  T.  New- 
ton, Cambridge,  1794  ;  Walker's  Treatise,  London,  1794 ; 
Leslie's  Treatise  on  Lines  of  the  Second  Order;  A  Geo- 
metrical Treatise  on  the  funic  Sections,  by  Professor  Wal- 
lace. Edinburgh,  1837,  &c.  &c. 

COM'DIA.  (Gr.  kovis,  dust.)  A  term  sometimes  used 
in  describing  lichens,  to  denote  the  bodies  which  constitute 
the  powdery  matter  called  soredia,  lying  upon  the  surface 
of  the  iha'.li.     By  others  Ihev  are  called  the  propagula. 

CONTFGR.dE.  (Lat.)  In  Botany,  a  natural  order  of  ar- 
borescent or  shrubby  Gymnosperms,  inhabiting  most  parts 
of  the  world,  and  usually  both  resinous  and  evergreen. 
Their  real  organization  was,  for  a  long  period,  but  little  un- 
derstood, until  Brown  discovered  that  the  ovules  of  the  en- 
tire order  are  naked.  No  other  race  of  plants  can  be 
named  of  more  importance  to  mankind  than  this, — first,  for 
their  resinous  secretions,  as  turpentine,  pitch,  Canada  bal- 
sam, &c. ;  and  secondly,  for  their  timber,  which  is  used 
under  the  names  of  fir,  pine,  deal,  cedar,  sandarach,  and 
many  others.  All  the  kinds  of  fir,  cedar,  juniper,  pine, 
savin,  cypress,  and  arbor  vitse,  are  species  of  genera  be- 
longing to  this  order,  which  appears  from  geological  evi- 
dence to  have  existed  in  great  abundance  among  the  earli- 
est vegetal  ion  that  clothed  the  surface  of  our  planet. 

CONIRO'STERS,  Coni io.it res.  (Lat.  conus,  a  cone,  and 
rostrum,  a  beak.)  A  tribe  of  Insessorial  birds  or  perchers, 
including  those  which  have  a  thick  robust  conical  beak,  as 
the  crows  and  finches. 

CONISTE'RIUM.  (Gr.  icovicrrnqiov.)  In  Ancient  Ar- 
chitecture, a  room  in  the  gymnasium  and  palaestra,  where- 
in the  wrestlers,  having  been  anointed  with  oil,  were 
sprinkled  over  with  dust,  that  they  might  lay  firmer  hold 
of  their  antagonists. 

CO'NITE."  (Gr.  kovis,  powder.)  A  silicious  carbonate 
of  lime,  found  associated  with  certain  zeolites,  in  the  form 
of  a  white  powder. 

CONJOINT  DEGREES.  In  Music,  a  term  used  of  two 
or  more  notes  which  immediately  follow  each  other  in  the 
order  of  the  scale. 

CONJOINT  TETRACHORDS.  In  Music,  two  tetra- 
chords  or  fourths,  in  which  the  same  note  is  the  highest  of 
one  and  the  lowest  of  the  other. 

CONJUGATION.  (Lat.)  In  Grammar,  is  to  verbs  what 
declension  is  to  substantives — the  sum  total  of  the  inflexions 
which  they  admit,  corresponding  to  the  various  circum- 
stances of  time  or  mood  under  which  an  action  is  con- 
ceived to  take  place. 

CONJUNCTION.  In  Grammar,  that  part  of -speech 
which  expresses  the  relation  of  propositions  or  judgments 
to  each  other.     -See  Grammar. 

CONJUNCTIVE  MOOD.  That  modification  of  the 
verb  which  expresses  the  dependence  of  the  event  intend- 
ed on  certain  conditions.     See  Grammar. 

CONNARA'CEjE.  (Connarus,  one  of  the  genera.)  In 
Botany,  a  natural  order  of  shrubby  or  arborescent  Exogens 
inhabiting  the  tropics,  and  only  distinguished  with  certainty 
from  Leguminosoe.  by  the  radicle  being  re  mote  from  the  hi- 
lum:  they  approximate  very  closely  to  the  Caesalpineous 
section  of  Leguminosx ;  but  their  want  of  stipules  and  re- 
gular liowers  will  usually  be  sufficient  to  distinguish  them 
from  the  great  mass  of  the  Papilionaceous  section. 
275 


CONSIDERATION. 

CONNTVENT.  (Lat.  conniveo,  /  wink.)  A  term  used 
figuratively  by  botanists  in  describing  the  direction  of  or- 
gans, to  denote  a  gradual  inward  direction,  as  in  many  pe- 
tals.    It  is  the  same  as  converging. 

In  Anatomy,  the  term  is  applied  to  those  valvular  folds  of 
the  lining  membrane  of  canals  which  are  so  disposed  as  to 
retard,  while  at  the  same  time  they  permit,  and,  as  it  were, 
connive  at,  the  passage  of  the  contents  of  such  canals  as 
the  "  valvules  conniventes"  in  the  human  intestine. 

CO'NNOISSEU'R.  (Fr.  connoitre,  to  know.)  In  the  Fine 
Arts,  one  who  is  versed  in  a  knowledge  of  the  fine  arts. 
His  qualifications  are  so  numerous,  that  very  few  sound 
connoisseurs  have  appeared  ;  and  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten 
these  come  under  the  description  of  a  well-known  Italian 
author  of  being  "  conoscitori  senza  cognizione." 

CONOHE'LIX.  A  genus  of  shells,  intermediate  be- 
tween the  Cones  and  Volutes. 

CO'NOPS.  (Gr.  Kojvoixp,  agnat.)  A Linnaean  genus  of 
Dipterous  insects,  characterized  by  having  an  elongated, 
slender,  pointed  proboscis.  It  is  at  present  subdivided  into 
the  genera  Bucentes,  Prosena  and  Stomoxys,  Myopa,  Zodi- 
on,  and  Conops  proper :  the  larva?  of  the  latter  subgenus 
are  developed  within  the  abdominal  cavity  of  the  humble 
bees,  and  other  Hymenoptera. 

CONSCIENCE,  COURTS  OF,  and  of  REQUESTS,  are 
courts  for  the  recovery  of  small  debts.  The  jurisdiction  of 
these  courts  in  London  and  other  places  arises  out  of  vari- 
ous statutes,  beginning  with  1  J.  I.  c.  14.,  their  original  ap- 
pointment having  been  by  order  in  council  under  Henry 
VIII.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  London  Court  of  Conscience 
is  extended  by  39  &  40  G.  III.  c.  104.  to  the  recovery  of 
debts  not  exceeding  £o,  and  inSouthwark  and  many  other 
places  by  subsequent  statutes. 

CO'NSCRIPT.  (Lat.  conscribo,  /  enrol  together  with 
others.)  Patres  Conscripti,  or  Fathers  Conscript.  A  title 
of  the  Roman  senators;  properly  of  those  who  were  added 
to  the  senate  subsequently  to  the  expulsion  of  the  kings. 

CONSCRI'PTION.  The  compulsory  enrolment  of  in- 
dividuals for  military  or  maritime  service,  taken  from  the 
population  at  large.  The  conscription,  in  the  Roman  com- 
monwealth, was  made  not  by  lot,  but  by  arbitrary  selec- 
tion by  the  consuls  from  among  the  bulk  of  the  citizens 
when  a  levy  was  required.  In  France  the  conscription  was 
established  during  the  revolution,  before  which  period  the 
armies  of  that  country  had  been  recruited  by  voluntary  en- 
listment. The  word  is  first  used  in  a  law  of  1793.  Ac- 
cording to  the  law  as  at  present  established,  all  citizens  are 
liable  to  the  conscription  at  the  age  of  twenty.  Each  arron- 
dissement  has  its  contingent  allotted  to  it  out  of  the  total 
number  required  for  the  service,  and  this  number  is  filled 
up  by  lot  from  the  youths  liable  to  the  conscription.  There 
are,  however,  various  claims  of  exemption  recognised  by 
the  law.     The  legal  duration  of  the  service  is  seven  years. 

CONSECRA'TION.  (Lat.  sacer,  holy.)  The  act  of  set- 
ting apart  a  person  or  thing  to  the  service  or  worship  of 
God  :  thus  a  newly  built  church  is  consecrated  with  certain 
ceremonies,  varying  in  different  communities.  The  admis- 
sion of  a  bishop  to  his  office  is  called  his  consecration. 

CONSE'NTIAN  GODS.  A  term  by  which  the  Latins 
distinguished  their  twelve  chief  deities — Juno,  Vesta,  Mi- 
nerva, Ceres,  Diana,  Venus,  Mars,  Mercury,  Jupiter,  Nep- 
tune, Vulcan,  and  Apollo.  The  origin  of  these  deities  was 
Italian,  and  distinct  from  those  of  the  Greeks ;  but  as  the 
literature  of  Rome  took  its  tone  and  colour  from  Greece,  so 
its  mythology  was  mixed  up  with  that  of  the  latter  country, 
those  deities  whose  functions  most  resembled  each  other 
being  confounded,  till  the  above  names  became  regarded 
as  nothing  more  than  the  Latin  appellations  of  the  Greek 
divinities. 

CONSERVATORY.  In  Horticulture,  is  a  glazed  struc- 
ture, in  which  exotic  trees  and  shrubs  are  grown  in  a  bed 
or  floor  of  soil.  It  is  distinguished  from  an  orangery  by  its 
having  a  glazed  roof,  while  that  of  the  latter  is  opaque ;  and 
from  a  greenhouse  by  the  plants  being  planted  in  the  free 
soil,  and  thus  growing  up  from  the  floor,  while  in  the  green- 
house the  plants  are  grown  in  pots  placed  on  shelves,  or  on 
a  stage  or  series  of  shelves,  rising  one  above  another. 
Above  a  century  ago,  for  example,  in  the  time  of  Evelyn, 
the  term  conservatory  was  applied  to  those  garden  build- 
ings now  called  orangeries,  and  in  modern  horticulture  em- 
ployed only  for  the  preservation  of  exotic  plants,  such  as 
orange  trees,  &c,  which  are  in  a  dormant  state  during 
winter.  The  greenhouse  and  the  modern  conservatory 
were  then  not  in  existence.  They  are  exclusively  employ- 
ed for  the  preservation  of  plants  which  are  in  a  growing 
state  during  winter.  The  largest  conservatory  in  the  world, 
at  the  present  time  (1341).  is  that  erected  at  Chatsworth  in 
Derbyshire,  for  palms  and  other  tropical  plants,  which 
covers  above  an  acre  of  ground,  and  is  sixty  feet  high. 
There  are  very  handsome  conservatories  for  Cape  and 
Australian  plants  at  Alton  Towers,  and  other  places.  (See 
Loudon's  Encyclovcedia  of  Gardening  ) 

CONSIDERATION.  In  Law,  is  the  material  cause  of 
a  contract,  without  which  it  is  not  binding  on  the  party. 


CONSISTORY. 

Consideration  is  said  to  be  either  expressed  or  implied. 
An  express  consideration  is  where  the  motive  or  induce- 
ment of  the  parties  to  the  contract  is  distinctly  declared  by 
its  terms ;  as  where  a  man  bargains  to  sell  his  land  for 
JE100.  It  is  implied,  where  an  act  is  done,  or  a  legal  de- 
mand forborne,  at  the  request  of  another,  without  an  ex- 
press stipulation  :  in  which  case,  the  law  presumes  an 
adequate  compensation  for  the  act  or  forbearance  to  have 
been  the  inducement  of  the  one  party,  and  the  offer  of  the 
other;  as  where  a  person  comes  to  an  inn  and  makes  use 
of  it,  intention  to  pay  for  the  accommodation  is  presumed. 
Consideration  is  also  either  "valuable,"  that  is,  for  money 
or  an  equivalent;  or  it  is  "of  natural  affection,"  certain 
degrees  of  relationship  affording  in  some  cases  sufficient 
consideration  for  a  gift. 

CONSI'STORY.  (Lat.  r.onsistorium,  said  to  have  been 
the  private  councillors  of  the  Roman  emperors.)  An  assem- 
bly of  ecclesiastical  persons  ;  also  certain  spiritual  courts 
are  so  called  which  are  holden  by  the  bishops  in  each  dio- 
cese. At  Rome  the  consistory  denotes  the  judicial  court 
constituted  by  the  college  of  cardinals.  The  representative 
body  of  the  reformed  church  in  France  is  styled  Consistory ; 
a  title  and  assembly  originated  by  Calvin.  There  is  now, 
or  should  be,  according  to  law,  a  consistory  for  every  6000 
Protestant  souls,  consisting  of  the  pastor  or  pastors,  and 
from  6  to  12  elders.  The  consistory  names  the  pastor. 
There  are  now  83  reformed  consistories  in  France  (not  in- 
cluding the  Lutheran  churches.) 

CONSI'STORY  COURT.  The  chancellor  of  every  arch- 
bishop and  bishop  is  the  judge  of  this  court  in  England,  and 
a  commissary  is  appointed  for  places  remote  from  the  con- 
sistory.    See  Ecclesiastical  Courts. 

CO'NSOLE.     (Ital.)     See  Ancones. 

CONSOLIDATED  FUND.  Down  to  1816,  the  ex- 
chequers of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  were  kept  separate, 
certain  portions  of  the  public  revenue  arising  in  each  king- 
dom being  especially  appropriated  to  the  discharge  of  the 
interest  on  its  own  debts,  and  other  peculiar  purposes.  But 
on  January  5th,  1816,  the  separate  exchequers  were  con- 
solidated into  one  ;  and  an  act  was  at  the  same  time  passed 
consolidating  certain  portions  of  the  joint  revenue  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  into  one  fund,  hence  called  the  Consoli- 
dated Fund,  and  providing  for  its  indiscriminate  application 
to  the  payment  of  the  public  debts,  civil  lists,  and  other 
specified  expenses  of  both  kingdoms.  Some  portions  of 
revenue  are  not  included  in  this  fund ;  but  it  embraces  by 
far  the  largest  part  of  the  public  income.  Thus,  in  1838,  of 
a  total  nett  income  of  47,333,460/.,  the  consolidated  fund  in- 
cluded no  less  than  44,144,438/. :  the  expenditure  on  account 
of  the  peculiar  charges  to  be  defrayed  by  the  fund  during 
the  same  year  amounted  to  31,742,918/.,  leaving  a  surplus 
of  12,401,570/.  applicable  to  other  objects.  (Fairman  on  the 
Funds,  7th  ed.  p.  896 ;  Pari.  Paper,  No.  849.  Sess.  1839, 
<fcc.) 

CO'NSONANCE.  (Lat.  consonans,  sounding  together.) 
In  Music,  the  agreement  of  two  sounds  simultaneously 
produced,  the  one  grave  and  the  other  acute. 

CONSONANT.     See  Letter,  Vowel. 

CO'N  SORDI'NI.  (Ital.)  In  Music,  a  direction  to  per- 
form the  passage,  if  on  a  pianoforte,  with  the  dampers 
down,  or  on  a  violin  with  the  mute  on ;  it  is  usually  written 
short,  C.  S. 

CONSPIRACY.  (Lat.  consyiirzlio,  agreement.)  In  Law, 
is  in  the  strictest  sense  an  agreement  of  two  or  more  per- 
sons falsely  to  indict  one,  or  procure  him  to  be  indicted,  for 
felony  ;  who,  after  acquittal,  may  have  his  writ  of  conspi- 
racy. In  a  more  general  sense,  many  species  of  combina- 
tions to  injure  another  are  termed  conspiracies ;  as  to  pro- 
cure one  to  be  arrested,  to  defraud  under  certain  circum- 
stances, &c.  Conspiracy  is  an  indictable  offence  ;  and  two 
at  least  of  the  persons  indicted  must  be  found  guilty  to 
produce  a  conviction,  as  otherwise  the  offence  is  not  proved 
against  any  one.  Combinations  of  workmen  to  regulate 
the  rate  of  wages,  prior  to  the  6  G.  4.  c.  129,  were  common- 
ly termed  conspiracies. 

CO'NSTABLE.  A  high  officer  in  the  monarchical  estab- 
lishments of  the  middle  ages.  (Lat.  comes  stabuli,  count 
of  the  stable  )  In  France,  the  first  dignitary  under  the 
crown,  commander-in-chief  and  supreme  military  judge. 
In  that  country  the  office  was  abolished  in  1627,  as  confer- 
ring powers  too  dangerous  in  the  hands  of  a  subjpct.  In 
England  the  last  permanent  lord  high  constable  was  Edward 
Stafford,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  whose  office  was  forfeited 
to  the  crown  by  his  attainder  in  1522;  since  which  time  it 
has  only  been  occasionally  conferred  on  particular  emer- 
gencies. The  title  is  supposed  to  have  originated  in  the 
tower  Empire.     (Ducange,  Gloss.). 

Constable.  A  constable  is  an  officer  particularly  charged 
with  the  preservation  of  the  peace,  either  within  the  hun- 
dred, where  he  is  called  high  constable,  or  within  the  parish 
or  ty  thing,  where  he  is  called  petty  constable,  and  where  he 
has  generally  superseded  the  tything-man.  The  duties  of 
the  high  constable  respecting  the  preservation  of  the  peace 
are  now  merely  nominal :  but  he  is  still  of  use  to  represent 
276 


CONSTELLATION. 

the  hundred  in  certain  legal  actions,  and  to  perform  certain 
ministerial  offices  connected  with  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice, as,  for  instance,  the  return  of  jurors,  which  originally 
devolved  upon  the  bailiff  of  the  hundred.  The  functions  of 
petty  constable  are  still  of  great  and  daily  importance.  It 
is  his  business,  in  the  first  place,  to  interfere  upon  his  own 
authority,  and  if  necessary  by  apprehension  of  the  offender, 
whenever  a  breach  of  the  peace  or  other  more  serious 
offence  is  committed  in  his  presence,  or  whenever  he  has 
sufficient  information  of  a  felony  ;  and,  in  the  next  place,  to 
execute  all  such  warrants  apparently  and  upon  the  face  of 
them  legal  as  shall  be  committed  to  his  hands  by  competent 
authorities.  He  has  a  right,  when  impeded  in  the  execu- 
tion of  his  duty,  to  call  upon  bystanders  for  assistance,  and 
has  the  power  in  case  of  sickness  or  disability  to  appoint  a 
deputy  to  execute  warrants  in  his  stead.  Constables  were 
anciently  appointed,  and  still  might  legally  be  so,  by  the 
jury  of  the  leet ;  but  high  constables  are  now  appointed 
either  at  quarter  sessions  or  by  the  justices  of  the  hundred 
out  of  sessions,  and  petty  constables  are  annually  sworn  in 
to  the  office  at  quarter  sessions  for  each  parish  upon  pre- 
sentment of  the  vestry ;  and  the  person  so  presented  is 
compellable  under  the  penalty  of  fine  and  imprisonment, 
except  in  recognized  cases  of  disability  or  exemption,  to 
serve  the  office.  A  special  constable  is  a  person  appointed 
to  act  as  constable  upon  a  particular  occasion  ;  and  any  two 
magistrates  have,  in  case  either  of  actual  or  apprehended 
riot,  the  power  of  calling  upon  all  persons  who  would  be 
liable  to  serve  as  petty  constables  to  act  as  special  con- 
stables, and  their  refusal  is  punishable  in  the  same  manner 
as  in  the  case  of  the  former  office.  Constables  are  frequent- 
ly appointed  in  pursuance  of  particular  acts  of  parliament, 
as  the  police  constables  in  London.  {Burns'  Justice,  tit. 
"  Constable  ;"    Viner's  Abridgment.) 

CONSTELLA'TION.  (Lat.  con,  together ;  Stella,  a  star.) 
In  order  to  distinguish  with  greater  facility  the  different 
stars,  it  has  been  the  practice  of  observers,  from  time  im- 
memorial, to  separate  them  into  groups  or  clusters,  which 
have  received  the  name  of  constellations,  and  been  repre- 
sented by  the  figures  of  men  or  animals,  or  other  sensible 
objects  to  which  they  were  fancied  to  have  some  resem- 
blance. Hipparchns  called  them  Asterisms ;  Aristotle  and 
Hyginus,  Bodies;  Proclus,  Animals  ;  others,  Meteors;  but 
the  term  Constellation  has  been  long  established  by  general 
usage.  The  origin  of  these  figures  and  names  is  involved 
in  impenetrable  obscurity.  By  most  authors  the  twelve 
constellations  of  the  zodiac  are  supposed  to  have  been  es- 
tablished about  1700  years  before  our  era,  either  by  the 
Egyptians  or  the  Chaldeans.  Dupuis  supposes  them  to 
have  had  an  incomparably  more  ancient  origin,  and  that 
their  names  are  significative  of  the  climate  of  Egypt  at  the 
epoch  when  the  solstice  was  in  Capricorn;  that  is,  about 
15,000  before  Christ.  But  even  on  this  hypothesis,  namely, 
that  the  names  of  the  zodiacal  constellations,  or  signs,  as 
they  are  frequently  called,  are  significative  of  the  seasons, 
it  may  be  supposed  that  reference  was  made  to  the  sign 
opposite  to  the  sun,  instead  of  that  which  the  sun  occupied  ; 
in  which  case  the  origin  of  the  names  would  be  referable 
to  an  epoch  preceding  our  era  by  about  2000  or  3000  years. 
This  arises  from  the  motion  of  the  equinoctial  points,  which 
regress  or  go  backward  annually  among  the  stars,  accom- 
plishing half  a  revolution  in  about  12,500  years. 

Hipparchus  was  the  first  who  constructed  a  catalogue  of 
the  stars  from  exact,  observations.  It  has  been  preserved 
to  our  own  times  in  the  Almagest  of  Plolemy,  and  contains 
1022  stars,  distributed  among  48  constellations ;  namely,  12 
in  the  zodiac,  21  to  the  north  of  the  zodiac,  and  15  to  the 
south.  Stars  which  were  not  comprehended  in  any  of  the 
constellations  (and  it  is  evident  that  there  must  be  many 
such)  were  called  by  a  Greek  term  signifying  ■unformed; 
that  is,  not  entering  into  the  forms  of  the  constellations. 
Several  have  been  added  in  modern  times,  as  the  stars  of 
the  southern  heavens  became  better  known.  A  much 
better  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  figures  and  relative  posi- 
tions of  the  constellations  by  inspecting  a  common  celestial 
globe,  than  from  any  description,  however  detailed. 

The  48  constellations  of  Hipparchus  are  as  follows: — 

In  the  zodiac  12 — Aries,  Taurus,  Gemini,  Cancer,  Leo, 
Virgo,  Libra,  Scorpio,  Sagittarius,  Capricornus,  Aquarius, 
Pisces. 

In  the  northern  hemisphere  21 — Ursa  Minor  (the  Little 
Bear),  Ursa  Major  (the  Great  Bear),  Draco  (the  Dragon), 
Cepheus,  Bootes,  Corona  Borealis,  Hercules,  Lyra,  Cygnus 
(the  Swan),  Cassiopeia.  Perseus,  Auriga  (the  Waggoner), 
Ophiucus  or  Serpenlarius,  Serpens.  Sagitta  (the  Arrow), 
Aquila  (the  Eagle),  Delpltinus  (the  Dolphin),  Equideus  (the 
Horse's  Head),  Pegasus,  Andromeda,  Triangulum  (the 
Triangle). 

In  the  southern  hemisphere  15 — Cetus  (the  Whale), 
Orion,  Eridanus,  Lepus  (the  Hare),  Canis  Major  (the 
Great  Dog),  Cards  Minor  (the  Little  Dog),  Argo  (the  Ship), 
Hydra,  Crater  (the  Cup),  Corvus  (the  Crow),  Centaurus, 
Lnptis  (the  Wolf),  Ara  (the  Altar),  Corona  Austral 'is  (the 
Southern  Crown),  Pisces  Australis  (the  Southern  Fish). 


CONSTITUENT  ASSEMBLY. 

To  the  above  48  constellations  of  Hipparchus,  12  near  the 
south  pole  were  added  by  Bayer,  and  represented  in  his 
Uranometria,  the  first  edition  of  which  appeared  in  1603. 
These  were,  Indus  (the  Indian,  or  Indian  Triangle),  Grus 
(the  Crane),  Phamix,  Apis  or  Musca  (the  Bee),  Triangu- 
lum (ttie  Southern  Triangle),  Avis  IndicaQhe  Bird  of  Para- 
dise), Pavn  (the  Peacock),  Pica  Indica  (the  Toucan).  Hy- 
drus  (the  Hydra),  Dorado,  Pisa's  Volans  (the  Flying  Fish), 
Chameleon.  The  two  constellations,  Coma  Berenices  (Be- 
renice's Hair)  and  Antinous,  were  formed  by  Tycho  Bra- 
he  ;  the  first  comprehending  some  of  Ptolemy's  unformed 
stars  near  Leo,  and  the  second  of  others  near  Aquila.  They 
are  given  in  the  catalogue  of  Riccioli,  published  in  his  As 
tronomy  Reformed  in  10(35. 

In  the  Pianisphcbrium  Stellatum  of  Bartschius,  published 
in  1624,  the  eight  following  constellations  are  found,  and 
said  In  have  been  formed  by  the  moderns  in  that  part  of 
the  heavens  which  is  visible  in  Europe—  Camelopardalis 
(the  Giraffe),  Tigris,  Jordanus,  Vespa (the  Wasp),  Columba 
Noachi  (Noah's  Dove),  Monoceros  (the  Unicorn),  Rhombus 
(the  Rhombus  or  Rhomboid),  Gallus  (the  Cock).  The 
same  constellations  are  met  with  in  the  Celestial  Charts  of 
Royer,  published  in  1679,  with  the  exception  of  Gallus. 
Vespa  is  also  changed  into  Lis  (the  Flower-de-luce),  and 
Crux  (the  Cross)  added. 

In  the  Charts  of  Hevelius,  entitled  Firmamentum  Sobies- 
cianum,  and  published  in  1690.  we  find  10  new  constella- 
tions—  Canes  Venalici  (the  Greyhounds,  Asterion,  and 
Chara),  Lacerta  (the  Lizard),  L:o  Minor  (the  Little  Lion,  in 
place  of  Jordanus,  mentioned  above),  Lynx  (instead  of  Ti- 
gris). Sextans  (the  Sextant  of  Urania),  Scutum  Sobiescian- 
um.  (Sobieski's  Shield),  Triangulum  (the  Little  Triangle), 
Vulpecula  et  Anser  (the  Fox  and  Goose),  Cerberus,  and 
Mons  Mamalus. 

To  the  above  Cor  Caroli  (the  Heart  of  Charles  II.)  was 
added  bv  Flamsteed,  and  Robur  Carolinum  (the  Oak  of 
Charles)  by  Halley. 

Notwithstanding  the  additions  already  made  to  the  con- 
stellations in  the  southern  hemisphere  since  the  time  of 
Ptolemy,  l.acaille  found  so  many  clusters  of  unformed 
stars,  while  observing  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  that  he 
added  to  the  list  no  fewer  than  14  new  constellations,  to 
which  he  gave  the  following  names--Officina  Sculptoria 
(the  Sculptor's  Workshop),  Fornax  Chi/mica  (the  Chemi- 
cal Furnace),  Horolugium  (the  Clock),  iieticulus  Rtiomboi- 
dal.is  (the  Rhomhoidal  Net),  Caelum  Scalptorium'\}ie  Grav- 
er). Equuleus  Pictoris  (the  Painter's  Easel),  Pyxis  Nauti- 
caohe  Mariner's  Compass),  Octane  Hadleiamts  (Hadley's 
Octant),  Machina  Pneumulica  (the  Air  Pump).  Circinus 
(the  Compass).  Quadra  (the  Square),  the  Telescope,  the 
Microscope,  and  Tab'e  Mountain.  Some  still  more  recent 
additions  have  been  proposed,  particularly  by  Bode  ;  among 
which  are  the  Honours  of  Frerleric,  the  Sceptre  of  Bran- 
denburg, Hers'heVs  Telescope,  &c.  ;  but  they  do  not  seem 
to  be  generally  used  in  astronomical  catalogues. 

If  the  question  were  to  be  asked,  What  good  purpose 
can  be  served  by  this  multiplication  of  arbitrary  divisions 
and  fantastic  names?  we  apprehend  that  no  very  satisfac- 
tory answer  could  be  given.  Astronomers  doubtless  find 
it  convenient  to  classify  the  stars  under  certain  divisions  ; 
but  when  the  number  of  divisions  becomes  so  great  as  to 
be  remembered  with  difficulty,  the  advantage  disappears. 
The  arbitrary  nature  of  the  divisions  also  leads  to  great  in- 
convenience, inasmuch  as  they  are  liable  to  much  uncer- 
tainty, and  frequent  change  of  boundary.  Not.  only  have 
the  names  in  several  instances  been  changed,  but  it  seem* 
to  have  been  a  common  practice  with  astronomers  and 
chart-makers  to  take  stars  from  one  constellation  and  give 
them  to  another,  without  any  other  rule  than  that  of  pleas- 
ing their  own  fancies.  On  this  account  it  is  frequently  ex- 
tremely difficult  to  identify  stars  (particularly  in  the  south- 
ern hemisphere)  in  the  different  catalogues.  It  is  to  be 
wished  that,  the  whole  of  the  constellations  (excepting  per- 
haps the  48  of  Hipparchus  and  Ptolemy)  were  obliterated 
from  our  celestial  charts  and  globes,  and  that  observers  in 
describing  the  places  of  the  stars  would  confine  themselves 
to  a  simple  statement  of  their  right  ascensions  and  declina- 
tions, at  least  until  some  better  arrangement  and  nomen- 
clature shall  have  been  devised  and  agreed  upon.  Excel- 
lent maps  of  the  Stars,  with  the  Constellations,  coloured, 
have  been  published  by  the  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of 
Useful  Knowledge:  six  plates,  each"25  inches  square,  ed- 
ited by  Sir  Wm.  Lubbock. 

CONSTITUENT  ASSEMBLY.  In  French  History,  the 
first  of  the  national  assemblies  of  the  revolution;  elected 
in  17S8  as  the  states  general,  dissolved  in  1791  after  pro- 
claiming the  constitution  of  that  year. 

CONSTITUTION.  The  collective  body  of  the  funda- 
mental laws  of  a  stale:  either  contained  in  written  docu- 
ments, or  established  by  prescriptive  u.<age.  Constitutions 
have  been  divided  into  three  kinds  by  political  writers: — 
1.  Those  granted  (octroyees)  by  monarchs  to  their  sub- 
jects; 2.  Those  springing  out  of  rights  enjoved  indepen- 
dently by  the  people,  or  classes  of  the  people,  which  in 
277 


CONSUBSTANTIATION. 

monarchical  countries  are  recognised  by  the  sovereign  in 
his  contract  with  the  people ;  3.  Those  founded  on  com- 
pact between  sovereign  powers,  i.  e.  federal  constitutions. 
In  a  certain  sense,  all  states  in  which  the  power  of  a  sove- 
reign over  his  people,  or  classes  of  his  people,  is  limited 
by  law  or  legal  usage  in  any  particular,  may  be  said  to  pos- 
sess pro  tanto  a  constitution  ;  but,  in  ordinary  language, 
only  a  government  in  which  the  power  o(  legislation,  or 
that  of  granting  and  withholding  supplies  to  the  sovereign, 
is  vested  in  the  people,  or  a  body  of  representatives  elected 
by  them,  or  by  a  class  of  them,  is  termed  constitutional. 
Constitutions  have  again  been  divided  into— 1.  Those  in 
which  legislative  power  is  exercised  directly  by  the  peo- 
ple (as  in  some  small  modern  commonwealths,  and  in  all 
the  free  states  of  antiquity);  and,  2.  Representative  con- 
stitutions. The  last  again,  as  prevailing  in  modern  Europe 
and  America,  has  been  divided  historically  into — 1.  Those 
which  have  originated  from  compact  between  several  inde- 
pendent interests,  as  the  sovereign,  clergy,  nobles,  and 
commons,  in  feudal  kingdoms  ;  2.  Those  formed  artifici- 
ally, in  modern  times,  on  the  model  of  the  British  consti- 
tution ;  which,  although  arising  out  of  the  same  causes 
which  produced  the  feudal  constitutions,  assumed  in  the 
course  of  time  a  different  and  more  comprehensive  cha- 

CONSTITUTIONS.  In  Roman  Law,  decrees  of  regu- 
lar authorities,  as  praetors,  <kc.  ;  more  particularly  decrees 
of  the  emperors,  whether  by  decree,  edict,  or  letter. 

Constitutions,  Apostolical.  An  ancient  code  of  re- 
gulations respecting  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the 
church,  said  by  some  to  have  been  promulgated  by  the 
Apostles,  and  collected  by  Clemens  Romanus.  They  ap- 
pear to  have  been  at  one  time  admitted  into  the  canon  of 
Scripture.  Their  authenticity  has  been  a  subject  of  much 
dispute.  They  have  been  printed  together  with  the  so- 
called  Canons  of  the  Apostles.  (See  Cotelerii  Pat  res  Apos- 
tolici,  vol.  i.  ;  Krahbe's  Dissertations  on  the  Apostol.  Con- 
stitutions and  Canons,  Hamb.  and  Gotting.  1829;  Gieseier, 
Bed   flist.  I  Period,  3  Div.  §  66. 

CONSTRUCTOR.  (Lat.  constringo,  I  squeeze.)  A  name 
applied  to  the  larger  serpents,  which  overcome  and  des- 
troy a  struggling  prey  by  throwing  themselves  round  it  in 
overlapping  folds,  and  crushing  it  by  their  muscular  force. 
The  Boa  Constrictor,  properly  so  called,  is  a  native  of  South 
America,  having  anal  hocks,  and  a  single  row  of  subcaudal 
scuta? 

CONSTRUCTION.  (Lat.  con,  with,  and  struo,  I  pile 
up.)  In  Architecture,  literally  the  building  up  from  the 
architect's  designs  ;  but  amongst  architects  it  is  more  par- 
ticularly used  to  denote  the  art  of  distributing  the  different 
forces  and  strains  of  the  parts  and  materials  of  a  building 
in  so  scientific  a  manner  as  to  avoid  faiiure  and  ensure  du- 
rability. 

CONSTRUCTION  OF  EQUATIONS,  in  Algebra,  is  the 
representing  of  the  roots  of  equations  by  means  of  the  in- 
tersections of  geometrical  lines.  The  roots  of  any  alge- 
braic equation  may  be  represented  by  the  intersection  of  a 
straight  line  with  a  curve  nf  the  same  dimensions  as  the 
proposed  equation,  the  roots  of  the  equation  being  the  or- 
dinates  of  the  points  of  intersection.  An  equation  of  any 
degree  may  also  be  constructed  by  means  of  two  curves, 
whose  dimensions,  multiplied  together,  produce  the  di- 
mensions of  the  given  equation.  Thus,  a  quadratic  equa- 
tion may  be  constructed  by  the  intersection  of  a  straight 
line  with  a  circle,  or  with  any  conic  section  ;  a  cubic  equa- 
tion by  the  intersection  of  a  st  -aighr  line  with  a  line  of  the 
third  order  ;  a  biquadratic  by  the  intersection  of  a  straight 
line  with  a  line  of  the  fourth  order,  or  by  means  of  two 
conic  sections. 

CO'NSUBSTA'NTIA'TION.  The  term  by  which  Lu- 
ther expressed  the  opinion  which  he  held  upon  the  nature 
of  the  elements  in  the  Eucharist,  as  distinguished  from 
Transubstantiation,  the  doctrine  of  the  Romanists.  The 
latter  assert,  as  the  word  they  use  implies,  that  the 
bread  and  wine  are  changed  into  the  body  and  blood,  and 
lose  their  former  substance,  although  they  retain  its  ap- 
pearance miraculously  to  the  senses.  The  Lutherans  de- 
ny this  change ;  but  affirm  that  while  the  bread  and  wine 
clo  still  remain  in  their  natural  substance,  the  body  and 
blood  are  at  the  same  time  transfused  into  them,  and  thus 
that  both  are  actually  partaken  of  together.  Calvin  says, 
"I  assert  that  the  body  of  Christ  is  really  (ns  the  usual  ex- 
pression is),  that  is,  truly  given  to  us  in  the  sacrament,  to 
be  the  saving  food  of  our  souls— the  Son  of  God  offers 
daily  to  us  in  the  holy  sacrament  the  sums  body  that  he 
once  offered  in  sacrifice  to  his  Father,  that  it  may  he  our 
spiritual  food.  If  any  one  ask  me  concerning  the  manner, 
I  will  not  be  ashamed  to  confess  that  it  is  a  secret  too  high 
for  my  reason  to  comprehend,  or  my  tongue  to  express." 
A  reformer  of  the  Enalish  church  would  have  said  proba- 
bly that  the  Romanist  is  decidedly  in  error,  for  the  mystery 
that  he  maintains  exceeds  even  the  literal  interpretation  of 
the  scripture  language.  Upon  the  truth  of  the  Lutheran 
hypothesis  he  would  decline  to  express  an  opinion,  notde- 


CONSUL. 

nying  the  possibility  of  consubstantiation,  but  neither  pre- 
suming to  define  the  manner  of  Christ's  presence  in  the 
elements ;  and  he  would  rather  recognize  in  the  language 
of  Calvin  a  right  appreciation  of  the  verity  of  our  Saviour's 
expressions,  and  a  just  perception  of  the  nature  of  a 
mystery. 

CO'NSUL.  In  Politics,  a  public  officer  whose  functions 
partake  of  the  diplomatic  and  commercial  characters. 
Such  officers  appear  to  have  been  first  employed  by  the 
Italian  republics,  to  protect  their  merchants  engaged  in 
trade  in  the  cities  of  the  Levant.  The  consuls  of  European 
states  in  that  region,  and  in  Africa,  are  at  the  present  time 
officers  of  more  importance  than  those  established  in  the 
cities  of  Christendom  :  as  they  exercise,  according  to  trea- 
ties, civil  jurisdiction  over  the  citizens  of  their  respective 
states.  In  general,  the  consul  is  not  regarded  as  a  minister 
or  diplomatic  functionary,  and  is  subject  to  the  civil  author- 
ities of  the  place  where  he  resides.  A  resident  English 
merchant,  acting  here  as  consul  of  a  foreign  country,  is  not 
exempt  from  arrest  on  mesne  process.  English  consuls 
are  now  under  the  regulations  of  stat.  6  G.  4.,  by  which 
they  are  made  salaried  officers,  and  the  fees  which  they 
are  still  allowed  to  take  are  specified.  (See  M'Culloch's 
Com.  Diet.) 

CO'NSULARS.  The  title  given  to  Roman  citizens  who 
had  been  dignified  with  the  office  of  consul,  and  conse- 
quently were  honoured  with  a  certain  precedence  in  the 
senate. 

CO'NSULS.  The  supreme  magistrates  of  Rome  after 
the  expulsion  of  the  kinzs.  Their  number  was  two,  and 
the  period  of  their  office  one  year;  but  there  was  no  re- 
striction as  to  the  number  of  times  the  same  individual 
might  be  elected.  The  power  of  the  consuls  was  nearly 
the  same  as  that  of  the  kings  ;  i.  e.  they  were  the  supreme 
executive  officers,  but  had  no  legislative  authority.  In  time 
of  war  it  was  highest ;  they  then  levied  the  armies,  and  led 
them  in  person  against  the  enemy.  The  consuls  were 
originally  chosen  only  from  the  Patricians,  but  afterwards 
from  the  Plebeians  also.  The  age  required  by  law  was  43 
years;  but  besides  this  it  was  requisite  to  have  passed 
through  the  inferior  offices  of  quaestor,  aedile,  and  prsetor. 
They  were  elected  at  the  Comitia  Centuriata,  some  months 
before  their  entrance  into  office,  which  took  place  at  differ- 
ent periods  of  the  year  at  different  times,  but  finally  in  Jan- 
uary, during  which  interval  they  were  termed  consules  de- 
signati,  or  appointed  consuls.  Soon  after  their  entrance 
into  office  they  cast  lots  about  the  provinces  to  fall  to  the 
share  of  each,  the  superintendence  of  which  was  conferred 
on  them  by  the  senate.  Under  the  emperors  the  nominal 
office  of  the  consulate  was  preserved,  but  its  substantial 
power  destroyed  ;  the  elections  also  became  merely  forms, 
the  emperor  appointing  whom  he  pleased.  Then  too  the 
custom  was  introduced  of  having  several  sets  of  consuls  in 
one  year;  those  admitted  on  the  first  day,  however,  gave 
their  names  to  the  year,  and  were  distinguished  from  the 
others,  who  were  termed  suffecti  (i.  e.  substituted),  by  the 
title  ordinarii  (t  e.  regular).  Persons  also  were  sometimes 
dignified  merely  with  the  title  without  enjoying  the  office, 
and  were  then  styled  honorary  consuls.  Under  Justinian 
(a.  u.  1294)  the  year  ceased  to  be  denominated  by  the 
name  of  the  consul. 

Consuls,  in  French  History,  were  the  persons  (Bona- 
parte, Sieyes,  and  Ducos)  to  whom,  after  the  dissolution 
of  the  Directory  in  November  1799,  was  entrusted  the  pro- 
visional government  of  the  country,  and  at  whose  sugges- 
tion it  was  agreed  that  France  should  be  permanently  sub- 
jected to  consular  authority.  According  to  the  constitution 
framed  on  this  suggestion,  Bonaparte,  Cambaceres,  and 
Lebrun,  called  first,  second,  and  third  consuls,  were  elected 
by  the  conservative  senate  each  for  ten  years,  and  invested 
with  different  degrees  of  authority  But  the  senate  having 
passed  various  decrees  curtailing  the  powers  of  the  second 
and  third  consuls  and  augmenting  those  of  the  first,  by  which 
the  government  was  gradually  assimilated  to  a  monarchy, 
after  tho  lapse  of  four  years  and  a  half  an  easy  transition 
was  made  from  the  consular  to  the  imperial  form  ;  the  title 
of  emperor  was  substituted  for  that  of  consul,  and  the  exer- 
cise of  the  sovereign  authority,  which  indeed  had  been  only 
nominally  shared  with  his  colleagues,  delegated  exclusively 
to  Napoleon  Bonaparte. 

CO'NSULTA'TION,  (Lat.)  in  ordinary  Legal  language, 
is  a  meeting  of  the  counsel  engaged  by  a  party  to  a  suit,  for 
the  purpose  of  deliberating  on  the  best  mode  of  proceeding 
in  the  case. 

Consultation,  Writ  op.  In  Law,  a  writ  granted  by  the 
king's  court,  whereby  a  cause  which  had  been  removed 
into  such  court  by  prohibition  out  of  the  ecclesiastical  court 
is  returned  thither  again.  It  is  so  called  because  it  issues 
in  consequence  of  the  judges,  on  consultation,  having  found 
that  the  suggestion  on  which  the  proposition  was  granted  is 
false  or  not  proved.     See  Prohibition. 

CONSUMPTION.  (Lat.  consumo,  I  waste  away.)  This 
term  is  commonly  applied  to  a  diseased  state  of  the  lungs, 
attended  by  emaciation,  debility,  cough,  hectic  fever,  and 
278 


CONTINGENT. 

purulent  expectoration.  It  may  be  produced  by  a  variety 
of  causes ;  but  hereditary  disposition  and  scrophulous  habit 
are  leading  causes  which  predispose  to  its  most  alarming 
form,  namely,  that  which  arises  from  tubercles  in  the  lungs. 
Its  first  symptoms  are  cough  ;  at  first  dry,  but  afterwards 
attended  by  mucous  expectoration,  difficult  breathing,  lassi- 
tude, and  impaired  appetite.  Thes-e  are  succeeded  by  more 
copious  expectoration  of  viscid  or  purulent  matter,  some 
times  streaked  with  more  or  less  blood  ;  greater  difficulty 
of  breathing,  pain  in  the  side,  especially  on  coughing  or 
taking  a  full  inspiration  ;  and  inability  to  lie  with  equal  com- 
fort upon  both  sides ;  the  emaciation  becomes  more  percep- 
tible ;  and  the  pulse,  at  first  not  much  affected,  becomes 
full,  hard,  and  quick  ;  frequent  flushings  and  fever  of  a  re- 
mittent character  ensue,  attended  by  chills  and  red  sedi- 
ment in  the  urine,  but  the  tongue  is  not  much  altered,  and 
the  mouth  is  usually  moist ;  the  bowels,  at  first  irregular, 
become  habitually  relaxed  ;  profuse  perspirations,  attended 
by  extreme  debility  and  rapid  emaciation,  follow ;  the  legs 
swell ;  and  the  patient  sinks,  generally  retaining  the  senses, 
and  even  in  hope  and  spirits  to  the  last.  In  the  early  treat- 
ment of  this  disease  the  tendency  to  inflammatory  action 
must  be  most  cautiously  encountered  by  bleeding,  cupping, 
or  blisters;  the  bowels  gently  opened  by  saline  aperients; 
and  the  cough  and  irritability  quieted  by  opium,  henbane, 
or  hemlock,  and  by  small  doses  of  expectorants.  Tonics 
and  acids  require  to  be  given  with  the  utmost  prudence ; 
and  after  all  little  except  palliation  can  be  effected.  The 
diet  must  from  the  beginning  be  scrupulously  attended  to, 
and  should  be  mild  and  nutritive,  but  not  stimulant ;  and 
sometimes  a  temporary  benefit  results  from  change  of  air; 
but  where  the  disease  is  once  established  its  effect  is  un- 
certain, and  it  is  in  many  cases  worse  than  injudicious  to 
advise  change  of  climate.  The  inhalation  of  vapours  of 
chlorine  and  iodine,  in  very  minute  quantity,  has  appeared 
to  give  in  some  cases  a  little  temporary  relief;  in  others  it 
has  proved  decidedly  mischievous  ;  in  none  permanently 
useful;  and  we  must  with  regret  assume  that  there  has 
been  some  mistake  in  the  supposed  cures  of  established 
and  constitutional  consumption.  In  its  very  early  periods, 
change  ofcountry,  diet,  habit,  and  occupation  will  sometimes 
seem  to  suspend  its  progress;  it  has  also  been  checked  by 
other  diseases,  and  not  unfrequently  it  lies  dormant  in  fe- 
males who  breed  quickly;  but  at  a  later  period  it  again 
shows  itself,  and  proceeds  to  its  fatal  end.  (See  Clarke  on 
Consu?nption,  8vo.  1841.) 

CO'NTACT,  ANGLE  OF.  In  Geometry,  the  angle  made 
by  a  curve  line  with  its  tangent.  Euclid  has  demonstrated 
that  the  angle  made  by  the  circle  with  its  tangent  is  smaller 
than  any  rectilinear  ansle,  and  that  no  straight  line  can  be 
drawn  between  the  circle  and  tangent  without  cutting  the 
circle.  Innumerable  circles  may,  however,  be  made  to 
pass  between  them.  Formerly  the  angle  of  contact  afforded 
geometers  a  fruitful  source  of  metaphysical  controversy. 
See  an  excellent  account  of  the  writings  of  Wallis,  Peleta- 
rius,  Clavius,  Vieta,  and  others,  on  this  subject,  in  the  notes 
to  Camerer's  Euclid,  Berlin,  1824. 

CONTA'GION.  (Lat.  contagies.)  The  propagation  of 
specific  diseases  from  person  to  person.  Contagioiis  poisons 
communicate  the  property  of  producing  similar  poisons: 
the  small-pox  is  a  characteristically  contagious  disease.  By 
some  writers  the  term  has  been  limited  to  diseases  requir- 
ing actual  contact  for  their  communication  ;  but  contagious 
matter  appears  often  transmissible  by  the  air,  hence  the 
terms  immediate  and  mediate  contagion.  Where  diseases 
are  propagated  through  the  medium  of  the  air,  they  are 
generally  called  infectious. 

CONTF/MPT.  In  Law,  disobedience  to  the  rules,  orders, 
or  process  of  a  court  of  competent  authority.  Contempt  in 
court  is  punishable  by  fine  and  imprisonment:  for  contempt 
out  of  court  an  attachment  may  be  granted.  Contempt  of 
the  king's  prerogative,  by  refusing  to  assist,  him  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  his  lawful  authority,  &c,  is  a  high  misprision  or 
misdemeanor. 

CO'NTEXT.  (Lat.  contextus.)  The  general  series  of  a 
discourse ;  when  we  cite  a  particular  passage,  we  mean  by 
its  context  the  parts  immediately  preceding  and  following 
it,  which  determine  or  affect  its  sense. 

CONTINE'NTAL  SYSTEM.  In  Modern  History,  the 
celebrated  plan  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  for  excluding  the 
merchandise  of  England  from  all  parts  of  the  Continent.  It 
was  commenced  by  the  decree  of  Berlin,  issued  21st  Nov. 
1806,  which  declared  the  British  islands  in  a  state  of  block- 
ade, and  made  prisoners  of  war  all  Englishmen  found  in 
the  territories  occupied  by  Fiance  and  her  allies.  The 
blockade  thus  instituted  was  far  from  complete ;  and  in  the 
course  of  events  licenses  were  expressly  granted  by  the 
government  for  its  evasion,  and  became  a  source  of  reve- 
nue. Some  writers  have  affirmed  that  British  commerce 
lost  by  this  decree  and  those  which  followed  it  more  than 
60  millions  sterling  in  18  months;  but  this  is  an  enormous 
exaggeration. 

CONTI'NGENT.  (Lat.)  In  Politics,  the  proportion 
(generally  of  troops)  furnished  by  one  of  several  contract- 


CONTINUAL  PROPORTIONALS, 

Ing  powers  in  pursuance  of  an  agreement.  The  Germanic 
diel  lias  fixed  the  contingents  of  the  several  states  forming 
that  confederacy  to  ils  army  by  the  stipulations  of  1814. 

CONTI'NUAL  PROPO'RTIONALS  Quantities  are 
said  to  be  continual  proportionals,  or  in  continued  propor- 
tion, when  the  first  is  to  the  second  as  the  second  to  the 
third,  as  the  third  to  the  fourth,  and  so  on. 

CONTINUED  BASS.  In  Music,  the  same  as  thorough 
bass.  It  receives  the  name  from  its  continuation  through 
the  whole  of  a  composition. 

CONTl'NUED  FRA'CTIONS.  In  Arithmetic,  a  spe- 
cies of  fractions  first  proposed  about  the  year  1670  by  Lord 
Brounker,  President  of  the  Royal  Society,  and  improved  by 
Dr.  Wallis ;  but  which  have  acquired  their  greatest  value 
by  their  application,  in  the  hands  of  the  Continental  mathe- 
maticians, to  the  solution  of  numerical  equations,  and  of 
problems  in  the  indeterminate  analysis.  Their  nature  will 
be  most  easily  understood  from  a  numerical  example. 

Let  it  be  required  to  convert  the  fraction  ij|  into  a  con- 
tinued fraction.  The  value  will  not  be  altered  by  dividing 
both  terms  by  the  same  number.  Assume  27,  which  is 
contained  in  the  numerator  108,  and  on  dividing  the  de- 
nominator by  it  there  will  result  the  compound  quotient 
514.  The  given  fraction  therefore  becomes  m,  or 
4  5 

^+14.  Again,  dividing  the  fraction  ^  *  Dv  tne  greatest 
measure  of  its  numerator,  namely  7,  it  will  be  changed 
into  _6  ,  or  _  ,  g.  Wherefore  the  original  fraction  is 
now  transformed  into  _  .  2  ,  „.      It  is,  however,  more 

5+3  +  f 

convenient  to  divide  by  such  numbers  as  will  render  the 

numerators  all  units.     Thus,  let  the  fraction  be   f--|X' 

1  a  M  " 

Divide  both  terms  by  287,  and  there  results  ^131       Di- 

d2BV 

viding  again  the  terms  of  the  last  fraction  by  its  numerator 

131,  there  arises  —  25  •    Dividing  again  by  25,  the  fraction 

T3T  .  6         , 

TnST  '3  converted  into  -  5  Lastly,  — —  =  _  1  Collect- 
1  3  1  5-j.  £>        4ff. 

„  ,u     <-  237     1 

Ing  all  the  fragments,  we  now  get  -^y=-n     , 

It  is  easy  to  see  how  the  continued  fraction  is  reconstructed 
into  its  equivalent  simple  fraction,  by  following  the  reverse 
process. 

By  decomposing  a  fraction  in  this  manner  a  series  of 
derivative  fractions  is  obtained,  which  constantly  approach 
to  the  true  expression,  and  exhibit  the  successive  ap- 
proximate values  in  the  lowest  terms.    Taking  the  last 

example,    '^L:   if  we   stop  with   the   first   term  of  the 

992  1 

expansion,  we  find  for  the  approximate  value  3',  which  is 
considerably  too  small;  if  we  take  in  two  terms,  we  find 
Ll=y,  which  is  a  little  too  large.     Admitting  three 

1         _n 

terms,  we  get    3J.I ,  i~~38'  which  is  again  too  little,  but 

nearer  the  true  value  than  the  last.  In  this  manner  we 
approach  nearer  and  nearer  at  every  successive  step  ; 
and  it  may  be  remarked,  that  the  errors  are  alternately  in 
excess  and  defect.  (See  Leslie's  Philosophy  of  Arithmetic ; 
Euclid's  Analysis  Inftnitormn  ;  and  the  Additions  to  the 
French  translation  ol  Eider's  Algebra.) 

CONTINU'lTY,  LAW  OF.  A  principle  of  considerable 
use  in  investigating  the  laws  of  motion,  and  of  change  in 
general,  and  which  may  be  thus  enunciated: — Nothing 
passes  from  one  state  to  another  without  passing  through  all 
the  intermediate  states.  Leibnitz  claims  the  merit  of  having 
first  made  known  this  law ;  but  in  so  far  as  motion  at  least 
is  concerned,  it  is  distinctly  laid  down  by  Galileo,  and  as- 
cribed by  him  to  Plato.  But  though  a  perception  of  its  truth 
seems  to  have  been  felt  long  before,  Leibnitz  was  certainly 
the  first  who  applied  the  principle  to  test  the  consistency 
of  theories,  or  supposed  laws  of  nature.  The  argument  on 
which  he  attempted  to  establish  it  a  priori  is,  that  if  any 
change  were  to  happen  without  the  intervention  of  time, 
the  thing  changed  must  be  in  two  different  conditions  at 
one  and  the  same  instant,  which  is  obviously  impossible. 
A  remarkable  application  of  the  law  of  continuity  was  made 
by  John  Bernoulli  in  an  Essay  on  the  Laws  and  Communi- 
cation of  Motion,  which  gained  the  prize  of  the  Academy 
of  Sciences  of  Paris  in  1724,  to  prove  that  perfectly  hard 
bodies  cannot  exist  ;  because,  in  the  collision  of  such 
bodies,  a  finite  change  of  motion  must  take  place  in  an  in- 
stant, an  event  which,  by  the  law  now  explained,  is  impos- 
sible. This  conclusion  was  objected  to  by  D'Alembert  and 
Maclaurin.wbo  on  account  of  it  were  disposed  to  reject  the 
279 


3+Y 


CONTRACT. 

law  of  continuity  altogether ;  but  the  difficulty  is  got  over  by 
supposing  (which  on  various  grounds  is  extremely  probable) 
that  there  is  no  real  contact,  and  that  bodies  begin  to  act  on 
each  other  when  their  surfaces,  or  what  seem  to  be  their 
surfaces,  are  yet  at  a  distance. 

CONTO'RNIA'TI.  In  Numismatics,  medals  supposed 
to  have  been  struck  about  the  period  of  Constantine  the 
Great  and  his  immediate  successors;  they  are  of  bronze, 
with  a  flat  impression,  and  marked  with  peculiar  furrows. 
(It.  contorni,  whence  their  name.)  They  bear  the  figures 
of  famous  emperors  or  celebraied  men.  Their  object  is 
uncertain;  but  they  have  been  supposed  to  be  tickets  of 
admission  to  the  public  games  of  the  circus  in  Rome  and 
Constantinople. 

CONTOUR.  (It.  contorno.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  the  exter- 
nal lines  which  bound  and  terminate  a  figure.  The  beauty 
of  contour  consists  hi  those  lines  being  flowing,  lightly 
drawn,  and  sinuous.  They  must  be  carefully  and  scien- 
tifically drawn,  which  cannot  be  effected  without  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  anatomy. 

CO'NTRABA'ND.  (It.  contra,  against;  bando,  an  edict 
or  proclamation.')  In  Commercial  language,  goods  exported 
from  or  imported  into  a  country  against  its  laws.  Contra- 
band of  icar,  such  articles  as  a  belligerent  has,  by  the  law  of 
nations,  the  right  of  preventing  a  neutral  from  furnishing  to 
his  enemy.  Articles  contraband  of  war  are,  in  general,  arms 
and  munitions  of  war,  and  those  out  of  which  munitions  of 
war  are  made :  all  these  are  liable  to  be  seized :  but  very 
arbitrary  interpretations  have  been  affixed  to  the  term  by 
powerful  states,  when  able  to  enforce  them  by  arms.  Thus 
provisions  are  held  contraband  of  war  when  it  is  the  object 
to  reduce  the  enemy  to  famine.  But  with  respect  to  these 
and  other  articles  not  in  their  nature  contraband,  it  seems 
to  be  the  practice  that  the  belligerent  should  purchase  them 
from  the  neutral  for  a  reasonable  equivalent,  instead  of 
confiscating. 

CONTRABA'SSO.  (It.)  The  largest  of  the  violin  species 
of  string  and  bowed  instruments,  whereof  it  forms  the  low- 
est bass,  usually  called  the  double  bass. 

CO'NTRACT.  In  Civil  Law,  the  term  usually  applied 
to  such  agreements,  whether  express  or  implied,  as  create, 
or  are  intended  to  create,  a  legal  right,  and  corresponding 
liability  ;  such  right  not  attaching  to  the  possession  of  the 
subject  matter  of  the  contract,  except  in  equity,  and  that 
indirectly,  but  subsisting  both  in  equity  and  law  against  the 
contracting  party. 

The  conditions  essential  to  the  legal  validity  of  a  contract 
relate  eitherto  the  competency  of  the  parties,  the  sufficiency 
of  the  consideration  or  inducement,  the  nature  of  the  thing 
contracted  for,  the  fairness  of  the  transaction,  or,  lastly,  to 
the  form  of  the  agreement. 

And,  first,  as  to  the  competency  of  the  parties.  The  party 
to  be  sued  must  have  been  at  the  time  of  the  contract  of 
sound  mind,  and,  unless  it  was  for  the  supply  of  neces- 
saries, of  full  age  :  and  if  a  woman,  she  must  have  been 
unmarried,  subject  as  to  the  latter  condition  to  some  excep- 
tions established  either  by  local  custom  or  by  the  doctrines 
of  equity. 

Secondly,  as  to  the  sufficiency  of  the  consideration  on  the 
part  of  the  person  suing, — it  must  have  been  either  future 
marriage  since  performed,  or  money,  or  something  capable 
of  being  estimated  in  money  ;  or  some  act.  whether  of  per- 
formance or  abstinence,  whereby  some  undoubted  advan- 
tage, though  not  capable  of  being  exactly  valued,  accrues  to 
the  party  sued. 

Thirdly,  the  act  contracted  for  must  be  neither  contrary  to 
written  law,  nor  to  public  policy  ;  and  it  must  be  beneficial 
to  the  party  seeking  either  performance  or  compensation,  or 
to  some  one  on  whose  behalf  he  gave  the  consideration. 

Fourthly,  there  must  have  been  neither  fraud  (either  by 
concealment  or  misstatement)  nor  compulsion  on  the  part 
of  the  plaintiff  in  obtaining  the  agreement ;  and  fraudulent 
acts  subsequent  to  the  agreement  having  reference  to  it  are 
also  sufficient  to  deprive  the  guilty  party  of  all  right  under 
it.  Some  circumstances  are  in  equity  considered  either  as 
conclusive  evidence  of  fraud,  or  as  substantive  acts  of  coer- 
cion, which  are  not  strictly  of  such  a  nature,  and  are  not  so 
deemed  at  law. 

Lastly,  as  to  the  form  of  the  agreement.  Where  it  relates 
to  an  interest  in  land  of  three  years'  duration  or  more,  or  to 
goods  of  the  value  of  \Ql.  or  upwards,  unless  there  be  earnest 
or  delivery,  or  where  it  is  an  agreement  as  surety,  or  where 
it  is  upon  marriage  as  a  consideration,  it  must  be  in  writing; 
though  the  want  of  a  written  instrument  may  be  supplied 
in  equity  by  partial  performance,  that  is,  by  acts  evidently 
done  in  pursuance  of  the  alleged  contract. 

Contracts  are  sometimes  implied  either  in  the  whole 
from  the  acts  of  the  parties,  as  from  the  ordering  of  goods 
a  contract  to  pay  for  them  ;  or  in  part,  and  as  incidental  to 
the  principal  agreement,  as,  in  the  case  of  a  lease,  a  con- 
tract by  the  tenant  to  use  fairly  and  take  due  care  of  the 
thing  leased.  And  at  law  some  obligations  not  arising  in 
any  manner  from  contract  are,  as  regards  the  mode  of  en- 
forcing them,  placed  on  the  same  footing  as  those  which  do 


CONTRADICTORY  PROPOSITIONS. 

arise  from  contract ;  the  remedy,  and  not  the  right,  being 
assimilated  by  statute. 

Such  are  the  general  requisites  to  the  validity  of  agree- 
ments; but  at  law  the  extent  of  the  right  and  liability 
arising  under  them  varies  according  to  their  form  :  agree- 
ments being  there  divided  into  those  under  seal,  which 
are  called  agreements  by  specialty,  and  those  not  under 
seal,  which  are  called  simple  contract  or  parol  agreements, 
including  not  only  such  as  are  merely  verbal,  but  such  as 
are  written  and  unsealed.  The  first  sort  alone  are  binding 
upon  the  land,  and  that  only  when  the  heir  is  named  ;  and 
they  possess  this  farther  advantage  over  agreements  by 
simple  contract,  that  being  executed  as  the  deed  of  the  con- 
tracting party,  a  sufficient  consideration  will  always  be  im- 
plied in  their  favour,  unless  an  insufficient  one  be  actually 
stated  on  the  face  of  them.  Again,  agreements  both  by 
specialty  and  simple  contract  are  either  to  pay  a  sum  cer- 
tain actually  stated  in  the  agreement,  or  a  sum  uncertain 
to  depend  upon  the  value  of  the  thing  received  ;  or  they 
are  agreements  to  perform  certain  acfs.  In  the  first  case, 
the  remedy  is  by  action  of  debt  either  on  bond  or  covenant, 
or  upon  simple  contract,  as  the  case  may  be.  In  either  of 
the  latter  cases  the  remedy  is  by  action  for  breach  of  cov- 
enant where  the  agreement  is  under  seal,  or  by  action  of 
assumpsit  where  it  is  by  simple  contract ;  the  relief  given 
in  each  of  the  two  last-mentioned  sorts  of  action  being 
compensation  in  damages  for  the  injury  accrued  from 
non-performance  of  the  agreement.     See  Action. 

The  remedy  in  equity,  where  there  is  any,  is  in  all  cases 
alike — specific  performance  of  the  act  agreed  to  be  done  ; 
and  such  relief  will  be  given  to  the  same  extent  and  against 
the  same  parties,  whether  the  contracting  party  himself  or 
his  real  or  personal  representatives,  without  any  distinction 
between  agreements  under  seal  and  those  which  are  not  so. 

But  though  courts  of  equity  have  jurisdiction  in  all  cases 
of  agreements,  at  least  in  all  such  as  do  not  constitute  an 
actual  debt  at  law,  yet  the  exercise  of  that  jurisdiction  is 
subject  to  certain  rules,  a  matter  of  discretion  ;  for  the 
reason  that  the  denial  of  the  equitable  relief  will  not  leave 
the  party  without  some  remedy,  namely,  that  of  damages 
at  law:  and  on  this  account  specific  performance  can  only 
be  obtained  in  equity  in  those  cases  where  pecuniary 
damages  wouid  not  afford  to  the  disappointed  party  an 
adequate  compensation.  Thus  such  relief  will  not  be 
granted  in  any  of  t\r.se  cases  where  the  inducement  to  the 
bargain  or  agreement  was  merely  the  expectation  of  profit, 
as  it  is  in  agreements  for  the  sale  or  purchase  of  personal 
chattels;  and  other  circumstances  also  are  a  bar  to  equita- 
ble relief,  which  are  no  defence  to  an  action  at  law,  as,  for 
instance,  the  want  of  mutual  liability,  apparent  laches,  and 
indifference  in  follnvingup  the  agreement;  or  particular 
consequences  of  collateral  hardships  arising  to  one  party 
from  actual  performance  ;  or  the  impropriety  in  equity  of 
the  agreement,  as  where  performance  would  be  a  breach 
of  trust.  And  on  the  other  hand,  though  the  equitable 
jurisdiction  is  founded  upon  a  supposed  legal  right,  there 
arc  cases  in  which  the  right  having  been  lost  at  law,  as  by 
default  in  literal  compliance  with  the  terms  of  the  agree- 
ment, will  yet  be  enforced  in  equity. 

Contract,  Original  or  Social.  In  Politics,  that 
which  is  supposed  to  exist  ab  initio,  according  to  some 
theories  of  government,  between  the  sovereign  power  and 
the  subject  So  prevalent  was  this  doctrine  at  the  period 
of  tl  3  revolur;'  n  of  1688,  that  the  Convention  Parliament 
pron  l.inced  James  II.  to  have  broken  the  "  original  con- 
tract between  the  king  and  the  people."  The  original  con- 
tract with  the  reciprocity  of  rights  and  duties  which  it  en- 
genders, is  clearly  a  supposition  having  no  historical  foun- 
dation in  the  annals  of  any  people  ;  but  it  is,  nevertheless, 
the  only  hypothesis  in  which  men  can  consistently  pro- 
ceed in  framing  a  theory  of  government  which  shall  satisfy 
at  once  the  moral  and  economical  wants  of  society. 

CONTRADICTORY  PROPOSITIONS.  In  Logic,  are 
those  which  having  the  same  terms  differ  in  quantity  and 
in  quality.  Contrary  Propositions  are  two  universals  with 
the  same  terms,  the  one  negative  and  the  other  affirma- 
tive-    See  Proposition. 

CONTRA'LTO.  (It.)  In  Music,  the  part  immediately 
below  the  treble  ;  called  also  the  counter  tenor. 

CO'NTRAST.  (Fr.  contraste.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  an 
opposition  of  lines  or  colours  to  each  other,  so  contrived 
that  the  one  gives  greater  effect  to  the  other.  By  means 
of  contrast  energy  and  expression  are  given  to  a  subject, 
even  when  employed  on  inanimate  forms.  All  art  is  in- 
deed a  system  of  contrast :  lights  should  contrast  with 
shadows,  figures  with  figures,  members  with  members, 
and  groups  with  groups.  It  is  this  which  gives  life,  soul, 
and  motion  to  a  composition. 

CO'NTRATENO'RE.  In  Music,  the  same  as  Contralto, 
which  see, 

CO'NTRAVALLA'TION.     (Lat.    vallum,    trench.)    In 

Fortification,  a  trench  guarded  by  a  parapet,  formed  by 

the  besiegers  between  their  camp  and  the  place  besieged, 

to  secure  themselves  and  check  the  sallies  of  the  garrison. 

2S0 


CONVENTION. 

The  line  of  eontratallation  is  thus,  as  the  name  implies, 
a  sort  of  coun'er  fortification. 

CONTROL,  BOARD  OF,  or  BOARD  OF  COMMIS- 
MISSIONERS  FOR  THE  AFFAIRS  OF  INDIA,  is  con- 
stituted under  the  authority  of  Mr.  Pitt's  celebrated  Act, 
passed  in  1783.  It  consists  of  such  members  of  the  privy 
council  as  his  Majesty  is  pleased  to  appoint,  of  whom  the 
two  principal  secretaries  of  state  and  chancellor  of  the  ex- 
chequer always  form  three.  The  president  is  usually  a 
cabinet  minister.  The  controlling  functions  of  the  board 
consist  in  revising  all  despatches  prepared  by  the  court  of 
directors  and  addressed  to  the  governments  in  India.  It 
also  has  the  power  of  requiring  the  court  to  prepare  de- 
spatches on  a  given  subject,  and  revising  and  altering 
them.  The  board  is  divided  into  six  departments, — ac- 
counts, revenue,  judicial,  military,  secret  political,  and 
foreign  and  public.  The  names  of  the  first  four  indicate 
their  duties :  the  third  has  three  subdivisions, — the  secret 
departments,  respecting  confidential  communications  ad- 
dressed (as  the  act  prescribes)  by  the  local  governments  to 
the  secret  committee  of  the  court  of  directors,  and  vice 
versa ;  the  political,  comprising  general  correspondence 
respecting  native  chiefs  and  slates  ;  the  foreign,  respecting 
foreign  Europeans  and  Americans  resorting  to  India.  The 
public  department  takes  charge  of  commercial,  ecclesias- 
tical, and  other  miscellaneous  affairs.  The  salary  of  the 
president  of  the  board  is  3500/.,  that  of  a  paid  commis- 
sioner 1200/.,  of  the  secretary  1500/. 

CONTROLLER.  (Fr.  controleur.)  An  officer  ap- 
pointed  to  control  or  oversee  the  accounts  of  other  offi- 
cers, and  to  certify  whether  the  matters  confided  to  his 
care  have  been  controlled  or  examined.  hi  England, 
there  are  several  public  functionaries  of  this  title,  as  the 
controller  of  the  mint,  customs,  stationery,  &c. 

CO'NTUMACY.  (Fr.  contumace,s/MJ6(/r?!.)  In  Scotch 
Ecclesiastical  Law,  a  wilful  disobedience  to  any  lawful 
summons  or  judicial  order.  It  is  punished  by  imprisonment. 

CO'NUS.  (Gr.  kwvos,  a  cone.)  A  term  in  Botany,  de- 
noting that  form  of  inflorescence  called  astrobilus  or  cone, 
which  is  a  spike,  the  carpels  of  which  are  scale  like,  spread 
open,  and  bear  naked  seeds.  Sometimes  the  scales  are 
thin,  with  little  cohesion  ;  but  they  often  are  woody,  and 
cohere  into  a  single  tuberculated  mass. 

Conns.  The  name  of  a  Linna?an  genus  of  Vermes  Tes- 
tacea,  characterized  by  the  conical  form  of  the  shell,  the 
base  of  which  is  formed  by  the  spire,  which  is  accordingly 
flat,  or  very  slightly  projecting ;  the  aperture  is  narrow  and 
rectilinear,  or  nearly  so,  without  any  enlargement  or  pli- 
cation. The  genus  is  retained  without  subdivision,  and 
forms  part  of  the  Buccinoid  family  of  the  Pectinibranchiatc 
order  of  Gastropods  in  the  system  of  Cuvier. 

CO'NVENT.  (Lat.  conventus,  from  convenio,  /  come 
together.)  A  religious  house,  inhabited  by  a  society  of 
monks  or  nuns.     ,S'ee  Monachis.m. 

CONVE'NTICLE.  (Lat.,  diminutive  of  conventus.) 
An  assembly  for  the  purpose  of  divine  worship;  first  used 
in  a  contemptuous  sense  for  the  meetings  of  the  followers 
of  Wicliflfe  (stat.  2  H.  4.  c.  15.)  and  since  applied  to  the 
places  of  meeting  of  petty  sects  and  of  Dissenters  in 
general  in  the  Conventicle  Act,  16  Car.  2.,  repealed  by  52 
G.  3.  c.  155.  Originally  the  word  had  no  such  peculiar 
application,  but  was  used  by  the  fathers  and  ancient  writers 
for  a  church. 

CONVE'NTION.  In  Political  language,  this  name  has 
been  applied  to  assemblies  of  national  representatives 
meeting  on  extraordinary  occasions  without  being  con- 
voked by  the  legal  authority.  Two  parliaments  have  been 
so  called  in  English  history.  The  first,  that  which  met  in 
April,  1660,  and  restored  Charles  II.  to  the  throne — the 
Lords  assembling  by  their  own  authority ;  and  the  Com- 
mons, by  virtue  of  writs  issued  in  the  name  of  the  keepers 
of  the  liberties  of  England,  by  the  authority  of  parliament. 
The  second,  that  which  met  in  1688,  each  house  by  its  own 
authority,  and  on  the  summons  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  ; 
which  declared  King  James  II.  to  have  abdicated  the 
crown,  and  transferred  it  to  William  and  Mary.  In  French 
History,  the  name  Convention  is  applied  to  that  assembly 
which  met  after  the  legislative  assembly  had  pronounced 
the  suspension  of  the  royal  functions,  in  September,  1792, 
and  proclaimed  the  republic  at  its  first  sitting.  This  body 
dissolved  itself  on  the  establishment  of  the  Directory,  in 
October,  1796.  The  Scottish  assembly  which  met  on  the 
flight  o  f  James  n.  was  entitled  the  Convention  of  Estates.  In 
the  United  States,  meetings  of  the  people  of  separate  states, 
by  specially  chosen  representatives,  to  review  and  amend 
the  state  constitutions,  have  been  termed  Conventions. 

Convention,  Military.  A  treaty  between  military 
commanders  concerning  terms  for  a  temporary  cessation 
of  hostilities  ;  generally  between  a  victor  and  a  defeated 
general,  for  the  evacuation  of  a  district  or  position  by  the 
latter.  Such,  at  least,  were  the  two  most  celebrated  con- 
ventions of  modern  times  :  that  of  Closter-Seven  (1757), 
between  the  Dukes  of  Cumberland  and  Richelieu  ;  that 
of  Cintra  (1808),  between  Junot  and  the  English  generals. 


CONVERGENT-NERVED 

CONVE'RGENT-NERVED.  A  term  used  in  describ- 
ing the  venation  of  leaves,  to  denote  cases  where  the  ribs 
form  a  curve  and  meet  at  the  point,  as  in  Plantago  Ian- 
ceotata. 

CONVE'RGING  SERIES.  In  Analysis,  are  series  of 
which  every  succeeding  term  is  smaller  than  the  preced- 
ing, and  which,  consequently,  tend  to  a  certain  limit.  It 
is  only  converging  series  which  admit  of  summation. 

CO'NVERSE.  In  Geometry,  a  proposition  is  said  to  be 
the  converse  of  another  when  the  conclusion  of  the  first 
being  used  as  the  supposition  in  the  second,  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  second  agrees  with  the  supposition  of  the  first. 
Thus,  the  fifth  proposition  of  the  first  book  of  Euclid  af- 
firms that  if  the  two  sides  of  a  triangle  be  equal,  the  angles 
at  the  base  are  equal ;  and  the  sixth  affirms  that  if  the 
angles  at  the  base  be  equal,  the  two  sides  are  equal.  The 
sixth  is  therefore  the  converse  of  the  fifth. 

CONVE'RSION.  In  Logic,  a  proposition  is  said  to  be 
converted  when  the  terms  are  so  transposed  that  the  sub- 
ject is  made  the  predicate,  and  vice  versa.  All  logical 
conversion  is  illative ;  ;'.  e.  the  truth  of  the  converse  fol- 
lows from  that  of  the  original.  Conversion  is  either  "sim- 
ple" or  "  per  accidens."  Universal  negatives  (denoted  by 
the  sign  E)  and  particular  affirmatives  (I)  can  be  converted 
simply,  retaining  both  quantity  and  quality  :  thus,  "  No 
virtuous  man  is  a  rebel;"  "  No  rebel  is  a  virtuous  man." 
Conversion  per  accidens  changes  either  quantity  or  quali- 
ty. Universal  affirmatives  (A)  are  converted  by  changing 
the  quantity  ;  as,  "  All  oaks  are  trees  ;"  "  Some  trees  are 
oaks."  Particular  negatives  (O)  by  changing  the  quality, 
considering  the  negative  as  attached  to  the  predicate  in- 
stead of  the  copula  :  the  proposition  is  thus  changed  into 
I. — "  Some  poets  are  not  learned  :"  "  Some  not  learned 
(unlearned)  men  are  poets."     See  Proposition. 

CO'NVEItT.  (Lat.)  A  person  who  changes  his  reli- 
gion. Individuals,  of  what  faith  soever,  who  abandon  their 
own  creed  and  embrace  Christianity  are  called  converts. in 
contradistinction  to  apostates,  applied  generally  to  Chris- 
Hans  who  adopt  another  religion.  History,  both  sacred 
and  profane,  has  transmitted  to  us  many  instances  of  sud- 
den conversion,  in  which  the  hand  of  a  miraculous  provi- 
dence may  clearly  be  traced.  Among  the  most  remarka- 
ble may  be  mentioned  the  conversion  of  3000  Jews  on  the 
day  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  and  that  of  Paul  the  apos- 
tle, the  emperor  Constantine,  and  Clovis,  king  of  France. 

CONVEY' ANCE.  (From  convey.)  In  Law,  a  deed 
which  passes  land  from  one  to  another.  (See  Real  Pro- 
perty, Law  of.)  A  conveyancer  is  a  lawyer,  whose 
business  consists  in  advising  and  preparing  such  deeds. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  be  called  to  the  bar  to  practise  as  a 
conveyancer;  but  most  conveyancers  take  that  step  soon 
after  beginning  their  business,  and  frequently  combine  it 
with  that  of  equity  draftsmen. 

CONVI'CTION.  At  Common  Law,  is  the  finding  of 
one  guilty  of  an  offence  by  the  verdict  of  a  jury  >  w>d  may 
take  place  where  one  is  outlawed,  or  appears  and  con- 
fesses, or  is  found  guilty  on  the  inquest  (See  Jury,  Ver- 
dict.) By  various  statutes  summary  proceedings,  without 
the  intervention  of  a  jury,  are  authorized  for  the  trial  and 
conviction  of  minor  offenders.  Such  are  those  before 
commissioners  of  excise,  &c.  for  breaches  of  the  revenue 
laws,  ami  before  justices  of  the  peace  for  various  disor- 
derly offences.  The  party  charged  must  be  summoned  to 
attend  ;  and  a  conviction  by  a  magistrate  must  be  in  writing, 
and  should  state  the  whole  of  the  evidence  for  and  against 
the  defendant. 

CONVOCATION.  (Lat.  convoco,  /  call  together.)  In 
English  Ecclesiastical  Law,  the  council  of  the  church, 
derived,  first,  from  the  custom  of  the  bishops  assembling 
their  diocesan  clergy  for  the  sake  of  considering  spiritual 
matters;  and,  secondly,  of  the  archbishops  holding  con- 
vocations of  the  clergy  of  a  whole  province.  Convoca- 
tions were  first  assembled  in  England  under  the  king's 
authority  by  Edward  I.,  who  summoned  them  by  their 
provinces,  for  the  sake  of  obtaining  subsidies  from  the 
clerical  body.  They  met  in  each  province  in  two  houses 
— one  of  the  suffragan  bishops ;  the  other  of  deans,  arch- 
deacons, and  representatives  of  the  inferior  clergy.  The 
taxation  of  their  own  body  was  withdrawn  from  convoca- 
tion in  1664 ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  privilege  of  voting 
for  knights  of  the  shire  was  then  conceded  to  ecclesias- 
tics. As  the  power  of  enacting  canons  had  been  already 
virtually  abolished  by  statutes  of  Henry  VIII.,  Elizabeth, 
and  Charles  II.,  there  now  remained  no  business  for  con- 
vocation to  transact ;  and  it  was  only  in  the  reigns  of  Wil- 
liam III.  and  Anne,  when  attempts  were  made  by  the 
high  church  party  to  impart  fresh  activity  to  it  as  an  eccle- 
siastical tribunal,  that  its  meetings  were  attended  with  any 
historical  importance.  Since  that  period  it  has  become 
customary  to  prorogue  convocation  every  year  immediate- 
ly upon  its  assembling.  The  rights  and  history  of  the  con- 
vocation are  treated  of  at  length  in  several  writings  of  the 
learned  Bishop  Gibson,  especially  big  Synodus  Anglicana, 
Load.  1702. 

281 


CO-ORDINATES. 

Convocation,  House  of,  in  the  University  of  Oxford, 
is  the  assembly  which  enacts,  amends,  <fec.  laws  and  stat- 
utes ;  elects  burgesses,  many  professors,  and  other  offi- 
cers, <fcc.  It  is  composed  of  all  members  of  the  university 
who  have  at  any  time  been  Regents  (see  Regents),  and 
who,  if  independent  members,  have  retained  their  names 
on  the  books  of  their  respective  colleges.  The  power  of 
convocation  at  Oxford  to  make  statutes  is  limited  :  in  the 
first  place,  the  royal  statutes  cannot  be  explained  or 
amended  without  royal  license ;  and,  in  the  next  place, 
with  respect  to  all  other  laws  and  statutes,  no  proposition 
can  be  entertained  in  convocation  unless  it  has  been  first 
submitted  to  the  hebdomadal  meeting  of  heads  of  houses, 
by  whom  it  must  be  in  the  first  instance  sanctioned  or 
rejected. 

CONVO'LVULA'CEiE.  (Convolvulus,  one  of  the  gen- 
era.) A  natural  order  of  herbaceous  or  shrubby  Exogens, 
twining  and  producing  a  milky  juice  when  wounded. 
They  are  very  abundant  in  the  tropics,  and  possess  pur- 
gative qualities  in  their  roots,  depending  upon  a  peculiar 
resin,  of  which  scammony  and  jalap,  yielded  by  the  Con- 
tolulus  Scamnwnia  and  Ipomaa  purga,  may  be  taken  as 
examples.  Many  of  these  plants  are  objects  of  striking 
beauty  ;  some,  which  unfold  their  pure,  white,  magnificent 
flowers  at  night  only,  are  called  in  tropical  countries  Belle 
de  Nuit ;  others  expand  only  beneath  a  warm  and  brilliant 
sunshine.  The  Lignum  Rhodium  of  the  old  pharmacolo- 
gists is  produced  by  an  upright  bushy  species,  called 
Breweria  seoparia. 

CO'NVOY.  (Fr.  convoyer,  to  conduct.)  In  Navigation, 
the  term  applied  to  designate  a  ship  or  ships  of  war,  ap- 
pointed by  government,  or  by  the  commander  in  chief  on 
a  particular  station,  to  escort  or  protect  the  merchant  ships 
proceding  to  certain  ports.  Convoys  are  mostly  appointed 
during  war;  but  they  are  sometimes  also  appointed  dur- 
ing peace,  for  the  security  of  ships  navigating  seas  infested 
with  pirates.  For  an  account  of  the  various  regulations 
ainl  conditions  relative  to  convoys,  see  ftVCulloch's  Coin. 
Diet. 

Convoy,  in  the  Military  service,  signifies  a  detachment 
of  troops  appointed  to  guard  supplies  of  provisions,  ammu- 
nition, or  money,  in  their  progress  to  a  distant  part  of  any 
country',  or  to  an  army  .in  the  field,  against  an  attack  which 
might  be  made  upon  them  either  by  the  peasantry  or  by 
parties  of  the  pnemy. 

CONVU'LSION.  (Lat.  convello,  I  pull  together.)  A 
writhing  and  agitation  of  the  limbs,  and  involuntary  action 
of  the  muscles  in  general.  The  fits  vary  much  in  extent 
and  violence,  sometimes  attacking  the  whole  body,  and  at 
others  confined  to  particular  parts  ;  in  the  former  case  the 
mind  is  affected,  but  it  often  remains  in  the  latter  undis- 
turbed :  they  also  vary  in  duration,  lasting  from  a  few 
minutes  to  some  hours.  They  are  sometimes  preceded 
with  dizziness,  double  or  disturbed  vision,  and  coldness, 
and  are  followed  by  great  languor ;  but  at  others  they  come 
and  go  without  much  disturbance.  Teething,  worms,  and 
overloaded  bowels  are  common  causes  of  convulsive  at- 
tacks in  children ;  and  these  are  relieved  by  freely  and 
timely  lancing  the  gums,  and  by  the  administration  of  pro- 
per purges.  In  puerperal  convulsions  bleeding  and  opiates 
are  the  usual  remedies ;  and  in  cases  where  convulsive 
attacks  arise  from  violent  affections  of  the  mind,  the  ex- 
citing causes  must  be  studiously  avoided.  Warm  baths, 
bleeding,  and  nervine  stimulants  are  the  usual  medical 
aids  ;  and  where  there  is  difficulty  of  swallowing,  a  glyster, 
composed  of  half  a  pint  of  gruel  with  a  drachm  of  tincture 
of  opium  and  two  drachms  of  tincture  of  assafcetida,  has, 
in  adults,  proved  eminently  useful.  Cold  effusions  often 
do  harm.  The  after-treatment  consists  in  the  judicious 
use  of  tonics  and  nervous  stimulants,  and  in  avoiding  all 
obvious  exciting  causes. 

COO'LER.  An  apparatus  used  by  brewers  and  distil- 
lers for  cooling  worts.  The  coolers  generally  consist  of 
very  shallow  vessels  exposing  great  surface,  and  placed  in 
the  high  and  airy  parts  of  the  brewery  :  the  cooling  is 
sometimes  assisted  by  fans,  which  agitate  the  air  over  their 
surfaces.  Worts  are  also  occasionally  cooled  by  causing 
them  to  traverse  metal  pipes,  which  are  surrounded  by  a 
counter-current  of  cold  water. 

CO-O'RDINATES.  (Lat.  con,  together,  and  ordino,  / 
arrange.)  In  Analytical  Geometry,  the  system  of  lines  to 
which  points  under  consideration  are  referred,  and  by 
means  of  which  their  position  is  determined.  The  posi- 
tion of  a  point  on  a  plane  is  absolutely  determined  if  we 
know  its  distances,  measured  in  a  given  direction,  from 
two  straight  lines  given  by  position  in  the  same  plane.  In 
like  manner,  the  position  of  a  point  in  space  is  determined 
by  its  distances  from  three  straight  lines  given  by  position, 
provided  any  one  of  them  be  not  in  the  same  plane  with 
the  other  two.  The  use  of  co-ordinates  was  introduced 
into  geometry  by  Descartes,  for  the  purpose  of  facilitating 
the  investigation  of  the  properties  of  curve  lines.  For  the 
sake  of  convenience,  they  are  generally  chosen  at  right 

angles  to  each  other,  and  are  then  called  rectangular  co> 
T. 


COPAIBA. 

ordinates.  In  plane  geometry,  one  of  them  is  the  absciss, 
and  the  other  the  ordinate.  The  geometry  of  three  dimen- 
sions requires  one  absciss  and  two  ordinates  ;  the  first  hori- 
zontal, and  the  second  vertical.  The  point  from  which  they 
all  proceed  is  the  origin  of  the  co-ordinates. 

COPAI'BA  or  COPIVl  BALSAM.  An  exudation  from 
the  Copaifera  officinalis,  a  South  American  tree  ;  it  is  a  li- 
quid resin,  and  yields  by  distillation  a  considerable  quantity 
of  a  pungent  volatile  oil.  A  small  teaspoonful  taken  twice 
a  day  in  a  glass  of  water  proves  diuretic,  and  is  of  use  in 
the  cure  of  gleet  and  the  latter  stages  of  gonorrhma.  A 
larger  dose  is  aperient,  and  has  been  of  service  in  the  treat- 
ment of  hemorrhoids. 

CO'PAL.  (An  American  name  applied  to  clear  gums?) 
This  substance  is  often  improperly  called  gum.  copal.  It  is 
a  peculiar  resin,  very  difficultly  soluble  in  alcohol ;  hard, 
brittle,  and  inodorous  :  its  specific  gravity  varies  from  104 
to  113.  It  is  the  produce  of  the  Rhus  copallinum  and  of 
the Elceocarpus  copaliferus  of  the  East  Indies  :  a  third  kind 
of  copal  is  also  brought  from  the  Coast  of  Guinea.  It  is 
used  in  varnishes. 

COPA'RCENARY.  (Lat.  con,  andparticeps.)  In  Law, 
an  estate  is  said  to  be  held  in  coparcenary,  and  the  tenants 
termed  coparceners,  where  it  descends  from  an  ancestor 
to  two  or  more  persons.  Sisters  are  coparceners  at  com- 
mon law ;  tenants  in  gavelkin  by  custom.  No  right  of  sur- 
vivorship exists  between  coparceners.  They  may  agree, 
or  any  one  may  force  the  rest  to  make  partition. 

CO'PING.  (Sax.  cop,  the  head.)  In  Architecture,  the 
upper  covering  or  top  course  of  a  wall,  usually  of  stone, 
and  wider  than  the  wall  itself,  in  order  to  let  the  rain  water 
fall  clear  from  the  wall. 

CO'PPEB.  (Cuprum,  a  corruption  of  Cyprium,  from 
the  island  of  Cyprus,  whence  it  was  formerly  brought.) 
This  metal  was  known  at  a  very  remote  period ;  and  in  the 
early  ages  of  the  world,  before  iron  was  in  use,  copper  was 
the  chief  ingredient  in  domestic  utensils  and  instruments 
of  war.  It  is  an  abundant  metal,  and  is  found  native,  and 
in  many  ores  ;  of  these  the  most  important  are  the  varie- 
ties of  pyrites,  which  are  sulphurets  of  copper  and  iron. 
The  richest  mines  are  those  of  Cornwall.  It  occurs  in 
veins,  traversing  the  primary  rocks  of  that  county  ;  it  is 
chiefly  transported  to  Swansea  to  be  smelted,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  deficiency  of  coal  in  Cornwall.  The  ores 
are  repeatedly  roasted  and  fused  to  drive  off  the  sulphur, 
and  the  oxide  of  copper  is  ultimately  rpduced  by  the  joint 
agency  of  heat  and  carbon.  Copper  is  distinguished  by  its 
colour.  Its  specific  gravity  is  8  6.  It  is  ductife  and  malle- 
able, and  requires  a  temperature  equal  to  about  2000°  of 
Fahrenheit's  scale  for  its  fusion ;  that  is,  nearly  a  white 
heat.  Exposed  to  air  and  moisture,  copper  gradually  be. 
comes  covered  by  a  green  rust;  heated  red-hot  it  absorbs 
oxygen,  and  is  superficially  converted  into  a  black  oxide, 
which  is  the  basis  of  the  principal  salts  of  copper:  it  con- 
sists of  32  copper  and  8  oxygen.  It  forms  blue  or  green 
ealts  with  the  acids  ;  of  these  the  sulj>hale  of  copper,  or  blue 
vitriol,  is  a  good  example.  The  salts  of  copper  are  poison- 
ous ;  and  in  consequence  of  the  use  of  copper  vessels  for 
culinary  purposes,  food  is  sometimes  contaminated  by 
them.  It  is  detected  when  in  very  minute  quantities  by 
the  bright  blue  colour  produced  by  the  addition  of  liquid 
ammonia,  and  by  a  brown  precipitate  with  ferrocyanate  of 
potash.  A  clean  plate  of  iron  dipped  into  a  solution  con- 
taining copper  becomes  covered  with  the  latter  metal  in  a 
metallic  state. 

COPPERAS.     Green  vitriol,  or  sulphate  of  iron. 

CO'PPERPLATE.  In  Engraving,  a  plate  of  copper  high- 
ly polished  on  which  an  engraving  is  made. 

CO'PPICE.  Woods  which  are  cut  down  at  stated  periods 
to  be  manufactured  into  poles,  rods,  stakes,  faggots  for  fuel, 
bark  for  the  tanner,  or  charcoal.  When  wood  of  this  kind 
has  no  standard  trees,  it  is  called  simply  a  coppice,  or  copse 
wood  ;  but  when  it  has  standard  trees  interspersed  through 
it,  it  is  called  a  wood.  When  coppices  are  cut  down  for 
hoops,  rods,  and  small  stakes  for  manufacturing  into  crates, 
hoops,  wicker  hurdles,  &c,  the  period  at  which  they  are 
cut  varies  from  six  to  ten  years,  according  to  the  soil. 
When  they  are  cut  down  for  poles  for  hops  and  similar  pur- 
poses, the  periodical  cuttings  are  commonly  between  twelve 
and  fourteen  years  apart ;  and  when  they  are  cut  down 
chiefly  for  the  sake  of  the  bark,  they  are  seldom  cut  often- 
er  than  from  fourteen  to  twenty-one  years.  A  country 
abounding  in  coppice  wood  generally  abounds  also  in  sing- 
ing birds,  which  are  comparatively  rare  in  countries  where 
all  the  woods  are  of  the  pine  and  fir  tribe. 

COPRO'PHAGANS,  Coprophaga.  (Gr.  Koiraot,  dung, 
and  <bayta,  I  eat.)  A  section  of  Lamellicorn  beetles  which 
live  in  and  upon  the  dung  of  animals. 

CO'PULA.  (Lat.  a  bond  or  tie.)  In  Logic,  that  part  of 
the  proposition  which  affirms  or  denies  the  predicate  of  the 
subject.  The  only  true  logical  copula  is  the  present  tense 
of  the  verb  to  be,  with  or  without  the  negative  sign,  "  is  "  or 
"is  not." 

CO'PY.    (Fr.  copie.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a  transcript  from 
282 


CORCULUM. 

an  original  work  of  art.    When  an  artist  copies  his  own 
work,  it  is  called  a  duplicate  or  double. 

Copy.  In  Printing,  is  the  subject  matter  to  be  printed, 
whether  it  be  an  original  work  in  manuscript  or  a  reprint : 
in  the  first  case  it  is  termed  manuscript  copy,  or  written 
copy  ;  in  the  second  printed  copy. 

CO'PYHOLD.  In  Law,  is  a  species  of  customary  estate, 
said  to  be  held  by  copy  of  court  roll ;  i.  e.  where  the  tenant's 
title  is  evidenced  by  a  copy  of  the  rolls  of  a  manor  made 
by  the  steward  of  a  lord's  court.  Customary  estates  are 
those  which  exist  in  real  property  subject  to  the  custom  of 
manors  ;  and  their  peculiar  characteristic  is,  that  all  aliena- 
tions of  them  must  be  transacted,  in  part  at  least,  in  the 
lord's  court,  the  ordinary  mode  of  alienations  being  by  sur- 
render to  the  lord  and  admittance  of  the  new  tenant.  The 
peculiar  tenure  called  copyhold  is  derived  from  the  tenure 
in  villain  socage,  as  it  was  termed,  held  formerly  under  a 
manor.  This  was  in  its  origin  a  mere  permissive  tenure 
by  serfs  attached  to  the  soil ;  and  copyhold  estates  are  still 
expressed  in  legal  phraseology  to  be  held  "at  the  will  of 
the  lord  by  the  custom  of  the  manor."  With  respect  to 
the  incidents  of  dower,  and  other  characteristics,  they  are 
frequently  governed  by  the  custom  ofthe  manor;  butwhere 
this  is  not  the  case,  they  are  under  the  same  rules  which 
govern  the  transmission  and  alienation  of  freehold  property. 
By  the  Reform  Act,  copyholders  for  life,  or  a  greater  estate 
to  the  amonnt  of  10/.  per  annum,  are  admitted  to  the  exer- 
cise ofthe  electoral  franchise  in  counties.  The  best  treatises 
on  the  law  of  copyholds  are  those  of  Watkins  and  Scriven. 

CO'PYRIGHT.  In  Law,  the  right  of  property  in  a  lite- 
rary composition  vested  in  the  author.  By  54  G.  3.  c.  156. 
s.  4.  the  term  of  copyright  in  an  author  and  his  assignee 
extends  to  twenty-eight  years  absolutely,  and  for  the  life  of 
the  author  if  he  survive  that  period.  Neglect  to  enter  a 
work  at  Stationers'  Hall  does  not  affect  copyright.  Every 
assignment  of  copyright  must  be  in  writing.  The  author 
or  assignee  of  a  pirated  work  has  his  remedy  by  action  ; 
or  chancery  will  grant  an  injunction  to  restrain  the  sale  of 
pirated  copies,  and  produce  an  account  of  such  copies 
printed  and  sold.  The  act  above  mentioned  required  that 
eleven  copies  of  every  work  should  be  delivered  at  the  ex- 
pense of  authors  and  publishers,  on  demand  in  writing,  for 
the  use  of  a  few  favoured  public  and  private  libraries  in  the 
United  Kingdom  ;  but  by  the  6  &  7  Will.  4.  cap.  110.  the 
number  was  reduced  to  five.  In  France,  copyrights  con- 
tinue for  20  years  after  the  death  of  the  author.  In  most 
of  the  German  states,  they  are  perpetual ;  and  to  prevent 
spurious  copies  being  introduced  from  other  states,  a  late 
resolution  of  the  Diet  has  declared  that  a  copyright  secured 
in  one  state  is  good  in  all.  Both  in  England  and  on  the  Con- 
tinent, various  other  compositions,  such  as  engravings,  etch- 
ings, prints,  maps,  charts,  and  sculpture  of  all  kinds,  receive 
from  statute  a  protection  analogous  to  that  of  literature. 

CO'K  ACLE.  A  boat  made  of  wicker-work  covered  with 
leather,  usci  chiefly  by  the  ancient  Egyptians. 

CO'RACOlD  (Gr.  (copaf,  a  crow,  and  eiSos,  form.")  A 
name  first  applied  to  a  small  process  of  the  blade-bone  of 
apes  and  man,  on  account  of  its  resemblance  to  the  beak 
of  a  crow ;  and  now  extended  to  a  large  flattened  bone 
passing  from  the  shoulder-joint  to  the  sternum  in  birds, 
reptiles,  and  monotremes,  and  of  which  the  process  above 
mentioned  is  the  rudimental  representative. 

CORALLI'NA.  A  name  applied  by  Linnaeus  to  agenus 
or  group  of  marine  organized  bodies  of  arborescent  habit, 
with  jointed  stems,  supported  on  a  kind  of  root,  divided 
into  branches,  which  are  likewise  jointed.  Neither  pores 
nor  polypes  are  distinguishable  on  the  surface  of  these  be- 
ings ;  their  chief  puqiose  in  the  economy  of  nature  is  to 
prepare  during  life,  and  precipitate  by  their  decay,  fine 
particles  of  carbonate  of  lime  or  chalk  :  they  thus  lend 
their  aid  to  the  Lithophytous  corals  in  covering  submerged 
land  with  the  elements  of  a  fertile  soil,  which  the  expansive 
subterranean  forces  may  afterwards  convert  into  dry  land. 

CORALLI'NES.  The  name  commonly  applied  to  the 
tubular  or  nudibrachiate  order  of  Polyps  which  havean  ex- 
ternal jointed  calcareous  or  homy  covering  :  the  true  na- 
ture of  these  plant-like  animals  was  discovered  by  our  coun- 
tryman Ellis.     See  Tubulifera. 

CO'RBEILS.  In  Fortification,  little  baskets  filled  with 
earth,  about  a  foot  and  a  half  high,  and  from  eight  inches 
to  a  foot  in  diameter,  which  are  set  on  a  parapet  or  else- 
where to  afford  cover  from  the  fire  of  an  enemy. 

CO'RBEL.  (From  the  Fr.  corbeille,  a  basket.)  In  Archi- 
tecture, a  projecting  bracket,  often  sculptured  like  a  modil- 
lion,  sometimes  in  the  form  of  a  basket,  for  the  purpose  of 
supporting  a  superincumbent  object,  also  for  receiving  the 
springing  of  an  arch.  A  corbel  table  is  a  projecting  battle- 
ment, parapet,  or  cornice,  resting  on  corbels. 

CO'RCULUM.  (Lat.  cor,  the  heart.)  An  old  name  for 
what  botanists  now  call  the  embryo  of  a  plant.  It  was  not, 
however,  applied  with  much  precision  ;  for  the  plumula 
and  radicle  alone  of  such  seeds  as  the  bean  and  almond 
were  called  the  corculum,  while  the  term  should  have  in- 
cluded the  cotyledons  also. 


CORDATE. 

CO'RDATE.  (Lat.  cor,  the  heart ;  literally  heart-shaped.) 
A  term  used  in  describing  the  general  form  of  organs,  to 
denote  any  thin;  having  two  round  lobes  at  its  base,  the 
whole  resembling  the  heart  in  a  pack  of  cards ;  as  the  leaf 
of  Alnus  cordifolia. 

COR'DIA'CE^E.  (Cordia,  one  of  the  genera.)  A  na- 
tural order  of  arborescent  Exogens,  inhabiting  the  tropics 
of  both  hemispheres.  They  are  nearly  allied  to  Convol- 
vulacem,  from  which  they  are  separated  by  their  inverted 
embryo  and  drupaceous  fruit.  They  were  formerly  asso- 
ciated with  Boraginaceoz ;  but  their  plaited  cotyledons  and 
dichotomous  style  caused  them  to  be  removed.  The  flesh 
of  the  fruit  is  succulent,  as  seen  in  the  Sebesten  plums, 
the  produce  of  the  Cordia  myxa  and  Sebesfena;  but  other- 
wise they  are  of  no  value.  It  has  been  asserted  that  the 
wood  from  which  the  mummy  cases  of  the  Egyptians 
were  made  was  that  of  Cordia  myxa;  but  there  is  no 
doubt  that  it  was  really  produced  by  Ficus  sycomorus. 

CO'RDON.  In  Fortification,  a  row  of  stones  jutting  out 
between  the  rampart  and  base  of  the  parapet.  A  line  of 
troops  drawn  round  a  town  or  tract  of  country,  so  as  to  pre- 
vent ingress  or  egress,  is  also  called  a  cordon. 

CO'RIA'RIA'CEjE.  (Coriaria,  one  of  the  genera.)  Ana- 
tural  order  of  shrubby  Exogens,  inhabiting  Chile,  Peru,  the 
south  of  Europe,  and  a  few  other  places.  Placed  by  De 
Candolle  directly  after  Ochnacem ;  an  order  with  which 
they  no  doubt  agree  in  some  respects,  but  they  differ  from 
them  very  essentially  in  being  apocarpous.  Some  botan- 
ists consider  them  apetalous,  and  allied  to  PhytularcacetB ; 
the  question  of  their  affinity  is  still  unsettled.  Their  sen- 
Bible.properties  are  of  a  poisonous  nature. 

CORIA'NDER.  The  second  of  the  Coriandrum  sati- 
vum, (Gr.  n»K,  a  bug,  the  odour  of  the  fresh  plant  re- 
sembling that  of  a  bug.)  It  is  a  native  of  Europe,  culti- 
vated on  account  of  its  seeds,  which  are  occasionally  used 
in  medicine  ;  they  have  a  peculiar  perfumed  flavour,  with 
some  bitterness,  and  form  one  of  the  ingredients  of  curry 
poxcder. 

CORI'NTHIAN  ORDER.  In  Architecture,  one  of  the 
five  orders  of  architecture.  The  capital  (see  Architec- 
ture) is  a  vase  elegantly  co- 
vered with  an  abacus,  and  sur- 
rounded by  two  tiers  of  leaves, 
one  above  tho  other;  from 
among  which  stalks  spring 
out,  terminating  at  their  sum- 
mits in  small  volutes  at  the  ex- 
ternal angles  and  centres  of 
the  abacus.  The  capitals  of 
the  Tuscan,  Doric,  and  Ionic 
orders  appear  added  to  tin- 
tops  of  the  shafts  ;  but  the  Co 
rinthian  capital  sterns  to  grow 
out  of  the  column,  varying  in 
height  from  a  diameter  and 
one  sixth  of  the  lower  part  of 
the  shaft  to  one  diameter  only  ; 
such  last  being  the  height  of 
the  capitals  of  the  temple  at 
Tivoli.  The  entablature  of 
this  order  is  variously  deco- 
rated. The  architrave  is  usu- 
ally profiled,  with  three  fascice 
of  unequal  height,  though  in 
some  specimens  there  are 
only  two.  The  frieze  is  often 
sculptured  with  foliage,  and 
the  cornice  decorated  both 
with  modillions  and  dentils  ; 
the  former  having  a  sort  of  baluster  front  with  a  leaf  un- 
der them  ;  and  the  latter,  which  are  cut  into  the  body  ot 
the  band,  being  occasionally  omitted,  as  are  sometimes 
even  the  modillions.  The  principal  remaining  ancient  ex- 
amples of  the  order  at  Rome  are  in  the  Temple  of  Mars 
Ultor,  Portico  of  Severus,  the  Forum  of  Nerva,  Temple  of 
Vesta,  Basilica  of  Antoninus,  the  Pantheon,  <fcc.  <fcc 

CORK.  (Corrupted  from  Lat.  cortex;  Germ,  kork.) 
The  bark  of  the  Quercxtssuber,  a  species  of  oak  growing  in 
the  southern  provinces  of  Spain,  France,  and  Italy.  When 
rasped  cork  is  digested  in  water  and  alcohol,  it  leaves  from 
70  to  80  per  cent,  of  insoluble  matter,  which  has  been 
called  suberine,  and  which,  by  the  continued  action  of  ni- 
tric acid,  is  converted  into  suberic  acid. 

CO'RMUS.  (.Gr.  Kopfios,  a  stem.)  The  dilated  base  of 
the  stem  of  Endogens,  intervening  between  the  roots  and 
the  first  buds,  and  forming  the  reproductive  portion  of  such 
plants  when  they  are  not  caulescent :  as  in  the  genera  Col- 
chicum,  Crocus,  &c.     It  is  a  short  roundish  rhizoma. 

CORN.  The  seeds  of  certain  grasses  which  have  been 
used  as  food,  for  man  or  animals,  from  time  immemorial 
are  called  corn  ;  and  those  which  are  used  exclusively  or 
principally  by  man  are  called  the  bread  corns.  The  term 
corn  is  also  sometimes  applied  to  the  seeds  of  other  plants 
which  can  be  ground  into  meal  and  used  as  food,  such  as 
283 


CORN. 

the  seeds  of  the  buckwheat,  the  quinoa,  and  those  of  cer- 
tain leguminous  plants,  which,  however,  are  more  properly 
denominated  pulse.  That  which  constitutes  any  kind  of 
seed  a  corn  seems  to  be  its  having  been  generally  ground 
into  meal,  and  used  as  human  food  ;  because  seeds  which 
are  ground  or  crushed,  and  not  used  as  food,  or,  if  con- 
sidered as  food,  are  not  used  in  the  state  of  bread,  such  as 
the  seeds  of  the  oil  plants,  of  mustard,  &c,  are  never 
called  corns.  The  principal  bread  corns  of  temperate  cli- 
mates are  wheat,  rye,  oats,  and  barley  ;  those  of  warm 
climates  are  maize,  rice,  and  millet ;  and  those  of  cold  cli- 
mates oals  and  barley. 

It  may  be  worthy  of  remark,  that  all  bread  corns  are  an- 
nual plants,  and  from  that  circumstance  far  better  adapted 
for  universal  cultivation  than  if  ihey  had  been  perennials, 
or  even  biennials.  An  annual  plant  may  indeed  be  said  to 
belong  to  no  country  in  particular,  because  it  completes  its 
existence  during  the  summer  months;  and  in  every  part 
of  the  world  there  is  a  summer.  Hence,  we  find  the  same 
corns  ripening  their  seeds  within  the  frigid  and  the  torrid 
zone ;  and  though  the  quality  of  the  grain  of  barley  and 
wheat  grown  in  Lapland  is  far  inferior  to  that  grown  in  tho 
south  of  Spain,  or  on  the  plains  of  India,  yet  it  is  still  such 
as  to  be  made  into  wholesome  bread  and  invigorating  fer- 
mented liquor.  Had  the  bread  corns  been  perennials,  they 
must  necessarily  have  required  to  live  through  the  winter 
in  every  country  in  which  they  were  grown,  as  well  as 
through  the  summer;  and  such  of  them  as  might  have 
been  adapted  to  the  winters  of  cold  climates,  when  taken 
to  warm  climates  would  have  been  so  far  weakened  by  be- 
ing kept  in  a  growing  state  throughout  the  year  as  in  a  few 
years  to  have  ceased  to  exist;  while  the  perennials  of 
warm  climates,  such  as  the  south  of  Spain  and  Italy,  could 
not  have  lived  through  a  single  winter  in  Russia  or  Lapland. 
For  the  same  reason,  that  is,  because  they  are  annuals, 
and  require  little  more  than  to  be  sown  and  reaped,  the 
bread  corns  are  in  an  especial  manner  the  doraestio 
plants  of  man  in  an  early  stage  of  civilization.  A  people 
like  the  wandering  Arabs,  who  live  in  tents,  and  change 
their  encampments  annually  oroftener,  may  conveniently 
reap  their  crop,  raise  their  tents,  and  carry  their  seed  corn 
about  with  them,  till  they  find  a  suitable  spot  where  they 
can  pitch  their  tents  and  take  their  next  crop.  This,  how- 
ever, could  not  be  done  by  a  people  who,  in  addition  to 
corn  and  pulse,  depended  for  the  food  of  themselves  and 
cattle  on  the  production  of  roots,  such  as  the  turnip  and 
the  potatoe  ;  and  these  accordingly  are  plants  character- 
istic of  a  settled  people,  in  a  higher  degree  of  civilization 
and  a  greatly  advanced  state  of  agriculture.  The  capacity 
of  any  country  for  growing  corn  may  be  said  to  be  accord- 
ing to  the  flatness  of  its  surface,  provided  it  be  neither  too 
hot  nor  too  cold,  too  wet  nor  too  dry  ;  and  hence  the  im- 
mense plains  of  Russia  and  Tartary  are  eminently  calcu- 
lated for  raising  food  for  man.  The  perennial  grasses  and 
trees  also  grow  better  in  plains  than  any  where  else  ;  but 
they  will  thrive  nn  the  steep  declivities  of  hills,  which,  if 
subjected  to  tillage  in  order  to  grow  corn,  would  have  the 
surface  soil  washed  away  by  rains  ami  thawing  snows. 

Value  of  the  Produce  of  Corn.—  In  agricultural  coun- 
tries, not  in  a  very  high  state  of  civilization,  the  culture  of 
corn  is  the  princfpal  employment  of  the  great  bulk  of  the 
community  ;  and  in  all  considerable  countries,  how  far  so- 
ever they  may  be  advanced  in  arts  and  refinement,  its  cul- 
ture is  always  by  far  the  most  extensive  as  well  as  the  most 
important  branch  of  national  industry.  No  great  country,  per- 
haps,ever  existed,  the  population  of  which  was  so  extensively 
engaged  in  manufactures  and  commerce  as  that  of  Great 
Britain.  Still,  however,  we  employ  about  a  third  part  of  our 
inhabitants  in  agriculture  ;  and  of  these,  fully  three  fourths 
are  directly  or  indirectly  engaged  in  the  raising  of  corn.  Un- 
fortunately, there  are  no  accounts  on  which  it  would  be  safe 
wholly  to  rely  of  the  ordinary  produce  of  corn  either  in  this 
or  any  other  great  country.  That  produce  has,  however, 
been  estimated  in  the  Commercial  Dictionary  at  52,000,000 
quarters  (of  which  12.000,1X10  are  wheat),  for  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland  :  and  it  is  believed,  by  those  best  acquainted 
with  such  subjects,  that  this  estimate  is  rather  within  than 
beyond  the  mark.  But  supposing  it  to  be  accurate,  and 
taking  the  average  price  of  the  different  descriptions  of 
corn  at  35s.  a  quarter,  the  total  value  of  the  corn  annually 
produced  will  amount  to  the  sum  of  jE91,000,000  sterling, 
or  to  nearly  three  times  the  total  annual  value  of  the  cot- 
ton manufacture !  This  is  sufficient  to  evince  the  para- 
mount importance  of  agriculture  as  a  source  of  wealth  as 
well  as  a  means  of  subsistence. 

Corn  Laws. — This  superior  importance  of  com  as  an 
article  of  culture,  and  the  dependence  so  generally  placed 
upon  it  as  an  article  of  food,  are  the  causes  why  the  trade 
in  it  has  been  so  very  generally  subjected  to  regulation.  It 
is  long  even  before  the  most  enlightened  portion  of  an  in- 
structed community  become  satisfied  of  the  advantage  of 
permitting  the  supply  of  corn  or  any  indispensable  article 
to  be  adjusted,  like  that  of  other  less  important  things,  by 
the  unfettered  competition  of  private  individuals.  It  seems, 


CORN. 


at  first  sight,  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  most  likely 
way  to  secure  plenty  at  home  is  to  impose  restrictions  on 
exportation.  But  in  truth  and  reality,  this  is  .very  far  from 
being  the  case.  How  fertile  soever,  no  country  that  im- 
poses restrictions  on  exportation  need  hope  to  escape 
perpetually  recurring  scarcities ;  for  wherever  free  expor- 
tation is  prevented,  the  excess  of  supply  that  occurs  in 
plentiful  years  being  thrown  wholly  upon  the  home  market, 
depresses  prices  to  such  an  extent  as  to  be  ruinous  to  the 
farmer ;  and  thus,  by  injuring  agriculture  and  lessening 
the  quantity  of  land  in  corn,  never  fails  to  occasion  a  scar- 
city on  the  occurrence  of  a  deficient  harvest.  In  Great 
Britain,  however,  the  policy  has  long  been  to  give  every 
facility  to  exportation,  and  even  to  lay  restrictions  on  im- 
portation. This  has  arisen  from  our  legislature  being 
principally  composed  of  individuals  dependent  on  and 
connected  with  the  land  ;  and  whose  interest  consequently 
has  led  them  to  endeavour  to  secure  as  high  a  price  as 
possible  for  its  produce.  But  it  is  needless  to  add  that  this 
policy  is,  if  possible,  even  more  objectionable  than  the 
other.  Instead  of  being  publicly  advantageous,  high  prices 
are,  in  every  instance,  distinctly  and  completely  the  re- 
verse. The  less  the  sacrifice  of  money  or  of  labour  for 
which  corn  or  any  other  article  can  be  procured,  so  much 
the  better.  But  to  make  sure  that  the  price  of  corn,  or  of 
any  thing  else,  will  be  fixed  at  the  lowest  limit  at  which 
the  required  supply  can  be  obtained,  all  that  is  necessary 
is  to  abolish  all  restrictions,  whether  on  exportation  or  im- 
portation. Freedom  is  the  parent  of  abundance,  cheap- 
ness, and  equality  of  price  ;  restriction,  of  scarcity,  dear- 
nese,  and  uncertainty.  Any  interference  with  the  trade  in 
corn,  or  with  any  other  great  department  of  trade,  that  has 
not  the  removal  of  natural  or  artificial  restraints  for  its 
object,  is  not  only  inconsistent  with  the  best  established 
principles,  but  is  sure  to  be  pernicious.  In  this,  as  in  all 
other  things  connected  with  national  industry,  the  short 
and  only  safe  rule  is  to  leave  individuals  to  pursue  their 
own  interest  in  their  own  way. 

Our  limits  forbid  our  attempting  to  make  any  enumera- 
tion of  the  various  statutes  that  have  been  passed  at  dif- 
ferent periods  for  regulating  the  trade  in  corn.  Down  to 
the  Revolution,  the  policy  was  to  restrict  exportation ; 
but  from  that  period  the  contrary  policy  has  been  pursued, 
and  the  legislature  has  pretty  uniformly  endeavoured  to 
facilitate  exportation,  and  to  prohibit  or  fetter  importation. 
It  was  not,  however,  till  about  1770  that  the  restrictions  on 
importation  began  to  have  much  practical  influence.  But 
about  that  time,  population  having  begun  rapidly  to  advance, 
in  consequence  of  the  extraordinary  impulse  given  to 
manufacturing  industry  by  the  inventions  and  discoveries 
of  Watt,  Arkwright,  Wedgwood,  and  others,  the  price  of 
corn  in  England  began  to  rise  above  its  price  on  the  Conti- 
nent ;  and  from  being  an  exporting  we  became  an  occa- 
sionally, or  rather  a  pretty  constantly,  importing  country. 
Had  there  been  no  restrictions  on  importation,  our  prices, 
it  is  plain,  could  not  have  exceeded  those  of  the  adjoining 
Continental  states  by  a  greater  sum  than  might  have  been 
required  to  defray  the  cost  of  importing  into  this  country. 
The  restrictions,  however,  overturned  this  natural  prin- 
ciple ;  and  in  deficient  years  added  materially  to  the  dif- 
ference between  our  prices  and  those  of  the  Continent. 
This  difference  attained  to  its  greatest  height  during  the 
late  war,  owing  to  the  formidable  difficulties  it  threw  in  the 
way  of  importation.  During  the  last  six  years  of  that  con- 
test, prices  in  England  (after  allowing  for  the  depreciation 
of  the  currency)  were  fully  double  their  amount  in  the 
principal  Continental  markets. 

At  the  close  of  the  war,  in  1814  and  1815,  the  renewed 
Intercourse  with  the  Continent  led  to  a  great  importation 
of  corn,  which  occasioned  such  a  sudden  and  heavy  fall  of 
prices  as  was  productive  of  much  severe  distress  amongst 
the  farmers.  Parliament,  endeavoured  to  obviate  this  by 
increasing  the  restrictions  on  importation,  a  device  which 
had,  in  part,  the  anticipated  effect.  But  since  1820,  the 
influence  of  improved  communications  and  of  ameliora- 
tions in  agriculture  has  been  so  very  great,  that,  notwith- 
standing the  vast  increase  of  population,  prices  have  been 
progressively  falling,  and  were,  in  1835,  lower  than  in  any 
previous  year  since  1787.  Practically,  therefore,  the  in- 
fluence of  the  restrictions  has  been  materially  diminished, 
and  a  much  greater  effect  is  now  usually  ascribed  to  them 
in  ordinary  years  than  they  really  exert.  No  doubt,  how- 
ever, they  tend  materially  to  aggravate  the  scarcity  and 
suffering  originating  in  a  deficient  harvest,  and  are,  there- 
fore, highly  objectionable. 

The  existing  duty  on  foreign  corn,  or  that  imposed  by 
the  act  9  Geo.  4.  cap.  60.,  is  not  invariable  but  fluctuates 
indirectly  as  the  price  in  the  home  market ;  being  24s.  8d. 
on  wheat,  when  the  price  is  at  62s.  and  below  63s.  a  quar- 
ter, decreasing  as  the  price  advances  till  it  reaches  73s., 
when  the  duty  is  Is.  only.  This  fluctuating  scale  of  duty 
materially  adds  to  the  proverbial  risk  and  uncertainty  of 
the  corn  trade  ;  for,  supposing  a  merchant  orders  a  quan- 
tity of  foreign  corn  when  prices  are  at  a  certain  level,  if 
284 


they  fall  before  it  arrives,  he  not  only  loses  in  consequence 
of  the  decrease  of  price,  but  is  further  charged  with  a 
corresponding  increase  of  duty  ;  whereas,  on  the  other 
hand,  had  the  price  advanced,  he  would  have  gained  not 
merely  by  its  increase,  but  by  the  fall  in  the  rate  of  duty  1 
The  effect  of  the  present  system  is,  therefore,  precisely 
the  reverse  of  what  it  should  be  were  it  founded  on  sound 
principles,  inasmuch  as  it  aggravates  the  loss  arising  from 
a  bad,  and  increases  the  profit  of  a  successful,  speculation  ! 
Under  its  operation,  the  foreign  corn  trade  is  rendered 
little  better  than  gambling  on  a  great  scale. 

But  in  recommending  the  policy  of  a  free  trade  in  corn, 
we  do  not  mean  to  contend  that  it  would  be  either  just  or 
expedient  always  to  admit  of  importation  free  of  duty.  In 
certain  circumstances  this  may  be  the  proper  course,  but 
not  in  all.  No  duty  should  ever  be  laid  upon  foreign  corn 
on  pretence  of  protecting  industry  at  home,  as  that  is,  in 
fact,  taxing  the  other  classes  in  order  to  secure  a  doubtful 
benefit  for  the  agriculturists.  But  if  agriculture  be  more 
heavily  burdened  than  any  other  great  department  of  in- 
dustry carried  on  at  home,  a  constant  duty  should  be  laid 
on  foreign  corn  imported,  to  balance  the  excess  of  duty 
falling  on  the  agriculturists.  This  is  not  to  favour  the 
latter,  but  to  do  them  justice.  It  has  been  denied  that  the 
British  agriculturists  are  in  this  predicament ;  but  were 
this  the  place  for  entering  upon  such  investigations,  it 
would  not  be  difficult  to  show  that  they  are  in  fact  more 
heavily  taxed  than  the  manufacturers  or  traders ;  and  that, 
on  that  account,  they  are  entitled  to  claim  that  a  fixed  and 
invariable  duty  should  be  laid  on  all  foreign  corn  when  im- 
ported, corresponding  to  the  excess  of  taxation  by  which 
they  are  affected.  Those  who  may  wish  for  further  in- 
formation as  to  the  interesting  topics  now  merely  glanced 
at,  and  others  we  have  not  been  able  to  notice,  are  referred 
to  the  article  "  Corn  Laws"  in  the  new  edition  of  the  En- 
cyclopedia Britannica,  the  art.  "Corn  Laws"  in  the  Com- 
mercial Dictionary,  and  the  note  on  the  same  subject  in 
M'Culloch's  edit,  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  1  vol.  8vo. 

We  subjoin  the  estimate  of  the  produce  of  corn  given  in 
the  Cominercial  Dictionary,  and  an  account  of  the  average 
prices  of  British  wheat  from  1771  to  1837,  both  inclusive. 
Cousumption  of  Wheat  and   other  Grain  in  the  United 
Kingdom,  in  a  Year,  Six  Months,  a  Month,  a  Week,  &c. 


Wheat. 

Other  Graio. 

Total. 

A  year    . 
Six  months 
Three  months 
Six  weeks 
One  month 
Two  weeks     . 
One  week 
One  day 

Qrs. 

12,000.000 

6,000,000 

3,000,000 

1,500,000 

1,000.000 

500,000 

250,000 

35,714 

Qrs. 

40.000,000 

20.oro.ooo 

10.000,000 
5,000.000 
3,333.333 
1,666.666 
833,333 
119,048 

Qrs. 

52,000.000 

26.000.000 

13,000,000 

6,500,01:0 

4,333,333 

2,166,666 

1,063,333 

154,762 

Account  of  the  Average  Prices  of  British  Wheat  per  Win- 
chester Quarter,  in  England  and  Wales,  since  1771,  aa 
ascertained  by  the  Receiver  of  Corn  Returns. 


1771 
1772 
1773 
1774 
1775 
1776 
1777 
1778 
1779 
1780 
1781 
1782 
1783 
1784 
1765 
1786 
1787 


2  7 
2  10 
2  11 
2  12 
2    8 

1  18 

2  5 
2  2 
1  13 

1  15    8 

2  4  8 
2  7  10 
2  12  8 
2  8  10 
2  11  10 

1  18  10 

2  1    2 


1788 
1789 
1790 
1791 
1792 
1793 
1794 
1795 
1796 
1797 
1798 
1799 
1800 
1801 
1802 
1803 


Wheal. 


L.  s 
2  5 
2  11 
2  13 
2    7 


d. 


0 
2 
2 

2 
2  11 
8  11 
11    8 


5  13 
5  18 
3  7 
2  16 


1804 
1805 
1806 
1807 
1608 
1809 
1810 
1811 
1812 
1813 
1814 
1815 
1816 
1817 
1818 
1819 


3 

4 

3 

3 

3 

4 

5 

4 

6 

5    8 

3  14 

3    4 

3  15  10 

4  14  9 
4  4  1 
3  13    0 


Account  of  the  Average  Prices  of  British  Wheat  per  Im- 
perial Quarter,  in  England  and  Wales,  since  1820,  as 
ascertained  by  the  Receiver  of  Corn  Returns. 


1820 
1821 
1822 
1823 
1824 
1825 


Wheat. 


L.  s.  d. 

3  7  11 

2  16  2 

2  4  7 

2  13  5 

3  4  0 
3  8  7 


1S26 
1827 
1828 
1829 
1830 
1831 


2  18 

2  16 

3  0 
3  6 
3  4 
3  6 


Years. 

d. 

9 

1832 

9 

1833 

5 

1834 

3 

1835 

3 

1836 

■1 

1837 

2  18  8 
2  12  11 
2  6  2 

1  19  4 

2  8  6 
2  15  10 


CORNACEjE. 

CORNA'CEiE.  (Cornus,  one  of  the  genera.)  A  natu- 
ral order  of  arborescent  or  shrubby  Exogens,  inhabiting 
temperate  climates,  and  formerly  confounded  with  Capri- 
foliacea,  from  which  they  are  easily  distinguished  by  being 
polypetalous.  They  appear  to  possess  medicinal  proper- 
ties, since  the  bark  of  C.florida  and  sericea  is  said  to  rank 
amongst  the  best  tonics  of  North  America.  The  common 
Dogwood  is  a  familiar  instance  of  this  order. 

CO'RNBRASH.  A  rubbly  stone,  forming  a  soil  cele- 
brated in  Wiltshire  for  the  growth  of  corn. 

CO'RNEA.  (Lat.  comu,  a  horn.)  The  transparent 
membrane  of  a  horny  texture  which  forms  the  anterior 
part  of  the  eyeball.  In  vertebrates  it  is  simple  :  in  insects 
it  is  subdivided  into  numerous  hexagonal  segments. 

CO'RNET.  (It.  cornetta,  a  smaUJlag.)  Acommissioned 
officer  in  a  troop  of  horse,  corresponding  in  rank  with  the 
ensign  of  a  battalion  of  infantry.  His  duty  is  to  carry  the 
standard,  near  the  centre  of  the  front  rank  of  the  squadron. 
Cornet.  In  Music,  a  shrill  wind  instrument  formed  of 
wood,  which  appears  to  have  been  in  use  in  the  earliest 
times,  and  rem  lined  so  till  about  the  commencement  of 
the  18th  century,  when  it  was  displaced  by  the  oboe.  For 
a  representation  of  this  instrument  see  Mersenne's  Har- 
monic Universeltc. 

CORNET-A-PISTONS.  (Fr.)  Abrass  wind  musical  in- 
strument, of  the  French  horn  species,  but  capable  of  much 
greater  inflexion  from  the  valves  and  stoppers  (pistons) 
with  which  it  is  furnished,  and  whence  it  derives  its  name. 
CO'RNICE.  (Fr.  corniche.)  In  Architecture,  the  upper 
great  division  of  an  entablature  (see  Entablature),  con- 
sisting of  several  members.  The  cornice  used  on  a  pe- 
destal is  called  the  cap  of  the  pedestal. 

CORNS.  Thickenings  of  the  cuticle  of  the  toes,  of  a 
horny  texture,  arising  from  continued  pressure  over  a  pro- 
jection of  bone.  One  of  the  best  and  simplest  remedies 
for  this  painful  disorder  is  to  wear  upon  the  toe  or  part  af- 
fected a  piece  of  leather,  spread  with  diachylon  or  other 
emollient  plaster,  and  having  a  hole  in  it  corresponding 
with  the  size  of  the  corn.  By  this  means  all  pressure 
upon  the  corn  is  avoided.  (See  Sir  B.  Brodie's  Lecture  un 
Corns  and  Bunions,  Medical  Gazelle,  13th  Feb.  1836.  ) 

CO'RNSTONE.  A  provincial  name  for  a  species  of  red 
limestone, 

CORNU  AMMONIS.  A  name  sometimes  applied  to 
(tie  fossil  shells  called  Ammonites. 

CO'RNUA.  (Lat.  cornu,  a  /torn.)  In  Zoology,  hard  and 
more  or  less  elongated  processes  projecting  from  the  head. 
The  term  is  usually  applied  to  such  processes  in  the  class 
Mammalia,  to  which  they  serve  as  weapons  of  offence  and 
defence.  These  weapons  consist  either  of  bone,  when 
they  are  called  "antlers;"  or  of  horn,  or  of  bone  and  horn, 
or  lastly  of  bone  and  hairy  skin.  The  first  kind  of  horns 
are  peculiar  to  the  deer  tribe  ;  the  second  to  the  rhinoce- 
ros ;  the  third  to  the  sheep,  ox,  and  antelope  tribes;  and 
the  fourth  to  the  giraffe.  The  bony  horns,  antlers,  cerata, 
or  cornua  solida,  as  they  are  technically  termed,  during  the 
whole  period  of  their  formation  resemble  the  horns  of 
the  giraffe,  inasmuch  as  they  are  covered  with  a  hairy  and 
highly  vascular  integument:  the  bony  material  of  these 
processes  is  in  fact  secreted  by  the  vessels  of  that  integu- 
ment, so  that  their  co-existence  is  essential  as  long  as  growl  h 
proceeds.  When  their  growth  is  completed,  and  the  ant- 
lers have  arrived  at  their  characteristic  size  and  figure 
(which  in  the  elk  and  Wapiti  deer  are  truly  remarkable), 
the  determination  of  blood  to  the  parts  gradually  lessens; 
the  vessels  shrink  ;  the  circulation  in  the  formative  mem- 
brane is  at  length  suppressed;  and  the  tegument  then 
shrivels,  dries,  cracks,  and  is  rubbed  off  by  the  instinctive 
actions  which  the  deer  now  almost  ceaselessly  performs 
with  his  newly  acquired  and  consolidated  antlers.  The 
skin  and  periosteum  of  the  head,  once  continuous  with 
those  of  the  antler,  now  terminate  at  an  abrupt  line  at  the 
base  of  the  antler,  from  which  a  ridge  of  bone,  or  "  burr,7' 
as  it  is  termed,  is  developed,  apparently  for  the  purpose  of 
defending  the  margin  of  the  persistent  integument;  for  I 
when  this  is  continued,  as  in  the  Munt-jac  deer,  half  way 
up  the  antlers,  the  burr  is  developed  immediately  above 
its  termination,  or  at  the  middle,  and  not  at  the  base  of  the  j 
antlers.  Some  physiologists  have  conjectured  that  the 
use  of  the  "  burr"  was  to  compress  the  vessels  of  the  peri-  I 
osteum  of  the  antler,  and  that  its  formation  was  deferred  j 
to  near  the  completion  of  the  antler :  but  observation  shows 
that  it  commences  at  an  earlier  period  of  growth ;  and 
sound  physiology  teaches  that  the  cessation,  like  the  com- 
mencement of  the  growth  of  the  horn,  must  be  the  result 
of  deeper  and  more  constitutional  operations.  The  most 
remarkable  fact  in  the  economy  of  antlers  is  that  they  are 
shed  and  renewed  annually,  the  fall  of  the  horns  being 
concomitant  with  the  shedding  of  the  hair.  The  attempts 
to  assign  the  final  cause  of  this  phenomenon  have  not  been 
very  successful.  In  the  axis  deer,  e.  g.  the  bucks  do  not  all 
shed  their  horns  at  the  same  time,  but  at  different  periods 
of  the  year.  In  the  rein-deer  the  branches  which  project 
forwards  from  the  base  of  the  horn,  or  the  brow  antlers. 
285 


CORONA. 

are  habitually  used  to  scrape  away  the  snow  which  con- 
ceals the  lichens  on  which  they  principally  feed.  The  fe- 
male, therefore,  needs  antlers  as  much  as  the  male,  and 
she  has  them  ;  but  this  is  a  rare  and  singular  exception, 
for  the  females  of  other  species  of  deer  are  destitute  of 
these  ornamental  weapons.  True  horns,  or  those  which 
consist  either  partly  or  entirely  of  horny  material,  are 
commonly  present  in  both  sexes,  and  the  bony  basis  is  hol- 
low. The  term  cornua  cava  is,  however,  usually  applied 
to  all  horns  consisting  of  bone  and  horn,  and  reciprocally 
the  ruminants  having  such  horns  are  termed  "  hollow- 
horned."  But  this  extension  of  the  term  seems  to  have 
arisen  from  a  consideration  of  the  external  horny  sheath 
alone,  which  is  but  a  part,  and  that  not  the  most  essential, 
of  the  horn.  The  horn  or  horns  of  the  rhinoceros  consist 
of  an  agglutination  of  horny  fibres,  which  are  attached 
only  to  the  integument;  the  integument  adhering  with 
more  than  usual  firmness  at  this  part  to  theroughened  sur- 
face of  the  bone  beneath.  The  horn  of  the  rhinoceros  dif- 
fers from  that  of  other  mammalia  in  being  situated  upon 
the  median  line  of  the  forehead  ;  so  that  when  there  are 
two  they  are  placed  one  behind  the  other,  and  not  laterally 
and  symmetrically,  as  in  the  ruminants. 

A  few  ruminants  have  naturally  two  pairs  of  horns  ;  and 
this  was  the  case  with  a  great  extinct  species,  Sivntherium, 
whose  remains  have  been  discovered  in  the  Himalayan 
mountainous  regions,  where  the  small  Anlilope  quadricurnis 
still  exists.  Horns  are  characterized  in  zoological  des- 
criptions according  to  their  position,  as  Cornua  7iasalia, 
Jronlalia,  parietalia,  <&c. :  or  according  to  their  direction, 
as  Cornua  prona,  turned  forwards ;  reclinata,  turned 
back  ;  incurva,  bent  inwards ;  vara,  bent  outwards  ;  redun- 
ca,  with  the  apices  curved  forwards  ;  lyrata,  when  they  re- 
present the  horns  of  the  ancient  lyre  ;  gyrata,  when  spirally 
twisted  ;  or  according  to  their  period  of  existence,  as  cornua 
perennia,  when  they  last  the  life-time  of  the  animal ;  or 
ta  decidua,  or  annua,  when  annually  shed  :  lastly, 
horns  are  termed  cornua  ossca,  cornua  solida,  cava,  accord- 
ing to  their  structure,  as  above  described.  For  the  pecu- 
liarities of  the  giraffe's  horns,  see  Giraffe. 

Certain  species  of  many  other  classes  have  parts  pro- 
jecting from  the  head,  analogous  in  form  or  structure  to  the 
cornua  of  the  mammalia.  The  frontal  protuberance  of 
the  emeu,  horn  bill,  and  helmeted  curassow  consists  of 
bone  covered  with  a  sheath  of  horn  :  the  kamichi  or  horned 
screamer,  is  a  still  more  remarkable  example  of  a  bird  so 
armed.  In  tvptiles  we  find  horned  toads,  vipers,  and  igu- 
anas. Fishes  present  divers  simulations  of  true  horns. 
In  mollusca  retractile  feelers  or  eye-stalks  are  commonly 
called  "  horns,"  as  in  the  snail ;  but  the  appendages  which 
would  come  under  the  general  definition  of  our  present 
term  arrive  at  their  maximum  relative  size,  variety,  and 
singularity  of  form  in  the  class  of  insects. 

CO'RNUOO'PI  A  (Lat.  cornu,  ahom,  and  copia,  plenty.) 
In  the  Fine  Arts,  an  ornament  representing  a  horn,  from 
which  issue  (lowers,  fruits,  leaves,  and  the  like.  The  origin 
of  the  cornucopia  has  been  variously  given.  Some  au- 
thors have  traced  it  to  the  infant  days  of  Jupiter,  whose 
nurse,  Amalthea,  when  one  of  her  goats  had  broken  off  a 
horn  against  a  tree,  presented  it  to  the  god  wreathed  with 
flowers  and  filled  with  fruit.  Hence  it  became  the  emblem 
of  Plenty  among  the  ancients,  in  which  light  it  is  regarded 
also  1»  many  modern  nations.  The  cornucopia  is  found 
very  frequently  in  the  types  of  ancient  coins,  particularly 
u;i  m  those  of  Sicily.     (See  the  medal  of  Arsinoe.) 

CORO'LLA.  (Lat.  corolla,  a  garland.)  That  envelope 
of  a  llower  which  is  placed  next  within  the  calyx.  It  is 
usually  more  richly  coloured  and  larger  than  the  iatter,  but 
is  extremely  variable  in  this  respect.  Owing  to  its  being 
in  many  plants  one  of  the  most  striking  parts  of  the  flower, 
it  is  much  employed  by  botanists  in  their  systematical  ar- 
rangements, and  by  the  French  school  has  been  taken  as 
the  means  of  forming  fundamental  characters  of  the  sub- 
classes in  the  great  Dicotyledonous  division  ;  but  there  ia 
no  doubt  that  its  importance  for  this  purpose  has  been 
much  overrated.  Theoretically  considered,  the  corolla  is 
composed  of  modified  leaves,  with  the  ordinary  organiza 
tion  of  which  its  parts  or  petals  correspond  as  much  as  can 
be  expected  of  rudimentary  organs;  its  physiological  ac- 
tion is  to  absorb  oxygen,  without  decomposing  carbonic 
acid,  in  which  respect  it  agrees  with  leaves  in  their  morbid 
state  in  the  autumn.  The  corolla  has  been  described  by 
Lamarck  as  a  diseased  state  of  the  foliage. 

CO'ROLLARY.  (Lat.  corollarium,  signifying  originally 
a  gratuity  or  donation  presented  to  a  person  over  and  above 
what  was  strictly  his  due.)  In  its  mathematical  sense,  this 
word  is  used  to  designate  a  consequence  drawn  from  some 
proposition  already  demonstrated  without  the  aid  of  any 
other  proposition.  Thus,  supposing  it  demonstrated  that  if 
a  triangle  have  two  equal  sides,  it  has  also  two  equal  angles ; 
it  would  then  follow,  as  a  corollary,  that  if  the  three  sides 
of  a  triangle  are  equal,  its  three  angles  are  also  equal. 

CORO'NA.      (Lat.)    In  Architecture,  the  flat,  square, 
massy  member  of  a  cornice,  very  frequently  called  the 
25 


CORONA  AUSTRALIS. 

drip  or  larmier.  Its  situation  is  between  the  cymatium 
above  and  the  bed  moulding  below,  and  its  use  to  carry  the 
water  drop  by  drop  from  the  building. 

CORO'NA  AUSTRALIS  and  CORONA  BOREALIS. 
(The  southern  crown  and  northern  crown.)  Two  of  the  old 
constellations  of  Ptolemy  ;  the  first  in  the  southern,  and 
the  second  in  the  northern  hemisphere. 

CORO'NA  DENTIS.  In  Zoology,  the  exposed  part  of  a 
tooth,  which  projects  beyond  the  alveolus  and  gum. 

CORONA'MEN.  In  Zoology,  the  superior  margin  of  a 
hoof,  called  in  veterinary  surgery  trie  coronet. 

CO'RONARY.  (Lat.  corona,  a  crown. )  Coronary  ves- 
sels and  ligaments  are  those  which  spread  round  certain 
viscera,  bones,  &c. 

CORONA'TION.     See  King. 

CORONER  (Lat.  coronator),  is  the  title  of  an  office  es- 
tablished in  Saxon  times,  of  which  the  holder  was,  as  his 
name  indicates,  in  a  peculiar  manner  the  officer  of  the 
crown,  whose  private  rights  of  property,  whether  arising 
by  escheat,  wardship,  or  consisting  in  demesne,  it  was  his 
business  to  maintain  and  superintend  in  the  county  for 
which  he  acted.  Connected  in  some  degree  with  this  char- 
acter is  the  more  important  if  not  the  sole  function  which 
he  now  exercises:  that  of  holding  inquests  on  the  bodies 
of  such  as  either  die  or  are  supposed  to  die  a  violent  death. 
(4  Edw.  I.  st.  2.)  For  which  purpose  he  is  empowered  to 
summon  jurymen  out  of  the  neighbourhood,  and  witness- 
es. Should  violent  death  be  occasioned  by  any  personal 
chattel,  it  is  forfeited  as  a  deodand  to  the  crown;  but  juries 
are  now  in  the  habit  of  assessing  a  small  sum  of  money  in 
lieu  of  the  chattel  or  its  full  value.  (See  Deodand.)  The 
coroner  was  originally  in  some  sort  the  colleague  and  as- 
sistant of  the  sheriff",  and  in  his  default  might  still  act  as 
sheriff  in  the  execution  of  writs,  which  in  such  case  would 
be  directed  to  him.  The  coroner  is  still,  as  the  sheriff  was 
formerly,  elected  by  the  freeholders  of  the  county  ;  but  the 
office,  which  was  once  strictly  honorary,  has  lost  much  of 
the  dignity  which  belonged  to  it,  and  is  now  held  by  per- 
sons, usually  either  surgeons  or  attorneys,  whose  object  in 
accepting  it  is  the  profit  to  be  derived  from  fees.  There 
are  generally  several  coroners  in  the  same  county.  (Jervis 
on  Coroners.) 

CO'RONET,  or  CORO'NA.  This  word  is  employed  by 
botanists  to  express  certain  appendages  of  the  corolla,  which 
are  arranged  within  it  in  a  circle,  and  which  not  unfrequent- 
ly  give  a  very  peculiar  appearance  to  the  flower  in  which  it 
is  found.  In  the  Narcissus  it  is  a  cup;  in  Symphylum  it 
consists  of  five  glandular  narrow  processes  ;  in  Asclepias 
it  is  a  thick  fleshy  ring  extended  into  bended  lobes.  In  all 
cases  the  coronet  is  a  modification  of  sterile  stamens. 

CO'RONET.  In  Heraldry,  an  inferior  crown  belonging  to 
the  British  nobility.  The  figure  of  John  of  Eltham,  second 
son  of  Edward  II.,  who  died  in  1334,  affords  the  earliest 
representation  of  this  ornament  Barons  do  not  appear  to 
have  bome  them  earlier  than  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  The 
time  at  which  the  coronets  of  the  present  orders  of  nobili- 
ty were  respectively  distinguished  in  the  existing  fashion 
cannot  be  ascertained. 

CO'RONET-BONE.  The  second  of  the  consolidated 
phalanges  of  the  horse's  foot. 

CO'RPORAL.  (Fr.  caporal,  from  capo,  a  head.)  A  non- 
commissioned officer  in  a  battalion  of  infantry  immediately 
under  the  serjeant ;  his  business  is  to  place  and  relieve  the 
sentinels,  and  at  drill  he  has  charge  of  a  squad.  In  the 
ranks  he  does  the  duties  of  a  private,  but  his  pay  is  some- 
what higher. 

CORPORA'TION.  (Lat.  corpus,  body.)  A  body  politic 
or  incorporate ;  consisting  of  a  person  or  persons  having 
power  to  take  and  grant,  &e.  to  himself  or  themselves  and 
their  successors.  Corporations,  in  English  Law,  are  divid- 
ed,— I.  Into  sole  and  aggregate.  Sole  corporations  are  such 
as  consist  of  a  single  person  who  is  constituted  a  corpora- 
tion by  law,  for  the  purpose  of  enjoying  certain  advantages 
and  incurring  certain  duties,  transmissible  to  his  succes- 
sors. Such  is  the  parson  of  a  living  in  respect  of  his  bene- 
fice; a  bishop,  in  respect  of  the  ecclesiastical  rights  and 
property  of  his  see  ;  the  king,  &c.  Corporations  aggregate 
are  such  as  consist  of  more  individuals  than  one,  and  are 
kept  up  by  a  perpetual  succession  of  members.  2.  Into 
ecclesiastical  and  lay.  Parsons,  bishops,  deans  and  chap- 
ters, are  instances  of  the  former.  The  latter  are  again  sub- 
divided into  civil  and  eleemosynary.  Among  the  first  are 
trading  companies  and  municipal  corporations ;  among  the 
latter,  hospitals,  colleges  in  the  universities,  and  similar  es- 
tablishments (which,  however,  were  anciently  esteemed 
ecclesiastical). 

By  the  law  of  England,  corporations  are  erected  only 
with  the  king's  consent,  express  or  implied  ;  and  may  exist 
by  prescription,  by  letters  patent,  or  by  act  of  parliament. 
Bishops,  parsons,  &c,  may  indeed  be  said  to  exist  as  cor-  I 
porationsby  force  of  the  common  law;  but  some  ancient  j 
municipal  bodies,  such  as  the  corporation  of  London,  are 
in  a  stricter  sense  corporations  by  prescription  Corpora- 
tions by  act  of  parliament  may  be  created  either  expressly, 


CORPORATIONS. 

or  by  implication  ;  as,  where  a  body  is  to  take  lands  by  suc- 
cession, this  constitutes  them  a  corporation.  But  the  ordi- 
nary mode  by  which  they  are  erected  is  by  the  king's  let- 
ters patent  or  charter  of  incorporation  ;  persons  exercising 
the  power  of  founding  corporations  by  a  grant  of  their  own 
(as  the  chancellor  of  the  university  of  Oxford)  being  for 
this  purpose  only  delegates  of  the  king. 

The  chief  incident  of  a  corporation  is  the  power  of  taking 
by  succession.  This  power  is,  however,  confined  in  the 
case  of  sole  corporations  to  estates  of  freehold;  corpora- 
tions aggregate  only  can  take  goods  and  chattels  by  succes- 
sion. Grants  by  a  corporation  aggregate  must  be  by  deed 
under  their  common  seal,  which  is  necessary  to  give  valid- 
ity to  most  of  their  acts.  A  corporation  has  essentially  the 
power  of  making  by-laws  to  bind  its  own  members,  which 
are  valid  so  far  as  they  are  not  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the 
kingdom.  Corporations  ecclesiastical  and  eleemosynary 
may,  moreover,  be  subject  to  rules  or  statutes  imposed  by 
the  king  or  the  founder;  civil  corporations  only  to  the  com- 
mon law  and  their  own  by-laws.  In  aggregate  corporations, 
the  act  of  the  majority  is  the  act  of  the  whole. 

The  common  law  capacity  of  corporations  to  take  lands 
has  been,  however,  materially  narrowed  by  statute.  Thus 
a  devise  of  lands  to  a  corporation  by  will  is  bad.  except  for 
charitable  purposes.  And,  in  consequence  of  the  Statutes 
of  Mortmain  (see  Mortmain),  a  corporation,  whether  lay 
or  ecclesiastical,  must  now  have  a  license  from  the  king  in 
order  to  purchase. 

All  corporations  are  said  to  be  subject  to  visitation.  The 
visitor  of  ecclesiastical  corporations  is  the  ordinary  (sec 
Ordinary)  ;  the  visitor  of  lay  corporations  is  the  founder. 
In  eleemosynary  corporations  this  right,  therefore,  is  in  the 
founder  and  his  heirs,  or  in  such  person  as  he  has  appoint- 
ed :  in  civil  corporations,  the  king  is  visitor,  and  exercises 
that  jurisdiction  in  the  King's  Bench  ;  where  alone  misbe- 
haviour of  such  corporations  or  their  officers  can  be  inquired 
into,  chiefly  by  means  of  the  processes  termed  mandamus 
and  quo  warranto  (which  see).  A  corporation  is  dissoluble, 
1.  By  act  of  parliament ;  2.  In  the  case  of  an  aggregate  cor- 
poration, by  the  death  of  all  its  members;  3.  By  surrender 
of  its  franchises  into  the  hand  of  the  king  ;  4.  By  forfeiture 
of  its  charter  through  negligence  or  abuse  of  the  franchise. 

CORPORA'TION S,  MUNICIPAL.  These  bodies,  which 
have  acted  so  important  a  part  in  the  history  of  modern 
Europe,  originated  in  the  Italian  and  provincial  towns  sub- 
ject to  the  Roman  sway.  Under  that  empire  the  govern- 
ment of  the  lowns  was  in  many  respects  independent  of 
the  central  authority,  or  only  controlled  by  it  in  the  last 
resort;  and  as  the  municipal  institutions  of  the  Romans 
remained  undestroyed  through  the  long  period  of  the  dark 
ages,  the  free  cities  which  arose  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth 
centuries  in  Italy,  France,  and  elsewhere,  did  in  fact  only 
preserve  their  ancient  systems  of  internal  policy  in  the  new 
character  of  republican  constitutions.  (See  especially 
Savigny  on  Roman  Jurisprudence  in  the  Middle  Ages.) 

In  England  we  have  no  record  of  the  internal  constitution 
of  our  towns  prior  to  the  Saxon  times,  and  during  those 
times  our  information  is  extremely  scanty  and  imperfect. 
The  magistracy  in  Saxon  towns  appears  to  have  been  elec- 
tive; that  in  Danish  hereditary.  In  Domesday  Book  we 
find  in  every  town  (eighty-two  in  all,  in  those  parts  of  the 
record  which  remain  to  us)  a  certain  number  of  persons 
mentioned  asli  burgesses;"  a  number  sometimes  equalling, 
sometimes  falling  far  short  of  the  houses  enumerated.  It 
has  been  supposed  that  at  this  early  period  all  free  inhabi- 
tants paying  scot  and  lot  were  burgesses;  a  supposition 
which  can  neither  be  easily  proved  nor  controverted.  Bo- 
roughs at  this  period  were  exempt  from  the  immediate  ju- 
risdiction of  the  sheriffs  of  the  counties  in  which  they  were 
situate  :  they  possessed  their  own  hundred  courts,  leets, 
and  view  of  frankpledge  ;  but  they  were  liable  for  various 
duties  to  the  king,  who  was  usually  lord  of  the  leet,  i.  e.  ex- 
ercised jurisdiction  iu  the  borough  ;  and  to  the  lord  of  the 
soil,  also,  if  there  were  any.  It  became  usual  after  the 
Conquest  for  the  king  to  let  the  fees  and  revenues  thus  due, 
together  with  the  right  of  appointing  the  officers  of  justice, 
to  the  burgesses  in  general ;  and  by  this  species  of  enfran- 
chisement the  borough  became  an  independent  municipal- 
ity. But  a  free  borough  was  constituted  by  having,  in 
addition  to  those  powers,  exemption  from  the  king's  tolls, 
granted  to  its  burgesses  by  royal  charter.  Such  continued 
to  be,  in  substance,  the  condition  of  English  boroughs  for 
several  centuries.  Burgess-ship  was  gained,  either  by  resi- 
dence simply,  with  payment  of  scot  and  lot,  or,  in  some 
cases,  by  apprenticeship,  constituting  a  title  of  admission 
to  the  guild  merchant  or  trading  community  of  the  borough, 
which  by  degrees  became  identified  with  the  borough  it- 
self; or,  as  in  London,  by  admission  into  the  guilds  of  the 
several  trades,  an  alteration  which  appears  to  have  taken 
place  in  that  city  as  early  as  the  thirteenth  century. 

During  all  this  period  no  one  seems  to  have  doubted  the 
capability  inherent  in  the  burgesses  of  a  town,  as  a  com- 
munity, to  take  and  enjoy  lands,  tolls,  or  other  heredita- 
ments, to  themselves  and  their  successors.    But  about  t!ie 


CORPORATIONS. 

period  of  the  reigns  of  Henry  V.  and  VI.  the  increasing 
subtlety  of  our  legal  system,  and  more  particularly  the  no- 
tions introduced  by  the  study  of  the  civil  law,  appear  to 
have  occasioned  the  custom  of  granting  charters  in  a  new 
form.  It  appears  to  have  been  thought  that  the  power  of 
holding  lands  in  succession,  and  the  right  of  suing  and  being 
sued  by  a  common  name,  could  not  in  strictness  be  en- 
joyed, except  by  a  body  constituted  for  those  very  purposes 
by  the  king's  grant.  Hence  originated  charters  or  let- 
ters of  incorporation.  These  seem  to  have  been  first  grant- 
ed to  eleemosynary  foundations  ;  afterwards,  and  first  in 
the  reigns  before  mentioned,  they  were  granted  to  the  men 
or  burgesses  of  towns  jointly  with  the  mayor,  bailiff,  or 
other  chief  officer  ;  and  thus  municipal  corporations  in  the 
strict  legal  sense  were  first  constituted. 

But  previously  to  this  time  it  is  probable  that  a  great  change 
had  taken  place,  in  most  towns,  in  the  character  of  the 
class  of  "men"  or  "burgesses"  to  whom  these  charters 
were  granted.  As  the  privileges  of  burgess-ship  became 
more  valuable,  additional  difficulties  were  thrown  by  the 
governing  body  in  the  borough  in  the  way  of  its  acquisition. 
While  the  old  household  right  remained"  in  some  places,  it 
was  lost  in  others  :  in  its  stead,  or  by  its  side,  arose  the 
rights  of  freemen  of  a  guild  or  trade  ;  those  of  the  holders 
of  particular  tenements,  which  alone  were  recognized  as 
conferring  on  their  occupant  the  title  of  burgess;  those  of 
freeholders  in  cities,  counties  of  themselves,  &-c.  And 
hence  the  variety  of  the  old  parliamentary  franchise  (see 
Parliament),  as  members  of  parliament  were  elected  by 
the  burgesses.  Hence  the  corporations,  which  were  consti- 
tuted by  the  charters  of  Henry  VI.  and  Edward  IV.,  were 
already  very  different  bodies  from  the  general  mass  of 
dwellers  in  a  town.  But  close  corporations,  properly  so 
called,  were  not  established  until  the  reigns  of  the  Tudors, 
when  the  first  "  governing  charters"  were  granted  ;  that  is 
to  say,  charters  which,  disregarding  the  old  common  law 
system,  by  which  every  burgess  had  a  share  in  corporate 
rights,  and  the  power  of  electing  his  magistrates,  established 
special  rules  for  the  internal  regulation  of  a  borough.  By 
these  new  charters  the  powers  of  municipal  government 
were  usually  vested  in  a  mayor  and  common  council  ;  the 
latter  consisting  of  councillors  and  aldermen  ;  the  former 
of  whom  were  selected  in  various  ways,  by  the  whole  of 
the  council  or  the  aldermen  ;  the  aldermen  mostly  nomi- 
nated by  and  out  of  the  rest  of  the  council.  In  these  bodies 
the  control  over  the  town  funds,  the  civil  and  criminal  ju- 
risdiction of  the  town,  and  police  authority  within  its  limits, 
became  veBted.  The  freemen,  as  well  as  the  common- 
alty, thus  ceased  to  be  members  of  the  governing  body  ; 
but  the  former  retained  the  extensive  pecuniary  advanta- 
ges which  in  many  places  belonged  to  them. 

The  causes  of  this  revolution,  and  of  the  gradual  change 
by  which  the  municipal  bodies  became  more  and  more  ex- 
clusive in  their  character,  are  chiefly  to  be  found  in  the 
parliamentary  franchise  enjoyed  by  most  of  the  corporate 
boroughs.  When  the  House  of  Commons  became  an  im- 
portant body  in  the  empire,  the  crown,  as  well  as  the  noble- 
men and  the  powerful  individuals  to  whose  estates  the  bo- 
roughs were  contiguous,  had  a  strong  and  direct  interest  in 
controlling  the  nomination  of  members.  This  was  much 
more  easily  effected  by  the  agency  of  select  bodies,  such 
as  the  corporations,  than  by  influencing  the  votes  of  an  in- 
dependent community.  Hence,  while  in  the  larger  places 
the  corporation,  usually  devoted  to  the  interest  of  its  patron, 
exercised  a  decisive  or  a  strong  authority  in  controlling 
elections,  in  many  smaller  boroughs  the  elective  franchise 
became  in  effect  confined  to  the  corporation  itself  by  means 
of  the  freemen  who  were  closely  associated  with  it.  Thus 
the  system  of  close  corporations,  established  under  the 
Tudors,  acquired  continually  more  strength  and  more  ex- 
clusiveness :  although  the  committee  of  privileges  presided 
over  by  Mr.  Serjeant  Glanville,  in  the  reign  of  James  I., 
resolved  that  charters  of  the  crown  were  inoperative  so  far 
as  they  assumed  to  alter  the  parliamentary  franchise  of  a 
borough.  The  governing  bodies  in  the  previous  reign  seem 
also  to  have  assumed  in  many  places  the  power,  which  has 
been  since  so  liberally  exercised,  of  admitting  to  the  rights 
of  freemen,  or  burgesses,  whom  they  pleased,  either  by 
free  gift  or  purchase.  The  great  bulk  of  the  property  of  cor- 
porations, both  that  enjoyed  by  themto  their  own  use,  and 
that  of  which  they  were  trustees  for  charitable  purposes, 
seems  to  have  been  acquired  after  the  first  charters  of  in- 
corporation were  grantedand  previously  to  the  Revolution. 
In  the  reign  of  Charles  the  Second,  when  the  corporate 
bodies  in  the  larger  towns  had  become  for  the  most  part 
attached  to  the  Whig  interest,  and  hostile  to  the  court,  they 
were  attacked  by  the  crown  through  the  famous  writs  of 
quo  warranto.  These  were  writs  issued  out  of  the  King's 
Bench  to  the  municipal  bodies,  to  inquire  by  what  right 
they  exercised  their  jurisdictions  and  enjoyed  their  fran- 
chises; and  the  object  was  to  contest  the  validity  of  the 
ancient  charters,  or  at  least  to  terrify  them  into  surrender- 
ing them  into  the  king's  hands,  and  receiving  new  ones 
from  him.  Many  such  surrenders  were  actually  made, 
887 


CORPUSCULAR  ACTION. 

and  new  charters  granted  :  these,  however,  were  recalled 
by  a  proclamation  of  James  II.,  and  the  old  ones  regranted 
or  revived  ;  and  this  proclamation  was  allowed,  after  the 
[  Revolution,  to  have  the  force  of  law.  A  few  boroughs,  how- 
ever, did  not  accept  the  restoration  of  their  charters,  and 
remained  without  a  corporation.  From  the  period  of  the 
Revolution,  little  or  no  change  of  importance  took  place  in 
;  the  constitution  of  the  towns  or  their  governing  bodies, 
[  until  the  passing  of  the  Municipal  Reform  Act  in  1S35.  By 
this  act  (5  &.  6  W.  4.  c.  76.)  the  municipal  franchise  is  made 
uniform  all  over  the  kingdom.  In  order  to  enjoy  it,  an  in- 
dividual must  have  occupied  a  house,  warehouse,  count- 
ing-house, or  shop,  within  the  borough,  for  three  years  ;  and 
must  have  been  rated  to  all  poor  rates  in  respect  of  such 
premises  during  the  whole  of  such  time  ;  and  must  be  en- 
rolled on  the  burgess  list,  which  is  framed  by  the  overseers 
of  the  parishes  and  revised  every  year  by  the  mayor  and 
assessors.  He  must  also  have  resided  within  seven  miles 
of  the  borough  during  that  time.  There  are  also  provisions 
for  the  cases  of  successive  occupancy  and  change  of  resi- 
dence. These  burgesses  form  the  electoral  body.  They 
choose, —  1.  The  councillors  ;  of  whom  the  number  is  limit- 
ed by  the  act,  according  to  the  number  of  wards  of  which 
each  borough  consists  (this  number  being  also  specified  by 
enactment,  and  varying  from  one  to  sixteen).  No  person 
can  be  qualified  as  a  councillor,  or  alderman,  unless  he  is 
a  burgess  possessing  a  certain  amount  of  property  (1000/.), 
or  a  rating  at  30/.  per  annum,  in  boroughs  having  four  wards 
and  upwards;  500/.,  or  15/.  per  annum,  in  boroughs  not 
having  that  number.  One  third  part  of  the  councillors  go 
annually  out  of  office.  2.  The  council,  i.  e.  the  mayor, 
existing  aldermen,  and  councillors,  jointly  elect  every  year 
the  aldermen  from  among  the  qualified  burgesses;  half  of 
whom  go  out  of  office  every  third  year.  5.  The  council- 
lors and  aldermen  together  elect  out  of  their  own  united 
body  the  mayor,  whose  office  is  annual.  The  mayor,  al- 
dermen, and  councillors  together  form  the  council.  The 
town-clerk,  treasurer,  &c.  are  appointed  by  the  council 
during  pleasure. 

With  regard  to  existing  rights,  freemen  are  retained,  so 
as  to  enjoy  their  rights  of  property  and  parliamentary  fran- 
chise ;  but  they  can  no  longer  be  made  by  gift  or  purchase  ; 
and  they  must  be  inhabitants  of  the  borough.  The  income 
arising  out  of  the  corporation  property  is  to  form  a  borough 
fund  ;  which  is  to  be  applied,  subject  to  existing  claims,  to 
the  payment  of  salaries  and  other  municipal  expenses,  pro- 
secutions, maintenance  of  the  gaol,  &c.  &c.  ;  and  if  the  fund 
be  insufficient  for  these  purposes,  the  council  can  impose 
a  rate  to  supply  the  deficiency.  Wherever  a  municipal 
corporate  body,  either  sole  or  in  conjunction  with  other 
persons,  had  lands,  &c.  in  trust  to  charitable  uses,  the 
trusts  are  gradually  transferred  by  this  act  to  the  new  coun- 
cils ;  but  every  corporation  possessed  of  advowsons,  or 
rights  of  nomination  to  benefices  in  the  church,  is  required 
to  sell  such  advowsons,  &c.  under  the  direction  of  the  ec- 
clesiastical commissioners.  Where  the  watching  of  the 
town  was  regulated  by  local  acts,  these  acts  are  repealed, 
and  the  corporation  is  directed  in  all  places  to  appoint  a 
committee  for  the  purpose  of  superintending  that  duty ; 
and  wherever  the  lighting  is  not  regulated  by  local  acts, 
that  also  is  placed  under  the  management  of  the  corporation. 
With  respect  to  jurisdiction,  the  council  of  every  borough 
now  having  a  separate  court  of  quarter  sessions,  or  desi- 
ring to  attain  one,  may  apply  to  the  king  to  retain  or  to 
acquire  it;  on  which  the  king  may,  if  he  pleases,  ap- 
point a  recorder  to  be  paid  by  the  town,  being  a  barrister 
of  five  years'  standing.  This  officer  is  to  hold  the  court  of 
quarter  sessions  of  the  peace,  in  which  he  is  to  be  sole 
judge.  Borough  courts  of  record  are  to  be  retained  as 
heretofore,  and  those  in  which  a  barrister  of  five  years' 
standing  acts  as  judge  have  power  to  try  personal  actions 
to  the  amount  of  20/.  The  king  is  empowered  to  grant  a 
commission  of  the  peace  to  all  boroughs  named  in  Sche- 
dule A  of  the  act,  and  to  such  boroughs  named  in  Sche- 
dule B  as  he  shall  see  fit,  on  petition  of  their  council.  The 
mayor  and  recorder  to  be  justices  of  the  peace  ex  officio  ; 
the  others  named  by  the  crown.  The  council  also  are  di- 
rected, if  they  think  tit,  to  petition  for  the  appointment  of 
salaried  police  magistrates  in  their  borough,  stating  the  sa- 
lary which  they  are  willing  to  pay  ;  on  which  the  crown 
will  appoint  such  officer  or  officers,  being  barristers  of  not 
less  than  five  years'  standing.  The  history  of  municipal 
corporations  has  been  often  written,  and  generally  with 
much  party  spirit  and  unfairness.  Those  who  wish  to  study 
it  in  the  only  authentic  records,  viz.  charters  and  other 
documents,  will  find  the  most  abundant  collection  of  them, 
chronologically  arranged,  in  Messrs.  Merewether  and  Ste- 
phen's History  of  Boroughs,  1836. 

CORPII'SCULA  VERMIFO'RMIA.  (Lat.  corpus-colum, 
diminutive  of  corpus,  body,  and  vermiformis,  icormshaped.) 
In  Vegetable  Anatomy,  are  synonymous  with  strangulated 
or  necklace-shaped  ducts,  a  kind  of  spiral  vessel  found 
chiefly  in  the  knotR  and  contracted  parts  of  stems. 
CORPU'SCULAR  A'CTION.    The  power  or  influence 


CORPUSCULAR  PHILOSOPHY. 

which  the  minute  particles,  or  atoms,  or  corpuscles  of  mat- 
ter, exercise  on  each  other,  and  which  is  the  cause  ot  all 
chemical  chanses. 

CORPU'SCULARPHILO'SOPHY.  A  system  of  physics 
in  which  all  the  phenomena  of  the  material  world  are  explain- 
ed by  the  arrangement  and  physical  properties  of  the  cor- 
puscles or  minute  atoms  of  matter.  A  doctrine  of  tins  sort 
was  anciently  taught  in  Greece  by  Leucippus  and  Democn- 
tus  and  is  described  in  the  beautiful  poem  of  Lucretius. 

CO'RPUS  JURIS.  (Lat.  body  of  law.)  Corpus  Juris 
Romani,  the  collection  of  the  authentic  %vorks  containing 
the  Roman  law  as  compiled  under  Justinian.  The  Corpus 
Juris'  comprehends  the  Pandects,  the  Institutes,  the  Code. 
and  the  Novels  or  Authentics,  i.  e.  the  later  constitutions  ol 
Justinian ;  to  which,  in  some  editions,  are  added  a  few  issued 
by  his  successors.  M.  Beck  has  lately  published  at  Leip- 
zig the  most  complete  edition.  There  are  likewise  publica- 
tions styled  Corpus  Juris  Canonici,Germanwi,  Feiulalts^c. 
CORRE'CTION.  (Lat.  corrigo,  Icorrect.)  In  the  i  me 
Arts.  With  the  Italians  the  word,  correzione,  is  used  to 
denote  an  exact  acquaintance  with  the  different  proportions 
of  the  parts  of  a  body  or  design  generally  :  but  with  us  the 
term  is  applied  to  those  emendations  of  inaccuracies  or 
alterations  of  first  thoughts,  which  they  call  pentimenh,  to 
be  seen  under  the  surface  of  the  finished  picture,  and 
which  are  accounted  indications  of  its  originality. 

CORRECTING,  in  Printing,  in  the  first  instance,  is  to 
amend  and  put  right  the  errors  in  the  types  that  the  com- 
positor may  have  made,  and  any  defects  in  his  workman- 
ship; in  the  next,  it  is  the  correcting  ot  the  proof  sheets 
of  a  work  by  the  author  or  editor,  in  the  orthography,  the 
punctuation,  the  language,  and  in  making  such  alterations 
as  may  appear  to  him  necessary.  The  following  explana- 
tion of  the  marks  which  are  in  general  use  by  printers  for 
this  purpose,  with  the  annexed  specimen,  will  enable  a 
gentleman  who  has  to  superintend  a  work  through  the  press 
to  correct  the  proof  sheets  in  a  way  that  will  be  clearly  under- 
stood by  the  printer,  and  will  tend  to  promote  correctness 
by  preventing  those  mistakes  that  occasionally  occur,  owing 
to  his  not  clearly  comprehending  the  marks  on  the  proof 

1.  Where  a  word  is  to  be  changed  from  small  letters  to  capi- 
tals draw  three  lines  under  it,  and  write  caps,  in  the  margin 

2.  Where  there  is  a  wrong  letter  draw  the  pen  through 
that  letter,  and  make  the  right  one  opposite  in  the  margin. 

3.  A  letter  turned  upside  down. 

4.  The  substitution  of  a  comma  for  another  point,  or  for 
a  letter  put  in  by  mistake. 

5.  The  insertion  of  a  hyphen. 

6.  To  draw  the  letters  of  a  word  close  together  that  stand 
apart.  , 

7.  To  take  away  a  superfluous  letter  or  word  the  pen  is 
struck  through  it  and  a  round  top  d  made  opposite,  being 
the  contraction  of  deleatur,  to  expunge. 

8.  Where  a  word  has  to  be  changed  to  Italic  drawa  line  un- 
der it,  and  write  Ital.  in  the  margin  ;  and  where  a  word  has 
to  be  changed  from  Italic  to  Roman,  write  Rom.  opposite. 

9.  When  words  are  to  be  transposed  three  ways  of  mark- 
ing them  are  shown ;  but  they  are  not  usually  numbered 
except  more  than  three  words  have  their  order  changed. 

10.  The  transposition  of  letters  in  a  word. 

11.  To  change  one  word  for  another. 

12.  The  substitution  of  a  period  or  a  colon  for  any  other 
point.  It  is  customary  to  encircle  these  two  points  with  a  line. 

13.  The  substitution  of  a  capital  for  a  small  letter. 

14.  The  insertion  of  a  word,  or  a  letter. 

15.  When  a  paragraph  commences  where  it  is  not  in- 
tended, connect  the  matter  by  aline,  and  write  in  the  mar- 
gin opposite  run  on. 

16.  Where  a  space  or  a  quadrat  stands  up  and  appears, 
draw  a  line  under  it  and  make  a  strong  perpendicular  line 
in  the  margin. 

17.  When  a  letter  of  a  different  size  to  that  used,  or  of  a 
different  face,appears  in  a  word,  draw  a  line  either  through 
it  or  under  it,  and  write  opposite  w.  f.,  for  wrong  fount. 

18.  The  marks  for  a  paragraph,  when  its  commencement 
has  been  omitted. 

19.  When  one  or  more  words  have  been  struck  out,  and 
it  is  subsequently  decided  that  they  shall  remain,  make  dots 
under  them,  and  write  the  word  stet  in  the  margin. 

20.  The  mark  for  a  space  where  it  has  been  omitted 
between  two  words. 

21.  To  change  a  word  from  small  letters  to  small  capi- 
tals  make  two  lines  under  the  word,  and  write  sm.  caps,  op- 
posite. To  change  a  word  from  small  capitals  to  small  let- 
ters make  one  line  under  the  word,  and  write  in  the  mar- 
gin lo.  ca.  for  lower  case. 

22.  The  mark  for  the  apostrophe :  and  also  the  marks 
for  turned  commas,  which  designate  extracts. 

23.  The  manner  of  marking  an  omission,  or  an  insertion, 
when  it  is  too  long  to  be  written  in  the  side  margin.  When 
this  occurs  it  may  be  written  either  at  the  top  or  the  bottom 
of  the  page.  . 

24.  Marks  when  lines  or  words  do  not  appear  straight. 


H 

3 


7 


9 


CORRECTING. 
Antiquity,  like    every    other  im^ 

—  /  /        2 

quality  that   attracts  the  notice     _        a 
of    i^ankind,    has    undoubtedly    3 
votaries   that  reverence   it,  not        Sta£ 
from    reason/  but    from    preju-     J 
dice.     j?ome    seem    to    admire 
indiscriminately   whatever  has   v_r* 
been    long    preserved,    without 
considering  that  time  has  some, 
times  co-operated  with  chance: 
all  perhaps  are    more  willing  to 
honour  /present\than i/past^  ex-    fyj 
cellence  ;     and    the    the    mind 
contemplates     gemys     through    iaj 
the  shades  of  age,  as  the  eye 
views  the  sun  through  artificial  MunMjJr 
opacity-/ y&e    great    contention   oiQj    $f 
of  criticism  is  to  find  the  faults 
of    the    moderns,  Athe    beauties     amdj 
of  the  ancients.")  n*/n  onfvl 

(While  an  auyor  is  yet  living,  /-y 

we  estimate~his  powers  by  his  i6| 

worst  performances  ;  and  when 
he  is  deadA  [To  works,  however.    (B^-ak,0^ 
of  which/the  excellence  is  not    ^^ 

5  /  4  l  2  3 

gradual  but  absolute  and  defi 
nitelandlcomparative ;  to  works,     ;/ 
raised  noTAupon  principles  de- 
i^onstrative)  and  scientific,  but     4kt 
a/pealing  /wholly   to    observa-      ^ 
tic/i    and  I  experience,    nojpther     if 
test/can  be\  applied  than  length    ^  eaju 
of  deration)  and  continuance  of 


A 


& 


84 


/ 


OS 


^w-c 


raJb/&<i»'fy&J  fatj '& 


CORRESPONDENCE. 

The  preceding  specimen  when  corrected  would  be  as 
follows : — 

ANTIQUITY,  like  every  other  quality  that  attracts  the 
notice  of  mankind,  has  undoubtedly  votaries  that  reverence 
it,  not  from  reason,  but  from  prejudice.  Some  seem  to  ad- 
mire indiscriminately  whatever  has  been  long  preserved, 
without  considering  that  time  has  sometimes  co-operated 
with  chance:  all  perhaps  are  more  willing  to  honour  past 
than  present  excellence;  and  the  mind  contemplates  ge- 
nius through  t!i  •  shades  of  age,  as-the  eye  surveys  the  sun 
through  artificial  opacity.  The  great  contention  of  criticism 
is  to  find  the  faults  of  the  moderns,  and  the  beauties  of  the 
ancients.  While  an  author  is  yet  living,  we  estimate  his 
powers  by  his  worst  performances;  and  when  he  is  dead, 
we  rate  them  by  his  best. 

To  works,  however,  of  which  the  excellence  is  not  ab- 
solute and  definite,  but  gradual  and  comparative  ;  to  works, 
not  raised  upon  principles  demonstrative  and  scientifick, 
but  appealing  wholly  to  observation  and  experience,  no 
other  test  can  be  applied  than  length  of  duration  and  con- 
tinuance of  esteem. 

CORRESPONDENCE.  (Lat.  con,tf*7/i,respondeo,  Ian- 
swer.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  the  fitting  or  proportioning  the  parts 
ofa  design  to  each  other,  so  that  they  may  be  correlative,  and 
that  the  same  feeling  may  pervade  the  whole  composition. 

CO'RRIDOR.  (Ilal.  corridoro.)  In  Architecture,  a 
gallery  or  open  communication  to  the  different  apartments 
of  a  house. 

CORRO'SIVE  SUBLIMATE.  The  bichloride  of  mer- 
cury, composed  of  200  mercury  +  72  chlorine.  It  is  an 
acrid  poison  of  great  virulence:  the  stomach-pump  and 
emetics  are  the  surest  preventives  of  its  deleterious  effects 
when  accidentally  swallowed  ;  white  of  eg_f  has  also  been 
found  serviceable  in  allaying  its  poisonous  influence  upon 
the  stomach.  Its  specific  gravity  is  52.  It  requires  20  parts 
of  coM  water,  but  only  2  oi  boiling  water,  for  its  solution. 
See  Mercury. 

CO'RRUGaTE.  (Lat.  ruga,  wrinkle.)  In  Zoology,  the 
surface  of  an  animal  is  so  called  when  it  rises  and  falls  in 
parallel  aueles  more  or  less  acute. 

CO'RSAIR.  (Ilal.  corsaro.)  A  term  used  in  the  south 
of  Europe  and  some  other  parts  for  a  pirate  or  his  ship. 
The  corsairs  of  Barbary  were  commissioned  by  their 
princes  to  attack  the  merchant  ships  of  hostile  countries. 

CO'RTES.  {See  States.)  The  old  assembly  of  the 
estates  in  Leon,  Castile,  Arragon,  and  Portugal.  These- 
estates  were  framed,  as  elsewhere,  of  nobility,  dignified 
clergy,  and  representatives  of  the  towns.  In  Arragon, 
they  were  presided  over  by  a  high  officer,  termed  Justiza, 
with  powers  in  some  respects  sufficient  lo  control  the  m  >- 
narch.  The  origin  of  popular  representation  in  the  cortes 
of  the  several  kingdoms  out  of  which  that  of  Spain  was 
finally  formed,  is  assigned  to  a  date  as  early  as  the  12th 
ceniuryjbui  the  deputies  sent  by  the  towns  were  irregu- 
larly summoned,  frequently  did  not  attend,  and  the  num- 
bers which  appeared  for  each  town  frequently  bore  no 
proportion  to  the  relative  size  of  the  different  places.  In 
the  11th  century  the  power  of  the  cortes  seems  to  have 
been  at  its  height,  after  which  it  gradually  decayed,  and 
under  the  government  of  Ferdinand  arid  Isabella,  was  re- 
duced almost  to  a  nullity.  (See  Prescott's  Ferdinand  ami 
Isabella,  vol.  i. ;  HaUam'a  Middle  Ages.)  After  the  time 
of  Philip  II.,  the  cortes  of  Spain  were  only  occasionally 
convoked  on  the  accession  of  kings,  and  their  sittings  were 
a  mere  form.  In  1811,  during  the  French  invasion,  they 
were  convoked  at  Cadiz,  and  conducted  the  affairs  of  that 
kingdom  during  the  war  of  independence.  In  1814,  Ferdi- 
nand VII.  dissolved  them,  and  declarer!  all  their  decrees 
null.  In  1820,  the  cortes  met  again,  and  adopted  a  new 
constitution ;  in  1821,  the  people  of  Portugal  followed  the 
same  example :  both  constitutions  were  overthrown  in 
1823:  the  first  by  the  French  invasion,  the  latter  by  a 
counter  revolution.  The  later  events  of  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  history  have  again  called  these  national  as- 
semblies into  existence. 

CORTI'CIFERS,  Corliciferi.  (Lat.  cortex,  bark,  fero, 
I  carry.)  Those  Polyps  whose  uniting  fleshy  substance 
is  spread,  like  the  bark  ofa  tree,  over  a  central  calcareous 
or  corneous  axis. 

CO'RTILE.  (Ital.)  In  Architecture,  an  open  quad- 
ransular  or  curved  area  in  a  dwelling-house,  surrounded 
by  the  buildings  of  the  house  itself. 

CO'RTINA.  (Lat.  cortina,  a  kind  of  table.)  A  term  used 
in  describing  Fungi,  to  denote  that  portion  of  the  velum 
which  adheres  to  the  margin  of  the  pileus  in  fragments. 

CORU'NDUM.  A  crystallized  or  massive  mineral  of 
extreme  hardness,  and  composed  of  nearly  pure  alumina  ; 
it  is  usually  almost  opaque,  and  of  a  reddish  colour.  It  is 
allied  to  the  sapphire. 

CORVE'E.  (Fr.)  In  Feudal  Law,  the  obligation  of  the 
inhabitants  ofa  district  to  do  certain  services,  as  the  repair  of 
roads,  <fcc,  for  the  sovereign  or  the  feudal  lord.  Some  spe- 
cies of  corvee  were  performed  gratis:  others  for  a  fixed  pay, 
but  generally  below  the  value  of  the  labour  performed. 
289 


COSMOGONY. 

CO'RVUS.  (Lat.  the  raven.)  A  Linnrean  genus  of  birds, 
now  the  type  of  a  family  (Corrida),  belonging  to  the  Coni- 
rosiral  division  of  the  Passeres  of  Cuvier ;  and  including, 
with  the  Crows  proper,  the  Rollers  ( Coracias)  and  Birds 
of  Paradise  (Paradisea). 

Co'nvus.  In  Astronomy,  one  of  Ptolemy's  constella- 
tions, in  the  southern  hemisphere. 

CORYBA'NTES,  (Gr.)  in  Grecian  Mythology,  were  the 
priests  of  Cybele  ;  so  called  either  from  Corybas,  the  son 
of  that  goddess,  or  from  the  frantic  gestures  with  which 
iheir  devotions  were  accompanied  ;  the  term  Corybantes 
signifying  literally  "shaking  the  head  violently."  They 
used  to  beat  brazen  cymbals  in  their  sacred  rites ;  „ 

Acuta  ' 

Si  geminant  Curybumes  cera.      Hor.  Od.  1.16.8. 

and  their  whole  religious  proceedings  were  characterized 
by  such  extravagant  fanaticism  as  to  have  enriched  the 
Greek  language  with  several  terms  expressive  of  madness 
or  frenzy. 

CORYCETJM.  (Gr.  nopvKos)  In  Ancient  Architec- 
ture, an  apartment  in  a  gymnasium  whose  exact  destina- 
tion i3  not  known. 

CORYDA'LEA.  An  alcaline  principle,  from  the  Cory- 
da/is  tuberosa  and  Fumaria  cava. 

CO'RYMBI'FERiE.  (Lat.  corymbus,  aflat-headed  kind 
of  infioresce?ice,  and  fero,  I  bear.)  One  of  the  divisions  of 
the  great  group  of  Composite  admitted  by  Jussieu.  It  com- 
prehends those  plants  which,  like  the  Chrysanthemum 
and  the  Aster,  have  the  capitula  furnished  with  a  ray  ;  and 
those  others  which,  like  Artemisia,  although  destitute  of  a 
ray,  are  similar  to  such  plants  in  the  majority  of  their  cha- 
racters. 

CORY  MBUS.  (Lat.)  In  Ancient  Sculpture,  the  cluster 
of  ivy  leaves,  berries,  garlands,  &c,  with  which  vases  were 
encircled. 

Cory'mbus.  In  Botany,  a  form  of  inflorescence  con- 
sisting of  a  central  axis,  developing  lateral  pedicels,  the 
lower  ones  of  which  are  so  long  that  their  flowers  are 
elevated  to  the  same  level  as  that  of  the  uppermost. 

CORYPIKE'NA.  (Gr.  Kopvs,  a  helmet,  and  (patvw,  I 
show.)  A  genus  of  spiny-finned  fishes,  so  called  from  the 
head  being  crested  like  a  helmet.  It  belongs  to  the 
Mackerel  family  (Srotnljeroids) :  and  includes  the  true 
dolphin,  or  changeable  coryphene  (Coryphana  hippuris). 
The  genii3  is  now  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  family,  including, 
with  Coryphmna  proper,  the  subgenera  Centrolopus  and 
Leptnvodes. 

CO  RYPIKETS.  (Gr.  Kopv^n, summit.)  The  leader 
of  the  chorus  in  ancient  dramas  :  by  whom  the  dialogue 
between  the  chorus  and  the  other  actors  of  the  drama  was 
carried  on,  and  who  led  in  the  choric  song. 

CORY'ZA.  (Gr.  Koov^a.)  A  copious  running  from  the 
nose. 

co'SECANT  and  COSINE.  Theseeantand  sine  of  the 
complement  of  an  angle  or  arc  ;  the  prefix  co  being  merely 
the  abbreviation  of  complement,  first  introduced  by  Gunter. 
COSME'TIC.  (Gr.  Kocrpeo},  I  adorn.)  Remedies  to 
remove  freckles  and  pimples  from  the  face  and  to  improve 
the  complexion. 

CO'SMICAL.  (Gr.  koo/xos,  the  world.)  This  word 
occurs  frequently  in  the  ancient  astronomy,  in  which  it  is 
userl  to  denote  a  particular  position  of  a  planet  or  star,  at 
its  rising  or  setting,  in  respect  of  the  sun.  A  star  is  said  to 
rise  cosmically  when  it  rises  at  the  same  instant  that  the 
sun  rises  ;  and  to  set  cosmically,  when  it  sets  with  the  sun. 
Cosmical  is  opposed  to  achronycal,  which  signifies  that  a 
star  rises  at  the  instant  the  sunsets,  and  vice  versa.  The 
cosmical  and  achronycal  risings  of  a  star  are  invisible  to 
the  naked  eye,  because  the  light  of  the  sun  in  the  horizon 
effaces  that  of  the  star. 

COSMO'GONY.  (Gr.  koo/ws,  world,  and  yopoc,  birth.) 
The  science,  which  treats  of  the  origin  of  the  universe. 
If  we  except  the  cosmogony  of  the  Indians,  the  earliest 
extant  is  that  of  Ilesiod,  which  is  delivered  in  hexameter 
verse.  The  first  prose  cosmogonies  were  those  of  the 
early  Ionic  philosophers,  of  whom  Thales,  Anaximenes, 
Anaximander,  and  Anaxagoras  are  the  mast  celebrated. 
In  modern  times,  a  Theory  of  the  World  has  been  pro- 
duced by  Burnet.  We  do  not  include  in  this  list  of  cos- 
mogonies the  researches  of  modern  geologists,  or  the 
systems  to  which  they  have  led.  They  may  be  said  to 
hold  the  same  place  in  relation  to  the  old  cosmogoners, 
which  the  astronomer  or  the  chemist  occupies  in  reference 
to  the  aslrologers  and  alchemists  of  ancient  times. 

The  different  theories  which  have  been  formed  to  ac- 
count for  the  origin  of  the  world  may  be  comprehended 
under  three  classes : — 1st,  Those  which  suppose  the  world 
to  have  existed  from  eternity  under  its  actual  form.  Aris- 
tode  embraced  this  doctrine;  and  conceiving  the  existing 
universe  to  be  the  eternal  effect  of  an  eternal  cause,  main- 
tained that  not  only  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  but  all  ani- 
mate and  inanimate  beings  are  without  beginning.  2d, 
Those  which  consider  the  matter  of  the  universe  eter- 
nal, but  not  its  form.    This  was  the  philosophical  sys- 


COSMOGRAPHY. 

tem  of  Leucippus,  Democritus,  Epicurus,  and  indeed  most 
of  the  ancient  philosophers  and  poets,  who  feigned  the 
world  either  tote  produced  by  the  fortuitous  concourse  of 
atoms  existing  from  all  eternity,  or  to  have  sprung  out  of 
the  chaotic  form  which  preceded  its  present  state  3d, 
Those  which  ascribe  both  matter  and  its  form  to  the  direct 
agencv  of  a  spiritual  cause. 

COSMO'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  kovuos,  and  j .  pa<pw,  I write.) 
The  science  which  treats  of  the  construction,  figure,  and 
arrangement  of  all  the  parts  of  the  world  ;  and  therefore 
comprehends  astronomy,  geography,  and  geology. 

COSMO'LOGY.  (Gr.  KOtrpos,  and  \oyos,  a  discourse.) 
See  Cosmogony. 

COSMO'POLITE.  (Gr.  Kocrnos,  and  ttoAi?,  a  city.)  A 
citizen  of  the  world  :  one  who  makes  the  world  his  country. 

COSMORA'MA.  (Gr.  koohos,  and  bpaio,  I  see.)  A  spe- 
cies of  picturesque  exhibition,  consisting  of  a  number  of 
drawings,  generally  about  eight  or  ten,  which  are  laid  hori- 
zontally round  a  semicircular  table,  and  reflected  by  mir- 
rors placed  opposite  to  them  diagonally.  The  spectator 
views  them  through  a  convex  lens  placed  immediately  in 
front  of  each  mirror.  The  pictures  are  illuminated  by  lamp 
light;  but  the  lamps  are  so  placed  that  they  cannot  be  re- 
flected by  the  mirrors,  and  are  therefore  invisible  to  the 
spectator. 

COSS.  When  algebra  was  first  introduced  into  Europe, 
it  was  called  the  Rule  of  Coss ;  probably  from  the  Italian 
Regola  di  Cosa,  the  Rule  of  the  Thing;  the  unknown 
quantity  being  termed  cosa,  the  thing.  Hence  Cossic  Art, 
Cossic  Numbers,  &c,  found  in  some  of  the  old  authors. 

COSSA'CKS.  A  people  inhabiting  those  parts  of  the 
Russian  empire  which  border  on  the  northern  dominions 
of  Turkey,  Poland,  and  the  southern  confines  of  Siberia. 
Both  the  name  and  origin  of  this  people  are  involved  in 
great  uncertainty.  They  seem  to  have  nothing  Russian  in 
their  origin  and  character,  and  are  probably  a  mixed  Cau- 
casian and  Tartar  race.  They  form  a  sort  of  independent 
republic,  paying  no  taxes  to  Russia,  but  cheerfully  contribu- 
ting their  numerous  and  valuable  contingent  of  troops;  and 
are  well  known  as  the  most  harassing  light  troops  that  ever 
exercised  a  predatory  warfare  in  the  train  of  any  army. 

Their  dress  is  a  short  vest  in  the  Polish  style,  large  trow- 
sers  of  a  deep  blue  colour,  and  a  black  sheepskin  cap. 
Their  arms  consist  of  a  sabre,  long  spear,  musket,  a  pair  of 
pistols,  and  a  long  whip,  which  they  apply  to  their  enemy 
as  well  as  their  charger's  back.  They  are"  mostly  members 
of  the  Russian  Greek  Church,  and  are  described  as  a  hospi- 
table, generous,  and  disinterested  people.  Their  numbers 
have  not  been  estimated  for  nearly  a  century.,  when  they 
amounted  to  955,223  males. 

CO'STA.  (Lat.  costa,  arib.)  A  term  formerly  confined 
to  that  bundle  of  vessels  which  passes  directly  from  the 
base  to  the  apex  of  a  leaf;  but  which  is  better  extended  to 
all  the  main  veins  which  proceed  directly  from  the  base 
to  the  apex,  or  to  the  points  of  the  lobes. 

CO'STAL.     (Lat.  costa.)    Beloncing  to  the  ribs. 

CO'STARDMO'NGER.  (From  costard,  a  large  apple.) 
An  itinerant  dealer  in  apples.  The  word  is  often  written 
costermonger,  and  applied  to  hawkers  and  pedlars  who  sell 
fruit. 

CO'STATE.  (Lat.  costa,  a  rib.)  In  Botany,  a  term  ap- 
plied in  two  ways,  in  describing  the  venation  of  leaves  : 
either  to  indicate  the  presence  of  but  one  rib,  as  in  most 
leaves ;  or  in  speaking  of  cases  where  three  or  more  ribs 
proceed  from  the  base  to  the  apex  of  a  leaf,  and  are  con- 
nected by  cross  veins.  The  latter  are  frequently  called 
nerves,  or  nervures.  If  a  leaf  has  its  ribs  all  distinct  from 
the  very  base,  it  is  called  tricostate,  quinquecostate,  and  so 
on ;  but  if  the  ribs  are  united  at  the  base  in  a  distinct  man- 
ner, the  term  becomes  triplicostate,  quintuplicostate,  &c. 

Costatb.  In  Zoology,  the  surface  of  the  whole  or  part 
of  an  animal  is  so  termed  when  it  has  several  broad  elevat- 
ed lines. 

COSTS.  In  Law,  the  expenses  lo  which  parties  are  put 
in  the  prosecution  and  defending  of  actions.  Costs  are  to 
be  considered  either  as  between  attorney  and  client,  i.  e. 
the  expenses  and  fees  which  the  attorney  is  entitled  to  re- 
cover from  his  client ;  or  as  between  party  and  party,  i.  e. 
that  portion  of  the  expenses  to  which  a  successful  party 
has  been  put  in  his  suit,  which  he  is  entitled  in  certain  cases 
to  recover  from  the  unsuccessful  one.  Costs  in  the  latter 
sense  are  not  given  by  the  common  law.  The  statute  of 
Gloucester  (6  E.  1.  c.  1.  s.  2.)  first  enacted,  that  the  de- 
mandant should  recover  from  the  tenant  the  cost  of  his 
writ,  if  successful ;  and  that  this  provision  should  extend 
to  all  cases  where  a  man  recovers  damages.  By  a  liberal 
construction  of  this  statute  the  costs  of  the  writ  are  under- 
stood as  the  costs  of  the  action,  and  its  benefit  is  extended 
to  plaintiffs  in  most  cases  where  they  would  have  been  en- 
titled to  damages  before  that  statute.  In  other  cases,  the 
plaintiff  is  not  entitled  to  costs,  unless  they  are  expressly 
given  by  statute.  In  assumpsit,  covenant,  and  debt,  if  the 
plaintiff  have  a  verdict,  but  the  damages  or  debt  and  dama- 
ges be  under  40s.,  the  judge  may  deprive  him  of  any  more 
290 


COTTAGE  ALLOTMENTS. 

costs  than  damages  by  certifying  to  that  effect  on  the  record, 
under  43  Eliz.  c.  6.  s.  2.  In  actions  for  assault  and  battery, 
and  trespass,  wherever  the  damages  given  by  a  jury  do  not 
amount  to  40s.,  the  plaintiff  (by  several  statutes)  is  allowed 
no  more  costs  Ihan  damages,  unless  the  judge  shall  certify 
that  assault  and  battery  was  sufficiently  proved  ;  or,  in  tres- 
pass, that  the  title  to  land  came  in  question.  The  certificate 
may  be  granted  at  the  trial,  or  within  a  reasonable  time  af- 
terwards. Where,  out  of  several  issues,  some  are  found 
for  the  plaintiff  and  others  for  the  defendant,  the  plaintiff 
is  now  only  entitled  to  costs  on  those  issues  on  which  he 
may  succeed,  and  the  costs  of  the  defendant's  issues  will 
be  deducted  from  his.  The  defendant's  right  to  costs  rests 
also  on  several  statutes,  principally  23  H.  8.  c.  15.  Double 
and  treble  costs  are  given  by  some  statutes  in  particular 
cases ;  and  they  follow  by  implication  where  double  and 
treble  damages  are  given.  Double  costs,  in  practice,  mean 
single  costs  and  one  half  their  amount  in  addition  :  treble, 
the  same,  with  one  half  of  these  last.  Costs  are  taxed  as 
between  party  and  party  by  officers  of  the  court :  and  re- 
coverable by  action,  execution,  or  attachment.  As  between 
attorney  and  client,  the  attorney  has  a  right  of  action  for 
costs  ;  but  his  bill  is  liable  to  taxation  by  officers  of  the  court, 
under  certain  restrictions.  Costs  in  equity  are  within  the 
discretion  of  the  court,  except  in  certain  cases;  as  where 
no  answer  is  made  to  a  bill  exhibited,  or  an  insufficient 
answer,  &c. 

COSTU'ME.  (It.)  In  Painting  and  Sculpture,  this  word 
has  become  used  chiefly  as  a  term  denoting  the  particular 
sort  of  dress  suitable  to  the  subject,  according  to  the  time- 
in  which  the  action  is  supposed  to  have  taken  place  ;  but 
the  word  has  a  more  general  signification,  inasmuch  as  it  in- 
cludes the  keeping  of  all  the  accessories,  ornaments,  uten- 
sils, &c.of  such  forms  and  colours  as  historical  knowledge 
proves  them  really  to  have  possessed. 

COTE'  DROIT,  COTE^  GAUCHE.  See  Deputies, 
Chamber  of. 

COTERIE.  An  old  French  word,  supposed  to  be  derived 
from  the  Lat.  quot,  hcnc  many,  signifying  literally  a  society 
or  company.  In  the  13th  or  14th  century,  when  merchants 
were  about  to  embark  in  any  commercial  enterprise,  they 
formed  a  coterie  or  company,  each  contributing  his  quota 
of  goods  or  money,  and  deriving  his  quota  of  profit.  But 
the  term  soon  acquired  a  more  extended  signification,  in 
which,  however,  the  original  meaning  is  still  perceptible, 
being  applied  to  any  exclusive  society  in  which  interesting 
subjects  (chiefly  literary  and  political)  are  discussed,  each 
member  being  supposed  to  contribute  his  quota  or  share  of 
information  for  the  general  edification  or  amusement. 

COTI'SE.  (Fr.  cote,  side.)  In  Heraldry,  a  diminutive 
of  the  bend,  being  one  half  the  width  of  the  bendlet;  gene- 
rally borne  in  couples,  with  a  bend  or  charges  between 
them.  A  bend,  fess,  &c.  between  two  cotises,  is  termed 
cotised. 

CO'TTABUS.  (Gr.  kottoSos.)  A  celebrated  Greek 
game.  It  consisted  in  throwing  wine  from  cups  into  little 
basins  of  metal  suspended  in  a  particular  manner,  or  float- 
ing in  a  large  vessel  of  water ;  so  that  dexterity  might  be. 
shown  in  throwing  it  without  spilling,  in  producing  a  par- 
ticular sound,  &c.  The  cottabus  was  so  favourite  a  sport, 
that  rooms  were  built  expressly  forits  performance, styled 
cottaheia. 

CO'TTAGE  ALLOTMENTS,  are  those  portions  of 
ground  which  are  allotted  to  the  dwellings  of  country  la- 
bourers for  the  purpose  of  being  cultivated  by  them  as  gar- 
dens. Sometimes  these  allotments  are  placed  adjoining 
the  dwellings,  in  which  case  they  are  more  commonly 
called  cottage  gardens  ;  but  at  other  limes  they  are  placed 
at  a  distance  from  the  cottage,  and  form  small  portions  of 
a  large  enclosure  ;  and  to  this  kind  of  cottage  garden  the 
term  allotment  is  more  properly  applied  than  to  the  other. 
The  object  in  both  cases  is  to  afford  resources  to  the  cotta- 
ger ;  and  to  enable  him,  by  growing  vegetables  and  roots  of 
various  kinds,  not  only  to  supply  his  own  family,  but  to  keep 
pigs,  rabbits,  poultry,  &;c.  Such  being  the  uses  of  cottage, 
allotments,  the  advantage  of  each  cottage  having  its  garden 
surrounding  it,  instead  of  at  a  distance,  is  sufficiently  oh- 
vious.  In  the  latter  case,  the  cottager  must  necessarily 
lose  much  time  in  travelling  backwards  and  forwards  from 
his  house  to  his  garden  ;  and  his  wife  and  children  will  often 
be  prevented  from  employing  themselves  in  it.  In  such  u 
garden  he  cannot  grow  fruits,  because  they  would  be  com- 
paratively unprotected  ;  nor  can  it  be  worlh  his  while  to 
grow  flowers  in  a  place  where  they  would  not  prove  an  orna- 
ment to  his  dwelling.  On  the  supposition  that  the  cottager 
has  his  pigstye  close  to  his  dwelling,  the  food  for  the  pigs 
must  be  brought,  home  from  the  allotment ;  and  the  ma- 
nure made  by  them,  which  is  one  of  the  advantages  of 
keeping  pigs,  must  be  carried  out  again.  It  is  well  known 
to  all  persons  of  any  experience  on  this  subject,  that  by  far 
the  most  valuable  part  of  the  manure  made  by  (lie  cottager, 
such  as  soapsuds,  &c,  may  be  included  under  the  term 
liquid  manure ;  and  this,  when  the  allotment  is  at  a  dis- 
tance, may  be  considered  as  entirely  lost,  the  cottager  being 


COTTON. 

without  either  conveniences  or  time  for  carrying  it  out.  In 
point  of  usefulness,  therefore,  a  cottage  allotment  in  afield, 
at  the  distance  of  a  furlong  or  less  from  the  cottage,  is  not 
worth  half  what  it  would  be  if  adjoining  the  dwelling  ; 
while  in  point  of  enjoyment  to  the  cottager,  and  of  orna- 
ment to  the  roadside,  it  is  hardly  worth  anything.  A  cot- 
tage allotment  is  therefore  a  miserable  substitute  for  a  cot- 
tage garden.  On  the  other  hand,  the  iabourer  who  has  a 
lease  of  a  comfortable  cottage  surrounded  by  a  garden, 
even  if  the  latter  should  not  be  larger  than  the  eighth  part 
of  an  acre,  has  within  his  reach  all  the  essentials  of  happi- 
ness possessed  by  the  richest  landed  proprietor.  He  can 
grow  good  and  wholesome  vegetables  and  fruits;  he  may 
have  his  live  stock  of  pigs,  poultry,  rabbits,  and  bees  ;  he 
may  ornament  his  house  front,  and  the  borders  of  his 
walks,  wilh  shrubs  and  flowers  ;  and  he  has  the  wages  of 
his  labour  for  the  purchase  of  those  comforts  and  luxuries 
which  his  garden  does  not  afford.  In  the  culture  and  man- 
agement of  this  spot,  he  has  constant  occupation  of  the 
most  agreeable  and  useful  kind  for  his  leisure  hours 
throughout  the  year;  and,  in  short,  whatever  the  farmer 
or  country  gentleman  has  on  a  large  scale,  he  has  on  a 
small  one.  In  quiet  possession  of  this  little  garden,  which 
he  regards  as  his  own,  he  learns  to  respect  himself,  acquir- 
ing at  the  same  time  a  taste  for  accumulating  property. 
The  time,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  is  not  far  distant  when  the  hum- 
blest country  labourer  will  possess  such  a  cottage  and  gar- 
den ;  but  it  is  necessary  that  the  country  labourer  should 
acquire  previously  a  taste  for  these  comforts  by  seeing 
them  possessed  by  others  of  his  class  ;  and  for  this  we 
must  look  partly  to  the  country  labourers  themselves,  part- 
ly to  the  government  for  the  establishment  of  a  system  of 
universal  education  which  shall  raise  the  taste  of  the  hum- 
blest part  of  society,  and  partly  to  the  humanity  and  sym- 
pathetic feeling  of  the  landed  proprietors  ;  because  it  is  to 
them  we  must  look,  in  the  first  instance,  for  building  the 
cottage  and  accompanying  it  with  garden  ground. 

COTTON.  (Gossypiiu/i.  Lin.)  A  species  of  vegetable 
wool,  the  produce  of  the  Gossypium  herbaceum,  of  which 
there  are  many  varieties.  The  kinds  of  cotton  mel  with  in 
the  marketare  usually  designated  by  the  names  of  the  places 
from  which  they  are  brought ;  but  practically,  they  are  all 
divided  into  the  two  great  classes  of  lon«  and  short  stapled. 
Its  goodness  depends  on  its  colour,  and  the  length,  strength, 
and  fineness  of  its  fibre.  Its  price  varies,  according  to 
quality,  from  2s.  to  id.  per  lb.  The  general  chemical  cha- 
racters of  cotton  are  those  of  tignin.  It.  is  peculiarly  sus- 
ceptible of  combination  with  certain  metallic  oxides  or 
bases;  whence  the  facility  with  which  it  is  locally  dyed, as 
in  the  process  of  calico  printing, 

COTTON  MANUFACTURE.  In  modern  times  cotton 
has  attained  to  an  importance  among  vegetables  second 
only  to  that  of  corn,  and  which  could  not  have  been  so 
much  as  dreamed  of  in  former  ages.  The  manufacture  of 
cotton  wool  into  articles  of  use  and  ornament  appears,  in- 
deed, to  have  been  carried  on  in  India  from  the  remotest 
antiquity;  but  it  has  not  made  any  very  great  progress  in 
the  East,  and  obtained  no  footing  worth  mentioning  in  Eu- 
rope, till  last  century. 

The  truth  is,  that  this  manufacture,  though  it  now  affords 
employment  and  subsistence  to  many  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  persons  in  this  and  other  countries,  is  almost 
wholly  a  consequence  of  discoveries  and  inventions  made 
in  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  since  the  middle  of 
last  century.  Previously  to  that  period  the  manufacture 
was  everywhere  confined  within  the  narrowest  limits. 
Owing  to  the  difficulty  of  separating  the  wool  from  the 
seed,  its  price,  so  long  as  this  operation  had  to  be  perform- 
ed by  the  hand,  was  naturally  high  :  while  the  cost  of  its 
spinning  and  weaving  by  the  wheels  and  looms  in  use  pre- 
viously to  1760  added  so  much  to  its  price,  that  cotton  ar- 
ticles were  suited  only  to  the  use  and  demand  of  the  better 
classes  of  society  ;  and  it  seems  unreasonable  to  suppose 
thatthe  manufacture  should  havebeen  materially  extended 
without  a  greatly  increased  facility  of  production.  But  in 
this  respect  the  most  signal  and  extraordinary  improve- 
ments have  been  made.  The. Tenny  invented  byHargreaves 
in  1767  enabled  one  individual  to  spin  80  or  120  threads  with 
about  the  same  facility  that  a  single  thread  had  been  previ- 
ously spun.  The  jenny,  however,  was  fitted  only  to  spin 
the  softer  descriptions  of  yarn  or  that  used  as  iceft,  being 
unable  to  give  the  thread  the  firmness  and  hardness  re- 
quired in  that  used  as  warp.  But  this  deficiency  was  soon 
supplied:  The  genius  of  Arkwright  completed  what  Har- 
greaves  had  begun,  by  inventing  the  spinning  frame, — that 
wonderful  piece  of  machinery  which  spins  any  number  of 
threads  of  any  degree  of  fineness  and  hardness,  leaving  to 
man  merely  to  feed  the  machine  with  cotton,  and  to  join 
the  threads  when  they  break !  Nearly  at  the  same  time 
that  the  spinning  department  was  thus  wonderfully  im- 
proved. Dr.  Cartwright,  a  clergyman  of  Kent,  invented  the 
power-loom,  a  machine  which  has  already  gone  far  to  su- 
nersede  weaving  by  the  hand,  and  which  will,  no  doubt,  in 
the  end  bring  about  this  desirable  result.  While  these  ex- 
291 


COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 

traor.linary  inventions  were  being  made,  Watt  was  perfect- 
ing the  steam-engine,  endowing  it  with  capacity  to  engrave 
a  seal,  to  give  motion  to  the  most  ponderous  machinery, 
or  to  lift  a  ship  like  a  bauble  in  the  air;  and  was  thus  not 
only  supplying  the  manufactures  with  a  new  power  appli- 
cable to  every  purpose,  and  easy  of  controul,  but  with  one 
that  might  be  placed  in  the  most  convenient  situations,  and 
amid  a  population  trained  to  industrious  habits. 

Still,  however,  something  more  was  necessary  to  com- 
plete this  astonishing  career  of  discovery  Without  a 
vastly  increased  supply  of  the  raw  material  at  a  lower  price 
than  it  had  previously  brought,  the  inventions  of  Har- 
greaves,  Arkwright,  and  Watt  would  have  been  of  compa- 
ratively little  value.  Luckily,  however,  what  they  did  for  the. 
manufacturers,  Mr.  Eli  Whitney  did  for  the  cotton  growers. 
This  extraordinary  person,  a  native  of  the  northern  states 
of  America,  invented  a  machine  by  which  cotton  wool  is 
separated  from  the  seed  with  the  utmost  facility  and  ex- 
pedition. Previously  to  1790  the  United  States  did  not  ex- 
port a  single  pound  weight  of  raw  cotton.  In  1792  they  ex- 
ported the  trifling  quantity  of  138.328  lbs.  Whitney's  in- 
vention came  into  operation  in  1793  ;  and  in  1794,  1,601,760 
lbs.,  and  in  1795,  5,276,305  lbs.  were  exported !  And  so  as- 
tonishing has  been  the  growth  of  cotton  in  the  interval,  oc- 
casioned by  this  discovery  and  the  discoveries  made  in 
England,  that  in  1838  the  exports  from  the  United  States 
amounted  to  the  prodigious  quantity  of  595,952,297  lbs. ! 

A  cotton  mill  is  probably,  all  things  considered,  the  most 
astonishing  triumph  of  skill  and  ingenuity.  All  the  various 
operations,  from  the  carding  of  the  wool  to  its  conversion 
into  a  texture  as  fine  almost  as  that  of  the  gossamer,  is  per- 
formed by  machinery.  Each  of  the  workmen  at  present 
employed  in  a  cotton  mill  superintends  as  much  work  as 
could  have  been  executed  by  two  or  three  hundred  work- 
men 60  or  70  years  ago,  and  yet,  instead  of  being  diminished, 
the  numbers  employed  have  increased  even  in  u  still  great- 
er proportion !  It  would  be  curious  to  investigate  how 
many  persons  in  the  old  and  new  worlds  directly  depend 
for  subsistence  on  the  inventions  and  discoveries  of  Har 
greaves,  Arkwright,  Watt,  Whitney,  and  the  oilier  founders 
and  improvers  of  this  great  manufacture.  They  certainly 
amount  to  several  millions  ;  al  the  same  time  that  there  is 
hardly  an  individual  in  any  country,  how  remote  or  bar- 
barous soever,  who  is  not  indebted  to  them  for  an  increase 
of  comfort  and  enjoyment. 

"  It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  advantage  to  the  bulk 
of  the  people,  from  the  wonderful  cheapness  of  cotton 
goods.  The  wife  of  a  labouring  man  may  buy,  at  a  retail 
shop,  a  neat  and  good  print  as  low  as  Ad.  a  yard  ;  so  that. 
allowing  7  yards  for  the  dress,  the  whole  material  shall  only 
cost  2s.  Ad.  sterling.  Common  plain  calico  may  he  bought 
Inr  ■_"//.  a  yard;  elegant  cotton  prints  for  ladies'  dresses 
sell  at  from  10rf.  to  Is.  Ad.  per  yard,  and  printed  muslins  at 
from  Is.  to  4s.,  the  hisher  priced  havins  beautiful  patterns, 
in  brilliant  and  permanent  colours.  Thus  the  humblest 
classes  have  now  the  means  of  as  great  neatness,  and  even 
gaiety  of  dress,  as  the  middle  and  upper  classes  of  the  last 
age.  A  country  wake  in  the  19th  century  may  display  as 
much  finery  as  a  drawing  room  of  the  17th  :  and  the  pea- 
sant's cottage  may,  at  this  day,  with  good  management, 
have  as  handsome  furniture  for  beds,  windows,  and  tables, 
as  the  house  of  a  substantial  tradesman  60  years  since." 
(Blaines's  Hist.   Cotton  Manufacture,  p.  358.) 

The  following  statements  give  a  view  of  the  progress  of 
the  manufacture  in  Great  Britain  : — 
Account  of  the  Imports  of  Cotton  Wool,  and  of  the  official 

Value  of  the  Cotton  Goods  exported  from  Great  Britain 

in  the  following  Years,  from  1697  to  1764,  both  inclusive 


Years. 

Raw  Cotton 
imported. 

Official 
Value  of 
British  Cot- 
ton Goods 
exported. 

Yeais. 

Raw  Cotton 
imported. 

Official 
Value  of 
British  Cot- 
ton Goode 
exported. 

1697 
1701 
1710 
1720 

Ibt. 

1,976,359 
1,985,668 

7I5;003 
1,972,805 

L. 

5,915 
23.253 

5,698 
16,200 

1730 
1741 
1751 
1764 

lbs. 

1,545.472 
1,6-15.031 
2,976,610 
3,870,392 

L. 
13,524 
20.709     1 
45,986     I 
200,354     1 

The  spinning  jenny  was  invented  in  1767,  and  Arkwrisht 
took  out  his  first  patent  for  spinning  by  rollers  in  1769.  The 
influence  of  these  and  numberless  other  inventions  on  the 
trade  is  exhibited  in  the  following  table  : — 


1 

Years. 

Cotton 
imported. 

Cotton 

exported. 

Years. 

Cotton 
imported. 

Cotton 
exported. 

1781 
1735 
1790 
1795 
1800 
1805 

tb». 

5,198,778 
13,400,384 
31,447,605 
26,401,340 
56,010,732 
59,682,406 

lb*. 

96,788 

407,496 

844,154 

1,193,737 

4,416,610 

804,243 

1810 
1811 
1812 
1813 
1814 
1815 

lbs. 
132,488,935 
91.576,535 
63,025,936 
50.966.000 
60.060,239 
99,306,343 

lbs. 

3.787,109 
L266.867 
1,440,912 

6.282,437 
6,780,392 

COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 

The  subjoined  statement,  taken  from  the  circular  of  Messrs.  George  Holt  and  Co.,  cotton  brokers  at  Liverpool, 
dated  the  31st  December,  1840,  gives  a  very  complete  view  of  all  the  more  important  particulars  respecting  the  British 
cotton  manufacture  in  the  undermentioned  years,  from  1816  to  1840,  both  inclusive. 

Statement  of  the  Consumption,  Exportation,  &c.  of  the  different  sorts  of  Cotton  Wool,  in  and  from  Great  Britain, 
in  different  Years,  from  1816  to  1840,  both  inclusive. 


Average  Weekly  Consumption. 


Upland 

Orleans  and  Tennessee 

Sea  Island 


Total  United  States 

Brazil 

Egypt 

East  India       - 

Demerara,  West  India,  <fcc.   - 

Total 
Packages  annually  consumed 
Average  weight  of  packages 

consumed,  in  lbs. 
Weekly  consumption  in  pack- 
ages, average  346  lbs.  - 
Average  weight  of  packages 

imported,  in  lbs. 
Packages  exported 
Lbs.  weight  annually  import- 
ed, in  millions  and  tenths  • 
Lbs.  weight  consumed,  do.    - 
Lbs.  weight  in  ports,  31st  of 

Dec.  do.       • 
Lbs.  weight  in  Gt.  Britain,  do. 
Averageprice  per  lb.  of  up 

lands  in  Liverpool 
Do.  do.  Pemam 

Do.  do.  Surats  • 


990 


4.036 
1,589 

207 
656 


6,488 
337,400 

263 

5,122 

256 

29,300 

93  9 

88-7 
192 


26d. 
15i(/. 


2.91S 

1,192 

409 


4,519 
2,408 

1,518 
534 


8  979 
466,900 


6,945 

249 

23,400 

1439 
120  3 
110'5 

127  0 

ll§d. 
Ibid. 
8§d. 


3.713 
2,442 

360 


6,515 
2,502 

891 

1,096 

527 


5.452 

4,756 

460 


11.531 
599,600 

278 

9,634 

270 

72,800 

222-4 
166-8 
107  0 

115-5 

11 -6d. 
15-lrf. 
8-9d. 


10,66- 
3,602 

508 
'     940 

284 


16,002 
932.10U 

298 

14,320 

300 
33,400 

2612 
2476 
914 

•1188 

6-9<7. 

Std. 

bd. 


5,! 

7,823 

354 


14,073 
2,339 

446 
1,069 

421 


18,348 
954,100 

333 

18,348 

331 
102,800 

361-7 
3181 
73-3 

89  6 

tow. 

14. Id. 
7kd. 


4,438        5,505        5,464 

10,223      11,742        9,915 

310  317  265 


14,971 

2.483 

'779 

1,639 

461 


17.564 

2,460 
781| 

1,760 
639 


20,3a3      23,204 
1,057,300  1,206,600 


346 

20,333 

347 
123,400 

403-2 

365  7 

82-1 


346 

23,204 

350 

103,300 

501-0 
416-7 
110-1 

160-9 


Id.  Id. 

9|d.      9-375rf. 

4-85c£     I        5d. 


15.C44 
2,373 

£43 

2,142 

723 

21,430 
1,114,400 

343 

20,764 

348 
117,300 


331-7 
96-5 


7ld. 
I0d 
bid. 


5.346 

13,354 

392 


19,592 

1,444 

540 

2,227 

260 


24,063 
,251,300 

354 

24,063 

365 

119,700 

583-4 
458-9 
162-9 

207  0 

6d. 
94-d. 
4K 


X.  rj  _ Messrs.  Holt  &  Co.  estimate  the  average  weight  of  the  packages  imported  in  1840  at  333  lbs.  per  bag  Upland  ;  415 
lbs.  Orleans  and  Alabama;  230  lbs.  Sea-Island;  171  lbs.  Brazil;  215  lbs.  Egyptian  ;  342  lbs.  East  Indian;  aud  166  lbs. 
West  Indian. 

We  subjoin  from  Burm's  Glance, — a  tabular  statement,  annually  published  at  Manchester,  and  admitted  to  be 
drawn  up  with  great  care, — an  account  of  the  cotton  spun  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  in  1S38  ,  and  how  that  spun  ill 
England  was  disposed  of,  with  several  other  interesting  particulars. 

Statement  of  Cotton  spun  in  England,  Scotland  and  Ireland,  in  1838;  showing  the  Quantity  of  Yarn  produced,  and  how 

that  spun  in  England  was  disposed  of. 


Number  of  Bags 
consumed. 


Average  weight  of 
Bags  in  lbs. 


938,168 
147.392 
40,273 
94,468 
16.519 


1,236,820 


373 
171 
284 
363 
316 

346 


GREAT   BRITAIN. 

American  Cotton   - 

Brazil  ditto 

Egyptian  ditto        .... 

East  India  ditto  .... 
West  India  ditto  .... 
Total  number  of  bags  consumed  • 

Allowed  for  loss  in  spinning,  If  oz.  per  lb. 

'■  Total  quantity  spun  in  England  and  Scotland     ....... 

'  Deduct  quantity  spun  in  Scotland 

j  Total  quantity  spun  in  England  in  1833 

How  disposed  of. 

!  Exported  in  yarn  during  the  year  

Ditto  in  thread 

Ditto  in  manufactured  goods 

I  Estimated  quantity  of  yarn  sent  to  Scotland  and  Ireland 

j  Exported  in  mixed  manufactures,  not  stated  in  the  above-named  articles,  con 
.     sumed  in  cotton  banding,  healds,  candle  and  lamp  wick,  waddings,  flocks,  cal 
I     ender  bowls,  paper,  umbrellas,  hats,  and  loss  in  manufacturing  goods  • 
j  Balance  left  for  home  consumption  and  stock,  1st  January,  1839 
Ditto  ditto  ditto  1838      - 

Ditto  ditto  ditto  1837      - 

Ditto  ditto  ditto  1836      - 

IRELAND. 

Gross  weight  of  cotton  spun  in  Ireland  in  1838 

Allowed  for  loss  in  spinning,  If  oz.  per  lb.  ...... 

Toatl  quantity  of  yarn  spun  in  Ireland  in  1838    ....... 


Total  weight  in  lbs. 


Weekly  consumption  of 
Bags,  describing  each 


349,936,664 
25,204,032 

11,437.532 
34.291.884 
5,220.004 


426,090,116 

40.603,00;; 


113,753,197 
2,362,983 

120,784,029 
6,875,952 


16,753,000 
84,133,283 


63.657.902 
43,486,686 
49,932,800 

4,412,c60 
482.656 


3,930,204 


18,041.36 

2,834.24 

774.25 

1.816.36 

317.35 


23.785 


379,486,510 
34.823,466 


344,663,044 


344,663,044 


In  1832  the  quantity  spun  was  222,596,907  lbs.,  giving  a 
weekly  supply  of  4,280,709  lbs.  Mr.  Burns  estimates  the 
quantity  spun  per  spindle,  per  week,  at  8}  oz.,  making  the 
total  number  of  spindles  employed  in  England  and  Wales, 
in  1832,  7,949,208.  Those  employed  in  Scotland,  during  the 
same  year,  are  estimated,  in  the  same  way,  at  331,020.  Mr. 
Burns  further  calculates  the  number  of  looms  employed  in 
England  and  Wales,  in  1832,  at  203,730.  The  consumption 
of  flour  in  the  manufacture  is  much  greater  than  any  one 
292 


not  pretty  well  acquainted  w'th  it  would  readily  suppose. 
The  average  quantity  required  for  each  loom  is  estimated 
at  4  lbs.  per  week  ;  making  the  total  annual  consumption  in 
England  and  Wales,  in  1832,  42,301,584  lbs.  or  215,824  bar- 
rels of  196  lbs.  each !, 

The  places  whence  the  supply  of  raw  cotton  is  derived, 
and  the  quantity  furnished  by  each,  are  seen  in  the  follow- 
ing table  :— 


COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 

Account  of  the  Quantities  of  Cotton  Wool  imported  into  the  United  Kingdom  during  the  Seven  Yeara  ending  with 
1838;  specifying  the  Quantities  brought  from  different  Countries,  the  Total  Quantities  exported,  and  the  Quantities 
left  for  Consumption. — (Compiled  from  Pari.  Papers.) 


Countries. 

183.'.                1833. 

1834. 

1835. 

1836. 

1837. 

1838. 

Cotton  wool  from  foreign  countries,  viz. 

lbs.                lbs. 

lbs. 

lbs. 

/6s. 

lbs. 

lbs. 

United  Slates  of  America 

219.756,7531237,506,758 

269,203,075 

284,465,812  2s9.615.C92 

320,651,716 

431,437.888. 

Brazil 

20.109,560 

2S.463.S21 

19,291,396 

24,986,409|  27,501,272 

20,940,145 

24,464,505 

Turkey  and  Egypt 

9,113,890 

987,262 

855,167 

5,738,966     5.426.721 

7,881,540 

5,412,478) 

Other  foreign  countries 

598,048 

1,696,108 

2,260,852 

5,207.389     6,73-1,413 

4,616,829 

4,759,688 1 

Cotton  wool  fromBritish  possessions,viz. 

1 

East  Indies  and  Mauritius 

35,178,625 

32,755,164 

32,920,865 

41,474,909!  75,957,887 

51,577,197 

40,230,064 

British  West  Indies,  the  growth  of 

1,708,764 

1,653,166 

1,672,211 

1,495,5171     1,312,806 

1,199,162 

928,425 

Ditto         ditto,         imported  from 

331,664 

431,696 

624,314 

319,753'       401,531 

396,540 

600,931 

Other  British  possessions 

Total  quantities  imported 

35,221 

162,862 

47,545 

24,203           8,735 

23,654 

16,606 

2S6,832,525 

303,656,537 

326,875,425 

363,702,963  406,959,057 

407,286,783 

507,850,577 

Quantities  exported 
Left  for  consumption 

18,027,940 

17,363,882 

24,461,963 

32,779,734   31,739,763 

39,722,031 

30,644,469 

268,804,585 

286,292,955302,414,462 

330,923,229  375,219,294 

367.564.752 

477,206,108 

Account  of  the  Exports  of  Cotton  Goods  and  Yarn  from  the  United  Kingdom  in  1837 ;  specifying  the  Quantity  and 
declared  Value  of  those  shipped  for  each  Country. 


Couutries  to  which  exported. 


Russia 

Sweden  .... 

Norway  .... 

Denmark        .... 
Prussia  .... 

Germany         .... 
Holland  .... 

Belgium  .... 

France  .... 

Portugal,  Proper     . 

Azores 

Madeira  . 
Spain  and  the  Balearic  Islands 

Canaries 
Gibraltar  .... 

Italy  and  the  Italian  Islands  . 

Malta 

Ionian  Islands 
Morea  and  Greek  Islands 
Turkey  .... 

Syria  and  Palestine 

Egypt 

Tripoli,    Tunis,  Algiers,  and 
Morocco      .... 
Western  Coast  of  Africa 
Cape  of  Good  Hope 
St.  Helena       .... 
Mauritius 

E.  I.  Co. 's  Territories  <fc  Ceylon 
Sumatra,  Java,  dc  other  Islands 

of  the  Indian  Sea 
Philippine  Islands 

China 

N.S.  Wales.VanDieman's  Land, 
&  other  Australian  Scltlcm'ts, 
British  N.  American  Colonies 
British  West  Indies 
Hayti  .... 

Cuba  and  other  Foreign  West 

Indian  Colonies 
United  Slates  of  America 
States  of  Central  and  S.America 

Mexico     . 

Columbia 

Brazil 

States  of  R.  de  la  Plata 

Chili 

Peru 
Isles  of  Guernsey,  Jersey,  Al-( 
derney,  Man,  &c. 


Yards. 


930,779 
62,939 

164,634 
45,992 


14,203,855 

16,382,581 

865,339 

1,169,753 

15,966,118 
541,605 
519,315 
151,380 
471,917 

i::.9.-6.-:;n 

21.976.111 

1,108,032 

1,497,260 

9,054 

23,727,096 

5,140 

5,559,900 

2,928,580 

C.II7.S13 

2,293,943 

18,816 

3,053,808 

46,366,175 

5,952,848 

473,370 

8,519,245 

1,275,348 

6,319,864 

19,695,492 

1,246,463 

6,798,703 
5,471,788 

2,713,90: 
1,436,553 
25,387,191 
10,923,196 
7,825,718 
3,655,774 

833,704 


£  40,203 
1,717 
4,081 
1,033 


Totals 


294,378 

341,448 

32,271 

23,683 

26s,  1S9 

11,789 

8,255 

4,047 

10,763 

310.777 

526,881 

21,638 

26.314 

256 

482,438 

330 

107,125 

41,552 
15,783 
54,567 
519 
78,395 
1,040,018 

144,962 

10,075 

193,075 

36,561 
161,392 
417,580 

28,421 

148,024 
187,585 

55,651 
32,630 
436.192 
207,714 
150,492 
88,01" 

38,975 


Yards. 


145,760 
48,552 

347,809 
71,569 


28,967,374 

ll.5ss.241 
1,998,160 

1, 269,924 

15,748,216 

731,946 

649,954 

205,986 

435,599 

12,681,183 

17,631,057 

562,773 

si  l. est; 

67,794 

9,423,139 

693,240 

253.009 
4,365,569 
3,136,936 
5,326 
2,237,689 
17,847,458 

2,620,300 
613,421 

2,445,178 

1.335,325 

7,950,884 

17,998,452 

1,612,897 

11,966,502 
12,010,067 

4,227.065 
2,675,164 
23,380,427 
9,260,258 
9,356,806 
5,641,351 

159,360 


.      236,164,256  6,085,789  245,209,407  6,642,200 


£7,590 
1,850 
9,964 
1,369 


713,771 
322,400 

72,528 
35,529 

369,712 
18,740 
12,767 
5.694 
12,234 

375,367 

481.915 
17,364 
19,955 
2,664 

288,230 

'  23,207 

4,892 
119,540 

NUSt 

141 

73,556 
468,231 

97,620 
17,695 
79,300 

44,889 
222,001 
465,449 

53,270 

293,865 
407,237 

143,805 
58,136 
551,258 
237,557 
240,267 
165,804 

4,334 


Hosiery 
Liid   small 
Wares. 


£9,106 

708 

1,682 


162,263 

50,205 

102.233 

93,76s 

21,084 

S3S 

1,068 

221 

924 

17,271 

40,910 

2,208 

790 

33 

2,297 

349 

407 

391 

9,389 

19 

7,749 

30,444 

5,931 
1,115 
1,012 


Twist  and  Yam. 


Pounds 


24,108,593 

734,336 

197,700 

57,470 

4,924 

34,272,607 

15,993,072 

67,397 

94.707 

323.262 

17,840 

1,358 

687 

1,071 

225,939 

8,775,028 

176,260 

297,a80 

1,800 

3,527,538 

660,700 


2,982 
9,314 

10,400 
8,478,021 

127,620 

'  1,873,965 


15,809  13,625 

39,068  260,732 

43,812'  55,549 

2,751  . 

11,608'  6,250 

117,572;  219,712 

13,339  2,654,867 

4,0851  188,283 


26.987 
18,818: 
18.217 
14,300! 

21,323 


560 
5,734 


7,255 


Total 
Declared 
Value. 


£1,612,956 

55,060 

10,474 

2,870 

5021 

2,177,823 

1,386.388 

Si752 

31,364 

23,612 

786 

78 

45 

63 

14,729 

477,882 

9,729 

14,303 

100 

180,225 

'  41,372 


395 
899 

468 
602,293 

7358 

103,908 

781 
14,307 
4,487 

309 
13,359 

144,489 

12,488 

48 

364 


£1,669,855 

59,335 

26,201 

5,357 

502 

3,348,235 

2,100,441 

215,784 

184,344 

682,597 

32,153 

22,168 

10.007 

231984 

718,144 

1,527.588 

50;939 

61,362 

3,053 

953,190 

330 

172,053 

46,851 
136,109 
145,338 
679 
160,168 
2.160,986 

256,371 
28,885 
377,295 

98,040 
436,768 
931,328 

84,442 

453,806 
725,753 

357,284 
107,339 
1,014,485 
464,473 
408,970 
268,117 

65,008 


912,192103,455,138     6,955,942;  20,596,123 


Owing  partly  to  our  having  had  the  start  in  the  career  of 
discovery,  hut  more  to  our  command  of  all  but  inexhausti- 
ble supplies  of  coal,  so  indispensable  to  the  cheap  and  ad- 
vantageous supply  of  steam  as  amoving  power,  and  to  the 
enterprise  and  invention  of  our  capitalists,  engineers,  and 
workmen,  we  have  continued  to  keep  that  lead  in  the  man- 
ufacture we  early  acquired.  At  this  moment  it  affords  em- 
ployment to  not  fewer  than  1,500,000  individuals  in  this 
country  ,  and  constitutes,  in  fact,  the  grand  source  of  our 
293 


manufacturing  prosperity,  and  the  principal  element  of  our 
commerce. 

Manchester,  or  rather  Lancashire,  is  the  grand  seat  of  the 
English  cotton  manufacture  ;  and  next  to  it  Cheshire,  Not- 
tinghamshire, the  West  Riding  of  Yorkshire,  and  Cumber- 
land, are  its  principal  seats.  Glasgow  and  the  surrounding 
district  is  the  seat  of  the  manufacture  in  Scotland.  In  Ireland 
it  is  principally  confined  to  Belfast  ;  but  there  it  is  of  very 
limited  dimensions,  and  is  said  to  be  rather  on  the  decline. 


COTTUS. 

With  the  exception  of  those  employed  in  hand-loom 
weaving,  the  condition  of  the  labourers  employed  in  the 
cotton  trade  is  eminently  satisfactory.  It  has  not  only  made 
a  vast  addition  to  the  field  of  employment,  but  it  has  in- 
creased the  comforts  of  those  engaged  in  it.  The  stories 
once  so  current  as  to  the  cruelties  practised  upon  and  the 
hardships  endured  by  the  children  and  young  persons  em- 
ployed in  cotton  factories,  were,  though  not  wholly  with- 
out foundation,  grossly  exaggerated: — they  never,  indeed, 
existed  in  the  first-class  mills  ;  and  since  the  system  began 
of  excluding  children  under  9  years  of  age,  limiting  the 
hours  of  employment,  and  appointing  inspectors,  abuses 
have  been  wholly  put  an  end  to. 

The  value  of  the  cotton  manufacture  of  Great  Britain  is 
greater  than  that  of  all  Europe  besides.  And  provided 
tranquility  be  maintained  at  home,  and  we  continue  to  be 
exempted  from  that  political  agitation  that  iB  the  bane  of 
industry  and  the  curse  of  every  country  in  which  it  pre- 
vails, we  have  nothing  to  fear  from  foreign  competition. 
Our  natural  and  acquired  advantages  for  the  prosecution  of 
manufactures  and  trade  are  vastly  superior  to  those  of 
every  other  country;  and  though  foreigners  do  excel 
us  in  a  few  departments,  and  may  come  to  excel  us  in 
others,  so  that  the  character  and  species  of  the  manufac- 
ture may  in  consequence  be  partially  changed,  there  is 
not  so  much  as  the  shadow  of  a  foundation  for  supposing 
that  its  amount  will  be  at  all  affected.  On  the  contrary,  it 
is  all  but  certain  it  will  continue  to  augment  with  the  aug- 
menting wealth  and  population  of  the  innumerable  nations 
with  which  we  have  commercial  relations. 

It  is  impossible  to  frame  any  accurate  estimate  of  the 
total  value  of  the  cotton  goods  and  yarn  annually  produced 
in  Great  Britain.  In  the  Commercial  Dictionary  they  are 
estimated  at  about  34,000,000/.  and  we  are  inclined  to  think 
that  this  is  not  far  from  the  mark.  Mr.  Baines,  in  his  elab- 
orate work  on  the  history  of  the  Cotton  Manufacture,  gives 
the  following  estimate  of  the  number  of  people  employed, 
and  the  value  of  the  manufacture. 

Estimated  Yearly  Value  of  the  British  Cotton 
Manufacture. 
Wages  of  £ 

237,000  "  operatives  engaged  in  spinning  and  pow- 
er-loom-weaving        ....         6,044,000 

250,(HX)t  hand-loom  weavers,  at  7s.  per  week  each  4,375,000 
45,000  callico  printers,  at  10s.  per  week  each         1,170,000 
159,300 1  lace  workers  (including  100,000  employed 
in   embroidery,  and    30,000  in  mending, 
pearling,  drawing,  and  finishing)        -      -1,000.000 
33,000  makers  of  cotton  hosiery  -  -        505,000 

Bleachers,  dyers,  calenderers,  fustian-cut- 
ters, machine-makers  ;  makers  of  steam- 
engines,  cards,  rollers,  spindles,  shuttles, 
looms,  and  reeds;  smiths,  joiners,  builders 
of  all  classes,  mill-wrights,  carriers,  car- 
ters, warehouse-men,  &c.  &c.  say  4,000,000 
Raw  material  (spun  in  1833)  283,675,200  lbs.TI  at  Id 
per  lb.           .....  8,244,693 

Profits  of  capital,  sums  paid  for  materials  of  ma- 
chinery, coals,  flour  for  dressing,  and  other  out- 
goings.«  6,000,000 


£31,338,693 
In  the  Commercial  Dictionary  the  capital  employed  in 
the  manufacture  is  estimated  at  34,000,000/.;  which  Mr. 
Baines  thinks  is  very  moderate. 

CO'TTUS.  (Gr.  kottt),  a  head.)  A  genus  of  spiny- 
finned  fishes  ;  so  called  on  account  of  the  large  size  of  the 
head.  It  includes  two  British  species,  viz.  the  Falherlash- 
er  (Cottus  bubalis.)  and  the  Sea  Scorpion  (Cottus  scorpio) ; 
both  of  which  are  dreaded  by  fishermen  on  account  of  the 
painful  and  dangerous  wounds  which  they  inflict  by  means 
of  the  spines  with  which  the  gill-covers  are  armed. 

•  Mr.  Stanway,  from  the  Returns  of  the  mil]  owners,  ascertained  that 
67,819  mill  operatives  in  England  received  141,6352.  5s.  7  3-4c2.  aa  wages 
for  a  month  of  four  weeks  :  at  the  same  rate,  237,000  mill  operatives, 
the  number  in  the  United  Kingdom,  would  earn  6,434,453/.  per  year. 
But  as  wages  in  Scotland  are  10  per  cent,  and  in  Ireland  15  or  53  per 
cent,  lower  than  in  England,  and  as  two  weeks'  wages  in  the  year 
ought  to  be  deducted  for  holidays,  the  amount  of  wages  paid  will  be 
about  6,044,000/. 

t  In  my  estimate  of  the  number  of  weavera  I  have  not  reckoned  the 
winders,  draw-boys,  &c.  who  assist  them,  and  who  must  amount  to  a 
great  many  thousands  ;  but,  in  the  supposed  average  of  their  wages,  I 
include  those  earned  by  the  assistants  of  the  weavers  as  well  as  by  the 
weavers  themselves.  The  sum  of  7s.  per  week  for  the  gross  wages  of 
all  hand-loom  weavers  is,  I  am  convinced,  a  fair  estimate.  The  calcu- 
lation is  for  50  weeks  in  the  year. 

I  The  wages  paid  to  the  women  and  children  employed  in  embroidery, 
mending,  &c.  the  lace,  must  be  extremely  low.  Mr.  Felkin  estimates 
the  whole  value  of  the  lace  manufactured  in  England  at  1,850,650;.;  de- 
duct the  cost  of  the  yarn,  635.000/.  and  there  remains  the  sum  of  1  ,'215.. 
650/.  ;  of  which,  probably,  1,000,010/.  consists  of  wages  to  the  work- 
people. 

T|  The  quantity  stated  by  Burns  in  the  Commercial  Glance. 

I  I  "adopt  this  sum  from  Mr.  M'Culloch,  thinking  it  a  moderate 
estimate." 

294 


COUNCIL. 

COTYLE'DON.  (Gr.  kotv\ti,  aholluic.)  In  Botany,  the 
seminal  leaf  of  a  plant  This  organ  forms  a  part  of  the 
embryo,  and  is  what  nourishes  the  plumula  and  radicle  at 
their  first  period  of  development,  before  they  are  able 
to  subsist  upon  the  organizable  matter  absorbed  by  the 
latter  from  the  earth  Exogenous  plants  have  gener- 
ally two  cotyledons,  Endogenous  as  generally  one  only  ; 
but  there  are  exceptions  in  both  cases.  The  latter  class  of 
plants  seldom  elevate  their  cotyledon  above  ground,  and 
never  convert  it  into  a  green  leaf-like  body,  but  usually 
leave  it  behind  them  within  the  integuments  of  the  seed'; 
the  former  frequently  raise  their  cotyledons  above  the  soil 
in  the  form  of  small  green  leaves,  as  in  the  garden  radish  ; 
but  there  are  very  numerous  exceptions  to  this,  as  in  the 
pea,  the  oak.  the  chesnut,  &c. 

COTYLE'DONS.  (Applied  by  Aristotle  to  designate 
the  sucking-cups  of  the  arms  of  the  Dibranchiate  Cepha- 
lopoda.) In  Comparative  Anatomy,  the  cup-shaped  vascu- 
lar productions  of  the  chorion  in  Ruminants,  serving  the 
office  of  a  placenta,  are  so  called. 

COTY'LIFORM.  (Gr.  kotv\v,  a  cup.)  A  term  used  in 
describing  the  general  form  of  organs  to  denote  a  rotate 
figure  with  an  erect  limb. 

COUCH.  A  layer  or  heap  of  barley,  moistened  and 
prepared  for  mailing;  also  the  name  of  that  part  of  the 
malting  floor  on  which  the  barley  is  spread  out. 

COUCHANT.  (Fr.)  In  Heraldry,  a  term  applied  to  a 
beast  when  represented  as  lying  on  the  ground. 

COU'CHING.  In  Agriculture,  clearing  land  from  couch 
grass  (Triticum  repens),  which  iseffected  by  first  pulver- 
izing it,  and  then,  in  very  dry  weather,  collecting  the  couch 
by  harrows,  or  by  a  horse  rake,  such  as  that  used  for  col- 
lecting stubble,  and  which  so  applied  is  called  a  couch 
rake. 

Cou'ching.  One  of  the  operations  to  restore  vision  in 
cases  of  cataract :  it  consists  in  depressing  the  opaque  lens, 
so  as  to  remove  it  out  of  the  axis  of  vision. 

COUGH.  This  term  is  applied  to  a  spasmodic  action  of 
the  respiratory  organs,  occasioning  a  sonorous  expulsion 
of  air  from  the  lungs  :  it  is  very  commonly  symptomatic 
of  other  affections  ;  and  some  nosologists  have  considered 
that  it  is  always  so,  and  never  idiopathic.  Many  cases  of 
cough  depend  upon  the  extension  of  catarrh  to  the  trachea 
and  bronchiae,  which  become  loaded  with  mucus  or  phlegm, 
the  efforts  to  expel  which  constitute  coughing.  Others  are 
perhaps  referable  to  a  vitiated  secretion ;  and  others  to  im- 
perfect action  of  the  absorbents,  by  which  the  natural 
mucous  secretion  remains  and  accumulates  in  the  air 
vessels,  and  by  evaporation  becomes  inspissated  and  irri- 
tating ;  this  appears  to  be  one  of  the  causes  of  the  dry 
cough  to  which  old  people  are  subject.  The  treatment  of 
catarrhal  cough  consists  in  allaying  irritation  by  demul- 
cents, such  as  mucilaginous  drinks  and  lozenges,  which, 
acting  upon  the  glottis,  sympathelically  affect  the  trachea 
and  its  ramifications  :  amongst  these  extract  of  liquorice, 
and  lozenges  made  of  it  and  equal  parts  of  gum  tragacanth, 
are  very  effectual.  Stimulants  and  full  diet  are  to  be 
avoided,  and  inflammatory  symptoms  carefully  guarded 
against ;  for  these  are  not  unfrequently  brought  on  by  the. 
violence  of  a  cough.  It  is  not  unfrequently  necessary  to 
call  in  the  aid  of  sedatives,  expectorants,  and  aperients. 
Amongst  the  former  small  doses  of  Dover's  powder,  or 
of  equal  parts  of  it  and  extract  of  henbane,  are  very 
serviceable ;  and  it  is  not  uncommon  to  observe  a  trouble- 
some cough  disappear  after  a  brisk  dose  of  physic.  An 
emetic  will  also  sometimes  effect  its  cure  ;  so  that  coughs 
have  been  by  some  considered  as  symptomatic  of  a  vitiated 
state  of  stomach  and  bowels.  Where  a  cough  periodically 
returns  at  night,  and  is  not  inflammatory,  a  dose  of  lauda- 
num sufficient  to  induce  sound  sleep  will  often,  as  it  were, 
break  the  habit  and  relieve  it.  Sedatives,  conjoined  with 
stimulating  expectorants,  such  as  squills,  ammoniacum, 
benzoic  acid,  &c,  are  often  effectual  in  relieving  the 
coughs  of  old  age ;  and  in  these,  and  what  are  called 
nervous  coughs,  much  relief  is  experienced  by  administer- 
ing mild  opiates  in  the  form  of  lozenges,  so  that  they  may 
pass  gradually  over  the  neighbourhood  of  the  affected  part, 
in  consequence  of  the  slowness  with  which  they  are  dis- 
solved in  the  mouth  and  swallowed :  lozenges  of  sugar, 
liquorice,  or  tragacanth,  with  about  two  grains  of  extract 
of  poppies  in  each,  are  useful  in  such  cases.  Where 
coughs  are  symptomatic  of  inflammatory  action,  of  asthma, 
&c,  they  often  require  modes  of  treatment  which  have 
more  particular  reference  to  their  exciting  causes. 

COU'LTER.  (Lat.  culter,  the  coidter  of  a  plough.)  In 
Agriculture,  an  iron  blade  or  knife  inserted  into  the  beam 
of  a  plough,  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  the  ground  and  fa- 
cilitating the  separation  of  the  furrow-slice  by  the  plough- 
share.    See  Plough. 

COU'MARIN.  A  crystalline  odoriferous  principle  ex. 
traded  from  the  tonka  bean,  which  is  the  seed  of  the  Cow- 
marouna  odorata. 

COU'NCBL,.  In  Church  History,  an  assembly  of  pre- 
lates and  other  spiritual  persons  for  the  regulation  of  ec- 


COUNCIL,  PRIVY. 


clesiastical  matters.  Such  councils  are  either  national,  or 
oecumenical ;  the  latter  being  those  in  which  the  whole 
body  of  the  clenry  throughout  the  world  is  represented, 
and  are  convened  for  the  settling  of  points  of  universal  in- 
terest. 

The  Roman  Catholics  hold  that  the  decision  of  oecume- 
nic  or  general  councils  are  infallible,  and  for  the  most  part 
allow  their  superiority  to  the  popes  themselves.  This  su- 
periority was  first  asserted  at  the  Council  of  Pisa,  in  which 
the  two  reigning  anti-popes  were  deposed  ;  and  confirmed 
by  the  proceedings  of  those  of  Constance  and  Basil.  Since 
that  time  the  popes  have  been  very  unwilling  to  convene  a 
general  council,  and  that  of  Trent  is  the  only  one  that  has 
assembled  in  liter  times. 

The  Protestants  allow  the  authority  of  general  councils 
in  matters  which  do  not  contradict  Scripture,  and  attach 
great  importance  to  the  four  first  councils ;  viz.  of  Nice, 
Constantinople  I.,  Ephesus,  and  Chalcedon.  But  they 
maint  tin  that  a  general  council  can  only  be  called  by  a  tem- 
poral prince,  which  prerogative  is  assigned  by  the  Roman- 
ists to  the  pope. 

Their  infallibility  they  strongly  deny,  and  appear  to  re- 
duce that  assumption  to  an  absurdity  by  asking — 

1.  What  is  the  proof  of  infallibility  existing  in  the  church 
at  all  7 

2.  Supposing  it  to  exist,  how  can  it  be  shown  that  the 
church  has  been  truly  represented  in  any  council!  Or, 

3.  How  can  it  be  shown  that  the  infallibility  resides  in  a 
hare  majority  rather  than  the  minority,  when  a  difference 
of  opinion  prevails? 

COU'NCIL,  PRI'VY.  The  principal  council  belonging 
to  the  king  of  England.  In  its  origin  it  appears  as  a  small 
permanent  committee,  or  minor  council,  consisting  of 
members  selected  by  the  king  himself  out  of  the  great 
council  of  the  kingdom.  The  latter  body  is  supposed  to 
have  been  originally  composed  of  all  the  immediate  tenants 
of  the  crown  ;  and  if  was  occasionally  summoned  as  late 
as  tli'i  reign  of  Ric.  II.,  and  seems  then  to  have  comprised 
nearly  all  the  prelates,  nobles,  and  bannerets  of  the  king- 
dom, "et  autrea  sages"  When  the  privy  council  was 
formed  out  of  it  has  not  been  ascertained.  It  appears  in 
early  rolls  of  parliament  as  the  permanent  or  continual 
council ;  and  as  its  powers  under  the  Piantagenet  kings 
were  very  extensive,  so  parliament  exercised  considerable 
influence  in  controlling  the  appointment  of  its  members, 
although  always  vested  in  the  crown  as  an  essential  prero- 
gative. The  privy  council  under  these  sovereigns  usually 
consisted  of  the  five  great  officers  of  state,  the  two  arch- 
bishops, and  from  ten  to  fifteen  other  individuals,  spiritual 
or  temporal.  It  sat  continually  as  a  court,  both  to  expedite 
the  executive  part  of  the  administration,  and  to  provide 
equitable  relief  in  cases  submitted  to  it,  thus  controlling  the 
courts  of  common  law.  (See  Sir  F.  Palgrave's  Essay  on 
the  Original  Authority  of  the  King's  Council,  1834 ;  and  the 
Preface  to  the  Records  of  the  P.  Credited  by  Sir  II.  Nicolas.) 
There  were  also  under  the  Tudors  councils,  portions  of  the 
privy  council,  exercising  like  powers  in  various  parts  of 
England.  The  increasing  power  of  parliament  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  extended  equitahle  jurisdiction  of  the  lord 
chancellor  on  the  other,  gradually  encroached  upon  the 
ancient  dignity  and  importance  of  both  the  councils.  The 
decline  in  power  of  the  privy  council  was,  however,  ex- 
tremely gradual.  The  Star  Chamber  and  Court  of  Re- 
quests, dissolved  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I .  were  both  com- 
mittees of  the  privy  council.  By  stat.  16  C.  1.  its  direct 
jurisdiction  in  England  in  civil  cases  was  taken  away. 

Privy  councillors  are  made  by  the  king's  nomination, 
without  patent  or  grant.  Their  number,  having  greatly  in- 
creased under  the  Tudor  princes,  was  restricteil  by  Charles 
1 1,  to  thirty  ;  but  soon  became  indefinite  again,  and  has  so  co- 
tiuued.  But  no  privy  conncillors  attend  except  such  as  are 
specially  summoned.  The.  privy  council  continues  in  office 
six  months  after  the  demise  of  the  crown,  unless  sooner 
dissolved  by  the  successor.  The  separation  of  the  func- 
tions of  the  privy  council  from  the  more  important  politi- 
cal duties  of  the  cabinet  council  seems  to  have  been 
chiefly  effected  in  the  reign  of  W.  III. 

The  jurisdiction  of  the  privy  council  is  of  several  sorts: 
1.  The  king  in  council  may  issue  proclamations  binding  on 
the  subject,  if  consonant  to  the  laws  of  the  land.  He  is- 
sues also  orders  in  council  for  the  temporary  regulation  of 
various  matters  relating  to  trade  and  international  inter- 
course. 2.  The  privy  council  has  power  to  inquire  into 
offences  against  government,  and  commit  offenders  to 
take  their  trial  according  to  law.  3.  Appellate  jurisdiction 
in  the  last  resort  from  all  his  Majesty's  dominions,  except 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  is  vested  in  the  privy  council. 
By  3  &  4.  W.  4.  c.  41.  a  judicial  committee  of  the  privy 
council  is  constituted,  to  which  are  entrusted  appeals  from 
the  prize  and  admiralty  courts,  and  courts  in  the  planta- 
tions abroad,  and  all  other  appeals  which  might  before 
have  come  before  the  king  in  council.  The  judicial  com- 
mittee may  direct  feigned  issues  to  be  tried  at  common 
law.  The  lord  president  of  the  council  is  the  fourth  great 
295 


COUNTY. 

officer  of  state.  The  office  must  probably  have  been  co- 
temporaneous  with  the  origin  of  the  council  itself;  but  the 
title  is  comparatively  recent.  It  was  created  by  Hen.  VIII., 
and  revived  by  Charles  II.  in  favour  of  the  Earl  of  Shaftes- 
bury. 

COU'NCIL  OF  STATE.  A  political  and  judicial  body 
of  very  indefinite  powers  in  the  French  monarchy,  both 
before  and  since  the  Revolution. 

COU'NSELLOR.  (Lat.  consiliarius.)  In  Law,  a  per- 
son retained  by  a  client  to  plead  his  cause,  who  is  also  said 
to  be  of  counsel  for  him.  For  the  regulations  by  which 
the  admission  to  practise  as  a  counsellor  is  restricted  in 
England,  see  Barrister. 

COUNT.  (Lat.  comes,  a  companion;  or  according  to  a 
fanciful  conjecture  of  some  etymologists,  from  comedere, 
to  eat  with,  because  the  holders  of  this  dignity  had  the  pri- 
vilege of  dining  with  the  emperor.)  A  title  of  dignity  in 
most  of  the  continental  stales  of  Europe,  equivalent  in 
rank  to  the  British  earl  and  the  German  graf  This  title 
has  been  in  existence  since  the  time  of  Augustus,  who  is 
said  by  Dion  Cassius  to  have  thus  designated  all  the  officers 
of  his  household.  Under  the  Lower  Empire  and  the  first 
two  races  of  the  Frank  kings,  this  title  of  count  was  given 
to  officers  of  various  degrees,  and  was  at  first  attached  to 
the  office,  and  not  to  the  person ;  but  in  the  progress  of 
time,  when  feudalism  had  introduced  inheritance  instead 
of  election  as  a  fixed  rule  in  succession,  it  became  subject 
to  the  same  law  as  the  higher  titles  of  kings  and  dukes, 
and  conferred  hereditary  privileges  on  its  possessor.  (See 
Feudalism.)  The  term  count  has  in  most  of  the  states 
where  it  is  in  use  degenerated  into  a  mere  title,  to  which 
no  political  importance  is  attached.  "  In  the  Papal  states  it 
may  be  bought  for  no  considerable  sum,  and  in  most  of  the 
German  states  the  sovereign  may  confer  it  as  a  mark  of 
honour  and  esteem."  Though  the  title  count  has  never 
been  introduced  into  Britain,  the  wives  of  earls  have  from 
the  earliest  period  of  its  history  been  designated  as  count- 
esses. (For  further  information  on  this  subject,  see  Dutil- 
let's  Recueildes  Itoisde  France.) 

Count.     In  Law     See  Declaration. 

COU'NTERFOBT.  (Fr.  centre,  against,  and  fort. 
strong.)  In  Architecture,  a  buttress  or  pier  built  against 
and  at  rieht  angles  to  a  wall  to  strengthen  it. 

COU'NTER(;l'AKl)S,  in  Fortification,  are  small  ram- 
parts with  parapets  and  ditches,  to  cover  some  part  of  the 
body  of  a  place.  They  are  generally  made  before  the  bas- 
tions, sometimes  before  the  ravelins. 

COU'NTERMARK  In  Numismatics,  a  stamp  frequently 
seen  on  ancient  coins,  often  obliterating  a  large  part  of  the 
impression.  The  countermark  is  generally  a  figure  or  in- 
scription ;  and  some  antiquaries  have  considered  that  their 
use  was  to  augment  the  value  of  the  money  ;  others,  that 
it  was  only  struck  on  money  taken  from  an  enemy. 

COUNTERPART.  In  Law,  when  the  parts  of  an  in- 
denture are  interchangeably  executed  by  the  several 
parties,  that  part  which  is  executed  by  the  grantor  is 
termed  the  original,  and  the  rest  are  counterparts.  If  each 
part  is  signed  by  all  parties,  they  are  duplicate  originals. 

COU'NTERPOINT.  (It.  contrapunto.)  In  Music,  a 
composition  of  several  parts.  The  name  originated  in  the 
circumstance  of  the  notes  being  formerly  placed  one 
against  or  over  the  other,  and  without  any  stems. 

COU'NTER  PROOF.  In  Engraving,  an  impression  ob- 
tained from  another  impression  while  it  is  yet  wet  from  a 
copper  plate,  in  which  the  design  is  in  the  same  direction 
as  in  the  plate  itself.  They  are  made  chiefly  for  investi- 
gating the  state  of  a  plate;  and  of  some  prints  the  coun- 
terproofs  are  more  valuable  than  the  prints,  where  the 
drawing  from  the  picture  has  not  been  reversed  on  the 
copper. 

COU'NTERSCARP.  In  Fortification,  the  slope  or  talus 
of  the  exterior  side  of  the  ditch,  towards  the  country. 
The  interior  slope  is  called  tscarpe.  Sometimes  the  whole 
covert  way,  with  its  parapet  and  glacis,  are  termed  coun- 
terscarp. 

COUNTERSIGN.  In  Diplomatics,  the  signature  of  a 
public  officer  to  the  charter  of  a  king,  prelate,  &c,  byway 
of  certificate  "  Obtulit,"  ':  recognovit,"  "  relegit  et  sub- 
scripsit,"  are  common  additions,  in  charters  of  the  middle 
ages,  to  the  name  of  the  countersigner. 

COU'NTER-TE'NOR.    In  Music.     See  Tenor. 

COU'NTY.  A  county  is  in  England  that  district  of  ter- 
ritory which  was  anciently  subject  to  the  government  of 
an  earl  or  ealdorman,  from  whose  Latin  title  cojnes  the 
term  is  derived.  The  Saxon  word  corresponding  to  county 
was  shire,  meaning  division,  which  is  therefore  not  applied 
to  such  counties  as  were  originally  distinct  sovereignties  ; 
such  as  Kent,  Essex,  Sussex,  Middlesex,  Suffolk,  Norfolk. 

The  division  of  the  kingdom  into  counties,  which,  in 
common  with  many  other  of  our  earlier  institutions,  is 
commonly  attributed  to  Alfred,  though  it  was  probably  of  a 
date  far  anterior,  was  in  ancient  times  chiefly  of  use  in 
marking  the  limits  of  different  jurisdictions.  To  each 
county  belonged  a  couuty  court,  which  it  was  the  duty  of 


COUNTY  COURT. 


COURTS,  SUPERIOR. 


the  thanes  and  other  freeholders  to  attend  and  do  suits  at, 
though  it  seems  the  lhanes  only  took  part  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice.    Such  court  was  originally  held  by  the 
earl  and  bishop,  the  latter  assisting  in  respect  of  the  eccle- 
siastical jurisdiction  belonging  to  the  court :  or  in  fteir  ab- 
sence  by  the  sheriff,  upon  whom  the  right  to  preside  in  the 
county  'court,  either  in  person  or  by  deputy,  as  well  as  the 
other  civil  functions  of  the  earl,  have  long  since  devolved. 
Considered  in  its  judicial  character,  the  county  court  was 
ilie  »reat  court  baron  or  civil  court  of  the  county,  and  was 
originally  competent  to  the  trial  of  almost  nil  civil  actions 
within  such  county.    The  criminal  jurisdiction  be- 
lon'"in~'  to  the  county,  which  is  now  vested  in  the  magis- 
trates ?t  quarter  sessions,  was  anciently  exercised  by  the 
sheriff  in  his  tourn  («  •  title  Tourn).    The  boundaries  of 
a  count;  serve  also  to  mark  the  limits  of  the  jurisdiction, 
both  civil  and  criminal,  which  other  courts  or  judges  exer- 
within  each  county  severally  by  commission  from  the 
crown  (ser  Yf.nir);  and  within  which  limits  also  are  con- 
lined  the  ministerial  functions  of  the  sheriff  as  executor  of 
the  wins  awarded  by  either  of  the  great  courts. 

The  division  into  counUes  is  alsoforsome  purposes,  par- 
licularlv  that  of  representation  in  parliament,  political;  and 
it  is  in  the  county  court  that  the  election  of  members  of 
parliament  takes'  place,  and  that  other  political  acts  ot  the 
men  of  the  countv  are  done  :  lor  county  meetings  convened 
and  presided  over  by  the  sheriff  are,  properly  speaking, 
holdings  ofthe  county  court.  What  has  been  said  of  coun- 
ties in  England  applies  without  qualification,  save  as  to  the 
time  of  the  institution,  to  Wales,  and,  with  very  little  qual- 
ification, to  Ireland  and  Scotland  ;  the  most  important  point 
of  difference  being  the  greater  extent  of  the  jurisdiction  and 
power  of  the  sheriff  in  the  latter  country  There  are  in 
England  40  counties,  in  Wales  12,  in  Scotland  32,  and  in 

F  VVlountv  Palatine, of  which  description  there  are  now 
two  in  England,  viz.  Durham  and  Lancaster,  is  a  county  in 
which  all  Jura  regalia,  i.  e.  the  whole  rights  of  sovereignty 
in  judicial  matters,  belonged  to  the  earl  of  such  county  ; 
hut  these  privileges  are  now  reduced  to  the  possession  oi 
courts  of  their  own.  corresponding  in  number  and  jurisdic- 
tion to  the  King's  courts  at  Westminster,  whose  jurisdiction 
is  not  excluded  by  theirs,  and  whose  writs  may  be  so  framed 
as  to  run  within  the  limits  of  the  county  palatine. 

COU'NTY  COURT.  The  Countv  Court  properly  so  call- 
ed is  a  court  baron,  not  of  record,  for  civil  causes,  held  by 
the  sheriff  in  each  county.  This  court  can  only  hold  pleas 
where  the  debt  or  damage  is  under  40s.,  except  by  virtue 
of  the  writ  called  of  justicies,  which  is  a  special  precept  to 
the  sheriff  to  do  justice  between  parties  in  the  same  manner 
as  it  might  be  done  in  the  courts  of  Westminster.  Causes 
are  removed  out  of  this  into  the  higher  courts  by  writ  of 
recordari  (For  the  extension  of  the  powers  ot  the  sheriff 
hv  statute  to  try  personal  actions  of  greater  amount,  see 
Sheriff;  Read's  County  Courts ;  Greenwood  on  Courts; 
Watson's  Sheriffs.) 
COUNTY  RATE.     See  Rate. 

COI  'PLED  COLUMNS.     In  Architecture,  columns  hall 
a  diameter  apart.     See  Ar.E0SYSTYL0S. 

COTJ'PLING  BOX.     A  strong  iron  cylinder,  by  which 
the  shafts  of  machinery  are  connected. 

COURIERS  (Fr.  courir,  to  run.)  A  name  given  in  or- 
dinary language  to  the  bearers  of  public  despatches  or  pri- 
vate intelligence  by  express.  The  institution  of  persons  to 
convey  intelligence  with  celerity  and  regularity  is  coeval 
with  the  earliest  history  of  civilized  nations.  By  the  ter- 
tians they  were  styled  ayyapoi,  by  the  Creeks  jjucpodpopoi 
and  by  the  Romans  cwrsores ;  and  the  duties  of  the  ancient 
couriers  seem  to  have  been  wholly  analogous  to  those  ot 
the  moderns,  and  were  performed  chiefly  on  horseback; 
lhou»h  the  original  derivation  of  the  name  would  lead  loan 
opposite  supposition.  In  the  middle  ages  couriers  were 
known  hv  the  appellation  trottarii,  or  trotters ;  and  hence 
nerhans  originated  the  English  term  running  foottnen,of 
whom  history  makes  mention  in  the  17th  and  18th  centuries 
COURSE  (I.at.  cursus.)  In  Architecture,  a  continued 
level  range  of  stone.,  or  bricks  of  the  same  height  through- 
out the  fare  or  faces  of  a  building.    Set  Bonn. 

COI  RSE  OF  CROPS  The  rotation  or  r.ureession  in 
which  crops  follow  one  another,  in  a  prescribed  course  of 
cropping.  The  rule  is  to  follow  a  crop  grown  for  its  seeds 
or  roots  by  one  grown  for  Its  leaves  or  stems. 

COU'RSERS,  Cursores  (Lai  curro./run.)  An  order 
of  birds,  including  those  which  are  disabled  from  flight  by 
the  restricted  development  of  the  wings,  bul  which  possess 
gnnerior  powers  of  running  from  the  compensating  size  and 

strength  of  the  bus:  i Btrich,  rhea,  casowary,  emeu, 

and  apteryx  are  examples  of  this  order. 

i  01  'RSES.     The  lower  square  sails,  as  the  forcsailanrl 

"cOTJ'RTESx"     (Ft.  conrtoisle,  Ital  cortesta.)    II 

the  courts  of  princes  and  great  feudatories  that  the  min- 
strels and  troubadours  of  the  middle  ages  especially -de- 
lighted  to  exercise  their  art ;  and  it  was  there,  also,  that  the 
296 


peculiarities  of  chivalrous  life  and  manners  were  chiefly 
ted.  Hence  courtesy  wasageneial  term,  expressive 
of  all  the  elegance  and  refinement  which  the  society  of 
those  times  had  attained  ;  in  fact,  it  was  synonymous  with 
,11  the  gentler  parts  of  chivalry  itself:  and  it  is  in  this  sense 
that  it  is  used  both  bv  the  early  trouveres  and  romancers, 
and  also  by  poets  of  a  later  age,  when  affecting  the  use  of 
chivalrous  language,  as  in  the  first  lines  ot  the  great  poem 
of  Ariosto  :— 

Ledoime,  i  cavalier,  1'arme,  gli  ainori, 
i  'tadaci  imprrse  io  canto. 

The  transition  from  this  wider  meaning  to  that  in  which  it 
is  now  employed  is  obvious  enough.  It  may  be  sufficient 
to  refer  to  the  very  ingenious  theories  ol  Signor  Rossetti 
respecting  the  secret  meaning  attached  to  this  (among  other) 
words  of Trequenl  occurrence  in  the  poems  of  the  Italian 
can/.onieri  of  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries.  (/»- 
femu  di  Dante,  1827,  vol.  ii.  p.  430,  &c.) 

COURT  PIASTER.  Black  silk  varnished  over  with  a 
solution  of  isinglass,  which  is  often  perfumed  with  benzoin. 

COURTS   OF   JUSTICE,  are  divided  by  Ihe  rules  ol 


English  law  into  courts  of  record  and  not  of  record,  the 
former  have  power  to  make  up  their  acts  and  judicial  pro- 
ceedings  in  the  form  technically  called  a  record,  as  evidence 
of  their  judgment.  All  courts  having  power  to  fine  or  lrn- 
i  are  said  to  be  impliedly  courts  of  record  ;  but  mis 
seems  questionable.  «.__-  „<- 

The  courts  termed  Superior  are  divided  into  those  of 
Law,  Equity,  Ecclesiastical.  Maritime,  Prize  or  Internation- 
al, and  Courts  of  Appeal  and  Error.     They  are  — 

Three  Superior  Courts  of  Common  Law  (see  Courts, 

Superior),  being—  

1    The  Court  of  King's  Bench.     See  King's  Bench. 

2.  The  Court  of  Common  Pleas.     See  Common  Pleas. 

3.  The  Court  of  Exchequer.     Sre  Exchequer. 
Four  Superior  Courts  of  Equity  (see  Chancery),  being— 

4.  The  High  Court  of  Chancery. 

5.  The  Rolls  Court, 
fi.  The  Vice-Chancellor's  Court. 
7   The  Equity  side  of  the  Court  of  Exchequer. 
3.  The  Ecclesiastical  Courts.     -See  Ecclesiastical 

Courts. 
0.  The  Court  of  Admiralty.     See  Admiralty. 
10    The  Prize  Court.     See  Admiralty. 
II.  The  Courts  of  Bankruptcy.     See  Bankruptcy. 
The  Courts  of  Error  and  Appeal  are— 

12  The  Exchequer  Chamber,  from  the  Superior  Com- 
mon Law  Courts.    See  Exchbcubh  Chamber. 

13  The  Privy  Council,  and  Judical  Committee  ol  the 
Privy  Council,  which  are  Courts  of  Appeal 
from  the  Ecclesiastical  Courts,  Admiralty,  and 
also  from  the  decisions  of  various  Colonial  Ju 
dical  tires. 

14  The  Hi»h  Court  of  Parliament.     See  Parliament. 
Inferior  Courts  are  numerous,  both  of  record  and  not  of 

record  ;  being  for  the  most  part  local  jurisdictions  ot  very 
various  extent  and  authority.  To  these  belong  the  Courts 
of  Conscience  and  Requests,  Courts  Baron,  Hundred 
Courts,  Borough  Courts,  and  County  Courts,  in  which  the 
sheriff  presides.  . 

COURTS.  SUPERIOR.  The  three  superior  common 
law  courts  of  England  are  the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  of 
common  Pleas,  and  of  the  Exchequer.  For  the  origin  and 
historyof  each  court,  and  its  peculiar  jurisdiction,  see  those 
separate  heads.  .  .  « 

For  several  centuries,  by  means  of  various  admitted  ni 
tions,  these  three  courts  have  exercised  a  concurrent  juris- 
diction in  all  personal  actions  (see  Actions)  ;  andtheprac- 
tice  Of  all  three  is,  in  material  points,  Ihe  same.      II" 
during  term,  at  Westminster.    The  different  branches  o 
jurisdiction  of  the  three  superior  courts  are,  I.  Thatol 
the  full  court  in  banc,  during  term  only,  when  four  judges 
Bit  together  in  each  ;  2.  Of  the  Practice  or  Bail  Court  (cre- 
atedbN  thel  W  4.  c.70.  s.  1.,  which  as  yet  ha6 been  brought 
mto  operation  in  the  King's  Bench  only. in  whir!; 
judge  disposes  of  so  me  less  important  man.  rsol  i  u 
3   Of  a  single  judge  at  chambers,  whert    also  points  ol 
minor  importance  in  the  conduct  of  a  cause  are  decided  and 
directions  given;  4.  Of  the  master  or  prothonotanes,  Offi- 
cers to  whom  various  matters  of  fact,  as  computations,  &c, 
red;  5   Of  the  judge  at  Nisi  Prius  and  on  the  cir- 
cuu\  f0,  ,,.  m  a  in  fact ;  6.  Of  Ihesherifl 

county,  who  ma\  be  considered  asan  officer  ol  the  supi 
rior  courts  for  the  purpose  of  trying  issues  directed  to  him 
under3&4W.  4.  c.  42. 

The  course  of  proceeding  in  the  superior  courts  is  cither 
formal  or  summary.  Formal  proceeding,  in  personal  ac- 
tions, is  the  regular  curse  of  a  trial,  whether  the  181  ue,  01 
mod.  be  one  of  fact  or  law.  The  party  complain 
,„.'  or  plaintiff,  having  brought  the  defendant  into  court  in 
person,  or  constructively,  by  preliminary  process,  entitles 
his  declaration,  or  the  form  of  statement  ol  his  gi 

&8  ol  of  the  three  courts,  the     ami    Ul 

which  the  writ  for  commencement  of  the  action  I 


COURT  BARON. 

be  returnable.  The  defendant  then  pleads;  and  all  the 
subsequent  pleadings,  or  preparatory  statements  in  writing, 
are  entitled  of  [lie  same  court ;  in  which  also  the  record,  or 
parchment  roll  containing  ihe  authentic  entry  of  the  whole 
proceeding,  is  made  up.  The  question  eventually  raised 
between  the  parties  will  turn  out  to  be  either  of  law,  or  of 
fact.  The  former,  being  raised  on  what  is  termed  a  de- 
murrer (see  Pleading.)  is  argued  at  Westminster  before 
the  full  court,  and  the  judgment  in  law  is  conclusive  of  the 
issue.  If  the  question  be  of  fact,  it  must  be  tried  by  a  jury. 
If  the  pleadings  are  dated  at  London  or  in  Middlesex,  as  in 
local  aclions  they  must  be  if  the  question  arise  in  those 
districts,  and  as  in  transitory  actions  they  may  be  all  cases 
(see  Pleading,)  the  jury  will  be  summoned  accordingly, 
and  the  case  tried  before  a  judge  of  the  court  in  which  the 
action  is  brought,  at  nisiprius  (see  that  head,)  either  during 
term  or  in  the  sittings  after  term.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  date,  or  venue,  as  it  is  termed,  be  in  any  other  county, 
the  parties  proceed  to  trial  at  the  assizes  (the  plaintiff  bring- 
ing down  the  record  from  Westminster,  by  which  means 
it  is  in  his  option  to  proceed  to  trial  or  not.)  In  this  case  a 
jury  is  summoned  in  like  manner  before  the  judges  of 
assize,  by  virtue  of  their  commission  of  oyerand  terminer. 
In  some  special  cases,  trial  at  bar  is  granted  on  application  ; 
in  which  case  the  cause  is  tried  by  a  jury  before  the  full 
court,  at  such  time  as  the  court  may  fix  for  convenience. 
If  a  party  imagines  himself  to  have  grounds  for  being  dis- 
satisfied with  the  result  of  a  trial,  as,  that  the  judge  has 
summed  up  the  evidence  improperly  to  the  jury,  or  that 
material  testimony  has  been  illegally  rejected,  he  may 
move  the  court  at  Westminster  for  a  new  trial,  or  to  set 
aside  the  verdict,  according  to  the  circumstances  of  the 
case ;  and  such  motion  is  made  before  the  full  court  in 
term.  On  the  issue  of  the  trial  judgment  is  awarded,  de- 
claring that  the  plaintiff"  either  has,  or  has  not,  entitled 
himself  to  the  remedy  prayed  :  and  costs  are  given  with 
the  judgment;  after  which  the  successful  party  may  sue 
out  execution,  unless  there  be  an  appeal  by  writ  of  error, 
■which  only  lies  on  matter  of  law  arising  on  the  face  of  the 
proceedings. 

Summary  proceedings  are  of  very  miscellaneous  charac- 
ter ;  and  are  by  affidavit,  motion,  rule  nisi  (t.  e.  unless 
cause  is  shown  asainst  the  rule  on  a  certain  day  ;  when, if 
no  cause,  or  insufficient  cause,  is  shown,  the  rule  is  made 
absolute  ;  and  if  made  absolute,  followed  by  demand  of 
performance,  and  this  performance  enforced  by  means  of 
attachment  for  contempt  of  court).  By  these  means  the 
courts  have  extensive  authority  to  give  directions  and  en- 
force conditions  during  the  progress  of  a  suit.  Among  sum- 
mary proceedings  may  also  be  enumerated  the  leave  given 
■on  motion,  to  amend  various  formal  defects  in  pleadings. 
COURT  BARON.  A  Court  Baron,  so  called  either  from 
the  lord  or  baron  who  presided  over  it,  or  from  the  free- 
men, in  ancient  times  also  called  barons,  who  were  its 
suitors  and  judges,  was  a  court  having  its  origin  apparently 
in  notions  of  a  patriarchal  jurisdiction,  properly  and  in  the 
first  instance  incident  to  every  manor,  in  which  it  was  held 
by  the  lord  of  the  manor  or  his  steward,  who.  assisted  by 
the  freeholders  of  the  manor,  there  decided  on  the  purely 
civil  controversies  which  arose  between  them.  A  court 
baron  also  belonged  to  every  hundred  and  county  (see 
those  titles) :  and  in  many  cases  also  to  particular  franchi- 
ses or  lordships,  which  might  include  several  manors. 
Courts  baron,  from  the  inferiority  of  their  judges,  and  from 
the  effects  of  their  jurisdiction,  which  a  party  might  defeat 
by  removal  of  the  cause  to  ahighei  tribunal,  have  long  fall- 
en into  disuse ;  except  in  manors  of  ancient  demesne, 
where  the  jurisdiction  was,  and  in  some  respects  still  is,  in 
the  first  instance  exclusive,  the  lord  of  such  manors  having 
once  been  the  king  ;  and  except  in  manors  containing 
land  of  copvhold  or  customary  tenure.     See  Copvhold. 

COURT-MARTIAL.  A  court  for  trying  and  punishing 
the  military  offences  of  officers  and  soldiers.  Courts-mar- 
tial, in  our  law,  are  bound  by  the  same  rules  and  principles 
of  evidence  as  courts  of  law.  Their  jurisdiction  is  confer- 
red by  the  Mutiny  Act  (1  W.  &.  M.)  which  is  annually  re- 
newed. The  crimes  cognizable  by  them  are  designated  by 
the  Mutiny  Act  and  Articles  of  War.  The  persons  liableto 
martial  law  are  officers,  soldiers,  and  persons  serving  with 
the  army  in  the  field  :  and  receiving  pay  as  a  soldier  sub- 
jects the  receiver  to  it :  but  officers  on  half-pay  are  not 
liable.  The  judgments  of  courts-martial  are  open  to  the 
disapprobation  of  the  king  or  his  commande'rs-in-chief ;  and 
are  likewise  liableto  reversal  by  the  Courtof  King's  Bench. 
The  acts  of  a  court-martial,  like  those  of  other  courts  insti- 
tuted by  statute  with  particular  powers,  may  become  the 
subject  of  application  to  the  courts  at  Westminster  for  a 
prohibition.  Naval  courts  martial  have  their  jurisdiction 
defined  by  the  thirty-six  articles  of  war,  embodied  in  22  G. 
2.  c.  23,  and  19  G.  3.  c.  17.,  and  are  composed  of  admirals, 
captains  and  commanders.  (See  M' Arthur  on  Courts 
Martial  :  Kennedy  on  C.  M.;  James,  Collection  of  Proceed- 
ings of  C.  M.  1820  ;  Tytler  on  Military  Law.) 
COU'SSINET.  (Fr.  a  cushtim.)  In  Architecture,  the 
297 


COVENANTERS. 

crowuing  stone  of  a  pier,  or  that  which  lies  on  the  capital 
oj  the  impost  and  under  the  sweep.  Its  bed  is  level  below 
and  inclined  above,  receiving  the  first  rise  or  spring  of  the 
arch  or  vault.  This  word  is  also  used  for  the  ornament  in 
the  Ionic  capital,  between  the  abacus  and  echinus  or  quarter 
round,  which  serves  to  form  the  volute,  and  is  thus  called 
because  its  appearance  is  that  of  a  cushion  or  pillow  seem- 
ingly collapsed  by  the  weight  over  it,  and  bound  with  a 
strap  or  girdle  called  the  baltheus. 

COVE.  An  inlet  on  a  rocky  coast.  It  is  a  term  nearly 
synonymous  with  tiarbour  ;  the  word  cove  beins  generally, 
though  not  always,  used  when  the  indentation  on  the  coast 
is  too  shallow  or  narrow  to  admit  first-class  vessels. 

CO'VENANT.  In  history  the  famous  bond  of  associa- 
tion adopted  by  the  Scottish  Presbyterians  in  1638.  It  was 
framed  on  the  model  of  a  similar  declaration,  which  had 
been  twice  solemnly  subscribed  in  the  early  period  of  the 
Reformation  :  but  in  more  violent  language,  and  with  more 
specific  obligation  to  support  the  kirk,  together  with  a  pro- 
hibition and  abjuration  of  the  Anglican  liturey  and  articles. 
The  founders  of  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant  were 
Alexander  Henderson,  leader  of  the  clergy,  and  Archibald 
Johnston  of  Wariston,  an  advocate.  (See  Laing's  History 
of  Scotland,  vol.  iii.)  A  new  religious  covenant  between 
the  two  kingdoms  was  framed  in  1643,  and  taken  by  the 
English  House  of  Commons  and  assembly  of  divines  at 
Westminster.  Charles  II.  subscribed  the  Scottish  cove- 
nant on  his  coronation  in  1651  ;  but  on  his  restoration  it 
was  declared  null  by  act  of  parliament,  and  burned  by  the 
common  hangman.  It  formed,  however,  the  watch-word 
and  bond  of  union  of  the  discontented  party,  or  Covenant- 
ers, as  they  were  called,  in  the  rebellions  of  his  reign. 

Covenant.  In  a  theological  sense,  a  promise  made  by 
God  to  man  upon  certain  conditions  :  the  two  grand  dis 
tinctions  of  which  are  emphatically  designated  the  Old  and 
New  Covenant  or  Testament ;  in  each  of  which  certain 
temporal  or  spiritual  benefits  are  promised  to  man  upon 
the  performance  of  duties  therein  pointed  out. 

Covenant.  In  Law,  is  an  engagement  under  seal  to  do 
or  to  omit  a  direct  act.  Covenants  are  of  many  different 
species,  as  in  fact  and  in  law,  implied  and  express,  .fee;  and 
according  to  their  subject  matter,  or  express  stipulation, 
they  are  binding  respectively  on  the  heirs,  executors,  anil 
assigns,  or  executors  and  assigns  only,  of  the  covenantor. 

Covenant  is  also  a  form  of  action,  which  lies  where  a 
party  claims  damages  for  breach  of  a  covenant  or  contract 
under  seal. 

COVENA'NTERS.  The  great  body  of  the  Scottish 
people,  at  the  era  of  the  Reformation,  adopted  the  presby- 
terian  faith  and  polity  as  established  by  Calvin  at  Geneva, 
and  as  introduced  into  Scotland  by  Knox,  and  recom- 
mended and  enforced  by  his  eloquence.  As  presbyterian- 
ism  was  thus  closely  associated  in  their  minde  with  their 
deliverance  from  what  they  regarded  as  the  degrading  au- 
thority of  popery,  the  people  of  Scotland  have  ever  been 
distinguished  for  their  cordial  and  unflinching  adherence 
to  this  new  faith.  But  though  it  was  the  object  of  public 
veneration,  it  never  succeeded  in  gaining  permanent!/ 
either  the  affection  or  countenance  of  the  court.  On  the 
contrary,  the  successive  monarchs  by  whom  Scotland  was 
governed  from  the  Reformation  in  1560  till  the  final  estab- 
lishment of  presbytery  as  the  national  church  in  1690,  re- 
garded it  with  disfavour,  and  did  all  in  their  power,  either 
by  open  persecution,  or  by  private  intrigue,  to  undermine 
and  destroy  it.  They  regarded  it,  being  a  republican  hier- 
archy, as  incompatible  with  royal  authority:  and  James 
VI.  declared  that  "  presbytery  and  monarchy  could  no 
more  agree  than  God  and  the  devil."  But  though,  owing  to 
royal  favour,  episcopacy,  or  "  black  prelacy,"  as  it  was 
contemptuously  called  "by  the  presbyterians,  occasionally 
predominated,  it  was  as  often  superseded  by  presbytery. 
The  latter,  after  having  been  for  some  time' displaced  by 
prelacy,  gained  the  superiority  in  1592  ;  from  which  time 
till  1606  it  was  established  as  the  national  religion.  At  this 
latter  period,  however,  episcopacy  obtained  the  mastery, 
which  it  enjoyed  for  upwards  of  thirty  years.  But  thout'h 
this  polity,  being  favoured  by  the  influence  of  the  court, 
so  long  maintained  the  ascendency,  it  continued  as  ob- 
noxious as  ever  to  the  great  body  of  the  Scottish  people. 
Indeed,  so  obnoxious  was  it  known  to  be,  that  though  epis- 
copacy legally  prevailed,  it  was  thought  prudent  for  some 
time  nominally  and  formally  to  rule  the  church  by  means 
of  the  ecclesiastical  judicatories  peculiar  to  presbytery 
But  the  people  were  not  so  easily  deceived  :  nor  could  any 
consideration  induce  them  either  to  forego  the  ecclesiastical 
polity  which  was  so  dear  to  them,  or  look  on  its  rival  with 
the  least  degree  of  toleration  or  favour.  Matters  at  length 
came  to  a  crisis  on  this  subject.  Charles  I.  having  intro- 
duced that  arbitrary  judicatory  in  matters  religious  and  ec- 
clesiastical, the  High  Commission  Court,  and  having  at 
tempted  to  introduce  the  Book  of  Canons  and  the  Liturgy  or 
Service  Book,  the  public  voice  was  aroused,  and  public  in- 
dignation was  generally  and  unequivocally  expressed,  par 
ticularly  in  Edinburgh,  where  a  very  serious  tumult  took 
26 


COVENANTERS. 


place  (July,  1(337)  on  a  Sunday,  on  occasion  of  an  attempt 
being  made  (according  to  royal  proclamation)  to  read  the 
liturgy  in  the  church  of  St.  Giles.  Supplications  against 
the  liturgy  issued  from  almost  every  quarter  of  the  coun- 
try, from  all  classes  of  the  people,  and  from  the  great  ma- 
jority of  municipal  corporations,  and  were  carried  by  the 
principal  men  of  the  kingdom  to  be  presented  to  the  privy 
council.  These  supplications  were  not  attended  with  the 
success  which  it  was  hoped  they  would  have  experienced. 
But  the  supplicants  or  the  public  were  not  to  be  driven 
from  their  purpose.  The  supplicants,  who  had  nocked  to 
Edinburgh  in  great  numbers,  could  not  long  remain  there. 
But  the  most  effectual  means  were  adopted  to  keep  up  an 
organized  opposition  to  the  royal  procedure  in  this  matter. 
Four  tables,  as  they  were  called,  were  formed.  One  table 
consisted  of  nobility,  another  of  gentry,  a  third  of  clergy- 
men, a  fourth  of  burgesses ;  thus  representing  all  ranks 
and  classes  of  the  people.  There  was  also  a  general  table 
composed  of  representatives  from  the  four  subordinate  ta- 
bles, which  received  suggestions  from  these,  and  decided 
on  what  steps  it  was  necessary  to  adopt.  One  of  the  first 
acts  they  passed  was  the  production  of  the  Covenant ;  and 
hence  all  those  who  either  then  or  afterwards  subscribed  it, 
or  gave  in  their  adherence  to  it,  were  denominated  Cove- 
nanters. (Baillie:s  Letters,  i.  passim  ;  Laing's  Hist .  of 
Scotland,  iii.  ;  Coik's  Hist,  of  the  Cliurch,  iii. ;  Acts  of 
General  Assembly. 

The  origin  of  the  Covenant  in  Scotland  may  be  traced  to 
the  Reformation,  during  the  progress  of  which  it  was  re- 
newed several  times ;  and  it  evidently  had  a  reference  to 
the  covenants  so  frequently  adopted  by  "the  children  of  Is- 
rael, and  by  which  they  bound  themselves  to  adhere  to  that 
religion  which  the  Almighty  had  established  among  them. 

The  Covenant  to  which  we  at  present  more  immediately 
refer,  is  in  many  respects  a  renewal  of  the  Covenant  which 
was  subscribed  in  the  year  1530,  1581,  and  1590,  but  so 
modified  and  enlarged  as  to  embrace  the  circumstances 
under  which  the  church  was  placed  at  the  interesting  crisis 
under  review.  It  inveighed  not  merely  against  popery,  as 
the  former  Covenant  had  done,  but  "against  the  danger  of 
the  true  reformed  religion  (that  is,  the  presbyterian  faith 
and  polity  as  established  in  1592),  of  the  king's  honour,  and 
of  the  public  peace  of  the  kingdom,  by  the  manifold  inno- 
vations and  evils"  so  generally  prevalent.  The  subscribers 
also  profess,  and  "before  God,  his  angels,  and  the  world, 
solemnly  declare,  that,  with  their  whole  heart,  they  agree 
and  resolve  all  the  days  of  their  life  constantly  to  adhere 
unto  and  to  defend  the  foresaid  true  religion."  "  We 
promise  and  swear,"  to  use  their  own  words,  "by  the 
great  name  of  the  Lord  our  God,  to  continue  in  the  profes- 
sion and  obedience  of  the  foresaid  religion ;  and  that  we 
shall  defend  the  same,  and  resist  all  these  contrary  errors 
and  corruptions,  according  to  our  vocation,  and  to  the  ut- 
termost of  that  power  that  God  hath  put  in  our  hands,  all 
the  days  of  our  life."  ( Vide  the  National  Covenant  ap- 
pended to  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  p.  483. 
edit  1315.) 

These  expressions,  however  unequivocal  or  strong,  are 
not  more  energetic  than  others  in  the  same  document. 
They  showed  that  the  persons  by  whom  they  were  uttered 
were  in  earnest,  and  that  nothing  could  satisfy  them  but 
the  abolition  of  the  High  Commission  Court,  and  the  re- 
vocation of  the  canons  and  liturgy ;  in  other  words,  the 
total  and  unconditional  abrogation  of  prelacy.  They  in- 
sisted on  the  questions  that  existed  between  them  and  the 
king  being  immediately  submitted  to  a  free  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Kirk,  and  to  parliament. 

Meanwhile  the  tables  invited  all  the  supplicants  to  repair 
from  the  country  to  attend  a  solemn  meeting,  which  was 
to  be  held  in  Edinburgh  in  honour  of  the  Covenant.  The 
supplicants  having  obeyed  the  summons,  the  Covenant 
(1st  March,  1638)  was  solemnly  subscribed  and  sworn,  amid 
prayers  and  witli  uplifted  hands,  by  the  nobility,  gentry, 
clergy,  and  burgesses  ;  by  thousands  of  all  classes,  of  both 
sexes,  and  of  every  age.  Nor  was  this  all.  Commission- 
ers were  immediately  despatched  with  copies  of  it 
throughout  Scotland  ;  and  in  a  few  weeks  every  district  of 
the  country,  with  some  partial  exceptions,  submitted  to  the 
Covenant." 

The  nation  was  now  divided  into  two  parties,— the  Cove- 
nanters, a  name  originally  imposed  by  their  adversaries, 


•So  pertinaciously  was  subscription  of  the  Covenant  insisted  on,  that 
no  student  could  enter  college,  or  lake  a  degree  there,  and  no  person 
could  be  admitted  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  without  having  first  subscribed 
this  obligation.  Not  only  were  such  persons  as  professors  and  teachers, 
but  every  human  being  of  whatever  rank,  bound  to  subs-ribe  under  the 
risk  of  "all  ecclesiastical  censure."  Those  "suspected  of  papistry" 
■were  summoned  before  the  church  courts,  with  a  view  of  inducing  them 
10  sign  the  covenant ;  and  if  they  refused,  they  were  ordered  to  be 
proceeded  ag3inst  and  tried  as  disaffected  persons.  Every  university, 
synod,  presbytery,  and  parish  were  obliged  to  have  each  a  copy  of  the 
Covenant  in  4to.,  "  with  some  blank  paper,  whereupon  every  body  may- 
be obliged  to  sign."  Subscriptions  of  the  Solemn  Lcasue  and  Covenant, 
afterwards  to  he  spoken  of,  was  prosecuted  with  almost  equal  zeal. 
I  Acts  of  Assembly,  apud  r.nnos  1639.18.)  . 

298 


and  the  Non- Covenanters ;  the  latter  being  a  small,  feeble, 
and  scattered  body.  (Battlie's  Letters  ;  Livingstone's  MS. 
Life.} 

Charles,  seeing  the  formidable  position  assumed  by  the 
Covenanters,  and  the  influence  which  they  possessed,  was 
at  length  willing  to  recal  the  liturgy  and  the  canons,  and  to 
make  considerable  concessions  for  the  sake  of  peace. 
But  it  was  too  late  :  no  compromise  could  now  be  accept- 
ed ;  nothing  could  satisfy  the  Covenanters  but  the  extirpa- 
tion of  prelacy  :  nothing  that  fell  short  of  this  would  be  at 
all  listened  to.  Nay,  so  far  did  they  carry  their  condem- 
nation of  the  bishops,  that  they  had  not  only  preferred  an 
accusation  against  them  as  the  authors  of  the  innovations, 
but  had,  meanwhile,  applied  for  an  interdict,  prohibiting 
them  from  having  a  seat  in  the  privy  council.  The  pre- 
lates, indeed,  finding  that  they  were  the  object  of  public 
odium,  and  that  their  influence  was  nearly  gone,  volunta- 
rily withdrew  from  the  council.  The  king,  after  much 
temporizing  and  intrigue,  found  himself  obliged,  however 
reluctantly,  to  agree  to  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly on  the  terms  which  the  Covenanters  had  proposed, — 
namely,  that  lay-elders  should,  as  in  the  best  days  of  pres- 
bytery, be  recognized  as  constituent  members  of  the  infe- 
rior ecclesiastical  courts,  and  eligible  as  members  of  as- 
sembly ;  that  not  only  should  the  bishops,  the  former  oflv 
cialmoderators(presidents)  of  presbyteries,  not  be  replaced, 
but  that  these  dignitaries  might  be  legally  prosecuted  by  the 
Assembly,  and  "their  usurpations  restrained,  if  not  their 
order  entirely  suppressed.     (lb.) 

The  Assembly  accordingly  met  at  Glasgow  in  November, 
and  continued  its  sittings  (for  thirty  days)  as  its  inalienable 
right,  even  though  the  royal  commissioner,  the  Marquis  of 
Hamilton,  had  meanwhile  declared  the  meetings  dissolved. 
It  embraced  in  the  list  of  its  members  the  most  eminent 
of  the  nobility  and  gentry  as  lay-elders.  It  not  only  an- 
nulled the  canons,  liturgy,  the  High  Commission  Court, 
and  other  innovations,  but  it  abolished  episcopacy  itself, 
and  declared  it  as  having  been  from  the  first  both  illegal  and 
unscriptural.  Of  the  prelates,  fourteen  in  number,  of 
whom  the  Scottish  hierarchy  had  consisted,  eight  were  ex- 
communicated, four  deposed,  and  the  remaining  two  mere- 
ly suspended  from  their  ecclesiastical  functions.  Nor  did 
the  Assembly  stop  here ;  for,  while  it  abolished  prelacy,  it 
re-established  presbytery  as  it  had  existed  previously  to 
the  late  innovations,  with  all  the  privileges,  liberties,  powers, 
and  jurisdictions  which  it  had  formerly  enjoyed.  (Actscf 
Assembly,  1638.) 

The  proceedings  of  this  Assembly,  particularly  its  con- 
temptuous and  summary  mode  of  dealing  with  the  favour- 
ite hierarchy  of  the  king,  could  not  be  agreeable  to  Charles. 
These  proceedings  were,  on  the  contrary,  so  obnoxious  to 
him,  that,  on  the  Supplication  voted  at  the  conclusion  of  its 
meetings  being  presented  to  him,  he  expressed  himself  as 
deeply  offended,  and  declined  to  return  any  answer  to  it. 
"When  the  Covenanters,"  says  he,  "have  broken  my 
head,  they  will  put  on  my  cowl."  This  injudicious  con- 
duct on  the  part  of  the  king  brought  matters  to  a  crisis. 
Both  parties  prepared  for  war;  a  step,  however,  which  the 
Covenanters,  who  always  professed  the  greatest  loyalty, 
adopted  with  reluctance.  So  devoted,  however,  were  the 
people  to  what  they  regarded  as  a  righteous  cause,  that  the 
expense  on  the  side  of  the  Covenanters,  who  included  in 
the  list  of  their  adherents  almost  every  individual  in  Scot- 
land, was  defrayed  by  a  general  voluntary  assessment.  In 
raising  both  men  and  money  the  clergy  took  an  active 
part ;  and  contributions  for  carrying  on  the  war  were  levied 
by  them  from  their  respective  flocks  to  an  extent  scarcely 
credible.  "We  sent  from  Stranraer,"  says  John  Living- 
stone, then  minister  of  that  parish,  "  our  fourth  fencible 
man,  viz.  15  men.  The  town  was  but  little  and  poor ;  all 
the  yearly  rent  was  estimated  at  2000  merks  Scots  *  *  *.  I 
propounded  to  my  flock  the  condition  of  the  army,  and 
desired  they  would  prepare  their  contribution  to  be  given 
after  sermon  ;  at  which  time  we  got  45/.  sterling,"  or  nearly 
the  half  of  the  whole  income  of  the  place.  (MS.  Life,  p. 
34.)  Nor  was  the  spirit  which  pervaded  the  army  less  in- 
teresting or  enthusiastic  than  that  which  characterized  the 
whole  body  of  the  Covenanters.  "  Every  company,"  says 
an  eye-witness,  "  had  fleeing  at  the  captain's  tent  door  a 
brave  new  colour,  stamped  with  the  Scottish  arms,  and  the 
motto.  Far  Christ's  Crmrn  and  Covenant,  in  golden 
letters."  (Baillie,  i.  174.)  Every  regiment  was  attended 
by  a  chaplain.  "  I  carried  myself,"  says  Dr.  Baillie,  who 
attended  the  army  in  the  capacity  of  a  chaplain,  "  as  the 
custom  was,  a  sword  and  a  couple  of  Dutch  pistols  at  my 
saddle."  "  Our  soldiers  grew  in  experience  of  arms,  in 
courage,  and  favour  daily.  Every  one  encouraged  another : 
the  sight  of  the  nobles  and  their  beloved  pastors  daily 
raised  their  hearts.  The  good  sermons  and  prayers,  morn- 
ing and  evening,  under  the  roof  of  heaven,  to  which  their 
drums  did  call  them  for  bells,  the  remonstrances  very  fre- 
quent of  the  goodness  of  their  cause,  of  their  conduct 
hitherto  by  a  divine  hand,  made  them  as  resolute  for  battle 
as  could  be  wished."    "Had  you  lent  your  ear,  in  the 


COVENANTERS. 

morning,  or  especially  at  even,  and  heard  in  the  tents  the 
sound  of  some  singing  psalms,  some  praying,  and  some 
reading  scripture,  ye  would  have  been  refreshed."    (lb.) 

Such  was  the  spirit  under  the  influence  of  which  the  Cove- 
nanters waged  and  carried  on  the  war  with  their  sovereign. 
Of  the  hostilities  that  ensued  it  is  unnecessary  here  to  give 
a  farther  account  than  to  say,  that  the  Covenanters,  though 
they  gained  the  only  battle  that  was  fought,  lost  no  time  in 
making  proposals  of  peace.  These  proposals  were  accept- 
ed by  the  king  ;  and  a  treaty  was  concluded  (June.  1639) 
Tour  months  after  the  commencement  of  the  war.  Of  this 
treaty  the  most  important  clause  was,  that,  as  the  king  would 
not  ratify  the  enactments  of  the  Assembly  of  Glasgow,  and 
as  the  Covenanters  would  not  annul  them,  a  free  General 
Assembly  should  be  held  in  the  ensuing  month  of  August, 
and  a  parliament  immediately  afterwards;  to  the  decision 
of  which  courts  every  dispute  between  the  contending  par- 
ties was  to  be  referred.  This  Assembly  met  accordingly  ; 
and  its  proceedings,  as  miirht  have  been  expected,  were  ex- 
actly of  the  same  character  as  those  of  tiie  former;  and 
yet,  such  was  the  progress  of  public  opinion,  that  the  Earl 
of  Traquair,  the  royal  commissioner,  not  only  did  not  re- 
fuse to  ratify  them,  but  consented  to  subscribe  that  obnox- 
ious bond,  the  Covenant,  which  was  ordained,  under  the 
penalty  of  ecclesiastical  censure,  to  be  subscribed  by  all 
ranks.  The  members  of  the  privy  council,  besides,  gave 
to  the  Covenant  the  sanction  of  their  authority,  and  attach- 
ed their  signatures  to  it.     (lb.) 

The  proceedings  of  this  Assembly  were,  if  possible,  more 
obnoxious  to  Charles  than  those  of  its  predecessor;  and 
afraid  lest  the  parliament,  which  had  already  met,  should 
exhibit  a  similar  spirit,  he  lost  no  time  in  proroguing  it.  Hut 
nothing  could  now  arrest  the  march  of  public  sentiment ; 
end  in  the  parliament,  which  met  in  June  1640,  in  direct  op- 
position to  the  wishes  of  the  king,  who  had  determined  to 
prorogue  it,  every  enactment  of  the  General  Assembly  re- 
specting the  Covenant  and  the  presbyterian  faith  obtained 
the  sanction  of  that  supreme  court,  and  became  the  law  of 
the  land. 

Thus  the  Covenanters,  after  an  arduous  struggle  of  three 
years,  saw  their  object  fully  gained ;  namely,  their  favourite 
ecclesiastical  polity  established,  and  the  validity  and  au- 
thority of  the  Covenant  recognised  by  the  legislature. 
Their  history  from  this  date  (which  will  be  found  more  at 
length  under  the  article  Presbyterians)  becomes  that 
of  the  presbyterian  church  in  Scotland,  and  is  interwoven 
with  the  annals  of  their  country.  Charles,  offended  with 
the  triumph  of  the  Covenanters,  again  declared  war  against 
them  ;  but  after  a  short  campaign,  unfavourable  to  the  roy- 
alists, peace  was  restored  (1641).  The  king  having,  mean- 
while, alienated  the  affections  of  his  English  subjects,  and 
a  civil  war  having,  in  consequence,  broken  out,  the  Cove- 
nanters, on  the  repeated  and  urgent  application  of  the  par- 
liament of  England,  made  common  cause  with  them,  and 
took  up  arms  for  the  third  time  against  royal  authority. 
But  along  with  a  civil  league  the  Scots  succeeded  (1643)  in 
carrying  a  religious  covenant,  known  in  history  under  the 
name  of  the  Solemn  League  und  Covenant ;  an  obligation 
which  was  long  revered  in  both  divisions  of  the  island,  and 
the  main  object  of  which  was  to  accomplish  uniformity  of 
religious  doctrine  and  church  government  in  both  king- 
doms. Nor  was  this  object  long  in  being,  so  far,  attained  : 
a  presbytery,  as  it  existed  in  Scotland,  having  obtained  the 
sanction  of  the  famous  Assembly  of  Divines  met  at  West- 
minster (1643-9),  and  having  been  afterwards  ratified  by 
the  English  parliament,  was  recognised  as  the  national 
church  of  both  portions  of  the  empire.  Presbytery,  how- 
ever, was  introduced  into  England  rather  as  an  experiment 
than  a  permanent  institution.  Besides,  it  was  not  syste- 
matically adopted  except  in  London  and  Lancashire  ;  and 
it  rapidly  declined,  having  been,  to  a  considerable  extent, 
superseded  by  Independency.  But  at  the  Restoration 
episcopacy  triumphed  over  both  these  forms,  and  has  since 
prevailed  as  the  established  church  in  England.  (Solemn 
League  and  Covenant  appended  to  the  Westminster  Con- 
fession of  Faitk,  edit.  1815 ;  Acts  of  General  Assembly ; 
tVodrow,  Baillie,  Laing.) 

Though  the presbyterians  had, meanwhile, differed  some- 
what in  opinion  as  to  some  public  matter,  and  though  they 
were  not  all  equally  zealous  in  favour  of  the  Covenant,  yet 
the  importance  ot  this  obligation  was  never  lost  sight  of. 
On  the  martyrdom  of  Charles  I.  the  Scots  refused  to  re- 
cognise the  right  of  his  son,  Charles  II.,  to  the  throne,  till 
he  consented  to  subscribe  the  Covenant,  and  to  guarantee 
and  uphold  the  presbyterian  church.  Cromwell,  though  he 
allowed  them  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion,  never  was 
the  object  of  their  affections  and  confidence,  inasmuch  as 
he  was  a  sectary,  and  a  friend  to  toleration,  which  lat- 
ter they  had  uniformly  condemned.  But  the  Protector, 
while  he  tolerated  the  presbyterian  faith,  deprived  it  of 
some  of  its  most  valuable  attributes.  He  not  mereiy  in- 
terdicted the  meetings  of  the  General  Assembly,  but  pro- 
hibited the  tender  of  the  Covenant  or  any  similar  obliga- 
tion, and  divested  some  of  the  ecclesiastical  penalties,  such 
299 


COW  POX. 

as  excommunication,  of  their  terrors  by  depriving  them  of 
their  civil  effects."  But  a  worse  fate  yet  awaited  the  Cove- 
nant. At  the  Restoration,  not  only  was  episcopacy  restored 
and  presbytery  superseded  as  the  national  church  ;  but  by 
a  sweeping  act,  called  the  Act  Rescissory,  passed  in  1661, 
all  the  parliaments  that  had  been  held  since  1640  were  de- 
clared null  and  void  :  thus  rendering  invalid  those  acts,  in 
confirmaiion  both  of  the  Covenant  and  of  presbytery,  to 
which  the  late  king  had  assented,  and  which  Charles  II. 
himself  had  sworn  to  maintain.  From  this  period  the 
Covenant  may  date  its  decline.  It  continued,  indeed,  to 
be  regarded  as  sacred  by  perhaps  the  most  valuable,  if  not 
the  most  numerous,  portion  of  the  clergy  and  people, — of 
those  who  would  submit  to  no  compromise,  and  who,  in 
consequence,  were  the  objects,  during  the  reigns  of  Charles 
and  his  brother  James,  of  the  most"  ruthless  persecution. 
Nay,  so  far  did  some  of  these  parties  carry  their  opinions, 
that  they  did  not  regard  any  person  entitled  to  homage  as 
kin;  unless  he  had  "covenanted,''  or  affixed  his  signature 
to  the  Covenant.  The  party  by  which  such  a  principle  was 
professed  are  known  in  history  under  the  name  of  Came- 
ronians  :  a  body  which,  though  now  much  reduced  both  in 
numbers  and  importance,  and  who  have  moderated  or 
changed  their  sentiments  on  this  subject  as  well  as  on 
others,  slill  exist  in  Scotland  as  a  distinct  religious  sect. 
(.See  CamerONians.)  At  the  Revolution,  when  presbytery 
was  revived  in  Scotland  and  established  as  it  now  obtains, 
no  mention  was  made  of  the  Covenant  either  in  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  or  inferior  courts.  It  seems  to  have  been  al- 
lowed to  fall  into  desuetude,  no  steps  having  been  taken 
with  regard  to  it.  It  now  exists  only  as  a  matter  of  history  ; 
though,  as  just  said,  the  Cameronians  may  be  regarded  as 
the  successors  and  descendants  of  the  Covenanters  of  the 
17th  century.    (lb.) 

CONVERTS.  In  Ornithology.  "The  lesser  coverts" 
(tectn'ces  prima)  are  small  feathers  which  lie  in  several 
rows  on  the  bones  of  the  wings.  The  "  greater  coverts" 
(tcctrices  secunda)  are  the  feathers  that  lie  immediately 
over  the  quill-feathers  and  the  secondaries.  "  The  under 
coverts"  are  the  feathers  that  line  the  inside  of  the  wings. 

CO'VER'iTRE.  In  Law,  the  legal  condition  of  a  mar- 
ried woman.     See  Marriage,  Law  of. 

CO'VERT  WAY,  or  COVERED  WAY.  In  Fortifica- 
tion, a  road  or  space  of  ground  on  the  outer  edge  of  the 
ditch,  level  with  the  adjacent  country,  and  ranging  all 
round  the  works.  It  is  usually  about  30  feet  broad,  and  is 
protected  by  the  glacis.  Sometimes  it  is  called  the  corridor. 

CO'VEY.  An  old  bird  with  her  young  ones  ;  but  gene- 
rally used  to  designate  a  number  of  partridges  or  other 
game.  It  also  in  some  countries  signifies  a  cover  for 
game. 

CO'VIN.  In  Law,  a  compact  between  two  or  more,  to 
deceive  or  prejudice  others  in  certain  cases ;  as,  if  tenant 
for  life  or  in  tail  conspire  with  another  party,  to  the  intent 
that  such  party  may  recover  lands  held  by  the  tenant  to 
the  prejudice  of  him  in  reversion. 

COW'HAGE,  COWITCH.  This  term  is  generally  ap- 
plied to  the  hairs  or  spiculaj  which  cover  the  seed  pods  of 
the  Mitcuna  pnaiens,  a  climbing  perennial  plant,  which  is 
a  native  of  the  East  and  West  Indies.  An  electuary  formed 
by  dipping  the  pods  into  treacle,  syrup,  or  despumated 
honey,  and  then  scraping  them,  has  long  been  used  as  a 
vermifuge ;  but  it  is  often  a  very  troublesome  remedy, 
from  the  excessive  itching  which  it  produces  when  it 
touches  the  unprotected  skin,  and  there  are  other  more  ef- 
fectual means  of  expelling  worms. 

COW'-KEEPER.  A  person  whose  business  it  is  to  keep 
a  stock  of  cows  for  supplying  the  public  with  milk  and 
cream.  The  principal  cow-keepers  of  the  metropolis  have 
their  establishments  in  the  suburbs,  where  they  are  con- 
nected with  pasture  fields,  in  which  the  animals  are  turned 
out  a  portion  of  every  day  throughout  the  year,  excepting 
when  the  ground  is  covered  with  snow,  or  when  it  rains 
very  hard.  The  cows  are  fed  in  the  house  with  grains, 
mangold  wurzel,  hay,  tares,  and  other  kinds  of  nourishing 
food ;  and  as  the  animals  get  air  and  exercise,  their  milk 
may  be  considered  wholesome.  There  are  many  cow- 
keepers,  however,  in  the  metropolis,  who  keep  only  a  few 
cows  in  confined  back  houses,  and  even  in  dark  cellars  ; 
and,  while  they  feed  them  with  rich  food,  give  them  no 
exercise  at  all :  hence  the  milk  of  such  cows  cannot  be 
considered  as  wholesome. 

COW  POX.    This  disease  was  proposed  in  the  year 

•  The  General  Assembly  had  met  annually  from  the  year  16?8  to  1049 
inclusive  It  sometimes  met  without  having  the  sanction  of  the  king,  or 
without  his  majesty  being  represented  in  it.  as  is  usual,  by  a  commis- 
sioner. Not  merely  the  Covenanters,  but  Presbyterians  in  general,  laid 
it  down  as  a  principle,  that  the  church  courts  are,  in  matters  ecclesias- 
tical and  religious,  independent  of  civil  authority,  and  irresponsible  to  it. 
Accordingly,  in  1633,  the  Assembly  continued  its  sittings  even  after  it  had 
been  dissolved  by  the  royal  commissioner.  Cromwell  in  1C53  caused  the 
General  Assembly,  then  sitting,  to  be  summarily  dismissed,  and  interdict- 
ed its  meeting  in  future.  In  this  instance,  the  Assembly  had  implicitly 
to  obev.  This  judicatory  did  not  again  meet  till  after  the  Revolution.. 
(BoiUie's  Letters,  U.  3tifl-70..1 


COWRIES. 

1793  as  a  substitute  for,  and  preventive  of,  the  small  pox,  by 
Dr.  Jenner;  and  subsequent  experience,  as  well  as  the  ex- 
tent to  which  the  inoculation  of  it,  or  vaccination,  as  it  is 
called,  is  carried  throughout  the  civilized  world,  furnish 
well-grounded  hopes  of  the  ultimate  extinction  of  one  of 
the  severest  visitations  of  the  human  race.  Small  bluish 
vesicles,  surrounded  by  inflammation,  elevated  at  the  edge 
and  depressed  in  the  centre,  and  containing  a  limpid  fluid, 
occasionally  appear  upon  the  teats  of  the  cow,  the  animal 
being  at  the  same  time  somewhat  indisposed  :  a  similar 
disease  is  transferable  under  certain  circumstances  to  the 
hands  of  the  milkers ;  and  persons  who  had  so  received  it 
were  found  to  be  in  many  instances  unsusceptible  of  small 
pox,  both  natural  and  inoculated.  There  is  a  disease  of 
the  horse's  heel  called  grease,  which  appears  to  have  pro- 
duced similar  effects  upon  the  hands  of  farriers,  and  is  per- 
haps the  origin  of  the  cow's  disease  :  but  it  is  from  the  lat- 
ter animal  that  the  matter  is  most  certainly  effective,  and 
from  which  it  is  transferred  to  the  human  race,  where  it 
produces  similar  pustules;  and  the  fluid  of  these  may  again 
be  transferred  with  the  same  effects  from  one  human  sub- 
ject to  another.  Whether  by  continuous  circulation  through 
human  subjects  the  virus,  as  it  is  called,  gradually  loses  its 
preventive  efficacy,  is  an  important  question,  and  one  upon 
which  there  are  differences  of  opinion  ;  but  it  would  pro- 
bably be  more  safe  if  more  frequently  derived  from  its 
original  source  upon  the  cow's  teat.  It  seems  useless  here 
to  discuss  the  various  objections  which  have  been  raised, 
and  the  suspicions  which  have  been  thrown  out  against  the 
permanent  efficacy  of  this  preventive,  since  the  most  ex- 
tended and  unbiassed  experience  of  the  most  skilful  ob- 
servers seems  amply  to  have  proved  that  when  the^pustule 
hasgoyie  through  its  regular  stages,  the  person  is  afterwards, 
during  the  whole  period  of  life,  unsusceptible  of  natural 
and  of  inoculated  small  pox,  the  exceptions  to  this  state- 
ment being  so  few  as  either  to  be  referable  to  imperfect 
vaccination,  or  to  idiosyncracy  ;  and  though  it  is  not  pre- 
tended that  cases  of  small  pox  after  vaccination  are  as  rare 
as  of  small  pox  after  small  pox,  yet  it  is  well  known  that  the 
latter  do  occur,  and.  in  short,  that  there  is  no  rule  without 
exceptions.  In  doubtful  cases  vaccination  should  always 
be  repeated  ;  and  as  no  inconvenience  results  from  a  repe- 
tition of  its  inoculation,  and  the  disease  is  not  infectious  by 
effluvia,  it  may  be  performed  at  certain  intervals,  or  may 
even  be  tested  as  to  its  efficacy  by  variolous  inoculation  ; 
although  to  the  latter  there  are  certainly  serious  objections, 
if  we  look  to  its  ultimate  extermination.  In  inoculating  pa- 
tients for  the  cow  pox  the  matter  should  be  taken  from  a 
healthy  child,  at  about  the  6lh  or  the  Sth  day,  at  which  time 
the  pustule  is  well  formed  ;  and  it  should  be  immediately 
transferred  upon  the  point  of  the  lancet  from  the  pustule 
to  the  arm,  and  inserted  by  a  small  oblique  puncture  under 
the  cuticle,  one  place  in  each  arm  being  quite  sufficient. 
If  this  direct  mode  cannot  be  followed,  the  virus  intended 
for  inoculation  may  be  transferred  between  two  pieces  of 
plate  glass,  one  of  which  is  slightly  indented  for  its  recep- 
tion ;  when  slid  over  each  other  they  are  air-tight,  and  the 
edges  may  be  secured  by  a  strip  of  moist  gold-beaters'  skin 
or  very  thin  bladder.  If  it  is  necessary  to  moisten  the 
virus,  this  should  be  done  with  as  small  a  portion  as  possi- 
ble of  tepid  water,  not  exceeding  the  temperature  of  100°. 
Lancet  points  which  have  been  armed,  as  it  is  called,  can- 
not be  long  depended  upon,  and  are  apt  to  be  rusted  and  to 
irritate  the  arm.  About  the  third  day  after  inoculation  the 
puncture  generally  becomes  red  and  elevated,  but  the  pe- 
riods of  its  incipient  progress  are  very  uncertain  ;  it  then 
continues  to  enlarge  and  become  vesicular;  and  is  in  full 
perfection  about  the  eighth  or  ninth  day,  at  which  period 
also  the  surrounding  circle  of  inflammation  or  areola  is  at 
its  height.  About  the  eleventh  or  twelfth  day  this  declines, 
and  the  centre  of  the  pustule  becomes  brown,  and  gradually 
dries  up  into  a  dark-brown  circular  scab,  depressed  in  the 
centre.  During  the  progress  and  scabbing  off  of  the  pus- 
tule great  care  should  be  taken  to  avoid  all  external  injury  ; 
all  irregularities  in  its  progress  should  also  be  carefully 
watched  ;  and  if  much  inflammation  comes  on  spontane- 
ously two  or  three  days  after  inoculation,  and  especially  if 
suppuration  ensues,  the  probability  is  that  the  operation 
has  failed  ;  and  in  all  cases  where  there  is  the  least  doubt 
the  inoculation  should  be  repeated,  although,  if  one  of  the 
pustules  lias  gone  through  the  above  described  progress, 
the  failure  or  irregularity  of  the  otherisof  no  consequence. 
The  cow-pock  is  seidom  attended  by  any  symptoms  re- 
quiring medical  aid  ;  but  generally  there  is  a  slight  drowsi- 
ness and  febrile  symptoms,  with  some  restlessness,  and 
occasionally  sickness,  about  the  second  and  third  days  ;  but 
these  symptoms  are  immaterial  to  the  preventive  efficacy 
of  the  virus,  which  can  only  be  judged  of  by  the  appear- 
ance and  progress  of  the  pustules,  to  which  therefore  it  is 
necessarv  to  pay  close  attention. 

COWRIES.     (Germ,  kouri.)    Small  shells  brought  from 
the  Maldives,  which  pass  current  as  coin  in  smaller  pay- 
ments in  Hindostan,  and  throughout  extensive  districts  in 
Africa  :  100  are  equivalent  to  a  penny. 
300 


CRAYONS. 

COY'POTJ.  A  Rodent  quadruped  ;  the  myopotamus  of 
geologists.     See  Nutria. 

CRAB.     See  Cancer. 

CRA'BRO.  (Lat.  crabro,  a  Iwrnet.)  A  genus  of  Hy- 
menopterous  insects,  belonging  to  the  section  Acvleata  or 
sting-bearers,  and  to  the  subsection  Fossores  or  burrowera 
The  hornet  {Crabro  vulgaris)  is  the  type  of  this  genus, 
which  is  now  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  family  (Crabrodinte), 
including  two  groups  of  subgenera.  In  one  of  these  groups 
all  the  species  have  their  Tore-legs  provided  with  strong 
spurs,  for  the  purpose  of  excavating  in  decayed  wood,  or 
burrowing  in  sand,  to  form  cavities  in  which  their  eggs  are 
deposited  ;  the  insects  of  the  other  section  have  the  fore- 
legs unarmed,  and  form  no  burrows,  but  deposit  their  eggs 
in  the  nests  of  other  species.  The  true  hornets  'Crabro) 
excavate  their  retreat  in  wood,  and  feed  their  larva?  with 
the  caterpillars  of  small  moths  found  upon  the  oak,  as  well 
as  with  flies. 

CRA'DLING.  (Sax.  cradel.)  In  Architecture,  the  tim- 
ber ribs  in  arched  ceilings  and  coves  to  which  the  laths  for 
the  plaistering  are  nailed. 

CRAFT.    See  Trade  and  Vessel. 

CRAG.  A  provincial  name  applied  in  Norfolk  and  Suf- 
folk to  certain  accumulations  of  gravel. 

CRAMP.  Spasmodic  or  involuntary  contraction  of  some 
of  the  muscles,  often  attended  with  great  pain  ;  it  is  com- 
mon in  the  muscles  of  the  leg  and  foot,  especially  after  any 
extraordinary  exertion  of  them,  and  is  sometimes  brought 
on  apparently  by  irritation  in  the  stomach  of  indigestible, 
food.  When  cramp  seizes  the  calf  of  the  leg,  it  usually 
goes  off  upon  placing  the  limb  in  an  erect  posture  and  rub- 
bing the  affected  part :  those  subject  to  it  find  much  relief 
by  applying  opiate  liniments.  If  it  arises  from  indigestion, 
or  from  indulgence  in  acescent  drinks  or  champagne,  mild 
bitters  with  magnesia,  taken  at  bed  time,  will  generally  pre- 
vent its  recurrence. 

Cramp.  (Dutch,  kramp.)  In  Architecture,  a  piece  of 
metal,  bent  or  dovetailed  at  each  end,  for  the  purpose  of 
holding  two  blocks  of  any  material  firmly  together. 

CRANE.  (Sax.  cran.)  In  Mechanics,  a  machine  for 
raising  heavy  weights,  and  depositing  them  at  some  dis- 
tance from  their  original  place;  for  example,  raising  bales 
from  the  hold  of  a  ship,  and  depositing  them  on  the  quay. 
A  jib  or  transverse  beam,  inclined  to  the  vertical  in  an  angle 
of  40°  or  50°,  is  constructed,  which,  by  means  of  a  collar, 
turns  on  a  vertical  arbor.  The  upper  end  of  the  jib  carries 
a  fixed  pulley,  and  the  lower  end  a  cylinder,  which  is  put 
in  motion  by  a  wheel  and  pinion,  or  cog  wheel,  or  merely 
with  a  handle.  The  weight  is  made  fast  to  a  rope  which 
passes  over  the  pulley  and  is  wound  round  the  cylinder. 
On  turning  the  cylinder,  the  weight  is  raised  as  far  as  ne- 
cessary ;  the  jib  is  then  turned  on  its  arbor  till  the  weight 
is  brought  immediately  over  the  spot  where  it  is  to  be  de- 
posited ;  when,  by  withdrawing  the  moving  power,  it  is  al- 
lowed to  descend  by  its  own  gravity.  Cranes  may  be  con- 
I  structed  of  immense  power.  They  are  generally  turned 
by  human  force  ;  sometimes,  however,  by  a  steam  engine. 

CRA'NGON.  (Gr.  xpayyi),  a  cran- fish.)  The  name  of 
the  genus  of  Macrourous  Crustaceans,  including  the  com- 
mon shrimp  (Crangon  vulgaris,  Fabr.)  This  species 
abounds  most  on  sandy  coasts,  and  is  caught  by  means  of 
a  large  open  net  fixed  to  the  end  of  a  long  stick. 

CRANIO'LOGY.     See  Phrenology. 

CRA'NIUM.  (Gr.  xpavtov,  the  skull.)  Sometimes  ap- 
plied to  the  entire  bony  compages  of  the  head  of  the  ver- 
tebrate animals  ;  but,  in  Human  Anatomy,  is  restricted  to> 
that  portion  of  the  skull  which  surrounds  the  brain. 

CRANK.  A  mechanical  contrivance  for  changing  a  re- 
volving into  an  alternate  motion.  An  iron  axis  is  bent  in 
some  part  of  its  length  out  of  its  rectilinear  direction.  As 
the  axis  turns  the  bent  part  describes  the  circumference  of 
a  circle,  and  gives  a  reciprocating  motion  to  a  piston  or  rod 
attached  to  it. 

Crank.  (Germ,  krank,  sick.)  In  Nautical  language,  a 
ship  is  said  to  be  crank,  when  by  the  form  of  its  construe 
t  ion.  or  by  want  of  a  sufficient  quantity  of  ballast  or  cargo,  or 
by  being  loaded  too  much  above,  it  is  incapable  of  carrying 
sail  without  being  exposed  to  the  danger  of  oversetting. 

CRAPE.  A  species  of  gauze  made  of  raw  silk  woven 
without  crossins :  it  is  stiffened  with  gum-water. 

CRASSULA'CE.<E.  (Crassula,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  herbaceous  or  shrubby  Exogens,  growing 
in  hot,  dry,  and  exposed  situations  ;  remarkable  for  the 
succulent  nature  of  their  stems  and  leaves.  They  have  an 
affinity  with  Penthorum  and  with  lllecelracea,  through 
TiUaa ;  and  possess  refrigerant  abstergent  properties, 
mixed  at  times  with  a  good  deal  of  acridity. 

CRA'TER.  (Gr.  a  large  dip  or  boicl,  used  in  antiquity 
during  a  repast,  for  holding  mixed  wine  and  water.)  Tho 
mouth  of  a  volcano,  which  see. 

CR AYO'NS.  Coloured  cylinders  used  for  drawing  upon 
paper;  they  are  usually  made  of  a  fine  pipe-clay,  coloured 
with  metallic  pigments  or  carmine.  Crayons  containing 
plumbago  are  styled  solid  lead  pencils. 


CREAM. 

CREAM.  (Fr.  creme.)  A  semifluid  yellowish  substance 
whiclt  collects  on  the  surface  of  milk,  and  which  is  made 
into  butter  by  the  process  of  churning.  When  the  milk  of 
any  animal  is  allowed  to  stand  for  some  time,  it  spontane- 
ously undergoes  certain  changes ;  this  substance  rises  to 
the  surface,  and  forms  a  thin  stratum,  which  is  called  cream, 
and  which  consists  chiefly  of  oily  particles  ;  while  the  milk 
below,  which  of  course  is  thinner  than  it  was  before  the 
cream  separated  from  it,  is  of  a  pale  bluish  colour,  and  con- 
sists of  curd,  coagulum,  or  the  matter  of  which  cheese  13 
made.  When  cream  is  kept  for  some  days  it  gradually  be- 
comes thicker,  and  partially  coagulated  ;  and  if  put  into  a 
iinen  bag  and  suspended  from  the  ceiling  of  a  cool  room, 
it  will  acquire  the  consistence  of  cheese  ;  and  this  is  one 
among  other  modes  of  making  cream  cheeses.  When 
cream  is  shaken  by  churning,  it  is  resolved  into  its  compo- 
nent  parts,  and  hence  we  have  butter  and  buttermilk.  In 
order  to  make  butter  it  is  not  always  necessary  that  the 
cream  should  be  separated  from  the  milk;  but  whether 
separated  or  not,  the  process  is  facilitated  by  allowing  the 
liquid  to  stand  for  some,  time,  during  which  a  part  of  the 
sugar  contained  in  the  serum  is  changed  into  an  acid,  which 
shortens  the  process  of  churning  by  facilitating  the  sepa- 
ration of  the  butter  from  the  milk.  When  either  cream  or 
milk  is  churned  without  having  previously  become  sour, 
the  process  is  much  more  tedious;  and  sometimes,  from 
causes  not  easily  accounted  for  by  the  dairy-maid,  it  is  un- 
successful, and  the  milk  is  said  to  he  bewitched.  The  true 
cause,  however,  is  the  want  of  acidity  ;  because  it  has  been 
found  that  the  addition  of  a  small  portion  of  vinegar  will 
dissolve  the  charm,  and  cause  the  almost  immediate  ap- 
pearance of  butter.  Cream,  when  separated  from  milk 
and  kept  til!  it  has  become  acid,  is  frequently  mixed  with 
milk  newly  drawn  from  the  cow  ;  and  this  eaten  with  sugar 
is  one  of  the  most  delicious  preparations  of  the  dairy. 
Costorphin  cream,  so  called  from  a  village  of  that  name  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Edinburgh,  is  made  by  putting  the 
milk  of  three  or  four  days  together  with  the  <  ream  into  a 
vessel,  and  allowing  it  to  remain  there  till  it  has  become 
sour  and  coagulated.  The  whey  is  then  drawn  oft'  and 
fresh  cream  added  ;  and  when  it  is  brought,  to  table  it  is 
eaten  with  sugar,  and  in  the  strawberry  season  witli  that 
fruit.  Devonshire  cream  is  simply  sour  curd,  or  sour  cream 
eaten  with  fresh  milk,  or  fresh  cream,  with  or  without  the 
addition  of  sugar.  Devonshire  scalded  or  clouted  cream 
is  milk  and  cream  heated  to  the  boiling  point,  and  suffered 
to  cool,  when  the  cream  will  be  found  to  have  separated 
from  the  milk,  and  when  skimmed  off  may  either  be  made 
into  butter  or  eaten  with  fresh  cream  and  sugar.  Common 
clotted  cream  is  simply  milk  and  cream  in  a  coagulated 
state,  and  sour.  When  the  clotted  cream  is  broken  and 
stirred,  and  the  whey  drawn  off,  the  mass  may  be  turned 
into  cheese  by  artificial  pressure,  by  which  the  whey  is 
separated  instantaneously  ;  or  by  suspending  it  in  a  porous 
bag,  in  a  cool  airy  situation,  when  it  will  be  separated  by 
degrees.     See  Hutter,  Cheese. 

CREDENTIALS,  LETTERS  OF.  The  instrument  in 
the  form  of  a  letter,  from  one  monarch  to  another,  which 
constitutes  the  evidence  of  the  title  of  a  minister  at  a 
foreign  court  to  the  power  which  he  exercises.  There 
are  two  sorts  of  credentials :  the  one  sealed,  drawn  up 
and  countersigned  by  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs;  the 
other  open,  signed  only  by  the  king.  Unless  the  minister 
be  mentioned  expressly  in  his  credentials  as  an  ambassa- 
dor, he  has  only  a  right  to  the  observances  due  to  foreign 
ministers  of  inferior  rank. 

CRE'DIT,  in  Political  Economy,  is  a  term  used  to  ex- 
press the  lending  of  wealth,  or  of  the  means  of  acquiring 
wealth,  by  one  individual  or  set  of  individuals  to  another. 
The  party  who  lends  is  said  to  give  credit,  and  the  party 
who  borrows  to  obtain  credit.  Hence  credit  may  be  de- 
fined to  be  the  acquisition  by  one  party  of  the  wealth  of 
another  in  loan,  according  to  conditions  voluntarily  agreed 
on  between  them. 

Very  exaggerated  notions  are  commonly  entertained  of 
the  influences  of  credit ;  but,  in  fact,  ail  operations  in 
which  credit  is  given  or  acquired  resolve  themselves  into 
a  new  distribution  of  wealth  already  in  existence.  The 
"  magical"  effect  that  is  every  now  and  then  ascribed  to 
credit  is  quite  imaginary.  A  party  who  purchases  goods 
payable  at.  some  future  date  obviously  acquires  the  com- 
mand of  so  much  of  the  capital  of  the  seller  of  the  goods 
as  their  value  amounts  to,  in  the  same  way  that  a  party 
who  discounts  a  bill  acquires  the  command  of  a  correspond- 
ing portion  of  the  capital  of  the  discounter.  Wealth  is  not 
created  by  the  issue  of  bills ;  and  all  that  their  negotiation 
does  is  to  transfer  already  existing  property  from  one  in- 
dividual or  party  to  another. 

In  the  great  majority  of  cases  loans  are  made  by  indi- 
viduals who  wish  to  retire  from  business,  or  who  have 
more  capital  than  they  can  advantageously  employ,  to 
individuals  entering  into  business,  or  who  wish  to  extend 
their  concerns  and  to  acquire  a  greater  command  of  ca- 
pital. The  probability  is,  that  capital  will  be  more  likely 
301 


CRESCENT. 

to  be  efficiently  employed  by  the  latter  than  by  the  former 
class  of  persons ;  and  the  advantage  of  credit,  in  a  na- 
tional point  of  view,  consists  in  that  circumstance  Loans 
made  to  prodigals  or  spendthrifts,  or  to  individuals  who 
expend  them  on  unprofitable  undertakings,  are,  in  so  far, 
publicly  injurious ;  but,  speaking  generally,  these  bear  but 
a  very  small  proportion  to  the  other  class  of  loans,  or  those 
made  to  individuals  by  whom  they  are  advantageously  ex- 
pended. 

Public  credit  is  the  phrase  used  to  express  the  trust  or 
confidence  placed  in  the  state  by  those  who  lend  money 
to  government. 

The  interest  or  premium  paid  by  the  borrowers  to  the 
lenders  depends  on  a  great  variety  of  circumstances, — 
partly  on  the  rate  of  profit  that  may  be  made  by  the  em- 
ployment of  capital  at  the  time,  partly  on  the  duration  of 
the  loan  and  the  security  for  its  repayment,  and  partly  on 
the  facilities  given  by  the  law  for  enforcing  payment.  The 
only  way,  indeed,  in  which  a  government  can  advantage- 
ously interfere  to  encourage  credit  is  by  simplifying  the 
administration  of  the  law,  and  by  giving  every  facility  for 
carrving  the  conditions  of  contracts  into  effect. 

CRE'DITOR.    See  Bankruptcy. 

CREED.  Any  brief  summary  of  Christian  belief;  but 
more  especially  either  of  the  three  confessions  commonly 
called  the  Apostles',  Nicene,  and  Athanasian.  The  term 
is  derived  from  the  word  credo,  /  believe ;  in  like  manner 
as  paternoster,  avemaria,  «fcc,  are  prayers  named  from 
the  first  word  of  these  formulas  in  the  Latin  tongue. 

CREEK  (Sax.  crecca,  said  to  be  derived  from  the  Lat. 
crepido),  is  a  shore  or  bank  on  which  the  water  beats,  run- 
ning in  a  small  channel  from  any  part  of  the  sea.  It  is  also 
applied  to  any  part  of  a  large  river  which  is  resorted  to  as 
a  harbour  or  landing  place  by  small  craft.  In  the  United 
States,  the  term  creek  is  used  as  synonymous  with  our 
English  words  brook  or  rivulet. 

CREEL.  A  kind  of  basket ;  such,  for  instance,  as  is 
used  bv  anglers. 

CRE'MOCA'RPIUM.  (Gr.  Knepao),  /  suspend,  and 
xapvos,  fruit.)  A  two  to  five-celled  inferior  fruit,  the  cells 
of  which  are  one-seeded,  indehiscent,  dry,  perfectly  close 
at  all  times,  and  when  ripe  hanging  separate  from  a  com- 
mon axi-s.  as  in  umbelliferous  plants. 

CREMO'NA.  A  general  designation  of  the  violins  made 
at  Cremona  in  Italy,  during  the  17th  and  18th  centuries, 
chiefly  by  the  family  Amati.  (-See  Violin.)  Cremona 
is  also  a  name  erroneously  given  to  a  stop  in  the  organ; 
being  nothing  more  than  a  corruption  of  krumhorn,  an 
ancient  wind  instrument,  which  it  was  originally  designed 
to  imitate. 

CREO'LE.  (In  Spanish,  Criollo.)  A  name  given  to  the 
descendants  of  whites  born  in  Mexico,  South  America,  and 
the  West  Indies ;  in  whom  the  European  blood  has  been 
unmixed  with  that  of  other  races.  The  various  jargons 
spoken  in  the  West  India  islands  by  slaves,  <fec.  are  called 
Croole  dialects. 

CKI/OSOTE,  or  KREASOTE.  A  colourless,  transpa- 
rent, oily  liquid,  separable  from  wood-tar :  it  appears  to  be 
the  principle  to  which  the  antiseptic  power  of  wood-tar, 
smoke,  and  crude  pyrolignous  acid  is  owing.  Hence  its 
name,  from  xpeas,  J/esh,  and  croj^a),  I  save. 

CRE'PITUS.  (L;it.)  The  crackling  noise  which  is 
produced  upon  pressing  cellular  membrane  when  it  con- 
tains air. 

CRESCE'NDO.  (It.)  In  Music,  a  direction  to  the  per- 
former to  increase  the  volume  of  sound  from  soft  to  loud  ; 
marked  thus  <. 

CRE'SCENT  (Lat.  cresco,  I  increase),  in  Heraldry,  is  a 
bearing  in  form  of  a  half  moon.  When  the  horns  are 
turned  towards  the  chief  or  upper  part  of  the  shield,  it 
is  called  crescent,  in  contradistinction  to  the  terms  in- 
crescent and  decrescent ;  in  the  former  of  which  the  horns 
are  turned  to  the  right,  and  in  the  latter  to  the  left  side 
of  the  shield.  The  crescent  is  frequently  used  to  distin- 
guish the  coat  armour  of  a  second  brother  or  junior  family 
from  that  of  the  principal  branch.  As  is  well  known,  the 
crescent,  or,  as  it  is  usually  designated,  the  crescent  mon- 
tant,  has  become  the  symbol  of  the  Turkish  empire, 
which  has  thence  been  frequently  styled  the  Empire  of 
the  Crescent.  This  symbol,  however,  did  not  originate 
with  the  Turks.  Long  before  their  conquest  of  Constan- 
tinople the  crescent  had  been  used  as  emblematic  of 
sovereignty,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  still  existing  medals 
struck  in  honour  of  Augustus,  Trajan,  and  others,  and  it 
formed  from  all  antiquity  the  symbol  of  Byzantium.  On 
the  overthrow  of  this  empire  by  Mohammed  II.,  the  Turks, 
regarding  the  crescent  which  every  where  met  their  eye 
as  a  good  omen,  adopted  it  as  their  chief  bearing;  and  it 
has  continued  ever  since  to  decorate  their  minarets,  their 
insignia,  their  dress,  and  in  short  every  thing  appertaining 
to  their  empire.  Crescent  has  also  been  applied  to  three 
orders  of  knighthood  :  the  first  of  which  was  instituted  by 
Charles  I.,  king  of  Naples  and  Sicily,  in  1268  ;  the  second 
by  Rene  of  Anjou,  in  1448 ;  and  the  third  by  the  sultan 


CREST. 

Selim  in  1801,  two  years  after  (he  battle  of  Aboukir.  The 
last-mentioned  order  is  still  in  existence,  and  is  remarka- 
ble lor  tlie  fact  that  none  but  Christians  are  eligible  for  ad- 
mission. 

CRE'ST.  (Lat.)  In  Heraldry,  the  ornament  affixed  to 
the  helmet,  being  a  personal  or  hereditary  device.  War- 
riors bore  insignia  peculiar  to  themselves  in  this  manner 
among  the  classical  ancients.  The  earliest  instance  of  the 
heraldic  crest  in  England  is  said  to  be  that  of  Edmund 
Crouchback,  Earl  of  Lancaster  (about  1280).  The  crest 
is,  in  modern  blazonry,  a  figure  placed  upon  a  wreath, 
coronet,  or  cap  of  maintenance,  which  surmounts  the  coat 
of  arms.  It  is  not  unfrequently  a  repetition  of  some  bear- 
ing in  the  shield  itself;  as,  the  crest  of  Castile  is  a  castle. 

CRETA'CEOUS.  (Lat.  creta,  chalk.)  Composed  of 
chalk.  In  Geology,  the  cretaceous  group  of  rocks  includes 
the  upper  strata  of  the  secondary  series,  immediately  below 
the  tertiary  deposits,  and  resting  upon  the  oolitic  group. 
(See  Fitton,  in  Geo!.  Trans.,  2d  Series,  vol.  iv.) 

CRETINS.  A  name  applied  in  the  Valais  and  else- 
where to  a  class  of  idiots,  who  are  also  generally  afflicted 
with  goitres,  which  see. 

CRIB.  Sometimes  applied  to  a  rack  for  hay  or  straw 
for  cattle,  and  sometimes  to  a  manger  for  corn  or  chaff ; 
also  to  a  small  enclosure  in  a  cow-house  or  shed  for  calves 
or  sheep. 

CRIB-BITING.  Biting  the  manger  or  crib ;  a  bad  habit 
among  horses,  brought  on  by  uneasiness  occasioned  by 
diseases  of  the  teeth,  or  by  roughness  in  the  person  who 
currycombs  them. 

CRIBBLE.  A  coarse  sieve,  or  screen,  for  sifting  sand, 
gravel,  or  corn  ;  the  term  is  also  applied  to  a  sort  of  coarse 
meal. 

CRI'COID.  (Gr.  xpinog,  a  ring,  and  £i<Jo?,  appearance.) 
Annularor  ring-shaped.  Acartilage  of  the  larynx  is  hence 
called  the  cricoid  cartilage. 

CRI'NO.  A  cuticular  disease,  supposed  to  arise  from 
the  insinuation  of  a  hair-worm  under  the  skin  of  infants. 

CRINOTDEANS,  Crinoidea.  (Gr.  npivov,  a  lily,  and 
tidoi,  appearance.)  A  name  given  by  Miller  to  an  extinct 
family  olEchinoderms,  having  a  radiated,  lily-shaped  disc, 
supported  on  a  jointed  stem.  When  this  stem  is  cylin- 
drical, the  species  are  termed  Encrinites ;  when  it  is  pen- 
tagonal, Pentacrinites.    See  those  words. 

CRI'SIS  (Gr.  xpiais,  a  decision),  may  be  defined,  in  its 
most  extended  signification,  as  a  decisive  point  in  any  im- 
portant affair  or  business ;  but  it  is  used  more  particularly 
in  a  political  sense,  to  denote  a  certain  conjuncture  of 
affairs  in  which,  from  what  cause  soever  it  may  have  ori- 
ginated, the  ordinary  operations  of  government  are  so  fet- 
tered or  deranged  a3  to  lead  to  some  important  change  in 
the  policy  or  institutions  of  a  country.  Like  many  ex- 
pressions of  similar  import,  the  phrase  "  political  crisis" 
admits  of  an  almost  endless  variety  of  shades  of  meaning, 
being  applicable  at  once  to  a  change  of  ministry,  the  aboli- 
tion of  a  constitution,  a  revolutionary*  insurrection,  and  the 
dethronement  of  a  sovereign.  Hence  this  expression 
will  be  better  interpreted  by  the  feelings,  predilections,  or 
prejudices  of  each  individual,  than  by  any  definition  of 
which  it  is  susceptible.  In  France,  a  "  crise  politique,"  as 
it  is  called,  is  synonymous  with  the  terms  coup  d'etat, 
emeute,  revolution,  insurrection,  <fec.  In  Medicine,  certain 
symptoms  which  announce  a  favourable  or  an  unfavoura- 
ble termination  of  a  disease  are  called  critical  symptoms, 
an  1  the  period  at  which  they  show  themselves  the  crisis 
of  the  disease.  In  the  progress  of  fevers  these  symptoms 
have  been  supposed  to  show  themselves  at  certain  de- 
finite periods,  which  therefore  have  been  called  critical 
days. 

CRITICISM  (Gr.  icpivo),  I  judge),  has  been  defined 
"the  art  of  judging  with  propriety  concerning  any  object, 
or  combination  of  objects."  In  a  somewhat  more  limited, 
but  still  extensive  meaning,  its  province  is  confined  to 
literature,  philology, and  the  fine  arts;  and  to  subjects  of 
antiquarian,  scientific,  or  historical  investigation.  In  this 
sense,  every  branch  of  literary  study,  as  well  as  each  of 
the  fine  arts,  has  its  proper  criticism  as  an  appendage  to  it. 
The  elements  of  criticism  depend  on  the  two  principlesof 
Beauty  and  Truth,  one  of  which  is  the  final  end  or  object 
of  study  in  every  one  of  its  pursuits :  Beauty,  in  letters 
and  the  arts  ;  Truth,  in  history  and  the  sciences.  The 
office  of  criticism,  therefore,  is,  first  to  lay  down  those 
forms  or  essential  ideas  which  answer  to  our  conception 
of  the  beautiful  or  the  true  in  each  branch  of  study  ;  and, 
next,  to  point  out  by  reference  to  those  ideas  the  excel- 
lences or  defects  of  individual  works,  as  they  approach  or 
diverge  from  the  requisite  standard  in  each  particular. 
Thus,  historical  criticism  teaches  us  to  distinguish  the  true 
from  the  false,  or  the  probable  from  the  improbable,  in 
historical  works  ;  scientific  criticism  has  the  same  object 
in  each  respective  line  of  science  ;  while  literary  criticism, 
in  a  general  sense,  has  for  its  principal  employment  the  in- 
vestigation of  the  merits  and  demerits  of  style  or  diction, 
according  to  the  received  standard  of  excellence  in  every 
302 


CROCODILES. 

language  ;  and,  in  poetry  and  the  arts,  criticism  develops 
the  principles  of  that  more  refined  and  exquisite  sense  of 
beauty  which  forms  the  ideal  model  of  perfection  in  each. 
Taste  is  the  critical  faculty  ;  that  perception  of  the  beauti- 
ful in  literature  and  the  arts,  for  the  acquisition  of  which, 
perhaps,  some  minds  have  superior  natural  powers  than 
others,  but  which  can  in  no  instance  be  fully  developed 
except  by  education  and  habit.  (See  ."Esthetics.)  Among 
the  classical  ancients,  the  criticism  of  Beauty  was  carried 
to  a  high  degree  of  perfection.  Less  encumbered  with  a 
multitude  of  facts  and  things  to  be  known  than  ourselves, 
their  minds  were  more  at  leisure,  and  more  sedulously 
exercised  in  reflecting  on  their  own  notions  and  percep- 
tions; hence  the  astonishing  progress  which  they  made  in 
the  fine  arts ;  and  hence,  in  literature,  they  valued  more 
the  beauty  of  the  vehicle  in  which  sentiments  were  con- 
veyed, and  the  moral  or  poetical  beauty  of  those  sentiments 
themselves,  than  the  objective  branches  of  study  which  it 
is  the  principal  purpose  of  literature,  in  our  days,  to  con- 
vey easily  and  precisely  to  the  mind.  And  as  the  criticism 
which  antiquity  has  left  us  consists  almost  wholly  of  such 
as  relates  to  literature  and  the  arts  (in  history  they  had,  as 
far  as  we  know,  few  critical  spirits,  in  the  sciences  almost 
none),  the  name  is  still  confined,  in  its  most  popular  signifi- 
cation, to  those  provinces  of  research.  The  criticism  of 
Truth  is  of  later  growth  ;  but  as  it  is  regulated  for  the  most 
part  by  similar  rules  and  principles,  and  as  minds  which 
possess  the  faculty  of  judgment  in  a  high  degree  in  the  one 
are  generally  capable,  if  exercised,  of  forming  right  appre- 
hensions in  the  other,  they  may  be  considered  as  nearly 
allied  in  the  more  essential  respects.  For  although  it  is 
true  that  in  scientific  investigation  great  knowledge  of  the 
individual  subject  is  required  to  constitute  a  critic,  and  in 
the  fine  arts  the  most  gifted  mind  will  require  much  edu- 
cation and  practice  to  judge  of  beauty  ;  yet  it  is  equally 
true  in  both  of  these  branches  of  study,  however  widely 
differing  from  each  other,  that  knowledge  alone  (except 
perhaps  in  purely  abstract  science,  in  respect  of  which  the 
name  of  criticism  seems  hardly  applicable)  will  not  make 
the  critic,  and  that  the  habit  of  discriminating  and  judging 
correctly  is  a  distinct  faculty  or  compound  of  faculties  in 
the  mind.  Among  a  host  of  works  which  maybe  consulted 
with  advantage  on  this  subject,  are  Blair's  Lectures  on 
Belles  Lettres';  Campbell  on  Rhetoric ;  Whately  on  Rhetoric ; 
Knight  and  Alison  on  7'uste  :  Laharpe,  Cours  de  la  Littera- 
lure ;  La  Crctelle,  Traite  de  la  Rhetorique ;  Horn  and 
MenzeVs  History  of  Polite  Literature  ;  and  Schlegel's  Mis- 
cellaneous Essays,  &:c.  See  Belles  Lettres  and  Rhe- 
toric. 

Criticism,  in  a  more  limited  sense,  is  a  branch  of  belles 
lettres.  Essays  written  for  the  purpose  of  commending 
or  discommending  works  in  literature  or  the  arts,  and 
pointing  out  their  various  merits  and  defects,  are  works  in 
the  critical  department.  Thus  the  term  "  periodical  criti- 
cism" is  used  to  express  the  body  of  writing  contained  in 
the  various  works  under  the  name  of  magazines,  review.-, 
&c,  which  are  periodically  published  in  most  literary 
countries. 

CRO'CKETS.  (Fr.  crochet,  a  hook.)  In  Gothic  Archi- 
tecture, ornaments  resembling  curved  and  bent  foliage 
running  up  on  the  edge  of  a  gable  or  pinnacle.  They  are 
of  two  varieties  :  the  earliest  are  formed  by  a  simple  curve 
turning  downwards,  as  in  the  gables  and  spires  of  Lincoln 
cathedral;  the  later  have  the  point  of  the  leaf  returned 
and  pointing  upwards.  Sometimes  animals  are  substituted 
in  the  place  of  leaves. 

CRO'CODILES.  (Gr.  kpokoSii'Xos.)  A  name  first  ap- 
plied by  Herodotus  to  the  crocodile  of  Egypt,  because  that 
animal  resembled  a  small  lizard  of  the  same  name  (Stellio 
of  the  moderns),  which  is  now  known  in  Greece  under 
the  name  of  Koslordylus.  The  Egyptian  and  other  species 
of  crocodile  were  confounded  by  Linnm'us  under  the  name 
of  Lacerta  crocoddus  ;  but  the  crocodiles  are  distinguished 
from  all  other  Saurian  reptiles,  or  Locertm  of  Linnajus, 
by  the  following  characters: — They  have  a  long  and  pow- 
erful tail,  which  is  flattened  in  the  vertical  direction,  to 
serve  as  the  principal  means  of  propelling  the  body  through 
water  with  the  swiftness  required  in  the  pursuit  of  fish, 
which  form  the  principal  prey  of  the  crocolile.  The  ex- 
tremities are  short,  and  comparatively  of  little  use  in 
aquatic  progression,  except  in  guiding  and  changing  the 
direction  of  the  motion,  for  which  purpose  they  are  always 
webbed  or  half-webbed.  The  fleshy  tongue  is  attached 
by  its  entire  marginal  circumference,  as  in  most  fishes,  to 
the  inner  side  of  the  lower  jaw,  and  is  not  extensible,  as  is 
the  case  in  all  true  lizards.  The  teeth  are  simple,  coni- 
cal, sharp-pointed,  large,  lodsed  in  distinct  sockets,  and 
arranged  in  a  single  row  ;  which  structure  and  disposition 
are  in  relation  with  the  carnivorous  habits  of  the  crocodile. 
Lastly,  the  intromittent  organ  of  the  male  is  single. 

To  these  essential  differences  between  the  crocodiles 
and  lizards  may  be  added  the  following  characters,  which 
are  common  to  all  the  crocodiles : — 
1.  The  fore-feet  have  five  toes  ;  the  hind-feet  four  toes- 


CROFT. 

2.  Three  toes  only  on  each  foot  are  armed  with  claws  ; 
so  that  there  are  two  toes  in  front  and  one  behind  which 
have  no  claws. 

3.  The  whole  of  the  tail  and  the  upper  and  under  parts 
of  the  body  are  covered  with  square  scuta?  or  plate-scales  ; 
and  the  greater  number  of  those  on  the  back  are  traversed 
longitudinally  by  a  more  or  less  prominent  lidge. 

4.  The  sides  of  the  body  are  covered  with  small  round 
scales. 

5.  The  ridges  on  the  scales  of  the  tail  form  at  its  base 
two  prominent  lateral  series,  or  dentated  keel-like  crests, 
which  converge  and  blend  into  one  at  the  posterior  part 
of  the  tail. 

6.  The  tympanum  or  drum  of  the  ear  is  protected  by 
two  moveable  flaps. 

7.  The  eyes  are  provided  with  three  eyelids. 

8.  Two  little  pouches  containing  a  substance  of  a  musky 
odour.  Their  anatomy  also  affords  some  characters  which 
are  cummon  to  all  the  species,  and  very  well  distinguish 
their  skeleton  from  that  of  other  Saurians.  The  ventricles 
of  the  heart  do  not  intercommunicate.  The  vertebra;  in 
the  cervical  region  support  a  series  of  spurious  ribs,  which 
are  directed  backwards,  and  the  extremities  of  each  over- 
lapping the  next  in  succession  prevent  the  animal  from 
turning  the  head  to  the  side.  This  structure,  it  will  be 
seen,  is  in  admirable  accordance  with  the  aquatic  habits  of 
these  large  piscivorous  reptiles  ;  since,  in  order  to  displace 
(he  fluid  medium  through  which  they  move,  it  is  essential 
that  the  head  should  be  firmly  locked  to  the  trunk.  It  is 
for  this  reason  that  the  vertebra;  immediately  behind  the 
head  in  fishes  bear  ribs;  and  the  cervical  vertebra;  of  the 
whale,  although  they  accord  in  their  number  and  in  the 
absence  of  ribs  with  those  of  other  mammalia,  are  modi- 
fied so  as  to  answer  the  same  end  as  the  eosto-cervical 
vertebra?  of  crocodiles  and  fishes,  being  compressed  from 
before  backwards,  and  anchylused  sometimes  into  a  single 
piece. 

CROFT.  A  small  field  adjoining  the  dwelling  house  and 
kitchen  garden.  The  term  is  also  sometimes  applied  to 
common  field  lands. 

CRO'MLECII,  or  CROMLEII.  In  British  Antiquities, 
large  Hat  stones  laid  across  others  in  an  upright  position; 
very  commonly  found  in  parts  of  Wales,  in  Devonshire 
and  Cornwall,  and  other  exposed  districts  of  England,  as 
well  as  in  some  continental  countries.  Cromlechs  are 
generally  supposed  by  antiquaries  to  have  been  constructed 
to  serve  as  altars.  According  to  some  (see  Fosbrooke's 
Encyclopcudia  of  Antiquities,  508.)  there  is  a  difference  be- 
tween the  cromlechs  of  the  Britons  and  those  of  nations 
of  Germanic  descent ;  the  former  being  inclined  stones, 
perhaps  for  the  purpose  of  allowing  the  blood  shed  in  sa- 
crifice to  run  otT;  the  latter  thick  round  stones,  standing 
on  small  hillocks  and  covering  caves. 

CROP  OUT.  Aminingand  ecological  term,  expressing 
the  rising  up  or  exposure  at  the  surface  of  a  stratum  or 
series  of  strata. 

CROPS,  ROTATION  OF.    See  Agriculture. 

CRO'SIER.  The  staff*  of  an  archbishop,  surmounted 
by  a  cross,  and  thereby  distinguished  from  the  pastoral 
staff  or  crook  of  a  bishop.  This  staff,  according  to  Poly- 
dore  Virgil,  was  given  to  bishops  wherewith  to  chastise  the 
vices  of  the  people  ;  and  was  called  baculus  pastoralis,  in 
respect  of  their  pastoral  charge  and  superintendence  over 
their  flock,  as  well  as  from  its  resemblance  to  the  shep- 
herd's crook.  Many  authors  contend  that  the  crosier  is  de- 
rived from  the  lituus  or  augural  staff  of  the  Romans. 

CROSS.  (Lat.  crux.)  A  gibbet  made  of  two  pieces  of 
wood  laid  upon  each  other  at  any  angle.  Originally,  it  was 
nothing  more  than  a  tree  ;  but  it  afterwards  assumed  a 
variety  of  forms,  of  which  the  following  are  the  most  usual 
examples,  X  T  +•  The  cross  was  used  as  a  very  general 
instrument  of  punishment  by  almost  all  the  nations  of 
antiquity,  from  the  earliest  period  of  their  history.  Among 
the  Syrians,  Jews,  Egyptians,  Persians,  and  especially  the 
Carthaginians,  it  appears  to  have  been  the  usual  military 
punishment  (Fa'.  Max.  ii.  7;  Herod,  iii.  125—159.);  and 
that  it  was  not  unknown  to  the  Greeks,  the  crucifixion  of 
200)  Tyrians  by  Alexander  after  his  capture  of  their  city 
abundantly  testifies  (Quin.  Cur.  44.;  Just.  IS.  3.)  But  in 
no  part  of  the  ancient  world  was  this  punishment  so  gene- 
rally resorted  to  as  in  the  Roman  empire.  Under  the 
early  monarchical  government  of  Rome,  it  extended  in- 
discriminately to  every  rank  (Liv.  i.  26.);  but  latterly  it 
came  to  be  regarded  as  the  most  infamous  of  deaths,  and, 
save  in  cases  of  sedition,  was  inflicted  only  on  slaves  or 
the  vilest  malefactors.  The  disgust  and  horror  in  which 
this  punishment  was  held  by  the  Romans  is  evident  from 
the  expressive  epithets  applied  to  it  by  Cicero,  "  crudelis- 
simumetteterrimum"(?no.s£/"ou'a7ia"6!T**a/),a3  weliasfrom 
the  phrases  used  synonymously  with  the  instrument  of 
punishment  itself;  such  as  "arbor  infelix,"  "infame  lig- 
num," &c.  From  the  multiplicity  of  conflicting  details 
respecting  the  punishment  of  the  cross,  it  is  clear  that 
there  was  but  little  uniformity  observed  in  carrying  it  into 
303 


CROSSES,  STONE. 

effect.  By  the  Roman  law  the  culprit,  or,  as  he  was 
called,  the  cruciarius,  was  scourged  previously  to  the  cru- 
cifixion, either  in  the  prajtorium  or  on  the  way  to  the  place 
of  execution.  On  his  arrival  there  he  was  stripped  of  his 
garments,  and  then  either  nailed  by  the  hands  and  feet  to 
the  cross,  or,  as  sometimes  happened,  only  fastened  to  it 
by  ropes.  In  order  to  hasten  death,  it  was  the  practice  to 
break  the  legs  or  to  pierce  the  body  of  the  sufferer  with  a 
spear  or  other  sharp  instrument;  but  this  was  not  always 
done  ;  and  instances  have  occurred  of  persons,  who,  after 
being  suspended  for  some  considerable  time  on  the  cross, 
were  taken  down  and  survived.  By  the  Jewish  law,  it  was 
ordained,  that  the  body  of  the  culprit  should  be  removed 
from  the  cross  on  the  day  of  his  execution  ;  but  the 
Romans  frequently  allowed  it  to  hang  till  it  dropped  piece- 
meal to  the  ground  and  nothing  remained.  "  Suffixorum 
corpora  crucibus,-'  s;iys  Seneca,  "  in  suam  sepulturam  de- 
fluunt."  In  general,  the  cross  was  erected  near  some 
great  road  or  highway,  in  order  to  indicate  more  distinctly 
the  ignominy  of  the  culprit  and  the  severity  of  his  death. 

After  Jesus  Christ  had,  by  an  unjust  sentence,  suffered 
on  the  cross,  and  by  his  death  made  atonement  for  the 
transgressions  of  mankind,  the  cross,  from  being  an  object 
of  horror,  became,  as  it  were,  the  symbol  of  the  Christian 
world,  and  in  the  end  came  to  be  regarded  even  with  su- 
perstitious veneration.  Constantine,  from  respect  for 
these  feelings,  abolished  the  punishment  of  crucifixion 
throughout  the  Roman  world. 

The  Apostles  make  use  of  the  term  cross  as  expressive 
of  the  sufferings  to  which  the  faithful  must  submit  in  at- 
\t  station  of  their  belief,  which  they  liken  figuratively  to 
those  of  our  Saviour  in  his  death.  Tertullian  says  that  the 
early  Christians  were  accustomed  on  every  occasion  of 
daily  life,  frontem  cruris  signaculo  terere,  to  make  the  sign 
trith  the  fingers  tipon  the  forehead.  This  extravagant  pro- 
fuseness  in  the  use  of  a  symbol  naturally  led  to  supersti- 
tion ;  and  the  cross  appears  to  have  become  the  object  of 
actual  adoration  as  early  as  the  4th  century,  when  that  prac- 
tice  is  made  a  reproach  against  the  Christians  by  Julian. 
The  allegation  of  the  later  Romanists,  that  it  is  not  the 
wood  of  the  cross,  but  Christ  figuratively  present,  that  is 
worshipped  by  them,  appears  to  have  been  put  forward  oc- 
casionally at  this  lime,  but  sometimes  not  without  reproof 
from  the  ecclesiastical  authorities.  In  the  Romish  church 
there  are  certain  festivals  observed  to  this  day  in  memory 
of  circumstances  connected  with  the  cross  ;  as  the  Inven- 
tion or  Discovery  and  the  Exaltation  of  the  Cross  :  the 
former  commemorates  the  supposed  discovery  of  the  true 
cross  by  the  Empress  Helena,  the  latter  its  restoration  to 
Calvary  by  Heraclius. 

Cross.  In  Heraldry,  an  ordinary,  formed  by  lines  drawn 
palewise,  and  fesswise,  inclosing  (if  bounded  by  the  es- 
cutcheon) one  fifth  of  the  shield,  or  one  third  if  charged. 
A  cross  gules  is  termed  the  cross  of  St.  George.  A  plain 
cross  is  one  the  extremities  of  which  do  not  reach  to  the 
circumference  of  the  escutcheon,  but  are  "couped,"  or  cut 
off  in  a  straight  line.  There  are  many  other  kinds  of 
crosses  not  reaching  the  circumference  of  the  escutcheon 
known  in  heraldry  ;  the  following  are  only  a  few,  most 
commonly  used  in  bearings : — A  cross crosslet  is  one  crossed 
on  eacli  arm.  Such  a  cross  between  four  plain  crosses  is 
termed  a  Jerusalem  cross.  A  cross  fiory  has  three  points 
at  each  end.  A  Maltese  cross  has  arms  increasing  in 
breadth  towards  the  end,  with  double  points.  A  cross  fitchy 
has  the  lower  limb  pointed,  as  if  to  fix  in  the  ground.  A 
patriarchal  cross,  the  insignia  of  patriarchs  or  archbishops, 
is  plain,  having  two  bars,  the  upper  smaller  than  the  lower. 
A  cross  moline  terminates  in  representations  of  the  ends  of 
the  fer-de-moulin,  or  milrind.  It  is  the  difference  of  the 
eighth  son  of  a  family. 

Cross.  An  instrument  formerly  used  in  surveying  for 
laying  out  perpendicular  lines,  but  now  seldom  employed. 
It  consists  of  a  brass  cross  or  circle,  divided  into  four 
equal  parts  by  two  diameters  at  right  angles  to  each  other. 
At  each  extremity  of  these  diameters  perpendicular  sights 
are  fixed.  The  instrument  is  mounted  on  a  staff  to  fix  it 
in  the  ground,  and  its  use  is  to  find  the  point  in  a  given  line 
or  direction  through  which  a  straight  line  drawn  to  an  object 
at  some  distance  will  be  perpendicular  to  the  former  line. 

CRO'SS-BOW.  A  weapon  used  for  shooting  With,  before 
the  invention  of  fire-arms.  All  weapons  having  the  bow 
attached  to  a  stock  were  called  cross-bows  ;  and  some  of 
the  larger  sort  were  furnished  with  instruments  for  bend- 
ing the  bow. 

CRO'SS-BREED.  The  offspring  of  parents  of  two  dif- 
fGrent  breeds. 

CRO'SSES,  STONE,  in  Architectural  Antiquities,  are 
of  various  descriptions,  according  to  the  occasion  or  pur- 
pose of  their  erection.  They  are  6aid  to  have  originated 
in  the  practice  of  marking  the  Druid  stones  with  a  cross, 
at  the  period  of  the  conversion  of  the  Celtic  tribes  to 
Christianity.  Preaching  crosses  are  generally  quadrangular 
or  hexagonal,  open  on  one  or  both  sides,  and  raised  on 
steps.    They  were  used  for  the  delivery  of  sermons  in  the 


CROSSETTES. 

open  air;  such  was  the  famous  Paul's  Cross  in  London. 
Market  crosses  are  well  known.  Weeping  crosses  were  so 
called  because  penances  were  finished  before  them. 
Crosses  of  memorial  were  raised  on  various  occasions ; 
sometimes  where  the  bier  of  an  eminent  person  stopped 
on  its  way  to  burial,  in  attestation  of  some  miracle  per- 
formed on  the  spot :  such  are  the  well-known  crosses  of 
Queen  Philippa.  Crosses  served  also  as  land-marks  ;  they 
are  especially  set  up  for  this  purpose  on  the  lands  of  the 
Templars  and  Hospitallers. 

CROSSE'TTES.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture,  the  returns 
on  the  corners  of  door  cases  or 
window  frames;  called  also  ears, 
elbows,  ancones,  prothyrides.  In 
architectural  construction,  they  are 
the  small  projecting  pieces  in  arch 
stones  which  hang  upon  the  adjacent  stones — a,  a,  a,  a. 

CRO'SS-FURROW  A  furrow  or  open  trench  cut  across 
other  furrows  to  intercept  the  water  which  runs  along 
them,  in  order  to  convey  it  to  the  margin  of  the  field  where 
it  may  find  its  way  to  an  open  ditch  or  some  other  general 
drain. 

CRO'SS-STONE.  So  called  from  the  intersection  of  its 
crystals.  It  is  a  species  of  harmotome,  found  in  great 
beauty  at  Andreasberg.  (See  Andreasbergolite.)  It  is 
composed  of  49  per  cent,  of  silica,  16  alumina,  18  baryta, 
and  15  water. 

CRO'TALUM.  (Gr.  KporaXov.)  An  ancient  kind  of 
Castanet,  used  by  the  Corybantes  or  priests  of  Cybele. 
This  instrument  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  modern 
crotalo,  a  musical  instrument  used  chiefly  by  the  Turks, 
and  corresponding  exactly  with  the  ancient  cymbalum. 

CRO'TALUS.  (Lat.  crotalum,  a  Castanet  or  rattle.)  A 
genus  of  poisonous  serpents,  including  those  which  are 
furnished  with  a  rattle  at  the  extremity  of  the  tail. 

CRO'TCHET.  (Fr.  crochet.)  In  Music,  one  of  the 
notes  or  characters  of  time,  equal  to  half  a  minim. 

CRO'TCHETS,  in  Grammar,  more  frequently  called 
brackets,  are  certain  marks  or  hooks  in  which  words  or 
phrases  are  included,  thus  [  ],  by  way  of  distinguishing 
them  from  or  of  illustrating  the  context. 

CRO'TON  OIL.  The  expressed  oil  of  the  seeds  of  the 
Croton  tiglium  ;  formerly  called  Gruna  tiglia,  and  Molucca 
grains.  The  tree  is  a  native  of  Ceylon,  and  of  Malabar 
and  the  Molucca  Islands.  Its  seeds  are  very  purgative  ; 
and  their  expressed  oil  so  drastic,  that  a  single  drop  will 
often  prove  violently  operative,  completely  emptying  the 
bowels  and  exciting  a  copious  watery  secretion  from  them. 
The  most  active  form  for  its  exhibition  is  made  into  a  pill 
with  bread  crumb ;  it  may  also  be  rubbed  with  a  little  mu- 
cilage of  gum  arabic,  and  given  in  a  liquid  form  ;  but  it  al- 
ways requires  much  caution  in  its  administration. 

CROUP.  An  inflammation  of  the  larynx  and  trachea,  ac- 
companied by  difficulty  of  breathing  and  cough,  and  by  a 
peculiar  shrillness  of  voice  and  wheezing ;  there  is  also 
generally  more  or  less  expectoration  of  purulent  and  filmy 
matter,  which  is  thrown  out  upon  the  affected  part  and  con- 
tinually threatens  suffocation.  This  disease  is  most  com- 
mon in  infants,  and  in  children  from  three  to  nine  years 
old ;  it  is  of  rare  occurrence,  in  its  acute  form  at  least,  after 
twelve  years  of  age.  In  the  successful  treatment  of  this 
distressing  and  dangerous  disease,  every  thing  depends 
upon  promptitude  in  the  application  of  remedies  calculated 
to  subdue  the  local  inflammatory  action.  This  is  to  be  done 
either  by  leeches  to  the  region  of  the  trachea,  by  cupping, 
or  by  bleeding  in  the  jugular  vein  ;  by  the  cautious  applica- 
tion of  external  irritants  of  rapid  action,  such  as  a  piece  of 
lint  dipped  in  strong  acetic  acid,  which,  however  painful, 
is  sometimes  of  service  ;  by  blisters,  and  by  the  exhibition 
of  large  doses  of  calomel :  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion 
as  to  the  employment  of  emetics.  The  inhalation  of  steam 
is  useful  where  it  can  be  resorted  to,  but  in  young  children 
it  is  impracticable.  In  spasmodic  croup  the  wheezing  and 
sense  of  suffocation  appear  to  depend  upon  spasmodic  ac- 
tion of  the  larynx  or  epiglottis  :  uke  the  former  it  attacks 
infants  and  children,  but  comes  on  and  goes  off  very  sud- 
denly, returning  at  intervals,  during  which  the  patient  is 
comparatively  easy.  In  weakly  and  irritable  children  it 
sometimes  appears  a  consequence  of  teething.  An  emetic, 
calomel  purges,  warm  bath,  diaphoretics,  and  a  blister,  are 
the  leading  remedies  ;  bleeding  should  be  avoided.  There 
is  a  kind  of  croup  which  sometimes  attacks  children  of 
weakly  constitutions,  and  which  appears  symptomatic  of 
irritation  in  the  stomach  and  bowels,  for  it  is  relieved  by 
purging,  and  disappears  as  the  constitution  improves. 
Another  form  of  this  disease  is  called  chronic  croup.  It  is 
attended  by  cough  and  the  expectoration  of  tough  mucus, 
sometimes  apparently  membranous  or  tubular,  occasion- 
ing difficulty  of  breathing  and  suffocation.  This  disordered 
state  of  the  trachea  and  bronchial  membranes  may  occur 
at  all  periods  of  life :  it  is  relieved,  and  often  cured,  by 
using  the  inhaler  with  warm  water,  by  expectorants  with 
small  doses  of  sedatives  and  mercurials,  and  by  occasional 
purging. 

304 


CRUDE. 

CROWN.  (Lat.  corona.)  In  Heraldry.  Among  the 
ancients,  and  especially  in  the  Roman  republic,  crowns 
were  presented  to  citizens  as  marks  of  distinction  for  val- 
iant or  otherwise  meritorious  exploits.  From  this  usage 
the  crown  has  been  adopted  as  a  bearing  by  modern 
heralds.  Nine  species  of  the  crown  are  enumerated  in 
heraldry  ;  some  of  which,  however,  have  not  been  intro- 
duced into  modern  arms,  and  are  only  known  from  the 
description  left  of  them  by  the  ancients  : — 1.  The  Eastern 
Crown,  imitated  from  that  which  appears  on  coins  of 
Greek  oriental  sovereigns,  and  borne  by  [hose  who  have 
distinguished  themselves  in  the  East :  the  East  India 
Company's  arms  have  this  Crown.  2.  The  Triumphal 
Crown,  which,  after  being  borne  by  Julius  Cssar,  became 
the  Crown  Imperial.  3.  The  plain  Circlet  or  Diadem. 
4.  The  Obsidional  Crown,  given  among  the  Romans  to 
those  who  had  performed  exploits  in  the  defence  of  forti- 
fied places.  5.  The  Civic  Crown,  for  saving  the  life  of  a 
citizen.  6.  The  Crown  Vallary,  to  soldiers  who  had  first 
entered  the  enemy's  trench.  7.  The  Mural  Crown,  to  sol- 
diers distinguished  in  besieging  armies.  8.  The  Naval 
Crown,  common  in  English  coats  of  augmentation.  9.  The 
Crown  Celestial. 

Crown.  In  Architecture,  the  uppermost  member  of  the 
cornice  ;  called  also  corona  and  larmier. 

CROWN  or  DEMESNE  LANDS  (Terra  Dominicales). 
The  lands,  estates,  or  other  real  property  belonging  to  the 
crown  or  sovereign.  These  were  anciently  very  extensive 
in  this  and  most  other  European  countries.  The  rents  and 
other  payments  arising  from  them  formed  during  the  mid- 
dle ages  an  important  part  of  the  revenue  of  our  English 
kings  ;  and  they  still  form  an  important  part  of  the  revenue 
of  several  Continental  sovereigns.  These  lands  have  been 
acquired  by  various  means,  such  as  purchase,  succession, 
forfeiture,  &c.  Having  been  regarded  for  a  lengthened  pe- 
riod as  the  private  property  of  the  crown,  and  as  being  con- 
sequently at  the  free  disposal  of  the  sovereign  for  the  time 
being,  but  little  providence  has  been  displayed  in  their  ma- 
nagement. A  grant  of  crown  lands  was,  indeed,  the  ordi- 
nary method  in  which  our  sovereigns  used  formerly  to  gra- 
tify their  favourites ;  and,  in  consequence  of  the  magnitude 
and  improvidence  of  such  grants,  the  crown  estates  in  this 
country  have  been  reduced  within  very  narrow  limits.  Par- 
liament frequently  interposed  to  check  this  profusion,  but 
without  effect  till  after  the  Revolution,  when  the  lavish 
grants  of  crown  lands,  made  by  William  III.  to  the  Ben- 
tinckand  other  families,  occasioned  so  much  dissatisfaction 
that  the  practice  was  put  an  end  to.  This  was  done  by  the 
act  1  Ann,  st.  1.  cap.  7.,  which  declared  that  all  future  grants 
or  leases  of  lands  from  the  crown  for  a  longer  term  than 
31  years,  and  of  houses  for  a  longer  term  than  50  years, 
should  be  void. 

The  crown  estates,  forests,  manorial  rights,  &c.  not 
granted  away,  have  now  become,  in  consequence  of  ar- 
rangements to  that  effect,  the  property  of  the  public  ;  and 
are  administered  by  a  department  specially  appropriated 
to  that  purpose,  called  the  "  Woods  and  Forests."  Their 
total  nett  revenue  in  1838  amounted  to  383,642/.,  collected 
at  an  expense  of  10J  per  cent.  Of  late  years  a  consider- 
able extent  of  crown  lands,  consisting  of  old  forests  and 
chaces,  have  been  enclosed  and  planted  with  forest  trees, 
with  a  view  to  the  supply  of  timber  for  (he  navy. 

Certain  lands,  manorial  rights,  &c,  with  the  sum  paid  as 
commutation  for  the  loss  of  the  tin  duties,  are  the  private 
property  of  the  prince  of  Wales,  as  duke  of  Cornwall ;  and 
when  there  is  no  prince  of  Wales,  of  the  crown. 

CRU'CIBLE.  (Lat.  crucio,  /  torment ;  because,  in  the 
language  of  old  chemistry,  the  metals  were  tortured  by  fire 
to  yield  up  their  various  virtues.)  A  vessel,  generally 
made  of  very  refractory  earthenware,  in  constant  use  in 
the  chemical  laboratory  for  performing  fusions  of  metals 
and  other  substances. 

CRUCI'FER^E.  (Lat.  crux,  a  cross ;  the  flowers  being 
in  the  form  of  a  Maltese  cross.)  A  natural  order  of  Exo- 
gens,  inhabiting  most  temperate  countries.  They  are  allied 
to  Capparidacem,  but  differ  in  their  tetradynamous  stamens  ; 
and  also  to  Paparcracew  and  Finnariacea,  but  are  distin- 
guished by  their  seeds,  and  having  no  albumen.  They  are 
characterized  essentially  by  their  deviation  from  the  ordi- 
nary symmetry  observable  in  the  relative  arrangement  of 
the  parts  of  fructification  of  other  plants.  Linnaeus  divid- 
ed this  order  into  Si/iquoste  and  Siliculosa',  from  the  forms 
of  their  fruits ;  butmore  recently  divisions  have  been  found- 
ed upon  the  nature  of  the  plicature  of  the  cotyledons,  and 
the  position  of  the  radicle  with  respect  to  them.  They 
possess  universally  antiscorbutic  and  stimulant  properties, 
combined  with  an  acrid  flavour;  and  their  seeds  uniformly 
abound  in  a  fixed  oil, — properties  of  which  cress,  mustard, 
and  rape  may  be  taken  as  representatives. 

CRU'CIFIX.  The  figure  of  Christ  upon  a  cross  ;  also  a 
cross  with  the  figure  of  Christ  upon  it. 

CRUDE.  (Lat.  crudus.)  In  Painting,  a  term  applied  to 
a  picture  when  the  colours  are  rudely  laid  on,  and  do  not 
blend  or  harmonize. 


CRUISE. 

CRUISE.  (Germ,  kreutzen,  to  cross.)  A  voyage  within 
certain  limits,  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  with  enemy's 
ships,  pirates,  &c,  or  for  mere  exercise. 

CKU'OR.  (Lat.  gore.)  The  red  coagulum  of  the  blood, 
which  appears  as  the  blood  cools. 

CRUPPER.  A  roll  of  leather  put  under  a  horse's  tail, 
and  connected  with  the  saddle  by  a  strap  and  buckle,  for 
the  purpose  of  preventing  the  saddle  from  being  cast  for- 
ward on  the  horse's  neck  by  the  action  of  riding. 

CRU'RAL.  (Lat.  crus,  the  teg.)  Relating  to  the  leg,  or 
shaped  like  a  leg  or  root. 

CRUSA'DES.  (Lat.  crux,  cross.)  In  the  European  His- 
tory of  the  Middle  Ages,  wars  undertaken  by  confedera- 
cies of  chiefs  and  soldiers  with  a  religious  object.  Those 
which  were  engaged  in  by  great  part  of  the  nations  of  Eu- 
rope for  the  recovery  of  Palestine  from  the  infidels  are 
more  frequently  denoted  by  this  peculiar  name.  The  term 
Crusade  is  derived  from  the  sacred  symbol  of  the  cross, 
which  was  borne  by  the  warriors  engaged  in  it  over  their 
arms :  the  colour  of  the  cross  often  served  to  designate  the 
nation  of  the  soldier  ;  as,  the  white  cross  on  a  red  ground, 
France;  the  red  cross  on  a  white  ground,  England.  The 
principal  crusades  for  the  conquest  of  Palestine  were — 1. 
The  first,  a.  d.  1096,  excited  by  the  preaching  of  Peter  the 
Hermit  and  the  encouragement  of  Pope  Urban  II.,  in  which 
Godfrey  of  Boulogne  headed  the  Christians,  who  made 
themselves  masters  of  Jerusalem  and  great  part  of  Pales- 
tine. 2.  The  second,  a.  d.  1142,  in  which  Conrad  III.  of 
Germany  and  Louis  VII.  of  France  led  armies  to  complete 
the  conquest  of  Palestine,  but  without  success.  3.  The 
third,  A.  d.  1139,  was  occasioned  by  the  capture  of  Jerusa- 
lem by  sultan  Saladin  ;  Frederic  II.  of  Germany,  Philip 
Augustas  of  France,  and  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion  of  Eng- 
land, were  the  chief  among  the  confederate  monarchs  :  the 
capture  of  Acre  was  almost  the  only  fruit  of  this  great  ex- 
pedition. 4.  The  fourth  crusade  was  conducted  by  the 
King  of  Hungary,  Andrew  II.,  in  1217.  5.  The  fifth  was 
conducted  by  Frederic  II.  of  Germany  (Barbarossa),  who 
recovered  Jerusalem,  but  for  a  short  time.  6.  The  sixth, 
A.  d.  124S,  by  Saint  Louis,  king  of  France,  against  Egypt, 
but  without  success.  Among  other  wars  which  have  been 
at  various  times  denoted  by  the  name  of  Crusades,  that 
against  Raymond  count  of  Toulouse  and  his  heretical  vas- 
sals the  Albigeois,  of  which  the  first  leader  was  the  famous 
Simon  de  Montfort,  is  the  most  memorable.  (See  At.bi- 
genses.)  Whether  the  Crusades  exercised  a  beneficial 
influence  on  the  state  and  condition  of  society,  is  a  ques- 
tion which  lias  long  engaged  the  attention  of  the  learned  ; 
and,  as  is  the  case  with  every  subject  of  a  purely  specula- 
tive character,  different  opinions  have  been  entertained  re- 
specting it  at  different  times.  In  the  seventeenth  century, 
when  the  question  came  first  to  be  agitated,  these  extraor- 
dinary expeditions  were  generally  regarded  as  having  been 
in  the  highest  degree  favourable  to  the  intellectual,  com- 
mercial and  political  interests  of  the  world  ;  but  in  the  suc- 
ceeding century  there  arose  a  host  of  inquirers,  at  the  head 
of  whom  was  Voltaire,  less  dazzled  by  the  brilliancy  which 
romance  had  thrown  around  these  enterprises  than  the  phi- 
losophers of  the  preceding  age,  by  whom  they  were  repre- 
sented as  mere  ebullitions  of  superstition,  fanaticism,  and 
barbarism,  which,  how  strongly  soever  they  agitated  the  sur- 
face of  society,  in  no  degree  contributed  to  its  permanent  im- 
provement. And  it  was  not  until  Robertson  published  the  in- 
troduction to  his  Charles  V.,  in  which  he  expressed  his  con- 
viction that  the  Crusades  had  exercised  a  most  favourable 
influence  over  the  progress  of  freedom  and  the  advance- 
ment of  the  human  mind,  that  a  ch3ck  was  given  to  these 
unfavourable  views,  and  that  the  interest  and  importance 
formerly  attached  to  the  Crusades  began  to  be  revived. 
With  the  view  of  stimulating  inquiry  into  this  grand  his- 
torical question,  the  French  Institute,  in  the  year  180G,  with 
its  usual  enlightened  spirit,  proposed  it  to  the  learned  of  all 
countries  as  a  subject  of  general  competition  ;  and  the 
prize  was  awarded  jointly  to  the  essays  of  Heeren  and 
Choiseul  d'Aillecourt,  which  have  since  been  published. 
These  essays  form  the  groundwork  of  the  more  elaborate 
researches  of  Michaud,  and  of  the  numerous  other  treatises 
upon  this  subject  with  which  the  literature  of  France, 
England,  and  Germany  has  since  been  inundated  ;  and 
along  with  all  the  most  recent  discussions  upon  this  ques- 
tion, which  it  has  been  our  fortune  to  see,  manifest  a  sin- 
gular coincidence  of  opinion  respecting  the  tendency  of 
the  Crusades,  which,  in  spite  of  some  strong  drawbacks 
and  disadvantages,  they  consider  as  having  materially  con- 
tributed to  the  revival  of  European  learning  and  civiliza- 
tion. There  are  few  disputed  subjects  of  which  it  is  more 
difficult  to  form  a  correct  estimate  than  the  influence  of 
the  Crusades,  whether  we  regard  the  distant  period  when 
they  took  place,  the  insufficiency  of  contemporary  history, 
the  different  phenomena  and  consequences  by  which  they 
were  accompanied  in  different  countries,  or,  above  all,  the 
difficulty  of  assigning  to  these  enterprises  their  own  pecu- 
liar effects,  amid  the  multiplicity  of  other  causes,  more 
powerful,  perhaps,  though  less  apparent,  which  were  then 
305 


CRYPTOGAMIC  PLANTS. 

operating  on  society.  As  our  limits  necessarily  preclude 
us  from  entering  upon  this  interesting  inquiry,  we  must 
content  ourselves  with  merely  glancing  at  the  chief  argu- 
ments which  have  been  adduced  on  both  sides  of  the 
question.  Some  of  those  who  maintain  that  the  Crusades 
exercised  a  beneficial  influence  over  the  interests  of  so- 
ciety, scruple  not  to  trace  to  them  the  origin  of  almost  all 
the  civilization  which  modern  Europe  at  present  enjoys. 
But  those  who  take  a  more  reasonable  view  of  the  matter, 
reckon  among  the  advantages  which  resulted  from  these 
enterprizes  the  general  intercourse  which  they  tended  to 
establish  between  nations  that  might  otherwise  have  long 
remained  strangers  to  each  other ;  the  removal  of  inter- 
national contentions  and  prejudices,  which  the  union  or 
nearly  all  the  European  states  in  pursuit  of  a  common  ob- 
ject tended  to  effect ;  the  impulse  which  they  gave  to  com- 
mercial enterprize  throughout  the  world,  more  especially 
in  Italy,  and  subsequently  to  the  revival  of  literature  and  the 
fine  arts  in  that  country  ;  the  general  diffusion  of  more  lib- 
eral modes  of  thinking  and  acting  on  political  and  religious 
questions  ;  and  finally  the  breaking  up  of  the  feudal  system, 
which,  as  is  alleged,  laid  the  foundation  of  the  civil  liberty 
at  present  enjoyed  by  all  the  communities  of  Europe.  On 
the  other  hand,  those  who  advocate  the  negative  side  of  the 
question  allege  that  the  Crusades  were  begun  in  folly,  pro- 
secuted without  skill,  and  ended  in  defeat.  They  caused, 
it  is  maintained,  a  waste  of  life  and  labour  beyond  example, 
without  any  advantageous  return.  For  two  centuries  they 
afflicted  almost  every  family  in  Europe  with  the  most  pain- 
ful privations ;  and  withdrew  the  attention  of  its  inhabit- 
ants from  the  peaceful  pursuits  of  industry  to  marauding 
expeditions  undertaken  in  a  spirit  of  religious  fanaticism, 
and  evincing  in  their  conduct  a  disregard  for  the  most  ob- 
vious principles  of  justice.  Agriculture,  commerce,  arts, 
and  education  were  neglected  by  all  ranks,  under  a  genera! 
distemper  of  the  imagination,  which  represented  the  re- 
covery of  the  Holy  Land  from  the  possession  of  infidels  as 
the  most  sacred  and  urgent  of  duties.  In  this  Quixotic  at- 
tempt, they  sacrificed  the  flower  of  successive  generations, 
and  the  strength  and  ornament  of  their  respective  coun- 
tries. It  is  contended  too  by  those  who  take  this  view  of 
the  matter,  that  the  absence  of  the  principal  sovereigns 
from  their  kingdoms  gave  full  scope  to  all  sorts  of  faction 
and  disturbance  at  home ;  and  that  though  the  power  of 
some  of  the  greater  barons  was  broken  by  the  debts  and 
obligations  they  contracted  during  these  expeditions,  the 
anarchy  inseparable  from  the  feudal  system  was  greatly 
augmented,  and  the  progress  of  good  government  greatly 
retarded.  Without  attempting  to  determine  the  precise 
degree  of  weight  that  should  be  attached  to  these  conflict- 
ing statements,  it  is  abundantly  clear  that  there  has  been, 
on  both  sides,  a  vast  deal  of  exaggeration  ;  and  though  it  be 
obviously  absurd  to  ascribe  to  the  Crusades  the  superior 
wealth,  civilization,  and  freedom  of  modern  Europe,  it  is 
at  the  same  time  sufficiently  clear  that  their  beneficial  in- 
fluence, in  various  respects,  countervailed  to  a  considerable 
extent  the  improvement,  anarchy,  and  war  in  which  they 
involved  the  greater  part  of  Europe  and  Asia.  In  addition 
to  the  prize  essays  already  referred  to,  the  reader  may 
consult  the  elaborate  and  important  work  of  Michaud  I'His- 
toirc  des  Croisades,  and  his  BMiographie  des  Croisades  ; 
with  Wilken's  Geschichte  der  Kreuzzuge ;  Haken's  Gemiil- 
de  der  Kreuzzuge  ;  the  art.  "Croisades"  in  the Encyclo- 
pedie  des  Gens  du  Monde,  &c.  &c. 

CRU'SCA,  ACCADEMI'A  DELLA.     See  Academy. 

CRU'STA.  (Lat.)  In  Gem  Sculpture,  a  gem  engraved 
for  inlaving  on  a  vase  or  other  object. 

CRUST A'CEANS,  Crustacea.  (Lat.  crusta,  a  hard  co- 
vering.) A  class  of  free  articulate  animals,  with  articulated 
limbs,  a  branchial  respiration,  and  a  dorsal  ventricle  or 
heart. 

CRY'OLITE.  (Gr.  icpvos,  ice,  \iBos, stone.)  A  rare  mi- 
neral from  Greenland.  It  is  a  double  fluoride  of  sodium 
and  aluminum.  It  readily  fuses  in  the  flame  of  a  candle, 
whence  its  name. 

CRYO'PHORUS.  (Gr.  xpvof,  and  ^spo,  /  bear.)  The 
frost-bearer  or  carrier  of  cold  ;  an  instrument  contrived  by 
Dr.  Wollaston  for  freezing  water  by  its  own  evaporation. 
(Phi/os.  Tratis.  1813,  p.  71.) 

CRYPT.  (Gr.  Kovtrru,  I  hide.)  In  Architecture,  the 
under  or  hidden  part  of  a  building.  It  is  used  also  to  de- 
signate that  part  of  the  ancient  churches  and  abbeys  ap- 
propriated to  the  monuments  of  deceased  persons.  (See 
Dugdak's  Monasticon.) 

CRY'PTA.  (Gr.  Kpvxrai.)  In  Botany  the  round  re- 
ceptacles for  secretion  present  in  the  leaves  of  some  plants, 
as  in  the  orange  and  myrtle. 

CRY'PTA.  (Gr.  KpvTrro).)  Little  rounded  excrescences, 
in  which  the  minute  ramifications  of  the  arteries  terminate 
in  the  cortical  part  of  the  kidneys. 

CRYPTOGA'MIC   PLANTS'   (Gr.   icpmros,  concealed, 

and    yapos,  marriage),  are  those  which  never  produce 

flowers  or  sexes,  but  which  are  multiplied  without  the  aid 

of  sexual  intercourse.     Linneeus  gave  them  their  name 

V 


CRYPTOGRAPHY. 

upon  the  supposition  that  they  in  fact  do  possess  sexual 
organs,  although  he  was  unable  to  discover  them  ;  and 
since  his  time  Hedvvig  and  others  have  endeavoured  to 
show  that  sexes  do  exist  in  them,  although  in  a  concealed 
and  anomalous  state.  In  fact,  it  appears  that  in  Merchanti- 
ance,  Mosses,  Jungermanniacea,  and  some  others,  the  re- 
productive organs  are  of  two  sorts,  and  it  is  not  altogether 
unreasonable  to  call  the  one  male  and  the  other  female ; 
but  at  the  same  time  it  must  be  confessed  that  if  such  parts 
are  rightly  named,  they  are  exceedingly  dissimilar  to  the 
organs  so  called  in  Phanerogamic  plants,  and  that  the  ut- 
most which  can  be  conceded  to  them  is,  that  one  contains 
a  male  principle  and  the  other  a  female  principle.  From 
the  recent  observations  of  Agardh,  Morren,  Leveille, 
Klotzsch,  and  others,  it  is  not  improbable  that  two  such 
principles  exist,  although  in  a  state  of  intimate  intermix- 
ture, even  in  plants  like  Fungi  and  Alga,.  The  principal 
natural  orders  of  Cryptogamic  plants  are  Ferns,  Mosses, 
Equisetacea,  Lycopodiacea,  Characea,  Hepatica,  Lichens, 
Alga.,  and  Fungi.  In  these  orders  we  have  the  greatest 
variation  in  the  organ  of  vegetation,  some  of  the  ferns 
forming  trees  50  or  60  feet  high,  while  many  Alga  and 
Fungi  are  vesicular  and  microscopic.  Among  the  latter, 
vegetable  life  approaches  so  nearly  to  that  of  animals  that 
distinctions  fail,  and  it  is  no  longer  possible  to  say  that  lo- 
comotion is  the  peculiar  property  of  the  one  and  fixation 
that  of  the  other ;  for  in  numerous  Alga  the  seeds  have 
an  undoubted  spontaneous  power  of  motion  in  water  until 
they  begin  their  growth  as  young  plants.  Cryptogamic 
plants  are  connected  with  Gymnosperms  through  Lycopo- 
diacea and  Equisetacea,  with  Rhizanths  through  Fungi, 
and  perhaps  with  Endogens  by  tree  ferns ;  they  do  not  ap- 
pear to  have  any  immediate  relation  to  Exogens. 

CRYPTO'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  Kpvwros,  and  vpa<po>,  Iwrile.) 
Also  termed  Polygraphy  and  Steganography.  The  art  of 
writing  in  a  manner  intelligible  only  to  those  admitted  into 
the  secret  of  the  method,  either  by  conventional  signs  (ci- 
pher), or  by  other  contrivances. 

CRY'PTO  PORTICUS.  In  Ancient  Architecture,  a  con- 
cealed portico ;  also  one  that  for  coolness  is  enclosed  on 
every  side.  Some  of  them  were  sunk  some  way  into  the 
ground. 

CRY'STAL,  Crystallus.  (Gr.  xptiirraXXof,  ice.)  This 
term  was  originally  applied  to  those  beautiful  transparent 
varieties  of  silica,  or  quartz,  known  under  the  name  of 
rock  crystal.  When  substances  pass  from  the  fluid  to  the 
solid  state,  they  frequently  assume  those  regular  forms 
which  are  generally  termed  crystals. 

CRYSTALLINE  LENS.  The  lens  of  the  eye,  placed 
in  a  depression  upon  the  anterior  part  of  the  vitreous  hu- 
mour.   See  Eye. 

CRYSTALLIZATION,  Chrystallography.  (Gr.  upvo- 
raAAof,  a  crystal,  and  ypcupo),  1  describe.)  The  doctrine  of 
the  relation  of  crystalline  forms,  and  of  the  origin  and 
structure  of  crystals.  Natural  as  well  as  artificial  crystals  oc- 
cur in  an  infinite  variety  of  forms  ;  but  they  may  generally 
be  referred  to  some  primary  figure,  of  which  these  vari- 
eties may  be  regarded  as  modifications.  The  structure  of 
crystallized  bodies  is  most  easily  illustrated  by  reference 
to  natural  crystals,  but  the  theory  applies  to  all  crystallized 
bodies  ;  it  assumes  the  existence  of  some  definite  primary 
figure,  which  by  various  truncations  may  be  modified  into 
its  secondary  forms. 

The  varieties  of  calcareous  spar  may  be  referred  to  as 
presenting  one  of  the  easiest  illustrations  of  the  mechani- 
cal texture  of  crystals,  and  of  the  modifications  of  which 
a  definite  primary  figure  is  susceptible.  Calcareous  spar 
occurs  in  more  than  a  hundred  different  forms,  all  of 
which,  by  careful  mechanical  division,  are  reducible  to 
an  obtuse  rhomboid,  whose  faces  are  inclined  to  each  other 
at  angles  of  105°  5' ;  this,  therefore,  is  called  the  primary 
form  of  calcareous  spar. 

The  secondary  forms  are  presumed  to  be  derived  from 
the  primary  forms  in  consequence  of  decrements  of  parti- 
cles taking  place  upon  the  edges,  or  angles,  or  both,  of  the 
primary  form.  Thus,  if  the  primary  form  were  a  cube,  it 
might  be  reduced  to  a  secondary  octahedron  by  decre- 
ments, or  truncations,  in  the  direction  of  the  planes  pro- 
duced by  the  removal  of  its  solid  angles  ;  and  by  a  similar 
operation  a  primary  octahedron  might  become  a  secondary 
cube. 

The  doctrine  of  the  relations  and  conversions  of  these 
forms  is,  properly  speaking,  a  branch  of  solid  geometry  ; 
but  its  practical  applications  to  chemistry  have  in  fact  ren- 
dered crystallography  a  subsidiary  branch  of  those  depart- 
ments of  science.  By  a  careful  examination  of  the  forms 
and  modifications  and  texture  and  fracture  of  crystals,  the 
chemist  and  mineralogist  are  in  many  cases  enabled  to  de- 
termine their  nature  or  composition  ;  and  in  some  cases  a 
strict  examination  of  such  forms  may  supersede  analysis, 
or  other  more  circuitous  methods. 

When  we  attempt  by  cautious  mechanical  means  to  dis- 
sect a  crystal,  we  find  that  it  will  only  yield  kindly  and  af- 
ford smooth  surfaces  when  broken  or  divided  in  certain 
306 


CUBIC  EQUATION. 

directions.  A  cube  of  fluor  spar,  for  instance,  will  only 
give  way  under  such  circumstances  in  the  direction  of  its 
solid  angles  or  corners ;  and  pursuing  the  division  in  such 
directions  an  octahedron  will  be  the  resulting  figure ;  and 
each  slice  which  is  removed  may  be  further  divided  into 
octahedra  and  tetrahedra.  The  new  and  smooth  surfaces 
resulting  from  this  division  or  cleavage  of  the  crystal  are 
called  its  cleavage  planes,  the  line  produced  by  the  meet- 
ing of  two  planes  is  called  the  edge  of  the  crystal,  and  the 
meeting  of  any  two  lines  or  edges  forms  a. plane  angle.  A 
solid  angle  is  produced  by  the  meeting  of  three  or  more 
plane  angles.  Different  crystallographers  have  assumed  va- 
rious primitive  forms  as  the  bases  of  their  respective  sys- 
tems of  crystallization.  Hauy  assumed  six  (Traite  de  Mi- 
neralogie) ;  Mr.  Brooke  enumerates  fifteen  primary  forms 
(Fatniliar  Introduction  to  Crystallography);  and  almost 
each  author  upon  this  subject  has  adopted  different  views 
as  regards  the  number  of  fundamental  forms  and  the 
modes  of  derivation  of  secondary  figures.  In  Germany 
the  system  of  crystallosraphy  of  Mohs  is  generally  adopt- 
ed. (See  Haidenger's  Translation  of  Mohs'  Mineralogy.) 
But  any  detailed  account  of  these  different  systems  and 
theories  would  be  inconsistent  with  our  present  object.  It 
may  be  observed,  however,  that  the  theory  of  crystallization 
is  greatly  simplified  by  assuming  all  secondary  forms  as 
resulting  from  the  aggregation  of  primary  spherical  or 
spheroidical  molecules.  (See  a  paper  on  this  subject  by 
Dr.  Wollaston,  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  for  1813 ; 
and  Mr.  Daniell's  interesting  confirmations  of  the  hypo- 
thesis in  the  first  volume  of  the  Quarterly  Journal  of  Sci- 
ence and  the  Arts.) 

The  process  of  crystallization  is  resorted  to  for  many  use- 
ful and  important  purposes  in  the  chemical  arts  :  it  is  the 
principal  means  by  which  various  saline  products  are  ob- 
tained in  a  state  of  purity  ;  for,  in  the  act  of  crystallization, 
they  throw  off  foreign  substances  and  acquire  definite  com- 
position. It  is  thus,  for  instance,  that  nitre  is  purified  for 
the  manufacture  of  gunpowder ;  and  that  the  common  and 
other  salts  with  which  crude  nitre  is  contaminated  are  got 
rid  of,  a  crystal  of  nitre  being  of  necessity  a  definite  com- 
pound of  54  parts  of  nitric  acid  combined  with  48  of  potassa. 
Nitre  furnishes  an  instance  of  what  is  termed  an  anhydrous 
crystal ;  it  retains  none  of  the  water  in  which  it  had  been 
dissolved,  and  from  which  it  is  deposited.  There  are, 
however,  many  sails,  the  crystals  of  which  are  hydrous; 
and  in  such  cases  the  quantity  of  water  which  they  con- 
tain always  bears  a  certain  definite  quantitative  relation  to 
the  elements  of  the  salts.  Sulphate  of  magnesia,  for  in- 
stance, or  Epsom  salt,  forms  prismatic  crystals,  which  al- 
ways contain  51-2  per  cent,  of  water  of  crystallization :  they 
are  constituted  of20  parts  of  magnesia,  40  of  sulphuric  acid, 
and  63  of  water. 

CTE'NOBRA'NCHIATA.  (Gr.  ktcis,  a  comb,  and  Ppay- 
%ia,  gills.)  A  name  substituted  by  some  naturalists  for 
Pectinibranchiata ;  applied  by  Cuvier  to  that  order  of  Gas- 
tropods which  breathe  by  means  of  pectinated  gills. 

CTENOl'DES.  (Gr.  ktcis,  and  eiios,  form.)  A  name 
given  by  Agassiz  to  one  of  his  orders  of  fishes,  character- 
ized by  scales  composed  of  lay  ers  with  pectinated  or  toothed 
posterior  margins.  These  combs  overlapping  one  another 
give  a  rough  feel  to  the  skin  :  the  scales  are  horny  or  bony, 
without  enamel.  The  Ctenoid  order  includes  the  following 
families: — Chetodontes,  Pleuronectes,  Percoides,  Polyacan- 
thes,  Scienoides,  Sparoides,  Scorpenoides,  Aulastomcs. 

CU'BATURE,  is  the  measurement  of  the  contents  of  a 
solid  body,  or  finding  a  cube  equal  to  it. 

CUBE.  (Gr.  kv/3os,  a  die.)  In  Geometry,  a  solid  body 
bounded  by  six  equal  squares.  The  cube  is  one  of  the  five 
regular  Platonic  bodies,  which,  being  placed  beside  each 
other,  fill  up  the  space  about  a  point.  It  is  also  called  the 
hexaedron,  on  account  of  its  six  sides.  The  duplication  of 
the  cube,  or  the  finding  of  the  side  of  a  cube  containing 
exactly  twice  as  much  matteras  another  given  cube,  was  a 
celebrated  problem  among  the  geometers  of  antiquity,  but 
which  cannot  be  solved  by  means  of  the  straight  line  and 
circle,  the  only  lines  which  the  ancients  admitted  into  their 
geometrical  constructions.  (See  Duplication  of  the 
Cube.)  In  arithmetic,  cubes,  or  cubic  numbers,  are  numbers 
formed  by  the  multiplication  of  any  number  into  itself 
twice:  thus  8  and  27  are  cubes;  the  first  being  equal  to 
2  X  2  X  2,  and  the  second  to  3  X  3  X  3- 

CU'BEBS.  The  berries  of  the  Piper  ctibeba,  or  Java 
pepper.  They  have  a  bitter  and  aromatic  flavour,  and  con- 
tain volatile  oil  and  resin :  they  are  stomachic  :  and  given 
in  a  dose  of  from  one  to  two  drachms  in  powder,  two  or 
three  times  a  day,  have  proved  curative  in  certain  forms  of 
gonorrhoea. 

CU'BIC  EQUA'TION.  In  Algebra,  is  an  equation  which 
involves  the  cube  or  third  power  of  the  unknown  quantity. 
Like  equations  of  any  other  degree,  cubic  equations  are 
either  pure  or  adfected:  the  pure  containing  only  the  cube 
of  the  unknown  quantity  ;  and  the  adfected  containing  the 
square  or  simple  power,  or  both,  of  that  quantity.  A  pure 
cubic  equation  is  of  this  form,  x'  =a;  where  a  is  any 


CUBIC  EQ.UATION. 

number  whatever,  positive  or  negative,  and  the  value  of  x 
is  found  by  extracting  the  cube  root  of  the  number  a  by  the 
usual  arithmetical  rule. 

It  might  seem,  at  first  sight,  that  the  only  value  which  x 
can  have  in  the  equation  x3  =  a  is  x  =  ya ;  but  on  further 
consideration  it  will  be  seen  that  there  are  two  more  values 
of  x,  or  at  least  two  other  sets  of  symbols  by  which  the 
value  of  x  may  be  represented,  which  equally  'satisfy  the 
equation.  On  substituting  n3  for  a,  the  equation  becomes 
x*  =  n3,  ori2-n!  =zo;  butar3  —  n3  is  resolvable  into  the 
two  factors  (x  —  n)  X  0rs  +  xn  +  n8).  therefore  the  equa- 
tion is  satisfied  either  by  making  x  —  n  =  o,  or  Xs +  x  n 
+  vP-  =  o.  The  first  gives  x  =  n;  and  on  solving  the  quad- 
ratic X?  +  x  n  ■+-  ns  =  o,  the  following  values  of  x  result, 
namely,  x =  J  ( — n+  V  —  3n8)  =  i n (  —  1  +  V  —3, and 
*  =  i(_n  — V_37is)=irc(  —  1  —  V  —  3).  The  three 
roots"  of  the  equation  x3  —  n3  =  o  are  therefore  a:  =  n, 
a;  =  i  n  (  —  1  +  V  —  3),  a:  =  *  n  (  —  1  —  V^Tjj) ;  and 
this  conclusion  is  easily  verified  by  raising  each  of  these 
three  expressions  to  the  cube,  or  by  multiplying  all  three 
together  :  in  either  case  the  result  will  be  n3.  It  may  be 
remarked  that  the  first  expression  only  for  x  is  real,  the 
two  latter  are  imaginary. 

A  complete  cubic  equation  has  the  form  x3  -f-  Aa:2  +  Bar 
-J-  C  =o,  where  A,  B,  and  C  denote  known  quantities,  po- 
sitive or  negative.  Now  it  is  always  possible,  by  assuming 
x=  y —  \  A,  to  transform  an  equation  of  this  form  into  another 
in  which  the  second  term  shall  be  wanting,  and  which  shall 
have  the  form  y3  +  a  y  +  6  =  o  ;  the  coefficients  a  and  b  of 
this  last  equation  being  also  known,  and  depending  on 
those  of  the  former  equation.  If,  therefore,  we  can  suc- 
ceed in  finding  the  value  or  values  of  y  from  this  equation, 
those  of  x  will  also  become  known  in  consequence  of  the 
equation  ar  =  y —  j  A. 

In  order  to  discover  the  roots  of  the  equation  »/'+ai/+6  = 
o,  suppose  y  to  be  composed  of  two  parts,  u  and  v,  orassume 
y  =  u  +  v.    The  equation  then  becomes  by  substitution, 
u3  +  3m5  v  +  Zuv^  +  v3] 

-\-au  -\-av  (=-o\ 
+  b) 
which,  as  it  contains  two  indeterminate  quantities,  may  be 
divided  into  any  two  parts  at  pleasure.     Let  it  be  resolved 
into  the  two,  u3  +v3+b  =  o, 

3u*  v  +  3uv*  +  au-{-av=^o. 
The  last  of  these  is  the  same  as 

(3tt»  +  a)  (u  +  v)  =  o, 
which  maybe  satisfied  either  by  making  u  ■+•  v  =  o,  or 
:;  u  r  +  a  =z  o.  But  the  supposition  that  u  -f-  v  =  o  is  inad- 
missible, since  ?«  +f  =  y;  for  if  we  suppose  i/  =  o,  then  on 
account  of  the  original  equation,  y3  +  a  y  +  l>  z=  o,  it  would 
be  necessary  to  suppose  also  b  =  o,  which  is  inconsistent 
with  the  hypothesis.  To  determine  u  and  v,  therefore, 
we  have  only  the  two  equations, 

u3  +  v3  +  b  =  o,    3ur  +  o=o; 
the  first  of  which  gives  uf  +v3  =  —  b,  and  the  second  uv 
=  £  a,  whence  u3  v'  =  J=  a3.     On  substituting  in  the  first 
of  these  two  last  equations  the  value  of  vs  deduced  from 


the  second,  we  find  u3  + 


27;/. 


;=s  —  b,  from  which  u3  is  ob- 


tained by  the  solution  of  a  quadratic.  The  solution  gives 
u*z=  —  i  6  i  V  oV  °3  +  i  *!  i  whence,  and  from  the  equa- 
tion u3  +  v3  =  —  b,    ms=  — *6  +  V/j  <z'  +  }62,  v* 


=  -ib-^/^-^+ib'-,u=  ^-£&  +  VV7a3+*62> 
<o—  V_i6_'y/-*_a3_j-i&S!;  buty  =  «+t>,  therefore 

y  =  ^-hb+V-i^+^+  V-hb— v/^+i*"8- 
Having  obtained  a  value  of  y  in  terms  of  a  and  b,  which 
satisfies  the  equation  y3  +  a  y  +  b  =  o.  that  equation  is 
resolved;  but,  as  in  the  case  of  pure  cubic  equations,  two 
other  values  of  y  may  be  found,  each  of  which  also  sa- 
tisfies the  equation.    For  the  sake  of  abridging,  let  P  = 


-  i  6  +  ^/^\a3+ib%q  =  -i  b  -Vjr  a'+jb*] 

and  let  also  p  =  i  (—  1  +  V  —  3),  q  =  I  (  —  1  —  V  —  3) ; 
then  u3  =  P,  and  v3  =  Q_ ;   and  in  consequence  of  what 
was  shown  above,  u  and  v  have  each  these  three  values : 
m  =  ^/P,  u=pyP,  u  =  q  ^P.  ("0 

t>  =  ^/Q,  v  =  pyQ.,  »  =  g^/Q.  («) 

To  determine  in  what  manner  these  equations  must  be 
combined  in  order  to  give  the  corresponding  values  of  y 
(=  u  ^1  v),  we  must  recollect  that  uv  =■  %  a;  but  PQ  = 
•i  a3,  or  v^Q  =  |o;  therefore  uv  =  nKP  Q.  But  it  is 
obvious  thatp  q  =  1 ;  in  order  therefore  to  preserve  these 
relations,  we  must  combine  the  first  of  the  equations  (m) 
307 


CUIRASS. 

with  the  first  of  (n),  the  second  of  (m)  with  the  third  of 
(n),  and  the  third  of  (m)  with  the  second  of  (71).  Hence 
the  three  values  of  u  -\-  v,  or  y,  are  y  =  ^P  +  ^Q,  y=.j> 
-vVP  +  1  \VQ,  y  =  qyP+p  ,yQ. 

The  first  of  these  three  formulas  was  intended  by  Nicho- 
las Tartalea  and  Scipio  Ferreus  independently  about  the 
same  time  ;  but  having  been  first  published  by  Cardan,  is 
generally  known  by  the  name  of  Cardan's  Rule. 

In  applying  the  above  formula  for  the  resolution  of  a 
cubic  equation,  it  is  necessary  to  extract  the  square  root 
of  the  quantity  ~  a3  -\-  \  6s.  Now,  as  a  and  b  may  have 
any  values  whatever,  if  it  happen  that  a  is  negative,  and 
such  that  JT  a3  is  greater  than  |  b2,  the  quantity  JLo'  + 
J  62  becomes  negative,  and  the  extraction  of  its"  square 
root  impossible.  This  circumstance  gives  rise  to  what 
is  termed  the  irreducible  case,  and  long  continued  to 
puzzle  algebraists,  the  three  roots  of  the  equation  ap- 
pearing all  under  an  imaginary  form.  It  has  been  found, 
however,  from  a  more  profound  analysis  of  the  nature  of 
equations,  that  in  this  case  (that  is,  when  a  is  negative,  and 
_L  a3  greater  than  \  o2)  all  the  three  roots  are  real,  not- 
withstanding their  imaginary  form.  In  fact,  every  equa- 
tion of  the  third  degree  must  have  at  least  one  real  root : 
when  the  irreducible  case  occurs,  all  the  roots  are  real ;  in 
the  other  case,  one  root  is  real,  and  the  other  two  imaginary. 
CUBI'CULUM.  (Lat.)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  strictly 
a  bed  room  ;  but  with  the  Romans  applied  in  a  more  ex- 
tended sense  to  the  balcon  or  tent  provided  to  cover  the 
emperors  at  the  public  shows. 

CU'BIT.  (Lat.  cubitus.)  In  Architecture  and  Sculpture, 
a  linear  measure  of  the  ancients,  equal  to  the  length  of  the 
arm  from  the  elbow  to  the  extremity  of  the  middle  finger, 
usually  considered  about  18  English  inches.  The  geome- 
trical cubit  of  Vitruvius  was  equal  to  six  ordinary  cubits. 

CU'BITUS.  The  fore  arm ;  the  larger  bone  of  which  is 
called  the  0.5  cubiti.  This  term  is  said  to  be  derived  from 
cubo,  Hie  down,  from  the  ancient  custom  of  leaning  on  that 
part  of  the  arm  when  in  the  recumbent  posture  at  meals. 

CU'CULINiE.  A  name  given  by  Latreille  to  a  family  of 
bees,  distinguished  by  the  absence  of  the  femoral  plates 
for  transporting  pollen,  and  which  are  consequently  com- 
pelled to  resort  to  the  combs  of  other  bees  in  order  to  de- 
posit their  eggs :  hence  they  may  be  regarded,  like  the 
cuckoo,  as  a  kind  of  parasite. 

CU'CULUS.  (Lat.  cuculus,  a  cuckoo.)  A  most  interest- 
ing genus  of  Passerine  birds,  belonging  to  that  group  which 
is  characterized  by  having  the  toes  situated  two  before  and 
two  behind  (Zygodactyli) ;  and  so  named  from  including 
as  the  typical  species  the  common  European  cuckoo  (.Cu- 
culus canorus).  The  cuckoo  is  a  migratory  bird  ;  it  arrives 
in  England  in  the  month  of  April  for  the  purpose  of  breed- 
ing. It  differs  from  almost  every  other  bird  in  not  con- 
structing a  nest,  nor  under  any  circumstances  hatching  its 
own  eggs  ;  but  deposits  them  in  the  nests  of  other  birds, 
as  the  hedge-sparrow.  The  unfledged  young  have  a  re- 
markable instinct,  which  impels  them  to  unceasing  efforts 
to  expel  their  helpless  companions  from  the  nest,  which 
they  effect  by  pushing  them  in  the  hollow  of  their  back 
to  the  verge  of  the  nest,  and  tilting  them  over,  until  they 
at  length  monopolize  all  the  care  and  provision  of  the  fos- 
ter-parent. The  young  cuckoos  of  the  year  do  not  leave 
this  country  till  the  month  of  September. 

CUCU'RBITA'CEjE.  (Cucurbita,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  Exogens,  inhabiting  the  hot  countries  of 
both  hemispheres.  They  are  placed  by  Auguste  de  St.  Hi- 
laire  and  De  Candolle  between  Myrtacea,  to  which  they  ap- 
pear to  have  little  affinity,  and  Passifloraccm,  to  which  they 
are  so  closely  allied  that  they  differ  only  in  the  sinuous 
stamens,  unisexual  flowers,  inferior  fruit,  and  exalbumin- 
ous  seeds.  St.  Hilaire  also  insists  upon  their  affinity  with 
Onagracea,  with  which,  including  Combretacece.,  they  agree 
in  some  respects.  The  order  is  one  of  the  most  useful  in 
the  vegetable  kingdom,  comprehending  the  melon,  the 
choco,  and  the  various  species  of  gourd ;  all  valuable  as 
the  food  of  man.  Colocynth  is  the  pulp  of  Cucumis  colo- 
cynthis,  which  is  so  drastic  as  to  be  classed  by  Orfila 
among  his  poisons.  The  root  of  Bryonia  possesses  a 
powerful  purgative  property,  but  is  said  to  become  whole- 
some if  properly  cooked  ;  and  the  perennial  roots  of  all 
the  order  appear  to  contain  similar  bitter  drastic  virtues: 
especially  of  the  Monwrdica  elaterium,  which  has  an  active 
poisonous  principle  called  elatine. 

CUIRA'SS.  (Fr.  cuir,  leather.)  A  covering  for  the 
breast  ;  originally,  as  the  name  denotes,  of  leather,  also  of 
quilted  linen,  cloth,  &c.  The  cuirass  of  plate-armour  suc- 
ceeded the  hauberk,  hacqueton,  &c.  of  mail,  about  the 
reign  of  Edward  III. ;  and  from  that  period  the  surcoat, 
jupon,  &c.  which  were  usually  worn  over  the  coat  of  mail, 
began  to  be  laid  aside.  From  that  period  the  cuirass  or 
breast-plate  continued  to  be  worn,  and  was  the  last  piece  of 
defensive  armour  laid  aside  in  actual  warfare.  There  were 
cuirassiers  in  the  English  civil  wars,  and  in  the  French  ser- 
vice nearly  to  the  end  of  the  17th  century  :  after  this  pe- 


CUISSES. 

riod,  Ihe  cuirass  was  generally  laid  aside,  until  il  was  again 
employed  by  some  of  Napoleon's  regiments,  and  it  is  now, 
in  most  services,  worn  by  some  regiments  of  heavy  ca- 
valry. 

CUISSES,  CUISSOTS,  CUISSARTS,  &c.  In  Plate  Ar- 
mour, the  pieces  which  protected  the  front  of  the  thigh. 

CULDE'ES.  A  religious  order,  whose  origin  is  attribut- 
ed to  St.  Columba,  an  Irish  monk  of  the  6lh  century,  who 
evangelized  the  western  parts  of  Scotland,  and  founded  a 
famed  monastery  in  Iona.  The  word  is  probably  contract- 
ed from  cuHores  Dei.    See  Jamieson's  Hist. 

CU'LEX.  (Lat,  agnut.)  A  Linnaean  genus  of  insects, 
having  the  common  gnat  (Culex  pipiens,  L.)  for  its  type  ; 
but  now  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  family  (Culicida),  includ- 
ing the  genera  Mega-rhino,  Sabethes,  CEdes,  Aropheles,  and 
Culex  proper :  the  two  latter  are  British. 

CU'LINARY  VEGETABLES.  Plants  cultivated  in  gar- 
dens, and  sometimes  in  fields,  for  culinary  purposes.  They 
may  be  classed  as — leaf  plants,  such  as  the  cabbage  tribe, 
spinaceous  plants,  salads,  pot  and  sweet  herbs  ;  stalk  plants, 
such  as  asparagus,  tart  rhubarb,  sea  kale,  <fcc.  ;  roots,  such 
as  the  turnip,  carrot,  potato,  &c. ;  seeds,  such  as  the  pea 
and  bean  ;  fruit,  such  as  the  cucumber,  gourd,  &c. ;  and 
the  entire  plants,  such  as  the  onion,  leek,  mushroom,  &c. 
They  may  be  otherwise  arranged,  as — the  cabbage  family  ; 
the  leguminous  family;  esculent  roots;  spinaceous  plants  ; 
aliaceous  plants;  asparaginous  plants;  acetarious  plants; 
pot  herbs,  sweet  herbs,  plants  used  in  tarts  and  confection- 
ary, and  edible  fungi. 

CULI'NUS.  A  term  introduced  by  Linnaeus  to  denote 
the  stem  of  Graminacem,  which  has  a  peculiar  organiza- 
tion.    The  term  is  now  used  by  few  writers. 

CU'LLET.  The  term  given  to  broken  glass  brought  to 
the  glass-house  for  the  purpose  of  being  melted  up  with 
fresh  materials. 

CULM.  A  provincial  synonym  of  anthracite.  Mineral 
carbon,  glance  coal,  columnar  coal,  are  terms  also  applied 
to  this  species  of  coal,  of  which  Kilkenny  coal  furnishes 
an  example. 
Culm.  In  Agriculture,  the  stem  cf  grasses. 
CULMINATION.  (Lat.  culmen,  the  top.)  The  pas- 
sage of  a  celestial  body  over  the  meF'Jian,  or  the  highest 
point  of  its  diurnal  circle. 

CULTIVA'TOR.  An  implement  of  the  horse-hoe  kind, 
chiefly  used  in  working  fallows.  It  consists  of  a  frame, 
sometimes  of  wood  and  sometimes  of  iron,  into  which  a 
number  of  coulters,  or  tines,  are  introduced  ;  which,  when 
the  instrument  is  drawn  along  lands  already  ploughed, 
penetrate  to  the  bottom  of  the  furrow,  and  thoroughly  pul- 
verize the  soil.  One  of  the  best  of  these  implements  for 
using  on  a  large  scale  is  Finlayson's  harrow ;  but  it  requires 
six  horses  to  work  it  properly.  On  a  small  scale,  and  for 
working  with  two  horses  between  rows  of  plants,  Wilkie's 
grubber  is  an  excellent  implement ;  as  is  that  known  as 
Kirkwood's  cultivator. 

CU'LTRATE.  (Lat.  culler,  a  plouglishare.)  Coulter- 
shaped,  as  when  a  body  is  straight  on  one  side  and  curved 
on  the  other. 

CU'LVERT.  An  arched  channel  of  masonry  built  be- 
neath the  bed  of  a  canal,  for  the  purpose  of  conducting 
water  under  the  canal.  If  the  water  to  be  conveyed  has 
nearly  the  same  level  as  the  canal,  the  culvert  is  built  in 
the  form  of  an  inverted  siphon,  and  acts  on  the  principle 
of  a  water  pipe.  This  word  also  signifies  any  arched 
channel  for  water  under  ground. 

CU'LVERIN.  A  cannon  equal  to  an  lS-pounder  ;ac?emy- 
cuicerin  is  a  9  pounder. 

CU'MIN  SEED.  The  seed  or  fruit  of  the  Cuminum 
cyminum.  It  is  imported  from  Sicily  and  Malta.  It  forms 
an  ingredient  in  curry  powder,  and  in  some  kinds  of  cheese ; 
it  has  also  been  used  medicinally,  but  is  unimportant.  It 
has  a  very  peculiar  odour,  and  a  bitter  and  aromatic  taste. 
In  poultices  and  plaisters,  it  is  supposed  to  promote  the 
dispersion  of  indolent  tumours.  Some  of  the  Roman 
poets  allude  to  its  power  of  producing  pallor  and  languor. 

CU'NEATE.  (Lat.  cuneus,  a  wedge.)  An  animal  or 
part  is  so  called  which  has  the  longitudinal  diameter  ex- 
ceeding the  transverse,  and  narrowing  gradually  down- 
wards. 

CU'NEIFORM  LETTERS,  called  Keilschriften  by 
the  Germans.  (Lat.  cuneus,  a  wedge.)  The  name  given 
to  the  inscriptions  found  on  old  Babylonian  and  Persian 
monuments,  from  the  characters  being  formed  like  a 
wedge.  This  species  of  writing,  as  it  is  the  simplest,  so 
it  is  the  most  ancient  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge  ; 
and  though  it  is  difficult  to  say  by  whom  or  in  what  coun- 
try it  was  invented,  its  use  was  common  to  the  Medes,  Per- 
sians, and  Assyrians,  at  the  most  remote  periods  of  their 
history.  It  should  seem,  however,  that  the  peculiarity  of 
its  form  caused  it  to  be  employed,  like  the  hieratic  charac- 
ter of  the  Egyptians,  chiefly  in  monumental  inscriptions, 
there  being  another  mode  of  writing  in  use  better  calculated 
for  ordinary  purposes  ;  and  Mr.  Rich  conjectures  that  it  fell 
into  disuse  soon  after  Alexander's  conquest  of  Persia, 
308 


CUPID. 

when  neither  the  Persians  nor  the  Babylonians  had  any 
monuments  to  erect  or  events  to  record.  The  native 
princes,  says  that  ingenious  traveller,  who  wrested  the 
throne  of  Persia  from  his  feeble  successors,  adopted  the 
Greek  language  and  character  in  their  coins  and  inscrip- 
tions ;  and  all  recollection  of  the  cuneiform  writing  must 
have  perished  during  the  long  period  in  which  they  held 
the  sceptre  of  Iran. 

About  seventy  years  ago,  a  few  specimens  of  inscriptions 
existing  at  Persepolis  having  found  their  way  into  Europe, 
the  attention  of  the  learned  was  directed  to  the  subject; 
and  many  German  philologists,  at  the  head  of  whom  was 
tine  celebrated  Tychsen,  applied  themselves  to  the  task  of 
deciphering  and  translating  these  inscriptions  with  an  un- 
rivalled energy  and  enthusiasm.  It  was  not,  however,  till 
the  commencement  of  the  present  century,  when  Dr. 
Grotefend  of  Hanover  engaged  in  the  pursuit,  that  the 
mystery  in  which  this  species  of  writing  had  for  so  many 
centuries  been  involved  began  to  be  cleared  up,  and  the 
foundation  laid  of  a  more  satisfactory  and  philosophical 
mode  of  explication.  As  might  be  expected  on  a  subject 
on  which  so  much  wing  may  be  given  to  the  imagination, 
the  most  diverse  and  extraordinary  theories  have  been  pro- 
pounded respecting  it,  many  of  them  supported  by  ingeni- 
ous reasonings,  and  displaying  great  learning  and  research  ; 
but  as  the  general  opinion  inclines  to  regard  Dr.Grotefend's 
theory  as  based  on  the  most  solid  foundation,  and  as  the 
most  likely  to  lead  to  important  results,we  shall  limit  our- 
selves to  giving  a  brief  summary  of  his  views.  According 
to  him  this  mode  of  writing  is  formed  of  two  radical  signs, 
— the  wedge  and  the  angle, — susceptible,  however,  of  about 
thirty  different  combinations ;  and  consists  of  three  va- 
rieties, distinguished  from  each  other  by  a  greater  or  less 
complication  of  the  characters.  It  is  of  Asiatic  origin  ;  is 
written  from  right  to  left,  like  the  Sanscrit;  differs  from 
the  ancient  Egyptian  hieroglyphics,  inasmuch  as  it  is  alpha- 
betic, not  ideographic  ;  and,  finally,  with  a  few  considerable 
modifications,  forms  the  basis  of  most  of  the  Eastern  lan- 
guages. The  views  of  Dr.  Grotefend  received  striking  confir- 
mation from  the  researches  of  Mr.  Rich,  whose  valuable 
Memoirs,  enriched  as  they  are  with  numerous  inscriptions 
found  at  Babylon  and  Persepolis,  cannot  fail  to  give  con- 
siderable impulse  to  the  prosecution  of  this  intricate  study. 
A  full  exposition  of  this  species  of  writing  would  prove  one 
of  the  most  valuable  accessions  to  modern  literature,  as  it 
would  throw  a  flood  of  light  upon  many  points  of  the  man- 
ners, customs,  and  civil  polity  of  many  Eastern  nations  now 
enveloped  in  the  most  profound  obscurity,  and  rescue  their 
ancient  history  from  the  gross  fictions  by  which  it  is  disfigur- 
ed in  the  modern  literature  of  Persia.  But  upon  this  subject 
we  are  far  from  entertaining  very  sanguine  hopes.  Apart 
from  the  collateral  benefits  which  have  flowed  from  the 
prosecution  of  this  study,  and  which  have  exhibited  them- 
selves chiefly  in  the  greatly  increased  desire  that  exists 
throushout  Europe  to  obtain  a  knowledge  ofrthe  Eastern 
languages,  the  only  direct  results  by  which  it  has  been  hith- 
erto followed  may  be  stated  to  be  the  translation  of  a  few 
minor  inscriptions,  and  the  establishment  of  a  canon  so  ex- 
tremely arbitrary,  that  it  is  very  problematical  if  the  labours 
of  others  in  the  same  field  can  be  materially  benefitted  by 
it.  To  all  who  have  read  the  paper  of  Dr.  Grotefend  ad- 
dressed to  the  university  of  Gottingen  two  years  ago,  in 
which  all  that  has  been  done  on  this  subject  is  exhibited 
with  much  perspicuity,  it  must  be  matter  of  painful  regret 
to  observe  that  the  immense  amount  of  labour  and  learn- 
ing expended  upon  it  has  been  attended  by  such  incom- 
mensurate results  ;  and  a  study  which  has  proved  so  un- 
productive even  to  its  most  enthusiastic  disciple  will  scarce- 
ly be  found  to  improve  in  the  hands  of  others,  who,  whatever 
be  their  qualifications,  can  never  be  expected  to  surpass  the 
gentleman  in  question  either  in  learning,  ingenuity,  or  de- 
votion to  the  subject.  For  further  information  on  this  sub- 
ject, the  reader  is  referred  to  Rich's  Memoirs,  which  con- 
tain innumerable  specimens  of  the  cuneiform  writing. 

CU'NON'IA'CE-E.  (Cunonia,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  arborescent  or  shrubby  Exogens,  inha- 
biting South  America  and  the  East  Indies ;  allied  so  very 
intimately  to  Saxifragacea,  that  they  are  only  distinguish- 
ed by  their  arborescent  habit  and  interpetiolar  stipules. 
The  bark  of  some  species  is  used  for  tanning  leather. 

CU'PEL.  A  shallow  earthen  vessel,  somewhat  of  a 
cup  shape,  geuerally  made  of  bone  earth.  It  is  used  in 
the  assays  of  the  precious  metals,  which  are  fused  upon  a 
cupel  with  lead.  Cupellation  means  the  refining  of  gold  or 
silver  upon  a  cupel. 

CU'PID.  (Lat.  Cupido.)  The  Roman  name  of  the  Gre- 
cian god  of  love  Eros  ('Epwj).  There  were  three  divini- 
ties, or  rather  three  forms  of  the  same  deity,  with  this  ap- 
pellation (Cic.  de  Xat.  Deor.  3.  23.);  but  the  one  usually 
meant  when  spoken  of  without  any  qualification  was  the 
son  of  Mercury  and  Venus.  Like  the  rest  of  the  gods, 
Cupid  assumed  different  shapes ;  but  he  is  generally  re- 
presented as  a  beautiful  child  with  wings,  blind,  and  carry- 
ing a  bow  and  quiver  of  arrows,  with  which  he  transpierced 


CUPOLA. 

the  hearts  of  lovers,  inflaming  them  with  desire.  Among 
the  ancients  he  was  worshipped  with  the  same  solemnity 
as  his  mother  Venus  ;  his  influence  pervaded  all  creation, 
animate  and  inanimate ;  and  vows  and  sacrifices  were 
daily  offered  up  at  his  shrine.  Statues  of  Cupid  formed 
among  the  ancients  great  objects  of  vertu.  Praxiteles  is 
said  to  have  derived  great  honour  from  his  statues  of  this 
divinity  ;  and  in  his  orations  against  Verres,  Cicero  has 
given  celebrity  to  one  statue  of  Cupid  by  this  artist,  which 
formed  an  object  of  peculiar  veneration  to  the  Thespians. 

CU'POLA.     (It.)    In  Architecture.     See  Dome. 

CU'PPING.  (From  the  cup  shape  of  the  glasses  used 
in  its  performance.)  In  this  operation  a  cup-shaped  glass 
is  used,  into  which  the  large  flame  of  a  spirit  lamp  is 
momentarily  introduced,  so  as  to  expel  a  great  part  of  its 
air  by  dilatation  ;  it  is  then  instantly  applied  to  some  part 
of  the  body,  which  is  forced  into  it  by  the  external  pres- 
sure ;  and  on  removing  the  glass  a  circular  red  mark  is 
left,  from  the  propulsion  of  the  blood  in  the  small  vessels 
of  the  part :  this  is  called  dry  cupping.  It  is  generally  fol- 
lowed up  by  making  a  number  of  incisions  in  the  part  by 
means  of  an  instrument  called  a  scarificator,  from  which 
the  blood  oozes,  and  from  which  a  considerable  portion 
may  be  drawn  by  again  applying  the  cupping  glass.  Cup- 
ping, when  well  performed,  is  not  a  very  painful  or  disa- 
greeable operation,  and  is  an  excellent  mode  of  local  blood- 
letting. When  the  operator  is  not  dexterous,  it  is  not 
only  painful,  but  often  dangerous  in  its  consequences.  The 
bleeding  may  generally  be  easily  stopped  by  a  piece  of  lint 
or  soft  rag  ;  but  this  should  be  looked  after,  as  instances 
have  occurred  of  persons  bleeding  to  death  from  the 
wounds  of  a  scarificator. 

CUPULI'FER^E.  (Lat.  cupa,  a  cup.)  A  natural  order  of 
arborescent  or  shrubby  Exogenous  plants,  inhabiting  all 
temperate  and  some  hot  climates.  They  are  distinguished 
by  their  amentaceous  flowers  and  peculiarly  veined  leaves 
from  all  European  trees ;  and  from  other  plants  by  their 
apetalous  superior  rudimerflary  calyx,  fruit  enclosed  in  a 
husk  or  cup ;  and  by  their  nuts,  which  contain  but  one 
cell  and  one  or  two  seeds,  in  consequence  of  the  abortion 
of  the  remainder.  These  plants  are  akin  to  Betulacea  and 
Salicacea,,  from  which  Iheyare  distinguished  by  the  pre- 
sence of  a  calyx  and  the  veiningofthe  leaves.  They  are 
nearly  allied  to  Urticacem ;  but  differ  in  their  many-celled 
ovary,  pendulous  ovules,  and  superior  calyx.  This  order 
comprehends  the  oak,  hazel,  beech,  chestnut,  and  horn- 
beam,— well  known  valuable  forest  trees. 

CURACO'A.  A  liqueur  which  derives  its  name  from 
the  island  of  Curacoa  :  it  is  prepared  in  great  perfection  by 
the  Dutch.  It  derives  its  flavour  from  Seville  orange  peel, 
with  a  small  quantity  of  cinnamon  and  mace. 

CURASSOW.    See  Crax. 

CU'RATE.  (Lat.  curare,  to  take  care.)  Properly  an  in- 
cumbent who  has  the  cure  of  souls ;  now  generally  re- 
stricted to  signify  the  spiritual  assistant  of  a  rector  or  vicar 
in  his  cure.  Curates  form  the  lowest  order  of  the  clergy  ; 
and  are  divided  into  two  classes,  perpetual  and  stipendiary. 
"  Perpetual  curates  are  such  as  are  appointed  to  the 
churches  of  those  parishes  in  which  the  tithes  were  ap- 
propriated to  some  monastery  before  the  statute  4  II.  4. 
making  it  necessary  to  endow  a  vicar,  or  which  had  from 
some  cause  or  other  escaped  its  operation :"  or  they  are 
such  as  officiate  in  some  chapel :  in  either  of  which  cases, 
their  salary  is  usually  paid  by  some  fixed  payment,  or  by 
a  portion  of  the  tithes  appropriated  for  their  maintenance 
at  the  foundation  of  the  chapel.  Stipendiary  curates  are 
6uch  as  are  appointed  by  the  vicar  or  rector  to  officiate  at 
their  churches  in  their  stead.  The  salary  of  stipendiary 
curates  is  defrayed  by  the  party  who  appoints  them  ;  and 
by  the  57  Geo.  3.  c.  90.  it  must  in  no  case  be  under  90/. ; 
and  where  the  population  of  the  parish  amounts  to  500, 
with  certain  restrictions,  150/.  (See  IVtCulloch's  Stat. 
Brit.  Empire,  vol.  it.  280.  2d  ed.) 

CURA'TOR  (Lat),  in  a  general  sense,  signifies  a  per- 
son who  is  appointed  to  take  care  of  any  thing.  Among 
the  ancient  Romans,  there  were  officers  in  every  branch 
of  the  public  service  to  whom  this  appellation  was  given  : 
thus  we  read  of  Curatores  frumenli,  viarum,  operum  pub- 
licorum,  Tiberis,  <&c.  &c. ;  i.  e.  persons  who  distributed 
corn,  superintended  the  making  of  roads  and  the  public 
buildings,  or  were  conservators  of  the  river.  Curator,  in 
the  Civil  Law,  is  the  guardian  of  a  minor  who  has  attained 
the  age  of  fourteen.  Before  that  age,  minors  are  under  a 
tutor.  The  guardianship  of  persons  under  various  dis- 
abilities, and  of  the  estate  of  deceased  or  absent  persons 
and  insolvents,  is  also  committed  to  a  curator.  This  title 
is  derived  from  the  ancient  Romans,  by  whom,  as  was  re- 
marked above,  it  was  given  to  various  officers  who  acted 
as  superintendents  of  different  departments  of  the  public 
service.  In  learned  institutions,  the  officer  who  has  charge 
of  libraries,  collections  of  natural  history,  &c.  is  frequently 
styled  curator. 

CURB  ROOF.  (Fr.  courber,  to  bend.)  In  Architec- 
ture, a  roof  in  which  the  rafters,  instead  of  continuing 
309 


CURRENT. 

straight  down  from  the  ridge  to  the 
walls,  are  at  a  given  height  received 
on  plates,  which  in  their  turn  are  sup- 
ported by  rafters  less  inclined  to  the 
horizon,  whose  bearing  is,  through 
the  medium  of  the  wall-plate,  directly 
on  the  walls.  It  presents  a  bent  ap- 
pearance, as  in  the  diagram,  whence  it  derives  its  name. 

CURCU'LIO.  (Lat.  curculio,  a  weevil.)  A  Linnzean  ge- 
nus of  Coleopterous  insects,  now  the  type  of  an  extensive 
family,—  CurcuHonidce,,  or  weevils  belonging  to  the  Te- 
iramerous  section  of  the  order.  The  prolongation  of  the 
anterior  part  of  the  head,  in  the  form  of  a  proboscis  or 
snout,  at  once  distinguishes  the  insects  of  the  present  fa- 
mily from  all  other  beetles.  The  number  of  the  Curcu- 
lionida  may  be  imagined  when  it  is  stated  that  entomolo- 
gists have  found  it  necessary  to  distribute  them  into  nearly 
three  hundred  subgenera.  They  are  all  vegetable  feeders, 
and  include  some  of  the  most  dangerous  enemies  to  the 
vegetable  stores  of  mankind. 

CU'RFEW.  (From  the  French  couvre-feu,  in  modern 
Latin  ignitegium.)  The  practice  of  tolling  the  church  bell 
at  eight  or  some  other  hour  in  the  evening,  to  warn  people 
to  extinguish  their  fires,  was  a  very  common  one  in  the 
middle  ages.  It  is  difficult  to  say  on  what  foundation  the 
common  tradition,  that  William  the  Conqueror  introduced 
it  from  Normandy  to  prevent  the  English  from  assembling 
in  the  evening  to  plan  schemes  of  rebellion,  rests.  Lord 
Lyttleton,  in  his  Life  of  Henry  [I.,  discusses  the  question. 
It  is  more  probable  that  the  Conqueror  enforced  a  very 
common  police  regulation.  The  real  reason  of  the  curfew 
was  to  prevent  fires.  The  custom  of  ringing  the  evening 
or  curfew  bell  is  still  retained  in  many  places.  (See 
Brand's  Popular  Antiquities,  vol.  ii.  p.  136,  137.) 

Cli'RIA.  (Lat.)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  a  court,  coun- 
cil, or  senate  house. 

CU'RIES,  Curio?,.  A  subdivision  of  the  Roman  patri- 
cian tribes,  each  of  which  were  divided  into  ten  curies. 
Three  curies  probably  contained  originally  ten  houses 
(gentes)  each.  These  houses  were  similar  to  the  Scottish 
clans,  in  which,  though  the  bond  of  union  was  supposed  to 
be  that  of  common  blood,  yet  in  reality  there  was  no  con- 
sanguinity between  many  of  the  component  families. 

CURL.  A  disease  in  potatoes,  in  which  the  leaves  on 
their  first  appearance  appear  curled  and  shrunk  up  ;  and 
consequently,  as  they  do  not  present  a  sufficient  surface  to 
the  light  to  elaborate  the  sap  in  a  sufficient  manner  forcar- 
ryingon  the  growth  of  the  plant,  it  neveracquires  strength, 
and  either  dies,  or  produces  very  imperfect  tubers.  The 
cause  of  the  disease  in  the  first  instance  is  generally  sup- 
posed to  be  the  unhealthy  state  of  the  set ;  but  something 
also  may  be  owing  to  bad  management  and  improper  soil. 
CU'RRANT.  The  fruit  of  two  species  of  Rihes ;  name- 
ly, R  rub)  um,  which  furnishes  the  common  red  and  white 
currants ;  and  the  R.  nigrum,  which  produces  the  black 
currant.  The  currants  of  the  grocers'  shops  are  the  dried 
berries  of  a  small  species  of  grape  cultivated  in  Zante, 
Cephalonia,  and  Ithaca ;  and  in  the  Morea  in  the  vicinity 
ofPatras.  Notwithstanding  the  heavy  duty  of  22s.  2d.  per 
cwt.,  with  which  this  commodity  is  burdened,  they  are 
largely  imported  into  the  British  empire.  The  entries  of 
currants  for  home  consumption  amounted  at  an  average 
of  the  two  years  ending  1838  to  193,827  cwt.,  producing  an 
annual  revenue  of  189,192W. 

CU'RRENCY.  (Lat.  curro,  /  run.)  In  Political  Eco- 
nomy, a  term  sometimes  used  to  express  the  collective 
amount  of  the  money,  and  of  the  bills,  checques,  and  other 
substitutes  for  money,  employed  in  selling  or  buying,  or  in 
the  distribution  of  the  commodities  and  services  among 
the  different  ranks  and  orders  of  the  community. 

CU'RRENT  (Lat.  curro),  denotes  in  its  most  general 
sense  the  progressive  movement  of  any  object ;  but  it  is 
applied  chiefly  to  the  progressive  movement  of  fluids,  espe- 
cially of  air,  electricity,  and  water. 

Currents  in  the  ocean  arise  from  various  causes,  either 
occasional  or  constant.  They  may  be  occasioned  by  an  ex- 
ternal impulsion,  for  example  a  gale  of  wind  ;  from  a  dif- 
ference in  the  temperature  of  different  parts  of  the  sea  ; 
from  the  inequality  of  evaporation,  the  melting  of  the  polar 
ice,  or  in  short  any  cause  tending  to  disturb  the  hydrostatic 
equilibrium.  It  is  difficult  in  many  cases  to  trace  their 
causes,  or  to  give  any  satisfactory  theory  of  their  existence  ; 
but  on  account  of  their  importance  to  navigation  they  have 
been  observed,  especially  of  late  years,  with  great  care. 
Among  those  which  have  a  permanent  or  general  charac- 
ter, there  are  two  which  are  very  remarkable.  The  first  is 
that  of  the  tropical  waters  westward  round  the  globe,  and 
the  second  that  which  constantly  flows  from  each  pole 
towards  the  equator.  The  tropical  or  westerly  current  is 
chiefly  confined  within  the  zone  extending  to  about  30°  on 
each  side  of  the  equator,  and  its  velocity  is  estimated  by 
Humboldt  at  about  nine  or  ten  miles  a  day.  In  the  Atlan- 
tic it  separates  into  two  branches :  one  of  which  forms  the 
gulf  stream ;  and  the  other  flows  along  the  coast  of  Brazil, 
27 


CURRYING. 

and  passes  through  the  Straits  of  Magellan.  The  gulf 
stream  flows  northward  through  the  middle  of  the  Atlantic, 
till  it  reaches  the  Cape  Verd  Islands ;  it  then  passes  through 
the  Caribbean  Sea,  between  Cuba  and  the  peninsula  of 
Yucatan,  sweeps  round  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  rushes  out 
by  the  Bahama  Channel ;  then,  spreading  out  to  a  greater 
breadth,  it  continues  its  course  along  the  shores  of  the 
United  States  to  Newfoundland,  where  it  is  deflected  east- 
ward by  a  current  setting  in  from  Baffin's  Bay  ;  and,  pass- 
ing the  Azores  and  Canary  Islands,  returns  in  a  great  mea- 
sure into  itself.  Its  breadth  is  51  leagues  in  the  Bahama 
Channel,  and  velocity  from  3  to  5  miles  an  hour.  (.Mur- 
ray's Geography,  p.  186.)  The  polar  currents  How  con- 
stantly from  the  poles  towards  the  equator,  though  it  is  evi- 
dent that  their  sources  must  be  supplied  by  currents  in  a 
contrary  direction.  Their  existence  is  proved  by  the  great 
masses  of  ice  which  are  carried  every  year  from  the  polar 
s«as  to  tropical  latitudes.  Oceanic  currents,  by  carrying 
with  them  the  temperature  of  the  regions  whence  they 
flow,  contribute  in  no  small  degree  to  modify  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  atmosphere,  and  give  a  character  to  the  climate 
of  the  countries  to  which  they  are  contiguous.  On  the 
parallel  of  New  York  Humboldt  found  the  temperature  of 
the  gulf  stream  72°  of  Fahrenheit,  while  out  of  the  current 
the  heat  of  the  ocean  at  the  surface  was  only  63°.  The 
current  which  flows  along  the  eastern  coast  of  Africa,  and 
doubles  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  in  a  stream  130  miles 
broad,  is  from  7°  to  8°  warmer  than  the  contiguous  sea. 
The  existence  of  under  currents  in  the  ocean  is  suspected 
rather  than  proved.  For  currents  in  the  atmosphere,  see 
Winds. 

CU'RRYING.  (Fr.  corroyer.)  The  art  of  dressing 
skins  after  they  are  tanned,  for  the  purposes  of  the  shoe- 
maker, saddler,  and  harness-maker,  &c.  ;  or  of  giving  them 
the  necessary  smoothness,  lustre,  colour,  and  suppleness. 
The  operation  of  currying  is  performed  in  two  ways  ;  either 
upon  the  flesh,  or  on  the  hair,  or,  as  it  is  technically  called, 
me  grain;  and  consists  chiefly  of  four  processes,  which 
require  great  experience  and  dexterity.  The  reader  will 
find  in  Dr.  Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts,  Sec.  a  full  account  of 
this  curious  operation,  accompanied  by  a  wood  cut  illustra- 
tive of  the  singular  tools  and  manipulations  which  it  re- 
quires. 

CU'RSITORS.  (Lat.  curro,  /  run.)  Officers  in  the 
Court  of  Chancery,  whose  duty  it  is  to  make  out  original 
writs.  They  are  called  also  clerks  of  the  course  (clerici 
de  cursu) ;  and  are  24  in  number,  forming  a  peculiar  cor- 
poration. Cursitor  Baron  is  the  name  of  an  officer  in  the 
Court  of  Exchequer,  who  administers  the  oath  to  all  high 
sheriffs,  under  sheriffs,  bailiffs,  and  all  the  functionaries  of 
the  customs. 

CURTAI'L  STEP.  (Lat.  curtus,  short.)  The  lower  step 
in  a  flight  of  stairs  ending  at  its  outer  extremity  in  a  scroll. 
Perhaps  taking  its  name  from  the  step  curling  round  like  a 
cur's  tail. 

CURTA'NA.  The  sword  (as  it  is  called)  of  Edward  the 
Confessor,  which  has  its  edge  blunted  as  an  emblem  of 
Mercy.  It  is  carried  between  the  swords  of  justice  tem- 
poral and  justice  spiritual ;  and  borne  before  the  kings  of 
England  at  their  coronation. 

CU'RTATE  DISTANCE.  A  term  employed  in  astro- 
nomy to  denote  a  planet's  distance  from  the  sun  reduced 
to  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic.  The  curtate  (or  shortened)  dis- 
tance is  therefore  equal  to  the  true  distance  multiplied  by 
the  cosine  of  the  planet's  heliocentric  latitude. 

CU'RTESY  or  COURTESY  OF  ENGLAND,  in  Law, 
is  the  right  of  a  husband  who  has  married  a  wife  seised  in 
fee  simple  or  fee  tail  general,  or  heiress  in  special  tail,  and 
has  issue  male  or  female  born  alive,  and  which  by  possi- 
bility may  inherit,  to  hold  her  lands  after  her  death  for  his 
life.  (See  Marriage,  Law  of.)  Thus,  four  things  are 
said  to  be  necessary  to  give  an  estate  by  the  curtesy, — 
marriage,  seisin  of  the  wife,  issue,  and  death  of  the  wife. 

CU'RULE  MAGISTRACD3S,  in  Ancient  History,  were 
those  of  the  greatest  dignity  in  the  Roman  state ;  and  were 
distinguished  from  all  others  by  the  privilege  enjoyed  by 
the  persons  who  held  them  of  sitting  on  ivory  chairs  (se/te 
curules)  when  engaged  in  their  public  functions.  The  cu- 
rule  magistrates  were  the  consuls,  praetors,  censors,  and 
chief  ffidiles ;  which  last,  on  account  of  this  privilege,  were 
called  curule  wdiles,  to  distinguish  them  from  the  plebeian. 

CU'RVATURE.  The  continual  flexure  or  bending  of  a 
line  from  the  rectilinear  direction.  The  curvature  of  a 
circle  is  greater  in  proportion  as  the  radius  is  smaller ;  and 
the  curvature  of  any  other  curve  at  a  given  point  is  mea  - 
sured  by  comparing  it  with  a  circle  which  osculates  it,  or 
forms  with  it  a  contact  of  a  particular  kind  at  that  point. 
(See  Osculating  Circle,  and  Radius  op  Curvature.) 
The  determination  of  the  curvature  of  curve  lines  requires 
the  aid  of  the  differential  calculus. 

CURVE.    In  Analytical  Geometry,  a  line  of  which  no 

three  consecutive  points  are  in  the  same  direction  or  straight 

line.    The  general  theory  of  curve  lines,  and  of  the  figures 

bounded  by  them,  forms  an  extensive  and  important  part 

310 


CURVE. 

of  mathematical  science,  and  in  fact  properly  constitutes 
what  is  called  the  high  or  transcendent  geometry.  It  will 
easily  be  understood,  however,  that  the  carves  which  form 
the  object  of  geometrical  speculation  are  those  only  of 
which  the  succession  of  points  observes  a  regular  law,  ca- 
pable of  being  expressed  by  a  mathematical  formula ;  not 
those  which  are  formed  irregularly  by  the  hand,  for  exam- 
ple, like  letters  in  writing. 

Although  the  ancient  geometricians  had  bestowed  some 
attention  on  the  subject  of  curve  lines,  and  in  addition  to 
the  conic  sections  had  investigated  some  of  the  properties 
of  a  few  other  curves,  as  the  cissoid,  the  conchoid,  partic- 
ular kinds  of  spirals,  and  perhaps  others  whose  names  may 
have  been  forgotten :  yet  their  researches  had  only  led 
them  to  the  knowledge  of  a  small  number  of  particular 
propositions  deduced  from  a  laborious  consideration  of 
the  circumstances  of  each  individual  case,  and  not  admit- 
I  ting  of  extended  application.  The  general  methods  of  in- 
vestigation which  the  modern  geometer  can  apply  with  so 
much  greater  advantage  are  owing  to  the  progress  of  alge- 
bra, and  the  happy  invention  by  Descartes  of  the  method 
of  defining  curves  by  algebraic  equations. 

Let  M  N  be  a  curve,  and  A  B,  A  C  two  straight  lines  in 
the  same  plane,  to  which  all  its  points  are  referred  ;  then 
A  B  and  A  C  are  the  axes  of  the  curve.  Take  a  point  P  in 
the  curve,  and  draw  P  Q  parallel  to  A  C  ;  the  line  A(i  is 
called  the  absciss  of  the  point  P,  and  is  denoted  by  x ;  and 
_  P  Q.  the  ordinate,  and  denoted  by  y.  Now 
if  for  any  given  value  of  A  Q  a  correspond- 
ing value  of  P  Q  can  be  assigned,  that  is,  if 
P  Q  can  be  expressed  in  terms  of  A  Q  and 
known  quantities,  that  expression  is  called 
the  equation  of  the  curve,  and  all  its  pro- 
perties can  be  thence  deduced  by  means 
B  of  algebraic  n-ansformations  without  any 
reference  to  the  diagram. 

The  first  use  of  this  method  of  defining  curve  lines  by 
means  of  an  equation  between  the  absciss  and  ordinate  is 
to  enable  us  to  divide  them  into  classes,  of  which  all  the 
individuals  have  some  properties  in  common.  Descartes- 
divided  them  into  two  great  classes, — geometrical  and  me- 
chanical. It  is  now  usual  to  indicate  the  same  distinctions 
by  the  terms  algebraic  and  transcendental.  Algebraic 
curves  are  those  in  which  the  relation  between  the  absciss 
and  the  ordinate  is  expressed  by  an  algebraic  equation  : 
transcendental  curves  are  those  in  which  the  relation  be- 
tween x  and  y  is  not  expressed  by  an  algebraic,  but  by  a 
differential  equation  ;  that  is,  by  an  equation  between  d  x 
and  d  y.  There  is  still  a  class  which  may  be  regarded  as 
intermediate  between  these  two ;  namely,  exponential 
curves,  or  those  in  the  equation  of  which  one  or  both  of 
the  unknown  quantities  enters  as  an  exponent.  Such,  for 
example,  is  the  equation  y=za*. 

In  order  to  form  an  idea  of  a  curve  of  which  the  equation 
is  given,  it  is  necessary  to  suppose  the  equation  resolved ; 
that  is  to  say,  that  the  value  of  y  is  found  in  terms  of  x  and 
given  numbers.  This  being  found,  we  take  all  the  positive 
values  of  x  from  0  to  -f-  infinity,  and  also  all  the  negative 
values  to  —  infinity.  The  corresponding  ordinates  or  valuea 
of  y  will  give  all  the  points  of  the  curve  ;  the  positive  or- 
dinates being  taken  on  one  side  of  the  axis  of  the  abscissa, 
and  the  negative  on  the  opposite  side. 

Algebraic  curves  are  divided  into  different  classes  or 
orders,  according  to  the  degree  of  the  equation  which  ex- 
presses the  relation  between  their  co-ordinates.  Straight 
lines  are  denominated  lines  of  the  first  order,  because  the 
equation  of  a  straight  line  being  of  the  form  0  =  A-|-Br 
■+■  C  y,  is  only  of  one  dimension  ;  that  is  to  say,  it  con- 
tains no  powers  or  products  of  the  variables  x  and  y. 
Lines  of  the  second  order  are  those  of  which  the  equation 
rises  to  two  dimensions.  The  general  form  of  this  equa- 
tion is, 

0  =  A  +  B  x  +  C  y  +  D  x »  +  E  x  y  +  F  y*  ; 
and  the  curves  which  it  includes  are  the  conic  sections  ; 
that  is,  the  circle,  the  ellipse,  the  hyperbola,  and  the  para- 
bola. These  curve  lines  are  the  simplest  of  all,  because 
lines  of  the  first  order  are  not  curves ;  hence  they  are 
sometimes  called  curves  of  the  first  order.  Following  out  the 
analogy,  lines  of  the  third,  or  those  whose  equation  rises  to 
the  third  degree,  axe  curves  of  the  second  order,  and  so  on. 
The  dimension  of  the  equation  of  a  curve  line  is  not  al- 
tered by  changing  the  origin  or  position  of  its  co-ordinates, 
or  in  making  any  transformation  of  its  axes.  It  follows, 
therefore,  that  a  line  of  the  wth  order  can  never  be  inter- 
sected by  a  straight  line  in  more  than  n  points,  because  the 
ordinates  can  never  have  more  than  n  real  values.  This 
follows  from  the  general  theory  of  equations;  and  in  fact 
all  the  properties  of  any  curve  line  being  deducible  from 
its  equation,  a  complete  theory  of  algebraic  equaiions  of 
any  degree  includes  the  theory  of  lines  of  that  order.  In 
this  way  it  is  proved  that  all  lines  of  any  order  of  which  the 
number  is  uneven  have  necessarily  at  least  two  infinite 
branches  ;  for  in  this  case  one  at  least  of  the  co-ordinates 
is  raised  to  an  uneven  power  in  the  equation,— for  example, 


CUSCUTACEjE. 

the  3d,  the  5th,  &c. ;  and  therefore  will  have  at  least  one 
real  value,  whatever  value  (which  may  be  increased  in  in- 
finitum, positively  and  negatively)  may  be  given  to  the 
other  coordinate. 

We  have  mentioned  that  the  lines  of  the  second  order 
include  only  the  circle  and  the  conic  sections.  Newton,  in 
his  Enumeratio  Linear um  Tertii  Ordinis,  reckons  72  spe- 
cies of  lines  of  the  third  order,  or  curves  of  the  2d  degree. 
As  the  order  is  more  elevated  the  number  of  genera  and 
species  becomes  more  numerous.  The  subdivisions  into 
genera  and  species  are,  however,  founded  on  some  arbi- 
trary properties,  and  consequently  are  not  made  uniformly 
by  different  authors.  Cramer,  in  his  Analyse  des  Lignes 
Courbes,  found  fourteen  different  genera  of  curves  of  the 
third  order ;  and  Euler  (Inlroductio  in  Analysin  lnfinito- 
rum)  sixteen.  The  whole  number  of  curves  belonging  to 
this  order  has  been  supposed  to  amount  to  some  thousands. 

Curves  of  Double  Curvature. — Hitherto  we  have  spoken 
only  of  curves  on  a  plane  ;  but  if  they  are  traced  on  sur- 
faces which  are  not  plane,  they  will  have  a  double  curva- 
ture ;  that  which  belongs  to  the  line  itself,  and  that  of  the 
surface  on  which  it  is  traced.  In  order  to  investigate  the 
properties  of  a  curve  of  this  sort,  it  must  be  supposed  to  be 
projected  on  two  different  planes  perpendicular  to  each 
other ;  the  projections  will  be  two  ordinary  curves  having 
a  common  axis  and  different  ordinates.  One  of  these 
curves  will  be  defined  by  an  equation  between  x  and  y,  and 
the  other  by  an  equation  between  x  andz;  so  that  the 
equation  ot  a  curve  of  double  curvature  is  composed  of 
two  equations,  each  containing  two  variables,  of  which  one 
is  common  to  both  equations,  and  taken  on  the  line  of  in- 
tersection of  the  two  planes  of  projection. 

Curve  Surfaces. — A  curve  surface  is  represented  alge- 
braically by  an  equation  containing  three  variables;  for  ex- 
ample, x,  y,  and  z.  It  is  geometrical  when  its  equation  is 
algebraic,  and  expressed  in  finite  terms;  and  mechanical 
when  the  equation  is  differential,  and  not  algebraic.  Curve 
surfaces  are  also  classed  according  to  the  dimensions  of 
the  variables  in  their  equations.  When  the  variables  are 
only  of  the  second  degree,  the  surfaces  are  of  the  second 
order;  when  the  variable  co-ordinates  rise  to  the  third  de- 
gree, they  are  surfaces  of  the  third  order,  and  so  on. 

The  most  complete  treatise  on  the  theory  of  curve  lines 
is  that  of  Cramer,  Introduction  a  V  Analyse  des  Lignes 
•Courbes ;  but  more  or  less  on  the  subject  is  contained  in 
every  work  treating  of  the  application  of  algebra  to  geome- 
try. For  curve  surfaces,  and  curves  of  double  curvature, 
the  student  may  consult  Lacroix's  large  work,  Traitc  du 
Calcul  Dijfcrenlicl  et  du  Calcul  Integral ;  or  the  Applica- 
tion de  V  Analyse  a  la  Geometric  of  Monge. 

CUSCUTA'CEvE.  (Cuscuta,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
very  small  natural  order  of  Exogens,  consisting  of  but  one 
genus,  inhabiting  all  the  quarters  of  the  globe,  and  related 
to  Convolvulacea ;  but  distinguished  by  the  imbricate  co- 
rolla, which  does  not  fall  off  after  flowering,  the  spiral  em- 
bryo, and  the  parasitical  habit.  Common  dodder,  a  curi- 
ous thread-like  twining  plant,  found  on  heaths,  belongs  to 
the  order. 

CUSP.  (Lat.  cuspis,  point.")  In  Astronomy,  expresses 
the  points  or  horns  of  the  moon.  In  geometry  the  word 
is  used  to  denote  the  point  or  corner  formed  by  two  parts 
of  a  curve  meeting  and  terminating  there. 

Cusp.  In  Architecture,  a  term  applied  by  Sir  James 
Hall,  in  his  Origin  of  Gothic  Architecture,  to  the  spear- 
fihaped  ornaments  appended  to  the  several  points  of  tre- 
foil, quatrefoil,  &c.  arches  ;  but  this  term,  it  is  to  be  observ- 
ed, has  not  been  generally  adopted  by  architects. 

CUSPA'RIA  BARK.     See  Anotjstura. 

CU'SPIDATE.  (Lat.  cuspis.)  In  Botany,  a  term  used 
in  describing  the  apex  of  a  body,  when  it  gradually  tapers 
into  a  rigid  point.  It  is  also  used  sometimes  to  express  ab- 
ruptly acuminate,  as  the  leaf  of  many  Rubi. 

CU'STARD  APPLE.  A  term  applied  in  the  West  In- 
dies to  the  fruit  of  the  Anona  reticulata. 

CU'STOM,  (Fr.  coutume),  in  Law,  signifies  generally  a 
right  or  law  not  written,  but  established  by  long  usage.  To 
render  a  custom  valid  it  has  been  said  that  the  following 
qualities  are  requisite :— 1.  Antiquity  ;  i.  e.  that  it  shall  have 
been  used  as  far  back  as  time  of  legal  memory,  that  is,  the 
first  year  of  Richard  I.  2.  Continuance  without  interrup- 
tion; 3.  Without  dispute.  4.  It  must  be  reasonable ;  and  5. 
Certain.  6.  Compulsory.  7.  Customs  must  be  consistent 
with  each  other.  Customs  in  derogation  of  the  common 
law  must  be  construed  strictly.  General  customs,  relating 
to  all  England,  are  determinable  by  the  judges;  but  local 
customs  by  a  jury.  An  exception  to  this  rule  is  to  be  found 
in  the  Custom  of  the  City  of  London,  which,  if  questioned, 
is  established  by  certificate  of  the  mayor  and  aldermen  ; 
with  the  exception  of  those  customs  from  which  the  cor- 
poration itself  claims  a  benefit.  Customs  (coutumes),  in 
the  law  of  France,  were  the  laws  relating  both  to  moveable 
and  immoveable  property  peculiar  to  different  districts  of 
the  kingdom  before  the  Revolution.  Districts  governed  by 
customs  were  commonly  termed  pays  coutumiers,  in  con- 
311 


CUTTING. 

tradistinction  to  the  remainder  of  the  realm,  which  being 
under  the  civil  law  was  termed  pays  de  droit  Romain.  The 
pays  coutumiers  embraced  all  the  north  of  France.  The 
valid  coutumes  were  estimated  at  140  general,  or  compre- 
hending districts,  and  360  local,  belonging  to  towns  and 
places  ;  but  the  enumeration  was  not  exact.  The  coutume 
de  Paris  was  the  most  important  of  all ;  and  it  was  a  gene- 
rally recognized  principle  that  when  a  case  was  unprovided 
for  by  local  custom,  that  of  Paris  was  to  be  applied  in  aid. 
Works  containing  the  customary  law  of  a  particular  dis- 
trict are  stvled  Coutumiers. 

CU'STOMARY  FREEHOLD,  in  Law,  is  a  superior  kind 
of  copyhold  ;  the  tenant  holding,  as  it  is  expressed,  by  copy 
of  court  roll,  but  not  at  the  will  of  the  lord.     See  Copyhold. 

CU'STOMS.  (Lat.  portoria.)  In  Finance,  duties  charged 
on  the  importation  or  exportation  of  certain  commodi- 
ties ;  that  is,  on  their  being  brought  into,  or  sent  from,  a 
country.  Such  duties  were  levied  in  antiquity,  and  form 
an  important  part  of  the  revenue  of  this  and  "most  other 
modern  states.  Down  to  the  a?ra  of  the  Revolution,  cus- 
toms duties  were  charged  indiscriminately  on  most  com- 
modities, whether  exported  or  imported  ;  but  since  the 
epoch  in  question  they  have  been  almost  exclusively  laid 
on  imported  articles  ;  those  laid  on  exports  being,  in  most 
instances,  imposed  rather  to  check  or  prevent  the  exporta- 
tion of  the  articles,  than  in  the  view  of  raising  revenue. 

Were  this  the  proper  place  for  such  investigations,  it 
might  be  easily  shown  that  moderate  customs  duties  are 
about  the  least  exceptionable  of  all  taxes.  They  are  col- 
lected with  the  greatest  possible  facility,  involving  no  in- 
quiry Into  the  circumstances  of  individuals,  as  is  the  case 
with  taxes  on  income  or  property ;  nor  any  interference  of 
any  sort  with  the  processes  carried  on  in  the  arts,  as  is  the 
case  with  certain  excise  duties.  By  allowing  imported 
goods  to  be  lodged  in  bonded  warehouses,  under  the  joint 
locks  of  the  king  and  the  importer,  the  revenue  is  protect- 
ed, without  its  being  necessary  for  the  importer  to  pay  the 
duties  till  the  goods  be  withdrawn  for  consumption,  so  that 
but  little  additional  capital  is  required  to  be  at  the  command 
of  the  importing  merchant  because  of  the  articles  in  which 
he  deals  being  subject  to  duties,  and  but  little  addition  is 
consequently  made  to  the  price  of  the  goods  on  account  of 
the  profits  accruing  to  the  dealers  on  the  duties. 

Customs  duties  should  not  be  carried  to  such  a  height 
as  to  give  any  overpowering  stimulus  to  smuggling.  They 
then  contradict  and  defeat  the  very  purpose  for  which  they 
are  intended.  Our  finance  ministers  have  not,  however, 
been  sufficiently  alive  to  this  obvious  consideration.  There 
can  be  no  articles  better  fitted  to  bear  customs  duties  than 
tobacco  and  spirits ;  but  the  duties  with  which  they  are 
loaded  are  so  extravagantly  high,  that  they  occasion  a  great 
deal  of  smuggling,  with  its  accompanying  crime  and  de- 
moralization, and  would  certainly  be  a  good  deal  more  pro- 
ductive, were  they  effectually  reduced.  The  existing 
duties  on  brandy  and  geneva  are,  perhaps,  the  very  worst 
in  our  tariff;  but  they  would  be  about  the  very  best,  were 
they  reduced  from  22s.  6d.  to  8s.  or  10s.  a  gallon. 

We  subjoin  an  account  of  the  gross  and  nett  amount  of 
the  customs  duty  collected  in  each  of  the  great  divisions 
of  the  United  Kingdom  in  1837  and  1838. 


England 
Scotland 
Ireland 

Total 

Gross  Receipt, 
1837. 

Gross  Receipt, 
1838. 

Nett  Receipt, 
1837. 

Nett  Receipt, 
1838. 

L.        s. 
19,321,324  15 
1,626,291  19 
1,945;849    3 

L.        ». 
19,585,250  15 
1,666,399    0 
1,951,507  17 

L.            8. 

17,471,469  10 
1,402,920    6 
1,682,169    7 

L.        e. 
17,734,405  17 
1,326,000  18 
1,693,776    0 

22,893,465  17 

23,203,157  12 

20,556,359    3 

20,754,182  15 

CU'TICLE.  (Lat.  cutis,  skin.)  In  Anatomy,  the  scarf 
skin.  The  exterior  membranous  covering  of  the  body.  In 
its  chemical  characters  it  resembles  nail,  quill,  &c.v  and 
has  the  properties  of  a  condensed  form  of  albumen. 

Cu'ticle.  In  Botany,  the  thin  vesicular  membrane  that 
covers  the  external  surface  of  vegetables,  and  adheres 
firmly  to  the  cellular  substance  beneath  it.  It  acts  in  plants 
as  a  means  of  preventing  a  too  rapid  perspiration,  and  is 
furnished  with  respiratory  openings  called  stomata. 

CU'TLERY.  A  term  used  to  designate  all  kinds  of  sharp 
and  cutting  instruments  made  of  iron  or  steel,  as  knives, 
forks,  scissors,  razors,  &c.  The  principal  seat  of  the 
manufacture  of  British  cutlery  is  Sheffield  ;  and  the  articles 
made  there  are  held  in  the  highest  estimation  in  all  parts 
of  the  world.    See  Hardware. 

CU'TTER.  A  vessel  with  one  mast  and  a  bowsprit,  of 
considerable  breadth  in  proportion  to  her  length.  The  dis- 
tinction between  a  cutter  and  other  vessels  of  one  mast, 
which  are  called  sloops,  is,  that  in  the  cutter  the  jib  has  no 
stay  to  support  it. 

CU'TTING.  An  excavation  made  through  land,  to  con- 
duct a  road  through  it  on  a  level  lower  than  that  of  the 
surrounding  land.    See  Railroad. 


CYANIC  ACID. 

CYA'NIC  ACID.  A  compound  of  26  cyanogen  +  S 
oxygen  =  34  cyanic  acid. 

CY'ANITE.  (Gr.  nvavot,  blue.)  A  massive  and  crystal- 
lized mineral.  It  has  a  pearly  lustre,  is  translucent,  and 
of  various  shades  of  blue :  it  is  a  silicate  of  alumina,  with 
a  trace  of  oxide  of  iron.     Only  found  in  primitive  rocks. 

CYA'NOGEN.  (Gr.  icvavot,  and  yiyvop.ai,  I  am  pro- 
duced;  because  it  is  an  essential  ingredient  of  Prussian 
blue.)  Cyanogen  is  a  gas  of  a  strong  and  peculiar  odour, 
resembling  that  of  rubbed  peach  leaves  ;  it  is  obtained  by 
heating  cyanuret  of  mercury.  Under  a  pressure  of  between 
3  and  4  atmospheres  it  becomes  a  limpid  liquid.  It  ex- 
tinguishes a  taper,  is  highly  poisonous  and  unrespirable, 
and  burns  in  contact  of  air  with  a  rich  purple  flame.  Water 
absorbs  between  4  and  5  times  its  volume  of  the  gas.  It  is 
composed  of  carbon  and  nitrogen  in  the  proportions  of  12 
carbon  +  14  nitrogen  =  26  cyanogen  ;  it  is  therefore  a  bi- 
carburet  of  nitrogen.  Mixed  with  oxygen  it  explodes  by 
the  electric  spant,  and  is  resolved  into  carbonic  acid  and 
nitrogen  gas.  It  combines  with  hydrogen  to  produce  the 
hydrocyanic  or  prussic  acid  :  it  forms  with  the  metals  cy- 
anuret s  or  cyanides. 

CYANO'METER.  (Gr.  nvavo;,  and  uerpov,  mea- 
sure.) An  instrument  contrived  by  Saussure  for  de- 
termining the  deepness  of  the  tint  of  the  atmosphere. 
A  circular  band  of  thick  paper  or  pasteboard  is  divided 
into  51  parts,  each  of  which  is  painted  with  a  different 
shade  of  blue,  decreasing  gradually  from  the  deepest  blue 
formed  by  a  mixture  of  black,  to  the  lightest  formed  by  a 
mixture  of  white.  The  coloured  zone  is  held  in  the  hand 
of  the  observer,  who  notices  the  particular  tint  which  cor- 
responds to  the  colour  of  the  sky.  The  number  of  this 
tint,  reckoned  from  the  lightest  shade,  marks  the  intensity 
at  the  time  of  observation. 

CYANO'SIS.  (Gr.)  In  Medicine,  the  blue  disease.  A 
blueness  of  the  body  occasionally  arises  from  malforma- 
tion of  the  heart.  The  whole  of  the  body,  and  especially 
its  exposed  parts,  becomes  a  blue  or  lead  colour,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  administration  of  nitrate  of  silver. 

CY'ANU'RETS.  Compounds  of  cyanogen.  When 
Prussian  blue  is  boiled  in  water  with  red  oxide  of  mercury, 
and  the  solution  filtered,  it  yields  white  or  pale  buff  crystals 
of  cyanuret  of  mercury. 

CYANU'RIC  ACID.  A  crystallizable  acid,  obtained  by 
decomposing  urea  by  heat. 

CYBE'LE  (Gr.  Ku/JjjA/j),  in  Mythology,  was  originally 
the  Phrygian  goddess  of  the  earth.  When  her  worship 
was  introduced  among  the  Greeks,  they  confounded  her 
with  Rhea,  as  did  the  Latins  with  their  Ops.  Her  rites, 
like  those  of  the  Asiatic  deities,  in  general  were  celebrated 
with  great  excitement ;  her  priests,  who  were  called  Galli, 
Corybantes,  Curetes,  <fec,  running  about  with  howlings 
and  clashing  of  cymbals. 

CY'CADA'CEjE.  (Cycas,  one  of  the  genera.)  In 
Botany,  a  very  small  natural  order  of  arborescent  Gym- 
nosperms,  inhabiting  the  tropics  of  Asia  and  America. 
They  were  formerly  referred  by  Linnaeus  to  the  Palms ; 
but  in  1825  Brown  showed  the  analogy  between  Cycadacea 
aud  Coniferm,  and  hence  their  present  station.  Adolphe 
Brongniart  also  proved  the  affinity  by  finding  the  vessels 
contained  in  the  wood  of  both  orders  to  be,  as  he  says,  of 
the  same  structure.  The  only  remarkable  quality  in  the 
order  is  the  production  of  a  kind  of  sago  by  the  soft  centre 
of  Cycas  circinalis. 

CY'CLANTHA'CEvE.  (Cyclanthus,oneofthegenera.)In 
Botany,  a  natural  order  of  Endoiens,  inhabiting  the  tropics 
of  the  western  hemisphere,  and  allied  to  Pandanacea1.,  from 
which  their  plaited  leaves  and  spiral  flowers  divide  them. 

CY'CLAS,  SINGLETON,  &c.  An  article  of  dress  worn 
both  with  and  without  defensive  armour,  which  came  into 
fashion  about  the  reigns  of  Edward  II.  and  III.  in  England. 
It  was  a  mantle  or  surcoat  without  sleeves,  of  silk,  cloth, 
&c,  reaching  to  the  knees  before  and  to  the  calves  of  the 
legs  behind.  It  was  succeeded  by  the  japon  or  gyppon, 
a  shorter  kind  of  surcoat. 

CY'CLAS.  (Gr.  kvk\os,  a  circle.)  A  genus  of  fresh- 
water air-breathing  Gastropods  or  snails,  so  named  on  ac- 
count of  the  more  or  less  rounded  circumference  of  the 
shell  in  all  the  species.  Of  these  the  following  are  natives 
of  Britain  : — the  river  cycle  (Cyclas  rivicola,  Leach),  the 
largest  species  of  which  is  not  uncommon  in  the  smaller 
streams  communicating  with  the  Thames;  the  horny  cycle 
(C.  cornea,  Lam.),  common  in  ditches  near  Battersea; 
cupped  cycle  (Cyclas  calyndata,  Drap.);  lake  cycle  'Cy- 
clas lacuslris,  Drap.) 

CY'CLE.  (Gr.  kvk\os.)  The  revolution  of  a  certain 
period  of  time  which  finishes  and  recommences  perpetu- 
ally. Cycles  were  invented  for  the  purposes  of  chronology, 
and  for  marking  the  intervals  in  which  two  or  more  periods, 
of  unequal  length,  are  each  completed  a  certain  number  of 
times,  so  that  both  begin  exactly  in  the  same  circumstances 
as  at  first.  The  cycles  used  in  chronology  are  three  ;  the 
cycle  of  the  sun,  the  cycle  of  the  moon  or  Metonic  cycle,  and 
the  cycle  of  indiction. 
342 


CYCLOID. 

The  cycle  of  the  sun,  or  solar  cycle,  is  a  period  of  time 
after  which  the  same  days  of  the  week  recur  on  the  same 
days  of  the  year.  If  the  number  of  days  in  the  year  were 
always  the  same,  this  cycle  could  only  contain  seven  years  ; 
but  the  order  is  interrupted  by  the  intercalations.  In  the 
Julian  calendar  the  intercalary  day  returns  every  fourth 
year,  and  the  cycle  consequently  contains  4X7  =  28  years  ; 
after  which  period  the  Dominical  letters  return  in  the  sama 
order,  or  the  first  day  of  the  year  and  of  every  month  falls 
again  on  the  same  day  of  the  week.  The  origin  of  this  cycle 
is  unknown  ;  it  is  supposed  to  have  been  invented  about  the 
time  of  the  Council  of  Nice  (325) ;  but  the  first  year  of  the 
cycle  is  placed  by  chronologists  nine  years  before  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Christian  era.  Hence  the  year  of  the 
cycle  corresponding  to  any  given  year  in  the  Julian  calen- 
dar is  found  by  the  following  rule  :—  Add  nine  to  the  date, 
and  divide  the  sum  by  ticenty-eight ;  the  quotient  is  the 
number  of  cycles  elapsed,  and  the  remainder  is  the  year  of 
the  cycle.  Should  there  be  no  remainder,  the  proposed 
year  is  the  28th,  or  last  of  the  cycle.  In  the  reformed  ca- 
lendar this  rule  can  only  apply  from  century  to  century  ; 
for  the  order  is  interrupted  by  the  omission  of  the  interca- 
lary day  every  hundredth  year,  and  is  not  restored  till  the 
end  of  four  hundred  years.     .See  Dominical  Letter. 

The  cycle  of  the  moon  is  a  period  of  19  solar  years,  after 
which  the  new  and  full  moons  fall  on  the  same  days  of  the 
year  as  they  did  19  years  before.  This  cycle  was  invented 
by  Meton,  a  celebrated  astronomer  of  Athens,  and  the 
chronological  period  which  he  founded  on  it  is  celebrated 
in  history  under  the  name  of  the  Metonic  cycle.  The 
Metonic  cycle  contained  exactly  6940  days,  which  ex- 
ceeds the  true  length  of  19  solar  years  by  nine  and  a  half 
hours  nearly.  On  the  other  hand,  it  exceeds  the  length  of 
235  lunations,  or  synodic  revolutions  of  the  moon,  by  seven 
hours  and  a  half  only.  The  framers  of  the  ecclesiastical 
calendar,  in  adopting  this  period,  altered  the  distribution  of 
the  lunar  months,  in  order  to  accommodate  them  to  the 
Julian  intercalation ;  and  the  effect  of  the  alteration  was 
that  every  three  periods  of  6940  days  was  followed  by  one 
of  6939.  The  mean  length  of  the  cycle  was  therefore  6939| 
days,  which  agrees  exactly  with  19  Julian  years.  A  table, 
therefore,  showing  the  days  of  the  new  and  full  moons  fov 
19  years,  would  serve  to  show  the  days  of  these  phenome- 
na for  any  year  whatever  when  its  number  in  the  cycle  is 
known.  The  number  of  the  year  in  the  cycle  is  called  the 
golden  number ;  either  because  it  was  so  termed  by  the 
Greeks,  who,  on  account  of  its  utility,  ordered  it  to  be  in- 
scribed in  letters  of  gold  in  their  temples,  or  more  proba- 
bly because  it  was  usual  to  distinguish  it  by  red  letters  in 
the  calendar.  The  cycle  is  supposed  to  commence  with 
the  year  in  which  the  new  moon  falls  on  the  1st  of  January. 
This  happened  in  the  year  preceding  the  commencement 
of  our  era ;  hence  to  find  the  number  of  any  year  in  the 
lunar  cycle  or  the  golden  number  of  that  year,  we  have  this 
rule: — Add  one  to  the  date,  and  divide  by  nineteen;  the 
quotient  is  the  number  of  cycles  elapsed,  and  the  remainder 
is  the  year  of  the  cycle.  Should  there  be  no  remainder, 
the  proposed  year  is  the  last  or  19th  of  the  cycle. 

Cycle  of  indiction,  or  Roman  indiction,  a  period  of  15 
years  ;  not  astronomical,  like  the  two  former,  but  entirely 
arbitrary.  Its  origin  and  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  estab- 
lished are  alike  uncertain ;  but  it  is  conjectured  that  it 
was  introduced  by  Constantine  the  Great,  about  the  year 
312  of  the  common  era,  and  had  reference  to  certain  judi- 
cial acts  that  took  place  under  the  Greek  emperors  at  stated 
intervals  of  15  years.  In  chronological  reckoning,  it  is 
considered  as  having  commenced  on  the  1st  of  January  of 
the  year  313.  By  extending  it  backwards  to  the  beginning 
of  the  era,  it  will  be  found  that  the  first  year  of  the  era  cor- 
responded with  the  4th  of  the  cycle.  In  order,  therefore, 
to  find  the  number  of  any  year  in  the  cycle  of  indiction, 
we  have  this  rule  : — Add  three  to  the  date  :  divide  the  sum 
by  fifteen,  add  the  remainder  is  the  year  of  indiction.  See 
Calendar. 

CY'CLIC  CHORUS.  The  chorus  which  performed  the 
songs  and  dances  of  the  Dithyrambic  Odes  at  Athens. 
They  derived  their  name  from  the  circumstance  of  their 
dancing  round  the  altar  of  Bacchus  in  a  circle  (kvk^os),  and 
were  thus  distinguished  from  the  square  (Terpayayvos)  cho- 
ruses of  tragedy. 

CY'CLIC  POETS.  (Gr.  kvk\o;.)  This  term  was  ap- 
plied  to  a  succession  of  Epic  poets  who  followed  Homer, 
and  wrote  merely  on  the  Trojan  war  and  the  adventures 
of  the  heroes  immediately  connected  with  it,  keeping,  as  it 
were,  to  one  circle  (kukAos)  of  subjects.  None  of  their 
works  have  come  down  to  us. 

CY'CLOBRA'NCHIANS,  Cyclobranchiata.  (Gr.  kvk\os, 
and  (Ipayxia,  gills.)  The  name  of  an  order  of  hermaphro- 
dite Gastropodous  Mollusks,  including  those  in  which  the 
branchiae  consist  of  little  tufts  or  pyramids  attached  in  a 
circular  arrangement  to  the  inner  surface  of  the  margin  of 
the  mantle. 

CYCLOI'D,  or  TROCHOID.  (Gr.  kvk\os,  or  rpo^oj, 
wheel;  and  eidos,  form.)    In  Geometry,  one  of  the  tran- 


CYCLOIDES. 

etendental  curves,  described  by  a  point  P  in  the  circum- 
ference of  a  circle  which  rolls  along  an  extended  straight 
line  A  B  until  it  has  completed  a  revolution.  Some  of  the 
properties  of  the  curve  are  obvious  from  this  definition. 
The  line  A  B,  which  is  called  the 
base  of  the  cycloid,  is  equal  to  the 
circumference  of  the  generating 
circle  ;  and  C  D,  which  is  the  axis 
of  the  cycloid,  is  equal  to  the  di- 
ameter. In  any  position  E  P  F  of "  A 
the  generating  circle,  A  E  is  equal 

to  the  arc  E  P,  A  Q  the  absciss  =  AE  —  QE=arcEP 
—  sine  E  P,  and  P  Q  the  ordinate  =  1  —  cosine  of  E  P. 
It  is  also  easy  to  prove  that  the  whole  length  of  the  cycloid 
A  D  B  is  equal  to  four  times  C  D,  and  the-  whole  area  or 
space  between  the  curve  and  its  base  triple  that  of  the  gen- 
erating circle.  A  portion  of  the  curve  D  P,  counted  from 
its  summit,  is  double  of  F  P,  the  supplemental  chord  of 
the  arc  E  P  ;  and  F  P  is  also  a  tangent  to  the  cycloid  at  P. 
The  curve  has  many  other  remarkable  properties  which 
have  been  discovered  by  more  recondite  investigations. 
Its  involute,  or  the  curve  formed  by  unfolding  a  thread  or 
flexible  line  from  its  convex  side,  is  a  cycloid  equal  and 
similar  to  the  original.  If  a  heavy  body  descends  by  the 
force  of  gravity  in  an  inverted  cy-  .  „ 

cloid,  the  velocity  which  it  acquires 
is  exactly  proportional  to  the  length 
of  the  cycloidal  arc  P  D ;  so  that  P' 
from  whatever  point  (P,  P')  it  may 
begin  to  fall,  it  will  arrive  at  the  low-  — 

est  point  D  in  precisely  the  same  time.  If  a  body  is  to  de- 
scend by  the  force  of  gravity  from  a  point  A  to  another 
point  D  not  in  the  same  vertical,  it  will  accomplish  the  pas- 
sage in  a  less  time  by  describing  the  cycloid  A  P  D  than  by 
moving  in  the  straight  line  A  D,  or  in  any  other  path  what- 
ever.    See  Brachystochrone. 

The  cycloid  may  be  made  to  assume  an  endless  variety 
of  forms  by  placing  the  tracing  point  not  in  the  circum- 
ference of  the  generating  circle,  but  without  or  within  it, 
though  still  in  the  same  plane.  When  the  tracing  point  is 
without  the  circle,  the  curve  has  its  base  shortened,  and  is 
called  the  curtate  or  contracted  cycloid.  If  the  point  is 
within  the  circumference,  the  curve  is  called  the  prolate  or 
inflected  cycloid. 

Few  curves  have  afforded  finer  scope  for  the  exercise  of 
modern  geometry  than  the  cycloid.  Its  properties  suc- 
cessively engaged  the  attention  of  Roberval,  Fermal,  Des- 
cartes. Pascal,  Slusius,  Wren,  and  Wallis.  Huygens  recti- 
fied the  curve  so  early  as  1657 ;  and  having  afterwards  dis- 
covered its  lsochronism,  or  the  remarkable  property  that 
all  bodies  gliding  along  it  will  descend  from  any  point  in  the 
same  time,  and  likewise  that  it  produces  a  similar  cycloid 
by  its  development,  he  applied  these  discoveries  to  the 
improvement  of  the  pendulum,  and  showed  how  a  perfect- 
ly synchronous  vibration  could  be  procured,  theoretically 
at  least,  by  causing  a  flexible  rod  to  vibrate  between  cy- 
cloidal cheeks.  Its  property  of  being  the  line  of  swiftest 
descent  was  discovered  by  John  Bernoulli  in  1697. 

CYCLOl'DES.  (Gr.  kvk\os)  A  name  given  by  Agassiz 
to  one  of  his  orders  of  fishes,  the  species  composing  which 
have  scales  composed  of  simple  layers  with  smooth  mar- 
gins, but  often  ornamented  on  their  exterior  surface  with 
different  figures  impressed  upon  all  the  layers :  these  are 
of  honi  or  bone  without  enamel;  the  scales  of  the  lateral 
line,  instead  of  being  flat,  are  funnel-shaped  ;  the  contracted 
part  applied  against  the  disk  of  the  scale  forms  the  tube 
by  which  the  mucus  exudes  which  covers  the  fish.  The 
families  included  in  the  Cycloid  order  are,  Labroides, 
Muges,  At/ierines,  Scomberoids,  Gadoids,  Gobioids,  Mu- 
renoids,  Lucioids,  Salmonoids,  Clupeoids,  and  Cyprinoids. 

CY'CLOP-dE'DIA.  (More  correctly  Encyclopaedia,  from 
the  Greek  words  iv  kvk\o>  iraiScia  ;  instruction  in  acircle.) 
A  work  containing  definitions  or  accounts  of  the  principal 
subjects  in  one  or  all  departments  of  learning,  art,  or  sci- 
ence. Its  arrangement  may  be  either  according  to  divi- 
sions into  the  various  sciences,  &c,  or  the  subjects  may 
be  arranged  and  treated  in  alphabetical  order.  The  En- 
eyclopedie  Frangoise,  or  Dictionnaire  Encyclopedique,  and 
the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  have  been  the  most  cele- 
brated works  of  this  species ;  but  the  earliest  appears  to 
be  the  Lexicon  Technicum  of  Harris,  published  in  1706. 
The  great  French  work,  the  Encyclopedic  Methodique,  con- 
sists, not  of  one,  but  of  a  series  of  encyclopedias  or  dic- 
tionaries.   See  Dictionary,  Encyclopedia. 

CYCLO'PEAN.  An  epithet  applied  to  certain  huge 
structures,  the  remains  of  which  are  found  in  many  parts 
of  Greece,  Italy,  and  Asia  Minor,  the  architecture  of  which 
was  totally  different  m  style  from  that  which  prevailed 
during  the  historical  ages.  The  epithet  originated  in  the 
Grecian  tradition  that  assigned  these  edifices  to  the  gigan- 
tic strength  of  the  Cyclops.  It  is  most  probable  that  they 
were  really  raised  by  the  Pelasgians,  the  predecessors  or 
ancestors  of  the  later  Greeks ;  and  a  gradual  progress  may 
be  traced  in  them  from  the  extreme  of  rudeness  to  a  de- 
313 


CYNICS. 

gree  of  symmetry  that  indicates  an  approach  to  the  ele- 
gance of  Grecian  architecture. 

CYCLO'PES.  (Gr.  kvk\o(,  circle,  and  &><//,  eye.)  In 
Mythology,  a  race  of  gigantic  beings  fabled  by  the  Greeks 
to  dwell  in  Sicily,  where  they  assisted  Vulcan  in  forging  the 
thunderbolts  of  Jupiter.  They  had  only  one  eye,  round, 
and  situated  in  the  centre  of  the  forehead.  The  most  ce- 
lebrated among  them  was  Polyphemus,  whose  exploits 
have  formed  a  prolific  theme  for  the  poets  of  antiquity. 
His  attachment  to  the  nymph  Galatea,  is  happily  described 
in  an  idyl  of  Theocritus;  and  the  9th  book  of  the  Odyssey 
contains  a  graphic  account  of  his  savage  propensities,  and 
of  the  loss  of  his  eye  by  the  stratagem  of  Ulysses. 

CYCLO'SIS.  (Gr.  kwAoj.)  A  term  applied  by  Schultz 
to  that  general  motion  of  latex  or  the  vital  fluids  of  plants, 
which  passes  through  vessels  of  a  peculiar  kind,  and  which 
are  diffused  through  the  system  of  plants  without  interrup- 
tion ;  in  distinction  to  rotation,  or  the  movement  of  fluids 
in  different  cells,  as  in  Chara,  Valisncria,  &c.  According 
to  this  physiologist,  the  phenomenon  of  cy  closis  is  confined 
to  the  highest  forms  of  vegetation,  while  that  of  rotation  is 
characteristic  of  the  more  imperfect  orders  of  plants. 

CY'CLOSTO'MA.  (Gr.  kvk'Xos,  and  orofia,  a  mouth.) 
A  genus  of  air-breathing  Gastropods  or  snails;  so  called 
on  account  of  the  circular  form  of  the  aperture  of  the  shell. 
Cyclostoma  elegans  and  Cycl.  productum  are  both  natives 
of  England. 

CY'CLOSTO'MES,  Cyclostoma.  (Gr.  kvk\o%,  and  cropa, 
a  mouth;  round-mouthed.)  A  tribe  of  cartilaginous  fishes, 
including  those  in  which  the  mouth  is  surrounded  by  a 
circular  lip,  forming  a  large  sucker,  as  in  the  lamprey. 

CY'GNUS.  (Lat.  the  swan.)  In  Astronomy,  one  of  the 
old  constellations  in  the  northern  hemisphere. 

Cy'gnus.    In  Ornithology.    See  Swan. 

CY'LINDER.  (Gr.  kv\ivSo),  I  roll.)  In  Geometry,  a 
solid  which  may  be  conceived  to  be  formed  by  the  revolu- 
tion of  a  rectangular  parallelogram  about  one  of  its  sides. 
The  surface  of  a  cylinder,  not  including  the  two  ends,  is 
equal  to  the  rectangle  formed  by  multiplying  the  circum- 
ference of  its  base  into  its  altitude  ;  and  the  solid  content  is 
equal  to  its  altitude  multiplied  into  the  area  of  its  base. 
The  cone,  the  sphere,  and  the  cylinder  have  a  remarkable 
relation  to  each  other,  first  discovered  by  Archimedes: 
namely,  that  the  cone  is  one-third  of  the  cylinder,  having 
the  same  base  and  altitude  ;  and  the  inscribed  sphere  two 
thirds  of  the  cylinder;  or  the  cone,  the  sphere,  and  the 
cylinder  are  to  each  other  as  the  numbers  1,  2,  and  3. 

CYLI'iNDROID.  (Gr.  Kv\ivSpov,  cylinder,  and  ii&os, 
form.)  A  solid  which  differs  from  a  cylinder  in  having 
ellipses  instead  of  circles  for  its  ends  or  bases. 

CY'MA,  or  C'YMATIUM.  (Gr.  xvua,awave.)  InArchi- 
"'r lecture,  a  moulding,  taking  its  name  from   its 

\  contour  resembling  that  of  a  wave,  being  hollow 

in  its  upper  part,  and  swelling  below.     Of  this 

moulding  there  are  two  sorts ;  the  cyma  recta,  just  de- 
—  scribed  ;   and  the  cyma  reversa,  whose  upper  part 
swells,  whilst  the  lower  is  hollow.    By  the  work- 
men these  are  called  ogees. 

Cyma.  (Gr.  Kvrjjia,afcetus.)  In  Botany,  a  form  of  in- 
florescence consisting  of  a  solitary  flower  seated  in  the  ax- 
illa of  dichotomous  ramifications,  as  in  Sambacus.  This 
term  is  also  sometimes  improperly  used,  in  place  of  coma, 
to  express  the  head  of  a  forest  tree. 

CY'MBALS.  (Gr.  KVfi6a\ov,  from  KVfiftos,  hottote.)  Brass 
musical  instruments  ot  percussion,  played  in  pairs  by  strik- 
ing one  against  the  other.  They  are  circular,  about  six  or 
eight  inches  diameter,  attached  to  leather  mountings,  by 
which  they  are  held.  Cymbals  are  musical  instruments 
of  great  antiquity,  though  there  is  considerable  doubt  as  to 
who  was  the  inventor.  They  were  employed  by  the  Greeks 
in  the  festivals  of  Cybele  and  Bacchus,  and  indeed  by  near- 
ly all  the  nations  of  antiquity.  The  cymbals  and  the  crotola 
(which  see)  were  used  together. 

CY'MBIUM.  In  Natural  History,  a  name  given  by  many 
writers  to  a  kind  of  sea-shell,  commonly  called  the  gondola. 
It  belongs  to  the  genus  concha  globosa,  ordolium. 

CYNA'PIA.  A  crystallizable  alkaline  base  obtained  from 
the  jEthusa  cynapium. 

CY'lVARAXEJE.  (Cynara,  one  of  the  genera.)  In 
Botany,  one  of  the  divisions  of  the  great  group  of  Composite, 
admitted  by  Jussieu.  It  contains  the  thistle,  the  artichoke, 
and  similar  plants,  having  their  capitula  surrounded  by  a 
hard  spiny  or  lacerated  involucrum,  and  long  equal  tubular 
florets  with  an  inflated  limb.  They  are  also  called  Cynaro- 
cephalm. 

CYNAROCEPHALJE.    See  Cynaraceje. 

CYNARRHO'DIUM.  (Gr.  Kva>v,adog,and  poSov,arose.) 
In  Botany,  a  fruit  with  distinct  ovaria,  and  hard  indehiscent 
pericarpia  enclosed  within  the  fleshy  tube  of  the  calyx,  as 
in  Rosa. 

CY'NICS.   A  sect  of  philosophers  among  the  Greeks,  so 

called  from  their  snarling  humour,  and  their  disregard  of 

the  conventional  usages  of  society  ;  the  name  being  derived 

from  kvuv,  a  dog.    It  is  difficult  to  give  any  satisfactory 

V 


CYNIPS. 

account  of  the  tenets  of  this  sect,  as  during  all  the  period 
of  its  existence  it  was  in  a  state  of  constant  fluctuation, 
and,  like  most  of  the  philosophical  systems  of  antiquity,  de- 
rived its  character  and  complexion  from  the  peculiar  tem- 
perament and  disposition  of  those  who  embraced  it.  But 
amid  all  the  follies  and  incongruities  by  which  it  was  dis- 
figured, and  which  exhibited  themselves  chiefly  in  a  con- 
temptuous neglect  of  all  science  and  art,  and  of  all  the  com- 
forts and  charities  of  life,  it  is  impossible  not  to  admit  that 
its  grand  aim  was  to  inculcate  the  love  of  rigid  virtue  and  a 
contempt  of  pleasure.  On  this  point  the  testimony  of 
Horace,— himself  a  zealous  adherent  of  the  school  of  Aris- 
tippus,  the  very  opposite  of  the  cynical  sect,— even  were 
there  no  other,  must  be  held  to  be  conclusive ;  and,  accord- 
ing to  his  opinion,  the  aim  of  the  cynical  philosophy  was  to 
induce  every  man  to  become 

Virtutis  verae  custos,  rigidusque  salelles. 
This  sect  was  founded  by  Antisthenes,  a  disciple  of  So- 
crates, who  sought  to  imitate  his  master  in  carelessness  of 
outward  splendour  and  contempt  of  riches  ;  but  his  indif- 
ference to  these  things  soon  degenerated  unhappily  into  a 
love  of  ostentation,  shown  by  a  display  of  poverty.  Thus 
he  and  many  of  his  followers  rejected  not  only  the  conve- 
niences but  the  common  decencies  of  life,  and  lived  in 
rags  and  filthiness ;  while  they  sneered  bitterly  at  the  rest 
of  the  world,  instead  of  endeavouring  to  teach  it  to  culti- 
vate the  pure  reason  of  which  they  professed  themselves  to 
be  the  only  followers.  Of  this  sect  was  the  famous  Dioge- 
nes, whose  meeting  with  Alexander  the  Great  is  too  well 
known  to  require  being  noticed  in  this  place. 

CY'NIPS.  (Gr.  kvu),  I  am  pregnant.)  A  Linnsean 
genus  of  Hymenopterous  insects,  belonging  to  that  section 
which  has  not  a  poisonous  sting.  The  ova  of  this  genus 
are  deposited  in  living  trees,  and  the  irritation  excited  by 
their  presence  gives  rise  to  the  formation  of  the  excres- 
cences called  galls. 

CY'NOMORIA'CEJE.  (Cynomorium,  one  of  the  ge- 
nera.) In  Botany,  a  natural  order  of  Rhizanths,  at  present 
but  little  known.  One  species  is  a  native  of  Malta,  and 
was  formerly  supposed  to  possess  great  medicinal  powers 
as  an  astringent:  it  figures  in  old  officinal  catalogues  under 
the  name  of  Fungus  melitensis. 

CY'NOSA'RGES.  A  sort  of  academy  in  the  suburbs 
of  Athens,  situated  near  the  Lyceum  ;  so  called  from  the 
mythological  story  of  a  white  dog  (kvvos  apyov),  which, 
when  Diomus  was  sacrificing  to  Hercules,  the  guardian  of 
the  place,  carried  off  part  of  the  victim.  Besides  possess- 
ing several  temples  erected  in  honour  of  Hercules.  Alc- 
mene,  and  other  mythological  personages,  it  was  chiefly 
famed  for  its  gymnasium,  in  which  foreigners  or  citizens 
of  half  blood  used  to  perform  their  exercises;  and  as  be- 
ing the  place  where  Antisthenes  instituted  the  sect  of  the 
cynics,  and  taught  his  opinions. 

CY'NOSURE.  (Gr.  kvoiv,  a  dog,  and  ovpa,  a  tail)  Li- 
terally the  tail  of  a  dog,  applied  by  some  philosophers  to 
the  constellation  Ursa  Minor,  by  which  the  ancient  Phoeni- 
cians used  to  be  guided  on  their  voyages  :  whence  it  has 
been  borrowed  by  the  language  of  poetry,  in  which  it  sig- 
nifies "  a  point  of  attraction  :" 

Where  perhaps  some  beauty  lies, 

The  cynosure  of  neighbouring  eyes.    L' Allegro,  79. 

CY'NTHIUS  and  CY'NTHIA.  In  Mythology,  sur- 
names given  by  the  ancient  poets  to  Apollo  and  Diana: 
from  Cynthus,  a  mountain  of  the  island  of  Delos,  on 
which  they  are  fabled  to  have  been  born.  (Virg.  Eclog.  6.  3.; 
Hot.,  Od.  III.  28.)  / 

CYPERA'CEjE.  (Cyperus.  one  of  the  genera.)  A  na- 
tural order  of  Endogens,  inhabiting  the  marshes,  ditches, 
streams,  &c.  of  all  countries.  They  closely  resemble 
Graminacece  ;  but  are  distinguished  from  them  by  the 
stems  being  solid  and  angular,  not  round  and  fistular,  and 
by  there  being  no  diaphragms  at  the  articulations.  They  ap- 
proach Juncacea.  and  Restiacecc,  but  are  known  at  once  by 
the  sheaths  of  their  leaves  not  being  split.  The  entire  or- 
der has  lately  been  re-arranged  by  Nees  Von  Estenbeck 
and  Kunth.  Their  sensible  properties  are  unimportant. 
Carex  arenaria  affords  one  of  the  European  substitutes 
for  sarsaparilla. 

CYPHE'LL-E.  (Gr.  nv<pos,  a  tubercle.-)  A  term  used 
in  describing  lichens,  to  denote  pale  tubercle-like  spots  on 
the  under  surface  of  the  thallus. 

CY'PHER,  or  CIPHER.  In  Diplomatic  affairs,  "  an  oc- 
cult manner  of  writing,  legible  to  those  only  who  possess 
the  key  or  secret."  This  art,  in  a  variety  of  forms,  has 
been  more  or  less  practised  in  every  civilized  country ;  and 
has  been  cultivated  by  the  moderns  in  particular  to  such  a 
degree  as  to  have  acquired  the  importance  of  a  distinct 
science,under  the  names  Cryptography,  Poly graphy,  Steno- 
graphy, &c.  To  give  a  general  exposition  ofthe  principles 
of  the  art,  it  would  be  necessary  to  enter  into  minute  de- 
tails inadmissible  in  a  work  of  this  kind ;  but  the  reader 
will  find  in  Rees's  Cyclopaedia  a  full  and  learned  disquisi- 
tion on  the  subject 
314 


CYSTICS. 

CY'PHONISM.  (Gr.  kvQiov,  an  instrument  of  punish- 
ment.) A  species  of  punishment  frequently  resorted  to  by 
the  ancients,  which  consisted  in  besmearing  the  criminal 
with  honey,  and  then  exposing  him  to  insects.  This  pun- 
ishment was  carried  into  effect  in  various  ways,  but  chiefly 
by  fastening  the  sufferer  to  a  stake,  or  extending  him  on  the 
ground  with  his  arms  pinioned. 

CYPRiE'A,  Cowry.  The  name  of  a  Linnsean  genus  of 
the  Vermes  Testacea,  characterized  by  a  subovate  smooth 
shell,  with  a  linear  aperture  extending  from  one  end  ofthe 
shell  to  the  other,  and  transversely  furrowed  or  dentated 
in  the  mature  state.  The  genus  is  retained  without  subdi- 
vision, and  forms  part  of  the  Buccinoid  family  of  the  Pec- 
tinibranchiate  order  of  Gastropods  of  the  system  of  Cuvier. 
This  genus  is  remarkable  for  the  difference  of  form 
which  exists  in  the  young  and  old  states  of  the  shell:  in 
the  former  the  lip  is  thin,  and  the  aperture  wide,  but  the 
mantle  is  progressively  developed  until  its  lobes  extend 
over  the  columella  on  the  one  side  and  the  lip  on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  aperture,  covering  them  with  successive 
layers  of  nacreous  shell,  and  at  length  diminishing  the 
aperture  to  a  narrow  linear  form.  One  species  of  cowry 
{CypraM  moneta,  L.)  is  commonly  used  by  the  natives  of 
certain  parts  of  Africa  and  other  semi-barbarous  nations  as 
a  medium  of  monetary  exchange. 

CYPRI'NUS.  (Lat.  cyprinus,  a  carp.)  A  Linnaean  ge- 
nus of  abdominal  fishes,  now  the  type  of  a  family  of  Mala- 
copterygians  in  the  system  of  Cuvier,  and  of  Cycloid  fish- 
es in  the  system  of  Agassiz ;  including  the  genus  Cyprinus 
proper,  or  carps  ;  Barbus,  or  barbels ;  Gof/io,  or  gudgeons; 
Tenca,  tenches ;  Abrama,  breams  ;  Leucisens,  minnows ; 
Cirrhinus ;  Labes ;  Catasiomics  ;  and  Gonorhynchus. 

CY'PSELA.  (Gr.  KvxpeXri,  a  hee-hive.)  In  Botany,  one- 
seeded,  one-celled,  indeniscent  fruit,  with  the  integuments 
of  the  seed  not  cohering  with  the  endocarp :  in  the  ova- 
rium state  evincing  its  compound  nature  by  the  presence 
of  two  or  more  stigmata ;  but  nevertheless  unilocular,  and 
having  but  one  ovule.     Usually  called  an  Achenium. 

CYRE'NIANS.  The  philosophers  of  a  school  founded 
at  Cyrene,  a  Grecian  colony  on  the  northern  coast  of 
Africa,  by  Aristippus.  a  disciple  of  Socrates.  They  held, 
with  the  Epicureans,  that  pleasure  was  the  only  good  and 
pain  the  only  evil,  and  were  not  at  such  pains  as  the  latter 
to  prove  that  the  first  could  only  attend  on  virtuous  con- 
duct ;  they  also  differed  from  them  in  not  considering  ab- 
sence from  pain  of  itself  to  be  a  pleasure  of  the  highest 
order.  But  though  these  philosophers  held  that  pleasure 
should  form  the  ultimate  object  of  pursuit,  and  that  it  was 
only  in  subserviency  to  this  that  fame,  friendship,  and  even 
virtue  are  to  be  desired,  still  there  were  many  points  in  their 
philosophy  calculated  to  command  general  sympathy.  It 
is  impossible  not  to  admit  that,  with  all  the  defects  of  the 
system,  its  object,  as  Dryden  says  in  reference  to  Horace, 
is  to  render  us  happy  in  relation  to  ourselves,  agreeable 
and  faithful  to  our  friends,  and  discreet,  serviceable,  and 
well-bred  in  relation  to  those  with  whom  we  are  obliged  to 
live  and  converse.  Perhaps  the  best  view  of  the  philoso- 
phy of  this  sect  is  to  be  obtained  from  the  Satires  and 
Epistles  of  Horace,  in  which  the  versatility  of  disposition, 
politeness  of  manners,  and  knowledge  of  the  world  that 
distinguished  the  Cyrenians,  are  set  forth  with  great  clear- 
ness, and  with  all  the  ardour  of  an  enthusiastic  disciple. 
The  grand  principles  of  Aristippus  are  thus  happily  de- 
scribed in  the  couplet — 

Omnis  Aristippumdecuit  color  et  status  et  res, 
Tentautem  majora,  fere  pr&seulibus  arquum  : 

and  the  poet's  own  partiality  for  this  system  of  philosophy, 
and  its  accommodating  character,  are  thus  exhibited  : — 

Nunc  in  Aristippi  furtim  prrecepta  relabor, 
Et  mihi  res  non  me  rebus  suhjmigere  Conor. 

CY'RTANDRA'CEjE.  (Gr.  Ktiproc,  crooked,  and  avnp, 
a 'male;  Cyrtandra,  the  name  of  one  ofthe  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  Monopctalous  Dicarpous  Exogens,  in- 
habiting the  tropics,  and  closely  allied  to  Gesneracea,  Big- 
noniacea},  and  Pedaliaceai ;  from  the  former  differing  only 
in  never  producing  an  inferior  ovary,  their  deeply  lobed 
placenta?,  their  siliquose  fruit,  and  the  want  of  albumen ; 
from  Bignoniacea,,  by  their  habit,  their  minute  apterous 
seeds,  one-celled  ovary,  with  two  double  parietal  placenta; ; 
from  Pedaliaceai,  in  nothing  except  their  minute  indefinite 
seeds,  and  the  membranous  not  woody  texture  of  the  fruit 
and  placentae. 

CY'STIBRA'NCHIANS,  Cystibranchia.  (Gr.  kvctis,  the 
bladder,  and  ^payx^,  gills.)  A  family  of  Isopodous  Crus- 
tacea, comprehending  those  which  have  the  branchiae 
lodsred  in  vesicular  cavities. 

CY'STIC  OXIDE.  (Gr.  kwtis.)  A  species  of  urinary 
calculus,  composed  of  a  peculiar  animal  matter. 

CY'STICS,  Cystica.  (Gr.  xvaris.)  Rudolphi  thus  de- 
nominates the  order  of  Entozoa,  in  which  the  body  is  ter- 
minated by  a  cyst  peculiar  to  one  individual  or  common  to 
many.  The  hydatid  in  the  brain  of  sheep,  and  the  parasite 
which  produces  measly  pork,  are  examples  of  this  order. 


CYSTITIS. 

CYSTI'TIS.  (Gr.  (cuanj.)    Inflammation  of  the  bladder. 

CY'STOCE'LE.  (Gr.  kvctis,  and  <cnAn_,  a  tumour.)  A 
hemia  or  rupture  formed  by  a  protusion  of  the  bladder. 

CYSTO'TOMY.  (Gr.  kvotu,  and  rtuvw,  1  cut.)  The 
operation  of  cutting  into  the  bladder  for  the  extraction  of  a 
stone  or  other  extraneous  substance. 

CYTHERJi'A.  In  Mythology,  a  name  given  to  Venus, 
from  the  island  Cythera,  where  she  was  worshipped  with 
peculiar  veneration.    {Ovid.  Fast.  iv.  285.) 

CY'TINA'CEJD.  (Cytinus,  one  of  the  genera.)  In 
Botany,  a  natural  order  of  Rhizanths  inhabiting  the  south 
of  Europe,  the  Cape,  and  Guinea.  They  are  very  little 
known,  and  have  no  sensible  properties  of  importance. 
Pelletier  says  that  Cytinus  has  the  property  of  precipitating 
gelatin  without  containing  tannin. 

CYZICE'NUS.  In  Ancient  Architecture,  a  large  hall 
decorated  with  sculpture ;  and  so  called  from  the  inha- 
bitants of  Cyzicus,  who  were  celebrated  for  their  mag- 
nificence in  building. 

CZ'AR,  ZAR,  or  TZAR.  A  title  given  to  their  monarch 
by  several  Sclavonic  tribes.  In  Russia,  Ivan  II.  adopted 
in  1579  the  title  of  Czar  of  Moscow.  The  eldest  son  of  the 
czar  was  termed  Czarovicz;  but  after  the  death  of  Alexis, 
the  murdered  son  of  Peter  I.,  this  title  was  no  more  used, 
\intil  revived  by  Paul  I.,  in  1799,  in  favour  of  his  second 
son.  and  the  late  grand  duke  of  Constantine.  The  consort 
of  the  emperor  of  Russia  is  styled  Czarina. 


D. 


D.  The  fourth  letter  in  the  Hebrew  alphabet,  and  those 
derived  from  it,  is  the  medial  of  the  order  of  dentals  or 
palatodentals  ;  and  is  susceptible  of  various  interchanges, 
particularly  in  the  German  and  English  languages.  As  an 
abbreviature,  D  has  several  significations  :  thus,  D.  stands 
for  Doctor,— M.  D.  Doctor  of  Medicine, — D.  D.  Doctor  of 
Divinity,  <&c.  Amon»  Roman  writers,  D.  is  used  for  Di- 
vus,  Decimus,  Devotus,  Diebus,  A;c.  D.  M.  in  the  Roman 
epitaphs  signifies  Diis  Manibus ;  but,  on  other  occasions, 
Deo  Magno,  or  Dii  Maanis.  As  a  Roman  numeral,  D  signi- 
fies five  hundred  :  in  this  rase  it  is  more  correct  to  write  IC. 

D.  In  Music,  the  note  on  the  third  line  in  the  bass  or  F 
clef,  on  the  fourth  space  in  the  tenor  clef,  on  the  third 
space  in  the  counter  tenor  clef,  and  on  the  fourth  line  in 
the  treble  or  G  clef. 

DA  CA'PO.  (It.)  In  Music,  usually  written  short,  D.  C. 
An  instruction  to  the  performer  in  such  airs  as  end  with 
the  first  strain,  that  the  song  must  be  begun  again  and  end- 
ed with  the  first  part. 

DA'CELO.  One  of  those  generic  terms  which  Dr. 
I. each  framed  by  transposing  the  letters  of  the  name  of  the 
typical  or  Linnoean  genus  from  which  the  species  so  de- 
signated were  dismembered ;  in  the  present  case,  the 
word  is  obtained  from  Alcedo,  and  is  applied  to  a  large 
Australian  species  of  Passerine  bird,  nearly  allied  to  the 
kingfisher. 

DACRYO'MA.  (Gr.  tiaicpvio,  Iveep.)  A  disease  of  the 
lachrymal  duct  of  the  eye,  by  which  the  tears  are  prevent- 
ed passing  into  the  nose,  and  therefore  trickle  over  the  face. 

DACTI'LIOGLYPH.  (Gr.  <Wt)Xio{,  a  ring;  and 
y\v't>a},  to  engrave.)  In  ancient  gem  sculpture,  the  inscrip- 
tion of  the  name  of  the  artist  on  a  gem. 

DACTILIO'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  <5a*-™Aio{,  and  ypa$u,  to 
write.)    In  gem  sculpture,  the  science  of  gem  engraving. 

DA'CTYL.  (.Gr.  faKTv\os,  the  finger.)  The  name  of  a 
metrical  foot  in  Greek  and  Latin  poetry,  consisting  of  along 
and  two  short  syllables  ;  as  in  the  word  earminti.  In  the 
English  and  German  languages,  where  accent  determines 
quantity,  the  word  dactyl  means  an  accented  followed  by 
two  unaccented  syllables;  as  in  quantity,  Hebliche. 

DA'CTYLI.  Priests  of  Cybele  in  Phrygia;  so  called, 
according  to  Sophocles,  because  they  were  five  in  number, 
thus  corresponding  with  the  number  of  the  fingers  (San- 
twXoi),  from  which  the  name  is  derived.  Their  functions 
appear  to  have  been  simflar  to  those  of  the  Cory  bantes  and 
Curetes,  other  priests  of  the  same  goddess  in  Phrygia  and 
Crete. 

DA'CTYLO'LOGY.  (Gr.  SaiervXos,  a  finger,  and  \oyos, 
discourse.)  The  art  of  spelling  words  by  placing  the  fin- 
gers in  such  positions  as  to  signify  the  letters  of  the  alphabet. 

DACTYLO'PTEROUS.  (Gr.  <WtiAos,  and  irrtpov,  a 
icing  or  fin ;  finger-finned.)  A  fish  is  said  to  be  so  when 
the  inferior  rays  of  its  pectoral  fin  are  partially  or  entirely 
free.  The  term  Dactyhpterus  has  been  applied  by  Lace- 
pede  to  a  genus  of  Gurnards,  remarkable  for  the  great  ex- 
pansion of  their  pectoral  fins.  The  most  common  and  best 
known  species  of  this  genus  inhabits  the  Mediterranean, 
and  is  the  Trigla  volitans  of  Linnaeus,  or  the  flying  gur- 
nard. It  is  sometimes  confounded  with  the  true  flying-fish 
{Exocatus.) 

315 


DAGUERREOTYPE. 

DA'DO.  (It.  a  die.)  In  Architecture,  the  die,  or  that 
part  in  the  middle  of  the  pedestal  between  the  base  and 
cornice.     It  takes  its  name  from  being  a  cube  like  a  die. 

DiE'DALUS.  In  Fabulous  History,  the  great  grandson  of 
Erechtheus  king  of  Athens,  is  celebrated  as  the  most  an- 
cient statuary,  architect,  and  mechanist  of  Greece.  To 
him  is  ascribed  the  invention  of  the  saw,  the  axe,  the  plum- 
met, and  many  other  tools  and  instruments  ;  and  to  such  a 
degree  did  he  excel  in  sculpture,  that  his  statues  are  fabled 
to  have  been  endowed  with  life.  For  the  alleged  murder 
of  his  nephew  he  was  obliged  to  quit  Athens,  whence  he 
repaired  to  Crete,  then  under  the  sway  of  Minos,  by  whom 
he  was  favourably  received.  Here  he  constructed  the  fa- 
mous labyrinth,  on  the  model  of  the  still  more  famous  one 
of  Egypt ;  but  having  assisted  the  wife  of  Minos  in  an  in- 
trigue with  Taurus  (see  Minotaur),  he  was,  by  a  strange 
fatality,  confined  to  this  very  labyrinth  along  with  his  son 
Icarus.  By  means,  however,  of  wings,  which  he  formed 
of  linen  or  feathers  and  wax,  Daedalus  and  his  son  contrived 
to  make  their  escape.  The  former  pursued  his  aerial 
journey,  and  arrived  safely  in  Sicily ;  but  the  latter  having 
soared  too  near  the  sun,  in  consequence  of  which  the  wax 
that  fastened  the  wing  was  melted,  dropped  into  and  was 
drowned  in  the  sea  (thence  called  the  lcarian).  In  Sicily 
Daedalus  continued  to  prosecute  his  ingenious  labours, and 
lived  long  enough  to  enrich  that  island  with  various  works 
of  art.  From  the  plastic  powers  of  Daedalus,  the  ancient 
poets  used  to  regard  his  name  as  synonymous  with  inge- 
nious, as  in  the  phrase  Dadaleum  opus ;  and  in  a  somewhat 
similar  sense  Lucretius  applies  it  to  the  earth,  in  order  to 
describe  its  vernal  vegetation, — 

tibi  suaves  Dasdala  tellus 

Submitlit  (lores. 

A  few  years  ago  the  name  of  Daedalus,  which  had  been  ap- 
propriated by  various  artists  in  the  history  of  Grecian  art. 
was  assumed  by  the  constructors  of  some  ingenious  auto 
mata,  in  memory  of  the  grand  impressions  which  the 
works  of  D;edalus  had  produced. 

DA'GON.  (Heb.  3*1,  dag,  a  fish.)  One  of  the  principal 
divinities  of  the  ancient  Phoenicians  and  Syrians,  and  more 
especially  of  the  Philistines.  The  origin,  attributes,  and 
even  the  sex  of  this  divinity,  are  all  wrapt  in  the  most  pro- 
found obscurity  ;  but  the  sacred  writers  concur  in  assigning 
to  him  such  a  degree  of  authority  as  must  place  him  on  a 
level  with  the  Jupiter  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  The 
reverence  in  which  he  was  held  by  the  Philistines,  and  the 
remarkable  circumstances  attending  his  downfall,  will  be 
found  fully  detailed  in  Judges,  c.  16.,  and  1  Samuel,  c.  v.  ; 
but  we  cannot  refrain  from  transferring  to  our  pages  Mil- 
Ion's  graphic  sketch  of  the  leading  features  of  his  history  : — 

Next  came  one 

Who  mourned  in  e  arneal  when  the  captive  ark 
Maimed  bis  brute  image,  head  and  hands  lopt  off 
In  his  own  temple,  on  the  grunsel  edge, 
Wheo  he  fel!  flat,  and  shamed  his  Worshippers  . 
1  iagon  his  name,  sea  monster,  upward  man 
.And  downward  fish  ;  >vt  had  his  temple  high 
Reared  in  Aiotus,  dreaded  through  the  coast 
Of  Palestine,  in  r.ath  and  Ascalon, 
And  Accaron  and  Gaza's  frontier  bound*. 

The  Samson  Agonistes,  as  is  well  known,  exhibits  the 
great  importance  of  this  divinity  ;  and  the 

Dolemn  feasts, 
With  sacrifices,  triumph,  pomp,  and  games, 

celebrated  to  his  honour  by  the  Philistines. 

DAGUE'RREOTYPE.  The  name  given  to  a  process  late- 
ly introduced  by  Daguerre,  an  ingenious  French  artist,  by 
which  the  images  from  the  lens  of  a  camera  obscura,  as  is 
supposed,  are  fixed  on  metal  plates.  It  has  been  our  good 
fortune  to  see  several  of  the  productions  of  this  surprising 
discovery,  and  we  regret  that  words  cannot  convey  the  im- 
pression they  made  on  us.  With  the  exception  of  local 
colour,  they  present  nature  herself  to  the  spectator.  The 
qualities  of  objects  are  so  clearly  expressed,  that  silk  could 
not  in  the  representation  be  mistaken  for  satin,  nor  marble 
for  plaster.  The  sky  is  given  with  as  different  an  expres- 
sion of  quality  from  stone  as  that  substance  is  from  the 
ground  on  which  it  stands.  The  productions  we  saw  were 
nearly  uniform  in  size,  being  about  10  inches  by  perhaps 
6  or  7  ;  and  notwithstanding  the  small  space  within  which 
the  views  are  confined,  we  could  by  means  of  a  lens  count 
the  strands  in  a  rope.  This  extraordinary  discovery  must 
not  be  confounded  with  that  of  an  ingenious  gentleman  (Mr. 
Talbot)  of  this  country,  in  which  what  in  nature  is  in  light 
becomes  a  dark  space  in  the  representation,  and  the  parts 
that  are  dark  are  exhibited  in  masses  of  light.  In  Da- 
guerre's  discovery  the  objects  are  lighted  as  they  are  in 
nature,  with  all  the  sparkling  effects  which  the  sun  scatters 
on  them  :  the  intensity  of  tone  in  the  foregrounds  is  ba- 
lanced by  the  aerial  effects  in  the  distances ;  in  short,  the 
only  step  wanting  to  rival  the  original  is  to  impart  to  these 
self-created  pictures  that  which  the  father  of  colour,  the 
sun,  bestows  upon  all  things  beneath  him,  namely,  colour. 
Mr.  Talbott's  process  has  been  made  known  by  a  paper 


DAIRY. 

read  before  the  Royal  Society,  and  some  have  called  his 
specimens  Photogenic  pictures.    See  Photogenic. 

DATRY.  (Dey,  milk,  obsol.  Eng.)  An  apartment  in  a 
house,  or  a  separate  building,  for  the  purpose  of  holding 
milk  and  manufacturing  it  into  butter,  cheese,  or  other  dai- 
ry produce.  On  a  small  scale,  where  butter  only  is  made 
from  milk,  the  dairy  may  be  a  room  in  the  north  side  of 
the  dwelling-house  ;  or  it  may  form  one  of  the  offices  con- 
nected with  the  kitchen  court.  The  requisites  for  the 
room  to  contain  the  milk  are — an  equal  temperature 
throughout  the  year,  viz.  between  48°  and  55° ;  sufficient 
ventilation  to  carry  off  all  bad  smells  and  impurities  in  the 
air;  and  the  exclusion  of  flies  and  other  insects.  An  equa- 
ble temperature  is  maintained  by  thick  or  by  hollow  walls, 
and  by  double  windows.  In  winter  the  temperature  is 
somewhat  raised  by  the  warm  milk,  and  in  summer  it  is 
cooled  to  the  degree  required  by  ventilation  and  the  evapo- 
ration of  water  poured  on  the  floor.  The  ventilation  is 
effected  by  opening  the  glazed  sashes  of  the  windows,  and 
supplying  their  places  by  wire  shutters,  and  indeed  one  of 
the  best  modes  of  arranging  the  windows  of  a  dairy  is  to 
have  wooden  shutters  outside  for  closing  in  the  most  se- 
vere weather  in  winter ;  next,  a  fixed  frame  of  wirework  to 
exclude  the  flies  ;  and  within  this,  at  three  or  four  inches 
distance,  the  glazed  sash,  which  should  be  made  to  open. 
A  dairy  on  a  large  scale  is  most  conveniently  arranged  as 
a  detached  building;  in  which  case,  it  contains  a  milk, 
room,  a  churning-room,  and  a  dairy  scullery,  or  place  for 
scalding  the  utensils.  If  cheese  is  to  be  made,  a  room  will 
be  required  for  the  cheese  press  and  another  for  drying 
the  cheeses. 

The  quantity  of  milk  raised  in  the  vicinity  of  London  for 
the  supply  of  the  inhabitants,  and  the  revenue  derived 
from  the  sale  of  it,  show  the  importance  of  this  article.  In 
his  valuable  work  on  cattle,  their  breeds,  &c,  "  Mr.  Youatt 
estimates  the  number  of  dairy-cows,  at  present  kept  in 
London  and  its  environs,  at  12,000;  affording,  on  Mr.  Mid- 
dleton's  hypothesis,  an  annual  supply  of  38,400,000  quarts 
of  milk.  Now,  as  milk  is  sold  by  the  retailers  at  from  3d. 
to4d.  a  quart,  after  the  cream  is  separated  from  it,  and  as 
the  cream  is  usually  sold  at  from  2s.  <jd.  to  3s.  a  quart,  and 
there  is  reason  to  suspect  that  a  good  deal  of  water  is  in- 
termixed with  the  milk,  we  should  hardly  be  warranted  in 
estimating  that  the  milk,  as  obtained  from  the  cow,  is  sold 
at  less  than  5d.  a  quart,  which  gives  800,000?.  as  the  total 
price  of  the  milk  consumed  in  the  city  and  its  immediaie 
vicinity.1'    (M-Cidlocli's  Statistics,  2d  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  490.) 

DA'IS.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture,  the  platform  or  raised 
floor  at  the  upper  end  of  a  dining  hall,  where  the  high 
table  stood  ;  also  the  seat  with  a  canopy  over  it  for  those 
who  sat  at  the  high  table. 

DALMA'TICA.  A  long  white  gown  with  sleeves ;  worn 
by  deacons  in  the  Roman  Catholic  church  over  the  alb  and 
stole.  It  was  imitated  from  a  dress  originally  worn  in  Dal- 
matia,  and  imported  into  Rome  by  the  emperor  Commo- 
dus,  where  the  use  of  it  gradually  superseded  the  old  Ro- 
man fashion  of  keeping  the  arms  uncovered.  A  similar 
robe  was  worn  by  kings  in  the  middle  ages  at  coronations 
and  other  solemnities. 

DA'MAGE-FEASANT.  In  Law,  a  beast  is  said  to  be  so, 
when  found  in  another  person's  ground  without  his  leave 
or  licence ;  in  which  case  the  tenant  may  distrain  or  im- 
pound it :  but  at  his  own  peril,  if  the  accident  have  hap- 
pened through  his  own  negligence  in  not  repairing  the 
fences  of  his  close.  Possession,  without  title,  is  sufficient 
to  empower  the  tenant  to  distrain  damage-feasanL  Proper 
notice  is,  however,  to  be  given ;  and  if  the  owner  of  the 
estate  tender  amends,  it  is  unlawful  to  detain  them. 

Da'MAGES.  (Lat.  damna.)  In  English  Law,  the  re- 
compence  awarded  by  a  jury  to  a  plaintiff,  in  certain  forms 
of  action,  for  the  loss  or  damage  he  has  sustained  by  the 
injury  committed  by  the  defendant.  At  common  law, 
damages  are  recoverable  in  personal  and  mixed  actions.  In 
actions  upon  the  case,  trespass,  &c,  a  certain  amount  of 
damages,  sufficient  to  coverall  the  hurt  really  sustained  by 
the  plaintiff,  is  alleged  or  laid  in  the  declaration  ;  and  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  jury  to  inquire  the  real  amount  of  damages, 
and  assess  it  accordingly.  In  the  action  of  debt,  where  the 
amount  due  is  something  certain,  the  damage  laid  is  now 
merely  nominal,  for  the  injury  supposed  to  be  done  by  the 
detention  of  the  debt ;  the  jury,  therefore,  award  a  nomi- 
nal sum  only.  Damages  are  also  allowed  in  actions  upon 
a  variety  of  statutes,  and  sometimes  double  or  treble  da- 
mages ;  in  which  case  the  plaintiff  is  entitled  to  twice  or 
three  times  the  amount  awarded  by  the  jury. 

DA'MASK.  (From  Damascus,  where  it  was  anciently 
made.)  A  woven  fabric  produced  by  a  particular  con- 
struction and  management  of  the  loom,  in  which  are  re- 
presented various  figures  of  flowers,  fruit,  leaves,  &c.  The 
chief  seat  of  this  manufacture  is  Dunfermline  in  Fifeshire, 
and  Lisburne  and  Ardoyne  near  Belfast.  The  best  damasks 
are  of  linen ;  those  of  cotton  are  cheaper,  but  less  elegant 
and  durable. 
DAMASKEE'NTNG.  The  art  of  inlaying  iron  and  steel 
316 


DARIC. 

with  gold  and  silver,  originally  practised  at  Damascus  in 
Syria. 

DAMA'SSIN.  A  species  of  woven  damask  with  gold 
and  silver  flowers. 

DAME  (probably  a  corruption  of  the  Lat.  domina,  a 
mistress),  was  formerly  a  title  of  honour,  and  is  still  used 
in  the  English  law  to  denote  the  wife  of  a  knight  or  baronet. 
Dame  was  also  the  designation  of  nuns  of  the  Benedictine 
and  certain  other  ancient  orders. 

DA'MPER.  An  iron  plate  sliding  backwards  and  for- 
wards in  a  groove,  and  so  arranged  as  to  enlarge  or  con- 
tract, and  occasionally  close  the  chimneys  of  furnaces, 
steam  boilers,  &c,  so  as  to  increase  or  diminish  the  draught 
of  air  through  the  fire,  and  consequently  regulate  the  in- 
tensity of  the  combustion. 

DAMPS.  (Germ,  dampf.  vapor.)  The  noxious  exhala- 
tions of  mines  and  excavations.  The  carburetted  hydrogen 
of  coal  mines  is  called  Fire  Damp ;  carbonic  acid  is  term- 
ed Choke  Damp. 

DA'NOING  (Germ,  tanzen),  may  be  defined  to  be  a 
graceful  movement  of  the  figure,  accompanied  by  gestures 
and  attitudes  indicative  of  certain  mental  emotions,  and  by 
measured  steps  in  harmony  with  a  piece  of  music  arrang- 
ed for  the  purpose.  The  great  antiquity  of  dancing  is  at- 
tested by  history,  both  sacred  and  profane.  It  consisted  at 
first,  probably,  of  nothing  more  than  gesticulation  and 
moving  in  a  procession  ;  in  which  sense  it  formed  part  of 
the  celebration  of  the  religious  rites  of  the  ancient  Hebrews 
and  Egyptians.  But  the  Greeks,  who  are  confessedly  in- 
debted to  the  Egyptians  for  the  elements  of  their  religion 
and  literature,  though  these  were  afterwards  refined  by 
them  to  such  a  degree  as  nearly  to  obliterate  all  traces  of 
their  origin,  soon  polished  and  improved  these  sacred  rites, 
and  introduced  them  into  all  the  festal  ceremonies  of  which 
their  elegant  mythology  was  composed.  In  this  they  were, 
as  usual,  imitated  by  the  Romans.  If  we  believe  Scaliger, 
the  early  bishops  of  the  church  were  styled  prastdes,  be- 
cause (as  the  word  literally  implies)  they  led  off  the  dance 
at  their  solemn  festivals;  and  this  practice  continued  in 
the  church  till  the  12th  century.  Almost  every  country 
can  boast  of  its  national  dances  peculiar  to  the  inhabitants ; 
which  it  is  rare  to  see  so  well  performed  when  adopted  by 
others.  Of  these  the  best  known  to  us  are  the  tarantella 
of  the  Neapolitans,  the  bolero  and  fandango  of  the  Span- 
iards, the  mazourek  and  krakowiaque  of  Poland,  the  cosaque 
of  Russia,  the  redoicac  of  Bohemia,  the  quadrille  and  co- 
tillon of  France,  the  waltz  and  gallopade  of  Germany,  and 
the  reel  of  Scotland. 

DA'NEGELT.  A  tribute  of  twelve  pence  laid  by  the 
Danes  upon  the  Anglo-Saxons  upon  every  hide  of  land 
throughout  the  realm. 

DA'NNEBROG.  An  ancient  Danish  order  of  knight- 
hood, supposed  to  have  been  founded  in  1219  ;  revived  in 
1693,  and  re-constituted  in  1808. 

DANS.    Small  trucks  or  sledges  used  in  coal  mines. 

DATHNE.  (Gr.  Aafvrj.)  In  Grecian  Mythology,  a 
nymph  of  Diana,  the  daughter  of  the  river  god  Peneus. 
She  was  beloved  by  Apollo  ;  but  she  resisted  all  his  at- 
tempts to  excite  in  her  a  mutual  attachment,  and  at  last  be- 
took herself  to  flight.  On  being  hody  pursued  by  the  god, 
she  invoked  the  earth  to  swallow  her  up,  when  her  prayer 
was  granted,  and  she  was  immediately  changed  into  a 
laurel  tree,  which  was  ever  after  sacred  to  Apollo,  and  re- 
garded as  the  symbol  of  fame  and  glory.  ( Ovidi.  Met.  1.  x.) 

DA'PHNIA.  A  genus  of  the  Entomostracous  or  lower- 
organized  Crustaceans,  belonging  to  the  order  Branchio- 
pod.a,  and  the  section  Lophyropoda.  The  most  common 
species  and  type  of  this  genus,  Monoculus  pulex  of  Lin- 
nffius,  is  a  favourite  and  interesting  microscopic  object. 
Its  body  is  compressed,  oval,  and  enclosed  in  a  large  bi- 
lobed  carapace ;  the  two  lobes  being  connected  together 
along  the  back  and  open  below,  resembling  a  bivalve  shell. 
The  head  is  prolonged  into  a  snout,  and  provided  with  a 
single  central  compound  eye.  The  chief  organs  of  swim- 
ming are  the  modified  antennse,  which  have  a  long  basal 
joint,  supporting  two  jointed  branches  beset  with  long 
bristles.  It  is  by  the  sudden  contraction  of  these  organs 
that  the  little  animalcule  propels  itself  through  the  water 
by  a  series  of  jerks.  The  true  legs  are  ten  pairs,  very  small, 
having  a  respiratory  vesicular  organ  attached  to  the  second 
joint;  the  first  eight  pairs  have  the  terminal  joint  dilated 
and  hairy.  The  eggs  are  incubated  in  a  kind  of  marsupial 
pouch,  situated  towards  the  dorsal  aspect  of  the  lower  end 
of  the  body :  in  five  days  the  young  are  excluded.  The 
Daphnia  pulex  is  extremely  prolific  ;  and  as  it  assumes  a 
rose-red  colour  in  summer  time,  the  swarms  which  abound 
in  stagnant  water  often  impart  to  it  so  deep  a  colour  as  to 
give  rise  to  a  suspicion  and  popular  belief  that  it  is  occa- 
sioned by  blood. 

DA'RIC.  A  Persian  gold  coin  (so  called  by  the  Greeks, 
from  Darius,  the  name  of  several  Persian  sovereigns),  hav- 
ing upon  the  obverse  an  archer  crowned  and  kneeling  upon 
one  knee,  and  on  the  reverse  a  quadrata  incusa,  or  deep 
cleft.    The  weight  of  the  daric  is  about  130  grains. 


DAROO  TREE. 

DAROO'  TREE.  The  Ficus  sycai/iorus,  or  Egyptian 
sycamore. 

DA'RTER.  Certain  web-footed  birds  of  the  Pelican 
family  are  so  called.     See  Plotus. 

DASH.  (Etym.  uncertain.)  In  Music,  a  small  mark, 
thus  ',  denoting  that  the  note  over  which  it  is  placed  is  to 
be  performed  in  a  short  and  distinct  manner. 

DA'SYPRO'CTA.  (Gr.  Saavs,  hairy,  and  wp(x>KTOS ; 
Lat.  anus.)  The  subgeneric  name  applied  by  Illiger  to  the 
Agouti  and  Acouchi,  which  before  were  included  in  the 
great  genus  Cavia  of  Linnffius. 

DA  SYPUSi  (Gr.  Saavs,  and  ttovs,  a  foot.)  A  name 
originally  and  very  appropriately  applied  by  the  Greeks  to 
the  hare,  but  transferred  by  Linnffius  to  the  genus  including 
the  Armadillos.  This  genus  is  subdivided  in  modern  sys- 
tems into  Dasypus  proper,  Tatusia,  and  Prionodon.  The 
remains  of  a  gigantic  extinct  animal  of  the  armadillo  kind 
has  recently  been  discovered  in  South  America,  and  called 
Glyptodon.     See  that  word. 

DA'SYURE.  (Gr.  Saavs,  and  ovpa,  a  tail ;  hairy-tailed.) 
The  name  of  a  genus  of  Carnivorous  Marsupials,  compre- 
hending those  which  have  hairy  tails  combined  with  digiti- 
grade  feet,  and  a  dental  formula  of— incisores  S-,  canini  8-1 
molares  spurii  1,  molares  veri  J^  =  42. 

DA'TA.  (Lat.  things  given.)  A  term  used  in  geometry 
to  denote  certain  things  or  quantities  determined  by  the  con- 
ditions of  the  problem,  and  at  the  same  time  known  as  as- 
signable. According  to  Simson  (Preface  to  Euclid's  Data), 
a  thing  is  said  in  general  to  be  given  which  is  either  actually 
exhibited  or  can  be  found  out ;  that  is,  which  is  either  known 
by  hypothesis  or  can  be  demonstrated  to  be  known ;  so 
that  in  the  analysis  or  investigation  of  a  problem,  from  the 
things  that  are  laid  down  to  be  known  or  given,  by  the  help 
of  known  propositions  olher  things  are  demonstrated  to  be 
given,  and  from  these  other  things  are  again  shown  to  be 
given,  and  so  on,  until  that  which  was  proposed  to  be  found 
out  in  the  problem  is  demonstrated  to  be  given.  When 
this  is  done  the  problem  is  solved,  and  its  composition  is 
made  and  derived  from  the  compositions  of  the  data  which 
were  made  use  of  in  the  analysis. 

In  the  language  of  the  ancient  mathematicians,  geome- 
trical quantities  are  given  in  species,  magnitude,  or  position. 
Thus,  a  triansle  is  given  in  species  when  its  three  angles,  or 
the  ratios  of  its  sides,  are  known.  A  straight  line  is  given 
in  magnitude  when  we  know  its  length,  or  the  area  of  a 
fxiangle  of  which  the  three  sides  are  given.  And  lastly,  a 
line  is  given  in  position  when  we  know  its  inclination  to 
another  given  line.  The  Book  of  Data,  ascribed  lo  Euclid, 
is  the  first  in  order  of  the  ancient  treatises  on  the  geometri- 
cal analysis.  There  are  numerous  editions  of  this  work. 
Those  of  Simson  and  Horsley  are  the  best. 

DATE.  In  Diplomatics,  the  notation  of  the  time  and 
place  of  the  delivery  or  subscription  of  an  instrument. 
The  word  is  derived  from  the  common  formula  at  the  foot 
of  instruments,  "  datum"  or  "  data,"  given  at  such  a  place 
and  time.  Dates  of  time  are  distinguished  into  definite 
and  indefinite.  The  former  mark  specially  the  year,  and 
sometimes  the  month,  day,  <Scc. ;  the  latter  only  contain  a 
general  reference  to  some  period  of  time.  Thus  many  in- 
struments of  the  earlier  part  of  the  middle  ages  are  dated 
only  "  Regnante  Domino  nostro  Jesu  Christo ;"  and  very 
often  the  date  contained  only  mention  of  the  reigning 
prince,  without  reference  to  the  years  of  his  reign.  De- 
finite dates  are  various  in  ancient  charters  and  deeds.  The 
Christian  Greeks  dated  generally,  down  to  the  fall  of  Con- 
stantinople, by  the  year  of  the  world  ;  beginning  their  year 
at  the  1st  of  September.  The  date  used  in  the  oldest 
Latin  charters  is  commonly  that  of  the  Indiction  (see 
Indiction),  which  is  also  frequently  added  in  the  Greek. 
The  Christian  era  (under  the  several  names  of  year  of 
grace,  of  the  incarnation,  of  the  reign  of  Christ,  of  the  na- 
tivity, <kc.  Arc.)  began  to  be  in  common  usage  in  royal 
charters  in  France  about  the  reign  of  Hugh  Capet;  in 
Spain  and  Portugal  not  until  the  13th  and  14th  centuries. 
In  England,  the  Saxon  kings  frequently  dated  by  the  in- 
carnation ;  but  deeds  and  charters  under  the  Plantagenet 
kings  generally  bear  the  year  of  the  reigning  prince. 

DA'THOLITE,  or  DATOL1TE.  A  mineral  composed 
of  silica,  lime,  and  boracic  acid  ;  a  borosilicate  of  lime.  It 
occurs  in  Norway,  in  the  Tyrol,  and  in  the  Hartz.  It  be- 
comes opaque  when  heated. 

DA'TIVE  CASE.  (Lat.  dativus,  from  do,  I  give.)  That 
inflexion  of  a  noun  which  denotes  participation  in  the  ac- 
tion of  the  verb  which  accompanies  it.     See  Grammar. 

DATU'RIA.  The  poisonous  principle  of  the  Datura  stra- 
monium.    It  belongs  to  the  class  of  crystallizable  alkaloids. 

DAU'PHIN.  The  well-known  title  of  the  heir  appar- 
ent to  the  crown  of  France,  before  the  Revolution,  was 
that  of  the  counts  or  lords  of  Vienne  in  Dauphine,  from 
the  12th  century,  or  an  earlier  period :  its  origin  cannot 
be  ascertained.  From  the  last  male  of  that  ancient  house 
the  title  passed  to  his  heirs,  the  house  of  Burgundy  ;  and 
from  them  to  the  family  of  La  Tour  Dupin,  of  whom 
317 


DEAD  WATER. 

Humbert  n.  surrendered  his  principality  in  1349  to  Charles, 
grandson  of  Philip  of  Valois :  from  which  period  the 
principality  of  Dauphine  continued  to  be  the  apanage,  and 
the  title  of  Dauphin  the  appellation  of  the  king's  eldest 
son.  The  name  of  the  province  is  derived  from  the  title 
of  its  lords. 

DA'VIT.  A  piece  of  timber  used  in  managing  the 
anchor. 

DA'VITE.  A  name  given  to  a  fibrous  sulphate  of 
alumina  found  in  a  warm  spring  near  Bogota,  in  Columbia. 

DAVY'NE.  A  white  or  brown  crystallized  mineral 
found  in  cavities  of  some  of  the  lapideous  masses  ejected 
by  Vesuvius. 

DAY  (Lat.  dies;  Germ,  tag.),  in  its  most  common  ac- 
ceptation, denotes  the  interval  of  time  during  which  the 
sun  remains  above  the  horizon  ;  and  is  opposed  to  night, 
which  denotes  the  time  the  sun  is  below  tne  horizon.  In 
this  sense  it  is  sometimes  called  the  artificial  day.  But 
the  term  day  is  also  generally  used  to  denote  the  time  in 
which  the  earth  makes  a  complete  revolution  with  respect 
to  the  celestial  bodies,  and  consequently  expresses  differ- 
ent intervals,  according  as  the  body  with  which  the  earth's 
rotation  is  compared  is  fixed  or  moveable. 

The  Astronomical  or  Solar  Day,  called  also  the  Apparent 
Day,  is  the  time  that  elapses  between  two  consecutive  re- 
turns of  the  same  terrestrial  meridian  to  the  centre  of  the 
sun.  Astronomical  days  are  not  of  equal  length,  for  two 
reasons;  1st,  the  unequal  velocity  of  the  earth  in  its  orbit, 
in  consequence  of  which  the  apparent  daily  motion  of 
the  sun  is  greater  in  winter  than  in  summer ;  and  2d,  the 
obliquity  of  the  ecliptic,  in  consequence  of  which  the 
sun's  apparent  daily  motion  in  right  ascension  (that  is,  in 
the  plane  of  the  earth's  equator)  is  less  at  the  equinoxes 
than  at  the  tropics.  The  astronomical  day  commences  at 
noon,  and  is  counted  on,  through  the  24  hours,  to  the  noon 
following. 

The  Civil  Day,  or  Mean  Solar  Day,  is  the  time  employ- 
ed by  the  earth  in  revolving  on  its  axis,  as  compared  with 
the  sun,  supposed  to  move  at  a  mean  rate  in  its  orbit,  and 
to  make  3652425  revolutions  in  a  mean  Gregorian  year. 
In  this  mode  of  reckoning  time,  the  days  are  all  of  the  same 
length  ;  and  noon,  or  any  given  hour  of  the  civil  day,  some- 
times precedes  and  sometimes  comes  after  apparent  noon, 
or  the  corresponding  hour  of  the  astronomical  day.  Most 
nations,  at  least  in  modern  times,  have  agreed  in  placing 
the  commencement  and  termination  of  the  civil  day  at 
mean  midnight. 

The  Sidereal  Day  is  the  time  that  elapses  between  two 
successive  culminations  of  the  same  star.  This  interval 
of  time  has  always  remained  of  the  same  invariable  length, 
as  is  proved  by  the  most  ancient  astronomical  observations. 
It  is  divided  into  24  sidereal  hours;  and  these  are  again 
subdivided  into  sidereal  minutes  and  seconds.  This  mode 
of  reckoning  time,  during  the  day,  is  now  universally 
adopted  by  astronomers  in  their  observatories;  although 
the  commencement  of  the  day  is  still  determined  by  the 
apparent  culmination  of  the  sun. 

DE'ACON.  (Gr.  Siokovos,  a  minister  or  servant.)  A 
minister  of  religion,  holding,  in  Protestant  churches,  the 
lowest  degree  in  holy  orders.  The  first  appointment  of 
deacons  is  mentioned  in  Acts  vi.,  where  the  Apostles  direct 
the  congregation  to  look  out  seven  men  of  honest  report, 
upon  whom  they  may  lay  their  hands.  Their  office  at  this 
time  seems  to  have  been  chiefly  the  care  of  the  poor  and 
the  distribution  of  the  bread  and  wine  in  the  love  feasts. 
We  learn,  however,  from  the  example  of  Philip,  Acts  viii., 
that  they  also  had  authority  to  preach.  In  the  English 
church  it  is  customary  to  require  a  candidate  for  deacon's 
orders  to  have  completed  his  23d  year.  As  a  deacon  he  is 
not  capable  of  holding  any  benefice,  and  may  only  officiate 
as  a  curate,  chaplain,  or  lecturer.  It  is  generally  under- 
stood that  a  deacon  may  not  read  the  Absolution  :  he  may 
not  administer  the  sacrament  alone,  but  in  assisting  the 
priest  may  offer  the  cup  to  the  communicants. 

DEAD  BEAT.  In  Clock-work  (called  also  dead  scape- 
mtnt,  or  scapement  of  repose),  a  peculiar  kind  of  scape- 
ment  invented  by  Mr.  George  Graham  about  the  year  1700, 
with  a  view  to  lessen  the  effect  of  the  wheel  work  on  the 
motion  of  the  pendulum  ;  and  acquired  its  name  from  the 
circumstance  that  the  seconds'  index  stands  still  after  each 
drop,  whereas  the  index  of  a  clock  with  a  recoiling  scape- 
ment is  always  in  motion,  hobbling  backward  and  lorward. 
See  Horology. 

DEAD  LIGHTS.  Strong  wooden  posts  or  shutters  put 
over  the  glass  windows  of  the  cabin  in  bad  weather,  as  a 
defence  against  the  sea. 

DEAD  RECKONING.  A  term  used  in  navigation  to 
express  the  estimation  that  is  made  of  a  ship's  place  with- 
out having  recourse  to  observation  of  the  celestial  bodies. 
It  is  made  by  observing  the  way  she  makes  by  the  log,  and 
the  course  on  which  she  has  been  steered,  making  allow- 
ance for  drift,  leeway,  &c. 

DEAD  WATER.  The  water  that  closes  in  with  a  ship's 
stern. 


DEAFNESS. 

DEA'FNESS.  An  imperfection  of  the  sense  of  hearing, 
arising  from  a  variety  of  causes,  some  of  which  are  inex- 
plicable and  incurable,  and  others  ascertainable  and  sus- 
ceptible of  relief  or  entire  removal.  When  the  organ  of 
hearing  is  imperfect  in  its  functions,  either  at  birth  or  in 
childhood,  dumbness  or  imperfect  articulation  attends  it ; 
for  speech  is  an  imitative  faculty,  and  an  infant  born  deaf, 
cannot  attempt  those  motions  of  the  organs  of  voice  which 
gradually  attain  perfection  by  practice :  he  consequently 
becomes  incapable  of  communicating  his  ideas  through 
that  medium. 

The  external  ear,  though  tending  by  its  form  and  situ- 
ation to  improve  and  perfect  the  sense  of  hearing,  is  in  no 
way  necessary ;  for  it  may  be  cut  off  without  producing 
deafness.  A  common  cause  of  deafness  arises  out  of  im- 
perfections or  obstructions  in  the  passage  leading  from  the 
external  ear  down  to  the  membrane  of  the  tympanum. 
This  passage  is  partly  cartilaginous  and  partly  bony  ;  and 
from  its  oblique  direction  it  is  difficult  so  to  see  into  it  as 
to  ascertain  the  seat  or  cause  of  the  obstruction.  In  some 
persons,  however,  when  placed  in  a  proper  position,  so 
that  the  sunshine  or  other  strong  light  may  be  properly 
directed  into  it,  a  little  management  enables  us  to  ex- 
amine nearly  its  whole  extent.  In  some  cases  of  con- 
genital deafness  this  passage  is  closed  by  a  membrane, 
which,  if  near  the  external  orifice,  is  easily  detected,  and 
may  be  divided  or  removed  ;  but,  if  deeply  seated,  it  may 
escape  observation  till  the  child  attains  a  certain  age,  or 
should  begin  to  talk  :  for  till  that  time  the  deafness  of  in- 
fants often  passes  unobserved.  Under  these  circumstances, 
and  where  the  malformation  exists  in  both  ears,  the  child 
will  be  dumb  as  well  as  deaf ;  for  although  the  organs  of 
speech  may  be  perfect,  if  those  of  hearing  are  inert  he  is 
incapable  of  imitating  sounds :  in  this  case,  therefore,  a 
timely  operation  may  effect  the  double  benefit  of  giving 
both  hearing  and  speech.  Where  the  passage  to  the  tym- 
panum is  more  extensively  obliterated  or  malformed,  the 
cases  become  of  course  more  complicated,  but  yet  often 
admit  of  entire  cure  by  a  skilful  and  timely  operation. 

The  presence  of  foreign  bodies  in  the  aural  passage  is  a 
common  cause  of  imperfect  hearing,  and  sometimes  it  is 
obstructed  by  accumulations  of  hardened  wax.  These 
causes  of  deafness  may  in  most  cases  be  relieved  or 
removed  by  syringing  the  ear  with  warm  water,  which 
should  be  forcibly  injected,  and  so  directed  as  to  reach 
the  membrana  tympani.  Insects  or  worms  in  the  ear 
may  be  washed  out  in  the  same  way,  or  killed  by  the  in- 
troduction of  a  few  drops  of  olive  oil,  or  of  camphorated 
oil. 

Another  cause  of  deafness  is  deficient  secretion  of  wax, 
occasioning  a  dryness  of  the  tube  of  the  ear.  It  is  relieved 
by  greasy  applications,  and  by  the  cautious  use  of  stimu- 
lants, such  as  olive  oil,  to  which  a  few  drops  of  oil,  of  tur- 
pentine, or  of  compound  camphor  liniment,  or  of  spirit  of 
ammonia,  have  been  added. 

In  cases  of  inflammation  of  the  tympanum  followed  by 
suppuration,  more  or  less  deafness  ensues,  dependent  upon 
the  extent  of  the  mischief  going  on,  and  requiring  prompt, 
and  generally  antiphlogistic  treatment :  the  pain,  especially 
at  the  outset  of  the  disorder,  is  often  intense,  and  the  dis- 
charge purulent  and  often  offensive. 

Lastly,  hardness  of  hearing  often  appears  to  depend 
upon  imperfection  in  the  functions  of  the  auditory  nerve, 
and  from  obstructions  in  the  Eustachian  tube.  The  deaf- 
ness that  attends  a  violent  cold  is  frequently  dependent 
upon  the  latter  cause,  and  goes  off  as  the  secretions  of  the 
part  return  to  their  natural  state. 

DEAL.  (Sax.  delan,  to  divide.)  In  Architecture,  the 
small  thicknesses  of  timber  into  which  a  piece  of  timber 
of  any  sort  is  cut  up ;  but  the  term  is  now  improperly  re- 
stricted in  its  signification  to  the  wood  of  the  fir  tree  cut  up 
into  thicknesses  in  the  countries  whence  deals  are  import- 
ed,— viz.  Christiana,  Dantzic,  &c.  Their  usual  thickness 
is  three  inches,  and  their  width  nine.  They  are  purchased 
by  the  hundred,  which  contains  120  deals,  be  their  thick- 
ness what  it  may,  and  reduced  by  calculation  to  a  standard 
thickness  of  one  inch  and  a  half,  and  a  length  of  twelve 
feet.  Whole  deal  is  that  which  is  one  inch  and  a  quarter 
thick,  and  slit  deal  is  half  that  thickness. 

DEAN.  (Lat.  decanus.)  An  ecclesiastical  dignitary  in 
cathedral  and  collegiate  churches,  being  the  head  of  the 
chapter  of  canons  or  prebendaries,  and  forming  together 
with  them  a  council  to  advise  the  bishop  in  the  affairs  of 
the  see.  {See  Chapter.)  In  England  there  are,  properly 
speaking,  three  classes  of  ecclesiastical  presidencies  to 
which  the  title  dean  belongs  ;  deans  rural,  deans  of  cathe- 
drals, and  deans  in  peculiars.  Rural  deans  were  originally 
beneficed  clergymen  appointed  by  the  bishop  to  exercise 
a  certain  jurisdiction  in  districts  of  his  diocese  remote  from 
his  personal  superintendence.  They  seem  to  have  been 
equivalent  in  many  respects  to  the  chorepiscopi  of  the 
early  church,  and  many  parts  of  their  office  are  now  dis- 
charged by  the  archdeacons.  By  degrees  this  office  fell 
into  disuse ;  and  though  rural  deans  are  still  occasionally 
318 


DECANTATION. 

employed  in  visitations,  to  examine  into  the  state  of  repair 
of  churches,  and  performance  of  divine  service,  their  func- 
tions have  for  many  years  become  almost  obsolete.  Deans 
of  cathedrals  have  already  been  noticed.  The  third  spe- 
cies of  deans,  or  deans  in  peculiar,  are  those  of  "  particu- 
lar parishes  and  churches,  or  rural  districts  that  have 
jurisdiction  within  themselves,  and  are  not  under  the  ordi- 
nary of  the  diocese."  These  peculiars  are  of  different 
kinds ;  and  their  functions  consist  sometimes  of  jurisdic- 
tion united  to  spiritual  cure,  as  the  dean  of  Battel  in  Sussex, 
and  somelimes  of  jurisdiction  only,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Dean  of  the  Arches,  London. 

DEATH  WATCH.     See  Anobium. 

DE'BACLE.  (Fr.  debacler,  to  unbar.)  A  rush  of  wa- 
ters, breaking  down  all  opposing  barriers,  and  carrying 
away  and  dispersing  the  broken  fragments  of  rocks. 

DEBE'NTURE.  A  custom-house  certificate  entitling 
the  exporter  of  goods  to  a  drawback  or  bounty.  Also,  an 
instrument  in  use  in  some  government  departments,  by 
which  government  is  charged  to  pay  to  a  creditor  or  hia 
assigns  the  sum  found  due  on  auditing  his  accounts. 

DEBRI'S.  (Fr.)  In  Geology,  the  fragments  of  rocks,  &c. 

DEBT,  in  Law,  is  a  species  of  contract,  whereby  a  chose 
in  action,  or  right  to  a  certain  sum  of  money,  is  mutually 
acquired  and  lost:  usually  divided  into  debts  of  record, 
debts  by  special  contract,  and  debts  by  simple  contract.  A 
debt  of  record  is  a  sum  which  appears  to  be  due  by  the 
evidence  of  a  court  of  record  ;  such  as  debt  on  judgment 
or  recognizance.  Debt  by  specialty  is  where  a  sum  is  ac- 
knowledged to  be  due,  or  becomes  due,  by  instrument 
under  seal ;  such  as  a  covenant,  bond,  &c.  Both  these 
species  of  debts,  being  contracted  by  a  man  for  himself  and 
his  heirs,  attach  on  his  lands  and  tencmenls,  and  bind 
them  in  the  hands  of  his  heir  or  devisee.  Debt  by  simple 
contract  is  either  by  parole  or  by  written  obligation  unseal- 
ed ;  within  which  class  fall  bills  of  exchange  and  promis- 
sory notes. 

Debt  is  also  a  personal  action  of  contract,  in  which  the 
plaintiff  seeks  the  recovery  of  a  debt ;  i.  e.  a  liquidated  or 
certain  sum  of  money  alleged  to  be  due  to  him.  See  Ac- 
tion. 

DEBT,  NATIONAL.    See National  Debt. 

DEBUT,  (Fr.),  in  its  most  general  acceptation,  is  applied 
to  the  commencement  of  any  undertaking,  or  to  the  first 
step  made  in  a  public  career;  but  it  is  confined  more  par- 
ticularly to  the  language  of  the  theatre,  in  which  it  signifies 
the  first  appearance  of  an  actor,  or  his  first  appearance  on 
any  particular  stage. 

DE'CADE.  (Lat.  decas,  from  Gr.  Scica,  ten.)  A  word 
used  by  some  old  writers  in  a  general  sense  for  the  num- 
ber ten,  or  an  enumeration  by  tens  ;  but  more  peculiarly 
appropriated  to  the  number  of  books  into  which  the  history 
of  the  Roman  Empire  by  Livy  is  divided,  each  division 
consisting  of  ten  books  or  decades.  It  was  also  the  name 
given  to  the  space  of  ten  days,  which  in  the  French  repub- 
lican calendar  was  substituted  for  the  ordinary  week.  The 
tenth  or  last  day  was  termed  decadi.  Thus,  except  in  bis- 
sextile years,  the  whole  number  of  decades  was  thirty-six 
and  a  half:  the  days  of  the  half  decades,  falling  at  the  close 
of  the  year,  were  at  one  time  called  sansculottides,  and  after- 
wards complementary ;  and  dedicated  respectively  to  Virtue, 
Genius,  Labour,  Opinion,  andRecompence. 

DE'CAGON.  (Gr.  <5«a,  ten,  and  yoivia,  an  angle.)  A 
geometrical  figure,  having  ten  sides  and  ten  angles.  If  the 
sides  and  angles  are  all  equal,  the  figure  is  a  regular  deca- 
gon, and  inscribable  in  a  circle.  Euclid,  in  the  Fourth  Book 
of  his  Elements,  shows  that  the  side  of  a  regular  decagon  is 
equal  to  the  greater  segment  of  the  radius  of  the  circum- 
scribing circle  divided  by  a  medial  section,  or  so  that  the 
rectangle  contained  by  the  whole  radius  and  one  of  the  parts 
is  equal  to  the  square  of  the  other  part ;  consequently,  if 
we  denote  the  radius  by  r,  and  the  side  of  the  decagon  by 
s,  we  shall  have  the  proportion  r:s::s:r —  s;  whence s3 
+  r  s:=r^,  and  by  solving  the  quadratic  s  =  h.r  (\/5 — 1). 
If  the  radius  is  unit,  s  =  h.<V  5  —  1)  =  -618034 ;  and  the 
area  =  7691209  X  «%  °r  7694209  of  the  square  of  the  side. 

DE'CALOGUE.  (Gr.  Sexa,  ten,  and  Xoyoj,  discourse  or 
catalogue.)  The  commandments  which  were  delivered  by 
God  to  Moses  upon  Mount  Sinai  (Exod.  xx.)  That  their 
number  was  understood  by  the  Jews  to  be  ten  appears  from 
Exod.  xxxiv.  28.  ;  but  they  differed  from  us  in  the  manner 
of  dividing  them,  considering  our  two  first  as  one,  and 
separating  the  last  into  two.  The  same  method  is  adopted 
by  the  Romish  church,  professing  to  follow  the  authority 
of  St.  Augustine.    (See  Catechism  ad Parochos.) 

DE'CA'MERON.  (Gr.  <5«a,  ten,  and  iqntpa,  day.)  The 
name  given  by  Boccaccio  to  his  celebrated  collection  of 
tales :  they  are  supposed  to  be  narrated  in  turn,  during  ten 
days,  by  a  party  of  guests  assembled  at  a  villa  in  the  coun- 
try to  escape  from  the  plague  which  raged  at  Florence  in 
1348. 

DECA'NDROUS.  (Gr.  Seica,  and  avrip,  a  male.)  A 
plant  having  ten  stamens. 

DECANTA'TION.    The  pouring  off  a  clear  liquid  from 


DECAPITATION. 

its  subsidence  or  residue ;  it  is  often  resorted  to  in  the 
chemical  laboratory  instead  of  filtration,  the  clear  super- 
natant liquor  being  poured  or  syphoned  off  from  precipi- 
tates, which  may  thus  be  repeatedly  washed  or  edulcorated, 
so  as  to  free  them  from  all  soluble  matters. 

DECAPITA'TION.  (Lat.  decapitare,  to  behead.)  A 
mode  of  punishment  of  great  antiquity,  having  been  prac- 
tised by  the  Jews,  Greeks,  and  Romans,  and  some  other 
ancient  nations.  Among  the  Continental  nations  of  modern 
times,  it  has  long  been  the  ordinary  punishment  inflicted 
on  all  capitally  convicted  criminals.  During  the  early  pe- 
riod of  English  history,  it  was  the  usual  mode  of  punishing 
felons  ;  but  it  aftenvards  became  a  punishment  appropri- 
ated only  to  criminals  of  the  highest  rank,  and  even  to  this 
day  it  is  considered  as  the  most  honourable  death  which  a 
capital  offender  can  undergo.  The  last  instance  of  the  in- 
fliction of  this  punishment  in  England  occurred  in  1745, 
soon  after  the  rebellion  in  Scotland  had  been  quelled. 

DE'CAPOD,  Decapoda.  (Gr.  Sena,  and  rrovs,  afoot ;  ten- 
footed.)  A  name  applied  by  Dr.  Leach  to  a  tribe  of  Ce- 
phalopods,  including  those  which  have  ten  locomotive  and 
prehensile  appendages  proceeding  from  the  head  ;  two 
of  which  are  always  longer  than  the  rest,  and  are  called 
tentacles.  Also  applied  by  Cuvier  to  designate  an  order  of 
Crustaceans,  comprehending  those  which  have  ten  thoracic 
feet. 

DECA'PTERY'GIANS,  Decapterygia,  (Gr.  Stica,  ten, 
and  TTTtpvl,  pinion.)  A  name  given  by  Schneider  to  an  ar- 
tificial division  of  fishes,  including  those  which  have  ten  fins. 

DE'CARBONIZATION  OF  CAST  IRON.  This  pro- 
cess is  resorted  to  in  order  to  convert  cast  iron  into  steel, 
or  by  a  further  decarbonization  to  reduce  it  to  the  state  of 
malleable  iron ;  hence,  many  articles  which  were  formerly 
exclusively  manufactured  of  wrought  iron  are  now  cast, 
and  afterwards  decarbonized,  such  as  horseshoes,  &c. ;  and 
in  other  cases  various  cutting  instruments  are  cast,  and 
afterwards  brought  to  a  proper  hardness  by  a  similar  pro- 
cess. The  articles  to  be  decarbonized  are  packed  in  finely 
powdered  haematite,  or  native  oxide  of  iron,  and  exposed 
for  a  sufficient  time  to  a  high  red  heat.  It  is  often  neces- 
sary to  mix  iron  filings  or  turnings  with  haematite  :  these 
substances,  thus  applied,  gradually  abstract  the  excess  of 
carbon  in  cast  iron,  and  reduce  it  to  a  state  analogous  to 
that  of  steel ;  or,  by  a  longer  continuance  of  heat,  to  that 
of  soft  iron.  In  some  cases,  however,  the  process  seems 
rather  to  affect  the  texture  and  mechanical  properties  than 
the  composition  of  the  iron,  and  is  therefore  more  analo- 
gous to  annealing. 

DE'CASTYLE.  (Gr.  itna,  ten,  and  orv\os,  a  column.) 
In  Architecture,  a  building  having  ten  columns  on  a  front 
or  flank. 

DE'CASYLLA'BIC,  having  ten  syllables.  In  the  Ger- 
man and  English  languages  the  ordinary  heroic  verse  is 
decasyllabic ;  but  a  short  syllable  is  sometimes  added  at 
the  end  by  way  of  variety,  and  this,  in  consequence  of  the 
structure  of  those  languages,  takes  place  more  frequently 
in  the  former  than  the  latter.  In  the  Italian  heroic  verse 
the  eleventh  syllable  is  almost  uniformly  added,  and  hence 
it  is  more  properly  to  be  termed  an  hendecasy/labic.  In 
French  versification  the  decasyllabic  line  is  appropriated 
to  light  compositions,  especially  tales. 

DECE'MBER  (Lat.  decern,  ten),  was  the  tenth  month  in 
the  calendar  of  the  ancient  Romans,  who  began  the  year 
with  March. 

DECE'MVIRI.  (Lat.  ten  men.)  Properly  any  body  of 
ten  men  appointed  for  particular  purposes.  But  that  which 
i.s  especially  known  by  this  name  was  the  commission 
elected  from  the  Roman  patricians  in  the  302d  year  after 
the  foundation  of  the  city,  and  invested  with  all  the  su- 
preme powers  of  the  state,  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  up 
a  body  of  laws  founded,  according  to  Roman  tradition,  on 
the  most  approved  institutions  of  Greece.  They  presented 
to  the  people  a  number  of  laws  engraved  on  ten  tames,  con- 
taining a  summary  of  the  privileges  to  be  enjoyed  by  the 
people,  and  the  crimes  to  be  punished,  &c.  At  the  same 
time  they  informed  the  people  that  their  plan  was  incom- 
plete ;  and  accordingly  a  new  commission,  to  which  the 
plebeians  were  admitted,  was  appointed  for  the  next  year, 
with  the  same  powers  ;  the  result  of  which  was  the  addi- 
tion of  two  more  tables  to  the  former  ten,  thus  making  up 
the  famous  twelve  tables,  which  were  the  foundation  of  all 
Roman  law  in  subsequent  times.  The  second  decemvi- 
rate  did  not  demean  itself  with  the  same  moderation  as 
the  first,  but  sought  to  prolong  its  power,  and  at  the  same 
time  proceeded  to  some  violent  acts  of  despotism,  which 
so  exasperated  the  people  as  to  make  its  dissolution 
necessary. 

Besides  these  extraordinary  commissions,  there  was  a 
body  of  decemviri  chosen  for  judicial  purposes,  to  preside 
over  and  summon  the  centumviri,  and  to  judge  certain 
causes  by  themselves.  There  were  likewise  decemviri  ap- 
pointed from  time  to  time  to  divide  lands  among  the  military. 

DECE'PTIVE  CA'DENCE.  In  Music,  a  cadence  in 
which  the  final  close  is  avoided  by  varying  the  final  chord. 
319 


DECLARATION. 

DECFDUOUS.  (Lat.  decido,  I  fall  off.)  In  Zoology,  a 
term  applied  to  parts  which  have  but  a  temporary  existence, 
and  are  shed  during  the  life-time  of  the  animal,  as  certain 
kinds  of  hair,  horns,  and  teeth. 

Deci'duous  is  applied,  in  Botany,  to  plants  whose  leaves 
fall  off  in  the  autumn,  in  contradistinction  to  evergreens. 

DE'CIMAL  ARITHMETIC,  is  the  common  system  of 
arithmetic,  in  which  the  scale  of  numbers  proceeds  by 
tens.     See  Arithmetic. 

DE'CIMAL  FRACTIONS,  are  fractions  which  have  for 
their  denominator  10,  100,  1000,  <fec,  or  in  general  some 
power  of  10.  The  use  of  decimal  fractions  is  merely  an 
extension  of  the  ordinary  scale  of  arithmetical  notation. 
Setting  out  from  the  unit's  place,  the  first  figure  to  the  left 
(in  the  expression  of  any  whole  number)  denotes  so  many 
tens,  the  second  to  the  left  so  many  hundreds,  the  third 
so  many  thousands,  and  so  on ;  so  that  in  the  number 
765,  for  example,  each  unit  of  the  six  is  the  tenth  part  of 
each  unit  of  the  7,  and  each  unit  of  the  5  a  tenth  of  each 
unit  of  the  6.  In  like  manner,  in  the  expression  of  a  deci- 
mal fraction,  setting  out  from  the  unit's  place,  the  first 
figure  to  the  right  expresses  so  many  tenth  parts,  the 
second  to  the  right  so  many  hundredth  parts,  the  third  so 
many  thousandths,  and  so  on  ;  so  that  each  figure,  as  be- 
fore, expresses  parts,  which  are  each  ten  times  smaller 
than  those  expressed  by  the  figure  immediately  preceding. 
By  expressing  fractions  in  this  manner,  the  operations  of 
addition,  subtraction,  multiplication,  and  division  are  ex- 
actly the  same  as  in  integer  numbers. 

In  order  to  distinguish  the  integral  from  the  fractional 
part  of  a  numerical  expression,  a  point  or  comma  is  placed 
between  them.  Various  marks  have  been  used  for  thia 
purpose  at  different  times  ;  but  the  point  is  now  most  com- 
monly employed,  and,  according  to  the  practice  of  Sir  Isaac 
Newton,  it  should  always  be  placed  near  the  top  of  the 
figure,  thus  246,  which  prevents  it  from  being  confounded 
wilh  the  ordinary  marks  of  punctuation. 

Decimal  fractions  appear  to  have  been  introduced  by 
Regiomontanus,  about  the  year  1464  ;  but  Stevinue  was  the 
first  who  wrote  an  express  treatise  on  the  subject  in  his 
Practique  d'  Arilhmetique,  published  in  1582.  They  are 
now  universally  employed  in  all  arithmetical  calculations ; 
and  it  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  a  decimal  division  of 
weights,  measures,  money,  &c.  has  not  been  adopted  in 
all  civilized  countries,  by  which  the  reduction  of  fractional 
parts  from  one  scale  to  another  would  be  obviated,  and  all 
the  applications  of  arithmetic  to  the  ordinary  purposes  of 
life  greatly  simplified.  A  subdivision  of  weights  and  mea- 
sures on  this  principle  was  adopted  in  France  at  the  time 
of  the  Revolution,  but  has  not  been  imitated  by  other 
countries. 

DECIMA'TION.  (Lat.)  In  Roman  History,  the  se- 
lection by  lot  of  one  man  out  of  every  ten,  who  was  put  to 
death  as  an  example  to,  or  satisfaction  for,  the  rest.  If  an 
army,  legion,  or  century,  as  the  case  might  happen,  had 
quitted  its  post,  raised  a  mutiny  in  the  camp,  or  otherwise 
failed  in  its  duty,  it  was  assembled  before  the  general;  the 
lots  were  cast  into  an  urn  ;  so  many  were  drawn  as  formed 
the  tenth  part  of  the  number  of  the  offenders,  and  the  un- 
lucky drawers  were  put  to  the  sword.  This  practice  has 
been  occasionally  recurred  to  in  modern  times ;  as  by  the 
Spanish  general  Cuesta,  after  the  battle  of  Talavera. 

DECLAMA'TION  (Lat.  declamatio),  signified,  among 
the  ancients,  the  art  of  speaking  indifferently  upon  both 
sides  of  a  question  :  a  species  of  intellectual  exercise  re- 
sorted to  by  the  rhetoricians  of  Greece  and  Rome,  as  the 
best  means  of  acquiring  facility  in  public  speaking.  In 
modern  times  the  meaning  of  declamation  is  different  in 
different  countries.  In  Germany,  and  in  most  parts  of  the 
Continent,  it  is  often  used  in  a  sense  nearly  synonymous 
with  recitative.  In  France  and  England,  especially  the 
latter,  it  is  sometimes  applied  to  any  grand  oratorical  dis- 
play, either  in  the  pulpit,  at  the  bar,  in  the  senate,  or  on  the 
stage,  in  which  the  voice,  gesticulation,  and  the  whole  de- 
livery of  the  speaker  are  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  sub- 
ject matter  of  his  address.  But  it  is  employed  most  usually 
in  a  disparaging  sense,  to  indicate  the  use  of  forced  empha- 
sis, inflated  language,  and  violent  gestures,  to  withdraw  the 
attention  of  the  auditors  from  the  weakness  or  fallacy  of 
the  reasoning.    See  Eloquence. 

The  Romans  employed  the  term  declamare  only  in  the 
sense  of  to  plead  or  practise  at  the  bar,  as  in  the  verse  of 
Horace  (Epis.  2.  2.),— 

Dura  tu  declaraas  Romse  ; 

but  that  they  at  the  same  time  assiduously  cultivated  the 
art  of  declamation  in  the  sense  of  recitation,  is  evident 
from  the  following  couplet,  in  which  Martial  has  happily 
illustrated  the  great  importance  of  a  good  delivery : — 

Qucm  rccitas  roeus  est,  O  Fidentine,  libellus  ; 
Sed  male  quum  recitas,  incipit  esse  luus. 

DECLARA'TION.  In  Law,  a  legal  specification,  on 
record,  of  the  cause  of  actionj  by  a  plaintiff  against  a  de- 
fendant.   See  Pleading. 


DECLENSION. 

DECLE'NSION.  (Lat.  declinatio,  from  declino,  /  de- 
flect.) In  Grammar,  the  changes  of  termination  in  nouns, 
corresponding  to  the  various  relations  in  which  substances 
are  conceived  to  stand.     See  Case  and  Grammar. 

DECLINA'TION  CI'RCLES,  are  small  circles  of  the 
sphere,  parallel  to  the  equator,  in  which  the  stars  perform 
their  apparent  diurnal  revolutions. 

DECLINA'TION  OF  A  CELESTIAL  BODY,  is  the 
angular  distance  of  the  body  north  or  south  from  the  equa- 
tor^ and  is  measured  on  the  great  circle  which  passes 
through  the  centre  of  the  body  and  the  two  poles,  and  is 
consequently  perpendicular  to  the  equator.  The  place  of 
a  star  in  the  heavens  is  determined  oy  means  of  its  right 
ascension  and  declination;  the  right  ascension  being  the 
angular  distance,  measured  on  the  equator,  between  the 
first  point  of  Aries  and  the  point  in  which  the  meridian  of 
the  star  intersects  the  equator.  Right  ascension  and  de- 
clination thus  correspond  to  longitude  and  latitude  on  the 
surface  of  the  earth.  In  the  analytical  theory  of  the  planets 
it  is  often  necessary  to  define  the  place  of  a  planet  or  comet 
with  reference  to  the  ecliptic,  or  plane  of  the  earth's  annual 
motion  ;  and  the  early  astronomers  unfortunately  adopted 
for  this  purpose  the  terms  longitude  and  latitude,  which, 
as  the  same  terms  are  appropriated  to  terrestrial  objects  in 
a  different  sense,  is  the  cause  of  considerable  embarrass- 
ment to  beginners.  The  student  of  astronomy  must  there- 
fore remember  that  in  speaking  of  celestial  objects,  decli- 
nation and  right  ascension  have  reference  to  the  equinoc- 
tial, or  plane  of  the  earth's  diurnal  rotation  ;  while  latitude 
and  longitude  refer  to  the  ecliptic. 

The  declination  of  a  star  is  said  to  be  north  when  the 
s.tar  is  north  of  the  equator,  and  south  when  the  star  is 
south  of  the  equator. 

DECLINA'TION  OF  THE  MAGNETIC  NEEDLE.  The 
axis  of  a  magnetic  needle,  that  is,  the  straight  line  which 
joins  its  poles,  does  not  coincide  with  the  astronomical  me- 
ridian, but  deviates  from  it  more  or  less,  sometimes  to- 
wards the  west,  and  sometimes  towards  the  east.  This  de- 
viation is  called  the  Declination  of  the  Needle. 

It  was  formerly  imagined  that  the  magnetic  needle, 
when  freely  suspended,  took  a  direction  exactly  north  and 
south  at  all  places  on  the  earth ;  and  Columbus  is  said  to 
have  been  greatly  astonished  when  he  observed,  in  his  me- 
morable voyage  for  the  discovery  of  the  New  World,  in 
1492,  that  the  needle  of  his  compass  did  not  point  to  the 
true  north.  The  same  fact  was  observed  by  Sebastian 
Cabot  about  the  year  1500;  but  notwithstanding  its  great 
importance  to  mariners,  the  first  tables  showing  the  amount 
of  the  declination  at  various  places  were  only  prepared  in 
1599  by  the  Dutch  navigators  at  the  orders  of  the  Prince  of 
Nassau.  In  1622,  Gunter,  professor  of  geometry  at  Gre- 
sham  College,  made  the  important  discovery  that  the  decli- 
nation is  not  constant.  He  found  it  to  be  6°  13'  to  the  east 
at  London  in  that  year ;  whereas  in  1580  it  had  been  observ- 
ed by  Robert  Norman  to  be  11°  15'  also  to  the  east. 

The  following  table  of  observations,  made  at  Paris,  will 
be  sufficient  to  give  an  idea  of  the  changes  which  the  de- 
clination of  the  needle  has  undergone  at  different  epochs  : 


Years. 

Declination. 

Years. 

Declination. 

1580 

11°  30'  East. 

1805 

22°   5' West. 

1G18 

8     0 

1813 

22    28 

1663 

0     0 

1814 

22    34 

1678 

1  30  West. 

1817 

22    19 

1700 

8   10 

1819 

22    29 

1767 

19   16 

1822 

22    11 

1780 

19  55 

1824 

22    23 

1785 

22     0 

1825 

22    22 

From  this  table  it  appears  that  since  1580  the  declination 
has  varied  more  than  thirty  degrees.  In  1663  it  vanished. 
From  the  date  of  the  first  observations  till  1820,  it  has  ad- 
vanced progressively  westward ;  but  since  that  time  it 
appears  to  have  assumed  a  retrograde  movement  towards 
the  east.    (Pouillet,  Siemens  de  Physique,  t.  i.  p.  462.) 

DECOLLA'TION.  (Lat.  de,  ojf,  and  collum,  the  neck.) 
A  word  synonymous  with  beheading;  used  chiefly  in  re- 
ference to  the  decapitation  of  John  the  Baptist,  to  the 
festival  instituted  by  the  Romish  church  in  his  honour,  and 
to  the  celebrated  picture  of  Mabuse  ( Walpole's  Anecdotes 
of  Painting,  vol.  i.  p.  82.)  which  represents  this  subject. 
This  word  is  used  by  Fabyan  so  far  back  as  the  year  1350. 

DECOMPOSITION,  CHEMICAL.  When  compounds 
are  resolved  into  their  elements,  or  when  the  chemical 
constitution  of  substances  is  altered,  they  are  said  to  be 
decomposed ;  and  when,  in  this  operation,  new  products 
are  formed,  such  products  are  called  the  results  of  decom- 
position. Thus,  ammonia  is  the  result  of  the  decompo- 
sition of  most  animal  substances ;  carburetted  hydrogen 
gas  is  the  result  of  the  decomposition  of  pit-coal,  &c. 

Chemists  use  the  terms  simple  and  compound,  or  single 
and  double  decomposition,  to  distinguish  between  the  less 
and  more  complicated  cases.  When  a  compound  of  two 
320 


DECREE. 

substances  is  decomposed  by  the  intervention  of  a  third, 
which  is  itself  simple,  or  which  acts  as  such,  the  case  is 
one  of  simple  decomposition  :  water,  for  instance,  is  a 
compound  of  oxygen  and  hydrogen.  When  the  metal 
potassium,  which  is  a  simple  body,  is  thrown  into  it,  it  is 
decomposed ;  the  hydrogen  is  liberated  in  the  form  of  gas, 
and  the  oxygen  combines  with  the  potassium  to  form  po- 
tassa.  Such  a  case  is  often  tabularly  represented  as  fol- 
lows; and  the  annexed  numbers  are  the  equivalents  of  the 
acting  bodies,  or  the  respective  weights  which  are  required 
for  perfect  decomposition. 


Water  9.  ■ 


Hydrogen  1. 

Oxygen  8  +  potassium  40. 


Potassa  48. 

This  shows  that  when  9  parts  by  weight  of  water  are  de- 
composed by  40  parts  of  potassium,  48  parts  of  potassa  (or 
oxide  of  potassium)  are  formed,  and  1  part  of  hydrogen 
liberated. 

When  two  new  compounds  are  produced,  the  result  is 
called  double  or  complex  decomposition.  Thus,  when  po- 
tassa (composed  of  potassium  and  oxygen)  and  hydro- 
chloric acid  (composed  of  hydrogen  and  chlorine)  react 
upon  each  other,  chloride  of  potassium  (composed  of 
chlorine  and  potassium)  and  water  (composed  of  hydrogen 
and  oxygen)  are  the  results.  These,  with  their  respective 
equivalents,  are  shown  in  the  following  diagram. 
Water  9. 


Potassa 


Hydrochloric  J     HydoSen  l  +  oxygen  & 
acid  37.       ,  chiorme  36  _l.  potassium  40. 

Chloride  of  potassium  76. 

This  table,  therefore,  shows  that  37  parts  by  weight  of 
hydrochloric  acid  and  48  of  potassa  produce,  by  mutual 
decomposition,  76  parts  of  chloride  of  potassium  and  9  of 
water. 

A  knowledge  of  the  mutual  decomposing  powers  of  dif- 
ferent substances,  or,  in  other  words,  of  their  relative  affini- 
ties, constitutes  the  skill  of  the  practical  chemist.  See  in 
reference  lo  this  subject  the  articles  Affinity,  Equiva- 
lents, and  the  general  article  on  Chemistry. 

DECO'MPOSI'TION  OF  FORCES.  In  Mechanics,  sig- 
nifies the  same  thing  as  the  Revolution  of  Forces.  Any 
force  whatever  may  always  be  decomposed  or  resolved 
into  several  others,  the  resultant  of  which  is  equal  to  the 
given  force.  For  example,  a  force  represented  in  intensity 
and  direction  by  the  diagonal  of  a  parallelogram,  may  be 
resolved  into  two  others  of  which  the  intensities  and  direc- 
tions are  respectively  represented  by  the  sides  of  the  same 
parallelogram.     See  Composition  of  Forces. 

DECO'MPOSI'TION  OF  LIGHT.  The  separation  of  a 
beam  of  light  into  the  different  rays  which  exhibit  the  pris- 
matic colours.     See  Light. 

DE'CORATION.  (Lat.  decorare,  to  adorn.)  In  the  Fine 
Arts,  adornment,  ornament,  embellishment.  It  is  a  com- 
bination of  ornamental  objects,  which  a  desire  for  variety 
brings  together  in  all  sorts  of  forms  for  embellishing  those 
subjects  which  are  the  objects  of  art.  The  decoration  of 
any  work  should  be  confined  strictly  to  the  development 
of  impressions  which  the  mass  itself  is  intended  to  create  ; 
its  object  being  merely  to  multiply  the  relations  it  has,  by 
presenting  new  images  which  spring  from  the  original  bare 
design.  Decoration  in  all  the  arts,  except  on  particular 
occasions,  should  be  used  with  a  sparing  hand.  Onco 
commenced  it  becomes  difficult  to  know  when  to  cease. 

DECOY.  A  device  by  which  aquatic  birds,  chiefly 
ducks,  are  enticed  from  a  river  or  lake,  up  a  narrow  wind- 
ing canal  or  ditch,  which,  gradually  becoming  narrower,  at 
last  terminates  under  a  cover  of  net  work  of  several  yards 
in  length.  The  birds  are  enticed  by  the  smoothness  of  the 
turf  on  the  margin  of  the  canal,  which  tempts  them  to 
leave  the  water,  and  begin  to  dress  their  plumage.  When 
so  engaged  at  some  distance  up  the  canal,  they  are  sud- 
denly surprised  by  the  decoy  man  and  his  dogs,  who  have 
been  concealed  behind  a  fence  of  reeds;  and  having  again 
taken  the  water,  they  are  driven  up  by  the  dogs  till  they 
enter  within  the  net  work  which  terminates  the  decoy,  and 
are  then  easily  caught. 

DECRE'E,  Decretals.  (Lat.  decerno,  1  decide.)  De- 
creta  or  decrees,  in  the  Civil  Law,  are  the  decisions  of 
emperors  on  cases  submitted  to  them,  forming  a  part  of 
their  constitutions.  Decretals  were  the  decrees  of  popes, 
having  the  same  authority  in  canon  law  as  decrees  in  civil. 
They  retained  this  authority  in  most  Catholic  countries 
until  the  14th  century.  Several  compilations  of  them  are 
in  existence.  The  false  decretals  of  Isidore,  a  spurious 
collection  framed  with  a  view  to  extend  the  papal  power, 


DECREMENT. 

profess  to  contain  the  decrees  of  popes  during  the  first 
three  centuries :  they  were  forged  in  the  9th. 

Decree.  In  Law,  the  judgment  of  a  court  of  equity  on 
any  bill  preferred.  Either  party  may  petition  the  court  for 
a  rehearing,  before  it  is  signed  and  enrolled.  After  that 
form  has  been  gone  through,  a  bill  of  review  may  be  had 
upon  apparent  error  in  judgment  on  the  face  of  the  decree. 
It  may  also  be  appealed  against  in  the  House  of  Lords.  In 
Scottish  law,  various  legal  subjects  and  sentences  are 
Ktvled  decreets. 

'DE'CREMENT.  (Lat.  decresco,  Idecrease.)  The  small 
part  by  which  a  variable  quantity  becomes  less  and  less. 
It  is  opposed  to  increment ;  but  these  terms  are  now  sel- 
dom used  bv  mathematicians. 

DECREPITATION.  (Lat.  decrepito,  /  crackle.)  The 
crackling  noise  which  common  salt  and  many  other  sub- 
stances make  when  thrown  into  the  fire. 

DECU'RION.  The  Latin  name  for  the  commander  of 
ten  men.  A  military  decurion  was  a  cavalry  officer,  who 
originally  commanded  ten  soldiers,  or  one  third  of  a  turma  ; 
but  afterwards  the  same  name  was  preserved,  though  the 
command  was  extended  to  the  whole  turma.  Municipal 
decurions  were  magistrates  in  the  municipal  towns,  an- 
swering to  senators  at  Rome.  In  later  times  also  certain 
officers  of  the  imperial  household  used  this  title  ;  as  de- 
curions of  the  chamberlains,  &c. 

DECUSSA'TUS,  Decussate.  Applied  to  the  arrange- 
ment of  bodies  in  pairs  that  alternately  cross  each  other; 
as  the  leaves  of  many  plants. 

DEDICA'TION.  (Lat.)  In  Literature,  a  complimenta- 
ry address  to  a  particular  person,  prefixed  by  an  author  to 
his  work.  Dedications  arose  out  of  the  dependent  situa- 
tion in  which  authors  have  too  frequently  been  placed  in 
reference  to  their  powerful  or  wealthy  patrons  ;  and,  at  no 
very  distant  time,  were  often  rewarded  by  pecuniary  pre- 
sents. The  custom  of  dedicating  works  was  in  use  at  a 
very  early  period.  The  brightest  ornaments  of  Roman 
literature,  Horace,  Virgil,  Cicero,  and  Lucretius,  were 
among  the  number  of  those  who  practised  it.  At  the  pe- 
riod of  the  revival  of  letters  in  Europe,  few  works  were 
published  without  dedications;  many  of  which  are  re- 
markable for  their  elegance  and  purity  of  style,  and  from 
the  interesting  matter  which  they  contain  are  of  far  mere 
value  than  the  treatises  to  which  they  are  prefixed.  But 
the  practice  became  gradually  perverted  ;  and  many  of  the 
authors  of  the  succeeding  generations  employed  them 
chiefly  with  the  view  of  securing  the  patronage  of  the  great. 
Dedications  were  most  abused  in  France  under  Louis  XIV., 
and  in  England  from  1670  to  the  accession  of  George  III. 
Dryden  was  a  great  dedicator,  and  Johnson  wrote  dedica- 
tions for  money.  Corneille  got  1000  louis  d'ors  for  the 
dedication  of  Cinna.  Some  of  the  most  beautiful  dedica- 
tions with  which  we  arc  acquainted,  are  those  prefixed  to 
the  different  volumes  of  the  Spectator,  by  Addison  ;  and  in 
more  recent  times  the  poetical  dedications  with  which  each 
canto  of  Sir  Walter  Scott's  Marmion  is  prefaced.  A  com- 
plete history  of  dedications  would  prove  a  valuable  acces- 
sion to  modern  literature,  as  they  would  throw  a  flood  of 
light  upon  the  history,  character,  and  attainments  of  many 
distinguished  persons  which  are  now  involved  in  obscurity. 
A  few  such  works  are  in  existence  ;  but  they  are  only  ac- 
cessible to  the  learned.  See  De  Dedica.  Lib.  vrt.  Lat.  by 
Walch.  (Leip.  1715.)  Commenla.  de  Dedica.  Lib.  by  Tacke. 
(Wolfenbiittel,  1733.) 

DE'DIMIIS  POTEST ATEM.  In  Law,  a  writ  or  com- 
mission given  to  one  ormore  private  persons,  for  the  speed- 
ing an  act  appertaining  to  a  judge  or  some  court.  When 
the  commission  of  the  peace  is  renewed,  a  writ  of  dedimus 
potestatem  is  issued  out  of  chancery,  directed  to  some  an- 
cient justice,  to  swear  in  a  justice  newly  inserted. 

DEED.  A  deed,  in  Lawj  is  a  writing  sealed  and  delivered 
by  the  parties.  If  made  by  one  party  only,  it  is  termed  a 
deed  poll ;  if  by  several,  an  indenture.  The  formal  parts 
of  a  deed  of  conveyance  are,  first,  the  date  and  names  of 
the  parties;  secondly,  the  recitals,  in  which  the  intention 
of  the  parties  and  former  transactions  with  reference  to  the 
same  property  are  recounted,  so  far  as  necessary ;  then 
the  operative  part.  This  expresses,  first,  the  consideration 
for  which  the  deed  is  made  (which  for  many  sorts  of  deeds 
is  now  merely  nominal) ;  then  the  conveyance  by  and  to 
the  several  parties  ;  then  the  parcels,  or  description  of  the 
tenements  and  their  legal  adjuncts;  then  what  is  termed 
the  habendum,  beginning  with  the  words  "to  have  and  to 
hold,"  expressing  the  quantity  of  estate  conveyed  ;  then 
the  declaration  of  uses,  which  limits  ormodifies'the  enjoy- 
ment to  one  or  more  parties,  according  to  the  stipulations 
previously  made  ;  then  the  declarations  of  trusts,  if  any, 
that  is,  of  equitable  interests  created  in  the  property  ;  and 
lastly,  the  covenants  for  title.  These  covenants  stand  in 
the  place  of  the  ancient  warranty,  a  clause  by  which  the 
grantor  warranted  and  secured  to  the  grantee  the  thing 
granted  ;  arising  out  of  the  feudal  custom,  whereby  if  a 
lord  had  thus  warranted  a  fief,  and  the  tenant  was  after- 
wards evicted,  the  lord  was  bound  to  recompense  him 
321 


DEER. 

with  another  fief  of  equal  value.  The  covenants  relating 
to  the  title  secure  to  the  grantee  a  pecuniary  compensation 
for  any  damage  he  may  suffer  contrary  to  their  stipulations. 
Besides  the  covenants  for  title,  such  as  may  be  demanded 
by  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  case, — as  in  a  lease 
the  covenants  for  repairing,  payment  of  rent,  &c, — cove- 
nants in  general,  when  broken,  give  the  covenantee  an  ac- 
tion for  damages  against  the  covenantor ;  or  if  he  be  dead, 
against  his  executor  or  administrators  to  the  extent  of  his 
personal  property  in  their  hands ;  or  if  the  covenant  be 
with  him,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  the  remedy  extends  to  the 
heir  or  grantee  of  the  covenantee. 

Lastly,  the  conclusion  of  a  deed  contains  its  execution 
and  date.  It  must  be  signed  and  sealed  by  the  grantor ; 
and  also  by  the  grantee,  if  any  engagement  or  covenant  is 
entered  into  by  him.  It  is  usual  for  witnesses  to  attest  the 
deed  ;  but  this  is  not  necessary,  unless  where  a  power 
having  been  given  to  be  executed  by  deed  the  terms  of  the 
power  require  such  attestation.  There  are  several  species 
of  deeds  ;  some  having  effect  at  common  law,  others  under 
the  Statute  of  Uses ;  some  creating  an  estate  termed  ori- 
ginal orprimary  ;  some  enlarging,  restraining,  transferring, 
or  extinguishing  estates  already  created,  which  are  called 
secondary  or  derivative. 

DEER.  The  English  generic  name  for  the  ruminating 
quadrupeds  with  deciduous  horns,  or  antlers  ;  which  ap- 
pendages form,  in  fact,  the  essential  character  of  the  genus 
Certus  of  Linnaeus.  (<S"ce  Cornua.)  Deer  are  anatomi- 
cally distinguished  from  other  ruminants  by  the  absence  of 
a  gall  bladder. 

The  species  of  deer  may  be  primarily  divided  into  two 
groups,  of  which  one  includes  those  with  antlers  more  or 
less  flattened,  the  other  those  with  rounded  antlers.  The 
elk  (Cerxusalces,  L.)  is  the  most  characteristic  species  of 
the  first  group,  and  forms  the  type  of  the  subgenus  Alces 
i  of  modern  systems.  It  equals  or  exceeds  the  horse  in 
bulk  ;  has  a  short  body,  with  a  still  shorter  neck,  raised  on 
long  stilt-like  legs*  The  muzzle  is  long,  broad,  and  over- 
hangs the  mouth  like  a  square-shaped  lapel:  it  is  very 
muscular,  and  is  of  essential  service  to  the  animal  in  de- 
taching  the  lichens  and  mosses  from  the  trunks  of  trees 
and  other  places  within  its  easy  reach.  The  long  legs  of 
the  elk  particularly  adapt  it  to  the  marshy  and  swampy 
forests  which  it  chiefly  frequents,  in  the  northern  parts  ut" 
both  the  European  and  American  continents.  The  antlers 
of  the  elk  appear  first  in  the  form  of  dags  or  unbranched 
pointed  stems ;  these  are  succeeded  by  a  stem  or  beam 
i  supporting  a  few  short  branches.  At  five  years  he  puts  up 
j  antlers  in  the  form  of  a  triangular  plate,  supported  on  a 
pedicle,  and  notched  along  the  outer  margin.  Afterwards 
the  buny  plate  increases  in  its  expanse,  and  the  points  be- 
tween the  notches  are  developed  into  long  branches  or 
'  snags,  of  which  a  single  antler  sometimes  sends  off  as 
many  as  fourteen  ;  and  the  pair  will  then  weigh  about  fifty 
pounds.  The  female  elk  goes  with  young  rather  longer 
j  than  eight  months. 

The  rein-deer  ( Cerrus  tarcndus)  differs  from  the  rest  of 
j  the  genus  in  the  presence  of  antlers  in  both  sexes,  and  in 
the  great  development  of  the  brow-antlers,  or  branches 
which  extend  forward  over  the  forehead  from  the  base  of 
I  the  beam.    The  antlers  are  retained  through  the  winter; 
j  and,  as  it  is  understood  that  the  brow-antlers  are  used  to 
dftach  the  frozen  snow,  which  at  that  season  covers  the 
lichen  rangiferinus,  and  other  species  on  which  the  rein- 
|  deer  feeds,  the  necessity  of  the  singular  exception  in  fa- 
:  vour  of  the  female  reindeer  becomes  obvious.     Her  ant- 
lers are,  however,  always  smaller  than  those  of  the  male. 
The  rut  takes  place  in  mid-winter, and  the  period  of  gesta- 
tion is  about  six  months:  as  in  most  other  species  of  deer, 
j  one  fawn  is  produced  at  a  birth.     The  rein  deer  is  a  native 
j  of  the  most  northern  parts  of  Europe  and  America.    To 
the  Laplander  it  serves  all  the  ordinary  offices  of  the  beast 
!  of  draught,  and  supplies  him  with  the  rich  variety  of  nutri- 
ment, clothing,  and  useful  implements,  which  man  in  more 
favoured  climes  obtains  from  other  species  of  the  valuable 
i  order  of  Ruminantia. 

The  third  species  of  deer  referable  to  the  flat-horned 
,  group  is  that  which  the  ancients  termed  platiceros,  and 
which  now  forms  the  ornament  of  the  English  park;  the 
fallow  deer(Cerr«s  damas,  Linn.)    In  the  technical  lan- 
guage of  the  hunter,  the  male  fallow  deer  is  called  a  libuck," 
the  female  a  "  doe,"  and  the  young  a  "  fawn."    The  buck- 
!  fawn  of  the  second  year,  which  is  characterized  by  having 
simple  dags,  is  a  "  pricket."    In  the  third  year  a  brow- 
antler  is  put  forth,  and  the  young  buck  is  termed  a  "  sorel." 
In  the  fourth  year  he  is  a  "  sore,"  and  the  summit  of  the 
j  beam  presents  a  bifid  expansion.     At  the  fifth  year  the  ex- 
panded summit  of  the  beam  is  formed,  and  begins  to  de- 
velop snags,  and  the  fallow  deer  is  then  a  "  buck  of  the 
;  first  head."     At  each  subsequent  year  the  branches  of  the 
expanded  beam  increase  in  length  to  a  certain  period,  after 
which  they  lose  their  size  and  regularity.     The  period  of 
j  gestation  in  the  fallow  doe  is  eight  months. 

Of  the  species  of  deer  of  which  the  beam  of  the  antler 
28 


DEFECATION. 

gives  a  rounded  form  in  section,  the  red  deer  (Cervus  eta- 
phus)  and  the  roe-buck  (Cervus  capreolus)  are  indigenous 
species. 

The  male  red  deer,  in  the  language  of  "  the  noble  art  of 
venerie,  "is  called  a  "hart,"  and  the  female  a  "hind." 
She  goes  with  young  about  a  week  longer  than  the  fallow 
doe  ;  and  brings  forth  in  May  a  single  fawn,  rarely  two. 
The  young  of  both  sexes  are  at  first  styled  "  calves."  The 
male  differs  from  that  of  the  fallow  deer  in  putting  up  at 
six  months  a  pair  of  rudimental  antlers,  in  the  form  of  cy- 
lindrical knobs,  called  "bossets."  In  the  second  year 
they  assume  the  condition  of  "dags,"  and  the  wearer  is 
called  a  "  brocket."  In  the  third  year  two  or  three  branches 
or  "  tynes"  are  developed,  and  the  young  deer  becomes  a 
"spayad."  In  the  fourth  year  the  summit  of  the  beam 
expands  into  the  crown  or  "  surroyal,"  and  the  deer  is  now 
distinguished  by  the  name  of  "staggard."  In  the  fifth 
year  the  term  "  stag"  is  applied  to  him  in  a  limited  and 
technical  sense.  At  the  sixth  year  he  is  a  "  hart,"  and 
his  designation  is  not  afterwards  changed  ;  but  at  this  pe- 
riod he  is  particularly  distinguished  as  a  "hart  of  ten," 
and  is  not  considered  fair  game  till  his  seventh  year,  when 
the  hart  is  said  to  be  "palmed"  or  "crowned."  in  refer- 
ence to  the  full  development  of  his  antlers.  The  antlers 
or  "attire"  are  shed  very  soon  after  pairing;  at  this  pe- 
riod, when  the  hart  has  "  lost  his  attire,"  he  retreats  to 
the  shadiest  or  most  unfrequented  part  of  his  range.  New 
antlers  begin  to  grow  very  soon  after  the  old  ones  are  shed, 
and  they  are  completed  in  the  month  of  August.  The 
skin,  or  "  velvet,"  which  protected  the  vascular  periosteum 
during  their  growth  now  dries,  and  is  rubbed  off  against 
the  trees  or  any  resisting  body  ;  this  act  is  technically  call- 
ed "  burnishing."  The  harts  during  this  period  form  a  pe- 
culiar and  distinct  association.  The  hinds  form  another 
group,  and  go  also  into  retirement  with  their  calves,  to 
which  they  attend  with  a  high  degree  of  instinctive  mater- 
nal solicitude.  The  "brockets,"  and  the  " brockets'  sis- 
ters," constitute  a  third  association. 

The  roebuck  is  the  smallest  species  of  European  deer; 
the  male  is  monogamous,  and  the  female  brings  forth  two 
fawns.  In  our  own  island  they  are  now  confined  to  the 
Scottish  mountains. 

The  largest  species  of  round-antlered  deer  in  America 
is  the  Wapiti  (Cervus  strongyhceros) ;  that  of  Asia  is  the 
great  Rusa  (Cervus  hijiptlaphus),  which  is  noticed  in  the 
writings  of  Aristotle.  In  South  America  there  is  a  singular 
group  of  small  deer,  called  prickets  or  brockets,  on  ac- 
count of  the  antlers  never  being  developed  beyond  the 
simple  condition  of  "dags,"  such  as  characterize  the 
brocket  age  of  the  red  deer. 

DEFiECA'TION.  (Lat.  de,  and  faex,  dregs.)  The  sepa- 
ration of  the  dregs  and  impurities  of  liquors. 

DEFAMATION.     See  Libel. 

DEFAU'LT.  (Fr.defaut.)  In  Law,  is  in  a  general  sense 
the  omission  of  any  act  which  a  party  ought  to  do  in  order 
to  entitle  himself  to  a  legal  remedy.  Such  is,  for  example, 
non-appearance  in  court  on  a  day  assigned.  If  a  plaintiff 
in  an  action  make  default  in  appearance,  he  is  non-suited  ; 
if  a  defendant,  judgment  by  default  passes  against  him. 
Suffering  judgment  by  default  is  taken  for  an  admission 
of  the  contract  alleged  by  the  plaintiff. 

DEFEASANCE.  In  Law— 1.  A  collateral  deed,  made 
at  the  same  time  with  a  deed  of  conveyance,  containing 
conditions  on  the  performance  of  which  the  estate  created 
by  the  deed  of  conveyance  may  be  defeated.  2.  A  defea- 
sance on  a  bond,  recognizance,  or  judgment  recovered,  is  a 
condition  which  when  performed  defeats  a  bond,  &c.  (see 
Bond),  contained  in  or  indorsed  on  the  instrument  itself. 

DEFE'CTIVE  FIFTH.  In  Music,  an  interval  contain- 
ing a  semitone  less  than  the  perfect  fifth.  It  is  also  called 
semidiapente.  and  fiat,  lesser,  or  diminished  fifth. 

DEFE'NDER  OF  THE  FAITH.  (Fidei  Defensor.)  A 
title  bestowed  on  Henry  VIII.  of  England  by  Pope  Leo  X. 
on  the  occasion  of  that  monarch's  publishing  his  writing 
against  Luther.  When  at  the  Reformation  Henry  sup- 
pressed all  the  monasteries  and  convents  in  England,  the 
pope  deprived  him  of  this  title ;  but  in  the  thirty -fifth  year  of 
his  reign  it  was  confirmed  by  parliament,  and  it  has  been 
since  constantly  assumed  by  the  sovereigns  of  England. 

DE'FERENT.  (Lat.  defero,  /  carry  away.)  In  the 
Ptolemaic  system  of  the  universe  the  planets  move  in  cir- 
cular orbits,  the  centres  of  which  are  carried  round  in  the 
circumferences  of  other  circles.  These  secondary  circles 
are  called  the  deferents,  as  carrying  the  orbits  :  those  in 
which  the  planets  move  being  the  epicycles.  The  system 
of  epicycles  and  deferents  was  invented  by  Hipparchus  for 
the  purpose  of  explaining  the  eccentricities,  perigees,  and 
apogees  of  the  planets.     See  Epicycle. 

DEFICIENT  NUMBERS,  in  Arithmetic,  are  numbers 
such  that  the  sum  of  their  aliquot  parts  is  less  than  the 
numbers  themselves.  Thus,  8  is  a  deficient  number ;  be- 
cause its  aliquot  parts,  1,  2,  4,  when  added  together,  make 
only  7.  In  like  manner  the  number  16  is  deficient,  its 
parts  being  1, 2,  4,  8,  the  sum  of  which  is  15. 
322 


DEGREE. 

DEFILADING.     See  Fortification. 

DEFI'LE.  In  Fortification,  a  narrow  way,  through  which 
troops  can  pass  onlv  in  file,  or  a  small  number  abreast. 

DE'FIMTE  PROPORTIONALS.  In  Chemistry.  See 
Atomic  Theory  and  Equivalents. 

DEFINl'TION  (Lat.),  literally  laying  down  a  boundary, 
signifies,  in  Logic,  an  expression  which  explains  any  term 
so  as  to  separate  it  from  every  thing  else,  as  a  boundary 
separates  fields.  By  the  schoolmen  definitions  are  divided 
into  nominal  and  real,  according  to  the  object  accomplished 
by  them,  whether  to  explain  merely  the  meaning  of  the 
word  or  the  nalure  of  the  thing;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
they  are  divided  into  accidental,  physical,  and  logical,  ac- 
cording to  the  means  employed  by  each  for  accomplishing 
their  respective  objects,  whether  it  be  the  enumeration  of 
attributes,  or  of  the  physical  or  the  metaphysical  parts  of 
the  essence.     (Whately's  Logic,p\).  141-2.) 

DEFLAGRA'TION  (Lat.  deflagro,  I  burn.)  A  chemi- 
cal  term  applied  to  sudden  and  rapid  combustion:  when 
a  mixture  of  charcoal  and  nitre  is  thrown  into  a  red  hot 
crucible  it  burns  with  a  kind  of  explosion,  or  deflagrates. 

DEFLE'CTION  OF  THE  RAYS  OF  LIGHT.  When 
a  luminous  ray  passes  very  near  an  opaque  body  it  is 
deflected,  or  bent  from  its  rectilinear  course,  towards  the 
surface  of  the  body,  and  the  deflection  is  greater  in  pro- 
portion as  the  distance  of  the  ray  from  the  body  is  less. 
This  phenomenon  was  first  observed  by  Grimaldi,and  was 
carefully  examined  by  Newton,  who  gave  it  the  name  of 
diffraction. 

DE'FTER-DAR,  literally  Bookkeeper.  The  title  given 
by  the  Turks  to  the  chancellor  of  the  exchequer  and  his 
two  coadjutors  or  deputies  in  the  finance  department. 

DEGLUTI'TION.  (Lat.  de,  and  glutio,  I sicalloie.)  In 
Physiology,  the  act  of  swallowing  food.  This  operation  is 
performed  by  mechanism  of  the  most  extraordinary  and 
complicated  kind,  in  which  the  consentaneous  actions  of  the 
various  muscles  of  the  tongue,  the  soft  palate,  the  pharynx, 
the  larynx,  and  the  oesophagus  or  gullet,  are  concerned, 
partly  by  voluntary  and  partly  by  involuntary  impulse. 

There  are,  as  it  were,  four  openings  at  the  back  part  of 
the  mouth,  three  of  which,  during  deglutition,  must  be  per- 
fectly but  temporarily  closed  ;  whilst  the  fourth,  namely, 
that  through  which  the  food  is  to  pass  towards  the  slomach. 
must  be  open  and  without  impediment.  The  openings 
which  are  to  be  closed  are  those  which  communicate  with 
the  nose,  with  the  ears,  and  with  the  lungs  ;  but,  as  far  as 
the  latter  is  concerned,  it  follows  of  course  that  respiration 
can  only  be  suspended  for  a  very  short  time,  and  that  there- 
fore the  moment  the  morsel  is  swallowed,  or  has  passed 
over  the  larynx,  the  communication  between  it  and  the 
nose  must  again  be  free. 

When  food  is  properly  masticated,  a  sufficient  quantity- 
is  collected  upon  the  tongue,  which  is  then  so  pressed 
against  the  palate  by  a  muscular  action  proceeding  from  the 
tip  of  the  tongue  backwards  as  to  propel  it  towards  the 
pharynx,  or  upper  end  of  the  gullet;  at  this  moment  the 
soft  palate,  previously  hanging  like  a  pendulous  veil  at  the 
back  of  the  mouth,  is  drawn  into  a  horizontal  position,  so 
as  to  form  a  continuation,  as  it  were,  of  the  bony  part  of 
the  palate,  and  at  the  same  time  to  close  the  nasal  canals. 
No  sooner  does  the  portion  to  be  swallowed  reach  the 
pharynx,  than  it  is  embraced,  as  it  were  ;  while  the  base 
of  the  tongue,  the  os  hyoides,  and  the  larynx,  are  raised 
forward  to  meet  it,  and  hurry  it  over  the  opening  of  the 
glottis  towards  the  ossophagus.  The  instant  the  larynx  is 
raised  the  glottis  is  firmly  closed  ;  and  as  soon  as  the  mor- 
sel has  passed  over  it  the  larynx  descends,  the  epiglottis  i-i 
raised,  and  the  glottis  opens  again  to  allow  air  to  enter  the 
lungs.  Thus  it  is,  therefore,  that  the  food  is  limited  to  the 
direction  of  the  ossophagus,  and  neither  passesinto  the  nasal 
canals,  nor  into  the  Eustachian  tubes,  nor  into  the  larynx, 
all  the  concurrent  actions  in  this  period  of  theact  of  deglu- 
tition being  simultaneously  and  involuntarily  performed. 
By  the  contraction  of  the  pharynx  the  morsel  is  delivered 
into  the  oesophagus,  and  propelled  by  the  muscular  struc- 
ture of  that  tube  towards  the  stomach.  In  the  upper  part 
of  the  ossophagus,  the  fibres  relax  immediately  after  the 
passine  of  the  food,  but  the  inferior  portion  remains  con- 
tracted for  some  moments  after  the  food  has  entered  the 
stomach.  The  due  admixture  of  saliva  with  the  food,  and 
the  lubrication  of  the  various  and  complicated  parts  over  and 
through  which  the  food  passes,  by  mucous  secretion,  tend 
materially  to  facilitate  the  progress  of  the  alimentary  pellet. 

DEGRE'E.  A  distinction  of  rank  in  universities  :  in 
its  proper  use  denoting  a  certain  amount  of  proficiency  in 
the  faculty  or  science  of  which  it  is  entitled ;  but,  by 
modern  usage,  frequently  conferred  either  of  right  to  mem- 
bers of  the  university  of  sufficient  standing,  or  merely  as 
an  honorary  distinction.  The  origin  of  degrees  at  the  uni- 
versities of  Paris  and  Bologna,  the  two  most  ancient  in 
Europe,  appears  to  have  been  only  the  necessary  distinc- 
tion between  those  who  taught  and  those  who  learnt.  The 
former  were  styled  (such  was  at  least  the  case  at  Paris) 
doctors  or  teachers,  and  masters,  as  a  token  of  respect,  in- 


DEGREE. 

discriminate^.  At  what  time  the  distinction  between  these  l 
two  degrees  arose  we  cannot  ascertain ;  but  about  the 
middle  of  the  13th  century  wc  find,  at  Paris,  doctors  and 
masters  simply  as  graduates,  and  not  necessarily  connected 
with  the  business  of  teaching ;  those  who  were  so  being 
called  regent  masters,  or  simply  regents.  (See  Regent.) 
The  degree  of  Bachelor,  the  lowest  in  the  several  faculties, 
is  certainly  of  French  origin  ;  from  whence  it  has  been 
argued  that  the  whole  system  of  academical  titles  is  so 
likewise.  Degrees  still  continue  to  bear  the  same  names, 
and,  with  some  variation,  the  same  relative  academical 
rank,  in  most  European  countries;  but  the  mode  of  grant- 
ing them,  and  their  value  at  different  universities  as  tokens 
of  proficiency,  vary  greatly.  At  Oxford  and  Cambridge 
degrees  are  given  in  arts,  divinity,  law,  medicine,  and 
music ;  but  among  all  these  the  lowest  decree  in  arts,  viz. 
that  of  bachelor  (B.A.),  is  the  only  one  conferred  on  a  sub- 
stantial examination,  and  the  only  one  which  is  attained  by 
proceeding  through  a  regular  academical  course  of  study. 
The  higher  degrees  in  arts,  and  those  in  the  other  faculties, 
are  attained  simply  by  residence  and  the  performance  of 
a  few  unimportant  exercises.  Honorary  degrees,  in  the 
English  universities,  are  generally  conferred  in  civil  law. 

A  considerable  difference  of  opinion  exists  upon  the 
question  how  far  the  possession  of  degrees  forms  a  valid 
test  of  ability  to  exercise  any  of  the  learned  professions  ; 
and  though  at  first  sight  nothing  might  appear  more  pre- 
posterous than  to  question  the  necessity  of  some  such 
test  being  exacted  from  those  to  whom  the  lives  and  for- 
tunes of  millions  of  human  beings  are  in  a  peculiar  manner 
intrusted, — physicians  and  lawyers, — still  there  are  many 
who  maintain  that  "  degrees  hare  always  been,  and  must 
continue  to  be,  utterly  worthless."  Among  those  who 
entertained  this  opinion  may  be  mentioned  Dr.  Smith  ; 
whose  sentiments  on  this  subject,  though  pretty  distinctly 
indicated  in  the  Wealth,  of  Nations,  are  fully  detailed  in  a 
letter  to  Dr.  Cullen,  which  the  reader  will  find  in  Mr. 
M'Culloch's  edition  of  that  work,  1  vol.  8vo.  But  those 
who  wish  to  see  this  question  fully  examined  in  all  its 
bearings,  should  consult  a  note,  or  rather  dissertation,  "On 
the  Value  and  Proper  Mode  of  conferring  Literary  and 
Scientific  Degrees,"  in  the  same  edition  of  the  work  now 
referred  to,  in  which  the  author  contends  that  it  is  not 
against  the  principle  of  degrees,  so  much  as  the  mode  of 
conferring  them,  that  the  chief  objections  may  be  urged. 
The  value  of  a  degree,  it  is  there  contended,  must  always 
depend  on  the  disinterested  character  of  the  parties  who 
confer  it.  Now,  when  it  is  remembered  that,  till  very  re- 
cently, in  every  university,  those  in  whom  was  vested  the 
privilege  of  granting  degrees  are  the  identical  parties  en- 
gaged in  preparing  the  candidate  for  receiving  them,  who 
are  thus,  as  it  were,  called  upon  to  form  an  estimate  of 
their  own  handiwork,  it  will  be  sufficiently  obvious  that  the 
system  hitherto  pursued  in  awarding  academical  distinc- 
tions must  be  wholly  inadequate  as  a  test  of  literary  or 
scientific  merit.  This  being  the  case,  it  might  seem  almost 
unaccountable  that  so  little  success  should  have  attended 
the  many  efforts  that  have  been  made  to  place  the  grant- 
ing of  degrees  on  a  sounder  and  more  satisfactory  footing, 
were  it  not  matter  of  notoriety  that  to  divert  into  a  new 
channel  the  current  of  popular  feelings  or  prejudices 
which  has  been  (lowing  for  ages  in  a  particular  direction  is 
almost  impracticable,  even  after  the  benefits  of  the  change 
have  been  clearly  and  unequivocally  demonstrated.  Some 
such  ideas  as  to  the  inadequacy  of  degrees  appear  to  have 
been  entertained  a  few  years  ago  in  many  of  the  German 
states.  There  the  bare  possession  of  a  degree  was  former- 
ly sufficient  to  authorize  members  of  the  legal  or  medical 
profession  to  engage  in  the  exercise  of  their  several  duties; 
but  a  change  has  been  since  effected,  which  has  at  once 
infused  new  life  into  the  educational  establishments  of  the 
country,  and  has  been  attended  with  great  advantage  to  all 
classes  of  the  people.  This  change  consists  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  boards  composed  of  gentlemen  eminent  for 
their  attainments,  and  wholly  unconnected  with  the  busi- 
ness of  education,  whose  duty  it  is  to  ascertain  by  a  rigid 
examination  the  qualifications  of  those  who  have  already 
obtained  degrees  in  the  faculties  of  law  and  medicine,  and 
thus  to  determine  whether  the  degree  has  been  properly 
conferred;  and  unless  the  diploma  obtained  at  the  uni- 
versity be  stamped  with  the  authority  of  these  different 
boards,  the  possessor  of  it  is  prohibited  from  engaging  in 
the  exercise  of  his  profession.  In  this  way  the  degree, 
which  was  formerly  regarded  as  the  aim  or  end  of  the 
student's  ambition,  is  now  looked  upon  simply  as  a  means 
of  attaining  it,  inasmuch  as  it  confers  no  direct  privileges, 
and  does  not  necessarily  secure  professional  honour  or 
emolument,  though  it  form  the  sole  passport  to  both.  A 
somewhat  similar  course  relative  to  the  granting  of  degrees 
was  adopted  in  this  country  on  the  establishment  of  the 
London  University  ;  with  this  peculiarity,  that  while  in 
Germany  the  different  faculties  of  the  universities  retain 
the  privilege  of  conferring  degrees,  which,  however,  are 
of  little  value,  unless  confirmed  by  the  authority  of  the 
323 


DEGREE  OF  LATITUDE. 

boards  alluded  to,  in  the  London  University  this  right  is 
vested  in  the  board  to  the  entire  exclusion  of  the  profes- 
sors. Whether  this  system  will  work  well  remains  yet  to 
be  seen ;  but,  to  use  the  words  of  Mr.  M'Culloch,  "  if  we 
mistake  not,  its  formation  will  mark  the  commencement 
of  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  education." 

Degree.  In  Algebra,  a  term  applied  to  equations  to  de- 
note the  highest  power  of  the  unknown  quantity.  Thus, 
if  the  index  of  the  highest  power  of  the  unknown  quantity 
is  4,  the  equation  is  said  to  be  of  the  fourth  degree. 

Degree,  in  Geometry  and  Trigonometry,  is  the  360th 
part  of  a  circumference,  or  of  four  right  angles.  Every 
circle,  whether  great  or  small,  is  considered  as  divided  into 
360  parts  or  degrees,  each  degree  being  subdivided  into  60 
minutes,  and  each  minute  into  60  seconds.  This  division 
of  the  circle  has  been  employed  since  the  most  remote 
ages.  It  is  not  certainly  known  what  gave  occasion  to  the 
adoption  of  the  arbitrary  number  360 ;  but  it  most  probably 
had  reference  to  the  space  described  by  the  sun  in  one 
day  in  performing  his  annual  revolution  in  the  ecliptic,  the 
number  360  being  taken  instead  of  365,  as  being  more  con- 
venient for  arithmetical  operations  on  account  of  its  con- 
taining a  great  number  of  divisions.  The  Chinese  divide 
the  circle  into  365^  equal  parts;  so  that  the  sun  describes 
daily  an  arc  of  one  Chinese  degree.  An  attempt  was  made 
by  the  French  philosophers,  at  the  period  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, to  introduce  into  works  of  science  a  division  of  the 
circle  better  adapted  to  our  decimal  arithmetic  (the  quad- 
rant or  right  angle  being  divided  into  100  degrees,  the  de- 
gree into  100  minutes,  and  so  on) ;  but  though  the  system 
was  adopted  by  some  writers  of  the  first  order  of  merit 
(for  example,  Laplace  in  the  Mecanique  Celeste),  and  ex- 
tensive tables  were  computed  for  the  purposes  of  astro- 
nomical calculation,  it  never  came  into  general  use,  and 
now  appears  to  be  entirely  abandoned.  It  may  be  remark- 
ed, that  a  division  of  this  sort  was  recommended  long  ago 
by  some  of  the  most  eminent  mathematicians,  Stevinus, 
Wallis,  Briggs,  Gellibrand,  Newton,  and  others. 

Decree.    In  Grammar.     See  Comparison. 

DEGRE'E  OF  LATITUDE,  on  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
is  the  distance  an  observer  must  advance  along  the  meri- 
dian, to  the  north  or  south,  in  order  to  produce  a  variation 
of  one  degree  in  the  altitude  of  the  pole.  Ever  since  it 
was  discovered  that  the  earth  is  round,  the  exact  measure- 
ment of  a  degree  of  the  terrestrial  meridian  has  been  a 
problem  of  extraordinary  interest,  inasmuch  as  it  leads  di- 
rectly to  a  knowledge  of  the  earth's  dimensions.  In 
modern  times  the  problem  has  acquired  a  still  greater  im- 
portance, in  consequence  of  the  discovery  of  the  earth's 
ellipticity;  for  it  is  by  the  comparison  of  the  lengths  of 
meridional  degrees  at  different  latitudes  that  we  are  en- 
abled to  ascertain  accurately  the  true  figure  of  the  earth, 
which  enters  as  an  element  into  many  of  the  most  inte- 
resting inquiries  of  physical  astronomy. 

When  we  consider  the  great  irregularities  of  the  actual 
surface  of  the  earth,  and  that  the  length  of  a  degree  de- 
pends on  the  radius  of  the  circle  on  which  it  is  measured, 
it  will  readily  appear  that  terrestrial  degrees  at  different 
places,  if  measured  on  the  external  surface,  must  be  ex- 
ceedingly unequal.  In  order  to  obviate  the  effects  of 
superficial  irregularities,  and  to  reduce  all  the  degrees  to 
the  same  radius,  the  surface  of  the  sea  is  supposed  to  be 
continued  all  round  under  the  continents,  and  it  is  to  this 
surface  or  level  that  all  the  measurements  must  be  referred. 
This  being  understood,  the  general  principle  on  which  the 
measurement  of  degrees  of  the  terrestrial  meridian  must 
be  accomplished  are  readily  perceived.  Two  stations 
being  assumed  on  the  same,  or  nearly  the  same  meridian, 
the  distance  between  them  must  be  found  with  great  ex- 
actness in  feet,  yards,  or  some  known  linear  measure. 
Having  ascertained  the  itinerary  distance,  the  latitude  of 
each  of  the  stations  must  be  determined ;  the  difference 
of  the  two  latitudes  is  the  length  of  the  celestial  arc  inter- 
cepted between  the  two  stations;  and  by  comparing  this 
with  the  terrestrial  measure,  the  number  of  yards  or  feet 
corresponding  to  a  degree  becomes  known.  It  is  evident 
that,  in  order  to  obtain  a  result  of  any  value,  all  these 
operations  must  be  executed  with  the  greatest  care  and 
precision.  An  error  of  a  single  second  in  the  celestial  arc 
corresponds  to  about  100  feet  on  the  ground,  and  a  long  se- 
ries of  astronomical  observations  must  be  made  to  obtain 
the  latitude  of  any  place  true  to  a  second.  On  this  account 
it  is  necessary  to  measure  an  arc  of  considerable  length, 
two  or  three  degrees  at  least ;  because  the  error  in  the  de- 
termination of  the  latitudes  is  the  same,  whether  the  arc 
be  long  or  short,  and  in  the  case  of  a  long  arc  its  influence 
becomes  less  sensible.  But  the  exact  measurement  of  a 
line  extending  two  or  three  degrees  on  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  by  the  direct  application  of  rods  or  chains,  is  perhaps 
altogether  impracticable,  on  account  of  the  irregularities 
of  the  ground  and  many  other  circumstances  which  render 
an  operation  of  this  sort,  when  carried  on  even  for  a  few 
miles,  an  affair  of  great  difficulty.  Hence  it  becomes  ne- 
cessary to  have  recourse  to  other  methods.    A  level  piece 


DEGREE  OF  LATITUDE. 


of  ground  is  selected  near  the  meridional  arc  proposed  to 
be  measured.  On  this  a  straight  line  A  B  is  traced  in  any 
direction,  and  its  length 
accurately  found  by  the 
application  of  rods  of 
metal,  or  sometimes  of  II 
wood  or  of  glass.  The 
ground  adjoining  the  arc 
to  be  measured  is  then 
formed  into  triangles  by 
means  of  signals,  C,  D,  E,  F,  K,  erected  at  convenient  dis- 
tances, or  on  remarkable  points  of  the  country  ;  and  the 
angles  which  the  signals  make  with  each  other  determined 
by  a  theodolite  or  other  appropriate  instrument.  The  sides 
AC  and  BC  are  then  deduced  from  the  measured  base  AB, 
and  (hence  successively  the  sides  of  the  other  triangles ; 
and  in  this  manner  the  whole  distance  between  the  stations 
which  form  the  terminal  points  of  the  arc  is  determined  by 
a  series  of  trigonometrical  calculations.  The  reductions 
for  differences  in  the  levels  of  the  signals  must  next  be  ap- 
plied, and  also  for  their  altitude  above  the  level  of  the  sea ; 
and  it  is  obvious  that  these  reductions  cannot  be  made 
without  having  at  least  an  approximate  knowledge  of  the 
dimensions  of  the  earth,  and  without  making  some  hy- 
pothesis respecting  its  figure,  though  the  dimensions  aiid 
figure  of  the  earth  are  elements  that  can  only  be  deduced 
from  the  measurement  and  comparison  of  degrees. 

From  this  general  description  it  will  be  readily  inferred 
that  the  measurement  of  terrestrial  degrees  depends  on 
astronomical  operations  of  very  great  nicety,  and  that  the 
attempts  made  in  ancient  times  could  lead  only  to  rude 
approximations  with  respect  to  the  dimensions  of  the 
earth,  supposing  its  figure  to  be  spherical.  Eratosthenes 
who  lived  in  the  3d  century  before  Christ,  is  the  first  with 
the  detail  of  whose  operations  we  are  acquainted  who 
undertook  to  determine  the  length  of  a  meridional  arc  on 
correct  principles.  Having  observed  the  difference  of  the 
sun's  altitude  at  the  summer  solstice  at  Alexandria  and 
ISyene  in  Upper  Egypt,  and  having  found,  by  means  with 
which  we  are  unacquainted,  the  itinerary  distance  between 
the  two  places,  he  inferred  the  circumference  of  the  earth 
to  be  250.000  stadia,  and  consequently  the  length  of  a  degree 
694J  stadia.  Posidonius,  some  time  after,  measured  in  a 
similar  manner  the  arc  between  Alexandria  and  Rhodes, 
and  inferred  the  length  of  the  degree  to  be  66fi§  stadia. 
Ptolemy,  in  his  Geography,  assigns  500  stadia  as  the  length 
of  a  degree  of  the  meridian  ;  but  as  we  are  unacquainted 
with  the  precise  value  of  the  stadium,  we  cannot  form  any 
correct  idea  of  the  approximation  attained  in  these  ancient 
measures.  In  the  9th  century,  the  Arabian  caliph  Alma- 
moun  ordered  a  degree  to  be  measured  on  the  plains  of 
Mesopotamia.  His  mathematicians  arrived  at  the  exact 
value  given  by  Ptolemy  ;  a  circumstance  which,  as  it  could 
scarcely  have  happened  if  they  had  operated  indepen- 
dently, has  led  to  the  suspicion  that  they  merely  adopted 
the  conclusion  of  the  Greek  astronomers.  In  modern 
times  the  measurement  of  terrestrial  degrees  has  been 
justly  regarded  as  of  the  greatest  scientific  importance. 
About  the  middle  of  the  16th  century,  Fernel  made  a  rough 
measurement  of  the  distance  between  Paris  and  Amiens 
by  counting  the  revolutions  made  by  his  coach  wheel, 
and  concluded  the  length  of  the  meridional  degree  to  be 
364,960  English  feet.  Norwood,  in  1635,  measured  the  dis- 
tance between  London  and  York,  and  found  the  length  of 
the  degree  to  be  367,176  feet.  But  the  first  who  employed 
the  method  of  triangulation  for  obtaining  the  length  of  a 
terrestrial  arc  was  Snell,  a  native  of  Holland.  The  appli- 
cation of  the  telescope  to  instruments  for  measuring  an- 
gles, by  Picard,  was  an  invention  which  gave  a  far  greater 
accuracy  and  certainty  to  operations  of  this  kind  than 
could  before  be  attained  :  and  the  discovery  bv  Richer  of 
the  flattened  form  of  the  earth  at  the  poles,  and  the  conse- 
quent inequality  of  the  meridional  degrees,  invested  the 
subject  with  a  new  and  unexpected  interest.  In  the  year 
1735,  the  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Paris,  to  decide  the  im- 
portant question  of  the  spheroidal  form  of  the  earth,  resolv- 
ed that  two  arcs  of  meridian,  the  one  at  the  equator  and 
the  other  as  near  the  pole  as  possible,  should  be  measured 
with  all  the  accuracy  which  the  improved  state  of  astrono- 
my admitted  of.  Accordingly.  Bouguer,  Godin,  and  Con- 
damine  were  despatched  to  Peru  ;  Maupertuis.  Clairaut, 
Lemonnier,  and  some  other  associates,  to  Lapland, — for 
the  execution  of  this  purpose.  The  latter  party  accom- 
plished their  mission,  and  returned  to  Paris  within  16 
months :  Bouguer  and  his  companions  had  to  contend  with 
great  difficulties  and  hardships,  and  were  detained  not  less 
than  ten  years.  The  result  was,  that  the  length  of  the  de- 
gree of  the  meridian  at  the  equator,  reduced  to  the  level 
of  the  sea,  was  found  to  be  56,753  toises,  or  362,912  English 
feet;  and  in  Lapland,  under  the  parallel  of  65§°,  to  be  57,437 
toises,  or  36,729  feet,  exceeding  the  former" by  684  toises. 

Since  these  memorable  expeditions  several  arcs  of  me- 
ridian have  been  measured  in  different  countries,  and  all 
the  results  concur  in  proving  that  the  degrees  increase  in 
324 


length  as  we  proceed  from  the  equator  to  the  pole,  agree- 
ably to  the  theory  of  hydrostatic  equilibrium,  which  re- 
quires an  accumulation  of  matter  in  the  equatorial  regions 
of  the  earth,  in  order  to  counterbalance,  by  its  attraction, 
the  effect  of  the  centrifugal  force  of  rotation.  Lacaille,  in 
1751,  measured  a  degree  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  ;  and 
the  result  is  interesting  on  account  of  the  locality,  as  no 
other  operation  of  the  kind  has  yet  been  undertaken  in  the 
southern  hemisphere.  In  the  same  year  an  arch  was  mea- 
sured in  the  Roman  states  by  Maire  and  Boscovich ; 
j  another  by  Liesganig  in  Hungary  in  1762;  one  in  North 
j  America  by  Mason  and  Dixon  in  1764 ;  and  one  by  Becca- 
;  ria  in  Piedmont  in  1777  ;  but  the  results  cannot  be  regarded 
;  as  entitled  to  much  confidence  in  comparison  of  those  ob- 
j  tained  from  the  more  extensive  and  accurate  operations 
that  have  been  since  executed  in  France  and  England,  and 
also  in  India.  The  French  philosophers,  in  1792,  having 
chosen  for  the  unit  of  their  new  system  of  weights  and 
measures  a  fractional  part  of  the  terrestrial  meridian,  it 
was  resolved  to  measure  the  arc  extending  through  the 
whole  of  France  from  Dunkirk  to  Barcelona.  This  splen- 
did undertaking  was  confided  to  two  astronomers  of  the 
highest  eminence,  Mechain  and  Delambre,  by  whose 
spirited  exertions  it  was  carried  through  in  the  face  of  ob- 
stacles of  the  most  formidable  kind,  arising  from  the  po- 
litical state  of  the  country  at  that  time.  Every  precaution 
that  profound  theory  or  eminent  practical  skill  could  sug- 
gest was  adopted  to  secure  the  accuracy  of  the  results. 
In  1806  the  triangulation  was  extended  from  Barcelona 
through  Spain  to  the  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean  ;  and  sub- 
sequently, after  the  death  of  Mechain,  who  fell  a  victim  to 
his  exertions,  by  Biotand  Arago  to  the  Balearic  Isles.  The 
whole,  thus  extended  from  Dunkirk  on  the  north  to 
Formentera  on  the  south,  comprehends  12°  22'.  The 
English  arc,  connected  with  the  trigonometrical  survey  of 
the  kingdom,  which  has  been  carried  on  since  1790  under 
the  direction  of  the  Board  of  Ordnance,  reaches  from  Dun- 
nose  in  the  Isle  of  Wight  to  Burleigh  Moor  in  Yorkshire  ; 
nearly  4  degrees.  Though  no  doubt  is  entertained  that  the 
result  of  this  measurement  is  of  a  high  degree  of  accu- 
racy, it  must  be  confessed  that  our  confidence  arises  rather 
from  the  great  excellence  of  the  instruments  employed 
than  the  science  or  skill  of  those  to  whom  the  operations 
were  entrusted.  It  is  deserving  of  remark  that  both  the 
French  and  English  arcs  present  this  anomaly,  that  when 
portions  of  them  taken  at  particular  places  are  considered 
separately,  the  length  of  the  degrees  appears  to  increase 
on  going  southward.  Two  arcs  of  meridian  have  been 
measured  in  India.  The  first  extends  only  a  degree  and  a 
half;  but  the  second  is  the  longest  which  has  been  mea- 
sured in  any  country,  and  includes  about  16  degrees.  It 
was  begun,  and  about  10°  executed,  by  Colonel  Lambton  ; 
and  the  remainder  was  conducted  by  Captain  Everest. 
The  details  of  Colonel  Lambton's  operations  are  given  in 
the  Asiatic  Researches  (vols.  viii.  toxiii.);  those  ofCapt.  Ev- 
erest in  his  Account  of  the  Measurement  of  an  Arc  of  the  Me- 
ridian beticeen  the  Parallels  of  \S°  3'  and  24°  7'.  Lor.d.  1830. 
Some  portions  of  meridional  arcs  have  more  recently 
been  measured  in  Europe  ;  but  as  our  limits  will  not  per- 
mit us  to  enter  into  further  details,  we  shall  content  our- 
selves with  giving  the  following  table  of  the  results  of  those 
which  appear  to  be  deserving  of  confidence  : — 


No.         Meridional  Arcs. 


1.  Arc  measured  by  Bou- 
I  guer,  recomputed  by 
!     Delambre 

2.  First  Arc  measured  in  In- 
dia by  Col.  Lambton, 
from  Trivandeporum 
to  Paudree 

Second    Indian    Arc    by 
I     Col.  Lambton  and  Cap- 
tain Everest,  from  Pun- 
I     nae  to  Kulliampoor — 

4.  French  Arc  from  Dunkirk 
j  to  Formentera  by  Me- 
I     chain  and  Delambre  . . 

5.  English  Arc  from  Dun- 
j     nose  to  Burleigh  Moor.. 

6.  Arc  measured  in  Hano- 
I     ver  by  Gauss,  from  Got- 

tingen  to  Altona 

7.  Arc  measured  in  Lithua- 
I     nia  by  Struve,  from  Ja- 

cobstadt  to  Hockland . . 

8.  Arc  measured  in  Sweden 
I  by  Svanberg,  from  Mal- 
'     torn  to  Pahtawara 


Ampli- 
tude or 
length 
of  Arc. 


3°  7' 3' 

1  34  56 

15  57  39 

12  22  12 
3  57  1 

2  0  57 

3  35 
1  37  20 


Latitude 

of  middle 

point. 


[Length 
I      of 
Degree 
I     in 
English 
feet. 


1°31'0"S, 


44  51    0 
52  35  45 

52  32  17 

58  17  37 

66  20  11 


362,809 
362,988 

363,040 

364,644 
365,032 

365,301 

365,377 

365,697 


DEGREE  OF  LONGITUDE. 

In  the  preceding  table  the  numbers  are  exhibited  as  if  the 
whole  arcs  had  been  measured  at  once,  and  the  latitudes 
only  observed  at  each  extremity  ;  but  In  fact,  in  the  three 
long  arcs,  latitudes  were  observed  at  several  intermediate 
stations,  and  consequently  so  many  more  independent 
measures  obtained.  Thus  the  second  Indian  arc  consisted 
of  five  partial  arcs,  the  French  of  six,  the  English  of  three, 
and  Struve's  of  two  ;  so  that  there  are  in  the  whole  twenty 
independent  determinations  of  the  meridional  degree. 
Combining  the  results  of  these  twenty  measurements  by 
methods  well  known  to  mathematicians  so  as  to  deduce 
the  most  probable  mean  values,  the  dimensions  and  ellip- 
ticity  of  the  earth  are  found  to  be  as  follows  : — 

English  feet      Miles. 
Equatorial  diameter  -  -  41.843,330=7924  87 

Polar  diameter  -  -  -        41,704,733=7893-63 

Difference  of  diameters     •  -  138,542=    2624 

Ellipticity,  or  difference  of  diameters  )        1 

divided  by  greater  -  -     S     302026 

Assuming  these  as  the  true  elements  of  the  earth's  mag- 
nitude and  figure,  the  following  table  is  calculated,  showing 
the  length  of  a  degree  of  the  meridian  at  every  10th  degree 
of  latitude.  The  formula  from  which  the  calculation  is 
made  is  the  following :— Let  a  be  the  equatorial  semidia- 
meter  of  the  earth,  e  the  ellipticity,  I  the  latitude  of  the 
place,  and  d  the  length  of  a  degree  at  the  latitude  I ;  then 
U=zaO—  e  +  3esin2  /)  3600  sin.  1" 


Latitude. 

0 
10 
20 
30 
40 

Length  of  Degree 
in  English  feel. 

Latitude. 

Length  of  Degree, 
in  English  feet.' 

362,731 
362,843 
363,158 
363,641 
364,233 

50 
60 
70 
SO 
90 

364,862 
365,454 
365,937 
366,252 
366,361 

DEGREE  OF  LONGITUDE,  on  the  earth,  is  a  degree 
of  the  equator,  or  of  any  of  its  parallel  circles.  If  the  earth 
is  a  regular  spheroid  of  revolution,  the  circles  parallel  to 
the  equalor,  and  consequently  the  degrees  of  those  circles, 
must  diminish  regularly  as  their  distance  from  the  equator 
increases,  according  to  a  law  derived  from  the  nature  of 
the  ellipse.  Hence,  if  we  know  the  measured  lengths  of 
a  degree  of  two  or  more  small  circles  in  different  latitude  ■• 
we  are  in  possession  of  data  sufficient  to  determine  the 
diameters  and  ellipticity  of  the  earth.  The  measurement 
of  degrees  of  longitude,  therefore,  in  reference  to  the  de- 
termination of  the  earth's  figure,  is  of  equal  importance 
with  the  measurement  of  degrees  of  the  meridian,  and  has 
accordingly  been  executed  in  various  instances.  The  geo- 
detical  operations  required  in  the  one  case  are  the  same  as 
in  the  other ;  but  on  account  of  the  great  difficulty  of  de- 
termining the  astronomical  longitudes  with  the  necessary 
accuracy,  the  results  have  never  been  regarded  as  equally 
satisfactory.  Supposing  the  equatorial  diameter  of  the 
earth,    as    indicated    by    the    meridional  degrees,  to  be 

1 


41,843,330  English  feet,  and  the  ellipticity  =  . 


the 


'  302  026, 

following  table  shows  the  length  of  a  degree  of  longitude  at 
every  tenth  degree  of  latitude. 


Latitude. 

Degree  of  Loncimde. 
in  English  feel. 

Latitude. 

Degree  of  Longitinle 
in  English  feel. 

0 

10 
20 
30 
40 

365,152 
359,640 
343,263 
316,493 
280,106 

50 
60 
70 
RO 
90 

235.171 

183,029 

125.254 

63,612 

0 

DEGRE'ES.  In  Music,  the  small  intervals  of  which  the 
concords  or  harmonical  intervals  are  composed. 

DEIII'SCENT.  (Lat.  dehisco,  I  gape.)  A  termapplied 
to  those  fruits  which  separate  regularly  round  their  axes, 
either  wholly  or  partially,  into  several  pieces. 

DEIFICATION.    See  Apotheosis. 

DEI  GRATIA  (by  the  grace  of  God).  A  Latin  formula, 
usually  inserted  in  the  ceremonial  description  of  the  title 
of  a  sovereign.     It  was  used  originally  by  the  clergy. 

DEILE'PHILA.  (Gr.  <5eiXn,  evening,  and  6i\eo),  I  love.) 
A  subgenus  of  hawk-moths  (Sphingiace)  belonging  to  the 
crepuscular  or  evening  tribe  of  Lepidopterous  insects. 
They  are  characterized  by  wings  entire  and  acute  ;  antlia 
rather  elongated  ;  antenna?  short,  and  clubbed  in  the  male. 
One  species,  De.il.  celerio,  feeds  upon  the  vine. 

DEINOTHE'RIUM.  (Gr.  Setvos,  terrible,  Sriptov,  wild 
beast.)  The  name  of  a  fossil  genus  of  gigantic  Pachy- 
derms, chiefly  remarkable  on  account  of  its  enormous 
tusks,  which  projected  downwards  from  the  lower  jaw 
instead  of  the  upper,  as  in  the  elephant  and  walrus. 

DE'ISM,  or  THEISM.  (Lat.  Deus;  Gr.  Oeos,  God.) 
Belief  in  the  existence  and  attributes  of  God  coupled  with 
325 


DELPHI,  ORACLE  OF. 

disbelief  in  any  express  revelation  of  his  will.  There  exist 
various  shades  of  opinion  among  Deists,  which  the  reader 
will  find  pointed  out  in  Clarke's  learned  work  on  the  Attri- 
butes;  but  general  usage  has  assigned  this  word  a  meaning 
synonymous  with  sceptic  or  freethinker :  hence  it  is  re- 
garded as  a  term  of  reproach.  In  its  original  acceptation, 
theist  was  directly  opposed  in  meaning  to  atheist;  but  these, 
terms  are  now  frequently,  though  very  incorrectly,  em- 
ployed without  distinction  to  designate  an  unbeliever  in 
Christianity. 

DEJEUNER  (Fr.  breakfast.)  A  term  wholly  natural- 
ized in  almost  all  the  languages  of  modern  Europe,  not  ex- 
cepting the  English,  signifying  the  morning  meal.  The 
materials  of  which  it  is  composed  vary  of  course  with  the 
climate  and  usages  of  different  countries;  but  it  is  worthy 
of  remark  that  in  France  itself  this  term  is  rapidly  losing, 
if  indeed  it  has  not  already  lost,  its  original  acceptation, 
being  used,  particularly  by  the  fashionable  world,  as  sy- 
nonymous with  the  Enslish  luncheon. 

DEL  CREDERE  COMMISSION.  In  Mercantile  Law, 
a  term  derived  from  the  Italian  (credere,  to  trust),  which 
denotes  a  commission  granted  by  a  merchant  to  a  factor  to 
dispose  of  goods  ;  the  factor,  for  the  consideration  of  an 
additional  percentage,  agreeing  to  guarantee  the  solvency 
of  the  purchaser.     See  Factor. 

DELEGATES,  COURT  OF.  Formerly  the  highest  ec- 
clesiastical court  of  appeal  in  England :  in  ordinary  cases 
composed  of  three  common  law  judges  and  three  civilians ; 
in  special  cases  a  fuller  commission  is  sometimes  issued. 
In  case  of  a  division  of  opinion,  or  where  no  common  law 
judge  is  in  the  majority,  a  commission  of  adjunctB  was  is- 
sued. Appeal  lay  to  it  from  the  archiepiscopal  courts.  Its 
powers  are  transferred  by  2  &  3  W.  4.  c.  92.  to  the  privy 
council. 

DELEGA'TION.  In  the  Civil  Law,  the  act  by  which  a 
debtor  transfers  to  another  person  the  duty  to  pay,  or  a 
creditor  makes  over  to  a  third  party  the  right  to  receive 
payment. 

DELFT  WARE.     A  coarse  species  of  porcelain,  origin- 
ally manufactured  at  Delft  in  Holland,  whence  its  name. 
DE'LIAN  PROBLEM.   See  Duplication  op  the  Cube. 
DE'I.K  ACY.     (Lat.  deliciro.)    In  the  Fine  Arts,  minute 
accuracy  as  opposed  to  strength  or  force  :  slenderness  of 
proportion.  ere:tt  finish,  and  softness  are  its  characteristics. 
DELIQTJE'SCENCE.    (Lat  deliquesce,  to  melt  dozen.) 
When  certain  saline  substances  are  exposed  to  air,  they 
absorb  so  large  a  quantity  of  moisture  as  to  run  down  into 
a  liquid  stall1,  nr  deliquesce. 

DELI'RIUM  TRE'MENS.  A  disease  of  the  brain,  re- 
sulting from  tin-  excessive  and  protracted  use  of  spirituous 
liquors;  it  is  therefore  almost  peculiar  to  drunkards.  It 
begins  with  excessive  irritability,  loss  of  sleep,  frightful 
dreams  and  visions,  and  a  multiplicity  of  the  ordinary  de- 
lusions of  insane  persons,  ending  in  furious  madness.  The 
hands  are  usually,  but  not  always,  tremulous.  By  careful 
treatment,  and  more  especially  by  the  judicious  use  of 
opium,  patients  have  recovered  from  this  disease  ;  but,  for 
obvious  reasons,  it  is  difficult  to  manage,  and  subject  to  re- 
lapses. Bleeding  should  in  almost  all  cases  be,  if  possible, 
avoided. 

DE'LITE'SCENCE.  (Lat.  delitescere,  to  lie  hid.)  In 
Surgery,  when  a  tumour  very  suddenly  and  unexpectedly 
subsides,  it  is  said  to  terminate  in  delitescence. 

DE'LPHI,  ORACLE  OF;  so  called  from  Delphi,  the 
capital  of  Phocis,  the  most  famous  of  all  the  oracles  of  an- 
tiquity, sacred  to  Apollo.  The  origin  of  the  oracle  at  Del- 
phi is  wrapt  in  obscurity.  By  some  authors  it  is  ascribed 
to  chance  ;  but  many  incline  to  believe  that  it  owed  its  origin 
j  to  certain  exhalations,  which,  issuing  from  a  cavern  on 
which  it  was  situated,  threw  all  who  approached  it  into  con- 
vulsions, and  during  their  continuance  communicated  the 
power  of  predicting  the  future.  Be  this  as  it  may,  these 
exhalations  were  soon  invested  with  a  sacred  character; 
and  as  their  reputation  extended,  the  town  of  Delphi  insen- 
sibly arose  around  the  cavity  from  which  they  issued.  The 
responses  were  delivered  by  a  priestess,  called  Pythia,  who 
sat  upon  a  tripod  placed  over  the  mouth  of  the  cavern  ;  and 
after  having  inhaled  the  vapour,  by  which  she  was  thrown 
into  violent  convulsions,  gave  utterance  to  the  wished-for 
predictions,  either  in  verse  or  prose,  which  were  then  in- 
terpreted by  the  priests.  Originally  the  consultation  of  the 
oracle  was  a  matter  of  great  simplicity  ;  but  in  process  of 
time,  when  the  accuracy  of  the  predictions  became  known, 
a  series  of  temples,  each  more  magnificent  than  its  prede- 
cessor, was  erected  on  the  spot.  Immense  multitudes  of 
priests  and  domestics  were  connected  with  the  oracle  ;  and 
to  such  a  height  of  celebrity  did  it  attain,  that  it  wholly 
eclipsed  all  the  other  oracles  of  Greece. 

The  position  of  the  oracle  was  the  most  favourable  that 
could  well  be  imagined.  Delphi  formed  at  once  the  seat 
of  the  Amphictyonic  Council  and  the  centre  of  Greece, 
and,  as  was  universally  believed,  of  the  earth.  Hence,  in 
every  case  of  emergency,  if  a  new  form  of  government 
was  to  be  instituted,  war  to  be  proclaimed,  peace  con- 


DELPHIN. 

eluded,  or  laws  enacted,  it  came  to  be  consulted,  not  only 
by  the  Greeks,  but  even  by  the  neighbouring  nations ;  and 
thus  the  temple  was  enriched  by  an  incredible  number  of 
the  most  valuable  presents  and  the  most  splendid  monu- 
ments, and  the  town  of  Delphi  rose  to  be  one  of  the  most 
wealthy  and  important  of  the  cities  of  Greece. 

As  it  was  well  known  that  the  riches  of  all  Greece  were 
concentrated  in  the  temple  at  Delphi,  this  sacred  reposi- 
tory became  frequently  an  object  of  plunder.  But  in  spite 
of  all  the  rapacity  to  which  it  was  exposed,  the  oracle  con- 
tinued to  utter  its  responses  long  after  the  seat  of  empire 
had  been  transferred  from  Greece  to  Rome ;  and  it  was 
only  when  Constantine  the  Great  removed  the  sacred  tri- 
pods to  adorn  the  hippodrome  of  his  new  city,  that  the  re- 
sponses of  the  oracle  ceased  to  be  delivered.  For  a  view 
of  the  characteristics  of  oracles  in  general,  and  the  influ- 
ence which  they  exercised  over  the  nations  of  antiquity, 
see  the  article  Oracle. 

DE'LPHIN.  In  Literary  History,  a  name  given  to  the 
edition  of  the  Latin  classics,  prepared  and  commented 
upon  by  thirty-nine  of  the  most  famous  scholars  of  the  day, 
at  the  suggestion  of  Louis  XIV.,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
young  prince  (in  usum  Delphini)  under  the  superintendence 
of  Montausier  his  governor,  and  his  preceptors  Bossuct 
and  Huet. 

DELPHI'NIA.  A  vegetable  alkaline  base,  obtained  from 
the  seeds  of  the  Delphinium  staphisagria  or  stavesacre. 

DELPHI'NUS.  (Lat.  a  dolphin.)  The  Dolphin,  one  of 
the  ancient  constellations  of  the  northern  hemisphere. 

Dblphintjs.  This  term  is  restricted  in  modern  Zoology 
to  those  species  of  Cetacea  which  have  teeth  in  both  jaws, 
all  simple,  and  almost  all  conical.  They  are  the  most  car- 
nivorous in  proportion  to  their  size.  The  Linnaean  genus 
Delphinus  is  now  subdivided  into  Hyperoodon,  of  which  the 
great  bottle-nose  dolphin  is  the  type  ;  Delphinapterus,  re- 
presented by  the  beluga ;  Phocama,  represented  by  the 
common  porpesse  ;  and  Delphinus  proper. 

DE'LTA.  The  Greek  letter  A;  and,  in  antiquity,  the 
lower  portion  of  Egypt,  comprised  between  the  E.  and  W. 
branches  of  the  Nile  and  the  sea,  was  from  its  resemblance 
to  the  above  letter  called  the  Delta.  And  hence  if  any 
large  river,  before  it  enters  the  sea,  diverges  and  forms  two 
sides  of  a  triangle,  the  sea  being  the  base,  the  strand  or  al- 
luvial land  included  by  the  three  lines  is  called  a  delta;  as 
the  delta  of  the  Rhone,  the  Danube,  Ganges,  &c. 

DELTO'ID.  Of  the  shape  of  the  Greek  letter  delta,  A. 
The  term  is  used  in  anatomy  and  botany. 

DE'LUGE.  (Lat.  diluvium.)  In  the  165Cth  year  after 
the  creation  (according  to  ordinary  chronology),  in  the 
600th  year  of  the  life  of  Noah,  and  on  the  17th  day  of  the 
second  month  (November,  according  to  some  commenta- 
tors), the  waters  began  to  rise  upon  the  earth.  They  ap- 
pear to  be  represented  as  swelling  upwards  by  some  up- 
heaving force  (the  fountains  of  the  great  deep  were  broken 
up),  and  descending  also  in  continual  rain  for  forty  days  and 
nights.  All  the  mountains  "  that  were  under  the  whole 
heaven"  were  covered  ;  "  all  flesh  perished  that  moved  on 
the  earth,"  with  the  exception  of  Noah  and  his  family ,  and  the 
animals  which  entered  with  him  into  the  Ark.  The  waters 
remained  150  days ;  and  then  "  returned  from  off  the  earth 
continually  :"  and  the  Ark  rested  on  Ararat  on  the  seven- 
teenth day  of  the  seventh  month  ;  and  on  the  first  day  of 
the  first  month  of  the  following  year  "  the  face  of  the 
ground  was  dry,"  but  not  completely  drained  of  the  water 
for  nearly  two  months  longer.  Such  is  a  very  concise 
abridgement  of  the  account  of  this  great  catastrophe  con- 
tained in  the  7th  and  8th  chapters  of  Genesis.  Two  sub- 
jects connected  with  it  require  a  brief  discussion — the  pa- 
rallel traditions  of  ancient  mythology  ;  and  the  confirma- 
tion which  the  Mosaic  account  has  been  supposed  by  some 
to  receive  from  the  discoveries  of  modern  geological  sci- 
ence, which  others  have  represented  as  directly  opposed 
to  it. 

As  to  the  first,  the  belief  in  the  destruction  of  mankind 
by  a  deluge  in  the  earliest  times,  and  of  the  escape  of  one 
individual  and  family  under  circumstances  resembling 
those  recorded  in  sacred  history  respecting  Noah,  is  a  re- 
markable feature  in  the  traditions  of  a  great  variety  of  na- 
tions. The  Fo-ki  of  the  Chinese,  the  Satyavrata  of  the 
Indians,  Xisuthrus  or  Seisithrus  among  the  Assyrians, 
Deucalion  and  Ogyges  among  the  Greeks, — all  present 
striking  features  of  analogy  to  the  patriarch  of  scripture  : 
even  the  Mexicans  had  their  traditional  deluge.  These 
fragments  of  early  belief  are  collected  very  copiously  in 
the  third  volume  of  Bryanf s  Ancient  Mythology.  (See  also 
Russell's  Connexion  of  Sacred  and  Profane  History,  vol.  ii.) 
It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  some  of  these  deluges  may  have 
been  local  inundations  only  ;  as,  for  example,  the  natural 
features  of  the  Thessalian  plain  seem  to  account  conclu- 
sively for  the  tale  of  Deucalion.  Still  the  universality  of 
these  traditions,  and  their  general  agreement  as  to  circum- 
stances, seem  to  point  to  some  common  source  of  infor- 
mation. 
With  regard  to  geological  theories  of  the  deluge,  it  is  per- 
326 


DEMARCATION. 

haps  the  safest  and  wisest  course  to  acquiesce  in  the  general 
principle,  that  as  scripture  was  given  for  a  very  different 
purpose  than  that  of  conveying  physical  knowledge,  so  the 
endeavour  to  torture  its  brief  language  into  exact  accordance 
with  our  discoveries,  real  or  imaginary,  in  that  branch  of 
inquiry,  is  both  vain  and  unreasonable.     But  since  much 
controversy  has  been  expended  on  the  subject,  it  may  be 
worth  while  to  observe,  that  in  the  instance  of  the  deluge, 
the  chief  difficulties  have  arisen  not  from  any  endeavour 
of  infidel  writers  to  confute  scripture  by  the  aid  of  geology, 
but  through  the  over  eagerness  of  the  advocates  of  religion 
to  seize  on  each  hasty  generalization  made  in  the  progress 
of  an  advancing  science,  in  order  to  press  it  into  the  service 
of  their  own  opinions.    Thus  the  cause  of  revelation  has 
been  defended  by  physical  arguments  where  no  defence 
was  called  for ;  and  these  arguments  have  been  necessarily 
abandoned  afterwards  by  those  who  advanced  them.    We 
need  not  here  speak  of  the  notions  which  have  been  pro- 
pounded by  speculative  geologists  respecting  the  proximate 
causes  of  the  deluge ;  such  as  Burnet  (Telluris  Tlieoria 
Sacra),  Newton,  &c.  ;  and  Dr.  Geddes,  whose  ingenious 
theory  is  that  it  was  produced  by  a  sudden  increase  of  the 
central  heat  expanding  the  volumes  of  water  supposed  to 
be  contained  in  cavities  of  the  globe, breaking  up  its  surface 
from  within,  and  then  submerging  it  under  an  inundation 
of  hot  water.     More  general  interest  has  been  excited  by 
the  imaginary  proofs  which  from  time  to  time  geology  has 
been  supposed  to  furnish  of  the  fact  of  a  universal  deluge. 
Thus  the  discovery  of  fossil  shells  in  inland  strata,  and 
near  the  summits  of  the  highest  mountains,  was  at  one 
time  offered  as  conclusive   evidence  ;  and   some  infidel 
writers  were  reduced  to  the  absurd  shift  of  representing 
them  as  lusus  natura,  or  accounting,  like  Voltaire,  for  those 
found  on  the  Alps  by  supposing  them  to  have  been  thrown 
away  by  pilgrims  on  their  journey  !  But  when,  in  the  course 
of  discovery,  it  was  known  that  these  fossil  relics  are  to  be 
found  scattered  through  an  infinite  variety  of  solid  strata 
formed  apparently  by  partial  deposition,  one  reposing  be- 
neath another,  so  as  to  form  the  whole  superficial  crust  of 
the  globe,  the  impossibility  of  considering  them  as  the  re- 
sults of  any  great  convulsion  became  evident,  and  the  ar- 
gument founded  on  them  fell  to  the  ground.     A  similar  in- 
stance of  over-hasty  conclusion  has  been  exhibited  in  more 
recent  times.     Some  geologists  imagined  themselves  to 
have  discovered  proofs  of  a  general  convulsion,  attended 
by  a  rapid  passage  of  water  over  the  surface  of  the  whole 
earth,  at  a  period  subsequent  to  the  deposition  of  the  last 
tertiary  strata.     This  notion  is  to  a  certain  extent  counte- 
nanced by  Cuvier  (Theory  of  the  Earth,  Dr.  Jameson's 
translation,  pp.  11.  13.  &c),  and  by  Dr.  Buckland  (Rclirjvia, 
Diluviana,  1823.) ;  and  it  is  unfortunate  that  Dr.  Sumner 
(Records  of  the  Creation)  should  have  adopted  it  as  the 
foundation  of  an  argument  in  favour  of  revelation      For 
more  recent  investigations  have  shown  that  it  is  impossible 
to  distinguish  these  supposed  traces  from  those  of  local 
disturbance. 

On  the  whole,  the  question  may  perhaps  be  summed 
up  thus:  many  writers  (Cramer,  Von  Hoff,  &c.)  havo 
contended  that  the  scriptural  deluge  was  local  only,  ex- 
tending over  the  then  inhabited  portion  of  the  earth  ;  but 
it  is  to  be  regarded  as  universal,  and  the  expressions  of 
the  Bible  taken  in  their  literal  sense,  geology  (in  its  pre- 
sent very  imperfect  state)  affords  us  no  insight  into  the 
possible  causes  of  such  a  convulsion.  But  on  the  suppo- 
sition of  its  having  been  produced  by  a  sudden  miraculous 
interference  with  the  order  of  nature,  no  such  information 
was  to  be  expected  from  science.  Neither  does  geology 
afford  any  distinct  evidence  of  a  universal  deluge ;  but, 
looking  at  the  manner  in  which  that  deluge  is  recorded 
to  have  taken  place,  and  the  short  period  of  its  duration, 
it  is  difficult  to  see  how  many  permanent  results  which  it 
may  have  produced  could  be  distinguished  from  those  of 
the  innumerable  local  inundations  of  which  the  surface 
of  the  earth  furnishes  such  manifest  testimony.  The  points 
of  contact  between  natural  science  and  revelation  are  in 
reality  few  or  none  ;  it  is  the  jealousy  of  believers  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  cavils  of  scepticism  on  the  other,  which 
have  given  rise  to  the  very  unmeaning  controversies  which 
exist  upon  the  subject. 

DE'MAGOGUE.  (Gr.  <5r;^oc, people,  and  ayoiyos,  leader.) 
One  who  directs  or  leads  the  people  in  political  matters. 
In  its  original  acceptation  it  was  considered  as  a  most 
honourable  designation,  having  been  applied  to  Solon,  De- 
mosthenes, and  in  fact  to  many  of  the  most  illustrious 
characters  of  antiquity ;  but  it  is  now  almost  invariably 
used  in  a  bad  sense.  The  oldest  and  most  satirical  of  all 
portraits  of  the  demagogue  is  traced  by  Aristophanes  in 
his  play  of  the  Knights,  in  the  character  of  Cleon. 

DEMA'ND.  In  Political  Economy.  See  Supply  and 
Demand. 

DEMARCATION.  (Fr.)  A  term  used  to  designate 
the  line  or  boundary  by  which  one  object  is  separated 
from  another.  The  word  was  first  introduced  in  1493, 
when  Pope  Alexander  VI.,  in  order  to  put  an  end  to  the 


DEMESNE. 

dispute,  which  prevailed  between  the  crowns  of  Spain  and 
Portugal,  relative  to  their  Indian  discoveries  and  conquests 
by  virtue  of  his  pontificial  authority  drew  through  the 
ocean  an  imaainary  line,  by  which  the  dominions  of  both 
parties  were  defined ;  and  thus  originated  the  expression 
line  of  demarcation.  It  is  only  in  this  phrase  that  the 
word  is  employed  to  this  day  in  all  the  languages  of  Eu- 
rope. 

DEMES'NE.  (Lat.  terra  dominicalis.)  In  Law,  origi- 
nally that  portion  of  the  lands  belonging  to  a  lord  which 
was  held  in  his  own  occupation.  Hence  it  is  sometimes 
used  to  distinguish  those  parts  of  a  manor  which  the  lord 
has  in  his  own  hands,  or  those  of  lessees  at  rack-rent,  from 
those  which  are  in  the  hands  of  freeholders  and  copyhold- 
ers.    See  Ancient  Demesne. 

DEME'TER.  (Doric  Gr.  Sa,  the  earth,  and  //i?r»)p,  a 
mother.)    The  Greek  appellation  Ceres  (quod  vide). 

DE'MI.  (Fr.)  A  word  signifying  half,  frequently  used 
in  the  composition  of  English  words,  being  equivalent  to 
the  Latin  semi. 

DE'MIDITO'NE.  (Gr.  «5irovoj.)  In  Music,  a  minor 
third.     See  Third. 

DE'MIGODS.  A  general  appellation  of  the  inferior  di- 
vinities of  Greece  and  Rome,  more  particularly  of  such  of 
the  mixed  offspring  of  divinities  and  mortals  as  were  after- 
wards deified.  Of  these  the  number  was  almost  incredi- 
ble ;  and  though  their  worship  was  not  cultivated  with 
such  veneration  or  solemnity  as  that  of  the  superior  gods, 
it  prevailed  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  in  every  quarter  of 
the  ancient  world,  and  formed  a  large  part  of  the  heathen 
mvtholosy. 

DE'MILTJNE,  in  Fortification,  is  a  work  placed  before 
the  curtain. 

DE'MIQUAVER.  In  Music,  a  note  equal  in  duration  to 
half  a  quaver. 

DE'MITINT.  In  Painting,  a  tint  representing  the  mean 
or  medium  between  light  and  shade ;  by  some  called  a 
half  tint. 

DEMIU'RGUS,  Demiurge.  (Gr.  iriptovpyo; ;  from  (Jmzof, 
people,  epyov,  work.)    In  the  original  sense  of  the  word,  as 
used  by  classical  authors,  an  artificer  employed  in  ordina-  i 
ry  handicraft.     In  the  language  of  Platonist  writers,  it  de-  j 
notes  an  exalted  and  mysterious  agent,  hy  whose  means  , 
God  is  supposed  to  have  created  the  universe.    Hence  the  j 
Demiurgus.  or  Logos,  as  the  same  imaginary  asent  isterm- 
ed  in  the  Timaus  of  Plato,  is  identified  by  the  Platonizing 
Christians  with  the  second  person  in  the  Trinity. 

DEMO'ORAOY.  (Gr.  <5fUioj,  people,  and  upartw,  I  gov- 
ern.) A  government  is  usually  termed  a  democracy  in 
which  the  whole  of  the  people,  or  a  large  proportion  of  it, 
exercises  sovereignty  either  directly  or  by  representatives. 
According  to  some  political  writers,  (he  term  is  strictly  ap- 
propriate only  where  "a  majority  of  the  adult  males"  share 
in  the  government.  In  Aristotle's  view  ofgo\  ernments,  de- 
mocracy i3  a  perversion  of  the  imaginary  system,  which 
he  terms  Politeia,  or  commonwealth  par  excellence ;  in 
which  the  majority  are  supposed  to  govern  for  the  good  of 
the  whole,  while  in  democracy  they  govern  for  their  own. 
See  Republic. 

DE'MOGO'RGON.  (Gr.  Saiuoiv,  a  demon,  and  yopyot, 
terrible.)  In  Mythology,  a  mysterious  divinity  of  antiquity, 
of  whose  origin,  attributes,  and  history  no  satisfactory  ac- 
count can  be  given,  in  consequence  of  the  obscurity  in 
which  they  are  enveloped.  By  some  writers  he  is  regard- 
ed as  the  author  of  creation  ;  others  consider  him  to  have 
been  a  famous  magician,  to  whose  spell  all  the  inhabitants 
of  Hades  were  subjected  ;  but  all  concur  in  viewing  him  as 
an  obiect  rather  of  terror  than  of  worship  :  hence  in  the 
Paradise  Lost  (Book  2.),  Milton  speaks  of 

Ihe  dreaded  name 

Of  Demogorgon. 

For  further  information  the  reader  is  referred  to  one  of 
the  most  learned  works  of  any  age  or  country,  the  Diction- 
naire  de  Treroux. 

DE'MOISELLE.     In  Zoology.     See  Grindae. 

DE'MON.  (Gr.  daipwv,  a  spirit.)  The  existence  of  in- 
visible beings  of  superior  powers  and  intelligence  to  man- 
kind, though  inferior  to  the  Deity,  has  been  an  article  of 
belief  among  all  heathen  nations.  They  have  varied,  how- 
ever, in  the  dispositions  they  have  assigned  to  them.  The 
Greeks,  from  whom  we  derive  the  term  in  Scriptural  lan- 
guage, applied  it  originally  to  the  deified  spirits  of  departed 
heroes,  whom  they  supposed  to  have  some  influence  in 
promoting  the  good  of  mankind,  and  considered  there- 
fore as  objects  of  adoration.  The  manner,  however,  in 
which  demons  are  represented  in  Scripture  as  evil  spirits 
inflicting  injury  on  men  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Father  of 
Evil,  is  conformable  to  the  oriental  notion  upon  such  points  ; 
except,  indeed,  that  in  the  Scriptures  the  general  supre- 
macy of  God,  who  suffers  evil  to  exist,  is  maintained,  in 
opposition  to  the  eastern  dogma  of  the  eternal  and  equal 
conflict  of  the  good  and  the  evil  principles.  The  early 
fathers  indulged  in  much  speculation  upon  these  subjects ; 
but  in  modern  times  the  literal  interpretation  of  the  agency 
327 


DEMONOLOGY. 

of  demons  as  referred  to  in  Scripture  has  been  frequently 
called  in  question.  The  demons,  like  the  fairies  and  goblins 
of  other  mythologies,  are  represented  with  various  charac- 
ters of  beneficence,  malice,  and  wanton  mischief.  They 
were  sometimes  distinguished  by  the  names  Cacodemon 
and  Agathodemon  (from  /ca/rof,  bad,  and  ayaQos,  good),  ac- 
cording as  their  influence  was  evil  or  beneficent. 

DEMO'NIACS.  Persons  possessed  by  or  under  the  in- 
fluence of  demons  or  devils,  of  whom  mention  is  made  in 
some  passages  in  the  New  Testament.  Some  divines  have 
supposed  that  such  influence  was  permitted  to  the  powers 
of  evil  at  one  particular  time  for  the  greater  manifestation 
of  our  Lord's  authority  in  rebuking  them  :  but  it  is  certain 
that  the  idea  of  demoniacal  possession  was  very  ancient 
among  the  oriental  nations ;  and  those  to  whom  it  seems 
incredible  that  it  should  have  been  grounded  on  fact,  must 
be  content  with  interpreting  such  passages  of  Scripture  as 
a  concession  to  the  opinions  and  feelings  of  the  Jewish 
people. 

DEMONO'LOGY.  (Gr.  Satpcov,  deity  or  dctmon,  and 
\oyos,  discourse.)  The  belief  in  an  intermediate  race  of 
beings,  between  deity  and  humanity,  has  been  a  prevalent 
feature  in  almost  every  popular  creed  ;  and  all  tradition  or 
speculation  respecting  it  may  be  said  to  fall  under  the  gene- 
ral term  of  Demonology.  Among  the  early  oriental  na- 
tions, especially  the  Persians  and  Egyptians,  the  science 
of  astronomy  appears  to  have  been  essentially  connected 
with  this  branch  of  superstition  ;  the  heavenly  bodies  were 
honoured  as  daemons  or  celestial  intelligences.  This  an- 
cient belief  appears  to  have  had  much  influence  on  the 
Jewish  rabbinical  writers ;  and  out  of  it,  connected  with 
what  is  revealed  to  us  in  the  Old  Testament  of  the  exist- 
ence and  attributes  of  angels,  they  framed  their  peculiar 
mythology. 

The  Greek  word  Jai^toi',  daemon,  is  said  to  be  derived 
from  Sari/ib)!/,  knowing  or  intelligent.  In  the  earliest 
monuments  of  the  language,  its  signification  is  vague  and 
uncertain.  In  Homer  it  generally  signifies  a  deity  :  lat- 
uovtov  is  anything  godlike,  wonderful,  which  may  have 
been  communicated  or  inspired  by  a  deity  ;  but,  in  the 
Odyssey,  some  traces  are  to  be  found  of  the  meaning 
"fortunate"  or  "unfortunate"  attached  to  the  word.  In 
Hesiod,  however,  we  have  an  express  mythological  ac- 
count of  the  da'mons, — as  spirits,  in  a  state  between  mor- 
tality and  divinity,  peaceful  and  favourable  to  man  :  he  de- 
scribes them  as  of  different  orders.  The  mortals  who  lived 
in  the  golden  age  have  become  daemons  of  the  first  rank  ; 
those  of  the  silver  age  have  inferior  honours,  and  are  mor- 
tal, although  their  life  is  prolonged  to  a  length  of  many  hun- 
dreds of  human  generations.  The  heroes  form  a  stiil  infe- 
rior class  of  int.rmediate  spirits.  In  popular  language, 
when  hero-worship  became  widely  spread  in  Greece,  the 
words  hero  and  daemon  were  used  without  much  distinc- 
tion ;  but  the  more  recondite  difference  appears  to  have 
been  this, — the  hero  was  the  departed  worthy  himself, 
such  as  he  had  once  lived  on  earth;  the  daemon  was  his 
immaterial  part,  converted  into  a  sort  of  abstract  principle, 
— a  spiritual  agent  of  good  or  evil,  favourable  or  unfriendly 
to  mankind.  It  is  in  this  sense  also  that  the  inferior  deities 
themselves  are  designated  as  daemons.  Thales  is  said  to 
have  defined  more  accurately  the  difference  between  gods, 
heroes  as  the  souls  of  deceased  mortals,  and  daemons  pro- 
perly so  called  ;  and  in  Plato's  theology  the  daemons  oc- 
cupy an  important  place— as  intermediate  spirits,  closely 
wa'ching  over,  directing,  and  recording  the  actions  of  mor- 
tals. By  later  writers  they  were  divided  into  many  classes: 
some  ministers  of  punishment  and  revenge,  some  freeing 
from  evils  already  befallen  (\wtot),  some  warding  off  their 
approach  (aX«JiKa<coi),  &c.  It  was  in  Egypt  and  Syria, 
under  the  Ptolemies  and  Seleucidae,  that  the  Grecianphi- 
losophy  and  mythology  came  in  contact  with  those  of  the 
Rabbis;  and  from  that  union  a  new  mixed  system  of  dae- 
monology  took  its  origin.  Hence,  in  the  Greek  of  the  New 
Testament,  the  word  latpoviov  is  taken,  without  addition 
or  qualification,  as  an  evil  spirit,  and  rendered  by  our  trans- 
lators "devil." 

Analogous  to  the  daemons  of  the  Greeks  were  the  genii 
of  the  Romans  ;  but  there  were  peculiar  and  characteristic 
features  about  the  belief  in  the  latter  which  show  it  to  be 
of  a  different  origin,  probably  derived  from  the  Etruscans, 
who,  as  some  antiquarians  believe,  drew  their  mythology 
from  the  ancient  source  of  Samothrace.  The  genii  of  the 
Romans  were  an  innumerable  host  of  spirits :  every  man, 
house,  or  city,  had  an  attendant  genius.  The  genius  of 
every  mortal  is  mortal  as  himself;  accompanies  him  into 
life,  and  conducts  him  in  all  its  vicissitudes.  In  this  sense, 
the  genius  was  a  favourable  companion  :  to  enjoy  the  good 
things  of  life  is  represented  as  "  indulging"  or  gratifying 
the  genius;  abstaining  from  them,  as  "defrauding"  him. 
Wine  and  flowers  are  appropriate  offerings  to  him.  But 
he  is  also  "vultu  mutabilis,  albus  et  ater:"  he  is  the  com- 
panion of  the  mischances  as  well  as  the  pleasures  of  life; 
unless,  as  the  difficulty  appears  sometimes  to  have  been 
solved,  the  individual  had  his  pair  of  genii  good  and  bad. 


DEMONSTRATION. 

And  this  latter  should  appear  to  have  been  the  popular  be- 
lief among  the  Etruscans,  as  far  as  we  can  collect  it,  in  a 
subject  where  all  is  vague  and  indistinct ;  and  it  is  impos- 
sible accurately  to  separate  the  abstract  creations  of  philo- 
sophers and  poets  from  the  substantive  objects  of  general 
belief.  The  Etruscans  represented  the  evil  genius  as  a 
dark  and  frightful  figure,  attending  a  mortal  on  one  side, 
who  is  protected  or  followed  on  the  other  by  a  child  or 
youth — the  usual  emblem  of  the  good  genius.  The  genius 
is  often  represented  on  vases  and  in  ancient  paintings  as  a 
winged  figure  ;  and  a  genius  holding  a  torch  downwards  is 
the  "emblem  of  death. 

The  daemons  of  the  middle  ages  were  simply  fallen  an- 
gels or  devils,  according  to  the  sense  of  the  word  in  the 
New  Testament;  and  hence  demonology,  in  the  language 
of  modern  writers,  generally  signifies  the  history  of  the 
supposed  nature  and  properties  of  such  evil  spirits,  and 
of  the  modern  superstition  respecting  compacts  between 
them  and  mankind.     See  Magic,  Witchcraft. 

DEMONSTRATION  (Lat.  demonstro,  /  shoic),  was 
used  by  the  old  writers  to  signify  -'any  manner  of  showing 
either  the  connection  of  a  conclusion  with  its  premises,  or 
that  of  a  phenomenon  with  the  asserted  cause ;  but  it  now 
means,  in  philosophical  language,  only  that  process  by 
which  a  result  is  shown  to  be  a  necessary  consequence 
of  the  premises  from  which  it  is  asserted  to  follow,  on  the 
supposition  that  those  premises  are  admitted,  either  as 
matter  of  fact,  or  of  intuitive  evidence,  or  of  previous  de- 
monstration." Demonstration  is  also  used  in  ordinary 
language  as  synonymous  with  proof:  thus  it  is  often  said 
that  "  evidence  amounts  to  demonstration." 

Demonstrations,  in  a  Military  sense,  are  manoeuvres 
practised  for  the  purpose  of  misleading  the  enemy. 

DE'MOS.  (Gr.  Stifio;.)  In  Ancient  History,  a  borough 
or  ward  ;  an  Attic  word,  denoting  one  of  the  districts  into 
which  Attica  was  divided,  and  which  in  early  times  were 
bound  together  by  the  ties  of  common  blood,  but  were  not 
united  closely  into  one  nation  till  the  time  of  Theseus,  who 
fixed  on  Athens  as  the  nucleus  of  the  state. 

DEMU'RRAGE.  In  Mercantile  Law,  the  delay  which 
a  merchant  makes  in  loading  or  unloading  a  ship,  beyond 
the  time  specified  in  his  charter-party,  or  other  agreement 
with  the  owners ;  in  which  it  is  usually  stipulated  that  he 
shall  pay  at  a  certain  rate  per  diem  for  such  extra  lime, 
which  payment  is  also  termed  demurrage. 

DEMU'LCENTS.  (Lat.  demulceo,  lsoothe.)  Medicines 
which  sheathe  and  defend  sensible  parts  from  the  action 
of  irritating  matters ;  they  are  chiefly  mucilaginous  sub- 
stances, such  as  gum,  starch,  &c. 

DEMU'RRER.  (From  the  Lat.  demoror,  /  delay.)  In 
Law,  an  issue  between  plaintiff  and  defendant  on  matter 
of  law.  It  confesses  that  the  facts  are  true  as  stated  by  the 
opposite  party,  but  denies  the  legal  consequences  inferred 
by  the  opposite  party  from  these  facts.  Demurrers  are 
either  general  or  special.  (See  Pleading.)  Demurrersin 
equity  are  of  the  same  nature  with  those  at  law.  Demurrer 
may  be  also  to  an  indictment  in  criminal  cases. 

DEMY.     See  Paper. 

DENA'RIUS.  A  Roman  silver  coin  worth  ten  asses 
originally,  and  afterwards  considered  equal  to  eighteen 
asses,  when  the  weight  of  the  latter  coin  was  reduced  to 
one  ounce. 

Originally  the  denarius  was  — 1-j.  of  a  pound  of  silver,  but 
its  weight  varied.  Its  value  is  considered  equal  to  7f d.  of 
English  money. 

There  was  also  a  gold  denarius  equal  in  value  to  twenty- 
five  silver  ones. 

DENDRO'DOA.  (Gr.  SevSpov,  a  tree,  and  oiov,  an  egg.) 
The  name  of  a  subgenus  of  Ascidians,  or  fixed  tunicated 
Mollusks,  suggested  by  the  ramified  form  of  the  ovarium  ; 
but  this  structure  is  not  peculiar  to  the  species  included  in 
the  genus  so  designated. 

DE'NDROMYS.  (Gr.  SevSpov,  and  /ivs,  a  mouse.)  A 
South  African  genus  of  Rodentia,  nearly  allied  to  the  true 
mice,  but  differing  in  the  habits  of  the  species,  which  fre- 
quent the  branches  of  trees,  in  which  they  construct  their 
nest  and  bring  forth  their  young. 

DE'NDROPHIS.  (Gr.  SevSpov,  and  o<pn,  a  serpent.)  A 
genus  of  harmless  serpents  of  the  great  family  of  Colubers, 
remarkable  for  their  long  and  slender  body. 

DE'NIZEN.  (Welsh  dinassdyn,  man  of  the  city.)  In 
Law,  an  alien  boni,  who  has  received  ex  donatione  regis 
letters  patent  to  make  him  an  English  subject.  He  may 
take  lands  by  purchase  and  devise  ;  but  cannot  enjoy  offices 
and  trusts,  &c,  or  receive  a  grant  of  land  from  the  crown. 

DENOMINATOR.  A  term  used  in  Arithmetic,  in  speak- 
ing of  fractions,  to  denote  the  number  of  parts  into  which 
the  unit  or  whole  is  divided.  Thus,  for  example,  in  the 
fraction  -^  (seven  twelfths)  of  a  foot,  12  is  the  denomina- 
tor, and  indicates  that  the  unit  or  one  foot  is  divided  into  12 
equal  parts ;  and  7,  the  numerator,  shows  how  many  of 
these  parts  are  to  be  taken.  The  denominator  always  indi- 
cates unity,  for  the  whole  is  equal  to  all  its  parts.  A  frac- 
328 


DENTES. 

tion  may  always  be  regarded  as  a  whole  number,  whose 
unit  is  a  part  of  the  primitive  unit,  which  part  is  expressed 
by  the  denominator.  Thus,  in  the  fraction  -J^  of  a  foot, 
the  foot  is  supposed  to  be  divided  into  twelfths'or  inches, 
and  -jL-  expresses  the  same  thing  as  7  inches,  or  the  par- 
ticular"unit,  an  inch,  taken  seven  times. 

DENOU'EMENT.  (Fr.)  A  term  completely  naturalized 
in  England  ;  used  to  designate  the  development  of  the  plot 
or  story  in  a  novel  or  play,  and  in  short  in  every  department 
of  literature. 

DE'NSITY  (Lat.  densus,  thick),\s  used  in  Physics  to  de- 
note the  quantity  of  matter  which  a  body  contains  under  a 
given  or  determinate  surface  ;  for  example,  a  cubic  foot. 
The  quantity  of  matter  in  any  body  is  called  its  mass,  and 
is  measured  by  the  weight  of  the  body,  to  which  it  is  al- 
ways proportional.  Hence  the  density  of  any  body  is  great, 
in  proportion  as  its  weight  is  great  and  its  volume  small ; 
or,  the  density  of  bodies  are  directly  as  their  masses,  and 
inversely  as  their  volumes.  It  follows  also  from  the  defi- 
nition, that  if  two  bodies  have  the  same  volume,  their  den- 
sities are  directly  as  their  masses  or  weights;  and  that  if 
two  bodies  have  the  same  mass  or  weight,  their  densities 
are  respectively  in  the  inverse  ratio  of  their  volumes.  The 
density  of  a  body  is  also  proportional  to  its  specific  gravity. 

DE'NTAL  FO'RMULA.  (Lat.  dens,  a  tooth.)  A  nota- 
tion used  to  signify  the  number  and  kind  of  teeth  of  a  mam- 
miferous  animal,  and  usually  forming  the  main  element  in 
its  generic  character.  Thus  the  cats,  or  genus  Felts,  are 
characterized  by  incis.^  ;  canin.|.  i;  prsemol.-|,  ■§;  mol.^,^ 
=  30;  wftich  signifies  that  they  have  six  incisores  in  both 
the  upper  and  the  lower  jaw;  one  canine  tooth  on  each 
side  of  both  jaws ;  two  pramolares,  or  false  molares,  on 
each  side  of  each  jaw  ;  two  true  molares  on  each  side  of  the 
upper,  and  two  on  each  side  of  the  lower  jaw.  The  dental 
formula  of  man  is — incis.  £  ;  canin.  J- ;  prosmol.  %i^\  mo- 
lares, §i  ^  =  32. 

DENTA'LIUM.  A  genus  of  Mollusks  inhabiting  elon- 
gated univalve  shells,  resembling  an  elephant's  tusk  in 
miniature,  whence  the  name. 

DEN'TATE.  (Lat.  dens. )  In  Zoology,  the  margin  of  a 
part  of  an  animal  is  so  termed  when  it  is  cut  into  teeth 
whose  sides  are  equal,  or  nearly  so. 

DENTA'TUS.  (Lat.  dens.)  Toothed;  applied  to  the 
margins  of  bodies  furnished  with  sharp  teeth  with  concave 
edges. 

DE'NTES  (Lat.  the  teeth),  properly  so  called,  are  parts 
peculiar  to  the  vertebrate  animals,  composed  of  gelatin, 
hardened  principally  by  the  phosphate  of  lime,  and  are 
fixed  to  the  bones  of  the  mouth.  They  serve  to  catch,  kill, 
hold,  pierce,  cut,  or  crush  the  objects  of  food,  and  are  va- 
riously shaped  accordingly.  Substances  composed  of  soft- 
er material,  generally  horn,  perform  the  analogous  offices 
in  the  invertebrate  animals,  and  are  generally  called  teeth  ; 
horny  material  is  substituted  for  teeth  in  a  few  fishes,  in  che- 
lonians,  birds,  whales,  and  the  Ornithorhynchus  paradoxus. 

In  fishes  the  teeth  may  be  situated  on  the  intermaxillary, 
maxillary,  mandibular,  palatine,  vomerine,  pterygoid,  hy- 
oid,  or  pharyngeal  bones ;  in  a  few  instances  they  are  im- 
planted in  sockets  or  "alveoli,"  or  they  may  be  fixed  to  an 
osseous  base  which  is  attached  by  ligamentous  substance 
to  the  oral  bones ;  but  most  commonly  they  are  immedi- 
ately anchylosed,  or  joined  by  a  direct  continuation  of  bony 
substance,  to  the  bones  themselves  which  encompass  the 
mouth. 

In  reptiles  the  teeth  may  be  found  on  the  palatine,  pte- 
rygoid, or  vomerine,  as  well  as  on  the  maxillary  and  inter- 
maxillary bones.  They  are  generally  anchylosed,  or  con- 
fluent with  the  substance  of  the  jaws  ;  but  in  the  plesio- 
saurs  and  crocodiles  are  implanted  in  sockets. 

In  mammals  the  teeth  are  confined  to  the  maxillary  and 
intermaxillary  bones,  are  always  implanted  in  sockets,  and  in 
this  class  only  may  be  so  fixed  by  more  than  one  fang  or  root. 

Teeth  generally  consist  of  three  distinct  substances  ;  viz. 
ivory,  enamel,  and  bone,  or  cffimentum,  also  called  crusta 
petrosa. 

The  texture  of  the  ivory  is  minutely  tubular,  that  of  the 
csmentum  of  combined  tubules  and  cells  ;  and  the  earthy 
material  is  arranged  principally  in  these  cavities,  which 
have  definite  arrangement  and  proportions  in  each  specie3 
of  animal.  The  enamel  consists  of  hexagonal  filamentary 
crystals. 

In  the  human  subject  the  teeth  are  called,  according 
to  their  figure,  "  incisors,"  "  canines,"  "  bicuspids,"  and 
"molars;"  the  same  terms  have  been  transferred  to  the 
teeth  of  the  mammalia  generally,  except  that  those  which 
are  analogous  to  the  bicuspids  in  man  are  called  "  pne- 
molars,"  or  spurious  molars.  A  tooth  is  divided  into  a 
crown,  a  neck,  and  a  fang  or  fangs. 

The  vascular  bodies  concerned  in  their  development  are 
called  "  puip"  and  "  capsule :"  the  ivory  or  body  of  the 
tooth  is  formed  by  the  former,  the  enamel  and  cement  are 
due  to  the  latter  organ. 


DENTILS. 

In  most  cases  when  the  pulp  has  secreted  as  much  ivory 
as  forms  the  full  sized  crown  of  the  tooth,  it  begins  to  di- 
minish in  size ;  and  as  it  continues  to  exercise  its  function 
during  the  progress  of  its  absorption,  a  gradually  decreasing 
fang  is  the  result :  when  the  absorption  of  the  pulp,  instead 
of  being  general,  proceeds  from  two  or  three  parts,  a  cor- 
responding number  of  fangs  are  extended  from  the  crown. 
But  sometimes  the  pulp  retains  its  full  size  and  activity 
during  the  lifetime  of  the  animal,  in  which  case  the  part  of 
the  tooth  lodged  in  the  socket  presents  the  same  size  and 
form  as  the  protruded  crown,  of  which  it  is  a  direct  con- 
tinuation. The  fore  teeth  of  the  rat,  beaver,  and  other 
rodents,  are  familiar  examples  of  these  constantly  growing 
teeth.  But  this  is  not  the  only  mode  in  which  excessive 
wear  and  tear  of  the  teeth  is  provided  for.  In  the  elephant 
when  one  grinder  is  worn  down  it  is  pushed  out,  and  re- 
placed by  a  second  of  subsequent  formation  ;  these  suc- 
cessional  teeth,  or  "dents  de  reniplacement,"  as  they  are 
termed  by  the  French  anatomists,  are  formed  in  the  ele- 
phant, each  in  a  cavity  at  the  back  part  of  the  jaw,  behind 
the  tooth  which  they  are  destined  to  succeed.  In  other 
animals  again,  the  teeth  which  suit  the  size  of  the  jaws 
when  young  are  pushed  out  by  others  which  are  propor- 
tioned to  the  size  of  the  full-grown  jaws  ;  these,  which  arc 
termed  "  permanent  teeth,"  succeed  the  "  deciduous  teeth" 
in  the  vertical  direction,  being  developed  in  the  substance 
of  the  jaws  above  the  deciduous  teeth  in  the  upper,  and 
below  the  deciduous  teeth  in  the  lower  jaw.  As  the  de- 
ciduous series  of  teeth  are  generally  developed  in  the 
mammalia  at  the  period  when  the  young  animal  is  suck- 
ling, they  are  commonly  called  "milk"  teeth;  but  as  in 
some  rodents  deciduous  teeth  are  formed  and  shed  before 
birth,  they  might  be  termed  "  uterine"  teeth.  Thus  teeth 
may  succeed  each  other  in  the  horizontal  or  vertical  direc- 
tion. In  the  human  subject  all  the  deciduous  teeth  are 
succeeded  vertically  ;  but  the  additional  teeth  follow  each 
other  from  behind  forwards.  In  mammalia  a  tooth  has  not 
more  than  one  successor  in  the  vertical  direction,  but  in 
reptiles  and  fishes  there  may  be  many  such. 

It  is  a  singular  but  constant  fact,  that  in  mammalia  the 
permanent  molar  always  presents  a  more  simple  crown 
than  the  deciduous  one  which  it  has  replaced  ;  thus,  in 
man,  the  quadricuspid  milk  grinders  are  succeeded  by  the 
permanent  bicuspides. 

DE'NTILS.  (Lat.  dentes,  teeth.)  In  Architecture,  small 
square  blocks  or  projections  in  the  bed  mouldings  of  the 
cornices  in  the  Ionic,  Corinthian,  Composite,  and  occa- 
sionally Doric  orders.  Their  breadth  should  be  half  their 
height;  and,  according  to  Vitruvius,  the  intervals  between 
them  should  be  two  thirds  of  their  breadth.  In  the  Grecian 
orders  they  are  not  used  under  modillions. 

DE'NTIRO'STRES.  (Lat.  dens,  and  rostrum,  a  beak.) 
The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Insessorial  birds,  characterized  by 
having  a  notch  and  tooth-like  process  on  each  side  of  the 
margin  of  the  upper  mandible.  In  connection  with  this 
organization  the  Dentirostral  birds  manifest  rapacious 
habits,  and  prey  on  smaller  and  weaker  birds.  The  butcher- 
birds belong  to  this  tribe. 

DENTI'TION.  (Lat.  dens.)  The  cutting  of  the  teeth. 
At  birth  the  teeth  consist  of  pulpy  rudiments  buried  in  the 
gum  ;  and  it  is  not  till  the  third  or  fourth  month  that  they 
begin  to  assume  shape  and  hardness.  At  this  period  chil- 
dren generally  become  fretful ;  the  saliva  flows  copiously, 
and  they  are  fond  of  biting  upon  any  thing  hard  and  cold ; 
the  gums  become  turgid ;  there  is  more  or  less  fever,  fre- 
quently a  cough  ;  and  a  rash  appears,  commonly  called  the 
red  gum.  These  symptoms  generally  subside  in  the  course 
of  a  fortnight  or  three  weeks,  and  the  child  remains 
tolerably  free  from  uneasiness  till  the  seventh  or  eighth 
month,  when  the  gums  become  tender ;  and  often  so  much 
so,  at  some  particular  spot,  that  the  slightest  touch  or 
pressure  produces  extreme  pain  :  the  gums  become  more 
red  and  swollen,  but  paler  at  the  upper  part,  which,  just 
before  the  tooth  appears,  becomes  blistered.  During  these 
periods  an  increased  flow  of  saliva  and  a  lax  state  of  bowels 
are  favourable  symptoms ;  but  where  the  local  irritation 
is  considerable,  the  gums  should  be  freely  lanced,  and  any 
excessive  diarrhcea  should  be  very  cautiously  checked  : 
small  doses  of  magnesia,  or  of  chalk  julap  with  dill  water, 
and  occasionally  with  a  little  powdered  rhubarb,  will  gene- 
rally be  sufficient  for  this  purpose.  When  involuntary 
motions  of  the  jaws  and  face,  or  more  general  convulsions, 
ensue,  and  are  not  relieved  by  the  loss  of  blood  which 
generally  follows  proper  lancing  of  the  gums,  or  where 
there  is  drowsiness  and  oppressed  respiration,  a  leech  or 
two  to  the  temples,  and  a  small  blister  to  the  back  of  the 
neck,  or  behind  the  ear,  must  be  promptly  resorted  to  ;  and 
any  sluggishness  of  bowels  prevented,  or  even  anticipated, 
by  a  little  calomel  and  rhubarb,  or  some  other  active  purge. 
Very  mild  opiates,  very  cautiously  administered,  may 
afterwards  prove  necessary ;  but  the  administration  of 
these  in  any  form  to  young  children  requires  the  utmost 
caution,  and  syrup  of  poppies  and  other  soothing  remedies 
should  never  be  entrusted  to  the  nurse.  The  period  of 
329 


DEPILATORY. 

teething  in  children  cannot  be  too  scrupulously  watched 
over,  as  the  irritation  which  then  ensues  seems  not  un- 
frequently  to  lay  the  foundation  of  water  in  the  head,  espe- 
cially where  there  is  a  predisposition  to  that  disease. 

DENUDA'TION.  (Lat.  denudo,  1  lay  bare.)  In  Ge- 
ology, the  removal  of  part  of  the  land,  so  as  to  lay  bare 
inferior  strata. 

DENUDA'TUS.  (Lat.)  Naked.  In  Botany,  applied  to 
the  polish  or  texture  of  bodies,  and  denoting  the  reverse 
of  hairy,  downy,  or  any  similar  term. 

DEO'BSTRUENTS.  Medicines  which  remove  obstruc- 
tions. The  term  is  often  used  in  reference  to  the  removal 
of  glandular  complaints. 

DE'ODAND.  (Lat.  Deo  dandum,  to  be  given  to  God.) 
At  Common  Law,  every  personal  chattel  which  has  been 
the  immediate  occasion  of  the  death  of  a  human  being  is 
forfeited  to  the  king  on  the  finding  of  a  coroner's  inquest ; 
to  be  applied  as  alms  by  his  almoner.  Where  a  thing  not 
in  motion  is  the  cause  of  death,  it  has  been  held  that  the 
part  only  which  was  the  immediate  cause  is  forfeited ;  as 
the  wheel  of  a  cart,  where  a  man  meets  his  death  by  climb- 
ing on  the  wheel  at  rest  and  falling  from  it:  if  in  motion, 
the  whole ;  as,  the  whole  cart,  where  the  wheel  goes  over 
him.  However,  juries  have  for  a  long  time  past  taken  on 
themselves  to  assess  a  sum  of  money,  as  the  value  of  the 
thing  forfeited ;  which  has  become  in  practice  very  arbi- 
trary, and  usually,  but  not  always,  trifling.  In  this  way  co- 
roners' juries  have  to  a  certain  extent  usurped  a  power 
which  the  principle  of  the  law  by  no  means  entrusts  to 
them;  viz.  of  imposing  a  fine  where  they  believe  negli- 
gence to  have  caused  death.  By  3  &  4  W.  4.  c.  99.  s.  29. 
coroners  are  to  make  out  and  transmit  to  the  treasury  an 
account  of  deodands. 

DEONTO'LOGY.  (Gr.  Slov,  due,  and  X<5joj,  discourse.) 
The  science  of  duty  ;  a  term  assigned  by  the  followers  of 
Jeremy  Bentham  to  their  own  doctrine  of  ethics,  which  is 
founded  on  the  tendency  of  actions  to  promote  happiness. 
(See  Bentham's  Deontology,  init. ;  also  Mr.  Whewell's  Pre- 
face to  Sir  James  Macintosh's  Dissertation  on  Ethics, 
Edinb.  183G;  and  art.  Ethics  in  this  work.) 

DEPA'RTMENT.  (Fr.  departir,  to  divide.)  In  Geo- 
graphy,  a  territorial  division  of  the  kingdom  of  France. 
Before  the  first  revolution,  France  was  divided  into  37  ge- 
neralities, or  governments,  each  of  which  was  subdivided 
according  to  local  custom  into  districts,  bearing  various 
names;  and  the  laws  regulating  property  in  each  were 
subject  to  extremely  complicated  varieties.  The  plan  of 
a  new  division  into  more  convenient  portions  was  first  con- 
ceived by  the  Constituent  Assembly  in  1787,  and  carried 
into  effect  in  1790.  Mirabeau  proposed  the  formation  of 
120  departments ;  but  the  actual  number  formed  was  80, 
afterwards  increased  by  subdivision  to  83.  M.  Belleyme, 
geographical  engineer,  was  the  chief  agent  in  the  work. 
In  tracing  the  limits  of  the  departments,  the  subsisting  di- 
visions o(  provinces  and  generalities  were  maintained  to 
a  certain  extent ;  but  the  chief  object  was  to  render  them 
nearly  equal  on  an  average  repartition  of  size  and  popu- 
lation, so  that  the  more  populous  departments  are  in  ge- 
neral smaller;  but  the  division  is  by  no  means  uniform. 
The  names  of  the  departments  are  chiefly  taken  from 
rivers,  mountains,  or  other  well-known  geographical  ob- 
jects. In  1908,  the  number  was  increased  by  conquest  to 
127,  including  12  for  the  colonies.  These  last  were  sub- 
sequently retrenched:  but  in  1811,  when  the  empire  ex- 
tended from  Rome  to  Hamburg,  the  total  number  was 
130.  At  present  France  has  86  departments.  Each  is 
administered  by  an  officer  named  by  the  government  with 
the  title  of  Prefect,  and  subdivided  into  arrondissments 
and  cantons. 

DEPA'RTURE.  A  nautical  term,  used  to  denote  the 
distance  a  ship  has  gone  to  the  east  or  west  of 
jc  the  meridian  from  which  she  departed.  The 
difference  of  meridians  being  first  found  in  de- 
grees, the  departure  must  be  estimated  by  the 
number  of  miles  in  a  degree  of  the  parallel  of 
latitude  where  the  ship  is.  In  Mercator's 
Sailing,  the  departure  is  represented  by  the 
base  A  B  of  a  right-angled  plane  triangle, 
B  A  A  B  C  ;  of  which  the  angle  at  C  opposite  the 

base  is  called  the  course,  and  the  hypothennse  B  C  is  the 
distance  sailed.  Hence  the  theorem  for  finding  the  de- 
parture :— As  radius  is  to  the  sine  of  the  course,  so  is  the 
distance  run  to  the  departure. 

DEPHLEGMA'TION.  The  operation  of  freeing  spirit 
of  wine  and  certain  other  fluids  from  the  water  which  they 
usually  contain.  A  very  strong  and  pure  spirit  is  often  said 
to  be  hishly  dephlegmated. 

DEPHLOGISTICA'TION.  (Lat.  de,  down ;  and  Gr. 
(fKnyio-roi,  lit.  burned.up.)  A  term  applied  by  the  older 
chemists  to  certain  processes  by  which  they  imagined  that 
phlogiston  was  separated  from  bodies.  They  regarded 
oxygen  as  common  air  deprived  of  phlogiston,  and  hence 
called  it  dephlogisticaled  air. 

DEPI'LATORY.  (Lat.  de,from,  and  pilus,  haxr.)  Any 
W 


DEPLOY. 

application  which  removes  hair  from  any  part  of  the  body. 
The  celebrated  Turkish  Depilatory  is  a  mixture  of  7  parts 
of  quicklime  and  1  of  orpiment.  The  latter  ingredient  is 
probably  useless  ;  for  when  powdered  quicklime  is  made 
into  a  thin  paste  with  water,  and  applied  by  a  camel-hair 
pencil  to  any  part  till  it  produces  a  tingling  or  burning  sen- 
sation, on  wiping  it  off  with  a  wet  sponge,  the  hair,  especi- 
ally if  it  be  soft  and  delicate,  is  removed  with  it. 

DEPLOY.  (Fr.  deployer.ro  expand.)  In  the  art  Mili- 
tary, the  expansion  of  a  body  of  troops  previously  com- 
pacted in  column,  so  as  to  present  a  larger  front ;  generally 
for  the  purpose  of  performing  some  evolution,  or  of  form- 
ing into  line,  or  of  directing  an  attack  in  some  quarter  least 
expected  by  the  enemy. 

DEPORTA'TION.  In  French  law,  a  punishment  equi- 
valent to  transportation  in  English.  It  is  ranked  as  third  in 
degree ;  after  capital  punishment,  and  condemnation  to 
the  galleys  or  public  labour  (travaux  forces)  for  life.  De- 
portation for  political  offences  was  a  common  punishment 
at  one  period  during  the  French  revolution ;  especially 
after  the  fall  of  Robespierre  and  his  party.  It  was  then 
usually  executed  by  conveying  the  criminals  to  Cayenne 
in  South  America. 

DEPOSI'TION.  In  Law,  the  testimony  of  a  witness, 
put  down  in  writing,  in  answer  to  interrogatories  legally 
exhibited  for  that  purpose.  In  the  court  of  chancery  such 
depositions  form  the  established  medium  of  proof;  and 
the  interrogatories  are  exhibited,  in  London  by  the  ex- 
aminers, in  the  country  by  commissioners  appointed  for 
that  purpose.  Depositions  in  civil  actions,  in  the  courts 
of  common  law,  are  regulated  by  the  stat.  1  W.  4.  c.  22. 
By  7  G.  4.  c.  64.  the  examination  of  the  prisoner  and  wit- 
nesses before  a  magistrate  on  a  charge  of  felony  must  be 
taken  down  in  writing,  and  returned  to  the  court.  If  duly 
taken,  these  depositions  are  evidence  at  the  trial  under 
certain  restrictions. 

DEPO'T  (Fr.),  is  used  to  designate  a  place  where  all 
sorts  of  military  stores  and  provisions  are  kept,  or  where 
recruits  are  received  and  trained.  It  is  also  applied  to  that 
portion  of  a  regiment  which  remains  at  home  when  the 
rest  is  ordered  upon  foreign  service. 

DEPRE'SSED.  (Lat.  deprimo,  /  depress.)  In  Zoology, 
the  whole  or  part  of  an  animal  body  is  so  called  when  its 
vertical  section  is  shorter  than  the  transverse. 

DEPRE'SSION  OF  EQUATIONS,  in  Algebra,  is  the 
reduction  of  equations  to  a  lower  degree,  by  dividing  them 
by  one  or  more  of  their  component  factors.  It  is  only  in  a 
few  cases  that  equations,  whose  roots  are  unknown,  can  be 
thus  depressed.  1st,  When  some  particular  relation  sub- 
sists between  two  (or  more)  of  the  roots ;  for  example,  if 
anequation  contain  equal  roots  these  may  be  found,  and  the 
equation  reduced  as  many  dimensions  lower  as  there  are 
equal  roots.  2d,  If  two  roots  of  an  equation  be  of  the  form 
+  a,  —  a,  differing  only  in  their  signs,  they  may  be  found, 
and  the  equation  depressed.  3d,  If  the  equation  is  reci- 
procal, that  is  to  say,  such  that  its  form  is  not  changed  by 
changing  x  into  -  ,  then  it  is  susceptible  of  depression.  The 

methods  by  which  these  classes  of  equations  are  depress- 
ed, are  to  a  certain  point  to  be  regarded  as  a  branch  of  the 
transformation  of  equations,  since  the  general  object  of  the 
theory  is  to  make  the  solution  of  an  equation  depend  on 
the  solution  of  another  more  simple.  (See  Bourdon's  Al- 
gebra.) 

DEPRE'SSION  OF  THE  HORIZON,  or  DIP  OF  THE 
HORIZON,  in  Nautical  Astronomy,  denotes  the  depres- 
sion or  dipping  of  the  visible  horizon  below  the  true  hori- 
zontal plane,  and  which  arises  from  the  circumstance  that 
the  eye  of  the  observer  is  not  placed  on  the  same  level 
with  the  surface  of  the  sea,  but  at  some  distance  above  it. 
Hence  in  observing  the  altitude  of  the  sun  or  a  star  above 
the  horizon  with  the  sextant,  the  altitude  appears  greater 
than  it  really  is.  Let  a  —  the  radius  of  the  earth,  and 
x  —  the  height  of  the  eye  above  the  horizon  ;  then  the  co- 

a 
sine  of  the  angle  of  depression  =      .      .      At  the   height 

of  10  feet  this  amounts  to  about  three  minutes  of  a  degree. 

DEPUTA'TION  (Lat.),  is  applied  to  a  certain  number 
of  persons  selected  from  a  company  or  body.,  and  appoint- 
ed to  lay  before  a  sovereign,  an  assembly,  a  minister,  or 
other  public  functionary,  a  statement  of  the  views  of  the 
selecting  party  relative  to  any  question,  or  to  prosecute  any 
affair  in  their  name. 

DE'PUTIES,  CHAMBER  OF.  The  lower  of  the  two 
legislative  chambers  in  France.  The  right  of  election  to 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies  is  in  persons  of  25  years  of  age, 
paying  200  francs  of  direct  contributions ;  i.  e.  the  land 
tax,  personal  tax,  door  and  window  tax,  and  a  few  others : 
officers  in  the  army  and  navy,  and  members  and  corres- 
pondents of  the  Institute,  are  only  required  to  pay  100 
francs.  The  list  of  electors  is  made  out  by  the  mayors  of 
the  communes  annually,  and  revised  by  the  prefect ;  sub- 
sequent claims  are  judged  by  the  prefect  in  council,  and, 
in  the  last  resort,  by  the  Cour  Royale.  There  are  459 
330 


DERMATOBRANCHUS. 

members  of  the  chamber,  each  elected  by  a  separate 
electoral  college  :  the  election  is  by  ballot.  To  be  eligible 
to  the  chamber,  the  candidate  must  be  thirty  years  of  age, 
and  pay  500  francs  of  direct  taxes.  The  total  number 
of  electors  in  1833-39  amounted  to  197,598.  The  duration 
of  the  chamber  is  triennial. 

The  Chamber  of  Deputies  is  divided  into  nine  bureaux; 
which  are  renewed  every  month.  To  these  bureaux  ques- 
tions are  referred  by  the  chamber;  as  well  laws  proposed 
by  the  king  or  the  house  of  peers  as  propositions  of  indi- 
vidual members.  The  bureaux  report  on  the  question, 
after  separate  discussion  in  each,  before  the  general  dis- 
cussion in  the  chamber  begins.  Except  in  case  of  dissolu- 
tion, measures  commenced  in  one  section  pass  on  to  the 
next  in  the  same  stage  in  which  they  have  been  left.  The 
vote  on  a  proposed  law  is  secret,  on  any  other  proposition 
open. 

The  "cote  droit,"  "cote  gauche,"  and  the  "centres," 
form  the  three  grand  divisions  of  which  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies  is  composed.  When  the  three  chambers  of  the 
States-General  of  1789  were  consolidated  into  one  by  the 
designation  of  the  National  Assembly,  the  most  distin- 
guished members  of  the  aristocratic  and  republican  par- 
ties were  in  the  habit  of  sitting  together,  for  the  purpose 
of  communicating  more  easily  with  one  another:  the  for- 
mer occupied  the  benches  to  the  right,  the  latter  those  to 
the  left  of  the  president's  chair:  while  the  centre  benches, 
or  those  fronting  the  president's  chair,  were  filled  by  those 
who  held  various  intermediate  shades  and  modifications 
of  opinion.  This  custom  remains  in  force  at  the  present 
day,  and  nothins  can  exceed  the  nicety  with  which  each 
variety  of  political  opinion  is  grouped  in  the  French  repre- 
sentative assembly.  The  cote  droit,  or  the  side  to  the  right 
of  the  president's  chair,  is  occupied  by  those  members 
who  incline  to  favour  the  royal  prerogative ;  the  cote 
gauche,  on  the  other  hand,  is  set  apart  for  those  who  are 
more  in  favour  of  popular  ascendency  ;  while  those  mem- 
bers who,  with  considerable  difference  of  opinion  among 
themselves,  generally  support  the  ministers,  occupy  the 
"  centres"  (centre  droit  et  centre  gauche),  which  may  thus 
be  termed  the  ministerial  benches.  But,  it  has  been  judi- 
ciously remarked,  "  as  in  every  great  political  party  there 
are  shades  of  opinion,  some  being  more  warm  and  violent, 
and  others  more  moderate,  discriminating,  or  cautious,  so 
both  the  cote  droit  and  the  cole  gauche  are  generally  sub- 
divided into  three  sections  each.  The  more  zealous  royal- 
ists take  their  seats  at  the  outer  extremity  of  their  side  of 
the  house  towards  the  president,  and  are  styled  the  "ex- 
treme droit ;"  the  ultra  liberals  sit  on  the  corresponding 
seats  on  the  opposite  or  left  side,  and  are  styled  the  "ex- 
treme gauche."  For  a  more  minute  view  of  this  arrange- 
ment, and  an  account  of  the  various  changes  which  these 
different  divisions  have  undergone,  see  the  Encyclopedie 
des  Gens  du  Monde,  and  the  Penny  Cyclop,  art.  "  Cote 
Droit." 

DE'RBYSinRE  SPAR,  Fluor  Spar.  It  is  of  various 
colours ;  and  the  large  nodules,  which  are  peculiar  to 
Derbyshire,  are  often  beautifully  veined,  and  admit  of 
being  turned  in  the  lathe  into  vases  and  small  columns.  A 
fine  variety  of  this  spar  occurs  in  Cumberland,  in  cubic 
crystals  of  a  pale  sea-green  colour.  The  cube  is  the  most 
common  form  of  the  crystals  of  fluor ;  but  it  also  occurs  in 
octohedra.  some  fine  specimens  of  which  have  been  found 
associated  with  galena  in  the  mine  of  Beer  Alston  upon 
the  Tamar.     It  consists  of  fluorine  and  calcium. 

DERM.  (Gx.  hpfia,  skin.)  The  true  or  organized  layer 
of  the  tegumentary  covering  of  animals.  It  is  composed 
of  a  close  and  irregular  network  of  whitish  fibres,  consist- 
ing of  condensed  cellular  tissue,  whence  it  is  also  termed 
"  corium,"  and  is  everywhere  traversed  by  capillary  arte- 
ries and  veins,  absorbents  and  nerves;  and,  in  the  mam- 
malia, with  the  roots  of  the  hairs  and  the  ducts  of  the  su- 
dorific follicles  :  it  is  covered  with  the  "  rete  mucosum" 
and  "  epiderm."  The  derm  is  of  considerable  thickness 
in  the  rhinoceros,  hippopotamus,  elephant,  &c. ;  whence 
the  name  "  Pachyderma,"  applied  to  the  order  containing 
these  allied  quadrupeds. 

DERMA'PTERANS,  Dermaptera.  (Gr.  depua,  and 
iTTCpoi/,  a  icing;  skin-winged.)  An  order  of  insects  dis- 
membered from  the  Orthoptera  of  Latreille,  and  including 
those  which  have  the  elytra  wholly  coriaceous,  and  always 
horizontal ;  the  two  membranous  wings  are  folded  longi- 
tudinally, and  the  tail  is  armed  with  a  forceps.  This  order 
is  represented  by  a  single  Linnsean  genus, — viz.  Forficula, 
or  earwig  ;  insects  which  are  common  in  damp  places,  and 
often  found  in  numbers  under  stones,  and  beneath  the 
bark  of  trees  :  they  do  much  damage  in  gardens  by  prey- 
ing upon  the  fruit.  The  English  common  name,  and  also 
the  French,  "pierce-oreille,"  relate  to  a  habit  absurdly 
attributed  to  these  insects  of  penetrating  the  ears. 

DE'RMATOBRA'NCHUS.  (Gr.  Sepfta,  and  fipayxia, 
gills.)  A  genus  of  Gastropods,  or  snails,  in  which  the  bran- 
chiae consists,  as  in  Scyllcea,  of  ramified  productions  of 
skin. 


DERMATOLOGY. 

DERMATO'LOGY.  (Gr.  Seppa,  and  \oyos,  a  discourse.) 
A  treatise  or  history  of  the  skin  and  its  diseases. 

DERMES'TES.  (Gr.  ispiia,  and  eaQiu,  I  eat;  skinde- 
vourers.)  The  name  of  a  Linnoean  genus  of  Clavicorn  Co- 
leopterous insects,  noted  for  their  ravages  on  dead  animal 
substances,  especially  the  preserved  skins  of  animals,  and 
which  are  consequently  the  pests  of  a  museum.  The  old 
genus  Dermestes  is  subdivided  in  modern  entomology  into 
several  subgenera.  The  "  bacon-beetle,"  (Dermestes  lar- 
darius)  is  the  type  of  that  to  which  the  term  Dermestes  is 
now  confined. 

DE'RMOBRA'NCHIATES,  Dermobranchiata.  (Gr.  Sep- 
ua,  and  ffpayxia,  gills  on  tlie  skin.)  The  name  of  a  family 
of  Gastropods,  comprehending  those  which  respire  by 
means  of  external  branchias  or  gills,  having  the  form  of 
membraneous  plates,  filaments,  or  tufts. 

DE'RMOSKE'LETON.  (Gr.  Scppa,  and  OKt\tr6v,  the 
dried  remains  of  a  body,  or  tlie  skeleton  ;  skinrskeleton.)  A 
term  applied  to'the  coriaceous,  crustaceous,  testaceous,  or 
osseous  integument,  such  as  covers  most  invertebrate  and 
some  vertebrate  animals  ;  it  serves  more  or  less  complete- 
ly the  offices  of  protecting  the  soft  parts  of  the  body,  and 
as  a  fixed  point  of  attachment  to  the  moving  powers. 

DE'RRICK,  in  Nautical  language,  used  in  a  variety  of 
meanings,  but  chiefly  for  a  tackle  used  at  the  outer  quar- 
ters of  a  mizen-yard,  consisting  of  a  double  and  single 
block  connected  by  a  fall. 

DE'RVISE.  (From  a  Persian  word  signifying  poor.) 
The  name  of  certain  classes  of  religious  persons  among 
the  Mohammedans  of  Turkey  and  Asia.  They  live  partly  in 
monasteries,  partly  alone,  either  stationary  or  wandering  ; 
and  belong  to  a  great  variety  of  orders,  of  which  there  are 
thirty-two  (it  is  said)  within  the  Turkish  empire  only.  It  is 
impossible  to  determine  the  period  to  which  the  origin  of 
the  dervises  is  to  be  referred.  As  in  most  other  countries, 
there  has  existed  in  Persia  from  time  immemorial  a  class 
of  enthusiasts,  who,  impressed  with  the  conviction  that  po- 
verty is  the  only  passport  to  virtue,  and  that  the  privations 
of  this  world  will  be  commensuralely  compensated  in  the 
world  to  come,  have  voluntarily  renounced  all  the  com- 
forts, luxuries,  and  charities  of  this  life,  and  devoted  them- 
selves entirely  to  religious  exercises.  In  most  instances, 
however,  such  enthusiasts  have  been  more  famed  for  the 
theory  than  the  practice  of  sanctity  ;  and  the  dervises  do 
not  appear  to  form  an  exception  to  the  rule.  Their  public 
religious  exercises  are  disfigured  by  the  grossest  fanati- 
cism and  buffoonery  ;  and  their  private  life  is  said  to  be 
marked  bv  great  hypocrisy  and  licentiousness.  (D'Herbe- 
lot,  Hibi.  Off.) 

DESCANT.  (It.  descanto.)  In  Music,  composition  in 
several  parts.  It  is  either  plain,  which  consists  in  the  or- 
derly placingof  many  concords  answering  to  simple  coun- 
terpoint ;  jQurate  or  florid,  wherein  discords  are  em- 
ployed ;  or  double,  where  the  parts  are  so  contrived  that 
the  treble  or  any  high  part  may  be  made  the  bass,  and  the 
contrary. 

DESCE'NT.  In  Law,  if  a  person  die  seised  in  fee-simple, 
otherwise  than  as  a  joint  tenant  (see  post),  of  lands  or  tene- 
ments which  he  has  not  disposed  of  by  will,  they  will  de- 
scend to  his  heir.  Such  seisin  is  either  actual  possession 
or  virtual ;  as,  possession  by  the  tenant  of  a  chattel  interest, 
whose  possession  is  always  held  to  be  the  same  with  that 
of  the  remainderman,  or  reversioner,  who  is  to  succeed 
him.  If  a  person  have  become  possessed  by  purchase  of 
lands  or  tenements  in  fee-simple,  of  which,  from  the  nature 
of  the  estate,  he  cannot  obtain  seisin  (as  a  remainder  ex- 
pectant on  a  particular  estate  of  freehold),  these  likewise 
descend  to  the  heir  in  case  of  his  intestacy.  It  is  well 
known  that  by  the  common  law  of  England  the  rules  of 
descent  were  different  from  those  obtaining  in  other  coun- 
tries ;  that  a  direct  lineal  ancestor  could  in  no  case  inherit 
from  his  descendant ;  that  brothers  and  sisters  of  the  half 
blood,  i.  e.  sprung  from  another  mother,  or  from  another 
father,  were  also  excluded  from  the  succession.  These 
rules  have  now  (by  3  <fe  4  W.  4.  c.  106.)  been  wholly  re- 
moved or  modified ;  so  that  the  law  of  descent  recognizes 
in  succession  the  following  heirs : — 1.  The  eldest  or  only 
son,  or  his  issue.  2.  The  younger  son,  or  his  issue.  3. 
The  daughter,  or,  if  more  than  one,  all  the  daughters  as 
coparceners  (see  post)  and  their  issue  ;  such  issue  claiming 
per  stirpes,  not  per  capita,  i.  e.  claiming  only  the  share  of 
their  respective  mothers.  4.  In  default  of  lineal  descend- 
ants, the  nearest  lineal  ancestor  now  succeeds,  in  prefer- 
ence to  any  person  who  would  have  been  entitled  to  in- 
herit either  by  tracing  his  descent  through  such  lineal  an- 
cestor, or  in  consequence  of  there  being  no  descendant  of 
such  lineal  ancestor ;  e.g.  a  father  inherits  before  a  brother, 
a  grandfather  before  an  uncle,  &c.  5.  In  default  of  father, 
brothers,  or  sisters  of  the  whole  blood  and  their  issue, 
then  the  inheritance  devolves  on  the  eldest  brother  or  sis- 
ter of  the  half  blood  by  a  different  mother,  the  half  blood 
following  the  same  rule  where  the  inheritance  devolves 
on  the  descendant  of  any  other  ancestor.  7.  On  failure  of 
male  ancestors  on  the  paternal  side  and  their  descendants. 
331 


DESCRIPTIVE  GEOMETRY. 

female  paternal  ancestors  and  their  descendants.  8.  On 
failure  of  these,  the  mother,  her  ancestors, — first  male, 
then  female, — and  their  respective  descendants.  9.  The 
half  blood  follow  always  next  after  any  relation  in  the  same 
degree  of  the  whole  blood  and  his  issue,  if  the  common 
ancestor  be  a  male  ;  next  after  the  common  ancestor,  if  a 
female  :  so  that  the  brother  by  the  half  blood  on  the  part 
of  the  mother  inherits  next  after  the  mother.  Descent  is 
always  traced  from  the  first  purchaser ;  but  the  last  owner 
is  presumed  to  be  the  first  purchaser  unless  the  contrary 
can  be  proved.  In  some  particular  localities  the  custom 
of  gavelkind  prevails,  by  which  all  the  sons  inherit  equally 
from  the  father.  By  the  custom  of  borough  English,  the 
youngest  son  is  heir.  Bastards  cannot  inherit,  nor  can  an 
alien ;  but  a  natural  born  subject  may  derive  his  title 
(under  certain  restrictions)  through  alien  ancestors. 

Descent,  in  Mechanics,  is  the  motion  of  a  body  towards 
the  centre  of  the  earth  caused  by  the  attraction  of  gravity. 
The  following  are  the  laws  of  descent  of  bodies : — 

1st.  Heavy  bodies,  in  an  unresisting  medium,  fall  with  a 
uniformly  accelerated  velocity. 

2d.  When  the  action  of  gravity  is  uniform,  the  space 
passed  over  in  a  given  time  is  exactly  half  that  which 
would  be  passed  over  in  the  same  time  by  the  velocity  ac- 
quired at  the  end  of  the  time  if  continued  uniformly. 

3d.  The  spaces  passed  over  in  different  times  are  pro- 
portioned to  the  squares  of  the  velocities,  or  the  squares 
of  the  times. 

4th.  The  time  of  the  oblique  descent  of  a  body  down  any 
chord  of  a  circle,  drawn  from  the  uppermost  or  lowermost 
point  of  the  circle,  is  equal  to  the  time  of  descent  through 
the  diameter  of  the  circle. 

5th.  The  times  of  descent  through  all  arcs  of  the  same 
cycloid  are  equal. 

6th.  It  is  found  by  experiment  that  a  heavy  body  near 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  when  allowed  to  descend  by  its 
own  gravity,  falls  through  lti\  feet  in  the  first  second  of 
time  ;  consequently,  by  the  2d  law,  it  acquires  a  velocity 
in  that  time  which  would  carry  it  through  32  feet  in  a 
second,  if  gravity  ceased  to  act.  See  Attraction,  Ac- 
celeration 

DESCRIPTION  (Lat.  descriptio),  in  Rhetoric,  is  used 
to  designate  such  a  strong  and  lively  representation  of  any 
object  as  places  it  before  the  reader  in  a  clear  and  satis- 
factory light.  The  execution  of  this  task,  as  is  universally 
admitted,  is  attended  with  great  difficulty,  and  requires  no 
ordinary  powers.  Indeed,  such  is  the  importance  which 
some  critics  of  eminence  attach  to  the  possession  of  this 
quality,  that  they  have  erected  it  into  a  standard  whereby 
to  estimate  the  productions  of  genius  in  every  department 
of  literature  ;  and  though  such  a  test  may  seem  somewhat 
arbitrary,  yet  when  we  consider  the  powers  indispensably 
requisite  to  form  a  good  description,  we  shall  not  be  sur- 
prised to  find  that  amid  the  galaxy  of  brilliant  productions 
in  other  departments  with  which  our  literature  is  adorned, 
there  are  so  few  authors  who  have  attained  eminence  in 
this.  A  good  description,  according  to  Dr.  Blair,  is  simple 
and  concise  ;  it  sets  before  us  such  features  of  an  object 
as  on  the  first  view  strike  and  warm  the  fancy  ;  it  gives  us 
ideas  which  a  statuary  or  a  painter  could  lay  hold  of  and 
work  after  them — one  of  the  strongest  and  most  decisive 
trials  of  the  real  merits  of  description.  Hence  among  the 
qualities  essentially  necessary,  and  without  which,  indeed, 
even  mediocrity  is  unattainable  in  this  walk  of  literature, 
are  an  eye  conversant  with  nature  in  all  her  aspects,  a 
strong  imagination  wherewith  to  catch  her  grand  and  pro- 
minent features,  and  great  simplicity  and  clearness  of 
style  to  transmit  the  impression  unimpaired  to  the  ima- 
gination of  others. 

There  is  no  species  of  composition,  prose  or  poetical, 
into  which  description  does  not  enter  in  some  shape;  but 
the  term  has  been  borrowed  from  literature  generally,  and 
applied  more  particularly  to  those  poetical  productions 
which  are  devoted  exclusively  to  the  description  of  nature, 
such  as  Milton's  Allegro  and  Thomson's  Seasons.  Hence, 
although  Shakspeare  may  with  great  justice  be  styled  a 
descriptive  poet,  from  the  exquisite  descriptions  of  nature 
with  which  his  unrivalled  plays  are  interspersed  ;  yet  as 
his  chief  excellence  lies  in  pourtraying  the  character  and 
passions  of  man,  he  does  not  fall,  properly  speaking,  within 
this  category.  By  no  writer,  either  of  antiquity  or  modern 
times,  was  the  faculty  of  description  possessed  in  a  more 
eminent  degree  than  by  Sir  Walter  Scott.  AH  his  de- 
lineations of  natural  scenery  are  executed  with  an  un- 
rivalled fervour  of  imagination  ;  while  at  the  same  time 
they  are  marked  by  such  traits  of  character  and  truth  that 
every  object  is  brought  distinctly  before  the  mind,  and 
might  without  difficulty  be  transferred  to  canvass  by  the 
artist's  pencil.  Under  the  head  "Descriptive  Poetry,"  in 
Blair's  Lectures  on  the  Belles  Lettres,  the  reader  will  find 
an  admirable  account  of  the  characteristics  of  this  species 
of  composition,  with  a  critical  notice  of  the  most  celebrated 
descriptive  poets  of  all  ages  and  countries. 

DESCRIPTIVE  GEO'METRY.  A  term  first  employed 


DESERT. 

by  Monge,  and  subsequently  by  other  French  geometers, 
to  express  that  part  of  science  which  consists  in  the  appli- 
cation of  geometrical  rules  to  the  representation  of  the 
figures,  and  the  various  relations  of  the  forms  of  bodies, 
according  to  certain  conventional  methods.  It  differs  from 
ordinary  perspective,  inasmuch  as  the  design  or  represen- 
tation is  made  in  such  a  manner  that  the  exact  distance  be- 
tween the  different  points  of  the  body  represenied  can 
always  be  found,  and  consequently  all  the  mathematical 
relations  resulting  from  the  form  and  position  of  the  body 
may  be  deduced  from  the  representation. 

In  the  descriptive  geometry,  the  situation  of  points  in 
space  is  represented  by  their  orthographical  projections  on 
two  planes,  at  right  angles  to  each  other,  called  the  plants  of 
projection.  It  is  usual  to  suppose  one  of  the  planes  of  pro- 
jection to  be  horizontal,  in  which  case  the  other  is  vertical; 
and  the  projections  are  called  horizontal  or  vertical,  ac- 
cording as  they  are  on  the  one  or  the  other  of  these  planes. 

According  to  this  system,  any  point  whatever  in  space  is 
represented  by  drawing  a  perpendicular  from  it  to  each  of 
the  planes  of  projection :  the  point  on  which  the  perpen- 
dicular falls  is  the  projection  of  the  proposed  point.  As 
contiguous  points  in  space  form  a  line,  so  the  projections 
of  those  points,  which  are  also  contiguous,  form  a  line  in 
the  same  manner,  which  is  the  projection  of  the  given  line. 

Hence  as  two  projections  only  are  required  for  the  deter- 
mination of  a  point  in  space,  they  are  also  sufficient  for 
the  determination  of  any  curve  whatever,  whether  of  single 
or  double  curvature. 

The  same  mode  of  representation  cannot  be  employed 
with  regard  to  surfaces  ;  for  as  the  projections  of  the  con- 
tiguous points  of  a  surface  cover  a  continuous  area  on  both 
planes  of  projection,  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  any 
particular  point  on  one  of  the  planes  of  projection  corres- 
ponds to  one  point  more  than  another  on  the  second  plane, 
and  consequently  that  it  belongs  to  one  point  more  than 
another  in  space.  But  if  we  conceive  the  surface  which 
is  to  be  represented  to  be  covered  with  a  system  of  lines 
succeeding  one  another  according  to  a  determinate  law, 
then,  by  projecting  these  lines  on  each  of  the  two  planes, 
and  marking  the  correspondence  of  the  one  projection  with 
the  other,  the  projections  of  all  the  different  points  of  the 
surface  will  have  an  evident  dependence  on  each  other,  and 
the  surface  will  be  rigorously  and  completely  determined. 

Some  elementary  surfaces  may.  however,  be  represent- 
ed in  a  much  more  simple  way.  The  plane,  for  example, 
is  completely  defined  by  the  straight  lines  in  which  it  in- 
tersects the  two  planes  of  projection.  These  lines  are 
denominated  the  traces  of  the  plane.  A  sphere  is  also 
completely  defined  by  the  two  projections  of  its  centre,  and 
the  great  circle  which  limits  the  projections  of  its  points. 
A  cylinder  is  defined  by  its  intersection  (or  trace)  with  one 
of  the  planes  of  projection,  and  by  the  two  projections  of 
one  of  its  ends.  A  cone  is  represented  by  its  intersection 
with  one  of  the  planes  of  projection  and  the  two  projec- 
tions of  its  summit. 

The  most  immediate  application  of  descriptive  geometry 
is  the  representation  of  bodies,  of  which  the  forms  are 
susceptible  of  rigorous  geometrical  definition.  Sculpture, 
architecture,  painting,  and  all  the  mechanical  arts,  the  ob- 
ject of  which  is  to  give  to  matter  certain  determinate 
forms,  borrow  from  descriptive  geometry  their  graphical 
procedures,  by  the  aid  of  which  all  the  parts  of  an  object 
are  faithfully  represented  in  relief  before  the  object  itself 
is  executed.  But  it  was  chiefly  in  consequence  of  its  ap- 
plication to  civil  and  military  engineering,  and  to  fortifica- 
tion, that  this  branch  of  geometry  received  a  distinctive 
appellation,  and  was  considered  of  so  much  Importance  as 
to  form  one  of  the  principal  departments  of  study  in  the 
Polytechnic  school  of  France.  The  best  systematic  works 
written  on  the  subject  are  those  of  Monge,  Hachette,  Val- 
ine, and  Leroi.  A  good  general  idea  of  the  methods  of 
procedure  may  be  obtained  from  the  small  work  of  Lacroix, 
Complement  des  Elemens  de  Geometrie. 

DE'SERT.  (Lat.  desertum.)  A  term  generally  used  to 
designate  an  uninhabited  place  or  solitude  ;  in  which  sense, 
as  has  been  judiciously  remarked,  it  is  equally  applicable 
to  the  fertile  plains  watered  by  the  Maranon,  and  the  sandy 
wastes  of  Lybia,  but  applied  more  particularly  to  the  vast 
sandy  and  stony  plains  of  Africa  and  Asia.  In  every  re- 
gion of  the  globe  plains  are  to  be  found  of  greater  or  less 
extent,  which,  though  marked  by  strong  features  of  resem- 
blance in  their  grand  outlines,  exhibit  with  the  different 
latitudes  in  which  they  are  placed  a  corresponding  variety 
of  character,  and  according  to  the  distinguishing  pecu- 
liarities of  each  are  known  by  different  appellations.  Thus 
we  have  the  steppes  of  Europe,  the  deserts  of  Asia  and 
Africa,  the  savannalts  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Missouri, 
and  the  pampas  and  llanos  of  South  America.  (See  these 
different  articles.) 

The  most  striking  feature  of  Africa  consists  of  its  im- 
mense deserts,  which  have  in  all  ages  presented  to  the  spe- 
culations of  the  geographer  objects  highly  worthy  of  atten- 
tion. Of  these  the  chief  is  the  Sahara,  or  the  Desert,  so 
332 


DESIGN. 

called  by  way  of  eminence.  This  prodigious  zone  of  sand 
stretches,  with  few  interruptions,  from  the  shores  of  the  At- 
lantic to  the  confines  of  Egypt,  and  comprehends  in  its 
length  and  breadth  a  superficies  of  about  2,200.000  square 
miles.  The  sand  raised  by  the  burning  wind  called  the 
simoom  is  frequently  in  a  state  of  motion,  and  as  it  sweeps 
along  in  its  career  of  desolation  bears  a  strong  resemblance 
to  the  waves  of  a  tempestuous  sea.  This  immense  ex- 
panse, however,  is  by  no  means  a  uniform  surface  of  loose 
sand.  In  many  parts  the  dreary  waste  is  broken  by  low 
hills  of  naked  sandstone,  or  by  tracts  of  arid  clay,  and  oc- 
casionally it  is  enlivened  by  verdant  isles  or  oases,  which 
serve  as  resting-places  for  the  caravans  that  traverse  these 
dismal  regions.  (.Traill's  Physical  Geog.)  But  for  these 
oases,  indeed,  the  Sahara  would  be  wholly  impassable.  It 
presents,  says  Malte  Brun,  no  traces  of  a  beaten  path, 
and  the  caravans  that  traverse  it,  directing  their  way  by  the 
polar  star,  describe  a  tortuous  road  in  order  to  profit  by  the 
oases,  which  are  represented  as  brilliant  with  vegetation,  but 
which  probably  owe  a  great  part  of  their  reputation  to  the  con- 
trast they  form  with  the  absolute  barrenness  of  the  desert. 

As  we  have  elsewhere  remarked  (see  Camel  and  Cara- 
van), the  camel  is  the  sole  medium  of  the  communication 
between  those  countries  which  are  separated  by  extensive 
deserts.  In  the  beautiful  and  expressive  metaphor  of  east- 
em  speech,  it  is  "the  ship  of  the  desert  ;"  and  in  truth  it 
is  the  only  ship  by  which  the  wilderness  can  be  navigated 
with  certainty  and  safety. 

The  great  deserts  of  Africa  are  only  separated  from  those 
of  Asia  by  the  valley  of  the  river  Nile,  and  the  Red  Sea. 
But  upon  this  subject  we  cannot  refrain  from  transferring 
to  our  columns  the  remarks  of  Dr.  Traill,  who  has  sketch- 
ed with  a  masterly  hand  the  grand  outlines  of  the  Asiatic 
deserts.  "  Soon  after  quilting  the  Nile,  the  traveller  by  the 
route  of  Suez  encounters  sand,  which  is  continued  into  the 
centre  of  Arabia,  where  it  forms  the  desert  of  Nedsjed, 
extending  to  the  valley  of  the  Euphrates.  The  sandy  zone 
then  inclines  northward,  enters  Persia,  and  forms  the  saline 
deserts  of  Adjemi,  Herman,  and  Mekran ;  it  is  turned 
north-east  by  the  valley  of  the  Indus,  passes  through  Cau- 
bul  and  Little  Bukharia,  till  it  joins  the  vast  deserts  of  Cobi 
and  Shamoo,  which  occupy  so  large  a  portion  of  Central 
Asia  between  the  Altaian  and  Mustag  chains,  and  reach  to 
the  confines  of  China.  The  sandy  zone,  thus  traced 
throughout  the  breadth  of  the  ancient  continent  from  West- 
ern Africa  to  the  120°  of  east  longitude,  has  been  comput- 
ed to  cover  an  area  of  6,500,000  square  miles ;  but  the  Asi- 
atic portion  of  this  tract  includes  many  chains  of  moun- 
tains and  fertile  valleys.  It  is  characterized  by  the  occur- 
rence of  arid  wastes  of  sand  orclay,  sometimes  with  saline 
incrustations  on  the  surface,  and  is  remarkably  deficient  in 
considerable  rivers:  except  the  Nile,  the  Euphrates,  the  In- 
dus, and  the  Oxus,  there  are  no  large  rivers  in  a  region  which 
embraces  almost  a  fourth  part  of  both  Africa  and  Asia.  This 
portion  of  Central  Asia  forms  a  series  of  elevated  plains, 
6000  miles  in  length  from  east  to  west.  Some  of  these  plains, 
says  Humboldt,  are  covered  with  herbage  ;  others  produce 
only  evergreen  saliferous  plants,  with  fleshy  and  jointed 
stems ;  but  a  great  number  glitter  from  afar  with  a  saline 
efflorescence  that  crystallizes  in  the  semblance  of  lichens, 
and  covers  the  clayey  soil  with  scattered  patches  like  new- 
fallen  snow."  (.Physical  Geog.  pp.  21, 22.)  Under  the  head 
Mirage  will  be  found  some  account  of  the  so-called  singu- 
lar optical  illusion  so  often  seen  in  the  desert. 

In  Scripture,  the  term  desert  bears  a  wholly  different  in- 
terpretation from  that  usually  attached  to  it  in  profane 
writings.  It  has  been  fully  shown  by  Reland  (Palest.  1.  i. 
p.  37"i.)that  the  Hebrew  "OlD.  (midbar),  the  zpripos  of  the 
Greeks,  and  the  deserlum  or  solitudo  of  the  Latins,  bear  no 
analogy  to  each  other  ;  the  first  being  appropriated  almost 
exclusively  to  those  thinly  peopled  districts  of  the  Holy 
Land  which  yielded  pasturage  for  cattle,  and  were  remark- 
able at  once  for  their  beauty  and  the  luxuriance  of  their 
vegetation. 

DESE'RTER.  (Lat.)  An  officer,  soldier,  or  sailor,  who 
absents  himself  from  his  post  without  permission,  and  with 
the  intention  not  to  return.  The  crime  of  desertion  has 
in  all  ages  and  countries  been  regarded  with  peculiar  detes- 
tation. In  Greece  and  Rome,  the  deserter,  during  war,  suf- 
fered death;  during  peace,  was  deprived  only  of  civil 
rights  :  a  sound  and  enlightened  distinction.  The  military 
code  of  Great  Britain  inflicts  "  death  or  such  other  punish- 
ments as  may  be  adjudged  by  a  general  court-martial"  on 
deserters  ;  thus  leaving  a  proper  discretionary  power  for 
the  exercise  of  lenity  in  cases  where  the  motives  to  the 
crime  may  bear  the  most  favourable  construction. 

DESICCA'TIVES.  (Lat.  de,  and  secus,  dry.)  In  Mate- 
ria Medica,  applications  which  dry  up  the  secretion  of 
membranes,  ulcers.  &c. 

DESIDERA'TUM  (Lat.  wished  for),  is  used  to  signify 
something  wanted  to  improve  or  perfect  any  art  or  sci- 
ence, or  to  promote  the  advancement  of  any  object  or 
study  whatsoever. 

DESI'GN.   (Fr.  dessin.)   In  all  the  Arts,  the  idea  formed 


DESIGNATOR. 

.  ft  the  mind  of  an  artist  on  any  particular  subject,  which 
he  endeavours  to  transfer  to  some  medium  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  it  known  to  others.  It  issometimes  loosely 
and  improperly  used  synonymously  with  drawing. 

Every  work  of  design  is  to  be  considered  either  in  rela- 
tion to  the  art  that  produced  it,  to  the  nature  of  its  adap- 
tation to  the  end  sought,  or  to  the  nature  of  the  end  it 
is  destined  to  serve  ;  thus  its  beauty  is  dependent  on  the 
wisdom  or  excellence  displayed  in  the  design,  on  the  fit- 
ness or  propriety  of  the  adaptation,  and  upon  the  utility  of 
the  end.  The  considerations  of  design,  fitness,  and  utility, 
have  become  the  three  great  sources  of  beauty  of  form. 
This  beauty  frequently  arises  from  the  combined  power 
of  these  expressions. 

Every  work  of  art  supposes  unity  of  design,  or  some  par- 
ticular end  proposed  by  the  artist  in  its  structure  or  com- 
position. In  forms  considered  simply  as  expressive  of 
design,  the  only  possible  sign  of  unity  of  design  is  uni- 
formity or  regularity,  by  which  the  productions  of  chance 
are  distinguished  from  those  of  design  ;  and  without  the 
appearance  of  this,  variety  becomes  confusion.  In  every 
beautiful  work  of  art,  we  are  not  satisfied  with  mere  de- 
sign,— we  must  have  elegant  design,  of  which  the  grand 
feature  is  variety  ;  it  is  this  which  in  general  distinguishes 
beautiful  from  plain  forms,  and  without  it  uniformity  is 
dull  and  insipid. 

The  arts  of  design  are  usually  considered  those  of 
Painting,  Sculpture,  and  Architecture ;  to  which,  under 
their  several  heads,  the  reader  is  referred  for  further  in- 
formation. 

DESl'GNA'TOR.  (Lat.)  In  Roman  Antiquities,  a  spe- 
cies of  master  of  the  ceremonies,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
assign  to  each  person  his  proper  place  in  the  theatres  and 
at  the  other  public  spectacles.  Officers  with  this  appella- 
tion were  employed  among  the  Romans  on  every  occasion 
of  public  display,  and  in  all  domestic  solemnities,  whether 
of  a  joyful  or  mournful  character.  But  the  chief  occupa- 
tion of  the  designator  consisted  in  arranging  and  marshalling 
the  funerals  of  distinguished  persons ;  and  in  this  capa- 
city he  was  attended  by  a  troop  of  inferior  officers,  all  ar- 
rayed in  black,  whose  part  it  was,  among  other  duties,  to 
keep  off  the  crowd,  like  the  lictors  of  the  magistrates.  In 
this  brief  and  elegant  description  of  the  insalubrity  of 
Rome  during  the  autumnal  season  (Epis.  i.  7.),  Horace 
thus  graphically  introduces  the  designator  and  his  at- 
tendants : — 

dum  ficus  prima  calorque 

Designatorem  decorat  licloribua  atris. 

DE'SPOT.  (Gr.  Scandrrti,  master.)  A  name  applied  to 
sovereign  princes  possessing  absolute  authority.  The  well- 
known  address  of  the  slave  to  Hippolytus,  in  Euripides — 
"  O  king,  for  it  is  fitting  to  call  only  the  gods  despots"  (.mas- 
ters)— shows  the  distinction  which  the  republican  spirit  of 
the  Greeks  took  between  the  two  titles.  The  later  Greet' 
emperors  took  the  title  of  despot:  which  was  afterwards, 
about  the  eleventh  century,  given  to  the  son  or  nearest  re- 
lation of  the  reigning  prince. 

DE'SPOTISM.  In  Politics,  absolute  and  irresponsible 
government  by  a  single  individual  or  despot.  In  popular 
language,  all  governments  are  called  despotical  that  are 
administered  by  one  individual  whose  decisions  are  not 
controlled  by  any  representative  assembly  or  recognized 
subordinate  authorities,  Thus,  we  are  in  the  habit  of  say- 
ing that  the  emperors  "f  Austria  and  Russia  and  the  king 
of  Prussia  are  despotical  or  absolute  sovereigns ;  meaning 
by  this,  that  all  legislative  and  executive  measures  seem  to 
proceed  from  their  free  will.  But  the  abstract  idea  of  des- 
potism goes  farther  than  this ;  and  means  a  government 
by  a  single  individual  with  unlimited  power  over  the  lives 
and  fortunes  of  his  subjects.  The  prophet  Daniel,  in  his 
description  of  the  Babylonian  monarch  Nebuchadnezzar, 
has  given  what  is  perhaps  the  best  account  of  this  species 
of  government.  "  All  people,  nations,  and  languages, 
trembled  and  feared  before  him  :  whom  he  would  he  slew, 
and  whom  he  would  he  kept  alive  :  whom  he  would  he  set 
up,  and  whom  he  would  he  put  down."    (Chap.  v.  19.) 

But  though  this  gives  a  vivid  idea  of  what  is  understood 
by  a  pure  despotism,  it  can  be  regarded  only  as  a  popular, 
or  rather  poetical  account,  of  a  government  where  the 
sovereign  is  possessed  of  great  power.  The  truth  is,  that 
a  purely  despotical  government  never  had,  and  never  can 
have,  any  existence  in  fact  How  absolute  or  despotical 
soever,  all  sovereigns  must  conduct  their  government  so 
as  to  procure  the  concurrence  and  support  of  a  large,  or, 
at  all  events,  a  powerful  portion  of  their  subjects.  A  des- 
pot is,  after  all,  merely  an  individual,  and  becomes  quite 
powerless  when  those  masses  of  individuals,  in  whom  the 
ability  to  coerce  others  really  resides,  disapprove  of  his  pro- 
ceedings. The  praetorian  bands  in  antiquity,  the  janissa- 
ries of  Constantinople,  and  the  grenadiers  of  Petersburg, 
must,  at  least,  be  led  by  opinion.  But  though  the  sanction 
of  the  instruments  employed  in  his  government  be  indis- 

Eensable  to  the  existence  of  a  despot,  it  is  but  seldom  that 
e  dares  trust  to  it  only.    The  most  absolute  and  tyranni- 
333 


DETACHED. 

cal  of  the  Roman  emperors,  when  they  wished  to  get  rid 
of  any  obnoxious  individual,  dared  not  to  order  him  to  be 
executed,  but  were  obliged  to  suborn  false  evidence,  and 
to  proceed  against  him  according  to  legal  forms  :  and  so  it 
is  in  all  countries.  Were  the  most  absolute  sovereign  of 
whom  we  have  any  certain  accounts  openly  to  seize  on  the 
property  of  any  individual  in  his  dominions,  or  to  put  him 
to  death,  without  being  able  to  assign  some  apparently  satis- 
factory grounds  for  doing  so,  the  foundations  of  his  power 
would  be  shaken  to  the  very  centre  ;  and  the  repetition  of 
such  conduct  would  most  likely  occasion  his  deposition. 
The  strength  of  absolute  governments,  when  they  embark 
in  oppressive  courses,  depends  on  their  being  able  to  con- 
ceal or  pervert  the  real  facts  of  the  case,  so  that  the  vic- 
tims of  their  tyranny  may  be  made  to  appear  to  be  the 
victims  of  their  justice.  We  may  be  assured  that  no  ruler 
of  any  country  emerged  from  the  merest  barbarism  ever 
could,  for  any  considerable  period,  openly  commit  on  his 
own  responsibility  any  gross  injustice  towards  any  consid- 
erable portion  of  his  subjects.  Those  who  have  done  so 
have  rarely,  if  ever,  failed  to  expiate  their  folly  and  tyranny 
by  some  signal  punishment. 

Neither  the  government  of  Prussia  nor  Austria,  nor  even 
that  of  Russia,  can  be  justly  called  despotical.  Their  rulers 
are  controlled  to  a  very  great  extent  by  the  force  of  public 
opinion  ;  and  are  influenced  by  a  much  more  lively  feel- 
ing of  responsibility  than  the  sovereigns  of  limited  mo- 
narchies, or  of  countries  in  which  the  legislative  functions 
are  divided.  It  is  this  fear  of  their  subjects  that  makes 
them  so  anxious,  by  laying  restrictions  on  the  freedom  of 
the  press,  to  conceal  their  conduct,  or  to  obtain  a  favourable 
judgment  upon  it.  There  can  be  no  despotism,  nor  any 
considerable  approach  towards  despotical  government, 
where  the  press  is  free  and  the  people  instructed  ;  and  it 
is  to  their  influence  in  securing  the  freedom  of  the  press, 
and  consequently- in  enlightening  public  opinion,  and  mak- 
ing the  bulk  of  the  people  acquainted  with  their  real  inter- 
ests, that  the  advantage  of  representative  assemblies  and 
of  a  popular  form  of  government  is  mainly  to  be  found. 

DESQUAMATION.  (Lat.  squama,  srale.)  The  sepa- 
ration of  lavers  or  scales  from  the  skin  or  bones. 

DESSE'RT.  A  word,  of  doubtful  etymology,  signifying 
the  last  service  at  dinner,  consisting  of  fruits  and  confec- 
tions, &c.  The  modern  desert  is  probably  equivalent  to 
the  mensm  secundcz  of  the  Romans.  If  we  believe  Con- 
greve,  the  term  came  into  use  among  the  French  about  the 
commencement  of  the  W«h  century,  and  was  soon  adopted 
into  and  naturalized  in  most  of  the  European  languages. 
In  all  the  counties  of  Europe  the  splendour  of  the  des- 
sert has  ev™  since  the  period  of  its  introduction  kept  pace 
with  ti*  progress  of  refinement  and  civilization,  and  by 
m»<iy  gastronomes  the  qualities  and  arrangement  of  a  des- 
sert are  looked  upon  as  the  most  valid  test  of  all  that  is 
Attic  in  taste  and  refined  in  elegance. 

DESTE'MPER.  (Fr.  detrempe.)  In  Painting,  a  pre- 
paration of  opaque  colour  ground  up  with  size  and  water, 
used  in  scene  painting.  This  species  of  painting  is  also 
called,  when  practised  on  a  small  scale,  body  colour  paint- 
ing. Destemper  painting  differs  from  fresco  painting  in 
that  the  latter  is  performed  while  the  walls  are  still  wet, 
whilst  the  former  requires  that  they  should  be  dry. 

DE'STINY.  (Lat.  destinare,  to  appoint.)  An  inevitable 
necessity  depending  upon  a  superior  cause.  This  doctrine 
has,  under  a  variety  of  names,  been  embodied  in  almost 
all  the  religious  systems  of  antiquity  ;  and  even  in  modern 
times,  with  a  few  modifications,  it  has  been  largely  adopted 
by  many  sects  of  the  Christian  church.  (.See  Predesti- 
nation, Necessity.)  Destiny  was  called  by  the  Romans 
Fatum  (see  Fates),  and  by  the  Greeks  Avayvri,  Necessity, 
or  Moipa,  a  Part,  as  if  it  were  a  chain  or  necessary  series 
of  things  indissolubly  linked  together.  According  to  many 
of  the  heathen  philosophers,  destiny  was  a  secret  and  in- 
visible power  or  virtue,  which  with  incomprehensible  wis- 
dom regulated  all  the  occurrences  of  this  world  which  to 
human  eyes  appear  irregular  and  fortuitous.  The  Stoics, 
on  the  other  hand,  understood  by  destiny  a  certain  conca- 
tenation of  things,  which  from  all  eternity  follow  each 
other  of  absolute  necessity,  there  being  no  power  able  to 
interrupt  their  connection.  (Rees's  Cyclo.)  To  this  in- 
visible power  even  the  gods  were  compelled  to  succumb. 
Jupiter  and  Venus  are  represented  by  the  poets  as  vainly 
attempting  to  withdraw  Caesar  from  his  impending  fate  ; 
but,  as  Seneca  observes,  it  is  thus  that  the  Ruler  of  all 
things,  in  writing  the  book  of  destiny,  has  prescribed  the 
limitation  of  his  own  power :  "  Scripsit  fata ;  sed  sequitur, 
semper  paret." 

DESTRUCTIVE  DISTILLATION.  A  term  applied 
to  the  distillation  of  organic  products  at  high  temperatures, 
by  which  the  ultimate  elements  are  separated  or  evolved 
in  new  combinations.  The  destructive  distillation  of  coal 
is  resorted  to  for  the  production  of  gas,  and  that  of  bone 
for  the  production  of  ammonia,  and  of  wood  for  the  for- 
mation of  vinegar. 
DETA'CHED.  (Fr.  detache")  In  Painting,  a  term  ap- 
29 


DETACHMENT. 

plied  to  all  objects  in  a  picture  which  appear  to  stand  out 
from  those  by  which  they  are  surrounded.  It  arises  from 
a  due  knowledse  of  aerial  and  linear  perspective. 

DETA'CHMENT  (Fr.  detachement),  in  Military  lan- 
guage, is  a  certain  number  of  squadrons  of  cavalry  and  bat- 
talions of  infantry,  selected  from  the  main  body  of  an  army 
for  the  purpose  of  being  employed  in  some  particular  duty, 
such  as  in  foraging,  escorting,  &c. 

DETA'ILS.  (Fr.  detail.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  the  parts 
of  a  work  as  distinguished  from  the  whole  as  a  mass.  They 
must  always  be  so  kept  under  as  not  to  interfere  with  the 
general  effect  of  the  work ;  neither  must  they  be  overla- 
boured, lest,  instead  of  aiding,  they  embarrass  the  work  of 
which  they  form  parts. 

DETE'NTS,  in  Clock-work,  arc  the  stops  which  lock 
and  unlock  the  machinery  in  striking. 

DETE'RGENTS.  (Lai.  detergo,  /  wipe  away.)  Medi- 
cines which  remove  viscidity,  and  cleanse  sores. 

DETERMINATE  PRO'BJLEM.  In  Geometry,  is  a 
problem  which  admits  of  one  solution  only,  or  a  limited 
number  of  solutions  ;  and  is  opposed  to  an  indeterminate 
problem,  which  admitsofan  indefinite  numberof  solutions. 
DETERMINATION  OF  BLOOD.  In  Medicine  and 
Surgery,  when  there  is  apparently  a  more  copious  and 
rapid  flow  of  blood  to  any  part,  it  is  said  to  suffer  under  a 
determination  of  blood  ;  as  to  the  brain,  liver,  &c. 

DE'TINUE,  in  Law,  is  a  personal  action  of  contract,  and 
lies  .where  a  party  seeks  to  recover  goods  and  chattels,  or 
deeds  and  writings,  detained  from  him. 
DETONATING  TUBE.  A  stout  glass  tube  used  in 
the  chemical  laboratory  for  the  detonation  of  gase- 
ous bodies.  It  is  generally,  as  represented  in  the 
annexed  cut,  graduated  into  centesimal  parts,  and 
perforated  by  two  opposed  wires,  for  the  purpose 
of  passing  an  electric  spark  through  the  gases 
which  are  introduced  into  it,  and  which  are  con- 
fined within  it  over  water  or  mercury.  When  a  de- 
tonating tube  is  used  over  either  of  these  fluids,  the 
smallest  possible  quantity  of  explosive  gas  should 
be  introduced  into  it,  as  in  consequence  of  the  ex- 
pansion which  ensues,  a  portion  is  apt  to  be  forced 
out  at  the  moment  of  the  explosion.  The  tube, 
when  used,  should  be  firmly  held :  a  spring  is 
sometimes  substituted  for  the  grasp  of  the  hand,  but  it  is 
inconvenient. 

DETONA'TING  POWDER.  A  term  applied  in  Chem- 
istry to  fulminating  mercury  and  silver,  and  to  other  com- 
pounds which  suddenly  explode  when  struck  or  heated. 
Some  of  these  compounds  have  lately  beor,  much  used  for 
the  ignition  of  gunpowder  in  percussion  locks 

DETONA'TION.  When  chemical  combination  or  (je. 
composition  is  sudden  and  attended  by  flame  and  t*Di0. 
sion,  it  is  often  said  to  be  effected  by  detonation.  It  a. 
mixture  of  hydrogen  gas  and  oxygen  be  inflamed  by  the 
electric  spark  or  by  a  taper,  it  burns  rapidly  and  with  ex- 
plosion, and  is  said  to  detonate.  When  a  grain  or  two  of 
phosphorus  is  mixed  with  chlorate  of  potassa  and  struck 
with  a  hammer,  the  mixture  detonates. 

DETRl'TUS.  A  geological  term  applied  to  deposits 
composed  of  various  substances  which  have  been  com- 
minuted by  attrition.  The  larger  fragments  are  usually 
termed  debris ;  those  which  are  pulverized,  as  it  were, 
constitute  detritus.  Sand  is  the  detritus  of  siliceous  rocks. 
DEUCA'LION.  One  of  the  most  famous  personages 
of  antiquity,  the  son  of  Prometheus,  and  king  of  Thessaly. 
The  story  of  the  deluge  with  which  Thessaly  was  inundat- 
ed during  his  reign,  the  preservation  of  Deucalion  with  his 
wife  Pyrrha,  and  the  mode  by  which,  in  compliance  with 
the  injunction  of  the  oracle,  they  repeopled  the  world,  are 
too  well  known  to  require  being  dwelt  upon  in  this  place. 
The  grand  features  of  the  flood  of  Deucalion,  which,  as 
recorded  by  Ovid  and  other  writers  of  antiquity,  bear  so 
striking  a  resemblance  to  the  scriptural  account  of  the  de- 
luge, are  common  to  the  history  or  the  traditions  of  almost 
all  nations,  how  remote  or  barbarous  soever.  The  great 
Indian  poem  Mahabarada,  for  instance,  contains  a  graphic 
description  of  a  flood,  by  which,  with  two  exceptions,  the 
whole  human  race  was  overwhelmed  j  and  M.  Humboldt 
found  on  the  banks  of  the  Orinooko  a  similar  tradition, 
which  had  prevailed  among  the  barbarous  natives  from 
time  immemorial.  In  that  beautiful  ode  dedicated  to  Au- 
gustus (Book  1.,  2.).  in  which  richness  of  imagery  and 
elegance  of  language  vie  with  the  loftiest  tone  of  morality, 
Horace  thus  alludes  to  the  flood  of  Deucalion  : — 
Terruit  gentes.  grave  ne  rediret 
Sfficulum  PyrrliE  nova  monstra  qusstae, 
Omne  cum  Proteus  pecus  egit  altos 
Visere  rnontee,  &c. 
The  date  assigned  to  Deucalion  by  Eusebius  is  1541  B.  C, 
by  the  Parian  marbles  seven  years  earlier  :  but  many  of 
the  statements  concerning  him  are  so  obscure,  while  oth- 
ers are  so  manifestly  mythological,  as  to  leave  considera- 
ble doubts  of  his  having  ever  existed.  See  Deluge. 
DEUS  EX  MACHINA.  A  scholastic  expression,  bor- 
334 


DEW. 

rowed  from  the  stage.  In  conformity  with  the  mytholo- 
gical belief  of  the  age,  the  tragic  poets  of  Greece,  and 
especially  Euripides,  instead  of  bringing  about  their  catas- 
trophe by  natural  means,  often  resorted  to  a  more  conve- 
nient expedient — the  intervention  of  a  divinity.  But  when 
any  such  intervention,  contrary  to  the  maxim  of  Horace, 
Nee  deus  intersit  nisi  dignus  vindice  noduB, 

took  place  without  an  adequate  cause,  it  was  injurious  to 
scenic  effect;  and  hence  the  expression  devs  ex  machina 
originated,  the  divinity  in  such  a  case  being  nothing  more 
than  a  machine.  This  expression  has  also  been  applied  by 
analogy  to  those  philosophers  who,  unable  to  solve  a  diffi- 
culty by  ordinary  means,  have  immediate  recourse  to  the 
aid  of  a  supernatural  power. 

DEU'TERONOMY.  The  name  given  to  the  last  book 
of  the  Pentateuch.  The  term  is  composed  of  two  Greek 
words,  Sevrcpos,  second,  and  vofiog,  law  ;  and  is  equivalent 
to  the  Mischna  of  the  Hebrews,  who  thus  designated  the 
book  of  Deuteronomy,  from  its  containing  a  recapitulation 
of  the  laws  and  ordinances  scattered  over  the  other  books 
of  Moses.     See  Pentateuch. 

DEUTEROPA'THIA.  (Gr.  fovrcpov,  second,  and  ira0oj, 
disease.)  A  sympathetic  affection  of  any  part ;  as  a  head- 
ache from  an  overloaded  stomach,  or  sickness  from  an  in- 
jury of  the  head. 

DEU'TOXIDE.  A  term  applied  in  Chemistry  to  cer- 
tain compounds  containing  one  atom  or  prime  equivalent 
of  base  in  combination  with  two  of  oxygen  ;  in  this  sense 
the  word  is  synonymous  with  binoxide.  It  is  sometimes 
indiscriminately  applied  to  the  second  degree  of  oxidize- 
ment  of  which  bases  are  susceptible. 

DE'VIL.  (Gr.  StaftoXos,  an  accuser),  lit.  one  "  who  ac- 
cuseth  us  before  God  day  and  night."  (Rev.  xii.  10.)  The 
word  bears  the  same  sense  as  Satan,  and  is  applied  in  the 
New  Testament  to  the  evil  principle,  the  adversary  of  man 
referred  to  throughout  the  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
tament under  various  names  and  titles,  as  Satan,  Lucifer, 
Belial,  Apollyon,  Abaddon,  the  Man  of  Sin,  the  Tempter; 
and  described  as  an  angel  who  fell  from  heaven  with  many 
inferior  spirits,  being  cast  down  from  thence  by  God  for 
his  pride  and  rebellious  spirit.  From  that  lime  he  is  said 
to  have  had  permission  to  try  and  tempt  mankind,  in 
which  he  succeeded  in  the  persons  of  our  first  parents, 
thereby  introducing  sin  and  sorrow  into  the  world.  He  is 
represented  in  Job  and  Zechariah  as  standing  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  Lord,  seeking  permission  to  tempt  men.  It 
is  manifest  that  the  character  herein  attributed  to  the  De- 
vil is  identical  with  (hat  of  the  Evil  Principle  in  the  Gnostic 
and  Manichean  philosophy,  and  in  the  oriental  system  of 
religion  generally  ;  excepting,  indeed,  that  the  scriptures 
always  maintain  the  inferiority  of  the  evil  to  the  good  ;  but 
it  may  also  be  reasonably  inferred  that  it  was  held  by  the 
Jews  anterior  to  their  captivity  in  Babylon,  and  the  contact 
tiiVo  which  they  then  came  with  the  Magian  superstitions. 
Although  the  serpent  who  tempted  Eve  in  Paradise  is  not 
expressly  caid  to  be  this  Satan  or  Devil,  nor  is  he  at  all 
mentioned  by  name  by  Moses,  yet  the  character  of  the 
Evil  Principle  is  there  vividly  delineated  ;  he  is  character- 
istically mentioned  in  the  Psalms,  the  Book  of  Job,  and  the 
Chronicles. 

DEVI'SE,  or  DEVICE.  (Fr.  deviser,  to  invent,  will,  or 
imagine.)  In  Heraldry,  the  i=rm  Devise  is  popularly  used 
in  the  same  sense  as  armorial  hearings  (which  see)  ;  but  it 
is  more  strictly  employed  to  signify  a  symbol,  consisting 
of  a  representation  of  some  visible  object,  and  in  many 
instances  a  motto  appropriate  to  it,  used,  not  by  way  of 
heraldic  bearing,  but  according  to  the  fancy  of  the  inventor  : 
sometimes  for  the  motto  alone.  Monograms  are  also  a 
species  of  device.  From  the  word  deviser,  in  its  ancient 
signification  of  to  will,  is  derived  the  Norman  French  de- 
vise, a  bequest  of  real  property  by  testament,  which  is 
still  retained  in  our  law. 

Devise,  in  Law,  is  a  gift  of  lands  by  a  last  will  and  testa- 
ment. Lands  held  in  fee-simple  became  devisable,  where 
not  so  by  special  custom,  by  the  statute  34  <fc  35  H.  8.  c.  5. 
By  3  <fc  4  W.  &  M.  c.  14.  devises  were  made  void  against 
specialty  creditors.  Estates  pur  auter  vie  are  devisable  by 
stat.  29  C.  2.  c.  3.  A  will  of  lands  formerly  only  operated 
on  those  lands  of  which  the  testator  was  possessed  at  the 
time  of  publishing  it.  (See  Will.)  In  a  devise,  the  words 
are,  in  general,  more  liberally  construed  than  in  alienation 
by  deed.  But  by  the  recent  Statute  of  Wills  (1  Vic.  c.  26.) 
every  will  is  held  to  speak,  both  as  to  real  and  personal 
property,  as  if  executed  immediately  before  the  death  of 
the  testator. 

DEW.  (Germ,  thau,  moisture.)  The  deposition  of 
water  from  the  atmosphere,  occasioned  by  cold.  The 
phenomena  of  dew  have  been  considered  by  all  writers  on 
meteorology,  from  Aristotle  downwards ;  but  they  were 
first  successfully  investigated  by  the  late  Dr.  Wells,  who 
gave  the  true  theory  of  the  meteor  in  an  admirable  essay 
on  the  subject,  first  published  in  1814. 

The  circumstances  which  influence  the  production  of 


DEW. 


dew  are  the  following :— Dew  is  never  abundant  except 
during  calm  and  serene  nights.  It  is,  however,  frequently 
observed  in  small  quantities  both  on  windy  nights,  if  the 
sky  is  clear,  and  on  cloudy  nights,  if  there  is  no  wind  ;  but 
it  is  never  seen  on  nights  both  cloudy  and  windy  at  the 
same  time.  If,  in  the  course  of  the  night,  the  weather, 
from  being  calm  and  serene,  should  happen  to  become 
windy  and  cloudy,  not  only  will  no  more  dew  be  formed, 
but  that  which  has  been  already  formed  will  disappear, 
or  at  least  diminish  considerably.  In  calm  weather,  if  the 
sky  be  partially  covered  with  clouds,  more  dew  will  appear 
than  if  it  were  entirely  covered,  but  less  than  if  it  were 
entirely  clear.  A  slight  motion  of  the  air  is  rather  fa- 
vourable than  otherwise  to  the  formation  of  dew.  On  two 
nights  equally  calm  and  serene,  the  quantities  of  dew  de- 
posited may  be  very  unequal.  If  rain  has  fallen  recently, 
it  will  be  formed  in  abundance  ;  on  the  contrary,  very  little 
will  be  formed  in  nights  otherwise  favourable,  if  the  wea- 
ther has  been  dry  for  some  time  previously.  In  general, 
whatever  tends  to  increase  the  quantity  of  moisture  in  the 
atmosphere  will  contribute  to  render  the  deposition  of  dew 
more  abundant.  Dew  is  commonly  more  plentiful  in 
spring  and  autumn  than  in  summer;  the  reason  is,  that 
the  differences  of  the  temperatures  of  the  day  and  night 
are  greater  in  the  former  seasons  of  the  year  than  in  the 
latter.  It  is  always  most  copious  on  those  clear  and  calm 
nights  which  are  followed  by  misty  or  foggy  mornings ; 
the  formation  of  the  fog  showing  that  the  atmosphere  had 
previously  contained  much  moisture.  Dew  has  been  ob- 
served to  be  unusually  plentiful  on  a  clear  morning  suc- 
ceeding a  cloudy  night.  The  notion  that  dew  is  only  form- 
ed in  the  morning  and  evening  is  incorrect;  bodies  are  co- 
vered with  dew  at  all  hours  of  the  night,  provided  the  sky 
be  serene.  In  this  country  dew  probably  begins  to  appear 
opon  grass,  in  places  shaded  from  the  sun  during  clear  and 
calm  weather,  soon  after  the  heat  of  the  atmosphere  has 
declined;  that  is,  three  or  four  hours  after  midday.  Grass 
is  frequently  felt  to  be  moist,  in  dry  weather,  several  hours 
before  sunset ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  dew  is  scarcely 
ever  known  to  be  present  in  such  quantity  upon  grass  as 
to  exhibit  visible  drops  before  the  sun  is  very  near  the 
horizon,  or  to  be  very  copious  till  some  time  after  sunset. 
Other  circumstances  being  equal,  less  dew  is  formed 
during  the  first  half  of  the  night  than  during  the  second, 
although  the  air  at  midnight  has  already  lost  a  certain  por- 
tion of  its  moisture. 

Polished  metals  are,  of  all  bodies,  those  which  attract 
the  least  quantity  of  dew.  This  property  of  metals  is  suf- 
ficiently remarkable  to  have  led  some  respectable  philo- 
sophers to  affirm  that  they  are  never  wetted  by  dew.  Dr. 
Wells,  however,  observed  it  to  form  on  gold,  silver,  copper, 
tin,  platina,  iron,  steel,  zinc,  and  lead ;  but  when  dew  does 
form  on  these  metals,  it  commonly  only  sullies  the  lustre 
of  their  surfaces  ;  and  even  when  it  is  sufficiently  abundant 
to  gather  into  drops,  these  are  almost  always  small  and 
indistinct.  Dew  which  has  been  formed  upon  a  metal 
will  often  disappear,  while  other  substances  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood remain  wet ;  and  a  metal  which  has  been  pur- 
posely wetted  will  often  become  dry,  though  similarly 
exposed  with  bodies  that  are  contracting  dew.  This  in- 
aptitude of  the  metals  to  attract  dew  is  communicated  to 
bodies  of  a  very  different  nature  which  touch  or  are  near 
them  :  for  example,  wool  laid  upon  a  metal  will  acquire 
much  less  dew  than  an  equal  quantity  laid  upon  grass  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  ;  and,  conversely,  bodies  on  which 
the  metals  are  laid  have  an  influence  on  the  quantity  of 
dew  which  the  latter  will  attract.  The  metals  do  not  all 
resist  the  formation  of  dew  with  the  same  force.  Dr. 
Wells  one  night  saw  platina  distinctly  dewed,  while  gold, 
silver,  copper,  and  tin,  though  similarly  situated,  were  en- 
tirely dry  ;  and  he  several  times  saw  these  four  metals  free 
from  dew,  while  iron,  steel,  zinc,  and  lead  were  covered 
with  it. 

Difference  in  the  mechanical  state  of  bodies,  though  the 
other  circumstances  be  similar,  has  an  effect  on  the  quan- 
tity of  dew  which  they  attract.  Thus,  more  dew  is  formed 
upon  fine  shavings  of  wood,  than  upon  a  thick  piece  of  the 
same  substance.  It  is  chietly  for  a  similar  reason  that  fine 
raw  silk,  fine  unwrought  cotton  and  flax,  were  found  by 
Dr.  Wells  to  attract  somewhat  more  dew  than  the  wool 
he  employed,  the  fibres  of  which  were  thicker  than  those 
of  the  other  substances  just  mentioned. 

The  quantity  of  dew  which  is  precipitated  on  bodies 
does  not  depend  solely  on  their  nature  and  constitution, 
but  also  on  the  situation  in  which  they  are  placed  with  re- 
gard to  surrounding  objects.  As  a  general  principle,  it 
may  be  affirmed  that  whatever  tends  to  diminish  the  por- 
tion of  the  sky  which  can  be  seen  from  the  place  which 
the  body  occupies,  diminishes  the  quantity  of  dew  with 
which  the  body  will  be  covered. 

Of  the  Cold  connected  with  the  Formation  of  Dew. — The 

temperature  of  grass  covered  with  dew  is  always  lower 

than  that  of  the  surrounding  air.     On  calm  and  clear  nights, 

Dr.  Wells  verv  frequently  found  the  grass  7  8,  or  9  de- 

335 


grees,  and  on  one  occasion  14  degrees,  colder  than  the  air 
about  4  feet  above  the  ground.  He  also  observed  that  in 
places  sheltered  from  the  afternoon  sun,  but  still  open  to 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  sky,  the  difference  between 
the  temperature  of  the  grass  and  the  air  begins  to  be  sen- 
sible as  soon  as  the  heat  of  the  atmosphere  begins  to  di- 
minish. In  analogous  circumstances,  a  similar  coldness 
continues  on  grass,  in  still  and  serene  mornings,  for  some 
time  after  the  rising  of  the  sun.  In  cloudy  nights,  particu- 
larly if  there  was  wind,  the  grass  was  never  much  colder 
than  the  air;  sometimes  it  was  even  warmer:  but  in  calm 
weather,  very  high  clouds,  though  sufficiently  extensive 
and  dense  to  conceal  the  sky,  would  yet  frequently  allow  of 
the  grass  being  several  degrees  colder  than  the  air.  If  the 
night  became  cloudy,  after  being  very  clear,  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  grass  immediately  became  higher.  The  tem- 
perature of  metals  sometimes  falls  from  2  to  4  degrees 
below  that  of  the  surrounding  air ;  when  this  takes  place, 
other  bodies,  such  as  wool,  swan-down,  the  leaves  of  plants, 
&c,  are  considerably  colder  than  the  atmosphere.  The 
substances  which  are  most  easily  covered  with  dew  are 
those  which  are  cooled  down  the  quickest  when  exposed 
to  a  clear  sky.  Of  all  substances  tried  by  Dr.  Wells,  swan- 
down  exhibited  the  greatest  cold ;  in  general,  the  most 
productive  of  cold  are  the  filamentous  and  downy.  Snow, 
also,  is  one  of  those  bodies  which  acquires  a  temperature 
very  considerably  lower  than  the  atmosphere. 

Theory  of  Dew.— Dr.  Wells's  experiments  show  that  the 
most  perfect  analogy  subsists  between  the  faculty  which 
bodies  possess  of  attracting  moisture  from  the  atmosphere, 
and  the  other  property  which  they  have  of  acquiring,  in 
calm  and  clear  nights,  a  temperature  much  below  that  of 
the  surrounding  air.  But  is  the  cold  which  is  observed  on 
bodies  covered  with  dew  the  cause  or  the  consequence  of 
the  precipitation  of  the  fluid  1  The  latter  opinion  was 
maintained  by  Dr.  Wilson  of  Glasgow,  in  a  paper  on  hoar- 
frost inserted  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Transactions  of  the 
Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh.  But  it  has  been  clearly  estab- 
lished by  Dr.  Wells  that  the  cold  is  the  cause  of  the  dew ; 
for  he  found,  1st,  that  in  certain  circumstances  bodies 
would  become  colder  than  the  air  without  being  dewed, 
whence  it  is  obvious  that  the  cold  could  not  be  the  effect 
of  the  dew  ;  and,  2d,  that  when  dew  was  formed,  its  quan- 
tity and  the  degree  of  cold  that  appeared  with  it,  at  differ- 
ent times,  were  very  far  from  being  always  in  the  same 
proportion  to  each  other.  He  also  invariably  found  that 
bodies  became  colder  before  dew  began  to  appear  on  them. 
The  formation  of  dew  is  therefore  a  phenomenon  pre- 
cisely of  the  same  kind  as  the  precipitation  of  moisture 
which  takes  place  on  the  outside  of  a  vase  into  which  a 
liquid  colder  than  the  air  is  poured.  But  this  is  a  pheno- 
menon of  which  the  most  complete  and  satisfactory  ex- 
planation has  been  given.  It  is  well  known  that  atmo- 
spheric air,  at  every  different  degree  of  temperature, 
can  contain  only  adcteiminate  quantity  of  water,  and  that 
the  quantity  is  greater  as  the  temperature  is  higher.  Con- 
ceive then  a  stratum  of  air  coming  into  contact  with  a  solid 
body  colder  than  itself:  the  contact  cools  it  down  to  a  lower 
temperature,  and  immediately  a  portion  of  its  water  is 
precipitated.  A  second  stratum  of  air  succeeds  the  first, 
is  cooled  down  in  its  turn,  and  abandons  that  portion  of  its 
moisture  which  its  decreased  temperature  does  not  permit 
it  to  retain.  The  phenomenon  is  repeated  with  great 
rapidity,  and  in  a  short  time  the  cooling  body  is  covered 
with  small  drops,  or  even  a  continuous  sheet  of  moisture. 
As  soon  as  it  was  proved  that  bodies  exposed  to  the  clear 
sky  acquire  a  temperature  lower  than  that  of  the  atmo- 
sphere, the  origin  of  the  moisture  with  which  their  sur- 
faces become  covered  could  not  be  mistaken. 

In  order  to  render  this  theory  complete,  it  only  remains 
to  explain  the  cause  why  bodies,  when  exposed  to  the  sky 
in  clear  and  calm  nights,  become  colder  than  the  surround- 
ing atmosphere.  Since  the  laws  of  the  radiation  of  heat 
were  established  by  the  experiments  of  Sir  John  Leslie, 
and  Count  Rumford,  the  rationale  of  this  phenomenon  has 
been  well  understood.  During  calm  and  serene  nights,  the 
upper  parts  ot  the  grass  radiate  their  heat  into  the  regions 
of  empty  space,  from  which  they  receive  back  no  heat  in 
return  ;  its  lower  parts,  from  the  smallness  of  their  con- 
ducting power,  transmit  little  of  the  earth's  heat  to  the 
upper  parts,  which  at  the  same  time  receiving  only  a  small 
quantity  from  the  atmosphere,  and  none  from  any  other 
lateral  body,  must  remain  colder  than  the  air,  and  condense 
into  dew  its  watery  vapour,  if  this  be  sufficiently  abundant, 
in  respect  of  the  decreased  temperature  of  the  grass. 

This  explanation  is  grounded  on  the  hypothesis  of  M. 
Prevost  of  Geneva  respecting  the  constant  radiation  of 
heat  by  bodies  in  contact  with  the  atmosphere,  even  at  the 
time  when  they  are  exposed  to  the  influence  of  bodies 
warmer  than  themselves :  but  the  hypothesis  has  not  been 
universally  admitted  ;  and  Sir  J.  Leslie,  on  the  contrary, 
ascribes  the  effect  to  the  descent  of  cold  air  from  the 
upper  regions  of  the  atmosphere.  "  The  application  of  the 
eethrioscope,"  he  remarks,  "  haa  not  only  ascertained  the 


DEWBERRY. 

existence,  but  measured  the  intensity,  of  the  cold  pulses 
which  are  at  all  times  darted  downwards  from  the  succes- 
sive strata  of  air,  though  often  partially  intercepted  by 
clouds,  or  more  completely  obstructed  by  low  fogs.  It  may 
be  computed  that  in  fine  bright  evenings  those  cold  pulses, 
rained  from  the  sky,  are  sufficient  alone  to  depress  the 
temperature  of  the  ground,  according  to  the  seasons,  some- 
times eight  degrees,  but  generally  about  three  degrees  of 
Fahrenheit's  scale.  The  blades  of  grass,  thus  chilled  from 
exposure,  cool  in  their  turn  the  damp  air  which  touches 
them,  and  cause  it  to  drop  its  moisture."  (Ency.  Brit.  art. 
"  Dew.")  The  theory  of  Dr.  Wells  has  also  been  exam- 
ined by  Mr.  Blackadder,  in  the  Edinburgh  Philos.  Journal, 
Nos.  XXI.,  XXVII.,  and  XXVIII.  ;  and  more  recently  by 
Van  Roosbroek  of  Ley  den  in  his  Theorie  de  la  Rosee,  Rot- 
terdam, 1836. 

It  may  be  added,  that  among  all  the  phenomena  con- 
nected with  the  formation  of  dew,  there  is  not  one  which 
does  not  admit  of  a  satisfactory  explanation  on  the  prin- 
ciple established  by  Dr.  Wells  ;  namely,  that  dew  is  never 
deposited  on  the  surface  of  bodies  till  they  have  been  pre- 
viously cooled  down  by  their  radiation  towards  space. 

DEWBERRY.  The  fruit  of  the  Rubus  cazsius,  so  term- 
ed from  the  resemblance  of  the  bloom  or  waxy  secretion 
upon  it  to  dew. 

DEW  POINT.  The  degree  indicated  by  the  thermo- 
meter when  dew  begins  to  be  deposited.  It  varies  with 
the  degree  of  the  humidity  of  the  atmosphere. 

DEXIA'RIiE.  A  family  of  Dipterous  insects,  which 
subsist  chiefly  on  the  juices  of  flowers.  The  typical  ge- 
nus is  Dexia,  Mirgen  ;  the  other  genera  included  in  the 
family  are  Zcuxia,  Dinera,  Scotiptera,  Rutila  Gymnoslyla, 
OtntUogaster,  and  Prosena. 

DE'XTRINE,  in  Chemistry,  means  the  soluble  or  gum- 
my matter  into  which  the  interior  substance  of  starch  glo- 
bules is  convertible  by  diastase,  or  by  certain  acids.  It  is 
remarkable  for  the  extent  to  which  it  turns  the  plane  of 
polarization  to  the  right  hand,  whence  its  name.  The 
term  is  also  applied  to  starch  which  by  exposure  to  heat 
has  been  rendered  soluble  in  cold  water. 

DEY.  (Derived  by  some  from  the  Turkish  da'i,  a  ma- 
ternal uncle.)  A  Turkish  title  of  dignity,  given  to  the  gov- 
ernors of  Algiers  (before  the  French  conquest),  Tunis,  and 
Tripoli.  The  dey  is  chosen  for  life  from  among  the  chief 
authorities  of  the  place,  with  the  approbation  of  the  Turk- 
ish soldiery.  At  Tunis  the  equivalent  title  of  bey  is  more 
usually  substituted  for  dey.  This  term  is  admitted  by  all 
philologists  to  be  of  very  great  antiquity  ;  though  it  is  im- 
possible to  assign  any  precise  date  to  its  introduction.  The 
reader  will  find  in  Ersch  and  Gruber's  Encyclop.  much 
valuable  information  respecting  this  title,  and  the  regencies 
in  which  it  is  in  use. 

DIABE'TES.  (Gr.  Sia,  through,  and  fiawouai,  I  pass.) 
An  immoderate  flow  of  urine.  There  are  two  varieties 
of  this  disorder:  the  one  is  merely  a  superabundant  dis- 
charge of  ordinary  urir.e,  and  is  termed  diabetes  insipi- 
dus; in  the  other  the  urine  has  a  sweet  taste,  and  contains 
abundance  of  a  peculiar  saccharine  matter :  it  is  called 
diabetes  mellitus.  This  disease  usually  attacks  persons 
of  a  debilitated  constitution  towards  the  decline  of  life,  and 
generally  without  any  obvious  cause.  Thirst  and  a  vora- 
cious appetite  are  its  first  symptoms  ;  the  urine  gradually 
increases  in  quantity  ;  and  then  there  is  a  sense  of  weight 
and  uneasiness  in  the  loins,  emaciation,  oedematous  legs, 
and  hectic  fever.  The  quantity  of  urine  which  is  voided 
sometimes  far  exceeds  that  of  liquid  and  solid  food  taken 
together ;  so  that  it  has  been  supposed  that  the  solids  of  the 
body  are,  as  it  were,  melted  down,  and  flow  off  in  the  form 
of  water  and  sugar.  In  diabetes  mellitus  the  quantity  of 
saccharine  matter  is  generally  such,  especially  where  the 
disorder  has  been  of  long  standing,  as  materially  to  in- 
crease the  specific  gravity  of  the  urine  ;  and  this  accord- 
ingly forms  a  useful  criterion  of  the  state  of  the  disease, 
for  whatever  tends  to  diminish  the  specific  gravity  of  the 
urine  is  at  the  same  time  diminishing  its  saccharine  con- 
tents :  an  hydrometer  therefore  is  useful  in  determining 
this  point.  The  specific  gravity  of  healthy  urine  does  not 
exceed  1020,  and  contains  about  330  grains  of  soHd  matter  in 
the  pint ;  that  of  diabetic  urine  sometimes  attains  a  spe- 
cific gravity  of  1040  to  1050 ;  in  which  case,  as  appears 
from  Dr.  Henry's  table  (Medico- Chirurgical  Transactions, 
vol.  ii.),  it  contains  from  766  to  960  grains  of  solid  matter 
in  the  pint.  The  cause  of  this  disease  is  unknown  ;  but  it 
has  been  shown  that  there  are  no  traces  of  sugar  in  the 
blood  of  persons  who  are  voiding  it  abundantly  by  urine  ; 
so  that  the  idea  of  its  formation  in  the  stomach,  and  subse- 
quent separation  in  the  kidneys,  is  untenable.  Nor  has 
dissection  thrown  much  light  upon  the  subject,  for  in  some 
cases  no  morbid  state  of  the  viscera  is  observed ;  in  oth- 
ers, however,  the  kidneys  are  flabby,  pale,  and  enlarged, 
or  more  vascular  than  they  should  be  :  the  lacteals  are 
also  sometimes  thickened,  and  the  mesenteric  glands  en- 
larged. There  are  very  few  cases  on  record  of  the  cure, 
or  even  of  the  relief,  of  confirmed  diabetes.  Where  it  is 
336 


SIOEE    DIAL. 

symptomatic  of  hysteria,  dyspepsia,  or  hypochondriasis, 
the  usual  remedies  for  those  affections  are  useful ;  but 
where  it  is  idiopathic,  and  saccharine,  nothing  ha3  proved 
decidedly  serviceable.  Strict  abstinence  from  vegetable 
food  of  every  kind,  and  the  free  exhibition  of  opium,  are 
the  only  plans  which  have  held  out  hopes  of  success  ;  but 
there  are  very  few  cases  upon  record  in  which  these  seem 
to  have  been  permanently  successful. 
DIACAU'STIC  CURVE  (Gr.  Sia,  through,  and  koicj, 
J  burn),  in  the  higher 
Geometry,  is  the  caustic 
by  refraction.  It  is  gene- 
rated as  follows :  —  If 
rays  P  m  issuing  from 
a  luminous  point  P  be 
refracted  by  the  curve 
A  m  B,  so  that  the  sine3 
of  incidence  are  to  the 
sines  of  refraction  in  a 
given  ratio,  the  curve  C 
D  H,  which  touches  all  the  refracted  rays,  is  called  the 
diucaustic,  or  caustic  by  refraction.     See  Caustic. 

DIA'CHYLUM,  or  DIACHYLON.  (Gr.  Sia,  and  %v\os, 
juice.)  A  celebrated  plaister  of  former  days  made  of  the 
juices  of  several  plants;  the  term  is  still  retained,  and 
applied  to  common  plaister,  made  by  boiling  hydrated 
oxide  of  lead  with  olive  oil. 

DIACO'DIUM.  (Gr.  Sia,  and  x<>>Sia,  a  V°PPy)  A  Pre- 
paration of  the  poppy.  Syrup  of  white  poppies  was  for- 
merly called  syrup  of  diacodium. 

DIA'COPE.  (Gr.  Sia,  and  kottto},  I  cut.)  A  genus  of 
spiny-finned  fishes  of  the  perch  tribe,  allied  to  Serranus  ; 
but  distinguished  by  a  notch  at  the  lower  part  of  the  preo- 
perculum,  to  which  a  projecting  tubercle  is  adapted. 

DIACOU'STICS.  (Gr.  Sia,  and  olkovw,  I  hear.)  That 
branch  of  physics  which  treats  of  the  properties  of  sound 
refracted  in  passing  through  media  of  different  densities. 
See  Sound. 

DIACRI'TIC  MARKS.  (Gr.  Siaxptvu,  I  distinguish.) 
In  Palaeography,  marks  used  to  distinguish  letters  between 
the  forms  of  winch  much  similarity  exists.  Thus  n  and  u 
are  distinguished  in  German  running  hand  by  the  mark  ^ 
over  the  latter  letter. 

DIADE'LPHOUS.  (Gr.  Sia,  and  St\fv(,  a  womb.)  A 
term  applied  to  stamens  the  filaments  of  which  have  coa- 
lesced into  two  masses,  as  in  Fumaria  and  many  legumi- 
nous plants. 

DI'ADEM.  (Gr.  SidSnua,  from  Sew,  Ibind.)  Originally 
a  fillet  wound  round  the  temples,  probably  imported  into 
Greek  costume  from  the  East.  It  was  the  symbol  of  royalty 
among  various  oriental  nations.  The  diadem  of  Bacchus, 
from  the  representation  in  ancient  statues,  &c,  was  a  broad 
band,  which  might  be  unfolded  so  as  to  form  a  veil.  Con- 
stantine  the  Great  was  the  first  Roman  emperor  who  used 
the  diadem ;  after  his  time,  it  was  set  with  rows  of  pearls 
or  precious  stones. 

DItE'RESIS.  (Gr.  Siaipo),  I  divide.)  In  Grammar,  the 
resolution  of  a  diphthong,  or  a  contracted  syllable,  into  two 
syllables :  as,  in  Latin,  aurai  foraurae,  &c.  ;  and,  in  English, 
the  resolution  of  the  last  syllable  of  participles  by  a  sound 
of  the  final  e:  beloved,  cursed,  &c.     See  Metaplasm. 

DIAGNO'SIS  (Gr.  Siayiyvwoicw,  1  distinguish.)  The 
art  of  distinguishing  one  disease  from  another.  The  cha- 
racteristic symptoms  of  diseases,  by  which  they  are  recog- 
nized, are  termed  their  diagnostic  symptoms. 

DIA'GONAL.  (Gr.  Sia,  through,  and  yiovia,  angle.)  A 
straight  line  drawn  through  a  figure,  joining  two  opposite 
angles.  The  term  is  chiefly  used  in  geometry,  in  speaking 
of  four-sided  figures;  but  it  is  also  properly  applied  with 
reference  to  all  polygons  of  which  the  number  of  sides  is 
not  less  than  four.  Euclid  uses  the  term  diameter  in  the 
same  sense ;  but  modern  geometers  use  diameter  only 
when  speaking  of  curve  lines,  and  diagonal  when  speaking 
of  angular  figures. 

DI'AGRAM.  (Gr.  Siaypap.ua;  from  Sia,  through,  and 
ypafoj,I  zcrite.)  The  figure  or  scheme  drawn  for  the  il- 
lustration of  a  mathematical  proposition,  or  the  demon- 
stration of  any  of  its  properties.  It  is  also  used  in  other 
branches  of  science,  and  in  the  fine  arts,  for  the  general 
purposes  of  illustration. 

DI'AGRAPH.  (Gr.  Sia,  and  ypaipo,  Idescribe.)  Aname 
given  by  the  French  artists  to  a  recently  invented  instru- 
ment used  in  perspective.  For  a  minute  description  of  its 
properties  we  beg  to  refer  the  reader  to  the  Encyclopedic 
des  Gens  du  Moiulc,  and  to  the  paper  of  M.  Gavard,  the  in- 
ventor, recently  published  at  Paris. 

Dl'AL,  or  SUN-DIAL.  (Lat.  dies,  day.)  An  instrument 
for  showing  the  hour  of  the  day  by  means  of  the  sun's 
shadow.  The  invention  and  use  of  sundials  are  of  the 
highest  antiquity.  According  to  Herodotus,  the  Greeks 
learned  the  use  of  them  from  the  Chaldeans ;  and  the  first 
of  which  history  makes  mention  is  the  hemisphere  of  Be- 
rosus,  who  is  supposed  to  have  lived  about  540  years  before 
Christ.    The  sun-dial  and  the  clepsydra  were  the  only  in- 


DIAL. 


sftrumcnts  known  to  the  ancients  for  the  measurement  of 
time. 

In  constructing  a  sun-dial,  the  object  is  to  find,  by  means 
of  his  shadow,  the  sun's  distance  at  any  time  from  the  me- 
ridian. When  this  distance  is  known,  the  hour  is  also 
known,  provided  we  suppose  the  sun's  apparent  motion  to 
be  uniform,  and  that  during  the  whole  course  of  a  day  he 
moves  in  a  circle  parallel  to  the  equator.  Neither  of  these 
conditions  is,  in  fact,  accurately  fulfilled,  but  the  error 
which  this  gives  rise  <o  is  of  small  amount ;  and  it  is,  more- 
over, sufficiently  obvious  that  the  use  of  a  dial  is  not  to  in- 
dicate the  hour  with  astronomical  precision,  but  merely  to 
give  such  an  approximation  as  is  necessary  for  the  pur- 
poses of  civil  life. 

Dials  are  usually  constructed  on  an  immoveable  surface, 
and  admit  of  an  infinite  number  of  different  constructions, 
all  depending  on  the  nature  of  the  surface  and  its  position 
with  regard  to  the  equator  of  the  earth.  The  general  prin- 
ciples, however,  are  the  same  in  all,  and  depend  on  the 
simplest  elements  of  geometry  and  astronomy.  The  first 
part  that  claims  attention  is  the  style  or  gnomon,  or  axis  of 
the  dial,  which  is  usually  a  cylindrical  rod,  or  the  edge  of 
a  thin  plate  of  metal.  The  style  must  be  directed  perpen- 
dicularly to  the  terrestrial  equator;  in  which  direction  it 
may  be  considered,  on  account  of  the  smallness  of  the 
earth's  diameter  in  comparison  of  the  distance  of  the  sun, 
as  coinciding  with  the  axis  of  the  diurnal  rotation  ;  conse- 
quently the  plane  which  passes  through  the  style  and  its 
shadow  on  the  surrounding  surfaces,  and  which  always 
passes  through  the  centre  of  the  sun.  will  be  an  hour 
plane,  and  turn  with  the  sun  as  the  sun  turns  round  the 
style  by  the  effect  of  the  diurnal  motion.  All  that  remains 
to  be  done,  in  addition,  is  to  discover,  and  describe,  for  the 
different  hours  of  the  day,  the  intersections  of  this  variable 
hour  plane  with  the  surface  on  which  the  dial  is  to  be  con- 
structed. On  these  intersections  the  shadow  of  the  style 
will  be  projected  every  day  at  the  same  hour ;  because  at 
the  same  hour  the  sun  must  have  returned  to  the  same 
hour  plane,  although  his  distance  from  the  equator  may  be 
different. 

From  these  considerations  it  is  manifest  that  the  whole 
theory  of  dialling  is  comprehended  in  the  solution  of  this 
general  problem: — ''Twelve  planes  all  intersecting  each 
other  in  the  same  straight  line,  and  making  with  each  other 
equal  angles  of  15°,  being  given  in  position  ;  to  find  the 
intersections  of  those  planes  with  any  surface  whatever, 
also  given  in  form  and  position."  The  surface  which  in- 
tersects the  hour  planes  may  be  of  any  kind  whatever,  but 
for  obvious  reasons  it  is  generally  a  plane;  and  when  its 
position  witli  respect  to  the  common  intersection  of  the 
hour  planes  (which  is  the  slyle  of  the  dial)  and  to  any  one 
of  those  planes  is  given,  the  traces  or  intersections,  which 
are  in  this  case  all  straight  lines,  are  the  hour  lines  nn  the 
dial,  and  easily  calculated  by  the  ordinary  rules  of  trigo- 
nometry or  geometry. 

According  to  the  position  of  the  plane  of  the  dial  with 
respect  to  the  horizon  of  the  place,  the  dial  is  horizontal, 
vertical,  or  inclined.  The  simplest  case  of  all  is  that  in 
which  the  plane  of  the  dial  is  parallel  to  the  axis  of  the 
earth  (or  passes  through  the  poles)  and  perpendicular  to 
the  meridian  of  the  place.  In  this  case  the  style  is  also 
parallel  to  the  plane  of  the  dial  IXXXIIXI ,  n  ,„  IV 

and  the  hour  lines  are  parallel 
straight  lines,  whose  distances 
from  the  meridian,  e»  twelve  hour 
line,  are  respectively  proportional 
to  the  tangents  of  the  angles  which 
the  hour  planes  make  with  the 
plane  of  the  meridian.  Let  d  be  VI"  ^xxtxn  i  n  in  iv 
the  shortest  distance  ot  the  style  from  the  plane  of  the 
dial ;  then  the  distance  of  the  hour  line  of  xi  and  i  from 
the  hour  line  of  xn  is  equal  to  d  X  tan.  15°.  The  distance 
of  the  hour  line  of  x  and  n  from  xn  is  d  X  tan.  30°  ;  the 
distance  of  ix  and  in  is  d  X  ,an.  45°  ;  and  so  on,  the  hour 
line  of  xii  being  the  intersection  of  the  plane  of  the  meri- 
dian in  which  the  style  is  with  ihe  plane  of  the  dial.  This 
is  called  a  Polar  Dial. 

The  most  common  construction  is  the  Horizontal  Dial, 
or  that  in  which  the  plane  of  the  dial  is  parallel  to  the 
horizon,  and  consequently 
makes  with  the  style  an  angle 
equal  to  the  latitude  of  the 
place.  At  the  equator,  [his  is 
the  same  as  the  polar  dial, 
which  has  just  been  de- 
cribed  ;  but  at  all  other  places, 
the  hour  lines  intersect  each 
other  in  the  point  in  which 
the  style  intersects  the  plane 
of  the  dial,  which  point  is 
called  the  centre,  and  ihe  an- 
gles they  make  with  one  an- 
other, or  with  the  xu  hour 
line,  depend  on  the  latitude.  Their  respective  positions 
337 


r~^ 

MORNING. 

XI. 
X. 

IX. 

VIII. 

VII. 

VI. 


are  computed  from  this  theorem  : — As  is  the  radius  to  the 
sine  of  the  latitude,  so  is  the  tangent  of  the  hour  from  noon 
(reckoning  15°  to  the  hour)  to  the  tangent  of  the  hour 
angle  at  the  centre.  Or,  putting  h  =  the  hour  from  noon, 
I  =  latitude  of  the  place,  and  x  =  the  hour  angle  at  the 
centre  of  the  dial ;  then  the  formula  for  computing  the 
hour  lines  is  tan.  x  =  tan.  h  sin.  I,  the  radius  being  uniL 
From  tliis  formula  the  following  table  is  computed,  show- 
ing the  angles  which  the  different  hour  lines  of  a  horizontal 
dial  make  with  the  meridional  line,  at  the  latitude  of  Lon- 
don, or  51£°. 

AFTERNOON. 

I.        .  11°  51' 

II.        .  24    19 

III.  38      3 

IV.  .        .        53    35 
V.        .        .        71      6 

VI.  90      0 

After  the  horizontal  dials,  the  construction  most  fre- 
quently employed  is  that  in  which  the  plane  of  the  dial  is 
vertical ;  for  example,  when  fixed  on  the  wall  of  a  house. 
In  this  case,  the  positions  of  the  different  hour  lines  de- 
pend on  the  latitude  of  the  place  and  on  the  aspect  of  the 
dial  ;  that  is  to  say,  its  position  with  respect  to  the  meridian. 
If  the  dial  is  perpendicular  to  the  meridian,  it  is  a  south 
dial,  or  north  dial,  according  as  it  faces  the  south  or  north. 
(The  vertical  south  dial  is  represented 
in  the  annexed  figure.)  When  not 
perpendicular  to  the  meridian,  the 
vertical  dial  is  said  to  be  declined.  The 
formula  for  the  hour  lines  of  a  south 
vertical  dial  differs  from  that  for  a 
horizontal  dial  in  no  respect  excepting 
I       /  /      \  \  that  the  sine  of  the  latitude  is  changed 

into  the  cosine,  the  cause  of  which 
will  be  obvious  when  it  is  considered 
that  the  plane  of  the  dial  in  passing 
from  the  horizontal  to  the  south  vertical  direction  preserves 
its  inclination  to  the  different  hour  planes  unaltered  ;  while 
the  angle  which  it  makes  with  the  style,  or  the  axis  of  the 
earth,  is  the  complement  of  the  angle  it  made  with  the 
same  line  in  its  former  position.  Lei  y,  therefore,  be  the 
hour  angle  at  the  centre  of  the  dial ;  and  putting,  as  before, 
h  =  the  hour  from  noon,  and  I  =  the  latitude,  the  formula 
for  the  south  vertical  dial  is  tan.  y  =  tan.  h  cos.  /;  whence 
it  follows  that  a  horizontal  dial  constructed  for  any  given 
latitude  will  be  a  south  vertical  dial  for  any  place  of  which 
the  latitude  is  the  complement  of  the  latitude  of  the  former 
place,— a  property  which  was  discovered  by  the  Arabians. 
The  hour  lines  of  the  vertical  north  dial  are  found  exactly 
in  the  same  way  as  those  of  the  south  dial. 

When  the  face  of  the  vertical  dial  is  exactly  east  or  ex- 
actly west,  its  plane  is  in  the  meridian,  and  consequently 
parallel  to  the  vertical  plane  in  which  the  style  is.  The 
hour  lines,  therefore,  as  in  the  polar  dial,  are  all  parallel  to 
each  other  Let  d  be  the  height  of  the  style  above  the 
plane  of  the  dial,  h'  the  hour  from  G  o'clock,  and  x  the  dis- 
tance of  that  hour  line  from  the  hour  line  of  vi,  which  is  the 
intersection  of  the  prime  vertical  with  the  plane  of  the 
dial;  then  x=zd  tan.  h' :  the  same  formula  as  was  given 
for  the  polar  dial. 

When  the  vertical  dial  does  not  face  directly  one  of  the 
four  cardinal  points,  it  is  called  a  declining  vertical  dial, 
and  the  investigation  of  the  hour  lines  is  somewhat  more 
complicated. 
Let  /  denote  the  latitude  of  the  place, 

d  the  declination  of  the  dial,  reckoned  from  the  east 

towards  the  south, 
h  the  hour  angle  from  noon, 
y  the  hour  line  angle  on  the  dial. 
Find  these  two  auxiliary  quantities,  viz.  an  angle  P,  and 
the  tangent  of  an  angle  6.  (of  which  only  the  logarittun  is 
required),  such  that 

tan.  P  -sinMand:  tan.  Q  =  corJ_sin_P 
rad.  sin.  d        ' 

then,  the  forenoon  hours  on  the  west  declining  dial,  and 
the  afternoon  hours  on  the  east,  will  be  found  from  the 
formula 

>an  y-tan.  Q.  sin,  ft. 

COS.    (X  +  P) 

and  the  morning  hours  on  the  east  declining  dial,  and  toe 
afternoon  hours  on  the  west,  by  the  formula 
tan  y_tan.Q.sin.ft 

COS.   (T.  —  P) 

The  formulse  which  have  now  been  given  are  sufficient 
to  enable  any  one  who  has  a  slight  knowledge  of  loga- 
rithmic compulation  to  trace  the  hour  lines  of  any  one  of 
the  dials  which  has  been  described  with  great  facility.  It 
is  therefore  unnecessary  to  explain  the  geometrical  me- 
thods of  construction  by  the  rule  and  compasses,  which 
X  30 


DIALECT. 

are  besides  less  accurate,  and  more  liable  to  be  misun- 
derstood. Of  the  mechanical  operations  necessary  to  be 
executed,  such  as  fixing  the  style  and  placing  the  plane  of 
the  dial  in  the  true  vertical  or  horizontal  position,  it  is 
unnecessary  to  speak,  as  they  will  readily  suggest  them- 
selves to  any  one  who  has  a  clear  conception  of  what  is 
required  to  be  done.  The  only  thing  that  requires  ex- 
planation is  the  method  of  finding  the  meridian  line  with- 
out having  recourse  to  any  of  the  more  delicate  operations 
of  astronomy.  The  method  generally  practised  is  as  fol- 
lows:— Assume  a  point  in  the  plane  of  the  dial  through 
which  it  is  intended  the  meridian  line  shall  pass.  With 
this  point  as  a  centre,  describe  several  concentric  circles  ; 
then  fix  a  pin  or  wire  in  the  same  point,  perpendicular  to 
the  plane,  and  of  such  a  length  that  the  extremity  of  the 
shadow  shall  fall  within  (he  circles  (or  some  of  them)  at 
midday.  Observe  the  time  when  the  extremity  of  the 
shadow  reaches  some  one  of  the  circles  in  the  forenoon, 
and  marl:  the  point  where  it  crosses  the  circle.  In  the 
afternoon  mark  the  point  where  it  again  crosses  the  same 
circle,  and  divide  the  arc  between  the  two  points  thus 
marked  into  two  equal  parts;  the  straight  line  which  joins 
the  point  of  bisection  with  the  centre  is  the  meridian  line 
required.  For  greater  security,  the  passage  of  the  shadow 
over  several  circles  may  be  marked  ;  and  if  the  points  of 
bisection  of  the  different  arcs  do  not  lie  in  the  same  straight 
line  with  the  centre,  a  point  must  be  chosen  which  occu- 
pies a  mean  position  among  all  the  others,  and  the  straight 
line  passing  through  it  may  be  regarded  as  the  true  me- 
ridian. This  method  is  sufficiently  accurate  for  the  pur- 
poses of  a  dial.  Two  plummets  suspended  over  the  meri- 
dian line  will  indicate  the  plane  of  the  meridian  in  space. 
Its  intersection  with  any  vertical  plane  may  be  found  by 
the  eye. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  time  indicated  by  a  dial  is 
solar  time  or  true  time,  and  agrees  with  mean  time,  or  that 
which  is  shown  by  a  well-regulated  clock,  only  on  four  dif- 
ferent days  of  the  year.  In  order  to  rind  the  mean  time 
from  the  dial,  it  is  necessary  to  apply  a  correction  called  the 
Equation  of  Time.    (See  the  term.) 

It  has  been  supposed  that  the  style  is  formed  by  a  wire, 
<>r  the  straight  edge  of  a  thin  plate ;  but  a  slit  in  a  plate 
properly  placed,  allowing  a  line  of  light  to  pass,  will  evi- 
dently answer  the  purpose.  Sometimes  a  small  hole  is 
preferred  ;  and  the  hour  lines,  instead  of  being  described 
on  a  plane  surface,  are  sometimes  described  on  the  sur- 
face of  a  sphere,  or  a  cylinder  or  a  cone.  The  reader  may 
find  a  description  of  some  curious  dials  in  Brewster's 
edition  of  Ferguson's  Lectures.  For  the  history  of  dialling, 
see  Delambre,  Aslronomie  Ancienne,  tome  ii. ;  Montucla, 
Histoire  des  MathemaUques,  tome  i.  The  writers  on  the 
subject  are  very  numerous.  For  a  concise  and  perspicu- 
ous treatise  we  may  refer  to  the  article  in  the  Encyclopedia 
Britannica. 

Dl'ALECT.  (Gr.  Sta\tKTOS,  from  Sta,  signifying  divi- 
sion, and  \£ya>,  I  speak-.)  In  the  philosophical  sense  of 
the  word,  any  variety  of  a  common  ianguage.  Hence 
German,  English,  Swedish,  &c.  are  all  strictly  said  to  be 
dialects,  as  coming  all  of  them  from  the  same  original 
stock.  Commonly,  however,  we  limit  the  application  of 
the  term  dialect  to  the  varieties  of  a  national  language  ;  and 
speak  of  the  dialects  of  English,  French,  <&c.  In  Greek 
the  four  dialects  (Doric,  Ionic,  .Kobe,  Attic)  were  the  four 
written  varieties  of  the  language,  each  possessing  a  litera- 
ture of  its  own.  In  this  respect  no  modern  tongue  pre- 
sents a  parallel  to  the  Greek  ;  inasmuch  a3,  in  all,  one  dia- 
lect has  been  arbitrarily  adopted  as  the  standard  of  polite 
writing  and  conversation,  and  the  written  works  which  are 
extant  in  the  other  dialects  are  regarded  merely  as  excep- 
tions to  the  general  rule. 

DIaLE'CTICS.  (Gr.  8ta\iyojiai,  T  converse  or  debate.) 
This  name  was  originally  used  by  Plato  as  synonymous 
with  metaphysics,  or  the  highest  philosophy.  Strictly 
speaking,  it  can  only  be  regarded  as  a  preparatory  disci- 
pline for  such  investigations,  or  at  most  as  a  scientific 
method  of  prosecuting  them.  The  most  splendid  exam- 
ples of  dialectical  sublilty  that  exist  are  to  be  found  in  the 
Dialogues  of  Plato,  especially  in  those  entitled  Parmenides, 
the  Statesman  and  Sophist.  Aristotle  expresses  himself 
with  some  contempt  of  dialectics.  It  is  certain,  however, 
that  its  own  logic  owes  its  existence  to  the  dialectical  exer- 
cises of  the  Platonic  schools  ;  and  that  it  may,  in  one  point 
of  view,  be  regarded  as  a  body  of  canons  and  directions  for 
their  legitimate  use.  (See  Platonic  Philosophy.)  In 
modern  times  various  systems  of  dialects  have  been  pro- 
pounded in  different  countries  ;  but  by  no  philosophers, 
either  ancient  or  modern,  has  this  science  been  more  suc- 
cessfully cultivated  than  by  the  Germans,  who,  among  a 
host  of  other  names  more  or  less  distinguished,  can 
boast  of  a  Fichte,  Kant,  Leibnitz,  Hegel,  Schelling,  and 
Schlegel,  as  the  propounders  each  of  a  peculiar  dialectical 
system. 

DIA'LLAGE.     (Gr.   StaWayij,  difference.)    A  mineral 
of  a  foliated  structure  easily  divisible  in  one  direction,  its 
338  ' 


DIAMETER. 

natural  joints  and  fractures  exhibiting  a  very  different  lustra 
and  appearance. 

Dl'ALLING  LINES,  or  SCALES.  Graduated  lines  on 
rules  or  circles  to  facilitate  the  construction  of  dials.  They 
usually  consist  of  two  lines  of  tangents,  and  a  line  of  lati- 
tudes. Such  contrivances  are  of  no  great  use  ;  the  readiest 
and  best  method  is  to  compute  the  angles  of  the  hour  lines 
from  the  trigonometrical  formulae :  when  the  angles  are 
known,  they  can  be  set  off  by  means  of  a  scale  of  chords, 
or  by  any  of  the  other  methods  employed  in  practical 
geometry. 

DIA'LOGISM.  (Gr.  Sia\oyo$,  from  Sta,  through,  and 
\oyos,  speech.)  In  Rhetoric,  a  mode  of  writing  which  con- 
sists in  the  narration  of  a  dialogue  ;  i.  e.  in  which  the  con- 
versation of  two  or  more  persons  is  reported,  without  their 
being  actually  introduced  as  personages  speaking;  in 
which,  therefore,  the  sentence  is  framed  or  governed  by 
the  third  person  instead  of  the  first.  A  speech  by  a  single 
person,  or  the  species  of  conversation  held  by  a  person 
with  himself  (thinking  aloud),  when  reduced  into  the  nar- 
rative form,  is  also,  although  somewhat  incorrectly,  termed 
by  French  literary  writers  dialogism. 

DI'ALOGUE.  (Gr.  iiaXoyos.)  In  Literature,  a  compo- 
sition or  part  of  a  composition  in  the  form  of  a  conversa- 
tion between  two  or  more  persons.  The  dialogue  was  the 
form  most  generally  adopted  by  the  ancients  for  the  con- 
veyance of  instruction,  and  was  considered  equally  appli- 
cable to  the  most  grave  and  philosophical,  and  to  the  most 
ludicrous  and  comical  subjects.  Thus  it  was  adopted  by 
Plato,  Cicero,  and  Lucian,  with  equal  success.  Plato  chose 
this  form  for  the  conveyance  of  his  philosophical  senti- 
ments ;  because  real  conversation  had  been  the  mode  by 
which  his  master,  Socrates  (who  left  no  writing),  gave  in- 
struction to  the  Athenians.  In  the  Dialogues  of  Plato, 
Socrates  is  himself  introduced  as  the  chief  interlocutor. 
Among  modern  writers  the  philosophical  dialogue  has  been 
frequently  employed  for  the  same  purpose,  more  especially 
by  the  French,  to  whose  language  and  mode  of  thought  it 
should  seem  to  be  peculiarly  suited.  Among  other  eminent 
persons  of  that  country  who  have  enriched  its  literature 
with  this  species  of  composition  are,  Fenelon  ;  Paschal,  in 
his  Provincial  Letters;  Bouhours,  in  his  Entreliens  d' 
Aristeet  d'  Eugene ;  Fontenelle,  in  his  Dialogues  of  the 
Dead,  and  Plurality  of  Worlds ;  Galiani,  Sur  le  Commerce 
des  Grains,  &c.  In  England  this  method  of  composition 
has  been  less  frequently  practised  ;  and,  perhaps,  with  the 
exception  of  Berkeley  and  Hurd,  has  rarely  succeeded  in 
the  hands  of  those  who  attempted  it.  Both  the  Germans 
and  Italians  have  attempted  to  impart  a  knowledge  of  their 
different  philosophical  systems  in  this  manner.  Among  the 
latter  may  be  mentioned  Machiavelli  and  Algarotti ;  and 
among  the  former,  Lessing,  Mendelssohn,  Schelling,  and 
Herder;  though  the  labours  of  none  of  these  distinguished 
persons  in  this  department  of  literature  are  so  important 
as  to  require  any  particular  notice  in  this  place.  It  has 
long  been  a  question  of  dispute  as  to  the  class  of  subjects 
for  the  discussion  of  which  this  mode  of  writing  is  chiefly 
adapted,  and  upon  this  point  various  opinions  have  been 
entertained.  Upon  this  question  it  is  not  our  intention  to 
enter;  but  we  cannot  refrain  from  citing  here  the  opinion 
of  a  gentleman  as  to  its  peculiar  fitness  for  conveying  philo- 
sophical instruction,  whom  few  will  venture  to  gainsay  on 
such  subjects.  "There  are  some  subjects,"  says  Mr. 
Hume,  "  to  which  dialogue  writing  is  peculiarly  adapted, 
and  where  it  is  preferable  to  the  direct  and  simple  method 
of  composition.  Any  point  of  doctrine  which  is  so  obvious 
that  it  scarcely  admits  of  dispute,  but  at  the  same  time  so 
important  that  it  cannot  be  too  often  inculcated,  seems  to 
require  some  such  method  of  handling  it ;  where  the 
novelty  of  the  manner  may  compensate  the  triteness  of  the 
subject,  where  the  vivacity  of  conversation  may  enforce 
the  precept,  and  where  the  variety  of  lights  presented  by 
various  personages  and  characters  may  appear  neither 
tedious  nor  redundant.  Any  question  of  philosophy,  on 
the  other  hand,  which  is  so  obscure  and  iincertain  that 
human  reason  can  reach  no  fixed  determination  with  re- 
gard to  it,  if  it.  should  be  treated  at  all,  seems  to  lead  us 
naturally  into  the  style  of  dialogue  and  conversation. 
Reasonable  men  may  be  allowed  to  differ  where  no  one 
can  reasonably  be  positive ;  opposite  sentiments,  even 
without  any  decision,  afford  an  agreeable  amusement ;  and 
if  the  subject  be  curious  and  interesting,  the  book  carries 
us  in  a  manner  into  company,  and  unites  the  two  greatest 
and  purest  pleasures  of  human  life,  study  and  society." 

The  dramatic  dialogue  differs  from  the  philosophical,  in- 
asmuch as  its  subject  is  one  of  action.  The  whole  of 
modern  dramas  is  dialogue,  with  the  exception  of  occa- 
sional monologue  or  soliloquy.  (For  a  learned  account  of 
the  dialogue,  see  the  Encyclo.  des  Gens  du  Monde.) 

DIA'METER.  (Gr.  Sta,  through,  and  /icrpov,  a  mea- 
sure.) A  straight  line  passing  through  the  centre  of  a  geo- 
metrical figure,  as  that  of  a  circle,  ellipse,  or  hyperbola. 
Many  figures  have  diameters,  though  they  have,  properly 
speaking,  no  centres ;  in  this  case,  the  diameter  is  ths 


DIAMOND. 

straight  line  which  bisects  all  the  parallel  chords.  Some 
geometers  extend  this  definition,  and  apply  the  term  dia- 
meter to  the  curve  lines  which  pass  through  the  points  of 
bisection  of  all  the  parallel  chords  of  other  curves.  In  this 
sense  every  curve  has  a  diameter.  In  astronomy  the  ap- 
parent diameters o(  the  celestial  bodies  are  estimated  by  the 
number  of  seconds  in  the  angles  they  subtend  at  the  eye. 
The  apparent  diameter  (which  is  measured  by  the  micro- 
meter), compared  with  the  distance  of  the  body,  gives  its 
real  diameter ;  for  the  distance  of  the  sun  or  a  planet  is  to 
its  real  diameter,  as  radius  to  the  sine  of  the  angle  sub- 
tended by  the  apparent  diameter  of  the  body. 

Diameter.  In  Architecture,  the  measure  across  the 
lower  part  of  the  shaft  of  a  column,  which  is  usually  divided 
into  sixty  parts,  called  minutes,  and  forms  a  scale  for  the 
measurement  of  all  the  parts  of  an  order. 

DI'AMOND.  (A  corruption  of  adamant :  from  Gr.  a, 
priv.,  and  Sapacj,  I  conquer,  from  its  extreme  hardness  and 
difficulty  of  fracture.)  The  most  valuable  of  the  precious 
stones.  Diamonds  were  originally  discovered  in  Bengal, 
and  in  the  Island  of  Borneo.  About  the  year  1720  they 
were  found  in  Brazil.  They  always  occur  in  a  detached 
state  in  alluvial  soil.  The  primitive  crystalline  form  of  the 
diamond  is  a  regular  octahedron,  of  which  there  are  numer- 
ous modifications.  Diamonds  are  found  of  all  colours: 
those  which  are  colourless,  or  which  have  some  very  de- 
cided tint,  are  most  esteemed ;  the  latter,  however,  are 
rare.  Those  which  are  slightly  discoloured  are  the  least 
valuable.  The  diamond  is  the  hardest  known  substance, 
and  can  only  be  polished  by  its  own  dust  or  powder. 
The  art  of  splitting  or  cutting  and  polishing  this  gem, 
though  probably  of  remote  antiquity  in  Asia,  was  first  in- 
troduced into  Europe  in  1436  by  Louis  Berghem  of  Bruges, 
who  accidentally  discovered  that  by  rubbing  two  diamonds 
together  their  surfaces  miuht  be  abraded.  They  are  cut 
chiefly  into  two  forms,  rose  and  brilliant:  the  latter  have 
the  finest  effect,  but  require  the  sacrifice  of  a  larger  por- 
tion of  the  gem  ;  so  that  the  weight  of  an  ordinary  polished 
diamond  often  does  not  exceed  half  that  of  the  rough  gem. 
The  largest  known  diamond  is  probably  that  mentioned  by 
Tavernier,  in  possession  of  the  great  mogul :  it  was  found 
in  Golconda  in  1550;  is  of  the  size  of  half  a  hen's  egg,  and 
said  to  weigh  900  carats.  Among  the  crown  jewels  of 
Russia  is  a  magnificent  diamond,  weighing  195  carats:  it  is 
of  the  size  of  a  pigeon's  egg,  and  was  purloined  from  a  brah- 
minical  idol  by  a  French  soldier;  it  passed  through  several 
hands,  and  was  ultimately  purchased  by  the  Empress  Ca- 
therine for  the  sum  of  90,000/.  and  an  annuity  of  4000/. 
Perhaps  the  most  perfect  and  beautiful  diamond  hitherto 
found  is  a  brilliant  brought  from  India  by  a  gentleman  of 
the  name  of  Pitt,  who  sold  it  to  the  regent  Duke  of  Orleans 
for  the  sum  of  100,000/.  It  weighs  about  136  carats,  or  514 
grains. 

That  the  diamond  is  combustible,  was  first  proved  by 
the  Florentine  academicians  in  1694,  who  found  that  when 
exposed  to  the  heat  of  the  sun  concentrated  in  the  focus  of 
a  large  lens,  it  burned  away  with  a  blue  lambent  flame. 
The  products  of  its  combustion  were  first  examined  by  La- 
voisier in  1772,  who  showed  that  when  it  was  burned  in  air 
or  oxygen  it  produced  carbonic  acid  :  subsequent  experi- 
ments have  shown  that  nothing  but  carbonic  acid  is  thus 
formed  ;  and  hence  it  is  proved  that  the  diamond  is  char- 
coal or  carbon  in  a  pure  and  crystalline  form. 

DIA'NA.  In  Mythology,  the" Latin  name  of  the  goddess 
known  to  the  Greeks  by  the  name  of  Artemis  C&prtutq), 
the  daughter  of  Jupiter  and  Lalona.  and  sister  of  Apollo. 
She  was  the  virgin  goddess  of  the  chase,  and  also  presided 
over  health.  The  sudden  deaths  of  women  were  attributed 
to  her  darts,  as  those  of  men  were  to  the  arrows  of  Apollo. 
In  later  times  she  was  confounded  with  various  other  god- 
desses, as  Hecate,  Lucina,  Proserpina,  and  Luna.  In  the 
two  last  of  these  characters  she  was  said  to  appear  in  the 
nether  world  and  in  heaven  respectively,  while  on  earth 
she  assumed  the  character  of  Artemis  ;  whence  she  was 
called  the  three- formed  goddess.  Her  power  and  func- 
tions in  these  characters  have  been  happily  expressed  in 
the  couplet — 

Terret,  lustrat,  agit,  Proserpina,  Luna,  Diana 
Ima,  suprema,  fcras,  sceplro,  fulgore,  sagittu. 

She  was  generally  represented  as  a  healthy  active  maiden 
in  a  huntress's  dress,  with  a  handsome  but  ungentle  ex- 
pression of  countenance.  The  homage  rendered  to  Diana 
was  so  extensive  that  the  silversmith  who  remarked  that 
she  was  worshipped  in  all  Asia  and  the  world,  can  scarcely 
be  accused  of  exaggeration.  A  catalogue  of  the  various 
places  where  temples  were  erected  in  her  honour  would 
comprise  every  city  of  note  in  the  ancient  world.  Among 
others  may  be  mentioned  Ephesus,  Abydos,  Heraclea, 
Aulis,  Eretria,  Samos,  Bubastus  in  Egypt,  Delos  (whence 
she  was  termed  Delia),  and  Mount  Aventine  at  Rome.  But 
of  all  her  temples,  that  at  Ephesus  was  the  most  celebrated. 
It  was  erected  at  the  joint  expense  of  all  the  states  of  Asia; 
and  according  to  the  accounts  of  ancient  authors,  it  must 
339 


DIASTASE. 

have  surpassed  in  splendour  all  the  structures  of  antiquity, 
and  fully  deserved  to  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  wonders  of 
the  world.  A  small  statue  of  the  goddess,  or,  as  she  wa;- 
termed  by  her  votaries,  the  "  Great  Diana  of  the  Ephesians," 
which  was  commonly  supposed  to  have  been  sent  from 
heaven,  was  li  ere  enshrined  and  adorned  with  all  that  wealth 
and  genius  could  contribute.  The  fate  of  this  temple  is  well 
known.  On  the  daythat  AlexandertheGreatwasbom,itwas 
set  on  fire  by  Eratostratus  (  Vol.  Max.  8. 14.),  from  a  morbid 
desire  lo  transmit  his  name  even  with  infamy  to  posterity. 
This  edifice  was  afterwards  rebuilt  on  a  plan  of  similar 
magnificence  ;  and  it  remained  in  full  possession  of  its 
v/ealth  and  reputation  till  the  year  260  a.  d.,  when  it  was 
completely  destroved  during  an  invasion  of  the  Goths. 

DIA'NA,  TREE  OF.  A  name  given  by  the  old  chemists 
to  the  crystallized  silver  which  is  separated  when  mercury 
is  put  into  a  solution  of  nitrate  of  silver. 

DIA'NDROUS.  (Gr.  Sis,  double,  and  avrjp,  a  man.)  A 
term  applied  to  any  plant  having  but  two  stamens. 

DIAPA'SON.  (Gr.  Sia,  through,  and  nas,  all.)  In  Mu- 
sic, an  interval  used  by  most  authors  to  express  the  octave 
of  the  Greeks.  By  one  of  the  boldest  metaphors  with 
which  we  are  acquainted,  Dryden  has  beautifully  availed 
himself  of  this  expression  in  the  well-known  stanza  of  his 
first  Ode  to  St.  Cecilia's  Day  : — 

From  harmony,  from  heavenly  harmony 

This  universal  frame  began  ; 
From  harmoivr  to  harmony 

Through  all  the  compass  of  the  notes  it  ran, 

The  diapason  closing  full  in  man. 

For  an  account  of  the  diapason  in  the  organ  pipes,  see 
Organ. 

DIAPE'NTE.  (Gr.  Sta,  and  nevrc,  five.)  In  Music,  an 
ancient  term  signifying  a  fifth. 

DI'APER.  A  woven  linen  ornamented  with  patterns, 
and  used  for  towels  and  table  linen ;  it  sometimes  resem- 
bles an  inferior  kind  of  damask.  It  is  said  to  have  been 
originally  manufactured  at  Ypres  in  Flanders;  whence  the 
term  d'Ypres,  corrupted  into  diaper. 

DIA'PHANOnS.  (Gr.  Sia,  and  <paivo),  I  shine.)  A  term 
applied  to  bodies  which  permit  the  light  to  pass  through 
their  substances.  It  is  the  synonyme  of  translucent.  A 
body  which  allows  the  forms  of  objects  to  be  seen  through 
it  is  transparent. 

DIAPHO'NICS.  (Gr.  Sia,  and  <puvr\,  sound.)  The  doc- 
trine of  refracted  sound.     See  Sound. 

DIAPHORE'SIS.  (.Gr.  Siatpopuo,  T  carry  through.)  A 
perspiration ;  hence  also  diaphoretics,  medicines  which 
promote  perspiration. 

DI'APHRAGM.  (Gr.  Sia,  and  (iparrio,  I  divide.)  This 
term  is  applied  to  the  straight  calcareous  plate  which  di- 
vides the  cavity  of  certain  shells  into  two  parts  only ;  its 
more  common  signification  relates  to  the  muscular  and 
tendinous  partition  which  separates  the  chest  from  the  ab- 
domen in  mammalia. 

DI'APIIRAGMATI'TIS.  Inflammation  of  the  diaphragm, 
or  of  its  peritona?al  coats.  The  treatment  is  the  same  as 
that  of  pleurisy  and  peritonitis. 

DIARRHOEA.  (Gr.  Stappeu,  I  fimc  through.)  A  purg- 
ing or  looseness  of  the  bowels.  There  are  several  varie- 
ties of  diarrhcea,  depending  upon  different  causes,  and  con- 
sequently requiring  in  many  instances  distinct  modes  of 
treatment.  In  general  it  is  necessary  first  to  remove  of- 
fending and  irritating  matters  from  the  bowels  by  means 
of  aperients;  rhubarb,  from  its  astringent  tendency,  is  the 
purgative  usually  employed  ;  afterwards  astringents  with 
warm  aromatics,  and  the  occasional  addition  of  some  form 
of  opium,  are  prescribed  and  continued  till  the  inordinate 
laxity  of  the  bowels  is  quelled.  Where  diarrhnsa  is  con- 
nected,  as  it  often  is,  with  excess  of  acidity  iu  the  stomach, 
magnesia,  chalk,  or  carbonated  alkalis  are  united  to  the 
other  remedies. 

DIARTHRO'SIS.  (Gr.  articulation.)  The  moveable 
connection  of  bones. 

DI'ARY.  (Lat.  diarium,  literally  a  daily  allotoance ; 
from  dies,  a  day),  signifies  properly  a  note-book  or  re- 
gister of  daily  occurrences,  in  which  the  writer  has  a  prin- 
cipal share,  or  which  have  come  under  his  own  observa- 
tion, or  have  happened  in  his  own  time.  The  term  diary 
is  equivalent  to  the  French  journal,  the  Italian  diario  and 
giornaJe,  and  the  German  Tagebuch. 

DIASCHI'SMA.  (Gr.  otacx'S",  I  cleave.)  In  Music,  an 
interval  consisting  of  two  commas. 

DI'ASPORE.  A  laminated  mineral,  composed  of  80 
alumina,  18  water,  3  oxide  of  iron.  A  small  fragment  de- 
crepitates when  heated,  and  is  dispersed  in  numerous 
fragments;  hence  its  name,  from  the  Gr.  SiaaKtipw,  1 
scatter. 

DI'ASTASE.  (Gr.  Sia,  and  ivrripi,  Iset.)  A  peculiar 
substance  generated  during  the  germination  of  barley, 
wheat,  &c,  which  tends  to  accelerate  the  formation  of 
sugar  daring  the  fermentation  of  worts.  It  is  precipitated 
from  infusions  of  bruised  malt  by  alcohol.    It  is  the  prin- 


DIASTEM. 

■  pie  which  by  its  reaction  on  starch  tends  to  develop 
.uuar  in  the  processes  of  germination  and  malting. 

DI'ASTEM.  (Gr.  6taare)iua.)  In  Ancient  Music,  a  sim- 
ple inierval  as  distinguished  from  a  compound  one;  to 
which  latter  was  given  the  name  of  a  system. 

DIASTE'MA.  (Gr.)  In  Zoology,  the  vacant  space  oc- 
curring in  the  dental  series  by  the  absence  of  the  canine 
or  laniarv  leeth. 

DIA'STOLE.  (Gr.  Sta,  and  areWo),  I  stretch.)  The  di- 
latation of  the  heart  and  arteries. 

DI'ASTYLE.  (Gr.  <ha,  and  orvkos,  a  column.)  In  Ar- 
chitecture, that  mode  of  arranging  columns  in  which  the 
intercolumniation  or  space  between  the  columns  consists 
of  three  diameters,  oraccording  to  some  of  four  diameters. 

DIATE'SSARON.  (Gr.  ita,  and  rtcroapa,  four.)  In 
Ancient  Music,  the  interval  of  a  fourth. 

DI'ATHE'RMAL,  or  DIATIIERMANOUS.  (Gr.  Sia, 
eii\t\$eptiT),  icarmth.)  A  term  applied  to  certain  substances, 
such  as  transparent  pieces  of  rock  salt,  &c,  which  suffer 
radiant  heat  to  pass  through  them,  much  in  the  same  way 
as  transparent  or  diaphanous  bodies  allow  of  the  passage 
of  light. 

DIA'THESIS.  (Gr.  Siaridrjui,  1  dispose.)  A  particular 
state  of  constitution  predisposing  to  certain  diseases  :  such 
as  inflammatory,  nervous,  and  putrid  diathesis;  uric  dia- 
thesis, in  which  there  is  excess  of  uric  acid  thrown  off  by 
the  kidneys  ;  gouty  diathesis,  &c. 

DIA'TONI.  (Gr.  Sia,  and  tovos,  an  extension.)  In  An- 
cient Architecture,  the  angle  stones  of  a  wall,  which  were 
wrought  on  two  faces,  and  which,  from  stretching  beyond 
the  stones  above  and  below  them,  made  a  good  bond  ortye 
to  the  work. 

DIATO'NIC.  (Gt.  Sta, and  tows,  a  tone.)  In  Music,  a 
term  denoting  the  natural  scale  of  music,  which  proceed- 
ing by  degrees  includes  boih  tones  and  semitones.  It  in- 
cludes the  intervals  formed  by  the  natural  notes,  as  well  as 
those  produced  in  transposing  the  natural. 

DIAZENE'TIC.  (Gr.  &ia£tvyvvn  ,  1  separate.)  In  the 
Ancient  Greek  Music,  a  term  applied  to  the  tone  disjointing 
two  fourths,  one  on  each  side  of  it,  and  which  joined  to 
either  made  a  fifth. 

DIAZO'MA.  (Gr.  Sta,  through,  and  $o>ua,  a  cincture.) 
In  Ancient  Architecture,  the  landings  or  resting  places 
which  encircled  the  amphitheatre  at  different  heights,  like 
so  many  bands  or  cinctures  ;  whence  the  name. 

DI'BBLE.  In  Agr.  and  Hort.,  a  cylindrical  piece  of  wood 
from  one  to  two  inches  in  diameter,  and  from  1  ft.  to  2  ft. 
in  length,  having  a  cross  handle  at  one  end,  and  brought  to 
a  conical  point  at  the  other,  for  the  purpose  of  making  holes 
in  the  ground  to  receive  plants  or  seeds.  Dibbles  which 
are  used  for  planting  potatoes  or  beans  are  commonly  from 
two  to  two  and  a  half  feet  in  length,  with  a  peg  inserted 
near  the  ground  in  order  that  the  operator  may  press  it  in 
with  his  foot. 

DIBO'THRIANS,  Dibothri.  (Gr.  da,  twice,  PuQoiov,  a 
pit ;  two-pitted.)  The  name  of  a  division  of  tape-worms, 
including  those  Bol hriocephalans  which  have  not  more  than 
two  pits  or  fossa?  on  the  head. 

DIBRA'NCHIATES,  Dibranchiata.  (Gr.  (5ij,  and  0pay- 
Xia,  gills ;  two-gilled )  The  name  of  the  order  of  Cephalo- 
pods  which  includes  those  with  two  gills,  and  which  are 
also  characterized  by  having  three  distinct  hearts;  an  ap- 
paratus for  secreting  and  emitting  an  inky  fluid;  cephalic, 
arms,  never  exceeding  ten  in  number,  solid,  and  supporting 
acetabular,  and  in  short  all  the  chief  characteristics  which 
are  usually  ascribed  to  the  entire  class  of  Cephalopods. 
The  same  term  (Dibranehes)  is  applied  by  Latreille  to  an 
order  of  the  class  Cirripedia,  comprehending  those  species 
which  are  similarly  characterized  by  having  two  gills. 

DICASTE'RIUM.  (Gr.  Atari,  justice.)  In  Ancient  Archi- 
tecture, the  name  of  a  tribunal  or  hall  of  justice  in  Athens. 

DICE  COAL.  A  species  of  coal  easily  splitting  into 
cubical  fragments. 

DICER A'TES,  Dicerata.  (Gr.  <3is,  double,  and  /ctpaj, 
horn;  two-horned)  A  name  applied  by  De  Blainville  to  a 
family  of  the  order  Paraccphahrphora  Polybranchiata,  com- 
prehending all  such  Gastropodous  Mollusks  as  have  two 
tentacles  on  the  head.  The  term  Diceras  was  previously 
applied  by  Lamarck  to  a  fossil  genus  of  Bivalves. 

DICHO'TOMOUS,  Dichoto?nus.  (Gr.  <5<xoro/iOj.)  Sig- 
nifies the  division  of  an  object  by  repeated  bifurcation,  so 
that  the  branches  are  always  in  pairs. 

DICHO'TOMY.  An  artificial  system,  in  which  natural 
objects  are  arranged  according  to  the  above  mode  of  di- 
vision. 

DI'CIIROISM.  (Gr.  St;,  double,  and  xpM^a.  colour.) 
A  term  in  Optics,  used  to  designate  a  properly  possessed 
by  several  crystallized  bodies  of  appearing  under  two  dis- 
tinct colours  according  to  the  direction  in  which  light  is 
transmitted  through  them.  Thus  the  muriate  of  palla- 
dium appears  of  a  deep  red  colour  along  the  axis,  and  of 
a  vivid  «reen  when  viewed  in  a  transverse  direction.  Sir 
D.  BrewstPr  states  (Optics,  Cab.  Cyclopedia)  that  in  ex- 
amining this  class  of  phenomena,  he' found  them  to  depend 
340 


DICTIONARY. 

on  the  absorption  of  light,  being  regulated  by  the  inclina- 
tion of  the  incident  ray  to  the  axis  of  double  refraction,  and 
on  a  difference  of  colour  in  the  two  pencils  formed  by 
double  refraction. 

DICO'LOPHUS.  (Gr .  <5i'x<i,  separately,  and  \nfo;,  a 
crest.)  The  name  of  the  genus  of  wading  birds  (Gialla- 
tores),  including  the  cariama,  which  is  characterized  by 
a  tuff  of  feathers  projecting  from  the  crown  of  the  head  in 
two  directions. 

DICOTYLE'DONS.  (Gr.  i5is,  double,  and  kotvMo'wv,  a 
seed-leaf.)  One  of  the  primary  classes  of  the  vegetable 
world,  consisting  of  all  those  plants  that  have  their  embryo 
furnished  with  two  cotyledons,  or  with  a  greater  number 
arranged  on  the  same  plane.  These  plants  are  also  called 
Exogens. 

DICTA 'TOR.  In  Ancient  History,  a  Roman  magistrate 
appointed  on  special  occasions  to  supersede  the  consuls. 
The  first  dictator  was  elected  some  years  after  the  expul- 
sion of  the  kings,  on  the  occasion  of  a  war  with  the  Latins, 
while  a  dangerous  sedition  was  feared  at  home  ;  but  the 
period  is  very  uncertain.  Dictators  were  appointed  also  for 
mere  ceremonial  objects,  as  for  holding  comitia.  But  the 
purposes  for  which  the  dictator  was  appointed  differed  so 
materially  at  different  times,  and  the  opinions  of  later  his- 
torians respecting  the  extent  of  his  authority  are  so  con- 
flicting and  unsatisfactory,  that  more  obscurity  still  exists 
upon  this  subject  than  almost  any  other  within  the  compass 
of  Roman  antiquities.  According  to  Niebuhr,  the  object 
aimed  at  in  the  institution  of  the  dictatorship  was  to  evade 
the  Valerian  laws,  and  to  re-establish  the  unlimited  author- 
ity of  the  patricians  over  the  plebeians ;  for  the  appeal  to 
the  commonalty  granted  by  these  laws  was  from  the  sen- 
tence of  the  consuls,  and  not  from  that  of  this  new  magis- 
trate. But  this  unlimited  power  did  not  extend  over  the 
patricians.  The  form  of  their  election  was  precisely  sim- 
ilar to  that  of  the  kings,  who  were  appointed  by  the  senate, 
while  their  authority  was  confirmed  by  a  decree  of  the 
curies.  Originally  the  dictator  continued  in  office  only  six 
months  ;  but  at  a  later  period  this  salutary  rule  was  ne- 
glected. Sylla  and  Julius  Caesar,  the  last  dictators,  were 
nominated  perpetual  dictators  ;  the  former  in  the  year  81 
B.  c,  the  latterafter  the  battle  of  Pharsalia.  The  title  was 
subsequently  offered  to  Augustus  by  the  people,  but  de- 
clined ;  and  it  was  never  afterwards  assumed  by  the  Roman 
emperors.  An  officer  called  magister  equitum,  appointed 
sometimes  by  the  dictator,  sometimes  by  the  senate,  and 
sometimes  by  the  people,  was  always  in  attendance  on  the 
dictator.  (See  Niebuhr's  Rom.  History,  and  Ersch  and 
Gruber's  Encyclo. ) 

DICTIONARY  (Mod.  Lat.  dictionarium),  either  signifies 
a  collection  of  words  in  one  or  more  languages,  with  their 
peculiar  significations,  arranged  in  alphabetical  order;  or 
it  may  be  applied  in  a  more  extended  sense  to  any  work 
which  professes  to  communicate  information  on  an  entire 
subject,  or  an  entire  branch  of  a  subject,  under  word3  or 
heads  digested  in  order  of  the  alphabet.  Hence  dictiona- 
ries may  be  said  to  be  of  two  sorts,  of  words,  and  of  facts  or 
things;  in  the  former  sense  the  term  dictionary  being 
equivalent  to  lexicon,  in  the  latter  to  encyclopadia. 

Dictionary  of  words. — The  ancients  have  left  us  no  mon- 
uments of  this  species  of  literature  ;  and,  with  a  few  bril- 
liant exceptions,  all  the  attempts  that  took  place  at  the  early 
period  of  the  Christian  era,  and  during  the  middle  ages, 
are  comparatively  incomplete.  It  was  not  till  after  the  in- 
vention of  printing,  when  a  taste  for  the  classic  literature 
of  antiquity  became  general,  that  some  laborious  men, 
in  the  view  of  elucidating  the  Greek  and  Roman  authors. 
and  of  facilitating  the  investigations  of  others,  undertook 
the  task  of  compiling  dictionaries.  Under  the  head  Lexi- 
con will  be  found  a  succinct  notice  of  the  chief  perform- 
ances in  this  department  of  literature;  and  we  shall  here 
restrict  ourselves  to  the  remark,  that  the  history  of  ancient, 
and,  witli  a  few  modifications,  of  modern  lexicography, 
presents  the  singular  phenomenon,  that  it  is  only  when  the 
language  of  a  country  is  on  the  decline,  or  at  all  events  has 
attained  such  a  degree  of  perfection  as  to  be  apparently 
unsusceptible  of  further  improvement,  that  dictionaries  be- 
gin to  be  compiled.  "  No  one,"  says  an  able  writer,  "  thinks 
of  writing  a  dictionary  till  the  language  he  intends  to  illus- 
trate has  become  a  study  ;"  and  this  is  seldom  the  case  till 
the  age  of  its  purity  and  vigour  has  gone  by,  till  the  phrase- 
ology of  its  original  authors  has  become  in  some  degree 
obsolete,  and  the  caprice  or  ignorance  of  later  writers  has 
diversified  or  corrupted  the  significations  of  words.  In 
modern  times  the  honour  of  possessing  the  best  dictiona- 
ries belongs  to  Italy,  Fiance,  and  England.  These  are  the 
Vocabulario  dcgli  Academici  della  Crusca,  extended  in  the 
latest  editions  to  6  vols.  fol.  ;  the  Dictionnaire de  I' Acade- 
mic Francaise,  2  vols.  4to.,  to  which  a  supplementary 
volume  hasbpen  recently  added  ;  and  Johnson's  Dictionary, 
2  vols.  fol.  1755; — works  unrivalled  in  plan  and  execution, 
and  which,  notwithstanding  the  cavillings  of  certain  philo- 
logists, will  long  remain  standards  in  their  respective  lan- 
guages.   The  Spaniards  also  possess  a  dictionary  of  con- 


DICTIONARY. 


siderable  reputation,  entitled  Diccionario  de  la  Lengua 
Castellana,  compuesto  par  la  Real  Academia  Espanola,  6 
vols.  fol.  1726  ;  but  the  Germans,  perhaps  from  the  cause 
above  adverted  to,  that  the  resources  of  their  language 
have,  as  is  universally  admitted,  not  yet  been  adequately 
developed,  do  not  possess  any  dictionary  of  acknowledged 
authority. 

Dictionaries  of  facts  or  things  are  of  two  species ;  being 
either  devoted  to  separate  or  single  branches  of  science, 
art,  or  literature,  or  embracing  the  whole  circle  of  the  arts 
and  sciences.  Of  the  former,  the  Historical  and  Critical 
Dictionary  of  Bayle,  and  the  Dictionnairc  de  la  Bible,  by 
Dom  Calmet,  may  serve  as  specimens;  and  of  the  latter, 
the  Enrycltjpidie  Franr-aise,  and  the  Encyclopaedia  Britan- 
nica.  That  the  idea  of  comprising  all  the  sciences  in  a 
single  work  was  not  unknown  in  antiquity  is  evident  from 
the  expression  syKvuXios  naitiua,  which  was  used  to  signify 
such  a  course  of  instruction  as  should  embrace  all  the  sci- 
ences. The  earliest  approximation  to  this  species  of  lite- 
rature is  to  be  found  in  the  work  of  Varro,  Rerum  Hum.  et 
Divin.  Antiquitates,  of  which  nothing  remains  but  the 
title  ;  and  in  the  Historia  NaturaJis  of  Pliny,  who  has  em- 
bodied in  that  work  all  the  results  of  his  multifarious 
studies  and  vast  erudition.  But  the  term  Encyclopaedia  is 
said  to  have  been  first  applied  to  works  of  this  description 
by  some  of  the  Arabian  writers  of  the  middle  ages,  and 
particularly  by  Alfarabius,  whose  general  treatise  on  the 
sciences  is  still  preserved  under  this  designation.  Towards 
the  close  of  the  lGth  and  the  commencement  of  the  17th 
centuries,  there  appeared  in  Europe  several  similar  trea- 
tises with  the  same  title,  of  which  the  most  celebrated  was 
that  of  Alstedius,  in  2  vols.  fol.  ;  but  none  of  these  produc- 
tions can  be  properly  termed  dictionaries  or  encyclopaedias, 
being  merely  collections  of  treatises  resembling  rather  such 
works  as  Kelt's  Elements  of  General  Knowledge,  &c,  than 
corresponding  to  the  modern  notion  of  an  encyclopedia. 
The  strongest  resemblance  to  the  works  in  question  is  pre- 
sented by  the  Lexicon  Universale  Historicum  Sacrum  et 
Pmfinum  of  Hofmann,  1677,  in  2  vols,  fol.,  and  followed 
in  1683  by  a  supplement  of  equal  extent;  the  form  of 
which,  at  least,  has  served  for  a  model  to  nearly  all  suc- 
ceeding dictionaries  or  encyclopedias.  (Penny  Cyc.)  It 
might  perhaps  be  preposterous  to  assert  that  Hoimann  bor- 
rowed the  notion  of  his  Lexicon  from  Bacon's  theory  of 
the  Encyclop&dian  Tree,  as  set  forth  in  the  Novum  Orga- 
non  (Leyden,  1650) ;  but,  as  M.  Guizot  has  observed,  there 
can  bo  little  doubt  that  the  great  abundance  of  dictionaries 
and  encyclopedias  which  the  whole  of  Europe  has  since 
witnessed  is  in  some  degree  owing  to  that  eminent  philo- 
sopher's Classification  Complete  et  Raisonnee  of  human 
knowledge. 

The  subjoined  list  contains  a  selection  of  the  most  valua- 
ble productions  in  this  department  of  literature  which  have 
appeared  since  that  time,  arranged  according  to  the  place 
and  date  of  their  publication. 

Great  Britain. 

1.  Lexicon  Technicum,  or  Universal  Dictionary  of  the 
Arts  and  Sciences,  2  vols.  fol. ;  the  first  published 
1704,  the  second  in  1710.  A  supplementary  vol.  was 
afterwards  added. 

2.  Chambers's  Cyclopedia,  2  vols.  fol.  1728.  This  work 
was  extended  in  a  7th  edit,  to  4  vols.  fol.  1778-85,  by 
Dr.  Itees,  who  afterwards  re-edited  the  work  in  45 
vols.  4to.     (See  infra.') 

3.  An  Univ.  History  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  &c,  by  Dr.  De 

Coetlogon,  2  vols.  fol.  1745. 

4.  Barrow's  New  and  Universal  Dictionary  of  Arts  ami 
Sciences,  1  vol.  fol.  1751  ;  with  a  suppl.  vol.  1754. 

5.  A  New  and  Complete  Diet,  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  by  a 

Society  of  Gentlemen  (commonly  called  Owen's  Dic- 
tionary, from  the  name  of  the  publisher),  4  vols.  8vo. 
1754. 

6.  The  Complete  Diet,  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  3  vols.  fol. 

1766,  by  the  Rev.  Ben.  Croker,  Dr.  Thos.  Williams, 
and  Sam.  Clark. 

7.  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  3  vols.  4to.  1771.  The  fifth 
edition  of  this  work,  completed  in  1814,  was  extended 
to  20  vols.  ;  and  a  supplement  in  6  vols.,  under  the 
editorship  of  Mr.  Napier,  added  in  1824.  A  seventh 
edition  of  this  work,  in  which  the  supplement  is  incor- 
porated, was  published  during  the  past  year,  1842. 

8.  The  English  Encyclopedia,  10  vols.  4to.  1795-1803. 

9.  The  Cyclopaedia,  commonly  known  by  the  name  of 
Rees's  Cyclopedia,  1802-19.  45  vols.  4to. 

10.  British  Encyclopedia,  6  vols.  8vo.  1807-9. 

11.  Encyclopedia  Londinensis,  24  vols.  4to.  1810-29,  by 
.lohn  Wilkes. 

12.  Brewster's  Edin.  Encyclop.  18  vols.  4to.  1810-30. 

13.  Pantalosia,  or  New  Diet,  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  12  vols. 
8vo.  1813-16.  By  Mason  Good,  Gregory,  and  Bos- 
worth. 

14.  Burrowe's  Modern  Encyclopedia,  10  vols.  4to.  1816. 

15.  Encyclopedia  Edinensis,  6  vols.  4to.  1816. 

341 


16.  Encyclopedia  Perthensis, 23  vols.  roy.Svo. ;  completed 
in  1816. 

17.  Encyclopedia  Metropolitana,  1818.  Not  yet  com- 
pleted. 

18.  Oxford  Encyclopedia,  6  vols.  4to.  1828;  to  which  a 
supplement  in  1  vol.  was  added  in  1831. 

19.  The  London  Encyclopedia,  24  vols.  8vo.  1826. 

20.  Partington's  British  Cyclopedia,  10  vols.  8vo.  1833-36. 

21.  Penny  Cyclopedia,  large  8vo.  1333,  now  in  course  of 
publication. 

France. 

1.  Dictionnaire  Universel  Frangais  et  Latin,  known  by  the 
name  Dictionnaire  deTrevoux,  1704.  3  vols.  fol.  The 
fifth  and  last  edition,  Paris,  1771,  was  augmented  to 
8  vols.  fol. 

2.  Encyclopedic,  ou  Dictionnaire  raisonnee  des  Sciences, 
des  Arts,  et  des  Metiers,  par  Diderot  et  d'Alembert, 
35  vols.  fol.  1751-80.  The  original  series  consisted  of 
28  vols.,  of  which   11  were  plates.     A  supplement  of 

5  vols,  was  afterwards  added,  one  of  which  consisted 
of  plates  ;  besides  a  "Table  Analytique"  of  the  whole 
work,  compiled  by  M.  Monchon,  in  2  vols.  A  variety 
of  encyclopedias  of  more  or  less  reputation  was  pub- 
lished in  France  immediately  after  the  "  Encyclo- 
pe"die"  of  Diderot  and  D'Alembert ;  but  as  they  are  all, 
to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  mere  abridgments  of,  or 
compilations  from,  this  great  work,  we  do  not  think 
them  worthy  of  notice  in  this  catalogue. 

3.  Encyclopedie.  ou  Dictionnaire  Universel  raisonnee  des 
Connaissances  humaines,  par  le  Professeur  de  Felici. 
Yverdun,  1770-75.    42  vols.  4to. ;   besides  a  sup.  of 

6  vols.  4to. 

4.  Encyclopedie  Methodique,  &c,  1782,  1S32,  201  vols. 
4to.,  including  47  vols,  of  plates.  In  this  work  every 
art  or  science  is  treated  of  in  a  separate  volume  or  se- 
ries of  volumes  ;  so  that  it  forms  in  fact  a  collection  of 
dictionaries. 

5.  Dictionnaire  des  Sciences  et  des  Arts,  par  Lumier, 
3  vols.  8vo.  1805. 

6.  Encyclopedie  Moderne,  &c,  par  M.  Courtin,  1823,  &c. 
24  vols.  8vo. 

7.  Encyclopedie  des  Dames,  par  une  Societe  des  Dames, 
Paris,  1821,  <fcc. 

8.  Dictionnairc  de  la  Conversation  etde  la  Lecture.  Paris, 

1834-9.  52  vols.  8vo.  or  104  livraisons. 
9    Encyclopedie  des  Gens  du  Monde.     Paris,  1833,  &c 
Of  this  valuable  and  popular  work  30  parts  or  15  vols. 
8vo.  have  already  appeared,  bringing  it  down  to  letter  I. 
Germany. 

1.  Grosse  vollstandige  Universal   Lexicon,  von   Zedler, 

1732-50,  64  vols.  8vo. ;  with  a  sup.  Another  edition 
was  published  1751-54  in  4  vols.  fol.  Halle  and  Leipsig. 

2.  Deutsche  Encyclopedie,  &c,  1778-1804,  by  Koester 
and  Roos.  Of  this  work  23  vols.  4to.  appeared,  bring- 
ing it  down  to  letter  K. 

3.  Economische  Encyclopedie,  by  Krunitz,  Floerke,  and 
Korte,  1774,  1828.     148  vols.  8vo.  Berlin. 

4.  Conversations  Lexicon,  1796-1809,  6  vols.  8vo. ;  besides, 
a  sup.  of  2  vols.  The  6th  edition  was  completed  al 
Leipsig,  1824,  in  10  vols.,  with  2  of  a  sup.  ;  since  that 
time  there  have  appeared  several  editions  of  this  work 
materially  augmented.  An  English  translation  of  it- 
with  the  addition  of  much  valuable  information,  was 
completed  at  Philadelphia,  in  13  vols.  8vo.  1820-33, 
under  the  superintendence  of  Dr.  Liebner;  and  a  re- 
publication of  this  American  work,  with  considerable 
improvements,  has  been  recently  completed  at  Glas- 
gow, in  6  vols. 

5.  Allgemeine  Encyclopedie  der  Wissenschaften  und 
Kiinste,  von  Ersch  und  Gruber,  1818,  &c.  Leipsig.  65 
vols.  4to.  of  this  work  have  already  appeared.  It  is  di- 
vided into  sections,  of  each  of  which  A,  H,  and  O  are 
the  commencement. 

6.  Gehler's  Physicalisciies  Wiirterbuch,  neu  bearbeitet 
von  Brandes,  Gmelin,  Horner,  Munclte,  Pfaff.  9  vols. 
8vo.  Leipsig,  1825-40.  As  the  title  implies,  it  is  con- 
fined to  general  physics,  and  physical  astronomy;  bui 
its  great  value  renders  it  worthy  of  a  place  in  this  cata- 
logue. 

7.  Haus-Lexicon,  or  Vollstandiges  Handbuch  praktischei 
Lebens-kentnisse  ftir  alle  stande,  8  vols.  8vo.  Leipsig 
1835-37. 

8.  Damen  Conversations  Lexicon,  10  vols,  small  8vo. 
Adorf,  1835-38. 

Besides  these,  there  are  no  fewer  than  19  Encyclo 
pedias  of  greater  or  less  extent  in  course  of  publica 
tion  in  Germany ;  but  it  has  not  been  our  fortune  to  see 
any  of  them,  with  the  exception  of  the  Conversations 
Lexicon  der  Gegenwart,  which  forms  a  species  of  sup- 
plement to  the  Conversations  Lexicon  above  specified. 
Italy. 
1.  Dizionario  Scientifico  ex  Curiosa,  Sacra,  Profana,  by 
G.  P.  Pinati.  10  vols.  fol.  Venice    1746-51. 


DICTIONARY. 

2.  Encyclopedia  Ilaliana.     Naples,  1788. 

3.  Encyclopedia  Methodica  Ciitica  Ragionnata  delle  belle 
Arli,  by  Pietro  Zani.  Parma,  1818-20. 

But  anoiher  branch  of  the  same  encyclopaDdian  tree, 
which,  as  already  remarked,  yielded  such  brilliant  fruits 
in  the  hands  of  Ducange,  Bayle,  and  Calmet,  has  taken  deep 
root  in  Europe,  and  more  especially  in  this  country,  and 
has  greatly  coniribuled  to  the  diffusion  of  knowledge;  viz. 
the  compilation  of  dictionaries  appropriated  to  separate 
branches  of  literature,  science,  or  art.  A  mere  catalogue 
of  these  would  swell  this  notice  to  a  size  wholly  incom- 
patible with  our  limits,  as  there  is  scarcely  a  department 
ol  human  knowledge  in  which  works  of  this  class  have  not 
been  published  within  the  last  fifty  years.  It  is  not  our  in- 
tention lo  enter  upon  a  discussion  of  the  positive  or  com- 
parative merits  of  the  works  referred  to,  though  there  ex- 
ist perhaps  few  more  fertile  fields  for  criticism  ;  but,  if  we 
take  into  consideration  the  extreme  difficulty  of  compiling 
a  good  dictionary,  and  the  acquirements  essential  to  the 
individual  who  undertakes  it,  we  shall  not  be  surprised  if 
but  a  lew  only  of  the  vast  number  of  dictionaries  with 
which  the  literature  of  this  and  other  countries  is  inun- 
dated be  respectably  executed.  It  may  be  true  that  the 
qualities  of  brevity,  precision,  and  distinctness,  without 
which  no  work  of  this  class  is  even  tolerable,  do  not  belong 
to  the  highest  order  of  intellect;  though  they  are,  perhaps, 
quite  as  rarely  to  be  met  with  as  its  more  showy  attributes; 
but  it  is  easy  to  see  that  to  give  interest  to  a  work  of  this 
nature,  and  to  present  the  reader  with  satisfactory  informa- 
tion in  a  perspicuous  and  compendious  form,  a  more  than 
ordinary  share  of  ability  is  indispensable.  Montesquieu 
said  of  Tacitus  that  he  abridged  all,  because  he  knew  all. 
But  though  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  subject  be  indis- 
pensable, that  is  not  enough  to  enable  an  individual  to  make 
a  good  dictionary.  He  must  be  able  to  split  it  into  its  ele- 
ments ;  to  treat  each  part  as  if  it  were  separate  and  inde- 
pendent, and  the  reader  wished  to  study  it  only  ;  and  at 
the  same  time  to  preserve  all  the  parts  in  due  subordina- 
tion to  each  other,  and  to  the  plan  of  the  work.  The  judg- 
ment, tact,  and  variety  of  research  and  learning,  to  say  no- 
thing of  the  labour,  necessary  to  give  permanent  interest 
and  real  value  to  a  work  of  this  sort  in  any  of  the  great 
departments  of  human  knowledge,  may  be  more  easily 
imagined  than  described  ;  and  hence  the  extreme  fewness 
of  such  works.  But  even  the  inferior  class  of  dictionaries 
have  many  recommendations  ;  and  though  mostly  com- 
piled at  second-hand  from  other  works,  and  with  but  little 
unity  of  plan  or  execution,  still,  if  they  be  tolerably  accu- 
rate and  precise,  they  cannot  fail  to  be  of  great  utility.  We 
are  aware,  indeed,  that  this  position  has  been  denied  ;  and 
that  it  has  been  contended  that  the  general  prevalence  of 
dictionaries  has  exercised  a  baneful  influence  upon  the 
literature  of  the  age,  inasmuch  as,  by  making  people  satis- 
fied with  the  information  which  they  contain,  they  tend  to 
generate  a  taste  for  superficial  learning,  and  thus,  by  dis- 
couraging all  reference  to  more  elaborate  treatises,  strike 
at  the  root  of  original  thought  and  profound  erudition. 
Those,  however,  who  adopt  this  line  of  argument,  quite 
overlook  the  main  objects  which  dictionaries  are  calcu- 
lated to  serve.  Such  arguments  would  have  some  weight 
had  it  been  ever  contemplated  that  the  mathematician 
should  study  mathematics,  the  philosopher  philosophy,  the 
divine  theology,  or  any  professional  man  the  subjects  that 
form  the  basis  of  his  profession,  in  a  dictionary  only.  But 
this  is  by  no  means  the  case.  The  grand  object  aimed  at 
in  such  works,  is  to  place  within  the  reach  of  persons  en- 
gaged in  the  business  of  active  life  a  mass  of  well-digested, 
accurate  and  readily  accessible  information  upon  subjects 
not  connected  with  their  own  immediate  pursuits,  such  as  it 
might  be  exceedingly  difficult  for  them  to  procure  else- 
where ;  while  even  to  the  learned,  or  to  those  who  have 
access  and  leisure  to  refer  to  more  extensive  depositories 
of  human  knowledge,  they  serve  as  convenient  manuals 
or  reference  books.  But  upon  this  subject  we  cannot  do 
better  than  transfer  to  our  columns  an  eloquent  passage 
from  the  elaborate  paper  of  M.  Guizot  on  encyclopedias 
(Paris,  1826),  to  which  we  beg  to  refer  the  reader  for  a  clear 
and  learned  exposition  of  the  merits  of  this  species  of  lite- 
rature. '•  Parleraije  enfin  de  leur  utilite  commune  et  pra- 
tique, de  l'abondante  instruction,  des  innombrables  en- 
seignemens  qu'elles  fournisse  nt,  et  qui  s'appliquent  a  tant 
de  circonstances,  a  tant  de  besoins  de  la  vie  7  Dans  les 
grandes  villes,  an  milieu  de  toutes  les  facilites,  de  toutes 
les  richesses  de  la  societe  hnmaine,  onoublie  trop  qu'une 
multitude  de  families  independantes,  aisees,  dont  le  travail 
u'absorbe  point  le  temps  ni  les  facultes,  vivent  dans  une 
situation  toute  differente,  celles-ci  a  la  campagne,  celles-la 
dins  de  petites  villes,  eloignees  de  toutes  ces  ressources 
de  la  science  et  de  l'industrie  qui  se  pressent  aulour  de 
nous.  C'est  la  qu'on  apprend  a  connaitre  le  prixde  cette 
science  domestique  qui  se  transporte  en  quelques  volumes 
dans  la  solitude  la  plus  profonde.  Sans  donte  elle  est  in- 
complete et  fautive  ;  on  se  trompe  souvent  dans  l'applica- 
cation  qu'on  en  fait ;  mais  a  tout  prendre,  elle  €claire  et 
342 


DIDELPHYS. 

dirige  plus  souvent  encore  ;  elle  diminue  les  embarras,  lea 
ennuis  de  l'isolement;  elle  rassure  les  imaginations;  elle 
elablit  enfin,  entre  des  milliers  d'individus  disperses  et  les 
grands  foyers  de  la  science,  une  sorte  de  lien  intellectuel 
dont  1'importance  et  les  effets  se  laissent  diflieilemenl  ap- 
precier."  Such,  then,  being  the  purposes  contemplated 
by  works  of  this  class,  and  such  the  acknowledged  benefits 
that  accrue  from  them,  so  far  from  the  number  and  va- 
riety of  works  which  have  been  published  in  the  course  of 
the  last  and  present  century  under  the  title  of  dictionaries 
and  encyclopaedias,  occasioning  any  surprise,  we  are  al- 
most warranted  in  anticipating  that,  owing  to  the  gradual 
progress  of  human  knowledge,  the  progressive  augmenta- 
tions to  the  stock  of  polite  literature,  and  the  number  and 
rapidity  of  the  inventions  and  discoveries  which  are  con- 
stantly enriching  the  arts  and  sciences,  this  species  of  pub- 
lication will  continue  to  increase,  and  that,  in  a  word,  the 
literature  of  every  country  will  gradually  assume  more  and 
more  of  the  dictionary  form. 

DI'CTUM.  (Lat.  something  said.)  A  word  used  in  com- 
mon parlance  to  signify  the  arbitrament  or  award  of  a  judge. 

DI'CTYOTHE'TON.  (Gr.  6iktvov,  a  net,  and  riQr,ui,  I 
place.)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  masonry  worked  in 
courses  like  the  meshes  of  a  net.  Also  open  lattice  work 
for  admitting  light  and  air. 

DIDA'CTIC.  (Gr.  iiiauKos,  I  teach),  in  the  schools, 
signifies  every  species  of  writing,  whether  in  verse  or 
prose,  whose  object  is  to  teach  or  explain  the  rules  or  prin- 
ciples of  any  art  or  science.  Thus  to  this  class  of  litera- 
ture belong  the  writings  of  Aristotle  on  grammar,  poetry, 
and  rhetoric ;  Longinus's  Treatise  on  the  Sublime  ;  and  the 
Institutions  of  Quintilian,  &c.  But  the  term  has  been 
borrowed  from  scholastic  phraseology,  and  appropriated 
more  exclusively  to  all  poetical  writings  devoted  to  the 
communication  of  instruction  on  a  particular  subject,  or 
of  a  reflective  or  ethical  character,  thence  called  didactic 
poetry.  Were  this  the  place  for  such  investigations,  it 
might  be  easily  shown  that  the  didactic  must  have  been 
among  the  first  species  of  poetical  composition  ;  and  that 
the  writings  of  the  earliest  poets  of  whom  profane  history- 
makes  mention,  such  as  Orpheus  and  Linus,  might  with 
propriety  be  classed  under  this  category.  But  be  this  as  it 
may,  this  species  of  poetry  has  been  in  use  from  a  very  re-, 
mote  period,  and  there  is  scarcely  any  nation  in  which  it 
has  not  taken  root.  Among  the  most  celebrated  poems  of 
this  species  may  be  reckoned  in  ancient  times  that  of  Lu- 
cretius, De  Rerum  Natura,  in  which  the  Epicurean  system 
of  philosophy  is  explained  ;  Virgil's  Georgics,  which  has 
almost  always  served  as  a  model  to  the  didactic  poets  of 
succeeding  ages  ;  and  Horace's  Art  of  Poetry ;  and  in  more 
recent  times,  Pope's  Essays  on  Criticism  and  Man ;  Du 
Fresnoy's  Art  of  Painting  (see  Mason's  translation  in  the 
Literary  Works  of  Sir  J.  Reynolds);  Vida  and  Boileau's 
Art  of  Poetry;  Ak'enside's  Pleasures  of  the  Imagination  ; 
Armstrong's  Art  of  Preserving  Health;  Somerville'sCAoce; 
Dyer's  Fleece ;  Young's  Universal  Passio7t,  &.c.  The 
reader  will  find  in  Blair's  Lectures,  vol.  hi.,  a  full  exposi- 
tion of  the  nature  and  characteristics  of  this  species  of 
poetry,  and  a  critical  notice  of  the  most  famed  didactic 
poems  of  all  ages  and  countries. 

DIDA'CTYLE.  (Gr.  du,  double,  and  &anTv\os,  the  fin- 
ger ;  two-fingered,  or  twotoed.)  This  epithet  is  applied  to 
various  animals,  as  to  the  ruminants  among  quadrupeds 
(by  Klein) ;  to  the  ostrich  among  birds  ;  to  the  amphiuma, 
an  amphibious  reptile  with  two  digits  on  each  extremity  ; 
and  to  certain  insects,  as  the  Pterophorus  didactylus  and 
Gryllotalpa  didactyla. 

DIDASCA'LIV  (Gr.)  A  term  in  use  among  the  Greek 
writers  of  antiquity,  and  till  within  the  last  century  among 
almost  all  the  nations  of  modern  Europe,  applied  to  the  re- 
presentation of  dramatic  pieces,  or  to  critical  notices  of  the 
stage,  and  of  every  thing  appertaining  thereto.  The  only 
paper  with  this  designation,  now  in  existence,  is,  as  far  as 
we  know,  that  published  at  Frankfort,  which  enjoys  a  large 
circulation. 

DI'DORON.  (Gr.  SiSopuv.)  In  Ancient  Architecture, 
a  brick  whose  length  was  one  loot,  and  its  breadth  one  half 
its  lensth. 

DIDE'LPIIYS.  (Gr.  Sis,  double,  and  Sc\(pvs,  tr omb.)  A 
generic  name  originally  applied  to  the  opossum,  and  al5 
other  quadrupeds  which  like  it  have  a  duplicature  of  the 
integument  of  the  abdomen  forming  a  pouch,  in  which 
the  prematurely  born  young  are  received,  protected,  and 
nourished,  as  in  a  second  womb,  until  their  growth  is  ad- 
vanced to  a  stage  corresponding  to  that  of  the  new  born 
young  in  the  ordinary  mammalia.  In  modern  systems  the 
term  is,  singularly  enough,  restricted  to  that  group  of  Mar- 
supials in  which  there  are  certain  species  deficient  in  the 
abdominal  pouch.  The  genus  Didelphys,  or  true  opos- 
sums, are  characterized  by  the  following  dental  formula  — 
incisores  y  canini  -2,  molares  spurii  ^,  molares  veri  ^ 
=  50;  and  by  having  the  hinder  fcot  provided  with  a 
thumb,  and  a  prehensile  tail. 


DIDUS. 

DT'BUS.  The  generic  name  for  the  dodo  or  dronte. 
birds  oT  this  kind  were  discovered  by  the  Portuguese  in 
1499  on  the  island  now  called  Mauritius,  where  they  were 
afterwards  observed  by  the  Dutch  in  1598,  and  in  the  early 
part  of  the  following  century.  Original  figures  of  the  bird 
are  given  in  Ve  Bry  (Quinta  pars  India.  Orientalis.  £fc, 
Mdci.)  ;  by  Clusius,  in  his  Exotica,  1605 ;  by  Herbert,  in  his 
Travels,  1634;  by  Bontius  (l'iso's  edition,  1658) ;  and  by 
Savery,  in  his  celebrated  picture  of  "Orpheus  charming 
the  Beasts,"  now  in  the  museum  at  the  Hague.  The  last 
figure  is  the  best ;  it  was  painted,  as  were  the  other  figures 
of  exotic  species  in  the  same  picture,  from  studies  of  the 
living  animals  preserved  at  that  time  in  the  celebrated  me- 
nagerie of  Prince  Maurice  of  Nassau.  It  is  highly  proba- 
ble that  the  same  dodo  was  the  subject  of  the  painting  of 
which  the  one  now  in  the  British  Musenm  is  a  copy. 

Besides  this  pictorial  evidence  there  exist  a  head  and  a 
foot  of  the  dodo  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum  at  Oxford,  and 
a  foot  of  the  dodo  in  the  British  Museum.  The  following 
is  Willoughby's  translation  of  the  original  description  of 
this  extinct  bird  by  Clusius  : — ''  The  dodo  is  called  by  Clu- 
sius Gallus  gallinaceus  peregrinus.by  Nieremberg  Cygnus 
cucullatus,  by  Bontius  Bronte.  This  exotic  bird,  found  by 
the  Hollanders  in  the  island  called  by  the  Portuguese 
Vygnata  or  Cerne,  that  is  the  Swan  Islaud,  and  Mauritius 
Island  by  the  low  Dutch,  of  thirty  miles  compass,  famous 
especially  for  black  ebony,  did  not  exceed  a  swan  in  big- 
ness ;  but  was  of  a  far  different  shape,  for  its  head  was 
great,  covered  as  it  were  with  a  certain  membrane  resem- 
bling a  hood  ;  besides,  its  bill  was  not  flat  and  broad,  but 
thick  and  long,  of  a  yellowish  colour  next  the  head,  the 
point  being  black.  The  upper  chap  was  hooked ;  the 
nether  had  a  bluish  spot  in  the  middle,  between  the  yellow 
and  black  part.  They  reported  that  it  is  covered  with  thin 
and  short  feathers,  and  wants  wings,  instead  whereof  it 
hath  only  four  or  five  long  black  feathers  ;  that  the  hinder 
part  of  the  body  is  very  fat  and  fleshy,  wherein  for  the  tail 
were  four  or  five  small  curled  feathers,  twirled  up  together, 
of  an  ash  colour.  Its  legs  are  thick  rather  than  long,  whose 
upper  part,  as  far  as  the  knee,  is  covered  with  black  fea- 
thers; the  lower  part,  together  with  the  feet,  of  a  yellowish 
colour;  its  feet  divided  into  four  toes,  three  (and  those 
the  longer)  standing  forward,  the  fourth  and  shortest 
backward,  all  furnished  with  black  claws.  After  I  had 
composed  and  writ  down  the  history  of  this  bird,  with  as 
much  diligence  and  faithfulness  as  1  could,  I  happened  to 
see  in  the  house  of  Peter  Pauwius,  primary  professor  of 
physic  in  the  university  of  Leyden,  a  leg  thereof  cut  off 
at  the  knee,  lately  brought  overoutof  Mauritius  his  island. 
It  was  not  very  long  from  the  knee  to  the  bending  of  the 
foot,  being  but  little  more  than  four  inches,  but  of  a  great 
thickness  ;  so  that  it  was  almost  four  inches  in  compass, 
and  covered  with  thick  set  scales ;  on  the  upper  side 
broader,  and  of  a  yellowish  colour;  on  the  under  (or  back 
side  of  the  leg)  lesser  and  dusky.  The  upper  side  of  the 
toes  was  also  covered  with  broad  scales,  the  under  side 
wholly  callous.  The  toes  were  short  for  so  thick  a  leg ; 
for  the  length  of  the  greatest  or  middlemost  toe  to  the 
nail  did  not  much  exceed  two  inches,  that  of  the  other  toe 
next  to  it  scarce  came  up  to  two  inches  ;  the  back  toe  fell 
something  short  of  an  inch  and  a  half;  but  the  claws  of  all 
were  thick,  hard,  black,  less  than  an  inch  long;  but  that 
of  the  back  toe  longer  than  the  rest,  exceeding  an  inch. 
The  mariners  in  their  dialect  give  this  bird  the  name 
Walgh-rogel,  that  is,  a  nauseous  or  yellow  bird  ;  partly  be- 
cause after  long  boiling  the  flesh  became  not  tender,  but 
continued  hard  and  of  difficult  concoction  (excepting  the 
breast  and  gizzard,  which  they  found  to  be  of  no  bad  relish), 
partly  because  they  could  get  many  turtle-doves,  which 
were  much  more  delicate  and  pleasant  to  the  palate. 
Wherefore  it  was  no  wonder  that  in  comparison  of  those 
they  despised  this,  and  said  they  could  be  well  content 
without  it.  Moreover  they  said  that  they  found  certain 
stones  in  its  gizzard  ;  and  no  wonder,  for  all  other  birds  as 
well  as  these  swallow  stones  to  assist  them  in  grinding  their 
meat."    Thus  far  Clusius. 

Now,  with  respect  to  the  parts  of  the  bird  which  still 
remain  to  us,  we  infer  that  the  head,  from  the  sudden 
rising  of  the  cranium  above  the  face,  and  the  form  of  the 
anterior  extremity  of  the  lower  jaw,  as  also  from  the  nos- 
trils being  covered  with  an  arched  scale,  did  not  belong  to 
a  vulture  or  any  other  Accipitrine  bird  ;  while  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  cere  at  the  base,  and  the  forward  position  of 
the  nostrils,  it  resembles  the  rhea  and  apteryx  among  the 
Struthious  birds.  The  apteryx.  however,  deviates  more 
from  the  typical  Slrutkiomda  in  the  shape  of  the  bill  and  po- 
sition of  the  nostrils  than  does  the  dndo.  With  respect  to  the 
foot  in  the  British  Museum,  this  differs  from  that  of  the  vul- 
tures in  the  form  and  disposition  of  the  tarsal  scales,  in  the 
shortness  of  the  middle  toe,  and  the  bluntness  and  straighter 
figure  of  the  claws ;  while  in  all  these  respects  it  agrees 
with  the  foot  of  the  apteryx  and  the  Gallinaceous  order. 
So  that  even  those  naturalists  who,  like  Mr.  Gray  of  the 
British  Museum,  still  reject  the  evidence  in  proof  of  the 
343 


DIET. 

Struthious  nature  of  the  dodo,  and  deny  its  existence  at 
any  period,  are  compelled  to  imagine  that  the  bird  repre- 
sented in  the  original  figures  above  quoted  was  made  up  by 
joining  the  head  of  a  bird  of  prey  to  the  legs  of  a  Gallina- 
ceous bird.  The  analogies  of  ornithology,  however,  by  no 
means  sanction  the  rejection  of  the  multiplied,  and,  if  we 
except  Leguat's  narrations,  consistent  evidence,  of  the 
actual  existence  of  the  Struthious  dodo.  Whoever  inspects 
the  painting  by  Savery,  above  mentioned  (which  seems 
hitherto  to  have  escaped  the  attention  of  the  naturalists 
who  have  written  on  the  dodo),  must  feel  a  conviction  that 
its  original  was  no  factitious  orartificial  specimen.  Neither 
the  head  nor  the  feet  still  preserved  in  our  museums  can 
be  referred  to  an  albatross,  a  penguin,  a  vulture,  or  any 
other  known  existing  species;  while  they  closely  cor- 
respond (allowing  for  the  absence  of  the  horny  sheath  of 
the  bill)  with  the  original  figures  of  the  dodo.  We  have 
therefore  no  hesitation  in  concluding  that  in  other  respects 
those  figures  are  equally  faithful  representations  of  the  ex- 
tinct Struthious  form  in  question.  Such  also  appears  to  be 
the  conclusion  to  which  the  learned  writer  of  the  article 
'•  Dodo"  in  the  Penny  Cyclopedia  arrived  ;  in  whose  words 
we  shall  conclude  the  present  notice  : — "  If  the  picture  in 
the  British  Museum  and  the  cut  in  Bontius  be  faithful  re- 
presentations of  a  creature  then  living,  to  make  such  a 
bird  a  bird  of  prey,  a  vulture  in  the  ordinary  acceptation  of 
the  term,  would  be  to  set  all  the  usual  laws  of  adaptation 
at  defiance.  A  vulture  without  wings  !  How  was  it  to  be 
fed?  And  not  only  without  wings,  but  necessarily  slow 
and  heavy  in  progression  on  its  clumsy  feet.  The  Vul- 
turida.  are,  as  we  know,  among  the  most  active  agents  in 
removing  the  rapidly  decomposing  animal  remains  in 
tropical  and  intertropical  climates ;  and  they  are  provided 
with  a  prodigal  development  of  wing  to  waft  them  speedily 
to  the  spot  tainted  by  the  corrupt  incumbrance.  But  no 
such  powers  of  wing  would  be  required  by  a  bird  appointed 
to  clear  away  the  decaying  and  decomposing  masses  of 
luxuriant  tropical  vegetation — a  kind  of  vulture  for  vege- 
table impurities,  so  to  speak;  and  such  an  office  would  not 
be  by  any  means  inconsistent  with  comparative  slowness 
of  pedestrian  motion." 

DIDY'NAMOUS.  (Gr.  <5<y,  twice,  and  Swapis,  poicer.) 
A  term  applied  to  flowers  having  four  stamens,  of  which 
two  are  short  and  two  are  long. 

DIE  (Fr.  de),  in  Coinage,  is  the  instrument  by  which  the 
impressions  are  given  upon  the  various  denominations  of 
coin.  The  following  is  an  outline  of  the  die  manufacture, 
as  conducted  in  her  Majesty's  mint : — The  engraver  selects 
a  forged  plug  of  the  best  cast  steel  of  proper  dimensions  for 
his  intended  work  ;  and  having  carefully  annealed  it,  and 
turned  its  surfaces  smooth  in  the  lalhe,  proceeds  to  en- 
grave upon  it  the  intended  device  for  the  coin  ;  the  Queen's 
head,  for  instance.  When  this  is  perfect  the  letters  are  put 
in,  and  the  circularity  and  size  duly  adjusted ;  it  is  then 
hardened,  and  is  termed  a  matrix.  Another  plug  of  soft 
steel  is  now  selected  ;  and  the  matrix  being  carefully  ad- 
justed upon  it,  they  are  placed  under  a  very  powerful 
fly-press,  and  two  or  three  blows  so  directed  as  to  com- 
mence an  impression  of  the  matrix  upon  the  plug;  this  is 
then  annealed,  and  the  operation  repeated  till  the  plug  re- 
ceives a  perfect  impression  of  the  work  upon  the  matrix. 
This  impression  is  of  course  in  relief,  the  original  work 
upon  the  matrix  being  indented,  and  produces  what  is 
termed  the  punch.  This,  being  duly  shaped  in  the 
lathe,  is  hardened,  and  is  employed  in  the  production  of 
impressions  in  soft  steel  or  dies,  which,  being  properly 
turned  and  hardened,  are  exact  facsimiles  of  the  original 
matrix,  and  are  used  in  the  process  of  coinage.  When  a 
pair  of  dies  are  made  of  good  steel  duly  hardened  and 
tempered,  and  are  carefully  used,  they  will  sometimes 
yield  from  two  to  three  hundred  thousand  impressions  be- 
fore they  become  so  far  worn  or  injured  as  to  require  to  be 
removed  from  the  coining  presses. 

DI'ERESl'LIS.  A  term  invented  by  Mirbel  to  denote  a 
many-celled  superior  fruit ;  the  cells  being  dry,  indehiscent, 
few-seeded,  and  cohering  by  a  common  style  round  a  com- 
mon axis — Ex.  Malta. 

DIE'SIS.  (Gr.)  In  Music,  an  interval  less  than  a  com- 
ma. The  harmonical  diesis  is  the  difference  between  a 
greater  and  a  less  semitone. 

DI'ET.  (Lat.  dies,  a  day;  Germ.  Reichstag.)  A  name 
given  to  the  principal  national  assembly  in  many  countries 
of  modern  Europe. 

By  the  usage  of  the  German  Empire,  two  diets  were  sum- 
moned every  year  by  the  emperor,  besides  such  as  were 
convoked  on  extraordinary  occasions.  There  were  three 
chambers— 1.  Thatof  the  electors  (see  Electors).  2.  That 
of  the  sovereign  princes,  divided  into  two  spiritual  and  four 
temporal  benches.  The  counts  of  the  empire  voted  col- 
lectively in  four  benches  or  divisions,  and  not  as  individu- 
als; the  prelates  and  the  abbots  in  two.  3.  The  chamber 
of  the  imperial  cities,  divided  into  the  Rhenish  and  the 
Swabian  benches.  The  diets,  together  with  the  emperor, 
exercised  the  prerogatives  of  sovereignty.    A  decree  of 


DIET  DRINK. 

'he  diet  was  termed  a  recess  of  the  empire.  The  diet  of 
the  modern  Germanic  Confederation  is  a  meeting  of  pleni- 
potentiaries, permanently  assembled  in  the  city  of  Frank- 
fort-on-the-Maine.  There  are  two  diets:  one  termed  ple- 
num, in  which  the  thirty-eight  sovereign  members  of  the 
confederacy  have  seventy  votes  divided  between  them  ;  the 
other  the  lesser  or  ordinary,  in  which  their  votes  amount 
together  only  to  seventeen.  In  the  latter  assembly  propo- 
sitions are  brought  forward  and  discussed,  which  are  de- 
cided in  the  other  without  discussion.  On  some  funda- 
mental questions  unanimity  is  required,  in  order  that  any 
proposition  may  be  adopted;  in  other  cases  a  majority  of 
two  thirds  is  necessary.  Austria  presides  in  both  diets,  and 
has  the  casting  voice  in  the  lesser. 

The  diet  of  Hungary  is  composed  of  the  king  (Emperor 
of  Austria)  and  the  estates.  The  latter  consists  of  the 
higher  clergy,  the  magnates,  the  two  courts  of  appeal,  and 
two  representatives  from  each  chapter,  county,  city,  and 
privileged  district.  They  are  divided  into  two  chambers, 
called  tabulae. 

The  diet  of  Switzerland  is  composed  of  the  representa- 
tives of  the  cantons,  and  manages  such  affairs  as  by  the 
federal  constitution  are  exempted  from  the  jurisdiction  of 
those  several  independent  states.  It  is  held  every  two 
years,  alternately  at  Zurich,  Berne,  and  Lucerne,  which 
are  termed  the  presiding  cantons  (vorort).  The  schultheiss 
or  governor  (chief  executive  magistrate)  of  the  presiding 
canton  is  landamman  of  Switzerland  for  the  time  being. 
Each  canton  has  one  vote  in  the  diet. 

From  a  very  remote  period,  down  to  1832,  Poland  en- 
joyed a  national  assembly,  or  diets,  which  were  of  two 
sorts,  ordinary  and  extraordinary.  The  ordinary  diet  was 
held  every  two  years,  and  usually  at  Warsaw ;  though  it 
was  expressly  enacted  that  every  third  meeting  should  be 
convened  at  Grodno,  in  Lithuania.  The  duration  of  its 
sitting  was  restricted  to  six  weeks,  and  could  not,  under  any 
pretext,  be  protracted  beyond  this  period.  The  diet  was 
composed  of  a  selection  from  the  nobility,  who  formed 
what  was  called  the  senate,  and  of  the  deputies  returned 
by  each  of  the  palatinates  and  districts  of  the  country. 
The  number  amounted  to  about  400.  The  period  of  its 
meeting  was  fixed  by  the  king,  who  presided  over  its  de- 
liberations ;  except  during  an  interregnum,  when  the  bu- 
siness of  summoning  the  diet  devolved  on  the  archbishop 
of  Guesna.  The  extraordinary  diets  differed  from  the 
ordinary  chiefly  in  this,  that  there  was  no  stated  period  for 
the  former  being  summoned  together,  that  they  were  con- 
yoked  only  to  listen  to  propositions  from  the  throne,  and 
lasted  only  four  days. 

As  is  well  known,  the  throne  of  Poland  was  not  heredi- 
tary, but  elective  ;  and,  on  the  occasion  of  choosing  the 
sovereign,  the  Polish  diets  were  held  in  the  open  country, 
and  were  attended  by  all  the  nobility  on  horseback,  armed 
and  equipped  as  if  for  battle.  On  this  subject  the  reader 
is  referred  to  a  work  of  great  ability,  by  De  la  Birardiere, 
entitled  Histoires  des  Dietes  de  Pologne' pour  les  Elections 
ties  liois,  depuis  1572jusgit'en  1674  (8vo.  Paris,  1679.)  Diet- 
inea  was  the  name  given  to  the  particular  assemblies  of  the 
Polish  nobility  in  which  deputies  were  elected  to  serve  in 
the  ordinary  diets,  and  to  represent  the  wishes  and  interests 
of  their  constituents.  In  these  dietines  every  gentleman 
possessing  an  estate  of  three  acres  had  the  right  of  voting, 
and  every  deputy  was  chosen  by  the  majority  of  suffrages, 
(bee  Dunham's  History  of  Poland.) 

DIET  DRINK.  Alterative  decoctions  taken  in  consider- 
able quantities  ;  such  as  decoction  of  sarsaparilla,  sassafras, 
dandelion,  &c.  Lisbon  diet  drink  nearly  resembles  the 
compound  decoction  of  sarsaparilla  of  the  London  Pharma- 
copoeia. 

DIETE'TICS.  (Gr.  Siairaeiv,  to  nourish.)  That  part  of 
medical  science  which  relates  to  the  diet  or  ordinary  food. 
&ee  Digestion  and  Food. 

DIEU  ET  MON  DROIT.  (Fr.  God  and  my  right.)  The 
motto  of  the  royal  family  of  England.  It  was  first  assumed 
by  Richard  I.,  to  intimate  that  he  held  his  sovereignty  from 
God  alone,  and  not  in  vassalage  to  man ;  and  it  should 
seem  that  it  fell  into  desuetude  among  the  immediate  suc- 
cessors of  that  prince,  and  remained  so  till  the  reign  of 
Edward  III.,  by  whom  it  was  revived  when  he  first  claimed 
the  crown  of  France.  Since  that  period,  if  we  except  the 
reigns  of  Elizabeth,  William  III.,  and  Anne,  the  first  and 
last  of  whom  used  the  motto  "  Semper  eadem,"  and  the 
second,  though  only  in  his  private  capacity,  "  Jemaintien- 
dray,"'  Dieu  et  mon  droit  has  always  formed  the  royal  motto 
of  England. 

DIFFERENCE.  In  Logic,  one  of  the  predicables.  It 
is  that  particular  quality  which  distinguishes  the  subject 
from  all  others,  when  contemplated  from  that  point  of  view 
in  which  we  are  then  regarding  it ;  and  is  said,  logically, 
to  be  part  of  the  essence  of  the  subject.  The  genus,  to- 
gether with  the  difference,  is  said  logically  to  make  up  the 
species  ;  the  species,  with  the  difference,  to  make  up  the 
lower  species,  or  the  individual : — e.  g.  To  the  genus  metal 
adii  the  difference  l>  susceptible  of  magnetic  attraction," 
344 


DIFFERENTIAL  CALCULUS. 

and  we  obtain  the  species  iron,  which  is  distinguished  from 
all  other  metals  by  the  existence  of  that  peculiarity.  .See 
Logic. 

Difference,  in  Arithmetic  and  Algebra,  is  the  excess 
of  one  quantity  over  another,  or  that  which  remains  when 
one  quantity  is  taken  from  another  quantity  of  the  same 
kind.  In  the  higher  mathematics  the  theory  of  Finite  Dif- 
ferences forms  an  extensive  branch  of  analysis,  which  is 
usually  explained  in  treatises  on  the  Differential  and  Integ- 
ral Calculus.  (See  the  treatises  of  Euler,  Bossut,  Lacroix, 
&c.  ;  or  the  Appendix  by  Sir  J.  Herschel  to  the  English 
translation  of  Lacroix's  smaller  work.) 

DIFFERENCES.  In  Heraldry,  devices  borne  on  the 
escutcheon  to  indicate  the  part  of  a  family  to  which  the 
bearer  belongs.  This  has  been  effected  by  various  me- 
thods,— at  present  by  what  are  termed  brisures,  marks  of 
filiation,  or  of  cadency  ;  being  small  charges  placed  con- 
spicuously in  the  shield.  The  eldest  son  bears  a  label  of 
three  points ;  the  second,  a  crescent ;  the  third,  a  mullet ;  the 
fourth,  a  martlet ;  the  fifth,  an  annulet  or  small  ring;  the 
sixth,  a  fleur-de-lys ;  the  seventh,  a  rose  ;  the  eighth,  a 
cross  moline ;  the  ninth,  a  double  quatrefoil.  The  family 
of  the  second  son  repeat  these  differences  on  their  own 
paternal  mark  of  filiation  : — e.  g.  the  second  son's  first 
son  bears  a  crescent  ensigned  with  a  label,  and  so  on  of 
the  rest.    Females  do  not  bear  differences. 

DIFFERENTIAL  (diminutive  of  Difference),  in  the 
higher  Mathematics,  denotes  a  quantity  infinitely  small,  or 
less  than  any  assignable  magnitude.  See  Differential 
Calculus. 

DIFFERENTIAL  CALCULUS.  The  name  by  which 
one  of  the  most  important  branches  of  the  higher  mathe- 
matics is  usually  designated. 

In  confining  ourselves  to  a  very  general  view  of  the  sub- 
ject, it  may  be  said  that  the  object  of  the  differential  cal- 
culus is  to  find  the  ratios  of  the  differences  of  variable, 
magnitudes,  on  the  supposition  that  these  differences  be- 
come infinitely  small ;  an  hypothesis  which  gives  rise  to 
considerable  abbreviations  in  the  general  calculation  of 
differences.  But  it  is  here  necessary  to  attend  to  the  par- 
ticular signification  in  which  the  terms  infinite,  infinitely 
small,  are  used  in  the  language  of  the  calculus.  Every 
magnitude  which  forms  the  subject  of  mathematical  rea- 
soning is  susceptible  of  augmentation  or  of  diminution 
without  limit.  We  may  therefore  always  conceive  a 
quantity  to  become  so  great  as  to  exceed  any  finite  assign- 
able quantity  of  the  same  nature  as  itself;  or  so  small  as 
to  be  less  than  any  finite  assignable  quantity  also  of  the 
same  nature  as  itself:  in  the  former  case  the  quantity  ia 
said  to  be  infinite  ;  in  the  latter,  infinitely  small.  In  this 
sense  it  is  obviously  not  necessary  to  attribute  a  real  and 
physical  existence  to  an  infinitely  great  or  infinitely  small 
quantity  :  it  is  sufficient  to  imagine  that  if  We  attribute  to 
any  quantity  which  enters  into  a  question  a  value  as  great 
or  as  small  as  we  please,  there  always  exists,  beyond  thia 
limit,  a  quantity  of  the  same  kind  still  greater  or  still 
smaller,  and  which  in  this  sense  is  infinitely  great  or  infi- 
nitely small  in  comparison  of  any  other  finite  quantity  of 
the  same  kind.  So  that  a  finite  magnitude  may  be  regarded 
as  nothing,  or  zero,  in  comparison  of  one  infinitely  great ; 
and  an  infinitely  small  magnitude  as  nothing,  or  zero,  in 
comparison  of  a  finite  magnitude. 

The  infinitely  small  quantities  which  come  under  con- 
sideration in  the  differential  calculus  are  called  differen- 
tials. The  differential  of  a  magnitude  or  variable  function 
is  expressed  by  writing  the  letter  d  before  the  magnitude 
or  function:  thus  da:  signifies  the  differential  of  the  vari- 
able magnitude  x,  d  (x  y)  the  differential  of  the  product  of 
the  two  variables  x  and  y,  and  so  on.  Instead  of  using  the 
letter  d,  the  English  mathematicians  formerly  indicated  the 
fluxion  of  a  quautity  (which  is  equivalent  to  the  differential) 
by  placing  a  dot  over  it ;  thus  x  represented  the  fluxion  of 

x,  and  x  y  that  of  the  product  x  y ;  but  this  notation  wa3 
found  in  the  progress  of  the  calculus  to  be  inconvenient, 
and  has  been  disused  by  all  the  modern  writers.  The 
letter  d  was  introduced  by  Leibnitz,  and  it  has  been  adopted 
by  all  the  Continental  writers  since  the  origin  of  the  cal- 
culus as  the  symbol  of  differentiation. 

The  principles  upon  which  the  doctrine  of  infinitesimal 
quantities  can  be  best  established  have  been  the  subject 
of  much  dispute  among  mathematicians,  and  various 
methods  of  deducing  the  fundamental  theorems  have  been 
proposed,  of  which  the  principal  are — the  differential  me- 
thod of  Leibnitz,  the  Newtonian  method  of  fluxions,  New- 
ton's method  of  prime  and  ultimate  ratios  followed  in  the 
Priyicipia,  D'Alembert's  method  of  limits,  Lagrange's  me- 
thod of  derivation,  and  Landen's  residual  analysis.  The 
principles  and  general  procedure  of  Leibnitz's  method 
(which,  properly  speaking,  is  the  differential  calculus)  may 
be  explained  as  follows : — 

The  differential  of  a  variable  quantity  may  be  defined 
to  be  the  infinitely  small  difference  between  two  successive 
states  of  the  sanie  variable,  and  the  object  of  the  calculus 


DIFFERENTIAL  CALCULUS. 


is  to  find  this  differential  for  all  possible  cases ;  that  is  to 
say,  for  all  the  possible  functions  of  the  proposed  variables, 
such  as  x,  y,  z,  &c,  of  which  the  particular  differentials 
are  expressed  by  dx,  dy,dz,  &c.  Before  explaining  how 
this  is  done,  it  is  necessary  to  examine  into  the  distinction 
that  must  be  made  between  the  operation  by  which  an  or- 
dinary or  finite  difference  is  found,  and  that  to  which  we 
must  confine  ourselves  when  the  difference  is  infinitely 
small,  or  a  differential.  If  we  consider  the  proposed  sys- 
tem or  function  in  any  two  determinate  states  different 
from  each  other,  the  difference  of  the  two  values  of  the 
same  quantity  taken  in  the  two  states  will  be  determinate, 
and  consequently  cannot  be  supposed  as  small  as  we 
please,  so  that  no  part  of  its  expression  can  be  omitted  ; 
but  if  the  two  states  of  the  function  approach  indefinitely 
near  each  other,  the  difference  of  the  two  values  of  the 
same  variable  may  be  rendered  as  small  as  we  please.  It 
then  becomes  a  differential,  and  is  in  fact  nothing  more 
than  the  ordinary  difference  simplified  by  the  suppression 
of  the  quantities  which  in  its  expression  may  be  regarded 
as  infinitely  small  in  comparison  of  the  other  quantities  of 
which  it  is  composed.  Such  is  the  general  principle  of 
differentiation.  (Carnot,  Reflections  aUT  la  Metaphysique 
du  Calcul  Infinitesimal,  Paris,  1813.) 

From  this  general  principle  it  follows  evidently  that  in 
order  to  differentiate  a  quantity,  or  any  function  whatever 
of  a  quantity,  or  of  several  combined  quantities,  which 
function  we  shall  represent  by  <p  (x,  y,  z,  #.c. ),  it  is  only 
necessary  to  consider  it  in  its  second  state  ;  that  is  to  say, 
when  x,  y,  z,  <fcc.  having  become  respectively  x  +  dx, 
y  +  dy,z  -\-dz,&c,  the  function  itself  becomes  <p(x  +  dx, 
y  +  dy,  z  +  d  z,  &c.) ;  to  subtract  the  primitive  value  of 
the  function  from  its  value  thus  increased,  which  will  give 
for  the  finite  difference  of  the  proposed  function. 

<p  (x  +  dx,  y  +  dy,  z  +  dz,  &c.)  —  <p  (x,  y,  2,  &c); 

and,  lastly,  to  pass  from  this  difference  to  the  differential 
by  neglecting  those  quantities  which  in  the  development 
are  infinitely  small  in  comparison  of  those  to  which  they 
are  to  be  added,  or  from  which  they  are  to  be  taken  away. 
This  general  rule  will  be  belter  understood  by  showing  its 
application  to  some  particular  examples. 

1.  Let  it  be  proposed  to  differentiate  the  sum  a  +  b 
+  x  +  y,  composed  of  constant  and  variable  quantities. 
According  to  the  general  formula,  the  constants  a  and  b 
have  no  differential ;  and  those  of  x  and  y  are  dx  and  dy 
respectively  ;  therefore  the  differential  of  the  proposed 
sum,  that  is,  d  (a  +  b  +  x  +  y)  is  a  +  b  +  (x  +  dx)  + 
(y  +  dy) —  (a  +  b  +  x  +  y).  which  becomes  on  reduction 
dx  +  d  y.  Hence,  lh°  differential  of  any  sum  whatever  of 
coristanis  and  variables  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  differen- 
tials of  the  variables  alone. 

2.  Let  it  be  required  to  differentiate  x  —  y.  Here  we 
have  d(x —  y)  =  (i  +  dr)  —  (y  +  dy)  —  (x  —  y) ;  or  after 
reduction,  d(x  —  y)  =  d  x  —  d  y ;  whence  the  differential 
of  the  difference  of  any  two  variables  is  equal  to  the  differ- 
ence of  their  differentials. 

3.  Let  it  be  proposed  to  differentiate  the  product  x  y. 
By  the  formula  we  have  d  (x  y)  ■=  (  x  +  rf  x)  (y  +  d  y)  — 
xy=xdy  +  ydx  +  dxdy;  but  it  is  necessary  to  re- 
mark that  the  last  term  d  x  d  y  is  infinitely  small  in  com- 
parison of  each  of  the  two  others,  as  will  be  evident  on  di- 
viding it  by  either  of  them,  for  the  quotient  is  obviously  an 
infinitely  small  quantity.  The  third  term  must  therefore 
be  neglected  ;  whence  the  formula  becomes  d  (x  y)  = 
x  dy  +  y  d  z.  In  like  mannerd(xy  2)  =  x  y  d  z  +  z  z  dy 
+  y t  z  d  x;  and  so  on  for  the  differential  of  the  product  of 
any  number  of  variable  quantities. 

x 

4.  Let  it  be  proposed   to  differentiaie  the   fraction  — . 

By  the  general  formula  the  difference  will  be  — ~-^— ■ ; 

y  +  dy  y' 
which  being  reduced  to  a  common  denominator,  becomes 
ydx-~  xd  y  ,  ,  .  , 

- — 5 7 — — ;  and  on  leaving  out  the  quantity  ydy,  which 

y*  —  ydy  B  *  J  *     ■" 

is  infinitely  small  in  comparison  of  y3  with  which  it  is 
,  ,  ,  x      y  d  x  —  x  dy 

joined,  we  have  d  — =- — - — . 

V  Vs 

5.  Let  it  be  proposed  to  differentiate  the  function  xm . 
In  this  case  the  general  formula  gives  (x  +  dx)m  —  jm  . 
Expanding  (x  +  d  x)m  by  the  binomial  theorem,  we  get 
(xm  +m  im-l  d  x  +  J  (m —  l)im-2  d  X*  +  <fec.)  —  xm  , 
or  m  arm— 1  d  x  +  h  (m  —  1)  xm-2  d  x"  +  &c,  for  the  dif- 
ference. But  d  x2  being  infinitely  small  in  comparison  of 
dx,  the  term  into  which  it  enters  as  a  factor  (and  all  the 
succeeding  ones  which  are  multiplied  by  d  x3,  d  x4,  <tc.) 
must  be  rejected.  We  have  therefore  simply,  for  the  dif- 
ferential, dxm  =  m  arm— 1  d  x.  It  will  easily  be  under- 
stood that  m  may  be  any  quantity,  whole  or  fractional,  posi- 
tive or  negative. 

G.  Let  it  be  proposed  to  differentiate  the  expression  ax, 
in  which  a  is  a  constant  quantity,  and  1  a  variable  expo- 
nent.   According  to  the  general  principle  the  differential  is 
345 


ax+dx  —  ax,  or  a*  ■  adx  —  ax,  or  a*  (adx  —  I).  Assume 
a  =  \  +  b,  and  we  shall  have  ad*  =  (1  +  6)dx ;  whence  by 
the  binomial  theorem, 


dx- 


1  ■  ■,_,,Ca'J-l)(a,g-2) 
-  +  dxb* 2T3 


adx  =  1  +  dxb  +  dxb- 

+  &c. ;  and  as  the  quantity  d  x,  being  infinitely  small  in 
comparison  of  the  finite  numbers  1,  2,  3,  <fcc,  must  be  re- 
jected, the  equation,  on  transposing  the  first  term  of  the 
second  member,  becomes 

ad,-l  =  dx(6-'l,  +  ^_^+&c.) 

Substituting  this  value  of  adx  —  1  in  the  expression  ax  (adx 
—  1),  and  writing  a  —  1  instead  of  6,  we  have  for  the  dif- 
ferential of  the  proposed  function 

dax.  =  axdx  (  (a  — 1)  — J(a  — l)s  +  i(a  — l)s— &c.  ) 

Or,  making  the  constant  factor  (which  is  the  Napierean 
logarithm  of  the  number  a)  =  M, 

d  ax  =  M  ax  d  x. 

7.  Let  the  proposed  function  be  log.  y.  Make  x  =  log.  y  ; 
then  d  x  =  d  log.  y ;  and  by  the  general  definition  of  a  loga- 
rithm, we  have  always,  whatever  may  be  the  value  of  a, 
the  base  of  the  system,  y  =  ax.  Hence  d  y  =  d  ax  ;  and 
substituting  for  d  a*  its  value  M  ax  d  x,  given  in  the  last  pa- 
ragraph, we  have  d  y  =  M  ax  d  x.  Substituting,  therefore, 
y  for  ax,  and  d  log.  y  for  d  x,  we  find  ultimately 

dIog.y  =  ^ 

My 

8.  Let  it  be  proposed  to  differentiate  sin.  x,  x  being  an 
arc  of  a  circle  of  which  the  radius  is  1.  By  the  general 
principle  d  sin.  ar=sin.  (x  +  dx)  —  sin.  x;  whence,  by  the 
common  trigonometrical  formula,  d  sin.  x  =  sin.  x  cos.  dx 
+  cos.  x  sin.  dx  —  sin.  a:.  Now  if  we  recollect  that  dxis 
an  infinitely  small  arc,  it  will  be  obvious  that  its  cosine  dif- 
fers from  unity  only  by  an  infinitely  small  quantity,  which 
therefore  must  be  rejected.  The  formula  consequently 
becomes d  sin.  x=sin.  x-j-cos.  x  sin.  dx  —  sin.  x  =  cos.  x 
sin.  d  x.  Again,  d  x  being  infinitely  small,  it  differs  from  its 
sine  only  by  an  infinitely  small  quantity,  which  must  there- 
fore be  rejected.     Hence  sin.  d  x  =  d  x,  and  we  have 

dsin.  x  =  cos.  x  d  x. 

By  the  same  process  of  reasoning  we  find  d  cos.  x=— 

sin.  x  dx,  and  d  tan.  x  =  -.      It  is  unnecessary  to 

cos.  x3  ' 

give  more  examples:  the  method  of  applying  the  general 
principle  is  obvious. 

Hitherto  we  have  considered  the  system  of  variable 
quantities  in  two  successive  states  only  ;  but  it  may  be  con- 
sidered successively  in  two,  three,  four,  or  any  number  of 
consecutive  states,  all  differing  infinitely  little  from  each 
other.  This  consideration  gives  rise  to  successive  orders 
of  differentials,  derived  from  each  other  by  a  continued 
repetition  of  the  same  operation.  By  differentiating  a 
function  of  any  variable  quantities  we  obtain  a  derivative 
function,  in  which  the  corresponding  quantities  differ  infi- 
nitely little  from  their  values  in  the  original  function. 
Another  differentiation  gives  a  second  derivative  function, 
and  so  on  ;  so  that  we  obtain  as  many  successive  orders  of 
differentials  as  operations  are  performed.  But  it  is  to  be 
remarked,  that  the  infinitely  small  differences  between  the 
quantities  in  the  first  derivative  system  and  the  correspond- 
ing quantities  in  the  ordinal  function,  are  not  the  same  as 
the  infinitely  small  differences  between  the  quantities  in 
the  second  derivative  system  and  the  corresponding  quan- 
tities in  the  first ;  and  those  between  the  second  and  third 
systems  are  again  different  from  those  between  the  first 
and  second.  Hence  it  follows  that  these  differentials  are 
themselves  variable,  and  consequently,  like  all  other  vari- 
able quantities,  have  their  differentials.  If  therefore  we 
retain  the  symbol  das  the  characteristic  of  the  differential 
of  any  species  of  variable,  the  expression  ddx  will  denote 
the  quantity  by  which  dx  is  augmented  in  passing  from  the 
first  derivative  state  to  the  second,  exactly  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  dx  represents  the  increase  of  x  in  passing  from  the 
original  to  the  first  derivative  state.  In  like  manner  dddx 
will  express  the  augmentation  which  d  dx  receives  in  pass- 
ins  from  the  second  system  to  the  third,  and  so  on. 

The  quantities  d  x,  d  d  r,  d  d  d  x,  &c.  are  called  the  first, 
second,  third,  &c.  differentials  of  x.  In  the  same  manner, 
dy,  dd  y,d  d  dy,  &c.  are  the  first,  second,  third,  <fcc.  differ- 
entials of  y.  Instead  of  writing  d  d x,  ddd x.  <fec,  it  is 
usual  to  write  d2  x,  dz  x,  &c.  And  this  notation  is  not 
merely  preferred  on  account  of  the  abbreviation  ;  it  is  ab- 
solutely necessary  in  many  cases  for  the  sake  of  carrying 
on  the  investigation  when  many  successive  differentials  of 
the  same  variable  are  necessary  to  be  considered.  But 
these  symbols  must  be  carefully  distinguished  from  dx*, 
d  x3,  &c,  which  are  likewise  abbreviations,  but  which  at 
the  same  time  denote  real  powers  of  d  x,  signifying  re- 
spectively d  x  d  x,  d  x  d  x  d  x,  6cc.  ;  and  they  must  also  be 
distinguished  from  the  quantities  d(x)',  d  (,x)",  <fcc,  which 


DIFFERENTIAL  CALCULUS. 

are  the  differentials  of  the  powers  ar3,  x3,  &c.  of  x,  while 
dx*,  d  x3,  &c.  are  the  powers  of  the  ditferentials. 

From  these  considerations  it  follows  that  the  differen- 
tials of  all  orders  are  differentiated  in  the  same  manner  as 
any  other  variable,  and  consequently  no  particular  rules 
are  required  for  this  purpose.  For  example,  the  differen- 
tial of  x  y  is  x  d  y  +  y  d  x ;  and  on  differentiating  this  dif- 
ferential, we  find  d  x  d  y  -f-  x  d*  y  -J-  dy  d x  +  y  d-  x.  Dif- 
ferentiating a  third  time,  we  get,  on  adding  the  similar 
terms,  3  d  x  d"  y  +  3  d  y  d-  x  -j-  x  d3  y  +  y  d3  x,  and  so  on. 

In  the  application  of  the  calculus,  it  is  very  important  to 
observe,  that  when  different  variables  are  connected  by 
equations  we  are  always  at  liberty  to  assume  the  differen- 
tial of  one  of  the  variables  to  be  constant ;  and  this  con- 
stant differential  then  becomes  a  term  of  comparison,  and 
serves  to  regulate  all  the  others.  For  instance,  in  con- 
sidering a  curve  line,  we  may  suppose  the  successive  in- 
finitely small  increments  of  the  absciss  to  be  all  equal ;  in 
this  case  d  x  is  invariable,  and  consequently  d2  x  =  0. 
But  the  increments  of  the  ordinate,  which  correspond  to 
these  equal  increments  of  the  absciss,  are  not  equal,  and 
consequently  the  differentials  of  dy  (or  dr  y)  are  not  zero  ; 
and  the  law  according  to  which  dy  varies  in  passing  from 
one  point  to  another,  while  d  x  remains  constant,  is  pre- 
cisely that  which  will  make  known  the  nature  of  the  curve. 
In  other  words,  the  nature  of  the  curve  will  be  determined 
by  the  relations  between  the  successive  differentials  d  y, 
d2  y,  d3  y,  &c.  of  the  variable  y. 

Having  now  endeavoured  to  explain  the  general  princi- 
ples of  the  calculus,  we  shall  give  a  few  examples  of  its 
application  to  the  theory  of  curve  lines,  the  first  subject  to 
which  it  was  applied  by  its  inventors. 

Let  A  M  N  be  a  curve  line,  which  we  may  regard  as  a 
polygon  of  an  infinite  number  of  sides.  Let  one  of  these 
sides  M  N  be  produced  tilt  it 
meet  the  axis  A  B  in  T,  and 
draw  M  P  perpendicular  to  A 
B ;  then  M  T  is  the  tangent  and 
TPthe  subtangent.  Through 
N,  the  other  extremity  of  the 
side  M  N,  draw  N  Q.  parallel 
to  M  P,  and  draw  M  O  parallel 
to  A  B.     Now,  since  M  N  is 

supposed  to  be  infinitely  small,  M  P  and  N  Q  are  infinitely 
near  each  other;  consequently  MO  is  the  differential  of 
the  axis  A  P  =  x,  and  N  O  the  differential  of  the  ordinate 
M  P  =  y ;  whence  M  O  =  d  x.  and  NO  =  dy.  But  the 
two  triangles  M  N  O  and  MTP  are  similar,  therefore 
NO:OM::MP:PT;   that  is,  d  y  :  dx  ::y:PT; 

dx 
whence  P  T  =  y  —  ,  an  equation  giving  the  value  of  the 

subtangent,  and  consequently  the  position  of  the  tangent 
itself.    It  therefore  only  remains  to  determine  the  value  of 

d  x 
y  - —  from  the  equation  of  the  curve.    As  an  example,  let 

it  be  required  to  find  the  subtangent  of  the  common  para- 
bola, the  equation  of  which  is  yQ  =  ax,  a  being  the  semi- 
parameter  of  the  axis.    Differentiating  the  equation  of  the 

d  x       2  y 
curve,  we  get  2  y  d  y  =  a  d  x ;  whence  -=—  =  — - ,  and  the 
'        6        3     *  dy        a 

dx      2  v2 
subtangent  y  -r-  =  -*—  .      Substitute  in  this  expression 

dy        a 
a  x  for  y2,  and  we  have  the  subtangent  =  2  x,  a  well- 
known  property  of  the  parabola. 

The  position  of  the  normal  is  found  in  a  similar  manner. 
Draw  M  R  through  M  perpendicular  to  M  T  and  meeting 
A  P  in  R ;  then  M  R  is  the  normal,  and  P  R  the  subnormal. 
Because  T  M  R  is  a  right  angle ;  therefore  P  R  :  P  M  :  : 

dx 
PM:PT;  that  is,  P  R  :  y  :  :  y  :  y  -p,  consequently  the 

d 
subnormal  P  R  =  y~ .    Let  the  curve,  for  example,  be  an 

dx 
ellipse,  the  equation  of  which  is  b2  x2  -\-  a2  y3  =  a5  b2,  the 
co-ordinates  being  referred  to  the  centre.     The  differential 
of  this  equation  is  2  43  x  d  x  +  2(1*  y  dy  =  0,  whence  we 
dy  b" 


PQ,   R  B 


find  ^  = 
dx 


a-  y' 


and   consequently  the    subnormal 


dy_ 
"  d  x  ~ '       a2  x 

The  differential  calculus  applies  with  like  facility  to  the 
determination  of  the  radii  of  curvature  and  the  involutes 
of  curve  lines,  to  the  finding  of  maxima  and  minima,  in- 
vestigations respecting  series,  and  numerous  other  inqui- 
ries ;  in  all  of  which  it  affords  a  singular  facility  in  resolv- 
ing questions,  the  solutions  of  which  without  its  aid  could 
only  be  obtained  with  great  labour  and  difficulty. 

The  differential  calculus  was  invented  by  Leibnitz  ;  but 
reduced  to  a  systematic  form,  arid  greatly  extended,  by  the 
two  celebrated  brothers  James  and  John  Bernoulli.  Some 
years,  however,  before  Leibnitz  fell  on  the  discovery,  the 
method  of  fluxions,  with  which  the  differential  calculus 
agrees  in  every  respect  excepting  its  notation  and  the  man- 
346 


DIFFRACTION. 

ner  in  which  the  principles  are  usually  explained,  had  been 
invented  and  applied  by  Newton.  This  circumstance  gave 
rise  to  a  dispute,  which  was  long  carried  on  with  great 
acrimony,  between  the  mathematicians  of  England  on  the 
one  hand,  who  put  forward  the  claims  of  Newton  for  the 
honour  of  the  invention,  and  those  of  France  and  Germany 
on  the  other,  who  gave  the  merit  of  it  to  Leibnitz.  It  was 
established  beyond  doubt  that  Newton  was  in  possession 
of  his  method  before  it  had  been  thought  of  by  Leibnitz  ; 
the  only  question,  therefore,  was  whether  Leibnitz  received 
such  hints  or  information  respecting  the  nature  of  New- 
ton's method  as  were  sufficient  to  guide  him  to  its  disco- 
very. Of  this  there  is  no  evidence,  and  extremely  little 
probability  ;  accordingly  mathematicians  have  long  agreed 
in  recognizing  the  claim  of  Leibnitz  to  be  regarded  as  an 
independent  inventor.  The  notation  introduced  by  New- 
ton was  followed  generally  by  British  mathematicians  till 
some  years  after  the  beginning  of  the  present  century ; 
but  that  of  Leibnitz  and  the  Bernoullis  is  now  universally 
adopted. 

DIFFERENTIAL  COEFFICIENT,  in  Analysis,  is  the 
ratio  of  the  differential  of  any  function  of  a  variable  quan- 
tity to  the  differential  of  the  variable.  Let  x  and  y  denote 
two  quantities  related  to  each  other  by  the  equation  y  == 
a  x2  +  b  x  +  c,  then  y  is  a  function  of  the  variable  x ;  the 

d  y  dii 

differential  coefficient  is  —■;  and  we  have  ~--=2ax-\-b. 

dx  dx 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  differential  coefficient  is  not  to 
be  considered  as  an  algebraic  fraction,  but  merely  a  sym- 
bol, showing  (in  the  present  instance,)  that  the  function  y 
has  been  differentiated  with  respect  to  x,  and  of  which  the 
two  parts  d  y  and  d  x  have  no  independent  meaning. 

DIFFERENTIAL  THERMOMETER.  An  ingenious 
instrument,  of  great  use  in  experimental  philosophy,  for 
measuring  very  small  differences  of  temperature  ;  invent- 
ed and  first  applied  by  Sir  John  Leslie,  though  the  idea  of 
an  instrument  of  the  same  kind  seems  to  have  long  before 
suggested  itself  to  Sturmius.  The  differential  thermometer 
is  described  by  Leslie,  in  his  Experimental  Inquiry  into 
the  Nature  and  Proclamation  of  Heat,  nearly  as  follows : — 
Two  glass  tubes  of  unequal  lengths,  each  terminating  in  a 
hollow  ball,  and  having  their  bores  somewhat  widened  at 
the  other  ends,  a  small  portion  of  sulphuric  acid  tinged 
with  carmine  being  introduced  into  the  ball  of  the  longer 
tube,  are  joined  together  by  the  flame  of  a  blow-pipe,  and 
afterwards  bent  into  nearly  the  shape  of  the  letter  U ; 
the  one  flexure  being  made  just  below  the  joining,  where 
the  small  cavity  facilitates  the  adjustment  of  the  instru- 
ment, which,  by  a  little  dexterity,  is  performed  by  forcing 
with  the  heat  of  the  hand  a  few  minute  globules  of  air  from 
the  one  ball  into  the  other.  The  balls  are  blown  as  equal 
as  the  eye  can  judge,  and  from  four  tenths  to  seven  tenths 
of  an  inch  in  diameter.  To  one  of 
the  legs  of  the  thermometer  a  scale 
is  attached ;  and  the  liquid  contained 
in  the  tube  is  so  disposed  that  it 
stands  in  the  graduated  leg  opposite 
the  zero  of  the  scale,  when  both  balls 
are  exposed  to  the  same  tempera- 
ture. From  this  construction  of  the 
instrument,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  it  is 
affected  by  the  difference  only  of 
heat  in  the  two  balls.  As  long  as  both 
balls  are  of  the  same  temperature, 
whatever  this  may  be,  the  air  con- 
tained in  the  one  will  have  the  same 
elasticity  as  that  contained  in  the 
other;  and  consequently  the  inter- 
cluded  coloured  liquid,  being  thus 
pressed  equally  in  opposite  direc- 
tions remain  stationary.  But  if,  for  instance,  the  ball  which 
holds  a  portion  of  the  liquor  be  warmer  than  the  other,  the 
superior  elasticity  of  the  confined  air  will  drive  it  forwards, 
and  make  it  rise  in  the  opposite  branch  above  the  zero,  to 
an  elevation  proportional  to  the  excess  of  elasticity  or  of 
heat.  Sulphuric  acid  is  chosen  as  the  liquor  best  adapted 
to  the  purpose ;  because  it  is  not  vaporizable,  and  conse- 
quently does  not  by  its  vapour  affect  the  pressure  of  the 
air  above  if.  The  carmine  is  used  to  render  it  more  easily 
visible. 

DIFFRA'GTION.  In  Optics,  a  species  of  deviation  or 
inflexion  which  the  rays  of  light  undergo  in  passing  very 
near  the  extremities  of  any  opaque  body.  This  phenome- 
non was  first  observed  by  Grimaldi,  who  described  the 
principal  appearances  with  sufficient  accuracy  ;  but  it  was 
Newton  who  first  attempted  to  explain  its  cause  by  the 
general  properties  of  light.  His  experiments  are  detailed 
in  the  last  book  of  his  Optics.  In  order  to  exhibit  the  phe- 
nomena of  refraction,  let  a  beam  of  solar  light,  reflected 
horizontally,  be  admitted  into  a  dark  chamber  through  a 
small  round  hole,  and  received  on  the  white  horizontal 
wall.  If  the  hole  has  a  sensible  diameter,  the  image  of  the 
sun  thrown  on  the  wall  will  suffer  no  sensible  alteration 
of  colour ;  but  if  we  place  in  the  axis  of  the  beam  of  light, 


DIFFUSION  OF  GASES. 

and  at  a  distance  of  5  or  6  feet  from  the  hole  through 
Which  it  is  admitted,  a  metallic  plate,  having  a  puncture 
made  in  it  by  the  point  of  a  very  fine  needle,  and  intercept- 
ing all  other  light  than  that  which  passes  through  the  punc- 
ture, the  appearance  on  the  wall  will  no  longer  be  a  cir- 
cular spot  of  white  light  only ;  it  will  be  surrounded  with 
several  concentric  coloured  rings,  covering  a  space  far  ex- 
ceeding in  extent  that  which  the  solar  beam  would  have 
occupied  if  the  rays  of  which  it  was  composed  had  followed 
their  rectilinear  direction.  It  is  obvious  therefore,  both 
from  the  colours  and  the  space  occupied  by  the  light,  that 
the  different  rays  have  been  reflected  or  bent  in  different 
degrees,  and  in  a  manner  quite  analogous  to  what  takes 
place  when  light  passes  through  a  glass  prism.  By  sub- 
stituting a  very  narrow  slit  for  the  puncture  in  the  me- 
tallic plate,  or  several  punctures  or  slits  very  close  to  each 
other,  and  arranged  in  a  certain  manner,  some  of  the  most 
beautiful  phenomena  of  optics  are  exhibited.  The  pheno- 
mena of  diffraction  have  been  much  studied  of  late  years, 
as  affording  a  test  by  which  to  try  the  truth  of  the  rival  theo- 
ries of  light.  At  present  the  result  is  in  favour  of  the  theo- 
ry of  undulation,  inasmuch  as  it  has  afforded  a  satisfactory 
explanation  of  all  the  phenomena  without  exception.  See 
Light. 

DIFFUSION  OF  GASES.  When  two  gaseous  bodies 
which  do  not  act  chemically  upon  each  other  are  mixed 
together  in  any  relative  proportions  they  gradually  diffuse 
themselves  through  each  other  ;  so  that  after  a  sufficient 
time  has  elapsed  for  the  purpose,  whatever  may  have  been 
their  relative  densities,  they  are  found  intimately  blended : 
the  heavier  gas  does  not  fall,  nor  does  the  lighter  one  float. 
Daltori,  therefore,  has  appropriately  represented  gaseous 
bodies  as  acting  as  vacua  to  each  other.  Professor  Gra- 
ham's researches  have  lately  thrown  much  new  light  upon 
this  subject,  and  he  has  determined  the  laws  of  gaseous 
diffusion  by  a  series  of  well  conceived  experimental  inqui- 
ry. (See  Graham's  Elements  of  Chemistry,  vol.  i.  p.  71 ; 
and  Quarterly  Journal  of  Science,  N.  S.,  vol.  v.) 

DIGA'MMA.  (Gr.  Sis,  double,  and  yappa  (T),  so  called 
from  its  representing  two  gammas,  one  set  above  another, 
thus,  F. )  The  name  given  to  the  form  of  that  letter  in  the 
ancient  Greek  alphabet  which  corresponds  in  appearance 
generally  to  the  Latin  F. 

A  mere  outline  of  the  controversies  that  have  prevailed 
among  the  learned  respecting  the  form  and  power  of  the 
digamma,  the  mode  of  its  pronunciation,  and  the  purposes 
which  it  served  in  the  early  language  of  Greece,  would  oc- 
cupy more  space  than  our  prescribed  limits  admit  of;  and 
we  must  content  ourselves  with  referring  the  reader  to  the 
article  "  Digamma"  in  the  Encyc.  Metrop.,  and  Ersch  and 
Gruber's  AUgem.  Encyc,  in  which  the  discussions  on  this 
subject  display  great  learning  and  research.  This  letter 
appears  to  have  occupied  the  sixth  place  in  the  alphabet, 
and  was  most  prevalent  in  the  JEoMc dialect;  though  some 
grammarians  contend  that  it  was  common  to  all  the  dia- 
lects of  Greece  in  their  more  ancient  mode  of  pronunci- 
ation. It  has  often  been  expressed  by  IS,  and  sometimes 
by  r,  A,  0,  <l>,  and  X;  and  it  is  now  almost  universally 
considered  to  have  had  the  force  of  F,  V,  or  the  English 
W.  As  the  Latin  language  approximated  more  nearly  to 
the  jEolic  than  to  any  of  the  other  Grecian  dialects,  the  use 
of  the  digamma  is  very  prevalent  in  many  Latin  words, 
and  the  facility  with  which  it  was  there  interchanged  for 
V,  both  at  the  commencement  and  in  the  middle  of  words, 
will  be  at  once  apparent  from  the  followmg  examples: — 
Gr.  tap,  spring,  JEol.  Feap,  Lat.  ver ;  Gr.  iairtpos,  evening, 
JEo\.  Yuxttcpos,  LaL.vesperus ;  Gr.  otvos,  wine,  JEo\.  Fomog, 
Lat.  vinum  ;  Gr.  ioov,  an  egg,  JEo\.  wFov,  Lat.  ovum,  &c. 
(See  Kidd's  edition  of  Dawe's  Miscellanea  Critica,  pp. 
175 — 335;  and  Bultman?i's  Greek  Grammar. ) 

DIGA'STRIC  MUSCLE.  (Gr.  Sis,  and  yaurr\p,  belly.) 
A  double  muscle,  situated  externally  between  the  lower 
jaw  and  mastoid  process ;  it  is  attached  to  the  os  hyoides 
in  the  human  subject  at  the  middle  of  its  course.  It  pulls 
the  lower  jaw  downwards  and  backwards  ;  and  when  the 
jaws  are  shut  it  draws  the  larynx,  and  with  it  the  pharynx, 
upwards  in  the  act  of  swallowing. 

DI'GEST.  Several  compilations  of  the  Roman  Law 
have  been  so  called  ;  but  the  best  known  is  that  which  was 
made  by  order  of  the  emperor  Justinian.  It  is  also  termed 
the  Pandects,  from  the  Greek  words  irav,  all,  and  Scx^ai, 
to  receive ;  signifying  the  general  nature  of  the  collection. 
The  care  of  this  great  compilation  was  entrusted  by  the 
emperor  to  Tribonian,  with  seventeen  associates.  It  was 
completed  in  three  years,  and  published  a.  d.  533.  It  con- 
tains the  best  decisions  and  opinions  of  former  jurists,  col- 
lected, it  is  said,  from  more  than  two  thousand  volumes; 
and  follows  the  same  arrangement  as  the  code  of  the  same 
emperor,  which  had  appeared  in  529.  The  Pandects  of 
Justinian,  according  to  the  commonly  received  story,  were 
neglected  in  the  Eastern  Empire  shortly  after  the  decease 
of  that  emperor,  and  were  wholly  lost  in  the  West  until  the 
accidental  discovery  of  a  MS.  at  A.malfi  in  1130.  But  this 
tradition  is  now  generally  believed  to  rest  on  no  solid  foun- 
347 


DIGRESSION. 

dation.    See  Law,  Civil.    (See  also  Gibbon,  cap.  44. ; 
Savigny  on  the  Roman  Law.) 

DIGE'STER.  A  strong  iron  or  copper  vessel  with  a 
tightly  adjusted  lid,  furnished  with  a  safety  valve,  in  which 
bodies  may  be  subjected  to  the  action  of  high-pressure 
steam. 

DIGE'STION.  The  general  process  by  which  food  is 
converted  into  chyme  in  the  stomachs  of  animals,  and  by 
which  it  is  rendered  fit  for  the  production  of  chyle,  and 
ultimately  of  blood.  The  term  digestion  is  also  more  gene- 
rally applied  to  the  entire  functions  of  the  intestinal  canal. 
The  phenomena  of  digestion,  though  exclusively  chemical, 
are  also  under  the  immediate  influence  of  vitality,  and  are 
consequently  perfectly  different  from  any  changes  which 
the  food  suffers  out  of  the  body  ;  hence  the  unsatisfactory 
conclusions  of  the  older  physiologists,  who  considered  at- 
trition, fermentation,  and  similar  mechanical  and  chemical 
processes  as  sufficient  to  account  for  the  extraordinary 
changes  that  are  produced.  It  has  been  clearly  ascertained 
that  the  influence  of  the  nervous  system  is  essential  to  the 
due  performance  of  the  functions  of  the  stomach ;  and 
that  when  the  brain,  or  the  nerves  that  supply  that  viscus, 
are  either  injured  or  divided,  digestion  is  either  impaired 
or  altogether  suspended,  and  the  food  then  ferments  and 
putrefies  instead  of  digesting.  It  has  been  said  that  the 
transmission  of  a  current  of  electricity  through  the  nerves 
is  equivalent  to  their  connection  with  the  brain,  and  that 
under  such  circumstances  the  stomach,  notwithstanding 
the  division  of  its  nerves,  continues  its  functions ;  but 
these,  and  other  statements  in  which  electricity  is  said  to 
be  equivalent  to  the  nervous  and  cerebral  agency,  require 
much  more  extended  experimental  proofs  than  they  have 
hitherto  received,  before  they  can  be  admitted  as  true  in- 
terpretations. 

Digestion.  In  Surgery,  this  term  was  formerly  applied 
to  the  treatment  by  which  wounds  or  ulcers  were  brought 
into  that  state  in  which  they  form  healthy  pus  :  the  reme- 
dies or  applications  promoting  this  object  were  termed 
digrstives. 

DI'GGING.  The  operation  of  moving  earth  with  a  spade. 
In  gardens  where  the  soil  is  loose  the  main  object  of  dig- 
ging is  to  mix  the  soil  by  burying  the  surface,  and  bringing 
what  is  below  to  the  top,  and  in  that  case  a  spade  with  a 
large  blade  may  be  used  ,  but  in  digging  firm  ground  spades 
can  only  be  used  which  have  narrow  blades,  as  these  may 
be  more  easily  made  to  penetrate  the  ground. 

DI'GIT(Lat.  digitus,  finger),  in  Arithmetic,  signifies  one 
of  the  ten  symbols,  0,  1,  2,  3,  <fcc,  by  which  all  numbers  are 
expressed.  By  astronomers  the  term  is  used  in  speaking 
of  eclipses,  to  denote  the  twelfth  part  of  the  diameter  of 
the  sun  or  moon.  Thu3,  the  eclipse  is  said  to  be  of  ten 
digits,  if  ten  parts  out  of  twelve  of  the  diameter  are  con- 
cealed. It  is  convenient  to  employ  this  mode  of  defining 
the  magnitude  of  an  eclipse. 

DIGITA'LIA.  A  vegetable  alcaloid,  procured  from  the 
leaves  of  the  digitalis.     See  Foxglove. 

DI'GITIRRADES,  Digitigrada.  (Lat.  digitus,  a  digit  ; 
gradior,  I  walk.)  The  carnivorous  quadrupeds,  which  walk 
on  the  extremities  of  their  digits.  An  artificial  group  of 
Carnivora  is  so  called  in  the  system  of  Cuvier. 

DI'GLYPH.  (Gr.  Sis,  twice,  and  y\v<poj,  J  carve.)  In 
Architecture,  a  projecting  face  with  two  panels  sunk 
thereon. 

DI'GNITARY,  in  the  Canon  Law,  signified  originally  a 
person  who  held  an  ecclesiastical  benefice  ordignity,  which 
gave  him  some  pre-eminence  above  mere  priests  and 
canons.  To  this  class  exclusively  belonged  all  bishops, 
deans,  archdeacons,  &c. ;  but  it  now  includes  all  the  pre- 
bendaries and  canons  of  the  church. 

DIGRESSION  (Lat.  digredi,  to  diverge),  signifies  any 
details  introduced  into  a  work,  which  are  either  altogether 
foreign  from  the  immediate  subjects  of  which  it  treats,  or 
not  absolutely  necessary  to  the  progress  or  development 
of  the  story.  It  will  at  once  be  perceived  from  this  defi- 
nition that,  as  a  general  rule,  digressions  are  to  be  carefully 
avoided,  from  their  tendency  to  withdraw  the  attention  of 
the  reader  from  the  chief  points  of  the  story  or  the  question 
under  discussion.  There  are,  however,  some  departments 
of  literature  in  which  the  use  of  digressions  is  not  only  ad- 
missible, but  even  advantageous.  On  this  subject,  how- 
ever, no  definite  rules  can  be  laid  down  for  the  guidance 
of  the  author;  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  if  intro- 
duced properly  and  without  effort,  managed  with  good 
taste,  and  confined  within  reasonable  limits,  digressions 
have  the  effect  of  relieving  the  mind  from  the  fatigue  of  a 
too  long  sustained  attention,  and  of  imparting  life  and  in- 
terest to  a  subject  that  may  be  naturally  dry  and  uninte- 
resting. The  Essays  of  Montaigne  exhibit  more  clearly 
than  any  similar  productions  with  which  we  are  acquainted, 
the  admirable  uses  to  which  digressions  may  be  turned  in 
the  hands  of  a  master.  Many  of  the  writings  of  Slerne,  but 
more  especially  his  Tristram  Shandy  (which  contains  an 
eulogium  upon  digressions),  supply  the  happiest  examples 
of  their  effects;  and  in  our  times  The  Doctor,  Sfc,  of  which 


DILAPIDATION. 

five  volumes  have  already  been  published,  owes  its  prin- 
cipal attractions  to  the  digressions  with  which  the  story  is 
Interlarded.     See  Episode. 

Digression,  in  Astronomy,  denotes  the  apparent  dis- 
tance of  the  inferior  planets  Mercury  and  Venus  from  the 
sun.  Mercury  is  never  seen  at  a  greater  distance  than  about 
28°  from  the  sun  ;  this  is  called  its  greatest  digression :  but 
on  account  of  the  great  eccentricity  of  the  planet's  orbit, 
the  limit  is  subject  to  considerable  variation.  The  greatest 
digression  of  Venus  is  about  47i°,  and  it  admits  of  a  varia- 
tion only  amounting  to  about  20°  48'  between  its  extreme 
values.  When  the  digression  of  an  inferior  planet  attains 
its  maximum,  the  visual  ray  along  which  it  is  seen  is  a  tan- 
gent to  the  orbil,  and  the  planet  appears  for  some  days 
nearly  stationary.  The  term  elongation  is  also  used  to  de- 
note a  planet's  apparent  distance  from  the  sun  ;  but  elon- 
gation is  applied  indifferently  to  any  planet,  whereas  di- 
gression is  usually  confined  to  the  two  inferior  ones. 

DILAPIDATION,  chiefly  in  Ecclesiastical  Law,  is  where 
an  incumbent  of  a  benefice  suffers  the  parsonage  house  or 
outhouses  to  fall  down  or  be  in  decay  for  want  of  neces- 
sary repairs,  or  commits  any  wilful  waste  of  the  inheritance 
of  the  church.  Proceedings  against  an  incumbent  for  di- 
lapidations must  be  in  the  spiritual  court.  Against  his 
executors,  the  remedy  is  either  by  proceeding  in  that  court, 
or  the  successor  may  have  an  action  of  debt  or  on  the  case 
for  damages  at  common  law. 

DILATA'TION.     See  Expansion. 

DILE'MMA.  (Gr.  Sis,  tioice,  and  Mppa,  an  assump- 
tion; a  ticofold  assumption  )  In  Logic,  a  species  of  argu- 
ment in  the  form  of  a  complex  conditional  syllogism.  (See 
Syllogism.)  It  has  been  divided  by  logical  writers  into — 
J.  The  simple  constructive  dilemma,  in  which  the  major 
premiss  contains  several  antecedents  all  with  the  same 
consequent;  the  minor  premiss  grants  that  some  one  of 
these  antecedents  is  true;  and  the  conclusion  infers  that 
the  common  consequent  is  true  :  e.  g.  If  A  is  B.  C  is  D; 
and  if  X  is  Y,  C  is  D  ;  but  either  A  is  B  or  X  is  Y,  there- 
fore C  is  D.  2.  The  complex  constructive  dilemma,  in 
which  the  several  antecedents  have  each  a  distinct  con- 
sequent; and  it  being  granted  that  one  antecedeni  is  true, 
it  follows  that  one  consequent  is  true  :  e  g.  If  A  is  B, 
C  is  D  ;  and  if  X  is  Y,  E  is  F ;  but.  eilher  A  is  B  or  X  is 
Y,  therefore  either  C  is  D  or  E  is  F.  3.  The  destructive 
dilemma,  properly  so  called,  has  several  antecedents 
with  each  a  different  consequent;  and  by  denying  the 
consequents  disjunctively  (i.e.  denying  that  one  or  the 
other  consequent  is  true)  in  the  minor  premiss,  we  pro- 
ceed in  the  conclusion  to  deny  the  truth  of  one  or  the  other 
antecedent :  e.  g.  If  A  is  B.  C  is  D  ;  and  if  X  is  Y,  E  is  F  ; 
but  either  C  is  not  D  or  E  is  not  F,  therefore  eilher  A  is 
not  B  or  X  is  not  Y.  Every  dilemma  may  be  reduced  inlo 
two  or  more  simple  conditional  syllogisms. 

In  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  word,  a  dilemma  is  an  ar- 
gument in  which  two  or  more  propositions  are  pressed 
upon  the  mind  in  such  a  manner  that  by  granting  which 
we  will,  we  are  compelled  to  infer  the  same  conclusion. 
One  of  the  most  celebrated  dilemmas  is  that  of  the  philo- 
sopher Protogoras  in  reference  to  his  pupil  Euathlus  ;  for 
an  account  of  which  we  beg  to  refer  the  reader  to  the 
Athenian  Letters,  vol.  i.  p.  149. 

Dl'LETTA'NTE.  (II.)  A  term  wholly  naturalized  in 
France,  England,  and  Germany;  signifying  an  amateur, 
chiefly  of  music,  but  also  of  the  kindred  sciences.  There 
has  existed  in  England,  since  the  year  1760,  a  society  called 
the  Dilettanti  Society,  which  was  originally  instituted  by 
gentlemen  who  had  travelled  in  Italy,  simply  for  social 
purposes,  and  for  perpetuating  in  each  other's  company 
the  pleasure  they  had  derived  from  their  residence  in  that 
classic  country  :  but  its  objects  soon  become  materially 
extended  ;  ami  it  has  acquired  universal  celebrity  by  the 
liberality  with  which  it  has  devoted  its  funds  to  the  pur- 
poses of  science  and  art.  The  society  still  exists,  and 
meetings  of  it  are  occasionally  held.  Some  of  the  most 
famous  travellers  in  Greece  and  Asia  Minor,  among  whom 
we  may  mention  Chandler,  have  been  sent  out  at  the  sole 
expense  of  the  Dilettanti  Society;  and  many  works  illus- 
trative of  the  art  and  science  of  Ihe  classic  regions  of  an- 
tiquity, which  would  otherwise  in  all  probability  never 
have  seen  the  light,  have  under  their  auspices  been  given 
to  Ihe  world. 

DILIGENCE.  In  Scottish  Law,  a  general  term,  com- 
prehending the  process  of  law  by  which  persons,  lands,  or 
effects  are  seized  in  execution  or  in  security  for  debt. 
It  is  divided  into  that  against  the  heritage,  that  anainst  the 
moveables,  and  that  against  the  person  of  the  debtor;  of 
each  of  which  there  are  several  species.  (See  Inhibi- 
tion, Adjudication,  Poinding,  Sequestration,  Horn- 
ing )  Diligence  is  also  the  name  of  the  warrants  insued 
by  courts  for  enforcing  the  attendance  of  witnesses,  or  the 
production  of  writings. 

DILLEMA'CEjE  (Dillenia,  one  of  the  genera)  In 
Botany,  a  natural  order  of  chiefly  arborescent  Exogens, 
inhabiting  thp  hotter  parts  of  the  world.  Allied  to  Magno- 
348 


DIOPHANTINE  ANALYSIS. 

liacete ;  from  which  they  are  distinguished  by  their  want 
of  stipules,  and  the  quinary  arrangement  of  the  parts  of 
fructification.  They  differ  from  Ranunculacea,  to  which 
they  are  also  akin,  in  their  persistent  calyx  and  hahit,  and 
are  universally  characterized  by  the  presence  of  an  aril. 
Their  properties  are  generally  astringent. 

DILL  SEED.  The  seed  of  the  Anethum  graveolens,  or 
common  dill.  This  plant  is  grown  for  the  supply  of  the 
medical  market  with  seeds :  they  are  warm  aromatics,  with 
something  of  the  caraway  flavour,  and  yield  dill  water  and 
an  essential  oil  when  distilled  with  water.  Dill  water  is  a 
useful  remedy  in  flatulency  and  gripes  of  children. 

DI'LUENTS.  (Lat.  diluo,  /  wash  away.)  Water  and 
aqueous  drinks,  which  increase  the  secretion  of  urine  and 
the  perspiration,  and  appear  to  dilute  the  fluids  of  the  body, 
are  medically  spoken  of  as  diluents. 

DILU'VHJM.  (Lat.)  The  accumulations  of  gravel,  &c. 
supposed  to  have  been  the  consequence  of  the  deluge. 

DI'MERANS,  Dimera.  (Gr.  Sis,  two,  /tripos,  thigh.)  The 
name  of  a  section  of  Celeopterans,  comprehending  those 
which  have  apparently  only  two  joints  in  each  tarsus ;  this 
structure,  however,  does  not  in  point  of  fact  exist,  there 
being  always  a  third  ruriimental  tarsal  joint. 

DIMINISHED  IN'TERVAL.  In  Music,  one  that  is  de- 
fective or  short  of  its  just  quantity  by  a  lesser  semitone. 

DIMINUE'NDO.  (It.)  In  Music,  an  instruction  to  the 
performer  to  lessen  the  volume  of  sound  from  loud  to  soft, 
usually  marked  thus  >. 

DLMINU'TION.  (Lat.  diminutio.)  In  Music,  a  division 
of  a  large  note  into  smaller  ones  ;  as  a  semibreve  into  two 
minims,  four  crotchets.  &c. 

Diminu'tion.  In  Architecture,  the  gradual  decrease  of 
the  diameter  of  a  column  as  it  rises.     See  Entasis. 

DIMI'NUTIVE  (Lat.),  in  Grammar,  is  applied  to  words 
which,  by  the  addition  of  one  or  more  syllables  to  those 
from  which  they  are  derived,  soften  the  meaning  or  dimi- 
nish the  force  and  effect  thereof.  Every  language  is  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree  susceptible  of  diminutives;  but  in 
this  respect,  as  is  well  known,  the  Italian  language  sur- 
passes all  those  both  of  ancient  and  modern  times. 

Dl'MITY.  A  cotton  cloth  of  a  thick  texture,  and  gene- 
rally striped  or  otherwise  ornamented  in  the  loom  ;  it  is 
chiefly  used  for  articles  of  female  dress,  and  for  bed  furni- 
ture or  window  curtains,  and  is  very  rarely  dyed. 

DIMYA'RIAS,  Dimyarias.  (Gr.  Sis,  twice,  jxvwv,  a  mus- 
cle.) All  those  bivalves  or  conchifers  are  so  called  which 
have  two  distinct  and  separate  adductor  muscles,  and  con- 
sequently two  corresponding  muscular  impressions  on  each 
valve. 

DI'OCESE.  (Gr.  Sioiktigis,  a  government.)  The  terri- 
torial extent  of  a  bishop's  jurisdiction,  embracing  several 
parcecia?  or  parishes.  As  in  early  times  the  Christian  con- 
verts were  most  numerous  or  most  easily  collected  into 
a  congregation  in  large  towns,  so  in  these  towns  did  the 
bishop  reside  and  minister  to  the  faithful  in  his  church,  as- 
sisted by  his  priestsand  deacons.  When  the  uumberof  be- 
lievers required  the  accommodation  of  additional  temples, 
or  congregations  were  formed  in  the  neighbouring  villages, 
the  bishop  was  wont  to  appoint  priests  for  their  service, 
and  ihe  districts  inhabited  by  these  subsidiary  congregations 
would  become  Ihe  parishes  of  his  diocese. 

DI'ODON.  (Gr.  Sis.  and  oSovs,  a  tooth;  two.toolhed.) 
The  name  of  a  genus  of  Plectognathic  fishes  with  undivided 
jaws,  each  with  a  single  and  continuous  denial  plate. 

DIONY'SIA.  (Gr.  ra  Atovvota.)  In  Ancient  History, 
the  festivals  of  Dionysus  or  Bacchus,  but  more  particularly 
those  that  were  celebrated  in  Aitica,  Which  were  three  in 
number,  distinguished  by  the  following  titles:  — I.  The 
Country  Dionysia  (ra  xar'  aypovs).  2.  Those  in  Limnae 
(a  part  of  the  city  of  Athens,  where  they  were  held),  which 
were  also  called  Lensan  (ru  Xavaia,  from  ^rjvos,  a  wine- 
press), or  Anihesteria  (&v6taTr,nia,  from  Anlhesterion,  the 
name  of  the  Attic  month  corresponding  to  our  January,  in 
which  they  were  celebrated)  ;  and  3.  The  Great  Dionysia 
(to  iilya\a)-  At  all  of  these  festivals  the  chief  amuse- 
ments consisted  in  the  representalion  of  stage  plays  ;  but 
the  last  was  most  celebrated,  as  then,  before  the  face  of  all 
Greece,  the  great  tragic  contests  were  held,  no  expense 
being  spared  to  render  the  decorations  and  accompani- 
ments as  splendid  as  art  could  make  them:  for  on  Ihese 
exhibitions  a  great  portion  of  the  revenues  drawn  from 
Ihe  tributary  states  was  expended,  besides  ihe  private  pro- 
perly of  the  persons  appointed  to  superintend  them,  they 
being  not  only  under  the  protection  of  the  state,  but  a  prin- 
cipal object  of  its  care.  (See  Bmckh's  Public  Economy  of 
Athens.) 

DIOPHA'NTINE  ANA'LYSIS.  A  branch  of  algebra, 
which  treats  of  certain  classes  of  indeteriniuafe  questions 
relating  to  squarp  and  cuhe  numbers,  rectangular  triangles, 
&c.  The  name  is  derived  from  Diophanius,  a  mathema- 
tician of  Alexandria,  who  is  supposed  lo  have  lived  in  the 
third  century  of  our  era,  and  who  examined  and  resolved 
a  great  number  of  queslions  of  ihis  nature  in  his  celebrated 
treatise  on  arithmetic.    Of  this  work,  which  exhibits  the 


DIOPSIS. 

state  of  algebra  anion?  the  Greeks,  there  are  two  editions : 
one  by  Bachet  at  Paris,  in  1621 ;  the  other  at  Toulouse,  in 
1670,  which  is  enriched  by  some  valuable  notes  of  Fermat. 
The  following  example  will  serve  lo  illustrate  the  nature  of 
the  Diophantine  problems  ;  the  object  of  which,  in  general, 
is  to  find  commensurable  numbers  that  satisfy  conditions 
which  may  be  satisfied  by  an  infinity  of  indeterminate 
numbers.  Suppose  it  were  required  to  find  three  numbers, 
such  that  the  sum  of  ihe  squares  of  the  two  first  is  equal  to 
the  square  of  the  third;  that  is,  to  find  x,  y,  and  z,  such 
that  x-  +  yi  =  c3.  The  solution  may  be  as  follows  : — Let 
z  zzz  x  +  u,  then  j!=i!-(-2iii  +  «2,  and  x*  -j-  y"  =  #- 

ya  —  u'! 


+  2«  -|-  u-,  or  y'2  =  2  x  u  +  u",  whence  x  = 


2a 


Now  we  may  choose  for  y  and  ;t  any  numbers  we  please, 
so  that  y-  —  u-  is  divisible  by  2  u  (which  will  be  the  case 
if  wo  make  tt  =  1,  and  y  any  odd  number  whatever).  Tor 
example,  if  we  suppose  y  =  3,  and  »  =  1,  we  have  ar  =  4, 
and  z  =  .r+  w  =  5  ;  so  that  the  three  numbers  are  3,  4,  and 
o.  Since  x-  +</5  =  z2,  it  is  obvious  that  x  and  y  may  re- 
present the  two  sides  of  a  right  angled  triangle,  of  which 
z  is  the  hypoihenuse.  The  student  of  the  indeterminate 
-ii  ilysis  will  find  this  subject  very  fully  and  perspicuously 
ireated  in  the  second  volume  of  Eider's  Algebra. 

DIO'PSIS.  (Gr.  ma,  through,  and  ojt//,  an  eye.)  The 
name  of  a  genus  of  Dipterous  insects,  remarkable  for 
having  the  eyes  and  antenna?  situated  at  the  extremity  of 
slender  horny  peduncles  rising  from  the  sides  of  the  head, 
and  equalling,  in  some  species,  the  entire  length  of  the  body. 

DIO'PTRICS.  (Gr.  dioxrpov.  something  transparent; 
from  6ia, through,  andonro/tai,  I  see.)  A  branch  of  Optics, 
of  which  the  object  is  to  investigate  and  explain  the  effects 
of  the  refraction  of  light  when  it  passes  through  different 
media,  as  air,  water,  glass,  &c.  Its  principal  application  is 
to  the  construction  of  telescopes  and  microscopes,  and 
<>tlnT  instruments  which  require  the  use  of  refracting 
lenses.  The  term  is  not  much  used  by  modern  writers  on 
optics,  the  phenomena  to  which  it  refers  being  under  the 
general  head  of  Refraction.  See  Lens,  Light,  Optics. 
Refraction. 

DIORA'MA.  (Gr.  Sta,  through,  and  opaoi,  Isee.)  A  mode 
of  painting  or  scenic  representation,  invented  by  two 
French  artists,  Daguerre  and  Bouton,  and  recently  brought 
forward  as  a  public  exhibition  in  all  the  principal  cities  of 
Europe. 

The  peculiar  and  very  high  degree  of  optical  illusion  pro- 
duced by  the  diorama  depends  upon  two  principles;  the 
mode  of  exhibiting  the  painting,  and  the  manner  of  pre- 
paring it.  With  respect  to  the  first  of  these,  the  spectator 
and  the  picture  are  placed  in  separate  rooms,  and  the 
picture  viewed  through  an  aperture,  the  sides  of  which  are 
continued  towards  the  picture,  so  as  to  prevent  any  object 
in  the  picture  room  from  being  seen  excepting  the  painting 
itself.  Into  the  room  in  which  the  spectator  is  placed  no 
light  is  admitted  excepting  what  comes  through  this  aper- 
ture from  the  picture ;  he  is  thus  placed  in  comparative 
darkness,  and  also  (which  contributes  to  the  effect)  at  a 
considerable  distance  from  the  picture.  The  picture  room 
is  illuminated  from  the  roof,  which  is  glazed  with  ground 
glass;  and  the  picture  so  placed  that  the  light  falls  on  it  at 
a  proper  angle  to  be  reflected  towards  the  aperture.  The 
roof,  which  is  invisible  to  the  spectator,  is  provided  with  an 
apparatus  of  folds  or  shutters,  by  which  the  intensity  of 
the  illumination  may  be  increased  or  diminished  at  plea- 
sure, and  so  modified  as  to  represent,  with  great  effect  and 
accuracy,  the  different  accidents  of  light  and  shade,  or  the 
changes  of  appearance  depending  on  the  state  of  the  at- 
mosphere ;  as  bright  sunshine,  cloudy  weather,  or  the  ob- 
scurity of  twilight. 

The  second  principle  consists  in  painting  certain  parts  of 
the  picture  in  transparency,  and  admitting  a  stream  of  light 
upon  it  from  behind,  which,  passing  through  the  picture, 
produces  a  brilliancy  far  surpassing  what  could  be  obtained 
by  illuminating  the  picture  in  the  ordinary  way,  and  renders 
the  relief  of  the  objects  represented  much  stronger  and 
more  deceptive.  Hence,  the  diorama  is  peculiarly  adapted 
for  representing  architectural  objects,  as  the  interiors  of 
cathedrals,  &c. 

In  order  to  render  the  exhibition  more  attractive,  it  is 
usual  to  present  more  scenes  than  one.  This  may  of 
course  be  effected  by  removing  one  picture  ;i  id  substitu- 
ting another:  but.  with  a  view  to  prevent  the  i  '>ision  from 
being  impaired  by  the  accidents  incidental  to  scene-shill- 
ing, a  differen'  method  is  sometimes  resorted  to.  In  the 
dioramain  the  Agent's  Park,  the  room  in  which  the  spec- 
tator is  seated  iSa  rotunda  about 40  feet  in  diameter,  which 
turns  round  a  vertical  axis^iy  means  of  machinery  placed 
under  the  floor.  There  are  two  picture  room-  contiguous 
to  each  other,  each  containing  a  view  ;  an  1  when  the 
scene  is  to  be  changed,  the  rotunda  is  turned  round  until 
the  aperture  in  front  of  the  spectators,  wl«ch  was  first  op- 
posite to  the  opening  into  one  of  the  picture  rooms,  is  placed 
directly  opposite  the  opening  into  the  other.  This  con- 
349 


DIPLOMACY. 

trivance,  however,  it  will  be  observed,  is  independent  of 
the  principles  peculiar  to  the  diorama. 

DIOSCOREA'CEJE.  (Dioscorea,  one  of  the  genera.) 
A  natural  order  of  Endogens,  inhabiting  the  tropics,  and 
agreeing  with  Simlacea  by  the  genus  Tamus,  in  having  an 
inferior  fruit  ;  but  differing  from  it  by  the  threefold  char- 
acter of  inferior  ovary,  capsular  fruit,  and  the  albumen 
having  a  large  cavity.  The  mealy  tubers  of  Dioscorea,  un- 
der the  name  of  yams,  form  an  important  food  in  al!  tropi- 
cal countries. 

DIP,  in  Magnetism,  is  the  angle  which  a  magnetic  needle 
makes  with  the  plane  of  the  horizon,  when  poised  on  its 
centre  of  gravity  and  at  liberty  lo  turn  in  the  vertical  plane. 
See  Dipping  Needle. 

Dip.  In  Geology,  when  strata  are  inclined,  the  angle 
which  they  make  with  the  horizon  is  called  the  angle  of 
dip  or  inclination,  and  the  point  of  the  compass  towards 
winch  they  slope  is  called  the  dip  of  the  strata. 

DIP  OF  THE  SEA  HORIZON.  The  apparent  angular 
depression  of  the  visible  horizon,  caused  by  the  height  of 
the  spectator  above  the  surface.  To  find  it,  multiply  the 
square  root  of  the  height  in  feet  by  1063  ;  the  result  is  the 
dip  in  minutes(of  a  degree)  and  decimals. 

The  actual  dip  observed  is  generally  less  than  the  true  or 
abstract  dip  by  ,^  on  the  average  ;  but  this  Is  again  affect, 
ed  by  the  temperature  of  the  sea  ;  when  the  sea  is  warmer 
than  the  air  the  horizon  appears  lower  than  its  place  by 
theory,  and  the  contrary  when  the  sea  is  the  colder. 

DI'PHTIIONG.  (Gr.  Sis,  double  ;  and  ipdcyyopai,  1 
sound.)  has  usually  been  defined  to  be  a  double  vowel,  or 
the  union  of  two  vowels  pronounced  together,  so  as  only 
to  make  one  syllable.  If,  however,  this  definition  be  more 
narrowly  examined,  it  will  be  found  to  be  deficient  in  two 
of  the  most  essential  qualities  of  a  good  definition — preci- 
sion and  accuracy.  If,  says  Mr.  Walker,  a  diphthong  be 
two  vowel  sounds  in  succession,  they  must  necessarily 
form  two  syllables,  and  therefore  by  the  very  definition 
cannot  be  a  diphthong  :  if  it  be  such  a  mixture  of  two  vow- 
els as  to  form  but  one  simple  sound,  it  is  improperly  called 
a  diphthong  j  nor  can  any  such  simple  mixture  exist.  Per- 
haps the  best  definition  of  a  diphthong,  although  even  that 
is  tar  from  embracing  all  the  peculiarities  of  "tins  class  of 
letters,  is  to  be  found  in  Smith's  Scheme  for  a  French  arid 
English  JJirtionan/,  to  which  we  beg  lo  refer  the  reader. 
DTPHYANS,  Diphyes.  (Gr.  Sis,  two,  and  <pvn,  an  off- 
spring.) A  family  of  Acelaphans,  comprehending  those  sin- 
gular species  in  which  two  distinct  individuals  are  always 
conjoined,  one  being  lodged  in  the  concavity  of  another. 
DI'PLOE.  (Gr.  Sm\ow,  /  double.)  The  horny  or 
spon»y  substance  between  the  tables  of  the  skull. 

DIPLO'MA.  (Gr.  6iK\wjia,  from  SnrXos,  double.)  Every 
sort  of  ancient  charter,  donation,  bull,  &c.  is  comprehend- 
ed by  writers  on  diplomatics  under  the  name  diploma. 
The  term  is  derived  from  the  earliest  charters  of  donation 
with  which  we  are  acquainted,  those  of  the  early  Roman 
emperors  having  been  inscribed  on  two  tablets  of  copper 
joined  together  so  as  to  fold  in  the  form  of  a  book.  Writ- 
ings of  earlier  date  than  the  fifth  century  are  generally  on 
leaves  of  the  papyrus,  or  Biblos  sEgyptiaca  ;  those  of  a 
later  period,  on  parchment.  The  form  and  character  of 
the  diploma  srranted  by  the  sovereigns,  prelates,  nobles,  &c. 
of  modern  Europe,  varied  from  age  to  age  ;  and  the  know- 
ledge of  these  variations  forms  an  important  branch  of  the 
science  of  diplomatics. 

DIPLO'MACY,  in  its  most  restricted  sense,  is  used  to 
express  the  art  of  conducting  negotiations  or  arranging 
treaties  between  nations  by  means  of  their  foreign  minis- 
ters, or  written  correspondence  ;  but,  in  its  most  extended 
signification,  it  embraces  the  whole  science  of  negociation 
with  foreign  states  as  founded  on  public  law,  positive  en- 
gagements, or  an  enlightened  view  of  the  interests  of  each. 
But,  upon  this  subject,  we  cannot  do  belter  than  embody  in 
our  pages  some  remarks  from  the  Introduction  to  Marten's 
Manuel  Diplomatique,  in  which  a  distinct  view  is  exhibit- 
ed of  the  importance  and  main  objects  of  diplomacy. 

Diplomacy,  says  that  able  statesman,  must  be  placed  in 
the  foremost  rank  of  the  useful  sciences.  The  fate  of  na- 
tions, in  the  present  state  of  the  world,  depends  greatly  on 
their  relations  with  others  ;  and  these  again  are  materially 
influenced  and  determined  by  the  nature  of  their  foreign 
policy,  that  is,  by  the  success  with  which  they  have  cultiva- 
ted and  applied  the  principles  of  this  science.  Diplomacy 
embraces — 

1.  The  law  of  nations,  by  which  the  relations  of  one 
state  with  another  are  determined  both  in  peace  and  war. 

2.  The  political  principles  of  individual  states,  as  de- 
duced from  a  regard  to  their  peculiar  interests  ;  and  a 
knowledge  of  the  way  in  which  these  interests  may  be  re- 
conciled with,  and  made  subservient  to,  the  law  of  nations. 

3.  An  acquaintance  with  the  privileges  and  duties  of  di- 
plomatic agents. 

4.  The  conduct  of  negotiations,  or  the  course  to  be  pur- 
sued in  treating  of  the  interests  of  different  states. 

31 


DIPLOMATICS. 

5.  The  moral  and  physical  statistics  of  each  power. 

6.  The  political  and  military  history  of  the  states  having 
diplomatic  relations ;  and  the  projects,  tendency,  and  policy 
of  their  respective  governments. 

7.  The  various  systems  of  government,  supremacy,  con- 
cession, retention,  equilibrium,  centralization,  confederacy, 
&c,  that  may  be  brought  into  operation. 

8.  The  art  of  composing  diplomatic  despatches. 

To  this  multifarious  information  the  diplomatist  should 
unite  the  powers  of  calculation  and  application  peculiar  to 
strong  minds, — the  '•  tact  des  convenances,"  which  may  be 
felt,  but  cannot  be  expressed, — circumspection,  address, 
and  perfect  integrity.  The  combination  of  these  various 
qualities  will  procure  for  the  diplomatist  such  a  character 
lor  sagacity,  rectitude,  and  straightforwardness,  and  will 
sooner  or  later  obtain  for  him  an  ascendency  over  the 
minds  of  others,  and  give  great  weight  to  his  opinions. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  diplomacy  of  every  na- 
tion is  more  or  less  within  the  range  of  casualties  ;  being 
subject  to  the  versatility  inseparable  from  human  affairs, 
the  fickleness  and  passions  of  man,  and  the  uncertainty  of 
events; — an  unlooked-for  death,  a  change  of  ministry, 
treacherous  designs,  undue  influence  from  any  quarler,  a 
false  calculation,  corruption, — each  of  these  causes  may 
change  the  policy  or  course  of  agovernment;  and  this  will 
more  or  less  affect  every  other  government,  in  proportion 
to  the  extent  of  its  influence.  In  addition  to  these  numer- 
ous causes  of  variation,  if  ambitious  projects  be  entertained 
by  any  great  power,  diplomacy  becomes  still  more  intri- 
cate and  difficult.  Every  state  desires  to  be  protected 
against  the  storm  which  its  rulers  imagine  they  can  prog- 
nosticate, and  of  whose  bursting  they  are  apprehensive. 
Again,  we  must  remark  that  the  schemes  of  a  government, 
how  admirably  soever  contrived,  have  often  miscarried, 
either  from  subordinate  persons  or  those  intrusted  with 
putting  them  in  execution  having  misapplied  or  misunder- 
stood the  instructions  of  their  superiors. 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  will  be  easily  understood 
that,  in  diplomacy,  false  estimates  are  frequently  formed 
of  the  merits  of  original  plans  or  designs  from  looking  at 
their  results  only.  The  diplomatist  is  of  course  exempted 
from  all  responsibility  in  regard  to  operations  mixed  up 
with  the  events  of  war;— he  is  answerable  only  for  the  suc- 
cess of  his  projects  under  the  conditions  on  which  he  pro- 
posed Ihem. 

A  diplomatist  of  moderate  capacity,  if  favoured  by  cir- 
cumstances, may  accomplish  much  more  than  the  man 
of  genius  who  has  to  contend  with  adverse  fortune  ;  but 
this  difference  of  success  makes  no  change  in  their  relative 
ability,  and  those  acquainted  with  the  circumstances  readily 
discriminate  between  sagacity  and  accident. 

Diplomacy  has  been  practised  in  substance  ever  since 
mankind  have  been  formed  into  independent  states,  though 
it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  the  precise  period  at  which  the 
term  came  into  use.  The  system,  however,  of  the  regu- 
lar and  uninterrupted  residence  of  foreign  ministers  during 
peace  at  the  European  courts,  as  at  present  practised,  is 
said  to  have  originated  with  the  Cardinal  de  Richelieu. 
Before  that  time  embassies  had  been  only  sent  on  special 
occasions,  but  attended  with  much  greater  show  and  reti- 
nue than  has  been  the  fashion  in  modern  times ;  while  the 
substantial  business  of  states  at  the  neighbouring  courts 
was  transacted  by  agents  of  a  lower  stamp  and  character. 
Diplomatic  agents  are  now  ranked,  in  Europe,  in  the  fol- 
lowing order,  according  to  the  regulations  of  the  Congress 
of  Vienna: — 1.  Ambassadors;  2.  Envoys  extraordinary 
and  ministers  plenipotentiary;  3.  Ministers  resident;  4. 
Charges  d'affaires  ;  5.  Secretaries  of  legation  and  attaches : 
the  latter,  however,  have  no  precise  diplomatic  character, 
and  are  only  considered  by  courtesy  as  attached  to  the 
legation. 

Among  the  best  works  on  this  important  subject  are  the 
Traile  complet  de  Diplomalie,  ou  Theorie  generate  des  Re- 
lations exleriturrs  des  /'uissances  de  I' Europe,  par  M.  le 
Comte  de  Garden  (Paris,  1°33),  3  vols.  Svo.  ;  and  De  Wic- 
queforVs  Ambassadeur  et  sis  Fonctions  (Ed.  Opt.),  1746,  12 
vols.  4to.  See  also  the  Manuel  Diplomatique,  by  Von  Mar- 
ten (Paris,  1825) ;  Flassan's  Hist.  Gen  et  Raisonn.  de  la 
Diplom.  Francaise,  7  vols.  (Paris,  1811);  and  Von  Marten's 
(senior)  Grundriss  finer  Diplom.  Geschichte  der  Europ. 
Staatshandel.  #c.  (Hamburg,  Svo). 

DIPLOMATICS.  The  science  of  deciphering  ancient 
writings,  assigning  their  date,  &c.  The  name  is  derived 
from  diploma,  which  see.  Writings  of  earlier  date  than 
the  fifth  century  were  mostly  on  the  leaves  of  the  papyrus, 
or  Biblos  jEgyptiaca.  Parchment  appears  to  have  been 
first  generally  used  in  that  century  ;  and  the  oldest  docu- 
ments bearing  the  character  of  diplomas  which  we  pos- 
sess do  not  extend  to  a  higher  antiquity.  Not  long  after 
the  general  adoption  of  parchment,  a  variety  of  substances 
and  colours  began  to  be  used  in  writing,  as  vermillion,  pur- 
ple, gold  and  silver ;  but  this  sumptuous  fashion  did  not 
long  remain  in  use.  The  science  of  diplomatics  teaches 
the  different  styles  and  forms  adopted  in  ancient  public 
350 


DIPPING  NEEDLE. 

documents;  the  lilies,  rank,  &c,  of  public  officers  whose 
names  are  subscribed  to  them  ;  the  knowledge  of  the  ma- 
terials used  in  writing  in  different  ages,  of  the  different 
characters  used  in  successive  periods  and  in  various  coun- 
tries ;  and  the  several  kinds  of  diplomas  or  public  instru- 
ments. 

This  science  is  said  to  owe  its  origin  to  a  Jesuit  of  An- 
twerp, named  Papelroch,  who  devoted  himself  arduously 
to  the  research  and  exposition  of  old  diplomas  about  the 
year  1675;  but  the  honourof  having  reduced  it  to  a  science, 
and  established  it  on  a  sure  and  more  satisfactory  founda- 
tion, is  due  to  Mabillon,  whose  learned  work,  Dere  Diplo- 
matica,  was  given  to  the  world  in  1GSI.  The  principles 
laid  down  by  Mabillon,  however,  were  more  fully  developed 
about  the  middle  of  last  century,  in  one  of  the  most  elabo- 
rate works  of  which  ihe  literature  of  any  nation  can  hoa.st, 
the  Nouveau  Traile  de  Diplomatique, ;  and  which  has  left 
little  to  be  done  by  subsequent  labourers  in  this  field  be- 
yond the  duty  of  translation,  compilation,  or  abridgment 
From  the  above  statement  of  the  objects  of  this  science,  it 
will  be  at  once  perceived  that  it  is  of  immense  utility.  It 
has  greatly  facilitated  the  researches  of  the  historian,  the 
politician,  the  divine,  the  political  economist;  and  has  con- 
tributed to  the  elucidation  of  points  in  the  history  of  na- 
tions which  might  otherwise  have  been  for  ever  buried  in 
obscurity.  We  subjoin  a  list  of  the  most  important  works 
on  this  interesting  science,  arranged  according  to  the  date 
of  their  publication  ;  from  which  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
French  and  Germans  have  prosecuted  this  science  with  an 
enemy  and  enthusiasm  to  which,  considering  its  vast  im- 
portance, our  national  literature  presents  a  most  humiliat- 
ing contrast.  Besides  the  work  of  Papelroch  above  re- 
ferred to,  entitled  the  Prop:/!aum,  there  are,  Mabillon,  De 
re  Diplomalica,  6  vols.  fol.  (Paris,  1681),  to  which  a  supple- 
mentary vol.  was  added  in  1704  ;  Historia  Diplomalica,  by 
Maffei,  41o.  (Mantua,  1727:  this  work  may  be  regarded  as 
merely  a  supplement  to  Mabillon) ;  Chron.  Walt  her  i  Lexi- 
con Diplom.  3  vols.  fol.  (Gotting.  1745-7) ;  Heumann  von 
Teulschenbrunn,  Commenta.  de  re  Diplom.  Regum,  #c, 
4to.  (Nuremberg,  1745) ;  Nouveau  Ti  aiti  de  Diplomatique, 
by  ihe  Benedictine  monks  Toussaint  and  Tassin,  6  vols. 
4to.  (Paris,  1750-65) ;  De  Vainc's  Diction.  Raisonnee  de 
Diplomatique,  2  vols.  Svo.  (Paris,  1774 :  this  work  is  intended 
chiefly  to  aid  beginners  in  the  science) ;  Gatterer,  Abriss 
der  Diplomalik,  Svo.  (Gotting.  1798);  Schcenemann's  Pro- 
lusio  de  jinibus  Arlis.  Diplom.  Pract.  Regundis ;  and  his 
Versuch  eines  Vollstiind.  Systems  der  Allgem.  besonders  iil- 
lern  Diplomatik.  Svo.  (Gotting.  1802). 

DIPLONEU'RANS,  Diploneura.  (Gr.  oittXo;,  double, 
and  vevpov,  nerve.)  A  name  applied  by  Rudolphi  to  that 
division  of  the  animal  kingdom  comprehending  the  species 
which  have  two  nervous  systems,  viz.  the  ganglionic  or 
sympathetic,  and  the  cerebro-spinal ;  the  series  so  desig- 
nated corresponds  with  the  Vertebrata  of  Cuvier. 

DIPLO'PIA.  (Gr.  dnr\os,  double,  and  OKTOjiai,  I  see.) 
Double  vision.  This  affection  occasionally  is  symptomatic 
of  nervous  irritability,  worms,  indigeslion,  hysteria,  &c. 

DIPLO'PTERA.  (Gr.  6nr\os,  double,  and  jrrcpov,  a 
wing  ;  doubled  wing.)  The  name  of  a  division  of  Aculeate 
Hymenopterous  insects,  comprising  those  species  of  was]) 
which  have  the  upper  wings  folded  or  doubled  up  longitu- 
dinally when  at  rest. 

DIPLO'ZOON.  (Gr.  JittAos,  double,  ^wov,  an  animal ; 
double  animal.)  The  name  of  a  very  "singular  parasitic 
worm,  which  infests  the  gills  of  the  bream,  and  which  ap- 
pears to  be  formed  of  two  distinct  bodies  united  in  the 
middle,  so  as  to  present  the  appearance  of  a  St.  Andrew's 
cross,  each  half  of  the  animal  containing  precisely  the 
same  organs  :  viz.  the  alimentary  canal,  a  sanguiferous  and 
a  generative  system. 

DIPNEUMO'NEANS,  Dipneumonem.  (Gr.  Sis,  twice, 
and  TTVLvp<j)v,a  lung;  two-lungcd.)  A  term  applied  to  a 
section  of  spiders  (Araneidai),  including  those  which  have 
only  two  pulmonary  sacs. 

Dl'PPEL'S  OIL.  An  empyreumatic  oil,  produced  dur- 
ing the  destructive  distillation  of  bone. 

DI'PPER-  A  name  commonly  given  to  the  water-ouzel 
and  other  species  of  the  genus  Cinclus. 

DI'PPING  NE'EDLE.  An  instrument  for  showing  the 
direction  of  the  magnetic  force  of  the  earth.  It  is  a  mag- 
netic needle,  furnished  with  an  axis  at  right  angles  to  its 
length,  and  passing  as  exactly  as  possible  through  its  cen- 
tre of  gravity,  about  which  it  moves  in  a  vertical  plane. 
When  a  needle  thus  mounted  is  placed  any  where  not  on 
the  magnetic  equator,  it  dips,  or  points  downwards ;  and  if 
the  vertical  plane  in  which  it  moves  coincides  with  the 
magnetic  meridian  (which  is  always  known  by  means  of  a 
variation  compass),  the  position  which  it  assumes  shows  at 
once  the  direction  of  the  magnetic  force;  and  the  intersec- 
tion of  two  or  more  directions,  found  by  making  the  expe- 
riment at  different  places,  indicates  the  place  of  the  mag- 
netic pole.  Though  the  principles  on  which  the  dipping 
needle  acts  are  abundantly  simple,  its  practical  construc- 
tion is  found  to  be  exceedingly  difficult.    It  must  be  ac- 


DIPSACEjE 

curately  balanced  on  its  axis ;  the  axis  must  be  placed  ex- 
actly horizontal ;  the  friction  must  be  diminished  to  the 
utmost  extent  possible  ;  and  the  adjustments  can  only  be 
made  when  the  needle  is  perfectly  free  from  magnetism, 
and  also  secure.!  from  the  effects  of  the  magnetic  influence 
of  the  earth.  It  must  be  subsequently  magnetized,  and 
during  this  process  much  care  is  required  to  guard  against 
derangement.  The  simple  construction  is  represented  in 
the  annexed  figure.  The  needle  D  d  consists  ol  a  flat 
oblong  piece  of  steel,  tapering  to  a  point  at  both  ends, 
and  having  a  slender  cylindrical  axis  passed  through  its 
centre  of  graviiy.  The  axis  moves 
freely  in  circular  holes  made  in  the 
lateral  horizontal  bars  HA,  which  sup- 
port a  vertical  circle  C  C,  graduated 
for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  inclina- 
tion of  the  needle  to  the  horizon.  The 
stand  S  T,  to  which  the  circle  is  fixed, 
is  provided  with  levels,  and  adjusted 
to  horizontality  by  means  of  screws. 
But  in  the  most  improved  form  of 
construction  of  the  dipping  needle,  the 
axis,  instead  of  heing  a  cylinder,  is  a  knife  edge,  resting 
perpendicularly,  like  the  supports  of  a  pendulum,  on  two 
agate  planes.  A  needle  thus  supported,  however,  must 
necessarily  make  small  oscillations;  consequently  it  must 
be  so  adjusted  that  when  it  points  in  the  direction  of  the 
magnetic  force,  the  knife  edges  maybe  perpendicular  to 
the  agate  planes.  The  mean  value  of  the  angle  of  the  dip 
must  therefore  be  known  previously  to  its  construction  ;  but 
it  is  the  best  adapted,  on  account  of  its  delicacy,  for  ascer- 
taining the  minute  variations  of  the  dip  at  the  same  place. 
The  angle  of  the  dip,  like  that  of  the  variation,  changes  its 
value  even  at  the  same  place,  following  of  course  the  mo- 
tion of  the  magnetic  poles,  which,  from  the  observations 
made  by  Scoresby,  Parry,  Ross,  and  others,  in  high  lati- 
tudes, appear  to  have  a  motion  westward,  the  annual 
amount  of  which  is  about  11'  4".  In  the  summer  of  1831, 
Commander  Ross,  in  an  excursion  from  the  vessel  in  which 
Ids  party  were  so  long  detained  in  the  polar  seas,  reached 
a  spot  on  the  continent  of  North  America,  which  had  been 
calculated  to  be  the  position  of  the  magnetic  pole.  There 
he  found  the  dip  of  the  needle  to  be  80°  53',  within  one 
minute  of  the  vertical ;  and  compass-needles  suspended  in 
the  most  delicate  manner  possible  exhibited  no  polarity 
whatever.  The  latitude  of  this  spot  is  70°  5'  17"  north, 
itnd  its  longitude  93°  46'  45"  west.  (For  a  description  of 
some  other  forms  of  the  dipping  needle,  see  Brewster's 
Treatise  on  Magnetism.) 

DIPSA'CEiE.  (Dipsacus,  one  of  the  genera.)  In  Bo- 
lany,  a  natural  order  of  herbaceous  Exogens,  chiefly  in- 
habiting the  south  of  Europe  and  a  few  other  countries. 
Nearly  allied  to  Composite;  but  differing  in  their  stamens 
being  distinct,  and  their  ovule  pendulous.  They  are  dis- 
tinguished from  CcdyceracecB  in  the  latter  bavins  connate 
anthers  and  alternate  leaves;  and  from  ValerianacecB  by 
their  capitate  flowers,  and  the  presence  of  albumen.  Their 
properties  are  unimportant.  Dipsacus  fu'lonum  is  em- 
ployed mechanically,  for  the  sake  of  its  hard  stiff  bracts,  in 
the  oro-i'sj  of  dressing  woollen  cloths. 

DI'PSAS.  (Or.  a  viper.)  This  term  has  been  applied 
by  Laurenti  to  a  genus  of  Colubrine  serpents;  and  by 
Dr.  Leech  to  a  genus  of  fresh-water  Bivalves,  intermediate 
to  Unio  and  Anodonta. 

DIPTERA'CE/E.  A  natural  order  of  arborescent  Exo- 
gens, onlv  found  in  India  ami  the  Indian  Archipelago,  very 
near  to  Ehzocarpeit, ;  but  distinguished  by  the  petals  not 
being  fringed,  and  in  the  want  of  albumen.  They  are  also 
allied  to  Malvaceee  in  the  contorted  sstivation  of  the  corolla 
and  the  crumpled  cotyledons;  but  differ  in  the  stamens  be- 
ing either  distinct  or  partially  combined,  their  long,  narrow, 
2-celled  anthers,  and  pendulous  ovules.  Blume  truces  an 
affinity  with  Guttiferth  in  their  resinous  juice, compound  su- 
perior ovary,  drupaceous  fruit,  numerous  long  anthers,  irre- 
gular coloured  calyx,  and  single  exalbuminous  seed;  but 
from  this  order  the  stipules  and  the  aestivation  of  the  co- 
rolla abundantly  distinguish  them.  The  order  is  chiefly 
marked  by  the  enlarged  foliaceous  unequal  segments  of 
the  calyx  investing  the  fruit.  To  it  belongs  the  camphor 
tree  (DryoboJanops  camphora),  which  also  yields  the  cam- 
phor oil  of  Borneo  and  Sumatra,  and  a  timber  called  sal, 
the  best  and  most  extensively  used  in  India;  while  other 
species  vield  pilch. 

DI'PTERAL.  CV.r.  SnrTcpos,double-u-inged.)  In  Archi- 
tecture, a  temple  which  had  a  double  range  of  columns  on 
each  of  its  flanks. 

DI'PTERANS.  Diptera.  (Or.  Siwrcpos.)  An  order  of 
insects  having  for  their  main  and  most  conspicuous  cha- 
racter two  wings  only  corresponding  to  the  anterior  pair, 
and  two  short  clubbed  appendages,  called  haXleres  or  ba- 
lancers, and  which  seem  to  be  the  rudiments  of  the  poste- 
rior pair  in  four -winged  insects.  The  Dipterans  are  also 
distinguished  by  having  the  mouth  in  the  form  of  a  sucker, 
composed  of  from  two  to  six  lancet-shaped  elongated  scales, 
351 


DISCHARGE. 

inclosing  a  canal  upon  the  upper  surface  of  a  fleshy  tongue 
or  proboscis.  The  larva?  or  maggots  of  the  Dipterous  in- 
sects have  frequently  a  membranous  head;  and  always 
have  the  stigmata,  or  breathing  pores,  confined  to  the  se- 
cond and  terminal  segments  of  the  body.  In  some  species, 
as  the  blowfly,  the  eggs  are  hatched  within  the  body  of  the 
parent;  in  others,  as  the  forest-fly  (Ilippobnsca),  the  larva 
undergoes  its  metamorphosis  in  the  parent's  body,  and  the 
young  are  excluded  in  the  form  ot'pupai. 

DIPTERY'GIANS,  Diplerygia.  (Gr.  Sis,  twice,  and 
7tt  £puf  a  fin ;  two  finned.)  A  family  of  fishes  compre- 
hending l  hose  which  have  but  two  fins. 

DIP'TVCII.  (Gr.  Si-nrvxov,  two-fold .)  Among  the  Ro- 
mans, a  tablet  of  wood,  metal,  or  other  bubstauce,  used  for 
the  purpose  of  writing,  and  folded  like  a  book  of  two  leaves: 
when  the  book  consisted  of  several  leaves,  it  was  termed 
ttoXvxtvxoi',  or  manifold.  The  diplychs  of  antiquity 
were  employed  especially  for  public  registers.  The  sacred 
diptycha  of 'the  Greek  church  were  double  catalogues,  con- 
taining on  one  side  names  of  the  living,  on  the  other  those 
of  the  dead,  which  were  rehearsed  during  the  office. 

DI'PUS.  (Gr.  Sis,  and  ttovs,  afoot.)  The  general  name 
for  the  Jerboas  or  Rodent  animals,  in  which  the  hind-legs 
are  disproportionately  developed,  and  chiefly  serve  for  lo- 
comotion. The  numerous  species  referable  to  the  Lin- 
najan  genus  are  now  divided  into  the  subgenera  Alactaga, 
Gerbillus,  Dipus  proper,  &x.  ;  and  form  the  family  Dipo- 
didai ;  the  Gerbi'li,  however,  are  more  nearly  allied  to  the 
Mu  riil  a-.. 

DIPV'RE.  (Gr.  Sis,  and  xvp,  fire  ;  i.  e.  a  mineral  dou- 
bly susceptible  of  the  action  of  fire.)  This  mineral  was 
originally  confounded  wiih  picnile.  It  is  found  in  the  West- 
ern Pyrenees.  When  heated  before  the  blowpipe,  it  first 
becomes  phosphorescent,  and  then  fuses  :  characters  by 
which  it  is  distinguished  from  picnile.  It  occurs  in  white 
or  reddish  white  transparent  or  translucent  crystals,  of  a 
prismatic  form;  its  specific  gravity  is2  63.  It  is  hard, 
enough  to  scratch  glass.  It  is  a  silicate  of  alumina  and 
lime. 

DI'RECT.     (Lat.  dirigo.)    In  Music,  a  character  used  at 

-■ s~_  the  end  of  a  staff,  to  direct  the  performer's  no- 

— -^W^-^  tice  to  the  succeeding  note  at  the  beginning  of 

the  following  staff. 

DIRE'CTOR.  A  common  surgical  instrument ;  it  is 
generally  made  of  silver,  and  resembles  a  grooved  probe. 
Us  use  is  to  direct  the  knife,  and  protect  the  parts  under- 
neath from  its  edge  or  point. 

DIRECTORS.  In  Commerce,  the  name  given  to  the  in- 
dividuals composing  the  board  of  management  of  a  joint 
stock  company  ;  as  the  Bank  of  England,  the  E.  I.  Co.,  &c 

DIRE'CTORY.  In  French  History,  the  name  given  by 
the  constitution  of  1795  to  the  executive  body  of  the 
French  republic.  It  consisted  of  five  individuals,  called 
directors,  who  were  selected  by  the  council  of  elders  from 
a  list  of  candidates  presented  by  the  council  of  five  hun- 
dred. One  of  these  directors  retired  every  year,and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  another  elected  on  the  same  principle.  To  the 
Directory  was  entrusted  the  superintendence  of  the  home 
and  foreign  departments,  the  finances  and  the  army,  and 
the  appointment  of  the  ministers  of  state  and  other  public 
functionaries.  Its  policy  was  at  first  moderate  and  con- 
ciliatory ;  but  after  a  short  interval  it.  had  recourse  to  mea- 
sures which  produced  wide-spread  dissatisfaction,  and  it 
was  at  length  overthrown  on  the  ascendency  of  Bonaparte 
after  an  existence  of  four  years.  (For  the  history  of  the 
Directory,  see  Memoir  ea  de  Gohier,  Paris,  1824.) 

Directohy,  signifies  also  a  book  containing  the  names 
of  the  inhabitants  of  a  town,  arranged  in  alphabetical  order, 
together  with  their  places  of  abode,  &c.  It.  is  likewise  ap- 
plied to  a  book  containing  directions  for  public  worship,  or 
other  religious  services. 

DIRE'CTRIX.  In  Geometry,  the  name  given  to  a  cer- 
tain straight  line  perpendicular  to  the  axis  of  a  conic  sec- 
tion ;  and  it  is  a  property  of  these  curves  that  the  distance 
of  any  point  of  the  curve  from  the  directrix  is  to  the  dis- 
tance of  the  same  point  from  the  focus  in  a  constant  ratio. 
The  term  is  also  sometimes  applied  generally  to  any  line, 
whether  straight  or  curved,  which  is  required  for  the  de- 
scription of  any  curve. 

DIRGE.  (.\  contraction  of  dirige,  used  in  the  old  for- 
mula of  the  Catholic  service  for  the  dead — Dirige,  Domine, 
Deus)    A  funeral  song  or  hymn. 

DISABILITY,  in  Law,  signifies  a  state  which  renders  a 
person  incapable  of  enjoying  certain  legal  benefits  ;  as,  the 
state  of  an  alien  renders  him  incapable  of  taking  lands,  that 
of  infancy  of  making  valid  contracts,  and  so  forth.  Disa- 
bility, it  is  said,  may  happen  in  four  ways  :  by  the  act  of 
the  ancestor,  of  the  person,  of  God,  or  of  the  law. 

DISC,  or  DISK.  (Lat.  discus.)  In  Astronomy,  the  face 
of  the  sun,  moon,  or  a  planet,  such  as  it  appears  to  us  pro- 
jected on  the  sky.  The  forms  of  the  celestial  bodies  being 
spherical,  their  projections  are  circular  planes. 

DISCIIA'RGE.  (Fr.  discharger.)  In  Architecture,  a 
term  used  to  signify  the  relief  or  distribution  of  a  weight 


DISCIPLE. 

or  load  to  be  borne  ;  tbus  discharging  arches  are  those 
used  in  any  wall  over  a  lintel  to  discharge  the  lintel  of  the 
weight  which  would  be  otherwise  borne  by  it. 

D1SC1TLE.  (Lat.  discipulus.)  Literally,  one  who 
learns  the  principles  of  any  science  or  liberal  art  from 
another;  hut  the  lerm  is  used  in  a  eulogistic  sense,  more 
particularly  to  signify  the  followersof  any  renowned  teacher 
or  philosopher,  whose  spirit  they  have  imbibed  along  with 
a  knowledge  of  his  peculiar  tenets. 

DISCIPLINE  (Lat.)  signifies,  primarily,  instruction  or 
government;  but  it  is  applied  figuratively  to  a  peculiar 
mode  of  life,  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  some  profes- 
sion or  society.  It  is  also  used  to  designate  the  punish- 
ments employed  in  convents,  and  those  which  enthusiasts 
undergo  or  inflict  upon  themselves  by  way  of  mortification. 

DISCIPLINE,  BOOK  OF,  in  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
Is  a  common  order,  drawn  up  by  the  General  Assembly  in 
1650  for  the  reformation  and  uniformity  to  be  observed  in 
the  discipline  and  policy  of  the  church.  In  this  book  epis- 
copal government  is  set  aside,  Kirk  sessions  are  established, 
the  observance  of  saints'  and  other  holy  days  is  condemned, 
and  other  regulations  for  the  internal  government  of  the 
church  are  prescribed.  It  is  called  the  First  Book  of 
Discipline.  , 

DISCIPLINE,  31ILITARY.  The  obedience  to  and  exer- 
cise of  the  laws  of  military  men  and  matters:  bravery 
may  gain  a  battle,  but  the  final  event  of  war  is  essentially 
dependent  upon  discipline.  "Discipline  is  the  right  arm 
of  a  general,  and  money  is  his  shield." 

DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  SECRET,  or  DISCIPLI'NA 
ARCA'NI.  A  name  given  by  theological  writers  to  a  sys- 
tem supposed  to  have  been  in  force  in  the  primitive  church, 
by  which  its  most  important  and  mysterious  doctrines 
were  concealed  from  the  mass  of  believers,  and  fully  de- 
veloped only  to  a  select  class.  When  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Reformation  the  Roman  Catholics  were  urged  with 
the  silence  or  ambiguity  of  the  fathers  of  the  first  four  cen- 
turies upon  many  principal  points  of  their  doctrine,  they 
met  the  objection  by  declaring  it  to  be  the  constant  custom 
of  the  primitive  church,  enjoined  by  the  apostles  them- 
selves (for  which  they  quoted  1  Cor.  iii,  1,  2.),  to  throw  a 
veil  of  mystery,  or  preserve  entire  silence,  upon  all  such 
awful  and  incomprehensible  subjects.  The  opinions  of 
Protestants  upon  this  question  have  certainly  been  far  from 
uniform  ;  but  all  allow  probably  that  in  the  4th  century  the 
practice  alluded  to  was  prevalent :  the  usage  of  the  3d  is 
more  equivocal,  and  there  are  few  who  attach  any  weight 
to  the  defence  set  up  by  their  adversaries  by  appealing  to 
the  two  first. 

The  following  we  are  disposed  to  consider  a  fair  repre- 
sentation of  the  subject. 

The  apostles  and  evangelists  say  very  little  directly  and 
systematically  concerning  the  principal  doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity. We  may  suppose  that  in  their  private  teaching 
they  were  more  express,  and  that  some  particulars  assumed 
a  more  definite  shape  from  their  connection  with  apostolic 
tradition,  than  would  have  been  the  case  had  they  been  de- 
rived to  us  from  the  language  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  merely. 
But  the  comparatively  private  and  temporary  occasions  of 
the  writings  of  most  of  the  apostles  may  account  for  this 
want  of  precision,  without  supposing  that  they  purposely 
concealed  their  ultimate  conclusions.  The  one  or  two  pas- 
sages upon  which  a  contrary  opinion  is  grounded  certainly 
refer  only  to  the  spiritual  progress  of  a  believer,  and  not  to 
any  advance  in  the  knowledge  of  forms  and  results.  The 
writings  of  the  Fathers  of  the  first  two  centuries  may,  we  be- 
lieve, be  pronounced  entirely  clear  of  any  passage  which 
can  fairly  be  appealed  to  by  the  advocates  of  the  Disciplina. 
In  the  third  Clemens  of  Alexandria  is  oonsidered  to  fur- 
nish the  strong-hold  of  the  theologians  of  that  party  ;  but 
although  he  makes  a  very  marked  and  accurate  distinc- 
tion between  the  perfect  and  imperfect  Christian,  he  founds 
it  not  upon  superior  knowledge  of  the  doctrines,  but  upon 
an  advance  in  purity  and  spiritual  conduct.  This  is  what 
he  denominates  true  gnosticism,  which  he  is  at  great  pains 
to  distinguish  from  the  spurious  and  heretical :  and  even 
herein  he  appears  to  be  speaking  only  from  his  own  indi- 
vidual notions,  or  at  least  from  those  only  of  the  Alexan- 
drian school  of  theology,  and  not  from  any  recognized 
opinions  and  usages  of  the  church. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  primitive  church  was  wont 
to  make  some  trial  of  the  candidates  for  baptism,  causing 
them  to  pass  through  a  course  of  religious  instruction,  in 
which  they  were  led  by  certain  steps  from  the  elemental  to 
the  more  complete  knowledge  of  their  duties  preparatory  to 
that  initiatory  ceremony.  This  is  no  more  than  would  be 
practised  even  now  in  the  case  of  an  adult  convert;  but  such 
cases  in  these  times  are  extremely  rare,  anil  hardly  admit 
of  a  definite  formal  custom.  But  in  the  first  four  centuries 
the  conversion  of  adults  was  the  most  prominent  object  of 
Christian  solicitude:  it  was  this  that  most  drew  the  atten- 
tion of  the  church  ;  it  was  this  therefore  which  naturally 
became  the  subject  of  formal  ceremonies  and  practices. 
Accordingly  in  process  of  time,  when  the  clergy  began  to 
352 


DISCOURSE. 

feel  the  strength  of  their  position,  and  to  cherish  the  ambi- 
tious views  which  were  prompted  by  it,  this  practice  waa 
an  instrument  fitted  to  their  hands.  They  made  a  mystery 
of  that  which  was  before  only  a  second  step  in  knowledge, 
and  excited  the  awe  or  curiosity  of  their  hearers  by  check- 
ing themselves  ostentatiously  when  hovering  on  the  borders 
of  a  doctrinal  subject,  with  such  phrases  as  'iaaaiii,  or 
\iCjivj))nivoi.  the.  initiated  understand  me,  &e. ;  and  probably, 
by  the  rhetorical  flourishes  with  which  they  screened  their 
real  meaning,  deceived  themselves,  or  at  least  posterity, 
into  the  exaggerated  notions  whose  shape  and  system  were 
finally  confirmed  at  the  Council  of  Trent. 

DISCLAI'MEK,  in  Law,  is  a  plea  containing  an  express 
denial  or  renunciation  of  some  claim  which  has  been  made 
upon  or  by  the  party  pleading.  It  is  more  especially  taken 
for  the  denial,  by  an  alleged  tenant,  of  his  tenancy.  Such 
disclaimer  is  punishable  at  common  law  by  the  forfeiture 
of  the  land,  if,  on  writ  of  right  sur  disclaimer  brought,  the 
lord  succeed  in  proving  the  tenancy. 

DI'SCOBOLES,  Discoboli.  (Gr.  Juntos,  a  quoit ;  /?dXAa>. 
I  throw.)  Those  who  played  at  quoits  (discus)  in  anti- 
quity. In  Ichthyology,  this  word  is  applied  to  a  family  of 
pectoral  or  subbrachian  fishes ;  comprehending  those 
which  have  the  ventral  fins  confluent,  and  forming  a  sucto- 
rious  disc  beneath  the  throat. 

DI'SCOID.  (Gr.  StcrKoeiins)  This  term  is  applied  to 
those  univalve  shells  of  which  the  whorls  are  disposed 
vertically  on  the  same  plane,  so  as  to  form  a  disc ;  as  in 
the  pearly  nautilus  and  planorbis. 

DISCONTINUANCE.  In  Law,  an  injury  to  real  pro- 
perty, which  consists  in  the  keeping  out  the  rightful  owner 
of  an  estate  by  a  tenant  whose  entry  was  at  first  lawful, 
but  who  wrongfully  retains  the  possession  afterwards:  as, 
where  tenant  in  tail  makes  a  feoffment  in  fee-simple  for 
life  or  in  tail.  In  this  case  the  heir  in  tail,  remainder-man, 
or  reversioner,  is  put  to  his  writ :  so  alienations  made  by 
husbands  seised  in  right  of  their  wives,  or  by  ecclesiastics 
seised  in  right  of  their  church,  work  a  species  of  discon- 
tinuance. 

DI'SCORD.  (Lat.  discordia.)  In  Music,  the  relation  of 
two  sounds  which  the  ear  receives  with  displeasure, 
whether  used  in  succession  or  consonance. 

DISCO'RDIA.  In  Mythology,  a  malevolent  deity,  daugh- 
ter of  Night,  and  sister  of  Erinnys,  the  Parca?,  and  Death. 
She  is  represented  as  having  been  banished  from  heaven 
by  Jupiter,  on  account  of  the  broils  she  perpetually  occa- 
sioned. This  was  the  goddess  who,  from  disappointment 
at  not  being  invited  to  the  marriage  of  Thetis  and  Peleus, 
threw  into  the  midst  of  the  assembly  the  golden  apple, 
with  the  inscription  detur  pukhriori  {let  it  be  given  to  the 
fairest);  which,  as  is  well  known,  occasioned  the  famed 
contest  between  the  goddesses  Juno,  Minerva,  and  Venus, 
and  ultimately  led  to  the  Trojan  war,  and  the  destruction 
of  Troy.  The  ancient  poets  represent  this  divinity  with  a 
pale  and  ghastly  look,  a  dagger  in  her  hand,  and  her  hair 
entwined  with  serpents ;  and  Milton  graphically  describes 
her  as 

Discord,  with  a  thousand  various  mouths* 

DISCOUNT.  An  allowance  made  for  the  payment  of 
money  before  it  is  due,  and  is  equivalent  to  the  interest  of 
the  principal  sum  diminished  by  the  discount  during  the 
time  that  must  elapse  before  the  money  becomes  payable. 
The  proper  meaning  of  discount,  and  the  rule  for  comput- 
ing it,  will  be  best  understood  from  an  example.  Suppose 
the  rate  of  interest  to  be  4  per  cent.,  and  that  A  holds  a  bili 
of  104/.  payable  a  year  hence.  Suppose,  also,  that  B  has  a 
sum  of  100/.  in  hand,  which  he  wishes  to  layout  at  interest 
for  one  year.  At  the  end  of  the  year  A's  bill  becomes  due- 
and  he  receives  104/.  B  also  receives  back  for  principal 
and  interest  104/.  It  is  therefore  clear  that  if  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  year  A  had  given  B  his  bill,  and  received 
from  B  his  100/.,  neither  party  would  have  gained  or  lost 
by  the  transaction.  Hence  a  bill  of  104/,  payable  a  year 
hence,  interest  being  4  per  cent.,  is  equivalent  to  100/.  in 
hand;  and  the  difference  between  the  amount  of  the  bill 
and  its  present  value,  viz.  4/.,  is  the  discount.  Now  the  dis- 
count on  104/.  having  been  found,  the  discount  on  any  other 
sum  is  found  by  simple  proportion.  If  we  observe  that  4 
is  the  rate  per  cent,  of  interest,  anil  that  10-1/.  is  the  present 
worth  plus  the  discount,  the  truth  of  the  following  rule  for 
the  computation  of  discount  will  be  apparent: — "As  100/. 
with  the  rate  per  cent,  added  is  to  the  rate  per  cent.,  so  is 
the  principal  sum  to  the  discount."  This  rule  supposes 
the  time  of  payment  to  be  one  year  ;  if  it  is  less  or  more, 
the  result  must  be  diminished  or  increased  in  proportion 
to  the  time.  Bankers  and  mercantile  people,  however,  in- 
stead of  computing  discount  in  this  correct  way,  reckon  it 
in  the  same  manner  as  simple  interest,  by  which,  in  large 
transactions,  they  obtain  a  very  considerable  advantage. 
At  4  per  cent,  interest  is  1  in  25,  whereas  discount  is  only  < 
in  26. 

DISCOURSE.  (Lat.  discurrere, /o  rf/sewss.)  In  Rheto- 
ric, signifies  in  its  widest  acceptation  a  series  of  sentences 
and  arguments  arranged  according  to  the  rules  of  art,  with 


DISCOVERY. 

tti!  view  of  prr ■(.!.:  i-jng  some  impressioi:  on  Hip  mind  or 
feelings  of  those  in  whom  n   is  addressed.     In  Logic,  this 

term  is  applied  to  the  third  operation  of  the  mind,  com- 
monly called  reasoning.     .S'ee  Louie. 

DISCO'VERY.  In  Law,  the  act  of  revealing  or  dis- 
closing any  matter  by  a  defendant  in  his  answer  to  a  bill  in 
Chancerv.     See  Chancery. 

DISCRE'TE  PROPOSITION  (Lat.  discretus,  separated,) 
in  Arithmetic,  is  a  proportion  in  which  the  ratio  of  the 
antecedents  to  the  consequents  is  different  from  the  ratio 
of  the  consequent  of  the  first  pair  of  terms  to  the  ante- 
cedent of  the  second.  Thus,  the  proportion  2  :  3  :  :  4  :  6, 
is  a  discrete  proportion  ;  for  the  ratio  of  2  to  3,  or  of  4  to  ti, 
is  different  from  the  ratio  of  3  to  4.  Discrete  is  therefore 
opposed  to  continual,  a  continual  proportion  being  that  in 
which  the  ratio  of  every  two  contiguous  numbers  is  the 
same  throughout ;  thus,  2  :  4  :  :  8  :  16. 

DISCRE'TE  QUANTITY.  A  term  applied  to  quantities 
of  which  the  component  parts  have  a  separate  and  distinct 
existence.  Thus,  numbers  are  discrete  quantities,  being 
composed  of  separate  units. 

IH'SCUS.  (Gr.  Smtkos.)  The  ancient  quoit,  which  con- 
sisted of  a  heavy  circular  mass  of  iron,  sometimes  perfo- 
rated in  the  middle.  In  the  ancient  game,  the  players  did 
not  try  to  hit  a  mark,  but  to  throw  the  quoit  to  the  greatest 
possible  distance.  There  is  a  discus  preserved  in  the 
Cabinet  of  Antiques  at  Paris,  in  which  holes  are  provided 
for  the  thumb  and  lingers.  The  practice  of  throwing  discs 
is  mentioned  by  Homer  among  the  sports  which  occurred 
at  the  funeral  of  Patroclus  ;  and  Pindar  celebrates  Castor 
and  Iolaus  as  skilful  launchers  of  the  discus. 

DISCU'TIENT.  (Lat.  discutio,  /  destroy.)  Remedies 
which  repel  or  resolve  tumours. 

Dl'SDIAPA'SON.  (Gr.  Sis,  twice,  and  hairaaoiv,  through 
all.)    In  Music,  two  octaves  or  a  fifteenth. 

DISEA'SE.  (Dis,  and  ease.)  Any  morbid  state  of  the 
body  generally,  or  of  any  particular  organ  or  part  of  the 
body,  is  called  a  disease.  By  medical  writers  the  term 
disease  is  defined  as  implying  "  a  deviation  from  the  natural 
and  healthy  actions  of  the  whole  system  or  of  any  indi- 
vidual part;"  and  they  are  in  the  habit  of  designating 
certain  forms  of  disease  by  the  following  terms,  namely  . 
-Acquired,  which  are  not'  congenital  or  hereditary,  but 
derived  from  causes  evidently  operating  afterbirth.  Acute, 
which  are  severe,  but  of  comparatively  short  duration. 
Asthenic,  attended  by  manifest  depression  of  the  vital 
powers.  Chronic,  which  are  of  long  duration.  Congenital, 
which  are  born  with  the  individual.  Constitutional,  which 
more  or  less  affect  the  whole  system.  Contagious;  this 
term  should  be  confined  to  those  diseases  only  which  are 
communicable  from  one  to  another  by  contact,  either  per- 
sonal or  intermediate:  it  is  presumed,  for  instance,  that 
lite  plague  is  a  truly  contagious  disease,  and  that  it  can  only 
be  transferred  from  one  individual  to  another  by  actual 
bodily  contact,  or  through  the  medium  of  bedclothes  or 
articles  of  apparel.  The  term  "contagious  disease"  is, 
however,  often  misapplied  to  those  which  are  infectious, 
...-  communicable  through  the  medium  of  the  atmosphere. 
flndemic,  diseases  which  are  either  peculiar  to  particular 
places,  or  which  are  especially  prevalent  in  certain  districts 
only.  Epidemic,  itiseases  which  are  generally  diffused 
over  a  whole  country  ;  they  may  generally  be  traced  to  at- 
mospheric causes,  and  are  commonly  of  an  infectious 
character:  influenza  and  cholera  often  prevail  in  this  way. 
Exanthema!  ous,  are  those  diseases  which  are  accompanied 
hv  an  eruptive  fever,  such  as  measles,  small-pox,  &c. 
Hereditary  diseases  are  such  as  prevail  in  families,  and  are 
transmitted  by  parents  to  their  offspring;  gout  and  scrofula 
furnish  examples.  Idiopathic  or  primary  diseases  are 
those  which  are  not  dependent  upon  or  symptomatic  of 
others;  certain  affections  of  the  head,  for  instance,  may 
arise  immediately  from  disease  of  the  brain,  or  they  may 
be  mediately  connected  with  disordered  states  of  the 
stomach  :  the  former  are  idiopathic,  the  latter  symptomatic. 
Intercurrent  diseases  are  those  which  arise  in  individuals 
from  incidental  causes  daring  the  prevalence  of  endemic 
or  epidemic  sickness.  Intermittent  diseases  are  marked 
by  a  regular  cessation  and  recurrence  of  symptoms;  the 
patient,  during  the  interval,  being,  to  all  appearance,  free 
from  disorder  :  the  various  forms  of  ague  are  characteristi- 
cally intermittent.  Local  diseases  are  opposed  to  those 
which  are  constitutional;  they  are  presumed  to  be  limited 
to  some  particular  organ  :  the  term  "chronic  disease"  is 
sometimes  misapplied  in  this  sense.  Malignant  diseases 
are  those  which  are  of  a  highly  dangerous  and  intractable 
character,  and  the  symptoms  of  which  are  generally  very 
formidable  from  the  first;  various  forms  of  fever,  rapidly 
depressing  the  vital  energies,  are  said  to  assume  a  malig- 
nant type :  hence  also  the  term  malignant,  as  generally 
applied  to  the  Asiatic  cholera.  Local  diseases  are  frequent- 
ly malignant,  such  as  cancer  and  ill-conditioned  ulcers  : 
all  these  are  opposed  to  the  mild  forms  of  the  same  mala- 
dies. Periodical,  diseases  which  recur  at  fixed  periods,  as 
in  autumn,  winter,  <Vx.  Puerperal  diseases  incident  to 
353 


DISPERSION. 

women  soon  after  child-birth.  Specific  diseases  are  those 
which  are  marked  by  some  disordered  vital  action  not 
belonging  to  disease  in  general,  but  peculiar  to  the  indivi- 
dual case.  Sporadic  diseases  are  those  arising  from  ad- 
ventitious causes  affecting  the  individual  Sthenic  diseases 
are  marked  by  the  activity  of  the  vital  powers,  directly 
opposed  to  those  which  are  asthenic. 

DISINFECTING  LIQOUR.  Solution  of  chloride  of  soda, 
or  of  chloride  of  lime. 

DISJUNCTIVE  PROPOSITION,  in  Logic,  is  a  propo- 
sition compounded  of  two  or  more  categorical  proposi- 
tions, so  stated  as  to  imply  that  some  of  them  must  be 
true  :— thus,  "Either  A  =  B,  or  C  =  D."  A  disjunctive, 
in  which  the  two  propositions  are  not  naturally  connected 
together  in  such  a  manner  a3  to  warrant  their  being  pro- 
posed as  alternatives,  is  nugatory  and  absurd  in  sense,  al- 
though not  incorrect  in  logical  form.  If  one  or  more  of  the 
categorical  antecedent  propositions  be  denied,  we  infer  that 
the  remaining  one,  or,  if  there  are  more  than  one,  some 
one  of  those  remaining,  is  true:  e.  g.  "Either  A  ;=  B,  or 
C  =  D;  but  A  is  not  equal  to  B,  therefore  C  =  D."  A 
poem  is  either  good,  bad,  or  indifferent :  but  it  is  not  good  ; 
therefore,  it  is  bad  or  indifferent.  There  are  different 
forms  of  the  disjunctive  syllogism,  founded  on  the  disjunc- 
tive proposition. 

DISK.  In  Botany,  a  term  applied  to  certain  bodies  or 
projections,  situated  between  the  base  of  the  stamens  and 
the  base  of  the  ovarium,  but  forming  part  of  neither,  and 
taking  a  variety  of  forms.  The  disk  is  usually  supposed  to 
consist  of  rudimentary  stamens,  since  an  anther  has  been 
noticed  to  grow  from  that  of  Paonia  moutan,  and  in  other 
cases  manifest  indications  are  observable  of  a  tendency  to 
assume  the  form  of  those  organs. 

DISLOCATION.  (Lat.  dislocare,  to  put  out  of  place.) 
A  surgical  term,  synonymous  with  luxation.  "When  the 
articular  surfaces  of  bones  are  forced  out  of  their  proper 
situation,  they  are  said  to  be  dislocated  or  luxated.  A  con- 
siderable share  of  anatomical  knowledge  is  required  to  de- 
tect the  nature  of  these  accidents;  and  it  is  much  to  be 
lamented  that  students  neglect  to  inform  themselves  suffi- 
ciently upon  the  subject.  (See  Sir  A.  Cooper's  Essays, 
i.  p  2.) 

DISO'MUM.  (Lat.)  In  Ancient  Sculpture,  a  tomb  made 
for  the  reception  of  the  remains  of  two  persons. 

DISPART,  in  Gunnery,  is  the  difference  between  the 
semidiameter  of  the  base  ring  at  the  breech  of  a  gun  and 
that  of  the  ring  at  the  swell  of  the  muzzle. 

DISPE'NSARY.  A  place  where  medicines  are  made 
up  and  distributed  ;  but  used  more  generally  for  a  charita- 
ble institution,  where  the  poor  are  supplied  with  medicines 
and  advice.  Institutions  of  this  nature  are  of  compara- 
tively recent  origin  ;  though  they  are  now  to  be  met  with 
in  every  town  of  any  importance  both  in  this  country  and 
on  the  Continent.  In  London  there  are  one  or  more  dis- 
pensaries in  each  district;  and  to  every  dispensary  there 
are  always  attached  one  or  more  physicians,  surgeons,  and 
apothecaries,  whose  duty  it  is  respectively  to  prescribe  and 
dispense  medicines  to  the  poor,  and  to  visit  them  in  their 
own  houses  in  the  event  of  their  being  too  ill  to  attend  per- 
sonally at  the  institution.  In  most  cases  dispensaries  are 
supported  hv  voluntary  contributions. 

DISPENSATION.  In  Law,  a  licence  granted  by  the 
bishop  to  a  clergyman  within  his  diocese  to  omit  some  par- 
ticular of  his  duty  ;  as,  to  hold  two  or  more  benefices,  or 
to  reside  out  of  his  parish.  The  name  is  peculiar  to  eccle- 
siastical law,  and  was  formerly  applied  to  the  licences 
granted  by  the  papal  authority  for  several  purposes  ;  as,  to 
marrv  within  the  prohibited  degrees,  <kc. 

DISPE'NSATORY.  A  word  synonymous  with  Pharma- 
copoeia (which  see) ;  signifying  a  book  which  describes  the 
history,  preparation,  and  composition  of  medicines. 

DISPE'RSfON.  In  Optics,  a  term  used  to  denote  the 
angular  separation  of  the  constituent  rays  of  light  when  de- 
composed by  the  prism.  In  consequence  of  the  unequal 
refrangibility  of  the  different  rays,  a  beam  of  light  admitted 
through  a  small  hole  or  slit  in  the  shutter  of  a  darkened 
room,  and  refracted  by  passing  through  a  prism,  forms  an 
elongated  image  or  spectrum  ;  the  red  rays,  which  are  the 
least  refracted,  occupying  one  end  of  the  spectrum,  and  the 
violet  rays,  which  suffer  the  greatest  refraction,  occupying 
the  other  end.  The  rays  therefore,  after  refraction,  are  no 
longer  parallel ;  so  that  the  index  of  refraction  (or  the  ratio 
of  the  sine  of  incidence  to  the  sine  of  refraction)  is  different 
for  each  ray  ;  and  the  difference  of  the  indices  for  the  ex- 
treme rays  is  called  the  dispersion  of  the  light. 

Sir  Isaac  Newton,  who  first  examined  the  prismatic  co- 
lours, was  led  by  some  imperfect  experiments  to  suppose 
the  dispersion  proportional  to  the  refraction  ;  but  it  was 
soon  discovered  that  although  the  colours  in  spectra  form- 
ed by  prisms  of  different  substances  are  always  arranged 
in  the  same  order,  they  do  not  occupy  the  same  relative 
lengths, — a  prism  of  flint  glass,  for  example,  giving  propor- 
tionally less  red  and  more  violet  than  a  prism  of  crown 
glass  ;  and  that  substances,  for  which  the  index  of  refrac- 


DISPLUVIATUM. 

tion  of  the  middle  ray  of  the  spectrum  is  nearly  the  same, 
produce  spectra  of  different  lengths,  or  different  amounts 
of  dispersion.  It  is  on  this  property,  namely,  the  irration- 
ality of  the  refractive  and  dispersive  powers  of  different 
substances,  that  the  methods  of  forming  achromatic  lenses 
depend  :  had  the  supposition  of  Newton  been  correct,  it 
would  have  been  impossible  to  produce  an  image  by  re- 
fraction unaccompanied  by  the  prismatic  colours.  See 
Achromatism. 

The  difference  between  the  indices  of  refraction  of  the 
extreme  rays  of  the  spectrum  formed  by  a  prism  of  any 
substance  is  called  the  coefficient  of  dispersion  with  respect 
to  that  substance,  or  simply  the  dispersion ;  and  the  dis- 
persive power  is  the  quotient  which  is  obtained  by  dividing 
the  coefficient  of  dispersion  by  the  mean  index  of  refrac- 
tion diminished  by  unity.  The  mean  index  is  that  of  the 
ray  which  corresponds  to  the  middle  of  the  spectrum.  As 
these  terms  are  of  frequent  occurrence  in  scientific  works, 
we  shall  illustrate  the  definitions  by  an  example.  Accord- 
ing to  Sir  D.  Brewster,  the  index  of  refraction  of  diamond 
for  the  extreme  violet  ray  is  2-467,  and  for  the  extreme  red 
ray  2411  ;  the  difference  of  these  two  bodies  is  056,  which, 
therefore,  is  the  coefficient  of  dispersion  for  diamond. 
Again,  the  mean  index,  or  mean  of  the  above  two  numbers, 
is  2439,  which  diminished  by  unity  becomes  1-439;  there- 
fore the  dispersive  power  of  diamond  is  056  divided  by 
1-439,  or  0388. 

For  a  table  of  the  dispersive  powers  of  a  great  number 
of  different  substances,  see  Brezrster's  Optics,  in  the  Ca- 
binet Cyclopedia :  but  we  may  remark,  that  as  this  table 
appears  to  have  been  constructed  before  the  discovery  of 
Fraunhofer's  method  of  determining  the  indices  of  refrac- 
tion by  means  of  the  dark  rays  in  the  spectrum,  it  rests 
on  data  subject  to  great  uncertainly.  See  Refraction  ; 
also  Light.  Optics,  and  Spectrum. 

DISPLUVIA'TUM.  (Lat.)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  a 
place  in  which  Ihe  rain  is  conveyed  away  in  two  channels. 
A  cavaedinm  displuviatum,  according  to  Vitruvius,  was  an 
open  court  exposed  lo  the  rain. 

DISPOSI'TION.  (Lat.  dispositio.)  In  Architecture,  one 
of  the  six  essentials  of  the  art.  It  is  the  arrangement  of 
the  whole  design  by  means  of  ichnography  (plan),  or- 
thography (section  and  elevation),  and  scenography  (per- 
spective view) :  and  differs  from  distribution,  which  signi- 
fies the  particular  arrangements  of  the  internal  parts  of  a 
building. 

DISQUISI'TION.  (Lat.)  An  inquiry  into  the  nature 
and  properties  of  any  problem,  question,  or  subject,  in  the 
view  of  gaining  or  communicating  correct  information  re- 
specting it. 

DISSE'CTION.  (Lat.  disseco,  I  cut  asunder.)  Signifies 
literally  the  cutting  to  pieces  of  any  organized  body  with 
a  view  to  elucidate  its  structure  and  functions.  See  Ana- 
tomy. 

DISSE'ISIN.  In  Law,  a  species  of  wrongful  ouster  or 
putting  out  of  him  who  is  seised  of  the  freehold  in  lands ; 
it  is  either  single  disseisin,  or  disseisin  by  force,  more  pro- 
perly termed  deforcement. 

DISSE'NTERS.  Persons  who  dissent  on  religions 
grounds  from  the  usages  and  formula  of  the  established 
church  in  England.  Roman  Catholics,  however,  are  ge- 
nerally referred  to  as  a  distinct  class,  and  the  term  Dis- 
senters applied  to  Protestants  only. 

The  first  dissenters  from  the  church  of  England  were 
the  Puritans,  who,  at  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Eliza- 
beth, complained  of  the  use  of  the  surplice,  the  sign  of 
the  cross  in  baptism,  and  some  other  relics,  as  they  es- 
teemed them,  of  popery.  The  laws  of  Elizabeth,  how- 
ever, required  their  attendance  at  church  under  severe 
penalties ;  and  no  opportunity  was  allowed  them,  even 
though  they  held  episcopacy  itself  in  abhorrence,  of  form- 
ing separate  sects  or  congregations.  Perhaps  the  first  dis- 
tinct sect  of  dissenters  were  the  Brownists,  who  adopted 
very  extreme  opinions  on  the  subject  of  church  govern- 
ment, and  against  whom  the  punishment  of  death  was 
enacted,  as  denying  the  queen's  supremacy  in  ecclesias- 
tical matters.  On  the  accession -of  .tames  an  attempt  was 
made  by  the  puritanical  party  within  the  church  to  obtain 
a  relaxation  in  some  points  of  doctrine  and  discipline ;  but 
the  conference  at  Hampton  Court,  which  was  convened 
npon  that  occasion,  separated  without  effecting  more  than 
a  few  trifling  alterations  in  the  services.  The  penal  laws 
continued  in  force,  and  Dissenters  were  not  recognized  as 
a  distinct  body  by  the  state.  They  may  be  said  to  owe 
their  origin  in  this  sense  to  the  assembly  of  divines  con- 
vened by  authority  of  parliament  at  Westminster  in  1643, 
when  a  body  of  120  clergymen  and  30  laymen  met  and 
established  the  Presbyterian  forms  of  doctrine  and  govern- 
ment, as  set  forth  in  the  book  called  the  Directory.  The 
Independent  party  did  not  entirely  accede  to  this  settle- 
ment, and  created  some  disturbances  during  the  Protec- 
torate. At  the  Restoration,  the  Presbyterian  clergy  were 
ejected  on  St.  Bartholomew's-day,  1662,  by  the  Act  of  Uni- 
formity, which  re-established  the  Liturgy,  and  was  attend- 
354 


DISTEMPER. 

ed  with  some  circumstances  of  aggravation  and  harshness* 
Two  thousand  nonconforming  clergy  were  thereby  eject' 
ed  from  their  benefices.  The  Corporation  Act,  requiring 
attendance  on  the  sacrament  preparatory  to  accepting  mu- 
nicipal offices,  was  also  passed  at  the' beginning  of  this 
reign;  and  the  Test  Act  followed,  which  excluded  Dis- 
senters in  like  manner  from  all  places  of  trust  and  profit 
under  government.  These  laws  were  repealed  by  9  G.  4.  ; 
and  Dissenters  are  now  required  only  to  make  a  declara- 
tion, according  to  the  form  of  the  act,  that  they  will  not 
exercise  any  influence  they  may  possess  by  virtue  of  such 
office  to  injure  or  weaken  the  church  by  law  established 
The  Act  of  Toleration  (I  W.  &  M.)  had  long  since  abro- 
gated the  penal  laws  of  Elizabeth  against  Dissenters,  ex- 
cepting Papists  and  such  as  deny  the  Trinity. 

DISSE'PIiVIENTS.  In  Botany,  the  partitions  that  arc 
formed  in  ovaria  by  the  united  sides  of  the  cohering  car- 
pella,  and  which  separate  the  inside  into  cells  ;  also  called 
sepa. 

DISSERT  A'TION.  (Lat.)  An  oral  or  written  examina- 
tion of  any  question  or  subject  under  some  general  or 
particular  view.  Perspicuity,  simplicity,  and  methodical 
arrangement  are  the  most  essential  qualites  of  a  good  dis- 
sertation. 

DI'SSIDENTS.  In  modem  European  History,  a  term 
applied  in  Poland  to  those  dissenters  from  the  established 
religion  (Catholic)  who,  under  the  old  republic,  were  allow- 
ed the  free  exercise  of  their  faith  :  including  Lutherans. 
Calvinists,  and  Greeks,  but  excluding  various  minor  sects. 
Their  rights  were  fixed  by  the  Religious  Peace  (paxdissi- 
denrium)  of  1573,  but  they  were  infringed  upon  in  the  18th 
century  by  various  princes.  They  were  supported  in  de- 
manding the  repeal  of  these  restrictions  by  Russia  and 
Prussia  (in  1766,)  and  hence  those  powers  acquired  one  of 
their  favourite  pretexts  for  interference  in  the  affairs  of  the 
Polish  nation.  Their  rights  were  restored  in  1775,  with 
some  exceptions;  but  after  the  Russian  conquest  they 
were  placed  on  the  same  footing  with  the  Catholics. 

DI'SSONANCE.  (Lat.  dissonans, discordant.)  In  Music,, 
a  false  consonance  or  concord.    The  same  as  discord. 

DISTE'MPER.  A  disease  of  the  dog.  The  distemper 
in  dogs  is  commonly  considered  as  a  catarrhal  disorder, 
and  in  general  a  running  from  the  nose  and  eyes  is  one  of 
the  first  and  leading  symptoms  ;  it  is  usually  accompanied 
by  a  short  dry  cough,  and  succeeded  by  wasting  of  the  flesh 
and  loss  of'  strength  and  spirits.  The  nasal  defluxion, 
which  is  at  first  watery,  becomes  after  some  days,  or  per- 
haps weeks,  mucous  and  purulent,  loading  the  eyes  and 
obstructing  the  nostrils  :  the  cough  becomes  more  distress 
ing,  and  is  attended  by  an  effort  compounded  of  coughing 
and  vomiting  :  the  listlessness.  wasting,  and  loss  of  appe- 
tite also  increase. 

If  the  disease  be  virulent,  symptoms  of  affection  of  the 
brain  are  its  freqnent  concomitants,  attended  by  fits,  and 
great  debility  and  paralysis  of  the  extremities,  or  by  con- 
vulsive twitchings  resembling  St.  Vitus's  dance  ;  and  such 
is  the  induced  irritability  of  the  animal  at  this  period,  that 
an  angry  menace,  or  the  sight  of  another  dog  in  a  fit, 
will  often  bring  one  on  :  and  fondling  and  encouraging  a 
dog  under  these  primary  attacks  will  shorten  their  duration* 
or  altogether  check  them.  If  they  continue,  and  increase 
in  violence  and  frequency,  they  commonly  prove  fatal. 
"  When  the  epileptic  fits."  says  Sir.  Blaine,  "  have  gained 
their  full  hold  on  the  dog,  a  partial  or  total  mental  aliena- 
tion takes  place  ;  when  total,  the  poor  brute  is  often  per- 
fectly phrenitic  ;  he  waters  and  dnngs  unconsciously  ;  he- 
tears  up  the  ground,  bites  every  thing  around  him,  and 
not  unfrequently  himself  also.  When  the  fit  is  over^ 
lie  shakes  himself,  and  looks  and  acts  as  usual,  unless  thp 
attacks  have  been  very  violent  and  long-continued,  when 
they  leave  him  greatly  exhausted  and  dispirited."  In 
some  of  these  attacks  the  dog  walks  round  and  round,  un- 
conscious of  every  thing  about  him.  In  such  cases,  the 
unfortunate  animal  is  often  supposed  to  be  mad.  and  is 
frequently  sacrificed  accordingly  ;  "  but  the  suddenness  of 
the  seizure  ought  to  inform  the  looker-on  of  the  total  im- 
possibility  of  its  being  rabies,  which  is  always  in  the  worst 
cases  marked  with  some  recollection,  some  knowledge,- 
and  which  never  exhibits  the  indiscriminate  fury  Which 
characterizes  epilepsy." 

Inflammation  of  the  lungs  is  by  no  means  an  unfrequent 
consequence  of  distemper ;  and  the  bowels  are  always 
more  or  less  affected  by  diarrhoea  and  dysenteric  dischar- 
ges, often  indicating  ulceration  of  the  intestinal  canal,  and 
accompanied  by  bloody  mucus  and  extremely  offensive 
evacuations. 

Protracted  cases  of  distemper  are  sometimes  attended  by 
a  pustular  eruption  on  the  abdomen  and  chest,  accompa- 
nied sometimes  by  an  hepatic  affection,  called  by  sports- 
men the  yellow  disease,  from  its  giving  the  whole  surface  of 
the  body  a  yellow  hue  :  these  are  almost  always  fatal  symp- 
toms. 

The  danger  and  fatality  of  this  disease  depend  upon  so 
many  causes  that  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  prognosticate 


DISTICH, 

the  results  ;  young  dogs  and  puppies  seldom  survive,  and 
it  is  generally  fatal  to  weakly  and  delicate  dogs,  and  more  so 
in  town  than  in  the  country.  Early  in  the  disease  a  single  fit 
is  not  alarming  ;  but  one  or  more  fits  in  the  advanced  stages 
are  seldom  followed  by  recovery  ;  impatience  of  light, 
red  eves,  pneumonic  attacks,  and  obstinate  diarrhcea,  are 
all  bad  symptoms  ;  and  spasmodic  twitchings,  a  yellow 
tinge  of  the  skin,  and  a  pustular  eruption,  arc  in  almost 
all  cases  the  forerunners  of  death. 

Laxatives,  emetics,  and  occasional  bleeding,  are  the 
leading  remedies  in  the  early  stage  of  this  disease ;  obsti- 
nate diarrhoea  should  be  checked  by  astringents;  and 
warm  bathing  and  antispasmodics  must  be  resorted  to  quell 
the  violence  of  the  fits. 

The  distemper  is  communicated  by  the  contact  of  the 
diseased  catarrhal  secreiion,  and  it  may  also  be  given  by 
its  inoculation  ;  inoculation  has  indeed  been  proposed  as  a 
mitigation  of  the  disorder,  and  it  has  been  asserted  that 
vaccination  is  a  preventive.  But  it  has  been  proved  by 
Mr.  Blaine  that  vaccination  is  quite  inefficacious;  and  that 
inoculation  with  the  matter  of  distemper  is  equally  ineffi- 
cient in  mitigating  the  complaint,  even  when  it  is  borrowed 
from  the  mildest  forms.  Many  dogs,  indeed,  which  have 
taken  the  disease  by  inoculation  have  had  it  with  peculiar 
severity,  and  several  have  sunk  under  it.  (See  Blaine's 
Canine  Pathology.) 
Distemper.  In  Painting.  See  Distemper. 
DI'STICH.  (Gr.  <St<rnx<»'-)  A  couplet  of  verses.  In 
the  Greek,  Latin,  and  German  languages,  distich  is  applied 
to  pieces  of  poetry  consisting  of  two  lines,  in  hexameter  and 
pentameter  verse. 

DISTICIII'ASIS.  (Gr.  dis,  twice,  and  otixos,  a  rote.) 
A  double  row  of  eyelashes  the  innermost  of  which  excite 
a  constant  irritation  of  the  eye.  The  term  trichiasis  is  ge- 
nerally applied  to  this  malformation. 

DI'STUJIIOUS.  (Gr.)  A  term  applied  to  the  arrange- 
ment of  organs  in  two  rows,  the  one  opposite  to  the  other, 
as  the  florets  of  many  grasses. 

DISTILLA'TION.  (Lat.)  The  evaporation  and  subse- 
quent condensation  of  liquids  by  means  of  a  still  and  refri- 
geratory, or  of  a  retort  and  receiver. 

The  discovery  of  the  art  of  distillation  is  generally  as- 
cribed to  the  alchemists;  but  it  was  doubtlessly  known  in 
more  remote  ages  to  the  Arabians,  and  by  them  probably 
derived  from  nations  further  east. 

The  processof  distillation,  though  in  continual  use  in  the 
chemical  and  pharmaceutical  laboratory,  is  carried  on 
upon  the  most  extensive  scede  for  the  production  of  ardent 
spirits  in  the  distilleries.  Under  the  words  Alcohol, 
Brandy,  Fermentation,  Wine,  &c.  will  be  found  some 
details  bearing  upon  the  nature,  sources,  and  production 
of  spirituous  liquors ;  in  the  present  article,  therefore,  we 
shall  limit  ourselves  to  an  outline  of  the  different  pro- 
cesses which  are  more  exclusively  conducted  in  the  British 
distillery. 

There  are  two  distinct  operations  in  the  production  of 
ardent  spirits:  the  one  is  the  conversion  of  certain  vegeta- 
ble principles  into  alcohol ;  and  the  other,  the  separation  of 
the  alcohol  from  the  other  substances  with  which  it  is  ne- 
cessarily blended  during  its  production. 

The  vegetable  principle  which  is  essential  to  the  forma- 
tion of  alcohol  is  sugar ;  and  this  is  sometimes  used  direct- 
ly, as  where  molasses  and  analogous  saccharine  products 
are  subjected  to  immediate  fermentation  ;  or  it  is  indirectly 
obtained  by  subjecting  amylaceous  grains  to  certain  pro- 
cesses, by  which  the  starch  they  contain  is  first  converted 
into  sugar,  and  then  that  sugar  afterwards  alcoholized. 

In  our  distilleries  the  latter  alternative  is  adopted  ;  and 
various  kinds  of  grain,  but  chiefly  barley,  wheat,  and  rye, 
with  more  or  less  malt,  are  subjected  to  the  operation  of 
mashing.  For  this  purpose  the  ground  grain  and  the 
bruised  malt  are  duly  mixed,  and  infused  under  constant 
agitation  in  a  proper  quantity  of  hot  water  in  the  mash-tun ; 
the  wort  is  then  run  off,  and  fresh  water  added,  till  the 
soluble  materials  of  the  grain  are  extracted. 

In  this  way  the  mixed  worts  or  wash  is  obtained,  which 
is  afterwards  to  be  subjected  to  fermentation;  but  in  the 
distillery  the  operator  is  not,  as  in  the  brewery,  left  to  his 
own  judgment  or  convenience,  but  enforced  to  conform 
to  the  excise  laws,  which  are  of  a  very  peremptory  and 
often  of  a  very  unscientific  character.  By  these  laws  the 
distiller  is  restricted  in  the  density  of  his  worts  to  specific 
gravities  between  1050  and  1090 ;  and  in  Scotland,  between 
1030  and  1075.  It  is  presumed  that  at  those  specific  gra- 
vities, which  are  called  50  and  90,  and  30  and  75,  the  actual 
quantity  of  saccharine  or  saccharifiable  matter  contained  in 
each  barrel  (or  36  imperial  gallons)  amounts  respectively 
to  from  47^ lbs.  to  85  lbs.,  and  from  28 lbs.  to  79f3ulbs. 

When  the  wash  above  alluded  to  is  adjusted  as  to  density, 
it  is  run  into  the  fermenting  vats,  where,  mixed  with  a 
small  quantity  of  yeast,  it  is  subjected  to  the  process  of 
fermentation,  which  continues  from  six  to  ten  or  twelve 
days,  the  time  required  for  its  completion  varying  with 
355 


DISTILLATION, 

the  mass  of  liquid  and  with  the  temperature  of  the  atme 
sphere. 

During  mashing,  as  well  as  during  fermentation,  the 
starch  passes  into  sugar,  and  the  sugar  into  alcohol;  the 
consequence  of  which  is  that  the  wash  gradually  decreases 
in  density  or  attenuates ;  and  as  soon  as  this  attenuation 
has  reached  its  maximum,  which  may  be  determined  by 
the  hydrometer,  it  should  be  distilled,  in  order  to  prevent, 
the  access  of  acetous  fermentation. 

In  all  large  distilleries  there,  are  two  sets  of  stills :  one  for 
the  purpose  of  distilling  from  the  wash  a  weak  spirit,  tech- 
nically called  low  wines ;  and  the  other  for  redistilling  (or 
rectifying)  the  low  wines.  In  these  distillations  there 
passes  over  along  with  the  first  and  last  portions  of  the  spi- 
rits a  peculiar  volatile  oil  of  a  disagreeable  flavour  and 
odour,  and  rendering  the  weaker  spirit  milky.  These  por- 
tions are  called  faints,  and  are  carefully  turned  into  sepa- 
rate receivers  as  soon  as  the  appearance  of  the  runnings 
from  the  worm  end  indicates  their  presence. 

The  quantity  of  alcohol  which  may  be  obtained  from  a 
given  quantity  of  sugar  will  depend  upon  the  skill  and  care 
with  which  mashing,  fermentation,  and  distillation  have 
been  respectively  conducted;  theoretically,  100  pounds  of 
sugar  are  convertible  into  about  51  of  alcohol  and  49  of  car- 
bonic acid.  The  quantity  of  alcohol  to  be  procured  from 
different  kinds  of  grain  will  also  depend  upon  the  same 
causes,  and  upon  the  quantity  of  sugar,  and  of  starch  and 
gum  convertible  into  sugar,  which  each  may  contain.  Ac- 
cording to  Hermstffidt  100  pounds  of  starch  should  yield  35 
pounds  of  real  alcohol ;  and  100  pounds  of  the  following 
grains  should  yield  the  following  quantities  of  spirit  of  the 
specific  gravity  of  09427 ;  that  is,  of  spirit  containing  45  per 
cent,  of  real  alcohol ;  namely,  wheat  40  to  45  pounds,  rye 
36  to  42,  barley  40,  oats  36,  buckwheat  40,  maize  40. 

Sometimes  malt  only  is  used  in  the  distillery,  in  which 
case  the  distiller  calculates  in  obtaining  two  gallons  of 
whiskey  of  proof  strength  from  each  bushel  of  malt. 

What  is  meant  by  the  term  proof  spirit  will  appear  obvi- 
ous from  the  following  extract  from  a  report  of  a  commit- 
tee of  thelloyal  Society  respecting  the  improvement  of  the 
hydrometer.  "  With  regard  to  the  substance  alcohol  upon 
which  the  duty  is  to  be  levied,  there  appears  to  be  no  rea- 
son, either  philosophical  or  practical,  why  it  should  be 
considered  as  absolute  (that  is,  pure).  A  definite  mixture 
of  alcohol  and  water  is  as  invariable  in  its  value  as  absolute 
alcohol  can  be.  It  is  also  invariable  in  its  nature  ;  and  can 
be  more  readily  and  with  equal  accuracy  identified  by  that 
only  quality  or  condition  to  which  recourse  can  be  had  in 
practice,  namely ,  specific  gravity.  A  diluted  alcohol  is  that, 
therefore,  which  we  recommend  as  the  only  exciseable 
substance  ;  and  as  on  the  one  hand  it  will  make  no  differ- 
ence in  the  identification,  and  on  the  other  will  br  a  great 
commercial  advantage,  it  is  further  recommended  that  the 
standard  be  very  nearly  that  of  the  present  proof  spirit. 
The  proposition,  therefore,  of  your  committee  is,  that 
standard  sqririt  be  that  which,  consisting  of  alcohol  and 
water  alone,  shall  have  a  specific  gravity  of  092  at  the  tem- 
perature of  62°  Fahrenheit.  This  standard  is  rather 
weaker  than  the  old  proof  spirit  in  the  proportion  of  nearly 
11  gallon  of  the  present  proof  spirit  per  cent.  But  this  dif- 
ference is  trifling  compared  with  the  convenience  resulting 
from  the  adoption  of  the  specific  gravity  0-92,  instead  of 
that  of  the  present  proof  spirit,  which  is  0018633.  It  may 
be  interesting  hereafter  to  ascertain  what  proportion  of  ab- 
solute alcohol  enters  into  the  composition  of  the  recom- 
mended standard  spirit,  but  the  point  possesses  not  the 
slightest  practical  importance  in  reference  to  the  present 
question." 

The  proof  spirit  of  commerce,  and  that  of  the  Pharma- 
copoeia, is  generally  stated  to  be  of  the  specific  gravity  of 
0920  at  62°,  and  is  considered  as  a  mixture  of  equal 
weights  of  absolute  alcohol  of  the  specific  gravity  of  0791  at 
60°  and  of  water.  The  rectified  spirit  of  commerce,  or 
rather  that  of  the  Pharmacopoeia,  is  directed  to  be  of  the 
specific  gravity  of  0838  at  60°,  and  may  be  regarded  as  a 
mixture  of  about  82  parts  of  absolute  alcohol  and  18  of 
water. 

The  inquisitorial  regime,  observes  Dr.  Ure,  imposed  by 
law  upon  our  distilleries  might  lead  a  stranger  to  imagine 
that  our  legislators  were  desirous  of  repressing  by  every 
species  of  annoyance  the  fabrication  of  the  fiery  liquid 
which  infuriates  and  demoralizes  the  lower  population  of 
these  islands.  But,  alas!  credit  can  be  given  them  for  no 
such  moral  or  philanthropic  motive.  The  necessity  of  the 
exchequer  to  raise  a  great  revenue,  created  by  the  waste- 
ful expenditure  of  the  state  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  efforts 
of  fraudulent  ingenuity  on  the  other,  to  evade  the  payment 
of  the  hi°h  duties  imposed,  are  the  true  origin  of  that  re- 
gime. Examinations  in  distilleries  are  constantly  making 
by  the  officers  of  excise.  There  is  a  survey  at  six  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  when  the  officers  take  their  accounts  and 
gauges,  and  make  calculations  which  occupy  several  hours. 
At  ten  o'clock  they  again  survey,  going  over  the  whole  pre- 
mises, where  they  continue  a  considerable  time,  frequently 


DISTOMA. 

till  the  Succeeding  officer  conies  on  duty  j  at  two  in  the 
afternoon  another  survey  takes  place,  but  not  by  the  same 
people;  at  six  in  the  evening  the  survey  is  repeated;  at 
ten  there  come?  another  survey  by  an  officer  who  had  not 
been  engaged  in  any  of  the  previous  surveys  of  that  day. 
He  is  not  relieved  tiil  six  o'clock  next  morning.  In  addi- 
tion to  these  regular  inspections,  the  distilleries  are  sub- 
ject to  frequent  and  uncertain  visits  of  the  surveyor  and 
general  surveyor.  "  We  are  never,"  says  Mr.  Smith,  the 
eminent  distiller  of  Millbank,  "  out  of  their  hands." 

There  can  he  no  doubt  that  all  the  operations  of  our  dis- 
tilleries would  be  susceptible  of  infinite  improvement  by 
an  alteration  in  the  excise  laws.  As  these  at  present  stand, 
the  duty  is  charged  from  calculations— 1.  On  the  quantity 
and  density  of  the  wash  ;  2.  On  the  quantity  and  density 
or  strength  of  the  low  wines,  or  first  products  of  distilla- 
tion ;  3.  Upon  the  quantity  and  strength  of  the  spirit,  or, 
in  other  words,  of  the  alcohol  actually  produced.  It  is  pre- 
sumed, in  reference  to  the  wash,  that  the  alcohol  which 
it  will  afford  by  fermentation  will  be  directly  as  its  density 
(without  reference  to  the  nature  of  the  matter  which  it 
holds  in  solution).  In  low  wines,  and  in  the  spirits,  the 
proportion  of  alcohol  is  inversely  as  the  density,  and  the 
duty  is  charged  in  conformity  with  experiments  upon  the 
composition  of  mixtures  of  alcohol  and  water  of  different 
densities. 

Nothing  need  be  said  here  of  the  mode  of  judging  of  the 
value  of  the  worthy  its  attenuation  during  fermentation,  nor 
of  the  fallacies  to  which  the  different  operations  are  liable, 
and  we  are  well  aware  of  the  danger  and  difficulties  of 
meddling  with  so  important  a  branch  of  the  revenue  ;  but 
it  is  impossible  for  any  scientific  person  to  visit  our  distil- 
leries without  at  once  seeing  much  that  is  susceptible  of 
safe  and  effectual  alteration  ;  or  to  peruse  the  multitu- 
dinous documents,  and  the  evidence  which  has  been 
brought  before  the  commissioners  of  revenue  inquiry  and 
before  the  parliamentary  committees,  bearing  directly  or 
indirectly  upon  this  subject,  without  an  anxious  wish  that 
some  remedy  should  be  found  for  the  evils  which  are  there 
set  forth.  In  every  point  of  view  two  things  seem  highly 
desirable,  and  apparently  not  unattainable ;  Ihe  one  is 
that  the  materials  employed  as  sources  of  spirit,  and  the 
mode  .''"conducting  the  operations  of  the  distillery,  should 
be,  as  .  tr  as  possible,  entirely  unshackled;  the  other  (a 
necessary  consequence),  that  the  duty  should  be  levied 
upon  the  ultimate  product  at  Ihe  worm  end  ;  or,  in  other 
words,  upon  the  quantity  of  absolute  alcohol  actually  pro- 
duced, and  that  the  charge  should  be  made  ia  reference  to 
that  alone. 

In  reference  to  further  details  regarding  the  operations 
of  the  distillery  and  their  influence  upon  the  revenue,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  Dr.  Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts  and 
Manufactures,  art.  "Distillation;"  and  to  M-Culloch's 
Dictionary  of  Commerce,  art.  "  Spirits,"  which  is  enrich- 
ed with  numerous  tables.  See  also  the  article  Spirits  in 
this  work. 

DI'STOMA.  (Gr.  <5<j,  twice,  and  crro/ia,  mouth.)  The 
name  of  a  genus  of  Tremafodous  intestinal  worms,  in- 
cluding those  which  have  two  suckers  or  organs  of  adhe- 
sion, of  which  the  anterior  alone  is  a  true  mouth  ;  and  the 
posterior  or  larger  disc  is  situated  on  the  ventral  aspect  of 
the  bodv,  a  little  way  behind  the  mouth. 

DISTO'RTION.  '(Lat.  distorqueo,  I  turn  atvry.)  An 
unnatural  deviation  of  shape  or  position  of  any  part  of  the 
body,  producing  visible  deformity. 

Some  distortions  are  exclusively  dependent  upon  dis- 
ordered actions  of  the  muscles  or  nerves,  or  both ;  cer- 
tain kinds  of  lameness,  for  instance,  arise  from  a  want  of 
due  sympathy  between  the  flexor  and  extensor  muscles, 
or  from  an  unnatural  contraction  of  one  or  more  muscles 
In  consequence  of  the  inefficiency  of  their  opponents; 
hence  various  paralytic  distortions,  squinting,  wry  neck, 
and  some  forms  of  what  is  termed  club-foot. 

The  most  common  cause  of  distortion,  however,  is  dis- 
ease of  the  bones,  which,  being  sometimes  deficient  in 
their  hardening  or  earthy  principle,  are  incapable  of  sup- 
porting the  weight  of  parts  which  they  are  designed  to 
bear,  or  of  sustaining  pressure  or  muscular  action,  wilh- 
out  more  or  less  flexure.  Of  this  kind  is  the  disease 
called  rickets  (from  pax'S,  the  spine),  in  which  it  has  been 
presumed,  (hough  erroneously,  that  the  vertebrae  are  the 
chief  seat  of  the  mischief.  Besides  rickets,  there  are  other 
cases  of  curvature  of  the  spine,  the  causes  of  which  are  by 
no  means  very  obvious,  more  especially  those  of  the  ser- 
pentine or  lateral  curvature,  which  is  not  unfrequent 
among  delicate  girls  in  the  higher  and  middling  classes  of 
life,  though  of  very  rare  occurrence  among  tbe  lower  or- 
ders. This  disease  is  usually  observed  about  the  ninth  or 
tenth  year,  and  the  symptoms  are  generally  traced  in  the 
following  order:— 1.  The  child  makes  frequent  attempts 
to  prevent  the  dress  falling  off  one  shoulder;  2.  One  shoul- 
der appears  higher  than  the  other;  3.  One  of  the  collar- 
bones, or  one  side  of  the  breast-bone,  appears  fuller  than 
the  other;  4.  One  hip  appears  to  project;  5.  One  leg  ap- 
36G 


DISTORTION. 

pears  shorter  than  the  other;  6.  There  is  a  peculiarity  In 
the  manner  of  walking,  one  foot  being  swung  round  and 
the  shoulder  thrown  forward.  When  the  girl  reaches  the 
age  of  twelve  or  thirteen  (for  this  disease  is  tfery  rare  ir. 
boys),  she  becomes  evidently  twisted,  and  the  spine  is 
found  to  have  assumed  a  serpentine  form.  In  reference 
to  the  treatment  of  this  kind  of  distortion,  it  appears  that 
very  opposite  methods  have  been  successful ;  thus,  some 
patients  have  been  confined  for  months  to  the  same  posi- 
tion; another  violently  exercised  ;  another  shampooed  and 
acupuncturated ;  a  fourth,  relies  on  artificial  supports, 
such  as  stays  and  bandages ;  a  fifth  is  leeched  or  blistered  ; 
and  many  are  told  to  attend  only  to  the  general  health 
The  truth  is,  that  distortion  may  depend  upon  different 
causes,  and  different  remedies  may  be  required  in  its  dif- 
ferent stages  of  progress.  The  serpentine  curvature  of  the 
spine  generally  originates  in  muscular  debility  ;  and  there- 
fore, at  its  commencement,  is  appropriately  treated  by 
attention  to  the  general  health,  by  proper  exercises  and 
tonics.  As  the  disease,  however,  proceeds,  the  muscles 
and  ligaments  acquire  a  certain  form,  and  then  artificial 
supports  may  be  appropriately  resorted  to.  In  a  yet  more 
advanced  stage,  the  vertebne  themselves  become  altered 
in  form  ;  and  hence  the  spine  may  require  to  be  stretched, 
and  kept  so  during  a  considerable  part  of  the  twenty-four 
hours,  so  as  to  allow  the  bones  to  resume  their  natural 
form.  When  the  ribs  and  sternum  have  become  much 
displaced  and  misshapen,  methods  of  compressing  and  re- 
modelling them  must  be  adopted  ;  and  lastly,  when  what 
is  called  anchylosis,  or  permanent  bony  deformity,  has 
taken  place,  palliations  and  preventives  of  further  mischief 
can  alone  be  resorted  to. 

In  all  cases  where  there  is  a  tendency  to  distortion,  its 
early  progress  should  be  watched  with  the  utmost  solici- 
tude, and  preventive  means  steadily  and  perseveringly 
adopted.  When  a  girl  is  eight  or  ten  years  old,  she  should 
not  be  confined  to  the  school  room,  and  to  a  walk  once  or 
twice  a  day,  but  she  should  be  induced  by  amusing  and 
romping  games  to  use  active  exercise,  and  especially  such 
as  brings  the  muscles  of  the  trunk  into  play  ;  she  should 
not  be  kept  long  at  the  piano  forte,  and  her  chair  should  be 
made  so  as  to  support  her.  If  she  has  a  tendency  to  lean 
to  one  side,  she  should  be  allowed  to  learn  her  lessons  in  a 
recumbent  posture,  and  not  constantly  admonished  to  "  hold 
herself  up."  By  attention  to  these  simple  rules  at  a  very 
early  period  of  this  tendency  to  distortion,  its  further  pro- 
gress may  be  possibly  prevented  ;  but  if  the  girl  becomes 
listless,  lounging,  and  pallid,  appearing  awkward  in  her 
gait,  and  the  clothes  slip  off  of  one  shoulder,  the  spine  is 
probably  becoming  distorted  ;  and  in  this  case  she  should 
not  be  allowed  tosit  erect  without  using  some  artificial 
support,  such  as  an  arm-chair,  or  chair  crulch,  and  she 
should  read  always  lying  down  ;  while  by  the  help  of  pro- 
per stays  and  a  belt  support  should  be  given  to  the  loins, 
while  the  tipper  part  of  the  chest  is  left  free.  No  shoulder- 
straps,  collars,  or  back-boards,  should  be  used  to  push  in 
the  projecting  shoulder,  unless  the  loins  be  at  the  same 
time  supported  ;  for  in  the  majority  of  cases  a  sinking  of 
the  lumbar  part  is  the  cause  of  ihe  inequality  of  the  shoul- 
ders. The  child  should,  in  this  stage  of  the  disorder,  be  a 
good  deal  in  the  open  air;  not  walking  sedately,  but,  if  pos- 
sible, skipping  about  ;  and  when  she  comes  in,  should  not 
lounge  on  a  chair,  but  lie  down  ;  or  if  out-of-door  exercise 
is  inadmissible,  she  should  play  at  battledore  and  shuttle- 
cock, and  use  a  skipping  rope.  But  whatever  exercise  he 
used,  it  should  never  be  carried  to  fatigue.  The  child 
should  sleep  on  a  firm  hair  mattress  with  scarcely  any 
pillow  :  she  should  have  good  nourising  diet ;  occasional 
warm  aperients  and  alkaline  tonics  may  be  proper;  and 
cold  bathing  or  sponging.  By  scrupulously  following  up 
the  preceding  plan,  the  general  health  is  improved,  and  the 
tendency  to  distortion  often  diminished  :  but  constant  care 
for  months,  and  even  years,  can  alone  ensure  its  removal 
Where  the  spine  has  acquired  a  decided  twist,  a  variety  of 
mechanical  contrivances,  and  many  different  plans  of  treat- 
ment, have  been  proposed  and  used  with  more  or  less  suc- 
cess, with  a  view  of  correcting  the  deformity,  or  prevent- 
ing its  increase  and  improving  the  figure.  For  an  account 
of  these  we  must  refer  to  the  authors  who  have  expressly 
treated  upon  these  subjects,  and  especially  to  the  sensibla 
tract  of  the  late  Mr.  John  Shaw,  from  which  we  hav6 
abridged  the  preceding  remarks. 

There  is  another  kind  of  distortion,  differing  entirely 
from  the  preceding  ;  namely,  angular  curvature  of  tha 
spine.  It  generally  proceeds  from  the  scrofulous  ulcera- 
tion of  the  bodies  of  the  vertebrae  ;  it  is  attended  with  para- 
lysis of  the  lower  extremities,  and  is  often  fatal.  Similar 
disease  often  occurs  in  the  other  bones  and  joints  of  tha 
body. 

There  are  a  variety  of  deformities  resulting  from  other 
causes  than  those  above  adverted  to  ;  namely,  from  gout, 
rheumatism,  and  various  chronic  and  local  affections 
which,  however,  do  not  come  under  the  general  term  of" 
distortions:  nor  can  we  properly  refer  to  this  head  a  va- 


DISTRACTILE. 

riety  of  real  deformities  which  are  chiefly  the  consequence 
of  dress  and  fashion ;  such  as  those  which  result  from  wear- 
ing stays,  bandages,  ill-made  and  tight  shoes,  and  the  like. 

DISTRA/CTILE.  In  Botany,  a  term  invented  by  Rich- 
ard to  denote  a  connective  whicii  divides  into  two  unequal 
portions,  one  of  which  supports  a  cell  and  the  other  not,  as 
in  Salvia, 

DISTRE'SS,  in  Law,  is  the  taking  of  a  personal  chattel 
out  of  the  possession  of  a  wrongdoer  into  the  custody  of 
the  party  injured,  to  procure  satisfaction  for  the  wrong 
committed. 

Distress  may  be  had  for  various  kinds  of  injuries,  and 
as  a  means  of  enforcing  process,  or  the  performance  of 
ceriain  acts  in  various  cases.  But  the  most  usual  injury 
for  which  a  distress  may  be  taken  is  that  of  non-payment 
of  rent.  Distress  for  rent  is  said  to  be  incident  to  the  re- 
version ;  so  that  it  may  be  taken  for  rent  reserved  upon  a 
gift  in  tail,  lease  for  life,  years,  <fcc,  though  there  be  no 
clause  of  distress  in  the  deed,  if  the  reversion  is  in  the 
party  distraining.  Distresses  are  to  be  of  things  valuable, 
wherein  some  one  lus  a  property.  But  various  species 
of  personal  chattels  are  exempt  from  distress,  especially 
the  utensils  and  instruments  of  a  person's  trade  and  pro- 
fession, if  in  actual  use,  otherwise  they  are  not  privileged. 
All  distresses  for  rent  must  be  made  by  day,  and  on  the 
premises;  but  if  any  tenant  fraudulently  removes  goods 
from  off  the  premises,  the  landlord  may  within  thirty  days 
seize  such  goods  wheresoever  found,  unless  they  are  sold 
for  a  valuable  consideration  before  the  seizure.  Persons 
who  distrain  for  rent  may  sell  the  distress  for  payment  of 
rent  in  arrear,  if  the  tenant  or  owner  fails  to  replevy,  with 
sufficient  security,  within  five  days  after  taking  the  distress 
and  giving  the  tenant  notice  of  the  cause.  In  this  case  the 
constable  is  bound  to  assist ;  the  goods  are  to  be  appraised 
by  two  sworn  appraisers  ;  and  the  overplus,  if  any,  left  in 
the  constable's  hands  for  the  use  of  the  owner. 

DI'STRIOT.  A  territorial  division.  This  term  was  for- 
merly used  in  France,  and  particularly  in  the  year  1790, 
when  by  the  law  of  16th  Feb.  the  whole  country  was  di- 
vided into  555  districts  ;  and  it  is  still  common  to  many  of 
the  Continental  states.  The  county  of  Lincoln  is  divided 
into  three  districts;  Lindsey,  Kestevon,  and  Holland. 
These  divisions  areof  great  antiquity,  and  in  all  probability 
owe  their  origin  to  the  distinct  natural  features  by  which 
they  are  characterized. 

DITHYRA/MBIC  ODE.  (Gr.  (5i0upa/i/?oc.)  A  species 
of  Greek  lyrical  poem  in  honour  of  Bacchus,  whicii  derived 
its  name  from  Dithyrambu3,  (At0upa/t/?oj),  one  of  the  ap- 
pellations of  that  deity  :  a  word  of  uncertain  meaning  and 
etymolosy.  The  style  of  this  poetry  was  very  bold,  often 
passing  into  bombast ;  so  much  so  indeed  as  to  become 

Sroverbial  for  the  latter  quality.  The  most  celebrated 
lithyrambic  writer  was  Pindar;  none  of  whose  composi- 
tions in  this  line,  however,  have  come  down  to  us,  or  in- 
deed any  other  known  poems  of  this  class.  In  modern 
times  t lie  term  i<  indiscriminately  employed  to  designate 
odes  of  an  impetuous  and  irregular  character.     See  Ode. 

DI'TONE  (Gr.  Sitovo;.)  In  Music,  an  interval  con- 
sisting of  two  tones. 

DFTRIGLYPII.  (Gr.  Sts,  twice,  rptis,  three,  and 
y\v<pw.  I  carve.)  In  Architecture,  an  arrangement  of  in- 
tercolumniations  in  the  Doric  order,  by  whicii  two  tri- 
glypha  are  obtained  in  the  frieze  between  the  triglyphs 
that  stand  over  the  columns. 

DI'TTO.  In  Bookkeeping,  more  usually  contracted 
into  Do,  signifies  the  same  as  that  which  precedes  it.  It  is 
derived  from  the  Italian  word  ditto,  signifying  the  said. 

DI'TTY.  (Fr.  ditie.)  A  word  of  great  antiquity  in  the 
English  language,  signifying  most  usually  a  simple  or  pas- 
toral song.     Thus  Milton  says  — 

Meanwhile  the  rural  ditties  were  not  mute, 
Tempered  to  the  oalen  flute  ; 
Rough  satyrs  danced,  &c. 

Shakespeare,  Dryden,  and  many  of  the  old  classic  Eng- 
lish writers,  have  repeatedly  given  importance  to  this  word. 

DIURE'SIS.  (Gr.  Siovprieris.  a  discharge  of  urine.)  An 
excessive  How  of  urine.     See  Diabetes. 

DIURE'TIC,  signifies  literally  any  thing  whicii  increases 
the  secretion  of  urine.  The  term  is  usually  applied  to 
certain  medicines  which  act  especially  upon  the  kidneys, 
such  as  squills,  turpentine,  and  some  of  the  neutral  salts; 
and  it  frequently  happens  that  during  an  inordinate  flow  of 
urine  derived  from  such  causes  watery  fluids  are  absorbed 
from  other  parts,  and,  as  it  were,  transposed  to  the  kidneys ; 
upon  this  principle  is  founded  the  use  of  diuretics  in  dropsy. 
There  are  some  alteratives  which  operate  as  diuretics,  es- 
pecially when  they  are  taking  a  favourable  operation  upon 
the  system  :  this  seems  especially  to  be  the  ease  with  sar- 
saparilla.  Water  and  other  diluents  and  liquids,  when 
taken  in  excess,  also  operate  as  diuretics;  as  far,  at  least,  as 
mere  increase  in  the  flow  of  urine  is  concerned. 

DIU'RNAL  (Lat.  dies,  a  day),  is  the  name  given  to 
the  book  containing  those  canonical  hours  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  breviary  which  are  to  be  said  during  the  day.  It 
357 


DIVINE  RIGHT. 

is  intended  especially  for  the  clergy  of  the  Romish  church, 
and  consists  generally  of  four  volumes,  one  for  each  sea- 
son of  the  year. 

DIU'RNALS.  (Lat.  diurnus,  by  day.)  A  tribe  of  Rap- 
torial birds,  including  those  which  fly  by  day  and  have  la- 
teral eyes  :  also  a  family  of  Lepidopterous  insects,  which 
have  a  similar  period  of  activity. 

DIVA'N.  A  word  common  to  many  of  the  eastern  lan- 
guages, signifying  in  Turkish  the  audience-chamber  of  the 
vizier,  or  supreme  judicial  tribunal.  The  divan  of  the  ca- 
liphs was  a  court  for  the  relief  of  petitioners,  over  which 
those  monarchs  presided  in  person.  The  Turkish  divan, 
as  is  well  known,  is  the  great  council  of  the  empire. 

It  would  seem  that  the  earliest  acceptation  in  which  this 
word  was  employed  is  that  of  a  muster-roll  or  military  day- 
book ;  and  we  find  it  used,  especially  by  the  ancient  Arabs, 
who  borrowed  it  from  the  Persians,  to  signify  a  collection 
of  poems  by  one  and  the  same  author,  arranged  in  alpha- 
betical order ;  thus  we  hear  of  the  Divan  (i.  e.  the  collected 
poems)  of  Sadi,  the  Divan  of  Halfiz,  &c.  The  word  divan 
is  also  among  the  Turks  a  common  appellation  for  a  saloon 
or  hall  which  serves  for  the  reception  of  company,  for  the 
transacting  of  business,  or  for  occasional  repose ;  hence  in 
all  probability  the  term  is  employed  in  all  modern  lan- 
guages to  signify  a  sofa. 

DIVA'RICATE.  (Lat.  divarico.)  In  Zoology,  when  the 
divisions  of  a  part  spread  out  widely. 

DIVE'RGENT.  (Lat.  divergo.)  In  Zoology,  when  the 
branches  form  a  right  angle  with  the  stem;  as  the  snags 
of  certain  antlers,  the  divisions  of  certain  Polypiaries,  &c. 

DIVE'RGING.  In  Botany,  used  in  describing  the  vena- 
tion of  leaves,  to  denote  the  angle  which  is  formed  by  the 
midrib  and  one  of  the  primary  veins,  when  it  is  between 
20°  and  40°. 

DIVIDEND.  (Lat.  divido,  I  divide.)  In  Arithmetic, 
the  number  or  quantity  given  to  be  divided.  Dividend,  in 
Commerce,  is  the  name  given  to  the  payment  made  to  cred- 
itors out  of  the  estate  of  a  bankrupt,  and  to  the  annual  inte- 
rest payable  upon  the  national  debt  and  other  public  funds. 

DIVINA'TION.  (Lat.)  The  art  of  foretelling  future 
events.  A  singular  and  ever-active  feeling  of  curiosity  has 
in  all  ages  induced  mankind  to  cast  an  anxious  look  to- 
wards futurity  in  the  desire  of  penetrating  its  mysteries, 
originally  either  by  serious  reflections  on  the  past,  by  a 
comparison  of  the  past  with  the  present,  or  by  inferences 
more  or  less  satisfactorily  deduced  from  the  probable  oc- 
currence of  events.  But  mankind  did  not  rest  here  :  since 
the  remotest  period  of  antiquity,  divination  formed  a  regu- 
lar science,  intimately  allied  to  religion,  and  furnished 
with  peculiar  rules  and  regulations,  more  or  less  skilful 
and  ingenious  in  proportion  to  the  state  of  civilization  of 
the  people  by  whom  it  was  practised.  But  of  all  the  na- 
tions of  antiquity  there  were  none  who,  notwithstanding 
their  great  learning  and  refinement,  cultivated  the  science 
of  divination  with  such  enthusiasm  as  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans. Independently  of  their  credulity  with  reaard  to  augu- 
ri'-s  and  oracles,  which  may  be  termed  the  higher  class  of 
divination,  the  most  trifling  incidents  supplied  them  with 
the  occasion  to  indulge  in  this  propensity  ;  and  there  was 
nothing  in  the  wide  range  of  human  affairs  from  which 
they  did  not  derive  tokens  of  futurity.  To  enumerate  all, 
or  even  the  chief  objects  of  divination  among  the  ancients, 
would  far  exceed  our  prescribed  limits.  Under  the  differ- 
ent heads,  as  Belomancv,  Necromancy,  &c  ,  the  reader 
will  find  a  notice  of  the  principal  of  them ;  and  for  the  rest 
he  may  consult  with  advantage  Cicero,  De  Divinatione. 
See  Oracle. 

DIVINE  RIGHT,  THE,  OF  KINGS.  In  Politics,  means 
the  absolute  and  unqualified  claim  of  sovereigns  on  the 
obedience  of  the  people ;  insomuch  that,  although  they 
may  themselves  submit  to  restrictions  on  their  authority, 
yet  subjects  endeavouring  to  enforce  those  restrictions  by 
resistance  to  their  unlawful  acts  are  guilty  of  a  sin.  This 
doctrine,  so  celebrated  in  English  constitutional  history, 
has  been  asserted  on  very  different  grounds.  Hobbes 
{De  Civ.)  deduced  the  absolute  authority  of  kings  from  the 
supposed  social  contract,  whereby  men  parted  absolutely 
with  their  natural  rights  in  exchange  for  protection.  But 
the  fashionable  political  writers  and  theologians  of  the 
times  both  of  Charles  I.  and  II.  (in  the  latter  reign,  Sir 
Robert  Filmer,  author  of  the  Patriarcha,  may  be  more  es- 
pecially cited,  on  account  of  his  having  been  directly  an- 
swered by  Leslie),  maintained  that  government  had  an  ex- 
istence before  property,  and  before  any  supposed  social 
contract  could  took  place  ;  that  itoriginatedin  the  patriarchal 
sway,  whicii  was  succeeded  by  the  regal,  and  that  no  other 
was  authorized  by  Scripture.  See  also  the  Convocation 
Book  of  1603;  Archbishop  Leslie  on  the  Potter  of  the 
Prince  ;  Sherlock's  Case  of  Resistance  to  Supreme  Potters, 
1681;  Mackenzie's  Jus  Regium,  1683.  The  same  princi- 
ples were  practically  adopted  by  the  Jacobites,  when  they 
maintained  the  divine  right  of  the  expelled  sovereign,  and 
afterwards  of  his  descendants,  by  hereditary  title.  As  to 
the  views  of  modern  high  church  divines  on  the  subject, 


DIVING. 

see  Dr.  Ptisey's  Sermon  on  the  5th  of  November,  1837.    See 

NON  RESISTANCE. 

DI'VING.  The  art  of  descending  in  water.  Indepen- 
dently of  the  valuable  native  productions  which  are  found 
at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  such  as  pearls,  coral,  sponges,  <tc, 
the  treasure  which  is  so  frequently  carried  down  in  wrecked 
vessels  makes  it  an  object  of  importance  to  be  able  to  de- 
scend to  the  bottom  and  remain  there  long  enough  to  exe- 
cute the  operations  necessary  to  recover  it.  But  without 
the  assistance  of  some  mechanical  apparatus,  it  is  ex- 
tremely little  that  even  the  most  practised  divers  can  per- 
form. A  minute  and  a  half,  or  two  minutes,  is  the  longest 
time  that  a  diver,  in  general,  can  remain  underwater.  Bo- 
sides,  on  account  of  the  loss  of  weight  in  water,  the  power 
which  a  man  can  exert  is  extremely  small,  unless  borne 
down  by  a  load  which  would  entirely  prevent  him  from 
rising  again  to  the  top.  For  these  reasons,  numerous  pro. 
jects'have  been  brought  forward  to  assist  the  natural  powers 
of  the  body,  and  render  diving  an  art  of  more  extensive 
utility.  In  all  these  projects,  the  principal  object  aimed  at 
is  to  supply  the  diver  with  fresh  air  and  light,  and  leave 
him  the  free  use  of  his  arms,  and  the  power  of  walking 
within  a  moderate  range  at  the  bottom.  Borelli  contrived 
an  apparatus  which  he  called  a  diving  bladder;  the  bladder 
being  of  brass  or  copper,  about  two  feet  in  diameter,  to 
contain  the  diver's  head,  and  fastened  to  a  goatskin  cover- 
ing exactly  fitted  to  the  shape  of  the  head.  An  apparatus 
of  this  kind  was  successfully  used  by  Mr.  Deane  on  the 
west  coast  of  Scotland,  at  Spithead,  and  at  Donaghadee, 
where  he  brought  up  an  immense  number  of  dollars  and 
various  otherarticles  from  a  vessel  which  had  been  wrecked 
there  more  than  thirty  years  before. 

The  principal  part  of  Mr.  Deane's  apparatus  consists  of 
a  helmet  of  thin  sheet  copper,  which  covers  the  head  of  the 
diver,  large  enough  to  admit  of  free  motion,  and  furnished 
with  three  eye-holes,  covered  with  glass  protected  by 
brass  wires.  The  helmet  comes  pretty  well  down  over 
the  breast  and  back,  and  is  fastened  by  rivets  to  a  water- 
proof canvass  jacket  so  tightly  that  no  water  can  pene- 
trate. A  leather  belt  passes  round  the  diver,  to  which  are 
attached  two  weights,  one  before  and  the  other  behind,  each 
about  40  lbs.  The  belt  is  supplied  with  a  buckle  in  front, 
which,  in  case  of  any  accident  happening,  can  be  instantly 
undone.  The  diver  is  supplied  with  fresh  air  by  means 
of  a  flexible  water-proof  pipe,  which  en- 
ters the  helmet,  and  communicates  with 
an  air-pump,  wrought  above  in  the  barge 
from  which  he  descends.  This  pipe 
passes  under  the  left  arm  of  the  diver, 
and  enters  the  back  of  the  helmet,  being 
so  contrived  that  the  fresh  air  is  made 
to  impinge  on  the  glasses;  which  in  a 
great  measure  prevents  their  being  dim- 
med by  the  moisture  of  the  breath. 
From  the  back  part  of  the  helmet  there  is  also  led  an 
eduction  pipe,  to  allow  the  escape  of  the  breathed  air.  A 
signal  line  passes  under  the  right  arm  to  communicate 
with  attendants  at  the  surface.  The  diver  descends  from 
the  side  of  the  vessel,  either  by  means  of  a  rope  or  wooden 
ladder,  loaded  at  the  lower  end,  the  weight  being  kept  at 
a  little  height  above  the  ground.  When  the  diver  descends 
to  the  bottom,  the  weight  is  let  down,  and  the  rope  allowed 
to  become  slack,  to  prevent  the  motion  of  the  boat  from 
obstructing  him.  His  motion  is  rendered  steady  by  heavy 
weights  attached  to  his  feet:  and  he  carries  a  line  in  his 
hand,  that  he  may,  when  necessary,  guide  himself  back  to 
the  rope.  A  waterproof  dress  covers  his  body  entirely  ; 
and  he  is  thus  enabled  to  remain  under  water  five  or  six 
hours  at  once,  all  the  while  perfectly  dry.  (.See  Popular 
Encyclopaedia,  art.  "  Diving.") 

DIVING  BELL.  An  apparatus  by  means  of  which  per- 
sons are  let  down  and  enabled  to  remain  under  water,  and 
execute  various  operations ;  such  as  levelling  or  clearing 
the  bottoms  of  harbours,  preparing  a  foundation  for  build- 
ings, bringing  up  sunken  materials,  &c.  The  principle  of 
the  diving  bell  depends  on  the  impenetrability  of  atmo- 
spheric air,  and  may  be  illustrated  by  a  very  familiar  ex- 
periment. Bring  the  edge  of  an  inverted  tumbler,  or  any 
close  vessel,  to  the  surface  of  water,  and,  keeping  the 
mouth  horizontal,  press  it  down  in  the  water.  It  will  be 
seen  that,  though  some  portion  of  water  ascends  into  the 
tumbler,  the  greater  part  of  the  space  remains  empty,  or 
only  filled  with  air;  and  any  object  placed  in  this  space, 
though  surrounded  on  all  sides  with  water,  would  remain 
perfectly  dry.  In  fact,  the  quantity  of  air  remains  the  same, 
but  is  compressed  into  a  smaller  volume,  in  proportion  to 
the  depth  to  which  it  is  made  to  descend.  Now,  if  we 
conceive  a  vessel  of  wood  or  iron,  sufficiently  capacious 
to  hold  several  men,  to  be  suspended  by  a  chain,  and  low- 
ered by  means  of  weights  attached  to  it  to  any  moderate 
depth  under  water,  it  is  evident  that  they  may  remain 
there  for  a  considerable  time,  and  perform  any  operation 
that  could  be  executed  on  land  in  (he  same  confined  space. 
The  machine,  however,  as  thus  described,  is  liable  to  two 
358 


DIVING  BELL. 

great  defects,  which  must  be  obviated  by  other  con- 
trivances before  any  great  advantage  can  be  derived  from 
it.  In  the  first  place,  as  the  air  by  its  comprcssibilily  al- 
lows the  water  to  enter  the  lower  part  of  the  bell,  the  dry 
space  is  not  only  diminished,  but  the  bottom  on  which  the 
bell  rests,  and  where  the  operations  arc  to  be  carried  on, 
is  also  covered  with  water  to  a  proportional  depth.  In  the 
second  place,  the  air  within  the  bell,  by  repeated  respira- 
tion, soon  becomes  mephitic,  and  unfit  to  support  life;  so 
that  it  is  necessary  to  elevate  the  apparatus  after  short  in- 
tervals, to  admit  a  fresh  supply. 

It  is  not  known  at  what  period  the  diving  bell  was  invent- 
ed. Beckman,  in  his  History  of  Inventions,  mentions  that 
at  Toledo,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  two  Greeks,  in  the 
presence  of  the  emperor  Charles  V.  and  several  thousand 
spectators,  let  themselves  down  under  water  in  a  large  in- 
verted kettle  with  a  burning  light,  and  rose  again  without 
being  wet.  George  Sinclair,  the  author  of  Solan's  Invisi- 
ble World  Displayed,  in  his  work  entitled  Ars  Aova  et 
Magna  Gravilatis  et  Levitatis,  mentions  some  attempts 
that  were  made,  about  the  year  1665,  to  raise,  by  means  of 
a  diving  bell,  the  treasure  from  the  ships  of  the  Invincible 
Armada  that  went  to  the  bottom  near  the  Isle  of  Mull  in 
the  Hebrides,  and  describes  the  kind  of  bell  that  was  em- 
ployed. But,  on  account  of  the  defects  to  which  we  have 
alluded,  the  diving  bell  continued  to  be  of  very  little  use 
till  the  time  of  Dr.  Halley,  who  contrived  a  means  of  intro- 
ducing fresh  air  into  the  bell  while  under  water,  and  of  al- 
lowing the  mephitic  or  breathed  air  to  escape.  The  bell 
he  made  use  of  he  describes  as  having  been  of  wood,  con- 
taining about  60  cubic  feet  in  its  cavity,  and  of  the  form  of  a 
truncated  cone,  whose  diameter  at  the  top  was  three  feet, 
and  at  the  bottom  five.  This  was  coated  with  lead,  so 
heavy  that  it  could  sink  empty,  and  the  weight  so  distri- 
buted about  its  bottom  that  it  could  only  descend  in  a  per- 
pendicular direction.  In  the  top  a  clear  glass  was  fixed,  to 
let  in  the  light  from  above,  and  a  cock  to  let  out  the  air  that 
had  been  breathed.  To  supply  the  air  to  the  bell  he  caused 
a  couple  of  barrels,  of  about  36  gallons  each,  to  be  cased 
with  lead  so  as  to  sink  empty,  each  of  them  having  a  bung- 
hole  in  its  lowest  part,  to  let  in  the  water  as  the  air  in  them 
condensed  on  their  descent,  and  to  let  it  out  again  when 
they  were  drawn  up  full  from  below.  To  a  hole  in  the  up- 
permost part  of  the  barrels  a  trunk  or  hose  was  fixed,  long 
enough  to  fall  below  the  bung  hole,  and  kept  down  by  a 
weight,  so  that  no  air  could  escape  by  the  hose  till  its  end 
was  raised  up.  The  barrels  thus  prepared  were  let  down 
by  the  side  of  the  bell.  A  man  slationed  on  a  stage  sus- 
pended from  the  bell  was  ready  to  take  up  the  hose  ;  and, 
as  soon  as  their  ends  were  brought  to  the  surface  of  the 
water  in  the  barrels,  all  the  air  that  was  included  in  the  up- 
per parts  of  them  was  blown  with  great  violence  into  the 
bell,  while  the  water  entered  at  the  bung-holes  below  and 
filled  the  barrels.  By  means  of  this  contrivance  the  air 
was  not  only  kept  fresh,  but  another  great  advantage  was 
gained  ;  namely,  that  by  admitting  a  sufficient  quantity  of 
it  the  whole  of  the  water  was  expelled  from  the  inside  of 
the  bell,  and  the  bottom  of  the  sea  laid  dry. 

By  means  of  this  contrivance  for  the  admission  of  fresh 
air,  it  was  now  possible  to  remain  for  any  length  of  time 
under  water;  but  the  use  of  the  apparatus  was  still  found 
to  be  attended  with  some  inconveniences,  and  even  con- 
siderable danger.  The  divers  within  the  bell  having  no 
power  over  it,  its  rising  or  sinking  depends  entirely  upon 
the  people  at  the  surface  of  the  water ;  and  as  the  bell, 
even  when  in  the  water,  has  a  considerable  weight,  there  is 
always  a  possibility  of  the  chain  by  which  it  is  raised  break- 
ing, which  would  inevitably  be  attended  with  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  divers  Another  danger,  still  more  to  be  appre- 
hended, is,  that  if  the  mouth  of  the  bell  in  its  descent 
should  come  upon  a  sunken  ship,  or  a  rock  projecting  ab- 
ruptly from  the  bottom,  it  might  be  overset  before  any  sig- 
nal could  be  given  to  those  above.  These  defects  were 
obviated  by  the  very  ingenious  contrivances  of  Mr.  Spald- 
ing of  Edinburgh.  In  order  to  avoid  the  risk  of  being  upset 
when  the  bell  descends  on  a  rocky  or  uneven  bottom,  he 
suspended  a  considerable  weight,  which  he  called  a  ba- 
lance ueight,  below  the  bell,  by  a  rope  passing  over  a  pul- 
ley fixed  in  the  inside  ;  and  the  other  weights  attached  to 
the  bell  being  so  adjusted  that  they  could  not  sink  it  with- 
out the  balance  weight,  as  soon  as  the  latter  rested  on  the 
ground  the  bell  remained  suspended  in  Ihe  water.  In  case, 
of  the  mouth  of  the  bell  being  caught  by  any  obstacle,  the 
balance  weight  is  immediately  lowered,  till  it  rests  on  the 
bottom;  and  as  the  bell,  when  thus  relieved,  is  buoyant, 
the  divers,  having  disengaged  it  from  the  rock,  have  it  in 
their  power  either  to  descend  by  pulling  in  the  rope,  or  by 
allowing  it  to  run  to  ascend  to  the  surface.  Another  con- 
trivance of  Mr.  Spalding  deserves  mention.  He  divided 
the  bell  into  two  compartments,  the  one  above  the  other, 
and  communicating  by  means  of  a  stopcock.  The  divers 
are  stationeil  in  the  lower  one,  and  the  weights  are  so  ad- 
justed that  when  the  cavity  above  is  empty  the  bell  is  buoy- 
ant ;  when  it  is  filled  with  water,  the  bell  sinks.    Immedi- 


DIVINING  ROD. 

ately  above  the  partition  are  some  slits  in  the  sides  of  the 
bell ;  and  at  the  top  is  an  orifice,  which  can  be  opened  or 
shut  at  pleasure.  Suppose  now,  this  orifice  being  open, 
the  bell  is  required  to  be  lowered  ;  as  it  descends,  the  wa- 
ter enters  at  the  slits,  and  the  air  escapes  by  the  orifice. 
When  the  apparatus  is  entirely  under  water,  and  the  cavity 
consequently  completely  filled,  let  the  orifice  be  shut. 
The  bell  will  now  continue  to  descend  ;  but  if  the  stopcock 
communicating  with  the  upper  compartment  be  opened, 
the  air  will  rush  from  the  under  to  the  upper,  and  displace 
a  quantity  of  the  water,  and  the  apparatus  will  be  lightened 
by  the  whole  of  the  water  so  displaced.  The  divers  have 
it  thus  in  their  power  to  regulate  the  descent  or  rise  as 
they  please.  By  admitting  a  certain  quantity  of  airinto  the 
tipper  cavity,  the  descent  of  the  bell  is  arrested  ;  by  admit- 
ting a  greater  quantity  it  becomes  buoyant,  and  rises  to  the 
top.  This  method  of  constructing  the  diving  bell  has  not, 
however,  been  adopted. 

The  greatest  improvement  on  the  diving  bell,  since  that 
of  Halley,  was  made  by  the  celebrated  Mr.  Smeaton,  and 
consists  in  forcing  down  a  continued  stream  of  air  by 
means  of  an  air-pump  through  a  flexible  lube;  and  this 
plan  is  now  always  adopted.  In  the  year  1783,  Smeaton 
constructed  a  diving  bell  to  be  used  in  the  operations  then 
contemplated  at  Ramsgate  harbour  on  a  new  and  im- 
proved plan.  Instead  of  a  bell-shaped  vessel  sunk  by 
weights,  his  apparatus  consisted  of  a  square  chest  of  cast 
iron,  four  and  a  half  feet  long,  four  and  a  half  feet  high,  and 
three  feet  wide,  affording  sufficient  room  for  two  men 
under  it.  It  was  cast  of  such  a  thickness  that  its  own 
weight  was  sufficient  to  sink  it;  and  its  thickness  was 
greatest  near  the  mouth  or  lower  part,  to  prevent  it  from 
being  easily  overset.  This  construction  of  the  diving  bell 
gave  the  men  within  it  no  power  of  raising  or  sinking  it; 
but  as  the  apparatus  was  made  to  be  used  at  a  place  where 
the  nature  of  the  bottom  was  known,  this  advantage  was 
not  considered  of  grDat  consequence ;  and.  in  fact,  it.  is 
found  by  experience  that  it.  is  better  to  leave  the  bell  to  be 
entirely  guided  from  above.  On  account  of  the  facility 
with  which  water  conveys  sound,  the  strokes  of  a  hammer 
on  the  inside  of  the  bell  can  be  heard  at  a  great  distance  ; 
and  the  sound  coming  through  the  water  has  a  peculiar 
character,  which  cannot  be  mistaken.  By  previous  ar- 
rangement any  directions  can  be  given  in  this  manner. 
For  instance,  one  blow  may  denote  more  air;  two,  stand 
fast ;  three,  heave  up  ;  four,  lower  down,  and  so  on.  With 
these  successive  improvements,  the  diving  hell  is  found  to 
be  a  most  important  machine  in  all  the  great  operations  to 
be  performed  under  water.  It  was  used  with  great  ad- 
vantage by  Mr.  ltennie  in  the  construction  of  the  various 
harbours  he  projected  ;  and  it  has  recently  been  success- 
fully employed  in  deepening  the  Clyde  between  Glasgow 
and  Greenock,  and  improving  the  navigation  of  the  river. 
See  the  article  "Diving  Bell,"  in  the  new  edition  of  the 
Encyclopedia  Brita  nnica. 

DIVI'NING  ROD.     See  Rabdomancy. 

DIVI'SIBII.I'TY.  The  property  which  all  bodies  possess 
of  being  separable  into  parts.  It  was  a  question  formerly 
much  agitated  among  philosophers,  whether  matter  is  divi- 
sible in  infinitum;  or  whether  a  certain  term  does  not 
exist  beyond  which  the  particles  are  reduced  to  simple 
atoms  incapable  of  further  division.  The  question  is  inca- 
pable of  direct  solution,  and  fortunately  is  of  no  importance 
to  science;  but  the  extent  to  which  the  actual  subdivision 
of  bodies  has  been  earned  in  many  cases  in  the  arts  may 
well  be  considered  as  prodigious.  "  In  the  gilding  of  buttons, 
6  grains  of  gold,  which  is  applied  as  an  amalgam  with  mer- 
cury, is  allowed  to  each  gross ;  so  that  the  coating  left  must 
amount  to  the  110,000th  part  of  an  inch  in  thickness.  If  a 
piece  of  ivory,  or  white  satin,  be  immersed  in  a  nitro-muri- 
ate  solution  of  gold,  and  then  exposed  to  a  current  of  hydro- 
gengas,  it  will  become  covered  with  a  surface  of  gold  hardly 
exceeding  in  thickness  the  ten-millionth  part  of  an  inch." 

"The  solution  of  certain  saline  bodies,  and  of  other  co- 
loured substances,  exhibits  a  prodigious  subdivision  and 
dissemination  of  matter.  A  single  grain  of  the  sulphate  of 
copper,  or  blue  vitriol,  will  communicate  a  fine  azure  tint 
to  five  gallons  of  water.  In  this  case  the  copper  must  be 
attenuated  at  least  ten  million  times;  yet  each  drop  of  the 
liquid  may  contain  so  many  coloured  particles,  distinguish- 
able by  our  unassisted  vision.  Odours  are  capable  of  a  still 
wider  diffusion.  A  single  grain  of  musk  has  been  known 
to  perfume  a  room  for  the  space  of  twenty  years.  Animal 
matter  likewise  exhibits  in  many  instances  a  wonderful 
subdivision.  The  milt  of  a  codfish  when  it  begins  to  pu- 
trefy has  been  computed  to  contain  a  billion  of  perfect  in- 
sects, so  that  thousands  of  these  living  creatures  could  be 
lifted  on  the  point  of  a  needle.  But  the  infusory  animal- 
cules display  in  their  structure  and  functions  the  most 
transcendent  attenuation  of  matter.  The  Vibrio  undula, 
found  in  duck  weed,  is  computed  to  be  ten  thousand  mil- 
lion times  smaller  than  a  hemp  seed.  The  Vibrio  lineola 
occurs  in  vegetable  infusions,  every  drop  containing  my- 
riads of  these  oblong  points.  The  Monas  gelatinosa,  dis- 
359 


DOCKET. 

covered  in  ditch  water,  appears  in  the  field  of  a  microscope 
a  mere  atom  endued  with  life,  millions  of  them  playing 
like  sunbeams  in  a  single  drop  of  liquid."  (Leslie's  Na- 
tural Philosophy.) 

DIVI'SION.  (I.at.  divido,  I  divide.)  One  of  the  four  fun- 
damental rules  of  arithmetic,  the  object  of  which  is  to  find 
how  often  one  number  is  contained  in  another.  The  num- 
ber to  be  divided  is  the  dividend,  the  number  which  divides 
is  the  divisor,  and  the  result  of  the  division  is  the  quotient. 
Division  is  the  converse  of  multiplication. 

Divi'sion.  In  Music,  a  dividing  or  separation  of  the  in- 
terval of  an  octave  into  a  number  of  lesser  intervals. 

Divi'sion,  in  Logic,  is  the  enumeration  of  several  things 
signified  by  a  common  name ;  thus,  tree  is  said  to  be  di- 
vided into  oak,  ash,  elm,  &c.  A  common  term  may  be 
divided  in  several  ways,  according  to  the  various  points  of 
view  in  which  it  may  be  regarded  for  the  purpose  of  quali- 
fication. Thus  a  bookbinder  may  divide  books  into  folios, 
quartos,  &c. ;  a  librarian  into  theological,  historical,  &c. 

Division,  in  the  art  Military,  signifies  generally  a  certain 
proportion  of  an  army,  consisting  of  cavalry  and  infantry 
together  or  separately,  that  is,  under  the  order  of  a  briga- 
dier or  other  general  officer;  but,  in  a  more  restricted 
sense,  it  is  applied  to  any  number  of  men  on  military  duty 
detached  from  an  established  body,  as  a  division  of  artil- 
lery, pioneers,  &c.  The  divisions  of  an  army  are  the 
numberof  the  brigades  and  squadrons  of  which  it  consists; 
the  divisions  of  a  battalion  are  the  several  platoons  into 
which  a  regiment  or  battalion  is  divided  either  in  marching 
or  firing.     (James's  Mil.  Diet.) 

DIVO'RCE.  (From  the  modern  Latin  word  divortiare, 
to  turn  or  put  aicay.)  The  Jewish  law  of  divorce  is  founded 
on  the  directions  given  in  the  24lh  chapter  of  Deuteronomy  ; 
but  the  permission  therein  contained  is  subject  to  many 
obstacles  and  formalities  in  modern  practice.  In  Greece, 
in  classical  times,  the  practice  of  divorce  seems  to  have 
varied  in  different  states ;  at  Sparta  it  appears  to  have  been 
unusual,  in  Athens  great  facilities  were  afforded  by  the 
law.  In  republican  Rome  great  strictness  in  this  branch 
of  morals  prevailed  fora  long  period,  although  parties  were 
less  impeded  in  pursuing  a  divorce  by  the  difficulties  im- 
posed by  the  law  than  by  public  opinion.  But  in  the  later 
period  of  the  republic,  and  under  the  emperors,  divorce 
became  extremely  common,  and  was  obtained  with  equal 
ease  by  either  sex.  Our  Saviour's  declaration  to  the  Pha- 
risee, in  the  19th  chapter  of  St.  Matthew,  became  the 
foundation  of  the  law  on  this  subject  in  Christian  coun- 
tries, and  divorces  were  consequently  allowed  in  one  par- 
ticular case  only  ;  but  after  the  Roman  church  had  erected 
matrimony  into  a  sacrament,  they  became,  as  they  now 
are  in  Catholic  countries,  wholly  impossible:  the  only 
dissolution  of  marriage  being  in  cases  where  it  is  void  ab 
initio.  In  most  Protestant  countries,  the  facility  of  divorce 
has  been  so  much  restored  in  latter  times  as  to  approxi- 
mate to  the  heathen  practice.  In  England  divorce  avin 
culo  matrimonii,  on  the  ground  of  adultery,  can  only  be 
obtained  by  act  of  parliament ;  divorce  a  mensii  et  toro* 
commonly  termed  separation,  by  sentence  of  the  spiritual 
court.     See  Marriage,  Law  op. 

DO.  In  Music,  a  syllable  used  by  the  Italians  instead  of 
ut,  than  which  it  is  by  them  considered  more  musical  and 
resonant. 

DOCE'T/E.  (Gr.  Sokciv,  to  seem.)  One  of  the  earliest 
heretical  sects;  so  called  from  the  reality  of  our  Lord's 
incarnation,  and  considering  him  to  have  acted  and  suffered 
only  in  appearance.  Some  divines  have  conceived  that  the 
express  declarations  of  the  nature  of  Christ  in  St.  John's 
writings  were  soecially  directed  against  these  opinions. 

DO'CIMA'STIC  ART.  (Gr.  (Wi/ia^co,  I  prove.)  The 
art  of  assaying  minerals  or  ores,  with  a  view  of  determining 
the  quantity  of  metal  which  they  contain. 

DOCK.  (Probably  from  the  Gr.  6£x°tiali  I  receive.)  An 
artificial  basin  for  the  reception  of  ships.  Docks  are  of 
two  sorts,  wet  and  dry  :  the  former  are  used  for  the  pur- 
pose of  loading  and  unloading  a  ship's  cargo  out  of  the  in- 
fluence of  the  tide,  and  are  constructed  with  gates,  which 
when  shut  keep  the  ship  constantly  afloat  at  low  water; 
the  latter  are  intended  for  the  building,  repairing,  or  ex- 
amination of  ships,  which  are  admitted  into  them  at  flood 
tide,  and  are  so  called  because  they  are  either  left  dry  by 
the  ebbing  of  the  sea,  or  rendered  so  by  the  use  of  great 
flood  gates  or  of  pumps.  The  reader  will  find  in  the 
Commercial  Dictionary  a  full  account  of  all  the  docks  of 
Great  Britain,  with  remarks  on  their  utility,  history,  &c. 
A  naval  dock  is  a  place  provided  with  all  sorts  of  naval 
stores,  timber,  and  all  the  requisite  machinery  for  ship- 
building. The  principal  naval  docks  of  Great  Britain  ara 
Portsmouth,  Plymouth,  Chatham,  Sheerness,  Woolwich, 
and  Deptford.  It  is  in  these  docks,  and  particularly  the 
three  first,  that  ships  of  war  are  laid  up  in  time  of  peace. 

DOCKET,  DOCQ.UET,  or  DOGGETT  (Lat.  docu- 
mentum),  in  Law,  is  an  abridged  entry  of  an  instrument 
or  proceeding  on  a  small  piece  of  paper  or  parchment 
Exemplifications  of  decrees  in  chancery,  fiats  in  bank- 


DOCTOR. 

ruptcy,  and  other  instruments,  are  thus  docketed  for  pur- 
poses of  reference. 

DO'CTOR,  or  TEACHER.  This  title  of  learned  dis- 
tinction was  first  adopted  in  the  twelfth  century.  The 
degreee  of  Doctorate,  succeeding  and  superior  to  that  of 
Master  in  European  universities,  was  first  conferred  at 
Bologna  ;  by  the  university  of  Paris,  in  1145,  on  Peter 
Lombard  ;  in  England,  it  is  supposed,  in  the  reign  of  King 
John.  Before  this  time,  if  the  appellation  of  Doctor  was 
used,  it  was  only  in  its  plain  sense  of  "teacher,"  and  as 
synonymous  with  master.  The  degree  of  Doctor  is  con- 
ferred, in  the  English  universities,  in  each  of  the  three 
faculties  of  divinity,  law,  and  medicine, — but  not  in  that  of 
arts, — and  in  the  science  of  music.  The  Continental  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  is  unknown  among  us. 

Do'ctor.  A  thin  plate  of  steel  used  in  scraping  the 
colour  or  mordant  off  the  copper  plates  employed  in  calico 
printing ;  the  term  is  probably  a  corruption  of  the  word 
abductor. 

DO'CTORS'  COMMONS,  is  the  popular  name  for  the 
courts  and  offices  occupied  by  the  body  incorporated  in 
1768  under  the  title  of  "The  College  of  Doctors  of  Law 
exercent  in  the  Ecclesiastical  and  Admiralty  Courts "  and 
which  are  situate  on  the  southern  side  of  St.  Paul's  Church- 
yard. The  college  consists  of  a  president  (the  dean  ol  the 
arches  for  the  time  being),  and  of  those  doctors  of  law  who 
having  regularly  taken  that  degree  in  either  of  the  univer- 
sities of  Oxford  or  Cambridge,  and  having  been  admitted 
advocates  in  pursuance  of  the  rescript  of  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  have  been  elected  fellows  of  the  college  in 
the  manner  prescribed  by  the  charter.  See  Courts,  Ec- 
clesiastical. 

DO'CTRINAIRES.  In  Politics,  a  cant  word,  originally 
applied  in  France  to  a  section  of  politicians  who  occupied 
a  place,  in  the  first  chambers  after  the  restoration  of  1815, 
between  the  deputies  of  the  centre,  who  generally  sup- 
ported ministers,  and  the  extreme  left,  which  always  op- 
posed them.  The  chief  men  of  this  party  were  systematic 
writers  and  speakers  on  government,  who  sought  to  estab- 
lish a  frame  of  constitution  somewhat  more  resembling  that 
of  England  than  any  which  has  hitherto  subsisted  in  France. 
The  nickname  given  to  them  implied  that  they  were  con- 
sidered by  the  public  as  theorists:  they  were,  in  fact,  the 
same  class  which  Napoleon  used  to  term  Ideologists.  They 
supported  the  Due  de  Cazes  when  in  office  ;  afterwards  they 
were  generally  in  opposition  until  1830,  since  which  time  se- 
several  of  their  leaders  have  held  office  at  different  times. 
Royer  Collard,  De  Broglie,  the  young  Baron  de  Stael,  Gui- 
zot,  &c,  were  among  the  chief  public  men  commonly  call- 
ed Doctrinaires  ;  but  this,  like  other  party  nicknames,  has 
been,  and  is,  employed  in  a  very  arbitrary  manner. 

DO'CTRINE  (Lat.  doceo,  1  teach),  signifies,  in  itsmost  ex- 
tended sense,  any  thing  that  is  taught  either  as  a  matter  of 
faith  or  practice  ;  and  accordingly  the  term  is  applied  more 
particularly  to  various  theories  that  have  been  embraced 
and  enforced  in  philosophy  and  religion  :  hence  we  hear  of 
St.  Augustine's  doctrine  of  grace,  Newton's  doctrine  of  co- 
lours, &c. 

DO'CUMENTS.  (Lat.  doceo,  /  teach.)  In  Law,  writ- 
ten instruments  adduced  for  the  purpose  of  evidence.  See 
Evidence. 

DO'DECADA'CTYLUS.  (Gr.  AwSena,  twelve,  and 
5aicTv\os,  a  finger.)  The  portion  of  the  small  intestines 
called  duodenum,  its  length  being  about  the  breadth  of 
twelve  fingers :  this  at  least  may  be  the  case  in  some  ani- 
mals to  which  the  dissection  of  the  earlier  anatomists,  who 
gave  this  name,  was  limited. 

DODE'CAGON.  (Gr.  dwScKa,  and  ycovia,  an  angle.) 
A  regular  polygon  of  12  equal  sides.  If  the  side  of  a  do- 
decagon be  represented  by  1,  the  area  is  =  3  X  (2  +  V3) 
=  11-196  nearly.  In  general,  the  area  of  the  figure  is  equal 
to  the  square  of  its  side  multiplied  by  the  constant  number 
11196. 

DO'DECAIIE'DRON.  (Gr.  SaiSexa,  and  hSpa,  seat.) 
One  of  the  five  Platonic  bodies  or  regular  solids  ;  its  surface 
being  composed  of  12  equal  and  regular  pentagons.  The 
surface  of  a  dodecahedron  is  found  by  multiplying  the  square 
of  its  side  or  linear  edge  into  the  number  20  64578  :  and  its 
solidity  by  multiplying  the  cube  of  its  side  by  766312. 

DODECA'NDROUS.  (Gr.  <5wJ«a,  and  avrjp,  a  male.) 
Any  plant  having  twelve  stamens. 

DODECA'STYLE.  (Gr.  twitKa,  and  trrvXof,  a  co- 
lumn) In  Architecture,  a  building  having  twelve  columns 
on  a  front  or  flank. 

DODO'NA.  In  Antiquity,  the  seat  of  the  most  ancient, 
and  one  of  the  most  celebrated  oracles  of  Greece,  sacred 
to  Jupiter.  By  some  writers  its  origin  is  attributed  to  Deu- 
calion, who  is  said  to  have  built  the  town  of  Dodpna  where 
it  stood  ;  but  according  to  the  traditions  of  the  priestesses 
of  the  temple,  it  was  founded  by  a  dove,  which,  perching 
on  the  branch  of  an  oak,  recommended  in  a  human  voice 
that  a  temple  should  be  erected  to  Jupiter  in  that  place. 
The  situation  of  the  oracle  was  in  an  extensive  forest,  the 
oaks  of  which  are  said  to  have  been  endowed  with  the  gift 
360 


DOGMA. 

of  prophecy  ;  and  the  oracles  were  most  frequently  de- 
livered by  three  priestesses,  who  expounded  the  will  of  the 
divinity.  That  the  responses  of  this  oracle  were  received 
with  singular  veneration,  may  be  inferred  from  the  number 
of  votaries  by  whom  it  was  frequented,  and  the  costly  pre- 
sents which  adorned  the  temple  and  its  precincts.  This 
oracle  continued  to  utter  responses  till  the  time  of  Augus- 
tus, when  it  ceased.     (Strabo,  vii.)    See  Oracle. 

DO'DRANS.  (Lat.)  A  measure  equal  to  about  nine 
inches,  being  the  space  between  the  end  of  the  thumb  and 
of  the  little  finger  when  both  are  fully  extended.  It  is  about 
equal  to  the  palm. 

DOG.     See  Canis. 

DO'G  BELTS.  A  term  used  in  some  coal  mines  for  a 
strong  broad  piece  of  leather  round  the  waist,  to  which  a 
chain  is  attached,  passing  between  the  legs  of  the  men 
drawing  the  dans  in  the  low  works. 

DOG  DAYS.     See  Canicular  Days. 

DOGE.  (Probably  a  corruption  of  the  Lat.  dux,  a 
leader.)  The  tide  of  the  supreme  executive  magistrate  in 
the  republic  of  Venice.  The  origin  of  this  office  dates  as 
far  back  as  697  ;  when,  owing  partly  to  the  dissensions  and 
intrigues  that  resulted  from  the  annual  election  of  the 
seven  tribunes  by  whom  the  affairs  of  Venice  had  been 
previously  administered,  and  partly  to  so  divided  an  autho- 
rity being  found  inadequate  to  the  conduct  of  the  rapidly 
increasing  powers  of  the  state,  the  Venetians  resolved  to 
replace  the  tribunes  by  a  single  chief  magistrate,  who 
should  hold  office  for  life.  This  magistrate,  whom  they 
called  the  Doge,  was  clothed  with  almost  regal  authority. 
In  him  was  vested  the  power  of  convoking  assemblies,  of 
declaring  war  or  concluding  treaties;  of  commanding  the 
armies  of  the  state  ;  of  appointing  the  military  tribunes 
and  the  judges ;  of  hearing  appeals  and  deciding  defini- 
tively on  all  matters  at  issue  ;  of  collecting  the  citizens  in 
their  different  islands,  and  in  the  quarters  or  districts  of 
Venice,  for  the  purpose  of  choosing  their  parish  priests  or 
bishops;  of  judging  all  matters  concerning  the  clergy  in 
all  causes,  both  civil  and  criminal ;  and  of  awarding  eccle- 
siastical punishments,  investing  the  bishops,  and  installing 
them  in  their  churches.  (And.  Dandolo  aptid  Gallicioli. 
Chron.  i.)  But  notwithstanding  these  apparently  vast 
powers  which  were  vested  in  the  doge  at  the  first  institu- 
tion of  the  office,  the  slightest  glance  at  the  history  of  Ve- 
nice, which  for  more  than  eleven  centuries,  with  a  few  in- 
terruptions, continued  to  be  governed  by  doges,  will  abun- 
dantly prove  that  though  the  Venetians  allowed  four  cen- 
turies to  elapse  before  they  attempted  to  fix  the  bounds  or 
control  the  exercise  of  the  sovereign  authority  by  any  legal 
enactments,  they  never  ceased  to  regard  with  jealousy  the 
chief  magistrate  of  their  own  appointment  and  approval, 
and  at  last  succeeded  in  limiting  and  restricting  his  power, 
so  as  to  render  him  a  mere  state  pageant  of  the  grand 
council,  in  which  resided  the  supreme  executive  authority. 
The  history  of  the  doges  is  so  incorporated  with  that  of  the 
Venetian  republic  as  to  be  wholly  inseparable  from  it ;  and 
a  bare  outline  of  the  various  phases  which  they  exhibited 
during  a  career  unrivalled  for  duration  and  brilliancy  in 
the  annals  of  human  society,  would  be  incompatible  at 
once  with  our  limits  and  the  design  of  this  work.  The 
reader  will  find  ample  information  on  this  subject  in  Da- 
rn's Histoire  de  la  Republiqne  de  Venise,  (8  vols.  8vo.  Pa- 
ris) ;  the  Quarterly  Review,  vol.  31 ;  and  Edinburgh  Re- 
view, vol.  46.  (See  Bucentaur.)  Doge  was  also  the  title 
given  to  the  chief  magistrates  of  Genoa,  who  were  elected 
from  the  senatorial  body.  The  doges  of  Genoa  held  office 
originally  for  life,  as  at  Venice ;  but  from  152S  down  to 
1797,  when  that  form  of  Government  was  abolished  by  the 
French,  they  remained  in  office  only  two  years,  and  their 
authority  was  exceedingly  circumscribed. 

DO'GMA.  (Gr.  Sokciv,  to  seem.)  Literally,  a  conclu- 
sion founded  upon  experience.  In  Theology,  dogma  has 
been  defined  to  be  a  fundamental  article  of  belief  derived 
from  acknowledged  authority,  and  is  usually  applied  to 
what  are  considered  as  the  essential  doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity, deduced  either  from  the  Scriptures  or  from  the  fa- 
thers of  the  church.  (See  Theology.)  There  are,  how- 
ever, many  other  dogmas  peculiar  to  the  different  sects 
into  which  Christianity  is  divided.  Thus  the  bulls  and  de- 
cretals of  the  pope,  together  with  all  the  councils  both  of 
earlier  and  later  times,  are  regarded  by  the  Roman  Catho- 
lics with  as  much  veneration  as  the  authority  of  the  Scrip- 
tures and  the  holy  fathers.  The  Greek  church,  on  the 
other  hand,  ^knowledges  the  authority  only  of  the  earlier 
councils,  in  addition  to  that  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  fa- 
thers; and  the  Lutheran  and  other  Protestant  churches 
have  embodied  their  dogmas  in  their  respective  confes- 
sions of  faith  and  other  ecclesiastical  standards.  Dogma- 
tictheology,  as  this  branch  of  divinity  is  called,  in  contra- 
distinction to  moral  and  scholastic  theology,  forms  an  im- 
portant object  of  study  in  many  of  the  Continental  uni- 
versities. In  the  Protestant  universities  of  Germany,  there 
are  chairs  set  apart  for  the  history  of  dogmas,  or,  as  it  is 
termed,  Dogmatik ;  in  which  the  origin  and  nature  of  the 


DOG  STAR. 

dogmas  of  the  various  Christian  sects  are  examined,  and 
the  merit  of  the  arguments  by  which  they  are  supported 
respectively  canvassed.  Among  the  ancient  physicians, 
the  dogmatists  founded  their  practice  upon  conclusions  or 
opinions  drawn  from  certain  theoretical  inferences,  which 
they  conceived  might  be  logically  defended  or  proved.  At 
present  a  dogmatist  is  one  who  is  fond  of  strong  assertions 
not  always  founded  upon  correct  reasoning. 

DO'G  STAR.  A  name  popularly  given  to  Sirius,  a  star 
of  the  first  magnitude,  in  the  constellation  Cants  Major 
(the  Greater  Dog),  and  the  brightest  fixed  star  in  the  fir- 
mament. 

DO'G  WOOD.  A  name  applied  to  two  different  plants  : 
in  England  to  any  of  the  shrubby  species  of  Cornus ;  in 
the  West  Indies  to  the  Piscidia  erythrina.  The  former 
are  of  little  interest,  except  as  ornamental  shrubs ;  the  lat- 
ter is  a  powerful  narcotic,  the  real  value  of  which  in  medi- 
cine has  still  to  be  determined. 

DOLA'BRIFORM.  (Lat.  dolabra,  a  hatchet.)  In  Zool- 
ogy, when  a  whole  or  part  is  shaped  like  a  hatchet,  as  the 
foot  of  certain  Bivalves. 

DO'LCE.  (It.)  In  Music,  an  instruction  to  the  per- 
former that  the  music  is  to  be  executed  softly  and  sweetly. 

DO'LERITE.  A  trap-rock  composed  of  augite  and 
felspar. 

DOLICHO'TIS.  (Gr.  Ao\ixos,  long,  and  a>s,  an  ear.) 
The  name  applied  by  F.  Cuvier  to  the  subgenus  of  Cavies, 
to  which  the  Patagonian  hare  (Cavia  Patachon.)  belongs. 

DOLLAR.     See  Money. 

DO'LOMITE.  Magnesian  marble,  or  granular  magne- 
sian  carbonate  of  lime.     Named  after  Dolomieu. 

DO'LPHIN.  This  term  is  applied,  in  common  language, 
to  two  inhabitants  of  the  ocean  of  widely  different  habits 
and  organization  :  by  naturalists  it  is  generally  used  to 
signify  the  dolphin  of  the  ancients,  which  is  a  cetaceous 
mammal  of  the  genus  Delphis  of  Linnreus  ;  by  poets  it  is 
applied  to  the  coryphene  (Coryjjhe&na  Hippurus,  Linn.), 
a  fish  long  celebrated  for  the  swiftness  of  its  swimming, 
and  the  brilliant  and  beautiful  colours  which  it  successively 
assumes  in  the  act  of  death. 

DOM  (Lat.  dominus,  a  lord),  in  the  middle  ages,  was  a 
title  originally  possessed  by  the  pope,  and  at  a  somewhat 
later  period  by  the  dignitaries  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
church.  In  more  recent  times,  it  formed  a  distinguishing 
title  of  certain  monastic  orders,  such  as  the  Benedictines, 
&c. ;  and  it  appears  to  have  been  equivalent  to  the  don  of 
the  Spaniards,  the  von  of  the  Germans,  and  the  de  of  the 
French.  Mabillon  and  Calmet  are  always  spoken  of  as 
Dom  Mabillon  and  Dom  Calmet. 

DOMAI'N  (Lat.  dominicum,  from  dominus,  lord;  in 
legal  language,  demesne),  signifies  properly  that  portion  of 
the  territorial  possessions  of  a  lord  which  he  retains  in 
his  own  occupation.  Thus,  the  lands  retained  in  posses- 
sion of  the  crown,  and  not  granted  out  to  the  great  feudal 
lords,  were  styled  domains  in  France.  Ancient  demesne, 
in  English  law,  is  a  peculiar  tenure  by  which  certain  lands 
are  held  of  the  crown,  being  such  as  are  evidenced  by 
Domesday  Book  to  have  been  in  the  possession  of  King 
Edward  the  Confessor. 

DOME.  (Lat.  domu3.)  In  Architecture,  the  spherical 
or  other  figured  concave  ceiling  over  a  circular  or  polygo- 
nal building.  A  surbased  or  diminished  dome  is  one  that  is 
segmental  on  its  section  ;  a  surmounted  dome  is  one  that  is 
higher  than  the  radius  of  its  base.  The  forms  of  domes 
are  various,  both  in  plan  and  section.  In  the  former,  they 
ere  circular  and  polygonal ;  in  the  latter,  we  find  them 
semicircular,  and  semi-elliptical,  segmental,  pointed,  some- 
times in  curves  of  contrary  flexure,  bell-shaped,  &c. 
The  oldest  cupola  on  record  is  that  of  the  Pantheon  at 
Rome,  which  was  erected  under  Augustus,  and  is  still  per- 
fect. We  here  subjoin  a  list  of  the  domes  whose  dimen- 
sions entitle  them  to  notice. 


Domes. 

Feet  diam. 

Feet  high. 

Pantheon  at  Rome    .        .        .        . 

142 

143 

Duomo  at  Florence,  Sta.  Maria  del 

Fiore       ...... 

139 

310 

St.  Peter's  at  Rome  . 

139 

330 

St.  Sophia  at  Constantinople    . 

115 

201 

Baths  of  Caracalla  (Ancient)    . 

112 

116 

St.  Paul's,  London    .        .        .        . 

112 

215 

Dome  of  the  Mosque  of  Achmet    . 

92 

120 

Chapel  of  the  Medici 

91 

199 

Baptistery  at  Florence 

86 

110 

Church  of  the  Invalids  at  Paris 

80 

173 

Minerva  Medica  at  Rome 

78 

97 

Madonna  della  Salute,  Venice  . 

70 

133 

St.  Genevieve  at  Paris  (Pantheon)  . 

67 

190 

Duomo  at  Sienna      . 

57 

148 

Duomo  at  Milan        .... 

57 

254 

St.  Vitalis  at  Ravenna 

55 

91 

Val  de  Grace  at  Paris 

55 

133 

St.  Mark,  Venice       .... 

44 

361 


DONATIVE. 

DO'MESDAY  BOOK  (Liber  Jwliciuriits,  or  Censualis 
Anglia),  according  to  Hume,  the  most  valuable  piece  of 
antiquity  possessed  by  any  nation,  was  framed  by  order  of 
William  the  Conqueror  (1031-6),  and  contains  a  general  sur- 
vey of  most  of  the  lands  in  England,  their  extent  in  each  dis- 
trict, their  proprietors,  tenures,  value  ;  the  quantity  of  mea- 
dow, pasture,  wood,  and  arable  land  which  they  contained ; 
and,  in  some  counties,  the  number  of  tenants,  cottagers, 
and  slaves  of  all  denominations  who  lived  upon  them.  It 
consists  of  two  volumes;  one  in  fol.,  the  other  in 4to. :  the 
former  comprehending  31  counties,  the  latter  those  only  of 
Essex,  Norfolk,  and  Suffolk.  The  counties  of  Northumber- 
land, Cumberland,  Westmoreland,  and  Durham,  were  not 
comprehended  in  this  survey,  probably  on  account  of  their 
then  wild  uncultivated  state.  Nor  does  Lancashire  appear  un- 
der its  proper  name  ;  but  Furness  and  the  northern  part  of 
that  county,  as  well  as  the  south  of  Westmoreland  and  part 
of  Cumberland,  are  included  within  the  West  Riding  of 
Yorkshire.  Though  in  several  respects  the  information 
contained  in  Domesday  Book  is  inaccurate  and  defective, 
still  in  a  variety  of  interesting  particulars  it  serves  admira- 
bly to  illustrate  the  ancient  state  of  England.  The  publica- 
tion of  Domesday  Book  was  undertaken  by  order  of  Geo. 
III.  in  1767,  and  was  completed  under  the  superintendence 
of  Mr.  Abraham  Farley,  in  1783.  The  original  is  deposited 
in  the  Chapter  House  at  Westminster,  where  it  is  open  to 
inspection.  Sir  H.  Ellis  has  published  a  useful  introduc- 
tion and  index  to  it.  Two  volumes  of  Records  supple- 
mentary to  Domesday  Book,  framed  for  a  similar  purpose, 
and  of  a  nearly  contemporary  date,  were  published  in  1816 
by  the  Commissioners  upon  the  Public  Records.  The  term 
Domesday  is  of  doubtful  origin :  the  first  syllable  seems 
derived  trom  doom,  judgment. 

DO'MICILE.  In  Law,  the  place  where  a  person  has  his 
home.  Personal  property,  on  the  decease  of  the  owner,  is 
distributable  according  to  the  law  of  the  country  in  which 
he  was  domiciled  at  the  time  of  his  death  ;  not  according 
to  the  law  of  the  country  in  which  the  property  is  situate. 
Residence  for  forty  days  constitutes  a  domicile  as  to  juris- 
diction in  Scotland. 

DOMI'NICAL  LETTER.  For  the  purpose  of  exhibit- 
ing the  day  of  the  week  corresponding  to  any  given  day  of 
the  year,  the  framersof  the  ecclesiastical  calendar  denoted 
the  seven  days  of  the  week  by  the  first  seven  letters  of  the 
alphabet,  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  and  G  ;  and  placed  these  letters 
in  a  column  opposite  to  the  days  of  the  year,  in  such  a 
manner  that  A  stood  opposite  the  Istof  January  or  first  day 
of  the  year,  B  opposite  the  2d,  and  so  on  to  G,  which  stood 
opposite  the  7th  :  a*Tter  which  A  returns  to  the  8th,  and  so 
on  through  the  365  days  of  the  year.  Now  if  one  of  the 
day3  of  the  week,  Sunday,  for  example,  falls  opposite  to 
E,  Monday  will  be  opposite  F,  Tuesday  G,  Wednesday  A, 
and  so  on ;  and  every  Sunday  through  the  year  will  be  re- 
presented by  the  same  letter  E,  every  Monday  by  F,  and  so 
on.  The  letter  which  represents  Sunday  is  called  the  Do- 
minical Letter,  at  Sunday  Letter.  As  the  number  of  days 
in  the  week  and  the  number  in  the  year  are  prime  to  each 
other,  two  successive  years  cannot  begin  with  the  same 
day  ;  hence  the  Dominical  Letter  changes  every  year. 
This  mode  of  representing  the  days  of  the  week  has  now 
fallen  nearly  into  desuetude,  and  "the  initial  letter  of  the 
name  of  the  day  is  placed  in  our  almanacs  opposite  the 
day  of  the  month. 

DOMI'NICANS.  Friars  of  the  order  of  St.  Dominic, 
instituted  at  the  beginning  of  the  13th  century.  See  art. 
Orders,  Mendicant. 

DO'MINO.  (Hal.)  A  long  loose  cloak  of  black  silk,  fur- 
nished with  a  hood  removable  at  pleasure,  and  worn  chiefly 
at  masquerades  by  persons  of  both  sexes  by  way  of  gene- 
ral disguise.     See  Maso.uerade. 

DON.  (Lat.  dominus.)  A  Spanish  and  Portuguese  title, 
which  the  king,  the  princes  of  the  blood,  and  the  highest 
class  of  the  nobility  prefix  to  their  names.  The  ladies  of 
rank  have  the  predicate  donna.  The  title  was  originally 
equivalent  to  that  of  knight. 

DO'NATISTS.  A  religious  faction,  which  arose  in  Af- 
rica in  the  beginning  of  the  4th  century  in  opposition  to 
Cecilianus,  bishop  of  Carthage.  The  Numidian  bishops 
were  indignant  at  a  slight  received  from  him  at  the  time 
of  his  consecration,  and  declared  him  informally  appoint- 
ed, on  account  of  their  absence  from  the  ceremony.  They 
also  accused  him  of  unworthy  conduct  during  the  Diocle- 
tian persecution.  There  are  two  persons  of  the  name  of 
Donatus  celebrated  as  leaders  of  this  party.  Their  cause 
was  heard  before  several  councils  (those  of  Aries,  Milan, 
and  Carthage),  in  all  of  which  they  were  pronounced 
schismatics.  The  Donatists,  however,  continued  to  be  a 
powerful  faction  for  more  than  100  years,  and  raised  at  va- 
rious times  great  wars  and  commotions.  The  name  of 
Circumcelliones  was  given  to  the  numerous  bands  of  coun- 
try people  of  the  lowest  ranks  who  took  up  arms  in  their 
cause.  St.  Augustin  was  most  successful  in  bringing  pub- 
lic opinion  to  bear  against  the  Donatists. 
DO'NATIVE,  in  Law,  is  a  benefice  merely  given 
Y"  32 


DONJON. 

anil  collated  by  the  patron,  without  presentation  or  in- 
duction. 

DO'NJON,  or  DUNGEON.  Originally  a  fortress  on  a 
hill :  from  the  Celtic  dun,  height.  The  central  building  or 
keep  of  an  ancient  castle  ;  frequently  raised  on  an  artificial 
elevation. 

DOOR.  (Sax.  dor,  Gr.  Svpa.)  In  Architecture,  the  gate 
or  entrance  of  a  house.  The  door  frame  is  the.  surround- 
ing case  into  and  out  whereof  the  door  shuts  and  opens.  It 
consists  of  two  upright  side  pieces  or  posts  and  a  head, 
generally  fixed  together  by  mortices  and  tenons,  and 
wrought,  rehated.  and  beaded. 

DORA'DO.  (Span,  gilt.)  A  southern  constellation, 
formed  bv  Bayer;  called  also  sometimes  the  Sword-fish. 

DO'RIC  ORDER.  In  Architecture,  one  of  the  five  or- 
ders. The  true  origin  and  birthplace  of  this  order  is  not 
satisfactorily  known".  The  example  here  given  is  from  the 
temple  of  Theseus  at  Athens.  The  principal  points  in 
which  the  Grecian  differs  from  the  Roman  Doric  are,  that 
it  stands  at  once  on  the  pavement  of  the  building  without 
socle,  tori,  or  fillets ;  and  that  it  presents  a  more  pyramidal 
section  than  the  other,  from  the 
great  diminution  given  to  it.  Its 
flutes  too  are  never  deeply  sunk  ; 
the  capital  has  no  astragal,  but 
only  some  small  annulets  to  se- 
^"7J~V  parate  it  from  the  shaft.     The  en- 

tablature is  so  subdivided  that  the 
architrave  and  frieze  are  each 
more  than  a  third  of  its  height, 
the  remainder  being  given  to  the 
cornice,  which  has  a  band  under 
the  mutulus.  The  mutulus  pro- 
jects forward  under  the  corona, 
over  which  is  generally  placed  an 
ovolo  fillet,  with  another  larger 
orolo  and  fillet  thereover.  The 
column  is  usually  five  or  six  di- 
ameters high.  The  principal  ex- 
amples of  the  order  are  in  the 
Parthenon,  temple  of  Theseus, 
Propylteum,  portico  of  the  Agora 
at  Athens,  the  temple  of  Minerva 
at  Sunium,  one  at  Corinth,  temple 
of  Apollo  and  portico  of  Philip  in 
the  isle  of  Delos,  &c.  <kc.  The 
Roman  Doric  varies  considera- 
bly  from    that, above  described. 

1       From  the  diagram  it  will  be  seen 

that  the  triglyphs  are  always  placed  over  the  centre  of  the 
column,  and  the  metopes  should  always  bean  exact  square. 
It  follows  thence  that  the  intercolumniations  are  always 
regulated  by  the  tri- 
glyphs. Sometimes  it  is 
placed  on  a  plinth,  at 
other  times  on  a  pedestal 
sparingly  decorated  with 
mouldings.  Though  it 
occasionally,  as  in  this 
example,  has  an  Attic 
base,  it  is  more  common- 

gj i^^mi' — h-  ly  used  with  only  a  torus 

I and  as'ragal.    The  capi- 

tal is  formed  with  a  neck 
and  astragal  under  the 
ovolo,  and  acyma-rever- 
sa  and  fillet  on  the  aba- 
cus. The  only  pure  an- 
cient example  of  this  or- 
der is  that  of  the  theatre 
of  Marcellus  at  Rome. 
The  flutes  are  without 
fillets  between  them,  as 
in  the  Grecian  Doric,  and 
are  twenty  in  numbpr. 
Of  the  moderns,  by  far 
the  most  successful  in 
his  profile  of  the  order, 
which  they  have  made 
what  may  be  called  Ital- 
ian Doric,  is  Palladio, 
from  whom  the  example  here  given  is  selected. 

DORI'PPE.  A  genus  of  the  short-tailed  Decapod  Crus- 
tacean?, belonging  to  the  tribe  Notopoda.  The  species  of 
this  genus  exist  at  great  depths  in  the  sea,  and  it  is  probable 
that  they  use  the  small  feet,  which  are  directed  towards 
the  back,  to  cover  themselves  with  foreign  bodies  for  con- 
cealment: they  have  been  found  in  the  Mediterranean, 
Adriatic,  and  Indian  seas. 

DO'RMER.  (Lat.  dormio,  /  sleep.)  In  Architecture,  a 
window  placed  on  the  inclined  plane  of  the  roof  of  a  house, 
whose  frame  is  placed  vertically  on  the  rafiers. 

DO'RMITORY.     (Lat.  dormio,  I  sleep.)  In  Architecture, 
a  large  sleeping  apartment  capable  of  containing  many  beds. 
3G2 


II 

I 

I 

.1 

1                        1 

DOWER. 

DO'RNOCK.  A  stout  figured  linen,  named  after  thr- 
town  in  Scotland  where  it  was  originally  manufactured. 

DORSIBRA'NCHIATES,  Dorstbranchiata.  (Lat.  dor- 
sum,  back;  branchiae,  gills.)  A  name  given  by  Cuvier  tc 
an  order  of  Anellidans,  or  red  blooded  worms,  compre- 
hending those  which  have  the  gdls  projecting  from  the 
middle  part  of  the  back  or  sides  of  the  body.  The  Nereis, 
or  sea-centipede,  is  an  example  of  this  order 

DORT,  SYNOD  OF.  An  assembly  of  Protestant  divines 
con%-oked  at  Dort  in  1(518—1 9,  by  the  States-general,  under 
the  influence  of  Maurice,  Prince  of  Nassau,  in  which  the 
tenets  of  the  Arminians  on  the  five  points  relating  to  elec- 
tion, redemption,  original  sin,  effectual  grace,  and  perse- 
verance, were  condemned  by  the  adherents  of  Calvinism. 
This  national  synod  consisted  of  thirty-eight  Dutch  and 
Walloon  divines,  five  professors  from  different  universities, 
and  twenty-one  lay  elders;  but  besides  these  there  were 
ecclesiastical  deputies  present  from  most  of  the  states  of 
the  United  Provinces,  and  from  the  churches  of  the  Palati- 
nate, Hesse,  Switzerland,  Bremen,  England,  and  Scotland. 
This  synod  was  opened  on  Nov.  13,  1618,  and  continued 
till  May  29lh  in  the  following  year,  during  which  period  it 
held  180 sessions ;  but  long  before  these  sessions  had  come 
to  a  close,  the  Arminians  were  pronounced  guilty  of  pes- 
tilential errors,  and  condemned  as  cormplors  of  the  true 
religion.  For  minute  details  of  the  proceedings  of  this  ce- 
lebrated synod,  the  reader  may  consult  Brandt's  History  of 
the  Reformation  in  and  about  the  Low  Countries  (Loudon, 
1720-^2),  and  the  usual  authorities  in  ecclesiastical  affairs. 
It  was  at  this  synod  that  the  project  of  obtaining  a  transla- 
tion of  the  Bible  into  Dutch  was  first  stalled.  The  execu- 
tion of  this  task  was  entrusted  to  some  of  the  most  learned 
men  of  the  time  ;  and  alter  the  lapse  of  19  years  their 
labours  were  given  to  the  world  in  what  has  been  since 
known  as  the  Dort  Bible.  (See  Totcnley's  Illustrations  of 
Biblical  Literature.) 

DOSI'THEANS.  The  name  of  a  religious  sect  which 
sprung  up  in  the  first  century  of  the  Christian  era.  Their 
principal  tenets  consisted  in  believing  in  the  divine  mission 
of  their  leader,  Dositheus,  from  whom  they  derived  their 
name,  and  in  rejecting  the  authority  of  the  prophets  by  de- 
nying their  inspiration.  This  sect  remained  in  existence 
till  the  4ih  century;  but  with  regard  loiu  history,  there 
exists  but  little  authentic  information. 

DOTTREL.     See  Numerius. 

DOU'BLE  BASS.     See  Contrabasso. 

DOU'BLE  STARS.     See  Stars,  Double. 

DOUBLOO'N.     See  Money. 

DOUCHE.  (Fr.)  A  jet  or  current  of  water  directed 
upon  some  part  of  the  body.  An  apparalus  for  this  pur- 
pose is  to  be  found  in  most  bathing  establishments.  Steam 
or  vapour  is  also  sometimes  applied  in  the  form  of  douche. 

DO'VECOT.  A  structure  for  keeping  tame  pigeons ; 
the  only  essential  difference  between  which  and  a  com- 
mon poultry-house  is,  that  the  entrance  for  the  birds  must 
be  raised  to  a  considerable  height  from  the  ground,  be- 
cause pigeons  fly  higher  in  the  atmosphere  than  most  other 
birds. 

DO'VER'S  POWDER.  A  compound  of  ipecacuanha, 
opium,  and  sulphate  of  potash.  It  is  the  pulvis  ipecacu- 
anha cowposilus,  or  compound  powder  of  ipecacuanha  of 
the  present  Pharmacopoeia.  Ten  grains,  which  is  the 
average  dose,  contain  one  grain  of  opium  and  one  of  ipeca- 
cuanha.    It  is  an  excellent  sedative  and  sudorific. 

DO'VE-TAIL.  (From  its  spreading  like  a  pigeon's  tail.) 
In  Architecture,  a  joint  used  by  carpenters  in  connecting 
two  pieces  of  wood  by  letting  one  piece  into  the  other,  in  the 
form  of  the  expanded  tail  of  a  dove.  It  is  the  strongest 
method  of  joining  masses,  because  the  tenon  or  piece  of 
wood  widens  as  it  extends,  so  that  it  cannot  be  drawn  out, 
because  the  tongue  is  larger  than  the  cavity  through  which 
it  would  have  to  be  drawn.  The  French  call  this  method 
queue  d'hirende,  or  swallow's  tail. 

DOWAGER  (Fr.  douairiere),  seems  to  signify  a 
widow  who  either  enjoys  a  dower  from  her  deceased  hus- 
band, or  who  has  property  of  her  own  brought  by  her  to 
her  husband  on  marriage  (dowry),  and  settled  on  herself 
after  his  decease.  In  the  language  of  etiquette  the  term  is 
applied  to  a  widow  lady,  to  distinguish  her  from  the  wife  of 
her  husband's  heir  having  the  same  title. 

DOW'ER  (Lat.  dotarium,  from  dos),  in  Law,  is  de- 
fined to  be  the  estate  for  life  a  widow  acquires  in  a  certain 
portion  of  her  husband's  real  property  after  his  death. 
Dower  by  the  common  law  entitles  her  to  a  third  part  of 
all  the  lands  and  tenements  of  which  the  husband  waa 
seised  in  fee-simple  or  fee-larl  at  any  lime  during  the  co- 
verture. Hence  this  species  of  dower  could  not  be  affected 
by  the  husband's  conveyance  of  the  lands,  unless  by  fine  or 
recovery  in  which  the  wife  joined,  or  by  his  devise.  But 
the  law  in  this  respect  has  undergone  material  alterations 
by  the  provisions  of  the  3  &  4  W.  4.  c.  105.  Dower  by 
custom  varies  in  different  districts.  There  were  oiher  ob- 
solete species  of  dower,  now  abolished  by  the  statute 
already  mentioned.    A  married  woman  may  be  deprived 


DOWLAS. 

of  her  right  to  dower  by  attainder  of  her  husband  for  trea- 
son, or  herself  for  treason  and  felony  ;  by  divorce  a  vinculo 
matrimonii ;  by  elopement  from  the  husband  and  living 
with  an  adulterer,  which  incapacity  may  be  removed  by 
reconciliation  with  the  husband.  In  order  to  prevent  the 
inconveniences  occasioned  by  this  right,  which  materially 
impeded  the  conveyance  of  property,  various  modes  of 
barring,  i.  e.  defeatins,  the  right  to  dower  were  invented 
by  legal  ingenuity.  Of  these  the  most  usual  in  practice 
was  and  still  is  the  limitation  of  a  separate  estate  (com- 
monly, although  incorrectly,  called  a  jointure)  to  the  wife 
on  marriage.  This  estate  must  be  "a  competent  liveli- 
hood of  freehold  for  the  wife,  of  lands  and  tenements,  to 
take  effect  in  profit  or  possession  presently  after  the  death 
of  the  husband,  for  the  life  of  the  wife  at  least."  This 
mode  of  barring  dower  derives  its  efficacy  from  the  provi- 
sions of  the  Statute  of  Uses,  27  H.  8.  c.  10.  But  now  by  3 
&  4  W.  4.  c.  105.  dower  may  be  barred  by  a  simple  decla- 
ration in  the  deed  by  which  land  is  conveyed  to  the  hus- 
band, or  in  any  deed  executed  by  him  ;  or  by  declaration 
in  his  will,  or  by  any  devise  if  real  estate  to  her. 
DOWLAS.  A  coarse  kind  of  linen. 
DOWNS,  have  been  defined  to  be  banks  or  elevations  of 
sand  which  the  sea  gathers  and  forms  along  its  shores,  and 
which  serve  it  as  a  barrier.  The  word  is  derived  from  the 
Celtic  duns,  which  see.  The  term  is  also  applied  to  large 
tracts  of  poor  naked  hilly  land,  which  serve  chielly  for  the 
grazing  of  sheep,  thence  called  Down  sheep.  Downs  is 
the  name  given  to  the  well-known  road  for  shipping  in  the 
English  Channel,  which  possesses  excellent  anchorage, 
and  in  time  of  war  forms  the  place  of  rendezvous  for  the 
Enslish  navy. 

DOWRY,  although  often  confounded  with  dower,  has  a 
different  meanini  ;  namely,  the  dos  mulieris  or  marriase 
portion  brought  by  the  wife  to  her  husband.  The  word, 
however,  has  no  legal  signification. 

DOXO'LOGY.  (Gr.  So%a,  glory,  \oyos,  discourse.)  A 
form  of  praise  or  glorification.  The  greater  and  lesser 
Doxologies,  as  they  are  distinguished  by  the  liturgical  wri- 
ters, are  the  hymn  sung  by  the  angels  at  the  Nativity, 
"  Glory  be  to  God  on  high,"  &c.  ;  and  the  shorter  form, 
u  Glory  be  to  the  Father,"  &c.  The  last  clause  in  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  as  it  is  recorded  by  St.  Matthew,  the  genu- 
ineness of  which  has  been  sometimes  questioned,  is  also 
frequently  called  the  Doxology. 

DRACHM.  There  are  two  drachms  in  our  system  of 
weights  ;  namely,  the  avoirdupois  drachm,  which  is  the 
sixteenth  part  of  the  avoirdupois  ounce  ;  and  the  apothe- 
caries' drachm,  which  is  the  twelfth  part  of  the  troy  ounce, 
and  equivalent  to  sixty  troy  grains  :  the  latter  drachm  isthc 
only  one  which  is  retained  in  common  use. 

DRA'CHMA.  (Gr.  ipaxufi)  An  Athenian  silver  coin 
of  the  value  of  six  oboli,  or  about  7£d.  of  our  money.  Other 
Greek  slates  had  drach?n&  of  different  values,  but  the  above 
is  that  generally  referred  to.  There  was  also  a  weight  of 
this  name  nearly  equivalent  to  2  dwt.  7  gT.  troy  weight. 

DRa/CO.  (Lat.  the  Dragon.)  One  of  the  ancient  con- 
Btellatinns  in  the  northern  hemisphere. 

DRA'CO  MITIGA'TUS.  An  alchemical  name  of  calo- 
mel :  corrosive  sublimate  was  probably  called  draco  or  the 
drazon. 

DRACO'NIN,  or  DRACINA.  The  colouring  matter  of 
the  resin  called  dragon's  blood. 

DRA'GOMANS.  The  interpreters  attached  to  European 
embassies  or  consulates  in  the  Levant.  The  dragoman  of 
the  Sublime  Porte  is  an  important  Turkish  officer,  who 
forms  the  medium  of  communication  between  his  own  go- 
vernment and  the  embassies  of  foreisn  countries. 

DRA'GON.  (Gr.  Spa/caw.)  In  Fabulous  History, one  of 
the  most  famous  mythological  creations  of  antiquity  and 
the  middle  ages.  The  position  which  this  being  occupies 
in  fabulous  history  presents  one  of  the  most  singular  phe- 
nomena of  the  human  mind,  as  its  existence  was  firmly 
accredited  among  the  ancients  of  almost  every  nation,  both 
in  the  eastern  and  western  regions  of  the  earth.  It  occurs 
in  the  sacred  allegories  of  the  Jews,  and  in  the  legends  of 
the  Chinese  and  Japanese  ;  and  the  pages  of  the  classic 
poets  of  Greece  and  Rome  teem  with  representations  of 
the  dragon.  Thus  the  dark  retreats  of  their  gods  and  their 
sacred  groves  were  defended  by  dragons  :  the  chariot  of 
Ceres  was  drawn  by  them  ;  and  a  dragon  kept  the  garden 
of  the  Hesperides.  In  Scandinavian  mysteries,  the  dragon 
was  the  minister  of  vengeance  under  their  vindictive  gods 
(see  Grimm's  Deutsche  Mytlwlogie)  ;  and  the  ancient  Bri- 
tons, enslaved  in  the  trammels  of  Druidic  superstition,  en- 
tertained a  similar  notion  of  its  nature.  (Rees's  Cyctopce- 
dia.)  The  allegory  of  the  Dragon  has  even  found  a  place 
amons  many  nations  who  have  embraced  Christianity.  In 
the  Book  of  Revelations  (chap.  20,)  the  angel  is  represent- 
ed as  laying  "  hold  on  the  dragon,  that  old  serpent,  which 
is  the  devil;"  and  hence  in  painting  and  statuary,  the  tri- 
umph of  Christianity  over  infidelity  and  heathenism  is  some- 
times represented  by  a  dragon  pierced  or  trampled  under 
foot.  This  representation  forms  also  the  attribute  of  diffor- 
363 


DRAINING. 

ent  saints  in  the  legends  of  Christianity,  more  especially 
of  St.  Michael,  St.  George,  and  St.  Margaret  the  Martyr. 
The  draaon  of  antiquity  was  a  species  of  monstrous  ser- 
pent with  wings  and  feet ;  and  he  seems  to  have  possessed 
many  qualities  in  common  with  the  most  famed  terrors  of 
ancient  Greece,  such  as  the 

Gordons  and  hydras  and  chima:ra8  dire, 

with  whicli  he  was  in  all  probabiliy  intimately  allied. 

Dragon.  In  Zoology,  this  term  is  applied  to  a  genus  of 
small  Saurian  reptiles,  characterized  by  two  lateral  aliform 
productions  of  the  skin  supported  upon  the  first  six  pairs  of 
ribs  ;  which,  instead  of  bending  round  the  thorax,  are  elon- 
gated and  directed  outwards  for  that  purpose. 

DRA'GON  BEAM.  In  Architecture,  an  horizontal  piece 
of  timber  on  which  the  hip  or  angle  rafters  of  a  roof  pitch. 
It  is  framed  into  a  short  diagonal  piece,  which  lies  the 
plates  at  the  internal  angles  of  a  roof. 

DRA'GON  FLY.  A  common  name  for  the  Neuropter- 
ous  insects  belonsing  to  the  genus  Agrion  or  Lobellula. 

DRAGONNA'DES.  (Fr.)  The  name  given  to  the  per- 
secutions instituted  by  Louis  XIV.  and  his  successor  against 
the  French  Protestants,  from  the  coercive  measures  (parce 
qu'on  y  employait  les  dragons)  which  were  put  in  force  to 
effect  their  conversion. 

DRA'GON'S  BLOOD.  A  deep  red  resin  used  in  colour- 
ing varnishes  ;  it  is  the  produce  of  the  Pterocarpus  draco, 
and  is  imported  from  India. 

DRAGOO'NS  (Fr.  dragon;  probably  from  the  Lat.  dra- 
conarius,  the  bearer  of  a  standard  upon  which  teas  repre- 
sented the  figure  of  a  dragon),  is  the  name  given  to  a  spe- 
cies of  cavalry  trained  and  armed  to  act  either  on  foot  or 
on  horseback,  as  emergencies  may  require.  The  origin  of 
this  species  of  troops  has  been  ascribed  by  Pere  Daniel  to 
the  Marechal  de  Brissac  ;  but  there  can  be  but  little  doubt 
that  a  sort  of  soldiers  answering  exactly  to  the  definition 
above  given  of  dragoons  was  in  use  among  the  ancient  Ro- 
mans/ At  present  dragoons  form  part  of  the  military  force 
of  all  the  powers  of  Europe.  The  first  regiment  of  dra- 
goons in  this  country  was  raised  in  1631.  and  called  the 
Royal  Regiment  of  "Dragoons  of  North  Britain,  now  the 
Scots  Greys.  In  England,  this  species  of  troops  is  of  two 
sorts, — Dragoons  simply,  and  Dragoon  guards;  the  dif- 
ference between  them  consisting  in  this,  that  the  accoutre- 
ments and  horses  of  the  latter  are  somewhat  heavier  than 
those  of  the  former.     See  Cavalry. 

DRAl'NING.  The  art  of  freeing  the  surface  of  the  soil 
from  superfluous  water,  considered  with  reference  to  culti- 
vated vegetables,  and  the  health  of  man  and  animals. 
Water  may  become  superfluous  by  being  collected  in  the 
natural  hollows  on  the  surface,  and  thus  forming  bogs;  by 
being  retained  in  the  surface  stratum,  in  consequence  of 
a  retentive  subsoil ;  or  by  oozing  through  a  moist  subsoil 
to  the  surface  stratum,  in  consequence  of  supplies  from 
subterraneous  sources.  Water  collected  in  bogs,  or  marshy 
places,  remains  there,  because  it  has  no  natural  outlet, 
neither  by  an  opening  or  hollow  along  the  natural  surface, 
nor  by  the  porosity  ol  the  subsoil,  in  consequence  of  which 
the  water  might  sink  into  it  and  disappear.  The  obvious 
mode  of  draining  in  the  first  case  is  by  a  trench  or  drain, 
so  deep  as  lo  draw  the  water  from  the  lowest  parts  of  the 
hollow,  bog,  or  marsh.  Where  water  is  retained  in  the 
surface  soil  in  consequence  of  a  retentive  subsoil,  as  in 
the  case  of  clays  and  many  loams,  the  most  effective  mode 
is  to  cut  a  number  of  small  drains  parallel  to  and  at  short 
distances  from  one  another;  and  by  the  tops  of  these 
drains  reaching  within  an  inch  or  two  of  the  bottom  of  the 
surface  soil,  which  in  cultivation  is  turned  over  by  the 
plough,  they  absorb  the  superfluous  water  that  passes 
through  this  soil  and  carry  it  off.  Or,  should  the  land  be 
in  pasture,  the  tops  of  the  drain  should  be  brought  within 
an  inch  or  two  of  the  grassy  surface,  so  as  to  intercept  the 
water,  both  oozing  laterally  from  the  surface  soil,  and  ver- 
tically from  among  the  leaves  of  the  grass.  It  may  be  ob- 
served also  that  pasture  lands  on  this  description  of  reten- 
tive soil  may  be  more  readily  drained  when  laid  into 
ridges,  and  an  underground  drain  formed  under  each  fur- 
row or  surface  drain.  This,  however,  is  not  essential ;  and 
though  furrows  or  surface  drains  would  be  no  deformity 
in  field  culture,  yet  in  lawns  and  parks  the  appearance  of 
furrows  would  destroy  the  continuity  and  evenness  of  sur- 
face, which  in  lawns  is  one  chief  source  of  beauty.  To 
drain  the  surface  soil,  where  it  is  supplied  by  water  from 
the  subsoil,  requires  some  knowledge  of  the  strata  of  which 
the  subsoil  is  composed.  In  general  the  strata  composing 
the  subsoil  lie  over  one  another  in  a  direction  more  or  less 
approaching  to  horizontal ;  and  when  the  natural  inclina- 
tion of  the  surface  is  everywhere  parallel  to  this  strata  be- 
neath, the  water,  if  it  oozes  out  of  the  subsoil  at  all,  will 
generally  do  so  equally  throughout  the  subsoil;  and  in 
such  cases  numerous  drains  at  no  great  distance  are  re- 
quired to  carry  it  off,  precisely  as  in  the  case  of  draining 
soils  with  retentive  subsoils.  But  when  the  line  of  surface 
does  not  correspond  with  the  line  of  substrata,  but  inter- 
sects this  line,  then  water  will  generally  be  found  oozing 


DRAMA. 


out  at  the  line  of  intersection,  technically  called  the  crop- 
ping out  of  the  strata.  The  quantity  of  water  which  will 
issue  from  these  sections  orcroppings  out  of  broken  strata 
will  depend  on  a  great  variety  of  circumstances,  into  which 
it  is  unnecessary  hereto  enter;  because  in  all  cases  the 
mode  of  draining  is  the  same,  viz.  that  of  forming  a  drain 
parallel  lo  the  line  of  fracture  of  the  strata.  This  drain 
in  some  cases  is  not  required  to  extend  the  whole  length 
of  the  line  of  the  fracture  ;  because  if  the  strata  have  a 
double  inclination,  so  as  it  were  to  conduct  the  water  to  one 
angle  or  point,  a  drain  at  that  angle  or  point  will  carry  off 
the  whole  of  the  superfluous  water  contained  in  the  strata. 
The  subsoil  in  some  cases  is  composed  of  strata  in  a  nearly 
vertical  position,  and  in  others  of  strata  alternately  depress- 
ed and  elevated,  so  that  a  section  through  them  would 
form  a  serpentine  line  ;  and  sometimes  the  subsoil  is  com- 
posed of  strata  the  layers  of  which  have  been  broken  up 
and  jumbled  together.  All  these,  and  other  cases,  are  to 
be  drained  in  one  or  more  of  the  above  described  modes; 
that  is,  accumulated  water,  whether  in  the  soil  or  above  it, 
is  to  be  let  off  by  cuts  or  drains  made  at  the  lowest  points 
of  accumulation ;  and  surface  soil  saturated  with  water, 
whether  from  greater  atmospherical  supplies  than  can  be 
carried  off  by  evaporation  or  can  sink  into  the  subsoil,  or 
whether  it  arise  from  sources  in  the  subsoil,  is  to  be  carried 
off  by  numerous  drains  close  to  one  another,  and  the  tops 
of  which  are  within  a  few  inches  of  the  cultivated  soil,  or 
of  the  permanent  clothing  of  grass  or  other  herbage. 

DRA'MA  (from  the  Greek  word  Spa/ia,  an  action  or  thing 
done;  derived  from  the  verb  Spaoj,  J  act  or  do),  has  been 
defined  a  species  of  poem  in  which  the  action  or  narrative 
is  not  related,  but  represented.  The  invention  of  the  drama 
is  one  of  those  which  should  seem  to  proceed  most  natu- 
rally from  the  ordinary  customs  and  feelings  of  men. 
There  is  a  species  of  dramatic  action  which  seems  almost 
instinctive  ;  we  naturally  imitate  the  tone  and  gestures  of 
others  in  reciting  their  sayings  or  adventures,  or  even  in 
adopting  their  sentiments.  Yet  some  nations  appear  never 
to  have  taken  the  farther  step  of  doing,  methodically  and 
with  design,  what  all  do  involuntarily.  In  the  accounts 
which  we  possess  of  the  ancient  Egyptians,  for  example, 
we  have  no  trace  of  their  having  possessed  dramatic  repre- 
sentation. But  among  a  great  number  of  tribes,  wholly  in- 
dependent of  each  other,  we  find  something  approaching 
to  the  dramatic  art  intermingled  with  their  common  or  so- 
lemn customs,  and  generally  connected  with  religious  ob- 
servance. This  was  especially  the  case  in  Greece,  whence 
the  name  and  substance  of  the  drama  have  been  chiefly 
derived  by  the  modern  European  nations. 

The  history  of  the  development  of  the  dramatic  art  in 
Greece  is  well  known :  its  elements  were  found  in  the  reli- 
gious festivals  celebrated  from  the  earliest  ages  in  that 
country.  The  feasts  of  Bacchus  in  particular  had  sacred 
choruses  or  odes ;  these  were  afterwards  intermixed  with 
episodic  narrations  of  events  in  mythological  story,  recited 
by  an  actor  in  the  festival  with  gesticulation :  thence  again, 
the  next  step  was  to  introduce  two  actors  with  alternate 
recitation ;  and  thus  were  produced  tragedy  (rpayoiSid, 
the  song  of  t/w  goat,  from  the  animal  which  was  led  about 
in  those  festive  processions) ;  and  comedy  (.KoipuSia,  the 
village  song,)  which  differed  from  the  former  in  that  the 
dialogue  of  the  interlocutors  was  satirical,  and  not  mytho- 
logical. The  early  Greek  tragedy  was  a  dramatic  repre- 
sentation of  some  scenes  or  events  recorded  in  the  na- 
tional traditions,  the  actors  personating  those  who  played 
a  part  in  these  events,  together  with  a  chorus  or  band  of 
singers,  representing  such  persons  as  might  naturally  be 
supposed  to  have  been  bystanders  at  the  occurrence  (cap- 
tive women,  old  men,  or  counsellors,  &c),  who  sang  at  in- 
tervals, during  the  representation,  hymns  to  the  gods,  or 
songs  appropriate  to  the  scenes  passing  in  representation  : 
while  the  Attic  comedy,  in  its  first  invention,  must  be  re- 
garded as  a  parody  on  tragedy,  in  which  the  personages 
were  either  real  characters  introduced  for  the  purpose  of 
satire,  or  ludicrous  personifications.  iEschylus,  the  oldest 
tragic  writer  (with  the  exception  of  Phrynichus,  his  cotem- 
porary),  carried  the  Greek  drama  at  once  to  nearly  its 
highest  state  of  perfection.  Sophocles  and  Euripides  in- 
troduced additional  actors  into  the  dialogue  (which  at  first 
admitted  only  two  at  the  same  time), and  turned  the  naked 
recitals  of  events  which  form  the  substance  of  the  plays 
of  JEschylus  into  something  more  nearly  resembling  the 
modern  idea  of  a  plot,  with  contrasted  characters  and  inci- 
dents leading  to  the  accomplishment  of  a  main  action. 
Many  tragic  writers,  the  whole  of  whose  works  have  been 
lost,  flourished  after  Euripides  in  Athens  and  Alexandria  ; 
but  they  do  not  seem  to  have  altered  the  character  of  the 
art  which  they  received  from  their  predecessors.  The 
fate  of  comedy  was  different :  the  old  Attic  comedy  was  a 
political  or  philosophical  satire  in  action,  which  in  form 
was  a  burlesque  on  the  tragedy.  Afterwards,  passing 
through  the  intervening  stage  of  the  middle  comedy,  of 
which  we  know  little,  the  art  acquired  in  the  new  comedy 
of  Menander  and  Philemon  a  character  somewhat  ap- 
364 


preaching  to  that  in  which  it  is  at  present  cultivated ;  a  nar- 
rative in  representation  of  scenes  and  incidents  in  ordinary 
life  of  a  light  or  ludicrous  character. 

The  dramatic  art  among  the  Greeks  aimed  at  produc- 
ing an  impression  upon  the  spectators  by  three  different 
means;  which,  according  to  modern  phraseology,  we  may 
denominate  poetical  effect,  dramatical  effect,  and  theatri- 
cal effect.  The  poetry  of  the  Greek  drama  was  of  the 
highest  order ;  but  it  forms  a  topic  to  be  considered  apart. 
Dramatical  effect  is  the  proper  subject  of  the  dramatic  art; 
and,  in  judging  of  the  efforts  of  the  Greek  mind  in  thia 
direction,  we  are  assisted  not  only  by  the  study  of  the  dra- 
matic poems  which  we  possess,  but  by  the  rules  of  criti- 
cism delivered  to  us  by  Greek  authors,  and  especially  by 
Aristotle.  From  these  it  appears  that  the  parts  or  charac- 
teristics of  a  tragedy,  essentially  divided,  were  held  to  be 
the  fable  or  story,  the  manners,  the  style,  the  sentiment, 
the  music,  and  the  diction :  that  the  fable  should  consist 
of  an  entire  action,  namely,  one  principal  event  and  the 
auxiliary  events ;  and  that  the  proper  emotions  to  be  ex- 
cited by  the  action  are  terror  and  pity :  that  its  parts  of 
quantity,  according  to  the  division  of  form,  were  the  pro- 
logue, being  that  part  of  the  tragedy  which  precedes  the 
parode  or  first  entry  of  the  chorus  ;  the  episode,  being  all 
those  several  parts  which  are  included  between  the  several 
choral  odes ;  the  exode,  the  part  which  follows  the  last 
choral  ode  ;  and  the  chorus  itself,  or  the  intervening  odes, 
which  also  admit  of  various  subdivisions.  Formally  con- 
sidered, the  arrangement  of  the  old  comedy  nearly  resem- 
bled that  of  tragedy ;  in  the  new,  the  chorus  was  altogether 
omitted.  The  unity  of  action  was  a  remarkable  character- 
istic of  the  Greek  drama,  although  widely  different  from 
that  peculiar  quality  which  modern  critics  have  character- 
ized by  the  name  :  it  should  rather  be  termed  unity  of  sub- 
ject, inasmuch  as  in  many  of  our  remaining  tragedies,  and 
especially  those  of  iEschylus,  there  is  little  or  no  trace  of 
what  we  term  a  plot,  i.  e.  a  main  incident  at  which  we 
arrive  through  subordinate  incidents  tending  to  its  accom- 
plishment. The  unity  of  time, — viz.  that  the  imaginary 
duration  of  the  action  should  not  exceed  twenty- four  hours; 
and  that  of  place, — namely,  that  the  scene  in  which  the 
events  occur  should  be  the  same  throughout, — are  inven- 
tions of  French  critics,  not  warranted  by  the  remains  of 
Greek  art,  in  which  both  are  not  unfrequently  violated ;  but, 
although  not  rules  of  Grecian  discovery,  they  are  easily 
rendered  applicable  to  the  simple  and  severe  form  of  the 
Greek  tragedy. 

In  considering  the  theatrical  effect  of  the  Greek  drama, 
we  must  remember  that  the  tragedies  were  originally  re- 
ligious solemnities  ;  the  theatre,  a  vast  building  open  at  the 
top,  calculated  for  the  accommodation  of  several  thousand 
spectators  ;  the  scene,  &c.  proportionally  large.  Dramatic 
representations  were,  at  Athens,  the  offering  of  wealthy 
men  to  the  people  :  he  who  contributed  the  expenses  of  the 
entertainment  was  said,  liaayctv,  to  bring  in  the  play  ;  the 
poet  who  produced  it,  SiS6.GKe.iv,  to  teach  it,  i.  e.  teach  the 
actors  to  perform  it.  A  complete  representation  consisted 
of  four  pieces  by  the  same  author ;  a  triology,  or  three 
tragedies,  narrating  successive  events  in  the  same  series 
of  mythological  tradition ;  and  a  fourth  piece,  termed  a 
satyric  drama,  of  which  the  chorus  consisted  of  satyrs,  and 
the  mythological  subject  was  treated  in  a  manner  approach- 
ing to  burlesque.  The  features  of  the  actors  were  ex- 
aggerated by  masks,  their  height  increased  by  dress,  their 
powers  of  voice  aided  by  acoustic  contrivances,  in  order 
to  suit  the  colossal  dimensions  of  the  theatre.  The  whole 
vocal  part  was  rhythmical ;  the  choral  odes  were  sung, 
and  accompanied  by  the  choric  dance,  in  which  the  actors 
composing  the  chorus  took  part,  subjected  to  very  peculiar 
rules ;  the  narrative  part  of  the  performance  was  spoken 
in  a  peculiar  modulated  voice,  resembling  probably  the 
recitative  of  the  modern  opera.  As  to  the  metrical  cha- 
racter of  the  ancient  Greek  drama,  the  metre  used  in  the 
dialogue  was  the  iambic  trimeter,  varied  occasionally  with 
the  anapaestic  and  trochaic,  chiefly  where  the  other  dra- 
matis persona?  conversed  with  the  chorus,  or  the  members 
of  the  chorus  itself  took  part  in  the  action  ;  the  choral  odes 
were  composed  in  a  great  and  very  artificial  variety  of 
metre. 

Latin  Drama. — The  early  Etruscans  possessed  dramatic 
representations,  whence  the  Romans  derived  some  peculiar 
national  entertainments  (see  Mimi)  ;  but,  with  this  slight 
exception,  their  drama  consisted  merely  in  the  first  in- 
stance of  translations,  afterwards  of  close  imitations  of  tho 
Greek.  Accius  and  Pacuvius  transferred  to  the  Roman 
stage  the  tragedy  of  the  three  Attic  poets ;  Plautus  and 
Terence  the  new  comedy  of  Menander.  Of  these  writers 
Terence  is  the  only  one  who  appears  to  have  deviated,  and 
that  slightly,  into  original  invention  :  in  the  degeneracy  of 
the  Roman  empire  even  this  adscititious  taste  ceased  to  be 
cultivated,  and  the  theatres  were  entirely  occupied  by 
farcical  buffoonery,  or  shows  and  sports  on  a  gigantic  scale. 
Among  an  infinite  variety  of  works  which  treat  of  the 
classical  drama,  may  be  cited  the  first  volume  of  Schlegel 


DRAMA. 


o>!  Dramatic  Art  and  Literature.  A  catalogue  of  them  will 
be  found  at  the  end  of  the  4th  edition  of  the  Theatre  of  the 
Greeks,  Cambridge,  1836.     See  also  Edin.  Iiev.,  vol.  4lJ. 

Chinese  Drama. — Before  proceeding  to  the  dramatic  art 
of  modern  Europe,  derived  as  it  is  from  that  of  Greece, 
two  oriental  nations  may  be  noticed  which  possess  a 
national  drama  of  their  own.  In  China,  theatrical  enter- 
tainments form  one  of  the  most  popular  amusements,  and 
theatrical  writing  has  been  cultivated  from  a  very  early 
period.  The  Chinese  drama  comprises  pieces  which  we 
should  term  both  tragical  and  historical  plays,  tragi- 
comedies, and  comedies  both  of  intrigue  and  of  manners ; 
together  with  abundance  of  low,  pantomimic,  and  farcical 
representations.  In  their  regular  drama,  however,  there 
appears  to  be  less  of  what  we  should  term  connected  than 
of  successive  action  :  many  of  them  are,  as  it  were,  dra- 
matized memoirs  or  biographies  of  individuals,  real  or 
fictitious ;  the  representation  of  some  is  said  to  require 
ten  days.  It  is  remarkable  that,  of  all  national  dramas,  the 
Chinese  appears  to  be  the  only  one  in  which  we  can  trace 
no  original  connection  with  religious  observance.  (Morri- 
son, flora  Linicaz ;  Abel  Remusat ;  Memoirs  of  the  Acad. 
<des  Inscriptions,  &c.) 

Hindoo  Drama.— The  Hindoo  plays  which  now  exist 
are  written  for  the  most  part  in  Sanscrit,  although  not  a 
living  language  at  the  period  when  they  were  composed  ; 
mixed,  however,  with  other  dialects,  which,  according  to 
Hindoo  critics,  are  respectively  appropriate  to  different 
parts  of  a  play.  They  seem  to  have  been  appropriate  to 
the  entertainment  of  "learned  persons,  and  acted  only  on 
solemn  occasions.  They  are  few  in  number;  about  sixty 
only  are  known:  some  containing  long  mythological  nar- 
ratives, others  much  complicated  incident  of  a  domestic 
character,  in  a  strain  of  tragedy  alternating  with  comedy, 
like  the  romantic  drama  of  modern  Europe.  The  dra- 
matic art  appears  to  have  flourished  in  India  during  a 
period  of  several  ages,  ending  about  the  14th  or  15th  cen- 
turies of  our  era.  Dramatic  criticism  was  also  much  cul- 
tivated; and  the  most  minute  and  artificial  rules  are  laid 
down  by  Hindoo  commentators  as  to  the  conduct  of  a 
piece,  the  requisite  ethics,  the  formal  arrangement,  and  the 
character  which  must  be  introduced.  The  Hindoo  drama 
is  so  widely  different  from  the  Greek  or  Chinese,  that  it 
must  be  regarded,  like  them,  as  a  spontaneous  offspring  of 
national  genius.  (  Wilson's  Specimens  of  the  Tnealre  of  the 
Hindoos,  2  vols.  8vo.  1R.'{.">.) 

Modern  European  Drama. — For  many  centuries  after 
the  downfall  of  the  Roman  empire,  the  dramatic  art  ap- 
pears to  have  been  entirely  lost.  Its  first  revival  in  the 
middle  aces  was  owing  to  the  solemnities  of  the  church, 
into  which  dramatic  interludes  were  introduced  in  various 
countries  of  western  Europe,  representing  at  first  events  in 
biblical  history  or  the  lives  of  the  saints,  and  afterwards  in- 
termingled with  allegorical  fantasies.  (See  Mysteries, 
Moralities  )  The  framers  of  these  early  pieces  were 
monks,  and  the  monks  were  the  only  preservers  of  clas- 
sical learning  ;  but  whether  we  can  infer  from  these  facts 
that  the  idea  of  these  rude  representations  was  suggested 
or  their  details  improved  by  classical  associations,  if  is  not 
easy  to  pronounce.  At  the  period  of  the  revival  of  litera- 
ture, however,  the  dramatic  art  was  called  nearly  at  once 
into  life  In  the  four  principal  countries  of  western  Europe  ; 
Italy.  France,  Spain,  and  England.  In  the  two  first  of  these 
countries  it  arose  simply  classical,  and  unmixed  with  any 
original  conceptions,  or  with  the  sentiments  and  fashions 
of  the  middle  ages;  in  the  two  last  it  partook  largely  of 
both,  and  was  also  immediately  derived  from  the  mys- 
teries and  moralities  above  mentioned  :  hence,  in  a  histo- 
rical view,  arose  the  distinction,  so  elaborately  explained 
by  modern  critics,  between  the  classical  and  romantic 
drama. 

Italian  Drama.— Originated  in  close  imitation  of  clas- 
sical models.  The  Sofonisba  of  Trissino  (1515)  is  not  ab- 
solutely the  oldest  Italian  play,  but  the  first  which  served 
as  a  model  for  subsequent  composers.  Rucellai  and  many 
others  followed  in  the  same  track;  Bihbiena.  Machiavel, 
Ariosto,  as  closely  imitated  the  model  of  the  Terentian 
comedy.  The  pastoral  drama  of  the  16th  century,  of 
which  Tasso  and  Guarini  were  the  most  celebrated  writers, 
furnished  the  first  novelty  in  this  branch  of  literature  ;  but 
these  are  rather  poetical  than  dramatical  compositions. 
The  true  national  theatre  of  Italy  arose  in  the  17th  century, 
in  (he  musical  drama  (opera),  to  which  Metastasio,  early  in 
the  18th,  communicated  all  the  charms  of  poetry  ;  but  since 
the  period  of  that  writer,  the  operatic  part  of  the  dramatic 
art  has  again  been  wholly  disconnected  from  the  literary, 
and  the  words  only  serve  as  vehicles  for  the  music.  While 
the  higher  classes  were  devoted  to  the  opera,  the  lower 
found  their  national  amusement  in  the  commedie  dell' 
arte  ;  comedies  performed  by  masqucd  characters,  which 
gradually  became  fixed  in  the  well  known  persons  of  Har- 
lequin, Pantaloon,  Brighella,  &c,  who  improvised  their 
parts  :  Goldoni,  in  the  middle  of  the  18th  century,  succeed- 
ing in  establishing  a  regular  comic  drama  in  possession  of 
365 


the  stage  ;  while  his  rival,  Gasparo  Cozzi,  took  up  the  com- 
medie dell'  arte  as  models,  and  founded  upon  them  a  series 
of  amusing  extravagances.  But  since  the  period  of  theso 
two  spirited  writers  comedy  has  fallen  almost  completely 
into  disrepute.  At  the  end  of  the  18th  century  Alfieri,  a 
bold  and  severe  genius,  produced  tragedies  in  "which  the 
ancient  classical  form  (with  the  exception  of  the  chorus) 
was  again  reverted  to,  instead  of  the  French  imitations  of 
it  which  bad  long  been  current  in  Italy  as  well  as  the  rest 
of  Europe  ;  and  several  dramatic  poets  have  since  appeared, 
who  have  adopted  the  same  model.  (Ginguene.  Litera- 
ture Italienne;  Tiraboschi ;  Walker  on  I/alum  Tragedy, 
1?'j9;  On  the  Revival  of  the  Drama  in  Italy,  1805;  Ric- 
coloni,  Hist,  of  the  Ital.  Theatre.) 

French  Drama—  The  early  French  tragic  writers,  from 
the  beginning  of  the  16th  century  down  to  Corneille  in  the 
middle  of  the  17th,  produced  nothing  but  unsuccessful  and 
somewhat  barbarous  imitations  of  the  Greek  tragedy.  The 
first  pieces  of  Ibis  kind  represented  on  the  French  stage 
had  prologues  and  choruses.  Corneille  had  studied  and 
loved  the  Spanish  drama;  and  without  introducing  much 
of  iis  varied  form  and  incident,  he  transfused  a  portion  of 
its  boldness  and  romantic  sentiment  into  the  French  the- 
atre, together  with  a  power  of  energetic  declamation  pecu- 
liarly his  own.  Racine,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a  pure  ad- 
mirer of  antiquity  ;  but  with  a  taste  and  delicacy  of  feeling 
which  until  his  time  had  been  very  rarely  found  to  accom- 
pany classical  knowledge.  The  French  tragedy  grew  up 
with  these  two  great  writers  as  models,  and  Boileau  as  its 
legislator.  A  peculiar  and  rigorous  system  of  criticism  was 
introduced,  affecting  both  the  form  and  the  substance  of 
dramatic  writing;  and  this  system  became  established  in 
the  minds  of  the  French  public,  as  the  natural  and  not  the 
conventional  rule  of  beauty.  It  would  be  impossible  to 
enter  into  an  examination  of  the  rules  of  the  French 
drama  :  suffice  it  to  say,  that  they  banished  from  the  tragic 
stage  all  except  heroic  characters  and  passion  ;  required 
perfect  simplicity  of  plot,  uniformity  of  language,  and,  in 
addition,  the  observance  of  the  before-mentioned  technical 
unities  of  place  and  time.  These  rules  have  ever  since 
been  scrupulously  followed,  without  deviation,  on  the  re- 
gular French  stage,  and  many  of  the  greatest  names  in 
dramatic  literature  have  voluntarily  subjected  themselves 
to  their  restraints.  The  French  comedy,  however,  is  infi- 
nitely more  national  and  characteristic  than  the  French 
tragedy  :  it  originated  in  that  of  Spain,  and  was  carried  at 
once  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection  by  Moli&re. — rejecting 
the  extravagance  of  the  Spanish  drama,  confining  itself 
within  certain  definite  limils  governed  by  analogy  to  those 
established  for  tragedy,  and  retaining  satire  instead  of  ad- 
venture as  its  leading  principle.  Since  that  period  the 
French  comic  stage  has  been,  beyond  all  contradiction,  not 
only  the  best,  but  the  model  from  which  that  of  all  other 
nations  has  been  wholly  derived.  Of  the  present  state  of 
the  French  drama  it  is  difficult  to  speak  with  precision  ;  but 
the  national  or  regular  stage  seems  to  be  every  day  losing 
in  popularity,  while  the  attempts  to  establish  a  new  one  on 
what  is  termed  in  France  the  romantic  model  have  hitherto 
met  with  very  partial  success.  (Laharpe,  Cours  de  Littera- 
tttre  ;  Correspondance  de  Grimm,  passim ;  Voltaire,  Dis- 
course on  Tragedy ;  Schlegel.) 

Sparush  ZJrama.— Spain  commenced  her  literary  career 
more  independent  of  foreign  aid  than  any  other  country 
Her  dramatic  art  appears  to  have  originated  as  early  as  the 
14th  century  ;  which  produced  satirical  pieces  in  dialogue, 
and  one  complete  dramatic  romance  by  an  unknown  au- 
thor (La  Celes/ina*),  in  addition  to  the  mysteries  and  mi- 
racle plays,  which  were  exhibited  in  Spain  even  more 
plentifully  than  elsewhere.  The  early  Spanish  comedies 
of  the  16th  century  were  conversations,  like  eclogues,  be- 
tween shepherds  and  shepherdesses;  with  occasional  in- 
terludes of  negroes,  clowns,  and  Biscayans,  the  favourite 
subjects  of  popular  jest.  But  the  Spanish  drama  owed  to 
one  great  author.  Lope  de  Vega,  what  our  own  owed  to  his 
contemporary,  Shakspeare, — a  rise  at  a  single  bound  from 
insignificance  to  great  richness  and  variety  ;  he  created, 
moreover,  nearly  all  its  numerous  divisions,  and  has  left 
examples  of  each.  The  name  comedy,  in  the  early  Span- 
ish stage,  implied  no  ludicrous  or  satirical  representation, 
but  simply  a  play  of  adventure,  Comedias  divinas,  or 
spiritual  comedies,  were  subdivided  into  lives  of  saints, 
and  pieces  of  the  holy  sacrament  (antos  sacramentalcs) : 
the  comedies  of  human  life  into  heroic,  answering  to  the 
tragedy  of  our  early  English  dramatists,  although  even  less 
regular  in  form;  and  comedies  of  domestic  adventure 
(comedias  de  capa  y  espanda,— of  cloak  and  swoid).  Be- 
sides these,  th»  interludes  which  were  played  between  the 
prologue  and  the  piece  (sayneteres)  possess  a  distinct  cha- 
racter as  literary  compositions.  Almost  all  pieces  have 
one  favourite  invariable  character,  the  gracioso  or  buffoon. 
Calderon,  a  greater  poet  than  Lope,  and  his  equal  in  dra- 
matic power,  is  the  only  other  great  name  in  the  Spanish 
drama.  Subsequent  writers  may  all  be  classed  as  imitators 
either  of  their  own  older  poets,  or  of  the  favourite  dra- 


DRAMATURGY. 


(Bouterweck's  Hist,  of  Sp. 
38 ;   Sismondi,  Lit.  du  Midi 


matists  of  the  French  school. 
Literature  ;  Quart.  Rev.,  vol 
del' Europe;  Schlegel.) 

English  Drama. — For  the  semi-religious  representations 
out  of  which  the  English  drama  arose,  see  Mystery 
and  Morality.  One  of  the  latter,  Tlw.  New  Custom,  was 
printed  as  late  as  1573;  by  which  time  several  regular  tra- 
gedies and  comedies,  tolerably  approaching  to  the  classical 
model,  had  appeared.  But  a  third  species  of  exhibition 
soon  took  possession  of  the  stage,  the  historical  drama, 
in  which  the  successive  events  of  a  particular  reign  or  por- 
tion of  history  were  represented  on  the  stage ;  and,  to- 
gether with  it,  arose  the  English  tragedy  and  comedy.  Our 
first  dramatic  poets  (those  before  Shakspeare)  were  schol- 
ars ;  hence  they  preferred  the  form  of  the  ancient  drama,  the 
division  into  acts,  &c.  But  they  were  also  writers,  who 
strove  for  popularity  with  the  general  class  of  their  coun- 
trymen ;  hence,  instead  of  imitating  classical  simplicity,  and 
confining  themselves  to  a  peculiar  cast  of  diction  and  senti- 
ment removed  from  the  ordinary  course  of  life,  they  in- 
vented a  species  of  composition  which  intermingled  po- 
etical with  ordinary  life  and  language.  Comedy,  again,  be- 
came in  their  hands  a  representation  of  adventures,  dif- 
fering from  those  of  tragedy  only  by  ending  generally  in  a 
happy  instead  of  an  unhappy  exit,  and  not  materially  either 
in  the  characters  or  language.  Thus  the  distinctions  which 
they  established  between  tragedy,  comedy,  and  tragico- 
medy,  are  little  more  than  adventitious ;  and  the  Shak- 
spearian  drama,  properly  considered,  must  be  looked  on 
as  a  miscellaneous  compound,  in  which  actors,  language, 
and  sentiments,  of  a  character  far  removed  from  those  of 
ordinary  life,  alternate  with  those  of  alow  and  even  a  bur- 
lesque character.  There  is  no  tragedy  in  Shakspeare  in 
which  comic  scenes  and  characters  are  not  introduced : 
there  is  only  one  comedy  (The  Merry  Wives  of  Wind- 
sor) without  some  intermixture  of  sentiment  approaching 
to  tragic.  It  continued  to  be  the  chief  national  literature, 
as  well  as  the  favorite  national  amusement,  down  to  the 
period  of  the  civil  wars,  when  the  opinions  and  legislation 
of  the  prevailing  party  put  a  stop  to  dramatic  representa- 
tion altogether.  During  the  interval  thus  created  the  old 
English  art  was  unlearned  altogether,  and  the  new  drama, 
on  the  model  of  the  French,  introduced  almost  at  once  on 
the  return  of  Charles  II.  and  his  courtiers  from  the  Conti- 
nent. The  distinction  between  tragedy  and  comedy  was 
then  first  substantially  recognized :  the  former  confined  to 
heroic  events  and  language,  the  latter  to  those  of  ordinary 
life.  But  tragedy,  subjected  to  foreign  rules,  ceased  en- 
tirely to  flourish  :  and  Otway,  the  last  writer  of  the  old 
English  drama,  who  wrote  partly  on  the  ancient  model,  al- 
though after  the  Restoration,  is  also  the  last  tragic  poet  of 
England  who  still  occupies  the  stage  ;  with  the  exception 
of  Rowe.  and  of  a  few  authors  of  that  peculiar  species  of 
composition,  the  domestic  tragedy,  in  which  the  distresses 
and  melancholy  events  of  common  life  are  substituted  for 
those  of  an  heroic  character.  Comedy,  on  the  other  hand, 
obtained  possession  of  the  national  taste  and  stase ;  and 
although  the  charm  of  poetry  and  romantic  adventure, 
which  had  belonged  to  the  old  drama  under  either  name, 
was  denied  to  the  modem  comedy,  it  soon  attained  a  high 
degree  of  excellence  as  well  as  popularity.  The  last 
comedies  in  verse  were  written  shortly  after  the  Restora- 
tion ;  since  which  time,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  insu- 
lated attempts  to  revive  the  older  form,  it  has  been  en- 
tirely framed  on  the  French  model.  The  main  element  of 
a  modern  comedy  is  satire  ;  but  it  admits  of  a  subdivision 
into  comedy  of  intrigue  and  comedy  of  manners,— the  for- 
mer being  chiefly  directed  to  the  development  of  a  plot, 
the  latter  to  the  delineation  of  manners;  although  these 
qualities  ought,  properly  speaking,  to  be  united  to  consti- 
tute a  good  play.  The  most  distinguished  of  our  dramatic 
writers  in  the  former  line  are,  amongst  many,  Congreve, 
Vanbrugh,  Farquhar,  Colman,  Sheridan  :  in  the  latter,  the 
writines  of  Shadwell  and  Foote,  perhaps,  afford  the  most 
remarkable  instances  of  that  less  popular  form  of  comedy 
which  almost  neglects  the  interest  of  plot,  and  confines 
itself  to  a  satirical  representation  of  prevailing  vices  and 
follies.  (See  Edin.  Rev.  vol.  38 ;  Prolegomena  to  Mail  one 
and  Boswell's  Shakspeare  ;  Hazlitt's  Lectures  ;  Coleridge's 
Remains;  Collier,  Hist,  of  Eng.  Dramatic  Poetry.) 

German  Drama. — -The  modern  German  drama  is 
founded  on  the  old  English  model ;  and,  although  the  last 
in  order  of  time,  has  risen  to  a  high  desree  of  excellence, 
the  stage  in  Germany  being  incomparably  more  national 
and  popular  at  the  present  time  than  in  other  European 
countries.  While  France,  England,  and  Spain  have  to 
look  back  two  hundred  years  for  those  names  which  form 
fie  glory  of  their  dramatic  literature,  Lessing,  Schiller,  and 
Goethe  are  writers  only  of  the  past  generation. 

DRAMATU'RGY.  (Gr.  Spapa,  and  epyov,  work.)  The 
science  or  art  of  dramatic  poetry  and  representation ;  a 
word  used  by  German  writers. 

DRAM  TIMBER.     See  Baulk. 

DRATERY.     (Fr.  draperie.)     In  Painting  and  Sculp- 
366 


DREAMS. 

ture,  the  clothing  applied  to  the  human  figure.    See  Cast- 
ing op  Drapery. 

DRA'STIC  MEDICINES.  (Gr.  SpaariKOi,  effective.) 
A  term  chiefly  applied  to  purgatives  and  some  other  re- 
medies which  are  rapid  and  powerful  in  their  operation. 

DRAUGHT  OF  WATER.  The  depth  of  the  lowest 
point  of  the  ship  :  as  the  keel  is  seldom  exactly  horizontal, 
the  draught  of  water  is  taken  forward  and  aft.  A  ship  of 
the  largest  size  draws  nearly  30  feet. 

DRAWBACK.  In  Political  Economy.  When  a  duty 
is  laid  on  an  article  produced  in  a  country  that  is  suitable 
for  the  foreign  market,  it  is  usual,  on  its  being  entered  for 
exportation,  to  remit  or  pay  back  the  duty  to  the  exporter : 
and  hence  the  technical  phrase  drawback.  The  policy  of 
a  measure  of  this  sort  is,  in  most  cases,  obvious.  It  is 
rarely  for  the  public  advantage  to  impose  a  duty  on  an  ar- 
ticle about  to  be  exported  ;  the  inevitable  effect  of  such 
duty  is,  by  proportionally  increasing  the  price  of  the  arti- 
cle, to  lessen  the  foreign  demand  for  it ;  and  its  probable 
effect  is,  in  most  instances,  entirely  to  exclude  it  from  the 
foreign  markets.  Except  in  a  few  rare  cases,  one  country 
has  seldom  so  great  an  advantage  over  others  in  the  pro- 
duction of  commodities  as  would  juslify  the  imposition  of 
a  duty  on  their  exportation,  without  incurring  an  extreme 
risk  of  making  them  be  supplied  from  some  other  quarter. 
This,  however,  is  a  result  to  be  deprecated  in  every  point 
of  view.  And  hence  in  every  case  in  which  the  exporting 
country  has  no  ascertained  or  decided  superiority  over 
others  in  the  production  of  commodities  on  which  duties 
are  laid  at  home,  there  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  expe- 
diency of  drawbacks.  These  must  not,  however,  exceed 
the  amount  of  duty  charged  ;  for  when  they  do  this,  the 
excess  becomes,  in  fact,  a  bounty. 

DRAWING.  (Sax.  dragar,  to  draw  along.)  In  the 
Fine  Arts,  the  art  of  representing  any  object  by  means  of 
lines  circumscribing  its  boundaries.  Drawing  is  of  course 
the  foundation  of  every  thing  in  art,  including  within  it  a 
knowledge  of  perspective  anatomy,  and  proportion,  and 
when  acquired  giving,  as  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  observes, 
"a  proportionable  power  of  drawing  correctly  what  we  im- 
agine" The  human  figure  is  the  principal,  perhaps  the 
only  object,  upon  which  a  student  should  be  first  employed ; 
for  he  who  can  correctly  draw  that  will  not  be  at  a  loss  in 
representing  any  thing  else  he  may  wish.  Sir  Joshua  ob- 
serves, that  he  who  endeavours  to  copy  nicely  the  figure 
before  him,  not  only  acquires  a  "  habit  of  exactness  and 
precision,  but  is  continually  advancing  in  his  knowledge  of 
the  human  figure  ;  and  though  he  seems  to  superficial  ob- 
servers to  make  a  slower  progress,  he  will  be  found  at  last 
capable  of  adding  (without  running  into  capricious  wild- 
ness)  that  grace  and  beauty  which  is  necessary  to  be  given 
to  his  more  finished  works,  and  whicli  cannot  be  got  by  the 
moderns,  as  it  was  not  acquired  by  the  ancients,  but  by  an 
attentive  and  well  compared  study  of  the  human  form." 

DREAMS,  (German,  Traume,)  may  be  defined  to  be 
those  trains  of  ideas  which  occupy  the  mind,  or  those 
imaginary  transactions  in  which  it  is  engaged,  during  sleep. 
Dreams  constitute  some  of  the  mostcurious  phenomena  of 
the  human  mind,  and  have  in  all  ages  presented  to  philo- 
sophers a  subject  of  most  interesting  investigation.  The 
theory  of  dreams  embraces  two  distinct  classes  of  phe- 
nomena, physical  and  psychological :  the  former  relate  to 
the  question  as  to  how  the  body  is  affected  in  a  state  of 
sleep  (see  Sleep,)  how  the  body  in  that  state  affects  the 
mind,  and  how  this  affection  operates  to  the  production  of 
the  phenomena  of  dreams  ;  the  latter  comprehend  an  in- 
quiry into  the  laws  which  regulate  the  train  of  ideas  that  oc- 
cur during  sleep,  and  the  mode  in  which  these  laws  ope- 
rate, together  with  an  examination  of  certain  psychological 
appearances  peculiar  to  that  state.  To  both  these  classes 
of  phenomena  the  attention  of  some  of  the  most  distin 
snished  philosophers,  both  ofantiquity  andof  modern  times, 
has  been  directed  ;  and  much  labour  and  ingenuity  have 
been  expended  in  endeavouring  to  ascertain  the  origin  and 
nature  of  dreams,  and  to  account  for  the  various  pheno- 
mena by  which  they  are  accompanied.  To  give  even  an 
outline  of  the  various  theories  that  have  been  propounded 
on  this  subject,  would  be  wholly  incompatible  with  our 
limits.  The  system  of  condensation  on  which  works  of 
this  species  must  be  constructed  is,  as  will  be  easily  under- 
stood, but  little  suited  for  metaphysical  disquisitions,  iti 
which,  to  use  a  remark  of  Horace,  brevity  so  easily  dege- 
nerates into  obscurity  ;  but  in  the  present  instance  this  is 
perhaps  the  less  to  be  regretted,  for  of  all  those  speculative 
questions  which  are  said  to  lie  beyond  the  reach  of  human 
inquiry,  there  is  none  on  which  the  opinions  of  philoso- 
phers are  more  conflicting  and  unsatisfactory  than  the  the- 
ory of  dreams.  Among  a  multitude  of  other  efficient  causes, 
dreams  have  been  ascribed  to  direct  impressions  on  the 
organs  of  sense  during  sleep, — to  the  absence  of  real  im- 
pressions on  the  senses, — to  a  disordered  state  of  the  di- 
gestive organs, — to  a  less  restrained  action  of  the  mental  fa- 
culties,— to  the  suspension  of  volition  while  the  powers  of 
sensation  continue,— and  to  the  succession  and  unequal  re> 


DREDGING  MACHINE. 

laxation  and  cessation  of  the  different  senses  at  the  com- 
mencement and  during  the  time  of  sleep.  (Encyc.  Edin.) 
From  the  remotest  period  of  antiquity,  dreams  have  also 
been  ascribed  to  supernatural  agency.  The  records  of  his- 
tory, both  sacred  and  profane,  abound  in  instances  of 
dreams  which  it  is  impossible  to  account  for  on  any  other 
hypothesis  than  that  of  a  supernatural  interposition  ;  and, 
as  has  been  well  observed,  though  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  many  dreams  which  have  been  considered  superna- 
tural, as  revealing  facts  and  scientific  truths,  may  now  be 
explained  by  means  within  our  own  knowledge,  it  can  just 
as  little  be  doubted  that  many  well  authenticated  dreams 
are  utterly  inexplicable  by  ordinary  or  natural  means.  This 
belief  in  the  supernatural  character  of  dreams  is  common 
to  every  nation  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  ;  but  it  prevails 
more  especially  in  the  countries  of  the  East,  where,  from 
time  immemorial,  there  has  existed  a  class  of  persons 
whose  peculiar  occupation  consists  in  the  interpretation  and 
explanation  of  dreams.  Those  who  wish  for  comprehen- 
sive details  on  this  subject  may  consult  the  writings  of 
Aristotle,  Lucretius,  Democritus,  <fcc.;  and  among  ourselves, 
of  Locke,  Newton,  Hartley,  Baxter,  Beattie,  and  Stewart ; 
and  still  more  recently,  those  of  Abercrombie  and  Mac- 
nish,  which  are  extremely  valuable  for  the  numerous  in- 
stances of  extraordinary  dreams  with  which  their  theories 
are  illustrated.  The  Penny  Cyclopaedia,  also,  contains  an 
article  upon  dreams,  which  exhibits  great  metaphysical 
acumen.     (See  TTie  Royal  Book  of  Dreams.) 

DRE'DGING  MACHINE.  A  machine  for  clearing  out  or 
deepening  the  beds  of  navigable  rivers,  harbours,  canals, 
•fee,  by  the  removal  of  deposited  matters. 

DRE'SSING.  A  term  applied  to  gum.  starch,  and  other 
articles  used  in  stiffening  or  preparing  silk,  linen,  and  other 
fabrics. 

DRE'SSINGS.  In  Architecture,  mouldings  round  doors, 
Windows,  and  the  like. 

DRIFT,  in  Navigation,  is  the  angle  which  the  line  of  a 
ship's  motion  makes  with  the  meridian,  when  she  is  driven 
by  the  wind  or  waves  and  not  governed  by  the  helm.  It 
also  signifies  the  distance  to  which  she  is  carried  in  a  given 
time  in  that  direction. 

Drift.  (Sax.  drifan.)  In  Architecture,  the  horizontal 
force  which  an  arch  exerts  with  a  tendency  to  overset  the 
piers. 

DRILL.  In  Mechanics,  a  small  instrument  of  steel  for 
perforating  metals  or  hard  substances.  Its  action  is  pro- 
duced by  communicating  to  it  a  very  rapid  rotation  by 
means  of  a  drill-bow. 

Drill.  In  Agr.,  a  machine  for  sowing  agricultural  seeds 
in  rows;  sometimes  worked  by  the  hand  alone,  and  some- 
times by  the  addition  of  a  horse. 

DRILL  HUSBANDRY.  In  Agr.,  the  cultivation  of  arable 
land,  by  sowing  the  crops  in  rows ;  the  advantage  of  which 
is,  that  it  admits  of  destroying  the  weeds,  and  stirring  the 
soil  in  the  intervals  between  the  lines  of  plants.  As  this 
mode  of  cultivation  requires  some  implements  and  ma- 
chines not  in  use  in  the  commoner  kinds  of  farming,  and 
as  it  is  besides  better  adapted  for  some  soils  than  for  others, 
it  is  not  so  generally  used  as  the  obvious  advantages  attend- 
ing it  would  lead  us  to  expect. 

DRIP.    In  Architecture,  the  same  as  Corona,  which  see. 
DRI'PPING  EAVES.  (Dan.  dripper,  to  drop.)  In  Archi- 
tecture, the  lower  edges  of  a  roof  wherefrom  the  rain  drips 
or  drops  to  the  ground. 

DRI'VING  NOTES.  In  Music,  such  notes  as  connect 
the  last  note  of  one  bar  with  the  first  of  the  following  one, 
so  as  to  make  only  one  note  of  both.  They  are  also  used 
in  the  middle  of  a  measure,  and  when  a  note  of  one  part 
terminates  in  the  middle  of  the  note  of  another,  in  which 
case  it  is  called  binding  or  legaiure.  Driving  notes  are 
also  called  syncopation,  when  some  shorter  note  at  the 
beginning  of  a  measure  or  half  measure  is  followed  by  two, 
three,  or  more  longer  notes,  before  any  other  occurs  equal 
to  that  which  occasioned  the  driving  note  to  make  the  num- 
ber even ;  for  instance,  when  an  odd  crotchet  succeeds 
two  or  three  minims,  or  an  odd  quaver  two  or  more 
crotchets. 

DROITS  OF  ADMIRALTY.  The  perquisites  resulting 
chiefly  from  the  seizure  of  the  property  of  an  enemy  at 
the  commencement  of  a  war,  and  attached  to  the  office  of 
lord-hish-admiral,  or  to  the  crown  when  that  office  is  va- 
cant. These  perquisites  were  originally  vested  in  the 
sovereign,  to  enable  him  to  provide  for  the  expense  of  de- 
fending the  realm,  and  clearing  the  seas  of  pirates;  and 
their  value  and  importance  will  be  at  once  perceived  from 
the  following  brief  statement.  In  1798,  one  ship  which  had 
been  captured  brought  55,000/. ;  in  1800,  another  brought 
65,000/.  ;  in  1804,  one  captured  ship  was  worth  105,000/.  ; 
and  in  1806,  several  taken  at  once  netted  155,000/.  During 
the  last  war,  also,  the  Dutch  ships  at  one  seizure  brought 
1,030,000/. ;  the  Spanish  ships,  2,200,000/. ;  and  so  large 
were  the  sums  made  at  one  and  the  same  moment  in  this 
rich  fund,  that  the  crown  one  year,  after  paying  many  hun- 
dred thousands  to  captors,  and  large  sums  to  different 
367 


DROWNING. 

branches  of  the  royal  family,  gave  a  million  out  of  the  re- 
sidue to  the  public  service.  {Edin.  Rev.  vol.  xxxiii.  p.  482.) 
By  the  civil  list  introduced  on  the  accessiop  of  William  IV., 
it  was  arranged  that  all  the  droits  of  admiralty  which  might 
accrue  during  his  reign  should  be  paid  into  the  exchequer 
for  the  benefit  of  the  public  service  ;  and  the  civil  list  of 
her  present  Majesty  has  made  no  alteration  in  that  ar- 
rangement.    See  Prize  Money. 

DRO'MEDARY.     See  Camelus. 

DROPS.  (Sax.  droppan.)  In  Architecture,  the  frusta 
of  cones  in  the  Doric  order,  used  under  the  triglyphs  in 
the  architrave  below  the  tCEnia.  Th°y  are  also  used  in  the 
under  part  of  the  mutuli  or  modillions  of  the  order.  In  the 
Greek  examples  they  are  sometimes  curved  a  little  in- 
wards on  the  profile. 

DROP  SERENE.  (Lat.  gutta  serena.)  See  Amaurosis. 

DRO'PSY.  (Gr.  wStop,  water.)  An  unnatural  collection 
of  watery  fluid  in  any  part  of  the  body.  When  it  takes 
place  in  the  cellular  membrane,  it  constitutes  anasarca; 
when  in  the  cavity  of  the  abdomen,  ascites;  in  the  cavity 
of  the  cranium,  hydrocephalus  ;  in  the  scrotum,  hydrocele; 
in  the  uterus,  hydrometra ;  and  in  the  chest,  hydrothorax 
Dropsy  may  arise  from  a  variety  of  morbid  actions,  either 
of  the  secerning  or  absorbing  vessels.  When  the  fluid 
which  lubricates  the  internal  surfaces  and  cavities  of  the 
body  is  secreted  in  excessive  quantity,  or  is  not  adequately 
removed  by  the  absorbents,  it  may  so  accumulate  as  to 
constitute  the  various  forms  of  this  disease ;  it  may  there- 
fore arise  out  of  excessive  as  well  as  of  defective  action  ; 
it  may  also  result  from  a  variety  of  other  causes  connected 
with  organic  lesion  or  derangement,  both  vascular  and 
nervous.  The  treatment  of  dropsy  will  of  course  vary  with 
the  cause  of  the  disease  :  it  sometimes  requires  depletion, 
and  at  others  tonics ;  and  local  accumulation  of  fluids  is 
often  susceptible  of  removal  by  remedies  which  stimulate 
the  absorbents  to  increased  action,  or  which  excite  the  ex- 
cretories  of  the  intestines  or  promote  the  flow  of  urine. 
Dropsy  is  a  common  symptom  of  a  broken  constitution 
and  failure  of  the  powers  of  life. 

Dro'psy.  In  Botany,  a  disease  peculiar  to  succulent 
plants,  arising  from  an  excessive  introduction  of  water  into 
the  system.  It  produces  rapid  rottenness,  and  can  only  be 
stopt  by  destroying  all  the  parts  affected  by  it,  and  expos- 
ing the  individual  to  a  very  dry  atmosphere. 

DROSO'METER.  (Gr.  Spooo;,  dew,  and  fxcrpov,  mea- 
sure.) Any  instrument  for  measuring  the  quantity  of  dew 
that  collects  on  the  surface  of  a  body  exposed  to  the  open 
air  during  the  night.  The  first  instrument  for  this  purpose 
was  proposed  by  Weidler.  It  consisted  of  a  bent  balance 
which  marked  in  grains  the  preponderance  which  a  piece 
of  glass  of  certain  dimensions,  laid  horizontally  in  one  of 
the  scales,  had  acquired  from  the  settling  and  adhesion  of 
the  globules  of  moisture.  A  simpler  and  more  convenient 
drosometer  would  be  formed  on  the  principle  of  the  rain 
gauge ;  and  in  order  to  facilitate  the  descent  of  the  dew 
down  the  sides  of  the  funnel  into  the  tube,  a  coat  of  deli- 
queate  salt  of  tartar  may  be  spread  over  the  shallow  surface. 
Dr.  Wells,  in  making  his  celebrated  experiments  on  dew, 
exposed  a  small  quantity  of  wool  to  the  open  sky,  and  the 
difference  in  its  weight  when  laid  down  and  taken  up  show- 
ed the  quantity  of  moisture  it  had  imbibed  in  the  interval. 

DROWNING.  When  a  person  is  submerged  under 
water,  suffocation  ensues,  not  in  consequence  of  the  access 
of  water  to  the  windpipe  or  lungs,  but  merely  from  the  ex- 
clusion of  air,  the  mechanism  of  the  glottis,  or  upper 
portion  of  the  windpipe,  being  such  as  to  prevent,  by  the 
pasmodic  closure  of  the  epiglottis,  the  entrance  of  more 
than  a  very  trifling  and  accidental  quantity  of  water.  Un- 
der these  circumstances,  however,  an  attempt  is  made  to 
inspire,  which  is  followed  by  the  reaction  of  expiration,  and 
consequently  a  little  air  is  thrown  out,  and  the  residuary 
quantity  in  the  lungs  still  further  diminished  ;  access  of 
oxygen  to  the  blood  is  therefore  effectually  cut  off,  the  aera- 
tion of  the  blood  is  prevented,  and  venous  blood  circulates 
in  the  arterial  system,  the  right  side  of  the  heart  becoming 
loaded  with  it,  and  the  pulmonary  vein  returning  it  to  the 
right  cavities  of  that  organ.  The  consequences  of  the  non- 
aeration  of  the  blood  thus  ensuing  upon  the  vital  functions 
is  their  suspension  and  rapid  extinction;  so  that  in  the 
course  of  four  or  five  minutes  after  the  access  of  air  has 
been  cut  off,  death  ensues,  although  some  of  the  organic 
functions  may  and  do  continue  for  a  much  longer  period. 
When  therefore  a  person  has  been  perfectly  submerged  in 
water  for  the  space  of  five  minutes,  perfect  insensibility 
ensues,  and  the  functions  upon  which  life  more  immedi- 
diately  depends  cannot  be  restored. 

In  consequence,  however,  of  the  struggles  made  by  a 
drowning  person,  and  of  their  chances  of  occasional  gasps 
of  air,  and  of  the  varying  quantity  of  air  which  the  lung3 
may  contain,  we  must  not  despair  of  the  possibility  of  re- 
suscitation,  even  when  the  body  has  been  for  fifteen  or 
twenty  minutes  in  the  water,  although  it  must  be  confessed 
that  after  four  or  five  minutes'  submersion  the  chances  of 
recovery  are  very  remote. 


DRUGGET. 

The  slate  of  alarm  and  agitation  into  which  persons  fall- 
ing into  the  water,  and  who  cannot  swim,  are  thrown,  and 
their  ignorance  in  general  of  the  means  which  should  be 
resorted  to  upon  such  an  emergency,  as  well  as  want  of 
presence  of  mind  to  adopt  them,  lead  to  neglect  of  those 
obvious  measures  by  which  immediate  dangers  might  be 
averted.  They  should  endeavour  to  recollect  that  the  spe- 
cific gravity  of  the  human  body  when  the  lungs  are  filled 
with  air,  is  less  than  that  of  water,  and  that  consequently 
the  body  has,  under  such  circumstances,  a  natural  tenden- 
cy to  float ;  and  that  if  the  head  can  then  be  so  placed  as 
to  keep  the  mouth  or  even  the  nostrils  above  water,  respi- 
ration may  be  continued.  They  should  also  remember 
that  by  a  forced  inspiration  a  much  larger  quantity  of  air 
may  be  drawn  into  and  retained  in  the  lungs  than  in  a  com- 
mon or  natural  inspiration  ;  and  that  therefore  the  blood  will 
continue  longer  aerated,  and  consequently  a  longer  period 
will  elapse  before  a  second  attempt  at  inspiration  need  be 
made,  and  before  insensibility  or  the  cessation  of  the  vital 
functions  will  ensue.  If,  for  instance,  while  breathing  as 
usual,  we  suddenly  hold  our  breath,  we  shall  find  ourselves 
forced  to  make  an  inspiration  in  the  course  of  from  a  quar- 
ter to  half  a  minute ;  but  if  we  previously  make  two  or 
three  forced  respirations,  so  as  to  cleanse  the  lungs  in  the 
first  instance  of  foul  air,  and  then  take  a  forced  inspiration, 
we  shall  be  able  to  hold  breath  for  more  than  a  minute,  and 
sometimes  even  for  two  minutes.  It  is  upon  this  princi- 
ple, that  skilful  divers  are  enabled  to  remain  under  water 
lor  a  period  that  sometimes  appears  almost  incredible  ; 
and  if  the  depth  of  water  be  considerable,  and  the  air  sup- 
plied from  a  diving  bell,  its  degree  of  condensation  or  di- 
minished bulk  will  of  course  enable  a  given  volume  to 
oxygenate  the  blood  more  effectually  than  the  same  vo- 
lume at  common  atmospheric  pressure. 

Such,  then,  is  an  outline  of  the  physiology  of  drowning ; 
it  naturally  leads  to  the  important  question  as  to  the  most 
effective  means  of  restoring  suspended  animation  in  such 
cases.  It  of  course  follows  from  what  has  been  said,  in 
the  first  place,  that  not  a  moment  is  to  be  lost  in  getting  the 
body  out  of  the  water,  and  removing  it  with  the  utmost 
speed  to  any  place  where  further  means  can  be  resorted 
to  ;  and  now  air  should  be  thrown  into  the  lungs,  and  arti- 
ficial respiration  should  be  attempted  with  as  little  loss  of 
time  as  possible,  for  till  the  blood  has  an  opportunity  of 
being  aerated,  the  return  of  the  vital  functions  is  of  course 
impossible.  The  body  should  also  be  immediately  stripped 
of  the  wet  clothes,  which  should  be  cut  off  or  otherwise 
removed  with  the  utmost  speed  ;  and  warm  blankets  should 
be  at  hand  as  wrappers,  and  warm  towels  for  rubbing  and 
drying  the  body.  Artificial  respiration,  together  with 
warmth  and  friction,  carefully,  however,  and  moderately 
employed,  are  the  first  and  most  essential  remedies.  Much 
has  been  said  of  the  advantage  in  these  cases  of  electricity  ; 
and,  if  possible,  it  should  certainly  be  resorted  to  :  slight 
shocks  should  be  passed  through  the  region  of  the  dia- 
phragm, the  heart,  and  along  the  course  of  the  spine  ;  and 
various  forms  of  the  magneto-electric  machine  seem  parti- 
cularly well  adapted  to  these  purposes.  The  truth  is,  that 
the  means  to  be  adopted  in  all  these  cases  are  few  and 
simple;  but  unless  they  are  immediately  at  hand,  and  in- 
stantly available,  they  will  fail,  even  under  the  most  favour- 
able circumstances.  Yet,  where  even  a  glimmering  of 
hope  remains,  they  should,  even  under  unfavourable  cir- 
cumstances, be  as  speedily  and  completely  as  possible 
resorted  to ;  for  there  are  on  record  extraordinary  cases 
of  resuscitation,  when  every  thing  appeared  to  militate 
against  a  successful  issue. 

But  in  these  cases  it  is  not  only  important  to  know  what 
to  do,  but  also  what  to  avoid.  Nasal  stimulants,  such  as 
ammonia,  aromatic  vinegar,  and  other  pungent  and  volatile 
applications,  should  be  avoided :  they  can  be  of  little  use 
under  the  most  favourable  circumstances,  and  in  the  most 
judicious  hands  ;  and  if  unskilfully  employed,  may  do  in- 
finite mischief.  The  warm- water  bath  is  a  bad  substitute  for 
warm  air  and  friction  ;  it  interferes  with  the  latter,  and  with 
the  use  of  electricity,  and  places  the  body  in  a  constrained 
and  unfavourable  position.  In  these  days  it  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  point  out  the  extreme  absurdity  of  holding  the 
body  with  the  head  downwards,  to  allow  the  water  to  run 
out  by  the  mouth,  or  of  the  still  more  dangerous  use  of  to- 
bacco, especially  the  injection  of  tobacco  smoke, — means 
calculated  to  put  the  life  of  a  healthy  person  in  jeopardy, 
and  every  way  suited  to  render  all  attempts  at  the  restore- 
tion  of  suspended  animation  ineffectual. 

DRU'GGET.  A  coarse  and  flimsy  woollen  texture, 
chiefly  used  for  covering  carpets.  It  was  formerly  exten- 
sively employed  as  an  article  of  clothing  by  the  poorer 
classes,  more  especially  of  females ;  but  this  and  similar 
fabrics  are  now  almost  wholly  superseded  by  cotton  goods, 
which  induce  greater  cleanliness,  and  are  less  liable  to  re- 
tain infectious  and  contagious  poisons. 

DRU'IDS.  The  priests  of  the  Celtic  inhabitants  of  an- 
cient Gaul  and  Britain.  Our  classical  information  respect- 
ing them  is  chiefly  derived  from  Julius  Caesar;  Strabo, 
368 


DRY  ROT. 

Tacitus,  Pliny,  Lucan,  and  other  authors,  have  also  left  us 
particulars  respecting  them.  On  those  slender  foundations 
very  extensive  superstructures  have  been  raised  by  the 
imagination  of  English  and  French  antiquaries.  The 
classical  name  of  Druid  was  derived  by  the  Latins  from 
<fy>rc,  an  oak  ;  but  is  more  probably  of  Celtic  origin.  The 
doctrine  of  the  Druids  was  not  committed  to  writing,  but 
retained  by  memory  in  the  form  of  verses;  of  which  the 
Welsh  Triads  are  supposed,  with  some  probability,  to  re- 
tain the  form  and  vestiges.  There  appears  to  have  been 
much  of  fraud  and  vulgar  delusion  mixed  up  in  the  reli- 
gious rites  which  they  practised.  The  gods  whom  they 
worshipped,  according  to  classical  writers,  were  Jupiter 
(Taranis),  Apollo  (Belenus),  Mars  (Hesus),  and  several 
others,  whom  they  believed  to  be  the  same  with  person- 
ages of  the  Grecian  mythology.  The  sacrifice  of  human 
victims  is  uniformly  represented  as  a  part  of  their  worship. 
Their  places  of  worship  were  chiefly  consecrated  groves, 
of  one  of  which  Lucan  has  given  a  fine  description  in  the 
second  book  of  his  Pharsalia.  The  rock-altars,  cromlechs, 
cist-vaens,  and  otherrelics  of  antiquity,  which  are  scattered 
over  the  surface  of  parts  of  England  and  France,  are  attri- 
buted by  antiquaries  for  the  most  part  to  the  Druidical  age. 
Claudius  and  other  Roman  emperors  issued  severe  edicts 
acainst  the  Druids,  but  did  not  succeed  in  extirpating  them. 
This  was  only  effected  by  the  general  introduction  of 
Christianity  ;  and  some  suppose  that  the  celebrated  Cul- 
dees  of  Scotland  and  Ireland  were  converted  Druids. 

DRUM.  (Dan.  tromme.)  In  Architecture,  the  upright 
part  of  a  cupola  either  above  or  below  a  dome.  The  same 
term  is  used  to  express  the  solid  part  or  vase  of  the  Corin- 
thian and  Composite  capitals. 

Drum.  In  Music,  an  instrument  of  percussion,  formed 
by  stretching  a  piece  of  parchment  over  each  end  of  a 
cylinder  formed  of  thin  wood,  or  over  the  top  of  a  caul- 
dron-shaped vessel  of  brass ;  the  latter  is  hence  called  a 
kettle  drum.  The  large  drums  which  are  beaten  at  each 
end  are  called  double  drums,  and  are  used  chiefly  in  mili- 
tary bands.  Kettle  drums  are  always  used  in  pairs ;  one 
of  which  is  tuned  to  the  key  note,  the  other  to  the 
fifth  of  the  key.  It  is  principally  used  for  military  pur- 
poses, especially  for  exciting  the  soldiers  under  the  fatigue 
of  march  or  in  battle.  The  drum  is  supposed  to  be  an 
eastern  invention,  and  to  have  been  brought  into  Europe 
by  the  Arabians,  or  perhaps  the  Moors.  The  kettle  drum, 
the  bass  drum,  and  tambourine,  are  common  in  the  East. 

DRUM  OF  THE  EAR.     See  Ear. 

DRUPE.  In  Botany,  a  one-celled,  one  or  two-seeded, 
superior,  indehiscenl  fruit ;  the  outer  coal  is  soft  and  fleshy, 
and  separable  from  the  inner  endocarpium  (stone),  which 
is  hard  and  bony  :  the  whole  proceeding  from  an  ovarium. 
which  is  perfectly  simple.  The  peach,  plum,  apricot,  cherry, 
are  examples  of  this. 

DRY.  (Sax.  drig.)  In  Painting,  a  term  applied  to  a 
painting  wherein  the  outline  is  too  strongly  marked,  and  the 
colours  of  the  objects  do  not  unite  with  those  by  which 
they  are  surrounded.  In  sculpture  it  is  used  in  speaking 
of  a  work  wherein  there  is  a  want  of  luxuriousness  and  ten- 
derness in  the  forms. 

DRY'ADS.  (Gr.  fyuc,  an  oak.)  In  the  Heathen  Mytho- 
logy, a  kind  of  imaginary  female  deities  whom  the  ancients 
believed  to  inhabit  the  woods  and  groves. 

DRY  DISTILLATION.  This  term  is  applied  to  the  dis- 
tillation of  substances  per  se,  or  without  the  addition  of  wa- 
ter :  Ihus  if  we  put  wood  into  a  retort  or  other  distillatory 
apparatus,  and  subject  it  to  heat,  it  yields  tar,  vinegar,  wa- 
ter, and  various  gaseous  and  other  matters,  which  are  called 
the  products  of  its  dry  or  destructive  distillation. 

DRY'ING  OIL.  This  term  is  generally  applied  to  lin- 
seed and  other  oils  which  have  been  heated  with  oxide  of 
lead  :  they  are  the  bases  of  many  paints  and  varnishes. 

DRY  ROT.  A  disease  which  attacks  wood,  rendering 
it  brittle,  and  destroying  the  cohesion  of  its  parts,  is  known 
by  this  name.  It  occurs  among  the  timbers  of  ships, 
where  it  sometimes  commits  the  most  serious  damage,  and 
in  damp  ill-ventilated  houses.  It  is  usually  ascribed  to  the 
attacks  of  fungi,  especially  to  such  as  Polyporus  destructor 
and  Meruliits  lachrymans,  whose  filamentous  spawn  or  thal- 
lus  appears  upon  the  surface,  overspreading  it  like  a  tough 
thick  skin  of  white  leather  ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  of  its  be- 
ing often  connected  with  the  appearance  of  such  fungi. 
But  dry  rot  is  certainly,  in  some  cases,  to  be  identified  with 
the  presence  of  fungi  of  a  more  simple  kind  than  those  just 
mentioned  ;  especially  of  such  as  belong  to  or  resemble  the 
genus  Sporotrichun. 

The  destruction  of  timber  by  such  plants  is  effected  in 
part  by  the  disintegration  of  the  tubes  of  the  weed,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  introduction  between  them  of  the  fine  fila- 
mentous spawn  of  the  fungi,  and  in  part  by  the  dampness 
which  is  thus  conveyed  to  the  interior  of  the  wood,  where 
it  soon  produces  decomposition.  It  is  not,  however,  cer- 
tain that  dry  rot  is  always  caused  in  this  manner  ;  on  the 
contrary,  the  term  appears  to  be  frequently  applied  to  cases 
of  spontaneous  decomposition  of  limber  without  the  pre- 


DRYSALTER. 

sence  of  fungi,  or  when  the  appearance  of  the  latter  takes 
place  long  after  the  commencement  of  the  disease. 

When  dry  rot  produced  by  fungi  has  once  made  its  ap- 
pearance, there  is  no  means  of  arresting  its  progress  with- 
out removing  the  whole  of  the  diseased  and  neighbouring 
parts  ;  and  even  then  it  will  probably  again  break  out,  un- 
less means  can  be  taken  to  introduce  a  circulation  of  fresh 
air  among  the  parts  liable  to  the  affection.  For  if  timber  is 
allowed  to  remain  in  a  damp  situation,  and  in  the  dark,  it 
affords  so  favourable  a  nidus  for  the  seeds  of  fungi,  that 
they  are  almost  certain  to  vegetate  upon  it ;  unless  some 
means  have  been  previously  taken  to  render  the  timber 
permanently  unsuited  to  their  growth.  This  end  appears 
to  have  been  attained  by  Mr.  Kyan,  who  has  obtained  a  pa- 
tent for  pickling  timber,  as  a  preventive  of  the  dry  rot,  and 
who  employs  for  this  purpose  a  solution  of  corrosive  subli- 
mate. This  salt  of  mercury  is  a  well-known  vegetable 
poison  :  if  any  animal  jelly,  upon  which  fungi  will  quickly 
appear  in  the  form  of  mouldiness,  is  mixed  with  a  minute 
quantity  of  corrosive  sublimate,  no  fungi  will  in  that  case 
be  produced  ;  so  that  both  theory  and  experience  are  in  fa- 
vour of  Mr.  Kyan's  process.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the 
progress  of  dry  rot  might  even  be  arrested  in  the  buildings 
where  it  occurs,  if  the  timbers  could  be  got  at  and  well 
washed  with  the  same  solution. 

Although  dry  rot  generally  fixes  itself  upon  timber,  it  will 
also  attack  any  form  of  vegetable  matter.  The  paper  hang- 
ings of  rooms,  chiefly  composed  of  cotton  and  linen  thread, 
are  occasionally  overrun  in  houses  which  have  been  long 
shut  up  and  neglected  ;  and  the  mildew  which  destroys 
the  strength  of  canvass  is  only  another  form  of  dry  rot,  the 
appearance  of  which  is  altered  by  the  special  circum- 
stances under  which  the  fungus  is  developed,  or  by  the 
species  of  the  fungus  itself. 

DRY 'SALTER.  A  dealer  in  sailed  or  dried  meats,  and 
in  the  materials  used  in  pickling,  salting,  and  preserving 
various  kinds  of  food  ;  hence  drysalters  usually  sell  a  num- 
ber of  saline  substances  and  miscellaneous  drugs. 

DRY'STOVE.  A  glazed  structure  for  containing  the 
plants  of  dry  arid  climates ;  such  as  the  cactuses,  mesem- 
bryanthemums,  aloes,  and  other  succulents  of  Africa. 

DU'ALISM.  A  name  given  to  those  systems  of  philoso- 
phy which  refer  all  existence  to  two  ultimate  principles. 
Dualism  is  a  main  feature  in  all  the  early  Greek  cosmogo- 
nies, and  is  that  which  distinguishes  them  from  the  eastern 
speculations  on  similar  subjects,  which  mostly  regard  all 
things  as  emanating  from  a  single  principle.  The  dualistic 
hypothesis  was,  doubtless,  originally  snggested  by  the  ana- 
logy of  male  and  female  in  animal  existence.  The  earliest 
forms  under  which  the  theory  appeared  are,  as  might  be 
expected,  rude  in  the  extreme.  The  Orphic  poets  made 
the  ultimate  principles  of  all  things  to  be  Water  and  Night; 
by  others  iEther  and  Erehus,  Time  and  Necessity,  are 
severally  deemed  worthy  of  this  distinction.  (Brandis, 
Gesch.  der  Phil.  i.  p.  71 ;  Arist.  Metaph.  xix.  3.)  The  an- 
cient Greek  and  Roman  mythology  was  evidently  construct- 
ed on  this  principle.  (See  Varro,  De  Re  Rustica,  i.  2.)  In 
its  more  philosophic  form,  the  dualistic  theory  was  main- 
tained anions  the  ancients  by  Pythagoras  aad  many  of  the 
Ionian  school ;  among  the  moderns,  chiefly  by  Descartes. 
{See  arts.  Ionic  Philosophy,  Cartesian  Philosophy.)  It 
may  be  expressed  generally  as  the  assumption  of  the  co- 
eternity  and  simultaneous  development  of  the  formative 
with  the  formed,  of  the  natura  naturans  with  the  natura 
naturata.  So  the  system  of  philosophy  which  regards 
matter  and  spirit  as  distinct  principles  is  a  species  of  dual- 
ism, as  opposed  to  materialism. 

In  Theology,  the  doctrine  of  the  two  sovereign  principles 
of  good  and  evil  (see  Manicheism)  is  also  dualistic  ;  and 
the  high  Calvinistic  theory  may  be  said  to  be  a  species  of 
dualism,  viz.  that  all  mankind  are  divided,  in  the  eternal 
foreknowledge  of  God,  and  by  his  arbitrary  decree,  into 
two  classes, — the  elect  and  reprobate. 

DU'AL  NUMBER,  in  Grammar,  is  the  name  given  to 
that  form  of  the  verb  and  substantive  by  which,  in  the  an- 
cient Greek,  Sanscrit,  and  Gothic,  and  the  modern  Lithua- 
nian languages,  two  persons  or  things  are  denoted,  in  con- 
tradistinction to  plural,  which  expresses  an  indefinite  num- 
ber of  persons  or  things.  For  full  discussions  on  the  nature 
and  peculiarity  of  the  dual  number,  see  Buttmann  and 
MatthiiVs  Greek  Grammar ;  see  also  the  Penny  Cyclop., 
and  the  authorities  there  referred  to. 

DU'BBING  OUT.  A  term  used  by  plasterers  to  signify 
the  bringing  of  an  uneven  surface  to  a  plane  by  pieces  of 
tiles,  slate,  plaster,  or  the  like. 

DUCAT,  DUCATOON.     See  Money. 

DUCK.     See  Anas. 

DUCKBILL.     See  Ornithorhynchus. 

DUCTI'LITY.  (Lat.  duco,  I  draw.)  A  property  of  cer- 
tain bodies,  in  consequence  of  which  they  can  be  drawn 
out  at  length  without  suffering  any  interruption  of  the  con- 
tinuity of  their  constituent  particles.  The  term  ductility  is 
frequently  confounded  with  malleability,  or  that  property 
of  bodies  through  which  different  forms  can  be  given  to 
369 


DUEL. 

them  by  pressure  or  percussion.  In  general  ductility  de- 
pends, in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  on  the  temperature. 
Some  bodies,  wax  for  example,  are  rendered  ductile  by  a 
small  degree  of  heat;  while  glass  requires  a  violent  heat 
before  it  acquires  ductility.  Some  of  the  metals — for  ex- 
ample, gold,  silver,  lead,  &c. — are  ductile  under  all  known 
temperatures. 

"The  ductility  of  some  metals  far  exceeds  that  of  any 
other  substance.  The  goldbeaters  begin  their  operations 
with  a  riband  an  inch  broad  and  150  inches  long,  which  had 
been  reduced,  by  passing  it  through  rollers,  to  about  the 
800th  part  of  an  inch  in  thickness.  The  riband  is  cut  into 
squares,  which  are  disposed  between  leaves  of  vellum,  and 
beat  by  a  heavy  hammer  till  they  acquire  a  breadth  of 
about  three  inches,  and  are  thus  extended  to  ten  times 
their  former  surface.  These  are  again  quartered  and 
placed  between  the  folds  of  goldbeaters'  skin,  and  stretched 
out  by  the  operation  of  a  lighter  hammer  to  the  breadth  of 
five  inches.  The  same  process  is  repeated,  sometimes 
more  than  once,  by  a  succession  of  lighter  hammers  ;  so 
that  376  grains  of  gold  are  thus  finally  extended  into  2000 
leaves  of  33  inches  square,  making  in  all  SO  books,  con- 
taining each  of  them  25  leaves.  The  metal  is  consequently 
reduced  to  the  thinness  of  the  282,000th  part  of  an  inch, 
and  every  leaf  weighs  rather  less  than  the  fifth  part  of  a 
grain.  A  particle  of  gold,  not  exceeding  the  500,000th  part 
of  a  grain,  is  hence  distinctly  visible  to  the  naked  eye." 

"It has  been  asserted  that  wires  of  pure  gold  can  be 
drawn  of  only  the  4000th  part  of  an  inch  in  diameter ;  but 
Dr.  Wollaston,  by  an  ingenious  procedure,  has  lately  ad- 
vanced much  farther.  Taking  a  short  cylinder  of  silver, 
about  the  third  part  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  he  drilled  a  fine 
hole  through  its  axis,  and  inserted  a  wire  of  platinum  only 
the  100th  part  of  an  inch  thick.  This  silver  mould  was  now 
drawn  through  the  successive  holes  of  a  steel  plate,  till  its 
diameter  was  brought  to  near  the  1500th  part  of  an  inch  ; 
and  consequently  the  internal  wire,  being  diminished  in 
the  same  proportion,  was  reduced  to  between  the  4000th 
and  5000th  part  of  an  inch.  The  compound  wire  was  then 
dipped  in  warm  nitric  acid,  which  dissolved  the  silver,  and 
left  untouched  its  core,  or  the  wire  of  platinum.  By  pass- 
ing the  incrusted  platinum  through  a  greater  number  of 
holes  wires  still  finer  were  obtained,  some  of  them  only 
the  30,000th  part  of  an  inch  in  diameter.  The  tenacity  of 
the  metal,  before  reaching  this  limit,  was  even  consi- 
derable ;  a  platinum  wire,  of  the  18,000th  part  of  an  inch  in 
diameter,  supporting  the  weight  of  a  grain  and  a  third." 
(.Leslie's  Elements  of  Nat.  Philosophy.) 

Glass,  when  well  softened  by  the  fire,  becomes  as  ductile 
as  soft  wax,  and  may  be  spun  out  into  threads  of  greater 
fineness  than  any  hair,  and  which  bend  and  wave  like  hair 
in  the  wind.  The  method  of  producing  these  threads  is 
exceedingly  easy.  Two  workmen  are  employed  ;  the  first 
holds  the  glass  over  the  flame  of  a  lamp  ;  the  second  ap- 
plies a  hook  to  the  metal  in  fusion,  which,  when  drawn 
back,  brings  with  it  a  thread  of  glass,  still  adhering  to  the 
mass  ;  the  hook  is  then  fitted  on  the  circumference  of  a 
wheel,  which,  being  turned  round,  draws  out  the  thread, 
and  winds  it  about  its  rim.  Some  of  these  threads  are 
scarcely  larger  than  that  of  a  silkworm,  and  are  surprising- 
ly flexible. 

DUCTS.  Those  membraneous  tubes  in  the  internal 
anatomy  of  plants  which  have  conical  or  rounded  extre- 
mities ;  their  sides  being  marked  with  transverse  lines,  or 
rings,  bars,  or  dots,  arranged  spirally,  and  being  incapable 
of  unrolling. 

DU'EL  (Lat.  duellum,  a  conflict  between  two  indivi- 
duals ;  in  the  original  use  of  the  Roman  word,  between  two 
states),  signified  originally  a  trial  by  battle  resorted  to  by 
two  persons  as  a  means  of  determining  the  guilt  or  inno- 
cence of  a  person  charged  with  a  crime,  or  of  adjudicating 
a  disputed  right ;  but  in  more  modern  times  it  is  used  to 
signify  a  hostile  meeting  between  two  persons,  arising  from 
an  affront  given  by  one  to  the  other,  and  for  the  purpose 
(as  is  said)  of  affording  satisfaction  to  the  person  affronted. 

The  practice  of  the  duel,  as  a  private  mode,  recognized 
only  by  custom,  of  deciding  private  differences,  seems  to 
be  of  comparatively  recent  date,  and  descends  by  no  very 
direct  transmission  from  the  ancient  appeal  to  the  judicial 
combat  as  a  final  judgment  in  legal  disputes.  That  it  ori- 
ginated with  the  feudal  system  is  abundantly  clear,  if  it 
were  only  from  the  fact  that  in  Russia,  where  that  system 
was  never  known,  the  custom  of  the  duel  was  unheard  of, 
until  introduced  by  foreign  officers,  even  within  the  memory 
of  the  present  generation.  But  it  is  certain  that  many  an- 
tiquarian writers  have  confused  together  two  very  different 
institutions  :  the  appeal  to  arms,  as  an  alternative  for  the 
trial  by  ordeal  or  by  compurgators,  appointed  by  tradi- 
tionary usage  from  the  earliest  periods  of  Germanic  his- 
tory ;  and  the  voluntary  challenge  or  defiance,  resorted  to 
for  the  purpose  of  clearing  disputes  involving  the  honour 
of  gentlemen.  This  last  custom  was  first  elevated  to  the 
dignity  of  an  established  institution  by  Philip  le  Bel  of 
France,  whose  edict  regulating  the  public  combat  between 


DUEL. 


nobles  bears  the  date  of  130S :  the  best  comment  on  which 
may  be  found  in  the  spirited  and  accurate  representation, 
by  Shakspeare,  of  the  quarrel  between  Mowbray  and 
Bolingbroke. 

The  duello,  in  this  its  high  and  palmy  state,  when  fa- 
voured by  princes  and  tolerated  by  the  church,  became 
the  subject  of  many  fantastic  regulations,  partly  framed  on 
the  imaginary  code  of  chivalry,  and  partly  on  the  precepts 
of  the  civil  law.  Thus,  in  a  curious  treatise  on  this  sub- 
ject by  Dario  Attendoli,  an  officer  of  the  Italian  wars  (print- 
ed in  1565),  we  find  it  laid  down  that  not  less  than  twenty 
days  must  elapse  between  the  receipt  of  a  cartel  or  chal- 
lenge and  the  answer  ;  because  such  was  the  lime  required ' 
to  elapse,  in  civil  suits,  between  the  plaintiff's  charge  and 
the  defendant's  first  pleading.  Three,  four,  or  five  months 
must  then  be  allowed  to  the  champions  for  preparation. 
The  combat  must  take  place  in  lists,  and  under  the  eyes 
of  the  sovereign  authority  of  the  city  selected  by  the  chal- 
lenger. The  strictest  equality  of  rank  must  be  observed  be- 
tween the  parties ;  a  rule  which  appears  to  have  been 
tolerably  well  attended  to,  and  must  have  saved  the  shed- 
ding of  much  unnecessary  blood.  But,  while  every  pre- 
caution was  taken  to  render  such  duels  not  easily  to  be 
engaged  in  on  light  grounds,  it  was  part  of  the  same  code 
i  hat  they  should  be  carried  through  in  serious  earnest.  In 
another  curious  Italian  book  of  problems  concerning  the 
duel  (of  the  same  date),  the  question  is  put,  "Whether  a 
prince  will  do  well  or  ill  in  separating  two  champions,  when 
both  shall  be  so  weakened  by  loss  of  blood  as  to  appear 
unable  to  continue  the  combat  V  and  resolved  in  the  nega- 
tive. And  if  the  vanquished  had  his  life  spared  him,  he 
was  bound  to  consider  himself  the  prisoner  of  his  con- 
queror, and  devoted  to  his  service,  until  released  by  death 
or  by  positive  permission ;  although  Attendoli  intimates 
that,  in  his  opinion,  the  limitation  of  thirty  years,  accord- 
ing to  the  maxims  of  the  civil  law,  ought  to  apply  to  this 
servitude. 

The  particular  regulations  of  these  Italian  laws  of  honour 
are  of  the  most  curious  and  pedantic  minuteness.  Atten- 
doli has  favoured  us  with  several  common  precedents  of 
challenges  and  answers.  The  commencement  of  the  car- 
tel, "per  injuria  di  fatti,"  for  injury  in  deeds,  runs  as  fol- 
lows : — "  I.,  M.,  having  been  by  thee,  N.,  enormously  beaten 
with  a  stick  (superchievolmente  con  un  bastone  percosso) 
at  Rome,  on  the ultimo,  after  an  evil  fashion,  from  be- 
hind, I  not  being  aware  of  thee,  and  in  time  of  peace,  say 
to  thee  that  thou  hast  done  basely  and  wickedly,  and  as  a 
traitor  and  vile  cavalier."  To  this  cartel  are  appended 
the  signatures  of  four  witnesses,  who  affirm  themselves 
to  have  been  present  at  the  administering  of  the  bastina- 
do. The  cartel  was  to  be  publicly  placarded  in  the 
streets;  as  was  also  the  answer,  or,  if  the  adversary  de- 
clined the  combat,  a  statement  of  his  refusal.  In  this  latter 
case,  it  was  debated  whether  it  were  not  allowable  to  hang 
up  a  likeness  of  the  person  declining  to  fight;  but.  this  sin- 
gular 6pecies  of  posting,  although  we  are  told  it  was  not 
uncommon,  is  reprobated  as  unbecoming  a  gentleman. 
The  distinctions  as  to  persons  are  not  less  amusing.  (See 
e.  g.  question  3d  of  the  Book  of  Problems  in  the  treatise  of 
Attendoli  above  referred  to.) 

The  fashion  of  the  public  duel  seems  never  to  have  pre- 
vailed to  any  extent  in  England.  Although  the  ancient  Ju- 
dicium Dei  was  so  interwoven  with  our  laws  that,  at  a  com- 
paratively late  era,  the  whole  court  of  Common  Pleas  would 
occasionally  adjourn  in  full  term  to  Smithfield  or  Bank- 
side,  to  see  the  long-contested  intricacies  of  a  "  writ  of 
right"  brought  fairly  to  issue  in  a  match  at  singlestick  ; 
yet  the  stern  necessity  of  washing  out  affronts  in  blood, 
whether  in  open  or  private  quarrel,  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  strictly  adhered  to  until  the  latter  part  of  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth.  Then  the  imaginations  of  the  young  no- 
bles of  the  court,  heated  with  the  favourite  study  of  chivalry, 
readily  adopted  the  sanguinary  practice  of  foreign  realms. 
At  this  period  appeared  the  famous  Treatise  of  Honour  of 
Vincentio  Saviolo — a  fierce  and  punctilious  Italian,  a  fencing 
master  by  profession,  bred  in  the  wars  of  Italy,  and  deeply 
versed  in  the  science  of  the  public  duello,  then  a  favourite 
theme  of  reminiscence,  although  no  longer  known  in  prac- 
tice, as  will  be  presently  shown.  This  little  work,  published 
in  1594,— now  little  known  to  us,  save  by  the  famous  quar- 
rel in  Shakspeare's  As  You  Like  It,  concerning  the  cut  of 
the  courtier's  beard,  which  seems  intended  as  a  parody  on 
some  parts  of  it, — appears  to  have  been  adopted  by  the 
gallants  of  the  time  as  a  standing  book  of  reference  in  all 
cases  of  supposed  insult.  Saviolo  resolves  all  quarrels  into 
the  lie, — that  is,  he  supposes  the  original  insult  to  be  fol- 
lowed, either  expressly  or  impliedly,  by  a  regular  series  of 
replies  and  retorts,  until  one  or  the  other  party  is  reduced 
to  give  the  lie  direct;  which,  like  the  phrase  "stupid 
youth"  (dummer  junge),  in  some  German  universities,  was 
immediately  followed  by  the  appeal  to  arms. 

That  ordinary  commolioner  the  lie, 

The  father  of  most  quarrek  in  this  climate, 

appears  to  have  been  raised  to  this  "  bad  eminence"  by 
370 


Francis  the  First,  the  great  guide  of  his  day  in  matters  of 
chivalry,  who  first  gave  it  as  his  opinion,  that  the  lie  could 
under  no  circumstances  be  brooked  by  a  man  of  honour. 
Attendoli  holds  that  the  virtue  of  the  insult  lies  mainly  in 
the  word  lie;  and  that  any  circumlocution,  however  plain, 
greatly  deprives  it  of  its  effect.  This,  however,  Saviolo 
stoutly  denies  ;  and  maintains  that  an  imputation  on  the  ve- 
racity of  a  party,  in  whatever  words  it  may  be  couched,  is 
equally  deserving  of  resentment.  The  lie,  being  a  matter 
of  so  great  importance,  became  the  subject  of  much  nice 
distinction  ;  insomuch  that  a  note  to  Dr.  Moore's  Essay  on 
Duelling  informs  us,  that  they  enumerated  thirty-two  dif- 
ferent ways  of  giving  the  lie  in  the  latter  part  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  Saviolo,  however,  contents  himself  with 
the  division  into  the  lie  direct  and  lie  circumstantial ;  each 
of  which  he  sub-divides  into  general  and  special ;  besides 
a  fifth  sort,  which  he  calls  " fictitious"  or  "sham"  lies. 
These,  he  says,  seem  to  have  originated  from  the  custom 
that  he  who  receives  the  lie  direct,  or  last  retort,  being  of 
necessity  the  challenger,  has  the  choice  of  weapons ;  to 
gain  which  advantage  it  was  not  unusual  for  one  who  sought 
a  quarrel  to  address  his  enemy  with,  "  If  you  say  I  am  a 
scoundrel,  you  are  a  liar ;"  by  which  means  they  suppose 
that  the  latter  was  put  to  the  necessity  of  making  a  direct  re- 
ply. In  opposition  to  this  notion,  Vincentio  shows  divers 
honourable  devices  by  which  an  ingenious  duellist,  when 
assailed  in  this  manner,  may  retort  on  his  adversary,  so  as 
to  throw  the  burden  of  the  last  word  on  him.  Paris  de 
Puteo,  a  Neapolitan  lawyer,  is  said  to  have  practised  chiefly 
in  this  branch  of  business,  and  to  have  answered  cases  on 
the  point  of  honour  put  to  him  from  all  parts  of  Europe. 

Yet,  however  extravagant  the  foolery  of  these  early  wri- 
ters may  seem  on  a  matter  of  such  serious  nature,  it  must 
be  confessed  that,  retaining  as  they  did  much  of  the  old 
opinion,  refined  into  a  sentiment,  respecting  the  immedi- 
ate interposition  of  God  in  the  judicial  combat,  the  true 
point  of  honour  was  far  safer  in  their  hands  than  in  the  less 
scrupulous  ones  of  the  professed  duellists  of  modern 
times.  Saviolo  does  not  hesitate  earnestly  to  inculcate  on 
his  pupil  the  duty  of  maintaining  no  cause  except  that 
which  he  seriously  believes  to  be  just  and  true,  and  of 
submitting  to  any  humiliation  rather  than  fight  in  defence 
of  a  falsehood.  A  fine,  although  somewhat  extravagant 
illustration  of  this  chivalric  principle,  may  be  found  in  the 
old  play  of  A  Fair  Quarrel,  by  Middleton  and  Rowley. 
Captain  Ager,  the  hero  of  the  piece,  is  saluted  by  his  colo- 
nel on  the  occasion  of  some  dispute  with  the  appellation  of 
"son  of  a  whore."  A  challenge  follows,  and  the  time  and 
place  are  fixed ;  but  the  captain  cannot  satisfy  his  consci- 
entious honour  without  repairing  to  his  mother,  and  ac- 
quainting her,  although  indirectly,  with  the  provocation  he 
has  received.  She,  suspecting  his  meaning,  and  fearing 
for  his  life,  in  a  moment  of  weakness  falsely  intimates  the 
imputation  to  be  a  true  one.  The  captain's  mind  is  instantly 
made  up — he  will  not  fight  in  a  bad  quarrel ;  but,  for  his 
mother's  sake,  he  will  not  divulge  the  reason.  His  two  se- 
conds arrive,  and  he  hears,  with  seeming  equanimity,  their 
expostulations,  and  at  last  their  insults,  declaring  that  al- 
though he  is  ready  to  follow  them  to  the  field,  he  will  not 
fight  a  stroke.  But,  being  branded  on  that  account  by  his 
adversary  with  the  epithet  "coward,"  he  thankfully  seizes 
on  the  opportunity  afforded  him  by  this  fresh  insult ;  draws 
in  "a  fair  quarrei,"  and  overthrows  his  opponent. 

In  1547,  Henry  II.  of  France  issued  an  edict  absolutely 
prohibiting  the  judicial  or  public  combat.  This  decree 
was  produced  by  the  death  of  his  favourite,  La  Chataigne- 
raye,  in  consequence  of  wounds  received  in  the  lists  in 
the  presence  of  Henry  himself.  By  a  curious  coinci- 
dence, the  abolisherof  one  of  the  grand  institutions  of  the 
feudal  ages  was  destined,  in  his  own  person,  to  be  the  cause 
of  the  disuse  of  another:  he  was  slain  in  a  tournament, 
and  that  knightly  exercise  was  no  longer  practised  at  courts 
after  that  melancholy  event.  The  public  duel  survived 
some  time  longer  in  Italy,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  dates  of 
the  treatises  quoted  above.  Its  abolition  in  France  was  by 
no  means  followed  by  the  good  effects  which  the  statesmen 
of  those  days  probably  anticipated  from  it.  Debarred  from 
public  conflict,  the  gentlemen  of  France  were  at  the  same 
time  freed  from  itsmanifold  restraints  ;  and  private  duels, 
conducted  with  a  ferocity  and  sanguinary  spirit  hitherto 
unheard  of,  became  prevalent  to  the  most  astonishing  de- 
gree. The  wars  of  religion,  prosecuted  with  a  degree  of 
bitterness  perhaps  unexampled  in  the  history  of  any  nation, 
added  public  causes  of  dispute  to  those  of  an  hereditary 
and  personal  nature.  Even  the  ordinary  laws  of  honour, 
which  seem  inseparable  from  the  practice,  were  neglected. 
We  find  in  Brantome,  that  there  were  duellists  who  prided 
themselves  on  the  advantages  which  they  had  taken  of 
their  antagonists,  and  were  not  esteemed  the  less  in  society 
for  having  done  30.  Not  only  had  individuals  and  families 
their  quarrels  ;  we  are  told  that  there  were  regiments  in 
the  same  service,  of  which  the  officers  were  bound  to  fight 
one  another  whenever  they  met.  The  duellist  seems  to 
have  usurped,  with  the  fair  sex,  the  attentions  usually  paid 


DUENNA. 


to  the  soldier.  We  have  the  testimony  of  Lord  Herbert 
of  Cherbury,  himself  a  vain  and  cold-blooded  quarreller, 
for  the  honour  in  which  the  ladies  of  France  held  the  brave 
Balagny— an  ordinary  man,  in  a  threadbare  doublet  and 
grey  breeches,  with  neither  figure,  wit,  nor  fortune  to  re- 
commend him;  but  whose  testimonials  consisted  in  the 
fact  of  his  having  killed  eight  or  nine  of  his  friends  in  sin- 
gle combat. 

It  was  about  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  also,  that  the  san- 
guinary custom  of  the  seconds  taking  part  in  the  quarrel  of 
their  principals  seems  first  to  have  become  established, 
a  custom  which  only  gradually  wore  out  in  the  beginning 
of  the  last  centurv.    When  such  bloody  practices  were  rile 
in  all  parts  of  France,  we  are  scarcely  tempted  to  doubt 
the  extraordinary  assertions  we  find  in  the  writers  of  those 
days— that  one  hundred  and  twenty  gentlemen  were  killed 
in  duels,  in  a  single  French  province,  in  six  months  ;  that 
in  the  reign  of  Henry  IV.  four  thousand  fell  in  two  years ; 
that  this  strange  species  of  mania  cost  France  more  gen- 
tle blood  than  thirty  years  of  civil  war.     Henry  IV.  issued 
edicts  against  duelling  ;   Louis  XIII.  proceeded  against  it 
at  one  time  with  such  severity,  that  we  are  told  that  wound- 
ed duellists  were  dragged  at  once  from  the  field  to  the  gib- 
bet •  but  this  unwarrantable  violence,  as  usual  in  such  cases, 
had' no  effect.     The  evil  at  length  produced  a  remedy  by 
its  own   excess.     In  the  minority  of  Louis  XIV.  the  Duke 
de  Nemours,  a  prince  of  the  blood,  fell  with  two  of  his  four 
seconds,  in  a  quarrel  with  another  grandee  of  the  court. 
After  this  deplorable  event,   many  noblemen  and  gentle- 
men of  undoubted  courage  entered  into  a  voluntary  com- 
pact to  abstain  from  duelling.     Louis  XIV.,  when  of  age, 
approved  of  their  resolution,  and  seconded  it  by  several 
edicts     To  the  honour  of  this  prince  it  should  be  remem- 
bered that  during  the  whole  of  his  life  he  laboured  firmly 
and  temperately  to  correct  this  abuse,  and  with  no  ordinary 
success.      This  he   effected,   not  merely  by  the   force  of 
laws  but  by  exhibiting  in  his  own  demeanour,  and  encour- 
aging in  his  courtiers,  that  mixture  of  dignity  with  gentle- 
ness'which  most  readily  turns  away  wrath  and  repels  inso- 
lent familiarity.     One  of  his  expedients,  however,  it  must 
be  admitted,  seems  to  our  modern   ideas  not  very  likely  to 
attain  the  object  proposed.     This  was  the  establishment  of 
a  court  of  chivalry ,— the  members  of  which  were  the  mar- 
shals of  France,— which  was  to  decide  on  all  questions  in 
which  a  gentleman  might  conceive  his  honour  to  be  in- 
volved. Ills  said  that  this  singular  sort  of  arbitration  was  at 
first  very  efficacious  ;  although  in  Mercier's  time  (the  reign 
of  Louis  XVI.)  he  tells  us  (as  we  might  naturally  suppose) 
that  a  person  who  should   have  resorted  lo  the  court  to  re- 
dress an  insult  would  only  have  incurred  ridicule  in  addi- 
tion to  the  disgrace  of  not  personally  resenting  it.     Various 
laws  relating  to  the  duel  have  been  since  made  in  France, 
but  have  fallen  into  disuse  for  the  most  part.     Whether 
slaying  in  a  duel  be  murder,  is  a  point  on  which  there  has 
been  a  continual  conflict  between   the  courts  of  cassation 
and  the  royal  courts  since  1817,  when  it  was  raised  in  the 
case  of  He  Poligny  and  Rosay.     But  the  legal  question  is 
of  comparatively  small  importance,  from  the  licence  as- 
sumed by  juries  in  that  country.    A  civil  action  lies  on  be- 
half ofthe  friends  of  theslain  man. 

In  England,  the  first  attempt  made  to  introduce  legisla- 
tive enactments  in  aid  of  the  common  law  for  repressing  of 
duels  is  said  to  have  taken  place  in  1713  ;  when,  after  the 
celebrated  duel  of  Duke  Hamilton  and  Lord  Mohun,  a  bill 
for  that  purpose  was  brought  into  the  Commons,  but  lost 
on  the  third  reading.  A  provocation  or  challenge  to  fight 
Is  a  high  misdemeanour.  In  Scotland,  as  late  (we  believe) 
as  the  middle  of  the  16th  century,  licences  for  duelling 
were  granted  by  the  crown,  and  formed  a  source  of  reve- 
nue-death in  a  duel  without  licence  was  murder.  (See 
Pitcnim's  Criminal  Trials)  The  new  codes  of  Bavaria 
and  Prussia  contain  a  number  of  provisions,  with  perhaps 
too  mucli  minuteness  of  distinction,  against  duels,  challen- 
ges, &e.  The  common  punishment  is  imprisonment  for  a 
shorter  or  longer  term. 

See  as  to  duels,  in  addition  to  former  works  on  the  sub- 
ject, Fougfroux  de  Campigneulles,  Hisloire  des  Duels,  3 
vols.  8vo.  1834  ;  in  which  most  authorities  are  collected,  al- 
though it  is  a  compilation  including  many  anecdotes,  &c. 
of  no  authenticity.  For  modern  legislation  on  the  subject, 
the  article  "  Duel,"  in  Ersch  and  Gruber's  Encyclopaedia, 
may  be  consulted  with  advantage. 

DUE'NNA  (Span,  dnefia.)  The  chief  lady  in  waiting 
on  the  queen  of  Spain.  In  a  more  general  sense,  it  is  ap- 
plied to  a  person  holding  a  middle  station  between  a  gov- 
erness and  companion,  and  appointed  to  take  charge  of  the 
junior  female  members  of  Spanish  and  Portuguese  fami- 
lies. 

DUE'T.  (Lat.  duo,  two.)  A  piece  of  music  composed 
for  two  performers,  either  vocal  or  instrumental. 

DIIGO'NG,  or  DUYONG.    The  name  of  a  herbivorous 

cetaceous  animal  characterized  by  two  large  permanent 

incisive  tusks  in  the  upper  jaw,  and  four  molar  teeth  above 

and  below,  the  grinding  surface  of  which  exhibits  a  rim  of 

371 


DUNES. 

cemenlum  surrounding  a  slight  excavated  centre  of  Ivory. 
The  upper  lip  is  beset  with  numerous  strong  bristles,  and 
similar  ones  are  found  more  sparingly  scattered  over  the 
body.  The  anterior  extremities  are  fin-like,  and  without 
nails.  The  caudal  fin  is  broad,  and  of  a  crescendo  figure. 
One  species  (Halicore  Indicxts,  Cuv.)  inhabits  the  seas  of 
the  Indian  Archipelago.  A  second  dugong  has  been  re- 
cently discovered  in  the  Red  Sea  (Halicore  tabernacuh, 
Ruppel.)  but  which  is  at  most  only  a  variety  of  the  prece- 
ding. The  fabled  mermaid  seems  to  have  been  founded 
on  the  dugong. 

DUKE.  (From  the  Latin  dux,  leader  or  commander.. 
The  title  of  Duke  is  said  to  have  originated  in  the  usages 
of  the  Lower  Empire,  where  it  was  given  to  the  military 
governors  of  provinces.  From  thence  it  was  borrowed  by 
the  Franks,  who  adopted,  in  many  respects,  the  titles  and 
distinctions  of  the  empire.  Charlemagne  is  said  to  have 
suffered  it  to  become  obsolete,  but  the  emperor  Louis  cre- 
ated a  duke  of  Thuringia  in  847.  In  course  of  time,  ac- 
cording to  the  usual  progress  of  feudal  dignities,  the  title 
became  hereditary.  In  Germany  the  dukes  became  the 
chief  princes  of  the  empire  ;  this  title  being  proper  to  all 
the  secular  electors,  and  to  most  of  the  greater  feudato- 
ries. In  other  countries  their  dignity  became  merely  titu- 
lar. In  Italy  and  France  dukes  form  the  second  rank  in 
the  nobility,  being  inferior  to  princes:  in  England  they 
form  the  first.  The  title  was  not  known  in  the  latter  coun- 
try until  the  reign  of  Edward  HI.  ;  and  the  word  dux  is 
used  by  writers  before  that  period  as  synonymous  with 
count  or  earl.  In  the  eleventh  year  of  the  latter  monarch 
the  i 


dignity  of  Duke  of  Cornwall  was  bestowed  on  his  eld- 
est son,  Edward  the  Black  Prince.  In  the  year  1351,  his 
third  son,  John  of  Gaunt,  Earl  of  Lancaster,  was  created 
Duke  of  Lancaster  for  life,  furnishing  the  next  instance  of 
this  dignity.  In  neither  of  these  instances,  nor  in  any 
subsequent  one,  according  to  Sir  H.  Nicolas  (Introduction 
to  the  Peerage,  vol.  i.  p.  lxxvii.),  was  the  dignity  thus  cre- 
ated a  dukedom  by  tenure  :  it  has  always  remained  a  per- 
sonal title  only,  and  descendible  according  to  the  limita- 
tions of  the  charter. 

DULCAMA'RA.  (Lat.  dulcis,swee/,  and  amarus,6i»er.) 
The  common  woody  nightshade,  the  stalk  of  which  is  used 
in  medicine  to  furnish  a  decoction  which  is  somewhat  nar- 
cotic and  diuretic,  and  has  a  very  peculiar  bitter  sweet  fla- 
vour. It  has  been  recommended  in  chronic  rheumatism, 
and  as  an  alternative  in  some  cutaneous  cases,  but  is  not 
much  depended  upon. 

DU'LCIMER.  (Etym.  uncertain.)  A  musical  instni 
ment,  of  what  description  is  unknown,  but  probably  of  the 
wind  species,  in  use  among  the  Jews. 

DU'MBNESS.     (Aphonia  of  medical  writers;   from  a, 
privative,  and  (pwvrt,  voice.)    This  term  is  generally  ap- 
plied to  persons  who  are  either  born  deaf,  or  become  so 
in  early  infancy;  the  consequence  of  which  is  that  the  or- 
gans of  speech  have  never  been  called  into  due  action, 
Their  functions  being  at  first  imitative  in  respect  to  sounds, 
and  the  numerous  muscles  of  the  tongue,  glottis,  &c.  con- 
cerned in  speech  remain  inactive  ;  for  persons  who  even 
in  very  early  life  become  deaf  are  not  rendered  dumb,  the 
organs  of  speech  having  been  once  called  into  activity,  and 
having  once  acquired  their  peculiar  powers  and  consenta- 
neous" actions.     Dumbness  may  also  arise  from  injury  to 
the  lingual  nerves,  or  from  great  general  or  local  debility  ; 
in  which  case  blisters,  stimulants,  tonics,  and  other  reme- 
dies, maybe  resorted  to  for  the  restoration  of  speech.     It 
is  remarkable  that  the  loss  of  the  tongue,  and  even  of  part 
of  the  palate,  does  not  necessarily  occasion  dumbness; 
this  has  happened  from  disease,  and  among  barbarous  na- 
tions the  tongue  was  occasionally  extirpated;   yet  cases 
are  on  record  showing  that  even  under  such  circumstances 
speech  was  mere  or  less  perfectly  retained  ;  and  there  is 
an  account  in  the  Memoires  de  V Academic  des  Sciences  for 
1718  of  a  girl  who  was  born  without  a  tongue,  and  yet  ac- 
quired the  faculty  of  speech.     The  case  of  Margaret  Cut- 
ting, related  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  (1742)  by  Dr. 
Parsons,  may  also  be  consulted  in  reference  to  this  subject. 
DU'MUS.     In  Botany,  a  low  and  much-branched   shrub. 
DUNES.     (Ang.  Sax.  low  hills.)    Hills  of  moveable  sand, 
which  are  met  with  along  the  sea  coast  in  various  parts  of 
Great  Britain,  Ireland,  and  the  Continent.    The  mode  ot 
their  formation  and  progress  is  exceedingly  curious.     In 
various  districts  the  sea  deposits  on  the  beach  a  quantity  of 
fine  sand,  which  is  carried  forward  by  the  wind  till  it  meets 
with  some  obstruction  in  the  shape  of  large  stones,  roots 
of  trees,  or  other  obstacles,  when  it  gradually  accumulates 
into  mounds  or  hillocks,  "  whose  general  appearance,  size, 
and  distribution  depend  on  those  of  the  obstacles  to  which 
they  owe  their  existence."    When  these  mounds  have  at- 
tained a  certain  elevation  they  are  urged  forward  upon  the 
land  ;  for,  as  Cuvier  observes,  "  le  memo  vent  qui  eleve  e 
sable  du  rivage  sur  la  dune  iette  celui  du  sommet  de  la 
dune  a  son  revers  oppose."    The  direction  which  they 
take  depends  chiefly  on  that  of  the  wind  ;  and  their  inroads 
upon  the  land  are  attended  by  the  most  destructive  effects. 


DUNKERS. 

One  of  the  departments  of  France,  the  Landes,  has  been 
nearly  overwhelmed  by  their  progressive  advance.  The 
quantity  of  moveable  sand  which  the  sea  annually  deposits 
on  that  coast  has  been  estimated  at  upwards  of  3,000,000 
square  feet,  and  its  annual  progress  inland  at  about  72  feet. 
In  that  department  the  dunes  advance  in  a  north-easterly 
direction  ;  and  it  has  been  calculated,  with  apparently  suf- 
ficient exactness,  that  unless  their  progress  be  arrested, 
they  will  have  reached  Bordeaux  in  1500  years.  During  the 
violent  hurricanes  which  frequently  occur  in  these  regions, 
the  whole  mass  of  sand  of  which  the  dunes  are  composed 
appears  to  be  in  agitation ;  and  such  is  the  rapidity  with 
which  they  then  advance,  that  entire  villages,  fields,  and 
gardens  are  almost  instantaneously  engulphed,  and  the  as- 
pect of  whole  districts  changed  within  four  and  twenty 
hours.  The  progress  of  the  dunes,  however,  as  already 
remarked,  is  in  general  slow  and  steady.  Thus  the  town 
of  Mimizan,  after  struggling  for  more  than  the  fourth  part 
of  a  century  against  their  encroachments,  is  now  almost 
buried  beneath  them  ;  and  such  have  been  their  destruc- 
tive effects  upon  a  village  of  Britanny,  that  nothing  is  visible 
of  it  except  a  small  part  of  the  church  steeple.  As  will  be 
easily  imagined,  Ihe  means  of  arresting  the  progress  of  the 
dunes  forms  a  most  interesting  and  important  inquiry.  For 
this  puqoose  various  measures  have  been  recommended  ; 
but  by  far  the  most  efficient  means  hitherto  adopted  con- 
sists in  planting  close  together,  so  as  to  form,  as  it  were,  a 
line  of  defence  against  the  sand,  such  trees  and  shrubs  as 
are  known  to  thrive  in  a  barren  soil.  This  process,  where- 
ever  it  has  been  tried,  has  been  found  not  only  to  fix  the 
dunes,  but  at  the  same  time  to  form  a  simple  and  secure 
barrier  against  all  further  encroachment  of  the  sand. 

DU'NKERS.  A  Christian  sect,  which  formed  itself  into 
a  society  under  peculiar  rules  in  Pennsylvania  in  the  year 
1724.  The  origin  of  their  name  is  unknown.  They  prac- 
tise abstinence  and  mortification,  under  the  idea  that  such 
austerities  are  meritorious  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  effect- 
ive, first  in  procuring  their  own  salvation,  and  further  in 
contributing  to  that  of  others.  They  form  a  society  strictly 
connected  within  itself,  and  hold  love  feasts,  in  which  all 
assemble  together ;  but  their  devotions  and  ordinary  busi- 
ness are  carried  on  in  private,  nor  do  they  recognize  a  com- 
munity of  goods.  They  also  deny  the  eternity  of  future 
punishments  ;  conceiving  that  there  are  periods  of  purga- 
tion, determined  by  the  sabbath,  sabbatical  year,  and  year 
of  jubilee,  which  are  typical  of  them. 

DU'ISNAGE.  Any  light  or  loose  material,  as  wool,  &c, 
used  as  a  bed  in  the  stowage  of  heavy  articles. 

DUODE'CIMAL.  (Lat.  duodecim,  twelve.)  Proceeding 
by  twelves.  The  term  is  given  to  a  rule  or  operation  of 
arithmetic,  by  which  the  contents  of  any  surface  or  solid 
are  found  by  multiplying  together  its  linear  dimensions, 
expressed  in  feet,  inches,  and  lines,  and  is  consequently 
much  used  by  artificers  in  finding  the  contents  of  their 
work.  The  rule  is  also  called  cross  multiplication,  from 
the  manner  in  which  the  operation  is  usually  performed, 
and  which  is  as  follows:  Suppose  it  were  required  to  find 
the  superficial  content  of  a  plank  12  feet  9i  inches  long,  and 
3  feet  7  inches  broad.  Set  down  the  two  dimensions  under 
each  other,  placing  feet  under  feet,  inches  under  inches, 
&c,  and  for  the  half  inch  put  down  its  equivalent  6  lines, 
as  in  the  following  example  : — 

12    9    6 
3    7 
33    4    6 
7    5    6i 


Now,  since  the  feet  are  conceived  to  be  units  of  measure, 
the  inches  are  so  many  12ths  of  unity,  and  the  lines  so 
many  12ths  of  a  12th,  or  144th  parts  of  unity.  The  units 
consequenily  form  the  first  column,  the  12ths  the  second, 
and  the  144ths  the  third.  Multiplying  therefore  the  first 
line  by  3  feet  or  3  units,  we  get  38  feet,4-12thsof  afoot, and 
6-144ths  of  a  foot.  Next,  multiplying  the  upper  line  by 
7-12ths,  we  get  first  the  6  lines  or  6144ths,  multiplied  by 
7-12ths,  equal  lo  42-1728lhs,  which  is  equal  to  3Jj-144ths. 
Then  the  9  12ths  multiplied  by  the  7-12ths  give  63-144ths, 
which  added  to  the  3i  make  66i-144ths,  or  5-12ths  and  6i- 
144ths  ;  therefore  6J  is  placed  in  the  third  column,  and  the 
512lhs  carried  on.  Lastly,  the  12  units  mulliplied  by  the 
7-12ths  give  &i-12ths,  which  added  to  the  5-12ths  make 
89-12ths,  and  this  is  equal  to  7  units  or  feet  and  5-12ths; 
consequently  7  is  placed  in  the  first  column  and  5  in  Ihe 
second.  Adding  the  two  products  together,  we  get  45  feet, 
10-12ths  of  a  foot,  and  J-144ths  of  a  foot.  But  in  square  or 
superficial  measure  the  144th  part  of  a  foot  is  an  inch  ;  and 
10-12ths  =  120  144ths  ;  consequently  the  result  of  the  ope- 
ration is  45  sq.  feet  and  120^  sq.  inches. 

The  operation  is  itself  much  simpler  than  the  description 
or  explanation,  which  is  found  embarrassing  to  beginners ; 
it  would  therefore,  perhaps,  be  better  to  reject  the  rule  al- 
372 


DWARFING  TREES. 

together  from  elementary  books  of  arithmetic ;  and,  re- 
garding the  inches  and  lines  as  parts  of  a  foot,  to  perform 
the  operation  by  the  ordinary  rule  of  practice. 

DUODE'CIMO.  (Lat.)  a  book  is  said  to  be  in  duodecimo 
(abbreviated  12mo.),  when  every  sheet  being  six  times 
folded  makes  twelve  leaves  or  twenty-four  pages. 

DUODE'NUM.  (From  duodenus,  consisting  of  twelve.) 
The  commencement  of  the  intestinal  canal,  lorming  a  di- 
vision, which  in  some  animals  is  about  as  long  as  the 
breadth  of  twelve  fingers.  This  term,  introduced  by  the 
older  anatomists,  is  still  applied  to  that  portion  of  the  in- 
testines, though  the  measure  is  generally  inapplicable. 

DU'PLICATE  RATIO,  is  the  ratio  of  the  squares  of  two 
quantities,  or  the  square  of  their  ratio.  Thus  the  ratio  of 
a2  to  b"  is  the  duplicate  of  the  ratio  of  a  to  b.  If  there  be 
three  quantities  in  continued  proportion,  the  first  is  to  the 
third  in  the  duplicate  ratio  of  the  first  to  the  second: — thus 
if  a,  b,  c  be  continual  proportionals,  that  is,  if  a  :  b  :  :  b:  c, 
then  a  is  to  c  in  the  duplicate  ratio  of  a  to  b. 

DUPLICATION  OF  THE  CUBE.  A  celebrated  pro- 
blem of  the  ancient  geometry.  While  a  plague  was  deso- 
lating Athens,  a  deputation  was  sent  to  consult  the  oracle 
of  Apollo  at  Delos,  who  returned  for  answer  that  the  plague 
would  cease  when  they  had  doubled  the  altar  of  the  god. 
The  altar  was  cubical,  consequently  the  problem  was  to 
find  the  side  of  another  cube  of  twice  the  solid  contents. 
As  this  problem  requires  the  solution  of  a  cubic  equation, 
it  cannot  be  solved  by  plane  geometry ;  but  Hippocrates  of 
Chios  reduced  it  to  another ;  namely,  the  insertion  of  two 
mean  proportionals  between  two  given  straight  lines,  a  pro- 
blem which  several  of  the  ancient  geometers,  particularly 
Archimedes,  Eutocius,  Pappus,  and  Nicodemes,  discover- 
ed methods  of  constructing  by  means  of  the  higher  curves. 
Among  the  modern  geometers  who  have  not  disdained  the 
same  inquiry,  are  the  illustrious  names  of  Newton  and 
Huygens.     See  Montucla,  Histoire  des  Mathnmatiques. 

DU'PPER,  or  DUBBER.  A  globular  short-necked  ves- 
sel made  of  buffalo's  hide,  in  which  castor  oil  is  imported 
from  India.     Each  dupper  holds  about  80  lbs.  of  oil. 

DU'RA  MATER.  A  thick  membrane  enveloping  the 
brain  and  adhering  to  the  inner  surface  of  the  cranium. 
See  Brain. 

DURA'MEN.  (Lat.)  The  fully  formed  central  layers 
of  the  wood  of  Exogenous  trees ;  what  is  called  in  common 
language  the  heart  wood.  It  is  only  the  sapwood  solidified 
by  the  introduction  of  various  secretions  into  the  interior 
of  the  cells  or  tubes  of  which  such  wood  is  composed. 

DU'RESS  (Lat.  duritas.  hardship),  in  Law,  is  such  con- 
straint, either  actual  or  by  threats  occasioning  a  reasonable 
fear,  as  will  invalidate  legal  acts  done  by  a  party  suffering 
it.  Duress  of  imprisonment  must  be  by  illegal  imprison- 
ment. Duress  per  minas,  by  threats,  is  interpreted  to  mean 
such  threats  as  occasion  fear  of  life  or  limb. 

DUTCH  GOLD.  Copper,  brass,  and  bronze  leaf  ia 
known  under  this  name  in  commerce;  it  is  largely  used 
in  Holland  for  ornamenting  toys  and  paper. 

DUTCH  SCHOOL.  In  Painting,  this  school,  generally 
speaking,  is  founded  on  a  faithful  representation  of  nature, 
without  attention  to  selection  or  refinement.  The  ideas 
are  usually  low,  and  the  figures  local  and  vulgar.  Its  merit 
lies  in  colouring  and  drawing  with  extreme  fidelity  what 
was  before  the  eye  of  the  artist.  The  pothouse,  the  work- 
shop, or  the  drunken  revels  of  unintellectual  boors,  seem 
to  have  furnished  its  principal  subjects.  The  great  appear- 
ance of  reality  infused  into  its  productions  induced  Hage- 
dora  to  call  it  the  School  of  Truth.  Notwithstanding  its  de- 
ficiency in  all  that  tends  to  raise  the  mind,  it  has  gained  an 
unspeakable  lustre  from  its  great  head,  Rembrandt  van 
Rhyn,  to  whose  name  may  be  added  those  of  De  Leide, 
Heemskirk,  Polemburg,  Wouvermans  (an  exception  to  our 
general  observations),  Gerard  Dow,  Mieris,  and  Vande- 
velde,  &c. 

DUU'MVIRI.  A  general  appellation,  among  the  ancient 
Romans,  given  to  any  magistrates  elected  in  pairs  to  per- 
form any  function  or  class  of  functions.  The  chief  Duum- 
viri were  the  Duumviri  Sacrorum.to  whom  were  entrusted 
the  care  and  the  interpretation  of  the  Sibylline  books.  The 
Duumviri  Municipales  had  almost  consular  power  in  the 
municipal  cities.  The  Duumviri  Navaleswere  officers  ap- 
pointed to  man,  eqnip,and  command  the  Roman  navy. 

DWA'RFING  TREES.  Dwarf  trees  may  be  produced 
in  three  different  ways :  -by  grafting  on  dwarf  slow-growing 
stocks,  as,  for  example,  Ihe  pear  on  the  quince;  by  plant- 
ing in  pots  of  small  size  filled  with  poor  soil,  by  which  the 
plant  is  starved  and  stunted ;  and  by  causing  a  portion  of 
the  extremity  of  a  branch  to  produce  roots,  and  then  cut- 
ting it  off  and  planting  it  in  a  pot  or  box  of  poor  soil.  This 
last  is  the  Chinese  method,  and  is  thas  performed : — The 
extremity  of  a  branch  two  or  three  feet  in  length,  in  a  fruit 
or  flower-bearing  state — for  example,  the  points  of  the 
branches  of  a  fir  tree  bearing  cones,  or  of  an  elm  bearing 
blossom  buds— being  fixed  on,  a  ring  of  bark  is  taken  off  at 
the  point  where  it  is  desired  that  the  roots  should  be  pro- 
duced.   The  space  thus  laid  bare  is  covered  with  a  ball  of 


DWARF  WALL. 

moist  clay,  which  is  kept  moist  by  being  covered  with 
moss,  which  is  occasionally  watered.  In  the  course  of  two 
or  three  months  in  some  trees,  and  of  a  year  or  two  in 
others,  roots  are  protruded  into  the  ball  of  clay.  The 
branch  may  then  be  cut  off  below  the  part  from  whence 
the  roots  have  been  protruded,  and  the  branch  being  plant- 
ed in  a  pot  of  poor  soil,  and  kept  sparingly  supplied  with 
water,  it  will  remain  nearly  in  its  present  state  for  many 
years ;  producing  leaves,  and  perhaps  flowers,  annually, 
but  never  shoots  longer  than  a  few  lines. 

DWARF  WALL.  (Sax.  dweorh.)  In  Architecture,  a 
low  wall,  not  so  high  as  the  story  of  a  building  in  which  it  is 
used. 

DY'EING.  The  object  of  this  beautiful  art  is  to  fix  cer- 
tain colouring  matters  uniformly  and  permanently  in  the 
fibres  of  wool,  silk,  linen,  cotton,  and  other  substances. 
There  are  a  few  dyeing  materials  which  impart  their  co- 
lour to  different  stuffs  without  any  previous  preparation, 
and  these  have  been  technically  termed  substantive  co- 
lours;  by  far  the  greater  number,  however,  of  colouring 
materials,  only  impart  a  fugitive  tint  under  such  circum- 
stances, and  require  that  the  stuff  to  be  dyed  should  under- 
go some  previous  preparation,  in  order  to  render  the  co- 
lour permanent ;  that  is,  capable  of  resisting  the  action  of 
air,  light,  and  water.  The  substance  applied  with  this  in- 
tention is  called  a  base  or  mordant,  and  must  possess  an 
affinity  for  the  fibre  of  the  stuff  on  the  one  hand,  and  for 
the  colouring  materials  on  the  other.  The  mordant  often 
effects  another  important  object ;  that  of  changing  or  ex- 
alting the  colour  at  the  same  time  that  it  fixes  it.  The 
principal  mordants  are  aluminous  earth  and  oxide  of  iron, 
and  these  are  usually  applied  in  the  state  of  acetates.  As 
an  instance,  we  may  mention  the  mode  of  dyeing  calico 
red  by  means  of  madder,  a  decoction  of  which,  if  applied 
to  the  unprepared  goods,  would  only  give  them  a  dirty  red 
tinge,  neither  agreeable  nor  permanent.  If  the  calico  be 
previously  passed  through  a  weak  solution  of  acetate  of 
alumina,  and  then  dried  at  a  high  temperature,  and  after- 
wards washed,  a  portion  of  the  alumina  is  retained  in  che- 
mical combination  with  the  fibre  of  the  calico ;  and  when 
thus  prepared  and  submitted  to  the  action  of  a  hot  decoc- 
tion of  madder,  and  again  washed,  it  comes  out  of  a  fine 
red,  which  is  fixed  in  consequence  of  the  attraction  of  the 
alumina  for  the  peculiar  principle  which  gives  colour  to 
the  madder.  If  the  mordant  he  oxide  of  iron  instead  of 
alumina,  the  colour  which  is  then  produced  is  purple  ;  and 
various  shades  and  colours  are  obtained  by  mixing  mor- 
dants, by  using  more  or  less  of  them,  and  by  applying  the 
coloured  solutions  in  various  states  of  concentration.  Some- 
times articles  are  dyed  by  a  similar  precipitation  of  colour- 
ed  metallic  oxides  in  the  fibre  ;  thus  yellow  is  obtained  by 
passing  cloth  impregnated  with  acetate  of  lead  through  a 
solution  of  chromate  of  potash :  a  double  decomposition 
ensues,  and  yellow  chromate  of  lead  is  precipitated  in  and 
combined  with  the  vegetable  or  animal  fibre.  Blues  are 
produced  by  passing  the  goods  previously  mordanted  with 
iron  through  an  acidulated  solution  of  ferrocyanate  of  pot- 
ash ;  these  are  generally  called  chemical  colours,  though 
not  in  fact  more  so  than  the  others.  Scarlet  is  exclusively 
produced  by  the  colouring  matter  either  of  the  cochineal 
or  of  the  lac  insect,  which  is  fixed  by  oxide  of  tin,  or  by 
alumina,  and  heightened  by  the  action  of  tartar. 

The  chemical  principles  of  the  art  of  calico  printing  are 
the  same  as  those  of  dyeing,  but  the  details  are  more  dif- 
ficult and  complicated  ;  and  in  consequence  of  the  combi- 
nation of  a  great  variety  of  colours  upon  the  same  ground, 
the  process  is  sometimes  extremely  refined  and  intricate  ; 
so  that  a  rich,  varied,  and  pleasing  pattern,  thus  effectively 
produced,  may  be  considered  as  a  triumph  of  practical 
skill  over  theoretical  difficulties,  which  is  scarcely  rivalled, 
and  certainly  not  excelled,  in  any  other  of  the  arts.  It  is 
obvious  that  calico  printing  is  in  the  abstract  a  topical  dye- 
ing ;  and  much  discrimination  and  taste  are  requisite  in  the 
contrivance  of  the  pattern,  its  general  design,  and  the  co- 
lours in  which  it  is  exhibited.  In  this  art  the  mordants, 
and  sometimes  the  colours,  are  applied  either  by  blocks, 
upon  which  the  pattern  is  designed  in  relief,  or  by  copper 
plates,  which  are  engraved,  or  by  cylinders  or  rollers.  If 
the  aluminous  mordant  be  printed  by  one  block  and  the 
iron  mordant  by  another,  and  a  mixture  of  the  two  by  a 
third,  and  the  piece  thus  prepared  be  then  passed  through 
a  madder  bath,  and  properly  cleansed  and  bleached,  the 
colour  will  only  adhere  to  the  mordanted  places,  and  it  will 
be  red  where  the  aluminous  earth  only  has  been  applied,  j 
purple  with  the  mixed  mordant,  and  black  with  the  iron  ; 
if  the  same  three  mordants  be  used  with  a  decoction  of 
quercitron  bark,  the  resulting  colours  will  be  ypllow,  olive, 
and  brown  ;  and  in  this  way  a  great  variety  of  a  'lours  may 
be  produced.  Sometimes  copperplate  and  block  printing 
are  combined  ;  a  fine  running  pattern  being  printed  by  the 
plate  or  cylinder  over  the  whole  surface,  which  serves  as 
a  groundwork,  and  upon  which  other  figures  are  printed 
by  blocks.  Sometimes  the  mordant  and  colour  are  both 
applied  at  once  by  means  of  a  block,  and  rendered  fixed 
373 


DYNAMOMETER. 

and  permanent  by  exposing  the  goods  for  some  time  to 
steam.  Some  beautiful  effects  are  also  produced  by  print- 
ing the  pattern  upon  a  mordanted  ground  with  some  sub- 
stance which  will  resist  the  colour,  and  so  produce  a 
white  pattern  upon  a  coloured  ground.  The  same  effect 
I  is  sometimes  brought  about  by  discharging  the  colour  by 
j  the  topical  application  of  certain  bleaching  materials. 

DYKE,  or  DIKE.  When  a  mass  of  unstratified  or  ig- 
neous rock,  such  as  granite,  trap,  or  lava,  appears  as  if  in- 
jected into  rents  and  fissures  in  the  stratified  rock,  so  as  to 
intersect  the  strata,  it  is  called  a  dyke.  Dyke  is  also  the 
name  given  to  a  mound  of  earth,  stones,  or  other  mate- 
rials, intended  to  prevent  low  land  from  being  inundated 
by  the  sea,  &c.  ;  as  the  dykes  of  Holland. 

DYNA'MICS  (Gr.  Swapis,  force,  or  power),  signifies 
literally  the  doctrine  of  force  or  power;  but  as  force  or 
power  is  known  to  us  in  no  other  way  than  by  its  effect, 
that  is,  by  the  motion  which  it  produces  in  the  body  on 
which  it  acts,  and  is  measured  by  that  motion,  dynamics 
may  be  defined  to  be  the  science  which  treats  of  the  mo- 
tion of  bodies.  It  is,  however,  usually  restricted  to  those 
circumstances  of  motion  in  which  the  moving  bodies  are 
at  liberty  to  obey  the  impulses  communicated  to  them ; 
the  opposite  cases,  or  those  in  which  the  bodies,  whether 
by  external  circumstances,  or  by  their  connection  with  one 
another,  are  not  at  liberty  to  obey  the  impulses  given,  be- 
ing comprehended  in  the  science  of  mechanics.  Thus, 
the  motion  of  a  stone  falling  freely  to  the  ground,  or  of  a 
celestial  body  in  its  orbit,  belongs  to  dynamics ;  while  that 
of  a  body  descending  an  inclined  plane  would  properly  be- 
long to  mechanics. 

The  theory  of  varied  motions,  and  of  the  accelerating 
forces  which  produce  them,  is  founded  on  two  general 
laws :  1st,  That  all  motion  impressed  on  a  body  is  by  its 
nature  uniform  and  rectilinear;  and  2nd,  That  different 
motions  impressed  either  simultaneously  or  successively 
on  the  same  body,  are  compounded  in  such  a  manner  that 
the  body  is  found  at  every  instant  in  the  same  point  of 
space  in  which  it  would  have  been  found  in  consequence 
of  the  combination  of  the  motions  had  they  existed  sepa- 
rately. Thus,  if  a  body  be  acted  on  by  two  forces  at  the 
same  instant,  one  of  which  acting  alone  would  cause  it  to 
move  uniformly  over  A  B,  and  the  other  acting  alone  would 
cause  it  to  move  over  A  C  at  right  angles  to  A  B  in  the 
same  time  ;  the  velocity  of  the  body  in  the  one  of  these 
directions  will  not  be  changed  by  the  force  impelling  it  in 
the  other.  With  regard  to  the  first  of  these  laws,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  a  body  in  motion,  not  subjected  to  the  action  of 
any  new  force,  will  continue  to  move  in  the  prolongation 
of  the  straight  line  in  which  it  moves  at  any  given  instant, 
since  there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  deviate  from  its  rec- 
tilinear direction  rather  to  one  side  than  the  other;  but  the 
uniformity  of  its  motion  cannot  be  asserted  a  priori:  it  is 
only  by  induction  and  experience  that  we  come  to  be  per- 
suaded that  the  velocity  with  which  any  body  is  impressed 
will  not  diminish  of  itself,  nor  the  body  finally  come  to 
rest  unless  it  is  impeded  by  some  external  causes.  The 
second  law,  which  involves  the  theory  of  the  composi- 
tion of  forces,  has  been  demonstrated  by  several  mathe- 
maticians, particularly  Daniel  Bernoulli,  D'Alembert, 
Laplace  in  the  Mecanique  Celeste,  and  Poisson  in  his  ex- 
cellent Traite  de  Mecanique ;  but  all  these  demonstrations 
are  too  difficult  to  be  accounted  elementary. 

The  science  of  dynamics  is  due  entirely  to  the  moderns, 
and  its  foundations  were  laid  by  the  celebrated  Galileo. 
Before  him  no  one  had  considered  the  forces  which  act 
on  bodies,  excepting  in  the  case  of  equilibrium ;  and  al- 
though the  acceleration  of  falling  bodies,  and  the  curvili- 
near motion  of  projectiles,  had  been  attributed  to  the  con- 
stant action  of  terrestrial  gravity,  no  one  had  yet  succeeded 
in  determining  the  laws  of  these  common  phenomena. 
Galileo  first  made  this  important  step  in  advance,  and 
thereby  opened  a  new  and  boundless  field  for  the  progress 
of  mechanics.  Huygens  added  to  Galileo's  theory  of  the 
acceleration  of  falling  bodies  the  theories  of  the  motion  of 
pendulums  and  of  centrifugal  forces,  and  thus  prepared 
the  way  for  the  great  discovery  of  universal  gravitation. 
In  the  hands  of  Newton  mechanics  became  a  new  science ; 
and  the  discovery  of  the  infinitesimal  calculus  at  length 
enabled  geometers  to  express  all  the  laws  and  circum- 
stances of  the  motion  of  bodies  by  analytical  equations. 
The  investigation  of  the  forces  which  produce  the  pheno- 
mena of  the  material  world,  or  of  the  mutual  action  of  the 
different  parts  of  matter  on  each  other,  now  form  indeed 
the  principal  object  of  mathematical  studies.  The  best 
systematic  treatises  on  Dynamics  are  to  be  found  in  La- 
grange's Mecanique  Analytique,  and  Poisson's  Traite  de. 
Mecanique.  Of  late  years  several  valuable  elementary 
treatises  have  appeared  in  our  own  language.  See  Force, 
Mechanics,  Motion. 

DYNAMOMETER.     (Gr.  Swapis,  power,  and  ucrpov, 
measure.)     An  instrument  for  measuring  power  of  any 
kind,  as  the  strength  of  men  and  animals,  the  force  of  ma- 
chinery, the  magnifying  power  of  a  telescope,  &c.    An  in- 
33 


DYNASTIDiE. 

stniment  for  measuring  animal  force  was  invented  by  Mr. 
Graham  many  years  ago, and  afterwards  improved  by  Des- 
aguliers;  but  as  it  consisted  of  wooden  works,  it  was  too 
heavy  and  bulky  to  be  conveniently  used  for  ordinary  pur- 
poses. Leroy,  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Paris,  pro- 
posed a  dynamometer,  which  consisted  merely  of  a  tube  of 
metal  of  ten  or  twelve  inches  in  length,  placed  vertically  on 
s  stand,  and  containing  a  spring  in  its  interior,  which  indi- 
cated by  its  compression  the  amount  of  the  force  applied. 
The  instrument  was  in  fact  the  same  in  principle  as  the 
common  spring  balance. 

The  most  convenient  dynamometer  is  that  of  Regnier, 
which  is  described  in  Cahier  5.  of  the  Journal  de  V Ernie 
Polytechnique.  It  consists  of  an  elliptical  steel  spring  of 
about  12  inches  in  circumference,  and  the  force  is  applied 
either  by  pressing  the  two  vertices  of  the  axis  minor  against 
each  other,  or  by  drawing  in  opposite  directions  the  two 
ends  of  the  axis  major.  In  both  cases  the  sides  of  the 
spring  are  made  to  approach  each  other  ;  and  thus  they 
move  an  index  which  marks  the  degree  of  approximation 
on  a  semicircular  scale.  By  means  of  this  machine  the 
mean  force  is  ascertained  which  a  man  can  exert  with  the 
right  hand,  or  with  the  left,  or  with  both  together,  and  in 
various  positions  of  his  body.  Some  interesting  results 
relating  to  the  average  strength  of  men  at  different  ages, 
and  of  different  weights  and  sizes,  have  been  deduced  by 
M.  Quetelet  of  Brussels,  from  numerous  experiments 
with  this  dynamometer.    See  Strength  of  Animals. 

DYNA'STIDiE.  (Gr.  Svvaarrn,  a  master.)  A  family  of 
beetles,  including  the  giants  of  the  Coleopterous  order. 
They  are  remarkably  powerful  insects,  excavating  burrows 
in  the  earth  and  in  putrescent  timber,  upon  the  latter  of 
which  they  principally  feed. 

DY'NASTY.  (Gr.  ivnaareia,  from  Swaartj;,  a  lord  or 
chieftain.)  A  race  or  family  of  sovereigns  in  succession. 

DYSiESTHE'SIA.  (Gr.  <5t>s,  an  adverb  signifying  in 
composition  badness  or  difficulty,  and  aiadavopat,  1  feel.) 
Impaired  sense  of  touch. 

DY'SENTERY.  (Gr.  Svi,  and  tvrtpa,  bowels.)  A  dis- 
ease of  the  bowels,  endemic  in  many  climates  in  the  au- 
tumnal months,  and  frequently  arising  from  marsh  miasma, 
bad  diet,  exhaustion  and  fatigue :  its  symptoms  are  loss  of 
appetite,  sickness,  pain  about  the  bowels,  and  a  frequent 
ineffectual  desire  to  evacuate  their  contents,  which  when 
passed  are  mucous,  fetid,  and  bloody,  with  small  indura- 
ted lumps.  It  is  often  accompanied  by  intermittent  and  re- 
mittent fever,  especially  in  hot  and  damp  countries.  In 
this  country  dysentery  is  generally  a  mild  disorder,  and  not 
infectious ;  and  is  commonly  cured  by  gentle  aperients, 
such  as  castor  oil,  or  salts  and  manna,  to  cleanse  the  bow- 
els, and  opiates  to  allay  irritation.  The  chronic  symptoms 
which  remain  are  treated  with  mild  tonics,  especially  vege- 
table bitters,  such  as  infusion  of  calumba,  angustura,  or 
cascarilla.  The  contagious  dysentery  of  camps,  attended 
by  remittent  or  typhoid  fever,  is  an  alarming  and  fatal  dis- 
ease :  its  treatment  requires  much  consideration  and  skill, 
and  consists  in  judiciously  meeting  the  various  symptoms 
as  they  arise.  Aperients,  diaphoretics,  and  nauseants, 
succeeded  by  tonics,  are  leading  remedies ;  and  the  febrile 
symptoms  must  be  treated  according  to  their  inflammatory 
or  putrid  tendency. 

DVSPE'PSIA.  (Gr.  <5vy,an<_,  ireirro),  I  digest  or  concoct.) 
Indigestion.  This  is  a  complaint  from  which  few  entirely 
escape,  which  assumes  an  infinite  variety  of  shapes  and 
symptoms,  and  which  arises  from  many  causes.  In  the 
higher  ranks  of  society,  and  amongst  the  luxurious  and 
opulent,  it  is  a  common  consequence  of  over  eating,  or  of 
indulgence  in  difficultly  digestible  or  over-stimulating  food, 
or  of  want  of  due  exercise  and  general  bodily  and  mental 
exertion.  In  others  it  results  from  mental  anxiety  and  la- 
bour associated  with  a  sedentary  life  ;  from  the  fatigues  of 
business,  or  the  influence  of  debilitating  passions.  In  the 
lower  orders  it  is  the  constant  result  of  indulgence  in  spirit- 
uous liquors,  combined  in  many  instances  with  want  of 
proper  food,  the  means  which  ought  to  be  applied  to  pro- 
curing it  being  disposed  of  in  the  gin  shop. 

The  symptoms  of  dyspepsia  vary,  therefore,  in  the  differ- 
ent grades  of  life.  The  epicure  loses  his  relish  for  the 
most  refined  dishes,  becomes  bloated,  plethoric,  heavy, 
and  perhaps  apoplectic  ;  the  lady  of  fashion  suffers  from 
headaches,  flatulence,  occasional  giddiness,  and  dimness 
of  sight;  she  becomes  indolent,  capricious,  and  full  of  fan- 
cies, or,  as  the  old  physicians  used  to  say,  she  has  the  va- 
pours;  the  studious  man  feels  the  intensity  of  his  mind 
blunted,  loses  his  appetite,  or  at  least  all  enjoyment  of 
meals,  sleeps  ill,  and  dreams  much,  gets  whimsical  and 
discontented  with  himself  and  his  friends,  and  becomes  a 
liypocliandriac  ;  the  lower  classes  at  first  take  their  glass  of 
gin  or  of  rum  because  they  find  it  a  cheap  stimulant,  little 
thinking  of  the  misery  they  are  laying  up  for  future  years  ; 
this  stimulant  soon  becomes  habitual,  and  they  not  only 
feel  miserable  and  heartbroken  without  it,  but  the  single 
glass  soon  loses  its  efficacy,  and  the  dose  must  be  gradually 
increased  till  they  degenerate  into  regular  tipplers,  the  as- 
374 


E. 

pecf  and  characters  of  whom  it  were  needless  to  describe-, 
as  they  may  be  daily  and  hourly  studied  in  those  hells  of 
temptation  and  iniquity,  the  gin  shops  of  London, — where  it 
is  curious  and  instructive,  but  humiliating  and  alarming,  tu 
witness  the  various  grades  of  mental  and  bodily  disease  in 
the  men,  women,  and  even  children,  who  there  immolate 
to  Satan. 

Complicated  as  are  the  symptoms  of  dyspepsia,  and  nn- 
merous  as  are  the  remedies  and  modes  ol  treatment  pro- 
posed for  its  relief  or  cure,  they  really  resolve  themselves 
into  a  few  simple  rules.  In  the  majority  of  cases,  absti- 
nence  is  the  first  and  most  essential  step  :  the  epicure  must 
abstain  from  the  luxuries  of  the  table,  eat  and  drink 
with  moderation,  rise  betimes,  and  use  due  exercise  ;  the 
woman  of  fashion  must  revert  to  regular  hours,  that  is, 
the  night  and  the  day  must  be  employed  as  intended  by 
nature,  and  not  in  inverted  order ;  the  philosopher  and  the 
scholar  must  occasionally,  and  often  frequently  and  assidu- 
ously, divest  themselves  of  their  mental  labours,  and  resort 
to  amusements  and  occupations  of  a  more  trivial  character. 
Those  among  the  lower  orders  who  have  once  acquired  the 
habit  of  dram  drinking  are  incurable  ;  for  such  is  the  de- 
pression of  mind  and  body,  and  such  the  gnawing  restless- 
ness that  want  of  the  accustomed  stimulus  occasions,  that, 
without  it  they  become  miserable  and  inconsolable,  and 
usually  fall  a  sacrifice  to  mental  or  bodily  disease,  or  to 
both  combined:  here,  therefore,  prevention  is  the  only 
cure.  The  medical  treatment  of  dyspepsia  generally  re- 
solves itself  into  that  of  such  of  its  particular  symptoms 
or  consequences  as  are  most  prominent ;  the  inactivity  of 
the  bowels  is  to  be  opposed  by  proper  aperients  properly 
administered  ;  the  debilitated  stomach  to  be  strengthened 
by  mild  tonics,  antacids, and  stimulants;  the  mental  symp- 
toms often  yield  to  the  same  treatment,  and  often  require 
local  depletion,  or  diffusible  stimulants,  such  as  ammonia 
and  ether ;  and  lastly,  change  of  air,  of  scene,  and  of  oc- 
cupation, are  often  indispensable,  under  which  head  sea 
bathing  and  courses  of  mineral  waters  may  be  included. 
The  above  observations  are  of  course  inapplicable  to  all 
cases  of  dyspepsia  resulting  from  structural  disease,  which, 
though  often  an  effect,  is  also  a  frequent  cause  of  sy  mptomt! 
of  indigestion  ;  indeed,  such  are  the  sympathies  of  the 
stomach  that  it  is  apt  to  be  affected  by  any  aberration  from 
health. 

DYSPHA'GIA.  (Gr.  hi,  and  <f>ayoi,  I  eat.)  Difficulty 
of  swallowing.  Paralysis,  stricture  of  the  oesophagus,  en- 
larged tonsils,  relaxed  uvula,  a  debilitated  state  of  the  mus- 
cular coat  of  the  pharynx  and  oesophagus,  spasm  of  the 
organs  concerned  in  deglutition,  inflammation,  are  among 
some  of  the  leading  causes  which  occasion  difficulty  of 
swallowing  ;  it  is  also  an  attendant  upon  hysteria,  hypochon- 
driasis, tetanus  and  trismus,  and  hydrophobia.  The  treat- 
ment will  depend  upon  the  prevailing  cause,  and  is  noticed 
under  other  articles. 

DYSPNCE'A.  (Gr.  hi,  and  m/e  to,  I  breathe.)  Difficulty 
of  breathing.  This  is  generally  a  symptomatic  affection, 
and  commonly  attends  upon  various  morbid  affections  of 
the  lungs,  heart,  &c.  It  occasionally  happens  that  persons 
in  full  health  are  seized  with  an  attack  of  difficulty  of  res- 
piration ;  where  this  occurs  in  nervous  irritable  habits' it 
generally  goes  off  by  perfect  quiet,  with  the  help  of  a  little 
ether  or  ammonia;  if  in  full  habits,  bleeding  is  sometimes 
requisite.  Persons  who  are  subject  to  these  attacks  should 
keep  themselves  as  quiet  and  tranquil  in  body  and  mind 
as  possible,  and  should  avoid  excess  of  food  and  wine,  and 
even  all  stimulating  diet.  A  recumbent  posture,  and  sud- 
den change  of  air, — as  going  out  of  a  warm  into  a  cold 
room,  or  into  the  open  air, — will  often  relieve  an  accidental 
attack  of  dyspnoea. 

DYSU'KIA.  (Gr.  Svs,  and  ovpov,  urine.)  Dysury.  Dif- 
ficulty in  voiding  the  urine.  A  common  symptom  in  cases 
of  gravel,  inflammation  of  the  urinary  organs,  spasm,  and 
stricture.  The  nature  of  the  relief  must  depend  upon  the 
exciting  cause. 


E. 


E.  The  fifth  letter  in  the  Hebrew  alphabet,  and  in  those 
derived  from  it.  In  the  Latin  language  it  is  often  inter- 
changed with  i  and  o  ;  and  in  the  Greek  with  a,  o,  and  oc- 
casionally u.  In  most  languages  e  admits  of  great  vari- 
ety in  its  pronunciation,  and,  in  French  and  English  parti- 
cularly, surpasses  every  other  letter  in  the  alphabet  in  this 
quality :  as  a  Latin  numeral  E  signifies  250 — 

E  quoque  ducentos  et  quinquaginta  tenebit- 

E.  In  Music,  the  third  note  or  degree  of  the  diatonic 
scale,  corresponding  to  the  mi  of  the  French  and  Italians. 
In  the  bass  clef  it  is  that  on  the  third  space  of  the  staff,  in 
the  tenor  on  the  first  space,  in  the  counter  tenor  on  the 
fourth  line,  and  in  the  treble  clef  that  on  the  first  line. 


EA'GLE. 

EA'GLE.     In  Ornithology.     See  Ahuila,  Falconid;e. 
Ea'gle.    In  History,  the  symbol  of  royalty;  as  being, 
according  to  Philostratus.  the  king  of  birds.     Hence,  in  the 
Scriptures,  a  Chaldsan  and  Egyptian  king  are  styled  eagles. 
The  eagle  was  borne  as  a  standard  by  many  nations  of  an- 
tiquity.   The  first  who  assumed  it,  according  to  Xenophon 
'  Anab.  i.  10.),  were  the  Persians,  from  whom  (in  all  proba- 
bility  through  the  medium  of  the  Greeks)  it  was  borrowed 
toy  the  Romans  at  an  early  period  of  their  history,  but  hrst 
adopted  as  their  sole  ensign  in  the  consulate  of  C.  Manus. 
(Plin.  x.  4.)    Previously  to  that  period  they  had  used  as 
standards  wolves,  leopards,  eagles,  and  other  animals,  in- 
differently, according  to  the  humour  of  their  generals.  The 
Roman  eaates  were  gold  or  silver  figures  in  rihevo,  about 
the  size  of  a  pigeon ;  and  were  borne  on  ihe  tops  of  spears, 
with  their  wings  displayed,  and  frequently  with  a  thunder- 
bolt in  their  talons.     When  the  army  marched  the  eagle 
was  always  visible  to  the  legions  ;  and  when  it  encamped, 
the  ea<de  was  always  placed  before  their  prcBtonum  or  tent 
of  the  general.    The  eagle  on  the  summit  of  an  ivory  start- 
was  also  ihe  symbol  of  the  consular  dignity.     In  modern 
times  Napoleon  caused  the  tricolor  flag,  which  at  the  ou- 
tbreak of  the  first  French  Revolution  had  become  the  stand- 
ard of  France,  to  be  surmounted  with  an  eagle  ;  and  thus 
constituted  it  the  standard  of  the  consular  and  imperial 
armies      From  this  circumstance,  and  from  the  almost  un- 
precedented career  of  victory  so  long  pursued    bv  the 
French  under  this  standard,  the  expression  eagles  of  Napo- 
leon is  often  used  metaphorically  to  designate  the  armies 
under  his  command.     After  the  battle  of  Waterloo  the 
ea^le  was  superseded  in  France  by  the  tleur  de  lys,  the  an- 
cient emblem  of  the  Bourbon  race.     Eagles  are  frequently 
found  on  ancient  coins  and  medals ;  where,  according  to 
Spanheim,  they  are  emblematic  of  divinity  and  providence, 
but  according  to  all  other  antiquaries  of  empire.  They  are 
most  usually  found  on  the  medal3  of  the  Ptolemies  of 
E»ypt  and  the  Selucidaeof  Syria.     An  eagle,  Willi  the  word 
consecratio,  indicates  the  apotheosis  of  an  emperor. 

Eagle.  In  Heraldry,  a  bearing  of  frequent  occurrence, 
and  particularly  assumed  by  sovereigns  as  the  emblem  of 
empire  from  having  been  borne  on  the  legionary  standard 
of  the  ancient  Romans.  The  eagle  of  Russia  is  or,  with 
two  heads  displayed,  sable,  each  ducally  crowned  of  the 
field  •  the  whole  imperially  crowned,  beaked,  and  mom- 
bered,  gules.  The  eagle  of  Austria  is  also  displayed  with 
two  heads  ;  the  Prussian  eagle  has  one  only.  The  Ameri- 
cans have  adopted  an  eagle  of  a  peculiar  species  belonging 
to  their  continent  as  the  device  of  the  Union,  which  is  im- 
pressed on  their  gold  coins. 

EA'GLE,  BLACK.  A  Prussian  order  of  knighthood, 
founded  in  1701  ;  united  with  the  order  of  the  Red  Eagle, 
or  order  of  Sincerity,  instituted  by  the  Margraves  of  Bay- 

EA'GLE  STONE.  A  term  applied  by  the  old  pharma- 
ceutists to  globular  clay  ironstone,  which  they  called  lapis 

atites.  .  ,  .... 

EA'GLE  WOOD.  A  fragrant  wood,  used  by  the  Asiatics 
for  burning  as  incense.  The  Malayan  name  is  Agila, 
whence  the  Portuguese  name  Pao  a"  Agila. 

EAR.  (Germ,  ohr.)  The  external  ear  is  formed  of  a 
pliant  cartilage  covered  by  a  thin  skin,  and  having  appro- 
priate nerves  and  muscles;  its  various  cavities  and  projec- 
tions have  received  distinctive  names  from  the  anatomist. 
The  curved  and  irregular  passage  which  leads  to  the  in- 
ner ear  is  called  the  meatus  auditorius,  and  in  the  adult 
is  more  than  an 


inch  in  length  ; 
it  is  lined  with 
a  peculiar  secre- 
lion  called  ceru- 
men. The  tym- 
panum separates 
the  external  from 
the  internal  ear; 
it  is  closed  by  a 
membrane  call- 
ed the  membra- 
na  tympani  or 
drum  of  the  ear, 
upon  the  inner 
surface  of  which 
a  nerve  called  the 
chorda  tympani 
ramifies,  and  to 
the  centre  of 
which  is  affixed 
the  process  of  a 
little  hammer- 
shaped  bone, 
called  the  mal- 
leus, and  which, 

together  with  the  incus,  the  os  orbiculare,  and  the  stapes, 
forms  a  chain  of  communication  between  the  tympanum 
and  the  fenestra  ovalis;  these  small  bones  are  supplied 
375 


EARTH. 

with  appropriate  muscles.  The  vestibule  is  a  small  cavity 
in  the  petrous  portion  of  the  temporal  bone,  having  a  little 
spiral  cavity  called  the  cochlea  connected  with  it,  and  three 
cylindrical  cavities,  or  tubes,  bent  in  a  semicircular  form, 
two  of  which  are  horizontal  and  one  vertical.  These  cavities 
contain  a  liquid  ;  and  in  them  the  auditory  nerve,  which 
proceeds  from  the  fourth  ventricle  of  the  brain,  ramifies 
and  terminates.  It  is  obvious  that  vibration  of  the  tympa- 
num, occasioned  by  undulations  of  the  air,  may  be  com- 
municated through  the  bony  chain  above  mentioned  to  the 
fluid  in  the  vestibule,  and  thence  to  the  acoustic  nerve  ; 
but  any  further  uses  of  this  extraordinary  and  complicated 
mechanism  are  beyond  our  knowledge.  In  the  annexed 
diagram  a  reDresents  the  external  ear,  6  the  external  mea- 
tus, c  the  tympanum,  d  the  malleus,  e  the  incus,  /  the 
stapes  g  the  semicircular  canals,  and  h  the  cochlea. 

EA'RINGS.  Small  ropes  fastened  to  cringles  (loops)  m 
the  upper  corners,  and  also  to  ihe  leeches  of  sails,  for  the 
purpose  of  fixing  the  leeches  of  the  sail  to  the  yard.  The 
first  or  head  earings  fix  the  corners  of  the  sail  permanent- 
ly, the  second  are  used  only  in  reeling. 

EARL  A  title  of  dignity,  derived  from  the  Anglo- 
Saxons.  It  denoted  at  first  any  person  of  noble  race,  (see 
PatTave's  Rise  of  the  E.  Commonwealth);  and  there 
seem  to  have  remained  in  popular  language  traces  of  this 
ancient  use  of  the  name  down  to  a  late  period.  After- 
wards some  of  the  Saxon  earls  were  hereditary,  and  some 
official  governors  of  extensive  districts  After  the  Con- 
quest the  title  of  earl  was  used  by  the  English  to  express 
the  French  title  of  count  (in  Latin  comes);  to  which  again 
the  word  graf  (identical  in  origin  with  the  English  reeve) 
furnishes  an  equivalent  in  Germany.  Hence  the  wife  of  an 
earl  is  still  styled  countess.  In  writings  earlier  than  the 
a^e  of  Stephen,  the  Latin  word  consul  is  also  used  as  sy- 
nonymous. It  has  been  supposed  (and  the  explanation  is 
supported  by  Mr.  Cruise,  On  Dig7iities,  p.  17,)  that  the 
dignity  of  an  earl  was  originally  annexed  to  the  possession 
ofa  certain  tract  of  land,  and  that  there  were  three  sorts 
of  earldoms-one,  when  the  dignity  was  annexed  to  the 
possession  of  a  whole  county  with  jura  regalia,  in  which 
case  Ihe  county  was  a  county  palatine,  as  Chester,  Pem- 
broke, and  Durham;  the  second,  where  the  earl  had  no 
possession  of  the  county,  and  no  advantage  from  it,  but 
Ihe  third  penny  or  third  part  of  the  sum  arising  from  pleas 
in  the  county  court;  the  third,  where  a  tract  of  land  was 
granted  to  hold  as  a  county,  "per  servitium  unius  comi- 
tatus  "  But  this  is  an  opinion  open  to  controversy  ;  and  it 
may  be  doubted  whether  there  are  any  settled  principles 
as  to  the  creation  or  descent  of  earldoms  earlier  than  the 
rei-m  of  Edward  III.,  when  they  were  granted  by  letters 
patent  to  the  earl  and  the  heirs  of  his  body.  Earldoms, 
like  baronies,  gradually  became  converted  from  territorial 
to  merely  titular  honours.  These  two  were  the  only  titles 
in  the  English  peerage,  until  the  creation  of  ihe  duchy  of 
Cornwallln  the  11th  year  of  Edward  HI.  (See  Nicolas  s 
Synopsis  of  the  Peerage  of  England.) 

E\RL  MA'RSHAL  OF  ENGLAND.  One  of  the  great 
officers  of  state,  who  regulates  all  great  ceremonies,  takes 
cognizance  of  all  matters  relating  to  honour,  arms,  and 
nedigree,  and  superintends  the  proclamation  of  peace  or 
war  The  court  of  chivalry,  curia  militaris  (now  almost 
forgotten),  was  formerly  under  his  jurisdiction  :  he  is  still 
at  the  head  of  the  herald's  office,  or  college  of  arms. 
Camden,  in  his  discourse  concerning  the  etymology,  anti- 
quity, and  office  of  earl  marshal,  alleges  that  it  was  first 
introduced  in  the  reisn  of  Richard  II.,  who  conferred  it  on 
Thomas  Mowbray,  Earl  of  Nottingham,  his  predecessors 
havin"  been  styled  only  Marshals  of  England.  Various 
limitations  have  been  made  in  the  grants  of  this  office  from 
time  to  time;  but  it  is  now  hereditary  m  the  family  ol 
Howard,  and  enjoyed  bv  its  head,  ihe  Duke  of  Norfolk. 

EA'RNEST  (Lat.  arr'hre ;  Fr.  arrhes),  in  Law.  is  a  part 
of  the  subject  of  a  contract,  a*  money  or  goods,  transferred, 
in  order  by  such  delivery  to  pass  the  property  in  the  whole, 
or  in  some  other  way  to  confirm  the  contract.  By  trie 
Statute  of  Frauds,  29  C.  2.  c.  3,  no  coniract  for  sale  of 
goods  of  the  value  of  10/.  or  more  is  good  unless  in  writing, 
or  unless  such  earnest  be  given  or  taken. 

EA'R  RINGS.  (Germ,  ohrringe.)  Well-known  orna- 
ments worn  by  women,  and  sometimes  by  men,  in  all  ages 
and  countries.  They  have  assumed  an  endless  variety  of 
forms  ;  but  consist  generally  at  present  of  a  simple  ring,  to 
which  are  attached  pendant  jewels,  such  as  pearls,  dia- 
monds, or  other  precious  stones.  In  the  middle  ages  they 
were  termed  pendants,  to  which  article  the  reader  is  re- 
ferred for  full  information. 
EARS.  In  Architecture.  See  Crosettes. 
EAR  SHELL.     See  Haliotis. 

EA.RTH.  (Germ,  erde,  Lat.  terra.)  The  name  of  the 
planet  which  we  inhabit.  It  is  the  third  in  order  from  the 
sun,  its  orbit  embracing  the  orbits  of  Mercury  and  Venus, 
but  being  within  the  orbits  of  all  the  other  planets  The 
earth  is  endowed  with  a  double  motion  :  first,  a  motion  of 
rotation  about  an  axis  passing  through  its  centre;  and 


EARTH. 


secondly,  a  motion  of  revolution  about  the  sun.  It  is  the 
first  of  these  motions  which  produces  the  phenomena  of 
day  and  night,  and  the  apparent  diurnal  revolution  of  the 
celestial  bodies.  The  time  in  which  the  earth's  rotation  is 
performed  is  measured  by  the  interval  which  elapses  be- 
tween two  transits  of  the  same  fixed  star  over  the  meridian 
of  any  place ;  and  this  interval  is  always  precisely  the  same, 
for  astronomers  have  proved  that  it  cannot  have  varied  so 
much  as  three  times  the  thousandth  part  of  a  second  since 
the  date  of  the  first  astronomical  observation,  that  is  to 
say,  during  the  last  two  thousand  years.  It  is  called  the  si- 
dereal day,  and  forms  a  perfectly  uniform  measure  of  time. 

The  revolution  of  the  earth  about  the  sun  is  performed 
in  an  elliptic  orbit,  which  lies  all  in  one  plane,  and  has  the 
sun  in  one  of  the  foci.  The  eccentricity  of  the  orbit,  or 
the  distance  of  the  foci  from  the  centre,  is  0  01679  parts  of 
the  mean  distance  of  the  earth  from  the  sun  ;  so  that  if  we 
take  the  mean  distance  for  unity,  the  greatest  distance  of 
the  sun  is  101679,  and  the  least  0-93321.  The  mean  dis- 
tance is  nearly  95  millions  of  miles.  The  motion  of  the 
earth  in  its  orbit  is  not  uniform  ;  being  most  rapid  when  it 
is  at  its  perihelion,  or  point  nearest  the  sun,  and  slowest  at 
its  aphelion,  or  greatest  distance  from  the  sun.  This  ine- 
quality of  the  angular  motion  of  the  earth  about  the  sun 
gives  rise  to  an  inequality  in  the  lengths  of  the  apparent 
solar  day,  which  is  the  interval  of  time  between  the  suc- 
cessive transits  of  the  sun  over  the  same  terrestrial  meri- 
dian. If  the  earth  moved  uniformly  in  its  orbit,  accom- 
plishing its  annual  revolution  in  the  same  time  it  does,  the 
interval  between  any  two  consecutive  transits  of  the  sun 
over  the  same  meridian  would  always  be  the  same.  This 
interval  is  called  the  mean  solar  day.  The  time  in  which 
the  earth  performs  a  revolution  in  its  orbit,  with  respect  to 
the  fixed  stars,  or  points  in  absolute  space,  is  365-2563612 
mean  solar  days,  or  365  days,  6  hours,  9  minutes,  9-6 
seconds.    This  is  called  the  sidereal  year. 

The  plane  which  contains  the  earth's  orbit  is  called  the 
plane  of  the  ecliptic.  The  axis  of  the  earth's  diurnal  rota- 
tion is  not  perpendicular  to  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic,  but 
makes  with  it  an  angle  of  66°  32'  4" ;  whence  the  equator 
of  the  earth  is  inclined  to  the  ecliptic  in  an  angle  of 
23°  27'  56".  This  inclination,  which  is  called  the  obliquity 
of  the  ecliptic,  gives  rise  to  the  phenomena  of  the  seasons, 
fn  fact,  as  the  two  planes  intersect  always  at  the  centre  of 
the  earth,  it  is  evident  that  if,  while  the  earth  is  carried 
round  its  orbit,  its  axis  of  rotation  remains  always  parallel 
to  itself,  the  sun  must  rise  above  the  equator  during  one 
half  of  the  revolution,  and  fall  below  it  during  the  other. 
Now  this  is  what  takes  place  : — the  earth's  axis  of  rotation 
preserves  its  parallelism,  or  points  always  towards  the 
same  star;  and  the  sun  in  consequence  at  one  period  of 
the  year  is  23°  27'  56"  to  the  north  of  the  equator,  and  at 
the  opposite  season  of  the  year  is  precisely  the  same  dis- 
tance to  the  south  of  it.  The  straight  line  formed  by  the 
intersection  of  the  planes  of  the  equator  and  ecliptic  does 
not  preserve  the  same  position  on  the  ecliptic;  it  has  a 
slow  motion  westward,  or  contrary  to  the  order  of  the 
signs,  and  retreats  at  the  rate  of  501"  annually  ;  so  that 
when  the  sun  appears  to  return  to  the  equator  the  sidereal 
revolution  has  not  been  quite  completed  :  there  remains 
an  arc  of  50-1".  The  lime  in  which  the  sun,  or,  to  speak 
correctly,  the  earth,  describes  this  arc  is  20  minutes,  19  9 
seconds;  consequently  the  periodical  return  of  the  seasons 
is  shorter  by  20 m.  199 sec.  than  the  true  sidereal  revolu- 
tion of  the  earth  round  the  sun.  But  the  revolution  of  the 
seasons  forms  what  is  called  the  equinoctird  or  tropical 
year ;  which,  therefore,  is  equal  to  3652422414  mean  solar 
days,  or  365  d.  5  h.  48  m.  497  sec. 

The  figure  of  the  earth  is  that  of  an  oblate  spheroid  of 
revolution,  the  axis  of  the  poles  being  to  the  diameter  of 
the  equator  in  the  ratio  of  301  to  302.  The  equatorial  di- 
ameter is  nearly  7925  English  miles,  and  the  polar  diameter 
about  7898  miles.  (See  Degree.)  The  mean  radius  of 
the  earth  is  3956  miles.  Hence,  supposing  the  earth  to  be 
a  sphere,  its  whole  surface  would  contain  about  197,663,000 
square  miles. 

The  knowledge  of  the  true  figure  and  dimensions  of  the 
earth  has  been  obtained  by  a  combination  of  the  results  of 
mathematical  theory  with  the  actual  measurement  of  de- 
grees, and  observations  of  the  length  of  the  seconds'  pen- 
dulum at  different  places  on  its  surface.  As  a  great  portion 
of  the  surface  of  the  earth  is  covered  by  the  sea,  the  ge- 
neral figure  must  be  such  as  will  satisfy  the  conditions  of 
hydrostatic  equilibrium.  If  the  earth  were  fluid,  and  had 
no  motion  of  rotation,  its  figure  would  be  that  of  a  sphere  ; 
but  the  rotation  gives  rise  to  a  force  which  tends  to  cause 
every  particle  to  recede  from  the  axis,  and  which  is  pro- 
portional to  the  distance  of  the  particle  from  the  axis. 
Hence  the  attraction  of  the  whole  mass  on  any  particle  is 
to  a  certain  extent  counteracted  by  the  centrifugal  force  of 
rotation,  and  the  attraction  is  most  diminished  at  the  equa- 
torial parts,  where  the  distance  from  the  axis  is  the  great- 
est. Hence,  in  order  that  equilibrium  may  be  restored,  an 
accumulation  of  matter  must  take  place  round  the  equator, 
376 


so  that  the  mass  will  bulge  out  in  that  region,  and  become 
flattened  at  the  poles.  These  theoretical  considerations 
only  render  the  spheroidal  form  of  the  earth  probable ;  but 
they  are  fully  confirmed  by  experiments  of  different  kinds. 
If  the  earth  is  an  oblate  spheroid  of  revolution,  the  force 
of  gravity  at  its  surface  must  increase  on  going  from  the 
equator  towards  the  poles  ;  and  the  increase  must  be  ex- 
actly proportional  to  that  of  the  square  of  the  sine  of  the 
latitude.  Now  it  has  been  found  by  swinging  an  invariable 
pendulum  at  a  great  number  of  places,  that  the  increase  of 
gravity  from  the  equator  to  the  poles  does  follow  this  law. 
Anomalous  results,  indeed,  appear;  but  they  are  only 
such  as  might  be  expected  a  priori  from  local  irregulari- 
ties of  the  surface,  which,  however,  bear  a  much  smaller 
proportion  to  the  whole  mass  of  the  earth  than  the  protu- 
berances on  the  skin  of  an  orange  to  its  diameter.  Ano- 
ther method  of  determining  the  exact  form  of  the  earth  is 
by  measuring  the  length  of  degrees  of  the  meridian.  Sup- 
posing the  meridian  to  be  an  ellipse,  the  degrees  of  latitude 
must  become  longer  and  longer  as  we  recede  from  the 
equator,  and  the  augmentation  must  be  proportioned  to  the 
square  of  the  sine  of  the  latitude.  This  has  likewise  been 
found,  by  numerous  measurements  undertaken  for  the 
purpose,  to  hold  true  ;  so  that  theory  and  experiment  fully 
concur  in  proving  the  general  form  of  the  earth  to  be  that 
of  an  oblate  spheroid  of  revolution. 

On  account  of  the  large  proportion  of  the  earth's  surface 
which  is  covered  with  water,  and  the  comparatively  small 
height  to  which  the  dry  land  rises  above  the  level,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  figure  of  the  earth  cannot  deviate  much  from 
that  which  is  required  for  the  hydrostatic  equilibrium.  It 
is  computed  that  the  proportion  of  water  to  land  over  the 
whole  surface  is  as  2  to  1  ;  that  is  to  say,  two  thirds  of  the 
whole  surface  is  covered  with  water,  the  surface  of  which 
must  be  in  equilibrium.  The  altitude  of  the  highest  moun- 
tains on  the  earth  above  the  level  of  the  sea  is  supposed  to 
be  about  26,000  feet,  or  nearly  five  miles.  But  the  mean 
radius  of  the  earth,  as  we  have  already  stated,  is  nearly  4000 
miles ;  consequently  the  greatest  superficial  inequalities  do 
not  exceed  the  800th  part  of  the  radius.  In  general  they 
amount  to  but  a  small  part  of  this  quantity. 

The  mass  of  the  earth  compared  with  that  of  the  sun  is 
nearly  as  1  to  355,000.  Its  mean  density,  which  has  been 
ascertained  by  observing  the  effect  of  mountains  in  deflect- 
ing the  plumb-line  from  the  perpendicular  (Attraction 
op  Mountains),  and  by  experiments  on  the  attraction  of 
leaden  balls,  is  to  that  of  water  as  5J  to  1.  The  centrifugal 
force  at  the  equator  is  to  that  of  gravity  as  -00346  to  1 ;  and 
the  force  of  gravity  there  is  such  that  bodies  fall  through 
16jL  feet  in  the  first  second  of  time.  If  the  rotation  of  the 
eartn  were  17  times  more  rapid,  the  centrifugal  force  at  the 
equator  would  be  just  equal  to  the  attractive  force,  and  bo- 
dies would  have  no  weight. 

From  a  knowledge  of  the  form  of  the  earth,  and  of  its 
mean  density,  we  are  enabled  to  form  some  conjecture  re- 
specting its  interior  constitution.  Newton  demonstrated 
that  if  the  earth  were  a  homogeneous  mass,  or  of  equal 
density  throughout,  the  ratio  of  its  polar  to  its  equatorial 
diameter  would  be  that  of  230  to  231 ;  that  is,  the  ellipticity 
would  be  =  -^A-p  But  the  ellipticity  found  from  the  actual 
measurement  of  degrees  is,  as  we  have  seen,  considerably 
less  than  this  fraction ;  consequently  the  earth  is  not  homo- 
geneous. Huygens,  on  the  other  hand,  adopting  the  hypo- 
thesis that  the  density  increases  regularly  from  the  surface 
to  the  centre,  at  which  point  it  is  infinite,  found  the  ratio 
of  the  diameters  to  be  that  of  578  to  579.  The  true  com- 
pression considerably  exceeds  that  given  by  this  ratio  ;  and 
therefore,  since  it  lies  between  the  results  of  the  two  hypo- 
theses, we  infer  that  the  density  increases  towards  the 
centre,  but  that  the  density  at  the  centre  is  not  infinitely 
great. 

Considering  that  the  mean  density  of  the  whole  earth  is 
only  about  five  and  a  half  times  (hat  of  water,  and  that  the 
materials  of  which  the  crust  of  the  earth  is  composed  are 
all  compressible  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  so  that  even  at 
no  very  great  depth  the  density  of  the  different  substancea 
must  be  greatly  increased  by  the  mere  pressure  of  the  su- 
perincumbent materials,  some  philosophers  have  supposed 
that  the  effects  of  pressure  must  be  counterbalanced  by  the 
expansive  force  of  a  great  heat  subsisting  in  the  interior  of 
the  earth  ;  and  others  that  the  earth  is  not  solid,  but  merely 
a  hollow  shell  of  inconsiderable  thickness.  It  has  been 
calculated  that  at  the  depth  of  35  miles,  air,  subjected  to  the 
pressure  of  a  column  of  matter  of  the  mean  density  of  that 
at  the  surface  of  the  earth,  would  acquire  the  density  of 
water ;  that  at  the  depth  of  173  miles,  water  itself,  which  is 
eminently  incompressible,  would  acquire  the  density  of 
marble ;  and  at  the  centre,  marble  would  have  a  density 
1 19  times  greater  than  at  the  surface.  But  the  compara- 
tively small  mean  density  of  the  mass  proves  that  none  of 
these  effects  take  place.  The  hypothesis  which  supposes 
the  earth  to  be  hollow  in  the  interior,  is  contrary  to  every 
analogy  ;  and  as  it  can  be  demonstrated  from  astronomical 


EARTH. 

tonsideraiions  that  the  density  must  increase  in  descend- 
ing from  the  surface  to  a  depth  equal  at  least  to  one  fourth 
of  the  radius,  it  is  infinitely  probable  that  this  density  con- 
tinues to  increase  even  to  the  centre  ;  but  that  a  very  high 
temperature  exists  in  the  interior  of  the  earth,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  the  materials  resist  the  effects  of  the  con- 
densation due  to  the  pressure  to  which  they  are  subjected. 
The  principal  arguments  which  have  been  brought  forward 
to  prove  the  high  temperature  of  the  interior  parts  of  the 
earth,  or  the  central  heat,  are  drawn  from  the  following 
circumstances : — 

1.  The  form  of  the  earth,  nearly  spherical,  and  flattened 
at  the  poles  of  rotation,  together  with  the  regular  disposi- 
tion of  the  materials  about  the  centre  in  elliptic  layers, 
proves  that  it  must  have  originally  existed  in  a  fluid,  if  not 
an  aeriform  state  ;  so  that  the  constituent  molecules  must 
have  had  free  liberty  to  obey  the  forces  arising  from  their 
mutual  attraction  and  from  the  rotation  of  the  whole  mass, 
and  arrange  themselves  in  the  position  of  equilibrium.  But 
there  is  no  other  agent  than  heat  to  which  we  can  attribute 
the  fusion  of  such  substances  as  compose  the  greater  part 
of  the  exterior  crust  of  the  earth.  2.  The  phenomena  of 
volcanos,  hot  springs,  and  earthquakes,  receive  a  very  sim- 
ple explanation  on  the  hypothesis  that  the  nucleus  of  the 
earth  still  remains  in  a  6tate  of  fusion,  and  that  the  consoli- 
dation of  the  exterior  crust  still  proceeds,  though  at  an  ex- 
tremely slow  rate.  3.  The  fact,  which  now  appears  to  be 
fully  established,  that  a  sensible  increase  of  temperature 
takes  place  as  we  descend  from  the  surface  (in  deep  mines 
for  example),  after  passing  the  depth  at  which  the  influ- 
ence of  the  solar  heat  ceases  to  be  felt,  furnishes  a  direct 
proof  of  a  very  high  temperature  in  the  interior  of  the  earth. 
Much  uncertainty  exists  as  to  the  rate  at  which  this  increase 
takes  place  ;  but  the  mean  results  of  a  number  of  experi- 
ments made  in  the  deep  mines  of  Cornwall,  and  different 
parts  of  France  and  Germany,  give  an  increase  of  1°  of 
Fahrenheit's  thermometer  for  every  15  yards  of  vertical 
descent,  after  passing  the  stratum  of  constant  temperature. 
Admitting  this  rate  of  increase,  and  supposing  it  to  be  con- 
tinued to  the  centre,  the  intensity  of  heat  at  the  centre  will 
be  expressed  by  3500°  of  Wedgewood's  pyrometer.  The 
temperature  of  100°  of  Wedgewood,  which  is  sufficient  to 
fuse  the  lavas  and  the  greater  part  of  the  known  rocks, 
would  be  found  at  the  depth  of  125  miles;  but  M.  Cordier, 
who,  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences  of 
Paris  (volume  for  1S27),  has  collected  a  great  number  of 
facts  relative  to  this  subject,  is  of  opinion  that  the  pheno- 
mena warrant  the  conclusion  lhat  the  mean  thickness  of 
the  solid  crust  of  the  earth  does  not  exceed  60  miles. 

In  order  to  explain  the  primitive  fluidity  of  the  earth, 
which  it  is  necessary  to  admit  ill  consequence  of  its  figure 
and  the  law  of  the  diminution  of  gravity  from  the  poles  to 
the  equator,  a  different  hypothesis  has  been  proposed,  and 
had  numerous  partizans.  It  consists  in  supposing  a  pri- 
mitive dissolution  of  all  the  materials  of  the  earth  in  a 
liquid,  such  as  water.  But  if  we  consider  that  the  fluidity 
of  all  bodies,  even  of  liquids,  is  an  effect  of  heat;  that  it 
is  necessary  to  suppose  not  merely  a  partial  fusion  of  the 
exterior  crust,  but  of  the  whole  mass  of  the  earth  ;  and 
that  the  weight  of  all  the  water  on  the  globe  does  not 
probably  amount  to  a  50-thousandth  part  of  that  of  the 
solid  materials,  the  insufficiency  of  this  hypothesis  will  be 
apparent. 

In  whatever  manner  the  earth  may  have  taken  its  ex- 
isting form,  there  are  abundant  proofs  that  its  surface  has 
been  the  theatre  of  many  great  revolutions.  The  masses 
of  sand  and  gravel,  and  beds  of  limestone  composed  of 
shells  and  corals,  Which  are  found  in  the  interior  of  conti- 
nents, and  even  to  the  summits  of  the  highest  mountains, 
plainly  show  that  the  present  land  was  once  immersed 
deep  under  the  waters  of  the  ocean.  The  remains  of  ani- 
mals and  plants  belonging  to  tropical  countries,  found  in 
the  highest  latitudes,  indicate  an  entirely  different  disposi- 
tion of  climates  from  that  which  now  exists.  The  appear- 
ances of  the  mineral  strata,  twisted,  and  dislocated,  and 
broken  asunder,  also  afford  undeniable  evidence  that  the 
changes  which  have  taken  place  on  the  surface  of  the  earth 
have  not  all  been  brought  about  by  the  silent  action  of  the 
causes  which  we  see  in  daily  operation,  but  by  the  opera- 
tion of  some  violent  force  which  has  shaken  the  globe  to 
its  very  centre.  Whether  these  convulsions  have  been 
produced  by  an  internal  or  external  force  ;  by  the  action 
of  a  central  heat  heaving  up  the  solid  crust  of  the  earth, 
and  raising  mountains  from  the  depths  of  the  ocean  ;  or 
by  the  collision  of  a  comet,  changing  the  axis  of  the  earth's 
diurnal  rotation,  destroying  the  pre-existing  equilibrium, 
and  carrying  the  waters  towards  the  new  equator, — can 
never  be  any  thing  more  than  matter  of  speculation  and 
conjecture.  All  that  science  makes  known  on  the  subject 
is,  that  since  the  time  of  the  first  recorded  astronomical 
observations,  that  is  to  say,  during  the  last  two  thousand 
years,  the  poles  of  the  earth  have  been  at  precisely  the  I 
same  points  on  its  surface  as  at  the  present  day.  See  Ge- 
ography. Planet. 
377 


EARTHQ.UAKE. 

Earth.  In  Agriculture,  earths  are  distinguished  from 
soils  by  their  being  without  organized  matter  in  their  com- 
position. Though  scarcely  any  such  earths  are  found,  on 
or  near  the  ground's  surface,  yet  the  distinction  is  of  use 
in  speaking  of  soils.  Thus  we  say  a  soil,  the  basis  of 
which  is  earth,  of  sandstone,  or  of  chalk,  &c. 

Earth.  In  Chemistry,  this  term  is  applied  to  certain  in- 
soluble metallic  oxides  of  abundant  occurrence  in  rocks 
and  soils,  such  as  silica  and  alumina.  Lime,  magnesia, 
baryta,  and  strontia  have  been  called  alkaline  earths,  their 
action  on  vegetable  colours  being  similar  to  that  of  the 
alkalis. 
EARTHENWARE.  See  Pottery. 
EARTH  NUTS,  are  various  subterranean  substances 
produced  by  plants.  In  England  the  name  is  given  to  the 
nut  of  Conopodium  Jlexuosum,  an  umbelliferous  plant ;  in 
Egypt  to  the  round  tuber  of  Cyperus  rotundus,  and  other 
species  of  the  same  genus;  in  China  to  the  subterranean 
pods  of  Arachis  hypogaia,  a  leguminous  plant;  and  in  other 
countries  to  similar  pods  produced  by  the  genera  Voandzeia, 
Amphicarjxta,  &c. :  or  to  the  small  tubers  of  Cyperaceous 
plants. 

EARTHQUAKE.  One  of  the  most  formidable  pheno- 
mena of  nature.  As  the  name  implies,  it  consists  of  a  vio- 
lent agitation  of  the  earth,  accompanied  by  various  other 
phenomena  more  or  less  singular  and  destructive  in  their 
effects,  but  by  no  means  uniform  in  character,  as  the  fol- 
lowing enumeration  of  concomitant  circumstances,  gleaned 
from  the  accounts  of  various  earthquakes  that  have  oc- 
curred in  ancient  and  modern  times,  will  sufficiently 
evince.  Earthquakes  are  usually  preceded  by  a  general 
stillness  in  the  air,  and  an  unnatural  agitation  of  the  waters 
of  the  ocean  and  of  lakes.  The  shock  comes  on  with  a  deep 
rumbling  noise,  like  that  of  a  carriage  over  a  rough  pave- 
ment, or  with  a  tremendous  explosion  resembling  a  dis- 
charge of  artillery  or  the  bursting  of  a  thunder  cloud  ;  and 
sometimes  heaves  the  ground  perpendicularly  upwards, 
and  sometimes  rolls  it  from  side  to  side.  The  single 
shocks  of  an  earthquake  seldom  last  longer  than  a  minute, 
but  they  frequently  follow  one  another  at  short  intervals 
for  a  considerable  length  of  time.  During  these  shocks 
large  chasms  are  made  in  the  ground,  from  which  some- 
times smoke  and  flames,  but  more  frequently  stones  and 
torrents  of  water,  are  discharged.  In  violent  earthquakes, 
these  chasms  are  sometimes  so  extensive  as  to  overwhelm 
whole  cities  at  once.  In  consequence  of  these  shocks, 
also,  whole  islands  are  frequently  sunk  and  new  ones 
raised  ;  the  course  of  rivers  is  changed ;  seas  overflow  the 
land,  forming  gulfs,  bays,  and  straits;  sometimes  disrupt- 
ing the  land  into  islands,  and  sometimes  joining  them  to 
the  continent. 

There  is  no  portion  of  the  earth's  surface,  whether  it  be 
land  or  water,  that  is  not  more  or  less  subject  to  earth- 
quakes ;  and  records  of  their  destructive  effects  have  been 
transmitted  to  us  through  every  age.  The  first  earthquake 
particularly  worthy  of  notice  was  that  which,  in  a.  d.  63, 
destroyed  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii.  In  the  fourth  and 
fifth  centuries,  some  of  the  most  civilized  parts  of  the  world 
were  almost  desolated  by  these  awful  visitations.  Thrace, 
Syria,  and  Asia  Minor,  according  to  contemporary  histo- 
rians, suffered  most  severely.  On  the  26th  of  January, 
a.  d.  447,  subterranean  thunders  were  heard  from  the 
Black  to  the  Red  Sea,  and  the  earth  was  convulsed  without 
intermission,  for  the  space  of  six  months  ;  and  in  Phrygia, 
many  cities  and  large  tracts  of  ground  were  swallowed  up. 
On  the  30th  of  May,  a.  d.  205,  the  city  of  Antioch  was  over- 
whelmed by  a  dreadful  earthquake,  and  250,000  of  its  in- 
habitants are  said  to  have  been  crushed  in  its  ruins. 

In  the  year  1346,  Asia  Minor  and  Egypt  were  violently 
shaken  ;  and  in  the  following  year  severe  earthquakes 
were  experienced  in  Cyprus,  Greece,  and  Italy. 

In  1692,  the  island  of  Jamaica  was  visited  by  a  terrible 
earthquake,  in  which  enormous  masses  of  earth  were  de- 
tached from  the  Blue  Mountains ;  and  vast  quantities  of 
timber,  hurled  from  their  flanks,  covered  the  adjacent  sea, 
like  floating  islands.  It  was  during  this  earthquake  that  the 
city  of  Port  Royal,  with  a  large  tract  of  adjacent  land,  sunk 
instantaneously  into  the  sea.  In  the  following  year  great 
earthquakes  occurred  in  Sicily,  which  destroyed  Catania 
and  140  other  towns  and  villages,  with  100,000  of  their  in- 
habitants. 

Since  the  records  of  history,  there  have  been  no  earth- 
quakes equal  in  intensity  to  those  which  ravaged  different 
parts  of  the  world  in  the  eighteenth  century.  Passing  over 
the  convulsion  which  in  1746  nearly  laid  waste  Lower  Peru, 
and  those  by  which  in  1750  the  ancient  town  of  Concepcion 
in  Chili  was  t<>:ally  destroyed,  we  come  to  1755,  when  the 
city  of  Lisbon  was  almost  wholly  destroyed  by  one  of  the 
most  destructive  earthquakes  which  ever  occurred  in 
Europe.  It  continued  only  six  minutes  ;  but  such  was  the 
violence  of  the  convulsion,  that  in  that  short  space  upwards 
of  60,000  persons  are  said  to  have  perished.  The  pheno- 
mena that  accompanied  it  were  no  less  striking.  The  sea 
first  retired  and  laid  the  bar  dry  ;  it  then,  rolled  in,  rising 


EARTHQ.UAKE. 

fifty  feet  or  more  above  its  ordinary  level.  The  largest 
mountains  in  Portugal  were  impetuously  shaken  from  their 
very  foundations  :  and  some  of  them  opened  at  their  sum- 
mits, which  were  split  and  rent  in  a  wonderful  manner, 
huge  masses  of  them  being  thrown  down  into  the  subjacent 
valleys.  But  the  most  remarkable  circumstance  which 
occurred  in  Lisbon  during  this  catastrophe  was  the  entire 
subsidence  of  the  new  quay,  called  Cays  de  Prada,  to 
which  an  inmense  concourse  of  people  had  fled  for  safety 
from  the  falling  ruins.  From  this  hideous  abyss,  into 
which  the  quay  sunk,  not  one  of  the  dead  bodies  ever  float- 
ed to  the  surface  ;  and  on  the  spot  there  is  now  water  to  the 
depth  of  100  fathoms.  This  earthquake  excited  great  at- 
tention from  the  incredibly  great  extent  at  which  contem- 
porary shocks  were  experienced.  The  violence  of  the 
shocks,  which  were  accompanied  by  a  terrific  subterra- 
nean noise,  like  the  loudest  thunder,  was  chiefly  felt  in 
Portugal,  Spain,  and  northern  Africa  ;  but  the  effects  of  the 
earthquake  were  perceived  in  almost  all  the  countries  of 
continental  Europe,  and  were  even  experienced  in  the 
West  Indies,  and  on  the  Lake  Ontario  in  North  America. 
Ships  at  sea  were  affected  by  the  shocks  as  if  they  had 
struck  on  rocks  :  and  even  at  some  of  the  Scottish  lakes, 
Loch  Lomond  in  particular,  the  water,  without  the  least 
apparent  cause,  rose  to  the  perpendicular  height  of  two 
feet  four  inches  against  its  banks,  and  then  subsided  be- 
low its  usual  level.  During  the  next  twenty  years,  various 
earthquakes  occurred  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  at- 
tended with  more  or  less  destructive  consequences.  In 
1759,  Syria  was  agitated  by  violent  earthquakes,  the  shocks 
of  which  were  protracted  for  three  months,  throughout  a 
space  of  10,000  square  leagues,  and  levelled  to  the  ground 
Accon,  Saphat,  Balbeck,  Damascus,  Sidon,  Tripoli,  and 
many  other  places  In  each  of  these  places  many  thou- 
sands of  the  inhabitants  perished  ;  and  in  the  valley  of  Bal- 
beck alone,  20,000  men  are  said  to  have  been  victims  to  the 
convulsion.  In  1766,  the  island  of  Trinidad  and  great  part 
of  Columbia  were  violently  agitated  by  earthquakes.  In 
1772,  the  lofty  volcano  of  Papandayang,  the  highest  moun- 
tain in  Java,  disappeared,  and  a  circumjacent  area,  fifteen 
miles  by  six,  was  swallowed  up.  In  1783,  the  north-eastern 
part  of  Sicily  and  the  southern  portion  of  Calabria  were 
convulsed  by  violent  and  oft-repeated  shocks,  which  over- 
threw the  town  of  Messina,  and  killed  many  thousands  of 
its  inhabitants,  as  well  as  many  persons  in  Calabria.  In  the 
same  year  the  islands  of  Japan,  Java  in  1786,  Sicily  and  the 
Caraccas  in  1790,  Quebec  in  1791,  and  the  Antilles  and 
Peru  in  1797,  were  violently  agitated  by  convulsions  of  this 
kind. 

Since  the  commencement  of  the  present  century,  vari- 
ous earthquakes  have  occurred  both  in  the  Old  and  New 
World.  In  1811,  violent  earthquakes  shook  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi,  by  which  lakes  of  considerable  extent  dis- 
appeared, and  new  ones  were  formed.  In  1812,  Caraccas 
was  destroyed,  and  upwards  of  12,000  of  its  inhabitants 
buried  in  the  ruins.  In  1815  the  town  of  Tombora,  in  the 
island  of  Sumbawa,  was  completely  destroyed  by  an  earth- 
quake, which  extended  throughout  an  area  100  miles  in 
diameter,  and  destroyed  12,000  persons.  In  1819,  a  violent 
earthquake  occurred  at  Cutch,  in  the  Delta  of  the  Indus, 
by  which,  among  other  disastrous  consequences,  the  prin- 
cipal town,  Bhoog,  was  converted  into  a  heap  of  ruins.  In 
1822,  Aleppo  was  destroyed  by  an  earthquake.  In  the  same 
year  Chili  was  visited  by  a  most  destructive  earthquake, 
from  which  the  coast  for  100  miles  is  stated  to  have  sus- 
tained an  elevation  of  from  two  to  four  feet,  while  about  a 
mile  inward  from  Valparaiso  it  was  raised  from  six  to  seven 
feet.  In  1827,  Popayan  and  Bogota  suffered  severely  from 
earthquakes,  during  which  vast  fissures  opened  in  the  ele- 
vated plains  around  the  latter  city.  In  1835,  the  town  of 
Concepcion,  in  Chili,  was  entirely  demolished  by  an  earth- 
quake. In  1837,  the  countries  along  the  eastern  extremity 
of  the  Mediterranean,  especially  Syria,  were  violently  agi- 
tated by  an  earthquake,  which  caused  great  damage  to  the 
towns  of  Damascus,  Acre,  Tyre,  and  Sidon,  and  entirely 
destroyed  Tiberias  and  Safet.  Such  are  some  of  the  most 
violent  earthquakes  that  have  occurred  within  the  period 
of  authentic  history.  The  reader  will  find  in  Poggendorfs 
Annalen  lists  of  the  different  earthquakes  that  have  taken 
place  within  the  last  twenty  years ;  and  from  these  it  will 
be  observed  that  scarcely  a  month  elapses  without  being 
signalized  by  one  or  many  convulsions  in  some  part  of  the 
globe.  Shocks  of  earthquakes  have  at  different  times 
been  felt  in  various  parts  of  Britain,  and  more  particularly 
in  Scotland ;  but  they  have  all  fortunately  been  so  insig- 
nificant, compared  to  those  which  have  been  experienced 
in  other  countries,  that  we  shall  refrain  from  entering  into 
any  details  respecting  them. 

But  though  history  supplies  us  with  so  large  a  catalogue 
of  well-authenticated  earthquakes,  it  is  surprising  that  so 
little  was  done  by  the  ancients  either  in  investigating  their 
causes  or  noticing  their  effects.  It  is  only  within  the  last 
century  and  a  half,  says  Mr.  Lyell,  since  Hooke  first  pro- 
mulgated his  views  respecting  the  connection  between 
378 


EASTER. 

geological  phenomena  and  earthquakes,  that  the  peitna- 
nent  changes  effected  by  these  convulsions  have  excited 
attention.  Before  that  time  the  narrative  of  the  historian 
was  almost,  exclusively  confined  to  the  number  of  human 
beings  who  perished,  the  numberof  cities  laid  in  ruins,  the 
value  of  property  destroyed,  or  certain  atmospheric  ap- 
pearances which  dazzled  or  terrified  the  observers.  The 
creation  of  a  new  lake,  the  engulphing  of  a  city,  or  the 
raising  of  a  new  island,  are  sometimes,  it  is  true,  adverted 
to,  as  being  too  obvious  or  of  too  much  geographical  in- 
terest to  be  passed  over  in  silence.  But  no  researches  were 
made  expressly  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  the  amount 
of  depression  or  elevation  of  the  ground,  or  any  particular 
alterations  in  the  relative  position  of  sea  and  land  ;  and 
very  little  distinction  was  made  between  the  raising  of  soil 
by  volcanic  ejections,  and  the  upheaving  of  it  by  forces 
acting  below.  The  same  remark  applies  to  a  very  large 
proportion  of  modern  accounts;  and  how  much  reason  we 
have  to  regret  this  deficiency  of  information  appears  from 
this,  that  in  every  instance  where  a  spirit  of  scientific  in- 
quiry has  animated  the  eyewitnesses  of  these  events,  facts 
calculated  to  throw  light  on  former  modifications  of  the 
earth's  structure  are  recorded.  Upon  these  questions, 
however,  it  is  not  our  present  intention  to  enter,  as  they  will 
be  more  appropriately  treated  of  under  the  heads  Ge- 
ology and  Volcano  ;  to  which  articles  we  must  refer  the 
reader  for  an  account  of  the  various  theories  that  have  been 
maintained  in  regard  to  the  origin  or  cause  of  earthquakes, 
as  well  as  for  a  view  of  the  grand  permanent  changes  which 
these  convulsions  have  produced  on  the  surface  and  in 
the  internal  structure  of  the  earth's  crust.  See  BakeweU's 
Introduction  to  Geology ;  Lyell's  Geology ;  Traill's  Physical 
Geography ;  and  Phillips's  Geology. 
EA'RWIG.  See  Dbrmaptera  Forficula. 
EA'SEL.  (Germ,  esel,  an  ass.)  In  Painting,  a  wooden 
frame  used  for  supporting  a  picture  during  the  progress  of 
its  execution. 

EA'SEL  PIECES.  In  Painting,  pictures  whose  size  is 
small  enough  to  be  painted  on  an  easel. 

EA'SEMENT.  In  Law,  a  convenience  which  one  man 
has  of  another,  his  neighbour,  by  grant  or  prescription. 
Easements  were  included  in  the  Roman  law  under  the  title 
servitutes ;  such  are  a  way  over  the  lands  of  another,  or  a 
water-course. 

EAST.  (Germ.  Ost.)  The  point  of  the  horizon  at  which 
the  sun  rises  at  the  time  of  the  equinoxes;  or  the  point  de- 
termined by  a  perpendicular  to  the  meridian  drawn  towards 
the  quarter  of  sunrise.  The  east  is  one  of  the  four  cardinal 
points  of  the  compass. 

EA'STER.  (Ger.  Ostern.)  The  festival  which  is  held 
in  commemoration  of  our  Lord's  resurrection.  The  term 
seems  to  be  derived  from  a  Saxon  word  signifying  rising. 

The  Jews  celebrated  their  passover,  in  conformity  with 
the  directions  given  them  by  Moses,  on  the  14th  clay  of  the 
month  Nisan,  being  the  lunar  month  of  which  the  14th  day 
either  falls  on,  or  next  follows,  the  day  of  the  vernal  equi- 
nox. In  the  year  of  our  Lord's  crucifixion  this  fell  on  a 
Friday  :  the  resurrection,  therefore,  took  place  on  the  first 
day  of  the  next  week,  which  from  thence  is  denominated 
the  Lord's  day.  The  primitive  Christians  in  their  desire 
to  celebrate  this  anniversary  fell  into  two  different  systems. 
The  Western  churches  observed  the  nearest  Sunday  to  the 
full  moon  of  Nisan,  taking  no  account  of  the  day  on  which 
the  passover  would  be  celebrated.  The  Asiatics,  on  the 
other  hand,  following  the  Jewish  calendar,  adopted  the  14th 
of  Nisan  upon  which  to  commemorate  the  crucifixion,  and 
observed  the  festival  of  Easter  on  the  third  day  following, 
upon  whatever  day  of  the  week  that  might  fall;  hence 
they  obtained  the  name  of  Quartodecimantes  :  the  former 
appealed  to  the  authority  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  the  lat- 
ter to  that  of  St.  John. 

The  dispute  which  took  place  upon  this  point  in  the  2d 
and  3d  centuries  of  our  era  is  remarkable,  as  connected 
with  perhaps  the  first  event  which  can  be  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  question  of  the  primacy  of  the  Roman  bishop  ; 
and  it  is  the  more  interesting  as  both  parties  are  accustomed 
to  claim  it  as  a  testimony  in  favour  of  their  own  views. 
Victor,  bishop  of  Rome,  wrote  an  imperious  letter  to  the 
Asiatic  bishops,  requiring  their  conformity  to  the  Western 
rule ;  which  was  answered  by  Polycrates,  bishop  of  Ephe- 
sus,  in  the  name  of  the  rest,  expressing  their  resolution  to 
maintain  the  custom  handed  down  to  them  by  their  ances- 
tors. The  Roman  bishop  thereupon  broke  off  communion 
with  them ;  but  he  was  rebuked  by  Irenffius  of  Lyons,  and 
it  was  agreed  by  his  meditation  that  each  party  should  re- 
tain its  customs.  Such  continued  to  be  the  practice  till  the 
time  of  Constantine,  when  the  Council  of  Nice  determined 
the  matter  by  the  following  canons  : — 

1.  Easter  must  be  celebrated  on  a  Sunday. 

2.  This  Sunday  must  follow  the  14th  day  of  the  paschal 
moon ;  so  that  if  the  14th  day  of  the  paschal  moon  falls  on 
a  Sunday,  then  Easter  must  be  celebrated  on  the  Sunday 
following. 

3.  The  paschal  moon  is  that  moon  of  which  the  14th 


EAST  INDIA  COMPANY. 


day  either  falls  an,  or  next  follows,  the  day  of  the  vernal 
equinox. 

4.  The  2lst  day  of  March  is  to  be  accounted  the  day  of 
the  vernal  equinox. 

The  new  moons,  it  is  necessary  to  observe,  are  those  of 
the  ecclesiastical  calendar,  which  are  determined  arbitra- 
rily (by  the  lunar  cycle  in  the  Julian  calendar,  and  by 
means  of  the  table  of  epacts  in  the  Gregorian) ;  so  that  the 
above  rules  define  Easter  without  ambiguity.  The  new 
moons  of  the  calendar  are  in  general  one  or  two  days, 
sometimes  even  three  days,  later  that  the  astronomical  or 
true  new  moons ;  and  the  14th  day  of  the  moon  is  accounted 
the  full  moon,  although  the  opposition  takes  place  more  fre- 
quently on  the  16th  day.     See  Calendar,  Epact. 

EAST  INDIA  COMPANY.  A  famous  joint  stock  asso- 
ciation originally  established  to  carry  on  the  trade  between 
this  country  and  the  East  Indies,  or  rather  with  the  coun- 
tries to  the  eastward  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  It  was 
constituted  by  royal  charter  in  1600,  and  continued,  not- 
withstanding repeated  efforts  to  open  the  trade,  to  enjoy  the 
exclusive  privileges  originally  conceded  till  1638.  At  that 
period  the  power  of  the  crown  to  restrain  the  freedom  of 
trade  without  the  sanction  of  parliament  having  been  de- 
nied, a  rival  association  obtained  an  act  of  parliament  in 
its  favour ;  but  after  a  variety  of  negotiations,  which  it  is 
unnecessary  to  specify,  the  two  corporations  were  joined 
hi  1702  under  the  name  of  ,;The  United  Company  of  Mer- 
chants trading  to  the  East  Indies;"  an  appellation  which 
has  been  continued  to  the  present  day.  In  1708  the  United 
Company  was  secured  by  parliament  in  the  exclusive  pri- 
vilege of  trading  to  all  places  eastward  of  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  to  the  Straits  of  Magellan  ;  and  this  privilege, 
with  some  modifications,  was  confirmed  and  prolonged  by 
successive  acts  of  parliament  down  to  1814.  By  the  act  53 
Geo.  3.  c.  133.,  passed  in  1313,  the  East  India  Company's 
charter  was  renewed  for  twenty  years  ;  but  it  then  received 
some  important  modifications,  by  which  a  restricted  inter- 
course was  permitted  to  all  British  merchants  with  the  whole 
of  the  Company's  Indian  possessions;  the  monopoly  of  the 
trade  between  England  and  China  being,  however,  retained 
in  the  hands  of  the  East  India  Company.  These  concessions 
paved  the  way  for  the  act  of  1833,  by  which,  though  the 
Company's  charter  was  prolonged  till  1854,  not  only  was 
the  monopoly  of  the  China  trade  abolished,  but  an  end 
wholly  put  to  the  Company's  original  character  of  a  com- 
mercial association. 

But  it  is  not  as  a  commercial  association  so  much  as  a 
great  territorial  power,  that  the  East  India  Company  has 
become  so  distinguished.  The  first  establishments  of  the 
English  in  India,  as  of  other  European  nations,  arose  out 
of  the  alleged  necessity  of  providing  armed  factories  or 
strongholds,  where  the  adventurers  might  warehouse  their 
goods,  and  reside  in  safety  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on 
their  intercourse  with  the  natives  ;  but  the  factories  speedily 
degenerated  into  fortifications,  and  the  garrisons  into 
armies.  For  a  while  the  power  of  the  English  and  French 
was  pretty  nearly  balanced  in  India;  but  the  talents  and 
victories  of  the  famous  Lord  Clive  gave  us  a  decided  supe- 
riority over  every  competitor,  foreign  or  native,  and  ex- 
tended our  sway  over  some  of  the  largest  and  finest  por- 
tions of  the  Mogul  empire.  The  policy  of  Clive,  whether 
it  were  really  approved  by  the  succeeding  governors-gene- 
ral of  our  Indian  dominions,  or  were  forced  upon  them  by 
necessity,  has,  some  few  short  intervals  excepted,  been 
steadily  followed  up ;  and  with  such  signal  success,  that 
our  Indian  empire  comprises  at  present  the  whole  of 
Hindostan  from  the  Himalaya  Mountains  to  Cape  Comorin, 
with  a  population  of  above  120  millions  ! 

The  most  exaggerated  accounts  have  been  at  all  times 
current  in  Europe  of  the  extraordinary  wealth  of  India,  and 
of  the  importance  of  the  commerce  with  that  part  of  the 
world.  After  the  victories  of  Lord  Clive,  the  most  sanguine 
•expectations  began  to  be  entertained,  not  only  of  a  vast  in- 
crease of  trade  with  India,  but  that  we  should  draw  from 
her  an  immense  amount  of  surplus  revenue,  or  tribute. 
Perhaps  it  is  not  going  too  far  to  say  that  these  expectations 
have  been  entirely  disappointed.  Great  abuses  existed  in 
die  government  of  the  Bengal  provinces  when  conquered 
by  Clive  ;  the  servants  of  the  East  India  Company  making 
large  fortunes  by  the  oppression  of  the  natives  and  the  ruin 
of  the  country.  But,  notwithstanding  the  eradication  of 
the  abuses  in  question,  the  immense  additions  that  have 
since  been  made  to  our  empire,  and  the  oppressive  taxes 
laid  on  the  natives,  it  is  not  very  clear  that  England  has 
hitherto  derived  any  direct  revenue  from  India.  The  dis- 
tance of  the  country,  and  the  totally  dissimilar  language 
and  customs  of  the  people,  are  very  great  obstacles  to  our 
governing  it  with  the  economy  necessary  to  make  it  yield 
any  considerable  amount  of  surplus  revenue.  The  East 
India  Company  always  contended  that  the  profits  made  by 
their  monopoly  of  the  China  trade  were  necessary  to  enable 
them  to  conduct  the  government  of  India.  But,  though  there 
are  strong  grounds  on  which  to  impeach  the  accuracy  of 
this  statement,  still  it  is  abundantly  clear  that  the  surplus  re- 
379 


venue  we  have  derived  from  India,  supposing  there  has  been 
any  such,  has  been  comparatively  inconsiderable  ;  and  quite 
trifling,  indeed,  compared  with  our  own  anticipations,  and 
with  the  notions  entertained  by  others  of  its  magnitude. 

Until  1815  and  1816,  when  the  continued  fall  in  the  price 
of  cotton  goods,  caused  by  the  astonishing  discoveries  and 
inventions  of  Arkwright.  and  the  other  founders  and  im- 
provers of  the  cotton  manufacture,  enabled  us  to  export 
cottons  to  India  and  to  undersell  the  natives,  the  trade  be- 
tween this  country  and  India  was  of  the  most  limited  de- 
scription. Previously  to  the  opening  of  the  trade  in  1813-14 
the  total  amount  of  the  exports  of  all  sorts,  including  the 
important  item  of  military  stores,  by  the  East  India  Com- 
pany and  by  private  traders  in  the  Company's  ships,  did 
not  amount  to  1,400,000/.  a  year;  and  even  on  this  a  con- 
siderable loss  is  believed  to"  have  been  incurred  !  But  such 
has  been  the  increased  demand  for  British  cottons,  that  the 
value  of  those  exported  to  India  amounts,  at  present,  to 
above  2,500,000/.  a  year,  and  the  whole  of  our  exports  to  her 
to  near  4,000,000/.  Even  this,  considering  the  vast  extent 
of  India,  is  but  a  trifling  export ;  it  is,  in  fact,  less  than  half 
the  amount  of  our  exports  to  the  United  States. 

The  restricted  amountof  our  commerce  with  India  may, 
perhaps,  be  in  some  degree  ascribed  to  its  having  been  so 
long  monopolized  by  the  East  India  Company.  But  this 
will  not  explain  the  small  surplus  of  Indian  revenue  ;  for, 
however  ill  fitted  to  serve  as  a  commercial  engine,  the 
East  India  Company  has  governed  India  with  singular  dis- 
cretion ;  and  has  made  the  most  praiseworthy  efforts  to  en- 
force economy  in  all  departments  of  the  administration, 
and  to  appoint  the  best  men  to  all  situations  of  power  and 
emolument  in  that  country.  The  patronage  of  India  has 
always  been  less  jobbed  and  abused  than  that  of  England  ; 
and  there  are  few  governments  that  have  made  more  vigo- 
rous exertions  to  repress  abuse,  and  to  protect  the  rights 
of  their  subjects. 

Under  the  act  3  &  4  W.  4.  c.  85.,  to  which  we  have  al- 
luded above,  for  continuing  the  charter  till  1854,  the  func- 
tions of  the  East  India  Company  have  been  rendered  wholly 
political.  She  is  to  continue  to  govern  India,  with  the  con- 
currence and  under  the  supervision  of  the  Board  of  Con- 
trol (see  Control,  Board  op)  nearly  on  the  plan  laid  down 
in  Mr.  Pitt's  act,  in  1784,  by  which  the  Board  of  Control 
was  constituted.  All  the  real  and  personal  property  belong- 
ing to  the  company  on  the  22d  of  April,  1834,  is  vested  in 
the  crown,  and  is  to  be  held  or  managed  by  the  company 
in  trust  for  the  same ;  subject,  of  course,  to  all  claims,  debts, 
contracts,  &c.  already  in  existence,  or  that  may  hereafter 
be  brought  into  existence  by  competent  authority.  The 
company's  debts  and  liabilities  are  all  charged  on  India.  The 
dividend,  which  is  to  continue  at  10A  per  cent.,  is  to  be  paid 
in  England  out  of  the  revenues  of  India;  and  provision  is 
made  for  the  establishment  of  a  security  fund  for  its  dis- 
charge. The  dividend  may  be  redeemed  by  parliament, 
on  payment  of  200/.  for  100/.  stock,  any  time  after  April, 
1874  ;  but  it  is  provided,  in  the  event  of  the  company  being 
deprived  of  the  government  of  India  in  1854,  that  they  may 
claim  redemption  of  the  dividend  any  time  thereafter  upon 
3  years'  notice.     (3  &4  Will.  4.  c.  85.) 

Company's  Slock—  forms  a  capital  of  6,000,0007.,  into 
which  all  persons,  natives  or  foreigners,  males  or  females, 
bodies  politic  or  corporate  (the  Governor  and  Company  of 
the  Bank  of  England  only  excepted),  are  at  liberty  to  pur- 
chase, without  limitation  of  amount.  Since  1793,  the  divi- 
dends have  been  10£  per  cent.,  to  which  they  are  limned 
by  the  late  act. 

General  Courts. — The  proprietors  in  general  court  as- 
sembled are  empowered  to  enact  by-laws,  and  in  other  re- 
spects are  competent  to  the  complete  investigation,  regula- 
tion, and  control  of  every  branch  of  the  company's  con- 
cerns ;  but,  for  the  more  prompt  despatch  of  business,  the 
executive  detail  is  vested  in  a  court  of  directors.  A  gene- 
ral court  is  required  to  be  held  once  in  the  months  of 
March,  June,  September,  and  December,  in  each  year. 
No  one  can  be  present  at  a  general  court  unless  possessed 
of  500/.  stock;  nor  can  any  person  vote  upon  the  determi- 
nation of  any  question  who  has  not  been  in  possession  of 
1000/.  stock  for  the  preceding  12  months,  unless  such 
stock  have  been  obtained  by  bequest  or  marriage.  Per- 
sons possessed  of  1000/.  stock  are  empowered  to  give  a 
single  vote ;  3000/.  are  a  qualification  for  two  votes ; 
6000/.  for  three  votes ;  and  10,000/.  and  upwards  for  four 
votes.  There  were  2003  proprietors  on  the  company's 
books  in  1825 ;  of  these,  1494  were  qualified  to  give  single 
votes ;  392,  two  votes  ;  69,  three  votes ;  and  43,  four  votes. 
Upon  any  special  occasion,  9  proprietors,  duly  qualified  by 
the  possession  of  1000/.  stock,  may,  by  a  requisition  in 
writing  to  the  court  of  directors,  call  a  general  court ; 
which  the  directors  are  required  to  summon  within  10  days, 
or,  in  -default,  the  proprietors  may  call  such  court  by  notice 
affixed  upon  the  Royal  Exchange.  In  all  such  courts  the 
questions  are  decided  by  a  majority  of  voices ;  in  case  of 
an  equality,  the  determination  must  be  by  the  treasurer 
drawing  a  lot.    Nine  proprietors  may,  by  a  requisition  in 


EAST  INDIA  COMPANY. 


Wiling,  demand  a  ballot  upon  any  question,  which  shall  not 
be  taken  within  24  hours  after  the  breaking  up  of  the  gene- 
ral court. 

Court  of  Directors.— The  court  of  directors  is  composed 
of  24  members,  chosen  from  among  the  proprietors,  each 
of  whom  must  be  possessed  of  2000/.  stock;  nor  can  any 
director,  after  being  chosen,  act  longer  than  while  he  con- 
tinues to  hold  stock.  Of  these,  6  are  chosen  on  the  second 
Wednesday  in  April  in  each  year,  to  serve  for  4  years,  in  the 
room  of  6  who  have  completed  such  service.  After  an  in- 
terval of  12  months,  those  who  had  gone  out  by  rotation  are 
eligible  to  be  re-elected  for  the  ensuing  4  years.  Formerly, 
no  person  who  had  been  in  the  company's  civil  or  military 
service  in  India  was  eligible  to  be  elected  a  director  until 
he  had  been  a  resident  in  England  two  years  after  quitting 
the  service;  but  this  condition  no  longer  exists;  and  all 
civil  or  military  servants  of  the  company  in  India,  suppos- 
ing they  are  otherwise  eligible,  may  be  chosen  directors 
immediately  on  their  return  to  England,  provided  they  have 
no  unsettled  accounts  with  the  company ;  if  so,  they  are 
ineligible  for  2  years  after  their  return,  unless  their  accounts 
be  sooner  settled.  (3  &  4  Will.  4.  c.  85.  §  28.)  The  di- 
rectors choose  annually,  from  amongst  themselves,  a 
chairman  and  a  deputy-chairman.  They  are  required  by 
bylaws  to  meet  once  in  every  week  at  least ;  but  they  fre- 
quently meet  oftener,  as  occasion  requires.  Not  less  than 
13  can  form  a  court.  Their  determinations  are  guided  by 
a  majority.  In  case  of  an  equality,  the  question  must  be 
decided  by  the  drawing  of  a  lot  by  the  treasurer:  upon  all 
questions  of  importance,  the  sense  of  the  court  is  taken  by 


ballot.  The  company's  officers,  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
receive  their  appointments  immediately  from  the  court,  to 
whom  they  are  responsible  for  the  due  and  faithful  dis- 
charge of  the  trust  reposed  in  them.  The  patronage  is, 
nevertheless,  so  arranged,  as  that  each  member  of  the 
court  separately  participates  therein. 

Secret  Committee. — The  principal  powers  of  the  court  of 
directors  are  vested  in  a  secret  committee,  forming  a  sort 
of  cabinet  or  privy  council.  All  communications  of  a  con- 
fidential or  delicate  nature  between  the  Board  of  Control 
and  the  company  are  submitted,  in  the  first  instance  at 
least,  to  the  consideration  of  this  committee ;  and  the  direc- 
tions of  the  board,  as  to  political  affairs,  may  be  transmitted 
direct  to  India,  through  the  committee,  without  being  seen 
by  the  other  directors.  The  secret  committee  is  appointed 
by  the  court  of  directors,  and  its  members  are  sworn  to  se- 
crecy. 

The  territorial  possessions  of  the  East  India  Company 
are  divided  into  the  three  presidencies  of  Bengal,  Madras, 
and  Bombay,  at  each  of  which  the  executive  government  is 
administered  by  a  governor  and  three  councillors,  the  go- 
vernor of  the  Bengal  presidency  being  at  the  same  time 
governor-general  of  India.  In  their  several  presidencies, 
the  governors  and  their  councillors  possess  the  privilege  of 
enacting  and  enforcing  laws ;  subject,  however,  in  some 
cases,  to  the  concurrence  of  the  supreme  court  of  judica- 
ture, and,  in  all  cases,  to  the  approval  of  the  court  of  di- 
rectors and  the  board  of  control. 

We  copy  the  following  tables  of  Revenue,  &c.  from  Mr. 
M'Culloch's  Statistics,  vol.  ii.  p.  519. 


An  Account  of  the  Total  Annual  Revenues  and  Charges  of  the  British  Possessions  in  India  under  the  East  India  Com- 
pany, from  1809-10  to  1829-30 ;  showing  also  the  Nett  Charge  of  Bencoolen,  Prince  of  Wales  Island,  and  St.  Helena,  the 
Interest  paid  on  account  of  Debts  in  India,  and  the  Amount  of  Territorial  Charges  paid  in  England. —(Pari.  Papers,  No. 
22.  Sess.  1830,  and  No.  306.  Sess.  1833.) 


Nett       ! 

Territorial  charges  paid  in  England- 

General  Result. 

Total  Cross 

Total 

Years, 

Revenues  of 
India. 

Charges  in 
India. 

Bencoolen,'       Bebts. 

Cost  of 
Political 
Slorcs. 

Payments, 

Pensions, 

&c. 

Total. 

Surplus 
Revenue. 

Surplus 
Charge. 

L. 

L. 

L. 

L. 

L. 

L. 

L. 

L. 

L. 

1809—10  . 

16,464,391 

13,775,577 

203,361 

2,159,019 

190,128 

867,097  I  1,057,225 

. 

730,791 

1810—11  . 

16,679,198 

13,909,983 

199,663 

2,196,691 

217,703 

901,688 

1,119,391 

736,530 

1811—12. 

16,605,616 

13,220,967 

168.288 

1,457,077 

154,998 

922,770 

1,077,768 

681,516 

1812—13  . 

16,459,774 

13,659.429 

201,349 

1,491,870 

193,784 

1.184,976 

1,378,768 

. 

271,634 

1813—14  . 

17,228.711 

13,617,725 

209,957 

1,537,434 

64,257 

1,148,156 

1,212,413 

651,182 

1814—15  . 

17,231,191 

14,182,454 

204,250 

1,502.217 

129,873 

1,064,223 

1,194,596 

147,677 

1815—16  . 

17,168,195 

15,081,587 

225,558 

1,584,157 

81,903 

1,199,952 

1,281,885 

1,004,992 

1816—17  . 

18,010,135 

15,129,839 

205,372  !   1,719,470 

194,374 

1,071,176 

1,265,550 

310,096 

1817—18  . 

18.305,265 

15.844,964 

219,793 

1,753,018 

81,941 

1,094,701 

1.176,642 

689,152 

1818—19  . 

19,392,002 

17,558,615 

210,224 

1,665,921 

133,162 

1,150,378 

1,280,540 

1,323,305 

1819—20  . 

19,172,506 

17,040,848 

142,049 

1,940,327 

265,055 

1,150,391 

1,415,446 

1,466,164 

1820—21  . 

21,292,036 

17,520,612 

220,043 

1,902,585 

228,058 

1,072,106 

1,300,164 

348.632 

1821—22  . 

21,753,271 

17,555,668 

207,816     1,932,835 

202,735 

1,175,149 

1,377,884 

979,068 

1822—23  . 

23,120,934 

18,083,482 

154,761      1,694,731 

204,147 

1,354,960 

1,559,107 

1,528.853 

1823—24  . 

21,238,623 

18,902,511 

257,276     1,652,449 

395,276 

758,590 

1,153,866 

727,479 

1824—25  . 

20,705,152 

20,410,929 

279,277     1,460,433 

414,181 

1,166,078 

1,580,259 

3,025,746 

1825—26  . 

21,096,960 

22,346,365 

214,285     1,575,941 

740,728 

1,076,504 

1,817,232 

4,856,857 

1826—27  . 

23,327,753 

21.424,894 

207,973     1,749.068 

1.111,792 

1,318,102 

2,429,894 

2,484,076 

1827—28  . 

22,818,184 

41,778,431 

272,014     1,958,313 

805,016 

1,255,125 

2,060,141 

3,250,715 

1828—29  . 

22,692,711 

19,298,622 

250,794     2,121,165 

449,603 

1,517,802 

1,967,405 

945,275 

1829—30  . 

21,662,310 

18,300,715 

213,304     3,007.693 

293,873 

1,454,867 

1,748.740 

608.142 

Abstract  View  of  the  Revenues  and  Charges  of  India  for  the  Years  1831-32, 1832-33, 1833-34,  and  (by  estimate,)  1834-35. 


Bengal    - 
Agra 

Madras    - 
Bombay  - 

Total  revenues 
of  India- 
Deficiency  of  or- 
dinary   reve- 
nue. 

Revenue. 

Bengal 

Madras 
Bombay 

Total  Charges  in 
India 

Charge  on  account 
of  St.  Helena     - 

Charge  on  account 
of  India  in  Eng- 
land  - 

Total  charges  of 

India 
Surplus  of  ordinary 

Charge. 

1831-32 

L. 

9,474,084 

3,222,155 
1,401,916 

1832-33. 

L. 

9,487,778 

2,969,956 
1,497,308 

1833-34. 

L. 

8,844,241 

3,235,233 
1,600,691 

1834-35. 

L. 

5.445,100 
3,657.900 
3,301,982 
1,503,782 

1831-32. 

1832-33. 

1833-34. 

1834-35. 

L. 

7,535,170 

3,239,261 

2,060,498 

L. 

7,687,228 

3,174.347 
2,034,710 

L. 

7,018,449 

3,258,995 
1,968,045 

L. 

6,749,295 

581,800 

3,076,404 

1,905,748 

12,313,246 
10,986 

2,162,868 

14,198,155 
207,581 

13,955,642 
264,332 

13,680,165 

13,908,764 
578,336 

12,834,929 
94,152 

1,476,655 

12,896,285 
95,553 

1,227,536 

12,245,489 
91,641 

1,293,637 

14,405,736 

14,219,374 

13,680,767 
49,398 

11,487,100 

14,405,736  14,219,374 

13,680.165 

14,487,100 

14,405,736 

14,219,374 

13,680,165 

14,487,100 

N.B.  The  Company  realized  in  1834-35  the  Bum  of  10,679,223/.  by  the  sale  of  commercial  assets.     The  debts  of  the  Company  in  India  on  the  3Uth  of 
April,  1834,  amounted  to  34,463,483i.,  bearing  an  interest  of  1,754,545;.  a  year.— < Pari.  Paper,  No.  3S0.  Sess.  1830. ) 

380 


EAST  INDIA  COMPANY. 

We  subjoin  the  following  table,  exhibiting  the  extent  and  population  of  India,  which  we  copy  from  the  second  edition  of 
Mr.  Hamilton's  Indian  Gazetteer.  Some  later  accounts  have  been  published  as  to  the  population  of  particular  provinces; 
but  we  believe  that  this  is  the  most  accurate  statement  that  has  hitherto  been  framed,  embracing  the  whole  country. 


Bengal,  Bahar,  and  Benares  ........ 

Additions  in  Hindostan  since  A.  D.  1765         ...... 

Gurwal,  Kumoon,  and  the  tract  between  the  Sutuleje  and  Jumna 

Total  under  the  Bengal  presidency         .  .  .  .  - 

Under  the  Madras  presidency        ...----- 

Under  the  Bombay  presidency  ....... 

Territories  in  the  Deccan,  <fec,  acquired  since  1815,  consisting  of  the  Peishwa's  do- 
minions, &c.,  and  since  mostly  attached  to  the  Bombay  presidency 

Total  under  the  British  government       ..... 

British  Allies  and  Tributaries. 

The  Nizam    ..--------- 

The  Nagpoor  Raja         ......... 

TheKingofOude    -  

The  Guicnwar    ---------- 

Kolah,  6,500;  Boondee,  2,500;  Bopaul,  5,000 

The  Mysore  Raja  ......... 

The  Satara  Raja  ......... 

Travancore,  6,000;  Cochin,  2,000         ....... 

Under  the  Rajas  of  Jondpour,  Jeypoor,  Odeypoor,  Bicancere,  Jesselmere,  and  other 
rajpoot  chiefs,  Holcar,  Ameer  Khan,  the  Row  of  Kutch,  Bhurtpoor,  Macherry, 
and  numerous  other  petty  chiefs,  Seikes,  Gonds,  Bheels,  Coolies,  and  Catties,  all 
comprehended  within  the  line  of  British  protection  • 

Total  under  the  British  government  and  its  allies 

Independent  States. 
The  Nepaul  Raja      .......... 

The  Lahore  Raja  (Runjeet  Singh)       ....... 

The  Ameers  of  Sinde  ......... 

The  dominions  of  Sindia  ........ 

The  Cabul  sovereign,  east  of  the  Indus    ....... 

Grand  total  of  Hindostan  ....... 

India  beyond  the  Ganges. — British  Acquisitions  in  1824  and  1825. 
Countries  south  of  Rangoon,  consisting  of  half  the  province  of  Martaban,  and  the 

provinces  of  Tavoy,  Ye,  Tenasserin,  and  the  Mergui  isles 
The  province  of  Arracan    .-.--.... 
Countries  from  which  the  Burmese  have  been  expelled,  consisting  of  Assam  and 

the  adjacent  petty  states,  occupying  a  space  of  about      .... 

Total 


Population. 


162,000 

143,000 

18,000 


328,000 

154.000 

11,000 

600,000 

553,000 


39,000,000 

18,000,000 

500,000 


96.000 
75,000 
20,000 
18,000 
14,000 
27,000 
14,000 
8,000 


283,000 


1,103,000 


53.000 
50,000 
24,000 
40,000 
10,000 


1,2^1,(1110 


57,500,000 
15,000,000 
2,500,000 

8,000,000 

83,000,000 


10,000.000 
3.000,000 
3,000,000 
2.000,000 
1,500,000 
3,000,000 
1,500,000 
1,000,000 


15,000,000 


123,000,000 


2.000,000 
3,000,000 
1,000,000 
4,000,000 
1,000,000 


i:!1.0U),nuo 


12,000 
11,000 

54,000 


77,000 


51,000 
100,000 

150,000 


301,000 


EASY.    The  sea  phrase  for  a  ship  that  moves  over  the  i 
sea  without  jerking  or  straining. 

EAU  DE  COLOGNE.     A  perfumed  spirit  originally  pre-  | 
pared  at  Cologne,  and  principally   used  as  a  perfume  ; 
though  many  imaginary  medical  virtues  have  also  been 
ascribed  to  it.     Various  recipes  have  been  published  for 
the  preparation  of  eau  de  Cologne,  some  of  them  extremely 
complicated.     (See  lire's  Dictionary  of  Arts  and  Manu- 
factures, art.  "  Eau  de  Cologne.")    The  following  affords  | 
a  good  imitation  of  the  original  article  : — Take  of  alcohol 
one  pint;  of  the  oils  of  bergamot,  orange-peel,  and  rose-  i 
mary,  each  one  drachm  ;  of  bruised  cardamom  seeds  one 
drachm;  orange  flower  water  one  pint :  distil  one  pint  from 
a  water-bath. 

EAU  DE  LUCE.    A  strong  solution  of  ammonia,  scent-  , 
ed  and  rendered  milky  by  the  addition  of  a  little  mastic  and 
oil  of  amber.     It  is  considered  an  effective  remedy  in  India 
against  the  bites  of  poisonous  snakes. 

EAVES.     (Fr.  eaux.)    In  Architecture,  the  lowest  edges 
of  the  inclined  sides  of  a  roof  which  project  beyond  the  face 
of  the  wall  so  as  to  throw  the  water  off  therefrom,  that  be-  I 
ing  their  office. 

EBBING  OF  THE  TIDE.  The  reflux  of  the  tide.  See 
Tide. 

EBENA'CE.5:.  (Ebenus,  one  of  the  genera.)  A  natu- 
ral order  of  shrubby  or  arborescent  Exogens  chiefly  in- 
habiting the  tropics.  They  are  allied  to  Oleacea,  with 
which  they  agree  in  the  placentation  of  their  seeds ;  but 
are  distinguished  by  their  alternate  leaves,  and  axillary 
usually  unisexual  flowers.  They  are  more  closely  related 
to  Aquifuliacetz ;  but  differ  in  the  number  of  their  stamens 
and  in  their  divided  sexes.  Some  species  are  remarkable 
for  the  hardness  and  blackness  of  their  wood,  known  un- 
der the  name  of  ebony  and  iron  wood ;  others,  as  the  Kaki 
of  China,  yield  an  eatable  fruit;  all  are  beautiful  objects 
when  growins. 

E'BIONITES.  An  ancient  sect  (referred  by  Mosheim  to 
the  second  century),  who  believed  in  Christ  as  an  inspired 
messenger  of  God,  but  considered  him  to  be  at  the  same 
time  a  mere  man,  born  of  Joseph  and  Mary.  They  main- 
tained also  the  universal  obligation  of  the  Mosaic  law,  and 
381 


rejected  the  authority  of  St.  Paul.  The  origin  of  their 
name  is  uncertain,  some  deriving  it  from  that  of  their  sup- 
posed founder ;  others  deduce  it  from  a  Hebrew  word  sig- 
nifying poor,  and  suppose  the  tide  to  be  given  to  them  in 
reference  either  to  the  poverty  of  the  class  to  which  they 
mostly  belonged,  or  the  meanness  of  their  doctrine.  (See 
Gieseler's  Eccl.  Hist.  b.  i.  c.  3.) 

E'BONY.     See  Ebenaceje. 

EBULLI'TION.  (Lat.  ebullitio,  bubbling  up.)  The  mo- 
tion produced  in  a  liquid  by  its  rapid  conversion  into 
vapour. 

ECCHYMO'SIS.  (Gt.  eicxeoi,  1  pour  out.)  The  extrava- 
sation of  blood  into  the  cellular  membrane  which  results 
from  blows  and  bruises. 

ECCLE'SIA.  (Gr.  cxKXriata.)  In  Ancient  History,  the 
great  assembly  of  the  Athenian  people,  at  which  every  free 
citizen  might  attend  and  vote.  This  assembly,  though  nomi- 
nally possessed  of  the  supreme  authority  of  the  state  from 
the  earliest  times,  yet  having  no  fixed  times  of  meeting, 
was  but  seldom  convened  at  all ;  so  that  the  archons,  who 
who  were  elected  from  the  body  of  nobles  or  eupatrida?, 
had  virtually  the  whole  management  of  the  state.  But  the 
regulations  of  Solon,  which  appointed  it  to  meet  regularly 
four  times  in  every  period  of  thirty -five  days,  besides  ex- 
traordinary occasions  on  which  it  might  be  convened,  call- 
ed it  into  active  energy.  Solon,  however,  restricted  the 
subjects  discussed  in  the  Ecclesia  to  such  as  had  before 
passed  through  the  senate  of  five  hundred  ;  but  when  the 
democratic  spirit  of  after-times  prevailed,  this  rule  was  not 
at  all  strictly  observed.  The  magistrates  who  had  the  man- 
agement of  these  assemblies  were  the  Prytanes  (see  Pry- 
tanes),  the  Prohedri  (see  Prohedri),  and  Epislates  (see 
Epistates).  The  first  of  these  sometimes  convened  the 
people,  and  hung  up  in  a  conspicuous  place  a  programme 
giving  an  account  of  the  matters  to  be  discussed.  The 
Prohedri  proposed  to  the  people  the  subjects  on  which  they 
were  to  decide,  and  counted  the  votes.  The  Epistate,  who 
presided  over  the  whole,  gave  the  liberty  of  voting,  which 
might  not  be  done  before  his  signal  was  given. 

The  forms  of  their  proceedings  were  as  follow : — First, 
an  expiatory  victim  was  sacrificed,  and  his  blood  carried 


ECCLESIASTES. 

and  sprinkled  round  the  bounds  of  the  assembly.  Then 
the  public  crier  demanded  silence,  and  invited  all  persons 
above  fifty  years  of  age  to  speak  ;  after  that,  any  one  who 
pleased.  After  the  subject  was  discussed,  they  proceeded 
to  vote  on  the  crier's  demanding  of  them,  u  whether  they 
would  consent  to  the  decree  proposed  to  them  1"  The 
votes  were  commonly  given  by  show  of  hands,  but  on  some 
occasions  by  ballot.  When  the  suffrages  had  been  ex- 
amined and  their  numbers  declared,  the  Prytanes  dis- 
solved the  assembly.  In  order  to  incite  the  people  to  at- 
tend the  Ecclesia,  a  small  pay  of  one  or  three  oboli  was 
given  for  early  appearance ;  and  a  rope,  rubbed  with  ver- 
milion, was  carried  through  the  Agora,  to  mark  such  as 
lagged  behind,  who  were  accordingly  fined. 

ECCLE'SIA'STES.  One  of  the  canonical  books  of  the 
Old  Testament,  so  called  from  the  Greek  word  signifying 
a  preacher.  Solomon  is  generally  supposed  to  be  the  au- 
thor of  this  book,  though  various  opinions  have  been  enter- 
tained on  the  subject ;  and  indeed  the  whole  question  of  its 
author,  date,  and  design  is  involved  in  such  difficulty, 
"  that  the  labours  of  critics  and  commentators  serve  rather 
to  perplex  than  to  assist  the  inquirer."    (Holdeu  onJDccles.) 

ECCLE'SIA'STIC.  Something  pertaining  to  or  set  apart 
for  the  church  :  in  contradistinction  to  civil  or  secular, 
which  regards  the  world.  Ecclesiastics  are  persons  whose 
functions  consist  in  performing  the  service  or  in  maintaining 
the  discipline  of  the  church.     See  Clergy. 

ECCLESIASTICAL  COURTS.  The  ordinary  Ecclesi- 
astical Courts  in  England  and  Wales  are,  beginning  with 
the  lowest, — 

1.  The  Peculiar  Courts,  which  are  very  numerous ;  Royal, 
Archiepiscopal,  Episcopal,  Decanal,  Sub-decanal,  Preben- 
dal,  Rectorial,  and  Vicarial ;  with  jurisdiction  frequently 
extending  only  to  a  single  parish,  and  sometimes  limited 
only  to  a  part  of  the  matters  usually  subject  to  ecclesias- 
tical cognizance. 

2.  The  Archdeacon's  Court,  generally  subordinate,  with 
an  appeal  to  that  of  the  bishop. 

3.  The  Courts  of  Commissaries,  especially  appointed  by 
the  bishop. 

4.  The  Diocesan  Court  of  every  bishop  within  his  re- 
spective diocese. 

5.  The  Provincial  or  Archiepiscopal  Courts. 

These,  in  the  province  of  Canterbury,  which  contains 
twenty-two  dioceses,  are — 

(1.)  The  Court  of  Peculiars,  which  takes  cognizance  of 
matters  arising  in  some  particular  deaneries. 

(2.)  The  Prerogative  Court.  This  court  has  authority  in 
the  matter  of  all  wills  or  administrations  of  property  left 
by  persons  having  bona  nolabilia,  that  is,  personal  estate  to 
a  certain  amount,  within  several  dioceses  of  the  province. 
It  grants  administration  to  the  effects  of  all  such  persons 
dying  intestate,  and  probate  of  wills. 

(3.)  The  Court  of  Arches,  or  Supreme  Provincial  Court 
of  Appeal.  It  also  may  take  original  cognizance  of  causes, 
by  letters  of  request  from  the  inferior  courts;  and  it  has  a 
separate  jurisdiction  of  its  own  in  suits  for  legacies. 

The  province  of  York,  including  four  dioceses  besides 
that  of  Sodor  and  Man,  has  two  courts ;  the  Prerogative 
Court,  and  the  Chancery  or  Court  of  Appeal. 

A  suit  is  commenced  in  the  Ecclesiastical  Courts  by  a 
process,  sued  out  by  the  party  complaining,  and  served  on 
the  other  party  by  an  officer  of  the  court.  The  party  cited 
may  appear  either  in  person  or  by  his  proctor,  who  dis- 
charges duties  similar  to  those  of  the  attorneys  in  common 
law  courts.  A  party  disobeying  citation  may  be  pronounced 
contumacious,  and  imprisoned  by  an  attachment  out  of  the 
lord  chancellor's  court. 

In  case  the  party  cited  appear  to  show  cause  against  his 
citation  that  the  court  has  no  jurisdiction,  or  that  he  is  not 
amenable  to  it,  this  preliminary  objection  is  heard  upon 
petition  and  affidavits.  If  the  judge  decide  against  the  de- 
fendant on  the  question  of  jurisdiction,  the  latter  may  ap- 
ply to  the  courts  of  common  law  for  a  prohibition. 

If  the  cause  proceed  to  trial,  the  plaintiff's  first  state- 
ment of  facts  is  termed,  in  criminal  cases,  articles ;  in  tes- 
tamentary causes,  an  allegation ;  in  other  civil  proceed- 
ings, a  libel.  Every  subsequent  plea  in  all  cases  is  called 
an  allegation  ;  and  every  allegation  is  divided  into  separate 
heads  or  articles ;  so  that  witnesses  are  produced  and  ex- 
amined, not  as  to  the  whole  allegation,  but  as  to  such  spe- 
cial facts  as  may  be  within  their  knowledge.  Where  a 
plea  has  been  admitted,  a  certain  time,  or  term  probatory, 
is  allowed  to  the  party  making  it  to  examine  his  witnesses. 

The  witnesses  are  either  brought  to  London,  or  exa- 
mined in  the  country  by  a  commission.  The  depositions 
are  taken  in  private,  and  in  writing,  by  the  examiners  of 
the  court;  who,  on  view  of  the  allegations,  examine  the 
witnesses  by  such  questions  as  they  judge  most  proper  to 
elicit  the  truth.  The  cross-examination  is  conducted  by 
means  of  interrogatories,  delivered  by  the  adverse  party 
to  the  examiner,  and  by  him  addressed  to  the  witness. 
The  examinations  are  kept  secret  until  publication  passes ; 
after  which  either  party  is  allowed  to  except,  by  a  plea 
382 


ECCLESIAST ICALCOURTS. 

called  an  exceptive  allegation,  to  the  credit  of  an  adverse 
witness. 

When  the  cause  is  heard,  the  judge  first  peruses  and 
carefully  considers  all  the  pleas  and  evidence,  and  then 
hears  the  case  argued  by  counsel.  Judgment  is  given  in 
open  court;  and  execution  enforced  by  the  compulsory 
process  of  contumacy,  significavit,  and  attachment.  Such 
is  a  very  general  view  of  the  ordinary  process  of  these 
courts. 

If  either  party  be  condemned  in  costs,  the  other  party's 
bill  is  taxed  by  the  registrar.  But  the  costs  due  by  a  party 
to  his  own  proctor  cannot  be  recovered  in  this  court,  and 
must  be  sued  for  by  an  action  at  law. 

The  law  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Courts  is  administered  by 
men  associated,  as  a  distinct  profession,  for  the  practice  of 
the  civil  and  canon  laws.  They  are  incorporated  as  "  the 
college  of  doctors  of  law."  Every  advocate  must  have 
taken  that  degree  in  the  university  of  Oxford  or  Cam- 
bridge. From  the  college  of  advocates  the  archbishop 
selects  the  judges  of  the  provincial  courts. 

The  jurisdiction  of  these  courts  may  be  considered  as 
threefold  : — 1.  In  causes  of  a  purely  spiritual  nature  per- 
taining to  the  discipline  of  the  church  ;  2.  In  mixed  causes. 
partaking  of  a  spiritual  and  civil  nature  ;  3.  In  causes  of 
a  purely  civil  nature. 

1.  The  first  of  these  branches  arises  out  of  the  natural 
power  exercised  by  every  church  to  correct  its  communi- 
cants by  censures  and  discipline  submitted  to.  Under  this 
class  falls  the  cognizance  of  offences  committed  by  the 
clergy  themselves  by  neglect  of  duty,  immoral  or  here- 
tical delinquencies,  suffering  dilapidations,  &c. ;  also  by 
laymen,  in  brawling  and  other  indecent  conduct  in  churches 
and  churchyards,  in  neglecting  to  repair  churches,  in  cases 
of  incest,  incontinence,  defamation.  All  these,  except  the 
last,  are  termed  "causes  of  correction."  The  punish- 
ments inflicted  are  monition,  penance,  excommunication, 
suspension  ab  ingressu  ecclesia:,  and  (in  the  case  of  cler- 
gymen) suspension  from  office  and  deprivation.  In  the 
case  of  laymen  a  great  part  of  this  jurisdiction  has  fallen 
into  disuse ;  and  the  real  penalty,  whenever  a  cause  is  tried, 
consists,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  payment  of  costs  by  the 
guilty  party.  The  terrors  so  long  attached  to  the  process 
of  excommunication  (the  only  one  by  which  ecclesiastical 
courts  can  enforce  a  sentence),  are  now  matter  of  history. 
By  the  common  law  a  person  excommunicated  was  inca- 
pacitated from  any  legal  act,  and  was,  moreover,  on  certi- 
ficate from  the  bishop,  liable  to  imprisonment  until  recon- 
ciled to  the  church  ;  but  now,  by  statute  53  George  3.  chap- 
ter 127.,  the  writ  de  contumace  capiendo  is  substituted  for 
the  old  writ  de  excommunicato  capiendo  in  cases  of  con- 
tempt ;  and  in  the  few  cases  in  which  excommunication  is 
still  pronounced  as  a  sentence,  the  court  is  empowered  to 
assign  a  term  of  imprisonment,  not  exceeding  six  months. 
2.  Causes  of  a  mixed  description  are  suits  for  tithes, 
church  rates,  seats  in  churches,  and  faculties;  which  con- 
cern the  temporals  or  external  possessions  of  the  church. 
The  subtraction  of  tithes  or  other  ecclesiastical  dues  may 
be  complained  of  in  the  Ecclesiastical  Courts;  but  if  any 
question  of  law  arises  on  the  defence,  as  where  modus  or 
prescription  is  relied  on  aeainst  a  claim  of  tithe,  either 
party  may  apply  for  a  prohibition  from  the  King's  Bench, 
as  the  Ecclesiastical  Court  has  not  authority  to  decide  the 
point  of  law.  Suits  of  this  description  are  consequently 
of  rare  occurrence.  The  Ecclesiastical  Court  exercises 
jurisdiction  to  enforce  the  payment  of  church  rates;  but 
where  the  amount  to  be  recovered  does  not  exceed  10/., 
and  the  validity  of  the  rale  is  undisputed,  two  justices 
may  enforce  payment  by  distress.  3.  Exclusive  property 
in  a  seat  in  the  body  of  the  church  can  be  claimed  only  in 
virtue  of  a  faculty,  that  is,  a  grant  from  the  ordinary  (or 
immediate  ecclesiastical  superintendent);  or  of  a  prescrip- 
tion, that  is,  immemorial  usage,  presumed  to  be  founded 
on  a  faculty.  But  the  courts  of  common  law  interfere. — 
1.  Where  the  pew  is  claimed  as  annexed  to  a  house  ;  2.  In 
all  cases  of  prescription,  in  which  a  prohibition  will  be 
granted  to  remove  the  cause  from  the  ecclesiastical  tribunal 
in  order  to  have  the  prescription  tried  by  a  jury.  Causes 
of  a  purely  civil  nature,  although  in  their  origin  supposed 
to  possess  something  of  a  spiritual  character,  are  testa- 
mentary and  matrimonial.  And  these  constitute  the  bulk 
of  the  business  transacted  in  the  Ecclesiastical  Courts. 
The  jurisdiction  of  these  courts  over  wills  is  of  very  an- 
cient date  in  England;  while  it  either  ceased  at  an  early  pe- 
riod or  was  never  held  valid  in  other  Christian  countries. 
The  distribution  of  the  personal  effects  of  persons  who 
died  intestate  was  entirely  at  the  discretion  of  the  ordi- 
nary. This  is  one  of  the  rights  confirmed  to  the  prelates 
by  Magna  Charta.  The  absolute  power  of  the  ordinary 
was  first  limited  by  Edward  I.,  in  whose  reign  he  was  com- 
pelled to  discharge  the  intestate's  debts  ;  and  in  the  reign 
of  Edward  III.  he  was  obliged  to  divide  them,  by  means 
of  administrators,  among  the  kindred  of  the  deceased,  in 
proportions  which  were  finally  determined  by  the  Statute 
of  Distributions.    Sec  Administration. 


ECCLESIASTICUS. 

As  a  natural  consequence  of  their  power  to  distribute  in- 
testates' effects,  the  bishops  acquired  a  jurisdiction  over 
wills,  both  to  determine  their  validity,  and  to  decide  dis- 
putes respecting  bequests  of  personal  property  :  hence 
arose  the  granting  probate  of  iciUs,  and  suits  for  legacies. 
(See  Will.)  The  courts  of  common  law  exercise  exclu- 
sive jurisdiction  over  all  testamentary  devises  of  real  estate  ; 
the  ecclesiastical  courts  possess  a  similar  power  over  be- 
quests of  personal  estate  ;  but  courts  of  equity  have  no  au- 
thority to  determine  the  validity  of  a  will  of  any  description 
of  property.  Hence,  in  a  devise  of  land,  a  judge  and  jury 
determine  on  a  viva  voce  evidence  ;  in  a  bequest  of  per- 
sonalty, the  judge  of  the  ecclesiastical  court  on  depositions 
reduced  into  writing  ;  and  when  the  will  relates  both  to 
real  and  personal  estate,  there  may  be  a  double  trial  and 
conflicting  determinations. 

Matrimonial  causes  form  the  next  and  most  important 
branch  of  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction.  (See  Marriage, 
Law  op.)  Directly,  the  ecclesiastical  courts  have  the  sole 
cognizance  of  the  validity  of  a  marriage  ;  but  indirectly, 
the  common  law  courts  assume  this  jurisdiction  whenever 
the  question  arises  in  a  civil  or  criminal  proceeding  before 
them. 

ECCLE'SIA'STICUS.  An  apocryphal  book,  composed, 
as  is  generally  supposed,  by  Jesus  the  son  of  Sirach,  and 
admitted  by  the  Romish  church  into  the  canon  of  the  Old 
Testament.  This  book  was  originally  written  in  SyroChal- 
daic,  and  consists  chiefly  of  meditations  relating  to  religion 
and  the  general  conduct  of  human  life.  It  displays^but 
little  regard  for  methodical  arrangement ;  but  the  style  is 
so  highly  poetical,  and  the  sentiments  so  profound,  that 
Addison  (Spectator,  No.  60.)  has  pronounced  it  one  of  the 
most  brilliant  moral  treatises  on  record. 

ECCOPRO'TICS.  (Gr.  Ik,  out,  and  icoirpos,  excrement.) 
The  term  formerly  applied  to  mild  aperient  medicines. 

E'CHEA.  (Gr.  i?x£t0-  Isound.)  In  Ancient  Architecture, 
sonorous  vases  of  metal  or  earth  in  the  form  of  a  bell,  used 
in  the  construction  of  theatres  for  the  purpose  of  reverbe- 
rating the  sound  of  the  performer's  voice.  They  were  dis- 
tributed between  the  seats;  and  are  described  in  the  fifth 
book  of  Vitruvius,  who  states  that  Mummius  introduced 
them  in  Rome,  after  the  taking  of  Corinth,  where  he  found 
this  expedient  used  in  the  theatre. 

E'CIIELON  (Fr.),  in  the  art  Military,  signifies  the  posi- 
tion of  an  army,  when  its  divisions  are  so  formed  as  to 
be  behind  one  another  in  the  form  of  steps. 

ECHI'DNA.  In  Grecian  Mythology,  the  daughter  of 
Geryon  and  the  sea-nymph  Callirhoe,  or  of  Tartarus  and 
Gaia  ;  a  monster  that  devoured  travellers  :  parent,  accord- 
ing to  Hesiod,  of  those  well-known  terrors  of  ancient 
Greece, — Cerberus,  the  Hydra,  the  Sphinx,  and  the  Ne- 
mean  lion.  Hence  some  suppose  the  name  to  represent  a 
sort  of  general  type  of  monsters  and  terrific  phenomena. 

Echi'dna.  In  Zoology,  a  name  proposed  by  Cuvier  for 
a  genus  of  Australian  quadrupeds,  having  the  general  form 
of  an  ant-eater,  but  covered  with  spines.  The  Echidna, 
like  the  Ornithorhynchus,  deviates  in  a  remarkable  manner 
from  the  typical  structure  of  the  mammalia  in  general  in 
the  organization  of  the  generative  and  osseous  systems,  and 
forms  with  it  a  family  or  order  called  Monolrema.  (See 
that  word.)  In  the  male  of  the  Echidna,  as  in  the  Orni- 
thorhynchus, the  hind  foot  is  armed  with  a  curved  spur, 
perforated  like  the  fang  of  a  viper  by  the  duct  of  a  poison 
gland,  whence  probably  the  reason  for  the  name.  Among 
the  colonists  of  Australia,  the  Echidna  is  generally  known 
by  the  name  of  the  porcupine.  It  frequents  sandy  locali- 
ties, lives  in  burrows,  and  feeds  on  ants  and  other  insects, 
which  it  entraps  by  means  of  a  long  and  adhesive  tongue. 

ECHINA'TUS.  in  Botany,  signifies  bristly. 

ECHI'NOCO'CCUS.  (Gr.  txlv°s,  a  spine,  and  kokkos, 
a  cyst.)  A  genus  of  Hydatids  or  Cystic  Entozoons,  of  which 
one  species  (Echin.  hommt's)  is  recorded  by  Rudolphi  as 
infesting  occasionally  the  human  subject. 

ECHI'NODERMS,  Echinoderma.  (Gr.  ex1"";,  a  hedgehog, 
and  Scpfia,  skin.)  A  name  applied  to  a  class  of  inverte- 
brate animals,  which  have  a  crustaceous  or  coriaceous  inte- 
gument, most  commonly  armed  with  tubercles  or  spines. 

ECHINO'PORA.  (Gr.  exlv°s,  a  spine,  and  nopos,  a 
pore.)    A  subgenus  of  Madrepores.    See  that  word. 

ECHI'NUS.  (Gr.  exwo$).  The  generic  name  of  the 
sea-urchins,  which  constitute  the  type  of  the  class  Echino- 
derma. The  Linnsan  genus  is  now  subdivided  into  many 
subgenera  ;  some  of  which  have  their  names  compounded 
of  Echinus  and  some  other  word,  as  Echinobrissus,  Echi- 
nocidaris,  Echinoclypeus,  Echinoconus,  Echinocorys,  EcM- 
nncyamus,  Echinodiscus,  Echinoampas,  Echinometra, 
Echinoneus,  Echinorodon,  &c. 

Echinus.  In  Architecture,  the  same  as  the  ovolo  or 
iniarter  round,  though  the  moulding  is  only  properly  so 
called  when  carved  with  eggs  and  anchors.  (See  Anchors.) 
It  is  the  shell  or  husk  of  the  chesnut,  though  the  ornament 
does  not  seem  to  bear  much  resemblance  to  it. 

E'CHO.  (Gr.  tjxo},  sound.)  A  sound  reflected  from  a 
distant  surface,  and  repeated  to  the  ear.  When  sound  in 
383 


ECLECTICS. 

its  passage  through  the  atmosphere  meets  an  obstacle,  the 
molecules  of  air  in  vibration  are  reflected  in  the  same 
manner  as  elastic  bodies,  and  communicate  to  the  contigu- 
ous molecules  a  vibratory  motion,  which  is  propagated  in 
the  direction  determined  by  the  inclination  of  the  opposing 
surface  to  the  original  direction  in  which  the  sound  reaches 
it,  the  angle  of  incidence  being  equal  to  the  angle  of  reflec- 
tion. Though  echo  is  a  simple  consequence  of  the  reflec- 
tion of  sound,  several  conditions  must  be  fulfilled  before  it 
can  be  produced.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  necessary  that  the 
ear  be  situated  in  the  line  of  the  reflection  ;  and  in  order 
that  the  person  who  emits  the  sound  may  himself  hear  the 
echo,  this  line  must  be  perpendicular  to  the  reflecting  sur- 
face, at  least  if  there  is  only  one  reflecting  surface  ;  but  if 
there  are  several  such  surfaces  properly  disposed,  the 
sound  may  be  brought  back  by  a  series  of  successive  re- 
flections to  the  point  from  which  it  emanated.  In  the  se- 
cond place,  it  is  necessary  that  the  opposing  surface  be  at  a 
certain  distance  from  the  ear  ;  for  if  the  direct  and  reflect- 
ed sound  succeed  each  other  with  great  rapidity,  they  are 
in  some  measure  confounded,  and  the  echo  cannot  be  dis- 
tinguished. Hence  large  rooms  and  vaulted  caves  have  a 
strong  resonance,  but  no  echo  is  produced  by  them  ;  the 
proximity  of  the  walls  rendering  it  impossible  to  distin- 
guish the  reflected  sounds. 

Observation  proves  that  sound  passe  s  through  the  atmo- 
sphere at  the  rate  of  about  1125  feet  in  a  second  ;  hence  a 
person  placed  at  half  that  distance,  or  512  feet  from  the  re- 
flecting surface,  would  hear  the  echo  exactly  one  second 
after  the  sound  was  emitted  by  him,  and  the  echo  would 
repeat  as  many  distinct  sounds  as  the  ear  can  distinguish 
in  a  second.  The  utmost  number  of  sounds  which  any 
ear  can  distinguish  in  a  second  perhaps  does  not  exceed 
ten  ;  hence  the  least  distance  of  the  reflecting  surface  from 
the  point  whence  the  sound  is  emitted  must  be  about  50 
feet,  in  order  that  an  echo  may  be  produced. 

Every  thing  which  is  capable  of  reflecting  sonorous 
pulses  may  cause  an  echo  ;  whence  the  wall  of  a  house,  or 
the  rampart  of  a  city,  a  wood,  rocks,  or  mountains,  produce 
echoes.  Unless,  however,  the  surface  which  reflects  the 
sound  is  of  considerable  extent,  the  echo  will  be  too  feeble 
to  be  heard.  A  certain  degree  of  concavity  in  the  surface, 
by  which  several  diverging  rays  of  sound  are  collected  and 
concentrated  at  the  point  where  the  echo  is  audible,  if  not 
absolutely  essential,  is  at  least  highly  favourable  to  the  pro- 
duction of  echoes.  It  is  a  property  of  the  ellipse  that  every 
sound  proceeding  from  one  of  its  foci,  and  impinging 
against  the  curve,  is  reflected  into  the  other  focus  ;  whence 
two  persons  placed  in  the  two  foci  of  an  elliptic  chamber 
may  converse  with  each  other  in  a  whisper,  and  their 
voices  not  be  heard  by  those  who  are  in  the  other  parts  of 
the  room.  Hence  also  walls  or  buildings  approaching  to 
the  elliptic  form  return  sounds  with  great  distinctness  and 
force.  In  the  whispering  gallery  of  St,  Paul's,  the  faintest 
sound  is  conveyed  from  one  sound  of  the  dome  to  the 
other,  but  is  not  heard  at  any  intermediate  point.  In  Glou- 
cester cathedral  a  gallery  of  an  octagonal  form  conveys  a 
whisper  75  feet  across  the  nave.  Some  echoes  are  remark- 
able for  their  frequency  of  repetition.  An  echo  in  Wood- 
stock Park  repeats  17  syllables  by  day  and  20  by  night. 
Southwell  (Phil.  Trans.  1766)  describes  an  echo  in  the 
Simonetta  palace,  near  Milan,  which  repeated  the  report  of 
a  pistol  60  times.  In  Birch's  History  of  the  Royal  Society, 
an  account  is  given  of  an  echo  at  Rosneath,  near  Glasgow, 
that  repeats  a  tune  played  with  a  trumpet  three  times,  com- 
pletely and  distinctly. 

Echo,  in  Architecture,  is  a  term  often  applied,  though 
improperly,  to  certain  vaults  and  arches,  usually  of  an  eclip- 
tic or  parabolic  form,  made  for  the  purpose  of  producing 
artificial  echoes. 

ECHO'METER.  In  Music,  a  sort  of  scale  or  rule,  mark- 
ed with  lines,  which  serve  to  measure  the  duration  of 
sounds,  and  to  ascertain  their  intervals  and  ratios. 

ECLE'CTICS.  (Gr.  ixXiyoj,  I  pick  out.)  Those  philo- 
sophers who  endeavour  to  select  from  the  systems  of  va- 
rious schools  those  doctrines  alone  which  are  true,  and  to 
present  these  in  the  form  of  an  entire  whole.  An  eclectic 
spirit,  it  is  evident,  can  only  arise  at  a  period  of  some  ma- 
turity in  philosophical  speculation.  Whether  or  not  it  is  to 
be  regarded  as  an  evidence  of  the  decay  of  original  power 
in  the  age  in  which  it  appears,  must  depend  on  the  less  or 
greater  coherence  in  the  system  when  completed.  In  one 
sense  of  the  word,  Plato  and  Aristotle  may  be  regarded  as 
eclectics.  They  both  availed  themselves  largely  of  the  la- 
bours of  their  predecessors.  Plato,  in  particular,  compre- 
hended in  his  scheme  of  philosophy  the  whole  of  more 
than  one  foregoing  system ;  as  the  doctrine  of  Heraclitus 
of  the  perpetual  flux  of  sensible  objects,  and  the  conse- 
quent uncertainty  of  sensible  impressions.  But  in  the 
hands  of  these  great  thinkers  the  discerpta  membra  are  re- 
united, and  endued  with  a  principle  of  vitality  as  constituent 
parts  of  a  harmonious  whole.  The  same  cannot  be  said 
of  others  who  have  adopted  a  similar  method  ;  especially 
of  most  of  those  to  whom  the  term  eclectic  has  been  more 


ECLIPSES. 


peculiarly  applied.  These  philosophers  lived  chiefly  un- 
der the  Roman  empire.  The  most  celebrated  among  them 
maybe  said  to  have  been  Epictetus(A.  d.  90)  and  Plutarch. 
The  latter,  in  particular,  a  man  of  great  and  various  endow- 
ments, may  yet  be  taken  as  a  striking  instance  of  a  false 
eclecticism.  His  great  object,  in  his  philosophical  writings, 
seems  to  have  been  to  reconcile  the  profound  speculations 
and  pure  morality  of  the  philosophers  with  the  fanciful  in- 
ventions and  the  gross  theology  of  the  poets  and  priests  of 
Greece,  Italy,  or  Egypt. 

A  far  more  favourable  specimen  of  the  eclectic  spirit  has 
been  afforded  us  in  modern  times  in  the  person  of  M.  Vic- 
tor Cousin,  without  doubt  the  most  able  and  ingenious 
thinker  of  modern  France.  See  his  Lectures  on  the  Hist, 
of  Philosophy,  in  which  eclecticism  is  presented  under  its 
fairest  guise,  and  vindicated  with  the  utmost  vigour  of  style 
and  acuteness  of  thought. 

ECLI'PSES  (Gr.  exXctxpts,  from  tKXenro),  I  faint 
away  or  disappear),  taken  in  a  general  sense,  are  those  phe- 
nomena which  exhibit  the  obscuration  of  astronomical  lumi- 
naries, and  may  be  divided  into  two  kinds,  in  reference  to 
the  circumstances  under  which  they  are  presented ;  viz. 
1.  When  the  obscuration  is  caused  by  an  interception  of 
the  light  received  by  the  luminary  from  the  sun ;  as  in  the 
cases  of  eclipses  of  the  moon,  eclipses  of  Jupiter's  satel- 
lites, &c.  2.  When  the  obscuration  is  caused  by  an  inter- 
ception, either  totally  or  partially,  of  the  light  transmitted 
from  the  luminary  to  the  spectator  ;  and  this  kind  consists 
of  eclipses  of  the  sun,  occultations  of  stars  and  planets  by 
the  moon,  and  the  transits  of  Mercury  and  Venus  over  the 
disc  of  the  sun. 

The  most  popular  and  generally  interesting  objects  are 
the  eclipses  of  the  sun  and  moon  ;  and  their  causes  and 
aspects  will  here  deserve  some  explanation.  The  earth 
and  moon,  being  opaque  bodies,  are  illuminated  by  the  sun  ; 
and,  just  as  we  observe  with  small  opaque  bodies  on  the 
surface  of  the  earth  which  are  within  the  range  of  ocular 
examination,  they  cast  their  shadows  in  directions  which 
are  opposite  to  the  sun.  As  the  figures  of  the  bodies  are 
nearly  spherical,  and  as  the  sun  is  the  largest,  it  is  plain  that 
these  shadows  must  be  very  nearly  of  a  conical  form.  The 
moon  is  eclipsed  when  it  becomes  involved  in  the  shadow 
of  the  earth,  and  so  deprived  of  the  light  it  is  accustomed 
to  receive  from  the  sun;  and  this  can  take  place  only  at 
the  time  of  full  moon,  or  when  the  moon-  is  in  opposition 
to  the  sun.    Let  S  represent  the  sun,  E  the  earth,  and  n'  t  n 


its  conical  shadow,  into  which  the  rays  of  the  sun  do  not 
enter.  This  shadow  must  evidently  be  a  portion  of  the 
larger  cone  T  t  T'  which  envelops  both  bodies.  Suppose 
the  plane  of  the  paper  to  be  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic,  or  the 
plane  in  which  the  earth  moves  round  the  sun,  and  let 
([  (['  represent  a  portion  of  the  path  of  the  moon  round  the 
earth,  the  arrows  indicating  the  direction  of  her  motion. 
Conceive  also  by  means  of  cross  tangents  T  P  Q ,  T'  P  (J ' 
the  two  opposite  and  circumscribing  cones  TP  T',  (['  P  ([ 
to  be  drawn.  The  latter  of  these  cones,  ([ '  P  ([ ,  is  called 
the  penumbral  cone ;  and  the  space  Nnn'  N',  projected 
beyond  the  earth,  is  called  the  earth's  penumbra.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  any  position  within  this  penumbra  is  at  least  par- 
tially deprived  of  the  light  of  the  sun  ;  for  if  we  imagine  a 
spectator  to  be  in  that  position,  it  is  obvious  that  the  inter- 
position of  the  earth  would  act  as  a  partial  screen  and  ob- 
scure a  portion  of  the  sun's  disc  from  his  view.  It  is  also 
evident  that  a  greater  portion  of  the  disc  of  the  sun  would 
be  hidden  from  this  supposed  spectator  as  his  position  ap- 
proaches nearer  to  the  earth's  shadow ;  and  that  if  we  sup- 
pose him  to  enter  the  shadow,  he  will  become  totally  de- 
prived of  the  light  of  the  sun,  the  disc  of  the  sun  in  this  case 
being  entirely  hidden  by  the  intervention  of  the  earth. 
From  this  observation  it  follows  that  as  the  moon  advances 
in  the  penumbra  from  {torn  her  disc  will  receive  less 
and  less  light  from  the  sun,  and  its  brightness  will  gradually 
diminish  ;  also,  as  soon  as  a  portion  of  the  moon's  disc  en- 
ters the  shadow,  that  portion  becomes  totally  deprived  of 
the  light  of  the  sun,  and  is,  in  other  terms,  darkened  or 
eclipsed.  If  in  the  course  of  the  eclipse  only  a  part  of  the 
moon's  disc  enters  the  earth's  shadow,  it  is  called  a. partial 
eclipse ;  but  if  the  moon  is  totally  darkened  by  the  whole 
disc  entering  the  shadow,  it  is  called  a  total  eclipse.  It  is  to 
be  understood  in  the  diagram  that  the  orbit  of  the  moon,  or 
the  path  she  describes  round  the  earth,  is  not  in  the  plane 
of  the  ecliptic  or  the  plane  of  the  paper,  but  inclined  to  it 
at  an  angle  always  greater  than  4°  57'  and  less  than  5°  21'. 
This  is  the  reason  why  eclipses  of  the  moon  do  not  happen 
384 


at  every  full  moon,  for  they  can  only  take  place  when  the 
moon's  elevation  above  the  ecliptic  at  full  moon  happens 
to  be  less  than  the  semidiameter  of  the  section  of  the  earth's 
shadow  through  which  she  passes.  In  the  course  of  a  year 
there  may  be  three  eclipses  of  the  moon,  which  is  the 
greatest  number  that  can  happen  ;  but  there  must  always 
necessarily  be  two. 

At  the  time  of  new  moon,  or  when  the  moon  is  between 
the  sun  and  the  earth,  her  shadow  or  penumbra  may  fall 
on  the  disc  of  the  earth  at  certain  places,  and  prevent  either 
all  or  part  of  the  light  of  the  sun  from  reaching  those 
places  on  the  earth's  surface.  This  circumstance  pro- 
duces the  phenomenon  of  a  total  or  partial  eclipse  of  the 
aun,  which  is  limited  to  the  portion  of  the  earth  on  which 
the  moon's  shadow  or  penumbra  happens  to  fall.  The 
shadow  of  the  moon  does  not  always  reach  so  far  as  the 
earth.  In  the  two  following  diagrams,  annexed  by  way 
of  illustration,  the  former  represents  the  case  in  which  it 
does  reach,  and  the  latter  represents  tho  case  in  which  it 


does  not  reach,  the  surface  of  the  earth.  The  shadow  of 
the  moon  in  the  first  diagram  falls  upon  a  portion  of  the 
earth's  surface  between  m  and  m' ;  and  the  inhabitants,  if 
any,  of  that  portion,  will  evidently,  from  what  has  been 
said  before,  have  the  sun's  disc  wholly  covered  by  the  in- 
tervention of  the  dark  body  of  the  moon,  and  therefore 
Jig.  3. 

T 


have  presented  to  them  a  total  eclipse  of  the  sun.  But  in  the 
second  diagram,  where  the  shadow  of  the  moon  does  not 
reach  the  earth,  if  we  suppose  the  dark  conical  shadow 
win'  to  be  produced  into  the  small  opposite  cone  mtm' 
meeting  the  surface  of  the  earth,  it  will  be  obvious,  after  a 
slight  consideration,  that  any  supposed  spectator  within 
this  latter  cone,  or  any  inhabitant  of  the  portion  mm'  of 
the  earth,  will  perceive  the  dark  body  of  the  moon  wholly 
within  the  disc  of  the  sun,  and  intercepting  only  an  interior 
part  of  his  light;  the  unobscured  part  of  the  sun  which  cir- 
cumscribes the  disc  of  the  moon  will  consequently  present 
the  appearance  of  a  beautiful  luminous  ring  or  annulus, 
and  the  eclipse  exhibiting  this  aspect  is  commonly  called 
an  annular  eclipse  of  the  sun ;  the  cone  mtm'  may  be  simi- 
larly called  the  annular  cone.  It  does  not  always  occur, 
during  the  progress  of  an  eclipse  of  the  sun,  that  either  the 
dark  shadow  of  the  moon  or  the  annular  cone  will  fall  on 
the  earth's  surface,  and  it  very  rarely  happens  that  either 
of  them  fall  on  any  defined  spot,  such  as  London  or  Edin- 
burgh. For  the  occurrence  of  an  eclipse  on  the  earth,  it  is 
only  necessary  that  the  moon's  penumbra  Nnn'N'  shall 
be  projected  against  a  portion  of  the  terrestrial  surface,  as 
an  inhabitant  of  that  portion  will  at  least  have  a  part  of  the 
disc  of  the  sun  intercepted  by  the  moon.  When  neither 
the  moon's  shadow  nor  the  annular  cone  meets  the  earth 
in  the  course  of  an  eclipse,  and  consequently  only  a  part  of 
the  sun's  disc  is  obscured  to  terrestrial  vision,  it  is  called  a 
partial  eclipse  of  the  sun,  and  in  that  respect  it  is  similar  to 
a  partial  eclipse  of  the  moon.  If  in  the  two  diagrams  we 
suppose,  as  before,  the  plane  of  trie  paper  to  be  the  plane 
of  the  ecliptic,  the  position  of  the  moon  must  not  neces- 
sarily be  considered  to  be  in  that  plane.  The  north  pole  of 
the  earth  will  be  directed  upwards  at  an  angle  of  about  23° 
28',  and  the  arrows  will  represent  the  direction  in  which 
the  earth  revolves  about  its  axis;  the  moon  proceeds  round 
the  earth  in  the  same  direction,  and  carries  her  penumbra 
across  the  earth's  surface  with  a  much  greater  velocity  than 
the  earth's  rotation.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  arrows 
indicate  also  the  direction  in  which  the  phenomena  of  the 
eclipse  pass  geographically  over  the  earth,  viz.  from  west 
to  east ;  and  that  different  places  will  have  the  eclipse  at  a 
later  or  earlier  time,  according  as  they  are  more  to  the  east 
or  west.  Eclipses  of  the  sun  occur  more  frequently  than 
eclipses  of  the  moon.  In  the  course  of  each  year  there 
must  be  two  at  least  in  some  parts  of  the  earth  ;  but  there 
cannot  possibly  be  more  than  four, — a  number  that  some- 
times, though  very  seldom,  happens. 

Calculation  of  Eclipses  of  the  Sun  and  Moon. — It  is  here 
chiefly  intended  to  explain  methods  by  which  the  times  of 


ECLIPSES. 

beginning  and  ending  of  any  phase  or  appearance  may  be 
predicted  for  a  particular  place  on  the  earth.  For  these 
calculations  it  is  necessary,  first,  to  ascertain  the  longi- 
tudes and  latitudes  of  the  sun  and  moon  by  means  of  the 
solar  and  lunar  tables.  Those  of  the  sun  may  be  deter- 
mined from  the  revised  tables  of  Carlini,  which  form  the 
supplement  to  the  Milan  Ephemeris  for  the  year  1S33  ;  and 
those  of  the  moon  may  be  calculated  from  the  tables  of 
Burckhardt  orDamoiseau.  With  the  help  of  the  tables, 
the  hourly  variations  of  the  same  quantities,  as  well  as  the 
horizontal  parallaxes  and  semidiameters  of  both  bodies, 
are  to  be  calculated.  The  results  so  found  will  be  ele- 
ments from  which  the  phenomena  of  the  eclipse  maybe 
determined  for  any  stated  place  on  the  earth  ;  but  their 
computation  is  necessary  only  for  eclipses  that  occur  at 
remote  periods,  since  all  these  calculations  are  accurately 
executed  and  registered  in  the  Nautical  Almanac,  a  work 
regularly  published  three  or  four  years  in  advance.  The 
positions  are  there  likewise  reduced  to  the  plane  of  the 
equator,  so  as  to  determine  the  places  of  the  bodies  by 
their  right  ascensions  and  declinations,  which  are  more 
readily  applicable  to  the  calculation  of  all  the  circum- 
stances of  an  eclipse ;  besides,  the  right  ascensions  and 
declinations  of  the  moon  are  given  with  the  utmost  pre- 
cision for  every  hour,  which  adds  considerably  to  the 
facility  of  these  calculations.  It  will  here  be  the  more  ge- 
nerally useful  and  interesting,  therefore,  to  describe  me- 
thods by  which,  with  the  use  of  the  Nautical  Almanac,  the 
circumstances  of  an  eclipse  may  be  predicted,  as  it  will 
appear  from  any  given  spot  on  the  earth's  surface. 
In  the  diagram  (Jig.  1.)  join  Em,  E  ([,  s  n,  and  denote 
E  ron=the  moon's  horizontal  parallax,  by  P, 

E  S  n  =        sun's  '  by  tt, 

T«S=        sun's  semidiameter,  by  a ; 

then  the  angle  MEm  is  the  semidiameter  of  the  section 
of  the  earth's  shadow  traversed  by  the  moon,  as  it  would 
be  seen  from  the  centre  E  ;  and  the  angle  M  E  fl  is  the 
similar  semidiameter  of  the  penumbra  To  determine 
the  semidiameter  of  the  section  of  the  shadow,  we  have 
mEt  =  Emn  —  Etm  =  E  to»— (S*»T  — nS  t)  =  Emn 
+  nSt  —  SnT:  that  is,  the  semidiameter  of  the  shadow 
=  p  +  f_ff.  This  value,  however,  is  affected  by  the  at- 
mosphere of  the  earth,  which  absorbs  those  rays  of  the 
sun  that  would  pass  near  to  the  surface,  and  thus  makes 
the  shadow  of  the  earth  to  appear  sensibly  larger.  To 
take  this  effect  into  account,  it  is  the  usual  practice  of 
astronomers  to  increase  the  value  given  by  the  preceding 
expression  by  one  sixtieth,  or  to  add  as  many  seconds  as 
there  are  minutes  in  the  radius  of  the  section.  The  actual 
formula  employed  in  this  calculation  is  therefore 

Semid.  of  shadow  =  .-j;  (P  + ir  —  a). 

By  adding  to  this  the  angle mE  <[  =  mn  <J  =  TnT'  =  2<r, 
we  have  also, 

Bemid.  of  penumbra  =  ^  P  +  t— a)  +2  a. 

Let  the  circle  H  H'  K  represent  the  section  of  the  earth's 
shadow  through  which  the  moon  passes  during  the  eclipse  ; 
P  Q.  a  portion  of  the  circle 
of  declination  which  passes 
through  the  centre  S  and 
the  north  and  south  poles, 
P  being  towards  the  north, 
and  S  towards  the  south  ; 
A  B  a  portion  of  the  parallel  q 
of  declination,  which  also 
passes  through  S;  OR,  in- 
tersecting P  Q  in  c,  the  line 
or  orbit  described  by  the 
centre  of  the  moon  in  passing  through  the  shadow;  M  her 
position  when  she  first  comes  into  contact  with  the  shadow, 
and  begins  to  be  eclipsed  at  H  ;  m  her  position  at  the  mid- 
dle of  the  eclipse,  or  time  of  greatest  obscuration  ;  and  M' 
her  position  at  leaving  the  shadow  when  the  eclipse  ceases. 
In  the  figure,  for  the  sake  of  convenience,  the  shadow  is 
supposed  to  be  fixed;  and  hence  the  motion  of  M  is  not 
considered  to  be  the  entire  motion  of  the  moon,  but  the 
motion  with  which  she  passes  through  the  shadow,  or,  as 
it  is  called,  the  relative  motion  of  the  moon.  This  relative 
motion  is  equal  to  the  difference  between  the  motion  of 
the  moon  and  that  of  the  shadow.  But  as  the  centres  of 
the  sun  and  shadow  must  always  be  in  opposite  points 
of  the  sphere,  as  seen  from  the  centre  of  the  earth,  the 
motion  of  the  shadow  will  be  just  the  same  as  that  of  the 
sun. 

At  any  assumed  time  T,  near  to  the  time  of  opposition, 
let  a  be  the  position  of  M,  and  draw  a  b  parallel  to  A  B  ;  at 
this  instant  let  a  denote  the  difference  between  the  right 
ascensions  of  the  moon  and  shadow  ;  also  let  x  =  S  b,  and 
y=ab.    Then,  from  what  has  preceded, 

Right  ascension  shadow  —  right  ascension  ©  -(-  12h. 

Declination    shadows  declination  ©  with    a    contrary 
name. 

385 


p 

/jw^» 

■  ^M 

rfmfi 

\ 

%-> 

-\J4 

Q 

s 

^K 

ECLIPTIC. 

a  =  right  ascension  shadow  —  right  ascension  (J 

x=  declination  ([  —  declination  shadow 

=  declination  ([  -f-  declination  W, 

But  as  a  b  =  y  may  be  considered  to  be  part  of  a  parallel 
of  declination,  and  as  a  is  the  spherical  angle  it  subtends 
from  the  pole,  it  is  evident  that  y=  a  X  c°s-  fl's  declina- 
tion. We  must  therefore  first  calculate  the  following  quan- 
tities :— 

Right  ascen.  shadow  =  right  ascen.  0  -J-  I2h. 

y  =  (right  ascen.  shad.  —  that  of  (J  )  X  cos.  (J 's  dec. 

hourly  mo.  y  =  (nor.  mo.  fl  's  right  ascen.  —  that  of  0) 
X  cos.  fl 's  dec. 

x  =  fl's  dec.  +  ©*s  dec. 

hourly  mo.  x  =  hor.  mo.  fl  's  dec.  -f  hor.  mo.  © 's  dec. 

It  will  be  here  observed  that  hourly  mo.  y  denotes  the 
decrease  of  y,  while  hourly  mo.  x  denotes  the  increase 
of  x.  in  one  hour. 

If  i  denote  the  angle  cISorwSc,  which  is  the  inclina- 
tion of  the  relative  orbit  O  R  with  the  parallel  A  B,  we  find 
also, 

hourly  mo.  x 

tan.i  =  - r 

hourly  mo.  y 

■     ^       ■_  ■  ^  ~       hourly  mo.  y 
hourly  motion  in  the  orbit  O  R  =  — — - — : — — 

'  COS.  I 

Again,  in  the  right-angled  triangle  a  b  S,  knowing  the  sides 
S  b  =.r,  and  abz=.y,  we  calculate  the  angle  aS  b  and  the 
distance  Sa.  The  difference  of  the  angles  Sa  S  b,  m  S  c, 
gives  the  angle  a  8  m ;  and  in  the  right-angled  triangle  aSm, 
knowing  also  the  side  a  S,  we  find  the  other  two  sides  a  m, 
S  m,  the  latter  of  which  is  the  nearest  distance  of  the  cen- 
tres of  the  moon  and  shadow.  The  distance  S  M,  at  the 
beginning  or  ending  of  the  eclipse,  is  found  by  adding 
the  semidiameter  of  the  moon  to  that  of  the  shadow; 
hence,  in  the  triangle  MS  m,  knowing  also  the  side  S  m, 
we  find  the  side  M  m  =  m  M' ;  and  by  subtracting  and  add- 
ing the  value  of  a  nx,  before  found,  we  get  the  distances 
Ma,  oM'.  Knowing  therefore  these  distances,  and  the 
hourly  motion  in  the  orbit  O  R,  we  find  the  times  employed 
by  the  moon  in  traversing  them  :  the  former  of  these  times, 
subtracted  from  the  time  originally  assumed  at  which  the 
elements  were  taken,  will  therefore  give  the  time  of  the 
beginning  of  the  eclipse;  and, similarly,  by  adding  the  lat- 
ter, we  get  the  time  at  which  the  eclipse  will  terminate. 
The  times  thus  found  will  be  for  the  meridian  of  Green- 
wich, and  will  require  reducing  for  the  longitude  of  the 
place. 

To  those  who  are  not  familiar  with  algebraical  opera- 
tions, a  rough  sketch  of  the  figure,  drawn  by  the  hand, 
will  indicate  most  distinctly  the  way  in  which  the  several 
angles  and  lines  ought  to  be  combined  in  the  process  of  the 
calculation. 

For  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  the  relative  positions  of  the 
sun  and  moon  are  not  independent  of  the  observer's  posi- 
tion, like  those  of  the  moon  and  the  earth's  shadow.  In 
the  calculation  of  an  eclipse  of  the  sun,  we  must  first  ap- 
ply the  effects  of  the  relative  parallax  to  the  right  ascen- 
sion and  declination  of  the  moon  to  get  her  exact  position 
with  respect  to  the  sun,  as  she  will  appear  to  a  spectator  at 
the  place  for  which  the  calculation  is  proposed  to  be  made. 
(See  the  article  Parallax.)  By  subtracting  and  add- 
ing the  hourly  motions,  given  in  the  Nautical  Almanac, 
we  obtain  the  values  of  the  quantities  for  an  hour  before 
and  after  the  time  of  conjunction  in  right  ascension.  Then, 
after  calculating  and  applying  the  effects  of  parallax  to  the 
moon,  we  find  the  quantities  x,  y,  in  the  same  manner  as 
for  an  eclipse  of  the  moon,  only  substituting  the  sun  in 
place  of  the  sections  of  the  earth's  shadow.  The  half  dif- 
ferences of  the  quantities  so  computed  for  an  interval  of 
two  hours  will  show  their  apparent  hourly  motions;  and 
with  these  the  remaining  calculation,  for  either  time,  is  pre- 
cisely the  same  as  has  already  been  described  for  an 
eclipse  of  the  moon.  It  is  only  further  to  be  observed, 
that  as  the  apparent  relative  motion  of  the  moon  is  not 
very  uniform,  the  results  will  be  most  accurate  when  they 
are  close  to  the  times  assumed.  If  a  very  accurate  calcu- 
lation of  the  beginning  or  ending  be  required,  it  will,  for 
this  reason,  be  necessary  to  repeat  the  calculation  for  a 
single  assumed  time  close  to  the  occurrence  of  the  phase; 
and  for  this  purpose  we  may  adopt  the  hourly  motions  in 
the  first  calculation.  In  these  cases,  greater  accuracy  is 
to  be  obtained  by  interpolating  the  right  ascensions  and  de- 
clinations from  the  running  ephemeris  than  by  inferring 
them  from  the  list  of  elements. 

ECLI'PTIC.  In  Astronomy,  the  great  circle  of  the 
heavens  which  the  sun  appears  to  describe  in  his  annual 
revolution.  It  has  been  called  the  ecliptic,  because  eclipses 
only  happen  when  the  moon  is  in  the  same  plaae,  or  very 
near  it.  The  ecliptic,  from  time  immemorial,  has  been  con- 
ceived to  be  divided  into  twelve  equal  parts,  called  signs,— 
Aries,  Taurus,  Gemini,  Cancer,  Leo.  Virgo,  Libra,  Scorpio, 
Sagittarius,  Caprieornus,  Aquarius,  Pisces.  But  the  signs 
of  the  ecliptic  are  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  signs  of 
the  zodiac,  which  denote  the  places  occupied  by  certain 
A*.  34 


ECLIPTIC  DIGITS. 

constellations,  and  consequently  never  alter  their  position 
in  the  heavens.  The  signs  of  the  ecliptic,  denote  merely 
arcs  of  30°  ;  and  as  they  are  reckoned  from  the  intersec- 
tion of  the  equator  and  ecliptic,  which  is  rot  a  fixed  point, 
their  limits  are  not,  in  all  ages,  determined  by  the  same 
etars. 

The  ecliptic  is  the  circle  to  which  longitudes  and  latitudes 
in  the  heavens  are  referred,  as  right  ascensions  and  decli- 
nations are  referred  to  the  earth's  equator. 

The  angle  which  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic  makes  with  the 
plane  of  the  equator  is  called  the  obliquity  of  the  ecliptic. 
It  is  to  the  oblique  position  of  these  two  planes  that  we  owe 
the  vicissitudes  of  the  seasons.  If  the  equator  coincided 
with  the  ecliptic,  the  days  and  nights  would  always  be  equal 
at  all  parts  of  the  earth,  and  there  would  be  no  summer  or 
winter. 

The  obliquity  of  the  ecliptic  at  the  present  time  (Jan.  I, 
1840)  is  23°  27' 36-52".  (Nautical  Almanac  )  This  quasi; 
tity,  besides  being  subject  to  a  periodic  variation  of  about 
18",  arising  from  the  nutation  of  the  earth's  axis,  is  affected 
by  a  secular  inequality,  of  which  the  period  is  not  ascer- 
tained. By  comparing  the  observations  of  the  present 
times  with  those  made  in  former  ages,  it  is  found  that  the 
obliquity  has  continued  to  undergo  a  slow  progressive  di- 
minution, the  rate  of  which  appears  to  be  about  45"  in  a 
century,  amounting  to  a  fourth  of  a  degree  since  the  time 
of  Hipparchus.  The  planes  of  the  ecliptic  and  equator 
have  consequently  been  approaching  each  other  during  the 
last  2000  years;  but  though  mathematicians  have  not  yet 
ventured  to  assign  the  limit  of  this  approach,  it  cannot  ex- 
ceed a  certain  small  quantity;  and,  after  a  few  thousand 
years  more,  the  two  planes  will  begin  again  to  recede.  The 
diminution  of  the  obliquity  is  caused  by  the  action  of  the 
other  planets,  particularly  Venus  and  Jupiter,  on  the  earth  ; 
in  virtue  of  which  action  the  plane  of  the  earth's  orbit  is 
drawn,  as  it  were,  near  to  the  planes  of  these  two  planets. 
See  Nutation,  and  Precession  of  the  Equinoxes. 
ECLIPTIC  DIGITS.  See  Digits. 
ECLIPTIC  LIMITS,  are  the  greatest  distances  at  which 
the  moon  can  be  from  her  nodes,  in  order  that  an  eclipse 
of  the  sun  or  moon  may  happen.  When  the  moon  is 
within  those  limits  at  the  time  of  the  new  or  full  moon,  an 
eclipse  certainly  happens  ;  but  when  the  moon  is  beyond 
those  limits,  an  eclipse  cannot  happen.  The  limits  for  an 
eclipse  of  the  sun  are  about  17°,  and  for  an  eclipse  of  the 
moon  about  12°. 

E'CLOGUE.  (Gr.  tK\6yri,  a  selection.)  In  the  original 
meaning  of  the  word,  the  select  or  choice  pieces  of  an  au- 
thor; or  extracts  collected  out  of  former  works,  such  as 
were  termed  in  Latin  excerpta.  It  is  not  known  how  this 
title  was  originally  given  to  the  pastoral  poems  of  Virgil ; 
but  from  the  circumstance  of  their  being  so  named,  the 
word  eclosrue  in  modern  usage  is  applied  to  that  species  of 
poetry.  The  persons  who  are  introduced  conversing  in 
eclogues,  or  whose  adventures  are  recounted  in  them,  are 
shepherds ;  that  is,  for  the  most  part,  imaginary  person- 
ages, whose  sentiments,  and  the  external  circumstances 
anions  which  they  live,  belong  rather  to  an  ideal  age  of 
gold  than  to  the  realities  of  modern  life  ;  and  their  loves 
constitute  the  main  and  proper  subjects  of  the  eclogue. 
Nevertheless  various  writers  (Gay,  <fcc.  among  ourselves) 
have  endeavoured,  but  with  little  success,  to  give  an  air  of 
greater  reality  to  pastoral  poetry,  and  give  their  rustics  more 
of  the  costume  and  diction  of  actual  clowns  ;  but  the  re- 
sult has  been  a  species  of  burlesque,  not  at  all  answering 
to  our  conceptions  of  pastoral  poetry  ;  nor  can  we  easily 
imagine  that  the  personages  of  Theocritus,  although  the 
earliest  and  therefore  the  simplest  of  pastoral  poets,  are 
correct  resemblances  of  the  Sicilian  rustics  among  whom 
the  writer  lived.  The  eclogues  of  Virgil  are  of  various 
descriptions:  some  of  them  only  have  the  true  character 
of  pastorals ;  others  contain  occasional  poems  on  public 
and  private  events  of  the  day,  very  slightly  enveloped  in 
the  pastoral  costume.  The  characteristics  of  this  species 
of  poetry,  as  assumed  by  the  moderns,  are,  first,  the  re- 
presentation of  nature  in  soft  and  quiet  scenes  of  cultiva- 
tion ;  secondly,  a  slightly  dramatic  turn  either  of  action  or 
narration;  thirdly,  characters  whose  sentiments  and  lan- 
guage are  confined  within  certain  peculiar  limits:  thus,  any 
strong  emotion,  virtue,  or  vice,  would  be  an  unfit  topic  for 
a  pastoral  poet  to  dwell  upon.  Among  ourselves,  Spenser, 
Philips,  and  a  few  others,  may  be  named  as  pastoral  poets 
in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word  ;  others,  as  Milton  in  his 
Eycidas,  have  assumed  the  pastoral  costume  in  order  to 
convey  a  very  different  class  of  ideas.  It  is  worthy  of  re- 
mark, that  this  species  of  composition  is  amons  those 
which  have  wholly  disappeared  in  the  present  day:  we 
have  had  no  pastoral  poet  since  Gay  and  Collins  ;  and  Ges- 
ner,  in  Germany,  is  the  latest  author  who  has  acquired  any 
degree  of  celebrity  in  this  line.  See  Idyll,  Bucolic. 
ECO'NOMY,  POLI'TICAL.  See  Political  Economy. 
ECTHY'MA.  (Gr.  tkOvw,  I  break  out.)  An  eruption 
of  pimples  or  small  pustules  common  in  young  persons 
after  having  overheated  themselves,  or  eaten  indigestible 
386 


EDICT. 

and  greasy  things.  Analogous  eruptions  are  seen  upott 
infants,  especially  those  who  are  ill-nursed.  Proper  diet, 
mild  aperients,  especially  small  doses  of  rhubarb  and  mag 
nesia,  generally  carry  them  off. 

ECTRO'PIUM.  (Gr.  cktos-itcj,  I  evert.)  An  unnatural 
eversion  of  the  eyelids,  arising  from  tumefaction  of  the 
inner  membrane,  or  from  a  contraction  of  the  skin  cover- 
ing the  eyelid. 

ECZE'MA.  (Gr.  ck^so}.  I  boil  out.)  An  eruption  of  the' 
skin  frequently  observed  in  irritable  habits,  and  sometimes 
mistaken  for  the  itch:  it  is  not  pustular,  but  consists  of 
small  vesicles,  often  forming  patches  or  blotches,  and 
producing,  as  they  die  off,  a  desquamation  of  the  cuticle. 
Alteratives  and  cooling  local  applications  are  the  remedies 
usually  resorted  to  for  the  relief  of  this  complaint. 

E'DDA.  The  ancient  collection  of  Scandinavian  poetry 
in  which  the  national  mythology  is  contained.  There  are 
two  Eddas  :  the  older  is  believed  to  have  been  reduced  to 
writing,  from  oral  tradition,  in  Iceland,  between  a.  d.  105C 
and  1133.  It  was  recovered  and  published  in  Denmark  in 
1643.  The  new  Edda,  supposed  to  have  been  composed 
200  years  after  the  former,  is  an  abridgment  of  it,  with  a 
new  arrangement  of  its  parts.  It  was  translated  by  Re 
senius  in  1640,  and  is  thence  called  the  Resenian  Edda. 
The  authenticity  of  these  monuments  of  an  early  age  has- 
been  doubted  in  recent  times,  but  the  latest  researches  of 
critics  (the  brothers  Grimm  and  others)  seem  to  go  far 
towards  establishing  it.     (See  the  Penny  Cyclopaedia.) 

E'DDY  (Sax.  ed,  water,  and  ea,  backicards),  is  the  water 
of  a  stream  or  tide  which,  in  consequence  of  striking 
against  some  obstacle,  is  thrown  backwards,  and  runs  in  a 
direction  opposite  to  that  of  the  general  current.  More 
frequently,  however,  the  term  is  used  to  denote  (he  whirl- 
ing or  circular  motion  caused  by  the  meeting  of  two  oppo- 
site currents :  and,  in  this  sense,  it  is  also  applied  to  a 
similar  motion  of  the  atmosphere.  See  Whirlpool, 
Whirlwinl 

EDE'NTALS  Edentata.  The  name  of  an  order  of 
Mammals,  including  those  genera  in  which  the  dental  ap- 
paratus is  more  or  less  incomplete  :  the  incisive  teeth  are 
almost  always  deficient. 

E'DICT.  (Lat.  edico,  /  speak  out.)  An  instrument 
signed  and  sealed  by  a  despotic  prince  to  serve  as  a  law  to 
his  subjects.  In  ancient  Rome,  the  ordinances  of  the 
magistrates,  hut  especially  of  the  two  iirators,  prcbtor  ur- 
banus  and  pra  tor  peregrinus,  wert  so  called.  Previously 
to  the  time  of  Augustus,  the  grand  principles  of  Roman 
law  were  exceedingly  ambiguous  and  undefined  ;  and  to 
remedy  this  defect  in  some  measure,  the  prstors  used  to 
publish,  on  their  accession  to  office,  edicts  or  rules  for 
regulating  the  practice  of  their  courts,  as  well  as  for  their 
own  guidance  in  the  decision  of  doubtful  cases.  A  juris- 
diction, however,  thus  vague  and  arbitrary  in  its  nature, 
being  constantly  abused,  it  was  enacted  by  the  Cornelian 
Law  (b.  c.  56),  that  the  praetor  of  the  year  should  be  com- 
pelled to  adhere  to  the  spirit  and  letter  of  his  first  procla- 
mation. The  edicts  of  the  preceding  piaator  were  not 
binding  on  his  successor.  If  the  latter  confirmed  them, 
they  were  styled  edicla  Vetera,  or  tralatilia;  in  contradis- 
tinction to  edicta  nova,  those  framed  by  himself.  (See 
Praetor.)  Under  the  emperor  Hadrian,  a  digest  of  the 
best  decisions  of  the  praetors  from  the  earliest  times  was 
made  by  Sylvius  Jnlianus,  collected  into  a  volume  called 
Edictum  Perpetuum,  or  Perpetual  Edict,  ratified  by  the 
emperor  and  senate,  and  fixed  as  the  invariable  standard  of 
civil  jurisprudence. 

The  Edict  of  Milan  was  a  proclamation  issued  by  Con- 
stantine  after  the  conquest  of  Italy  (a.  d.  313),  to  secure  to 
the  Christians  the  restitution  of  their  civil  and  religious 
rites,  of  which  they  had  long  been  deprived,  and  to  estab- 
lish throughout  his  extended  dominions  the  principles  of  z 
wise  and  enlightened  toleration. 

The  most  famous  edict  of  modern  history  is  the  Edict 
of  Nantes,  issued  by  Henry  IV.  in  1593,  to  secure  to  the 
Protestants  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion.  This  act, 
after  continuing  in  force  nearly  a  century,  was  repealed  by 
Louts  XIV.  ;  and,  as  is  well  known,  its  revocation  led  to  a 
renewal  of  the  persecutions  anrl  bloody  scenes  which  pre- 
viously to  the  issuing  of  this  edict  had  been  enacted  against 
the  Protestants.  The  depopulation  caused  by  the  sword 
was  also  increased  by  emigration.  Above  half  a  million 
of  her  most  useful  and  industrious  subjects  deserted 
France,  and  exported,  together  with  immense  sums  of 
money,  those  arts  and  manufactures  which  had  chiefly 
tended  to  enrich  the  kingdom.  About  50,000  refugees 
passed  over  into  England;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  their  representations  of  the  cruelties  perpetrated  by 
the  King  of  France  tended  to  excite  the  suspicions  of  the 
English  against  their  own  Roman  Catholic  sovereign,  and 
in  some  decree  accelerated  the  advent  of  the  Revolution 
of  1688.     See  Huguenots. 

In  the  French  law,  the  term  edict  has  a  wide  significa- 
tion, beins  applied  equally  to  the  most  momentous  and  the 
most  trifling  proclamations  of  the  government. 


EDINGTONITE. 

K'DINGTONITE.  A  mineral  found  near  Dumbarton 
in  small  greyish-white  translucent  prisms,  composed  of 
eilica,  alumina,  lime,  water,  and  probably  some  alkali. 

EDl'TION  (from  Ihe  Latin  verb  edere,  to  give  out  or 
publish),  means  simply  the  (indefinite)  number  of  copies 
of  a  work  printed  at  one  time,  before  the  types  are  dis- 
tributed by  the  compositor.  Any  one  who  prepares  for 
publication  the  writings  of  another  is  said  to  edit  them,  and 
is  called  the  editor.  In  literary  language,  since  the  inven- 
tion of  printing,  the  editor  of  a  work  revises,  adds  notes, 
prepares  for  the  press,  <fec.  &c. :  the  publisher  is  the  book- 
seller who  negotiates  the  sale  of  the  impression.  Some- 
times (but  especially  in  classical  works)  the  edition  goes 
generally  by  the  name  of  the  printer  or  publisher,  some- 
times by  that  of  the  editor.  Thus,  we  have  the  Aldine  and 
Elzevir  Classics,  &c,  the  houses  of  Aldus  and  Elzevir 
having  been  concerned  both  in  printing  and  publishing; 
while  Bentley's  Horace,  Heyne's  Homer,  &c,  are  so  de- 
nominated from  the  name  of  the  editor.  In  bibliographical 
works,  editio  princeps  signifies  the  earliest  printed  edition 
of  an  author ;  editio  optima,  that  which  is  generally  re- 
garded as  the  best,  <fcc. 

E'DITORS,  are  of  different  species:— 1.  Those  who 
merely  republish  a  text,  or  content  themselves  with  adding 
notes  and  commentaries  to  it.  2.  Thuse  who  superintend 
the  publication  of  a  work,  receiving  the  manuscripts  from 
one  or  more  contributors;  seeing  that  the  object  of  the 
work  is  attained,  that  the  language  is  correct,  the  illustra- 
tions appropriate,  and  the  facts  accurately  stated,  and  that 
all  the  parts  of  the  work  are  properly  adjusted  and  made 
subordinate  to  each  other. 

E'DRIOPHTHA'LMA.  (Gr.  eSpaios,  fixed,  and  o<pda\- 
jios,  an  eye.)  The  name  under  which  the  Malacostracous 
Crustaceans  with  sessile  eyes  are  grouped  together. 

EDUCA'TION  (Lat.  educare),  in  its  most  extended  sig- 
nification, may  be  defined,  in  reference  to  man,  to  be  the 
art  of  developing  and  cultivating  the  various  physical,  in- 
tellectual, and  moral  faculties;  and  may  thence  be  divided 
into  three  branches — physical,  intellectual,  and  moral  edu- 
cation. This  definition  is  by  no  means  complete;  but  it 
is  used  merely  as  indicative  of  the  manner  in  which  this 
subject  has  generally  been  discussed.  Under  physical 
education  is  included  all  that  relates  to  the  organs  of  sen- 
sation, and  the  muscular  and  nervous  system.  Intellec- 
tual education  comprehends  the  means  by  which  the 
powers  of  the  understanding  are  to  be  developed  and  im- 
proved, and  a  view  of  the  various  branches  of  knotrledge 
wbich  form  the  objects  of  instruction  of  the  three  depart- 
ments into  which  we  have  divided  education.  Moral  edu- 
cation embraces  the  various  methods  of  cultivating  and 
regulating  the  affections  of  the  heart. 

The  wide  extent  of  this  subject,  and  the  infinity  of  col- 
lateral questions  with  which  it  is  mixed  up,  would  prevent 
us  from  entering  into  any  details  respecting  it,  even  if  the 
difficulty  of  communicating  any  satisfactory  information 
upon  so  boundless  a  theme  within  our  limits  did  not  pre- 
clude us  from  the  attempt.  The  influence  which  educa- 
tion has  exercised  in  humanizing  the  world  is  universally 
acknowledged.  Its  importance  has  been  recognized  by 
philosophers  and  legislators  in  every  age  ;  and  by  all  the 
nations,  both  of  antiquity  and  modern  times,  which  have 
become  distinguished  in  history,  it  has  been  regarded  as 
the  chief  element  in  the  attainment  and  promotion  of 
civilization.  The  reader  will  find,  in  the  writings  of  Plato, 
Plutarch,  and  Quintilian,  among  the  ancients,  and  in  mo- 
dern times  of  Locke,  Rousseau,  Basedow,  Niemeyer,  Reh- 
borg,  Cousin,  &c,  a  view  of  the  chief  systems  that  have 
been  proposed  or  adopted  in  reference  to  this  subject ;  and 
for  an  account  of  the  comparative  merit  of  the  different 
systems,  and  the  innumerable  controversies  that  have  been 
maintained  in  regard  to  them,  he  may  consult  the  Edin. 
and  Quar.  Reviews,  passim,  and  the  other  periodical  pub- 
lications of  England. 

EDU'LCORA'TION.  (Lat.  edulcoro,  I purify  or  sweeten.) 
A  chemical  term  applied  to  the  cleansing  of  substances, 
especially  pulverulent  precipitates,  by  the  repeated  affu- 
sion of  water,  so  as  to  remove  all  soluble  matters,  and  ren- 
der them  free  from  taste  and  smell. 

EFFE'CT.  (Lat.  eflicio.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  that  quality 
in  works  of  art  whose  nature  is  to  give  particular  efficacy 
to  other  qualities,  so  as  to  bring  them  out  and  to  attract  the 
eye  of  the  spectator. 

Effect.     See  Keeping. 

EFFE'NDl.  A  Turkish  word  signifying  lord  or  supe- 
rior; applied  to  legal,  ecclesiastical^  or  other  civil  func- 
tionaries, in  contradistinction  to  aga,  the  name  by  which 
high  military  personages  are  designated.  See  Reis  Ef- 
fendi. 

EFFERVE'SCENCE.  (Lat.  effervesco.)  The  escape 
of  gaseous  matter  from  liquids,  as  in  the  act  of  fermenta- 
tion. All  liquids  from  which  bubbles  of  gas  rapidly  escape, 
so  as  to  rpsemble  boiling,  are  said  to  effervesce. 

E'FFIGY.     (Lat.  effigies.)     In  Painting  and  Sculpture, 
the  representation  of  an  individual. 
387 


EISTEDDFOD. 

EFFLORES'CENCE.  (Lat.  effloresco,  I  flower.)  The 
spontaneous  crumbling  down  of  transparent  crystals,  in 
consequence  of  the  loss  of  water. 

EFFLU'VIUM.  (Lat.  eflluo,  /  spread  abroad.)  The  va- 
pours arising  from  putrefying  matters. 

EFFU'SION.  (Lat.  eft'undo,  I  pour  out.)  In  Surgery, 
the  escape  of  a  fluid  from  the  vessel  naturally  containing 
it;  thus  when  the  chest  is  wounded  blood  may  be  effused 
into  the  cavity  of  the  pleura,  and  in  injuries  of  the  head 
blood  may  be  effused  upon  the  brain. 

EGEON.     See  Pontoptulus. 

E'GERAN.  A  variety  of  garnet  found  near  Eger  in  Bo- 
hemia. 

EGG.  (Germ,  ei.)  The  ovum  of  birds  and  oviparous 
animals.  The  changes  which  the  hen's  egg  undergoes 
during  incubation  have  been  described  by  Sir  E.  Home  in 
the  Plalosuphical  Transactions  for  the  year  1822  (page  339), 
and  illustrated  by  a  beautiful  series  of  plates  after  Bauer's 
drawings  :  the  same  volume  also  contains  a  valuable  paper 
by  Dr.  Prout  on  the  same  subject,  but  chiefly  in  reference 
to  the  chemical  changes  of  the  egg  during  that  process. 
The  specific  gravity  of  new-laid  eggs  at  first  rather  exceeds 
that  of  water,  varying  from  1US0  to  1090 ;  but  they  soon  be- 
come lighter,  and  swim  on  water,  in  consequence  of  eva- 
poration through  the  pores  of  the  shell.  When  an  egg  is 
boiled  in  water,  and  suffered  to  cool  in  the  air,  it  loses  about 
32  hundredths  of  a  grain  of  saline  matter,  together  with  a 
trace  of  animal  matter  and  free  alkali.  The  mean  weight 
of  a  hen's  egg  is  about  875  grains,  of  which  the  shell  and 
its  inner  membrane  weigh  t37  grains,  the  albumen  or 
white  529-8  grs.,  and  the  yolk  2518  grs.  The  shell  con- 
tains about  2  per  cent,  of  animal  matter  and  I  per  cent,  of 
the  phosphates  of  lime  and  magnesia,  the  remainder  be- 
ing carbonate  of  lime,  with  a  trace  of  carbonate  of  magne- 
sia. When  the  yolk  of  a  hard-boiled  egg  is  digested  in 
repeated  portions  of  strong  alcohol,  there  remains  a  white 
residue  having  the  leading  characters  of  albumen,  but  con- 
taining phosphorus  in  some  peculiar  state  of  combination; 
the  alcoholic  solution  is  yellow,  and  deposits  a  crystalline 
fatty  matter,  and  when  distilled  leaves  a  yellow  oil.  The 
albumen  of  the  egg  contains  sulphur.  The  use  of  the 
phosphorus  is  to  yield  phosphoric  acid  to  form  the  bones 
of  the  chick  ;  but  the  source  of  the  lime  with  which  it  is 
combined  is  not  apparent,  for  it  has  not  been  detected  in 
the  soft  parts  of  the  egg,  and  hitherto  no  vascular  com- 
munication has  been  discovered  between  the  chick  and 
the  shell. 

The  trade  in  eggs  is  of  great  value  and  importance ; 
the  number  of  eggs  imported  into  England  from  various 
parts  of  the  Continent,  for  the  year  ending  Jan.  5,  1839, 
was  83,745,723;  and  the  gross  amount  of  duty  received  for 
the  same  was  29,1  Hi 

E'GLANTINE.  (Fr.  eglantier.)  The  old  English  name 
of  the  sweet-briar  rose.  The  term  is  improperly  applied 
by  Milton  to  the  honeysuckle. 

EGYPTIAN  ARCHITECTURE.     See  Architecture. 

EGYPTIAN  BEAN.  The  fruit  of  the  Nelumbium  spe- 
ciosum  has  been  so  called  :  it  has  been  regarded  as  the  for- 
bidden bean  of  the  disciples  of  Pythagoras. 

EGYPTIAN  PEBBLE.    A  species  of  agate  or  jasper. 

E'IDER-DUCK.  The  species  of  duck  tribe  so  called  is 
one  of  the  largest  and  most  valuable  of  the  Anatida,  and, 
from  certain  modifications  of  the  beak  and  sternum,  con- 
stitutes the  type  of  a  subgenus,  called  Somateria.  The 
common  eider  (Somateria  mollissiina)  frequents  in  great 
numbers  the  Orkneys,  Hebrides,  and  Shetland  isles.  It  is 
defended  from  the  cold  of  the  dreary  northern  coasts  by 
the  development  of  an  unusual  quantity  of  the  finest  down 
beneath  its  dense  exterior  plumage,  which  is  equally  well 
adapted  to  form  an  impenetrable  barrier  to  the  wet.  The 
down  of  the  eider  constitutes  its  chief  value,  as  it  com- 
bines with  its  peculiar  softness,  fineness,  and  lightness  so 
great  a  degree  of  elasticity  that  the  quantity  of  this  mate- 
rial which  might  be  compressed  and  concealed  between 
two  hands  will  serve  to  stuff  a  coverlet. 

As  the  female  plucks  from  her  own  body  a  quantity  of 
her  finest  down  to  line  her  nest,  the  Orcadians  avail  them- 
selves of  this  instinct,  and  take  an  early  opportunity  to  rob 
the  nest  of  both  eggs  and  down.  She  then  begins  to  lay 
afresh,  and  envelops  her  eggs  with  another  layer  of  down; 
and  if  this  be  removed,  the  male  is  said  to  contribute  his 
own  down  when  the  female  can  afford  no  more.  Lastly, 
when  the  brood  of  ducklings  is  hatched,  the  nest  is  again 
visited  and  the  down  removed.  Thus  a  considerable  quan- 
tity of  the  valuable  material  furnished  by  the  eider-duck 
is  obtained  independently  of  that  which  is  plucked  from 
the  slaughtered  birds.  Besides  the  clown  and  eggs,  the 
islanders  turn  the  skins  and  flesh  of  the  eiders  to  profit; 
while  these  birds  cost  them  no  expense,  as  they  feed  en- 
tirely on  sea-weed  and  other  natural  productions  of  the 
ocean. 

EISTE'DDFOD.  (Welsh,  from  eistedd,  to  sit.)  The 
assemblies  or  sessions  of  the  Welsh  bards  were  so  termed. 
(See  Bard.)    They  were  held,  according  to  Pennant  (Tour 


EJECTMENT. 

in  Wales),  at  different  places  for  the  minstrels  of  their 
respective  neighbourhoods ;  at  Caerwys,  at  Aberfraw  in 
Anglesea,  and  Matliravel  in  Powys.  The  judges  were 
appointed  by  commissions  from  the  Welsh  princes,  and 
after  the  Conquest  from  the  English  kings.  The  last  was 
issued  in  1508.  But  the  Gwynnedigion  and  Cambrian  So- 
cieties have  lately  revived  the  old  custom;  and  annual 
meetings  for  the  recitation  of  prize  poems,  and  for  per- 
formances on  the  harp,  are  now  held  under  the  name  of 
Eisteddfod. 

EJE'CTMENT,  in  Law,  is  a  personal  action  in  the 
form  of  trespass,  in  which  a  tenant  for  years  claims  dam- 
ages for  his  expulsion  from  land  demised  to  him  ;  and  it 
has  become  the  usual  form  of  trying  questions  of  right  to 
real  property  by  a  singular  fiction.  The  party  claiming 
land  or  its  appurtenances  not  in  his  possession  is  the  real 
plaintiff,  through  the  means  of  a  fictitious  tenant  (the  cele- 
brated John  Doe),  who  complains  of  being  ejected  from 
his  farm  by  the  defendant.  The  defendant  justifies  by  dis- 
puting the  plaintiff's  title  to  let  the  land  ;  and  if  the  plaintiff 
succeeds,  he  recovers  not  only  nominal  damages  for  his 
ejectment,  but  also  the  land  itself  for  the  term  of  Doe's 
supposed  demise,  and  in  fact  for  the  term  of  his  own  right. 

EL^AGNA'CEiE.  (Eleeagnus,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  shrubby  arborescent  Exogens  inhabiting 
the  entire  northern  hemisphere  down  to  the  equator,  hav- 
ing leprous  leaves,  superior  fruit,  tubular  calyx,  and  apeta- 
lous  flowers.  They  are  distinguished  from  Thymelacece, 
by  the  ovule  being  erect,  from  Proteacece  by  the  valvate 
calyx  and  the  dehiscent  fruit  of  the  latter,  and  from  San- 
talacea.  by  the  superior  ovary.  The  berries  of  some  spe- 
cies are  eaten  in  Persia  and  Nipal. 

EL^OTE'RIUM.  (Gr.  iXaiov,  oil.)  In  Ancient  Archi- 
tecture, an  apartment  in  the  ancient  baths  wherein  the 
bathers  anointed  themselves  after  leaving  the  bath. 

ELAI'DIN.  A  fatty  matter  produced  by  the  action  of 
nitric  acid  upon  certain  oils,  especially  upon  castor  oil. 

ELAI'N.  (Gr.  eXatov,  oil.)  That  portion  of  fat  or  oil 
which  retains  a  liquid  state  ;  it  may  be  pressed  out  of  hog's 
lard  and  other  solid  fats,  and  separated  from  oils  by  expos- 
ing them  to  cold  and  subsequent  pressure. 

ELAIO'DIC  ACID.  (Gr.  eXatov,  and  eiSos,form.)  One 
of  the  compounds  produced  during  the  saponification  of 
castor  oil. 

E'LAOLITE,  (Gr.  eXatov,  and  XtBos,  stone.)  A  brittle 
mineral,  of  a  greasy  lustre,  crystalline  in  its  texture,  of  va- 
rious shades  of  grey,  green,  and  red,  and  composed  of  silica 
and  alumina,  with  about  18  per  cent,  of  potash.  It  is  found 
in  Norway,  and  when  chatoyant  is  sometimes  used  for  ring 
stones. 

E'LAPS.     A  subgenus  of  vipers.     See  Vipera. 

ELA'SMOTHE'RIUM.  (Gr.  cXncuog,  a  plate,  and  6rip, 
a  beast.)  The  name  of  an  exlinct  Pachydermatous  ani- 
mal, which  forms  the  type  of  a  new  genus,  characterized 
by  the  laminated  structure  of  its  teeth,  and  intermediate 
between  the  horse  and  rhinoceros. 

ELASTICITY.  (Gr.  eXatjTrj,  a  spring  ;  from  tXavvo), 
I  draw.)  In  Physics,  that  property  which  certain  bodies 
possess  of  recovering  their  primitive  form  and  dimensions 
after  the  external  force  by  which  they  have  been  dilated  or 
compressed  or  bent  is  withdrawn. 

The  theory  of  elasticity  must  be  deduced  from  some  hy- 
pothesis respecting  the  constitution  of  matter.  The  sim- 
plest and  most  general  view  which  can  be  taken  of  the 
subject  is,  that  all  matter  is  composed  of  indefinitely  small 
parts  or  molecules  acted  upon  by  attractive  and  repulsive 
forces.  The  attractive  forces  result  from  the  action  of 
the  molecules  on  each  other;  the  repulsive  forces  from 
the  caloric  with  which  the  molecules  are  combined.  From 
the  combined  action  of  these  two  forces,  the  attraction 
of  matter  and  the  repulsion  of  caloric,  the  different  forms 
of  matter  and  its  varied  physical  properties  may  be  ex- 
plained. 

This  view  of  the  constitulion  of  bodies  supposes  that  the 
molecules  are  not  in  contact,  but  at  a  certain  distance  from 
each  other,  which,  though  it  is  to  be  regarded  as  infinitely 
small  in  comparison  of  any  distance  appreciable  by  our 
senses,  admits  nevertheless  of  increase  and  diminution. 
When  a  body  is  in  a  slate  of  rest,  the  opposite  forces  which 
any  two  of  its  contiguous  molecules  exercise  on  each  other 
are  in  equilibrium.  The  energy  of  the  forces  also  depends 
on  the  distance  between  the  two  molecules,  or,  in  mathema- 
tical language,  is  a  function  of  that  distance.  If  thedislance 
be  increased  within  the  limits  of  the  action  of  the  forces,  both 
forces  are  diminished  ;  and  if  the  distance  is  diminished, 
both  are  increased,  but  not  in  the  same  proportion.  If  the 
interval  at  which  the  two  forces  balance  each  other  be  di- 
minished, the  repulsive  force  becomes  stronger  than  the 
attractive  force,  and  the  two  molecules  are  repelled  from 
each  other;  on  the  contrary,  if  the  distance  be  Increased, 
the  attractive  force  acquires  the  superiority,  and  the  mole- 
cules are  drawn  towards  each  other. 

Let  us  now  suppose  a  solid  body,  of  which  all  the  mole- 
cules are  in  a  state  of  equilibrium,  to  receive  the  impres- 


ELASTIC  CURVE. 

sion  of  an  external  force.  The  operation  of  the  force  is  to 
produce  a  change  in  the  distances  of  the  molecules  at  the 
surface,  in  consequence  of  which  the  equilibrium  is  dis- 
turbed, and  the  molecules  thrown  into  a  state  of  vibration. 
This  vibration  is  communicated  to  the  interior  molecules; 
and  the  body,  under  the  action  of  the  external  force,  un- 
dergoes a  certain  change  of  form.  The  molecules  at  the 
surface,  which  receive  the  impulse,  transmit  it  to  those  in 
the  interior  of  the  body,  and  are  reacted  on  by  them  with 
an  equal  force.  In  this  manner  the  action  is  propagated 
through  the  whole  mass,  until  it  is  destroyed  by  another 
exterior  force,  or  by  the  resistance  of  an  obstacle  to  the 
motion  of  the  body  itself. 

From  this  hypothesis  respecting  the  constitution  of 
matter,  analytical  expressions  may  be  deduced  to  repre- 
sent the  motions  or  the  equilibrium  of  the  molecules  of  a 
body  acted  upon  by  an  external  force  which  is  not  so  great 
as  to  exceed  the  limits  of  its  elasticity,  or  to  produce  a 
change  in  the  distance  of  the  molecules  greater  than  the 
radius  of  the  sphere  of  molecular  action.  These  equations 
contain  a  numerical  coefficient,  which  is  constant  for  the 
same  body,  but  variable  for  different  bodies  :  and  which  has 
no  influence  on  the  law  of  elasticity,  though  it  serves  to 
measure  its  effects.  It  is  therefore  called  the  modulus  of 
elasticity,  or  coefficient  of  elasticity  ;  and  is  of  the  same  na- 
ture and  order  of  magnitude  as  the  cohesive  resistance 
which  bodies  oppose  to  rupture  on  being  crushed,  and  may 
therefore  be  expressed  as  so  many  pounds  acting  on  a 
square  inch  of  surface.  The  modulus  of  elasticity  for  each 
particular  body  must  be  determined  by  experiment,  and 
has  only  been  ascertained  in  a  few  instances. 

Elasticity  is  perfect  when  the  body  exactly  recovers  its 
primitive  form,  after  the  force  by  which  it  is  bent  or  com- 
pressed or  dilated  has  been  removed,  in  the  same  time  as 
was  required  for  the  force  to  produce  the  alteration.  This 
perfect  elasticity  is,  however,  not  found  in  any  of  the  bodies 
of  nature ;  the  aeriform  fluids  or  gases  are  those  whose 
elasticity  approaches  the  nearest  to  it.  Hard  bodies,  even 
tempered  steel  and  ivory,  possess  it  in  a  less  degree :  in 
fluid  substances  the  elastic  force  is  greatly  diminished  ;  and 
in  soft  bodies,  as  butter,  moist  clay,  it  entirely  disappears. 
In  solid  bodies  the  elastic  force  is,  in  general,  diminished 
by  use,  or  by  a  long-continued  application  of  a  straining 
force.  A  bow  which  has  been  long  bent,  or  a  spring  which 
has  been  long  compressed,  will  not  entirely  recover  its 
original  form.  In  many  cases  the  elasticity  of  a  body  can 
be  augmented  by  producing  a  closer  aggregation  of  the 
molecules.  The  metals,  for  example,  are  rendered  more 
elastic  by  hammering  them  cold,  or  by  alloys.  Iron  and 
steel  acquire  a  greater  elasticity  by  tempering  ;  that  is,  by 
producing  a  sudden  contraction  of  their  volumes  when 
they  have  been  expanded  by  heat. 

The  principal  phenomena  of  elastic  bodies  are  the  fol- 
lowing : — 1.  That  an  elastic  body  (the  elasticity  being  sup- 
posed perfect)  exerts  the  same  force  in  endeavouring  to 
restore  itself  as  that  with  which  it  was  compressed  or  bent. 
2.  The  force  of  elastic  bodies  is  exerted  equally  in  all  direc- 
tions, but  the  effect  chiefly  takes  place  on  the  side  on 
which  the  resistance  is  the  least.  3.  When  an  elastic 
solid  body  is  made  to  vibrate  by  a  sudden  stroke,  the  vi- 
brations are  performed  in  equal  times,  to  whatever  part  of 
the  body  the  stroke  may  be  communicated.  Thus,  sono- 
rous bodies  always  emit  sounds  of  the  same  pitch ;  and  the 
difference  of  the  pitch  depends  on  the  greater  or  less  fre- 
quency of  the  vibrations  of  the  sonorous  body.  4.  A 
body  perfectly  incompressible  cannot  be  elastic,  therefore 
bodies  perfectly  solid  can  have  no  elasticity ;  and  hence, 
also,  the  small  degree  of  elasticity  belonging  to  the  liquids 
which  are  eminently  incompressible.  See  Collision,  Per- 
cussion, Strength  of  Materials;  also  Atmosphere, 
Hydrodynamics,  Pneumatics,  and  Vapour. 

ELA'STIC  CURVE.  In  Mechanics,  the  figure  assumed 
by  an  elastic  plate  or  lamina,  one  end  of  which  is  fixed 
horizontally  in  a  vertical  plane,  and  the  other  loaded  with  a 
weight  which  tends  by  its  gravity  to  bend  the  plate.  This 
was  the  manner  in  which  the  curve  was  conceived  to  be 
formed  by  James  Bernoulli,  who  first  investigated  its  pro- 
perties ;  but  a  more  general  view  may  be  taken  of  its  for- 
mation. Let  the  lamina  M  N  be  fixed  at  the  point  M  in 
such  a  manner  that,  however  it  may  be  bent, 
the  direction  of  the  tangent  M  T  shall  be  con- 
stant ;  and  let  it  be  submitted  to  the  action  of 
any  number  of  forces  acting  in  the  same 
plane,which  will  be  the  plane  of  the  curvature. 
Let  P  be  the  resultant  of  all  the  forces  acting 
in  the  direction  O  M,  the  axis  of  y,  and  Q  the  resultant  of 
all  those  acting  in  the  direction  O  N,  the  axis  of  x ;  and  let 
the  distances  of  the  directions  of  the  forces  P  and  Q  from 
the  axes  of  the  co-ordinates  be  respectively  p  and  q.  The 
curve  at  any  point  m,  the  co-ordinates  of  which  are  x  and 
;/,  is  kept  in  equilibrio  by  the  action  of  three  forces,  namely, 
P  and  Q,  which  are  exerted  in  turning  the  lamina  round 
the  point  m,  and  the  elasticity  E,  which  may  therefore  be 
considered  as  acting  in  the  direction  perpendicular  to  m  f, 


ELATER. 

the  tangent  at  m.  But  the  action  of  P  on  the  point  in  is 
equal  to  the  product  of  that  force  by  its  distance  from  the 
ordinate  of  m  parallel  to  its  direction,  which  distance  is 
p  —  x.  The  action  of  P  is  therefore  equal  to  P  (  p —  x) ; 
and,  in  the  same  manner,  the  action  of  Q  is  equal  to  Q 
(q  —  y).  Hence,  since  the  elasticity  is  equal  to  the  sum  of 
these  two,  we  have  the  equation 

V(p  —  X)  +  Q.(q~y)z=&. 

It  is  now  necessary  to  make  a  hypothesis  respecting  the 
manner  in  which  the  elasticity  E  varies  from  point  to  point 
in  the  curve.  The  law  usually  assumed  is,  that  the  force 
of  elasticity  at  any  point  is  proportional  to  the  tension,  or 
inversely  as  the  radius  of  curvature  at  that  point;  hence 
if  t  denote  the  radius  of  curvature,  and  E  be  the  elasticity 
at  the  point  where  r=xl,  the  general  equation  of  the  elastic 
curve  becomes 

P(p  —  x)  +  Q(q  —  y)=-E. 


Let  /'*  =  ■ 


d  r « 


djL. 
dx' 


x'h 


■  —  ~  ,  and  /"x  =  ~  :  then,  by  the  known  ex- 
dx  J  dx*' 

1         f"  x 
pression  for  the  radius  of  curvature,we  have  -=,..,,„  3 

The  differential  equation  of  the  curve  therefore  becomes 

P(p_I)+a(,-r)= aif'**& 

To  take  a  simple  case,  let  us  suppose  the  lamina  so  situ- 
ated that  the  tangent  M  T  is  parallel  to  the 
axis  O  N,  in  which  situation  the  force  Q 
vanishes:  and  also  let  the  force  P  be 
that  resulting  from  the  gravity  of  a  weight 
suspended  from  the  extremity  N  of  the 
lamina ;  then,  if  I  =  the  length  of  the  la- 
mina, we  shall  have 

Let  us  further  suppose  the  curvature  to  be  very  small, 

in  which  case,  /'  x  =  ~   will  be  very  small,  so  that  ita 

square  may  be  neglected.     We  have  then,  on  substituting 
for/"  x  its  value, 

P(Z  —  .r)  =  E 

The  integral  of  this  is 

P(lx  —  *x»)  =  E 

and  a  second  integration  gives 

fc  being  a  constant,  and  equal  to  the  distance  O  M. 

The  elastic  curve  is  the  same  as  that  which  a  perfectly 
flexible  line  would  form  itself  into,  if  supported  at  its  two 
extremities  and  loaded  with  a  fluid  of  uniform  density 
filling  the  whole  cavity  of  the  curve  ;  or  it  is  the  figure  as- 
sumed by  a  spider's  thread  fixed  at  its  extremities  and 
blown  bv  the  wind. 

E'LATER.  (Gr.  eXarrip,  leaper.)  A  Linnaean  genus 
of  Coleopterous  insects,  now  the  type  of  an  extensive 
family  of  the  Serricorn  Coleoptera.  The  Elaterida  may 
be  distinguished  from  the  other  Serricorn  beetles  by  the 
presence  of  a  strong,  short,  and  often  slightly  curved  spine, 
projecting  from  the  posterior  margin  of  the  prosternum, 
and  of  a  depression  just  above  the  origin  of  the  second 
pair  of  legs  adapted  for  the  reception  of  the  preceding 
spine.  An  Eiater  may  be  recognized  on  a  distant  view 
from  the  particular  use  to  which  it  puts  the  above  described 
sternal  modifications.  If  a  beetle  be  seen  to  fall  upon  its 
back,  and  instead  of  making  the  ordinary  attempts  to  set 
itself  upon  its  legs,  bends  its  head  towards  its  tail,  raising 
this  part,  and  then  suddenly  springing  into  the  air,  and  re- 
peating the  action  until  it  has  fallen  upon  its  feet,  such  a 
beetle  may  be  recosnized  at  once  as  a  species  of  one  or 
other  of  the  numerous  subgenera  of  the  Elateridce.  This 
leap  is  due  to  the  rebound  occasioned  by  the  sudden  disen- 
gagement of  the  sternal  spine  from  its  socket.  One  of  the 
species  of  Eiater  proper  (Eiater  noctitucus)  is  the  com- 
mon fire  fly  of  the  tropical  parts  of  America.  Its  lumino- 
sity is  emitted  by  two  round  convex  yellow  spots  situated 
at  the  sides  of  the  thorax.  The  Elaleridce  generally  are 
vegetable  feeders ;  the  larvae  devour  decayed  timber ;  the 
perfect  insects  feed  on  flowers  or  other  soft  and  living  parts 
of  vegetables. 

ELa/TERES.  In  Botany,  the  loose  spiral  fibres  that 
are  contained,  together  with  the  sporules,  in  the  concepta- 
cles  of  Jungermaunia  and  Morchantia. 

ELATE'RIUM.  (Gr.  tXavvew,  to  stimulate.)  This  sub- 
stance, commonly  called  extract  of  elaterium,  is  obtained 
from  the  fruit  of  the  Momordica  elaterium,  or  squirting 
cucumber,  which,  if  gathered  a  little  before  it  ripens  and 
the  juice  gently  expressed,  deposits  a  green  sediment, 
which  is  collected  and  dried.  In  the  dose  of  from  one 
339 


ELECAMPANE. 

eighth  of  a  grain  to  a  grain,  good  elaterium  operates  a3  a 
drastic  purge,  bringing  away  from  the  bowels  a  large 
quantity  of  watery  secretion  ;  it  is  seldom  prescribed  ex- 
cept with  a  view  of  diminishing  the  collection  of  fluid  in 
cases  of  dropsy. 

Elaterium.  In  Botany,  a  term  invented  by  Richard  to 
denote  that  kind  of  fruit  which  is  found  in  Euphorbia,  con- 
sisting of  three  or  more  carpels,  consolidated  when  young, 
but  bursiins  with  elasticity  when  ripe. 
E'LBOVV.  The  sea  phrase  for  the  half  twist  in  the  ca- 
|  bles  by  which  the  ship  is  moored,  caused  by  her  swinging 
the  wrong  way.  (.See  Hawse.)  Also  a  term  for  a  sudden 
turn  in  a  line  of  coast  or  course  of  a  river. 

ELBOWS.  (Sax.  elboga.)  In  Architecture,  the  upright 
sides  which  flank  any  panelled  work,  as  in  windows  below 
the  shutters,  «fcc. 

ELCA'JA.  An  Arabian  tree,  the  fruit  of  which  is  emetic, 
and  is  employed  in  an  ointment  for  the  cure  of  the  itch  : 
it  is  the  Trickilia  emetica  of  botanists. 

E'LDERS.  Certain  laymen  who,  according  to  the  con- 
stitution of  the  Presbyterian  church,  form  a  council  of 
which  the  minister  is  the  moderator,  and  discharge  the 
functions  of  a  spiritual  court.  They  also  assist  the  minis- 
ter in  the  management  of  the  concerns  of  the  parish,  at- 
tending to  the  interests  of  the  poor,  like  the  deacons  of  the 
primitive  church .  Among  the  Jews,  elders  were  those 
persons  most  distinguished  for  age,  rank,  and  wealth,  who 
formed  the  council  of  the  people.    See  Presbyters. 

EL  DORA'DO.  (Span,  l/te  golden  region.)  The  name 
given  by  the  Spaniards  to  an  imaginary  country,  supposed 
in  the  16th  century  to  be  situated  in  the  interior  of  South 
America,  between  the  rivers  Orinoco  and  Amazon,  and, 
as  the  name  implied,  abounding  in  gold  and  all  manner  of 
precious  stones.  After  the  Spanish  conquest  of  Mexico 
and  Peru,  the  most  exaggerated  accounts  of  the  wealth 
and  riches  of  the  newly  acquired  territory  were  circulated 
and  believed.  A  new  region  was  fabled  to  exist  far  sur- 
passing the  wealth  and  splendour  of  Peru ;  expeditions 
were  fitted  out  for  the  purpose  of  discovering  it ;  and 
though  all  such  attempts  proved  abortive,  the  rumours  of 
its  existence  continued  to  be  believed  down  to  the  begin- 
ning of  last  century.  The  term  has  now  passed  into  the 
language  of  poetry,  in  which  it  is  used  to  express  a  land  of 
boundless  wealth  and  felicity,  like  the  ancient  Elysium  or 
the  Mohammedan  Paradise.  (See  a  learned  article  on 
'•  Sir  Walter  Raleigh."  in  vol.  Ixxii.  of  the  Edin.  Review, 
which  contains  a  resume  of  all  the  speculations  that  have 
been  entertained  upon  this  subject.) 

ELEA'TIC  PHILOSOPHY.  A  system  owing  its  origin 
to  Xenophanes,  a  native  of  Elea  (in  Latin  Velia),  who  lived 
about  the  year  b.  c.  530.  The  most  celebrated  of  his  fol- 
lowers were  Parmenides  and  Zeno,  also  natives  of  Elea. 
The  dialectical  character  of  the  principal  systems  of  an- 
tiquity may  be  said  to  owe  its  existence  to  the  Eleatics. 
The  tendency  of  their  speculations  was  the  direct  contrary 
of  that  which  distinguishes  the  Ionic  school.  While  the 
latter  fixed  their  attention  on  outward  nature,  and  strove 
to  discover  the  laws  which  regulate  its  progress,  Xeno- 
phanes and  his  disciples  confined  their  thoughts  to  what 
they  conceived  to  be  the  only  objects  of  real  knowledge — 
the'ideas  of  God,  or  Being  as  it  is  in  itself.  The  world  of 
succession  and  change,  which  they  designated  under  the 
title  of  tkat  which  becomes  (to  yiyv6pcvov\  they  held  to  be 
utterly  vain  and  illusory ;  the  very  conception  of  change 
itself  seeming  to  them  to  involve  a  contradiction.  Time, 
space,  and  motion  they  regarded  as  mere  phantasms,  ge- 
nerated by  the  deceiving  senses,  and  incapable  of  scientific 
explanation.  They  were  consequently  led  to  distinguish 
between  the  pure  reason,  the  correlative  of  Being,  and  in 
one  sense  identical  with  it,  and  opinion  or  common  under- 
standing, the  faculty  which  judges  according  to  the  im- 
pressions of  sense.  Parmenides,  in  particular,  was  the 
author  of  a  philosophical  epic,  the  two  books  of  which 
treated  respectively  of  these  two  modes  of  thinking.  For 
a  full  account  of  all  that  can  be  gathered  from  remaining 
fragments  of  this  rigid  system  of  rationalism,  the  reader 
must  consult  the  German  writers  on  the  subject ;  in  par- 
ticular Brandis  and  Ritter,  in  their  histories  of  philosophy. 
Frequent  allusion  is  made  both  by  Plato  and  Aristotle  to 
the  Eleatic  doctrines,  the  authors  of  which  are  mentioned 
by  both  those  philosophers  in  terms  of  evident  respect  and 
veneration.  Plato  has  made  their  system  the  subject  of  a 
whole  dialogue,  entitled  the  Parmenides ;  perhaps  the  most 
striking  specimen  of  dialectic  subtlety  which  Grecian  phi- 
losophy affords.  Many  valuable  remarks  on  the  nature 
and  influence  of  the  Eieatic  doctrines  are  to  be  met  with 
in  Mr.  Thirl  wall's  History  of  Greece,  vol.  ii.  c.  12. 

ELECA'MPANE.    The  vulgar  name  of  the  Inula  Belt- 
nium.   It  is  an  aromatic  bitter,  and  was  formerly  regarded 
as  expectorant ;  whence  the  monkish  line, 
Enula  campaoa  reddit  preecordia  saaa 

A  coarse  candy,  composed  of  little  else  than  coloured 
sugar,  is  sold  under  the  name  of  elecampane. 


ELECT. 

ELE'CT.  (Lat.  electus.)  Some  functionaries  are  so 
termed  during  the  period  between  their  appointment  and 
some  act  which  is  necessary  to  ratify  it;  as,  a  bishop  after 
election  and  before  consecration. 

ELE'CTION,  in  Law,  is  when  a  man  is  left  to  his  own 
free  choice  to  take  or  do  one  thing  or  another,  which  he 
pleases  ;  as,  where  a  man  has  two  forms  of  action  by  which 
he  may  recover  his  right,  it  is  within  his  election  to  choose 
that  according  to  which  he  will  proceed ;  or  where,  as  in 
Borne  cases,  he  has  an  election  between  several  parties, 
against  any  of  whom  he  may  prosecute  his  suit.  Where 
there  are  coparceners  of  lands,  on  partition  the  eldest  sister 
has  the  election. 

Ele'ction,  in  Theology,  is  the  choice  made  by  God  of 
certain  individuals  of  the  human  race  to  enjoy  peculiar 
privileges  and  blessings.  In  the  Old  Testament  election  is 
spoken  of  as  national,  not  individual.  The  Jews  were  the 
ehosen  people  of  God  (Deut.  iv.  37.,  Is.  Ixv.  9.,  and  in  pas- 
sages too  numerous  to  be  cited).  And  that  the  "  elect"  or 
chosen  of  God,  of  whom  the  inspired  writers  of  the 
Epistles  speak,  and  to  whom  they  often  address  them- 
selves, are  in  some  instances  only  persons  called  to  partake 
in  the  benefits  of  the  Christian  dispensation,  appears  to  be 
admitted  on  all  hands  (1  Pet.  i.  1,  2.  ;  1  Pet.  ii.  9.)  But  an 
opinion  arose  from  very  early  limes  in  the  church,  that  in 
other  passages  (Rom.  ix.  18.  24.,  Eph.  1,  &c.)  the  election 
spoken  of  is  a  predetermined  choice,  not  to  the  immediate 
blessings  of  the  covenant,  but  to  eternal  life;  that  God,  by 
arbitrary  will,  selects  a  number  of  persons  without  respect 
to  foreseen  faith  or  good  works,  and  infallibly  ordains  to 
bestow  upon  them  eternal  happiness  through  the  merits  of 
Christ.  This  doctrine  is  of  course  opposed  to  that  of  uni- 
versal redemption  ;  namely,  that  every  man  is  enabled  (if 
he  will)  to  obtain  salvation  through  those  merits.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  the  doctrine  of  election — something  resembling 
which  is  attributed  to  the  Basilidians,  Valentinians,  and 
other  early  heretics — cannot  easily  be  traced  in  the  writ- 
ings of  any  father  of  the  church  before  Augustine,  who  em- 
braced it  with  all  the  ardour  of  his  eager  disposition,  but 
appears  to  have  varied  much  in  his  opinions  respecting  it. 
It  is  most  rigidly  laid  down  in  his  treatise  De  Dono  Perse- 
verantice.  Calvin,  in  modern  times,  was  its  great  reas- 
sertor,  and  declared  it  in  a  dogmatical  manner  :  "  We  were 
elected  from  eternity,  before  the  foundation  of  the  world, 
from  no  merit  of  our  own,  but  according  to  the  purpose  of 
the  divine  pleasure."  (Inst.  iii.  c.  15.  s.  5.)  It  became  a 
fundamental  article  of  belief  in  Calvin'istic  churches.  The 
synod  of  Dort  was  expressly  convened  to  vindicate  the 
doctrines  of  election  and  predestination  against  Arminian 
tenets  (1615).  The  language  of  the  Church  of  England,  on 
this  as  on  other  controverted  points,  admits  of  a  variety  of 
interpretations;  but  during  the  prevalence  of  Calvinism  in 
the  higher  clergy,  and  especially  in  the  university  of  Cam- 
bridge, under  Archbishop  Whitgift,  an  attempt  was  made 
to  define  her  tenets  more  strictly.  The  Lambeth  articles, 
agreed  to  in  1595  by  a  portion  of  the  clergy,  assert  that 
"God  from  eternity  hath  predestinated  certain  men  unto 
life,  certain  he  haih  reprobated."  But  these  were  never 
authentically  received  by  the  church.  See  Calvinism, 
Predestination. 

ELECTIVE  AFFINITY  signifies  the  order  of  preference, 
as  it  were,  in  which  substances  combine ;  thus,  if  nitric 
acid  be  added  to  a  mixture  of  lime  and  magnesia,  it  will 
elect  or  choose  to  combine  with  the  lime  in  preference  to 
the  magnesia.     See  Affinity,  Chemical. 

ELECTIVE  GOVERNMENTS  are  those  in  which  all 
functionaries,  from  the  highest  lo  the  lowest,  are  chosen 
by  the  suffrages  of  a  greater  or  less  number  of  citizens. 
Of  these  the  government  of  Athens  in  antiquity,  and  in 
modern  times  that  of  the  United  States,  will  serve  as  exam- 
ples. When  the  functionaries  of  an  elective  government 
are  chosen  by  a  very  great  number,  it  is  identical  wilh  a 
democracy.";  and  when  by  a  comparatively  small  number, 
either  with  an  aristocracy  or  an  oligarchy. 

ELE'CTORS.  (Germ,  chur-  or  kur-fiirsten.)  Those 
princes  of  the  old  German  empire  who  had  a  voice  in  the 
election  of  the  emperor.  These  were  originally  (a.  d. 
1256)  seven  :  Mentz,  Treves,  and  Cologne, — ecclesiastical ; 
and  Bohemia,  Brandenburg,  Saxony,  and  the  Elector  Pala- 
tine,— lay  ;  but  to  these  Bavaria  was  added  soon  after  their 
institution.  In  1692  this  dignity  was  conferred  on  the  dukes 
of  Brunswick-Luneburg,  who  were  afterwards  styled  elec- 
tors of  Hanover;  and,  at  different  periods  during  the  last 
century,  on  the  princes  of  Salzburg,  Wurtemberg,  Baden, 
and  Hesse  Cassel.  But  on  the  dissolution  of  the  German 
empire  in  1806,  the  title  of  elector  was  merged  in  that  of 
king,  grand  duke,  &c.  &c,  by  all  the  German  states  except 
Hesse  Cassel,  whose  sovereign  is  still  designated  elector. 
The  electors  had  various  privileges,  both  general  and 
special. 

ELE'CTRIC  FISHES.     The  species  of  the  class  Pisces 
are  so  called  which  have  the  power  of  discharging  electric 
shocks  ;  the  most  remarkable  are  the  Torpedo,  Gymnotus, 
and  Silurus,  or  Malapterurus  electricus. 
390 


ELECTRICITY. 

ELECTRI'CITY.  (Gr.  riXcxvpov,  amber ;  the  substance 
in  which  the  property  of  attracting  light  substances  after 
friction  was  first  observed.) 

This  truly  extraordinary  power  of  matter,  independent  of 
the  interest  that  always  belonged  to  it,  has  of  late  years  ac- 
quired much  importance  from  its  influence  over  chemical 
phenomena,  and  its  connection  with  those  of  magnetism. 
When  a  clean  glass  tube  is  rubbed  with  the  dry  hand,  or 
with  a  piece  of  silk,  it  attracts  and  repels  any  light  substan- 
ces,— such  as  feathers,  bran,  or  little  pieces  of  paper,-~- 
which  are  brought  near  it ;  a  stick  of  sealing  wax  rubbed 
upon  dry  flannel  exhibits  the  same  appearances,  and  to  a 
superficial  observer  seems  to  be  exactly  in  the  same  state 
as  the  glass  ;  and  they  are  said  to  be  electrically  excited. 
But,  on  more  close  examination,  it  is  found  that  when  light 
bodies  are  attracted  by  excited  glass,  they  are  repelled  by 
excited  sealing  wax,  and  vice  versa,  so  that  the  glass  and 
wax  are  said  to  be  in  opposite  electric  states  ;  and  hence  the 
terms  vitreous  and  resinous  or  positive  and  negative  elec- 
tricity. But  these  two  states  are  always  coexistent  ;  thus 
when  glass  is  rubbed  by  silk  the  glass  becomes  positive, 
but  the  silk  bocomes  negative  ;  and  in  the  case  of  sealing 
wax  rubbed  by  flannel  the  wax  is  negative,  but  the  flannel 
is  positive. 

A  similar  excitation  of  electricity  is  seen  in  an  infinity  of 
other  cases  ;  as  when  we  rub  a  cat's  back  with  the  hand, 
or  a  piece  of  silk  riband  is  drawn  briskly  between  the  fin- 
gers, or  a  sheet  of  paper  rubbed  with  India  rubber,  or  a 
metal  rod  with  a  silk  handkerchief.  These,  and  other  ex- 
traordinary phenomena  connected  with  them,  are  hypo- 
thetically  referred  to  the  presence  of  a  peculiar  form  of 
matter  called  the  electric  Jluid  ;  it  is  supposed  to  apper- 
tain to  all  matter,  but  to  become  evident  only  when  in  re- 
dundance or  deficiency.  When  glass  is  rubbed  with  silk 
the  equilibrium  of  the  electric  fluid  is  disturbed,  the  silk 
imparts  it  to  the  glass  ;  and  hence  the  former,  losing  elec- 
tricity, becomes  minus  or  negative,  and  the  latter,  acquiring 
electricity,  becomes  plus  or  positive.  This  is  commonly 
called  "  Franklin's  Theory,"  having  been  proposed  and  de- 
fended by  that  celebrated  electrician.  Others  have  as- 
sumed the  existence  of  two  fluids  as  essential  to  the  expla- 
nation of  electrical  phenomena  ;  both  equally  subtile,  elas- 
tic, and  universally  diffused,  and  each  highly  repulsive  as 
to  its  own  particles,  and  attractive  of  those  of  the  opposite 
kind.  Electrical  quiescence  is  referred  to  the  combination 
of  these  fluids,  and  their  consequent  mutual  neutralization  ; 
and  electrical  excitation  is  the  consequence  of  either  being 
free  or  in  excess.  It  is  supposed  that  they  are  separated 
by  friction,  and  by  all  those  other  causes  which  give  rise 
to  the  appearance  of  free  electricity.  Eitherof  these  hypo- 
theses may  be  adopted  as  facilitating  the  explanation  of  elec- 
trical phenomena,  and  as  conferring  meaning  on  terms  which 
would  otherwise  be  unintelligible  :  of  the  two  the  simplest, 
or  that  which  refers  the  phenomena  to  one  fluid,  is  per- 
haps the  most  generally  applicable.  Both  are  apparently 
equally  consistent  with  facts  ;  but  the  existence  of  any 
fluid,  or  form  of  matter,  as  the  cause  of  electrical  pheno- 
mena, is  at  best  extremely  problematical. 

There  are  two  series  of  distinct  phenomena  represented 
by  electrified  bodies  ;  the  one  seems  to  result  from  the 
accumulation  of  electricity  upon  the  surface  of  bodies  ; 
they  are  commonly  included  under  the  term  electricity  of 
tension,  and  are  well  exhibited  by  the  common  electrical 
machine  and  its  prime  conductor.  It  affects  all  neighbour- 
ing bodies,  and  they  are  thrown  by  it  into  a  polar  electrical 
state  by  what  is  termed  induction :  it  has  a  tendency  to 
pass  off  in  sparks  through  the  air,  or  gradually  to  escape 
from  points.  The  thunder  storm  furnishes  a  magnificent 
specimen  of  this  state  of  electricity.  The  other  state  of 
sensible  electricity  is  that  exhibited  by  electricity  in  motion  ; 
as  when  a  current  of  electricity  is  passing  through  a  wire 
or  other  conducting  medium  :  in  this  case  a  vast  quantity 
of  electricity  may  be  concerned  in  the  phenomena  without 
any  apparent  intensity ;  but  whilst  the  current  is  continu- 
ous, it  produces  magnetic  phenomena  of  a  most  extraor- 
dinary character ;  and  when  the  perfect  conductor  is 
broken  by  the  intervention  of  certain  other  media,  they 
suffer  in  some  cases  chemical  decomposition,  and  in  others 
become  heated,  and  even  ignited.  The  phenomena  of  elec- 
tricity in  motion  are  best  exhibited  by  the  Voltaic  apparatus. 

In  all  electrical  experiments  remarkable  differences  are 
observed  in  respect  to  the  transfer  of  the  electric  fluid 
through  different  bodies  :  some,  such  as  the  metals,  allow 
its  free  and  nearly  unimpeded  passage  through  their  sub- 
stance ;  while  others  receive  and  retain  it  more  superfi- 
cially, such  as  glass,  resin,  and  other  substances  which  ex- 
hibit attractive  and  repulsive  powers  when  rubbed.  Hence 
the  division  of  bodies  into  co?iductors  and  ?wnconductors. 

Many  most  important  electrical  phenomena  depend  ap- 
parently upon  induction,  a  subject  which  has  been  ably 
studied  by  Faraday.  (Phil.  Trans.)  We  shall  here  enter 
into  such  details  only  as  are  required  to  render  some  of 
the  principal  terms  employed  in  discussing  electrical  phe- 
nomena intelligible. 


© 


<±2 


ELECTRICITY. 

If  P+ represent  a  metallic  sphere  in  a  highly  positive 
electric  state,  and  N  P  a  metallic  con- 
ductor in  its  vicinity  insulated  upon  a 
glass  stem  ;  it  will  be  found  that  the 
extremity  N  of  N  P  is  negative,  whilst 
the  other  extremity  P  is  positive,  and 
that  these  opposite  electricities  are 
greatest  at  the  extremities  of  the  con- 
ductor,and  gradually  diminish  towards  the  centre  line  iO, 
which  is  neutral.  This  extraordinary  state  of  excitation in 
N  Pis  entirely  dependent  upon  the  proximity  ol  V  + ,  ior 
if  P  +  be  withdrawn,  N  P  loses  all  appearance  o  elec- 
tricitV;  and  the  degree  of  excitement  in  it  is  directly  pro- 
portional to  the  extent  to  which  P  +  is  excited  and I  (with  n 
certain  limits)  to  its  nearness  to  N  ;  so  that  floctuat ions  in 
the  electricity  of  N  P  wi  be  observed  in  propoition  as, 
P+  is  brought  towards  or  removed  from  N,  provided  they 
are  not  taK  into  contact,  and  that  no  spark  passes. 
These  pSmena  have  been  theoretically  expired  u„ 

the  supposition  that  the  ^ee  electricity  mP  + disturbs  the 
equilibrium  of  the  natural  electricity  of  N  P,  and  by  repel 
line  it  from  N  to  P  leaves  the  former  minus  and  the  latter 
vhfs  OrA(  we  assume  the  existence  of  two  electric  fluids, 
fhen  the  free  positive  electricity  of  P  +  repete  the  positive 
fluid  of  N  P  and  attracts  its  negative  fluid,  throwing  it  into 
Z  electro-polar  state.  If  N  P,  instead  of  being  insulated  be 
connected  by  its  extremity  P  with  the  ground,  the  accumu- 
latton  at  P  is  prevented  whilst  N  retains  its  deficient  or  nega- 
tfw  State  ;  or,  upon  the  other  theory,  the  positive  fluid  at  P 
U 'neutral  zed  by  a  supply  of  negative  fluid  from  the  earth  ; 
and  if  after  having  effected  this  by  momentarily  touching 
N  P  with  the  finger,  we  suddenly  remove  P  +,  the  insula- 
ted conductor  N  P  will  be  left  with  an  excess  of  negative 

^Itwufbe  obvious  from  the  above  statement  that  when 
light  bodies,  especially  if  they  be  conductors,  are  attracted 
by  electrified  surfaces  in  their  vicinity,  they  are  thrown  by 
induction  into  opposite  electrical  states ;  and  when  the 
hand  is  brought  near  the  excited  conductor  of  the  electrical 
machine,  it  becomes  negative,  and  remains  so  till  the 
equilibrium  is  restored  by  the  passage  of  a  spark;  which 
phenomenon  is  supposed  to  be  the  result  of  the  combina- 
tion of  the  two  electric  fluids. 
Many  important  phenomena  of  electrical  accumulation 


are  explained  by  reference  to  the  principles  of  in 
duction,  and  among  them  the  action  of  the  Ley- 
den  jar  or  phial.     A  thin  glass  jar  or  bottle,  A,  is 
coated   inside  and   out,  to  within  three  or  four 
inches  of  its  mouth,  with  some  conducting  sub-    (1 
stance ;  tin  foil,  being  especially  convenient  for    I 
the  purpose,  is  generally  used  ;  and  a  metallic  rod 
protecting  a  few  inches  from  the  aperture,  and 
surmounted  by  a  brass  ball,  B,  communicates  with 

'''whe'n'hVbatis'applied  to  the  prime  conductor  of  the 
electrical  machine,  and  the  outer  coating  communicates 
with  the  ground,  the  interior  acquires  a  positive  and  the 
exterior  I  neeatvc  charge  ;  and  on  making  a  communica- 
tton  by  means  of  a  conductor  between  the  inner  and  outer 
coatings ™he  electricities  are  annihilated  with  the  produc- 
Hon  of  a  bright  spark  and  explosion,  and  by  a  most  disa- 
Lreeable  sensation,  called  the  electric  shock,  if  the  body 
h^made  part  of  the  circuit.  When  several  jars  are  so  ar- 
ranged that  the  r  interior  and  exterior  coatings  are  all  se- 
^?ely  connected,  the  assemblage  constitutes  the  electri- 

C1n"hercommon  electrical  machines,  electricity  is  excited 
by  the  fricUon  of  the  plate  or  cylinder  of  glass  upon  the 
cushions  or  rubbers;  and  the  glass  becomes  positive,  and 
uiisnions  or  luuuc     ,  opposed  conductor, 

—fly  e4  med" he*™™ conductor  o/The  machine  ;  the 
f^Sber  becomes  negative,  and  is  sometimes  connected 

WTh:arexedOfigures0rrepresent  the  two  common  forms 
of  the  electrical  machine.  The 
first  is  the  cylinder  machine,  com- 
monly called  Nairne's  machine. 
B  is  the  glass  cylinder,  which  is 
made  to  revolve  upon  its  axis  by 
the  multiplying  wheels  F,  C,  the 
necessary  friction  for  the  electric 
excitation  being  produced  by  the 
cushion  and  silk  flap  D.  A  A  are 
the  positive  and  negative  conduc- 
tors :  the  latter,  bearing  the  cush- 
ion, is  adjusted  as  to  its  requisite 
pressure  upon  the  cylinder  by  the 
screw  at  E.  The  conductors  are 
respectively  supported  and  insu- 
lated by  the  glass  pillars  G  G,  which  should  be  coated  with 
lac  varnish  ;  and  the  axis  of  the  cylinder  rests  upon  the 
pillars  H  H,  which  are  also  of  glass.  The  second  figure 
represents  theplate  machine, usually  termed  Cuthbertson  s 
machine,  in  which  A  is  the  prime  conductor,  borne  by  a 
391 


ELECTRO-MAGNETISM. 

stout  glass  stem  which  is  attached 
to  the  frame  of  the  machine.  B  B 
are  the  upper  and  lower  pairs  of 
cushions,  by  which,  together  with 
the  silk  flaps  C  C,  the  necessary 
friction  is  obtained.  E  is  the  disk 
of  plate  glass  which  is  made  to  re- 
volve upon  its  axis  by  the  winch  F. 
In  this  machine,  as  the  cushions 
or  rubbers  are  not  insulated,  the  ne- 
gative electricity  cannot  be  sepa- 
rately accumulated  or  exhibited,  as 
in  the  cylinder  machine. 

There  are  many  other  and  high- 
ly important  causes  of  electric  ex- 
citation than  those  above  adverted  to ;  such  as  contact  of 
different  metals  (see  Galvanism),  chemical  action  (see 
Voltaic  Electricity),  change  of  temperature  (see  Ther- 
mo-electricity), and  magnetism  (see  Magnetism  and 
Electro-Magnetism). 

ELE'CTRO-CHEMISTRY.  That  branch  of  chemical 
science  describing  the  especial  applications  of  electricity 
as  a  chemical  agent. 

ELE'CTRODE.  (Gr.  n^exTpov,  and  bdog,  a  way.)  the 
surfaces  by  which  electricity  passes  into  and  out  of  other 
media  have  been  called  by  Mr.  Faraday  electrodes,  lhe 
term  has  also  sometimes  been  derived  from  j)\cKTpov,  am- 
ber, and  ziios,  like,  and  applied  to  substances  which,  like 
amber,  become  electric  bv  lriction. 

ELE'CTRO-DYNA'MICS.  (Gr.  nXcicTpov,  and  dwa/t if, 
power  )    The  phenomena  of  electricity  in  motion. 

ELE'CTROLYTE.  (Gr.  riXucrpov,  and  \vu,  I  set  free.) 
Substances  susceptible  of  direct  decomposition  by  the  ac- 
tion of  the  electric  current:  hence,  also,  the  verb  electro- 
luze  ■  i  e.  to  resolve  compounds  into  their  elements  by 
the  agency  of  electricity.  Faraday  has  shown  that  in  many 
supposed  cases  of  electrolysis,  the  evolution  of  elements 
is  the  consequence  of  a  secondary  action  ;  the  sulphur, 
for  instance,  which  is  thus  evolved  at  the  negative  pole 
from  sulphuric  acid,  is  the  result  of  the  evolution  of  hy- 
drogen at  that  pole  ;  in  all  cases  of  true  electrolytic  action 
sulphur  appears  at  the  anode. 

ELECTROMAGNETISM.  When  a  current  of  electri- 
city is  traversing  any  substance,  or  when  electricity  is  in 
mot  on,  magnetism  is  at  the  same  time  developed.  This 
fact  was  first  observed  by  Professor  Oersted  of  Copenha- 
gen and  has  become  the  source  of  an  important  series  of 
discoveries  included  under  the  above  term.  The  excita- 
tion of  magnetism  depends  upon  quantity  of  electricity, 
and  is  best  observed  in  the  wire  which  closes  the  voltaic 
circle  especially  of  one  or  more  pairs  of  large  plates.  If 
a  magnetic  needle  be  brought  near  a  wire  through  which  an 
electric  current  is  passing,  it  will  immediately  deviate 
from  its  usual  position,  and  assume  a  new  one,  depen- 
dent upon  the  relative  position  of  the  needle  and  the  wire. 
On  placing  the  electric  wire  above  and  parallel  to  the  mag- 
net, the  pole  next  the  negative  end  of  the  battery  always 
moves  to  the  west ;  and  when  the  wire  is  placed  under 
the  needle,  the  same  pole  turns  to  the  east.  When  the 
electric  wire  is  on  the  same  horizontal  plane  with  the  nee- 
dle, no  declination  takes  place  ;  but  the  magnet  shows  a  dis- 
position to  move  in  a  vertical  direction,  the  pole  next  the 
negative  side  of  the  battery  being  depressed  when  the 
wire  is  to  the  west  of  it,  and  elevated  when  it  is  to  the  east. 
The  magnetic  phenomena  of  a  wire  transmitting  electri- 
city are  such  as  appear  to  depend  upon  the  circulation  of 
magnetism  at  right  angles  to  the  electric  current,  so  that  if 
N  P  represent  the  wire  transmit- 

j ting  a  current  of  electricity  in  the 

,p   direction  of  the  horizontal  darts,  a 
current  of  magnetism  will  be  estab- 


i    u  [  I  '    11 1  Ul    Uia^iiciiai"   "in   v  ^^w*« 

lished  in  the  direction  of  the  vertical  dart,  appearing  to 
move  round  the  axis  of  the  electric  current ;  hence  the 
term  vertiginous  or  rotary  magnetism,  applied  to  these 
phenomena ;  and  hence  the  motion  of  the  pole  of  the 
magnet  round  the  electric  wire,  or  of  the  electric  wire 
round  the  pole  of  the  magnet,  when  they  respectively  are 
so  arranged  as  to  be  able  to  move  freely  in  any  direction. 
If  a  steel  needle  be  placed  ;n  contact  with  the  electric  wire, 
and  parallel  to  it,  it  acquires  opposite  magnetisms  upon  its 
two  sides ;  but  if  it  be  placed  at  right  angles  to  the  connect- 
ing wire,  it  becomes  polar,  and 
— gSSaB&sL  permanently  magnetic.  If  the 
yjJyfcH=#§l£=S  electric  wire  be  twisted  into  a 
spiral,  and  the  steel  needle  placed 
within  it  (as  in  the  cut),  it  is  re- 
tained there,  and  becomes  a  more  powerful  magnet  in  con- 
seauence  of  the  repetitions  and  direction  of  the  electric 
and  magnetic  currents,  as  will  be  evident  from  the  annexed 
figure,  where  a  represents  a  glass  tube  with  the  wire  np 
conveyin"  the  electric  current  twisted  round  it;  the  darts 
at  the  ends  of  which  show  the  ingress  and  egress  of  the 
electricity,  and  the  transverse  darts  the  direction  of  the 
magnetic  current.    If  the  cylinder  round  which  tne  wire 


ELECTROMETER. 

conveying  the  electric  current  is  twisted  be  of  steel,  it  be- 
comes a  permanent  magnet;  if  of  pure  soft 
iron,  it  becomes  a  temporary  magnet,  so  long 
as  the  electric  current  is  in  motion,  and  s  and 
7i  are  powerfully  opposed  poles.  If  the  bar 
be  bent,  as  in  the  annexed  cut,  a  powerful 
horse  shoe  magnet  is  obtained  when  the  ends 
p  n  of  the  copper  wire  twisted  round  it  are 
connected  with  the  voltaic  eircle ;  and  a  single 
pair  of  plales  is  sufficient  for  the  purpose. 

ELECTRO'METER.  (Gr.  riXexxpov,  and  perpov,  a  mea- 
sure.) An  instrument  for  ascertaining  the  presence  and 
intensity  of  electric  excita- 


«8-# 


tion.  The  simplest  form  of 
electrometer  consists  of  two 
very  small  pith  balls  sus- 
pended from  a  small  con- 
ductor by  very  fine  wire  or 
thread  ;  upon  the  principle 
that  bodies  similarly  electri- 
fied repel  each  other,  these 
diverge  upon  the  reception  of  very  minute  quantities  of 
electricity.  Two  thin  slips  of  gold  leaf  are  also  similarly 
applied  ;  and,  to  prevent  the  influence  of  the  agitation  of 
the  air  upon  (hem,  they  are  suspended  in  any  convenient 
way  underaglass  shade.  The  other  forms  ofelectrometers 
generally  act  upon  the  same  principle,  being  respectively 
adjusted  to  the  varying  degrees  of  quantity  and  intensity 

ELECTRO'PHORUS.  (Gr.  nXcxrpov,  and  <pcpw,  I 
carry.)  This  instrument  consists  of  a  flat  smooth  cake  of 
resin  A,  which  is  rendered  negatively  electrical  by  friction  ; 
a  plate  of  brass  with  a  glass  handle  is  then  placed  upon 
it,  and  becomes  electropolar  by  induction. 
The  brass  plate,  having  been  touched  by  the 
finger  whilst  lying  upon  the  resin,  is  after- 
wards lifted  off  by  its  glass  handle,  and  gives 
a  spark  of  positive  electricity.  The  same 
operation  may  be  indefinitely  repealed.  This 
instrument  is  sometimes  a  convenient  substitute  for  the 
electrical  machine,  and  is  elegantly  applied  to  inflame  a 
jet  of  hydrogen  gas  in  Volta's  inflammable  air  lamp. 

ELE'CTROPO'LAR.  A  term  applied  to  conductors, 
one  end  or  surface  of  which  is  positive,  and  the  other  nega- 
tive ;  a  state  which  they  commonly  exhibit  when  under  the 
influence  of  induction. 

ELE'CTROSCOPE.  (Gr.  rjXcxTpov,  and  axontu,  Isee.) 
An  instrument  for  rendering  electrical  excitation  apparent 
by  its  effects.  The  gold  leaf  electrometer,  and  other  simi- 
lar arrangements,  are  electroscopes. 

ELE'CTRUM.  (Gr.  tiXtxrpov.)  A  term  applied  by  the 
ancients  to  various  substances;  but  especially  to  the  sub- 
stance now  called  amber,  or  to  a  certain  melallic  alloy  con- 
sisting of  four  parts  of  gold  and  one  part  of  silver.  (See 
Pliny,  lib.  xxxiii.  and  xxxvii.) 

ELE'CTUARY.  (Lat.  electuarium.)  This  term  is  ge- 
nerally applied  to  powders  which  are  mixed  up  with  syrup, 
so  as  to  be  of  about  the  consistency  of  treacle.  The  con- 
fections of  the  present  Pharmacopoeia  are  substituted  for 
the  former  electuaries. 

ELE'DONE.  (Gr.  eXtSovrj.)  A  name  applied  by  Aris- 
totle to  a  genus  of  Malakia  or  Cephalopods  having  a  single 
row  of  suckers  on  each  arm,  and  without  any  musky 
odour;  it  is  applied  in  modern  zoology  to  the  same  genus. 

E'LEGANCE.  (Lat.  elegantia.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a 
quality  indicating  grace  and  lightness,  but  especially  the 
latter.  In  painting  and  sculpture  it  greatly  depends  on 
good  selection  and  delicacy  of  execution,  and  these  again 
upon  taste.  Heaviness,  and  leanness  or  extreme  lightness, 
are  the  boundaries  between  which  elegance  is  a  mean. 

ELE'GIT  (Lat.  he  has  chosen),  in  Law,  is  a  writ  of  exe- 
cution, which  lies  for  one  who  has  recovered  debt  or 
damages  ;  or  upon  a  recognizance  in  any  court  against  one 
not  able  in  his  goods  to  satisfy  the  same,  directed  to  the 
sheriff,  commanding  him  to  make  delivery  of  a  moiety  of 
the  party's  land,  and  all  his  goods  except  beasts  of  the 
plough.  The  creditor  holding  the  moiety  of  the  land  until 
satisfaction  is  termed  tenant  by  elegit. 

E'LEGY,  is  the  name  given  in  modern  times  to  a  species 
of  poetical  composition  of  a  mournful  character.  But 
though  this  signification  of  the  term  tallies  with  its  ety- 
mology (Gr.  £,  and  Xcyciv,  to  cry  alas),  the  expression 
elegy  among  the  Greeks,  with  whom  it  originated,  and 
among  the  Romans,  by  whom  it  was  assiduously  culti- 
vated, had  a  much  wider  signification.  Thus  among  the 
former  it  embraced  equally  the  warlike  verses  of  Tyrtffius, 
the  melancholy  effusions  of  Mimnermus,  and  the  moral 
and  political  aphorisms  of  Theognis  and  Solon  ;  and  among 
the  latter  it  comprehended  the  miscellaneous  themes  of 
Ovid,  Propertius,  Tibullus,  and  Catullus.  The  form  of 
verse  in  which  it  was  composed  was  the  alternate  hexame- 
ter and  pentameter.  (See  Pentameter.)  In  modern 
times  almost  all  the  nations  of  Europe  have  practised  this 
species  of  composition  ;  but  if  we  except  the  Elegies  of 
Hammond,  Milton's  Lycidas,  and  Gray's  Elegy  among  our- 
392 


ELEVATION. 

selves,  and  Matthisson's  Elegie  among  the  Germans,  It 
does  not  appear  wilh  great  success. 

E'LEMENTS.  The  old  chemists  applied  this  term  to 
certain  imaginary  principles  or  essences  of  matter;  such 
as  fire,  water,  earth,  and  air.  The  elements  of  the  alche- 
mists are  salt,  sulphur,  and  mercury.  The  term  element 
is  now  used  as  synonymous  with  simple  or  undr compound- 
ed body  ;  that  is,  a  substance  which  we  cannot  resolve  into 
simpler  forms  of  matter.  The  present  list  of  elements  in- 
cludes all  the  metals,  and  the  following  substances— oxygen, 
chlorine,  iodine,  bromine,  fluorine,  hydrogen,  nitrogen,  sul- 
phur, phosphorus,  carbon,  selenium,  and  boron  ;  amount- 
ing in  all  to  fifty- four,  exclusive  of  the  imponderable  forms 
of  matter.     See  Equivalents,  Chemical. 

E'LEMI.  The  resinous  exudation  of  the  Amyris  elemi- 
/era,  brought  from  the  West  Indies :  it  yields  a  volatile  oil 
on  distillation.  It  is  used  in  ointments,  giving  them  a  gently 
stimulating  character,  and  adding  to  their  viscidity.  The 
compound  elemi  ointment  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  i3  a  good 
preparation  of  this  kind,  and  resembles  the  yelloic  basilicon 
of  old  pharmacy. 
ELE'NCHUS.     See  Sophism. 

ELEPHANTI'ASIS.  A  disease  which  chiefly  affects  the 
legs  and  feet,  which  become  rough,  scaly,  and  swollen,  and 
have  been  compared  to  the  feet  of  the  elephant;  the  skin 
gets  thick,  unctuous,  and  insensible,  and  the  limb  occa- 
sionally attains  an  enormous  size. 

E'LEPHANT,  WHITE.  A  Danish  order  of  knighthood 
of  great  antiquity  :  the  number  of  knights  is  limited  to 
thirtv,  besides  members  of  the  royal  family. 

E'LEPHAS,  or  ELEPHANT.  (Gr.  eXc<paS,  an  elephant.) 
The  generic  name  of  the  most  gigantic  ol  existing  quadru- 
peds. They  are  characterized  essentially  by  having  grind- 
ers composed  of  alternating  vertical  plates  of  ivory,  enamel) 
and  caementum,  and  two  tusks  in  the  upper  jaw :  they  are 
also  the  only  living  Mammalia  which  have  a  proboscis  or 
trunk  longer  than  the  head.  It  is  inferred  from  the  struc- 
ture of  the  skull  that  the  extinct  Mastodons,  which  have 
grinders  of  a  more  simple  structure,  also  possessed  a  long 
proboscis  ;  and  accordingly  Cuvier  includes  the  genus  Ele- 
phas  and  Mastodon  in  a  particular  family  of  Pachyderms 
called  Proboscidians.  Of  the  true  genus  Elephas  there  are 
two  living  and  a  greater  number  of  extinct  species.  The 
Indian  elephant  (Elephas  Indicus,  Cuv.)  differs  from  the 
African  species  in  its  greater  size,  in  the  skull  being  higher 
in  proportion  to  its  length,  and  with  a  more  concave  fore- 
head. The  Indian  elephant  has  also  comparatively  smaller 
ears;  the  skin  is  of  a  paler  brown  colour;  and  it  has  four 
nails  on  the  hind  feet  instead  of  three.  The  elephant  will 
breed  in  confinement ;  its  period  of  gestation  is  twenty 
months  and  some  days.  It  brings  forth  one  young  at  a 
birth,  which  derives  its  nourishment  from  two  nipples 
placed  on  the  inner  side  of  the  setting  in  of  the  fore-legs. 
The  perpendicular  height  of  the  Indian  elephant,  measured 
from  the  top  of  the  shoulder,  has  not  been  found  to  exceed 
ten  feet  six  inches :  the  ordinary  height  is  from  seven  to 
nine  feet.  The  Indian  elephant  varies  as  to  the  length  of 
the  tusks;  their  ends  only  are  visible  externally  in  the  fe- 
males, and  there  is  also  a  race  (Mooknah)  in  which  they 
are  straight  and  short  in  the  males.  In  other  races  the 
males  have  the  tusks  long  and  curved,  especially  in  that 
called  "Dauntelah."  The  anecdotes  of  the  docility,  saga- 
city, and  tenacious  memory  of  the  elephant  are  numerous 
and  generally  known.  The  characteristics  of  the  African 
elephant  may  be  inferred  from  the  account  of  those  of  the 
Indian  species.  It  is  usual  to  describe  it  as  having  a  fore- 
head convex  instead  of  concave  ;  but  the  projection  is 
caused  by  the  nasal  bones,  which  are  higher  placed  than 
in  the  Indian  species  ;  and  the  true  front  is  in  reality  con- 
cave in  the  African  species,  but  in  a  less  degree  than  in  the 
Indian.  The  chief  external  character  of  the  African  ele- 
phant is  his  huge  ears.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  no  Af- 
rican nation  has  ever  snbdued  the  elephant,  or  made  it 
available  for  any  useful  purpose.  For  an  account  of  the 
fossil  elephants,  see  Mammoth. 

ELEUSI'NIAN  MYSTERIES.  The  secret  religious 
rites  performed  every  year  in  honour  of  Ceres  and  Proser- 
pine at  the  Attic  town  of  Eleusis.  To  these  mysteries  all 
Greeks  of  both  sexes,  if  unpolluted  by  crime,  were  admit- 
ted; and  as  persons  thus  initiated  were  considered  to  be 
peculiarly  under  the  protection  of  the  gods  and  to  enjoy  their 
favour,  it  was  a  privilege  much  sought  after.  It  has  been 
thought  that  many  passages  of  ancient  classical  writers  re- 
fer in  a  covert  manner  to  these  mysteries,  and  the  doc- 
trines disclosed  in  them  :  thus,  the  whole  sixth  book  of  the 
JEneid  has  been  interpreted  by  Warburton  and  others  as 
an  allegorical  exposition  of  them,  a  notion  controverted  by 
Gibbon  in  one  of  his  early  works.     See  Mysteries. 

ELEVA'TION.  (Lat.  e,  from,  and  levo,  /  raise.)  In 
Architecture,  a  geometrical  representation  of  a  building 
measured  vertically  in  respect  of  the  horizon  ;  by  the  an- 
cient architects  called  the  orthography.  It  is  only  in  this 
sense  that  it  is  technically  used  by  architects;  in  general 
terms  it  is  the  height  of  a  building  above  the  ground. 


ELEVATOR. 


Elevation,  in  Astronomy,  denotes  the  angular  height 
or  the  altitude  of  a  celest.al  object  above  the  ho  ^ 
Thus,  elevation  of  the  pole  denotes  the  arc  of  the  meridian 
intercepted  between  the  pole  and  the  horizon. 

Elevation,  in  Perspective,  is  sometimes  used  for  the 
scenography  or  perspective  representation  of  the  whole 
object  or  building.  — s-sm    c\p 

E'LEVATOR.  A  surgical  instrument  for  raising  ae 
pressed  portions  of  the  skull.  ,  _„__ 

P  ELFS,  or  FAIRIES.  Imaginary  be ings,  honoured  more 
particularly  by  the  northern  nations,  in  whose  mythology 
they  occupy  a  prominent  place.  They  were  divided  into 
wo  classes-the  good  and  the  bad ;  and  their  exploits  have 
given  rise  to  a  multiplicity  of  delight ul  stones.  (See  M* 
summer-Night's  Dream;  and  Grimm's  Deutsche  Mythologie, 
i).  259.)    See  Fairies.  „        .     ,  .„_  ,„,:„<•„ 

P  E'LGIN  MARBLES.  A  collection  °'f?nc,enn'b"£S: 
statues,  &c,  which  were  chiefly  decorations  of  the  Par  he 
non  at  Athens,  and  are  now  deposited  wllh»Xm  archi 
at  the  British  Museum.    Mr.  Harrison,  a_ northern  ^ ,tu 
tect  of  great  abilities,  suggested  to  Lord  Elgin  in  1797, ,  at 
the  period  of  his  nomination  to  the  embassy  at  Constant, 
nople,  the  removal  of  these  celebrated I  works.     But  U  was 
not  till  some  time  after  Lord  Elgin's  arnval  that  the  mm, 
ters  of  the  Porte  were  prevailed  on  to  aUowbun  to  detach 
any  portion  of  the  marbles  ;  and  about  eighty  cases  arrive 
in  England  in  1812.     In  1816  the  collec  ion  was  pmxhased 
by  government  under  a  recommendation  of  a  comn it ree 
of  The  House  of  Commons,  at,  if  we  rightly  recollect  the 
sum  of  £35,000.    They  are  without  question  the  finest  pro- 
ductions of  sculpture  in  the  world. 

ELI'MINA'TION.  (Lat.  ehmmo,  I  put  out.)  A  term 
u=ed  by  writers  on  algebra  to  denote  that  operation  by 
which  any  number  »  ofequattona  being  8'«n,  ^nto.n.ng  « 
unknown  quantities,  a  single  equation  »  deducedfrom 
them  containing  only  one  unknown  quantity  ™  that,  by 
resolvi.i"  this  equation,  we  find  the  value  of  the  unknown 
quantity  it  contains,  and  thence,  by  successive  substim- 
uons,  the  values  of  all  the  other  unknown  quantities.  To 
eliminate  a  quantity  is  therefore  to  cause  that  quantity  to 
disappear  from  an  equation.  _...], 

ELIQUA'TION.    (Lat.)    The  separation  of  two  metals 

byEU'SK>N.  (Lat.  elido.)  In  Grammar,  the  cutting  off 
or  suppressing  of  a  vowel  at  the  end  of  a  word,  for  the 
sake  of  euphony  or  the  measure  of  the  verse.  The  use 
of  the  elision  was  confined  chiefly  to  the   languages  of 

GTu'Xll  ^Arab.)  A  term  applied  in  old  pharmacy  to 
certain  essences  or  tinctures:  a  mixture  of  an  ar omaUc 
tincture  with  sulphuric  acid  was  called  etor  «/  Wfrwt 
The  alchemists  applied  the  term  elixir  to  various  solutions 
employed  in  the  art  of  transmutation. 

ELLA'GIC  ACI1)US  An  acid  obtained  by  Braconnot  from 
gall  nuts,  and  differing  from  the  gallic  acid  :  the  term  is  de- 
rived from  the  word  galle,  reversed. 

ELLl'PSE.  (Gr.  tAXt.t/zis,  defect.)  One  of  the  conic 
sections,  produced  by  cutting  a  cone  by  a  plane  passing ;  ob- 
liquely ihroush  its  opposite  sides.  {See  Conic  bECTioNs.) 
The  ancient  Greek  geometers  gave  this  name  to  the  figure, 
because,  among  its  other  properties,  one  is,  that  the  squares 
of  the  ordinate*  are  less  than  the  rectangles  under  the  re- 
spective abscissa  and  the  parameter,  or  differ  from  them 

'"Though  the  ellipse  was  first  suggested  to  geometers  from 
considering  the  sections  of  the  cone,  it  may  be  defined  in 
various  ways,  and  all  its  properties  investigated  without  any 
reference  to  the  solid.  We  subjoin  some  of  these  defini- 
tions, which  are,  in  fact,  so  many  different  properties  of 
the  ellipse.  .         ,  ,     „  •„, 

1.  If  two  points  F  and  /  be  given  in  a  plane,  and  a  point 
D  be  conceived  to  move  around  them  in 
such  a  manner  that  the  sum  of  the  two 
distances  D  F  and  D/  is  always  the  same, 
Hie  point  D  will  describe  upon  the  plane 
an  ellipse  A  D  B.  The  points  E  and  / 
are  the  foci  of  the  ellipse  ;  and  the  point 
C,  which  bisects  the  distances  between 
the  foci,  is  its  centre.  The  line  A  a  is  the  major  or 
traverse  axis ;  and  B  6,  which  passes  through  the  centre, 
and  is  perpendicular  to  A  a,  is  the  minor  or  conjugate  axis. 
From  this  definition  it  is  obvious  how  the  curve  may  be 
described  mechanically.  Having  fixed  two  pins  F  and  / 
in  the  plane,  let  the  ends  of  a  thread  be  lastened  to  the 
two  pins  ;  then,  moving  a  style  or  pencil  within  the  thread, 
so  as  to  keep  it  always  stretched,  the  point  of  the  style 
will  describe  the  ellipse.  

2  Let  F  be  a  given  point,  and  M  N  a  straight  line  given  in 
position  •  if  another  point  D  move  on  the  same  plane  so 
that  its  distance  D  F  from  F  shall  have  always  to  the  per- 
pendicular D  E,  or  its  distance  from  the  given  line  M  N, 
the  constant  ratio  of  two  given  lines  X  and  Y,  of  which  X 
is  less  than  Y,  the  point  D  will  describe  an  ellipse.  The 
393 


ELLIPSOID  OF  REVOLUTION. 

line  M  N  is  called  the  directrix,  and  its  distance  from  the 
centre  C  is  such  that  C  G  is  a  third  proportional  to  CI  and O 
A.  It  is  obvious  that  F  A  is  to  A  G  in  the  given  ratio  ot  X  to  V . 
3.  It  is  also  a  property  of  the  ellipse  that  the  rectangle 
under  A  II  and  H  a  is  to  the  square  of  the  ordinate  HD  in 
the  ratio  of  the  square  of  C  A  to  the  square  of  C  B.  b  rom 
this  property  the  common  algebraic  equation  of  the  ellipse 
is  derived.  Let  C  A.  =  a,  C  B  =  6,  C  H  =  x,  and  II  D  = 
y;then  AHHa:HD2  :  :  a2 :  62,  that  is,  (a  —  x)  (a  +  f) 

:  j/2  :  :  a2  :  6»,  or  a2  —  x2  :  i/2  :  :  a2  :  63,  whence  y2  =  -„ 


(a2  —  ar2).     This  equation  may  be  put  under  the  following 

a:2       r/2 
elegant  form,  — „  +  jj  =  L 

4  Let  M  N,  P  Q  be  two  straight  lines  intersecting  each 
other  in  C ;  then  if  a  straight  line  B  A 
of  a  given  length  be  carried  along  the  two 
straight  lines  M  N,  P  Q,  any  point  D  in 
A  B  (or  in  A  B  produced)  will  describe  an 
ellipse  the  centre  of  which  is  at  C.  It  is 
on  this  principle  that  elliptic  compasses 
and  lathes  for  turning  ovals  are  con- 
structed. 

5  If  a  moving  or  generating  circle  roll  along  the  concave 
circumference  of  a  fixed  circle  in  the  same  plane,  and  the 
radius  of  the  former  be  half  that  of  the  latter,  any  given 
point  in  the  plane  of  the  generating  circle,  within  or  with- 
out it,  will  describe  an  ellipse.  This  very  remarkable  pro- 
perty of  the  ellipse,  by  which  the  curve  is  shown  to  be  an 
epicycloid,  was  applied  by  Professor  Wallace  of  Edinburgh 
to  the  invention  of  an  ingenious  instrument  for  describing 
an  ellipse  by  continued  motion.  The  construction  of  the  in- 
strument is  as  follows : — 

"a  and  b  are  two  wheels,  the  axes  of  which  turn  in 
holes  c  o,  near  the  ends  of  the  connect- 
r/iSf^     ing  bar  d.    One  of  the  wheels  6  must 
„  be  just  half  the  diameter  of  the  other  a, 
p  which  may  be  of  any  size,  and  a  band  e 
/goes  round  them  outside  ;  an  arm  cp 
is  attached  to  the  wheel  b,  and  admits 
of  being  lengthened  or  shortened  by 
sliding  along  its  surface  in  a  socket  which  may  be  any 
where  on  the  wheel.     Suppose  now  that  the  wheel  a  is 
fixed  or  kept  from  turning,  and  that  the  bar  d  is  turned 
round  the  centre  o,  carrying  at  its  other  extremity  the 
wheel  b ;  the  action  of  the  band  e/will  then  turn  this  wheel 
round  its  centre  c ;  and  while  the  bar  makes  one  revolu- 
tion round  the  centre  of  the  fixed  wheel,  the  other  wheel 
will  make  two  revolutions  about  its  centre,  and  the  point  p 
in  the  sliding  bar  will  describe  the  ellipse."    {Wallaces 
Conic  Sections.) 

6.  The  ellipse  is  the  curve  in  which  the  planets  perlorm 
their  revolutions  about  the  sun,  and  its  properties  enter 
into  almost  every  investigation  connected  with  physical  as- 
tronomy. In  these  investigations  it  is  found  most  conve- 
nient to  define  the  curve  by  means  of  an  equation  between 
the  radius  vector,  that  is,  a  line  drawn  from  the  focus  to 
the  curve,  and  the  angle  which  it  makes  with  the  trans- 
verse axis.  This  is  called  the  polar  equation  to  the  ellipse, 
and  is  found  as  follows :— Let  F  D  the  radius  vector  (see 
the  first  diagram)  =  r,  C  A  =  a,  C  F  the  eccentricity  =  e, 
and  the  angle  A  F  D,  which  is  called  the  anomaly  =  f  ; 
a'  — e* 

then  r  =  — j ■      .  ■ 

o  +  e  cos.  (p 
It  is  a  property  of  the  ellipse,  that  if  a  circle  be  described 
upon  either  axis,  and  from  any  point  of  that  axis  an  ordi- 
nate be  drawn  both  to  the  circle  and  ellipse,  then  the  ordi- 
nate of  the  circle  is  to  the  ordinate  of  the  ellipse  as  that 
axis  to  the  other  axis.  Hence  the  whole  area  of  the  circle  is  to 
the  whole  area  of  the  ellipse  in  the  same  proportion,  and 
consequently  the  area  of  an  ellipse  is  a  mean  proportional 
between  the  areas  of  the  two  circles  described  upon  its 
transverse  and  conjugate  axes.  Hence,  to  find  the  area  of 
an  ellipse,  multiply  the  two  axes  together,  and  multiply  the 
product  by  7S54.     See  Circle. 

The  whole  length  of  the  periphery  of  an  ellipse  is  ex- 
pressed by  the  following  series : 
V   /        l  l2-3  l2-32-5    „     l2-32-52-7    .    .     ^ 


2)T 


2s°  "  22-4»"  23-42-62  22-42-62  . 
where  2;r  denotes  the  circumference  of  the  circle  de- 
scribed  about  the  greater  axis,  and  e  is  the  eccentricity; 
that  is,  e4  =  1  —  ft2,  b  being  the  semi-axis  minor,  and  the 
semi-axis  major  being  unit. 

ELLI'PSIS.  (Gr.  eXXeittw,  /  omit.)  In  Grammar  and 
Rhetoric,  the  omission  of  a  word  or  part  of  a  sentence, 
which  is  left  to  be  supplied  by  the  imagination  of  the  hearer 

^ELLIPSOID.  (Gr.  cWcixpi;,  and  uSosJorm.)  ^geome- 
trical solid,  of  such  a  nature  that  every  section  oi  it  made 
by  a  plane  produces  an  ellipse. 

ELLIPSOID  OF  REVOLUTION,  called  also  the  Sphe- 
roid, is  the  solid  generated  by  the  revolution  of  an  ellipse 
about  its  lesser  axis. 
AA- 


ELLIPTIC  COMPASSES. 

ELLIPTIC  COMPASSES.  An  instrument  for  describ- 
ing an  ellipse  by  continued  motion.  An  instrument  of  this 
kind  has  been  described  under  Ellipse.  Various  contri- 
vances for  effecting  this  purpose  are  described  in  the  Ex- 
ercitationes  Mathematical  of  Schooten, 

ELLIPTI'CITY  of  the  TERRESTRIAL  SPHEROID. 
A  term  used  by  Clairaut  and  other  writers  on  the  figure  of 
the  eanh,  to  denote  the  deviation  of  the  earth's  form  from 
that  of  a  sphere.  Clairaut  employed  Ihe  term  to  denote  the 
difference  of  the  two  axes  divided  by  the  smaller:  most 
other  writers  understand  by  it  the  difference  of  the  axes 
divided  by  the  greater.  Thus,  let  a  =  the  equatorial  dia- 
meter, 6  the  polar  diameter,  e  =  the  elliDticity  ;  then  e  = 
a  —  b  , 
.  whence  o  =  a  (1  —  e.) 

ELM.  A  valuable  genus  of  trees,  confined  to  the  colder 
parts  of  the  northern  hemisphere,  but  common  to  both 
the  old  and  new  world.  Most  of  the  species  are  trees  of 
considerable  size,  and  produce  a  timber  useful  for  many 
common  purposes  in  which  great  strength  and  durability 
are  not  required;  but  some  of  them  are  small  bushes  of 
no  known  value.  In  Great  Britain  there  are  several  spe- 
cies in  a  wild  state,  the  most  valuable  of  which  are  called 
the  Welsh,  the  Hertfordshire,  the  Huntingdon,  and  the 
smooth-leaved ;  in  other  countries  of  Europe  and  Asia 
many  peculiar  species  exist,  but  they  have  been  little  ex- 
amined by  botanists.  The  elm  is  valued  for  the  rapidity 
of  its  growth,  its  hardiness,  and  its  capability  of  thriving 
in  poor  soil  unfit  for  tillage.  The  word  seems  to  be  an 
alteration  of  ulmus,  its  Latin  name. 

ELOCU'TION  (Lat.  eloquor,  I  speak  out),  signified  ori- 
ginally, as  the  derivation  of  the  word  imports,  the  act  of 
choosing  and  adapting  words  and  sentences  to  the  ideas  to 
be  expressed ;  but  it  is  more  frequently  employed  to  de- 
note the  just  and  graceful  management  of  the  voice,  coun- 
tenance, and  gesture  in  speaking;  in  which  sense  it  is  sy- 
nonymous with  what  is  termed  a  good  delivery  or  pronun- 
ciation.    See  Declamation,  Eloquence. 

E'LOGE.  (Gr.  £v\oyia,  Ang.  eulogy.)  A  term  applied 
in  France  to  the  panegyrical  orations  pronounced  in  honour 
of  illustrious  deceased  persons,  and  particularly  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Royal  and  other  academies.  Formerly  the  se- 
cretaries of  the  various  French  literary  institutions  used  to 
compose  and  pronounce  the  eloge;  but  this  duty  is  now 
performed  by  the  new  member  elected  in  the  room  of  the 
deceased.  This  practice  is  no  doubt  open  to  censure; 
but  it  has  been  the  means  of  giving  to  the  world  many  in- 
teresting biographical  sketches,  which  would  never  other- 
wise have  appeared.  Eloge  is  also  applied  to  any  species 
of  biographical  writing  in  which  praise  predominates  over 
censure,  and  has  been  much  cultivated  by  French  and 
Italian  authors. 

ELONGA'TION,  in  Astronomy,  is  the  apparent  dis- 
tance of  a  planet  from  the  sun.  The  greatest  elongation 
of  Mercury  amounts  to  about  28§  degrees,  and  that  of 
Venus  to  about  47°  48'.  With  regard  to  the  superior  pla- 
nets, the  elongation  may  have  any  value  from  0  to  180°. 

E'LOQUENCE.  (Lat.)  The  art  of  clothing  the  thoughts 
in  the  most  suitable  expressions,  in  order  to  produce  con- 
viction or  persuasion.  In  its  primary  signification,  elo- 
quence (as  indeed  its  etymology  implies)  had  reference  to 
public  speaking  alone  ;  but  as  most  of  the  rules  for  public 
speaking  are  applicable  equally  to  writing,  an  extension  of 
the  term  naturally  took  place ;  and  we  find  even  Aristotle 
(Iihe.  book  iii.),  the  earliest  systematic  writer  on  the  sub- 
ject whose  works  have  come  down  to  us,  including  in  his 
treatise  rules  for  such  compositions  as  were  not  intended 
for  public  recitation.  A  still  wider  extension  of  the  term 
was  contended  for  by  the  ancient  rhetoricians,  who  in- 
cluded under  it  all  kinds  of  literary  productions  (such  as 
treatises  on  law,  logic,  &c.),'and  whatever  might  be  neces- 
sary to  illustrate  and  explain  them.  In  the  following  ob- 
servations we  shall  confine  ourselves  chiefly  to  the  etymo- 
logical meaning  of  the  word,  and  shall  give  a  brief  sketch 
of  the  history,  the  objects,  and  the  divisions  of  eloquence. 
The  invention  of  eloquence  is  ascribed  by  the  Egyptians 
and  the  fables  of  the  poets  to  the  god  Mercury ;  but  no 
certain  account  can  be  given  when  or  by  whom  this  art 
first  began  to  be  cultivated.  If  we  may  judge  from  the 
eulogiums  which  Homer  pronounced  upon  Ulysses  and 
Nestor  for  their  attainments  in  eloquence,  it  must  have 
been  very  early  in  high  esteem  among  the  Greeks.  But 
though,  from  time  to  time,  there  arose  in  Greece  many 
distinguished  writers  upon  eloquence,  it  does  not  appear 
that  the  practice  of  the  art  was  combined  with  the  theory 
for  public  purposes  till  the  time  of  Pisistratus,  who  owed 
to  his  rhetorical  acquirements  his  elevation  to  the  throne. 
Passing  from  Pericles  (Ihe  next  in  order  to  Pisistratus), 
who  was  distinguished  at  once  as  a  general,  a  statesman, 
and  an  orator,  we  find  many  eminent  names  during  the 
Peloponnesian  war  immortalized  for  their  eloquence  by 
the  pen  of  Thucydides.  In  the  succeeding  age  arose  the 
school  of  rhetoricians,  or  sophists,  as  they  are  called, 
who  endeavoured  to  graft  upon  eloquence  the  subtleties 
394 


ELOQ.UENCE. 

of  logic ;  and  among  the  earliest  and  most  eminent  of  this 
school  were  Gorgias,  Isocrates,  and  Iseeus,  of  whose  pub- 
licly delivered  orations  there  are  still  ten  extant.  It  was 
in  this  age  that  Grecian  eloquence  attained  its  highest  per- 
fection by  the  genius  of  Demosthenes,  to  whom  Ihe  palm 
has  been  conceded  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  ancient 
and  modern  limes.  Various  are  the  writers  that  have  en- 
deavoured to  point  out  the  beauties  of  Demosthenes;  but 
by  none  are  Ihe  peculiar  qualities  and  distinguished  pro- 
perties of  his  style  more  vigorously  and  happily  (though 
briefly)  pourtrayed  than  by  Hume,  who,  throwing  aside  his 
usual  calm  and  dispassionate  manner,  thus  describes  it: — 
"  It  is  rapid  harmony  exactly  adjusted  to  the  sense  :  it  is 
vehement  reasoning  without  any  appearance  of  art :  it  is 
disdain,  anger,  boldness,  freedom,  involved  in  a  continued 
stream  of  argument;  and  of  all  human  productions,  the 
orations  of  Demosthenes  present  to  us  Ihe  models  which 
approach  the  nearest  to  perfection."  After  this  period, 
Grecian  eloquence  declined  rapidly  ;  and  though  in  the  fol- 
lowing ages  there  flourished  among  others  Hermagoras, 
Athenaius,  Apollonius,  Caecilius,  and  Dionysius,  their 
names  have  been  almost  without  exception  rescued  from 
oblivion  by  a  work  which  may  be  regarded  as  Ihe  last  ex- 
piring ray  of  Grecian  eloquence — the  incomparable  treatise 
of  Longinus  on  the  Sublime. 

In  consequence  of  the  all-absorbing  spirit  for  military 
glory  with  which  the  ancient  Romans  were  animated,  it 
was  long  before  they  found  leisure  to  appreciate  the  ad- 
vantages of  eloquence ;  and  even  so  late  as  the  year  of  the 
city  592,  when,  by  the  industry  of  some  Greeks,"  the  liberal 
arts  began  to  flourish  at  Rome,  the  senate  passed  a  decree 
banishing  all  rhetoricians  from  the  country.  But  a  few 
years  afterwards,  when  Carneades,Critolaus,  and  Diogenes 
were  sent  as  ambassadors  from  Athens  to  Rome,  the  Ro- 
man youth  were  so  charmed  with  the  eloquence  of  their 
harangues,  that  the  study  of  oratory  formed  Ihenceforlh  a 
branch  of  a  liberal  education.  Men  of  the  highest  rank 
were  now  seen  teaching  and  learning  respectively  the  art 
of  eloquence ;  and  such  was  the  impetus  given  to  this  study, 
that  it  made  the  most  rapid  advances,  and  was  at  last 
crowned  by  the  appearance  of  Cicero,  to  whom  critics  have 
concurred  in  assigning  a  rank  inferior  only  to  that  of  De- 
mosthenes. That  many  illustrious  orators  existed  at  Rome 
prior  to  the  age  of  Augustus,  we  learn  from  the  work  of 
Cicero,  De  Claris  Oratoribus.  In  this  treatise  Cicero,  in 
detailed  notices  and  liberal  eulogiums,  has  given  immor- 
tality to  the  very  men  whose  works  were  thrown  info  ob- 
scurity by  the  splendour  of  his  own  :  as  Quintilian  says  of 
Menander  and  his  predecessors — atque  ille  quidem  omni- 
bus ejusdem  operis  aucloribus  abstulit  nomen,  et  fulgore 
quodam  sua  claritatis  tenebras  obduxit.  The  mighty  scale 
on  which  every  thing  was  conducted  at  Rome,  and  the 
enormous  interests  so  frequently  at  stake,  were  never  so 
wonderfully  exhibited  as  in  the  age  of  Cicero  ;  and  the  un- 
paralleled exigency  found  or  created  in  him  a  latent  for 
profiting  by  its  advantages  or  coping  with  its  difficulties 
In  the  succeeding  ages  of  the  Roman  empire,  the  despotic 
character  of  the  government  checked  the  growth  of  the 
rhetorical  art ;  but  the  names  of  Tacitus,  Quinlilian,  and 
Pliny  are  an  earnest  of  what  might  have  been  achieved  in 
this  arena,  had  circumstances  permitted  the  development 
of  their  talents. 

During  the  middle  ages,  though  the  practice  of  eloquence 
may,  as  far  as  we  know,  be  said  to  have  Iain  dormant,  the 
theory  formed  part  of  the  scholastic  study,  as  may  be  seen 
from  ihe  old  doggrel  hexameter,  which  served  to  fix  the 
monastic  studies  in  the  memory — 

"Granim.    (Grammatiee)  loquitur  ;  Dia.  (Dialectice)  vera  doc«t ; 
Rhet.  (Rhetorice)  verba  colorat. " 

With  regard  to  the  early  history  of  eloquence  in  England, 
there  are  found,  indeed,  the  names  of  several  distinguished 
men  who  in  former  times  directed  the  resolutions  of  our 
parliament ;  but  no  pains  were  taken  fo  preserve  their 
speeches;  and,  as  Hume  observes,  the  authority  which 
they  possessed  seems  to  have  been  owing  to  their  expe- 
rience, wisdom,  or  power,  more  than  to  their  talents  for 
oratory.  It  was  not  until  the  close  of  the  last  century  (a 
period  which,  it  may  be  said,  Hume  did  not  live  to  see),  that 
an  era  arose  in  the  history  of  British  eloquence,  which  the 
genius  of  Chatham,  Pitt,  Burke,  Fox,  and  Sheridan  has 
consecrated  and  immortalized. 

We  can  only  allude  to  the  history  of  eloquence  in  other 
countries.  The  little  opportunity  afforded  for  a  display  of 
forensic  or  senatorial  eloquence  by  the  different  govern- 
ments of  Germany  has  almost  entirely  checked  its  growth 
in  that  country  ;  and  the  same  remark  is  applicable  to  Italy, 
Spain,  and  Portugal ;  all  of  which,  however,  have  been  rich 
in  the  eloquence  of  the  pulpit.  The  only  two  countries  in 
the  world  whose  orators  can  be  put  in  competition  with 
those  of  Britain,  are  France  and  America.  To  the  pulpit 
oratory  of  the  former,  the  illustrious  names  of  Bossuet, 
Bourdaloue,  and  Massillon  have  given  enduring  celebrity; 
while  the  popular  character  of  their  respective  institutions 


ELOQ.UENCE. 

has  formed  a  host  of  forensic  and  senatorial  speakers  wor- 
thy a  prominent  place  among  the  orators  of  antiquity,  and 
modern  limes.  The  pulpit  orators  of  England  are  too  well 
known  to  be  noticed  here. 

The  elements  of  eloquence  are  usually  comprised  under 
the  four  following  divisions — invention,  disposition,  elocu- 
tion, and  delivery.  The  first  has  reference  to  the  character 
of  the  thoughts  or  ideas  to  be  employed  ;  the  second  to 
their  arrangement  (usually  called  the  parts  of  a  discourse, 
— consisting  of  ihe  exordium  or  introduction,  the  narration, 
the  proposition,  the  proof  or  refutation,  and  the  perora- 
tion: see  these  terms) ;  and  the  third  and  fourth  have  re- 
spect to  words,  style,  utterance  action,  &c. 

The  Greeks  divided  discourses  according  to  their  con- 
tents, as  relating  to  precept  (\oyovs),  manners  (f)0r/),  and 
feelings  (jrnQr/),  and  as  Iherefore  calculated  to  instruct,  to 
please,  and  to  move.  The  Romans  distinguished  three 
kinds  of  eloquence : — the  demonstrative,  occupied  with 
praise  or  blame,  and  addressed  to  the  judgment;  the  de- 
liberative, which  acts  upon  the  will  by  persuasion  or  dis- 
suasion ;  and  the  judicial  or  forensic,  which  was  used  in 
defending  or  attacking— a  division  originally  laid  down 
by  Aristotle,  De  Rlietorica.  In  our  own  times,  a  division 
somewhat  similar  has  been  made  ;  and  the  bar,  the  senate, 
and  the  pulpit  are  the  three  grand  theatres  for  the  exhi- 
bition of  oratory.  With  regard  to  the  distinguishing  charac- 
teristics of  these  three  kinds  of  eloquence,  the  reader  will 
find  ample  information  on  this  head  by  consulting  Blair,  or 
Campbell's  Philosophy  of  Rhetoric.  The  following  is  a 
summary  of  their  views.  In  popular  assemblies,  the  great 
object  to  be  effected  by  the  orator  is  persuasion  :  the 
speaker  aims  at  determining  his  audience  to  adopt  some 
line  of  conduct,  as  good^fil,  or  useful;  and  in  order  to  ac- 
complish this  object,  he  must  address  himself  to  all  the 
principles  of  action  in  human  nature, — to  the  passions,  to 
the  heart,  as  well  as  to  the  understanding.  At  the  bar,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  is  not  persuasion,  but  conviclion,  that  the 
ora'or  aims  at  producing.  There  it  is  not  the  speaker's 
business  to  persuade  the  judges  to  what  is  good  and  use- 
ful, but  to  show  them  what  is  just  and  true.  Hence  it  is 
chiefly  lo  the  understanding  that  his  eloquence  is  to  be  ad- 
dressed. Hence,  also,  the  eloquence  of  the  bar  is  consi- 
dered by  most  rhetoricians  of  a  more  limited  kind  than 
that  of  popular  assemblies.  In  many  instances,  however, 
the  eloquence  of  the  bar  has  a  much  wider  scope  than  such 
writers  have  conceded,  and  the  trial  by  jury  admits  of  the 
most  impassioned  appeals  to  be  found  in  the  annals  of  mo- 
dern eloquence.  With  regard  to  the  eloquence  of  the  pulpit, 
though  it  appears  at  first  view  to  be  possessed  of  many 
qualities  advantageous  to  oratorical  display,  such  as  the 
dignity  and  sublimity  of  the  subject,  the  large  and  mixed 
audience,  and  Ihe  leisure  of  the  speaker  for  premeditation, 
these  will  be  found  to  be  counterbalanced  by  many  disad- 
vantages ;  e.g.  the  triteness  of  the  subject,  and  the  diffi- 
culty experienced  by  the  speaker  to  excite  attention. 
Besides,  at  the  bar,  or  in  the  senate,  the  orator  addresses 
passions  which  are  forbidden  ground  to  the  preacher;  and 
if  at  any  time  the  latter  makes  an  incursion  into  those  re- 
gions, he  is  in  danger  of  assuming  a  tone  inconsistent  with 
the  dignity  and  the  charity  of  his  profession.  The  fierce 
invective,  the  terrible  crimination,  the  bold  and  unexpected 
retort,  the  cutting  sarcasm,  the  cool  and  dignified  irony,  on 
the  one  hand.— and,  on  the  other,  the  skilful  flattery,  the 
exquisite  artifice,  with  which  the  baser  as  well  as  the  no- 
bler passions  of  the  audience  are  wrought  into  a  subservi- 
ence of  the  purpose  of  the  orator;  all  these  fall  more  or 
less  within  the  province  of  the  bar  and  the  senate,  but  are 
beyond  the  sphere  of  the  pulpit  orator.  With  all  these  re- 
strictions, however,  the  subjects  to  which  pulpit  eloquence 
may  be  addressed  are  sufficiently  extensive  to  admit  of 
great  oratorical  display  ;  and  as  to  convince  the  intellect  and 
force  the  unwilling  homage  of  the  reason,  as  well  as  to 
awaken  the  conscience  and  to  arouse  the  imagination,  are 
the  objects  of  preaching,  the  pulpit  orator  may,  by  the 
choice  of  his  subject,  at  one  time  be  argumentative  and 
ratiocinative,  at  another  declamatory  and  impassioned. 

It  is  admitted  on  all  sides  that,  in  modern  times,  elo- 
quence has  not  been  invested  with  so  much  importance,  or 
cultivated  with  so  much  care,  as  anions  the  ancients.  For 
the  cause  of  this  alleged  inferiority  of  modern  as  compared 
with  ancient  eloquence,  no  satisfactory  reason  has  been 
hitherto  assigned,  ami  nven  Hume  has  confessed  his  in- 
ability to  solve  the  problem.  Perhaps  one  cause  of  the 
ascendency  of  the  ancient  orators  lies  in  the  difference  of 
the  mpans  employed  in  ancient  and  modern  limes  to  gain 
the  consent  of  the  audience  Among  the  ancients,  the 
most  violent  and  passionate  expressions,  accompanied  by 
what  Cicero  calls  the  "  snpplosio  pedis,"  and  the  "  per- 
cussio  frontis  vel  femoris,"  were  not  only  admissible,  but 
were  even  necessary,  in  order  to  produce  an  effect  upon 
the  audience.  Among  the  moderns,  such  violence  of  ges- 
ture, except  on  the  staae,  would  excite  nothinz  but  lauzhter. 
Those  orators  are  now-a-days  more  esteemed  who  aim  at 
convincing  Ihe  understanding  than  at  captivating  the  feel- 
395 


EMANCIPATION. 

ings ;  and  this  is  a  characteristic  that  pervades  every  spe« 
cies  of  modern  eloquence.  Again,  if  we  look  to  the  pecu- 
liarities of  ancient  law,  the  tribunals  of  justice,  and  the 
legislative  assemblies  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  we  may 
perceive,  perhaps,  the  superior  arena  of  the  ancients.  The 
great  scope  for  eloquence  in  ancient  limes,  as  has  been 
observed  by  an  able  writer  in  the  Quarterly  Review,  arose 
from  a  circumstance  that  with  us  would  be  considered 
a  vice — the  blending  of  the  legislative  with  the  judicial 
powers.  When  the  legislature  is  employed,  as  in  England, 
in  establishing,  from  the  contemplation  pf  a  whole  class  of 
cases,  a  general  principle  for  deciding  on  every  future 
case  that  may  be  referable  to  that  class ;  and  when  the 
judicial  power  is  only  occupied  in  ascertaining  to  what 
previously  established  legal  class  any  particular  case 
belongs,  and  what  the  decision  of  the  law  is  regarding 
that  class :  in  this  state  of  things,  there  is  scope,  indeed, 
for  the  exercise  of  the  most  useful  and  respectable  pow- 
ers of  eloquence, — the  clear,  strong,  and  elegant  de- 
velopment of  ratiocination,  and  of  the  information  and  the 
viewsof  a  comprehensive  mind  ;  and  this  is  all.  Butwhen, 
as  was  the  case  in  Greece  and  Rome,  the  written  laws  are 
few  and  vaguely  expressed  ;  when  the  judges  exercise  an 
undefined  equitable  jurisdiction,  in  the  application  of 
which  they  are  not  bound  by  any  regulation  of  their  prede- 
cessors ;  still  more,  when  the  tribunal  is  invested  with  a 
direct  legislative  power,  the  question  is  no  longer  to  be 
decided  by  argument  and  the  application  to  general  prin- 
ciples alone,  but  the  individual  passions  and  interests  of 
the  judges  are  let  loose ;  and  then  all  the  higher  and  more 
perilous  faculties  of  the  orator  are  called  forth  to  rule  in 
this  war  of  elements,  and  direct  the  storm  as  may  suit  his 
purpose, — whether  to  sweep  away  falsehood  and  oppres- 
sion, or  to  bear  down  the  barriers  of  truth,  law,  and  justice. 
(See  Wliately's  Rhetoric ;  Campbell's  Rhetoric ;  Cicero, 
De  Oratore  ;  and  the  works  already  mentioned.) 

ELUTRIA'TION.  (Lat.  elutrio,  /  cleanse.)  The  sepa- 
ration of  substances  by  washing  them  in  large  quantities  of 
water,  so  that  the  heavier  particles  fall  to  the  bottom,  and 
the  lighter  ones,  remaining  some  time  suspended,  are  gra- 
dually deposited  in  a  finely  divided  state. 

EL'YDO'RIC  PAINTING.  (Gr.  cXaiov,  oil,  and  vSuip, 
water.)  In  Painting,  a  species  of  painlinz  with  a  vehicle 
composed  of  oil  and  water,  invented  by  M.  Vincent  of  Mont- 
petit.  Its  object  is  to  add  the  fresh  appearance  of  water 
colours  and  the  extreme  finish  of  miniature  painting  to  the 
mellowness  of  oil  colours.  Not,  however,  having  seen  any 
specimen  of  it,  we  are  unable  to  state  from  our  own 
knowledge  whether  those  objects  have  been  attained. 

ELY'SIUM,  or  the  ELYSIAN  FIELDS.  (Gr.  n\vaia 
rrlSia.)  In  Mythology,  the  region  lo  which  the  souls  of 
the  virtuous  were  said  by  the  poets  to  be  transported  after 
death.  They  are  variously  represented  as  a  part  of  the  in- 
fernal realms,  or  islands  situated  in  the  Western  Ocean  be- 
yond the  Columns  of  Hercules.  The  enjoyments  of  the 
blessed  spirits  in  this  abode  were  held  to  consist  in  the 
same  pursuits  that  were  their  delight  on  earth,  carried  on 
in  a  calmer  and  happier  climate  :  beautifully  described  in 
the  well-known  passage  (Orfyss.  iv.  563) — 

AAXo  a'  Si  n\v<?iov  ireSiov  teat  lrtipara  yatns,  &c. 
Thus  admirably  rendered  by  the  late  A.  Moore : — 

Thee  to  the  Elysian  plains,  earth's  farthest  end, 
Where  Rhadamanlhits  dwells  the  sods  shall  ;end  : 
There  mortala  easiest  pass  the  careless  hour; 
There  neither  winter  comes,  nor  snow,  nor  shower  ; 
But  ocean  ever,  to  refresh  mankind, 
Breathes  the  shrill  spirit  of  the  western  wind. 

A  tract  on  the  coast  of  Campania  was  also  termed  the 
Elysian  Fields. 

E'LYTRUM.  (Gr.  eXvrpov,  a  sheath.)  The  superior  or 
first  pair  of  wings  in  four-winged  insects  are  so  called  when 
they  are  of  a  coriaceous  and  hardly  flexible  texture,  and 
serve  as  a  protective  covering  to  the  second  pair;  as  in 
beetles. 

EMANATION,  SYSTEM  OF.  In  Philosophy.  See 
Pantheism. 

EMA'NCIPA'TION.  (Lat.  from  manenpo,  /  sell,  or  de- 
liver over  the  tangible  property  in  any  thing.)  By  the  an- 
cient Roman  law,  the  son  stood  in  the  relation  of  a  slave  to 
the  father.  By  a  fiction  of  that  law,  the  son  might  be  freed, 
from  this  relation  by  being  three  times  sold  (mancipatus) 
by  the  father.  Hence  the  enfranchisement  of  the  son  de- 
rived from  thi3  ceremony  the  name  of  emancipation.  In 
course  of  time,  various  modes  of  emancipation,  both  lacit 
and  express,  became  recognized  by  the  Roman  jurispru- 
dence. The  word,  in  countries  following  that  law,  sig- 
nifies the  exemption  of  the  son  from  the  power  of  the 
father,  either  by  express  act,  or  by  implication  of  law.  By 
the  present  civil  law  of  France,  majority  (and  with  it  eman- 
cipation) is  attained  at21  yearsof  aze  ;  and  the  marriage  ofa 
minor  emancipates  him.  (See  Code  Civil,  lib.  1.  ch  3.)  In 
ordinary  language,  emancipation  is  used  in  a  gpneral  sense 
to  signify  the  enfranchisement  ofa  slave,  or  the  admission 
of  particular  classes  to  the  enjoyment  of  civil  rights. 


EMARGINATE. 

EMA'RGINATE.  In  Zoology,  when  the  margin  of  a 
part  is  broken  by  an  obtuse  notch,  or  the  segment  of  a 
circle. 

EMARGFNULA.  A  subgenus  of  GastroporlousMollusks, 
dismembered  from  the  genus  Patella  of  Linnasus,  and 
characterized  by  a  shell  of  a  simple  conical  form,  but 
having  a  narrow  fissure  extending  from  the  margin  to  near 
the  summit. 

EMBA'LMING.  (Lat.  balsamum,  balm.)  A  process 
adopted  by  the  ancient  Egyptians,  chiefly  lor  the  preserva- 
tion of  dead  bodies  from  putrefaction.  The  term  is  derived 
from  the  use  of  balsamic  substances  in  the  operation  ;  in 
addition  to  these,  saline  substances  and  tanning  materials 
seem  also  to  have  been  used.  See  Mummy.  (See  Gran- 
ville, in  Pkil.  Trails.  ;  and  Pettigrew  upon  Mummies.) 

EMBA'NKMEIST.  In  territorial  improvement,  an  em- 
bankment is  a  mound  of  earth  or  a  wall,  or  a  structure 
composed  partly  of  a  wall  and  partly  of  a  bank  of  earth,  to 
protect  lands  from  being  overflown  by  rivers  or  the  sea. 
Embankments  appear  to  have  been  coeval  with  the  culture 
of  corn  crops  ;  because  these,  it  appears,  were  first  grown 
on  the  alluvial  soils  which  border  large  rivers,  and  to  pro- 
tect the  crops  from  the  overflowing  of  these  rivers  after 
heavy  or  long-continued  rains,  the  cultivator  would  natu- 
rally throw  up  a  bank  of  earth.  This  appears  to  have  been 
done  in  Egypt  at  the  most  remote  period  of  which  there  is 
any  record.  In  modem  times,  embankments  are  employ- 
ed, not  merely  to  protect  lands  under  cultivation,  but  to  en- 
close land  that  is  occasionally  overflown  by  rivers  or  the  sea, 
and  render  it  fit  for  the  purposes  of  husbandry.  This  has 
been  done  to  a  greater  extent  in  Holland  than  in  any  other 
country.  There  are  also  immense  embankments  in  Italy, 
particularly  in  Lombardy.  In  Britain,  we  have  the  em- 
bankments of  the  Thames  near  London,  which  have  been 
in  existence  since  the  time  of  the  Romans  ;  many  in  Lin- 
colnshire, formed  during  the  time  of  Cromwell,  and  some 
of  them  many  centuries  before  ;  and  one  of  the  most  re- 
cent is  that  at  Tre  Madoc  in  Caernarvonshire,  by  which 
upwards  of  4000  acres  were  recovered  from  spring  tides, 
and  in  great  part  rendered  fit  for  the  plough.  Embank- 
ments are  attended  with  immense  expense  ;  but  as  the  soil 
gained  or  protected  is  generally  of  the  best  quality,  a  judi- 
cious embankment  is  commonly  considered  as  paying 
about  the  same  rate  of  interest  as  a  landed  estate. 

EMBA'RGO.  A  restraint  or  prohibition  imposed  by  the 
public  authorities  of  a  country  on  merchant  vessels  or  other 
ships,  to  prevent  their  leaving  its  ports.  Embargoes  are 
usually  imposed  only  in  time  of  war,  or  in  apprehension  of 
an  invasion;  in  which  cases  the  government  employs  the 
ships  under  embargo  in  armaments,  expeditions,  and  trans- 
portation of  troops,  &c.  When  it  is  found  necessary  to 
stop  the  communication  of  intelligence  between  any  two 
places,  an  embargo  is  laid  upon  all  ships,  both  foreign  and 
under  the  national  flag. 

E'MBASSY.     See  Ambassador. 

E'MBER  DAYS,  in  the  Romish  calendar,  are  certain 
fasts  appointed  by  Pope  Calixtus  for  imploring  the  bless- 
ing of  the  Almighty  on  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  and  upon  the 
ordinations  performed  in  the  church  at  these  times.  They 
occur  four  times  a  year,  or  once  in  each  of  the  four  sea- 
sons ;  being  the  Wednesday,  Fridav,  and  Saturday  after 
the  first  Sunday  in  Lent,  after  the  Feast  of  Pentecost  or 
Whitsunday,  after  the  festival  of  Holy  Cross  on  the  14th  of 
September,  and  after  the  festival  of  St.  Lucia  on  the  13th 
of  December.  The  weeks  in  which  the  ember  days  fall 
are  called  ember  toeeks.  The  word  embers  signifies  ashes, 
which  the  primitive  Christians  strewed  on  their  heads  at 
these  solemn  fasts. 

EMBERFZA.  (Lat.)  The  name  of  a  genus  of  Passe- 
rine birds,  characterized  by  having  the  upper  mandible 
narrower  than  the  under  one,  with  the  edges  turned  in- 
wards, and  with  a  hard  knob  on  the  palate :  the  entire  bill 
has  the  usual  short  strong  conformation  of  the  Conirostral 
tribe  of  Passerine  birds.  It  is  now  the  type  of  a  family, 
subdivided  into  minor  genera,  under  the  name  of  Emberi- 
zida  or  Buntings. 

EMBE'ZZLEMENT,  in  Law,  is  a  felony,  consisting  of  the 
same  class  of  acts  which  would  in  any  other  case  amount 
to  larceny,  when  committed  by  one  employed  as  a  clerk 
or  servant,  and  by  virtue  of  his  office,  on  the  goods  and 
chattels  of  his  employer. 

E'MBLEM.  (Gr.  t)ifi\rtjia ;  from  tv  and  ftaMeiv,  to 
throw  in.)  Literally,  something  inserted.  This  term  has 
various  significations;  but  it  is  used  most  frequently  in 
English  to  signify  a  figurative  representation,  which  by  the 
power  of  association  suggests  to  the  mind  some  idea  not 
expressed  to  the  senses.  In  Bibliography,  books  consisting 
of  a  series  of  plates,  containing  emblematic  subjects,  with 
explanations,  generally  in  verse,  in  Latin  or  modern  lan- 
guages, are  termed  books  of  emblems.  They  were  fash- 
ionable in  the  latter  half  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The 
best  known  is  the  Emhlemata  Alciati,  by  Andre  Alciat,  a 
French  lawver,  which  went  through  many  editions. 

EMBOLFSMIC  (Gr.  cu/3a\\o),  I  insert),  in  Chronology, 
396 


EMBRYO. 

signifies  the  same  thing  as  intercalary,  and  is  chiefly  ap> 
plied  to  the  additional  months  required  to  fill  up  the  lunar 
cycle.     See  Cycle  and  Epact. 

EMBO'SSING,  Embossment.  (Fr.  bosse,  a  protuberance.) 
In  Architecture  and  Sculpture,  the  raising  or  forming  in 
rilievo  any  sort  of  figure,  whether  performed  with  a  chisel 
or  otherwise.  It  is  a  kind  of  sculpture,  in  which  the 
figures  rise  from  the  plane  on  which  they  are  formed  ; 
and  as  they  are  more  or  less  prominent,  they  are  said  to  be 
in  alto,  mezzo,  or  basso  rilievo. 

EMBOUCHU'RE  (Fr.),  signifies  the  mouthof  ariver:  it 
is  used  also  for  the  mouth-piece  of  a  musical  instrument. 

EMBRA'CERY.  (Norm.  Fr.  embraserie.)  In  Law,  the 
offence  of  endeavouring  to  corrupt  or  influence  a  jury ; 
punishable  by  fine  and  imprisonment 

E'MBRASU'RE.  In  Fortification,  an  opening  made  in 
the  wall  or  parapet  of  a  fortified  place,  or  breast-work  of  a 
battery,  through  which  the  guns  are  fired.  The  embra- 
sures are  usually  made  about  two  and  a  half  feet  wide  at 
the  interior  extremity,  and  eight  or  nine  feet  at  the  exte- 
rior ;  and  the  sole  or  lower  surface  is  at  the  height  of  about 
two  and  a  half  feet  above  the  platform  on  which  the  car- 
riage of  the  gun  is  placed;  but  their  forms  and  dimen- 
sions are  of  course  varied,  according  to  their  position  rela- 
tively to  that  of  the  point  against  which  the  fire  is  to  be 
directed. 

E'MBROCATION.  (Gr.  cufipexw,  /  moisten.)  A  fluid 
application  to  any  part  of  the  body  when  painful  or  in- 
flamed. 

EMBROFDERY.  (Fr.  broderie.)  The  name  given  to 
the  art  of  working  figures  on  stuffs  or  muslins  with  a  nee- 
dle and  thread.  All  embroidery  may  be  divided  into  two 
sorts,  embroidery  on  stuffs  and  on  muslin:  the  former  is 
used  chiefly  in  church  vestments,  housings,  standards,  ar- 
ticles of  furniture,  &c,  and  is  executed  with  silk,  cotton, 
wool,  gold  and  silver  threads,  and  sometimes  ornamented 
with  spangles,  real  or  mock  pearls,  precious  or  imitation 
stones,  &c. ;  the  latter  is  employed  mostly  in  articles  of 
female  apparel,  as  caps,  collars,  &c,  and  is  performed 
only  with  cotton.  In  Germany  this  division  is  indicated  by 
the  expression  iceisse  (white  or  muslin),  and  bunte  Slicke- 
rei  (coloured  or  cloth)  embroidery.  The  embroidery  of 
stuffs  is  performed  on  a  kind  of  loom  or  frame  ;  that  of 
muslin  by  stretching  it  on  a  pattern  already  designed. 
The  modes  of  embroidering  stuffs  or  muslin  with  the 
common  needle  are  extremely  various  ;  but  a  minute  de- 
scription of  these  processes  would  be  as  difficult  as  it 
would  be  uninteresting  to  the  general  reader.  They  con- 
sist for  the  most  part  of  a  combination  of  ordinary  stitches ; 
but  no  limit  can  be  assigned  to  their  number  or  variety. 
The  art  of  embroidery  was  well  known  to  the  ancients. 
As  early  as  the  time  of  Moses  we  find  it  practised  success- 
fully by  the  Hebrews ;  and  long  before  the  Trojan  war 
the  women  of  Sidon  had  acquired  celebrity  for  their  skill 
in  embroidery.  At  a  later  period,  this  art  was  introduced 
into  Greece,  probably  by  the  Phrygians  (by  some  consi- 
dered as  the  inventors) ;  and  to  such  a  degree  of  skill  did 
the  Grecian  women  attain  in  it,  that  their  performances 
were  said  to  rival  the  finest  paintings.  In  our  own  times 
the  art  of  embroidery  has  been  cultivated  with  great  suc- 
cess, more  especially  in  Germany  and  France ;  and  though 
for  a  long  period  it  was  practised  only  by  the  ladies  of  these 
countries  as  an  elegant  accomplishment,  it  is  now  regarded 
as  a  staple  of  traffic,  and  furnishes  employment  for  a  large 
portion  of  the  population.  In  England  also  it  appears  to 
have  taken  deep  root,  as  it  now  forms  an  accomplishment, 
of  which  almost  every  lady  is  in  possession.  About  seven 
years  ago  a  great  impetus  was  given  to  the  cultivation  of 
this  art,  both  on  the  Continent  and  in  England,  by  the  in- 
vention of  a  machine  which  enables  a  female  to  execute 
the  most  complex  patterns  with  130  needles,  all  in  motion 
at  once,  as  accurately  as  she  could  formerly  do  with  one. 
But  as  no  account  of  this  remarkable  invention  which  we 
might  give  could  be  intelligible  without  the  aid  of  illustra- 
tions, which  would  be  out  of  place  in  this  work,  we  must 
refer  the  reader  to  Dr.  Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts,  fyc.  for 
full  information  respecting  it.  One  such  machine  with  130 
needles  is  estimated  to  perform  daily  the  work  of  15  hand 
embroiderers  employed  in  the  ordinary  way.  Many  of 
them  are  now  mounted  in  Germany,  France,  and  Switzer- 
land ;  and  in  Manchester  there  is  one  factory  where  they 
do  beautiful  work.  (See  the  Art  of  Needlework,  edited  by 
the  Countess  of  Wilton.     Lond.  1840. ) 

E'MBRYO.  (Gr.  epPpvov,  from  0pvo),  1  bud  forth.)  In 
Botany,  a  fleshy  body  occupying  the  interior  of  a  seed, 
and  constituting  the  rudiment  of  a  future  plant.  It  is  di- 
vided into  three  parts ; — viz.  a  plumula  or  growing  point,  a 
radicle  or  root,  and  a  cotyledon  or  cotyledons.  It  is  the 
vegetable  fetus ;  and  is  so  tenacious  of  life  under  particu- 
lar circumstances,  that  there  are  well-attested  instances  of 
its  having  preserved  its  vitality  much  beyond  1000  years. 
The  term  is  also  applied  to  the  fetus  in  utero  before  the 
fifth  month  of  pregnancy,  because  its  growth  has  been 
compared  to  the  budding  of  a  plant. 


EMBRYOTOMY. 

EMBRYO'TOMY.  (Gr.  cuffpvov,  thefoztus,  and  tcuvcj, 
I  cut. )  The  operation  of  cutting  the  tetus  out  of  the  womb. 
E'MERALD.  (Fr.  emeraucte.)  A  mineral  of  a  beauti- 
ful geen  color,  which  occurs  in  prismatic  crystals,  and  is 
much  valued  for  ornamental  jewellery.  The  finest  are  ob- 
tained from  Peru.  It  consists  of  65  silica,  IS  alumina,  13 
glucina,  about  3  oxide  of  chromium  (which  is  the  colour- 
ing matter),  and  a  trace  of  lime.  (Vauqvelin.)  The  mines 
from  which  the  ancients  obtained  emeralds  are  said  to 
have  existed  in  Egypt,  near  Mount  Zabarah.    (Caillaud). 

EME'RITI.  (Lat.)  The  name  given  to  the  soldiers  and 
other  public  functionaries  of  ancient  Rome,  who  had  re- 
tired from  their  country's  service.  On  these  occasions  the 
parties  were  entitled  to  some  remuneration,  resembling 
our  half  pay ;  but  whether  it  was  a  grant  of  land  or  of 
money  has  not  been  accurately  ascertained. 

EME'RSION.  (Lat.  emergo,  I  sink.)  In  Astronomy, 
the  reappearance  of  the  sun,  moon,  or  planets,  or  of  a  star, 
from  behind  the  celestial  body  by  which  it  has  been 
eclipsed.  The  phenomena  of  immersions  and  emersions 
are  of  considerable  use  in  determining  the  longitudes  of 
places. 

E'MERY.  (From  Cape  Emeri  in  the  island  of  Naxos.) 
A  variety  of  corundum  ;  amorphous,  compact,  and  gene- 
rally opaque.  It  is  characterized  by  excessive  hardness; 
and  its  powder  is  used  for  cutting  and  polishing  glass, 
gems,  and  all  hard  substances :  it  scratches  and  wears 
down  nearly  all  minerals  except  the  diamond. 

EME'TICS.  (Gr.  cacto,  I  vomit.)  Medicines  which 
occasion  vomiting.  The  only  vegetable  emetic  in  general 
use  is  ipecacuanha,  from  ten  to  twenty  grains  of  which  is 
a  dose  ;  the  chief  mineral  emetics  are  the  tartrate  of  an- 
timony  and  potash,  or  emetic  tartar,  sulphate  of  zinc,  and 
sulphate  of  copper.  When  it  is  merely  wished  to  evacuate 
the  contents  of  the  stomach  in  cases  where  it  is  disordered 
by  improper  food,  twenty  grains  of  ipecacuanha  in  an  ounce 
of  water  is  a  safe  and  good  emetic  ;  it  generally  operates 
in  ten  or  twenty  minutes,  and  its  action  may  be  assisted 
by  chamomile  tea  or  warm  water.  At  the  beginning  of 
fevers  or  inflammatory  disorders,  an  emetic  is  often  ad- 
vantageously administered,  and  then  ten  or  fifteen  grains 
of  ipecacuanha  with  half  a  grain  or  a  grain  of  emetic  tartar 
in  an  ounce  and  a  half  of  water  is  to  be  preferred  :  the  per- 
spiration which  the  vomit  induces  should  be  kept  up  by 
remaining  in  bed,  and  by  warm  drinks  or  other  proper  re- 
medies. Where  poisons  have  been  swallowed,  the  stomach 
is  often  insensible  to  these  means,  especially  where  large 
doses  of  opium  are  concerned  ;  and  then  half  a  drachm  of 
sulphate  of  zinc  or  of  sulphate  of  copper  may  be  dissolved 
in  three  ounces  of  warm  water,  and  a  third  part  of  the  solu- 
tion taken  every  ten  minutes  till  it  operates.  In  such  cases, 
however,  the  stomach-pump  is  principally  to  be  relied 
upon.  When  emetics  are  given  in  small  doses,  they  pro- 
duce nausea,  and  to  this  extent  they  have  proved  useful  in 
restraining  hemorrhage  of  the  lungs  and  stomach.  Emetics 
should  be  avoided  in  all  plethoric  habits,  and  where  there 
are  any  symptoms  announcing  fulness  of  the  vessels  of 
the  head  ;  in  hernia,  in  the  advanced  stage  of  pregnancy, 
and  in  active  inflammations.  They  should  also  be  given 
with  the  utmost  caution  to  young  children  ;  and  when  given, 
ipecacuanha  should  be  resorted  to.  Old  chronic  pains 
and  obstinate  rheumatism  are  sometimes  relieved  by  an 
emetic. 

EME'TIC  TA'RTAR.  A  triple  salt,  composed  of  oxide 
of  antimony,  potassa,  and  tartaric  acid.  It  is  soluble  in 
eighteen  parts  of  cold  and  in  three  of  boiling  water.  In  the 
close  of  from  half  a  grain  to  two  grains  it  operates  as  a  pow- 
erful emetic  and  sudorific  ;  in  smaller  doses,  it  acts  upon 
the  bowels,  and  is  diaphoretic. 

E'METINE.  A  substance  discovered  in  1817  by  Pel- 
letier  in  ipecacuanha.  It  is  white,  pulverulent,  and  bitter; 
easily  soluble  in  hot  water  and  alcohol,  and  intensely 
emetic.  It  exists  in  ipecacuanha  to  the  amount  of  about 
1G  per  cent.,  and  appears  to  be  the  sole  cause  of  its  emetic 
properly. 

EMIGRA'TION.  (Lat.)  Migration  is  the  movement  of 
an  individual  or  a  number  of  people  from  one  place  of  re- 
sidence to  another:  emigration,  their  abandonment  of 
their  former  home  ;  immigration  (a  word  of  modern  coin- 
age), their  settlement  in  their  new  one.  Emigration  is, 
in  modern  times,  chiefly  regarded  in  the  light  of  a  mode 
of  relieving  a  country  or  district  labouring  under  excess 
of  population.  The  prejudices  which  formerly  existed 
against  it,  on  account  of  the  loss  of  inhabitants  thus  sus- 
tained by  a  country,  have  long  been  removed,  both  by 
severe  necessity,  and  by  the  progress  of  economical  know- 
ledge. The  power  of  reproduction  in  the  human  race  is 
so  great,  that  the  vacuum  occasioned  by  any  practicable 
amount  of  emigration  is  speedily  filled.  It  was  long  ago 
observed  that  those  provinces  in  Spain  from  which  the 
most  constant  emigration  to  America  was  going  on  (Bis- 
cay, Asturias,  &c.)  were  among  the  best  peopled.  The 
subject  of  emigration,  considered  in  an  economical  light, 
has  been  amply  discussed  by  Sir  W.  Horton  (1825,  &c.)  by 
397 


EMPHASIS. 

Col.  Torrens,  and  by  Mr.  G.  Wakefield  (on  Colonization, 
1830,  in  which  there  are  some  curious  calculations  as  to 
the  effect  produced  on  the  movement  of  population  by  the 
emigration  of  a  comparatively  small  number  of  marriage- 
able persons:  England  and  America,  1837.)  Emigration 
from  our  islands  has  for  two  centuries  been  chiefly  directed 
to  North  America :  of  late  years,  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
and  Australia  have  begun  to  absorb  a  small  portion  of  our 
surplus  population.  In  1831,  a  government  commission  on 
emigration  was  formed,  with  a  view  to  the  regulation  of  the 
practice;  by  which  officers  were  appointed  both  at  home 
and  in  the  North  American  colonies  to  watch  over  the  in- 
terests of  emigrants  and  furnish  them  with  necessary  in- 
formation. With  reference  to  Australia,  they  established, 
for  the  first  time,  the  useful  principle  of  disposing  of  the 
public  lands  by  sale,  in  order  to  form  a  fund  for  emigration. 
The  following  table,  showing  the  number  of  emigrants  who 
have  left  the  United  Kingdom  from  1825  to  1837  inclusive, 
is  taken  from  the  Journal  of  the  London  Statistical  Society, 
i.  159. 


1825 

14,891 

1830 

56,907 

1835  .  44,478 

18*26 

20,900 

1831 

83,160 

1836  .  75,417 

1827 

28,003 

1832 

103,140 

1837  .  72,034 

1828 

26,092 

1833 

.  62,527 



1829 

31,198 

1834 

76,222 

In  all  694,969 

Of  these  there  went,  in  1837, 

29,884  to  the  North  American  colonies. 
36,770  to  the  United  States. 

326  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 
5,054  to  the  Australian  colonies. 
The  number  in  the  same  year  from  England  was  40,502 

Scotland    .      4,779 

Ireland       .    26,753 

The  control  of  this  important  department  is  now  (1841) 
transferred  to  three  officers,  entitled  Commissioners  of 
Colonial  Lands  and  Emigration. 

E'MINENCE.  A  title  of  honour  borne  in  Europe  by 
various  dignitaries  at  different  times  ;  but  appropriated  to 
cardinals  by  a  papal  decree  of  the  year  1630. 

E'MIR.  (In  Arabic,  chief  or  lord.)  The  khalifs  took  the 
title  of  Emir-al- Mumenin, — chief  or  commander  of  the 
Faithful.  The  title  is  now  given  by  prescriptive  usage  to 
those  who  are  considered  to  descend  from  Mohammed,  by 
his  son-in-law  Ali  and  daughter  Fatima(see  Scherif,  a  title 
having  the  same  application).  But  when  joined  to  another 
word  expressive  of  a  particular  command  or  office,  it  is  a 
common  title  of  dignity  ;  as,  Emir-al-  Omrah  — a  title  given 
by  the  Turks  to  viziers  and  pachas,  &c.     See  Mirza. 

EMME'NAGOGUE.  (Gr.  cuunvtoc,  monthly,  and  ayto, 
Imove.)  Medicines  which  promote  the  menstrual  evacu- 
ation. 

EMO'LLIENTS.  (Lat.  emollio,  /  soften.)  Medicines 
which  are  supposed  to  relax  the  living  animal  fibre. 

E'MPEROR  (Lat.  imperator),  was  originally  merely  the 
title  of  a  Roman  general ;  but,  on  the  fall  of  the  republic, 
it  was  particularly  applied  to  the  head  of  the  state.  The 
authority  of  the  Roman  emperors  was  formed  principally 
by  the  combination  of  the  chief  offices  of  the  old  republic 
in  a  single  person ;  besides  which,  some  extraordinary 
powers  were  conferred.  Thus,  Octavius  held  the  titles  of 
emperor,  proconsul,  and  tribune,  pontifex  maximus  or 
high  priest;  and  was  invested  with  perpetual  consular  au- 
thority, and  also  that  of  the  censorship.  Besides  this,  he 
was  termed  prince  of  the  senate,  and  Augustus,  which  de- 
signation descended  to  his  successors;  but  he  was  much 
more  moderate  in  his  use  of  titular  dignities  than  his  suc- 
cessors, contenting  himself  with  substantial  power.  The 
provinces  of  the  empire  were  divided  between  the  senate 
and  emperor,  who  appointed  their  governors,  distinguished 
by  the  respective  titles  of  proconsul  and  propraMor ;  but 
this  division  threw  all  the  armies  into  the  hands  of  the  lat- 
ter, as  he  took  for  his  share  the  frontier  provinces.  The 
emperors  appointed  their  own  successors,  who  were  dig- 
nified with  the  title  of  Ceesar,  and  in  later  times  enjoyed  a 
share  in  the  government.  Dioclesian  first  divided  the  care 
of  the  empire  with  a  second  Augustus  in  the  person  of 
Maximian,  and  each  of  these  colleagues  associated  with 
himself  a  Cssar.  After  the  court  was  removed  to  Con- 
stantinople, the  old  titles  and  forms  of  the  republic  vanished 
by  degrees,  and  the  emperors  assumed  the  style  of  oriental 
princes. 

Charlemagne  assumed  the  title  of  emperor  after  his  co- 
ronation at  Rome ;  and  from  his  time  this  title  (in  German 
kaiser)  was  claimed  exclusively,  in  western  Europe,  by  the 
rulers  of  Germany.  On  the  dissolution  of  the  German 
empire  in  1805,  the  title  passed  to  the  emperor  of  Austria, 
and,  in  the  same  year,  Napoleon  assumed  it  in  France  :  the 
czars  of  Russia  claimed  it  in  the  reisn  of  Alexander. 

E'MPHASIS.  (From  the  Greek  preposition  cv,  and  ^r\fii, 
I  speak.)  In  Elocution,  the  stress  laid  on  particular  words 
or  syllables  in  the  pronunciation  of  a  sentence,  in  order  to 
express  or  enforce  a  meaning.  It  is  divided  by  some 
writers  into  emphasis  of  force,  which  we  lay  on  almost 
every  significant  word  ;  and  emphasis  of  sense,  which  wa 
35 


EMPHYSEMA. 

lay  on  particular  words,  to  distinguish  them  from  the  rest 
of  the  sentence. 

EMPHYSE'MA.  (Gr.  eutyvcaoi,  Iinflate.)  A  collection 
of  air  in  the  cellular  membrane,  rendering  the  part  tense 
and  elastic,  and  crepitating  when  pressed. 

EMPH  yTE'USIS.  (Gr.  efityvrevois,  from  <pvTov,  a  plant ; 
a  contract  conveying  the  right  of  cultivation.)  In  the  Civil 
Law,  a  contract  by  which  houses  or  lands  are  given  to  be 
possessed  for  ever,  or  for  a  long  term,  on  condition  they 
shall  be  improved,  and  a  small  annual  rent  or  pension 
(canon  emphyteuticus).  either  in  money,  grain,  or  any  other 
thing,  reserved  and  made  payable  to  the  grantor  as  a  re- 
cognition of  his  paramount  title.  The  grantor  is  said  to  re- 
tain the  dominium  directum,  the  grantee  to  acquire  the 
dominium  utile.  The  Scottish  grant  in  feu-farm  resembles 
the  emphyteusis.  From  this  word  (pronounced  in  the 
lower  age  of  Latinity  emphytefsis)  it  is  supposed  that  fief 
(fevodum,  feodum)  is  derived. 

E'MPIRE.  (Lat.  imperium.)  Originally  the  territory 
or  extent  of  land  under  the  command  and  jurisdiction  of 
an  emperor.  The  dominions  under  the  sway  of  ancient 
Rome  were  the  first  to  which  the  term  empire  was  applied  : 
they  consisted  of  two  grand  divisions, — the  Empire  of  the 
East,  or,  as  it  was  afterwards  called,  the  Lower  Empire  ; 
and  the  Empire  of  the  West.  The  former  admitted  of  va- 
rious subdivisions  in  reference  to  the  different  dynasties  to 
which  it  was  subject ;  and  the  latter  became,  about  the  end 
of  the  9th  century,  the  German  or  Holy  Roman  Empire. 
In  all  these  cases  the  sovereign  or  chief  person  in  the  em- 
pire was  named  the  emperor.  But  the  term  empire  has 
in  several  instances  been  employed  to  designate  a  large 
extent  of  dominion,  without  reference  to  the  title  of  the 
ruler  or  sovereign  of  a  country :  thus  we  hear  of  the  em- 
pire of  Persia,"  Hindostan.  &c.  The  dominions  of  the 
Queen  of  England  are  invariably  designated  the  British  Em- 
pire ;  and  the  epithet  "  imperial"  is  officially  prefixed  to 
the  parliament  of  the  United  Kingdom.  The  term  empire 
was  applied  from  1S04  to  1314  to  the  dominions  of  France, 
including  all  the  countries  then  incorporated  with  it  by  the 
conquests  of  Napoleon. 

EMPI'RIC.  (Gr.  tfi-etpiKog.)  One  whose  knowledge 
is  founded  on  experience.  The  empiric  school  of  medi- 
cine was  opposed  to  the  dogmatic;  it  appears  to  have  ori- 
ginated with  Serapion  of  Alexandria.  The  empirics  con- 
sidered the  foundation  of  medical  science  to  rest  upon  ex- 
perience, derived  either  directly  from  experiment  or  from 
chance  and  imitation.  They  were,  however,  a  pretending, 
and  generally  ignorant  sect ;  so  that  the  term  empiric  is 
generally  applied  to  quacks  and  pretenders,  without  refer- 
ence to  its  strict  etymology,  which  should  have  limited  it 
to  the  study  of  medicine,  in  accordance  with  the  principles 
of  Lord  Bacon's  philosophy. 

EMPLE'CTION.  (Gr.  eunXexw,  I  entangle.)  In  Archi- 
tecture, a  method  of  constructing  walls,  in  which,  accord- 
ing to  Vitruvius,  the  front  stones  were  wrought  fair,  and  the 
interior  left  rough  and  filled  in  with  stones  of  various  sizes. 
EMPO'RIUM.  (Gr.  eunoptov.)  A  Greek  word  wholly 
naturalized  in  England,  signifying  a  city  or  place  where 
great  commercial  transactions  are  made.  This  word  has 
been  in  use  in  England  upwards  of  three  centuries. 

EMPROSTHO'TONOS.     (Gr.  eurrpoodev,  forwards,  and 

tcivcj,  I  draic.)    A  spasmodic  action  of  the  muscles,  by 
which  the  body  is  involuntarily  drawn  forwards. 

EMPYE'MA.  (Gr.  ev,  in,  and  ttvov,  pus.)  A  collection 
of  purulent  matter  in  the  cavity  of  the  thorax.     This  is  an 

occasional  termination  of  pleurisy,  and  is  attended  by  dif- 
ficulty of  breathing  and  inability  to  lie  on  the  side  opposite 

that  which  is  affected  ;  an  external  swelling  is  sometimes 

Eerceptible,  and  the  matter  has  occasionally  been  let  out 
y  making  an  opening  between  the  sixth  and  seventh  ribs. 
EMPYRE'AL  AIR.     Oxygen  gas. 

EMPYREU'MA.  (Gr.  efiirvpeva),  I  kindle.)  A  burned 
odour.  Hence,  the  oils  obtained  by  distilling  various  or- 
ganic substances  at  high  temperatures  are  called  empyreu- 
malic  oils. 

EMU.  A  three-toed  Struthions  bird,  peculiar  to  Austra- 
lia, differing  from  the  rhea  of  South  America  in  the  extreme 
shortness  of  its  wings,  and  from  the  cassowary  of  Java  in 
the  absence  of  the  horny  projection  on  the  head. 

EMU'LGENT.  The  artery  and  vein  of  the  kidney  are 
so  called. 

EMU'LSION.  (Lat.  emulgeo,  I  milk.)  A  milky  liquid; 
as  almond  emulsion. 

EMU'NCTORIES.  (Lat.  emungo,  I  drain  off.)  The  ex- 
cretory ducts  of  the  body. 

E'MYDINES,  Emydina.  A  section  of  Chelonian  rep- 
tiles or  tortoises,  having  the  genus  Emys  as  the  type. 

EMY'DO-SAURIANTS,  Emydosauria.  (Gr  tjivs,  and 
oavpos,  a  lizard.)  The  name  of  an  order  of  the  class  Rep- 
tilia,  including  the  tribe  of  Crocodiles  (Crocodiliens,  Cuv.), 
which  form  part  of  the  order  Sauria  of  the  Regne  Animal. 
ENA'LIOSAU'RIA.  (Gr.  tv,  in,  aX{,  the  sea,  and  aavpos, 
a  lizard.)  A  name  applied  to  the  entire  group  of  extinct 
Saurians,  in  the  organization  of  which  paddles,  like  those 
398 


ENDOGENS. 

of  the  whale  or  turtle,  were  combined  with  the  head  and 
trunk  of  a  crocodile.     See  Ichthyosatjr,  Plesiosaur. 

ENA'MEL.  (Fr.  enemail.)  A  semitransparent  or  opaque 
glass.  Common  glass  fused  with  oxide  ol  tin  is  converted 
into  enamel.  It  is  often  variously  coloured. 
ENAMEL  OF  TEETH.  See  Teeth. 
ENAMEL  PAINTING.  (Fr.  en  email.)  In  Painting,  the 
art  of  painting  with  vitrifiable  colours  on  thin  plates  of  me- 
tals which  are  melted  on  to  it.  This  art  is  of  extremely 
high  antiquity  ;  it  was  practised  by  the  Egyptians  to  a  con- 
siderable extent,  and  by  the  Etruscans  from  the  time  of 
Persenna.  After  lying  dormant,  or  at  least  in  little  vogue, 
for  centuries,  it  was  renewed  in  Italy  under  the  pontificate 
of  Julius  II.  The  various  colours  used  are  prepared  from 
oxides  of  different  metals,  melted  with  some  vitrescent 
mixture  laid  on  with  a  fine  brush,  the  medium  being  oil  of 
spike  or  some  other  essential  oil :  and  it  is  not  difficult  to 
conceive,  says  Mr.  Aikin,  "  how  much  the  difficulties  of 
this  nice  art  are  increased,  where  the  object  is  not  merely 
to  lay  a  uniform  coloured  glazing  on  a  metallic  surface,  but 
also  to  paint  that  surface  with  figures  and  other  designs 
that  require  extreme  delicacy  of  outline,  accuracy  of 
shadowing,  and  selection  of  colouring.  The  enamel  painter 
has  to  work,  not  with  actual  colours,  but  with  mixtures 
which  he  knows  from  experience  will  produce  certain  co- 
lours after  the  operation  of  the  fire.1'  This  work  requires 
several  firings.  The  outline  is  first  burnt  in,  after  which 
the  parts  are  filled  up  gradually  with  repeated  burnings  to 
the  last  finishing  touches. 

EN  ARTHRO'SIS.  (Gr.  tv,  in,  and  apQpov,  a  joint.)  The 
ball  and  socket  joint. 

ENCA'MPMENT,  in  Military  affairs,  signifies  the  posi- 
tion occupied  for  an  indefinite  period  by  an  army,  with  all 
its  artillery,  stores,  baggage,  &c,  either  for  the  purposes  of 
exercise  or  warfare. 

ENCANTHIS.  (Gr.  tv,  in,  and  xavOos,  the  angle  of  the 
eye.)  A  small  tumour  or  excrescence  growing  from  the 
inner  angle  of  the  eye. 

ENCA'RPUS.  (Gr.  tv,  and  Kapnos,  fruit.)  In  Archi- 
tecture, the  festoons  on  a  frieze,  consisting  of  fruits,  flowers, 
leaves,  &c. 

ENCAU'STIC  PAINTING.  (Gr.  tv,  and  KavariKOS, 
burning.)  In  Painting,  a  method  of  painting  used  by  the 
ancients,  the  precise  mode  of  executing  which  is  by  no 
means  sufficiently  explained.  From  Pliny's  account,  it 
seems  that  the  colours  were  made  up  into  crayons  through 
a  medium  of  wax,  and,  the  subject  being  previously  traced 
with  a  metal  point,  were  melted  on  the  picture  as  they 
were  used.  The  picture  being  finished,  a  varnish  of  melted 
wax  was  spread  over  all.  The  colours  thus  not  only  ob- 
tained considerable  brilliancy,  but  the  work  was  also  pro- 
tected from  the  weather.  It  was  lastly  well  polished.  The 
attempts  to  revive  this  art,  which,  after  all,  if  we  may  draw 
our  conclusion  from  Pliny's  account,  seems  to  have  been 
but  a  clumsy  process,  have  not  been  attended  with  success- 
ENCE'PHALOCE'LE.  (Gr.  ty*t(pa\os,  the  brain,  and 
Kyj^r],  a  tumour.)  Hernia  of  the  brain.  There  are  two 
kinds  of  this  disease  :  one  occurs  in  young  infants,  before 
the  skull  is  completely  ossified  ;  the  other  presents  itself 
after  the  destruction  of"  a  part  of  the  skull  in  consequence 
of  disease,  accident,  or  the  operation  of  the  trepan. 

ENCE'PHALON.  (Gr.  ev,  in,  and  Ktipa\rt,  the  head.) 
The  brain.     The  contents  of  the  cranium. 

ENCHA'NTMENT.  The  name  given  to  the  charms  or 
ceremonies  to  which  magicians  have  recourse  in  the  prac- 
tice of  their  art.  It  is  derived  from  the  Lat.  in,  and  cantare,  ' 
to  sing ;  and  is  so  called  because  the  formula?  used  in 
magic  were  usually  written  in  verse  and  designed  to  be 
sung.  See  Magic,  Demonologt. 
ENCHASING.     See  Chasing. 

ENCHIRI'DION.     (Gr.   eyxtipiStov,  from   ev,  in,  and 
%tip,  thehand.)    In  Literature,  a  brief  and  useful  compila- 
tion ;  a  manual.   The  ethical  treatise  of  Epictetus  is  termed 
his  Enchiridion. 
ENCLI'TICS.     See  Particles. 
E'NCRINITES.     See  Crinoideans. 
ENCYCLOPEDIA.    See  Cyclopedia,  Dictionary. 
ENCY'STED.     A  term  applied  to  tumours  which   are 
inclosed  in  a  sac  or  cyst. 

ENDE'CAGON,  or  UNDECAGON.  (Gr.  tvgtita.  eleven, 
and  ycovia.  angle.)  A  plane  geometrical  figure  bounded 
by  eleven  sides.  If  the  sides  are  all  equal,  and  the  length  of 
each  be  supposed  =  1,  the  area  of  the  figure  is  9-36564. 

ENDE'MIC.  (Gr.  tv,  amongst,  and  Sn/xoi.  the  people.)  A 
disease  peculiar  to  a  certain  class  of  persons,  or  to  a  cer- 
tain district.  Thus  agues  or  intermittent  fevers  are  ende- 
mic in  low  countries, — the  goitre  in  the  Alps,  the  plica  Po- 
lonica  in  Poland.     »S'ee  Epidemic. 

E'NDOCA'RPIUM.  (Gr.  tvoov,  trithin,  and  Kapiros, 
fruit.)  A  term  invented  by  Richard  to  denote  the  inner 
coat  or  shell  of  a  fruit. 

E'NDOGENS.  (Gr.  evtiov,  and  yewofiai,  1  groie.)  One 
of  the  primary  classes  of  plants,  so  called  because  their 
stems  grow  by  successive  additions  to  the  inside.    They 


ENDOPHYLLOUS. 


are  usually  known  by  the  veins  of  their  J«JIM*J 
parallel  with  each  other,  without  branching  or  d'v>amg. 
ferasses,  lilies,  the  asparagus,  and  similar  plants  belong  to 
this  class,  which  in  warm  countries  contains  trees  ot 
large  size,  such  as  palms  and  screw  pines. 

ENDOPHY'LLOUS.  (Gr.  cvdov,  and  0t>AAoi/,  a  leaj.) 
A  term  invented  by  Dumortier  to  denote  the  young  eaves 
of  Monocotyledons,  from  their  being  evolved  within  a 
sheath,  while  those  of  Exogens  are  not  so  enclosed. 

ENDOPLEU'RA.  (Gr.  tv&ov,  and  n\tvpa)  the  siae.)  in 
Botsnv,  the  internal  integument  of  a  seed. 

E'NDORHI'ZjE.  (Gr.  evOov,  and  pi(a,  a  root.}  Aieini 
invented  by  Richard  for  the  embryo  of  *»^J*°M 
which  the  radicle  has  to  rupture  I the  integument i .the  base 
of  a  seed  prior  to  entering  into  the  earth,  appearing  as  U  it 
came  from  within  the  mother  root. 
ENDORSEMENT.  See  Exchange. 
E'NDOSITHONITES.  (Gr.  tviov,  internal,  aiQav,  a 
tube.)  A  genus  of  extinct  Cephalopods,  with  chambered 
convolute  discoidal  shells,  having  the  siphon .P^attt»e 
irner  side  of  the  turns,  as  in  the  Spirula.  The  bndoupho- 
nit!s characterize  the  slate  rocks  of  the  Cambrian  system, 
and  have  not  yet  been  observed  in  the  Silurian   ormauon 

ENDOSMO'SE.  (Gr.  cvdov,  and  oier/ioj,  impulsion)  ifie 
transmission  of  gaseous  bodies,  or  vapours  or  hquids 
through  membranes  or  porous  substances  from  without 

'"eNDOSPE'RMIUM.     (Gr.  cvdov.  and  aircppa,  seed.)    A 
term  invented  by  Richard  to  denote  the  albumen  of  seeds. 

E'NDOSTOME.  (Gr.  cvSov,  and  arojia,  the  mouth.)  ine 
passage  through  the  inner  integument  of  a  seed  immedi- 
ately below  the  part  called  the  foramen.  ,..„,„ 

ENDOTHELIUM.  The  fibrous  cellular  tissue  lining  an 
anther. 

ENDOWMENTS.    See  Founoation. 

ENE1D.    See  jEneid.  . 

ENE'MA.  (Gr.  cvnpciv,  to  inject.)  A  medicine  inject- 
ed into  the  rectum.    A  clyster. 

ENFEOFFMENT.    See  Feoffment. 

ENFILA'DE.  A  term  used  in  military  language  to  de- 
note a  fire  of  artillery  or  musketry  in  the  direction i  of the 
enemy's  line.  A  trench  or  parapet  is  said  to  be  enJUaded 
when  guns  are  so  placed  that  the  shot  can  be  fired  into  it  in 
a  direction  parallel  to  its  length.  . 

ENFRANCHISEMENT  (French,  franchise,  freedom  or 
right),  in  Law,  is  the  act  of  incorporating  a  person  into  any 
society  or  body  politic  ;  as  where  one  is  maue  a  citizen  or 
free  burgess  ofYtown  corporate.  In  feudal  usage  a  villein 
was  said  to  be  enfranchised  when  he  was  made  free  by  his 
lord  ;  and  hence  is  derived  the  popular  signification  of  the 
term     For  enfranchisement  of  land,  see  Copyhold. 

ENGA'GED  COLUMNS.  In  Architecture,  columns  at- 
tached to  walls,  by  which  a  portion  of  them  is  concealed; 
they  never  stand  less  than  one  half  out  from  the  walls 

ENGA'GEMENT,  signifies  either  a  battle  by  sea  or  land  , 
but  it  is  applied  more  frequently  to  the  former,  being  sy- 
nonymous with  action.  An  engagement  between  two  ships 
is  called  simply  an  action :  between  fleets,  a  general  action. 
As  the  object  is  to  get  possession  of  the  enemy  if  possible, 
efforts  are  made  either  to  disable  him  by  cannonading,  or, 
as  is  the  practice  of  the  English,  to  board  htm  at  once. 
The  conquered  vessel  strikes  (hauls  down)  her  colouis, 
which  are  afterwards  replaced  by  those  of  the  enemy 

h°E'NGINE,  in  'Mechanics,  is  used  to  denote  generally 
any  kind  of  machine  in  which  two  or  more  of  the  simple 
mechanical  powers  are  combined  together 

ENGINEERING.  (Fr.  engine.)  Strictly,  the  art  oi 
managing  engines ;  but  latterly  applied  in  a  more  extended 
sense!  not  only  to  that  art,  but  to  all  manufacturing  and 
buildhV  operations  in  which  engines  are  used.  It  is  divid- 
ed into  two  branches,  Military  and  Civil. 

Military  engineering,  as  a  science,  implies  a  knowledge 
of  the  construction  and  maintenance  of  fortifications,  and 
all  buildings  necessary  in  military  posts ;  aud  hence  in- 
cludes a  thorough  instruction  on  every  point  relative  to  the 
attack  and  defence  of  places.  The  science  also  embraces 
the  surveying  of  a  country  for  the  various  operations  ot 
war,  and  consequently  an  acquaintance  with  mathematics 
and  facility  in  drawing.  When  at  a  siege  the  engineer  has 
surveyed  a  place,  he  reports  to  the  commander  the  weak- 
est places,  and  those  in  which  approaches  may  be  made 
with  most  success.  He  draws  the  lines  of  circumvallation 
and  contravallation  ;  marks  out  the  trenches,  places  ot 
arms  batteries,  and  lodgments ;  and  in  general  directs  the 
workmen  in  these  operations.  He  should  possess  a  prac- 
tical and  theoretical  knowledge  of  gunnery.  In  regard  to 
the  marine  branch  of  military  engineering,  it  requires  ot 
course  a  "eneral  acquaintance  with  the  construction  of  ves- 
sels ietties,  moles,  and  other  buildings  of  that  description. 
Civil  engineering,  as  its  name  imports,  does  not  include 
those  branches  above  named  which  specially  belong  to  the 
art  of  war:  but  relates  to  the  forming  of  roads  and  bridges, 
railroads,  the  construction  of  machinery  for  all  purposes, 
399 


ENGLISH  ARCHITECTURE. 

the  formation  of  canals,  aqueducts,  harbours,  drainage  of  a 
country,  &c.    Till  the  year  1760,  civil  engineering  was  little 
cultivated  in  England  as  a  distinct  occupation ;  at  that  pe- 
riod, manufactures  began  to  be  extended  by  the  enterprise, 
the  capital,  and  science  of  a  number  of  individuals  eminent 
for  their  deep  knowledge  and  persevering  industry.     New 
and  more  appropriate  situations  were  chosen  lor  carrying 
them  on  than  the  small  towns  in  which  they  had  been  seat- 
ed and  where  combinations  and  corruption  made  the  wages 
of  the  workman  extravagant.     Internal  navigation  was  con- 
sequent upon  this  change  :  communication  from  harbours 
to  warehouses,  and  the  converse,  as  well  as  facility  ot 
transport  from  factory  to  factory,  became  absolutely  neces- 
sary    Hence  a  system  of  canal  navigation  and  aqueducts, 
which  perhaps  will  not  be  entirely  superseded  even  by  the 
more  modern  railroad.     Previous  to  the  above  period,  a 
few  ietties  and  piers  of  defence  were  thrown  out  in  our 
seaports,  affording  to  the  mariner  little  better  protection 
than  nature  herself:  they  have  since  become  harbours  of 
refuse  ;  some  of  them  are  capable  of  holding  large  navies. 
The  application  ofthe  steam  engine  to  almost  every  purpose, 
independent  of  its  importance  in  manufactures,  has  smooth- 
ed the  difficulties  formerly  experienced  in  forming  works 
under  water,  and  has  now  made  rapid  strides  towards  su- 
perseding all  animals  of  draught.     To  give  the  faintest  out- 
line of  the  science  of  practical  engineering  would  be  to 
write  treatises  on   mathematics,  mechanics,  hydraulics, 
hydrostatics,  and  the  other  branches  of  natural  philosophy  : 
the  reader  must  therefore  seek  for  information  under  the 
separate  heads  of  science  involved  in  it. 

ENGLAND,  CHURCH  OF.  The  period  at  which  Chris- 
tianity was  first  preached  in  this  country  has  not  been  set- 
tled with  any  certainty  ;  but  there  was  certainly  a  British 
church  existing  in  the  island  at  the  time  of  the  mission  of 
Augustine,  in  the  year  597,  to  convert  the  Saxons  The 
British  church,  however,  at  that  time,  had  shared  the  fate 
of  the  general  British  population,  and  had  been  pent  up  by 
the  pressure  of  the  heathen  invaders  within  narrow  limits 
at  the  extremities  of  the  island.  It  can  hardly  be  thought 
to  have  retained  sufficient  vigour  to  have  effected  the  con- 
version of  the  barbarians,  and  would  probably  have  died 
out  but  for  the  seasonable  reinforcement  Irom  Rome.  It 
such  be  the  case,  we  must  allow  that  Christianity  in  Bri- 
tain owes  at  least  its  second  foundation  to  the  Romish  see  ; 
but  this  foundation  took  place  at  a  comparatively  pure  age, 
and  possibly  the  influence  of  the  uncoutaminated  religion 
of  the  Britons  may  have  had  its  effect  in  preserving  to  the 
Saxons  a  very  modified  form  of  popery.  Certain  it  is,  as 
has  been  shown  from  existing  homilies  by  Anglo-Saxon 
prelates,  that  some  of  the  principal  novelties  of  the  Ro- 
manists  were  unknown  to  or  repudiated  by  the  English 
church,  at  least  up  to  the  time  of  Edward  the  Confessor. 

The  intercourse  with  France,  which  began  to  take  place 
in  that  reign,  and  the  superstitious  temper  of  the  monarch, 
prepared  the  way  for  the  introduction  of  the  Roman  power  : 
it  was  furthered  by  the  necessities  of  the  usurpers  Wil- 
liam and  Stephen.  Under  Henry  II.  royalty  took  the 
alarm,  and  a  fierce  struggle  took  place,  in  which  the  papal 
authority  was  eventually  victorious.  Under  John,  the  tri- 
umph of  Romanism  was  completed,  when  the  crown  of 
England  was  actually  given  into  the  hands  of  Innocent  HI. 
Bufatthat  very  time  the  seeds  of  the  Reformation  were 
being  sown  among  the  lowest  classes  ;  sects  of  strolling 
fanatics  were  constantly  appearing  and  passing  away  ;  mis- 
guided themselves,  but  drawing  the  attention  ofthe  people 
to  the  errors  of  the  church  ;  and  at  length,  under  the  im- 
pulse given  by  the  learning  of  Wiclif,  taking  a  definite  and 
lasting  shape  under  the  name  of  the  Lollards.  A  general  re- 
formation in  opinion  was  almost  at  hand,  when  Henry  VIII. 
threw  off  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope.  But  while  he  en- 
couraged the  reformers  by  that  step,  he  checked  them  by 
severe  enactments  upon  points  of  belief;  and,  as  far  as  he 
is  concerned,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  he  at  all  assisted 
the  development  of  the  Reformation.  The  Church  of 
England  was  first  reformed  by  law  on  the  accession  of 
Edward  VI. ;  but  many  points  of  doctrine  and  discipline 
were  left  untouched;  and  the  enactments  of  Elizabeth,  by 
which  its  whole  constitution  was  finally  settled,  lolloweu 
rather  than  preceded  the  expressed  convictions  of  the  na- 
tion. (For  the  variations  that  have  since  taken  place  in 
the  services  of  the  church,  see  art.  Common  Prater.) 
The  government  of  the  Church  of  England  is  episcopal, 
and  the  bishops  sit  in  the  House  of  Lords  by  virtue  of  the 
temporal  baronies  into  which  'heir  benefices  were  con- 
verted by  William  the  Conqueror.  This  constitution  was 
lubverted  on  the  success  ofthe  Great  Rebellion,  and  pres- 
byterianism  established  in  its  stead  ;  but  the  episcopal  form 
was  restored  in  16C0  with  the  return  of  Charles  II. 

ENGLISH  ARCHITECTURE.  We  have  already,  un- 
der tliearacle  Architecture,  given  a  general  view  ofthe 
rise  and  progress  of  Gothic  Architecture.  Our  purpose  m 
"nls  Place  is  to  enter  into  details  respecting  its  subdivisions 
n  this  country.  Without  disrespect  to  the  later  writers 
who  have  differently  arranged  and  named  the  styles,  we 


ENGLISH  ARCHITECTURE. 


think  none  more  convenient  than  that  used  by  the  Rev. 
Geo.  Millers  (in  his  description  of  the  cathedral  church  of 
Ely)  for  giving  the  reader  a  succinct  and  satisfactory  view 
of  some  of  the  examples  which  England  affords.  We  pro- 
pose, therefore,  to  subdivide  the  styles  into  five  periods  : — 
Is;  Period,  or  Anglo-Saxon,  which  may  be  comprised  from 
A.  d.  GOO  to  1056,  that  is,  from  the  conversion  of  the  Sax- 
ons to  the  Norman  Conquest ;  2d  Period,  or  Norman,  from 
1066  fo  nearly  1200,  comprising  the  reigns  of  William  I., 
William  II.,  Henry  I..  Stephen,  Henry  II.,  and  Richard  I.  ; 
3d  Period,  or  Early  English,  from  1200  to  1300.  or  during 
the  reigns  of  John,  Henry  III.,  and  Edward  I. ;  4th  Period, 
or  Ornamented  English,  1300  to  1460,  comprising  the  latter 
portion  of  the  reign  of  Edward  I.,  that  of  Edward  II.,  Ed- 
ward III.,  Richard  II.,  Henry  IV.,  Henry  V.,  and  Henry VI.  ; 
5th  and  last  Period,  or  Florid  English,  by  some  called  the 
Tudor  Style,  from  1460  to  the  dissolution  of  the  religious 
houses  in  1537,  comprising  the  reiins  of  Edwards  IV.  and 
V.,  Richard  HI.,  Henrys  VII.  and  VIII. 

Ducarel,  in  his  Norman  Antiquities,  enumerates  the 
churches  in  England  anterior  to  the  Norman  Conquest ; 
among  which  appear  those  of  Stukely  in  Bucks,  Barfres- 
ton  in  Kent,  and  Avington  in  Berks.  Other  examples  are 
to  he  found  in  Waltham  Abbey ;  the  transept  arches  of 
Southwell,  Notts ;  the  nave  of  the  abbey  church  of  St. 
Alban,  Herts ;  nave  of  St.  Frideswide,  Oxford,  &c.  The 
principal  characteristics  of  this  the  First  Period  are,  arches 
(1)  of  semicircular  form,  frequently  quite  plain,  (1) 
occasionally  decorated  with  various  sorts  of  mould- 
ings, both  on  the  face  and  soffit;  often  double, 
triple,  or  quadruple,  each  projecting  beyond  the 
face  of  the  other,  with  a  moulding  on  the  semi- 
circular edge  or  arris,  and  resting  on  columns.  The 
columns  are  always  single,  and  on  the  plan  circular,  \!k 
hexagonal,  or  octagonal ;  placed  on  a  square  plinth, 
and  so  low  in  proportion  to  their  height  as  to  be  not  more 
than  3J  diameters  high.  The  shafts  are  sometimes  orna- 
mented with  spiral  fluted  or  other  work.  The  capitals  are 
indented,  or  rather  engrailed,  with  fis- 
sures of  different  lengths  and  forms 
variously  sloped  off,  or  hollowed  out 
towards  the  top.  (2)  They  are  often 
decorated  with  rude  imitations  of  vo- 
lutes and  leaves,  being  exceedingly 
varied  in  their  composition. — Win- 
dows, semicircular- headed,  extremely 
narrow,  being  sometimes  not  more  than  six  or  eight  inches 
wide  to  a  height  of  little  more  than  three  feet, and  splayed  or 
levelled  offon  the  inside  through  the  whole  thickness  of  the 
wall. —  Walls  ofgreat  thickness,  without  external  buttresses. 
— Ceilings  open-timbered,  with  a  few  specimens  of  vault- 
ing in  crypts. — Ornaments  very  sparingly  used,  except  to 
capitals  and  shafts  of  columns.— Plan  rectangular  and  pa- 
rallelogram mic,  being  usually  divided  into  a  body  and 
chancel  separated  by  an  ornamental  arch.  The  chan- 
cel occasionally  as  broad  as  the  nave,  and  at  the  east- 
ern part  ending  in  a  semicircle.  In  large  churches 
there  is  a  nave  and  two  side  aisles,  the  latter  being  divided 
from  the  former  by  ranks  of  columns ;  but  no  transepts 
appear  till  the  latter  part  of  the  period,  that  is,  about  970. 
when  they  were  generally  adopted,  with  a  square  tower 
over  their  interspction  with  the  nave  of  the  church,  and 
rising  a  little  above  the  roof.  At  this  date  also  towers  be- 
gan to  appear  at  the  west  end,  for  the  reception  of  bells. 
The  churches  of  this  period  were  of  small  dimensions,  and 
it  seems  doubtful  whether  they  were  ever  higher  than  one 
tier  of  arches  with  a  rantre  of  windows  above. 

Of  the  Second  Period,  or  Norman  Style,  many  more 
examples  remain  than  of  those  in  the  First  Period ;  as  in 
the  nave,  aisles,  transept,  and  west  front  of  Tewkesbury  ; 
the  nave  and  west  front  of  Malmsbury  ;  Wimborn  minster  ; 
Dunstable  ;  St.  Cross  in  Hampshire  ;  Romsey  in  the  same 
county,  &c.  Also  in  the  cathedrals  of  Ely ;  western  towers, 
and  nave,  choir,  and  round  tower,  called  Becket's  Crown, 
at  Canterbury  ;  nave  and  choir  at  Norwich  ;  transept  and 
choir  at  Hereford,  chapterhouse  at  Chester;  presbytery 
at  Chichester;  transept  at  Peterborough,  &c.  The  cha- 
racteristics of  this  style  are,  arches,  generally  semicircular, 
as  in  the  diagram  (3)  here  given  of  the  nave 
of  Gloucester  cathedral,  and  of  much  larger 
dimensions  than  those  of  the  preceding  pe- 
riods ;  their  ornaments  less  minute.  They 
are  sometimes  without  ornament  at  all,  and 
their  soffits  are  always  plain.  In  the  second 
I     -.'..  tier  two  small   equal  arches  are  comprised 

*rr^s'  '"™  under  one  larger  one,  with  a  column  between, 
from  which  they  spring,  thus  (4) : — In 
the  third  tier  there  are  generally  three 
together,  the  central  one  being  higher 
and  wider  than  those  on  the  sides,  and 
usually  opened  for  a  window-  The 
three,  however,  only  occupy  a  space 
equal  in  width  to  the  lower  arch.  The 
arches,  which  serve  for  the  decoration 
400 


(3) 


of  entrance  doorways,  are  richly  ornamented  with  mould- 
ings, foliage,  representations  of  men  and  animals  of  gro- 
tesque forms  fantastically  put  together.  The  pointed  arch 
began  to  creep  in  about  the  end  of  this  period,  though  but 
sparingly  ;  and  it  may  sometimes  be  seen  capriciously  in- 
termixed with  the  semicircular  arch,  and  alternating  with 
it :  when  these  appear  they  are  usually  sharp-pointed. — 
Columns.  These  are  of  large  diameter  compared  with 
their  intervals ;  the  shaft  is  circular,  hexagonal  and  some- 
times octagonal  on  the  plan :  fluted,  lozenged,  reticulated, 
and  otherwise  sculptured.  Sometimes  they  are  square  on 
the  plan,  and  then  they  are  accompanied  by  portions  of  co- 
lumns or  pilasters  applied  to  them.  Sometimes  four  columns 
are  connected  together,  with  or  without  angular  pieces. 
They  are  much  higher  in  proportion  to  their  diameters  than 
the  Saxon  columns  above  described ;  and  though  their  capi- 
tals are  not  unfrequently  quite  plain,  they  are  more  com- 
monly decorated  with  a  species  of  volute,  or  with  plants, 
flowers,  leaves,  shells,  animals,  &c.  The  bases  stand  on  a 
strong  plinth  adapted  on  its  plan  to  the  shape  of  the  com- 
bined forms. —  Windows.  These  are  still  narrow,  and  semi- 
circular-headed ;  but  they  are  higher,  and  often  in  groups  of 
two  or  three  together. — Ceilings  always  of  timber,  except  in 
crypts;  in  which  they  are  vaulted  with  stone,  with  plain 
groins,  frequently  moulded,  and  with  ornamented  edges ; 
/\  ss.  y\.  yv  DUt  tney  are  universally  without 
(5)  V\^^\^V  tracery:  the  White  Tower  of  Lon- 
(gj  rrirpri  rp-]  r— -]  r:  don,  however,  affords  an  example 
IM!  LkLI  L=LI  I1 — ' F  of  a  centre  aisle  covered  with 
(7t  \\~7/^~77 \V~77  vaulting — The  uralbareof  extraor- 
*■' '  ^A Z±z^\Z/-^\ /*-  dinary  thickness,  with  but  few  but- 
(8)  E  B  |3  E  tresses,  and  those  of  small  projec- 
ts L-lL^L-m—tJ  tion,  usually  without  ornament. — 
I  i — r~i-33  The  ornaments  employed  were,  the 
chevron  or  zigzag  moulding  (5)  : 
the  embattled  frette  (6) ;  the  trian- 
gular frette  (7) ;  the  nail  head  (8) ; 
the  billet  (9);  the  cable  (10);  the 
wavy  (11);  the  nebuly  (12);  and 
some  others.  Many  of  these  were 
used  in  the  preceding  period,  as  well  as  many  which  have 
received  no  names.  Ranges  of  small  arehes  also  appear; 
these  rest  on  brackets,  sometimes  with  carved  heads,  along 
the  upper  part  of  a  building,  just  below  the  eaves  or  battle- 
ment, and  have  received  the  name  of  a  corbel  table.  (13) — 
(I3\  Plans  in  this  period  are  always  with 

transepts  and  a  tower  at  the  inter- 
"  ier  loftier  than  before, 
spires ;  there  are  usually 
one  above  the  other, 
and  the  eastern  ends  are  semicircular.  Though  much  of 
the  Saxon  style  is  retained,  there  is,  from  the  larger  dimen- 
sions of  the  edifices  of  this  period,  a  much  more  impres- 
sive air  of  magnificence  than  has  hitherto  appeared.  In- 
deed, the  larger  dimensions  alone  have  by  some  been 
thought  to  be  the  only  criterion  for  distinguishing  the  Nor- 
man and  Saxon  styles  ;  but  this  cannot  be  depended  on, 
inasmuch  as  many  of  the  former  buildings  are  of  small  ex- 
tent. 

The  Third  Period,  or  Early  English  Style— It  was  not 
till  towards  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Stephen,  that  the  first 
transition  from  the  Anglo-Norman  style  appears  to  have 
taken  place.  As  we  have  before  hinted,  it  is  discoverable 
in  the  arch,  which,  from  being  semicircular,  became  point- 
ed ;  a  circumstance,  though  often  investigated  by  antiqua- 
ries, still  in  obscurity.  There  is,  however,  another  remark- 
able feature  exhibited  in  the  transition ;  the  transformation, 
namely,  of  single  massive  pillars  into  clusters  of  small 
ones.  Specimens  of  this  style  may  be  seen  in  the  conven- 
tual edifices  of  Westminster  Abbey,  Tintern  Abbey  in 
Monmouthshire,  Ripon  and  Beverley  minsters  in  York- 
shire :  and  in  the  cathedral  of  Lincoln,  the  nave  and  arches 
beyond  the  transept ;  in  York,  the  north  and  south  tran- 
septs ;  in  Wells,  the  tower  and  western  front ;  in  Ely,  the 
presbytery;  in  Oxford,  the  chapterhouse;  in  Worcester, 
the  transept  and  choir ;  and  in  Salisbury  throughout.  The 
characteristics  of  the  style  are,  arches  sharply  pointed,  and 
lofty  in  proportion  to  their  span.  In  the  upper  tiers  two 
or  more  are  comprised  under  one,  and  finished  with  tre- 


wAMWW 


1 transepts  and  i 

JTT--7  s — \  f — v  y—\  I  section,  rather 

U     y      U     U     y  and  without  spi 

*   tiers  of  arches  i 


(14) 


(15) 


foil  (14),  or  cinquefoil  (15) 
A        heads,  instead  of  points. — 
/\             l\      The  columns(\6)  on  which 
>   <          C    )     the    arches    rest    are    ex- 
f    ^    tremely  slender  in  respect 
-> L.     _l L  of  their  height,  and   usu- 
ally consist  of  a  central  shaft  surrounded  by 
several  smaller  ones.    The  base  assumes  the 
general  form  of  the  cluster,  and  the  capital  is 
often  decorated  with  foliage  of  extremely  ele- 
gant  formation. —  Windows  tall,  narrow,  and  shaped  at  the 
top  like  the  head  of  a  lancet ;  hence  some  writers,  among 
whom  Dallaway,  have  called  this  style  the  lancet  Gothic. 
They  are  divided  by  one  or  at  most  two  plain  mullions, 
finished  at  their  upper  extremities  with  some  simple  orna- 


ENGLISH  ARCHITECTURE. 

ment,  such  as  a  trefoil. — Roofs  are  high-pitched,  and  the 
ceilings  vaulted,  affording  the  first  examples  of  arches  with 
cross  springers  only,  which,  after  a  short  period,  diverged 
into  many  more,  rising  from  the  capitals  of  the  columns, 
and  almost  overspreading  the  whole  of  the  vaulting;  the 
longitudinal  line  which  reigned  along  the  apex  of  the  vault 
being  decorated  with  bosses  of  flowers,  figures,  and  other 
fancies. — The  trails  now  lessen  in  thickness  ;  but  they  are 
strengthened  externally  with  buttresses,  leaning  as  it  were 
against  them,  for  the  purpose  of  counteracting  the  thrust 
exerted  by  the  vaults  of  the  ceilings,  which  the  walls  and 
piers  could  not  by  their  own  gravity  resist.   The  buttresses 
are,  moreover,  aided  in  their  office  by  being  surmounted 
with  pinnacles,  adorned  with  crockets  at  their  angles,  and 
crowned  with  a  finial  flower. — The  ornaments,  though  nu- 
merous, are  simple  and  elegant.     The  mouldings  have  not 
the  variety  found  in  the   preceding  period,  being  usually 
cut  into  a  combination  of  leaves  and  flowers,  placed  com- 
monly round  the  sides  of  arches,  and  especially  of  win- 
dows ;  but   the  columns   are  sometimes  completely,  as 
it  were,   embroidered  with  them.     The  spandrels  of  the 
arches  are  often  covered  with  trefoils,  quatrefoils,  cinque- 
foils,  roses,  mullets,  bosses,  patera?,  &c.     The  pinnacles  of 
shrines  are  high  and  acutely  formed,  often  with  niches  un- 
der them  containing  statues  ;  similar  niches  are  also  fre- 
quently used  on  the  west  and  eastern  fronts,  their  heads 
being  extremely  sharp.     These  ornaments,  however,  are 
not  so  profusely  used  in  large  as  in  small  edifices,  or  in 
parts  added  to  old  ones. — The  plans  are  generally  similar 
to  those  of  the  Second  Period ;  but  the  towers  rise  to  a 
great  height,  and  lanterns  and  lofty  spires  are  very   fre- 
quent accompaniments  to  the  structure.     In  the  transition 
from  the  second  to  the  third  style,  it  will  naturally  occur  to 
the  reader  that  the  architect  left  one  extreme  for  another, 
though  it  has  been  contended  that  the  latter  has  its  germ 
in  the  former.     Be  that  as  it  may,  the  period  of  which  we 
are  now  speaking  was  undoubtedly  the  germ  of  the  suc- 
ceeding slyles  by  no  very  forced  or  unnatural  relationship. 
The  Fourth  Period,  or  Ornamented  English  Style. — Ex- 
amples of  this  style  are,  the  Chapel  of  Merton  College, 
Oxford  ;  New  College  Chapel  in  the  same  city ;  St.  Ste- 
phen's Chapel,  Westminster,  so  injured  by  the  conflagra- 
tion of  the  houses  of  parliament  as  to  be  now  no  longer  in 
existence  ;  St.  Mary's,  in  York  ;  choir  of  Tewkesbury,  in 
Gloucestershire  ;  Magdalen  College,  Oxford  ;  Eton  College 
Chapel,  Bucks ;  and  the  Beauchamp  Chapel  at  Warwick  : 
also  in  the  cathedrals  of  Exeter ;  nave  and  choir  of  Litch- 
field throughout;  naves  of  Worcester  and 
York  ;  spire  and  tower  of  Norwich  ;  spire 
of  Salisbury ;  nave  and  choir  of  Bristol;  the  n. 
Lady  Chapel  and  Louvre  at  Ely  ;  choir  of  N^, 
Gloucester;  Bishop  Beckington's  additions 
at  Wells  and  at  Lincoln,  from  the  upper 
transept  to  the  great  east  window.      lis 
characteristics  are,  that  the  arches  are  less 
acute,  changing  in  form,  and  more  open. 
(17)  In  the  columns  the  central  and  de- 
tached shafts  are  now  brought  into  one 
general  combination. — The    windows  are  not  only  larger, 
but  divided  into  several  lights  by  a  number  of  mullions, 
which  constantly  branch  out  at  the  top  into  leaves,  flowers, 
wheels,  fans,  and  numberless  other  forms.     Though,  how- 
ever, these  expanded  considerably  during  the  reigns  of 
the  two  first  Edwards,  they  grew  narrower  and  sharper  in 
proportion  to  their  height  during  the  reign  of  Edward  HI., 
when  the  head  was  often  formed  of  lines  scarcely  curved 
above  the  haunches.     The  eastern  and  western  windows 
were  of  large  dimensions,  and  their  glass  splendidly  painted. 
The  ceilings  were  constructed  with  vaulting  of  very  highly 
decorated  parts,  whose  principal  ribs,  spreading  out  from 
their  springings  on  the  imposts,  covered  the  whole  surface 
with  tracery,  much  subdivided,  and  ornamented  with  beads, 
bosses,   and  a  multitude  of  other  devices,  which  were 
elaborately  painted  and  gilt. — The  ornaments  are  not  so 
pure  in  line  as  in  the  previous  style;  but  they  are  more 
varied  and  studied.     Niches  covered  with  tabernacles,  for 
the  reception  of  statues,  every  where  abound;  tiers  of  orna- 
mental arches;  pinnacles,  not  so  lofty  and  tapered,  but 
adorned  with  leaves  and  crockets,  with  much  sculpture, 
painted  and  gilt,  constantly  occur ;  as  also  screens,  carved 
stalls,  panelled  ceilings,  and  other  ornaments  in  carved  and 
painted  wood. 

The  Fifth  Period,  being  the  Florid  English  or   Tudor 
Style  (18),   is  very  completely   exhibited  in         (18) 
Henry  the  Seventh's  Chapel  at  Westminster, 
King's    College    Chapel   at  Cambridge,  and 
St.   George's    Chapel   at   Windsor, — edifices 
well  known  to  most  persons  in  this  country. 
Examples  are  to  be  found  also   in  the  Lady 
Chapel  of  Gloucester   Cathedral,  Alcocke's 
Chapel  at  Ely,  the  exterior  of  the  choir  at 
Winchester,  the  Lady  Chapel  at  Peterborough, 
and  the   north   porch  at  Hereford.      In   the 
Tudor  style,  it  seems  as  though  this   species  of  archi 
401 


ENGRAVING. 

tecture  having  culminated,  was  now  destined  to  set  in 
a  blaze  of  uncontrolled  splendour  of  ornament.  Simpli- 
city was  superseded  by  the  dazzle  of  minute  decoration, 
which  was  exhausted  by  the  caprice  of  its  inventors.  It 
has  therefore  as  well  received  the  name  of  Florid,  as  its 
other  name  of  Tudor ;  the  latter  from  having  been  intro- 
duced and  carried  to  its  utmost  pitch  during  the  power  of 
the  family  of  that  name.  Its  arches  are  universally  flat  and 
wide  in  proportion  to  their  height. — The  ir indows  are  much 
more  open  than  in  the  last,  flatter  at  the  top,  divided  in  the 
upper  parts  by  transoms,  which  are  almost  constantly 
crowned  with  miniature  embattled  work. — The  ceiling 
epreads  out  into  such  a  variety  of  parts  that  the  whole  sur- 
face seems  covered  with  a  web  of  delicate  sculpture  or  em- 
broidery thrown  over  it ;  and  from  different  intersections 
of  this  ribbed  work  clusters  of  pendent  ornaments  hang 
down,  as  Mr.  Millers  observes,  like  "  stalactites  in  caverns." 
The  flying  buttresses  are  equally  ornamented,  and  the  ex- 
ternal surfaces  of  the  walls  are  one  mass  of  delicate  sculp- 
ture. The  ornaments,  as  may  be  deduced  from  what  we 
have  above  noticed,  are  lavish  and  profuse :  fretwork, 
figures  of  men  and  animals,  niches  and  tabernacles,  ac- 
companied with  canopies,  pedestals,  and  tracery  of  the 
most  exquisite  workmanship,  carried  this  style  to  the  sum- 
mit of  splendour,  and  perhaps  had  no  small  share  in  pro- 
ducing the  extinction  it  was  doomed  to  undergo. 

The  beautifully  timber-framed  roofs,  of  which  many  ex- 
amples still  exist,  appear  to  have  originated,  as  applied  to 
great  halls,  about  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  About  1400 
they  were  employed  in  churches,  wherein  prior  to  that 
date  stone  vaulting  appears  to  have  been  more  common. 
The  Norman  castles  had  their  keeps  and  halls  vaulted  with 
stone,  as  was  the  case  in  those  in  North  Wales  built  by 
Edward  I. 

Our  limits  preclude  us  from  adverting  to  many  fine  spe- 
cimens of  ecclesiastical  architecture  in  Scotland  ;  but  the 
abbeys  of  Melrose  and  Kelso,  founded  by  David  I.,  as  well 
as  those  in  Dryburgh  and  Jedburgh,  all  in  Roxburghshire, 
show  that  the  art  was  carried  to  as  great  perfection  north 
of  the  Tweed  as  in  the  southern  parts.  Roslin  and  Holy- 
rood  Chapels,  for  richness  and  variety  of  ornamental  carv- 
ings (the  first  erected  by  Sir  William  St.  Clair),  cannot  be 
exceeded.  Its  plan  is  without  parallel  in  any  other  speci- 
men of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  latter  was  finished  by 
James,  the  second  of  that  name,  in  1440 ;  and  is  a  beautiful 
specimen,  with  flying  buttresses,  more  ornamented  than 
any  even  in  England. 

It  would  be  impossible  here  to  enumerate  the  palaces 
and  private  Gothic  buildings  of  this  country,  of  which  parts 
still  exist  in  the  remains  of  the  ancient  palace  at  West- 
minster, Eltham,  Kenilworth  Castle,  Hampton  Court,  and 
in  many  other  places.  A  desire  to  renew  it  has  appeared 
in  this  country  of  late  years;  but  we  doubt  whether  such 
will  be  attended  with  success.  The  habits  of  the  people, 
one  of  the  principal  stimulants  in  architectural  style,  seem 
to  us  rather  out  of  joint  for  the  purpose.  The  following 
list  exhibits  the  dimensions  of  the  different  cathedrals  in. 
England,  rearranged  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dallaway's  Dis- 
courses upon  Architecture. 


Internal 

Total  Internal  Length  iu  Feet. 

Breadth  of 
Transept. 

Choir. 

L. 

B.    H. 

Old  St.  Paul's .... 

•V* 

248 

165 

42    88 

Winchester     .... 

Mr. 

186 

138 

—    78 

Ely 

517 

178 

101 

73    70 

Canterbury     .... 

514 

154 

150 

74    80 

York 

498 

222 

131 

—    99 

Lincoln 

49- 

227 

— 

Westminster  .... 

4sy 

189 

152 

—  101 

Peterborough  .... 

ISO 

203 

138 

—    78 

Salisbury         .... 

452 

210 

140 

—    84 

420 

176 

117 

33    71 

Gloucester      .... 

420 

144 

140 

—    86 

Chichester      .... 

Hl| 

131 

100 

Norwich          .... 

111 

191 

165 

_ 

Litchfield         .... 

411 

88 

110 

—    67 

Worcester       .... 

nil 

130 

126 

—    74 

.v.m 

140 

131 

—    69 

Wells       .... 

371 

135 

106 

—    67 

Hereford  (ancient) . 

:;7ii 

140 

105 

—    64 

Chester 

348 

_ — 



—    

Rochester        .... 

:m 

122 

156 

— 

213 

— 

137 

71    — 

■J  Hi 

126 



—    — 

175 

128    1 

100 

—    — 

Oxford 

154 

102    1 

80 

—    37* 

ENGRAI'LMENT.  The  ring  of  dots  round  the  edge  of 
a  medal. 

ENGRAVING.  (Sax.  grafan,  to  dig.)  The  art  of  pro- 
ducing by  incision  or  corrosion  designs  upon  blocks  of  wood, 
plates  of  metal,  or  other  materials,  from  which  impressions 
Bb 


ENGRAVING. 


or  prints  upon  paper  or  other  soft  substances  are  obtained 
by  pressure.     Engraving,  as  an  art,  seems  to  have  nearly 
the  same  relation  to  design  and   painting  as  typography 
bears  to  written  language  ;  and  its  utility  and  great  import- 
ance must  be  obvious  to  every  one  from  its  capability  of 
giving  a  boundless  circulation  to  representations  of  the  most 
valuable  examples  of  the  arts  and  of  objects  connected  with 
science.  By  some  authors  it  is  placed  among  the  represen- 
tations called  monochromes  (jxovoxpdjiaroi ).  Xylography, 
or  wood- engraving,  was  the  earliest  method  practised ;  but 
its  origin  is  involved  in  obscurity.    If  we  might  rely  on  Du 
Halde  {Description,  #c.  de  V Empire  de  la  Chine,  4to.  1736), 
it  is  possible  that  it  was  known  in  China  1120  years  before 
Christ ;  though  we  think  its  invention  is  of  a  much  later 
period,  as  the  Chinese  were    not    acquainted   with  the 
art  of  making  paper  till  95  b.  c.    It  has  been  stated  that 
this  art  was  introduced  into  Europe  from  China  through 
the  intercourse  of  the  Venetian  merchants  with   its   in- 
habitants; for  it  is  proved  that  engraving  on  wood  had 
been  practised  in  that  part  of  Italy  which  borders  on  the 
Adriatic  as  early  as  the  13th  century.     The  first  wood  en- 
gravings in  Europe  of  which  any  thing  is  known  with  cer- 
tainty were  executed  in  1285,  by  a  brother  and  sister  of  a 
noble  family  of  the  name  of  Cunio.     They  represent  the 
actions  of  Alexander;  and  though  doubts  of  their  authen- 
ticity are  expressed   by  Heinecken,  Mr.  William  Young 
Ottley,  the  author  of  the  elegant  and  learned  History  of 
Engraving,  to  which  we  are  much  indebted,  thinks  other- 
wise.    But  for  the  accidental  discovery  by  a  Venetian  ar- 
chitect of  the  name  of  Temanza  of  a  decree  of  the  magis- 
tracy of  Venice,  in  1441,  we  might  have  been  without  posi- 
tive proof  of  the  practice  of  the  art  in  Italy  previous  to 
1467,  and  the  Germans  might  still  have  continued  to  claim 
the  honour  of  its  introduction  into  Europe.     This  decree, 
dated  11th  October,  1441,  states  in  substance  that  the  art 
and  mystery  of  making  cards  and  printed  figures  had  fallen 
to  decay  owing  to  their  extensive  importation  ;  and  in  or- 
der that  the  native  artists  might  find  encouragement  rather 
than  foreigners,  it  was  ordered  that  no  work  of  the  said 
art,  printed  and  painted   on  cloth  or  paper, — viz.  altar- 
pieces  or  images  and  playing  cards,  and  whatever  other 
work  of  the  said  art  is  done  with  a  brush  and  printed, — 
should  be  allowed  to  be  brought  into  the  city,  on  pain  of 
forfeiting  the  works,  besides  a  pecuniary  penalty.     This 
decree  plainly  indicates  that  wood  engraving  was  practised 
in  Venice  as  early  as  the  commencement  of  the  fifteenth 
century.     In  Germany  and  the  Low  Countries,  the  early 
block  books  seem  to  have  existed  as  early  as  1420,  and  to 
have  given  Guttenburg  the  hint  for  using  moveable  types. 
At  Rome,  in  1467,  a  work  intituled  Meditationes  Johannis 
de  Turrecremata,  issued  from  the  press  of  lllric  Han,  em- 
bellished with  wood  engravings,  in  which  the  design  and 
execution  of  an  Italian  artist  are  evident.    The  decorations 
of  the  work  of  Valturius  by  Matteo  Pasti,  of  Verona,  pub- 
lished five  years  afterwards,  exhibit  considerable  spirit  and 
accuracy ;  and  before  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  the 
art  had  been  carried  to  great  perfection,  as  may  be  proved 
by  the  delicacy  and  purity  with  which  the  designs  are  en- 
graved in  the  celebrated  Hypnerotomachia  of  Colonna. 
(■See  Architecture.)    At  this  period,  however,  the  dis- 
covery of  copper-plate  engraving  had  been  made,  and  to 
this  the  more  ancient  art  yielded  place.     Maso  Finiguerra, 
a  goldsmith  and  sculptor  of  Florence,  and  pupil  of  Masac- 
cio,  about  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  seems  from 
the  most  authentic  accounts  to  have  been  the  person  to 
whom  the  world  is  indebted  for  the  discovery.     In  his  time, 
and  for  a  considerable  period  previously,  it  was  the  prac- 
tice to  decorate  church  and  other  plate  with  works  in 
niello,  which  were  designs  hatched  with  a  steel  point  upon 
gold  or  silver,  then  engraved  with  the  burin,  and  run  in, 
while  hot,  with  a  composition  called  niello, — a  compound 
of  silver,  lead,  copper,  sulphur,  and  borax,  which  was 
more  easily  fusible  than  silver,  and  of  a  black  colour.     The 
superfluous  part  of  this  niello  which  remained  above  the 
surface  of  the  plate  was  then  rubbed  off  with  scrapers, 
and  cleaned  away  with  pumice-slonf,  leaving  the  engraved 
design  on  the  plate  with  all  the  effect  of  a  print.     In  order 
to  preserve  copies  of  their  designs,  the  artists  were  in  the 
habit  before  filling  the  design  with  the  niello  to  take  im- 
pressions of  the  plates  with  earth,  over  which  liquid  sul- 
phur was  poured,  and  from  which,  when  cold,  the  earth 
was  removed.     But  Finiguerra  carried  his  practice  beyond 
this  ;  for  with  a  mixture  of  soot  and  oil  he  filled  the  cavi 
ties  of  the  engraving,  and  by  pressing  damp  paper  upon  it 
with  a  roller,  obtained  impressions  on  the  paper,  having, 
as  Vasari  says,  all  the  appearance  of  drawings  done  with  a 
p^n,  "venivano  come  disignate  di  penna."     Bartsch,  in 
Ms  Essay  on  the  History  and  Discovery  of  the  Art  of  tak- 
ing Impressions  from  Engravings,  prefixed  to  the  thir- 
teenth volume  of  his  work  Le  Peinteur  Graveur,  very  un- 
willingly admits  the  invention  to  have  originated  with  Fini- 
guerra, though  he  claims  for  the  Germans  the  merit  of  ap- 
plying it  to  practice  for  the  multiplication  of  copies  of  pic- 
tures, &c. ;  but  to  this  the  opposing  arguments  of  Mr.  Ott- 
402 


ley  are  so  powerful  that  we  apprehend  the  subject  is  no! 
likely  to  be  again  mooted.  Finiguerra  was  followed  by 
Baccio  Baldini,  a  goldsmith  of  Florence,  who,  according 
to  Vasari,  employed  Sandro  Botticelli  to  design  for  him. 
Mr.  Ottley  doubts,  however,  the  inference  that  might  be 
drawn  from  this  passage ;  and  indeed  it  does  not  appear 
likely  that  such  an  artist  as  Botticelli  could  have  resigned 
himself  to  employment  in  such  works  as  Baldini  would  be 
constantly  requiring.  Baccio's  works  were  numerous, 
and  are  of  course  much  sought  after  by  collectors.  Bot- 
ticelli, a  painter  of  eminence  as  well  as  an  engraver,  was  a 
native  of  Florence,  where  he  was  born  in  1437.  He  is 
spoken  of  with  praise  by  Vasari,  and  especially  for  his  pic- 
ture at  San  Pietro  Maggiore,  of  the  assumption  of  the  Vir- 
gin :  among  the  works  he  engraved  from  his  own  designs 
are  subjects  illustrative  of  Dante,  and  a  number  of  prints 
of  prophets  and  sybils.  His  death  occurred  in  1515.  Con- 
temporary with  him  flourished  Antonio  del  Pollajuolo,  and 
rather  later  Gherardo  and  Bobetta,  who  advanced  the  art ; 
though  it  was  still  dry  in  execution,  and  more  to  be  ad- 
mired for  correctness  of  drawing  and  design  than  for  any 
altempt  at  relief  or  effect.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  at 
this  period  the  art  was  practised  at  Rome,  though  the  Ve- 
netian state  and  other  parts  of  the  north  of  Italy  furnished 
a  more  abundant  supply  of  artists, — of  whom  Francesco 
Squarcione,  Andrea  Mantegna,  Girolamo  Mocetto,  Marcello 
Fogelino,  Montagna,  Bramante  the  architect,  Altobello, 
Gio.  Bat.  del  Porto,  Giovanni  Maria,  and  Giovanni  and  An- 
tonio de  Brescia,  were  among  the  most  eminent.  The 
works  of  Mantegna  exhibit  great  marks  of  improvement 
on  the  Florentine  school,  and  are  characterized  by  a  vigour 
and  facility  of  execution  which  might  naturally  be  expected, 
considering  the  rapid  strides  towards  perfection  made  in 
the  other  arts. 

In  Germany  and  the  Low  Countries  the  art  of  engraving 
had  made  extraordinary  progress  during  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury ;  and  the  name  of  Martin  Schoen  or  Schongauer  must 
not  be  forgotten.  This  artist,  who  was  also  a  painter  and 
goldsmith,  was  the  father  of  the  German  school  of  engrav- 
ing. He  was  a  native  of  Culmbach  in  Franconia,  and  born 
about  1420.  He  began  the  practice  of  the  art  when  it  was 
in  its  infancy,  and  succeeded  in  carrying  it  to  a  great  degree 
of  perfection.  His  death  occurred  at  Colmar  in  1486.  Va- 
sari relates  that  Michael  Angelo,  when  young,  was  so 
pleased  with  a  print  by  Schongauer,  representing  St.  An- 
thony tormented  by  devils,  that  he  copied  it  in  colours. 
Albert  Durer,  the  most  celebrated  of  the  early  engravers 
of  Germany,  was  born  at  Nnremburg,  in  1471.  Skilled  in 
many  arts,  and  a  painter  of  no  ordinary  powers,  it  is  aston- 
ishing that,  in  a  life  not  exceeding  fifty-eight  years,  he 
should  have  succeeded  so  eminently  in  that  of  engraving 
that  he  has  even  hardly  been  surpassed.  On  copper  as 
well  as  wood  his  works  exhibit  specimens  of  executive  ex- 
cellence, which  the  experience  of  centuries  has  not  beeu 
able  to  surpass.  Durer  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  in- 
ventor of  the  art  of  etching,  at  least  no  etchings  are  known 
before  those  which  are  extant  from  his  hand.  Of  the 
works  he  has  left,  which  are  very  numerous,  his  wood  en- 
gravings are  the  most  free  and  masterly.  Following  Albert 
Durer  were  Aldegrever  his  pupil,  Hans  Beham  and  his 
brother  Bartholomew,  Altdorfer,  Binck,  Goerting,  Penz, 
and  Solis.  Hans  Holbein,  who,  according  to  some  was  a 
native  of  Basle,  and  according  to  others  of  Augsburg,  be- 
sides acquiring  celebrity  as  a  painter,  is  known  as  an  en- 
graver on  wood,  executed  many  pieces ;  the  best  known 
and  most  remarkable  of  which  are  the  fifty-three  prints 
called  the  "  Dance  of  Death,"  first  published  about  1530. 
Of  the  Dutch  and  Flemish  schools  Lucas  van  Leyden  must 
be  considered  the  head.  Born  in  1494,  at  the  place  whence- 
he  derives  his  name,  he  was  the  contemporary  and  frienrl 
of  Albert  Durer;  to  whom,  though  inferior  in  design,  he 
was  superior  in  composition.  His  works,  which  were  both 
on  wood  and  copper,  are  few  in  number.  The  Low  Coun- 
tries furnished  a  host  of  engravers,  among  whom  we  think 
it  unnecessary  to  name  more  than  the  Sadelers  ;  Bloemart, 
who  laid  the  foundation  of  the  principles  upon  which  lines 
become  capable  of  expressing  quality,  colour  and  chiaro- 
scuro, which  the  French  engravers  afterwards  improved; 
Goltzins  and  his  pupils;  Muller;  and  Lucas  Kiliau  :  the 
three  last,  though  they  handled  the  graver  with  great 
freedom  and  dexterity,  fell  into  boundless  absurdity  and 
extravagance,  which,  however,  were  tempered  and  cor- 
rected by  Mathieuand  Saenredam.  In  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century  the  two  Bolswerts  appeared,  whose 
style  was  much  improved  by  the  instructions  of  Rubens. 
Vosterman,  Pontius,  and  Peter  de  Jode  the  younger,  were 
of  this  school,  which  is  distinguished  for  the  success  and 
correctness  with  which  it  transferred  the  picture  to  the 
copper.  Rembrandt,  notwithstanding  all  his  faults  and 
absurdities,  claims  a  special  notice  in  this  place  as  an  en- 
graver. The  Descent  from  the  Cross,  and  the  print  called 
"Hundred  Guilder  Print,"  are  extraordinary  efforts  of  art. 
His  portraits  and  landscapes  are  full  of  nature,  expression, 
and  character ;  and  it  is  difficult  to  say  whether  he  is  more 


ENGRAVING. 


successful  in  his  sunshine  effects,  than  in  the  sober  solemn 
twilight  with  which  his  varied  subjects  are  enveloped, 
Vandyke  has  left  a  few  specimens  of  etchings  worthy  of 
his  name.  Jegher,  Lutma,  and  above  all  the  family  of  the 
Vischers,  exhibited  great  excellence  in  the  art,  which  con- 
tinued to  advance  under  the  hands  of  Waterloo,  Jacob 
Ruysdael,  and  Paul  Potter ;  the  last  of  whom,  in  his  etch- 
ings of  aniimls,  displayed  a  scientific  acquaintance  with 
drawing  and  anatomy  till  his  time  unpractised. 

We  must  now  return  to  close  the  brief  account  of  the 
Italian  school,  in  which  the  appearance  of  Marc  Antonio 
Raimondi  forms  the  most  splendid  era.  Born  at  Bologna 
about  1488,  he  became  the  pupil  of  Raibolini,  an  artist  of 
that  city.  His  master  in  the  art  of  engraving  is,  however, 
unknown.  We  first  hear  of  him  at  Venice,  whither  Albert 
Durer  went  to  institute  proceedings  against  him  for  pirat- 
ing his  prints,  which  had  been  copied  by  Raimondi  with 
such  wonderful  accuracy  that  they  were  sold  for  the 
originals.  But  the  proper  sphere  for  Marc  Antonio  was 
Rome,  whither  he  soon  bent  his  steps.  There  his  merit 
soon  gained  him  the  friendship  and  esteem  of  Raffaelle, 
then  in  the  plentitude  of  his  glory,  by  whom  he  was  em- 
ployed to  engrave  from  his  designs.  His  first  plate  from  a 
design  by  Raffaelle  was  the  Lucretia,  soon  after  which  he 
executed  the  Judgment  of  Paris.  His  engravings  after  this 
master  are  very  numerous ;  and  though  free  from  the 
blandishments  of  style,  chiaroscuro,  and  local  colour  which 
the  art  has  received  since  his  time,  such  was  his  knowledge 
of  drawing,  such  the  beautiful  character  that  pervades  his 
works,  that  he  is  entitled  to  the  highest  rank  in  the  art  to 
which  excellence  has  ever  attained.  Strutt  considers  him 
one  of  the  most  extraordinary  engravers  that  ever  lived. 
His  school  attracted  to  Rome  artists  from  all  parts  ;  among 
whom  may  be  enumerated  Marco  de  Ravenna,  Ginlio  Bo- 
nasoni,  Agostino  de  Musis,  EneaVico,  and  Nicolo  Beatrici. 
Some  of  the  German  artists  whom  we  have  named  above 
— viz.  Beham,  Penz,  and  James  Binck — resorted  to  Rome 
for  the  benefit  of  his  instructions.  On  the  death  of  Raf- 
faelle, he  execuied  engravings  of  some  of  the  works  of  Gi- 
ulio  Romano.  His  last  print,  the  Battle  of  the  Lapithee,  is 
dated  1539.  Some  of  the  principal  pupils  of  Marc  Antonio 
have  already  been  named ;  to  them  may  be  added  Georgio 
Grisi,  commonly  called  Mantuanus,  and  others  of  his 
family.  Many  of  the  Italian  painters  were  extremely  suc- 
cessful in  engraving,  among  whom  Titian  etched  many 
landscapes;  but  none  cultivated  the  art  with  more  success 
than  Agostino  Caracci,  who  studied  under  Cornelius  Cort, 
a  Dutch  engraver,  born  at  Hoorn  in  1536.  His  design  and 
execution  are  equally  to  be  admired  ;  and  had  he  but  con- 
centrated his  lights  more,  and  attended  to  local  colour,  he 
would  have  been  exceeded  by  none.  In  the  seventeenth 
century  Delia  Bella,  Callot  (who,  though  born  in  France, 
belongs  to  the  Italian  school),  Guercino,  Salvator  Rosa,  and 
Claude  continued  the  reputation  of  the  art.  At  the  latter 
end  of  this  century  was  born  Antonio  Canaletti,  originally 
a  scene  painter,  like  his  father  Bernardo.  His  etchings 
opened  an  entirely  new  field  in  architectural  engraving, 
and  may  be  considered  almost  if  not  quite  the  first  in 
which  fine  sparkling  effects  of  light  are  introduced,  and  in 
which  the  darkest  shadows  partake  of  the  transparency 
and  clearness  which  n.iture  herself  exhibits.  Piranesi,  who 
was  born  in  Venice,  and  died  in  1770,  appeared  about  the 
middle  of  that  century  :  he  was  one  of  the  most  surprising 
architectural  engravers  that  have  ever  existed,  whether  we 
consider  the  astonishing  power  or  number  of  his  works. 
His  use  of  the  etching  needle  surpassed  all  that  has  been 
done  before  or  since  ;  and  in  our  own  time  Volpato  of  Flo- 
rence, who,  besides  his  other  works,  engraved  almost  all 
the  celebrated  performances  of  Canova  with  a  delicacy, 
grace,  and  correctness  of  the  first  order. 

The  French  school  commenced  about  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century  with  Noel  Gamier,  who  was  followed  by 
many  clever  artists ;  but  till  the  time  of  Louis  XIV.  it  can- 
not be  said  to  have  been  highly  distinguished.  At  that  epoch 
we  have  Gerard  Edelinck,  who,  though  born  at  Antwerp, 
belongs  properly  to  the  French  school,  and  Gerard  Audran. 
The  former  of  these,  who  worked  entirely  with  the  graver, 
carried  what  is  called  colour  in  engraving  to  a  much  greater 
degree  of  perfection  than  had  ever  before  been  practised. 
His  facility  was  amazing,  and  portrait  and  history  were 
equally  the  subjects  of  his  burin.  The  name  of  Audran, 
not  less  from  the  circumstance  of  the  family  having  pro- 
duced six  engravers,  than  for  Gerard  Audran,  who  en- 
graved the  well  known  Battles  of  Alexander  after  Le  Brun, 
is  conspicuous  in  the  history  of  the  art ;  his  name,  how- 
ever, will  descend  to  posterity  with  greater  lustre  from  his 
engravings  after  the  Italian  school,  and  particularly  those 
of  Nicolo  Poussin.  Gerard  Audran  was  born  at  Lyons  in 
1640,  and  died  in  Paris  in  1703.  John  Audran,  the  last  of 
the  family  who  exercised  the  art,  and  nephew  of  Gerard, 
died  in  1756.  Nanteuil,  the  three  Drevets,  of  whom  Peter 
was  the  most  eminent,  Le  Clerc,  Chereau,  Cochin,  Beau- 
vais,  Simonneau  Dupuis,  and  many  other  masters,  belong 
to  this  period  ;  but  Balechon  and  Wille,  towards  the  mid- 
403 


die  of  the  century,  outstripped  all  that  had  been  done  by 
their  predecessors.  Wille  was  a  German  ;  but  his  resi- 
dence having  been  chiefly  at  Paris,  he  is  always  ranked 
among  the  French  engravers.  His  extraordinary  powers 
in  imitating  the  qualities  of  objects,  and  particularly  of  satin, 
the  smoothness  of  effect  he  produced,  and  his  extraordi- 
nary clearness  in  the  use  of  the  graver,  entitle  him  to  a 
place  of  the  first  rank  in  the  French  school,  which,  since 
the  age  of  Louis  XIV.,  has  been  more  distinguished  for  its 
great  mechanical  skill,  than  for  grace,  correctness,  and 
beauty  in  the  higher  departments  of  the  art. 

Till  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  England  was 
indebted  to  foreign  artists  for  the  embellishment  be- 
stowed upon  the  typographical  works  she  produced,  as 
well  as  for  such  engravings,  either  in  history,  portrait,  or 
landscape,  as  the  taste  of  the  nation  required.  Among  the 
artists  who  visited  England  and  made  it  their  permanent 
or  temporary  residence  were  the  Passes,  Vaillant,  Hondius, 
Vosterman,  Hollar,  Blooteling,  Dorigny,  and  several  others. 
Payne,  who  died  about  1648,  and  Failhorne,  who  execuied 
many  historical  pieces  and  portraits  in  a  masterly  manner, 
were  the  earliest  English  engravers  deserving  mention. 
William  Faithorne,  son  of  the  last  named,  was  eminent  as 
one  of  the  earliest  mezzotinto  engravers  ;  a  species  of  en- 
graving of  English  invention,  if  the  editor  of  Wren's  Pa- 
centalia  can  be  relied  on,  and  discovered,  according  to  him, 
by  his  eminent  relation,  Sir  Christopher  Wren.  This  in- 
vention, which  is  usually  attributed  to  Prince  Rupert,  is 
claimed  by  Heineken  for  Lieutenant  Colonel  Siegen,  who 
was  a  Hessian  officer,  from  whom  Heineken  says  Prince 
Rupert  learned  the  secret,  which  he  brought  to  England  on 
his  return  with  Charles  II.  After  the  two  Whites,  father 
and  son,  appeared  Vertue,  who  was  born  in  1684.  He  was 
the  scholar  of  Vandargucht,  and  from  the  numerous  works 
he  brought  out  must  have  been  an  artist  of  great  industry 
and  facility.  The  larger  portion  of  his  labours  was  con- 
fined to  portraits.  Vertue  died  in  1757,  and  left  behind  him 
a  History  of  Painting  and  Painters  in  England,  which  was 
published  by  Horace  Walpole  in  4  quarto  volumes.  The 
works  of  Pond  and  Knapton  can  only  be  mentioned  as  con- 
tinuing the  history,  though  occasionally  they  possess  some 
spirit ;  but  Vivares,  a  Frenchman  by  birth,  belonging,  how- 
ever, to  the  English  school,  and  indeed  the  founder  of  it 
in  landscape  engraving,  has  shown  in  his  engravings  from 
the  pictures  of  Claude  talents,  the  precursors  of  that  pre- 
eminence in  landscape  engraving  which  this  country  has 
not  only  improved  upon  but  exclusively  possessed.  Wool- 
lett  carried  execution  to  a  far  greater  extent  than  Vivares, 
uniting  with  that  engraver's  spirit  all  the  elegance,  clear- 
ness, and  delicacy  of  the  French  school;  and  to  these 
Woollett  superadded  every  beauty  that  mechanical  skill 
could  effect.  John  Browne  was  a  contemporary  worthy  of 
Woollrtt,  whose  works  after  Salvator,  Both,  and  others  are 
well  executed.  Sir  Robert  Strange  distinguished  himself 
by  his  great  mechanical  skill,  whence  resulted  beautiful 
execution,  by  the  breadth  he  preserved  in  the  effects  he 
copied,  and  by  the  delicacy  he  imparted  to  flesh  in  a  man- 
ner that  has  never  been  equalled.  His  principal  engravings 
are  from  the  Italian  painters,  especially  Titian,  Guido,  and 
Corregio,  and  reflect  great  honour  on  the  English  school, 
which  since  his  time  has  never  been  deficient  in  producing 
artists  of  the  first  class.  Strange  was  a  native  of  one  of  the 
Orkney  Islands,  where  he  was  born  in  1721,  and  died  in 
1792.  Since  his  time  the  names  of  artists  of  talent  might 
be  here  supplied  to  a  very  great  extent ;  we  shall  merely 
mention  those  of  Basire,  Bartolozzi,  Rooker,  Heath,  Byrne, 
Bromley,  Lowry,  Earlom,  Raphael,  Smith,  &c.  In  the 
present  day  the  demand  of  prints  for  the  embellishment  of 
books  has  produced  talent  which  perhaps  might  be  more 
nobly  employed  in  works  of  a  higher  order.  In  the  enu- 
meration of  masters  it  will  be  seen  that  the  name  of  Ho- 
garth does  not  find  a  place, — for  which  our  reason  is  that 
his  engravings  partake  more  of  the  nature  of  pictures  trans- 
ferred at  once  to  copper,  often  without  proceeding  through 
the  intermediate  stage. 

Engraving  on  Wood,  or  Xylography. — In  this  branch  of 
the  an  the  material  used  is  a  block  of  box  or  pear-tree 
wood,  cut  at  right  angles  to  the  direction  of  the  fibres,  its 
thickness  being  regulated  by  the  size  of  the  print  to  be  ex- 
ecuted. The  subject  is  drawn  on  the  block  with  a  black- 
lead  pencil,  or  with  a  pen  and  Indian  ink,  taking  care  that 
the  whole  effect  is  represented  in  the  lines  so  drawn.  The 
whole  of  the  wood  is  then  cut  away,  except  where  the  lines 
are  drawn,  which  are  left  as  raised  parts ;  in  which  point  it 
is  that  this  mode  of  engraving  differs  so  essentially  from 
copper-plate  engraving,  wherein  the  lines  are  cut  out  or 
sunk  in  the  metal,  instead  of  being  raised  from  it.  The 
impressions  from  wood  blocks  are  taken  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  from  printing  types. 

Engraving  on  Copper  is  performed  by  cutting  lines  re- 
presenting the  subject  on  a  copper-plate  by  means  of  a 
steel  instrument  ending  in  an  unequal-sided  pyramidal 
point,  such  instrument  being  called  a  graver  or  burin,  with- 
out the  use  of  aquafortis ;  which  mode  will  be  seen  below. 


ENGRAVING. 

under  the  art.  Etching.  Besides  the  graver  there  are 
other  instruments  used  in  the  process  ;  viz.  a  scraper,  a 
burnisher,  an  oil  stone,  and  a  cushion  for  supporting  the 
plate.  In  cutting  the  lines  on  the  copper  the  graver  is 
pushed  forward  in  the  direction  required,  being  held  in  the 
hand  at  a  small  inclination  to  the  plane  of  the  copper.  The 
use  of  the  burnisher  is  to  soften  down  lines  that  are  cut  too 
deep,  and  for  burnishing  out  scratches  in  the  copper :  it  is 
about  three  inches  long.  The  scraper,  like  the  last,  is  of 
steel,  with  three  sharp  edges  to  it,  and  about  six  inches 
long,  tapering  towards  the  end.  Its  use  is  to  scrape  off  the 
burr,  raised  by  the  action  of  the  graver.  To  show  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  work  during  its  progress,  and  to  polish  off 
the  burr,  engravers  use  a  roll  of  woollen  or  felt  called  a 
rubber,  which  is  put  in  action  with  a  little  olive  oil.  The 
cushion,  which  is  a  leather  bag  about  nine  inches  diame- 
ter filled  with  sand  for  laying  the  plate  on,  is  now  rarely 
used  except  by  writing  engravers.  For  architectural  sub- 
jects, or  in  skies,  where  a  series  of  parallel  lines  are  wanted, 
an  ingenious  machine  was  invented  by  the  late  Mr.  Wilson 
Lowry,  called  a  ruling  machine,  the  accuracy  of  whose 
operation  is  exceedingly  perfect.  This  is  made  to  act 
on  an  etching  ground  by  a  point  or  knife  connected  with 
the  apparatus,  and  bit  in  with  aquafortis  in  the  ordinary 
way. 

Etching  is  a  species  of  engraving  on  copper  or  other  me- 
tals with  a  sharp-pointed  instrument  called  an  etching  nee- 
dle. The  plate  is  covered  with  a  ground  or  varnish  capa- 
ble of  resisting  the  action  of  aquafortis.  The  usual  method 
is  to  draw  the  design  on  paper  with  a  black-lead  pencil ;  the 
paper  being  damped  and  laid  upon  the  plate,  prepared  as 
above,  with  the  drawing  next  the  etching  ground,  is  passed 
through  the  rolling  press,  and  thus  the  design  is  transferred 
from  the  paper  to  the  ground.  The  needle  then  scratches 
out  the  lines  of  the  design  ;  and  aquafortis  being  poured 
over  the  plate,  which  is  bordered  round  with  wax,  it  is  al- 
lowed to  remain  on  it  long  enough  to  corrode  or  bite  in 
the  lines  which  the  etching  needle  has  made.  Etching 
with  a  dry  point,  as  it  is  called,  is  performed  entirely  with 
the  point  without  any  ground,  the  burr  raised  being  taken 
off  by  the  scraper.  Etching  with  a  soft  gronnd  is  used  to 
imitate  chalk  or  black-lead  drawings.  For  this  purpose  the 
ground  is  mixed  with  a  portion  of  tallow  or  lard,  according 
to  the  temperature  of  the  air.  A  piece  of  thin  paper  being 
attached  to  the  plate  at  the  four  corners  by  some  turner's 
pitch  and  lying  over  the  ground,  the  drawing  is  made  on 
the  paper  and  shadowed  with  the  black-lead  pencil.  The 
action  of  the  pencil  thus  detaches  the  ground  which  ad- 
heres to  the  paper,  according  to  the  degree  to  which  the 
finishing  is  carried  :  the  paper  being  then  removed,  the 
work  is  bit  in  in  the  ordinary  way.  Stippling  is  also  exe- 
cuted on  the  etching  ground  by  dots  instead  of  lines  made 
with  the  etching  needle,  which,  according  to  the  intensity 
of  the  shadow  to  be  represented,  are  made  thicker  and 
closer.  The  work  is  then  bit  in.  Etching  on  Steel  is  exe- 
cuted much  in  the  same  way  as  in  the  process  on  copper. 
The  plate  is  bedded  on  common  glazier's  putty,  and  a 
ground  of  Brunswick  black  is  laid  in  the  usual  way,  through 
which  the  needle  scratches.  It  is  then  bit  in,  in  the  way 
above  described. 

Mezzolinto  Engraving. — In  this  species  of  engraving  the 
artist,  with  a  knife  or  instrument  made  for  the  purpose, 
roughs  over  the  whole  surface  of  the  copper  in  every  di- 
rection, so  as  to  make  it  susceptible  of  delivering  a  uniform 
black,  smooth,  or  flat  tint.  After  this  process  the  outline 
is  traced  with  an  etching  needle,  and  the  lightest  parts  are 
scraped  out,  then  the  middle  tints  so  as  to  leave  a  greater 
portion  of  the  ground,  and  so  on  according  to  the  depth  re- 
quired in  the  several  parts  of  the  work. 

Aquatinta  Engraving,  whose  effect  somewhat  resem- 
bles that  of  an  Indian-ink  drawing.  The  mode  of  effecting 
this  is  (the  design  being  already  etched)  to  cover  the  plate 
with  a  ground  made  of  resin  and  Burgundy  pitch  or  mastic 
dissolved  in  rectified  spirit  of  wine,  which  is  poured  over 
the  plate  lying  in  an  inclined  position.  The  spirit  of  wine, 
from  its  rapid  evaporation,  leaves  the  rest  of  the  composi- 
tion with  a  granulated  texture  over  the  whole  of  the  plate, 
by  which  means  a  grain  is  produced  by  the  aquafortis  on 
the  parts  left  open  by  the  evaporation  of  the  spirit  of  wine. 
The  margin  of  the  plate  is  of  course  protected  in  the  usual 
way.  After  the  aquafortis  has  bitten  the  lighter  parts  they 
are  stopt  out,  and  the  aquafortis  is  again  applied,  and  so  on 
as  often  as  any  parts  continue  to  require  more  depth.  For- 
merly the  grain  used  to  be  produced  by  covering  the  cop- 
per with  a  powder  or  some  substance  which  took  a  granu- 
lated form,  instead  of  using  the  compound  above  mention- 
ed ;  but  this  process  was  found  to  be  both  uncertain  and 
imperfect.  In  the  compound  the  grain  is  rendered  finer  or 
coarser,  in  proportion  to  the  quantity  of  resin  introduced. 
This  mode  of  engraving  was  invented  by  a  Frenchman  of 
the  name  of  St.  Non,  about  1662.  He  communicated  it  to 
Jean  Baptiste  le  Prince,  who  died  in  1781,  from  whom  it 
was  acquired  by  Paul  Sandby,  who  introduced  it  through 
the  medium  of  Mr.  Jukes  into  England.  It  has  been  prac- 
404 


ENHARMONIC  SCALE. 

tised  in  this  country  with  much  greater  success  than  else- 
where. 

Etching  on  Glass.— The  glass  is  covered  with  a  thin 
ground  of  beeswax  :  and  the  design  being  drawn  with  the 
etching  needle,  it  is  subjected  to  the  action  of  sulphuric 
acid  sprinkled  over  with  pounded  flour  or  Derbyshire  spar. 
After  four  or  five  hours  this  is  removed,  and  the  glass 
cleaned  off  with  oil  of  turpentine,  leaving  the  parts  covered 
with  the  beeswax  untouched.  This  operation  may  be  in- 
verted by  drawing  the  design  on  the  glass  with  a  solution  of 
beeswax  and  turpentine,  and  subjecting  the  ground  to  the 
action  of  the  acid. 

Engraving  on  Stone,  or  Lithography  {\i9os,  astone, and 
ypatytiv,  towrite  or  draw).  A  modern  invention,  by  means 
whereof  impressions  maybe  taken  from  drawings  made 
on  stone.  The  merit  of  this  discovery  belongs  to  Aloys 
Senefelder,  a  musical  performer  of  the  theatre  at  Munich 
about  the  year  1800.  The  following  are  the  principles  on 
which  the  art  of  lithography  depends  : — First,  the  facility 
with  which  calcareous  stones  imbibe  water;  second,  the 
great  disposition  they  have  to  adhere  to  resinous  and  oily 
substances;  third,  the  affinity  between  each  other  of  oily 
and  resinous  substances,  and  the  power  they  possess  of  re- 
pelling water  or  a  body  moistened  with  water.  Hence,  when 
drawings  are  made  on  a  polished  surface  of  calcareous 
stone  with  a  resinous  or  oily  medium,  they  are  so  adhesive 
that  nothing  short  of  mechanical  means  can  effect  their  se- 
paration from  it,  and  whilst  the  other  parts  of  the  stone  take 
up  the  water  poured  upon  them,  the  resinous  or  oily  parts 
repel  it.  Lastly,  when  over  a  stone  prepared  in  this  man- 
ner a  coloured  oily  or  resinous  substance  is  passed,  it  will 
adhere  to  the  drawings  made  as  above,  and  not  to  the 
watery  parts  of  the  stone.  It  was  formerly  thought  that 
this  country  did  not  possess  a  sort  of  stone  like  that  of  Ger- 
many suitable  to  the  purposes  of  lithography ;  this,  how- 
ever, is  now  known  to  be  erroneous,  as  the  neighbourhood 
of  Bath  abounds  with  it,  being  the  white  lias,  which  lies 
immediately  under  the  blue.  It  is  also  found  in  Scotland. 
The  ink  and  chalk  used  in  lithography  are  of  a  sapona- 
ceous quality :  the  former  is  prepared  in  Germany  from 
a  compound  of  tallow  soap,  pure  white  wax,  a  small  quan- 
tity of  tallow,  and  a  portion  of  lamp-black,  all  boiled  to- 
gether, and  when  cool  dissolved  in  distilled  water.  The 
chalk  for  the  crayons  used  in  drawing  on  the  stone  is  a 
composition  consisting  of  the  ingredients  above  mentioned, 
but  to  it  is  added  when  boiling  a  small  quantity  of  potash. 
After  the  drawing  on  the  stone  has  been  executed  and  is 
perfectly  dry,  a  very  weak  solution  of  vitriolic  acid  is  pour- 
ed upon  the  stone,  which  not  only  takes  up  the  alkali  from 
the  chalk  or  ink,  as  the  case  may  be,  leaving  an  insoluble 
substance  behind  it,  but  it  lowers  in  a  very  small  degree 
that  part  of  the  surface  of  the  stone  not  drawn  upon,  and 
prepares  it  for  absorbing  water  with  greater  freedom. 
Weak  gum  water  is  then  applied  to  the  stone,  to  close  its 
pores  and  keep  it  moist.  The  stone  is  now  washed  with 
water,  and  the  daubing  ink  applied  with  balls  as  in  print- 
ing ;  after  which  it  is  passed  in  the  usual  way  through  the 
press,  the  process  of  watering  and  daubing  being  applied 
for  every  impression. 

There  is  a  mode  of  transferring  drawings  made  with  the 
chemical  ink  on  paper  prepared  with  a  solution  of  size  or 
gum  tragacanth,  which  being  laid  on  the  stone  and  passed 
through  the  press  leaves  the  drawing  on  the  stone,  and  the 
process  above  described  for  preparing  the  stone  and  taking 
the  impressions  is  carried  into  effect. 

In  Germany  many  engravings  are  made  on  stone  with 
the  burin,  in  the  same  way  as  on  copper ;  but  the  very 
great  inferiority  of  these  to  copper  engravings  makes  it  im- 
probable that  this  method  will  ever  come  into  general  use. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  greatest  advantages  of  the  art  of  li- 
thography is  the  extraordinary  number  of  copies  that  may 
be  taken  from  a  block.  As  many  as  70,000  copies  or  prints 
have  been  taken  from  one  block,  and  the  last  of  them  nearly 
as  good  as  the  first.  Expedition  is  also  gained,  inasmuch 
as  a  fifth  more  copies  can  be  taken  in  the  same  time  than 
from  a  copper-plate :  and  as  regards  economy  the  advan- 
tage over  every  other  species  of  engraving  is  very  great. 

Zincography. — This  art,  which  is  of  very  recent  introduc- 
tion in  this  country  (so  much  so,  indeed,  that  but  few  spe- 
cimens are  as  yet  to  be  seen),  is  similar  in  principle  to 
lithography,  the  surface  of  the  plates  of  zinc  on  which  it  is 
executed  being  bit  away,  leaving  the  design  prominent  or 
in  relief.  We  have  seen  some  beautiful  examples  of  this 
art,  but  varying  little  in  their  appearance  from  those  of 
stone  engraving. 

ENGRO'SSING.  The  writing  of  a  deed  over  fair,  and 
in  proper  legible  characters.  Among  lawyers  it  more  par- 
ticularly means  the  copying  of  any  writing  upon  parchment 
or  stamped  paper.  In  statute  law,  engrossing  means  the 
buying  up  of  large  quantities  of  any  commodity  in  order  to 
sell  it  again  at  an  unusually  high  price.  See  Forestall- 
ing. 

ENHARMO'NIC  SCALE.  In  Music,  a  scale  in  which 
the  modulation  proceeds  by  intervals  less  than  semitones ; 


ENIGMA. 

that  is,  by  quarter  tones,  having  two  dieses  or  signs  of  rais- 
ing or  lowering  the  voice. 

ENI'GMA.  (Gr.  aiviyfia  )  A  proposition  put  in  obscure 
or  ambiguous  terms  to  puzzle  or  exercise  the  ingenuity  in 
discovering  its  meaning.  In  the  present  day,  the  enigma 
is  only  a  jeu  d'esprit,  or  a  species  of  amusement  to  beguile 
a  leisure  hour;  but  formally  it  was  a  matter  of  such  impor- 
tance that  the  eastern  monarchs  used  to  send  mutual  em- 
bassies forthe  solution  of  enigmas.  Every  one  remembers 
the  enigma  which  Sampson  proposed  to  the  Philistines  for 
solution ;  and  the  still  more  famous  enigma  of  the  Sphinx 
(quod  vide),  the  source  at  once  of  the  elevation  and  the 
misfortunes  of  CEJipus.  About  the  17th  century  the  enig- 
ma, which  had  been  for  centuries  neglected  as  a  species 
of  literary  display,  again  came  into  favour ;  and  in  France 
particularly  it  was  cultivated  with  so  much  zeal,  that  seve- 
ral grand  treatises  were  dedicated  to  its  history  and  charac- 
teristics. The  best  enigmas  with  which  we  are  acquainted 
were  written  by  Schiller,  and  have  been  incorporated  in 
his  works.  Even  in  the  present  day  the  periodical  litera- 
ture of  France  and  Germany  does  not  disdain  this  species 
of  writing;  though,  as  was  before  observed,  it  is  now  em- 
ployed generally  for  amusement,  and  rarely  to  convey 
moral  instruction. 

ENLI'STMENT,  in  Military  and  Naval  affairs,  means  a 
voluntary  engagement  to  serve  as  a  private  soldier  or  sailor, 
either  for  a  fixed  or  unlimited  period.  Unlike  the  armies 
of  the  Continental  nations,  whose  ranks  are  generally  sup- 
plied by  conscription,  the  troops  of  the  British  army  in  all 
its  departments,  whether  of  the  line,  artillery,  or  East  In- 
dia Company,  are  obtained  by  voluntary  enlistment.  About 
a  century  ago,  it  was  usual  to  engage  recruits  for  the  pe- 
riod of  three  years ;  but  the  present  practice  is  to  enlist 
either  for  an  unlimited  period,  as  during  the  continuance 
of  a  war,  or  for  certain  defined  numbers  of  years,  which 
vary  in  the  different  classes  of  troops.  For  the  infantry 
the  period  is  seven  years;  forthe  cavalry  ten  years;  for 
the  artillery  twelve  years;  and  for  the  East  India  Com- 
pany for  an  unlimited  time  or  twelve  years,  provided  the 
recruit  be  upwards  of  eighteen  years  of  age,  otherwise  the 
difference  between  his  age  and  eighteen  years  is  added  to 
each  period.  (Penny  Cyclo  )  By  an  act  passed  in  1819, 
called  the  Foreign  Enlistment  Act,  no  British  subject  was 
allowed  to  enter  foreign  service  without  permission  from 
the  crown ;  and  though  this  act  was  recently  suspended 
for  three  successive  years  in  favour  of  the  troops  raised  in 
this  country  for  the  service  of  the  Queen  of  Spain,  it  is 
once  more  in  full  operation. 

The  navy  of  Great  Britain  is  also  manned  by  voluntary 
enlistment;  though  in  time  of  war,  or  other  great  emer- 
gencies, impressment  (quod  vide)  is  often  resorted  to  for 
obtaining  adequate  supplies.  The  period  of  engaging  to 
serve  in  the  navy  was,  by  an  act  passed  in  1835,  limited  to 
five  years ;  after  which  the  sailor  is  entitled,  under  certain 
beneficial  restrictions,  to  his  discharge,  with  the  privilege, 
however,  of  re-enlisting  for  a  similar  period. 

E'NNEAGON.  (Gr.  ivvta,  nine;  ytovia,  angle.)  A 
plane  geometrical  figure  bounded  by  nine  sides.  When 
the  figure  is  regular  and  the  side  supposed  =  1,  the  area 
is  618182. 

ENNEA'NDRODS.     In  Botany,  having  nine  stamens. 

ENNUI',  a  French  term  wholly  naturalized  in  England, 
signifies  a  kind  of  listlessness  or  inaptitude  for  mental  ex- 
ertion ;  or  it  may  be  more  scientifically  defined  as  that  un- 
easiness or  languor  which  prevails  during  the  absence  of 
mental  impressions.  The  Italian  word  noja  corresponds 
to  the  French  ennui. 

ENROLLMENT  (in  legal  orthography,  more  properly,  In- 
rolment),  signifies  in  law  the  registering  or  entering  of  any 
document  or  lawful  act  in  the  rolls  of  the  chancery,  or  su- 
perior courts  of  common  law,  or  in  the  records  of  the 
quarter  sessions.  Such  inrolment  is  rendered  necessary 
in  different  cases  by  statute ;  as  a  deed  of  bargain  and  sale 
in  order  to  pass  lands  must  be  inrolled  in  one  of  the  courts 
of  record  at  Westminster,  or  by  the  clerk  of  the  peace  in 
any  county,  by  27  H.  8.  c.  16.  Every  deed  before  it  is  in- 
rolled  is  to  be  acknowledged  to  be  the  deed  of  the  party 
before  a  master  in  chancery,  or  a  judge  of  the  court  in 
which  it  is  inrolled. 

ENSE'MBLE.  (Fr.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a  term  denot- 
ing the  masses  and  details  considered  with  relation  to  each 
other. 

E'NSIGN.  The  national  flag  carried  by  a  ship.  Men  of 
war  carry  a  red,  a  white,  or  a  blue  ensign,  according  to  the 
colour  of  the  flag  of  the  admiral  in  command  of  the  station. 
Ships  do  not  display  their  ensigns  at  sea,  except  in  meeting 
strangers,  on  which  ships  show  their  national  ensign.  In  har- 
bour the  ensign  is  not  shown  before  8  a.m.,  nor  after  sunset. 

The  ensign  hoisted  with  the  upper  corner  (or  in  British 
ships  the  union  of  the  crosses  of  St  George  and  St  An- 
drew) downwards,  is  the  signal  of  distress. 

The  English  ensign  is  a  red,  white,  or  blue  flag,  having 
the  union  in  the  upper  corner  next  the  mast. 

E'nsign.  The  lowest  commissioned  officer,  subordinate 
405 


ENTHYMEME. 

to  the  lieutenants,  in  a  regiment  of  infantry.  An  ensign  is 
appointed  to  each  company,  and  the  junior  ensigns  carry 
the  colours  of  the  regiment.  In  the  artillery  and  in  the 
rifle  brigade  a  second  lieutenant  takes  the  place  of  an 
ensign. 

ENTA'BLATURE.  (Fr.  entablement.)  In  Architec- 
ture, the  whole  of  the  parts  of  an  order  above  the  column. 
The  assemblage  is  divided  into  three  parts:  the  archi- 
trave, which  rests  immediately  on  the  column ;  the  frieze 
next,  over  the  architrave,  being  the  middle  member;  and 
the  cornice,  which  is  the  uppermost  part.  The  first  and  last 
are  variously  subdivided  in  the  different  orders.  See  Order. 

ENTAI'L.     See  Fee  Tail. 

E'NTASIS.  (Gr.  ti/rao-ij.)  In  Architecture,  a  delicate 
and  almost  impercepible  swelling  of  the  shaft  of  a  column, 
to  be  found  in  almost  all  the  Grecian  examples,  adopted  to 
prevent  the  shafts  being  strictly  frusta  of  cones.  This  re- 
finement, which  is  alluded  to  in  the  second  chapter  of  the 
third  book  of  Vitruvius,  was  first  observed  in  execution 
bv  Mr.  AUason  in  1614  in  the  Athenian  edifices. 

ENTE'LECHY.  (Gt.  hreXixria;  from  ivre\>is,  per- 
fect, and  ex",  I  hold.)  A  peripatetic  term,  invented  by 
Aristotle  in  order  to  express  an  object  in  its  complete  ac- 
tualization, as  opposed  to  merely  potential  existence  (ro 
dwdfiei  Sv.)    See  Aristotelian  Philosophy. 

ENTELMI'NTHA.  (Gr.  evroi,  within,  and  tA/^i/f,  a 
worm.)  A  name  synonymous  with  Entozoa,  and  applied 
to  the  same  heterogeneous  group  of  invertebrate  animals. 
See  Coblelmintha  and  Sterelmintha. 

ENTERI'TIS.  (Gr.  evrepa,  the  intestines.)  Inflamma- 
tion of  the  bowels.  This  disease  is  frequently  occasioned 
by  incautious  exposure  to  cold,  by  acrid  substances  of 
hardened  faces  in  the  bowels.  Its  symptoms  are,  pain 
over  the  abdomen ;  thirst,  heat,  and  excessive  restlessness 
and  anxiety  ;  sickness  ;  obstinate  constipation  ;  and  a  hard, 
small,  and  quick  pulse.  The  pain  increases  as  the  disease 
proceeds,  especially  about  the  navel  ;  there  is  great  diffi- 
culty in  voiding  the  urine,  which  is  small  in  quantity  and 
high-coloured  ;  and  the  abdomen  is  so  tender  as  not  to  en- 
dure the  slightest  pressure.  It  often  terminates  in  a  few 
hours  in  mortification  of  a  part  of  the  intestinal  canal ;  in 
which  case  the  pain  suddenly  ceases,  the  belly  becomes 
tumid,  the  pulse  sinks  rapidly,  and  the  countenance  ac- 
quires a  peculiar  ghastliness  :  it  also  proves  fatal  during 
the  inflammatory  stage.  Favourable  symptoms  are,  a 
gradual  diminution  of  pain  and  of  tenderness  on  pressure, 
natural  evacuation  by  the  bowels,  moist  skin,  equal  and 
firm  pulse,  and  a  copious  discharge  of  urine  depositing 
abundance  of  red  sediment.  This  is  a  disease  which  re- 
quires prompt  and  decided  treatment,  more  especially  as 
relates  to  bleeding,  which  should  be  carried  as  far  as  the 
strength  will  allow  upon  the  first  accession  of  the  inflam- 
mation. Leeches  should  be  applied  over  the  abdomen,  and 
the  patient  should  be  put  in  a  hot  bath,  or  fomented  with 
hot  water :  the  lower  bowels  should  be  evacuated  by  a 
glyster  of  castor  oil  and  gruel ;  and  small  doses  of  saline 
purgatives,  or  of  calomel  and  cathartic  extract,  should  be 
administered  to  clear  the  bowels.  The  stomach,  however, 
is  very  apt  to  reject  these  remedies,  and  sickness  should 
be  avoided :  it  must  be  quelled  by  the  effervescing  draught, 
with  a  very  few  drops  of  tincture  of  opium.  In  some  cases 
pretty  large  doses  of  calomel  and  opium  have  been  given 
with  success.  When  the  urgent  symptoms  give  way,  and 
the  bowels  have  been  cleared,  diaphoretic  saline  medi- 
cines and  gentle  aperients  may  be  used,  and  a  mild  nou- 
rishing diet  allowed;  but  great  care  is  requisite  in  ascer- 
taining that  all  relics  of  the  inflammatory  action  are  got 
rid  of,  and  that  it  is  not  lurking  in  some  one  spot  in  a 
chronic  form. 

E'NTEROCE'LE.  (Gr.  cvrepa,  the  bowels,  and  xn^l, 
tumour.)  A  hernia  or  rupture,  the  contents  of  which  are 
a  portion  of  intestine. 

ENTERODE'LA.  (Gr.  tvrzpa,  and  SnXos,  manifest.) 
The  name  given  by  Ehrenberg  to  a  section  of  his  class 
Polygastrica,  comprehending  those  which  have  a  complete 
alimeotarv  canal  terminated  by  a  mouth  and  anus. 

E'NTEROEPI'PLOCE'LE.  (Gr.  cvrepa;  iirtirXoov,  the 
amentum ;  kt\Kt),  tumour.)  A  hernia  or  rupture  containing 
both  intestine  and  omentum. 

ENTERO'LOO  Y.    (Gr  )    A  treatise  on  the  bowels. 

ENTHYME'ME  (Gr.  iv,  and  Svaos,  mind;  something 
understood  in  the  mind  and  not  expressed),  in  Logic,  is 
commonly  defined  to  be  an  argument  having  one  premiss 
expressed,  the  other  understood.  (Stee  Logic,  Syllogism.) 
This  is  the  character  under  which  the  universal  form  of 
reasoning,  or  syllogism,  generally  presents  itself  in  con- 
nected writing.  For  example,  the  following  argument,  if 
drawn  out  in  the  correct  logical  form,  would  stand  thus, 
"All  tyrants  deserve  death;  but  Caesar  is  a  tyrant,  there- 
fore Cffisar  deserves  death."  But  in  the  rapid  diction  of 
oratory,  or  poetry,  it  would  probably  be  expressed  either, 
"  All  tyrants  deserve  death,  therefore  so  does  Caesar ;"  in 
which  case  the  minor  premiss,  "  Caesar  is  a  tyrant,"  is 
suppressed :  or,  "  Caesar  is  a  tyrant,  therefore  he  deserves 


ENTOMOLOGY. 

death,"  by  suppressing  the  major  premiss.  Instances  may 
be  cited  in  which  the  enthymeme  consists  merely  of  one 
of  the  premisses  expressed,  while  both  the  other  premiss 
and  the  conclusion  are  to  be  supplied  by  a  rapid  exercise 
of  thought.  Thus  in  the  well-known  words,  "  But  Brutus 
says  he  was  ambitious,  and  Brutus  is  an  honourable  man," 
the  last  of  these  propositions  contains  a  complete  argu- 
ment,— "  what  honourable  men  say  is  to  be  believed : 
Brutus  is  an  honourable  man,  therefore  what  Brutus  says 
is  to  be  believed." 

ENTOMO'LOGY.  (Gr.  evroua,  insects,  and  ~\oyos,  a 
discourse.)  The  science  of  insects  :  the  history  of  the  or- 
ganization, habits,  properties,  and  classification  of  those 
articulated  animals  which  are  distinguished  by  the  pre- 
sence of  antennae  and  of  breathing  organs,  composed  of 
ramified  tracheae  with  or  without  air-sacs.  The  name  in- 
sect, from  its  etymological  signification  o  fan  animal  insect- 
ed  or  divided  into  sections,  is  applicable  to  the  greater  part 
of  the  Articulate  sub-kingdom,  but  is  now  restricted  to 
those  species  characterized  as  above.  The  presence  of 
highly  developed  organs  for  breathing  air,  together  with 
peculiar  and  complex  organs  of  sensation,  is  associated,  as 
might  be  expected,  with  active  powers  of  locomotion;  and 
most  insects,  besides  having  articulated  members  for  ter- 
restrial progression,  for  leaping  or  climbing,  swimming  or 
diving,  are  endowed  with  wings,  and  are  capable  of  rapid 
and  extensive  flight.  The  power  of  traversing  space  is 
given  in  greater  fulness  and  perfection  to  the  class  of  in- 
sects than  to  any  other  created  beings  on  our  planet.  A 
peculiar  condition  of  the  breathing  organs,  and  a  peculiar 
animal  tissue  (chitine),  which  combines  great  strength, 
elasticity,  and  levity,  coexist  in  insects,  and  in  insects  only. 
If,  therefore,  the  highest  of  living  created  animals  contain 
the  characteristic  structures  of  all  lower  forms,  as  some 
transcendental  anatomists  assume,  then  man  is  not  the 
acme  or  apotheosis  of  animal  organization ;  for  neither 
anastomosing  tracheae  nor  a  particle  of  chitine  is  present  in 
his  system ;  nor  does  he  possess  a  thousandth  part  of  the 
locomotive  energies  of  certain  insects. 

Those  insects  which  have  more  than  six  articulated  legs, 
and  have  the  segments  of  the  trunk  free,  without  distinc- 
tion of  thorax  and  abdomen,  which  undergo  no  other  me- 
tamorphosis than  acquiring  an  increased  number  of  seg- 
ments after  exclusion  from  the  egg,  and  which  lastly  pos- 
sess neither  compound  eyes  nor  wings,  are  separated  by 
some  zoologists  as  a  distinct  class,  under  the  name  Myria- 
poda,  which  see. 

In  the  Hexapod  insects,  the  body  is  divided  into  a  head, 
thorax,  and  abdomen  ;  the  head  supports  a  pair  of  antennae, 
and  contains  a  pair  of  compound,  and  often  also  simple 
eyes;  the  mouth  is  provided  with  alabium,  labrum,  mandi- 
bulae,  and  maxillae ;  the  labium  and  maxillae  also  support 
peculiar  feeling  organs,  called  palpi.  Sometimes  these 
parts  of  the  mouth,  which  are  termed  collectively  trophi, 
or  oral  organs,  are  distinct,  and  adapted  to  mastication : 
the  insects  thus  characterized  constitute  an  extensive  pri- 
mary division  of  the  class  termed  Mandibulata.  Those 
insects  in  which  the  trophi  are  so  modified  as  to  form  an 
instrument  of  suction  are  included  in  the  primary  division 
called  Haustellata. 

The  Hexapod  insects  were  divided  by  Linnaeus  into  the 
following  orders : — 

1.  Coleoptera.    Wings  four,  the  upper  hair  hard,  with  a 

straight  suture.     Ex.  :  Beetles  and  earwigs. 

2.  Hemiptera.     Wings  four,  the  upper  pair  moderately 

hard  and  incumbent.     Ex. :   Bugs,  locusts,  tree-hop- 
pers, plant-lice,  &c. 

3.  Lepidoptera.    Wings  four,  covered  with  scales.     Ex. : 

Moths  and  butterflies. 

4.  Neuroptera.    Wings  four,  membranaceous ;   anus  un- 

armed.    Ex. :  Dragon-flies,  May-flies,  &c. 

5.  Hymenoptera.  Wings  four,  membranaceous  ;  anus  acu- 

leate.    Ex.  :  Bees,  ants,  saw-flies,  &c. 

6.  Diptera.    Wings  two  ;  halteres  two,  in  place  of  the  pos- 

terior wings.     Ex. :  Flies. 

7.  Aptera.     Wings  none.     In  this  order  Linnaeus  included 

not  only  true  Apterous  insects,  as  fleas,  but  also  centi- 
pedes, spiders,  crabs,  lobsters,  &c. ;  or  the  articulate 
animals  now  forming  the  classes  Myriapoda,  Arach- 
nida,  and  Crustacea. 
There  is  not,  perhaps,  any  class  of  the  animal  kingdom 
which  has  been  the  subject  of  more  numerous  and  various 
attempts  at  classification  than  that  of  insects.     We  have 
just  seen  that  Linnaeus  adopted  the  locomotive  system  as 
the  basis  of  his  method.     Fabricius,  his  pupil,  proposed  a 
system  founded  on  modifications  of  the  structure  of  the 
mouth.     Latreille  endeavoured  to  form  a  natural  classifica- 
tion of  those  most  numerous  animals  from  a  considera- 
tion of  their  entire  organization.     His  latest  system  is  as 
follows : — 

Sub-class  I.  Aptera.    No  wings  ;  simple  eyes  in  most. 
A.  No  metamorphosis,  but  simple  moulting,  without  a 
season  of  torpidity  ;  mouth  in  some  a  simple  sucker, 
in  others  mandibulate. 
406 


ENTREPOT. 

Order  1.  Thysanura. 

2.  Anoploura  (or  Parasita). 

B.  A  complete  metamorphosis ;  larvae  apodal ;  pupae 
torpid  ;  mouth  haustellate,  composed  of  an  articulate 
sheath  containing  three  setae,  with  two  scales  at  their 
base ;  body  much  compressed ;  the  species  saltatory 
and  parasitic. 

3.  Aphaniptera  (or  Siphonaptera). 

Sub-class  II.  Ptilota.  Wings,  but  sometimes  not  developed 
as  such  ;  two  compound  eyes,  to  which  in  many  are 
added  simple  eyes. 

A.  Two  wings  covered  by  two  elytra,  either  crustaceous 
or  coriaceous. 

a.  Mandibles  and  maxillae ;  elytra  of  the  same  consis- 
tence. 

4.  Coleoptera. 

5.  Dermaptera. 

6.  Orthoptera. 

b.  No  mandibles  nor  maxillae  ;  mouth  haustellate,  com- 
posed of  an  articulate  sheath,  including  four  setae  ; 
elytra  membranous  at  their  extremity  in  most. 

7.  Hemiptera. 

B.  Wings  four,  or  two  ;  not  covered  by  elytra. 

a.  Mandibulate  ;  wings  four,  membranous,  and  generally 
transparent ;  a  small  scale  (tegulum)at  the  base  of  the 
two  anterior  wings. 

8.  Neuroptera. 

9.  Hymenoptera. 

b.  Haustellate ;  wings  scaly ;  tegula  large,  and  thrown 
back. 

10.  Lepidoptera. 

c.  Two  wings ;  haustellate. 

11.  Strepsiptera  (or  Rhipiptera). 

12.  Diptera. 

For  the  characters  of  the  above  orders  see  the  articles 
under  their  respective  denominations. 

ENTOMO'PHAGA.  (Gr.  tvroua,  insects,  and  <f>ayu,  I 
eat.)  A  tribe  of  Marsupial  quadrupeds,  characterized  by 
having  three  kinds  of  teeth — viz.  incisors,  canines,  and  mo- 
lares — in  both  jaws,  and  the  intestinal  canal  provided  with 
a  moderate-sized  ccecum.  The  Opossums  (Didelphys), 
Bandicoots  {Perameles),  and  the  genera  Myrmecobius  and 
Chatropus  are  associated  to  form  this  group ;  and  feed  prin- 
cipally, though  not  exclusively,  on  insects. 

E'NTOMO'STRACANS.  (Gr.  evrouos,  incised,  and 
otjrpaKov,  a  shell.)  A  division  of  the  class  Crustacea,  in- 
cluding those  species  which  are  covered  with  a  thin  horny 
tegument  in  the  form  of  a  shell,  and  consisting  of  one  or 
two  pieces. 

ENTOZO'A.  (Gr.  evros,  and  ^u>ov,  an  animal.)  A 
name  given  to  an  extensive  series  of  low- organized  inver- 
tebrate and  generally  vermiform  animals,  of  which  the 
greater  part  are  parasitic  on  the  internal  organs  of  other 
animals.  They  have  colourless  blood,  circulated  in  the 
higher  organized  species  in  a  closed  system  of  vessels, 
without  an  auricle  or  ventricle ;  they  have  no  respiratory 
organs,  no  articulated  members  for  locomotion,  no  organs 
of  sense.  The  digestive  system  consists  either  of  tubes  or 
cavities  excavated  in  the  parenchymatous  texture  of  the 
body,  and  without  an  anal  outlet ;  or  of  a  tube  with  both 
oral  and  anal  orifices  freely  suspended  in  an  abdominal 
cavity.  A  filamentary  nervous  system  has  been  recog- 
nized in  the  higher  organized  Entozoa,  occasionally  compli- 
cated with  a  ganglion  near  the  mouth ;  the  generative  sys- 
tem is  unisexual,  hermaphrodite,  or  dioecious.  (For  the 
classification  of  the  Entozoa,  see  Intestinalia.)  The  spe- 
cies of  Entozoa  known  to  infest  the  human  body  are  the 
following  : — Ascaris  rermicularis,  Ascaris  lumbricoides, 
Tricocephalus  dispar,  Bothriocephalic  latus,  Tamia  solium, 
in  the  alimentary  canal;  Distoma  hepaticum,  in  the  gall- 
bladder; Acephalocystis  endogena,  Echinococcus  hominis, 
in  the  substance  of  the  liver,  in  the  omentum  and  cavity  of 
the  abdomen  ;  Filaria  bronchialis,  in  the  bronchial  glands ; 
Strongylus gigas,  in  the  kidney;  Spiroptera  hominis  and 
Slrongylus  spiniger,  in  the  urinary  bladder ;  Polystoma 
pinguicola,  in  the  ovarium  ;  Trichina  spiralis,  in  the  volun- 
tary muscles ;  Cysticercus  celluloses,  filaria  medinensis, 
and  Filaria  oculi,  in  the  cellular  tissue. 

ENTREPOT.  In  Commerce,  the  name  given  in  France 
and  some  other  countries  to  a  warehouse  or  other  place 
where  goods  brought  from  abroad  may  be  deposited,  and 
from  whence  they  may  be  withdrawn  for  export  to  another 
country,  without  payment  of  any  tax  or  duty  An  entrepot 
is,  therefore,  synonymous  with  what  is  called  a  free  port 
on  the  Continent,  and  in  this  country  with  a  bonded  ware- 
house; that  is,  a  warehouse  in  which  foreign  products  are 
stored  under  the  joint  locks  of  the  king  and  the  importer: 
if  such  products  be  entered  for  home  consumption,  they 
are  free  of  duty  till  their  entry ;  and  if  they  be  re-exported 
to  a  foreign  country,  they  are  exempted  from  all  duty,  and 
merely  pay  a  small  sum  as  warehouse  rent.  In  popular 
language,  however,  the  word  entrepot  is  frequently  em- 
ployed to  designate  a  sea-port  or  commercial  town  which, 
exports  the  produce  of  a  considerable  adjacent  territory, 


ENTRESOL. 

and  imports  the  foreign  articles  required  for  its  supply. 
But  its  correct  signification  is  that  given  above. 

E'NTRESOL.     (Fr.)  In  Architecture.  See  Mezzanine. 

ENTRO'PIUM.  (Gr.  ev,  in,  and  rperreiv,  to  turn.)  A 
turning  in  of  the  eyelashes  and  eyelid,  so  as  to  irritate  the 
ball  of  the  eye. 

E'NTRY,  in  Law,  signifies  the  taking  possession  of  lands 
and  tenements  where  a  man  has  title  of  entry.  It  is  also 
used  for  a  writ  of  possession.  Entry  is  either  actual,  made 
by  the  party  or  his  attorney ;  or  an  entry  in  law,  by  conti- 
nual claim.  Remedy  by  entry  takes  place  in  cases  of 
abatement,  intrusion,  and  disseisin ;  not  on  discontinuance 
or  deforcement. 

ENVELOPE.  In  Fortification,  a  mound  of  earth,  raised 
to  cover  some  weak  part  of  the  works.  Envelopes  are 
sometimes  raised  in  the  ditch  of  the  place,  sometimes  be- 
yond it ;  and  are  in  the  form  of  a  single  parapet,  or  a  small 
parapet  bordered  by  another. 

E'NVOYS,  ORDINARY  and  EXTRAORDINARY,  be- 
long to  the  second  order  of  diplomatic  ministers.  They 
are  inferior  in  rank  to  ambassadors,  properly  so  called ; 
the  chief  difference  between  them  being  that  the  latter  are 
held  to  represent  the  interests  of  their  sovereign  as  agents, 
the  former  his  person.    See  Ambassador. 

E'OCE'NE.  (Gr.  >)&){,  the  morning, and  kouvos,  recent.) 
In  Geology.  "This  period  we  shall  call  Eocene,  because 
the  extremely  small  proportion  of  living  species  contained 
in  these  strata  indicates  what  may  be  considered  the  first 
commencement  or  dawn  of  the  existing  state  of  the  animal 
creation.  To  this  period  the  formations  first  called  tertiary, 
of  the  Paris  and  London  basins,  are  referable."  (Lyell, 
Geology.) 

E'OLIPILE.     See  jEolipile. 

EPA'CRIDA'CE/E.  (Epacris,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  shrubby  Exogens,  chiefly  natives  of  Aus- 
tralia; they  differ  from  Ericea  chiefly  in  the  structure  of 
the  anther,  which  is  one-celled  and  destitute  of  appen- 
dages. The  fruit  of  Lissanthe  sapida,  and  a  few  other 
species,  is  eaten  under  the  name  of  tlie  Australian  cran- 
berry ;  otherwise  there  is  no  plant  of  any  known  use  in 
the  order,  which,  however,  contains  many  beautiful  spe- 
cies of  the  genera  Epacris,  Lysinema,  Sphenoloma,  Sty- 
p/ielia,  and  Dracophyllum. 

E'PACT  (Gr.  t-Kaxroi,  added  or  introduced),  in  Chrono- 
logy, denotes  the  moon's  age  at  the  end  of  the  year,  or  the 
number  of  days  by  which  the  last  new  moon  has  preceded 
the  beginning  of  the  year.  The  common  solar  year  con- 
sists of  305  days,  and  the  lunar  year  of  only  354  days  :  the 
difference  is  therefore  11 ;  whence,  if  a  new  moon  fall  on 
the  1st  of  January  in  any  year,  the  moon  will  be  11  days 
old  on  the  1st  day  of  the  following  year,  and  22  day  a  old  on 
the  1st  of  the  third  year.  The  numbers  11  and  22  are 
therefore  the  epacts  of  those  years  respectively.  The 
addition  of  11  to  the  last  epact  gives  33  for  that  of  the  suc- 
ceeding or  fourth  year;  but  as  the  lunar  month  never  ex- 
ceeds 30  days,  the  epact  cannot  exceed  30;  whence  30  is 
deducted  from  33,  and  the  epact  is  reduced  to  3.  Of  the 
thirty  days  thus  rejected  an  embolismic  or  intercalary 
month  is  formed,  which,  consequently,  occurs  every  third 
year  of  the  lunar  cycle,  and  gives  13  lunar  months  to  that 
year.  In  like  manner  the  epacts  of  all  the  succeeding 
years  of  the  lunar  cycle  are  obtained ;  that  is  to  say,  by 
adding  successively  11  to  the  epact  of  the  former  year, 
and  rejecting  30  as  often  as  the  sum  exceeds  that  number, 
the  leap  years  being  taken  account  of  by  adding  one  day 
to  each  lunar  month  which  contains  the  29th  of  February. 
Supposing,  therefore,  the  epact  of  the  first  year  of  the  cy- 
cle to  be  11,  the  epacts  of  all  the  19  years  of  which  the  cycle 
is  composed  will  be  as  follows.— 11,  22,3,  14,25,  6,  17,  28, 
9,  20,  1,  12,  23,  4,  15,  26,  7,  18,  29.  But  the  order  is  inter- 
rupted  at  the  end  of  the  cycle ;  for  the  epact  of  the  follow- 
ing year,  formed  in  the  same  manner,  would  be  29  +11  — 
30  =  10,  whereas  it  ought  obviously  to  be  11,  to  correspond 
with  the  moon's  age,  all  the  circumstances  being  now  sup- 
posed to  be  the  same  as  they  were  at  the  commencement 
of  the  previous  cycle.  In  order  to  understand  this,  it  is  ne- 
cessary to  remember  that  the  lunar  cycle  of  the  ecclesias- 
tical calendar  is  composed  in  the  following  manner: — The 
lunations  are  supposed  to  consist  of  29  and  30  days  alter- 
nately, or  the  common  lunar  year  of  354  days ;  and,  in  or- 
der to  make  up  19  solar  years,  six  embolismic  or  interca- 
lary months  of  30  days  each  are  inserted  in  the  course  of 
the  cycle,  and  one  of  29  days  at  the  end.  Hence  it  follows 
that  after  adding  11  to  the  epact  of  the  19th  year  of  the  cy- 
cle, we  must  reject  29  instead  of  30,  in  order  to  have  Ihe 
epact  of  the  following  year,  or  the  first  year  of  the  follow- 
ing cycle. 

This  method  of  forming  the  epacts  is  adapted  to  the  Julian 
calendar,  and  might  be  continued  indefinitely,  if  the  Julian 
intercalation  were  followed  without  interruption,  and  the 
lunar  cycle,  defined  as  above,  had  corresponded  exactly 
with  the  lunar  motions.  But  the  intercalation  is  subject  to 
correction,  and  the  cycle  is  not  quite  exact.  Hence  the 
epacts  must  occasionally  be  adjusted ;  and,  generally  speak- 
407 


EPHIALTES. 

ing,  an  alteration  is  made  on  the  last  year  of  each  century, 
In  the  ordinary  tables  of  the  church  calendar  the  epacts 
are  therefore  given  only  for  a  single  century  ;  but  as  the 
Gregorian  calendar  now  in  use  defines  precisely  the  length 
of  the  year,  tables,  though  somewhat  more  complicated, 
have  been  formed,  which  show  the  epacts  of  every  future 
year  in  all  time  to  come.  They  may  even  be  found  by 
means  of  an  algebraic  formula  of  no  great  perplexity. 
(See  the  article  "  Calendar"  in  the  Encyclopedia  Briton- 
nica.)  The  epacts  were  invented  by  Luigi  Lilio  Ghiraldi; 
more  frequently  styled  Aloysius  Lilius,  a  physician  of  Na- 
ples, and  author  of  the  Gregorian  Calendar,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  showing  the  days  of  the  new  moons,  and  thence 
the  moon's  age  on  any  day  of  the  year,  and  consequently 
of  regulating  the  church  festivals.  It  is  only  in  ecclesias- 
tical computations  that  the  epacts  are  ever  employed ;  in 
civil  affairs  the  civilized  portion  of  mankind  have  long 
since  laid  aside  the  use  of  the  lunisolar  year,  and  regulated 
time  entirely  by  the  sun.  In  the  calendar  of  the  Church 
of  England,  Easter  and  the  other  moveable  feasts  are  de- 
termined in  the  same  manner  as  in  the  old  Romish  calen- 
dar, excepting  that  the  golden  numbers  are  prefixed  to  Ihe 
days  of  the  full  moons,  instead  of  the  days  of  the  new 
moons.  The  epacts  are  consequently  not  used.  It  is  de- 
sirable that  the  custom  of  reckoning  time  by  the  moon, 
which  had  its  origin  in  ignorant  ages,  were  abandoned,  and 
the  civil  year  adopted  for  every  purpose.  See  Calendar. 
The  following  table  shows  the  epacts  corresponding  to 
each  year  of  the  lunar  cycle  during  the  present  century. 
The  year  of  the  cycle  is  what  is  usually  called  the  golden 
number,  which  is  found  by  the  following  rule  : — Add  1  to 
the  date  (or  year),  and  divide  the  sum  by  19  ;  the  quotient 
will  be  the  number  of  cycles  elapsed  since  the  commence- 
ment of  the  era,  and  the  remainder  the  golden  number. 
See  Golden  Number. 

Table  of  Gregorian  Epacts. 


Golden 
Number. 

Epact. 

Golden 
Number. 

Epact. 

Golden 
Number. 

Epact. 

I. 

0 

VIII. 

17 

XV. 

4 

11. 

11 

IX. 

28 

•XVI. 

15 

III. 

22 

X. 

9 

XVII. 

26 

IV. 

3 

XI. 

20 

XVIII. 

7 

V. 

14 

XII. 

1 

XIX. 

18 

VI. 

25 

XIII. 

12 

I. 

0 

VII. 

6 

XIV. 

23 

EPA'NALE'PSIS.  (From  the  Greek  preposition  Itcii 
and  avaXayifiavw,  I  take  up.)  In  Rhetoric  and  Composi- 
tion, a  figure  by  which  the  word  which  begins  the  sentence 
is  repeated  at  the  end  of  it:  "Judge  not,  that  ye  be  not 
judged." 

EPAU'LE.  In  Fortification,  the  shoulder  of  the  bastion, 
or  the  angle  made  by  the  face  and  flank. 

EPAU'LEMENT.  A  side  work  hastily  raised  to  cover 
the  cannon  or  men  :  also  used  for  a  demi-bastion,  consist- 
ing of  a  face  and  flank  ;  or  for  the  redoubts  made  on  a  right 
line. 

EPAULETTES.  (Fr.)  Distinguishing  ornaments  worn 
both  by  military  and  naval  officers.  In  the  different  armies 
of  the  German  states  ensigns  are  not  allowed  to  wear  epau- 
lettes ;  and  hence  the  phrase  "to  obtain  epaulettes,"  is  sy- 
nonymous with  "  to  become  a  lieutenant."  In  the  British 
army  all  officers  with  the  rank  of  captain  upwards  wear  two 
epaulettes;  all  under  that  rank  only  one. 

EPENE'TIC.  (Gr.  £rraiv£Ti*cos,  from  eiraivos,  an  enco- 
mium.) The  laudatory  or  "encomiastic"  species  of  ora- 
tory :  a  branch  of  the  Epideictic,  according  to  the  division 
of  Aristotle's  De  Rhetorica.     See  Panegyric. 

EPE'NTHESIS.  A  figure  of  grammar,  by  which  one  or 
more  letters  are  inserted  in  the  middle  of  a  word  ;  as  in  the 
Latin  rettulit  for  retulit.     See  Metaplasm. 

EPHEBEI'UM.  (.Gr.  S(priPos,  a  youth.)  In  Ancient  Ar- 
chitecture, the  building  appropriated  for  the  wrestling  and 
exercises  of  youth  till  they  had,  on  their  arrival  at  man- 
hood, the  right  to  enter  the  gymnasium. 

EPHE'BI.  (Gr.  c(j>ri/3ot,  signifying  arrived  at  the  age  of 
puberty.)  Applied  particularly  to  the  Athenian  youth  be- 
tween the  ages  of  eighteen  and  twenty  years. 

EPHE'MERANS,  Ephemerincn.  (Gr.  uprtpepog,  daily.) 
A  family  of  Neuropterous  insects,  having  the  genus  Ephe- 
mera as  the  type.  They  are  called  day-flies,  from  the  en- 
joyment of  their  last  stage  of  existence  being  generally 
"limited  to  twenty-four  hours. 

EPHE'MERIS.  (Gr.  c.<pr)pe.pis ;  tm.  upon,  and  ypcpa, 
day.)  An  astronomical  table  showing  the  places  of  a  celes- 
tial body  for  every  day  at  noon.  Ephemerides  (the  plurai) 
of  the  planets  are  computed  and  published  annually  for 
most  of  the  principal  observatories  of  Europe.  The  most 
celebrated  of  these  are  our  own  Nautical  Almanac,  the 
French  Connaissance  des  Terns,  and  the  Berlin  Jahrbuch. 

Ephemeris,  in  Literature,  is  a  collective  name  for  re- 
views, magazines,  and  all  kinds  of  periodical  literature. 

EPHIA'LTES.    (Gr.  e<pa\\op.at,  I  leap  upon;  from  the 


EPHOD 

sensation  of  something  leaping  upon  the  breast.)  The 
nightmare.  This  affection,  consisting  of  horrid  dreams, 
with  a  sensation  of  great  pressure  upon  the  body,  and  of 
fruitless  endeavours  to  escape  and  call  for  help,  is  gene- 
rally symptomatic  of  indigestion,  or  of  over-distension  of 
the  stomach.  For  its  relief  opening  medicine,  and  some- 
times an  emetic,  are  often  required,  and  careful  abstinence 
from  all  that  promotes  dyspepsia,  especially  supper  eating. 
E'PHOD.  (Heb.)  A  species  of  ornament  worn  by  the 
Hebrew  priests.  The  ephod  worn  by  the  high  priest,  says 
Calmet,  was  richly  composed  of  gold,  blue,  purple,  crim- 
son, and  twisted  cotton  ;  and  upon  the  part  which  came 
over  his  shoulders  were  two  large  precious  stones,  upon 
which  were  engraven  the  names  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Is- 
rael, six  names  upon  each  stone.  The  ephods  worn  by  the 
ordinary  priests  were  of  fine  linen.     (See  Exod.  xxxix.) 

E'PHORI.  (Gr.  t<popoi.)  In  Ancient  History,  the  title 
of  a  class  of  magistrates  common  to  many  of  the  Dorian 
states  of  Greece,  but  more  particularly  known  in  reference 
to  the  political  constitution  of  Sparta.  The  Spartan  ephors 
were  five  in  number,  and  were  elected  annually  from  the 
body  of  the  ruling  caste,  and  not  from  any  particular  tribe. 
They  originally  seem  to  have  exercised  a  jurisdiction  over 
the  Spartans  in  their  civil  concerns,  the  limits  of  which  it 
is  not  easy  to  define  ;  but  their  power  increased  by  degrees, 
till  it  became  supreme  in  the  state.  Besides  their  ju.  cial 
authority,  they  exercised  a  control  over  the  functions  of  the 
kings  and  the  senate,  and  sometimes  recalled  the  former 
from  their  foreign  expeditions,  and  demanded  an  account 
of  their  proceedings.  The  executve  power  likewise  was 
almost  wholly  in  their  hands. 

E'PIC.  (Gr.  tiros,  averse.)  A  poem  of  an  elevated  cha- 
racter, describing  generally  the  exploits  of  heroes.  This 
species  of  poetry  claims  a  very  ancient  origin,  and  is  uni- 
versally allowed  to  be  the  most  dignified  and  majestic  to 
which  the  powers  of  the  poet  can  be  directed.  There  are 
various  theories  regarding  the  character  of  an  epic  poem  ; 
and  while  some  critics  claim  this  title  exclusively  for  the 
Iliad  and  Odyssey  of  Homer,  the  jEneid  of  Virgil,  and  the 
Paradise  Lost  of  Milton,  others— and  particularly  the  Ger- 
mans— embrace  in  the  catalogue  of  epic  writers  Scott, 
Byron,  Pope,  Moore,  and  Campbell.  Epic  poetry  has  often 
been  compared  to  the  drama ;  and  the  essential  difference 
between  them  is,  that  description  is  the  province  of  the 
former— action  of  the  latter.  The  emotions  which  epic 
poetry  excite  are  not  so  frequent  and  violent  as  those  pro- 
duced by  dramatic  composition  ;  but  they  are  more  pro- 
longed, and  more  developed  by  actual  occurrences  ;  for  an 
epic  poem  embraces  a  wider  compass  of  time  and  action 
than  is  admissible  in  the  drama.  History  has  generally 
supplied  the  best  epic  writers  with  themes  ;  but  a  close  at- 
tention to  historical  truth  in  the  development  of  the  story 
is  by  no  means  requisite.  Fiction,  invention,  imagination, 
maybe  indulged  in  to  an  almost  unlimited  extent;  pro- 
vided always  the  poet  be  careful  to  preserve  what  the  cri- 
tics call  unity,  i.  e.  provided  his  work  embrace  an  entire 
action,  or  have  a  beginning,  a  middle,  and  an  end.  This  is 
the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  the  great  epic  poems. 
The  object  of  the  JEneid,  for  instance,  is  the  establishment 
of  iEneas  in  Italy  ;  and  amidst  all  the  ramifications  of  the 
poem,  the  great  object  is  kept  steadily  in  view,  and  every 
digression  from  the  subject  is  made  powerfully  and  di- 
rectly conducive  to  the  progress  and  development  of  the 
tale.  According  to  Aristotle,  who  has  been  implicitly  fol- 
lowed by  Blair,  the  essentials  of  an  epic  poem  consist  in 
the  recital  of  some  great  event  in  a  poetical  form,— the  con- 
trivance of  a  plot  important  in  itself,  and  instructive  in  the 
reflections  which  it  suggests,  filled  with  suitable  incidents, 
enlivened  with  a  variety  of  characters  and  descriptions, 
and  maintaining  throughout  propriety  of  character  and  ele- 
vation of  style.  But  besides  these  essential  ingredients  in 
epic  poetry,  there  are  also  what  may  be  termed  accidentals, 
in  which  none  of  the  great  epic  poems  are  deficient.  These 
are  a  prescribed  and  lengthened  march,  formal  addresses, 
sustained  pomp,  episodes,  and  machinery.  About  the  ne- 
cessity and  use  of  machinery  (the  introduction  of  super- 
natural beings)  in  an  epic  poem  there  are  various  opinions. 
The  French  critics  consider  it  as  essential  to  the  constitu- 
tion of  an  epic  poem,  alleging  that  no  poem,  though  pos- 
sessed of  every  other  requisite,  has  any  pretension  to  be 
ranked  in  the  epic  class  unless  the  main  action  be  carried 
on  by  supernatural  beings.  "  On  peut  dire,"  says  Bossu, 
"  en  un  mot  qu'il  faut  user  de  machines  partout,  puisque 
Homere  et  Virgile  n'ont  rien  fait  sans  cela."  To  be  con- 
vinced of  the  error  of  this  critic,  we  have  only  to  ask  our- 
selves what  it  is,  in  the  writings  of  Homer  and  Virgil,  that 
pleases  us  most  1  Assuredly,  as  an  ingenious  writer  has 
remarked,  it  is  not  the  councils  of  Olympus,  the  wiles  of 
Juno  and  Venus,  or  the  "  animis  in  coelestibus  irae"  (how 
beautiful  soever  these  are  all  pourtrayed),  that  awake  a 
chord  of  sympathy,  even  after  a  lapse  of  two  thousand 
years,  in  the  breast  of  every  one  who  reads  them  ;  but  it 
is  the  knowledge  of  human  nature,  and  the  pictures  of  hu- 
man feeling  which  these  poems  display,  that  have  made 
408 


EPICUREANS. 

them  a  "  xTripa  eif  act,"— a  work  for  all  time,  a  possession 
for  eternity.  In  a  word,  upon  this  head  we  may  say,  that 
while,  on  the  one  hand,  the  observance  of  all  these  rules 
regarding  machinery  alone  will  never  constitute  an  epic 
poem  ;  so,  on  the  other,  the  absence  or  violation  of  them 
in  the  hands  of  a  man  of  genius  will  never  deprive  it  of 
that  character. 

If  the  epic  is  the  highest,  it  is  also  the  most  difficult  style 
of  poetical  composition,  and  that  in  which  mediocrity  is 
least  endurable  ;  and  hence  few  of  the  writers  of  epics  on 
the  classical  model  have  obtained  a  high  reputation  as  na- 
tional poets  in  any  language.  Virgil  is  the  earliest  imitator 
of  Homer  whose  epic  has  been  preserved,  and  the  most 
successful.  The  other  Greek  and  Latin  epic  poets  contain 
passages  of  great  beauty  ;  but  their  poems,  as  wholes,  are  of 
an  inferior  order.  In  the  English  language  we  have  only  two 
epics  which  can  be  said  to  form  part  of  the  national  literature, 
and  those  only  in  partframed  on  the  classical  model:  the  Pa- 
radise Lost  and  Regained  of  Milton.  French  epics,  including 
even  the  Henriade  of  Voltaire,  so  famous  in  its  time,  have 
no  place  among  the  chefs-d'csuvreof  the  national  literature. 
Of  the  great  Italian  poems,  only  one  (the  Jerusalem  De- 
livered of  Tasso)  fulfils  the  conditions  of  an  epic.  The 
poem  of  Danle,  however  sublime  in  style,  has  no  unity  of 
event  or  action  :  those  of  Ariosto,  and  the  other  Roman- 
zieri,  form  a  class  distinguished  from  the  epic  by  the  mix- 
ture of  the  serious  and  ludicrous.  The  Italia  Liberata  of 
Trissino  is  simply  pedantic.  The  old  German  and  Spanish 
national  poems, — the  Romance  of  the  Cid,  and  the  Niebe- 
lungen-Lied,  especially  the  latter,  which  is  closely  confined 
to  the  conduct  of  one  great  action, — although  the  work  of 
writers  unskilled  in  classical  literature,  deserve  the  title  of 
epic  as  truly  as  those  of  Homer.  There  is  a  brief  but 
masterly  exposition  of  the  origin  and  distinguishing  charac- 
teristics of  epic  poetry  in  the  Penny  Cyclopaedia,  with  re- 
ference to  the  chief  German  authorities  on  this  subject. 

EPICA'RIDANS,  Epicarides.  (Gr.  em,  upon,  and 
tapis,  a  shrimp.)  A  family  of  Isopodous  or  equal  footed 
Crustaceans,  which  are  parasitic  upon  shrimps. 

EPICE'DIUM.  (Gr.  tiri,  and  xySos,  grief.)  In  Poetry, 
an  elegiac  poem  on  the  occasion  of  a  funeral  solemnity  in 
honour  of  some  deceased  person. 

EPICRA/NITIS.  (Gr.  i-riKpaivia,  I  finish.)  In  Ancient 
Architecture,  a  tile  forming  the  cyma  of  the  cornice.  The 
angular  stone  forming  the  vertex  of  the  pediment  was  call- 
ed the  angular  epicranitis.  The  term  is  used  in  the  cele- 
brated Athenian  inscription  brought  to  this  country  by  Dr. 
Chandler,  and  now  in  the  British  Museum. 

EPICURE'ANS.  Followers  of  the  tenets  of  Epicurus, 
a  philosopher  who  lived  from  b.  c.  337  to  b.  c.  270,  and 
taught  during  the  latter  half  of  his  life  at  Athens.  The 
name  of  Epicurean  has  become  the  general  designation  of 
those  who,  either  theoretically  or  practically,  make  plea- 
sure the  chief  end  of  life  and  the  standard  of  all  virtue.  Of 
the  genuine  doctrines  of  Epicurus  himself  we  have  notices 
in  the  work  of  Diogenes  Laertius,  who  has  preserved  to  us 
fragments  of  his  very  voluminous  writings:  but  for  these 
remains  we  should  be  at  a  loss,  amid  the  conflicting  state- 
ments of  his  friends  and  enemies,  how  to  judge  of  his  cha- 
racter as  a  man  and  a  philosopher.  The  private  character 
of  Epicurus  has,  we  doubt  not,  been  unjustly  aspersed  ;  it 
will  be  found,  however,  on  a  careful  examination  of  his 
system,  that  his  merits  as  a  philosopher  have  been  as  un- 
deservedly extolled.  Epicurus  was  the  first  philosophical 
teacher  who  deserted  the  lofty  idea  of  science  which  Plato 
and  Aristotle  had  striven  to  develop.  Truth  is,  with  him, 
no  longer  an  object  worth  pursuing  for  its  own  sake,  but 
only  in  so  far  as  it  contributes  to  the  piece  of  mind  of  its 
possessors.  Hence,  though  he  retains  the  threefold  divi- 
sion of  philosophy  into  ethics,  physics,  and  dialectics  (in 
Epicurean  language,  canonic),  he  assigns  the  two  latter  a 
place  subordinate  to  the  first,  and  bestows  on  them  a  cur- 
sory and  heedless  mode  of  treatment. 

We  should  greatly  wrong  Epicurus  if  we  represented 
the  gratification  of  the  sensual  appetites  to  be  the  object 
proposed  by  him  to  the  wise  man.  The  happiness  which 
he  regards  as  the  true  end  of  existence  is  rather  a  species 
of  quietism,  in  which  the  philosopher,  protected  by  his 
knowledge  from  all  fear  of  injury  from  the  powers  of  na- 
ture, and  by  the  laws  from  the  assaults  of  his  fellow-crea- 
tures, holds  himself  open  to  all  the  pleasurable  sensations 
which  the  temperate  indulgence  of  his  ordinary  appetites, 
the  recollection  of  past  enjoyments,  and  the  anticipation 
of  future,  are  sufficient  abundantly  to  furnish.  In  order  to 
support  his  imaginary  wise  man  in  this  tranquillity,  he 
deemed  it  necessary  to  show  that  the  apprehensions  which 
beset  mankind,  of  death,  of  the  power  and  anger  of  the 
gods,  and  the  like,  are  wholly  unfounded.  For  this  pur- 
pose he  made  use  of  the  physical  doctrine  of  Democritus  ; 
a  system  of  atomic  materialism,  which  makes  all  existen- 
ces to  arise  from  the  concourse  of  minute  particles  of  mat- 
ter— the  soul  among  the  number,  which  is  consequently, 
at  the  moment  of  death,  resolved  into  its  constituent  ele- 
ments.   The  mental  philosophy  of  Epicurus  was  of  a  sim- 


EPICYCLE. 

ilar  stamp  :  all  our  mental  powers  are  resolved  into  sensa- 
tion, immediate  or  recollected  ;  and  sensation,  under  both 
its  forms,  consists  in  the  influx  of  certain  extremely  fine 
filni3,  which  are  perpetually,  as  it  were,  sloughed  from 
external  objects,  and  find  their  way  through  the  organs 
of  sense  to  the  soul.  The  gods  of  the  Epicureans  bear 
no  relation  to  any  part  of  their  system  :  they  are  beings 
sprung,  like  men,  from  the  concourse  of  atoms,  and  differ- 
ing from  them  only  in  their  superior  blessedness  and  tran- 
quillity, shown  in  their  entire  aloofness  from  the  care  and 
government  of  the  world.  The  followers  of  Epicurus  were 
numerous,  especially  among  the  Romans.  Little  more, 
however,  than  their  names  are  recorded;  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Lucretius,  who,  in  his  well-known  poem,  De  Jierum 
Natura,  illustrates  and  defends  the  physical  and  religious 
tenets  of  his  master.  In  modern  limes,  Gassendi,  an  ato- 
mic philosopher  of  the  17th  century,  has  published  an  able 
statement  ot  (he  Epicurean  system,  under  the  title  of  Syn- 
tagma Philosophica  Epicuri.  (See  also  Diogenes  Laertius. 
Vit.  Phil.  1.  x.  ;  and  Cicero's  philosophical  writings  gene- 
rally ;  also  Rilter,  Gesch.  der  Philos.  b.  x.  And  for  a  list  of  fne 
Epicureans,  Fabricii  BibliothtcaGr&ca,  vol.  iii.  ed.  Hsrles.) 
EPICY'CLE  (Gr.  tin,  upon,  and  kvkXos.  circle),  in  the 
Ancient  Astronomy,  is  a  circle  having  its  centre  on  the 
circumference  of  another  circle.  It  was  a  favourite  axiom 
of  the  Greek  astronomers,  that  all  the  cekstial  motions 
must  be  circular  and  uniform.  The  phenomena  of  the 
stations  and  retrogradalions  of  the  planets  were  apparently 
inconsistent  with  this  supposition  ;  and  in  order  to  explain 
them,  Anollonins  of  Perga  imagined  the  ingenious  appa- 
ratus of  epicycles  and  deferents.  He  supposed  the  planet  P 
to  move  uniformly  in  the  smal!  circle  or  epi-  ». —  P 
cycle  PAD,  the  centre  of  which  is  carried  uni-  /  AAp) 
formly  forward  along  the  circumference  of  the  '  a  iK 
large  circle  or  deferent  CDF,  of  which  the  V,  J 
earth  occupies  the  centre  E.  Hipparehus,  ^  — 
having  discovered  the  eccentricity  of  the  solar  orbit,  sup- 
posed the  motions  w  be  performed  in  eccentric  circles. 
Ptolemy,  the  celebrated  founder  of  the  system  which 
astronomers  followed  till  the  days  of  Copernicus,  adopted 
the  hypotheses  both  of  Apollonius  and  Hipparehus;  that 
is,  he  supposed  the  earth  E  to  be  placed  at  a  small  distance 
from  the  centre  of  the  deferent  circle  (which  consequently 
was  called  an  eccentric),  and  the  planet  to  move  uniformly 
in  the  epicycle,  the  centre  of  which  also  moves  uniformly 
in  tlie  deferent.  By  means  of  these  suppositions,  and  by 
assigning  proper  ratios  (determined  by  observation)  be- 
tween the  radius  of  the  deferent  and  the  radius  of  the  epi- 
cycle, and  also  between  the  velocity  of  the  planet  in  its 
epicycle  and  the  velocity  of  the  centre  of  the  epicycle  on 
the  deferent,  he  was  enabled  to  represent  with  considerable 
accuracy,  indeed  with  all  the  accuracy  which  the  observa 
tions  of  that  lime  required,  the  apparent  motions  of  the 
planets,  and  particularly  the  stations  and  retrogradations 
which  formed  the  principal  object  of  the  researches  of  the 
ancient  astronomers.  As  a  first  step  towards  connecting 
the  two  sciences  of  astronomy  and  geometry,  the  system 
of  epicycles  does  infinite  honour  to  its  inventors;  and  it 
ought  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  was  never  given  out  by 
Ptolemy  as  any  thing  else  than  a  mere  hypothesis  for  re- 
presenting the  apparent  celestial  motions,  or,  as  he  ex- 
presses it.  for  saving  the  appearances. 

E'PICY'CI.OID  (Gr.  etiicidcAos,  and  t«5oc,  form),  in 
Geometry,  is  a  curve  line  which  is  generated  by  the  re- 
volution of  a  point  in  the  circumference  of  a  circle  which 
rolls  on  the  circumference  of  another  circle  cither  exter- 
nally or  internally.  Thus,  let  the 
circle  whose  centre  is  E  touch  the 
circle  ABF  at  the  point  A,  and 
roll  along  the  outside  of  the  cir- 
cumference ;  the  point  of  original 
contact  C,  carried  round  till  it  re- 
turn again  to  the  circumference  at 
F,  will  trace  an  epicycloid.  If  the 
circle  revolve  on  the  inside  of  the 
circumference,  the  curve  traced 
out  by  the  point  C  will  still  be  of  the  same  kind,  though 
somewhat  different  in  form.  This  is  sometimes  called  the 
hypocycloid. 

The  revolving  circle  is  called  the  generating  circle,  the 
circle  on  which  the  revolution  is  performed  the  funda- 
mental circle,  and  the  portion  of  the  fundamental  circle  on 
which  the  epicycloid  rests  is  called  its  6a?c.  Some  of  the 
properties  of  the  curve  are  easily  deduced  from  these  de- 
finitions. It  is  evident  that  the  whole  base  A  F  is  equal  to 
the  circumference  of  the  generating  circle  :  and  when  the 
radius  of  the  generating  circle  is  any  aliquot  part  of  that  of 
the  fundamental  eircle,  the  epicycloid,  after  repeated  ac- 
cessions to  the  cin-umference  of  the  fundamental  circle, 
most  return  into  itself  at  the  same  point  A. 

The  epicycloid  assumes  a  variety  of  forms,  according  to 

the  relative  magnitudes  of  the  fundamental  and  generating 

circles;  when  the  two  circles  are  equal,  its  form  is  that  of 

the  annexed  figure.    This  is  one  of  the  caustic  curves ;  for 

409 


EPIDOTE. 

rays  of  light,  issuing  from  a  luminous  point  R  in  tire  circum- 
A  ference  of  a  circle  11  I  A,  and 

reflected  from  any  points  I  i  in 
the  circumference,  are  tangents 
to  the  curve;  consequently  all 
the  reflected  rays  intersect  in 
the  curve  which  is  thus  traced 
out  by  the  assemblage  of  bril- 
liant points.  When  the  radius 
of  the  generating  eircle  is  only 
half  that  of  the  fundamental  cir- 
cle, the  exteriorepicycloid  forms 
the  caustic  of  parallel  rays.  In 
this  case  the  interior  epicy- 
cloid becomes  a  straight  line, 
the  point  C  tracing  out  the  diameter  of  the  fundamental 
circle. 

It  is  a  remarkable  property  of  epicycloids,  that  when  the 
diameter  of  the  generating  circle  is  any  aliquot  part  of  the 
diameter  of  the  fundamental  circle,  they  are  algebraic 
curves;  and  the  whole  epicycloidal  circuits  are  capable  of 
being  expressed  geometrically  in  terms  of  the  diameters 
of  those  circles.  Thus,  let  the  radius  of  the  generating 
circle  be  1,  and  the  radius  of  the  fundamental  circle  n ;  then 
the  length  of  the  complete  arc  of  the  exterior  epicycloid  is 

expressed  by  the  formulas  (  j,  and  of  the  interior 

epicycloid   by  8  ( Y  In  this  case  also  the  epicycloidal 

spaces,  or  areas,  are  expressible  in  terms  of  the  areas  of 
these  circles;  the  surface  of  the  exterior  epicycloid  being 

-  times,  and  that  of  the  interior  epicycloid  

times  the  area  of  the  generating  circle.  In  all  cases 
the  epicycloid,  as  above  defined,  is  rectifiable  ;  but  when 
the  tracing  point  i3  not  situated  in  the  circumference 
of  the  generating  circle,  but.  any  where  in  its  plane  within 
or  without  it,  the.  curve  is  of  a  different  nature,  and  the 
above  properties  no  longer  hold  true.  In  this  case  the  ex- 
terior curve  is  usually  called  the  epitrochoid,  and  the  inte- 
rior the  hypotrochoid. 

The  epicycloid  was  invented  by  the  celebrated  Danish 
astronomer  Romer,  the  discoverer  of  the  progressive  motion 
of  light,  who  proposed  this  curve,  about  the  year  1674,  as 
the  proper  form  of  the  teeth  of  wheels,  in  order  to  destroy 
the  friction.  Newton,  in  the  first  edition  of  the  Principia, 
gave  its  rectification ;  and  Ilalley.  in  the  Philosophical. 
Transactions,  No.  218,  showed  how  its  quadrature  depends 
on  that  of  the  generating  circle.  The  other  principal  pro- 
perties of  the  curve  were  discovered  and  demonstrated  by 
John  Bernoulli. 

The  term  epicycloid  is  applied  to  other  curves  than  the 
above,  but  described  in  an  analogous  manner.  If  the  re- 
volving circle  forms  a  constant  angle  with  the  plane  of  the 
fundamental  circle,  the  curve  traced  out  is  called  a  spheri- 
cal epicycloid.  If  an  ellipse  is  made  to  roll  on  another  el- 
lipse, the  generating  point  traces  an  elliptic  epicycloid,  &c. 

EPIDE'MIC.  (Gr.  em,  upon, and  Sr\jioi,  people.)  An  in- 
fectious or  contagious  disease,  which  attacks  many  people 
at  the  same  period  and  in  the  same  country,  "  rages  for  a 
certain  lime,  and  then  gradually  diminishes  and  disappears, 
to  return  again  at  periods  more  or  less  remote."  Thus  in- 
fluenza, scarlet  fever,  measles,  &c,  frequently  appear  as 
epidemics ;  that  is,  are  found  to  prevail  in  certain  parts  of 
a  country,  while  the  adjacent  districts  are  wholly  free  from 
their  ravages.  It  is  essential  to  the  medical  notion  of  an 
epidemic  that  it  be  of  a  temporary,  in  contradistinction  to 
a  permanent  character.  It  differs  from  endemic,  inasmuch 
as  the  latter  class  of  diseases  are  of  a  permanent  nature, 
and  prevail  only  among  certain  people,  and  in  certain  dis- 
tricts. 

EPIDE'RMIS.  (Gr.  cirt,  and  Scpua,  the  true  skin.)  In 
Anatomy,  the  cuticle  or  scarf  skin.  It  is  an  albuminous 
membrane. 

Epidermis.  In  Botany,  the  cellular  integument,  or  the 
exterior  cellular  coating  of  the  bark,  or  leaf,  or  stem  of  a 
plant.  It  is  composed  of  cells  compacted  together  into  a 
stratum,  varying  in  thickness  in  different  species,  and  is 
often  readily  separable  by  gentle  violence.  It  is  believed 
to  be  intended  by  nature  as  a  protection  of  the  subjacent 
parts  from  the  drying  effects  of  the  atmosphere. 

E'PIDOTE.  (Gr.  cttiSiSwiii,  I  increase.)  A  mineral 
which  has  received  a  great  variety  of  names.  It  occurs 
crystallized,  massive,  and  granular;  its  usual  colours  are 
various  shades  of  green  ;  its  structure  is  generally  fibrous. 
It  is  a  triple  silicate  of  alumina,  lime,  and  iron.  It  occurs 
in  most  parts  of  Europe,  in  America,  and  in  the  East  In- 
dies. "L'epidole  emprunte  meme  des  dimensions  de  sa 
molecule  on  caracte re  particulier;  il  consiste  en  ce  que 
Pun  des  cotes  de  la  base  de  cette  molecule  est  plusetendu 
que  1'autre,  en  sorte  que  cette  base  estun  parallelogramme 
allonge,  au  lieu  que  dans  les  autres  substances  (actinote, 
amohibole,  &c.)  la  figure  de  la  base  est  d'un  nombre. 
Bb"  36 


EPIG^OUS. 

C'estde  cette  espece  d'accroissement  que  j'ai  tire  fe  tiom 
d'epidote."    (Huuy.) 

LPIGjE'OUS.  (Gr.  t7ri,  upon,  and  yi),  M«  errrtft.)  In 
Botany,  a  term  used  in  describing  the  situation  of  bodies 
to  denote  anv  one  growing  close  to  the  earth. 

EPIGA'STRIC  REGION  (Gr.  cm,  and  yaorr)p,  the 
stomach),  is  that  part  of  the  abdomen  which  is  over  the 
stomach.     It  is  also  called  the  epigastrium. 

E'PIGE'NESIS.     In  Physiology.     See  Evolution. 

EPIGLO  TTIS.  (Gr.  cm,  and  yXotrra,  the  tongue.)  An 
oval  cartilage  at  the  root  of  the  tongue,  which  closes  upon 
the  superior  opening  of  the  larynx ;  its  superior  extremity 
is  loose,  anil  elevated  by  its  own  elasticity  :  it  closes  the 
aperture  of  the  larynx  when  the  tongue  is  drawn  back  in 
the  act  of  deglutition.  Its  base  has  a  ligamentous  attach- 
ment to  the  base  of  the  tongue,  the  thyroid  cartilage,  and 
the  os  hyoides. 

EPI'GONI.  (Gr.  cm,  in  the  sense  of  after,  and  yiyva- 
ftai,  lam  born.)  The  collective  appellation  of  the  sons  of 
(he  seven  Greek  princes  who  conducted  the  first  war 
against  Thebes  without  success.  The  war  subsequently 
undertaken  by  the  Epigoni  to  avenge  the  defeat  of  their 
forefathers  is  celebrated  in  history.  Their  capture  of 
Thebes  forms  the  theme  of  Wilkie's  epic  poem,  the  Epi- 
goniad,  which  was  published  about  the  middle  of  the  last 
century,  and  procured  for  its  author  great  reputation. 

E'PIGRAM.  (Gr.  cniypappa,  an  inscription.)  In  Poe- 
try, a  short  poem  or  piece  in  verse,  which  has  only  one 
subject,  and  finishes  by  a  witty  or  ingenious  turn  of  thought ; 
or,  to  use  a  more  general  definition,  an  interesting  thought 
represented  happily  in  a  few  words. 

The  first  of  these  definitions,  although  tolerably  correct 
as  to  the  modern  epigram,  differs,  as  it  will  be  seen,  widely 
from  the  original  sense  of  the  word  in  Greek.  The  Greek 
epigram  was,  in  the  first  instance,  a  short  collection  of  lines 
actually  inscribed  on  a  monument,  statue,  fountain,  <fcc. ; 
and  the  word  was  thence  transferred  to  such  short  poems 
as  might  serve  for  inscriptions  :  of  such  the  collection 
termed  the  Greek  Epigram  is  almost  wholly  composed. 
Their  general  characteristic  is  perfect  simplicity,  and  the 
seemingly  studied  absence  of  that  point  which  characteri- 
zes the  modern  epigram.  They  are  almost  wholly  in  one 
form  of  metre,  the  elegiac. 

In  the  poetry  of  classical  Rome,  the  term  epigram  was 
Ktill  somewhat  indiscriminately  used  to  designate  short 
pieces  in  verse  ;  but  the  works  of  Calullus,  and  still  more 
the  well  known  collection  of  the  Epigrams  of  Martial,  con- 
tain a  great  number  winch  present  the  modern  epigram- 
matic character  :  and  Martial  has,  in  fact,  afforded  the  mo- 
del on  which  the  modern  epigram  has  been  framed.  In 
this  class  of  composition,  and  especially  where  the  turn  of 
thought  is  satirical,  the  French  writers  have  been  far  more 
successful  than  those  of  any  other  nation  ;  and  the  term 
"  piquant"  seems  expressly  invented  to  designate  the  pecu- 
liar force  of  those  epigrammatic  sallies  of  fancy  of  which 
their  literature  is  full.  (See  Dr.  Johnson's  learned  Essay 
on  Epigrams. ) 

E'PIGRAPH  (Gr.  tmypatyoy,  1  inscribe),  also  termed 
Motto.  In  Literature,  a  citation  from  some  author,  or  a 
sentence  frampd  for  the  purpose,  placed  at  the  commence- 
ment of  a  work  or  of  its  separate  divisions. 

EPI'GYNOUS.  (Gr.  cm,  upon,  and  yvvrj.  afemale.)  A 
term  used  in  botany  to  denote  any  organ  growing  upon  the 
summit  of  the  ovarium. 

E'PILEPSY.  (Gr.  cmXau0avo),  I  seize  upon.)  This 
disease  is  also  called  the  falling  sickness,  from  the  sudden- 
ness of  its  attack.  It  is  attended  by  convulsive  stupor  and 
frothing  at  the  moulh.  It  comes  on  by  fits,  which  after 
lasting  a  certain  time  go  off  generally  leaving  a  degree  of 
lassitude  and  drowsiness.  Where  epilepsy  is  symptoma- 
tic of  irritation  in  the  prima?  viae,  from  worms,  or  indigesti- 
ble and  noxious  food  or  poisons,  or  when  it  arises  from  the 
suppression  of  long-accustomed  evacuations,  the  treatment 
is  sufficiently  obvious  ;  so  also  in  cases  where  it  results 
from  a  blow,  wound,  or  fracture,  or  from  diseased  bone, 
it  may  be  relieved  by  proper  surgical  aid.  Plethoric  habits 
require  lowering,  and  debility  indicates  the  use  of  tonics. 
The  disease,  however,  is  always  indicative  of  something 
essentially  wrong  in  the  nervous  system  ;  and  where  it 
arises  from  hereditary  disposition,  or  comes  on  about  the 
age  of  puberty,  where  the  fits  are  frequent,  and  cannot  be 
referred  to  any  apparent  cause,  an  unfavourable  opinion 
must  be  formed  respecting  its  termination,  which,  if  not  in 
apoplexy,  is  commonly  in  mental  alienation  or  imbecility. 
Yet,  the  most  unpromising  cases  have  in  a  few  rare  instan- 
ces ended  well ;  that  is,  they  have  not  recurred  after  vio- 
lent pains,  or  eruptive  disorders.  It  sometimes  happens 
that  certain  symptoms  precede  the  attack;  and  among 
them  a  sense  of  coldness  proceeding  from  some  part  of 
the  body  towards  the  head,  and  called  aura  epileptica,\\ilh 
palpitation,  flatulency,  and  slight  stupor,  are  the  most  com- 
mon. In  such  cases  a  brisk  emetic,  a  large  dose  of  opium 
and  ether,  a  cold  bath  where  it  may  be  ventured  upon,  or 
any  thing  which  produces  a  sudden  shock  upon  the  sys- 
410 


EPISCOPACY 

tern,  has  prevented  the  fit.  The  most  effective  reBiedia? 
treatment  seems  to  be  that  which  is  directed  to  the  riimi- 
lately  morphia  and  slrichma,  have  been  recommended  ; 
nution  of  nervous  irritability  by  sedatives  and  tonics:  a- 
mong  the  formeropium,ether,  henbane,  hemlock, and  more 
and  as  tonics  bark,  quintal  cascarilla,  valerian,  and  some 
melallic  salts,  such  as  sulphate  ol  iron,  zinc,  or  copper,  ar 
seniate  of  potash,  or  the  arsenical  solution,  and  especially 
nitrate  of  silver ;  but  the  chance  of  permanently  disfigur- 
ing the  patient  by  the  leaden  hue  which  this  last  salt  often 
communicates  to  the  skin,  should  induce  practitioners  to 
be  most  scrupulous  in  the  selection  of  (his  remedy.  It  is 
said  that  a  violent  scald  or  burn,  or  great  alarm,  as  from  a 
fire,  a  fall,  and  such  accidents,  have  sometimes  relieved 
the  system  of  this  horrible  complaint;  and  hence  perhaps 
the  superstitious  notions  which  have  attached  to  its  cure 
by  charms. 

During  an  epileptic  fit,  nothing  can  be  done  for  the  relief 
of  the  sufferer  except  taking  care  that  he  does  not  injure 
himself,  and  relieving  him  of  any  part  of  his  dress  which 
may  tend  to  compress  the  vessels  of  the  head;  the  pa- 
roxysms, however,  are  most  frequent  in  the  night. 

E'PlLOGUE.  (Gr.  cmboyos.)  In  Dramatic  Poetry,  the 
closing  address  to  the  audience  at  the  end  of  a  play. 

EPI'PHANY.  (Gr.  em<pavris, manifest.)  A  church  fes- 
tival, signifying  the  manifestation  of  Christ,  and  referring 
to  the  appearance  of  the  star  which  announced  our  Sa- 
viour's birth  to  the  Gentiles.  It  is  observed  on  the  5th  of 
January,  being  the  twelfth  day  from  Christmas. 

EPIPHONE'MA.  (Gr.  cm,  upon,  and  Aosvcw,  I  speak.) 
In  Rhetoric  and  Composition,  a  short  reflection  added  by 
way  of  corollary,  or  passing  remark,  to  the  end  of  a  course 
of  narrative  or  reasoning. 

EPIPHORA.  (Gr.  cm,  upon,  and  d,cpu>,  1  bear.)  In 
Rhetoric,  the  emphatic  repetition  of  a  word  or  series  of 
words  at  the  end  of  several  sentences  or  stanzas.  The 
finest  instance  of  this  figure  with  wliich  we  are  acquainted 
in  modern  oralory  occurs  in  Fox's  defence  of  himself  and 
his  measures  in  the  House  of  Commons  after  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  Coalition  Ministry.  Anapho.-a  js  a  similar  re- 
petition at  the  beginning  of  several  sentences. 

Epi'phoka.  A  disease  occasioned  by  a  superabundant 
secretion  of  tears. 

EPIPHY'LI.OUS.  (Gr.  cm,  and  <pv\\ov,  a  leaf.)  In  Bo- 
tany, something  inserted  upon  a  leaf. 

EPI'PHYSIS.  (Gr.  cm,  upon,  and  </>t)c-is,  nature.)  A 
process  of  a  bone  separated  at  first  by  a  layer  of  cartilage 
from  that  to  which  it  is  attached. 

EPIPLOCE'LE.  (Gr.  cmirXoov,  the  omentum,  and  Ki)\n, 
tumour.)  A  hernia  or  rupture  formed  by  a  protrusion  ol 
the  omentum. 
E'PIPI.OON.  (Gr.)  The  omentum. 
EPISCE'NUJM.  (Gr.  cm,  upon,  and  CKnvn,  aacene.)  In 
Ancient  Architecture,  the  upper  order  of  the  scene  in  the 
theatre. 

EPI'SCOPACY.  (Gr.  cmoKoxos,  an  overseer.)  The 
government  of  a  church  by  three  distinct  orders  of  minis- 
ters— bishops,  priests,  and  deacons.  The  nature  of  the 
argument  upon  which  this  constitution  is  best  defended 
will  be  most  clearly  seen  in  a  quotation  from  Mr.  Short's 
History  of  the  English  Church.  Speaking  of  the  points  at 
issue  between  the  Presbyterians  and  the  Church  parly  in 
the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  he  says,  '•  Were  there  three  dis- 
tinct orders  in  the  primitive  church?  and  if  so,  was  the 
right  and  office  of  ordaining  peculiar  to  the  highest  of 
these?"  He  then  proceeds  to  argue  thus: — "In  the  apos- 
tolical history,  as  contained  in  the  New  Testament,  these 
questions  are  not  clearly  answered,  and  there  is  much  in- 
distinctness about  the  names  of  bishop  and  priest  or  elder ; 
but  if  we  suppose,  by  way  of  hypothesis,  that  there  were 
bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  we  shall  find  no  statements 
which  cannot  be  easily  reconciled  with  the  supposition. 
As  we  proceed  with  ecclesiastical  history,  those  same 
traces  become  more  decisive,  till  we  find  that  at  an  early 
period  the  questions  are  bolh  answered  in  the  affirmative  ; 
and  we  infer,  therefore,  that  unless  it  can  be  shown  that  a 
change  in  this  particular  took  place,  we  may  presume  that 
the  same  ecclesiastical  constitution  existed  from  the  time 
of  the  apostles.  A  Presbyterian  might  argue  that  in  the 
apostolical  history  of  the  New  Testament  there  is  nothing 
which  militates  against  the  hypothesis  of  the  two  orders 
only,  at  least  nothing  which  proves  the  point ;  that  St. 
James  might  have  been  the  chief  elder,  the  moderator  of 
the  church  of  Jerusalem;  that  Titus  and  Timoihy  might 
have  held  no  higher  office  than  that  of  dean  in  a  cathedral 
church,  or  archdeacon  in  a  diocese  ;  and  that  as  the  pres- 
bytery had  the  power  of  ordaining,  they,  as  its  superinten- 
dents, were  directed  by  St.  Paul  to  set  all  things  in  order. 
But  then  this  hypothesis  does  not  account  for  the  introduc- 
tion of  episcopacy,  without  even  a  hint  from  the  historians 
that  any  alteration  in  the  church  government  was  effected. 
When  to  Ihis  it  is  added,  that  there  never  existed  a  church 
without  episcopacy  till  the  Reformation,  the  proof  seems 
as  strong  as  moral  proof  can  be,  that  it  is  most  probable 


EPISODE. 

Trial  episcopacy  is  derived  from  the  times  of  the  apostles." 
He  adds  in  a  note — "The  argument  concerning  the  name 
of  bishop  is  frequently  mistaken.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
twicrKOTToi  is  equivalent  to  TrpeaSirepoi  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment ;  but  then  the  terms  used  in  the  New  Testament  lor 
bishop  are  d7r<So-roAo>,  or  ay/e\o;.  The  concession,  there- 
fore, of  the  use  of  the  name  cnioKorros  proves  nothing. 
The  Presbyterian  is  forced  to  say,  that  the  order  equiva- 
lent to  that  of  the  apostles  does  not  now  exist  in  the  church, 
and  to  explain  ayyeXo;  by  l/ie  chief  pastor  of  the  church. 
So  that  the  argument  from  the  names  is  rather  in  favourof 
episcopacy."  It  will  be  observed  that  this  defence  mainly 
relies  upon  the  argument  from  antiquity  and  immemorial 
usage  ;  and  this  is  the  authority  to  which  the  episcopalian 
always  pays  the  highest  regard  when  the  Scriptures  do  not 
appear  to  be  decisive.  But  the  Presbyterians  and  Inde- 
pendents very  generally  take  a  different  ground,  and  argue 
in  the  words  of  Dr.  Maclaine,  the  translator  of  Mosheim— 
"  that  Christ,  by  leaving  this  matter  undetermined,  has  of 
consequence  left  Christian  societies  a  discretionary  power 
of  modelling  the  government  of  the  church  in  such  a 
manner  as  the  circumstantial  reasons  of  times,  places, 
<fec,  may  require;  and  therefore  the  wisest  government 
of  the  church  is  the  best  and  the  most  divine  ;  and  every 
Christian  society  has  a  right  to  make  laws  for  itself,  pro- 
vided that  these  laws  are  consistent  with  charity  and  peace, 
and  with  the  fundamental  doctrines  and  principles  of 
Christianity." 

E'PISODE.  In  Poetry.  From  the  Greek  txtia6&iov, 
which  in  its  original  sense  denotes  those  parts  of  a  clas- 
sical drama  which  are  between  the  entrances,  iiaoioi,  of 
the  chorus  ;  and  thence,  by  analogy,  has  the  signification 
which  has  adhered  to  the  derivative  word  in  modem  use, — 
an  incidental  narrative  or  digression  in  a  poem,  more  or 
less  connected  with  the  main  plot,  but  not  essential  to  its 
development. 

EPISPA'STIC.  (Gr.  tmavaoi,  I  draw  upon.)  A  term 
applied  to  substances  which  raise  a  blister  upon  the  skin. 

E'PISPEltM.  (Gr.  cm,  upon,  and  airepua,  a  seed.)  In 
Botany,  the  testa  or  integuments  of  a  seed. 

EPI'STATES.  (Gr.  tnterarns.)  The  title  of  the  pre- 
sidents of  the  two  great  councils  of  the  Athenians,  viz.  the 
Ecclesia  and  the  senate  of  the  Five  Hundred.  They  were 
both  respectively  elected  from  the  number  of  the  prohedri 
of  the  ecclesia  and  senate,  and  their  office  only  lasted  one 
day.  The  latter  of  these  two  officers  had  the  post  of  the 
greatest  trust,  as  in  his  hands  were  placed  the  keys  of  the 
citadel  and  public  treasury. 

E'PISTA'XIS.  (Gr.  cmara^civ.  to  drop  from.)  Bleeding 
at  the  nose.  In  young  persons,  and  where  it  is  produced 
by  accidental  causes,  this  is  of  no  consequence;  unless, 
indeed,  it  should  be  very  profuse,  and  then  the  topical  ap- 
plication of  cold  and  of  styptics,  especially  a  strong  solution 
of  alum,  or  a  plug  of  lint  properly  introduced,  will  check 
it;  but  when  it  occurs  frequently  in  advanced  life,  and  is 
independent  of  nasal  disease,  it  is  apt  to  indicate  an  alarm- 
ing fulness  of  the  vessels  of  the  head.  It  is  also  a  danger- 
ous omen  in  disorders  of  great  debility,  and  more  espe- 
cially in  putrid  fever. 

EPISTHO'TONOS.  (Gr.  emoOev,  forwards,  and  rtivot, 
I  bend.)  A  spasmodic  affection,  in  which  the  body  is  bent 
forwards. 

EPI'STLE.  (Gr.  ctthttoXi].)  The  use  of  this  word  is 
now  confined  in  our  language  to  the  designation  of  those 
written  addresses  by  apostolical  writers  to  their  Christian 
brethren  which  are  contained  in  the  canon  of  Scripture :  a 
few  others,  either  spurious  or  of  hi°h  antiquity,  although 
not  recognized  among  inspired  writings,  are  also  so  de- 
nominated. The  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  and  others  contained 
in  the  volume  of  the  New  Testament,  are  not  arranged 
according  to  their  date,  but,  in  all  probability,  according  to 
the  views  which  those  who  arranged  the  canon  entertained 
of  the  relative  importance  either  of  the  writings  them- 
selves, or  of  the  parties  to  whom  they  are  addressed. 
Thus  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul  to  the  different  churches,  and 
the  Catholic  Epistles  of  St.  John  (i.  e.  addressed  to  the  uni- 
versal church),  are  ranked  before  the  Epistles  of  those 
saints  to  individual  Christians.  An  exception  to  this  rule 
is  to  be  found  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  which  is 
placed  last  among  those  of  St.  Paul,  and  seems  to  have 
been  admitted  into  the  canon  at  a  comparatively  recent  pe- 
riod. The  practice  of  reading  a  portion  of  an  Epistle  in  the 
service  of  the  church  is  extremely  ancient,  and  said  to  be 
noticed  bv  Justin  in  his  First  Apology. 

E'PISTY'LIUM.  (Gr.  em,  upon,  and  o-ruXof,  a  column.) 
In  Architecture,  the  same  as  architrave,  which  see. 

E'PITAPH.  (Gr.  em,  and  ra<po(,  a  tomb.)  Literally  an 
inscription  on  a  tomb.  As  has  been  well  observed,  inscrip- 
tions in  honour  of  the  dead  are  perhaps  as  old  as  tombs 
themselves ;  though  they  were  by  no  means  bestowed  in 
such  profusion  in  ancient  as  in  modern  times.  Among  the 
-Greeks,  for  instance,  this  honour  was  paid  only  to  the 
tombs  of  heroes,  as  in  the  case  of  Leonidas  and  his  gallant 
comrades.  (Her.  vii.  228.)  The  Romans  were  the  first  to 
411 


EPOCH. 

deviate  from  Otis  course.  Every  Roman  family  who  con- 
secrated a  tomb  to  their  relations  had  the  privilege  of  in- 
scribing an  epitaph  thereon  ;  and  as  their  tombs  were 
usually  situated  on  the  highway,  the  attention  of  passers-by 
was  sought  to  be  arrested  by  the  words  "sta  viator,"— the 
formula  with  which  all  their  epitaphs  were  prefaced.  But 
how  much  soever  the  epitaphs  of  the  ancient  Greeks  and 
Romans  differed  in  point  of  number,  there  were  three 
qualities  which  they  possessed  in  common — brevity,  sim- 
plicity, and  familiarity;  qualities  which  a  modern  critic, 
Boileau,  has  pronounced  to  be  indispensable  in  this  spe- 
cies of  writing. 

At  what  period  sepulchral  inscriptions  came  into  use  in 
England,  has  not  been  precisely  ascertained  ;  though  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that  this  practice  was  introduced  by  the 
Romans  at  the  period  of  their  invasion  of  Britain.  During 
the  first  twelve  centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  the  monu- 
mental inscriptions  of  this  country  were  all  written  in  Latin. 
About  the  13th  century,  the  French  language  was  adopted, 
and  continued  to  be  used  for  this  purpose  till  the  middle  of 
the  14lh  century  ;  at  which  time  monumental  inscription* 
in  the  vernacular  tongue  became  commoti,  though  the 
clergy  and  learned  of  that  lime,  as  might  have  been  ex- 
pected, still  preferred  the  Latin,  as  their  more  familiar 
idiom.  The  modem  English,  French,  and  German  epi- 
taphs, of  which  several  collections  have  been  made,  are 
infinitely  more  numerous  than  those  of  any  time  or  nation, 
and  exhibit  every  variety  of  style  and  sentiment ;  from  the 
most  chaste  and  majestic  gravity,  impressive  tenderness, 
and  laconic  terseness,  to  the  most  puerile  epigrammatic 
conceits,  pointed  satire,  and  heraldic  prolixity.  It  would 
be  out  of  place  here  to  give  specimens  of  all  the  various 
kinds  of  epitaphs  included  in  this  category  ;  but  we  cannot 
refrain  from  citins,  in  illustration  of  our  assertion,  one  or 
two  instances,  exhibiting  each  in  an  eminent  degree  th« 
different  characteristics  of  the  class  to  which  it  belongs. 
Epitaph  on  the  Countess  of  Pembroke,  by  Ben  Jonson. 

Underneath  this  sable  hearse 

Lies  the  subject  of  all  verse  ; 

Sidney's  sister,  Pembroke's  mother  : 

Death,  ere  thou  canst  find  another 

<iood  and  fair  and  wise  as  she, 

Tiuie  shall  throw  a  dart  at  thee. 

Epitaph  on  Robespierre. 

Passant,  ne  uleure  point  mon  sort  ; 
Si  je  vivais,  lu  serais  mort  t 

Epitaph  on  a  French  General. 
Hisle,  viator  ;  heroem  ralcas  I 
Stop,  traveller  ;  thou  treadest  on  a  hero  ! 

E'PITIIALA'MIUM.  (Gr.  ImQaXdpiov.)  A  nuptial 
song,  sung  by  a  chorus  of  boys  and  girls  when  the  bride 
and  bridegroom  entered  the  bridal  chamber,  and  again  on 
the  first  morning  after  the  marriage.  This  was  the  custom 
in  Greece,  which  was  somewhat  varied  at  Rome,  where 
the  chorus  consisted  of  girls  only,  who  sang  before  the 
door  of  the  nuptial  chamber  till  midnisht.  The  most  per- 
fect examples  of  this  species  which  antiquity  has  left  us  are 
by  Theocrilus  and  Catullus. 

E'PITHET  (Gr.  iniQerov,  something  imposed  upon 
another),  in  Rhetoric  and  Composition,  denotes  a  term  em- 
ployed in  an  adjective  sense  to  express  an  attribute  or 
quality  of  another  substantive  term.  The  abundance  and 
the  propriety  of  epithets  form  peculiar  characteristics  of 
various  poeiical  styles.  In  the  strict  rhetorical  sense,  epi- 
thets are  oniy  such  adjectives  as  convey  a  notion  already 
implied  in  the  noun  substantive  itself,  and  add  nothing  to 
the  sense.  Thus,  the  "glorious"  sun  is  a  mere  epithet; 
while  the  ''rising"  or  the  "setting"  sun  would,  as  convey- 
ing some  additional  idea  into  the  sense  of  the  passage,  not 
be  considered  as  epithets.  The  former  sort,  however,  are 
sometimes  called  in  disparagement  by  writers  on  rhetoric 
"  otiosa."  or  idle  epithets. 

EPITI'THIDES.  (Gr.  em,  and  rtfij/ii,  1  place.)  In  Ar- 
chitecture, the  crown  or  upper  mouldings  of  an  entablature. 

EPI'TOME.  (Gr.  cmreuvo,  I  cut  short.)  In  Literature, 
an  abridgment:  a  work  in  which  the  contents  of  a  former 
work  are  reduced  within  a  smaller  space  by  curtailment 
and  condensation.  In  the  later  classical  period,  extending 
through  the  declining  age  of  the  Western  Empire,  the  prac- 
tice of  epitomizing  the  writings  of  older  writers,  especially 
in  history,  became  very  prevalent;  and  while  some  regard 
the  works  of  Justin,  Eutropius,  and  similar  writers,  as 
having  preserved  to  us  much  historical  knowledge  which 
would  otherwise  have  been  lost,  others  have  maintained 
that  these  laborious  compilers  have  done  great  disser- 
vice to  literature,  inasmuch  as  the  voluminous  works 
which  they  abridged  being  superseded  by  their  more  popu- 
lar and  cheaper  compendia,  in  an  illiterate  age,  have  from 
that  cause  for  the  most  part  perished.    See  Abridgment. 

EPIZO'ANS,i?pi'zoa.  (Gr.  cm,  upon,  $a>ov,  animal.)  Th<! 
name  of  a  class  of  parasitic  animals,  which  chiefly  infest 
fishes  and  of  which  the  Linnasan  genus  Lernaa  is  the  type. 

E'POCH.  (Gr.  itroxn,  from  emx0*,  I  stop.)  In  Chrono- 
logy, a  fixed  point  of  time  from  which  dates  are  numbered, 


EPODE. 

or  at  which  a  new  compulation  begins.  It  is  consequently 
the  commencement  of  an  sera.     See  JEka. 

E'PODE.  (Gr.  etoxJoj,  something  added  to  the  wdq,  or 
ode.)  In  the  slrophic  choruses  of  the  Grecian  drama,  the 
last  portion  following  the  strophe  ami  anlistropbe  is  so  call- 
ed. The  name  of  Epodes,  applied  to  a  book  of  Horace's 
poems,  merely  signifies  additional  or  supplementary  odes. 

EPOPEE.     See  Epic. 

E'POPT.  (Gr.  ciToiTTrii,  inspector.)  A  functionary  of 
the  Eleusinian  Mysteries,  which  see. 

EPROUVE'TTE.  In  Gunnery,  a  machine  for  proving 
the  strength  of  gunpowder.  A  small  gun  is  attached  to  a 
frame,  which  is  suspended  from  a  horizontal  rod,  about 
which  it  oscillates  like  a  pendulum.  On  the  sun  being 
fired,  the  recoil  causes  the  frame  to  swing;  ancfthe  force 
of  the  recoil  is  measured  by  the  angle  which  the  frame  de- 
scribes. In  this  manner  the  relative  strength  of  different 
sorts  of  gunpowder  is  ascertained. 

K'PSOM  SALT.  Sulphate  of  magnesia;  formerly  ob- 
tained by  evaporating  the  water  of  certain  springs  at  Epsom 
in  Surrey. 

EPD'LIS.  (Gr.  ctti,  upon;  ov\a,  the  gums.)  A  small 
tubercle  on  the  gums. 

EPULO'TIC.  (Gr.  mi,  and  dvXrj,  a  scar.)  Applications 
which  promote  the  skinning  over  of  sores;  hence  the  epic- 
lolic  ointments  of  old  pharmacy. 

E'QUANT,  in  the  Ptolemaic  Astronomy,  denotes  a  cir- 
cle which  was  conceived  to  be  described  in  the  plane  of 
ttie  deferent  or  eccentric,  for  regulating  and  adjusting  cer- 
tain motions  of  the  planets,  and  reducing  them  to  easier 
calculation. 

EQUA'TIONS,  ALGEBRAICAL.  An  algebraical  equa- 
tion is  aii  expression  of  equality  between  two  quantities  in- 
volving the  ordinary  symbols  of  algebra  in  any  manner 
whatever.  The  "Theory  of  Algebraical  Equations"  forms 
an  important  subject  or  department  of  analysis,  and  is  al- 
ways understood  to  embody  the  discussion  of  equations 
when  presented  in  their  most  convenient  form  for  solu- 
tion ;  and  its  great  object  is  to  develop  the  properties  and 
to  evolve  the  values  of  the  real  and  imaginary  roots.  The 
equations  are  supposed  to  be  cleared  from  radicals,  and 
are  classed  in  degrees  according  to  the  highest  exponent  of 
the  unknown  quantity. 

Thus,  if  x  denote  ihe  unknown  quantity,  and  co.  CI,  C2, 
C3,  &c.  the  given  numbers  or  coefficients; 

ei  x  +  co  =  0  is  a  si?nple  equation,  or  an  equation  of  the 
first  degree  ; 

c-2  xi  +  ct  x  +  co  =  0  is  a  quadratic,  or  an  equation  of 
the  second  degree ; 

C3  x3  +  C2  x?  +  cl  x  +  co  =  0  is  a  cubic  equation,  or 
an  equation  ot  the  third  degree ; 

c4  x*  +  C3  x3  +  ci  x2  +  a  x  +  co  =  0  is  a  biquadratic 
equation,  or  an  equation  of  the  fourth  degree,  &c.  &c. 

And   Cn  Xi'  +  C  n— I   X>1—  I +  Cl  xi  +  Cl  X  +  CO  =  0  is 

an  equation  of  the  «th  degree. 

We  shall  here  consider  two  or  three  of  the  most  im- 
portant and  useful  general  properties  of  an  equation  of  the 
nth  degree. 

The  complete  solution  of  every  equation  of  the  nth  de- 
gree must  always  comprise  as  many  as  n  roots,  real  and 
imaginary,  the  imaginary  roots  being  of  the  forms  p  + 
q  V —  1,  p  —  qV —  1.  When  a  real  root  is  substituted  for 
x  in  the  equation,  the  involved  terms  must  counteract  one 
another,  and  cause  the  result  to  vanish  ;  and  when  an  im- 
aginary root  is  substituted  for  x  in  the  equation,  both  the 
real  and  imaginary  portion  of  the  result  must  separately 
vanish.  If  the  substitution  of  p  +  qV — 1  causes  both  the 
real  and  imaginary  parts  to  vanish,  it  is  evident  that  the 
substitution  of  p — q\/ —  1  will  have  the  same  effect,  since 
the  result  will  only  differ  from  that  of  the  former  in  the 
imaginary  terms  having  changed  al  their  signs.  It  follows 
from  this  remark  that  if  an  equation  possesses  a  root  of  the 
formp  +  flV—  l,  it  must  likewise  possess  a  corresponding 
imaginary  root  of  the  form  p  —  ?i/— 1.  The  roots  p  + 
iyV  —  1,  p —  y  V  —  1  are  called  a  pair  of  imaginary  roots  > 
and  as  these  roots  must  thus  enter  equations  in  pairs,  every 
equation  must  have  an  even  number  of  impossible  roots", 
or  else  none  at  all. 

Suppose  the  roots  of  an  equation  to  be  all  real,  and  let 
them  be  denoted  by  rl,  ri,  r3  ■  ■  ■  ■  &c. ;  then  the  equation 
will  in  all  cases  be  produced  by  multiplying  together  the 
factors  x— -n,  x  —  ri,  x — r3,  &c.  The  equation  may 
therefore  be  put  in  the  form, 

(x  —  ri)(x  —  ri)(x  —  n)....  &c.  —  0...  (A). 

If,  however,  the  equation  likewise  contains  pairs  of  ima- 
ginary roots,  p  +  7  V  —  Up  —  ?V  —  1,  />'  +  ?'  V  —  j 
p' —  q'  \/ —  l,  &c.,  it  will  also  embody  the  factors  (x — p  — 
7  V^\ )  ( x  —  p  +  q  V^l )  (x  -p'  —  q'  V^I )  (x  -  p'  + 

if  V~—\)  &c. ;  or  Ux—pf-  +  tf*  )  ((.x—p')1  +  q"l  \  &c.  ; 
412 


EQUATIONS,  ALGEBRAICAL. 

and  will  consequently  take  the  form, 

(x  —  n)(x  —  r2)(x  —  rz)....  ((x  — p)2  +  g2)  ({x—p'yi 

+r/2  ) &c  =  0  .  .  .  (B). 

The  equation,  when  thus  put  in  the  form  (A)  or  (B),  is 
evidently  satisfied  when  x  is  made  equal  to  any  one  of 
the  roots  n,  ri,  rz  .  .  .  .  p  +  q  V  _  l,  p  _  q  V^l,  p'  + 


q'V-\,p' 


'v: 


-1  .  . .  &c.  ;   and  the  idea  is  very 


clearly  conveyed  how  an  equation  of  the  nth  degree  may  be 
fulfilled  by  n  different  roots,  determined  by  equating  the 
factors  severally  with  zero. 

If  the  factors  of  (A)  be  incorporated  by  actual  multiplica- 
tion, we  shall  derive  expressions  for  the  coefficients  of  the 
equation  in  terms  of  its  roots.  The  operation  will  be  as 
follows  : 

x  —  n 

X  —  Tl 


x'l   —  rl 

x  +  n  j-2 

—  n 

x  —  r3 

x-i  —  n  |  xi  +  r\  rz  i  x  —  n  r2  n 

—  n  +  ri  r3 

—  r3  I      +  r2r3  | 


xi  —  n 

*2 

+  rl  r2 

xi  —  ri  n  n 

—  72    . 

+  rl  r3 

—  ri  n  n 

-7-3 

+  r2  r3 

—  T\  n  ri 

-n   j 

+  rt  rt 
+  ri  n 
+  rs  n 

—  r2  n  rt 

x  +  ri  r2  r3  ri 


By  continuing  the  process  we  infer,  generally,  that  for 
any  equation  in  which  the  highest  power  of  x  has  the  co- 
efficient unity,  the  coefficient  of  the  second  term  is  equal 
to  the  sum  of  the  roots  with  the  sign  changed  ;  that  of  the 
third  term  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  products  of  every 
two  roots  ;  that  of  the  fourth  term  is  equal  to  the  sum  of 
the  products  of  every  three  roots  with  the  sign  changed, 
&c.  &c. ;  and  the  last  term  co,  unaccompanied  by  x,  is 
equal  to  the  continued  product  of  all  the  roots,  with  the 
proper  algebraic  sign  when  the  degree  of  the  equation  is 
even,  but  with  the  sign  clianged  when  the  degree  is  odd. 

The  consideration  of  an  equation  resolved  into  its  sim- 
ple factors  (A)  also,  amongst  other  useful  matters,  suggests 
the  method  of  eliminating  a  known  root  from  an  equation 
so  as  to  descend  to  another  equation  of  the  next  less  de- 
gree, which  contains  the  remaining  roots.  If  ri  be  the 
known  root,  it  is  only  necessary  to  divide  the  equation  by 
the  factor  x  —  ri  ;  and  in  this  operation  the  occurrence  of 
no  remainder  will  assure  us  that  rl  is  in  reality  a  true  root 
of  the  equation.  It  will  therefore  be  an  advantage  to  as- 
certain a  systematic  plan  by  which  the  process  of  division 
by  such  a  factor  may  be  performed  with  facility.  To  pre- 
serve  generality,  suppose  m  to  be  any  number  that  either 
may  or  may  not  be  one  of  the  roots  of  the  equation, 
Co  xa  +  cn-l  xn— 1  +  Cn-2xn-2  .  . .  +  C2  X*  +  Cl  X+C0  =  0. 
And  on  the  equation  being  divided  by  X  —  m,  suppose  the 
quotient  to  be 

c'n— i  xn— 1  +  c'n— 2  x»— -  .  .  .  +  c'l  x  +  c'o- 
Then  the  actual  work  of  the  division  will  stand  thus: 

X—mjCa  XO  +  Ca— 1  X°—  '+Cu— 2  X"— 2+&C  ( c'D~ l  Xu—  1 
c'n— 1  X"  —  OTc'n— 1  X»— 1 


c'n— 2  xn— 1  -f  Cn-2  X»— 2 
c'n_2  *n— 1  —  mc'n—1  xn— 2 


-4-  c'n-2  xn— 2 


c'n— 3  xn-2  -f.  iC- 
By  equating  the  several  subtractions  we  hence  derive 
the   following   relations  for  determining  the  coefficients 
c'n-1,  c'n-2,  &c  ;  viz. 

c'n—  1  =  Cn 

c'n-2  =  Cn— 1  +  Jnc'n—i 
c'n— 3  =  Cn— 2  +  "c'o- J,  &C 
c'o  =  Cl  +  mc'l 
and  the  remainder, p  =  c'o  +  7«c'o. 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  coefficient  of  the  pth  term  of  the 
depressed  equation  is  successively  found  by  adding  m  times 
the  coefficient  of  the  preceding  term  to  the  pth  term  of  the 
original  equation.     As  an  example,  let  it  be  required  to  di- 
vide the  equation  3x3  4.  3x1  —  48x  +  60  —  0  bv  x  —  3. 
Coefficients  proposed,  3     +3—48    +00 
+   9+36—36 
3x2  +  V2x  —  12  I  +  24 

Quotient.     |  Remainder 
Again,  let  it  be  required  to  divide  the  same  equation  by 
x  — 2. 


EQUATIONS,  ALGEBRAICAL 


Coefficients  proposed,    3 


+  3—48    +60 
6    +  IS    —60 
0~ 


Or-!  +  9x  —  30 

Quotient.      |  Remainder. 

Here  the  existence  of  no  remainder  points  out  2  to  be  a 
root  of  the  proposed  equation,  and  3H  +  9  X  —  30  =  0,  or 
tci  +  3x  —  10  =  0  to  be  the  depressed  equation  containing 
the  other  two  roots,  which  are  therefore  2  and  —  5. 

This  expeditious  method  of  dividing  an  equation  by  a 
simple  factor  may  be  employed  with  advantage  in  trans- 
forming an  equation  into  another,  whose  roots  shall  differ 
from  those  of  the  former  by  any  given  quantity.  Let  the 
proposed  equation  be 

c-4  xl  +  «  x'  +  C2  r3  +  ci  x  +  co  =  0. 

Suppose  that  x  =  x'  +  r,  and  the  substitution  of  this 
value  instead  of  x  will  manifestly  give  a  transformed  equa- 
tion, the  roots  of  which  will  be  less  than  those  of  the  former 
by  the  quantity  r;  and  this  transformed  equation  will  be  of 
the  form, 

c\  x'4  +  e%  x'3  +  c'2  x'2  +  c'l  x"  +  c'o  =  0. 
Now,  if  x  —  r  he  put  for  x',  this  must  return  to  the  origi- 
nal equation  ;  and  hence  the  proposed  equation  is  the  same 
as  a  (x  —  r)<  +  c'z  (x  —  r)3  +  c'2  (x  —  r)-  +  c'l  (x  —  r) 
+  c'o  =  0.  The  following  process  of  successive  division, 
which  may  be  rapidly  executed  by  the  foregoing  rule,  thus 
furnishes  a  simple  method  of  arriving  at  the  sought  co- 
efficients: 

g— r) C4  (x— r)4  +  c'3  (x— r)3  +  c'2  (x— r)2  +  c'l  (x— r)+c'p 
x— r)  c4  (x— r)3  +  c'3  (x— r)2  +  c'i  (x— r)  +c'l   |  rem.  c'0 
x — r)  a  (x— r)2  +  c'3  (x— r)  +  c'2   |     rem.    c'l 
« — r)  ci  (x — r)  +  c'i  |      rem.    c'2 
c4   |  rem.  c'3 

Example  :  Let  it  be  required  to  transform  the  equation 
x4  +  5x'  +  4  x^  +  3  x  —  105  into  another,  whose  roots 
shall  be  2  less  than  those  of  the  proposed  equation. 


1 

+  5 
2 

+  4 
+  14 

+  3 
+  36 

—  105  (  2 
+  78 

1 

+  7 
2 

+  18 
+  18 

+.39  1 
+  72  1 

—  27  = 

1 

+  9 

o 

+  36 
+  2-2 

1  +m=c' 

c'2 

1 

1 

+  H 
2 

+  68  = 

1      I    +  13  =  c'3. 
The  transformed   equation   is  therefore  x'4  +  13  x'3  + 
58  x'2  +  11 1  x'  —  27  =  0.     If  the  several  addends  be  sup- 
pressed and  performed  mentally,  the  operation  will  be  re- 
duced to  the  following 
1 


+  .r> 

+  4 

+  3 

—  105  (  2 

+  7 

+  18 

+  39 

—  27 

+  9 

+  36 

+  111 

+  11 

+  53 

+  13 

It  is  on  the  principle  of  this  operation  that  Mr.  Horner  has 
founded  his  general  method  of  evolving  the  numerical  value 
of  a  real  root  of  an  equation,  which  consists  in  similarly  di- 
minishing the  equation  by  the  successive  digits  of  the  root. 

Some  of  the  most  useful  properties  of  equations  are  here 
annexed. 

1.  If  the  real  roots  of  an  equation,  ranged  in  the  order 
of  their  magnitudes  be  ri,r2.r3.  .  .  .,  rt  being  the  greatest, 
r2  the  nextln  magnitude,  &c. ;  and  if  a  number  o  greater 
than  ri  be  substituted  for  x,  the  result  will  be  positive  ;  if  a 
number  6,  in  magnitude  between  ri  and  ri,  be  substituted 
for  x,  the  result  will  be  negative,  <fcc,  and  so  on  with  alter- 
nate signs. 

2.  No  equation  can  have  a  greater  number  of  positive 
roots  than  there  are  changes  of  sign  from  -f-  to  —  and  from 
—  to  +,  in  the  tprms  or  coefficients  of  its  expression  ;  nor 
can  it  have  a  greater  number  of  negative  roots  than  of  per- 
manencies of  sign  in  the  same  terms. 

3.  Let  p  and  q  be  any  two  numbers,  such  that  q  with  its 
sign  is  greater  than  p  with  its  sign  ;  then,  if  an  equation  in 
x  has  m  real  roots  comprised  between  p  and  9,  the  trans- 
formed equation  in  (x  — p)  will  have  at  least  m  variations 
more  than  the  transformed  equation  in  (x  —  q). 

4.  For  conciseness  let  X  =  0  denote  any  equation,  and 

dX 
let  the  differential  coefficient  -, —  be  denoted  by  X;  then 

ax 
will  the  real  roots  of  the  equation  X  =  0  be  limits  to  those 
of  the  equation  Xl  =  0 ;  that  is,  the  roots  of  the  latter  equa- 
tion, taken  in  the  order  of  magnitude,  will  fall  severally 
between  those  of  the  orisinal  equation. 

5.  Assuming  the  same  notation  as  in  the  last,  the  greatest 
common  measure  of  the  two  expressions  X,  Xl,  equated 
with  zero,  will  determine  the  values  of  all  equal  roots  that 
may  be  repeated  in  the  equation  X  =  0;  if  there  be  no  com- 
mon measure,  the  roots  will  be  all  unequal. 

A  very  important  theorem  has  been  recently  discovered 
413 


EQUATION  OF  TIME. 

1  by  M.  Sturm,  by  which  we  are  enabled,  without  fail,  to  as- 
certain, by  a  direct  process,  the  nature  and  situation  of  all 
the  real  roots  of  an  equation.  It  is  as  follows  :  Let  X  =0 
be  any  equation  whose  coefficients  are  real,  and  whose  roots 
are  unequal :  and  let  Xi,  as  before,  be  the  differential  co- 
efficient, -r^jOfx.  Let  the  operation  of  finding  the  great- 
est common  measure  of  X  and  X]  be  performed  ;  and  in 
the  several  remainders  which  successively  arise  in  the 
course  of  the  process  change  all  the  signs  from  +  to — , 
and  from  —  to  +.  Suppose  now  that  in  the  several  result- 
ing expressions, 

X,  Xl,  X2,  X3 X,n 

two  numbers,  p,  q,  such  thatp<c/  he  successively  substi- 
tuted for  x,  the  results  will  furnish  two  series  of  signs  ;  and, 
according  to  Sturm's  theorem,  the  difference  between  the 
number  of  variations  of  algebraic  sign  in  the  first  series  and 
that  of  the  second  will  always  express  exactly  the  number  of 
real  roots  of  the  proposed  equation  comprised  between  p 
and  q.  If  —  co  and  +  co  be  taken  for  p  and  7,  the  total 
number  of  real  roots  may  thus  be  immediately  ascertained. 

For  a  demonstration  of  this  remarkable  theorem,  see 
Young's  Treatise  on  Equations. 

EQUA'TION  OF  TIME,  in  Astronomy,  denotes  the  dif- 
ference, expressed  in  mean  solar  time,  between  the  true 
or  apparent  right  ascension  of  the  sun  and  its  mean  right 
ascension.  It  may  be  popularly  defined  as  the  difference 
between  the  times  indicated  by  an  accurately  constructed 
sundial  and  a  well  regulated  clock. 

The  equation  of  time  arises  from  the  combined  operation 
of  all  the  causes  which  tend  to  produce  inequalities  of  the 
sun's  motion  in  right  ascension.  The  first  of  these  is  the 
eccentricity  of  the  solar  orbit,  in  consequence  of  which  the 
sun's  motion  in  longitude  is  unequal.  The  second  is  the 
obliquity  of  the  ecliptic,  in  consequence  of  which  the 
arcs  of  the  ecliptic  and  equator,  counting  from  the  inter- 
section of  these  circles  to  the  meridian,  are  in  general  un- 
equal The  third  cause  of  the  equation  of  time  arises  from 
the  perturbations  of  the  moon  and  planets,  which  sensibly 
affect  the  sun's  motion  in  longitude.  The  different  parts 
of  the  equation  of  time  are  collected  and  computed  in  the 
following  manner: — Let  N  P  represent  the  ecliptic,  N  Q 
the  equator ;  and  let  N  be  the  intersection  of  these  circles, 
or  the  first  point  of  Aries.  Take  N  A  to  represent  the 
A  B  p  mean  motion  of  the  sun  in  any  given 
_^-— —  rp   time  T,  reckoning  from  the  vernal 

equinox;  then,  if  the  sun  advanced 
I        equably  in  the  ecliptic,  his  place  at 

p i7  «   the  time  T  would  be  at  the  point 

A.  But  suppose  that  in  conse- 
quence of  the  eccentricity  of  the  orbit  he  would  have  ad- 
vanced to  B  ;  then  A  B  is  what  is  called  the  equation  of  the 
centre.  Suppose,  further,  thai  by  the  combined  action  of 
the  planets,  during  the  time  T  he  is  carried  forward  to  C : 
then  the  true  arc  of  the  ecliptic  described  by  the  sun  is  N 
C.     Now,  if  we  pnt 

|  =  NC,  the  sun's  true  longitude, 
m  =  N  A,  the  sun's  mean  longitude, 
e  =  A  B,  the  equation  of  the  centre, 
p  =  B  C,  the  effect  of  the  perturbations, 
there  will  result  the  equation  l  =  m  +  e+p.  Through 
C  let  the  arc  C  I)  be  drawn  perpendicular  to  the  equator; 
the  point  D  will  be  that  point  of  the  equator  which  passes 
the  meridian  at  the  same  time  with  the  sun.  If  we  now 
make  r  =  N  C  —  N  D  ;  then  r  is  the  reduction  of  the  eclip- 
tic, and  the  sun's  true  risht  ascension  is  /  —  r  =  N  D.  Let 
NF  =  Na  =  ot;  then  F  is  the  point  of  the  equator  which 
the  sun  would  occupy  at  the  instant  he  occupies  the  point 
A  in  the  ecliptic  if  he  moved  uniformly  in  the  equator, and 
N  F  is  the  sun's  mean  right  ascension.  The  mean  sun 
would  consequently  pass  the  meridian  with  the  point  F, 
whereas  the  true  sun  passes  it  with  the  point  D;  therefore 
at  the  instant  of  true  noon,  when  the  points  C  and  D  are  on 
the  meridian,  the  mean  sun  is  at  the  distance  D  F  from 
the  meridian.  But  D  F  =  N  D  —  N  F  =  l  —  r  —  m  =  e 
+  /?  —  r,  which  is  the  equation  of  time  expressed  in  an 
arc  of  a  circle.  To  convert  it  into  mean  solar  time,  we 
must  multiply  by  24  hours  (corresponding  to  360  de- 
grees) ;  therefore,  representing  the  equation  of  time  by  /, 
we  have  t  =  rl(e+p-r). 

This  equation  still  requires  to  be  corrected  for  the  effect 
of  nutation.  The  variation  of  the  mean  longitude  re- 
sulting from  the  nutation  is  expressed  by  the  formola  18" 
sin.  (360°  —  moon's  node)  =  18"  sin.  N  ;  and  this  reduced 
to  the  equator  is  18"  sin.  N  cos.  co  (w  being  the  obliquity 
of  the  ecliptic.)  Consequently  the  effect  on  the  equation 
of  time,  being  the  difference  of  the  variations  on  the  eclip- 
tic and  equator,  becomes  IS"  sin.  N  (1  —  cos.  w).  But  18" 
(I  —  cos.  to)  being  reduced  to  time,  becomes  003925 
seconds ;  therefore,  including  the  correction  for  nutation, 
the  equation  of  time  becomes  finally 

t  =  TS(e  +p  —  r)  +  sin.  N- X 0  09925  see. 


EQUATOR 

The  last  term  of  this  expression  is  very  small,  amount- 
ing when  greatest  to  less  than  the  tenth  of  a  second,  and  is 
therefore  scarcely  sensible.  The  part  depending  on  the 
perturbations  is  also  very  small,  and  can  scarcely  exceed 
two  seconds.  The  principal  parts,  therefore,  are  the  two 
depending  upon  the  eccentricity  and  obliquity  ;  and  these 
were  known  in  the  time  of  Ptolemy. 

The  equation  of  time  is  at  its  maximum  about  the  be- 
ginning of  November,  when  it  amounts  to  about  16  min.  16 
sec. ;  and  is  subtractive,  that  is  to  say,  the  clock  is  faster 
than  the  dial  by  that  quantity.  At  four  times  in  the  year 
the  equation  vanishes,  or  the  clock  lime  and  dial  time 
agree.  This  happens  about  the  25lh  of  December,  the 
10th  of  April,  the  16th  of  June,  and  the  1st  of  September. 
But  these  epochs,  depending  on  the  longitude  of  the  sun's 
perigee,  are  subject  to  some  variation.  The  equation  is 
given  in  the  Nautical  Almanac  for  every  day  of  each  year. 
EQUATOR.  In  Astronomy,  the  great  circle  of  the  ce- 
lestial sphere,  of  which  the  plane  is  perpendicular  to  the 
axis  of  the  earth's  diurnal  motion.  It  is  called  the  equator, 
because  when  the  sun  is  in  its  plane  the  days  and  nights 
are  exactly  equal  all  over  the  world.  The  equator  divides 
the  sphere  into  the  northern  and  southern  hemispheres 
and  the  apparent  diurnal  motions  of  all  the  celestial  bodies 
are  performed  in  circles  which  are  parallel  to  it.  The  right 
ascensions  are  measured  on  the  equator;  and  the  declina- 
tions on  circles  which  intersect  it  at  right  angles.  The 
equator,  in  the  heavens,  is  often  styed  the  equinoctiul. 

In  Geography,  the  equator  is  the  great  circle  of  the  ter- 
restrial sphere  which  is  every  where  equally  distant  from 
the  two  poles,  and  divides  the  earth  into  the  northern  and 
southern  hemispheres.  Terrestrial  longitudes  are  mea- 
sured on  the  equator,  or  some  one  of  its  parallel  circles; 
commencing  from  some  arbitrary  point,  which  different 
nations  assume  variously,  most  of  them  adopting  the  me- 
ridian which  passes  through  their  capital  city  or  principal 
observatory.  Latitudes  are  counted  from  the  equator  along 
the  meridian. 

EQUATO'RIAL.  An  astronomical  instrument,  contrived 
for  the  purpose  of  directing  a  telescope  upon  any  celestial 
object  of  which  the  right  ascension  and  declination  are 
known,  and  of  keeping  the  object  in  view  for  any  length  of 
time,  notwithstanding  the  diurnal  motion.  For  these  pur- 
„  poses,  a  principal  axis  C  D,  resting  on  firm 

supports,  is  placed  parallel  to  the  axis  of 
the  earth's  rotation,  and  consequently  point- 
K   ing  to  the  poles  of  the  heavens.     On  this 
polar  axis  there  is  fixed,  near  one  of  its  ex- 
tremities, a  graduated  circle  A  B,  the  plane 
i     of  which  is  perpendicular  to  the  polar  axis, 
and  therefore  parallel  to  the  earth's  equa- 
tor.    This  circle  is  called  the  equatorial 
^_^      circle,  and  measures  by  its  arcs  the  hour 
^-^]\^~'P   angles,  or  differences  of  right  ascension. 
^i&— jcr.gi^     The  polar  axis  is  pierced  at  E  F,  and  pene- 
'Vc  trated  by  the  axis  of  a  second  circle  G  H, 

at  right  angles  to  it.  The  axisof  the  second 
circle  has  consequently  no  connection  with  any  external 
support,  but  is  sustained  entirely  by  the  polar  axis.  The 
plane  of  the  second  circle  G  H,  which  is  called  the  decli- 
nation circle,  and  carries  the  telescope  K,  is  thus  in  all  po- 
sitions at  right  angles  to  the  plane  of  the  first  or  equatorial 
circle  A  B.  Now  it  is  easy  to  conceive,  from  this  general 
description,  that  when  the  telescope  is  pointed  to  a  star,  the 
angle  between  the  direction  of  the  telescope  and  the  polar 
axis  is  equal  to  the  polar  distance  of  the  star;  consequently, 
when  a  motion  is  given  to  the  polar  axis  without  altering 
the  position  of  the  telescope  on  the  declination  circle,  the 
point  to  which  the  telescope  is  directed  will  always  lie  in 
the  small  circle  of  the  heavens  coincident  with  the  star's 
diurnal  path  ;  and  hence,  if  the  motion  communicated  to 
the  polar  axis  be  just  equal  to  the  earth's  diurnal  rotation, 
the  star  will  remain  constantly,  and  as  long  as  we  please, 
in  the  field  of  the  telescope,  at  least  while  above  the  hori- 
zon. In  many  observations  this  is  indispensable,  and  it  is 
an  advantage  which  attaches  to  no  other  instrument.  The 
polar  axis  may  be  moved  by  a  peculiar  kind  of  clock  ma- 
chinery, adjusted  to  sidereal  time  ;  and  the  best  and  largest 
equatorials  are  now  furnished  with  such  an  apparatus. 
Besides  relieving  the  observer  from  the  fatigue  of  turning 
the  instrument,  the  motion  thus  given  is  perfectly  equable, 
and  all  those  jerks  avoided  which,  when  the  instrument  is 
turned  by  the  hand,  often  prove  fatal  to  an  observation. 
(For  the  method  of  adjusting  the  equatorial,  see  a  paper 
by  Professor  Llttrow  of  Vienna  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Royal 
Astr.  Society,  vol.  ii.  p.  45.) 

E'QUERRY.  (Fr.  ecuyer.)  In  the  British  Court,  a  sub- 
ordinate officer  under  the  master  of  the  horse.  The  chief 
•  qnerry  is  also  styled  clerk  marshal,  with  a  salary  of  5CKM. 
per  an.  There  are  also  four  equerries  in  ordinary,  whose 
calary  is  300/.  a  year,  and  an  equerry  of  the  crown  stable. 
A  queen  consort  has  three  equerries. 

E'QUIA'NGULAR   FIGURE.     (I.at.  asquus  and  angu- 
lus.)    In  Geometry,  a  figure  of  which  all  the  angles  are 
414 


EQUIPAGE. 

equal  among  themselves,  as  is  the  case  with  all  the  regu- 
lar polygons.  Two  figures  also  of  the  same  kind,  having 
each  angle  of  the  one  equal  to  a  corresponding  angle  of  the 
other,  are  said  to  be  equiangular, although  when  considered 
separately  they  may  not  be  equiangular  figures. 

EQUILA'TERAL  BIVALVE.  A  shell  is  so  called  When 
a  transverse  line  drawn  through  the  apex  of  the  umbo  bi- 
sects the  valve  into  two  equal  and  symmetrical  parts. 

EQUILA'TERAL  FIGURE,  in  Geometry,  is  one  that 
has  all  its  sides  equal  to  each  other.  Equilateral  figures 
inscribable  in  circles  are  necessarily  equiangular;  but  the 
converse  does  not  always  hold  true.  When  the  number 
of  sides  is  odd,  the  equiangular  figure  inscribed  in  a  circle 
is  always  equilateral;  but  when  the  number  of  sides  is  even, 
they  may  either  be  all  equal,  or  one  half  equal  to  each 
other,  atid  the  other  half  equal  to  each  other,  though  not 
to  the  former,  the  two  sets  beins  placed  alternately. 

EQUILA'TERAL  HYPERBOLA,  is  that  which  has  the 
two  axes  equal  to  each  other,  the  asymptotes  forming  a 
right  angle.     <S'ee  Hyperbola. 

EQUILIBRIUM.  (Lat.  aequus,  equal,  and  libra,  balance.) 
In  Statics,  results  from  the  simultaneous  action  of  several 
forces  on  a  body,  or  material  point,  when  they  reciprocally 
destroy  each  other's  action,  so  that  the  body  or  point, 
though  free  to  move,  remains  at  rest.  Two  equal  forces, 
acting  in  contrary  directions,  destroy  each  other;  and  when 
a  body  submitted  to  the  action  of  several  forces  remains 
at  rest,  it  is  necessary  that  the  resultant  of  one  part  of  the 
forces  be  exactly  equal  and  opposite  to  the  resultant  of  the 
remainder,  or  that  the  resultant  of  the  whole  be  nothing. 
The  science  of  equilibrium  is  thus  founded  entirely  on  the 
composition  of  forces.     See  Statics. 

Equilibrium.  (Lat.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  the  just  poise 
or  balance  of  a  figure  or  other  object,  so  that  it  may  appear 
to  stand  firmly.  Also  the  due  equipoise  of  objects,  lights, 
shadows,  &c.  against  each  other  by  some  striking  feature. 
This  quality  is  obvious  in  the  works  of  nature,  as  well  in 
the  human  form  as  in  landscape.  In  the  latter,  for  instance, 
the  sun  is  generally  the  medium  of  producing  it  by  strong 
contrasts  of  light  and  shadow.  In  Architecture,  the  same 
means  are  employed  to  produce  the  most  striking  effects, 
on  the  theory  of  which  Le  Roy  has  ably  written. 

Equilibrium.    In  Politics.     See  Balance  op  Power. 

E'QUIMU'LTIPLES.  The  products  of  quantities  mul- 
tiplied by  the  same  numbers.  For  example,  5  a  and  5b 
are  equimultiples  of  a  and  b;  and  m^np&ndm^nq  are 
equimultiples  of  pand  q.  Equimultiples  of  quantities  have 
to  each  other  the  same  ratio  as  the  quantities  themselves. 

EQUINO'CTIAL.  (See  Equinox.)  The  great  circle 
formed  by  the  intersection  of  the  plane  of  the  earth's 
equator  with  the  sphere  of  the  heavens.  This  term  is 
chiefly  met  with  in  the  older  books  of  astronomy,  the  term 
equator  being  now  generally  given  to  the  same  circle.    See 

E&UATOR. 

EQUINOCTIAL  POINTS.  The  two  opposite  points  of 
the  celestial  sphere,  in  which  the  ecliptic  and  equator  in- 
tersect each  other ;  the  one  being  the  first  point  of  Aries, 
and  the  other  the  first  point  of  Libra.  The  equinoctial 
points  do  not  retain  a  fixed  position  relatively  to  the  stars, 
but  retrograde  or  move  backwards  from  east  to  west  with 
a  slow  motion,  equal  to  about  50  seconds  yearly,  requiring 
25,000  years  to  accomplish  a  complete  revolution.  This 
motion  is  called  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes. 

E'QUINOX  (Lat.  sequus,  and  nox,  night),  in  As- 
tronomy, is  the  time  at  which  the  sun  passes  through  the 
equator  in  one  of  the  equinoctial  points.  When  the  sun 
is  in  the  equator  the  days  and  nights  are  of  equal  length  all 
over  the  world,  whence  the  derivation  of  the  term.  This 
happens  twice  every  year;  namely,  about  the  21st  of 
March,  and  the  22d  of  September:  the  former  is  called  the 
venial  and  the  latter  the  autumnal  equinox.  The  equi- 
noxes do  not  divide  the  year  into  portions  of  equal  length  ; 
for  in  consequence  of  the  sun  being  at  his  greatest  distance 
from  the  earth  during  the  summer  months,  and  his  angu- 
lar motion  in  his  orbit  being  consequently  slower,  the 
interval  from  the  vernal  to  the  autumnal  equinox  is  greater 
than  that  from  the  autumnal  to  the  vernal.  In  other  words, 
the  sun  continues  longer  on  the  northern  than  on  the 
southern  side  of  the  equator.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century,  the  difference  amounted  to  7 days  16  hours 
and  51  minutes.  The  summer  in  the  northern  hemisphere 
is  consequently  longer  than  in  the  southern  by  this  quan- 
tity ;  and  to  this  circumstance  some  meteorologists  ascribe, 
in  part  at  least,  the  higher  temperature  that  is  found  to 
prevail  in  the  northern  hemisphere  under  the  same  paral- 
lel of  latitude. 

E'QUIPAGE  (Fr.  equipper),  in  ordinary  language,, 
signifies  the  carriage,  horses,  and  liveries  which  indicate- 
the  fortune  or  rank  of  any  gentleman  when  lie  appears 
abroad. — Equipage,  in  marine  affairs,  signifies  the  crew 
of  a  ship,  together  with  all  a  ship's  furniture,  masts,  sails, 
ammunition,  &c.  In  the  art  military,  it  denotes  all  sorts  of 
utensils  and  artillery,  &c,  necessary  for  commencing  and) 
prosecuting  with  ease  or  success  any  military  operation. 


ECIUISETACEjE. 

E'QUISETA'CE^.  (Equisetum,  one  of  the  genera.) 
A  natural  orfler  of  Gymnosperms,  inhabiting  the  ditches 
and  rivers  of  most  parts  of  the  world.  They  have  no  de- 
cided affinity  with  any  known  order,  but  are  more  like 
flowering  plants  than  flowerless;  and  therefore  are  best 
considered  as  a  degeneration  of  Coni/erce,  to  which  they 
have  so  much  resemblance,  rather  than  as  a  race  in  af- 
finity with  ferns,  with  which  they  have  no  resemblance. 
They  have  no  medicinal  qualities;  but  for  economical 
purposes  are  useful  for  polishing  furniture,  owing  to  the 
quantity  of  silex  contained  in  their  epidermis.  They  are 
considered  by  the  farmer,  who  calls  them  horsetails,  as  a 
sign  of  heavy,  bad,  wet  land. 

E'QUISE'TIC  ACID.  A  peculiar  acid,  discovered  by 
Braconnot,  existing,  combined  with  magnesia,  in  the  Equi- 
selvm  fluviatile. 

E'QUITANT.  In  Botany,  a  term  used  in  describing  the 
vernation  of  leaves,  to  denote  that  they  overlap  each  other 
parallelly  and  entirely,  without  any  involution,  as  the  leaves 
of  iris.  They  seem  as  if  they  bestrode  each  other  in  op- 
posite directions,  whence  the  name. 

E'QUITES.  In  Ancient  History,  a  class  of  Roman  citi- 
zens, commonly  represented  by  the  English  word  knights, 
but  not  answering  in  all  respects  to  its  meaning.  The  origin 
of  the  Equites  was  the  body  of  Celeres,  instituted  by 
Romulus ;  and  they  originally  consisted  of  those  who  were 
rich  enough  to  serve  in  war  on  horseback,  but  afterwards 
they  became  a  distinct  order.  They  were  chosen  promis- 
cuously from  the  patricians  and  plebeians  whose  age  was 
above  18  years,  and  fortune,  at  least  towards  the  end  of  the 
republic,  not  less  than  400  sestertia,  or  3229/.  The  badges 
of  the  equites  were  a  golden  ring  and  a  robe  with  a  narrow 
purple  border ;  and  to  them  were  appropriated  the  fourteen 
rows  of  seats  in  the  theatres  next  the  orchestra,  where  the 
senators  sat.  This  body  disputed  with  the  senate  the  privi- 
lege of  forming  the  jury  who  assisted  the  prator  in  trials; 
but,  after  repeated  transfers  of  this  office  from  one  to  the 
other,  it  was  finally  shared  between  both.  The  equites  also 
furnished  the  farmers  of  the  public  revenue,  or  publicani ; 
but  though  they  had  enjoyed  this  privilege  under  the  re- 
public, it  was  only  during  the  empire  that  they  looked  to 
such  offices  as  their  birthright.  Cicero  affirms  that  the 
llower  of  the  Roman  chivalry,  the  ornament  of  Rome,  the 
strength  of  the  empire,  lay  in  these  engrossers  of  the  public 
revenue  :  "  florem  equitum  Romanorum,  ornamentum  ci- 
vitatis,  firmamentum  reipublicte,  publioanorum  ordine  con- 
lineri."     (See  Niebuhr's  Roman  History.) 

E'QUITY.  (Lat.  aequitas.)  In  Jurisprudence.  In  the 
words  of  Blackstone  (Comm.  i.  CI.),  '-Since  in  laws  all 
cases  cannot  be  foreseen  or  expressed,  it  is  necessary  that 
when  the  general  decrees  of  the  law  come  to  be  applied  to 
particular  cases,  there  should  be  somewhere  a  power 
vested  of  defining  those  circumstances  which  (had  they 
been  foreseen)  the  legislator  himself  would  have  express- 
ed." In  the  same  view,  Grotius  defines  equity,  as  "  Cor- 
rectrix  ejus  in  quo  lex  propter  universalitatem  deficit"  (De 
JEquitaX.  i.  s.  12.);  and  distinguishes  it  from  the  dispens- 
ing power,  which  does  not  mitiaate  law,  but  dispenses  cer- 
tain persons  from  the  obligation  of  it.  Puffendorf  consi- 
ders it  under  two  heads. — as  declaring  a  case  to  be  excepted 
out  of  the  general  provisions  of  a  law;  and  as  deciding 
omitted  cases  on  which  the  law  does  not  pronounce  at  all. 
(Elements,  i.  22,  23.)  The  necessity  of  some  power  to 
modify  and  apply,  with  allowances  for  particular  cases,  the 
strict  rules  of  law,  is  necessarily  felt  in  every  jurisprudence, 
and  provided  for  in  different  ways.  Thus  in  ancient  Rome 
the  praHor,  "juvare,  supplere,  interpretari,  mitigore,  jus 
civile potuit ;  mutare  vel  tollere  non  potuit."  (Digest.  I.  i.  t. 
1.  7.)  So,  in  English  law,  the  judges  have  constantly  as- 
sumed the  authority  to  pronounce  cases  to  be  wilhin  the 
"equity,"  as  it  is  termed,  of  statutes  or  rules,  when  they 
are  not  within  its  words  ;  as.  for  example,  action  of  waste 
given  by  the  Statute  of  Gloucester  against  tenant  for  life 
'■or  years"  is  extended  by  equitable  construction  against 
tenants  who  hold  for  a  year  or  half  a  year  only.  But  the 
word  equity,  in  English  jurisprudence,  is  now  more  pro- 
perly applied  to  a  separate  body  of  law,  created  and  sus- 
tained on  the  strength  of  precedents,  and  administered  by 
tribunals  distinct  from  the  common  law  courts  of  the  coun- 
try. The  separation  of  equity  from  law  originated  in  the 
necessity  which  has  already  been  spoken  of;  but  from  the 
circumstance  of  the  former  being  administered  by  a  differ- 
ent class  of  functionaries,  it  has  by  degrees  assumed  this 
distinct  shape  and  substance.  By  seeking  relief  in  equity 
is  now  meant,  not  so  much  applying  for  a  mitigation  of  the 
strict  rules  of  law,  as  seeking  a  remedy  before  a  tribunal 
having  a  jurisdiction  either  concurrent  with  the  courts  of 
law  or  (in  some  cases)  exclusive,  but  exercising  it  accord- 
ing to  a  different  process  and  on  different  principles.  The 
origin  of  this  peculiar  system  is  to  be  traced,  in  part,  to  the 
system  of  uses  (see  Use,  Trust)  ;  in  part  to  the  obvious 
advantages  resulting  from  the  examination  of  the  parties, 
and  compelling  discovery  on  oath  in  cases  of  fraud,  account, 
<tc. ;  and  to  the  power,  gradually  acquired  by  equity  judges, 
415 


EQ.UUS. 

of  compelling  the  specific  performance  of  contracts  where 
courts  of  law  could  only  award  damages  for  their  breach ; 
in  part,  also,  to  the  peculiar  functions  imposed  by  statute 
and  usage  on  the  lord  chancellor  as  guardian  of  infants, 
idiots,  and  lunatics,  superintendent  of  charities,  &c.  The 
general  view  of  the  system  of  equitable  jurisprudence  as  at 
present  existing  is  given  in  the  articles  Chancery  and 
Trust.  (See  Blackstuve's  Commentaries,  vol.  iii. ;  Fvn- 
blanque  on  Equity ;  Milford's  Pleadings  in  Chancery.) 

EQUIVALENTS,  CHEMICAL.  A  term  introduced  into 
chemistry  by  Dr.  Wollaston  to  express  the  system  of  defi- 
nite ratios  in  which  substances  reciprocally  combine,  re- 
ferred to  a  common  standard  of  unity.  If  we  assume  hy- 
drogen as  unity,  it  being  the  substance  which  combines 
with  others  in  the  smallest  relative  weight  or  proportions, 
then  all  other  substances  may  be  represented  by  certain 
multiples  of  that  unit,  expressed  with  sufficient  precision 
for  all  ordinary  purposes  by  whole  numbers.  (See  Atomic 
Theory  and  Affinity.)  Thus,  upon  this  system  the 
equivalent  number  of  oxygen  will  be  8,  and  that  of  water 
will  be  9,  for  8  oxygen  +  1  hydrogen  =  9  water  ;  and  the 
equivalent  of  potassium  will  be  40,  and  of  polassa  or  ox- 
ide of  potassium  48,  for  40  potassium  +  8  oxygen  =  48 
potassa.  Upon  the  same  principle  the  equivalent  of  hydro- 
chloric acid,  which  is  a  compound  of  chlorine  and  hydro- 
gen, is  37,  for  it  consists  of  1  part  by  weight  of  hydrogen  and 
36  of  chlorine  ;  or,  in  other  words,  of  an  atom  of  hydrogen 
=  1  -4-  an  atom  of  chlorine  =  36.  The  equivalent  of  sul- 
phur is  16  :  to  form  sulphuric  acid  one  atom  of  sulphur  = 
16  combines  with  3  atoms  of  oxygen  (8  X  3)  =  24  ;  hence 
the  equivalent  of  an  atom  of  sulphuric  acid  is  16  -f-  24  =  40. 
These  equivalents  are  often  expressed  by  certain  abbrevia- 
tions, termed  chemical  symbols;  which,  as  far  as  single 
equivalents  of  the  simple  substances  are  concerned,  are 
represented,  together  with  their  equivalent  "numbers,  in  a 
table  in  the  article  Chemistry. 

E'QUIVALVE.  A  bivalve  is  so  called  when  its  two 
valves  are  of  similar  size  and  form. 

EQUl'VOCAL  TERM.  In  Logic,  a  term  which  has 
several  significations,  applying  respectively  and  equally  to 
several  objects.  A  word  is  generally  said  to  be  employed 
equivocally  where  the  middle  term  is  used  in  different 
senses  in  the  two  premises  (see  Syllogism);  or  where  a 
proposition  is  liable  to  be  understood  in  various  senses, 
according  to  the  various  meanings  of  one  of  its  terms. 

EQUU'LEL'S  (Lat.),  called  also  Equiculus  and  Equus 
Minor.  The  Little  Horse  ;  one  of  Ptolemy's  constellations 
in  the  northern  hemisphere. 

EauuLEis  was  also  the  name  given  in  antiquity  to  a 
species  of  rack  used  in  extorting  confessions.  It  was  ori- 
ginally practised  on  slaves,  but  at  a  later  period  it  was  em- 
ployed  against  the  Christians. 

E'QUUS.  (Lat.  a  horse.)  The  generic  name  of  the 
quadrupeds  with  a  single  digit  and  hoof  on  each  foot,  as 
the  horse,  ass,  and  zebra.  Of  these  species  the  horse  is 
the  largest,  most  docile,  most  valuable,  and  most  widely 
distributed  over  the  glob*\  Of  the  Mammalia  which  existed 
on  the  earth's  surface  during  the  tertiary  periods  of  geology, 
the  horse  is  one  of  the  few  which  have  been  preserved  to 
the  present  epoch  ;  and  in  the  American  continent,  where 
it  once  became  extinct,  along  with  the  Mastodon  and  Me- 
gatherium, it  now  again  ranges  wild  in  vast  troops,  the 
descendants  of  the  war  horse  introduced  by  the  European 
discoverers  and  conquerors  of  the  so-called  "  new  world." 

The  first  record  of  the  taming  and  application  of  the 
horse  to  the  purposes  of  man  is  in  Genesis,  19. ;  in  which 
it  is  written,  that  when  Joseph  transferred  his  father's  re- 
mains from  Egypt  to  Canaan,  "  there  went  up  with  him 
both  chariots  and  horsemen."  The  period  when  the  horse 
is  thus  indicated  as  a  beast  both  of  draught  and  burden,  is 
calculated  to  have  been  1650  years  before  the  birth  of 
Christ.  Horse  and  chariot  races  formed  part  of  the  Olym- 
pic games  in  Greece,  1450  years  s.  c. 

The  wild  horses  which  inhabit  the  steppes  of  Tartary  are 
supposed  to  be,  like  those  that  traverse  the  pampas  of 
South  America,  descendants  of  certain  individuals  which  had 
escaped  from  the  thraldom  of  man.  The  best  of  the  wild 
Asiatic  races  are  those  which  inhabit  Tseherkessi.  Abassi, 
and  the  northern  slopes  of  the  Caucasian  range.  The  prin- 
cipal varieties  which  Pallas  indicates  in  the  Asiatic  horse 
are,  first,  the  "  moustachoed  horse,"characterized  by  nume- 
rous strong  bristles  on  the  upper  lip;  the  "woolly  horse," 
a  Russian  variety,  covered  with  a  crisp  woolly  hair,  and 
common  among  the  Baschkirs  ;  a  naked  or  hairless  horse, 
not  uncommon  amongst  the  Krim  Tartars,  who  keep  it 
always  clothed  ;  lastly,  the  variety  delineated  by  Johnston, 
in  which  a  woolly  mane  is  continued  from  the  neck  along 
the  middle  of  the  back  to  the  tail,  and  which  Pallas  saw 
among  the  Buracti. 

The  wild  horses  appear  to  be  free  from  nearly  all  those 
diseases  to  which  the  domestic  breed  are  prone.  They 
are  generally  of  a  pale  or  greyish  brown  colour,  with  brown 
mane  and  tail,  a  whitish  muzzle,  changing  to  black  about 
the  mouth.    They  are  less  than  the  domestic  breed  ;  with 


Eauus. 


a  larger  head  ;  longer  legs ;  larger  ears,  with  the  apices 
sub- reflected  ;  the  forehead  is  more  convex  above  the 
eyes ;  the  hoofs  are  contracted  and  sub-cylindrical  (un- 
gules  contractor  subcylindracecb) ;  mane  sub-erect,  less 
Tax  than  in  the  domestic  horse;  the  coat,  in  winter,  looser 
and  sub-undulated  along  the  back  (indorso  subundulalum) ; 
the  tail  not  very  large.  They  recognize  the  presence  of 
man  at  a  great  distance  when  he  approaches  them  to  wind- 
ward, and  fly  from  him  with  wonderful  speed  ;  they  prefer 
sunny  slopes,  and  avoid  forests  and  steep  places.  They 
do  not  wander  beyond  the  50th  degree  of  north  latitude. 
Wild  stallions  attracted  by  domestic  mares  are  often  taken 
and  killed. 

The  first  change  which  domestication  works  upon  the 
form  of  the  wild  horse  is  to  increase  the  bulk  of  his  trunk 
as  compared  with  his  head  and  limbs.  This  change  is 
beautifully  exemplified  in  the  Arabian,  which  we  must 
regard  as  an  early,  if  not  first  remove,  from  his  wild  neigh- 
bours of  the  more  northern  deserts,  and  which  the  Bedouin 
still  hunts  for  the  sake  of  their  flesh.  The  head  is  not  only 
proportionally  smaller,  but  is  remarkable  for  the  breadth 
and  squareness  of  the  forehead,  the  shortness  and  fineness 
of  the  muzzle,  the  prominence  and  brilliance  of  the  eye, 
and  the  smallness  of  the  ears.  The  body  is  still  somewhat 
light,  and  narrow  at  the  forepart;  but  the  shoulder  is  supe- 
rior in  its  formation  to  that  in  any  other  breed.  The  Ara- 
bian seldom  stands  more  than  14  hands  2  inches.  The 
"  Barb,"  so  called  from  its  native  country,  Barbary,  is 
somewhat  smaller  than  its  near  ally  the  Arabian  ;  it  seldom 
exceeds  fourteen  hands  and  an  inch ;  the  shoulders  are 
flat,  the  chest  round,  the  legs  rather  long,  and  the  head 
small  and  very  beautiful.  The  Barb  is  remarkable  for  its 
fine  and  graceful  action ;  but  though  it  is  superior  to  the 
Arabian  in  its  general  form,  it  has  not  its  untiring  spirit  or 
its  speed.  Our  most  valuable  English  varieties  of  the  horse 
date  from  the  introduction  of,  and  interbreeding  with,  the 
Barb  and  Arabian. 

We  have  no  means  of  ascertaining  the  nature  or  pecu- 
liarities of  the  horses  which  the  ancient  British  charioteers 
managed  with  such  dexterity  in  their  destructive  charges 
through  the  disciplined  troops  of  Caesar.  They  must  have 
been  subsequently  modified  by  crossing  with  the  Roman 
horses.  King  Athelstan  received  from  Hugh  Capet  of 
France  several  German  running  horses  ;  William  the  Con- 
queror and  his  followers  introduced  the  Spanish  horse, 
with  the  blood  of  the  Barb.  The  first  Arabian  horse  is  re- 
corded to  have  been  introduced  in  the  reign  of  Henry  I. ; 
and  a  greater  admixture  of  Arabian  blood  was  a  natural 
consequence  of  the  return  of  the  Crusaders.  King  John 
devoted  especial  attention  to  the  improvement  of  his  stud ; 
and  he  imported  one  hundred  choice  stallions  of  the  Flan- 
ders kind.  The  size  and  strength  required  to  carry  the 
warrior  clad  in  the  heavy  armour  of  those  days  led  to  the 
frequent  introduction  in  subsequent  reigns  of  the  large 
and  heavy  war  horses  of  the  Low  Countries.  Afterwards, 
when  the  nobles  derived  their  amusements  more  from  the 
sports  of  the  turf  and  field,  they  were  induced  to  cross 
their  stately  and  heavy  breed  of  war  horses  with  those  of 
lighter  structure  and  greater  speed  ;  the  latest  improvement 
seems  to  have  been  derived  from  a  direct  intermixture  of 
the  pure  Arabian. 

The  principal  varieties  or  breeds  of  English  horses  are — 
The  hackney  or  road  horse.  "  He  should  be,"  Mr.  Youatt 
observes,  "  a  hunter  in  miniature  ;  with  these  exceptions  : 
His  height  should  rarely  exceed  fifteen  hands  and  an  inch. 
He  will  be  sufficiently  strong  and  more  pleasant  for  gene- 
ral work  below  that  standard.  He  should  be  of  a  more 
compact  form  than  the  hunter,  of  more  bulk  according  to 
his  height.  It  is  of  essential  consequence  that  the  bones 
beneath  the  knee  should  be  deep  and  flat,  and  the  tendon  not 
tied  in.  The  pastern  should  be  short,  and  less  oblique  or 
slanting  than  that  of  the  hunter  or  race  horse.  The  foot 
should  be  of  a  size  corresponding  with  the  bulk  of  the  ani- 
mal, neither  too  hollow  nor  too  flat,  and  open  at  the  heels. 
The  forelegs  should  be  perfectly  straight ;  for  a  horse  with 
his  knees  bent  will  from  a  slight  cause,  and  especially  if 
overweighted,  come  down.  The  back  should  be  straight 
and  short,  yet  sufficiently  long  to  leave  comfortable  room 
for  the  saddle  between  the  shoulders  and  the  huck  without 
pressing  on  either.  Some  persons  prefer  a  hollow-backed 
horse.  It  is  generally  an  easy  one  to  go.  It  will  canter 
well  with  a  lady;  but  it  will  not  carry  a  heavy  weight,  or 
stand  much  hard  work.  The  road  horse  should  be  high  in 
the  forehead,  round  in  the  barrel,  and  deep  in  the  chest." 

The  origin  of  the  better  kind  of  coach  horse,  says  Mr. 
Youatt,  is  the  "  Cleveland  bay,"  confined  principally  to 
Yorkshire  and  Durham,  with  Lincolnshire  on  one  side  and 
Northumberland  on  the  other,  but  difficult  to  meet  with 
pure  in  either  county.  The  Cleveland  mare  is  crossed  by 
a  three-fourth  or  thorough-bred  horse  of  sufficient  sub- 
stance and  height,  and  the  produce  is  the  coach  horse 
most  in  repute,  with  his  arched  crest  and  high  action. 

There  is,  or  rather  was,  a  breed  called,  from  its  round 
punchy  make,  the  Suffolk  punch.    "  It  stood  from  fifteen  to 
416 


sixteen  hands  high,  of  a  sorrel  colour;  was  large-headed, 
low-shouldered,  and  thick  on  the  top ;  deep  and  round- 
chested ;  long-backed;  high  in  the  croup  ;  large  and  strong 
in  the  quarters  ;  full  in  the  flanks;  round  in  the  legs,  and 
short  in  the  pasterns.  It  was  the  very  horse  to  Ihrow  his 
whole  weight  into  a  collar,  with  sufficient  activity  to  do  it 
effectually,  and  hardihood  to  stand  a  long  day's  work." 
This  valuable  breed  is  now  nearly  extinct:  it  is  thought  to 
have  been  produced  from  the  Norman  stallion  and  the  Suf- 
folk cart  mare.  Excellent  carriage  horses  are  obtained  by 
crossing  the  Suffolk  breed  with  a  good  hunter. 

The  best  dray  horses  are  produced  from  the  Suffolk 
punch  crossed  with  the  Flanders. 

The  breed  of  English  racers  is  traced  authentically  to  an 
Arabian  stallion  introduced  into  this  country  by  a  Mr.  Dar- 
ley,  and  hence  called  the  "Darley  Arabian."  Anterior  to 
this  period  the  pedigree  of  a  racer  can  rarely  be  carried 
back  beyond  some  obscure  reference  to  an  Eastern  horse. 
The  Darley  Arabian  was  the  sire  of  Flying  Childers,  and 
the  great  grandsire  of  Eclipse.  Eclipse  was  remarkable 
for  the  very  great  size,  obliquity,  and  lowness  of  his  shoul- 
ders ;  the  shortness  of  his  fore-quarters  ;  his  ample  and 
finely  proportioned  quarters,  and  the  swelling  muscles  of 
his  forearm  and  thigh.  He  was,  moreover,  what  is  termed 
a  thick-winded  horse,  and  pufTed  and  roared  so  as  to  be 
heard  at  a  considerable  distance  ;  yet  he  never  had  an  op- 
ponent on  the  turf  sufficiently  fleet  to  put  his  full  speed  to 
the  test.  Eclipse  died  at  the  age  ol  twenty- five  years, 
having  begot  the  extraordinary  number  of  three  hundred 
and  thirty-four  winners. 

Another  stream  of  Eastern  blood  was  introduced  into  the 
swelling  veins  3f  our  thorough-bred  horses  by  a  beautiful 
Barb,  called  the  Godolphin  Arabian. 

The  hunter,  a  favourite  English  variety,  includes  as 
much  of  the  blood  and  high  breeding  of  the  racer  as  is  com- 
patible with  the  power  and  endurance  demanded  by  the 
chase.  The  author  of  the  excellent  work  on  the  horse  in 
the  Library  of  Useful  Knowledge,  thus  describes  the  good 
points  of  a  hunter : —  "  The  first  points  of  a  good  hunter  is, 
that  he  should  be  light  in  hand.  For  this  purpose  his  head 
must  be  small;  his  neck  thin,  especially  beneath  ;  his  crest 
firm  and  arched  :  and  his  jaws  wide.  The  head  will  then 
be  well  set  on.  It  will  form  a  pleasant  angle  with  the  neck, 
which  gives  a  light  and  pleasant  mouth." 

The  more  extreme  varieties  which  we  have  in  England 
are  the  ponies  and  Galloways  :  of  these  theShellieor  Shet- 
land pony  is  the  most  diminutive;  it  rarely  exceeds  nine 
hands  high,  and  sometimes  does  not  reach  seven  and  a 
half.  His  strength  is  proportionally  far  greater  than  his 
size  ;  he  is  perfectly  docile,  and  will  fatten  on  the  hardest 
fare. 

The  dental  character  of  the  horse,  and  of  the  genus 
Equus,  is  thus  expressed  in  zoology  : 


Incisors  ^  Canines  — 
o  1 


6-6 


Molares  ^—^  =  40 ;  i.  e.  it  has 


I  o  •  b 

six  incisors  or  nippers  in  the  front  of  both  the  upper  and 
lower  jaws,  one  tusk  or  canine,  and  six  molars  or  grinders, 
on  each  side  of  both  jaws.  They  appear  in  the  following 
order: — The  two  middle  incisors,  and  the  two  anterior 
grinders,  come  into  place  at  about  a  week  after  birth  ;  the 
third  grinder  in  the  course  of  the  first  month  ;  the  two  ad- 
joining incisors  before  the  end  of  the  sixth  week  ;  the  two 
outer  incisors  between  the  sixth  and  ninth  month  ;  making 
the  six  incisors  above  and  below,  and  completing  what 
is  termed  the  colt's  mouth.  There  are  also  two  very 
small  deciduous  canines  developed  about  the  sixth  month  ; 
the  fourth  grinder  generally  makes  its  appearance  at  the 
end  of  the  first  year;    and  thus  the    formula,  incisors 

6  4  '4 

- '  molares  — '  is  characteristic  of  the  yearling  foal.    A 

fifth  grinder  makes  its  appearance  at  the  end  of  the  second 
year ;  and  now  commences  the  displacement  of  the  first 
set,  and  the  protrusion  of  the  second  or  permanent  set  of 
teeth.  The  deciduous  teeth  are  lost  in  the  order  of  their 
acquisition  ;  the  two  middle  incisors  of  both  the  upper  and 
lower  jaws  are  displaced  between  the  second  and  third 
years ;  the  first  and  second  deciduous  grinders  are  shed  at 
two  years  and  eight  months.  A  three-year  old  colt  has  the 
permanent  middle  incisors  above  the  gum,  but  not  on  a 
level  with  the  adjoining  deciduous  incisors  ;  they  are  also 
characterized  by  a  large  and  deep  groove  containing  a  black 
substance  traversing  transversely  the  working  edge  of  the 
crown  of  the  tooth ;  the  sixth  grinder  is  also  coming  into 
place.  At  three  years  and  a  half  or  little  later  the  adjoining 
deciduous  incisors  are  shed,  and  their  large  successors 
begin  to  peep  above  the  gum  ;  the  small  lateral  incisors 
are  diminished  in  size  and  much  worn.  This  gives  a  very 
characteristic  condition  to  the  mouth. 

At  four  years  the  sixth  grinder  has  attained  the  level  of 
the  others ;  the  permanent  tusks  begin  to  appear ;  the  se- 
cond permanent  incisors  have  come  into  place,  and  are 
marked  with  a  deep  fissure  extending  quite  across  the 
edge  of  the  crown ;  the  corresponding  mark  in  the  middle 


ERA. 

incisors  is  worn  wider  and  fainter;  the  third  deciduous 
grinder  is  shed.  The  external  incisors  are  shed  between 
four  and  a  half  mid  Jive  years.  At  fice  years  their  perma- 
nent successors  are  in  place,  with  a  long  deep  mark  on  the 
inner  side  of  the  edge  of  the  crown.  The  corresponding 
mark  is  much  worn  in  the  middle  incisors,  and  to  a  less 
degree  in  the  adjoining  ones.  The  tusks  are  about  an  inch 
in  length.  At  six  years  the  mark  or  fissure  on  the  middle 
incisors  is  worn  away,  but  a  discolouration  on  the  part  re- 
mains; the  mark  in  the  adjoining  incisors  is  shorter,  broad- 
er, and  fainter  ;  and  the  lateral  incisors  present  the  edges 
of  the  enamel  in  a  more  regular  state,  and  evidently  worn  ; 
the  tusks  are  an  inch  in  length  and  pointed;  the  third  per- 
manent grinder  has  taken  its  place  in  the  dental  series. 
At  seven  years  the  mark  is  worn  away  on  the  four  middle 
incisors  in  both  jaws,  and  in  progress  of  obliteration  in  the 
lateral  incisor:  the  apex  of  the  canine  or  tusk  is  blunted.  At 
eight  years  the  mark  is  gone  from  all  the  lower  incisors, 
and  they  cease  to  afford  and  indication  of  the  subsequent 
age  of  the  horse.  The  tusks  are  rounded  off;  the  marks 
remain  longer  on  the  incisors  of  the  upper  jaw.  Of  course 
the  marks  are  obliterated  in  proportion  to  the  friction  to 
which  the  teeth  are  subject :  they  are  sooner  lost  in  a  stall- 
fed  horse  than  in  one  at  grass ;  they  are  prematurely  worn 
away  in  the  crib-bitcr. 

The  age  of  a  horse  being  always  calculated  from  the 
1st  of  May,  it  is  very  difficult  to  determine  whether  an 
animal  be  a  late  foal  of  one  year  or  an  early  one  of  the 
next.  A  horse  may  be  made  to  appear  older  than  he 
really  is  by  premature  extraction  of  the  deciduous  teeth; 
or  younger  by  imitating  artificially  the  natural  marks  of  the 
incisors  after  they  have  been  obliterated  by  attrition  ;  but 
these  frauds  are  readily  detected  when  all  the  concomitant 
conditions  of  a  horse's  mouth  are  scanned  by  the  practised 
eye. 

Owing  to  the  premature  labour  to  which  the  horse  is  in 
general  condemned  in  this  country,  and  to  the  present 
rapid  rate  of  travelling,  ho  has  rarely  a  chance  of  living 
out  his  natural  term  of  existence.  A  well-used  horse  may 
last  between  thirty  and  forty  years.  Mr.  Percival  gives  an 
account  of  a  barge-horse  that  died  in  his  sixty  second 
year.  Mr.  Youatt  quotes  the  record  of  another  horse  that 
received  a  ball  in  his  neck  at  the  battle  of  Preston  in  1715, 
and  which  was  extracted  at  his  death  in  1758. 

ERA.     See  /Era. 

ERA'SED,  in  Heraldry,  signifies  any  thing  forcibly  torn 
off,  leaving  the  edges  jagged  and  uneven  ;  as,  a  lion's  head 
erased,  &c. 

ERA'STIANS.  The  followers  of  Erastus,  a  German 
divine  :  a  sect  which  obtained  some  notoriety  in  England 
in  the  time  of  the  civil  wars.  They  referred  the  punish- 
ment of  all  offences,  civil  or  religious,  to  the  civil  magis- 
trate ;  and  asserted  that  the  church  had  no  power  to  en- 
force any  acts  of  discipline,  nor  to  refuse  the  communion 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  to  any  one  who  desired  it. 

E'RATO.  (Gr.  cptos,  lute.)  In  Ancient  Mythology,  the 
muse  who  presided  over  love  poetry.  (See  Cailimachi 
Epigramm.)  She  is  frequently  confounded  with  Terpsi- 
chore; and  in  the  7th  Book  of  the  Jlneid  she  is  invoked 
by  Virgil  as  synonymous  with  Calliope. 

E'REBUS.  (Gr.  Epe/3o{.)  According  to  the  classic 
mythology,  the  son  of  Chaos  and  Darkness,  who  dwelt  in 
the  lowest  part  of  hell,  which  is  frequently  called  by  his 
name. 

ERETHI'SMUS.  (Gr.  cpedtZetv,  to  excite.)  This  term  is 
generally  applied  to  a  peculiarly  irritable  state  of  constitu- 
tion, which  occasionally  results  from  the  use  of  mercury, 
and  in  which  there  is  great  depression  of  strength  and  irre- 
gularity of  pulse,  anxiety,  paleness,  and  tremors. 

E'RGOT,  or  CLAVUS,  is  a  disease  of  the  rye,  produced 
by  the  attack  of  fungi  which  take  possession  of  the  ovary 
and  destroy  it,  producing  in  its  room  a  long,  black,  hard, 
hornlike  body.  It  is  remarkable  for  the  specific  stimu- 
lating effects  it  produces  upon  the  uterus,  on  which 
account  it  is  much  employed  in  cases  of  difficult  partu- 
rition. 

ERICA'CEiE.     (Erica,  one  of  the  genera.)    A  natural 
order  of  shrubby  Exogens,  inhabiting  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  and  many  other  places.     It  differs  from  Vaccinaceai 
and  Campanulaceas  in  the   superior  ovary  ;  from  Epacri-  i 
dacecb  in  the  anther  being  two-celled  ;  from  Pyrolacece  and 
Monotropacect,  in  the  structure  of  the  seeds,  and  in  habit; 
and  from  all  the  orders  represented  by  Scrophvlariacea  I 
and  GentianacetB  in  the  number  of  the  cells  of  the  ovary  i 
agreeing  with  the  lobes  of  the  calyx  and  corolla.     Their 
general  qualities  are  astringent  and  diuretic,  some  few 
being  poisonous.     The  Arbutus,  Andromeda,  Kalmia,  Rho- 
dodendron, Azalea,  all  well  known  shrubby  plants  of  great 
beauty,  belong  to  this  order. 

ERI'CHTHIANS.     See  Erichthus. 

ERI'CHTHUS.     (Gr.   r/pi,  early,  and  x0coi/,  the  earth.) 

A  genus  of  long  tailed  Decapod  Crustaceans,  inhabiting  the 

tropical  ocean.     These  Crustacea  are  remarkable  for  the 

delicate  and  often  transparent   and  colourless  character 

417 


ERMINE. 

of  their  large  and  undivided  thoracic  shield  or  carapace, 
which  always  is  terminated  anteriorly  in  a  stylil'crm  ros- 
trum :  they  have  no  moveable  rostral  plate,  and  the  gills 
are  in  general  very  small  and  simple,  and  sometimes 
wholly  inconspicuous.  The  genus  thus  characterized  is 
now  subdivided  into  Squilkrichthus,  Alrnia,  and  Erichthus 
proper ;  and  the  whole  are  included  under  the  lamily  name 
of  Erichthians,  or  Erichlhidfb,  which  in  the  natural  system 
ranks  next  to  the  St/uillida:,  or  seamanlises. 

ERI'DANUS.  (The  river  Eridanus.)  One  of  the  an- 
cient constellations  in  the  southern  hemisphere,  first 
mentioned  by  Aratus. 

ERINA'CEUS.  (I/at.  erinaceus,  a  hedgehog  )  A  genus 
of  useful  insectivorous  Mammals,  of  which  our  common 
hedgehog  is  a  well-known  and  unmeritedly  persecuted 
species.  The  teeth  are  small,  and  form  a  series  of  sharp 
bristling  points,  well  adapted  for  the  crushing  of  beetles,  or 
cracking  the  backbone  of  a  snake  ;  but  quite  inadequate 
to  the  purpose  of  self-defence  against  larger  carnivorous 
quadrupeds.  Nature  has,  however,  provided  the  hedgehog 
with  a  compensatory  coat  of  armour,  thickly  bristled  over 
with  strong  elastic  spines,  and  capable  of  being  drawn  by 
powerful  cutaneous  muscles  over  every  part  of  the  body. 
When  the  hedgehog  thus  puts  himself  in  a  defensive  atti- 
tude, he  resembles  a  bristled  sphere ;  and  is  capable  of 
enduring  hard  blows  or  heavy  falls  without  suffering  ma- 
terial injury. 

Mr.  Bell  says,  in  his  excellent  history  of  British  quadru- 
peds, "  The  strenglh  and  elasticity  of  this  covering  is  such, 
that  I  have  repeatedly  seen  a  domesticated  hedgehog  in 
my  own  possession  run  towards  the  precipitous  wall  of  an 
area,  and  without  hesitation  throw  itself  off;  and  contract- 
ing at  the  same  instant  into  a  ball,  in  which  condition  it 
reached  the  ground  from  a  height  of  twelve  to  fourteen 
feet,  after  a  few  moments  it  would  unfold  itself  and  run  off 
unhurt." 

As  the  food  of  the  hedgehog  consists  almost  entirely  of 
cold-blooded  animals,  which  in  our  climate  almost  entirely 
disappear  from  the  scene  of  nature  in  the  winter  season, 
the  hedgehog  must  have  starved  if  he  had  not  been  en- 
dowed with  the  singular  properly  of  subsiding  into  a  state 
of  suspended  animation  during  the  period  of  famine.  In 
order,  however,  to  preserve  the  low  temperature  which 
he  then  possesses,  he  prepares  in  some  retired  hole  a  soft 
nest  of  moss  and  leaves  ;  and  thus  passes  his  winter  u  un- 
disturbed by  the  violence  of  the  tempest,  and  only  ren- 
dered still  more  profoundly  torpid  by  the  bitterest  frost." 
All  the  store  of  nutriment  which  he  carries  with  him  to  his 
place  of  hybernation  is  a  thick  layer  of  fuf.  about  his  vis- 
cera and  beneath  his  skin,  which  is  slowly  absorbed,  as 
the  little  waste  of  his  inactive  life  requires,  and  more  ra- 
pidly during  the  first  few  days  of  his  resuscitation  in  spring. 
The  female  produces  from  two  to  four  young  ones  in  the 
summer;  they  are  blind,  and  covered  with  soft  and  flexi- 
ble spines.  The  hedgehog  has  thirty-six  teeth.  The  inter- 
maxillary bones  contain  six  teeth,  of  which  the  two  ante- 
rior are  longer  than  the  rest,  placed  wide  apart,  directed 
obliquely  downwards  with  a  slight  convergence.  The 
six  upper  incisors  are  opposed  to  six  below,  of  which  the 
two  anterior  ones  have  the  same  disproportionate  size 
as  the  corresponding  ones  above.  Of  the  remaining 
teeth  the  four  posterior  ones  on  each  side  of  both  jaws  are 
large,  multicuspidate,  true  molares.  The  intermediate 
teeth  are  small,  with  two  fangs,  and  represent  the  spuri- 
ous molares. 

E'RIOCAULO'NEjE.  (Eriocaulon,  one  of  the  genera.) 
A  natural  order  of  Endogens,  inhabiting  the  marshes  of 
most  parts  of  the  world  ;  usually  combined  with  Restia- 
ceai.  It  is  composed  of  herbaceous  plants,  with  their 
flowers  growing  in  close  heads,  and  contains  no  species  of 
any  known  use. 

ERIO'METER.  (Gr.  epiov,  wool,  and  ucrpov,  a  mea- 
sure.) An  optical  instrument  proposed  by  the  late  Dr. 
Young  for  measuring  the  diameters  of  minute  particles 
and  fibres,  by  ascertaining  the  diameter  of  any  one  of  the 
series  of  coloured  rings  they  produce.  "The  eriometer 
is  formed  of  a  piece  of  card  or  a  plate  of  brass,  having  an 
aperture  of  about  a  fiftieth  of  an  inch  in  diameter  in  the 
centre  of  a  circle  about  half  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  per- 
forated with  about  eight  small  holes.  The  fibres  or  par- 
ticles to  be  measured  are  fixed  in  a  slider:  and  the  eri- 
ometer being  placed  before  a  strong  light,  and  the  eye  as- 
sisted by  a  lens  applied  behind  the  small  hole,  the  rings  of 
colours  will  be  seen.  The  slider  must  then  be  drawn  out  or 
pushed  till  the  limit  of  the  first  red  and  green  ring  (the  one 
selected  by  Dr.  Young)  coincides  with  the  circle  of  perfo- 
rations, and  the  index  will  then  show  on  the  scale  the  size 
of  the  particles  or  fibres."  {Brewster's  Optics,  Cabinet 
Cyclopaedia. ) 

ERI'PHIA.  (Gr.  cpitpos)  A  genus  of  short-tailed  or 
Brachyurous  Crustaceans,  including  the  Cancer  spinifrons, 
Herbst. ;  Cancer  conagra,  Fabr. ;  and  other  later  discovered 
species. 

ER'MINE.    ("This,"  says  Gwillim,  "is  a  little  beast 
Cc 


ERODED. 

less  than  a  squirrel,  that  hath  his  being  in  the  woods  of  the 
land  of  Armenia. .whereof  he  taketh  his  name.")  In  Zool- 
ogy, a  species  of  Mustela,  or  stoat,  differing  from  the  com- 
mon weasel  in  being  about  one  third  larger,  and  in  having 
a  somewhat  broader  head  and  a  longer  tail.  In  the  sum- 
mer season  the  upper  part  of  the  head,  neck,  and  body, 
and  the  greater  part  of  the  tail,  are  of  a  pale  reddish  brown 
colour;  the  under  parts  white,  with  a  very  slight  tinge  of 
yellow ;  tip  of  the  tail  black,  and  somewhat  bushy.  In  the 
winter  the  whole  of  the  body  becomes  white,  slightly 
tinged  with  yellow;  but  the  black  termination  of  the  tail  is 
permanent.  The  fur  is  closer  and  finer  at  this  season, 
especially  in  the  colder  latitudes,  from  which  countries 
the  ermine  affords  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  valuable 
of  furs.  When  made  up  the  tails  are  inserted  one  to  each 
skin,  at  regular  distances,  and  in  the  quincunx  order;  and 
thus  arranged  the  ermine  fur  forms  the  distinctive  doub- 
ling of  the  state  robes  of  sovereigns  and  nobles,  as  well  as 
of  their  crowns  and  coronets. 

Ermine.  In  Heraldry,  one  of  the  furs  used  in  blazonry. 
It  represents  the  skin  of  that  animal  white,  spotted  or  tim- 
bered with  black.  Ermines  is  black,  spotted  or  timbered 
with  white.  Erminites  differs  from  ermine  in  having  the 
side  hairs  of  the  timberings  red.  Erminois  is  the  same  as 
ermine,  except  that  the  gold  is  substituted  for  white. 
Pean  is  black,  timbered  with  gold. 

ERO'DED.  (Lat.  erodo,  J  gnaw.)  In  Zoology,  when  a 
part  has  its  edges  irregularly  jagged,  as  if  gnawed  or  eaten. 
ERO'TIC  (Gr.  epios,  love),  is  an  epithet  applied  gene- 
rally to  all  that  relates  to  the  passion  of  love.  Thus  what- 
ever excites  that  passion,  or  depicts  its  effects,  is  termed 
erotic.  In  a  more  confined  sense,  this  application  has  been 
conferred  on  a  certain  class  of  Greek  and  Latin  authors, 
both  in  prose  and  poetry,  of  whose  writings  love  formed 
the  principal  theme.  Of  these  the  most  distinguished  are 
Achilles  Tatius,  Heliodorus,  Anacreon,  Sappho,  Ovid,  Ti- 
bullus,  Propertius,  &c.  (See  the  learned  work  entitled 
Scriptores  Erolici  Gra.ci,  cura  Mitschcrlichii.) 

ERO'TOMA'NIA.  (Gr.  tpcuf,  and  fiavta,  madness.) 
Mental  aberration,  supposed  to  be  occasioned  by  the  pas- 
sion of  love. 

ERPETO'LOGY,  more  properly  Herpetohgy.  (Gr. 
IpircTos,  a  reptile,  and  Xoyos,  a  discourse.)  The  branch  of 
zoological  science  which  specially  treats  of  the  class  Rep- 
tilia. This  class  of  animals  is  characterized  by  having  a 
heart  so  constructed  as  to  transmit  to  the  lungs  a  part  only 
of  the  circulating  mass  of  blood  which  it  receives  from  the 
systenni  veins,  the  remainder  being  sent  again  to  the  body 
without  having  been  purified  in  the  lungs.  There  thus  re- 
sults a  less  amount  of  reaction  of  oxygen  upon  the  blood 
than  takes  place  in  Mammalia,  and  consequently  a  lower 
grade  of  animal  heat,  and  an  inferior  activity  of  muscular 
contraction  ;  but,  as  the  proportion  of  venous  blood  trans- 
mitted by  the  heart  to  the  general  system  varies  in  differ- 
ent reptiles  with  the  various  modifications  of  the  heart, 
there  is  a  corresponding  difference  in  the  manifestation  of 
their  vital  phenomena. 

As  reptiles  are  thus  exempt  from  the  office  of  preserving 
the  temperature  of  a  circulating  fluid  many  degrees  warmer 
than  that  of  the  external  atmosphere,  they  have  no  need 
of  teguments  adapted  to  retain  heat;  and  are  accordingly 
naked,  or  covered  with  scales  or  hard  bony  plates.  Their 
brain  is  very  small,  and  without  the  great  commissures. 
The  lungs  serve  more  or  less  as  reservoirs  as  well  as  de- 
composers of  the  atmospheric  air;  and  thus  with  a  certain 
degree  of  independence  of  the  general  circulation,  the  rep- 
tiles are  enabled  to  remain  much  longer  under  water  than 
either  birds  or  mammalia.  Some  species,  indeed,  have 
in  addition  to  their  lungs  gills  for  breathing  water,  either 
during  their  immature  state,  or  throughout  life,  and  thus 
are  truly  amphibious.  With  a  cold  blood,  low  respiration, 
low  sensation,  and  sluggish  habits,  is  associated  an  ex- 
traordinary power  of  endurance  of  abstinence  and  bodily 
injury. 

Reptiles  are  either  oviparous,  or  ovoviviparous  :  they  do 
not  incubate.  They  present  a  great  variety  of  forms,  and 
constitute  altogether  a  much  less  natural  group  than  either 
birds  or  mammals.  The  character  which  Cuvier  has  as- 
signed to  the  Reptilia  would  not  seem  to  distinguish  them 
from  certain  fishes  with  highly  developed  air  bladders, 
without  the  additional  statement  that  the  organ  of  smell  in 
the  class  Reptilia  is  situated  in  a  canal  communicating  both 
with  the  cavity  of  the  mouth  and  the  external  surface. 

Cuvier  divides,  after  Brongniart,  the  reptiles  into  four 
orders,  viz.  : — 

The  Chelonia  (tortoises  and  turtles);  of  which  the  heart 
has  two  auricles,  and  the  body  is  supported  on  four  legs, 
and  inclosed  between  two  plates  or  shields  formed  by  the 
ribs  and  sternum. 

The  Sauria  (lizards  and  crocodiles) ;  of  which  the  heart 
has  two  auricles,  and  the  body,  supported  on  four  legs,  is 
covered  with  scales. 

The  Ophidia  (slow-worms  and  serpents) ;  of  which  the 
heart  has  two  auricles,  and  the  body  is  without  legs. 
418 


ERROR. 

The  Batrachia  (frogs,  toads,  newts,  <fcc.) ;  of  which  the 
heart  has  but  one  auricle,  and  the  body  is  naked,  and  sup- 
ported on  four,  or  in  a  few  cases  two  legs.  Most  of  these 
pass,  as  they  advance  to  maturity,  from  the  condition  of  a 
fish  breathing  by  gills  to  that  of  a  quadruped  breathing  by 
lungs.     Some,  however,  never  lose  their  gills. 

Such  are  the  characters  assigned  by  Cuvier  (in  1829)  to 
his  primary  divisions  of  the  class  Reptilia,  but  they  are  not 
a  true  expression  of  (he  organization  of  the  groups  so  dis- 
tinguished. The  Batrachia,  for  example,  have  since  been 
proved  to  have  two  auricles,  although  not  so  distinct  exter- 
nally as  the  other  reptiles.  Some  of  Cuvier's  Sauria, 
again,  have  two  distinct  ventricles ;  whilst  the  rest  have  but 
one,  like  the  Chelonia  and  Ophidia.  The  crocodiles,  alli- 
gators, and  gharrials  are  the  higher  organized  Sauria  here 
alluded  to ;  and  since  they  differ  also  from  the  Lacertine 
Sauria  in  having  a  simple  undivided  tongue  and  intromit- 
tent  organ,  and  a  well-marked  modification  of  the  tegu- 
mentary  system,  they  deserve  to  rank  as  a  distinct  order, 
at  the  head  of  the  class  Reptilia.  This  order  has  been 
termed  by  Merrem  Loricata  ;  for  the  skin,  in  fact,  instead 
of  being  covered  by  imbricated  scales,  is  strengthened  and 
protected  by  several  rows  of  flattened  and  generally  ellip- 
tical bones,  developed  between  the  cuticle  and  true  skin, 
and  often  supporting  a  longitudinal  crest ;  these  bones  or 
scutae  are  situated  chiefly  along  the  back  part  of  the  neck, 
body,  and  tail. 

Another  order  of  Reptilia  is  clearly  indicated  by  the  re- 
mains of  several  large  or  even  gigantic  species  now  extinct, 
in  which  the  extremities  were  modified  to  serve  as  fins  on 
the  plan  of  the  paddles  of  the  Cetacea.  These  reptiles  are 
chiefly  referable  to  the  genera  Ichthyosaurus  and  Plesio- 
saurus ;  they  were  marine,  and  of  predaceous  habits,  and 
constitute  the  order  Enaliosauria. 

The  Chelonia  form  a  third  and  very  natural  order. 

Those  Saurians  of  Cuvier  which  have  a  heart  composed 
of  a  single  ventricle  and  two  auricles,  which  have  a  bifid 
tongue  and  double  intromittent  organ,  and  which  have  a 
scaly  and  generally  imbricated  covering,  form  a  fourth 
order  of  reptiles,  to  which  the  term  Sqtiamata  has  been 
given. 

The  Ophidia  of  Cuvier  constitute  the  fifth  order  of  rep- 
tiles. Some  naturalists  have  proposed  to  unite  the  serpents 
with  the  lizards  in  the  same  order,  on  account  of  the  gra- 
dual transition  traceable  in  different  genera  from  one  to 
the  other  group  ;  but  the  class  of  reptiles,  by  parity  of  rea- 
soning, ought  to  be  merged  in  that  of  fishes;  and  the 
naturalists  who  favour  the  blending  of  the  tetrapodal  with 
the  apodal  reptiles  seem  to  forget  that  an  order  is  a  con- 
ventional division,  a  group  of  convenience,  and  not  an 
entity  circumscribed  by  nature.  To  separate  the  Batra- 
chia as  a  distinct  class  from  the  Reptilia,  seems  to  be  an 
error  in  the  opposite  extreme.  The  viviparous  four-footed 
salamander,  breathing  air  by  membranous  lungs,  and  cir- 
culating blood  by  a  biauricular  heart,  is  thus  placed  in  a 
distinct  class  from  the  four-footed  lizard,  without  any  es- 
sential difference  in  the  pulmonary  or  sanguiferous  sys- 
tems to  warrant  the  separation  ;  the  only  differences  that 
can  be  urged  for  such  a  step  are  a  modification  of  the 
tegumentary  covering,  and  a  greater  development  and  later 
continuance  of  the  temporary  branchial  apparatus,  of 
which  traces  are  met  with  in  the  embryos  of  all  the  air- 
breathing  Vertebrata;  and  a  modification  of  the  repro- 
ductive system.  The  naked  integument ;  the  presence  of 
external  gills  in  the  young  state  ;  the  almost  simultaneous 
fecundation,  sometimes  without  intromission,  of  numerous 
ova, — may  be  grounds  for  regarding  the  Batrachia  or  Am- 
phibia as  a  subclass,  or  a  group  somewhat  higher  than  an 
order;  but  seem  not  to  warrant  their  separation  from  the 
scaled  reptiles  as  a  distinct  class,  as  a  group  equivalent 
among  Vertebrata  to  that  of  birds  or  mammals.  For  the 
subdivisions  of  the  above  orders  see  Loricata,  Enalio- 
sauria, Chelonia,  So.uamata,  Ophidia,  Batrachia,  and 
also  Amphibia. 

E'RPETON.     See  Herpeton. 

ERRA'TA.  (Lat.)  The  term  applied  to  the  faults  that 
have  escaped  in  the  impression,  or,  as  the  case  may  be,  in 
the  composition  of  a  work;  usually  inserted  in  a  list  either 
at  the  commencement  or  the  end  of  the  book.  This  man- 
ner of  indicating  typographical  errors  is  coeval  with  the  art 
of  printing  itself.  Various  dissertations  have  been  devoted 
to  this  subject ;  among  others  may  be  mentioned  that  of 
Lindenberg,  De  Errorihus  Typographies,  which,  although 
of  a  somewhat  impracticable  nature,  contains  many  in- 
genious observations. 

E'RROR.  In  Law,  a  writ  of  error  is  one  which  au- 
thorizes the  judges  of  a  superior  court  to  examine  a  record 
on  which  judgment  has  been  given  in  an  inferior  court  on 
an  allegation  of  error  in  pleading  a  process,  &c,  and  to 
affirm  or  reverse  the  same.  It  is  the  common  remedy  for 
erroneous  judgments  in  courts  of  record.  Error  lies  from, 
inferior  courts  of  record,  and  from  the  Common  Pleas,  to 
the  King's  Bench  ;  from  each  of  the  three  superior  courts 
to  the  judges  of  the  other  two  sitting  in  the  Exchequer 


ERSE. 

Chamber ;  from  the  Exchequer  Chamber,  and  in  certain 
cases  directly,  to  the  Hosue  of  Lords.  It  lies  in  criminal 
as  well  as  in  civil  cases.  Writ  of  error  must  be  brought 
within  twenty  years.  Correctly  speaking,  it  is  applicable 
only  for  the  reversal  of  judgments  on  account  of  errors  in 
law.  and  not  of  fact. 

ERSE.  The  name  given  by  the  English  and  Scots  to  the 
dialect  of  Celtic,  spoken  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  Highlands 
of  Scotland.  The  term  is  evidently  another  form  of  the 
word  Irish.  The  people  speaking  the  Erse  tongue  call 
themselves  Gael  (written,  but  not  pronounced,  Gaidheal), 
and  their  language  Gaelig.  The  inhabitants  of  the  low 
country  of  Scotland,  it  is  remarkable  enough,  they  call 
Gall,  a  term  which  they  occasionally  apply  also  to  any 
stranger.  England  in  the  Erse  language  is  called  Sasson, 
meaning  Saxony,  and  the  people  and  language  Sassonach  ; 
the  latter  being  often  called  Beurla,  which  means  speech 
in  general,  and  in  this  case  "  the  language"  par  excellence. 
The  Irish  are  called  by  the  Scots  Highlanders  Gael,  like 
themselves,  with  the  distinction  of  belonging  to  Erin,  or 
Ireland.  For  the  Welsh  and  their  country  there  appear  to 
be  no  names  known  to  the  Erse  language.  The  Erse 
or  Gaelic  has  been  asserted  to  be  one  of  the  dialects  of 
that  Celtic  or  Gaulish  language  which  is  once  supposed  to 
have  pervaded  nearly  the  whole  western  portion  of  Europe, 
including  France,  Spain,  and  Britain.  For  such  an  hy- 
pothesis, however,  there  is  no  good  evidence ;  and  all 
analogy  is  wholly  opposed  to  the  supposition  that  a  people 
so  rude,  so  divided,  and  so  scattered  as  the  inhabitants  of 
Europe  were  2000  years  ago,  should  have  had  a  common 
language.  The  great  probability,  on  the  contrary,  is  that 
in  such  times  there  were  in  Europe,  as  there  are  now  in 
America,  in  Hindostan,  and  in  the  great  group  of  the  Ori- 
ental Archipelago,  many  languages;  a  few  so  closely  con- 
nected as  to  amount  only  to  dialects  of  each  other,  but  the 
greater  number  either  differing  wholly,  or  agreeing  only  in 
a  few  words, — communicated  possibly  through  the  medium 
of  religion,  or  adopted  for  convenience  by  the  rest  from 
one  tribe  or  nation,  which  through  good  fortune  or  favour- 
able position  had  obtained  the  start  in  civilization.  The 
languages  supposed  to  be  of  the  Celtic  stock,  and  of  which 
we  have  sufficient  evidence  either  by  remains  or  as  living 
tongues,  are  the  Welsh,  the  Bas  Breton  or  Armorican,  the 
Irish,  the  Erse  or  Gaelic,  the  Manks  or  language  of  the  Isle 
of  Man,  the  Cornish,  and  the  Basque  or  language  of  the 
provinces  of  the  same  name  in  Spain.  An  examination  of 
these  appears  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  theory  we  have 
now  suggested.  The  Welsh  and  Armorican  are  but  dialects 
of  the  same  language,  and  the  same  observation  holds  true 
of  the  Irish  and  Erse.  These  languages  agree  respectively 
with  each  other,  not  only  in  grammatical  structure,  but  in 
that  numerous  class  of  words  which  constitutes  the  ground- 
work of  every  language  :  viz.  prepositions,  adverbs,  con- 
Junctions,  with  such  verbs,  adjectives,  and  nouns  as  are  of 
most  frequent  and  familiar  use.  The  Irish  and  Erse  so 
nearly  resemble  each  other,  that  after  a  short  familiarity 
with  the  pronunciation,  the  Irish  and  Scots  Highlanders 
have  no  difficulty  in  understanding  each  other;  and  the 
same  is  said  to  he  the  case  with  the  Welsh  and  Bas  Breton. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  languages  of  the  two  latter  are 
wholly  unintelligible  to  the  first,  and  vice  versa.  The  Manks 
"  but  a  dialect  of  the  Irish  or  Erse,  and  the  now  extinct 
Cornish  was  unquestionably  a  dialect  of  the  Welsh.  As 
to  tlir  Basque,  long  supposed  to  be  a  Celtic  tongue,  a  care- 
ful examination  of  it  by  the  late  Baron  William  Humboldt 
showed  tiot  only  that  it  bore  no  resemblance  to  the  Welsh, 
the  Irish,  or  their  dialects,  but  that  it  had  nothing  in  com- 
mon wiih  any  known  language,  ancient  or  modern. 

Respecting  the  causes  which  produced  a  similarity  be- 
tween the  languages  of  Wales  and  Britany  we  possess 
somp  historical  evidence.  In  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries 
the  Welsh,  or  ppople  shaking  the  Welsh  language  in  Bri- 
tain, emigrated  in  L'reat  numbers  to  the  opposite  shore  of 
the  Continent,  driven  fromineir  own  country  by  the  tribes 
of  the  northern  part  of  the  island.  Their  number  was  so 
considerable  ihat  they  acquired  *  superiority  over  the  na- 
tive population  of  the  part  of  Gaul  where  thev  settled,  and 
succeeded  ultimately  in  imposing  on  it  their  own  name  and 
language.  A  similaremigralion  from  Ireland,  although  we 
have  no  historical  record  of  it,  probably  propagated  the 
name  and  language  of  the  Irish,  with  their  manners,  cus- 
toms, and  traditions,  over  the  poor  and  mountainous'  por- 
tion of  Scotland  which  is  now  the  site  of  the  Gaelic  or  Erse 
language.  It  does  not  necessarily  follow,  in  this  case,  that 
the  Highlands  of  Scotland  were  without  inhabitants  when 
the  Irish  colonists  or  conquerors  planted  themselves  there. 
A  primitive  race  of  inhabitants  no  doubt  previously  existed, 
whose  name  and  language  were  lost  in  the  strength  and' 
multitude  of  the  invaders  that  occupied  their  country,  as 
happened  in  America  as  the  result  of  a  British  invasion, 
and  in  Britain  itself  as  the  result  of  a  Saxon  one  It  may 
perhaps  be  said,  in  this  instance,  that  the  emigration  is  as 
likely  to  have  taken  place  from  the  Hishlands  of  Scotland 
to  Ireland,  as  from  Ireland  to  the  Highlands:  but  the  an- 
419  ■ 


ERYSIPELAS. 

swer  to  such  a  supposition  is  obvious,  viz.  that  conquest  is 
more  likely  to  have  proceeded  from  an  extensive  and  fer- 
tile country  to  a  poor  one  destitute  of  resources,  than  from 
the  latter  to  the  former. 

Although  we  have  stated  that  between  the  Irish  and 
Gaelic  on  one  hand,  and  the  Welsh  and  Armorican  on  the 
other,  there  is  no  such  connection  as  would  imply  an  iden- 
tity of  origin,  there  is  still  much  evidence  exhibiting  an 
early  and  frequent  communication,  and  probably  to  some 
extent  even  an  intermixture  of  races,  originating  in  an  un- 
settled and  stirring  period  of  the  history  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Europe ;  in  such  a  state  of  society,  in  short,  as  produced 
within  the  memory  and  knowledge  of  history  the  migra- 
tions and  invasions  of  the  Gauls,  and  of  the  Cimbri  and 
Teutones.  The  similarity  of  language  to  which  we  now 
allude  bears  no  inconsiderable  resemblance  to  that  which 
is  ascertained  to  exist  between  most  of  the  languages  of  the 
great  Oriental  Archipelago  and  Pacific  Ocean,  and  which 
has  been  satisfactorily  traced  from  Madagascar  to  Gaster 
Island.  We  may  take  as  an  example  the  numerals,  which, 
with  few  exceptions,  are  the  same  in  the  Irish,  Erse,  Welsh, 
and  Armorican,  just  as  they  are  in  many,  although  not  in 
all,  the  languages  of  the  innumerable  nations  and  tribes  oc- 
cupying the  scattered  islands  which  lie  between  Asia  and 
Australia  north  and  south,  Africa,  and  America  west  and 
east.  But  the  numerals,  it  should  be  recollected,  are  not 
essential  and  indispensable  portions  of  rude  language;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  as  much  comparatively  recent  inventions 
as  an  alphabet,  or  the  Arabian  system  of  notation  ;  and  in- 
deed an  invention,  particularly  when  carried  to  the  length 
to  which  it  has  been  in  this  case,  implying  a  very  conside- 
rable advancement  in  early  society.  Trie  system  is,  as 
usual,  decimul ;  and  although  it  contains  evidence  of  rude 
attempts  at  local  and  less  perfect  plans,  is  obviously  of  sin- 
gle origin.  It  reckons  by  ten  up  to  twenty,  and  then  counts 
by  scores  up  to  a  hundred.  Thus  nineteen  is  "one  and 
nine,"  and  expressed  by  the  very  same  words  in  all  the 
languages.  The  word  for  twenty  in  the  two  classes  of  lan- 
guages differs.  Thirty  is  expressed  by  the  circumlocution 
of  "one  score  and  ten,"  forty  by  "  two  scores,"  and  fifty 
by  "  two  score  and  ten,"  &c.  One  hundred  is  expressed 
by  the  same  term  in  all  the  languages  ;  and  it  is  the  utmost 
limit  of  native  enumeration,  for  a  thousand  and  the  num- 
bers above  it  are  borrowed  from  the  Latin.  In  the  exam- 
ple of  the  numerals,  then,  we  discover,  what  might  be 
looked  for,  evidence  of  considerable  simplicity  aud  even 
rudeness  in  these  Celtic  languages. 

Of  the  four  languages  now  spoken  of,  the  Welsh  ap- 
pears to  be  that  which  was  longest  and  most  cultivated. 
It  was  unquestionably  a  written  language  in  the  lOih  cen- 
tury ;  and  the  perfect  alphabet,  by  which  every  sound  in 
it  is  invariably  expressed,  consisting  of  sixteen  radical  and 
twenty-seven  derivative  characters,  forming  in  all  forty- 
three  letters,  is  still  preserved.  The  Erse  or  Gaelic  was 
the  least  cultivated  ;  and  until  late  years  even  the  Bible 
which  was  used  in  the  Highland  churches  was  no  other 
than  the  Irish.  It  first  attracted  notice  after  the  publica- 
tion in  the  English  language  of  the  poems  of  Ossian,  said 
to  be  derived  from  it  about  the  middle  of  (he  last  century. 
These,  it  was  pretended,  were  translated  from  manuscripts 
in  the  translator's  possession  ;  but  such  poems  in  a  written 
form,  it  is  now  sufficiently  known,  never  had  any  existence, 
either  in  the  Irish  or  Gaelic  language.  Although  not  com- 
mitted to  writing,  or  rather  not  handed  down  in  writins, 
these  poems,  committed  to  memory  and  handed  down 
from  one  bard  or  story-teller  to  another,  still  exist  in  the 
Highlands  of  Scotland,  and  in  a  dress  not  remote  from  that 
in  which  they  were  rendered  by  Macpherson  into  English. 
Their  scene  is  sometimes  laid  in  Scotland,  but  more  fre- 
quently in  Ireland.  In  short,  they  are  the  Iliad  and  Odys- 
sey of  the  Celtic  race  of  the  two  islands,  handed  down  by 
tradition  only, — what  the  poems  of  Homer  were  in  all  like- 
lihood to  the  Greeks  themselves,  before  the  art  of  writing 
was  known  to  them.  The  Erse,  although  a  rude  and  un- 
cultivated language,  is  a  nervous  and  manly  one,  both  as 
to  expression  and  sound,  and  well  suited  to  poetry,  whether 
sublime  or  tender.  The  range  of  i's  sounds  is  very  great; 
for  it  possesses  twelve  vowels,  and  no  less  than  eighteen 
diphthongs  and  triphthong?,  with  forty-one  consonants,  in- 
cluding aspirates.  Many  of  the  consonants  are  guttural ; 
and  of  these,  as  well  of  the  vocalic  sounds,  there  are  seve- 
ral utterly  unpronounceable  by  a  stranser :  the  attempts 
made  to  express  such  a  variety  of  sounds  by  the  Roman 
alphabet  are,  of  course,  both  awkward  and  imperfect.  As 
to  the  grammar,  that  of  the  Gaelic  is  of  complex  structure, 
implying  a  primitive  language  which  has  undergone  little 
ehanee  hv  admixture  with  other  tongues. 

ERYSI'PELAS.  (According  to  etymologists,  from  the 
Gr.  epvcaOat,  to  spread,  and  -nikaf,  near — spreading  over 
the  neighbourins  parts  ;  but  the  derivation  is  doubtful.) 
Called  also  St.  Anthony's  Fire,  that  saint  havins  miracu- 
lously cured  it.  This  disease  usually  commences  with 
fever,  followed  by  an  eruption  of  a  very  red  colour,  some- 
times vesicular,  and  attended  by  tumefaction.     It  com- 


ERYTHEMA. 

monly  attacks  the  head  and  face,  and  is  at  its  height 
from  the  third  to  the  sixth  day;  but  its  duration  and  pro- 
gress are  very  variable  in  different  individuals.  The  fever 
which  attends  this  form  of  erysipelas  is  more  or  less  in- 
flammatory, and  at  first  cooling  diet  and  aperients  are  re- 
quired ;  and  the  local  irriiation  and  itching  may  be  quelled 
by  cooling  lotions,  or  by  sprinkling  the  part  with  a  puff  of 
hair  powder,  which  is  sometimes  singularly  soothing  to  the 
sufferer.  From  the  eighth  to  the  twelfth  day,  the  eruption 
scabs  or  scales  off.  If  sickness,  shiverings,  and  delirium 
attend  the  height  of  the  disorder,  an  unfavourable  termina- 
tion may  be  anticipated.  Sometimes  suppuration  occurs, 
especially  of  the  eyelids  and  scalp.  The  greater  number 
of  cases  of  this  disorder  have  a  tendency,  in  their  latter 
stages,  to  debility ;  and  bark,  or  sulphate  of  quinine,  with 
other  tonics,  are  indicated.  But  where  inflammatory  symp- 
toms run  high,  aperients  and  diaphoretics  must  be  perse- 
vered in  ;  and  blistering,  and  even  cupping,  are  necessary. 

Where  erysipelas  is  attended  with  typhoid  symptoms, 
it  is  dangerous  from  the  beginning ;  and  wine,  bark,  am- 
monia, and  other  stimulants,  are  usually  prescribed. 

In  that  form  of  erysipelas  which  attacks  different  parts 
of  the  body  in  successive  patches,  aperients,  diaphoretics, 
and  alteratives  are  useful;  but  in  every  case  of  this  dis- 
ease, lotions  and  ointments  should  be  used  with  the  utmost 
caution,  and  warm  or  cold  water,  and  milk  and  water,  are 
generally  the  best  applications.  There  is  a  variety  of  ery- 
sipelas which  attacks  infants,  and  which  is  sometimes 
alarming  from  its  gangrenous  or  suppurative  tendency. 
Erysipelatous  inflammation  is  also  often  a  sequel  of  sur- 
gical operations,  especially  in  crowded  and  ill-ventilated 
hospitals,  where  it  sometimes  spreads  among  the  patients 
to  a  very  alarming  extent.  Cleanliness,  ventilation,  fumi- 
gation, and.  above  all,  the  removal  of  the  affected  persons 
to  a  better  air.  are  the  only  chances  of  eradication. 

ERYTHE'MA.  (Gr.  epvOpof,  red.)  All  rashes,  as  they 
are  commonly  called,  and  rednesses  of  the  skin,  atlended 
by  marked  constitutional  affection,  and  very  mild  forms 
of  erysipelas,  come  under  this  denomination. 

ERY'THRIC  ACID,  applied  by  Brugnatelli  to  a  red  sub- 
stance ohtaitied  hv  the  action  of  nitric  on  uric  acid. 

ERY'THROGEN.  A  peculiar  substance,  discovered  in 
1821,  by  M.  Bizio  of  Venice,  in  the  gall-bladder  of  a  person 
who  died  of  jaundice.  It  was  a  green  tasteless  liquid, 
which  became  deep  purple  in  nitric  acid  and  ammonia,  and 
when  healed  in  the  air  produced  a  purple  vapour;  hence 
its  name,  from  covOpos,  red.  He  supposes  it  identical  with 
the  colouring  milter  of  the  blood. 

ERYTHRO'NIl'M.  A  name  originally  given  to  the  me- 
tal since  called  Vanadium,  from  the  red  colour  of  its  acid. 

E'RYX.  (Gr.)  A  genus  of  serpents  with  a  short  obtuse 
tail  and  a  single  series  of  snbcaudal  scutrp.  as  in  Boa;  but 
having  both  the  abdominal  and  caudal  scutte  much  nar- 
rower, and  the  anal  hooks  inconspicuous. 

E'SCALADE.  (Fr.)  The  scaling  of  a  fortification  by 
means  of  a  ladder  is  so  called. 

ESCAPA'DE.  (Fr.)  A  term  almost  naturalized  in  Eng- 
land, signifying  any  impropriety  of  speech  or  behaviour  of 
which  an  individual  is  unconscious. 

ESCA'PEMENT,  in  Clock  and  Watch-work,  is  the  name 
given  to  that  part  of  the  mechanism  by  which  the  circulat- 
ing motion  of  the  wheels  is  converted  into  a  vibratory  mo- 
tion, as  that  of  the  pendulum  of  a  clock  or  balance  of  a 
watch.  Various  contrivances  are  employed  for  this  pur- 
pose, depending  on  different  mechanical  principles,  as  the 
dead  beat  escapement,  the  lever  escapement,  the  duplex 
escapement,  thp  detached  escapement,  &c.  See  HonoLOGY. 

ESCA'RP  (Germ,  scharf,  sharp),  in  Fortification,  signi- 
fies any  tiling  high  and  precipitous.  Sometimes  it  is  used 
to  denote  the  side  of  the  ditch  next  the  place  ;  in  which 
case  it  is  opposed  to  counterscarp,  which  denotes  the  side 
next  the  country.  In  a  fortress,  the  escarp  is  the  exterior 
surface  of  the  revetment  wall  supporting  the  rampart. 

ESCA'RPMENT.  In  Geology,  the  steep  face  often  pre- 
sented by  the  abrupt  termination  of  strata  where  subjacent 
beds  "crop  out"  from  under  them.  The  two  most  "exten- 
sive lines  of  hill  which  traverse  the  centre  and  south  of 
England  arc  formed  by  the  escarpments  of  the  oolite  and 
chalk  formal  ion  =  respectively.  The  first  extends  through 
Yorkshire,  the  West  of  Lincolnshire,  Rutland.  Northamp- 
ton, Warwick,  Gloucester.  Somerset,  Dorset ;  being  bound- 
ed throughout  <>n  the  N.  W  by  the  outcrop  of  the  lias  for- 
mation. The  latter  commences  in  Yorkshire,  rises  again 
in  Norfolk,  and  extends  throush  Cambridge,  Hertford, 
Bucks.  Oxford,  Berks,  Wilts,  and  Dorset,  in  a  parallel  line 
to  the  former. 

E'SCHAR.  (Gr.  caxapa,  the  crust  of  a  scar  produced  by 
burning.)  When  a  living  part  has  been  burned,  it  becomes 
hard,  rough,  and  of  a  grey  colour,  forming  what  is  properly 
called  an  eschar:  it  is  a  slough  produced  by  fire  or  caus- 
tics.    The  English  scar  is  evidently  derived  from  this  term. 

ESCIIARO'TICS  Applications  which  form  eschars. 
The  term  is  generally  applied  in  surgery  to  mild  caustics. 

ESCHE'AT,  in  Law,  happens  when  tenant  in  fee-simple 
420 


ESCURIAL. 

dies  without  having  left  any  heir  to  the  land,  and  withoot 
having  incurred  a  forfeiture  to  the  crown  (as  for  treason. > 
This  case  arises  on  sentence  of  death  for  murder;  but  not 
for  other  felonies,  which,  since  54  G.  3.  c.  145.,  leave  the 
power  of  disposition  of  his  estate  after  death  to  the  offender. 
In  this  case  the  land  goes  to  the  lord  of  the  fee.  There  is  no 
escheat  of  equitable  estates. 

E'SCROW.  (Fr.  ecreu,  screll.)  In  Law,  a  deed  deli- 
vered to  a  third  party,  to  be  the  deed  of  the  party  making  it 
upon  a  future  condition  when  a  certain  thing  is  performed, 
until  which  it  has  no  effect  as  a  deed. 

E'SCUAGE,  or  SCUTAGE.  (Either  derived  from  scu- 
tum, a  shield,  or  the  same  word  signifying  a  piece  of  mo- 
ney ;  which  latter  denomination  of  coin,  indeed,  perhaps 
originates  in  the  fact  of  money  having  been  levied  under 
the  name  of  this  tribute.)  Apecuniary  satisfaction,  paid  in 
lieu  of  military  service  by  tenants  in  chivalry.  There  have 
been  doubts  among  our  antiquarian  lawyers  whether  escu- 
age  were,  properly  speaking,  a  tenure  in  itself,  or  merely 
an  incident  to  tenure ;  but  the  latter  is  probably  its  proper 
character.  Lyttleton  says,  that  tenant  by  homage,  fealty, 
and  escuage  is  tenant  by  knight  service.  The  assessment 
of  escuage  was  uncertain  in  amount,  and,  by  Magna  Charla 
and  25  Ed.  L,  could  only  be  taken  by  assent  of  parliament. 
Escuage,  together  with  the  other  appendages  of  military 
tenures,  was  abolished  by  12  C.  2.  c  24. 

ESCU'RIAL,  or  EL  ESCURIAL.  A  royal  palace  of 
Spain,  about  twenty-two  miles  from  Madrid,  at  the  foot  of 
the  Carpentani  mountains,  which  divide  the  two  Castiles. 
It  was  commenced  by  Philip  II.,  from  two  motives— the 
dying  injunction  of  his  predecessor  Charles  V.,  who  was 
desirous  that  a  tomb  should  be  constructed  for  the  royal 
family  of  Spain  ;  and  the  other  lo  erect  a  monument  sur- 
passing all  triumphant  arches  and  similar  buildings,  to 
commemorate  the  famous  victory  of  San  Quintin,  won  on 
the  festival  of  St.  Lawrence,  to  whose  intercession  the 
king  attributed  his  success.  Its  foundations  were  laid  iu 
1563;  Giovanbatista  of  Toledo  being  the  architect  who 
planned  and  continued  to  superintend  the  building  till  his 
death  in  1567,  when  his  pupil  Giovanni  d'Herrera  carried 
on  and  finished  it.  As  an  architectural  composilion  it  is 
unworthy  to  be  attributed,  as  it  has  been,  to  Bramante,  Pel- 
legrini, or  Vignola.  They  as  well  as  others  may  have 
given  designs  for  it,  but  such  were  not  selected.  It  is  con- 
sidered by  Spaniards  as  entitled  to  be  called  the  eighth 
wonder  of  the  world  ;  and  numberless  fables  are  told  about 
the  number  of  its  doors,  windows,  and  columns,  as  well  as 
its  cost  having  been  twenty-four  millions  of  ducats,  though 
the  expense  of  erecting  it  was  not  quite  one  fourth  of  that 
sum.  The  whole  pile  comprises  a  magnificent  monastery, 
which  was  given  to  the  fathers  of  San  Girolamo  ;  of  a  col- 
lege, a  seminary,  and  a  royal  palace.  In  plan  the  form 
resembles  a  gridiron,  the  instrument  of  martyrdom  of  St. 
Lawrence,  of  which  that  part  used  for  the  royal  palace  is 
supposed  to  represent  the  handle.  It  is  internally  disposed 
inio  fifteen  courts  of  various  dimensions,  the  largest, 
whereof  are  ornamented  with  porticoes  and  galleries  ;  and 
the  material  employed  is  a  species  of  granite.  The  prin- 
cipal facade,  looking  towards  the  west,  is  740  feet  long,  and 
60  feet  high  to  the  cornice.  Towers  flank  the  facade  at 
each  angle  of  the  edifice  200  feet  high.  The  masses  are 
much  cut  up  by  the  division  of  the  principal  facade  inlo  no 
less  than  five  stories  of  windows.  The  elevation  !o/he 
east  is  1100  feet  long,  and  that  to  the  south  580  feet  tong. 
The  church  of  the' monastery  is  364  feet  long,  850  feet 
wide,  and  170  feet  high  ;  and  is  divided  and  supported  by 
piers  53  feet  distant  from  each  other.  From  the  centre  a 
cupola  rises  of  good  form  exteriorly,  but  clumsily  com- 
posed inside.  Its  diameter  is  66  feet,  and  from  Ihe  pave- 
ment lo  the  top  of  the  cross  the  height  is  330  feet.  The 
pantheon  here  is  a  crypt  under  Ihe  high  altarof  Ihe  church, 
and  is  used  as  the  place  of  sepulture  of  the  Spanish  royal 
family.  On  extraordinary  occasions  it  is  lighted  by  a  su- 
perb lustre.  The  staircase  leadin?  to  this  mausoleum  has 
fifty-nine  steps,  divided  by  one  landing;  at  the  sides  of 
which  are  two  bronze  statues, — one  of  Human  Nature 
stripping  herself  of  Ihe  illusions  of  the  crown  and  sceptre, 
the  other  of  Hope.  O"  the  two  inferior  landings  are  two 
doors,— one  leading  to  the  vault,  where  are  laid  the  re- 
mains of  the  infants  and  infantas,  and  queens  who  have 
had  no  issue  ;  the  other  to  the  chamber,  36  feet  diameter 
and  38  feet  high,  where  the  remains  of  the  kings  are  de- 
posited. The  whole  of  the  building  is  profusely  orna- 
mented, particularly  with  paintings  from  Ihe  best  masters 
of  Italy,  Flanders,  Spain,  and  Germany.  The  adjacent 
buildings  are  worthy  of  so  august  a  pile.  Attached  to  the 
monastery  by  an  arched  gateway  is  an  edifice  called  the 
Campagna.  which  has  two  galleries,  each  100  feet  long  and 
20  feet  wide.  This  was  built  by  Francesco  de  Mora,  the 
successor  of  Giovanni  d'Herrera.  Here  are  the  hospitals, 
granaries,  pantries,  and  other  offices;  here  also  are  the 
gardens,  which  from  being  seated  on  ihe  acclivity  of  a  hill 
appear  hanging.  The  garden  on  the  south  side  of  the 
monastery  is  8000  feet  in  circuit.     Adjoining  the  eastern 


ESCUTCHEON. 

and  northern  facades  is  a  spacious  gallery  or  esplanade 
surrounded  by  a  parapet.  On  this  side  are  the  quarters  for 
the  guards,  the  riding  school,  the  aqueduct,  <fcc.  &c.  Be- 
yond the  outer  buildings  is  the  Fresnada.  about  half  a  league 
to  the  east.  This  villa  is  surrounded  by  a  wall,  and  con- 
tains courts,  gardens,  meadows,  fountains,  trees  of  all  sorts, 
lakes  with  islands,  fisheries,  &c.  Here  also  is  a  church 
of  fine  and  simple  form,  by  Francesco  de  Mora.  In  1773 
many  works  were  executed  at  the  Escurial  for  the  infants 
Don  Antonio  and  Don  Gabriele  by  Villaneuva,  the  then 
architect  of  the  palace  ;  indeed  from  the  time  of  Philip  II. 
all  his  successors  have  made  some  additions  to  this  su- 
perb edifice,  which,  like  the  original  fabric,  contain  great 
beauties  and  great  defects. 

ESCU'TCHEON,  or  ESCOCHEON.  In  Heraldry,  a 
shield  on  which  arms  are  emblazoned  :  derived  from  the 
French  ecu  orecusson,  Italian  scudo,  Latin  scutum.  The 
favourite  shape  for  the  purpose  of  heraldry  is  that  com- 
monly called  the  Norman  shield ;  but  women,  (laughters 
of  parents  entitled  to  coat-armour,  bear  their  father's  arms 
on  a  lozenge-shaped  shield.  The  points  of  the  escutcheon 
are  the  parts  named  in  order  to  express  the  local  position 
of  the  charges  borne  on  the  field.  (.See  Charge.)  They 
are  nine  in  number.  Escutcheon  of  pretence  is  the  shield 
on  which  a  man  carries  the  arms  of  his  wife  ;  in  England 
only  borne  if  she  is  an  heiress,  and  he  has  children  by  her. 
It  is  borne  in  the  centre  of  his  own  shield,  and  generally 
of  the  same  shape.  Inescutchcon,  an  escutcheon  borne  also 
within  the  shield  in  the  middle  of  the  coat  (but  smaller 
than  an  escutcheon  of  pretence),  or  in  chief.  It  is  a  spe- 
cies of  ordinary. 

ESOTE'RIC,  opposed  to  Exoteric.  (Gr.  cVco,  within, 
?J<o,  without.)  Much  dispute  has  prevailed  among  the 
learned  as  to  the  precise  import  of  this  distinction.  By 
some  it  was  thought  that  the  ancient  philosopers  had  a  set 
of  mysterious  doctrines  which  they  communicated  only 
to  the  more  enlightened  of  their  disciples,  and  another 
more  popular  doctrine  which  they  promulgated  to  the  mul- 
titude. In  the  case  of  Aristotle,  to  whose  writings  the  dis- 
tinction properly  applied,  this  opinion  is,  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent, well  founded  ;  except  so  far  as  regards  the  suspicion 
of  intentional  concealment  implied  in  it.  The  exoteric  or 
published  writings  of  that  philosopher  appear  to  have  been 
written  in  the  form  of  dialogues,  all  of  which  are  lost.  His 
esoteric  works,  we  gather  from  the  synonymous  term 
acroamatic  (tiKpodo8ai,to  liear.)  were  not  intended  to  su- 
persede the  necessity  of  oral  instruction  to  render  them 
intelligible.  This  agrees  well  enough  with  the  brevity,  the 
frequent  repetitions,  and  the  perplexed  arrangement  of  the 
works  of  Aristotle  which  survive.  (See  Ritter,  Gesch.  d. 
Ph.  b.  ix.  c.  1.) 

E'SPALIER.  In  Horticulture,  a  substitute  for  a  wall 
on  which  to  train  fruit  trees,  and  sometimes  ornamental 
shrubs.  The  objects  are  to  expose  the  foliage  of  the 
plants  more  perfectly  to  the  light,  to  prevent  the  branches 
from  being  blown  about  by  the  winds,  and  to  economize 
space  by  confining  them  within  definite  limits.  The  espa- 
lier is  either  constructed  of  wood  or  iron  ;  and  commonly 
■of  two  horizontal  rails  joined  by  upright  rods,  six  or  eight 
inches  apart.  The  most  elegant  and  economical  structure 
of  this  kind  at  present  in  use  is  a  double  espalier  formed 
of  hoop  iron  posts  in  the  shape  of  the  letter  A,  twenty 
inches  wide  at  bottom,  and  six  or  seven  feet  high,  at  which 
height  the  hoops  meet  in  a  point.  Through  the  hoop  iron 
posts  wires  are  inserted  horizontally  at  six  inches  apart, 
and  drawn  quite  tight;  the  result  of  which  is  a  double  sur- 
face on  which  to  train  the  trees.  (See  Loudon's  Suburban 
Gardener,  p.  232.) 

ESPA'RTO.  (Span.)  A  species  of  rush  ;  the  Stipa  te- 
nacissima  of  botanists.  It  is  found  in  the  southern  pro- 
vinces of  Spain.  It  is  made  into  cordage,  much  used  in 
the  Spanish  navy  ;  and  is  platted  for  other  purposes,  such 
as  mats,  shoes.  <fec. 

ESPLANA'DE,  or  GLACIS.  In  Fortification,  the  slop- 
ing of  the  parapet  of  the  counterscarp  or  covered  way  to- 
wards the  open  country. 

ESQUI'RE,  Ecuyer,  Escudero.  (In  Latin,  armiger.)  A 
well  known  title  of  rank  ;  derived  from  the  French  ecu, 
Lat.  scutum,  a  shield.  Some  suppose  that  it  has  its  origin 
from  the  Scutarii,  a  sort  of  soldiery  in  the  Roman  armies  ; 
others  derive  it  from  equus,  a  horse,  and  suppose  that 
esquire  and  eqnerry  denoted  originally  the  same  thing,  viz. 
a  groom.  But  it  is  generally  supposed  to  hav*  belonged  to 
the  shield  or  nrmour  bearers  (armigeri)  attached  to  the 
person  of  kni?lits.  This  office,  in  the  times  of  chivalry, 
was  honourable,  and  generally  borne  by  persons  of  good 
family.  Hence  the  term  esquire  became  gradually  appro- 
priated, in  England,  to  a  rank  above  the  simple  gentleman 
and  below  the  knight.  Younger  sons  of  peer-;  (now  called 
Honourables).  their  eldest  sons,  eldest  sons  of  knights, 
sheriffs  of  counties,  Serjeants  at  law,  justices  of  the  peace, 
and  doctors  of  divinity,  are  esquires  by  virtue  of  their  res- 
pective rank  or  office.  Heads  of  ancient  families  are  con- 
sidered esquires  by  prescription ;  and  hence  has  originated 
421 


ESTAFETTE. 

the  use  of  the  word,  in  the  present  day,  as  a  common  ad- 
dition to  the  namesofall  those  who  live  in  the  rank  of  gen- 
tlemen. The  king  creates  an  esquire,  by  putting  round 
his  neck  a  silver  collar  of  ff;  to  which  ceremony  was  for- 
merly added  the  putting  on  of  a  pair  of  silver  spurs. 

E'SSAY.  In  Literature,  an  attempt;  a  species  of  com- 
position. In  general,  this  title  is  given  to  short  disquisi- 
tions on  subjects  of  taste,  philosophy,  or  common  life.  In 
this  sense  it  has  been  applied  to  periodical  papers,  pub- 
lished at  regular  intervals  under  a  collective  name,  by  one 
or  more  writers,  containing  remarks  on  topics  of  the  day 
or  on  more  serious  subjects.  From  the  appearance  of  the 
Taller,  in  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  which  was 
chiefly  written  by  Sir  Richard  Steele,  this  species  of  lite- 
rature continued  to  be  a  favourite  in  England  for  seventy 
years,  and  many  similar  series  of  essays  were  produced  ; 
the  best  of  which  are  united  in  one  collection  under  the 
name  of  The  English  Essayists.  The  most  celebrated  of 
these  works  was  the  Spectator,  to  which  Addison  was  the 
best  contributor ;  and  next  to  it  the  Rambler,  published  and 
almost  wholly  written  by  Samuel  Johnson.  The  title  of  es- 
say has  been  also  adopted,  by  way  of  indicating  diffidence  in 
the  completeness  of  their  work,  by  various  authors  of  more 
extended  performances ;  as  by  Locke  (.Essay  on  the  Hu- 
man Understanding). 

E'SSENCE.  (Lat.  essentia,  from  esse,  to  be  or  exist.) 
In  Philosophy,  a  scholastic  term,  denoting  what  the  Plato- 
nists  called  the  idea  of  a  species.  The  school  philoso- 
phers give  two  significations  of  the  word  essence  :  the  first 
denoting  the  whole  essential  perfection  of  a  being,  and 
consequently  its  entity,  with  all  its  intrinsic  and  necessary 
attributes  taken  together;  the  second  denoting  the  princi- 
pal or  most  important  attributes  of  any  thing.  The  es- 
sences of  things  were  held  by  many  to  be  uncreated,  eter- 
nal,  and  immutable.     See  Metaphysics. 

E'SSENCE  D'ORIENT.  A  term  applied  to  a  pearly- 
looking  matter  found  principally  at  the  base  of  the  scales 
of  the  bleak,  a  small  fish  of  the  genus  Cyprinus :  it  is  used 
to  line  the  interior  of  glass  bubbles  or  beads,  as  in  the 
manufacture  of  artificial  pearls. 

ESSE'NES.  A  sect  among  the  Jews  in  the  time  of  our 
Saviour,  of  whom  an  account  is  preserved  to  us  by  Jose- 
phus  and  Philo,  though  they  are  not  mentioned  in  Scrip- 
ture. They  were  few  in  number,  and  lived  chiefly  in  soli- 
tude, taking  no  part  in  public  affairs,  but  devoting  their 
lives  to  contemplation.  There  were  indeed  two  classes 
of  them,  distinguished  as  the  practical  and  contemplative, 
who  differed  in  the  degree  of  strictness  and  austerity  which 
they  observed.  They  believed  in  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  and  held  the  Scripture  in  the  highest  reverence ;  in- 
terpreting it,  however,  after  an  allegorical  system  of  their 
own.     (See  Blackwood's  Mag.,  1840.) 

ESSE'NTIAL  OILS,  or  VOLATILE  OILS.  Under  this 
term  are  included  all  those  peculiar  compounds  obtained 
by  distilling  vegetable  substances  with  water,  and  which 
pass  over  along  with  the  steam,  and  are  afterwards  con- 
densed in  the  liquid  or  solid  form.  They  appear  to  consti- 
tute the  odorous  principles  of  vegetables.  Their  specific 
gravity  fluctuates  on  either  side  that  of  water:  they  are 
very  sparingly  soluble  in  water,  and  these  solutions  consti- 
tute the  medicated  waters ;  rose,  peppermint,  and  other 
waters  being  such  solutions  of  the  respective  essential  oils. 
They  dissolve  in  alcohol  and  form  essences,  many  of  which 
are  used  as  perfumes.  When  these  oils  are  pure,  they 
evaporate  from  paper  when  held  before  the  fire ;  but  if 
adulterated  with  fixed  oils,  they  leave  a  greasy  stain,  and 
seldom  dissolve  perfectly  in  alcohol.  The  more  expensive 
of  these  oils  are  frequently  adulterated  with  the  cheaper 
ones,  and  this  fraud  can  only  be  detected  by  an  experi- 
enced nose.  Their  chief  use  is  in  perfumery,  on  account  of 
their  odour,  and  in  medicine  they  form  valuable  stimulants. 
They  are  inflammable,  and  are,  with  few  exceptions,  com- 
pounds of  hydrogen,  oxygen,  and  carbon.  The  essence  of 
turpentine,  of  lemons,  and  a  few  others,  are  hydrocarbons. 

ESSOI'GN.  In  Law,  an  excuse  for  one  who  is  sum- 
moned to  appear  and  answer  an  action  or  perform  suit  in  a 
court,  &c,  by  reason  of  sickness  or  other  prevailing  cause. 
The  first  return  day  in  every  term  was  called  the  essoignday, 
because  the  court  sate  on  it  to  take  essoigns ;  i.  e.  excuses  for 
such  as  did  not  appear  according  to  the  summons  of  the 
writ.  The  essoign  day  seems  to  be  done  awav  with  by  the 
effect  of  the  statutes  11  G.  4.,  1  W.  4.  c.  70.  and  1  W.  4.  c.  3. 

ESTABLISHMENT.     See  Foundation. 

ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  PORT.  A  term  used  by 
writers  on  the  tides,  to  denote  the  interval  between  the  time 
of  high  water  at  any  given  port  and  the  time  of  the  moon's 
transit  immediately  preceding  the  time  of  high  water,  when 
the  moon  is  in  syzygy ;  that  is,  at  the  new  or  full  moon. 
This  interval  is  influenced  by  local  circumstances,  and  con- 
sequently different  at  different  places.     See  Tides. 

ESTAFE'TTE.     (Span,  estafeta.)    Applied  originally  to 
military  couriers,  but  now  used  in  all  the  countries  of  mo- 
dern Europe  to  signify  an  express.    The  difference  between 
a  courier  and  an  estafette  consists  in  this,  that  while  the 
37 


ESTATE. 

former  must  deliver  die  despatches,  &c.  entrusted  to  him 
personally  at  the  place  to  which  they  are  addressed,  in  the 
latter  the  despatches,  letters,  &c.  to  be  forwarded  are  con- 
signed to  the  care  of  postillions,  who  are  changed  with 
every  relay  of  horses  successively  till  they  arrive  at  the 
place  of  their  destination. 

ESTA'TE,  in  common  parlance,  is  applied  to  the  landed 
property  held  by  individuals;  and  a  man  is  said  to  be  of 
good  or  of  small  estate,  according  to  the  magnitude  of  his 
landed  property. 

Estates  vary  exceedingly  in  size  and  value  in  most  parts  of 
England.  The  largest  estate  in  the  kingdom  may  be  worth 
100,000/.  or  upwards  a  year ;  and  there  are  estates  of  most 
inferior  degrees  of  magnitude,  down  to  the  annual  value  of 
40s.  !  In  some  counties  property  is  more,  and  in  others  it 
is  less,  subdivided.  In  Cheshire,  the  East  Riding  of  York- 
shire, and  one  or  two  other  counties,  there  are  compara- 
tively few  small  proprietors  ;  but  the  latter  predominate  in 
most  parts  of  the  West  of  England,  in  the  North,  and  gene- 
rally throughout  the  country.  On  the  whole,  we  believe  it 
may  be  safely  affirmed,  that  by  far  the  largest  portion  of 
the  kingdom  is  parcelled  into  properties  of  less  than  1000/. 
a  year.  It  is  not  difficult  to  account  for  the  prevalent  mis- 
conceptions on  this  point.  Though  few  in  number,  the 
owners  of  large  estates  engross  the  attention  of  common 
observers,  and  hinder  them  from  fixing  their  eye  on  the 
mass  of  obscure,  petty  land-owners,  that  constitute  the 
great  bulk  of  the  class.  Dr.  Beeke,  whose  authority  as  to 
such  matters  is  deservedly  high,  estimated  the  total  num- 
ber of  proprietors  in  England  and  Wales  at  200.000 ;  and 
supposing  the  gross  rental  of  the  kingdom  to  be  30,000,000/. 
a  year,  the  average  annual  income  of  each,  in  his  capacity 
of  landlord,  will  be  only  150/.  !  and  seeing  that  a  few  have 
much  more,  it  follows  that  many  must  have  good  deal  less. 
Hence  it  is  that  few  lead  a  more  laborious  life,  or  are  more 
under  the  necessity  of  abstaining  from  luxurious  indul- 
gences, than  the  owners  and  occupiers  of  small  landed 
properties.  Nothing,  in  fact,  can  be  a  greater  mistake  than 
to  suppose,  as  is  generally  done,  that  the  landowners  are 
an  extremely  opulent  and  an  extremely  indolent  body. 
These  may  be  the  characteristics  of  a  few  individuals 
amongst  them ;  but  it  would  be  quite  as  wide  of  the  mark  to 
affirm  that  they  are  generally  applicable  to  the  entire  class, 
as  that  they  are  generally  applicable  to  the  classes  of  manu- 
facturers and  traders.  (See  M-Culloch's  Statistics,  vol.  ii.) 
ESTATE  FOR  LIFE,  in  Law,  is  a  freehold  interest  in 
lands  and  tenements,  whether  enjoyed  for  the  life  of  the 
tenant,  or  for  the  life  of  another  party  (in  which  latter  case 
it  is  termed  an  estate  pur  auter  vie).  This  species  of  in- 
terest includes  estates  granted  for  an  uncertain  period  lim- 
ited within  the  duration  of  a  life  ;  as,  for  instance,  an  estate 
granted  to  a  widow  during  her  widowhood.  An  estate  for 
life  is  created  wherever  lands  or  tenements  are  given  by 
means  adequate  to  the  conveyance  of  a  freehold,  without 
any  express  limitation  of  an  estate.  If  tenant  for  life  con- 
vey an  estate  greater  than  his  own  by  feoffment,  fine,  or 
recovery,  he  forfeits  his  estate ;  but  if  he  does  so  by  any 
of  those  conveyances  which  are  termed  innocent,  he  cre- 
ates an  estate  determinable  on  his  own  death.  With  re- 
spect to  estates  pur  auter  vie,  it  is  observable  that  formerly, 
when  lands  were  given  to  A.  for  the  life  of  B.,  if  A.  or  A.'s 
assignee  happened  to  die  in  B.'s  lifetime,  the  estate  belonged 
to  the  first  person  who  could  take  possession,  termed  an 
occupant ;  but  if  given  to  A.  and  his  heirs  for  the  life  of  B. 
on  the  same  event,  A.'s  heir  succeeded  as  special  occu- 
pant. Now,  by  the  Statute  of  Frauds  (29  C.  2.  c.  31.  s.  12), 
estates  pur  auter  vie  are  devisable ;  and,  if  there  be  no 
special  occupant,  they  go  to  the  executors  or  administra- 
tor of  the  deceased. 

ESTATE  FOR  YEARS.  In  Law,  an  estate  limited  for 
a  term  of  years,  or  other  determinate  time,  in  lands,  tene- 
ments, or  hereditaments,  is  a  chattel  or  personal  interest ; 
and,  on  the  death  of  the  owner,  devolves,  like  other  per- 
sonal property,  on  his  executors  or  administrator.  An  es- 
tate for  years  is  properly  created  or  demised  by  an  instru- 
ment termed  a  lease ;  which,  at  common  law,  has  not  full 
operation  until  the  entry  of  the  tenant.  It  may  also  be 
created  by  declaration  of  use,  or  by  devise  in  a  will ;  and 
may  be  made  either  to  commence  immediately,  or  on  a 
future  day  and  event ;  in  which  latter  case,  unless  there 
be  any  particular  estate  to  support  it  as  a  remainder,  it  is 
called  an  interesse  termini,  until  the  time  arrives  for  its  re- 
duction into  possession.  Covenants  between  the  lessor  and 
lessee,  relating  to  the  land  (which  are  usually  inserted  in 
the  lease),  are  said  at  common  law  to  run  with  the  land : 
they  pass,  along  with  the  term  of  years,  to  a  party  to  whom 
the  lessee  conveys  it  by  assignment ;  but  the  lessee's  cove- 
nants do  not  pass  to  a  party  to  whom  he  conveys  part  of 
the  term  by  underlease.  A  tenancy  from  year  to  year  is  a 
species  of  estate  for  years. 

ESTATE  OF  INHERITANCE.     In  Law,  an  estate  in 
fee-simple,  or  fee-tail.     (See  these  articles ;  and  Real 
Property,  Law  op.) 
ESTA'TES,  POLITICAL.    See  States. 
422 


ETHERIA. 

ESTIVA'TION.  A  term  applied  to  the  parts  of  a  flower 
when  unexpanded  :  it  is  used,  in  connection  with  various 
adjectives,  to  express  the  manner  in  which  sepals  or  petals 
are  rolled  up  before  the  flower  unfolds. 

ESTO'PPEL.  In  Law,  an  impediment  or  bar  to  a  right 
of  action,  arising  from  a  man's  own  act,  or  that  of  one  to 
whom  the  party  estopped  is  privy.  As,  if  a  party  is  bound 
by  a  particular  name  in  an  obligation,  and  afterwards  sued 
by  that  name  on  the  same  obligation,  he  is  estopped,  i.  e. 
forbidden  in  law  to  say  in  abatement  that  he  is  misnamed ; 
as  he  cannot  say  contrary  to  that  which  he  has  admitted  by 
his  own  deed.  All  parties  to  a  deed  are  estopped  to  say 
any  thing  against  what  is  contained  in  it;  and  privies  are 
also  bound. 

ESTRE'AT.  In  Law,  the  extract,  copy,  or  note  of  some 
original  writing  or  record,  and  especially  of  fines  and 
amercements  ;  entered  on  the  rolls  of  the  court,  to  be  le- 
vied by  its  bailiff  or  other  officer.  Fines  to  the  king  are  es- 
treated into  the  Court  of  Exchequer.  Estreats  are  made 
out  in  that  court  by  the  remembrancer  for  the  lord  trea- 
surer, and  received  from  him  by  the  clerk  of  the  estreats, 
who  writes  them  out  to  be  served  for  the  king,  &c.  Pro- 
vision is  made  for  the  due  return,  estreating,  and  levying 
of  fines,  &c.  in  the  superior  and  some  other  courts  by  3  & 
4  W.  4.  c.  99. 

ES'TRICH.    The  commercial  name  of  the  fine  down  of 
the  ostrich. 
ES'TUARY.     See  jEstuary. 

ETiE'RIO.  In  Botany,  an  aggregate  fruit,  having  the 
ovaries  distinct,  pericarp  indehiscent ;  either  dry  upon  a 
fleshy  receptacle,  as  the  strawberry  ;  or  dry  upon  a  dry  re- 
ceptacle, as  the  ranunculus  ;  or  fleshy  upon  a  dry  recep- 
tacle, as  the  rubus :  the  parts  being  achenia  or  small  drupes. 
ET  C  VETERA,  usually  expressed  by  the  sign  §c,  means 
and  so  on. 
ETCHING.     See  Engraving. 

ETCHING  NEEDLE.  An  instrument  of  steel  with  a 
fine  point,  for  tracing  outlines,  &c.  on  the  copper  plate. 

ETE'RNITY.  An  attribute  of  the  Deity,  the  existence 
of  whom  is  without  beginning  or  end.  It  is  the  immediate 
consequence  of  the  self-existence  which  we  attribute  to 
him.  Being  the  cause  of  all  things,  he  is  himself  inde- 
pendent of  any  cause. 

Eternity  being  infinite,  is  inconceivable  by  our  finite  un- 
derstandings; at  the  same  time,  we  cannot  imagine  an 
infinite  being  to  exist  without  it.  There  is  a  distinction 
made  between  an  anterior  and  a  posterior  eternity.  The 
latter  belongs  to  creatures  whom  God  proposes  to  pre- 
serve forever  ;  the  former  to  himself  alone.  We  suppose 
God  to  exist  without  parts,  and  also  without  succession.  It 
is  an  inconsistency  in  atheism  to  suppose  a  succession 
of  generations  from  an  anterior  eternity  :  nothing  that  is 
successive  can  be  actually  infinite  and  eternal. 
ETESIAN  WINDS.    See  Winds. 

E'THAL.  A  substance  formed  during  the  saponification 
of  spermaceti.  Chevreul  derived  the  name  from  the  first 
syllables  of  ether  and  alcohol,  on  account  of  its  analogy  to 
those  liquids  in  point  of  composition. 

E'THER.  (Gr.  aidtjp.)  In  Chemistry,  this  term  is  ap- 
plied to  a  highly  volatile,  fragrant,  inflammable,  and  intoxi- 
cating liquid,  produced  by  distilling  a  mixture  of  equal 
weights  of  sulphuric  acid  and  alcohol.  When  these  liquids 
mutually  act  on  each  other,  a  series  of  complicated  changes 
ensue,  which  terminate  in  the  conversion  of  alcohol  into 
ether.  Ether,  like  alcohol,  may  be  regarded  as  a  com- 
pound of  hydrocarbon  and  water;  and  if  alcohol  be  con- 
sidered as  consisting  of  one  equivalent  of  olefiant  hydro- 
carbon =14,  and  one  of  water  =  9,  ether  may  be  regarded 
as  constituted  of  two  of  olefiant  hydrocarbon  (14  X  2)  =  28, 
and  one  of  water  =  9:  hence,  the  equivalent  of  alcohol  being 
14  +  9  =  23,  that  of  ether  will  be  14  X  2  =  28  +  9  =  37 ;  and 
the  process  of  etherification  maybe  stated  to  consist  in  the 
abstraction  from  alcohol  of  one  half  of  its  elemental  water. 
By  some,  ether  is  regarded  as  the  oxide  of  a  peculiar  hy- 
drocarbon, which  they  term  ethu/e,  composed  of  4  equiva- 
lents of  carbon  and  5  equivalents  of  hydrogen  ;  and  alcohol 
must  in  that  case  be  considered  as  hydrate  of  ether. 

Ether,  or,  as  it  is  often  called,  to  distinguish  it  from  analo- 
gous products  obtained  by  the  intervention  of  other  acids, 
sulphuric  ether,  is  a  limpid  colourless  fluid,  of  an  agreeable 
odour,  and  a  hot  pungent  taste.  Its  specific  gravity  is  about 
0713,  though  that  of  the  shops  is  usually  heavier  ;  it  boils  at 
about  98°,  and  freezes  at  the  low  temperature  of  46°  below 
0°.  The  specific  gravity  of  etherial  vapour  compared  with 
atmospheric  air  is  as  258  to  100.  Ether  is  sparingly  soluble 
in  water,  which  takes  up  about  a  tenth  of  its  bulk ;  it  dis- 
solves in  all  proportions  in  alcohol.  The  principal  use  of 
ether  is  in  medicine.  When  taken  internally,  it  is  stimu- 
lant ;  and  it  is  sometimes  applied  externally,  by  reason  of 
the  cold  produced  during  its  evaporation,  as  an  ingredient 
in  refrigerating  lotions. 

ETHE'RIA.  (Gr.  ai6o),  I  shine.)  A  genus  of  Lamelli- 
branchiate  Dimyary  Bivalves,  with  a  large  ventral  muscular 
plate  or  foot,  as  in  the  Uniones;  but  having  their  shell  ad- 


ETHERIN. 

herent,  as  in  the  oyster,  to  foreign  bodies :  the  hinge  is 
toothless,  irregular,  undulated,  and  callous ;  the  ligament 
external,  but  penetrating  in  a  pointed  form  into  the  interior 
of  the  shell.  The  term  Etheria  has  also  been  applied  by 
Rafinesque  to  a  genus  of  Macrourous  Crustacea. 

E'TIIEIUN.  A  name  applied  by  some  chemists  to 
quadrihydrocarbon  ;  that  is,  to  an  hydrocarbon  1  atom  or 
equivalent  of  which  is  constituted  of  4  atoms  of  carbon  and 
4  of  hydrogen.  It  is  obvious  that  such  a  compound  may- 
be regarded  as  the  base  of  ether;  its  equivalent  would  be 
6X4=24+4=29. 

E'THICS.  (Gr.  ij9oj,  custom,  moral  character.)  The 
science  the  object  of  which  is  to  determine  what  ought  to 
be  in  relation  to  voluntary  action,  and  to  those  dispositions, 
faculties,  or  affections  of  mind  which  tend  mediately  or 
immediately  to  voluntary  action.  It  has  been  our  aim 
throughout  the  present  work,  in  all  articles  relating  lo  ab- 
stract or  speculative  subjects,  especially  to  such  as  have 
been  matter  of  long  controversy,  rather  to  present  our 
readers  with  a  history  of  the  opinions  which  have  been  held 
by  others,  and  to  direct  them  to  the  works  in  which  those 
opinions  are  maintained  with  the  greatest  ability,  than  to 
give  a  systematic  account  of  what  appeared  to  us  the  cor- 
rect view  of  the  particular  department  of  inquiry  before 
us.  The  definition  with  which  we  preface  this  article  may 
appear  in  some  degree  a  deviation  from  this  our  practice, 
inasmuch  as  it  contains  by  implication  a  decision  of  certain 
questions  in  the  science  before  us,  which  some  of  our 
readers  may  consider  to  be  still  "sub  jutlice,"  besides  in- 
cluding the  use  of  terms  to  which  it  his  been  asserted  by 
certain  modern  writers  on  ethics  that  no  intelligible  mean- 
ing can  be  attached.  Our  answer  is,  that  we  can  conceive 
of  no  definition,  not  including  the  terms  in  question,  or 
their  equivalents,  which  shall  justify  us  in  assigning  to  the 
science  of  ethics  an  independent  existence,  or,  by  conse- 
quence, in  giving  to  the  word  which  designates  it  a  distinct 
place  and  a  separate  treatment.  Whether  the  words 
•'  ought"  and  li  voluntary"  have  any  meaning  or  not,  must 
appear  from  the  sequel :  it  is  enough  for  our  present  pur- 
pose that  the  majority  of  moralists  have  believed  them  to 
possess  one. 

There  is  no  subject  within  the  limits  of  speculation  con- 
cerning which  controversy  has  been  waged  with  greater 
vehemence,  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  theology,  than 
that  of  ethics.  We  have  not  far  to  search  for  the  general 
reasons  of  this  fact.  Besides  being  a  science  of  pre-emi- 
nent interest  to  those  who  unite  high  moral  feeling  and  a 
concern  for  the  interests  of  their  kind  with  a  capacity  for 
speculation,  it  is  a  science  also  the  treatment  of  which  is 
peculiarly  liable  to  be  affected  by  the  moral  nature  and  ha- 
bits of  those  who  take  it  in  hand.  Without  taking  upon  us 
to  assert  that,  to  be  a  good  ethical  writer,  it  is  necessary  to 
be  a  good  man,  we  think  that  the  history  of  speculation 
justifies  us  in  the  belief  that  a  partial  or  confined  view  of 
moral  science  intlicates,  for  the  most  part,  a  corresponding 
excess  or  defect  in  the  moral  qualities  of  the  person  hold- 
ing it ;  at  least  where  such  peculiarity  cannot  be  traced 
either  to  imperfect  intellectual  qualifications,  or  to  singu- 
larly unfavourable  circumstances  of  time,  place,  or  educa- 
tion. Systems  which  have  sprung  up  under  such  influ- 
ences commonly  expire  with  the  circumstances  which 
called  them  into  being.  The  youthful  student  may  indeed 
be  attracted  by  the  ingenuity  or  confounded  by  the  subtlety 
with  which  they  have  been  maintained  ;  but  with  a  person 
of  sound  mind,  who  has  access  to  writers  of  larger  and 
deeper  views,  they  cannot  long  maintain  a  place  in  his  un- 
derstanding, much  less  in  his  practical  habits.  We  have 
introduced  these  remarks,  partly  as  our  justification  for 
omittinir  from  this  article  all  notice  of  such  systems  as 
those  of  Epicurus  in  ancient,  and  Hobbes,  Helvetius,  and 
Mandeville  in  modern  times ;  and  partly  as  an  introduc- 
tion to  what  we  shall  make  the  central  point  of  our  obser- 
vations— an  account  of  the  controversy  which  at  present 
divides  ethical  speculators  in  England.  We  allude,  it  will 
be  perceived,  to  the  dispute  which  has  for  some  time  pre- 
vailed between  the  respective  partizans  of  what  have 
been  called  the  "utilitarian"  and  "sentimental"  schools. 
Those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  most  recent  records 
of  opinion  which  have  been  published  on  both  sides  of  this 
controversy  will  see  reason  to  wonder  at  two  things  :  at  the 
very  small  real  discrepancy  between  the  parlies  engaged  ; 
and  at  the  singular  vehemence  with  which  they  disclaim 
all  community  of  opinion,  and  strive  to  establish  a  diffe- 
rence which  does  not  exist,  or  to  exaggerate  one  which 
does.  An  historical  examination  of  the  origin  and  growth 
of  the  two  schools  will  in  a  great  degree  explain  these  two 
facts ;  inasmuch  as  it  will  show  that  the  difference  between 
the  disputants  is  one  rather  of  feeling  and  habit  than  of 
pure  theory.  It  will  also  serve  as  a  thead  whereon  to  hang 
such  notices  of  past  systems  as  it  was  necessary  to  give, 
in  order  to  impart  to  this  article  the  same  historical  cha- 
racter with  that  possessed  by  the  articles  on  similar  sub- 
jects which  occur  during  the  course  of  this  work.  We 
ehall  thus  have  an  opportunity  of  communicating  to  our 
423 


ETHICS. 

readers  by  far  the  most  of  what  is  really  important  in 
English  ethical  speculation ;  and  in  the  attempt  which  we 
shall  make  to  show  the  essential  incompleteness  of  both 
theories,  and  to  indicate  the  true  central  point  from  which 
the  science  of  morals  ought  to  be  viewed,  we  shall  be  ena- 
bled to  introduce  an  account  of  some  of  the  leading  fea- 
tures which  distinguished  the  systems  of  antiquity.  We 
begin  with  those  whom  we  liave  named  the  sentimental 
moralists. 

The  most  eminent  of  these  have  been  men  who  avc 
devoted  their  attention  chiefly  or  entirely  to  what  may  be 
called  empyrical  psychology  ;  that  science,  namely,  which 
determines  the  sequences  of  mental  phenomena,  and  their 
dependence  on  each  other  in  the  relation  of  cause  and  ef- 
fect ;  in  one  word,  to  the  physics  of  the  mind.  In  tins  de- 
partment of  science  the  most  fruitful  discovery  that  has 
been  made  is  what  is  commonly  named  the  Law  of  As- 
sociation. This  law,  according  lo  which  Hobbes  and  Con- 
dillac  atlempted  to  account  for  the  origin  of  our  perceptive 
and  intellectual  faculties,  was  applied  with  better  success 
by  Hartley  to  the  analysis  of  our  emotive  principles.  The 
moral  sentiments,  the  ultimate  source  of  which  Hutchison 
held  to  be  benevolence,  and  Adam  Smith  sympathy,  Hart 
ley  sought  still  lower,  in  the  simple  capacity  of  organic 
pleasure  and  pain.  From  these  original  elements  arc 
formed,  by  successive  or  co-ordinate  processes  of  associa- 
tion, the  feelings  of  sympathy,  gratitude,  resentmem. 
shame,  and  the  like  ;  and,  as  the  last  and  most  perfect  for- 
mation, the  faculty  of  moral  approbation  or  disapprobation. 
This  theory,  which  must  not  be,  as  it  frequently  is,  con- 
founded with  the  selfish  theory,  is  that  which  the  cele- 
brated dissertation  of  the  late  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  pre- 
fixed to  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  is  intended  to  illus- 
trate. It  is  in  reference  to  the  successive  stages  of  deve- 
lopment of  the  associative  principle  that  this  elegant  work 
is  alone  valuable.  Its  author  may  be  considered  as  end- 
ing the  series  of  sentimental  moralists;  in  which,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  names  given  above,  may  be  inserted  that  of 
Dr.  Thomas  Brown.  The  result  of  their  speculations  is, 
that  they  have  established  the  existence  of  a  moral  faculty 
in  man,  as  a  fact  of  natural  history :  a  fact,  also,  which 
holds  a  distinct  and  defined  place  in  a  physical  theory.  It 
is,  as  we  shall  see,  by  no  means  an  insignificant  circum- 
stance thai,  of  the  five  names  we  have  enumerated,  two 
were  physicians  by  profession,  and  one  had  dedicated 
great  part  of  his  youth  to  the  study  of  practical  medicine. 

The  reputed  father  of  the  "utilitarian"  moralists  is  tne 
celebrated  Jeremy  Bentham.  The  labours  of  this  unques- 
tionably powerful  thinker  were  principally  devoted  to  the 
sciences  of  legislation  and  jurisprudence;  to  which,  also, 
much  of  the  attention  of  those  who  profess  themselves  his 
followers  or  admirers  has  been  directed.  It  is  only  as  aux- 
iliary to  these  sciences  that  Mr.  Bentham  has  handled  the 
subject  of  morality.  The  most  complete  account  of  the 
utilitarian  principle  is  to  be  found  in  Mr.  Austin's  work  on 
jurisprudence.  This  principle  is  thus  enunciated  : — "The 
morality  or  immorality  of  an  act  consists  in  the  beneficial 
or  pernicious  consequences  resulting  from  it ;  the  morality 
or  immorality  of  an  agent,  in  the  goodness  orbadness  of  his 
intention,  the  goodness  or  badness  of  the  intention  being 
determined  by  the  nature  of  the  consequences  which  are 
foreseen,  or  might  be  foreseen,  as  resulting  from  the  act." 
Here,  we  are  told,  we  must  carefully  distinguish  between 
intention  and  motive  ;  between  foresight  of  the  conse- 
quences of  an  action,  and  the  state  of  mind  which  causes 
the  action.  To  quote  an  instance  used  by  the  acute  author 
of  a  recent  work  named  A  Fragment  on  Mackintosh, — "A 
man,  to  save  his  family  from  starving,  wires  a  hare  on  my 
estate.  My  first  impulse  is  to  throw  him  into  jail.  Before 
I  determine  to  do  so,  however,  I  consider  the  misery  which 
I  shall  bring  on  the  man  himself,  and  the  state  of  want, 
wretchedness,  and  probable  demoralization,  into  which  I 
shall  plunge  his  family.  In  spite  of  these  foreseen  conse- 
quences, 1  resolve  to  prosecute  him.  Here  my  motive  is  the 
preservation  of  my  game,  my  intention  the  production  of 
misery  and  vice  in  a  multitude  of  my  fellow-creatures. 
The  immorality  of  this  act  manifestly  consists  in  the  inten- 
tion ;  the  motive  is  neither  moral  nor  immoral."  Having 
given  this  preparatory  illustration,  we  shall  extract  from 
the  same  work  what  is  there  denominated  "A  list  of  the 
requisites  of  a  moral  act."  These  are—"].  The  motive. 
There  is  no  act  without  a  motive  ;  but  the  motive  is  ir  1- 
self  neither  moral  nor  immoral.  2.  The  volition.  There 
is  no  act  which  is  not  willed  ;  but  the  act  of  willing  is 
neither  moral  nor  immoral.  3.  What  is  called  the  external 
act ;  to  wit,  the  bodily  part  or  motive.  That,  like  the  motive, 
is  in  itself  neither  moral  nor  immoral.  The  same  bodily  ope- 
ration is  indifferently  a  part  of  every  sort  of  act.  It  is,  how- 
ever, a  necessary  part  of  every  act.  4  The  consequences 
of  the  act.  An  act  which  has  no  consequences  that  are 
materially  either  beneficial  or  hurtful  is  not  called  a  moral 
act.  That  alone  receives  this  denomination  which  has 
consequences  material  to  some  one  or  more  human  be- 
ings.   5.  The  ex-pectativn  of  the  beneficial  consequences  in 


ETHICS. 

the  7nind  of  the  agent.  6.  This  is  not  all :  it  is  not  enough  to 
make  an  act  moral  that  the  agent  expects  from  it  benelicial 
consequences  to  somebody  ;  it  is  further  necessary  that  he 
have  no  reason  to  expect  from  it  evil  consequences  equiva- 
lent to  any  other  body  ;  that  is,  in  other  words,  that  he  have 
a  conviction  of  its  general  utility." 

In  order  to  obviate  an  objection  to  the  principle  so  enun- 
ciated,— viz.  that  it  supposes  a  laborious  calculation  of  con- 
sequences to  precede  every  moral  action, — Mr.  Auslin,  in 
the  work  to  which  we  previously  alluded  (The  Province 
of  Jurisprudence  Determined),  qualifies  the  statement  by 
the  admission  that  the  principle  of  utility  itself  requires 
that  our  conduct  should  be  guided  by  general  rules,  formed 
according  to  the  principle  of  utility,  and  not  by  an  imme- 
diate appeal  to  utility  itself  in  each  particular  instance. 
Thus  qualified,  the  principle  is  precisely  the  same  with 
that  laid  down  by  Kant,  as  the  "groundland  of  the  pure 
practical  reason  :"— "  Act  so  that  the  maxims  of  thy  will,  in 
each  particular  instance,  may  hold  equally  as  the  principle 
of  a  universal  legislation."  And  this  philosopher,  in  com- 
mon with  the  English  utilitarians,  regards  this  principle  as 
a  postulate  which  lies  at  the  foundalion  of  morality.  Thus 
explained,  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  no  theoretical  incon- 
sistency between  the  utilitarian  and  sentimental  moralists. 
Sir  James  Mackintosh  expressly  admits  that  the  only  crite- 
rion  of  morality  in  action,— that  is,  the  only  criterion  by 
which  right  and  wrong  in  human  conduct  can  be  deter- 
mined.— is  the  consequences  of  such  conduct  on  the  hap- 
piness of  mankind.  It  has  been  with  reason  objected,  that 
the  second  department  of  the  two  into  which  he  divides 
the  science  of  ethics,  "the  nature  of  those  feelings  with 
which  right  and  wrong  are  contemplated  by  human  be- 
ings," does  not  in  itself  belong  to  morality  at  all.  It  is  in 
truth  a  part  of  psychology,  and  nothing  more,  and  that  by 
his  own  admission,  that  the  purpose  of  moral  science  is 
"  to  answer  the  question  '  what  ought  to  be.'  "  The  obli- 
gation of  the  rule  of  action  is  the  same,  whatever  are  the 
feelings  with  which  we  may  happen  to  regard  right  and 
wrong  :  and  whatever  may  be  their  origin,  and  the  process 
of  their  formation.  That  the  nature  of  these  feelings  ought 
to  be  made  an  important  item  in  every  calculation  of  the 
consequences  of  our  actions,  would  be  admitted  by  any 
consistent  utilitarian  who  is  capable  of  such  considerations, 
and  that  in  obedience  to  his  own  principle.  The  science 
of  psychology  is  admitted  by  such  persons  to  be  a  valuable 
auxiliary  to  that  of  ethics,  and  as  such  has  been  elaborately 
treated  by  Mr.  Mill,  in  his  Analysis  of  the  Human  Mind. 
This  we  conceive  to  be  all  that  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  in 
the  principles  of  his  general  philosophy,  had  a  right  to 
claim  for  that  branch  of  science,  to  the  elucidation  of 
which  he  has  devoted  by  far  the  greater  part  of  his  disserta- 
tion. The  relation  between  utilitarianism  and  sentiment- 
alism  may  consequently  be  expressed  thus :  It  is  our  duty 
so  to  frame  our  conduct,  that  it  may  contribute  as  much  as 
possible  to  the  happiness  of  mankind.  The  happiness  of  a 
man  consists,  as  experience  proves,  not  in  the  gratification 
of  one  or  two  desires,  but  of  as  many  as  possible.  But  the 
more  faculties  a  man  can  exercise  the  more  numerous  are 
his  desires,  and  the  greater  the  happiness  of  which  he  is 
capable  ;  consequently,  it  is  our  duty  to  conlributeas  much 
as  we  can  to  the  development  of  the  faculties  of  all  with 
whom  we  have  to  do  :  the  means  to  this  end  are  supplied 
by  the  science  of  experimenlal  psychology,  including  the 
doctrine  of  the  formation,  among  other  faculties,  of  the 
moral  sentiments. 

The  question  now  arrives,  is  this  a  complete  theory  of 
morals  1  We  think  not ;  and  we  will  proceed  to  state  our 
reasons  for  this  opinion.  It  will  be  admitted,  that  in  order 
to  conceive  of  the  existence  of  a  particular  class  of  plea- 
sures, and  by  consequence  of  a  particular  class  of  facul- 
ties or  desires  of  which  these  pleasures  are  the  exercise 
or  the  gratification,  we  must  be  conscious  of  the  existence 
of  the  same  class  in  our  own  constitution.  What  is  true 
of  one  class  is  true  of  all.  Before,  therefore,  we  can  take 
upon  us  to  determine  wherein  the  greatest  happiness  of 
man  consists,  we  must  take  care  that  our  idea  of  human 
nature  be  a  complete  one ;  we  must  see  to  it  that  we  leave 
out  of  consideration  no  element  in  the  constitution  of  man. 
Nor  is  this  enough.  It  will  be  admitted,  as  a  fact  of  ex- 
perience, that  the  gratificalion  of  certain  of  our  desires 
does,  if  carried  beyond  certain  bounds,  impair  and  interfere 
with  the  free  action  of  certain  other  equally  important 
sources  of  enjoyment.  Consequently,  what  is  true  of  the 
constitution  of  a  slate,  is  true,  likewise,  of  the  constitution 
of  man:  the  action  of  its  constituent  parts  requires  to  be 
determined  by  some  measure  or  law  which  shall  appoint 
to  each  the  sphere  and  limits  of  its  exercise.  The  Greek 
philosophers,  who,  whatever  may  be  their  deficiencies  in 
subordinate  inquiries,  saw  more  distinctly  than  any  before 
or  since  the  true  problems  which  philosophy  ought  to 
solve,  have  pointed  to  this  law  under  different  names— 
whether  of  the  chief  good,  the  ride  of  right,  the  harmony 
of  thesoul,  or  the  like— as  the  great  difficulty  of  ethics  to 
the  clearing  up  of  which  all  other  inquiries  ought  to  be  re- 
424 


ETHNOGRAPHY. 

garded  as  subordinate  and  tributary.  Of  all  the  moralist? 
of  antiquity  Plato  perceived  this  with  the  greatest  clear- 
ness. His  Republic  is  meant  as  an  approximation  to  the 
determination  of  this  law,  alike  in  the  individual  and  in  the 
state.  That  we  may  not  be  accused  of  blind  veneration 
for  antiquity,  we  will  adduce  the  most  celebrated  ethical 
writer  of  the  last  century  in  our  justification.  Those  of  our 
readers  who  have  formed  their  conception  of  the  objects 
of  Bishop  Butler's  moral  writings  from  the  strangely  partial 
view  of  them  taken  in  Sir  James  Mackintosh's  dissertation, 
will  probably  be  surprised  to  hear  that  his  is  the  name  to 
which  we  allude.  The  preface  which  he  has  prefixed  to 
his  Sermons  is  intended  as  a  brief  preliminary  statement 
of  what  he  calls  "  the  occasion,  scope,  or  drift"  of  the  de- 
tached inquiries  which  follow.  Of  what  this  scope  or  drift 
was  we  are  bound  to  accept  his  own  account ;  and  before 
we  can  rightly  apprehend  it,  he  tells  us  we  must  "  he- 
gin  by  stating  to  ourselves  exactly  the  idea  of  a  system, 
economy,  or  constitution,  of  any  particular  nature,  or 
particular  anything.  We  shall,  I  suppose,  find  that  it  is 
a  one,  or  a  whole,  made  up  of  several  parts ;  but  yet 
that  the  several  parts,  even  considered  as  a  whole,  do  not 
complete  the  idea,  unless  in  the  notion  of  a  whole  you  in- 
clude the  relations  and  respects  which  these  parts  have  to 
each  other.  Every  work,  both  of  nature  and  art,  i»a  sys- 
tem ;  and  as  every  particular  thing,  both  natural  and  artifi- 
cial, is  for  some  use  or  purpose  out  of  and  beyond  itself, 
one  may  add,  to  what  has  been  already  brought  into  the  idea 
of  a  system,  its  conduciveness  to  this  one  or  more  ends. 
Let  us  instance  a  watch  :  Suppose  the  several  parts  of  it 
taken  to  pieces,  and  placed  apart  from  each  other;  let  a. 
man  have  ever  so  exact  a  notion  of  these  several  parts,  un- 
less he  considers  the  respects  and  relations  which  they 
have  to  each  other,  he  will  not  have  anything  like  the  idea 
of  a  watch.  Suppose  these  several  parts  brought  together 
and  united  anyhow;  neither  will  he  yet,  be  the  union  ever 
so  close,  have  an  idea  which  will  bear  any  resemblance  to 
that  of  a  watch.  But  let  him  view  those  several  parts  put 
together,  or  consider  them  as  to  be  put  together  in  the 
manner  of  a  watch  ;  let  him  form  a  notion  of  the  relations 
which  those  several  parts  have  to  each  other — all  condu- 
cive in  their  respective  ways  to  this  purpose,  showing  the 
hour  of  the  day  ;  and  then  he  has  the  idea  of  a  watch.  Thus 
it  is  with  regard  to  the  inward  frame  of  man.  Appetites, 
passions,  affections,  and  the  principle  of  reflection,  consi- 
dered merely  as  the  several  parts  of  our  inward  nature,  rfo 
not  at  all  give  us  the  idea  of  the  system  or  constitution  of  thie- 
nature  ;  because  the  constitution  is  formed  by  somewhat  not 
yet  taken  into  consideration,  namely,  by  the  relations  which 
these  several  parts  have  to  each  other."  Bishop  Butler  goes, 
on  to  remark,  that  "what  in  fact  or  event  commonly  hap- 
pens is  nothing  to  this  question  ;"  for,  "  one  may  determine 
what  course  of  action  the  economy  of  man's  nature  requires, 
without  so  much  as  knowing  in  what  degrees  of  strength 
the  several  principles  prevail,  or  which  of  them  have  ac- 
tually the  greatest  inlluence."  But  between  a  machine  and 
a  man,  says  Butler,  in  allusion  to  the  illustration  from  the 
watch,  "  there  is  a  difference  loo  important  ever  to  be  omit- 
ted. A  machine  is  inanimate  and  passive  :  but  we  are 
agents.  Our  constitution  is  put  in  our  own  power.  We  are 
charged  with  it ;  and  therefore  are  accountable  for  any  dis- 
order or  violation  of  it."  The  inference  which  an  impartial 
reader  of  these  quotations,  after  comparing  them  with  the 
Sermons  on  Human  Nature,  will  necessarily  draw  is  this, 
that  notonly  has  Butler's  object  and  purpose  been  miscon 
ceived  by  Mackintosh,  but  that  it  was  an  object  which,  con 
sistently  with  the  rest  of  his  philosophy,  Mackinlosh  must 
have  held  to  be  unattainable.  For  it  implies  two  things; 
first,  that  in  order  to  complete  the  rule  of  human  action, 
we  must  have  an  idea  of  perfect  humanity  ;  secondly,  that 
before  such  rule  can  be  binding  upon  man,  we  must  show, 
not  only  that,  he  feels  himself  or  may  be  made  to  feel  him 
self,  but  that  he  really  is,  accountable  for  its  violation. 
Whether  these  two  questions  can  be  adequately  disposed 
of  without  the  introduction  of  higher,  that  is,  of  theological 
or  metaphysical  considerations,  is  a  matter  which  each  man 
must  decide  according  to  the  tenorof  his  general  philosophy. 
The  former  of  the  two  was  so  distinctly  perceived  by  Aris- 
totle, that  his  whole  ethical  system  must  be  viewed  in  refer- 
ence to  it;  the  latter  lies  atthoroot  of  the  moral  philosophy 
of  Kant.  Until  the  first  is  disposed  of,  the  rule  of  action  is 
implicated  in  an  inevitable  circle  ;  without  the  second,  no 
rule  can  be  shown  to  be  obligatory,  and  ethics  can  no  longer 
be  distinguished  on  the  one  hand  from  the  history  of  inter- 
nal, on  the  other  from  that  of  external,  phenomena. 

E'THIOPS  MINERAL.  The  black  powder  obtained  by 
rubbina  mercury  with  sulphur. 

ETHMOPD.  (Gr.  tduos,  a  sieve,  and  ados,  form.)  The 
ethmoid  or  cribriform  bone.  A  bone  of  the  head  enclosed 
in  the  osfrontis,  between  the  orbilary  processes ;  it  is  very 
light  and  spongy,  and  consists  of  a  network  of  convoluted 
plates. 

ETHNQ'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  iQvos,  nation,  and  ypa<ph>,  / 
describe.)    The  science  which  treats  of  the  parltcularilies 


ETHULE. 

of  nations,  describing  their  customs,  peculiarities,  &.c.  Al- 
though a  peculiar  name  has  been  given  to  it,  it.  is  in  general 
considered  as  a  branch  of  the  sciences  of  geography  and 
history.     (See  Balbi's  Ethnography.) 

ETHU'LE.  (Or.  aiQrip,  and  «Xi),  principle.)  A  term 
applied  by  Berzelius  to  the  elementary  carbon  and  hydro- 
gen of  ether ;  he  regards  ether  as  an  oxide  of  a  compound 
of  5  equivalents  of  hydrogen  and  4  of  carbon. 

E'TIOLA'TION,  or  CHLOROSIS,  is  that  condition  of  a 
plant  in  which  all  the  green  colour  is  absent.  Such  a  stale 
Is  produced  by  want  of  light,  and  is  artificially  obtained  by 
keeping  plants  in  the  dark  in  order  to  insure  their  being 
more  tender  and  insipid  than  is  natural  to  them.  Etiolated 
parts  become  green  by  exposure  to  light. 

ETiaUE'TTE.  (Fr.  a  ticket.)  Is  the  ceremonial  code 
of  polite  life,  more  voluminous  and  minute  in  each  portion 
of  society  according  to  its  rank.  The  word  is  derived  from 
the  custom  of  arranging  places  at  processions,  <&c.  by  tick- 
ets delivered  beforehand  to  applicants.  The  Byzantine 
court  appears  to  have  carried  the  practice  of  ceremonial 
observances  to  the  most  inconvenient  and  ludicrous  extent. 
But  of  modern  courtly  etiquette,  Philip  the  Good.  Dukf>  of 
Burgundy,  is  regarded  by  some  as  the  founder  (see  Con- 
versations Lexicon).  His  desire  to  conceal  his  inferiority 
in  rank  (as  a  great  feudatory  only)  to  the  great  sovereigns 
of  Europe,  whom  he  equalled  in  power,  induced  him  to 
surround  his  presence  with  a  multitude  of  officers  and 
numberless  formalities.  At  no  time,  probably,  was  the 
spirit  of  etiquette  so  predominant  and  so  tyrannical  as  in 
the  court  of  Louis  XIV.  ;  and  the  Memoirs  of  St.  Simon 
are  full  of  the  most  extraordinary  proofs  of  the  subjugation 
of  the  minds  of  men  of  sense,  wit,  and  even  independent 
character  in  other  respects,  to  its  engrossing  influence, — 
their  pride  in  attaining  any  little  point  of  precedence,  and 
their  mortification  in  failing  of  it.  The  smaller  courts  of 
Germany  caricatured  the  ceremonial  of  that  of  the  Great 
Monarch,  and  carried  its  strictness  to  an  absurd  extent. 
At  the  present  day  the  ancient  etiquette  of  courts  is  con- 
tinually losing  something  of  its  strictness. 

ETYMO'LOGY.  (Gr.  trvpos,  true,  and  \oyos,  descrip- 
tion, &c.)  The  science  which  treats  of  the  origin  or  root 
of  individual  words,  and  of  the  relation  borne  respectively 
by  their  several  meanings  to  that  origin.  It  is  a  branch  of 
the  general  science  of  philology.     See  Philology. 

EU'CIIARIST.  (Gr.  ev\apiaTia.)  Signifying  properly 
giving  of  thanks,  but  generally  used  in  theological  language 
to  denote  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  The  cele- 
bration of  this  rite  is  derived  from  the  account  given  by 
the  Evangelists  of  the  action  of  our  Lord  in  offering  to  the 
apostles  bread  and  wine,  saying  at  the  same  time,  "  Take 
and  eat,  this  is  my  body  ;"  and  "  Drink  ye  all  of  this,  for 
this  is  my  blood  of  the  new  testament,  which  is  shed  for 
many  for  the  remission  of  sins ;"  and  adding  at  the  same 
time,  "Do  this  as  oft  as  ye  shall  do  it  in  remembrance  of 
me."  This  commemoration  is  spoken  of  in  the  N.  T.  and 
by  the  Fathers  as  a  sacrament  and  a  mystery ;  it  must  be 
supposed,  therefore,  that  there  is  an  interior  signification 
conveyed  under  our  Saviour's  words — a  further  effect  to  be 
derived  from  the  communion  in  the  bread  and  wine  be- 
sides that  which  is  obvious  and  external.  Under  the  head 
of  Transubstantiation  will  be  found  the  solution  which 
the  Roman  Catholics  discover  for  this  mystery.  Consub- 
stantiation.  or  the  simultaneous  presence  of  the  body  and 
blood  with  the  bread  and  wine,  is  the  attempt  made  by  Lu- 
ther to  explain  the  operation  of  a  divine  mystery  according 
to  the  literal  interpretation  of  Scripture.  According  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  Anglican  church,  there  is  an  inward  and 
spiritual  grace  conveyed  in  the  Eucharist  to  those  who  par- 
take of  it ;  and  it  is  in  this  that  our  church  diners  from 
many  Protestant  communities,  whe  conceive  the  commu- 
nion to  be  nothing  more  than  an  outward  act  of  obedience 
enjoined  upon  us  as  a  commemorative  ceremony,  and  only 
instrumental  to  our  salvation  in  the  same  way  as  any  other 
act  of  obedience.    See  Sacrament. 

It  is  common  in  the  Fathers  to  meet  with  the  term  sa- 
crifice applied  to  the  Eucharist,  and  this  has  been  consi- 
dered by  the  Romanists  as  favouring  their  view  of  its  na- 
ture. They  appeal  also  to  the  prophecy  of  Malachi,  which 
alludes  to  a  pure  offering  or  an  unbloody  sacrifice,  which 
shall  be  offered  up  to  the  Lord  from  the  rising  to  the  set- 
ting of  the  sun  ;  and  maintain,  therefore,  that  the  conse- 
crated elements  are  offerings  made  to  God  for  the  sins  of 
the  people,  in  the  same  sense  as  the  expiatory  sacrifices  of 
the  Jewish  law,  and  not  merely  commemorative  tokens. 
From  hence  follows  the  supposed  necessity  of  the  sacri- 
fice of  the  Mass,  and  its  efficacy  for  the  absent,  or  even 
dead,  and  the  mediatorial  character  attributed  in  the  Ro- 
mish church  to  the  priest.  The  Protestants,  however, 
while  they  do  not  deny  the  applicability  of  the  word  sacri- 
fice to  the  Eucharist,  restrict  it  to  one  of  the  senses  which 
it  bears  in  the  Hebrew  phraseology ;  and  consider  the  pure 
offering  prophesied  by  Malachi  to  be  an  offering  of  prayer 
and  thanksgiving,  such  as  is  constantly  referred  to  by  the 
Psalmist;  as,  CXLI.  2.,  "Let  my  prayer  be  set  forth  be- 
425 


EUPATRID^. 

fore  thee  as  incense,  and  the  rising  up  of  my  hands  as  the 
evening  sacrifice;"  LI.  17.,  "The  sacrifices  of  God  are  a 
broken  spirit,"  &c.  The  seventh  chapter  of  Hebrews  is 
considered  decisive  against  the  mediatorial  character  of 
the  Christian  priest;  and  the  Eucharist  is  held  by  the 
church  of  England  to  be  not  a  propitiatory  but  a  com- 
memorative sacrifice — a  federal  act  of  professing  our 
belief  in  the  death  of  Christ,  and  of  renewing  our  bap- 
tismal covenant  with  him ;  and  endued  with  virtue  to 
confer  grace  upon  those  who  partake  of  it  sincerely  and 
devoutly. 

EU'CHLORINE.  (Gr.  ev.  very,  and  xXupos,  green.) 
A  name  given  by  Sir  H.  Davy  to  the  oxide  of  chlorine,  in 
consequence  of  its  deep  yellow-green  colour. 

EUCHO'LOGY.  (Gr.  ivxi, prayer,  and  Ae^gj,  I  collect.) 
A  book  of  prayers;  synonymous,  in  the  phraseology  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  church,  with  missal  or  breviary. 

EU'CLASE.  (Gr.  tv,  well,  and  /cAaw,  I  break.)  A  very 
rare  mineral,  brought  in  small  greenish  crystals  from  Peru 
and  Brazil.     It  is  a  silicate  of  glucina  and  alumina. 

EU'CRASY.  (Gr.  tv,  and  Kpaois,  temperature.)  An 
agreeable  well-proportioned  mixture  of  qualities,  by  which 
a  body  is  said  to  be  in  good  order,  and  disposed  for  a  good 
state  of  health. 

EUDIO'METER.  iGr.  evSia,  calm  air,  and  ptrpov,  mea- 
sure.) This  term  is  generally  applied  to  instruments  for 
facilitating  the  analysis  of  atmospheric  air,  or  rather  for 
determining  the  quantity  of  oxygen  contained  in  a  given 
volume  of  air;  under  the  idea  that  the  salubrity  of  air  de- 
pended upon  its  relative  quantity  of  oxygen.  We  now 
know,  however,  that  this  is  not  the  case,  and  that  the  rela- 
tion of  the  oxygen  to  the  nitrogen  in  the  atmosphere  is  not 
subject  to  any  discernible  fluctuation. 

EU'LABES.  (Gr.  iv\a/3fis,  timid.)  A  genus  of  Passe- 
rine birds,  belonging  to  the  family  of  thrushes,  and  distin- 
guished by  having  broad  strips  of  naked  skin  on  each  side 
of  the  occiput,  and  a  bald  spot  on  the  cheek.  The  bill 
nearly  resembles  that  of  a  thrush  ;  their  nostrils  are  round 
and  smooth.  The  species  are  termed  Mainates  by  the 
French  ornithologists ;  and  the  Javan  mainate  (Eulabes 
javamens)  of  all  birds  is  said  to  imitate  most  completely  the 
language  of  man. 

El'Ll'MA.  (Derivation  unknown.)  A  genus  of  marine 
shell-clad  Gastropods,  whose  characters  are  shell  turreted, 
acuminate,  with  many  whorls ;  aperture  ovate,  acumi- 
nated posteriorly  ;  outer  lip  thickened,  and  bearing  nume- 
rous obsolete  varices  or  wart-like  processes ;  operculum 
horny,  thin,  and  with  its  nucleus  anterior. 

EU'LOGY.  (Gr.  tv,  tcell,  and  Xtyoj,  I  speak.)  In  a  ge- 
neral sense,  an  encomium  pronounced  on  any  person  for 
his  meritorious  or  virtuous  qualities;  but,  in  a  more  re- 
stricted meaning,  it  was  used  in  ecclesiastical  history  to 
denote  any  present  bestowed  on  the  church  after  having 
been  blessed  or  hallowed. 

EU'NICE.  (Gr.  The  name  of  a  Nereid  in  Apollodorus.) 
A  genus  of  Marine  Dorsibranchiate  Anellidans,  having 
tufted  branchia,  and  a  mouth  armed  with  three  pairs  of 
homy  jaws.  One  species  (Eunice  gigantea)  attains  the 
enormous  length  of  between  four  and  five  feet. 

EU'NUCH.  (Gr.  tvvn,  a  bed,  and  txtiv,  m  tne  sense  of 
to  have  the  care  of.)  A  term  applied  to  those  who  have 
been  subjected  to  the  operation  of  castration.  The  for- 
tunes of  such  individuals  form  an  eventful  chapter  in  the 
history  of  the  human  race ;  whether  we  consider  the  pur- 
poses for  which  the  operation  was  performed,  or  the  num- 
bers of  those  who  have  undergone  it.  This  practice  seems 
to  have  originated  in  the  jealousy  which  prevails  in  eastern 
countries.  As  far  back  as  the  time  of  Herodotus,  it  was 
carried  to  a  great  extent  by  the  Persians,  who  not  merely 
intrusted  to  eunuchs  the  care  of  their  wives  and  daughters, 
but  considered  them  in  every  respect  as  more  trustworthy 
than  other  individuals.  In  the  middle  ages  the  "chief  of 
the  eunuchs"  was  one  of  the  most  important  functionaries 
of  eastern  government ;  and  the  seraglios  of  these  countries 
are  superintended  by  eunuchs  even  in  the  present  day.  In 
modern  times  the  loss  of  virility  is  in  some  countries  believ- 
ed to  preserve  and  improve  the  voice ;  and  hence,  especially 
in  Italy,  this  operation  is  practised  upon  children  intended 
to  supply  the  operas  of  Europe  with  singers.  Zeal  for  re- 
ligion has  also  caused  many  persons  to  undergo  this  ope- 
ration, in  the  view  of  guarding  themselves  from  sensual 
pleasures.  As  early  as  the  third  century  there  arose  a 
class  of  enthusiasts,  who,  animated  by  the  example  of  Ori- 
gen,  not  only  castrated  those  of  their  own  persuasion,  but 
even  all  persons  on  whom  they  could  lay  their  hands.  Se- 
veral of  the  Christian  Roman  emperors  instituted  severe 
prohibitions  against  this  revolting  practice  ;  and  at  a  later 
period  the  Council  of  Nice  excluded  from  the  pale  of  the 
church  all  who,  actuated  by  whatever  motives,  had  allowed 
themselves  to  be  thus  mutilated. 

EUPA'TRHXE.    (Gr.  ivrdrpiSai.)    In  Ancient  History, 

the  nobles  of  Attica,  in  whose  hands  in  early  times  all  the 

power  of  government  was  vested,  in  consequence  of  which 

the  lower  orders  sunk  into  a  low  state  of  degradation,  being 

Cc* 


EUPHEMISM. 

particularly  oppressed  by  their  debts  which  the  pressure  of 
their  circumstances  compelled  them  to  incur,  and  which, 
if  not  paid,  gave  the  creditor  power  over  the  bodies  and 
liberties  of  the  debtor  and  his  family.  These  evils  were 
remedied  by  the  legislation  of  Solon,  who  reduced  the  in- 
terest of  debts,  and  deprived  the  creditor  of  his  power  over 
the  body  of  the  debtor,  and  at  the  same  time  threw  the  ju- 
dicial and  much  of  the  legislative  power  into  the  hands  of 
the  people  at  large  or  Demus  (Arj//os).  The  alterations  in 
the  constitution  of  Athens  subsequent  to  the  time  of  Solon 
by  degrees  deprived  the  Eupatrida?  of  all  their  political 
privileges,  and  finally  established  an  unmixed  democracy. 

EU'PHEMISM.  (Gr.  svfrincTv,  to  speak  icell  of  a  person 
or  thing.)  A  figure  in  rhetoric,  by  which  one  expression 
is  substituted  for  another,  conveying,  through  some  associ- 
ation of  ideas,  an  image  offensive  to  the  hearer  or  reader. 
In  classical  writers,  euphemism  often  arises  from  a  super- 
stitious avoidance  of  certain  words  and  phrases;  and 
among  ourselves  similar  fastidiousness  prevails  on  some 
points,  as  in  the  constant  use  of  the  words  "  deceased" 
and  "departed"  for  "dead." 

EU'PHONY  (Gr.  tv,  well,  and  (buvrj,  sound),  in  contra- 
distinction to  Cacophony  (quod  vide).  That  agreeable  qual- 
ity in  language  which  results  from  happy  combinations  of 
the  enunciative  elements ;  such  especially  as,  though  essen- 
tially different  in  their  characteristic  powers,  melt  easily 
into  each  other,  so  as  to  preserve  an  uninterrupted  flow 
through  the  respective  members  of  a  sentence,  without 
labour  to  the  speaker  or  offence  to  the  hearer.  No  rules 
can  be  laid  down  to  ensure  this  agreeable  quality  in  com- 
position :  his  taste,  ear,  and  discrimination  must  be  the 
guide  of  every  writer. 

EUPHORBIA'CETE.  (Euphorbia,  one  of  the  genera.) 
A  natural  order  of  Exogenous  plants,  inhabitants  of  almost 
all  parts  of  the  globe;  nearly  allied  to  Malvacea,  and  Eham- 
nacecb,  especially  agreeing  with  the  former  in  the  starry 
structure  of  the  hairs,  the  monadelphous  stamens,  and  the 
definite  number  of  ovules  in  three  united  carpels.  Their 
sensible  properties  are.  on  the  whole,  poisonous  and  excit- 
ing, both  being  of  a  volatile  nature  and  often  dispelled  by 
heat.  Thus  the  stem  of  Jatropha  manihot,  or  Cassava, 
which,  when  raw,  is  one  of  the  most  violent  of  poisons, 
becomes  a  wholesome  nutritious  food  when  roasted :  in 
the  seeds  the  albumen  is  harmless  and  eatable,  but  the 
embryo  itself  is  acrid  and  dangerous.  Independently  of 
the  volatile  principle  there  are  two  others,— viz.  1.  Caout- 
chouc, the  most  innocuous  of  all  substances,  produced  by 
the  most  poisonous  of  all  families.  2.  Turnsol,  the  bark 
of  several  crotons,  the  wood  of  Croton  tiglium  and  com- 
mon box, — the  leaves  of  the  latter,  of  Cicca  disticha,  and 
of  several  euphorbias,  are  sudorific, — and  many  other  spe- 
cies, amongst  which  Ricinus  may  be  mentioned,  are  pur- 
gative ;  the  latter  produces  from  its  seeds  by  pressure  the 
well-known  castor  oil. 

EUPHO'RBIUM.  (From  Euphorbus,  physician  to  king 
Juba,  in  honour  of  whom  the  plant  was  named.)  An  acrid 
gum  resin,  the  produce  of  the  Euphorbia  officinalis ;  it  is 
virulently  purgative  and  emetic,  and  the  dust  of  it  is  dan- 
gerously stimulant  to  the  nose. 

EU'PION.  (Gr.  ev,  very,  and  mav,  greasy.)  A  very 
limpid  liquid  which  stains  paper  like  oil,  and  which  exists 
in  the  tar  produced  during  the  destructive  distillation  of 
animal  and  vegetable  substances.  Its  specific  gravity  is 
074,  and  it  boils  and  evaporates  at  340°.  It  is  insoluble  in 
water,  but  dissolves  in  ether  and  alcohol.  It  is  insipid  and 
inodorous,  but  highly  inflammable. 

EURI'PUS.  (Gr.  evptiro;.)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  the 
space  which  separated  the  arena  from  the  seals  in  the 
circus. 

EURO'PA.  In  Fabulous  History,  the  daughter  of  Age- 
nor,  king  of  Sidon.  She  is  represented  as  having  been  of 
such  surpassing  beauty  that  Jupiter  became  enamoured 
of  her.  In  order  to  gain  her  affection  the  god  transformed 
himself  into  a  bull  of  wonderful  whiteness,  and  while  Eu- 
ropa  was  gathering  flowers  in  a  meadow  near  the  sea  shore, 
mingled  with  her  father's  herds.  The  virgin,  attracted  by 
the  beauty  of  the  bull,  began  to  caress  him  ;  and  at  length, 
in  the  playfulness  of  youth,  ventured  to  get  on  his  back. 
Upon  which  the  bull,  taking  advantage  of  her  situation, 
made  a  retreat  towards  the  sea,  through  which  he  carried 
her  in  safety.  Arrived  in  Crete,  the  god  resumed  his  real 
form,  and  declared  his  passion,  which  was  returned  ;  and 
from  their  connection  sprang  Minos,  Rhadamanthus,  and 
iEacus,  the  celebrated  Elysian  judges.  The  simple  state- 
ment of  Herodotus,  that  Europa  was  carried  off  by  some 
Cretan  merchants,  who,  according  to  some  authors,  arrived 
at.  Sidon  for  mercantile  purposes  with  a  ship  bearing  a 
white  bull  on  its  prow,  but,  according  to  Diodorus,  with  a 
commander  named  Taurus  (bull),  offers  one  of  many  pro- 
bable  solutions  of  this  fabulous  story.  From  her,  accord- 
ing to  my  thologists,  the  quarter  of  the  globe  which  we  in- 
habit received  its  name.  The  word  is  possibly  derived  from 
Gr.  evpvs ,  large,  and  coxp,  the  eye  ;  large  eyes  having  been 
regarded  by  the  Greeks  as  a  mark  of  great  beauty. 
426 


EVAPORATION. 

EUR  VOICE.     In  Fabulous  History.     See  OrFHeCS 

EURY'THMV.  (Gr.  evftvO/tia,  justness  of  proportion,  j 
In  Architecture,  the  regular,  just,  and  symmetrical  measure 
resulting  from  harmony  in  the  proportions  of  a  building  or 
order.     It  is  one  of  the  six  essentials  of  Vitruvius. 

EUSTA'CHIAN  TUBE.  Named  after  the  celebrated 
Italian  anatomist  Bartholomew  Eustachius,  who  is  said  to 
have  discovered  it,  though  it  is  accurately  described  by 
Aristotle,  who  quotes  an  earlier  Greek  anatomist,  Alcmeon. 
as  having  known  it.  This  communication  between  the  ear 
and  the  mouth  begins  in  the  anterior  part  of  the  tympanum, 
and  runs  in  a  bony  canal  forwards  and  inwards,  terminating 
with  the  petrous  portion  of  the  temporal  bone.  It  then  pro- 
ceeds, partly  cartilaginous  and  partly  membranous,  gradu- 
ally enlarging  to  its  termination  behind  the  soft  palate.  It 
is  through  this  tube  of  communication  with  the  ear  thai 
persons  who  have  a  perforated  tympanum  blow  tobacco 
smoke :  when  the  Eustachian  tube  is  stopped  or  obliterated 
it  produces  deafness. 

EUSTA'CHIAN  VALVE.  A  semilunar  membranous 
valve,  which  separates  the  right  auricle  of  the  heart  from 
the  inferior  vena  cava,  first  described  by  Eustachius. 

EUSTA'THIANS.  A  sect  of  heretics  of  the  4th  century  ; 
so  called  from  their  founder  Eustathius,  a  monk  whose 
opinions  were  condemned  at  the  council  of  Gangea. 

EU'STYLE.  (Gr.  tv,  well,  <rrt>Aos,  column.)  In  Archi- 
tecture, that  species  of  intercolumniation  or  space  between 
columns,  which,  as  the  name  imports,  the  ancients  consi- 
dered the  most  beautiful,  and  which  Vitruvius  says  ex- 
ceeded all  others  in  strength,  convenience,  and  beauty  ;  iJ 
was  two  diameters  and  a  quarter  of  the  column  in  width. 

EUTE'RPE.  (Gr.  tv,  and  rtpirco,  I  delight.)  In  Mytho- 
logy, the  muse  which  presided  over  wind  instruments. 

Si  neque  libiaa 
Euterpe  cohibet,  nee  Polyhymnia 
Lesboum  refugit  tendere  barbiton.    {Hot.  Ode  I.  1.54.) 

To  this  muse  is  ascribed  also  the  invention  of  tragedy. 

EUTHANA'SIA.  (Gr.  ev,  and  Bavaros,  death.)  Lite- 
rally, an  easy  death.  By  political  writers  it  is  employed 
in  various  senses  to  indicate  such  peculiar  theories  as  have 
the  best  tendency  to  uphold  the  state  or  disentangle  it  frons 
difficulties.  Thus,  for  instance,  it  is  maintained  that  the 
issue  of  inconvertible  paper  money  is  the  true  euthanasia 
of  public  debts  in  modern  countries. 

EUTY'CHIANS.  A  sect  of  the  fifth  century,  who  ap- 
pear to  have  been  seduced  into  an  erroneous  view  of  the 
nature  of  Christ  by  the  vehemence  of  their  opposition  to 
the  heresy  of  the  Nestorians.  These  latter  had  asserted 
the  distinctness  of  the  two  natures  in  Christ ;  the  Eu- 
tychians  confounded  them  together,  and  supposed  the  hu- 
man to  be  merged  in  the  divine.  Their  originator,  Euty - 
ches,  was  the  abbot  of  a  monastery  at  Constantinople,  and 
was  excommunicated  in  the  year  448  by  a  synod  which 
was  convened  there  for  that  purpose.  This  decision  was 
controverted  by  another  council  at  Ephesus  in  the  following 
year;  but  the  new  opinions  were  finally  condemned  by 
the  council  of  Chalcedon  in  451,  which  established  the 
orthodox  doctrine  that  Christ  was  perfect  God  and  perfect 
man,  consubstantial  with  the  Father  as  to  his  divinity,  and 
with  man  as  to  his  humanity,  the  two  natures  being  united 
in  him  without  conversion,  without  confusion,  and  with- 
out division. 

EVANGE'LICAL  CHURCH.  (Gr.  ivayye\wv,  gospel 
literally  good  tidings  :  from  tv,  well,  and  ayytXos,  messen- 
ger.) The  different  Protestant  sects  of  Germany  assume 
this  general  title,  implying  their  reliance  on  the  Bible  alone 
as  the  rule  of  faith  :  it  more  especially  designates  the  Lu- 
theran church. 

EVA'NGELIST.  (Gr.  tvayysXtcrris.)  One  who  brings 
good  tidings.  Hence  the  authors  of  the  Four  Gospels  are 
called  Evangelists. 

EVA'NTES.  Priests  of  Bacchus ;  so  called  from  their 
usual  exclamation  during  their  org;es,  "  ohe  evan." 

EVAPORA'TION.  The  conversion  of  substances  into 
vapour  is  one  of  the  most  important  and  general  effects  of 
heat.  During  this  process,  a  considerable  quantity  of  sen- 
sible heat  passes  into  the  latent  or  insensible  state.  When 
a  vessel  of  water  is  placed  upon  the  fire,  its  temperature 
gradually  rises  till  it  attains  212°  ;  then,  although  it  remains 
upon  the  fire,  and  of  course  receives  heat  as  before,  it 
does  not  become  hotter,  but  is  gradually  converted  into 
steam  or  vapour  :  so  that  the  effect  of  heat  is  not  to  ele- 
vate temperature,  but  to  change  state  or  form  :  that  is,  in 
the  case  of  water,  to  convert  it  into  steam.  Hence  we  as- 
sume that  steam,  though  not  hotter  than  water,  contains  a 
much  larger  quantity  of  heat,  and  this  heat  again  makes  its 
appearance  when  the  steam  is  condensed  or  re-converted 
into  water.  At  whatever  temperature  vapour  is  produced, 
it  is  similarly  constituted;  and  that  which  escapes  from 
water  at  ordinary  temperatures,  by  the  process  usually 
called  spontaneous  evaporation,  resembles  the  former  in 
all  respects :  hence  it  is  that  evaporation  is  to  surrounding 
bodies  a  cooling  process ;  and  that  in  the  converse  change^ 
or  the  return  of  the  vapour  to  the  liquid  state,  heat  »3 


EVECTION. 

evolved  and  rendered  sensible.    The  same  general  phe- 


nomena are  observed  wilh  all  other  liquids,  and  those  which 
evaporate  rapidly  at  common  temperatures  often  give  rise 
to  the  production  of  a  great  degree  of  cold  ;  such  as  spirit 
of  wine,  or  ether.  If  the  latter  fluid  be  suffered  to  dribble 
over  the  bulb  of  a  thermometer,  it  will  cause  it  to  sink  be- 
low the  freezing  point  of  water ;  and  by  accelerating  simi- 
lar cases  of  evaporation,  we  obtain  most  intense  degrees  of 
artificial  cold. 

The  circumstances  that  principally  influence  the  process 
of  evaporation  are,  extent  of  surface,  and  the  state  of  the 
air  as  to  temperature,  dryness,  stillness,  and  density. 

EVE'CTIOX.  (Lat.  eveho,  /  raixe  up.)  An  inequality 
of  the  moon's  motion,  depending  on  the  position  of  the 
transverse  axis  of  the  lunar  orbit  in  respect  of  the  line  of 
the  syzygies,  or  line  joining  the  sun  and  earth.  When  the 
transverse  axis  lies  in  the  same  direction  with  that  line,  the 
quantity  by  which  the  solar  force  diminishes  the  gravita- 
tion of  the  moon  is  greatest  when  the  moon  is  in  the  apo- 
gee, and  least  in  the  perigee.  In  this  situation  of  the  orbit, 
therefore,  the  difference  between  the  moon's  gravitation  at 
her  apogee  and  perigee  is  increased  by  the  solar  action, 
and  the  orbit  consequently  appears  to  have  its  eccentricity 
augmented.  When  the  line  of  the  apsides  is  in  the  quad- 
ratures, the  contrary  happens  ;  the  difference  between  the 
amount  of  gravitation  at  the  apogee  and  perigee  is  dimin- 
ished, and  the  eccentricity  of  the  orbit  appears  also  to  be 
diminished.  The  evection  is  proportional  to  the  sine  of 
twice  the  angular  distance  between  the  sun  and  moon,  di- 
minished by  the  moon's  mean  anomaly  ;  and  its  greatest 
value  amounts  to  1°  20'  29-9".  This  inequality  (sometimes 
called  the  second  inequality  of  the  moon's  motion,  the 
equation  of  the  centre  being  the  first)  was  noticed  by  Hip- 
parchus,  and  Ptolemy  gave  a  construction  which  repre- 
sents its  general  effects  with  great  accuracy.  The  term 
evection  was  first  applied  to  it  byBullialdus. 

E'VEN  KEEL.  A  ship  is  said  to  be  on  an  even  keel, 
properly  speaking,  when  she  draws  the  same  water  abaft 
as  forward  ;  the  expression,  however,  often  implies,  though 
inaccurately,  not  inclined  to  either  side,  or  upright. 

E'VERGREEN.  A  name  applied  to  those  plants  whose 
leaves  remain  perfect  upon  a  stem  beyond  a  single  season ; 
as  the  Ilex  aqutfoHum. 

E'VIDENCE.  In  Law,  has  been  defined  "any  matter 
of  fact,  the  effect,  tendency,  or  design  of  which,  when  pre- 
sented to  the  mind,  is  to  produce  a  persuasion,  affirmation, 
or  disaffirmation  of  the  existence  of  some  other  matter  of 
fact." 

A  witness,  in  a  court  of  common  law,  is  compelled  to 
give  his  attendance,  in  civil  cases,  by  subpoena,  or  by  ha- 
beas corpus  if  the  witness  be  in  custody.  The  reasonable 
expenses  both  of  going  and  returning  must  be  tendered  to 
the  witness  when  he  is  served  with  the  subpoana.  A  wit- 
ness, refusing  to  attend  on  subpoena,  may  be  attached  for 
contempt  of  court,  and  is  liable  to  an  action  at  tfie  suit  of 
the  party  damaged.  In  criminal  cases,  the  attendance  of  a 
witness  for  the  prosecution  is  enforced  either  by  subpasna, 
or  more  usually  by  the  magistrates  who  take  the  deposi- 
tions in  the  first  instance  binding  him  over  to  appear.  His 
expenses,  in  a  case  of  felony,  are  ensured  to  him  by  statute. 
The  defendant  may  compel  attendance  of  his  witnesses  by 
subpoena. 

When  the  witness  appears  in  court,  objections  may  be 
taken  to  his  competency ;  and  those  arising  from  his  igno- 
rance or  unbelief,  or  turpitude  of  character,  ought,  in  the 
usual  course,  to  be  taken  before  he  is  sworn. 

Incompetency. — 1.  Incompetency  from  defect  of  religious 
principle  is  where  the  witness  disbelieves  or  is  ignorant  of 
the  existence  of  a  God,  and  of  a  future  state  of  rewards  and 
punishments.  Infidels,  therefore,  are  excluded ;  but  no 
others  of  whatsoever  sect  or  opinion.  2.  Incompetency 
from  turpitude  arises  from  a  conviction  for  treason,  felony, 
and  several  misdemeanours ;  but  is  removed  by  pardon,  or 
by  reversal  of  the  judgment,  or  by  endurance  of  the  punish- 
ment awarded  by  the  sentence.  3.  The  next  source  of  in- 
competency is  interest ;  and  the  general  rule  on  this  sub- 
ject is,  that  a  party  is  disqualified  only  by  a  direct  and  cer- 
tain interest  in  the  event  of  the  suit.  But  it  will  be  obvious 
that  the  distinctions  arising  out  of  so  general  a  proposition 
are  infinitely  minute,  and  create  constant  difficulty  in  prac- 
tice.   The  following  are  a  few  of  the  leading  rules : — 

All  parties  to  the  suit,  although  but  nominal,  are  excluded 
from  giving  evidence.  A  prosecutor,  in  a  criminal  case,  is 
not  a  party,  nor  directly  interested  in  the  verdict,  and  is 
consequently  admitted.  A  person  to  whom  a  liability 
would  immediately  result  from  the  verdict  is  incompetent 
to  give  evidence  for  the  party  in  whose  success  he  is  in- 
terested ;  as,  for  instance,  one  who  has  guaranteed  a  party 
against  the  event  of  the  suit ;  or  a  co-partner ;  or  an  agent 
liable  to  his  principal,  in  the  case  where  a  principal  is  sued 
for  any  damage  arising  from  the  agent's  neglect.  A  wit- 
ness is  also  incompetent  where  he  has  an  interest  in  the 
record  ;  that  is  to  say,  where  the  judgment  of  the  court,  if 
his  party  succeeded,  would  be  evidence  of  a  matter  of  fact 
to  entitle  him  to  some  legal  advantage.  In  criminal  pro- 
427 


EVIDENCE. 

ceedings,  however,  no  verdict  obtained  wholly  or  partly  on 
the  testimony  of  any  witness  can  be  evidence  for  or  against 
that  witness  in  any  other  proceeding;  and  therefore  he 
cannot  be  objected  to  on  that  ground.  Some  exceptions 
also  to  this  rule  of  exclusion  arise  from  the  necessity  of  the 
case:  upon  this  principle  the  testimony  of  the  servants  of 
tradesmen,  to  prove  the  delivery  of  goods  and  payment  of 
money,  is  daily  admitted. 

The  objection  to  competency  is  removable  in  some  cases 
by  a  release  of  all  liability  to  the  witness.  But  it  is  now 
provided,  by  3  <fc  4  W.  4.  c.  42.,  that  whenever  a  witness  is 
objected  to  as  incompetent  on  the  ground  that  the  verdict 
would  be  evidence  for  or  against  him,  he  shall  neverthe- 
less be  heard  ;  and  his  name  being  entered  on  the  back  of 
the  record,  the  verdict  so  obtained  shall  never  be  used  as 
such  evidence. 

All  testimony  must  be  given  under  a  judicial  oath,  with 
an  exception  only  in  favour  of  Quakers,  which  is  now  ex- 
tended to  criminal  as  well  as  civil  cases. 

Evidence,  immediate  and  mediate.— Besides  the  exclu- 
sion of  witnesses  on  the  score  of  competency,  large  classes 
of  evidence  are  inadmissible.  Admissible  evidence  must 
be,  in  general,  immediate:  that  is,  it  must  convey  the  ac- 
tual knowledge  or  belief  of  the  witness.  This  rule  excludes, 
as  a  general  proposition,  all  hearsay  ;  that  is,  all  narration 
of  the  declarations  made  by  others  to  the  witness.  There 
are,  however,  several  classes  of  mediate  testimony  which 
are  admissible.  Such  are,  general  reputation  in  certain 
cases ;  and  declarations,  made  by  a  parly  to  the  suit,  which 
contain  admissions  contrary  to  hfs  own  interest.  So,  in  va- 
rious cases,  letters  or  entries  made  in  books  are  admissi- 
ble, where  they  contain  similar  admissions.  Upon  the 
same  principle,  the  confession  of  a  prisoner  is  evidence 
(if  unextorted  by  fear  or  hope)  in  a  criminal  case.  Depo- 
sitions of  a  witness  now  deceased,  but  who  had  formerly 
given  evidence  on  the  same  dispute,  are  admissible.  Evi- 
dence may  also  be  considered  as  divided  into  original  or 
best,  and  secondary  evidence.  For  instance,  the  reading 
of  a  document  is  better  evidence  of  its  contents  than  state- 
ments, either  written  or  oral,  respecting  them.  It  is  a 
general  rule,  that  all  secondary  evidence  is  excluded,  if 
better  evidence  (that  is,  evidence  of  a  class  which  the  law 
recognizes  as  better)  happen  to  be  attainable.  Other  ex- 
clusive rules  rest  on  grounds  of  public  policy.  Thus  hus- 
band and  wife  are  excluded  from  giving  testimony  for  or 
against  each  other.  Communications  between  an  attorney 
and  his  client,  and,  for  particular  purposes,  some  other  pri- 
vate communications  between  parties,  are  in  their  nature 
privileged. and  cannot  be  given  in  evidence. 

Examination  of  Witnesses. — A  witness,  on  beingadmitted 
in  court,  is  first  subjected  to  the  examination  of  the  party 
in  whose  behalf  he  is  called,  which  is  termed  the  exatni- 
nation  in  chief ;  and  the  principal  rule  to  be  observed  by 
the  party  examining  is,  that  leading  questions  are  not  to  be 
asked.  What  are  leading  questions,  it  is  not  always  easy 
to  ascertain  ;  but  questions  to  which  the  answer  yes  or  no 
would  be  conclusive  of  the  issue  fall  undoubtedly  within 
this  designation.  All  questions  which  suggest  an  answer 
may  be  considered,  in  one  sense,  as  leading  questions  ;  but 
they  are  not  all  equally  objectionable.  The  witness  is  then 
cross-examined  by  the  opposite  party.  The  object  of  cross- 
examination  is  two-fold  :  to  weaken  the  evidence  given  by 
the  witness  as  to  the  fact  in  question,  eithi  r  by  eliciting 
contradictions  or  new  explanatory  facts ;  or,  secondly,  to 
invalidate  the  general  credit  of  the  witness.  In  the  latter 
case,  it  is  a  general  rule,  that  a  wilness  may  refuse  to 
answer  any  question,  if  his  answer  will  expose  him  to  cri- 
minal liability;  and  this,  whether  immediately  or  by  col- 
lateral inference.  Whether  he  can  refuse  to  answer  a 
question  tending  to  disgrace  him  without  involving  him  in 
danger,  is  a  point  which  has  been  frequently  debated,  but 
which  the  general  practice  of  our  courts  seems  to  settle  in 
the  affirmative.  The  credit  of  a  witness  may  likewise  be  im- 
peached by  the  general  evidence  of  others  as  to  his  cha- 
racter. But  in  this  case  no  evidence  can  be  given  of  par- 
ticular facts  which  militate  aeainst  his  general  credit;  as 
this  would  be  in  contravention  of  another  rule,  that  collate- 
ral issues— questions  of  fact  unconnected  with  the  subject 
of  dispute — shall  not  be  raised  during  the  course  of  a  trial. 
Re- examination  of  a  witness  by  the  party  who  first  ex- 
amined him,  must  be  directed  to  such  new  points  only  as 
have  been  raised  by  the  cross-examination.  If  it  is  wished 
to  put  a  question  not  connected  with  these  points,  the  pro. 
per  course  is  for  the  counsel  to  apply  to  the  court  to  put  the 
question  for  him. 

Evidence,  Documentary. — Written  instruments,  consid- 
ered as  evidence  in  a  court  of  justice,  have  been  divided 
into  public  judicial  documents ;  public  non-judicial ;  pri- 
vate documents ;  and  mixed,  which  are  partly  public  and 
partly  private.  The  contents  of  the  record  of  a  court  of 
justice  are  properly  proved  by  inspection  of  the  record  it- 
self; otherwise  by  exemplification,  or  by  sworn  copy.  A 
copy  of  a  record,  under  the  seal  of  the  Court  of  Chancery, 
or  of  one  of  the  King's  other  courts,  is  an  exemplification ; 
as  are  also  the  records  of  some  inferior  tribunals.    Office 


EVIL,  KING'S. 

copies  are  evidence,  wherever  the  law  has  entrusted  a  par- 
ticular officer  with  the  making  of  them.  Sworn  copies  are 
copies  proved  on  oath  to  have  been  examined  with  the 
original.  All  public  documents,  whether  judicial  or  non- 
judicial, which  cannot  be  removed,  can  be  and  usually  are 
proved  in  this  manner.  But  before  it  can  be  read,  it  must 
be  proved  that  the  original  came  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
officer  of  the  court,  or  from  the  proper  place  of  deposit. 
A  copy  of  a  copy  is  in  no  case  admissible. 

Mixed  documents  are  of  a  nature  partly  public  and  partly 
private ;  such  as  court-rolls  of  manors,  and  corporation 
books.  Examined  copies  of  these  are  evidence.  The 
books  of  public  companies — as,  for  instance,  the  East  In- 
dia Company — are  evidence  in  questions  between  parties 
interested  in  them.  Private  writings  are  of  two  sorts:  first, 
writings  to  which  the  person  against  whom  they  are  offered 
was  party  or  privy  ;  secondly,  writings  of  third  persons. 
All  documents  of  the  first  class  are,  in  general,  evidence 
against  the  party.  And  an  admission  under  seal  (as  a  deed 
or  bond)  is,  in  general,  conclusive  evidence  against  the  ob- 
ligor, or  party  binding  himself;  that  is,  he  is  estopped,  or 
prevented,  from  offering  to  rebut  it. 

A  discussion  of  the  rules  which  govern  the  admissibility 
of  written  instruments  not  under  seal  as  evidence  would 
occupy  far  too  wide  a  field  for  the  present  purpose.  Oral 
evidence  can  in  no  case  be  received  as  an  equivalent  or 
substitute  for  an  instrument,  where  a  writing  is  required 
by  law ;  or  to  give  effect  to  such  an  instrument,  if  defective 
in  any  particular  required  by  law  ;  or  to  vary  its  terms,  if 
it  have  been  appointed,  either  by  act  of  law  or  by  compact 
of  the  parties,  as  a  memorial  of  the  transaction  between 
them.  This  rule  proceeds  on  the  general  principle  already 
adverted  to,  that  where  the  best  evidence  can  be  had  se- 
condary testimony  shall  not  be  substituted  for  it.  But  oral 
evidence  is  admissible  in  various  cases,  to  explain,  to  re- 
strict, and  to  defeat  instruments,  on  the  ground  of  fraud  or 
mistake. 

Entries  in  writing,  as  well  as  declarations  by  third  per- 
sons, are  in  general  excluded.  The  cases  in  which  they  may 
be  admitted  are,  either  where  they  serve  to  explain  and  ac- 
company material  facts ;  or,  in  some  cases,  on  a  principle  of 
necessity,  where  the  party  who  made  them  is  supposed  to 
have  had  peculiar  grounds  of  knowledge  as  to  the  fact  in 
dispu  ■•.  In  the  first,  category,  as  a  common  instance,  we 
may  cite  declarations  of  a  trader  at  the  time  of  his  quitting 
his  place  of  business,  which  are  commonly  received  in 
evidence  on  bankruptcy  questions.  The  second  may  be 
instanced  by  entries  of  bailiffs  or  stewards,  which  are  re- 
ceived where  the  payment  of  rent  is  disputed. 

Proof  of  Written  Documents. — This  is  effected  either  by 
witnesses,  by  admission  of  the  adversary,  or  by  enrol- 
ment; the  latter  mode  of  proof  being  confined  to  a  few 
classes  of  documents  by  virtue  of  acts  of  parliament. 

In  the  first  and  common  mode  of  proof,  the  instrument 
must  either  be  produced,  or  its  absence  must  be  accounted 
for  by  loss  or  destruction  (and  if  either  of  these  negative 
assertions,  as  they  may  be  called,  cannot  be  directly  proved, 
evidence  of  diligent  search  will  be  received,  and  its  con- 
tents may  be  proved  by  counterpart  or  secondary  evi- 
dence) ;  or  it  must  be  proved  to  be  in  possession  of  the  ad- 
versary, and  that  notice  was  given  him  to  produce  it.  In 
the  case  where  the  instrument  itself  is  produced,  it  is 
either  attested  or  not  attested.  If  the  former,  the  attesting 
witness  must  be  called  ;  or  his  absence  must  be  accounted 
for,  and  his  handwriting  proved  ;  or  it  must  appear  that 
the  instrument  is  thirty  years  old,  and  has  come  out  of 
proper  custody,  in  which  case  its  authenticity  is  presumed. 
Where  a  subscribing  witness  is  called  to  prove  a  deed, 
proof  of  sealing  and  delivery  is  required  from  him ;  where 
there  are  several  subscribing  witnesses,  one  is  sufficient. 
Where  there  are  no  attesting  witnesses  to  an  instrument, 
the  hand-writing  of  the  party  binding  himself  is  generally 
sufficient  proof.  On  the  proof  of  handwriting, — a  very 
difficult  matter  of  evidence, — we  can  only  observe,  that  it 
is  ordinarily  proved  by  the  testimony  of  a  witness  who  has 
acquired  a  general  knowledge  of  the  party's  hand,  either 
by  having  seen  him  write  (although  but  once),  or  by  a  cor- 
respondence with  him,  or  other  transactions.  It  is  a  gene- 
ral rule,  that  evidence  by  comparison  of  writings  is  not 
receivable ;  and  this,  although  a  skilled  person  (as  a  clerk 
from  the  post  office)  offer  his  opinion.  (For  the  mode  of 
taking  evidence  in  courts  of  equity,  see  Chancery.  )  Pub- 
he  documents,  when  the  originals  are  not  procurable,  are 
commonly  proved  by  examined  copies. 

E'VIL,  KING'S.    See  Scrofula. 

E'VOLUTE  (Lat.  evolvo,  J  roll  out),  in  the  theory  of 
curve  lines,  is  a  curve  from  which  any  given  curve  may 
be  supposed  to  be  formed  by  the  evolution  or  unlapping  of 
a  thread  from  a  surface  having  the  same  curvature  as  the 
first  curve.  For  example,  let  B  H  E  be  a  model  of  a  plane 
curve  made  of  a  solid  material  having  some  thickness ; 
and  let  one  end  of  a  thread  II  E  C  be  fastened  to  a  point  B 
on  the  edge  of  the  model,  and  applied  along  its  convexity,  so 
as  to  coincide  with  it  entirely  between  B  and  E,  the  remain- 
428 


EX  CATHEDRA. 

ing  portion  E  C  of  the  thread  forming  a  straight  line  touch- 
ing the  curve  at  E.     Suppose,  now,  the  thread  to  be  gradu- 
D  ally  unlapped  from  the  curve  B  E 

v/  keeping  it  always  tight;   the  extre- 

mity C  will  describe  anolher  curve, 
CPD.  The  curve  EH  I!,  by  which 
the  curve  C  P  D  is  generated,  is 
called  the  evolute  ofCPD;  and  the 
curve  C  P  D  is  called  the  involute  of 
E  H  B.  All  curves  in  which  the  cur- 
vature is  neither  infinitely  great  nor 
infinitely  small,  may  be  generated  in  this  way  by  the  evo- 
lution of  a  thread  from  anolher  curve. 

From  this  mode  of  generating  curve  lines  it  is  obvious, 
first,  that  P  II,  the  part  of  the  thread  disengaged  from  the 
arc  E  H,  is  a  tangent  to  the  evolute  at  H ;  second,  that  P  H 
is  a  perpendicular  to  the  tangent  to  the  involute  C  P  D  at  the 
point  P ;  third,  that  it  is  the  radius  of  curvature  of  C  P  D 
at  P  ;  fourth,  that  the  point  H  is  the  centre  of  curvature  of 
C  P  D  at  P,  and  that  the  evolute  E  H  B  is  the  locus  of  the 
centre  of  curvature  of  every  point  in  the  involute  CPD. 
Hence  the  problem  to  find  the  evolute  of  any  curve  is  the 
same  as  to  find  the  locus  of  the  points  which  successively 
form  the  loci  of  its  centres  of  curvature. 

Let  AQ  =  x,  and  PQ  =  y;  then  x  and  y  are  the  co-or- 
dinates of  the  point  P  in  the  curve  CPD,  the  origin  being 
at  A.  Let  also  AK=»,  and  K  H  =  u  ;  then  v  and  w  are 
the  co-ordinates  of  H,  the  centre  of  curvature  of  C  P  D  at 
P  ;  and  their  values  are  found  from  the  formulae, 


dy    dx^  +  dy*  ,    dx'  +  dy3 

v  =  x r^  . ^ — 2-:  u  =  y-\ -1 2. 

'■' y        '  v^        d2y 


d  x 


in  which  x  is  regarded  as  the  independent  variable,  and  y 
as  a  functiou  of  x,  the  nature  of  which  is  determined  by 
the  equation  of  the  curve  CPD. 

Since  the  radius  of  curvature  H  P  is  the  sum  of  the  arc 
H  E  and  the  straight  line  C  E,  it  follows  thatH  E  is  the  dif- 
ference of  two  straight  lines ;  and  since  it  is  possible  to 
form  innumerable  curves  whose  radii  of  curvature  are  ex- 
pressible in  algebraic  terms,  therefore  corresponding  to 
every  such  curve  there  is  another  curve,  namely,  its  evo- 
lute, which  can  be  exactly  rectified.  The  theory  of  gene- 
rating curve  lines  by  evolution  was  proposed  by  Huygens, 
before  the  invention  of  the  differential  calculus,  and  pub- 
lished in  his  Horologiiim  Oscillatorium.  His  object  was  to 
find  the  evolute  of  the  common  cycloid,  with  a  view  to  the 
mechanical  means  of  causing  clock  pendulums  to  vibrate 
in  cycloidal  arcs ;  for  he  had  already  discovered  the  beau- 
tiful property  of  this  curve, — that  all  vibrations  in  its  arc  are 
synchronous,  or  performed  in  equal  times,  whether  the 
arcs  be  great  or  small.     See  Cycloid. 

EVOLU'TION.  (Lat.  evolvo,  J  unfold.)  In  Physiology, 
the  theory  of  generation,  in  which  the  germ  is  held  to  pre- 
exist in  the  parent,  and  its  parts  to  be  unfolded  and  ex- 
panded, but  not  actually  formed,  by  the  procreative  acts. 
The  principal  and  most  consistent  supporters  of  this  theory 
maintain  that  the  first  created  individuals  contained  the 
germs  of  all  future  possible  successors,  successively  in- 
cluded one  within  the  other;  and  that  generation  is  merely 
the  act  of  unfolding,  or  an  evolution  of  the  germ  :  Swam- 
merdam,  Bonnet,  Spallanzani,  Haller,  and  Cuvier  maintain 
this  theory. 

The  theory  of  evolution  is  opposed  to  that  of  epigenesis 
generation,  in  which  the  germ  is  held  to  be  actually  formed 
as  well  as  expanded  by  virtue  of  the  procreative  powers  of 
the  parent.  Its  chief  supporters  are  Harvey,  Caspar  Fred. 
Wolff,  Blumenbach,  and  the  professors  of  the  modem 
German  physiological  school. 

Evolution,  in  Arithmetic  and  Algebra,  denotes  the  ex- 
traction of  roots.  (.See  Extraction.)  In  Geometry,  evolu- 
tion is  the  opening  or  unfolding  of  a  curve. 

E'VOV^;.  In  Music,  the  vowels  used  with  the  ending 
notes  of  the  ecclesiastical  tones  :  it  is  a  word,  for  brevity's 
sake,  formed  of  the  six  vowels  in  the  words  sacidorum 
amen,  which  are  subjoined  to  the  notes  in  Antiphonaries, 
&c,  to  indicate  that  those  are  the  ending  notes. 

EXACERBA'TION.  (Lat.  exacerbo,  /  groin  violent.) 
An  increase  in  the  violence  of  symptoms  of  disease;  as  of 
pain,  or  especially  of  fever. 

EX^'RESIS.  (Gr.  e^aipca,  I  remove.)  One  of  the  divi- 
sions of  surgery  adopted  by  old  writers,  and  confined  to 
operations  concerned  in  the  removal  of  parts  of  the  body. 

EXALTA'DOS.  In  Spanish  History,  the  name  of  the 
party  attached  to  what  has  been  vulgarly  termed  the  liberal 
system  of  politics,  corresponding  to  the  "  extreme  gauche" 
of  the  French,  or  Whig-radicals  among  ourselves. 

EXANTHE'MA.  (Gr.  c^avdeu,  I  effloresce.)  An  erup- 
tive disorder. 

EXARCH.  (Gr.  c^apxoi.)  The  title  of  the  viceroys  of 
the  Byzantine  emperors  in  the  provinces  of  Italy  and  Africa 
after  they  had  been  conquered  by  Justinian.  The  exarch 
of  the  former  province  fixed  the  seat  of  his  government  at 
Ravenna.    They  were  also  styled  patricians. 

EX  CA'THEDRA.    A  Latin  phrase ;  originally  applied 


EXCELLENCY. 

to  decisions  rendered  by  prelates,  chiefly  popes,  from  their 
cathedra  or  chair :  i.  e.  in  a  solemn  judicial  manner.  Hence 
applied  to  every  decision  pronounced  by  one  in  the  exer- 
cise of  his  peculiar  authority  :  a  professor  in  his  lecture 
room,  a  judge  from  the  bench,  ifcc. 

E'XCELLENCY.  A  title  of  honour  in  various  Euro- 
pean states.  It  was  borne,  successively,  by  the  Lombard 
kings ;  by  some  emperors  of  the  West ;  by  various  minor 
Italian  potentates;  and  it  is  now  appropriated  to  persons  in 
the  actual  execution  of  certain  official  services:  ministers, 
some  court  dignitaries,  and  ambassadors,  but  not  charges 
d'affaires.  Governors  of  English  cclonies  are  styled  Ex- 
cellency. 

EXCE'NTRIC  (Lat.  ex,  out,  and  centrum,  centre),  in 
the  Ancient  Astronomy,  is  the  deferent  circle  in  the  cir- 
cumference of  which  the  centre  of  the  epicycle  ofa  planet 
is  carried  forward  in  its  orbit  round  the  earth.  It  was  ex- 
centric  in  respect  of  the  earth  ;  that  is,  though  the  orbit  ofa 
planet  was  a  circle  described  about  the  earth,  the  earth  was 
not  placed  at  the  centre  of  that  circle.  In  modern  astro- 
nomy, the  excentric  is  the  circle  which  circumscribes  the 
elliptic  orbit  of  a  planet.  Hence,  Excentric  Anomaly  is 
the  arc  of  the  excentric  between  the  perihelion  of  the  orbit 
and  the  straight  line  drawn  through  the  centre  of  the  planet 
perpendicular  to  the  major  axis.     See  Anomaly. 

EXCENTRI'CITY.  In  Astronomy,  the  distance  of  the 
foci  from  the  centre  of  the  elliptic  orbit  of  a  planet  or  satel- 
lite, the  semi-axis  major  being  regarded  as  unity  ;  or,  it  is 
the  ratio  of  the  distance  between  the  focus  and  centre  to 
the  semi-axis  major.  Thus,  if  a  and  b  denote  respectively 
the  semi-axes  major  and  minor,  and  e  the  excentricity,  we 
have  ae  =  \/a!  —  6s.  Excentricity  is  thus  to  be  carefully 
distinguished  from  ellipticity,  which  denotes  the  ratio  of  the 
difference  of  the  two  axes  to  the  greater.  For  the  excen- 
tricities  of  the  different  planets,  see  Planet. 

EXCEP'TION.  In  Law,  a  stop  or  stay  to  an  action.  In 
common  law  proceedings,  a  denial  of  a  matter  alleged  in 
bar  to  an  action.  In  chancery,  what  is  alleged  against  the 
sufficiency  of  an  answer. 

EXCE'SS,  SPHERICAL,  in  Trigonometry,  is  the  quan- 
tity by  which  the  sum  of  the  three  angles  of  a  spherical 
triangle  p.xceeds  two  right  angles. 

EXCIIA'NGE,  in  Arithmetic,  is  the  finding  the  value  of 
one  commodity  or  denomination  of  money  in  terms  of 
another.  When  a  unit  of  each  denomination  is  determined 
in  terms  ofa  common  standard,  all  the  operations  of  this 
rule  are  applications  of  the  rule  of  proportion. 

Exchange.  In  Commerce,  a  term  used  to  designate 
that  species  of  mercantile  transactions  by  which  the  debts 
dee  to  individuals  at  a  distance  from  their  creditors  are 
paid  without  the  transmission  either  of  money  or  goods. 

Among  cities  or  countries  having  any  considerable  inter- 
course together,  the  debts  mutually  due  by  each  other  ap- 
proach, for  the  most  part,  near  to  an  equality.  There  are 
at  all  times,  for  example,  a  considerable  number  of  persons 
in  London  indebted  to  Hamburah  ;  but,  speaking  generally, 
there  are  about  an  equal  number  of  persons  in  London  to 
whom  Hamburgh  is  indebted  ;  and  hence,  when  A.  of  Lon- 
don has  a  payment  to  make  to  B.  of  Hamburgh,  he  does 
not  remit  an  equivalent  sum  of  money  to  the  latter  ;  but  he 
goes  into  the  market  and  buys  a  bill  upon  Hamburgh  for  an 
equal  amount,—!,  e.,  he  buys  an  order  from  C.  of  London, 
addressed  to  his  debtor  D.  of  Hamburgh,  directing  him  to 
pay  the  amount  to  A.  or  his  order.  A.  having  indorsed  this 
bill  nr  order,  sends  it  to  B.,  who  receives  payment  from  his 
neighbour  I).  The  convenience  of  all  parlies  is  consulted 
by  a  transaction  of  this  sort  The  debts  due  by  A.  to  B., 
and  by  D.  to  C,  are  extinguished  without  the  intervention 
of  any  money.  A.  of  London  pays  C.  of  ditto,  and  D.  of 
Hamburgh  pays  B.  of  ditto.  The  debtor  in  one  place  is 
substituted  for  the  debtor  in  anol  her ;  and  a  postage  or  two, 
and  the  stamp  for  the  bill,  form  the  whole  expenses. 

A  bill  of  exchange  may,  therefore,  be  defined  to  be  an 
order  addressed  to  some  person  residing  at  a  distance, 
directin?  him  to  pay  a  certain  specified  sum  to  the  person 
in  whose  favour  the  bill  is  drawn,  or  his  order.  In  mer- 
cantile phraseology,  the  person  who  draws  a  bill  is  termed 
the  drawer ;  the  person  in  whose  favour  it  is  drawn  the  re- 
mitter ;  the  person  on  whom  it  is  drawn  the  drawee,  and 
after  he  has  accepted  the  acceptor.  Those  persons  into 
whose  hands  the  bill  may  have  passed  previously  to  its  be- 
ing paid  are,  from  their  writing  their  names  on  the  back, 
termed  indorsers  ;  and  the  person  in  whose  possession  the 
bill  is  at  any  given  period  is  termed  the  holder  or  possessor. 
The  negotiation  of  inland  bills  of  exchange,  or  of  those 
drawn  in  one  part  of  the  United  Kingdom  on  another,  is 
almost  wholly  in  the  hands  of  bankers.  Many  of  the  banks 
established  in  different  parts  of  the  country  have  a  direct 
intercourse  with  each  other,  and  all  of  them  have  corres- 
pondents in  London.  Hence  an  individual  residing  in  any 
part  of  the  country  who  may  wish  to  make  a  payment  in 
any  other  part,  however  distant,  may  effect  his  object  by 
applying  to  the  nearest  bank.  Thus,  suppose  A.  of  Pen- 
zance has  a  payment  to  make  to  B.  of  Inverness.  To  send 
429 


EXCHANGE. 

the  money  by  post  would  be  hazardous ;  and  if  there  were 
fractional  parts  of  a  pound  in  the  sum,  it  would  hardly  be 
practicable  to  make  use  of  the  post.  How  then  will  A. 
manage  7  He  will  pay  the  sum  to  a  banker  in  Penzance, 
and  his  creditor  in  Inverness  will  receive  it  from  a  banker 
there.  The  transaction  is  very  simple.  The  Penzance 
banker  instructs  his  correspondent  in  London  to  pay  to  the 
London  correspondent  of  a  banker  in  Inverness  the  sum 
in  question,  on  account  of  B.  ;  and  the  Inverness  banker 
being  advised  in  course  of  post  of  what  has  been  done, 
hands  over  the  money  to  B.  The  whole  charges  are 
limited  to  a  trifling  commission  and  twopence  for  postage  : 
so  that  the  affair  is  transacted  in  the  cheapest  as  well  as  in 
the  most  commodious  possible  manner.  Bills  drawn  by 
the  merchant  of  one  country  upon  another  are  termed 
foreign  bills  of  exchange,  and  it  is  to  their  negotiation  that 
the  following  remarks  principally  apply. 

I.  Par  of  Exchange.— The  par  of  the  currency  of  any 
two  countries  means,  among  merchants,  the  equivalency 
of  a  certain  amount  of  the  currency  of  the  one  in  the  cur- 
rency of  the  other,  supposing  the  currencies  of  both  to  be 
of  the  precise  weight  and  purity  fixed  by  their  respective 
mints.  Thus,  according  to  the  mint  regulations  of  Great 
Britain  and  France,  1/.  sterling  is  equal  to  25  fr.  20  cents, 
which  is  consequently  said  to  be  the  par  between  London 
and  Paris.  And  the  exchange  between  the  two  countries 
is  said  to  be  at  a  par  when  bills  are  negotiated  on  this  foot- 
ing; that  is,  for  example,  when  a  bill  for  100/.  drawn  in 
London  is  worth  2520  fr.  in  Paris,  and  conversely.  When 
1/.  in  London  buys  a  bill  on  Paris  for  more  than  25  fr.  20 
cents,  the  exchange  is  said  to  be  in  favour  of  London,  and 
against  Paris ;  and  when,  on  the  other  hand,  1/.  in  London 
will  not  buy  a  bill  on  Paris  for  25  fr.  20  cents,  the  exchange 
is  against  London,  and  in  favour  of  Paris.  (See  tabic  of  the 
Par  of  Exchange,  at  the  end  of  this  article.) 

II.  Circumstances  which  determine  the  Course  of  Ex 
change. — The  exchange  is  affected,  or  made  to  diverge 
from  par,  by  two  classes  of  circumstances.  First,  by  any 
discrepancy  between  the  actual  weight  or  fineness  of  the 
coins,  or  of  the  bullion  for  which  the  substitutes  used  in 
their  stead  will  exchange,  and  their  weight  or  fineness  as 
fixed  by  the  mint  regulations ;  and,  secondly,  by  any  sud- 
den increase  or  diminution  of  the  bills  drawn  in  one  coun- 
try upon  another. 

a.  It  is  but  seldom  that  the  coins  of  any  country  corres- 
pond exactly  with  their  mint  standard  ;  and  when  they  di- 
verge from  it,  an  allowance  corresponding  to  the  difference 
between  the  actual  value  of  the  coins  and  their  mint  value 
must  be  made  in  determining  the  real  par.  Thus,  if 
while  the  coins  of  Great  Britain  corresponded  with  the 
mint  standard  in  weight  and  purity,  those  of  France  were 
either  10  per  cent,  worse  or  debased  below  the  standard 
of  her  mint,  the  exchange,  it  is  obvious,  would  be  at  real 
par  when  it  was  nominally  10  per  cent,  against  Paris,  or 
when  a  bill  payable  in  London  for  100/.  was  worth  in  Paris 
2772  fr.,  instead  of  2,520  fr.  In  estimating  the  real  course 
of  pxchange  between  any  two  or  more  places,  it  is  always 
necessary  to  attend  carefully  to  this  circumstance :  that 
is,  to  examine  whether  their  currencies  be  all  of  the  stand- 
ard weight  and  purity ;  and  if  not,  how  much  they  differ 
from  it.  When  the  coins  circulating  in  a  country  are  either 
so  worn  or  rubbed  as  to  have  sunk  considerably  below 
their  mint  standard,  or  when  paper  money  is  depreciated 
from  excess  or  want  «f  credit,  the  exchange  is  at  real  par 
only  when  it  is  against  such  country  to  the  extent  to  which 
its  coins  are  worn  or  its  paper  depreciated.  When  this 
circumstance  is  taken  into  account,  it  will  be  found  that 
the  exchange  during  the  latter  years  of  the  war,  though 
apparently  very  much  against  this  country,  was  really  in 
our  favour.  The  depression  was  nominal  only ;  being  oc- 
casioned by  the  great  depreciation  of  the  paper  currency, 
in  which  bills  were  paid.  (See  art.  "Exchange,"  new 
edition,  Ency.  Britannica.) 

b.  Variations  in  the  actual  course  of  exchange,  or  in  the 
price  of  bills,  arising  from  circumstances  affecting  the  cur- 
rency of  either  of  two  countries  trading  together,  are  nom- 
inal only  ;  such  as  are  real  grow  out  of  circumstances  af- 
fecting their  trade. 

When  two  countries  trade  together,  and  each  buys  of 
the  other  commodities  of  precisely  the  same  value,  their 
debts  and  credits  will  be  equal,  and,  of  course,  the  real  ex- 
change will  be  at  par.  The  bills  drawn  by  the  one  will  be 
exactly  equivalent  to  those  drawn  by  the  other,  and  their 
respective  claims  will  be  adjusted  without  requiring  the 
transfer  of  bullion  or  of  any  other  valuable  produce  ;  but 
it  very  rarely  happens  that  the  debts  reciprocally  due  by 
any  two  countries  are  equal.  There  is  almost  always  a 
balance  owing  on  the  one  side  or  the  other ;  and  this  ba- 
lance must  affect  the  exchange.  If  the  debts  due  by  Lon- 
don to  Paris  exceeded  those  due  by  Paris  to  London,  the 
competition  in  the  London  market  for  bills  on  Paris  would, 
because  of  the  comparatively  great  amount  of  payments 
our  merchants  had  to  make  'in  Paris,  be  greater  than  the 
competition  in  Paris  for  biUs  on  London ;  and  consequently 


EXCHANGE. 


the  real  exchange  would  be  in  favour  of  Paris  and  against 
London. 

It  is  plain,  however,  that  all  fluctuations  of  the  real  ex- 
change must  be  confined  within  comparatively  narrow 
limits ;  and  that,  though  they  may  be  under,  they  can  never 
exceed,  the  expense  of  transmitting  bullion  from  the  debtor 
to  the  creditor  country  ;  for,  if  they  exceeded  this  amount, 
it  would  plainly  be  more  for  the  debtor's  advantage  to  trans- 
mit bullion  rather  than  bills,  and  the  exchange  would  im- 
mediately sink  to  pai-. 

It  is  usual  to  suppose,  when  the  exchange  is  against  a 
country,  that  it  can  only  be  adjusted  by  an  exportation  of 
bullion ;  but  provided  the  fall  of  the  exchange  be  real,  and 
not  nominal. — that  is,  provided  the  currency  of  the  coun- 
try which  has  the  unfavourable  exchange  be  in  a  sound 
state,  and  that  it  is  neither  depreciated  from  excess,  nor 
from  the  coins  being  reduced  below  their  mint  standard, 
but  that  the  depression  originates  in  some  circumstances 
affecting  the  trade  of  the  country,  as  the  occurrence  of  a 
bad  harvest,  the  breaking  out  of  a  war,  &c, — then,  in  such 
a  case,  it  may,  and  most  probably  will  not  be  necessary  to 
export  a  single  ounce  of  bullion.  Suppose,  to  illustrate 
this,  that  an  English  merchant  has  100/.  to  pay  in  Peters- 
burgh,  and  that  the  real  exchange  is  3  per  cent,  against 
England,  or  that  a  bill  that  cost.  103/.  in  London  will  only 
fetch  100/.  in  Petersburgh  ;  now,  suppose  that  the  cost  of 
transmitting  bullion  to  Petersburgh  is  also  three  per  cent. ; 
the  question  is,  what  will  the  merchant  do  1  If  he  had  no 
other  resource  but  to  send  a  bill  or  bullion,  it  is  plain  it 
would  be  indifferent  to  him  which  he  sent.  But  he  is  not 
so  restricted.  He  will  compare  together  the  prices  of  ar- 
ticles in  London  and  Petersburgh :  and  if  he  find  that  there 
is  any  exportable  article  whatever  costing  in  London  100/. 
that  will  sell  in  Petersburgh  for  100/.  after  paying  the  ex- 
penses of  carriage,  he  will  obviously  gain  31.  by  exporting 
it,  rather  than  transmitting  bullion  or  a  bill.  The  fact  is, 
that  a  nation  might  cancel  a  foreign  debt  of  10  or  100  mil- 
lions without  sending  abroad  a  single  ounce  of  gold  and 
silver:  the  latter  are  never  exported,  unless  when  it  hap- 
pens to  be  more  profitable  to  export  them  than  anything  else. 
They  always  go  abroad  to  find,  and  not  to  lose,  their  level. 

III.  A  fall  of  the  nominal  exchange,  that  is,  a  fall  of  the 
exchange  occasioned  by  the  depreciation  of  the  currency, 
has  no  influence  whatever  over  trade.  When  the  currency 
is  depreciated,  the  premium  which  the  exporter  of  com- 
modities derives  from  the  sale  of  the  bill  drawn  on  his 
correspondent  abroad  is  countervailed  by  a  precisely  equal 
rise  in  the  price  of  the  commodity  occasioned  by  the  de- 
preciation, so  that  the  result  is  nothing.  But  it  is  other- 
wise when  the  real  exchange  is  depressed,  or  when  the 
sums  payable  to  the  foreigner  exceed  those  receivable 
from  him.  In  this  case,  there  is  no  rise  of  prices,  and  the 
depression  of  the  exchange  operates  as  a  stimulus  to  ex- 
portation. As  soon  as  the  real  exchange  diverges  from 
par,  the  mere  inspection  of  a  price  current  is  no  longer 
sufficient  to  regulate  the  operations  of  the  merchant.  If 
it  be  unfavourable,  the  premium  which  the  exporter  will 
receive  on  the  sale  of  his  bill  must  be  included  in  the  esti- 
mate of  the  profit  he  is  likely  to  derive  from  the  transac- 
tion. The  greater  that  premium  the  less  will  be  the  dif- 
ference of  prices  necessary  to  induce  him  to  export;  and 
hence  an  unfavourable  real  exchange  has  an  effect  exactly 
the  same  with  what  would  be  produced  by  granting  a  boun- 
ty on  exportation  equal  to  the  premium  on  foreign  bills. 

But,  for  the  same  reason  that  an  unfavourable  real  ex- 
change increases  exportation,  it  proportionally  diminishes 
importation.    When  the  exchange  is  really  unfavourable, 


the  price  of  commodities  imported  from  abroad  must  be  so 
much  lower  than  their  price  at  home  as  not  merely  to 
afford,  exclusive  of  expenses,  the  ordinary  profit  of  stock 
on  their  sale,  but  also  to  compensate  for  the  premium 
which  the  importer  must  pay  for  a  foreign  bill,  if  he  remit 
one  to  his  correspondent,  or  for  the  discount,  added  to  the 
invoice  price,  if  his  correspondent  draw  upon  him.  A  less 
quantity  of  foreign  goods  will  therefore  suit  our  market 
when  the  real  exchange  is  unfavourable  ;  and  fewer  pay- 
ments having  to  be  made  abroad,  the  competition  for 
foreign  bills  will  be  diminished,  and  the  real  exchange  ren- 
dered proportionally  favourable.  In  the  same  way,  it  is 
easy  to  see  that  a  favourable  real  exchange  must  operate 
as  a  duty  on  exportation  and  as  a  bounty  on  importation. 

It  is  thus  that  fluctuations  in  the  real  exchange  have  a 
necessary  tendency  to  correct  themselves.  They  can 
never,  for  any  considerable  period,  exceed  the  expense  of 
transmitting  bullion  from  the  debtor  to  the  creditor  coun- 
try. But  the  exchange  cannot  continue  either  permanently 
favourable  or  unfavourable  to  this  extent.  When  favour- 
able, it  corrects  itself  by  restricting  exportation  and  facili- 
tating importation  ;  and  when  unfavourable,  it  produces 
the  same  effect  by  giving  an  unusual  stimulus  to  exporta- 
tion, and  by  throwing  obstacles  in  the  way  of  importation. 
The  true  par  forms  the  centre  of  these  oscillations  ;  and 
though  the  thousand  circumstances  which  are  daily  and 
hourly  affecting  the  state  of  debt  and  credit  prevent  the 
ordinary  course  of  exchange  from  being  almost  ever  pre- 
cisely at  par,  its  fluctuations,  whether  on  the  one  side  or  on 
the  other,  are  confined  within  certain  limits,  and  have  a 
constant  tendency  to  disappear. 

This  natural  tendency,  which  the  exchange  has  to  cor- 
rect itself,  is  powerfully  assisted  by  the  operations  of  the 
bill  merchants. 

England,  for  example,  might  owe  a  large  excess  of  debt 
to  Amsterdam  ;  yet,  as  the  aggregate  amount  of  the  debts 
due  by  a  commercial  country  is  generally  balanced  by  the 
amount  of  those  which  it  has  to  receive,  the  deficiency  of 
bills  fin  Amsterdam  in  London  would  most  probably  be 
compensated  by  a  proportional  redundancy  of  those  on 
some  other  place.  Now  it  is  the  business  of  the  merchants 
who  deal  in  bills,  in  the  same  way  as  of  those  who  deal  in 
bullion  or  any  other  commodity,  to  buy  them  where  they 
are  cheapest,  and  sell  them  where  they  are  dearest.  They 
would,  therefore,  buy  up  the  bills  drawn  by  other  countries 
on  Amsterdam,  and  dispose  of  them  in  London  ;  and  by 
so  doing  would  prevent  any  great  fall  in  the  price  of  bills 
on  Amsterdam  in  those  countries  in  which  the  supply 
exceeded  the  demand,  and  any  great  rise  in  Great  Britain 
and  those  countries  in  which  the  supply  happened  to  be 
deficient.  In  the  trade  between  Italy  and  this  country, 
the  bills  drawn  on  Great  Britain  amount,  almost  inva- 
riably, to  a  greater  sum  than  those  drawn  on  Italy.  The 
bill  merchants,  however,  by  buying  up  the  excess  of 
the  Italian  bills  on  London,  and  selling  them  in  Holland 
and  other  countries  indebted  to  England,  prevent  the 
real  exchange  from  ever  becoming  much  depressed. 
(For  further  information  as  to  the  principles  involved 
in  this  curious  and  interesting  department  of  commer- 
cial and  international  economy,  see  the  able  and  ex- 
cellent tract,  entitled  Observations  on  the  Course  of  Ex- 
change, by  William  Blake,  Esq.,  and  the  art.  "Exchange" 
in  the  new  edition  of  the  Encyc.  Britannica ;  and  for  the 
practical  details  connected  with  the  subject,  see  Commercial 
Dictionary.)  We  subjoin  from  the  latter  a  table  of  the  par 
of  exchange  between  London  and  some  of  the  principal 
foreign  places  for  the  negotiation  of  bills  of  exchange. 


Par  of  Exchange  between  England  and  the  following  places, — viz.  Amsterdam,  Hamburgh,  Paris,  Madrid,  Lisbon,  Leg- 
horn, Genoa,  Naples,  and  Venice;  the  same  being  computed  from  the  intrinsic  Value  of  their  principal  Coins,  by 
comparing  Gold  with  Gold,  and  Silver  with  Silver,  according  to  their  Mint  Regulations,  and  to  Assays  made  at  the 
London  and  Paris  Mints. 


Gold. 

Silver. 

Explanations. 

Mint 
Regula- 

Old Coinage. 

New  Coinage. 

Assays. 

Mint 

Mint 

Moneys  of  Exchange. 

tions. 

Regula- 

Assays. 

Regula- 

Assays. 

Amsterdam,  banco 

tions. 

tions. 

35  8 

36  6-8 

37  3 

3710  5 

35  0 

35  6-5 

(  Schillings  and  pence  Flemish  per  pound  sterling.  Agio 
I     2  per  cent. 
Florins  and  stivers  per  pound  sterling. 

Do.  current     . 

11  45 

11  3-8 

11  8-5 

11  11-8 

1014  6 

1017-6 

Hamburgh 

34  3-5 

35  15 

34   1 

35   1-3 

3211 

3211-5 

Schillings  and  pence  Flemish  banco  per  pound  sterling. 

Paris 

25  20 

26  2G 

24  73 

24  91 

23  23 

2340 

Francs  and  centimes  per  pound  sterling. 

Madrid     . 

37  3 

37-2 

39-2 

39  0 

41-7 

41-5 

Pence  sterling  for  the  piastre  or  dollar  of  exchange. 

Lisbon 

67-4 

67-5 

60  41 

58-33 

64-30 

62-69 

Pence  sterling  per  milree. 

Leghorn  . 

491 

49  0 

46  46 

46-5 

49-60 

49  5 

Pence  sterling  per  pezza  of  exchange. 

Genoa 

45  5 

45-5 

46-46 

48-9 

49-4 

520 

Pence  sterling  per  pezza  fuori  banco." 

Naples     . 

41-22 

41-42 

43-9 

Pence  sterling  per  ducat  (new  coinage  of  1818). 

Venice 

46-3 

460     47-5 

49-9      44-6 

461 

Lire  piccole  per  pound  sterling. 

*  The  currency  of  Genoa  has  consisted,  since  1826,  of  Lire  Italiane  of  exactly  the  same  weight  and  fineness  as  francs  ;  so  that  the  par  of  exchange 
with  Genoa  is  now  the  same  us  with  Paris. 
430 


EXCHEQUER  CHAMBER. 

EXCHEQUER  CHAMBER,  COURT  OF,  In  Law,  is 
constituted  by  1  W.  4.  c.  70.  the  proper  tribunal  for  the 
trial  of  writs  of  error  from  the  three  superior  courts,  which 
before  was  only  partially  the  case.  In  this  court  the  writ 
is  tried  before  the  judges,  or  judges  and  barons,  of  the  two 
courts  which  had  not  given  the  former  judgment.  Error 
from  this  court  lies  in  the  House  of  Lords,  which  is  the  last 
and  highest  appellate  tribunal  of  the  country. 

EXCHEQUER,  COURT  OF,  in  Law,  was  originally 
established  for  the  recovery  of  the  king's  debts  and  ordi- 
nary revenues  of  the  crown.  In  its  modem  shape,  it 
is  in  fact  a  combination  of  eight  distinct  ancient  courts. 
It  acquired  concurrent  jurisdiction  with  the  other  two 
superior  courts  in  all  personal  actions  (see  Courts, 
Superior)  by  the  fiction  of  the  complaining  party  being 
debtor  to  the  king ;  a  fiction  which  is  now  removed.  It 
has  exclusive  jurisdiction  in  cases  in  which  the  king's 
revenue  is  concerned,  whether  personal  actions,  or  in- 
formations filed  under  the  various  revenue  acts.  It  has 
also  an  equitable  jurisdiction  ;  exclusive  with  respect  to 
matters  connected  with  the  revenue,  concurrent  with  the 
court  of  chancery  in  civil  suits.  It  has  also  the  original  and 
proper  equitable  jurisdiction  in  cases  of  tithes.  (.See 
Chancery.)  The  chief  and  four  puisne  or  younger  judges 
of  the  Exchequer  are  termed  Barons. 

Exchequer,  Court  of  (in  Scotland),  established  on  its 
present  footing  by  6  Anne,  c.  26.,  should  consist  of  a  chief 
baron  and  four  junior  barons  (but  three  only  have  been 
commonly  appointed).  It  has  a  privative  jurisdiction  as  to 
duties  of  customs,  excise,  and  other  revenues  of  the  crown. 

EXCHEQUER  BILLS,  are  bills  of  credit  issued  by  au- 
thority of  parliament.  They  are  for  various  sums,  and 
bear  interest  (generally  from  1W.  to  2£d.  per  diem  per 
1002.)  according  to  the  usual  rale  at  the  time.  The  ad- 
vances of  the  Bank  to  Government  are  made  upon  exche- 
quer bills  ;  and  the  daily  transactions  between  the  Bank  and 
Government  are  principally  carried  on  through  their  inter- 
vention. Notice  of  the  time  at  which  outstanding  exche- 
quer bills  are  to  be  paid  off  is  given  by  public  advertise- 
ment. Bankers  prefer  vesting  in  exchequer  bills  to  any 
other  species  of  stock,  even  though  the  interest  be  for  the 
most  part  comparatively  low  ;  because  the  capital  may  be 
received  at  the  Treasury  at  the  rate  originally  paid  for  it, 
the  holders  being  exempted  from  any  risk  of  fluctuation. 
Exchequer  bills  were  first  issued  in  1096,  and  have  been 
annually  issued  ever  since. 

Account  of  the  Amount  of  the  Exchequer  Bills  outstanding 
in  each  Year  since  1815,  and  the  Rate  of  Interest  payable 
on  such  Bills. 


Years 

Rate    of  Inte- 

Years 

Rale  of  Inte- 

ended 

Amount 

rest  on  Exche- 

ended 

Amount 

rest  on  Exche- 

5 Jan. 

outstanding. 

quer  Bills. 

5  Jan. 

outstanding. 

quer  Bills. 

Per  cent. 

Per  cent. 

per  diem. 

per  diem. 

L. 

d.    d.     d. 

L. 

d.    d.     d. 

1816 

41,441,900 

3k 

1829 

27,657.000 

2 

1817  44,650,300 

3      2l    2 

KM 

25,4911.550 

2    if  n 

1818  56,729,400 

1831 

27,271,650 

i!  " 

1819    13.655,400 

2£      "    2 

1832 

27.133,350 

1820 

36,900,200 

2i           2 

1833 

27,278,000 

1821 

30,965,900 

2|           2 

1334 

27,906,900 

14 

1822 

31.566,5.50 

o 

1835 

'i 

1823 

36,231,150 

2 

1--!i-i 

28,976,600 

1* 

1824  34,741,750 

2 

1837 

26,976,000 

H    2     2* 

1825  32,393.450 

2             H 

1833 

24,041,5.50 

9l                 0 

1826  27,994,200 

U          2" 

1839 

24,026,050 

"    2 

1827;  24,565,850 

"     o 

1840 

19,965,050 

If 

1828|  27,546,850 

2 

EXCISE  DUTIES,  in  Revenue  and  Finance,  are  duties 
imposed  on  articles  produced  or  manufactured  at  home, 
while  in  the  possession  of  the  producers  or  manufacturers. 
They  were  introduced  into  England  by  the  Long  Parlia- 
ment in  1643,  being  then  laid  on  the  makers  and  venders 
of  ale,  beer,  cider,  and  perry.  The  royalists  soon  after 
followed  the  example  of  the  republicans ;  both  sides  de- 
claring that  the  excise  should  be  continued  no  longer  than 
the  termination  of  the  war.  But  it  was  found  too  produc- 
tive a  source  of  revenue  to  be  again  relinquished  ;  and 
when  the  nation  had  been  accustomed  to  it  for  a  few  years, 
the  parliament  declared,  in  1649,  that  the  imoost  of  excise 
was  the  most  easy  and  indifferent  levy  that 'could  be  laid 
upon  the  people.  It  was  placed  on  a  new  footing  at  the 
Restoration ;  and  notwithstanding  Mr.  Justice  Blackstone 
says,  that  "  from  its  first  original  to  the  present  time,  its 
very  name  has  been  odious  to  the  people  of  England" 
{Com.,  book  i.  c.  8),  it  has  continued  progressively  to  gain 
ground  ;  and  is  at  this  moment  imposed  on  several  impor- 
tant articles,  and  furnishes  nearly  a  third  part  of  the  entire 
public  revenue  of  the  kingdom. 

For  the  more  easy  levy  of  the  excise  duties,  England  and 
431 


EXCOMMUNICATION. 

Wales  are  divided  into  about  fifty  six  collections,  some  of 
which  are  called  by  the  names  of  particular  counties, 
others  by  the  names  of  great  towns.  Where  one  county  is 
divided  into  several  collections,  or  where  a  collection  com- 
prises the  contiguous  parts  of  several  counties,  every  such 
collection  is  subdivided  into  several  districts,  within  which 
there  is  a  supervisor ;  and  each  district  is  aeain  subdivided 
into  out-rides  and  foot- walks,  within  each  of  which  there  is 
a  surveying  officer  or  gauger.  Some  excise  duties,  that 
were  justly  objected  to,  have  been  repealed  within  these 
few  years ;  and  with  the  exception  of  the  duty  on  glass, 
which  interferes  injuriously  with  the  manufacture,  we  are 
not  sure  that  there  is  one  of  the  existing  duties  that  can  be 
fairly  objected  to  on  principle,  though  the  rate  of  duty 
might,  in  some  instances,  be  advantageously  reduced.  It 
has  been  said,  that  the  excise  duties  "greatly  raise  the  cost 
of  subsistence  to  the  labouring  classes."  But  this  assertion 
has  really  no  foundation.  In  fact,  the  only  excise  duty  that 
can  be  said  to  fall  on  a  necessary  of  life  is  that  on  soap, 
which  produced  in  1833  (in  Great* Britain)  509,031/. ;  but  as 
the  population  of  Great  Britain  amounts  at  present  to  about 
13,000,000,  the  soap  tax  cannot,  at  an  average,  impose  a  bur- 
den of  lid.  a  year  on  each  individual.  If  we  estimate  its 
annual  pressure  on  a  labouring  family  of  five  persons  at 
from  2s.  6d.  to  3s.,  we  shall  not  be  within  but  beyond  the 
mark. 

The  only  taxes,  in  the  various  departments  of  the  re- 
venue, that  can  be  truly  said  to  fall  on  articles  necessary  to 
the  labourer,  are,  besides  soap,  principally  those  on  tea  and 
sugar.  We  incline  to  think  that  the  duties  on  these  arti- 
cles might  be  very  materially  reduced  without  affecting  the 
revenue  ;  but,  however  that  may  be,  it  cannot  be  truly 
affirmed  that  they  entail  any  grievous  burden  on  the  labour- 
ing classes.  The  entire  nett  produce  of  the  excise  duties 
in  Great  Britain  in  1833  amounted  to  12.775.955; ,  of  which 
the  duties  on  spirits  and  malt,  that  is,  on  spirits  and  beer, 
produced  no  less  than  8.604,115/.  In  Ireland,  during  the 
same  year,  the  excise  duties  amounted  to  1,974,566/.,  of 
which  the  spirit  and  malt  duties  furnished  above  four-fifths, 
or  1,795,165/.  The  rate  at  which  this  revenue  was  collected 
was  nearly  6£  per  cent,  in  Great  Britain,  and  9£  per  cent, 
in  Ireland.  Now,  we  are  bold  to  say,  that  no  equal  amount 
of  revenue  was  ever  raised  with  so  little  inconvenience  or 
injury  to  the  contributors.  Even  though  they  were  not  re- 
quired by  the  public  exigencies,  the  duties  bn  spirits  ob- 
struct a  pernicious  habit,  and  should  not  be  given  up.  They 
are  the  best  of  all  possible  duties ;  and  the  only  thing  to  be 
attended  to  in  their  imposition,  is  not  to  carry  them  to  such 
a  height  as  to  defeat  their  object  by  encouraging  smuggling. 
We  have  y  et  to  learn,  supposing  they  are  not  carried  beyond 
this  limit,  that  a  single  good  objection  can  be  made  to  these 
duties. 

The  obscurity  and  complexity  of  the  excise  laws  has  been 
justly  complained  of.  It  is  needless  to  say,  that  they  ought 
to  be  brief,  clear,  and  level  to  the  apprehension  of  every 
one.  But,  so  far  from  this  being  the  case,  they  are  in 
most  instances  lengthened,  contradictory,  and  unintelligi- 
ble. There  were  at  no  distant  period  some  40  or  50  acts  in 
existence  having  reference  to  the  glass  duties,  and  at  this 
moment  from  25  to  30  have  reference  to  the  paperduties,  and 
so  for  the  others.  It  is,  in  fact,  all  but  impossible  for  any 
one  to  tell  what  the  law  really  is  on  many  points ;  so  that 
the  trader  is  left  at  the  mercy  of  the  officers,  and  a  wide 
door  is  opened  to  favouritism  and  fraud.  This  disgraceful 
state  of  things  might,  however,  be  easily  remedied  by  get- 
ting the  treasury  or  the  excise  to  prepare  a  short  abstract 
of  the  law  as  to  each  duty,  drawn  up  in  the  clearest  and 
least  ambiguous  manner  possible,  and  without  any  of  that 
verbosity,  repetition,  and  technical  jargon  that  infects  acts 
of  parliament,  and  renders  them  all  but  incomprehensible 
to  ordinary  persons.  A  manufacturer  abiding  by  this  ab- 
stract should  be  held  to  have  abided  by  the  law,  and  should 
not  be  further  questioned  on  the  subject.  A  measure  of 
this  sort  might  be  easily  carried  into  effect.  It  would  be 
an  immense  improvement,  and  would  go  far  to  obviate  the 
onlv  ?nod  objection  to  the  excise  duties. 

EXf.'ITABI'LITY.  A  disposition  to  be  affected  by  ex- 
citing causes.  It  is  a  term  chiefly  used  in  medicine,  in 
reference  to  that  state  of  system  which  is  more  or  less  sus- 
ceptible of  morbid  excitement. 

EXCOMMU'NICATION.  An  ecclesiastical  censure,  by 
which  a  man  is  cut  off  from  communion  with  his  church. 
The  right  possessed  by  any  community  of  ejecting  any  per- 
son who  contravenes  the  laws  by  which  it  is  governed  is 
founded  on  the  original  principles  of  society,  and  is  exer- 
cised in  some  shape  or  other  by  every  sect  among  Chris- 
tians. If  we  suppose,  however,  one  society  to  be  the  de- 
positary of  all  God's  covenants  and  mercies,  and  to  afford 
the  exclusive  means  of  salvation,  excommunication  will  in 
such  case  involve  eternal  perdition,  and  must  be  defended 
on  some  higher  grounds  than  those  of  social  expediency. 
An  appeal  is  made  to  scripture  in  defence  of  this  practice 
on  the  following  grounds: — The  power  of  binding  and  loos- 
ing is  undoubtedly  given  to  the  apostles.    St.  Paul  delivers 


EXCORIATION. 

ever  to  Satan  a  heretic,  or  one  who  troubled  the  church  ; 
'.tie  sudden  death  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira  seems  to  have 
been  inflicted  upon  them  by  the  apostle  himself  as  a  pun- 
ishment for  their  crimes  ;  the  faithful  are  charged  to  keep 
no  company  with  heretics  ;  Titus  is  directed  by  St.  Paul  to 
reject  such  after  the  first  and  second  admonition.  Upon 
the  authority  of  these  passages  many  Christian  churches 
have  assumed  the  power  of  excommunication.  Protes- 
tants, however,  do  not  generally  venture  to  pronounce  upon 
the  future  condition  of  a  person  thus  excluded  from  cove- 
nanted benefits ;  whereas  in  the  forms  of  excommunica- 
tion of  the  Greek  and  Roman  churches,  the  excommuni- 
cated person  is  solemnly  devoted  to  the  devil. 

The  English  church  retains  a  form  of  excommunication, 
in  cases  of  adultery,  incontinence,  heresy,  simony,  and 
neglect  of  public  worship,  &c. ;  the  practice,  however,  has 
long  become  obsolete.  In  English  law,  excommunication 
was  the  ordinary  mode  by  which  contempt  of  the  ecclesi- 
astical jurisdiction  was  punished  and  its  process  enforced. 
Forty  days  after  sentence  the  writ  de  excommunicatio  ca- 
piendo issued  (called  also  a  sig>uficavit,  from  the  recital  of 
the  bishop's  certificate  with  which  it  commenced),  under 
which  the  party  was  apprehended  by  the  sheriff.  By  stat. 
53  G.  3.  c.  127.  the  legal  effect  of  excommunication  is  abo- 
lished, and  the  writ  de  contumace  capiendo  substituted  for 
the  former  one. 

EXCORIA'TION.  (Lat.  excorio,  I  remove  the  skin.)  An 
abrasion  of  the  cuticle. 

EXCRE'TION.  (Lat.  excerno,  I  separate  from.)  A  sub- 
stance which  is  rejected  from  the  body  as  useless. 

EXCU'RRENT.  In  Botany,  a  term  used  in  describing 
the  ramification  of  any  body  whose  axis  always  remains  in 
the  centre ;  the  other  parts  being  regularly  disposed  around 
it,  as  the  stem  of  Pinus  abies. 

EXECU'TION.  The  carrying  into  effect  of  a  judgment 
given  in  a  court  of  law.  Unless  execution  be  taken  out 
within  a  year  and  a  day  after  the  judgment  has  been  given, 
the  judgment  must  be  revived  by  writ  of  scire  facias.  Exe- 
cution may  be  against  the  person  of  defendant  by  imprison- 
ment, which  is  under  a  writ  of  capias  ad  respondendum. 
There  are  also  various  writs  of  execution  against  the  goods 
of  a  defendant  and  against  his  lands.  Criminal  execution 
is  in  the  country  directed  by  the  judge  of  assize  who  tries 
the  prisoner,  and  in  London  by  the  recorder. 

Execution.  In  the  Fine  Arts,  the  mode  of  performing 
a  work  of  art,  and  the  dexterity  with  which  it  is  accom- 
plished. 

EXE'CUTIVE.  In  the  theory  of  Government,  that  part 
of  the  powers  of  the  state  which  is  employed  in  putting  into 
execution  the  laws  made  by  the  legislative  or  the  decrees 
of  the  judicial  power.  In  England,  all  executive  power  is 
supposed  to  be  vested  in  the  king,  and  in  inferior  officers 
by  his  delegation. 

EXE'CUTOR.  In  Law,  an  executor  is  a  person  appointed 
by  a  testator,  and  whose  appointment  is  confirmed  by  the 
proper  ecclesiastical  court,  to  execute  his  will,  and  to 
represent  him  in  his  personal  rights  and  liabilities.  Thus 
the  rights  and  liabilities  of  an  executor  in  his  representa- 
tive capacity  (the  same  as  those  of  an  administrator),  are 
those  of  the  testator  or  intestate,  arising, — for  or  against 
him — either  out  of  contract,  or  from  injury  done  to  his 
property,  real  or  personal,  or  from  injury  done  by  him  to 
the  real  or  personal  property  of  another ;  but  the  liabilities 
of  an  executor  or  administrator  do  not  overreach  the  pro- 
perty or  assets  which  he  has  received,  or  might  but  for  his 
negligence  or  default  have  received,  by  virtue  of  his  office. 

The  first  and  most  important  duty  of  executors  and  ad- 
ministrators is  the  payment  of  debts  which  attach  to  the 
property  in  their  hands,  in  the  following  order;  the  rea- 
sonable expenses  of  the  funeral,  and  the  necessary  ex- 
penses of  proving  the  will,  or  of  obtaining  letters  of  admin- 
istration, being  first  defrayed. 

1st.  Debts  due  to  the  crown  by  record  or  on  specialty. 

2dly.  Debts  due  to  the  subject  by  virtue  of  the  judgment 
of  any  court  of  record. 

3dly.  Debts  acknowledged  upon  record,  as  by  recogni- 
zance. 

4thly.  Debts  due  upon  specialty,  or  on  account  of  rent.' 

5thly.  Debts  of  the  crown  not  upon  specialty  or  record. 

6thly.  Debts  by  simple  contract. 

Creditors  of  each  class  are  entitled  to  be  paid  in  full  be- 
fore any  thing  is  allowed  to  debts  of  an  inferior  order ;  and 
as  between  themselves  they  are  paid  pro  rata  as  far  as  the 
assets  will  extend.  But  an  executor  will  be  allowed,  upon 
account,  any  debt  that  he  may  have  paid  without  notice  of 
another  debt  of  a  higher  class  ;  and  as  between  creditors 
of  equal  degree,  he  may,  before  action  brought  at  law,  or 
decree  to  account  in  equity,  give  preference  to  any.  He 
may  also  at  any  time  as  against  creditors  of  an  equal  class 
retain  a  debt  due  to  himself. 

Next  to  debts  stand,  in  the  first  place,  specific  legacies, 

»'.  e.  gifts  of  specific  parts  of  personal  estate ;  and  in  the 

next  place  general  legacies,  that  is,  gifts  of  money  payable 

out  of  the  general  residue  of  such  estate  :  what  remains 

432 


EXHAUSTION. 

after  payment  of  legacies,  where  there  are  any,  or  where 
there  are  none  after  payment  of  debts,  is  divisible  among 
the  next  of  kin  according  to  the  Statute  of  Distributions. 
Specific  legacies  may  be  recovered  at  law;  but  the  rights 
of  general  legatees,  and  of  next  of  kin,  are  enforcible 
only  in  courts  of  equity,  or  in  the  ecclesiastical  courts. 

Most  frequently  also  claims  in  the  nature  of  debt  or  le- 
gacy to  which  the  personal  estate  of  testators  or  intestates 
is  subject  are  prosecuted  in  courts  of  equity  ;  which  do  not 
only,  like  courts  of  law,  take  cognizance  of  each  individual 
right  as  brought  forward,  but  will  take  upon  themselves  the 
whole  administration  of  the  estate,  and  retain  it  in  their 
hands  for  the  purpose  of  doing  justice  to  all  claimants. 

In  so  doing  courts  of  equity  are  bound  to  follow  the  legal 
order  of  priority  above  stated,  so  far  at  least  as  the  assets 
are  legal  ;  i.  e.  either  recoverable  in  courts  of  common 
law,  or  arising  upon  trust  direct  and  proper  and  co-exten- 
sive with  the  legal  interest  {vide  Trust),  to  which  the  prin- 
ciple of  (Bcjuilas  sequitur  legem  applies.  But  where  there 
are  assets  recoverable  only  in  equity,  and  arising  upon  im- 
plied or  resulting  trusts,  these  are  called  equitable  ;  and  in 
the  application^  such  assets  the  rule  obtains  of  equality 
between  all  debts,  the  priority  of  debts  to  legacies,  and 
among  these  of  specific  to  general,  being  still  observed. 
Where  there  are  both  legal  and  equitable  assets,  creditors 
availing  themselves  of  their  priority  against  the  legal  as- 
sets will  not  be  admitted  to  any  participation  in  the  equitable 
assets  till  other  creditors  shall  have  received  out  of  them  the 
same  proportion  of  their  debts  as  the  creditors  of  a  higher 
degree  shall  have  been  already  paid  out  of  the  legal  assets. 

By  the  recent  act  of  the  3  &  4  W.  4.  real  estate  not  de- 
vised for  or  charged  with  the  payment  of  debts  is  made 
assets  for  the  payment  of  all  debts,  to  be  administered  by 
courts  of  equity  according  to  the,  legal  order  of  priorities; 
but  real  estate  so  devised  or  charged  still  remains  as  before 
equitable  assets.  Executors  and  administrators  as  such  have 
no  concern  in  either  case  with  the  application  of  real  assets. 

Many  questions  arise  in  regard  to  legacies, — as  to  when 
they  are  vested,  when  specific  or  general, — which  it  is  im- 
possible to  notice  within  the  limits  of  this  summary. 

EXEGE'SIS.  (Gr.  ef,  and  jjyeo//ai,  /  lead.)  The  term 
applied  most  usually  to  the  exposition  or  interpretation  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures ;  it  is  also  used,  however,  in  an  unre- 
stricted sense.  This  department  of  biblical  learning  has 
been  most  assiduously  cultivated  in  modern  times,  espe- 
cially by  the  Germans,  as  the  writings  of  Michaelis, 
Schleussner,  Rosenmiiller,  Gesenius,  &c.  amply  testify. 

EXE'RGUE.  (Fr.)  In  Numismatics,  the  basis  or  lower 
limb  of  a  coin  or  medal,  when  separated  by  a  line  from 
the  rest  of  the  face,  which  usually  contains  words  giving 
the  date,  place,  &c.  of  the  coin,  or  other  subsidiary  mat- 
ter.   Sve  Numismatics. 

EXFOLIA'TION.  (Lat.  exfolio,  I  scale  off.)  The  sepa- 
ration of  a  piece  of  dead  bone  from  the  living. 

EXHALA'TION.    See  Vapour,  Evaporation. 

EXHAU'STION.  Iu  Geometry,  a  method  of  demon- 
stration  employed  by  the  ancient  geometers  to  prove  the 
equality  of  two  magnitudes,  by  showing  that  their  diffe- 
rence is  less  than  any  assignable  magnitude.  The  ancients 
employed  this  method  in  their  difficult  researches,  particu- 
larly in  the  theory  of  curve  lines  and  surfaces,  and  in  de- 
termining the  areas  and  volumes  which  those  surfaces  con- 
tain. As  they  admitted  no  demonstrations  but  such  as  are 
perfectly  rigorous,  they  did  not  consider  curves  as  poly- 
gons of  a  great  number  of  sides  ;  but  in  attempting  to  dis- 
cover the  properties  of  any  curve,  they  regarded  it  as  the 
fixed  term  or  limit  to  which  the  inscribed  and  circum- 
scribed polygons  continually  approach,  and  approach  the 
nearer  as  the  number  of  their  sides  is  increased.  Thus 
they  exhausted,  as  it  were,  the  space  between  the  polygons 
and  the  curve  ;  and  hence  this  method  of  procedure  was 
called  the  method  of  exhaustion. 

As  polygons  bounded  by  straight  lines  were  known 
figures,  their  continual  approach  to  the  curve  gave  a  more 
precise  idea  of  its  properties  in  proportion  as  the  diffe- 
rence was  diminished ;  and  by  following  the  law  of  con- 
tinuity, an  exact  knowledge  of  these  properties  was  at 
length  obtained.  But  when  the  properties  of  the  curve 
were  thus  divined,  as  it  were,  it  remained  to  verify  them 
by  a  geometrical  demonstration  ;  and  this  was  done  by  prov- 
ing that  every  contrary  supposition  necessarily  leads  to  a 
contradiction.  This  method  of  demonstration  is  the  re- 
ductio  ad  absurdum. 

By  the  method  of  exhaustion  the  ancients  demonstrated 
that  the  areas  of  circles  of  different  diameters  are  to  each 
other  as  the  squares  of  their  diameters  ;  that  the  volumes 
of  spheres  are  to  each  other  as  the  cubes  of  their  diame- 
ters ;  that  pyramids  of  the  same  altitude  are  in  proportion 
to  their  bases  ;  that  the  cone  is  the  third  of  a  cylinder  of 
the  same  base,  &c.  In  the  same  manner  Archimedes  de- 
monstrated that  the  convex  surface  of  a  right  cone  is  equal 
to  the  area  of  the  circle  whose  radius  is  a  mean  propor- 
tional between  the  side  of  the  cone  and  the  radius  of  the 
base ;  that  the  area  of  a  sphere  is  four  times  that  of  one 


EXHEDRA. 

of  its  great  circles  ;  and  that  the  area  of  any  of  its  zones 
is  equal  to  the  circumference  of  a  great  circle  multiplied 
by  the  height  of  the  zone.  The  differential  calculus  of  the 
moderns  is  only  the  method  of  exhaustion  of  the  ancients 
reduced  to  a  simple  and  commodious  analysis.  (See  Mac- 
iaurin's  Fluxions;  and  Carnot,  Metaphysique  du  Ccdcul 
Infinitesimal.) 

E'XHEDRA.  (Gr.  t\,  out  of,  and  eSpa.  a  chair.)  In 
Ancient  Architecture,  a  small  room  in  the  baths  and  other 
buildings  appropriated  for  conversation. 

EXHIBITION.  (Lat.  exhibeo,  Ishow.)  A  term  ap- 
plied in  modern  times  to  the  public  display  of  works  of 
art.  This  word  is  also  used  to  denote  private  benefactions 
instituted  for  the  maintenance  of  scholars  in  Hie  universi- 
ties.    /See  Bursars. 

EXHUMATION.  (Lat.  ex,  out  of,  and  humus,  the 
ground.)  The  act  of  digging  up  a  body  interred  in  holy 
ground  by  the  authority  of  the  judge.  In  France  the  laws 
enforce  exhumation  on  proof  that  any  person  has  been 
killed  in  a  duel. 

E'XIGENT.  In  Law,  a  writ  which  lies  when  the  defen- 
dant in  an  action  personal,  or  in  an  indictment,  cannot  be 
found  :  and  where,  in  the  former  case,  nothing  of  his  can 
I*  found  within  the  county  whereby  he  may  be  attached 
or  distrained  upon.  The  writ  is  directed  to  the  sheriff,  to 
proclaim  the  absent  party  on  five  county  court  days,  one 
after  another;  and  if  he  do  not  answer  on  the  fifth,  he  is 
outlawed. 

E'XILE.  (Lat.  exsilium,  from  exsul,  one  banished  ex 
nolo  from  the  soil  of  his  country.)  In  Roman  Law,  the  pun- 
ishment of  banishment,  or,  more  strictly  speaking,  the 
consequence  of  the  interdiction  from  the  use  of  fire  and 
water,  pronounced  in  early  times  as  a  sentence  against 
great  offenders,  which  compelled  them  to  expatriate  them- 
selves. It  appears  that  the  direct  sentence  of  exile  was 
not  known  to  ancient  Roman  jurisprudence.  'Cicero  ad 
Herenn.)  In  modern  France  (before  the  Revolution), 
there  was  a  distinction  between  banishment  and  exile. 
The  former  was  a  punishment  assigned  by  the  law,  and 
producing  infamy  ;  the  latter  a  measure  of  discipline,  in- 
llicted  by  the  arbitrary  act  of  the  monarch  (usually  through 
lettres  de  cachet).  Thus  political  offenders  were  fre- 
quently exiled  to  their  estates,  to  a  certain  distance  from 
court.  &c. 

EXISTENCE.     See  Perception,  Materialism. 

F/XIT.  A  word  placed  in  the  margin  of  plays  to  mark 
the  time  at  which  the  plaver  leaves  the  stage. 

EXO'UIUM,  in  Greek  Tragedy,  signified  the  end  or  de- 
nouement of  the  play  ;  or  more  properly  that  portion  of  it 
(generally  the  last  act)  in  which  the  catastrophe  is  indicated, 
or  the  plot  begins  to  be  unravelled. 

E'XODIIS.     See  Pentateuch. 

EXOFFI'CIO.  (Lat.  by  reason  of  office  or  duty.''  In 
general  language,  every  act  done  by  an  officer  either  in 
prosecution  of  the  general  duty  of  his  office,  or  in  execut- 
ing some  special  duty  imposed  by  it,  is  said  to  be  done  ex 
officio.  But,  in  more  strict  phraseology,  a  proceeding  ex 
officio  is  one  taken  by  an  officerof  hisown  will,  in  execution 
of  what  he  takes  to  be  the  duty  of  his  office  ;  as,  where  a 
iustice  of  the  peace  demands  and  takes  surety  of  his  own 
discretion,  without  the  request  of  the  injured  party.  An 
ex  officio  information  is  an  information  at  the  suit  of  the 
king,  filed  by  the  attorney-general,  without  applying  to  a 
court  for  leave.  (See  Information.)  Ex  officio  criminal 
informations  are  employed  in  cases  of  libel,  sedition,  &c, 
when  officially  prosecuted. 

EXO'GENOUS.  (Gr.  tf,  and  yctvopai,  I  groic.)  A 
term  applied  (o  those  plants  a  transverse  slice  of  whose 
stem  exhibits  a  central  cellular  substance  or  pith,  an  ex- 
ternal cellular  and  fibrous  ring  or  bark,  and  an  intermedi- 
ate woody  mass,  and  certain  fine  lines  radiating  from  the 
pith  to  the  bark  through  the  wood,  and  called  medullary 
rays.  They  are  called  Exogens.  because  they  add  to  their 
wood  by  successive  external  additions ;  and  are  the  same 
as  what  are  otherwise  called  Dicotyledons.  They  consti- 
tute one  of  the  primary  classes  into  which  the  vegetable 
world  is  divided,  characterized  by  their  leaves  being  reticu- 
lated ;  their  stems  having  a  distinct  deposition  of  bark,  wood, 
and  pith  ;  their  embryo  with  two  cotyledons;  and  by  their 
llowers  usually  formed  on  a  quinary  type. 

EXO'MPHALOS.  (Gr.  tf,  and  'd/<pa\6s,  the  navel.)  A 
hernia  or  runture  at  or  near  the  navel. 

E'XOPHTHA'LMIA.  (Gr.  sf,  and  ofOaXuos,  the  eye.) 
The  protrusion  of  the  eyeball  from  the  orbit.  It  is  usually 
the  consequenc"  of  concussions  or  blows  ;  sometimes  it  is 
produced  by  a  tumour  in  the  orbit,  which  gradually  pushes 
the  eveball  out  of  its  socket. 

EXOPHY'LLOrS.  (.Gr.  e^  and  fvWov,  a  lef)  A  term 
invented  by  Dumnrtier  to  be  applied  to  the  yoni.j  leaves  of 
Exogens;  sine"  they  are  said  to  be  always  naked,  while 
those  of  EndoL""  us  sheath  each  other. 

EXO'PTILES.     (Gr.  ef.and  tttiXoi/,  a  feather.)    A  term 
invented  by  M.  Lestiboudois  for  Dicotyledonous  plants,  be- 
cause their  plumula  is  naked. 
433 


EXPANSION. 

EXORCI'SM.  (Gr.  eJo/j/cij'co,  /  bindor  charge  upon 
oath.)  The  solemn  adjuration  by  which  those  endowed 
with  certain  powers  were  believed  to  be  able  to  subject  evil 
spirits  to  their  obedience  :  more  particularly  to  compel 
them  to  leave  the  bodies  of  those  supposed  to  be  subject 
to  demoniacal  possession.  The  exorcists  form  one  of  the 
minor  orders  in  the  church  of  Rome. 

EXO'RDIUM.  (Lat.  exordior,  /  begin  an  oration.)  In 
Oratory  and  Literature,  the  opening  part  of  an  oration; 
which,  according  to  ancient  critics,  should  be  drawn  either 
from  the  subject  ilself  or  from  the  situation  of  the  speaker; 
presenting  either  brief  remarks  on  the  general  character 
of  the  topic  on  which  he  is  about  to  deliver  himself,  or  in- 
sinuations (according  to  the  advice  of  Cicero),  calculated 
generally  to  prejudice  the  audience  in  favour  of  the  speaker, 
and  against  his  adversary. 

EXORRHI'Z^E.  (Gr.  t$,  and  piga,  a  root.)  A  term  in- 
vented by  Richard  to  be  applied  to  the  embryo  of  Dicotyl- 
edons; inasmuch  as  their  radicle  always  elongates  down- 
wards, directly  from  the  outside  of  the  base  of  the  embryo. 

EXOSMO'SE.  (Gr.  e$.  and  coauog,  impulsion.)  The 
passage  of  gases,  vapours,  or  liquids  through  mem- 
branes or  porous  media  from  within  outwards.  Mr.  Du- 
trochet  having  found  that  if  two  lluids  of  unequal  density 
are  separated  by  an  animal  or  vegetable  membrane,  the 
denser  will  attract  the  less  dense,  through  the  membrane 
that  divides  them  :  this  property  he  called  Endosmose 
when  the  attraction  is  from  the  outside  to  the  inside ;  and 
Exosmose  when  it  operates  from  the  inside  to  the  outside 
of  the  body  acted  upon. 

EXOSTO'ME.  (Gr.  tf,  and  aroua,  a  mouth.)  A  term 
invented  by  Mirbel  to  denote  the  passage  through  the  outer 
integument  of  an  ovule,  commonly  called  the  foramen. 

EXOSTO'SIS.  (Gr.  «£.  from,  and  ocrsov,  a  bone.)  In 
Anatomy,  a  swelling  or  tumour  of  a  bone. 

Exostosis.  In  Botany,  a  disease  to  which  the  roots  and 
stems  of  trees  are  subject,  when  knots  or  large  tumours 
are  formed  upon  or  among  the  wood.  It  is  caused  by  a 
stoppage  of  growth  on  the  one  hand,  and  an  attempt  at  ex- 
cessive development  on  the  other.  It  is  from  sections  of 
the  exostoses  of  trees  that  some  of  the  most  beautiful  wood 
used  by  cabinetmakers  is  obtained. 

EXP'STKA.  (Gr.  i^oarpa.)  In  Ancient  Architecture, 
a  machine  for  representing  the  interior  part  of  a  building 
as  connected  with  the  scene  of  a  theatre. 

EXOTERIC.     See  Esoteric. 

EXOTHE'CIUM.  (Gr.  sfoj,  without,  and  $nKn,  recep- 
tacle.) That  portion  of  an  anther  from  which  the  pollen  is  in- 
correctly supposed  to  separate;  it  is  the  coalingof  the  anther. 

EXOTIC.  (Gr.  efain/coj,  foreign.)  Any  thing  intro- 
duced to  one  country  from  some  other  country.  In  gar- 
dening it  is  sometimes  applied  to  plants  which  require 
protection  in  winter,  or  to  plants  in  general  which  are  not 
European. 

EXPA'NSION.  One  of  the  most  common  and  obvious 
effects  of  heat,  which  expands  or  enlarges  the  bulk  of  all 
the  forms  of  matter.  The  expansion  of  solids  by  increase 
of  temperature  is  comparatively  small ;  but  it  may  be 
rendered  sensible  by  carefully  measuring  the  dimensions 
of  any  substance  when  cold,  and  again  when  heated :  an 
iron  bar,  for  example,  fitted  to  a  gauge,  which  shows  its 
length  and  breadth,  will  no  longer  pass  through  the  aper- 
tures when  heated.  Among  solids  the  metals  are  most 
expansible  and  contractile  by  heat  and  cold  ;  but  they  vary 
much  in  this  respect,  as  shown  in  the  following  table, 
which  exhibits  the  change  of  dimensions  which  several  of 
them  undergo  when  heated,  from  the  freezing  to  the  boil- 
ing point  of  water : — 

Temperature. 


Platinum 
Steel   . 
Iron 
Copper 
Brass 
Tin      . 
Lead   . 
Zinc    . 


32°  212° 

120000       120104 

—  120147 

—  120151 

—  120204 

—  120230 

—  120290 
120345 
120360 


The  average  expansion  of  glass  is  very  nearly  the  same 
as  that  of  platinum.  The  expansibility  of  different  liquids 
is  also  very  variable  ;  ether,  for  instance,  and  alcohol,  are 
more  expansile  than  water,  and  water  more  than  mercury, 
The  expansibility  of  mercury  is  applied  to  a  very  useful 
purpose  in  the  construction  of  the  common  thermometer. 
In  general  all  liquids  expand  and  contract  in  proportion  as 
they  are  heated  and  cooled  ;  but  to  this  law  there  is  a  re- 
markable and  anomalous  exception  in  regard  to  water. 
When  a  large  thermometer  tube  is  filled  with  water  of  the 
temperature  of  60°,  and  placed  in  a  cold  situation,  or  in  a 
freezing  mixture  of  ice  and  salt,  the  water  goes  on  shrink- 
ing in  the  tube,  till  it  has  attained  the  temperature  of  about 
40° ;  and  then,  instead  of  continuing  to  contract  till  it 
freezes  (as  is  the  ca6e  with  other  liquids),  it  slowly  expands, 
D  d  38 


EX  PARTE. 

and  actually  rises  in  the  tube  until  it  congeals.  In  this  case, 
the  expansion  above  40°  and  below  40°  seems  to  be  equal ; 
so  that  water  will  be  of  the  same  bulk  at  4S°  and  at  32°. 
This  anomalous  expansion  of  water  by  cold  is  productive 
of  some  important  consequences,  considered  as  a  natural 
operation  ;  for  if  water,  like  other  fluids,  went  on  increas- 
ing in  density  till  it  froze,  the  consequence  would  be  that 
large  bodies  of  water,  instead  of  being  only  superficially 
frozen  in  winter,  would  be  converted  throughout  into  solid 
masses  of  ice.  Let  us  take  a  fresh  water  lake  as  an  ex- 
ample. The  earth  being  in  winter  warmer  than  the  air, 
the  heat  is  withdrawn  from  the  surface  of  the  water  by  the 
cold  breezes  that  blow  over  it;  and  the  whole  body  of 
water  has  its  temperature  lowered  to  40°,  which  is  the  point 
of  its  greatest  density,  and  a  temperature  perfectly  con- 
genial to  fish  and  most  other  aquatic  animals.  The  cold 
now  continues  to  operate  upon  the  surface  of  the  water; 
but,  instead  of  diminishing  its  bulk,  and  therefore  render- 
ing it  heavier  than  the  warmer  water  beneath,  it  expands 
it,  and  renders  it  lighter;  so  that  under  these  circum- 
stances a  stratum  of  ice-cold  water  (at  32°)  will  be  found 
lying  upon  the  mass  of  warmer  water  beneath  it  (at  40°). 
The  influence  of  the  cold  continuing,  the  surface  of  the 
lake  will  soon  freeze,  but  the  water  immediately  below  the 
superficial  covering  of  ice  will  be  found  comparatively 
warm ;  and  as  water  is  almost  a  non-conductor  of  heat,  it 
will  be  a  long  time  before  the  ice  attains  any  thickness ;  and 
the  whole  body  of  water,  if  of  any  depth,  can  never  freeze 
throughout.  Indeed,  it  will  be  obvious  that  the  retardation 
of  freezing  will  be  proportional  to  the  depth  of  water  which 
has  to  be  cooled;  and  hence  some  very  deep  basins  or 
lakes  are  scarcely  ever  even  covered  by  ice. 

As  liquids  are  enlarged  and  consequently  rendered  spe- 
cifically lighter  by  heat,  very  different  effects  are  produced 
by  applying  heat  to  different  parts  of  the  vessels  containing 
them.  If  the  heat  be  applied  to  the  bottom  of  the  vessel, 
it  is  soon  heated  equally  throughout,  and  made  to  boil ;  but 
if  the  surface  only  be  heated,  it  may  then  be  boiled  and 
evaporated,  while  the  lower  parts  remain  quite  cold. 

Aeriform  bodies  and  vapours  are  the  most  expansible 
forms  of  matter,  and  they  present  an  important  peculiarity ; 
for  in  other  substances  each  individual  has  its  own  degree 
of  expansion  and  contraction,  whereas  all  pure  aeriform 
bodies  expand  and  contract  alike  ;  so  that  if  we  accurately 
determine  the  expansion  and  contraction  of  any  one  of 
them,  that  knowledge  applies  to  all  the  rest.  100  measures 
of  air,  when  heated  from  the  freezing  to  the  boiling  point 
of  water,  suffer  an  increase  of  bulk  equal  to  375  parts ;  so 
that  100  cubic  feet  of  air  at  32°  become  dilated  to  137  A  cubic 
feet  at  212°. 

EX  PARTE.  In  Law,  of  the  one  part.  A  commission 
ex  parte  in  chancery  is  that  which  is  taken  out  and  ex- 
ecuted by  one  side  or  party  alone,  on  the  other  party's 
neglecting  or  refusing  to  join. 

EXPECTATION  OF  LIFE.  By  this  term  writers  on  an- 
nuities and  reversions  express  the  mean  duration  of  human 
life,  after  a  specified  age,  according  to  a  given  table  of  mor- 
tality. With  regard  to  an  individual  of  a  given  age,  the 
expectation  of  life  is  the  mean  number  of  future  years  which 
individuals  of  that  age,  one  with  another,  actually  live  ; 
those  who  live  longer  than  that  period  enjoying  as  much 
more  life  in  proportion  to  their  numbers  as  those  who  live 
a  shorter  time  enjoy  less.  The  expectation  of  life,  accord- 
ing to  this  definition,  differs  altogether  from  what  is  called 
the  probable  life,  or  the  number  of  years  which  an  indi- 
vidual has  an  equal  chance  of  surviving.  The  latter  term 
denotes  the  period  of  time  at  the  end  of  which  the  proba- 
bility of  being  alive  is  equal  to  the  probability  of  being  dead, 
or  is  equal  to  J ;  and  this  is  manifestly  the  period  in  which 
the  number  of  lives  in  the  table,  beginning  with  any  given 
age,  is  reduced  to  one  half.  For  example,  if  in  a  given  table 
of  mortality  we  find  that  1000  individuals  are  living  at  the  ase 
of  40,  and  that  of  these  500  only  are  living  at  the  age  of  63, 
then  the  probable  life  of  a:i  individual  aged  40,  according 
to  that  table,  would'be  23  ye:irs  ;  that  is  to  say,  it  is  an  even 
wager  whether  he  will  be  alive  or  dead  at  the  end  of  23 
years.  The  mean  life,  or  expectation  of  life,  is,  however, 
quite  different  in  principle  (though  in  most  tables  not  very 
different  in  amount),  and  depends  on  the  same  mathemati- 
cal probabilities  of  living  wer  each  future  year  of  life,  to 
the  last  in  the  table,  as  are  employed  in  the  calculation  of 
life  annuities.     It  is  computed  as  follows : — 

Let  the  probabilities  that  a  life  of  a  given  age  will  live 
over, 

1,  2,  3,  4  a:  years, 

be  pi  pn         p'i         pi px  respectively  ; 

then  the  probability  that  the  life  will  fail  in  any  given  year 
x,  is  px—\  — p_r- 

Now,  in  computing  the  portion  of  existence  which  an  in- 
dividual may  expect  to  enjoy  in  respect  of  any  future  year 
x,  there  are  two  contingencies  to  be  considered  : — 1st,  The 
individual  may  live  over  that  year,  in  which  case  he  will 
enjoy  a  whole  year  of  life  =  1.  But  the  probability  of  this 
event  is  px  ;  therefore  px  X  1  =Px  's  the  portion  of  time 
434 


EXPIATION. 

he  may  at  present  expect  to  live  in  respect  of  that  year. 
2d,  The  individual  may  die  in  the  course  of  that  year ;  and 
as  the  chances  of  dying  at  any  particular  part  of  the  year 
are  equal,  we  must  suppose  him  to  die  at  the  middle  of  the 
year;  in  this  case,  therefore,  he  enjoys  half  ayearof  life  = 
k.  But  the  probability  his  death  will  happen  in  the  arth  year 

ispj—  t  — px  ;  consequently  hfpx— l  —  px  'N  is  the  portion 

of  lime  he  may  hope  to  live,  in  respect  of  that  year,  on  the 
second  contingency. 

Adding  the  two  results  together,  we  getpr  +  if px— l— px  ) 

=  h  (px—  1  +  PJ  )  for  the  whole  of  his  expectation  of  life 

in  respect  of  the  xW\  year  from  the  present.  Substituting 
successively  the  numbers  1,  2,  3,  <fcc.  for  x,  in  order  to  get 
the  expectation  for  each  succeeding  year  till  the  last  age  in 
the  table,  and  denoting  the  sum  of  the  expectations  by  E, 
we  find  (since  po  =  1)" 

E  =  A  (1  +pi  +P2  +p3  -f  &c.) 
+  i  (P1  +  .P2  +P3+&C); 
consequently, 

E  =  J  +  pi  -f  p-2  +  P3  +  &c (1) 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  true  value  of  the  expectation  of 
life  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  probabilities  of  the  life  en- 
during through  1,  2,  3,  &c.  years  to  the  limiting  age  of  the 
table  of  mortality,  increased  by  £.  The  labour  that  would 
be  required  to  sum  this  series  for  every  different  age  is 
avoided  by  deducting  the  expectation  of  one  age  from  that 
of  the  next  older,  as  is  usually  done  in  computing  annuity 
tables.  Thus,  let  Ei  denote  the  expectation  of  life  for  an  in- 
dividual one  year  older  than  the  former,  and  let  the  proba- 
bilities of  his  living  over  1,  2,  3,  &c.  years  be  respectively 
91  52  93,  &c. ;  then  we  must  have 

El  =  |  +  91  +  92  +  93  +  &C (2) 

But  from  the  nature  of  the  probabilities  in  question, 
p-2  =  pi  91 
p3  =  pi  92 

pi  =pi  93,  &c. 
Substituting,  therefore,  these  values  in  (1),  we  find 

E  =  A  +  pi(l-r.  91  +  92  +  03  +  &c.) (3) 

Whence,  on  eliminating  91  +  92  +  93  4-  &c,  from  the  two 
equations  (2)  and  (3),  we  get 

E—  *=pi  (El  +  A), 
which  is  the  most  convenient  form  under  which  the  for- 
mula can  be  put  for  computation. 

For  the  explanation  of  the  manner  in  which  the  probabil- 
ities p',p2,p3,  &c.,are  determined  from  the  ordinary  tables 
of  mortality,  see  Annuity. 

The  following  table,  from  Mr.  Milne's  Treatise  on  the 
Valuation  of  Annuities  and  Assurances  (vol.  ii.  p.  565.) 
shows  the  expectation  of  life  at  every  age,  according  to  the 
law  of  mortality  at  Carlisle  :— 


Age. 

Expectat. 

Age. 

Expectat. 

Agt. 

Expectat. 

Age. 

Expectat. 

0 

38-72 

26 

37-14 

52 

19-68 

78 

6-12 

1 

44-68 

27 

3641 

53 

18-97 

79 

5-80 

2 

47-55 

28 

35-69 

54 

18-28 

80 

551 

3 

49-82 

29 

35  00 

55 

17-58 

81 

5-21 

4 

50  76 

30 

34-34 

56 

16-89 

82 

4-93 

5 

51-25 

31 

33-68 

57 

16-21 

83 

4-65 

6 

51-17 

32 

33  03 

58 

15-55 

84 

4-39 

7 

50-80 

33 

32  36 

59 

14  92 

85 

412 

8 

50-24 

34 

31-68 

60 

14-34 

86 

3-90 

9 

49-57 

35 

3100 

61 

13  82 

87 

3-71 

10 

48-82 

36 

30-32 

62 

1331 

88 

3-59 

11 

48  04 

37 

29-64 

63 

12  81 

89 

3-47 

12 

47-27 

38 

28-96 

64 

12-30 

90 

3-28 

13 

46-51 

39 

23-28 

65 

11-79 

91 

3  26 

14 

45-75 

40 

27-61 

66 

11-27 

92 

3-37 

15 

45-00 

41 

26-97 

67 

10  75 

93 

3-48 

16 

44-27 

42 

26-34 

68 

10-23 

94 

3-53 

17 

43-57 

43 

2571 

69 

9-70 

95 

3-53 

18 

42-87 

44 

25  09 

70 

9-18 

96 

3  46 

19 

4217 

45 

24  46 

71 

8-65 

97 

3-28 

20 

41-46 

46 

23  82 

72 

816 

98 

3  07 

21 

40-75 

47 

2317 

73 

7-72 

99 

2-77 

22 

40  04 

4S 

22  50 

74 

7-33 

100 

2-28 

23 

39-31 

49 

2181 

75 

701 

101 

179 

24 

38-59 

50 

21-11 

76 

6-69 

102 

1-30 

25 

37-86 

51 

20-39 

77 

6-40 

103 

0-83 

EXPE'CTORANTS.  (Lat.  expectorare,  to  expectorate.) 
Medicines  which  increase  the  secretion  of  the  tracheal 
and  bronchial  mucus.  The  term  expectoration  is  applied 
to  any  thing  cast  off  from  those  vessels  or  from  the  cells 
of  the  luncs  by  spitting  or  coughing. 

EXPIA'TION  (Lat.)  signifies,  in  its  most  extended 
meaning,  the  acts  by  which  a  guilty  person  makes  atone- 
ment to  religion,  morals,  or  society  at  large,  for  any  crime 
or  fault  he  may  have  committed,  whatever  be  its  nature 


EXPILATION. 

or  extent.  The  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  expiation  as  a 
means  of  compensating  for  a  breach  of  the  moral  law, 
formed  an  important  feature  in  all  the  religious  creeds 
with  whicli  we  are  acquainted.  In  this  respect,  there  is  a 
wonderful  coincidence  in  the  mythological  system  of  the 
ancients,  the  creed  of  the  Jews,  and  that  of  the  Christian 
world.  These  ceremonies,  of  course,  were  very  diversi- 
fied, and  varied  with  the  character  of  every  nation  and  the 
nature  of  the  crime  whicli  it  was  intended  to  expiate. 
Among  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  expiations  were  some- 
times made  for  whole  cities;  and,  in  the  more  ancient 
times,  to  remove  or  prevent,  or  to  avert  an  impending  ca- 
lamity, human  victims  were  immolated.  We  need  here 
hardly  advert  to  the  numerous  kinds  of  expiations  in  use 
among  the  Jews,  as  the  Old  Testament  is  filled  with  ac- 
counts of  them  ;  and  under  the  heads  Atonement  and  Sa- 
crifice, we  have  defined  the  great  act  of  expiation  by 
which  the  guilt  of  the  human  race  has  been  atoned  for,  and 
God  reconciled  to  man  in  the  Christian  dispensation. 

EXPILA'TION.  In  the  Roman  Law,  any  injury  done 
to  the  property  of  a  minor  was  so  designated. 

E'XPLETIVE.  (Lat.  expleo,  /  fill  up.)  In  Composi- 
tion, chiefly  poetical;  a  word  not  necessary  to  the  sense, 
but  used  merely  to  fill  up  the  measure  of  a  verse,  or  give 
roundness  to  a  period. 

EXPLO'SION.  (Lat.  explosio.)  In  Natural  Philoso- 
phy, a  sudden  and  violent  expansion  of  the  parts  of  any 
object.  Explosion  differs  from  expansion  in  this,  that 
whereas  the  former  is  always  sudden,  and  only  of  momen- 
tary duration,  the  latter  is  the  effect  of  some  gradual  and 
continued  power,  acting  uniformly  for  some  considerable 
time.     See  Expansion  ;   Matter,  Properties  op. 

EXPO'NENT,  in  Algebra,  is  used  in  various  senses ; 
thus  we  say  the  exponent  of  a  power,  the  exponent  of  a 
rank,  the  exponent  of  a  ratio.  The  exponent  of  a  power 
is  a  number  or  algebraic  character  expressing  the  degree 
or  elevation  of  the  power  to  which  the  quantity  is  raised. 
For  example,  in  the  expression  a4,  4  is  the  exponent,  de- 
noting that  a  is  raised  to  the  fourth  power.  In  the  expres- 
sion am  the  exponent  m  is  indeterminate,  as  it  may  repre- 
sent any  number  whatever.  The  exponent  may  also  be 
fractional,  in  which  case  it  denotes  not  the  power,  but  the 

root  of  the  quantity ;  thus  a5  denotes  the  third  or  cube 
root  of  a.  Or  it  may  be  negative,  in  which  case  it  denotes 
the  quotient  that  arises  from  the  division  of  unit  by  the 
quantity  raised  to   that  power;   for  example,  a-o  is  the 

same  thing  as  — ,    The  earliest  writers  on  algebra  denoted 
au 

the  powers  of  numbers  by  an  abbreviation  of  the  name  of 

the  power.     Harriot  repeated  the  quantity,  and  for  ai  wrote 

a  a  a  a;  the  present  convenient  system  was  introduced  by 

Descartes. 

The  exponent  of  a  rank  is  the  number  or  place  of  any 
term  in  a  series;  thus,  in  the  series  of  uneven  numbers, 
1,  3.  5,  7,  9,  11,  13,  15,  <fcc,  7  is  the  exponent  of  the  rank 
of  the  term  13,  because  13  is  the  7th  term  from  the  com- 
mencement. 

The  exponent  of  a  geometrical  ratio  is  the  quotient 
that  arises  from  dividing  the  consequent  by  the  antecedent 
of  the  ratio.  Thus,  in  the  ratio  of  2  to  8,  the  exponent  is 
4  =  4;  and  in  the  ratio  of  8  to  2,  the  exponent  is  f  =  t- 
Some  mathematicians,  however,  consider  logarithms  as 
the  exponents  of  ratios. 

EXPONENTIAL.  This  term  is  variously  applied.  The 
exponential  calculus  is  the  method  of  performing  algebraic 
operations  on  exponential  quantities,  by  which  is  under- 
stood quantities  raised  to  powers  of  which  the  exponents 
are  indeterminate  or  variable.  Exponential  curce  is  a  curve 
defined  by  an  exponential  equation,  or  an  equation  of  the 
form  y  =.  ax,  or  y  ■=.  xx.  Exponential  equation  is  an  equa- 
tion which  contains  an  exponential  quantity.  Thus  y=z*  is 
an  exponential  equation.  These  equations  are  commonly 
resolved  by  means  of  logarithms.  For  example,  if  we  had 
the  equation  ax  =  b,  in  which  x  is  the  unknown  quantity, 
by  taking  the  logarithms  of  both  sides  we   should   get 

x  log.  a  =  log.  b,  and  consequently  x  =  r-=*—  .   But  this  me- 

log.  a 
thod  of  solution  is  not  always  possible  ;  for  in  the  equation 
ax  +  b*?=zc  (and  an  infinity  of  others),  the  value  of  *  can 
only  be  found  by  trial  and  error.     See  Logarithm. 

EXPORTATION.  The  act  of  sending  commodities 
out  of  one  country  into  another.     See  Commerce. 

EX  POST  FACTO.  (Lat.  literally,  by  something  done 
afterwards.)  A  punishment  inflicted  in  consequence  of  a 
law  made  with  a  view  to  a  particular  offence  already  com- 
mitted is  sairl  to  be  inflicted  ex  post  facto  ;  and  the  phrase 
"an  ex  post  facto  law,"  is  popularly  applied  to  all  laws 
enacted  with  a  retrospective  effect,  and  with  intention  to 
produce  that  effect,  which  are  justly  regarded  as  tyrannical. 
That  species  of  laws  which  the  Romans  termed  privilegia, 
i.  e.  laws  passed  in  order  to  impose  restrictions  on  indi- 
vidual citizens,  were  frequently  ex  post  facto.  The  English 
practice  of  a  bill  of  pains  and  penalties  is  a  species  of  ex 
435 


EXTRACTION  OF  ROOTS. 

post  facto  legislation,  and  was  much  animadverted  on  in 
the  debates  which  took  place  on  the  occasion  of  its  adop- 
tion against  Queen  Caroline  in  1S20.  No  ex  post  facto  law 
can  be  passed  in  the  U.  S. 

EXPOSURE  OF  CHILDREN.     See  Foundlings. 

EXPRE'SSION.  (Lat.  expressio.)  In  the  Fine  Arts, 
the  representation  of  the  various  passions  of  the  mind. 
"Care,"  says  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  in  his  Fourth  Discourse, 
"  must  be  taken  not  to  run  into  particularities.  Those  ex- 
pressions alone  should  be  given  to  the  figures  which  their 
respective  situations  generally  produce.  Nor  is  this  enough ; 
each  person  should  also  have  that  expression  which  men 
of  his  rank  generally  exhibit.  The  joy  or  the  grief  of  a 
character  of  dignity  is  not  to  bo  expressed  in  the  same 
manner  as  a  similar  passion  in  a  vulgar  face." 

E'XTANT.  (Lat.)  In  Literature,  something  that  still 
exists  or  is  in  being.  Thus  it  is  said  that  but  part  of  the 
writings  of  Livy,  Cicero,  Ca;sar,  &c.  are  extant,  the  rest 
being  lost. 

EX  TE'MPORE.  (Lat.)  A  term  applied  to  any  thing 
that  is  done  without  premeditation.     See  Voluntary. 

EXTE'NT,  in  Law,  is  a  writ  of  execution  (sometimes 
called  an  extendi  facias),  directed  to  the  sheriff,  against 
the  body,  lands,  and  goods,  or  the  lands  only,  of  a  debtor. 
Writs  of  extent  were  of  two  kinds — extent  in  chief,  and 
extent  in  aid;  to  both  of  which  the  king  was  entilled  by 
ancient  prerogative,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  satisfac- 
tion of  debts  originally  due  to  him,  or  assigned  to  the. 
crown.  The  writ  of  extent  in  chief  is  a  proceeding  by  the 
king  for  the  recovery  of  his  own  debt,  and  in  which  he  is 
the  real  plaintiff.  The  writ  of  extent  in  aid  is  also  sued  out 
at  the  instance  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  crown  against  the 
debtor  of  a  crown  debtor ;  but  in  this  proceeding  the  king 
is  the  nominal  plaintiff  only.  Under  this  writ  the  lands, 
tenements,  and  possessions,  as  well  as  the  person  of  the 
defendant,  may  be  taken  in  execution;  and  if  within  seven 
days  he  do  not  liquidate  the  debt,  a  writ  of  "venditioni 
exponas  is  issued  to  sell  the  same  ;"  the  crown  claiming  a 
priority  of  satisfaction  over  every  other  creditor. 

E'XTRACT.  or  EXTRACTIVE  MATTER.  The  term 
extract  is  applied  in  pharmacy  to  the  brown  substance 
which  remains  after  the  evaporation  of  certain  decoctions 
or  infusions  of  vegetables  ;  thus  we  have  extract  of  bark, 
extract  of  rhubarb,  and  so  on.  These  extracts  are  usually 
mixtures  of  gum,  starch,  sugar,  or  other  soluble  matters, 
along  with  a  certain  portion  of  a  peculiar  vegetable  princi- 
ple of  a  brown  colour,  or  which  becomes  so  by  exposure 
to  air,  and  which  is  soluble  in  water  and  in  alcohol,  but 
scarcely  soluble  in  ether.  It  combines  with  alumina,  and 
is  often  the  basis  of  brown  dyes  :  it  is  this  principle  which 
chemists  call  extractive,  and  which  is  frequently  closely 
allied  to  various  forms  of  colouring  matter. 

EXTRACT  OF  LEAD.  A  term  applied  to  the  impure 
subacetate  of  lead  obtained  by  boiling  litharge  in  vinegar. 
It  was  first  used  by  a  surgeon  of  the  name  of  Goulard,  and 
hence  called  Goulard's  extract  of  lead. 

EXTRA'CTION  OF  ROOTS.  An  operation  which 
consists  in  finding  a  certain  root  of  a  number  or  algebraic 
quantity  ;  or  in  finding  that  number  or  quantity  which, 
multiplied  into  itself  a  certain  number  of  times,  will  pro- 
duce the  given  number  or  quantity.  If  we  take  the  series 
of  numbers, 

1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  C,  7,  8,  9, 11^ 
and  multiply  each  into  itself,  we  shall  obtain  the  series  of 
2d  powers  or  squares, 

1,  4, 9,  16,  25,  36, 49,  64,  81,  100 ; 
and  multiplying  each  of  these  again  by  its  corresponding 
number  in  the  first  column,  we  get  the  series  of  3d  powers 
or  cubes, 

1,  8,  27,  64,  125,  216,  343,  512,  729,  1000. 

Taking  any  one  of  the  first  series  of  numbers,  for  exam- 
ple 7,  we  see  that  its  2d  power  (the  1st  power  is  the  num- 
ber itself),  or  square,  is  49,  and  its  C:d  power,  or  cube,  343. 
Reciprocally,  7  is  said  to  be  the  2d  or  square  root  of  49,  and 
the  3d  or  cube  root  of  343.  It  is  obvious,  on  inspecting  the 
above  series,  that  out  of  all  the  numbers,  consisting  of  one 
or  two  digits,  there  are  only  nine  which  are  the  squares 
of  other  whole  numbers ;  and  that  of  all  numbers  com- 
posed of  not  more  than  three  digits,  that  is  to  say,  all  num- 
bers up  to  999,  there  are  only  nine  which  are  the  cubes  of 
whole  numbers.  The  roots  of  all  the  other  whole  numbers 
are  not  only  not  integers,  but,  what  is  very  remarkable,  are 
not  expressible  by  exact  fractional  numbers,  and  it  is  only 
approximations  to  their  values  that  can  be  found. 

The  rules  for  extracting  the  square  and  cube  roots  of 
numbers  are  to  be  found  in  every  elementary  treatise  of 
arithmetic  ;  but  require  too  many  explanations  and  illus- 
trations to  be  introduced  here  to  any  good  purpose.  The 
extraction  of  the  cube  root  in  particular  is  an  intricate  and 
laborious  operation  ;  and,  since  any  root  of  a  number  can 
be  found  immediately  from  a  table  of  logarithms,  it  is  an 
operation  of  very  little  use.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  so 
much  time  as  is  frequently  given  to  it  in  our  schools  should 
be  so  unprofitably  employed. 


EXTRADOS. 

The  general  solution  of  algebraic  equations  exceeding  the 
fourth  degree,  has  hitherto  resisted  the  efforts  of  the  greatest 
mathematicians  ;  but  in  the  case  of  equations  with  numeri- 
cal coefficients  (whatever  the  order  of  the  equation)  a 
value  of  the  unknown  quantity,  that  is,  a  root  of  the  equa- 
tion, can  always  be  found  by  an  arithmetical  process.  A 
general  method  of  accomplishing  this  was  first  given  by 
Vieta;  another  was  proposed  by  Newton,  which  has  been 
very  commonly  employed  ;  but  the  important  discovery 
by  Mr.  Horner  of  Bath  of  an  easy  means  of  performing  the 
arithmetical  computations  required  in  Vieta's  method  has 
greatly  simplified  the  operation,  and  in  fact  rendered  the 
solution  of  an  affected  equation  of  any  degree  scarcely 
more  laborious  than  the  ordinary  process  of  extracting  the 
cube  root.  For  an  account  of  Horner's  method,  first  pub- 
lished in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  for  1819,  see 
Young's  Theory  of  Algebraic  Equations ;  or  the  Companion 
to  the  British  Almanac  for  1839,  in  which  the  reader  will 
find  an  interesting  historical  account  of  the  progress  of  the 
problem  of  evolution. 

EXTRA'DOS.  The  exterior  curve  of  an  arch.  Ge- 
nerally the  term  is  used  to  denote  the  upper  curve  of  the 
voussoirs,  or  stones  which  immediately  form  the  arch. 

EXTRAVAGA'NTES  CONSTITUTIONES.  In  the 
Canon  Law,  certain  papal  constitutions  not  included  in  the 
Corpus  Juris  Canonici  are  so  called,  and  comprised  iu  a 
separate  volume.  They  are  those  of  John  XXII.  and  a  few 
of  his  successors  in  the  papacy. 

EXTRAVASA'TION.  (Lat.  extra,  external  to,  and  vas, 
a  vessel.)  A  term  applied  to  fluids  when  out  of  their  pro- 
per receptacles  or  vessels.  Thus  when  blood  is  thrown 
out  upon  the  brain,  or  into  any  of  the  cavities  of  the  body, 
it  is  said  to  be  extravasated. 

EXTRE'ME.  (Lat.  extremus  )  In  Logic,  has  the  same 
meaning  with  term,  when  used  in  reference  to  a  proposi- 
tion. The  subject  and  predicate  are  the  two  extremes  of  a 
proposition,  the  copula  being,  as  it  were,  placed  between 
them.  In  speaking  of  a  syllogism,  the  extremes  are  under- 
stood to  mean  the  extremes  or  terms  of  the  conclusion. 

Extreme.  In  Music,  a  word  employed  in  describing 
those  intervals  in  which  the  diatonic  distances  are  increased 
or  diminished  by  a  chromatic  semitone. 

EXTREME  AND  MEAN  RATIO.  A  straight  line  is 
said  to  be  divided  in  extreme  and  mean  ratio  when  the 
whole  is  to  the  greater  part  as  the  greater  part  to  the  less  ; 
or  when  the  rectangle  contained  by  the  whole  line  and  the 
smaller  segment  is  equal  to  the  square  of  the  greater  seg- 
ment. Euclid  shows  how  a  line  may  be  divided  in  this 
manner  in  the  lltli  prop,  of  his  2d  book  ;  and  it  is  by  means 
of  this  proposition  that  he  constructs  the  decagon  on  a 
given  straight  line. 

EXTRE'ME  U'NCTION.  One  of  the  seven  sacraments 
of  the  Romish  church,  founded  upon  the  passage  in  the 
Epistle  of  St.  James  in  which  he  says,  "If  any  be  sick 
among  you,  let  him  call  upon  the  elders  of  the  church,  and 
let  them  pray  over  him.  anointing  him  with  oil  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord."  (v.  14.)  The  performance  of  this  ceremony 
is  supposed  to  purify  the  soul  of  the  dying  person  from  any 
sins  that  he  may  have  committed,  and  which  have  not  been 
previously  expiated  by  participation  in  the  other  means  of 
grace.  The  Protestants  usually  answer  the  text  above  cited 
by  continuing  the  quotation  to  the  next  verse,  where  it  is 
said,  "  And  the  prayer  of  faith  shall  save  the  sick,  and  the 
Lord  shall  raise  him  up  ;"  from  which  they  argue  that  re- 
ference is  made  to  a  miraculous  gift  which  was  exercised 
in  the  Apostle's  time,  and  has  no  application  to  our  davs. 
With  respect  to  the  usage  of  antiquity,  to  which  the  Ro- 
manists lay  claim,  it  is  answered  that  the  passages  to  which 
they  refer  allude  to  the  ceremony  not  as  a  sacrament  for 
the  good  of  the  soul,  but  only  as  a  rite  that  carried  with  it 
health  to  the  body.  When  the  Apostle  goes  on  to  say,  that 
the  Lord  will  forgive  the  sins  of  the  sick  man,  this  evi- 
dently supposes  him  to  have  a  lively  faith  ;  and  that  such 
faith  is  the  condition  of  the  miraculous  cure. 

EXTRE'MITIES.  (Lat.  extremus.)  In  Painting  and 
Sculpture,  the  head,  the  hands,  and  the  feet.  In  Zoology,  the 
arms  and  legs,  and  analogous  members  in  the  lower  animals. 
EXTRO'RSAL.  A  term  used  in  describing  the  direc- 
tion of  bodies  to  denote  their  being  turned  from  the  axis  to 
which  they  appertain  ;  thus  anthers,  whose  line  of  dehis- 
cence is  towards  the  petals,  are  said  to  be  extrorste. 

EXU'VI^E.  (Lat.  cast  clothes.)  This  term  was  applied 
by  the  Roman  naturalists  and  poets  to  the  shed  skin  of  the 
snake :  "  Positis  exuviis  novus  coluber,"  says  Virgil.  And 
it  is  extended  in  modern  zoology  to  the  external  layer  of 
the  integument  of  every  animal,  when  it  is  periodically 
shed  entire  or  in  large  portions.  The  films  of  mucus 
thrown  off  from  the  external  surface  of  most  zoophytes  and 
mollusks  may  be  regarded  as  exuvia?  ;  also  those  portions 
of  the  shell  which  are  deserted  and  partitioned  off  by  a 
new-formed  plate,  as  in  the  Spondylvs  varius,  and  univalve 
chambered  shells ;  but  the  exuvial  layers  are  retained  by 
adhesion  to  the  last  secreted  portion  of  the  shell.  In  in- 
sects the  whole  integument  is  shed  generally  several  times 
436 


EYE. 

in  succession,  the  last  cadysis  taking  place  in  the  transition 
from  the  pupa  to  the  imago  state.  In  the  Crustacea  the  ex- 
uvial shell  is  commonly  cast  annually  ;  the  cephalothorax 
or  carapace  cracks  longitudinally  down  the  back,  and  the 
limbs  are  withdrawn  after  successive  painful  efforts;  the 
lining  membrane  of  the  stomach  is  at  the  same  time  shed. 

Fishes  seem  to  cast  off  exuvial  layers  of  mucus  only  ;  but 
in  most  reptiles  the  epidermis  is  periodically  moulted, 
either  entire  or  in  large  coherent  masses.  In  some  spe- 
cies the  moulting  could  only  have  been  detected  by  careful 
watching,  as  the  main  evidence,  the  cast  skin,  is  made 
away  with  the  moment  the  operation  is  ended.  Mr.  Bell 
thus  describes  the  cadysis  of  the  common  toad: — uOa 
watching  carefully  I  one  day  observed  a  large  toad,  the  skin 
of  which  was  particularly  dry  and  dull  in  its  colours,  with 
a  bright  streak  down  the  mesial  line  of  the  back ;  and  on 
examining  further,  I  discovered  a  corresponding  line  along 
the  belly.  This  proved  to  arise  from  an  entire  slit  in  the 
old  cuticle,  which  exposed  to  view  the  new  and  brighter 
skin  underneath.  Finding  therefore  what  was  about  to  hap- 
pen, I  watched  the  whole  detail  of  this  curious  process.  I 
soon  observed  that  the  two  halves  of  the  skin  thus  com- 
pletely divided  continued  to  recede  further  and  further 
from  the  centre,  and  become  folded  and  rugose  ;  and  after 
a  short  space,  by  means  of  the  continued  twitching  of  th« 
animal's  body,  it  was  brought  down  in  folds  on  the  sides  : 
the  hinder  leg,  first  on  one  side  and  then  on  the  other,  was 
brought  forward  under  the  arm,  which  was  pressed  down 
upon  it;  and  on  the  hinder  limb  being  withdrawn,  its  cuti- 
cle w~as  left  inverted  under  the  arm,  and  that  of  the  anterior 
extremity  was  now  loosened,  and  at  length  drawn  off  by 
the  assistance  of  the  mouth.  The  whole  cuticle  was  thus 
detached,  and  was  now  pushed  by  the  two  hands  into  the 
mouth  in  a  little  ball,  and  swallowed  at  a  single  gulp."  The 
common  snake  {Coluber  natrix)  when  in  confinement 
moults  as  follows:  The  formation  of  the  new  cuticle  pro- 
duces a  detachment  of  the  old  from  the  subjacent  living 
parts,  and  the  latter  then  loses  part  of  its  transparency  and 
smoothness.  As  the  cuticle  is  continued  over  the  cornea, 
the  sight  of  the  serpent  is  dimmed  ;  its  motions  are  also  in 
some  degree  cramped,  and  it  endeavours  to  free  itself  of 
its  incumbrance  by  rubbing  the  sides  of  its  mouth  against 
any  rough  and  hard  resisting  substance.  The  old  cuticle  is 
thereby  detached  from  the  circumference  of  the  mouth, 
and  is  turned  back  over  the  head  ;  and  the  impediment  to 
vision  being  thus  removed,  the  snake  proceeds  with  more 
vigour  and  rapidity  to  detach  and  turn  back  the  cuticle,  by 
repeating  the  same  actions  as  those  with  which  it  com- 
menced the  operation  ;  and  at  length  it  literally  creeps  out 
of  its  skin,  which  is  left  inverted,  and  more  or  less  entire, 
according  to  the  degree  of  the  animal's  health  and  vigour 
at  the  time  of  the  operation.  The  rattle-snake  is  described 
as  actually  inverting  and  drawing  off  its  own  skin.  After 
having  rubbed  back  the  cuticle  from  the  head,  it  throws 
the  posterior  part  of  the  body  in  numerous  coils  around  the 
anterior;  one  coil  is  placed  in  front  of  the  detached  part 
of  the  integument;  and  compressing  the  body  strongly,  it 
pushes  forward  the  head  and  neck,  gradually  unfolding 
the  coils  behind,  and  stripping  off  the  skin,  as  it  advances 
forwards.  In  the  warm-blooded  classes  the  periodically 
moulted  feathers  of  birds,  and  hairs  of  various  species  of 
Mammalia,  may  be  regarded  as  exuvial  deposits ;  as  also 
the  small  scales  of  the  scarf-skin  which  are  incessantly  cast 
off  in  man. 

EYE.  In  describing  the  structure  of  the  organ  of  vi- 
sion anatomists  generally  refer  to  external  and  internal 
parts ;  the  former  include  the  eyebrows,  or  supercilia ;  the 
eyelashes,  or  cilia;  and  the  eyelids,  or  palpebral-.  The 
cartilaginous  edge  of  the  eyelids  is  called  the  tarsus,  in 
which,  and  in  the  inner  surface  of  the  eyelids,  are  small 
glands  which  secrete  a  lubricating  serous  fluid,  called,  af- 
ter their  discoverer,  the  glands  of  Meibomius  Near  the 
external  corner  or  canthus  of  the  eye,  and  in  a  depression 
of  the  frontal  bone,  are  the  lachrymal  glands  (glandula, 
lachrymales)  which  secrete  tears ;  their  ducts  open  on  the 
inner  surface  of  the  upper  eyelid.  The  little  projection  at 
the  inner  angle  of  the  eye  is  called  the  lachrymal  carun- 
cle. There  are  also  two  small  orifices  observable  at  the  in- 
ner angle,  one  in  the  upper  and  one  in  the  lower  eyelid, 
which  are  called  the  puncta  lachrymalia ;  they  convey  the 
tears  by  means  of  two  small  tubes  to  the  lachrymal  sac, 
from  whence  they  pass  by  the  nasal  duct,  which  opens  un- 
der the  inferior  spongy  bone  into  the  nose.  The  conjunc- 
tive membrane  of  the  eye,  called  also  tunica  albuginea,  or 
white  of  the  eye,  is  a  membrane  which  lines  the  inner  eye- 
lids and  the  fore  part  of  the  globe  of  the  eye.  The  internal 
parts  of  the  eye  are,  the  sclerotic  membrane,  which  is  the 
hard  outer  case  of  the  globe  ;  the  choroid  membrane,  which 
is  the  interior  coat  of  the  sclerotic,  beginning  around  the 
optic  nerve,  and  proceeding  to  the  margin  of  the  transpa- 
rent cornea,  where  it  deflects  inwardly,  forming  the  iris, 
the  posterior  surface  of  which  is  called  the  uvea,  and 
its  central  opening  the  pupil,  which  is  muscular,  admitting 
of  dilatations  and  contractions  so  as  to  modify  the  quantity 


EYE  OP  A  DOME. 

of  light  admitted  into  the  inner 
chambers  of  the  eye.  The  crys- 
talline lens  is  a  pellucid  body  in- 
cluded in  a  delicate  capsule,  and 
lodged  in  a  concave  depression  of 
the  front  of  the  vitreous  humour, 
which  is  a  transparent  and  pellu- 
cid pulpy  texture,  filling  the  ball 
of  the  eye  behind  the  lens,  and 
covered  externally  by  the  hyaloid 
or  arachnoid  membrane.  The  op- 
tic nerve  enters  the  back  of  the 
eyeball  by  a  perforation  in  the  scle- 
rotic and  choroid  coats,  and  is 
spread  upon  the  posterior  and  in- 
ner surface  of  the  latter,  form- 
ing a  pulpy  film  or  nervous  matter 
called  the  retina.  The  eye  is  moved  by  six  appropriate 
muscles.  In  the  annexed  cut,  representing  a  section  of 
the  ball  of  the  eye,  a  is  the  sclerotic  membrane  or  coat,  b 
the  iris,  c  the  retina,  d  the  optic  nerve,  e  the  vitreous  hu- 
mour, and/  the  crystalline  lens.     See  Vision. 

EYE  OF  A  DOME.  In  Architecture,  the  circular  aper- 
ture in  its  summit. 

EYE  OF  A  VOLUTE.  In  Architecture,  the  circle  in 
its  centre. 

EYE'TEETH.  The  two  upper  cttspidali  are  so  called 
in  consequence  of  the  length  and  direction  of  their  fangs, 
which  extend  upwards  nearly  to  the  orbit  of  the  eye. 

EYRE,  in  Law,  signifies  the  court  of  justices  itinerant. 
The  term  is  in  all  probability  derived  from  the  Lat.  iter, 
journey;  as  Bracton  styles  the  justices  who  presided  in 
these  courts  jusliciarii  itinerantes. 


F. 


F.  The  sixth  letter  of  the  English  and  Latin  alphabets  ; 
a  labiodental  aspirate,  "bearing  the  same  relation  to  the 
other  labiodental  aspirate,  V,  which  the  letters  called 
tenues,p,  A-,/,  bear  to  the  media,  b,  g,  d."  It  corresponds 
with  the  Digamma  (quod  vide)  of  the  jEolian  dialect,  to 
which  it  is  closely  related  both  in  form  and  power ;  and  is 
susceptible  of  a  few  interchanges,  chiefly  in  the  Spanish 
and  Latin  languages. 

F,  or  FA.  In  Music,  the  note  on  the  fourth  line  in  the 
bass  clef  generally  ;  but  it  stands  on  the  third  line  when 
the  part  is  Barytone.    The  ordinary  character  of  the  F  or 

bass  clefF  is  ^V;,  which  Kepler  has  much  laboured  to 

deduce  from  F  itself. 

FA.  In  Music,  one  of  the  syllables  invented  by  Guido 
Aretino  to  mark  the  fourth  sound  of  the  modern  scale  of 
music  ;  rising  thus,  tit,  re,  mi,  fa. 

FABACEjE.  (Faba,  a  bean.)  An  extensive  natural 
order  of  plants.     Ste  Leguminos.2E. 

FA'BLE.  (Lat.  fabula.)  In  Literature,  a  term  applied 
originally  to  every  fictitious  tale  ;  but  confined  in  modern 
usage  to  a  class  of  tales,  either  in  prose  or  verse,  which 
inculcate  a  moral  precept  through  the  medium  of  a  short 
fictitious  story.  In  the  very  ancient  Indian  Fables  of  Pilpay, 
the  Arabian  of  Lockman,  and  the  Greek  of  iEsop,  the 
fictitious  personages  introduced  are  chiefly  animals,  endued 
for  the  purpose  of  the  story  with  human  faculties  and  lan- 
guage ;  and  hence  modern  fabulists  have  generally  intro- 
duced similar  agents  in  the  greater  number  of  their  fables. 
In  this  sense,  the  fable  is  synonymous  with  apologue,  and 
a  species  of  the  class  allegory.  Fables  are  either  in  prose 
or  verse ;  but  if  the  latter,  they  will  not  bear  with  propriety 
a  highly  poetical  or  ornamented  character.  Herder  has 
divided  fables,  according  to  the  character  of  their  mean- 
ing, into  three  classes  : — 1.  Theoretic,  intended  to  form  or 
exercise  the  understanding ;  2.  Moral,  which  contain  rules 
for  the  regulation  of  the  will;  3.  Fables  of  fate  or  destiny, 
in  which  the  narrative  contains  no  maxim  of  self-conduct, 
as  it  merely  represents  a  series  of  contingencies  brought 
on  by  necessary  connection.  But  it  may  be  doubtful 
whether  every  fable,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  name  is 
generally  used,  does  not  belong  properly  to  the  second 
class  ;  the  instances  cited  by  Herder  as  appertaining  to  the 
first  and  third  were  certainly  intended  by  the  inventors  to 
bear  a  moral  meaning. 

FA'BLIAUX.  In  French  literature,  the  metrical  tales  of 
the  Trouvfires  or  earlv  poets  of  the  Langue  d'  Oil,  or  dia- 
lect of  the  north  of  France  ;  composed,  for  the  most  part, 
in  the  12th  and  13th  centuries. 

FACADE.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture,  the  face  or  front  of 
any  building  towards  a  street,  court,  garden,  or  other  place  ; 
a  term,  however,  more  commonly  used  to  signify  the  prin- 
cipal front. 

FACE,  in  Geometry,  denotes  in  general  one  of  the  planes 
which  form  the  surface  of  a  polyhedron.  In  Fortification, 
437 


FACTOR. 

face  denotes  a  line  of  rampart,  or  the  extent  between  the 
outermost  points  of  two  adjacent  bastions. 

FA'CIAL  ANGLE,  is  that  angle  which  is  formed  by  the 
concurrence  of  two  ideal  lines,  one  of  which  passes  by  the 
hole  in  the  skull  termed  the  meatus  auditorius  externus  to 
the  anterior  extremity  of  the  alveolar  margiu  of  the  upper 
jaw,  while  the  other  extends  to  the  same  point  from  the 
most  prominent  part  of  the  forehead. 

FA'CIES.  (Lat.)  In  Zoology,  a  term  applied  to  express 
the  general  aspect  or  external  character  of  an  animal,  as  it 
appears  on  a  casual  or  first  view  ;  mostly  with  reference  to 
another  to  which  it  bears  a  superficial  resemblance. 

In  Anatomy,  it  signifies  the  anterior  part  of  the  skull 
forming  cavities  of  the  orbits,  nose,  and  mouth. 

FA'CIES  IH'PPOCRA'TICA.  The  peculiar  expression 
of  countenance  which  indicates  the  approach  of  death;  it 
has  been  accurately  described  by  Hippocrates,  whence  the 
above  common  medical  term. 

FA'CING.  In  Architecture,  that  part  of  the  work  in  a 
building  seen  by  a  spectator;  but  the  term  is  usually  em- 
ployed to  signify  a  better  sort  of  material  which  masks  an 
inferior  one  internally. 

FAC  SIMILE  (Lat.  facere,  to  make,  and  simile,  like),  ex- 
pressed in  French  by  fais-semblable,  signifies  an  exact  and 
faithful  copy  of  any  writing,  engraving,  or  other  work  of  art. 

FA'CTION.  (Lat.)  In  Ancient  History,  an  appellation 
given  to  the  different  troops  or  companies  of  combatants 
in  the  games  of  the  circus.  Of  these  factions  there  were 
four, — the  green,  blue,  red,  and  white  ;  to  which  two  others 
were  said  to  have  been  added  by  the  emperor  Domitian, — 
the  purple  and  the  yellow.  In  the  time  of  Justinian  40,000 
persons  were  killed  in  a  contest  between  two  of  these 
factions  ;  so  that  they  were  at  last  suppressed  by  universal 
consent.  The  term  faction  is  applied,  also,  in  a  more 
general  sense,  to  any  party  in  a  state  which  attempts  with- 
out adequate  motives  to  disturb  the  public  repose,  or  to 
assail  the  measures  of  government  with  uncompromising 
opposition.  In  the  ancient  Greek  republics,  faction  was 
carried  to  an  extent  unparalleled  in  modern  times.  "  We 
may  always  observe,"  says  Hume  (Essays,  vol.  i.  423.), 
"where  one  party  (faction)  prevailed,  whether  the  nobles 
or  people  (for  I  can  see  no  difference  in  this  respect),  that 
they  immediately  butchered  all  of  the  opposite  party  that 
fell  into  their  hands,  and  banished  such  as  had  been  so 
fortunate  as  to  escape  their  fury.  No  form  of  process,  no 
law,  no  trial,  no  pardon."  The  middle  ages  were  distin- 
guished chiefly  by  two  factions,  the  Guelfs  and  Guibelins, 
who  long  kept  Italy  in  a  state  of  alarm.  In  the  present 
day,  in  England,  the  termfaction  is  bandied  about  between 
the  three  great  parties  of  the  country,  the  Whigs,  Tories, 
and  Radicals,  being  applied  indiscriminately  by  the  ad- 
herents of  one  party  to  those  of  another.    See  Party. 

FA'CTOR.  (Lat.  facio.)  In  Mercantile  Law,  a  mer- 
cantile agent,  who  is  entrusted  with  the  possession  of  the 
property  which  he  is  commissioned  to  dispose  of.  Under 
the  law  which  obtained  previously  to  the  passing  of  the 
act  6  G.  4.  c.  94.  it  was  held  that  a  factor,  as  such,  had 
authority  to  sell  only,  and  not  to  pledge,  the  goods  of  his 
principal ;  and  consequently,  that  a  party  who  had  made  a 
bona  fide  advance  to  the  factor  on  the  credit  of  the  goods 
was  liable  to  restore  them  to  the  principal  without  his  be- 
ing bound  to  repay  the  advance.  By  that  statute  it  is 
enacted,  that  any  person  intrusted,  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
signment or  sale,  with  goods,  &c,  and  in  whose  name  such 
shall  have  been  shipped,  shall  be  deemed  the  true  owner, 
so  far  as  to  entitle  the  consignee  to  a  lien  thereon  in  respect 
of  any  money  or  negotiable  security  advanced  by  such  con- 
signee for  the  use  of  the  person  in  whose  name  such  goods, 
&c.  shall  have  been  shipped  ;  provided  the  consignee  has  no 
notice,  by  bill  of  lading  or  otherwise,  that  such  party  is  not 
the  true  owner.  Various  other  provisions  are  added  by 
the  same  act,  to  the  effect  that  persons  in  possession  of 
bills  of  lading  shall  be  deemed  owners,  so  far  as  to  make 
valid  contracts;  that  no  person  can  acquire  a  security  upon 
goods  in  the  hands  of  an  agent  for  an  antecedent  debt  be- 
yond the  amount  of  the  agent's  interest  in  the  goods;  that 
persons  may  contract  with  known  agents  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  business,  or  out  of  that  course,  if  within  the 
agent's  authority  ;  that  persons  may  accept  and  take  goods 
in  pledge  from  known  agents ;  and  a  right  is  preserved  to 
the  true  owner  to  follow  his  goods,  while  in  the  hands  of 
his  agent  or  agent's  assignee,  in  ca3e  of  the  bankruptcy  of 
such  agent  or  assignee.  A  factor  has  a  general  lien  on 
goods  consigned  to  him,  not  only  for  incidental  charges,  but 
as  an  item  of  mutual  account  for  the  balance  due  to  him, 
as  long  as  he  rpmains  in  possession. 

In  Scotland,  the  term  factor  is  used  synonymously  with 
steward  in  England. 

Factor,  in  Arithmetic  and  Algebra,  is  the  name  given  to 
each  of  the  quantities  which  we  multiply  into  one  another 
in  order  to  form  (facere)  a  product ;  that  is  to  say,  to  the 
multiplicand  and  the  multiplier.  Factors  are  otherwise 
called  divisors,  especially  in  speaking  of  a  number  which 
is  regarded  as  the  product  of  several  others. 


FACTORY. 


FA'CTORY.  Establishments  supplied  with  machinery 
for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  any  branch  of  manufacture, 
are  usually  called  factories.  Hence  we  have  woollen,  cot- 
ton, flax,  &.C  factories,  according  to  the  different  branches 
of  industry  carried  on  in  each.  Factories  on  an  extensive 
scale  are  to  be  found  only  in  countries  far  advanced  in  civi- 
lization, and  where  the  arts  are  highly  improved.  In  rude 
countries,  and  in  the  earlier  stages  of  society,  manufac- 
tures are  necessarily  carried  on  upon  a  small  scale,  with 
very  imperfect  instruments,  and  little  or  no  division  of  la- 
bour. In  factories,  on  the  contrary,  the  most  improved 
machinery  is  introduced ;  every  individual  has  a  peculiar 
task  to  perform,  in  the  execution  of  which  he  cannot  fail  to 
acquire  the  greatest  proficiency.  We  need  not,  therefore, 
be  surprised  to  learn  that,  wherever  factories  are  generally 
introduced,  domestic  manufactures  are  totally  superseded, 
as  all  classes  find  it  to  be  more  for  their  advantage  to  buy  the 
products  furnished  by  the  factories  than  to  attempt  to  sup- 
ply themselves  with  similar  products  by  their  own  labour. 
Many  complaints  have  been  made  as  to  the  injurious 
influence  of  factory  labour  on  the  health  of  the  labourers, 
and  especially  of  the  young  persons,  employed  in  them. 
This,  however,  is  a  subject  as  to  which  there  has  been 
much  misrepresentation.  Children,  that  is,  young  persons 
between  the  ages  of  nine  and  fourteen  years,  as  well  as 
adults,  are  largely  employed  in  factories  ;  and,  while  the 
health  and  morals  of  the  latter  are  said  to  suffer  severely, 
the  former  have  been  described  as  being  stunted  in  their 
growth,  and  rendered  decrepit  and  miserable  for  life,  by  the 
prolonged  confinement,  drudgery,  and  ill  treatment  to 
which  they  are  exposed.  These  representations  of  the  in- 
jurious effects  of  what  has  been  called  white  slavery,  were 
at  length  embodied  in  a  Reportofa  Committee  of  the  House 
of  Commons  in  1832.  We  believe,  however,  that  we  run 
little  risk  in  affirming  that  this  report  contains  more  false 
statements  and  exaggerated  representations  than  any  other 
document  of  the  kind  ever  laid  before  the  legislature.  It 
made  a  great  sensation  ;  and  the  discussions  to  which  it,  or 
rather  the  proposal  that  grew  out  of  it,  for  limiting  factory 
labour  to  ten  hours  a  day,  gave  rise,  induced  government 
to  appoint  a  commission  to  inquire,  on  the  spot,  into  the 
actual  condition  of  the  labourers,  and  especially  of  the 
children,  employed  in  factories.  This  commission  col- 
lected a  great  deal  of  valuable  and  authentic  information  ; 
and  mucii  light  has  since  been  thrown  on  the  question  of 
factory  labour.  It  were  absurd  to  pretend,  as  some  have 
done,  that  the  statements  and  representations  as  to  its  per- 
nicious influence  have  been  proved  to  be  irholly  destitute 
of  foundation  ;  but  they  have  been  shown  to  be  very  greatly 
exaggerated.  That  great  inattention  to  cleanliness,  and 
some  very  revolting  abuses,  have  existed  in  some  factories, 
particularly  in  those  of  the  smaller  class,  is  auite  certain  ; 
but  the  instances  of  abuse  bear  but  a  small  proportion  to 
the  total  number ;  and,  speaking  generally,  factory  work- 
people, including  non-adults,  are  as  healthy  and  contented 
(is  any  class  of  the  community  obliged  to  earn  their  bread 
in  the  sweat  of  their  brow. 

We  do  not,  however,  know  that  we  should  object  to  the 
total  exclusion  of  children,  from  nine  to  thirteen  years  of 
age,  from  factories,  provided  we  had  anv  reasonable  secu- 
rity that  they  would  be  moderately  well  attended  to  and 
instructed  at  home.  But  no  such  security  is  to  be  looked 
for.  The  parents  of  such  children  frequently  want  the 
ability,  oftener  the  opportunity,  and  sometimes  the  wish, 
to  keep  them  at  home  in  any  thing  like  a  decent  condition  ; 
to  provide  them  with  instruction,  or  to  impress  on  them 
the  importance  of  habits  of  cleanliness,  sobriety,  and  in- 
dustry. Were  they  turned  out  of  the  factories,  few  would 
either  go  to  the  country  or  to  school.  Four- fifths  of  them 
would  be  thrown  loose  upon  the  streets,  to  acquire  a  taste 
for  idleness,  and  to  be  early  initiated  in  the  vicious  prac- 
tices prevalent  amongst  the  dregs  of  the  populace  in  Man- 
chester, Glasgow,  Leeds,  and  other  great  towns.  What- 
ever may  be  the  state  of  society  in  these  towns,  we  hesitate 
not  to  say  that  it  icould  have  been  ten  times  irorse  but  for 
the  factories.  They  have  been  their  best  and  most  im- 
portant academies.  Besides  taking  the  children  out  of 
harm's  way,  they  have  imbued  them  with  regular,  orderly, 
and  industrious  habits.  Their  earnings  are  considerable, 
and  are  a  material  assistance  to  their  parents ;  at  the  same 
time  that  they  make  them  perform  their  tasks  with  a  zeal 
and  alacrity  that  is  rarely  manifested  by  apprentices  serv- 
ing without  pay,  merely  that  they  may  learn  some  art, 
trade,  or  mystery.  Many  factories  have  also  day  schools, 
or  Sunday  schools,  or  both,  attached  to  them,  which  the 
children  attend.  But,  independently  of  this,  the  training 
they  undergo  in  factories  is  of  inestimable  value,  and  is 
not  more  conducive  to  their  own  interests  than  to  those  of 
the  public. 

Besides  supposing  that  the  health  of  the  population  is 
injured  by  the  extension  of  manufactures,  it  has  been  sup- 
posed that  the  extreme  subdivision  of  labour  in  manufac- 
turing establishments,  and  the  undivided  attention  which 
every  one  employed  in  them  must  give  to  the  single  opera- 
438 


tion  in  which  he  is  engaged,  has  a  most  pemfctatis  influ- 
ence over  the  mental  faculties.  The  genius  of  the  master 
is  said  to  be  cultivated,  but  that  of  the  workmen  to  be  con- 
demned to  perpetual  neglect.  •'  Many  mechanical  arts," 
says  Dr.  Ferguson  'Essay  on  Civil  Society,  p.  303),  "  re- 
quire no  capacity  ;  they  succeed  best  under'a  total  suppres- 
sion of  sentiment  and  reason  ;  as  ignorance  is  the  mother 
of  industry  as  well  as  of  superstition.  Reflection  and  fancy 
are  subject  to  err;  but  a  habit  of  moving  the  hand  or  the 
foot  is  independent  of  either.  Manufactures  accordingly 
prosper  most  when  the  head  is  least  consulted,  and  where 
the  workshop  may,  without  any  great  effort  of  imagination, 
be  considered  as  an  engine,  the  parts  of  which  are  men." 
Similar  statements  have  been  made  by  others.  Even  Dr. 
Smith,  who  has  given  so  beautiful  an  exposition  of  the 
benefits  derived  from  the  division  of  employments,  has  in 
this  instance  concurred  with  the  popular  opinion,  and  has 
not  hesitated  to  affirm  that  constant  application  to  one  par- 
ticular occupation  in  a  large  manufactory  "necessarily 
renders  the  workmen  as  stupid  and  ignorant  as  it  is  pos- 
sible to  make  a  human  being."  Nothing,  however,  can  be 
more  marvellously  incorrect  than  these  representations 
Instead  of  its  being  true  that  the  workmen  employed  in 
manufacturing  establishments  are  less  intelligent  and  acute 
than  those  employed  in  agriculture,  the  fact  is  distinctly 
and  competely  the  reverse.  The  weavers  and  other  me- 
chanics of  Glasgow,  Manchester,  and  Birmingham,  possess 
far  more  information  than  is  possessed  by  the  agricultural 
labourers  of  any  county  in  the  empire.  And  this  is  really 
what  a  less  prejudiced  inquiry  into  the  subject  would  have 
led  us  to  anticipate.  The  various  occupations  in  which  the 
husbandman  has  successively  to  engage,  their  constant 
liability  to  be  affected  by  so  variable  a  power  as  the  weather, 
and  the  perpetual  change  in  the  appearance  of  the  objects 
which  daily  meet  his  eyes,  and  with  which  he  is  conversant, 
occupy  his  attention,  and  render  him  a  stranger  to  that 
ennui  and  desire  for  extrinsic  and  adventitious  excitement 
which  must  ever  be  felt  by  those  who  are  constantly  en- 
gaged in  burnishing  the  point  of  a  pin,  or  in  performing  the 
same  endless  routine  of  precisely  similar  operations.  This 
want  of  excitement  cannot,  however,  be  so  cheaply  or  ef- 
fectually gratified  in  any  way  as  it  may  be  by  cultivating, 
that  is,  by  stimiilaling,  the  mental  powers.  Workmen  in 
general  have  no  time  for  dissipation  ;  and  if  they  had,  the 
wages  of  labour  are  too  low,  and  the  propensity  to  save  and 
accumulate  too  powerful,  to  allow  of  any  large  propor- 
tion of  them  seeking  to  divert  themselves  by  indulging  in 
riot  and  excess.  They  are  thus  driven  to  seek  for  recrea- 
tion in  mental  excitement ;  and  their  situation  affords  them 
every  facility  for  amusing  and  diverting  themselves  in  this 
manner.  Agricultural  labourers,  spread  over  a  wide  extent 
of  country,  are  without  the  means  of  assembling,  except  on 
some  rare  occasions,  for  the  purpose  either  of  amusement 
or  instruction  ;  but,  by  working  together,  those  engaged  in 
manufacturing  establishments  have  constant  opportunities- 
of  discussing  all  topics  of  interest  and  importance.  They 
are  thus  gradually  trained  to  habits  of  thinking  and  reflec- 
tion; their  intellects  are  sharpened  by  the  collision  of  con- 
flicting opinions  ;  and  a  small  contribution  from  each  indi- 
vidual enables  them  to  establish  lectureships  and  libraries, 
and  to  obtain  a  large  supply  of  newspapers  and  periodical 
publications.  But  whatever  doubt  may  exist  respecting 
the  cause,  whether  it  be  ascribed  to  the  better  elementary 
instruction  of  the  lower  classes  in  towns  and  villages,  or  to 
the  circumstances  under  which  they  are  placed  in  after 
life,  there  can  be  none  as  to  the  fact  that  the  intelligence 
of  manufacturing  workmen  has  increased  according  as 
their  numbers  have  increased,  and  as  their  employment* 
have  been  more  and  more  subdivided.  There  is  not,  we 
apprehend,  any  real  ground  for  supposing  that  they  were 
ever  less  intelligent  than  the  agriculturists;  though,  what- 
ever may  have  been  the  case  formerly,  none  will  now  ven- 
ture to  affirm  that  they  are  inferior  to  them  in  mental 
acquirements,  or  that  they  are  mere  machines  withoui 
sentiment  or  reason. 

No  statutory  restrictions  respecting  the  employment  of 
children  in  the  mills  and  factories  of  the  United  Kingdom 
existed  until  the  year  1302,  when  an  act  of  parliament  was 
passed  (42  Geo.  3.)  for  the  preservation  of  the  health  and 
morals  of  apprentices  and  others  employed  in  cotton  and 
other  factories  ;  and  directing  the  magistrates  to  report  whe- 
ther the  factories  were  conducted  according  to  law  ;  and  to 
adopt  such  sanatory  regulations  as  they  might  think  fit. 
This  act  wa3  followed,  in  1816,  by  an  act,  generally  called 
Sir  Robert  Peel's  Act,  imposing  various  regulations  on  the 
employment  of  children  in  cotton-mills. 

Both  of  these  acts  were  repealed  in  1831  by  an  act,  1  &2 
Will.  4.  c.  39.,  commonly  called  Sir  John  Hobhouse's  Act, 
which  provided  that  in  cotton  factories,  to  which  alone  it 
related,  no  child  could  legally  be  employed  till  it  had  at- 
tained the  age  of  9  years  ;  and  that  no  person  under  18 
years  of  age  could  be  suffered  to  remain  in  the  factories 
more  than  12  hours  in  one  day  ;  and  that  on  Saturdays 
they  should  only  be  employed  in  the  factories  for  9  hours. 


FACTORY. 


Account  of  all  the  Cottton,  Woollen,  Worsted,  Flax,  and  Silk  Mills  or  Factories  in  each  County  of  England  and  Wales,  and 
in  the  Kingdom,  in  the  year  1838 ;  specifying  the  Amount  and  Description  of  the  Moving  Power,  and  the  Number,  Age,  and 
Sex  of  the  Persons  employed  in  the  same :  compiled  from  Returns  of  the  Factory  Inspectors,  printed  by  Order  of  the 
House  of  Commons  in  1839. 


No.of  Mills.                          Moving  Power. 

Persons  employed. 

j. 

Steam- 

Water. 

Power 

Jnderl    Age, 

Ages 

Totals. 

Counties. 

£ 

a 

1 

is 

Total 
Horse 
Power. 

era-      £ 
ployed. 

I  rs  1  between 

between 

13  and 

IS. 

Ages 

above 

18. 

En- 
gines- 

Horse 
Power. 

Wheels. 

Horse 
Power. 

Of 

Age. 

9    and 
15. 

Males. 

Fe- 
males. 

Engl  Ami-Cotton  Mills. 

j 

1 

Chester 

154 

12     210 

6,921 

60 

1,726 

8,647 

7,104 

1,190 

11,970 

23,192 

17,676    18,676 

Cumberland 

13 

b  . 

11 

293 

5 

66 

359 

359 

21 

764 

1,200 

720 

1,265 

Derby 

76 

7 

56 

960 

91 

2,138 

3,098 

2,753 

727 

3,721 

6,014 

4,231 

6,231 

Gloucester  - 

1 

.  . 

1 

20 

20 

20 

21 

8 

15 

14 

Lancaster 

1,125 

62 

1,003 

29,909 

272 

3,558 

33,467 

33,422 

7,579. 

58,562 

65,982 

69,839 

82,234 

Leicester    • 

3 

4 

36 

36 

36 

- 

102 

142 

54 

190 

Middlesex  - 

11 

.  . 

11 

131 

131 

131 

1 

14 

212 

312 

289 

250 

Norfolk 

1 

1 

12 

12 

12 

54 

76 

6 

124 

Nottingham 

13 

•  - 

9 

170 

9 

137 

307 

307 

34 

564 

862 

454 

1,006 

Salop 
Stafford 

1 

•  - 

2 

28 

28 

28 

6 

17 

16 

15 

24 

15 

4 

139 

14 

357 

496 

496 

230 

65S 

1,190 

734 

1,344 

Surrey 

3 

2 

26 

26 

26 

60 

128 

78 

110 

Warwick    - 

4 

5 

155 

155 

17* 

3 

14 

67 

43 

41 

York,  ex.  of  W.  Riding 

69 

4 

619 

38 

515 

1,134 

1,134" 

394 

1 .6.3"> 

2,177 

2,171 

2,055 

York,  \V.  Riding 
Wales. 

100 

67 

1,170 

83 

980* 

2,150* 

2,07 1  % 

744 

3,327 

4,172 

3,491 

4,722 

1,589 

85 

1,422 

40,589 

572 

9,477* 

50,066* 

47,917 

1 

10,942 

81,671 

125.533 

99,866 

118,286 

Flint    - 

Totals 
England. —  Woollen. 
Chester 

5 

7 

103 

5 

140" 

243" 

144 

78 

395 

537 

376 

634 

1,594 

85 

1,429 

40,697 

577 

9,6171 

50,314* 

48,061 

1 

11,020 

62,066 

126,075 

100,242 

118,920 

13 

2 

15 

12 

81 

96 

96 

30 

54 

90 

135 

39 

Cornwall 

8 

10 

45* 

451 

42 

1 

8? 

117 

9 

197 

Cumberland 

14 

"   2 

15 

135" 

135" 

135 

53 

105 

116 

176 

98 

Derby 

3 

1 

6 

3 

31 

37 

26 

7 

2 

26 

31 

4 

Devon 

39 

2 

48 

521 

521 

469j 

286 

586 

938 

360 

1,450 

Dorset 

2 

3 

26 

26 

24 

9 

23 

26 

29 

29 

Durham 

3 

.  . 

2 

39 

I 

10 

49 

39 

21 

37 

31 

35 

54 

Essex 

1 

1 

4 

4 

4 

- 

6 

4 

6 

4 

Gloucester 

90 

29 

49 

843*. 

219 

1,628J 

2,472 

1,987* 

91 

2,010 

3,314 

2,677 

2,738 

Hampshire 

2 

2 

11" 

11 

11* 

8 

6 

5 

9 

Hereford     - 

4 

4 

19 

19 

17 

8 

5 

15 

23 

6 

Kent    - 

1 

•  . 

1 

4 

1 

8 

12 

12 

7 

9 

4 

12 

Lancaster   • 

101 

4 

61 

1,024 

70 

607 

1,031 

1,631 

947 

1,726 

2,274 

3,086 

1,861 

Lincoln 

1 

1 

6 

6 

6 

9 

3 

9 

3 

Middlesex  • 

4 

3 

22 

2 

8 

30 

30 

1 

10 

2 

11 

2 

Monmouth 

9 

10 

25 

25 

19 

25 

25 

21 

34 

37 

Norfolk 

3 

2 

A  9* 

.     . 

. 

9i 

V 

20 

35 

66 

83 

38 

Northampton 

1 

1 

8 

8 

8 

9 

8 

8 

11 

14 

Northumberland 

3 

4 

28 

28 

28 

9 

6 

38 

30 

23 

Oxford 

8 

1 

8 

11 

106 

114 

113 

26 

146 

04 

187 

89 

Salop 

4 

4 

33 

3S 

34 

3 

24 

30 

53           4 

Somerset    - 

30 

1 

13 

260 

41 

372 

632 

545 

179 

773 

1,181 

1,138        945 

Surrey 

4 

2 

36 

2 

36 

72 

n 

3 

38 

29 

63 

7 

Westmoreland 

14 

5 

107 

14 

123 

230 

230 

41 

198 

143 

201 

181 

Wilts  - 

53 

2 

39 

718 

56 

412 

1,130 

807 

62 

1,250 

1,916 

1,976 

1,252 

York,  ex.  of  W.  Riding 

63 

7 

15 

243 

52 

424 

672 

672 

165 

583 

620 

917 

451 

York,  W.  Riding 

Wales. 

543 

3621 

7,492 

191 

2,067 

9,559 

9,302 

4 

3,617 

9,558 

12,991 



17,818 

8,362 

1,029 

47 

559^ 

10,833 

777 

6,774 

17,612 

16,369f 
29| 

< 

5,613 

17,330 

24,U6|  29,157 

17,908 

Brecon 

10 

1 

. 

10 

31 

31 

17 

19 

46          48 

34 

Cardigan     • 

9 

1 

9 

13 

13 

10 

12 

8 

10 

33 

3 

[Carmarthen 

19 

o 

21 

26 

26 

25 

30 

34 

33 

72 

25 

Denbigh      - 

8 

1 

9 

41 

41 

35 

27 

66 

103 

146 

50 

'Glennorgan 

15 

1 

1 

4 

15 

51* 

55* 

48* 

50 

40 

50 

56 

84 

Merioneth  • 

25 

3 

26 

54" 

54" 

48" 

18 

50 

66 

75 

5'J 

Montgomery 

61 

1 

3 

22 

66 

262 

284 

253 

174 

362 

187 

507 

216 

Radnor 

Totals. 
England. — Worsted. 
Chester 

3 

1 

3 

9 

9 

9 

2 

8 

17 

19 

8 

1,179 

58 

563J 

10,864 

936 

7,261* 

18,125*  16,827| 

}     5,943 

17,917 

24,636 

30,113 

18,387 

1 

1 

1 

20 

. 

20 

2 

. 

2 

1 

2 

1 

Derby 

1 

2 

36 

36 

36 

11 

26 

54 

32 

39 

Durham 

4 

5 

116 

1 

20 

136 

136 

36 

209 

187 

130 

302 

|  Lancaster   - 

12 

1 

10 

181 

5 

80 

261 

261 

66 

419 

437 

337 

587 

Leicester    - 

26 

25 

421 

. 

421 

409 

72 

679 

983 

662 

1,072 

Lincoln 

1 

1 

4 

. 

4 

4 

4 

1 

4 

3 

6 

Norfolk 

3 

3 

90 

1 

12 

102 

192 

36 

223 

124 

86 

299 

Northampton 

1 

1 

12 

1 

12 

24 

24 

IS 

24 

20 

11 

46 

Northumberland 

1 

1 

3 

3 

3 

1 

3 

4 

Nottingham 

4 

4 

75 

I 

25 

100 

100 

154 

209 

150 

213 

Salop 

1 

1 

22 

22 

22 

2£ 

32 

44 

22 

79 

Stafford 

2 

1 

3 

2 

33 

36 

36 

■    40 

76 

51 

65 

Warwick     • 

2 

2 

21 

. 

21 

20 

32 

104 

56 

80 

Worcester  - 

9 

3 

106 

9 

93 

199 

192 

6; 

1        252 

331 

156 

540 

York,  ex.  of  W.Riding 

6 

1 

25 

5 

70 

95 

95 

5' 

11,170 

142 

102 

267 

York,  W.  Riding 
Totals. 

342 

225| 

4,767 

87 

929 

5,696 

5,325 

5     4,14; 

>        619 

10,466 

6,890 

19,344 

416       i 

*    283f 

5,863 

115 

1,313 

7,176     6.857 

5     4,52< 

)    13,883 

13,217 

8,694 

22,940 

439 

FACTORY. 

TABLE.— continued. 


No.of  Mills. 

Moving  Power. 

Actual 
Power 

Persons  employed. 

it 

Steam. 

Water. 

Und 

r     Ages 

Ages 

Totals. 

Counties. 

t 

1 

Horse 
Power. 

em- 
ployed. 

4   it 
of 

Age 

8-  between 

9   and 

13. 

between 

13  and 

18. 

above 
18. 

Fe- 
males. 

En- 
gines- 

Horse 
Power. 

Wheels 

Horse 
Power. 

Males. 

Cumberland 

9 

2 

66 

8 

97 

163 

163 

16 

144 

206 

57 

309 

Derby 

1 

.  . 

1 

16 

3 

15 

31 

31 

15 

40 

41 

23 

731 

3 

1 

4 

51 

51 

45 

1 

28 

72 

10 

91 

18 

1 

4 

72 

21 

202 

274 

214 

19 

250 

387 

113 

543 

Durham 

8 

1 

7 

126 

2 

35 

161 

161 

164 

258 

100 

322 

Gloucester 

3 

4 

63 

63 

39 

2 

66 

71 

18 

121 

Hampshire 

2 

2 

28 

28 

28 

52 

34 

3 

83 

Kent    - 

1 

.  . 

1 

20 

. 

20 

20 

37 

38 

37 

38 

16 

2 

21 

480 

3 

42 

522 

622 

78 

1,392 

1,411 

1,083 

1,798 

1 

2 

24 

. 

- 

24 

24 

33 

29 

19 

43 

Middlesex  - 

3 

4 

68 

1 

2 

70 

56 

2 

4 

57 

10 

53 

Northumberland 

3 

4 

74 

1 

12 

86 

86 

120 

132 

42 

210 

Salop 

1 

o 

116 

116 

116 

101 

342 

358 

369 

432 

Somerset    - 

13 

1 

5 

67 

16 

124 

191 

138 

11 

189 

227 

64 

363 

Surrey 

1 

.  . 

1 

10 

90 

10 

20 

21 

4 

37 

Westmoreland  - 

4 

2 

70 

4 

24 

94 

94 

32 

213 

204 

185 

264 

York,  ex.  of  W.  Riding 

31 

5 

6 

153 

43 

466 

619 

619 

312 

770 

999 

751 

1,330 

York,  W.  Riding 

Totals. 
England.— Silk. 
Berks 

60 

•   " 

59 

1,709 

3 

32! 

1,741! 

1,525! 

831 

3,396 

3,346 

2,489 
5,377 

5,084 
11,194 

178 

11 

125 

3,134 

111 

1,130* 

4,264i 

3,891! 

1,420 

7,260 

7,891 

3 

1 

3 

30 

30 

30 

1          48 

57 

73 

28 

151 

Bucks         ... 

2 

2 

8 

1 

4 

12 

12 

S          65 

36 

9 

65 

53 

Chester 

92 

12 

81 

794 

28 

240 

1,034 

786 

4i 

A     2,709 

4,154 

4,515 

4,870 

6,962 

Derby 

20 

1 

17 

178 

2 

6j 

184! 

204 

i 

7        640 

839 

1,690 

1,013 

2,203 

Devon 

3 

1 

. 

4 

72 

72 

48 

4          79 

119 

203 

62 

343 

Dorset 

G 

1 

8 

5 

38 

46 

40 

c 

4          72 

92 

125 

37 

296 

Essex 

7 

.   . 

6 

77 

6 

59 

136 

129 

6        233 

561 

641 

204 

1,237 

Gloucester  - 

2 

2 

5J 

5A 

5| 

1          62 

27 

23 

22 

101 

Hampshire  • 

2 

2 

18 

18 

18" 

J 

3          56 

79 

74 

21 

201 

Hertford      - 

6 

5 

41 

4 

52 

93 

93 

1 

>6        272 

247 

209 

367 

417 

Kent    .... 

1 

1 

8 

1 

6 

14 

14 

I 

11 

28 

2 

38 

31 

1 

29 

529 

5 

36 

565 

557 

! 

59     1,176 

2,043 

2,283 

1,689 

3,902 

:;ddlesL.\  ... 

1 

1 

18 

18 

18 

2          44 

64 

44 

33 

121 

|  Norfolk 

4 

4 

120 

120 

120 

5 

»6        329 

990 

929 

162 

2,112 

Nottingham 

4 

3 

27 

1 

12 

39 

29 

8        110 

129 

192 

177 

272 

Somerset    - 

24 

1 

16 

125 

19 

149 

274 

235 

It 

6        560 

559 

780 

406 

1,659 

Stafford 

12 

3 

10 

103 

2 

35 

138 

122 

I 

)?        394 

441 

601 

508 

986 

Suffolk 

3 

1 

9 

1 

3 

12 

12 

9        198 

160 

88 

47 

418 

Surrey 

1 

1 

8 

8 

8 

8          22 

13 

22 

21 

44 

Warwick    - 

9 

2|        8 

53 

2 

12 

65 

58 

. 

99 

133 

303 

218 

317 

Wilts  .... 

B 

3 

18 

4 

26 

44 

39 

7          74 

109 

160 

26 

324 

Worcester  - 

10 

12 

50 

50 

38* 

t 

6          97 

75 

116 

68 

266 

York,  W.  Riding 
Totals. 
Grand  Totals.      - 

16 

■  -        11 

193 

5 

66 

259 

270 

2        102 

366 

613 

603 

480 

263 

22     199 

2,309 

110 

928 

3,237 

2,886 

1,0 

35     7,442 

11,304 

13,721 

10,649 

22,903, 

3,630 

178'  2,600 

62,867 

1,849 

20,250! 

83,117! 

78,5231 

1.0 

J5    30.354 

132.430 

165.540 

155.075 

194,344 

Sir  John  Hobhouse's  Act  was  repealed,  in  1833,  by  the  act 
3<fc4  Will.  4.  c.  103.,  which  contains  the  following  provisions, 
comprehending  the  whole  statutory  regulations  at  presentap- 
plicableto  cotton  and  other  factories  in  the  United  Kingdom: 

1.  That  after  the  1st  of  January,  1834,  no  person  under 
18  years  of  age  shall  be  allowed  to  work  in  the  night :  that 
is,  between  half-past  8  p.  m.  and  half-past  5  A.  m.,  in  any 
cotton  or  other  factory  in  which  steam,  or  water,  or  any 
other  mechanical  power,  is  or  shall  be  used  to  propel  the 
machinery,  excepting  in  lace-factories. 

2.  That  no  person  under  18  shall  be  employed  more  than 
12  hours  in  one  day,  nor  more  than  69  hours  in  one  week. 

3.  That  there  shall  be  allowed,  in  the  course  of  every  day, 
not  less  than  1!  hour  for  meals  to  every  person  restricted 
to  the  performance  of  12  hours'  work. 

4.  That  after  the  1st  of  January,  1834,  no  child,  except  in 
silk  mills,  shall  be  employed  who  shall  not  be  9  years  old. 

5.  That  after  the  1st  of  March,  1834,  no  child,  except  in 
silk-mills,  shall  be  employed  in  any  factory  more  than  48 
hours  in  any  one  week,  nor  more  than  9  hours  in  any  day, 
who  shall  not  be  11  years  old ;  nor  after  the  1st  of  March, 
1835,  who  shall  not  be  12  years  old ;  nor  after  the  1st  of 
March,  1836,  who  shall  not  be  13  years  old  ;  and  that  these 
hours  of  work  shall  not  be  exceeded,  even  if  the  child  has 
worked  during  the  day  in  more  factories  than  one. 

6.  That  children,  and  young  persons  whose  hours  of 
work  are  regulated,  shall  be  entitled  to  2  holidays  and  8 
half-holidays  in  every  year. 

7.  That  children,  whose  hours  of  work  are  restricted  to 
9  hours  a  day,  are  not  to  be  employed  without  obtaining 
a  certificate  from  a  physician  or  surgeon,  certifying  that 
they  are  of  the  ordinary  strength  and  appearance  of  chil- 
dren of  the  age  before  mentioned,  which  certificate  is  to  be 
countersigned  by  some  inspector  or  justice. 

440 


8.  That  it  shall  be  lawful  for  his  majesty  to  appoint,  du- 
ring pleasure,  4  persons  to  be  inspectors  of  factories,  with 
extensive  powers  as  magistrates,  to  examine  the  children 
employed  in  the  factories,  and  to  inquire  respecting  their 
condition,  employment,  and  education  ;  and  that  one  of  the 
secretaries  of  state  shall  have  power,  on  the  application  of 
an  inspector,  to  appoint  superintendents  to  superintend  the 
execution  of  the  act. 

9.  That  those  inspectors  are  to  make  all  rules  necessary 
for  the  execution  of  the  act,  and  to  enforce  the  attendance 
at  school,  for  at  least  2  hours  daily,  out  of  6  days  in  the 
week,  of  childreji  employed  in  factories ;  from  whose 
weekly  wages  a  deduction,  not  exceeding  I  penny  in  every 
shilling,  for  schooling,  shall  be  made. 

10.  That  no  child  shall  be  employed  who  shall  not,  on 
Monday  of  every  week,  give  to  the  factory  master  a  cer- 
tificate of  his  or  her  attendance  at  school  for  the  previous 
week. 

11.  That  the  interior  walls  of  every  mill  shall  be  white- 
washed every  year. 

12.  That  a  copy  or  abstract  of  the  act  shall  be  hung  up  in 
a  conspicuous  part  of  every  mill. 

13.  That  the  inspectors  shall  regularly,  once  a  year, 
report  their  proceedings  to  one  of  the  secretaries  of 
state. 

The  act  also  contains  regulations  extending  the  hours  of 
work,  where  time  shall  be  lost  by  the  want  of  or  an  excess 
of  water  in  mills  situated  upon  a  stream  of  water ;  respect- 
ing the  steps  to  be  taken  in  order  to  obtain  regular  certifi- 
cates of  age  for  the  children  requiring  them  ;  respecting 
the  erection  of  schools  where  necessary  ;  and  respecting 
the  proceedings  to  be  had  before  inspectors  and  magis- 
trates for  enforcing  the  act,  and  the  right  to  appeal  from 
their  decisions. 


FACUL^E. 

FA'CUL-E.  In  Astronomy,  certain  spots  sometimes 
seen  on  the  sun's  disc,  which  appear  brighter  than  the  rest 
of  his  surface.  These  bright  spots,  and  the  variable  ap- 
pearances of  the  solar  disc,  have  given  rise  to  much  specu- 
lation respecting  the  constitution  of  the  sun.     See  Sun. 

FA'CULTY.  (In  the  Universities.)  In  the  origin  of  the 
university  of  Paris  (which  is  considered  as  the  model  of  all 
European  institutions  in  the  middle  ages)  the  seven  liberal 
arts  (grammar,  logic,  rhetoric,  arithmetic,  geometry,  astro- 
nomy, and  music)  seem  to  have  been  the  subjects  of  aca- 
demic instruction.  These  constituted  what  was  afterwards 
designated  the  Faculty  of  Arts.  Three  other  faculties— 
those  of  divinity,  law,  and  medicine — were  subsequently 
added.  In  all  these  four  lectures  were  given,  and  degrees 
conferred  by  the  university.  The  four  faculties  were  trans- 
planted to  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  where  they  are  still  re- 
tained :  although,  in  point  of  fact,  the  faculty  of  arts  is  the 
only  one  in  which  substantial  instruction  is  communicated 
in  the  academical  course.  By  an  anomaly  of  ancient  date, 
the  English  universities  also  give  degrees  in  what  is  not 
properly  a  faculty,  but  only  a  branch  of  one  of  the  faculties, 
viz.  music.  On  the  Continent,  the  faculty  of  arts  is  synony- 
mous with  that  of  philosophy.  In  England,  that  of  divinity 
is  not  wholly  distinct  from,  but  superior  to,  that  of  arts ; 
degrees  in  the  latter  being  preliminary  qualifications  for 
those  in  the  former. 

FA'CULTY,  DEAN  OF.  In  Scotland,  the  elective  pre- 
sident of  the  faculty  of  advocates,  answering  to  barristers 
in  England. 

FAGOTTO.     The  same  as  bassoon,  which  see. 

FAHLERZ.  A  miueralogical  synonym  of  grey  copper 
ore. 

FA'HLUNITE.  A  mineral,  from  Fahlun,  in  Sweden. 
It  is  a  hydrated  silicate  of  alumina. 

FAIE'NCE.  (From  Faenza,  the  original  place  of  manu- 
facture.) In  the  Fine  Arts,  pottery  embellished  with  painted 
designs.  Raffaelle  in  his  early  days  is  believed  to  have 
been  much  engaged  on  this  department  of  the  art;  but  the 
matter  is  very  doubtful.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  many 
of  his  designs  were  transferred  to  porcelain,  which  hence 
obtained  the  name  of  Raffaelle's  ware  ;  but  the  date  of  their 
execution  is  posterior  to  that  artist's  death. 

FAI'NTING.     See  Syncope. 

FAINTS.  The  impure  and  weak  spirit  constituting  the 
first  and  last  runnings  of  the  still. 

FAIR.  (Either  from  the  Latin  ferire  or  forum.)  A  meet- 
ing held  at  stated  times  of  the  year  in  particular  places,  for 
the  purposes  of  traffic,  to  which  merchants  resort  with 
their  wares.  Fairs,  in  Christian  countries,  were  usually 
held  on  particular  festivals  ;  and  are  so  still  in  England,  un- 
less where  they  have  been  fixed  to  particular  days  in  the 
month  by  later  grants  of  privileges.  By  the  English  law, 
the  king's  authority  only  is  susposed  to  confer  the  privilege 
of  holding  a  fair,  with  the  court  of  piepowder  to  determine 
disputes  arising  there,  which  is  incident  to  it.  Fairs  are 
considered  free,  unless  mil  is  due  to  the  owners  by  special 
grant,  or  by  custom,  which  supposes  such  arant. 

FAI'RIES.  Imaginary  beings,  who  occupied  a  distin- 
guished place  in  the  traditional  superstitions  of  the  nations 
of  Western  Europe,  and  especially  in  these  islands.  Their 
English  name  is  probably  derived  from  "  fair,"  or  has  the 
same  etymology  with  that  word;  and,  although  some  simi- 
larity has  been  traced  between  them  and  the  Peris  of  the 
Persians  (pronounced  Feri  by  the  Arabians),  it  is  not  pro- 
bable that  the  resemblance  of  name  is  more  than  acci- 
dental. There  is  also  a  distinction  between  the  fairy  of 
our  island  and  the  Fata  or  prophetic  sybil  of  the  Italians, 
from  which  last  the  French  Fee  is  derived  ;  although  the 
French,  in  their  romantic  mythology,  have  somewhat 
mingled  the  characteristics  of  the  two.  The  British  fai- 
ries, also,  although  they  have  something  in  common  with 
the  Dweraas  or  Gnomes  of  the  Scandinavian  mythology, 
are  not  idenlical  with  them;  they  are  in  fact  peculiar  to 
people  of  Celtic  race,  and  the  notions  respecting  them 
prevalent  among  the  Celtic  population  in  Scotland,  Wales, 
and  Ireland  tally  to  a  remarkable  degree.  The  popular  be- 
lief, however,  was  nowhere  invested  with  so  poetical  a 
character  as  in  the  Lowlands  of  Scotland,  where  it  forms 
a  main  ingredient  in  the  beautiful  ballad  poetry  of  the  dis- 
trict. The  fairies  of  the  Scottish  and  English  mythology 
are  diminutive  beings,  who  render  themselves  occasionally 
visible  to  men,  especially  in  exposed  places,  on  the  sides 
of  hills,  or  in  the  glades  of  forests,  which  it  is  their  custom 
to  frequent.  They  have  also  dealings  with  men,  but  of  an 
uncertain  and  unreal  character.  Their  presents  are  some- 
times valuable  ;  but  generally  accompanied,  in  that  case, 
with  some  condition  or  peculiarity  which  renders  them 
mischievous:  more  often  they  are  unsubstantial,  and  turn 
into  dirt  or  ashes  in  the  hands  of  those  to  whom  they  have 
been  sriven.  Mortals  have  been  occasionally  transported 
into  Fairy  land,  and  have  found  that  all  its  apparent  splen- 
dour was  equally  delusive.  One  of  the  most  ordinary  em- 
ployments of  fairies,  in  vulgar  superstition,  is  that  of  steal- 
ing children  at  nurse,  and  substituting  their  own  offspring 
441 


FALCO. 

in  place  of  them,  which  after  a  short  time  perish  or  are 
carried  away.  The  popular  belief  in  fairies  has  been  made 
the  subject  of  poetical  amplification  in  the  hands  of  so 
many  of  our  greatest  writers,  from  Shakspeare  to  Scott, 
that  it  is  not  easy  to  disentangle  the  embellishments  with 
which  it  has  been  invested  from  the  original  notions  on 
which  they  are  founded.  The  Fata  of  the  Italians,  who 
figures  in  their  romantic  epics,  and  from  whom  the  French 
have  made  the  Fee  of  their  fairy  tales,  is  quite  a  different 
personage  :  a  female  magician,  sometimes  benevolent,  and 
sometimes  malevolent,  partaking  herself  of  the  supernatu- 
ral character,  and  peculiarly  gifted  with  the  spirit  of  pro- 
phecy. Such  is  the  Fata  Morgana,  to  whom  the  celebrated 
optical  delusion  occasionally  produced  in  the  Straits  of 
Messina  was  formerlv  attributed  by  popular  belief. 

FAITH.  (Gr.  viarit,  Lat.  fides.)  In  Theology.  It  is 
observable  that  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  employ 
one  and  the  same  word  for  faith  and  belief.  In  most  mo- 
dern languages,  the  use  of  two  different  terms  has,  per- 
haps, strengthened  the  feeling  of  a  difference  between  the 
conviction  of  the  heart  and  that  of  the  understanding :  the 
German,  like  the  Greek,  has  one  only.  Faith,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  St.  Paul,  is  "  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for, 
the  evidence  of  things  not  seen."  Perhaps  these  strong 
expressions  might  be  more  accurately  rendered  "  confi- 
dence" in  things  hoped  for  (compare  2  Cor.  ix.  4.  xi.  17.), 
"conviction"  of  things  not  seen.  (Heb.  xi.  1.)  Through 
this  faith,  the  apostle  proceeds  to  declare,  men  receive  as 
true  things  delivered  to  them  on  divine  authority,  to  which 
neither  their  senses  nor  their  uninstructed  reason  bear  tes- 
timony, and  endure  sufferings  and  do  great  actions  for 
God's  sake.  And  without  it  "it  is  impossible  to  please 
him."  Such  faith  "wasimputed"  toAbraham  "forright- 
eousness"  (Rom.  iv.  21.);  and  thus,  "being  justified  by 
faith,  we  have  peace  with  God  through  Jesus  Christ." 
(Rom.  v.  ].)  It  is  evident  from  these  as  well  as  many 
other  passages  in  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  that  this  justifi- 
cation is  attained  only  by  that  faith  which  obeys  the  com- 
mand as  well  as  relies  on  the  promise  of  God  ;  termed  by 
theologians  efficacious  or  saving  faith.  Nevertheless,  it 
may  be  supposed  that  these  passages  were  misinterpreted 
by  many  of  those  to  whom  they  were  addressed,  as  con- 
veying the  doctrine  of  salvation  through  the  mere  act  of 
belief.  Perhaps  they  were  among  those  expressions  of  St. 
Paul  which,  according  to  St.  Peter,  those  who  were  unsta- 
ble "wrested  to  theirown  destruction  ;"  since  the  Apostle 
James  found  it  necessary  to  insist  so  strongly  on  the  ineffi- 
cacy  of  faith  without  works  (ii.  17.),  or  a  dead  faith  (ib. 
20.),  and  to  assert  that  "by  works  a  man  is  justified,  and 
not  by  faith  only"  (24.)  It  is  needless  to  state  how  much 
theologians,  in  every  age  of  the  church,  have  been  per- 
plexed by  the  ethical  problem  thus  presented.  Their  diffi- 
culties may  be  thought  to  arise,  in  great  measure,  from  the 
inadequacy  of  our  mental  powers  to  separate  the  naked 
act  of  belief,  to  which,  as  far  as  is  perceptible  to  our  facul- 
ties, no  quality  of  ethical  risht  or  wrong  can  attach,  from 
the  moral  predispositions  which  have  produced  that  be- 
lief, and  the  influence  on  the  character  which  results  from 
it;  the  whole,  perhaps,  entering  into  the  Apostolic  view  of 
faith.  In  all  ages  and  churches,  there  has  been  a  tendency 
in  some  to  insist  exclusively  on  the  doctrine  of  justifica- 
tion by  faith,— a  tendency  which  has  sometimes  proceeded 
so  far,  as  in  the  case  of  Luther  at  one  period  of  his  life, 
as  to  induce  them  to  undervalue  or  altogether  reject  the 
Epistle  of  St.  James  ;  in  others,  to  postpone  it  to  the  other 
great  truth  of  judgment  according  to  works.  But  the  for- 
mer characteristic  has  more  particularly  marked  the  te- 
nets which  are  commonly  called  Calvinistic,  in  which  it 
is  combined  with  the  peculiar  doctrine  of  election  ;  the  lat- 
ter has  been  apt  to  prevail  in  Roman  Catholic  teaching, 
and  to  mingle  with  what  is  termed  Arminianism  in  Protes- 
tant churches. 

FAKI'R,  an  Arabic  word  signifying  poor ;  applied  in 
some  Eastern  countries  to  a  sect  of  enthusiasts,  who  re- 
tire from  the  world  and  devote  themselves  to  religious  ob- 
servances. They  are  chiefly  remarkable  for  their  assiduity 
in  "mortifying  the  flesh,"  considering  no  infliction  of  the 
body  as  too  severe,  provided  they  can  inspire  the  observer 
with  reverence  towards  them.  There  are,  however,  some 
classes  of  Fakirs  distinguished  for  good  sense,  learning, 
and  piety. 

FALCA'TE.  (Lat.  falx,  a  sickle ;  sickle-shaped. )  In  Zool- 
ogv,  when  a  part  is  curved  with  the  apex  acute. 

FA'LCATED.  (Lat.  falx.)  The  moon  is  said  to  be  fal- 
cated when  her  illuminated  part  appears  in  the  form  of  a 
crescent  or  sickle,  which  happens  when  she  is  in  the  first 
and  fourth  quarters. 

FA'LCIFORM  PROCESS  OF  THE  BRAIN.  (Lat. 
falx.)  A  process  of  the  dura  mater,  which  arises  from  the 
crysta  galli  and  terminates  in  the  tentorium,  separating  the 
hemispheres  of  the  brain. 

FA'LCO.  (Lat.  falco,  a  falcon.)  The  name  of  a  Lin- 
naean  genus  of  Accipitrine  Diurnal  birds,  characterized  by 
a  beak  crooked,  and  covered  with  a  cere  at  the  base ;  head 
Dd" 


FALCONINES. 

closely  invested  with  feathers.  To  the  short  Linnaean 
phrase  descriptive  of  this  group  of  birds  of  prey  may  be 
added,  that  the  supraciliary  arch  projects  above  the  eye, 
giving  a  bold  and  threatening  physiognomy  to  these  rapa- 
cious birds,  the  majority  of  which  subsist  on  living  prey. 
The  first  plumage  differs  from  that  of  maturity,  which  is 
not  acquired  before  the  third  or  fourth  year.  The  female 
is  generally  one  third  larger  than  the  male.  The  Linnaean 
genus  is  now  subdivided  into  the.  subgenera  Falco,  Bech- 
stein  ;  Hierofalco,  Cuv.  :  Aquila,  Brisson  ;  Haliatus,  Sa- 
vigny  ;  Pandwn,  Sav. ;  Circtztus,  Vieillot ;  Harpyia,  Cuv.  ; 
Morphnus,  Cuv. ;  Asticr,  Bechstein ;  ATisus,  Cuv. ;  Milvus, 
Bechstein ;  Pernis,  Cuv. ;  Buteo,  Bechstein ;  Circus,  Bech.; 
Gypogeranus,  Illig. 

Of  these  subgenera  the  first  two  form  what  are  termed 
the  "  noble"  birds  of  prey,  and  they  are  the  most  courage- 
ous in  proportion  to  their  bulk.  This  quality  is  associated 
with  a  powerful  form  of  the  beak,  of  which  the  arch  com- 
mences from  the  base,  and  which  is  armed  with  a  strong 
tooth  on  each  side  near  the  apex.  Their  wings  are  strong, 
long,  and  pointed,  the  second  quill-feather  being  the  long- 
est. It  is  from  this  division  of  falcons  that,  the  birds  are  se- 
lected for  the  sport  of  falconry. 

In  the  "  ignoble"  division  of  the  birds  of  prey,  the  longest 
quill- feather  of  the  wing  is  almost  always  the  fourth,  and  the 
first  is  very  short,  which  gives  the  wing  an  appearance  of 
having  the  extremity  obliquely  truncated.  The  bill  is  not 
armed  with  lateral  tooth-like  processes. 

FA'LCONINES,  Falconince.  (Lat.  falco,  a  hawk.)  A 
subfamily  of  Accipitrine  birds,  having  the  genus  Falco  pro- 
per as  the  type  ;  and  characterized  by  a  beak  short,  hooked 
from  its  base,  and  toothed  near  the  apex ;  wings  long,  sec- 
ond quill  shortest.  It  includes  the  genera  Ferax  and  Falco. 
The  term  Falconidce,  is  used  by  some  ornithologists  in  a 
6ense  as  extended  as  Diurnal,  which  see. 

FA'LCONRY.  The  origin  of  this  celebrated  sport  has 
given  occasion  to  much  controversy.  It  has  been  said  that 
it  was  unknown  to  the  Greeks ;  it  is,  however,  described 
by  Ctesias  and  Aristotle  as  practised  in  their  time  in  India 
and  Thrace.  Martial  and  Apuleius  present  us  with  plain 
indications  of  the  knowledge  of  this  pastime  among  the  Ro- 
mans. In  modern  Europe,  it  appears  to  have  been  prac- 
tised earliest,  or  at  least  with  most  ardour,  in  Germany  : 
the  title  of  the  emperor,  Henry  the  Fowler  (a.  d.  920),  is 
said  to  be  derived  from  an  anecdote  respecting  his  fondness 
for  it.  In  the  12th  century,  it  was  the  favourite  sport  of  no- 
bles and  knights  throughout  Europe  ;  and  in  that  which  fol- 
lowed its  rules  were  reduced  into  a  system  by  the  Emperor 
Frederic  II.  (Barbarossa),  and  by  Demetrius,  physician 
to  the  Greek  Emperor  Palaeologus.  In  that  court  the  grand 
falconer  was  an  officer  of  distinction  ;  and  the  title  was  bor- 
rowed from  it  by  the  western  sovereigns.  According  to 
the  opinion  of  Strutt,  the  sport  was  not  known  so  early  in 
England  as  on  the  Continent ;  yet  there  are  traces  of  it  as 
early  as  the  8th  century.  From  the  commencement  of  the 
17th,  we  may  date  its  gradual  decline.  James  L,  devoted 
to  hunting,  was  no  admirer  of  falconry,  which  up  to  his 
time  had  been  the  favourite  royal  sport.  But  its  final  aban- 
donment, except  as  the  fancy  of  a  few  individuals,  was  ow- 
ing to  the  gradual  improvement  in  firearms  presenting  far 
easier  methods  of  obtaining  game.  Among  the  many  cu- 
rious works  which  exist  on  this  subject,  once  so  universally 
interesting,  may  be  mentioned  the  treatise  De  la  Faucon- 
•nesie  of  Charles  d'Esperon,  Paris,  1605;  the  celebrated 
Book  of  St.  Alban's,  by  the  Prioress  Juliani  Berners,  1486; 
Latham  on  Falconry,  1658  ;  Ray's  Idea  of  Falconry,  pub- 
lished with  Willoughby's  Ornithology.  The  Emperor  Fred- 
eric II.  (Barbarossa)  did  not  disdain  to  give  the  world  the  re- 
sults of  his  experience  in  the  art,  in  a  treatise  published  in 
1596  from  his  MS.,  under  the  title  Reliqua  librorum  Frede- 
rid  II  Imp.  de  arte  venandi  cum  avibus. 

FA'LCULA.  (Lat.  falx,  a  sickle.)  In  Zoology,  a  claw  is 
so  called  when  it  is  compressed,  elongate,  curved,  and 
sharp-pointed. 

FALL.  The  sea  term  for  the  rope  of  any  pully  or  sys- 
tem of  pulleys.  To  fall  aboard  signifies  to  run  foul  of 
another  vessel. 

FA'LLACY  (Lat.  fallo,  I  deceive),  in  Logic  and  Rhetoric, 
has  been  defined  "  any  argument,  or  apparent  argument, 
which  professes  to  be  decisive  of  the  matter  at  issue,  while 
in  reality  it  is  not."  Fallacies  have  been  divided  into  those 
"  in  dictione,"  in  the  words :  and  "  extra  dictionem,"  in 
the  matter.  The  latter  of  these  it  is  not  the  province  of 
logic  to  discover  and  refute  ;  they  being,  strictly,  instances  in 
which  the  conclusion  follows  from  the  premises,  and  which 
therefore  depend  on  the  unsoundness  of  these  premises 
themselves,  which  can  only  be  detected  by  a  knowledge  of 
the  subject-matter  of  the  argument.  Logical  fallacies,  or 
fallacies  in  dictione,  are  those  in  which  the  conclusion  ap- 
pears to  follow,  but  in  reality  does  not,  from  the  premises  ; 
and  which,  consequently,  can  be  detected  by  one  unlearned 
in  the  subject-matter  of  the  argument,  but  acquainted  with 
the  rules  of  logic.  These  are  subdivided,  however,  into 
fallacies  purely  logical,  ».  e.  vicious  syllogisms  (see  Syllo- 
442 


FAMILY. 

gism,  Paralogism),  and  fallacies  semi-logical ;  those, 
namely,  which  arise  from  the  employment  of  a  middle 
term  in  argument  (see  Syllogism,  Proposition,  Middle 
Term)  ambiguous  in  sense.  In  rhetoric,  a  common  set  of 
artifices,  by  which  the  mind  of  the  reader  or  hearer  is  di- 
verted from  the  question  at  issue  and  fixed  on  some  colla- 
teral topic,  are  termed  fallacies  ;  as,  where  the  character 
of  the  proposer  of  a  measure  is  discussed  as  a  reason  for 
or  against  the  measure  itself,  &c.  &c.  &c. 

FA'LLING  HOME.  The  term  applied  to  the  timbers  or 
upper  parts  of  the  sides  of  a  ship  when  they  curve  inwards. 
The  old  ships  fell  home,  or  tumbled  in  (as  it  is  also  called), 
much  more  than  the  modern  ones,  which  approach  more 
nearly  to  being  wall-sided. 

FA'LLING  STARS.    See  Shooting  Stars. 

FALL  OF  MAN.  The  disobedience  of  Adam  and  Eve 
as  related  in  the  book  of  Genesis,  by  which  sin  and  death 
were  introduced  into  the  world. 

The  word  fall  is  universally  employed  in  the  United 
States  as  synonymous  with  autumn. 

FALLO'PIAN  TUBE.  The  name  given  to  a  canal  or 
tube,  discovered  by  Fallopius,  arising  at  each  side  of  the 
fundus  of  the  uterus,  and  terminating  in  the  ovarium. 

FA'LLOW.  In  Agriculture,  lands  are  said  to  be  under 
fallow  when  they  are  without  a  regular  crop  of  corn  or 
pulse.  A  naked  fallow  is  one  in  which  the  soil  remains  a 
whole  year  without  any  crop  whatever ;  and  a  turnip  or 
green  crop  fallow  is  one  in  which  the  lands  after  being 
without  a  crop  from  harvest  till  the  beginning  of  summer, 
and  being  properly  laboured  during  that  period,  are  sown 
with  turnips  or  other  similar  crops  in  rows,  and  the  ground 
cultivated  in  the  intervals.  Fallowing  was  practised  by  the 
Romans  on  all  soils  whatever,  and  has  been  continued 
through  the  dark  ages,  in  all  the  cultivated  parts  of  Europe, 
so  as  to  have  become,  till  lately,  a  general  habit,  in  the 
treatment  of  arable  lands.  The  practice  of  taking  two 
corn  crops,  and  then  allowing  the  land  to  rest  or  lie  fallow, 
was,  till  the  commencement  of  the  present  century,  pre- 
valent throughout  Europe  ;  and  it  is  still  a  very  common 
practice  in  most  parts  of  the  Continent.  It  appears  to  have 
been  first  broken  through  by  the  Flemings  about  the  end 
of  the  16th  century  ;  and  subsequently  in  Britain,  with  the 
culture  of  turnips,  above  a  century  and  a  half  later.  Fal- 
lows, under  the  most  improved  systems  of  agriculture,  are 
no  longer  had  recourse  to  in  the  case  of  free  or  easily 
worked  soils,  where  turnip  fallows  are  made,  or  drill  crops 
of  legumes  are  substituted  ;  but  in  very  strong  clays  they 
are  still  found  necessary,  and  this  will  probably  continue 
to  be  the  case  till  by  the  "  frequent  drain  system,"  and 
long-continued  culture,  the  strong  clays  become  friable  and 
fit  for  the  drill  husbandry,  like  the  sandy  loams  and  other 
ffQQ  soils. 

FALSE  CADENCE.  In  Music,  one  wherein  the  bass 
rises  a  tone  or  semitone,  instead  of  rising  a  fourth  or  falling 
a  fifth. 

FALSE  KEEL.  The  timber  added  below  the  main 
keel,  both  to  serve  as  a  defence,  and  also,  by  deepening 
the  plane  surface,  to  enable  the  ship  to  hold  a  better  wind. 

FALSE'TTO.  In  Music,  that  part  of  a  person's  voice 
which  lies  above  its  natural  compass,  and  is  produced  to 
various  extents  in  different  subjects,  male  as  well  as  female. 
It  rarely  extends  more  than  four  or  five  notes  above  the 
natural  voice,  and  is  produced  by  diminishing  the  aperture 
of  the  throat. 

FAMI'LIA.  (Lat.)  A  house  or  family,  being  a  subdi- 
vision of  gens  or  clan  (see  Gens).  Its  members  were 
distinguished  by  having  the  last  of  their  three  names  or  the 
cognomen  the  same. 

FAMI'LIAR,  or  FAMILIAR  SPIRIT  ;  mentioned  in  the 
book  of  Samuel  in  a  passage  which  has  produced  much 
observation  from  commentators.  The  genius  or  iaijx6vtov, 
which  Socrates  and  some  other  celebrated  ancients  were 
said  to  have  possessed  as  a  companion,  was  a  species  of 
familiar.  In  modern  Europe  and  Asia,  the  belief  in 
familiar  spirits  forms  an  important  feature  in  the  widely 
spread  superstition  respecting  the  magical  art.  The  sub- 
ject is  curiously  examined  in  the  article  in  the  Enc.  Metri- 
politana. 

FA'MILY.  In  Zoology,  the  group  next  in  value  and 
comprehensiveness  above  the  genus ;  existing  in  fact, 
though  under  the  name  of  the  genus,  in  the  classification 
of  Linnaeus,  who  indicated  the  different  groups  of  species 
therein  comprehended  by  numbers,  instead  of  collective 
appellations. 

Such  divisions  of  the  Linnsean  genus  occur  only  in  those 
instances  in  which  an  unusual  number  of  species  presented 
themselves  to  the  consideration  of  the  clear-sighted  Swede. 
The  progress  of  modern  discovery  has  added  so  many 
new  forms  to  the  naturalist's  catalogue,  as  to  render  neces- 
sary a  corresponding  subdivision  of  most  of  the  Linnsean 
genera.  To  these  subordinate  groups  of  species  distinct 
names  are  given,  for  the  sake  of  convenience  ;  and  in  order 
to  designate  the  natural  family  which  these  groups  com- 
pose, the  name  of  the  original  or  typical  genus  is  generally 


FAN. 

retained,  with  the  addition  of  the  Greek  patronymic  idm  to  the 
genitive  case.  Thus,  e.  g.  the  characters  of  the  Linnaean 
genus  Mus  are  applicable  to  a  vast  number  of  Rodents, 
which  scientific  precision  requires  to  be  arranged  in  nu- 
merous subordinate  groups  ;  these  are  distinguished  by 
appropriate  generic  names  in  modern  systems,  and  the 
term  Muridm  is  applied  to  the  family  which  they  collec- 
tively compose. 

FAN,  FANNERS,  or  FANNING  MACHINE.  A  ma- 
chine forseparating  the  chaff,husks,  dust,  or  other  light  mat- 
ters from  seeds  which  are  to  be  preserved  for  sowing,  or  for 
some  other  purpose  in  general  or  domestic  economy.  The 
air  is  put  in  motion  by  a  wheel,  commonly  driven  by  hand 
with  leaves  or  fans  instead  of  spokes,  directed  in  a  stream 
against  the  seeds  to  be  fanned  ;  which  seeds  are  placed  in  a 
hopper,  so  regulated  as  to  proportion  their  descent  through 
the  stream  of  air  to  the  force  of  the  current  created  by  the 
fan  wheel.  Before  fanners  were  invented  the  process  was 
performed  by  hand  in  a  manner  the  reverse  of  what  it  is 
now  by  machinery  ;  that  is,  the  seeds  and  refuse  to  be 
separated  from  them  were  taken  up  in  shovel  fulls,  and 
thrown  to  as  great  a  distance  as  possible  through  the  calm 
air;  when  die  full-bodied  seeds,  being  the  heaviest,  were 
found  at  the  greatest  distance,  and  the  chaff  and  other  mat- 
ters nearer,  according  to  their  degree  of  lightness.  With 
the  progress  of  the  arts  a  system  of  screens  and  sieves  was 
added  to  the  fanning  machine ;  in  consequence  of  which, 
as  it  separated  the  seed  from  every  kind  of  refuse,  it  is 
called  a  winnowing  machine  ;  and  in  that  case,  it  not  only 
separates  the  chaff  and  other  light  matters  generally  from 
the  heavy  matters,  but  it  parts  both  according  to  their  bulk 
and  weight ;  so  that  the  seed  comes  from  the  winnowing 
machine  fit  for  being  measured  up  for  the  market  or  store 
room,  and  the  various  kinds  of  inferior  products  in  a  state 
fit  for  immediate  use. 

FANA'TIC.  (Lat.  fanum,  a  temple.)  An  enthusiastic 
and  visionary  person,  who,  in  matters  chiefly  relating  to 
religion,  disregards  reason  and  scripture,  and  under  (he  in- 
fluence of  his  feelings  alone  adopts  the  wildest  and  most 
extravagant  opinions.  The  term  fanaticus  was  applied  an- 
ciently to  a  set  of  prophetic  priests  (Struv.  Antiq.  Rom. 
p.  vi.  p.  312.),  who  performed  the  sacrifices  in  a  wild  and 
extravagant  manner;  and  hence,  by  an  easy  transition,  has 
been  bestowed  in  modern  times  on  those  who  make  pre- 
tensions to  inspiration,  or  who  conduct  their  worship  with 
extravagance  or  licentiousness. 

FA'NCY.     See  Imagination. 

FANDA'NGO.  (Spanish.)  An  air  for  dancing  to,  in  triple 
time,  and  of  a  quick  and  lively  character.  It  is  the  favourite 
dancing  air  of  the  Spaniards,  among  whom  it  is  of  great  an- 
tiquity. The  dancer  is  usually  provided  wilh  castanets, — a 
practice  borrowed  from  the  Moors,— which  serve  to  mark 
the  time  more  distinctly  than  a  stringed  instrument  alone 
would  do.  The  Spaniards  in  dancing  to  this  species  of  air 
often  carry  their  gestures  beyond  the  bounds  of  decency. 

FANTA'SIA.  (It.)  In  Music,  a  species  of  composition 
in  which  the  author  ties  himself  to  no  particular  theme, 
ranging  as  his  fancy  leads  amidst  various  airs  and  move- 
ments. Rousseau  in  his  definition  of  this  word  confines 
its  meaning  to  extempore  composition,  and  makes  this  dis- 
tinction between  the  Capriccio  and  the  Fantasia;  namely, 
that  the  former  is  a  collection  of  singular  and  whimsical 
ideas  strung  together  by  an  excited  imagination  and  written 
down  at  one's  leisure,  whilst  Ihe  latter  is  an  off-hand  dis- 
play of  whatever  comes  across  the  mind  at  the  instant  of 
execution. 

FANTOCCINI.  (It.  fantoccio,  apuppet.)  Dramatic  re- 
presentations in  which  puppets  are  substituted  in  the  scene 
for  human  performers. 

FARCE.  (From  the  French  word,  which  again  is  de- 
rived from  the  Italian,  and  this  from  the  Latin  farcire,  to 
stuff.)  In  English  Dramatic  Composition,  a  short  piece 
of  low  comic  character.  The  original  term  seems,  like  the 
Lanx  Satura  of  the  Romans,  which  gave  its  denomination 
to  the  satire,  to  signify  a  miscellaneous  compound  or  mix- 
ture of  different  things.  In  modern  languages  it  has  borne 
various  significations.  Certain  songs  which  were  sung  be- 
tween the  prayers  on  the  occasion  of  religious  worship  are 
said  to  have  been  denominated  Farces  in  Germany,  during 
the  middle  ages ;  whence  the  word  appears  to  have  denoted 
simply  an  interlude  of  any  kind.  In  England,  the  farce 
appears  to  have  risen  to  the  dignity  of  a  regular  theatrical 
entertainment  about  the  beginning  of  the  last  century: 
since  which  time  it  has  formed  one  of  the  most  popular  of 
our  exhibitions,  and  usually  performed,  by  way  of  contrast, 
after  a  tragedy  at  (he  national  theatres.  The  farce  is  re- 
stricted to  three  acts  as  its  limit,  but  frequently  consists 
only  of  two  or  one.  Of  all  the  pieces  of  this  class  which 
have  successively  amused  English  audiences,  none  have 
acquired  a  permanent  literary  reputation  except  those  of 
Foote,— performances  in  which  the  licence  of  the  theatre 
in  satirizing  living  persons  was  carried  to  the  utmost  height. 
The  FabulcR  Atellanm  of  the  Romans,  which  appears  to 
have  been  short  dramatic  entertainments  of  a  miscellaneous 
443 


FARMING. 

character,  sometimes  pastoral,  sometimes  tragi-comic,  &c. 
but  not  so  coarse  in  plan  or  diction  as  the  Mimes  and  their 
Exodia,  which  were  satirical  dialogues  in  verse  between 
some  set  characters  or  stagebuffoons,  appear  to  have  filled 
in  some  respects  the  place  of  the  modern  farce.  On  the 
French  stage  the  vaudeville  answers  to  the  English  farce. 
See  Vaudeville. 

FA'RCY,  or  FARCIN,  is  a  disease  of  the  horse  which 
affects  the  lymphatics  of  the  skin,  either  generally  pro- 
ducing a  distended  appearance  of  the  vessels  like  moles  or 
buttons,  when  it  is  called  the  bud  or  button  farcy  ;  or  lo- 
cally, when  it  is  chiefly  confined  to  dropsical  accumula- 
tions in  the  legs,  and  is  called  the  water  farcy.  Both  forms 
of  the  disease  are  contagious ;  and,  like  the  glanders,  an 
allied  disease,  both  are  difficult  to  cure.  The  button  farcy 
is  generally  removed  by  burning  off  the  buttons  by  caustics 
or  a  red-hot  iron,  and  by  the  exhibition  of  mercury  ;  and 
the  water  farcy  by  the  exhibition  of  mercury  alone.  Both 
diseases  are  sometimes  cured  by  feeding  the  animal  en- 
tirely on  green  food.  See  Blaine  in  Encyc.  ofAgr.  2d  edit, 
page  985. 

FARI'NA.  (Lat.  far,  corn,  of  which  it  is  made.)  Meal 
or  flour,  obtained  by  grinding  and  sifting  wheat  and  other 
seeds ;  hence  the  term  farinaceous  food. 

FA'RM.  In  Agriculture,  a  farm  is  a  portion  of  land, 
with  suitable  buildings,  fences,  and  other  arrangements 
necessary  for  carrying  on  the  business  of  farming,  which 
is  let  to  the  farmer  or  occupier  for  rent.  Farming  is  no 
doubt  coeval  with  the  invention  of  property  in  land ;  be- 
cause we  may  suppose  that  when  a  proprietor  has  taken 
possession  of  a  portion  of  territorial  surface,  and  called  it 
his  own,  he  would  require  the  assistance  of  various  per- 
sons to  cultivate  it ;  and  these  persons  he  could  only  lemu- 
nerate  by  giving  them  a  share  of  the  produce.  Hence  the 
origin  of  what  on  the  Continent  is  called  the  Metayer 
system,— in  which  the  landlord  supplies  the  farmer  or 
tenant  with  the  soil,  buildings,  and  the  whole  or  a  certain 
portion  of  the  stock ;  while  the  latter  supplies  the  labour  of 
cultivation  and  management,  and  takes  as  a  remuneration 
the  half,  or  some  other  measure  of  the  produce.  In  process 
of  time,  as  the  tenants  or  farmers  began  to  acquire  capital, 
they  furnished  the  whole  of  the  live  and  dead  stock,  as 
well  as  the  labour  of  cultivation  and  management,  and  paid 
the  proprietor  or  landlord  a  fixed  rent  in  money  or  pro- 
duce. To  enable  the  tenant  or  farmer  to  do  this  with  the 
greater  security,  leases  were  invented,  by  which  the  tenant 
holding  the  land  for  a  certain  number  of  years  was  enabled 
to  lay  out  money  for  its  improvement  at  the  commence- 
ment of  his  lease,  and  to  receive  it  back  again  in  the  form 
of  increased  produce  before  its  termination. 

At  the  commencement  of  this  system  of  what  may  be 
called  free  farming,  all  farms  were  undoubtedly  of  very 
limited  extent ;  but  with  the  increase  of  capital  and  skill  on 
the  part  of  the  farmer  they  have  become  greatly  enlarged. 
Much  has  been  written  respecting  the  most  profitable  size 
of  farms  for  the  public  ;  but  this  may  safely  be  left  to  the 
interest  of  the  parties  immediately  concerned.  Whatever 
size  of  farm  brings  in  the  highest  rent  to  the  landlord  will 
be  the  best  size  for  the  public  ;  because  the  higher  the  rent 
the  greater  the  amount  of  the  produce  that  must  be  sent  to 
market  to  pay  it.  That  there  is  a  natural  limit  to  the  size 
of  farms  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  but  what  this  is  is  a  dif- 
ferent question,  and  has  no  connection  with  the  other.  It 
depends  on  the  character  of  the  surface,  the  kind  of  farm- 
ing, and  the  climate.  But  though  there  is  a  natural  limit 
to  the  size  of  farms,  and  which  in  any  given  case  can  be 
readily  defined,  there  is  no  limit  to  the  number  of  farms 
that  an  individual  may  hold  but  those  of  his  capital  and 
his  skill. 

FA'RMERY.  The  buildings  and  yards  necessary  for 
carrying  on  the  business  of  a  farm.  Their  situation  should 
be  central  to  the  farm  lands,  in  order  that  the  distance  from 
which  the  crops  are  brought  from  the  fields  to  the  farmery, 
and  the  manure  carted  from  the  farmery  to  the  fields,  may 
be  reduced  to  the  lowest  degree ;  for  when  the  farm  build- 
ings are  on  one  side  of  the  farm  lands,  it  is  evident  that  the 
cartage  to  or  from  the  more  distant  fields  must  be  attended 
with  considerable  loss  of  labour  and  time.  The  charac- 
teristic yard  of  the  farmery  is  the  rick  yard,  and  the  prin- 
cipal feature  among  the  buildings  is  the  barn. 

FARMING.  The  business  of  farming,  or  the  cultivation 
of  lands  held  on  lease,  necessarily  varies  in  different  coun- 
tries and  climates ;  but  one  point  is  common  to  them  all, — 
viz.  that  no  article  shall  be  cultivated  which  shall  not  fully 
remunerate  the  cultivator  or  farmer  within  the  limits  of 
his  lease.  Hence,  as  few  leases  in  any  part  of  the  world 
exceed  twenty  years  in  duration,  timber  trees  are  never 
objects  of  cultivation  by  farmers ,  and  it  is  only  in  particular 
cases  that  orchards  and  vineyards  can  be  planted  by  them. 
As  a  business,  farming  may  be  described  as  that  which 
under  ordinary  circumstances  yields  a  lower  degree  of 
profit  than  any  other  mode  in  which  capital  and  skill  can 
be  employed  ;  but  where  abundance  of  capital  and  extraor- 
dinary skill  are  brought  to  bear  on  farming,  its  profits,  on 


FARROW. 

an  average  of  a  long  series  of  years,  may  perhaps  not  be 
much  inferior  to  those  of  commerce  anrt  manufactures, 
on  the  average  of  a  very  long  period.  The  great  advan- 
tages of  farming  as  a  pursuit  are — 1.  That  the  articles  pro- 
duced, being  of  the  first  necessity,  there  is  always  a  market 
for  them  at  some  price,  without  the  necessity  of  any  or  of 
much  exertion  on  the  part  of  the  farmer;  2.  The  certainty 
of  always  bavins;  a  home  and  the  means  of  existence  on  the 
farm  ;  and  3.  The  comparative  degree  of  independence 
which  these  circumstances  are  calculated  to  create  in  the 
mind.  These  advantages,  however,  depend  much  on  the 
length  of  lease,  and  on  the  rent  being  equitable. 

FA'RROW.  A  sow  is  said  to  farrow  when  she  brings  forth 

pigs ;  and  the  pigs  brought  forth  are  called  a  litter  or  farrow. 

FA'RTHING.     A  small  English  copper  coin,  amounting 

to  one  fourth  of  a  penny  ;  it  was  anciently  styled  fourthing, 

as  being  the  fourth  of  the  integer  or  penny. 

FA'RTHINGALE.  A  name  given  to  the  hoop  of  whale- 
bone used  formerly  by  the  ladies  of  this  and  other  Euro- 
pean countries  to  spread  out  the  petticoat  to  a  wide  circum- 
ference. It  was  introduced  into  England  in  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth,  and  continued  to  be  used  on  state  occa- 
sions down  to  the  commencement  of  the  present  century. 
(See  Struft's Manners  and  Customs.) 

FA'SCES.  (Lat.)  In  Ancient  History,  some  of  the 
insignia  of  authority  of  the  chief  magistrates  of  Rrme. 
They  consisted  of  bundles  of  wooden  rods,  each  enclosing 
an  iron  axe  so  that  its  head  appeared  above ;  and  were 
used  as  instruments  of  punishment,  the  rods  being  applied 
for  minor  offences,  and  the  axe  for  capital  crimes.  They 
were  carried  before  the  magistrates  on  public  occasions  by 
officers  called  lictors,  and  the  number  appointed  to  each 
varied  for  the  different  magistracies.  Thus  the  civic  praetors 
had  two,  proconsuls  and  provincial  praetors  six,  the  consuls 
twelve,  and  dictators  twenty-four.  The  municipal  decem- 
virs also  had  the  privilege  of  having  two  fasces  carried 
before  them  in  their  own  towns. 

FA'SCIA.  (Lat.  a  band.)  In  Architecture,  a  flat  mem- 
ber in  an  entablature  or  elsewhere,  like  a  flat  band  or  broad 
fillet.  The  architrave,  when  subdivided  for  instance,  has 
three  bands,  called  fasciae ;  of  which  the  lower  is  called  the 
first  fascia,  the  middle  one  the  second,  and  the  upper  one 
the  third.     See  Ionic  and  the  other  Orders. 

FA'SCIjE.  In  Astronomy,  bright  stripes  or  belts  ob- 
served on  the  discs  of  some  of  the  planets,  particularly 
Jupiter.  The  fasciae  or  belts  of  this  planet  are  sometimes 
broader  and  sometimes  narrower,  and  alter  their  situation 
on  the  body  of  the  planet,  though  they  always  appear  pa- 
rallel to  his  equator.     See  Jupiter. 

Fa'sci.e.  In  Anatomy,  the  tendinous  expansions  of 
muscles.  The  fascia  lata  is  a  strong  tendinous  sheath  of 
the  muscles  of  the  thigh. 

Fa'SCICULA'RIA.  (Lat.  fasciculus,  a  bundle.)  A 
genus  of  extinct  Zoophites,  whose  calcareous  cases  are  in 
the  form  of  tubes  aggregated  together  in  conical  bundles, 
like  those  of  the  organ-pipe  coral  (Tubifora).  The  Fas- 
cicularias  are  abundant  in  the  English  coralline  crag  for- 
mation. 

FASCI'CULUS  In  Botany,  a  form  of  inflorescence  ex- 
actly similar  to  that  called  a  corymbus,  with  the  exception 
of  the  expansion  being  centrifugal  in  place  of  being  cen- 
tripetal. 

FASCINA'TION.  The  fact  of  being  charmed,  operated 
upon,  or  influenced  by  the  look  of  certain  individuals,  ge- 
nerally taken  in  an  evil  sense.  The  word  i3  originally 
derived  from  the  Greek  (iaaxaivtiv  (Theocr.  Idyl  VI.), 
whence  the  Latin  fascinare.  Fascination  is  the  power  sup- 
posed to  be  possessed  by  certain  persons  of  working  mis- 
chief to  others  bv  means  of  a  glance  of  the  eye.  We  find 
it  mentioned  in  Theocritus;  and  it  was  so  prevalent  among 
the  Romans  that  it  was  personified  as  the  godFascinus,  the 
patron  of  the  evil  eye.     Virgil  alludes  to  it  thus : — 

Nescio  quis  teneros  oculus  mini  fascinat  agnos. 

Eclog.  3. 

It  is  to  this  day  a  common  belief  among  the  vulgar  in 
almost  all  countries  ;  but  probably  it  is  nowhere  more  ge- 
nerally retained  than  in  Turkey  and  the  kingdom  of  Naples 
and  Sicily.  In  the  former  country,  the  Mussulmans  deem 
it  necessary  to  have  recourse  to  a  variety  of  amulets  and 
charms,  in  order  to  preserve  themselves  from  the  evil 
eye  of  an  enemy,  or  of  an  infidel.  In  Naples,  the  evil  eye 
and  its  fascination  (known  to  them  by  the  name  of  getta- 
tura)  are  subjects  of  dread  and  superstitious  precaution 
among  all  classes  of  the  people.  There  is  a  treatise  on 
fascination  by  Vairus,  prior  of  a  convent  at  Benevento  in 
that  country  (1589);  another  by  Frommann  (1675). 

FA'SCINES  (Lat.  fascina,  fagot),  in  Fortification,  are 
bundles  of  fagots,  twigs,  or  branches  of  trees,  which,  being 
mixed  with  earth,  are  made  use  of  for  filling  up  ditches, 
forming  parapets,  &c. 

FASCIOLA'RIA.   (Lat.  fasciola,  a  swathing  band.)    A 
genus  of  Pectinibranchiate  Mollusks,  dismembered  from 
the  rock-shells  (.Murices)  of  Linnaeus  on  account  of  the 
smooth  band-like  surface  of  their  windings,  which  have  I 
444 


FATA  MORGANA. 

not  any  "varices;"  and  distinguished  from  the  species  of 
Fusus  in  having  plaits  on  the  columella,  which  are  oblique, 
and  consequently  spiral. 

FA'SHION.  (Fr  facon  ;  originally  from  the  Lat.  facere, 
to  make  or  form.)  A  term  used  to  signify  the  prevailing 
mode  or  taste  in  any  country,  the  only  recognized  quality 
which  it  possesses  being  mutability.  It  may  safely  be 
averred  that  in  proportion  to  the  Influence  which  fashion 
exercises  in  any  country  may  its  claim  to  civilization  be 
vindicated,  nothing  being  so  characteristic  of  a  rude  and 
barbarous  state  of  existence  as  a  rigid  adherence  to  the 
customs  of  antiquity.  The  term  fashion  has  generally 
been  considered  as  applicable  chiefly  to  the  adornment  of 
the  person,  in  conformity  with  the  prevailing  taste  as  in- 
troduced by  some  individual  of  consideration  in  society  : 
but  it  has  a  much  wider  signification,  being  applied  to  the 
most  trivial  kind  of  conventional  usages,  a  disregard  or 
ignorance  of  which  is  sufficient  in  the  eyes  of  the  votaries 
of  this  tyrannical  goddess  to  banish  the  offender  beyond 
the  pale  of  civilized  society.  The  remark  which  Horace 
makes  on  the  introduction,  disuse,  and  revival  of  language 
is  so  applicable  to  the  term  in  question,  that  we  cannot  for- 
bear quoting  it  in  this  place  : — 

Multa  renascentur,  qux  jam  cecidere,  cadentque 
Q.ns  nunc  sunt  in  honore  vocabula,  si  volet  usus, 
Quern  penes  arbitrium  est,  et  jus,  at  norma  loqnendi. 

Ars  Poetica,  v.  70. 
FA'SSITE.      In  Mineralogy,  a  variety  of  augite  from 
Fassa  in  the  Tyrol. 

FA'STI.  In  Ancient  History,  the  records  of  the  Roman 
state,  in  which  all  public  matters,  military  and  civil,  were 
registered  by  the  high  priest,  according  to  the  days  on 
which  they  took  place.  The  Fasti  of  Ovid  is  a  poem  giv- 
ing an  account  of  the  Roman  year,  and  the  ceremonies  at- 
tached to  the  different  days,  with  their  historical  or  mytho- 
logical origin.  The  first  six  books,  containing  the  first  six 
months  of  the  year,  beginning  with  January,  have  come 
down  to  us ;  the  rest  are  lost. 

FASTI'GIUM.  In  Architecture,  the  same  as  Pediment, 
which  see. 

FA'STING.  In  a  theological  sense,  the  abstaining  from 
food  as  a  religious  observance.  This  practice  is  recom- 
mended in  the  New  Testament  by  the  example  of  the 
Apostles  and  early  Christians,  who  are  frequently  repre- 
sented as  fasting,  especially  on  solemn  occasions,  such  as 
when  Paul  and  Barnabas  are  sent  forth  by  the  Apostles  to 
preach  to  the  Gentiles.  At  the  same  time  it  must  be  ob- 
served, that  during  our  Saviour's  lifetime  his  disciples  were 
notorious  among  the  Jews  for  not  fasting,  as  was  the  com- 
mon religious  practice  of  the  day  :  from  which  we  must 
not  suppose  that  Christ  did  not  appoint  stated  days  or  pe- 
riods of  fasting,  such  as  among  Christians  in  later  times, 
as  well  as  among  the  Jews  then,  have  generally  degene- 
rated into  heartless  ceremonial  observances,  but  left  such 
exercises  rather  to  the  judgment  and  feelings  of  his  disci- 
ples to  be  made  by  them  part  of  their  own  private  devo- 
tions. The  observances,  however,  of  stated  fast  days  pre- 
vailed very  early  and  universally  in  the  church  ;  and  the 
Church  of  England  has  not  hesitated,  accordingly,  to  point 
out  the  practice  of  early  antiquity  as  a  guide  to  its  children 
in  this  matter. 

In  the  Romish  church,  Wednesday  and  Friday  are  ob- 
served as  fasts  throughout  the  year,  those  being  the  days 
on  which  our  Lord  was  betrayed  and  crucified  respec- 
tively. There  are  a  considerable  number  of  fast  days  that 
occur  also  in  the  course  of  the  year;  and  the  whole  period 
of  Lent  is  held  as  a  term  of  abstinence,  in  which  the  stated 
fast  days  that  occur  are  observed  with  especial  rigour  (in 
imitation  of  our  Lord's  forty  days'  fast  in  the  wilderness.) 
These  were  periods  of  real  abstinence  in  the  primitive 
church ;  but  the  little  that  was  eaten  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  limited  in  early  times,  either  in  kind  or  quan- 
tity, by  any  positive  precept.  Fasting  was  practised  diffe- 
rently by  churchps  and  individuals. 

The  objection  then  that  is  brought  against  the  Romish 
church  in  this  particular,  is,  first,  that  it  commmds  and 
enforces  that  which  was  originally  left  to  the  discretion  of 
Christians  ;  and  secondly,  that  by  so  doing,  and  by  multi- 
plying the  occasions  on  which  such  abstinence  is  enjoined, 
it  causes  the  practice  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  work  merito- 
rious in  itself  and  efficient  for  the  expiation  of  sins,  which 
was  never  intended  to  serve  any  other  use  than  that  of  a 
means  towards  attaining  a  godly  frame  of  mind. 

FA'TALISM.  The  belief  in  an  overruling  fate  or  des-. 
tiny  which  annihilates  frr-e  will  and  controls  all  human  ac- 
tions. For  the  philosophical  doctrine  of  fatalism,  see  Ne- 
cessity; forthose  religious  opinions  which  have  assumed 
a  similar  character,  Election,  Predestination. 

FATA  MORGA'NA  (called  also  Castles  of  the  Fairy 
Morgana,  the  spectacle  being  supposed  to  be  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Queen  of  the  Fairies,  the  Morgan  la  Fay  of 
popular  legends.)  A  remarkable  phenomenon  of  mirage 
or  unusual  refraction,  mentioned  by  different  authors  and 
travellers  as  seen  in  the  straits  of  Messina,  especially  in 


FATE. 

the  vicinity  of  Reggio ;  and  which  consists  in  the  appear- 
ance in  the  air,  over  the  surface  of  the  sea,  of  multiplied 
images  of  the  objects  on  the  surrounding  coasts.  It  is 
thus  described  by  Minasi  : — "A  spectator  on  an  eminence 
in  the  city  of  Reggio,  with  his  back  to  the  sun  and  his  face 
to  the  sea,  and  when  the  rising  sun  shines  from  that  point 
whence  the  incident  rays  form  an  angle  of  about  45°  on 
the  sea  of  Reggio,  sees  upon  the  water  numberless  series 
of  pilasters,  arches,  castles,  well  delineated,  regular  co- 
lumns, lofty  towers,  superb  palaces  with  balconies  and  win- 
dows, villages  and  trees,  plains  with  herds  and  flocks,  ar- 
mies of  men  on  foot  and  horseback,  all  passing  rapidly  in 
succession  on  the  surface  of  the  sea."  There  can  be  little 
doubt  that  this  description,  which  has  been  frequently 
copied,  and  even  admitted  into  treatises  on  optics,  has  re- 
ceived considerable  embellishment  from  the  aid  of  the 
imagination.  Captain  Smyth,  in  his  excellent  work  on  Si- 
cily, observes,  "  I  never  met  with  a  Sicilian  who  had  actu- 
ally seen  any  thing  more  than  the  loom  or  'mirage'  conse- 
quent on  a  peculiar  stale  of  the  atmosphere  ;  but  which,  I 
must  say,  I  have  here  observed  many  times  to  be  unusu- 
ally strong."  (Memoir  descriptive  of  the  Resources,  Inha- 
bitants, and  Hydrography  of  Sicily  and  its  Islands,  p.  109.) 
See  Mirage. 
FATE.  See  Destiny,  Necessity. 
FATES.  (Lat.  fat  um,  that  which  is  spoken)  In  Mytho- 
logy, the  three  sister  goddesses  named  Clotho  (Spinster), 
Lacbesis  (Allotter),  and  Atropos  (Unchangeable),  whose 
office  it  was  to  spin  the  destinies  of  men,  and  break  the 
threads  when  their  appointed  hours  of  death  came.  They 
were  also  called  Parcaj  by  the  Latins.  Their  Greek  name 
was  MoTpai,  i.  e.  "the  Dispensers." 

FATHERS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  The  early  Christian 
writers  whose  works  have  thrown  light  upon  the  history, 
doctrines,  and  observances  of  the  primitive  church,  and 
who  are  thereby  entitled  to  be  looked  up  to  by  us  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  as  guides  and  instructors.  The  period  to  which 
the  list  may  he  extended  is,  of  course,  arbitrary.  St.  Ber- 
nard in  the  I2lh  century  is  generally  styled  the  last  of  the 
Fathers.  The  writers  of  the  1st  century,  or  who  were  co- 
temporary  with  the  first  disciples,  are  distinguished  by  the 
term  Apostolic  Fathers.  The  general  character  of  the 
Writings  of  these  celebrated  men,  their  trustworthiness  as 
witnesses,  their  anlhorily  as  judges  in  matters  of  doctrine 
and  discipline,  and  the  utility  of  studying  their  works,  have 
been,  unfortunately,  discussed  by  divines  of  different  par- 
ties with  far  more  of  prejudice  and  the  spirit  of  system  than 
the  love  of  truth.  It  has  been  sometimes  the  fashion  to 
exalt,  and  sometimes  to  depreciate  them  :  seldom  have 
they  been  used  by  learned  men  of  any  church  for  the  sim- 
ple and  serious  purposes  of  edification.  A  voluminous 
controversy  was  carried  on  upon  this  subject  between  some 
Protestants,  chiefly  ol  the  Calvinist  churches,  who  attacked 
the  Fathers,  and  others,  both  Protestant  and  Catholic,  who 
defended  them,  towards  the  end  of  the  17th  century.  On 
the  former  side,  two  works  of  some  notoriety  were  pro- 
duced.— Daille's  Treatise  on  the  Use  of  the  Fathers  ;  and 
Barbeyrac,  Morale  des  Peres  de  VEglise.  Among  many 
answers,  may  he  cited  that  of  Cellier  to  Barbeyrac,  1718. 
In  England,  Burnet,  Hill,  Peter  Allix,  Reeves  (Apologies 
of  the  Early  Fathers,  with  Dissertations,  1709),  took  part  in 
it.  The  Benedictines  of  Paris,  in  the  17th  century,  pub- 
lished valuable  editions  of  the  principal  Fathers,  both  Greek 
and  Latin.  Nourry,  a  learned  member  of  that  order,  pub- 
lished an  Apparatus  to  Despont's  great  collection,  the  Bib- 
liotheca  Palrum,  in  which  much  information  is  collected. 
Of  late  years  Mr.  Collinson,by  his  Bnmpton  Lectures  (1817), 
raised  anew  a  spirit  of  controversy  on  the  subject.  At  Ox- 
ford and  at  Paris,  new  editions  of  an  extensive  and  valuable 
character  of  the  Fathers  are  now  in  progress. 

FA'THOM.  An  English  measure  of  length,  equal  to  two 
yards,  or  six  feet. 

FAT  OF  ANIMALS.  A  concrete  oil  contained  in  the 
cellular  membrane  of  animals ;  it  is  generally  white  or  yel- 
lowish, with  little  smell  or  taste,  and  varies  in  consistency 
according  to  the  relative  quantities  of  stearine  and  elaine 
which  it  contains.  The  ultimate  elements  of  animal  fat 
are  the  same  as  those  of  vegetable  oils :  according  to  the 
analysis  of  Chevreul,  100  parts  of  human  fat  are  composed 
of  79  0  carbon.  114  hydrogen,  and  9  6  oxygen.  Hog's  lard 
and  mutton  suet  are  verv  similarly  constituted. 

FA'TTENING  DOMESTIC  ANIMALS.  The  difference 
between  feeding  and  fattening,  as  far  as  respects  domestic 
animals,  consists  in  this,  that  the  object  of  the  former  is  to 
maintain  the  animal  in  a  state  of  health  and  vigour  for  the 
purpose  of  facilitating  its  growth  to  maturity,  or  if  mature 
keeping  it  in  good  working  condition  ;  while  the  object  of 
the  latter  is  to  accumulate  on  the  animal  more  flesh  and 
fat  than  is  sufficient  for  either  of  these  purposes,  and  in 
general  as  much  as  possible,  so  as  to  increase  the  bulk  and 
weight  of  the  flesh  and  fat  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the 
bone.  Till  within  these  few  years,  the  means  used  by  all 
fatteners  of  domestic  animals,  whether  quadrupeds  or 
poultry,  were  preventing  the  animals  from  taking  exercise, 
445 


FEATHERS. 

and  gorging  them  with  food.  The  excessive  fat  produced 
by  these  means,  more  especially  in  sheep  and  swine,  was 
found  to  be  both  disagreeable  and  unwholesome  ;  and  ac- 
cordingly the  most  approved  system  of  fattening  animals 
of  every  description,  at  the  present  day,  consists  in  not 
merely  supplying  them  with  abundance  of  food,  but  also 
of  the  means  of  taking  exercise.  Hence  the  farmers  in  the 
most  enlightened  districts,  such  as  Berwickshire,  East  Lo- 
thian, <kc,  instead  of  tying  up  their  fattening  cattle  in  sta- 
bles like  horses,  and  placing  their  food  before  them,  put 
two  or  three  together  in  small  yards  with  sheds  attached, 
in  which  they  can  run  about,  eat  when  they  choose,  and 
take  shelter  from  the  rain,  the  cold,  or  the  sun  at  pleasure 
under  the  open  shed.  Swine  are  treated  in  the  same  man- 
ner, and  also  spring  lambs  that  are  fattened  for  the  market. 
Poultry  are  no  longer  kept  in  coops  and  crammed,  or  rab- 
bits in  hutches  ;  but  the  former  are  allowed  to  take  exer- 
cise in  fields  sown  with  various  herbs,  and  the  latter  are 
kept  in  a  species  of  artificial  warren,  where  they  can  take 
exercise  by  burrowing. 

FAU'CES.  (Plural  of  faux.)  The  posterior  part  of  the 
mouth,  terminated  by  the  pharynx  and  larynx. 

FAULT.  In  Mining  and  Geology,  a  dislocation  of  strata, 
whether  from  a  break  or  slip,  or  the  introduction  of  some 
extraneous  mass. 

FAUNA.  The  animals  peculiar  to  a  country  constitute 
its  fauna.  The  term  is  derived  from  the  Fauni  or  rural 
deities  of  Roman  mythology. 

FAU'NUS.  An  Italial  rural  deity  resembling  the  Grecian 
Pan,  and,  like  him,  endued  with  the  gift  of  prophecy. 
Mention  is  sometimes  made  of  several  Fauni,  who  were 
represented,  like  the  satyrs,  with  the  horns  and  feet  of 
goats.  There  was  an  annual  festival  instituted  to  their 
honour,  called  Faunalia. 

FAUSSE  BRAYE.  In  Fortification,  a  low  rampart  going; 
quite  round  the  body  of  the  place,  the  height  being  about  3 
feet  above  the  level  ground. 

FAUX.  The  orifice  of  the  tube  of  the  corolla,  the  tube 
being  formed  by  the  confluence  of  the  petals. 

FE'ALTY.  In  Feudal  Law,  the  oath  of  fidelity  (Fr. 
feaute)  taken  by  every  tenant  on  admission  to  be  true  to 
his  superior  lord.  General  fealty  is  that  due  from  the  sub- 
ject to  the  prince ;  special  fealty  from  tenant  to  mesne  lord. 
Fealty  is  said  to  differ  from  homage  in  being  due  to  every 
new  lord.  The  oath,  as  administered  in  England,  was  fixed 
by  stat.  17  E.  2.  c.  2.  ;  but  it  has  long  beep,  obsolete,  al- 
though, in  copyhold  tenements,  the  memory  of  it  is  still 
preserved  by  the  customary  entry  of  respite  of  fealty  on 
the  admission  of  a  new  tenant. 

FEASTS,  or  FESTIVALS,  are  days  set  apart  by  the 
church,  either  for  the  grateful  celebration  of  the  most  re- 
markable events  connected  with  the  scheme  of  redemption, 
or  upon  which  to  commemorate  the  actions  and  sufferings 
of  such  persons  as  have  been  most  instrumental  in  carry- 
ing forward  the  designs  of  God  for  the  salvation  of  man- 
kind. This  was  a  practice  of  the  primitive  church  ;  but  in 
process  of  time  (as  early  as  the  4th  century)  the  great  num- 
ber of  names  which  had  been  introduced  into  the  calendar, 
and  the  many  corruptions  which  the  honour  paid  to  their 
memory  had  engendered,  rendered  its  observation  both 
burdensome  and  superstitious.  Accordingly  at  the  Refor- 
mation the  Protestants  directed  their  attention  to  the  re- 
trenchment and  purification  of  these  ceremonies.  The 
English  church  retains  the  festivals  of  the  nativity,  circum- 
cision, manifestation,  the  death  and  resurrection  and  as- 
cension of  Christ,  the  purification  of  the  Virgin  and  the 
annunciation  (or  Lady-day),  Whit  Sunday  in  honour  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  Trinity  Sunday.  Besides  these  the  most 
remarkable  of  the  Apostles  and  the  Evangelists  are  com- 
memorated on  their  respective  days  ;  and  one  day  is  set 
apart  for  the  remembrance  of  all  the  saints.  From  this 
calendar,  therefore,  the  names  of  the  martyrs  and  saintsof 
later  ages  are  excluded  (with  which  the  Romish  calendar 
is  so  crowded),  partly  from  the  uncertainty  which  hangs 
over  the  stories  of  many  of  them,  and  partly  also  in  order 
to  cut  away  what  would  otherwise  have  furnished  a  danger- 
ous precedent.  Festivals  are  either  moveable  or  immove- 
able ;  the  former  depending  upon  Easter,  the  latter  being 
fixed  to  certain  davs  of  their  respective  months. 

FEATHER-EDGED.  In  Architecture,  a  term  applied 
to  a  board  whose  section  is  triangular,  or  rather  trapezoidal, 
one  edge  being  very  thin. 

FEATHERS.  The  term,  in  Zoology,  is  restricted  to  those 
productions  of  the  dermal  system  which  form  the  most 
exterior  covering  of  birds,  and  which  consist  of  the  fol- 
lowing parls,  viz.  a  quill  (calamus),  a  shaft  (rhachis),  and 
vanes  (pogonium  externum  et  internum). 

The  quill  is  that  part  of  a  feathpr  by  which  it  is  attached 
to  the  skin  ;  it  is  nearly  cylindrical  in  form,  hollow,  and 
semitransparent.  possessing  in  an  eminent  degree  the  op- 
posite qualities  of  strength  and  lightness.  The  end  which 
is  implanted  in  the  skin  is  more  or  less  obtuse,  and  ia 
pierced  by  an  orifice  called  the  lower  umbilicus.  At  the 
opposite  end,  where  it  is  continued  into  the  shaft,  and  just' 
39 


FEATHERS. 

at  the  meeting  of  the  two  lateral  vanes,  there  is  another 
orifice,  called  the  upper  umbilicus.  The  cavity  of  the 
quill  contains  an  imbricated  series  of  conical  capsules, 
united  together  by  a  central  pedicle,  forming  the  membra- 
nous remains  of  the  original  formative  pulp. 

The  shaft  is  quadrilateral,  with  a  smooth  convex  surface. 
anil  an  opposite  concave  surface  traversed  by  a  longitudinal 
impression  continued  from  the  upper  umbilicus.  It  is 
covered  by  an  outer  layer  of  firm  horny  material  like  that 
of  which  the  quill  is  formed,  and  this  incloses  a  soft  elastic 
substance  called  Ihe  pith. 
The  vane  consists  of  burbs  and  barbules. 
The  barbs  are  attached  to  the  Bides  of  the  shaft,  and 
consist  of  narrow  elongated  plates,  arranged  with  their  Hat 
sides  towards  each  other,  and  their  margins  in  the  direction 
of  the  external  and  internal  sides  of  the  feather.  By  this 
disposition  they  offer  much  resistance  to  being  bent  out  of 
their  plane,  though  readily  yielding  to  any  force  acting  upon 
them  in  the  lineof  the  stem. 

The  barbules  are  minute  and  often  microscopic  pro- 
cesses, given  off  from  either  side  of  the  barbs,  and  arranged 
in  a  single  series,  just  as  the  barbs  are  placed  with  reference 
to  the  shaft.  In' true  feathers,  they  are  short,  stiff,  and 
curved  in  opposite  directions  on  opposite  sides  of  the  barb; 
and  the  concavities  of  one  series  of  barbules  interlock  with 
those  of  the  adjoining  barbs,  whereby  the  whole  vane  pre- 
sents a  continuous  and  resisting  surface,  as  in  the  quill- 
feathers  of  most  birds.  When  the  barbules  are  long  and 
disjoined, the  feather  is  termed  a  plume  ;  in  the  long  dorsal 
plumes  of  the  peacock,  the  barbules  themselves  are  ciliated. 
In  a  few  instances,  as  the  apteryx  and  ostrich,  the  fea- 
thers are  simple.  In  most  birds  each  feather  is  complicated 
by  a  part  termed  the  accessory  plume.  This  is  usually  a 
small  downy  tuft ;  but  it  varies  as  to  its  size  both  in  different 
species,  and  even  in  the  feathers  of  different  parts  of  the 
body  of  the  same  bird.  In  the  body-feathers  of  the  hawks, 
grouse,  ducks,  gulls,  &c,  the  accessory  plume  is  generally 
well  developed,  and  acquires  in  some  species  a  size  equal 
to  that  of  the  feather  from  which  it  is  produced.  In  the 
emeu  this  is  the  case  with  the  whole  plumage,  and  the  quill 
of  each  feather  supports  two  shafts.  In  the  cassowary 
there  are  two  accessory  plumes,  one  of  which  is  equal  to 
the  size  of  the  original  feather,  the  other  is  much  smaller. 

Feathers  vary  in  form,  size,  and  function,  in  different 
parts  of  the  bird,  and  have  accordingly  received  distinct 
names  in  ornithological  science.  Thus  the  feathers  which 
Burround  the  external  opening  of  the  ear,  and  which  serve 
to  augment  the  intensity  of  sound,  are  termed  the  auricu- 
lars.  Those  which  lie  above  the  scapula  and  humerus  are 
called  the  scapulars.  The  small  feathers  which  are  ar- 
ranged in  imbricated  rows  upon  the  bones  of  the  antibra- 
chium  are  called  the  lesser  coverts  (tecl  rices  primas);  those 
which  line  the  under  or  inner  side  of  Ihe  wings  are  the 
under  coverts.  The  feathers  which  lie  immediately  over 
the  quill-feathers  are  the  greater  coverts  (teclrices  secundce). 
The  largest  quill-feathers  of  the  wing,  which  arise  from  the 
bones  corresponding  with  those  of  the  hand,  are  termed 
primaries  (remiges  primores);  those  which  rise  from  the 
ulna,  towards  its  distal  end,  are  the  secondaries  (remiges 
secondaries);  those  which  are  attached  to  its  proximal 
extremity  are  the  tertiaries  (remiges  terliaria,  seu  parap- 
terum).  The  quill-feathers  which  grow  from  the  phalanx 
commonly  called  thumb  form  what  is  termed  the  bastard 
v/\ng(alida  spuria).  The  quill- feathers  which  are  implanted 
upon  the  os  coccygis  are  called  rectrices. 

The  development  of  feathers  is  always  preceded  by  that 
of  down,  which  constitutes  the  first  covering  of  young 
birds.  Each  down-fascicle  consists  of  a  small  quill,  sup- 
porting a  bunch  of  equal-sized  finely-ciliated  filaments. 
The  down-fascicles  are  succeeded  by  the  feathers,  which 
they  guide,  as  it  were,  through  the  skin  ;  and  the  feathers 
of  each  succeeding  plumage  serve,  during  the  moult,  as  the 
gubernacula  of  those  which  follow. 

The  mechanism  concerned  in  the  formation  of  a  feather 
is,  as  might  be  expected,  of  a  very  complicated  character. 
It  consists  of  vascular  parts  which  secrete  the  material, 
and  of  moulds  or  capsules,  in  which  the  fluid  material  is 
thrown  into  the  proper  form  ;  the  whole  is  inclosed  in  an 
outer  sheath,  which  is  protruded  with  the  new  formed  fea- 
ther from  the  skin,  and  which  becoming  dry  and  friable 
from  contact,  with  the  atmosphere,  crumbles  away,  and 
leaves  the  feather  free  to  unfold  its  beautiful  and  compli- 
cated structure. 

Every  feather,  the  eloquent  Paley  justly  observes,  is  a 
mechanical  wonder:  li  their  disposition  all  inclined  back- 
ward, the  down  about  the  stem,  the  overlapping  of  their 
tips,  their  different  configuration  in  different  parts,  not  to 
mention  the  variety  of  their  colours,  constitute  a  vestment 
for  the  body  so  beautiful,  and  so  appropriate  to  the  life 
which  the  animal  is  to  lead,  as  that  I  think  we  should  have 
had  no  conception  of  any  thing  equally  perfect  if  we  had 
never  seen  it,  or  can  now  imagine  any  thing  more  so." 
For  the  laws  which  reaulate  the  varieties  and  changes  of 
plumage,  see  Indumentum. 
446 


FEE  TAIL. 

FE'ERUARY.  (Eat.  februo,  I  purify,  because  in  tha? 
month  funeral  lustrations  were  performed  at  Rome.)  The 
2d  month  of  the  year,  containing  26  days  in  common  years, 
and  29  in  leap  years,  the  intercalary  day  being  given  to  it 
as  the  shortest  month. 

FE'CIALS,  or  FETIALS.  The  B.oman  heralds,  whose 
peculiar  office  it  was  to  declare  war  and  conclude  peace. 
The  former  office  they  performed  with  the  following  cere- 
monies : — They  were  first  sent  to  demand  redress :  and  if 
it  was  not  given  within  thirty-three  days,  they  returned  to 
the  confines  of  the  hostile  state  and  threw  a  bloody  spear 
into  them,  having  proclaimed  war  according  to  a  given  for- 
mula before  not  less  than  three  adult  witnesses.  The  fe- 
cial, who  took  the  oath  in  the  name  of  the  Roman  people 
in  concluding  a  treaty  of  peace,  was  called  Pater  Patratus. 
The  college  of  Fecials  was  instituted  by  Numa,  and  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  borrowed  from  the  Greeks.  They 
were  probably  twentv  in  number. 

FE'CULA,  or  FjECULA.  (Lat.  dim.  of  ftex,  a  sediment.} 
When  certain  vegetable  products  are  bruised  and  mixed 
with  water,  the  pulverulent  matter  which  subsides  is  called 
the  fecula  or  faeces ;  it  is  commonly  of  a  starchy  nature, 
hence  starch  is  often  called/erata. 

FE'DERAL  GOVERNMENT.  (Lat.  fa?dus,  a  league  or 
treaty.)  A  government  formed  by  the  union  of  several 
sovereign  states,  each  surrendering  a  portion  of  its  power 
to  the  central  authority.  But  the  amount  of  the  power  thus 
surrendered  varies  in  different  federations.  Thus  the  go- 
vernment of  the  German  empire  as  it  existed  before  the 
French  revolution,  and  that  of  the  United  Provinces  of  the 
Netherlands,  were  both  termed  federal ;  and  the  Swiss 
cantons,  under  the  present  Swiss  constitution,  have  re- 
tained more  of  their  individual  sovereignty,  both  as  to  fo- 
reign relations  and  as  to  domestic  arrangements,  than  those 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  each  being  at  liberty,  in 
some  cases,  to  make  treaties  with  foreign  powers,  and  also 
having  almost  unlimited  power  to  modify  its  own  institu- 
tions ;  while  the  latter  states  have  transferred  the  whole 
of  their  foreign  affairs  to  the  general  government,  and  are 
moreover  bound  by  their  articles  of  union  lo  remain  demo- 
cratic in  constitution.  The  best  work  on  the  federative 
governments  of  antiquity  is  that  of  St.  Croix,  Des  Anciens 
Gouvernemrnts  Federatifs. 

FEE-FARM  RENT,  in  Law,  is  defined  a  rent  charge  in 
fee,  issuing  out  of  an  estate  in  fee  of  at  least  one  quarter  of 
the  value  of  the  land  at  the  time  of  its  reservation.  Some 
authorities  consider  the  amount  as  immaterial.  No  grant  in 
fee  farm  can  be  made  since  the  statute  of  QuiaEmptorea. 
FEE'LERS.  Organs  fixed  to  the  mouth  of  insects,  gene- 
rally less  than  the  antenna;,  and  often  jointed.  See  Palps. 
FEES.  In  Law,  perquisites  allowed  to  ministers  of  jus- 
lice,  fixed  either  by  act  of  parliament  or  ancient  usage. 
The  word  fee  is  derived  either  from  an  Ang.  Sax.  word 
signifyinz  money,  or  the  French  foi,  faith, 

FEE  SIMPLE,  in  Law,  is  an  estate  of  freehold  of  inheri- 
tance in  lands,  tenements,  or  hereditaments.  Tenant  in 
fee  simple  absolute,  or,  as  it  is  more  briefly  expressed,  in 
fee,  is  one  who  has  the  fullest  power  of  disposing  of  his 
tenement  which  the  law  allows ;  and  not  being  disposed  of 
by  him  either  in  his  lifetime  or  by  devise,  it  descends  to 
his  heirs  general. 

An  estate  to  a  man  and  his  heirs  qualified  by  a  condition 
or  limitation  capable  of  abridging  it,  as  an  estate  to  A.  and 
his  heirs  on  condition  of  paying  a  sum  of  money  on  a  stipu- 
lated day,  and  if  he  fail  to  do  so  then  to  another,  is  termed 
a  fee  conditional ;  or,  with  less  propriety  of  language,  a  fee- 
simple  conditional. 

FEE  TAIL,  in  Law,  arose  out  of  the  statute  De  Donis, 
13Edw.  I.,  which  restrained  the  alienation  of  lands  and 
tenements  by  one  to  whom  they  had  been  given,  with  a 
limitation  to  a  particular  class  of  heirs.  A  gift,  for  instance, 
to  a  man  and  the  heirs  of  his  body,  constituted  before  the 
statute  a  fee-simple  conditional,  which  could  be  alienated 
as  soon  as  a  child  was  born  lo  the  donee  :  after  the  statute 
it  became  inalienable,  until  more  latitude  was  given  by  the 
invention  of  certain  refined  fictions  of  law. 

A  deed  creating  an  estate  tail  is  properly  called  a  gift,  and 
the  giver  and  receiver  the  donor  and  donee.  Estates  tail 
are  general,  where  only  one  person's  body  is  specified  from 
which  the  issue  must  he  derived  ;  special,  where  both  the 
progenitors  are  marked  out,  as  in  a  gift  to  A.  anil  the  heirs 
of  his  body  to  be  begotten  upon  B.  It  may  also  be  descen- 
dible to  ali  the  issue,  or  to  male  or  female  issue  :  in  which 
case  estates  are  said  to  he  in  tail  male  or  in  tail  female.  Half 
blood  is  no  impediment  in  the  descent  of  an  estate  tail  ge- 
neral. Where  lands  and  tenements  are  given  to  a  man 
and  his  heirs  in  special  tail  (by  a  wife  named  in  the  grant), 
and  the  wife  dies  without  issue,  the  husband  is  tenant  in 
tail  after  possibility  of  issue  extinct;  and  his  estate  is  in 
most  respects  equivalent  to  one  for  life  only. 

Estates  tail  being  contrary  to  the  general  policy  of  the 
law,  legal  ingenuity  was  taxed,  in  early  limes,  lo  invent 
modes  whereby  they  might  be  defeated;  i.  e.  whereby  the 
donee  might  destroy  the  special  limitations  of  the  gift^atwi 


FELIS. 

acquire  an  estate  in  fee  simple  without  incurring  forfeiture. 
This  was  done  by  the  fiction  of  common  recoveries  (.of  which 
the  validity  was  established  in  the  courts  in  the  reign  of 
Ed.  4),  and  by  that  of  fines,  recognized  by  statute  (4  H.  7. 
c.  24.,  32  H.  8.  c.  36.)  A  simpler  process  has  been  substi- 
tuted for  these  ancient  contrivances  by  the  recent  Real 
Property  Act  (3  &  4  W.  4.  c.  74.) 

FELIS.  (Lat.  a  cat.)  The  name  given  by  Linnants  to 
the  genus  of  Ferine  or  carnivorous  quadrupeds  of  which 
the  common  cat  is  an  example.  The  essential  characters 
of  this  genus  repose  on  the  strong,  sharp,  retractile  talons 
with  which  all  the  four  feet  are  armed,  and  the  correspond- 
ing destructive  nature  of  the  dentary  organs.  These  con- 
sist of  six  small  incisors  in  each  jaw,  the  exterior  ones 
larger  than  the  rest;  two  long  and  strong  laniaries,  bound- 
ing the  series  of  incisors  in  the  lower  jaw;  and  two  in  the 
upper  jaw  of  still  greater  length  and  strength,  conical,  sharp- 
pointed,  slightly  incurved,  and  separated  from  the  incisors 
by  an  interval  corresponding  in  size  with  the  summits  of 
the  inferior  laniaries,  which  always  pass,  when  the  mouth 
is  closed,  in  front  of  those  of  the  upper  jaw. 

The  molar  teeth  are  four  in  number  on  each  side  of  the 
upper  jaw,  and  generally  three  on  each  side  of  the  lower; 
the  two  anterior  in  each  series  are  smaller  than  the  third, 
and  furnished  each  with  a  single  conical  pointed  middle 
process.  The  third  molar  is  the  largest  in  both  jaws,  and 
presents  a  very  characteristic  form  in  the  lower  one  being 
compressed,  and  terminating  in  two  sharp-pointed  tren- 
chant triangular  lobes,  which  play  upon  the  inner  surface 
of  three  corresponding  lobes  of  the  tooth  above  :  the  ap- 
pulse  of  the  lower  carnassial  or  sectorial  tooth  is  checked, 
and  the  upper  gum  defended,  by  an  internal  tubercle  in  the 
upper  sectorial.  The  fourth  molar  in  the  upper  jaw  is 
placed  within  the  posterior  margin  of  the  third,  and  pre- 
sents a  simple  transverse  slightly  convex  plate,  affording 
additional  surface  for  the  inferior  sectorial  to  work  against. 
The  claws  and  teeth  above  described  are  better  adapted 
for  the  seizure  and  destruction  of  living  animals  than  are 
those  of  any  other  mammalia  ;  and  the  power  of  wielding 
these  weapons  is  enjoyed  in  a  corresponding  degree  of  per- 
fection. There  are  no  quadrupeds  in  which  the  muscles 
of  the  jaws  and  limbs  are  more  fully  developed.  The  teeth, 
as  we  have  seen,  are  few,  though  formidable :  those  of  the 
lower  jaw  occupy  only  its  anterior  half;  the  rest  of  the  jaw 
consisting  chiefly  of  a  broad  and  high  coronoid,  and  a  strong 
angular  process  for  the  implantation  of  the  immense  mus- 
cles destined  for  its  movements.  The  skeleton  of  the  fe- 
line animals  presents  a  light  but  well-built  mechanism  :  the 
hones,  though  slender,  are  extremely  compact ;  the  trunk, 
having  to  contain  the  simple  digestive  apparatus  requisite 
for  the  assimilation  of  highly  organized  animal  food,  is 
comparatively  slender,  and  flattened  at  the  sides.  The 
muscular  forces  are  thus  enabled  to  carry  the  light  body 
along  by  extensive  bounds,  and  it  is  thus  that  the  largest 
felines  generally  make  their  attack.  When  the  impetus 
of  the  spring  is  added  to  the  stroke  of  the  paw,  the  lion  or 
tiger  has  power  to  fell  an  ox,  or  smash  the  skull  of  a  man 
at  a  single  blow;  and  as  the  strength  of  the  neck  corres- 
ponds with  that  of  the  jaws  and  limbs,  they  are  enabled  to 
bear  away  with  ease  animals  bigger  and  heavier  than  them- 
selves, it  fortunately  happens  that  the  feline  animals  have 
not  the  instinct  of  sociality,  otherwise  what  terrestrial  spe- 
cies could  withstand  a  troop  of  lions  or  tigers  hunting  in 
concert  like  a  pack  of  wolves  1  "Conscious  of  their  own 
undisputed  superiority,"  says  the  author  of  a  favourite  zo- 
ological work,  "which  secures  them  against  the  attacks  of 
other  animals,  each  with  his  female  partner  occupies  a  sol- 
itary den,  which  is  usually  concealed  in  the  depths  of  the 
forest.  Hence,  when  pressed  by  hunger,  they  issue  forth 
in  search  of  their  prey,  which  they  rarely  attack  with  open 
force  ;  but  stealing  on  with  noiseless  tread,  or  stationing 
themselves  in  ambush  in  such  situations  as  appear  suitable 
to  their  purpose,  watch  with  indefatigable  patience  the  ap- 
proach of  their  victim.  Their  motions  are  peculiarly  cha- 
racteristic of  their  habits  and  mode  of  life.  Incapable  of 
long-continued  speed,  their  usual  gait  is  slow,  cautious, 
and  stealthy,  with  their  posterior  limbs  beneath  them,  and 
their  ears  distended  to  catch  the  most  trifling  noise.  Guided 
by  these  organs,  the  internal  structure  cf  which  is  highly 
developed,  they  trace  the  sound  of  footsteps  to  an  almost 
incredible  distance,  and  direct  themselves  towards  Iheir 
prey  with  unerring  certainty.  In  this  quest  the  sense 
of  smell,  which  they  possess  in  a  very  low  degree,  affords 
them  but  little  assistance  ;  their  sight,  however,  is  good, 
and  serves  them  equally  well  both  by  day  and  night,  their 
extremely  dilatable  pupils  adapting  themselves  with  admir- 
able precision  to  various  intensities  of  light.  To  this  ob- 
ject the  frequently  elongated  form  of  their  pupils,  the  light 
green  or  yellow  colour  of  a  large  portion  of  the  choroid 
coat  of  their  eyes,  and  the  extent  of  their  nictitating  mem- 
brane, must  also  essentially  contribute. 

"No  sooner  is  the  object  of  their  pursuit  within  reach 
of  their  attack,  than,  suddenly  bursting  forth  from  their 
lurking  place,  or  changing  their  slow  and  Btealthy  pace  for 
447 


FELLING  TIMBER. 

a  furious  and  overwhelming  bound,  they  dart  with  the  ve- 
locity of  lightning  upon  their  terrified  victim.  The  great 
strength  and  extreme  flexibility  of  their  fore-paws  enable 
them  at  once  to  dash  him  to  the  earth,  and  to  seize  him 
with  an  irresistible  grasp.  They  then  proceed  to  rend  him 
in  pieces  by  the  united  efforts  of  their  teeth  and  claws,  and 
gorge  themselves  upon  his  lacerated  flesh." 

The  feline  animals  or  cats  constitute  a  well-defined  and 
circumscribed  genus.  The  leopards,  panthers,  jaguars, 
and  tigers  are  the  most  typical  or  truly  feline  species;  in 
these  the  beauty  of  colouring,  sleekness  of  skin,  elegance 
of  form,  craft,  suspicion,  bloodthirstiness,  agility  under 
excitement,  and  sloth  during  repletion,  are  most  strongly 
manifested.  The  lion  combines  more  robustness  of  body 
with  the  feline  attributes;  and  his  pre-eminent  stature 
receives  an  air  of  nobility  and  grandeur  from  the  mane  that 
decorates  his  head  and  neck.  He  has  the  credit,  too,  of  a 
greater  share  of  boldness  and  generosity  than  the  other 
cats.  His  vocal  organs  also  exhibit  a  modification  of  struc- 
ture not  present  in  the  other  felines,  by  which  he  has  the 
power  to  utter  his  tremendous  roar;— a  roar  which,  when 
sent  forth  under  the  excitement  of  hunger,  scares  from 
their  hiding  places  the  timid  ruminants  which  may  be  lurk- 
ing within  the  compass  of  its  fearful  reverberations. 
Among  the  felines,  one  group  is  characterized  by  the  short- 
ness of  the  tail,  and  the  tuft  of  hairs  on  the  tip  of  the  ears , 
this  includes  the  lynxes. 

The  cheetah,  or  hunting  leopard,  deviates  most  in  the 
half  retractile  condition  of  the  talons  and  the  upright  car- 
riage of  his  body  from  the  true  feline  characters  ;  and  with 
these  physical  modifications  is  combined  so  much  of  the 
canine  disposition  as  enables  this  species  to  be  used  in 
packs  for  the  purposes  of  the  chase. 

The  middle  sized  cats,  which  lurk  in  the  branches  of 
trees,  as  the  leopards,  ocelots,  &c,  have  a  fulvous  ground 
colour,  broken  by  irregular  dark  spots;  a  marking  which 
admirably  adapts  them  for  concealment  amidst  foliage.  A 
similar  relation  of  adaptation  to  the  peculiar  theatre  of  their 
destructive  habits  may  be  traced  in  other  species.  The 
tiger,  for  example,  which  prowls  on  the  ground,  and  creeps 
stealthily  towards  his  victim  between  the  stems  of  the  trees 
and  plants  of  the  jungle,  has  his  bright  ground  colour  in- 
terrupted with  black  vertical  stripes.  The  lion,  which 
traverses  the  parched  deserts  of  Africa,  and  lies  in  wait  to 
intercept  the  antelopes  which  bound  in  troops  from  one 
oasis  to  another,  would  be  rendered  too  conspicuous  if  his 
tawny  hide  were  ornamented  by  the  stripes  or  spots  that 
characterize  the  feline  livery  ;  these,  therefore,  which  are 
obvious  enough  in  the  earlier  periods  of  his  existence,  be- 
come obliterated  as  he  attains  to  maturity.  A  smaller 
feline  species,  the  puma,  or  American  lion,  which  plays 
the  predatory  character  in  a  corresponding  theatre  of  the 
Is'ew  World,  presents  a  similar  uniformity  of  colour. 

The  feline  animals  bring  forth  from  two  to  six  young 
ones  at  a  birth.  The  domestic  cat  is  the  most  fertile;  a 
circumstance  which  arises  from  the  abundance  of  food,  shel- 
ter, and  protection  consequent  on  her  alliance  with  man.  But, 
as  has  been  frequently  remarked,  this,  of  all  domesticated 
animals,  is  the  least  servile  or  restrained  ;  and  though  in- 
stances of  personal  attachment  are  not  wanling,  the  aifection 
of  the  cat  is  rather  to  the  house  than  to  its  owner.  There 
are  many  singularities  in  the  nature  of  the  cat,  which  per- 
haps our  comparatively  limited  acquaintance  with  the  other 
felines  leads  us  to  regard  as  peculiar  to  this  species.  She 
is  remarkably  nervous,  and  readily  startled  ;  gives  out  the 
electric  spark  when  her  fur  is  rubbed  contrary  to  its  direc- 
tion, as  is  very  conspicuous  when  this  is  done  in  the  dark. 
Under  the  excitement  of  fear,  the  same  effect  is  produced 
on  the  long  hairs  of  the  tail  as  if  a  stream  of  electricity 
were  transmitted  through  fhem,  and  they  all  stand  out  from 
the  surface  to  which  they  are  attached,  giving  the  tail  an 
appearance  of  treble  its  usual  thickness  ;  at  the  same  lime 
the  back  is  raised,  and  the  body  drawn  into  its  smallest 
compass.  Cats  are  attracted  by  peculiar  odours,  and  ex- 
hibit a  violent  fondness  for  catmint  and  valerian,  rubbing 
their  noses  and  rolling  themselves  in  the  latter  with  signs 
of  great  and  uncontrollable  excitement.  Cats  are  very 
cleanly,  are  fond  of  warmth,  and  seek  a  soft  place  for  their 
repose.  They  express  their  satisfaction  by  a  peculiar  soft 
vibrating  noise,  railed  "  purring." 

FE'LUNG  TIMBER.  In  Arboriculture,  when  a  full- 
grown  tree  is  cut  down  it  is  said  to  be  felled  ;  but  this  term 
is  never  applied  to  young  trees  or  bushes,  undergrowth,  or 
hedges,  which  are  said  to  be  rooted  out  orcut  over.  Much 
has  been  written  respecting  the  proper  season  for  felling 
trees;  some  arguing  in  favour  of  midwinter,  and  others  in 
favour  of  midsummer.  The  question  principally  turns 
upon  the  quantity  and  the  value  of  the  soft  or  outer  wood 
in  the  trunk  of  the  tree  to  be  felled  known  by  foresters  and 
carpentersas  the  sap.  As  this  sap  orouler  wood  is  the  only 
poriion  of  the  trunk  in  which  the  sap  or  juices  of  the  tree 
circulate,  it  is  evident  that  if  no  value  be  set  upon  it  the 
tree  may  be  cut  down  at  any  season  ;  because  the  truly 
valuable  part  of  the  trunk,  the  mature  timber,  is  imper- 


FELLOW. 

meafte  to  t'ne  sap  in  its  ascent  through  the  soft  wood,  and 
is  therefore  in  the  same  state  at  every  season  of  the  year. 
Oa  the  other  hand,  where  much  value  is  attached  to  the 
soft  or  outer  wood,  where  this  outer  wood  is  wished  to  be 
made  as  valuable  as  possible,  or  where,  as  in  the  case  of 
comparatively  young  trees,  the  greater  part  of  the  trunk  con- 
sists of  sap  wood,  felling  ought  to  take  place  when  there  is 
least  sap  in  the  course  of  circulation.  This  season  is  without 
■loubt  midwinter,  which,  all  other  circumstances  being 
equal,  is  unquestionably  the  best  season  for  felling  timber  ; 
the  next  best  being  midsummer,  when  the  sap  is  chiefly 
confined  to  the  young  shoots,  the  circumference  of  the  soft 
wood,  and  the  bark  :  as  the  worst  is  the  spring,  just  before 
the  development  of  the  buds,  when  the  tree  is  fullest  of  sap, 
and  receiving  constantly  fresh  supplies  from  the  root;  and 
in  autumn,  immediately  before  the  fall  of  the  leaf,  when 
there  is  a  superabundance  of  sap,  from  its  being  as  it  were 
thrown  out  of  employment  by  the  falling  of  the  leaf  In  ge- 
neral, all  the  soft  woods,  such  as  the  elm,  lime,  poplar,  wil- 
low,.^.,should  be  felled  during  winter;  hard  woods,  like  the 
oak,  beech,  ash,  &c,  when  the  trunks  are  of  large  size,  and 
valuedchiellyfortheirheartwood,  may  be  felled  atany  time. 
FE'LLOW.  In  the  colleges  of  the  English  Universities, 
and  some  other  collegiate  institutions,  the  superior  mem- 
bers of  the  foundations  are  so  termed  in  general.  In  some, 
however,  all  members  of  the  foundation  are  fellows  from 
their  admission.  The  usages  of  different  foundations  in 
the  two  universities  vary  so  materially,  that  no  general  ac- 
count will  apply  equally  to  all.  The  fellows  are,  in  general, 
graduates ;  elected  either  on  free  competition,  or  accord- 
ing to  limitations  fixed  in  the  statutes  of  foundation.  Most 
fellows  are  obliged  to  abandon  their  fellowships  if  they  do 
not  take  orders  at  a  certain  period :  there  are,  however, 
lay  fellowships  in  both  universities.  Fellowships  are  also 
vacated  in  the  universities  (without  exception)  by  mar- 
riage ;  and  by  the  acceptance  of  preferment  in  the  church 
from  the  college,  or  in  some  instances  of  other  preferment 
of  a  certain  value.  From  among  the  resident  fellows  are 
selected  for  the  most  part  the  governing  officers  and  tutors 
of  the  colleges.  The  principal  or  head  of  the  college  is 
generally  elected  either  by  the  whole  or  a  select  body  of 
the  fellows.  There  is  a  distinction  in  some  colleges  be- 
tween senior  and  junior  fellowships,  in  point  of  emolument, 
which  does  not  exist  in  others.  At  Cambridge  there  is 
also  a  distinction  between  foundation  fellowships  and  bye 
or  appropriation  fellowships  ;  the  former  only,  in  most  col- 
leges, entitling  the  possessor  to  college  offices.  The  value 
of  fellowships  is  extremely  various;  nor  do  they  always 
maintain  the  same  amount,  being  generally  dependent  on 
corn-rents.  The  advantages  obtained  by  the  fellow  are 
partly  in  income,  partly,  if  resident,  in  free  lodging  and  al- 
lowances towards  board.  There  are  fellowships  of  Ihe 
value  of  500/.  or  600/.  per  annum,  and  others  of  100/.  or  les3 ; 
but  a  large  proportion  may  be  said  to  average  from  150/.  to 
300/.  a  year.  Fellow  is  also  the  general  title  of  members  of 
learned  academies  and  socielies  in  England. 

FELLOWSHIP,  or  PARTNERSHIP.  A  rule  in  Arith- 
metic, of  considerable  use  in  balancing  accounts  among 
partners  in  trade.  Considered  as  an  arithmetical  process, 
it  is  simply  a  method  of  dividing  a  number  into  parts 
which  shall  have  given  proportions  to  each  other.  Fellow- 
ship is  either  simple  or  compound.  To  simple  fellowship 
belongs  a  question  of  this  sort:—-'  A  contribution  of  20,000/. 
is  levied  on  three  towns,  and  each  is  required  to  pay  in 
proportion  to  the  number  of  its  inhabitants.  Now  the  1st 
contains  2000  inhabitants,  the  2d  3000,  and  the  3d  5000 ; 
what  sum  must  each  contribute  1"  This  question  is  obvi- 
ously  the  same  as  if  it  had  been  required  to  divide  the 
number  20,003  into  three  parts,  having  the  ratios  of  2,  3,  and 
5,  which  is  done  by  dividing  20,000  by  the  sum  of  2,  3,  and 
5,  that  is  by  10,  and  multiplying  the  quotient  by  each  of 
those  numbers  separately ;  the  several  results  are  the  sums 
required.  Here  20,000  ~  10  =  2000  ;  and  2000  X  2  =  4000, 
for  the  share  of  the  first ;  2000  X  3  =  6000,  for  the  share  of 
the  second;  and  2000X5=10,000,  for  the  share  of  the 
third.  These  results  are  in  the  given  proportions,  and 
their  sum  amounts  to  20,000. 

Compound  fellowship  is  when  the  parts  into  which  the 
given  number  is  to  be  distributed  are  proportional  to  more 
than  one  set  of  numbers.  This  is  usually  called  fellowship 
with  time,  because  in  distributing  the  profits  of  a  mercan- 
tile transaction  carried  on  by  several  partners,  the  share 
of  each  must  be  proportional,  both  to  the  amount  of  the 
capital  he  contributed  and  to  the  time  it  was  employed.  It 
must  therefore  be  proportional  to  the  product  of  these  two. 
nencethe  rule  for  compound  fellowship  :— Multiply  each 
stock  by  the  time  of  its  continuance,  the  products  are  the 
numbers  to  which  the  several  parts  of  the  sum  to  be  dis- 
tributed must  be  proportional ;  and  with  these  numbers 
proceed,  as  in  the  case  of  single  fellowship.  Both  cases, 
it  may  be  remarked,  belong  to  what  is  more  correctly 
termed  Distributive  Proportion. 

FE'LO  DE  SE.     In  Law,  one  who  is  found  by  the  coro- 
ner's jury  to  have  laid  violent  hands  on  himself,  or  occa- 
448 


FEND  OFF. 

sioned  his  own  death  feloniously.  This  verdict  occasions 
forfeiture  of  chattels,  real  and  personal ;  but  not  of  lands 
of  inheritance.  One  found  felo  de  se  was  formerly  buried 
in  the  king's  highway,  with  a  stake  driven  through  the 
heart ;  but  since  1823  (4  G.  4  c.  52.),  privately  buried  in  a  bu- 
rial ground,  between  the  hours  of  nine  and  twelve  at  night. 

FE'LONY.  (A  word  of  uncertain  derivation.  Sir  H. 
Spelman  derives  it  from  the  word  fee  or  fief,  and  the  Teu- 
tonic lohn,  reward  or  price;  that  which  costs  or  forfeits 
land.  More  probably  from  the  same  root  with  the  verb  to 
fail.)  In  Law,  in  the  general  sense,  comprises  every  spe- 
cies of  crime  which  occasioned  at  common  law  the  for- 
feiture of  lands  and  goods.  Treasons,  therefore,  are, 
strictly  speaking,  felonies,  though  in  common  language  dis- 
tinguished from  them.  The  term  felony  appears,  in  feu- 
dal law,  to  have  been  synonymous  with  forfeiture  to  the 
feudal  lord.  The  general  punishment  attached  to  felony 
at  common  law  was  death ;  and  if  any  statute,  even  now, 
makes  a  new  offence  felony  without  specifying  the  punish- 
ment, the  law  implies  it  to  be  capital.  But  some  species 
of  felony  were  not  thus  punishable  at  common  law ;  and 
the  gradual  operation  of  altered  opinion  upon  our  code  has 
removed  this  punishment  from  all  but  a  few.  The  princi- 
pal species  of  felony  are, — 1.  Offences  against  the  person, 
such  as  murder,  manslaughter,  rape,  &c. ;  assault  with  fe- 
lonious intent,  that  is,  with  intent  to  injure  the  sufferer  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree.  The  highest  of  these  offences 
against  the  person  are  still  punishable  by  death.  The  acts 
respecting  these  offences  were  consolidated  by  7  &.  8  Geo. 
4.  c.  31.  Some  of  them,  as  common  assaults,  &c,  are 
only  misdemeanours.  2.  Of  offences  against  property,  the 
great  body  is  comprehended  under  the  ancient  appellation 
of  larceny.  3.  Embezzlement.  4.  Burglary.  5.  Mali- 
cious mischief  to  property,  arson,  riotous  demolition  of 
churches,  chapels,  houses,  &c,  are  capital  offences  within 
this  class.  6.  Forgery.  7.  Numerous  offences  of  a  pub- 
lic nature  (many  such,  however,  amount  only  to  misde- 
meanour)— 1.  Either  against  the  king  and  government,  as 
treason,  sedition,  embezzlement  of  the  king's  stores,  &c. ; 
2.  Against  public  justice  ;  3.  Against  the  public  peace;  4. 
Against  public  trade  ;  5.  Against  public  police  and  economy. 
Under  this  head  also  are  to  be  ranked  some  offences  relative 
to  game,  while  others  come  under  the  description  oflarceny. 

FE'LSPAR.  (Germ,  feldspath.)  An  important  mine- 
ral composed  of  silica,  alumina,  and  potash,  with  traces  of 
lime,  and  often  of  oxide  of  iron.  Common  felspar  is  of 
various  shades  of  white  and  red  ;  it  forms  an  ingredient  in 
granite,  and  is  the  base  of  some  other  rocks.  It  is  often 
crystallized,  and  cleaves  into  rhomboidal  fragments. 

FE'LTING.  (Germ,  filzen.)  The  process  by  which 
different  kinds  of  fur  or  wool  are  blended  into  a  compact 
texture  for  the  manufacture  of  hats.  The  anatomical  pe- 
culiarities of  the  different  hairs  or  furs  are  much  con- 
cerned in  the  perfection  of  the  felt ;  they  must  be  such  as 
to  enable  them  to  interlace  and  intertwine  with  each  other. 
Hare  and  rabbit  fur,  wool,  and  beaver,  are  the  chief  mate- 
rials used  ;  they  are  mixed  in  proper  proportions,  and  are 
tossed  about  by  the  strokes  of  a  vibrating  string  or  bow 
till  they  become  duly  matted  together. 

FEL'UCCA.  (Span,  faluca ;  Fr.  felouquer;  Ital.  feluca.) 
A  small  vessel,  carrying  two  masts,  and  propelled  by  oars 
and  sails,  used  chiefly  in  the  Mediterranean  and  on  the  ad- 
jacent coasts  for  coasting  voyages.  Small  war  boats  used 
in  the  same  quarter  are  also  so  called. 

FEMME  COVERT.  In  Law,  a  term  borrowed  from  the 
French  to  signify  a  married  woman. 

FEMUR.  (Lat.  a  thigh.)  In  Vertebrate  Anatomy,  the 
first  bone  of  the  leg  or  pelvic  extremity  ;  in  Entomology, 
the  third  joint  of  the  leg,  and  is  long  and  usually  compressed. 

Femur.  In  Architecture,  the  interstitial  space  between 
the  channels  in  the  triglyph  of  the  Doric  order.  These  fe- 
mora are  sometimes  called  the  legs  of  the  triglyph. 

FENCE.  Any  continuous  line  of  obstacle  interposed  by 
art  between  one  portion  of  the  surface  of  land  and  another 
for  the  purpose  of  separation  or  exclusion.  The  kind  of 
obstacle  or  material  differs  according  to  the  animals  which 
are  to  be  separated,  excluded,  or  confined,  and  the  nature 
of  the  soil  and  situation.  All  fences  are  either  live  or  dead, 
or  a  compound  of  these.  Live  fences  are  hedges ;  that  is, 
rows  of  shrubs  placed  close  together,  and  pruned  on  the 
sides,  so  as  to  form  a  sort  of  living  wall.  Dead  fences  are 
either  stone  walls,  mounds  of  earth,  or  structures  of  wood 
or  of  other  materials  raised  above  the  ground's  surface,  or 
upon  ditches  excavated  in  it.  The  latter  are  sometimes 
filled  with  water.  Mixed  fences  are  those  in  which  some 
kind  of  dead  fence  is  used  with  some  kind  of  live  fence ; 
for  example,  a  ditch  with  a  bank  of  earth  on  one  side,  or  a 
ditch  with  a  wall  or  a  hedsre  on  one  side;  the  latter  the  com- 
monest of  all  fences.  The  introduction  of  fences  into 
agriculture  was  about  as  great  an  improvement  in  the  pro- 
gress of  that  art,  as  that  of  the  principle  of  the  division  of 
labour  info  the  art  of  manufacture. 

FE'ND  OFF.  The  sea  term  for  pushing  off  a  boat  or 
any  heavy  body,  to  break  the  shock  or  avoid  contact. 


FENESTRATE. 

FENESTRATE  (Lat.  fenestra,  a  window),  in  Ento- 
mology, signifies  the  naked  hyaline  transparent  spots  on 
the  wings  of  butterflies. 

FE'N  LANDS.  Lands,  the  subsoil  of  which  is  constantly 
•n  a  state  of  saturation  with  water,  and  the  surface  is  liable 
to  be  overflown  by  rivers  or  streams  during  spring  or 
autumn.  The  soil  of  these  lands  is  generally  black,  light, 
and  rich,  to  the  depth  of  two  or  three  feet;  and  as  the  sur- 
face water  readily  filtrates  through  this  soil  to  the  subsoil, 
fen  lands  generally  produce  bulky  crops  of  grass  and  corn. 
As  they  have  very  seldom  any  natural  outlet  for  drainage, 
this  is  generally  performed  by  machinery ;  and  when  this  is 
the  case  few  lands  are  more  productive.  Till  lately  wind- 
mills were  employed  for  draining  the  English  fens;  but 
steam  is  now  frequently  had  recourse  to  as  the  moving 
power,  and  the  advantages  to  the  cultivator  are  immense  ; 
because  he  can  lay  his  lands  dry  at  the  season  when  it  is 
most  convenient  that  they  should  be  so,  whereas  the  opera- 
tion of  the  windmill  is  always  a  matter  of  chance.  For  an 
account  of  the  Fens  in  England,  see  British  Statistics ;  and 
M'Culloch's  Geographical  Diet.,  art.  "  Bedford  Level." 

FE'OFFMENT.  In  Law,  a  species  of  conveyance.  It 
was  in  early  times  the  public  and  solemn  mode  of  alienating 
lands  and  tenements  in  possession,  and  was  performed  by 
a  deed,  accompanied  by  livery  of  seisin  ;  which  last  was  the 
delivery  of  the  land  itself,  effected  by  certain  symbolical 
acts  and  customary  words.  As  secret  conveyances  to  uses 
gradually  prevailed,  feoffments  fell  comparatively  into  dis- 
use. The  grantor  is  termed  the  feoffor,  and  the  person  re- 
ceiving the  feoffee. 

FER^E.  (Lat.  ferus,  wild.)  The  name  given  by  Lin- 
naeus to  the  order  of  Mammalia  comprehending  those 
which  subsist  more  or  less  exclusively  on  the  flesh  of  other 
animals.  They  are  characterized  by  having  three  kinds 
of  teeth,  incisors,  canines,  and  molars  ;  unguiculate  extre- 
mities, without  an  opposable  thumb  on  the  fore  foot,  but  with 
the  power  of  rotation  in  the  forearm.  This  order  corres- 
ponds with  the  Insectivora,  and  the  Plantigrade,  Digitigrade, 
and  Pinniarade  Carnivora  of  Cuvier's  Carnassii re. 

FE'RGUSONITE.  In  Mineralogy,  a  crystallized  com- 
pound of  columbic  acid  and  yttria  with  a  small  quantity  of 
zirconia,  and  of  oxides  of  tin,  cerium,  iron,  and  uranium. 
It  has  hitherto  only  been  found  in  Greenland. 

FE'RIi'E.  In  Roman  Antiquities,  solemn  religious  fes- 
tivals. The  most  celebrated  were  the  Feriae  Latina;  (Latin 
holidays),  celebrated  on  the  Alban  mount  by  all  the  states 
of  Latium  in  common.  The  deputies  of  the  various  cities, 
with  those  from  Rome,  met  on  the  Alban  mount,  where, 
under  the  presidency  of  the  latter,  they  sacrificed  a  bull  to 
•Jupiter  Latialis,  and  under  sanction  of  this  ceremony  took 
oaths  to  preserve  their  mutual  friendship  and  alliance.  This 
festival  was  originally  instituted  by  the  second  Tarquin,  in 
whose  time  and  long  subsequently  it  lasted  for  one  day  only  ; 
but  in  process  of  time  it  extended  to  four.  It  was  observed  by 
the  consuls  regularly  before  they  set  out  for  their  provinces. 

FERINES.  (Lat.  ferus,  wild.)  The  English  equivalent 
of  the  Carnassiers  of  the  system  of  Cuvier;  but  generally 
employed  to  designate  the  group  corresponding  with  the 
Fierce  of  Linnaeus,  and  excluding  the  hats  (Clieirojitera), 
which  form  the  first  family  of  Cuvier's  Carnassiers. 

FERMENT.  (Lat.  ferveo,  IboU.)  The  substance  which 
is  essential  to  the  process  of  fermentation.  It  is  either  na- 
turally present  in  the  fermentable  juice,  as  in  the  grape  ; 
or  it  is  added,  as  in  the  manufacture  of  beer,  where  yeast 
constitutes  the  ferment.  Ferments  are  of  an  albuminous 
or  glutinous  character;  the  presence  of  nitrogen  seems 
essential  in  their  composition,  hence  they  are  classed  by 
.hemists  among  azotised  compounds.  Their  modus  ope- 
randi is  still  unexplained. 

FE'RMENTATION.  (Lat.)  When  certain  vegetable 
substances  are  dissolved  in  water,  and  subjected  to  a  due 
temperature  (between  65°  and  85°),  they  undergo  a  series 
of  changes  which  terminate  in  the  production  of  alcohol  or 
spirit ;  these  changes  constitute  the  phenomena  of  vinous 
fermentation.  Sugar  and  some  ferment  are  essential  to 
the  process;  and  during  the  formation  of  the  alcohol  the 
sugar  disappears,  and  carbonic  acid  is  more  or  less  abun- 
dantly evolved.  The  simplest  case  of  fermentation  is  that 
of  must,  or  of  the  expressed  juice  of  the  grape,  which  when 
exposed,  either  in  close  or  open  vessels,  to  a  temperature 
of  about  70°,  soon  begins  to  give  off  carbonic  acid,  and  to 
become  turbid  and  frothy;  after  a  time  a  scum  collects 
upon  the  surface,  and  a  sediment  is  deposited;  the  liquor 
which  had  grown  warm  gradually  cools  and  clears,  loses 
its  sweet  taste,  and  is  converted  into  wine.  The  chief.com. 
ponent  parts  of  must  are  water,  sugar,  mucilage,  gluten, 
and  tartar.  During  the  fermentation  carbonic  acid  escapes, 
the  sugar  disappears,  and  with  it  the  greater  par,t  of  the 
mucilage ;  Ihe  gluten  chiefly  forms  the  scum  and  a  portion 
of  the  sediment;  and  the  tartar,  originally  in  solution,  is 
thrown  down  in  the  form  of  a  coloured  deposit^  "It  appears, 
therefore,  that  the  new  products,  which  are  alcohol  and 
carbonic  acid,  are  principally  formed  at  the  expense  of  the 
sugar;  and  Gay  Lussac's  experiments  have  shown  that  4o 
449 


FESTOON. 

pounds  of  sugar  are  resolved,  in  the  process  of  fermenta- 
tion, into  23  of  alcohol  and  22  of  carbonic  acid.  Sugar  and 
water  alone  will  not  ferment;  the  ingredient  requisite  to 
the  commencement  of  the  change  is  the  gluten,  which  ab- 
sorbs in  the  first  instance  a  little  oxygen  from  the  air,  be- 
comes insoluble,  and  induces  the  subsequent  changes.  The 
reason  why  grapes  never  ferment  till  the  juice  is  expressed, 
seems  to  depend  upon  the  exclusion  of  air  by  the  husk  or 
membranes  ;  and  if  grapes  be  bruised  in  a  perfectly  clcse 
vessel,  carefully  excluding  oxygen,  the  juice  undergoes  no 
change ;  so  that  the  mere  breaking  down  of  the  texture  of  the 
fruit  is  insufficient.  But  a  very  short  exposure  of  the  pulp 
to  air  is  sufficient  to  induce  that  change  in  the  juice  which 
leads  on  to  fermentation,  and  which  is  afterwards  inde- 
pendent of  the  furl  her  contact  of  air,  the  evolution  of  car- 
bonic acid  being  exclusively  referable  to  the  decomposition 
of  sugar.  In  beer  the  alcohol  is  derived  from  the  sugar, 
original  and  produced,  of  the  malt.  When  wine  is  exposed 
to  air  and  a  due  temperature,  a  second  fermentation  en- 
sues, which  is  called  acetous  fermentation,  and  which  ter- 
minates in  the  production  oi  vinegar.  During  this  process 
oxygen  is  absorbed,  and  more  or  less  carbonic  acid  in  most 
cases  evolved  ;  but  the  apparent  cause  of  the  formation  of 
vinegar  is  the  abstraction  of  hydrogen  from  the  alcohol,  so 
as  to  leave  the  remaining  elements  in  such  proportions  as 
to  constitute  acetic  acid.  Thus  alcohol  is  theoretically  con- 
stituted of  charcoal,  water,  and  hydrogen  :  and  acetic  acid 
of  charcoal  and  water  only  :  the  oxygen  of  the  air,  there- 
fore, converts  the  hydrogen  of  the  alcohol  into  water,  and 
so  effects  the  change  into  vinegar. 

FE'RMO.     See  Canto  Fermo. 

FERN  ROOT.  The  root  of  the  Aspidium  frfix  mas,  or 
male  fern.  About  two  drachms  of  the  dried  root,  in  pow- 
der, followed  up  by  a  brisk  purge,  is  occasionally  given  as  a 
vermifuge.     It  was  Madame  Nouffers's  celebrated  specific. 

FERNS.  Cryplogamic  plants  of  the  highest  grade  of 
development,  and  more  especially  remarkable  for  the  per- 
fect manner  in  which  their  leaves  are  formed.  See  Filiceb. 

FE'RRO-CYANIC  ACID.  A  compound  of  3  atoms  of 
cyanogen,  2  of  hydrogen,  and  1  of  iron.  It  is  the  ferro- 
chyazic  acid  of  Mr.  Porrett,  Ihe  term  chyazic  being  com- 
posed of  the  initials  of  carbon,  hydrogen,  and  azote,  which 
are  the  ultimate  elements  of  hydro-cyanogen. 

FERRUGO.  In  Botany,  a  disease  of  plants,  commonly 
called  rust.  It  is  caused  by  the  presence  of  myriads  of 
minute  fungi,  chiefly  of  the  genus  Uredo,  which  are  to 
plants  what  intestinal  worms  are  to  animals. 

FE'RRY.  (Germ,  and  Sax.  fahren,  to  pass  over.)  In 
Law,  a  right  arising  from  royal  grant  or  prescription  to 
have  a  boat  to  carry  men  and  horses  across  a  river,  and  to 
levy  reasonable  toll.  The  land  on  both  sides  ought  to  be- 
long to  the  owner. 

FE'RULA.  A  genus  of  Umbelliferous  plants,  with  thin 
flat  fruit,  resembling  that  of  the  parsnip,  and  yellow  flowers. 
The  species  are  chiefly  natives  of  Persia,  where  they  yield 
the  drug  asafcclida.  According  to  K»mpferlhis  fetid  gum- 
resin  is  an  exudation  from  the  root  of  F.  asufattida;  but  there 
is  no  doubt  that  it  is  also  produced  by  several  other  species. 

FE'SCENNINE  VERSES  (Verses  Fescennini),  so  called 
from  Fescennia,  an  Etrurian  town,  where  they  first  had  their 
origin,  were  rude  extemporaneous  pieces  of  poetry  recited 
by  the  youth  of  Latium  and  Etruria  at  rustic  festivals,  espe- 
cially at  harvest  home,  with  gestures  adapted  to  the  sense. 
They  consisted  principally  of  raillery  arid  playful  rustic  a- 
buse  ;  a  species  of  humour  very  much  in  vogue  wilh  Ihe 
Grecian  and  Egyptian  country  pVople  also.  The  Fescen- 
nine  verses  are  chiefly  remarkable  from  having  given  rise 
to  satire,  the  only  class  of  poetry  of  native  Italian  growth. 

FE'SCUE  GRASS.  A  valuable  grass  for  meadows  and 
pastures.  (Festitea  ]>ratensis,  Lin.)  In  deep  ricli  soils 
somewhat  moist  it  is  considered  as  the  most  bulky  and  nu- 
tritiveof  all  grasses;  but  in  poorer  soils  it  is  equalled,  if  not 
surpassed,  by  the  rye  grass  (Lolium perenne).  and  the  mea- 
dow foxtail  grass  (Alenpecurus  pratensis).  The  meadow 
fescue  grows  to  the  height  of  between  two  and  three  feet; 
but  the  sheep  fescue  (F.  ovana),  and  several  other  species, 
seldom  grow  above  six  inches  or  a  foot  in  height,  and  are 
chiefly  sown  on  sheep  pastures,  arid  used  to  lay  down  lawns 
and  grassy  surfaces  to  be  mown  in  pleasure  grounds.  All  Ihe 
fescues  are  perennials  ;  and  they  are  all  natives  of  Britain. 

FESS.  (Lat.  fascia,  a  wide  belt.)  In  Heraldry  one  of  the 
ordinaries.  It  is  bounded  by  two  horizontal  lines  across  the 
escutcheon,  equally  distant  from  Ihe  fess  point  or  centre  of 
the  escutcheon.  A  fess  not  reaching  to  the  sides  of  the 
escutcheon  is  said  to  be  couped (cut)  or  hmnetty.  The  dimi- 
nutives of  Ihe  fess  are  the  bar,  the  clospt,  and  the  barulet.  A 
fess  with  a  barulet  on  each  side  of  it  is  said  fo  be  cotised. 
A  fess  removed  to  the  top  of  the  escutcheon  is  termed  a 
chief,  and  held  to  be  an  honourable  augmentation. 

F'ESTOO'N.  (Fr.  feston.)  In  Architecture,  a  carved 
representation  of  a  wreath  or  garland  of  flowers,  or  leaves 
and  fruit,  or  all  of  them,  interwoven  together;  thick  in  the 
centre  and  small  at  each  extremity,  where  it  is  fastened, 
and  frequently  turned  over. 
Ee 


FETIALS. 

FE'TIALS.     See  Fecials. 

FE  TICH,  Fetichism.  The  word  Fetich  is  said  to  be 
derived  from  the  Portuguese,  and  appears  to  have  been 
brought  into  common  usage  from  the  writings  of  some  trav- 
ellers on  the  western  coast  of  Africa.  It  is  now  comprehen- 
sively employed  to  signify  any  object  of  worship  not  repre- 
senting a  living  (or  rather,  perhaps,  a  human)  figure ;  thus 
excluding  idols,  properly  so  called.  This  perverted  form  of 
religion  prevails  very  extensively  among  barbarous  nations, 
and  especially  those  of  the  Negro  race.  Among  the  latter, 
tribes,  families,  and  individuals  have  their  respective  Fe- 
tiches; which  are  often  objects  casually  selected,  or  chosen 
under  the  influence  of  some  occasional  superstition,  as 
stones,  weapons,  vessels,  plants,  &c.  &c. 

FE'TLOCK.  (Quasi  footlock,  whence  the  derivation.) 
In  the  Manege,  a  tuft  of  hair  growing  behind  the  pastem 
joint  of  horses ;  hence  the  joint  where  it  grows  is  called  the 
fetlock  joint. 

FE'TTERED,  in  Zoology,  is  applied  to  the  feet  of  ani- 
mals when  they  are  stretched  backward  and  appear  unfit 
for  the  purpose  of  walking,  or  when  they  are  concealed 
within  the  integuments  of  the  abdomen. 

FE'TTSTEIN.  (Germ,  fat  stone.)  See  Elaolite. 
FEU  (Lat.  feodum,  >>/),  in  Scottish  Law,  is  used  in  con- 
tradistinction to  ward-holding  or  military  tenure,  to  signify 
that  holding  where  the  vassal  makes  a  return  in  grain  or 
money  in  lieu  of  military  service.  The  feu  contract  is  that 
which  regulates  the  giving  out  of  land,  as  between  superior 
and  vassal ;  the  rent  paid  being  termed  the  feu  duties. 

FEU'DAL  SYSTEM.  (From  the  modern  Latin  word 
feodum  or  feud ;  in  English  fief  or  fee.)  A  body  of  institu- 
tions of  a  peculiar  character,  introduced  into  Europe  by  the 
German  and  Gothic  tribes  which  conquered  the  provinces 
of  Rome,  which  prevailed  for  a  long  period,  and  has  left 
important  traces  of  its  existence  in  most  European  countries. 
The  words  fief  and  feud  are  both,  it  is  conjectured  with 
much  probability,  corruptions  of  the  Graco-Latin  term  em- 
phyteusis (pronounced  emphytefsis),  signifying  a  contract 
whereby  an  individual  acquired  the  enjoyment  of  a  piece  of 
land  without  the  absolute  property  in  it.  Hence  by  con- 
traction came  fef  or  fief,  and  by  the  addition  of  a  neuter 
termination  fevodum,  feudum,  feodum.  Another  derivation, 
recently  suggested,  is  from  the  Irish  "fuidhur,"  "fuidh," 
signifying,  in  the  Brehon  Laws,  a  stranger  who  enjoyed 
land  within  the  domains  of  a  clan,  and  the  tenure  by  which 
he  enjoyed  it.  It  is  singular  that  the  word  "  vassal"  is  also 
probably  of  Celtic  derivation.  (See  Vassal.)  The  English 
word  "  feud"  (quarrel  or  strife)  is  of  an  entirely  distinct  or- 
igin, being  the  same  with  the  German  fehde.  The  German 
equivalent  for  fief  is  another  original  word,  lehn. 

It  is  clear  that  feudal  usages  were  absolutely  unknown  to 
the  ancient  Romans ;  but  as  among  that  people,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  later  times  of  the  empire,  there  existed  certain 
customs  which  were  analogous  in  appearance,  although  not 
in  origin — such  as  the  establishment  of  military  colonies  on 
the  frontier,  where  the  tenant  of  land  was  a  soldier,  and  lia- 
ble to  be  called  into  active  duty;  and  the  cultivation  of 
great  part  of  the  empire  by  coloni,  a  distinct  class  of  men, 
raised  above  the  condition  of  the  slave,  and  yet  bound  to 
render  services  to  the  proprietor,  and  in  some  instances  an- 
nexed to  the  soil — the  barbarians  in  many  instances  adapt- 
ed the  conventional  language  and  the  laws  of  Rome  to  their 
own  native  customs ;  thus  producing  a  confusion  of  idiom 
and  practice,  of  which  a  better  instance  cannot  be  found 
than  the  fact  already  mentioned,  that  the  word  "feud"  it- 
self is  derived  from  a  legal  term  of  the  Greek  empire  (em- 
phyteusis). 

The  immediate  result  of  the  conquest  of  Gaul,  Italy,  and 
Spain  by  the  various  barbarian  tribes,  was  the  division  of 
the  lands  (except  such  portions  as  were  left  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Roman  cultivators  and  only  rendered  liable  to 
tribute)  between  all  the  armed  men  of  the  nation.  The 
shares  were  undoubtedly  unequal  even  in  the  earliest  of 
these  divisions;  but,  however  differing  in  point  of  wealth, 
all  the  free  proprietors  were  equal  in  rights :  all  were  held 
liable  to  serve  with  the  national  force  when  called  into  the 
field;  all  had  a  voice,  at  least  nominally,  in  the  making  of 
laws  and  in  the  choice  of  a  sovereign.  These  free  citizens 
are  called  by  various  names  in  the  legislation  of  the  differ- 
ent tribes;  the  Lombard  title  of  Jlrimannus  (ehren-mann, 
man  of  honour,  or  heer-man,  warrior)  seems  to  have  been 
the  most  permanent.  Such,  however,  was  the  general  con- 
stitution of  the  kingdoms  of  the  Lombards  in  Italy;  the 
Franks  in  Gaul ;  the  Visigoths,  Ostrogoths,  and  Burgtin- 
dians;  and  of  the  various  states  which  grew  up  within  the 
limits  of  Germany  itself,  after  the  confusion  occasioned  by 
the  great  migrations  had  passed  away. 

The  decay  of  these  aristocratic  republics  was  brought 
about  by  nearly  the  same  causes  which  operate  in  under- 
mining all  systems  founded  on  equality  of  rights  and  classes. 
The  constant  wars  and  vicissitudes  to  which  these  govern- 
ments were  subject  naturally  raised  up  among  the  citizens 
450 


FEUDAL  SYSTEM. 

some  more  powerful  than  the  rest,  and  converted  a  great 
body  of  the  freemen  into  dependants  upon  these.  The  dukes 
and  counts,  and  other  great  men,  became  the  actual  con- 
trollers of  the  community :  the  free  citizens,  wherever  un- 
able to  associate  for  mutual  protection,  were  subject  to 
innumerable  vexations.  From  the  earliest  times,  and  before 
the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire,  it  had  been  customary  among 
the  Germans  for  the  princes  and  chief  men  to  be  attended 
by  a  select  body  of  faithful  companions,  whose  dependance 
on  them,  and  services  due  to  them,  were  recognised  and 
fixed  by  general  usage.  This  custom,  under  the  new  cir- 
cumstances of  the  Germanic  and  Gothic  kingdoms,  acquired 
peculiar  force.  It  became  an  object  of  ambition  to  the 
chieftains  to  have  as  many  dependants  as  possible.  With 
this  view,  every  species  of  vexation  was  exercised  by  them 
towards  the  unprotected  Arimannus,  to  induce  him  to  abdi- 
cate his  own  independence,  and  enrol  himself  under  their 
command.  During  the  wars  and  confusions  of  the  eighth 
and  ninth  centuries,  the  foundations  of  the  feudal  system 
were  laid  by  this  personal  dependance  assuming  gradually 
the  character  of  a  territorial  dependance  also.  The  Ari- 
mannus was  induced  to  surrender  up  his  free  or  allodial 
lands  to  the  king  or  count,  and  became  his  "liegeman" 
(fidelis),  "antrustion"  (our  English  word  trust  comes  from 
the  same  origin),  "vassal,"  or  "man"  (homo,  whence  ho- 
magium,  homage),  receiving  back  his  lands  to  hold  of  the 
superior.  This  process  can  only  now  be  traced  by  insulated 
documents  and  historical  facts ;  but,  arising  out  of  the  same 
circumstances  in  most  countries  of  Western  Europe,  it  took 
in  all  of  them  nearly  the  same  course.  It  is  ably  developed 
by  Hallam  (in  his  first  chapter  on  the  Feudal  System),  and 
Meyer  (Institutions  Judiciaires,  livre  i.). 

The  success  and  energy  of  Charlemagne  arrested  for  a 
time  the  decomposition  of  the  old  form  of  society :  his  em- 
pire extended  over  nearly  all  those  portions  of  Europe 
which  afterward  became  feudal ;  and  his  various  laws  (in 
the  end  of  the  eighth  and  beginning  of  the  ninth  century) 
present  us  with  a  remarkable  picture  of  what  may  be  called 
the  state  of  transition  from  the  allodial  to  the  feudal  system. 
We  find  in  them  that  the  free  proprietors,  or  Arimanni,  still 
formed  a  very  numerous  body ;  and  that  the  exigencies  of 
military  service  fell  most  heavily  upon  them.  They  were 
obliged  to  serve  at  their  own  cost;  while  the  counts,  &c, 
brought  their  vassals  to  the  field  at  their  own  expense. 
These  laws  are  full  of  the  vexations  endured  by  the  former 
class  from  the  powerful  military  chieftains.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  practice  of  attaching  individuals  to  the  person  of 
the  sovereign  or  superior  by  the  grant  of  lands  (benefices), 
and  the  obligations  imposed  on  the  inferior  by  the  grant,  are 
clearly  developed.  The  distinction  between  aVodial  and 
feudal  lands  (though  the  latter  term  was  not  yet  used)  is  as 
marked  as  at  any  subsequent  period.  But  benefices  were 
not  yet  hereditary :  it  is  doubted  by  the  most  learned  wri- 
ters/whether or  no  they  were,  generally  or  frequently,  pre- 
carious and  revocable. 

The  decay  of  Charlemagne's  empire,  and  the  disasters  of 
the  two  centuries  which  followed  his  reign,  completed  the 
formation  of  the  feudal  system.  The  great  step  by  which 
that  change  was  completed  was  when  the  benefices  or  fiefs 
became,  like  the  former  allodial  properties,  hereditary. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  this  change  was  merely  the 
result  of  those  disastrous  circumstances  of  civil  and  barba- 
rian wars  which  during  that  period  relaxed  the  slight  bonds 
of  the  Carlovingian  monarchy,  and  rendered  every  man  as 
far  as  possible  dependant  on  an  immediate  superior,  and  in- 
dependent of  a  central  authority.  The  earliest  express  cre- 
ation of  an  hereditary  fief  is  considered  to  be  the  donation 
of  the  duchy  of  Aquitaine  to  Eudes  and  his  heirs  by 
Charles-le-Chauve.  The  great  vassals  established  their 
families  permanently  in  the  lands  which  they  held  of  the 
fisc  or  royal  domain :  their  liegemen,  in  turn,  were  gratified 
by  acquiring  the  same  right  in  their  own  subordinate  fiefs. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  nobility  of  modem  Europe 
owes  its  origin,  in  general,  to  nearly  the  same  period  and 
the  same  causes:  those  families  which  succeeded  in  acqui 
ring  extensive  fiefs,  and  preserving  them  for  several  genera- 
tions, became  noble  by  prescription.  In  the  mean  time,  the 
Arimanni,  or  allodial  proprietors,  found  their  condition  be- 
came worse  from  generation  to  generation :  they  were  load- 
ed with  services  and  dues  until,  in  the  tenth  century  (as  is 
shown  by  Meyer),  the  term  "  arimannia"  became  synony- 
mous with  exaction.  But,  although  the  feudal  system  be- 
came so  generally  prevalent  that  the  maxim  "  Nulle  terre 
sans  seigneur"  (importing  that  lands  were  presumed  feudal 
until  the  contrary  was  shown)  became  generally  received, 
yet  in  France  and  Germany  they  never  became  wholly  ex- 
tinct. In  some  districts  of  the  former  country  the  maxim 
was  reversed,  and  lands  were  presumed  allodial.  (See 
Hallam.) 

Character  and  Features  of  the  Feudal  System.— -This  in- 
stitution is  generally  supposed  to  have  been  fully  consolida- 
ted by  the  commencement  of  the  eleventh  century :  the  law 


FEUDAL  SYSTEM. 


of  Conrad,  the  Salic,  in  Lombardy  (1039),  contains  all  its 
main  features :  the  Assises  de  Jerusalem,  and  other  compi- 
lations, show  that  in  a  century  more  it  had  been  invested 
with  all  the  refinements  of  a  legal  system. 

By  the  principles  of  this  system,  the  king  was,  in  the  last 
resort,  proprietor  of  all  the  feudal  lands  of  his  kingdom. 
Those  who  were  infeoffed  of  lands  directly  from  the  crown, 
and  owed  homage  and  service  to  the  king,  were  termed  ten- 
ants in  chief  (in  capite),  &c.  These,  again,  infeoffed  other 
inferior  tenants,  who  held  immediately  of  them;  and  this 
practice  (called  sub-infeudation)  might  be  carried  on  through 
several  gradations.  Thus  the  same  individual  was  a  vassal 
or  dependant  of  the  crown,  and  lord  or  suzerain  with  refer- 
ence to  his  own  vassal  who  held  of  him,  also  termed  mesne 
or  mediate  lord,  a  term  which  comprehended  both  these  re- 
lations. But,  although  all  perfect  fiefs  resembled  each  other 
in  their  theoretical  character,  and  particularly  in  their  great 
attribute  of  military  service,  yet,  in  point  of  fact,  tenants 
holding  immediately  of  the  crown  stood  in  very  different 
degrees  of  subordination.  Thus,  in  France,  the  great  vas- 
sals (the  Dukes  of  Normandy,  Britany,  &c.)  were  immedi- 
ate tenants  of  the  crown,  but  in  effect  almost  independent 
of  it ;  while  they  exercised  much  stricter  sovereignty  over 
their  own  immediate  tenants.  But  other  lands,  being  the 
demesne  of  the  crown  itself,  were  held  of  it  by  lesser  ten- 
ants in  chief,  who  stood  to  the  king  in  the  same  close  rela- 
tion as  the  vassals  of  the  great  feudatories  did  to  them. 
Thus  the  government  of  France,  at  the  period  when  the 
feudal  system  was  in  the  greatest  vigour,  was  that  of  a  col- 
lection of  independent  sovereigns,  of  whom  one,  the  king, 
had  a  certain  supremacy  over  the  rest ;  but  each,  within  his 
own  domains,  exercised  an  equal  authority :  and  such  was, 
in  theory  at  least,  the  constitution  of  every  feudal  kingdom. 
The  ceremonies  used  in  conferring  a  fief  were  chiefly  three : 
1.  Homage,  by  which  the  vassal  owned  the  lord's  suprema- 
cy ;  but  homage  per  paragium,  or  simple  homage,  was  un- 
accompanied by  any  feudal  obligation  ;  homagium  ligeum, 
or  liege  homage,  implied  such  obligations:  the  former  only 
was  rendered  to  the  king  by  the  great  feudatories  above 
mentioned.  (See  Hallam's  Middle  Ages,  c.  2,  part  1.)  2. 
The  oath  of  fealty.  3.  investiture,  or  the  conveyance  of 
feudal  lands,  actual  or  symbolical.  The  chief  obligation 
of  a  feudal  tenant  was  military  service ;  but  the  laws  which 
regulated  this  essential  part  of  the  contract  were  so  various, 
that  it  is  not  possible  to  give  any  comprehensive  description 
of  them.  In  some  places  every  tenant  was  obliged  to  serve 
personally  for  his  fief,  whether  large  or  small ;  in  others  (as 
England),  the  land  was  divided  into  a  certain  number  of 
equal  parcels,  from  each  of  which  a  soldier's  service  was 
due:  the  term  of  service  was  also  variously  regulated  by 
custom.  The  conflicting  rights  of  superior  and  inferior  lords 
to  the  vassal's  military  service  were  also  never  satisfactorily 
adjusted.  When  feudality  was  in  its  most  flourishing  state, 
he  commonly  followed  the  banner  of  his  immediate  supe- 
rior, even  against  the  crown ;  but  with  the  progress  of  the 
royal  power,  his  obligations  were  gradually  transferred  to 
the  king  as  lord  paramount :  military  service  was  in  most 
cases  rendered  commutable,  in  process  of  time,  for  an 
amercement  in  money.  (SeeEscuAGE.)  There  were  other 
inferior  obligations  which  attached  to  the  military  tenures, 
commonly  called  feudal  incidents.  These  were  chiefly,  1. 
Reliefs ;  i.  e.,  sums  of  money  paid  to  the  lord  by  tenants  of 
full  age  on  taking  fiefs  by  descent.  2.  Fines  upon  aliena- 
tion, which  were  sums  paid  on  alienating  a  fief;  a  privilege 
which  was  only  gradually  acquired  by  feudal  tenants,  being 
contrary  to  the  principles  of  the  institution.  3.  Escheats ; 
i.  e.,  the  reversion  of  the  fief  to  the  lord,  on  failure  of  the 
tenant's  heirs  or  forfeiture.  4.  .lids  ;  sums  paid  by  tenant 
to  the  lord  on  certain  specified  occasions.  And  to  these  may 
be  added  the  feudal  rights  of  wardship,  by  which  the  lord, 
in  some  countries,  had  the  custody  of  his  tenant's  person, 
and  the  enjoyment  of  his  lands  until  he  was  of  full  age  ; 
and  marriage,  by  which  the  lord  had  the  right  of  disposing 
of  such  ward's  land  in  marriage,  or,  if  the  marriage  were 
rejected,  to  a  sum  of  money  equivalent  to  the  marriage,  i.  e., 
as  much  as  it  was  presumed  the  party  seeking  the  marriage 
would  have  given  the  lord  for  the  alliance.  Forfeiture  of 
the  fief  to  the  feudal  lord  was  incurred  by  the  tenant's  vio- 
lating any  of  the  original  conditions  of  fealty,  homage,  and 
military  service.  But  the  vassal  was  protected  from  the 
unjust  aggression  of  the  lord  by  that  which  seems  to  have 
been  an  inherent  and  necessary  condition  of  the  feudal  sys- 
tem ;  the  judgment,  namely,  of  his  peers,  without  which 
such  forfeiture  could  not  be  incurred,  supported,  as  it  were, 
by  the  right  of  private  warfare,  which  in  the  last  resort 
was  the  resource  both  of  the  lord  to  enforce  obedience  from 
the  vassal,  and  the  vassal  to  protect  himself  rmainst  his 
equal  or  his  superior:  on  failure  of  heirs,  the  fief  fell  or  es- 
cheated to  the  lord.  Fiefs  holden  by  military  tenure  were, 
strictly,  proper  fiefs.  There  were  also  a  great  variety  of 
tenures  by  rendering  particular  stipulated  services,  created, 
for  the  most  part,  in  comparatively  late  times,  which  were 


also  deemed  feudal  in  their  character,  and  constituted  im- 
proper fiefs;  such  were,  especially,  tenures  by  the  perform- 
ance of  menial  or  other  personal  services,  from  which  arose 
the  English  grand  serjeanty  (Which  see).  All  these  tenures 
were  of  a  higher  or  noble  character ;  but  in  some  countries 
large  portions  of  the  land  were  held  either  immediately  of 
the  king,  or  mediately  of  feudal  lords,  by  base  or  inferior 
tenures.  Such  lands  were  styled  fiefs  roturiers  in  French 
jurisprudence:  in  English,  this  class  of  tenures  was  com- 
prehended under  the  common  term  of  socage,  which  com- 
prised both  tenures  in  free  or  common  socage,  and  those  in 
villein  socage,  from  which  are  derived  tenures  in  ancient 
demesne.     (See  Socage.) 

The  division  of  ranks  under  the  feudal  system  correspond- 
ed in  theory,  although  not  precisely  in  practice,  to  the  terri- 
torial division  of  lands  according  to  their  tenures.  Those  who 
held  their  fiefs  by  knight-service  were  the  original  nobility 
of  the  soil ;  nor  has  the  class  of  gentry,  in  most  countries, 
any  other  origin.  The  bearing  of  arms,  the  distinctive  char- 
acter of  simames,  &c.  &c.,  became  afterwards,  in  course  of 
time,  the  distinctive  marks  of  the  class  of  nobility,  which  no 
longer  adhered  so  closely  to  the  soil  from  which  it  sprang. 
Thus,  in  France,  we  find  that  a  noble  might,  in  later  times, 
hold  a  fief  roturier,  while  a  roturier  might  hold  a  proper 
fief;  although,  in  such  a  case,  services  such  as  were  render- 
ed by  the  gentry  were  of  course  commuted.  But  it  may  be 
in  general  observed,  that  almost  the  whole  soil  of  France, 
north  of  the  Loire,  was  under  noble  tenures;  in  the  south 
only  were  free  tenants,  not  noble — a  numerous  class.  In 
many  parts  of  Germany  the  distinction  between  adelichc 
giiter  (noble  fiefs)  and  bauer  giiter  (peasant  fiefs)  has  only- 
been  recently  effaced,  or  still  subsists :  in  Prussia  it  was  abol- 
ished in  1807.  In  England  the  course  of  the  feudal  system 
was  somewhat  different ;  the  class  of  free  tenants  in  socage 
was  far  more  numerous  and  influential :  hence  the  yeoman- 
ry of  England  formed  a  body  of  men  to  which  a  parallel 
could  hardly  be  found  in  any  other  country.  The  burgesses, 
or  inhabitants  of  towns,  constituted  in  feudal  realms  a  class 
apart;  and  their  communities  were  either  really,  or  by  fic- 
tion, emancipated  by  royal  charters  from  the  tenure  by  which 
they  were  supposed  to  hold  their  land  either  of  the  king  or 
some  mesne  lord.  Lastly,  the  lowest  class  of  the  population 
consisted  of  serfs  or  villeins,  attached  to  the  soil  in  many  in- 
stances; but  whose  state  varied  so  greatly  under  different 
circumstances,  as  to  render  it  impossible  to  give  any  general 
description  of  their  condition. 

Such  is  a  very  brief  and  general  outline  of  the  complica- 
ted system  of  rights  and  duties  which  bears  the  historical 
name  of  feudal.  It  is  necessary,  however,  to  add,  that  this 
system  assumed  very  different  shapes  in  the  different  coun- 
tries in  which  it  prevailed.  1.  France  was  the  country  in 
which  feudalism  had,  if  not  its  origin,  at  least  its  greatest 
extension,  and  was  most  nearly  reduced  in  practice  to  its 
theoretical  form.  Up  to  the  fall  of  the  Carlovingian  empire, 
that  country  must  be  regarded  as  an  aggregate  of  provinces, 
inhabited  by  different  nations,  and  governed  by  a  variety  of 
laws,  but  acknowledging  the  sovereignty  of  a  monarch 
whose  power  was  more  or  less  obeyed,  according  to  his  own 
personal  talents  and  other  casual  circumstances.  After  the 
separation  of  France  and  Germany  by  the  treaty  of  Verdun 
in  843,  a  succession  of  feeble  princes  and  the  invasions  of 
the  Normans  almost  broke  up  the  slender  frame  of  the  French 
monarchy.  The  governors  or  masters  of  extensive  provin- 
ces, who  had  by  this  time  secured  to  themselves  the  heredi- 
tary sovereignty  of  their  respective  benefices,  became  inde- 
pendent within  their  own  limits :  when  feudal  royalty  was 
continued  under  the  Capetian  kings,  these  ranked  as  the 
great  vassals  of  the  crown.  Their  powers  have  been  classed 
(by  Mr.  Hallam)  under  five  heads:  1.  the  right  of  coining 
money ;  2.  that  of  waging  private  war ;  3.  the  exemption 
from  all  public  tributes  except  the  feudal  aids;  4.  the  free- 
dom from  legislative  control ;  and  5.  the  exclusive  exercise 
of  original  judicature  in  their  dominions :  of  these,  the  fourth 
was  the  most  characteristic  of  the  French  system.  No  gen- 
eral legislative  power,  vested  in  an  assembly  of  the  nation, 
seems  ever  to  have  existed  in  France  as  a  whole.  This  cir- 
cumstance, which  in  the  first  instance  seemed  to  the  great 
vassals  their  independence,  proved  in  the  end  the  cause  of 
their  decay;  as,  with  the  gradual  increase  of  the  royal  pow- 
ers, the  legislative  authority  of  the  king  himself,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  any  recognised  national  council  to  assis*  him,  ac- 
quired continually  increasing  force.  Meanwhile,  the  extra- 
ordinary power  of  the  great  vassals  in  France  in  some  de- 
gree weighed  down  that  of  the  inferior  nobility  ;  the  ties  of 
feudal  subjection,  weakened  in  the  highest  relation  (that  be- 
tween the  great  vassals  and  the  crown),  were  much  stronger 
between  the  great  lords  and  the  lesser  barons,  chatelains,  or 
vavassors,  who  depended  on  them.  The  king,  according  to 
the  establishments  of  St.  Louis,  could  not  declare  any  new 
law  in  the  territory  of  his  baron  without  his  consent,  neither 
could  the  baron  in  that  of  his  vavassor;  but,  in  a  partial 
point  of  view,  the  king  and  the  baron,  within  their  respective 

451 


FEVER. 

demesnes,  exercised  a  much  more  real  sovereignty  than  that 
which  the  former  possessed  over  the  latter.  It  was  about 
the  reign  of  Philippe-le-Bel,  in  the  beginning  of  the  14th  cen- 
tury, that  the  feudal  system,  which  had  lasted  up  to  that 
time  from  its  establishment  in  the  10th  without  material  in- 
novation, was  in  effect  overthrown,  and  that  the  king  of 
France  began  to  be  in  reality  master  of  his  kingdom.  This 
change  was  chiefly  brought  about  by  the  extension  of  the 
king's  juridical  power  by  means  of  the  parliament ;  and  last- 
ly by  the  convocation  of  the  states-general,  as  the  represent- 
ative body  of  the  whole  nation :  the  greater  fiefs  were  re- 
annexed  in  the  course  of  events  to  the  crown,  with  the  re- 
maining power  and  privileges  of  their  lords. — 2.  There  can 
be  no  question  that  feudal  principles  prevailed  to  a  consider- 
able degree  in  the  polity  of  the  Saxons  in  England ;  but 
when  tiiat  kingdom  was  conquered  by  the  Normans  they 
imported  with  them  the  entire  system,  already  invested  (in 
the  11th  century)  with  a  legal  and  regular  character.  Hence, 
while  feudalism  grew  up  from  the  circumstances  of  society 
in  France,  it  may  be  said  to  have  been  transplanted,  as  to 
most  of  its  details,  into  England  from  a  foreign  soil.  The 
land  was  parcelled  out,  as  in  France,  between  higher  feuda- 
tories and  inferior  tenants  holding  of  them  by  knight-service. 
But  two  circumstances  chiefly  produced  the  very  different 
shape  into  which  the  system  ultimately  resolved  itself:  1. 
The  existence  of  the  great  body  of  freemen  of  Saxon  descent, 
who  were  neither  reduced  into  villenage,  nor  deprived  of 
their  lands,  nor  yet  ennobled  by  being  ranked  along  with  the 
Norman  military  tenants.  2.  The  permanent  national  coun- 
cil, which  seems  to  have  been  every  where  a  peculiarity  of 
the  Norman  system  of  government,  and  which,  by  taking 
cognizance  of  matters  pertaining  to  the  general  interests  of 
the  realm,  at  once  controlled  the  power  of  the  king  and  that 
of  the  great  barons  as  single  and  independent  chiefs.  Thus 
the  country  remained,  even  in  the  most  troubled  period  of 
the  Plantagenet  dynasty,  in  constant  union  under  some  cen- 
tral authority  ;  and  the  feudal  principles  were  modified,  both 
by  the  common  law  of  the  land,  and  also  by  various  statutes, 
of  which  that  commonly  styled  by  its  first  words  "  Quia 
Emptores,"  passed  in  the  reign  of  Edward  II.  which  put  an 
effectual  stop  to  all  farther  sub-infeudation,  was  perhaps  the 
most  effectual. — 3.  In  Germany,  as  well  as  France,  the  feu- 
dal usages  seem  to  have  grown  into  a  system  under  the  sov- 
ereignty of  the  Carlovingian  emperors.  But  in  that  country, 
owing,  perhaps,  partly  to  the  constant  danger  from  foreign 
invasion  on  the  eastern  side,  which  kept  the  people  more 
together  under  the  central  authority,  the  sovereigns  never 
lost,  during  the  dark  period  of  the  9th  and  10th  centuries,  so 
much  of  their  power  as  those  of  France.  Hence  the  greater 
vassals  did  not  acquire  such  complete  independence ;  but 
when,  after  the  11th  century,  the  elective  character  of  the 
empire  was  more  fully  recognised,  the  imperial  power  de- 
cayed ;  and  that  of  the  vassals  rose  during  the  period  in 
which  the  contrary  progress  was  taking  place  in  France. 
And  as  the  inferior  barons  had  not  been  depressed,  as  in  the 
latter  country,  by  the  overgrown  power  of  the  superior,  Ger- 
many presented  the  example  of  a  country'  in  which  the  feu- 
dal system  was  carried  out  more  completely,  and  for  a  great- 
er length  of  time,  into  actual  existence  than  any  other;  nor 
is  there  any  in  which  the  frame  of  society,  to  the  present 
day,  shows  so  many  relics  of  its  long  predominance. — 1.  In 
Italy  the  feudal  system,  under  the  Carlovingian  government, 
was  widely  prevalent.  The  chief  cause,  in  that  country, 
which  weakened  and  brought  it  to  decay,  or  rather  prevent- 
ed its  complete  establishment,  was  to  be  found  in  the  power 
and  independence  of  the  large  towns,  which  at  first  effectu- 
ally resisted,  and  afterwards  broke  down,  the  strength  of  the 
nobility. — 5.  In  Spain  feudal  tenures  were  of  late  introduc- 
tion, and  very  partially  known,  except  in  the  kingdom  of  Ar- 
ragon. — 6.  In  the  northern  and  eastern  kingdoms  of  Europe 
(Sweden,  Denmark,  Hungary,  Bohemia)  they  were  never  in- 
troduced at  all,  except  in  seme  few  instances  wholly  without 
general  effect, 

FE' VER.  (Lat  febris.)  A  disease,  one  of  the  most  gen- 
eral symptoms  of  which  is  increased  heat  of  the  body.  The 
temperature  is  often  actually  higher  than  it  should  be  ;  and 
often  the  sensations  of  heat,  dryness,  and  even  burning  of  the 
skin,  are  excessive,  independent  of  any  proportional  increase 
of  thermometric  heat.  The  subject  of  fever  has  given  rise 
to  an  infinity  of  medical  discussion  and  theory  ;  and  the  def- 
initions of  the  disease,  given  by  different  writers,  are  not  less 
varied  than  numerous.  In  fevers  there  is  generally  great 
constitutional  derangement,  unaccompanied  by  local  or  per- 
ceptible organic  disease.  Fevers  generally  begin  with  lan- 
guor of  body  and  mind;  chilliness,  amounting  to  shivering, 
though  the  skin  often  at  the  same  time  feels  hot ;  the  pulse 
is  quicker  than  it  should  be  ;  respiration  hurried  or  laboured  ; 
pains  are  complained  of  in  various  parts,  and  especially 
about  the  head,  back,  and  loins;  the  appetite  falls  off,  or 
there  is  nausea  and  vomiting  ;  the  mouth  is  dry ;  the  bowels 
generally  constipated ;  and  the  urine  small  in  quantity  and 
deep  in  colour.  These,  which  constitute  the  first  stage  of  or- 
452 


FICTION  OF  LAW. 

dinary  febrile  symptoms,  are  succeeded  by  alternate  flush- 
ings, a  quicker  and  fuller  pulse,  rapid  alternations  of  shiver- 
ing and  burning  heat,  and  by  mental  anxiety  and  wander- 
ing, which,  under  a  great  variety  of  aspects  and  modifica- 
tions, constitute  the  second  stage :  they  are  succeeded  by  the 
third  stage,  in  which  the  leading  appearances  are  a  cleaner 
tongue,  a  more  natural  pulse,  a  moist  skin,  calm  mind,  and 
the  urine  becomes  more  copious  in  quantity,  and  deposits  a 
sediment  as  it  cools.  The  symptoms  of  fever  generally  un- 
dergo an  increase  every  evening,  which  is  called  an  exacer- 
bation ;  and  this  fluctuation  often  takes  place  more  than 
once  in  the  twenty-four  hours,  the  violence  of  the  attacks 
increasing  with  their  occurrence,  and  forming  what  is  called 
a  continued  fever.  After  some  days,  a  crisis  takes  place  ; 
that  is,  the  symptoms  either  take  a  favourable  or  an  unfa- 
vourable turn.  If  the  exacerbation  and  remission  of  symp- 
toms are  well  marked,  and  occur  once  or  oftener  in  the  day, 
the  fever  is  called  a  remittent ;  if  the  fever  leaves  the  pa- 
tient after  some  hours'  duration,  and  returns  at  stated  inter- 
vals, it  is  called  an  intermittent.  (See  Ague.)  Fevers  are 
also  variously  denominated,  according  to  the  prevalent  symp- 
toms, as  inflammatory,  typhus  or  putrid,  nervous  fever,  &c. ; 
or  according  to  cutaneous  appearances  connected  with  them, 
such  as  scarlet  fever  and  yellow  fever. 

FIARS.  A  word  of  Gothic  origin,  signifying,  in  Scotland, 
the  prices  of  grain  for  the  current  year  in  the  different  coun- 
ties, fixed  by  the  sheriffs  respectively  in  the  month  of  Feb- 
ruary, with  the  assistance  of  juries.  The  form  of  striking 
the  fiars,  says  Mr.  Bell,  in  his  Law  Dictionary,  is  prescribed 
by  the  Acts  of  Sederunt,  Dec.  21,  1723,  and  July  29,  172*. 
A  jury  must  be  called,  and  evidence  laid  before  them  of 
the  prices  of  the  different  grains  raised  in  the  county ;  and 
file  prices  fixed  by  the  opinion  of  the  jury,  and  sanctioned 
by  the  judge,  are  termed  the  fiars  of  that  year  in  which 
they  are  struck,  and  regulate  the  prices  of  all  grain  stipulated 
to  be  sold  at  the  fiar  prices.  The  fiar  prices  also  regulate 
the  price  in  contracts  concerning  grain  (the  product  of  the 
county)  to  be  delivered,  and  where  no  price  has  been  other- 
wise agreed  upon  between  the  parties.  Having  the  prices 
of  grain,  &c,  ascertained  in  each  county  has  greatly  facili 
tated  the  introduction  into  Scotland  of  the  practice  of  letting 
land  for  corn  rents  convertible  at  the  prices  of  the  day.  In 
England,  where  there  are  no  such  authentic  local  returns, 
there  is  great  difficulty  in  converting  com  rents  into  money 
rents,  inasmuch  as  reference  can  only  be  made  to  the  prices 
in  some  particular  market,  or  in  the  kingdom  at  large;  the 
one  of  which  is  too  limited,  and  the  other  too  extensive. 
See  Bell's  Law  Dictionary,  and  the  authorities  there  re- 
ferred to. 

FI'AT.  (Lat)  In  Law,  a  short  order  or  warrant  of 
some  judge  for  making  out  certain  processes,  &c. 

Fiat.    In  Bankruptcy.     See  Bankruptcy. 

FI'BRE.  One  of  the  two  bases  of  all  vegetable  structures. 
It  may  be  compared  to  a  hair  in  inconceivable  fineness,  its 
diameter  often  not  exceeding  1-1200  of  an  inch ;  also  the 
name  of  the  finer  divisions  of  roots. 

FIBRI  LL^E.  In  Botany,  the  minute  subdivisions  of  the 
root,  each  being  a  small  bundle  of  annular  ducts,  or  some- 
times of  spiral  vessels  incased  in  woody  tissue  covered  by  a 
lax  cellular  integument,  and  in  direct  communication  with 
the  vascular  system  of  the  root.  The  apex  is  composed  of 
lax  cellular  tissue  and  mucus. 

FI'BRIN.  A  term  applied  by  chemists  to  the  muscular 
fibre  when  cleansed  by  washing  from  all  adhering  impuri- 
ties ;  or  to  the  coagulum  of  the  blood  when  the  whole  of  the 
colouring  matter  is  washed  out  of  it.  It  is  white,  insipid,  and 
inodorous;  its  ultimate  elements  are,  according  to  Guy  Lus- 
sac  and  Thenard, 

Carbon 53-36 

Hydrogen 702 

Nitrogen 1993 

Oxygen 19-09 

It  is  merely  a  form  of  albumen. 

FI  BROL1TE.  A  rare  mineral  of  a  peculiar  fibrous  tex- 
ture, accompanying  corundum  from  the  Carnatic  and  from 
China. 

FI'BULA.  A  long  slender  bone  of  the  leg,  placed  upon 
the  outer  side  of  the  tibia,  the  lower  end  of  which  forms  the 
external  ancle. 

FICOI'DEiE.  A  natural  order  of  shrubby  or  herbaceous 
Exogens,  inhabiting  hot  sandy  plains.  They  are  related  to 
Crassulacetf,  Chenopodiacece,  and  Silenaceae,  and  especially 
to  Cactace<e ;  but  are  distinguished  by  their  embryo  being 
curved  round  mealy  albumen,  a  superior  calyx,  and  perigyn- 
ous  stamens.  The  succulent  leaves  of  some  are  eaten,  while 
others  vield  soda. 

FICTION.    In  Literature.     See  Novel,  Romance. 

FICTION  OF  LAW,  has  been  defined,  by  writers  on  the 
civil  jurisprudence,  to  be  an  assumption  of  the  law  upon  an 
untruth  in  something  possible  to  be  done  but  not  done.  The 
utility  of  such  fictions  is  merely,  by  substituting  the  imaginary 
for  the  true  state  of  the  case,  to  pass  more  rapidly  over  those 


FID. 

parts  of  the  subject  which  are  not  disputed,  and  arrive  at  the 
points  really  in  iasue.  Among  the  more  notorious  fictions  of 
the  English  law  may  be  noticed  the  course  of  proceedings  in 
the  action  of  ejectment,  in  which  an  imaginary  tenant  brings 
his  complaint  of  having  been  turned  out  of  possession  by  a 
wrongdoer,  in  order  to  try  the  validity  of  the  title  of  the 
landlord :  that  of  a  common  recovery,  by  which  estates  tail 
were  bound  through  a  complicated  proceeding  (removed  by 
recent  statutes,  see  Fee-Tail),  consisting  of  an  imaginary 
suit  at  law.  The  general  rule  is,  that  such  fictions  are  not 
traversable;  i.  e.,  cannot  be  contradicted  by  him  against 
whom  they  are  used,  so  as  to  defeat  the  end  for  which  they 
are  invented.  And  for  the  same  purpose  the  court  will  take 
notice  that  they  are  only  fictions,  if  necessary,  in  order  to 
prevent  more  technical  objections  to  them. 

FID.  A  short  bar  of  wood  or  iron  put  through  the  heel  or 
lower  part  of  a  topmast,  and  resting  by  its  ends  on  the  trestle- 
trees,  and  on  which  the  mast  is  therefore  supported.  When 
the  topmast  is  to  be  got  down,  it  is  first  lifted  to  take  the  pres- 
sure off  the  fid,  which  is  then  withdrawn. 

FID,  or  SPLICING  FID,  is  also  a  sharp  cone  of  wood  for 
opening  the  strands  of  rope. 

FI'DEI  COMMI'SSUM.  (Lat.  committed  or  intrusted  to 
faith.)  A  species  of  testamentary  disposition  recognised 
by  the  Roman  law,  by  winch  a  testator,  in  indirect  terms, 
charged  his  heir  to  deliver  over  to  a  specified  person  the 
whole  or  a  part  of  the  goods  which  he  inherited.  Fidei 
commissa  were  usually  adopted  as  a  means  of  bequeathing 
property  to  persons  legally  incapable  of  directly  receiving  the 
bequest.  Fidei  commissa  were,  as  their  name  implies,  at 
first  dependant  entirely  on  the  faith  of  the  heir  for  their  exe- 
cution ;  but  that  execution  was  rendered  compulsory  by  Au- 
gustus in  some  cases ;  and  this  became  afterwards  the  general 
law,  the  heir  being,  however,  entitled,  where  lie  voluntarily 
accepted  the  testament  and  charged  himself  with  its  execu- 
tion, to  retain  one  fourth  of  the  property  intrusted  to  him  for 
delivery. 

FIDE  JU'SSOR.  In  the  Civil  Law,  one  who  engages 
himself  for  the  debt  of  another,  promising  to  pay  in  case  the 
original  debtor  should  make  default:  who  is  called  in  the 
law  of  England  a  guaranter. 

FIEF.  (Lat.  feodum.)  The  French  name  for  an  estaste 
in  lands  held  of  a  feudal  superior.  In  English  law  language, 
a  fee :  also  termed  a  feud  by  writers  on  feudal  jurisprudence. 
(.See  Feudal  System.)  In  the  legal  language  of  France,  a 
fief  was  opposed  to  an  aleu,  or  estate  held  allodially,  with- 
out any  lord  paramount.  Various  derivations  of  the  word 
have  been  given ;  but  the  most  probable  is  that  which  traces 
it  through  the  steps  feodum,  feudum,  emphyteuticum,  from 
the  Gr.  efiipvTevaii,  a  contract  whereby  the  use  of  the  land 
without  the  property  in  it  was  surrendered  to  a  tenant. 

FIELD.  In  Agriculture,  a  portion  of  land  enclosed  by  a 
fence,  or  rendered  distinct  by  some  line  of  separation,  so  as 
to  adapt  it  for  culture.  In  former  times,  and  until  within  the 
last  two  centuries,  almost  all  the  land  cultivated  with  the 
plough  throughout  Europe  was  unenclosed ;  and  the  term 
field  was  then  applied,  in  Britain  at  least,  to  the  lands  under 
culture  by  the  plough.  Subsequently,  when  farmers  en- 
closed and  subdivided  a  portion  of  the  lands  near  the  farm 
yard,  these  portions  were  called  fields ;  and  the  more  distant 
portion  which  remained  open  was  called  open  field,  or  com- 
mon field ;  while  grass  lands  unenclosed  were  called  com- 
mons. In  the  present  improved  state  of  agriculture,  every 
farm  is  divided  into  fields,  either  simply  by  lines  of  demarca- 
tion, which  are  sufficient  when  no  animals  are  to  be  grazed 
on  the  farm ;  or  by  lines  of  separation  which  will  act  as 
fences,  such  as  walls,  hedges,  ditches,  &lc,  where  cattle  are 
to  be  grazed.  Without  some  regular  fixed  division  of  arable 
lands,  it  would  be  next  to  impossible  to  conduct  a  rotation  or 
succession  of  crops.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  as  agri- 
culture in  a  rude  state  had  no  fences,  so  this  is  also  beginning 
to  be  the  case  in  agriculture  in  its  most  refined  form  ;  because 
it  is  found  much  more  advantageous,  both  for  the  production 
of  butcher's  meat  and  manure,  to  consume  the  grass  and  her- 
bage grown  on  farm  lands  in  farm  yards,  with  the  single  ex- 
ception of  that  portion  which  is  eaten  by  sheep ;  and  these  are 
confined  to  successive  portions  of  grass  land  by  light  netting 
hurdles,  scarcely  visible  at  a  short  distance.  By  thus  getting 
rid  of  fences  of  every  description,  from  a  tenth  to  a  fifth  will 
be  added  to  the  contents  of  the  greater  number  of  corn  farms ; 
and  a  very  considerable  first  cost  and  annual  expense  will  be 
saved  in  planting  hedges  or  building  walls,  and  in  keeping 
them  in  repair  afterward. 

Field.  In  Heraldry,  the  tincture,  or  combination  of  tinc- 
tures, which  forms  the  ground  of  the  escutcheon  on  which 
the  device  or  charge  is  delineated.     See  Tincture. 

FIE'LDFARE.  A  bird  of  the  thrush  tribe  (Turdus 
pilaris,  Linn.,)  which  is  a  seasonal  visitant  in  this  island. 
It  makes  its  appearance  about  the  beginning  of  October, 
migrating  from  the  colder  northern  parts  of  the  Continent  in 
flocks,  numerous  according  to  the  severity  of  the  season. 
They  fly  in  a  body ;  and  if  alarmed  when  dispersed  over  a 


FIGS. 

field  in  quest  of  food,  they  collect  together  as  they  fly  off, 
and  often  settle  in  a  swarm  on  the  same  tree.  They  leave 
us  about  the  latter  end  of  February,  or  the  beginning  of 
March ;  and  retire  to  breed  in  Sweden,  Norway,  Russia,  and 
the  northern  parts  of  Asia  as  far  as  Kamtschatka. 

FIELD  LARK.     See  Lark. 

FIELD  MA'RSHAL.  The  highest  military  title  in  this 
and  some  other  countries.  It  is  conferred  only  on  officers 
distinguished  for  brilliant  military  services  or  exalted  station. 
The  term  is  derived  from  the  marecJial  de  camp  in  the  old 
French  service,  and  was  long  in  use  among  the  Germans  in 
its  present  distinguished  acceptation  before  it  was  adopted  in 
this  country.  There  are  at  present  only  five  field  marshals 
in  the  British  army;  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  the  King  of 
Hanover,  the  Duke  of  Cambridge,  the  King  of  Belgium,  and 
Prince  Albert. 

FIELD  OF  VIEW,  in  a  telescope  or  microscope,  is  the 
space  within  which  objects  are  visible  when  the  instrument 
is  adjusted  to  focus. 

FIE'LDVOLE.  A  name  of  the  short-tailed  field-mouse, 
or  meadow-mouse  (Jirvicola  agrestis,  Cuv.).  A  species 
which  subsists  exclusively  on  vegetable  productions;  and 
being,  like  the  rest  of  the  rat  tribe,  extremely  prolific,  multi- 
plies occasionally  to  such  a  degree,  even  in  this  country,  as  to 
become  the  most  injurious  of  our  wild  quadrupeds.  "  After 
having  followed  the  labours  of  the  reaper,  and  taken  their 
share  of  the  harvest,  the  fieldvoles,"  says  Mr.  Bell,  "attack 
the  newly  sown  fields,  burrowing  beneath  the  surface,  and 
robbing  the  husbandman  of  his  next  year's  crop;  and  at 
length,  retreating  to  the  woods  and  plantations,  commit  such 
devastations  on  the  young  trees  as  would  scarcely  be  credi- 
ble, were  not  the  evidence  too  certain  to  be  doubted.  In  the 
years  1813  and  1814  these  ravages  were  so  great  in  the  New 
Forest  and  the  Forest  of  Dean,  as  to  create  considerable 
alarm  lest  the  whole  of  the  young  trees  in  those  extensive 
woods  should  be  destroyed  by  them."  A  timely  and  assidu- 
ous attention  to  restraining  the  increase  of  this  pernicious 
species  by  the  aid  of  terriers,  ferrets,  and  traps,  is  imperative 
on  those  who  have  the  charge  of  young  plantations ;  but 
when  the  numbers  of  the  fieldvole  have  surpassed  the  usual 
bounds,  then  it  is  recommended  to  dig  holes  about  a  foot  in 
depth,  and  the  same  in  diameter,  taking  care  to  make  them 
much  wider  at  the  bottom  than  at  the  top,  so  that  the  animal 
when  once  in  cannot  easily  get  out  again.  In  holes  of  this 
kind  Mr.  Jesse  states  that  at  least  thirty  thousand  fieldvolea 
were  caught,  in  the  course  of  three  or  four  months,  in  Dean 
Forest  plantations ;  that  number  having  been  counted  out 
and  paid  for  by  the  proper  officers  of  the  forest. 

FI'ERI  FACIAS.  In  Law,  a  judicial  writ,  that  liea 
where  judgment  is  had  for  debt  or  damages  recovered  in  the 
king's  court ;  by  which  writ  the  sheriff  is  commanded  to  levy 
the  debt  and  damages  of  the  goods  and  chattels  of  the  de- 
fendant. This  writ  is  to  be  sued  out  within  a  year  and  a 
day  after  judgment;  or  the  judgment  must  be  revived  by 
scire  facias. 

FIFE.  (Germ,  pfeiffe.)  A  small  wooden  musical  wind 
instrument  of  the  flute  species  played  by  holes,  exceedingly 
shrill  in  tone,  and  rarely  used  except  in  military  bands. 

FIFTEENTH.  In  Music,  an  interval  of  two  octaves ; 
also  a  name  given  to  a  stop  on  the  organ,  a  double  octave 
above  the  diapason,  as  its  name  imports. 

FIFTH.  In  Music,  one  of  the  harmonical  intervals  or 
concords.  It  is  the  second  in  order  of  the  concords,  the  ratio 
of  the  chords  that  afford  it  being  as  3  : 2.  It  is  called  the 
fifth,  as  containing  five  terms  or  sounds  between  its  extremes 
and  four  degrees ;  so  that  in  the  natural  scale  of  music  it 
comes  in  the  fifth  place  or  order  from  the  fundamental. 
The  ancients  called  it  Diapente,  and  the  Italians  at  present 
call  it  Quinta.  The  imperfect,  defective,  or  false  fifth,  call- 
ed by  the  ancients  semi-diapente,  is  less  than  the  fifth  by  a 
lesser  semitone. 

FIFTH  MO'NARCHY-MEN.  A  fanatical  sect,  who 
formed  a  principal  support  of  Cromwell  during  the  Protec- 
torate. They  considered  his  assumption  of  power  as  an  ear- 
nest of  the  foundations  of  the  fifth  monarchy,  which  should 
succeed  to  the  Assyrian,  the  Persian,  the  Grecian,  and  the 
Roman,  and  in  which  Jesus  Christ  should  reign  with  the 
saints  on  earth  for  the  space  of  a  thousand  years.  Upon  the 
restoration  of  the  royal  family,  and  the  return  of  the  king- 
dom to  its  former  principles  in  church  and  state,  a  party  of 
these  enthusiasts,  headed  by  a  man  of  the  name  of  Venner, 
made  a  desperate  insurrection  in  the  streets  of  London, 
which  was  put  down  with  the  slaughter  of  a  great  number 
of  them. 

FIGS  (Lat.  ficus,  a  fig-tree),  are  the  fruit  of  a  small  tree 
with  broad-lobed  leaves,  inhabiting  the  south  of  Europe  and 
similar  latitudes  in  Asia.  This  fruit  is  not  of  the  same  nature 
as  the  apple,  the  orange,  and  other  fleshy  seed-vessels ;  but 
is  a  hollow  receptacle,  containing  a  great  multitude  of  minute 
flowers,  the  ripe  fruit  of  which  is  the  seed,  as  it  is  wrongly 
called,  that  is  imbedded  in  the  pulp.  It  is  remarkable  that 
the  fig-tree,  although  it  produces  so  agreeable  a  fruit,  is  in  some 

453 


FIGURATE  COUNTERPOINT. 

measure  poisonous,  its  milky  juice  being  acrid  to  the  taste, 
and  of  the  same  nature,  although  less  intense,  as  that  of  cer- 
tain Indian  species  called  F.  toxicaria  Dwmonum,  &c,  be- 
cause of  their  venomous  qualities.  The  genus  Ficus  itself 
is  of  considerable  extent,  and  its  species  are  among  the  most 
noble  objects  belonging  to  the  vegetable  kingdom  in  tropical 
countries,  where  they  often  yield  caoutchouc  of  the  finest 
quality.  Ficus  elastica  is  particularly  valuable  for  this  pur- 
pose, as  are  also  various  unknown  species  in  the  island  of 
Java.  The  banyan  tree,  so  celebrated  for  the  large  extent 
of  ground  covered  by  single  individuals,  which  carry  an 
enormous  canopy  of  branches  and  leaves  upon  columnar 
trunks  provided  for  the  purpose  as  the  tree  advances  in 
diameter,  is  a  kind  of  fig-tree,  Ficus  religiosa. 

FIGURATE  COUNTERPOINT.  In  Music,  that  which 
contains  a  mixture  of  discords  together  with  the  concords. 

FI'GURATE  NUMBERS.  In  Arithmetic,  the  name 
given  to  series  deduced  from  any  progression  by  differences 
of  which  the  first  term  is  unity  and  the  ratio  a  whole  num- 
ber, by  taking  successively  the  sum  of  the  first  two,  the  first 
three,  the  first  four,  &c.  terms  of  the  progression ;  and  then 
operating  on  the  new  series  thus  obtained  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  on  the  original  progression,  in  order  to  obtain  a  second 
series,  and  so  on. 

For  example,  let  the  progression  be  that  of  the  natural 
numbers,  the  common  difference  of  which  is  1 ;  then  the 
progression  and  the  different  series  of  figurate  numbers  suc- 
cessively deduced  from  it  are  as  follows: 

A....1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  C,  7, 
B....1,  3,  C,  10,  15,  21,  28, 
C....1,  4,  10,  20,  35,  56,  84, 
D....1,    5,    15,    35,    70,    126,    210. 

The  first  line,  A,  is  the  progression  from  which  the  series 
arises.    The  second  line,  B,  is  the  series  of  triangular  num- 
bers, or  polygonal  numbers  of  the  first  order.     Its  formation 
is  obvious,  each  term  being  the  sum  of  the  corresponding  and 
all  the  preceding  terms  of  the  progression ;  whence,  by  the 
theory  of  series,  its  general  term  is, 
n(n+l) 
1-2 
The  third  line,  C,  is  the  series  of  triangular  pyramidal  num- 
bers, and  is  formed  from  B  in  the  same  manner  as  the  latter 
was  formed  from  A.     Its  general  term  is, 

Tt(n-f-l)  (tt  +  2) 
1-2-3 
The  fourth  line,  D,  is  formed  from  C  in  the  same  manner 
as  C  from  B,  or  B  from  A.     Its  general  term  is, 
n  (w  +  1)  (n  +  2)  (n  +  3) 
1-2-3-4 
If  the  original  progression  be, 

1,  3,  5,  7,  9,  11, 
the  common  difference  of  which  is  2 ;  then  the  series  of 
figurate  numbers  successively  derived  from  it  are, 

1,  4,    9,  16,  25,  36, 

1,  5,  14,  30,  55,  91,  &c. 
The  first  of  these  is  the  series  of  square  numbers,  the  second 
that  of  quadrangular  pyramidal  numbers.  In  like  manner, 
if  the  common  difference  of  the  assumed  progression  be  3, 
then  the  successive  sums  will  be  the  series  of  pentagonal 
numbers;  if  it  be  4,  the  sums  will  give  the  hexagonal  num- 
bers, and  so  on.  The  formation  of  these  different  orders  of 
figurate  numbers  will  be  readily  understood  from  inspection 
of  the  following  table : 


1,2,3,    4 

l,  3, 5,  7 

1,4,7,  10 
1,  5.  9.  13 


Tri.  1,  3,  6,  10 
Sq.  1,  4,  9,  16 
Fent.  1  5,  12.  22 
Hex.   1.  6.  1^.  23 


SecoDd  sums,  or  poly 

50ns  of  the  second  01 

der. 


1,  4,  10.  20 
1,  5,  14,  30 

1,6,  IS,  40 
1.  7,  22.  50 


The  names  triangular  numbers,  squares,  pentagons,  hexa- 
gons, &c,  have  been  applied  on  account  of  certain  analogies 
which  the  numbers  so  denoted  have  with  the  geometrical 
figures  bearing  the  same  denominations.  Thus,  in  the  second 
column  of  the  above  table,  which  contains  the  polygons  of 
the  first  order,  the  terms  forming  the  first  line  of  series  ex- 
press the  different  numbers  of  points  which  may  be  placed 
at  equal  distances,  so  as  to  form  an  equilateral  triangle. 
The  second  line  or  series  gives  the  different  numbers  of 
points  which  may  be  arranged  in  squares,  the  third  those 
which  form  regular  pentagons,  the  fourth  those  which  form 
regular  hexagons,  and  so  on.  In  the  third  column  of  the 
table,  the  first  series  contains  the  several  numbers  of  points 
which  may  be  so  disposed  as  to  form  a  triangular  pyramid, 
the  second  those  which  form  a  quadrangular  pyramid,  and 
so  on. 
The  different  series  formed  as  above  possess  several  curi- 
454 


FILTRATION. 

ous  properties,  of  which  one  of  the  most  remarkable  is,  that 
the  general  term,  and  the  sum  of  any  number  of  terms  n, 
can  always  be  expressed  rationally  in  terms  of  n.  In  fact, 
the  expression  of  the  nth  term  of  any  series  is  the  same  as 
that  of  the  sum  of  the  n  first  terms  of  the  series  immediately 
preceding  it,  or  from  which  it  is  immediately  derived. 

Fl'GURE,  in  Rhetoric,  has  been  defined,  generally,  as  a 
mode  of  speech  in  which  words  are  changed  from  their  lit- 
eral and  primitive  sense.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  give, 
within  the  limits  of  a  definition,  the  precise  and  numerous 
meanings  of  which  this  term  is  susceptible ;  but  under  the 
separate  heads,  such  as  Antithesis,  Metaphor,  &c,  will 
be  found  a  notice  of  the  different  figures  used  in  composi- 
tion. In  Logic,  the  word  figure  is  applied  to  the  form  of  a 
syllogism  with  regard  to  the  disposition  of  the  middle  term. 
See  Trope. 

Figure,  in  Geometry,  is  used  in  two  different  senses.  In 
the  first  sense,  it  denotes,  generally,  a  space  bounded  on  all 
sides,  whether  by  lines  or  by  planes ;  in  the  second  sense, 
it  signifies  the  representation  (on  paper,  for  example)  of  the 
object  of  a  theorem  or  problem,  in  order  to  render  the  dem- 
onstration or  solution  more  easy  to  be  understood  and  fol- 
lowed. In  this  last  sense,  figure  is  synonymous  with  dia- 
gram. 

All  bodies  are  necessarily  enclosed  by  one  or  more  bound- 
aries, and  therefore  possess  figure:  hence  figurability  is 
reckoned  one  of  the  essential  properties  of  matter. 

For  Figure  of  the  Earth,  see  Earth  and  Degree  ;  for 
Figure  of  the.  Planets,  see  Planet. 

Apparent  Figure,  in  Optics,  is  the  figure  under  which  an 
object  presents  itself  to  our  view.  This  depends  on  the  sit- 
uation of  the  points  from  which  rays  of  light  pass  to  the  eye 
of  the  spectator,  and  may  be  very  different  from  the  real 
figure  of  the  object;  for  a  straight  line,  when  placed  in  a 
particular  direction,  will  be  seen  only  as  a  point,  a  plane  as 
a  straight  line,  and  a  solid  which  presents  only  one  of  its 
faces  will  appear  as  a  simple  surface.     (Perspective.) 

FIGURE  HEAD.  The  figure,  statue,  or  bust,  on  the  pro- 
jecting part  of  the  head  of  a  ship,  called  the  cutwater. 

FIGURES,  in  Arithmetic,  are  the  numeral  characters, 
or  ten  digits,  by  which  numbers  are  expressed.  They  are 
supposed  to  be  of  Indian  origin,  and  to  have  been  introduced 
into  Europe  by  the  Moors  of  Spain  in  the  13th  century ;  but 
the  date  of  their  introduction  is  much  disputed.  (Arith- 
metic.) 

FI'LACER,  or  FI'LAZER.  (Fr.  fil,  thread.)  An  offi- 
cer of  the  court  of  Common  Pleas,  who  files  writs.  The 
filacers  (of  whom  there  are  fourteen)  are  mentioned  as  early 
as  the  stat.  10  II.  4.  There  are  also  filacers  of  the  Queen's 
Bench. 

FI  LBERT,  or  FLLBERD,  the  well-known  fruit  of  the 
cultivated  hazel  nut,  or  Corylus  avellana,  is  a  seed-vessel 
enclosed  within  an  involucre  or  cupule,  which  is  the  part 
commonly  called  the  husk.  This  organ  is  of  the  same  na- 
ture as  the  cup  of  the  oak,  and  the  prickly  case  in  which 
the  nuts  of  the  sweet  chestnut  and  the  mast  of  the  beech  are 
enclosed.  In  the  filbert  it  is  much  larger  than  in  the  com- 
mon nut;  and  it  is  this  character,  together  with  the  length- 
ened figure  of  the  nut,  which  distinguishes  the  two  races  of 
nuts  and  filberts,  each  of  which  abounds  in  varieties.  The 
best  known  varieties  of  the  filbert  are  the  red,  the  frizzled, 
and  the  white,  the  latter  being  the  kind  most  commonly 
grown  in  this  country. 

FILE.  (Germ.feile.)  This  instrument  is  formed  by  cut- 
ting teeth  upon  a  plate  or  tool  of  soft  steel  by  the  repeated 
blows  of  a  straight-edged  chisel.  These  teeth  either  form  a 
single  series  of  straight  lines,  or  they  are  crossed  by  a  second 
series;  the  former  are  called  single  cut,  the  latter  double  cut 
files.  Files  are  required  to  be  extremely  hard ;  and  unless 
they  are  carefully  and  skilfully  hardened,  they  are  apt  to 
warp.  The  best  files  are  made  exclusively  of  cast  steel,  and 
are  cut  by  hand,  none  of  the  file-cutting  machines  producing 
unexceptionable  tools. 

FI'LIFORM.  (Lat.  filum,  a  thread.)  In  Zoology,  when 
a  part  is  slender,  thread-shaped,  and  of  equal  thickness. 

FILL.  The  sea  term  for  bracing  a  yard  which  had  been 
laid  aback,  so  that  the  wind  may  act  on  the  after  or  proper 
side  of  the  sail. 

FI'LLET.  (Fr.  filet.)  In  Architecture,  a  small  square 
member  placed  above  or  below  other  larger  members  in  an 
order.  The  term  as  used  by  carpenters  and  joiners  means 
a  small  piece  to  which  boards,  joists,  or  quarters  are  nailed. 

FI'LLIGRANE,  or  FILLI'GREE.  (Lat.  filum,  thread.) 
In  Sculpture,  an  extremely  fine  ornamental  work  of  flowers, 
fruits,  &c,  formed  with  gold  or  silver  wire  in  serpentine 
layers,  or  plaited  and  worked  otherwise  together  and  solder- 
ed.    It  is  an  eastern  invention. 

FILO'SE.  (Lat.  filum.)  In  Zoology,  when  a  part  ends 
in  a  thread-like  process. 

FILTRA'TION.  (Lat)  The  process  by  which  liquids 
are  separated  frcm  substances  mechanically  suspended  in 
them ;  it  is  also  sometimes  rescued  to  to  separate  colouring 


FIN. 

matters  and  other  bodies  which  are  in  a  stale  of  solution, 
and  which  are  removed  by  the  substance  or  matter  through 
which  the  liquids  are  filtered.  Unsized  paper  is  commonly 
used  in  the  chemical  laboratory  for  the  former  purpose,  and 
is  known  under  the  name  of  filtering  paper;  it  is  properly 
folded,  and  placed  for  support  in  a  glass  funnel.  In  the 
arts,  linen  and  calico  bags  of  different  forms  are  frequently 
employed,  containing  well-burned  charcoal  or  other  materi- 
als, through  which  the  liquids  requiring  purification  are  suf- 
fered slowly  to  trickle.  In  mater  filters,  the  coarser  particles 
are  generally  collected  in  a  piece  of  sponge,  and  the  farther 
separation  of  the  more  finely  divided  matters  or  organic 
taints  is  effected  by  layers  of  sand  of  various  degrees  of  fine- 
ness mixed  with  a  proper  quantity  of  charcoal.  (See  Fara- 
day's Chemical  Manipulation  ;  and  Ure's  Diet,  of  Arts,  6,-c.j 

PIN.  (Lat.  finna.)  A  flattened  expanded  organ,  project- 
ing from  the  body,  and  serving  as  an  instrument  of  locomo- 
tion in  water. 

Many  species  of  the  whale  tribe  possess  an  immoveable 
fin  upon  the  back,  composed  merely  of  a  reflection  of  integ- 
ument over  a  mass  of  dense  and  ligamentous  cellular  mem- 
brane ;  the  tail  fin  in  the  same  order  has  a  similar  structure, 
but  is  moved  by  the  action  of  the  muscles  upon  the  caudal 
vertebra',  which  are  continued  through  the  middle  part. 
The  anterior  fins,  corresponding  to  the  pectorals  in  fish,  are 
susceptible  of  greater  variety  of  motion,  from  being  support- 
ed by  a  series  of  bones  corresponding  to  those  of  the  fore  ex- 
tremity of  other  mammalia.  In  fishes  the  fins  are  supported 
by  elongated  filamentary  bones  or  rays,  the  nature  and  num- 
ber of  which  afford  the  zoologists  important  characters  for 
distinguishing  the  different  groups;  and  in  works  of  Ichthy- 
ology a  system  of  notation  is  employed,  which  briefly  but 
clearly  expresses  these  characters.  Thus  the  formula  of 
the  number  of  fin-rays  in  the  perch  is  thus  expressed  : — 
D.  15,1  +  13;  P.  14;  V.  1  +  5;  A.  2+8;  C.  17. 

Which  signifies  that  D.,  the  dorsal  fin,  has  in  the  first  fin  15 
rays,  all  spinous  or  bony;  in  the  second  fin,  1  spinous  plus 
13  that  are  soft.  P.,  pectoral  fin,  14  rays,  all  soft.  V.,  the 
ventral  fin,  with  1  spinous  ray  plus  5  that  are  soft  A,  Hie 
aural  fin,  with  2  spinous  rays  plus  8  that  are  soft.  C,  the 
tail  or  caudal  fin,  17  rays.  In  enumerating  the  rays,  those 
only  which  extend  from  the  longest  ray  in  die  upper  portion 
to  the  longest  ray  in  the  lower  portion,  both  inclusive,  are 
counted. 

FI'NALE.  (It.)  In  Music,  the  last  of  a  series  of  move- 
ments in  a  composition;  also  the  closing  scene  of  each  act 
of  an  opera  buffo. 

FINA'NCE.  The  revenues  of  a  king  or  state.  The  w<  ird 
is  derived  by  some  from  the  German  finanz ;  by  others  from 
the  barbarous  Latin  word  financiatio,  a  loan. 

FINCH.     See  Fringillid*. 

FINE,  in  Law,  as  a  punishment,  is  a  pecuniary  mulct  or 
amende  imposed  by  a  competent  jurisdiction.  The  party 
thus  mulcted  for  offences  against  a  feudal  superior  was  said, 
in  the  language  of  that  jurisprudence,  "finem  facere  de 
transgressione  cum  rege,  domino,"  &c,  to  make  an  end  of 
his  offence :  whence  the  word  is  derived.  Fines  are  in  no 
case  determined  as  to  amount  by  common  law,  and  seldom 
by  statute,  except  as  to  their  maximum  ;  but  by  the  general 
cautions  of  Magna  Charta  and  the  Bill  of  Rights,  exces>ive 
fines  ought  not  to  be  imposed.  Courts  of  record  have  in 
general  the  power  of  imposing  fines  in  case  of  contempt,  and 
also  on  conviction  of  offences  punishable  in  this  manner. 
The  mode  of  returning,  entreating  (i.  e.,  entering  on  the  rolls 
of  a  court),  and  levying  fines,  is  now  regulated  by  3  &  4  W. 
4,  c.  S9.) 

FIXE  OF  LANDS.  In  Law,  a  species  of  conveyance  of 
record  for  the  settling  and  securing  lands  and  tenements, 
now  abolished  by  stat.  3  &.  4  W.  4,  c.  74;  although,  as  long 
as  questions  can  still  arise  on  the  validity  and  effect  of  fines 
levied  before  that  period,  the  legal  doctrines  respecting  it 
cannot  be  said  to  be  wholly  obsolete.  A  fine  was,  in  its 
original  signification,  an  agreement  or  composition  of  a  suit 
(whether  real  or  fictitious)  made  between  demandant  and 
tenant  in  respect  of  lands  and  tenements,  with  the  consent 
of  the  judges,  and  enrolled  among  the  records  of  the  court. 
Hence,  by  a  common  fiction,  such  an  imaginary  agreement 
was  employed  in  certain  cases  as  a  mode  of  conveyance. 
Its  chief  properties  were— -the  extinguishment  of  dormant 
titles  by  birring  strangers  (unless  thev  claimed  within  five 
years,  under  1  Ric.  3,  c.  7) ;  and,  when  levied  of  an  estate 
in  tail,  the  barring  the  issue  in  tail  immediatelv,  but  not 
those  in  remainder  or  reversion,  except  when  tenant  in  tail 
had  such  reversion  in  himself.  A  fine  was  effected  with 
certain  solemnities,  as  the  termination  of  an  imaginary  ac- 
tion at  law.  The  party  conveying  was  termed  the  cog'ni^or 
or  conusor,  the  party  to  whom  conveyance  was  made  the 
cognisee  of  the  fine.  A  fine,  besides  its  peculiar  properties 
in  the  settlement  of  land  held  in  tail,  was  the  usual  methed 
whereby  a  feme  covert  joined  in  the  sale,  se'tlement,  or  in- 
cumbrance of  an  estate ;  for  which,  by  the  stat.  3  &  4  W.  4 


FIRE  BALLS. 

above  mentioned,  a  peculiar  deed  is  substituted,  to  be  exe- 
cuted and  acknowledged  by  the  married  woman  after  ex- 
amination by  commissioners. 

FINE'SSE  (Fr.)  may  be  defined  simply  as  a  peculiar  ap- 
titude of  discovering,  in  any  business,  the  best  means  of  at- 
taining the  object  in  view ;  or  as  the  power  of  embracing  in 
one  comprehensive  glance  the  various  interests  of  any  sub- 
ject, together  with  ingenuity  to  devise  and  tact  to  earn'  out 
the  plan  best  calculated  to  obtain  success. 

FINE  STUFF.  In  Architecture,  plaister  used  in  common 
ceilings  and  walls  for  the  reception  of  paper  or  colour.  It 
is  composed  of  lime,  slaked  and  sifted  through  a  fine  sieve, 
then  mixed  with  a  due  quantity  of  hair  and  fine  sand.  A 
mixture  of  lime  and  hair,  used  in  the  first  coat  and  floating 
of  plastering,  is  called  coarse  stuff. 

FI'NGER  BOARD.  In  Music,  the  black  board  attached 
to  the  neck  of  instruments  of  the  viol  class,  on  which  the 
strings  are  pressed  by  the  fingers  for  the  purpose  of  adjust- 
ing their  lengths,  so  as  to  produce  the  different  sounds. 

Fl'NGERING.  In  Music,  the  art  of  arranging  the  fingers 
on  instruments  of  all  classes,  so  that  they  may  be  in  the  best 
positions  for  performing  the  different  passages  written  for 
such  instruments. 

FI'NIAL.  (Lat.  finis,  the  end.)  In  Gothic  Architecture, 
the  top  or  finishing  of  a  pinnacle  or  gable,  as  it  is  now  gen- 
erally understood ;  but  in  ancient  documents  an  entire  pin- 
nacle is  understood  by  this  term. 

FI  NISH.  (Lat.  finire,  to  end.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  the 
last  working  up  of  any  object  of  art,  whereby  its  completion 
is  effected. 

FI'NISHING  COAT.  In  Architecture,  the  best  coat  of 
stucco  work  when  three  coats  are  used.  When  in  the  third 
coat  fine  stuff  is  used  for  paper,  it  is  called  setting. 

FI'ORITE.  A  silicious  incrustation,  from  Fiora  in  Is 
chia. 

FIRE.     See  Fj.ame  and  Heat. 

FIRE  BALLS  (called  also  Bolides,  and  Fiery  Meteors), 
in  Meteorology,  are  luminous  bodies  which  suddenly  appear 
in  the  sky.  usually  at  a  great  height  above  the  earth,  and 
shoot  through  the  heavens  with  immense  velocity,  and  are 
sometimes  accompanied  with  the  fall  of  an  aerolite.  These 
meteors  are  of  frequent  occurrence,  and  numerous  descrip- 
tions of  their  appearances  at  different  times  are  to  be  found 
in  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society ;  but  by  far  the 
most  remarkable  apparition  of  the  kind  on  record,  is  that 
which  was  observed  in  America  on  the  13th  of  November, 
1833,  and  is  described  in  vols.  xxv.  and  xxvi.  of  the  Ameri- 
can Journal  of  Science,  and  also  the  American  Almanac  for 
the  J  ear  1835.  We  v>  ill  give  a  brief  abstract  of  the  relation, 
which  is  of  extreme  interest ;  not  only  on  account  of  the  ex- 
traordinary nature  of  the  appearances,  but  also  as  it  seems 
to  indicate  that  these  phenomena,  hitherto  but  little  heeded, 
may  serve  to  make  us  better  acquainted  with  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  planetary  system. 

"The  meteors  began  to  attract  notice  by  their  frequency 
as  early  as  nine  o'clock  on  the  preceding  evening  (Nov.  12) ; 
the  exhibition  became  strikingly  brilliant  about  eleven,  but 
most  splendid  of  all  about  four  o'clock;  and  continued  with 
but  little  intermission  until  merged  in  the  light  of  day.  A 
few  large  fire  balls  were  seen  even  after  the  sun  had  risen. 
The  entire  extent  of  the  exhibition  is  not  ascertained,  but  it 
covered  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  the  earth's  surface.  It 
has  been  traced  from  the  longitude  of  61°  in  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  to  longitude  100°  in  central  Mexico,  and  from  the 
North  American  lakes  to  the  southern  side  of  the  island  of 
Jamaica.  Even'  where  within  these  limits  the  first  appear- 
ance was  that  of  fire-works  of  the  most  imposing  grandeur, 
covering  the  entire  vault  of  heaven  with  myriads  of  fire 
balls  resembling  sky-rockets.  On  more  attentive  inspection, 
it  was  seen  that  the  meteors  exhibited  three  distinct  vane- 
tie-  ;  the  fir-t  consisting  of  phosphoric  lines,  apparently  de- 
scribed by  a  point;  the  second,  of  large  fire  balls,  that  at  in- 
tervals darted  along  the  sky,  leaving  numerous  trains,  which 
occasionally  remained  in  view  for  a  number  of  minutes,  and 
in  some  cases  for  half  an  hour  or  more ;  the  third,  of  unde- 
fined luminous  bodies,  which  remained  nearly  stationary  for 
a  long  time. 

"One  of  the  most  remarkable  circumstances  attending 
this  display  was,  that  the  meteors  all  seemed  to  emanate 
from  one  and  the  same  point.  Thev  set  out  at  different  dis- 
tances from  this  point,  and  proceeded  wi'h  immense  velocity. 
describing  in  seme  instances  an  arc  of  30°  or  40°  in  less  than 
four  seconds.  At  Poland,  on  the  Ohio  a  meteor  (of  the 
third  variety)  was  distinctly  visible  in  the  north-east  for 
more  than  an  hour.  At  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  another 
oi'  extraordinary  size  was  seen  to  course  the  heavens  for  a 
great  length  of  lime,  and  then  was  heard  to  explode  with 
the  noise  of  a  cannon.  The  point  from  which  the  meteors 
seemed  to  emanate,  was  observed  by  those  who  fixed  its  po- 
sition among  the  stirs  to  be  in  the  constellation  Len;  and, 
what  is  very  remarkable,  this  point  was  stationary  among 
the  stars  during  the  whole  period  of  observation ;  that  is  to 

455 


FIRE  BALLS. 

say,  it  did  not  move  along  with  the  earth  in  its  diunial  rota- 
tion eastward,  but  accompanied  the  stars  in  their  apparent 
progress  westward.  It  is  not  certain  whether  the  meteors 
were  in  general  accompanied  by  any  peculiar  sound.  A 
few  observers  reported  that  they  heard  a  hissing  noise  like 
the  rushing  of  a  sky-rocket,  or  slight  explosions  like  the 
bursting  of  the  same  bodies.  Nor  does  it  appear  that  any 
substance  reached  the  ground  which  could  be  clearly  estab- 
lished to  be  a  residuum  or  deposit  from  the  meteors.  A  re- 
markable change  of  weather  from  warm  to  cold  accompa- 
nied the  meteoric  shower,  or  immediately  followed  it,  in  all 
parts  of  the  United  States." 

The  particulars  which  have  now  been  stated  afford  data 
for  entering  on  the  explanation  of  these  mysterious  phenom- 
ena. And,  first,  as  the  meteors  appeared  to  emanate  from 
a  point  which  did  not  follow  the  earth's  rotation,  it  is  clear 
that  they  had  not  their  origin  in  the  atmosphere,  but  in  the 
regions  of  space  beyond  it.  The  next  question  that  occurs 
is,  what  was  the  distance  from  the  earth  of  the  region  of 
space  in  which  they  had  their  origin'?  It  was  ascertain- 
ed that  observations  made  in  different  latitudes  indicated 
a  corresponding  parallax  in  declination  ;  and  these  observa- 
tions being  collected  and  carefully  compared,  gave  an  aver- 
age distance  from  the  surface  of  the  earth  of  2238  miles  as 
the  height  of  the  meteoric  cloud.  This  estimate  must  be  re- 
garded only  as  an  approximation — the  best,  however,  that 
could  be  derived  from  data  that  are  imperfect  and  often  dis- 
cordant. Assuming  this  result  to  be  nearly  correct,  it  is 
easy  to  compute  the  velocity  with  which  the  meteors  would 
enter  the  atmosphere.  A  body  falling  from  a  height  of  2238 
miles  by  the  attraction  of  gravity  alone  would  acquire,  at 
the  distance  of  fifty  miles  from  the  earth  (the  supposed 
height  of  the  atmosphere)  a  velocity  of  four  miles  per  sec- 
ond, which  is  more  than  ten  times  the  velocity  of  a  cannon- 
ball.  The  meteors,  therefore,  on  entering  the  atmosphere, 
would  produce  a  sudden  and  powerful  compression  of  the 
air  before  them.  But  when  the  air  is  suddenly  compressed, 
a  great  quantity  of  heat  is  extricated  from  it.  In  the  present 
case,  the  heat  would  produce  in  the  falling  bodies  an  in- 
tense ignition ;  and,  if  they  were  combustible,  set  them  on 
fire.  On  submitting  the  subject  to  accurate  calculation  on 
established  principles,  it  is  ascertained  that  the  quantity  of 
heat  extricated  from  the  air  by  the  falling  meteors  exceeded 
that  of  the  hottest  furnaces,  and  can  only  be  compared  to 
those  immeasurable  degrees  of  heat  produced  in  the  labora- 
tory of  the  chemist.  And  this  supposes  the  meteors  to  have 
entered  the  atmosphere  with  only  the  velocity  due  to  the 
earth's  attraction ;  but  if  we  suppose  that  they  had  also  a 
relative  velocity  arising  from  the  earth's  motion  towards 
them,  they  might  then  enter  the  atmosphere  with  a  velocity 
of  fourteen  instead  of  four  miles  per  second.  In  this  case, 
the  heat  extricated  from  the  air  would  be  proportionally 
augmented.  It  is  evident  that  the  meteors  must  have  been 
constituted  of  very  light  materials ;  for,  had  their  quantity 
of  matter  been  considerable,  with  so  prodigious  a  velocity 
they  would  have  had  sufficient  momentum  to  reach  the 
earth,  and  the  most  disastrous  consequences  might  have  fol- 
lowed. From  the  apparent  magnitude  of  many  of  the  me- 
teors, and  their  probable  distance,  it  was  conjectured  that 
they  were  bodies  of  very  large  size,  though  of  course  it  is 
impossible  to  fix  the  limits  of  their  magnitude  with  any  cer- 
tainty. Those  masses  were  only  stopped  in  the  atmosphere, 
and  prevented  from  reaching  the  earth,  by  transferring  their 
motion  to  columns  of  air,  large  volumes  of  which  would  be 
suddenly  and  violently  displaced.  Now  it  is  a  remarkable 
fact,  that  the  state  of  the  weather,  and  the  condition  of  the 
seasons  following  the  meteoric  shower,  corresponded  to 
those  consequences  of  the  disturbances  of  the  atmospheric 
equilibrium.  It  is  from  the  great  and  sudden  changes  of 
temperature  caused  by  phenomena  of  this  kind  that  the 
greatest  danger  is  to  be  apprehended. 

Theory  of  Fire  Balls. — Various  hypotheses  have  been 
proposed  to  account  for  these  remarkable  phenomena.  In 
general,  they  have  been  regarded  as  meteors  having  their 
origin  in  the  atmosphere ;  and  electricity,  magnetism,  hydro- 
gen gas,  have  in  turn  been  assigned  as  their  immediate 
causes.  Others  again  suppose  them  to  be  products  of  nebu- 
lous matter  (perhaps  of  the  same  nature  as  the  tails  of  com- 
ets), floating  in  the  planetary  regions,  and  which,  when  it 
happens  to  lie  near  the  path  of  the  earth  in  its  revolution 
about  the  sun,  will  be  attracted  by  terrestrial  gravitation. 
The  parallax  of  the  meteors  of  1833  indicates,  as  we  have 
seen,  that  they  proceeded  f  om  a  point  far  beyond  the  limits 
of  the  atmosphere.  The  attentive  examination  of  the  cir- 
cumstances of  their  appearances  leads  to  other  indications 
of  a  very  remarkable  nature.  On  projecting  a  diagram  to 
represent  the  respective  planes  of  the  earth  in  its  orbit,  and 
the  plane  of  the  body  from  which  the  meteors  proceeded,  it 
appears  that  the  earth  was  moving  almost  directly  towards 
the  meteoric  body.  Now  the  meteoric  cloud  remained  ap- 
parently at  rest,  and  of  course  nearly  in  the  earth's  path,  for 
at  least  two  hours.  This  could  not  have  happened  unless 
456 


FIRE  ENGINES. 

it  had  been  moving  nearly  in  the  same  direction  as  the  eartii, 
and  with  nearly  the  same  angular  velocity  round  the  sun ; 
for  had  it  been  at  rest,  the  earth,  carried  forward  at  the  rate 
of  19  miles  per  second,  would  have  overtaken  it  in  less  than 
two  minutes ;  and  had  the  angular  velocities  of  the  two  bod- 
ies not  been  nearly  equal,  they  could  not  have  remained  so 
long  apparently  stationary  with  respect  to  each  other.  Hence 
it  is  inferred  that  the  body  which  afforded  the  meteors  was 
pursuing  its  way  with  the  earth  round  the  sun. 

But  supposing  there  is  a  body,  or,  which  is  more  probable, 
a  zone  composed  of  myriads  of  little  bodies,  whose  orbits  in- 
tersect the  plane  of  the  ecliptic,  is  it  not  probable  the  earth 
must  encounter  some  of  them  every  time  it  passes  through 
the  point  of  intersection  "\  A  more  attentive  observation  of 
these  meteors  than  has  yet  been  bestowed  on  them  is  perhaps 
necessary  to  solve  this  question.  At  present  the  following 
facts  have  been  collected  :  On  the  12th  of  November,  1799, 
at  Cumana,  in  South  America,  thousands  of  meteors  or  fal- 
ling stars  were  seen  to  succeed  each  other  during  four  hours. 
Of  this  exhibition  an  account  is  given  by  Humboldt  and 
Bonpland.  On  the  13th  of  November,  1831,  M.  Berard, 
commander  of  the  French  brig  Loiret,  then  off  the  coast  of 
Carthagena  in  Spain,  saw  a  great  number  of  shooting  stare 
and  luminous  meteors  of  large  size.  During  more  than  three 
hours  there  occurred,  on  the  average,  at  least  two  a  minute. 
One  of  these  meteors,  which  appeared  near  the  zenith,  in 
leaving  an  enormous  train  in  the  direction  from  east  to  west, 
presented  a  very  large  luminous  band  (equal  to  half  the 
diameter  of  the  moon),  in  which  several  of  the  colours  of 
the  rainbow  were  distinctly  exhibited.  Its  trace  remained 
visible  during  more  than  six  minutes.  ( Arago,  Annuaire  for 
1836.)  On  the  13th  of  November,  1832,  remarkable  exhibi- 
tions of  meteors  were  seen  at  Mocha  in  Arabia ;  and  on  the 
19th  of  the  same  month  in  various  parts  of  England.  Ou 
the  13th  of  November,  1835,  a  large  and  brilliant  meteor 
fell  near  Belley,  in  the  department  of  the  Ain,  in  France, 
and  set  fire  to  a  bam.  On  the  same  night  a  shooting  star, 
larger  and  more  brilliant  than  Jupiter,  was  observed  at  Lille 
by  M.  Delezenne  ;  and,  what  is  very  remarkable,  a  number 
of  extremely  brillian:  meteors  were  seen  also  on  the  same 
night,  by  Sir  John  Herschel  and  his  assistant  at  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  who,  apprized  of  the  phenomena  that  had  beeu 
observed  in  America,  were  looking  out  for  their  appearance. 
The  attention  of  observers  being  now  generally  called  to  the 
subject,  the  lapse  of  a  few  years  will  probably  decide  the 
question,  whether  the  recurrence  of  the  meteors  on  the  same 
day  of  tlie  year  has  been  merely  accidental ;  or  a  stream  of 
nebulous  matter  has  a  temporary  or  permanent  existence  in 
that  part  of  space  through  which  the  earth  passes  in  its 
annual  revolution,  about  the  13th  of  November.  {See  Aero- 
lite, Shooting  Stars.) 

FIRE  BLAST.  A  term  of  very  doubtful  meaning,  like 
the  word  blight.  In  Agriculture  it  is  sometimes  applied  to 
plants  which  are  suffering  from  the  mildew  fungi,  or  from 
minute  insects ;  but  its  legitimate  use  would  appear  to  be 
applicable  only  when  the  delicate  parts  of  plants  are  too 
suddenly  exposed  to  a  brilliant  sun,  and  the  rapid  transpira- 
tion which  takes  place  in  consequence  dries  up  and  shrivels 
their  leaves. 

FI'RE  DAMP.  The  carburetted  hydrogen  gas  of  coal  mines. 
FIRE  ENGINE.  This  most  useful  machine  is  construct- 
ed in  a  variety  of  forms,  which  all,  however,  agree  in  one 
principle.  It  generally  consists  of  a  double  forcing  pump 
communicating  w-ith  the  same  air  vessel ;  and  instead  of  a 
force-pipe  a  flexible  leathern  hose  is  used,  through  which 
the  water  is  driven  by  the  pressure  of  the  condensed  air  in 
the  air  vessel.  The  annexed  diagram 
represents  a  section  of  the  apparatus. 
The  pipe  T  descends  into  a  receiver  or 
vessel  containing  a  supply  of  water. 
This  pipe  communicates  with  two  suc- 
tion valves  V.  which  open  into  the  pump 
barrels  of  two  forcing  pumps  A,  B.  in 
which  solid  pistons  P,  are  placed.  The 
piston  rods  of  these  are  connected  with 
a  working  beam  F,  elongated  so  that  a 
number  of  persons  may  work  at  both 
ends  of  it  at  once.  Force-pipes  t,  t,  pro- 
1,1  ceed  from  the  sides  of  the  pump  barrel 

above  the  valves  V,  and  they  communicate  with  an  air  ves- 
sel M,  by  means  of  forcing  valves  V,  which  also  open  up- 
wards. The  pipe  descends  into  the  air  vessel  near  the 
bottom.  This  pipe  is  connected  with  the  flexible  leathern 
hose  L,  the  length  of  which  is  adapted  to  the  purposes  to 
which  the  machine  is  to  be  applied.  The  extremity  of  the 
hose  may  be  carried  in  any  direction,  and  may  be  introduced 
through  the  doors  and  windows  of  buildings.  By  the  alter- 
nate action  of  the  pistons,  water  is  drawn  through  the  suction 
valve,  and  propelled  through  the  forcing  valves,  until  the  air 
in  the  top  of  the  vessel  M  is  highly  cempressed.  The  pres- 
sure acts  on  the  surface  of  the  water  in  the  vessel,  and  forces 
it  through  the  leathern  hose  in  a  continued  stream,  so  as  to 


FIRE  ESCAPE. 

spout  from  its  extremity  with  a  force  depending  partly  on 
the  degree  of  condensation,  and  partly  on  the  elevation  of 
the  extremity  of  the  hose  above  the  level  of  the  engine.  It 
is  to  he  considered  that  the  pressure  of  the  condensed  air 
has,  in  the  first  instance,  to  support  a  column  of  water,  the 
heighth  of  which  is  equal  to  the  level  of  the  end  of  the  tube 
above  the  level  of  the  water  in  the  air  vessel ;  and  until  the 
pressure  exceeds  what  is  necessary  for  this  purpose,  no  water 
can  spout  from  the  end  of  the  hose  ;  and,  consequently,  the 
force  with  which  it  will  so  spout  will  be  proportional  to  the 
excess  of  the  pressure  of  the  condensed  air  above  the  weight 
of  the  column  of  water,  whose  height  is  equal  to  the  eleva- 
tion of  the  end  of  the  hose  above  the  level  of  the  water  in 
the  air  vessel.  (Cabinet  Cyclopedia,  "Hydrostatics  and 
Pneumatics,"  p.  326.) 

The  fire  engine  has  received  various  improvements  from 
Bramah,  Dickenson,  Simpkin,  Raventree,  Philips,  and  others. 
The  above  description  applies  to  Newsham's  engine.  Braith- 
waite's  steam  fire  engine  is  an  application  of  the  power  of 
steam  to  the  working  of  the  fire  engine.  The  mechanical 
arrangement  consists  of  two  cylinders  of  about  six  inches  in 
diameter,  one  of  them  being  the  steam  cylinder,  and  the 
other  the  water  pump;  and  they  are  placed  horizontally,  so 
that  a  parallel  motion  is  easily  produced.  This  engine  will 
deliver  9000  gallons  of  water  an  hour  at  the  height  of  90 
feet.  The  time  of  getting  the  machine  into  action,  from  the 
time  of  igniting  the  fuel  (the  water  being  cold),  is  only  18 
minutes.  Some  of  the  Fire  Insurance  Companies  in  London 
have  floating  engines  on  the  Thames,  which  are  extremely 
serviceable  in  cases  of  fire  among  the  shipping  or  buildings 
near  the  river. 

FIRE  ESCA'PE.  Any  machine  or  apparatus  for  the 
purpose  of  enabling  persons  to  escape  from  the  upper  stories 
of  houses  on  fire.  The  contrivances  which  have  been  pro- 
posed for  accomplishing  this  desirable  object  ure  very  nume- 
rous, and  are  of  two  kinds;  the  first  kind  comprising  those 
by  means  of  which  the  escape  is  effected  without  external 
aid,  and  the  second  those  requiring  the  assistance  of  persons 
without.  Of  the  first  kind  the  most  obvious  is  a  rope  ladder, 
which  may  be  kept  in  a  sleeping  apartment,  and  used  upon 
occasion  by  fastening  one  end  of  it  to  a  window-sill  or  bed- 
post. Mr.  Maseres  contrived  an  apparatus  which  consists 
of  a  long  rope  and  an  assemblage  of  cordage  or  belts,  so  dis- 
posed as  to  form  a  seat ;  the  person  about  to  descend  binds 
himself  into  the  seat,  and  then  lowers  himself  to  the  ground 
by  allowing  the  rope  which  is  fastened  to  the  window-sill  to 
slide  slowly  through  his  hands ;  an  in  order  that  this  may 
be  done  easily,  the  rope  is  made  to  pass  through  a  series  of 
holes  in  a  block.  But  unfortunately  contrivances  of  this 
kind  can  rarely  be  expected  to  be  of  any  use  ;  for  supposing 
them  at  hand  when  the  alarm  of  danger  is  given,  few  per- 
sons can  command  the  coolness  and  attention  which  are 
requisite  for  fixing  and  adjusting  the  apparatus ;  and  even 
then  it  is  only  the  strong  and  active  who  could  safely  de- 
scend by  such  means  from  a  considerable  height. 

With  regard  to  escapes  of  the  second  kind,  the  object  is  to 
enable  persons  without  to  establish  speedily  a  communica- 
tion with  an  upper  room,  so  as  to  aflbrd  the  inmates  the 
means  of  safe  descent ;  or  to  remove  them  if  necessary,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  feeble  or  children.  A  very  portable  sort 
of  ladder,  invented  by  Mr.  Young,  is  described  in  the  Trans- 
actions of  the  Society  of  Arts  for  1813.  It  consists  of  a 
number  of  cross  bars  or  rounds,  connected  with  ropes,  which 
form  the  sides  of  the  ladder;  the  ends  of  the  rounds  are 
fitted  into  each  other,  so  as  to  form  a  pole,  which  is  readily 
elevated  to  a  window  ;  and  at  the  extremity  is  an  iron  frame 
terminating  in  hooks  which  can  be  lodged  in  the  window-sill. 
When  the  hooks  are  properly  fixed,  a  sudden  jerk  suffices  to 
separate  the  rounds,  which  immediately  fall  into  their  places 
when  the  ladder  is  formed  and  suspended  from  the  frame. 
But  this  apparatus  only  answers  the  same  purpose  as  a  rope 
ladder,  and  is  therefore  liable  to  the  same  objections.  Mr. 
Brady's  fire  escape,  described  in  the  34th  vol.  of  the  same 
Transactions,  consists  of  a  car  or  cradle,  which  is  made  to 
slide  on  a  slip  of  plank  fixed  to  a  pole,  and  is  governed  by  a 
rope.  Mr.  Ford's  escape  consists  of  a  spar  of  timber  about 
35  or  40  feet  long,  having  two  projecting  arms  at  the  top 
furnished  with  prongs,  by  which  a  firm  bearing  against  the 
wall  of  a  house  is  obtained.  .  A  grooved  pulley  is  mortised 
into  the  spar  near  the  top,  and  another  near  the  bottom ; 
over  the  pulleys  runs  an  endless  rope,  to  which  is  attached 
at  one  point  a  main  rope,  and  at  another  the  semicircular 
brace  of  a  large  grooved  roller,  which  traverses  up  and 
down  the  space  between  the  pulleys.  This  brace  carries  on 
the  under  side  of  the  spar  a  hook,  to  which  a  cradle  is 
attached,  whereby  persons  can  be  easily  lowered  to  the 
ground. 

For  a  description  of  various  other  contrivances  of  a  similar 
kind,  we  refer  to  the  Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Arts 
above  quoted. 

FI'RE  FLY.    A  name  commonly  given  to  those  insects 
which  have  the  singular  propeitv  of  emitting  a  luminous 
40 


FISHERY. 

secretion.  This  power  is  not  confined  to  insects  of  one  or- 
ganization or  order.  Among  the  Coleoptera,  the  Elater 
noctilucus  and  the  female  glow-worm  are  conspicuous  ex- 
amples. The  Fulgoridce,  or  lantern  and  candle  flies,  are 
also  described,  but  some  think  apocryphally,  as  luminous 
insects. 

FIRE,  GREEK.  This  fire,  which  was  employed  in  the 
wars  of  the  Christians  and  Saracens  in  the  middle  ages,  is 
said  to  have  been  invented  during  the  reign  of  Constantine 
Pogonatus  in  the  year  668  by  Callinicus,  an  architect  of 
Heliopolis.  Naphtha  was  probably  its  principal  ingredient, 
which,  if  skilfully  projected  and  inflamed,  creates  great 
havoc  and  dismay,  in  consequence  of  its  extreme  combusti- 
bility and  the  difficulty  of  quenching  its  flame.  (See  a 
learned  paper  on  this  subject,  by  Dr.  jWCulloch,  in  the 
Quarterly  Journal  of  Science,  vol.  xiv.) 

FI'RELOCK,  or  FUSIL.  A  musket  or  small  gun,  which 
is  fired  with  a  flint  and  steel ;  and  thereby  distinguished 
from  the  old  musket,  or  match-lock,  which  was  fired  with  a 
match.  The  date  of  the  invention  of  fire-locks  is  uncertain. 
FIRE,  ST.  ANTHONY'S.  See  Erysipelas. 
FI'RE-WORKS.  Artificial  preparations  made  of  gun- 
powder, sulphur,  and  other  inflammable  ingredients,  dis- 
played at  public  rejoicings  and  on  other  occasions.  See 
Pyrotechny. 

FI'RKIN.  A  measure  of  capacity,  being  the  fourth  part 
of  a  barrel,  or  containing  9  ale  gallons,  or  7£  imperial  gal- 
lons ;  that  is,  2538  cubic  inches. 

FI'RLOT.  A  dry  measure  used  in  Scotland,  but  of  dif- 
ferent capacities,  according  to  the  article  it  is  used  for 
measuring.  The  Linlithgow  wheat  firlot  is  to  the  imperial 
bushel  as  -998  to  1 ;  and  the  barley  firlot  to  the  imperial 
bushel  as  1-456  to  1. 

FI'RMAMENT,  in  the  language  of  the  old  astronomers, 
is  the  orb  of  the  fixed  stars,  or  the  most  remote  of  all  the 
celestial  spheres.  In  common  language  it  signifies  the  same 
thing  as  heaven,  or  shy.     See  Heaven. 

FI'RMAN  (more  properly  Fermdn),  in  the  Persian  lan- 
guage, signifies  a  command,  and  is  the  name  given  in  Turkey, 
Persia,  and  India  to  mandates  or  certificates  of  the  sovereign, 
issued  for  various  purposes.  Those  best  known  to  Europeans 
are  given  to  travellers,  and  serve  as  passports.  The  Ferman 
has  placed  at  ils  head  in  Turkey  the  cipher  of  the  reigning 
sultan,  written  in  a  complicated  manner,  affixed  by  the 
chief  Bacretary  of  the  sign  manual. 

FIRST  COAT.  In  Architecture,  the  laying  the  plaster 
on  the  laths,  or  the  rendering,  as  it  is  called,  on  brick  when 
only  two  oats  are  used.  When  three  coats  are  used,  it,  is 
called  pricking  up  when  upon  laths,  and  roughing  in  when 
upon  brick. 

FIRST  FRUITS.  (Annates,  or  Primitia;.)  The  profits 
of  every  spiritual  living  for  the  first  year  after  its  avoidance, 
which  the  new  incumbent  paid  in  Catholic  limes  to  the 
Pope,  but  since  the  Reformation  to  the  king.  The  valuation 
is  that  which  was  made  by  Henry  VIII.  The  stat.  2  Anne 
transfers  the  first  fruits  and  tenths  of  all  livings  over  50/.  at 
that  time  to  a  fund  called  Queen  Anne's  Bounty,  for  the  in- 
crease of  the  smaller  benefices,  which  are  released  from  any 
payment  of  the  kind. 
FIRTH.     See  Frith. 

FISC.  (Lat.  fiscus.)  The  term  used  in  the  Roman  law, 
and  laws  derived  from  it,  to  denote  the  property  of  the  state. 
Under  the  emperors,  however,  it  had  acquired  the  significa- 
tion of  the  pecidiar  domain  or  treasure  of  the  prince,  in  con- 
tradistinction to  arariam,  the  public  treasury.  The  word 
confiscation  is  derived  from  fisc  ;  and  every  lord  or  body 
corporate  to  which  things  may  be  confiscated  in  course  of 
law  has,  properly  speaking,  the  right  of  fisc.  Fiefs,  being 
originally  lands  granted  to  individuals  out  of  the  king's  do- 
main, are  sometimes  termed  fisc  in  writers  of  the  middle 
ages.     See  Feudal  System. 

FI'SCAL.  Something  relating  to  the  pecuniary  interest 
of  the  sovereign,  or  the  community. 

FISH.     In   Architecture,   a   piece  of  wood   secured  to 
another  to  strengthen  it. 
Fish.     See  Pisces. 

FI'SHERY.  The  fisheries  of  the  British  Islands  are  partly 
coast  and  river,  and  partly  carried  on  in  the  open  sea  at  a 
greater  or  less  distance  from  the  shore.  Of  the  former,  sal- 
mon, herring,  pilchard,  and  oyster  are  most  important ;  of 
the  latter,  cod,  turbot,  and  whale.  1.  The  salmon  fishery 
has  considerably  diminished  in  importance  of  late  years. 
That  of  Scotland  is  regulated  by  9  G.  4.  c.  39.  and  subsequent 
acts.  2.  The  herring  fishery,  at  first  almost  engrossed  by 
the  Dutch,  was  fostered  in  1749  by  a  tonnage  bounty  granted 
on  vessels  employed  in  it.  Under  this  system  the  fishery 
does  not  appear  to  have  thriven.  The  bounty  was  gradually 
withdrawn,  and  finally  ceased  in  1830.  The  most  important 
seats  of  the  herring  fishery  at  the  present  day  are  the  coasts 
of  the  north-east  of  Scotland.  In  1834,  11,000  boats  and 
82,000  persons  (fishermen  and  boys,  coopers,  curers,  &c.) 
were  employed  in  this  fishery.  3.  The  pilchard  fishery  is  a 
E  e*  457 


FISHPONDS. 

limited  business,  carried  on  almost  entirely  on  the  coasts  of 
Devon  and  Cornwall.  4.  Oysters  are  found  on  most  parts 
of  our  coasts,  but  ihe  principal  seats  of  the  trade  of  breeding 
them  for  the  London  market  are  Kent  and  Essex.  5.  Tur- 
bot,  cod,  and  mackerel  are  the  principal  articles  of  the  fisher- 
ies off  the  British  coasts.  Turbot  are  chiefly  caught  by 
Dutch  fishermen,  and  close  to  the  shores  of  Holland.  In 
1833  a  report  was  made  by  a  committee  on  the  British 
Channel  Fisheries,  in  which  the  declining  state  of  those 
fisheries  is  much  commented  upon,  and  attributed  to  three 
causes:  the  extensive  interference  and  aggression  of  the 
French  fishermen  on  the  coasts  of  Kent  and  Sussex;  the 
large  quantities  of  foreign-caught  fish  illegally  imported  and 
sold ;  and  the  great  decrease  and  comparative  scarcity  of 
fish  in  the  channel ;  which  last  they  attribute  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  spawn.  But  by  far  the  greatest  fishery  of  cod,  hake, 
ling,  &c.  is  that  carried  on  on  the  great  bank  of  Newfound- 
land, and  on  the  neighbouring  coasts.  The  former  is  now 
chiefly  engrossed  by  the  French  and  Americans ;  but  the 
British  fishery,  although  principally  confined  to  the  coasts 
cf  Newfoundland  and  Labrador,  is  very  extensive.  Mr. 
M'Gregor,  in  his  work  on  the  North  American  Colonies,  es- 
timates the  value  of  the  produce,  on  an  average  of  five  years 
to  1832,  at  857,000/.  per  annum  (ii.  596).  6.  The  Greenland 
whale  fishery  was  engaged  in  by  the  English  in  the  17th 
century,  but  not  with  vigour  until  encouraged  by  a  bounty 
in  1740.  During  the  late  war  it  became  extremely  valuable ; 
afterwards  it  declined  in  importance.  In  1815,  146  vessels 
sailed;  in  1834,  76  only.  The  southern  whale  fishery  is  a 
more  modern  branch  of  the  traffic.  (See  M'Culloch,  Statist. 
of  Great  Britain,  ii.  21.  &.C.;  article  "Fisheries,"  in  Enc. 
Brit.,  new  ed. ;  Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Channel 
Fisheries,  1833 :  the  former  writer  estimates  the  annual 
value  of  the  fisheries  at  about  3,0C0,000Z.  per  annum.)  The 
coast  and  sea  fisheries  are  protected  by  a  variety  of  enact- 
ments. Fishing  vessels  are  licensed  by  the  commissioners 
of  customs  under  6  G.  4.  c.  108.  As  to  inland  fishing,  the 
law  of  offences  in  private  fisheries  is  now  consolidated  by  7 
&  8  G.  4.  c.  27.  Taking  or  destroying  fish  in  water  running 
through,  or  in  land  adjoining  or  belonging  to  the  dwelling- 
house  of  the  owner  of  the  water,  is  a  misdemeanour;  in 
any  water  not  within  this  description,  but  private  property, 
or  in  which  there  is  a  private  right  of  fishing,  it  is  punishable 
with  fine  on  summary  conviction.  Angling  in  the  daytime 
is  not  within  these  enactments,  but  is  punishable  summarily 
—  with  less  penalty.  The  right  of  fishing  in  a  river  prima 
facie  belongs  to  the  lord  of  the  manor,  who  has  the  owner- 
ship of  both  banks.  Fishery  is  said  to  be  either  several  or 
free,  or  common  of  piscary.  The  first  is  in  the  owner  of 
the  soil,  or  one  deriving  title  from  him ;  the  second  is  a  royal 
franchise,  conveying  an  exclusive  right  of  fishing  in  a  public 
river.  Common  of  piscary  is  a  liberty  of  fishery  in  common 
with  others  in  a  stream  or  river  the  soil  whereof  belongs  to 
a  third  person,  and  resembles  other  commonable  rights. 

FISHPONDS,  are  ponds  made  by  art,  in  which  different 
kinds  of  fish  are  bred  and  fattened.  In  general  this  is  only 
attempted  with  fresh-water  fish  ;  but  in  some  places  ponds 
have  been  formed  on  the  sea  shore,  and  so  contrived  as  to 
have  their  waters  renewed  every  tide,  and  in  these  sea  fish 
have  been  kept  for  use  for  a  considerable  time.  The  fresh- 
water fish  which  is  the  most  successfully  managed  in  ponds 
is  the  carp. 

FISSI'PARA.  (Lat.  findo,  I  divide,  and  pario,  /  engen- 
der.) Those  animals  are  so  called  which  propagate  by 
spontaneous  fission,  or  the  detachment  of  a  greater  or  less 
proportion  of  the  body,  having  inherent  power  of  self-support 
and  growth.  As  the  animals  which  manifest  this  mode  of 
generation  differ  widely  among  themselves  in  their  general 
organization,  ihe  term  fissipara  cannot  be  applied  to  desig- 
nate any  natural  group  ;  spontaneous  fission  is  limited  to  the 
lowest  classes  of  animals,  as  Infusories,  Polyps ;  certain 
worms,  as  the  Nais,  &c. 

FISSIRO'STRALS,  Fissirostres.  (Lat.  findo,  and  ros- 
trum, a  beak.)  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  perching  birds 
(Inscssorcs),  comprehending  those  which  have  a  very  wide 
gape,  as  the  swallow. 

FISSURE'LLA.  (Lat.  findo.)  A  genus  of  Gastropodous 
Mollusks,  having  a  shell  shaped  like  that  of  a  limpet  {Patella), 
but  with  a  fissure  at  the  apex  of  the  cone,  which  opening  is 
associated  with  a  different  form  and  arrangement  of  the 
breathing  organs. 

FI'STUL A  (Lat.  a  pipe.)  A  long  sinuous  ulcer,  often 
communicating  with  a  larger  cavity,  and  having  a  small 
external  opening. 

FI'STULA  SPIRA'LIS.  In  Botany,  a  term  used  by 
Malpighi  to  denominate  that  kind  of  vegetable  tissue  now 
called  the  spiral  vessel. 

FISTULI'DANS,  Fistulidcs.  (Lat.  fistula,  a  pipe.)  A 
tribe  of  Echinodermatous  animals,  comprehending  those 
which  have  an  elongated  cylindrical  tube-like  body. 

FIVE  POINTS.  The  principal  points  of  controversy  be- 
tween the  Calvinists  and  Arminians,  which  became  the 
458 


FLAME. 

subjects  of  the  decisions  of  the  Synod  of  Dort.  They  relate 
to  predestination,  satisfaction,  regeneration,  grace,  and  final 
perseverance.    See  article  Arminians. 

FIXED  AIR.  The  old  term  for  carbonic  acid,  from  its 
existence  in  a  fixed  state  in  limestone,  &c. 

FIXED  OILS.  The  common  greasy  oils  are  so  termed 
in  consequence  of  the  high  temperature  which  they  sus- 
tain before  giving  out  vapour. 

FIXED  STARS.  Those  which  retain  the  same,  or  very 
nearly  the  same  position,  with  respect  to  each  other.  It  has 
been  discovered,  by  the  accurate  observations  of  modern 
times,  that  many  of  the  stars  have  a  proper  motion.  Sea 
Stars. 

FI'XTURE,  in  Law,  is  a  term  generally  applied  to  all  ar- 
ticles of  a  personal  nature  affixed  to  land.  This  annexation 
must  be  by  the  article  being  let  into  or  united  with  the  land, 
or  with  some  substance  previously  connected  therewith. 
Thus  a  barn,  built  on  a  frame  not  let  into  the  earth,  is  not  a 
fixture ;  a  brewer's  stills,  set  in  brickwork  resting  on  a  founda- 
tion, are  fixtures  ;  and*  the  application  of  the  same  principle 
gives,  in  every  case,  the  true  rule  to  judge  whether  anything 
be  a  fixture  or  not.  Whatever  is  thus  fixed  becomes,  by  law, 
parcel  of  the  freehold  or  realty.  It  is,  therefore,  on  general 
principles,  not  removable ;  but  there  are  exceptions  to  this 
rule  established  by  custom,  of  which  the  principal  arise  out 
of  the  right  of  tenants  to  remove  fixtures  set  up  for  pur- 
poses of  trade,  and  in  some  instances  for  ornament  and  con- 
venience (commonly  called  tenants'  fixtures),  and  the  right 
of  executors  to  some  fixtures,  generally  of  the  same  descrip- 
tion, as  against  the  heir  or  devisee  of  the  realty. 

FLAG.  In  Naval  affairs,  the  flags  are— the  royal  stand- 
ard ;  the  admiralty  flag,  an  anchor  on  a  red  ground ;  the 
union,  or  jack,  in  which  are  blended  together  the  crosses  of 
St.  George,  St.  Andrew,  and  St.  Patrick :  this  is  carried  by  the 
admiral  of  the  fleet. 

FLAGE'LLA.  A  term  used  by  the  older  botanists  to  de- 
note the  twigs  or  youngest  shoots  of  plants. 

FLAGE'LLANTS.  (Lat.  flagellum,  o  whip.)  A  sect  of 
enthusiasts  who  first  appeared  in  the  middle  of  the  13th  cen- 
tury, and  being  then  repressed,  sprang  up  again  with  renew- 
ed violence  in  the  14th.  Beginning  first  at  Cremona  in  Italy, 
the  contagion  of  the  example  spread  in  a  few  years  through- 
out Europe ;  and  every  city  was  infested  by  multitudes  who 
went  naked  from  the  loins  upward,  and  inflicted  upon  them- 
selves several  daily  flagellations,  with  the  idea  of  obtaining 
thereby  merit  in  the  eyes  of  God.  They  formed  themselves 
into  a  society,  and  at  first  were  at  least  innocent  in  their  be- 
haviour ;  but  as  their  numbers  increased,  they  gave  way  to 
great  excesses,  and  were  eventually  suppressed  by  a  holy  war 
proclaimed  against  them  by  Pope  Clement  VI. 

FLAGE'LLUM.  In  Botany,  a  trailing  shoot  of  the  vine ; 
sometimes  used  to  denominate  that  form  of  stem  called  a 
runner. 

FLA'GEOLET.  (Fr.)  A  wooden  musical  wind  instru- 
ment, played  with  a  mouthpiece,  the  holes  and  keys  where- 
of are  stopped  with  the  fingers,  in  the  same  way  as  the  flute. 

FLAIL.  A  wooden  implement  for  threshing  corn  by  hand. 
It  consists  of  the  handle  or  hand-staff,  which  the  labourer 
holds  in  his  hand,  and  uses  as  a  lever  to  raise  up  and  bring 
down  the  swiple,  or  part  which  suikes  the  corn,  and  beats  out 
the  grain  and  chaff  from  the  straw.  The  swiple  is  joined  to 
the  hand-staff  by  the  caplins  or  couplings,  which  are  thongs 
of  untanned  leather,  and  sometimes  the  skins  of  eels  or  of 
other  fish.  These  thongs  are  passed  through  holes  in  the 
ends  of  the  htndle  and  swiple,  and  made  fast  by  being  sewed 
together.  The  flail  was  in  use  among  the  Romans,  though 
the  prevailing  mode  of  separating  com  from  straw  among  the 
nations  of  antiquity  was  by  treading  it  out  with  cattle  in  the 
open  air.  In  the  colder  parts  of  Europe,  this  could  never  have 
been  generally  the  case,  for  obvious  reasons;  and  hence  the 
flail  was  the  universal  threshing  implement  till  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  threshing  machine,  which  is  now  taking  the  place 
of  the  flail  in  all  countries  where  capitalists  engage  in  farm- 
ing.    Sec  Threshing  Machine. 

FLAKE  WHITE.  A  term  often  applied  to  the  purest 
white  lead. 

FLAME.  (Germ,  flamme.)  When  the  temperature  of 
inflammable  gases  or  vapours  is  raised  very  high,  and  in  the 
contact  of  air,  they  are  said  to  burst  intojlame  ;  if  previously 
mixed  with  a  due  proportion  of  oxygen,  or  of  atmospheric 
air,  they  explode.  In  the  former  case  the  combustion  only 
goes  on  at  the  surface  in  contact  with  air,  and  is  quiet  and 
gradual ;  in  the  latter,  every  particle  of  the  inflammable  body 
being  in  contact  with  the  supporter  of  combustion,  the  in- 
flammation extends  instantaneously  through  the  whole  mass. 
The  nature  of  flame  was  first  explained  by  Hooke  in  1677  (in 
his  Eampas) ;  but  the  relation  of  the  light  to  the  heat  of 
flames,  and  the  whole  philosophy  of  their  constitution,  was 
first  developed  by  Sir  II.  Davy  in  his  researches  published  in 
the  Philosophical  Transactions  between  1815  and  1817. 

All  the  leading  phenomena  of  flame  are  well  exhibited  by 
a  large  gas-flame  burning  from  a  wide  orifice.    It  presents  a 


FLAMEN. 

hollow  cone,  the  heat  and  light  of  which  are  confined  to  its 
exterior  surface.  A  transverse  section  of  such  a  flame  ex- 
hibits a  ring  of  light  surrounding  a  central  uninflamed  core : 
the  inflammable  gas  or  vapour  may  be  drawn  by  a  tube  out 
of  this  central  portion,  as  in  the  annexed  figure, 
where  a  represents  the  tube  inserted  into  the 
central  non-luminous  part  of  the  riame,  and 
where  the  abstracted  inflammable  vapour  is 
again  kindled  at  its  extremity.  (See  illustra- 
tions of  this  subject  in  the  papers  of  Mr.  Sym 
and  Mr.  Davies,  Jinn,  of  Phil.,  vols.  viii.  and 
x.) 

A  flame  may  be  extremely  hot  without  being  proportion- 
ately luminous,  as  is  the  case  with  the  flame  of  hydrogen, 
which  is  scarcely  visible  in  daylight,  but  the  heat  of  which 
is  shown  by  introducing  into  it  a  piece  of  fine  platinum  wire, 
which  immediately  becomes  white  hot,  and  emits  abundance 
of  light.  The  light  of  all  flames  is  of  a  similar  origin,  and 
depends  upon  solid  matter  ignited  and  rendered  incandescent 
by  the  heat  of  the  flame :  thus,  if  magnesia  or  lime  in  fine 
powder  be  projected  into  the  flame  of  hydrogen,  the  lumi- 
nosity of  the  flame  is  immediately  increased.  Finely-divided 
charcoal  is  the  substance  to  which  all  common  flames  owe 
their  luminosity.  It  is  derived  from  the  hydrocarbon  pro- 
duced by  the  decomposition  of  oil,  wax,  tallow,  &c,  as  con- 
tained in  coal  gas;  but  as  charcoal,  unlike  magnesia  and 
lime,  is  itself  combustible,  it  not  only  renders  the  flame  lumi- 
nous, but  is  burned  in  the  act  of  so  doing,  and  passes  off  in  a 
well-regulated  and  perfect  flame  in  the  invisible  form  of 
carbonic  acid  gas. 

When  flames  are  cooled,  they  are  at  the  same  time  ex- 
tinguished ;  hence  a  flame  cannot  be  made  to  traverse  or  re- 
cede through  a  metallic  tube  of  small  bore ;  and  hence  a 
flame  may,  as  it  were,  be  bisected  by  a  piece  of  wire  gauze 
held  transversely  across  it :  in  which  case  the  smoke,  gas,  or 
vapour  and  charcoal  go  through,  but  not  hot  enough  to  in- 
flame, having  been  cooled  down  by  their  passage  through 
the  metallic  meshes;  but  by  applying  a  flame  to  this  Bmoke, 
it  may  again  be  kindled.  In  this  way  the  upper  portion  of 
the  flame  may  be  burned,  while  the  inflammation  of  the 
lower  half  is  prevented  by  the  interposed  cooling  medium. 
These  experiments  are  best  illustrated  by  the  flame  of  a  gas- 
burner,  and  ihc  two  cases  just  cited  are  represented  in  the 
annexed  figures. 

ill  A 


FLA'MEN.  The  title  applied  by  the  Romans  to  the 
priests  of  any  particular  deity,  as  distinguished  from  priests 
in  general.  Originally  Numa  instituted  three  orders  of  da- 
rn, ns:  viz.,  those  of  Jupiter,  Mars,  and  Ciuirinus  (Romulus). 
But  in  after  times  this  number  was  much  increased  by  the 
introduction  of  new  gods  and  superstitions,  and  by  the  wor- 
ship paid  to  deceased  emperors. 

FLAMl'NGO.    See  Phoznicopterus. 

FLANK.  (Fr.  flanc.)  In  Architecture,  the  side  of  any 
building. 

Flank,  in  Fortification,  is  that  part  of  the  bastion  which 
reaches  from  the  curtain  to  the  face ;  the  flank  of  one  bastion 
serves  to  defend  the  ditch  before  the  curtain  and  face  of  the 
opposite  bastion.     See  Fortification. 

FLANNEL.     See  Woollen  Manufacture. 

FLASHINGS.  (Probably  from  flaque,  a  splash.)  In 
Architecture,  pieces  of  lead  or  other  metal  let  into  the  joints 
of  a  wall  so  as  to  lap  over  the  gutters  or  other  conduit  pieces, 
and  prevent  the  splashing  of  rain  injuring  the  interior  works. 

FLAT.  In  Architecture,  that  part  in  the  covering  of  a 
house  of  lead  or  other  metal  which  is  laid  horizontal. 

Flat.  In  Music,  a  character  of  this  form  \),  which  de- 
presses the  note  before  which  it  is  placed  a  chromatic  semi- 
tone. Flats  and  sharps  were  originally  contrived  to  remedy 
the  defects  of  musical  instruments  whereon  temperament 
was  required,  the  natural  scale  of  music  being  limited  to  cer- 
tain fixed  sounds,  and  adjusted  to  an  instrument  in  many 
points  defective;  for  we  can  only  proceed  from  one  note  to 
another  by  a  particular  order  of  degrees.  Hence,  from  one 
note  to  another,  upwards  or  downwards,  we  cannot  find  any 
interval  at  pleasure.  To  supply  or  remedy  this  defect,  mu- 
sicians have  had  recourse  to  a  scale  proceeding  by  twelve 
degrees,  making  therefore  thirteen  notes  to  an  octave,  in- 
cluding the  extremes,  which,  though  it  does  not  make  the  in- 
strument perfect,  leaves  little  room  for  complaint.  In  instru- 
ments whose  sounds  are  fixed,  a  sound  or  note  dividing  it 
into  two  unequal  parts,  called  semitones,  is  placed  between 
the  extremes  of  every  tone  of  the  natural  scale ;  so  that  we 
have  twelve  semitones  between  thirteen  notes  in  the  compass 
of  an  octave.  In  order,  then,  to  keep  the  diatonic  series  dis- 
tinct, the  inverted  notes  answer  for  the  name  of  the  natural 


FLEXIBILITY. 

note  next  below,  with  this  character  #,  called  a  sharp  ;  or 
the  name  of  the  natural  note  next  above  it,  with  this  charac- 
ter t>,  called  a  flat.  Thus  D  t>  signifies  a  semitone  below  D 
natural  ( q ).  On  keyed  instruments  the  short  keys  are  the 
representatives  of  these  fiats  and  sharps.  The  system,  how- 
ever, does  not  strictly  produce  what  it  represents:  it  is  only 
an  approximation.     See  Temperament. 

FLAT  FIFTH.  In  Music,  an  interval  of  a  fifth  depress- 
ed by  a  flat,  called  by  the  ancients  semidiapentc. 

FLAT  FISH     See  Pleuronectes. 

FLA'TTEN  A  SAIL.  To  extend  it  fore  and  aft,  where- 
by its  effect  is  lateral  only. 

FLATTING.  In  Architecture,  a  coat  of  paint,  which, 
from  its  mixture  with  turpentine,  leaves  the  work  flat,  or 
without  gloss. 

FLA'TULENCY.  (Lat.  flatus,  blast.)  A  morbid  col- 
lection of  gas  in  the  stomach  and  bowels,  commonly  symp- 
tomatic of  indigestion  or  indulgence  in  certain  kinds  of  vege- 
table food.  Warm  tonics  and  well-seasoned  animal  food, 
w  it li  weak  brandy  and  water  as  a  beverage  at  dinner,  are  the 
usual  and  effective  remedies. 

FLAX.  (Germ,  flachs.)  The  fibre  of  the  Linum  usita- 
tissimum,  which  is  spun  into  thread  and  woven  into  linen 
textures. 

The  flax  is  reaped  a  little  before  the  seeds  are  ripe;  it  is 
stripped,  and  the  stalks  are  then  soaked  in  water,  or  retted 
(rotted),  when  fermentation  running  into  putrefaction  en- 
sues, so  as  to  destroy  the  foreign  matters  with  which  the 
fibres  are  blended  in  the  plant;  the  flax  is  then  dried,  and 
broken  or  beaten  and  winnowed,  so  as  to  separate  the  fibrous 
from  the  other  parts ;  these  are  afterwards  heckled,  and  pre- 
pared for  the  spinner.  (For  an  account  of  these  operations, 
and  of  the  machinery  by  which  they  are  effected,  see  lire's 
Dictionary  nf  Arts,  l\-c,  art.  "Flax.") 

FLECHE.  In  Fortification,  a  simple  redan  usually  con- 
structed at  the  foot  of  a  glacis.     See  Redan. 

FLEECE,  ORDER  OF  THE  GOLDEN.  One  of  the 
miKt  distinguished  among  European  orders  of  knighthood. 
It  was  founded  by  Philip  III.,  duke  of  burgundy,  in  1430; 
and  as  by  its  foundation  his  successors  were  declared  to  be 
hereditary  grand  masters,  that  title  passed,  with  the  Burgun- 
dian  inheritance,  to  the  house  of  Austria;  thence,  after  the 
death  of  Charles  V.,  to  the  Spanish  line  of  that  house:  but 
when  the  monarchy  of  Spain  passed  to  the  Bourbons  and 
the  Spanish  Netherlands  to  Austria,  the  archdukes  of  Aus- 
tria claimed  the  grand  mastership ;  and  claims  are  made  on 
it  at  present  both  by  the  Emperor  of  Austria  and  King  of 
Spain  ;  the  order  is  consequently  conferred  both  at  Vienna 
and  Madrid,  and  is,  in  both  courts,  the  highest  in  point  of 
rank.  As  its  nominal  object  is  the  protection  of  religion,  it  is 
rarely  conferred  on  any  Protestants,  with  the  exception,  by 
courtesy,  of  Protestant  sovereigns. 

FLEET,  in  its  most  extended  signification,  is  applied  to  a 
number  of  shij>s,  pursuing  in  company  either  mercantile  or 
warlike  purposes,  or  both  ;  but  it  is  more  generally  confined 
to  the  different  detachments  which  form  the  navy  of  any 
country,  stationed  in  various  parts  of  the  world  for  the  pur- 
poses of  defence,  aggression,  or  intimidation.  See  Navy, 
Squadron. 

Fleet.  The  sea  term  for  shortening  any  thing,  by  taking 
it  up,  that  had  been  pulled  out  or  stretched. 

FLE'MISH  SCHOOL.  In  Painting,  the  school  formed 
in  Flanders.  The  works  of  this  school  are  distinguished  by 
the  most  perfect  knowledge  of  chiaro-scuro ;  high  finishing 
without  dryness;  by  an  admirable  union  of  colours  well 
blended  and  contrasted,  and  by  a  flowing,  luxurious  pencil. 
Its  defects  are  somewhat  similar  to  those  of  the  Dutch  school. 
The  Flemish  painters,  like  the  Dutch,  represented  nature  as 
they  found  her,  and  not  as  she  should  be.  Rubens  and 
Vandyke  (the  glory  of  this  school),  though  men  of  the  great- 
est genius,  were  liot  free  from  this  defect,  and  the  former 
especially.  Teniers  was  another  great  master  of  the  school 
in  question ;  to  it  also  belong  Snyders,  Steenwick,  Neefs, 
Schwaneveldt,  Van  Eyck,  &c. 

FLE'TA.  The  title  of  an  ancient  treatise  on  English  law, 
attributed  to  the  reign  of  Ed.  I.,  and  named  (according  to 
tradition)  from  its  composition  by  a  judge  in  the  Fleet  prison. 

FLEUR-DE-LIS.  In  Heraldry,  a  charge  supposed  to 
represent  a  lily :  bome  from  a  very"  early  period  in  the  royal 
arms  of  France.  It  is,  however,  more  probably  conjectured 
that  the  shape  of  this  bearing  was  intended  to  represent  the 
iron  of  a  javelin. 

FLE'XIBI'LITY.  (Lat.  flecto,  /  bend.)  That  property 
of  bodies  in  virtue  of  which,  when  a  sufficient  force  is  ap- 
plied to  them,  they  change  their  form,  and  are  bent.  Flexi- 
bility is  opposed  to  stiffness  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  brittle- 
ncss  on  the  other ;  stiff  bodies  being  such  as  resist  bending, 
and  brittle  those  which  cannot  be  bent  without  a  disruption 
of  their  parts.  Of  unorganized  bodies  the  most  flexible  are 
the  metals:  and  their  flexibility  is  in  general  increased  by 
heat,  though  brass  is  rendered  brittle  when  subjected  to  a 
high  temperature.     Of  organized  bodies,  young  fresh  plants 

459 


FLEXURA. 

and  animal  substances  (excepting  bone)  are  eminently  flexi- 
ble ;  and  bodies  of  this  class  are  rendered  more  flexible  by 
heat  and  moisture.  In  many  machines  where  great  stability 
is  required,  it  is  often  a  matter  of  much  importance  to  be  ac- 
quainted with  the  flexibility  of  the  component  materials,  in 
order  to  determine  the  load  they  can  support  without  yield- 
ing. (See  Cohesion.)  Flexibility  is  only  a  relative  term, 
for  all  bodies  are  more  or  less  flexible ;  and  in  bars  of  wood 
or  metal  the  stiffness  or  resistance  to  flexure  is  directly  as  the 
breadth  and  cube  of  the  depth,  and  inversely  as  the  cube  of 
the  length. 

FLEXU'RA.  (Lat.  flecto,  /  bend.)  In  Mammalogy,  the 
joint  between  the  antibrachium  and  carpus,  usually  called 
the  fore-knee  in  the  horse ;  analogous  to  the  wrist-joint  in  man. 

FLE'XURE.  The  bending  or  incurvation  of  a  line  or 
surface.  Point  of  contrary  flexure  is  a  term  used  in  analyti- 
cal geometry  to  denote  that  point  of  a  curve  at  which  the 
curvature  passes  from  convex  to  concave,  or  vice  versa,  with 
respect  of  the  axis.  At  this  point  the  radius  of  curvature  is 
infinite.  At  the  points  of  the  curve  immediately  preceding 
and  following,  the  centre  of  curvature  lies  on  opposite  sides 
of  the  curve. 

FLINT.  Common  flints  are  nearly  pure  si'ica.  They 
usually  occur  in  irregular  nodules  in  chalk.  Their  origin  is 
an  unsolved  geological  problem. 

FLINT  GLASS,  or  CRYSTAL.  A  species  of  glass  which 
derives  its  name  from  flint,  because  that  substance  was  for- 
merly employed  in  its  manufacture.  It  is  very  extensively  used 
for  domestic  purposes ;  but  is  chiefly  interesting  to  the  philos- 
opher on  account  of  the  property  which  it  possesses  of  caus- 
ing a  greater  dispersion  of  the  rays  of  light  which  pass  through 
a  prism  or  lens  formed  of  it  than  any  other  of  the  vitreous 
compounds.  This  property  renders  it  invaluable  in  the  manu- 
facture of  the  object  glasses  of  telescopes  and  microscopes; 
for  by  combining  a  concave  lens  of  flint  glass  with  one  or  two 
convex  lenses  of  crown  glass,  which  possesses  a  much  less 
dispersive  power,  a  compound  lens  is  formed,  in  which  the 
prismatic  colours  arising  from  a  simple  refraction  are  de- 
stroyed, and  the  lens  rendered  achromatic.  This  construc- 
tion of  object  glasses  was  first  discovered  by  a  Mr.  Hall,  a 
country  gentleman  in  Worcestershire,  about  1729 ;  but  the 
discovery  was  forgotten,  and  no  farther  notice  taken  of  it  for 
nearly  30  years,  when  it  was  again  brought  to  light  by  John 
Dollond.  after  a  long-continued  course  of  experiments  under- 
taken for  the  purpose  of  perfecting  the  telescope.  It  is,  how- 
ever, very  difficult  to  prepare  flint  glass  fit  for  the  purposes  of 
achromatic  telescopes.  This  difficulty  arises  not  from  the 
wTant  of  sufficient  dispersive  power  in  the  substance,  but 
from  the  want  of  purity  or  homogeneity ;  the  slightest  im- 
purity or  inequality  of  composition  in  the  glass  giving  rise  to 
a  streaked  or  imperfect  image  by  reason  of  the  unequal  re- 
fraction of  the  rays.  The  composition  of  pure  flint  glass  long 
remained  a  secret  in  the  family  of  the  Dollonds,  and  its  manu- 
facture formed  a  very  profitable  article  of  exportation  ;  for 
till  about  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  no  flint  glass 
of  good  quality  was  made  on  the  Continent.  Of  late  \  i  ars, 
however,  a  great  change  has  taken  place  in  this  respect,  and 
glass  of  the  best  quality  has  been  manufactured,  both  in 
France  and  Germany,  in  much  larger  masses  than  our  Eng- 
lish artists  have  yet  succeeded  in  obtaining.  This  result  has 
been  mainly  produced  by  the  experimental  researches  of 
D'Artigues,  Fraunhofer,  Cauchoix,  Guinand,  and  Komer. 
Formerly,  an  object-glass  exceeding  five  inches  in  diameter 
could  scarcely  be  produced.  Fraunhofer  succeeded  in  ma- 
king them  of  nine,  and  even  twelve  inches.  The  object- 
glass  of  the  large  parallactic  telescope  belonging  to  Sir  James 
South,  at  Campden  Hill,  was  manufactured  by  Cauchoix; 
it  exceeds  twelve  inches,  and  is  throughout  of  the  utmost 
purity.  The  exact  proportion  of  the  ingredients  which  enter 
into  these  choice  specimens  is  not  known,  and  probably  their 
excellence  depends  in  part  on  some  accidental  circumstances 
in  the  preparation.  Korner  produced  some  of  his  best  speci- 
mens by  employing  the  following  ingredients :  100  parts  of 
quartz,  first  treated  with  muriatic  acid  ;  80  parts  of  litharge, 
or  red  lead ;  and  30  parts  of  the  bitartrate  of  potash.  Flint 
glass  for  common  purposes  is  usually  made  of  100  parts  of 
fine  white  sand,  40  parts  of  well  purified  pearl  ash,  35  parts 
litharge  or  minium,  13  parts  nitre,  and  a  small  quantity  of 
the  black  oxide  of  manganese ;  the  latter  ingredient  being 
used  to  correct  the  green  colour  occasioned  by  the  presence 
of  oxide  of  iron  in  the  sand.  The  principal  difference  be- 
tween this  and  the  glass  used  for  optical  purposes  consists  in 
the  much  greater  quantity  of  lead  in  the  latter,  and  which 
is  introduced  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  its  dispersive  power. 
There  is  a  valuable  paper  on  the  manufacture  of  glass  for 
optical  purposes,  containing  the  results  of  an  extensive  series 
of  experiments  upon  the  subject,  made  in  the  laboratory  of 
the  Royal  Institution,  by  Mr.  Faraday,  in  the  Philosophical 
Transactions  for  the  vear  1830,  vol.  cxx.     See  Glass. 

FLOAT  BOARDS'.  The  boards  fixed  to  the  rim  or  outer 
circumference  of  undershot  wheels,  which  receive  the  im- 
pulse of  the  water  and  communicate  the  motion  to  the  wheel. 
460 


FLOOR  CLOTH. 

FLOA'TED  LATH  AND  PLASTER.  In  Architecture, 
plastering  of  three  coats,  whereof  the  first  is  pricking  up  (see 
First  Coat)  ;  the  second,  floating  or  floated  work  ;  and  the 
last  of  fine  stuff. 

FLOA'TED  WORK.  In  Architecture,  plastering  made 
of  a  perfectly  plane  surface,  by  means  of  a  tool  (which  is  a 
long  rule  with  a  straight  edge)  called  a  float 

FLOA'TLNG  MEADOWS.  Meadow  lands,  the  surface 
of  which  is  flat,  adjoining  a  river  or  other  source  of  water, 
with  which  they  can  be  flooded  or  covered  at  pleasure. 
The  water  is  turned  on  chiefly  in  the  winter  season,  when 
it  is  more  or  less  muddy,  and  leaves  a  deposit  that  serves  as 
a  kind  of  manure.  It  is  also  useful  to  vegetation,  by  pre- 
serving a  higher  temperature  in  the  surface  soil  than  it 
could  maintain  through  the  winter,  if  fully  exposed  to  the 
action  of  the  atmosphere ;  because,  wherever  water  is  in  a 
fluid  state,  its  mean  temperature,  and  that  of  the  bodies  im- 
mediately in  contact  with  it,  must  be  above  32°,  and  at  that 
temperature  the  grasses  common  in  British  meadows  will 
grow.  There  are  probably  other  benefits  which  grass  lands 
receive  from  being  covered  with  water  during  a  portion  of 
the  winter  season,  but  these  have  not  yet  been  satisfactorily 
explained  by  science. 

FLOA'TLNG  SCREEDS.  (Ital.,  probably  from  schier- 
ato,  ranged.)  In  Architecture,  strips  of  plaster  arranged 
and  nicely  adjusted  for  guiding  the  floating-rule.  See 
Floated  Work. 

FLO  A  'TSTONE.  A  porous  variety  of  flint,  which  floats 
upon  water. 

FLO'CCI.  (Lat.)  In  Botany,  the  woolly  filaments  that 
are  found  mixed  with  the  sporules  of  many  Gastromyci  : 
the  same  name  is  also  applied  to  the  external  filaments  of 
Byssacea. 

FLOCCILLA'TION.  Picking  the  bed-clothes.  This  is 
a  verv  alarming  svmptom  in  many  acute  diseases. 

FLO'CCUS.  In  Mammalogy,  the  tuft  of  long  flaccid 
hairs  which  terminate  the  tail. 

FLOETZ  ROCKS.  A  term  applied  by  the  German  ge- 
ologists to  the  secondary  strata,  because  they  generally  oc- 
cur in  flat  or  horizontal  beds. 

FLOOR.  (Saxon,  flore.)  In  Architecture,  the  pave- 
ment or  boarded  lower  horizontal  surface  of  an  apartment. 
It  is  constructed  of  earth,  brick,  stone,  wood,  or  other  mate- 
rials. Carpenters  include  in  the  term  the  framed  timber 
work  on  which  the  boarding  is  laid,  as  well  as  the  boards 
themselves. 

Floor.    The  lower  part  of  a  ship's  bottom. 

FLOOR  CLOTH.  This  useful  and  ornamental  manu- 
facture originated  in  this  country  about  the  year  1740,  when 
a  manufactory  of  it  was  established  at  Knightsbridge,  near 
London,  by  Mr.  Smith.  It  was  originally  made  of  narrow 
canvass  sewn  together  like  sail  cloth,  to  which  successive 
coats  of  paint  were  applied  ;  but  the  seams  provine  incon- 
venient, a  canvass  was  wove  for  the  purpose,  about  four 
yards  wide  ;  it  was  then  extended  to  seven  yards  in  width, 
and  afterwards  to  nine,  which  is  the  widest  at  present  made. 
The  manufactory  at  Knightsbridge,  now-  carried  on  by  Mr. 
Baber,  is  the  largest  establishment  of  the  kind  ;  the  common 
dimensions  of  the  oil  cloths  produced  there  being  20  yards  by 
8,  and  30  yards  by  7,  giving  therefore  entire  pieces  of  160 
and  210  square  yards  without  seams.  These  canvasses  are 
stretched  upon  frames,  and  accessible  over  their  whole  sur- 
face by  stages  erected  for  the  purpose :  these  are  the  cir- 
cumstances which  render  the  large  dimensions  of  the  manu- 
factory requisite.  The  canvass  being  duly  strained,  is  rub- 
bed over  with  pumice  stone,  which  renders  its  surface 
smooth  and  even,  and  then  brushed  over  with  a  weak  solu- 
tion of  size  ;  when  this  is  dry,  the  first  coat  of  oil  colour  is 
laid  on,  not  with  brushes,  but  with  trowels,  something  in  the 
manner  of  plastering ;  when  this  is  dry  a  second  coat  fol- 
lows it ;  and  in  this  way  seven  coats  of  paint  are  usually 
applied  in  succession,  three  on  the  back  and  four  on  the 
front.  When  the  cloth  in  this  state,  and  of  one  colour,  is 
sufficiently  dry,  it  is  removed  from  its  frame  upon  a  large 
roller,  and  carried  to  the  upper  part  of  the  building  to  be 
printed ;  that  is,  to  receive  its  pattern.  This  was  originally 
effected  by  a  process  of  pencilling ;  but  in  the  year  1780,  Mr. 
Smith  introduced  the  great  improvement  of  block-printing, 
by  which  the  colours  are  more  correctly  laid  on,  and  in 
greater  body  and  variety.  The  printing  table,  which  is 
about  30  feet  long,  4  wide,  and  2  feet  6  inches  high,  is  very 
firmly  constructed  of  deal  timbers  laid  edgeways  and  clamp- 
ed together,  the  surface  being  truely  planed ;  the  roll  of 
painted  cloth  is  placed  underneath  it,  and  as  it  is  unrolled  it 
gradually  passes  over  the  table,  where  it  is  printed,  and  is 
then  drawn  forward  so  as  to  hang  perfectly  free  while  dry- 
ing, the  height  of  the  building  being  such  as  conveniently  to 
admit  of  this,  without  rolling,  doubling,  or  folding  the  mate- 
rial, which  in  these  stages  would  of  course  injure  it.  The 
colours,  which  are  the  usual  oil  colours  very  carefully  pre- 
pared, are  put  on  in  succession  with  wooden  blocks,  which 
are  made  of  pear-tree,  box,  or  holly  wood,  and  upon  which 


FLOOR. 

the  patterns  are  cut  in  relief;  they  are  about  eighteen  inch- 
es square,  and  are  applied  in  succession  over  the  whole  of 
the  surface  of  the  cloth  lying  upon  the  printing  table.  Every 
colour  is  put  on  bv  a  separate  block,  and  much  dexterity  is 
required  in  so  placing  them  that  the  patterns  may  correctly 
interlace  and  join  each  other,  without  in  any  case  overlap- 
ping or  interfering :  to  effect  this,  the  workman  is  aided  by 
guide  pins,  or  pitches,  as  they  are  termed,  which  direct  him 
in  placing  the  block.  The  colours  are  first  brushed  or  tiered 
upon  hard  cushions,  from  which  they  are  transferred  to  the 
block,  and  thence  to  the  cloth  ;  and,  though  many  are  often 
required,  it  is  astonishing  how  much  effect  is  sometimes  ob- 
tained by  the  judicious  arrangement  or  mixture  of  two  only, 
upon  a  third,  which  forms  the  ground.  It  will  be  obvious, 
from  what  has  been  stated,  that  the  weight  of  the  finished 
oil  cloth,  as  compared  with  the  naked  canvass,  is  no  unim- 
portant criterion  of  its  goodness ;  each  square  yard  when 
finished  weighing  from  three  pounds  and  a  half  to  four  or 
four  and  a  half:  this  distinguishes  a  good  oil  cloth  from 
those  which  are  vamped  up  and  stiffened  with  size  and  other 
perishable  materials. 

Independent  of  the  common  application  of  oil  cloth,  it  is 
not  unfrequently  advantageously  employed  as  a  roofing  ma- 
terial, especially  for  covering  verandas  and  other  light  struc- 
tures. When  used  for  this  purpose,  the  canvass  should  be 
made  of  picked  long  flax,  and  thoroughly  saturated  with 
good  oil  paint ;  it  will  then  stand  our  climate  and  last  for  14 
or  1*5  vears. 

FLOOR,  FOLDING  or  FOLDED.  In  Architecture,  one 
in  which  the  floor  boards  are  so  laid  that  their  joints  do  not 
appear  continuous  throughout  the  whole  length  of  the  floor, 
but  in  bavs  or  folds  of  three,  four,  five,  or  more  boards  each. 

FLOOR,  STRAIGHT  JOINT.  In  Architecture,  one  in 
which  the  floor  boards  are  so  laid  that  their  joints  or  edges 
form  a  continued  line  throughout  the  direction  of  their 
length  ;  in  opposition  to  folding  floor,  where  the  joints  end  in 
folds. 

FLORA'LIA.  A  festival  celebrated  with  some  magnifi- 
cence in  honour  of  Flora,  the  Roman  goddess  of  flowers. 

FLO'RETS.  The  flowers  of  a  capitulum  or  anthodinm; 
which  are  smaller  in  size,  but  not  different  in  structure  from 
ordinary  flowers.  Those  which  are  placed  in  the  middle  of 
the  capitulum  are  called  discoidal,  or  of  the  disk  ;  those  in 
the  circumference  are  named  radiant,  or  of  the  ray. 

FLORIN.     .See  Money. 

FLOS-FERRI.  A  coralloidal  carbonate  of  lime,  often 
found  in  veins  of  spathose  iron  ore. 

FLOTA.  A  name  given  by  the  Spaniards  to  the  ships 
that  formerly  sailed  together,  or  under  convoy,  from  Cadiz 
and  the  other  ports  of  the  Peninsula  authorized  to  trade  di- 
rectly with  the  Transatlantic  ixissessions  of  Spain. 

FLOTI'LLA.  (Span.)  Literally  a  little  fleet ;  in  which 
sense,  however,  it  is  seldom  used,  being  applied  almost  in- 
variably to  a  fleet,  how  large  soever,  composed  of  small  ves- 
sels. Thus  the  term  flotilla  was  given  to  the  immense  naval 
force  with  which  Napoleon  meditated  the  invasion  of  Great 
Britain,  and  which  consisted  of  2365  vessels  of  every  descrip- 
tion, was  manned  by  about  17,000  sailors,  and  carried  100,000 
soldiers,  and  10,000  horses.  In  Spain,  the  name  flotilla  is 
given  to  a  number  of  vessels  appointed  to  announce  to  the 
home  government  the  departure  and  nature  of  the  cargo  of 
the  flota  or  mercantile  ships  from  foreign  ports  on  their 
homeward  voyage. 

FLO'TSAM  (floating),  Jetsam  (Fr.  jeter,  to  throw),  and 
Lagan  (lying),  as  law  terms,  are  usually  joined  together. 
The  first,  according  to  Blackstone,  designates  goods  cast 
from  a  ship  and  swimming  in  the  waves;  jetsam,  goods  cast 
and  sunk;  lagan,  sunk  but  tied  to  a  buoy  by  the  owners. 
Goods  in  either  of  these  three  predicaments  belong  to  the 
king,  if  the  owners  be  not  known,  and  may  by  him  be  grant- 
ed with  other  franchises. 

FLOW  ERLESS  PLANTS.  Those  plants  that  are  des- 
titute of  flowers  and  sexes.  They  are  the  same  as  crypto- 
gamic,  or  acrogenous,  or  cellular  plants. 

FLOWERS.  The  old  chemists  gave  this  name  to  several 
light  flocculent  substances  obtained  by  sublimation ;  such  as 
flowers  of  sulphur,  flowers  of  benzocs,  &c. 

FLUE.  In  Architecture,  the  long  open  tube  of  a  chim- 
ney from  the  fireplace  to  the  top  of  the  shaft  for  voidance  of 
the  smoke. 

FLU'ENT  or  FLOWING  QUANTITY,  in  Analysis, 
is  the  variable  quantity,  considered  as  increasing  or  diminish- 
ing. The  term  denotes  the  same  thing  as  integral,  which 
is  now  universally  used  in  its  stead,  the  differential  and  in- 
tegral calculus  having  superseded  the  methods  of  fluxions 
and  fluents.     See  Fluxion,  Integral. 

FLU'ED,  or  FLUID  BODY,  is  that  whose  parts  yield  to 
the  smallest  pressure,  and  are  moved  among  each  other 
without  any  sensible  resistance.  Some  writers  distinguish 
between  fluid  and  liquid,  confining  the  latter  term  to  those 
substances  which  wet,  or  whose  particles  adhere  to  other 
bodies  plunged  into  them.     Thus  air,  ether,  mercury,  water, 


FLUOSILICIC  ACID. 

alcohol,  &c.  are  all  fluids ;  but  water  and  alcohol  are  also 
liquids,  because  they  wet  other  bodies,  while  air  and  mer- 
cury do  not.  The  term  liquid  is,  however,  very  frequently 
used  in  the  same  general  sense  as  fluid.  Fluids  are  of  two 
kinds,  elastic  and  non-elastic.  The  mechanical  properties  of 
elastic  fluids,  comprehending  air  and  the  different  gases,  con- 
stitute the  science  of  Pneumatics  ;  those  of  the  non-elastic 
fluids,  water,  mercury,  &c,  Hydrostatics  and  Hydraulics. 
It  is  to  be  remarked,  however,  that  the  terms  elastic  and 
non-elastic  are  here  used  in  a  relative,  not  in  an  absolute 
sense  ;  for  water,  alcohol,  and  probably  all  other  fluids  ot  the 
same  class,  are,  to  a  certain  extent,  compressible  and  elastic, 
though  thev  resist  compression  with  a  very  great  force. 

FLUI'DITY  (Lat.  fluo,  I  flow),  is  that  state  of  a  sub- 
stance in  which  its  constituent  particles  are  so  slightly  co- 
hesive that  they  yield  to  the  smallest  impressions.  The 
term  is  usually  confined  to  express  the  condition  of  the  non- 
elastic  fluids ;  and  hence  it  denotes  one  of  the  three  states 
in  which  matter  exists ;  namely,  the  solid,  the  fluid  or  liquid, 
and  the  gaseous.  The  state  of  fluidity  is  best  defined  as  that 
in  which  bodies  tend  to  form  drops,  as  this  disposition  does 
not  belong  either  to  bodies  in  a  gaseous  form,  or  to  solid 
bodies  reduced  to  fine  powder.  The  formation  of  drops  ari- 
ses from  this,  that  the  molecules  of  fluid  bodies  adhere  to 
each  other  with  a  certain  force,  at  the  same  time  that  they 
glide  over  one  another  without  any  sensible  resistance.  It 
is  incorrect  to  say  that  the  molecules  of  bodies  in  a  state  of 
fluidity  offer  no  resistance  to  separation;  for,  on  bringing  a 
flat  disc  of  glass  or  metal  into  contact  with  the  surface  of  a 
liquid,  a  very  sensible  degree  of  force  is  required  to  separate 
them.  That  adhesion  exists  among  the  molecules  of  fluid 
bodies  is  also  proved  by  various  other  phenomena.  Water 
or  mercury  on  a  flat  plate  of  metal  collects  in  globules,  and 
when  slowly  poured  into  a  wine  glass  will  remain  heaped  up, 
as  it  were,  above  the  level  of  the  edge. 

Various  hypotheses  have  been  framed  by  philosophers  to 
explain  the  different  stales  in  which  matter  is  found  to  exist. 
Confining  ourselves  to  the  most  general  views,  we  may  re- 
gard all  bodies  as  assemblages  of  particles  constantly  main- 
tained in  equilibrium  between  two  forces,  an  attractive 
force  which  tends  to  unite  the  particles,  and  a  repulsive 
force  which  tenils  to  increase  the  distance  between  them. 
The  solid  slate  results  from  the  preponderance  of  the  at- 
tractive force.  Conceive  the  repulsive  force  to  receive  an 
augmentation  until  it  becomes  equal  to,  or  forms  an  equilib- 
rium w  ith,  the  attractive  force.  When  the  two  forces  are 
thus  balanced,  the  particles  exert  on  each  other  neither  at- 
traction nor  repulsion,  and  the  body  is  in  the  fluid  state. 
Lastly,  if  the  repulsive  energy  be  still  increased,  the  particles 
will  be  separated  from  each  other  to  such  distances  that 
their  mutual  attractions  will  cease  altogether  to  be  sensible, 
and  then  the  body  passes  into  the  gaseous  state.  Hence  we 
may  pronounce  that  there  is  no  natural  state  of  body  ;  and 
that  fluidity,  solidity,  the  state  of  vapour,  and  the  aeriform 
state  are  only  accidental,  and  determined  by  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  medium  in  which  the  body  is  placed.  See 
Crystallization,  Capillary  Attraction,  Gas,  &c. 

FLUKE.  A  name  commonly  applied  to  a  species  of  flat 
fish,  or  Pleuronectes  ;  and  also  to  an  Entozoon  of  a  similar 
form  (Distoma  hepaticum),  which  infests  the  ducts  of  the 
liver  of  different  animals,  especially  of  the  sheep. 

Fluke  is  also  applied  in  navigation  to  the  broad  part  of  the 
anchor  which  takes  hold  of  the  ground. 

FLUOBO  PIC  ACID.  A  gas  obtained  by  heating  to  red- 
ness a  mixture  of  dry  boracic  acid  and  powdered  fluor  spar. 
Its  specific  gravity  is  230.  It  is  colourless,  pungent,  and  pro- 
duces a  dense  white  cloud  when  it  escapes  into  a  moist  at- 
mosphere ;  it  is  resolved  by  the  action  of  Water  into  boracic 
and  hydro-fluoric  acids.  It  acts  with  great  energy  upon  ani- 
mal and  vegetable  substances,  and  chars  them.  It  is  proba- 
bly a  compound  of  20  parts  of  boron  and  108  of  fluorine,  or 
of  one  atom  of  boron  and  sue  atoms  of  fluorine. 

FLUO'RIC  ACID.     See  Hydrofluoric  Ann. 

FLU'ORINE.  The  hypothetical  base  of  the  hydrofluo- 
ric acid  :  it  has  not  yet  been  obtained  in  a  separate  state. 

FLU  OR  SPAR."  This  is  a  common  mineral  product, 
found  in  great  beauty  in  Derbyshire  ;  hence  known  in  this 
country  under  the  name  of  the  Derlryshire  spar.  It  is  gen- 
erally "crystallized  in  cubes,  but  its  primitive  form  is  an  octa- 
hedron. It  is  of  various  colours,  and  often  beautifully  band- 
ed, especially  when  in  nodules,  which  are  much  prized  for 
the  manufacture  of  vases,  and  occasionally  used  for  beads, 
brooch  stones,  and  other  ornamental  purposes.  It  is  proba- 
bly a  compound  of  fluorine  and  calcium,  hence  a  fluoride  of 
calcium.  The  term  fluor  is  derived  from  the  fusibility  of 
this  substance,  on  which  account  it  is  sometimes  used  as  a 
flux  to  promote  the  fusion  of  certain  refractory  minerals.  It 
is  manufactured  at  Matlock  and  Derby  into  a  great  variety 
of  articles.  . 

FLU'OSI'LICIC  ACID.  A  gas  obtained  by  applying  a 
gentle  heat  to  a  mixture  of  one  part  of  powdered  fluor  spar, 
one  of  silica,  and  two  of  sulphuric  acid,  in  a  retort.     It  Is 

461 


FLUSH. 

colourless,  pungent,  fumes  when  it  escapes  into  a  humid  air, 
and  is  rapidly  absorbed  by  water.  Its  specific  gravity  is 
about  3-6;  100  cubic  inches  weighing  nearly  112  grains.  It 
is  decomposed  by  water,  and  forms  silica  and  hydrofluoric 
acid.  It  consists  of  8  parts  by  weight  of  silicium,  and  18  of 
fluorine,  its  equivalent  (upon  the  hydrogen  scale)  being  26. 

FLUSH.  (Lat.  fluxus.)  In  Architecture,  the  continued 
surface  in  the  same  plane  of  two  contiguous  masses. 

FLUTE.  (Fr.)  A  wooden  musical  wind  instrument 
played  by  holes  and  keys,  stopped  and  opened  with  the  fing- 
ers. The  lips  and  tongue  are  both  used  in  playing  it.  The 
octave  flute  is  a  smaller  but  similar  instrument,  whose  pitch 
is  an  octave  higher  than  the  flute,  as  its  name  implies. 

FLUTES,  or  FLUTTNGS.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture,  up- 
right channels  on  the  shafts  of  columns,  usually  ending 
hemispherically  at  top  and  bottom.  Their  plan  or  horizontal 
section  is  sometimes  circular  or  segmental,  and  sometimes, 
as  in  the  Grecian  examples,  elliptical.  The  Doric  column 
has  twenty  round  its  circumference  :  the  Ionic,  Corinthian, 
and  Composite  twenty-four.  The  Tuscan  column  is  never 
fluted.    They  are  occasionally  cabled.     (See  that  word.) 

FLUVIA'LES.  (Lat.  fluvius,  a  river.)  A  natural  order 
of  Endogenous  water  plants  common  in  all  extra-tropical 
countries,  and  approaching  somewhat  to  flowerless  plants. 
Pollini,  according  to  De  Candolle,  asserts  that  spiral  vessels 
do  exist  in  them,  while  Amici  urges  the  contrary.  Agardh 
refers  to  this  order  both  Ceratophyllum  and  Sparganium  ; 
but  those  genera  are  nearer  allied  to  Juncaginacece.  Their 
sensible  properties  are  unimportant.  Zostera  or  sea  wrack, 
one  of  the  genera,  is  used  to  stuff  cushions,  and  as  a  materi- 
al for  packing. 

FLUX.  (Lat.  fluo,  I  flow.)  Applied  in  technical  chem- 
istry to  substances  which  are  in  themselves  very  fusible,  or 
which  promote  the  fusion  of  other  bodies.  When  tartar  is 
deflagrated  with  half  its  weight  of  nitre,  a  mixture  of  char- 
coal and  carbonate  of  potash  remains,  which  is  often  called 
black  flux  :  when  an  equal  weight  of  nitre  is  used,  the  whole 
of  the  charcoal  is  bumed  off,  and  carbonate  of  potassa  re- 
mains, which,  when  thus  procured,  is  called  white  flux. 
For  flux  and  reflux  of  the  sea,  see  Tides. 

Flux.  In  Pathology,  a  disease  attended  by  inordinate  se- 
cretion from  the  bowels. 

FLU'XION  (Lat.  fluxus,  flow),  in  Analysis,  signifies  the 
same  thing  as  differential,  the  term  being  suggested  by  a  par- 
ticular view  of  the  manner  in  which  variable  quantities  in- 
crease or  diminish.  Newton  considered  a  curve  as  genera- 
ted by  the  uniform  motion  of  a  point,  the  constant  velocity 
of  this  point  being  decomposed  at  every  instant  into  two  oth- 
ers, one  parallel  to  the  axis  of  the  abscissa,  and  the  other 
parallel  to  the  axis  of  the  ordinates.  These  velocities  are 
what  he  called  the  fluxions  of  the  co-ordinates ;  while  the 
arbitrary  velocity  of  the  point  which  describes  the  curve  is 
the  fluxion  of  the  arc.  Reciprocally,  the  arc  described  is 
called  the  fluent  of  the  velocity  with  which  it  is  described 
by  the  moving  point ;  the  corresponding  absciss  is  the  fluent 
of  the  velocity  estimated  in  the  direction  of  the  absciss,  and 
the  ordinate  the  fluent  of  the  velocity  of  the  point  estimated 
in  the  direction  of  the  ordinate.  The  same  considerations 
may  be  extended  to  the  areas  bounded  by  curve  lines,  to 
surfaces,  and  the  volumes  which  they  determine,  to  forces 
which  give  rise  to  motion  in  bodies,  and  to  the  effects  which 
they  produce.  In  fact,  the  theory  is  applicable  to  every 
thing  which  forms  the  object  of  the  mathematical  or  physi- 
co-mathematical  sciences. 

The  method  of  fluxions  is  derived  naturally  from  that  of 
prime  and  ultimate  ratios  ;  for  the  variable  velocity  of  a 
point  is  not  the  path  described  by  it  in  a  given  time  divided 
by  this  time ;  but  it  is  the  prime  or  ultimate  ratio  of  that 
quotient ;  that  is  to  say,  the  quantity  to  which  that  quotient 
approaches  more  and  more  in  proportion  as  the  time  is  sup- 
posed to  be  shorter.  This  observation  has  occasioned  an  ob- 
jection to  the  method  of  fluxions— namely,  that  of  introdu- 
cing into  geometry,  which  is  a  branch  of  the  pure  mathe- 
matics, the  idea  of  velocity,  which  belongs  to  the  mixed 
mathematics ;  and  of  defining  an  idea  which  ought  to  be 
simple  by  one  that  is  complex.  The  objection  is  frivolous ; 
the  only  question  of  any  consequence  being  whether  the 
theory  is  more  easily  apprehended  by  this  manner  of  exposi- 
tion than  by  any  other. 

In  applying  the  method  of  fluxions  to  mathematical  inves- 
tigation, the  procedure  is  precisely  the  same  as  in  the  differ- 
ential calculus;  from  which,  indeed,  it  differs  in  no  respect 
save  that  of  notation.  The  method  was  invented  by  New- 
ton; and  the  notation  which  he  used  was  adopted  by  all 
English  writers,  and  long  obstinately  adhered  to,  although 
the  notation  of  Leibnitz,  the  inventor  of  the  differential  cal- 
*■  ut ns,  possesses  over  it  many  advantages,  particularly  in  the 
more  abstruse  theories  of  analysis.  At  length,  however,  the 
great  number  of  excellent  works  which  appeared  on  the 
Continent,  in  all  of  which  the  differential  notation  was  used, 
the  manifest  advantage  of  uniformity  in  the  symbols  em- 
ployed in  scientific  researches,  and  the  intrinsic  superiority 


FOCUS. 

of  the  foreign  notation,  caused  that  of  fluxions  to  be  gradtf 
ally  abandoned,  and  at  the  present  time  it  has  entirely  dis- 
appeared in  all  mathematical  works  possessing  any  claim  to 
merit.  The  first  systematic  treatise  on  fluxions  in  our  lan- 
guage, in  which  the  differential  notation  was  employed 
throughout,  wTas  the  article  "Fluxions"  in  the  Edinburgh 
Encyclopedia,  which  appeared  in  the  year  1815. 

FLY.  In  Mechanics,  an  appendage  given  to  machines 
for  the  purpose  of  regulating  and  equalizing  the  motion,  as 
in  the  windlass,  jack,  pile-engine,  &c. ;  and  sometimes  for 
collecting  force  in  order  to  produce  a  very  great  instantane- 
ous impression,  as  in  a  coining  press.  Generally  it  is 
formed  of  a  heavy  disc  or  hoop  at  right  angles  to  the  axis ; 
sometimes  of  heavy  knobs  at  the  extremities  of  a  bar  having 
the  same  position.  The  fly  is  of  great  use  in  all  cases  where 
the  power,  or  the  resistance,  acts  unequally  in  the  different 
parts  of  a  revolution. 

FLY-CATCHER.     See  Muscicapa. 

FLYING  BUTTRESS.  In  Gothic  Architecture,  a  but- 
tress in  the  form  of  an  areh,  springing  from  a  solid  mass  of 
masonry,  and  abutting  against  the  springing  of  another  arch 
which  rises  from  the  upper  points  of  abutment  of  the  first. 
It  is  seen  in  most  of  our  cathedrals,  and  its  office  is  to  act  aa 
a  counterpoise  against  the  vaulting  of  the  nave.  If  flying 
buttresses  were  built  solid  from  the  ground,  it  is  obvious 
that  they  would  interfere  With  the  vista  along  the  aisles  of 
the  church ;  hence  the  project  of  continuing  a  resistance  by 
means  of  arches.  Their  stability  depends  on  the  resistance 
afforded  by  the  weight  of  the  vertical  buttress  from  whence 
they  spring.    See  the  diagram,  art.  Gothic  Architecture 

AFTER  THE  12th  CENTURY. 

FLY'ING  FISH.  The  species  of  two  distinct  genera  of 
fish,  in  which  the  pectoral  fins  are  so  developed  as  to  enable 
them  to  sustain  themselves  for  a  short  time  in  the  air,  are  so 
called.  The  more  common  species  are  the  Exocate  (Exo- 
cwtus  volitans),  and  the  flying  gurnard  {Dactyloptera  voli- 
tans). 

FLY  POWDER.  An  imperfect  oxide  of  arsenic,  formed 
by  the  exposure  of  native  arsenic  to  the  air;  when  mixer? 
with  sugar  and  water  it  is  used  to  kill  flies. 

FO.  The  name  given  by  the  Chinese  to  Buddha,  by  one 
of  those  phenomena  in  literature  whereby  appellations  are 
introduced  from  one  language  into  others  with  which  it  has 
little  or  no  affinity.  Originally  the  name  Buddha  was  ex- 
pressed in  the  Chinese  language  with  sufficient  exactness  by 
the  term  Ffl-thau,  pronounced  Foudah ;  but,  as  is  usual  in 
China  with  proper  names,  the  last  syllable  was  subsequent- 
ly dropped.  According  to  the  Chinese  historians,  the  re- 
ligion of  Buddha  was  introduced  into  China  in  the  reign  of 
Ming-ti,  of  the  dynasty  of  the  Hans,  about  the  64th  year  of 
the  Christian  era ;  but  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that 
the  doctrines  of  the  Indian  reformer  had  been  earned  thith- 
er by  some  of  his  enthusiastic  adherents  long  before  that  pe- 
riod, and  that  it  is  only  to  their  official  recognition  by  the 
government  that  this  later  date  refers.  This  is  not  the  place 
to  give  an  exposition  of  the  religious  and  philosophical  prin- 
ciples of  Fo  (see  Buddhism)  :  suffice  it  to  say  that  the  same 
principles  are  adopted  by  all  the  Buddhists  of  the  various 
countries  where  they  are  professed,  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  trifling  deviations  which  the  various  translations  of  the 
Buddhist  writings  from  their  original  Sanscrit  have  natural- 
ly generated.  It  is  only  when  these  writings,  or  at  all 
events  the  chief  of  them  shall  have  been  translated  into  the 
languages  of  Europe  (which  we  have  good  grounds  to  sup- 
pose will  soon  be  the  case),  that  an  accurate  idea  can  be 
formed  of  the  doctrines  which  they  inculcate,  and  which 
have  exercised  so  mighty  nn  influence  on  the  largest  por- 
tion of  the  inhabitants  of  Asia.  (See  the  Penny  Cyclope- 
dia.) 

FO'CAL  DISTANCE.  (Lat.  focus,  a  hearth.)  In  Op- 
tics, the  distance  between  the  centre  of  a  lens  or  mirror,  and 
the  point  into  which  the  rays  are  collected. 

FO'CUS,  in  Geometry,  is  applied  to  certain  points  belong- 
ing to  conic  sections,  which  possess  very  remarkable  proper- 
ties. The  focus  of  the  parabola  is  a  point  in  the  axis  having 
this  property,  that  a  radius  drawn  from  it  to  any  point  in  the 
curve  makes  the  same  angle  with  the  tangent  at  that  point 
that  the  tangent  makes  with  the  axis.  Hence  a  ray  of  light 
proceeding  from  the  focus,  and  reflected  by  the  curve,  pro- 
ceeds in  a  direction  parallel  to  the  axis;  or,  if  parallel  rays 
fall  on  the  concave  side  of  a  parabola,  they  are  reflected 
into  the  focus.  In  the  ellipse  the  two  foci  are  situated  in 
the  greater  axis,  at  equal  distances  from  the  centre ;  and  if 
from  both  foci  straight  lines  be  drawn  to  the  same  point  in 
the  circumference,  the  two  lines  make  equal  angles  with  the 
tangent  at  that  point.  A  ray  of  light,  therefore,  issuing  from 
the  one  focus,  is  reflected  by  the  curve  into  the  other  focus. 
In  the  hyperbola  a  similar  property  holds  good ;  with  this 
difference,  that  whereas  in  the  ellipse  the  two  straight  lines 
fall  both  on  the  concave  side  of  the  arc,  in  the  hyperbola 
one  falls  on  the  concave  and  the  other  on  the  convex;  in 
other  words,  the  two  lines  drawn  from  the  foci  to  any  point 


FODDER. 

In  the  hyperbola  make  equal  angles  with  the  tangent  on  op- 
posite  sides  of  it.  A  ray  of  light,  therefore,  proceeding  from 
one  focus  of  a  hyperbola,  will  be  reflected  by  any  point  of 
the  curve  into  the  direction  of  a  ray  coming  from  the  other 
focus  and  passing  through  that  point.  In  the  solar  system, 
the  sun  occupies  one  of  the  foci  of  the  orbits  of  all  the  plan- 
ets and  comets. 

Focus,  in  Optics,  is  the  space  into  which  the  rays  of  light 
are  collected  by  a  burning  glass  or  mirror.  On  account  of 
uie  apparent  diameter  of  the  sun's  disc,  the  solar  rays  can- 
not be  collected  into  a  single  point,  even  if  we  could  suppose 
a  lens  or  mirror  to  be  formed  into  the  perfect  shape  which 
geometry  requires  for  that  purpose.  They  cover  a  certain 
Circular  space,  which  space  is  called  the  focus ;  and  its  mag- 
nitude has  the  same  relation  to  the  apparent  diameter  of  the 
sun,  as  the  image  of  any  other  object  formed  in  the  focus  of 
the  lens  or  mirror  has  to  the  object  itself.    Let  A  C  be  a 

jj  ray  proceeding  from  the  cen- 

.  tre  of  the  sun's  disc,  and  B  C 
A  another  proceeding  from  its 
'  B  border ;  then  the  angle  L  C  M 
is  equal  to  the  apparent  semidiameter  of  the  sun,  that  is  16' ; 
and  if  we  make  the  focal  distance  LCnf,  we  have  the 
semidiameter  of  the  focus  L  M  =  /  tan.  16  .  .But  the  tan- 
gent of  16'  is  very  nearly  =  1-216 ;  therefore  the  semidi- 
ameter of  the  focal  circle  is  very  nearly  the  216th  part  of 
the  focal  distance.  Hence  we  derive  a  rule  for  finding  the 
intensity  of  the  heat  in  the  focus  of  a  burning  glass ;  since 
all  the  rays  which  fall  on  the  glass  are  collected  within  tile 
focal  circle,  the  intensity  of  the  heat  in  that  circle  is  to  the 
intensity  of  the  heat  falling  on  the  glass  in  tile  ratio  of  the 
area  of  the  glass  to  that  of  the  focal  circle.  But  circles  are 
to  each  other  as  the  squares  of  their  diameters ;  whence, 
calling  the  diameter  of  the  glass  d,  and  supposing  the  light 
falling  on  it  to  be  represented  by  unit,  the  intensity  of  the 
light  or  heat  within  the  focal  circle  is  d?  divided  by 
(1-108)2  ft ;  or  it  is  directly  proportional  to  the  square  of  the 
diameter  of  the  glass,  and  inversely  to  the  square  of  the  fo- 
cal distance.  For  a  spherical  lens,  convex  on  both  sides, 
the  diameter  of  the  focal  circle  is  one  eighth  of  the  thick- 
ness of  the  lens;  but  though  it  cannot  be  less  than  this 
quantity,  in  imperfect  glasses  it  will  considerably  exceed  it. 
See  Lens,  Burning  Glass. 

FODDER.  (Germ,  futter.)  In  Agriculture,  the  food 
given  to  quadrupeds,  which  consists  of"  the  stems  and  leaves 
of  plants,  such  as  the  culmiferous  stems  of  the  grosses,  the 
haulm  of  legumes,  potatoes,  &c. ;  or,  in  short,  whatever  is 
given  as  the  ordinary  food  is  designated  fodder;  whereas 
com,  beans,  and  other  articles,  which  present  nourishment 
in  a  more  concentrated  form,  are  not  included  under  the  term 
fodder,  but  rather  known  as  solid  food. 

Fodder,  is  the  name  of  a  weight  formerly  used  in  the 
weighing  of  lead :  it  was  of  various  magnitudes,  but  most 
common!  v  amounted  to  about  2400  lbs. 

FOE'TUS.  (Lat.  feo,  /  bring  forth.)  From  about  the 
fifth  month  after  pregnancy  till  the  period  of  its  birth,  the 
child  in  the  womb  of  its  mother  is  termed  afwtus. 

FOG.  (Dan.  fog.)  In  Meteorology,  a  dense  vapour  near 
the  surface  of  the  land  or  water.  Fogs,  in  general,  are  the 
consequence  of  the  nocturnal  cooling  of  the  atmosphere. 
The  air,  by  its  rapid  cooling,  becomes  surcharged  with  mois- 
ture ;  a  part  of  which,  being  precipitated  in  the  form  of  a 
cloud,  gives  rise  to  the  ordinary  fog.  During  the  day  the 
heat  of  the  sun  generally  disperses  the  fog,  because  the 
quantity  of  moisture  which  the  air  is  capable  of  holding  be- 
comes more  considerable  in  proportion  as  its  temperature  is 
increased. 

In  calm  weather  the  surfaces  of  rivers,  lakes,  &c.  are  fre- 
quently in  the  morning  covered  with  fog.  The  reason  is 
this.  During  the  night  the  air  is  colder  than  the  water ;  the 
strata  of  air  in  contact  with  the  water  are  consequently  heat- 
ed, and  become  saturated  with  moisture.  The  mixture  of 
the  vapour  with  the  air,  together  with  its  elevation  of  tem- 
perature, renders  the  air  specifically  lighter.  It  rises  in  con- 
sequence, and  mixing  with  the  cold  air  in  the  superior  stra- 
ta, is  cooled,  and  precipitates  its  moisture.  The  cloud  or 
fog  resulting  from  this  precipitation  can  only  rise  to  a  small 
height,  because  the  uniformity  of  temperature  is  soon  re- 
stored. Hence  it  is  easy  to  see  how  winds,  or  a  great  agi- 
tation of  the  air,  prevent  the  formation  of  fogs  over  the  sur- 
face of  water.  In  the  equinoctial  regions,  fogs  sometimes 
continue  during  a  considerable  part  of  the  year.  Humboldt 
relates  that  Lima  is  often  covered  with  a  fog  half  the  year, 
especially  in  the  mornings  and  evenings ;  and  that  along  the 
whole  of  that  eoast  fogs  supply  the  place  of  rain,  which  is 
extremely  rare.  In  the  polar  seas  thick  fogs  often  prevail, 
even  during  the  wannest  months ;  and  they  are  so  dense 
that  objects  frequently  cannot  be  distinguished  at  the  dis- 
tance of  a  few  yards. 

Sometimes,  though  rarely,  fogs  occur  of  which  the  cause 
is  not  very  well  understood.  In  1783,  the  whole  of  Europe 
was  covered  with  a  dense  fog  during  nearly  two  months. 


FONT. 

On  the  23d  of  May,  1822,  about  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
a  fog  covered  Paris  and  the  neighbourhood,  which  had  the 
odour  of  nitrous  gas ;  it  continued  about  an  hour.  Dry  fogs, 
or  those  In  which  no  moisture  is  present,  are  supposed  to  be 
the  vapours  and  ashes  ejected  by  volcanoes,  and  diffused  in 
the  atmosphere  by  the  winds. 

FOIL.  (Fr.  feuille,  or  Lat.  folium,  a  leaf.)  This  term 
is  generally  applied  to  varnished  metal.  Common  foil  is 
manufactured  as  follows:  a  copper  plate  covered  with  a 
thin  layer  of  silver,  is  rolled  out  into  sheets  under  the  flatting 
mill ;  the  silver  surface  is  then  highly  polished  or  covered 
with  a  colourless  varnish.  The  coloured  foils  are  similarly 
prepared  with  coloured  varnishes. 

FOLD.  (Sax.  fealde.)  A  temporary  enclosure  for  keep- 
ing cattle  or  other  agricultural  animals  together,  either  for 
the  purpose  of  protection  during  night,  or  jointly  for  pro- 
tection and  feeding.  Sometimes,  also,  sheep  are  folded 
for  the  purpose  of  manuring.  The  barrier  of  which  folds 
are  constructed  is  commonly  wooden  hurdles;  but  some- 
times, when  the  fold  is  only  to  contain  ewes  and  lambs, 
netting  stretched  between  posts  is  made  use  of,  there  being  a 
strong  rope  fixed  to  the  lower  parts  of  the  posts  close  to  the 
ground,  to  which  the  under  edge  of  the  netting  is  attached, 
while  its  upper  edge  is  attached  to  a  rope  stretched  along 
the  tops  of  the  same  posts.  The  practice  of  folding  sheep 
on  naked  fallows,  with  a  view  to  manuring  them,  is  still 
common  in  several  parts  of  England ;  but  the  more  im- 
proved sheep  farmers  consider  that  it  deteriorates  the  wool, 
and  impedes  the  fattening  of  the  sheep,  by  keeping  them  for 
the  greater  part  of  the  night  wholly  without  food. 

Fold.  In  Painting,  the  doubling  or  lapping  of  one  piece 
of  drapery  over  another. 

FO'LIAGE.  (Lat.  foliatus,  leaved.)  In  Architecture  and 
Sculpture,  a  group  of  leaves  of  plants  and  flowers,  so  ar- 
ranged as  to  form  architectural  or  sculptural  ornaments ;  as 
in  friezes,  panels,  and  also  in  the  capital  of  the  Corinthian 
order. 

FO'LIATE,  in  the  doctrine  of  curve  lines,  is  the  name 
given  to  a  curve  of  the  third  order,  defined  by  the  equa- 
tion x3-\-y3=a  x  y.  It  is  one  of  the  species  of  defective  hy- 
perbolas, having  one  asymptote  and  two  infinite  branches ; 
and  its  figure  has  some  resemblance  to  a  leaf,  whence  the 
name  (See  Newton's  Enumeratio  Linearum  Tertii  Or- 
dinis.) 

FO  LIA'TION.  The  manner  in  which  the  nascent  leaves 
are  arranged  within  a  leaf-bud. 

FO'LIO.  (Ital.  a  leaf),  in  Account-books,  signifies  page. 
Thus  folio  7 — written  abridgedly  fo.  7 — denotes  the  seventh 
page;  Folio  recto,  or  Fo  R°,  signifies  the  first  page;  Folio 
verso,  or  Fo  V°,  the  second  page  of  a  leaf.  A  book  in  folio, 
or  simply  a  folio,  is  that  where  the  sheet  is  only  folded  in 
two,  each  leaf  making  half  a  sheet. 

FOLI'OLUM.    A  leaflet  borne  on  the  axis  of  a  leaf. 

FO'LKMOTE,  among  our  Saxon  ancestors,  signified  any 
popular  or  public  meeting  of  all  the  folk  or  people  of  a  place 
or  district;  for  instance,  of  all  the  tenants  at  a  court  leet  or 
court  baron,  or  of  all  the  freemen  of  the  county,  or  of  all  the 
barons  of  the  kingdom.  Antiquaries  are,  however,  by  no 
means  agreed  as  to  the  nature  of  the  folkmote ;  some  con- 
sidering it  an  institution  of  great,  others  of  minor  import- 
ance. (See  Somner's  Anglo-Saxon  Dictionary ;  Brady's 
Introduction  to  Old  English  History  ;  Fabian's  Chronicles  ; 
and  Wilk.  Leg.  Anglo-Sax.) 

FOLLI'CULUS.  A  one-celled,  one  or  many  seeded  one- 
valved  superior  fruit,  dehiscent  by  a  suture  along  its  face, 
and  bearing  its  seeds  at  the  base,  or  on  each  margin  of  the 
suhire ;  differing  from  the  legumen  in  having  but  one  valve 
instead  of  two. 

This  term  has  also  other  significations,  viz.  1.  According 
to  Linnsus,  any  kind  of  capsule.  2.  The  cases  bearing  the 
reproductive  organs  of  Equisetacece.  3.  According  to  Gtert- 
ner,  a  double,  one-celled,  one-valved,  membraneous,  cori- 
aceous capsule,  dehiscing  on  the  inside,  and  either  bearing 
the  seed  on  each  margin  of  its  suture,  or  on  a  receptacle 
common  to  both  margins ;  as  Asclepias,  &c.  4.  According 
to  Willdenow,  any  oblong  pericarpium  bursting  longitudi- 
nally on  one  side,  and  filled  with  seeds;  as  Vinca. 

FO'MALHAUT.  A  star  of  the  first  magnitude  in  Piscis 
Australia. 

FOMENTATION.  Local  bathing  with  hot  water,  or 
medicated  decoctions. 

FONT.  (Lat.  fons.)  In  Architecture  and  Sculpture,  a 
vessel  generally  of  stone  or  marble  for  containing  the  water 
of  baptism  in  the  Christian  church.  Some  of  the  early 
fonts  are  extremely  beautiful,  and  wrought  with  extraordi- 
nary richness  of  decoration.  The  singular  inscription  which 
is  frequently  found  on  the  walls  of  baptisterips  occurs  also 
occasionally  on  ancient  fonts— NPFON  ANOMHMATA 
MH  MON AN  OflN ;  which  reads  equally  forwards  or 
backwards,  admonishing  the  reader  to  cleanse  himself  from 
evil  deeds  not  less  than  use  the  outward  ceremony  of  bap- 
tism. 

463 


FONTANEL. 

FO'NTANEL.  The  interstice,  or  mould,  as  it  is  often 
Called,  which  exists  at  birth  between  the  frontal  and  parie- 
tal bones  :  it  is  closed  by  bony  matter  about  the  end  of  the 
third  year. 

FOOD.  All  substances  susceptible  of  digestion  and  as- 
similation may  come  under  the  denomination  of  food  ;  but 
the  proximate  principles  of  organic  bodies  on  which  their 
nutritive  powers  depend  are  comparatively  few.  Hence, 
although  the  articles  employed  in  different  countries  for  the 
support  of  animal  life  are  almost  infinitely  various,  their  sus- 
taining powers  may  be  referred  to  certain  substances  capa- 
ble of  being  separated  and  identified  by  chemical  analysis 
and  tests.  Among  the  proximate  elements  of  vegetable  food 
gluten  and  its  modifications,  starch,  gum,  sugar,  and  lignin 
or  woody  fibre,  are  by  far  the  most  important ;  and  among 
those  of  animal  food  albumen,  gelatin,  and  their  modifica- 
tions, together  with  fats  and  oils,  which  are  common  to  both 
kingdoms  of  nature. 

To  illustrate  the  actual  simplicity  of  our  food  as  compared 
with  its  apparent  multifariousness  and  complexity,  it  may 
suffice  to  state,  that  wheat  and  almost  all  the  esculent  grains 
consist  principally  of  starch  and  gluten ;  that  the  same  in- 
gredients are  found  in  many  fruits  and  roots ;  that  sugar, 
gum,  or  a  relation  of  gum  which  is  called  vegetable  jelly, 
together  with  minute  traces  of  aromatic  principles  which 
give  flavour,  and  more  or  less  abundance  of  water,  and  of 
vegetable  acids,  are  the  chief  component  parts  of  apples, 
pears,  peaches,  currants,  gooseberries,  and  all  analogous 
tribes  of  fruits ;  a  very  few  also  contain  oil.  Then,  as  re- 
gards animal  food,  the  muscular  fibres  of  various  animals 
closely  resemble  each  other  in  composition  and  nutritive 
power ;  in  some  cases  texture  merely,  and  in  others  minute 
additions  of  foreign  matters,  Confer  upon  them  their  relative 
digestibilities,  and  their  different  aspects  and  flavours :  albu- 
men or  fibrine,  and  gelatin,  small  proportions  of  saline  bodies, 
and  a  large  quantity  of  water  are  found  in  them  all. 

It  often  happens  that  the  truly  nutritious  part  of  food  is 
so  combined  with  or  protected  by  indigestible  matters,  as  to 
escape  the  solvent  powers  of  the  stomach,  unless  previously 
prepared  and  modified  by  various  chemical  and  mechanical 
agents.  Indurated  woody  fibre,  for  instance,  or  lignin,  as 
chemists  call  it,  will  often  resist  the  joint  action  of  the  stom- 
ach and  bowels,  and  pass  through  the  alimentary  canal  with 
scarcely  any  alteration.  The  husks  of  many  seeds  and 
fruits  are  composed  almost  exclusively  of  this  material. 
This  is  the  case  with  the  kernels  of  the  apple,  pear,  &c. ;  the 
seeds  of  the  currant,  gooseberry,  melon,  and  so  on  ;  the  skin 
or  husk  of  peas,  beans,  &c,  and  of  wheat,  barley,  and  oats ; 
so  that  unless  the  woody  part  is  either  broken  down  by  the 
teeth,  or  previously  removed,  the  food  which  it  envelopes  is 
protected  from  the  solvent  action  of  the  secretions  of  the 
stomach.  This  is  in  some  respects  a  wise  and  curious  pro- 
vision in  nature ;  for  birds  in  this  way  become  the  carriers 
of  seeds,  which  pass  through  them  not  only  undigested,  but 
even  retaining  their  vegetative  powers;  and  in  this  way  un- 
inhabited and  sterile  portions  of  the  globe  may  gradually  be- 
come clothed  with  verdure,  and  shrubs  and  trees.  Bones 
are  highly  nutritive;  but  unless  broken  into  very  small 
fragments  by  the  masticatory  powers  of  the  animals  which 
eat  them,  they  too  would  elude  digestion.  In  reference, 
however,  to  the  food  of  man,  much  of  its  digestibility  and 
nutritious  power  is  referable  to  the  important  chemical  ope- 
rations preparatory  to  its  use  which  are  carried  on  in  the 
kitchen :  in  other  words,  cookery  is  essentially  a  chemical 
art ;  and  substances  totally  unfit,  in  their  raw  state,  for  re- 
ception into  the  stomach,  are  rendered  palatable,  digestible, 
and  nutritious  by  the  skill  of  the  cook.  And  here  salt,  and 
a  variety  of  condiments,  as  they  are  called,  and  which  are 
aromatic  and  stimulant  substances,  chiefly  of  vegetable  ori- 
gin, play  an  important  part ;  nor  must  the  mere  effect  of  heat 
be  overlooked,  for  it  is  most  important.  Meat,  by  boiling 
and  roasting,  is  not  only  softened  in  its  fibre,  but  new  sub- 
stances are  generated  in  it.  Among  these  a  peculiar  ex- 
tractive matter,  and  osmazome,  or  the  principle  which  gives 
an  agreeable  flavour  and  odour  to  dressed  meat,  are  especi- 
ally recognised.  Nor  are  the  changes  which  vegetables  suf- 
fer under  the  influence  of  heat  less  obvious. 

There  is  another  important  point  in  the  history  of  our 
food,  namely,  its  ultimate  composition.  We  have  spoken 
of  starch,  sugar,  gum,  albumen,  and  other  substances  as  the 
proximate  principles  upon  which  we  live ;  but  what  is  the 
ultimate  constitution  of  these  secondary  products,  what  are 
their  true  elements  ?  It  is  curious  that  four  elements  only 
are  principally  concerned  in  the  production  of  our  food. 
These  are  carbon,  hydrogen,  oxygen,  and  nitrogen.  Among 
vegetable  substances  gluten  (including  vegetable  albumen) 
is  the  only  one  which  abounds  in  nitrogen ;  gum,  sugar, 
starch,  and  the  rest  are  constituted  of  carbon,  hydrogen,  and 
oxygen  only ;  and  what  is  very  remarkable  is,  that  in  all 
these  important  principles,  and  also  in  lignin,  the  oxygen  and 
hydrogen  bear  to  each  other  the  same  relative  proportions  as 
in  water,  so  that  they  may  be  figuratively  described  as  com- 
464 


FOOD. 

pounds  of  charcoal  and  water.  Now  there  are  two  very  cu- 
rious points  in  reference  to  that  part  of  the  chemical  history 
of  our  food  which  has  been  adverted  to:  the  one  is,  that  no 
animal  can  subsist  for  any  length  of  time  upon  food  which 
is  destitute  of  nitrogen ;  and  the  other,  that  a  certain  mixture 
of  different  kinds  of  food  is  absolutely  essential.  An  animal 
fed  exclusively  on  starch,  or  sugar,  or  albumen,  or  jelly,  soon 
begins  to  suffer  in  health ;  peculiar  diseases  make  their  ap- 
pearance, and  his  existence  is  painful  and  brief;  but  mix 
these  together,  and  occasionally  modify  their  proportions, 
and  he  then  thrives  and  fattens.  Magendie's  experiments 
on  this  subject,  together  with  those  of  Tiedemann  and 
Gmelin,  well  illustrate  this  fact.  Thus,  geese  fed  upon  gum 
died  on  the  16th  day,  those  fed  upon  starch  on  the  34th,  and 
those  fed  on  boiled  white  of  egg  on  the  46th :  in  all  these 
cases  they  dwindled  away  and  died  as  if  of  starvation. 

Habit,  as  is  well  lenown,  will  do  much  in  accustoming  the 
stomach  to  particular  descriptions  of  food  ;  many  persona 
live  exclusively,  or  almost  so,  on  vegetable,  others  on  animal 
matters,  and  particular  kinds  of  diet  are  forced  on  the  inhab- 
itants of  many  regions  of  the  globe  ;  but,  as  far  as  we  are 
concerned,  a  due  mixture  of  vegetable  and  animal  matter  ia 
not  only  most  palatable,  but  most  conducive  to  health.  No- 
thing is  fit  for  food  which  has  not  already  undergone  organi- 
zation ;  and  water,  though  an  essential  part  of  the  food  of 
all  animals,  is  obviously  not  in  itself  nutritious,  though  it  per- 
forms the  extremely  important  function  of  dissolving  nutri- 
tive matter,  so  as  to  render  it  conveyable  by  the  lacteals  and 
other  absorbents  into  the  blood.  No  compound  then  of  ni- 
trogen, hydrogen,  carbon,  and  oxygen,  which  can  be  formed 
artificially,  can  constitute  food.  Air,  water,  and  charcoal, 
though  involving  the  elements  of  our  nutriment,  are  them- 
selves unfit  for  our  support ;  and  it  is  only  by  passing  through 
the  hidden  processes  which  are  carried  on  in  the  vessels  of 
living  things,  that  they  are  so  recombined  and  modified  as  to 
be  rendered  capable  of  supporting  animal  life.  It  is  the  ve- 
getable world  which  commences  this  wonderful  operation. 
Plants  absorb  their  nutriment  from  the  air  and  from  the  soil ; 
they  assimilate  inorganic  as  well  as  organic  matter;  they  be- 
come the  food  of  the  graminivorous  tribes,  and  from  these 
man  derives  the  great  bulk  of  his  animal  food. 

In  speaking  of  the  composition  of  food,  that  of  milk,  the 
most  important  of  all  food,  must  not  be  forgotten  ;  in  it  na- 
ture has  wonderfully  provided  a  mixture  which,  though  se- 
creted by  an  animal,  partakes  also  of  the  nature  of  vegetable 
food,  and  it  presents  a  perfect  analogy  to  that  combination 
of  vegetable  and  animal  matter  which  has  been  mentioned 
as  most  congenial  to  the  palate  and  stomach.  The  albumen 
or  curd  of  milk  is  a  highly  elaborated  animal  principle, 
abounding  in  nitrogen,  yet,  from  its  attenuated  and  soluble 
state,  easy  of  digestion.  A  second  principle  of  milk  is  what 
is  termed  sugar  of  milk ;  in  composition  and  properties  it 
resembles  a  vegetable  product,  and  is  intermediate  between 
gum  and  sugar.  The  third  component  of  milk  is  butter,  par- 
taking of  the  nature  of  vegetable  oil  and  animal  fat ;  there 
are  certain  saline  and  acid  substances  in  small  proportion  ; 
and  all  these  matters  are  either  dissolved  or  suspended  in  a 
large  relative  proportion  of  water. 
I.  Table  showing  the  average  quantity  of  nutritive  matter 

in  1000  parts  of  several  varieties  of  animal  and  vegetable 

food. 


Blood    .    .    . 

.    .  215 

Mutton      .    . 

.  290 

Pork      .    .    . 

.  240 

Chicken     .    . 

.  270 

Haddock    .    . 

.  180 

Sole  .... 

.  210 

.  510 

While  of  egg  . 

.  140 

Wheat 950 

Rice 880 

Barley 920 

Rye 792 

Oats 742 

Potatoes  .  .  .  .  260 
Carrots  ....  98 
Turnips     ....    42 


Beet  root  . 
Strawberries 
Pears     .    .    . 


Apples 170 

Gooseberries  .  .  .  190 
Cherries    ....  250 

Plums 290 

Apricots  .  .  .  .260 
Peaches      ....  200 

Grapes 270 

Melon 30 

Cucumber  ...  25 
Tamarind  .  .  .  340 
AlmonJs  ....  650 
Morels 896 


The  above  table  represents  the  relative  proportion  of  solid 
digestible  matter  contained  in  1000  parts  of  the  different  arti- 
cles of  food  which  are  enumerated.  When  blood,  for  in- 
stance, is  evaporated  to  dryness,  at  a  temperature  not  ex- 
ceeding 212°,  the  residue  amounts  to  215  parts  in  1000,  and 
may  be  regarded  as  almost  entirely  composed  of  digestible 
matters ;  it  consists  of  albumen  and  colouring  matter,  with 
small  proportions  of  saline  substances.  The  different  kinds 
of  meat  were  dried  in  the  same  way.  The  loss  of  weight 
during  their  desiccation  is  almost  wholly  referable  to  water ; 
and  the  dry  residue  composed  of  albumen  or  fibrine,  with 
some  gelatine,  and  perhaps  traces  of  fat  and  of  saline  mat- 
ters, represents  the  true  nutritive  value.  Upon  an  average, 
therefore,  the  nutritive  matter  in  a  pound  of  meat  is  not 
more  than  four  ounces.  This,  however,  only  applies  to  raw 
meat ;  for  when  dressed  a  considerable  portion  of  its  consti- 
tuent water  is  often  dissipated.  The  nutritive  matter  of 
wheat  is  chiefly  starch  and  gluten,  and  in  this  species  of 
grain  the  gluten  is  in  much  greater  relative  proportion  to  the 
starch  than  in  barley,  oats,  or  rye.    In  rice  there  is  little  else 


FOOLS,  FEAST  OF. 

than  starch.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  great  value 
of  wheat  as  an  article  of  food  depends  upon  this  excess  of 
gluten,  which  is  a  nitrogenous  substance,  and  has  not  inaptly 
been  termed  the  vegeto-animal  principle.  In  the  esculent 
roots,  such  as  carrots,  &c.,  but  especially  turnips,  sugar  is 
the  leading  nutritive  matter ;  and  the  common  fruits  contain 
sugar,  gum,  albuminous  matter,  and  acids,  together  with  a 
highly  attenuated  form  of  woody  fibre,  or  lignin,  which,  in 
that  state,  is  probably  digestible. 

The  following  table  shows  the  ultimate  composition  of 
those  proximate  principles  which  have  been  above  adverted 
to  as  constituting  the  nutritive  part  of  food : 
II.  Table  showing  the  ultimate  elementary  composition  of 

1000  parts  of  the  following  proximate  principles  of  animal 

and  vegetable  food. 


Carbon. 

Hydrogen. 

Oxygen. 

Nitrogen. 

516 

76 

258 

150 

4S3 

SO 

276 

161 

780 

122 

9S 

609 

73 

116 

203 

454 

61 

485 

557 

78 

220 

145 

438 

62 

500 

419 

6S 

513 

444 

62 

494 

*»  •  •  • 

500 

56 

444 

FOOLS,  FEAST  OF.  A  festival  anciently  celebrated  in 
almost  every  church  and  monastery  of  France  on  New  Years' 
Day,  in  which  every  absurdity  and  even  indecency  was  prac- 
tised. It  was  equivalent  to  the  Saturnalia  among  the  Ro- 
mans, whence  indeed  it  is  said  to  be  derived.  This  festival 
received  some  modifications  in  the  different  districts  where  it 
was  celebrated,  and  inquired  various  designations  according 
to  the  multifarious  ceremonies  of  which  it  consisted.  Thus 
it  was  termed  "  la  fete  des  diacres  =ouls,  des  cornards,  des  in- 
nocents," &c.  Several  bishops  and  councils  attempted, 
though  in  vain,  to  abolish  this  festival ;  but  at  length  about 
the  loth  century  it  became  leas  generally  observed,  and  soon 
after  fell  into  almost  total  disuse,  though  its  characteristic 
absurdities  are  still  maintained  in  the  Carnival  of  the  pti  seal 
times.  For  full  details  on  the  Feast  of  Fools  see  the  Eney- 
clopedie  des  Gens  da  Monde,  under  the  head  "  Foils  (Fete 
des),"  and  the  authorities  there  referred  to. 

FOOL'S  PARSLEY.  An  umbelliferous  plant,  common 
in  waste  ground,  and  so  called  from  its  resembling  parsley 
enough  in  appearance  to  deceive  ignorant  persons.  It  is  a 
poisonous  plant,  acting  like  hemlock  upon  the  human  sys- 
tem ;  and  is  easily  known  by  the  involucels  having  each 
three  leaflets,  which  are  always  placed  next  the  circumfer- 
ence of  the  umbel.     It  is  the  JEthusa  cynapium  of  botanists. 

FOOT.  (Germ,  fuss.)  A  measure  of  length.  As  this 
term  is  employed  in  almost  all  languages  as  a  linear  meas- 
ure, it  has  doubtless  been  derived  from  the  length  of  the  hu- 
man foot.  Thoush  the  denomination  is  the  same,  the  meas- 
ure itself  varies  considerably  in  different  European  countries. 
In  all  of  them,  however,  it  is  divided,  like  the  English  foot, 
into  twelve  equal  parts  or  inches.     See  Measures. 

Foot.  In  Prosody,  a  measure  consisting  of  two,  three,  or 
four  syllables,  long,  short,  or  long  and  short.  All  the  com- 
binations of  which  these  numbers  are  susceptible  amount  to 
twenty-eight ;  and  such  is  accordingly  the  number  of  feet 
enumerated  by  Greek  and  Latin  prosodists,  according  to  the 
following  table : 


—  w  —  ^  Ditrochaeus. 
w  —  -^  —  Diiambus. 

—  -^  «-«  —  Choriambus. 
*-> >-*  Antispastus. 

•-^  •>- Ionicus  a  minore. 

—-  —  Ionicus  a  majore. 

—  ^  w  ^  Preon  primus. 
-^  —  ^  — -  Paeon  secundus. 

—  -^  —  ^  Preon  tertius. 
--'  ^  ^  —  Preon  quartus. 

—  Epitritus  1. 
Epitritus  2. 
Epitritus  3. 
Epitritus  4. 


•  ^  Pyrrhic  h. 

Spondee. 

—  — '  Trochee 
-^  —  Iamb. 

-~^  ^  ^  Tribrachys. 

Molossus. 

—  ^w  Dactylus. 

*-  -^  —  Anaprest. 

•—  —  »-»  Amphibrachys.       — 

— "-' —  Amphimacer.  -^ 

■-' Bacchreus.  ^ 

««'  Palimbacchreus.     — 

»-■  w  w^<  Proceleusmaticus.  — 

Dispondeus.  — 

But  by  rejecting  those  which  are  merely  reduplications  of 
disyllabic  feet  (Proceleusmaticus,  Dispondeus,  Ditrochaeus, 
and  Diiambus),  the  number  is  reduced  to  twenty-four  ;  and 
by  also  striking  off  those  which  are  compounds  of  disyllabic 
feet  (Choriambus,  Antispastus,  two  Ionics,  four  Preons.  and 
four  Epitrites),  the  number  of  simple  feet  becomes  twelve 
only.     See  Rhythm. 

FOOTINGS.  In  Architecture,  the  spreading  courses  at 
the  base  or  foundation  of  a  wall. 

FO  RAGE,  in  Military  affairs,  signifies  the  provisions 
brought  by  the  troops  into  the  camp  for  the  sustenance  of 
the  army,  &c,  during  a  campaign. 

FORA'MEN.  (Lat.  foro,  I  pierce.)  In  Anatomy,  a  small 
opening.  The  foramen  ovale  is  an  opening  between  the  two 
auricles  of  the  heart  of  the  foetus,  which  closes  at  birth. 


FORCE. 

Fora'mex.  In  Botany,  the  opening  that  exists  in  the  in- 
teguments of  every  ovulum. 

FORAMI'NIFERS,  Foraminifera.  (Lat.  foramen,  fero ; 
I  bear.)  A  name  applied  by  D'Orbigny  to  a  tribe  of  minute 
shells,  which  he  believed  to  be  formed  by  Cephalopods ;  they 
are  now  proved  to  belong  to  a  lower-organized  class  of  ani- 
mals.    See  Symplectomerans. 

FORCE,  in  Mechanics,  is  that  which  produces  motion,  or 
a  change  of  motion.  Forces  may  be  of  different  kinds ;  but 
they  are  all  compared  and  measured  by  the  quantities  of  mo- 
tion which  they  respectively  produce  in  a  given  time :  in  fact, 
we  know  nothing  whatever  of  forces  excepting  through  their 
effects. 

In  order  to  determine  what  will  be  the  effect  of  a  force 
upon  any  given  mass  of  matter,  three  circumstances  respect- 
ing the  force  are  necessary  to  be  known  ;  namely,  its  inten- 
sity, the  place  where  it  acts  or  its  point  of  application,  and 
its  direction.  Its  intensity  is  proportional  to  the  space  through 
which  the  unit  of  mass  is  moved  in  the  unit  of  time  ;  there- 
fore, since  the  space  described  is  proportional  to  the  velocity 
(supposed  uniform),  if  the  mass  remains  constant  a  double 
force  will  produce  a  double  velocity ;  and  if  the  velocity  is 
constant,  a  double  mass  must  be  urged  by  a  double  force. 
Hence  the  force  of  the  body  is  proportional  to  the  mass  and 
to  the  velocity  conjointly.  Thus  let  m  and  m'  be  two  mass- 
es, or  the  quantities  of  matter  in  two  bodies,  and  v  and  v  be 
the  velocities  with  which  they  respectively  move  in  conse- 
quence of  the  two  forces  whose  intensities  are  /  and  / ' ;  then 
/  is  proportional  to  m  c,  and  /'  to  m'  v'. 

When  a  bodv  is  acted  upon  by  more  forces  than  one,  it  is 
obvious  that  it  "will  not  move  in  the  direction  or  with  the  ve- 
locity due  to  one  of  the  forces  alone,  but  in  a  direction  and 
with  a  velocity  due  to  their  collective  influence.  The  ef- 
fect produced  bv  the  joint  action  of  the  several  forces  is 
called  their  resultant ;  and  it  is  determined  both  in  magni- 
tude and  direction  by  the  following  theorem,  celebrated  un- 
der the  name  of  the  Composition  of  Force  :— "  If  the  lines 
which  each  of  two  forces  acting  singly  would  have  caused  a 
body  to  describe  in  a  given  time  make  any  angle  whatsoever 
with  one  another,  the  line  which  the  body  will  describe  in 
that  time,  when  both  the  forces  act  upon  it  at  the  same  in- 
stant, is  the  diagonal  of  the  parallelogram  under  the  two 
first-mentioned  lines."  Thus,  let  a  body  at  A  be  acted  upon 
by  two  forces  at  the  same  instant,  one  of  which,  if  acting 

alone,  would  cause  it  to  move  over  the     q^ «j 

line  A  B  in  a  given  time,  and  the  other 
acting  alone  would  cause  it  to  move 
over  the  line  A  C  in  the  same  time  ;   _ 
then  the  direction  of  the  motion  re-  A  *> 

suiting  from  the  action  of  both  forces  will  be  that  of  the  di- 
agonal A  D  of  the  parallelogram  A  B  D  C,  and  at  the  end 
of  the  given  time  the  body  will  be  found  at  D.  The  theo- 
rem may  be  derived  from  the  principle  that  the  velocity  of 
the  body  in  one  of  the  directions  is  not  changed  by  the  force 
impelling  it  in  the  other ;  but  of  this  principle  it  is  not  easy 
to  give  a  satisfactory  demonstration,  without  introducing 
considerations  drawn'from  the  resources  of  the  higher  math- 
ematics.    (See  Poisson,  Mecanique,  tome  i.) 

It  is  obvious  that  by  means  of  this  theorem  the  resultant 
of  any  number  of  forces  whatever  may  be  found ;  for  after 
finding  the  resultant  of  any  two  of  the  forces,  we  may  con- 
ceive them  to  be  removed,  and  their  resultant  substituted, 
when  the  resultant  of  this  and  the  third  force  will  be  the  re- 
sultant of  three  of  the  forces.  This  last  resultant  may  then 
be  combined  with  a  fourth  force,  and  so  on  till  the  whole  of 
the  forces  have  been  included.  This  construction  is  called 
the  polygon  of  forces. 

As  the  forces  represented  by  the  straight  lines  A  B  and  A 
C  are  compounded  into  a  single  force,  represented  in  inten- 
sity and  direction  by  A  D ;  so  any  given  force  may  be  re- 
solved into  two  others,  such  that  the  straight  lines  by  which 
they  are  represented  form  the  two  sides  of  a  parallelogram 
of  which  the  line  representing  the  given  force  is  the  diagonal. 
This  composition  and  resolution  of  forces  is  of  constant  ap- 
plication in  Mechanics. 

If  a  body  impelled  at  the  same  time  by  three  forces  re- 
main at  rest,  these  forces  are  proportional  to 
the  three  sides  of  a  triangle  formed  by  draw- 
ing straight  lines  parallel  to  their  directions. 
For.  let  the  three  forces  actios:  on  the  point 
A  be  respectively  represented  in  intensity 
and  direction  by  the  three  straight  lines  A 
B,  A  C,  A  E ;  then  by  forming  the  parallel- 
ogram A  B  D  C,  and  drawing  the  diagonal 
A  D,  we  have  the  two  forces  represented  by 
A  B  and  A  C  equal  to  the  single  force  rep- 
resented bv  A  D  and  acting  in  the  direction 
A  D.    Bui  the  point  A  is  by  hypothesis  in  r> 

equilibrium  ;  therefore  A  D  must  be  equal 
to  A  E,  and  in  the  same  straight  line  with  it ;  whence, 
since  B  D  is  equal  to  A  C,  the  three  forces  by  which  the 
point  A  is  kept  in  equilibrium  are  respectively  proportional 
F  f  465 


u 


—  F 


FORCE. 

to  the  three  sides  A  B,  B  D,  and  A  D  of  the  triangle 
ABD. 

Let  the  three  forces  be  respectively  denoted  by  P,  Q,  and 
E ;  then,  the  sides  of  a  triangle  being  proportional  to  the 
sines  of  the  opposite  angles, 

P  :  Q  :  R  :  :  sin.  A  D  B  :  sin.  D  A  B  :  sin.  A  B  D. 

But  by  reason  of  the  parallel  lines  the  angle  A  D  B  is  equal 
to  D  A  C,  and  ABD  being  the  supplement  of  C  A  B  their 
sines  are  equal ;  whence 

P  :  Q. :  R  :  :  sin.  D  A  C  :  sin.  D  A  B  :  sin.  C  A  B. 
From  this  we  infer  that  if  a  point  A  be  kept  in  equilibrium 
by  the  action  of  three  forces  P,  Q,  and  R,  each  of  these  for- 
ces is  proportional  to  the  sine  of  the  angle  formed  by  the  di- 
rection of  the  two  others.  It  is  also  a  consequence  of  this 
proposition  that  if  three  forces  be  in  equilibrium  they  must 
all  act  in  the  same  plane,  and  any  two  of  them  must  be 
greater  than  the  third. 
The  resultant  of  three  forces  X,  Y,  Z,  applied  to  the  same 
point  A  in  space,  and  severally  represented 
in  magnitude  and  direction  by  the  straight 
lines  A  B,  A  C,  A  D,  is  represented  by  A  F, 
the  diagonal  of  the  parallelepipedon,  of 
which  the  sides  are  A  B,  A  C,  and  A  D. 
—  For  the  two  forces  X  and  Y,  which  are  rep- 
_\J/  resented  by  A  B  and  A  C,  the  two  sides  of 
G  the  parallelogram  A  B  G  C  will  have  for 
their  resultant  a  force  P,  represented  by  A  G,  the  diagonal 
of  this  parallelogram.  And  because  A  D  is  equal  and  par- 
allel to  G  F,  the  figure  A  D  F  G  is  a  parallelogram  ;  and 
consequently  the  two  forces  P  and  Z,  represented  by  A  G 
and  A  D,  will  have  for  their  resultant  a  force  R,  represented 
by  A  F,  the  diagonal  of  the  parallelogram  A  D  F  G,  which 
is  also  the  diagonal  of  the  parallelepipedon. 

From  this  theorem  it  follows  that  any  force  whatever  R 
can  always  be  decomposed  into  three  others,  X,  Y,  Z,  re- 
spectively parallel  to  three  straight  lines  given  in  space,  pro- 
vided that  no  two  of  them  be  parallel  ;  and  if  each  of  the 
three  given  lines  be  at  right  angles  to  the  plane  of  the  other 
two,  and  the  angles  which  A  F  (the  direction  of  the  given 
force  R)  makes  respectively  with  A  B,  A  C,  A  D  (the  direc- 
tions of  the  forces  X,  Y,  Z)  be  denoted  by  a,  b,  c,  we  have 
then,  evidently, 

X=R  cos.  a,  Y=R  cos.  b,  Z=R  cos.  e, 
the  three  angles  a,  b,  c,  being  connected  by  the  relation 
cos.  2fl-)-C0S.  24+COS.  2c=l. 
In  those  investigations  in  mechanics  where  a  number  of 
forces  are  concerned,  it  is  usual  to  resolve  them  all  into  three 
forces  parallel  to  three  rectangular  co-ordinates  ;  when  the 
resultant  of  the  three  sets  of  rectangular  forces  will  evident- 
ly be  the  common  resultant  of  all  the  forces.    If  F,  F',  F", 
F'",  &c.  be  the  forces  ;  a,  a',  a'',  a'",  &c.  the  angles  which 
they  make  with  one  of  the  three  axes ;  b,  b\  b",  b'",  &c.  the 
angles  which  they  make  with  another  of  the  axes;  and  c, 
c',  c",  c" ,  &c.  the  angles  which  they  make  with  the  third ; 
and  X,  Y,  Z  be  the  three  rectangular  forces  which  are  the 
sums  of  the  components  of  all  the  original  forces,  F,  F',  F", 
F'",  &c. ;  then, 
X=F  cos.  a+F'  cos.  a'+F"  cos.  a"-\-¥"  cos.  a'"+&c. 
Y=F  cos.  H-F'  cos.  i'-f-F"  cos.  b"+F'"  cos.  b'"+k.c. 
Z=F  cos.  c-f-F'  cos.  e'-j-F"  cos.  c"-j-F'"  cos.  c  '  '+&-C. 
As  the  three  forces  X,  Y,  Z  are  not  situated  in  the  same 
plane,  and  can  therefore  never  be  in  equilibrium  so  long  as 
any  one  of  them  has  a  real  value,  in  order  that  the  body 
may  remain  at  rest  under  the  action  of  all  the  given  forces 
F,  F',  F",  F '",  &c,  it  is  necessarv  that  the  three  conditions 
be  fulfilled  :  namely,  X=0,  Y=0,  Z=0. 

Forces  have  different  denominations  according  to  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  act ;  thus  we  have  Accelerating  Forces, 
Central  Forces,  Parallel  Forces,  Uniform  and  Variable  For- 
ces, &c.  See  Acceleration,  Central  Force,  Pressure, 
fee. 

Accelerating  Force. — An  accelerating  force  is  that  which 
continues  to  act  upon  a  body  after  it  has  been  put  in  mo- 
tion ;  whence  the  body  moves  with  a  variable  velocity,  and, 
when  the  intensity  of  the  force  is  constant,  receives  equal 
increments  of  velocity  in  equal  intervals  of  time.  We 
have  a  familiar  example  of  an  accelerating  force  of  this 
kind  in  terrestia!  gravity,  under  the  action  of  which  heavy 
bodies  dropped  from  a  height  fall  to  the  ground  with  a  con- 
stantly accelerated  velocity. 

When  a  body  is  urged  by  an  accelerating  force,  the  rela- 
tions between  the  force,  the  velocity,  the  space  passed  over, 
and  the  time,  are  expressed  by  three  equations,  which  are 
called  the  equations  of  motion,  and  may  be  investigated  as 
follows : 

Let  t  denote  the  time  from  the  commencement  of  the 
motion,  v  the  velocity  acquired  at  the  end  of  the  time  t,  and 
a  the  space  described  by  the  moving  body.    During  an  infi- 
46C 


FORCING. 

nitely  small  time,  d  t,  the  velocity  may  be  regarded  as  uni- 
form, and  the  increment  of  the  space  in  this  time  is  d  x ; 
therefore,  since  the  space  described  by  a  uniform  velocity  is 
proportional  to  the  velocity  and  time  conjointlv,  we  have 
dx  —  vdt.     (1.) 

Let  <j>  represent  the  force  which  accelerates  the  body  at 
the  end  of  the  time  t ;  since  the  motion  may  be  regarded  as 
uniform  during  an  infinitely  small  time,  if  v  be  the  velocity 
at  the  end  of  the  time  t,  then  v  +  d  v  is  the  velocity  at  the 
end  of  the  time  t  -\-  d  t,  and  therefore  d  v  is  the  increment 
of  velocity  due  to  the  force  0  during  the  time  d  t.  Assume  F 
=  a  constant  force  which  produces  a  velocity  =  V  in  the 
portion  of  time  which  is  assumed  as  unit}'  (for  instance,  one 
second) ;  then  the  velocity  generated  by  F  in  the  time  d  t 
will  be  V  d  t.  Now,  since  <p  produces  the  velocity  d  v  in 
the  instant  of  time  d  t,  and  F  produces  the  velocity  V  d  t  in 
the  same  instant,  and  since  forces  are  proportional  to  the 
impressed  velocities,  we  have  therefore  ip  :  F  :  :  d  v  :  V  d  t. 
Now,  suppose  F  to  be  the  unit  of  force,  and  V  the  unit  of 
velocity,  and  the  proportion  becomes  tf>  :  1  :  :  d  v  :  d  t ; 
whence  d  v  =  (p  d  t.     (2.) 

Differentiating  the  equation  d  x  =  v  d  t  on  the  supposition 
that  d  t  is  constant,  and  substituting  the  resulting  value  of  d  v 
in  (2),  we  obtain  d*  x  =  <p  d  &.     (3.) 

The  three  differential  equations  now  found,  which  define 
the  motion  of  a  body  urged  by  an  accelerating  force,  are 
usually  exhibited  as  follows: 

dlx 


d  x  d  v 

V—-T-,    <p    = 


d  t 


d  t 


d  n 


On  eliminating  d  t  from  the  first  and  second,  we  obtain  a 
fourth,  r  d  v  —  <p  d  x,  which  it  is  often  convenient  to  em- 
ploy. These  equations,  which  may  be  considered  as  the 
foundation  of  the  science  of  dynamics,  are  easily  integrated 
when  the  accelerating  force  d>  is  supposed  to  be  uniform. 
Their  immediate  integrals,  taken  on  this  supposition,  give 
the  equations  of  the  motion,  in  vacuo,  of  bodies  accelerated 
by  gravity,  the  discovery  of  which  sheds  so  much  lustre  on 
the  names  of  Galileo  and  Newton.     See  Gravity. 

Laving  Force,  or  Vis  Viva,  is  a  term  frequently  used  by 
the  mathematicians  of  the  last  century  to  denote  the  action 
of  a  force  when  it  is  estimated  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be 
proportional  to  the  square  of  the  velocity.  It  has  been  sta- 
ted above  that  when  the  masses  moved  are  equal,  the  mov- 
ing forces  are  respectively  as  the  velocities.  But  the  effect 
of  a  body  in  motion  may  be  considered  under  different  as- 
pects. If  we  conceive  the  effect  to  be  measured  by  the  time 
which  elapses  before  a  resistance  of  uniform  intensity  redu- 
ces the  body  to  rest,  then  the  force  is  proportional  to  the 
velocity  simply  ;  but  if,  on  the  other  hand,  wre  conceive  the 
effect  to  be  measured  by  the  distance  passed  over  by  the 
moving  body  while  subjected  to  the  uniform  resistance,  then 
the  force  will  be  proportional  to  the  square  of  the  velocity. 
These  two  measures  may  both  be  considered  as  correct; 
and  they  are  not  inconsistent  when  rightly  understood.  A 
warm  controversy,  however,  arose  on  the  subject,  in  which 
seme  of  the  most  distinguished  mathematicians  of  the  time 
took  a  part ;  but  w  hen  the  ambiguity  arising  from  the  use 
of  the  word  force  in  different  senses  was  cleared  away, 
both  sides  were  found  to  be  in  the  right.  (See  Playfair's 
Dissertation,  F.ncy.  Brit.) 

FO'RCER.  In  Mechanics,  a  solid  piston  applied  to 
pumps  for  the  purpose  of  producing  a  constant  stream,  or 
of  raising  water  to  a  greater  height  than  it  can  be  raised  by 
the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere.     See  Pump. 

FO'RCIBLE  ENTRY  AND  DETAINER.  In  Law,  a 
species  of  offence  against  the  public  peace,  committed  by 
violently  taking  or  keeping  possession  of  lands  and  tene- 
ments with  menaces,  arms,  and  force,  and  without  authority 
of  law,  to  the  hinderance  of  him  who  has  right  of  entry. 
The  remedy  is,  under  several  statutes,  by  action :  by  the 
intervention  of  justices  of  the  peace,  who  have  power,  on 
view  of  the  force,  to  make  a  record  of  it,  and  commit  the 
offender. 

FO'RCING.  In  Horticulture,  the  art  of  accelerating  the 
growth  of  plants,  so  as  to  obtain  fruits  or  flowers  at  seasons 
when  they  are  not  produced  naturally  in  the  open  air.  The 
practice  appears  to  be  as  old  as  the  Romans ;  since  Pliny 
informs  us  that  Tiberius,  who  was  fond  of  cucumbers, 
forced  them  to  bear  fruit  in  the  winter  time  by  growing  the 
plants  in  boxes  kept  in  houses  with  talc  windows,  which 
boxes  were  wheeled  out  during  fine  days,  and  always  taken 
into  the  house  again  at  night  or  in  cold  weather.  From 
some  epigrams  of  Martial  it  has  been  thought  that  the  Ro- 
mans had  both  vineries  and  peach-houses ;  talc  (lapis  spec- 
ularius)  being  used  instead  of  glass.  In  England,  forcing 
appears  to  have  been  practised  from  a  very  early  period ; 
radishes  having  been  raised  on  dung  beds,  covered  during 
night  by  wheat  straw,  from  time  immemorial,  and  cherries 
having  been  forced  on  wooden  walls  or  boarded  espalier 
rails,  heated  by  linings  of  hot  dung  at  the  back,  at  least 
from  the  time  of  Charles  II.,  and  probably  long  before, 


FORCING-PUMP. 

since  it  is  certain  that  melons  and  cucumbers  were  grown  at 
Hampton  Court  for  the  royal  table  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII. 
At  the  present  time  forcing  is  carried  on  in  Britain,  and  in 
analogous  climates  throughout  Europe  and  North  America, 
chiefly  under  glass  roofs.  Structures  for  forcing  are  known, 
as  frames,  pits,  and  houses,  all  of  which  have  glass  roofs ; 
but  there  are  also  structures  for  forcing  without  glass  roofs, 
such  as  cellars  and  sheds  for  growing  mushrooms  in  the 
winter  season ;  and  also  seakale,  rhubarb,  blanched  succory, 
and  such  other  stalks  or  leaves  of  plants  as  are  eaten  in  a 
blanched  state,  and  consequently  do  not  require  much  light. 
The  art  of  forcing  plants  must  never  be  confounded  with  the 
art  of  growing  them  in  artificial  climates,  though  in  both 
cases  the  principles  by  which  the  gardener  proceeds  are  es- 
sentially the  same ;  viz.,  the  art  of  imitating  nature.  The 
chief  difficulty  of  accomplishing  this  in  forcing  is  the  want 
of  light;  and  hence  the  earlier  in  the  season  that  any  forced 
crop  is  produced,  the  greater  is  its  deficiency  in  colour  and 
flavour.  Gentle  forcing,  so  as,  as  it  were,  to  anticipate 
spring,  and  bring  fruits  so  far  forward  as  to  enable  them  to 
profit  from  the  full  influence  of  the  sun  during  our  short 
summers,  may  be  considered  as  a  real  advantage,  which  will 
never  cease  to  be  sought  for ;  and  as  a  case  in  point  we  will 
mention  the  grape,  the  fruit  of  which  is  never  brought  to  per- 
fection in  this  country  unless  the  plants  have  been  partially 
forced.  To  force,  in  any  country,  the  fruits  which  come  to 
perfection  in  the  open  air  in  that  country,  such  as  the  apple, 
pear,  cherry,  gooseberry,  &c,  in  Britain,  and  analogous  cli- 
mates on  the  Continent,  can  only  be  considered  as  a  luxuri- 
ous waste  of  wealth,  which  would  be  more  elegantly  and 
usefully  expended  in  forcing  the  fruits  or  in  growing  the 
flowers  of  warm  climates,  which  can  only  be  brought  to  per- 
fection in  this  country  under  glass.  Even  this  kind  of  for- 
cing is  open  to  criticism,  on  what  may  be  called  the  greatest 
enjoyment  principle.  For  example,  there  are  certain  fruits, 
such  as  the  mango,  the  dourion,  mangosteen,  &c,  which 
could  only  be  grown  in  this  country  at  an  enormous  expense, 
and  probably  when  grown  would  not  be  worth  eating ;  while 
there  are  certain  other  fruits,  such  as  the  pineapple  and  the 
banana,  which  can  be  grown  in  this  country  at  a  moderate 
expense  to  almost  as  great  a  degree  of  perfection  as  in  tin  ir 
native  climate.  To  attempt  growing  the  former  kind  of  frail 
merely  for  the  sake  of  overcoming  the  difficulty  of  doing  so, 
we  hold  to  be  in  bad  tas!e  ;  though  we  allow  that  some  good 
might  result  from  it  to  horticultural  science,  by  calling  forth 
the  skill  and  ingenuity  of  gardeners:  this,  indeed,  may  be 
considered  as  the  only  permanent  benefit  which  will  he  pro- 
duced by  forcing.  With  the  progress  of  intercommunication 
by  means  of  steam  and  railways,  it  seems  highly  probable 
that  the  fruits  of  warm  climates  will  cease  altogether  to  lie 
cultivated  in  cold  climates ;  with  the  exception  of  some,  such 
as  the  cucumber,  melon,  banana,  fig,  &c,  which  require  to 
be  eaten  when  freshly  gathered.  Even  at  the  present  time, 
with  the  comparatively  imperfect  communication  which  ex- 
ists between  this  country  and  the  south  of  Spain  and  the 
West  Indies,  there  is  no  reason  why  we  should  not  be  sup- 
plied with  pines,  grapes,  and  oranges  throughout  the  year. 
The  hot-houses  of  gardens  will  then  be  chiefly  employed  for 
the  culture  of  exotic  flowers  and  exotic  plants  of  curiosity. 

FORCING  PUMP.     See  Pump. 

FORE.  The  sea  term  for  the  part  of  the  ship  near  the 
head. 

FORE  AND  AFT,  implies  lying  in  the  direction  of  the 
head  and  stern  ;  also,  the  whole  of  the  vessel  generally. 

FORECASTLE.  The  upper  deck  near  the  head  ;  this 
was  formerly  much  raised,  hence  the  name. 

FO'REFOOT.  A  piece  of  limber  at  the  fore  extremity  of 
the  keel. 

FO  RELAND.  In  Fortification,  a  piece  of  ground  be- 
tween the  wall  of  a  place  and  the  moat.  Foreland  is  also 
used  synonymously  with  promontory,  cape,  headland,  &c, 
as  the  North  Foreland  in  Kent. 

FORESHO'RTENING.  In  Painting,  the  representation 
of  any  object  presented  obliquely  to  the  eye. 

FO'REST.  (In  Germ,  forst,  from  whence  our  word  is 
probably  derived,  although  the  ultimate  etymology  is  un- 
known. The  Saxon  word  hurst,  with  which  the  names  of 
so  many  places  in  the  south  of  England  terminate,  has  prob- 
ably the  same  origin.  In  the  primitive  meaning  of  the  word 
it  probably  signified  an  enclosed  space,  from  which  intruders 
were  excluded :  hence  some  have  derived  it  from  the  Latin 
forts.)  An  extensive  surface  covered  naturally  by  trees  and 
undergrowth ;  as  opposed  to  a  plantation,  which  has  been 
made  by  art.  In  former  times  the  greater  part  of  every 
country  in  the  temperate  parts  of  Europe  was  undoubtedly 
covered  with  forest;  and  these,  by  nourishing  wild  animals 
of  every  description,  particularly  wild  swine,  afforded  a 
principal  part  of  the  food  of  man.  With  civilization,  how- 
ever, they  gradually  disappeared  before  the  spread  of  exten- 
sive pastures  or  arable  land.  In  every  country  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  forests  belonged  to  the  government,  and  formed  a 
main  source  of  its  revenue.    This  is  still  the  case  in  France 


FORFEITURE. 

and  Germany,  and  till  lately  it  was  also  the  case  to  a  certain 
extent  in  Britain.  Hence  extensive  tracts  in  England  still 
bear  the  name  of  forest,  though  they  are  now  in  a  state  of 
cultivation,  and  in  a  great  measure  without  trees.  Many 
ancient  laws  and  customs  are  recorded  in  books  respecting 
the  forests  of  the  crown ;  but  at  present,  as  there  are  only 
three  or  four  government  forests  in  Great  Britain,  these  laws 
and  customs  are  of  very  little  consequence,  excepting  to 
those  living  in  their  immediate  neighbourhood. 

Many  of  the  spots  which  in  England  bear  the  name  of 
forest  have  no  appearance  of  having  been  covered  with 
trees  at  any  period  since  Britain  became  inhabited.  The 
English  forests  (with  the  exception  of  the  New  Forest,  of 
which  the  history  is  well  known)  are,  however,  so  ancient 
that  we  possess  no  record  of  their  origin.  Their  number  has 
been  reckoned  at  68 ;  another  enumeration  extends  them  to 
76,  but  some  of  these  are  propably  only  parts  of  the  same 
forest  with  different  names.  A  forest  is  created  by  the  king, 
by  a  commission  issued  out  of  the  Court  of  Chancery ;  and, 
when  its  laws  and  ordinances  have  been  framed  and  officers 
appointed,  it  becomes  a  forest  by  matter  of  record.  Forests 
are  grantable  to  subjects;  but  Savernake  Forest  in  Wilt- 
shire, held  by  the  Marquis  of  Aylesbury,  is,  we  believe,  at 
present  the  only  instance.  By  the  ancient  forest  laws,  the 
Courts  of  the  Forest  were— 1."  The  Justice  Seat ;  a  court'of 
justice  in  eyre  of  the  forest,  held  every  third  year  to  take 
cognizance  of  trespasses,  pleas,  and  causes.  (The  last  jus- 
tice seat  held  in  England  for  any  other  than  mere  formal 
business  was  for  Windsor  Forest  in  1632.)  2.  The  Swain- 
Mote,  or  meeting  otfreeholders  of  the  forest,  held  to  receive 
and  try  presentments  against  offences  in  matters  connected 
with  the  forest  laws  (in  vert  and  venison) ;  which  present- 
ments, 3.  The  Wood-Mote  was  held  every  forty  days  to  re- 
ceive and  inquire  into,  but  not  to  try.  The  principal  officers 
of  the  forest  were,  its  two  justices  in  eyre,  warden,  regarders, 
foresters,  rangers,  &c. ;  some  of  which  are  still  retained. 
The  forest  laws  are  of  early  date  in  England ;  those  of  King 
Canute  are  the  earliest  preserved.  Under  the  first  reigns  af- 
ter the  Conquest  their  severity  went  on  gradually  increasing, 
and  formed  one  of  the  chief  oppressions  under  which  the 
English  suffered.  But  in  1224  the  Carta  de  Foresta,  granted 
by  Henrv  III.,  fixed  the  limit  of  these  aggressions.  The  cap- 
ital punishments  and  mutilations  of  the  former  laws  were 
rendered  commutable  for  fines,  and  the  king  assented  to  a 
new  perambulation  of  the  forests;  at  which  time,  and  sub- 
sequently, portions  which  had  been  illegally  armexed  to  for- 
ests were  disafforested.  These  portions  are  called  Purlieus. 
In  1297,  this  charter  was  fully  confirmed  by  Edward  I.  For 
mi  account  of  the  evisting  forests  of  this  country,  see  Statis- 
tic* of  the  British  Empire. 

FO'RE- STAFF.  A  rude  instrument,  formerly  used  at 
sea  for  taking  altitudes;  and  so  called  because,  in  using  it, 
the  observer  turns  his  face  to  the  object,  instead  of  turning 
bis  back  to  the  object,  as  is  necessary  in  using  the  back-staff. 
Both  these  instruments  have  been  superseded  bv  the  sextant. 

FORESTA  LLING  THE  MARKET,  in  Law,  is  defined 
to  be  the  buying  up  or  bargaining  for  goods  on  their  way  to 
the  market,  in  order  to  dispose  of  them  at  a  higher  price. 
But  all  mercantile  practices  having  a  tendency  to  enhance 
the  common  price,  have  been,  by  a  very  sweeping  intend- 
ment of  the  law,  included  within  the  same  description. 
Forestalled  are  usually  classed  with  ingrossers  (those  who 
buy  up  their  commodities  to  retail),  and  regraters  (said  to  be 
derived  from  Fr.  regratter,  to  scrape  over  again,  from  frauds 
practised  in  the  dressing  or  scraping  of  second-hand  cloth  to 
sell  again).  Severe  statutes  have  been  passed  at  different 
times,  from  5  &  6  Ed.  5,  downwards,  against  this  alleged 
offence.  They  were  all  repealed  by  12  G.  3,  c.  71.  But  it 
is  saiil  that  the  offence  at  common  law  still  exists;  nor  was 
it  until  1827  (7  &  8  G.  4,  c.  38)  that  constables  were  express- 
ly relieved  from  the  (obsolete)  duty  of  making  presentments 
of  forestallers  at  the  quarter  sessions.  Although  acts  of  this 
description  have  ceased  to  be  subjects  of  criminal  prosecu- 
tion, it  cannot  be  said  that  the  public  prejudice  against 
them  is  yet  wom  out;  although  it  is  easily  understood,  and 
has  been  often  proved,  that  in  no  way  can  the  market  for 
most  commodities  be  rendered  steady,  the  purchaser  protect- 
ed from  the  injurious  consequences  of  excessive  deamess, 
and  the  seller  from  those  of  glut  and  over-cheapne=s,  as  by 
the  intervention  of  an  intermediate  body  of  wholesale  deal- 
ers between  the  former  and  the  latter. 

FO'RFEITURE  (Lat.  forisfacrura,  expulsion  or  outlawry), 
has  been  defined  to  be  a  punishment  annexed  by  law  to 
some  illegal  act  or  necligence  in  the  owner  of  real  property, 
wherebv  he  loses  all  his  interest  therein,  and  thev  go  to  the 
party  injured  as  a  recompense  for  the  wrorg  which  either 
he  alone  or  the  public  with  him  hath  sustained.  Forfeiture 
is  either  civil  or  criminal.  Civil  forfeiture  takes  place  when 
some  alienation  is  made  contrary  to  law,  as  in  mortmain  ;  or 
when  a  particular  tenant  alienes  for  a  larger  estite  than  he 
himself  hath,  as  when  tenant  for  life  makes  a  enveyauce 
in  fee.    Forfeiture  for  criminal  causes  takes  place  in  treason 

467 


FORFICULA. 

or  felony,  and  for  one  or  two  other  offences.  After  judg- 
ment has  been  given,  and  the  guilty  party  is  said  to  be  at- 
tainted, the  forfeiture  has  a  retrospective  operation  to  the 
time  when  the  offence  was  committed,  so  as  to  invalidate  all 
sales  and  incumbrances  that  may  have  been  effected  since 
that  time.  Except  in  treason  or  murder,  the  forfeiture  is 
only  for  the  life  of  the  offender;  in  treason  and  murder, 
however,  the  forfeiture  extends  to  the  disinherison  of  the 
heir. 

FORFI'CULA.  (Lat.  forfex,  pincers.)  A  Linnsean  ge- 
nus of  insects,  now  forming  a  distinct  order,  Dermaptera 
(which  see),  and  comprehending  the  subgenera  Labidura, 
Labia,  Chclidura,  and  Forficula  proper,  of  which  the  labours 
of  modern  entomologists  have  made  known  numerous  spe- 
cies; the  common  earwig  (Forficula  auricularia)  is  the  type 
of  this  group  of  insects. 

FORGE.  (Fr.)  The  workshop  in  which  iron  is  ham- 
mered and  shaped  by  the  aid  of  heat.  The  term  is  gener- 
ally applied  to  the  places  in  which  these  operations  are 
carried  on  upon  the  comparatively  small  scale ;  the  great 
workshops  in  which  iron  is  made  malleable  for  general  pur- 
poses being  called  a  shingling-  mill.  A  common  forge  con- 
sists of  the  hearth  or  fireplace,  which  is  merely  a  cavity  in 
masonry  or  brickwork  well  lined  with  fine  clay  or  brick, 
upon  which  the  ignited  fuel  is  placed,  and  upon  the  back  or 
side  of  which  a  powerful  blast  of  air  is  driven  in  through 
the  nozzle  of  a  double-blasted  bellows,  which,  in  a  common 
forge,  is  generally  worked  by  a  hand  lever.  Forges  are 
sometimes  constmcted  so  as  to  be  portable,  when  the  bellows 
is  most  conveniently  placed  under  the  hearth:  these  are 
used  in  ships,  and  for  various  jobs  on  railways,  &c. 

FO'RGERY,  in  Law,  is  defined  to  be  the  fraudulent  ma- 
king or  alteration  of  any  record,  deed,  writing,  instrument, 
register,  stamp,  &c.,  to  the  prejudice  of  another  man's  right. 
The  statutes  respecting  this  offence  were  consolidated  by  the 
act  of  1830  (11  G.  4,  and  1  W.  4,  c.  66),  which  also,  after 
long  and  reiterated  discussions,  finally  abolished  the  punish- 
ment of  death  in  all  cases,  except  for  the  forgery  of  wills 
and  bills  of  exchange.  This  last  remnant  of  the  ancient 
code  was  finally  removed  in  1832  and  1837  by  the  statute  2 
&  3  W.  4,  c.  123,  and  1  Vict.,  c.  84,  by  which  the  present 
punishments  are  fixed ;  varying  from  imprisonment  for  vari- 
ous terms  to  transportation  for  life,  according  to  the  classifi- 
cation of  the  offences  comprehended  under  this  general  title. 

According  to  a  return  contained  in  the  report  of  the  Con- 
stabulary Force  Commission,  1839,  the  number  of  persons 
convicted  of  forging  and  uttering  forged  notes  amounted  to 
104  in  1816,  from  whence  it  increased  to  352  in  1820,  fell  to 
134  in  1821,  and  since  that  time  has  diminished  to  a  very 
small  amount.  The  number  of  executions  in  1812  was  23, 
in  1818  (the  greatest)  24.  The  last  execution  for  forgery 
took  place  in  1829. 

FORLO'RN  HOPE,  in  Military  affairs,  signifies  certain 
men  detached  from  several  regiments  or  otherwise  appoint- 
ed to  assume  the  initiative  in  an  engagement ;  or,  at  a  siege, 
to  storm  the  counterscarp,  mount  the  breach,  &c.  They 
are  so  called  from  the  great  danger  to  which  they  are  inev- 
itably exposed  in  such  cases. 

FORM.  (Lat.  forma.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  the  bounding 
line  of  a  material  object.  In  Painting,  the  word  is  more 
generally  applied  to  the  human  form.     See  Beauty. 

FORMA'TION.  A  geological  term,  applied  to  a  group 
of  deposites  or  strata  apparently  referable  to  a  common  ori- 
gin or  period. 

FO'RMEDON.  In  Law,  a  writ  in  the  nature  of  a  writ 
of  right,  which  lies  for  him  who  has  right  to  lands  or  tene- 
ments by  virtue  of  an  entail.  (Sec  Fee  Tail.)  Formedon 
is  in  the  descender,  the  remainder,  or  the  reverter,  according 
to  the  estate  of  the  party  who  sues. 

FORMI'CA.  (Lat.  an  ant.)  A  Linnsean  genus  of  insects, 
now  the  type  of  a  very  numerous  and  extensively  distributed 
family  (Formicidm),  belonging  to  the  order  Hymenoptera, 
and  to  that  section  which  is  negatively  characterized  by  not. 
being  armed  with  a  sting,  and  by  not  possessing  any  instru- 
ment for  piercing  the  bodies  of  animals,  or  the  substance  of 
plants,  for  the  purpose  of  oviposition. 

The  procreative  economy  of  these  well-known  and  most 
interesting  insects  is  that  to  which  all  their  wonderful  habits 
and  peculiarities  are  essentially  related ;  and  among  those 
genera  which  the  wisdom  of  Providence  has  ordained  should 
form  associations  for  the  purpose  of  multiplying,  preserving, 
and  providing  for  their  kind,  the  ants  stand  in  a  prominent 
and  interesting  rank,  whether  viewed  as  presenting  some  of 
the  higher  traits  of  animal  instinct,  or  as  a  living  evidence 
of  an  all-wise  Intelligence,  whose  mute  but  incontrovertible 
orders  are  thus  so  implicitly  and  cheerfully  obeyed. 

In  every  species  of  insect  the  parents  are  relieved  from 
the  charge  of  providing  for  their  offspring:  they  neither  at- 
tend to  their  wants,  nor  defend  them  from  harm  in  their 
immature  and  helpless  state ;  and  this,  not  from  any  defi- 
ciency of  natural  attachment,  but  from  the  brief  period  of 
their  existence  after  having  attained  the  state  of  maturity 
468 


FORMICA. 

adapted  for  procreation ;  for  at  the  close  of  this  season  the 
male  generally  dies  before  the  eggs  which  he  has  impregna- 
ted are  excluded ;  and  the  female,  whose  last  care  has  been 
to  select  a  proper  place  for  their  development,  soon  dies  af- 
ter oviposition. 

In  the  instincts  and  habits  of  which  we  are  about  to  give 
a  brief  notice,  the  exception  to  the  above  rule  is  more  appa- 
rent than  real ;  for  the  individuals  which  manifest  the  feel- 
ings and  discharge,  the  duties  of  the  mother,  are  but  foster- 
parents,  and  consist  of  females  with  undeveloped  ovaria,  and 
which  are  consequently  unprolific,  and  are  termed  neuters. 
The  males  perish,  and  are  destroyed  by  the  neuters  soon 
after  having  fulfilled  their  office ;  the  prolific  females,  upon 
whom,  on  the  contrary,  the  cares  and  affections  of  the  neu- 
ters or  workers  are  abundantly  lavished,  die  soon  after  the 
ova  are  matured  and  excluded.  This  apparently  threefold 
distinction  of  sex  is  peculiar  to  gregarious  insects,  as  bees  and 
ants. 

Our  intelligent  countryman  Gould  describes  five  species  of 
English  ants;  viz.,  1.  The  hill  ant  (Formica  rufa,  Linn.); 
2.  The  jet  ant  (F.  fuliginosa,  Latr.)  ;  3.  The  red  ant  (Myr- 
mica  rubra,  Latr.  ;  Formica,  Linn.) ;  4.  The  common  yellow 
ant  (F.flava,  Latr.)  ;  and,  5.  The  small  black  ant  (Formica 
fusca,  Linn.). 

In  incipient  societies  of  ants,  as  well  as  humble-bees  (Bombi, 
Latr.)  and  wasps  (Vespa,  Linn.),  one  female  lays  the  foun- 
dation of  the  future  colony,  and  the  first  brood  which  is 
hatched  is  very  small.  The  larva,  when  first  hatched,  are 
hairy,  and  continue  in  the  larva  state  twelve  months  or  more. 

The  larva  of  the  red  ant  do  not,  as  other  ants  do,  spin  a 
cocoon  when  they  assume  the  pupa  state.  The  societies  of 
ants,  as  also  of  other  Hymenoptera,  differ  from  those  of  the 
Termites,  or  white  ants,  in  having  inactive  larvae  and  pupae, 
the  neuters  or  workers  combining  in  themselves  the  office 
of  nurses,  soldiers,  and  attendants.  These  undeveloped 
females  never  acquire  wings.  The  female  ants  are  furnish- 
ed, at  their  first  exclusion,  with  two  pair  of  wings,  which, 
after  swarming  in  concourse  with  the  males,  they  almost 
immediately  cast.  The  office  of  the  perfect  or  winged  fe- 
male is  to  provide  a  constant  supply  of  eggs  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  population.  These  are  usually  the  least 
numerous  part  of  the  community.  The  office  of  the  males 
(which  are  also  winged  during  the  time  of  swarming,  and 
are  extremely  numerous)  is  merely  the  propagation  of  the 
species ;  after  the  season  for  this  is  past,  they  die.  Some- 
times the  swarms  of  a  whole  district  unite  their  infinite 
myriads,  and,  seen  at  a  distance,  produce  a  beautiful  and 
curious  effect,  from  the  glancing  of  their  silvery  wings.  The 
males  and  females  quit  the  nests,  their  nursing  places,  about 
the  end  of  July,  or  later,  to  the  beginning  or  middle  of 
September.  The  commotion  which  these  winged  individuals 
create  in  the  nests,  before  they  issue  forth  to  fulfil  their 
proper  functions,  is  excessive.  The  whole  swarm,  when  un- 
housed, alternately  rises  and  falls  with  a  slow  movement  to 
the  height  of  about  ten  feet,  the  males  flying  obliquely,  with 
a  rapid  zigzag  motion,  and  the  females,  though  they  follow 
the  general  movement  of  the  column,  appearing  suspended 
in  the  air,  like  balloons,  seemingly  with  no  individual  motion, 
and  having  their  heads  turned  towards  the  wind. 

The  noise  emitted  by  countless  myriads  of  these  insects 
does  not,  however,  exceed  the  hum  of  a  single  wasp ;  for 
their  wings  are  weak,  and  bend  to  the  wind,  which  carries 
the  swarm  irresistibly  along.  All  the  males,  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  females,  are  destroyed  by  becoming  the  prey  of 
birds  and  fish,  and  other  insectivorous  creatures  ;  for  the 
loss  of  their  wings,  only  lent  them  till  the  swarming  season 
be  past,  renders  them  the  most  helpless  and  inactive  beings, 
and  they  fall  into  the  water  in  shoals,  as  well  as  bestrew 
the  land.  Dr.  Bromley,  while  surgeon  of  the  ship  Clorinde, 
witnessed  a  scene  which  will  give  some  idea  of  the  multi- 
tudes of  these  insects  which  fall  a  prey  to  fishes  alone. 

"In  September  1814,"  he  observes,  "being  on  the  deck 
of  the  hidk  of  the  Clorinde,  my  attention  was  drawn  to  the 
water  by  the  first  lieutenant  (since  Captain)  Haverfield, 
observing  there  was  something  black  floating  down  with 
the  tide.  On  looking  with  a  glass,  I  discovered  they  were 
insects.  The  boat  was  sent,  and  brought  a  bucket  full  of 
them  on  board.  They  proved  to  be  a  large  species  of  ant, 
and  extended  from  the  upper  part  of  Salt  Pan  Reach  out 
towards  the  Great  Nore,  a  distance  of  five  or  six  miles.  The 
column  appeared  to  be  in  breadth  eight  or  ten  feet,  and  in 
height  about  six  inches,  which  I  suppose  must  have  been 
from  their  resting  one  upon  another." 

These  ants  were  winged,  so  that  they  had  probably  beeu 
driven  into  the  water  by  violent  weather.  When  impreg- 
nation has  taken  place,  the  females  alight,  and  then  the 
neuters  have  been  seen  to  seize  and  make  prisoners  of  them, 
hanging  upon  their  legs  to  detain  them  ;  leading  them  back 
to  the  formicary,  and  never  quitting  them  till  they  are  ready 
to  lay  their  eggs,  or  become  reconciled  to  state  imprisonment, 
for  such  it  really  appears  to  be.  They  pay  every  attention 
to  the  royal  prisoner's  wante  or  comforts,  leading  her  to  the 


FORMICA. 


most  genial  spots  in  the  nest,  and  regularly  feeding  her ;  but 
all  this  under  a  body  guard,  which,  a.s  her  powers  of  loco- 
motion become  impeded  by  the  enlargement  of  the  ovaria,  is 
gradually  reduced  to  one  sentinel,  who  is  constantly  relieved. 
The  situation  of  this  attendant  is  remarkable,  being  mounted 
on  the  queen-mother's  body  ;  and  its  office  seems  to  be  that 
of  waiting  till  the  eggs  are  produced,  when  it  seizes  and 
carries  them  off  to  the  nurseries,  or  cells,  prepared  for  this 
purpose.  One  of  these  queen  ants  will  lay  upwards  of  four 
or  live  thousand  eggs  in  a  year. 

Gould  gives  an  amusing  account  of  the  homage  paid  to 
the  fertile  mother  of  the  future  colony  by  the  working  ants. 
They  will  press  round  her,  offer  her  food,  conduct  her  by 
her  mandibles  through  the  difficult  or  steep  passages  of  the 
formicary:  they  even  carry  her  about  their  city.  She  is 
then  suspended  upon  their  jaws,  the  ends  of  which  are 
crossed,  and,  being  coiled  up,  she  is  packed  so  close  as  to 
incommode  the  bearers  but  little.  When  she  is  alighted, 
others  surround  and  carress  her,  one  after  another  tapping 
her  on  the  head  with  their  antennte.  They  have  a  particu- 
lar way  of  skipping,  leaping,  and  standing  upon  their  hind 
legs,  and  prancing  with  each  other.  These  frolics  they 
make  use  of  in  congratulation  when  they  meet,  and  to  show 
their  regard  for  their  queen.  Some  of  them  gently  walk 
over  her,  others  dance  round  her,  and  if  separated  from  her 
will  soon  collect  in  a  body  and  enclose  her  in  the  midst. 
When  she  dies,  they  have  been  known  to  pay  her  the  same 
attentions  for  months,  and  to  brush  and  lick  her  continually. 
Different  species  vary  in  their  instincts,  which  produces 
some  variation  in  their  domestic  proceedings,  but  the  general 
line  of  conduct  is  the  same  throughout.  In  some  nests 
several  female  ants  have  been  known  to  live  together  on 
amicable  terms,  showing  none  of  the  spirit  of  exclusive 
rivalry  so  observable  in  the  queen  bee.  Of  all  insects  the 
ants  seem  to  have  the  most  perfect  mode  of  communicating 
with  each  other.  On  this  curious  subject,  the  learned  en- 
tomologists Kirby  and  Spence  thus  express  themselves : — 
"The  fact  being  certain  that  ants  impart  their  ideas  to  each 
other,  we  are  next  led  to  inquire  by  what  means  this  is  ac- 
complished. It  does  not  appear  that,  like  the  bees,  they 
omit  any  significative  sounds;  their  language,  therefore, 
must  consist  of  signs  or  gestures,  some  of  which  I  shall  now 
detail.  In  communicating  their  fear  or  expressing  tin  ir  an- 
ger, they  ran  from  one  to  another  in  a  semicircle,  and  strike 
with  their  head  or  jaws  the  trunk  or  abdomen  of  the  ant  to 
which  they  mean  to  give  information  of  any  subject  of 
alarm.  But  those  remarkable  organs,  their  antenna;,  are 
the  principal  instruments  of  their  speech,  if  it  may  be  so 
called,  supplying  the  place  both  of  voice  and  words.  When 
the  military  ants  before  alluded  to  go  upon  their  expeditions, 
and  are  out  of  the  formicary,  previously  to  setting  oil'  they 
touch  each  other  on  the  trunk  with  their  antenna;  and  fore- 
head :  this  is  the  signal  for  marching ;  for,  as  soon  as  any 
one  has  received  it,  he  is  immediately  in  motion.  If  a  hun- 
gry ant  wants  to  be  fed,  it  touches  with  its  two  antennie, 
moving  them  very  rapidly,  those  of  the  individual  from 
which  it  expects  its  meal.  The  helpless  larva1,  also,  of  the 
ants  are  informed  by  the  same  means  when  they  may  open 
their  mouths  to  receive  their  food.  Whether  ants,  with 
man  and  some  of  the  larger  animals,  experience  anything 
like  attachment  to  individuals,  is  not  easily  ascertained  ;  but 
that  they  act  as  if  they  felt  the  full  force  of  the  sentiment 
which  we  tern)  patriotism,  or  the  love  of  the  community  to 
which  they  belong,  is  evident  from  the  whole  series  of  their 
proceedings.  Distress  or  difficulty  falling  upon  any  member 
of  their  society,  generally  excites  their  sympathy,  and  they 
do  their  utmost  to  relieve  it." 

The  attachment  of  the  neuteurs  is  continued  to  the  off- 
spring of  the  perfect  female  through  the  states  of  ova,  larva, 
and  pupa,  and  even  increases  at  each  progressive  stage ; 
their  greatest  cares  are  lavished  on  the  cocoon,  which  they 
may  be  seen  bringing  out  into  the  air  in  fine  weather,  and 
carrying  back  again  into  the  nest  when  the  heat  is  too  great, 
or  on  the  approach  of  rain,  of  which  they  have  an  instinctive 
knowledge.  It  is  the  cocoons,  also,  which  are  the  first  ob- 
jects of  their  solicitude  when  the  formicary  is  broken  in 
upon  ;  and  although  the  cocoon  is  double  the  size  of  the 
neuter  itself,  yet  it  bears  it  away  with  an  agility  which  shows 
that  the  weight  is  no  incumbrance. 

The  combats  between  the  ants  of  neighbouring  communi- 
ties are  generally  caused  by  the  instinctive  fondness  which 
the  workers  have  for  the  cocoons,  and  which  they  cannot 
see  without  attempting  to  appropriate  it  as  an  object  of  care 
and  attention.  In  their  battles  they  fight  with  fierceness 
and  obstinacy,  sometimes  carrying  off  the  head  of  the  van- 
quished upon  Iheir  antenna;,  like  an  American  Indian  who 
bears  his  enemy's  scalp  about  his  neck  as  a  trophy ;  not  that 
the  ant  warrior  voluntarily  carries  this  troublesome  proof  of 
his  valour,  for  he  woidd  willingly  be  rid  of  such  an  incum- 
brance, but  ibis  is  seldom  the  case  while  he  lives. 

The  males  and  females  never  fight ;  the  neuters  alone  at- 
tacking or  defending;    Besides  their  other  weapons,  ants  are 


furnished  with  the  power  of  ejecting  an  acrid  juice  from 
their  abdomen,  in  sufficient  quantity  and  force  to  repel  any 
small  antagonist. 

Huber  also  gives  a  most  terrific  account  of  tile  civil  wars 
between  ants  of  the  same  species,  but  composing  different 
communities.  Nothing  can  exceed  the  ferocity  or  pertinacity 
of  these  battles.  The  infuriate  creatures  tear  each  other 
almost  to  pieces — now  struggling  in  single  combat,  till  a 
third,  coming  up,  puts  an  end  to  the  affiiir,  by  helping  to  kill 
or  take  the  enemy  prisoner  ! — now  lighting  in  bodies  linked 
together,  and  refusing  all  quarter,  till  a  reinforcement  alters 
the  tide  of  war,  and  gives  victory  to  one  side.  But  these 
battles  are  frequently  renewed  day  by  day,  the  combatants 
retiring  as  night  approaches,  till  the  rainy  season  brings  the 
fierce  little  citizens  to  reason,  and  both  parties  retire  to  their 
citadel.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that,  though  the  opposing  armies 
are  of  one  species,  each  party  knows  a  fellow-lodger  even  in 
the  wildest  part  of  the  action  ;  for  Huber  states,  that  if  by 
accident  an  ant  had  attacked  a  friend,  caresses  immediately 
succeeded  to  blows.  M.  P.  Huber  states  as  a  fact  the  start- 
ling circumstance  of  certain  species  of  ants  (F.  rufcscen3, 
and  F.  sanguined,  Latr.)  procuring  slaves  which  they  carry 
off  in  predatory  excursions  while  in  an  infant  state.  These 
slaves  are  of  a  small  black  species,  and  when  reared  perform 
the  offices  which  generally  devolve  upon  the  neuters  or 
workers  in  other  societies  ;  besides  which  they  have  to  feed 
their  masters  and  cany  them  about  the  nest.  Indeed,  so 
totally  dependant  are  their  masters  upon  these  indefatigable 
little  slaves,  that  the  term  should  rather  be  reversed ;  for  it 
appears  that  these  lords  of  the  community  may  not  venture 
forth  from  the  nest  but  with  permission  of  the  negroes;  and 
M.  P.  Huber  proved,  by  experiment,  that  they  would  die  of 
starvation  if  not  fed  by  these  indispensable  servants.  There 
is  likewise  another  species  (the  F.  cunicularia,  L.),  which 
are  forcibly  carried  off  by  the  rufescent  ants;  but  from  their 
being  more  courageous  than  the  negro  species,  the  depreda- 
tors are  obliged  to  go  with  greater  strength  of  numbers  and 
more  precaution.  The  account  which  M.  Huber  gives  of 
these  excursions  after  slaves  is  highly  curious  and  interest- 
ing ;  the  enemy,  making  use  of  manoeuvres  and  tactics,  aud 
the  assailed  receiving  them  with  such  arrangements,  as  any 
but  a  close  observer  of  insect  economy  and  habits  would 
declare  to  be  impossible  but  to  human  intellect:  The  F. 
sanguined  is  not,  however,  so  helpless  and  utterly  dependant 
on  the  black  ants ;  but  will  rouse  themselves  upon  occasion, 
and  protect  their  slaves,  and  even  transport  them  to  another 
habitation  when  changing  their  residence,  which  is  some- 
times the  case. 

The  negro  and  miner  ants,  when  attacked  by  the  ma- 
rauding  species  in  their  dwelling,  make  every  eftbrt  to  place 
the  young  brood  and  the  newly  excluded  females  out  of 
danger,  carrying  them  to  some  distant  place  of  security  as 
soon  as  the  alarm  is  given,  and  during  the  combat  hundreds 
are  so  employed ;  but  when  tranquillity  is  once  more  restored, 
they  bring  back  these  precious  charges,  and  place  them 
within  the  walls  of  the  fort,  of  which  they  barricade  the 
entrances,  and  place  a  strong  guard.near  in  case  of  future 
attempts.  To  prove  how  dependant  the  rufescent  ants  are 
upon  their  little  notable  black  servants,  Huber  tells  of  an 
experiment  he  made,  by  shutting  up  thirty  of  them  in  a 
glazed  box,  supplying  them  with  honey  in  one  corner  of 
their  prison,  and  placing  with  them  larva:  and  pupa;  both  of 
their  own  species  and  that  of  the  negro.  At  first  they  made 
some  little  exertions  in  regard  to  the  young,  carrying  them 
from  one  place  to  another,  but  soon  seemed  to  find  this  too 
great  an  effort ;  and  though  food  was  in  the  box,  most  of 
them  died  in  a  few  days,  rather  than  help  themselves  to  it. 
Huber,  in  commisseration  of  their  wretched  condition,  then 
put  in  a  single  little  negro  ant,  which  actively  set  to  work, 
making  a  cell  in  the  earth,  into  which  it  collected  the  larvae, 
and  feeding  the  pupa;  ready  to  emerge,  as  well  as  the  still 
surviving  neuters.  Huber  also  mentions  other  experiments 
tending  to  the  same  end,  which  perfectly  succeeded  in  show- 
ing the  vital  importance  of  these  slave  ants  to  their  masters 
under  various  circumstances,  and  proved  that  this  curious 
habit  depends  on  something  more  than  the  mere  blind  at- 
tachment of  the  imperfect  females  for  pu pec. 

LinnEeus  speaks  of  the  strange  fact  of  "  ants  milking  their 
cows,  the  Aphides  ;"  and  Huber  relates  many  highly  inter- 
esting particulars  in  addition.  He  says,  the  ants  not  only 
suck  the  sweet  juice  which  is  constantly  passing  through 
the  body  of  the  Aphides,  but  make  use  of  their  antenna 
during  the  operation,  to  produce  a  ready  evacuation,  patting 
the  Aphides  on  the  sides  pretty  briskly.  They  are  very 
jealous  of  the  possession  of  these  their  milch  cows,  some- 
times fighting  fiercely  in  their  defence,  and  forming  earihen 
boundaries  for  their  detention.  The  British  species  of  ant 
(Formica  flava,  Gould)  is  especially  fond  of  collecting  herds 
of  the  Aphis  radicum  in  its  hemispheric  d  formicary,  tending 
the  eggs  as  it  would  those  of  its  own  brood.  This  yellow 
ant  exceeds  all  the  other  species  of  Aphis-loving  Formica  in 
the  great  number  of  its  herds. 

469 


FORMICA. 


It  appear?,  from  observations  made  both  by  Gould  and 
Huber,  that  when  a  nest  becomes  overpopulated,  or  from 
some  other  reason,  emigrations  take  place,  which  are  con- 
ducted in  a  very  interesting  and  singular  manner.  A  few 
having  apparently  made  up  their  minds  on  the  subject,  en- 
deavour, by  the  usual  signs,  to  induce  others  to  accompany 
them  to  the  spot  chosen  for  the  new  encampment ;  and 
having  so  far  succeeded,  carry  the  newly-persuaded  recruit 
upon  their  mandibles  thither,  who  in  his  turn  goes  back  with 
his  conductor  to  the  old  nest,  and  engages  a  fellow-citizen 
to  accompany  him  also,  and  thus  by  degrees  the  whole  con- 
gregation emigrate.  Thisemigrationdoesn.it,  in  all  instances, 
proceed  by  dint  of  persuasion;  for  the  recruiting  ant  will, 
without  warning,  sometimes  seize  upon  another,  and  carry  it 
off  suddenly  to  the  new  site  :  which  rough  proceeding  does 
not,  however,  prevent  the  ant  so  removed  in  joining  in  the 
attempt  to  raise  more  recruits;  for  it  returns,  like  the  others, 
and  fetches  a  companion.  The  turf  ants  (F.  ccespitum,  L.), 
upon  these  occasions,  carry  their  fellow  emigrants  in  an  un- 
coiled form,  with  the  head  downwards.  These  observations 
chiefly  apply  to  the  great  hill  ant  (F.  rufa),  though  several 
other  species  migrate.  They  will,  in  case  the  new  settle- 
ment is  at  a  considerable  distance,  form  temporary'  colonies 
by  the  way,  all,  however,  uniting  at  last  in  one  principal 
formicary. 

Ants  work  during  the  night  as  well  as  by  day. 

Our  native  ants  usually  make  their  first  appearance  in 
March,  and  continue  in  activity  till  the  middle  or  end  of 
October.  They  are  fond  of  basking  and  sporting  in  the  sun  ; 
and  their  antics,  at  these  times,  are  described  by  the  best 
observers  as  exceedingly  amusing,  some  appearing  to  wrestle, 
and  others  actually  carrying  each  other  on  their  back  in  the 
most  playful  manner.  They  are  not  torpid  during  the  whole 
winter,  but  are,  in  genial  and  mild  days,  sometimes  to  be 
seen  in  full  activity.  Extreme  cold  causes  them  to  cluster 
together  in  compact  bodies,  as  if  by  this  means  to  preserve  a 
sufficient  quantity  of  animal  heat  to  allow  of  their  occasional 
return  to  the  labours  of  life.  That  ants  will  attack  and  kill, 
for  food,  insects  and  animals  infinitely  larger  than  them- 
selves, is  very  well  known  :  their  strength  is  prodigious  com- 
pared with  their  size.  Mr.  Kirby  says,  "  I  have  seen  an  ant 
dragging  a  wild  bee  many  times  bigger  than  itself." 

The  bite  of  some  foreign  ants  is  very  severe.  Sir  Joseph 
Banks  observed  a  green  species  in  New  South  Wales  which 
inflicted  a  wound  scarcely  less  painful  than  that  of  a  bee. 
One,  called  the  fire  ant,  is  so  called  from  its  bite  resembling 
the  pain  occasioned  by  a  spark  of  fire.  Some  ants  in  Ceylon 
produce  great  anguish  from  their  bite.  Those  species  usually 
found  in  Great  Britain  may  almost  be  called  harmless  in 
this  respect. 

There  is  a  species  in  Cayenne  (Formica  bispinosa)  which 
collects  from  the  bombax  and  silk  cotton  tree  a  sort  of  lint 
which  the  natives  value  much  as  a  styptic  in  cases  of 
haemorrhage ;  but  though  this  species  benefits  man,  there 
are  several  whose  ravages  have  sometimes  more  than  coun- 
terbalanced the  good  produced  by  these  insects.  Within 
the  last  century,  what  might  truly  be  called  a  plague  of  ants 
appeared  at  one  period*  in  the  island  of  Granada,  in  such 
hosts  as  to  put  a  stop  to  the  cultivation  of  the  sugar  cane.  The 
destruction  of  this  plant  is  not  caused  by  the  ants  devouring 
it,  but  by  their  constructing  their  nests  under  its  nx>ts.  At 
the  time  of  this  irruption,  their  numbers  were  only  to  be 
compared  with  sand  strewed  over  every'  place  and  thing. 
They  descended  from  the  hills,  and  covered  the  plantations; 
and  did  not  confine  their  attacks  to  plants,  but  rats,  mice, 
and  even  birds,  when  alighting  on  the  ground,  fell  a  prey  to 
them.  Streams  of  water  only  opposed  their  frightful  pro- 
gress for  a  moment,  masses  of  them  rushing,  or  being  im- 
pelled by  the  hosts  behind,  into  the  water,  and  only  forming 
by  their  carcasses  a  raft  or  bank  for  the  rest  to  pass  upon. 
Fire  was  tried  in  vain  as  a  barrier  to  their  progress ;  such 
infinite  swarms  rushed  into  the  blaze  as  to  extinguish  it.  A 
reward  of  23.000/.  was  offered  to  whoever  should  discover 
an  effectual  method  of  destroying  them,  but  in  vain.  The 
standing  crops  of  sugar  cane  were  burnt  down,  and  the  earth 
dug  up:  but  no  human  means  was  found  effective.  At 
length,  in  the  year  1780,  they  were  annihilated  by  the  tor- 
rents of  rain  which  accompanied  an  awful  hurricane,  which 
was  most  fatal  in  its  effects  to  the  other  West  India  islands. 
But  it  is  only  fair  to  state,  after  such  an  account  of  devasta- 
tion, that  such  an  occurrence  is  exceedingly  rare;  and  that 
thes3  all-devouring  creatures,  besides  being  admirable  in 
their  household  economy  and  laws,  benefit  us  by  removing 
and  destroying  multitudes  of  tormenting  insec'a  and  n  ; 
and  in  tlnir  turn  serve  as  food  to  thousands  of  other  animals. 

Several  species  of  Mammalia,  in  foreign  countries,  arc  ex- 
pressly organized  for  restraining  the  undue  increase  of  this 
genus  of  insect  (see  Myrmacophaga),  having  claws  of  pro- 
digious strength  for  making  a  breach  into  the  strong  walls  of 
the  formicaries  <  f  the  exotic  ants,  and  a  long  glutinous  tongue 
for  sweeping  off  thousands  of  the  disturbed  community.  In 
England,  the  habitations  of  the  various  species  of  ants  are 
470 


less  conspicuous,  but  not  less  curious,  than  the  formicaries 
of  tropical  counliies.  They  are  thus  described  by  Kirby  and 
Spence : — 

"  The  nest  of  the  large  red  ants  (F.  rufa,  L.),  which  are 
common  in  woods,  at  the  first  aspect  seems  a  very  confused 
mass.  Exteriorly  it  is  a  conical  mount,  composed  of  pieces 
of  straw,  fragments  of  wood,  little  stones,  leaves,  grains;  in 
short,  of  any  portable  materials  within  their  reach ;  but, 
however  rude  its  outward  appearance,  and  the  articles  of 
which  it  consists,  interiorly  it  presents  an  arrangement  admi- 
rably calculated  at  once  for  a  protection  against  the  exces- 
sive heat  of  the  sun,  and  yet  to  retain  a  due  proportion  of 
genial  warmth.  It  is  wholly  composed  of  numerous  small 
apartments  of  different  sizes,  communicating  with  each  oth- 
er by  means  of  galleries,  and  arranged  in  separate  stories, 
some  very  deep  in  the  earth,  others  a  considerable  height 
above  it ;  the  former  for  the  reception  of  the  young  in  cold 
weather  and  at  night,  the  latter  adapted  to  their  use  in  the 
daytime.  In  forming  these,  the  ants  mix  the  earth  excava- 
ted from  the  bottom  of  the  nest  with  the  other  materials  of 
which  the  mount  consists,  and  thus  give  solidity  to  the 
whole.  Besides  the  avenues  which  join  the  apartments  to- 
gether, other  galleries,  varying  in  dimensions,  communicate 
with  the  outside  of  the  nest  at  the  top  of  the  mount.  These 
open  doors  would  seem  ill  calculated  for  precluding  the  ad- 
mission of  wet  or  nocturnal  enemies ;  but  the  ants  alter  their 
dimensions  continually,  according  to  circumstances;  and 
they  wholly  close  them  at  night,  when  all  gradually  retire 
to  the  interior,  and  a  few  sentinels  only  are  left  to  guard  the 
gates.  On  rainy  days,  too,  they  keep  them  shut;  and  when 
the  sky  is  cloudy  open  them  partially. 

"  The  habitations  of  these  ants  are  much  larger  than  those 
of  any  other  species  in  this  country,  and  sometimes  as  big  as 
a  small  haycock;  but  they  are  mere  molehills  when  com- 
pared with  the  enormous  mounds  which  other  species,  ap- 
parently of  the  same  family,  but  much  larger,  construct  in 
warmer  climates.  Malouet  states,  that  in  the  forests  of  Gui- 
ana he  once  saw  ant-hills  which,  though  his  companion 
would  not  sutler  hiin  to  approach  nearer  than  forty  paces  for 
fear  of  his  being  devoured,  seemed  to  him  to  be  fifteen  or 
twenty  feet  high,  and  thirty  or  forty  feet  in  diameter  at  the 
base,  assuming  the  form  of  a  pyramid,  truncated  at  one  third 
of  its  height;  and  Stedman,  when  in  Surinam,  once  passed 
ant-hills  six  feet  high,  and  at  least  one  hundred  feet  in  cir- 
cumference. 

"The  nest  of  Formica  brunvea,  Latr.,  is  composed  wholly 
of  earth,  and  consists  of  a  great  number  of  stories  sometimes 
not  fewer  than  forty, — twenty  below  the  level  of  the  soil, 
and  as  many  above ;  which  last,  following  the  slope  of  the 
ant-hill,  are  concentric.  Each  story,  separately  examined, 
exhibits  cavities  in  the  shape  of  saloons,  narrower  apart- 
ments, and  long  galleries,  which  preserve  the  communica- 
tion between  both.  The  arched  roofs  of  the  most  spacious 
rooms  are  supported  by  very  thin  walls,  or  occasionally  by 
small  pillars  and  true  buttresses;  some  having  only  one  ent- 
rance from  above,  others  a  second,  communicating  with  the 
lower  story.  The  main  galleries,  of  which  in  some  places 
several  meet  in  one  large  saloon,  communicate  with  other 
subterranean  passages,  which  are  often  carried  to  the  dist- 
ance of  several  feet  from  the  hill.  These  insects  work 
chiefly  after  sunset.  In  building  their  nest,  they  employ  soft 
clay  only,  scraped  from  its  bottom  when  sufficiently  moisten- 
ed by  a  shower,  which,  far  from  injuring,  consolidates  and 
strengthens  their  architecture.  Diffetent  labourers  convey 
small  masses  of  this  ductile  material  between  their  mandi- 
bles; and  with  the  same  instruments  they  spread  and  mould 
it  to  their  will,  the  antenna;  accompanying  every  movement. 
They  render  all  firm  by  pressing  the  surface  lightly  with 
their  fore  feet;  and,  however  numerous  the  masses  of  clay 
composing  these  walls,  and  though  connected  by  no  glutin- 
ous material,  they  appear,  when  finished,  one  single  layer, 
well  united,  consolidated,  and  smoothed.  Having  traced  the 
plan  of  their  structure,  by  placing  here  and  there  the  foun- 
dations of  the  pillars  and  partition  walls,  they  add  succes- 
sively new  portions;  and  when  the  walls  of  a  gallery  or 
apartment,  which  are  half  a  line  thick,  are  elevated  about 
half  an  inch  in  height,  they  join  them  by  springing  a  flatfish 
arch  or  roof  frrm  one  side  to  the  other.  Nothing  can  be  a 
more  interesting  spectacle  than  one  of  the  cities  while  build- 
ing. In  one  place,  vertical  walls  form  the  outline,  which 
communicate  with  different  corridors  by  openings  made  in 
the  masonry  ;  in  another,  we  see  a  true  saloon,  w  hose  vaults 
are  supported  by  numerous  pillars;  and  further  on  are  the 
cross  w  ays  or  squares  where  several  streets  meet,  and  whose 
root's,  though  often  more  than  two  inches  across,  the  ants  are 
under  no  difficulty  in  constructing,  beginning  the  sides  of  the 
arch  in  the  angle  formed  by  two  walls,  and  extending  them 
by  successive  lavers  of  clay  till  they  meet;  while  crowds  of 
masons  arrive  from  all  parts  with  tlnir  particle  of  mortar, 
am!  work  with  a  regularity,  harmony,  and  activity  which 
can  never  enough  be  admired.  So  assiduous  are  they  in 
their  operations,  that  they  will  complete  a  stoiy,  with  ail  its 


FORMIC  ACID. 

saloons,  vaulted  roofs,  partitions,  and  galleries,  in  seven  or 
eight  hour?.  If  they  begin  a  story,  aud,  for  want  of  mois- 
ture, are  unable  to  finish  it,  they  pull  down  again  all  the 
crumbling  apartments  that  are  not  covered  in. 

"Another  species  of  ants  (F.  fusca,  L.)  are  also  masons. 
The  societies  of  F.  fuliginosa,  Latr.,  make  their  habitations 
in  the  trunks  of  old  oaks  or  willow  trees,  gnawing  the  wood 
into  numberless  stories,  more  or  less  horizontal.  Two  other 
tribes  of  carpenter  ants  (F.  athiops,  and  F.  flava,  Latr.)  use 
saw-dust  in  forming  their  buildings.  Some  ants  form  their 
nests  of  the  leaves  of  trees.  One  of  these  was  observed  by 
Sir  Joseph  Banks  in  New  South  Wales,  which  was  formed 
by  glueing  together  several  leaves  as  large  as  a  hand.  To 
keep  these  leaves  in  a  proper  position,  thousands  of  ants  united 
their  strength ;  and  if  driven  away,  the  leaves  spring  back 
with  great  violence." 

FO'RMIC  ACID.  A  sour  liquor  which  ants  eject  when 
irritated,  and  which  was  formerly  obtained  by  bruising  the 
insects  and  distilling  them,  mixed  with  water:  a  peculiar 
volatile  acid  passed  over.  It  has  been  ascertained  by  Dobe- 
reiner,  that  an  analogous  acid  may  be  artificially  obtained  by 
distilling,  from  a  capacious  retort,  a  mixture  of  2  parts  of  tar- 
taric acid,  3  of  peroxide  of  manganese,  and  3  of  sulphuric 
acid  diluted  with  5  of  water.  The  tartaric  acid  acquires 
oxygen  from  the  oxide  of  manganese,  and  is  resolved  into 
water,  carbonic  acid,  and  formic  acid.  From  the  analysis  by 
Berzelius  of  formiatc  of  lead,  it  appears  that  formic  arid  is  a 
compound  of  2  atoms  of  carbon,  3  of  oxygen,  and  1  of  hydro- 
gen ;  or  of  2  atoms  of  carbonic  oxide  and  1  of  water. 

FORMICA'TION.  (Lat.  formica,  an  ant.)  The  creep- 
ing sensation  upon  the  skin,  resembling  the  crawling  of  ants 
over  different  parts  of  the  body. 

FO'RMULA.  In  Algebra,  the  expression  of  a  theorem  or 
general  rule  for  the  solution  of  some  problem.  Thus  the 
area  of  a  triangle  is  expressed  in  terms  of  its  three  sides,  a,  b,  c, 
and  the  semiperimeter,  s,  by  the  formula 

y/  s  (s  —  a)  (s  —  b)(s  —  c). 

FORMULA,  or  FORMULARY,  in  Medicine,  &c,  signi- 
fies a  prescription. 

FORNES.  A  term  occasionally  applied  by  medical  wri- 
ters to  the  infectious  causes  of  diseases. 

FORNIX.  (Lat.)  An  arch.  In  Anatomy,  this  term  is 
applied  to  a  part  of  the  corpus  callosum  of  the  brain,  which, 
when  viewed  in  a  particular  direction,  somewhat  resembles 
the  shape  of  a  Gothic  arch.  It  is  the  medullary  body,  com- 
posed of  two  anterior  and  two  posterior  crura,  situated  at 
bottom  and  inside  of  the  lateral  ventricle,  over  the  third  ven- 
tricle and  below  the  septum  lucidum.     See  Brain. 

FO'RSTERITE.  A  mineral  named  after  Mr.  Forster ;  it 
forms  brilliant  and  small  crystals,  colourless  and  translucent, 
and  is  found  at  Vesuvius,  accompanied  by  pyroxene.  It 
contains  silica  and  magnesia,  but  has  not  been  carefully 
analyzed. 

FORT.  A  castle  or  small  fortress;  a  place  of  inconsider- 
able extent,  fortified  by  nature  or  art.  Field-fort,  or  fortlet, 
is  a  small  fort,  principally  constructed  for  the  defence  of  a 
camp,  or  for  defending  a  pass  or  post. 

FO'RTE.  (Ital.)  In  Music,  a  direction  to  the  performer 
to  execute  the  part  loudly  to  which  the  word  is  affixed.  It 
is  indicated  by  the  single  letter  F.  If  two  F  F's,  thus,  are 
used,  the  part  is  to  be  played  or  performed  fortissimo,  very 
loud. 

FO'RTIFICATION,  also  called  Military  .Irchitecture,  is 
the  art  of  constructing  such  works  of  defence  as  may  enable 
a  comparatively  small  number  of  men  to  maintain  possession 
of  a  city  or  place  against  the  assaults  of  a  superior  force. 

The  nature  of  constructions  necessary  for  defence  will  be 
determined  by  the  means  of  aggression.  In  early  ages, 
when  the  sling  and  the  bow  formed  the  principal  weapons 
of  offence,  men  considered  themselves  sufficiently  defended 
by  a  single  wall  or  a  bank  of  earth,  from  behind  which  they 
could  discharge  their  missiles  against  their  assailants.  In 
progress  of  time  projecting  towers  were  added,  which  served 
the  double  purpose  of  increasing  the  front  of  the  besieeed, 
and  of  enabling  them  to  attack  in  flank  the  besiegers  when 
approaching  to  scale  the  wall.  The  invention  of  the  batter- 
ing ram  rendered  no  other  change  necessary  than  that  of  in- 
creasing the  thickness  and  strength  of  the  wall.  To  aid  the 
means  of  defence,  projecting  galleries  were  constructed  at  the 
summit  of  the  wall  and  round  the  towers,  through  the 
pierced  floors  of  which  stones  and  other  missiles  were  show- 
ered down  on  the  heads  of  the  assailants.  These  galleries 
were  called  -machicoulis  or  massecoulis,  from  the  French 
couler  des  jnasses  ;  because  they  served  the  purpose  of  en- 
abling the  besieged  to  let  fall  heavy  masses,  to  which  cords 
were  attached,  in  order  that  they  might  be  drawn  up  again 
and  let  fall  anew  when  the  enemy  returned  to  sap.  Aper- 
tures or  loop-holes  for  the  discharge  of  arrows  and  javelins 
were  made  in  the  battlements,  or  pierced  in  the  walls;  and 
the  defensive  means  were  completed  by  surrounding  the 
whole  place  with  a  deep  moat  or  ditch.  But  the  invention 
of  gunpowder  rendered  it  necessary  to  adopt  an  entirely  dif- 


FORTIFICATION. 

ferent  mode  of  defence.  Walls  of  masonry,  however  thick, 
can  withstand  for  but  a  short  time  the  assault  of  heavy  ar- 
tillery ;  hence  those  successive  circumvallalions  and  con- 
structions of  eartli  which  constitute  the  defences  of  a  mod- 
em fortress. 

Happily  for  Great  Britain,  whose  insular  situation  has  ex- 
empted her  f:<  m  foreign  invasion,  her  internal  dissensions 
have  neither  been  so  frequent  nor  so  protracted  as  to  render 
the  art  of  constructing  permanent  fortifications  of  much  na- 
tional importance.  It  has  been  on  the  continent  of  Europe, 
where  war  has  flourished  in  greater  vigour,  that  the  art  has 
been  created  and  chiefly  cultivated.  A  modem  fortification 
consists  of  a  great  number  of  parts,  to  which,  for  the  purpos- 
es of  description,  it  is  necessary  to  give  distinct  names;  and 
it  would  naturally  happen  that  those  who  first  contrived  the 
particular  forms  of  the  different  parts  would  designate  them 
by  names  drawn  from  their  own  language.  These  appella- 
tions, chiefly  of  French,  but  occasionally  of  Italian  origin, 
have  been  transferred  into  our  language  by  the  ignorance  of 
translators,  and  carefully  retained  through  the  pedantry  of 
our  military  engineers;  so  that  all  our  works,  without  ex- 
ception, which  treat  of  fortification,  are  obscured  by  a  mass 
of  barbarous  jargon,  through  which  it  is  difficult  to  catch  a 
glimpse  of  the  few  simple  principles  which  determine  the 
forms  of  all  defensive  constructions. 

Modern  fortifications,  though  differing  in  some  subordinate 
details,  which  differences  are  dignified  by  the  name  of  sys- 
tems, closely  resemble  one  another  in  all  their  essential 
parts.  In  order  to  explain  their  structure,  it  will  be  conve- 
nient to  consider  them  first  without  reference  to  their  form,  or 
the  position  of  the  ground  lines  in  respect  of  each  other,  but 
merely  as  defences  against  an  army  with  artillery  advancing 
directly  in  front.    The  annexed  figure  represents  a  vertical 


section  of  a  regular  fortification  on  the  ground  line  X  Y,  tho 
place  to  be  defended  being  supposed  between  X  and  A. 
The  mass  of  earth  ABC  I)  E  F  G  II  forms  the  rampart  with 
its  parapet.  A  B  is  the  interior  slope  of  the  rampart ;  B  C  is 
the  terre-plcin  of  the  rampart,  having  a  breadth  of  about  40 
feet,  on  which  the  troops  and  cannon  are  placed ;  D  E  is 
called  the  banquette,  or  step,  on  which  the  soldiers  mount  to 
fire  over  the  parapet;  E  F  G  is  the  parapet,  of  a  height 
(about  7  feet)  sufficient  to  protect  the  men  and  guns  on  the 
terre-plein,  and  sloped  in  the  direction  F  G  towards  M,  the 
opposite  edge  of  the  ditch,  so  that  a  man  approaching  there 
may  be  seen  and  fired  at;  G  H  is  the  exterior  slope  of  the 
parapet;  H  I  is  the  revetment  or  wall  of  masonry  supporting 
the  rampart,  and  strengthened  by  buttresses  placed  at  small 
intervals  behind  it.  This  must  be  of  sufficient  height  to  pre- 
vent its  being  easily  scaled ;  but  yet  must  not  rise  higher 
than  the  edge  of  the  exterior  work  at  Q.,  in  order  that  it  may 
not  be  seen  and  breached  by  distant  batteries.  The  exterior 
front  of  the  rampart,  covered  with  the  revetment  II  K,  is 
called  the  escarp ;  I  K  L  M  is  the  ditch,  the  dimensions  of 
which  will  be  determined  by  the  nature  of  the  ground,  but 
must  be  such,  in  general,  that  its  excavation  or  deblai  must 
produce  sufficient  earth  or  remblai  to  form  the  rampart ;  the 
opposite  side  of  the  ditch  L  M  is  the  counterscarp,  also  sup- 
ported by  a  revetment  of  masonry;  M  X  is  the  covered  way, 
a  space  about  10  yards  in  breadth,  having  a  banquette  NOP, 
and  protected  by  a  parapet  P  O,  the  superior  slope  of  which, 
Q.  R,  is  called  the  glacis.  The  use  of  the  covered  way  is  to 
allow  troops  to  be  drawn  up,  unseen  by  the  besiegers,  for  the 
purpose  of  making  sorties;  it  also  enables  the  garrison  to 
keep  up  a  closer  fire  on  the  approaches  of  the  enemy,  and  its 
parapet  forms  a  strong  protection  to  the  revetment  of  the 
rampart. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  strength  of  a  place  will  be  in- 
creased by  a  succession  of  such  works,  so  that  when  the  be 
sieged  are  driven  from  one  they  may  retire  to  the  next  be- 
hind it.  Sometimes  there  are  three  ditche-  with  intermediate 
works,  or  rather  worts  raised  within  the  ditch  itself,  similar 
to  the  rampart,  though  of  a  less  height,  in  order  that  the  guns 
on  the  rampart  may  range  above  them.  A  work  of  this  sort, 
between  the  inner  and  the  main  ditch,  is  called  a  tcnaille; 
that  between  the  main  ditch  and  the  outer  ditch  is  called  a 
ravelin.     All  works  outside  the  ditch  are  called  outicorks. 

Before  proceeding  to  construct  a  fortification,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  lay  down  a  plan.  This  will  differ  in  some  respects 
according  to  the  system  adopted:  but  the  following  descrip- 
tion, which  properly  belongs  to  Vauban's  First  System,  will 
explain  the  general  method :  When  the  work  is  regular,  the 
sides  are  all  equal,  and  therefore  the  general  foim  will  be 
that  of  a  polygon  inscribed  in  a  circle.  The  first  thing  to  be 
done  is  to  determine  on  the  number  of  sides.  We  shall  sup- 
pose them  to  be  six,  and  the  radius  of  the  circumscribing  cir- 
cle to  be  360  yards,  when  the  construction  will  be  as  follows : 

471 


FORTIFICATION. 


Let  A  B,  B  C  be  two  sides  of  a  hexagon  inscribed  in  a  cir- 
cle; each  of  these  lines  will  lie  equal  to  the  radius,  or  360 
yards.     Bisect  A  B  in  1) ;  draw  the  perpendicular  D  E,  on 


which  set  off  D  E.  equal  to  one  sixth  of  A  B,  or  60  yards; 
draw  the  lines  A  E  P  and  B  E  G,  in  which  take  A  H  and 
B  I,  each  equal  to  100  yards,  or  five  ninths  of  A  D ;  make 
H  F  and  I  G  each  equal  to  the  distance  H  I;  then  the  line 
A  H  G  F  I  B  is  the  principal  outline  of  the  front ;  and  by 
making  the  same  construction  on  each  of  the  sides  of  the 
hexagon,  we  obtain  the  principal  outline  of  the  whole  for- 
tification, or  that  by  which  the  first  figure  of  the  work  is  de- 
fined. 

The  part  F  I  B  K  L  is  called  the  bastion,  B  I  and  B  K  are 
the  faces  of  the  bastion;  I  F  and  K  L  are  its  flanks ;  F  L  is 
the  gorge;  G  F  is  the  curtain;  A  F  and  B  G  are  the  lines 
of  defence;  B  is  the  flanked  angle;  I  and  K  are  the  angles 
of  the  shoulder;  G,  F,  L,  and"  M  the  angles  of  the  flank. 
From  the  points  A  and  B  as  centres,  and  a  radius  of  40  yards, 
describe  circular  arcs ;  if  lines  be  drawn  from  the  opposite 
angles  of  the  shoulder  H  I  to  touch  those  arcs,  the  parts  of 
those  lines  a  c,  b  c.  together  with  the  arc?,  will  represent  the 
counterscarp  of  the  ditch.  The  curtain  is  defended  by  a 
ravelin,  which  is  constructed  thus:  From  c,  the  re-entering 
angle  of  the  counterscarp,  set  eft"  on  the  perpendicular  D  E, 
a  line  c  d,  equal  to  110  yards,  and  from  d  draw  d  c,  d  f,  in 
the  directions  of  H  and  I,  to  meet  the  counterscarp ;  then 
d  e  and  d  f  are  the  faces  of  the  ravelin,  and  c  c  and  c  J'  its 
semigorges.  The  counterscarp  g  h  i  of  the  ditch  of  the  rav- 
elin is  parallel  to  its  faces,  and  rounded  off  at  h.  Stairs,  call- 
ed pas-dc-souris,  are  constructed  to  facilitate  the  descent 
from  the  ravelin  to  the  ditch.  Besides  the  ravelin,  there  is 
usually  another  appendage  to  the  bastion  and  curtain.  This 
is  the  tenaille,  represented  in  the  figure  by  the  parts  p  q  made 
in  the  direction  of  the  lines  of  defence ;  but  it  has  sometimes 
other  forms.  The  tenaille  is  made  in  the  ditch  before  the 
curtain,  with  passages  between  the  ends  and  the  flanks  of 
the  bastion.  It  is  a  low  work,  having  its  parapet  only  about 
3  feet  higher  than  the  level  ground  of  the  ravelin,  and  its  use 
is  to  defend  the  bottom  of  the  ditch  by  a  grazing  fire. 

Such  are  the  works  which  form  the  envelop  of  the  place 
fortified;  but  various  other  constructions  are  in  most  cases 
added,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  ground  and  other  cir- 
cumstances, for  the  purpose  of  protecting  or  strengthening 
euch  parts  as  are  most  exposed,  or  of  interrupting  the  works 
of  the  besiegers.  These  additional  constructions  are  either 
internal  or  external.  Among  the  former  are  retrenchments 
of  various  kinds,  either  constructed  at  the  same  time  with  the 
principal  works  or  thrown  up  during  the  siege.  They  are 
made  behind  the  ramparts,  0r  the  bastions  most  exposed  to 
attack,  their  use  being  to  enable  the  garrison  to  continue  the 
defence  from  behind  a  fresh  obstacle  when  a  rampart  or 
bastion  has  been  breached.  When  a  hill  or  rising  ground 
overlooks  any  of  the  works,  a  cavalier  is  raised,  about  ten  or 
twelve  feet  higher  than  the  rest  of  the  works.  This  is  com- 
monly placed  within  the  bastion  when  it  has  the  same  form, 
but  sometimes  on  the  middle  of  the  curtain  when  its  form  is 
semicircular.  Of  the  exterior  works  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant is  the  counttrguard,  constructed  to  cover  some  of  the 
principal  parts,  as  the  bastion  or 
the  cavalier,  in  such  a  manner  that 
without  obstructing  their  fire  it  pre- 
vents them  from  being  breached 
till  itself  is  taken.  The  counter- 
guard  is  constructed  parallel  with 
the  faces  of  the  work  it  is  destined 
to  cover;  and  it  must  he  lower 
than  the  principal  work,  though  of 
a  sufficient  height  to  screen  its  re- 
vetment. A  horn-work,  represented  in  the  annexed  figure, 
h  composed  of  two  branches,  and  a  front  composed  of  two 
!  llf  I.  i-i  ins  and  a  curtain,  resembling  a  front  of  the  body  of 
the  place.  It  is  here  represented  as  made  before  the  curtain, 
but  it  may  be  also  constructed  before  a  bastion.  A  crown- 
work  is  of  the  same  nature  as  a  horn-work,  but  larger,  and 
having  two  fronts,  which  give  it  somewhat  the  appearance 
of  a  crown.  Horn- works  and  crown-works  are  constructed 
where  a  large  spot  of  ground  lies  beyond  the  fortification 
which  might  be  advantageous  to  an  enemy,  or  to  cover  a  gate 
or  entrance  into  a  town.  Lunettes,  a,  a,  are  placed  on  both 
472 


sides  of  the  ravelin,  and  are  constructed 
on  lines  bisecting  the  faces  of  the  rave- 
lin at  right  angles.  A  bonnet,  b,  is  a 
work  covering  Ihe  salient  angle  of  the , 
ravelin.  Tenaillons  are  similar  in  con- 
struction to  lunettes,  but  having  one  of  their  faces  formed  on 
lines  which  are  the  production  of  the  faces  of  the  ravelin, 
instead  of  bisecting  those  faces.  The  application  of  all  these 
and  other  works  of  a  similar  description  depends  on  the  na- 
ture of  the  localities;  and  it  must  be  left  to  the  judgment  of 
the  engineer  to  determine  in  each  particular  case  which  is 
best  adapted  to  the  ground. 

We  have  already  alluded  to  the  use  and  importance  of  the 
covered  way.  In  order  to  increase  its  strength  traverses,  or 
portions  of  parapet,  are  thrown  across  it,  which  screen  it 
from  an  enfilading  fire,  and  enable  the  defenders  to  dispute 
its  possession  foot  by  foot.  Places  of  arms,  or  places  for  as- 
sembling troops,  and  protected  by  traverses  and  redoubts,  are 
also  formed  on  it  at  the  re-entering  and  salient  angles  of  the 
counterscarp.  The  redoubts  serve  not  only  as  a  place  of  re- 
treat, but  facilitate  the  making  of  sorties  upon  the  enemy's 
lodgments. 

The  descriptions  given  above  belong  more  especially  to 
that  method  of  fortification  which,  in  the  military  schools,  is 
denominated  Vauban's  first  system.  Marshal  Vauban  served 
in  the  wars  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  in  the  course  of  his  life  direct- 
ed the  construction  of  thirty-three  new  fortresses,  and  the  im- 
provement of  three  hundred  others.  From  the  different  con- 
structions observed  in  these  works  have  been  compiled  his 
three  systems ;  which,  however,  in  a  general  view  of  the  sub- 
ject, may  be  considered  as  only  differing  in  points  of  detail, 
or  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  complication.  In  his  second 
system,  represented  in  the  annexed  figure,  he  separated  the 
bastions  from  the  body  of  the  place  by  a  ditch  about  40  feet 
wide,  in  order  that  the  besieger,  after 
the  breach  and  capture  of  the  bas- 
tions, might  be  compelled  to  renew  T-C/^j^Vrry't 
his  operations  against  his  enceinte  or     ~4%f  ''v'v^"* 

body  of  the  place.    The  angles  of  the  ^ 

polygon  are  crowned  by  pentagonal  towers  of  masonry,  call- 
ed tower  bastions,  to  which,  in  fact,  the  regular  bastions  only 
form  counterguards.  It  was  from  a  desire  to  take  advantage 
of  these  tower  bastions,  which  he  found  already  existing  at 
Landau  when  called  upon  to  fortify  that  place,  that  he  was 
led  to  adopt  the  system  in  question.  Vauban's  third  system 
does  not  differ  in  any  materal  respect  from  the  second.  He 
increased  the  size  of  the  ravelin,  and  gave 
it  a  redoubt.  The  tower  bastions  were 
likewise  made  larger,  and  the  curtail  ^ 
which  united  them  was  broken  inwards, 
so  as  to  form  two  small  flanks  under- 
neath ;  while  casements  for  cannon  were  constructed,  to  co 
operate  with  those  of  the  tower  bastions  in  the  defence  of 
the  ditch. 

Cochorn's  System. — Contemporary  with  Vauban  was  the 
Baron  de  Coehorn,  director-general  of  the  fortifications  of  the 
United  Provinces  of  Holland.  This  celebrated  engineer  is 
also  the  author  of  three  different  systems,  though  the  third 
has  never  been  constructed.  His  methods  are  only  applica- 
ble m  low  swampy  countries,  like  Holland;  and  the  object 
which  he  kept  principally  in  view  was  to  throw  such  obsta- 
cles in  the  way  of  a  besieging  force  that  the  place  could  only 
be  approached  with  great  difficulty  and  hazard.  This  he 
sought  to  accomplish  by  covering  and  flanking  his  works 
more  effectually  than  had  previously  been  done,  and  by  de- 
priving the  assailant  of  the  room  necessary  for  erecting  his 
batteries.  An  idea  of  his  methods  may  be  formed  from  the 
annexed  figure,  which  respresents  his  first  system.  It  is  con- 
structed on  a  hexagon  ;  the  sec- 
ond was  on  a  heptagon,  and  the 
third  on  an  octagon.  And  it  may , 
be  remarked  of  his  systems  in 
general,  that  they  differ  from 
Vauban's  principally  in  the  great- 
er width  of  the  ditch  (which  is  nearly  twice  as  wide  as  in 
Vauban's  systems)  and  the  narrow  space  between  the  flanks. 
Coehorn's  principles  have  been  adopted  in  the  construction 
of  the  fortresses  of  Nimeguen,  Breda,  Manheim,  Namur,  and 
Bergen-op-zoom. 

(  brnumtaigTie's  System. — The  methods  of  Vauban  were 
improved  in  many  essentia]  respects  by  Cormontaigne,  a 
French  officer  of  engineers,  who  died  in  1750.  In  the  sys- 
tem which  he  adopted,  and  which  is 
here  represented,  the  faces  of  the  bas- 
tion are  made  longer  than  in  Vauban's 
methods,  and  the  flanks  are  placed  at  J^'y 
right  angles  with  the  faces  of  the  oppo-  ">/ 
site  bastions.  The  enlargement  of  the 
bastion  renders  it  capable  of  containing  interior  retrench- 
ment- ;  and  the  flanks,  though  shortened,  are  better  covered. 
His  ravelins  are  also  constructed  on  a  larger  base,  and  con- 
tain a  larger  redoubt,  from  which  the  besiegers,  can  keep  up 


■*^b^ 


^xs=r"\; 


FORTIFICATIONS. 

a  reverse  fire  on  breaches  made  in  the  collateral  bastions;  j  the  height  of  the  parapet  arc  in  field-works  necessarily  limit- 
bo  that  the  assault  upon  the  latter  becomes  impracticable     ed  to  what  can  be  effected  by  these  simple  means, 
until  the  ravelin  and  its  redoubt  are  both  captured     The  com-         ™*™*" '■»  «"»r  ^ed- mtt^ftree  classes : 
bination  round  the  extremities  of  the  traverses  ot  the  covered  j  Woik^open  at^the  gorge 
way  are  arrar.eed  in  a  zig-zag  line ;  so  that  the  passage  round 
the  extremity  of  one  traverse  is  defended  by  the  fire  of  another 
in  its  rear,  and  the  advance  of  the  assailants  along  the  cover- 
ed way  thereby  checked.    In  general,  Cormontaigne's  sys- 
tem possesses  greater  defensive  properties,  and  is  more  eco- 
nomical of  materials. 
Modern  System— -The  annexed  figure  represents  v. hat  is 


called  the  modem  system :  it  varies  but  little  from  that  of 
Cormontaigne.  The  ravelin  is  made  to  cover  the  shoulder 
of  the  bastion  more  effectually  by  a  greater  projection,  and 
its  faces  are  retrenched  by  coupurcs  or  cuts  through  the  ram- 
part, perpendicular  to  the  faces  of  the  bastion,  which  pre- 
vent the  enemy  from  taking  the  redoubt  in  the  re-entering 
place  of  arms  without  first  possessing  himself  of  the  redoubt 
in  the  ravelin. 

All  the  systems  above  enumerated,  however  they  may 
differ  in  details,  agree  in  their  principal  features,  and  present 
the  same  general  outline.  They  may  be  all  included  under 
the  name  of  the  bastion  system.  Some  engineers,  however, 
among  the  most  celebrated  of  whom  are  Montalembert  and 
Carnot,  have  pointed  out  defects  which  appear  to  be  inherent 
in  the  system,  and  proposed  to  give  the  polygon  a  different 
form.  By  suppressing  the  curtain  and  the  tenaille,  and  pro- 
ducing the  faces  of  the  bastions  inward,  a  line  of  rampart 
would  be  formed  presenting  simply  a  succession  of  salient 
and  re-entering  angles.  According  to  this  plan,  the  defence 
is  made  to  depend  on  the  number  of  reverse  fires  that  can  be 
maintained  from  casemated  (i.  e.,  bomb-proof)  batteries ;  but 
as  the  plan  has  never  been  practically  carried  into  effect,  it 
is  unnecessary  to  enter  into  particulars.  In  the  present  state 
of  the  military  art,  a  fortress  can  be  regarded  as  nothing  more 
than  a  means  of  stemming  for  a  time  the  torrent  of  an  in- 
vading force.  Such  is  the  superiority  of  the  means  of  attack 
over  those  of  defence,  that  however  strong  the  works  may 
be,  and  however  skilfully  disposed,  their  reduction,  when 
assailed  by  adequate  means,  is,  generally  speaking,  a  matter 
of  absolute  certainty.  The  besieging  army,  sheltered  by  its 
trenches  from  the  missiles  of  the  garrison,  advances  in  zig- 
zag lines  parallel  to  the  faces  of  the  ramparts,  till  it  passes 
over  or  circumvents  all  the  exterior  defences  of  the  place, 
and  arrives  at  the  main  wall,  where  a  breach  has  been  made 
by  batteries  erected  for  the  purpose.  To  this  covered  mode 
of  attack,  supported  by  the  ricochet  batteries,  by  which  the 
defenders  are  driven  from  the  ramparts  and  the  guns  dis- 
mounted, it  is  perhaps  impossible  to  offer  any  effectual  re- 
sistance. Indeed,  such  is  the  protection  to  which  the  art  of 
attack  has  been  reduced,  that  even  the  length  of  time  which 
any  fortress  will  be  able  to  hold  out  against  an  enemy  pro- 
vided with  the  proper  train  of  sappers  and  miners,  and  the 
implements  necessary  for  carrying  on  their  operations,  may 
be  computed  with  the  greatest  precision. 

Field  Fortification. — Field  Fortification  is  the  art  of  con- 
structing all  kinds  of  temporary  works  for  assisting  the  opera- 
tions of  an  army  in  the  field,  and  enabling  it  to  maintain 
a  position  against  a  superior  force.  In  the  disposition  and 
construction  of  such  works,  the  engineer  must  have  regard 
to  the  nature  of  the  locality,  and  endeavour  to  turn  to  the 
ben  account  all  its  natural  advantages,  as  well  as  the  build- 
ings, enclosures  &c,  which  may  be  found  on  it :  and  there 


es: 
Works  enclosed  all  round ; 
and,  3.  Lines  either  continued  or  with  intervals.  To  the  first 
class  belong  redans,  single  and  double,  tcnailled  heads,  and 
bastioiied  heads  ;  to  the  second,  redoubts,  star  forts,  and  bas- 
tioned  forts ;  and  to  the  third,  lines  of  various  kinds  for  de- 
fending a  position.  The  redan  is  the  sim- 
plest of  all  works,  consisting  merely  of  two 
lines,  A  B  and  A  C,  forming  an  angle  with 
each  other.  It  is  only  employed  for  such 
purposes  as  defending  the  avenues  of  a  vil-  jjf 
lage,  bridge,  or  defile.  The  length  given  itp| 
is  usually  about  50  yards.  When  the  redan 
is  thrown  out  in  front  of  other  works  it  is  called  a  fleche,  or 
arrow.  Lunettes  are  also  applied  for  similar  purposes,  and 
are  formed  by  adding  two  parallel  faces,  B  D  and  C  E,  to  the 
redan,  at  the  extremities  of  its  open  flanks.  The  double  r»- 
dan,  or  bonnet  de  pritre,  consists  of  two 
faces,  A  B  and  C  D ;  and  two  flanks,  A  E 
and  C  E,  usually  shorter  than  the  faces, 
and  affording  a  reciprocal  defence  to  each  _ 
other.  The  re-entering  angle  at  E  should  B 
be  a  right  angle ;  if  it  is  less,  the  two  flanks  are  in  danger  of 
being  struck  by  each  other's  fire ;  and  if  it  is  much  greater 
than  a  right  angle,  the  defence  will  be  weakened:  for  it  ia 
found  by  experience  that  soldiers  placed  behind  a  screen  in- 
variably fire  strait  before  them,  or  at  right  angles  to  the 
screen.  When  a  greater  extent  of  front  is  to  be  fortified,  the 
lines  are  disposed  in  the  form  of  bastions  or  tenailles,  and 
thence  called  bastioned  heads  and  tenail/ed  heads. 

Redoubts  are  works  closed  on  all  sides,  of  a  polygonal  or 
quadrilateral  figure,  and  usually  square.  An  opening  is  left 
in  one  of  the  sides,  for  communication  with  the  exterior,  and 
a  traverse  is  thrown  up  within  for  protection.  As  the  work 
is  without  flanks,  the  ditches  are  left  without  defence.  The 
ansles  are  sometimes  rounded,  or  cut  off,  in  order  that  a 
fire  may  be  maintained  on  an  assailant  advancing  in  the 
direction  of  the  diagonal. 

Star  forts  arc  enclosed  works  constructed  upon  an  equi- 
lateral triangle  or  a  square.  In  the  former  case  they  have 
six  point-1,  in  the  latter  eight.  When  constructed  on  a  square 
each  of  the  sides  (which  may  be  about  90 
yards  long)  is  divided  into  three  equal 
parts,  and  on  the  middle  part  an  equi- 
lateral triangle  is  constructed,  which  gives 
the  trace  of  the  figure.  The  object  of 
this  work  is  to  remedy  the  defects  of  the 
redoubt  by  flanking  the  angles  of  the 
square;  but  as  a  considerable  space  is 
consumed  by  the  re-entering  angles,  it 
scarcely  admits  of  sufficient  troops  and  artillery  being  placed 
in  it  for  its  defence. 

Bastioned  forts  are  constructed  in  the  field  on  the  same 
principles  as  in  permanent  works;  but  A 
are  only  constructed  on  the  square  or 
pentagon.  The  distance  A  B,  or  ex- 
terior side  of  the  polygon,  should  not 
exceed  the  range  of  musketry,  or  about 
200  yards.  They  are  employed  only 
in  fortifying  important  positions,  and 
require,  accordingly,  to  be  constructed 
in  a  more  solid  manner  than  other 
works  of  a  temporary  nature. 

The  last  class  of  field-works  comprehends  lines  of  va- 
rious descriptions.  Continued  lines  are  constructed  to  en- 
close a  front,  or  connect  principal  works  with  one  another 
by  a  continued  parapet.  They  are  constructed,  according  to 
circumstances,  with  redans,  tenailles,  or  bastions,  placed  at 
certain  intervals,  seldom  exceeding  180  yards.  From  the 
descriptions  given  above,  the  different  forms  of  the  redan  line, 
tenaille  line,  and  bastion  line  will  be  readily  conceived. 
Sometimes  they  are  formed  of  a  succession  of  faces  and 
flanks  at  right  angles.  In  this  case  they  are  called  lines-en- 
cremaittiires.  The  flanks 
are  about  a  four'h  of  the 
length  of  the  faces,  and  afford  a  defence  to  the  ditches. 


is  no  part  of  his  art  in  which  talent  and  skill  are  so  requisite, 
or  in  which  he  must  rely  so  exclusively  on  the  resources  of 
his  own  judgment.    On  account  of  the  endless  varieties  and  '  Lines  with  intervals  consist  of  isolated  works,  as  redans  or 


accidents  of  the  ground  on  which  he  has  to  act,  the  observance 
of  fixed  rules  is,  indeed,  impracticable :  nevertheless  there 
are  certain  general  maxims  which  apply  to  the  construction 
of  fortifications  of  all  kinds,  whether  temporary  or  permanent, 
and  which  must  be  observed  in  all  his  operations.  For  ex- 
ample, works  constructed  to  flank  others,  must  not  be  at  so 
great  a  distance  as  to  be  beyond  the  effective  range  of  mus- 
ketry: the  angles  of  defence  should  be  nearly  right  angles. 
and  the  salient  angles  as  obtuse  as  possible.  The  general 
nature  of  defensive  works  is  also  the  same  in  all  cases,  name- 
ly, a  ditch  and  a  parapet ;  though,  as  the  pick-axe  and  the 
Bpade  are  the  only  implements  which  an  armv  in  the  field 
can  carry  about  with  it,  the  depth  and  width  of  the  ditch  and 


redoubts,  placed  at  distances  which  shoidd  not  exceed  200 
yards,  and  so  as  to  aff  ird  one  another  a  mutual  defence. 

Besides  the  works  now  enumerated,  various  expedients 
are  resorted  to  in  order  to  prevent,  or  at  least  to  render  more 
dirnrult  the  approaches  of  an  enemy.  Among  these  are 
palisades,  abatis,  trous-de-coup,  ehevaux-dc-frizc,  crowi' 
feet,  &c. 

The  principal  authors  on  Fortification  are  Errard,  Stevinus, 
Antoine  de  Ville,  Compte  de  Pagan,  Coehorn,  Vauban,  Mal- 
let, Belidor,  Blondel,  Montalembert,  Bisset,  Bousmard,  Car- 
not, Mouze,  &c.  For  a  practical  treatise  the  reader  may  be 
referred  to  the  ar:ic!e  "  Fortificatior."  in  the  Ency.  Metro 
poliiaim. 

F  f*  473 


FOIITRESS. 

FORTRESS.  Any  fortified  place.  (See  the  preceding 
article.) 

FORTIN,  FORTKET.    A  sconce  or  small  fort. 

FORTU  NA.  In  Mythology,  the  goddess  who  presided 
over  the  destinies  of  mankind,  and,  generally  speaking,  over 
all  the  events  of  life.  She  was  represented  as  blind,  with 
winged  feet,  and  resting  on  a  wheel.  This  goddess  was  not 
known  in  the  more  ancient  systems  of  the  Greek  theogony: 
all  the  guidance  of  human  affairs,  for  instance,  is  intrusted 
by  Homer  to  Destiny;  but  in  Italy,  and  chiefly  at  Rome,  Ac- 
tiuni,  and  Pneneste,  her  worship  was  most  assiduously  cul- 
tivated. 

FO'RUM.  (Lat)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  a  public  mar- 
ket; also  a  place  where  the  common  courts  were  kept,  and 
matters  of  judgment  pleaded.  The  fora  of  the  Romans  were 
large  open  squares  surrounded  by  porticoes;  parts  of  which 
answered  for  the  market-places,  other  parts  for  public  meet- 
ings of  the  inhabitants,  and  other  parts  for  courts  of  justice. 
The  forum  was  also  occasionally  used  for  shows  of  gladia- 
tors. There  were  in  Rome  seventeen;  of  these  fourteen 
were  for  the  sale  of  goods,  provisions,  and  merchandize,  and 
called  Fora  Venalia ;  the  other  three  were  for  civil  and  judi- 
cial proceedings,  and  called  Fora  Civiliaet  Judicialia:  of  the 
latter  sort  was  the  forum  of  Trajan,  of  which  the  Trajan 
column  formed  the  principal  ornament.  The  forum  of  the 
Romans  was  identical  with  ayopa  of  the  Greeks. 

FO'SSA  (Lat.  fossa,  a  trench),  in  Zoology,  is  applied  to 
certain  depressions  on  the  external  surface;  generally  the 
seat  of  cutaneous  glands,  as  the  lachrymal  fossa  in  deer  and 
antelopes,  the  jugular  fossa,  inguinal  fossa,  &c. 

FOSSA  t>\  A  LIS.  Adepression  in  the  right  auricle  of 
the  heart,  which  in  the  foetal  state  opened  into  the  left  auri- 
cle, forming  the  foramen  ovale. 

FOSSE  (Fr.),  in  Fortification,  is  the  moat  or  ditch  sur- 
rounding the  rampart.     See  Fortification. 

FO'SSIL.  (Lat  fodio,  I  dig.)  Literally,  anything  dug 
out  of  the  earth.  The  term  is  now  chiefly  confined  to  or- 
ganic remains. 

FOSSIL  FARINA.    A  soft  carbonate  of  lime. 

FOSSO'RES.  (Lat.  fodio,  I  dig.)  An  extensive  group 
of  Aculeate  Hymenopterous  insects,  most  of  the  species  of 
which  are  organized  for  excavating  cells  in  earth  or  wood, 
in  which  they  bury  other  insects  in  a  wounded  and  feeble 
state,  and  at  the  same  time  deposit  their  eng.s ;  so  that  the 
larva,  when  hatched,  find  a  store  of  food  prepared  for  their 
sustenance.  The  Fossorial  Hymenoptera  are  solitary  in 
their  habits ;  and  some  species,  which  have  not  the  requisite 
structure  of  the  legs  for  burrowing,  are  parasitic,  and,  like 
the  cuckoo  among  birds,  lay  their  eggs  in  the  nests  of  other 
species,  at  whose  expense  the  voting  are  reared. 

FOSSO'RIAL.  (Lat.  fodio,  I  dig.)  In  Zoology,  animals 
which  dig  their  retreats  and  seek  their  food  in  the  earth  are 
so  called.  The  locomotive  extremities,  which  are  organ- 
ized for  burrowing,  as  those  of  the  mole,  or  mole-cricket,  are 
called  "  pedes  fossorii." 

FO'SSULATE.  (Lat.  fossa,  a  trench.)  When  a  surface 
presents  one  or  more  somewhat  long  and  narrow  depres- 
sions. 

FO'THER,  or  FODDER,  A  SADL.  This  is  thrumming  a 
sail ;  and  covering  it  with  loose  stuff,  and  then  passing  it  un- 
der the  bottom  of  a  ship  that  has  sprung  a  leak  or  been 
aground :  the  pressure  of  the  water  forces  the  sail  against 
the  bottom,  and  partly  stops  the  leak. 

FOUGASS.  In  Fortification,  a  small  mine,  from  6  to  8 
feet  under  ground.     It  is  derived  from  the  Lat.  focata. 

FOUL.  The  term  applied  to  the  wind  when  contrary ; 
also  to  the  bottom  when  uneven  and  rocky.  Set  Anchor, 
Fall,  Hawse. 

FOUXDA'TIOX.     (Fr.  fondation.)     In  Architecture,  the 
lower  part  of  a  wall,  on  which  the  insistent  wall  is  raised, 
and  always  of  much  greater  thickness  than  such  i 
wall.     A  practice  has  lately  been  introduced  in  tin- 
try  of  laying  foundations  (if  not  in  water)  on  a  bed  of  what 
is  called  concrete,  which  i*  a  mixture  of  rough  small  . 
or  large  gravel  -tone-  with  sand  and  stone,  lime  and  water, 
with  just  enough  of  the  lime  to  act  as  a  ccmentitious  medium, 
with  the  best  effect     Set  Concrete. 

FOUNDA  Tl<  INS.  (Lat.  fundo,  /  institute.)  In  Politi- 
cal Economy,  the  generic  name  given  to  institutions  establish- 
ed and  endowed  by  individuals,  associations,  or  the  public, 
for  the  promotion  of  what  is  believed  to  be,  at  the  time  when 
the  foundation  is  made,  some  useful  or  benevolent  purpose. 
In  most  old-settled  and  rich  countries  then'  are  fi 
tions  for  a  vast  variety  of  objects.  During  the  Middle  Ages, 
it  was  very  common  to  bequeath  property  for  the  founda- 
tion of  monastic  institutions  and  scholastic  establishments. 
The  two  great  universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  are  no- 
ble examples  of  the  last  species  of  foundations;  and  by  far 
the  greater  number  of  the  grammar  and  free  schools  in  mi  -t 
parts  of  England,  and  indeed  of  Europe,  owe  their  origin  to 
the  same  source.  A  great  deal  of  property  has  also  been 
bequeathed  by  benevolent  individuals  in  this  and  other 
474 


FOUNDLING  HOSPITALS. 

countries  for  the  erection  and  endowment  of  hospitals,  or 
foundations  of  various  descriptions,  for  the  relief  and  assist- 
i  l  the  poor;  aud  not  unfrequently  also  property  is  ap- 
propriated, or  foundation  instituted,  for  the  amusement  and 
recreation  of  the  public. 

Rut  notwithstanding  the  large  amount  of  property  that  has 
been  appropriated  in  most  countries  to  the  establishment  of 
foundations,  and  their  extreme  importance  in  a  public  point 
of  view,  it  may  appear  rather  singular  that  the  principles  and 
conditions  on  which  they  should  be  established  are  far  from 
being  well  ascertained.  No  one  can  doubt  that  it  is  highly 
expedient  to  allow  individuals  or  associations  to  institute 
foundations  or  to  bequeath  property  for  the  promotion  of  bene- 
ficial public  purposes.  But  admitting  this,  the  knotty  ques- 
tion arises,  how  far  should  the  legislature  go  in  authorizing 
private  parties  to  lay  down  the  conditions  under  which  the 
property  so  bequeathed,  or  the  foundation,  is  to  be  adminis- 
tered. If,  on  the  one  hand,  government  interference  be  car- 
ried too  far,  the  institution  of  foundations  will  be  discouraged ; 
and  if,  on  the  other  hand,  government  do  not  interfere  at  all, 
the  folly  or  the  presumption  of  individuals  will  be  allowed  to 
legislate  for  all  future  ages;  and  a  large  amount  of  property 
may  be  appropriated  for  the  support  of  institutions,  which, 
though  once  believed  to  be  beneficial,  experience  may  prove 
to  be  disadvantageous.  The  regulation  of  foundations  is, 
therefore,  a  matter  of  at  least  as  much  difficult}- as  importance, 
and  involves  a  great  variety  of  considerations.  It  is  impossi- 
ble, perhaps,  to  lay  down  any  principles  with  respect  to  it 
that  should  apply  to  all  cases ;  but  some  leading  positions  may 
notwithstanding  be  established,  that  should  always  be  kept  in 
\  iew  and  referred  to.  We  shall  endeavour  to  state  some  of 
these  in  our  articles  on  Property  (Right  of),  Wills  and 
Testaments,  Universities,  &c.  to  which  we  beg  to  refer. 

FOU'XDIXG,  or  FOUNDRY.  The  building  in  which 
various  metals  are  cast  into  moulds  or  shapes.  Such  of  the 
details  of  the  processes  carried  on  in  the  respective  metal 
foundries  as  are  consistent  with  the  plan  of  this  work,  will  be 
found  under  the  heads  of  the  metals  to  which  they  refer. 
The  furnaces  used  in  fusing  and  founding  metals  are  various- 
ly constructed,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  metal  and  the 
quantity  to  be  operated  upon ;  and  frequenUy  two  or  more 
furnaces  of  different  constructions  are  employed  in  the  same 
foundry.  The  wind  furnace,  blast  furnace,  and  reverberatory 
furnace,  are  the  forms  which  are  most  generally  employed. 
The  wind  furnace  is  either  square  or  circular,  and  varies  in 
dimensions,  according  to  the  size  of  the  crucibles  which  it 
is  intended  to  contain,  and  which  are  placed  upon  proper 
supports,  resting  generally  upon  the  bars  or  grating  of  the 
furnace.  It  has  three  apertures;  one  above,  for  the  purpose 
of  introducing  the  crucible  and  fuel,  and  which  is  usually 
closed  by  a  fire  tile  or  brick ;  another  below,  for  the  purpose 
of  admitting  the  air,  so  as  to  pass  through  the  grate  and  fuel, 
and  up  the  chimney ;  and  the  third  communicating  with  the 
chimney,  whicli  should  be  lofty  and  supplied  with  a  damper, 
for  the  purpose  of  regulating  the  draught  of  air  through  the 
fireplace,  and  consequently  also  the  heat  produced. 

The  blast  furnace  differs  from  the  preceding  in  having  no 
grating,  and  in  the  air  being  supplied  by  a  bellows  or  blowing 
machine.  The  construction  of  these  furnaces  is  much  varied, 
according  to  circumstances;  but  the  largest  and  most  perfect 
are  those-  employed  in  the  iron  works. 

The  reverberatory  furnace  is  so  constructed,  that  the  flame 
and  hot  air  are  directed  into  a  separate  cavity  intermediate 
between  it  and  the  chimney :  in  this  cavi:y.  commonly  called 
the  hearth,  the  materials  to  be  fused  are  placed  ;  and  there  is 
an  aperture  connected  with  it  by  which  the  fused  metal  is 
suffered  to  run  out  or  through  which  it  may  be  removed  in 
ladles  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  the  moulds. 

The  materials  of  whicli  the  moulds  are  formed  are  very 
various.  In  some  cases,  as  in  stereotype  founding,  they  con- 
sist of  plaster  of  Paiis  ;  jn  bronze  works  for  figures  and  statues, 
they  are  made  of  a  mixture  of  plaster  of  Paris,  sand,  and 
brick-dust,  and  require  the  utmost  skill  and  care  in  their 
preparation.  Iron  is  usually  cast  in  sand;  brass  and  other 
metals  in  clay ;  and  very  frequently  the  moulds  are  made  of 
cast  iron. 

FOU'NDLING  HOSPITALS,  [n those  ancient  nations 
with  the  details  of  whose  social  life  we  are  acquainted,  the 
practice  of  exposing  new-born  infants  seems  to  have  been,  as 
it  is  at  this  day  in  China,  a  species  of  legitimate  infanticide. 
.Neither  Plato  nor  Aristotle,  nor  in  general  any  political  wri- 
ters of  antiquity,  condemn  i; ;  they  merely  profess  to  lay  down 
rules  for  tin1  preservatii  n  of  the  healthier  and  .stronger,  at 
the  expense  of  the  more  w  eakly.  Among  the  Greeks,  a  more 
tender  mother  chose  the  market-place,  or  some  temple,  far 
the  exposure  of  her  child,  in  order  to  have  the  chance  of 
some  charitable  hand  succouring  it:  if  its  death  was  desired, 
it  was  abandoned  in  solitary  places;  and  their  dramas  and 
romances  are  full  of  narratives  in  which  this  custom  forms 
the  foundation  of  the  interest.  Thebes,  m  republican  Greece, 
is  the  only  state  in  which  the  exposure  of  children  is  known 
to  have  been  forbidden  by  law.    The  practice  of  exposure 


FOUNDLING  HOSPITALS. 

was  common  i;i  republican  Rome:  the  law  is  doubtful.  The 
street  called  Vclabrum  (Juvenal,  Sat.,  vi.),  and  the  column 
called  Lactaria  (from  this  circumstance,  according  to  some 
antiquaries)  were  places  usually  selected  lbr  the  purpose. 
Abandoned  children  were  declared  by  law  to  be  the  Slaves 
or  absolute  property  of  those  by  whom  they  were  brought  up  ; 
and  several  were  saved  from  death,  not  from  humane  mo- 
tives, but  that  their  foster-fathers  might,  by  mutilating  their 
persons  and  exhibiting  them  in  the  streets,  derive  an  in- 
famous livelihood  from  the  alms  given  them  by  the  paaaen 
gers.  At  length  the  progress  of  Christianity  put  an  end  to 
these  disgusting  enormities.  The  exposure  of  children  was 
made  a  punishable  offence  in  A.D.  374 ;  and  their  slavery 
was  abolished  by  an  edict  of  Justinian  in  530. 

Infanticide  has  most  properly  been  prosecuted  with  the  ut- 
most rigour,  and  made  a  capital  offence  in  almost  all  modern 
countries.  But  it  was  early  supposed  that  were  the  ex- 
posure or  abandonment  of  children  wholly  prohibited,  there 
would,  despite  of  all  that  could  be  done  to  prevent  it,  be  a 
great  deal  of  infanticide.  In  consequence  of  the  prevalence 
of  this  feeling,  it  has  been  customary  in  the  Christian  world, 
from  a  remote  period,  to  connive  at  the  abandonment  of 
children,  and  to  provide  means  for  the  support  of  those  that 
might  be  abandoned ;  and  hence  the  origin  of  Foundling 
Hospitals. 

The  first  distinct  trace  of  an  express  foundation  for  found- 
lings is  at  Milan  in  787.  In  1070  the  order  of  Brothers  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  was  established,  with  the  express  purpose  of 
taking  care  of  sick,  orphans,  and  foundlings.  After  that  time 
this  species  of  foundations  rapidly  multiplied  in  every  part,  of 
Europe.  But  while  private  beneficence  was  thus  exerted  in 
their  behalf,  the  Church,  which  in  the  earlier  period  had  un- 
dertaken the  general  care  of  them,  seems  by  degrees  to  have 
thrown  on  the  commonalty,  in  most  European  countries,  the 
charge  of  nourishing  such  as  were  not  received  into  any  of 
the  foundations.  Traces  of  legal  contests  between  the  reli- 
gious and  civil  establishments  on  this  subject  are  to  be  found 
in  the  history  of  France  through  the  whole  16th  century. 
The  uncertain  state  of  tho  law  rendered  their  preservation  in 
that  country  extremely  precarious.  St.  Vincent  de  Paule,  in 
the  17th  century,  undertook  their  cause  ;  and  the  foundation 
of  the  great  Foundling  Hospital  of  Paris,  in  1070,  is  due  to 
his  efforts.  In  the  provinces,  and  in  most  Catholic  countries, 
and  in  those  under  the  Greek  church,  public  charity  took  the 
same  direction. 

It  has  been  customary  in  these  establishments  to  receive 
all  children  brought  to  them,  without  inquiring  whether  they 
were  the  fruit  of  regular  marriages  or  of  illicit  amours!  It 
seems  idle  to  deny  that  the  multiplication  of  such  establish- 
ments, by  providing  a  ready  way  for  disposing  of  children, 
must  have  hindred  a  few  cases  of  infanticide  ;  but  the  injury 
they  have  done  to  public  morals,  and  the  waste  of  human 
life  that  they  have  occasioned,  are  ten  times  greater  evils 
than  any  they  have  obviated.  It  is  long,  indeed,  since  well- 
informed  persons  in  this  and  other  countries  were  aware  of 
the  pernicious  tendency  of  foundling  hospitals  ;  and  it  is  proba- 
ble that,  at  no  very  distant  period,  they  will  be  everywhere 
suppressed.  In  France  the  multiplication  of  these  hospitals, 
and  of  exposures,  has  called  at  last  the  attention  of  the  pub- 
lic to  the  frightful  immorality,  mortality,  and  expense  which 
attend  it.  In  1680,  ten  years  after  its  foundation,  the  great 
hospital  at  Paris  admitted  890 ;  in  1750, 4000  ;  in  1830,  nearly 
8000.  In  all  France  there  were  nourished  at  the  public  ex- 
pense in  1784,  40,000  children  ;  in  1809,  69,000  ;  1826, 118,000. 
The  number  is  now  about  130,000.  It  varies  greatly  in  the 
different  departments ;  being  greatest  in  the  north,  centre,  and 
south ;  least  in  the  eastern  departments  bordering  on  Ger- 
many, and  in  the  western,  or  Britanny,  La  Vendee,  &c. 
And  the  statistics  of  France  plainly  show,  as  Messrs.  Terme 
and  Montfalcon,  tile  authors  of  the  most  comprehensive  work 
on  the  subject,  explicitly  declare,  that  it  is  "not  poverty,  but 
luxury,  which  produces  exposures."  The  two  great  measuri  s 
for  reducing  the  burden,  which  have  lately  been  partially 
put  in  execution,  are  the  suppression  of  the  turning-boxes,  or, 
in  other  words,  rendering  the  abandonment  public  ;  and  the 
removal  of  the  new-born  children  into  another  department, 
which,  it  is  said,  always  produces,  when  tried,  a  great  reduc- 
tion in  the  number  of  exposures.  In  Italy,  Belgium,  &c, 
similar  institutions  prevail,  and  a  similar  increase  of  burden 
has  of  late  years  been  felt.  It  has,  no  doubt,  been  augmented 
by  the  improvement  which  has  taken  place  in  the  manage- 
ment of  these  unfortunate  creatures.  Formerly  death  soon 
relieved  the  institutions  of  their  maintenance.  Towards  the 
end  of  the  last  century,  80  per  cent,  of  the  children  are  said 
to  have  died  at  Paris  in  a  single  year ;  90  at  Marseilles ;  91  at 
Dublin.  The  mortality  is  now  much  diminished;  though  it 
is  thought  that  in  France  nearly  60  per  cent,  still  die  in  their 
first  year.  The  whole  number  of  children  annually  exposed 
is  said  to  be,  at  St.  Petersburgh,  about  45  per  cent,  of  those 
born;  Rome,  28;  Lisbon,  26;  Vienna,  23;  Paris,  21.  In 
England,  Captain  Thomas  Coram  is  celebrated  for  his  estab- 
lishment of  the  Foundling  Hospital  in  1739.    It  was  extreme- 


FOUNTAIN  OF  HERO. 

ly  popular  at  the  time,  and  for  many  years  was  assisted  by 
frequent  votes  of  parliament.  Similar  institutions  were  pro- 
jected in  other  parts  of  the  country ;  but  the  enormous  in- 
crease of  abandonments,  and  the  expense  which  they  occa- 
sioned, produced  such  an  alteration  in  public  opinion,  that  the 
system  of  the  Foundling  Hospital  was  entirely  altered  ;  and, 
notwithstanding  its  name,  it  is  now  destined  merely  for  the 
reception  of  orphans.  Abandoned  children  in  England  be- 
come burdens  to  the  parish  in  which  they  are  found. 

We  may  remark,  by  the  way,  that  the  statements  now  laid 
before  the  reader,  as  to  the  injurious  influence  of  foundling 
hospitals,  strikingly  corroborate  the  principles  laid  down  in 
the  article  Foundations,  as  to  the  necessity  of  the  legisla- 
ture exercising  a  certain  control  over  the  property  left  to  pro- 
mote what  is  believed  to  be  at  the  time  a  charitable  or  be- 
nevolent purpose.  (See  Gouraff,  Essai  sur  les  Enfans 
Trouvis,  1819;  Quart.  Rev.,  vol.  xi. ;  VAbbe  Gaillard, 
Hecherches,  1837 ;  and  the  excellent  work  of  Messrs.  Terme 
and  Montfalcon,  already  cited,  Histoire  des  Enf.  Trouvis, 
1837.) 

FOUNT.  (Fr.  fonds.)  The  quantity  of  types  of  any  par- 
ticular sort  in  a  printing  office,  whether  it  be  great  or  small. 
Thus  a  small  fount  may  consist  of  fifty  or  one  hundred 
pounds  weight,  comprising  the  usual  proportion  of  the  various 
letters  of  the  alphabet;  and  a  large  fount  of  thirty  or  forty 
thousand  pounds  weight,  or  more. 

FOU'NTAIN.  (Lat  fons.)  By  this  term  is  designated 
any  natural  or  artificial  apparatus  by  means  of  which  water 
springs  up.  In  natural  fountains  the  ascensional  effort  is  pro- 
duced by  the  hydrostatic  pressure  of  the  water  itself;  in  arti- 
fical  fountains  it  is  produced  either  by  the  same  pressure,  or 
by  that  of  compressed  air,  or  sometimes  by  machinery. 

The  theory  of  natural  fountains  is  extremely  simple,  and 
depends  on  the  well-known  property  of  fluids — that,  when 
enclosed  in  tubes  or  vessels  communicating  with  one  another, 
the  fluid  rises  to  the  same  level  in  all  of  them  ;  and  that  its 
pressure  on  the  sides  of  the  tube  at  any  point  is  proportional 
to  the  height  of  the  vertical  column  above  that  point.  Sup- 
pose a  b  and  c  d  to  be  two  pipes  communicating  „  ,, 
with  each  other,  and  that  water  is  poured  into 
the  first  at  a ;  it  will  ascend  equally  in  both 
tubes,  though  they  may  be  of  very  different 
sizes,  and  stand  at  the  same  level  a  c.  Let  us 
now  suppose  the  tube  c  d  to  be  cut  away  at  d,  jj 
and  let  the  line  b  d  be  horizontal ;  then  the 
pressure  at  d  being  the  same  as  at  //,  the  water 
will  spring  from  d  with  a  velocity  \'  =  2^/  gh, 
where  g  is  the  accelerating  force  of  gravity  (equal  to  32  feet 
in  a  second  of  time),  and  h  is  the  altitude  of  the  column  a  b. 
(See  Hydrodynamics.)  The  water,  therefore,  if  it  suffered 
no  resistance  from  the  air,  or  other  impediment,  would  spring 
up  from  d  to  c. 

Now  it  is  precisely  on  this  principle  that  all  natural  foun- 
tains are  explained.  The  rain  which  falls  from  the  atmo- 
sphere is  absorbed  in  three  different  ways.  One  part  of  it 
collects  in  rills  on  the  surface  of  the  ground  ;  these  unite  in 
streams  or  rivulets,  which  flowing  into  one  another  form 
rivers,  and  thus  it  is  conveyed  to  the  ocean.  A  second  part 
is  taken  up  in  giving  humidity  to  the  soil,  from  which  it  is 
returned  to  the  atmosphere  by  evaporation.  A  third  portion 
descends  into  the  earth,  through  soils  of  a  spongy  or  porous 
nature,  or  through  crevices  and  interstices  in  the  strata,  until 
it  meets,  frequently  at  a  very  considerable  depth,  with  strata 
through  which  it  cannot  penetrate,  and  is  then  collected  in 
subterraneous  reservoirs.  When  confined  in  this  manner  it 
is  subject  to  the  pressure  of  the  water  which  fills  the  channels 
through  which  it  has  descended ;  and  when  this  pressure  is 
sufficient  to  overcome  the  resistance  of  the  superincumbent 
mass  of  earth,  the  water  breaks  the  artificial  strata,  and  gush- 
es forth  in  a  spring.  But  if  the  strength  of  the  superincum- 
bent materials  exceed  the  hydrostatic  pressure,  the  water  will 
remain  stored  up  as  it  were  in  the  subterraneous  reservoir. 
Now  if  the  ground  above  such  a  reservoir,  or  any  channel 
communicating  with  it,  be  perforated,  the  water,  having  free 
access  to  the  opening,  will  rise  in  it  till  it  attains  the  level  of 
the  highest  part  of  the  channels  from  which  it  is  supplied. 
If  this  level  is  above  the  surface  of  the  ground,  the  water  will 
have  a  tendency  to  rise ;  and  when  the  ascensional  force  is 
considerable,  it  may  by  proper  means  be  formed  into  a  fount- 
ain. That  subterraneous  reservoirs  formed  in  this  manner 
exist  in  great  abundance,  and  at  great  depths  under  the  sur- 
face, we  have  sufficient  evidence  in  the  facility  with  which 
water  may  be  obtained  in  almost  all  countries  from  Artesian 
Wells. 

FOUNTAIN  OF  HERO.  An  ingenious  hydraulic  ma- 
chine, of  which  the  invention  is  ascribed  to  Hero  of  Alex- 
andria, who  lived  about  150  years  before  our  era.  Its  princi- 
ple depends  on  the  transmission  of  the  pressure  sustained  by 
a  body  of  water  in  one  vessel  to  that  in  another  by  means  of 
the  elasticity  of  air.  The  essential  parts  of  the  apparatus 
consist  of  two  close  vessels,  A  and  B,  the  first  placed  at 
some  height  above  the  other,  and  connected  by  a  frame ;  and 

475 


ftg.  1.  Fig.  2. 


FOUNTAIN. 

of  three  tubes  or  pipes,  of  which  the 
first,  a  b,  descends  from  a  basin  C  to 
very  near  the  bottom  of  the  lower 
vessel  B  ;  the  second,  c  d,  rises  from 
the  summit  of  the  vessel  B  to  the 
top  of  A;  the  third,  ef,  rising  from 
the  lower  part  of  A  to  some  height 
above  A,  and  forming  the  jet  at  /. 
Conceive  the  vessel  A  to  be  filled 
with  water,  and  B  with  air.  In  this 
disposition  of  the  apparatus,  let  water 
be  poured  into  the  basin  C ;  this  will 
descend  the  pipe  a  b,  and  gradually 
fill  the  vessel  B.  But  as  it  rises  in  B  the 
air  in  that  vessel  escapes  through  the 
pipe  c  d,  and  is  compressed  at  the  top  of  A,  and,  by  its  spring 
or  elasticity,  forces  the  water  through  the  tubes  ef,  and  thus 
produces  a  jet  at  /,  which  will  continue  until  the  vessel  A  is 
nearly  emptied,  or  B  nearly  filled.  The  force  which  pro- 
duces the  jet  is  equal  to  the  pressure  of  a  column  of  water, 
the  height  of  which  is  equal  to  the  ditference  of  the  levels 
of  the  water  in  C  and  B  :  according  to  theory,  therefore,  the 
water  should  spout  to  a  height  above  its  level  in  A  equal  to 
that  distance. 

The  second  figure  represents  the  fountain  of  Hero  in  an- 
other form.  An  apparatus  constructed  on  this  principle  is 
employed  for  draining  the  water  from  the  mines  of  Schem- 
nitz  in  Hungary. 

Artificial  fountains  are  also  produced  by  means  of  the  elas- 
ticity of  heated  air,  or  of  air  condensed  by  any  other  means. 
Two  different  apparatus  for  this  purpose  are  frequently  met 
with  in  cabinets  of  natural  philosophy.  The 
first  consists  of  two  close  vessels  of  tin,  placed 
the  one  above  the  other,  the  lower  one,  C  D 
E  F,  being  of  a  considerable  size ;  and  the 
upper,  ABCD,  furnished  with  a  tube  or  jet, 
K  L,  which  reaches  to  near  the  bottom  of  the 
vessel.  On  applying  the  heat  of  a  lamp  to 
the  lower  vessel,  the  air  within  it  expands, 
and  making  its  way  through  the  open  tube 
G  H  is  compressed  at  the  top  of  the  vessel 
ABCD,  and  thus  by  its  pressure  forces  the 
JF  water  in  that  vessel  through  K  L,  forming  a 
small  jet  at  K.  This  apparatus  being  generally  constructed  in 
the  form  of  a  temple,  produces  a  very  pleasing  effect. 

The  other  apparatus  to  which  we  have  alluded  exhibits 
the  appearance  of  a  fire-fountain,  and  when  neatly  construct- 
ed forms  an  exceedingly  elegant  toy.  On  a  pedestal  of  wood 
or  metal,  a  glass  globe  with  a  pretty  long  neck,  from  the  mid- 
dle of  which  spring  two  branches,  A  and  B,  is  placed  in  an 
inverted  position,  the  globe  being  first  filled  with  spirits  of 
wine,  and  the  neck  well  corked.  The  pressure 
of  the  atmosphere  prevents  the  fluid  from  escap- 
ing at  the  orifices  of  the  tubes  A  and  B,  while 
the  temperature  is  undisturbed ;  but  on  applying 
the  flame  of  a  taper  to  the  drops  which  form  at 
these  orifices,  the  globe  is  heated ;  steam  is  form- 
ed at  the  upper  part,  the  elastic  force  of  which 
causes  the  spirit  to  spring  from  the  orifices,  and 
this  taking  fire  heats  the  globe  to  a  still  greater 
degree,  and  increases  the  action,  so  that  two 
beautiful  jets  of  burning  spirit  of  wine  are  produced.  As  the 
pressure  of  steam  is  very  apt  to  burst  the  globe,  the  exhibition 
of  this  experiment  is  attended  with  some  danger. 

FOURTH.  In  Music,  one  of  the  harmonica]  intervals;  so 
called  because  it  contains  four  sounds  or  terms  between  its 
extremes,  and  three  intervals ;  or  as  being  the  fourth  in  order 
of  the  natural  or  diatonic  scale  from  the  fundamental. 

FOVTLLA.  In  Botany,  the  matter  contained  within  the 
grains  of  pollen. 

FOWLING.  The  art  of  catching  birds  with  nets,  bird- 
lime, decoys,  or  other  devices.  It  is  also  used  for  taking 
birds  with  hawks,  falcons,  and  other  birds  of  prey;  more 
properly  called  falconry  and  hawking.  In  Latin  this  sport 
was  called  aucupium ;  from  avis,  a  bird,  and  capio,  /  take. 
FOX.     See  Vulpes  and  Canis. 

Fox.  A  particular  kind  of  strand  made  of  rope-yarns. 
FO  XGLOVE.  The  Digitalis  purpurea  ;  a  common  in- 
digenous plant,  the  leaves  of  which,  when  carefully  dried  and 
powdered,  or  made  into  a  tincture  or  infusion,  are  used  in 
medicine.  In  small  and  repeated  doses  it  lowers  the  pulse 
in  an  extraordinary  manner,  and  produces  debility  and  faint- 
ing ;  combined  with  other  remedies,  it  forms  an  ingredient  in 
some  powerful  diuretics. 

FRA'CTION,  in  Arithmetic,  is  an  aliquot  part  of  unity. 
In  order  to  form  a  precise  idea  of  a  fraction  of  any  unit,  we 
must  consider  the  unit  to  be  divided  into  a  certain  whole 
number  of  equal  parts,  of  which  parts  we  take  one,  two, 
three,  &c. :  the  number  of  parts  so  taken  is  what  constitutes 
the  fraction.  The  expression  of  a  fraction  therefore  necessa- 
rily involves  two  whole  numbers  ;  namely,  one  to  denote  the 
number  of  parts  into  which  the  unit  is  divided,  and  the  other 
476 


FRACTION. 

to  express  how  many  of  these  parts  are  to  be  taken  to  form 
the  fraction.  The  first  of  these  numbers  is  called  the  denom- 
inator, and  the  second  the  numerator.  Thus,  seven  eighths 
of  a  foot,  five  twelfths  of  a  pound  are  fractions.  In  the  first 
we  suppose  the  foot  or  unit  to  be  divided  into  eight  equal 
parts,  of  which  seven  are  taken  ;  so  that  eight  is  the  denomi- 
nator and  seven  the  numerator.  In  the  second  the  unit  or 
pound  is  supposed  to  be  divided  into  twelve  equal  parts,  of 
which  five  are  taken ;  here  twelve  is  the  denominator  and 
five  the  numerator.  From  these  considerations  it  results 
that  a  fraction  is  a  magnitude  referred  to  a  certain  part  of  the 
principal  unit,  which  part  may  itself  be  considered  a  particu- 
ticular  kind  of  unit.  Thus  the  fraction  seven  eighths  of  a 
foot  being  the  same  as  seven  times  the  eighth  pan  of  a  foot, 
this  eighth  part  is  a  particular  unit  which  the  proposed  frac- 
tion contains  eight  limes.  Hence  two  fractions  are  said  to  be 
of  the  same  kind  when  their  denominators  are  the  same. 
For  example,  five  twelfths,  six  twelfths,  eleven  twelfths,  are 
fractions  of  the  same  kind  ;  but  two  thirds  and  three  fourths 
are  fractions  of  dilierent  kinds,  because  their  denominators 
are  different. 

In  order  to  express  fractions  by  the  numerical  digits,  the 
numerator  is  placed  over  the  denominator,  with  a  line  or  bar 
between  them.  Thus  the  fraction  three  fourths  is  written  3-4, 
five  twelfths  5-12,  &c.  Reciprocally  13-15,  17-20,  &c,  desig- 
nate the  fractions  thirteen  fifteenths,  seventeen  twentieths,  &c. 

A  fraction  may  also  be  regarded  as  the  quotient  that  arises 
from  the  division  of  its  numerator  by  its  denominator.  For 
example,  the  expression  seven  eighths,  or  seven  times  the 
eighth  part  of  unity,  is  identical  with  the  expression  the  eighth 
part  of  seven,  or  seven  divided  by  eight. 

From  the  definition  which  we  have  given  of  the  numera- 
tor and  denominator  of  a  fraction,  the  following  consequen- 
ces result : — 1.  If,  without  altering  the  denominator  of  a  frac- 
tion, we  multiply  or  divide  its  numerator  by  any  number,  the 
new  fraction  will  be  so  many  times  greater  or  less  than  the 
original  fraction.  2.  If,  without  altering  the  numerator,  we 
multiply  or  divide  the  denominator  of  a  fraction  by  any  num- 
ber, the  new  fraction  will  be  so  many  limes  smaller  in  the 
former  case,  and  so  many  times  greater  in  the  latter,  titan  the 
original  fraction.  3.  The  value  of  a  fraction  is  not  altered  by 
multiplying  or  dividing  both  numerator  and  denominator  by 
the  same  number.  It  is  on  these  three  principles  that  the 
practical  rules  for  the  addition,  subtraction,  multiplication, 
and  division  of  fractions  are  -grounded. 

Addition  and  Subtraction  of  Fractions. — In  order  that  two 
fractions  may  be  added  together,  or  the  one  subtracted  from 
the  other,  it  is  necessary  that  they  both  be  of  the  same  kind 
or  denomination ;  for  it  is  only  homogeneous  things  that  ad- 
mit of  amalgamation.  The  fractions  2-3  and  3-4  cannot  be 
added  together  in  their  present  form,  because  they  are  of  dif- 
ferent denominations.  But  fractions  can  always  be  reduced 
to  the  same  denomination,  or  to  a  common  denominator,  by 
means  of  the  third  principle  above  laid  down ;  for  numbers 
can  always  be  chosen  such  that  if  we  multiply  the  terms  of 
each  fraction  by  them  severally,  the  resulting  equivalent 
fractions  will  have  the  same  denominator.  Thus,  multiply- 
ing the  terms  of  the  fraction  2-3  by  4,  we  get  the  equivalent 
fraction  8-12 ;  and  multiplying  the  terms  of  3-4  by  3,  we  get 
the  equivalent  9-12.  The  two  proposed  fractions  are  there- 
fore reduced  to  the  two  others,  8-12  and  9-12,  the  sum  of 
which  is  17-12,  and  the  difference  1-12.  When  any  number 
of  fractions  are  to  be  added  together  they  are  most  conve- 
niently reduced  to  a  common  denominator  by  this  rule : — Find 
the  least  common  multiple  of  all  the  denominators ;  divide 
this  multiple  by  each  of  the  denominators  one  after  the  oth- 
er ;  and  multiply  the  terms  of  the  proposed  fraclions  respect- 
ively by  the  corresponding  quotients  thus  found ;  the  results 
will  be  a  series  of  equal  fractions,  all  having  the  same  denom- 
inator, and  this  expressed  by  the  lowest  possible  number. 
When  this  operation  has  been  performed,  the  sum  or  differ- 
ence of  the  fractions  is  obtained  by  placing  the  sum  or  differ- 
ence of  their  numerators  over  the  common  denominator. 

.Multiplication  of  Fractions. — Let  it  be  proposed  to  multi- 
ply 3-5  by  6-7.  As  the  multiplier  6-7  is  equal  to  six  times  the 
seventh  part  of  unit}',  it  is  obvious  that  the  product  must  be 
equal  to  six  times  the  seventh  part  of  three-fifths.  Now  by 
the  second  principle  above  laid  down,  the  seventh  part  of  3-5 
is  found  by  multiplying  the  denominator  by  7 ;  this  gives  3-35. 
And  in  order  to  obtain  a  fraction  six  times  greater  than  3-35, 
we  must  multiply  the  numerator  by  6,  which  gives  18-35  for 
the  product  required.  Hence  for  the  multiplication  of  frac- 
tions we  have  this  rule: — Multiply  all  the  numerators  to- 
gether for  the  numerator  of  the  product,  and  all  the  denomi- 
nators for  its  denominator. 

As  a  whole  number  can  always  be  expressed  in  the  form 
of  a  fraction  by  placing  1  under  it  for  a  denominator,  this 
rule  includes  nil  the  different  cases. 

Division  of  Fractions. — Let  it  be  proposed  to  divide  3-5  by 
8-11.  Here  the  divisor  8-11  being  equal  to  eight  times  the 
11th  part  of  unity,  the  dividend  3-5  must  (from  the  nature  of 
division)  be  equal  to  8  times  the  11th  part  of  the  quotient. 


FRACTURE. 

But,  by  the  second  principle,  the  8th  part  of  3-5  is  3-40,  there- 
fore 3-40  is  the  11th  part  of  the  quotient  required;  conse- 
quently 11  times  3-40,  or  33-40,  is  the  quotient  itself.  Hence 
we  deduce  the  general  rule  for  the  division  of  one  fraction  by 
another:  Multiply  the  numerator  of  the  dividend  by  the  de- 
nominator of  the  divisor,  the  product  will  be  the  numerator 
of  the  quotient ;  and  multiply  the  denominator  of  the  dividend 
by  the  numerator  of  the  divisor,  the  product  will  give  the  de- 
nominator of  the  quotient  required.  It  is  obvious  that  this 
amounts  to  the  same  tiling  as  to  invert  the  terms  of  the  divi- 
sor, and  then  proceed  as  in  multiplication. 

Fractional  expressions  are  divided  into  several  kinds: — 
proper  and  improper,  simple  and  compound.  A  proper  frac- 
tion is  one  whose  numerator  is  less  than  its  denominator, 
and  its  value  consequently  less  than  unity.  An  improper 
fraction  is  one  whose  numerator  is  equal  to  or  greater  than 
its  denominator,  and  its  value  consequently  equal  to  or  great- 
er than  unity.  A  simple  fraction  is  an  expression  consisting 
of  one  fraction  only.  A  compound  fraction  is  a  fraction  of  a 
fraction,  or  a  fractional  part  of  some  whole  or  mixed  number. 
And  a  mixed  number  is  an  expression  consisting  of  a  whole 
number  and  a  fraction. 

The  fractions  of  which  we  have  now  spoken  are  common 
or  vulgar  fractions;  when  the  denominators  are  10,  100,  or 
in  general  any  power  of  10,  they  become  decimal  fractions, 
and  are  expressed  by  a  different  notation.     See  Decimal. 

FRA'CTURE.  (Lat.  frango,  /  break.)  In  Mineralogy, 
when  minerals  are  broken,  they  either  exhibit  a  smooth  reg- 
ular surface,  to  which  the  term  cleavage  is  generally  ap- 
plied ;  or  they  give  an  irregular  or  uneven  surface,  termed  a 
fracture.  Werner,  who  first  employed  this  character  in  his 
description  of  minerals,  divides  their  various  fractures  into 
compact,  fibrous,  radiated,  and  foliated.  The  terms  earthy, 
granular,  uneven,  hackly,  and  splintery,  the  meanings  of 
which  will  be  s\ifnciently  obvious,  are  employed  by  other 
mineralogists. 

Fracture.  In  Surgery',  this  term  is  limited  to  broken 
bones.  Such  accidents  are  generally  the  result  of  external 
force;  but  it  occasionally  happens  that  the  powerful  action 
of  certain  muscles  may  cause  a  fracture,  as  is  frequently  the 
case  in  regard  to  the  patella  or  knee-pan.  Fractures  are  dis- 
tinguished by  surgeons  into  transverse,  oblique,  and  longitu- 
dinal, depending  upon  the  direction  in  which  the  bone  is  bro- 
ken ;  and  into  simple  and  compound,  dependant  upon  the  cir- 
cumstances with  which  the  injury  is  accompanied.  "By 
simple  fracture  surgeons  mean  a  suddenly  formed  breach  in 
the  continuity  of  one  or  more  bones,  without  any  external 
wound  communicating  internally  with  the  fracture ;  by  a 
compound  fracture  they  signify  the  same  sort  of  injury  of  a 
bone  or  bones,  attended  with  a  laceration  of  the  integuments, 
which  laceration  may  be  produced  by  the  protrusion  of  one 
or  both  ends  of  the  fracture  through  the  skin,  or  by  a  ball  or 
other  body  which  enters  or  otherwise  wounds  the  soft  parts 
at  the  same  moment  that  it  breaks  the  bone." 

The  history  and  treatment  of  fractures  is  an  extensive  and 
important  department  of  surgery,  upon  which  several  treati- 
ses have  been  written  by  very  eminent  practitioners.  An  ex- 
cellent article  on  the  subject  will  be  found  in  Cooper's  Sur- 
gical Dictionary,  from  which  work  we  have  borrowed  the 
above  definition. 

FRAISE.  In  Fortification,  a  kind  of  defence  which  is 
formed  by  driving  pointed  stakes  at  a  small  angle  with  the 
horizon  into  the  retrenchment  of  a  camp,  &c. 

FRAMBCE'SIA.  (Framboise,  a  raspberry.)  The  yaws; 
a  disease  endemic  in  the  Antilles  and  some  parts  of  Africa, 
which  is  attended  by  cuticular  excrescences  something  like 
mulberries,  which  discharge  a  watery  fluid.  It  is  conta- 
gious, but  not  dangerous.    " 

FRAMING.  (Sax.  framman,  to  form.)  In  Architecture, 
the  rough  timber-work  of  a  house,  including  floors,  roof,  par- 
titions, ceilings,  and  beams.  Generally,  any  pieces  of  wood 
fitted  together  with  mortices  and  tenons  are  said  to  be  fra- 
med ;  as  doors,  sash  frames,  sashes,  &c. 

FRA  NCHISE.  In  Law,  a  species  of  incorporeal  heredi- 
tament, synonymous  with  liberty,  which  is  defined  "  A  royal 
privilege,  or  branch  of  the  king's  prerogative,  subsisting  in  the 
hands  of  a  subject.  For  an  account  of  the  nature  of  the 
elective  franchise,  see  Parliament. 

FRANCI'SCANS.  One  of  the  four  Mendicant  Orders, 
founded  by  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  in  Umbria,  in  the  year  1209. 
Sec  art.  Orders,  Mendicant. 

FRANK.  A  coin  in  use  in  France,  equivalent  to  9.6SM. 
See  Money. 

Frank.  A  privilege  enjoyed  by  the  members  of  both 
houses  of  Parliament,  some  government  offices,  and  certain 
public  functionaries,  of  sending  and  receiving  a  certain  num- 
ber of  letters  post  free ;  abolished  Jan.  10,  1840.  Sec  Post- 
age. 

FRANK  ALEU.  In  Law,  an  absolute  right  to  real  estate 
in  Lower  Canada;  and  also  in  Guernsey  and  Jersey,  ac- 
knowledging no  feudal  superior,  and  consequently  not  a  ten- 
ure.   See  Allodium. 


FRECKLES. 

FRANKALMOI'GN.  (From  two  Norman  French  words, 
signifying  free  alms.)  In  Law,  a  tenure  by  spiritual  service, 
where  an  ecclesiastical  corporation,  sole  or  aggregate,  hold 
land  to  them  and  their  successors  of  some  lord  and  his  heirs 
in  free  and  perpetual  alms.  Donations  in  Frankalmoign  are 
now  out  of  use,  as  none  but  the  king  can  make  them;  but 
they  were  expressly  excepted  from  the  operation  of  stat.  12, 
C.  2,  c.  24. 

FRANKINCENSE  (said  to  be  so  called  from  its  liberal  dis- 
tribution of  odour).  The  gum-resin  olibanum,  which  is  the 
produce  of  the  Boswellia  scrrata,  and  imported  from  the  Le- 
vant, bears  the  commercial  name  of  frankincense.  When  it 
is  burned,  or  sprinkled  upon  hot  coals,  it  exhales  a  very  fra- 
grant and  diffusible  odour. 

FRANKPLEDGE,  or  FREEBORG  (German,  burge, 
pledge).  A  celebrated  Anglo-Saxon  usage,  which  appears 
to  have  been  of  two  kinds.  1.  That  which  may  be  termed 
seigniorial  frankpledge,  by  which  every  lord  (hlaford)  was 
rendered  responsible  for  the  appearance  of  his  own  men  or 
dependants,  when  accused  before  justice,  in  the  hundred 
court ;  when,  if  the  party  absconded,  the  lord  became  liable 
to  the  king  in  the  amount  of  the  "  were"  or  amercement  for 
the  offence.  2.  Collective  or  public  frankpledge,  which  is 
the  sense  in  which  the  word  is  most  commonly  used  by  mod- 
ern writers,  is  of  very  obscure  origin,  but  appears  to  have  ex- 
isted after  the  Conquest  in  the  southern  and  eastern  parts  of 
England.  The  burghers  and  ceorls,  or  inferior  class  of  free- 
men, were  enrolled  in  small  collective  bodies  termed  tythings 
or  decennaries  (in  many  instances  equivalent  to  the  town- 
ships), under  the  superintendence  of  a  chief  pledge  or  tything- 
man.  The  tything  thus  organized  was  bound  for  the  ap- 
pearance of  any  one  of  its  members  under  accusation.  The 
"  view  of  frankpledge"  originated  in  the  usage  of  calling  to- 
gether the  individuals  who  were  enrolled  in  each  of  these 
bodies  at  certain  stated  times;  which  were  usually  held  at 
the  court  leet,  but  were  not  (as  Blackstone  states  it)  the  main 
object  of  that  institution,  since  courts  leet  were  held  from  an 
early  period  in  the  northern  parts  of  England,  in  which  frank- 
pledge never  existed,  as  well  as  in  the  southern.  On  the 
view  of  frankpledge,  the  members  of  each  tything  also  took 
the  oath  of  allegiance  under  the  Norman  kings.  (See  Tur- 
ner's Anglo-Saxons ;  Sir  F.  Palgrave's  Commonwealth,  of 
England';  and  art.  Court  Leet.) 

FRANKS.  A  general  appellation  conferred  by  the  Turks 
and  other  Asiatic  nations  on  all  the  inhabitants  of  Europe. 

FRATE'RCULA.  The  generic  name  for  the  puffins.  Sec 
Mormon. 

FRATERNITIES,  were  associations  of  laymen  in  the 
middle  Ages  formed  for  the  purposes  of  general  benevolence, 
and  for  the  discharge  of  other  Christian  duties. 

FRAUD,  in  Law,  is  the  general  name  for  any  species  of 
deceit  in  contracts,  either  by  suppression  of  truth  or  assertion 
of  falsehood.  The  most  complete  definition  of  it  is  that  given 
by  Forbes: — "Dolum  malum  esse  oinnem  cailiditatem,  fal- 
laciam,  machinalionem,  ap  circumveniendum,  fallendum, 
decipiendum  alterum  adhibitum."  (Story's  Commentaries 
on  Equity  Jurisprudence.)  With  a  view  to  the  provisions  of 
the  English  law,  frauds  may  be  divided  into  such  as  are  cog- 
nizable by  courts  of  common  law,  such  as  are  cognizable  in 
equity  only,  and  such  as  are  expressly  provided  against  by 
statutes.  It  has  been  laid  down  as  a  general  principle,  that 
courts  of  common  law  can  relieve  against  the  consequences 
of  fraud  (by  making  contracts  void,  &x.)  as  well  as  courts  of 
equity,  wherever  the  fraud  is  clearly  established ;  and  that 
their  inadequacy  to  provide  a  proper  remedy  arises  only  from 
their  inability  to  attain  the  necessary  evidence.  But  how- 
ever this  may  be,  it  has  long  been  a  general  principle,  that 
courts  of  equity,  in  the  language  of  Lord  Coke,  have  juris- 
diction over  frauds,  covin,  and  deceits,  for  which  there  is  no 
remedy  by  the  ordinary  course  of  law.  Hence  arises  one  of 
the  three  great  branches  of  equity  jurisdiction — trust,  fraud, 
account.  (See  Chancellor.)  The  general  principles  of 
that  jurisdiction  appear  to  be,  that  the  courts  will  relieve,  by 
considering  acts  as  performed  of  which  the  performance  has 
been  fraudulently  prevented ;  by  setting  aside  bargains  made 
in  ignorance  of  rights,  or  where  there  is  material  conceal- 
ment of  title,  value,  &c. ;  or,  finally,  misrepresentation  in 
material  particulars.  Various  acts  have  been  made  fraudu- 
lent, so  as  to  produce  the  consequence  of  annulling  contracts 
and  avoiding  conveyances  by  statutes:  e.  g.,  conveyances 
with  intent  to  defraud  creditors,  by  13  Eliz.,c.  5;  voluntary 
conveyances,  27  Eliz.,c.  4  ;  various  contracts,  conveyances, 
&c.  not  executed  with  the  formalities  required  by  the  Statute 
of  Frauds,  29,  C.  2,  c.  3.  Some  frauds  are  of  a  criminal  na- 
ture, and  punishable  by  indictment;  but  they  are  chiefly 
such  as  affect  the  public,  or  such  as  are  effected  by  means 
of  false  tokens. 

FRE'CKLES.  Small  yellow  specks  and  spots  which  ap- 
pear upon  the  face,  especially  of  fair  persons  much  exposed 
to  the  weather.  The  best  application  is  a  dilute  spirituous 
lotion  (one  part  of  brandy  to  eight  of  water),  with  a  few 
drops  of  muriatic  acid,  so  as  to  render  it  just  perceptibly  sour. 

477 


FREEBOOTERS. 

FREE'BOOTERS.  (Germ,  freibeuters,  Fr.  flibustiers.) 
A  name  given  to  some  adventurers  of  all  nations,  but  espe- 
cially of  France  and  England,  who  have  obtained  a  place  in 
history  by  the  courage  and  intrepidity  which  they  displayed 
in  executing  the  most  difficult  enterprises.  The  origin  of 
their  history  is  merged  in  obscurity,  and  it  is  impossible  to 
ascertain  precisely  whence  their  name  is  derived ;  but  the 
flibustiers  of  tile  French  naval  historians  are  identical  with 
the  buccaneers  of  our  own  language.  (Sec  Buccaneers.) 
The  South  American  islands  formed  the  chief  theatre  of 
their  depredations;  and  such  was  the  relentless  hostility 
with  which  they  visited  the  Spaniards,  that  during  the  latter 
half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  which  embraced  the  most 
formidable  period  of  the  freebooter's  career,  their  commercial 
operations  in  the  Indian  seas  were  nearly  destroyed.  At  the 
commencement  of  the  18th  century,  the  freebooters  sustained 
in  their  expedition  a  series  of  disasters,  which  sensibly  di- 
minished their  numbers;  and  since  that  period  the  designa- 
tion has  been  applied  indiscriminately  to  any  individual  who 
regards  "the  universe  as  his  property,"  and  appropriates  to 
himself  either  furtively  or  forcibly  the  possessions  of  another. 

FREE'HOLD,  in  Law,  is  a  term  which  is  used  in  two  dif- 
ferent senses :  I.  To  express  the  quantity  of  estate  which  a  man 
may  have  in  lands  or  tenements;  and,  2.  To  express  a  tenure 
by  which  lands  and  tenements  are  held.  Thus,  an  estate  of 
freehold,  to  satisfy  the  full  acceptance  of  the  term,  must  be 
both  sufficient  in  quantity  of  interest  and  sufficient  in  tenure. 

1.  As  to  quantity  of  interest,  all  estates  for  a  term  uncer- 
tain in  duration  are  estates  of  freehold ;  and  they  are  divided 
into  estates  of  inheritance,  and  not  of  inheritance.  The  first 
of  these  are  either  absolute  (fee-simple)  or  limited  (fee-tail, 
or  fee-simple  conditional).  The  second  are  estates  for  life, 
or  for  an  uncertain  period  limited  within  the  term  of  a  life ; 
as,  an  estate  granted  to  a  widow  durante  viduitate.  Such 
estates  as  this  are  by  the  law  regarded  as  estates  for  life,  de- 
terminable on  a  given  event.  2.  With  respect  to  tenure, 
freehold  tenure  is  derived  from  the  ancient  free  socage ;  and 
lands  held  by  copy  of  court  roll  according  to  the  custom  of 
a  manor,  viz.,  copyholds,  are  not  within  this  denomination. 
But  lands  held  by  custom  of  the  manor,  not  by  copy  of  court 
roll,  are  not  copyholds,  but  customary  freeholds. 

In  order,  therefore,  to  give  the  privileges  or  impose  the  du- 
ties attached  by  the  law  to  freeholders  (such  as  serving  on 
juries,  voting  at  county  elections,  &c),  the  estate  in  respect 
of  which  such  right  or  duty  attaches  must  be  either  for  life 
or  a  greater  interest,  and  must  be  held  in  freehold  tenure. 

FREEM  A'SONR  Y.  A  well-known  institution,  the  origin 
of  which  has  given  rise  to  much  fabulous  narrative  and  idle 
speculation.  Some  derive  the  mysteries  of  Freemasonry 
from  those  of  the  priests  of  Eleusis,  and  these  again  from 
Egypt;  others  from  the  secret  associations  of  the  Templars. 
(See  Templars,  Baphomet.)  The  last  opinion  was  illus- 
trated at  great  length  by  M.  Barruel  (Memoires  du  Jacobin- 
isme),  who  conceived  both  Freemasons  and  Jacobins  to  be 
the  relics  of  a  long-established  conspiracy  for  the  subversion 
of  religions  and  empires.  But  our  distinct  historical  infor- 
mation merely  amounts  to  this,  that  the  fraternity  of  archi- 
tects or  builders  in  the  middle  ages  extended  over  all  Catho- 
lic countries,  and  was  especially  patronized  by  the  see  of 
Rome.  It  is  to  this  craft  that  we  owe  the  magnificent  Gothic 
edifices  dedicated  to  religion,  which  contrast  so  strongly  with 
the  barbarous  efforts  of  those  ages  in  most  other  departments 
of  art.  It  is  said  that  this  association  was  introduced  into 
Scotland  in  the  13th  century,  and  about  the  same  time  into 
England,  it  being  ascertained  that  the  Abbey  of  Kilwinning 
in  the  former  country  was  raised  by  this  fraternity ;  and  it 
is  believed  to  have  continued  to  exist,  although  small  in 
number,  in  these  two  countries  after  it  had  disappeared  from 
the  Continent.  The  Kilwinning  and  York  lodges  are  re- 
spectively the  most  ancient  in  either  country.  But  the  mode 
and  period  in  which  the  association  became  changed  from  a 
mere  professional  fraternity  to  a  society  of  persons  of  all  de- 
scriptions connected  by  secret  symbols,  is  unknown.  It  cer- 
tainly excited  great  attention,  and  numbered  individuals  of 
high  rank  as  honorary  members,  as  early  as  the  15th  cen- 
tury. The  Scottish  masons  appointed  St.  Clair  of  Roslin  as 
their  hereditary  grand-master  in  1G30;  and  the  office  was  re- 
signed by  his  descendant  in  1736,  when  the  grand  lodge  of 
Scotland  was  instituted.  In  1725,  the  first  French  lodge  was 
established :  in  1730,  the  first  American  ;  in  1735,  the  first 
German.  From  that  period  until  the  present,  while  the  so- 
ciety has  existed  among  ourselves  as  a  mere  convivial  and 
benevolent  association,  and  has  been  patronized  even  by 
royalty  and  the  nobility,  it  has  been  subjected  on  the  Conti- 
nent to  a  variety  of  suspicions;  and  it  is  most  probable  that 
political  intriguers  have  availed  themselves  of  the  secrecy 
afforded  by  it  to  further  their  schemes.  Indeed,  in  this  coun- 
try, the  "  Royal  Arch"  degree  is  said  to  have  been  devised 
by  the  Scottish  Jacobites.  Pope  Clement  XII.  excommuni- 
cated the  Freemasons  in  Spain  and  Portugal :  until  recent 
events,  their  name  was  synonymous  with  that  of  deists  and 
revolutionists.  But  the  most  singular  chapter  in  the  history 
478 


FRICTION. 

of  the  society  relates  to  its  fortunes  in  America ;  where  it 
has  given  origin  to  two  violent  political  parties.  The  story 
of  the  abduction  and  murder  of  a  certain  William  Morgan, 
suspected  of  having  revealed  the  secrets  of  the  fraternity, 
made  a  great  sensation  in  the  Union,  and  is  not  cleared  up 
at  this  day.  The  reader  will  find  it  detailed  and  <•(  mmented 
on  in  Miss  Martineau's  recent  work.  (See  Lawric's  Histo- 
ry of  Freemasonry,  Edin.,  1804;  Mnderson's  ditto;  Preston's 
Illustrations  of  Masonry ;  the  Freemason's  Quarterly  Mag- 
azine ;  the  German  Freimaurer  Encyclopaedic,  &c.) 

FREE  THINKER.  A  term,  usually  of  reproach,  applied 
to  those  who  reject  the  ordinary  modes  of  thinking  in  mat- 
ters of  religion.  It  is  almost  synonymous  with  Deist, 
which  see. 

FREEZING.     See  Frost. 

FREEZING  MIXTURES.  When  five  parts  of  powder- 
ed nitre  and  five  of  powdered  sal  ammoniac  are  mixed  with 
sixteen  parts  of  water,  the  thermometer  falls  in  the  mixture 
from  50°  to  about  10°;  so  that  in  this  way  a  degree  of  cold 
much  below  the  freezing  point  of  water  may  be  artificially 
and  cheaply  obtained,  for  the  salts  may  be  again  procured  by 
evaporation  and  used  repeatedly.  When  ice  or  snow  can 
be  obtained,  the  most  effective  freezing  mixture  is  produced 
by  mixing  it  with  about  half  its  weight  of  salt;  it  carries  the 
thermometer  nearly  to  0°.  The  utmost  degree  of  cold  pro- 
duced by  the  skilful  combination  of  the  best  freezing  mix- 
tures has  not  exceeded  140°  below  0° 

FREIGHT.  In  Mercantile  Law,  the  sum  paid  by  the 
merchant  or  other  person  hiring  a  ship,  or  part  of  a  ship,  for 
the  use  of  such  ship  or  part  for  a  specified  voyage,  or  for  a 
specified  time.  Freight  must  be  mentioned,  eo  nomine,  in  a 
policy  of  insurance,  and  is  not  covered  by  a  policy  on  goods. 

FRE'SCO  PAINTING.  (It.  fresco,  fresh.)  In  Painting, 
a  method  of  painting  by  incorporating  the  colours  with  plas- 
ter before  it  is  dry,  by  which  it  becomes  as  permanent  as  the 
wall  itself.  This  method  of  painting  is  extremely  ancient. 
It  was  used  by  the  Greeks,  and  can  be  traced  even  to  Egypt. 
From  difficulty  of  alteration  when  the  colour  is  once  absorb- 
ed, the  greatest  precision  of  design  is  necessary  before  com- 
mencing the  work. 

FRET,  or  FRETTE.  (Etymology  doubtful.)  In  Archi- 
tecture, a  species  of  ornament  consisting  of  one  or  more 

small  fillets  meeting  in  vertical     . — ,  . .  p. ._„ 

and  horizontal  directions.  The     fS  fipy  f  JpJ  jST 
section    of  the    channels   be-=JL=JIL=J    S^  ilsi  itsdfl 
tween  the  fillets  is  rectangular.      The  subjoined  diagram 
shows  two  sorts  of  simple  frets ;  but  they  are  often  much 
more  complicated. 

FRETS.  The  cross  bars  on  the  finger  boards  of  stringed 
instruments  of  ivoiy  or  brass,  by  pressure  whereon  with  the 
finger  the  string  is  stopped  to  produce  a  certain  note  in  the 
scale.  The  use  of  frets  is  still  continued  on  the  Spanish  gui- 
tar, and  was  formerly  in  constant  use  upon  what  was  called 
the  bass-viol  for  learners,  and  taken  off  when  they  had 
learned  by  practice  to  measure  the  accurate  distance  of  the 
stops.  On  lutes  and  viols  they  were  always  permitted  to 
remain. 

FRIAR.  (Lat.  frater,  brother.)  A  brother  or  member  of 
any  religious  order ;  but  more  exclusively  applied  to  those 
of  the  Mendicant  Orders,  of  which  the  four  chief  were  the 
Dominicans,  Franciscans,  Carmelites,  and  Augustines.  See 
Orders,  Mendicant. 

FRI'CTION.  (Lat.  frico,  /  rub.)  In  Mechanics,  the  re- 
sistance produced  by  the  rubbing  of  the  surfaces  of  two  solid 
bodies  against  each  other.  If  the  surfaces  of  bodies  were 
perfectly  smooth  and  polished,  they  would  slide  along  one 
another  without  suffering  any  resistance  from  their  contact, 
and  all  the  simple  relations  between  power  and  resistance 
determined  by  theory  in  respect  of  the  different  machines 
would  hold  good  without  any  modification  whatever.  But 
this  state  of  perfect  polish  never  exists.  The  surfaces  of  all 
bodies  with  which  we  are  acquainted,  even  when  most  care- 
fully polished,  retain  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  asperity, 
which  prevents  them  from  sliding  over  one  another  without 
impediment;  and  in  many  cases  the  resistance  thus  created 
amounts  to  a  large  proportion  of  the  whole  resistance  to  be 
overcome.  In  order,  therefore,  to  ascertain  the  real  value 
of  the  effect  of  powers  applied  to  machinery,  it  is  necessary 
to  determine  the  amount  of  the  friction,  and  to  add  this  new 
resistance  to  that  which  is  given  by  the  theory  of  mechanics. 

The  determination  of  the  laws  of  friction,  and  its  amount 
with  respect  to  particular  substances,  have  occupied  the  at- 
tention of  many  experimental  philosophers  and  mathemati- 
cians, as  Amontons,  Euler,  Desaguliers,  Vince,  &.c. ;  but  the 
first  complete  set  of  experiments  on  the  subject  was  made  by 
Coulomb  about  the  year  1780.  His  results,  though  they 
have  been  partly  modified  by  subsequent  experiments,  throw 
much  light  upon  the  subject,  and  are  of  great  value  to  the 
practical  engineer. 

There  are  two  modes  by  which  the  nature  and  operation 
of  friction  may  be  ascertained.  The  first  is  very  simple,  and 
consists  in  merely  placing  a  heavy  body  W  on  a  horizontal 


FRICTION. 


piane  A  B,  and  elevating  the  end  of  the  plane  till  the  body 
begins  to  slide.  When  this  motion  commences,  it  is  evident 
that  the  force  of  gravity  just  begins  to  ex- 
ceed the  resistance  occasioned  by  the 
friction  ;  and  as  the  gravity  is  known  from 
,  the  weight  of  the  body  and  the  inclination 
of  the  plane,  we  have  thus  the  means  of 
comparing  the  friction  with  a  given  force.  For  let  A  E  he 
drawn  perpendicular  to  the  horizontal  line  C  B  ;  then,  since 
the  weight,  the  friction,  and  the  pressure  make  equilibrium, 
if  we  take  A  B  to  represent  the  weight  W,  the  force  down 
the  plane  (which  is  equal  to  the  friction)  will  be  represented 
by  A  E,  and  the  pressure  perpendicular  to  the  plane  by  B  E. 
Hence,  putting  P  =  the  pressure,  F  =  the  friction,  and  i  = 
ABC,  the  inclination  of  the  plane,  we  have  P  =  W  cos.  i, 
F  =  VV  sin.  i,  and  consequently  F  =  P  tan.  i.  The  angle  i 
is  called  the  limiting  angle  of  resistance. ;  and  tan.  i,  or  the 
ratio  of  friction  to  pressure,  is  called  the  co-efficient  of  fric- 
tion. 

But  this  method  is  liable  to  some  uncertainty.  Most  bod- 
ies, after  having  been  in  contact  for  some  time,  require  a 
greater  force  to  originate  than  to  keep  up  progressive  mo- 
tion ;  but  it  is  obvious  that  the  inclination  of  the  plane  of 
descent  marks  only  the  initial  obstruction.  Coulomb  ac- 
cordingly adopted  a  different  mode  of  proceeding.  His  gen- 
eral method  was  to  draw  a  sort  of  loaded  sledge  along  a 
horizontal  bench,  by  means  of  weights  placed  in  a  dish  at- 
tached to  the  sledge  by  a  cord  passing  over  a  pulley.  The 
sledge  was  mounted  on  sliders  of  the  substance  on  which  the 
experiments  were  to  be  made ;  and  corresponding  slips  of 
the  same  or  a  different  substance  placed  under  the  sliders  on 
the  bench.  This  apparatus  has  been  called  a  tribometer. 
The  following  are  some  of  the  results  which  were  obtained: 

Assuming  the  pressure  as  equal  to  100  parts,  the  friction 
of  oak  against  fir  was  06  in  the  direction  of  the  fibres,  but 
amounted  only  to  16  when  moved  with  the  velocity  of  a  foot 
each  second ;  the  friction  of  oak  against  oak  in  the  direction 
of  the  fibres  was  43,  and  across  them  only  27,  the  effect  being 
still  reduced  by  motion  to  10  ;  the  friction  of  fir  against  fir  in 
the  direction  of  the  fibres  was  56,  which  sunk  to  17  during 
motion ;  the  friction  of  elm  against  elm  in  the  direction  of 
the  fibres  was  46,  and  reduced  by  motion  to  10.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  friction  of  copper  upon  oak,  lengthwise,  was 
8  at  the  commencement  of  the  motion,  but  increased  to  18 
when  the  velocity  was  a  foot  in  a  second ;  the  friction  of 
iron  upon  oak  with  the  initial  velocity  was  11,  and  was  in- 
creased by  the  motion  to  18.  But  the  mutual  friction  of 
metals  appeared  in  general  to  be  scarcely,  if  at  all.  affected 
by  motion.    In  these  experiments  no  unguents  were  used. 

Where  metals  rub  against  wood,  it  is  necessary  that  the  two 
bodies  continue  longer  in  contact,  in  order  that  the  friction 
may  acquire  its  maximum.  In  the  case  of  iron  against  wood 
at  least  4  or  5  hours  must  elapse  before  the  momentary  in- 
crease of  friction  disappears ;  whereas  in  the  case  of  wood 
against  wood  a  single  minute  was  sufficient.  But  the  resist- 
ance appears  to  increase  by  contact,  though  less  sensibly, 
even  for  several  days.  The  application  of  grease  to  the  sur- 
faces of  wood  produces  a  similar  effect,  and  the  resistance 
does  not  attain  its  maximum  till  after  a  very  considerable 
time.  At  the  end  of  5  or  6  days  the  resistance  is  perhaps  14 
times  greater  than  it  was  at  the  first  instant,  if  the  surface  of 
contact  is  considerable  in  respect  of  the  pressure ;  but  when 
the  surface  is  small,  the  friction  reaches  its  maximum  much 
more  quickly. 

An  important  part  of  the  investigation  was  to  ascertain 
whether  the  friction  is  increased  by  the  velocity  of  the  nib- 
bing bodies.  With  respect  to  bodies  of  the  same  kind  de- 
scending on  inclined  planes.  Coulomb  found  that  the  time 
required  for  passing  over  the  first  half  was  a  little  more  than 
double  that  required  for  passing  over  the  second.  But  a 
body  put  in  motion  by  a  constant  accelerating  force  employs 
for  passing  over  one  space,  and  over  two  equal  consecutive 
spaces,  times  that  are  to  each  other  in  the  ratio  of  y/\  :  y/% 
=100  :  112;  that  is  to  say,  if  100  units  of  time  are  consumed 
in  passing  over  the  first  space,  142  will  be  consumed  in  pass- 
ing over  the  first  and  second  together,  and  consequently  42 
in  passing  over  the  second.  Now  this  agrees  as  nearly  as 
possible  with  the  result  of  the  experiments;  consequently  we 
infer  that  a  load  drawn  along  a  smooth  plane  by  a  constant 
accelerating  force  (that  of  a  descending  weight  for  example) 
is  uniformly  accelerated.  But  this  requires  that  the  fricion, 
at  every  instant,  destroys  only  a  proportional  quantity  of  the 
force  added  by  the  constant  action  of  gravity.  The  "conclu- 
sion, therefore,  is,  that,  for  moderate  velocities  at  least,  the 
resistance  due  to  friction  is  a  constant  quantity,  and  very 
nearly  the  same  for  every  degree  of  velocity. 

Another  point  of  great  importance  was  to  ascertain  the 
relation  the  frictinn  bears  to  the  pressure;  for  example,  in 
what  ratio  the  friction  is  increased  by  doubling  or  trebling 
the  load.  Coulomb  found  that  when  wood  has  been  allow- 
ed to  rest  on  wood  for  some  time,  without  the  intervention 
of  any  unguent,  the  resistance  occasioned  by  the  friction  is 


proportional  to  the  pressure.  This  resistance  for  a  short  time 
increases  rapidly  by  the  contact,  but  attains  its  maximum  in 
a  few  minutes.  The  friction  of  wood  sliding  on  wood  with 
any  velocity  is  still  proportional  to  the  pressure;  but  the  re- 
sistance is  much  less  in  amount  than  that  which  is  required 
to  detach  the  surfaces  after  some  minutes  of  contact.  In  the 
case  of  oak,  for  instance,  the  force  required  to  detach  the 
surfaces  after  being  some  minutes  in  repose  is  to  that  which 
is  necessary  to  overcome  friction  alone  after  motion  has 
commenced  in  the  ratio  of  100  to  23.  The  friction  of  metals 
on  metals  is  also  proportional  to  the  pressure ;  but  the  inten- 
sity is  the  same,  whether  the  surfaces  have  been  any  length 
of  time  in  contact,  at  rest,  or  are  gliding  along  with  a  uni- 
form velocity. 

The  friction  of  heterogeneous  substances,  as  wood  and  the 
metals,  is  entirely  different  from  the  above.  In  the  case  of 
wood  against  wood  dry,  or  of  metal  against  metal,  the  fric- 
tion of  the  rubbing  bodies  is  very  little  influenced  by  the 
velocity ;  but  in  the  present  case  the  friction  increases  very 
sensibly  with  an  augmented  velocity.  Coulomb  inferred 
that  the  friction  increased  as  the  natural  numbers,  when  the 
velocities  are  increased  as  the  squares  of  those  numbers.  In 
all  cases  of  a  hard  body  rubbing  against  a  very  soft  sub- 
stance, the  friction  increases  remarkably  with  the  velocity. 

Since  the  friction  is  in  general  proportional  to  the  pressure, 
it  follows  that  it  will  not  be  altered  by  increasing  or  dimin- 
ishing the  extent  of  the  rubbing  surfaces.  Nevertheless  this 
consequence  fails  in  the  extreme  cases.  The  friction  is  sen- 
sibly diminished  when  the  surfaces  in  action  are  reduced  to 
the  smallest  dimensions.  Thus,  while  the  friction  of  a  ruler 
of  brass  against  a  similar  one  of  iron  is  expressed  by  26,  it 
was  found  to  be  only  17  after  the  sledge  had  been  mounted 
on  4  round-headed  brass  nails. 

On  the  whole,  the  following  conclusions  may  be  stated  as 
the  general  results  of  Coulomb's  experiments  respecting  the 
friction  of  bodies  sliding  on  each  other. 

1.  Between  similar  substances,  under  similar  circumstan- 
ces, friction  is  a  constant  retarding  force.  2.  Friction  is 
greatest  between  bodies  whose  surfaces  are  rough,  and  is 
lessened  by  polishing  them.  3.  It  is  greater  between  surfa- 
ces composed  of  the  same  material,  than  between  the  sur- 
faces of  heterogeneous  bodies.  4.  If  the  rubbing  surfaces 
remain  the  same,  the  friction  increases  directly  as  the  pres- 
sure. 5.  If  the  pressure  continue  the  same,  the  friction  has 
no  relation  to  the  magnitude  of  the  surface.  6.  The  appli- 
cation of  grease  in  general  diminishes  the  friction,  though  in 
very  different  degrees. 

The  obstruction  which  a  cylinder  meets  with  in  rolling  along 
a  smooth  plane  is  quite  distinct  in  its  character,  and  far  infe- 
rior in  its  amount,  to  that  which  is  produced  by  the  friction 
of  the  same  cylinder  drawn  lengthwise  along  a  plane.  For 
example,  in  the  case  of  wrood  rolling  on  wood,  the  resistance 
is  to  the  pressure,  if  the  cylinder  be  small,  as  16  or  18  to 
1000;  and  if  the  cylinder  be  large,  this  may  be  reduced  to  6 
to  1000.  The  friction  from  sliding,  in  the  same  cases,  would 
be  to  the  pressure  as  2  to  10,  or  3  to  10,  according  to  the  na- 
ture of  the  wood.  Hence,  by  causing  one  body  to  roll  on 
another,  the  resistance  is  diminished  from  12  to  20  times.  It 
is  therefore  a  principle  in  the  composition  of  machines  that 
attrition  should  be  avoided  as  much  as  possible,  and  rolling 
motions  substituted  whenever  circumstances  admit. 

On  this  principle  depends  the  advantages  resulting  from 
the  application  of  friction  wheels  antifriction  rollers.  The 
extremity  of  an  axle  C,  instead  of 
resting  in  a  cylindrical  socket,  is  made 
to  rest  on  the  circumferences  of  two 
wheels,  A  and  B,  to  the  axles  of 
which,  a  and  b,  the  friction  is  trans- 
ferred, and  consequently  diminished 
in  the  ratio  of  the  radius  of  the  wheel 
A  to  the  radius  of  the  axle  a.  This 
ingenious  contrivance  appears  to  have  first  been  applied  by 
Henry  Sully,  in  the  year  1716.  (Descr.  Jlbrcgce  d'une  Hor- 
loge,  ($-c,  Brrdeaux,  1716.) 

The  following  are  deductions  from  Coulomb's  experiments 
relative  to  the  friction  of  rolling  bodies:  1.  Like  the  friction 
of  sliding  bodies,  it  is  a  constant  force.  2.  It  is  affected  by 
the  nature  of  the  surface  so  f;ir  as  polish  is  concerned  ;  but 
is  not  lessened  by  the  interposition  of  unctuous  substances. 
3.  It  is  less  between  heterogeneous  than  between  homogene- 
ous substances.  4.  It  is  directly  proportional  to  the  pressure. 
5.  It  has  no  relation  to  the  maenitude  of  the  surface.  6.  It 
is  much  less  thnn  in  the  ca«e  of  sliding  surfaces,  ard  varies 
in  the  inverse  ratio  of  the  diameter  of  the  rolling  body. 

The  friction  of  the  axle  of  a  wheel  or  pulley  (whether 
the  axle  itself  turns,  or  the  wheel  turns  on  the  axle)  is  of  a 
different  kind  from  that  of  a  cylinder  rolling  on  a  plane.  It 
is  less  than  that  of  sliding  but  greater  than  that  of  rolling 
bodies,  and  follows  in  all  respects  the  laws  of  the  friction  of 
sliding  bodies.  A  great  advantage  is  here  obtained  by  grea- 
sing the  surfaces.  By  the  application  of  fresh  tallow  the 
friction  is  reduced  to  one  half. 

479 


FRICTION-WHEELS. 

Friction  is  one  of  the  most  effectual  means  of  arresting 
motion.  In  some  machines,  especially  wind-mills,  cranes, 
&c,  it  is  very  important  to  have 
the  power  of  suddenly  stopping 
the  machine,  or  at  least  oi  con- 
trolling its  motion.  This  is  ef- 
fected by  means  of  a  strong 
bridle  of  wood  or  iron,  a,  b,  c, 
fixed  at  one  end,  and  at  the 
other  furnished  with  a  lever,  by 
pressing  on  which,  the  bridle  is 
brought  into  close  contact  with 
the  broad  rim  of  a  wheel  which 
participates  in  the  general  motion  of  the  machine.  The  bri- 
dle may  be  made  to  bear  on  the  whole  circumference  of  the 
wheel ;  and  a  moderate  pressure  on  the  lever  will  produce 
a  resistance  sufficient  to  destroy  the  motion  almost  instanta- 
neously. 

Coulomb's  experiments  were  also  directed  to  ascertain  the 
resistance  arising  from  the  rigidity  of  ropes  when  bent 
round  rollers  or  cylinders.  The  results  are  as  follow:  1. 
The  resistance  of  ropes  are  directly  proportional  to  the  ten- 
sions to  which  they  are  subjected.  2.  The  resistance  in- 
creases with  some  determinate  power  of  the  diameter,  and 
is  greatest  in  ropes  that  have  been  strongly  twisted,  or  are 
coated  with  tar.  3.  The  resistances  are  inversely  as  the  di- 
ameters of  the  cylinders  about  which  the  ropes  are  bent. 

When  a  rope  is  wound  more  than  once  round  a  cylinder, 
the  resistance  increases  in  a  geometrical  progression.  This 
principle  is  frequently  applied  in  practice:  thus,  in  arresting 
the  progress  of  a  vessel,  a  rope  is  wound  round  a  post,  and 
a  very  tew  turns  is  sutficicnt  to  overcome  any  force  which 
the  rope  is  capable  of  withstanding. 

A  valuable  series  of  experiments  on  friction  was  made 
some  years  ago  by  Mr.  George  Rennie,  the  details  of  which 
are  given  in  the  Phil.  Trans,  for  1829.  The  following  are  a 
few  of  the  results:  Assuming  as  before  the  pressure  equal  to 
100  parts,  the  friction  of  steel  upon  ice  is  1-4 ;  ice  upon  ice 
2-8;  hard  wood  upon  hard  wood  13;  brass  upon  wrought 
iron  135;  soft  steel  upon  soft  steel  14'G;  leather  upon  iron 
25;  granite  upon  granite  30;  yellow  deal  upon  yellow  deal 
35 ;  sandstone  upon  sandstone  36 ;  woollen  cloth  upon  wool- 
len cloth  43.  Some  of  the  conclusions  deduced  by  Mr.  Ron- 
nie are  as  follow:  1.  In  fibrous  substances,  such  as  clolh, 
friction  is  increased  by  surface  and  time,  and  diminished  by 
pressure  and  velocity.  2.  In  harder  substances,  such  as 
woods,  metals,  and  stones,  the  friction  is  directly  as  the 
pressure,  without  regard  to  surface,  time,  or  velocity.  3. 
Friction  is  greatest  with  soft,  and  least  with  hard  substances. 
4.  The  effect  of  unguents  is  as  the  nature  of  the  unguents, 
■with  reference  to  the  substances  to  which  they  are  applied. 
In  the  Memoires  de  rinstitut  for  1833,  two  very  extensive 
sets  of  experiments  are  described,  which  were  made  by  M. 
Morin,  at  Metz,  under  the  auspices  of  the  French  government, 
for  the  purpose  of  verifying  or  correcting  the  results  of  Cou- 
lomb. In  general,  M.  Morin's  results  differ  widely  in  abso- 
lute amount  from  those  of  Coulomb,  giving  in  some  instances 
ratios  three  times  as  great;  but  they  point  to,  and  indeed 
fully  establish,  the  same  general  conclusions.  See  Coulomb, 
Th  orie  des  .Midlines  Simples  (Paris,  1821),  and  Mem.  des 
Savans  Etrangers,  torn.  ix.  and  x. ;  Ximenes,  Tcoria  e 
Practicn  delle  Resist,  de  Solidi  ne'loro  Jittrili  (Pisa,  1782) ; 
Vince,  Phi'..  Trans.,  1785  ;  Rennie,  Phil.  Trans.,  1829  ; 
Morin,  Mem.  de  I'Institut,  1833;  Ency.  Brit.,art.  "Mechan- 

FRICTION- WHEELS.     See  the  preceding  article. 

FRI'DAY.  (Germ.  Freitag.)  The  sixth  day  of  the  week. 
The  name  is  derived  from  Freya  or  Friga,  a  Saxon  goddess. 
It  is  a  fast  day  in  the  Romish  church. 

FRIE'NDLY  SOCIETIES,  or  BENEFIT  SOCIETIES. 
Voluntary  associations  of  subscribers,  for  the  purpose  of  form- 
ing a  fund  for  the  assistance  of  members  in  sickness,  or  other 
occasions  of  Hi  itress.  It  is  supposed  by  Mr.  Turner  (in  his 
History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons),  that  the  ancient  guilds  origi- 
nated in  associations  of  this  description.  "  Of  the  various 
means  that  have  been  suggested  in  this  view,  and  for  ena- 
bling the  poor  to  provide  a  resource  against  sickness  and  old 
age,  none  seem  so  likely  to  accomplish  their  object  as  the  in- 
stitution of  friendly  societies  and  savings'  banks.  The  for- 
mer are  founded  on  a  principle  of  mutual  insurance.  Each 
member  contributes  a  certain  sum,  by  weekly,  monthly,  or  an- 
nual Subscriptions,  while  he  is  in  health ;  and  receives  from 
the  society  a  certain  pension  or  allowance  when  heisincapaci 
tated  for  work  by  accident,  sickness,  or  old  ape.  Nothing,  it 
is  obvious,  can  be  more  unexceptionable  than  the  principle 
of  these  associations.  Owing  to  the  general  exemption  from 
sickness  until  a  comparatively  late  period  of  life,  if  a  number 
of  individuals  under  30  or  35  years  of  age  form  themselves 
into  a  society,  and  subscribe  each  a  small  sum  from  their 
surplus  earnings,  they  are  able  to  secure  a  comfortable  pro- 
vision for  thein-elves  in  the  event  of  their  becoming  unfit  for 
labour.  Any  miil'Ic  individual  who  should  trust  to  his  own 
480 


FRIGID  ZONE. 

isolated  efforts  would  plainly  be  placed  in  an  infinitely  more 
hazardous  position.  Whenever  an  unfavourable  contingency 
exists,  the  best  and  cheapest  way  of  obviating  its  effects  is  by 
uniting  with  others,  each  subjecting  himself  to  a  small  priva- 
tion, so  that  none  may  be  overwhelmed  by  any  great  ca- 
lamity. However  industrious  and  frugal,  aii  individual,  not 
a  member  of  a  friendly  society,  might  not  be  able  to  insure 
his  independence ;  inasmuch  as  the  occurrence  of  any  acci- 
dent, or  an  obstinate  fit  of  sickness,  might,  by  throwing  him 
out  of  employment,  and  forcing  him  to  consume  the  savings 
he  had  accumulated  against  old  age,  reduce  him  to  a  state 
of  indigence,  and  oblige  him  to  become  dependant  on  the 
bounty  of  others.  Hence  the  paramount  utility  of  the  socie- 
ties in  question. 

"For  these  and  other  reasons,"  says  Mr.  M'Culloch,  "we 
are  glad  to  find  that  friendly  societies  have  been  very  widely 
introduced.  There  were  enrolled  from  the  first  of  January, 
1793,  to  the  commencement  of  1832,  no  fewer  than  19,783 
such  societies;  of  which  16,596  were  in  England,  769  in 
Wales,  2144  in  Scotland,  and  274  in  Ireland.  The  societies 
existing  in  1815  are  said  to  have  comprised  925,429  individu- 
als. We  have,  however,  some  doubts  as  to  the  authenticity 
of  this  statement ;  but,  if  it  may  be  depended  on,  the  socie- 
ties now  in  existence  must  comprise  above  1,200,000  mem- 
bers !  It  should  also  be  recollected  that  the  progress  of  these 
societies,  though  great,  and  most  honourable  to  the  labouring 
population  of  Great  Britain,  has  been  not  a  little  counteracted 
by  the  ignorance  and  mismanagement  of  their  officers,  and 
by  the  real  difficulty  of  establishing  them  on  a  secure  founda- 
tion. The  great  error  has  consisted  in  their  fixing  too  high  a 
scale  of  allowances.  At  their  first  institution  they  are  ne- 
cessarily composed  of  members  in  the  prime  of  life ;  there  is, 
therefore,  comparatively  little  sickness  and  mortality  among 
them.  In  consequence  their  funds  rapidly  accumulate;  and 
they  are  naturally  tempted  to  give  too  large  an  allowance  to 
those  members  who  are  occasionally  incapacitated.  But  the 
circumstances  under  which  the  society  is  placed  at  an  ad- 
vanced period  are  materially  different.  Sickness  and  mor- 
tality are  then  comparatively  prevalent.  The  contributions 
to  the  fund  decline  at  the  time  that  the  outgoings  increase ; 
and  it  has  not  unfrequently  happened  that  the  society  has 
become  altogether  bankrupt;  and  that  the  oldest  members 
have  been  left,  at  the  close  of  a  long  life,  destitute  of  all  sup- 
port from  a  fund  on  which  they  had  relied,  and  to  which 
they  had  largely  contributed. 

"But  the  errors  in  the  constitution  of  friendly  societies 
have  been,  in  a  great  degree,  amended.  Various  efforts, 
several  of  which  have  been  productive  of  beneficial  effects, 
have  been  made  by  private  individuals  and  associations,  and 
by  the  legislature,  to  obviate  the  chances  of  their  failure,  and 
to  encourage  their  formation  on  sound  principles.  Two  re- 
ports, by  committees  of  the  House  of  Commons,  on  the  laws 
respecting  friendly  societies,  printed  in  1825  and  1827,  supply 
a  great  deal  of  important  and  useful  information ;  and  the 
reports  and  tables  published  by  the  Highland  Society  are 
also  valuable.  There  are,  doubtless,  several  important  points 
that  still  remain  to  be  satisfactorily  cleared  up;  but,  in  the 
mean  time,  enough  has  been  done  to  enable  government  to 
interfere  with  effect  in  assisting  the  formation  of  friendly  so- 
cieties on  a  solid  foundation.  In  this  view  several  statutes 
have,  at  different  times,  been  passed ;  but  the  act  10  Geo.  4, 
c.  56.,  repealed  all  previous  statutes,  and,  with  the  act  4  &  5 
Will.  4,  c.  40,  imbodies  the  existing  law  upon  the  subject. 
All  friendly  societies,  claiming  the  benefit  of  these  acts,  are 
obliged  to  submit  a  statement  of  their  rules  and  regulations 
for  the  approval  of  the  officer  appointed  by  government  for 
that  purpose ;  and  it  is  only  in  the  event  of  their  being  ap- 
proved by  him,  and  Ihe  tables  of  payments  and  allowances 
appearing  suitable  to  the  justices,  that  the  society  is  to  be 
confirmed  by  the  latter,  and  becomes  entitled  to  the  privileges 
conferred  by  the  act  in  question.  These  consist  in  being  al- 
lowed to  invest  the  funds  of  the  society  in  government  se- 
curieties  at  the  minimum  rale  of  interest  (2!d.  per  cent,  per 
diem),  and  in  the  funds  of  savings'  banks.  But  it  is,  of 
course,  open  to  any  individuals,  not  seeking  any  connection 
with  government,  to  establish  friendly  societies  on  any  terms 
thev  may  think  proper."    (Statistics  of  the  British  Empire.) 

FRIEZE.  (Ital.  fregio,  adorned.)  In  Architecture,  the 
member  in  the  entablature  of  an  order  between  the  archi- 
trave and  the  cornice.  It  is  always  plain  in  the  Tuscan ;  or- 
namented with  triglyphs  and  sculpture  in  the  Doric;  in  the 
Ionic  it  is  occasionally,  in  modern  or  Italian  architecture, 
swelled,  in  which  case  it  is  called  a, pulvinated  or  cushioned 
frieze;  and  in  the  Corinthian  and  Composite  it  is  variously 
decorated,  according  to  the  taste  of  the  a'chitect. 

FRI'fJA,  or  FREYA,  in  Northern  Mythology.     See  OniN. 

FRI  GATE,  is  applied  to  a  ship  with  one  coveted  gun 
dork,  and  carrying  more  than  twenty-eight  guns. 

FRIGIDA'RIUM.  (Eat.  frigidus,  cold.)  In  Ancient  Ar- 
chitecture, the  apartment  in  which  the  cnld  bath  was  placed. 
It  is  sometimes  used  to  denote  the  bath  itself. 

FRI'GID  ZONE.     The  space  about  either  pole  of  the 


FRINGILLA. 

earth  terminated  by  the  parallel  of  7(W  degrees  of  latitude. 
At  this  parallel  the  sun  at  noon,  in  the  middle  of  winter,  is 
90  degrees  from  the  zenith ;  and  consequently,  were  it  not  for 
the  refraction,  would  only  be  viable  for  an  instant  in  the  hori- 
zon. Within  this  parallel  the  sun  continues  invisible  in  win- 
ter, and  continually  visible  in  summer,  for  a  shorter  or  longer 
space  of  time,  depending  on  the  distance  of  the  place  from 
the  pole,  where  the  sun  remains  for  one  half  the  year  above 
the  horizon,  and  the  other  half  below  it.     See  Zone. 

FRINGI'LLA.  (Lat.  fringilla,  a  chaffinch.)  A  Linmean 
genus  of  Passerine  birds,  characterised  by  a  broad-based, 
sharp-pointed,  strong,  conical  bill :  now  raised  to  the  rank  of 
a  family,  FHngitlida ;  including  the  buntings  (Emberiza)  ; 
the  cross-bills  (I.ozia)  ;  the  grosbeaks  (Coccothrustes) ;  the 
linnets  (Linaria)  ;  canary-birds  (Canaria);  finches  (Cardu- 
elis) ;  and  many  exotic  subgerena  of  seed  and  grain-eating 
Conirostral  birds. 

FRITH,  or  FIRTH  (Lat.  fretum,  a  narrow  sea),  is  a  term 
chieflv  applied  to  a  narrow  and  deep  inlet  of  the  sea  upon  a 
river,  "as  the  Frith  of  Forth  in  Scotland.  This  term  corre- 
sponds to  the  fiord  of  the  Danes  and  Norwegians,  who,  in  all 
probability,  borrowed  it  from  the  English.  Both  Latin  and 
Teutonic  are  derived  not  improbably  from  the  same  root, 
fahren,  to  pass  over ;  whence  ferry,  ford,  furt  (Germ.),  as  in 
Frankfurt,  Erfurt,  &c. 

FRITT.  The  materials  of  glass  are  first  mixed  together, 
and  heated,  so  as  to  expel  water,  and  induce  fusion  :  the 
mass  thus  obtained  is  called  Fritt. 

FROG.     See  Batrac"  hia  and  Rana. 

FROND.  A  combination  of  stem  and  leaf  in  one  organ, 
as  in  Lemna.  Marchantia,  and  such  plants.  It  is  often  also 
misapplied  to  the  leaves  of  palm-trees  and  ferns,  which  dif- 
fer in  no  respect  from  common  leaves. 

FRONDE,  WAR  OF  THE.  That  maintained  by  the 
malcontent  partizans  of  the  parliament  in  France,  under  the 
regency  of  Louis  XIV.,  against  the  government  of  Cardinal 
Mazarin.  The  name  of  Frone  (sling)  was  given  to  this 
war  in  consequence  of  some  incidents  of  a  street  quarrel, 
which  have  been  differently  represented.  The  party  op- 
posed to  government  was  called  that  of  the  Fronde ;  and  the 
word  Frondeurs  has  hence  acquired  in  the  French  language 
the  signification  of  discontented  politicians.  Among  the  best 
authorities  to  consult  on  this  period  of  French  history  are, 
Mailly,  Esprit  de  la  Fronde,  2  vols.  Paris,  l</2;  the  well 
known  Memoirs  of  Cardinal  de  Reiz ;  and  those  of  Guy 
Joltj,  2  vols.  Amst.  1718.  See  also  other  Memoirs  in  Peti- 
tot's  General  Collection. 

FRONS.  In  Mammalogy,  the  region  of  the  cranium  be- 
tween the  orbits  and  the  vertex.  In  Ornithology,  the  space 
between  the  base  of  the  bill  and  the  vertex. 

FRO'NTAL  BONE.  The  front  bone  of  the  head,  which 
forms  the  forehead. 

FRO'NTIER  (Ital.  frontiera,  Lat.  frons),  means  the  boun- 
dary of  a  state,  or  the  territories  adjacent  to  the  boundary. 
The  best  frontier  is  the  sea ;  next  best,  great  rivers  or  moun- 
tains, as  the  Rhine,  Rhone,  Alps,  and  Pyrenees.  Prussia 
has  the  worst  frontier  of  any  European  slate,  and  will  run  a 
great  chance  of  being  annihilated  on  the  occurrence  of  a 
Continental  wnr. 

FRO'NTISPIECE.  (Lat.  frons,  front,  and  inspicio,  /  look 
upon.)  In  Architecture,  the  face  or  fore  front  of  a  house ; 
but  more  usually  applied  to  the  decorated  entrance  of  a 
building.  This  term  is  also  used  for  the  ornamental  first 
page  of  a  book,  being,  as  the  derivation  imports,  that  part 
which  fir*t  meets  the  eve. 

FRONTLET.  In  Ornithology,  the  margin  of  the  head 
behind  the  bill  of  birds,  generally  clothed  with  rigid  bristles. 

FROST,  in  Meteorology,  is  the  freezing  or  congelation  of 
water  or  the  vapours  of  the  atmosphere  by  cold.  Water  be- 
gins to  freeze  when  the  temperature  of  the  air  is  such  that 
the  mercury  in  Fahrenheit's  thermometer  stands  at  32°.  At 
this  temperature  ice  begins  to  appear,  unless  some  circum- 
stance, for  example  the  agitation  of  the  water,  prevents  its 
formanon.  As  the  cold  increases  the  frost  becomes  more  in- 
tense, and  liquids  which  resist  the  degree  of  cold  required  to 
congeal  water  at  length  pass  into  the  solid  state.  Frost  is 
peculiarly  destructive  to  vegetation.  During  severe  frosts  al- 
most all  vegetables  fall  into  a  state  of  decay,  and  even  a 
moderate  degree  of  frost  is  sufficient  to  destroy  many  of  the 
more  tender  kinds.  The  injury  which  vegetables  sustain 
from  frost  is  greatest  when  it  is  preceded  by  a  thaw  or  copi- 
ous rains ;  for  the  plants  are  then  saturated  with  moisture, 
which,  expanding  in  bulk  as  it  passes  into  the  solid  state, 
produces  the  rupture  of  the  vegetable  fibres.  Fruits  are  in 
like  manner  destroyed  by  frost.  Their  watery  portion  is 
changed  into  crvstals  of  ice,  which,  occupying  a  greater 
space  than  the  fluid  from  which  they  were  produced,  burst 
the  small  vessels  in  which  they  are  formed ;  hence  the  fruit 
is  deprived  of  its  flavour,  and,  when  thaw  takes  place,  falls 
into  putrefaction. 

The  hour  frost,  or  white  frost,  which  appears  in  the  morn- 
ings, chiefly  in  autumn  and  spring,  is  merely  frozen  dew.  It 
42 


FUEL. 

is  generally  the  consequence  of  a  sudde:i  clearing  up  of  the 
weather  after  rain,  when  a  considerable  degree  of  cold  is 
produced  by  the  rapid  evaporation.  In  our  European  cli- 
mates, it  usually  happens  that  after  a  fall  of  rain  the  wind 
shifts  into  a  northern  quarter,  and  the  atmosphere  suddenly 
clears  up.  When  this  takes  place  during  the  night,  or  early 
in  the  morning,  a  strong  radiation  of  heat  from  the  earth 
commences,  the  cooling  effect  of  which  is  increased  bv  the 
copious  evajwration  from  the  wet  surfaces  of  the  plants  and 
the  grass.  The  influence  of  evaporation  on  the  phenomena 
is  obvious  from  this,  that  the  moisture  which  appears  in  the 
form  of  dew  before  sunrise  is  often  changed  into  rime  or  hoar 
frost  on  the  appearance  of  that  luminary.  The  reason  is, 
that  as  the  atmosphere  begins  to  be  wanned  by  the  sun's 
rays,  the  evaporation  is  accelerated,  and  consequently  the 
cold  at  the  wet  surface  of  the  ground  augmented.  Hence  we 
see  the  reason  why  frosty  nights  are  so  much  more  prejudicial 
to  the  tender  shoots  of  plants  when  they  are  succeeded  by  very 
bright  mornings.  Hence  also  hoar  frost  is  formed  on  grass  or 
plants  when  the  thermometer,  placed  a  few  feet  above  the 
ground,  indicates  a  temperature  three  or  four  degrees  above 
the  freezing  point. 

Various  projects  have  been  proposed  at  different  times  to 
avert  the  disastrous  effects  of  the  morning  frosts  on  vegeta- 
tion in  spring;  but  unfortunately,  it  is  only  on  a  very  limited 
scale  that  any  means  can  be  adopted  for  the  purpose.  What- 
ever prevents  the  formation  of  dew  will  protect  plants ;  hence 
a  covering  of  net  or  thin  gauze  will  often  preserve  the  blos- 
soms of  wall-fruit.  But  the  most  effectual  means  is  to  check 
the  radiation  by  screening  the  plant  from  the  chilling  aspect 
of  the  clear  sky.     See  Dew. 

FRUIT,  in  Botanical  language,  is  the  ovarium  or  the  pis- 
tillum  arrived  at  maturity ;  but  the  term  is  commonly  extend- 
ed to  whatever  is  combined  with  the  ovarium  when  it  is 
ripe.  It  comprehends  many  kinds  of  what  are  commonly 
called  seeds;  as  those  of  com,  buckwheat,  caraway,  parsley, 
&c. ;  as  well  as  the  succulent  inflorescence  of  the  pine-apple, 
which  is  a  mass  of  ovaria  and  envelopes  m  a  consolidated 
condition. 

FRUST,  or  FRUSTUM.  (Lat.  frustura,  cut  off.)  In  Ar- 
chitecture, a  piece  cut  off  from  a  regular  figure,  as  the  shaft 
of  a  column  is  a  frustum  of  a  paraboloid. 

FRU'STUM.  In  Geometry,  the  part  of  a  solid  next  the 
base,  formed  by  cutting  off"  the  top;  or  it  is  the  part  of  any 
solid,  as  a  cone,  a  pyramid,  &c,  between  two  planes,  which 
may  be  either  parallel  or  inclined  to  each  other.  The  frus- 
tum of  a  pyramid,  when  the  cutting  plane  is  parallel  to  the 
base,  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  three  pyramids  whose  bases  are 
— 1st,  the  lower  base  or  end  of  the  frustum:  2d,  the  upper 
base;  and  3d,  a  surface  which  is  a  geometrical  mean  be- 
tween these  two.  Hence  the  solid  content  of  such  a  frus- 
tum, whatever  be  the  figure  of  the  base,  is  found  by  this 
rule:  add  into  one  sum  the  area  of  the  two  ends  and  the 
mean  proportional  between  them,  then  one  third  of  that  sum 
will  be  the  area  of  the  base  of  an  equal  prism  having  the 
same  altitude  as  the  frustum ;  and  consequently  this  area 
multiplied  into  the  altitude  gives  the  solid  content  of  the 
frustum. 

FRU  TEX  (Lat.  a  shrub),  is  a  plant  whose  branches  am 
perennial,  and  proceed  directly  from  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
without  any  supporting  trunk. 

FUE'L.  (Norm.  Fr.  fuayl.)  Any  combustible  substance 
which  is  used  for  the  production  of  heat  constitutes  a  spe- 
cii  ■;  of  fuel ;  and  in  this  extended  sense  of  the  term,  alcohor, 
wax,  tallow,  coal  gas,  oil,  and  other  inflammable  bodies 
which  are  occasionally  used,  especially  in  the  chemical  la- 
boratory, as  sources  of  heat  as  well  as  light,  might  be  in- 
cluded under  it.  But  the  term  fuel  is  more  properly  limited 
to  coal,  coke,  charcoal,  wood,  and  a  few  other  substances, 
which  are  our  common  sources  of  heat,  and  as  such  are  burn- 
ed in  grates,  stoves,  fireplaces,  and  furnaces  of  different  de- 
scriptions. 

In  this  country,  coal,  from  its  abundance  and  cheapness,  is 
the  commonly  employed  fuel ;  but  where  wood  is  abundant, 
or  where  its  value  is  little  more  than  that  of  felling  it  it  is 
used  either  in  its  original  state  or  in  the  form  of  charcoal. 
But  whatever  substance  is  used,  the  ultimate  elements  of  fuel 
are  carbon  and  hydrogen:  and  the  heat  which  is  evolved  by 
their  combustion  is  derived  from  their  combination  at  high 
temperatures  with  the  oxygen  of  the  air:  the  results  or  pro- 
ducts of  this  combustion  are  carbonic  acid  and  water,  these 
escaping  into  the  atmosphere  by  the  flue  or  chimney  gener- 
rally  attached  to  furnaces  and  fireplaces. 

It  is  essential  to  good  and  profitable  fuel  that  it  should  be 
free  from  moisture ;  for  unless  it  be  dry.  much  of  the  heat 
which  it  generates  is  consumed  in  converting  its  moisture  into 
vapour:  hence  the  superior  value  of  old,  dense,  and  dry 
wood,  to  that  which  is  porous  and  damp ;  hence  al=o  the 
greater  quantity  of  heat  evolved  during  the  combustion  of 
charcoal  as  compared  with  that  of  wood,  for  even  the  driest 
wood  always  retains  a  certain  quantity  of  water;  hence  also 
coke  gives  out  more  heat  than  pit  coal,  parti}'  because  it  fe 
Go  481 


FUEROS. 

absolutely  dry,  and  partly  because  during  the  combustion  or 
heating  of  coal,  tar,  oil,  water,  and  gas  are  evolved,  all  of 
which  carry  off  a  certain  proportion  of  the  heat  in  a  latent 
form.  A  pound  of  dry  wood  will,  for  instance,  heat  35 
pounds  water  from  32°  to  212°,  and  a  pound  of  the  same 
wood  in  a  moist  or  fresh  state  will  not  heat  more  than  25 
pounds  from  the  same  to  the  same  temperature ;  the  value, 
therefore,  of  different  woods  for  fuel  is  nearly  inversely  as 
their  moisture,  and  this  may  be  roughly  ascertained  by  find- 
ing how  much  a  given  weight  of  their  shavings  loses  by  dry- 
ing them  at  212°. 

Charcoal  is  itself  very  hygrometric,  and  when  exposed  to 
air  increases  in  weight  to  the  amount  of  10  or  12  per  cent,  in 
consequence  of  the  absorption  of  humidity :  a  pound  of  dry- 
charcoal  is  capable  of  raising,  when  properly  burned,  73 
pounds  of  water  from  the  freezing  to  the  boiling  point. 

The  different  kinds  of  pit  coal  give  out  variable  quantities 
of  heat  during  their  combustion ;  upon  an  average,  one  pound 
of  coal  should  raise  60  pounds  of  water  from  the  freezing  to 
its  boiling  point.  The  heating  power  of  coke  as  compared 
with  coal  is  nearly  in  the  ration  of  75  to  09 :  a  pound  of  good 
coke  will  heat  from  64  to  66  pounds  of  water  from  32°  to 
212°;  its  power,  therefore,  is  about  nine  tenths  that  of  wood 
charcoal. 

The  value  of  turf  and  peat  as  fuel  is  liable  to  much  varia- 
tion, and  depends  partly  upon  their  density,  and  partly  upon 
their  freedom  from  earthly  impurities.  A  pound  of  turf  will 
heat  about  26  pounds  of  water  from  32°  to  212°,  and  a  pound 
of  dense  peat  about  30  pounds :  by  compressing  and  drying 
peat  its  value  as  a  fuel  is  greatly  increased. 

The  following  table,  by  Dr.  Ure,  shows  the  quantity  of 
water  raised  from  32°  to  212°  by  one  pound  weight  of  the 


Combustible. 

Pounds  ol 
Water  which 
a  Pound    can 
raise  from  32^ 
to  212°. 

Pounds  of 
Boiling  Water 
evaporated  by 
one  Pound. 

Weight  of 
Atmospheric 
Air  at  32°  re- 
quired to  burn 
one  Pound. 

Dry  wood 

Commou  wood     .... 

Coke 

Oil,  wax,  or  tallow  .    .    . 
Alcohol       

3500 
26  00 
7300 
60-00 
65  00 
30  00 
7600 
7800 
52-00 

636 

4  72 
13.27 
10!0 
11-81 

5-45 
13-91 
1418 

9.56 

596 

4-47 
11-46 

9-26 
11-46 

4-60 
14-5S 
1500 
11  GO 

different  combustibles  enumerated  in  the  first  column ;  it  also 
shows  the  number  of  pounds  of  boiling  water,  which  the 
same  weight  of  fuel  will  eva]x>rate,  and  the  quantity  of  at- 
mospheric air  absolutely  consumed  during  combustion.  The 
quantity  of  air,  however,  as  given  in  the  last  column,  is 
much  less  than  would  be  necessary  in  practice,  where  much 
of  the  air  passes  the  fuel  without  coming  into  contact  with  it 
so  as  to  have  its  oxygen  consumed.  The  heating  power 
also,  as  represented  by  this  table,  can  seldom  be  practically 
attained. 

FUE'ROS,  is  the  term  by  which  in  Spain  the  peculiar 
rights  and  privileges  of  certain  provinces  are  distinguished. 
It  corresponds  to  the  old  French  word  for  or  fors  ;  and  is 
said  to  be  derived  either  from  the  Latin  word  forum,  or  (what 
is  more  probable)  from  the  Spanish  fuera,  which  signifies 
outside  or  without,  thereby  indicating  the  difference  which 
exists  between  the  administration  of  the  provinces  in  which 
the  fueros  prevail,  from  that  of  the  other  constituent  parts  of 
the  Spanish  monarchy.  The  history  of  the  fueros  is  lost  in 
their  profound  antiquity  ;  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
their  origin  may  be  fairly  associated  with  the  political  exist- 
ence of  the  brave  Cantabrians,  who  were  never  wholly  sub- 
jugated to  the  Roman  yoke,  and  who,  even  when  partially 
vanquished,  still  maintained  their  ancient  laws  and  customs 
inviolate.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  well  known  that  from 
their  earliest  origin  the  Basque  Provinces  enjoyed  certain 
privileges  unknown  to  the  rest  of  the  Spanish  kingdom,  and 
which,  though  originally  not  reduced  to  writing,  and  exist- 
ing like  our  common  laws  of  old  in  the  traditions  of  the 
country,  were  mutually  and  religiously  observed  botli  by  the 
monarch  and  the  people.  In  this  state  they  remained  till 
the  year  1235,  when,  on  the  accession  of  Thibault,  a  French 
prince,  to  the  crown  of  Navarre,  some  misunderstanding  hav- 
ing arisen  respecting  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  fueros,  it 
became  necessary  to  imbody  them  in  a  written  code,  which, 
with  some  considerable  enlargement  sanctioned  by  Charles 
V.,  was,  down  to  the  period  of  the  last  revolution,  faithfully 
recognised  by  all  the  monarchs  of  Spain  as  the  magna  charta 
of  the  Basque  Provinces.  Though  the  immunities  of  the 
provinces,  Guipozcoa,  Alava,  Biscay,  and  Navarre,  exhibit 
considerable  difference  in  detail,  their  main  features  are 
marked  by  a  striking  uniformity,  the  form  of  government 
which  prevails  in  each  province  being  essentially  republican 
in  all  its  branches.  In  the  province  of  Biscay,  for  instance, 
which,  with  a  few  modifications  more  or  less  Important,  may 
serve  as  an  example  for  the  other  provinces,  the  royal  au- 
thority is  purely  nominal.  The  only  privilege  of  the  crown 
482 


FULLERS'  EARTH. 

consists  in  nominating  the  corregidor,  the  highest  officer  in 
the  state  ;  but  even  this  appointment  is  subject  to  the  appro- 
val of  certain  members  (called  deputation)  of  the  junta  or 
states,  in  whose  assemblies  he  has  a  seat  and  vote.  In  the 
junta  is  vested  the  chief  management  of  affairs.  This  as- 
sembly forms,  with  the  exception  of  the  American  Congress, 
by  far  the  most  popularly  constituted  representative  body  in 
modern  times,  the  right  of  voting  being  conferred  on  every 
man  who  possesses  a  domicile  within  the  lordship ;  and  its 
chief  dutias  consist  in  administering  the  affairs  of  the  com- 
monwealth, in  collecting  the  taxes,  in  providing  for  the  pro- 
tection and  defence  of  the  country,  in  nominating  the  official 
servants  of  the  government,  and  in  forming  of  itself  a  court 
of  appeal  from  the  decisions  of  the  corregidor.  Of  the  privi- 
lege s  and  immunities  of  the  province  itself,  the  following  are 
the  principal :  Freedom  from  paying  any  imposts  but  those 
due  from  the  inhabitants  to  their  own  lordship,  and  which 
are  fixed  by  themselves,  and,  additionally,  whatever  gratui- 
tous contributions  may  be  deemed  necessary  to  meet  the  ex- 
traordinary emergencies  of  the  state ;  the  enjoyment  of  the 
privileges  of  nobility  in  the  Castilian  dominions  on  merely 
proving  a  descent  from  pure  Biscayan  blood ;  exemption 
from  appearing  before  any  tribunal  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
lordship ;  to  tolerate  no  royal  intendant  or  comptroller  within 
the  province  ;  to  permit  no  estanco  or  royal  monopoly,  as  in 
the  rest  of  Spain ;  exemption  from  duty  on  imported  mer- 
chandise ;  to  have  no  royal  administration,  except  that  of  the 
post-office;  to  admit  no  Spanish  troops  within  the  territory; 
to  furnish  no  recruits  for  the  royal  army ;  to  defend  their  ter- 
ritory with  their  own  means  and  blood ;  and  to  visit  with 
summary  punishment  all  who  maybe  convicted  of  extortion, 
or  of  any  attempt  to  injure  or  even  to  interfere  with  the  con- 
stitution of  the  province.  These  details,  borrowed  chiefly  from 
an  able  article  on  this  subject  in  the  Monthly  Chronicle  for 
Nov.  1839,  will  convey  to  the  reader  some  idea  of  the  nature 
and  extent  of  the  fueros,  the  maintenance  of  which  formed 
the  sole  ground  for  the  sanguinary  hostilities  which  for  the 
last  few  years  devastated  the  northern  provinces  of  the 
Spanish  territory  ;  hostilities  which  have  at  length  happily 
been  put  an  end  to  by  the  formal  recognition  of  all  the  rights, 
privileges,  and  ancient  customs  of  the  Basque  Provinces,  on 
the  part  not  only  of  the  Spanish  government,  but  also  of  the 
Cortes.  (For  farther  information  on  this  subject,  the  reader 
is  referred  to  a  masterly  resume  of  a  work  entitled  El  Fuero 
— Privilegios,  Franqueias,  tire*,  confirmados  por  el  Hey  Don 
Carlos,  nueslros  senor,  S?e.  1762 ;  commenced  in  The  Times 
of  Oct.  14,  continued  in  the  same  journal  16th  Nov.  1839, 
and  ended  March,  1840.) 

FUGA,  or  FUGUE.  (Lat.  fuga,  flight.)  In  Music,  a 
composition  wherein  the  different  parts  follow  each  other, 
each  repeating  the  subject  at  a  certain  interval  above  or  be- 
low the  preceding  part. 

FU'GLEMAN,  or  FLUGELMAN.  A  non-commission- 
ed officer,  appointed  to  take  his  place  in  front  of  a  regiment 
as  a  guide  to  the  soldiers  in  the  movements  of  the  drill.  The 
word  is  derived  from  the  Germ,  fltigel,  a  wing. 

FU'LCRA.  (Lat.  fulcrum,  a  prop.)  A  term  invented  by 
Linnjeus  to  denote  a  tendril,  a  prickle,  a  spine,  a  hook,  or  any 
other  process  by  which  plants  are  enabled  to  support  them- 
selves upon  other  plants. 

FU'LCRUM  (Lat.),  in  Mechanics,  is  the  fixed  point  about 
which  a  lever  moves.     See  Lever. 

FU'LGORA.  (Lat.  fulgor,  an  effulgence.)  The  generic 
name  of  certain  singular  insects  of  the  order  Homoptera,  and 
family  Cicadarim,  which  have  the  fore-part  of  the  head  pro- 
duced in  the  form  of  a  snout  or  large  hollow  receptacle ;  and 
the  antenna?  inserted  beneath  the  eyes,  only  three-jointed, 
and  terminated  by  a  slender  bristle.  It  is  asserted  by  one 
naturalist  (Mad.  Merian),  that  the  frontal  projection  emits  a 
bright  light;  but  others  who  had  opportunities  of  making  ob- 
servations on  the  "  living  lantern-fly,"  as  the  larger  species  is 
called,  have  not  witnessed  the  exercise  of  its  illuminating 
powers,  if  it  really  possess  them. 

The  Fulgora  lanternaria  is  a  native  of  South  America ; 
the  Fulgora  candclaria  of  China.  There  are  many  other 
species  included  in  the  Linnasan  generic  character,  but  which 
now  form  the  subgenera  Otiocrrus,  l/ystra,  Ciiius,  P&cilop- 
tera,  Issus,  Anotia,  Delphax,  Fulgora  proper,  be.,  in  the  fam- 
ily  Fulirnridw. 

FULGURA'TION.  A  term  applied  by  the  assayer  to  the 
sudden  brightening  of  the  fused  globule  of  gold  or  silver 
when  the  last  film  of  oxide  of  lead  or  copper  leaves  its  surface. 

FU'LICA.  (Lat.  fuliga ;  from  fuligo,  soot.)  The  name 
of  a  genus  of  Wading  birds  of  the  family  JUacrodarhilcr,  now 
restricted  to  those  who  have  a  strong,  moderate-sized,  straight, 
conical,  and  compressed  bill,  with  a  dilated  naked  plate  at 
the  base  of  the  upper  mandible ;  the  toes  are  furnished  at  the 
sides  with  a  scalloped  membrane;  the  wings  middle-sized. 
The  British  species,  or  common  coot  (Fulicra  atra),  is  well 
known :  all  its  congeners  approach  more  or  less  to  its  sooty 
or  blue-black  colour. 

FU'LLERS'  EARTH.    A  mineral  essentially  composed 


FULLING. 

of  silica  and  alumina,  with  about  24  per  cent,  of  water,  used 
in  fulling  cloth.  Like  other  soft  aluminous  minerals,  it  has 
the  property  of  absorbing  grease.  It  occurs  in  Hampshire, 
near  Wobum  in  Bedfordshire,  and  at  Nutfield  in  Surrey;  its 
exportation  was  formerly  forbidden  under  severe  penalties. 
In  most  cases  soap  is  now  substituted. 

FU'LLING.  The  art  of  cleansing,  scouring,  and  pressing 
stuffs,  cloths,  stockings,  &c,  to  render  them  stronger,  firmer, 
and  closer;  it  is  also  called  milling,  because  these  cloths,  &c. 
are  in  fact  scoured  by  a  water  mill.  (See  Urc's  Dictionary 
of  Jlrts,  &-c.) 

FU'LMINATES.  (Lat.  fulmen,  a  thunderbolt.)  Com- 
pounds of  the  fulminic  acid  with  various  bases,  all  more  or 
less  possessed  of  the  property  of  exploding  or  detonating  by 
heat  or  friction.  The  fulminates  of  silver  and  mercury  (or 
fulminating  silver  and  mercury)  are  objects  of  manufacturing 
interest ;  the  former  being  used  in  detonating  bonbons,  and 
the  latter  more  largely  and  importantly  as  a  priming  for  the 
percussion  caps  of  gun  locks. 

FU'LMINATING  POWDER.  A  compound  of  three 
parts  of  nitre,  two  of  purified  pearlash,  and  one  of  flowers  of 
sulphur,  carefully  mixed  and  dried  before  the  fire  :  about  20 
grains  of  this  powder  heated  upon  an  iron  plate  over  a  slow 
fire  becomes  brown  and  pasty  ;  a  blue  flame  then  appears 
upon  it,  and  immediately  after  the  whole  explodes  with  a 
stunning  report. 

FULMINA'TION,  used  synonymously  in  a  general  sense 
with  denunciation ;  but  applied  more  peculiarly  to  the  ex- 
communications or  anathemas  pronounced  by  the  papal  see. 

FULMI'NIC  ACID.  An  acid  composed  of  2  equivalents 
of  cyanogen=:52,  and  2  of  oxygen=16,  corresponding  there- 
fore in  ultimate  composition  with  the  cyanic  acid.  In  com- 
bination with  the  oxide  of  silver  and  oxide  of  mercury,  this 
acid  constitutes  fulminating  silver  and  fulminating  mercury. 

FUMARIA'CEiE.  (Fumaria,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  herbaceous  Exogens,  inhabiting  all  temper- 
ate climates,  and  related  to  Papaveracca  so  nearly  as  to  be 
incorporated  with  them  by  some  writers.  Their  sensible  prop- 
erties are  not  of  any  value  ;  a  few  are  objects  of  cultivation 
for  their  beautv. 

FUMIGATION.  (Lat.  fumigo.)  The  diffusion  of  cer- 
tain vapours  through  the  air,  for  the  purpose  of  destroying 
contagion  and  infection :  goods  are  also  fumigated  for  the 
same  purpose.  Acid  vapours  have  frequently  been  used  for 
this  purpose  ;  there  are,  however,  very  few  which  are  at  all 
effectual,  and  some  of  them,  such  as  vinegar,  only  serve  to 
cover  bad  smells  without  destroying  noxious  effluvia.  There 
is  no  substance  so  certain  in  its  effects  as  chlorine  ;  and  it  is 
cheap,  and  easily  obtained  either  from  muriatic  acid  and 
black  oxide  of  manganese,  or  from  a  mixture  of  salt,  sulphu- 
ric acid,  and  black  oxide.  In  inhabited  rooms  it  requires  to 
be  cautiously  used,  in  consequence  of  its  bad  effects  upon  the 
respiratory  organs  :  but  even  here  it  may  be  so  extensively 
diffused  as  to  be  effective  in  destroying  noxious  matters,  with- 
out serious  injury  to  persons  who  breathe  the  atmosphere. 
When  a  room  can  be  shut  up  it  may  be  freely  used,  and  it 
should  be  generated  in  saucers  placed  in  different  parts  of  the 
apartment  (if  a  large  one) ;  and  not  upon  the  ground,  but 
upon  shelves  high  up  in  the  room,  for  chlorine  being  heavier 
than  air,  is  thus  more  quickly  and  rapidly  diffused.  Infected 
clothes  and  furniture  may  at  the  same  time  be  subjected  to 
its  action.  Of  all  common  diseases,  the  scarlet  fever  is  that 
which  appears  to  require  the  most  scrupulous  attention  to 
careful  fumigation. 

FUNCTION,  in  Analysis,  signifies  any  mathematical  ex- 
pression considered  with  reference  to  its  form,  and  not  to  the 
value  which  it  receives  by  giving  particular  values  to  the 
symbols  contained  in  it.  Thus  a-\-x  and  a2-\-x2  are  both 
functions  of  x,  though  of  different  forms.  In  whatever  man- 
ner an  expression  may  be  compounded  of  constant  and  vari- 
able quantities,  it  is  always  called  a  function  of  the  variable 
quantities  only,  because  it  is  only  with  reference  to  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  variables  enter  into  the  expression  that  it  is 
necessary  to  consider  the  function.  Thus  the  above  expres- 
sions, as  well  as  the  following,  a+log.  x,  A-f-sin.  p  x,  c*,  are 
all  functions  of  z,  the  quantities  a,  b,  p,  c.  being  constant,  and 
independent  of  x.  The  calculus  of  functions  may  be  regard- 
ed as  standing  in  the  same  relation  to  algebra  that  algebra 
occupies  with  regard  to  common-  arithmetic.  The  definite 
abstract  numbers  about  which  arithmetic  is  concerned  are  in 
algebra  laid  aside  for  symbols  of  general  number,  thus  ena- 
bling us  to  express  a  definite  operation  performed  on  an  in- 
definite number.  In  the  calculus  of  functions  the  generaliza- 
tion is  carried  a  step  farther ;  the  definite  character  of  the 
operation  is  dropped,  and  indefinite  symbols  of  operation  are 
used,  which  may  be  unknown,  but  determinable  by  certain 
conditions ;  or  arbitrary,  or  conventionally  definite,  to  denote 
particular  operations.  (See  "  Calculus  of  Functions"  in  the 
Ency.  Metrop.,  by  Mr.  De  Morgan ;  also  Babbarre's  Element- 
ary Treatise  on  the  Calculus  of  Functions  ;  Lagrange,  Thc- 
orie  des  Fonctions  Jlnalytiques  ;  Cauchy,  Coars  d'Jlnalyse 
and  Elemens  du  Cilcu.1  Ir>ftn. ;  Peacock's  JUgebra,  &c.) 


FUNGI. 

FUNDAMENTAL  BASS.  In  Music,  the  lowest  note  or 
root  of  a  chord,  which  is  found  by  inverting  its  notes  so  as  to 
set  them  in  thirds  above  such  root. 

FUNDS,  PUBLIC.  The  name  given  to  the  public  funded 
debt  due  by  government 

The  practice  of  borrowing  money  in  order  to  defray  a  part 

of  the  war  expenditure  began,  in  this  country,  in  the  reign  of 

William  III.    In  the  infancy  of  the  practice  it  was  customary 

j  to  borrow  upon  the  security  of  some  tax,  or  portion  of  a  tax, 

j  set  apart  as  a  fund  for  discharging  the  principal  and  interest 

I  of  the  sum  borrowed.    This  discharge  was,  however,  very 

i  rarely  effected.    The  public  exigencies  still  continuing,  the 

|  loans  were,  in  most  cases,  either  continued,  or  the  taxes  were 

j  again  mortgaged  for  fresh  ones.    At  length  the  practice  of 

borrowing  for  a  fixed  period,  or,  as  it  is  commonly  termed, 

:  upon  terminable  annuities,  was  almost  entirely  abandoned ; 

I  and  most  loans  were  made  upon  interminable  annuities,  or 

|  until  such  time  as  it  might  be  convenient  for  government  to 

pay  off  the  principal. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  funding  system,  the  term  fimd 
meant  the  taxes  or  funds  appropriated  to  the  discharge  of  the 
principal  and  interest  of  loans:  those  who  held  government 
securities  and  sold  them  to  others,  selling,  of  course,  a  corre- 
sponding claim  upon  some  fund.     But  after  the  debt  began 
to  grow  large,  and  the  practice  of  borrowing  upon  intermina- 
'  ble  securities  had  been  introduced,  the  meaning  attached  to 
j  the  term  fund  was  gradually  changed ;  and,  instead  of  signi- 
fying the  security  upon  which  loans  were  advanced,  it  has, 
I  for  a  long  time,  signified  the  principal  of  the  loans  themselves. 
Owing  partly,  perhaps,  to  the  scarcity  of  disposable  capi- 
tal at  the  time,  but  far  more  to  the  supposed  insecurity  of  the 
j  revolutionary  establishment,  the  rate  of  interest  paid  by  gov- 
\  emment  in  the  early  part  of  the  funding  system  was,  com- 
paratively, high.     But  as  the  country  became  richer,  and  the 
confidence  of  the  public  in  the  stability  of  government  was 
increased,  ministers  were  enabled  to  take  measures  for  redu- 
cing the  interest,  first  in  1716,  and  again  in  1749. 

During  the  reigns  of  William  III.  and  Anne,  the  interest 
stipulated  for  loans  was  very  various.  But  in  the  reign  of 
George  H.  a  different  practice  was  adopted.  Instead  of  va- 
rying the  interest  upon  the  loan  according  to  the  state  of  the 
money  market  at  the  time,  the  rate  of  interest  was  generally 
fixed  at  three  or  three  and  a  half  per  cent. ;  the  necessary 
variation  being  made  in  the  principal  funded.  Thus,  suppose 
government  were  anxious  to  borrow,  that  they  preferred  bor- 
rowing in  a  3  per  cent,  stock,  and  they  could  not  negotiate  a 
loan  for  less  than  4A  per  cent.,  they  effected  their  object  by 
giving  the  lender,  in  return  for  even,'  j£100  advanced,  j£150 
3  per  cent,  stock  ;  that  is,  they  bound  the  country  to  pay  him 
or  his  assignees  £4  10s.  a  year  in  all  time  to  come,  or  other- 
wise to  extinguish  the  debt  by  the  payment  of  £150.  In 
consequence  of  the  prevalence  of  this  practice,  the  princi- 
pal of  the  debt  now  existing  amounts  to  nearly  two  fifths 
more  than  the  sum  actually  advanced  by  the  lenders. 

Some  advantages  are,  however,  derivable,  or  supposed  to 
be  derivable,  from  this  system.  It  renders  the  management 
of  the  debt,  and  its  transfer,  more  simple  and  commodious 
than  it  would  have  been  had  it  consisted  of  a  great  number 
of  funds  bearing  different  rates  of  interest:  and  it  is  con- 
tended that  the  greater  field  for  speculation  afforded  to  the 
dealers  in  stocks  bearing  a  low  rate  of  interest  has  enabled 
government  to  borrow,  by  funding  additional  capitals,  for  a 
considerably  less  payment  on  account  of  interest  than  would 
have  been  necessary  had  no  such  increase  of  capital  been 
made.     See  National  Debt. 

FU'NERAL  (Lat.  funus),  may  be  defined  generally  as 
the  last  rites  performed  to  a  deceased  person,  of  whatever 
nature  they  may  be,  whether  of  interment,  burning,  em- 
balming, &c.  Among  the  ancients  ceremonies  of  this  na- 
ture were  accompanied  by  processions,  and  gladiatorial  com- 
bats, called  funeral  frames  ;  and  were  usually  followed,  par- 
ticularly where  the  deceased  was  of  high  rank  or  otherwise 
distinguished,  by  a  discourse,  or  funeral  oration,  pronounced 
in  his  praise.     See  Sepulture,  Rites  or. 

FU'NGI.  A  large  natural  order  of  plants  of  a  very  low 
organization,  consisting  chiefly  of  cellular  tissue,  sometimes 
intermixed  with  flocculent  matter,  and  very  rarely  with 
spiral  vessels.  They  inhabit  dead  and  decaying  organic 
bodies,  and  are  also  a  common  pest  to  living  plants,  upon 
which  they  prey  in  the  same  manner  as  vermin  and  intes- 
tinal worms  upon  animals.  A  vast  number  of  species  are 
described  by  writers  upon  fungi,  called  mycologists :  and 
they  are  often  of  great  importance  to  man  either  for  their 
use  or  their  miscfiievous  qualities.  The  common  mush- 
room, the  truffle,  and  morel,  are  delicacies  well  known  at 
table :  ergot  is  valuable  in  obstetric  practice  as  a  uterine 
stimulant  :  verv  manv  of  them  are  dangerous  poisons. 
Blight,  mildew,  rust,  brand,  &c,  are  diseases  caused  by  the 
ravages  of  the  microscopic  fungi ;  and,  finally,  the  destruc- 
tive effects  of  dry  rot  are  owing  to  the  attacks  of  Merulius 
Inchrymans  and  many  other  species,  some  of  which  are  mi- 
croscopic.   The  best  general  work  on  Fungi  is  Fries's  Sys- 


FUNGICOLA. 

tema  Mycologicum.  Numerous  species  are  figured  in  the 
works  of  Greville,  Bulliard,  Sowerby,  Corda,  and  Nees  von 
Esenbeck. 

FUNGl'COLA.  (Lat.  fungus,  a  mushroom,  and  colo,  to 
inhabit.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Coleopterans,  compre- 
hending those  which  are  found  on  mushrooms. 

FUNGI'LLIFO  IIMIS,  a  Latin  term  signifying  mushroom- 
headed,  is  applied  to  any  bodies  having  a  short  thick  figure, 
one  end  of  which  is  much  more  dilated  than  another. 

FU'NGIN.  The  fleshy  part  of  mushrooms  purified  by 
digestion  in  hot  water. 

FU'NGUS,  in  Surgery,  is  a  term  applied  to  the  too  luxu- 
riant formation  of  flesh  about  an  ulcer,  or  what  is  common- 
ly called  proud  flesh. 

FUNI'CULAR  MACHINE.  (Lat.  funis,  a  rope.)  In 
Mechanics,  if  a  body  fixed  to  two  or  more  ropes  is  sustain- 
ed by  powers  which  act  by  means  of  those  ropes,  the  as- 
semblage is  called  the  funicular  machine,  or  rope  machine. 
If  a  rope  is  stretched  horizontally  between  two  points,  its 
own  weight  alone  will  prevent  it  from  becoming  perfectly 
straight,  whatever  force  be  employed  in  stretching  it ;  and 
a  very  small  force  applied  at  its  middle  point,  at  right  an- 
gles to  its  direction,  will  be  sufficient  to  overcome  a  very 
great  resistance  at  the  points  to  which  its  extremities  are 
attached.  In  this  manner  a  very  small  force  may  be  made 
to  raise  a  very  great  weight  to  a  minute  height.  This  meth- 
od of  applying  force  is  familiar  to  seamen,  who  frequently 
have  recourse  to  it  in  bracing  their  sails. 

FUNI'CULUS.  A  prolongation  of  the  placenta  in  the 
shape  of  a  cord,  to  which  the  ovules  are  attached. 

FU'NNKL.  (Lai.  infundibulum.)  In  Architecture,  the 
upper  part  of  a  chimney.  In  common  life,  it  is  a  trumpet- 
mouthed  utensil,  with  a"  pipe  fixed  to  the  apex  for  the  pur- 
pose of  conveying  liquors  into  a  vessel  without  spilling 
them. 

FU'NNEL-SHAPED.  In  Botany  :  used  in  describing  the 
general  form  of  a  calyx,  corolla,  or  other  organ,  the  tube  of 
which  is  like  a  funnel  or  inverted  cone ;  that  is,  narrowest 
at  the  base  and  widest  at  the  orifice. 

FUR.  (Fr.  fourruxe.)  The  coated  skins  of  wild  animals, 
especially  of  those  of  high  northern  latitudes  ;  such  as  the 
wolf,  bear,  beaver,  &c.  The  hair  or  fur  is  cleansed,  and  the 
akin  is  generally  slightly  tanned  or  tawed.  The  most  val- 
nable  furs,  such  as  ermine  and  sable,  come  chietiy  from 
Russia.  When  unprepared,  or  merely  dried,  the  fur  skins 
go  under  the  name  of  peltry. 

FURFURA'CEOUS.  (Lat.  furfur,  bran.)  A  term  ap- 
plied to  certain  eruptions  in  which  the  cuticle  peals  off  in 
scales:  also  to  a  branlike  sediment  which  is  sometimes  ob- 
served in  the  urine. 

F  CRIES  (Furiffi),  in  Mythology,  called  by  the  Greeks 
Erinnyes  ('Eplvvvcg)  and  Eumenides  ('vvuiviScs),  were  the 
avenging  deities,  who  punished  gods  and  men  for  their  trans- 
gressions against  those  whom  they  were  bound  to  esteem  and 
reverence.  Their  number  was  not  fixed,  though  sometimes 
they  were  considered  to  be  three  sisters.  The  Athenians, 
who,  according  to  Plutarch  (Soton),  were  particularly  ad- 
dicted to  this  sort  of  euphemism,  called  them  also  Tcuvat  Qcai, 
the  venerable  goddesses,  their  true  names  being  considered 
ominous.  By  this  name  they  were  mentioned  in  the  oaths 
taken  at  the  Areopagus. 

FURL.  In  Navigation,  to  roll  the  sail  up  and  confine  it 
closely  to  the  yard  ;  the  sail  being  gathered  up  by  the  men  on 
the  yard,  the  leech  or  edge  is  passed  along  the  yard  to  the 
middle  or  bunt,  where  the  body  of  the  sail,  the  foot  and 
clews,  are  collected.  In  this  way  the  sails  of  a  man  of  war 
are  removed  nearly  out  of  view  in  an  almost  incredibly  short 
space  of  time. 

FU'RLONG.  An  English  measure  of  length,  containing 
the  eighth  part  of  a  mile. 

FURLOUGH,  in  Military  language,  signifies  the  permis- 
sion granted  to  an  officer  or  soldier  to  absent  himself  for  a 
given  time  from  military  duty. 

FU'RNACE.  (Lat.  Fornax.)  An  apparatus  wherein  is 
placed  a  cavity  to  contain  combustible  matter,  which  in  va- 
rious ways  is  supplied  with  air  to  facilitate  its  combustion. 
The  two  classes  into  which  furnaces  are  divided  are  air  or 
wind  furnaces,  and  blast  furnaces.  In  the  former  the  air  is 
conducted  through  the  fire  by  the  draught  of  a  funnel  or 
chimney  which  communicates  with  it;  in  the  latter,  the  ac- 
tion of  bellows  or  some  other  pneumatic  apparatus  supplies 
the  air.  The  word  furnace  has  generally,  however,  a  more 
circumscribed  application;  being  applied  usually  to  an  ap- 
paratus for  the  fusion  of  metals,  or  to  that  used  in  a  chemical 
laboratory. 

FU'RNITURE.  In  Printing,  the  materials  used  to  extend 
pages  of  type  to  their  proper  length;  also  to  separate  them, 
when  imposed,  to  a  just  distance  from  each  other,  so  that 
when  the  sheet  is  printed  and  folded  the  margin  shall  be 
regular  and  uniform.  (Sec  Imposing.)  It  consists  of  pieces 
of  oak  wood  planed  up  to  specific  thicknesses,  and  to  about 
half  an  inch  high  ;  sidesticks  and  footsticks,  which  are  placed 
484 


FUTTOCK  PLATES. 

at  the  outside  of  the  pages,  and  made  thinner  at  one  end  than 
the  other,  to  allow  the  quoin  to  secure  them  more  effectually ; 
and  quoins  or  wedges,  usually  made  of  beech  wood,  with 
which  the  pages  are  wedged  up  in  a  chase.     See  Chase. 

Fu'rniture.  (Fr.  foumir,  to  furnish.)  In  Architecture, 
the  visible  brasswork  of  locks,  knobs  to  doors,  window  shut- 
ters, and  the  like. 

FU  RRING.  (Fr.  fourrer,  to  thrust  in.)  In  Architecture, 
the  small  slips  nailed  on  joists  or  rafters,  where  some  parts 
of  them  are  lower  than  others,  or  where  the  surface  is  not 
regular,  so  as  to  bring  the  boarding  they  are  to  receive  into 
the  same  planes. 

FURU'NCULUS.  (Lat.  furo,  I  rage.)  A  boil ;  an  in- 
flammatory tumour,  which  generally  has  a  central  core,  and 
appears  in  full  and  healthy  habits.  Where  boils  prevail  in 
delicate  constitutions,  they  generally  indicate  a  cachectic  state, 
which  is  often  corrected  by  a  course  of  sarsaparilla. 

FURZE.  A  prickly  bush,  found  abundantly  in  exposed 
heaths  in  England  anil  the  more  southern  countries  of  Eu- 
rope, from  which  it  is  by  some  supposed  to  have  been  intro- 
duced ;  a  conjecture  rendered  probable  by  its  not  being  able 
to  bear  the  more  rigorous  of  our  winters.  Its  preference  for 
sterile  soil  has  caused  it  to  be  extensively  used  for  fences  in 
such  land,  as  a  cover  for  game  and  a  shelter  for  young  planta- 
tions. Its  young  and  tenderer  shoots  are  browsed  upon  by 
sheep  and  cattle.  Botanists  call  it  Ulex  Europaus,  and  class 
it  with  the  Leguminous  order. 

FUSE'E.  In  Watch-work,  that  part  of  the  machinery 
about  which  the  chain  is  wound,  and  which  is  immediately 
acted  upon  by  the  mainspring.  The  use 
of  the  fusee  is  to  equalize  the  action  of 
the  spring.  In  proportion  as  the  spring 
becomes  unwound,  its  effort  continually 
relaxes;  so  that  if  the  first  wheel  were 
attached  to  the  barrel,  as  is  often  the  case 
in  common  watches,  the  inequality  of  the 
impelling  power  would  produce  a  corre- 
sponding inequality  in  the  rate  of  going.  In  order  to  correct 
this,  one  end  of  the  chain  is  attached  to  and  wound  round 
the  barrel  in  which  the  main-spring  is  contained  ;  while  the 
other  end  is  coiled  about  the  fusee,  which  has  a  conical 
shape,  and  is  fixed  on  the  axis  of  the  first  wheel.  The  prin- 
ciple generally  adopted  for  determining  the  figure  of  the  fusee 
is,  that  its  radius,  at  any  point  to  which  the  chain  is  a  tangent, 
should  be  inversely  as  the  tension  of  the  chain  in  that  posi- 
tion. Within  certain  limits  this  is  true ;  and  if  we  assume 
with  Hooke  that  the  force  of  a  spring  is  proportional  to  the 
distance  to  which  it  is  drawn  from  the  position  of  rest,  and 
also  lay  aside  all  consideration  of  the  length  of  the  chain 
wrapped  about  the  fusee,  it  would  be  easy  to  show  that  the 
fusee  should  be  the  solid  generated  by  the  revolution  of  the 
equilateral  hyperbola  about  its  asymptote.  This  conclusion 
is,  however,  by  no  means  correct ;  but  though  the  subject  has 
been  treated  by  several  eminent  mathematicians,  very  little 
practical  advantage  has  been  derived  from  the  theoretical  in- 
vestigations. In  fact,  a  moderate  approximation  to  the  true 
figure  (whatever  that  may  be)  is  all  that  can  be  attained  in 
practice,  and  all  that  is  necessary. 

FU'SIBLE  METAL.  An  alloy  of  eight  parts  of  bismuth, 
five  of  lead,  and  three  of  tin  It  liquefies  at  a  temperature 
below  212°. 

FU  SIBLE  SALT  OF  URINE.  A  name  by  which  the 
old  chemists  designated  the  ammonio-phosphate  of  soda,  ob- 
tained by  the  evaporation  of  urine. 

FUSIL  (Fr.  fusee),  in  Heraldry,  is  a  bearing  of  a  rhomboi- 
dal  figure  more  slender  than  the  lozenge  ;  its  upper  and  lower 
angles  being  more  acute  than  the  two  middle  ones. 

Fusil.  A  light  musket  nearly  similar  to  a  carabine,  but  in 
general  more  neatly  finished.  The  fusil  was  originally  used  by 
officers  atlached  to  light  companies ;  and  in  the  British  army  it 
has  given  its  name  to  several  regiments  called  the  fusiliers. 
The  bore  is  usually  calculated  for  balls  of  eighteen  to  the 
pound ;  and  the  length  of  the  barrel  is  from  thirty-four  to 
thirty-eight  inches. 

FUST.    The  same  as  Frust,  which  see. 
FU'STIAN.    (Fr.  fustaine.)    A  thick  twilled  cotton,  of 
which  velveteen,  corduroy,  and  thickset  are  varieties.     (See 
Velvet.)     Fustian  is  generally  dyed  of  a  deep  olive  or  lead 
colour. 

Fustian,  in  Criticism,  is  applied  to  writings  remarkable  fo» 
a  forced  elevation  of  style,  or  for  an  exaggerated  or  unnatural 
use  of  metaphors  or  other  rhetorical  figures. 

FU'STIC.  A  yellow  dye  stuff.  There  are  two  kinds  of 
fustic  occasionally  used  by  dyers.  Old  fustic  is  the  wood  of 
a  large  tree,  the  .Mums  tinctoria,  which  grows  abundantly 
in  many  parts  of  tile  West  Indies  and  America;  it  gives  a 
dingy  yellow  dye,  and  is  chiefly  useful  in  the  production  of 
compound  colours.  Young  fustic  is  the  Rhus  cotinus,  or 
Venice  sumach,  a  shrub  growing  in  Italy  and  the  south  of 
France ;  it  gives  a  greenish-yellow  dye,  and  is  also  used  as  an 
accessory  material. 
FU'TTOCK  PLATES.    Flat  iron  bars  or  plates,  receiving 


PUTTOCKS. 

at  one  end  the  lower  dead-eye  of  the  topmast  rigging,  and  at 
the  other  the  futtock  shroud. 

FU'TTOCKS.    In  Nautical   language,   the  timbers  be- 
tween tile  floor  timbers  and  the  top  timbers. 


G. 


G.  The  seventh  letter  of  the  English  Alphabet,  but  the 
third  in  those  of  all  the  Oriental  languages,  and  also  of  the 
Greek.  The  form  of  our  G  is  borrowed  from  the  Roman 
alphabet.  G,  in  English,  has  two  sounds:  before  a,  o,  and  u, 
and  occasionally  before  i  and  e,  it  is  the  medial  letter  of  the 
guttural  order ;  the  other  sound,  which  it  possesses  only  be- 
fore e  and  i,  is  one  of  the  medials  of  the  sibilant  series.  The 
guttural  G  is  liable  to  a  variety  of  changes  in  different  dialects 
and  languages.  (See  Penny  Cyclo.)  G,  as  a  Roman  ab- 
breviature, is  used  for  gratis,  gens,  gaudium,  &c.  G.  V.  signi- 
fies genio  urbis,  G.  L.  genio  loci,  and  G.  P.  R.  gloria  populi 
Romani.     As  a  numeral  it  denoted  400, — 

G  quadringentos  demonstrativa  tenebit. 

On  the  French  coins  G  indicates  the  city  of  Poictiers ;  and  in 
chronology  it  is  the  seventh  Dominical  letter.  G,  in  music, 
is  the  fifth  note  or  degree  of  the  diatonic  scale,  corresponding 
to  the  sol  of  the  French  and  Italians.  It  is  used  also  to  de- 
signate the  treble  clef. 

GABE'LLE.  (Probably  derived,  through  some  unknown 
inflexion,  from  the  Teutonic  word  geben,  to  give.)  Any  im- 
post laid  on  commodities  was  originally  thus  tenned  in 
France  ;  as  gabelle  de  vin,  de  draps,  &.c. :  but  the  word  ac- 
quired in  the  course  of  time  the  peculiar  signification  of  a 
duty  on  salt,  which  is  meant  when  the  word  "  gabelle"  is 
used  simply.  The  Gabelle  was  first  established  in  the  early 
part  of  the  14th  century,  during  the  reign  of  Philip  de  Valois, 
and,  with  a  brief  interruption  of  five  years,  from  1340  to  1345, 
continued  to  be  levied  down  to  the  reign  of  Louis  XVI.,  at 
which  time  the  revenue  it  produced  was  estimated  at  38 
millions  of  francs.  The  distribution  of  this  tax  was  most 
capricious  and  arbitrary,  some  provinces  having  been  alto- 
gether exempt  from,  some  more  and  others  less  subject  to,  its 
operation  :  and  it  may  safely  be  affirmed  that  the  gabelle  was 
one  of  the  greatest  curses  imposed  on  France  previously  to 
the  Revolution.  (See  Com.  Diet.,  art.  "  Salt ;"  art.  "  Taxa- 
tion," Supp.  Encyc.  Brit.) 

GA'BIONS,  in  Fortification,  are  baskets  made  of  twins, 
which,  being  filled  with  earth,  are  used  as  a  screen  from  the 
enemy's  fire. 

GA'BLE.  (Brit,  from  gavel.)  In  Architecture,  the  verti- 
cal triangular  piece  of  wall  at  the  end  of  the  roof,  from  the 
level  of  the  eaves  to  the  summit. 

GA'DFLY.     See  OIstrum. 

GA'DOIDS,  Gadoidcz.  (Gr.  yaSos,  a  fish.)  A  family  of 
soft-finned  fishes,  which  belong  to  the  section  Subbrachians, 
or  those  which  have  the  ventral  fins  below  or  in  advance  of 
the  pectorals,  and  of  which  the  cod-fish  (Gadus  morrhua, 
Linn.)  may  be  regarded  as  the  type. 

The  general  character  of  the  Gadoid  family  is  as  follows : 
Body  moderately  elongated,  sub-compressed,  and  covered 
with  soft  and  very  numerous  scales ;  head  smooth ;  jaws  and 
front  of  the  vomer  armed  with  pointed,  unequal,  moderate,  or 
small  teeth,  disposed  in  several  rows,  like  a  rasp ;  gill-open- 
ings large,  and  with  seven  rays;  most  of  the  species  with  two 
or  three  dorsal  and  one  or  two  anal  fins ;  stomach  strong  and 
capacious;  ccecal  appendages  very  numerous;  air-bladder 
large,  with  strong  parietes,  often  dentated  laterally.  The 
greater  number  of  the  cod  tribe  inhabit  the  seas  of  cold  or 
temperate  latitudes ;  their  flesh  is  white  and  well  flavoured  ; 
they  are  most  prolific,  and  constitute  the  most  important  sub- 
ject of  fisheries.  The  great  sand-bank  of  Newfoundland  is 
the  most  famous  of  the  cod-fisheries :  here  100,000,000  pounds 
weight  have  been  taken  by  the  British  alone  in  one  year. 

GA'DOLINI'TE.  A  mineral  found  almost  exclusively  in 
Sweden,  containing  yttria  and  oxide  of  cerium ;  named  in 
honour  of  Dr.  Gadolin,  who  discovered  yttria. 

GAFF.  The  boom  or  yard  extending  the  upper  edge  of  j 
what  are  called  fore  and  aft  sails.  The  gafl"  turns  round  the 
mast,  against  which  it  rests  in  a  circular  opening  (called  the 
jaws)  as  an  axis.  It  is  supported  by  two  independent  ropes ; 
the  throat  halliards  at  the  mast  and  the  peak  halliards  at  the 
outer  end.  It  is  steadied,  when  the  sail  is  not  set,  by  ropes  | 
at  the  extremity  called  the  vangs. 

GAGE,  or  GAUGE.  (Ang.  Sax.  ga?ggian,  to  bind  or  con- 
fine.) In  Architecture,  the  length  of  a  slate  or  tile  below  the 
lap;  also  the  measure  to  which  any  substance  is  confined,  j 
Plasterers  use  the  word  to  signify  the  greater  or  less  quantity 
of  plaster  of  Paris  used  with  the  common  plaster  to  accelerate 
its  setting. 

Gage.  In  Physics,  an  instrument  or  apparatus  for  measur-  j 
ing  the  state  of  a  phenomenon.     Gage  of  the  air  pump  is  | 


GALBULUS. 

merely  a  barometer  communicating  with  the  inside  of  the 
receiver,  which  marks,  in  the  usual  manner,  the  pressure  of 
the  air  within  the  receiver  by  the  height  of  the  equiponderant 
column  of  mercury,  and  consequently  shows  the  degree  to 
which  the  air  is  rarefied.  A  short  barometer  may  be  employed 
for  this  purpose ;  but  in  this  case  it  will  not  be  affected  till  the 
rarefaction  of  the  air  has  been  carried  so  far  as  to  correspond 
with  the  length  of  the  tube.  An  instrument  for  the  same 
purpose,  but  on  a  different  principle,  was  invented  by  Smeaton, 
and  from  its  form  called  the  pear-gage.  It  is  a  vessel  sus- 
pended in  the  receiver,  and  exhausted  to  the  same  degree ; 
but  when  the  rarefaction  is  carried  as  far  as  intended,  the 
open  orifice  of  the  gage  is  let  down  into  a  vessel  containing 
mercury,  which,  on  the  readmission  of  the  air,  is  forced  up 
into  the  pear,  and  the  degree  of  rarefaction  is  judged  of  by  the 
quantity  of  mercury  introduced.  The  idea  is  ingenious ;  but 
the  indications  given  by  this  instrument  are  not  correct.  For 
wind-gage,  see  Anemometer  ;  water-gage,  see  Hydrome- 
ter. 

GAILLARDE.  (Ital.)  The  name  of  a  lively  dance  pecu- 
liar to  Italy,  and  supposed  to  have  been  practised  by  the  an- 
cient Romans,  whence  it  is  sometimes  designated  Roman- 
esque. 

GALA'CTOPOIETIC.  (Gr.  ya\a,  milk,  and  neieoi,  I 
make.)  A  term  applied  by  some  medical  writers  to  diet  and 
medicine,  supposed  to  promote  the  secretion  of  milk. 

GA'LA'GO.     See  Otolicnus. 

GALA'NGAL.  A  dried  root  brought  from  China ;  it  has 
an  aromatic  smell,  and  a  pungent  bitter  flavour,  and  was 
formerly  used  in  medicine.  The  greater  galangal  is  the  pro- 
duce of  the  Kampferia  galanga,  and  the  lesser  of  the 
Maranta  galanga. 

GALATHiE  A.  A  genus  of  long-tailed  (macrourous) 
Crustacea,  including  some  very  beautiful  species  (Gal.  ru- 

fosa,  strigosa,  et  squamifcra),  occasionally  found  on  the 
ritish  coasts.  The  true  Galathaa  have  the  thorax  oblong 
or  ovoid,  the  median  antenna?  produced,  and  the  pincers 
elongated.  This  term  is  derived  from  the  celebrated  nymph 
of  that  name. 

GA'LAXY,  or  MILKY  WAY.  (Gr.  ya\a,  milk.)  In 
Astronomy,  "  that  great  luminous  band  which  stretches  ev- 
ery evening  all  across  the  sky,  from  horizon  to  horizon,  and 
which  forms  a  zone  completely  encircling  the  whole  sphere, 
almost  in  a  great  circle.  At  one  part  it  sends  off  a  kind  of 
branch,  which  unites  again  with  the  main  body,  after  re- 
maining distinct  for  about  150  degrees.  This  remarkable 
belt  has  maintained  from  the  earliest  ages  the  same  relative 
situation  among  the  stars ;  and  when  examined  through 
powerful  telescopes  is  found  to  consist  entirely  of  stars, 
scattered  by  millions,  like  glittering  dust,  on  the  black 
ground  of  the  general  heavens."  {HerscheVs  Astronomy; 
Cabinet  Cyclopedia.)  The  phenomena  of  the  milky  way, 
says  the  same  illustrious  authority,  "  agree  with  the  suppo- 
sition that  the  stars  of  our  firmament  instead  of  being  scat- 
tered in  all  directions  indifferently  through  space,  form  a 
stratum,  of  which  the  thickness  is  small  in  comparison 
with  its  length  and  breadth,  and  in  which  the  earth  occu- 
pies a  place  somewhere  about  the  middle  of  its  thickness, 
and  near  the  point  where  it  subdivides  into  two  principal 
lamina;,  inclined  at  a  small  angle  to  each  other.  For  it  is 
certain  that  to  an  eye  thus  situated,  the  apparent  density 
of  the  stars,  supposing  them  pretty  equally  scattered  through 
the  space  they  occupy,  would  be  least  in  a  direction  of  the 
visual  ray  perpendicular  to  the  lamina,  and  greatest  in  that 
of  its  breadth ;  increasing  rapidly  in  passing  from  the  one 
direction  to  the  other,  just  as  we  see  a  slight  haze  in  the 
atmosphere  thickening  into  a  decided  fog  bank  near  the 
horizon  by  the  rapid  increase  of  the  mere  length  of  the  visual 
ray.  Accordingly  such  is  the  view  of  the  construction  of 
the  starry  firmament  taken  by  Sir  William  Herschel,  whose 
powerful  telescopes  have  effected  a  complete  analysis  of 
this  wonderful  zone,  and  demonstrated  the  fact  of  its  con- 
sisting entirely  of  stars."     (P.  376.)     See  Star. 

GA'LBANUM.  A  slightly  fetid  gum-resin,  produced  by 
the  Galbanum  officinale.  It  is  imported  from  Turkey  and 
the  East  Indies  for  medical  use,  but  is  a  drug  of  little  im- 
portance. 

GA'LBULA.  (Lat.  the  name  of  a  bird  in  Martius.)  A 
genus  of  Scansorial  birds,  closely  allied  to  the  kingfishers 
by  their  elongated  sharp-pointed  beak,  the  upper  ridge  of 
which  is  angular  ;  and  bv  their  short  feet,  the  anterior  toes 
of  which  are  almost  wholly  united:  these  toes,  however, 
are  not  precisely  the  same  as  those  of  the  kingfishers.  The 
plumage  of  the  species  of  Galbula,  which  are  called  by  the 
French  "jacamars,"  is  not  so  smooth  as  that  of  the  king- 
fishers, and  always  has  a  metallic  lustre.  They  are  solitary 
birds,  that  live  in  wet  forests,  feed  on  insects,  and  build  on 
low  bushes. 

GA'LBULUS.  In  Botany,  a  term  invented  by  Gart- 
ner, to  denote  a  form  of  fruit  similar  to  a  cone,  excepting 
that  the  galbulus  is  round,  and  has  the  heads  of  the  carpels 
much  enlarged.    Example— the  fruit  of  the  juniper. 

485 


GALEA. 

GA'LEA,  i;i  Antiquity,  was  the  headpiece  or  helmet  used 
iii  battle  by  the  Roman  soldiers. 

Jim  galtam  Pallas  et  aegida 
Curruique  et  rabiem  parat. 

The  galea,  was  used  for  the  same  defensive  purposes  as  the 
cassis ;  but  differed  frcm  it  in  this,  that  while  the  cassis 
was  of  metal,  the  galea  was  originally  of  hides.  It  was  too 
heavy  fur  general  use ;  hence  eacli  army  was  attended  by 
galearii,  a  species  of  military  domestics,  whose  duty  it  was 
to  carry  the  galea?  of  the  soldiers. 

GALE'NA.  (Gr.  yaXcti),  J  shine.)  Native  sulphuret  of 
lead. 

GA'LENISTS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  subdivision 
of  the  sect  called  Waterlandions  in  the  17th  century.  (Jilo- 
sheim,  Transl.,  vol.  v.  490.)  In  Medical  History  the  follow- 
ers of  Galen  were  so  termed,  in  opposition  to  the  practitioners 
of  the  chemical  school. 

GALE  OF  WIND.  The  sea  term  for  a  continued  storm 
of  wind :  the  lowest  degree  is  the  fresh  gale,  the  next  a  strong 
gale,  and  the  next  a  heavy  or  hard  gale. 

GA'LEOPITHE'COS.  (Gr.  yaXcos,  a  weasel,  7rt6tjxo;,  an 
ape.)  A  genus  of  Insectivorous  Mammalia,  having  the 
bones  of  the  arm  and  leg,  but  not  those  of  the  digits,  ex- 
cessively elongated,  and  supporting  extensive  lateral  folds 
of  skin  serviceable  as  a  parachute,  but  not  as  organs  of 
flight.  The  species  are  restricted  to  the  great  islands  of  the 
Indian  archipelago ;  their  inferior  incisors  are  remarkable 
for  their  complex"  form,  like  the  teeth  of  a  comb. 

GALERU'CA.  (Lat.  galerus,  a  cap  or  tuft.)  A  genus 
of  Tetramerous  Coleoptera,  now  the  type  of  an  extensive 
family  (Galcrucidie),  including,  among  other  subgenera, 
the  noxious  turnip  flies  (Haltica).  All  the  Galerucidm  are 
vegetable-feeders,  both  in  their  larva  and  perfect  state. 
There  are  about  a  dozen  known  British  species  of  Galeruca 
proper,  which  are  small,  and  generally  dark  or  dull-coloured 
beetles. 

GALIA'CEiE.  (Galium,  one  of  the  genera.)  A  natural 
order  of  herbaceous  Exogens,  inhabiting  the  cooler  parts  of 
the  world.  They  are  distinguished  from  Cinchonaccce  by 
their  square  stems  and  verticiliate  leaves  without  stipules. 
The  Rubia  tinctoria  yields  madder,  and  some  of  the  other 
species  produce  a  similar  colouring  substance.  The  torrefied 
grains  of  Galium  are  said  to  be  a  good  substitute  for  coffee, 
and  the  flowers  of  Galium  vcrum  are  used  to  curdle  milk. 
GALL.     See  Bile. 

GALL  BLA'DDER;  An  oblong  membranous  receptacle 
attached  to  the  under  part  of  the  liver.  It  retains  the  bile 
which  regurgitates  from  the  hepatic  duct,  and  sends  it 
through  the  cistic  duct,  which  proceeds  from  its  neck  into 
the  ductus  communis  choledochus,  and  thence  into  the  duo- 
denum. 

GA'LLEQN.  Certain  Spanish  treasure  ships  with  three 
or  four  decks,  formerly  employed  in  communicating  with 
Peru. 

GA'LLERY.  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a  term  applied  to  a  col- 
lection of  works  in  painting  or  sculpture.  The  earliest  gal- 
lery of  which  there  is  any  record  was  that  of  Verres.  It  is 
described  by  Cicero,  and  was  rich  in  pictures  as  well  as 
sculpture.  In  Europe,  at  the  present  day,  the  gallery  of  the 
Louvre,  though  much  reduced  in  1815  by  the  restoration  of 
many  works  of  art  which  conquest  had  enabled  the  French 
to  acquire,  is  the  finest  in  Europe,  if  taken  as  a  whole.  That 
founded  at  Florence  by  Cosmo  II.  long  enjoyed  the  first  rank, 
but  must  be  now  considered  secondary  to  the  French  col- 
lection. The  other  principal  galleries  of  Europe  are  those 
at  Munich,  Dresden,  Berlin,  and,  though  last  not  least  both 
in  size  and  importance,  that  of  the  Vatican  at  Rome ;  which, 
however,  is  more  generally  called  the  Museum  of  the  Vati- 
can. The  building  for  the  reception  of  the  National  Gallery 
in  London  is  wholly  unworthy  of  the  nation  and  of  the  fine 
situation  which  it  occupies.  The  collection  of  pictures  in 
this  gallery  is  small,  but  some  of  them  are  of  rare  and  unri- 
valled excellence.  The  gallery  of  antiques  at  the  British 
Museum  is,  in  many  respects,  matchless.  The  galleries  of 
the  Duke  of  Sutherland,  Lord  F.  Egerton,  Mr.  Hope,  and 
other  private  individuals,  contain  many  very  fine  pictures. 

Ga'llery.  In  Fortification,  a  covered  passage  across  the 
ditch  of  a  fortified  town.  In  Mining,  gallery  is  a  narrow 
passage  from  our  part  of  the  mine  to  another. 

G' ALLEY.  (Fr.  galore.)  A  low-built  vessel  propelled 
by  sails  and  oars,  cither  on  a  single  tier,  or  on  tiers  of  benches 
one  above  the  Other.  The  war  vesst  Is  of  antiquity  were  all 
galleys.  Among  the  Greeks  those  chiefly  mentioned  are 
the  pentccontori,  which  appear  to  have  had  fifty  oars  dis- 
posed in  a  single  tier;  and  the  trieres  (Lat.  triremes),  vessels 
with  three  banks  of  oars,  concerning  the  disposition  of  which 
much  controversy  has  taken  place.  It  is  commonly  sup- 
posed that  a  trireme  had  three  banks  of  oars  one  above  the 
other ;  but  this  is  rendered  improbable  by  the  circumstance 
of  Pliny  making  mention  of  galleys  having  thirty,  forty, 
and  even  fifty  banks  of  oars ;  for  it  seems  hardly  credible  that 
eo  many  could  have  been  arranged  directly  above  each 
486 


GALLICAN  CHURCH. 

other.  Some  have  suggested  that  the  rows  of  oars  in  the 
trireme  were  disposed,  not  horizontally,  but  obliquely ;  in 
which  case  an  increase  in  the  number  of  banks  of  oars 
would  augment  the  length,  and  probably  the  height  would 
be'  increased  in  proportion.  (See  Mcibomius,  De  Fabrica 
veterum  Trircmium.) 

Galleys  were  likewise  chiefly  employed  by  the  maritime 
nations  of  the  middle  ages  in  the  Mediterranean.  Their  use 
in  naval  war  hardly  ceased  until  the  end  of  the  17th  century  : 
and  the  Venetian  republic,  down  to  the  period  of  its  extinc- 
tion, always  maintained  a  number  of  war  galleys.  The 
Venetian  galleys  had  a  single  tier  only,  and  all  modem  gal- 
leys followed  the  same  construction.  These  were  formidable 
vessels  in  a  calm,  but  unfit  for  a  sea,  and  accordingly  found 
chiefly  in  the  Mediterranean.  The  Venetians  had  also  a 
large  high-pooped  sort  of  galley  called  galeazza,  whence  the 
word  galleass  and  galliolt  in  old  English  writers. 

The  Deal  galley  is  a  long  narrow  boat  vised  by  the  Deal 
boatmen,  and  managed  on  the  most  hazardous  occasions  in 
saving  the  crew  of  stranded  vessels  with  consummate  skill ; 
it  is  also  used  by  smugglers  on  account  of  its  velocity.  The 
galley  is  also  the  kitchen  of  a  ship. 

The  punishment  of  the  galleys,  i.  e.  the  employment  of 
condemned  criminals  in  the  toilsome  employment  of  rowing 
them,  is  said  to  have  originated  under  the  Greek  empire;  as 
well  as  the  name  TaXcapoi,  or  galley  slaves — in  French 
galeriens.  It  was  used  by  all  the  nations  bordering  on  the 
Mediterranean.  In  France,  under  the  old  jurisprudence,  the 
punishment  of  the  galleys  was  the  severest  after  that  of 
death.  About  the  end  of  the  feign  of  Louis  XIV.,  when 
galleys  themselves  began  to  be  disused,  the  galley  slaves 
were  employed  in  hospitals,  public  works,  &c. :  and  the 
name  of  the  punishment  was  changed  by  the  constituent 
assembly  (1798)  to  travaux  forces,  compulsory  labour, 
whence  the  word  forcal  for  a  criminal  so  condemned.  Un- 
der the  code  of  the  empire  the  punishment  was  accompanied 
with  forfeiture  of  property,  infamy,  and  branding.  By  an 
alteration  of  the  law  effected  in  1832,  the  brand  was  abolish- 
ed ;  and  the  criminals,  who  had  hitherto  been  intermingled 
in  the  three  penal  fortresses  (Toulon,  Rochefort,  and  Brest), 
were  classified.  Toulon  is  now  appropriated  to  those  con- 
demned for  10  years  and  under ;  Brest,  to  those  from  10  to 
20;  Rochefort,  to  the  condemned  for  life.  The  name  Bagne, 
which  is  applied  in  France  to  prisons  in  which  those  con- 
demned to  compulsory  labour  are  confined,  is  derived  from 
the  famous  Bagnio  prison  at  Constantinople,  so  called  on 
account  of  some  baths  situated  there.  The  principal  crimes 
now  punished  in  this  manner  by  the  French  law  are — some 
acts  of  violence  against  the  government  or  public  law ;  coining 
and  forgery  ;  assaults  followed  by  death  on  legal  officers ; 
murder,  unless  under  such  aggravated  circumstances  as  are 
punished  by  death  ;  cutting  and  maiming ;  rape,  abduction, 
burglary,  highway  robbery,  burning  of  insulated  buildings, 
threatening  letters,  perjury,  &c. 

GA'LLI.  The  priests  of  Cybele  were  so  named  at  Rome 
from  the  country  (Galatia  or  Gallo-Grtecia)  in  which  Pessinus, 
the  head  quarters  of  her  worship,  was  situated  :  also  termed 
Curetes,  Corybantes,  and  Idrei  Dactyli.  Cybele,  the  mother 
of  the  gods,  was  introduced  to  Rome  from  Asia  on  the  occa- 
sion of  a  pestilence  by  the  advice  of  the  Sybilline  oracles 
{Liv.  29.  c.  14.),  and  her  worship  became  in  time  one  of  the 
most  popular  in  the  city.  Her  priests  were  eunuchs,  of  which 
Lucretius  (lib.  ii.)  gives  the  alleged  reason.  They  are  de- 
scribed as  the  vilest  of  mankind  by  the  Roman  satirists,  yet 
they  had  extraordinary  power  over  the  vulgar.  Juvenal 
describes  them  among  the  low  companions  of  his  debauched 
consul  Damasippus : 

Et  resupinati  cessantia  tympana  Galli. 

GA'LLIC  ACID.  An  acid  obtained  from  galls  and 
several  other  vegetable  astringents.  Its  ultimate  components 
are  7  car.  +  3  h.  +  5  o. ;  its  equivalent  number  is  85. 

GA'LLICAN  CHURCH.  The  distinctive  title  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  church  in  France,  which  maintains  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  independence  in  respect  of  the  Romish  see. 
The  liberties  of  the  Gallican  church,  first  asserted  in  the 
Pragmatic  Sanction  (1438),  were  defined  and  confiimed  in 
the  Utmtuor  Propositiones  Cleri  Gallicani,  promulgated  in 
1682.  The  occasion  of  this  declaration  was  a  dispute  be- 
tween Louis  XIV.  and  Pope  Innocent  XT.  concerning  the 
light  long  practised  by  the  French  kings  of  occupying  in  their 
own  persons  the  inferior  preferments  of  a  diocese  which 
lapsed  during  the  vacancy  of  the  see.  It  was  then  deter- 
mined by  an  assembly  of  the  French  clergy,  that  the  pope 
has  no  temporal,  but  only  spiritual  rights,  as  the  vicegerent 
of  Christ;  that  even  these  are  limited  by  canons  and  coun- 
cils ;  and  that  the  decrees  of  the  holy  see  are  subject  to 
reversal  upon  the  decision  of  the  clergy  in  general.  (See 
the  Declaration  of  tlie  French  Clergy  concerning  F.cclesias- 
tical  Power,  drawn  up  by  the  famous  Bossuet,  bishop  of 
Meatix,  in  the  assembly  convoked  by  Louis  XIV.  in  1682.) 
While,  however,  it  asserts  this  liberty  in  speculative  points, 


GALLICISM. 

the  Gallican  church  does  not  differ  from  the  Romish  in  any 
points  of  faith  or  ceremonial  observances.  It  was  upon  the 
basis  of  these  liberties  that  the  concordat  was  founded  by 
which  the  Catholic  religion  was  re-established  in  France  in 
1801 ;  and  they  continue  to  be  maintained  upon  their  original 
fooling,  now  that  the  church  is  no  longer  connected  with  the 
state.  It  has  always  been  the  object  of  the  Jesuits  lo  bring 
the  French  church  into  more  deferential  submission  to  the 
Komish  see ;  and  at  the  present  day  the  party  among  the 
clergy  who  desire  this  consummation  is  said  to  be  on  the 
increase.  The  controversy  on  this  subject  was  carried  on 
in  the  last  century  between  the  two  classes  called  Cismontane 
and  Tramontane  divines.  The  new  Gallican  church  of  the 
Abbe  Chatel,  founded  at  Paris  in  1831,  seems  not  to  have 
met  with  much  success.  The  abbe  styles  himself  primate 
of  it.  It  denies  the  infallibility  of  the  pope  and  of  councils, 
rejects  the  celibacy  of  priests,  leaves  confession  voluntary, 
and  performs  service  in  the  mother  tongue.  In  all  these 
respects  its  doctrines  approach  those  of  the  church  of  Eng- 
land. (See  the  Profession  de  Foi  de  I'Eglise  Catholique 
Francaise,  Par.  1831.) 

GA'LLICISM.  Literally,  a  phrase  or  construction  pecu- 
liar to  the  French  language,  but  used  generally  to  denote 
such  phrases  or  modes  of  speech  in  English  as  are  formed 
after  the  French  idiom. 

GALLI'COLA.  (Lat.galla,  a  gall,  colo,  I  inhabit.)  The 
name  of  a  family  of  Pupiparous  Hymenopterans,  including 
those  of  which  the  larva:  inhabit  the  galls  or  vegetable  ex- 
crescences caused  by  the  perforation  and  oviposition  of  the 
parent  insect. 

GA'LLINA'CEANS.  Gal/inacea.  (Lat.  gallus,  a  cock.) 
See  Rasores. 

GALL-INSECTS,  Gall-insecta.  The  name  of  a  family 
of  Hemipterans,  comprehending  those  the  females  of  which, 
towards  the  period  of  oviposition,  assume  a  globular  form, 
analogous  to  the  galls  caused  by  the  gallicolcs. 

GA'LLINULE,  or  WATER-HEN.  The  type  of  the 
subgenus  Gallinula,  now  dismembered  from  the  Fulica  of 
Linnams,  which  term  is  restricted  in  modem  systems  of  or- 
nithology to  the  Coots  proper. 

GA'LLIOTT.  A  strong  and  cumbrous  vessel  used  by  the 
Dutch,  having  a  main  and  mizen  mast,  which  is  often  close 
aft. 

GALL  NUTS.  Excrescences  produced  by  the  cynips,  a 
email  insect  which  deposits  its  eggs  in  the  tender  shoots  of 
the  Quercus  infectoria,  a  species  of  oak  abundant  in  Asia 
Minor.  When  the  maggot  is  hatched  it  produces  a  morbid 
excrescence  of  the  surrounding  parts,  and  ultimately  eats  its 
way  out  of  the  nidus  thus  formed.  The  best  galls  are  im- 
ported from  Aleppo  and  Smyrna  ;  their  principal  ingredients 
are  tan  and  gallic  acid.  The  infusion  of  galls  affords  a  dense 
white  precipitate  in  solution  of  jelly,  and  a  black  precipitate 
with  the  persalts  of  iron.  The  latter  property  leads  to  the 
use  of  galls  in  the  manufacture  of  ink  and  of  black  dye ; 
they  are  also  used  as  an  astringent  in  medicine. 

GALL  OF  GLASS.  The  salts  and  other  impurities 
which  float  upon  the  fused  materials  for  the  manufacture  of 
glass,  and  which  is  skimmed  off.     It  is  also  called  sandiver. 

GA'LLON.  An  English  measure  of  capacity.  By  act 
of  parliament  the  imperial  gallon  is  to  contain  10  lbs.  avoir- 
dupois of  distilled  water,  weighed  at  the  temperature  of  62° 
of  Fahrenheit,  and  the  barometer  standing  at  30  inches. 
This  is  equivalent  to  277-274  cubic  inches.  The  old  English 
gallon,  wine  measure,  contained  231  cubic  inches ;  beer 
measure,  282  cubic  inches.     See  Measures. 

GA'LLOPER.  In  Artillery,  the  carriage  on  which  the 
very  small  guns  are  conveyed. 

GALLS.  Local  affections  or  diseases  of  plants,  caused 
by  the  puncture  of  insects.  They  are  produced  by  an  exces- 
sive deposition  of  cellular  tissue,  and  are  of  no  consequence 
to  the  general  health  of  the  individual  subject  to  them. 

GA'LL-STONES.  Concretions  occasionally  found  in  the 
gall  bladder  and  biliary  duct.  They  consist  either  of  a 
peculiar  fatty  matter  called  cliolesterine,  or  of  inspissated 
bile,  or  of  mixtures  of  the  two.  The  gall-stones  of  the  ox 
generally  contain  a  peculiar  yellow  colouring  matter,  which 
is  much  valued  bv  painters. 

GA'LLY-WORM.     See  Julidans. 

GA'LVANISM.  (From  Galvani,  professor  of  anatomy  at 
Bologna,  the  discoverer  of  some  of  the  phenomena  connected 
with  this  form  of  electricity  in  the  year  1790.)  Under  this 
term  are  frequently  included  the  phenomena  of  Voltaic 
electricity  (which  see).  We  shall  here  limit  it  to  the  appa- 
rent evolution  of  electricity  by  the  contact  of  different  metals : 
this  is  best  observed  by  the  muscular  contractions  which  are 
produced  in  the  leg  of  a  frog  recently  killed,  when  two  dif- 
ferent metals,  such  as  zinc  and  silver,  tin  and  gold,  &c,  one 
of  which  touches  the  crural  nerve,  and  the  other  the  mus- 
cles, are  brought  into  contact.  Every  time  the  metals  touch 
each  other  the  limb  becomes  powerfully  convulsed  ;  and  if 
the  experiment  be  made  with  a  dead  rabbit,  so  that  one  of 
the  metals  be  in  contact  with  the  brain,  and  the  other  with 


GAMES. 

the  muscles  of  the  extremities,  the  whole  body  of  the  animal 
is  strangely  agitated.  Similar  experiments  have  been  made 
upon  the  bodies  of  criminals  shortly  after  execution.  These 
results,  which  have  till  lately  been  considered  to  depend 
upon  the  effects  of  electricity  excited  by  the  contact  of  the 
metals  upon  the  nervous  and  muscular  systems,  led  Volta  to 
his  celebrated  researches,  which  terminated  in  the  discovery 
of  the  Voltaic  battery.  Nearly  all  the  cases,  however,  of 
the  apparent  production  of  electricity  by  contact  have  been 
satisfactorily  traced  by  Faraday  to  chemical  action.  See 
Voltaic  Battery. 

GA'LVANO'METER.  An  instrument  for  ascertaining 
the  presence  of  a  current  of  electricity,  especially  Galvanic 
or  Voltaic  electricity,  by  the  deviation  which  it  occasions  in 
the  magnetic  needle.  The  simplest  form  a  j 
of  galvanometer  is  a  magnetic  needle  f  " 
poised  upon  a  point,  and  surrounded  by 
one  or  more  coils  of  copper  wire  covered 
with  silk,  the  ends  a  and  b  being  either 
left  free,  or  terminating  in  two  small  cop- 
per cups  containing  mercury,  for  the  con- 
venience of  communication  with  the  source  of  electricity. 
When  this  needle  is  placed  parallel  to  the  coil,  and  in  the 
magnetic  meridian  (as  represented  in  the  margin),  it  imme- 
diately deviates  when  the  electric  current  passes  through 
the  coil ;  and  the  deviation  is  either  to  the  east  or  the  west, 
according  to  the  direction  of  the  current.  See  Electro- 
Magnetism. 

GA'MBA.  A  technical  term  in  Mammalogy,  applied  by 
Illiger  to  the  elongated  metacarpus  or  metatarsus  of  the 
Ruminants  and  Solipcds. 

GAMBO'GE.  A  yellow  gum  resin  much  used  as  a  pig- 
ment, and  in  medicine  as  a  drastic  and  nauseating  purge. 
It  is  chiefly  imported  from  Ceylon  in  cakes  rolled  up  in  flag 
leaves,  and  is  the  produce  of  the  Garcinia  cambogia  and  of 
the  Stalagmites  cambogioides. 

GAME  LAWS.  The  principal  statutes  relating  to  game, 
now  in  force,  are  the  7  &  8  Geo.  4,  c.  29,  the  9  Geo.  4,  c.  69, 
and  1  &  2  Wm.  4,  c.  32,  by  which  last  statute  important 
changes  have  been  made.  By  the  common  law,  which  fol- 
lowed the  old  forest  law,  as  introduced  into  this  country  by 
the  Normans,  all  game  was  the  property  of  the  king ;  no 
person  whatsoever  could  enjoy  the  diversion  of  spoiling,  un- 
less authorized  by  royal  grant  of  a  chase  or  free  warren ; 
and  to  kill  a  deer  was  deemed  almost  as  heinous  an  act  as 
to  kill  a  man.  But  although  at  common  law  no  persons 
could  with  impunity  encroach  upon  the  kingly  prerogative 
of  pursuing  game,  yet  those  were  exposed  to  the  additional 
pains  and  penalties  of  the  statute  law  who  committed  this 
offence  not  being  possessed  of  a  certain  rank  or  dignity,  or 
of  a  certain  amount  of  landed  property.  Strictly  speaking, 
then,  the  superior  condition  in  life  of  a  party  constituted 
the  ground  of  his  exemption  from  additional  punishment, 
and  not,  as  commonly  supposed,  a  qualification  to  do  that 
which  was  altogether  interdicted,  whether  to  the  peer  or 
the  peasant.  But  the  aggravated  offence  under  the  statutes, 
namely,  that  of  sporting  without  rank  or  fortune,  being  in 
later  times  severely  visited,  while  the  original  offence  at 
common  law  was  passed  over,  rank  and  fortune  were,  in 
the  end,  looked  upon  as  a  qualification  ;  and  a  freehold 
estate  of  100/.  a  year,  or  leasehold  for  99  years  of  150/.  a 
year,  or  being  the  son  and  heir  apparent  of  an  esquire  or 
person  of  superior  degree,  were  accounted  as  so  many 
qualifications.  The  statute  law  prohibited  any  persons 
whatsoever,  whether  qualified  to  kill  game  or  not,  from 
making  it  the  subject  of  sale  or  merchandise. 

By  section  2,  of  the  new  act  above  mentioned,  the  word 
"  game"  shall  include  hares,  pheasants,  partridges,  grouse, 
heath  or  moor  game,  black  game,  and  bustards.  The  prin- 
cipal alterations  in  the  law  made  by  this  act  are,  1st,  that 
all  qualifications  are  now  done  away  with,  and  that  any 
person  taking  out  a  proper  certificate  may  kill  game  on  his 
own  land,  or  that  of  another  person  with  his  leave  ;  and 
2dly,  that  every  person  having  such  a  certificate  may  sell 
game  to  any  person  licensed  to  deal  in  it  according  to  the 
act,  who  again  is  at  liberty  to  retail  it  without  restiiction. 

Most  trespasses  and  offences  relating  to  game  are  punish- 
able upon  summary  conviction,  before  magistrates.  The 
most  serious  of  these  oflences  is  what  is  called  night 
poaching.  After  two  convictions  before  a  magistrate  for 
this  offence  it  becomes  a  misdemeanor,  to  be  proceeded 
against  by  indictment,  and  punishable  by  transportation  for 
seven  years,  or  imprisonment  and  hard  labour.  Night 
poaching  committed  by  three  or  more  persons  in  company 
together  is  a  misdemeanor  in  the  first  instance,  and  pun- 
ishable by  transportation  for  fourteen  years,  or  imprison- 
ment and  hard  labour. 

GAMES,  have  been  resorted  to  in  all  ages,  and  among 
all  nations,  for  the  purposes  of  mental  or  physical  exercise 
or  amusement,  according  to  their  nature  and  peculiarities. 
The  games  of  the  ancient  Greeks  were,  in  their  original 
institution,  religious  solemnities,  founded,  according  to  tra- 

487 


GAMING. 

dilion,  by  gods  and  heroes,  and  continuing  to  be  celebrated 
in  their  honour.  They  were  Ihe  most  important  national 
assemblies,  which  brought  the  citizens  of  all  the  inde- 
pendent states  of  Greece  in  contact ;  and  these  festal  com- 
munions (-rravriyvpci()  served  as  the  most  popular  bonds  of 
social  union  among  all  who  bore  the  Hellenic  name.  The 
four  principal  were,  the  Olympian,  Pythian,  Nemean,  and 
Isthmian.  (See  those  several  articles.  See  JVachsmuth's 
Historical  Ant.  of  the  Greeks,  chap.  1,  part  ii.,s.  22;  Her- 
mann's Antiquities,  Oxf.  trans.,  sec.  10.  See  also  the 
treatise  of  Barbeyrac  on  the  Morality  of  Games.) 

GA'MING.  In  Law.  All  common  gaming  houses  are 
nuisances  in  the  consideration  of  English  law.  The  first 
statute  against  public  gaming  is  the  33  H.  8,  c.  9.  By  9 
Ann.  c.  54,  securities  given  for  the  repayment  of  money 
lent  for  purposes  of  gaming  are  void;  and  any  person  losing 
and  paying  10/.  at  one  sitting  may,  within  three  months, 
recover  the  same,  with  costs,  in  any  court  of  record.  By  5 
&  6  W.  4,  c.  41,  if  any  person  make,  draw,  or  execute  any 
note,  bill,  or  mortgage  for  a  gaming  debt,  and  actually  pay 
to  any  indorsee,  holder,  or  assignee  of  such  note,  bill,  or 
mortgage,  the  sum  thereby  secured  or  any  part  thereof, 
such  money  shall  be  deemed  to  be  paid  on  account  of  the 
person  to  whom  such  note,  bill,  or  mortgage  was  originally 
given  (upon  the  illegal  consideration),  and  shall  be  deemed 
to  be  a  debt  due  from  such  last-mentioned  person  to  the 
person  who  shall  so  have  paid  such  money,  and  shall  be 
recoverable  by  action  at  law  in  any  court  of  record.  But 
though  the  English  law  has  always  been  hostile  to  the 
practice  of  gaming,  it  has  never  been  found  sufficiently 
strong,  or  perhaps  sufficiently  willing,  to  suppress  it.  In 
London  and  in  other  large  towns  the  existence  of  "  Hells," 
as  the  places  of  resort  for  gaming  are  appropriately  called, 
is  notorious  to  all  the  world.  In  many  of  the  Continental 
states  gaming  houses  are  licensed,  and  large  revenues  are 
in  many  instances  derived  from  this  source.  It  is  only 
within  the  last  two  years  that  the  French  government 
abolished  the  practice  of  granting  licences. 

Previously  to  that  period  the  privilege  of  keeping  gaming 
houses  was  farmed  by  a  company,  for  which  they  paid  the 
government  6,000,000  francs  annually. 

GA'MMARINES,  Gammarina.  (Gr.  Kauuapov,  a  lobster.) 
The  name  of  a  family  of  Amphipodous  Crustaceans,  having 
the  genus  Gammarus,  or  the  sand-hopper,  as  the  type. 

GA'MMONING.  The  rope  by  which  the  bowsprit  is 
bound  firmly  down  to  the  cutwater,  in  which  is  a  hole  for 
the  purpose  of  reefing  several  turns  of  it. 

GA'MUT,  or  GAMMA  UT.  In  Music,  a  scale  whereon 
the  musical  notes  are  disposed  in  their  several  orders.  Its 
invention  is  attributed  to  Guido  Aretino,  a  monk  of  Tus- 
cany; it  is  also  called  the  harmonical  hand,  from  Guido 
having  made  use  of  the  figure  of  the  hand  to  demonstrate 
the  progression  of  his  sounds. 

GANGLION.  (Gr.  yayy\iov,  a  knot.)  An  enlargement 
in  the  course  of  a  nerve.  A  tumour  in  the  sheath  of  a 
tendon. 

GA'NGLIONETJRA.  (Gr.  yayy\wv,  and  vevpov,  a 
nerve.)  A  name  applied  by  Rudolphi  to  the  Molluscous 
and  Articulate  divisions  of  the  animal  kingdom,  which  are 
characterized  by  a  ganglionic  type  of  the  nervous  system. 
In  the  articulated  gangliated  animals  the  ganglia  are  always 
disposed  symmetrically  along  the  middle  line  of  the  body, 
and  brought  into  communication  by  a  double  chord :  these 
have  therefore  been  termed  Homogangliata.  In  the  Mol- 
lusca,  on  the  contrary,  the  ganglions  are  dispersed,  and 
placed  at  a  distance  from  each  other,  and  from  the  mesial 
plane,  and  are  frequently  unsymmetrical  in  their  arrange- 
ment :  these  have  therefore  been  termed  Heterogangliata. 

GA'NGRE'NE.  (Gr.  ypaciv,  to  feed  upon.)  The  loss  of 
vitality  of  a  part  of  the  body. 

GANG  WAY.  The  sea  term  for  a  narrow  passage  way ; 
particularly  that  part  of  the  upper  deck  which  is  next  the 
ship's  side,  between  the  fore  and  main  masts. 

GA'NNET.     See  Pelecanus  and  Sula. 

GAOL.  (Fr.  geole,  Lat.  caveola,  a  cage.)  A  prison. 
The  present  law  as  to  building,  repairing,  and  maintaining 
gaols  and  houses  of  correction,  is  regulated  by  the  statute? 
4  G.  4,  c.  64 ;  5  G.  4,  c.  12,  and  c.  85,  and  2  &  3  Vict.,  c.  56 
(1839),  the  latest  act  on  the  subject.  No  gaol  can  be  erect- 
ed under  any  less  authority  than  that  of  an  act  of  parlia- 
ment. There  must  now  be  at  least  one  common  gaol  and 
one  house  of  correction  in  every  county.  Gaolers  are  ap- 
pointed by  the  high  sheriff;  by  4  G.  4  they  are  allowed  to 
exercise  no  other  trade  or  office,  and  must  reside  within  the 
prison.  As  to  the  discipline  and  management  of  gaols,  see 
Prison. 

GAPE.  In  Ornithology,  the  opening  between  the  mandi- 
bles of  birds. 

GA'RDANT,  or  GUARDANT.    In  Heraldry,  a  term  ap- 
plied to  a  beast  when  represented  full-faced,  as  looking  at  the 
spectator.     Ke-guardant,  when  looking  backwards. 
GA'RDEN.    (Fr.  jardin.)    A  piece  of  ground,  generally 


GARTER,  ORDER  OP  THE. 

of  limited  extent,  and  attached  to  a  house,  and  enclosed,  in 
which  are  cultivated  various  vegetables,  fruits,  and  flowers, 
for  the  use  of  man.  In  the  infancy  of  civilized  society,  all 
these  objects  were  cultivated  in  one  enclosure ;  but  as  man- 
kind advanced  in  civilization  and  refinement,  and  the  num- 
ber of  objects  to  be  cultivated  increased,  it  became  necessary 
to  adopt  separate  departments;  and  culinary  vegetables 
came  to  be  cultivated  in  the  kitchen  garden,  fruits  in  the 
orchard,  flowers  in  the  flower  garden,  ornamental  trees  and 
shrubs  in  the  shrubbery  or  pleasure  grounds,  and  timber 
trees  in  plantations,  woods,  and  forests.  Hence  the  word 
garden,  in  the  extensive  sense  in  which  it  is  at  present  used, 
is  no  longer  confined  to  a  limited  enclosure,  but  extends  to 
an  extensive  area,  in  which  are  contained  various  scenes  of 
utility,  comfort,  convenience,  and  luxury. 

GA'RDENING.  The  art  of  cultivating  a  garden,  which, 
as  we  have  seen  in  the  preceding  article,  comprehends  a 
great  variety  of  objects  and  scenes.  All  these  at  the  present 
time  are  generally  included  under  the  following  heads: 
Horticulture,  which  comprehends  the  culture  of  culinary 
vegetables  and  fruits;  floriculture,  whicli  includes  the  cul- 
ture of  ornamental  and  curious  flowers,  shrubs,  and  trees; 
arboriculture,  which  implies  the  culture  of  trees  or  shrubs 
used  for  various  purposes  in  the  arts  and  in  general  econo- 
my ;  and  landscape  gardening,  or  the  general  disposition  of 
the  scenery  or  landscape  about  a  country  residence.  Horti- 
culture includes  the  culture  of  the  kitchen  garden  and  orch- 
ard ;  floriculture,  the  culture  of  flower  gardens,  botanic  gar- 
dens, shrubberies,  and  pleasure  grounds;  arboriculture,  the 
culture  of  nurseries  for  fruit  and  forest  trees  and  shrubs; 
and  landscape  gardening,  the  formation  and  management  of 
lawns,  roads,  walks,  lakes,  ponds,  and  artificial  rivers,  of 
rock  work,  and  of  every  description  of  objects  in  artificial 
scenery  which  come  under  the  denomination  of  ornamental 
or  picturesque.  See  Horticulture,  Botanic  Garden, 
Arboriculture,  and  Landscape-Gardening. 

GA'RGARISM.  (Gr.  yapyapfyiv,  to  gargle.)  A  wash 
for  the  throat. 

GA'RNET.  A  mineral  of  which  there  are  several  varie- 
ties. The  precious  garnet  is  transparent,  red,  and  in  crystals 
or  rounded  grains ;  it  is  a  silicate  of  alumina  and  iron,  and  is 
used  for  ornamental  jewellery.  Common  garnet  is  often 
found  in  large  crystals  and  masses,  translucent,  and  of  vari- 
ous colours. 

GA'RNISHMENT.  In  Law,  a  warning  or  notice  given 
to  a  party  to  appear  in-  court  or  give  information;  a  techni- 
cal term,  used  only  in  one  or  two  instances.  Thus  garnish- 
ment or  warning  is  given  to  a  third  person,  in  whose  hands 
money  is  attached  within  the  liberties  of  the  city  of  London, 
by  process  out  of  the  Sheriff's  Court,  who  is  termed  a  gar- 
nishee. 

GA'RRISON.  (Modem  Lat.  gamitio,  military  stores, 
ire.)  A  body  of  forces  disposed  in  a  fortress  to  defend  it 
against  the  enemy,  or  to  keep  the  inhabitants  of  the  town 
where  it  is  situated  in  subjection.  The  term  garrison  is 
sometimes  used  synonymously  with  winter  quarters,  viz.  a 
place  where  a  number  of  troops  are  laid  up  in  the  winter 
season  without  keeping  the  regular  guard. 

GARRO'TE,  THE.  A  mode  of  capital  punishment  em- 
ployed in  Spain.  The  criminal  is  seated  on  a  stool  with  his 
back  to  a  stake.  A  tight  collar  is  passed  round  his  throat, 
of  which  the  ends  nearly  meet ;  the  executioner,  standing 
behind  him,  twists  them  closer  by  means  of  a  screw :  the 
death  is  instantaneous. 

GA'RTER,  ORDER  OF  THE.  The  various  accounts 
respecting  the  original  foundation  of  this  noble  order  are  for 
the  most  part  well  known.  The  commonly  received  story, 
which  attributes  it  to  the  dropping  of  the  Countess  of  Salis- 
bury's garter,  is  contradicted  by  many  recent  writers,  who 
attribute  its  institution  to  Richard  I.,  who  tied  thongs  of 
leather  as  marks  of  distinction  round  the  legs  of  several  of 
his  officers  at  the  siege  of  Acre.  In  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Mey- 
rick  (On  Armour,  vol.  ii.  p.  54),  the  garter  is  nothing  more 
than  a  symbol  of  unity.  The  order  was,  however,  either 
founded  or  restored  by  Edward  III.,  and,  according  to  gener- 
al opinion,  either  in  the  year  1344  or  1350.  The  first  of  these 
dates  was  that  of  a  festival  in  which  the  king  formed  him- 
self and  his  associates  into  a  company,  under  the  patronage 
of  St.  George  ;  but  nothing  is  said  respecting  the  garter  until 
the  latter  year.  The  statutes  of  the  Garter  have  been  re- 
vived and  augmented  by  King  Henry  V.,  Henry  VIII.,  and 
George  III.  in  1805.  It  was  generally  called  the  order  of  St. 
George  until  the  reign  of  Edward  VI. ;  St.  George  of  Cappa- 
docia,  the  tutelar  saint  of  England,  being  likewise  patron  of 
this  order.  It  originally  consisted  of  twenty-six  knights,  the 
king  being  the  chief;  and  the  same  number  is  still  retained, 
with  the  addition  of  princes  of  the  blood  royal  as  supernu- 
meraries. In  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  it  was 
estimated  that  eight  emperors  and  twenty-eight  foreign  kings 
had  been  members  of  it.  The  number  has  been  since  much 
augmented.  It  is  the  most  ancient  of  all  the  lay  orders  of 
chivalry,  and  may  rightly  be  accounted  the  noblest  in  the 


GAS. 

world.  The  college  of  the  order  is  held  at  the  chapel  of  St 
George,  in  the  castle  of  Windsor.  The  vestments  and  en- 
signs of  the  order  are,  the  mantle  of  blue  velvet,  changed  to 
purple  by  Queen  Elizabeth,  but  restored  to  the  original  co- 
lour by  Charles  I. ;  the  surcoat,  now  of  crimson  velvet ;  the 
hood,  which  is  now  fixed  to  the  mantle,  a  cap  of  black  vel- 
vet with  an  aigrette  of  heron's  feathers  being  worn  on  the 
head  instead  of  it ;  the  collar  of  gold,  composed  of  twenty- 
six  pieces  made  to  resemble  garters,  with  the  badge  of  the 
order  (the  figure  of  St.  George  and  the  Dragon)  pendent  from 
it ,  and  the  garter,  of  blue  velvet.  The  lesser  George,  as  it  is 
called,  is  attached  to  a  blue  ribbon,  passing  from  the  left 
shoulder  to  the  right  hip.  The  officers  of  the  order  are,  the 
prelate  (the  bishop  of  Winchester  for  the  time  being) ;  the 
chancellor  (the  bishop  of  Salisbury) ;  the  register  (the  dean 
of  Windsor) ;  garter  king  at  arms  (this  officer  combines  two 
functions,  being  herald  to  the  order  of  the  garter,  and  also 
principal  king  at  arms,  the  highest  officer  of  the  Herald's 
College  under  the  earl  marshal) ;  and  the  usher  or  black 
rod.  It  has  also  a  dean  and  twelve  canons,  &c,  with  twen- 
ty-six pensioners,  or  poor  knights.  The  most  authentic  work 
on  the  order  of  the  Garter  is  that  of  the  learned  antiquary 
Elias  Ashmole,  printed  at  London  in  1715. 

GAS.  (Probably  from  the  German  geist,  or  spirit.)  This 
term  is  applied  to  all  permanently  elastic  fluids,  or  air3  dif- 
fering from  atmospheric  air. 

GAS  ILLUMINATION.  Under  the  head  Carburet- 
ted  Hydrogen,  we  have  adverted  to  two  gaseous  com- 
pounds of  carbon  and  hydrogen,  which  perform  an  important 
part  in  the  economy  of  gas  illumination.  There  are  several 
other  analogous  compounds,  which  are  produced  in  various 
relative  proportions  during  the  destructive  distillation  of  pit 
coal,  and  which,  therefore,  are  more  or  less  concerned  in  the 
history  of  coal-gas,  which,  as  far  as  gas  illumination  is  con- 
cerned, may  be  defined  as  a  mixture  of  two  or  more  hydro- 
carburetted  gases  or  vapours  with  small  portions  of  other 
gaseous  bodies,  among  which  free  hydrogen  and  carbonic 
oxide  are  the  most  common. 

The  application  of  the  gases  produced  during  the  destruc- 
tive distillation  of  pit  coal  to  the  purposes  of  illumination  is 
a  very  modem  invention.  But  the  germ  of  it  may  be  traced 
back  exactly  100  years;  for  the  first  mention  of  the  produc- 
tion of  a  permanently  elastic  and  inflammable  gas  from  coal 
occurs  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  for  1739,  in  which 
there  is  a  paper  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Clayton  describing  a  method 
of  filling  bladders  with  what  he  calls  the  spirit  of  coal,  ob- 
tained by  distilling  coal  in  a  retort  in  the  open  fire.  He  says, 
"I  filled  a  good  many  bladders  therewith,  and  might  have 
filled  an  inconceivable  number  more ;  for  the  spirit  continued 
to  rise  for  several  hours,  and  filled  the  bladders  almost  as 
fast  as  a  man  could  have  blown  them  with  his  mouth,  and 
yet  the  quantity  of  coals  distilled  was  inconsiderable.  I  kept 
this  spirit  in  the  bladders  a  considerable  time,  and  endeav- 
oured several  ways  to  condense  it,  but  in  vain ;  and  when  I 
had  a  mind  to  divert  strangers  or  friends,  I  have  frequently 
taken  one  of  these  bladders  and  pricked  a  hole  therein  with 
a  pin,  and  compressing  gently  the  bladder  near  the  flame  of 
a  candle  till  it  once  took  fire,  it  would  then  continue  flaming 
till  all  the  spirit  was  compressed  out  of  the  bladder;  which 
was  the  more  surprising,  because  no  one  could  discern  any 
difference  in  the  appearance  between  these  bladders  and 
those  which  are  filled  with  common  air."  Dr.  Clayton 
seems  also  to  have  observed  those  curious  phenomena  which 
have  lately  excited  so  much  attention  under  the  terms  exos- 
mose  and  endosmose ;  for  he  goes  on  to  say  that  he  found 
"that  this  spirit  must  be  kept  in  good  thick  bladders,  as  in 
those  of  an  ox  or  the  like ;  for  if  I  filled  calves'  bladders 
therewith,  it  would  lose  its  inflammability  in  twenty-four 
hours,  though  the  bladders  became  not  relaxed  at  all." 

Dr.  Hales  (in  his  Vegetable  Statics)  and  Dr.  Watson  (in 
his  Chemical  Essays)  have  each  alluded  to  the  properties  of 
the  gas  from  coal;  but  it  was  not  until  the  end  of  the  last 
century  that  the  practicability  of  substituting  coal  gas  for 
other  inflammables,  as  a  means  of  lighting  streets  and  build- 
ings, became  an  object  of  attention. 

The  idea  of  applying  coal  gas  to  economical  purposes 
seems  first  to  have  occurred  in  1792  to  Mr.  William  Murdoch, 
then  residing  at  Redruth,  in  Cornwall.  His  apparatus  con- 
sisted of  an  iron  retort,  with  tinned  copper  and  iron  tabes, 
through  which  the  gas  was  conducted  to  a  considerable  dis- 
tance; and  there,  as  well  as  at  intermediate  points,  was 
burned  through  apertures  of  varied  forms  and  dimensions: 
he  also  washed  the  gas  with  water,  and  used  other  means 
for  its  purification.  In  1798  Mr.  Murdoch  constructed  a  lar- 
ger and  improved  apparatus  for  the  purpose  of  lighting  Boul- 
ton  and  Watt's  celebrated  manufactory  at  Soho,  near  Bir- 
mingham, which,  on  the  occasion  of  the  peace  in  1802,  was 
publicly  illuminated  by  the  si'.me  means.  (See  Jin  Account 
of  the  .Application  of  Gas  from  Coal  to  Economical  Purpo- 
ses, by  Mr.  W.  Murdoch,  Phil.  Trans.  1808.  p.  124.) 

But  the  attention  of  the  public  in  London  was  first  called 
to  this  important  subject  by  the  experiments  of  Mr.  Winsor, 


GAS  ILLUMINATION. 

who,  in  1803  and  1804,  lighted  the  Lyceum  theatre,  and 
shortly  afterwards  one  side  of  Pall  Mall,  with  gas  from  coal. 
From  that  period,  the  manufacture  of  gas  suggested  itself  as 
a  lucrative  speculation  ;  several  private  gas  works  were 
erected,  and  companies  were  formed  for  the  purpose  of  car- 
rying it  on  upon  an  extended  scale.  Oil  lamps  were  soon 
after  banished  from  all  the  great  thoroughfares  of  the  me- 
tropolis ;  and  in  the  course  of  from  ten  to  fifteen  years  not 
only  was  every  street  and  alley  illuminated  from  the  same 
source,  but  it  was  generally  introduced  into  shops  and  hous- 
es ;  was  adopted  in  the  theatres  and  other  public  buildings ; 
was  carried  into  the  suburbs ;  and  has  now  become  general 
in  every  town  and  city  of  the  empire. 

When  coal  is  subjected  to  what  chemists  term  destructive 
distillation,  that  is,  when  it  is  heated  red-hot  in  close  ves- 
sels, it  yields  a  great  variety  of  complicated  products,  which, 
as  far  as  our  present  subject  is  concerned,  may  be  classed 
under  three  heads :  namely,  first,  permanent  gases ;  secondly, 
vapours,  which  are  condensable  into  the  liquid  or  solid  state 
by  cooling ;  and,  thirdly,  the  fixed  or  residuary  matter,  which 
remains  in  the  retort.  The  object  of  gas  manufacture  is  to 
separate  these  from  each  other,  and  so  to  purify  the  gaseous 
products  as  to  render  them  fit  for  combustion. 

The  apparatus  employed  for  this  purpose  consists,  first,  of 
the  retorts,  as  they  are  called,  or  cast-iron  cylinders,  in 
which  the  coal  is  subjected  to  heat ;  secondly,  the  apparatus 
for  condensing  the  solid  and  liquid  products;  thirdly,  the 
purifiers,  by  which  the  gas  is  cleansed  from  various  matters 
which  would  be  prejudicial  if  retained :  and,  fourthly,  the  gas- 
ometers, in  which  the  purified  gas  is  ultimately  received,  and 
which  are  connected  with  the  service  pipes  for  its  distribution. 
The  following  is  a  brief  description  of  these  several  parts: 

The  retorts  are  usually  about  7  feet  6  inches  long  and  1 
foot  in  diameter,  and  in  the  shape  of  an  arched  cylinder ; 
from  five  to  eight  of  them  are  set  in  brickwork,  so  as  to  be 
heated  red-hot  by  one  fire.  Each  retort  has  what  is  called 
a  mouth-piece,  which  projects  from  the  front  of  the  brick- 
work, and  from  which  there  rises  an  upright  pipe,  about  12 
feet  high  and  3  or  4  inches  in  diameter,  and  which  carries 
the  products  of  distillation  into  the  hydraulic  main.  Each 
retort  has  a  cover,  which  is  kept  in  its  place  by  holdfast 
screws,  and  rendered  air  tight  by  lime  luting.  The  hydraulic 
main  is  a  long  horizontal  pipe,  12  or  14  inches  in  diameter, 
and  into  which  the  dip  pipe  of  each  retort  dips,  so  as  to  be 
sealed  by  the  fluid  which  fills  the  lower  half  of  the  main, 
and  which  is  allowed  to  run  off  at  that  level.  This  fluid  is 
of  a  very  complicated  nature ;  but  tar  and  ammoniacal  liquor 
are  the  "terms  applied  to  its  chief  component  parts ;  and  these, 
1m  ling  condensed  in  the  hydraulic  main,  serve  to  seal  the  ends 
of  the  dip  pipes,  and  are  constantly  running  oft'  into  what  is 
termed  the  tar  vessel.  Those  products  of  the  distillation  of 
the  coal  which  are  not  thus  in  the  first  instance  condensed 
are  conveyed,  by  a  pipe  continued  from  the  hydraulic  main, 
through  a  series  of  tubes  or  other  contrivances,  so  as  to  ex- 
pi  «e  a  large  and  cold  surface.  This  part  of  the  apparatus  is 
called  the ■condenser;  in  it  the  more  volatile  vapours  are 
brought  to  the  liquid  state,  and  are  collected  in  an  appropri- 
ate receiver.  The  uncondensed  gases  then  pass  on  to  the 
purifiers,  which  are  vessels  so  constructed  as  to  expose  them 
to  the  action  of  a  very  large  surface  of  lime  and  water,  or  of 
slaked  lime,  by  which  carbonic  acid  and  sulphuretted  hydro- 
gen are  abstracted ;  and  thence  the  gas,  now  purified,  passes 
into  the  gasometers,  where  it  is  stored  up  for  use. 

It  would  be  impossible  within  the  limits  of  this  article,  and 
indeed  irrelevant  to  the  object  of  this  Dictionary,  to  enter  into 
minute  details  respecting  the  structure,  uses,  and  arrange- 
ment of  each  of  the  above  parts  of  the  apparatus  for  the 
production  of  coal  gas;  but  the  reader  may  be  enabled  to 
form  some  idea  of  the  importance  and  extent  of  the  whole 
manufacture  from  the  following  outline  of  results. 

There  are,  in  the  largest  gas  manufactories  of  London, 
from  500  to  COO  retorts,  each  of  which  is  charged  four  times 
a  day  with  2  bushels  of  coal.  They  are  ranged  in  rows  on 
either  side  of  the  retort  house,  and  the  flues  from  their  re- 
spective furnaces  are  generally  so  arranged  as  to  meet  in  one 
central  chimney ;  but  as  coke  is  the  usual  fuel  used  for  heat- 
ing the  retorts,  there  is  commonly  little  or  no  smoke.  Each 
chaldron  of  coals  submitted  to  distillation  yields  on  an  aver- 
age 24  gallons  of  tar,  ammoniacal  liquor,  and  other  condens- 
able products,  and  12,000  cubic  feet  of  purified  ca=;  while 
there  remains  in  the  retorts  a  chaldron  and  a  quarter  of  coke. 
To  purifv  those  12,000  cubic  feet  of  gas  there  is  required 
about  one  bushel  of  lime,  which,  after  its  removal  from 
the  purifying  vessels,  is  used  for  making  mortar,  luting  the 
retorts,  and  other  similar  purposes  ;  while  the  fetid  liquor 
which  runs  from  it  is  transferred  to  the  ashpits  of  the  fur- 
naces, where  it  is  consumed  bv  evaporation,  its  vapour 
passing  through  the  fire,  and  tending  materially  to  preserve 
the  bars  of  the  furnaces  by  keeping  them  cool. 

In  a  well-conducted  eas  establishment  two  men  are  re- 
quired for  the  management  of  sixteen  retorts,  which  are 
charged  four  times  in  the  24  hours ;  the  retorts  are  kept  in 
Go*  489 


GAS  ILLUMINATION. 

constant  work  throughout  the  24  hours,  so  that  relays  of 
men  are  required  for  the  night-work.  In  small  gas  works 
the  agitators  of  the  purifiers  are  worked  by  hand ;  but  in 
the  larger  establishments  there  are  usually  one  or  more 
steam  engines  on  the  premises  for  this  purpose,  and  for 
pumping  water,  lifting  coals,  and  other  heavy  work. 

The  number  and  dimensions  of  the  gasometers  will  of 
course  vary  with  the  circumstances,  space,  and  extent  of 
the  manufacture :  in  the  works  of  the  Chartered  Gas  Com- 
pany, at  their  station  at  Westminster,  there  are  twenty-one 
gasometers,  each  containing  on  the  average  30,000  cubic  feet 
There  are,  besides  those  parts  of  the  apparatus  above 
adverted  to,  and  which  are  essential  to  the  manufacture, 
several  other  ingenious  and  beautiful  contrivances  in  our 
larger  gas  works,  wliich  may  be  considered  as  auxiliaries. 
One  of  these  is  the  station  meter;  a  large  instrument 
through  which  the  whole  of  the  gas  passes  in  its  way  to 
the  gasometers,  and  by  which  its  volume  is  registered,  so 
that  the  quantitity  made  during  any  given  time  can  be  im- 
mediately ascertained,  and  the  weekly,  monthly,  or  annual 
production  accurately  determined.  The  gas  meter  was  in- 
vented by  Mr.  Clegg,  formerly  engineer  to  the  Chartered 
Gas  Company.  It  consists  of  a  hollow  cylinder,  which  Is 
made  to  revolve  upon  its  axis  by  the  ingress  and  egress  of 
gas  into  and  from  the  three  compartments  into  which  it  is 
divided,  the  cylinder  being  partly  immersed  in  water ;  and 
by  a  train  of  wheel  work  connected  with  it  the  number  of 
its  revolutions  in  a  given  time  is  registered,  and  the  num- 
ber of  cubic  feet  of  gas  which  traverse  it  in  a  minute,  hour, 
day,  or  year,  shown  upon  separate  dials.  The  invention  of 
this  instrument  forms  an  important  epoch  in  the  history  of 
gas  manufacture ;  for  it  is  now  constructed  upon  any  scale, 
and  is  applicable  to  any  case  of  the  consumption  of  gas ; 
so  that  by  having  a  meter  in  each  house  of  a  size  appro- 
priate to  the  number  of  burners  employed,  the  companies 
are  enabled  to  sell  their  gas  by  measure,  and  have  an  un- 
erring check  upon  the  quantity  which  each  instrument 
consumes. 

Another  beautiful  contrivance,  adopted  in  most  of  our 
gas  works,  is  that  by  which  the  pressure  upon  the  gas  in 
the  main  and  service  pipes  is  adjusted ;  so  that  when  a 
number  of  burners  are  suddenly  extinguished,  or  suddenly 
lighted,  in  any  part  of  the  district  which  is  supplied,  there 
shall  be  an  intimation  of  the  change  at  the  works,  so  as  to 
prevent  either  excess  or  deficiency  of  supply ;  or,  in  other 
words,  to  prevent  the  lights  which  remain  from  flaring  up 
on  the  one  hand,  or  being  nearly  or  quite  extinguished  on 
the  other.  This  is  effected  by  a  small  and  nicely  adjusted 
gasometer  connected  with  the  service  main,  and  which,  by 
its  rising  and  falling  with  diminished  or  increased  pressure 
of  the  gas  within  the  main,  points  out  the  necessity  of 
opening  or  shutting  the  valve  by  which  the  gas  is  admitted 
from  the  gasometers  to  a  greater  or  less  extent.  This  small 
regulating  gasometer  has  a  vertical  rod  connected  with  it, 
which  carries  a  pencil  made  to  bear  upon  a  paper  cylinder 
properly  ruled  and  divided,  and  which  is  made  to  rotate 
upon  its  axis  by  communication  with  a  timepiece  ;  so  that 
every  change  of  pressure  which  takes  place  during  the 
night,  for  instance,  is  shown  by  the  aberration  of  the  line. 
Mr.  Crossley,  to  whom  the  improvement  of  the  gas-meter, 
by  which  it  is  rendered  universally  applicable,  is  due,  is 
also  the  inventor  of  these  pressure  registers. 

The  following  particulars  may  serve  to  give  an  idea  of  the 
quantity  of  gas  annually  consumed  in  London,  of  the  quan- 
tity of  coal  required  for  its  production,  and  of  the  general 
economy  of  this  mode  of  illumination.  It  must  also  be  borne 
in  mind  that  gas  is  an  article  of  increasing  consumption ;  and 
that  in  proportion  as  attention  is  paid  to  its  manufacture,  and 
more  especially  to  the  fittings  as  they  are  called — that  is,  to 
the  pipes,  cocks,  burners,  and  other  arrangements  required 
for  its  use  and  distribution  in  houses — it  will  become  more 
generally  adopted  in  private  dwellings,  so  as,  in  all  probabili- 
ty, to  supersede  ere  long  all  other  sources  of  artificial  light. 
Nor  are  the  attempts  which  have  been  made  to  employ  it  as 
a  source  of  heat  unimportant.  Gas  stoves,  although  hitherto 
made  upon  very  erroneous  principles,  are  not  without  their 
advantages ;  and  it  has  been  promisingly  applied  to  some  of 
the  operations  of  cooking. 

The  oldest  of  the  London  gas  works  is  the  establishment 
belonging  to  the  Original  Chartered  Company.  They  have 
three  stations:  the  largest  situated  in  Peter-street,  Westmin- 
ster ;  the  second  in  Brick  Lane,  St.  Luke's ;  and  the  third  in 
the  Curtain  Road,  Shoreditch.  This  company  consumes 
50,000  chaldron  of  coals  annually,  the  produce  of  which,  in 
gas,  may  be  estimated  at  about  six  hundred  million  cubic  feet, 
or  about  eighteen  million  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
pounds  weight  of  gas.  It  may  be  assumed  that  each -chal- 
dron of  coals  weighs  2880  lbs.,  and  yields  an  average  produce 
of  12,000  cubic  feet  of  purified  gas.  The  prime  cost  of  gas 
is  about  four  or  five  shillings  per  1000  cubic  feet;  the  usual 
retail  price  is  from  seven  to  ten  shillings  per  1000  cubic  feet. 
The  Chartered  Company  probably  supply  about  a  fifth 
41)0 


GAUGE-POINT. 

part  of  the  whole  of  the  gas  consumed  in  London  and  the 
suburbs  ;  so  that  the  total  annual  consumption  of  coal  em- 
ployed for  this  important  manufacture  in  the  London  district 
only,  probably  exceeds  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  chal- 
drons, and  the  quantity  of  gas  produced  for  the  supply  of 
this  district  amounts  annually  to  three  thousand  million  cubic 
feet.  The  weight  of  this  quantity  of  gas  exceeds  75  millions 
of  pounds ;  and  the  light  produced  by  its  combustion  may  be 
considered  as  equivalent  to  that  which  would  be  obtained  by 
the  combustion  of  160  millions  of  pounds  of  mould  candles  of 
six  to  the  pound. 

The  operations  of  the  London  Gas  Light  Company,  which 
was  established  in  the  year  1833,  are  also  on  a  scale  of  great 
magnitude.  This  company  was  called  into  existence  by  the 
dissatisfaction  which  existed  among  gas  consumers  at  the 
defective  supply,  both  in  quantity  and  quality,  previously  af- 
forded. Their  works,  situated  at  Vauxhall,  are  not  only  the 
most  powerful,  but  the  most  complete  in  arrangement  of 
any  in  the  world.  From  this  point  their  mains  ramify  to  a 
prodigious  extent  in  Middlesex  as  well  as  Surry;  and  by  the 
admirable  mode  in  which  they  are  laid,  aided  by  the  power 
of  their  works,  they  are  enabled  to  supply  gas  at  Highgate 
Hill  (seven  miles  off),  with  the  same  precision  and  in  the 
same  abundance  as  at  Vauxhall.  The  extent  of  their  pipes 
exceeds  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles. 

The  cost  of  light  equivalent  to  that  of  seven  mould  can- 
dles (six  to  the  pound)  is,  in  coal  gas,  $d.  per  hour;  in  an 
Argand  oil  lamp,  3d.  per  hour ;  in  mould  candles,  3Sd.  per 
hour ;  in  wax  candles,  Is.  2d.  per  hour. 

GA'SKET.  A  platted  cord,  by  which  the  sails,  when 
furled,  are  kept  bound  up  close  to  the  yards  or  gaffs.  The 
same  term  is  applied  to  the  platted  hemp  used  for  packing 
the  piston  of  the  steam  engine  and  its  pumps. 

GA'STEROPODS,  Gasteropoda.  (Gr.  yaarnp,  the  belly, 
and  -ovs,  a  foot.)  The  name  of  a  class  of  Molluscous  ani- 
mals, comprehending  those  which  have  a  ventral  muscular 
disc  of  greater  or  less  extent,  adapted  for  creeping.  The 
class  is  divided,  according  to  the  modifications  of  the  breath- 
ing organs,  into  the  orders  Pulmonata,  Nudibranchia,  Jn- 
ferobranchia,  Tectibranchia,  Pectinibranchia,  Tubulibran- 
chia,  Scutibranchia,  and  Cyclobranchia.  The  carinaria,  in 
which  the  ventral  foot  is  reduced  to  a  rudimental  compressed 
plate,  forms  the  type  of  an  aberant  group  or  order,  called 
Heteropoda.  The  pulmonated  snail  or  slug  may  be  regard- 
ed as  types  of  the  Gasteropodous  Mollusks. 

GASTRjE  UM.  (Gr.  yaarnp.)  A  term  in  Zoology,  ap- 
plied to  the  whole  of  the  prone  or  under  surface  of  an  ani- 
mal's bodv. 

GA'STRIC  JUICE.  The  peculiar  fluid  secreted  by  the 
stomach,  and  essential  to  the  process  of  digestion.  When 
collected  from  the  stomach  of  an  animal  killed  while  fast- 
ing, it  is  transparent  and  saline,  but  during  digestion  it  is  dis- 
tinctly acid ;  and  Dr.  Prout  found  that  the  free  acid  which  it 
contains  is  the  muriatic.  One  of  the  most  characteristic 
properties  of  the  gastric  juice  is  its  solvent  power  over  the 
varieties  of  animal  fibre,  or  albumen,  and  the  facility  with 
which  it  coagulates  milk,  and  then  disolves  the  coagulum. 
See  Digestion. 

GASTRI'LOQUUS.     See  Ventriloquist. 

GASTRI'TIS.  Inflammation  of  the  stomach.  It  is  at- 
tended by  great  irritability  of  the  stomach,  indicated  by  hic- 
cup, vomiting,  and  much  pain  and  general  uneasiness:  the 
pulse  is  small  and  hard,  and  there  is  fever,  attended  by 
prostration  of  strength.  It  is  a  very  dangerous  disease,  and 
requires  prompt  treatment;  especially  bleeding,  general  and 
local ;  blisters ;  hot  bath,  or  fomentation.  The  constant  sick- 
ness generally  prevents  the  exhibition  of  any  of  the  ordinary 
remedies.  When  it  arises  from  poison,  the  stomach  pump 
and  other  distinct  treatment  is  often  requisite. 

GASTROCHiE'NA.  (Gr.  yaarnp,  and  xaiww,  I  gape.) 
A  genus  of  Bivalve  Mollusks,  in  which  a  large  hiatus  or  gape 
intervenes  between  the  closed  valves  on  the  ventral  aspect 
of  the  animal.  The  mantle  is  perforated,  opposite  to  this 
gape,  by  a  snrall  aperture  for  the  passage  of  the  foot ;  and  is 
prolonged  posteriorly  into  two  muscular  tubes  or  siphons. 
The  Gastrochenes  inhabit  burrows,  which  they  perforate  in 
the  substance  of  madrepores  or  calcareous  rocks,  and  they 
line  their  perforations  with  a  calcareous  tube. 

GA'STROCNE'MIUS.  (Gr.  yaarnp,  and  Kvnun,  the  leg.) 
The  muscle  which  forms  the  protuberant  part  of  the  leg : 
the  calf. 

GA  STRODYNIA.  (Gr.  yaarnp,  and  oSvvv,  pain.)  A 
painful  affection  of  the  stomach,  often  attendant  upon  dys- 
pepsia. 

GA  STROMANCY.  (Gr.  yaarnp,  and  uavrc.ia,prophecy.) 
A  kind  of  divination  practised  among  the  ancients  by  means 
of  words  issuing  or  seeming  to  issue  from  the  belly.  This 
term  is  applied  also  to  a  species  of  divination  performed  by 
means  of  glasses  or  other  round  transparent  vessels,  in  the 
centre  of  which  certain  figures  appear  by  magic  art. 

GAUGE,  or  GAGE.     See  Gage. 

GAUGE-POINT,  is  a  term  used  in  Gauging  to  denote  the 


GAUGING. 

diameter  of  a  cylinder  whose  altitude  is  one  inch,  and  its 
content  equal  to  that  of  a  unit  of  a  given  measure.  For  ex- 
ample, the  old  wine  gallon  contained  231  cubic  inches.  The 
diameter  of  a  cylinder  of  the  same  capacity,  and  whose  al- 
titude is  one  inch,  is  17-15  inches;  which,  therefore,  is  the 
gauge-point  for  this  measure. 

GA'UGING,  in  Mensuration,  is  the  measuring  of  the  ca- 
pacities of  vessels,  chiefly  casks,  barrels,  vats,  &c,  and  de- 
termining the  contents  of  the  substances  contained  in  them. 
The  principles  of  gauging  are  those  which  geometry  fur- 
nishes for  the  measurement  of  solids  in  general ;  but  as  the 
contents  of  vessels  of  the  kind  now  mentioned  are  so  fre- 
quently required  to  be  known,  at  least  approximately,  for 
the  purposes  of  commerce  and  the  collection  of  the  revenue, 
a  set  of  technical  rules  and  appropriate  instruments  have 
been  contrived,  by  the  help  of  which  the  art  can  be,  and 
generally  is,  practised  mechanically  by  those  who  are  utter- 
ly ignorant  of  the  principles  on  which  it  depends.  The  in- 
strument generally  used  for  the  purpose  is  the  gauging-rod, 
or  diagonal-rod,  by  which  the  contents  of  a  cask  are  inferred 
from  its  diagonal  length,  measured  from  the  bung  to  the  ex- 
tremity of  the  opposite  stave  at  the  head.  On  one  face  of  a 
square  rule,  generally  about  four  feet  long,  is  a  scale  of  inches 
for  taking  the  measure  of  the  diagonal ;  and  on  the  opposite 
face  is  a  scale  expressing  the  corresponding  contents  of  the 
cask  in  gallons.  It  is  obvious  that  this  method  of  proceed- 
ing can  only  give  approximate  results,  on  the  supposition 
that  all  casks  are  similar  solids.  (See  Symon's  Practical 
Ganger;  Leadbetter'' s  Treatise  on  Gauging;  Hutton's 
Mensuration ,  &c. 
GAUGING  RULE.  See  Sliding  Role. 
GAULT.  A  provincial  name  in  the  east  of  England  for 
a  series  of  beds  of  clay  and  marl,  the  geological  position  of 
which  is  between  the  upper  and  lower  green-sand. 

GAU'NTLET,  RUNNING  THE.  A  barbarous  punish- 
ment of  former  times,  by  which  the  criminal  was  obliged  to 
pass  between  the  seamen  arranged  in  two  rows,  and  provided 
with  knotted  cords,  with  which  they  flogged  him. 

GAUZE.  A  textile  fabric  generally  made  of  silk,  and  said 
to  have  been  invented  in  Gaza,  a  city  of  Palestine. 

GA'VELKIND.  An  old  English  custom  or  tenure  annex- 
ed to  all  lands  in  the  county  of  Kent  not  especially  exempted, 
by  which  the  land  of  the  father  is  equally  divided  at  his 
death  among  all  his  sons,  or  the  land  of  the  brother  among 
all  his  brethren  if  he  have  no  issue  of  his  own.  Tenure  in 
gavelkind  is  considered  by  Blackstone  to  have  been  in  the 
nature  of  free  socage.  In  most  places  the  gravel  kind  tenant 
had  the  power  of  devising  by  will  before  the  Statute  of  Wills. 
The  same  custom  seems  to  have  been  prevalent  in  Wales, 
where  all  gavelkind  lands  were  made  descendible  to  the  heir 
at  common  law  by  stat.  34  &  35  H.  8,  c.  36.  In  Kent  the 
lands  have  been  for  the  most  part  disgavelled,  or  deprived  of 
their  customary  discendible  quality,  by  particular  statutes; 
but  lands  in  Kent  are  presumed  to  be  gavelkind,  unless  the 
contrary  be  shown. 
GA'VIAL.     See  Crocodile. 

GA'VOT.  (Fr.  gavotte.)  In  Music,  an  air  for  a  dance, 
which  has  two  strains;  the  first  having  usually  four  or  eight 
bars,  and  the  second  eight  or  twelve  more,  each  of  which 
are  played  twice  over.    It  is  of  a  brisk  nature. 

GAZE  LLE.  The  name  of  a  small,  swift,  and  elegantly 
formed  species  of  antelope,  the  Antelope  dorcas  of  Linnaeus ; 
long  famed  for  the  peculiar  lustre  and  soft  expression  of  its 
large  dark  eves. 

GAZETTE.  A  periodical  paper,  published  at  short  in- 
tervals, containing  articles  of  general  intelligence.  Both  on 
the  Continent  and  in  England  such  sheets  were  generally 
termed  Mercuries  in  the  first  times  of  their  invention,  and 
appeared  only  occasionally;  the  earliest  among  ourselves 
were  published  during  the  general  apprehensions  from  the 
presence  of  the  Spanish  armada,  but  some  doubt  has  been 
lately  thrown  on  the  authenticity  of  the  specimens  preserv- 
ed in  the  British  Museum.  The  first  gazette  produced  in 
France  (under  that  title)  was  in  1631 :  the  first  in  England 
in  1665,  when  the  court  resided  at  Oxford  on  account  of  the 
plague  of  London.  From  that  period  the  Gazette  has  re- 
gularly appeared  twice  a  week,  containing  such  notifications 
as  are  either  published  by  the  court  or  the  government,  or 
such  as  are  authoritatively  required  by  law  in  private  trans- 
actions. The  name  Gazette  is  said  to  be  derived  from  Gaz- 
zetta,  a  small  Venetian  coin,  being  the  price  that  was  paid 
for  one  of  the  flying  sheets  of  commercial  and  military  in- 
formation (notizie  scritte),  which  were  first  published  by  that 
republic  in  1563.     See  Newspaper. 

GAZETTEE'R,  is  applied  in  England  to  a  work  contain- 
ing a  brief  account  of  all  or  any  of  the  countries  of  the 
world,  arranged  in  alphabetical  order.  To  this  class  belong 
Brookcs's  General  Gazetteer,  and  similar  works. 

GA'ZONS,  in  Fortification,  are  the  turfs,  or  pieces  of  earth 
covered  with  grass,  with  which  the  faces  of  works  raised  of 
earth  are  lined  in  order  to  keep  them  up  and  preserve  their 
form. 


GENDARMES. 

GECKOTM.  A  family  of  lizards,  having  for  its  type  the 
genus  Gecko ;  in  which  most  of  the  species  present  a  curious 
organization  of  the  foot,  by  which  the  sole  is  converted  into 
a  sucker,  enabling  the  animal  to  creep  up  vertical  walls  and 
along  ceilings  against  gravity,  like  the  flies  upon  which  they 
feed. 

GEHE'NNA.  A  term  in  Scripture,  adopted  from  the 
usage  of  the  Jews  to  signify  hell  or  the  place  of  eternal  pun- 
ishment. The  word  is  a  slight  corruption  of  Gehinnon,  or 
the  Valley  of  Hinnom  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Jerusalem, 
wherein,  at  a  place  named  Tophet,  it  was  recorded  that  cer- 
tain idolatrous  Jews  had  sacrificed  to  Moloch.  The  sewers 
of  the  city  were  emptied  into  this  hollow,  and  perpetual  fires 
were  kept  up  to  consume  the  noxious  matter,  and  prevent 
pestilential  effluvia.  Hence,  it  is  said,  the  name  of  the  place 
came  to  be  used  metaphorically  in  the  sense  above  described. 
From  this  word  seems  to  be  derived  the  old  French  gehenne, 
torture ;  and  from  thence  the  common  word  gene,  con- 
straint. 

GE'HLENITE.  A  mineral  in  small  grey  or  yellow  crys- 
tals, found  in  the  Valley  of  Fassa  in  the  Tyrol,  named  in  hon- 
our of  Gehlen  the  chemist.  It  is  a  ferrosillicate  of  alumina 
and-  lime. 

GE'LATIN.  (Lat.  gelu,  ice.)  An  abundant  proximate 
principle  in  animals.  It  is  confined  to  the  solid  parts  of  the 
body,  such  as  tendons,  ligaments,  cartilages,  and  bones,  and 
exists  nearly  pure  in  the  skin ;  but  it  is  not  contained  in  any 
healthy  animal  fluid.  Its  leading  character  is  the  formation 
of  a  tremulous  jelly,  when  its  solution  in  boiling  water 
cools ;  and  it  may  be  repeatedly  liquefied,  and  again  gela- 
tinized, by  the  alternate  application  of  heat  and  cold.  Isin- 
glass, glue,  and  size  are  various  forms  of  gelatine,  the  first 
being  this  substance  in  a  very  pure  state.  Its  most  distinct- 
ive chemical  character  is  the  formation  of  a  dense  white 
precipitate  when  its  solution  in  warm  water  is  poured  Into 
an  infusion  of  galls  or  other  form  of  vegetable  tannin.  A 
solution  of  one  part  of  gelatin  in  5000  of  water  is  rendered 
slightly  turbid  by  the  addition  of  a  strong  tincture  of  galls. 
Gelatin  is  a  nutritious  article  of  food.  The  ultimate  com- 
ponents of  gelatin  are  478  carbon,  7-9  hydrogen,  16-9  nitro- 
gen, 27'4  oxvgen. 

GE'LATINES.  Mr.  Kirby  thus  renders  the  term  Ra- 
diaires  molasses  of  Lamarck,  by  which  are  designated  the 
same  radiated  animals  as  those  called  Acalephes  by  Cuvier : 
the  bodies  of  these  Radiaries  are  generally  of  a  gelatinous 
consistency. 

GELD  (Ger.  money),  in  the  Laws  of  the  Saxon  and  other 
Teutonic  communities,  is  used  in  the  sense  of  any  fine,  rent, 
or  payment :  for  instance,  the  fine  paid  as  compensation  for 
an  injury,  as  in  the  compound  wcregild;  the  compensation 
for  murder,  dannegild,  &c. 

GEM.  (Lat.  gemma.)  In  Sculpture,  a  precious  stone, 
used  for  the  purpose  of  sculpture.  The  practice  of  carving 
gems  is  of  remote  antiquity,  though  it  is  doubtful  whether 
they  were  able  to  cut  the  diamond  or  use  the  emerald  and 
topaz  for  sculptural  purposes.  The  stones  usually  selected 
are  rock  crystal  of  different  colours,  jasper,  chalcedony, 
onyx,  cornelian,  and  blood  stone.  Among  the  Greeks  the 
art  was  carried  to  great  perfection  ;  but  having  fallen  with 
the  other  arts  into  disuse,  its  revival  was  effected  in  Italy 
in  the  15th  century,  and  modern  masters  have  more  than 
rivalled  some  of  the  ancient  productions. 

GE  MINI.  (Lat.  the  Twins.)  The  third  constellation 
of  the  zodiac,  into  which  the  sun  enters  about  the  21st  of 
May  in  each  year.  The  Twins  are  named  from  Castor  and 
Pollux;  sometimes,  also,  from  Apollo  and  Hercules.  The 
constellation  is  easily  distinguished  by  means  of  two  con- 
spicuous stars  of  the  second  magnitude  near  together ;  Cas- 
tor being  that  which  is  farthest  to  the  west,  and  Pollux  that 
which  is  farthest  to  the  east. 

GEMMI'PARES,  Gemmipara.  (Lat.  gemma,  a  bud,  and 
pario,  I  produce.)  The  animals  which  propagate  by  buds, 
as  the  hydra,  or  fresh-water  polype,  &c. 

GEMS,  ARTIFICIAL.  These  are  made  of  a  very  fusi- 
ble, transparent,  and  dense  glass,  or  paste,  as  it  is  called, 
containing  a  large  proportion  of  oxide  of  lead,  and  generally 
some  borax :  the  colours  are  given  by  metallic  oxides.  Much 
of  their  perfection  depends  upon  the  skill  with  which  the 
exact  tint  of  the  real  stone  is  imitated,  and  upon  the  care 
with  which  they  are  cut  and  polished. 

GE'NA.  (Lat.  gena,  the  cheek.)  A  term  applied  in 
Zoology  to  the  region  between  the  eye  and  the  mouth,  gen- 
erally extended  over  the  zveomatic  arch. 

GENDA'RMES,  or  GENS  D'ARMES.  In  the  15th  and 
16th  centuries,  the  heavy  French  cavalry,  which  constituted 
the  only  national  force,  were  termed  Gendarmes,  or  men- 
at-arms.  Each  lancer  had  four,  five,  or  six  followers  on 
horseback,  attached  to  him  in  various  capacities ;  so  that  a 
lance,  in  the  language  of  historians  of  that  epoch,  compre- 
hends six  or  seven  men.  After  the  cuirass  and  lance  had 
become  obsolete,  the  name  of  gendarmes  ceased  to  be  thus 
applied.    It  was  afterwards  transferred  to  a  corps  of  police. 


GENDER. 

In  consequence  of  the  unpopularity  of  this  corps  in  Paris; 
the  gens  d'armes  were  abolished  after  the  revolution  of 
1830,  and  a  new  police  force  organized  under  the  title  of 
Municipal  Guard.  (See. the  Encyc.  des  Gens  du  Monde.) 
In  all  the  German  states,  there  is  a  body  of  mounted  mili- 
tary police,  with  this  appellation,  of  which  the  Germ, 
equivalent  is  "  Landdragoner." 

GE'NDER.  (Lat.  genus.)  In  Grammar,  the  designa- 
tion of  sex  by  the  form  of  a  word.  (See  an  elaborate  arti- 
cle in  the  Penny  Oyclopasdia.) 

GENEA'LOGY.  (Gr.  ytvea,  family,  and  \6yos,  descrip- 
tion.) The  pedigree  of  each  family.  A  series  of  several 
persons,  descended  from  a  common  progenitor,  is  called  a 
line.  A  direct  line  is  either  ascending  (father,  grandfather, 
&c. :  in  the  civil  law  particular  names  were  given  to  seven 
degrees  in  this  line),  or  descending  (son,  grandson,  &c).  The 
collateral  lines  comprehend  the  several  lines  which  unite  in 
a  common  progenitor ;  and  are  either  equal  or  unequal,  ac- 
cording as  the  number  of  degrees  in  the  lines  is  the  same  or 
different.  The  collateral  relations  on  the  father's  side  are 
termed  in  the  civil  law  cognati,  on  the  mother's  agnati. 

GE'NERAL,  in  the  Army,  is,  next  to  field  marshal,  the 
highest  military  title  adopted  by  the  European  states.  Like 
most  military  designations,  it  owes  its  origin  to  the  French, 
who,  about  the  middle  of  the  15th  century,  conferred  the 
title  of  lieutenant-general  on  the  individual  to  whom  the 
monarch  (by  virtue  of  his  birth  the  commander  or  general 
of  the  national  forces)  intrusted  the  superintendence  of  the 
army.  The  title  of  general  is  conferred  either  on  the  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  forces  of  a  nation,  or  on  the  com- 
mander of  an  army  or  grand  division  ;  it  is  also  given  to  the 
officers  next  in  rank  to  the  general,  who,  besides  perform- 
ing functions  peculiar  to  their  own  offices,  frequently  act  as 
the  substitutes  of  their  superior,  with  the  designation  of 
lieutenant-general  and  major-general. 

GE'NERAL  ASSEMBLY  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF 
SCOTLAND.     Sec  Assembly,  Presbyterians. 

GENERALI'SSIMO.  A  title  conferred,  especially  by 
the  French,  on  the  commander-in-chief  of  an  army  consist- 
ing of  two  or  more  grand  divisions,  each  under  the  super- 
intendence of  a  general.  According  to  Balzac,  this  dignity 
was  first  assumed  by  Cardinal  Richelieu  on  the  occasion  of 
his  leading  the  French  army  into  Italy ;  but  the  term  does 
not  appear  to  have  found  favour  among  the  other  European 
states. 

GENERA'LITY.  A  French  territorial  division  under 
the  government  prior  to  the  Revolution.  The  generalities 
amounted  in  all  to  34.  This  division  was  principally  with 
reference  to  the  collection  of  taxes. 

GENERALIZATION,  in  Logic,  has  been  defined  as  the 
net  of  comprehending  under  a  common  name  several  objects 
agreeing  in  some  point  which  we  abstract  from  each  of  them, 
and  which  that  common  term  serves  to  indicate.  (  ff  hate- 
ley's  Logic,  p.  388.) 

GENERA'TION,  or  GE'NESIS,  in  Geometry,  denotes 
the  formation  or  production  of  a  geometrical  figure  or  quan- 
tity. A  line  is  said  to  be  generated  by  the  motion  of  a  point, 
a  surface  by  the  motion  of  a  line,  and  a  solid  by  that  of  a 
surface.  A  sphere  or  spheroid  is  generated  by  the  revolu- 
tion of  a  semicircle,  or  semi-ellipse,  about  its  diameter;  and 
a  circle  by  the  revolution  of  its  radius  about  one  of  its  ex- 
tremities. The  figure  thus  produced,  or  generated,  is  called 
tile  generant ;  and  it  is  a  general  property  of  every  such  fig- 
ure that  its  area  or  content  is  equal  to  the  product  which 
arises  from  multiplying  the  generating  quantity  into  the 
length  of  the  path  described  by  its  centre  of  gravity.  All 
quantities  may  be  considered  as  generated  by  motion ;  and 
hence  arose  the  terms  fluxion  and  fluent  in  the  infinitesimal 
analysis. 

GE'NESIS,  BOOK  OF.     See  Pentateuch. 

GENE'THLIAC.  (Gr.  yevcdXiaicev  ;  from  yevcOXov,  a 
birth.)  An  ode  or  other  short  poem  composed  in  honour  of 
the  birth  of  an  individual. 

GENE  VA.     See  Gin. 

GE'NIA.  (Gr.  ytvciov,  the  chin.)  Terms  in  Anatomy 
compounded  of  this  word,  and  applied  to  muscles  attached 
to  the  chin. 

GENI'CULATE.  (Lat.  genu,  the  knee.)  Bending  ab- 
ruptly in  an  obtuse  angle,  like  the  knee  when  a  little  bent. 

GE'NII,  called  by  the  Eastern  nations  Genn  or  Gien,  are 
a  race  of  beings  created  from  fire,  occupying  an  intermedi- 
ate place  between  man  and  angels,  and  endowed  with  a 
corporeal  form,  which  they  are  capable  of  metamorphosing 
at  pleasure.  They  are  said  to  have  inhabited  this  earth 
many  ages  before  the  creation  of  man,  and  to  have  been  at 
last  driven  thence  for  rebellious  conduct  against  Allah. 
Their  present  place  of  abode  is  Ginnistan,  the  Persian  Ely- 
sium ;  but  they  are  represented  as  still  interesting  themselves 
deeply  in  the  affairs  of  this  earth,  over  which  they  exercise 
considerable  influence.  Every  one  is  aware  of  the  impor- 
tant part  which  the  genii  perform  in  the  interesting  stories 
of  the  East ;  and  indeed  a  more  correct  idea  may  be  formed 


GENTILE. 

of  their  origin,  characteristics,  and  history,  from  a  perusal 
of  the  Arabian  Nights'  Entertainments,  than  can  be  con- 
veyed by  the  most  elaborate  dissertation.  For  an  account 
of  the  superstitions  of  the  modern  Arabs  in  regard  to  genii, 
see  Lane's  Modern  Egyptians. 

GE'NITIVE  CASE.  (Lat.genitivus.^enerafiue.)  That 
inflexion  of  the  noun  which  denotes  the  relation  of  property. 
See  Grammar. 

GE'NIUS.  (Lat.  gigno,  /  produce.)  According  to  the 
belief  of  the  old  Italian  races,  especially  the  Etruscans,  the 
genius  was  a  spiritual  agency  of  very  indeterminate  charac- 
ter, which  seems  to  have  been  appropriated  not  only  to  ev- 
ery human  family  and  individual  as  a  companion,  but  to 
every  god,  and' even  to  places  and  tilings.  This  conception 
was  altogether  foreign  to  Grecian  mythology,  although  in 
later  times  it  became  mingled  in  that  of  Rome  with  the  Gre- 
cian notions  respecting  demons.  (See  Djemon.)  As,  for  in- 
stance, inthe  idea  of  a  double  genius,  good  and  bad.  Cen- 
sorinus  (Ve  Vie  Natali)  says,  "The  genius  is  that  god  un- 
der whose  protection  every  mortal  is  born  and  lives."  Hence 
the  worship  of  the  genius  was  closely  connected  with  all 
domestic  ceremonies  and  feelings:  the  marriage  bed  was 
lectus  genialis ;  the  day  of  the  genius,  genialis  dies,  sacred 
to  mirth  and  relaxation ;  the  genius  accompanied  human 
fortunes  in  their  vicissitudes  (Vultu  mutabilis,  albus  et  ater 
— Hot.)  ;  and  death  was  typified  by  the  figure  of  a  genius 
with  a  lamp  reversed.  The  genii  of  places  were  usually 
represented  and  worshipped  under  the  figure  of  snakes. 
Whether  there  is  any  connexion  between  the  Italic  genius  and 
the  djinn  of  oriental  nations  (see  Genii)  is  a  doubtful  point. 

GENS.  In  Ancient  History,  a  clan  or  sect,  forming  a 
subdivision  of  the  Roman  people  next  in  order  to  the  curia 
or  tribe.  The  members  and  houses  (familim)  composing 
one  of  these  clans  were  not  necessarily  united  by  ties  of 
blood,  but  were  originally  brought  together  by  a  political 
distribution  of  the  citizena,  and  bound  by  religious  rites,  and 
a  common  name,  derived  probably  from  some  ancient  hero. 
This  common  name,  which  distinguished  the  gentiles  or 
members  of  the  same  clan,  was  the  second  of  the  three 
borne  by  a  Roman  citizen,  and  was  specially  termed  the 
nomen.  It  is  supposed  that  each  of  the  curies  originally 
contained  ten  gentes,  and  that  each  of  these  was  represented 
in  the  senate  by  one  of  its  members.  (See  Vico,  Scienza 
Nuova  ;  JVicbuhr's  History  of  Rome,  2d  ed.,  p.  387.) 

GE'NTIAN.  In  Pharmacy,  the  root  of  the  Gentiana 
lutea,  a  plant  abundant  in  the  Swiss  and  Austrian  Alps,  and 
in  the  mountainous  parts  of  Germany.  An  infusion  or 
tincture  of  gentian  root  is  an  excellent  stomachic  bitter. 

GE'NTlANA  CE^E.  (Gentiana,  one  of  the  genera.;  A 
natural  order  of  herbaceous  Exogens,  inhabiting  most  purts 
of  the  world.  They  are  very  near  to  Jipocynacee,  from 
which  they  differ  in  their  herbaceous  habit,  permanent  co- 
rolla, want  of  milk,  and  in  many  other  characters  From 
Scrophulariacea  they  are  distinguished  by  their  regmar  flow- 
ers, the  stamens  of  which  are  equal  in  number  to  the  lobes 
of  the  corolla ;  but  they  arc  with  difficulty  distinguished  if 
the  flowers  are  absent.  Lastly,  they  have  a  natural  rela- 
tion to  Cinchonaccm,  inasmuch  as  the  genera  Mitreola  and 
Houstonia  have  both  been  mistaken  by  good  botanists  for 
Cinchonaceous  plants.  Their  chief  characteristic  sensible 
property  is  an  intense  bitterness,  which  resides  both  in  the 
stems  and  roots,  rendering  them  tonic,  stomachic,  and  feb- 
rifugal ;  on  which  account  the  roots  of  Gentiana  lutea  and 
others  are  admitted  into  all  pharmacopoeias.  Many  of  the 
species  are  beautiful  in  the  hands  of  the  cultivator.  The 
prevailing  colours  are  red  and  blue. 

GE  NTILE.  (Lat.  gens,  nation.)  The  original  meaning 
of  the  Latin  word  gcntUis  is,  one  of  the  same  kith  or  nation 
with  the  speaker.  In  a  later  age  of  Latinity,  individuals  of 
foreign  or  barbarous  races  were  called  Gentiles.  (Jiuson. ; 
and  Cod.  Theodos.)  The  Jews  designated  all  not  professing 
their  religion  indiscriminately  as  "the  nations,"  m  cdvr)  (N. 
T.) ;  and  hence  the  Greek  word  cdvitcos  (whence  our  hea- 
then and  the  corresponding  Latin  word  gentile)  became  used 
to  signify  Pagans,  in  opposition  to  Christians  and  Jews.  The 
word  gentilis  is  used  in  this  sense  by  St.  Jerome,  Pruden- 
tius,  and  Christian  writers  of  that  age  in  general.  The  jeal- 
ousy with  which  the  Jews  regarded  all  foreign  nations,  and 
the  bigoted  obstinacy  with  which  they  clung  to  their  notions 
of  their  own  peculiar  sanctity  and  favour  in  the  sight  of 
God,  are  well  known.  The  earlier  half  of  the  history  of 
the  Acts  contains  the  account  of  the  struggle  which  Chris- 
tianity maintained  against  these  prejudices  before  it  finally 
subdued  them,  even  in  the  breasts  of  the  Apostles  and  first 
teachers  themselves.  The  design  of  Christ  that  all  nations 
should  be  admitted  to  the  benefits  of  his  mission,  is  clearly 
shown  in  many  of  his  own  words  and  actions ;  but,  upon  his 
crucifixion,  his  followers  appear  in  the  first  instance  to  have 
shrunk  from  carrying  out  this  groat  principle.  Their  preach- 
ing is  confined  for  some  time  to  Jerusalem ;  and  there,  it  is 
to  be  remarked,  they  are  treated  with  no  severity,  and  ob- 
tain considerable  success.    But,  upon  the  appointment  of 


GENTLEMAN. 

the  deacons,  who  appear  to  be  Hellenists — much  more  lax 
in  their  Judaical  notions  and  prejudices  than  the  Jews  of 
Palestine — and  upon  the  preaching  of  Stephen,  which  was 
probably  the  first  bold  declaration  of  the  equality  of  the 
Gentile  with  the  Jew,  the  anger  of  the  people  is  imme- 
diately roused ;  the  flame  of  persecution  breaks  suddenly 
forth ;"  the  disciples  are  driven  from  Jerusalem,  and  scat- 
tered abroad  in  places  where  they  are  brought  more  in 
contact  with  foreigners ;  and  the  vision  which  is  vouch- 
safed to  Peter  recoanises  distinctly  the  claim  of  the  Gen- 
tiles to  the  benefits  of  the  Gospel.  The  observance  of  cer- 
tain Jewish  ceremonies  continued,  however,  for  a  long 
time  to  be  a  stumbling-block  to  the  most  devout  and  sin- 
cere Christians.  St.  Paul  combats  the  notion  of  the  neces- 
sity of  submitting  to  some  of  these,  especially  circumcision ; 
yet  even  he  feels  obliged  to  make  some  indulgence  to  the 
prejudices  of  the  Judaizing  party.  In  after  times  this  party 
occupied  one  distinct  division  of  the  Christian  world,  split 
itself  into  various  sects,  such  as  the  Ebionites  and  Nicolai- 
tans,  and  for  a  long  time  exercised  considerable  influence 
even  within  the  pale  of  the  church. 

GE'NTLEMAN.  (The  English  word  gentle,  in  its  origi- 
nal sense,  signifies  one  belonging  to  a  race  or  family ;  Lat. 
gens.)  In  Heraldry,  a  rank  expressed  in  Latin  by  the  term 
generosus.  All  entitled  to  coat-armour  are  gentlemen ;  but 
the  name  is  more  commonly  applied  to  the  lowest  rank  of 
those  who  have  no  other  distinguishing  title.  Gentlemen  by 
blood  were  those  who  could  show  four  generations  of  gen- 
tlemen, both  in  the  paternal  and  maternal  line.  Those 
who  could  not  prove  this,  but  against  whom  the  contrary 
was  not  known  within  memory  of  man,  were  gentlemen  by 
prescription.  Gentlemen  were  also  created  by  letters  pat- 
ent of  the  king.  Officers  (not  menial)  of  the  king's  house- 
hold, persons  holding  a  royal  commission,  civil  or  military, 
who  had  taken  a  degree  in  the  liberal  arts,  and  persons 
adopted  by  gentlemen,  were  considered  entitled  to  this 
rank,  which  has  now  been  Ions  obsolete  as  a  distinction. 

GENTLEMEN  PENSIONERS.  In  England,  a  band  of 
forty  gentlemen,  entitled  esquires,  whose  office  is  to  attend 
the  king's  person  to  and  from  the  Chapel-Royal,  and  on 
other  occasions  of  solemnity.  They  were  instituted  by 
Henrv  VUJ. 

GE'NTLES.  The  maggots  or  apodal  larvae  of  the  flesh 
fly  (Musca  camaria),  and  other  Diptera,  are  sometimes  so 
called. 

GE'NUS.  (Lat.)  In  Zoology,  that  distinct  but  subordi- 
nate group  of  animals  which  gives  its  name  as  a  prefix  to 
that  of  all  the  species  of  which  it  is  composed. 

Genus.  In  Logic,  one  of  the  predicables,  which  is  con- 
sidered as  the  material  part  of  the  species  of  which  it  is  af- 
firmed.    See  Logic,  Predicable. 

Genus.  In  Music,  the  general  name  for  any  scale  of 
music.  If  a  scale  proceed  by  tones,  it  is  called  the  diatonic 
genus ;  if  between  the  tones  semitones  are  introduced,  it  is 
called  the  chromatic  genus.  When  the  subdivisions  are 
smaller,  as  quarter  tones,  it  is  called  the  enharmonic  genus. 

GE'OCE'NTRIC.  (Gr.  yv,  earth,  and  Kcvrpov,  centre.) 
A  term  frequently  used  in  Astronomy,  signifying  literally 
having  the  earth  for  its  centre.  The  apparent  motion  of 
any  planet,  as  seen  from  the  earth,  is  called  its  geocentric 
motion.  The  geocentric  latitude  of  a  planet  is  the  angle 
formed  by  a  straight  line,  supposed  to  be  drawn  from  the 
planet  to  the  earth,  with  the  plane  of  the  earth's  orbit  or 
the  plane  of  the  ecliptic.  Geocentric  longitude  of  a  planet 
is  the  angle  at  the  earth  formed  by  two  straight  lines,  one 
of  which  is  drawn  to  the  first  point  of  Aries,  and  the  other 
to  that  point  of  the  ecliptic  which  is  intersected  by  a  per- 
pendicular circle,  the  plane  of  which  passes  through  the 
earth  and  planet.  Geocentric  is  opposed  to  heliocentric, 
which  refers  to  the  centre  of  the  sun.  These  terms  are 
only  used  in  speaking  of  bodies  belonging  to  the  solar  sys- 
tem. The  fixed  stars  are  at  such  prodigious  distances,  that 
they  are  referred  to  the  same  points  in  space,  whether  we 
consider  them  as  seen  from  the  earth  or  the  sun. 

GE'ODES.  (Gr.yzw&ris,  earthy.)  Nodules  of  iron-stone, 
hollow  in  the  centre.  Rounded  pebbles  having  an  internal 
cavitv  lined  with  crystals  are  also  so  called. 

GE'ODESY  (Gr.  yv,  and  iatu>,  I  divide),  literally  signi- 
fies the  division  of  the  earth,  in  which  sense  it  is  synony- 
mous with  land  surveying ;  but  it  is  usually  employed  in 
a  more  general  sense  to  denote  that  part  of  practical  geom- 
etry which  has  for  its  object  the  determination  of  the  mag- 
nitude and  figure  either  of  the  whole  earth,  or  of  any  given 
portion  of  its  surface.  In  this  sense  it  comprehends  all  the 
geometrical  or  trigonometrical  operations  that  are  necessary 
for  constructing  a  map  of  a  country,  measuring  the  lengths 
of  degrees,  &e.  In  order  to  construct  an  accurate  map,  or 
determine  the  form  and  dimensions  of  a  country,  it  is  ne- 
cessary, in  the  first  place,  to  determine  the  absolute  distan- 
ces between  the  several  stations  or  points ;  secondly,  to  de- 
termine the  azimuths  of  the  lines  thus  measured,  that  is, 
their  situation  with  respect  to  the  meridian ;  and  thirdly, 
43 


GEOGRAPHY. 

the  differences  of  latitude  and  longitude  of  the  stations 
The  operations  necessary  for  determining  the  absolute  dis- 
tances, comprehending  the  measurement  of  a  base,  the  ob- 
servation of  angles,  the  computation  of  the  sides  of  the  tri- 
angles, and  their  reduction  to  the  same  level,  are  called 
the  geodesical  or  geodctical  operations  ;  while  those  which 
are  required  for  determining  the  azimuths  and  latitudes  are 
called  the  astronomical  operations.  The  determination  of 
the  figure  and  dimensions  of  the  earth  is  a  problem  of 
very  great  importance  to  astronomy  and  geography,  and 
has  accordingly  at  all  times  been  a  subject  of  much  interest 
to  mathematicians ;  but  it  is  only  since  towards  the  middle 
of  the  last  century  that  operations  on  an  adequate  scale  for 
its  solution  have  been  undertaken  in  different  parts  of  the 
world.  For  the  results  of  the  more  important  of  these  op- 
erations, see  Degree. 

GEO'GNOSY.     See  Geology. 

GEO'GRAPHY.     (Gr.  v»,  and  ypadxt,  I  describe.)     The 
description  of  the  earth.    The  etymology  of  the  term  indi- 
]  cates  the  nature  and  extent  of  this  department  of  knowl- 
I  edge,  which,  in  fact,  embraces  everything  relating  to  the 
I  circumstances   and  condition,  natural  or  artificial    of  the 
i  globe  which  we  inhabit.    The  immense  variety  of  subjects 
;  comprehended  in  the  science  of  Geography  are  usually  ar- 
ranged under  three  great  divisions — Mathematical,  Physi- 
cal, and  Political  Geography. 

Mathematical  Geography. — This  division  of  geography 
has  for  its  object  the  determination  of  the  form  and  dimen- 
sions of  the  earth,  its  relations  with  the  celestial  bodies, 
the  relative  positions  and  distances  of  places  on  its  surface, 
and  the  representation  of  the  whole  or  portions  of  it*sur- 
face  on  globes  or  maps. 

In  order  to  describe  the  earth,  the  first  element  that  must 
be  ascertained  is  its  general  form.  That  the  surface  of  the 
earth  is  convex,  is  apparent  even  to  the  senses.  Let  a 
spectator  stand  on  the  seashore,  and  attend  to  the  success- 
ive appearances  of  a  ship  proceeding  to  sea.  First,  the 
lower  part  becomes  invisible ;  then  the  whole  hull ;  and, 
lastly,  the  masts  and  rigging,  the  lower  parts  disappearing 
first.  Now  this  phenomenon  can  only  be  explained  by  the 
convexity  of  the  portion  of  the  water  between  the  ship 
and  the  spectator ;  and  when  the  curvature  of  the  sea  is 
recognised,  the  conclusion  can  scarcely  be  avoided  that  the 
land,  abstracting  from  its  local  inequalities,  participates  in 
the  same  curvature,  and  that  the  earth  is  a  round  body. 
The  same  conclusion  is  drawn  from  the  gradual  coming  on 
of  day  and  night,  and  the  deplacement  of  the  stars  in  pro- 
ceeding towards  the  north  or  south  ;  for  if  the  earth  were 
flat,  the  sun,  in  appearing  above  the  horizon,  would  illu- 
mine the  whole  of  its  surface  at  the  same  instant ;  and  on 
the  supposition  of  its  being  either  flat  or  cylindrical,  the 
pole  star  would  maintain  the  same  elevation,  whereas  to 
the  traveller  who  advances  northward  it  gradually  appears 
more  elevated,  and  to  him  who  advances  southward  more 
depressed.  All  these  appearances  are  observed  in  the  same 
manner  on  whatever  part  of  the  earth  we  are  placed ;  and 
from  them  alone  the  globular  form  of  the  earth  might  be 
inferred,  even  if  the  fact  had  not  been  placed  beyond  doubt 
by  the  voyages  of  circumnavigators.  Astronomers  in  mod- 
ern times  have  indeed  discovered  that  it  is  not  a  perfect 
sphere,  being  flattened  in  a  slight  degree  at  two  opposite 
points  (which  are  the  poles  of  rotation) ;  but  the  deviation 
from  perfect  sphericity  is  so  small,  that  for  all  the  purposes 
with  which  geography  is  concerned  it  may  be  neglected 
without  sensible  error.     See  Figure  of  the  Earth. 

In  order  to  determine  the  relative  positions  of  points  on  a 
sphere  in  the  most  commodious  manner,  mathematicians 
refer  them  to  two  great  circles ;  that  is  to  say,  circles  form- 
ed by  the  intersection  of  the  surface  of  the  sphere  by  a 
plane  passing  through  its  centre.  The  earth  is  a  body  which 
revolves  about  an  axis  of  rotation ;  the  position  of  this  axis, 
therefore,  with  respect  to  the  celestial  constellations,  deter- 
mines one  great  circle,  namely,  the  equator,  or  the  circle 
which  is  equally  distant  from  the  two  poles  of  rotation,  and 
divides  the  globe  into  two  opposite  hemispheres.  The 
equator,  therefore,  being  marked  out  by  nature,  or  by  the 
apparent  revolutions  of  the  celestial  bodies  arising  from  the 
real  diurnal  rotation  of  the  earth,  is  a  circle  to  which  all 
places  are  most  conveniently  referred :  and  it  has  this  prop- 
erty, that  it  never  undergoes  any  change  of  place  on  the 
sphere ;  for  astronomers  have  proved  that  since  the  date  of 
the  earliest  observations,  the  poles  of  rotation,  and  conse- 
quently the  equator,  have  always  maintained  the  same  in- 
variable position  on  the  earth's  surface. 

The  distance  of  a  place  from  the  equator  cannot  be  di- 
rectly measured ;  but  by  means  of  astronomical  observations 
we  can  determine  that  distance  in  aliquot  parts  of  the  earth's 
circumference,  that  is,  in  degrees  of  a  great  circle.  It  is 
not,  however,  sufficient  to  know  how  many  decrees  a  place 
is  distant  from  the  equator.  It  is  necessiry,  also,  m  order 
to  distinguish  it  from  all  other  places,  to  know  how  it  is  situa- 
ted with  respect  to  a  certain  meridian,  or  great  circle  perpen- 

493 


GEOGRAPHY. 

dicular  to  the  equator,  and  consequently  passing  through 
the  poles.  In  reference  to  the  diurnal  rotation  of  the  earth, 
all  meridians  are  in  precisely  the  same  circumstances ;  the 
choice  is  consequently  entirely  arbitrary,  and  geographers, 
as  well  as  astronomers,  generally  select  that  which  passes 
through  the  capital  of  their  own  country  as  the  circle  to 
which  they  refer  all  other  places.  The  equator  and  the  as- 
sumed meridian  thus  form  the  co-ordinates  of  the  sphere. 
The  distance  of  any  place  from  the  equator,  measured  on 
the  arc  of  the  meridian,  is  the  latitude  of  the  place  ;  and  its 
distance  from  the  assumed  meridian,  measured  on  a  circle 
parallel  to  the  equator,  is  its  longitude ;  and  when  the  lati- 
tude and  longitude  of  any  place  are  both  known,  the  posi- 
tion of  the  place  itself  is  entirely  determined.  The  latitude 
of  a  place  is  ascertained  by  observing  the  height  of  the  pole 
above  its  horizon ;  and  the  longitude  of  one  place  in  re- 
spect of  another,  by  the  interval  of  time  which  elapses  be- 
tween the  passage  of  any  celestial  body  over  their  respect- 
ive meridians.     See  Latitude  and  Longitude. 

Besides  the  rotatory  motion  about  its  axis,  the  earth  has 
also  a  motion  of  revolution  about  the  sun,  which  is  comple- 
ted in  the  course  of  one  year.  The  first  of  these  motions 
causes  the  succession  of  day  and  night;  the  second  the 
vicissitudes  of  the  seasons,  and  the  inequality  of  the  length 
of  the  natural  days.  These  two  last  phenomena  depend  on 
two  circumstances :  1st,  that  the  axis  of  the  earth  is  not 
perpendicular  to  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic,  or  the  plane  in 
which  the  annual  revolution  is  performed ;  and,  2d,  that 
the  extremities  of  this  axis,  or  the  two  poles  of  rotation, 
continue  to  be  directed  to  the  same  points  of  the  celestial 
sphere  during  the  whole  time  of 
*  the  revolution.  Hence  it  follows 
that  the  plane  of  the  equator, 
though  invariable  in  respect  of  ab- 
solute space,  is  continually  chan- 
ging its  position  in  respect  of  the 
sun ;  and  the  apparent  effect  is 
>  the  same  as  if  the  sun  had  a  vi- 
bratory motion  in  the  heavens,  ri- 
sing above  the  plane  of  the  equator  E  E  one  half  of  the 
year,  and  falling  below  it  dining  the  other  half.  When 
the  sun  is  in  the  equator  at  S,  the  two  poles  of  the  earth 
n  and  s  are  in  the  great  circle  which  divides  the  illu- 
minated from  the  dark  hemisphere.  When  the  sun  reach- 
es his  greatest  northern  declination  at  S',  the  illumina- 
*r  ted  hemisphere  is  a  E  a',  and  the  north  pole  n  comes 
'  considerably  within  it.  On  the  other  hand,  when  the 
sun's  declination  is  south,  as  at  S",  the  south  pole  s  comes 
into  the  illuminated  hemisphere,  while  n  is  left  in  dark- 
ness. When  the  sun  is  at  S  his  apparent  diurnal  mo- 
tion is  performed  in  the  equator,  and  the  days  and  nights 
are  of  equal  length  all  over  the  world.  The  angle  which 
the  planes  of  the  equator  and  ecliptic  make  with  each  other 
Is  about  234°;  consequently,  since  the  greatest  declina- 
tion of  the  sun  from  the  equator  is  the  same  quantity,  it 
must  happen  that  at  midsummer  the  sun  is  23  .°  to  "the 
north  of  the  equator,  and  at  midwinter  234°  to  the  south 
of  it.  The  inequality  of  the  natural  days  is  an  immediate 
consequence  of  the  sun's  declination  ;  for  as  the  solar  rays 
come  to  the  earth  parallel,  one  half  of  the  globe  must  al- 
ways be  illuminated  at  once,  and  the  other  half  in  dark- 
ness ;  consequently,  when  the  sun  declines  23^°  to  the 
north  of  the  equator,  all  that  part  of  the  earth  "which  is 
within  23i°  of  the  north  pole  will  remain,  while  the 
earth  performs  its  diurnal  revolution,  within  the  illumina- 
ted hemisphere.  A  small  circle  of  the  sphere  parallel  to 
the  equator,  and  at  the  distance  of  23i°  from  the  pole,  is 
called  the  polar  circle  ;  and  at  this  latitude  the  sun,  when 
at  his  greatest  declination,  comes  exactly  to  the  horizon  at 
midnight,  without  setting ;  consequently,  the  length  of  the 
longest  day  is  twenty-four  hours.  At  the  equator  the 
length  of  the  day  is  always  twelve  hours ;  and  from  the 
equator  to  the  polar  circle  the  length  of  the  longest  day  is 
greater  and  greater  as  the  latitude  increases.  At  "the 
pole  the  sun  is  one  half  of  the  year  above  the  horizon, 
and  the  other  half  below  it;  and  from  the  polar  circle  to 
the  pole,  the  length  of  time  the  sun  continues  above  the 
horizon  without  setting  increases  with  the  latitude  from 
twenty-four  hours  to  six  months.  The  two  small  circles 
of  the  sphere  parallel  to  the  equator,  which  limit  the  sun's 
greatest  declination,  are  called  the  tropics  ;  and  the  whole 
surface  of  the  globe  is  divided  by  the  two  tropics,  and  the 
two  polar  circles,  into  five  zones  or  spaces  ;  namely,  the  torrid 
zone,  which  is  included  between  the  two  tropics,  or  extends 
23|°  on  either  side  of  the  equator;  the  two  temperate 
zones,  or  the  spaces  included  between  the  tropic  and  polar 
circle  in  each  hemisphere ;  and  the  two  frigid  zones,  or  the 
spaces  between  the  poles  and  their  respective  polar  circles. 
These  may  be  called  the  astronomical  divisions  of  the 
globe,  as  they  depend  on  the  position  of  the  earth's  axis 
of  rotation  with  respect  to  the  plane  of  its  orbit,  and  are 
determined  by  astronomical  observations. 
494 


GEOLOGY. 

Physical  Geography  has  for  its  object  the  description  of 
the  principal  features  of  the  earth's  surface,  as  consisting  of 
land  and  water ;  the  extent  and  configuration  of  the  conti- 
nents and  islands;  the  elevation  and  direction  of  the  mount- 
ain chains;  the  conformation  of  the  plains  and  valleys; 
their  altitude  above  the  level  of  the  sea ;  and  the  soil,  cli- 
mate, and  animal  and  vegetable  productions  of  different 
countries.  It  embraces  also  the  various  phenomena  of  the 
ocean,  which  may  be  classed  under  the  term  Hydrology ; 
the  depth  of  the  sea,  and  the  inequalities  of  its  depth,  its 
saltness  and  temperature;  the  direction  and  velocity  of  cur- 
rents, the  tides,  the  polar  ice,  &c.  In  like  manner  it  com- 
prehends also  many  of  the  questions  which  are  usually 
treated  under  the  terms  Meteorology  and  Climate ;  the  mean 
temperature  of  different  countries;  the  height  of  the  snow 
line;  the  prevailing  winds;  the  barometric  pressure;  the 
quantity  of  annual  rain,  of  evaporation,  &c. ;  and  the  effect 
of  all  these  circumstances  on  the  condition  of  the  human 
race. 

On  casting  our  eye  on  a  globe  or  map,  we  immediately 
perceive  the  very  unequal  distribution  of  land  and  water  on 
the  surface  of  the  earth.  The  land  occupies  a  very  little 
more  than  one  third  of  the  whole  surface,  and  the  water  all 
the  remaining  portion.  Nor  is  the  inequality  of  the  distribu- 
tion in  respect  of  the  two  hemispheres  less  remarkable.  Of 
the  whole  land  about  four  fifths  is  situated  in  the  northern 
hemisphere,  and  the  remaining  one  fifth  in  the  southern.  In 
a  general  view, the  land  consists  of  three  great  masses:  the 
old  continent,  which  comprehends  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa; 
the  new  continent,  or  America;  and  New  Holland — which 
are  separated  from  each  other  by  the  great  oceans.  The 
general  features  of  the  two  continents  differ  remarkably.  In 
the  old  continent  the  general  direction  of  the  land,  and  of 
the  great  mountain  chains,  is  from  west  to  east,  almost  par- 
allel to  the  equator ;  while  in  America  the  general  direction 
is  from  north  to  south,  along  the  meridian.  Thus  the  four 
great  systems  of  mountain  ranges  in  Asia — namely,  the  Al- 
tai, the  Thian-chan,  the  Kuen-lun,  and  the  Himalaya — all 
stretch  from  west  to  east ;  and  the  Andes,  which  extends 
from  one  extremity  of  America  to  the  other,  ranges  in  the 
perpendicular  direction  from  north  to  south.  Another  stri- 
king feature  of  the  land  is,  that  all  the  great  peninsulas  are 
pointed  to  the  south  pole.  This  is  the  case  with  South 
America,  Africa,  Arabia,  Hindostan,  Malaya,  Cambodia,  the 
Corea,  Kamtschatka,  California,  Alaska,  Greenland,  Florida, 
Italy,  &c. ;  in  short,  the  only  two  exceptions  are  Yucatan  in 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  Jutland  in  the  German  Sea,  which 
are  both  formed  of  alluvial  land,  and  may  therefore  be  sup- 
posed to  owe  their  formation  to  partial  influences  which 
have  not  operated  on  the  great  continental  masses.  This 
similarity  of  disposition  can  only  be  attributed  to  the  agency 
of  some  mechanical  cause ;  and  the  phenomena  strongly 
suggest  the  idea  of  the  terraqueous  masses  having  been 
shaped  into  their  existing  forms  by  the  action  of  a  great  wave 
or  current  flowing  from  the  southern  to  the  northern  pole. 
(See  Atmosphere,  Climate,  Geology,  Tides,  Wind,  &c. 
See  also  an  excellent  article  on  this  subject  by  Dr.  Traill  in 
the  Encyclopedia  Britannica.) 

Political  Geography  considers  the  earth  as  the  abode  of 
mankind  ;  and  has  for  its  object  the  description  of  all  that 
relates  to  the  moral  or  social  condition  of  the  different  na- 
tions; their  language,  religion,  government,  degrees  of  civil- 
ization ;  and  the  population,  resources,  and  local  relations  of 
different  countries.  This  part  of  geography  is  consequently 
related  to  history  and  statistics,  and  does  not  fall  within  the 
scope  of  this  work.  (See  M'Culloch's  Geographical  Dic- 
tionary ;  Murray's  Encyclopedia  of  Geography ;  the  large 
work  of  Malte  Brun,  of  which  there  is  an  English  transla- 
tion; the  Dictionnaire  Geographique  Universel ;  tile  Sys- 
tems of  Malte  Brun  and  Balbi  abridged,  published  by  Black ; 
and,  for  recent  discoveries,  the  Journal  of  the  Royal  Geo- 
graphical Society  of  London.) 

GEOLOGY.  (Gr.  yv,  the  earth  ;  \oyog,  a  discourse.)  Till 
within  the  last  five-and-twenty  years  geology  consisted  of  a 
very  limited  collection  of  facts,  strung  upon  amusing  but  in- 
sufficient theories  and  hypotheses;  but  it  may  now  be  said 
to  have  taken  its  place  among  the  rigid  and  exact  sciences. 
It  requires  for  its  successful  exposition  not  only  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  rnhreralogical  history  of  the  crust  of 
tlie  globe,  but  it  also  involves  a  series  of  extensive  and  dis- 
tinct inquiries  respecting  the  physical  and  chemical  causes 
that  are  and  have  been  active  in  producing  present  and  past 
changes;  and  it  branches  out  into  several  distinct  investiga- 
tions connected  with  the  discovery  of  organic  remains,  in  the 
successful  pursuit  of  which  no  small  share  of  zoological  and 
botanical  information  are  requisite,  and  which  also  demand 
the  aid  of  comparative  anatomy. 

There  is  this,  therefore,  to  recommend  geology,  that  it  ex- 
cites a  distinct  interest  in  the  external  characters  of  a  coun- 
try or  district,  independent  of  the  beauties,  or  ruggedneaa,  or 
sublimity  of  its  aspect,  or  of  its  geographical  peculiarities, 
and  endeavours  to  trace  a  connexion  between  its  exterior 


GEOLOGY. 


features  and  interior  structure ;  and  in  these  its  simplest 
details  it  bears  upon  agriculture,  and  ultimately  upon  all 
those  numerous  arts  in  which  mineral  substances  are  con- 
cerned. The  fanner  should  be  a  geologist,  and  so  should 
the  architect:  the  miner  and  the  mineralogist  must  be  so. 
But  this  is,  as  it  were,  the  mere  title  of  the  volume  ;  for 
when  we  come  more  narrowly  to  peruse  its  contents,  we  do 
indeed  find  it  "as  a  book  wherein  man  may  read  strange 
matters."  It  is  full  of  relics,  so  extraordinary  as  to  arrest 
the  attention  of  the  most  superficial  inquirer,  and  to  awaken 
the  deepest  interest  in  the  philosophic  observer :  it  is  throng- 
ed with  records  of  strange  and  mighty  changes  and  convul- 
sions ;  of  revolutions  in  climate,  and  in  the  genera  and  spe- 
cies of  the  organic  creation ;  it  carries  the  mind  back  to  a 
period  indefinitely  remote,  when  our  present  continents  were 
at  the  bottom  of  the  ocean,  from  which  they  seem  to  have 
been  elevated  sometimes  by  the  slowest  degrees,  and  at  oth- 
ers by  a  more  rapid  and  violent  cause,  and  when  both  sea 
and  land  were  tenanted  by  distinct  tribes  and  races  of  extra- 
ordinary animals  and  vegetables;  it  shows  that  every  thing 
as  we  now  find  it  has  been  gradually  and  successively  de- 
veloped, as  it  were,  and  that  man  himself  has  appeared  but 
late  upon  this  singular  stage. 

In  this  article  our  principal  object  will  be  to  give  an  outline 
of  the  present  state  of  geology,  and  an  explanation  of  the 
terms  of  the  science.  To  attain  this  object,  the  works  which 
we  have  principally  consulted,  and  from  which,  with  the 
kind  permission  of  their  authors,  we  have  made  copious  ex- 
tracts, are  those  of  Lyell  and  De  la  Beetle :  the  explanatory 
diagrams  are  chiefly  from  the  same  sources.  To  them,  and 
to  the  works  of  Phillips,  Bakewell,  Mantell,  and  Buckland, 
and  to  the  Transactions  of  the  Geological  Society,  we  must 
refer  our  readers  for  details  which  would  have  been  incon- 
sistent with  the  objects  of  this  Dictionary. 

In  tracing  out  the  present  appearance  of  the  earth's  sur- 
face, and  in  examining  minutely  the  effects  of  causes  now 
in  action,  there  is  nothing,  as  Hutton  has  said,  in  which  we 
can  distinctly  perceive  either  the  evidence  of  a  beginning  or 
the  prospect  of  an  end.  Geometers  have  taught  us  that  in 
the  midst  of  all  the  fluctuations  which  can  possibly  take 
place  in  the  elements  of  the  orbits  of  the  planets  by  reason 
of  their  mutual  attraction,  the  general  balance  of  the  parts 
of  the  system  will  always  be  preserved,  and  every  depar- 
ture from  a  mean  state  periodically  compensated.  But,  in 
saying  that  we  can  discover  nothing  that  points  to  a  begin- 
ning or  threatens  an  end,  we  only  mean  that  mere  human 
powers  are  as  yet  inadequate  to  such  a  discovery.  There 
are,  it  is  true,  some  circumstances  in  the  physical  constitu- 
tion of  our  own  planet  which  do  obscurely  point  to  an  origin 
and  a  formation,  but  from  them  nothing  distinct  can  be  con- 
cluded. On  the  other  hand,  neither  the  researches  of  as- 
tronomy nor  of  geology  give  us  the  slightest  grounds  for 
regarding  either  our  system,  or  the  globe  we  inhabit,  as  of 
eternal  duration ;  in  short,  if  we  would  speculate  to  any 
purpose,  either  upon  the  former  state  of  our  globe,  or  upon 
the  succession  of  events  which  from  time  to  time  may  have 
changed  the  condition  and  the  form  of  its  surface,  we  must 
confine  our  views  within  limits  far  more  restricted,  and  to 
subjects  much  more  within  the  reach  of  our  capacity,  than 
either  the  beginning  or  the  end  of  the  world.  These,  in- 
deed, were  almost  the  sole  inquiries  of  the  older  geological 
school,  the  favourite  speculations  of  a  race  of  geologists 
now  nearly  extinct.  Within  the  limits  of  the  present  cen- 
tury even  geology'has  undergone  an  entire  change  of  char- 
acter, and  is,  as  we  have  already  remarked,  brought  with- 
in the  list  of  the  inductive  sciences.  Geologists  now  no 
longer  ransack  their  imaginations  for  theories  of  the  forma- 
tion of  the  globe  from  chaos,  or  bewilder  themselves  with 
its  hypothetical  transformations ;  but  they  aim  at  a  careful 
and  accurate  examination  of  the  records  of  its  former  state, 
and  of  the  indisputable  evidences  of  former  life  and  habita- 
tion which  the  organic  remains  of  its  strata  afford. 

These  wonderful  wrecks  of  a  former  state  of  nature, 
preserved,  like  ancient  medals  and  marbles  in  the  ruins  of 
an  extinct  empire,  afford  a  kind  of  rude  chronology,  by  the 
aid  of  which  the  successive  depositions  of  the  strata  in 
which  they  are  found  may  be  marked  out  in  epochs  more 
or  less  definitely  terminated,  and  each  recognised  by  some 
peculiarity  which  enables  the  diligent  observer  to  recognise 
the  deposits  of  any  period,  in  whatever  part  of  the  globe 
they  may  occur.  And,  so  far  at  least  as  investigation  has 
hitherto  gone,  these  deposits  are  in  the  same  order  of  suc- 
cession in  every  part  of  the  world. 

But,  in  using  these  terms,  we  must  not  forget  how  very 
little  we  do  actually  know  of  the  earth's  surface.  We  talk 
of  certain  strata  extending  over  the  whole  globe,  forget- 
ting that  nearly  three  fourths  of  it  are  covered  by  the  wa- 
ters of  the  ocean,  and  that  consequently  of  that  portion  we 
can  know  but  little,  and  that  little  imperfectly ;  and  that 
of  the  fourth  which  remains  in  the  shape  of  dry  land  not 
one  thousandth  part  has  been  at  all  examined,  or  at  least 
not  investigated.    Again,  we   speak  of  the  crust  of  our 


globe,  and  of  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and  the  fopth  of  the 
sea,  and  the  loftiness  of  mountains,  forgetting  how  insignif- 
icant all  these  things  really  are,  compared  with  the  entire 
bulk  of  our  planet;  that  our  deepest  mines  hardly  pene- 
trate to  a  depth  surpassing  the  ten  thousandth  part  of  the 
distance  from  the  surface  to  the  centre  ;  that  the  profound- 
est  recesses  are  mere  scratches  upon  the  surface ;  that  the 
loftiest  hills  and  most  inaccessible  mountains  arc  only  as 
grains  of  dust  and  of  sand  sprinkled  on  the  surface  of  one 

I  of  our  moderate-sized  artificial  globes. 

Such  being  the  real  state  of  our  information,  and  such 

|  the  limitations  to  which  all  farther  pursuit  is  subjected,  we 

J  may  well  be  animated  by  the  magnitude  and  extent  of  the 
inquiries  which  this  limited  range  displays.  "  And  finding, 
even  in  these  restricted  bounds,  the  amplest  proofs  of  order 
and  design,  the  mind  is  naturally  led  to  the  sublimest  in- 
ferences respecting  what  is  unseen,  and  even  to  the  con- 
ception of  a  power  and  intelligence  to  which  we  may  well 
apply  the  term  infinite ;  since  we  not  only  see  no  limit  to 
the  instances  in  which  they  are  manifested,  but  find,  on  the 

j  contrary,  that  they  continually  open  upon  us  in  increasing 
abundance,  in  proportion  as  we  are  enabled  to  extend  our 
sphere  of  observation  and  inquiry ;  and  that  as  the  study 
of  one  prepares  us  to  understand  and  appreciate  another, 
wonder  follows  on  wonder,  till  our  faculties  become  bewil- 
dered in  admiration,  and  our  intellect  falls  back  on  itself  in 
utter  hopelessness  of  arriving  at  an  end." 

We  may  now  state  of  what  the  external  film  or  cuticle 
of  the  globe  appears  to  consist,  and  examine  how  far  we 
are  justified  in  surmising  respecting  the  nature  of  its  deep- 
er-seated parts,  and  of  such  portions  as  are  out  of  the  reach 
of  actual  inspection. 

We  say  that  the  crust  of  the  earth  is  stratified,  because 
it  consists  chiefly  of  distinct  strata  or  layers  of  different  ma- 
terials. These  differ  in  depth  and  extent ;  but,  what  is 
most  essential  to  our  present  purpose,  they  follow  each 
other,  on  the  large  scale  and  as  masses,  in  an  apparently 
regular  and  uniform  succession  in  all  places,  districts,  and. 
countries  where  they  admit  of  examination  and  have  been 
attentively  studied.  They  appear,  in  most  instances,  to  rest 
upon,  and  are  blended  with,  invaded,  and  in  some  few  in- 
stances overflowed,  as  it  were,  by  substances  which  are  not 
distinctly  stratified,  and  which  most  geologists  have  agreed 
in  calling  unstratified  rocks.  The  former,  or  the  stratified 
rocks,  from  their  texture  and  contents,  have  apparently 
been  formed  under  water ;  and  some  of  them,  especially 
the  uppermost  series,  abound  in  fossil  remains  of  the  or- 
ganized kingdom.  The  unstratified  rocks,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  in  many  instances  of  indisputable  volcanic  origin ; 
and  others,  from  their  position,  texture,  and  effects  upon 
their  neighbours,  are  also  presumed  to  be  of  igneous  forma- 
tion. Water,  therefore,  on  the  one  hand,  and  fire  on  the 
other,  seem  to  have  been  the  great  agents  to  which  the 
present  aspects  of  the  earth's  surface  are  referable.  In 
proceeding  to  enumerate  the  principal  divisions  of  the 
stratified  rocks  in  their  order  from  above  downwards,  we 
must  remind  the  reader  that  the  series  of  strata  seem  to 
have  been  removed  from  certain  districts  by  causes  which 
we  shall  afterwards  endeavour  to  trace,  constituting  what 
have  been  called  denudations. 


In  this  diagram  A  represents  the  crystallized  or  unstrati- 
fied rocks,  presumed  to  be  of  igneous  origin,  upon  which  lie 
the  stratified  rocks,  B,  C,  and  D.  The  rocks  A  were  for- 
merly called  primitive,  and  were  supposed  to  be  the  origi- 
nal crystalline  crust  of  the  globe,  upon  which  the  strata  B,  C, 
D  had  been  subsequently  deposited ;  but  it  is  now  supposed 
that  the  rocks  B,  C,  and  D  have  been  upheaved  by  the  sub- 
sequent intrusion  of  A  by  volcanic  agencies  from  beneath. 

The  substances  which  usually  constitute  the  ground  we 
tread  upon  are  produced  chiefly  by  causes  in  daily  opera- 
tion— soils  and  detritus  of  various  kinds  washed  down  from 
the  neighbouring  hills  by  the  influence  of  rain  and  torrents, 
and  forming  wiiat  have  been  generally  called  alluvial  de- 
posits: these  are  more  or  less  associated  with  matters 
probably  of  a  similar  but  a  more  ancient  origin,  and  which, 
suspected  by  some  to  be  relics  of  the  deluge,  have  been 
termed  diluvial  deposites  ;  such  as  gravel  and  boulder 
stones. 

We  then  find  in  many  parts  of  England  and  elsewhere 
occasional  patches  of  what  have  been  termed  tertiary 
rocks,  which  often  are  of  singular  interest,. and  frequently 
consist  of  detached  and  insulated  deposits  surrounded  by 
other  rocks,  and,  in  reference  to  their  neighbours,  occupy- 
ing a  position  very  like  that  of  the  water  of  lakes,  inland 


GEOLOGY. 


seas,  and  gulfs,  in  relation  to  a  continent;  and,  like  such 
waters,  being  often  very  deep,  but  of  limited  extent:  hence 
they  are  often  designated  as  basins.  They  consist  of  clays 
and  calcareous  and  arenaceous  matters,  in  which  are  im- 
bedded remains  of  marine  animals,  blended  with  fresh- 
water species,  quadrupeds,  and  even  birds.  These  lie  upon 
chalk,  which  is  the  newest  rock  of  the  secondary  series. 
They  constitute  the  supracretaceous  rocks  of  which  the  ba- 
sins of  Paris,  London,  and  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  parts  of 
Suffolk,  furnish  instances.  Chalk  constitutes  the  upper- 
most of  the  secondary  series  of  the  European  area;  and  it 
is  immediately  succeeded  by  certain  varieties  of  sand  and 
sandstone,  included  by  Mr.  De  la  Beche  in  his  Cretaceous 
group.  We  then  (in  the  same  area)  come  to  the  Oolitic 
group,  composed  of  calcareous  freestone  and  of  lias,  resting 
upon  the  varieties  of  red  sandstone,  and  succeeded  by  coal, 
mountain  limestone,  and  old  red  sandstone ;  and  these  are 
followed  by  the  Greywacke  group,  forming  the  transition 
series  of  Werner,  a  part  of  which  lias  been  ably  described 
under  the  name  of  Silurian  system  by  Mr.  Murchison,  rest- 
ing upon  a  lower  portion  termed  Cambrian  syste?n  by  Pro- 
fessor Sedgwick.  The  Greywacke  may  be  conveniently 
divided  into  three  portions  :  1.  Upper,  equivalent  to  the  old 
red  sandstone  of  England ;  ~.  Intermediate,  equal  to  the 
Silurian  system ;  and  3.  Inferior,  equivalent  to  the  Cam- 
brian series.  These  are  often  made  up  of  fragments  of  the 
older  series,  or  contain  a  few  ancient  organic  relics.  They 
rest  upon  the  inferior  order  of  stratified  nonfossiliferous 
rocks,  and  upon  the  unstratified  or  primary  series. 

In  endeavouring  to  trace  out  the  history  of  the  respective 
strata  to  which  we  have  adverted,  it  would,  perhaps,  be 
most  philosophical  to  commence  our  inquiries  with  the 
causes  that  are  now  active  in  producing  alterations  upon 
the  surface  of  the  globe  ;  to  consider  the  action  of  changes 
of  temperature,  and  of  water  and  other  agents,  that  tend  to 
degrade  and  disintegrate  the  surface,  to  wear  down  its  as- 
perities, and  to  modify  the  present  order  of  things — among 
which  earthquakes  and  volcanoes  form  a  prominent  feature. 
But  the  narrative  will  be  more  clear  if  we  first  sketch  out 
the  history  of  the  formations,  considering  them  in  refer- 
ence to  their  position,  their  composition,  their  organic  relics, 
and  the  purposes  to  which  they  are  applied  in  the  arts ; 
and  then,  having  adverted  to  their  relative  durabilities  and 
aspects  as  mountain  masses,  we  may  consider  the  action 
of  rivers,  and  of  the  ocean,  both  as  destructive  and  as  ren- 
ovating agents,  tracing  out  their  connexion  with  meteoric 
phenomena,  and  with  the  effects  of  volcanic  fires.  We 
shall  thus  be  enabled  to  compare  present  with  past  chan- 
ges, and  to  form  an  opinion  upon  the  great  controversial 
question  which  now  seems  chiefly  to  engage  theoretical  ge- 
ologists ;  namely,  whether  things  have  always  gone  on 
pretty  much  ■ns  we  now  see  them,  or  whether  our  globe 
has  been  subject  to  great  and  destructive  changes  and  con- 
vulsions out  of  the  ordinary  course  of  nature. 

$1. 

First,  then,  as  respects  those  superficial  and  insulated 
formations  constituting  the  tertiary  or  supracretaceous  group 
of  rocks.  Our  knowledge  of  their  distinct  existence  is  chief- 
ly due  to  the  labours  of  Cuvier  and  Brongniart,  whose  Me- 
moir on  the  Environs  of  Paris  was  published  in  1811.  In 
this  part  of  Europe  they  form  patches  or  basins ;  but  there 
is  much  reason  to  believe  that  they  have  once  been  more 
continuous  and  extensive,  and  that  their  present  insulated 
character  is,  partly  at  least,  due  to  the  elevation  of  the 
strata  below  them,  by  which  they  have  been  broken  up, 
and  in  part  also  removed  by  denudation. 

Among  these  formations  we  may  also  class  many  exten- 
sive series  of  rocks  in  different  parts  of  Europe,  which,  al- 
though they  bear  records  of  having  been  deposited  at  differ- 
ent and  probably  remote  periods,  are  still,  compared  with 
the  strata  beneath  them,  of  comparatively  modern  origin, 
and  belong  to  the  general  epoch  of  the  supracretaceous  se- 
ries. 

It  will  easily  be  understood  that  one  characteristic  test 
of  the  date  or  age  of  a  rock  formation  is  to  be  found  in  the 
fossils  which  are  entombed  in  it.  If  these  are  of  genera 
and  species  now  existing;  it  is  an  inference  in  favour  of 
modern  formation  ;  if  the  genera  are  extant,  but  the  species 
extinct,  we  are  carried  back  to  a  more  remote  date;  and  if 
the  genera  are  also  extinct,  we  presume  upon  a  yet  more 
remote  period  of  deposition.  It  is  obvious,  also,  that  other 
conclusions  of  great  importance  may  he  deduced  from  the 
same  source,  and  that  the  remains  of  certain  quadrupeds, 
amphibious  animals,  and  fresh-water  and  marine  fish  and 
shells,  will  announce  the  existence  of  dry  land,  lakes,  or 
seas,  at  the  periods  of  the  respective  depositions ;  and 
again,  from  alternations  of  these  deposits,  we  are  often  en- 
abled to  infer  the  successive  or  alternate  states  of  dry  land, 
lakes,  and  the  ocean,  upon  one  and  the  same  spot.  All 
these  inferences  require  to  be  drawn  with  the  utmost  cir- 
cumspection, and  many  concomitant  circumstances  to  be 
496 


taken  into  the  account ;  but  the  data,  when  judiciously 
used,  are  of  the  greatest  interest  and  importance,  and  give 
the  most  unexpected  and  extraordinary  yet  philosophical 
clues  to  the  discovery  of  a  former  and  very  remote  state  of 
things  upon  the  surface  of  the  globe. 

The  tertiary  rocks,  when  tried  by  the  test  just  hinted  at, 
may  be  subdivided  into  three  or  four  periods,  founded  upon 
the  comparison  of  their  respective  fossils;  all  these  periods 
are  distinct  from  and  anterior  to  that  which  lias  elapsed 
since  the  earth  has  been  tenanted  by  man,  and  which  may 
therefore  be  called  the  historical,  recent,  or  contemporane- 
ous period. 

In  the  most  modern  of  the  above  periods,  the  formations 
are  such  as  contain  fossil  testaceous  remains,  of  which  the 
greater  part  are  referable  to  recent  species.  In  some  of 
there  is  an  immense  preponderance  of  recent  species,  and 
the  formations  pass  by  insensible  gradation  into  those  of  the 
historical  period ;  as  in  part  of  Sicily  and  the  district  about 
Naples.  In  others,  the  recent  species  vary  from  one  third 
to  one  half  of  the  entire  number ;  as  in  the  subappenine 
hills  and  in  the  English  crag.  The  formations  of  the  next 
period  contain  a  minority  only  of  imbedded  fossil  shells  of 
recent  species  (Touraine  and  the  beds  of  the  Loire) ;  and 
in  the  last,  they  are  of  such  very  sparing  occurrence,  as  to 
indicate  what  may  be  considered  as  the  first  commence- 
ment of  the  existing  state  of  the  animal  creation  (Paris  and 
London  basins). 

These  three  periods  of  formations  Mr.  Lyell  designates 
by  the  terms  Pliocene,  Miocene,  and  Eocene.  (Pliocene, 
from  7rAau)i<,  major,  and  icatvos,  recent,  because  the  major 
part  of  the  fossil  testacea;  of  this  epoch  are  referable  to  re- 
cent species;  Miocene,  from  ptiuv,  minor,  a  minority  only 
of  fossil  shells  imbedded  in  the  formations  of  this  period 
being  of  recent  species  ;  Eocene,  from  >;ws,  aurora,  because 
the  very  small  proportion  of  living  species  contained  in 
these  strata  indicates  the  dawn,  as  it  were,  of  the  present 
state  of  the  animal  creation.)  To  give  some  idea  of  the 
contents  and  arrangement  of  these  strata,  we  may  briefly 
refer  to  the  Paris,  Hampshire,  and  London  districts. 

A  descending  section  of  the  strata  near  Paris  presents  the 
following  orders  of  succession :  The  uppermost  rock  con- 
sists of  various  marls  and  siliceous  compounds,  containing 
organic  remains,  which  characterize  it  as  of  fresh-water 
formation ;  to  this  succeed  marls,  sand,  and  limestone,  with 
marine  shells ;  then  fresh-water  marls,  siliceous  lime- 
stone, and  gypsum,  with  the  bones  of  animals ;  then  a 
coarse  limestone  abounding  in  marine  remains,  often  hard, 
and  applicable  to  architectural  purposes ;  and  lastly,  lying 
upon  the  uneven  surface  of  the  chalk,  plastic  clay,  with 
beds  of  sand  containing  lignite,  amber,  and  shells  both  6f 
marine  and  fresh-water  animals. 

In  this  extraordinary  assemblage  some  of  the  organic 
relics  are  of  great  interest.  The  gypseous  strata  contain  the 
bones  of  extinct  mammalia  and  other  animals,  which  have 
been  almost  recalled,  as  it  were,  into  existence  by  the  scien- 
tific skill  of  Cuvier,  who  has  given  sketches  of  their  proba- 
ble forms  and  habitudes.  There  are  the  remains  of  about 
fifty  species  of  quadrupeds,  all  extinct,  and  nearly  4-5ths  of 
them  belonging  to  a  division  of  the  order  Pachydermata,  now 
only  represented  by  four  living  species ;  namely,  three  ta- 
pirs and  the  daman  of  the  Cape.  There  are  a  few  carnivo- 
rous animals,  among  which  are  a  species  of  fox  and  gen- 
net;  there  are  the  dormouse,  squirrel,  bat,  and  an  opos- 
sum (a  marsupial  animal,  now  confined  to  America  and 
Australia).  There  are  about  ten  species  of  birds;  and, 
among  the  reptiles,  crocodiles  and  tortoises. 

Though  we  shall  again  advert  to  the  probable  and  ap- 
parent causes  of  this  extraordinary  assemblage  of  relics,  it 
may  be  worth  while  to  refer  to  some  general  points  con- 
nected with  the  geology  of  the  Paris  district,  which  seem 
to  explain  certain  states  of  the  earth's  surface  then  ex- 
isting. 

In  the  first  place,  as  respects  their  general  arrangement, 
we  find  that  they  do  not  repose  horizontally  upon  each 
other,  but  that  there  are  irregularities,  announcing  hills 
and  valleys  upon  the  original  surface  of  the  chalk  on  which 
all  these  deposits  rest.  So  that  the  plastic  clay  and  its  as- 
sociates were  deposited  in  these  hollows,  filling  them  more 
or  less  up :  upon  this  the  lowest  marine  stratum  (calcaire 
grossier)  was  formed,  also  following  the  uneven  surface 
beneath.  Then  came  the  gypseous  deposit,  containing  land 
and  river  shells,  with  fragments  of  wood,  and  the  assem- 
blage of  skeletons :  respecting  which  it  deserves  particular 
notice,  that  they  are  often  entire,  the  most  delicate  extremi- 
ties being  preserved,  as  if  the  carcasses  clothed  with  their 
flesh  and  skin  had  been  floated  down  soon  after  death;  so 
that  Prevost  has  suggested  that  a  river  may  have  swept 
away  the  bodies  of  the  animals  and  plants  which  lived  on 
its  borders,  or  in  the  lakes  which  it  traversed,  and  may 
have  carried  them  down  to  a  gulf  into  which  flowed  waters 
impregnated  with  sulphate  of  lime,  and  by  which  they 
were  gradually  consolidated.    But  whatever  was  the  cause 


GEOLOGY. 


of  this  singular  state  of  things,  it  is  clear  that  the  deposit  of 
sulphate  of  lime  afterwards  ceased ;  that  the  relative  level 
of  the  sea  and  land  apparently  became  altered ;  and  that 
marls  with  sea  shells  were  formed,  and  pebbles  were  pro- 
duced, to  which  oysters  became  attached,  some  of  the  peb- 
bles being  pierced  by  boring  shells.  To  these  deposits  suc- 
ceeds sand  with  broken  organic  remains,  filling  up  inequali- 
ties of  surface,  and  apparently  announcing  a  long-continued 
action  of  water.  Then  those  causes  which  prevented  the 
envelopment  of  organic  remains  ceased,  and  marine  exuvice 
became  entombed  in  great  abundance ;  and  lastly,  to  close 
this  eventful  history,  a  varied  deposit  follows,  containing 
the  remains  of  such  animals  and  vegetables  as  are  known 
only  to  exist  on  dry  land,  or  in  marshes  or  fresh  water. 
This  variety  of  mineral  structure  has  been  supposed  to  re- 
sult from  springs  holding  various  substances  in  solution  en- 
tering various  parts  of  a  shallow  lake.  That  it  was  shal- 
low is  probable,  from  the  remains  of  the  small  seed  vessels 
of  fresh  water  plants  belonging  to  the  genus  Chara.  These 
curious  remains  were  once  supposed  to  be  microscopic 
shells :  they  have  been  called  Gyrogonites  (from  yvpos, 
curved,  and  yovos,  seed).  They  occur  frequently  in  fossil 
formations  of  ditferent  eras. 

In  the  Isle  of  Wight  there  is  a  succession  of  fresh-water 
and  marine  strata,  which,  as  far  as  fossil  contents  go,  agree 
in  many  respects  with  the  Paris  district ;  but  in  mineral 
character  they  are  very  different.  They  appear  almost  ex- 
clusively mechanical ;  and  the  chemical  solutions  of  silica, 
and  of  sulphate  and  carbonate  of  lime,  which  seem  to  have 
prevailed  about  Paris,  are  not  to  be  traced  here.  But  the 
bones  of  mammalia  corresponding  to  the  celebrated  gyp- 
sum deposits  of  Paris  have  been  disinterred  at  Binstead, 
near  Ryde. 

Here  as  elsewhere  we  find  signs  of  an  upheaving  of  the 
strata,  as  announced  in  the  different  succession  of  forma- 
tions, and  in  the  verticality  of  certain  neighbouring  beds. 
In  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  also  on  the  opposite  coast  of 
Hampshire,  the  fresh-water  beds  rest  upon  sand ;  and  there 
seems,  as  in  the  Paris  beds,  to  have  been  alternations  of 
currents  with  more  quiescent  deposits. 

A  peculiar  clay  underlies  London  and  the  adjoining  dis- 
trict, commonly  known  as  Ijondon  clay.  It  is  of  various  col- 
ours, and  contains  argillaceous  and  calcareous  matters ;  but 
the  latter  rarely  so  far  predominate  as  to  form  limestone,  or 
even  marl.  It  contains  layers  of  argillo-calcareous  nodules, 
called  septaria,  and  occasional  beds  of  sandstone.  Its  thick- 
ness varies,  sometimes  exceeding  500  feet.  As  many  of  the 
marine  shells  found  in  it  have  been  identified  with  th'ose  of 
the  Paris  basin,  it  is  probable  that  the  formations  belong  to 
the  same  epoch.  No  remains  of  terrestrial  mammals  have 
as  yet  been  found  in  it,  so  that  we  want  that  evidence  of 
the  vicinity  of  dry  land  at  the  time  of  its  formation ;  but, 
that  such  was  the  case  appears  probable  from  the  immense 
number  of  seeds  and  fruits,  some  of  them  resembling  the 
cocoa  nut  and  spices  of  tropical  regions.  The  lower  beds 
of  the  London  clay,  called  plastic  clay,  are  contemporane- 
ous with  the  equivalent  plastic  clay  of  Paris ;  they  contain 
beds  of  sand,  shingle,  clay,  and  loam,  irregularly  alternating, 
and  rest  upon  the  irregularities  of  the  chalk  beneath. 

Although  sulphate  of  lime  is  not  found  in  the  distinct 
manner  noticed  in  the  Paris  basin,  the  clay  of  London  is  in 
many  places  abundant  in  it,  and  it  is  sometimes  found  in 
fine  crystals.  Its  presence  is  also  announced  in  the  hard- 
ness of  the  spring  waters  that  issue  from  it,  as  contrasted 
with  the  softness  of  the  springs  from  the  plastic  clay  sands. 

In  Norfolk  and  Suffolk  there  is  a  rock  already  mentioned, 
known  under  the  provincial  name  of  crag.  It  appears  from 
its  position  and  fossil  contents  to  appertain  to  the  newest 
formations,  being  yet  more  modern  than  London  clay,  and 
containing  a  considerable  number  of  testaceous  remains 
identical  with  species  inhabiting  the  neighbouring  seas.  Its 
mineral  character  is  difficult  to  define.  It  generally  consists 
of  sand,  gravel,  and  marl ;  and  sometimes  presents  itself  in 
the  form  of  a  soft  stratified  rock,  composed  almost  entirely 
of  corals  and  echini,  or  of  loam  and  clay,  containing  bones 
of  terrestrial  quadrupeds  and  drift  wood",  with  fragments  of 
older  rocks,  and  gradually  passing  into  alluvium. 

Having  thus  enumerated  some  of  the  peculiarities  of  these 
tertian'  strata,  there  are  two  or  three  questions  connected 
with  the  formation  generally,  which,  before  we  leave  it,  it 
will  be  right  briefly  to  advert  to.  In  the  first  place,  the 
great  elevation  at  which  some  of  these  strata  occur  above 
the  level  of  the  sea  would  seem  to  indicate  to  the  super- 
ficial observer  a  retreat  or  falling  of  the  waters  of  the  ocean. 
But  more  accurate  inquiry  forbids  such  a  conclusion,  and 
leads  to  another,  at  first  more  extraordinary  inference ; 
namely,  that  the  land  has  often  been  elevated,  the  proofs 
and  illustrations  of  which  we  shall  again  recur  to.  Second- 
ly, that  the  organic  remains,  animal  as  well  as  vegetable, 
and  also  the  mineral  structure  of  many  of  these  rocks,  show 
that  the  temperature  of  these  parts  of  the  globe  has  under- 
gone a  considerable  declension  from  its  former  state;  for 


there  are  among  them  evidences  of  something  more  than  a 
tropical  climate,  and  of  thermal  or  even  boiling  springs. 
The  cause  of  this  change  of  the  globe's  temperature  forms 
an  important  subject  of  discussion  with  geologists.  Some, 
however,  have  contended  that  this  evidence  of  change  of 
temperature,  as  far  as  it  rests  upon  organic  relics,  is  insuf- 
ficient ;  for,  say  they,  we  do  not  absolutely  know  that  such 
animals  and  vegetables,  though  they  vow  require  a  high 
temperature,  may  not  at  some  former  period  have  been 
adapted  to  a  lower  one ;  and  they  adduce  the  Siberian  ele- 
phant, and  a  few  analogous  cases,  as  proofs.  But  as  we 
now  find  every  animal  and  vegetable  adapted  to  their  proper 
situations,  we  have  a  right  to  infer  the  existence  of  the 
same  fitness  and  design  at  all  antecedent  periods,  and  under 
every  possible  state  of  the  globe,  and  therefore  to  conclude 
that  similarly  constituted  animals  and  vegetables  have  in 
general  had  similar  habitants. 

We  therefore  are  obliged  to  conclude  that  the  earth's 
surface  has  suffered  a  notable  decrease  of  temperature,  or 
at  least  that  there  has  been  a  great  change  of  climate  over 
large  tracts  of  the  globe.  In  relation  to  this  question,  some 
have  argued  the  possibility  of  a  decrease  of  temperature 
from  internal  causes — have  considered  the  whole  globe  as 
having  cooled  from  absolute  fusion — and  that  this  process 
has  now  only  gone  to  a  certain  extent,  so  as  that  its  inte- 
rior is  still  glowing.  They  adduce  volcanos  and  thermal 
springs  as  proof  of  this,  and  maintain  that  the  warmth 
which  we  experience  in  deep  mines  is  attributable  to  this 
central  source  of  heat. 

In  so  far  as  this  hypothesis  of  a  central  heat  is  resorted  to 
to  explain  a  change  in  climate,  it  seems  inadequate;  for  it 
is  un philosophical  to  assume  that  the  same  effects  would 
result  from  such  a  cause  as  those  which  are  produced  by 
the  influence  of  the  sun's  rays  and  by  peculiarities  of  sur- 
face. 

Another,  and  perhaps  upon  the  whole  a  more  plausible 
explanation  of  this  subject,  refers  the  change  to  the  varying 
influence  of  the  disposition  of  land  and  sea  over  the  surface 
of  the  globe.  A  change  of  such  distribution  in  the  lapse  of 
ages,  by  the  wearing  down  of  old  continents  and  the  eleva- 
tion of  new,  is  a  fact  which  we  shall  be  able  to  demon- 
strate ;  and  the  influence  of  such  a  change  on  the  climates 
of  particular  regions,  if  not  of  the  whole  globe,  may  be  fair- 
ly concluded  from  what  we  know  by  actual  observation  of 
insular,  oceanic,  and  continental  climates.  Here  then,  "in 
language  of  very  high  authority,"  we  have  a  cause  on  which 
a  philosopher  may  consent  to  reason  ;  though  whether  the 
changes  actually  going  on  are  such  as  to  warrant  the  whole 
extent  of  the  conclusion,  or  are  even  taking  place  in  the 
right  direction,  must  be  considered  as  undecided  till  the 
matter  has  been  more  thoroughly  examined.  It  will  be  ob- 
served that  this  theory,  for  so  it  may  fairly  be  called,  sup- 
poses a  combination  of  external  and  internal  causes ;  the 
latter  raising  or  depressing  the  land  in  proper  situations,  the 
former  supplying  the  necessary  heat.  It  also  infers  the 
possible  return  of  a  warm  climate ;  so  that  the  same  situa- 
tions might  be  alternately  placed  under  the  influence  of  a 
raised  and  depressed  temperature,  or  as  it  were  of  an  equa- 
torial and  polar  clime. 

Lastly,  and  the  suggestion  is  sanctioned  by  the  authority 
of  Sir  John  Herschel,  we  may  look  to  the  astronomical  fact 
of  the  actual  slow  diminution  of  the  eccentricity  of  the 
earth's  orbit  round  the  sun.  This,  as  a  general  cause,  af- 
fecting the  mean  temperature  of  the  whole  globe,  and  as 
one  of  which  the  effect  is  both  inevitable  and  susceptible  to 
a  certain  degree  of  exact  estimation,  certainly  deserves  to  be 
considered.  It  is  evident  that  the  mean  temperature  of  the 
whole  surface  of  the  globe,  in  so  far  as  it  is  maintained  by 
the  action  of  the  sun  at  a  higher  temperature  than  it  would 
have  were  the  sun  extinguished,  must  depend  on  the  mean 
quantity  of  the  sun's  rays  which  it  receives ;  or,  which 
conies  to  the  same  thing,  on  the  total  quantity  received  in  a 
given  invariable  time ;  and  the  length  of  the  year  being 
unchangeable  in  all  the  fluctuations  of  the  planetary  system, 
it  follows  that  the  total  annua]  amount  of  the  solar  radia- 
tion will  determine,  ceteris  paribus,  the  general  climate  of 
the  earth.  Now  it  is  not  difficult  to  show  that  this  amount 
is  inversely  proportional  to  the  minor  axis  of  the  ellipse  de- 
scribed by  the  earth  about  the  sun,  regarded  as  slowly  va- 
riable ;  and  that  therefore  the  major  axis  remaining,  as  we 
know  it  to  be,  constant,  and  the  orbit  being  actually  in  the 
state  of  approach  to  a  circle,  and  consequently  the  minor 
axis  being  on  the  increase,  the  mean  annual  amount  of  so- 
lar radiation  received  by  the  whole  earth  must  be  actually 
on  the  decrease.  We  have  here,  therefore,  an  evident  real 
cause  of  sufficient  universality,  and  acting  in  the  right  di- 
rection, to  account  for  the  phenomenon :  its  adequacy  is 
another  consideration.  (Herschel' s  Preliminary  Discourse.) 
We  may  suggest  the  possibility  of  the  three  causes  adverted 
to  acting  in  unison,  to  account  for  the  complicated  and  cu- 
rious effects  of  which  we  seek  an  explanation. 

Such,  then,  are  the  leading  considerations  ari-ing  out  of 
Hh  497 


GEOLOGY. 


the  inspection  of  the  most  superficial,  and  apparently  the 
most  recent,  of  the  earth's  strata.  They  suggest  a  general 
change  in  the  disposition  of  sea  and  land ;  an  alteration  in 
their  relative  levels,  sometimes  often  repeated ;  the  exist- 
ence of  animals  and  vegetables  now  extinct;  and  a  remark- 
able alteration  in  the  general  temperature  of  the  globe. 
How  far  the  supposed  causes  of  these  changes  are  borne 
out  by  observations  upon  the  more  ancient  formations,  will 
be  seen  as  we  proceed  in  our  examination  of  the  descending 
series. 

A 

B 

mm 


In  the  above  diagram  A  A  represents  the  chalk  upon 
which  the  tertiary  strata  BCD  have  been  deposited ;  the 
latter  may  be  supposed  to  be  of  different  ages,  as  indicated 
by  their  included  fossils,  and  all  of  a  more  recent  date  than 
the  chalk  upon  which  they  lie. 

The  tertiary  rocks  rest  either  upon  chalk  or  upon  the 
geological  equivalents  of  chalk  ;  and  the  formations  of  this 
series  constitutes  a  prominent  feature  of  the  district  which 
surrounds  the  London  basin ;  for  as  soon  as  we  leave  the 
tertiary  deposits  which  characterize  the  vicinity  of  the  me- 
tropolis we  enter  upon  the  cretaceous  strata.  The  ranges 
of  chalk  in  this  part  of  the  kingdom  are  very  extensive ;  and 
in  consequence  of  their  smooth  and  rounded  outline,  and  the 
singular  cup-shaped  concavities  and  deep  hollows  in  which 
their  sides  abound,  they  confer  a  monotonous  peculiarity  on 
the  scenery.  They  are,  however,  of  much  interest  in  their 
geological  relations.  Salisbury  Plain  and  Marlborough 
Downs  form,  as  it  were,  a  centre  from  which  the  chalk 
emanates  in  a  north-east  direction,  through  Buckingham, 
Bedford,  and  Cambridge  shires,  and  terminates  in  one  di- 
rection upon  the  coast  of  Norfolk.  Another  branch,  inter- 
sected by  the  valley  of  the  Humber,  traverses  Lincolnshire, 
and  terminates  at  Flamborough  Head  in  Yorkshire.  The 
extreme  western  point  in  the  chalk  is  not  far  from  Honiton 
in  Devonshire,  whence  it  branches  towards  the  south-east 
to  the  Isle  of  Purbeck,  and  again  appears  forming  a  ridge 
that  crosses  the  Isle  of  Wight.  Another  range  of  chalk 
commences  near  Hungerford  in  Berkshire,  and  passes  by 
Alton  and  Rochester  to  the  coast  of  Kent,  forming  the  cliffs 
between  Deal  and  Folkstone.  From  near  Alton  another 
branch  passes  off,  terminating  at  the  lofty  promontory  of 
Beech  y  Head  on  the  coast  of  Sussex.  In  these  districts 
some  of  the  chalk  hills  are  of  no  inconsiderable  elevation. 
Near  Dunstable  and  Shaftesbury,  for  instance,  it  forms  hills 
nearly  1000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  Between 
Lewes  in  Sussex  and  Alton  in  Hampshire  there  are  several 
similar  elevations.  Between  Anton  and  Dover  the  highest 
point  is  about  800  feet ;  and  Dover  Castle  Hill  about  470 
feet. 

The  geological  history  of  the  chalk  offers  many  matters  of 
interest.  Where  it  is  denuded  of  alluvial  and  tertiary  de- 
posits, and  also  under  these,  its  surface  appears  water-worn ; 
and  the  fissures  which  it  exhibits  are  often  filled  with  rolled 
masses,  debris  and  flints.  One  of  its  most  remarkable  charac- 
ters, in  England  at  least,  is  the  presence  of  numerous  beds  of 
flint  in  the  upper  part  of  the  chalk  strata ;  while  the  lower 
beds  are  generally  deficient  in  flints,  and  argillaceous  or  sandy. 
These  flints  are  commonly  in  distinct  nodules,  horizontally 
arranged;  but  they  sometimes* are  vertical  or  variously  in- 
clined, and  occasionally  form  seams,  cutting  the  chalk  at 
different  angles. 

The  great  abundance  of  organic  remains  in  the  chalk  has 
been  observed  from  a  very  early  period ;  they  have  recently 
been  carefully  examined,  and  proved  to  be  almost  entirely 
marine.  No  remains  of  mammalia  have  been  detected  in 
them  ;  but  in  Yorkshire  and  Sussex  reptiles,  one  of  them  of 
a  considerable  size,  have  been  observed.  The  Mososaurus 
Hoffmanni,  and  a  crocodile,  fish,  and  shark's  teeth,  have 
been  found ;  as  also  zoophites,  shells,  mollusks,  and  a  few 
crustaceous  animals. 

The  origin  of  chalk  it  is  difficult  to  explain.  There  appears 
no  evidence  of  its  having  been  deposited  from  chemical  solu- 
tion; but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  bears  marks  of  a  mechanical 
deposit,  as  if  from  water  loaded  with  it  in  fine  division.  And 
upon  this  principle  some  gleam  of  light  may  perhaps  be 
thrown  upon  the  enigmatical  appearance  of  the  flints ;  for  it 
is  found  that  if  finely  powdered  silica  be  mixed  with  other 
earthy  bodies,  and  the  whole  diffused  through  water,  the 
grains  of  silica  have,  under  certain  circumstances,  a  tendency 
to  aggregate  into  small  nodules;  and  in  some  chalk  small 
grains  of  quartz  are  discoverable. 

Many  of  our  chalk  strata  afford  decided  evidence  of  great 
disturbances  having  taken  place  among  them,  probably  at 
the  period  of  their  elevation  from  the  sea.  Illustrative  in- 
498 


stances  of  such  disturbances  are  given  by  Mr.  Lyell  in  the 
case  of  the  chalk  of  Newbury  in  Berkshire,  and  of  the  ravine 
called  the  Coomb,  near  Lewes,  in  Sussex ;  the  latter  shows 
how  narrow  openings  of  this  kind  may  have  been  accompa- 
nied by  shifts  and  dislocations,  as  well  as  fracture  of  the 
strata.  The  steep  declivities  on  each  side  and  the  bottom  of 
the  ravine  are  covered  with  green  turf,  and  no  outward  signs 
of  disturbance  are  visible ;  but  when  we  examine  the  section 
in  the  neighbouring  chalk-pits,  we  find  that  there  has  been 
much  internal  derangement. 

The  evidence  of  this  derangement  is  shown  in  the  annexed 
diagram,  where  A  and  B  represent  the  chalk  with  and  the 
chalk  without  flints  on  each  side  of  the  gap. 


These  dislocations,  or  shifts  or  faults,  are  common  in  al! 
strata,  though  most  observed  in  coal  districts,  from  the  im- 
portance of  the  material  affected  by  them. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  such  appearances  are  favourable 
to  the  idea  of  those  local  convulsions  alluded  to  in  referring 
to  certain  tertiary  strata.  For  if  portions  of  the  secondary 
rocks  emerged  from  the  sea  during  that  period,  it  is  probable 
that  the  chalk  underwent  many  oscillations  of  level ;  that 
certain  tracts  became  land  and  then  sea,  and  then  land  again ; 
so  that  parts  of  the  surface  first  excavated  by  currents  or 
rivers  were  occasionally  submerged,  and  after  having  been 
covered  by  tertiary  deposits  upraised  again ;  and  assuming 
the  elevation  of  the  chalk  to  have  been  slow,  every  part  of 
it  must  have  been  exposed  for  some  time  to  the  action  of  the 
waves:  hence  the  valleys  upon  its  surface,  and  the  broken 
and  rolled  flints  which  overspread  it. 

In  describing  the  general  characters  of  the  chalk,  we  have 
limited  ourselves  to  England;  but  in  other  countries  the 
mineralogical  characters  of  this  formation  are  such  as  would 
lead  us  to  arrange  it  with  other  groups,  were  it  not  that  the 
included  organic  remains  mark  them  as  of  the  same  epoch  : 
such  are  the  hard  limestone  and  sandstone  of  the  Alps,  Py- 
renees, and  some  other  primitive  countries. 

The  lower  beds  of  chalk  graduate  into  a  variety  of  sands 
and  sandstones  of  different  aspects  and  degrees  of  induration, 
and  often  abounding  in  green  particles  composed  of  silicate 
of  iron;  whence  the  term  green-sand.  These  beds  are  asso- 
ciated as  one  formation,  in  consequence  of  the  general  char- 
acter of  their  fossil  remains:  there  is  also  an  argillaceous 
deposit,  provincially  known  under  the  name  of  gault,  which 
belongs  to  the  same  class. 

But  we  now  descend  by  gradual  transition  to  the  clays, 
sands,  and  limestones  of  a  distinct  formation,  known  in  this 
country  as  the  Wcahl  rocks,  Hastings  sands,  and  Purbeck 
beds.  These  had  generally  been  confounded  with  the  pre- 
ceding green-sands  of  the  chalk  formation ;  but  a  closer  ex- 
amination of  their  organic  remains  shows  them  of  distinct 
origin ;  for,  strange  to  say,  after  what  we  know  of  the  chalk, 
they  abound  in  terrestrial  and  fresh-water  remains :  showing 
the  existence  of  dry  land,  and  lakes  and  rivers,  before  the 
chalk  rocks  were  formed ;  and  showing  also,  by  the  way  in 
which  they  blend  with  the  sands  above,  that  the  change  of 
circumstances  which  permitted  the  residence  of  marine  .ani- 
mals over  a  surface  previously  inhabited  by  fresh-water  ani- 
mals was  not  sudden,  but  gradual.  The  examination  of 
these  strata  has  been  ably  and  diligently  pursued  by  Mr. 
Mantell,  whose  splendid  illustrative  collection  is  now  in  the 
British  Museum. 

The  clays  and  sandstones  of  this  formation  contain  con- 
cretions and  veins  of  argillaceous  iron;  and  these  were  for- 
merly worked  in  the  Weald  of  Sussex,  as  shown  by  the 
relics  of  ancient  iron  works,  and  by  the  abundance  of  re- 
maining slags,  which  are  at  this  day  still  used  for  mending 
the  roads  about  Rotherfield,  Mayfield,  &c.  The  extensive 
triangle  of  which  Folkstone,  Beechy  Head,  and  Alston  are 
the  points,  is  characterized  by  this  formation,  forming  greater 
part  of  the  region  intervening  between  the  North  and  South 
Downs,  known  as  the  Valley  of  the  Weald. 

This  district  is  very  instructive,  both  as  to  theoretical  and 
practical  geology,  it  seems  highly  probable  that  the  chalk 
lias  once  been  continuous,  but  that  it  has  been  washed  away 
by  breakers  and  currents,  and  fractured  by  the  power  which 
has  elevated  the  strata.  In  illustration  of  this  important  point 
of  theory,  the  section  of  the  country  between  the  London  and 
Isle  of  Wight  basins  may  be  referred  to. 

If  we  set  out  from  London,  travelling  southwards,  on  leav- 
ing the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  metropolis  we  ascend  an 
inclined  plane  of  flinty  chalk,  and  then  find  ourselves  on  the 


GEOLOGY. 


summit  of  a  declivity  consisting  chiefly  of  the  different,  mem- 
bers of  the  chalk  formation.  This  is  called  the  escarpment 
of  the  chalk ;  it  overhangs  a  valley  excavated  chiefly  out  of 
the  lower  beds  of  the  chalk  formation,  such  as  sandstones 
and  gault,  and  is  continuous  along  the  southern  termination 
of  the  North  Downs ;  so  that  it  may  be  traced  from  the  sea 
at  Folkstone  westward  to  Guilford  and  the  neighbourhood 
of  Petersfield,  and  thence  to  the  termination  of  the  South 
Downs  at  Beechy  Head,  where  the  strata  are  cut  off  abruptly 
by  the  inroads  of  the  ocean,  but  where  it  is  evident  that  they 
must  have  at  one  time  been  continued. 

This  denudation  is  frequently  referred  to  by  geological 
theorists,  as  rendering  it  extremely  probable  that  the  second- 
ary districts  were  gradually  elevated  and  denuded  when  the 
basins  of  London  and  Hampshire  were  still  submarine,  and 
while  they  were  progressively  filling  up  with  tertiary  sand 
and  clay.  It  would  also  appear  that  subsequently  to  the 
emergence  of  the  secondary  rocks  an  immense  mass  of  their 
upper  portions  has  been  removed  by  the  force  of  water,  and 
that  the  materials  thus  carried  away  were  probably  con- 
veyed into  the  depths  of  the  contiguous  sea 


The  above  diagram  will  serve  to  explain  a  valley  of  de- 
nudation, the  strata  1,  2,  and  3  being  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent  removed  or  washed  away,  and  different  surfaces  of 
these,  and  of  4,  being  now  exposed. 

We  now  again  advert  to  the  organic  contents  of  the  Weald 
rocks,  which,  as  already  stated,  are  such  as  indicate  the 
existence  of  fresh  water  and  dry  land  before  the  present 
chalk  deposits  were  formed ;  and  although  some  of  the  in- 
ferences of  geologists  upon  this  subject  appear  at  first  start- 
ling and  even  romantic,  they  are  perfectly  fair  deductions 
from  the  phenomena  observed. 

The  Hastings  sands  consist  of  sand  and  sandstone,  with 
occasional  beds  of  clay  and  shale,  containing  silicified  wood 
and  fragments  of  carbonized  vegetables,  lignite,  ironstone, 
and  argillaceous  limestone;  and  the  Purbeck  beds  include 
varieties  of  sand  and  limestone  much  used  for  pavement. 
From  the  organic  remains  of  these  rocks  it  would  appear 
that  they  were  formed  chiefly  in  fresh  water ;  in  lakes,  rivers, 
or  estuaries.  There  is  a  formation  in  the  Isle  of  Portland 
belonging  to  this  series  which  has  been  called  the  dirt-bed, 
and  which  has  also  been  found  near  Weymouth  and  else- 
where. It  appears  from  its  contents  to  announce  the  first 
appearance  of  dry  land,  succeeded  by  submersion  of  the  same 
land  under  fresh  water  in  which  the  Weald  rocks  were 
formed;  not  suddenly,  for  there  are  no  marks  of  violence, 
but  gradually,  the  shells  being  tranquilly  entombed  in  the 
sandy  and  calcareous  deposits. 

We  shall  find,  in  examining  the  oolitic  rocks  upon  which 
these  rest,  that  they  abound  in  marine  remains ;  so  that  we 
must  suppose  a  rise  of  the  land  or  a  depression  of  the  sea  to 
such  an  extent  as  to  permit  the  sea-formed  rocks  to  become 
dry  land,  upon  which  tropical  plants  flourished.  Then  this 
land  again  became  in  its  turn  depressed ;  but  so  quietly  that  the 
trees  were  apparently  left  in  their  natural  positions,  and  even 
the  pebbles  and  soil  not  washed  away.  There  is,  in  short, 
a  great  resemblance  between  these  very  ancient  relics  and 
those  of  submarine  forests  of  later  date  upon  the  coast ;  ex- 
cept that  the  former  are  tropical  plants,  the  latter  oak,  hazel, 
&c. 

In  the  sands  we  find  entombed  tortoises,  crocodiles,  plesi- 
osauri  and  megalosauri,  and  huge  iguanodons.  (Mantell, 
Phil.  Trans.  1825.) 

It  is  probable  that  these  monstrous  reptiles  sported  in  the 
waters  and  basked  upon  the  banks  of  the  lake  or  estuary 
into  which  trees  and  different  vegetables  were  drifted.  Now 
it  will  be  remembered  that  the  sea  again  resumed  its  do- 
minion after  this  state  of  things,  because  these  strata  are 
covered  by  the  chalk  rocks  already  recognized  as  marine 
deposits ;  and  as  there  are  no  marks  of  violence  where  the 
Wealden  rocks  and  the  green-sands  of  the  cretaceous  series 
come  together,  but,  on  the  contrary,  as  they  gradually  pass 
into  each  other,  these  extraordinary  transitions  seem  to  have 
been  gradual,  and  not  attended  by  any  violent  or  sudden 
catastrophe. 

Such,  then,  are  the  remarkable  records  of  the  Wealden 
rocks,  and  there  are  analagous  cases  in  other  parts  of  Europe. 

The  oolitic  rocks  form  a  very  important  and  curious,  but 
rather  complicated  series  of  strata,  in  this  country ;  in  which, 
however,  there  are  certain  analogies  which  enable  us  to 
group  them  into  one  general  assemblage.  Mr.  Lonsdale's 
paper  on  the  Bath  district  may  be  referred  to  as  giving  a  lucid 
account  of  the  varieties  and  peculiarities  of  these  rocks.  The 
oolitic  limestones  are  well  known  from  their  common  use  as 


building  materials  under  the  names  of  Bathstone,  freestone, 
&c.  They  are  intermingled  with  limestones  which  do  not 
possess  the  oolitic  structure,  and  with  arenaceous  and  argil- 
laceous beds.  Lias,  the  lowest  member  of  the  series,  is  an 
argillo-calcareous  deposit,  commonly  containing  numerous 
organic  remains. 

In  England,  this  formation  extends  from  the  sea  coast  of 
Dorset,  near  Bridport,  to  the  northern  extremity  of  the  Cleave- 
land  Hills,  in  Yorkshire,  in  one  range  of  hills,  broken  by  the 
vale  of  the  Humber.  The  lias  is  often  bituminous,  and  is 
impregnated  with  sulphate  of  soda,  sulphate  of  magnesia, 
and  common  salt:  it  abounds  in  ammonites,  belemnites,  and 
other  chambered  shells ;  and  in  bivalves,  and  some  univalves ; 
gryphites  (a  deeply  incurved  bivalve),  encrinites,  and  penta- 
crinites,  and  other  zoophiles ;  and  the  remarkable  saurian 
animals  already  noticed. 

To  the  rocks  enumerated  under  the  general  term  of  the 
oolitic  group  there  succeed  a  series  of  sandstones,  which 
from  their  prevailing  colour  are  generally  known  as  the  red 
sandstone  and  marl  formation,  and  which  are  incumbent 
upon  the  coal  deposits  of  this  country.  Their  organic  relica 
are  numerous ;  and  they  derive  interest  from  being  the  seat 
of  our  great  beds  of  salt,  which  occur  in  the  counties  of 
Cheshire  and  Worcester. 

In  the  salt  itself  there  is  nothing  very  remarkable,  except, 
perhaps,  its  occasional  purity.  It  is  sometimes  colourless,  and 
contains  not  more  than  2  per  cent,  of  foreign  matter ;  in  other 
parts  it  is  tinged  red,  and  more  or  less  mixed  with  earthy 
impurities.  The  brine  springs,  which  often  yield  20  per 
cent,  of  salt,  are  doubtlessly  derived  from  the  accession  of 
water  to  similar  solid  masses. 

How  the  salt  came  where  we  now  find  it,  is  a  question  of 
no  easy  solution.  It  has  been  supposed  that  it  was  produced 
at  the  bottom  of  salt-water  lakes,  and  the  existence  of  beda 
of  salt  in  certain  lakes  of  Afiica  and  South  America  is  quoted 
in  favour  of  such  an  hypothesis. 

Another  substance  abundant  in  this  formation,  and  appa- 
rently more  or  less  connected  with  the  salt  deposits,  is  gyp- 
sum, or  sulphate  of  lime ;  known  also  under  the  name  of 
alabaster.  It  has  been  already  mentioned  as  occurring  in 
the  tertiary  strata,  forming  the  cement  which  entombs  the 
organic  remains  of  the  Paris  basin,  and  where  it  was  proba- 
lilv  formed  by  sulphuric  exhalations  and  springs  acting  upon 
the  detritus  of  the  secondary  chalk,  which  there  appears  to 
have  suffered  such  extensive  degradation. 

In  our  red-sand  districts  the  salt  and  gypsum  are  distinct, 
but  they  are  not  unfrequently  mixed ;  and  in  Egypt  a  highly 
saline  gypsum  is  sometimes  used  as  a  substitute  for  salt. 
This  rock,  when  exposed  to  air  and  water,  would  of  course 
lose  its  more  soluble  common  salt ;  and  hence,  probably,  the 
scriptural  and  oriental  allusion  to  the  inefficiency  of  salt 
which  has  lost  its  saltness. 

In  the  north  of  England,  magnesian  limestone  is  associ- 
ated with  these  strata.  It  is  usually  of  a  yellowish  or  fawn 
colour,  not  abundant  in  organic  remains,  and  is  often  a  valu- 
able and  durable  building  stone. 

The  next  substances  which  occur  in  descending  order  are 
the  coal  strata,  or  measures,  or  coal  basins,  as  they  are  some- 
times called  ;  and  if,  upon  our  journey  downwards,  we  have 
been  srruck  with  the  extraordinary  aspect  of  the  animal 
kingdom  at  certain  periods  or  epochs  of  the  earth,  we  shall 
now  meet  with  matters  quite  as  wonderful  in  the  remains  of 
extinct  vegetable  tribes,  while  at  the  same  time  we  have 
brought  before  us  a  substance  of  such  importance  to  our 
commercial  welfare  and  national  resources,  that  every  trifle 
connected  with  its  history  assumes  an  air  of  peculiar  and 
distinct  interest. 

There  are  two  or  three  points,  and  those  of  much  theoreti- 
cal importance,  respecting  the  origin  of  coal,  in  which  geolo- 
gical authorities  seem  nearly  unanimous.  The  one  is,  that 
our  present  coal  is  exclusively  of  vegetable  origin,  formed 
apparently  from  the  destruction  of  vast  forests ;  and  from  the 
prodigious  quantities  of  timber  drifted  by  some  of  the  great 
rivers  of  the  world  into  the  present  ocean,  it  is  by  no  means 
improbable  that  a  similar  formation  is  now  going  on  in  the 
depths  of  certain  parts  of  the  sea :  and,  secondly,  from  the 
nature  of  the  preserved  vegetables,  it  would  seen  that  the 
climate  of  these  parts  of  Europe  was  of  a  tropical  character. 
It  may  also  be  inferred  that  these  strata  were  deposited  in 
the  neighbourhood,  and  often  probably  upon  the  verge,  of 
extensive  tracts  of  dry  land ;  for  the  trees  that  are  found  in 
coal  strata  are  often  like  those  of  our  submarine  forests,  or 
of  the  Portland  dirt-bed,  as  far  as  position  goes;  and,  finally,  - 
that  they  were  afterwards  elevated,  and  often  singularly  dis- 
located and  contorted  by  forces,  the  nature  of  which  we 
shall  afterwards  consider. 

In  some  coal  fields  there  are  appearances  which  justify 
the  term  coal  basin ;  they  are  of  limited  extent,  frequently 
dip,  as  it  were,  to  a  common  centre,  and  consist  of  various 
beds  of  sandstone,  shale,  and  coal,  irregularly  stratified, 
sometimes  mixed  with  conglomerates— the  whole  showing 
a  mechanical  origin. 


GEOLOGY. 


That  these  depositions  have  taken  place,  and  that  the 
change  of  the  wood  into  coal  has  often  been  effected  under 
great  pressure,  and  often  under  pressure  and  heat,  seems  evi- 
dent from  the  appearance  of  some  of  the  vegetable  masses, 
and  also  from  the  manner  in  which  the  carburretted  hydro- 
gen escapes  in  the  form  of  blowers  from  the  strata ;  as  if  it 
were  pent  up  in  their  cavities  under  vast  condensation,  and 
sometimes  perhaps  even  in  a  liquid  form. 

An  opinion  respecting  the  origin  of  coal,  first  advocated  by 
De  Luc,  and  more  recently  by  Adolphe  Brongniart,  (the  cele- 
brated fossil  botanist),  is,  that  coal  beds  have  been  extensive 
sheets  of  vegetable  matter,  resembling  in  that  particular  peat 
bogs,  which  have,  one  after  the  other,  been  submerged  and 
covered  by  sand  and  silt.  There  are  numerous  facts  in  favour 
of  this  view,  which  has  also  been  sanctioned  by  Mr.  De  la 
Beche,  as,  upon  the  whole,  more  consistent  with  the  phe- 
nomena presented  by  coal  formations. 

It  has  been  well  observed  by  one  of  the  most  instructive 
geological  writers,  that  in  the  present  condition  of  the  coal 
measures  we  have  opportunities  of  observing  design,  even 
where  things  are  so  disposed  as  at  first  sight  apparently  to 
preclude  any  such  inference.  The  accumulation  of  vegeta- 
ble matter  at  a  remote  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  world,  for 
the  convenience  and  consumption  of  creatures  which  were 
long  afterwards  to  exist  upon  its  surface,  must  strike  the  least 
inquiring ;  but  when  the  twisted,  dislocated,  upturned,  and 
broken  strata  so  common  in  the  coal  districts  are  before  us, 
the  design  appears  to  the  superficial  observer  to  be  frustrated, 
especially  when  the  miner  complains  of  them  as  interrupting 
or  even  preventing  his  progress ;  so  that  this  apparent  confu- 
sion has  sometimes  been  regarded  as  a  bar  to  the  ingenuity 
and  industry  of  man  in  extracting  the  combustible  so  valua- 
ble and  requisite.  When,  however,  we  contemplate  the 
subject  more  closely,  we  find  that  these  very  irregularities 
and  inconveniencies  are  in  reality  highly  advantageous,  for 
they  often  heave  up  seams  of  coal  that  would  otherwise  be 
beyond  reach ;  and  they  perform  the  yet  more  important 
service  of  excluding  the  passage  of  subterraneous  waters 
from  one  part  of  the  workings  to  another :  so  that  the  miners 
in  collieries  situated  in  one  particular  mass  have  only  to 
contend  with  the  waters  in  it ;  whereas  if  the  strata  were 
always  unbroken  and  continuous,  such  would  be  the  abun- 
dance of  water  flowing  into  the  workings  that  the  utmost 
difliculty  and  expense  would  be  incurred  in  proceeding,  and 
it  would  often  be  necessary  altogether  to  abandon  the  far- 
ther extraction  of  the  coal.  The  section  of  strata  in  Jarrow 
colliery,  near  Newcastle,  shows  how  curiously  they  are 
sometimes  fractured  and  dislocated ;  and  in  the  coal  meas- 
ures at  Little  Haven,  St.  Bride's  Bay  (Pembrokeshire),  we 
have  a  good  instance  of  their  occasional  contortions. 

The  annexed  diagrams  represent  a  section  of  a  coal  basin, 
and  the  disturbance  and  dislocation  of  the  strata  by  dikes 
or  cross-courses.  A  A,  in  the  first  figure,  are  the  dikes  by 
which  the  shales  and  coal  B  B  B,  are  disturbed ;  and,  in  the 
second,  the  seam  of  coal  B  B,  which,  as  in  the  other  case, 
was  once  continuous,  has  been  dislocated  by  the  intrusion  of 
the  dike  A. 


Though  there  may  be  many  beds  and  seams  of  coal  in  one 
field,  it  is  seldom  that  many  of  them  are  worked ;  they  are 
generally  of  uniform  thickness  through  a  great  extent,  but 
are  sometimes  subject  to  irregularities.  When  less  than  two 
feet  thick,  they  are  seldom  worked  to  any  great  extent. 

The  nature  of  the  upper  stratum  of  stony  matter,  or  roof, 
is  very  important.  If  compact,  it  is  secure  from  falling,  and 
keeps  out  water ;  if  loose,  the  expense  incurred  in  support- 
ing it  absorbs  the  profits  of  the  coal.  The  deepest  coal 
mines  in  England  are  those  of  Northumberland  and  Dur- 
ham, which  are  worked  nearly  1000  feet  below  the  surface. 
500 


The  thickest  bed  of  coal  is  said  to  be  at  Wood  Mill  Hill  col- 
liery in  Staffordshire,  and  to  exceed  40  feet.  From  6  to  9 
feet  is  the  average  thickness  of  the  most  productive  seams. 

Coal  strata  are  often  accompanied  by  clay  ironstone ;  an 
ore  of  iron  not  so  rich  in  metal  nor  so  pure  as  many  others, 
but  which  has  acquired  infinite  importance  from  its  associa- 
tion with  coal  and  limestone,  the  substances  which  are 
requisite  to  reduce  and  purify  it.  The  richest  varieties  of 
this  ore  are  said  to  yield  about  25  to  30  per  cent,  of  metal, 
and  it  is  the  chief  soiuce  of  the  enormous  quantities  of  iron 
manufactured  in  this  country. 

$n. 

Mountain  Limestone,  which  is  the  next  rock  in  descend- 
ing order,  may  be  considered  as  forming  the  foundations  as 
it  were,  or  basins,  in  which  the  coal  is  commonly  deposited, 
and  in  this  respect  bears  some  correspondence  to  the  chalk 
and  its  tertiary  formations. 

This  kind  of  limestone  is  of  various  colours,  and  often  so 
full  of  organic  remains  as  to  appear  almost  entirely  made  up 
of  them,  especially  of  encrinal  columns;  but  sometimes 
scarcely  an  organic  relic  is  to  be  detected,  and  it  is  veined 
and  variegated  with  streaks  of  calcareous  spar.  Both  these 
varieties  form  useful  and  often  handsome  marble. 

This  rock  is  of  farther  interest,  as  being  that  which  in  the 
centre  and  north  of  England  is  the  seat  of  our  most  pro- 
ductive lead  mines ;  hence  it  is  called  metalliferous  limestone. 
The  great  patch  of  limestone  extending  from  the  Tweed  to 
the  Tees,  bounded  by  the  coal  measures  on  the  east,  and  on 
the  west  by  the  Cheviot  Hills,  is  especially  known  as  the 
lead  measures.  The  characters  of  the  rocks  are  very  varia- 
ble. The  veins  hitherto  worked  occupy  a  space  of  about  15 
miles  north  and  south,  and  20  west  and  east,  and  run,  with 
little  exception,  nearly  west  and  east. 

The  Yorkshire  limestone  district,  exclusive  of  its  metallic 
veins,  is  traversed  by  others,  which,  as  they  are  only  filled 
with  lapideous  substances,  are  of  little  interest  to  the  miner, 
but  of  deep  importance  to  the  geologist.  They  often  inter- 
sect the  metallic  veins,  disturbing  the  parallelism  of  the 
strata,  and  often  occasion  much  irregularity  and  confusion. 
There  is  here  an  instance  of  the  elevation  of  the  strata  to 
more  than  two  fathoms  upon  the  side  of  one  of  these  cross 
veins.  The  contents  of  these  cross  courses  are  very  miscel- 
laneous ;  and  where  the  material  they  are  filled  with  is 
much  harder  and  more  durable  than  the  assailed  strata, 
their  course  is  often  perceptible  upon  the  weather-worn  sur- 
face of  the  country  which  they  traverse.  Such  is  the  cross 
vein  of  the  lead  measures  called  the  Devil's  Backbone, 
forming  a  ridge  that  may  be  traced  a  considerable  distance 
along  the  country  through  which  it  passes. 

The  Derbyshire  limestone  district  is  well  known,  and 
frequently  visited  on  account  of  the  romantic  scenery  and 
wonders  in  which  it  abounds.  Castleton  is  its  northern  point, 
and  it  extends  southward  about  25  miles  to  Weaver  Hill. 
Its  breadth  is  very  irregular,  but  nowhere  exceeds  about  20 
miles.  Its  eastern  end  contributes  to  the  delightful  and 
varied  scenery  of  Matlock,  and  its  north-western  extremity 
is  celebrated  for  the  wonders  of  the  Peak. 

In  regard  to  the  varied  aspect  of  this  district,  it  may  be 
observed  that  the  different  strata  of  limestone  differ  consid- 
erably from  each  other ;  that  beds  and  dikes  of  another 
species  of  rock  intervene,  provincially  called  toadstone  ;  and 
that  the  respective  edges  of  these  strata  come  to  the  surface ; 
and,  lastly,  that  the  country  is  traversed  by  a  great  fault  or 
dislocation. 

The  singular  turreted  and  broken  appearance  of  these 
limestone  rocks,  and  the  fantastic  shapes  which  their  various 
masses  occasionally  assume,  are  well  seen  in  Dovedale ;  and 
some  of  their  other  peculiarities,  especially  their  curvatures, 
and  some  of  the  dislocations  which  they  have  suffered,  are 
evident  in  Matlock  and  its  neighbourhood.  In  the  High  Tor 
the  stratification  appears  horizontal  and  regular  when  view- 
ed in  front ;  but  a  more  accurate  examination  shows  that 
it  is  curved  and  irregular :  a  section  made  by  the  river  Der- 
went,  near  the  toll  bar,  well  illustrates  this  peculiarity. 
Another  instance  of  curved  strata  may  be  seen  in  Crich 
Cliff,  about  4  miles  east  of  Matlock ;  it  is  an  isolated  hill 
about  900  feet  above  the  level  of  the  river.  According  to 
Mr.  Bakewell,  the  mass  of  the  hill  consists  of  arched  strata 
of  limestone.  The  different  beds  of  limestone  are  of  very 
different  qualities  and  composition ;  the  upper,  cherty,  and 
often  bituminous,  abounding  in  corallites  and  encrini,  &c, 
often  curiously  seen  in  relief  upon  its  weather-worn  surface. 
Beneath,  the  rock  contains  beds  of  magnesian  limestone 
and  silicious  limestone  or  dunstone,  and  towards  its  lower 
part,  beds  of  black  marble.  The  lowest  limestone  stratum 
is  that  which  forms  the  Peak  Forest,  the  downs  of  Buxton, 
and  the  Weaver  Hills;  and  in  it  are  several  remarkable 
caverns.  Here  also  we  find  at  Castleton  those  curious  no- 
dules of  fluor  spar,  celebrated  for  the  manufacture  of  vases, 
&c. ;  also  that  very  singular  mineral,  the  elastic  bitumen, 
or   fossil  caoutchouc.     The  subterranean  streams  which 


GEOLOGY. 


traverse  many  of  these  caverns,  the  stalactites  and  stalag- 
mites in  which  they  abound,  and  the  thermal  waters  which 
characterize  the  district,  are  all  important  points  to  be  no- 
ticed. The  toadstone  of  Derbyshire  is  sometimes  represent- 
ed as  regularly  stratified  between  the  limestone  beds,  but 
this  requires  further  investigation;  and  at  all  events  the 
beds,  if  such  they  are,  are  liable  to  many  extraordinary  ir- 
regularities. The  toadstone  never  contains  shells  or  organic 
remains ;  calcedony,  zeolite,  and  globules  of  calcareous  spar 
are  not  uncommon  in  it ;  and  whatever  theory  may  be  en- 
tertained in  respect  to  it,  it  evidently  bears  the  character  of 
a  formation  distinct  from  its  associates.  In  the  cave  at  Cas- 
tleton  it  forms  a  large  irregular  column,  having  the  appear- 
ance of  the  rock  called  basalt. 

The  veins  in  the  limestone  in  Derbyshire  contain  the 
ores  of  lead,  manganese,  copper,  zinc,  and  iron :  the  proper 
repository  of  the  lead  appears  to  be  the  limestone,  though  it 
also  occurs  in  some  other  strata,  and  rarely  in  the  toadstone, 
in  which  it  is  always  in  small  quantities,  and  merely  in  strings 
of  very  imperfect  veins.  Near  Bristol  the  limestone  hills 
rise  from  below  the  red  sandstone,  and  form  the  edges  of 
the  coal  basin.  In  some  places  it  is  very  bituminous,  as  on 
the  Avon  at  Chepstow,  and  even  exudes  petroleum.  On  the 
Welch  coast  of  the  Bristol  Channel  we  have  another  ridge 
of  limestone,  forming  the  basin,  as  it  were,  in  which  the 
great  coalfield  of  South  Wales  is  situated.  The  hills  on  the 
west  of  Swansea  and  the  cliffs  on  the  south  of  Pembroke 
are  of  this  formation ;  and  again  on  the  banks  of  the  Wye 
it  constitutes  scenery  of  a  soft  but  romantic  character. 
There  is  something  singularly  fascinating  in  the  landscape 
of  the  limestone  districts,  resulting  not  only  from  the  varied 
forms  and  groupings  of  the  mountain  masses,  hut  depending 
also  upon  the  nature  of  the  substance,  and  of  the  soil  derived 
from  its  decay.  Upon  the  perpendicular  and  projecting 
precipices,  lichens  of  various  and  singular  hues  alternate 
with  the  gray  surface  of  the  uncovered  rock ;  a  variety  of 
shrubs  are  scattered  by  nature's  hand  upon  its  picturesque 
and  waving  sides ;  ivy  and  other  creeping  plants  issue  in 
gay  luxuriance  from  its  crevices,  and  the  glens  and  valleys 
are  adorned  by  every  variety  of  verdure. 

We  may  now  cast  a  glance  upon  the  probable  state  of  the 
globe  at  the  period  at  which  the  coal  and  the  subordinate 
limestone  rocks  were  formed  In  regard  to  the  latter  it 
would  appear  that  they  extend  over  a  great  part  of  central 
and  northern  Europe;  and  that  rocks  containing  the  same 
organic  remains  are  found  in  the  lake  district  of  North  Amer- 
ica, and  are  even  abundant  upon  the  borders  of  the  Arctic 
Sea.  The  great  quantity  of  corals  found  in  this  formation, 
as  well  as  its  vast  extent,  seem  to  prove  that  it  was  formed 
in  a  deep  and  extensive  sea,  in  the  midst  of  which  there  were 
many  isles.  These  isles  were  apparently  composed  of  pri- 
mary and  of  volcanic  rocks,  which  being  exposed  to  the 
erosive  action  of  torrents,  to  the  artillery  of  the  waves,  and 
to  superficial  decomposition,  supplied  materials  for  the  peb- 
bles, sand,  and  shale,  which,  together  with  substances  in- 
troduced by  minerai  springs  and  volcanic  eruptions,  con- 
tributed the  inorganic  parts  of  the  carboniferous  strata.  In 
regard  to  the  fossil  remains  of  these  strata,  the  vegetation 
of  the  coal  districts  is  stated  by  botanists  to  possess  the 
characters  of  an  insular  and  not  of  a  continental  flora ;  and 
we  may  suppose  the  carbonaceous  matter  to  have  been 
derived  from  trees  swept  into  the  sea  by  torrents,  and  from 
peaty  matter,  which  even  in  our  climate  often  blackens  tire 
rills  of  marshy  grounds.  It  has  been  acutely  observed  by 
Mr.  Lyell,  that  if  we  seek  for  present  points  of  analogy  to 
this  state  of  things,  we  must  either  turn  to  the  North  Pacific, 
and  its  numerous  submarine  or  insular  volcanoes  between 
Kamchatka  and  New  Guinea ;  or,  in  order  to  obtain  a  more 
perfect  counterpart  to  the  coralline  and  shelly  limestones, 
we  may  explore  the  archipelagoes  of  the  South  Pacific  be- 
tween Australia  and  South  America,  where  coral  reefs,  con- 
sisting in  great  part  of  compact  limestone,  are  spread  over 
an  area  not  inferior  perhaps  to  that  of  our  ancient  calcareous 
rocks,  though  we  even  suppose  these  to  he  prolonged  from 
the  North  American  lakes  to  central  Europe. 

In  these  remarks  we  anticipate  a  subject  requiring  more 
full  discussion,  and  they  are  merely  introduced  here  to  direct 
attention  to  the  coincidences  and  analogies  between  the 
present  order  of  things  produced  by  causes  now  active,  and 
by  the  ordinary  proceedings  of  nature,  and  those  great  but 
remote  changes  of  the  earth's  surface  often  unnecessarily 
referred  to  extraordinary  catastrophes  and  convulsions. 

Beneath  this  great  limestone  formation,  strata  of  sandstone 
occur,  which,  from  their  position  as  opposed  to  those  above 
the  coal,  are  known  under  the  name  of  the  old  red  sandstone. 
It  often  appears  more  as  a  conglomerate  than  a  sand- 
stone; that  is,  made  up  of  fragmented  particles  and  pebbles; 
and  ranges  of  it  sometimes  follow  those  of  the  primitive 
rocks,  and  are  evidently  composed  of  their  debris.  On  the 
north  coast  of  Somerset  and  Devon,  upon  the  Bristol  Chan- 
nel, it  may  be  seen  recumbent  upon  slate,  and  gradually 
passing  into  that  rock  ;  but  it  often  graduates  into  a  series  of 


formations  known  to  geologists  by  the  German  term  of 
grauwacke.  These  rocks,  considered  en  masse,  consist  of  a 
large  stratified  deposit  of  sandy  and  slaty  matters,  often  ex- 
tending over  considerable  districts.  Sometimes  from  the 
coarseness  of  their  texture,  they  pass  into  conglomerates ; 
and  sometimes,  from  its  fineness,  graduate  into  roofing  slate, 
apparently  formed  of  highly  comminuted  detritus.  In  this 
formation  the  sandstones  are  comparatively  deficient  in  or- 
ganic relics,  but  they  abound  in  the  limestone.  Upon  the 
whole  they  exhibit  marks  of  slow  deposition.  This  series 
of  rocks,  namely,  the  formation  intervening  between  the 
mountain  limestone  and  the  inferior  granitic  or  hypogene 
rocks,  has  been  ably  investigated  by  Mr.  Murchison,  who 
has  assigned  to  them  the  name  of  Silurian,  from  their  being 
best  developed  in  that  part  of  England  and  Wales  formerly 
included  in  the  ancient  British  kingdom  of  the  Silures.  The 
lower  part  of  the  Grauwacke  series  constitutes  the  Cambrian 
rocks  of  Professor  Sedgwick. 

There  are  some  curions  facts  respecting  the  stratification 
of  the  slaty  portions  of  these  rocks,  which,  as  they  apply  to 
slate  generally,  it  may  be  proper  here  to  mention  ;  and  as  an 
illustrative  instance,  that  noticed  by  Mr.  De  la  Beche  as  oc- 
curring at  Bovey  Sand  Bay,  on  the  east  side  of  Plymouth 
Sound,  may  be  referred  to :  a,  a,  curved  beds  of  slate,  the 


laminae  of  which  meet  the  apparent  lines  of  stratification 
at  various  angles,  being  even  perpendicular  to  them.  The 
beds  are  cut  off  by  the  fault  /  from  the  slates  c,  the  lamina? 
of  which  are  confusedly  horizontal.  The  whole  is  covered 
by  detritus  of  fragmented  slate  b. 

We  are  now  gradually  descending  into  the  non-fossilifer- 
ous  rocks;  for  the  lower  grauwackes  graduate  into  slates 
destitute  of  organic  remains,  and  into  rocks  of  chemical 
rather  than  of  mechanical  origin.  Thus  we  arrive  at  that 
very  remote  condition  of  our  planet,  when  neither  animal 
nor  vegetable  life  seems  to  have  existed  on  its  surface ;  and 
instead  of  wandering  in  imagination  amid  forests,  lands,  and 
seas,  surrounded  by  strange  vegetables,  and  by  animals  yet 
more  strange,  our  attention  must  be  directed  to  the  laws 
which  govern  inorganic  matter. 

Of  these  inferior,  stratified,  and  non-fossilifcrous  rocks, 
one  of  the  most  abundant  and  important  is  argillaceous  or 
clay  slate.  It  differs  in  texture  and  composition ;  and  except 
from  its  geological  position,  is  often  scarcely  distinguishable 
from  the  slates  of  the  grauwacke  series.  When  chlorite 
prevails,  it  is  called  chlorite  slate ;  and  it  passes  into  horn- 
blende slate,  and  into  mica  slate,  and  is  associated  with  quartz 
rock. 

The  origin  of  these  rocks  is  extremely  ambiguous.  In  re- 
gard to  clay  slate,  it  is  apparently  a  mechanical  deposit  of 
very  finely  comminuted  matter.  It  often  contains  regular 
crystals  of  pyrites:  it  is  of  various  colours,  generally  gray, 
black,  or  reddish,  and  like  most  other  rocks  derives  its 
colours  from  the  oxides  of  iron.  Beds  of  this  slate,  when 
finely  lamellar,  are  valuable,  as  furnishing  materials  for 
roofing.  Those  which  are  least  absorbent  of  water,  and 
which  split  into  the  thinnest  and  smoothest  plates,  are  select- 
ed ;  but  they  should  not  be  too  thin,  as  they  then  fail  in  dura- 
bility, and  do  not  resist  the  force  of  storms.  Slate  is  also 
largely  employed  for  other  architectural  purposes,  and  for 
the  construction  of  tanks  and  cisterns.  In  this  country  there 
are  extensive  quarries  in  Westmoreland,  Yorkshire,  Leices- 
tershire, North  Wales,  Cornwall,  and  Devonshire. 

The  forms,  tints,  and  general  associations  and  outlines  of 
some  of  the  mountains  of  Cumberland  especially,  and  the 
English  lake  scenery  in  general,  are  illustrative  of  the  mount- 
ains of  the  grauwacke  and  slate  formations.  The  former 
exhibit  united  softness  and  grandeur;  the  latter  a  more  ele- 
vated and  rugged  aspect.  We  have  varied  and  grand  in- 
stances of  slate  in  the  mountainous  district  of  North  Wales, 
and  in  Cumberland  and  Westmoreland.  The  cluster  of  hills, 
of  which  Skiddaw  forms  the  highest  elevation,  may  perhaps 
be  referred  to  as  genuine  clay  slate;  and  in  Devonshire  and 
Cornwall  the  granitic  range,  which  traverses  the  promontory 
like  a  backbone,  beginning  at  Dartmoor  and  terminating  at 
the  Land's  End,  has  slate  overlying  it  on  both  sides.  The 
scenery  of  Fowey,  Looe,  Tintagel,  and  other  places  on  the 
north  and  south  sides  of  Cornwall,  derives  its  grandeur  and 
charms  from  the  various  assemblages  of  slaty  headlands, 
promontories,  creeks,  and  islands.  Sometimes  its  strata  jut 
out  in  bold  fantastic  forms  upon  the  ocean,  and  sometimes 
gradually  shelve  away  into  gentle  slopes.    Their  verdure  is 

501 


GEOLOGY. 


usually  scanty  and  uncertain;  but  here  and  there  a  clayey 
soil  finds  a  resting  place,  and  cherishes  patches  of  shrubs 
interspersed  with  trees  of  loftier  growth,  and  attracting  at- 
tention by  the  sterile  and  fragmented  surface  which  often 
surrounds  these  insulated  spots.  The  beauties  of  the  coast 
of  Cornwall  are  singularly  contrasted  by  the  barren  exterior 
of  its  central  road  and  great  mining  district ;  where  scarcely 
a  blade  of  grass  relieves  the  black  and  sombre  hues  of  the 
ground,  but  where  heaps  of  rubbish,  once  rich  in  emboweled 
treasures,  give  a  gloomy  irregularity  to  the  surface;  and 
where  the  ponderous  heaving  of  machinery  raises  subter- 
ranean rivers  to  a  new  level  and  into  new  channels,  and 
enables  the  miner  to  arrive  at  treasures  which  but  for  the 
inventive  genius  of  Watt  would  have  remained  inaccessible. 

The  mountainous  aspect  of  slate  is  seen  to  great  perfec- 
tion on  the  western  side  of  Wales ;  where  Snowdon,  Plyn- 
limmon,  and  Cader  Idris,  with  many  of  their  respectable 
associates,  present  the  peaked  summits,  the  dark  and  narrow 
valleys,  the  steep  precipices,  and  the  fragmented  slopes  that 
peculiarly  belong  to  this  formation. 

Associated  with  the  rocks  of  the  inferior  stratified  group 
(slate,  mica-slate,  gneiss),  there  are  those  beautiful  varieties 
of  white  and  crystalline  limestone  known  as  the  statuary 
marbles  of  Greece  and  Italy.  They  vary  in  their  texture. 
That  of  the  lake  of  Como,  which  is  the  building  stone  of 
Milan  cathedral,  is  a  good  instance  of  coarse-grained  marble ; 
and  sometimes  it  acquires  a  slaty  fracture  from  the  admix- 
ture of  mica  or  talc,  and  passes  into  dolomite  from  the  pres- 
ence of  magnesia. 

Before  we  quit  these  rocks,  there  is  one  remarkable  feature 
which  belongs  to  them  and  others,  and  which  may  now  be 
adverted  to,  though  its  cause  will  perhaps  be  more  evident 
hereafter ;  namely,  the  singular  contortions  to  which  they 
are  subject.  The  strata  of  slate,  for  instance,  are  often 
waved  to  a  greater  or  less  extent ;  and  sometimes  an  entire 
bed  affects  a  serpentine  irregularity  which  gradually  merges 
into  a  straight  line  above  and  below.  These  contortions  are 
sometimes,  to  all  appearance,  independent  of  any  other  kind 
of  rock.  Sometimes  they  are  apparently  caused  by  veins 
of  a  granitic,  porphyritic,  or  basaltic  character,  invading  the 
slate  as  it  were  from  below,  and  bending  it  into  various  ir- 
regularities, or  sometimes  merely  dislocating  and  breaking 
its  strata :  as  if,  in  the  one  instance,  it  had  acted  upon  soft, 
yielding,  and  unconsolidated  matter ;  and  in  the  other,  as  if 
it  had  been  violently  protruded  into  the  surrounding  strata 
of  an  already  hardened  mass.  These  contortions  are  not 
peculiar  to  the  slaty  rocks;  they  may  also  be  seen  in  the 
newest  and  in  the  oldest  formations,  varying  infinitely  in 
their  forms  and  dimensions.  They  have  sometimes  misled 
geologists  as  to  the  relative  positions  or  conformity  and  non- 
conformity of  alternating  rocks ;  so  that  it  requires  great  care, 
though  at  first  sight  it  may  appear  extremely  easy,  to  deter- 
mine whether  one  rock  rests  on  the  upturned  edges  of 
another  or  not. 

In  taking  leave  of  the  stratified  rocks,  we  lose  sight  of 
that  regularity  of  superposition  which  is  of  so  much  use  in 
assigning  to  them  the  periods  of  their  formation,  and  which, 
in  conjunction  with  their  organic  remains,  affords  such  im- 
portant evidence  respecting  their  relative  ages,  and  the  cir- 
cumstances of  climate  under  which  they  have  been  deposited. 

Their  minute  examination  shows  the  caution  with  which 
certain  theories  connected  with  them  require  to  be  receiv- 
ed. The  gradual  transitions  of  one  kind  of  rock  into  oth- 
ers on  the  one  hand,  and  their  sudden  and  abrupt  lines  of 
demarcation  on  the  other;  their  verticality  in  one  place, 
and  their  horizontality  in  others ;  their  occasional  resem- 
blances and  frequent  dissimilarities,  are  circumstances 
which  will  lead  the  unprejudiced  observer  to  receive  all 
geological  hypotheses  with  the  utmost  circumspection. 
Another  important  point  relates  to  the  dissimilar  texture 
and  contents  of  rocks  appertaining  to  the  same  series,  but 
occurring  in  different  situations  and  countries:  thus  the 
equivalent  of  our  chalk  is  a  granular  limestone  in  part  of 
the  Alps ;  and  here,  as  in  other  cases,  it  is  the  identity  of 
the  organic  remains  that  determines  the  geological  era. 

We  have  now  then  arrived  at  the  crystalline,  massive, 
and  unstratified  rocks,  which  seem  to  form  the  basis  or 
foundations  upon  which  the  others  have  been  deposited. 
They  have  therefore  been  called  primary  or  primitive 
rocks ;  and  as  they  are  destitute  of  organic  remains,  they 
were  regarded  at  one  time  as  of  more  ancient  origin  than 
the  superincumbent  strata.  But  the  progress  of  inquiry 
has  led  to  a  very  different  view  of  the  origin  and  antiquity 
of  these  rocks;  and  modern  geology,  in  assigning  to  them 
an  igneous  origin,  assumes,  that  though  they  have  been 
formed  at  different  epochs,  they  are  often  of  more  recent 
production  than  the  older  stratified  rocks,  and  even  some- 
times of  a  date  subsequent  to  those  depositions  which  form 
the  tertiary  series. 

Upon  this  subject  the  theories  of  M.  de  Beaumont  have 
excited  much  attention.  He  assumes  that  the  different 
mountain  chains  of  the  world  have  been  thrown  up  at  dif- 
502 


ferent  geological  periods ;  that  each  great  chain  runs  in  a 
certain  uniform  direction  ;  and  that  their  relative  dates  of 
protrusion  may  be  ascertained  by  their  effects  upon  the 
sedimentary  strata.  If,  for  instance,  we  find  the  great  mass 
of  crystalline  rock  on  all  sides  surrounded  by  tranquil  and 
horizontal  sedimentary  deposits,  we  infer  the  deposition  of 
the  latter  subsequent  to  the  former.  But  if  we  find  the 
sedimentary  deposits  upheaved  by  the  crystalline  rocks,  we 
then  infer  the  posterior  date  of  the  latter ;  and  if  other  hori- 
zontal sedimentary  deposits  lie  upon  the  upraised  series, 
another  geological  date  is  obtained  as  respects  them. 

The  following  diagrams  will,  perhaps,  assist  the  illustra- 
tion of  De  Beaumont's  theory.  A  may  represent  a  chain  of 
granitic  rocks ;  and  B,  C,  and  D  the  incumbent  rocks  or 
strata.  From  the  dislocated  and  inclined  position  of  B, 
and  the  horizontal  and  undisturbed  state  of"  C,  it  may  be 
presumed  that  the  chain  A  was  elevated  subsequently  to 
the  existence  of  B  B,  but  before  the  deposition  of  C  C.  On 
the  other  hand,  in  the  lower  figure,  C  C  have  also  been 
elevated,  whilst  D  D  are  undisturbed ;  whence  the  infer- 
ence that  in  this  diagram  the  chain  A  is  of  a  later  date ; 
here  D  D  represent  the  undisturbed  or  horizontal  deposits. 


Reasoning  upon  such  grounds,  it  has  been  attempted  to 
prove  that  the  great  mountain  chains  of  the  earth  are  of 
various  dates,  some  formed  prior  to  and  others  subsequent 
to  their  secondary  or  sedimentary  neighbours.  Thus  also, 
if  we  assume  that  these  great  crystalline  masses  have  been 
thrust  up  from  below,  may  we  account  for  the  elevation  of 
rocks  abounding  in  organic  remains.  Whether  these 
mountains  have  been  suddenly  or  gradually  upheaved,  is  a 
very  important  point  in  controversial  geology.  The  one 
opinion  has  been  advocated  by  De  Beaumont,  the  other  by 
Mr.  Lyell.  According  to  De  Beaumont,  there  have  been 
long  periods  of  repose  in  the  history  of  the  earth,  during 
which  the  deposition  of  sedimentary  matter  has  gone  regu- 
larly on ;  and  there  have  been  short  periods  of  violence, 
during  which  that  continuity  was  broken  by  the  sudden 
formation  of  great  mountain  chains.  It  is  supposed  that 
all  the  chains  thrown  up  by  a  particular  revolution,  or  at 
one  time,  are  nearly  parallel ;  but  that  those  thrown  up  at 
different  periods  have  different  directions,  so  that  they  some- 
times cross  each  other :  that,  therefore,  there  has  been  a  re- 
currence of  these  paroxysmal  movements  from  the  remo- 
test geological  periods ;  and,  of  course,  that  they  may  still 
be  reproduced,  and  break  the  present  repose  of  our  globe. 
It  is  presumed  that  the  latest  of  these  revolutions  (even 
within  the  historical  period)  was  that  which  upraised  the 
Andes,  for  that  chain  is  the  best  defined  and  least  oblitera- 
ted feature  in  the  present  exterior  configuration  of  the 
globe ;  and  as  the  instantaneous  appearing  of  such  enor- 
mous mountain  masses  must  have  caused  a  prodigious  agi- 
tation in  the  waters  of  the  ocean,  it  is  probable  that  a  del- 
uge was  one  of  its  effects ;  and,  lastly,  as  common  volcanic 
powers  are  apparently  inadequate  to  these  successive  rev- 
olutions, they  are  assumed  to  depend  upon  the  secular  re- 
frigeration of  the  interior  nucleus  of  our  planet  causing  a 
fracture  of  the  outer  crust,  and  the  consequent  spirting  out, 
as  it  were,  of  some  of  its  interior  contents. 

There  is  much  that  is  imposing,  and  to  all  appearance 
satisfactory,  in  parts  of  this  bold  theory ;  but  the  question 
is,  how  far  is  it  strictly  consistent  with  facts  ?  Have  we 
any  evidence  of  such  frightful  convulsions  1  are  they  con- 
sistent with  what  we  actually  know  of  the  earth's  struct- 
ure 1  are  they  in  accordance  with  present  phenomena  1  or 
can  we  frame  any  other  theory  equally  applicable,  and  less 
at  variance  with  the  changes  now  in  progress,  and  with  the 
known  causes  of  those  changes  1  These  are  questions 
which  Mr.  Lyell  has  directed  himself  to,  and  which  in- 
volve the  effects  of  existing  volcanoes,  and  of  various  causes 
of  decay  and  reproduction  that  now  affect  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  and  to  which  we  shall  allude  afterwards :  they 
are  discussed  at  length  in  his  valuable  work  which  we  huve 
already  so  abundantly  quoted — his  Priyiciples  of  Geology. 

Proceeding  in  the  retrospective  survey  of  geological  mon- 
uments, from  those  of  recent  to  those  of  more  ancient  date, 
we  have  traversed  a  series  of  strata,  each  characterized  by 
their  relative  positions  in  respect  to  the  others,  but  more 
unequivocally  distinguishable  into  regular  epochs  of  forma- 


GEOLOGY. 


tion  by  their  organic  relics.  These  we  have  found  gradu- 
ally to  diminish,  and  ultimately  to  disappear;  the  rocks 
slowly  losing  their  sedimentary  character,  and  appearing 
as  crystalline  aggregates,  and  consequently  as  products  of 
chemical  rather  than  of  mechanical  action. 

The  formations  at  which  we  have  now  arrived  include 
granite,  and  its  associates  greenstone  and  basalt ;  and  from 
these  more  ancient  substances  we  pass  by  regular  analogies 
to  a  variety  of  evidently  volcanic  products — some  of  remote 
antiquity,  others  formed  within  the  historical  period.  How 
this  interesting  series  of  rocks  are  thus  connected  into  one 
group,  and  what  the  evidences  are  of  their  igneous  origin, 
will  appear  presently. 

As  they  form  the  basis  upon  which  the  sedimentary 
rocks  appear  to  lie,  rising  to  the  surface  in  the  central  and 
highest  parts  of  the  great  mountain  chains,  and  at  the  same 
time  passing  down  and  forming  the  inferior  parts  of  the 
crust  of  the  earth,  they  were  once,  as  already  stated,  called 
primitive  rocks,  and  regarded  as  having  been  formed  ante- 
riorly to  the  others ;  but  the  more  close  examination  of 
their  relations  to  the  sedimentary  deposits  just  adverted  to, 
and  of  the  changes  which  they  have  effected  upon  them, 
have  induced  modern  geologists  to  reject  such  an  hypothe- 
sis, and  to  consider  them  as  of  a  later  date ;  varying,  how- 
ever, in  this  respect  among  themselves,  and  hence  divided 
into  ancient  and  recent  groups,  or  plutonic  and  volcanic  for- 
mations. 

To  represent  the  great  mountains  of  the  world — the  Alps, 
the  Andes,  and  the  Himalayan  chains — as  upheaved  in  a 
liquid  or  semifluid  state  from  below  by  processes  analogous 
to  those  exhibited  by  the  volcanoes  and  earthquakes  of  pres- 
ent times,  has  been  by  some  regarded  as  a  bold  but  improb- 
able conjecture,  and  as  outreaching  in  improbability  many 
of  those  theories  which  have  been  unanimously  condemn- 
ed as  absurd  and  insufficient.  But  when  we  carefully 
compare  the  nature  of  the  rocks  which  compose  them,  and 
their  influence  upon  those  which  they  invade  and  elevate, 
and  examine  the  vast  powers  of  existing  volcanoes,  the 
enormous  quantities  of  matter  which  they  have  ejected, 
the  force  with  which  they  act,  the  upraising  power  of 
earthquakes,  as  manifested  within  the  historical  period, 
and  their  evident  connexion  with  volcanic  phenomena,  and 
more  especially  when  these  forces  are  considered  as  oper- 
ating under  the  great  pressure  of  a  superincumbent  ocean, 
we  And  a  connected  series  of  facts  and  analogies  which 
justify  the  conclusion.  We  may  here  examine  the  rocks 
in  question,  and  the  evidences  which  they  bear  of  a  distinct 
formation  ;  reserving  the  history  of  contemporaneous  vol- 
canic phenomena,  and  of  the  effects  of  earthquakes,  for  a 
subsequent  section. 

The  first  circumstance  which  strikes  us  in  these  forma- 
tions is  the  height  to  which  they  tower  above  the  sedi- 
mentary rocks.  In  Britain,  Ben  Nevis  and  Cairngorm,  in 
Inverness-shire,  are  between  4000  and  5000  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  ocean ;  Mont  Blanc  is  between  15,000  and 
16,000  feet  above  the  same  level,  and  is  the  highest  mount- 
ain in  Europe ;  Soxate,  the  highest  summit  of  the  Andes, 
from  24,000  to  25,000;  and  the  highest  peak  of  the  Thibet 
chain,  20,000  to  27,000  feet. 

Under  the  term  granitic  formation,  we  may  include  not 
merely  granite  (which  is  a  crystalline  aggregate  of  quartz, 
felspar,  and  mica),  properly  so  called,  but  other  rocks  into 
which  it  merges,  either  from  the  predominance  of  one  or 
other  of  its  ingredients,  from  the  loss  of  one  or  other  of 
them,  or  from  the  occasional  addition  of  some  new  miner- 
al. We  may  also  include  in  this  division  of  rocks  those 
substances  which  are  their  occasional  accompaniments. 

When  mica  abounds,  granite  passes  into  gneiss ;  and 
when  the  felspar  is  nearly  or  altogether  wanting,  it  forms 
mica  slate;  and  this  again  often  passes  into  quartz  rock 
from  the  scantiness  or  absence  of  mica.  These  would 
seem  to  be  sedimentary  rocks  gradually  passing  into  gran- 
ite. They  may  be  traced  upon  the  one  side  into  clay  slate, 
and  into  granite  on  the  other.  Hornblende,  which  is  an 
alumino-silicious  mineral  containing  magnesia,  and  abun- 
dant in  black  oxide  of  iron,  forming  prismatic  crystals,  is 
often  intermixed  with  granite,  and  sometimes  with  felspar 
only,  forming  sienite  and  sienitic  rocks  ;  and  when  crystals 
of  felspar  are  as  it  were  embedded  in  massive  felspar,  the 
rock  is  called  porphyritic  or  porphyry. 

The  presence  of  granular  or  crystalline  marble  amidst 
these  rocks  has  already  been  mentioned.  Respecting  its 
source,  there  is  room  for  difference  of  opinion  ;  but  it  pos- 
sibly may  have  been  fossiliferous  limestone,  the  organic 
relics  of  which  have  been  destroyed  by  the  heat  which 
conferred  upon  it  its  semicrystalline  form  ;  and  it  has  been 
proposed  to  account,  upon  the  same  principle,  for  the  ab- 
sence of  organic  relics  in  the  slaty  rocks  of  this  series. 

Serpentine  is  a  rock  which  it  is  somewhat  difficult  to  de- 
fine. Hornblende,  schiller  spar  or  diallage,  and  felspar, 
and,  perhaps,  also  talc,  appear  to  be  essential  to  its  consti- 
tution, and  sometimes  they  are  distinctly  visible;   while 


at  others  the  rock  is  so  fine-grained  as  to  be  nearly  homo- 
geneous. Its  variety  of  colours  (whence  its  name)  recom- 
mends its  for  ornamental  purposes,  but  it  is  too  soft  to  ad- 
mit of  a  permanent  polish.  Talc  forms  inelastic  lamina?, 
soapy  to  the  feel,  and  differs  little  from  steatite,  which 
often  pervades  serpentine  in  veins. 

Such  are  the  varieties  of  the  granitic  group ;  the  hypo- 
gene  rocks  of  Lyell  (from  vtto,  under,  and  yivouai,  lam 
formed),  that  is,  nether-formed  rocks:  he  calls  the  strati- 
fied rocks  of  this  class  metamorphic. 

The  largest  granite  tract  of  England  is  that  of  Devon 
and  Cornwall,  where  its  sides  are  covered  by  slate,  but 
where  it  rises  in  several  places  to  the  surface;  it  also 
forms  the  rocky  promontory  of  the  Land's  End.  There  is 
here  nothing  either  picturesque  or  sublime  belonging  to  the 
granite  formation.  Dartmoor  appears  the  head  quarters  of 
dreariness  and  desolation,  forming  a  large  mountain  tract 
of  nearly  80,000  acres  in  extent,  strewed  with  boulders  and 
fragments,  and  appearing  to  set  cultivation  at  defiance. 
This  granitic  district  is  nowhere  of  any  considerable  eleva- 
tion ;  its  highest  point,  near  Okehampton,  is  2070  feet. 

The  peculiarities  of  the  West  of  England  granite  are 
best  seen  at  the  Land's  End,  where  a  large  patch  of  it  pro- 
trudes in  a  wedge-shaped  promontory.  It  appears  formed 
of  fragments  and  masses  placed  upon  each  other  in  the 
rudest  disorder,  and  sometimes  in  fantastic  piles  and  insu- 
lated blocks,  which,  though  arising  from  the  peculiar  man- 
ner in  which  the  rock  is  decomposed  and  dislodged  by  the 
weather,  have  been  mistaken  for  Druidical  remains.  These 
tors,  as  they  have  been  called,  have  been  described  by  Dr 
M'Culloch  (Geol.  Trans.),  and  some  of  them  are  depicted 
in  the  engravings  annexed  to  his  paper.  One,  called  the 
Cheesewring,  near  Liskeard,  consists  of  five  blocks,  of 
which  the  upper  are  larger 
than  the  lower,  the  whole  pile 
being  about  15  feet  high.  The 
stones  composing  this  and  oth- 
er similar  piles  suffer  by  the 
action  of  the  weather  most 
rapidly  upon  their  edges  and 
angles,  which  gradually  be- 
come rounded,  and  the  blocks 
then  begin  to  totter  and  ulti- 
mately fall.  This  tendency 
of  square  blocks  to  become 
spheroidal,   and   which    has  Cheeseixnn;. 

sometimes  been  mistaken  for  the  effect  of  friction,  shows  that 
attrition  and  transportation  by  streams  are  not  always  es- 
sential to  their  rounded  appearance.  The  celebrated  Log- 
ging-stone well  exhibits  the  tendency  of  this  kind  of  gran- 
ite to  cuboidal  separation.  Some  of  the  Shetland  Isles  pre- 
sent magnificent  specimens  of  the  wear  and  tear  of  granite. 
On  the  west  of  Meikle  Roe  the  softer  veins  have  moulder- 
ed away,  while  the  firmer  rock  which  included  them  has 
remained  unaltered ;  and  in  this  way  long  narrow  ravines 
are  laid  open  which  give  access  to  the  waves.  The  singu- 
lar cluster  of  rocks  at  Hillswickness,  which  has  been  com- 


Hillswickness. 
pared,  when  seen  at  a  distance,  to  a  small  fleet  of  vessels 
with  spread  sails,  also  affords  a  good  instance  of  granitic 
disintegration  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  its  permanence  on 
the  other ;  weathering  storms  and  an  ocean  which  would 
long  ago  have  consigned  softer  materials  to  utter  destruction. 
There  are,  however,  some  varieties,  which  decay  with 
comparative  rapidity.  De  Luc  talks  of  the  friable  granite 
of  the  Hartz,  and  Saussure  describes  the  mouldering  down 
of  that  of  the  Alps.  The  waters  of  the  Arve  are  rendered 
turbid  by  the  pulverulent  felspar  that  comes  from  the 
Aiguilles  de  Chamouny  and  other  points  that  border  the 
Mer  de  Glace.  The  road  across  Dartmoor  from  Ashburton 
to  Chagford  traverses,  in  one  place,  such  loosely  compacted 
granite  as  to  resemble  a  bed  of  gravel.  The  granite  of 
the  Carglaise  mine,  near  St.  Austle,  is  so  soft  and  pulveru- 
lent, that  the  excavation  might  almost  be  taken  for  a  chalk 
pit;  and  in  the  same  vicinity  the  immense  quantities  of 
white  porcelain  earth,  as  it  is  called,  is  of  similar  origin, 
and  apparently  derived  from  the  perishable  nature  of  the 
felspar,  which,  giving  way,  suffers  the  grains  of  quartz 

503 


GEOLOGY. 


and  mica  to  fall  out.  Chemical  analysis  points  to  the  loss 
of  the  alkali  of  the  felspar  as  the  cause  of  this  extreme 
proneness  of  some  kinds  of  granite  to  decay.  Independent, 
however,  of  chemical  composition,  mere  mechanical  tex- 
ture and  the  general  aggregation  of  mountain  masses  have 
much  to  do  with  their  relative  durabilities.  When  the 
arrangement  of  granite  resembles  that  prevalent  in  the 
greater  part  of  Cornwall,  water  gradually  penetrating  be- 
tween the  blocks  and  masses  freezes  there,  and  thus  slow- 
ly removes  or  transfers  them  to  unstable  ground ;  while 
the  more  solid  texture  of  other  varieties  of  granite,  denying 
the  access  of  water  to  its  fissures,  is  slower  in  suffering  the 
decay  referable  to  that  powerful  cause. 

Gneiss  and  mica-slate  often  form  mountain  masses  in  as- 
sociation with  each  other  and  with  the  varieties  of  granite. 
The  former  is  seen  singularly  contorted  upon  the  coast  of 
Lewes;  and  mica-slate  rock  is  associated  with  the  ser- 
pentine of  Cornwall,  and  is  seen  in  great  perfection  among 
the  Scotch  granitic  scenery,  more  especially  in  the  vicinity 
of  Dunkeld,  and  in  extraordinary  magnificence  in  the  lofty 
mountain  of  Benmore.  Ben  Lawers,  on  the  north  of  Loch 
Tay,  and  many  of  the  neighbouring  mountains,  furnish 
highly  instructive  specimens  of  granite  passing  into  gneiss, 
mica-slate,  and  chlorite-slate.  About  three  miles  south  of 
Dunkeld,  a  stratum  of  grauwacke  is  seen  incumbent  upon 
chlorite-slate,  gradually  passing  into  a  fine  gray  roofing 
slate,  and  this  recumbent  upon  mica-slate.  The  peculiar 
and  differing  dip  of  the  respective  strata,  the  singular  man- 
ner in  which  they  are  pierced  and  traversed  by  veins  of 
felspar  and  quartz,  and  their  association  with  micaceous 
iron,  are  circumstances  highly  interesting  in  respect  to  the 
origin  of  hypogene  rocks ;  and  the  beauty  and  magnificence 
of  the  district  in  regard  to  scenery  is  not  less  than  its  diver- 
sified geological  peculiarities. 

Mica-slate,  abounding  in  garnets,  and  often  sprinkled 
with  red  patches  originating  in  their  decomposition,  and  be- 
coming sienitic  from  the  interspersion  of  hornblende,  is 
prevalent  upon  the  banks  of  the  Tay  and  about  Dunkeld ; 
but  it  is  in  Glentilt  that  the  geologist,  both  practical  and 
theoretical,  will  find  the  most  ample  materials  for  the  study 
of  the  association  and  junctions  of  this  series  of  rocks. 

In  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  Blair,  the  Tilt  ex- 
hibits upon  its  banks  a  section  of  the  rocks  forming  its  bed ; 
and  the  micaceous  strata  here  and  at  the  falls  of  the 
Bruar  incline  nearly  at  the  same  angle  to  several  points  of 
the  compass,  giving  a  curious  confusion  and  interweave- 
ment  to  their  assemblage.  Ascending  a  few  miles  up  the 
glen  we  observe  granular  limestone  in  the  midst  of  the 
granite,  which  sends  forth  so  many  veins  as  to  reticulate 
the  slate ;  and  often  there  appear  to  be  detached  fragments 
of  granite  in  the  limestone  and  shistose  rocks. 

There  are  other  places  in  which  analogous  peculiarities 
of  granite  and  its  associates  may  be  observed ;  for  instance 
in  St.  Michael's  Mount,  upon  the  south  coast  of  Cornwall, 
where  the  granite  not  only  graduates  into  mica-slate,  but 
the  latter  is  traversed  by  granite  veins,  which  appear  to 
break  and  indurate  it.  Exclusive  of  Cornwall  and  Devon- 
shire, the  hypogene  or  plutonic  rocks  are  comparatively 
rare  upon  the  surface  of  England.  The  Malvern  Hills, 
Mount  Sorrel  in  Leicestershire,  and  a  few  of  the  ridges  of 
Cumberland  and  Westmoreland,  afford  specimens  of  these 
rocks.  In  the  Isle  of  Man  and  in  Anglesey,  granite  is  asso- 
ciated with  clay-slate;  and  near  G windy  in  Anglesey  the 
points  of  granite  curiously  protrude  from  beneath  the  slate. 

In  reference  to  the  origin  of  granite  rocks,  it  appears  al- 
most impossible  to  reject  that  theory  which  regards  them 
as  having  been  formed  by  the  igneous  fusion  of  sedimenta- 
ry rocks ;  while  it  cannot  be  denied  that  peculiar  circum- 
stances must  have  conspired  in  conferring  upon  these  for- 
mations their  distinct  and  peculiar  characters.  Their  anal- 
ogy to  basalt,  greenstone,  and  trap  will  presently  be  noticed, 
and  the  close  resemblance  of  the  latter  to  existent  and  con- 
temporaneous volcanic  products  traced  out.  But  then  why 
is  not  granite  formed  by  our  present  volcanoes  ?  or  why  are 
more  modern  lavas  so  distinct  from  these  ancient  rocks  1 
The  probable  cause  of  the  difference  lies  in  the  circum- 
stances under  which  the  subterranean  fusions  have  been 
effected  ;  in  the  case  of  granite,  probably  under  great  press- 
ure, and  out  of  the  contact  of  air  and  water.  What  is  now 
going  on  at  great  depths,  and  under  the  pressure  of  fused 
masses  and  a  fathomless  ocean,  it  is  Impossible  actually  to 
ascertain,  and  analogy  only  can  guide  us  ;  but  the  circum- 
stances just  mentioned  appear  essential  to  the  formation  of 
highly  crystalline  rocks,  and  the  extremely  slow  cooling  of 
these  fused  masses  would  also  favour  many  of  their  pecu- 
liarities. In  demanding  this  liquefaction  and  gradual  re- 
frigeration the  plutonic  geologist  has  often  been  sneered  at 
for  the  exorbitancy  of  his  postulates  ;  but  the  great  length 
of  time  which  lava  streams  require  to  cool,  even  in  the 
open  air,  justifies  the  conclusion.  The  melted  matter  pour- 
ed out  of  Jornllo  in  Mexico,  in  1759,  which  accumulated  in 
some  places  to  the  height  of  550  feet,  retained  a  high  tem- 
504 


perature  for  fifty  years  after  the  eruption.  For  what  im- 
mense periods  then  may  not  great  masses  of  subterranean 
lava  remain  red  hot,  and  how  gradual  must  be  the  process 
of  their  refrigeration  !  This  process,  indeed,  may  be  retard- 
ed for  an  indefinite  time ;  for  the  lava  in  the  crater  of 
Stromboli  has  been  in  a  state  of  constant  ebullition  for  the 
last  2000  years,  and  this  mass  of  fused  matter  must  of 
course  communicate  with  some  great  reservoir  below.  In 
the  Isle  of  Bourbon  also,  where  there  has  been  an  eruption 
every  two  years  for  a  very  long  period,  the  lava  below  must 
be  in  a  state  of  permanent  liquefaction.  In  adverting  to 
the  effects  of  long-continued  fusion  upon  earthy  and  alka- 
line compounds,  and  to  the  various  textures  and  characters 
of  rocks  which  may  thus  result  from  the  liquefaction  of 
similar  materials,  sometimes  producing  distinct  crystalline 
aggregates,  at  others  more  homogeneous  products,  we  are 
sanctioned  by  the  result  of  actual  experiments  ;  and  al- 
though our  artificial  products  are  necessarily  formed  upon 
a  scale  of  trifling  insignificance  as  compared  with  the  nat- 
ural ones,  we  sometimes  obtain  extraordinary  and  unex- 
pected results  to  such  an  extent,  that  it  is  impossible  by 
any  a  priori  reasoning  to  determine  what  new  mineral  prod- 
ucts may  not  be  obtained  by  the  varied  effects  of  heat  upon 
components  little  dissimilar. 

When,  therefore,  melted  matter  is  injected  into  the  fissures 
of  a  contiguous  rock,  it  may  either  cool  rapidly  if  that  rock 
had  not  previously  acquired  a  high  temperature  ;  or  if  it 
had,  it  may  continue  for  centuries  at  a  high  temperature, 
and  consequently  attain  various  textures,  and  present  a  va- 
riety of  distinct  minerals. 

We  have  already  stated  what  our  means  are  of  judging  of 
the  relative  ages  of  these  rocks.  Some  of  the  granitic  chains 
appear  to  be  of  great  antiquity,  antecedent  to  the  secondary 
and  tertiary  rocks ;  though  perhaps  there  may  be  a  few 
cases  in  which  they  are  apparently  contemporaneous.  It  is 
also  probable  that  they  are  constantly  in  a  state  of  produc- 
tion, perhaps  to  be  upheaved  at  some  future  period,  by  op- 
erations which  we  shall  afterwards  endeavour  to  unravel. 

From  granite  and  its  associates  we  pass  to  a  class  of  rocks 
often  designated  as  the  trap  formation,  including  whinstone, 
basalt,  greenstone,  &c.  They  are  apparently  of  igneous  or- 
igin, and  approach  in  many  instances  very  closely  in  their 
effect  and  character  to  the  lavas  of  contemporaneous  vol- 
canoes. 

The  term  trap  rock  has  been  especially  applied  to  those 
step-like  or  scalar  declivities  which  mountain  masses  of  this 
substance  sometimes  present.  In  employing  this  term,  we 
shall  rather  use  it  as  a  generic  name  of  the  rocks  in  ques- 
tion, than  as  specially  implying  the  materials  of  which  they 
are  composed  ;  and  since  the  varieties  known  under  the 
names  of  greenstone,  basalt,  toadstone,  whin,  pitchstone, 
and  amygdaloid  belong  to  this  same  class,  and  often  gradu- 
ate into  each  other,  these  terms  may  be  occasionally  em- 
ployed as  characterizing  individual  specimens  of  trap  rock 
— designating  the  fine-grained  homogeneous  rock  basalt ; 
the  greenish  varieties  which  especially  occur  among  the 
older  rocks,  and  sometimes  approximate  to  the  nature  of 
sienite,  greenstone ;  those  containing  nodules  of  calc-spar, 
quartz,  agate,  zeolite,  &c,  amygdaloid  or  toadstone. 

The  general  character  of  these  rocks  is,  that  they  appear 
among  stratified  deposits  of  all  dates,  and  among  the  oldest 
and  newest  rocks :  sometimes  graduating  through  green- 
stone and  hornblende  rocks  into  varieties  closely  connected 
with  granite  ;  at  others  degenerating,  as  it  were,  into  sub- 
stances closely  resembling  the  lavas  of  existing  volcanoes. 
When  they  assume  a  stratified  character,  it  arises  from 
their  apparent  injection  in  a  state  of  fluidity  among  other 
rocks,  or  from  having  been  subjected  to  peculiar  laws  of 
action  while  cooling;  and  where  they  come  into  contact 
with  other  rocks,  they  often  fill  their  rents  and  fissures  with 
dikes  and  veins,  and  harden  or  alter  them  in  such  a  way 
as  to  leave  indisputable  records  of  their  igneous  origin — 
converting  chalk  into  marble,  coal  into  cinder  or  coke,  sand- 
stone into  chert  and  jasper ;  and  the  veins  themselves  pre- 
sent different  textures,  dependant  on  their  bulk  or  breadth, 
and  upon  the  greater  or  less  rapidity  with  which  they  ap- 
pear to  have  cooled.  The  following  may  be  selected  as 
illustrative  instances  of  the  aspects,  characters,  and  situa- 
tions of  trap  rocks :  Under  the  name  of  greenstone  it  is 
seen  in  characteristic  masses,  associated  with  the  granite, 
mica-slate,  and  serpentine  of  the  Lizard  Point  in  Cornwall. 
Near  Kington  and  Radnor  in  Wales,  it  accompanies  clay- 
slate  and  old  red  sandstone ;  and  upon  the  northern  side  of 
Snowdon,  Plynlimmon,  and  Cader  Idris,  coarse-grained,  and 
with  regular  crystals  of  hornblende  in  one  place,  and  in  an- 
other fine-jrrained,  homogeneous,  and  even  basaltic  or  co- 
lumnar. In  Derbyshire,  under  the  name  of  toadstone,  this 
rock  is  associated  with  mountain  limestone,  and  with  new 
I  red  sandstone  or  red  marl  in  the  coalfields  of  the  north  of 
England  and  elsewhere.  In  Antrim  we  find  it  variously 
blended  with  the  sandstone  and  chalk,  and  even  sometimes 
j  superior  to  the  newest  secondary  formations.    These  in- 


GEOLOGY. 


Fineal  s  Cave. 


stances  will  serve  to  show  the  varied  position  of  these 
rocks.  In  regard  to  their  aspects,  we  observe  them  in  Corn- 
wall forming  blocks  and  masses,  not  unlike  the  granite  of 
the  country.  Sometimes,  as  in  the  coalfields,  it  forms  im- 
mense walls  or  dikes,  and  even  axes  of  elevation ;  some- 
times, as  in  Derbyshire,  it  has  the  appearance  of  stratifica- 
tion. In  the  Isle  of  Mull  and  elsewhere  it  is  massive  and 
amorphous,  and  in  many  places  it  is  columnar ;  of  which 
the  coast  of  Antrim,  the  island  of  Staffa,  and  some  parts  of 
Mull  furnish  such  magnificent  instances.  The  Isle  of  Mull, 
Ulva,  and  the  Tresharnish  Isles  exhibit  trap  rocks  and 
veins  in  the  greatest  variety ;  and  the  veins  of  the  Isle  of 
Sky  are  not  only  remarkable  for  their  singular  extent  and 
arrangement,  but  for  the  changes  they  produce  upon  the 
rocks  they  penetrate,  and  which  are  of  such  a  nature  as  to 
throw  some  few  rays  of  light  upon  the  most  recondite 
chemical  phenomena  connected  with  geology.  Two  of 
these  veins  penetrate  the  white  marble  of  Strath.  At  their 
junction  the  trap  passes  into  a  substance  resembling  serpen- 
tine, and  is  penetrated  by  fissures  containing  steatite ;  while 
the  marble  acquires  all  sorts  of  colours  and  changes  in  com- 
position, from  argillaceous  to  magnesian,  and  from  magne- 
sian  to  silicious.  In  other  parts  the  trap  veins  exhibit  the 
several  varieties  of  greenstone,  basalt,  and  amygdaloid. 

The  island  of  Staffa  is  one  of  the  most  celebrated  basaltic 
monuments  of  the  world :  it  is  about  a  mile  and  a  half  in 
circumference ;  and  its  greatest  elevation,  which  is  upon  its 
north-west  side,  is  about  144  feet.  Its  lowermost  bed  upon 
that  side  is  a  basaltic  conglomerate.  The  columns  are  com- 
pact and  uniform  in  texture,  dark  grayish-black  interiorly, 
and  rusty  brown  where  exposed  to  the  weather.  Amor- 
phous and  columnar  basalt  and  a  stratum  of  pebbles  foreign 
to  the  island  form  its  upper  portion.  Fingal's  Cave  is  just- 
ly considered  as  the  most  beau- 
tiful of  ocean  caverns,  and 
owes  its  existence  to  the  cir- 
cumstance of  the  columns  be- 
ing jointed  in  that  place,  while 
their  general  character  is  to  be 
without  divisions ;  hence  the 
successful  invasion  of  the 
waves  in  this  particular  quar- 
ter. The  entrance  is  70  feet 
high,  and  resembles  a  Gothic  arch ;  the  width  40  to  50  feet. 
the  length  227  feet.  Its  interior  preserves  a  considerable 
degree  of  regularity  throughout,  its  sides  being  columnar, 
and  in  many  places  broken  and  irregularly  grouped,  so  as 
to  catch  a  variety  of  direct  and  reflected  tints,  mixed  with 
unexpected  shadows,  and  producing  a  picturesque  effect 
which  no  regularity  could  have  conferred.  The  sea  never 
entirely  ebbs  out  of  this  cave,  but  the  broken  range  of  col- 
umns which  forms  the  exterior  causeway  is  continued  on 
each  side  within  It.  "This  cave,"  says  Dr.  MCulloch, 
"  has  been  frequently  described,  but  no  description  is  ade- 
quate to  the  representation  of  its  varied  beauties  and  singu- 
lar associations.  If  it  were  even  destitute  of  that  order  and 
symmetry,  that  richness  arising  from  multiplicity  of  parts 
combined  with  greatness  of  dimensions  and  simplicity  of 
style  which  it  possesses — still  the  prolonged  length,  the 
twilight  gloom  half  concealing  the  playful  and  varying  ef- 
fect of  reflected  light,  the  echo  of  the  measured  surge  as  it 
rises  and  falls,  the  pellucid  green  of  the  water,  and  the  pro- 
found and  fairy  solitude  of  the  whole  scene,  could  never 
fail  strongly  to  impress  any  mind  alive  to  the  wonders  and 
beauties  of  nature."  Mackinnon's  Cave  and  the  Boat  Cave 
in  the  island  are  also  worthy  the  traveller's  attention. 

The  Giant's  Causeway,  and  the  various  promontories  of 
the  coast  of  Antrim,  form  another  basaltic  district  of  great 
grandeur  and  interest. 

The  Causeway  itself  consists  of  three  piers  of  columns, 
which  extend  into  the  sea,  and  are  walled  round,  as  it  were, 
by  precipitous  rocks  from  200  to  400  feet  high,  in  which  are 
several  striking  columnar  assemblages,  vertical,  inclined, 
curved,  and  horizontal,  and  in  some  places  appearing  as  if 
wedged  or  driven  into  the  surface  of  the  precipice :  Ben- 
gore,  which  bounds  the  Causeway  on  the  east,  consists  of 
alternate  ranges  of  tabular  and  massive  with  columnar  ba- 
salt :  Pleskin  presents  several  colonnades  of  great  height 
and  regularity,  separated  from  each  other  by  tabular  basalt ; 
and  at  Fairhead  there  is  a  range  of  columns  from  200  to 
nearly  300  feet  in  height,  supported  by  a  steep  declivity, 
which  forms  a  terrace  nearly  600  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea  beneath. 

Sometimes  basalt  rises  in  massive  and  abrupt  rocks,  as- 
suming the  appearance  of  a  uniform  homogeneous  sub- 
stance, and  scarcely  exhibiting  any  of  that  singular  tenden- 
cy to  columnar  regularity  which  we  have  just  had  occasion 
to  admire  in  Staffa  and  the  Causeway.  The  castles  of 
Dumbarton,  Edinburgh,  and  Stirling  are  built  upon  such 
masses.  At  other  times  it  forms  low,  rugged,  and  unpictu- 
resque  strata,  sometimes  remarkably  bent,  but  without  form- 
ing decided  columns. 

44 


We  have  already  noticed  the  effects  of  these  rocks  upon 
their  neighbours,  and  upon  the  strata  which  they  penetrate 
and  invade.  As  these  involve  a  variety  of  important  theo- 
retical considerations,  it  will  be  proper  to  consider  them 
a  little  more  in  detail. 

In  describing  the  effects  of  the  intrusion  of  granite  into 
the  superincumbent  slates  and  stratified  rocks,  we  noticed 
the  fragments  that  occasionally  occur  in  the  granitic  veins, 
their  induration,  and  other  symptoms  of  fusion  and  vio- 
lence ;  and  in  the  veins  and  dikes  of  basalt  wo  meet  with 
precisely  similar  effects.  Near  Edinburgh  the  sandstone  is 
hardened  and  rendered  like  jasper  by  the  whin  dikes,  and 
loose  pieces  are  occasionally  seen  to  have  been  floating,  as 
it  were,  in  the  fused  basalt.  In  Antrim  the  limestone  is 
sometimes  overtopped  by  basalt,  and  the  dikes  as  they 
traverse  it  harden  it  into  a  species  of  marble,  and  the  neigh- 
bouring flints  are  reddened.  In  coal  mines  those  accumu- 
lations of  carburetted  hydrogen  gas  which  form  what  are 
called  the  blowers,  appear  to  have  resulted  from  the  action 
of  veins  of  basalt. 

In  addition  to  this  evidence,  we  have  some  of  a  chemical 
nature,  which  is  not  less  decisive ;  and  it  is  to  be  regretted 
that  such  experiments  have  not  been  extended. 

The  first  great  experiment  of  this  kind  was  made  by  Mr. 
Gregory  Watt ;  he  fused  7  cwt.  of  fine-grained  basalt,  and 
suffered  the  fused  mass  to  cool  gradually,  so  that  the  whole 
process  lasted  eight  days.  The  mass  after  fusion  was  three 
feet  and  a  half  long,  two  feet  and  a  half  wide,  eighteen 
inches  thick  at  one  end,  and  only  four  at  the  other.  The 
structure  was  singularly  altered,  and  in  many  places  there 
were  aggregations  of  spheroids  of  a  radiated  texture,  not  un- 
like the  globular  structure  exhibited  by  some  kinds  of  de- 
composing basalt,  and  occasionally  forming  by  their  mutual 
pressure  a  tendency  to  prismatic  or  columnar  arrangement. 

In  glass  which  li::s  been  slowly  cooled  we  occasionally 
observe  somewhat  similar  and  highly  interesting  effects ; 
its  texture  is  variously  modified,  and  globules  of  a  radiated 
and  crystalline  texture  are  formed  in  it  from  a  new  arrange- 
ment of  its  molecules.  And,  lastly,  certain  sandstones  and 
clays  may  assume  in  some  instances  a  columnar  texture  by 
the  action  of  long-continued  heat  short  of  fusion.  Doctor 
M'Culloch  observed  in  a  hearthstone  of  an  old  furnace  which 
had  been  in  constant  work  for  18  years,  that  a  prismatic 
structure  extended  through  its  whole  mass,  and  he  thus 
explains  the  occasional  columnar  structure  of  sandstone 
when  in  contact  of  basalt ;  and  in  regard  to  some  kinds  of 
basalt  itself,  he  observes  that  its  frequent  nmygdaloidal 
structure  proves  that  it  was  originally  cellular  and  porous 
like  lava,  the  cells  having  been  subsequently  filled  up  by 
the  infiltration  of  the  various  substances  found  in  them.  It 
is  a  mere  dispute  about  terms,  therefore,  to  refuse  to  these 
ancient  eruptions  the  name  of  submarine  volcanoes  ;  for  such 
they  are  in  every  essential  point,  though  they  no  longer  eject 
fire  and  smoke. 

The  examination  of  the  igneous  rocks  of  Sicily  has  proved 
that  all  the  ordinary'  varieties  of  trap  have  been  produced 
under  the  waters  of  the  sea,  since  the  Mediterranean  has 
been  inhabited  by  a  great  proportion  of  the  existing  testa- 
ceous species.  "  We  are  therefore  entitled  to  feel  the  ut- 
most confidence  that  if  we  could  obtain  access  to  the  ex- 
isting bed  of  the  ocean,  and  explore  the  igneous  rocks  poured 
out  within  the  last  5000  years  beneath  the  pressure  of  a  sea 
of  considerable  depth,  we  should  behold  formations  of  mod- 
ern date  scarcely  distinguishable  from  the  most  ancient  trap 
rocks  of  our  isjand.  We  cannot,  however,  expect  the  ident- 
ity to  be  perfect,  for  time  is  ever  working  some  alteration  in 
trie  composition  of  these  mineral  masses ;  as,  for  example, 
by  converting  porous  lava  into  amygdaloids." 

§m. 

We  have  now  examined  the  structure  of  the  crust  of  our 
globe,  and  found  it  to  consist  of  a  succession  of  sedimentary 
deposits  of  different  dates,  characterized  by  peculiarities  of 
mineral  structure  and  composition,  and  by  distinct  organic 
relics,  upheaved  and  displaced  by  a  series  of  crystalline 
rocks  apparently  of  igneous  origin,  and  in  many  instances 
similar  in  composition  and  effects  to  the  products  of  existent 
volcanoes. 

These  must  be  now  more  particularly  examined,  for  the 
purpose  of  ascertaining  how  far  we  are  justified  in  attribu- 
ting to  analogous  agents  those  stupendous  powers  of  eleva- 
tion and  dislocation  which  the  theory  of  the  crystalline  or 
hypogene  rocks  has  obliged  us  to  call  to  our  aid.  The  ex- 
tent of  volcanic  fires,  their  connexion  with  earthquakes,  the 
nature  of  their  products,  their  usual  effects,  and  their  modi- 
fied action  under  the  influence  of  pressure,  are  the  principal 
points  now  requiring  attention. 

The  geographicarextent  of  volcanic  districts  is  very  con- 
siderable, and  demonstrates  the  universality  of  subterranean 
fire  in  all  quarters  of  the  globe.  It  is  true  that  the  points  of 
eruption  and  the  movements  of  great  earthquakes  are  con- 
fined to  certain  regions  in  which  the  volcanic  vents  are  dis- 
Hh*  505 


GEOLOGY. 


tributed  at  intervals,  and  most  commonly  in  a  linear  direc- 
tion ;  but  there  is  abundant  evidence  that  the  igneous  pow- 
ers are  at  work  continuously  throughout  the  intermediate 
spaces,  tor  the  ground  is  from  time  to  time  convulsed,  gases 
and  vapours  are  disengaged,  and  hot  springs  issue,  the  wa- 
ters of  which  are  very  commonly  impregnated  with  the  same 
mineral  matters  which  are  discharged  by  the  eruption  of  the 
volcano. 

There  are  also  abundent  proofs  of  the  existence  of  volcanic 
fires  under  various  parts  of  the  bed  of  the  ocean,  where  their 
effects,  though  at  present  unseen  and  unknown,  are  proba- 
bly destined  to  become  evident  at  some  future  but  very  re- 
mote period. 

The  substances  thrown  out  by  volcanoes  are  elderly  earthy 
and  alkaline  bodies  in  a  state  of  fusion :  masses  of  red-hot 
and  melted  rock,  stones,  cinders,  ashes,  steam,  and  various 
gases  are  their  accompaniments  ;  and,  although  they  differ 
very  materially  in  tiie  quantity  of  ejected  matter,  their  prod- 
ucts so  generally  agree  in  quality  that  they  arc  doubtless  all 
referable  to  the  operations  of  one  cause.  What  that  cause 
is,  is  a  question  which  has  long  been  agitated,  but  is  as  yet 
not  very  satisfactorily  determined ;  although  considerable 
advances  have  been  made  towards  an  explanation  of  the 
phenomena  by  those  great  discoveries  in  chemistry  which 
bear  the  stamp  of  Davy's  name,  and  which  have  taught  us 
the  existence  of  a  class  of  bodies  possessed  of  previously  un- 
known and  unsuspected  properties,  and  which  are  in  some 
respects  applicable  to  the  solution  of  the  problem  before  us. 

These  bodies  are  the  metallic  bases  of  the  alkalies  and 
earths;  many  of  which,  the  moment  that  they  touch  water, 
explode,  burn,  melt,  and  become  converted  into  red-hot  mat- 
ter, not  unlike  some  sorts  of  lava. 

It  has  been  said  that  if  we  adopt  the  existence  of  great 
masses  of  these  highly  inflammable  and  active  metals  deep 
within  the  earth  as  one  of  the  causes  of  volcanic  force,  that 
they  would  remain  inactive  without  water ;  consequently, 
that  the  access  of  water  is  a  necessary  condition.  We  find, 
in  fact,  that  many  of  the  great  volcanoes  of  the  world  are 
not  far  from  the  sea  or  from  lakes  ;  but  it  must  also  be  ad- 
mitted that  there  are  great  volcanic  districts  to  which  water 
has  no  apparent  access.  In  central  Asia  there  is  a  volcanic 
district,  with  an  area  of  nearly  3000  geographical  miles,  be- 
tween 300  and  400  leagues  distant  from  the  sea.  The  cen- 
tral chain  of  the  Andes,  too,  is  at  a  great  distance  from  the 
sea,  and  yet  has  several  active  volcanic  vents.  But  we 
'  ow  too  little  of  the  interior  of  our  globe,  of  what  hidden 
ra  i:  may  contain,  or  what  may  be  the  subterranean 
C'mmunications  of  the  ocean,  to  justify  us  in  excluding  this 
theory  upon  such  grounds,  were  it  otherwise  satisfactory 
and  accordant. 

When  these  highly  inflammable  metals  act  upon  water, 
they  combine  with  its  oxygen,  and  the  hydrogen  is  evolved ; 
and  as  hydrogen  is  very  rarely  traced  as  a  product  of  vol- 
canic eruptions,  its  absence  lias  been  urged  as  fatal  to  this 
theory.  But  upon  this  point  we  are  also  not  well  informed  ; 
the  hydrogen  may  be  evolved,  and  yet  its  presence  not  de- 
terminable ;  or,  if  evolved  at  a  high  temperature  and  in  the 
contact  of  air,  it  would  burn  probably  with  explosion,  and 
reproduce  water.  Now  aqueous  vapour  is  often  ejected 
with  explosive  force  from  volcanoes ;  and  this  sudden  gen- 
eration of  steam,  in  part  perhaps  resulting  from  the  explo- 
sive union  of  hydrogen  and  oxygen,  may  be  one  great  source 
of  their  power  and  violence,  and  of  the  concussions  attend- 
ant on  earthquakes. 

But  there  are  properties  of  these  singular  metals  which 
are  less  evident,  and  may  yet  play  an  active  part  where 
their  mutual  affinities  are  concerned.  In  certain  propor- 
tions, sodium  and  potassium  form  an  alloy  liquid  as  water, 
highly  inflammable;  and  when  touched  by  certain  other 
metals,  mercury  for  instance,  becoming  red-hot  and  explo- 
sive. Now  these  properties,  curious  as  they  are,  may  pos- 
sibly belon?,  in  a  yet  more  eminent  degree,  to  certain  alloys 
and  other  compounds  of  the  metallic  bases  of  the  earths, 
for  we  know  as  .vet  little  of  the  chemical  properties  of 
these  bodies ;  and  it  may  be  presumed,  upon  strict  analogy, 
that  there  may  be  other  agents  of  a  similar  kind,  and  gifted, 
perhaps,  with  yet  more  energetic  powers :  for  who  could 
even  have  ventured  to  imagine  the  existence  of  such  re- 
markable bodies  as  potassium  and  sodium  before  their  dis- 
covery ?  So  that  upon  the  whole,  if  we  cannot  frame  a 
perfect  theory  of  volcanoes  upon  these  chemical  principles, 
they  at  all  events  go  some  way  towards  an  explanation  of 
some  of  their  concomitant  phenomena,  as  will  appear  from 
the  details  we  are  about  to  enter  upon.  One  difficulty, 
however,  we  are  certainly  not  prepared  to  meet ;  namely, 
the  perpetuity,  as  it  may  almost  be  called,  of  some  active 
volcanoes — volcanoes  which  have  continued  to  burn  and 
throw  out  lava  and  cinders,  not  only  for  years,  but  for 
successive  ages.  The  lava  in  the  crater  of  Stromboli  has 
been  in  a  state  of  ignition  for  2000  years;  so  that  there 
must  here  be  a  constant  accession  of  heat,  if  not  renovation 
of  fuel. 

506 


We  have  ample  evidence  of  the  connexion  of  earth- 
quakes with  volcanoes  ;  and  all  great  eruptions  have  com- 
monly been  preceded  by  violent  convulsions  which  have 
ceased  upon  the  bursting  forth  of  the  volcanic  lires,  as  if 
the  pent-up  matters  had  found  a  vent.  All  this  shows  the 
cause  of  the  eruption  to  be  deep  below  the  surface,  and 
perhaps  sanctions  the  notion  of  the  existence  of  great  masses 
of  ignited  matter  below  the  rocks  that  form  our  mountains ; 
or  even  the  idea  of  some  of  the  ancient  as  well  as  modern 
geologists,  that  the  interior  and  nucleus  of  the  globe  is  in  a 
state  of  most  intense  incandescence — an  idea  already  al- 
luded to  when  noticing  the  evidences  of  change  of  climate 
deduced  from  the  examination  of  fossil  plants.  Another 
fact  in  reference  to  this  view  deserves  notice ;  namely, 
that  there  is  a  very  manifest  connexion  between  volcanic 
vents  situated  at  great  distances  from  each  other.  Such  a 
connexion  has  been  suspected  between  Vesuvius  and  Etna ; 
and  some  of  the  volcanoes  of  the  Andes  appear  to  alternate 
in  their  eruptions,  though  at  great  distances  from  each 
other. 

When  lava  is  examined  as  near  as  possible  to  the  vent 
whence  it  issues,  it  is  usually  a  semifluid  muss  about  the 
consistence  of  honey.  It  soon  cools  externally,  and  its 
surface  becomes  rough  mid  irregular ;  but,  being  a  very 
bad  conductor  of  heat,  the  interior  remains  red-hot  long 
after  the  surface  has  cooled.  It  is  probable  that  large 
masses  of  lava  ejected  into  the  sea  retain  their  high  tem- 
peratures in  the  central  parts  of  the  mass  for  a  great  and 
even  indefinite  length  of  time. 

The  quantity  of  matter  which  has  been  thrown  to  the 
surface  by  volcanic  agencies  during  the  historical  period  is 
very  enormous,  and  may  serve  to  give  an  idea  of  their  in- 
fluence in  modifying  the  surface  of  the  globe,  when  such 
powers  are  considered  in  reference  to  great  periods  of  time. 
In  illustration  of  this  point  we  may  select  the  volcanoes  of 
Iceland,  because  our  details  respecting  them  are  well  au- 
thenticated ;  though  it  must  be  recollected  that  they  proba- 
bly fall  into  insignificance  when  compared  with  what  has 
happened  in  some  of  those  districts  of  Asia  and  South 
America  which  are  ravaged  by  subterranean  lires.  In  the 
following  sketch  of  these  volcanic  districts  we  shall  avail 
ourselves  as  hitherto  of  Mr.  Lyell's  excellent  abstract  of 
volcanic  history,  as  given  in  his  Principles  of  Geology. 

Iceland  itself  is  little  else  than  a  mass  of  lava ;  and  so 
intense  is  the  energy  of  volcanic  action  in  that  region,  that 
some  eruptions  of  Hecla  have  lasted  six  years  without 
ceasing.  Earthquakes  have  often  shaken  the  whole  island, 
causing  a  complete  revolution  in  its  geographical  physiog- 
nomy ;  such  as  the  rending  of  mountains,  the  elevation  of 
some  and  the  sinking  down  of  others,  the  desertion  by 
rivers  of  their  channels,  and  the  appearance  of  new  lakes. 
Upon  the  coasts  too,  and  In  great  depths  of  water,  new 
islands  have  been  thrown  up,  some  of  which  have  remain- 
ed and  others  disappeared.  In  this  island  too,  the  volcanic 
vents  are  often  in  alternate  action,  one  serving,  as  it  were, 
for  a  time  as  a  safety  valve  to  the  rest ;  and  when,  as  is 
often  the  case,  new  cones  are  thrown  up,  they  generally 
take  a  linear  direction.  In  1783,  a  new  island  was  thrown 
up  off  the  coast,  consisting  of  high  cliffs  ;  and  with  such  an 
ejection  of  pumice,  that  the  ocean  was  covered  to  the  dis- 
tance of  150  miles,  and  ships  impeded  in  their  course  by 
the  shoals  of  floating  stones.  Ere  a  year  had  elapsed, 
however,  the  sea  resumed  her  ancient  domain,  the  volcanic 
cliff's  had  disappeared,  and  nothing  was  left  but  a  rocky 
reef  from  5  to  30  fathoms  under  water.  In  June,  Skaptar- 
Jokul,  200  miles  distant  from  the  new  isles,  threw  out  a 
torrent  of  lava,  which  in  the  first  place  flowed  down  into 
the  river  Skapta,  and  completely  dried  it  up  ;  its  channel 
was  between  high  rocks,  and  was  in  some  places  400  to  GOO 
feet  dee])  and  200  broad.  Not  only  did  the  lava  fill  these 
great  defiles  up  to  the  brink,  but  overflowed  the  adjacent 
country  and  filled  up  a  deep  lake.  There  was  then  a  short 
intermission  in  the  eruption  ;  but  in  a  few  days  it  was  re- 
sumed, and  the  newly  ejected  lava  flowed  rapidly  over  the 
surface  of  the  first,  and  damming  up  numerous  streams, 
deluged  the  neighbouring  country  with  water,  and  destroy- 
ed several  villages ;  when,  after  flowing  for  several  days, 
it  was  precipitated  down  a  tremendous  cataract,  and  filled 
the  profound  cavity  which  the  waterfall  had  been  hollow- 
ing out  for  ages.  Afterwards  the  lava  took  a  new  direction, 
and  discharging  itself  into  the  bed  of  another  river  (the 
Hyversfliot),  occasioned  a  scene  of  destruction  rivalling  the 
former :  the  lava  accumulated  to  a  great  depth,  and  coming 
to  the  plains  spread  out  into  broad  lakes  of  lire,  some  of 
which  were  from  12  to  15  miles  wide,  and  100  feet  deep. 
When  the  fiery  lake  which  filled  the  valley  of  the  Skapta 
had  been  augmented  by  new  supplies,  the  lava  flowed  up 
the  course  of  the  river  to  the  foot  of  the  hills  where  it 
rises.  This  eruption  continued  two  years  ;  and  when  Mr. 
Paulson  visited  it  eleven  years  after  (in  1794),  the  lava 
was  still  smoking,  and  its  vents  filled  with  hot  water. 
Although  the  population  of  Iceland  did  not  exceed  50,000, 


GEOLOGY. 


twenty  villages  were  destroyed,  exclusive  of  those  inun- 
dated by  water ;  and  all  the  cattle  of  the  district,  and  more 
than  9000  human  beings,  perished. 

We  have  quoted  the  narrative  of  this  eruption,  as  giving, 
upon  good  authority,  some  notion  of  the  extraordinary 
volume  of  melted  matter  produced.  Of  the  two  branches 
of  lava,  and  they  flowed  nearly  in  opposite  directions,  one 
was  50  and  the  other  40  miles  in  length  ;  the  extreme 
breadth  of  one  branch  was  from  12  to  15,  and  of  the  other 
about  7  miles.  The  ordinary  height  of  the  currents  was 
about  100  feet ;  but  in  deep  ravines  and  defiles  they  some- 
limes  attained  600  feet.  How  striking  a  feature,  Mr.  Lyell 
remarks,  would  these  streams  form  in  the  geology  of  Eng- 
land, had  they  been  poured  out  on  the  bottom  of  the  sea 
after  the  deposition,  but  before  the  elevation  of  our  second- 
ary and  tertiary  rocks !  and  how  easily  may  we  now  refer 
the  trap  and  basaltic  rocks  to  similar  causes ! 

But  there  are  some  phenomena  connected  with  volcanic 
action  which  seem  to  be  caused  by  yet  more  extraordinary 
agents  than  those  we  have  adverted  to ;  namely,  their  great 
projectile  and  explosive  force,  the  effects  of  which  are,  in 
some  instances,  upon  so  stupendous  a  scale  as  to  appear 
utterly  incredible,  had  we  not  the  clearest  and  must  un- 
objectionable evidence.  Let  us  select  one  or  two  illus- 
trative relations,  and  then  see  how  far  we  are  acquainted 
with  any  powers  or  agents  in  nature  adequate  to  explain 
the  results. 

From  the  era  of  the  discovery  of  the  New  World  to  the 
middle  of  the  last  century,  the  great  volcanic  district  of 
Mexico  had  remained  undisturbed.  It  is  an  elevated  pla- 
teau, between  2000  and  3000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
and  bounded  by  hills  of  ancient  igneous  origin.  It  was 
occupied  by  fields  of  sugar-cane  and  indigo,  and  watered 
by  two  brooks.  In  June,  1759,  alarming  sounds  and  earth- 
quakes preceded  the  bursting  forth  of  (lame  from  the 
ground,  and  fragments  of  red-hot  rocks  were  thrown  to 
prodigious  heights.  A  great  chasm  was  formed,  from 
which  six  volcanic  cones  were  thrown  up,  the  least  of 
which  was  300  feet  high  ;  and  Jorullo,  the  central  volcano, 
was  elevated  1000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  plain.  It 
sent  forth  streams  of  basaltic  lava,  including  fragments  of 
granitic  rocks,  and  its  eruptions  did  not  cease  till  1760. 
Humboldt  visited  the  country  forty  years  afterwards :  there 
then  appeared  round  the  base  of  the  cones,  and  spreading 
from  them  over  an  extent  of  four  square  miles,  a  convex 
mass  of  matter,  between  500  and  600  feet  high,  gradually 
sloping  in  all  directions  towards  the  plains,  and  which  was 
still  so  hot  that  he  lighted  a  cigar  in  one  of  its  fissures.  It 
was  covered  with  thousands  of  little  mounds,  which  emit- 
ted steam  and  sulphuric  acid.  The  two  small  rivers  lost 
themselves  below  the  east  extremity  of  the  plain,  and  re- 
appeared as  hot  springs  at  its  western  limit.  Humboldt 
attributed  the  convexity  of  the  plain  to  inflation  from  below, 
supposing  the  ground  for  the  extent  of  four  square  miles  to 
have  puffed  up  like  a  bladder  to  the  elevation  of  550  feet 
in  the  highest  part ;  but  of  this  there  seems  no  good  evi- 
dence, except  the  hollow  sound  made  by  the  steps  of  a 
horse  upon  the  plain,  and  this  might  result  from  any  porous 
material.  A  subsequent  eruption  of  Jorullo  happened  in 
1819,  and  it  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  no  European 
travellers  have  since  visited  the  spot.  It  is  known,  how- 
ever, that  ashes  fell  in  Guanaxato,  140  miles  from  Jorullo, 
in  such  quantity  as  to  lie  6  inches  deep  in  the  street ;  and 
the  tower  of  the  cathedral  was  thrown  down.  Of  these 
forces,  thus  elevating  matter  from  below,  and  throwing  up 
extensive  plains  and  lofty  mountains,  we  have  numerous 
other  instances ;  and  in  farther  illustration  of  their  great 
power  may  cite  the  elevation  of  islands  in  deep  water  by 
submarine  volcanoes.  Those  off  Iceland  have  been  already 
noticed.  In  1811  a  volcano  forced  its  way  from  beneath 
the  sea  off  the  island  of  St.  Michael,  one  of  the  Azores 
forming  a  crater  above  the  water  a  mile  in  circumference, 
and  about  300  feet  high.  In  the  middle  of  the  17th  century 
an  island  was  thrown  up  among  the  Hebrides,  which  in  a 
month  again  disappeared.  In  July,  1731,  a  volcano  rose  in 
the  sea  between  the  island  of  Pantellaria  and  the  coast  of 
Sicily,  forming  a  crater  240  feet  diameter  and  20  feet  above 
water.  Many  shoals  are  no  doubt  of  volcanic  origin. 

The  Pacific  ocean,  in  equatorial  latitudes,  seems  to  be 
one  vast  theatre  of  igneous  action :  and  its  innumerable 
archipelagoes,  such  as  the  New  Hebrides,  Friendly  Islands, 
and  Georgian  Isles,  are  all  volcanic,  with  active  vents  here 
and  there  interspersed.  Of  such  a  formation  Owhyhee  is 
a  magnificent  example.  The  whole  mass,  estimated  as 
exposing  a  surface  of  4000  square  miles,  is  composed  of 
lava,  the  highest  peaks  of  which  are  between  15,000  and 
16,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  crater  of  Kiraue 
is  described  by  Mr.  Ellis  as  situated  in  a  lofty  elevated 
plain,  bounded  by  a  precipice  15  or  16  miles  in  circum- 
ference, apparently  sunk  from  200  to  400  feet  below  its 
original  level.  The  surface  of  this  plain,  he  says,  was 
uneven,  and  strewed  over  with  loose  stones  and  rocks ; 


and  in  the  centre  of  it  was  the  great  crater.  At  the  edge 
of  it  a  sublime  and  appalling  spectacle  presented  itself — 
an  immense  gulf  in  the  form  of  a  crescent,  about  2  miles 
long  and  1  wide,  and  apparently  800  feet  deep,  yawned 
beneath ;  the  bottom  was  covered  with  one  vast  flood  of 
burning  matter  in  a  state  of  terrific  ebullition,  rolling  to  and 
fro  its  fiery  surge  and  flaming  billows :  fifty-one  conical 
islands,  as  it  were,  forming  as  many  district  craters,  rose 
round  the  edge  of  this  burning  lake,  emitting  columns  of 
smoke  or  pyramids  of  flame ;  and  several  of  them  vomited 
from  their  ignited  mouths  streams  of  lava,  which  rolled  in 
blazing  torrents  down  their  black  indented  sides  into  the 
lake  below. 

We  may  conclude  this  part  of  our  subject  with  a  brief 
notice  of  one  other  volcano  ;  namely,  that  of  Tomboroo  in 
the  island  of  Sumbawa,  the  account  of  which  we  owe  to 
the  late  Sir  S.  Raffles.  It  began  on  the  5th  of  April,  1815. 
It  appears  that  a  Mala}  prow,  while  at  sea,  on  the  11th,  was 
enveloped  in  utter  darkness ;  and  that  afterwards  passing 
the  Tomboroo  mountain,  at  the  distance  of  5  miles,  the 
commander  observed  that  the  lower  part  appeared  in  flames, 
while  the  upper  portion  was  concealed  in  clouds.  Upon 
landing  to  procure  water,  he  found  the  ground  3  feet  deep 
in  ashes,  and  several  large  vessels  thrown  on  shore  by  the 
concussions  of  the  sea. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  explosion  the  commander 
of  the  E.  I.  C.  cruiser  Benares,  which  was  at  Macassar, 
supposed  that  there  was  an  engagement  of  pirates  some- 
where in  the  neighbourhood,  so  closely  did  the  reports 
resemble  those  of  cannon.  On  the  11th  the  ship  was  again 
shaken,  as  it  was  thought,  by  the  discharge  of  cannon.  At 
8  A.M.  on  the  12th,  the  face  of  the  heavens  to  the  south 
and  west  had  assumed  a  dingy  aspect,  and  it  became  darker 
than  it  had  been  at  sunrise.  A  dusky  red  appearance 
gradually  spread  over  the  heavens;  and  by  10  it  was  so 
dark  that  a  ship  could  hardly  be  seen  a  mile  off.  By  11 
the  whole  heaven  was  obscured,  except  a  small  space  in 
the  east  horizon,  whence  the  wind  came.  The  ashes  now 
fell  in  showers,  and  the  appearances  were  most  awful  and 
alarming.  By  noon  the  light  which  had  lingered  in  the 
horizon  disappeared,  and  complete  darkness  ensued.  At 
half-past  7  the  next  morning  there  was  a  glimmering  of 
light,  and  objects  could  just  be  perceived  on  deck.  When 
day  returned  the  appearance  of  the  ship  was  most  singular ; 
every  part  being  covered  with  gray  dust,  which  lay  in  heaps 
of  a  foot  deep  on  many  parts  of  the  deck.  On  the  13th  the 
vessel  left  Macassar,  and  made  Sumbawa  on  the  18th. 
Approaching  the  coast,  she  encountered  an  immense  quan- 
tity of  pumice,  with  numerous  burnt  trees  and  logs ;  and 
the  anchorage  was  greatly  altered,  for  the  vessel  grounded 
on  a  bank  where  there  had  previously  been  6  fathoms 
water.  The  shores  were  entirely  covered  with  ashes  and 
cinders  ejected  from  Tomboroo,  although  40  miles  distant. 
The  explosions  were  terrific  ;  and  there  is  evidence  of  their 
having  been  heard  in  Sumatra,  upwards  of  900  nautical 
miles  from  Sumbawa.  Lieut.  Phillips,  who  was  despatch- 
ed to  afford  relief  to  the  perishing  inhabitants,  learned  from 
the  Rajah  of  Saugar  that  on  the  10th  of  April  the  fire  and 
flame  raged  with  exhaustless  fury,  till  all  became  dark 
from  the  quantity  of  falling  matter.  At  this  time  stones 
fell  verv  thick,  from  the  size  of  a  walnut  up  to  that  of  two 
fists.  Then  a  whirlwind  arose,  which  destroyed  every 
house  in  the  village  of  Saugar,  tore  up  the  trees,  and  carried 
them  into  the  air,  together  with  men  and  cattle.  The  sea 
rose  12  feet  above  its  usual  levels,  and  swept  away  all 
within  its  reach,  including  some  thousands  of  the  inhabi- 
tants. 

Extraordinary  and  appalling  as  these  narrations  are,  they 
might  be  greatly  extended.  In  1772  the  inhabitants  of  a 
district  of  Java  were  alarmed  by  flashes  of  light  issuing 
from  one  of  their  volcanoes.  They  took  flight ;  but.  before 
they  could  all  escape  the  mountain  fell  in,  with  thundering 
reports  like  cannon.  The  extent  of  ground  swallowed  up 
was  15  miles  by  6.  Forty  villages  were  ingulfed,  and  3000 
persons  destroved.  We  have  not  space  to  advert  to  the 
historical  details  of  Vesuvius  and  Etna.  In  the  Bay  of 
Naples,  Monte  Nuovo  was  thrown  up  in  one  day,  nearly 
500  feet  high,  and  a  mile  and  a  half  in  circumference.  Of 
the  eruptions  of  Vesuvius  there  are  numerous  and  excel- 
lent narratives.  It  deserves  especial  notice  in  relation  to 
this  mountain,  that  before  the  Christian  era,  and  from  the 
remotest  periods  of  which  we  have  any  tradition,  this  vol- 
cano was  in  a  state  of  inactivity  ;  affording  no  ether  indi- 
cations of  its  volcanic  character  than  such  as  were  deducible 
from  the  resemblance  in  its  structure  to  other  volcanoes, 
like  the  extinct  volcanoes,  as  they  are  called,  of  the  present 
day.  Pliny  does  not  include  it  in  his  list  of  active  vents, 
but  Strabo"  adverts  to  its  volcanic  aspect.  Its  form  was 
then  very  different,  from  that  which  it  now  exlulute,  and 
the  sides  were  covered  with  fertile  fields  ;  and  at  its  base 
were  the  populous  cities  of  Kerculaneum  and  Pompeii. 
The  first  svmptom  of  renovated  activity  was  63  years  after 

507 


GEOLOGY. 


Christ,  when  an  earthquake  shook  the  neighbourhood ; 
and  in  August,  79,  it  erupted  lava.  The  elder  Pliny,  who 
commanded  the  Roman  fleet,  then  stationed  at  Misenum, 
in  his  anxiety  to  get  a  near  view  of  the  phenomena  was 
suffocated  by  the  exhalations.  His  nephew  has  given  a 
lively  description  of  the  scene,  but  has  inexplicably  passed 
over  the  destruction  of  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii.  Indeed, 
so  vague  are  the  narratives  long  subsequent  to  that  event, 
that  had  those  buried  cities  never  been  discovered,  the  ac- 
counts of  their  tragical  end  would  probably  have  been 
regarded  as  fabulous.  Tacitus,  the  friend  and  contem- 
porary of  Pliny,  merely  says  that  cities  were  destroyed  ; 
Suetonius  is  silent  respecting  them  ;  Martial  adverts  to 
their  immersion  in  cinders ;  but  the  first  writer  who  alludes 
to  them  by  name  is  Dion  Cassius,  who  flourished  about  a 
century  and  a  half  after  Pliny.  We  have  some  interesting 
historical  facts,  showing  that  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum 
were  destroyed  by  ashes  and  mud,  and  not  by  red-hot  lava. 
When  the  amphitheatre  at  Herculaneum  was  first  cleared 
out,  ashes  were  arranged  on  the  steps  just  as  snow  would 
lie  had  it  fallen  there :  the  whole  superincumbent  mass 
was  from  70  to  112  feet  deep.  The  foundation  of  both 
cities  is  ancient  lava.  It  is  curious  that,  notwithstanding 
the  much  greater  depth  of  Herculaneum  than  Pompeii,  it 
was  first  discovered,  by  the  accidental  circumstance  of  a 
well  being  sunk  in  1713,  which  came  directly  down  upon 
the  theatre,  where  the  statues  of  Cleopatra  and  of  Hercules 
were  soon  discovered. 

In  both  cities  records  have  been  found  commemorating 
their  having  been  rebuilt  after  they  had  been  thrown  down 
by  an  earthquake  which  happened  in  the  reign  of  Nero,  16 
years  before  the  inhumation  of  the  cities.  Very  few  skele- 
tons have  been  discovered  in  either  city ;  so  that  it  is 
probable  the  greater  number  of  the  inhabitants  escaped, 
carrying  with  them  no  doubt  the  principal  part  of  their 
valuable  effects.  In  the  barracks  at  Pompeii  were  the 
skeletons  of  two  soldiers  chained  to  the  stocks  ;  and  in  the 
vaults  of  a  villa  in  the  suburbs  were  the  skeletons  of  seven- 
teen persons,  who  probably  fled  there  for  safety :  they  were 
found  enclosed  in  indurated  tufa,  in  which  was  preserved 
a  perfect  cast  of  a  woman  with  an  infant  in  her  arms. 
Although  her  form  was  imprinted  in  the  rock,  nothing  but 
her  bones  remained :  to  these  was  suspended  a  chain  of 
gold,  and  rings  with  jewels  were  on  the  fingers  of  the  skele- 
ton. Earthen  amphora;  were  ranged  along  the  side  of  the 
vault.  The  writings  scribbled  by  the  soldiers  in  their  bar- 
racks, and  the  names  of  the  owners  of  each  house  written 
over  the  doors,  are  still  legible.  The  colours  of  many  of 
the  paintings  on  the  stuccoed  walls  are  almost  as  vivid  as 
if  recently  painted;  and  a  collection  of  shells  was  found  in 
the  house  of  a  painter,  who  probably  amused  himself  with 
natural  history,  in  as  good  a  state  of  preservation  as  if  they 
had  remained  the  same  number  of  years  in  a  museum. 
The  beams  of  the  houses  are  black  exteriorly,  but  little 
altered  within ;  and  the  state  of  preservation  of  several 
animal  and  vegetable  products  is  truly  astonishing.  Fish- 
ing nets  are  very  abundant ;  linen  with  the  texture ;  and 
almonds,  chesnuts,  and  walnuts  in  a  fruiterer's  shop.  In  a 
baker's  a  loaf  retaining  its  form,  with  a  name  stamped  upon 
it ;  and  a  box  of  pills  upon  the  counter  of  an  apothecary, 
with  a  small  cylindrical  roll  by  the  side  of  it,  evidently 
prepared  to  be  cut  into  pills.  In  1827,  olives  in  a  square 
jar,  and  caviar,  were  found  in  a  state  of  wonderful  preser- 
vation. At  Herculaneum  the  animal  and  vegetable  sub- 
stances are  preserved  by  having  been  apparently  enveloped 
in  a  paste  which  consolidated,  and  then  allowed  them  to 
become  slowly  carbonized.  At  Pompeii  they  are  pene- 
trated by  a  gray  pulverulent  tufa.  The  history  of  the 
Papyri  is  well  known.  It  is  supposed  that  only  a  small 
part  of  Herculaneum  has  as  yet  been  explored,  and  that 
the  quarters  hitherto  cleared  out  at  great  expense  are  those 
where  there  was  the  least  probability  of  discovering  manu- 
scripts. 

It  would,  however,  be  irrelevant  here  to  enlarge  upon 
these  and  other  details  of  buried  cities ;  but  the  few  facts 
mentioned,  and  which  are  abridged  from  Mr.  Lyell's  sum- 
mary, are  not  without  geological  importance,  as  giving  some 
idea  of  the  little  change  which  the  lapse  of  seventeen  cen- 
turies has  effected. 

There  are  many  instances  of  rocks  of  decided  volcanic 
origin,  that  is,  extinct  volcanic  vents,  in  districts  where  all 
other  trace  of  activity  has  been  lost  since  the  earliest  his- 
torical times,  except  hot  and  mineral  springs ;  such  are  the 
Vivarias  and  Auvergne  in  central  France,  and  the  district 
of  Eifel,  near  Coblentz,  on  the  Rhine.  The  attempts  to  de- 
termine the  ages  of  these  rocks,  or  to  ascertain  the  periods 
of  their  activity  by  their  association  with  primitive,  second 
ary,  or  tertiary  strata,  are  not  in  general  satisfactory :  those 
who  are  curious  upon  this  point  may  be  referred  to  the  de- 
tails given  by  Mr.  Lyell. 

Important  as  are  the  geological  results  of  volcanic,  action, 
those  of  earthquakes,  which  extend  over  greater  areas,  and 
508 


produce  extensive  changes  in  the  configuration  of  the  earth's 
crest,  demand  perhaps  even  greater  attention. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  as  to  the  unity  of  cause  in  vol- 
canoes and  earthquakes ;  they  frequently  precede  violent 
volcanic  eruptions,  and  often  seem  to  arise  from  explosive 
matters  accumulating  their  force  from  want  of  vent.  They 
are  often  felt  over  great  extents  of  territory.  The  earth- 
quakes which  destroyed  Lisbon,  in  1755,  was  felt  over  the 
whole  of  Europe,  and  extended  even  to  the  West  Indies. 
What  enormous  powers  or  forces,  therefore,  must  be  called 
into  action  in  order  to  produce  such  extensive  results ! 

It  would  be  useless  here  to  quote  long  details  respecting 
the  effects  of  earthquakes ;  but  it  will  be  necessary  to  select 
two  or  three  illustrative  cases,  and  especially  to  direct  our 
attention  to  those  phenomena  connected  with  them  which 
immediately  bear  upon  geological  changes. 

The  great  earthquake  at  Lisbon  occurred  on  the  1st  of 
November,  1755.  A  sound  like  loud  thunder  was  heard  un- 
der ground,  and  instantly  afterwards  the  greater  part  of  the 
city  was  shaken  down ;  so  that,  in  six  minutes,  at  least 
00,000  persons  are  said  to  have  perished.  The  sea  first  re- 
tired, but  was  violently  agitated,  and  presently  rolled  in  in  a 
huge  wave  sixty  feet  high.  Many  of  the  largest  mountains 
in  Portugal  were  shaken  from  their  foundations,  and  most 
of  them  were  wonderfully  split  and  rent.  It  was  supposed 
that  they  emitted  fire  and  smoke ;  but  lightning  and  dust, 
perhaps,  gave  rise  to  the  appearance.  The  New  Quay,  a 
massive  marble  structure,  sunk  down  with  an  enormous 
concourse  of  persons  upon  it  who  had  taken  refuge  there 
for  safety  ;  and  it  was  so  ingulfed,  that  not  one  of  the  dead 
bodies  ever  floated  to  the  surface ;  and  many  vessels  anchor- 
ed near  it,  and  full  of  people,  were  swallowed  up  as  in  a 
whirlpool.  No  fragments  of  the  wrecks  ever  rose  again, 
and  the  water  upon  the  spot  was  deepened  by  100  fathoms. 
Many  ships  at  sea  experienced  violent  concussions.  Off'  St. 
Lucar,  the  captain  of  the  Nancy  frigate  thought  he  had 
struck  on  the  ground ;  but,  on  heaving  the  lead,  found  he 
was  in  great  depth  of  water.  Another  ship,  40  leagues 
west  oft-  St.  Vincent,  experienced  so  violent  a  concussion 
that  the  men  were  thrown  up  a  foot  and  a  half  perpendicu- 
larly from  the  deck. 

The  agitation  of  the  sea  during  earthquakes  has  almost 
always  been  remarked,  and  probably  such  effects  are  more 
common  than  is  supposed ;  for  in  almost  all  parts  irregulari- 
ties in  its  motion  are  at  times  observable,  which  cannot  be 
referred  to  temporary  currents  or  winds  in  the  offing.  The 
movement  is  generally  a  quick  flow  and  reflow  of  the  water, 
and  often  so  trifling  as  to  escape  the  attention  of  all  ordinary 
observers ;  though  detected  by  seamen  and  fishermen,  who 
are  surprised  to  find  the  boats  suddenly  floated,  or  as  sud- 
denly left  dry. 

In  the  Lisbon  earthquake,  many  of  the  rivers  and  lakes 
of  Great  Britain  were  singularly  disturbed.  Loch  Lomond 
suddenly  rose  between  two  and  tliree  feet,  and  as  suddenly 
subsided. 

In  the  great.  Calabrian  earthquake,  in  1783,  an  interesting 
narrative  of  which  is  given  by  Mr.  Lyell,  the  aspect  of  the 
country  was  singularly  changed.  The  earth  appears  to  have 
had  an  undulating,  vibratory,  and  horizontal  motion  ;  there 
were  the  usual  tremors  in  the  neighbouring  ocean ;  numer- 
ous deep  and  extensive  gaps  and  fissures  were  formed,  and 
faults  and  dislocations  in  the  strata;  large  landslips  took 
place,  and  extraordinary  lacerations ;  large  buildings  and 
farms  were  ingulfed ;  and  in  some  places  the  chasms  closed 
upon  their  prey  with  such  violence  that  on  excavating  af- 
terwards to  recover  articles  of  value,  the  workmen  found 
detached  parts  of  buildings  jammed  together  in  one  compact 
mass.  Some  of  the  resulting  gaps  and  ravines  were  up- 
wards of  a  mile  long,  and  from  200  to  300  feet  deep  and 
broad.  Large  lakes  were  formed,  sometimes  filled  with 
thermal  waters  from  below,  and  sometimes  the  consequence 
of  the  obstruction  of  streams ;  land  and  houses  were  in  some 
places  uplifted,  in  others  depressed,  in  others  transferred 
with  all  their  plantations  to  a  distance  varying  from  a  few 
feet  to  upwards  of  a  mile. 

In  these  narratives  it  is  a  matter  of  much  geological  im- 
portance to  establish  clearly  the  fact  of  elevations  and  de- 
pressions of  districts  and  strata ;  and,  if  possible,  to  ascertain 
the  amount  of  such  change  in  perpendicular  position.  Upon 
these  points  the  Chilian  earthquake  of  1822  affords  some 
satisfactory  evidence.  According  to  Mrs.  Graham's  (now 
Lady  Calcott's)  account,  the  shock  extended  for  more  than 
a  thousand  miles  along  the  coast,  and  a  great  part  of  the 
country  was  bodily  elevated  for  a  length  of  more  than  a 
hundred  miles;  the  beach  and  the  bottom  near  the  shore 
being  raised  from  three  to  four  feet.  The  uplifting  of  the 
former  was  rendered  evident  by  the  adhesion  of  the  shell- 
fish to  the  rocks ;  and  it  was  observed  that  there  were  other 
lines  of  beach  above  that  newly  elevated,  attaining  in  paral- 
lel lines  a  height  of  about  fifty  feet  above  the.  sea,  seeming  to 
show  that  previous  elevations  had  been  effected  by  the  same 
causes.     An  old  wreck  of  a  ship,  which  before  could  not  be 


GEOLOGY. 


approached,  became  accessible  from  the  land;  cones  of 
earth  were  thrown  up  in  several  districts  by  the  forcing  up 
of  water,  mud,  and  sand,  through  funnel-shaped  hollows. 
The  elevation  inland  appeared,  by  the  effect  upon  water- 
courses, to  have  been  two  or  three  times  greater  than  upon 
the  beach. 

There  are  some  other  points  connected  with  earthquakes 
and  volcanoes  which,  though  generally  considered  of  subor- 
dinate importance,  seem  to  refer  very  immediately  to  their 
causes ;  such,  for  instance,  as  intermittent  and  boiling 
springs,  and  the  escape  of  carbonic  acid  gas. 

The  Geysers  of  Iceland  are  fine  specimens  of  the  former ; 
their  waters  hold  so  large  a  quantity  of  silica  in  solution  as 
to  incrust  everything  they  run  over.  They  rise  in  a  tract 
covered  by  lava.  The  Great  Geyser  springs  from  a  spacious 
basin  at  the  summit  of  a  mound  formed  of  silicious  incrusta- 
tions deposited  by  the  spray  of  its  waters.  In  the  centre  of 
this  basin  is  a  pipe  78  feet  deep,  through  which  the  water 
rises,  flows  over,  and  is  thrown  up  in  jets,  attended  by  loud 
explosions  and  subterranean  rumblings,  and  slight  tremors 
of  the  ground.  When  these  jets  are  most  violent,  they 
shoot  to  200  feet  high ;  and  after  playing  for  some  time,  a 
snorting  noise  is  heard,  which  gradually  becomes  as  loud  as 
thunder,  and  steam  rushes  forth  with  prodigious  violence. 
This  deafening  roar  lasts  for  a  variable  time,  and  the  erup- 
tion terminates,  coming  on  again  after  a  variable  interval 
of  rest. 

Of  this  phenomenon  we  have  a  plausible  explanation,  and 
one  which  bears  most  importantly  upon  the  theory  of  vol- 
canoes and  earthquakes. 

Suppose  the  surface  water  of  the  country  to  penetrate  into 
the  chasm  A  by  the  fissures  B  B,  while  at  the  same  time 
steam  of  great  force  and  temperature  emanates  from  the 
fissures  D  D.  A  portion  of  this  steam  is  first  condensed  by 
the  water  in  A,  which  it  gradually  raises  to  its  boiling  point ; 
then  it  forms  high-pressure  steam,  and  drives  the  boiling 
water  through  the  pipe  into  the  basin  C,  and  after  the  whole 
has  been  ejected  the  steam  itself  rushes  out.  Now,  if  we 
suppose  a  number  of  large  subterranean  cavities  at  the  depth 
of  several  miles  below  the  surface,  in  which  melted  lava 
accumulates,  and  that  water  penetrating  to  these  is  convert- 
ed into  steam ;  this,  together  with  other  gases  pent  up,  and 
perhaps  liquefied  by  pressure  in  similar  cavities,  or  gener- 
ated by  the  decomposition  of  melted  rocks,  ma}"  press  upon 
the  lava  and  force  it  up  the  duct  of  a  volcano,  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  column  of  water  is  driven  up  the  pipe  of  the 
geyser.  But  the  weight  of  lava  being  immense,  the  pres- 
sure exerted  on  the  sides  and  roofs  of  such  large  cavities 
and  fissures  may  well  be  supposed  to  occasion  not  merely 
slight  tremors,  but  even  violent  earthquakes.  Sometimes 
the  lateral  pressure  of  the  lower  extremity  of  the  high  col- 
umn of  lava  may  cause  the  more  yielding  strata  to  give  way, 
and  so  for  a  time  give  relief  to  the  fused  matter.  Some- 
times, on  the  contrary,  a  weight  equal  to  that  of  tiie  vertical 
column  of  lava,  pressing  on  every  part  of  the  roof,  may 
heave  up  the  superincumbent  strata,  and  force  lava  into 
every  fissure ;  which,  on  consolidation,  may  support  the 
arch,  and  cause  the  land  above  to  be  permanently  elevated : 
on  the  other  hand,  subsidences  may  follow  the  condensa- 
tion of  vapour  when  cold  water  descends  through  fissures, 
or  when  heat  is  lost  by  the  cooling  down  of  the  lava. 

Besides  aqueous  vapour,  several  gases  are  emitted  by  vol- 
canoes, and  among  them  carbonic  acid,  which  is  also  fre- 
quently given  out  by  fissures  in  the  earth,  and  by  mineral 
springs  not  associated  with  direct  volcanic  action.  Its  oc- 
currence in  the  Grotto  del  Cane  is  well  known.  It  is  given 
out  in  enormous  quantities  near  the  lake  of  Laach,  and  in 
Brohlthal  on  the  Rhine,  where  it  is  used  in  a  chemical  man- 
ufactory ;  600  pounds  of  the  gas  are  calculated  to  be  dis- 
charged from  only  one  of  the  jets  in  twenty-four  hours. 
Near  Fort  Diadine,  on  the  Euphrates,  it  issues  through  the 
cracks  of  the  limestone  rocks  with  a  loud  hissing  noise,  and 
in  such  quantities  as  to  kill  animals  that  unwarily  approach 
it.  The  Upas  valley,  in  Java,  appears  to  be  a  cavity  filled 
to  a  certain  height  with  carbonic  acid ;  it  is  about  half  a  mile 
in  circumference,  and  about  35  feet  deep,  without  vegetation, 
and  covered  with  skeletons  of  men  and  various  animals,  such 
as  tigers,  hogs,  deer,  &c,  which  have  perished  by  their  en- 
trance into  the  gas. 

We  micht  enumerate  many  similar  cases  of  the  accumu- 
lation of  the  carbonic  acid ;  but  those  quoted  are  sufficient  to 
show  that  it  often  issues  from  the  strata  of  the  earth  in 
enormous  volumes,  and  therefore  doubtless  from  reservoirs 
where  it  is  pent  up,  under  great  pressure ;  and  in  all  proba- 
bility there  are  large  accumulations  of  it  in  a  liquid  form,  in 
which  state  it  exerts  a  pressure,  at  common  temperatures,  of 
from  50  to  60  atmospheres  upon  the  walls  that  confine  it,  and 
at  higher  temperatures  of  much  greater  force.  We  are  also, 
perhaps,  warranted  in  inferring  that  there  are  subterranean 
cavities,  not  only  filled  with  this,  but  probably  with  other 
gases,  perhaps  also  in  their  liquid  forms,  and  of  still  greater 
tensive  force ;  and  if  so,  what  may  not  be  the  mechanical 


and  chemical  energies  of  some  of  these,  acting  upon  the 
highly  in. flammable  metals  at  very  elevated  temperatures'? 
Upon  the  whole,  it  does  not  appear  that  powers  are  wanting 
adequate  to  the  greatest  observed  effects ;  that  these  are  con- 
stantly in  activity  ;  and  that  stupendous  as  the  results  appear 
in  their  collective  effects,  the  great  mountains  of  the  globe 
may  have  been  elevated  by  causes  now  in  action ;  that,  at 
all  events,  we  need  not  call  to  our  aid  unknown  powers, 
since  existing  causes  (especially  if  it  be  admitted  that  thev 
were  once  more  energetic  than  at  present,  and  that  the 
agents  have,  as  it  were,  spent  a  part  of  their  force)  appear 
adequate  to  the  explication  of  this  class  of  geological  phe- 
nomena ;  and  if  we  now  have  powers  in  activity,  and  we 
have  seen  that  such  there  are,  which  are  capable  of  eleva- 
ting 100  miles  of  rocky  coast  3  or  4  feet,  why  may  not  a  suc- 
cession of  such  elevations,  even  admitting  them  not  to  have 
been  greater  than  at  present,  carried  on  through  an  indefinite 
period  of  time,  have  occasioned  those  liftings  up  of  the  moun- 
tains which  we  have  had  such  abundant  occasion  to  advert 
to  1  It  is  well  known  that  slight  forces  continuously  repeat- 
ed produce  gigantic  effects.  It  has,  says  Mr.  Lyell,  been  ar- 
gued by  the  opponents  of  this  view,  "  that  it  is  useless  to  ap- 
peal to  time,  for  time  can  effect  no  more  than  its  powers  are 
capable  of  performing.  If,  say  they,  a  mouse  be  harnessed  to 
a  large  piece  of  ordnance,  it  will  never  move  it,  even  if  cen- 
turies upon  centuries  were  allowed.  This  is  true  enough. 
But  let  us  suppose  a  lever  applied  capable  of  propelling  it 
forward  at  the  rate  of  an  inch  in  a  century;  it  is  clear  that 
in  a  sufficient  succession  of  centuries  we  should  have  ad- 
vanced a  mile:  any  force  that  could  move  it  at  all  must,  if 
it  continue  in  action,  continue  to  propel  it." 

The  full  bearing  of  this  question,  however,  will  be  more 
evident  when  we  have  considered  the  causes  which  are  now 
effective  in  producing  sedimentary  formations,  in  wearing 
down  the  present  surface  of  the  globe,  and  in  conjunction 
with  those  more  violent  powers  which  we  have  just  noticed 
in  giving  rise  to  various  superficial  inequalities. 
$IV. 

We  have  now  surveyed  the  structure  of  the  earth's  sur- 
face, and  have  traced  the  apparent  causes  of  many  of  the 
changes  which  it  has  undergone,  and  which  have  contributed 
to  its  present  state  and  aspect ;  but  there  are  a  variety  of 
processes  now  active,  and  of  changes  now  going  on,  which 
are  slowly  tending  to  modify  the  existing  order  of  things,  and 
which,  if  considered  in  reference  to  their  continuity  through 
past  ages,  and  to  their  accumulated  effects  through  ages  to 
come,  will  perhaps  assume  an  air  of  unexpected  importance. 

Among  the  powers  of  matter  which  change  the  earth's 
surface,  heat  and  cold  are  obviously  at  all  times  concerned 
in  exciting  dilatations  and  contractions,  and  thus  keeping  up 
a  perpetual  and  varying  motion  among  the  particles  upon 
which  they  act.  Of  such  changes  the  sun  is  the  grand 
source ;  to  whose  varying  influence  the  earth  in  its  diurnal 
revolutions  upon  its  axis,  and  in  its  annual  circumvolutions 
through  space,  is  always  exposed.*  It  may  perhaps  seem. 
that  the  mere  influence  of  change  of  temperatue,  derived 
from  the  solar  rays,  must  be  of  little  efficacy  in  disintegrating 
hard  and  solid  substances;  but  when  we  reflect  upon  the 
very  extensive  range  of  natural  temperatures,  and  on  the 
great  receptive  and  emissive  powers  in  respect  to  radiant 
heat  which  the  surfaces  of  some  rocks  present,  very  consid 
erable  transitions  from  heat  to  cold,  and  the  reverse,  may  en- 
sue, and,  acting  upon  certain  textures,  may  alone  lend  pow- 
erful aid  to  that  general  work  of  decay  which  is  commonly 
called  the  weathering  of  rocks. 

But  when  the  influence  of  change  of  temperature  is  con- 
joined with  the  varied  agencies  of  water,  the  powers  of  de- 
struction will  not  only  be  materially  increased,  but  rendered, 
in  many  instances,  rapid  and  irresistible.  About  three  fourths 
of  our  globe  are  covered  by  the  waters  of  the  ocean,  the 
mean  depth  of  which  is  probably  about  3  miles.  The  mean 
height  of  the  dry  land  above  the  ocean's  level,  does  not  ex- 


*  "  The  sun's  ravs."  s-iys  Sir  J.  Herschel  {Astronomy,  p.  21 ',)  "  are  the 
ultimate  source  of  almost  every  motion  which  takes  place  on  the  surface  of 
the  earth.  By  its  heat  are  produced  all  winds,  and  those  disturbances  in  the 
electric  equilibrium  of  the  atmosphere  which  give  rise  'o  (he  phenomena  of 
terrestrial  magnetism.  By  their  vivifying  action  vegetables  are  elaborated 
from  inorganic  matter,  and  become  in  their  turn  the  support  nf  animals  and 
of  mar,  and  the  sources  of  lh"se  (treat  deposits  of  dynamical  efficiency  which 
are  lai  i  up  for  human  use  in  our  coal  stra'a.  By  'hem  tl.e  wa'ers  of  the  sea 
are  made  to  circulate  in  vapours  through  the  air,  and  irrigate  the  land,  pro- 
ducing springs  and  rivers.  Bv  them  are  produced  all  riis'urbances  of  the 
chemical  equilibrium  of  the  elements  of  nature,  which,  by  a  series  of  com- 
positions aud  decompositions,  give  rise  to  new  products,  and  originate  a  trans- 
fer of  materials.  Even  the  slow  degradation  of  the  solid  constituents  of  the 
surface,  in  which  its  chief  geological  changes  consist,  and  their  diffusion 
among  the  wa'ers  of  the  ocean,  are  entirely  due  to  'he  abrasion  of  the  wind 
and  rain,  and  the  alternate  action  of  the  siasons;  and  wren  we  consider  the 
immense  transfer  of  matter  so  produced,  the  increase  of  pressure  over  large 
spaces  in  the  bed  of  Ihe  ocean,  and  diminution  over  correspoo.lmr  portions 
of  the  land  we  are  not  at  a  loss  to  conceive  how  the  elas'ic  power  of  sub- 
terranean fires,  thus  repressed  on  the  one  hand  and  relieved  on  the  other, 
mav  break  forth  in  points  where  the  resistance  is  barely  adequate  to  their  re- 
tention, and  thus  bring  the  phenomena  cf  volcanic  activity  even  under  the 
general  law  of  solar  influence- 

50U 


GEOLOGY. 


cecd  2  miles ;  so  that  the  present  dry  land  might  be  so  dis- 
tributed over  the  bottom  of  the  ocean  that  the  surface  of  the 
globe  would  present  a  mass  of  waters.  This  is  an  important 
possibility,  when  geologically  considered ;  because,  with  it 
at  command,  every  variety  of  superficial  land  and  water 
may  be  imagined,  and  consequently  every  variety  of  organic 
life,  each  suited  to  the  various  situations  and  climates  under 
which  it  would  be  placed.  In  consequence  of  the  general 
uniformity  of  level  preserved  by  the  ocean,  it  enters  the  nu- 
merous irregularities  of  the  land,  and  sometimes  forms  in- 
land seas  as  it  were,  in  which  geological  changes,  differing 
from  those  which  occur  in  the  open  ocean,  may  occasionally 
take  place,  as  in  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Baltic.  There 
are  also  inland  seas,  or  lakes,  as  they  are  usually  called,  not 
in  direct  communication  with  the  open  sea ;  some  of  salt  and 
others  of  fresh  water.  The  latter  cover  very  large  tracts  ; 
and  it  is  obvious  that  in  them  depositions  may  take  place 
exclusively  characterized  by  terrestrial  and  fresh-water  re- 
mains. 

It  is  also  obvious  that  earthquakes  and  volcanoes  will  ma- 
terially contribute  towards  existing  changes,  and,  co-opera- 
ting with  aqueous  forces,  may  often  produce  a  joint  effect  to 
which  neither  could  separately  give  rise ;  as  when  frequent 
earthquakes  aid  the  excavating  power  of  water  in  carving 
out  a  valley,  or  widening  one  which  already  exists.  Of  these 
powers  the  statements  in  the  preceding  section  furnish  abun- 
dant proofs ;  so  that  we  may  now  more  exclusively  attend 
to  aqueous  causes,  some  of  which  are  of  a  destructive,  others 
of  a  renovating  or  reproductive  character. 

When  lands  are  much  elevated  above  the  sea  they  con- 
dense the  vapours  of  the  atmosphere,  in  consequence  of  their 
low  temperature,  and  thus  become  reservoirs  of  water  which 
irrigate  the  valleys  and  plains  below,  and  descending,  often 
by  steep  declivities,  acquire  an  impetuosity  calculated  to  sur- 
mount powerful  obstacles.  The  summits,  therefore,  of 
mountains  are  particularly  subject  to  atmospherical  influ- 
ences, and  to  great  alternations  of  temperature  and  moisture. 
We  have  already  alluded  to  the  gigantic  force  of  water 
freezing  in  the  chasm  and  crevices  of  rocks ;  and  it  is  in  this 
way  that  great  havoc  is  effected  where  comparatively  little 
wet  falls,  and  that  the  decay  of  rocks  in  high  latitudes  goes 
on  as  rapidly,  or  more  so,  than  where  they  are  deluged  by 
the  tropical  torrents  of  rain.  This  mechanical  power  of  wa- 
ter is  often  aided  by  its  solvent  energies ;  and  although  these 
are  usually  very  slow  in  their  operation,  the  time  for  which 
they  are  continued  and  the  extent  of  surface  upon  which  they 
operate  produce  a  great  aggregate  effect.  Some  granitic 
rocks  thus  disintegrate  apparently  by  the  washing  out  of  their 
alkaline  constituents ;  in  other  cases  carbonic  acid  aids  the 
solvent  power ;  and  in  others  the  air  in  water  converts  black 
oxide  of  iron  into  red,  and  the  decay  of  the  rocks  is  rapid  in 
proportion  to  the  extent  of  this  conversion.  The  granite  tors 
of  Dartmoor  and  of  the  Land's  End  furnish  curious  instances 
of  the  effect  of  slow  decay  from  several  causes,  among  which 
the  tendency  in  the  rock  to  cubical  and  prismatic  fracture 
must  not  be  overlooked.  By  degrees  the  surfaces  become 
separated;  and  the  wearing  continuing  to  proceed  more 
rapidly  near  the  parts  which  are  most  external,  and  there- 
fore most  exposed,  the  masses  which  once  were  angular  and 
prismatic  acquire  an  irregular  curvilinear  boundary,  and  the 
stones  assume  that  appearance  which  has  sometimes  been 
regarded  as  artificial,  and  has  induced  persons  to  consider 
them  as  Druidical  remains.  Enormous  stones  are  thus 
thrown  from  their  original  positions,  and  becoming  rounder 
and  rovmder  by  the  progress  of  decomposition,  assume  a 
fpheroidal  figure,  often  referred  to  the  continuous  action  of 
running  water :  under  favourable  circumstances  logging 
stones  are,  as  we  have  previously  observed,  thus  produced. 
The  weathering  of  some  of  these  tors  is  so  gradual  that  the 
life  of  man  scarcely  allows  an  individual  to  observe  a  change, 
whence  we  may  infer  the  long  periods  that  have  been  re- 
quisite to  bring  about  their  present  appearances.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  chemical  changes  may  sometimes  be  aided  by  the 
electrical  powers  called  into  action,  and  as  a  more  immediate 
agent  electricity  is  not  without  its  influence.  The  thunder 
storm  shivers  rocks  and  hurls  them  down  in  mighty  frag- 
ments, often  fusing  their  surfaces,  and  sometimes  consolida- 
ting soft  materials.  Near  Drig  in  Cumberland,  the  sandy 
soil  contains  hollow  tubes  produced  by  lightning  striking  and 
penetrating  the  ground ;  some  of  these  have  been  traced  to 
a  depth  of  40  feet,  and  furnish  curious  illustrations  of  the 
passage  of  the  electricity.  When  running  water  is  mixed 
with  sand  and  pebbles  it  acquires  a  new  mechanical  power, 
and  these  carried  along  by  streams  grind  down  and  excavate 
the  adjacent  strata,  so  that  the  superincumbent  portions  are 
ultimately  precipitated  into  the  stream.  The  obstruction 
causes  a  temporary  accumulation  of  water  behind,  which 
afterwards  bursts  the  barrier;  and  in  this  way  small  ravines 
are  slowly  widened  into  narrow  valleys,  in  which  sinuosities 
are  caused  by  the  deflection  of  the  stream,  first  to  one  side 
and  then  to  the  other.  The  unequal  hardness  of  the  ma- 
terials through  which  the  channel  is  eroded  tends  also  to 
510 


modify  the  lateral  power  of  excavation,  and  thus  the  little 
stream  acquires  a  serpentine  direction.  When  the  flexures 
are  great,  a  direct  line  is  often  restored  by  the  river  cutting 
through  the  isthmus  which  separates  two  or  more  of  its 
curves.  These  windings  occur  from  similar  causes  in  some 
of  the  largest  rivers  of  the  world ;  and  not  only  in  those 
which  flow  through  flat  alluvial  plains,  but  large  valleys  are 
excavated  to  a  great  depth  through  solid  rocks  in  this  scr 
pentine  form.  These  tortuous  flexures  of  rivers  show  that 
the  valleys  in  which  they  flow  were  not  produced  or  ex- 
cavated by  any  flood  of  uncommon  power  and  magnitude, 
or  by  any  diluvial  operation;  for  such  causes  would  proba- 
bly have  produced  straight  channels. 

In  referring  to  the  transporting  powers  of  water,  it  has 
been  justly  observed  by  Mr.  Lyell,  that  we  are  often  sur- 
prised at  the  facility  with  which  small  streams  bear  along 
sand  and  gravel ;  for  we  usually  estimate  the  weight  of  rocks 
in  air,  and  do  not  sufficiently  reflect  on  their  comparative 
buoyancy  when  submerged  in  a  denser  fluid.  The  specific 
gravity  of  most  rocks  is  only  from  twice  to  thrice  that  of 
water  ;  so  that  the  fragments  lose  from  a  third  to  half  of 
what  we  usually  call  their  weight. 

The  power  of  rivers  in  transporting  mud,  sand,  and  gravel, 
is  shown  by  the  accumulation  of  those  substances  at  their 
mouths,  where  they  terminate  either  in  lakes  or  in  the  sea ; 
;ind  the  history  of  storms  and  floods  affords  many  memora- 
ble instances  of  the  force  with  which  they  transport  heavy 
materials.  In  August,  1829,  Aberdeenshire  and  the  adjacent 
counties  of  Scotland  were  visited  by  a  storm  and  hurricane 
which  extended  over  a  space  of  5000  square  miles — flooding 
the  rivers,  carrying  away  bridges,  and  removing  masses  of 
rock  of  some  tons  weight,  and  transporting  from  1000  to  3000 
tons  of  gravel  to  great  distances  in  one  day. 

In  alpine  countries  the  moving  of  massive  stones  is  facili- 
tated by  the  ice  which  adheres  to  them,  and  forms  with  the 
rocks  a  mass  of  less  specific  gravity.  The  glaciers  also, 
formed  of  consolidated  snow,  carry  down  prodigious  loads 
of  rock  and  sand,  which  are  generally  ranged  in  long  ridges 
running  parallel  to  the  glacier,  and  from  20  to  40  feet  high. 
They  are  slowly  protruded  into  the  valleys,  where  the  ice 
melts,  and  the  whole  accumulation  is  swept  away  by  tor- 
rents. 

If  the  materials  which  streams  have  to  work  upon  are  but 
loosely  consolidated,  the  rapidity  with  which  they  some- 
times excavate  deep  channels  is  truly  astonishing.  After 
the  heavy  rains  which  followed  the  eruption  of  Vesuvius  hi 
1822,  the  water  flowing  from  the  Atrio  del  Cavallo  cut,  in 
three  days,  a  new  chasm  25  feet  deep. 

We  may  also  adduce  striking  examples  of  the  erosion  of 
deep  chasms  in  comparatively  hard  and  durable  materials. 
Some  of  the  clearest  illustrations  of  this  excavating  power 
are  presented  in  the  valleys  of  central  France,  where  the 
ancient  channels  of  rivers  have  been  filled  up  by  lava, 
through  which  the  present  streams  have  re-excavated  a 
passage  from  20  to  70  feet  deep,  and  often  of  great  width. 

This  subject  has  been  well  illustrated  by  another  case 
quoted  by  Mr.  Lyell,  upon  the  base  of  Etna,  where  a  great 
current  of  lava  descending,  in  1C03,  from  near  the  summit  of 
the  volcano,  flowed  into  the  alluvial  plain  of  the  Simeto, 
one  of  the  largest  of  the  Sicilian  rivers,  which  skirts  the  base 
of  Etna,  and  falls  into  the  sea  a  few  miles  south  of  Catania. 
It  entirely  filled  up  and  obliterated  the  bed  of  the  river 
with  indurated  lava ;  yet  now  (that  is  in  the  course  of  two 
centuries)  it  has  re-excavated  for  itself  a  new  passage,  which 
is  from  40  to  50  feet  deep,  and  more  than  100  wide. 

But  of  the  numerous  examples  which  might  be  cited  of 
the  powers  of  rivers  to  carve  out  their  courses  and  exca- 
vate valleys  in  their  rocky  boundaries,  the  falls  of  Niagara 
are  perhaps  the  most  magnificent.  That  river  flows  from 
Lake  Erie  to  Lake  Ontario,  the  distance  between  them  being 
32  miles  ;  and  the  level  of  the  former  lake  is  330  feet  above 
that  of  the  latter.  As  it  leaves  Lake  Erie,  the  Niagara  is  al- 
most level  with  its  banks,  and  three  quarters  of  a  mile  wide ; 
so  that  should  it  rise  8  or  10  feet,  Canada  and  the  State  of 
New  York  would  be  inundated.  Proceeding  towards  the 
falls,  it  has  a  descent  of  50  feet  in  half  a  mile,  and  rushes 
with  great  force.  At  the  verge  of  the  cataract,  an  island 
divides  it  into  two  falls:  one  1800  feet  wide,  and  158  feet 
perpendicular;  the  other  600  feet  wide,  and  164  feet  high. 
This  enormous  body  of  water  is  precipitated  over  a  ledge  of 
hard  limestone  in  horizontal  layers,  which  rests  upon  a  soft 
shale.  This  crumbles  away  so  rapidly,  that  the  harder  lime- 
stone forms  a  projecting  mass,  which  overhangs  the  space 
below,  and  being  left  without  support,  falls  from  time  to 
time  in  large  masses  into  the  abyss  beneath ;  occasionally 
producing  shocks  which  are  felt  at  some  distance,  and  at- 
tended by  a  noise  like  thunder.  As  soon  as  the  river  has 
passed  the  falls,  its  character  is  completely  changed ;  it 
runs  furiously  in  a  deep  trench  cut  in  the  horizontal  strata, 
so  that  the  ravine  is  only  perceived  on  approaching  the  edge 
of  the  precipice.  Through  this  deep  chasm  the  river  flows 
for  7  miles ;  and  then  the  table-land,  which  is  nearly  level 


GEOLOGY. 


with  Lake  Erie,  suddenly  sinks  down  at  a  town  called 
Queenstown,  and  the  river  traverses  a  plain  which  con- 
tinues to  the  shore  of  Lake  Ontario. 

Now  it  appears  probable  that  the  great  cataract  of  the 
river  was  once  at  (tueenstown,  and  has  gradually  retrograded 
from  that  place  to  its  present  position,  about  7  miles  up. 
Within  the  last  40  years  the  falls  have  receded  50  yards  ;  so 
that,  supposing  the  ratio  of  recession  never  to  have  exceeded 
this  slow  progress,  it  must  have  required  nearly  10,000  years 
for  the  excavation  of  the  whole  ravine ;  and  should  it  not  be 
accelerated  in  future,  it  will  require  nearly  30,000  years  for 
the  falls  to  eat  their  way  backwards  to  Lake  Erie,  to  which 
they  most  undoubtedly  seem  destined  to  arrive.  Of  course 
this  calculation  is  only  provisional,  and  may  be  interfered 
with  by  many  causes ;  but  supposing  Lake  Erie  to  remain 
nearly  in  its  present  state,  the  sudden  escape  of  such  an  im- 
mense body  of  water  would  cause  a  tremendous  deluge. 
But  Lake  Erie  is  constantly  diminishing  in  depth  by  the 
enormous  quantities  of  matter  brought  down  by  the  rivers 
which  feed  it.  Long  Point,  near  the  influx  of  Big  Creek 
River,  has  advanced  three  miles  within  the  last  three  years : 
another  important  effect  of  rivers.  There  arc  other  causes 
which  in  this  case  would  probably  prevent  a  sudden  deba- 
cle ;  for  the  waters  of  a  lake  with  a  rocky  barrier  can  only 
be  suddenly  let  out  so  as  to  produce  a  deluge  when  the  hard 
barrier  separating  it  from  the  land  at  a  lower  level  presents 
a  perpendicular  face  to  the  whole  depth  of  the  lake,  and, 
accordingly,  inundations  from  such  causes  are  comparatively 
rare.     (See  Lyell' s  Principles.) 

We  come  now  then  to  consider  the  farther  progress  of 
the  detritus  carried  down  by  rivers.  It  is  clear  that  their 
tendency  will  be  to  fill  up  valleys  and  hollows :  lakes  will 
gradually  diminish  in  depth,  or  even  be  choked  up  and  again 
cut  through  ;  and  low  lands  flooded,  and  deposits  left  upon 
them.  In  some  situations,  rivers  raise  their  beds  when  re- 
strained by  artificial  embankment.  Of  this  the  Po  furnishes 
a  remarkable  example,  traversing  the  plains  upon  a  high 
mound  like  an  aqueduct,  even  more  elevated  than  the  roofs 
of  the  houses  in  the  city  of  Ferarra. 

In  other  cases,  where  two  or  more  streams  unite  into  one 
river,  so  that  the  water  does  not  expose  a  surface  equal  to 
the  two  previous  surfaces,  the  action  of  the  united  waters  is 
to  deepen  the  channel. 

Of  the  matters  carried  down  by  rivers  large  quantities  are 
transported  to  their  mouths,  and  there  deposited  either  in 
lakes  or  in  the  ocean  bed.  The  Lake  of  Geneva  is  thus  re- 
ceiving enormous  supplies  of  detritus  from  the  Rhone ;  so 
that  from  calculations  which  have  been  made  of  its  in- 
crease, and  the  diminution  of  the  depth  of  the  lake,  it  ap- 
pears probable  that  if  we  could  obtain  a  section  of  the  ac- 
cumulation formed  during  the  last  eight  centuries,  we  should 
see  a  great  series  of  strata  from  600  to  900  feet  thick,  and 
nearly  two  miles  in  length,  inclined  at  a  slight  angle.  We 
should  also  find  a  number  of  smaller  deltas  at  the  mouths 
of  the  smaller  rivers,  each  composed  of  such  materials  as 
the  respective  rivers  happen  to  have  brought  down. 

When  the  Rhone  again  issues  from  this  lake,  it  is  as  pel- 
lucid as  crystal;  but  its  pure  waters  are  presently  again 
mixed  with  the  turbbl  sediments  of  the  impetuous  Arve, 
bringing  down  the  granite  detritus  of  the  glaciers  of  Mont 
Blanc.  It  afterwards  receives  vast  contributions  from  the 
Alps  of  Dauphiny,  and  from  the  primary  and  volcanic 
mountains  of  central  France ;  and  when  at" length  it  enters 
the  Mediterranean,  it  discolours  its  blue  waters  with  a 
whitish  sediment  for  the  distance  of  between  six  and  seven 
miles  from  its  mouth,  throughout  which  space  the  current 
of  fresh  water  is  perceptible.  Mr.  Lyell  has  collected  a 
body  of  very  curious  information  respecting  this  and  other 
deltas,  of  which  we  can  only  here  hint  at  the  general  re- 
sults. 

It  appears  that  by  the  confluence  of  the  Rhone,  and  the 
currents  of  the  Mediterranean  driven  by  winds  from  the 
south,  sand  bars  are  often  formed  across  "the  mouths  of  the 
river,  by  which  means  considerable  spaces  become  divided 
off  from  the  sea,  and  subsequently  from  the  river  also,  when 
it  shifts  its  channels  of  efflux.  As  some  of  these  are  subject 
to  the  occasional  ingress  of  the  river  when  flooded,  and  of 
the  sea  during  storms,  they  are  alternated  salt  and  fresh  ;  so 
that  both  fluviatile and  marine  shells  arefound  in  them.  Of 
the  new  deposits  in  th  is  delta  great  part  consists  of  calcareous 
and  arenaceous  rock  cemented  by  carbonate  of  lime.  A 
cannon  taken  up  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  was  entirely 
entombed  in  solid  calcareous  rock. 

The  delta  of  the  Po  in  the  Adriatic  presents  another  in- 
stance of  the  vast  accumulations  of  matter  that  are  thus  de- 
posited by  rivers ;  and  it  appears  that  within  the  historical 
period,  that  is,  within  2000  years,  the  accessions  of  land  have 
increased  trom  2  to  20  miles  in  breadth.  Adria,  a  sea-port 
in  the  time  of  Augustus,  is  now  about  20  miles  inland :  and 
Ravenna,  which  was  also  a  sea-port,  is  4  miles  from  the 
main  sea. 

The  delta  of  the  Nile  also  affords  some  interesting  geolo- 


gical considerations ;  but  we  must  look  to  the  great  rivers  of 
Asia  and  America  for  the  most  instructive  examples  of  these 
formations. 

Of  the  delta  of  the  Ganges  and  Barrampooter  we  have 
some  curious  information  from  Major  Rennel.  These  rivers 
descend  from  the  highest  mountains  in  the  world  into  a 
gulf  which  runs  225  miles  into  the  continent.  The  part  of 
the  delta  bordering  on  the  sea  is  composed  of  a  labyrinth  of 
rivers  and  creeks,  infested  by  tigers  and  alligators,  and  equal 
in  extent  to  the  whole  principality  of  Wales.  The  mud  and 
sand  poured  into  the  gulf  in  the  flood  season  is  so  great, 
that  the  sea  only  recovers  its  transparency  at  the  distance 
of  60  miles  from  the  coast.  And  in  farther  proof  of  the  im- 
mense transportation  of  earthy  matter,  we  have  the  great 
magnitude  of  the  islands  formed  in  the  channels  of  the  river 
during  a  period  even  far  short  of  a  man's  life.  Some  of 
these,  many  miles  in  extent,  have  originated  in  large  sand 
banks  thrown  up  at  points,  and  afterwards  insulated  by  the 
stream ;  others  are  caused  by  various  accidental  obstruc- 
tions, such  as  sunk  trees  or  boats.  In  the  great  gulf  below 
Luckipoor,  some  of  the  islands  rival  the  Isle  of  Wight  in 
size.  These  newly-formed  lands  are  soon  overrun  with 
reeds,  grass,  and  shrubs,  which  form  impenetrable  thickets, 
where  tigers,  buffaloes,  deer,  and  other  wild  animals  take 
shelter;  so  that  both  animal  and  vegetable  remains  must 
continually  be  precipitated  into  the  flood,  and  sometimes  be- 
come embedded  in  the  sediment  of  the  delta.  Crocodiles  also 
swarm  upon  the  shoals ;  and  the  habits  of  these  animals  are 
such  as  to  render  them  particularly  liable  to  become  im- 
bedded in  the  horizontal  strata  of  mud  which  are  annually 
deposited  in  the  Bay  of  Bengal  over  many  hundred  square 
miles.  Mr.  Lyell  has  also  gone  into  the  history  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, the  course  of  which  is  very  instructive,  in  consequence 
of  the  undisturbed  and  natural  state  of  its  banks,  and  the 
varieties  of  climate  through  which  it  flows.  Its  delta  is  di- 
vided into  innumerable  lakes,  marshes,  and  streams,  inhabit- 
ed by  multitudes  of  alligators ;  and  millions  of  logs  and 
trunks  of  trees  are  brought  down  at  particular  seasons,  and 
either  carried  out  to  sea,  or  bound  together  by  adventitious 
vegetation,  so  as  to  retard  the  river  and  become  embedded  in 
mud. 

We  thus  find  that  matters  washed  down  from  the  decay 
and  disintegration  of  the  land  into  lakes  and  seas  are  there 
accumulated,  and  are  now  forming  stratified  deposits,  varying 
in  their  nature  and  texture,  and  often  abounding  in  organic 
relics ;  but,  to  form  a  just  notion  of  the  magnitude  of  these  pro- 
cesses, they  must  be  compared  with  objects  with  which  we 
are  familiar.  Now  it  is  probable  that  the  water  of  the  Ganges 
hold  in  suspension  from  2  to  3  per  cent,  of  solid  matter ;  but 
if  we  only  assume  one  per  cent.,  which  is,  perhaps,  the  aver- 
age of  most  rivers,  we  are,  says  Mr.  Lyell,  brought  to  the 
extraordinary  conclusion  that  there  passes  down,  every  ten 
days,  into  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  a  mass  equal  in  weight  and 
bulk  to  the  great  Egyptian  pyramid. 

We  have  already  adverted  to  the  enormous  quantity  of 
matter  ejected  by  volcanoes.  The  most  voluminous  current 
of  lava  which  has  flowed  from  Etna  within  historical  times 
was  that  of  1669,  calculated  at  140  million  cubic  yards. 
Now  this  would  only  equal  in  bulk  one  seventh  of  the  sedi- 
mentary matter  carried  down  in  a  single  year  by  the  Ganges 
(assuming  1  per  cent,  of  sand)  ;  so  that  allowing  seven  such 
eruptions  in  a  century,  it  would  require  100  Etnas  to  trans- 
fer a  mass  of  lava  from  the  subterranean  regions  to  the  sur- 
face equal  to  the  mud  carried  down  in  the  same  time  from 
the  Himalaya  mountains  into  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  (Lyell's 
Principles  of  Geology.) 

That  enormous  quantities  of  matter,  therefore,  are  thus  by 
slow  and  silent  operations  carrying  down  into  the  deep,  and 
there  forming  strata  which  may  one  day  be  upheaved  and 
assume  the  character  of  dry  land,  will  now  be  obvious  ;  and 
shows  how  some  of  the  mightiest  operations  in  nature  are 
effected  insensibly,  without  noise  or  disorder,  and  without  the 
aid  of  extraordinary  convulsions,  mighty  deluges,  or  other 
temporary  and  sudden  causes.  We  might  form  some  curi- 
ous speculations  respecting  the  nature  of  the  strata  thus 
forming.  Some  will  be  argillaceous,  some  calcareous,  hard 
and  soft,  coarse  and  fine,  depending  upon  a  variety  of  obvi- 
ous interfering  causes :  some  abounding  in  organic  remains, 
others  without  them ;  and  among  these,  from  the  number  of 
shipwrecks  and  other  casualties,  human  remains  and  works 
of  art  must  often  be  abundantly  interred. 

From  the  wearing  down  of  rocks  and  strata,  and  the  ex- 
cavation of  valleys  by  rivers,  streams,  and  alternations  of  - 
temperature,  we  may  now  take  a  cursory  view  of  the  action 
of  the  sea  on  coasts. 

The  waves  of  the  ocean  operate,  in  many  instances,  like 
mighty  artillery,  battering  and  breaking  down  the  solid  bar- 
riers opposed  to  their  inroads.  If  the  rocks  are  soft,  the 
wear  is  proportionately  rapid,  as  we  see  upon  the  east  coast 
of  our  island,  where  many  spots  now  standing  in  the  sea,  or 
even  covered  by  its  waters,  are  marked  in  old  maps  as  sites 
of  towns  and  villages,  the  inhabitants  having  gradually  re- 

511 


GEOLOGY. 


treated  inland.  Where  the  rocks  are  hard,  or  where  they 
are  so  stratified  as  to  oppose  resistance,  the  declension  of 
coast  is  much  more  gradual.  The  substances  thus  delivered 
into  the  sea  are  acted  on  according  to  their  respective  weights, 
forms,  and  textures :  some  transported  by  tides  and  currents ; 
others  rolled  about,  and  ground  down  upon  the  shore;  and 
where  indurated  masses  are  contained  in  softer  materials, 
flints  for  instance  in  chalk,  they  remain  at  the  base  of  the 
cliff,  and  tend  to  protect  it  from  the  breakers  and  check  its 
farther  excavation. 

Veins  and  dikes  sometimes  are  curiously  exposed  and  in- 
sulated by  this  wear  and  tear.  Arches  are  cut  out  and  cav- 
erns excavated,  and  even  the  hardest  rocks  often  drilled  as  it 
were  in  various  directions. 

The  protecting  influence  of  the  waves  is  seen  in  those  long 
lines  of  shingles  and  sand  which  often  defend  low  and  marshy 
land,  especially  at  the  mouths  of  valleys,  from  the  access  of 
the  sea;  and  the  higher  the  tide  and  the  heavier  the  gale, 
the  higher  the  rampart  that  is  raised.  These  beaches  travel 
in  the  direction  of  the  prevalent  winds  ;  and  of  this  engineers 
are  practically  aware,  as  we  see  by  the  works  which  they 
erect  to  arrest  their  progress. 

An  instructive  example  of  the  nature  and  effects  of  accu- 
mulations of  this  sort  is  furnished  by  the  Chesil  Bank,  which 
connects  the  Isle  of  Portland  with  the  mainland ;  it  is  about 
16  miles  long,  and  the  size  of  the  pebbles  increases  from 
west  to  east.  Its  formation  is  probably  due  to  a  meeting  of 
tides  between  the  peninsula  and  the  land.  The  storm  of 
1824  burst  over  it  and  overwhelmed  the  village  of  Chesilton. 
Another  example  of  land  thus  protected  is  on  the  south  coast 
of  Devon.  What  is  called  Slapton  Sands  is,  in  fact,  a  ridge 
of  pebbles,  which  protects  and  blocks  up  the  mouths  of  sev- 
eral valleys.  Sand  is  also  often  accumulated  and  thrown  up 
in  the  same  way  as  shingles ;  and  when  it  is  left  by  the  tide 
and  dried  by  the  sun,  winds  often  transport  it  to  great  dis- 
tances, so  as  even  to  overwhelm  large  districts — houses,  culti- 
vated lands,  and  even  forests,  disappearing  beneath  them. 
On  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  these  moving 
heaps  force  lakes  of  fresh  water  before  them,  derived  from 
the  rains  which  are  pent  up ;  and  several  villages  in  the  de- 
partment of  the  Landes  have  been  thus  buried,  and  others  are 
now  threatened  with  destruction.  They  have  been  calculated 
to  advance  at  the  rate  of  60  to  70  feet  in  a  year.  Sometimes 
these  sands  become  consolidated  by  the  percolation  of  calca- 
reous or  ferruginous  waters.  Of  this  we  have  an  example  on 
the  north  coast  of  Cornwall,  where  the  sand  is  formed  of  com- 
minuted shells ;  and  the  drift  having  taken  place  at  different 
times,  the  recent  sandstone  thus  formed  is  stratified  with  oc- 
casionally interposed  vegetable  remains.  Where  church- 
yards have  existed,  human  remains  have  been  entombed ;  and 
an  old  pot  of  coins  has  been  found  in  this  formation.  This 
rock  is  so  hard  that  holes  are  bored  in  it  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  vessels.  The  parish  church  of  Crantock  is  built  of 
it.  ^The  fossil  skeletons  of  Guadaloupe  appear  to  have  been 
preserved  by  this  species  of  rock  formation. 

Among  reproductive  causes  now  in  action,  none  are  of 
more  curiosity  or  interest  than  the  operations  of  the  small 
soophytic  animals  which  produce  coral,  and  which,  labour- 
ing on  through  long  periods  of  time,  gradually  accumulate 
such  enormous  masses  of  carbonate  of  lime  as  to  form,  to- 
gether with  shells  which  they  entangle  and  envelope,  islands 
of  no  inconsiderable  dimensions. 

Coral  reefs  are  usually  of  a  form  approaching  to  the  circu- 
lar, and  the  water  is  shallow  in  the  centre,  but  surrounded  by 
a  very  deep,  and  even  unfathomable  sea.  When  the  reef  is 
so  high  as  to  remain  nearly  dry  at  low  water,  the  animals 
leave  off  building ;  and  then  the  rim  or  edge  of  the  great  basin 
becomes  covered  by  calcareous  sand,  which  offers  a  founda- 
tion for  the  growth  of  marine  vegetables,  and  afterwards  a 
resting  place  for  the  seeds  of  trees  and  plants  cast  upon  it  by 
the  waves.  Trunks  of  trees  also,  carried  by  rivers  from  con- 
tinents and  islands,  after  their  long  wanderings  are  often 
pitched  ashore ;  and  sometimes  carry  with  them  small  ani- 
mals, such  as  lizards  and  insects  which  become  the  first  in- 
habitants. The  Pacific  ocean,  throughout  a  space  compre- 
hended between  the  thirteenth  parallel  of  latitude  on  each 
side  of  the  equator,  is  a  great  nursery  of  coral  islands;  also 
the  Arabian  and  Persian  gulfs.  Between  the  coast  of  Mala- 
bar and  that  of  Madagascar  there  is  a  great  sea  of  coral. 
Flinders  describes  an  unbroken  reef  350  miles  long  upon  the 
coast  of  New  Holland  ;  and  between  that  country  and  New 
Guinea  coral  formations  extend  throughout  a  distance  of  700 
miles,  interrupted  by  no  intervals  exceeding  30  miles  in 
length.  The  growth  of  coral  is,  when  compared  with  human 
epochs,  extremely  slow;  but  the  facts  just  cited  show  that 
they  have  produced  results  of  no  mean  importance,  as  influ- 
encing the  general  aspect  of  the  earth's  crust.  Their  circu- 
lar form,  the  steep  angle  at  which  they  plunge  into  the  sea, 
and  the  countries  in  which  they  occur,  render  it  extremely 
probable  that  they  are  the  crests,  as  it  were,  of  submarine 
craters;  and  occasionally  lava  and  volcanic  rocks  have  been 
found  in  their  central  lagoons :  these  have  generally  a  deep 
512 


narrow  passage,  which  is  kept  open  by  the  efflux  of  the  ocean 
at  low  tides.  These  openings  are  almost  always  on  the  lee- 
ward side,  and  the  windward  side  of  the  islands  is  more  com- 


IVhitsunday  Island  in  the  Pacifli 


losed  Lagoon. 


plete  and  perfect  than  the  other  ;  so  that,  from  this  fortunate 
circumstance,  ships  can  enter  and  sail  out  with  ease ;  indeed 
the  safety  of  many  of  these  harbours  is  entirely  dependant 
upon  this  cause.  It  would  seem  most  probably  to  arise  from 
the  large  masses  of  coral  rock  that  are  thrown  up  by  the 
waves  on  the  windward  side.  These  rocks  are  probably 
subject  to  elevations  and  depressions  connected  with  volcanic 
agencies.  Mr.  Lyell  thinks  that  the  carbonate  of  lime,  which 
is  the  building  material  employed  by  the  busy  little  architects 
of  these  islands,  is  in  all  probability  derived  from  calcareous 
springs  issuing  into  the  sea  from  fissures  in  the  volcanic  bottom. 


Ui 


Section  of  a  Coral  Island.- 


I  the  habitable  p; 


Section  of  a  Coral  Island  wpen  a  large  Scale— a  b  the  ha 
e  slope  of  the  side  j  c  c  parts  ot  the  lagoou ;  d  d  knolls  of  con 

We  may  now  conclude  this  subject  by  a  brief  reference 
to  those  erratic  blocks  and  pebbles  which  are  so  widely 
scattered  over  different  districts,  and  which,  with  the  de- 
posites  of  bones  and  stalactite  in  certain  caverns,  are  often 
regarded  as  especial  proofs  of  diluvial  action. 

Where  pebbles  occur  immediately  upon  the  beach,  and 
are  evidently  derived  from  the  fragments  of  neighbouring 
rocks  rolled  into  form  by  the  action  of  waves,  or  where 
larger  masses,  forming  what  are  called  boulder  stones,  are 
found  in  similar  situations,  or  lying  upon  the  strata  of  which 
they  constitute  the  fragments  and  relics,  there  is  no  great 
difficulty  in  accounting  for  one  or  the  other;  but  where 
immense  deposits  of  gravel  are  found,  not  only  inland,  bit 
out  of  the  reach  of  all  running  waters,  and  where  boulder 
stones  are  found  in  similar  situations,  and  very  distant 
from  the  rocks  of  which  they  are  the  apparent  remains, 
our  curiosity  and  ingenuity  are  then  excited  to  ascertain 
how  they  came  into  their  present  places,  and  whence  they 
are  derived.  We  must  of  course  always  carefully  distin- 
guish between  these  importations,  as  they  may  be  called, 
of  foreign  matters,  and  those  kinds  of  detritus  which  mere- 
ly result  from  the  weathering  of  the  rocks. 

We  have  elsewhere  pointed  out  the  numerous  evidences 
which  we  have  of  fractures,  elevations,  and  depressions  of 
the  strata ;  of  the  consequent  existence  of  faults ;  and  of 
the  formation  of  valleys,  frequently  in  the  line  of  such 
faults  and  fractures.  Now  it  seems  clear  that  all  these  ef- 
fects must  have  been  attended  in  many  instances  by  propor- 
tionate changes  in  the  levels  of  waters,  and  that  there  must 
have  been  great  inundations  and  torrents  passing  over  such 
districts  at  the  time  of  their  disturbance  ;  and  farther,  that 
where  land  once  covered  by  water  has  been  elevated, 
rounded  masses  of  rock  or  boulders,  as  well  as  gravel  of 
all  degrees  of  fineness  and  all  manner  of  composition,  may 
have  been  elevated  along  with  them.  Here,  then,  are  two 
apparent  causes  of  gravel  and  boulders. 

But  independent  of  these  sources  of  such  appearances, 
there  are  other  geological  phenomena,  which  seem  to  indi 
cate  the  passage  of  great  masses  of  water  over  the  British 
Isles  in  a  direction  from  north  to  south ;  upon  the  neigh- 
bouring continent  of  Europe,  too,  evidences  of  currents  set- 
ring  in  the  same  direction,  and  transporting  gravel  and  boul- 
ders, are  not  wanting.  Of  course  these  currents  have  in 
many  places  been  greatly  modified  as  to  direction  by  the 
valleys,  hills,  and  mountains  which  they  encountered;  so 
that  their  detritus  is  in  many  instances  scattered  in  other 
directions.  In  some  cases  ice,  in  the  form  of  glaciers,  ap- 
pears to  have  been  a  cause  of  the  transportation  of  masses 
and  fragments  of  rock  to  places  far  remote  from  their  origi- 
nal source.  The  glaciers  which  descend  from  alpine  re- 
gions are  charged  with  blocks  and  fragments,  and  any  cur- 
rent of  water  rushing  through  the  valleys  into  which  they 
descend  would  float  them  and  their  burdens.  It  is  probable 
that  those  immense  masses  of  ice  called  icebergs  are  por- 
tions of  polar  glaciers ;  and  these  with  their  contents,  are 
often  floated  into  warmer  climates,  so  that  the  debris  which 
they  carried  with  them  may  thus  have  been  dispersed  at 
the  bottom  of  parts  of  the  ocean  far  distant  from  the  source 


GEOMANCY. 

of  such  materials.  These  circumstances  show  (when  taken 
in  conjunction  with  the  facts  already  enumerated  respect- 
ing the  causes  which  influence  the  decay  of  rocks)  how 
careful  we  must  be  in  reasoning  respecting  the  age  and 
sources  of  blocks,  gravel,  and  those  remains  generally  call- 
ed diluvial ;  and  how  difficult  it  is  to  form  any  inference 
respecting  their  sources  and  transport,  excepting  in  cases 
where  these  are  at  hand  and  obvious.  Whatever  may 
have  been  the  cause  of  such  passages  of  torrents  over  the 
land,  and  the  evidences  of  them  are  quite  sufficient,  it  is 
obvious  that  they  must  have  destroyed  nearly  all  such  liv- 
ing beings  as  came  in  their  way,  or  as  frequented  those 
parts  of  the  earth  over  which  they  swept.  Accordingly,  the 
remains  of  various  animals  are  found  in  such  deposites ; 
and  their  examination  and  comparison  with  living  genera 
and  species,  and  with  those  more  ancient  animals  before 
alluded  to  in  the  tertiary  and  secondary  strata,  is  a  very 
curious  and  interesting  subject  of  inquiry.  Dr.  Buckland's 
researches  connected  with  these  relics  have  given  them 
additional  interest,  especially  as  connected  with  certain 
theoretical  points  of  diluvial  geology,  and  with  their  assem- 
blage in  caverns.  In  these  caverns  the  bones  are  usually 
mixed  with  mud,  stones,  and  fragments ;  and  circumstances 
sometimes  seem  to  show  that  the  animals  resided  in  them 
for  a  great  length  of  time :  they  are  covered  by  stalagmite, 
which  forms  the  pavement  as  it  were  of  the  cave,  and  ef- 
fectually conceals  and  preserves  the  organic  remains.  The 
celebrated  Kirkdale  cavern  in  Yorkshire,  discovered  in  1821, 
contains  the  remains  of  the  hyena,  tiger,  bear,  wolf,  fox, 
weasel,  elephant,  rhinoceros,  hippopotamus,  horse,  ox, 
deer,  hare,  rabbit,  rat,  mouse,  raven,  pigeon,  lark,  thrush, 
and  a  species  of  duck.  From  the  mode  in  which  these 
remains  were  strewed  over  the  bottom  of  the  cavern  when 
the  mud  was  removed,  the  great  proportion  of  hyena's 
teeth  over  those  of  other  animals,  and  the  manner  in  which 
many  of  the  bones  were  gnawed  and  fractured,  Dr.  Buck- 
land  inferred  that  this  cavern  was  the  den  of  hyenas  during 
a  long  succession  of  years ;  that  they  brought  in,  as  prey,  the 
animals  whose  remains  are  now  mixed  with  their  own ; 
and  that  this  state  of  things  was  suddenly  terminated  by 
an  irruption  of  turbid  water  into  the  cave,  which  buried  the 
whole  in  mud.  In  other  caves  other  animals  have  been 
found,  indicating  the  same  general  facts  of  the  existence  of 
animals  now  no  longer  known  in  these  latitudes.  Where 
the  bones  of  man  or  works  of  art  have  been  found  in  these 
caves,  there  is  generally  good  evidence  of  their  being  of  a 
much  later  date  than  the  remains  of  quadrupeds  ;  but  occa- 
sionally the  bones  of  extinct  quadrupeds  are  so  mixed  with 
those  of  existing  testacea  as  to  show  that  they  at  least 
were  co-existent. 

GE'OMANCY.  (Gr.  yn,  earth,  and  uilvrtta,  prophecy.) 
Divination  by  points  or  circles  made  on  the  earth.  It  was 
termed  by  old  writers  "  a  part  of  natural  magic,  the  daugh- 
ter and  abbreviation  of  astrology."  Geomancy  was  among 
the  acts  of  divination  most  sedulously  cultivated  by  profes- 
sors of  that  science  in  the  15th  and  16th  centuries.  Nativ- 
ities were  cast,  fortunes  predicted,  and  oracular  answers 
obtained  to  questions,  by  the  inspection  of  certain  combina- 
tions of  lines  and  figures  representing  the  conjunctions  of 
the  planets.  &c.     See  Astrology. 

GEOMETRICAL.  Something  relating  to  geometry. 
Thus  geometrical  construction  is  the  representation  of  a 
proposition,  or  of  an  algebraic  equation,  by  means  of  a  dia- 
gram formed  by  geometrical  lines;  as  straight  lines,  circles, 
&c. 

Geometrical  curves,  or  geometrical  lines,  are  those  in 
which  the  relation  between  the  abscissa  and  ordinates  is 
expressed  by  a  finite  algebraic  equation.     See  Curve. 

Geometrical  locus  is  the  line  traced  by  a  point  which  va- 
ries its  position  according  to  some  determinate  law.  For 
example,  if  from  any  number  of  given  points  straight  lines 
are  to  be  drawn  to  meet  in  another  point,  under  this  condi- 
tion that  the  sum  of  their  squares  shall  be  equal  to  a  given 
space,  then  innumerable  points  may  be  found  by  which  the 
condition  will  be  satisfied,  and  the  locus  of  all  those  points 
is  the  circumference  of  a  given  circle.  (See  Simson's  Loci 
Plani,  or  Leslie's  Geometrical  Jlnalysis. 

Geometrical  progression  is  a  progression  in  which  all  the 
successive  terms  have  the  same  ratio.  Thus  the  progres- 
sions 

1,  2,  4,  8,  16,  32,  64,  &c. 
a,  <j2,  a\  a*,  a\  a§,  dl,  &c. 
are  geometrical ;  the  common  ratio  of  the  first  being  2,  and 
of  the  second  a.  The  general  property  of  a  geometrical 
progression  is,  that  the  product  of  any  two  terms,  or  the 
square  of  any  one  single  term,  is  equal  to  the  product  of 
every  other  two  terms  taken  at  an  equal  distance  before 
and  after  the  former.     .See  Progression. 

Geometrical  Proportion. — Four  quantities  are  said  to  be 
in  geometrical  proportion,  or  simply  proportionals,  when 
the  ratio  of  the  first  to  the  second  is  equal  to  the  ratio  of 
the  third  to  the  fourth.     Thus,  if  a  :  b  is  equal  to  c  :  d. 


GEOMETRY. 

then  the  four  quantities,  a,  b,  c,  d,  are  in  geometrical  pro- 
portion. A  general  property  of  this  proportion  is,  that  the 
product  of  the  two  extreme  terms  is  equal  to  the  product 
of  the  two  means.     See  Proportion. 

GEO'METRY.  (Gr.  yrj,  earth,  and  uerpov,  measure.) 
The  science  which  treats  of  the  properties  of  figured  space. 
The  etymology  of  the  term  suggests  the  object  to  which 
geometry  was  first  applied,  viz.,  the  measurement  of 
land.  It  is  pretended  that  the  science  was  invented  in 
Egypt,  where  the  annual  overflowing  of  the  waters  of  the 
Nile  obliterated  the  land  marks,  and  rendered  it  necessary 
to  have  recourse  to  measurement  in  order  to  ascertain  the 
proper  allotment  of  each  individual;  but  whatever  may 
have  been  the  origin  of  the  term,  the  occasions  on  which  it 
is  necessary  to  compare  things  with  one  another  in  respect 
of  their  forms  and  magnitudes  are  so  numerous  in  every 
stage  of  society,  that  a  geometry  more  or  less  perfect  must 
have  existed  since  the  first  dawn  of  civilization. 

Objects  of  Geometry. — In  geometry  bodies  are  considered 
only  in  reference  to  the  properties  of  extension  or  magni- 
tude, figure,  and  divisibility.  Every  body  occupies  in  inde- 
finite space  a  certain  determinate  place,  or  finite  portion  of 
space,  which  is  called  its  volume.  The  limits  or  boundaries 
which  distinguish  the  place  of  the  body,  and  separate  it 
from  the  surrounding  space,  are  called  surfaces ;  a  surface 
is,  therefore,  common  to  the  two  portions  of  space  which  it 
separates.  As  the  limitation  of  space  gives  rise  to  the  idea 
of  surface,  so  the  limitation  of  surface  produces  lines,  a  line 
being  the  boundary  of  a  surface,  or  the  place  in  which  two 
surfaces  intersect  each  other,  and  therefore  common  to 
both.  In  like  manner,  the  limitation  of  a  line,  or  the  inter- 
section of  two  lines,  produces  a  point.  But  a  point  marks 
only  position,  and  has  no  properties.  A  line  has  length ;  u 
surface  length  and  breadth ;  and  a  volume  length,  breadth, 
and  thickness.  Hence  the  properties  of  lines,  the  proper- 
ties of  surfaces,  and  the  properties  of  volumes  or  solids, 
comprehend  the  objects  of  geometry. 

Although  the  notion  of  a  point  is  acquired  from  the  con- 
sideration of  lines,  that  of  a  line  from  the  consideration  of 
surfaces,  and  that  of  a  surface  from  the  consideration  of 
bodies  or  material  objects,  it  does  not  follow  from  this  that 
points,  lines,  and  surfaces  are  themselves  really  material. 
Geometry  regards  all  bodies  in  a  state  of  abstraction  very 
different  from  that  in  which  they  actually  exist;  and  the 
truths  which  it  discovers  and  demonstrates  are  pure  ab- 
stractions—  hypothetical  truths,  which  are  not,  however, 
on  that  account,  the  less  useful.  For  example,  it  is  impos- 
sible by  any  mechanical  means  to  draw  a  line  absolutely 
straight,  or  to  describe,  a  perfect  circle;  but  the  nearer  the  line 
approaches  to  perfect  straightness,  and  the  more  accurately 
the  circle  is  described,  the  nearer  will  their  properties  ap- 
proach to  those  of  the  ideal  straight  lines  and  circles  which 
are  the  objects  of  geometrical  consideration.  The  theorems 
of  geometry  are,  therefore,  not  strictly  true  in  their  applica- 
tion to  material  bodies,  but  they  approximate  sufficiently  to 
truth  for  all  practical  purposes.  They  enable  us  to  ascer- 
tain, with  all  the  precision  of  which  our  senses  are  capable, 
the  distances  of  inaccessible  objects,  the  dimensions  of  a 
given  surface,  the  contents  of  a  given  solid ;  to  compute  the 
distances  and  motions  of  the  planets ;  to  predict  the  celes- 
tial phenomena;  and  to  navigate  a  ship  from  any  given 
point  of  the  globe  to  any  other. 

Divisions  of  Geometry. — Geometry  is  divided  into  ele- 
mentary and  transcendental.  Elementary  geometry  treats 
only  of  the  straight  line  and  circle ;  of  figures  bounded  by 
straight  lines  and  circles ;  and  of  solids  bounded  by  these  fig- 
ures. The  circle  is  only  the  curve  line  introduced  into  the 
elements  of  geometry  ;  the  simplicity  of  its  description,  the 
ease  with  which  many  of  its  most  useful  properties  are  de- 
duced, and  the  necessity  of  making  use  of  it  in  the  simplest 
constructions — such  as  raising  a  perpendicular,  measuring 
an  angle,  and  even  making  one  straight  line  equal  to  an- 
other— being  reasons  for  this  preference.  The  construction 
of  algebraic  equations  of  the  second  degree,  and  in  general 
all  problems  that  can  be  solved  by  means  of  straight  lines 
and  circles,  are  also  referred  to  elementary  geometry. 
Transcendental  geometry,  properly  speaking,  is  that  which 
has  for  its  object  all  curves  different  from  the  circle ;  as  the 
conic  sections,  and  curves  of  the  third  and  higher  orders. 
It  comprehends,  also,  the  construction  of  equations  of  the 
third  and  fourth,  as  well  as  of  the  higher  degrees.  But 
some  writers  understand  by  transcendental  geometry  the 
applications  of  the  differential  and  integral  calculus  to  the 
investigation  of  the  properties  of  curve  lines  and  surfaces. 
Geometry  is  also  divided  into  ancient  and  modern;  ancient 
geometry  being  that  form  of  demonstration  and  investiga- 
tion which  was  employed  by  the  Greeks,  and  of  which 
Euclid's  Elements  form  a  well-known  example;  modern 
geometry  that  in  which  algebra,  or  the  differential  or  inte- 
gral calculus,  is  made  use  of.  We  also  speak  of  pure  ge- 
ometry, practical  geometry,  and  applied  geometry.  Descrip- 
tive rreometrv  has  already  been  considered  under  that  term. 
It  513 


GEOMETRY. 

Methods  of  Demonstration. — Of  the  different  methods  of 
demonstration  adopted  in  elementary  geometry,  one  of  the 
simplest,  and  at  the  same  time  one  of  the  most  fertile,  is  the 
method  of  superposition.  This  consists  in  showing  that  two 
figures  being  applied  to  each  other,  or  being  laid  the  one  up- 
on the  other,  entirely  coincide,  or  till  the  same  space ;  from 
which  coincidence  we  infer  the  equality  of  all  their  parts,  each 
to  each.  Tims  Euclid,  in  order  to  prove  that  two  triangles 
which  have  two  sides  of  the  one  equal  to  two  sides  of  the 
other  each  to  each,  and  also  the  angles  contained  by  those 
sides  equal,  are  equal  in  all  respects,  supposes  the  one  trian- 
gle to  be  placed  upon  the  other,  and  shows  that  from  the  hy- 
pothesis an  entire  coincidence  must  necessarily  take  place; 
whence  it  follows  that  the  remaining  angles  of  the  one  trian- 
gle are  equal  to  those  of  the  other  each  to  each,  and  the  re- 
maining side  of  the  one  to  the  remaining  side  of  the  other. 
On  this  principle  is  founded  the  whole  doctrine  of  the  com- 
parison of  triangles,  and,  consequently,  of  all  rectilineal  fig- 
ures ;  for  it  is  demonstrable  that  any  two  equal  rectilineal 
figures  may,  by  resolving  them  into  parts,  be  applied  by  su- 
perposition one  upon  the  other,  so  as  entirely  to  coincide. 

Another  frequently  convenient  method  of  demonstration  is 
that  which  is  called  by  logicians  the  rcductio  ad  absurdum. 
It  consists  in  assuming  the  proposition  which  is  announced  to 
be  not  true,  and  in  reasoning  from  this  assumption  till  con- 
sequences are  deduced  which  are  either  contradictory  of 
the  hypothesis,  or  of  some  proposition  previously  demon- 
strated. Many  examples  of  this  method  occur  in  the  Ele- 
ments of  Euclid  ;  but  it  is  to  be  remarked,  that  though  the 
proof  which  it  gives  is  perfectly  rigorous  and  satisfactory, 
the  procedure  is  in  some  respects  indirect,  and  therefore 
should  not  be  adopted  unless  when  it  affords  a  shorter  and 
simpler  demonstration  than  can  be  obtained  by  a  direct  mode 
of  reasoning.  It  is  especially  applicable  to  those  proposi- 
tions which  are  the  reciprocals  of  others  already  demon- 
strated, and  to  incommensurable  quantities. 

In  their  more  difficult  researches,  and  particularly  in  those 
relative  to  curve  lines  and  surfaces,  the  ancient  geometers 
had  recourse  to  the  method  of  exhaustions.  Admitting  no 
demonstrations  but  such  as  are  perfectly  rigorous,  they  did 
not  consider  it  consistent  with  the  strictness  of  geometrical 
reasoning  to  regard  curve  lines  as  polygons  of  a  very  great 
number  of  sides ;  but  when  they  proposed  lo  investigate  the 
properties  of  any  curve,  they  regarded  it  as  the  fixed  "term  to 
which  the  inscribed  and  circumscribed  polygons  continually 
approach  in  increasing  the  number  of  their*  sides.  The  con- 
tinual approximation  of  these  polygons  to  the  curve  afforded 
an  idea  of  the  properties  of  the  latter,  the  more  accurate  as 
the  number  of  sides  was  greater.  But  it  still  remained  to 
prove,  by  some  recognised  principle  of  demonstration,  the 
truth  of  the  properties  that  had  thus  in  a  manner  been  di- 
vined ;  and  this  was  done  by  showing  that  every  supposition 
contrary  to  them  necessarily  led  to  a  contradiction.  In  this 
manner  they  demonstrated  that  the  areas  of  different  circles 
are  to  each  other  as  the  squares  of  their  respective  diame- 
ters; the  volumes  of  spheres  as  the  cubes  of  their  diame- 
ters ;  that  pyramids  of  the  same  height  are  as  their  bases, 
&c.  (Carnot,  Reflexions  sur  la  Mctaphysique  du  Calcul  In- 
finite'simal.) 

Analysis  and  Synthesis. — The  Greek  geometers  employed 
two  distinct  modes  of  investigation,  analysis  and  synthesis ; 
the  one,  as  the  names  imply,  being  the  inverse  of  the  other. 
In  the  Mathematical  Collections  of  Pappus,  book  vii.,  analy- 
sis and  synthesis  are  thus  described :  Analysis  is  the  method 
which,  setting  out  from  the  thing  demanded,  arrives  by 
means  of  certain  established  consequences  to  something 
known  before,  or  placed  among  the  number  of  principles  ac- 
knowledged as  true.  It  passes  from  a  proposition  through 
all  its  antecedents ;  and  is  therefore  called  analysis,  or  reso- 
lution, or  an  inverted  solution.  In  synthesis,  on  the  con- 
trary, we  begin  from  the  proposition  with  which  the  analysis 
concluded,  ordering  properly  the  above  antecedents,  which 
now  present  themselves  in  the  form  of  consequents,  and  pass 
from  one  to  another  till  we  arrive  at  the  conclusion  sought, 
or  that  from  which  we  started  in  the  case  of  analysis.  These 
two  methods  have  each  their  peculiar  use.  Tlie  first  is  the 
method  of  invention,  and  is  employed  in  order  to  discover  a 
construction  which  will  satisfy  the  proposed  conditions ;  the 
second  is  the  method  of  demonstration,  and  employed  to 
prove  the  sufficiency  of  the  construction  to  which  tlie  analy- 
sis has  led.  In  general,  both  methods  are  employed  simul- 
taneously when  the  object  is  to  discover  new  relations,  or 
the  solution  of  new  problems;  but  when  the  object  of  the 
geometer  is  to  prove  to  others  the  propositions  which  he  has 
discovered,  the  synthetical  method  is  usually  preferred. 

Application  of  Algebra  to  Geometry. — A  different  kind  of 
analysis  from  that  of  which  we  have  now  been  speaking 
consists  in  the  application  of  algebra  to  the  solution  of  geo- 
metrical problems.  This  has  opened  up  a  new  and  rich 
field,  entirely  unknown  to  the  ancients,  and  been  the  direct 
cause  of  the  great  extension  of  the  modern  mathematics. 
In  general,  when  a  problem  is  of  a  certain  degree  of  diffi- 
514 


GEORGICS. 

culty,  the  use  of  the  algebraic  notation,  which  substitutes 
the  simple  arithmetical  operations  of  multiplication  and 
division  for  the  complex  geometrical  methods  of  the  com- 
position and  resolution  of  ratios,  is  attended  with  great  ad- 
vantage. By  the  aid  of  algebra,  the  properties  of  curve 
lines,  their  tangents,  points  of  inflexion,  asymptotes,  branch- 
es, rectification  and  quadrature — subjects  which  the  an- 
cient geometry  could  reach  only  in  some  limited  cases,  and 
with  great  difficulty— are  demonstrated  with  the  utmost  fa- 
cility. Some  mathematicians  of  eminent  rank,  delighted 
with  the  beautiful  specimens  of  investigation  afforded  by 
the  ancient  geometry,  have  regretted  the  extensive  applica- 
tion of  algebra  which  characterizes  the  scientific  works  of 
the  present  day ;  but  in  a  science  which  presents  so  many 
real  difficulties,  and  in  which  so  many  discoveries  remain 
to  be  made,  the  path  which  leads  most  directly  to  the  ob- 
ject aimed  at,  and  which,  moreover,  is  the  easiest  to  follow, 
is  that  which  ought  to  be  preferred  Without  the  aid  of 
algebra  and  the  new  calculus,  geometry  could  not  have 
been  applied  to  dynamics,  and  only  in  a  few  limited  cases 
to  any  other  branch  of  natural  philosophy. 

History  of  Geometry. — It  has  already  been  mentioned 
that  geometry  is  supposed  to  have  had  its  origin  in  Egypt. 
From  that  country  it  is  said  to  have  been  transported  into 
Greece  by  Thales.  The  celebrated  proposition  of  the  square 
of  the  hypotenuse  was  the  discovery  of  Fythagoras.  An- 
axagorns  of  Clazomene  composed  a  treatise  on  the  quad- 
rature of  the  circle ;  and  Plato  had  certainly  made  consid- 
erable advances  in  the  science,  as  is  proved  by  the  simple 
and  elegant  solution  which  he  gave  of  the  duplication  of 
the  cube.  About  fifty  years  after  the  time  of  Plato,  Euclid 
collected  the  propositions  which  had  been  discovered  by 
his  predecessors,  and  formed  of  them  his  famous  Elements; 
a  work  which  continues  to  the  present  da}'  to  be  regarded 
as  one  of  the  best  (if  not  the  very  best)  introductions  to  the 
mathematical  sciences.  It  consists  of  fifteen  Books,  of 
which  thirteen  are  known  to  have  been  written  by  Eu- 
clid ;  but  the  14th  and  15th  are  supposed  to  have  been  add- 
ed by  Hypsicles  of  Alexandria.  Apollonius  of  Perga,  about 
250  years  B.C.,  composed  a  treatise  on  the  conic  sections,  in 
eight  books;  and  he  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  who  ap- 
plied to  those  curves  the  appellations  by  which  they  have 
ever  since  been  distinguished,  namely,  the  parabola,  the  el- 
lipse, and  the  hyperbola.  (See  Conic  Sections.)  About 
the  same  time  flourished  Archimedes,  the  most  illustrious 
of  the  ancient  philosophers,  who  distinguished  himself  in 
geometry  by  the  discovery  of  the  beautiful  relations  be- 
tween the  sphere  and  cylinder,  by  his  work  on  conoids  and 
spheroids,  by  his  discovery  of  the  exact  quadrature  of  the 
parabola,  and  his  very  ingenious  approximation  to  that  of 
the  circle.  In  the  list  of  names  which  have  come  down  to 
our  times  in  connexion  with  geometry,  we  may  mention 
Eudoxus,  Archytas,  Eratosthenes,  Aristarchus,  Dinostratus, 
and  Nicomedes ;  but  for  an  account  of  the  discoveries  or 
inventions  by  which  they  are  individually  celebrated,  we 
must  refer  to  Montucia's  Histoire  des  Mathimatiques.  The 
school  of  Alexandria  produced  Pappus  and  Diophantus; 
but  the  Greek  geometry,  though  it  was  afterwards  enriched 
by  many  new  theorems,  may  be  said  to  have  reached  its 
limits  in  the  hands  of  Archimedes  and  Apollonius;  and  a 
long  interval  of  17  centuries  elapsed  before  this  limit  was 
passed.  In  1637,  Descartes  published  his  Geometry;  a 
work  which  will  ever  be  remarkable,  as  containing  the  first 
systematic  application  of  algebra  to  the  solution  of  geomet- 
rical propositions.  Soon  after  this  followed  the  discovery 
of  the  infinitesimal  calculus ;  and  from  that  time  to  the 
present  geometry  has  shared  in  the  general  progress  of  all 
the  mathematical  sciences. 

Works  on  the  Ancient  Geometry : — Euclid,  Elements  of 
Geometry,  and  Book  of  Data ;  Apollonius,  Conies ;  Ar- 
chimedes, Opera;  Pappus,  Mathematics,  Col/cctiones ;  Vieta, 
Opera  Mathematical  Huygens,  Opera;  E.  Simson,  Opera 
Rcliqua,  and  Loci  Plant;  Stewart,  Propositiones  Geometri- 
es; T.  Simpson,  Elements  of  Geometry;  Legendre,  Ele- 
ments of  Geometry ;  Leslie,  Elements  of  Geometry,  &c. 
For  an  account  of  the  numerous  Editions  of  Euclid's  Ele- 
ments (which  have  been  translated  into  every  European 
language),  see  Murhard,  Bibliothcca  Mathematica  ;  but  to 
the  list  contained  in  that  work  should  be  added  the  more 
recent  edition  of  Peyrard,  in  Greek,  Latin,  and  French 
(Paris,  1814).  An  edition  of  the  first  six  books,  in  Greek 
and  Latin,  by  Camerer  and  Hauber  (Berlin,  1824),  also  de- 
serves to  be  noticed,  on  account  of  the  valuable  notes  with 
which  it  is  accompanied. 

GEOPO'NICA.  V.r.  yn  and  w,>vn,  labour.)  The  name 
of  a  Greek  compilation  of  precepts  on  rural  economy,  ex- 
tracted from  ancient  writers.  The  name  of  the  compiler  is 
unknown  ;  but  the  authorities  which  he  quotes  are  numer- 
ous, and  deservedly  celebrated.  (Sec  Niclas's  edition,  4 
vols.  8vo.    Leipsic,  1781.) 

GEO'RGICS.  (Gr.  ra  yrxopyiKd,  things  pertaining  to 
husbandry.)    The  title  of  a  poem  of  Virgil's,  in  four  books, 


GEORGIUM  SIDUS. 

on  agriculture,  and  the  care  of  cattle,  bees,  &c.  It  is  con- 
sidered the  most  perfect  of  his  works. 
GEORGIUM  SIDUS.  See  Uranus. 
GERA'NIA  CE/E.  (Geranium,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  herbaceous  or  shrubby  Exogens,  growing 
in  most  parts  of  the  world,  nearly  related  to  Oialidacem, 
Balsaminacae,  and  Tropaolacece,  with  which  they  are  by 
some  botanists  associated.  They  are  distinguished  by  the 
peculiar  dehiscence  of  their  fruit,  the  tumid  joints  of  their 
stem,  and  their  stipulate  leaves.  Their  sensible  properties 
consist  in  an  astringent  principle,  and  an  aromatic  or  resin- 
ous flavour.  Many  of  them,  especially  those  of  the  genus 
Pelargonium,  are  beautiful  objects,  and  much  cultivated  in 
gardens. 

GERMAN  SCHOOL.  In  Painting.  In  this  school  we 
find  an  attention  to  individual  nature,  as  usually  seen,  with- 
out attempt  at  selection,  or  notion  of  ideal  beauty.  The 
German  painters  seem  to  have  set  a  particular  value  on 
high  finishing,  rather  than  on  a  good  arrangement  and  dis- 
position of  the  subject.  Their  colouring  is  far  better  than 
their  drawing,  but  their  draperies  are  generally  in  bad  taste. 
Though  among  the  painters  of  this  school  some  are  free 
from  the  application  of  these  observations,  they  are  not  suf- 
ficient in  number  to  change  the  general  judgment  that  must 
be  passed  upon  it.  Wohlgemuth,  Holbein,  and  Albert  Du- 
rer  are  the  heads  of  it.  These  observations  do  not  apply  to 
a  school  which  seems  now  rising  in  Germany,  and  which, 
with  such  leaders  as  Retsch  and  others,  seems  likely  to  put 
the  school  of  painting  there  on  a  level  with  its  highly  splen- 
did intellectual  powers  in  all  other  branches  of  the  arts  and 
sciences. 

GE'RMEN.  (Lat.  a  bud.)  In  Botany,  the  organ  com- 
monly called  the  ovarium. 

GERMINA'TION.  (Lat.  Germen.)  The  process  by 
which  a  plant  is  produced  from  a  seed.  The  phenomena 
of  germination  are  best  observed  in  dicotyledonous  seeds ; 
such,  for  instance,  as  the  bean,  pea,  lupin,  &c.  These 
seeds  consist  of  two  lobes  or  cotyledons,  enveloped  in  a 
eommon  membrane ;  when  this  is  removed  a  small  project- 
ing body  is  seen,  which  is  that  part  of  the  germ  which  af- 
terwards becomes  the  root,  and  is  termed  the  radicle :  the 
other  portion  of  the  germ  is  seen  on  carefully  separating  the 
cotyledons,  and  is  termed  the  plumula ;  it  afterwards  forms 
the  stem  and  leaves.  When  the  ripe  seed  is  removed  from 
the  parent  plant  it  gradually  dries,  and  may  be  kept  often 
for  an  indefinite  period  without  undergoing  any  change ;  but 
if  placed  under  circumstances  favourable  to  its  germination, 
it  soon  begins  to  grow :  these  requisite  circumstances  are  a 
due  temperature,  moisture,  and  the  presence  of  air.  The 
most  favourable  temperature  is  between  60°  and  80°;  at 
the  freezing  point  none  of  the  more  perfect  seeds  vegetate ; 
and  at  temperatures  above  100°,  the  young  germ  is  usually 
injured.  No  seed  will  grow  without  moisture :  water  is  at 
first  absorbed  by  the  pores  of  the  external  covering,  and  de- 
composed ;  the  seed  gradually  swells,  its  membranes  burst, 
and  the  germ  expands.  The  root  is  at  first  most  rapidly  de- 
veloped, the  materials  for  its  growth  being  derived  from  the 
cotyledons;  and  when  it  shoots  out  its  fibres  or  rootlets, 
these  absorb  nourishment  from  the  soil,  and  the  plumula  is 
developed,  rising  upwards  in  a  contrary  direction  to  the 
root,  and  expanding  into  stem  and  leaves.  For  this  growth 
the  presence  of  air  is  requisite ;  if  it  be  carefully  excluded, 
though  there  be  heat  and  moisture,  yet  the  seed  will  not 
vegetate.  Hence  it  is  that  seeds  buried  very  deep  in  the 
earth,  or  in  a  stiff  clay,  remain  inert ;  but,  on  admission  of 
air  by  turning  up  the  soil,  begin  to  shoot  forth.  From  ex- 
periments which  have  been  made  upon  the  germination  of 
seeds  in  confined  atmospheres,  it  appears  that  the  oxygen 
set  free  by  the  decomposition  of  water  combines  with  a  por- 
tion of  the  carbon  of  the  seed,  and  carries  it  off  in  the  form 
of  carbonic  acid,  and  that  the  consequence  of  this  is  the 
conversion  of  part  of  the  albumen  and  starch  of  the  cotyle- 
dons into  gum  and  sugar ;  so  that  most  seeds,  as  we  see  in 
the  conversion  of  barley  into  malt,  become  sweet  during 
germination.  Light  is  injurious  to  the  growth  of  a  seed.  It 
is,  therefore,  obvious  that  the  different  requisites  for  germi- 
nation are  attained  by  placing  a  seed  under  the  surface  of 
the  soil  warmed  by  the  sun's  rays,  when  it  is  moistened  by 
its  humidity  and  by  occasional  showers:  excluded  from 
light,  but  within  reach  of  the  access  of  air. 

When  the  young  plant  is  perfected,  the  cotyledons,  if  not 
converted  into  leaves,  rot  away,  and  the  process  of  nutrition 
is  carried  on  by  the  root  and  leaves :  the  principal  nourish- 
ment is  taken  up  from  the  soil  by  the  root,  and  chiefly  by 
its  small  and  extreme  fibres ;  so  that  when  these  are  injured 
or  torn,  as  by  careless  transplantation,  the  plant  or  tree  gen- 
erally dies.  The  matters  absorbed,  consisting  of  water  hold- 
ing small  portions  of  saline  substances,  and  of  organic  matter 
in  solution,  become  the  sap  of  the  plant;  and  this  is  propel- 
led upwards  in  the  vessels  of  the  stem,  or  of  the  outer  layer 
of  wood,  into  the  leaves;  here  it  is  exposed  to  the  agency  of 
air,  or  of  light :  it  transpires  moisture,  and  occasionally  car- 


GHOST,  HOLY,  ORDER  OF. 

bonic  acid.  But  the  leaves  also  at  times  absorb  moisture, 
and  during  the  influence  of  light  they  decompose  the  car- 
bonic acid,  and,  retaining  the  carbon,  evolve  oxygen  ;  the  sap 
thus  becomes  modified  in  its  composition,  and" the  characte- 
ristic proximate  principles  of  the  vegetable  are  formed.  These 
return  in  appropriate  vessels  from  the  leaves,  chiefly  to  the 
inner  bark,  where  we  accordingly  find  the  accumulation  of 
the  peculiar  products  of  the  plant :  they  also  enable  it  annu- 
ally to  form  a  new  layer  of  wood.  Hence  it  is  that  the  trans- 
verse section  of  the  wood  exhibits  as  many  distinct  zones  as 
the  tree  is  years  old.  We  are  ignorant  of  the  causes  of  this 
circulation  of  the  sap ;  but  that  it  does  follow  the  cause  which 
has  been  stated  is  proved  by  the  operation  which  gardners 
call  ringing,  and  which  they  sometimes  resort  to,  to  make  a 
barren  branch  bear  flowers  and  fruit :  it  consists  in  cutting 
out  and  removing  a  circular  ring  of  bark,  so  as  to  prevent  the 
return  of  the  sap  by  the  descending  vessels,  which  at  first 
ooze  copiously,  but  afterwards  the  wound  heals,  and  the 
juices  are  accumulated  in  all  parts  above  the  extirpated  ring, 
producing  tumefaction  in  the  limb,  and  often  inducing  a  crop 
of  flowers  and  fruit,  or  causing  those  to  appear  earlier  than 
on  the  uncut  branches.  If  a  tree  be  wounded  so  as  to  cut 
into  the  central  portions  of  the  wood,  or  the  outer  layer  of 
new  wood,  the  flow  of  ascending  sap  is  then  seen  to  take 
place  upon  the  lower  section,  where  the  vessels  are  that 
carry  it  up  to  the  leaves ;  and  the  flow  of  descending  is  prin- 
cipally confined  to  the  upper  section  of  the  inner  bark,  from 
which,  after  a  time,  new  bark  is  produced,  and  the  parts 
again  united. 

GE'ROCO'MIA.  (Gr.  yzpwv,  an  aged  person,  and  Kouetv, 
to  be  concerned  about.)  That  part  of  medicine  which  relates 
to  the  diet  and  treatment  of  old  age. 

GERU'SIA.  (Gr.  ytpovaia,  an  assembly  of  elders.)  In 
Ancient  History,  the  senate  of  Sparta.  The  number  of  this 
council  was  thirty,  including  the  two  kings;  and  the  qualifi- 
cations of  its  members  were,  pure  Spartan  blood,  and  an  age 
not  below  sixty  years.  The  election  was  performed  in  a 
primitive  manner  by  acclamation,  the  candidates  being 
brought  forth  one  by  one  before  the  people.  He  who  was 
greeted  with  the  loudest  applause  was  held  to  receive  the 
highest  honour  next  the  throne.  The  functions  of  the  geru- 
sia  were  partly  deliberative,  partly  judicial,  and  partly  exec- 
utive. It  prepared  measures  which  were  to  be  laid  before 
the  popular  assembly ;  it  exercised  a  criminal  jurisdiction, 
with  power  of  capital  punishment;  and  also  wielded  a  kind 
of  censorial  authority  for  the  correction  of  abuses.  (See 
Memoircs  de  I' Acad,  des  Inscrip.  vol.  xv. ;  Midler's  Dori- 
ans.) 

GF/SNERA'CEiE.  (Gesnera,  one  of  the  genera.)  A  nat- 
ural order  of  herbaceous  Exogens,  inhabiting  the  tropics,  al- 
lied to  Bignoniacea ;  from  which  it  differs  in  the  partly  in- 
ferior one-celled  ovary,  apterous  seeds,  and  habit ;  from  Cyr- 
tandraccm  in  the  one-celled  ovary,  simple:  placenta,  and  al- 
buminous seeds ;  from  Scrophulariacem  by  the  snme  char- 
acters, with  the  exception  of  the  seeds.  The  fruit,  when 
succulent,  is  sometimes  eatable,  mucilaginous,  and  sweetish. 
Many  beautiful  species  of  Gloxinia,  Gesnera,  and  Sinnin- 
gia  are  known  in  our  gardens. 

GEY  SERS.  (From  an  Icelandic  word  signifying  raging 
or  roaring.)  The  celebrated  spouting  fountains  of  boiling 
water  in  Iceland.  The  Geysers  are  situated  about  30  miles 
from  the  volcano  Hecla,  in  plains  full  of  hot  springs  and 
steaming  fissures.  Their  jets  are  intermittent,  and  the  height 
to  which  they  rise  appears  to  vary  much  at  different  times. 
Olafsen  and  Povelsen  estimate  that  of  the  Great  Geyser, 
when  they  saw  it,  at  550  feet.  Few  English  travellers  have 
seen  it  spout  higher  than  90  or  100  ;  but  Mr.  Henderson  saw 
it  reach  150  feet  in  1815,  and  one  of  the  smaller  Geysers, 
when  a  stone  was  thrown  into  it,  200.  The  latest  account  of 
the  Geysers  is  in  the  work  of  the  Hon.  A.  Dillon  (A  Visit  to 
Iceland,  1840). 

GHAUTS.  A  term  applied  originally  to  the  narrow  and 
difficult  passes  in  the  mountains  of  Central  Hindostan,  but 
which  has  been  gradually  extended  to  the  mountains  them- 
selves. They  consist  of  two  great  chains  extending  along 
the  east  and  west  coasts  of  the  Deccan,  parallel  to  each 
other,  or  rather  diverging,  and  leaving  between  them  and  the 
sea  only  a  plain  of  40  or  50  miles  in  breadth.  The  precise 
altitude  of  these  mountains  has  not  been  ascertained,  but 
their  general  elevation  is  from  3000  to  4000  feet ;  and  while 
the  extent  of  the  Eastern  Ghauts  has  been  limited  to  a  line  of 
300  miles,  the  chain  of  Western  Ghauts  is  said  to  extend 
without  interruption  nearly  1000  miles.  (See  Murray's  Encyc. 
of  Geography.) 

GHEBRES.     See  Guebres. 

GHI'BELLINES.  In  Italian  History,  the  name  of  a  po- 
litical party,  which  maintained  the  supremacy  of  the  German 
emperors  over  the  Italian  states,  and  their  claims  to  investi- 
ture, &c,  disputed  by  the  Popes.     See  Guelfs. 

GHOST.     See  DiEMON,  D/emonology,  Apparition. 

GHOST,  HOLY,  ORDER  OF.  The  principal  military 
order  of  France  under  the  old  regime ;  instituted  in  1574  by 

515 


GIANT. 

Henry  HI.,  for  nobles  only ;  abolished  at  the  Revolution ; 
reconstituted  by  the  Bourbons. 

GIANT.  (Gr.  yiyag ;  said  to  be  the  same  with  yyyivtis, 
earth-born.)  The  giants  of  Grecian  antiquity  are  not  the 
same  with  the  Titans,  although  frequently  confounded  with 
them  in  poetry :  the  latter  were  produced  by  Earth  to  com- 
batSatum;  the  former  afterwards,  against  Jupiter.  {Servius 
ad  JEn.  ii.,  40.)  They  were  destroyed  by  the  gods  of"  Olym- 
pus, in  the  famous  giganto-machia,  or  giant-fight,  of  which 
the  scene  was  laid  in  the  Campi  Phlegrai  of  Campania.  The 
appellation  "giant"  in  the  Old  Testament,  given  to  various 
races  of  men,  is  thought  rather  to  refer  to  violence,  power, 
&c,  than  to  actual  stature  ;  but  individual  giants,  such  as 
Og  and  Goliath,  are  undoubtedly  recorded.  In  Northern 
Mythology,  the  giants  were  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  the 
earth  (Olaus  Magnus,  book  v.),  called  Josnar.  There  is  a 
learned  as  well  as  amusing  article  on  this  subject  in  the  Enc. 
Metr.  (See  for  remarks  on  natural  deviations  from  ordinary 
stature  in  individuals  and  races  of  men,  Pritchard's  History 
of  Mankind,  vol.  ii. ;  Lawrence,  Lectures  on  Mail.) 

GIAOUR.  (Turk,  a  dog.)  An  epithet  conferred  on  all, 
but  more  especially  on  Christian  unbelievers,  as  those  who 
do  not  profess  an  adherence  to  Mohammedanism  are  styled 
by  the  Turks. 

GI'BBET,  or  JIB.  The  projecting  beam  of  a  crane  on 
which  the  pulley  is  fixed. 

GIBBO'SE.  (Lat.  gibba,  a  hunch.)  Humped.  When  a 
surface  presents  one  or  more  large  elevations. 

GI'BBOUS.  (Lat.  gibbus,  convex,  protuberant.)  This 
term  is  applied  in  Astronomy  to  the  appearance  of  the  moon 
when  more  than  half  full  or  enlightened.  In  the  telescope, 
the  planet  Venus  exhibits  a  similar  appearance. 

GIE'SECKITE.  A  mineral  discovered  in  Iceland  by 
Giesecks.  It  is  a  hydrated  silicate  of  alumina  and  potash  ; 
it  occurs  in  brownish  hexagonal  prisms. 

GIFT,  in  Law,  is,  in  its  general  sense,  a  conveyance  which 
passes  either  lands  or  goods.  But  when  restricted  to  im- 
moveable property,  it  signifies  in  its  proper  sense  the  creation 
of  an  estate  tail.  (See  Fee-Tail.)  It  is  so  termed  from  the 
operative  words  of  the  conveyance,  which  are  always  "  I 
give,"  or  "  have  given."  A  gift  of  personal  property  differs 
from  a  grant  in  being  wholly  gratuitous  and  without  consid- 
eration. 

GIGA,  or  JIG.  (Ital.)  In  Music,  an  air  for  dancing  in 
triple  time,  usually  6-8  or  12-8. 

GIGA'NTOMA'CHIA.  (Gr.  yiyaq,  a  giant,  and  fia%V, 
a  battle.)  In  Painting,  representations  of  combats  with  or 
between  giants.  The  term  is  more  particularly  applied  to 
the  conflicts  waged  between  Jupiter  and  the  giants.  See 
Giant. 

GIG.  A  well-known  kind  of  light  carriage  drawn  by  one 
horse.  Gigs,  or  gig  machines,  are  rotatory  cylinders  cov- 
ered with  wire-teeth,  for  teazling  woollen  cloth. 

GI'LDING.  The  application  of  a  superficial  coat  of  gold 
on  wood,  metal,  and  other  materials.  The  beauty  and  dura- 
bility of  gold  render  it  the  most  valuable  of  all  ornamental 
substances ;  but,  on  account  of  its  weight  and  high  price,  its 
use  in  these  respects  would  be  exceedingly  limited,  were  it 
not  the  most  extensible  and  divisible  form  of  matter,  so  that 
it  may  be  made  to  cover  a  larger  surface  than  an  equal  quan- 
tity of  any  other  body.  Metals  are  usually  covered  with 
gold  by  the  process  of  water  gilding.  It  consists  in  perfectly 
cleaning  their  surface,  and  then,  in  the  case  of  silver,  for  in- 
stance, rubbing  it  over  with  a  solution  of  gold  in  mercury, 
called  amalgam  of  gold :  the  vessel  is  then  heated  over  a 
clear  charcoal  fire,  by  which  the  mercury  is  driven  off  and 
the  gold  left  adhering  to  the  silver  surface,  upon  which  it  is 
afterwards  burnished.  The  surface  of  copper  or  brass  is 
usually  prepared  by  cleaning  and  rubbing  it  over  with  a  so- 
lution of  nitrate  of  mercury,  which  amalgamates  the  sur- 
face, and  enables  the  gold  amalgam,  when  subsequently  ap- 
plied, to  adhere ;  heating  and  burnishing  are  then  resorted 
to  as  before.  Brass  and  copper  buttons  are  gilt  in  this  way  ; 
and  the  requisite  quantity  of  gold  is  so  small  that  twelve 
dozen  buttons  of  one  inch  diameter  may  be  completely  gilt 
upon  both  surfaces  by  five  grains  of  gold.  Other  kinds  of 
gilding  are  performed  by  gold  leaf,  which,  if  intended  for 
out-door  work,  is  laid  on  by  the  help  of  gold  size,  which  is 
drying  oil  mixed  with  calcined  red  ochre ;  or,  if  for  picture 
and  looking-glass  frames,  they  are  prepared  by  a  size  made 
by  boiling  parchment  clippings  to  a  stiff  jelly,  and  mixed 
with  fine  Paris-plaster  or  yellow  ochre.  The  leaves  of 
books  are  gilt  upon  the  edges  by  brushing  them  over,  while 
in  the  binder's  press,  with  a  composition  of  four  pails  of 
Arminian  bole  and  one  of  powdered  sugar  candy  mixed  up 
with  white  of  egg ;  this  coating,  when  nearly  dry,  is  smooth- 
ed by  the  burnisher,  then  slightly  moistened,  and  the  gold 
leaf  applied  and  burnished.  To  impress  gilt  figures  on 
book  covers,  the  leather  is  dusted  over  with  finely-powdered 
mastic :  the  iron  tool  by  which  the  figure  is  made  is  then 
moderately  heated  and  pressed  upon  a  piece  of  leaf-gold, 
which  slightly  adheres  to  it;  being  then  immediately  ap- 
510 


GIRAFFE. 

plied  to  the  leather  with  a  certain  force,  the  tool  makes  an 
impression,  and,  softening  the  mastic,  transfers  and  fixes 
the  gold.  In  gilding  glass  and  porcelain,  powdered  gold  is 
blended  with  gum-water  and  a  little  borax,  and  applied  by 
a  camel-hair  pencil ;  the  article  is  then  put  into  an  oven  or 
furnace ;  the  gum  burns  off,  and  the  borax,  by  vitrifying, 
cements  the  gold  to  the  surface,  upon  which  it  may  after- 
wards be  polished  by  the  burnisher.  Within  the  last  few 
years  nearly  all  the  gilt  articles  manufactured  at  Birming- 
ham, such  as  buttons,  neck-chains,  ear-rings,  and  so  forth, 
have  been  gilt  by  a  process  patented  by  Mr.  Elkington,  in 
which,  after  the  articles  have  been  properly  cleansed  by  a 
weak  acid,  they  are  immersed  in  a  hot  solution  of  nitro- 
muriate  of  gold,  to  which  a  considerable  excess  of  bicar- 
bonate of  potash  has  been  added  ;  in  the  course  of  a  few 
seconds  they  thus  receive  a  beautiful  and  permanent  coat 
of  gold. 

GI'LLIESIA'CE^E.  (Gilliesia,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
small  natural  order  of  Exogens,  allied  very  nearly  to  Lilia- 
cem,  of  which  they  may  in  fact  be  considered  an  anomalous 
form.  Their  principal  peculiarity  consists  in  having  irregu- 
lar flowers,  surrounded  externally  by  calyx-like  bracts. 
They  inhabit  Chili,  are  little  known,  and  of  no  known  use. 

GILLS.  Parts  of  the  body  are  so  called  in  which  the 
blood-vessels  are  in  greater  number  than  is  necessary  for 
mere  preservation  or  growth,  and  are  minutely  subdivided 
for  the  purpose  of  submitting  the  blood  to  the  influence  of 
air  contained  in  water. 

GI'MB  ALS,  or  GIMBOLS.  (Lat.  gemellus,  a  pair.)  A 
piece  of  mechanism  consisting  of  two  brass  hoops  or  rings 
which  move  within  one  another,  each  perpendicularly  to 
its  plane,  about  two  axes  placed  at  right  angles  to  each 
other.  A  body  suspended  in  this  manner,  having  a  free 
motion  in  two  directions  at  right  angles,  will  assume  the 
vertical  position  :  hence  the  apparatus  is  employed  for  sus- 
pending portable  or  mountain  barometers,  sea-compysses,&.c. 

GI'MLETING  THE  ANCHOR.  Turning  it  by  the  stock 
round  its  shank  as  an  axis,  like  a  gimlet. 

GIMP.     Silk  twist,  interlaced  with  brass  or  other  wire. 

GIN.  (Fr.  genievre,  juniper.)  Ardent  spirit  flavoured 
by  the  essential  oil  of  juniper.  It  was  originally  made  by 
the  Dutch,  and  is  hence  distinguished  in  this  country  by 
the  name  of  Hollands.  The  liquor  bearing  the  above  name 
in  this  country  is  of  British  manufacture,  and  is  frequently 
flavoured  by  oil  of  turpentine,  and  rendered  biting  upon  the 
palate  by  caustic  potash.  In  Holland,  the  finest  gin  bears 
the  name  of  Schiedam,  the  principal  place  of  its  manufac- 
ture, and  where  there  are  many  distilleries.  Owing  to  the 
excessive  duty,  22s.  Gd.  per  gallon,  gin  is  one  of  the  principal 
articles  of  clandestine  importation.     See  Spirits. 

Gin,  in  Mechanics,  is  a  machine  used  for  raising  great 
weights,  driving  piles,  &c.  It  usually  consists  of  three  long 
legs  or  spars,  which  support  a  pulley  at  the  top,  round 
which  a  rope  is  passed  for  elevating  the  weight. 

GI'NGER.  The  dried  rhizoma  of  Zingiber  officina'is,  a 
native  of  the  East  Indies,  and  abundantly  cultivated  in 
America  and  the  West  India  islands,  whence  Europe  is 
chiefly  supplied.  It  is  a  good  stimulant  and  carminative ; 
and  the  fresh  root  preserved  makes  an  agreeable,  warm, 
and  not  very  unwholesome  sweetmeat.  The  acrimony  of 
ginger  appears  to  reside  in  a  peculiar  extractive  matter 
which  is.  soluble  in  alcohol ;  hence  a  spirituous  tincture  of 
ginger  contains  the  virtues  of  the  root. 

GI'NSENG.  A  Chinese  word  applied  to  the  root  of  the 
Panax  quinquefolium  :  it  has  a  bitter-sweet  flavour,  and  is 
considered  as  a  powerful  restorative  in  China,  where  its 
consumption  is  very  great.  It  is  found  chiefly  in  the  north- 
ern parts  of  Asia,  and  in  America;  but  it  is  almost  wholly 
from  the  latter  source  that  the  Chinese  draw  their  supplies. 
In  1832,  there  were  sent  from  the  United  States  to  China 
407,  007  lbs.  of  ginseng,  valued  at  99,303  dollars.  See  Com- 
mercial Diet. 

GIPSY.     See  Gypsy. 

GIRA'FFE.  (Arab,  xariffa.)  The  tallest  quadruped  on 
the  face  of  the  earth,  and  the  largest  and  most  singular  of 
the  Ruminant  order.  Pliny  informs  us  that  it  was  called 
Nabun  by  the  ^Ethiopians  of  his  time,  and  Camclopardalis 
by  the  commonalty  at  Rome.  "JVabun  jEthiopes  vocant, 
collo  similem  equo,  pedibus  et  cruribus  bovi,  camelo  capite, 
albis  maculis  rutilem  colorem  distinguentibus,  unde  appel- 
lata  cameloparda/is.  Dictatoris  Caisaris  circensibus  ludis 
primum  visa  Roma;."  (Hist.JVat.,  lib.  viii.)  The  natural 
philosophers  of  Rome  had  again,  subsequent  to  the  gorge- 
ous spectacles  of  Caesar,  the  means  of  studying  the  living 
giraffe.  Not  fewer  than  ten  of  these  rare  and  beautiful  an- 
imals were  publicly  exliibited  at  one  time  by  the  third  Gor- 
dian,  which  afterwards  were  brutally  slaughtered  in  the 
arena  of  the  amphitheatre,  at  the  millenarian  games,  in  the 
reign  of  tho  emperor  Philip.  Notwithstanding  these  oppor- 
tunities, all  the  zoological  information  regarding  the  giraffe 
which  we  derive  from  the  naturalists  of  Rome  is  comprised 
in  the  brief  notice  above  quoted  from  the  writings  of  Pliny ; 


GIRAFFE. 


a  notice  which  is  too  vague  to  have  served  to  enable  lis 
again  to  recognise  the  strange  compound  of  horse,  ox,  cam- 
el, and  pard  exhibited  to  the  wondering  Romans,  had  it  not 
been  more  intelligibly  recorded  in  medals,  mosaic  pave- 
ments, and  the  ornaments  of  public  buildings.  The  resem- 
blance of  the  giraffe  to  the  horse  in  regard  to  its  neck  is 
restricted  to  the  presence  of  a  mane,  composed  of  short  stiff 
black  hairs,  which  resembles  rather  that  of  the  gnu  or  ass. 
In  the  length,  slenderness  and  flexibility  of  the  neck,  the 
giraffe  surpasses  all  other  quadrupeds;  the  comparison  of 
the  legs  and  feet  of  the  giraffe  to  those  of  the  ox  is  still  less 
fortunate,  because  the  two  posterior  or  spurious.hoofs  com- 
mon to  the  ox  with  most  other  Ruminants  are  wanting  in 
the  giraffe,  as  in  the  camel ;  but  the  toes  are  not  joined  to  a 
common  broad  elastic  sole,  as  in  the  camel ;  they  are  com- 
pletely separated,  and  provided  each  with  a  well-formed, 
sharp-pointed  hoof.  The  head  of  the  giraffe  resembles  that 
of  the  camel  in  the  absence  of  a  naked  muzzle,  and  in  the 
shape  and  organization  of  the  nostrils,  which  are  oblique 
and  narrow  apertures,  defended  by  the  hair  which  grows 
from  their  margins,  and  surrounded  by  cutaneous  muscular 
fibres  by  which  the  animal  can  close  them  at  will.  This  is 
a  beautiful  provision  for  the  defence  of  the  air  passages  and 
the  irritable  membrane  lining  the  olfactory  cavities,  against 
the  fine  particles  of  sand  which  the  storms  of  the  desert 
raise  in  almost  suffocating  clouds.  The  large,  dark,  and 
lustrous  eyes  of  the  giraffe,  which  beam  with  a  peculiarly 
mild  but  fearless  expression,  are  so  placed  as  to  take  in  a 
wider  range  of  the  horizon  than  is  subject  to  the  vision  of 
any  other  quadruped.  While  browsing  on  his  favourite 
acacia  the  giraffe,  by  means  of  his  laterally-projecting  or- 
bits, can  direct  his  sight  so  as  to  anticipate  a  threatened 
attack  in  the  rear  from  the  stealthy  lion,  or  any  other  foe  of 
the  desert.  To  an  open  attack  he  sometimes  makes  a  suc- 
cessful defence  by  striking  out  his  powerful  and  well-armed 
feet :  and  the  king  of  beasts  is  said  to  be  frequently  repelled 
and  disabled  by  the  wounds  which  the  giraffe  has  thus  in- 
flicted with  his  hoofs.  The  horns  of  the  giraffe,  small  as 
they  are,  and  muffled  by  skin  and  hair,  are  by  no  means  the 
insignificant  weapons  that  they  have  been  supposed  to  be. 
We  have  seen  them  wielded  by  the  males  against  each 
other  with  fearful  and  reckless  force ;  and  we  know  that 
they  are  the  natural  arms  of  the  giraffe  most  dreaded  by  the 
keeper  of  the  present  living  giraffes  in  the  Zoological  har- 
dens, because  they  are  most  commonly  and  suddenly  pat  in 
use.  The  giraffe  does  not  butt  by  depressing  and  suddenly 
elevating  the  head,  like  the  deer,  ox.  or  sheep;  but  strikes 
the  callous  obtuse  extremity  of  the  horns  against  the  object 
of  his  attack  with  a  sidelong  sweep  of  the  neck.  One  blow 
thus  delivered  at  full  swing  against  the  head  of  an  unlucky 
attendant  would  be  fatal :  the  female  once  drove  her  horns 
in  sport  through  an  inch  deal  board.  Notwithstanding 
those  natural  arms  of  hoofs  and  horns,  the  giraffe  does  not 
turn  to  do  battle  except  at  the  last  extremity;  where  escape 
is  possible,  it  seeks  it  in  flight.  This  is  extremely  rapid,  es- 
pecially along  rising  ground  ;  but  cannot  be  maintained  for 
a  sufficient  period  of  time  to  enable  it  to  escape  the  Arab 
mounted  on  his  long-winded  steed.  The  paces  of  the  giraffe, 
owing  to  the  disproportion  between  his  long  legs  and  short 
body,  are  very  peculiar;  when  walking  at  a  brisk  rate,  it 
seems  to  move  forward  simultaneously  the  two  legs  of  the 
same  side,  as  noticed  of  old  by  the  learned  bishop  of  Sicca, 
in  his  account  of  the  presents  brought  to  Hydaspes  by  the 
ambassadors  of  the  Axeomita?  (Abyssinians).  "  It  differed," 
says  Heliodorus,  "in  gait  from  every  other  land  or  water  an- 
imal, and  waddled  in  a  remarkable  manner:  each  leg  did 
not  move  alternately,  but  those  on  the  right  side  moved  to- 
gether independently  of  the  other,  and  those  on  the  left  in 
the  same  manner,  so  that  each  side  was  alternately  eleva- 
ted." Both  legs  of  the  same  side  are  undoubtedly  oft'  the 
ground  at  the  same  time  through  the  grenter  part  of  the 
step;  but  upon  a  close  inspection  the  hind-leg  is  always 
seen  to  be  first  lifted  from  the  ground,  and  after  a  very  brief 
interval  the  fore-leg  of  the  same  side  is  moved.  In  the 
sanded  paddock  appropriated  to  the  giraffes  in  the  Zoologi- 
cal Gardens,  they  exhibit  in  the  warm  days  of  summer  all 
their  various  and  singular  paces.  In  the  simple  walk  the 
neck,  which  is  then  stretched  out  in  a  line  with  the  back, 
gives  them  a  stiff  and  awkward  appearance;  but  this  is  en- 
tirely lost  when  they  commence  their  graceful  undulating 
canter.  To  judge  by  the  movement  of  the  legs,  this  pnee 
appears  to  be  less  rapid  than  it  actually  proves,  when  the 
extent  of  ground  is  observed  over  which  it  has  carried  them 
in  a  given  time.  The  motions  of  the  legs  are  now  very  pe- 
culiar and  uncommon;  the  hind  pair  are  lifted  alternately 
with  the  fore,  and  are  carried,  or  rather  swung  forward, 
outside  of  and  beyond  them  at  each  bound.  When  excited 
to  a  swifter  pace  they  often  kick  out  their  hind-legs  during 
their  course,  and  their  nostrils  are  then  actively  and  un 
wontedly  dilated.  The  general  figure  of  the  giraffe,  its 
raised  anterior  parts,  elongated  neck,  light  and  tapering 
head,  and  long,  slender  and  flexible  tongue,  are  all  condi- 
45 


tions  which  beautifully  harmonize  with  its  geographical 
position  and  the  nature  of  its  food.  No  Ruminant  of  ita 
magnitude  could  exist  in  the  arid  tropical  regions  to  which 
the  giraffe  is  peculiar,  if  it  were  not  modified  so  as  to  be 
able  to  obtain  vegetable  sustenance  independently  of  ordi- 
nary pasturage.  But  in  those  localities  shrubs  and  trees 
continue  to  put  forth  buds  and  leaves  when  all  the  herbage 
on  the  surface  of  the  earth  is  scorched  up ;  and  it  is  for  the 
purpose  of  browsing  on  the  green  food  supplied  by  lofty 
branches  that  the  Ruminant  type  is  modified  in  so  extraor- 
dinary a  manner  as  we  witness  it  in  the  giraffe.  A  zoolo- 
gist, ignorant  of  the  giraffe,  could  never  have  anticipated  or 
conceived  so  beautiful  and  perfect  a  solution  of  this  difficult 
problem  in  the  scheme  of  animal  enjoyment.  The  tongue 
is  an  organ  exquisitely  formed  for  prehension  ;  it  is  used  to 
hook  down  the  branches  which  grow  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  muzzle  of  the  giraffe,  and  the  animal  in  captivity  in- 
stinctively puts  it  to  use  in  a  variety  of  ways.  We  have 
seen  the  giraffe,  in  the  Jardin  des  Plantes  at  Paris,  stretching 
upwards  its  neck  and  head,  and  protruding  its  tongue  to  the 
full  extent  to  hook  out  single  straws,  which  were  platted 
into  the  partition  separating  it  from  the  contiguous  inclosure. 
In  our  own  menagerie  at  Regent's  Park  many  a  fair  lady 
has  been  robbed  of  the  artificial  flowers  which  adorned  her 
bonnet  by  the  nimble  filching  tongue  of  the  rare  object  of 
her  admiration.  The  giraffe  seems,  indeed,  to  be  guided 
more  by  the  eye  than  the  nose  in  the  selection  of  objects  of 
food ;  and  if  we  may  judge  of  the  apparent  satisfaction  with 
which  the  mock  leaves  and  flowers  so  obtained  are  mastica- 
ted, the  tongue  would  seem  by  no  means  to  enjoy  the  sensi- 
tive in  the  same  degree  as  the  motive  powers.  The  differ- 
ence in  the  size  of  the  nerves  of  sensation  and  motion  which 
we  observed  in  the  dissection  of  the  tongue  accords  with 
I  these  habits  of  the  living  animal.  From  the  same  dissec- 
tion it  was  proved  that  the  movements  of  the  tongue,  both 
those  of  extension,  prehension,  and  retraction,  were  due  to 
muscular,  and  not,  as  Sir  Everard  Home  supposed,  to  vascu- 
lar action.  Observations  of  the  living  animal,  and  dissec- 
tion of  the  dead,  have  at  length  dispelled  most  of  the  errors 
and  doubts  which  obscured  the  exact  knowledge  of  the  na- 
ture and  zoological  affinities  of  the  giraffe.  Up  to  a  very 
recent  period  we  find  it  described  as  having  callosities  on 
•he  knees  and  over  the  sternum,  like  the  camel,  and  as  a 
kind  of  lusus  with  three  homs;  of  which  one,  being  articu- 
lated over  a  suture  in  the  middle  line  of  the  forehead,  seem- 
ed to  take  away  from  the  chimerical  nature  of  the  unicorn 
by  indicating  a  transition  to  that  heraldic  monster.  The 
truth  is,  however,  that  the  giraffe  possesses  neither  those 
callosities  nor  this  median  articulated  horn.  It  is  essentially 
a  true  Ruminant,  having  a  stomach  divided  into  four  com- 
partments, the  paunch  being  simply  papillose,  without  water 
bags;  and  the  reticulum  with  extremely  shallow  hexagonal 
cells,  as  in  the  reindeer.  It  is  also  a  horned  Ruminant,  the 
horns  being  two  in  number,  small,  straight,  and  simple,  like 
those  of  the  pricket  deer.  But  in  the  giraffe  the  bony  base 
of  each  horn  is  articulated  by  a  broad  rough  epiphysial  basis 
to  the  cranium  ;  it  is  covered  by  a  vascular  periosteum  and 
a  hairy  integument,  which  is  not  deciduous.  These  horns, 
or  rather  antlers,  terminate  in  a  truncate  extremity  capped 
with  a  callous  plate,  and  fringed  with  long  and  strong  black 
hairs:  these  horns  are  present  in  both  sexes,  as  in  the  rein- 
deer; and  are  larger  in  the  male.  The  median  protube- 
rance is  a  simple  thickening  of  the  contiguous  parts  of  the 
frontal  and  nasal  bones.  In  the  form  of  the  mouth  the  gi- 
raffe differs  from  every  other  Ruminant.  The  upper  lip  is 
not  bifid,  as  in  the  camel ;  and  though  it  is  prolonged  and 
covered  with  hair,  as  in  the  elk,  it  differs  in  its  elegant  and 
tapering  form. 

The  giraffe  has  a  long  neck,  and  has  not  spurious  hoofs, 
and  this  far  it  resembles  the  camel ;  but  the  cervical  verte- 
bra; in  the  camel  tribe  present  a  peculiarity  of  structure, 
combined  with  their  length,  in  which  the  giraffe  does  not 
participate.  The  camels  have  many  other  peculiarities  of 
internal  organization,  to  some  of  which  we  find  resemblances 
in  certain  ordinary  Ruminants,  but  not  in  the  giraffe.  Its 
place  in  the  Ruminant  series  is  between  the  deer  and  ante- 
lope. These  extensive  families  are  respectively  distin- 
guished, not  onlv  by  the  nature  of  their  horns,  but  by  a 
well-marked  anatomical  character:  the  gall-bladder  is 
present  in  the  antelopes,  and  not  in  the  deer.  In  three 
giraffes  lately  dissected  in  this  country  a  gall-bladder  was 
present  in  one,  and  not  in  the  other  two.  In  that  in  which 
it  was  discovered  it  presented  an  abnormal  structure,  being 
bifid  at  the  fundus,  and  divided  into  two  compartments. 
We  may  infer,  therefore,  that  in  this  part  of  their  organiza- 
tion, as  in  the  structure  of  their  horns,  the  giraffes  are  more 
nearly  akin  to  the  deer  tribe  than  to  the  antelopes.  Yet  it 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  while  we  search  in  vain  among 
the  Cervidas  for  an  equine  mane  and  tufted  tail,  such  as 
ornament  the  giraffe,  we  find  both  these  peculiarities  com- 
bined in  the  gnu  among  the  antelopes.  A  giraffe  more  than 
two  thirds  grown  will  eat  daily,  in  confinement,  eighteen 

517 


GIRASOL. 

pounds  of  clover-hay,  and  eighteen  pounds  of  a  mixed 
vegetable  diet,  consisting  of  carrots,  mangel-wurzel,  barley, 
split  beans,  and  unions  ;  and  will  drink  four  gallons  of 
water.  They  copulate  in  March.  The  female  has  four 
inguinal  udders :  she  brings  forth  one  young  one  at  a  birth  ; 
and  the  period  of  gestation  is  fifteen  months.  The  new- 
born giraffe  measures  six  feet  from  the  fore-hoofs  to  the  top 
of  the  head.  In  a  few  hours  it  is  able  to  follow  the  dam. 
It  resembles  the  mature  animal  in  the  markings  of  the  hide. 
The  first  giraffe  known  to  have  been  produced  in  captivity 
was  brought  forth  in  June,  1839,  at  the  gardens  of  the  Zoo- 
losical  Society  in  London. 

GIRASOL.  A  milk-white  or  bluish  opal,  which,  when 
turned  to  the  sun  or  any  bright  light,  reflects  a  reddish 
colour;  hence  its  name,  from  gyro,  /  turn,  and  sol,  the  sun. 

GI'RDER.  (Sax.  gyrdan,  to  inclose.)  In  Architecture, 
a  principal  beam  in  a  floor  for  supporting  the  binding  or 
other  joists,  whereby  their  bearing  or  length  is  lessened. 
Perhaps  so  called,  because  the  ends  of  the  joists  are  in- 
closed bv  it. 

GI'RDLE.  (Anglo-Sax.  girdan,  to  encircle.)  A  belt  or 
band  of  leather  or  some  other  substance  used  in  girding  up 
the  loins.  The  girdle  (Gr.  ^oji/i?,  Lat.  cingulum)  was  in  use 
among  the  Hebrews,  Greeks,  and  Romans,  for  various  pur- 
poses more  or  less  important.  By  the  Hebrews  it  was 
worn  chiefly  upon  a  journey,  and  sometimes  as  a  mark  of 
humiliation  and  sorrow  ;  and  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans  it 
was  used  as  a  military  ornament.  Hence  in  the  Latin 
phraseology  cingulum  deponere  denoted  "  to  quit  the  serv- 
ice." To  deprive  a  soldier  of  his  girdle  was  the  deepest 
mark  of  ignominy  with  which  he  could  be  branded ;  and 
even  among  the  civilians,  who  always  wore  a  girdle  over 
the  tunic  to  render  their  motions  unembarrassed,  the  want 
of  this  appendage  was  considered  strongly  presumptive  of 
idle  and  dissolute  propensities.  In  conformity  with  this 
opinion,  or  perhaps  in  allusion  to  the  occasional  substitu- 
tion of  the  girdle  for  the  purse  among  the  Romans,  Horace 
has  affirmed  that  "  you  may  do  what  you  please  with  him 
who  has  lost  his  girdle," — 

Ibit  eo  quo  vis  qui  zonam  perdidit 

Zonam  solvere  rirgincam  was  a  well-known  phrase  appro- 
priated to  the  marriage  ceremony.  To  Venus  was  attribu- 
ted by  the  poets  the  possession  of  a  particular  kind  of  girdle, 
called  ccstus,  which  was  said  to  have  the  power  of  inspiring 
love. 

It  was  formerly  the  custom  in  England  for  bankrupts  or 
other  insolvent  persons  to  put  off  and  surrender  their  gir- 
dles in  open  courts. 

GIRO'NDE.  THE.  In  French  History,  a  celebrated  po- 
litical party  during  the  Revolution ;  its  members  were 
termed  Girondists  or  Girondins.  The  name  was  derived 
from  that  of  the  department  La  Gironde  (in  which  Bor- 
deaux is  situated),  which  sent  to  the  legislative  assembly 
of  1791,  anion"  its  representatives,  three  men  of  elpquence 
and  talent  (Gaudet.  Gensonne,  Vergniaud),  who  were 
among  the  chief  leaders  of  the  party.  Its  principles  were 
republican.  During  the  continuance  of  that  assembly  the 
Girondists  formed  a  powerful,  but  not  always  consistent 
party.  Out  of  these  Louis  XVI.  chose  his  republican  min- 
isters in  the  beginning  of  1792.  But  after  the  massacres  of 
September  in  that  year  the  party  in  general  withdrew  from 
all  connection  with  the  Jacobins,  and  approximated  towards 
the  Constitutionalists.  In  the  Convention  the  Girondists  at 
first  commanded  a  majority,  but  on  the  king's  trial  they 
were  much  divided ;  and,  being  pressed  by  the  violence  of 
the  sections  of  Paris,  they  were  at  length  expelled  the  as- 
sembly: thirty-four  of  them  were  outlawed,  and  finally 
twenty-two  of  their  leaders  guillotined  (7th  and  31st  Octo- 
ber, 1793',  while  a  few  escaped,  and  others  put  an  end  to 
themselves.  Perhaps  the  most  celebrated  member  of  the 
Gironde  party  was  a  lady.  Madame  Roland,  the  wife  of  the 
minister  of  that  name,  who  was  executed  when  the  party 
fell,  and  whose  writing— the  Appcl  au  Peuple — bears  all  the 
stamp  of  that  high  republican  enthusiasm  which  character- 
ized them.  (The  remaining  part  of  her  memoirs  is  of  sus- 
picious authenticity.)  Various  apologies  and  eulogies  of 
the  party  have  appeared.  Its  members  were  not  without 
high  qualities;  but  its  counterpart  will  be  found  in  all  rev- 
olutions, in  that  body  of  men  of  high  theoretical  views  of 
social  reform  and  little  practical  knowledge,  who  are  com- 
monly lifted  into  power  by  supporters  more  energetic  hut 
less  high-principled  than  themselves  at  one  turn  of  affairs, 
and  sure  to  be  thrust  down  in  a  short  time  by  their  own 
former  adherents.  (See  particularly  the  histories  of  Micnet 
and  Thiers,  for  general  views  on  the  subject;  for  details, 
the  Histoirc  Parlemerttaire  of  Messrs.  Buchez  and  Itoux, 
who  are  perhaps  too  unfavourable  to  the  patty. 

GIRT  LINE.  A  rope  to  lift  the  rigging  up  to  the  mast 
head  on  first  risging  the  ship. 

GIVEN,  in  Geometry,  signifies  something  that  is  known. 
Thus,  a  straight  line  is  given  in  position  when  we  know  the 
518 


GLACIERS. 

situation  of  two  points  through  which  it  must  pass;  and  it 
is  given  in  magnitude  when  we  know  its  length.  A  trian- 
gle is  given  in  species  when  we  know  the  magnitude  of 
each  of  its  three  angles,  and  a  circle  is  given  when  we 
know  its  centre  and  radius. 

GLA'BROUS.  (Lat.  glaber,  smooth.)  A  term  applied 
in  Mammalogy  to  those  parts  of  the  surface  of  a  quadruped 
which  are  naturally  devoid  of  hair;  and  in  Entcmology, 
when  a  surface  is  smooth  and  devoid  of  hair  or  pubescence. 

GLA'CIERS.  (Fr.)  The  name  given  to  the  immense 
masses  of  ice  which  accumulate  on  the  peaks  and  slopes, 
and  in  the  upper  valleys,  of  lofty  mountains.  The  phe- 
nomena of  glaciers  form  one  of  the  most  interesting  subjects 
of  scientific  investigation,  whether  we  regard  their  forma- 
tion, structure,  or  appearance.  In  all  parts  of  the  globe 
they  have  the  same  general  characteristics :  but  though  the 
glaciers  of  other  countries  have  often  been  described  by 
geographers  and  naturalists,  it  is  chiefly  in  respect  to  those 
of  Switzerland  that  we  possess  detailed  information.  In 
that  country,  as  indeed  in  every  other,  those  parts  of  the 
mountains  that  rise  above  the  line  of  congelation  are  cov- 
ered with  perpetual  snow,  which  being  partially  thawed 
during  the  summer  months,  is  on  the  approach  of  cold  con- 
verted into  ice,  thus  constituting  what  is  called  a  glacier. 
The  ice  so  formed  descends  along  the  slopes  of  the  moun- 
tains into  the  valleys,  by  which  their  ridges  are  furrowed, 
where  it  accumulates  into  vast  beds  or  fields ;  presenting, 
where  the  descent  is  gradual,  a  very  level  surface,  and  with 
few  crevices,  but  where  there  is  a  rapid  or  rugged  declivity, 
being  rent  with  numerous  chasms*,  and  covered  with  ele- 
vations rising  from  100  to  200  feet.  Though  the  snow  line 
on  the  Alps  is  found  at  an  elevation  of  about  8000  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  some  of  the  glaciers  descend  so 
far  downward  that  their  lower  extremity  is  not  more  than 
3500  feet  above  it.  This  is  particularly  the  case  in  the  val- 
ley of  Chamouni,  where  the  singular  spectacle  is  presented 
of  huge  pyramids  of  ice  of  a  thousand  fantastic  shapes  in 
juxtaposition  with  the  most  luxuriant  pastures,  or  towering 
in  majestic  grandeur  in  the  midst  of  verdant  forests.  The 
principle  of  the  descent  of  the  glaciers  is  twofold  :  viz.  one 
of  a  slow  and  gradual  character,  like  the  dunes  of  France, 
by  which  a  progressive  movement  of  about  twenty-five  feet 
annually  is  effected;  the  other  of  a  rapid  and  impetuous 
kind,  in  which  a  portion  of  the  ice  having  been  disrupted 
from  the  main  body  glides  down  the  mountain's  side,  accu- 
mulating as  it  goes,  and  precipitating  into  the  valleys  be- 
neath immense  stones,  fragments  of  rock,  and  other  sub- 
stances to  which  it  had  adhered.  Philosophers  and  natu- 
ralists have  attributed  this  downward  movement  of  a  glacier 
to  various  causes;  but  by  far  the  most  prevalent  opinion 
respecting  it  is  that  of  Saussure,  who  maintained  it  was 
nothing  more  than  a  slipping  upon  itself,  occasioned  by  its 
own  weight.  On  the  other  hand,  M.  Aeassiz  ascribes  this 
motion  to  the  expansion  of  the  ice,  resulting  from  the  con- 
gelation of  the  water  which  has  filtered  into  it  and  penetra- 
ted its  cavities;  while  Mr.  R.  Mallet  is  inclined  to  attribute 
it  to  the  hydrostatic  pressure  of  the  water  which  flows  at 
the  bottom  and  makes  rents  in  the  mass.  When  the  debris 
which  the  glaciers  accumulate  in  their  descent  has  been 
deposited  in  the  valleys,  it  constitutes  what  in  Savoy  is 
termed  their  moraine  or  border,  an  essential  feature  in  the 
Alpine  glaciers.  These  borders  present  every  variety  of 
aspect ;  but  their  most  usual  appearance  is  that  of  unfath- 
omable bogs  or  morasses  wholly  destitute  of  vegetation,  and 
in  many  instances  fraught  with  infinite  peril  to  the  traveller. 
They  are  generally  arranged  in  long  ridges  or  mounds  from 
30  to  40  feet  high  ;  and  being  often  two,  three,  or  even  four 
in  number,  resemble  so  many  lines  of  entrenchment. 

The  Alpine  glaciers  occupy  a  superficial  extent  of  1484 
square  miles.  From  Mont  Blanc  to  the  borders  of  the  Tyrol 
there  are  reckoned  about  400,  of  which  the  greater  number 
varies  from  10  to  15  miles  long,  and  from  1  to  2J  broad ; 
their  mean  vertical  thickness  ranges  from  100  to  600  feet. 
Besides  the  grand  and  picturesque  appearance  they  present 
externally,  their  lower  extremities  are  sometimes  excavated 
by  the  melting  of  the  ice  into  the  form  of  immense  grottoes, 
adorned  with  the  finest  stalactic  crystallizations,  whose 
brilliant  azure  tints  are  reflected  on  the  foaming  streams  and 
torrents  which  generally  issue  from  these  caverns,  forming 
altogether  so  beautiful  and  imposing  a  picture  as  to  defy  the 
most  faithful  pencil  to  portray  it  adequately.  The  glacier 
ice  does  not  resemble  that  found  in  ponds  and  rivers :  not 
being  formed  in  layers,  but  consisting  of  small  grains  or 
crystals  of  congealed  snow,  it  has  neither  the  compactness, 
the  solidity,  nor  the  transparency  of  river  ice ;  and  though 


*  "  These  chasms  are  frequently  many  feet  wide  and  more  than  100  ileep- 
Their  formation,  which  never  lakes  place  in  winter.  Lut  is  frequent  during 
summer,  is  acenmpaoied  with  a  loud  noise  resemhling  ihuntlrr,  and  a  shock 
which  makes  'he  adjacent  mountains  tremble.  They  are  suhjec!  to  change 
every  day,  and  almcs'  every  hour;  and  it  is  this  circums'ance  that  render* 
the  ascent  of  the  glaciers  so  dangerous  to  travellers.'- — Gtog.  Diet.,  article 
"  Alps." 


GLACIS. 

"every  single  crystal  seems  perfectly  white,  the  whole  mass 
is  of  a  blue  colour,  passing  through  every  variety  of  shade, 
from  the  most  feeble  sky-blue  to  that  of  the  lnpis  lazuli." 
From  the  large  accessions  of  snow  and  ice  which  the  gla- 
ciers receive,  especially  in  winter,  it  might  reasonably  be 
conjectured  that  they  must  be  gradually  increasing  in  size, 
and  would  consequently,  in  the  course  of  time,  break  through 
their  usual  limits,  and  overwhelm  the  cultivated  lands  of 
the  surrounding  country.  This,  however,  is  by  no  means 
the  case.  It  no  doubt  often  happens  that  on  some  occasions 
the  glaciers  are  observed  to  descend  lower  than  usual ;  but, 
when  this  takes  place,  the  warm  atmosphere  of  the  lower 
valleys  into  which  they  have  advanced  (whose  temperature 
rises  in  proportion  to  their  depression)  operates  with  such 
powerful  effect  in  reducing  their  bulk,  that  they  are  invari- 
ably found  to  recede  proportionably.  Thus  nature  has 
established  a  compensating  process,  by  which  an  effectual 
though  simple  check  is  administered  to  the  encroachment 
of  the  glaciers  upon  the  cultivated  lands  of  the  Alpine  val- 
leys. There  are  various  other  phenomena  connected  with 
the  glaciers,  for  a  full  account  of  which  the  reader  is  re- 
ferred to  Saussure's  Voyage  dans  lea  Jllpcs.  See  also 
Jti'Gxlloch's  Geographical  Diet.,  art.  "Alps;"  Penny  Cyelo., 
art.  "Glacier;"  and  arts.  Iceberg  and  Moraine  in  this 
work. 

GLA'CIS.  In  Fortification,  a  sloping  bank  of  earth,  ex- 
tending from  the  parapet  of  the  counterscarp  to  the  level 
country. 

GLADIA'TORS.  (Lat.  gladiatores  ;  from  gladius,  a 
sword.)  Sword  players,  who  were  originally  employed  to 
fight  at  the  funerals  of  illustrious  Romans,  in  order  to  ap- 
pease their  manes  by  the  effusion  of  blood.  They  were 
subsequently  introduced  into  the  public  amphitheatres,  and 
became  one  of  the  most  favourite  spectacles  of  the  Roman 
people.  The  gladiators  were  either  captives  or  condemned 
criminals,  or  else  people  of  the  lowest  rank,  who  served  for 
hire,  the  profession  being  considered  one  of  the  greatest  in- 
famy. In  spite  of  this,  however,  under  some  of  the  emper- 
ors, persons  of  the  first  families,  who  had  enjoyed  the  highest 
honours  of  the  state,  entered  the  arena,  either  at  the  com- 
mand of  the  despot,  or  in  order  to  gratify  him ;  and  even 
females  of  patrician  blood,  in  some  instances,  followed  their 
example.  Gladiators  did  not  merely  use  the  sword,  as  their 
name  st:  icily  implies,  but  were  armed  in  various  ways.  (See 
Mirmillo  and  Retiarian.)  The  gladiators  were,  in  gen- 
eral, desperate  and  ruffian  characters ;  anil  considerable 
bodies  of  them  were  sometimes  kept  in  the  pay  of  wealthy 
and  turbulent  citizens,  or  hired  as  bullies.  Perhaps  the  best 
exposition  of  the  opinion  of  the  more  philosophical  Romans 
on  the  subject  is  thus  given  by  Cicero:  "< 'indole  giadiato- 
rum  spectaculum  et  inhumanum  nonnullis  videri  solet:  et 
hand  scio  an  non  ita  sit,  ut  nunc  fit:  cum  veto  sontes  depug- 
nnhanl,  auribus  fortasse  multa,  oculis  quidim  nulla  poterat 
esse  fortior  contra  dolorem  et  mortem  disciplina." — (Tusc, 
QurBst.  2.)  It  is  commonly,  but  inexactly  said,  that  the 
shows  of  gladiators  were  put  a  stop  to  by  the  Christian 
emperors.  They  certainly  had  not  ceased  in  A.I).  404,  and 
probably  not  before  the  conquest  of  Italy  by  the  Goths. 
(Beugnot,  Destruction  du  Taganisme  en  Occident,  book  ix., 
ch.1.) 

GLA'DIUS.  (Lat.)  The  name  of  the  internal  horny 
plate  of  the  calamaries,  which  was  called  by  the  Greeks 
\t(poc,  or  the  sword. 

GLANCE  COAL.     See  Anthracite. 

GLAND.  In  Anatomy.  This  term  is  applied  to  those 
orgnns  of  the  body  in  which  secretion  is  carried  on,  and 
which  appear  to  consist  of  a  congeries  of  blood-vessels, 
nerves,  and  absorbents:  they  are  frequently  distinguished 
according  to  their  secretion,  into  mucous,  sebaceous,  lym- 
phatic, and  lachrymal;  or,  according  to  their  form  and  tex- 
ture, into  simple,  compound,  conglobate,  and  conglomerate. 

GLANDS,  LENTICULAR.  In  Botany,  a  term  invented 
by  Guettard  to  denote  brown  oval  spots  found  upon  the 
bark  of  many  plants,  especially  willows,  indicating  the 
points  from  which  roots  will  appear  if  the  branch  be  placed 
in  circumstances  favourable  to  their  production.  They  are, 
in  fact,  nothing  but  protuberances  formed  by  the  pressure 
upon  the  epidermis  of  subjacent  roots  attempting  to  pierce 
through  it. 

GLASS.  (Germ.)  A  transparent,  impermeable,  and 
brittle  substance.  There  are  several  varieties  of  glass,  ap- 
plicable to  different  purposes,  and  differing  in  their  compo- 
sition. Its  essential  ingredients  are  silica  and  potash  or 
soda,  to  which  a  variety  of  other  substances  are  occasion- 
ally ridded ;  one  of  the  most  common  and  important  of 
which  is  oxide  of  lead,  by  which  the  fusibility  and  density 
of  the  glass  is  increased,  so  that  it  is  more  easily  worked, 
and  more  brilliant,  especially  when  ornamented  by  cutting: 
of  this  latter  description  is  the  glass  called  flint  glass,  used 
for  decanters,  drinking-glasses,  chandeliers,  &c.  It  con- 
sists of  about  52  parts  of  silica,  34  of  oxide  of  lead,  and  14 
of  potash.    Chemically  speaking,  therefore,  it  is  a  double 


GLASS. 

silicate  of  potash  and  lead,  containing  12  atoms  of  silica, 
1  of  potash,  and  1  of  oxide  of  lead.  Crown  glass,  used  for 
windows,  is  a  compound  of  silica  and  soda,  with  a  portion 
of  lime.  Green  bottle  glass  is  made  of  a  mixture  of  sand 
with  impure  wood  ash,  kelp,  and  a  portion  of  brick  clay. 
These  kinds  of  glass  are  manufactured  by  the  operation 
called  blowing.  Plate  glass,  invented  by  Abraham  Thwart, 
was  first  manufactured  in  Paris  in  1C88.  It  may  be  com- 
posed of  300  lbs.  of  fine  sand,  000  of  soda,  30  of  lime,  32  oz. 
of  black  oxide  of  manganese,  3  of  cobalt  azure,  and  300  lbs. 
of  fragments  of  good  glass.  These  materials,  when  in  per- 
fect fusion,  are  poured  upon  a  hot  copper  plate ;  the  mass 
is  then  rolled  out,  annealed,  and  afterwards  polished  by 
grinding  with  sand,  emery,  and  colcothar.  The  difficulty 
of  producing  a  perfect  plate  without  specks,  bubbles,  or 
waves,  together  with  the  risk  of  breakage,  render  large 
plates  very  expensive  :  on  account  of  their  necessary  thick- 
ness they  are  also  very  heavy. 

The  manufacture  of  glass  is  one  of  the  highest  beauty  ; 
and,  considering  the  worthlessness  of  the  materials  of  which 
it  is  made,  and  the  various  purposes  of  a  useful,  ornament- 
al, and  scientific  nature  which  it  subserves,  may  be  regard- 
ed as  perhaps  the  most  important  in  the  history  of  inven- 
tions. The  period  of  its  invention  is  involved  in  great  ob- 
scurity ;  but  if  we  believe  Pliny,  we  are  indebted  for  this 
necessary  of  life,  as  we  are  for  the  gift  of  letters,  to  the 
Phoenicians.  The  popular  opinion  upon  this  subject  refers 
the  discovery  to  accident;*  but,  as  Dr.  lire  has  observed, 
there  were  circumstances  in  the  ancient  arts  likely  to  lead 
to  it,  such  as  the  fusing  and  vitrifying  heats  required  for 
the  formation  of  pottery  and  for  the  extraction  of  metals 
from  their  ores.  But,  be  this  as  it  may,  the  Egyptians  were 
certainly  acquainted  with  the  art  of  glass-making;  for  in 
some  nomes  glass  beads  have  been  found,  coloured  with  a 
metallic  oxide,  and  pieces  of  glass  have  been  discovered  in 
the  ruins  of  Thebes.  (See  M.  Boudet,  Desc.  rie  V Egypt, 
vol.  ix. ;  Au'.  Memoires.)  Tn  Strabo  and  Pliny's  time,  the 
inhabitants  of  Sidon  and  Alex,  were  famed  for  the  produc- 
tion of  beautiful  glass,  which  they  cut,  engraved,  gilt,  and 
stained  of  the  richest  colours,  in  imitation  of  precious  stones, 
and  exported  to  all  ports  of  the  then  civilized  world.  At 
Rome,  too,  glass  was  manufactured  into  various  articles  of 
convenience  and  ornament  ;  and  so  great  was  the  luxury 
of  this  article,  or  so  exquisite  its  manufacture  in  those  days, 
that  Nero  is  reported  to  have  given  G00O  sesterces  for  two 
glass  cups.  For  a  long  time  Venice  is  said  to  have  excelled 
all  the  countries  of  Europe  in  this  manufacture  ;  of  which, 
indeed,  it  may  be  said  to  have  enjoyed  a  monopoly  till 
about  the  middle  of  the  17th  century,  when  the  invention 
of  blown  mirror  glass  by  Colbert  gave  France  a  decided 
superiority  over  its  rival.  At  what  period  the  manufacture 
of  glass  was  introduced  into  England  is  not  precisely  known  ; 
but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that,  till  near  the  close  of  the 
17th  century,  this  country  was  obliged  to  have  recourse  to 
foreigners  for  the  supply  of  the  common  articles  of  drink- 
ing glasses.  In  1G73,  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  materially 
improved  the  fabrication  of  British  plate-glass  by  bringing 
over  several  Venetian  artisans  to  the  works  at  Lambeth, 
which  were  under  his  patronage  ;  and  the  manufacture 
was  still  farther  improved  by  the  arrival  of  the  French  ref- 
ugees subsequently  to  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes. 
The  above  works,  however,  were  soon  abandoned ;  and  it 
was  exactly  one  century  (1773)  later  that  the  first  estab- 
lishment of  magnitude  for  the  production  of  plate-glass  was 
formed,  under  the  title  of  "  The  Governor  and  Company  of 
British  Cast  Plate-Glass  Manufacturers."  This  company 
was  incorporated  by  act  of  Parliament,  and  soon  after  erect- 
ed works  on  an  extensive  scale  at  Ravenhead,  near  Prescot, 
in  Lancashire,  which  have  continued  in  constant  operation 
down  to  the  present  time.  Since  that  period  immense  im- 
provements have  been  made  in  the  manufacture  of  every 
species  of  glass  throughout  all  the  countries  of  Europe, 
though  the  art  maybe  said  to  have  reached  perfection  only 
in  England  and  Bohemia. 

The  application  of  glass  to  the  glazing  of  windows  is  of 
comparatively  recent  introduction  into  dwelling-houses, 
though  it  was  general  in  churches  and  other  public  build- 
ings as  early  as  the  third  or  fourth  century.  In  London, 
this  manufacture  was  first  begun  in  1557  ;  but  that  the  use 
of  window-glass  was  by  no  means  universal  even  twenty 
years  later,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  at  Alnwick  Castle, 
the  residence  of  the  Duke  of  Northumberland,  the  glaas 
casements  used  at  that  period  to  he  taken  down  in  the 
absence  of  the  family,  to  preserve  them  from  accident.  In 
Scotland,  even  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century,  glass 
was  seldom  seen  in  the  windows  of  country  houses  ;  and  a 


*  Pliny  ascribes  the  ori'in  of  glass  to  (he  following  accident :  A  merchant- 
ship  laden  with  natrnn  being  driven  upon  the  cwt  nf  ihe  mouth  of  Hie  river 
Belus  in  lempes'uous  weather,  the  crew  were  compelled  to  cook  tlieir  vic- 
tuals ashore  ;  and  havine  placed  lumps  of  the  natron  upon  the  sand  as  sup- 
ports to  the  kettles,  found,  to  their  surprise,  masses  of  transparent  stone 
among  the  cinder  . 

519 


GLASS  PAINTING. 

few  years  previously,  even  in  the  royal  palaces  and  the 
town  houses  of  the  nobility,  the  windows  of  the  upper  sto- 
ries alone  were  furnished  with  it.  Since  that  period,  how- 
ever, a  mighty  change  has  been  effected  ;  for  now  even  the 
windows  of  the  meanest  cottage  in  Great  Britain  are,  al- 
most without  exception,  supplied  with  glass,  which,  as  Mr. 
M'Culloch  has  well  observed,  ought  rather  to  be  considered 
as  a  necessary  of  life  than  as  the  most  elegant  and  useful 
of  conveniences. 

In  1833,  the  number  of  establishments  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  every  description  of  glass  in  the  United  Kingdom 
was  126.  of  which  106  were  in  England,  and  the  remainder 
equally  divided  between  Scotland  and  Ireland.  The  prin- 
cipal seats  of  the  manufacture  are,  beyond  all  comparison, 
New  Castle  and  South  Shields ;  but  it  is  also  carried  on 
with  great  success  at  Stourbridge,  Dudley,  Liverpool,  Bris- 
tol, and  Warrington,  and  to  a  considerable  extent  in  Leeds, 
Manchester,  and  London.  The  value  of  the  glass  annually 
produced  in  the  United  Kingdom  is  estimated  at  £2,000,000, 
and  the  workmen  employed  in  the  diflerent  departments  at 
upwards  of  50,000.  hi  1837,  the  total  gross  revenue  derived 
from  the  glass  duties  amounted  to  £903,856  12s.  lOrf. ;  of 
which  England  produced  £837,277  14s.  9d. ;  Scotland. 
£50,220  4s.llaL,  and  Ireland,  £10.37^  13s.  2d.  In  no  branch 
of  manufacturing  industry  is  the  prejudicial  effect  of  high 
duties  upon  the  consumption  of  articles  of  convenience 
more  strikingly  illustrated  than  in  the  history  of  the  duty 
upon  glass  in  this  country.  It  would  be  out  of  place  here, 
however,  to  enter  upon  this  subject ;  and  we  can  only  re- 
fer the  reader  for  full  information  to  the  Commercial  Dic- 
tionary, and  the  Statistics  of  the  British  Empire,  vol.  i..  p. 
715,  2d  edit. 

GLASS  PAINTING.  In  Painting.  The  method  of 
staining  glass  in  such  a  manner  as  to  produce  the  effect  of 
representing  all  the  subjects  whereof  the  art  is  susceptible. 
A  French  painter  of  Marseilles  is  said  to  have  been  the  first 
who  instructed  the  Italians  in  this  art,  during  the  pontificate 
of  Julius  II.  It  was,  however,  practised  to  a  considerable 
extent  by  Lucas  of  Leyden,  and  Albert  Durer.  The  differ- 
ent colours  are  prepared  as  follows  :  Black  is  composed  of 
two  thirds  of  iron  scales  or  flakes,  and  the  other  third  of 
small  glass  beads,  or  a  substance  called  roccagtia  by  the 
Italians.  White  is  prepared  from  sand,  or  small  white  peb- 
bles, calcined,  pounded,  and  then  ground  finely;  one  fourth 
part  of  saltpetre  is  added,  and  the  mixture  is  then  again 
calcined  and  pulverized  :  when  dyed,  a  little  gypsum  or 
plaster  of  Paris  is  added.  Yellow  is  formed  from  leaf  sil- 
ver ground  and  mixed  in  a  crucible  with  saltpetre  or  sul- 
phur ;  then  ground  on  a  porphyry  stone  ;  and,  lastly,  ground 
over  again  with  nine  times  the  quantity  of  red  ochre.  Red, 
one  of  the  most  difficult  of  the  colours  to  make,  is  prepared 
of  litharge  of  silver  and  iron  scales,  gum  Arabic,  ferretta, 
glass  beads,  and  bloodstone,  in  nearly  equal  quantities.  Ex- 
perience alone  will  command  success  in  making  this  colour. 
Green  is  formed  from  a>s  ustum  one  ounce,  the  same  quan- 
tity of  black  lead,  and  four  ounces  of  white  lead,  incorpo- 
rated by  the  action  of  fire.  When  calcined  a  fourth  part 
of  saltpetre  is  added,  and  after  a  second  calcination  a  sixth 
part  more  ;  after  which  a  third  coction  is  made  before  using 
it.  Jlzure,  purple,  and  violet  are  prepared  in  a  similar  man- 
ner to  green,  omitting  the  a:s  ustum,  and  in  its  stead  using 
sulphur  for  azure,  perigneux  for  purple,  and  both  these 
drugs  for  violet.  Carnations  are  compounded  colours,  are 
calcined,  and  mostly  mixed  with  water,  and  must  be  fin- 
ished part  by  part,  and  each  with  great  despatch,  before  the 
plaster  dries,  and  there  is  little  opportunity  for  blending. 
The  lights  cannot  be  heightened  ;  but  the  shadows  may. 
when  they  besrin  to  dry,  be  a  little  strengthened.  Prompti- 
tude and  facility  in  execution  are  the  great  requisites  for 
this  method  of  painting.     See  Cartoon. 

GLAU'BER'S  SALT.  Sulphate  of  soda,  originally  made 
by  Glauber,  in  bis  process  for  obtaining  muriatic  acid,  by  dis- 
tilling a  mixture  of  common  salt  and  sulphuric  acid. 

GLAU'COLITE.  (Gr.  3  Xavxos,  blue.)  A  mineral  of  a 
bluish  green  colour,  found  near  the  lake  Baikal,  in  Siberia  ; 
it  is  a  silicate  of  alumina  and  lime. 

GLAUCO'MA.  (Gr.  y^avKo;.)  A  disease  of  the  eye, 
supposed  to  arise  from  dimness  of  the  vitreous  humour,  and 
giving  it  a  bluish  green  colour. 

GLAUCO'PIS.  (Gr.  y^avKoc,  and  ait//,  an  eye.)  A  genus 
of  Passerine  birds  established  by  Forster,  and  including  cer- 
tain species  remarkable  for  the  presence  of  fleshy  wattles 
attached  to  the  base  of  the  beak:  whence  thej  are  com- 
monly termed  •■  wattle-birds."  Temminck  characterize  $  tin- 
genus  as  follows  :  Bill  moderate,  strong,  and  thick,  with  the 
base  enlarged  towards  the  commissure;  upper  mandible 
convex,  vaulted,  curved  towards  the  end.  and  without  any 
notch  ;  lower  mandible  following  the  curvature  of  the  up- 
per, straight  below,  hidden  in  part  by  the  sides  of  the  upper 
mandible.  Nostrils  basal,  lateral,  round,  partially  closed  by 
a  large  membrane,  and  entirely  hidden  by  curled  feathers 
advancing  from  the  forehead.  Feet  robust,  the  tarsi  longer 
520 


GLOBULINE. 

than  the  mid-toe  ;  toes  nearly  of  the  same  length  ;  the  base 
of  the  inner  toe,  and  nearly  the  whole  of  the  outer  toe,  at- 
tached to  the  middle  toe.  Wings  short ;  the  first  quill  short, 
the  three  following  graduated,  and  the  fifth  the  longest. 
Tail  long  and  graduated. 

GLAU'COUS.  Sea  green  ;  a  term  used  in  describing  the 
colour  of  bodies,  to  denote  a  dull  green  passing  into  blue. 
Also  used  in  describing  the  polish  of  bodies,  to  denote  their 
being  covered  with  a  line  bloom  of  the  colour  of  a  cabbage 
leaf.     Glaucescent  is  the  diminutive  of  this. 

GLAU'CUa.  (Gr.  yXavKog,  blue.)  In  Grecian  Mytholo- 
gy,  the  name  of  a  marine  deity,  the  son,  according  to  some 
of  the  genealogists,  of  Neptune  and  one  of  the  Naiads ;  ac- 
cording to  others,  of  Polybius  and  Alcyone.  He  enjoyed  the 
power  of  prophecy. 

In  Zoology,  Glaucus  is  the  name  of  -a  genus  of  Nudi- 
branchiate  Mol  tusks,  remarkable  for  their  beautiful  azure 
tint.  The  species  of  Glaucus  are  found  in  the  wanner  lati- 
tudes floating  in  the  open  sea. 

GLEA'NING.  (Fr.  glaner.)  The  practice  of  collecting 
com  left  in  a  harvest  field  after  the  harvest  has  been  car- 
ried, which  (Levit.,  c.  19  ;  Dcut.,  c.  24)  appears  by  the  Mosaic 
law  to  have  been  allowed  to  the  poor.  The  right  of  the 
poor  to  glean  is,  however,  not  admitted  in  the  English  com- 
mon law. 

GLEBE.  (Lat.  gleba,  arable  soil.)  In  Law,  church 
land  ;  usually  taken  for  that  which  is  annexed  to  a  parish 
church  of  common  right,  and  belongs  to  the  parson  or  vicar. 

GLEE.  In  Music,  a  composition  for  voices  in  three  or 
more  parts.  The  subjects  of  the  words  are  various,  being 
gay.  grave,  amatory,  pathetic,  or  bacchanalian.  It  may  con- 
sist of  only  one  movement,  but  usually  has  more. 

GLEE-MAN.  (From  the  Anglo-Saxon  gleo,  glig,  &c, 
signifying  music.)  Itinerant  minstrels  were  so  called  by  the 
Saxons:  their  appellation  is  translated  joculatores  by  the 
Latin  writers  of  the  middle  a?es.  The  name  appears  to 
have  been  supplanted  by  the  Norman  minstrel,  shortly  after 
the  Conquest. 

GLIRES.  (Lat.  glis,  a  dormouse.)  The  Linnaean  name 
of  the  order  of  Mammalia  distinguished  by  two  long  chisel- 
shaped  incisors  in  each  jaw.     See  Ropentia. 

GLOBE.  A  round  body,  or  sphere ;  a  term  commonly 
applied  to  the  earth.  The  term  artificial  globe  is  more  par- 
ticularly used  to  denote  a  globe  of  metal,  plaster,  paper,  &.C., 
on  the  surface  of  which  a  map  of  the  earth  or  of  the  celes- 
tial constellations  is  delineated,  with  the  principal  circles  of 
tin  sphere.  In  the  former  case  it  is  called  the  terrestrial, 
in  the  latter  the  celestial  globe.  Artificial  globes  are  used 
for  the  purpose  of  conveying  to  children  the  first  ideas  of  the 
figure  and  rotation  of  the  earth,  of  latitude  and  longitude, 
and  the  situation  of  places  with  respect  to  each  other,  and 
to  the  sun  at  the  diflerent  seasons  of  the  year.  It  is  usual 
to  employ  them  also  for  the  purpose  of  solving  mechanically 
a  few  elementary  problems  of  astronomy,  "relative  to  the 
difference  of  the  hour  of  the  day  at  ■different  places,  the 
times  of  the  rising  and  setting  of  the  sun,  the  limits  of  the 
visibility  of  eclipses,  &c.  The  answers,  however,  which 
can  be  found  to  questions  of  this  nature,  by  means  of  ordi- 
nary globes  at  least,  can  only  be  regarded  as  rude  approxi- 
mations ;  and  hence  the  use  of  globes  should  be  limited  to 
genera!  explanation. 

GLO'BULAR  CHART.  A  delineation  of  the  terrestrial 
surface,  or  any  part  of  it,  on  a  plane,  according  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  globular  projection.  Let  A  B  C  be  the  hemi- 
sphere to  be  projected,  and  A  C  the  E 
plane  of  projection  ;  in  order  to  make  a 
globular  projection,  the  eye  is  placed  at 
the  point  E  in  the  straight  line  B  D, 
which  passes  through  the  pole  B  and 
the  centre  of  the  sphere,  and  at  a  dis- 
tance D  E  above  D  equal  to  the  sine 
of  45°.  The  peculiar  advantage  of 
this  projection  is  that  equal  arcs,  a  b,  , 
a  c,  of  great  circles,  are  represented  by  J 
straight  lines,  d  c,  e  f,  which  are  nearly 
equal.  If  the  plane  of  projection  is  the 
equator,  the  different  meridians  will  be 
represented  by  straight  lines,  and  the  parallels  of  latitude  by 
concentric  circles.  But  in  general  the  projection  is  made  on 
a  meridian,  in  which  case  the  projections  of  the  other  merid- 
ians are  ellipses.  The  globular  projection  was  first  pro- 
posed by  Lahire.    See  Map,  Projection. 

GLO'BULA'RIA'CE^E.  (Globularia,  one  of  the  genera.) 
A  small  natural  order  of  shrubby  or  herbaceous  Oxogens, 
inhabiting  the  hot  and  temperate  parts  of  Europe.  Placed 
by  Jussieu  and  De  Candolle  near  to  Primulacca ;  but  in 
greater  affinity  with  /)ii/sacca;  with  which  they  agree  in 
most  respects,  differing  from  them  only  in  having  a  superior 
ovary.  Their  sensible  properties  arc  bitter,  tonic  and  purga 
tive. 

GLOBULAR  SAILING.     See  Navigation. 

GLO  BULINE.     A  term  given  by  Kieser  to  the  green 


GLORY. 

globules  lying  among  the  cells  of  cellular  tissue.  This 
word  has  been  applied  by  Turpin,  a  French  phytotomist,  to 
all  minute  vesicular  granules  of  a  vegetable  nature,  which 
he  considers  the  organic  elements  of  vegetation.  It  is  either 
cellular  or  vesicular  tissue  in  a  young  state  and  disintegrated, 
or  granules  of  starch  or  particles  of  colouiing  matter  collect- 
ed into  microscopical  balls. 

GLORY.  (Lat.  gloria.)  In  Painting  and  Sculpture,  a 
circle,  either  plain  or  radiated,  surrounding  the  heads  of 
saints,  4tc,  and  especially  of  our  Saviour.  The  term  glory 
is  used  in  the  sacred  writings  in  various  senses,  all  of  which, 
however,  may  be  easily  deduced  from  the  original  meaning 
of  its  Hebrew  equivalent,  which  signifies  weight.  Thus  the 
glory  of  God  means  all  those  attributes  and  qualities  which 
give  him  weight  in  our  eyes,  or  inspire  us  with  reverence. 
(See  Taylor's  Concordance.) 

GLOSS.  (Gr.  yAwccra,  tongue.)  In  the  Rhetoric  of 
Aristotle,  this  word  is  used  in  the  sense  of  a  foreign,  obso- 
lete, or  otherwise  strange  idiom:  which,  judiciously  em- 
ployed, he  reckons  among  the  ornaments  of  style.  From 
the  sense  of  "  something  requiring  interpretation"  the  word 
came  to  mean  the  interpretation  itself;  strictly,  of  a  single 
word.or  phrase.  In  the  twelfth  century,  the  comments  or 
annotations  of  learned  jurists  on  passages  in  the  text  of  the 
Roman  law  were  denominated  glosses  ;  when  these  extend- 
ed to  a  running  commentary,  they  were  termed  an  apparatus. 
The  glosses  were  collected  by  Accursius  in  the  13th  century, 
and  from  that  period  they  formed  for  a  long  time  a  body  of 
authority  reckoned  equal  or  even  superior  to  the  text  itself. 

GLO'SSARY.  (Lat.  glossarium.)  A  dictionary  of  diffi- 
cult words  and  phrases  in  any  language  or  writer ;  some- 
times used  for  a  dictionary  of  words  in  general.  Of  all  the 
works  published  under  the  title  of  glossary,  the  most  cele- 
brated by  far  is  the  Glossarium  Medio;  et  Infima  Latinitatis 
of  Du  Cange.  The  best  edition  of  this  learned  and  admira- 
ble work  is  that  edited  by  Carpentier,  in  6  vols,  folio,  1733- 
1736.  Carpentier's  Supplement,  in  4  vols,  folio,  1766,  is  an 
indispensable  addition. 

GLO'TTIS.  (Gr.  yXtarra,  the  tongue.)  The  superior 
opening  of  the  larynx  or  windpipe. 

GLOVES.  (Anglo-Sax.  glof.)  Well-known  articles  of 
dress  used  for  covering  the  hands.  The  practice  of  covering 
the  hands  with  gloves  has  prevailed  among  almost  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  from  time  immemorial,  and  is  common 
at  once  to  the  rude  Tartar,  who  seeks  by  their  means  to  pro- 
tect himself  from  cold,  and  to  the  refined  European,  with 
whom  their  use  is  an  emblem  of  luxury.  (Gough.,  Sep. 
Mon.,  i.,  p.  185.)  In  the  middle  ages,  gloves  constituted  a 
costly  article  of  dress,  being  often  highly  decorated  with 
embroidery  and  richly  adorned  with  precious  stones.  In  the 
age  of  chivalry  it  was  usual  for  the  soldiers  who  had  gained 
the  favour  of  a  lady  to  wear  her  glove  in  his  helmet ;  and, 
as  is  well  known,  the  throwing  of  a  glove  was  the  most 
usual  mode  of  challenging  to  duel.  This  latter  practice 
prevailed  so  early  as  the  year  1245.  Matthew  Paris's  His- 
tory. (See  the  Penny  Cyc,  and  the  authorities  there  refer- 
red to.) 

GLOW-WORM.     See  Lampyris. 

GLUCI'NIUM.  The  metallic  base  of  the  earth  glucina, 
discovered  by  Vauquelin  in  1798,  and  hitherto  only  found  in 
three  rare  minerals — the  emerald,  beryl,  and  euclase.  The 
name  is  derived  from  y\vKV$,  sweet,  in  consequence  of  the 
sweet  taste  of  its  salts.  The  metal,  which  is  of  a  dark  gray- 
colour,  was  first  obtained  in  1828  by  Wiihler  ;  he  procured 
it  by  acting  upon  the  chloride  of  glucinium  by  potassium. 
The  equivalent  of  glucinium  is  18,  and  glucina  consists  of  18 
glucinium  -f-  8  oxygen. 

GLUE  (Lat.  gluten)  is  prepared  from  the  clippings  of 
hides,  hoofs,  &c.  These  are  first  washed  in  lime  water,  and 
afterwards  boiled  and  skimmed ;  the  solution  is  then  strained 
through  baskets,  and  gently  evaporated  to  a  due  consistency ; 
then  cooled  in  wooden  moulds,  cut  into  slices,  and  dried 
upon  nets.  Good  glue  is  semitransparent,  deep  brown,  and 
free  from  spots  and  clouds.  When  used  it  should  be  broken 
in  pieces,  and  steeped  for  twenty-four  hours  in  cold  water, 
by  which  it  softens  and  swells ;  the  soaked  pieces  are  then 
melted  over  a  gentle  fire,  or,  what  is  better,  in  a  water  bath, 
and  in  that  state  applied  to  the  wood  by  a  stiff  brush.  Glue 
will  not  harden  in  a  freezing  temperature,  the  stiffening  de- 
pending upon  the  evaporation  of  its  superfluous  water.  The 
chemical  properties  of  glue  are  those  of  an  impure  gelatine. 

GLU'TEN.  (Lat.)  The  viscid  elastic  substance  which 
remains  when  wheat  flour  is  wrapped  in  a  coarse  cloth,  and 
washed  under  a  stream  of  water,  so  as  to  cany  off  the  starch 
and  soluble  matters.  Gluten  exists  in  many  grains,  and  oc- 
casionally in  other  parts  of  vegetables ;  but  it  is  a  charac- 
teristic ingredient  in  wheat,  giving  wheat  flour  its  peculiar 
toughness  and  tenacity,  which  particularly  fits  it  for  the 
manufacture  of  bread,  and  for  viscid  pastes,  such  as  maca- 
roni and  vermicelli.  There  is  generally  more  gluten  in  the 
wheat  of  warm  climates  than  of  cold  ;  hence  the  excellence 
of  that  grown  in  the  south  of  Europe  for  the  manufactures 


GNOMON. 

just  mentioned.  Gluten  contains  nitrogen,  and  has  conse- 
quently been  called  the  vegeto-animal  principle  on  this  ac- 
count :  it  yields  ammonia  when  subjected  to  destructive 
distillation,  and  the  vegetables  which  contain  it  give  out  a 
peculiarly  disagreeable  odour  during  their  putrefaction. 

GLU'TEUS.  (Gr.  yXouroj,  the  buttocks.)  The  large  and 
thick  muscle  upon  which  we  sit,  and  which  serves  to  ex- 
tend the  thigh  by  pulling  it  directly  backwards.  It  also  as- 
sists in  its  rotatory  motion. 

GLU'TTON.  The  name  of  a  carnivorous  plantigrade 
quadruped  (Gulo  arcticus) ;  also  applied  by  some  microgra- 
phers  to  a  diaphanous  species  of  nais. 

GLY'CERLNE.  (Gr.  y\vKvs,  sweet.)  A  sweet  substance 
formed  in  the  process  of  saponification.  It  was  originally 
observed  in  the  formation  of  common  plaster  by  boiling  oil 
with  oxide  of  lead  and  water. 

GLYCY'RRHIZLN.  The  peculiar  saccharine  matter  of 
the  root  of  Glycyrrhiza  glabra,  or  common  liquorice. 

GLYPH.  (Gr.  yXv<pw,  I  carve.)  In  Architecture,  a  ver- 
tically sunken  channel.  From  their  number,  those  in  the 
Doric  order  are  called  triglyphs. 

GLY'PTIC.  (Gr.  y\v<j>ui.)  In  Sculpture,  a  term  deno- 
ting the  art  of  carving  on  stone  or  any  other  hard  substance. 

GLY'PTODON.  (Gr.  y\vq)u>,  and  odovs,  a  tooth.)  The 
name  of  an  extinct  gigantic  quadruped  belonging  to  the 
family  of  Armadilloes  (Dasypodida),  and  covered,  like  them, 
with  a  tesselated  osseous  armour.  It  is  distinguished  from 
the  existing  armadilloes  not  only  by  its  size,  which  equals 
that  of  the  rliinoceros,  but  by  its  teeth,  which  are  longitu- 
dinally fluted,  whence  its  generic  name. 

GLY'PTOTHE'CA.  (Gr.yXu0w,  and  (fy/o/,  deposit.)  A 
building  or  room  for  the  preservation  of  works  of  sculpture; 
a  word  adopted  by  the  Germans,  as  in  the  instance  of  the 
celebrated  Glyptothek  at  Munich. 

GNAT.     See  Culex. 

GNATHI'DIA.  (Gr.  yvaOos,  a  jaw.)  A  technical  term  in 
Ornithology  for  the  lateral  parts  or  rami  of  the  mandible  or 
lower  jaw,  which  are  joined  to  the  cranium  behind,  and 
meet  in  front  at  a  greater  or  less  angle. 

GNA'THOTHE'CA.  (Gr.  yvaOos,  and  Btjicri,  a  sheath.) 
In  Ornithology,  the  horny  or  cutaneous  integument  of  the 
beak. 

GNEISS.  A  species  of  granite,  which  from  excess  of 
mica  is  generally  of  a  lamellar  or  slaty  texture.  It  is  a  Ger- 
man miner's  term. 

GNOME.  A  name  given  by  the  fanciful  writers  of  the 
Cabalistic  school  to  that  class  of  their  supposed  elemental 
spirits  which  inhabit  the  earth.  Their  name  is  more  prop- 
erly Gnomons ;  derived  from  the  Greek  yviijuav,  knowing, 
cunning.     (See  Darwin's  Botanic  Garden.) 

GNO'MIC  POETS.  (Gr.  yvbiui],  a  sentence  or  opinion.) 
Greek  poets,  whose  remains  chiefly  consist  of  short  senten- 
tious precepts  and  reflections,  are  so  termed  in  classical  bib- 
liography. The  principal  writers  of  this  description,  of 
whom  a  few  fragments  are  extant,  are  Theognis  and  Solon, 
who  lived  in  the  6th  century  before  the  Christian  era.  With 
them  Tyrtteus  and  Simonides  are  joined  by  Brunck  in  his 
edition  (Gnomici  Poetw  Graci,  Argent.,  1734),  although 
these  writers  have  little  of  a  gnomic  character.  The  metre 
of  these  poets  is  elegiac. 

GNO'MON.  (Gr.  yvunuiv.)  In  Astronomy,  an  Instru- 
ment for  measuring  the  lengths  of  shadows,  and  thereby  de- 
termining the  altitudes  of  the  sun.  Let  A  be  the  top  of  a 
vertical  style,  column,  or  pillar,  B 

or  a  small  hole  in  a  wall  A  B,  S 

the  height  of  which  above  the  A>^ 

horizontal  line  B  E  is  accurately 
known ;  a  ray  of  solar  light  com- 
ing in  the  direction  S  A  reaches 

the  ground  at  C,  and  the  length  

of  the  shadow  projected  by  the  El)  c       s 

gnomon  is  B  C.  Now,  as  the  length  of  B  C  can  be  accu- 
rately measured,  and  as  A  B  is  known,  and  the  angle  at  B 
is  a  right  angle,  it  is  easy  to  find  by  the  rules  of  plane  trigo- 
nometry the  angle  A  C  B,  or  the  sun's  altitude.  Suppose 
S  C  B  thus  found  to  be  the  sun's  meridian  altitude  on  the 
day  of  the  summer  solstice,  and  S'  D  B  his  meridian  alti- 
tude on  the  day  of  the  winter  solstice ;  then  half  the  differ- 
ence between  these  two  altitudes  is  the  obliquity  of  the 
ecliptic,  or  the  sun's  greatest  declination.  And  when  the 
sun's  declination  and  meridian  altitude  aro  both  known,  the 
latitude  of  the  place  of  observatfbn  is  likewise  determined. 
In  this  way  Pytheas,  in  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great, 
found  at  Marseilles  the  ratio  of  the  height  of  the  gnomon  to 
the  meridional  shadow  on  the  day  of  the  solstice  to  be  120 
to  41f  (Montucla,  vol.  i.,  p.  191),  whence  the  obliquity  of  the 
ecliptic  is  concluded  to  have  been  at  that  time  about  23°  49'. 

Gnomons  were  probably  the  first  astronomical  instruments ; 
and  they  appear  to  have  been  much  in  use  among  the  Egyp- 
tians, the  Chinese,  and  even  the  Peruvians.  (Goguet,  Ori- 
gine  des  Loix.)  The  Egyptian  obelisks  are  supposed  to  have 
been  intended  as  gnomons.  It  is  evident  that  observations 
1 1*  521 


GNOMONIC  PROJECTION. 

of  this  kind  cannot  give  the  sun's  altitude  with  much  exact- 
ness. The  shadow  is  never  so  well  defined  that  its  limits 
can  be  ascertained  with  astronomical  precision  ;  besides,  the 
observation  requires  to  be  corrected  for  parallax,  refraction, 
and  the  sun's  semidiameter — elements  which  can  only  be  de- 
termined by  means  of  instruments  of  a  very  superior  descrip- 
tion to  the  gnomon,  and  which,  consequently,  render  the 
latter  useless.  The  astronomer  Ulug-Beg,  about  the  year 
1437,  erected  a  gnomon  at  Samarcand,  the  height  of  wliich 
was  165  Paris  feet. 

Gnomon,  in  Dialling,  is  the  style  of  the  dial,  the  shadow 
of  which  marks  the  hour.  It  is  placed  so  that  its  straight 
edge  is  parallel  to  the  axis  of  the  earth's  rotation. 

Gnomon.  In  Geometry,  the  part  of  a  parallelogram  which 
remains  when  one  of  the  parallelograms  about  its  diagonal 
is  removed  ;  or  the  portion  of  the  parallelogram  composed 
of  the  two  complements  and  one  of  the  parallelograms  about 
the  diagonal.  The  term  is  seldom  used  excepting  in  Eu- 
clid's Elements. 

GNOMO'NIC  PROJECTION.  The  representation  of  a 
hemisphere  on  a  plane  touching  it  at  the  vertex,  the  eye  be- 
ing placed  at  the  centre  of  the  sphere.  In  this  projection  all 
great  circles  of  the  sphere  are  projected  into  indefinite  straight 
lines,  small  circles  parallel  to  the  plane  are  projected  into 
circles,  and  those  which  are  oblique  to  it  into  ellipses  or  hy- 
perbolas.    See  Projection. 

GNOMONICS.  The  art  of  constructing  dials.  See  Dial- 
ling. 

GNO'STICISM.  (Gr.  yvwaic,  knowledge.)  A  philosoph- 
ical system  of  religion  which  prevailed  in  the  East  during 
the  four  first  centuries  of  our  era,  and  exercised  great  influ- 
ence upon  Christian  theology,  giving  birth  to  numerous  and 
widely-diffused  heresies,  ami  insinuating  itself  under  a  modi- 
fied form  even  into  the  writings  of  the  most  orthodox  fathers. 
The  origin  of  the  system  is  involved  in  considerable  obscu- 
rity :  in  its  leading  principles  it  seems  to  point  to  the  Orien- 
tal philosophy  as  its  genuine  parent;  but  it  is  objected  to 
this  solution  that  the  fathers  refer  it,  together  with  the  er- 
rors similarly  introduced  by  Platonism,  to  a  Greek  origin, 
and  appeal  to  the  cosmogonies  of  Hesiod  and  others,  as  the 
real  exemplars  from  which  it  is  imitated.  It  is  to  be  re- 
marked, however,  that  the  fathers  were  universally  ignorant 
of  the  Oriental  philosophy;  from  which  we  may  conclude 
that  their  opinion  upon  such  a  point  is  not  necessarily  deci- 
sive. A  modem  solution  conceives  Alexandria  to  have  been 
the  central  point  to  which  the  speculations  of  the  Greeks 
and  the  Orientals  converged,  and  from  whence  they  fre- 
quently re-issued,  after  having  undergone  the  process  of  fu- 
sion into  a  common  mass.  It  is  certain  that  Alexandria 
was,  during  the  time  we  have  spoken  of,  a  celebrated  resort 
of  Gnostic  opinions,  both  within  and  without  the  Church. 

The  grand  principle  of  this  philosophy  seems  to  have  been 
an  attempt  to  reconcile  the  difficulties  attending  upon  the 
existence  of  evil  in  the  world.  Evil,  it  was  supposed,  being 
the  contrary  of  good,  must  be  contrary  to,  and,  therefore,  the 
opponent  of,  God :  if  the  opponent  of  God,  then  independent 
of  him  and  coetemal.  From  the  many  imperfections  which 
are  involved  in  all  outward  and  sensible  objects,  it  was  held 
that  matter  must  contain  in  itself  the  principle  of  all  evil. 
The  human  soul,  on  the  contrary,  which  aspires  after  and 
tends  to  a  higher  and  more  perfect  development,  was  held 
to  be  the  gift  of  the  Supreme  Deity,  imparted  to  man  for  the 
sake  of  combating  against  the  material  principle,  and  with 
the  prospect  of  finally  subduing  it.  From  the  Supreme  God 
on  the  one  hand,  and  matter  on  the  other,  succeeding  philos- 
ophers produced  various  fanciful  genealogies  of  superior  in- 
telligences, under  the  name  of  ^Eons — a  Greek  word,  signi- 
fying, properly,  periods;  thus  representing  these  divinities 
themselves  by  a  name  expressive  of  the  time  and  order 
of  their  generation,  much  as  in  our  current  language  the 
terms  reign,  or  government,  are  frequently  put  for  the  king 
or  ministers  governing.  The  Demiurgus,  who  formed  the 
world  out  of  matter,  appears  to  have  been  an  JEon  derived 
from  the  evil  principle.  He  was  also  the  God  of  the  Old 
Testament,  who  was  considered  by  the  Gnostics  to  be  an 
object  of  aversion  to  the  One  Supreme  God,  to  counteract 
whose  machinations  the  JEon  Christ  was  sent  into  the 
world.  This  is  the  earlier  and  simpler  system,  which  is  at- 
tributed to  Simon  Magus  :  the  number  of  the  iEons  was  fan- 
cifully multiplied  in  later  times,  and  an  extravagant  theory 
of  morals  founded  upon  the  system.  The  object  of  these 
principally  was,  as  may  he  supposed,  to  depreciate  the  hon- 
our due  to  the  body,  as  being  a  part  of  matter,  and  to  ele- 
vate the  thinking  faculty,  or  at  least  to  remove  it  from  all 
consideration  of  worldly  things.  The  Gnostics  imagined 
that  by  assiduous  practice  of  certain  mental  and  bodily  aus- 
terities, they  could  obtain  an  intuition  of  the  divine  nature, 
and  dwell  in  communion  with  it ;  and  this  part  of  their  sys- 
tem is  adopted  to  a  considerable  extent  by  Clemens  Alexan- 
drinus,  whose  opinions,  as  expressed  in  his  Pwdagogus,  are 
very  similar  to  those  of  a  Pietist  of  more  modern  times. 

The  Gnostics  split  in  process  of  time  into  various  sects, 
522 


GOLD. 

distinguisUed  rather  by  the  different  cosmogonies  they  in- 
vented, than  by  any  variation  in  principle.  Of  these,  the 
principal  were  founded  by  Carpocrates,  Basilides,  Tatian, 
and  Valentinus.  The  system  did  not  survive  the  4th  cen- 
tury. The  Christians  seem  sometimes  to  have  adopted  the 
general  designation  of  Gnostics.  (See  Burton's  Hampton 
Lectures  ;  Neander  ;  Moshcim,  vol.  i.  (transl.),  p.  133,  &c. ; 
Gieseler,  Text- Book  of  Eccl.  Hist.,  i. ;  Biddte's  Christian 
Antiquities,  p.  133.) 

GOAT,  the  English  name  for  the  well-known  ruminant 
of  the  genus  Capra.  The  goat  is  characterized  by  its  long 
horns,  which  are  rounded  posteriorly,  angular  on  the  ante- 
rior edge ;  transversely  rugose,  and  rise  at  first  perpendicu- 
larly, afterwards  bending  outwards  and  a  little  backwards. 
It  is  clothed  by  long  hair,  which,  in  the  Cashmere  breed,  is 
soft  and  fine,  and  forms  the  staple  of  the  celebrated  shawls 
of  that  name.  Beneath  the  long  hair  is  a  soft  wool.  The 
female  produces  two  kids  at  a  birth,  which  derive  their  nour- 
ishment from  two  teats  supported  on  a  large  pendant  udder. 
The  period  of  gestation  is  five  months.  The  milk  of  the 
goat  is  less  apt  to  curdle  on  the  stomach  than  that  of  the 
cow,  and  is  thus  better  adapted  for  the  weak  and  consump- 
tive. The  flesh  of  both  the  goat  and  kid  is  much  esteemed 
in  many  countries,  though  of  a  peculiar  flavour,  arising 
probably  from  the  aromatic  shrubs  and  heaths  on  which  the 
goat  delights  to  browse.  In  Portugal  and  other  countries 
the  goat  is  used  as  a  beast  of  draught.  A  notion  of  the 
wholesome  influence  imparted  by  the  goat  to  the  stable  in 
which  it  may  sleep,  is  very  prevalent  among  the  grooms  of 
this  country. 

GO'BBING.  In  mining,  the  refuse  thrown  back  into  the 
excavations  remaining  after  the  removal  of  the  coal. 

GODROO'N.  (Fr.godron.)  In  Architecture,  an  inverted 
fluting,  beading,  or  cabling,  used  in  various  ornaments  and 
members. 

GO'DVYTT.     See  Limosa. 

GOG  and  MAGOG.  The  names  of  two  warriors  noticed 
in  different  portions  of  the  sacred  writings  (Gen.,  x. ;  Ezekiel, 
xxxviii.,  &c),  and  which,  since  the  Christian  era,  have  been 
regarded  as  nearly  synonymous  with  Antichrist.  The  au- 
thor of  the  Apocalypse  (xx.,  8)  uses  the  terms  to  express  the 
nations  hostile  to  Christianity ;  and  Mohammed,  in  the  Ko- 
ran (21,  96),  employs  them  in  a  somewhat  analogous  sense. 
As  is  well  knowTi,  the  names  Gog  and  Magog  are  given  to 
the  two  huge  warlike  figures  that  adorn  the  Guildhall  of 
London  ;  but  it  is  impossible  to  account  for  this  singular  ap- 
plication of  the  words. 

GOITRE.     See  Bronchocele. 

GOLA,  or  GULA.  (Lat.)  In  Architecture,  the  same  as 
Cyma,  which  see. 

GOLD.  (Germ.)  The  most  valuable  and  longest  known 
of  the  metals.  It  sometimes  occurs  in  regular  veins  in  pri- 
mary mountain  districts :  but  the  largest  quantity  is  found 
in  alluvial  soils,  and  frequently  in  the  beds  and  sands  of 
rivers,  as  in  Africa,  South  America,  Mexico,  Hungary,  and 
Siberia.  It  is  generally  separated  by  washing  away  the 
lighter  materials  with  which  it  is  mixed,  and  subsequently 
by  the  progress  of  amalgamation.  Gold  has  been  from  the 
earliest  period  used  as  a  measure  of  value  and  universal 
equivalent.    For  details  on  this  subject,  see  Money. 

Gold  is  characterized  by  its  yellow  colour;  its  extreme 
permanence  in  air  and  fire ;  its  density,  which  is  about  19'3; 
its  malleability,  which  is  such  that  it  may  be  beaten  into 
leaves  not  more  than  one  two  hundred  and  eighty  thou- 
sandth of  an  inch  in  thickness;  and  its  ductility,  a  grain 
of  gold  being  drawn  out  into  500  feet  of  wire.  Gold  is  not 
acted  upon  by  the  common  acids ;  but  chlorine  and  nitro- 
muriatic  acid  corrode  and  dissolve  it,  forming  a  chloride  of 
gold,  which  is  soluble  in  water. 

The  alloys  of  gold  have  been  examined  in  detail  by  Mr. 
Hatchett.  {Phil.  Trans.,  1803.)  Of  these  the  most  impor- 
tant is  that  used  for  the  gold  coin  of  the  realm,  commonly 
called  standard  gold,  which  consists  of  eleven  parts  of  pure 
gold  and  one  of  copper;  it  is  extremely  ductile  and  mallea- 
ble, but  harder  than  pure  gold,  and,  therefore,  better  calcu- 
lated to  resist  the  wear  and  tear  of  circulation.  The  specific 
gravity  of  this  alloy  is  17-157:  20  lbs.  troy  of  it  are  coined  into 
034  sovereigns  and  one  half  sovereign  ;  1  lb.  troy,  therefore, 
produces  46  29-40  sovereigns;  the  same  weight  was  former- 
ly coined  into  44A  guineas.  The  colour  of  this  alloy  is  deep- 
er yellow  than  that  of  pure  gold,  and  verges  upon  orange: 
it  frequently  happens  that  a  part  of  the  alloy  of  gold  coin  is 
silver,  hence  the  pale  colour  of  some  sovereigns  as  com- 
pared with  others.  Among  the  metals  which  destroy  the 
colour  and  malleability  of  gold,  none  is  so  remarkable  as 
lead.  It  appears  from  Mr.  Hatchett's  experiments,  that 
when  lead  forms  about  one  two  thousandth  part  of  the  al- 
loy, it  is  too  brittle  for  rolling,  and  that  the  fumes  of  lead 
destroy  tlie  good  qualities  of  gold.  The  chemical  equiva- 
lent of  gold  is  probably  about  200,  and  that  of  the  protoxide 
208,  and  of  the  protochloride  236.  The  peroxide  is  a  com- 
pound of  one  proportional  of  gold  and  three  of  oxygen,  and 


GOLDEN  FLEECE. 

the  perchloride  contains  three  proportionals  of  chlorine,  i 
When  ether  is  agitated  with  solution  of  chloride  of  gold,  it 
takes  up  the  metal,  and  forms  a  yellow  ethereal  solution  of  j 
gold ;  when  polished  steel  instruments  are  dipped  into  this  i 
solution,  and  immediately  washed  in  water  and  wiped  with  j 
a  piece  of  soft  leather,  they  become  beautifully  gilt  with  a 
very  thin  film  of  gold.     See  Gilding. 
GOLDEN  FLEECE.     See  Argonauts,  Fleece,  &c. 
GO'LDEN  NUMBER.     See  Cycle. 
GO'LDEN  RULE.     See  Rule. 

GO'LDFLNCH.  The  common  name  of  our  well-known 
and  biightest-plumaged  songster;  the  Carduelis  elegans  of 
most  modern  ornithologists,  Fringilla  carduelis  of  Linnaeus. 
This  species  feeds  chiefly  on  the  seed  of  the  thistle  and  ! 
plantain ;  but  builds  its  nest,  which  is  of  the  neatest  con- 
struction, in  the  fork  of  a  branch  of  some  densely-leafed 
tree,  and  lays  four  or  five  eggs,  of  a  bluish  white,  spotted 
with  brown'at  the  greater  end.  The  female  is  less  brightly 
clad  than  the  male,  and  the  young  have  a  comparatively 
simple  plumage,  in  which  brown  predominates.  In  captiv- 
ity the  goldfinch  is  remarkable  for  its  docility,  and  is  prized 
for  its  beauty  as  well  as  its  song.  Hybrids  are  bred  between 
the  goldfinch  and  canary,  and  are  much  admired. 

GOLF.    A  game  with  a  ball  and  clubs,  almost  peculiar 
to  Scotland,  where  it  enjoys  a  degree  of  popularity  equal  to 
cricket  in  England. 
GOLT.     See  Gault. 

GO'MARITES.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  the  Calvinist 
divines  of  the  Church  of  Holland  in  the  17th  century  were 
so  called,  from  Francis  Gomar,  a  colleague  and  opponent  of 
Arminius  at  Leyden.  See  Arminians.  JHosheim  (trans.), 
ed.  1826,  v.,  325.) 

GOMPHI'ASIS.  (Gr.  yopfos,  a  nail.)  A  disease  of  the 
teeth,  when  they  loosen  and  fall  out  of  the  sockets.  The 
grinding  teeth  are  also  called  gomphioi. 

GOMPHO'SIS.  (Gr.  yo/Kpo^.)  A  species  of  junction  of 
bones  where  they  are  let  into  each  other,  something  like 
pegs  in  a  board. 

GO'NDOLA.  (Ital.)  The  name  given  to  the  pleasure 
boats  used  at  Venice,  where  the  numerous  canals  with 
which  it  is  intersected  generally  render  it  necessary  to  sub- 
stitute boats  for  carriages.  The  gondola  is  from  25  to  30 
feet  long,  and  five  feet  wide  in  the  centre,  in  which  a  sort 
of  cabin  is  constructed  for  passengers.  They  are  sharp- 
pointed  both  at  the  prow  and  stern,  and  are  rowed  by  two 
men  called  gondolieri.  The  cabins  are  always  furnished 
with  black  curtains,  which  give  a  sombre  appearance  to  the 
gondola  at  a  distance.  For  an  accurate  description  of  the 
gondola,  see  Lord  Byron's  Beppo,  19,  20. 

GO'NFANON,  or  GO'NFALON.  In  Heraldry,  a  ban- 
ner ;  that  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  carried  in  the  Pope's 
army.  The  gonfalonier  or  standard-bearer  was  a  high  offi- 
cer in  the  Italian  republics  of  the  middle  ages. 

GONG,  or  TAM-TAM  (of  the  Chinese).  A  species  of 
cymbal,  which,  on  being  struck,  produces  a  very  loud  sound. 
According  to  the  analysis  of  Klaproth,  it  consists  of  seventy- 
eight  parts  copper  and  twenty-two  parts  tin.  As  this  compo- 
sition is  extremely  brittle,  and  the  instrument  always  exhibits 
marks  of  the  hammer,  it  is  inferred  that  the  Chinese  pos- 
sess the  art  of  rendering  the  alloy  malleable,  and  restoring  it 
to  its  natural  state  of  elasticity  and  brittleness  when  the  in- 
strument is  formed.  It  is  struck  with  a  wooden  mallet  cov- 
ered with  leather. 

GO'NIATITES.  (Gr.  yuvta,  an  angle.)  A  genus  of  ex- 
tinct Cephalopods  with  chambered  spiral  shells;  nearly  al- 
lied to  the  Ammonites,  but  differing  in  having  the  lobes  of  the 
septa  free  from  lateral  crenatures  or  denticulations,  so  that 
the  outline  of  these  is  continuous  and  uninterrupted.  Goni- 
atites  are  found  in  the  mountain  limestone  of  Yorkshire. 

GONIO'METER.  (Gr.  yiavta,  angle,  and  ytrpov,  meas- 
ure.) An  instrument  for  measuring  angles,  and  more  par- 
ticularly the  angles  formed  by  the  faces  of  crystals.  The 
instrument,  chiefly  used  by  mineralogists,  was  invented  by 
Dr.  Wollaston.  It  consists  of  a  brass  circle  graduated  on 
the  edge,  and  furnished  with  a 
vernier,  by  which  the  divisions 
may  be  read  correct  to  a  minute. 
The  circle  moves  in  a  vertical 
plane,  and  is  supported  on  a 
stand.  The  axis  of  the  circle  is 
a  hollow  tube,  within  which  is  a 
smaller  axis,  fitting  so  tightly 
that  when  turned  round  it  car- 
ries the  other  axis,  and  conse- 
quently the  wheel,  along  with 
it,  unless  the  latter  is  purposely 
prevented  from  moving.  The 
interior  axis  is  furnished  with  a 
milled  head  a,  and  the  exterior 
with  a  milled  head  b ;  so  that 
when  the  head  a  is  held  and  b  turned,  the  circle  may  be 
moved  independently  of  the  smaller  axis;  and  when  b  is 


GOSPEL. 

held  and  a  turned,  the  smaller  axis  may  be  turned  independ 
ently  of  the  circle.  Attached  to  the  end  of  the  smaller 
axis  is  a  sort  of  universal  joint,  capable  of  being  fixed  in  dif- 
ferent positions  by  means  of  screws.  The  crystal  to  be  ex- 
amined is  attached  to  the  joint  at  c  by  a  little  soft  wax,  and 
placed  so  that  its  edge  shall  be  parallel  to  the  axis  of  mo- 
tion ;  which  adjustment  is  obtained  by  placing  it  so  that  the 
image  of  some  horizontal  object,  as  the  bar  of  a  window, 
successively  reflected  from  the  two  faces  of  the  crystal,  co- 
incides with  another  horizontal  line  seen  by  direct  vision. 
When  this  adjustment  has  been  made,  the  instrument  is 
turned  till  the  horizontal  object  is  seen  reflected  from  one  of 
the  faces.  The  smaller  axis  is  then  held  fast,  and  the  other 
turned  till  the  index  of  the  vernier  points  to  the  zero  of  the 
graduated  limb.  The  circle  is  then  turned  round,  along  with 
the  smaller  axis,  till  the  same  object  is  seen  in  the  same  po- 
sition by  reflection  from  the  other  face  of  the  crystal ;  when 
the  arc  passed  through  by  the  circle  is  obviously  the  supple- 
ment of  the  angle  formed  by  the  two  faces  of  the  crystal. 
In  order,  however,  to  avoid  calculation,  the  supplements  of 
the  angles  are  marked  on  the  limb,  so  that  the  angle  to  be 
measured  is  read  off  immediately. 

Other  forms  of  the  goniometer  have  been  proposed  by 
Charles,  Mains,  and  Brewster.  (See  Biot,  Traite  de  Phys- 
ique, torn.  iii. ;  and  Brewster's  Treatise  on  Philosophical  In- 
struments.) 

GO'NOPLAX.  (Gr.  yuivia,  a  knee,  and  r:\al,  a  plate.) 
A  genus  of  crabs  or  short-tailed  Crustaceans  (Brachyuri), 
characterized  by  the  angular,  square,  or  rhomboidal  form  of 
their  upper  crustaceous  plate  or  carapace,  and  by  the  length 
of  the  eye-stalks.  One  species  (Gonoplaz  rhomboides)  in- 
habits the  Mediterranean,  and  is  a  good  swimmer ;  but  most 
of  the  rest  of  the  genus  are  tropical. 

GO'NYS.  (Gr.  yovv.)  In  Ornithology,  the  inferior  mar- 
gin of  the  symphysis  of  the  lower  jaw,  or  the  united  anterior 
extremities  of  the  guathidia. 

GOOD  FRIDAY.  The  name  given  in  England  to  the 
anniversary'  of  our  Saviour's  crucifixion.  The  French  and 
most  other  European  nations  substitute  the  epithet  holy  for 
good:  the  Germans  designate  this  day  "Stillerfreitag,"  or 
"Char-freitag:"  the  latter  appellation  being  derived  from  an 
old  word,  "  charen,"  signifying  to  do  penance,  or  to  suffer. 
From  the  first  dawn  of  Christianity.  Good  Friday  has  been 
regarded  as  a  solemn  festival  by  the  great  body  of  the  Chris- 
tian world. 

GOOD  WILL.  In  Law,  the  custom  of  any  trade  or 
business.  A  contract  to  transfer  it  is,  in  general,  good  at 
law,  though  not  usually  enforced  in  equity.  In  what  cases 
the  good  will  of  a  partnership  can  be  claimed  as  property  by 
the  representatives  of  a  deceased  partner  appears  doubtful. 

GOOSE.     See  Anas. 

GOO'SEWINGS  OF  A  SAIL.  Half  the  sail  loosed ; 
the  other  half  being  kept  furled,  from  the  violence  of  the 
wind. 

GO'RDIAN  KNOT,  in  History,  was  a  knot  made  by  Gor- 
dius,  king  of  Phrygia,  in  the  harness  of  his  chariot,  so  intri- 
cate as  to  baffle  every  effort  to  untie  it.  The  oracle  having 
declared  that  he  who  untied  this  knot  should  be  the  con- 
queror of  the  world.  Alexander  the  Great,  as  is  well  known, 
made  the  attempt ;  but  fearing  lest,  in  the  event  of  his  fail- 
ure, it  should  be  considered  as  a  bad  omen,  and  interpose  an 
obstacle  to  his  future  conquests,  he  cut  it  asunder  with  his 
sword,  and  thus,  says  ftuintus  Curtius,  either  fulfilled  the 
oracle  or  eluded  it.  Aristobulus,  however,  gives  a  different 
version  of  the  story.  (See  Arrian,  book  iii.,  c.  20  ;  and  Plu- 
tarch, in  vit.  Alex.) 

GORGE.  (Fr.)  In  Fortification,  the  entrance  into  a  bas- 
tion or  other  outwork.  The  gorge  of  a  bastion  is  what  re- 
mains of  the  sides  of  the  polygon  of  a  place  after  cutting  off 
the  curtains.  The  gorge  of  a  ravelin,  or  demilune,  is  the 
space  between  the  two  ends  of  the  faces  next  the  place. 
The  demi-gorge  is  that  part  of  the  polygon  between  the  flank 
and  the  centre  of  the  bastion.     See  Fortification. 

Gorge.    In  Architecture,  the  same  as  cavetto,  which  see. 

GO'RGET.  (Fr.  gorge,  a  throat.)  In  Plate-armour,  the 
piece  covering  the  neck  attached  to  the  helmet.  The  old 
covering  for  the  neck  was  called  camail,  made  of  leather  or 
cloth,  and  attached  to  the  hood  ;  on  this  plates  of  steel  were 
riveted  ;  and  thus  the  gorget  was  formed,  about  the  time  of 
Edward  II.  The  name  is  supposed  to  have  originated  in 
Lombardy. 

Gorget.  A  surgical  instrument  used  in  the  operation  of 
lithotomy. 

GORGONEI'A.  (Gr.)  In  Architecture,  carvings  of  masks 
imitating  the  Gorgon  or  Medusa's  head. 

GO'RGONS.  In  Mythology,  three  sister  deities,  fabled  by 
the  Greeks  to  dwell  near  the  Western  Ocean.  Their  heads, 
which  were  twined  with  serpents  instead  of  hair,  had  the 
power  of  turning  all  who  beheld  them  to  stone ;  of  which 
property  Perseus  made  use  after  he  had,  by  the  help  of 
Minerva,  cut  off  the  head  of  Medusa. 

GO'SPEL  is  used  to  signify  the  whole  system  of  the  Chris- 

523 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE. 

tian  religion,  and  more  particularly,  as  the  terra  literally  im- 
plies, the  good  news  of  the  coming  of  the  Messiah.  The 
word  was  also  originally  applied  to  the  books  which  con- 
tained an  account  of  the  life  of  Christ,  many  of  which  were 
in  circulation  in  the  first  century  of  the  Christian  era ;  though 
only  four,  those  of  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke  and  John,  were 
considered  canonical  by  the  fathers. 

GO'THIC  ARCHITECTURE.  See  Architecture,  and 
English  Architecture. 

GOULA'RD'S  EXTRACT  OF  LEAD.  A  subacetate 
of  lead,  obtained  by  boiling  powdered  litharge  in  vinegar. 

GOUT.  The  origin  of  this  term,  from  the  French  goute, 
is  obscure  :  it  is  a  common  disease  among  the  higher  classes 
of  society,  especially  among  those  who  indulge  in  the  luxu- 
ries of  the  table,  or  inherit  a  disposition  to  its  attack.  Fe- 
males are  much  less  subject  to  it  than  males.  Medical  wri- 
ters have  distinguished  several  species  of  gout,  and  have 
called  the  disease  in  its  ordinary  form  the  regular  gout.  The 
first  symptoms  of  its  attack  are  those  of  dyspepsia  and  irreg- 
ularity of  bowels,  low  spirits,  and  some  fever  and  restless- 
ness ;  but  these  often  pass  unobserved,  till  the  patient  is 
roused  in  the  night  by  violent  pain  in  some  part  of  the  leg, 
generally  in  the  vicinity  of  the  great  toe,  and  of  one  foot  only  : 
there  is  much  throbbing  and  uneasiness,  with  more  or  less 
swelling  and  inflammation,  and  the  least  motion  commonly 
produces  great  increase  of  suffering.  After  some  hours  the 
pain  and  fever  abate,  perspiration  comes  on,  he  falls  asleep, 
and  awakes  comparatively  easy.  These  fits  or  paroxysms  are 
apt  to  return  at  intervals,  and  often  every  evening  ;  but  they 
decrease  in  violence,  and  at  length  go  off,  frequently  with  some 
decided  increase  of  perspiration  or  other  evacuation  :  the  af- 
fected part  itches,  and  the  cuticle  peels  oft',  more  or  less  lame- 
ness or  uneasiness  remaining.  But  the  fit  only  thus  leaves 
the  patient  for  a  time,  and  returns  at  intervals  of  longer  or 
shorter  duration,  according  to  his  habit  of  body  and  the  care 
which  he  takes  of  himself;  and  the  attacks  not  only  become 
more  frequent  and  severe,  but  last  longer,  and  extend  to 
other  limbs  ;  and  when  they  have  been  frequently  repeated, 
they  leave  a  permanent  stiffness  of  the  joints,  upon  which 
gouty  concretions  are  often  deposited  :  and  if  much  attention 
is  not  paid  to  the  state  of  the  urine,  fits  of  sand  and  gravel 
not  uncommonly  precede  or  accompany  those  of  gout. 
Where  the  disease  is  of  long  standing,  and  the  form  of  it 
severe,  the  body  becomes  maimed  and  decrepit,  and  the  mind 
often  worn  and  irritable ;  the  joints  of  the  feet  and  hands, 
and  even  the  larger  joints  of  the  extremities,  are  stiff  and 
nearly  immovable  ;  and  the  formation  of  the  chalky  matter, 
as  it  is  called,  about  the  joints  increases.  If  we  consider  the 
nature  of  this  secretion  in  the  joints,  which  is  urate  of  soda, 
and  the  tendency  of  gouty  persons  to  those  morbid  states  of 
the  kidneys  and  urine  which  depend  upon  excess  of  uric 
acid,  and  even  upon  the  frequent  alternation  of  fits  of  gravel 
with  those  of  gout,  the  question  will  naturally  suggest  itself 
whether  gout  is  not  a  symptom  of  what  is  often  termed  the 
uric  diathesis,  and  whether  the  remedies  applicable  to  it 
may  not  be  beneficial  in  gout ;  and  that  in  many  cases  they  are 
so,  seems  to  have  been  amply  proved  by  experience.  (See 
Calculi.)  It  was  once  a  favourite  maxim  that  the  gout 
was  an  effort  of  the  system  to  relieve  itself  of  some  peccant 
matter ;  that,  therefore,  it  was  to  be  left  almost  to  itself,  and 
that  patience  and  flannel  were  the  chief  remedies :  this 
method  still  has  its  advocates,  chiefly  in  consequence  of  the 
dangerous  results  that  have  sometimes  attended  more  active 
plans  of  treatment  in  causing  the  revulsion  of  the  gout  from 
the  limb  to  the  stomach  or  head.  But  though  there  may  be 
a  difference  of  opinion  in  regard  to  certain  energetic  modes 
of  relieving  the  disease,  no  one  can  object  to  the  adoption  of 
gentle  means  of  quieting  the  urgency  of  the  symptoms,  and 
to  the  adoption  of  such  diet  and  plan  of  living  as  appears  to 
diminish  the  frequency  of  their  occurrence.  Warm  laxa- 
tives, moderate  diaphoretics  and  diuretics,  and  occasionally 
opiates,  are  among  the  former ;  and  plain  food  or  vegetable 
diet,  with  moderate  exercise  and  tonics,  are  good  preventives. 
Those,  however,  who  have  witnessed  the  sufferings  of  a  reg- 
ular paroxysm,  and  the  evils  of  its  duration  and  repetition, 
will  see  the  necessity  of  doing  something  more ;  that  is,  of 
speedily  quelling  the  pain  and  carrying  off  the  attack,  if  it 
can  be  done  with  any  chance  of  safety  and  success;  and 
this  experience  shows  to  be  often  the  case,  though  much 
care  and  judgment  are  undoubtedly  requisite  in  conducting 
such  treatment.  In  strong  and  healthy  habits,  the  affusion 
of  cold  water  is  one  of  the  most  effective  palliatives  of  the 
pain  and  inflammation  ;  and  by  its  timely  application,  in 
proper  cases,  the  most  beneficial  results  have  ensued.  An- 
other celebrated  remedy  in  this  disease,  and  which  by  some 
has  improperly  been  called  a  specific,  is  colchicum,  or  meadow 
saffron — a  due  dose  of  which,  taken  at  bed-time,  has  carried 
off  the  paroxysm ;  and  this  it  often  does  without  any  re- 
markable evacuation,  though  it  sometimes  handles  the  pa- 
tient severely  as  a  purgative,  and  nauseates  and  depresses  to 
an  alarming  "extent.  This  method  of  cure  must  not  be  un- 
advisedly and  generally  adopted  ;  but  in  some  cases,  where 
'524 


GOVERNOR. 

gout  had  been  long  established,  and  where  the  frequency 
and  duration  of  the  tits  and  their  inroads  upon  the  constitu- 
tion were  increasing  to  an  alarming  extent,  and  that  at  an 
advanced  period  of  life,  colchicum,  carefully  administered, 
seems  to  have  carried  off  the  severity,  if  no't  the  frequency 
of  the  attacks,  and  to  have  prolonged  existence  in  conse- 
quence. But  there  are  forms  of  gout,  and  consequences  of 
gout,  the  management  of  which  requires  the  utmost  skill 
and  experience:  it  is  sometimes  transferred  or  translated 
from  the  limbs  to  some  internal  part,  in  which  case  it  is  call- 
ed retrocedent  gout;  or  it  produces  sickness,  dejection  of 
spirits,  fainting,  palpitation,  and  giddiness,  as  in  what  is 
termed  atonic  gout;  or  it  falls  at  once  upon  some  internal 
part,  especially  the  stomach,  and  is  then  called  misplaced 
gout.  In  gout  of  the  head  and  of  the  stomach  the  symp- 
toms are  often  frightfully  severe,  and  the  pain  excessive  ; 
and  as  these  forms  of  gout  are  of  most  common  occurrence 
in  debilitated  habits  and  broken  constitutions,  they  become, 
on  that  account,  the  more  difficult  to  treat :  the  expulsion 
of  the  disease  to  the  extremities  is  in  such  cases  sometimes 
effected  by  either  brandy  or  what  are  termed  gout  cordials, 
which  generlly  consist  of  warm  aperient  tinctures;  but  be- 
fore these  are  administered,  it  must  be  ascertained  that  the 
symptoms  are  really  those  of  gout,  and  not  idiopathic  or 
common  inflammatory  actions.  In  such  cases,  putting  the 
feet  in  warm  water  has  sometimes  been  serviceable.  The 
moderate  use  of  alkaline  remedies,  of  a  vegetable  diet,  of 
certain  diuretics,  and,  generally  speaking,  the  adoption  of 
those  plans  of  regimen  and  medicine  which  are  useful  in 
the  uric  diathesis,  are  also  useful  in  gout ;  and  everything 
which  tends  to  repair  the  constitution,  generally  will  lessen 
the  liability  to  its  attacks,  and  render  them  more  managea- 
ble when  they  occur.  The  indolent  and  sedentary  must 
use  moderate  exercise,  and  those  who  habitually  over-exert 
either  body  or  mind  must  endeavour  to  tranquillize  both  : 
without  such  precautionary  measures  are  most  perempto- 
rily enforced,  no  gouty  person  can  expect  much  benefit  from 
physic. 

GOU'TY  CONCRETIONS.  These  form  in  the  joints  of 
gouty  persons,  especially  of  the  toes  and  fingers,  and  are 
sometimes,  from  their  appearance,  called  chalk  stones ;  they 
are  composed  of  uric  acid  and  soda. 

GO'VERNMENT.  In  Politics,  a  word  used  in  different 
senses.  1.  As  the  collective  body  of  the  fundamental  laws 
of  a  state :  as  when  the  government  of  a  country  is  said  to 
he  monarchical,  aristocratical,  &c.  2.  The  body  of  persons 
charged  with  the  conduct  of  the  executive  in  any  country  : 
thus,  the  king  or  presiding  magistrate,  the  cabinet  ministers, 
chiefs  of  departments,  &c,  in  every  country,  form  what  is 
commonly  styled  its  government. 

GO'VERNOR.  A  contrivance  for  regulating  the  speed 
of  machinery,  which  has  long  been  in  use  in  mill-work^Jmt 
has  of  late  years  attracted  more  attention  by  its  adaptation 
to  the  steam-engine.  It  consists  of  two  heavy  balls  B  B, 
attached  to  the  extremities  of  „ 

two  rods  B  F,  B  F,  which  play 
upon  a  joint  at  E,  passing 
through  a  mortise  in  the  ver- 
tical shaft  D  D.  These  are 
united  by  joints  at  F  to  the 
short  rods  F  H,  which  again  b(Jj 
are  connected  by  joints  at  H 
to  a  ring  which  slides  on  the 
shaft  DD.  A  horizontal  wheel,  " 

W,  is  attached  to  D  D,  having  a  groove  to  receive  a  rope  or 
strap  on  its  rim,  by  means  of  which  the  motion  is  commu- 
nicated to  D  D  from  a  corresponding  wheel  on  some  shaft 
of  the  machinery  to  be  regulated.  It  is  evident,  from  the 
disposition  of  the  rods,  that  if  the  balls  B  B  are  by  any 
means  raised  or  drawn  asunder,  the  extremities  F  F  of  the 
rods  turning  on  the  pivot  E  will  also  be  separated,  and  their 
distance  from  the  axis  increased.  This  will  draw  the  rods 
F  H  in  the  same  direction,  and  cause  the  ring  or  collar  II  to 
descend.  This  ring  is  connected  with  the  end  I  of  a  lever, 
whose  fulcrum  is  at  G,  and  whose  other  extremity  K  is 
connected  by  some  means  with  the  part  of  the  machine 
which  supplies  the  power.  Suppose  now  the  velocity  from 
any  cause  to  undergo  a  sudden  increase;  by  reason  of  the 
increased  centrifugal  force  arising  from  the  whirling  motion, 
the  balls  B  B  will  recede  from  the  shaft  D  T),  and  raise  the 
extremity  K  of  the  lever.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  velocity 
is  diminished,  the  centrifugal  force  of  the  balls  will  be  di- 
minished, and  they  will  fall  by  their  own  weight  nearer  the 
axis,  and  cause  the  end  K  of  the  lever  to  descend.  When 
the  governor  is  applied  to  a  steam-engine,  the  rod  K  I  com- 
municates with  a  flat  circular  valve  V,  placed  in  the  prin- 
cipal steam-pipe,  and  so  arranged  that  when  K  is  elevated 
as  far  as  the  divergence  of  the  balls  will  allow,  the  opening 
of  the  pipe  will  be  closed  by  the  valve  V,  and  the  passage 
of  steam  entirely  stopped.  On  the  other  hand,  when  the 
balls  subside  to  their  lowest  position,  the  valve  will  be  en- 
tirely open.    Thus,  when  the  velocity  is  increased,  the  sup- 


GOVERNOR-GENERAL  OF  INDIA. 

ply  of  steam  is  checked ;  and  when  it  is  diminished,  the 
supply  of  steam  is  immediately  increased ;  by  which  means 
a  uniform  proper  velocity  of  the  machinery  is  maintained. 

When  the  governor  is  applied  to  a  water-wheel,  the  lever 
is  made  to  act  on  the  shuttle  through  which  the  water 
flows,  and  thereby  controls  its  quantity.  When  applied  to 
a  windmill,  it  regulates  the  sailcloth  so  as  to  diminish  the 
efficacy  of  the  power  upon  the  arms  as  the  force  of  the 
wind  increases,  or  vice  versa.  (Gardner's  Cyclopedia,  art. 
"Mechanics;"  Gregory's  Mechanics,  vol.  ii.)  See,  also, 
Regulator. 

GO'VERNOR-GENERAL,  THE,  OF  INDIA,  is  also  the 
head  of  the  local  government  of  the  presidency  of  Bengal. 
He  exercises  some  of  the  most  important  rights  of  sover- 
eignty ;  as,  declaring  war  and  making  peace,  framing  trea- 
ties, and,  to  a  certain  extent,  enacting  laws.  He  has  a 
council,  consisting  of  five  members ;  of  whom  three  are  ser- 
vants of  the  Company ;  one  appointed  by  the  directors,  but 
not  a  servant  of  the  Company;  and  the  fifth  is  the  com- 
mander-in-chief. But  the  governor-general  is  independent 
of  his  council,  except  in  a  judicial  capacity.  If  the  council 
dissent,  its  members  can  record  their  reasons ;  such  dissent, 
however,  only  operates  as  a  suspensive  veto  on  the  decision 
of  the  governor-general  for  forty-eight  hours.  He  has  the 
commission  of  captain-general,  and  may  head  military  op- 
erations in  any  part  of  India.  He  has  also  the  power  of 
suspending  the  governors  of  the  other  presidencies.  But  in 
his  disputes  with  his  own  council  or  other  governor,  he  is 
under  the  supervision  of  the  Court  of  Directors  and  Board 
of  Control  at  home.  Regulations  passed  by  the  governor- 
general  in  council  become  immediately  effective,  but  are 
subject  to  reversal  by  the  home  authorities. 

GRACE  (Lat.  gratia),  in  the  language  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, is  primarily  the  favour  and  love  of  God  towards  any 
person:  from  thence  it  comes  to  bo  used  in  various  deriva- 
tive senses,  being  put  generally  for  all  the  extraordinary 
means  and  assistances  with  which  men  are  endowed  to 
bring  them  to  salvation,  in  all  of  which  regard  is  had  to  the 
sacrifice  of  Christ  as  the  ground  upon  which  God  vouch- 
safes them.  The  term  is  used,  farther,  for  the  good  actions 
and  dispositions  of  men,  which  may  be  supposed  to  be  deri- 
ved from  the  operation  of  the  grace  of  God  in  the  first  in- 
stance. 

The  explanation  of  the  term  "grace"  has  given  rise  to 
some  of  the  most  remarkable  controversies  in  ecclesiastical 
history.  It  is  evident  that  it  borders  close  upon  the  question 
of  free-will  and  necessity,  and  the  discussion  of  the  one  is 
inextricably  entangled  in  the  difficulties  that  beset  the  other. 
The  Pelagians,  holding  extreme  opinions  on  the  side  of  the 
freedom  of  the  will,  conceived  the  idea  of  grace  operating 
from  without,  and  controlling  or  in  any  way  directing  men's 
actions,  to  be  subversive  of  their  fundamental  principle: 
they  contrived,  therefore,  to  understand  the  words  of  Scrip- 
ture throughout  of  the  natural  good  dispositions  of  men, 
whom  they  supposed  to  find  favour  in  the  sight  of  God  by 
their  own  merit,  and  by  their  own  voluntary  acceptance  of 
his  promises  to  inherit  eternal  life.  St.  Augustin,  on  the 
contrary,  maintained  against  them  that  the  mere  desire  for 
grace  is  itself  a  special  gift  of  God ;  a  free  grace  independ- 
ent of  and  antecedent  to  any  human  actions,  to  the  exclusion 
of  any  counteracting  principle  ;  a  doctrine  which,  if  rigidly 
interpreted,  seems  certainly  irreconcilable  with  that  degree 
of  liberty  which  is  a  necessary  element  in  the  moral  gov- 
ernment of  the  world. 

Grace.  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a  quality  arising  from  ele- 
gance of  form  and  attitude  combined.  A  figure  may  be  just 
in  its  proportions,  its  parts  and  members  may  be  all  perfect- 
ly regulated,  yet  it  may  be  deficient  in  grace.  It  is  scarcely 
possible  in  words  to  express  this  quality,  yet  it  is  constantly 
seen  in  nature ;  and  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  contemplate  a 
picture  by  RafTaelle  without  feeling  its  power. 

GRACE  AT  MEALS,  THE  SAYING  OF,  is  a  Jewish 
custom,  and  appears  to  have  been  sanctioned  by  the  prac- 
tice of  our  Saviour.  (Mark,  viii.,  6 ;  Matth.,  xiv.,  19.)  It  is 
mentioned  by  Jerome  and  Tertullian  as  usual  among  the 
early  Christians.  A  custom  of  beginning  meals  by  prayers 
was  common  in  classical  antiquity.  (lira,  xxxix.,  43; 
Quinti'.  Dcclam.,  301.) 

GRACE,  DAYS  OF,  in  Commercial  Law,  are  certain 
days  allowed  by  the  custom  of  merchants  to  be  added  to  the 
time  requisite  for  presentment  of  a  bill.  Thus,  if  an  instru- 
ment drawn  in  this  country  be  payable  "  a  certain  time  after 
date,"  three  days  of  grace  are  added :  a  bill  drawn  on  the 
27th  of  August,  payable  "  two  months  after  date,"  is  there- 
fore due  on  the  30th  of  October.  So  if  a  foreign  bill  be 
drawn  at  one,  two,  or  more  "  usances,"  the  days  of  grace 
are  added  to  the  usance.  The  usance  between  London 
and  Paris  is  one  calendar  month :  a  bill  drawn  in  London 
on  Paris,  "at  one  usance,"  on  the  second  January, is  conse- 
quently due  on  the  fifth  February.  The  number  of  days  of 
grace  varies  in  different  countries.  In  France  none  are  al- 
lowed. 


GRAFTING. 

GRA'CES.  (Gr.  xaP'T^>  Lat.  gratis.)  In  Mythology, 
the  three  sister  goddesses,  Euphrosyne,  Aglaia,  and  Thalia, 
attendants  on  Venus.  The  Graces,  in  Sculpture,  were  ori- 
ginally represented  clothed  ;  but  in  later  times  entirely  na- 
ked. (Hor.  Od.,  lib.  iii. ;  Pausan.,  lib.  ix.)  In  one  of  the 
groups  of  statues  described  by  Pausanias  they  held  respect- 
ively a  rose,  a  die,  and  a  leaf  of  myrtle.  In  the  Iliad  they 
appear  as  attendants  of  Juno;  in  the  Odyssey,  of  Venus 
Their  temples  were  often  dedicated,  also,  to  Venus,  to  Cu- 
pid, the  Muses,  Mercury,  or  Apollo.  (There  is  a  disserta- 
tion on  these  goddesses  by  Massieu,  Mead,  des  Inscr.,  vol.  iii.) 

Graces.  In  Music,  ornamental  notes  attached  to  princi- 
pal ones,  such  as  the  appoggiatura,  shake,  &c. ;  which  see. 

GRACIO'SO.  The  buffoon ;  a  favourite  character  on  the 
Spanish  stage.     (See  Quart.  Rev.,  vols,  lix.,  lxxviii.) 

GRA'CULA.  (Lat.  graculus,  a  jay.)  A  genus  of  Denti- 
rostral  Passerine  birds,  characterized  by  a  moderately  long, 
slightly  arched,  and  notched  beak ;  nostrils  situated  anterior 
to  the  base  of  the  beak,  oblong,  open,  and  notched ;  tongue 
with  a  short  apex,  often  bifid.  One  species  of  this  genus 
(Gracula  tristis,  Cuv.)  is  a  native  of  India,  and  has  been 
imported  into  the  islands  of  Bourbon  and  the  Mauritius, 
where  it  is  held  in  the  highest  estimation  for  the  services  it 
performs  in  restraining  the  undue  increase  of  locusts.  The 
bird  commonly  called  the  mino  grackle  (Gracula  religiosa 
of  Linnreus)  is  the  type  of  the  genus  Eulabes  of  Cuvier. 

GRADATION.  (Lat.  gradus,  a  step.)  In  Painting,  the 
gradual  blending  of  one  tint  into  another. 

Grada'tion.  In  Music,  a  diatonic  ascending  or  descend- 
ing succession  of  chords. 

GRA'DATORY.  (Lat.  gradus.)  A  term  applied  in 
Mammalogy  to  the  extremities  of  a  quadruped  which  are 
equal,  or  nearly  so,  and  adapted  for  ordinary  progression  on 
dry  land.  In  Ornithology,  the  "pedes  gradarii"  are  those 
in  which  the  whole  tibia  is  covered  with  feathers. 

GRA'DIENTS.     See  Railways. 

GRA'DUATE.  (Lat.  gradus.)  One  who  has  taken  a 
degree  in  a  college  or  university.  See  Degree,  College, 
University. 

GRADUA'TED.  In  Ornithology,  when  the  quill-feath- 
ers of  the  tail  increase  in  length  by  regular  gradations. 

GRADUA'TION.  In  Practical  Astronomy,  the  division 
of  circular  arcs  into  degrees,  minutes,  &c.  This  is  an  art 
which,  though  depending  on  the  geometrical  properties  of 
the  circle,  requires,  to  be  successfully  executed,  the  appli- 
cation of  very  great  practical  skill.  For  the  principles,  see 
Mascheroni,  Geometrie  du  Compas ;  and  for  the  practical 
part,  Trou tr/tton's  Account  of  a  Method  of  Dividing  Astro- 
nomical and  other  Instruments,  &c,  in  the  Phil.  TYans., 
1809 ;  also,  the  article  "  Graduation"  in  Brewster's  Encyc, 
by  the  same  eminent  artist. 

GRADUA'TOR.  Contrivances  for  accelerating  sponta- 
neous evaporation  by  the  exposure  of  large  surfaces  of  li- 
quids to  a  current  of  air  have  been  termed  graduators ;  and 
in  some  salt-works,  where  the  brine  is  strengthened  by  al- 
lowing a  shower  of  it  to  trickle  over  fagots,  the  process  is 
called  graduation.  Vinegar  is  sometimes  manufactured  by 
suffering  a  mixture  of  alcohol  and  water  previously  mixed 
with  a  little  vinegar  or  some  ferment  to  filter  through  a  tub 
filled  with  beech  shavings,  through  which  a  current  of  air 
is  at  the  same  time  passing. 

GRA'FTING.  In  Horticulture,  the  operation  of  affixing 
one  portion  of  a  plant  to  another  in  such  a  manner  as  that 
a  vital  union  may  take  place  between  them.  Grafting  may 
be  performed  both  with  herbaceous  and  ligneous  plants; 
but  in  practice  it  is  chiefly  confined  to  the  latter,  and  more 
especially  to  the  propagation  of  esteemed  varieties  of  fruit- 
trees.  A  grafted  plant  consists  of  two  parts:  the  stock  or 
stem,  which  is  a  rooted  plant  fixed  in  the  ground  ;  and  the 
scion,  sometimes,  but  erroneously,  termed  the  graft,  which 
is  a  detached  portion  of  another  plant  to  be  affixed  to  it. 
The  operation  of  grafting  can  only  be  performed  within  cer- 
tain physiological  limits ;  but  what  these  are  science  has 
not  yet  absolutely  determined. 

In  general,  all  the  species  of  one  genus  may  be  grafted 
on  one  another  reciprocally;  but  this  is  not  universally  the 
case,  because  the  apple  cannot  be  grafted  on  the  pear,  at 
least  not  for  any  useful  purpose.  In  general,  it  may  be  pre- 
sumed that  all  the  species  of  a  natural  order,  or  at  least  of 
a  tribe,  may  be  grafted  on  one  another ;  but  this  does  not 
hold  good  universally.  The  reverse  of  this  doctrine,  how- 
ever, viz.,  that  the  species  belonging  to  different  natural  or- 
ders cannot  be  grafted  on  one  another  holds  almost  univer- 
sally true;  and  therefore  a  safe  practical  conclusion  is,  that 
in  choosing  a  stock,  the  nearer  in  affinity  the  species  to 
which  that  stock  belongs  is  to  the  scion,  the  more  certain 
will  be  the  success. 

Grafting  is  one  of  the  most  important  operations  in  horti- 
culture, as  affording  the  most  eligible  means  of  multiplying 
and  perpetuating  all  our  best  varieties  of  fruit-trees,  and 
many  kinds  of  trees  and  shrubs  not  so  conveniently  propa- 
gated by  other  means.    Varieties  of  fruits  are  originally  pro- 

525 


GRALL.E. 

cured  by  selection  from  plants  raised  from  seed,  but  they  can 
only  be  perpetuated  by  some  mode  which  continues  the  in- 
dividual ;  and  though  this  may  be  done  by  cuttings  and  lay- 
ers, yet  by  far  the  most  eligible  mode  is  by  grafting,  as  it 
produces  stronger  plants  in  a  shorter  time  than  any  other 
methods. 

Grafting  is  performed  in  a  great  many  different  ways,  but 
the  most  eligible  for  ordinary  purposes  is  what  is  commonly 
called  splice  grafting,  or  whip  grafting.  In  executing  this 
mode,  both  the  scion  and  the  stock  are  pared  down  in  a 
slanting  direction  ;  afterward  applied  together,  and  made 
fast  with  strands  of  bast  matting,  in  the  same  manner  as  two 
pieces  of  rod  are  spliced  together  to  form  a  whip  handle. 
To  insure  success,  it  is  essentially  necessary  that  the  albur- 
num or  inner  bark  of  the  scion  should  coincide  accurately 
with  the  inner  bark  of  the  stock,  because  the  vital  union  is 
effected  by  the  sap  of  the  stock  rising  up  through  the  soft 
wood  of  the  scion.  After  the  scion  is  tied  to  the  stock,  the 
graft  is  said  to  be  made ;  and  it  only  remains  to  cover  the 
part  tied,  with  a  mass  of  tempered  clay,  or  any  convenient 
composition  that  will  exclude  the  air.  The  season  for  per- 
forming the  operation  is,  for  all  deciduous  trees  and  shrubs, 
the  spring,  immediately  before  the  movement  of  the  sap. 
The  spring  is  also  the  most  favourable  season  for  evergreens ; 
but  the  sap  in  this  class  of  plants  being  more  in  motion  du- 
ring winter  than  that  of  deciduous  plants,  grafting,  if  thought 
necessary,  might  be  performed  at  that  season. 

Grafting  by  approach,  or  inarching,  is  a  mode  of  grafting, 
in  which,  to  make  sure  of  success,  the  scion  is  not  separated 
from  the  parent  plant  till  it  has  become  united  with  the 
stock.  For  this  purpose,  the  stock  and  the  plant  containing 
the  scion  must  be  growing  close  together;  and  the  scion  be- 
ing drawn  to  one  side,  and  made  to  approach  the  stock,  is 
spliced  to  it  by  cutting  off  a  portion  of"  its  bark  and  wood, 
and  a  similar  portion  of  the  bark  and  wood  of  the  stock,  ap- 
plying the  one  to  the  other  so  that  their  alburnums  may  join, 
and  then  making  both  fast  by  matting,  and  excluding  the  air 
by  clay,  grafting  wax,  or  moss.  When  the  scion  has  effect- 
ed a  vital  union  with  the  stock,  its  lower  extremity  is  cut 
through,  so  as  to  separate  it  from  the  parent  plant,  and  it 
now  becomes  an  independent  graft.  In  this  way  trees  of 
difficult  propagation  may  be  propagated  with  certainty  ; 
while  if  any  of  the  other  modes  of  propagation,  whether  by 
cuttings  or  grafting,  were  adopted,  a  proportion  of  the  cut- 
tings or  scions  would,  in  all  probability,  be  lost. 

Grafting  herbaceous  plants  differs  in  nothing  from  graft- 
ing such  as  are  of  a  woody  nature,  excepting  that  the  opera- 
tion is  performed  when  both  stock  and  scion  are  in  a  state 
of  vigorous  growth.  Grafting  herbaceous  plants  is  but  little 
practised  in  England,  and  on  the  Continent  chiefly  as  a  mat- 
ter of  amusement.  The  only  useful  purpose  to  which  it  has 
hitherto  been  applied  is  that  of  grafting  the  finer  kinds  of 
dahlias  on  tubers  of  the  more  common  and  vigorous  grow- 
ing sorts.  In  the  Paris  gardens  the  tomato  is  sometimes 
grafted  on  the  potato,  the  cauliflower  on  the  borecole,  and 
one  gourd  on  another,  as  matter  of  curiosity. 

Grafting  the  herbaceous  shoots  of  woody  plants — the  greffe 
herbace  of  the  French — is  scarcely  known  among  English 
gardeners ;  but  it  has  been  extensively  employed  by  French 
nurserymen,  and  even  in  some  of  the  royal  forests  of  France. 
The  scions  are  formed  of  the  points  of  growing  shoots;  and 
the  stocks  are  also  the  points  of  growing  shoots  cut  or  bro- 
ken over  an  inch  or  two  below  the  point,  where  the  shoot  is 
as  brittle  as  asparagus.  The  operation  is  performed  in  the 
cleft  manner ;  that  is,  by  cutting  the  lower  end  of  the  scion 
in  the  form  of  a  wedge,  and  inserting  it  in  a  cleft  or  slit  made 
down  the  middle  of  the  stock.  The  finer  kinds  of  azalias, 
pines,  and  firs  arc  propagated  in  this  way  in  the  French  nur- 
series, and  thousands  of  Pinus  laricio  have  been  so  grafted 
on  Pinus  sylvestres  in  the  forest  of  Fontainebleau.  At 
Hopetoun  House,  near  Edinburgh,  this  mode  of  grafting  has 
been  successfully  practised  with  Mies  Smithiana,  the  stock 
being  the  common  spruce  fir. 

GRA'LLjE.  (Lat.  grallae,  stilts.)  The  Linna:an  name 
of  the  order  of  long-legged  wading  birds. 

GRA'MINA'CEiE.  An  order  of  Endogenous  plants, 
commonly  called  grasses,  in  which  the  parts  of  fructifica- 
tion are  essentially  perfect,  although  they  are  in  a  very  unu- 
sual state  in  what  may  be  called  their  accessory  organs. 
They  have  neither  calyx  nor  corolla;  but,  in  lieu  of  them, 
imbricated  scales,  called  palea*  and  glumes ;  the  latter  of 
which  give  rise  to  the  name  glumaeeous,  often  applied  to 
these  plants.  They  arc  nearly  allied  to  sedges,  from  which 
they  differ  in  having  the  sheaths  of  their  leaves  slit  and  their 
stems  hollow.  Corn  of  all  kinds,  the  bamboo,  the  sugar- 
cane, many  kinds  of  pasture  plants,  and  reeds,  belong  to 
different  species  of  Graminacem.  Ergot  is  the  ovary  of  rye 
attacked  by  a  fungus  called  F.rgotatia  ahortans.  The  flinty 
surface  of  the  stems  or  straw  renders  many  valuable  for 
domestic  use,  as  for  forming  the  plat  from  which  straw- 
bonnets,  &c,  are  manufactured.  The  systematical  arrange- 
ment of  grasses  is  a  difficult  and  unsatisfactory  task,  and 
530 


GRAMMAR. 

has  occupied  the  attention  of  many  botanists.  The  most 
recent  work  upon  the  subject  is  Kuntk's  Jigrostographia, 
published  at  Berlin  in  183G.  Sinclair's  Hortus  Gramincus 
Woburnensis  is  a  useful  account  of  the  relative  qualities  of 
pasture  grasses. 

GRAMMAR.  (Gr.  ypuppariKn  Tt\\>n,  the  grammatical 
art ;  from  ypn<f>u>,  /  write.)  The  science  which  has  for  its 
object  the  laws  which  regulate  human  language.  Lan- 
guage, in  its  widest  acceptation,  may  be  defined  to  be  the 
expression,  by  means  of  outward  signs,  of  what  passes  in 
the  mind.  If,  therefore,  it  is  to  admit  of  rules,  or  general 
laws,  it  is  plain  that  we  must  seek  those  laws  either  in  the 
constitution  of  the  mind  where  it  originates,  or  of  the  out- 
ward materials  of  which  it  is  composed.  These  are  either 
sounds,  visible  images,  or  gestures.  The  first  two  of  these, 
as  admitting  of  the  greatest  variety,  and  capable  of  being 
most  easily  distinguished  from  each  other,  form  by  far  the 
most  considerable  part  of  language,  and  that  part  alone 
which  grammar  takes  account  of.  The  material  of  lan- 
guage, when  it  is  sound,  is  capable  of  analysis  into  a  definite 
number  of  simple  elements.  It  is  not  our  object  at  present 
to  enter  on  the  consideration  of  this  part  of  language,  wheth- 
er consisting  of  sound,  or  marks  to  designate  sound.  We 
pass  on  to  its  more  important  class  of  laws,  which  result 
from  the  internal  conditions  of  the  mind ;  and  which,  view- 
ed in  that  reference,  constitute  the  subject  matter  of  philo- 
sophical grammar,  properly  so  called.  An  analysis  of  our 
mental  faculties  must  therefore  precede  any  attempt  to  de- 
fine the  province  and  settle  the  principles  of  grammar.  Of 
the  various  divisions  of  the  human  faculties  proposed  by 
philosophers,  we  shall  adopt,  as  best  suited  to  our  purposes, 
that  which  distinguishes  them  into  two  grand  classes — the 
province  of  affection,  and  that  of  perception  or  intellection. 
The  discriminating  mark  of  the  former  class,  under  which 
we  include  alike  the  outward  senses  and  the  inner  sense  or 
emotion,  is  this,  that  the  faculties  which  it  includes  imply  a 
state  of  mind  or  consciousness,  and  that  only.  By  percep- 
tion or  intellection,  on  the  other  hand,  are  meant  those  states) 
of  mind  which  refer  to  a  real  or  supposed  object,  out  of  the 
mind  itself.  "To  know"  and  "to  know  nothing"  are  con- 
tradictory conceptions;  every  act  of  knowledge  implies  at 
once  an  object  and  a  mind  to  which  that  object  is  present. 
Each  of  these  portions  of  the  mind  has  its  appropriate  ex- 
pression, its  peculiar  language.  The  language  of  emotion  i9 
common  to  men  and  animals.  It  consists,  for  the  most  part, 
of  certain  simple  sounds  or  exclamations,  which,  if  capable 
of  being  reduced  to  rules  at  all,  must  rest  for  those  rules  on 
physiological  considerations,  which  form  the  province  of 
philosophical  grammar.  We  must  seek  that  province,  con- 
sequently, in  Fhe  language  of  intelligence  or  reason.  Ra- 
tional discourse,  or  human  language,  may  be  figuratively  ex- 
pressed as  the  outward  type  or  form  which  thoughts,  and 
the  laws  which  regulate  them,  impress  on  the  material  of 
sound.  In  the  words  of  Plato,  "reason  and  discourse  are 
one;  only  the  former,  as  the  conversation  of  the  soul  with 
herself,  which  goes  on  without  the  intervention  of  sound, 
lias  obtained  among  us  the  name  of  discourse  of  reason." 
We  do  not  deny  that  language,  in  this  limited  sense,  may 
become  the  expression  of  emotion  in  ourselves,  and  excite 
emotion  in  others.  Both  these  objests,  however,  it  can  ef- 
fect only  mediately :  the  first,  by  converting,  through  reflec- 
tion, an  emotion  into  an  object  of  consciousness :  by  render- 
ing it  intelligible  to  ourselves,  then  intelligible  to  others: 
the  second,  only  through  the  understanding  of  those  whom 
we  address.  The  laws  of  language  must  therefore  corres- 
pond with  the  laws  of  the  intellect :  if  there  is  anything 
universal  and  necessary  in  the  one,  its  representative  or 
image  must  be  found  repeated  in  the  other.  But  the  neces- 
sary laws  of  thought  nre  the  object  matter  of  logic.  It 
might,  therefore,  seem  that  logic  and  universal  grammar 
are  convertible  terms.  Both  sciences  consider  alike  the 
forms  of  the  intellect,  and  the  right  mode  of  expressing 
these  forms  in  language.  But  they  differ  in  this,  that  logic 
considers  the  intellectual  process  primarily,  and  its  expres- 
sion in  language  only  incidentally ;  whereas  grammar  con- 
siders the  former  only  in  so  far  as  it  conduces  to  the  right 
understanding  and  due  regulation  of  the  latter.  Having 
previously  distinguished  philosophical,  from  merely  practi- 
cal or  empirical  grammar,  we  may  now  distinguish  philo- 
sophical grammar  itself  into  universal  and  particular.  The 
first,  as  we  have  seen,  corresponds  to  logic :  as  the  one  is 
the  science  of  those  conditions  which  must  be  presupposed 
in  order  to  render  thought  and  intelligence  possible;  so  the 
other  contemplates  the  conditions  which  are  to  render  pos- 
sible the  outward  expression  of  thought  and  intelligence. 
The  same  relation  which  universal  grammar  bears  to  logic, 
particular  grammar,  philosophically  treated,  may  be  said  to 
hold  to  the  kindred  science  of  psychology.  It  considers  the 
experimental  laws  of  the  mind  with  the  same  view  with 
which  universal  grammar  contemplates  those  that  are  ne- 
cessary. It  takes  into  the  account  the  effects  of  accidental 
association,  in  order  to  explain  the  idioms  or  peculiarities 


GRAMMAR. 


of  the  particular  language  before  it.    It  calculates,  so  to 
speak,  the  disturbing  forces  which  act  on  the  general  law. 

In  developing  the  principles  of  universal  grammar,  we 
shall  consider,  in  order,  the  various  kinds  of  words  or 
"  parts  of  speech"  into  which  language  is  ordinarily  dis- 
tinguished. 

The  first  class  of  words  corresponds  to  the  faculty  called 
by  logicians  apprehension,  or  simple  apprehension.  They 
are  commonly  named  nouns,  or  substantives,  or  nouns  sub- 
stantive ;  and  express  either  individuals,  as  "  John,  Charles;" 
or  classes,  as  "  man,  animal."  They  are  called  substan- 
tives, because  they  express  a  real  or  supposed  substance 
(Lat.  sub,  stare),  a  something  which  is  conceived  to  stand 
under,  or,  in  scholastic  language,  to  be  the  support  of,  cer- 
tain qualities.  These  qualities  may  in  their  turn  be  consid- 
ered as  substances,  and  expressed  by  substantives,  as  white- 
ness, greenness.  When  considered  in  relation  to  the  sub- 
stance of  which  they  are  properties,  they  constitute  the 
second  class  of  words — adjectives,  or  nouns  adjective.  Thus 
we  say  "a  white  horse,  a  dazzling  whiteness ;"  where  the 
same  conception  which  in  the  former  case  is  regarded  as  a 
quality,  and  expressed  by  an  adjective,  is  in  the  second  con- 
verted into  a  substance,  itself  the  support  of  other  properties. 
Thus  far  the  only  intellectual  power  implied  in  language 
is  that  of  forming  general  conceptions.  A  conception,  when 
formed,  is  capable  of  being  resolved  back  into  its  constituent 
parts.  In  the  conception  "stag"  we  find  the  property  of 
swiftness  contained  This  attribution  of  a  quality  to  a  sub- 
stance is  what  logicians  call  a  judgment ;  its  expression  in 
language  is  an  affirmation,  or  proposition.  The  sign  of  this 
attribution  is  called  the  copu'a :  "The  stag  is  swift." 
Every  judgment  which  has  regard  to  matter  of  fact  consid- 
ers an  event  either  as  past,  present,  or  future :  "  The  hair 
was  light,  is  dark,  wi'l  be  gray."  When  the  attribute  prop- 
erty or  quality  is  combined  with  the  copula  or  word  signify- 
ing the  affirmation  or  attribution,  a  third  class  of  words  is 
produced,  to  which  we  give  the  name  of  verbs.  Thus  in- 
stead of  saying,  "the  sun  is  bright,"  we  may  say  "the  sun 
6hines;"  where  the  latter  form  of  expression  is  equivalent 
to,  or  capable  of  being  analyzed  into,  the  former.  A  verb  is 
therefore  a  compound  part  of  speech,  consisting  of  an  adjec- 
tive and  a  copula  or  affirmation,  and  signifying  not  only  the 
conception  of  a  property,  but  our  perception  or  judgment 
that  such  property  does  inhere  or  belong  to  some  substance, 
or  else  that  it  has  belonged  or  will  belong  to  it.  The  rela- 
tion between  property  and  substance,  expressed  in  even' 
proposition,  may  be  differently  stated  as  the  relation  of  part 
to  whole,  of  species  to  genus,  of  individual  to  species  :  dis- 
tinctions which  do  not  concern  us  at  present,  inasmuch  as 
grammar,  no  less  than  logic,  has  regard  only  to  our  mode  of 
conceiving  things,  not  to  things  as  they  are  in  themselves. 

The  three  parts  of  speech  which  we  have  thus  analyzed 
— the  substantive,  the  adjective,  and  the  verb — are  called 
the  primary  or  essential  parts  of  speech.  They  are  those 
without  which  no  discourse  could  take  place,  no  act  of 
judgment  be  communicated ;  in  other  words,  without  which 
no  sounds  could  have  meaning.  The  parts  of  speech  which 
remain  to  be  considered  are  the  pronoun,  the  article,  the  ad- 
verb, the  preposition,  the  conjunction,  the  interjection. 

The  pronoun  is  so  called  from  its  being  a  substitute  for  a 
noun;  a  compendious  contrivance  to  avoid  repetition,  or 
needless  and  inconvenient  specification:  as,  "John  is  tall 
and  he  is  handsome,"  which  is  equivalent  to  saying  "John 
is  tall  and  John  is  handsome."  They  are  commonly  subdi- 
vided into  personal  or  substantive,  adjective,  demonstrative, 
relative,  indefinite,  and  interrogative  pronouns. 

Articles  are  words  joined  to  substantives,  for  the  purpose 
of  defining  whether  the  substance  or  conception  is  to  be  un- 
derstood in  a  general  sense,  or  in  particular  relation  to  an 
individual.  When  the  first  is  our  intention,  we  use  in  Eng- 
lish no  article  whatever:  as,  "  Man  is  corrupt;"  by  which 
we  mean  that  corruption  is  an  attribute  of  the  genus  "  man," 
and  not  of  any  particular  individual  to  the  exclusion  of  oth- 
ers. In  Greek,  however,  the  use  of  the  article  is  frequently 
equivalent  to  the  omission  of  it  in  English,  as  17  ivotStln, 
piety.  If  we  used  the  article  a  or  an,  we  should,  in  most 
instances,  mean  that  some  individual  or  other  of  the  species 
was  contemplated  :  "  I  saw  a  horse."  When  we  use  the 
definite  article  the,  we  mean  to  specify  which  individual  of 
the  species  we  have  in  view. 

The  adverb  derives  its  existence  from  the  difficulty  of  de- 
fining by  one  word  the  precise  quality  of  a  particular  object. 
When  we  say  a  thing  is  "green,"  we  may  call  up  in  the 
minds  of  our  hearers  the  image  of  a  very  different  shade  of 
greenness  from  that  which  we  are  describing.  If  we  say 
it  is  "  very  green,"  our  language  is  more  definite.  An  ad- 
verb may  consequently  be  described  as  a  modifying  part  of 
speech,  joined  with  adjectives  or  verbs  to  define  more  accu- 
rately the  degree  of  the  quality  or  circumstances  of  the  ac- 
tion predicated.  That  it  is  not  an  essential  part  of  language 
is  evident  from  the  circumstance  that  its  place  may  be  sup- 
plied either  by  a  termination,  as  "greenisA,"  for  "rather 


green  ;"  or  by  a  periphrasis,  as  "  he  walks  with  speed,"  in- 
stead of"  he  walks  rapidly." 

Prepositions  are  those  parts  of  speech  which  express  rela- 
tions between  substances,  and  are  consequently  joined  only 
with  substantives  ;  as,  "from  the  city  to  the  country."  We 
shall  consider  them  more  at  length  when  we  come  to  treat 
of  the  inflections  of  words. 

As  prepositions  express  objective  relations,  so  conjunctions 
may  be  said  to  represent  those  of  a  subjective  nature;  or 
those  relations  which  we  perceive  to  exist  between  the 
judgments  of  our  own  intellect,  whether  of  mere  succession, 
of  inference,  or  the  like.  They  are  consequently  used  to 
connect  propositions  together;  as,  "John  is  wise,  therefore 
he  is  good  ;"  "  John  is  wise  because  he  is  good,"  &c.  They 
are  to  the  syllogistic  faculty,  or  the  faculty  which  perceives 
the  connexion  and  dependance  of  simple  judgments,  what 
the  copula  is  to  the  faculty  which  forms  these  judgments. 
As  the  one  forms  words  into  propositions,  so  the  other  are 
necessary  to  combine  propositions  into  sentences. 

The  interjection  is  the  expression  of  emotions,  and  emo- 
tions only.  It  is  not,  therefore,  confined  to  human  dis- 
course ;  and  as  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  operations  of 
the  intellect,  is  incapable  of  logical  combination  with  other 
words.  It  might  therefore  be  doubted  whether  it  can  with 
propriety  be  called  a  part  of  speech  or  not. 

We  have  said  that  the  last-mentioned  "  parts  of  speech" 
were  not  necessary  constituents  of  language.  We  so  far 
qualify  that  assertion,  in  regard  to  prepositions  in  particular, 
as  to  admit  that  they  are  the  expressions  and  modes  of  con- 
ceptions which  the  human  understanding  unavoidably 
forms.  Whether,  in  technical  language,  the  necessity  be  a 
formal  or  a  material  necessity,  we  forbear  to  discuss  at 
large ;  since  it  is  a  subject  on  which  logicians  are  not  agreed. 
We  ourselves  are  inclined,  with  Kant,  to  think  it  formal. 
We  conceive  the  relations  of  cause  and  effect,  of  time  and 
place,  of  action  and  passion,  to  be  as  much  pure  educt  of 
the  understanding,  and  as  independent  for  their  form  on  ex- 
perience, as  those  of  part  and  whole,  substance  and  attri- 
bute, which  we  have  seen  to  constitute  the  necessity  for  the 
primary  parts  of  speech.  They  differ,  however,  in  this,  that 
the  latter  must  enter  into  every  proposition  to  render  it  a 
proposition  at  all  ;  while  those  we  are  now  considering  may 
or  may  not,  according  to  the  matter  in  hand.  In  all  lan- 
guages they  are  expressed  more  or  less  perfectly.  In  our 
own,  and  in  the  other  branches  of  the  Teutonic  stock,  this 
expression  is  effected  in  two  ways.  Either  the  relation  in- 
truded to  be  implied  is  expressed  by  an  affix  or  prefix  to  the 
radical  or  abstract  portion  of  the  word  itself:  or  the  relation 
is  regarded  as  abstracted  from  all  particular  objects  between 
which  it  might  be  conceived  to  subsist,  and,  so  abstracted, 
is  embodied  in  a  distinct  word  or  particle.  Thus  what  the 
Latins  expressed  by  the  termination  0  or  t",  as  "  domino," 
"nubi,"  is  represented  in  English  by  the  prepositions  "  to" 
or  "for."  Generally  speaking,  the  earlier  a  language  the 
richer  it  is  found  to  be  in  terminations ;  which,  as  the  fac- 
ulty of  abstraction  becomes  habitual,  are  commonly  abridg- 
ed in  number,  and  replaced  by  particles.  A  word  which 
admits  a  variety  of  such  modifications  is  said  to  be  declina- 
ble. The  only  declinable  or  inflected  parts  of  speech  are  the 
substantive  and  the  verb,  and  in  some  languages  the  adjec- 
tive and  participle,  with  the  representative  parts  of  speech, 
the  pronoun  and  article.  The  reason  of  this  is  sufficiently 
obvious.  It  is  between  supposed  substances  that  the  rela- 
tions of  cause  and  effect  and  those  of  place  are  conceived  to 
exist;  while  the  relations  of  time  pertain  to  action  and  pas- 
sion, or  those  changes  in  the  state  of  substances  which  are 
expressed  in  language  by  verbs.  The  declension  of  adjec- 
tives is  an  anomaly  in  language.  It  probably  results  from 
the  facility  with  which  we  convert  in  our  thoughts  a  quali- 
ty or  attribute  into  a  substance :  unless  it  is  to  be  accounted 
for  by  what  grammarians  call  "attraction  ;"  a  supposed  in- 
fluence which  ihe  inflexion  of  a  word  exerts  over  those  im- 
mediately in  contact  with  it,  and  which  is  owing  partly,  per- 
haps, to  the  desire  of  euphony,  and  partly  to  a  confusion  of 
thought,  the  effect  of  association.  The  sum  total  of  the 
modifications  which  the  words  of  a  language  admit  consti- 
tute what  is  called  the  accidence  of  that  language.  The 
circumstances  under  which  such  modifications  or  inflexions 
take  place  are  the  subject-matter  of  that  part  of  grammar 
which  is  named  syntax.  These  inflexions  are,  in  nouns, 
case,  number,  and  gender;  in  verbs,  tense,  mood,  person, 
and.  in  most  languages,  number. 

The  cases  of  nouns  are  the  expression  of  the  relations  of 
substances.  In  Latin  there  are,  besides  the  nominative,  or 
absolute  form  of  a  conception,  and  the  vocative,  used  in  ad- 
dressing or  calling  to  another  person  (a  compound  of  a  noun 
and  an  interjection),  four  cases  properly  so  called  ;  the  geni- 
tive, the  dative,  the  accusative,  and  the  ablative.  Of  these 
the  English  language  retains  in  its  nouns  one  only,  he  geni- 
tive ;  in  its  pronouns  two,  the  genitive  and  accusative.  All 
other  cases  it  replaces  by  prepositions. 
The  genitive  case  expresses  the  relation  of  property.    A 


GRAMMAR. 

single  conception  is  capable  of  being  analyzed  into  a  number 
of  constituent  parts,  which  are  either  necessary  to  the  whole 
conception,  or  bound  up  with  it  by  association  more  or  less 
habitual.  We  represent  this  process  in  language  by  some 
change  either  in  the  word  which  signifies  the  property,  or  in 
that  which  denotes  the  containing  substance.  The  last  is 
the  case  in  most  European  languages.  Thus,  we  speak  of  a 
"  horse's  colour,"  of  "  Socrates'  philosophy." 

The  dative  case  implies  participation  in  the  effect  of  an 
action,  expressed  in  English  by  the  preposition  "  to"  or 
"  for."  "  Dedi  ei,"  "  I  gave  it  to  him  ;"  where  the  effect  of 
my  act  of  giving  is  shared  only  by  another. 

The  accusative  is  used  where  the  effect  of  an  action  is 
conceived  as  passing  over  entire  to  another  substance: 
"Laceravi  librum,"  "  I  tore  the  book;"  where  the  whole  of 
the  immediate  effect  is  conceived  as  confined  to  the  book 
which  I  tear.     It  is  also  called  the  objective  case. 

The  ablative  case,  if  we  regard  its  etymology  only,  we 
should  define  to  be  that  which  expresses  loss  or  privation. 
In  this  sense  it  ought  to  be  considered  as  a  mollification  of 
the  dative,  or  the  case  which  expresses  the  incidental  or 
participated  effects  of  an  action ;  and  we  accordingly  find 
that  in  Latin  the  English  preposition  "from"  is  frequently 
expressed  by  the  dative.  There  is,  however,  a  kind  of  rela- 
tion which  no  other  case  serves  precisely  to  convey,  that  of 
outward  proximity,  which  is  expressed  in  English  by  such 
prepositions  as  at,  near,  by,  upon,  and  in  Latin  by  the  abla- 
tive case,  which  consequently  is  not  so  useless  or  superflu- 
ous a  form  as  some  grammarians  have  considered  it  to  be. 

Besides  the  inflexion  of  case,  nouns  admit,  in  most  lan- 
guages, those  of  number  and  gender.  The  latter  is  a  mere 
generalization  from  experience ;  and  though  it  may  be  con- 
venient to  have  a  termination  to  designate  it,  it  is  not  neces- 
sary, as  is  apparent  from  our  own  language,  which  expresses 
this  distinction  only  in  its  pronouns,  and  in  some  few  of  its 
substantives.  Our  conceptions  of  number  are  doubtless 
conditions  of  our  mental  constitution.  They  may  be  gener- 
alized under  the  forms  of  unity  simple,  unity  comprehen- 
sive, and  plurality.  Unity,  whether  regarded  simply  or  as 
an  aggregate,  is  expressed  by  the  singular  number.  Many 
languages,  besides  singular  and  plural,  have  a  form  to  de- 
note duality,  or  two  things  together ;  a  fact  which,  proba- 
bly, is  owing  to  the  duality  of  the  parts  of  the  human  body, 
as  the  hands,  feet,  &.c. 

We  proceed  to  consider  the  different  kinds  of  verbs,  and 
their  modifications.  Verbs  are  divided  into  transitive,  in- 
transitive, and  passive.  They  admit  necessarily  of  time 
and  mood  ;  accidentally  and  by  usage  of  person  and  number. 

A  property,  taking  the  word  in  the  most  general  sense  of 
which  it  is  capable,  may  be  conceived  either  as  a  state,  a 
process,  or  as  a  power  in  action.  To  the  first  two  corre- 
spond the  verbs  commonly  called  intransitive,  or  neuter,  as 
"I  rest,"  "I  grow,"  "  I  fall."  When  a  power  is  in  action, 
we  measure  it  by  its  effects  on  some  substance ;  we  con- 
ceive the  action  as  passing  on  to  another  object,  as  "  the 
clouds  bring  rain."  The  verb  which  expresses  this  transi- 
tion is  called  the  verb  active  or  transitive.  But  not  only  are 
we  able  to  conceive  an  object  exerting  power;  we  may  also 
consider  it  as  susceptible  of  influence  or  change  from  the 
action  of  another  object.  This  is  expressed  by  the  verb 
passive,  as  "the  dog  was  beaten."  Many  other  modifica- 
tions of  action  and  change  have  their  appropriate  forms  in 
different  languages.  Such  are  the  verb  middle  or  reflex  in 
Greek,  the  verbs  frequentative  and  desiderative  in  Greek 
and  Latin.  These,  however,  are  matters  of  idiom,  not  of 
universal  necessity. 

Equally  extensive  with  the  conceptions  of  cause  and  ef- 
fect is  that  of  time,  as  the  universal  condition  of  all  change 
in  nature.  The  words  which  signify  the  one  must  therefore 
he  capable  of  expressing  the  other.  Hence  the  necessity  for 
tenses  in  verbs,  or  the  inflexions  w'hich  determine  the  time 
of  the  action,  as  present,  past,  or  future.  We  may  farther  ab- 
stract an  action  from  its  relation  to  time  altogether;  and 
this  abstraction  is  in  some  languages,  as  in  the  Greek,  repre- 
sented by  a  form  appropriate  to  the  purpose,  called  the 
aorist. 

The  modifications  of  verbs  which  we  have  been  consider- 
ing concern  change  or  action  objectively,  or  in  relation  to 
the  substances  which  they  are  supposed  to  affect.  Our 
judgments  themselves  are  also  liable  to  certain  modifica- 
tions, which,  as  regarding  only  the  way  in  which  we  con- 
ceive of  events,  may  be  said  to  constitute  the  subjunctive 
conditions  of  verbs.  Our  knowledge  of  an  occurrence  may 
be  either  certain  or  uncertain ;  and  uncertain  either  abso- 
lutely, or  only  under  particular  suppositions.  When  we 
simply  express  our  judgment  that  a  thing  is,  has  been,  or 
will  be,  in  such  and  such  a  state,  we  are  said  to  speak  indic- 
atively,  or  in  the  indicative  mood.  When  we  consider  a 
thing  as  possible  merely,  we  use  the  potential  mood,  denoted 
in  English  by  the  auxiliary  verbs  "  may"  or  "  might." 
When  we  speak  of  it  as  dependant  for  its  occurrence  on 
certain  conditions,  or  in  case  of  its  occurrence  as  connected 
528 


GRANITE. 

with  certain  probable  or  inevitable  consequences,  we  use  the 
conjunctive  mood  :  "  I  would  go,  if  he  would  let  me."  Dif- 
ferent languages  express  these  modifications  of  judgment 
more  or  less  perfectly ;  none,  perhaps,  with  absolute  accuracy. 

Two  other  modal  forms  still  remain  to  be  considered. 
They  have  been  called  by  grammarians  the  imperative  and 
optative  moods,  as  conveying  the  expression  of  a  command 
or  a  wish.  They  may  be  included  under  the  general  term 
of  desiderative,  and  imply  at  once  the  conception  of  an  event, 
and  our  desire  that  that  event  should  take  place.  They  may 
therefore  be  regarded  as  forming  the  connecting  link  between 
verbs  and  interjections ;  between  the  words  which  belong  to 
the  perceptive  and  those  which  pertain  to  the  emotive  part 
of  our  nature. 

What  is  commonly  named  the  infinitive  mood  may  be  con- 
sidered as  the  point  of  transition  from  a  verb  to  a  substan- 
tive. It  is,  so  to  speak,  a  substantiied  attribute,  and  is  used 
as  the  subject  of  a  proposition  as  correctly  as  substantives 
themselves  :  c.  g.,  "  To  die  is  gain." 

The  participle  is  usually  ranked  as  a  separate  part  of 
speech.  It  may  be  said  to  hold  the  same  intermediate  place 
between  a  verb  and  an  adjective,  as  the  infinitive  holds  be- 
tween a  verb  and  a  substantive.  It  possesses  all  the  proper- 
ties of  the  verb,  save  affirmation ;  that  is  to  say,  to  the  prop- 
erties of  the  adjective  it  adds  the  power  of  denoting  time. 

The  attribution  to  verbs  of  number  and  person  is  logically 
as  anomalous  as  it  is  to  assign  gender  and  number  to  adjec- 
tives. Most  languages  fall  into  this  error,  which  is,  how- 
ever, susceptible  of  a  very  easy  historical  solution.  It 
arose,  doubtless,  from  the  original  custom  of  annexing  the 
pronoun  to  the  termination  of  the  verb,  and  continuing  the 
use  of  the  inflection  after  its  import  had  been  forgotten,  and 
when  the  pronoun  had  been  formed  into  an  independent 
part  of  speech. 

Those  who  wish  to  investigate  the  principles  of  grammar 
more  closely,  would  do  well  to  consult  Mr.  Harris's  Hermes, 
perhaps  the  most  complete  philosophical  treatise  on  gram- 
mar that  has  appeared  in  England.  See  also  the  article 
"  Grammar,"  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Metropolitana,  where  the 
paradoxical  opinions  of  Mr.  Home  Tooke  on  this  subject  are 
ably  confuted.  Professor  Thiersch,  in  his  Greek  Grammar, 
some  time  since  translated  into  English,  has  interspersed 
some  ingenious  and  valuable  inquiries  into  the  general  prin- 
ciples of  language,  from  which  the  student  may  derive  many 
important  hints. 

GRAMMA'RIAN.  Literally,  one  versed  in  grammar ; 
but  the  term  was  used  by  the  classic  ancients  as  a  title  of 
honourable  distinction  for  all  who  were  considered  learned 
in  any  art  or  faculty  whatever.  (See  Vossius's  work  on 
Grammar.) 

GRANA'DE.     See  Grenade. 

GRA'NARY.  (Lat.  granum,  corn.)  A  building  in  which 
to  lay  or  store  corn,  especially  that  designed  to  be  kept  a 
considerable  time.  Various  scientific  principles  have  been 
laid  down  for  the  erection  of  buildings  of  this  nature,  of 
which  the  reader  will  find  a  full  account  in  Rees's  Cyclo- 
paedia ;  but  the  most  curious,  as  well  as  most  efficient  con- 
trivances for  housing  and  keeping  grain  in  good  order,  are  to 
be  met  with  in  some  parts  of  Sicily.  They  consist  either  of 
excavations  into  calcareous  rocks,  or  holes  in  the  ground 
shaped  like  a  bottle,  walled  up,  and  rendered  waterproof  by 
the  neck  of  the  bottle  being  hermetically  closed  with  a  stone 
fastened  with  gypsum.  They  contain  about  200  salme,  or 
about  1600  English  bushels  of  com,  which  may  be  thus  pre- 
served for  an  indefinite  period ;  at  least  it  has  been  found  in 
perfectly  good  order  after  the  lapse  of  a  century.  (Simond, 
p.  25;  Swinburne,  vol.  ii.,  p.  405.) 

GRAND.  (Fr.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a  quality  by  which 
the  highest  degree  of  majesty  and  dignity  is  imparted  to  a 
work  of  art.  Its  source  is  in  form  freed  from  ordinary  and 
common  bounds,  and  to  be  duly  felt  requires  an  investiga- 
tion of  the  different  qualities  by  which  great  and  extraordi- 
nary objects  produce  impression  on  the  mind. 

GRANDE'E.  (Span,  grande;  from  grande  de  espana.) 
The  highest  title  of  Spanish  nobility.  The  collective  body 
of  the  higher  nobility  in  Spain  is  termed  la  grandeia.  They 
were  originally  the  same  with  the  ricos  hombres.  Gran- 
dees bear  different  titles — duke,  marquis,  &c. ;  but  there  is 
no  essential  difference  of  rank  between  these  titles:  all  are 
equal  among  themselves.  Grandeeships  descend  through 
females,  and  thus  become  accumulated  in  families.  (Quart. 
Rev.,  1838.) 

GRAND  JURY.     Sec  Jury. 

GRANGE.  A  farm-yard  or  farmery,  which  consists  of  a 
farm-house,  and  a  court  of  offices  for  the  different  animals 
and  implements  used  in  farming,  and  also  of  hams,  feeding 
houses,  poultry  houses,  &c.     See  Farm-yard,  or  Farmery. 

GRA'NITE.  A  crystalline  aggregate  of  quartz,  felspar, 
and  mica,  with  the  occasional  addition  of  other  minerals. 
It  is  regarded  by  modern  geologists  as  of  igneous  oriein,  and 
as  having  been  protiuded  from  below,  so  as  to  elevate  and 
dislocate  the  adjacent  strata,  and  occasionally  to  penetrate 


GRANIVOR^E. 

them  in  the  form  of  veins.  Granite  is  a  hard  and  generally 
durable  rock,  and  of  vast  importance  as  a  building  material, 
and  in  its  applications  to  pavements.  The  crystals  of  fel- 
spar are  sometimes  very  large  and  distinct,  and  constitute 
the  whitish  embedded  masses  which  are  seen  in  such  per- 
fection in  some  of  the  granite  pavements  of  London,  espe- 
cially of  London  and  Waterloo  Bridges.  When  the  mica 
prevails  in  granite,  its  texture  becomes  lamellar,  and  it  pass- 
es into  the  rock  which  has  been  called  gneiss  ;  which  again, 
by  the  gradual  secession  of  the  felspar,degenerates  into  7/n'ca- 
slate.  There  are  some  kinds  of  granite  which  are  under- 
going rapid  disintegration  and  decay,  in  consequence  of  the 
joint  action  of  air  and  water  upon"  the  felspar ;  the  potash 
of  which  appears  to  be  removed,  and  the  residue  falls  into 
a  white  powder,  composed  chiefly  of  silica  and  alumina  in 
a  state  of  very  fine  division  :  it  is  thus  that  the  celebrated 
Cornish,  clay  is  produced,  which  is  in  such  request  for  the 
purposes  of  pottery.  The  curious  district  in  which  the  Car- 
glaise  tin  mine,  near  St.  Austle,  is  situate,  is  a  good  and 
characteristic  specimen  of  decomposing  granite.  See  Geo- 
logy. 

GRANI'VORJE.  (Lat.  granum,  a  grain  ;  vora,  /  eat.) 
The  name  given  by  Temminck  to  an  order  of  birds,  includ- 
ing the  Insessorial  species,  which  feed  on  grains :  other  ani- 
mals with  a  similar  diet  are  termed  "  granivorous." 

GRANT.  In  Law,  a  mode  of  conveyance  by  deed,  ap- 
propriate to  estates  in  lands  and  tenements  not  in  posses- 
sion, and  also  to  incorporeal  hereditaments. 

GRA'NULATE.  (Lat.  grana,  a  grain.)  When  a  surface 
is  beset  with  manv  very  small  elevations,  like  shagreen. 

GRA'NULATION.  The  method  of  dividing  ^metallic 
substances  into  grains  or  drops.  It  is  usually  effected  by 
pouring  the  melted  metal  into  water;  and  if  fine  division  is 
required,  it  must  pass  through  a  perforated  ladle  or  sieve  ; 
and  in  order  to  obtain  spherical  particles,  it  must  fall  from 
such  a  height  as  to  have  become  solid  before  it  meets  with 
the  water  :  hence  the  height  of  the  towers  in  which  shot  is 
made. 

GRA'NULATIONS.  This  term  is  applied  to  the  little 
granular  formations  which  arise  in  sores  that  are  healing, 
and  by  which  the  destroyed  parts  are  filled  up  and  the  edges 
brought  together.  When  healthy  they  are  of  a  red  colour, 
not  exuberant;  when  unhealthy  they  are  pallid,  and  be- 
come soft,  spunev,  and  irregular. 

GRAPE-SHOT.  In  Artillery,  a  quantity  of  small  shot 
put  into  a  canvass  bag,  and  corded  together  in  the  form  of  a 
cylinder,  the  diameter  of  which  is  adapted  to  the  piece  of 
ordnance  from  which  it  is  intended  to  be  discharged.  It  is 
now  superseded  by  canister-shot. 

GRAPHO'METER.  (Gr.  ypaipw,  I  write,  and  utrpov, 
measure.)  A  mathematical  instrument  used  in  land  survey- 
ing ;  otherwise  called  a  semicircle. 

GRA'PHITE.  (Gr.  ypa(pw.)  The  substance  improperly 
called  black  lead,  of  which  pencils  are  made.  It  is  a  pecu- 
liar form  of  mineral  carbon  with  a  trace  of  iron.  The  finest 
is  found  only  at  Borrodale  in  Cumberland.  Coarse  varieties 
are  not  uncommon. 

GRA'PNEL.    A  small  anchor  for  a  boat. 

GRA'PLING  IRONS.  Small  grapnels  with  four  flukes 
for  securing  ships  together  in  action. 

GRA'PTOLITES.  Gr.  ypafoi,  I  write;  \tOos,  a  stone.) 
A  genus  of  fossil  Zoophiles,  nearly  allied  to  the  existing 
sea-pens  (Pennatula')  found  in  the  bituminous  shales  of  the 
Silurian  sandstone  deposits. 

GRASSHOPPER.     See  Locust. 

GRASS  LAND.  In  Agriculture,  land  kept  perpetunlly 
under  grass,  as  contrasted  with  land  which  is  alternately 
under  grass  and  tillage.  Perpetual  grass  lands  are  generally 
such  as  from  the  soil  and  situation  are  too  moist  to  be 
ploughed  with  advantage,  or  too  hilly  and  irregular  on  the 
surface  to  be  ploughed  at  all.  Hence  we  have  hill  pastures, 
and  low  moist  meadows.  The  former  admit  of  very  little 
improvement,  excepting  that  of  drainage,  and  occasionally, 
in  low  hills,  of  irrigation ;  while  the  latter  may  not  only  be 
drained,  but  may  be  manured,  and  in  some  cases  irrigated. 
See  Pasture,  Meadow,  and  Irrigation. 

GRATE  may  be  described  as  the  iron  frame  and  bars  for 
holding  the  fuel  burned  in  our  fireplaces.  It  is,  however, 
confined  to  the  use  of  coal ;  wood  fires  being  better  kept  up 
en  what  are  called  "dogs." 

GRAU'WACKE.  A  German  miner's  term,  implving 
gray  rock;  adopted  in  Geology  to  designate  some  of  the 
lowest  secondary  strata,  which  form  the  chief  part  of  the 
transition  rocks  of  some  geologists.     See  Geology. 

GRAVE.    In  Music.     See  Allegro. 

GRA'VEL.  A  term  applied  to  a  well-known  material 
of  small  stones,  which  vary  in  size  from  a  small  pea  to  a 
walnut,  or  something  larger.  It  is  often  intermixed  with 
other  substances,  such  as  sand,  clay,  loam,  flints,  pebbles, 
iron  ores,  &c,  from  each  of  which  it  derives  a  distinctive 
appellation.     See  Geology. 

Gravel.  In  Gardening,  gravel  is  an  important  article, 
46 


GRAVITATION. 

being  that  of  which  walks  are  formed  whenever  it  can  can 
be  procured.  In  selecting  gravel  two  qualities  are  chiefly 
to  be  sought  for ;  viz.,  a  fine  colour,  and  the  property  of  bind 
ing.  The  most  common  colour  of  pit  gravel  is  a  rusty 
brown  ;  and  that  of  river  or  sea  gravel  a  gray,  with  differ- 
ent shades  of  white,  red,  or  brown.  The  best  colour  is  con 
sidered  to  be  a  deep  rich  yellow,  which  is  that  of  the  gravel 
of  Kensington,  the  stony  parts  of  which  are  flints— sup- 
posed to  be  the  finest  in  the  world,  and  which  used  former- 
ly to  be  shipped,  not  only  to  different  sea-ports  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  but  to  various  places  on  the  Continent, 
to  Petersburgh,  to  India,  and  even  to  South  America.  The 
binding  properties  of  gravel  are  two  ;  the  presence  of  ferru 
ginous  clay  of  the  same  rich  colour  as  the  gravel,  and  which 
causes  the  gravel  to  set  or  become  hard  as  soon  as  it  is  ex- 
posed to  the  action  of  the  atmosphere ;  and  the  irregular 
and  angular  shapes  and  sizes  of  the  stones.  Where  the 
stones  are  round  or  oval,  with  regular  smooth  surfaces, 
they  never  form  a  good  binding  gravel,  even  if  they  should 
be  mLxed  with  ferruginous  clay.  The  reason  is,  that  these 
stones  which  are  on  the  surface,  having  no  mechanical  hold 
on  those  which  are  beneath  or  beside  them,  but  being  mere- 
ly slightly  cemented  by  means  of  ferruginous  clay,  are  easily 
loosened,  and  thrown  out  of  their  places  by  the  action  of 
frost,  or  even  by  the  alternate  action  of  drought  and  mois- 
ture. Hence,  where  no  gravel  but  that  found  in  rivers  or  on 
the  sea  shore  can  be  found  for  making  garden  walks,  one 
half  of  the  stones  ought  to  be  broken  and  mixed  with  the  other 
half  before  laying  them  on  the  walks.  The  Kensington 
gravel,  applying  that  term  to  all  those  of  a  similar  colour 
and  quality  in  England,  binds  better  than  any  other,  not  only 
on  account  of  the  ferruginous  clayey  matter  with  which  it 
is  mixed  becoming  hardened  by  the  atmosphere,  but  also  be- 
cause the  stones  are  exceedineiv  irregular  in  size  and  shape. 

GRAVEL,  URINARY.     See  Calculus  and  Elrine. 

GRA'VER,  called  also  BURIN.  The  sharp  tool,  whose 
extremity  is  of  a  triangular  form,  for  cutting  the  lines  of  an 
engraving  on  the  copper.     See  Engraving. 

GRAVI'METER.  (Lat.  gravis,  heavy,  and  Gr.  utrpov, 
measure.)  An  instrument  for  ascertaining  the  specific  gravi- 
ties of  bodies,  whether  liquid  or  solid.  The  particular  in- 
strument to  which  the  term  is  usually  appropriated  was  in- 
vented by  M.  Guyton.  who  adopted  this  name  in  preference 
to  areometer  or  hydrometer,  because  these  latter  terms  imply 
that  the  liquid  is  the  thing  weighed  ;  whereas,  when 
solids  are  weighed,  the  liquid  is  only  the  term  of  compari- 
son to  which  the  unknown  weight  is  referred.  See  Hy- 
drometer. 

GRAVITATION,  GRAVITY.  (Lat.  gravis,  heavy.) 
These  terms  are  often  used  synonymously  to  denote  that 
mutual  tendency  which  all  the  bodies  of  nature  have  to  ap- 
proach each  other,  with  forces  which  are  directly  as  their 
masses,  and  inversely  proportional  to  the  squares  of  their 
distances. 

That  every  particle  of  matter  in  the  universe  has  a  dis- 
position to  press  towards,  and  if  not  opposed  to  approach  to 
every  other,  is  a  fact  of  which  we  derive  the  knowledge 
partly  from  our  constant  experience  of  what  takes  place  at 
the  earth's  surface,  and  partly  by  reasoning  from  the  observed 
motions  of  the  celestial  bodies.  This  mutual  tendency  of 
all  the  particles  of  matter  to  each  other  is  called  the  attrac- 
tion of  gravitation.  In  reference  to  any  particular  body,  or 
mass  of  matter,  the  aggregate  attraction  of  all  its  particles 
is  usually  called  simply  its  gravity. 

Of  Terrestrial  Gravity. — Universal  experience  demon- 
strates that  all  heavy  bodies,  when  unsupported,  fall  to- 
wards the  surface  of  the  earth.  The  direction  of  their  mo- 
tion may  be  ascertained  by  a  plumb-line ;  and  it  is  found  to 
be  always  perpendicular  to  the  level  surface  of  the  earth, 
that  is,  to  the  surface  of  stagnant  water.  But  the  earth  is 
very  nearly  spherical,  and  a  line  perpendicular  to  the  sur- 
face of  a  sphere  must  pass  through  its  centre ;  hence  the 
direction  of  a  body  moving  in  consequence  of  the  force  of 
terrestrial  gravity  is  towards  the  centre  of  the  earth.  And 
this  is  the  direction  in  which  it  must  move  if  the  force  of 
gravity  is  the  resultant  of  the  attraction  of  all  the  particles 
of  terrestrial  matter  on  the  falling  body ;  for  it  has  been 
demonstrated  (by  Newton)  that  a  sphere  attracts  an  exterior 
body  in  the  same  manner  as  if  all  its  matter  were  condensed 
into  a  single  point  at  its  centre. 

As  bodies  when  left  without  support  fall  from  all  heights 
to  which  they  may  be  carried,  it  may  be  inferred  that  gravi- 
ty acts  on  them  during  the  whole  time  of  their  descent,  and 
is  therefore  a  uniformly  accelerating  force.  This  might  also 
be  inferred  from  the  fact,  which  is  easily  rendered  sensible, 
that  bodies  which  fall  from  a  greater  height  arrive  at  the 
earth  with  a  greater  velocity.  But  Galileo  was  the  first  who 
proved  by  experiment  that  the  acceleration  of  falling  bodies 
is  uniform,  and  that  the  spaces  descended  through  are  con- 
sequently as  the  squares  of  the  times  of  descent.  Experi- 
ments of  this  kind  are  attended  with  some  difficulty  on  ac- 
count of  the  resistance  of  the  air.  In  order  to  render  this 
Kk  529 


GRAVITATION. 


resistance  insensible,  Galileo  caused  bodies  to  descend  on 
planes  having  a  small  inclination  to  the  horizon,  in  which 
case  (neglecting  the  effects  of  friction)  the  velocity  is  di- 
minished in  tiie  ratio  of  the  sine  of  the  plane's  inclination. 
l?y  mounting  the  descending  body  on  wheels,  and  forming 
the  inclined  plane  of  a  hard  substance  capable  of  receiving 
a  perfect  polish,  the  friction  may  also  be  so  much  diminish- 
ed as  not  to  change  the  nature  of  the  motion.  But  the  best 
method  of  showing  experimentally  that  gravity  is  a  uni- 
formly accelerating  force,  is  by  means  of  an  apparatus  call- 
ed (from  its  inventor)  Attwood's  machine.  This  consists 
of  a  pulley,  the  axle  of  which  turns  on  fric- 
Jtion  rollers,  and  having  a  groove  on  its  edge 
to  receive  a  string.  Over  the  wheel  a  fine 
silken  cord  is  stretched,  to  the  ends  of  which 
are  attached  two  equal  weights,  A  and  B.  In 
this  state  the  weights  counterbalance  each 
other,  and  no  motion  ensues ;  but  if  to  one  of 
the  weights  a  small  load  m  be  added,  so  as  to 
give  a  preponderance,  the  loaded  weight  will 
immediately  begin  to  descend.  The  motion 
which  now  takes  place  is  exactly  of  the  same 
kind  with  that  of  a  body  descending  freely  ; 
but  the  velocity  is  diminished  in  the  propor- 
3  rion  of  the  additional  load  m  to  the  sum  of 
the  three,  m,  A  and  B  ;  for  the  force,  which  is  impressed 
by  the  additional  weight,  is  expended  in  giving  velocity  not 
only  to  it,  but  also  to  the  two  weights  A  and  B  attached  to 
the  string.  By  this  machine  the  properties  of  uniformly  ac- 
celerated motion  are  experimentally  shown  to  hold  true  in 
the  descent  of  falling  bodies ;  for  if  the  additional  load  be 
such  as  will  carry  the  weight  to  which  it  is  added  through 
1  foot  in  the  first  second  of  time,  it  carries  it  through  4  feet 
in  2  seconds,  through  9  in  3  seconds,  and  so  on.  A  proof  is 
therefore  afforded  by  this  means  that  terrestrial  gravity  is  a 
uniformly  accelerating  force. 

Terrestrial  gravity  acts  equally  on  all  bodies ;  that  is  to 
say,  impresses  on  all  of  them  an  equal  quantity  of  motion, 
whatever  their  nature  may  be.  This  property  of  gravity 
was  also  demonstrated  by  Galileo.  In  different  hollow 
spheres,  of  equal  weight  and  diameter,  he  enclosed  equal 
weights  of  different  substances :  the  spheres  were  suspended 
by  strings  of  equal  length,  and  made  to  vibrate  in  very  small 
arcs,  and  it  was  fourjd  that  the  time  of  an  oscillation  was 
the  same  in  all  of  them.  Common  experience  would  seem 
i  be  at  variance  with  this  result.  Light  bodies,  as  feathers, 
paper,  &.c,  fall  slowly  and  irregularly ;  and  some  substances, 
;■  smoke,  vapours,  &c,  even  ascend.  But  this,  as  is  well 
known,  arises  from  the  buoyancy  of  the  atmosphere.  In  the 
exhausted  receiver  of  an  air-pump  a  piece  of  gold  and  a 
feather  fall  with  the  same  speed,  and  strike  the  bottom  at 
the  same  time. 

Measure  of  Terrestrial  Gravity. — Having  ascertained  the 
law  according  to  which  gravity  acts  on  bodies  at  the  surface 
of  the  earth,  the  next  question  is  to  determine  its  absolute 
intensity,  or  the  velocity  which  it  communicates  to  a  body 
falling  freely  in  a  given  time.  On  account  of  the  rapidity 
of  the  descent  of  heavy  bodies,  this  cannot  be  done  by  di- 
rect experiment;  nor  could  Attwood's  machine  be  employ- 
ed for  the  purpose  with  sufficient  certainty.  The  only  mode 
by  which  an  accurate  result  can  be  obtained  is  by  measur- 
ing the  length  of  a  pendulum  which  makes  a  given  number 
of  oscillations  in  a  given  time.  Let  /  be  the  length  of  the 
seconds'  pendulum,  n  the  ratio  of  the  circumference  to  the 
diameter,  and  g  the  accelerating  force  of  gravity,  that  is, 
twice  the  space  through  which  a  body  falls  by  the  action  of 
gravity  in  the  first  second  of  time;  then  (Pendulum)  we 
have  the  equation  g^zlifl.  Now  the  length  of  the  pendulum 
vibrating  seconds  of  mean  solar  time  in  London,  in  vacuo, 
and  reduced  to  the  level  of  the  sea,  has  been  determined  to 
be  39139.3  British  standard  inches  ;  and  -=3-14159  ;  there- 
fore s  is  found=386-3  inches,  or  32$  feet.  The  height, 
therefore,  through  which  a  body  would  fall  in  vacuo  in  a 
second  of  time  at  London  is  half  of  this  quantity,  or  16  1-10 
feet.  It  will  be  observed,  however,  that  this  value  of  g  does 
not  express  the  whole  of  the  earth's  attraction,  a  small  part 
of  which  (about  the  l-464th)  is  counteracted  by  the  centri- 
fugal force  corresponding  to  the  latitude:  it  is  the  force  of 
gravity  diminished  by  the  centrifugal  force,  or  what  is  prop- 
erly called  gravitation. 

From  experiments  made  with  the  greatesl  care,  it  appears 
that  the  extreme  amount  of  the  variation  of  the  gravitating 
force  between  the  equator  and  the  poles  is  one  part  in  194 
of  the  whole  quantity ;  that  is  to  say,  any  body  which  at  the 
equator  weighs  194  pounds,  if  transported  to  the  pole  would 
weigh  195  pounds.  The  difference  of  gravitation,  therefore, 
at  the  equator  and  the  poles,  is  ex  pressed  by  the  fraction 
l-194th.  Now  it  has  been  demonstrated  by  Newton  that 
the  ratio  of  the  centrifugal  force  at  the  equator  to  gravita- 
tion there  is  I  -289th.  Tills  is  considerably  smaller  than  the 
fraction  1-194 ;  but  the  difference,  which  is  1-590,  arises  from 
the  oblate  figure  of  the  earth,  in  consequence  of  which  a 
530 


body  placed  at  the  jwle  is  at  a  less  distance  from  the  centre 
than  one  at  the  equator/and  is  therefore  attracted  more  than 
it  would  be  at  the  equator,  even  if  the  earth  stood  still,  and 
there  was  consequently  no  centrifugal  force.  From  this  it 
may  be  readily  understood  that  the  figure  of  the  earth  is  de- 
terminable by  measuring  the  intensity  of  gravitation  under 
different  latitudes.     -Sec  Degree,  Earth. 

Universal  Gravitation. — Galileo,  who  had  so  fully  suc- 
ceeded in  exploring  the  nature  of  terrestrial  gravity,  did  not 
suppose  that  its  action  extended  to  bodies  beyond  the  imme- 
diate vicinity  of  the  earth.  The  more  speculative  genius  of 
Kepler  led  him  to  speak  of  gravity  as  a  force  acting  mutu 
ally  from  planet  to  planet,  and  particularly  from  the  earth 
to  the  moon ;  and  he  even  supposed  the  tides  to  be  pro- 
duced by  the  gravitation  of  the  waters  of  the  sea  towards 
the  moon.  He  did  not,  however  suppose  it  to  have  any 
concern  in  the  regulation  of  the  celestial  motions.  Hooke 
also  supposed  the  heavenly  bodies  to  have  a  gravitation  to 
each  other ;  but  his  notions  respecting  its  nature  were  inac- 
curate, and  he  did  not  attempt  to  define  the  law  of  its  vari- 
ation. This  great  discovery  was  reserved  for  Newton. 
While  meditating  on  the  nature  of  this  force,  the  thought 
occurred  to  him  that  since  gravity  is  a  tendency  not  confined 
to  bodies  on  the  very  surface  of  the  earth,  but  reaches  even 
to  the  summits  of  the  loftiest  mountains  without  its  intensity 
or  direction  suffering  any  sensible  change,  may  it  not  reach 
to  a  much  greater  distance,  and  even  to  the  moon  t  Before 
this  question,  however,  could  be  answered,  it  was  necessary 
to  suppose  a  law  according  to  w  hich  its  intensity  diminishes. 
Newton  soon  perceived  that  this  law  would  require  the  force 
of  gravity  to  diminish  exactly  as  the  square  of  the  distance 
increases ;  or  that  the  attractive  force  of  the  earth  at  the 
distance  of  the  moon  must  be  as  much  less  than  it  is  at  the 
surface  of  the  earth,  as  the  square  of  the  radius  of  the  earth 
is  less  than  the  square  of  the  moon's  distance  from  the  earth. 
In  a  general  way  the  hypothesis  is  easily  verified.  The 
moon's  orbit  differs  not  much  from  a  circle  whose  radius  is 
equal  to  60  times  the  semidiameter  of  the  earth,  and  the  cir- 
cumference of  her  orbit  is  therefore  about  60  times  the  cir- 
cumference of  a  great,  circle  of  the  earth.  Now  the  diame- 
ter of  the  earth  being  nearly  8000  miles,  and  the  period  of 
the  moon's  revolution  being  27  d.  7  h.  43m.,  it  is  easy  to  com- 
pute that  the  versed  sine  of  the  arc  described  by  the  moon 
in  a  minute  (which  is  the  same  as  her  deflexion  from  the 
tangent  or  straight  line  she  would  describe  if  there  were  no 
force  attracting  her  to  the  earth)  is  16  1-10  feet.  But  the 
mean  distance  of  the  moon  from  the  earth  being  60  times 
the  distance  of  heavy  bodies  at  its  surface  from  its  centre, 
and  her  gravity  increasing  in  proportion  to  the  square  of  the 
distance,  her  gravity  would  be  60x60  times  greater  at  the 
surface  of  the  earth  than  at  her  present  mean  distance,  and 
therefore  would  carry  her  through  60X60X16-1  feet  in  a 
minute  near  the  surface.  But  by  what  was  proved  by  Gali- 
leo respecting  the  descent  of  heavy  bodies,  the  same  force 
would  carry  her  through  60X60  times  less  space  in  a  second 
than  in  a  minute ;  and  therefore  the  same  force  which  com- 
pels the  moon  to  move  in  her  orbit  about  the  earth,  supposed 
to  vary  according  to  the  inverse  square  of  the  distance, 
would  cause  her  to  fall,  near  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
through  16-1  feet  in  a  second.  Now  this  is  exactly  the 
space  through  which  heavy  bodies  descend  in  a  second ; 
therefore  the  moon  may  be  retained  in  her  orbit  by  the 
power  of  terrestrial  gravity. 

Newton,  however,  did  not  allow  the  argument  for  univer- 
sal gravitation  to  rest  on  loose  considerations  of  the  lunar 
orbit  as  a  circle  described  with  an  average  velocity  about 
the  earth.  He  demonstrated  that  bodies  moving  under  the 
influence  of  an  attractive  force  which  diminishes  according 
to  the  inverse  square  of  the  distance  must  describe  conic 
sections  having  a  focus  at  the  centre  of  force,  and  observe 
the  laws  of  motion  which  Kepler  had  discovered  to  belong 
to  the  planetary  orbits.  He  succeeded  also  in  proving  that 
some  of  the  principal  inequalities  of  the  lunar  and  planetary 
orbits  are  necessary  consequences  of  the  mutual  gravitation 
of  the  different  bodies  of  the  system  to  each  other ;  and 
that  the  same  mysterious  power  not  only  regulates  the  mo- 
tions of  all  the  planets  and  satellites  in  space,  but  also  de- 
termines the  figure  of  the  earth,  causes  the  precession  of  the 
equinoxes,  and  produces  the  tides  of  the  ocean. 

Assuming  the  different  bodies  which  compose  the  solar 
system  to  be  acted  upon  by  their  mutual  gravitation,  accord- 
ing to  the  law  proposed  by  Newtion,  namely,  that  each  body 
attracts  every  other  with  a  force  proportional  to  its  mass  di- 
rectly and  to  the  square  of  the  distance  inversely,  the  deter- 
mination of  the  motions  of  the  several  planets  and  satellites 
becomes  a  question  of  pure  geometry  when  the  requisite 
data  are  determined  by  observation.  If,  however,  the  prob- 
lem were  required  to  be  solved  in  its  most  general  terms, 
and  it  were  necessary  to  consider  simultaneously  the  effects 
of  all  the  bodies  in  the  system,  the  difficulties  of  calculation 
would  be  enormous,  and  in  fact  no  methods  of  analysis 
hitherio  discovered  would  be  sufficient  to  grapple  with  them 


GRAVITY,  SPECIFIC. 


Fortunately  the  actual  condition  of  the  system  is  such  as  to 
afford  great  simplifications.  The  principal  planets  are  iso- 
lated in  space,  at  great  distances  from  each  other,  and  their 
masses  are  very  small  in  comparison  of  that  of  the  central 
body ;  so  that  the  effects  of  their  mutual  attractions  are  not 
such  as  to  alter  the  general  elliptic  form  of  their  orbits,  but 
merely  produce  small  perturbations  of  their  orbits  and  mo- 
tions, which  admit  of  being  separately  computed.  By  avail- 
ing themselves  of  these  favourable  conditions,  mathemati- 
cians have  succeeded  in  expressing  the  whole  of  the  compli- 
cated movements  of  the  planets  and  satellites  by  analytical 
equations;  and  such  is  the  perfection  to  which  this  branch 
of  physical  science  has  attained,  that  there  is  now  no  irregu- 
larity in  the  motions  of  the  bodies  of  the  solar  system,  no  de- 
viation from  their  mean  state  appreciable  to  the  most  deli- 
cate astronomical  observations,  which  has  not  been  explain- 
ed, and  its  period  and  amount  accurately  calculated  on  the 
principle  of  universal  gravitation,  according  to  the  law  dis- 
discovered  by  Newton.     See  Planet. 

The  effects  of  gravitation,  as  manifested  in  the  influences 
of  the  celestial  bodies  on  each  other,  enable  us  to  form  seve- 
ral conclusions  respecting  its  nature  and  mode  of  action. 
That  gravity  belongs  not  only  to  matter  in  the  aggregate,  but 
to  every  particle  of  which  bodies  are  composed,  is  rendered 
evident  by  the  manner  in  which  the  moon  disturbs  the 
waters  of  the  ocean.  Let  E  be  the  earth  and  M  the  moon. 
If  the  moon's  gravity  act- 
ed only  on  tlie  aggregate 
mass  and  not  on  each 
particle,  it  would  have 
no  effect  on  the  figure  of 
the  earth,  and  conse- 
quently no  tide  would  be 
produced.  But  the  ac- 
tion of  the  moon  on  the  different  parts  is  unequal.  Those  at 
a,  which  are  nearest  the  moon,  are  more  attracted  than  those 
at  the  centre  c ;  which  again  are  more  attracted  than  the 
parts  at  b,  which  are  farthest  from  the  moon.  The  conse- 
quence is,  that  a  fluid  particle  at  a  is  drawn  away  as  it  were 
from  the  general  mass,  and  an  accumulation  takes  place  at 
a'  For  the  same  reason,  the  attraction  at  c  being  stronger 
than  at  ft,  the  mass  of  the  earth  is  drawn  away  from  the 
parts  at  b,  and  the  fluid  is  in  a  manner  left  behind,  and  accu- 
mulates at  b'.  Hence  we  perceive  the  reason  why  it  is  high 
water  on  opposite  sides  of  the  earth  at  the  same  instant  of 
time.  In  fact,  in  consequence  of  the  moon's  attraction,  the 
fluids  on  the  surface  of  the  earth  have  a  tendency  at  every 
instant  to  arrange  themselves  in  the  form  of  an  elongated 
spheroid,  the  greater  axis  of  which  points  towards  the  moon. 
It  is  also  proved  by  astronomical  phenomena,  that  gravity 
is  a  force  which  is  transmitted  from  body  to  body,  not  suc- 
cessively, but  instantaneously.  Were  gravity  transmitted 
with  a  measurable  velocity,  the  rate  of  velocity  would  sen- 
sibly affect  the  secular  variation  of  the  mean  motion  of  the 
moon.  By  a  comparison  of  the  results  of  theory  with  ob- 
servation, Laplace  found  that  the  velocity  of  the  attracting 
force,  if  not  infinite  must  be  at  least  fifty  millions  of  times 
greater  than  the  velocity  of  light.     (Jllec.  Celeste,  liv.  xvi.) 

Anotlier  question  which  may  be  put  with  regard  to  the 
nature  of  gravity  is,  whether  its  action  is  in  any  degree  modi- 
fied by  the  interposition  of  the  substances  through  which  it 
penetrates  7  For  example,  whether  the  attractive  force  of 
the  earth,  which  must  penetrate  the  whole  substance  of  the 
moon  before  its  influence  reaches  the  particles  on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  that  body,  acts  with  the  same  intensity  on  those 
particles  as  on  those  nearest  the  earth,  regard  being  had  to 
the  law  of  the  distance-?  Now,  if  the  attractive  force  suf- 
fered any  diminution  in  passing  through  the  lunar  substance, 
the  parallax  would  thereby  be  affected;  and,  from  the 
amount  of  the  parallax,  it  is  certain  that  the  intensity  of  ter- 
restrial gravitation  on  the  different  molecules  of  the  moon 
suffers  no  variation,  excepting  what  arises  from  the  different 
distances  of  the  molecules.  It  may  therefore  be  considered, 
saya  Laplace,  as  sufficiently  established,  that  the  force  of 
gravity  is  of  so  subtle  a  nature  that  the  densest  bodies  of  the 
universe  offer  no  obstacle  to  its  frcn  passage. 

A  third  conclusion  is,  that  the  law  of  gravity  is  not  modi- 
fied in  any  respect  by  the  different  natures  of  the  celestial 
bodies.  If  the  action  of  the  sun  on  the  molecules  of  the 
earth  differed  only  by  a  millionth  part  from  its  action  on  the 
molecules  of  the  moon,  the  difference  would  occasion  a  va- 
riation of  the  sun's  parallax  amounting  to  several  seconds. 
But  the  supposition  of  any  such  variation  is  impossible.  It 
follows,  therefore,  that  the  gravitating  force  of  the  sun,  in 
equal  times  and  at  equal  distances,  impresses  equal  velocities 
on  the  earth  and  moon.  It  is  also  demonstrated  from  the 
theory  of  Jupiter  and  Satum,  that  Jupiter  acts  on  Saturn  ac- 
cording to  the  same  law  as  on  his  own  satellites.  Gravity  is 
therefore  a  force  altogether  independent  of  the  nature  of  the 
substances  on  which  it  acts. 

GRAVITY,  SPECIFIC.  The  specific  gravity  of  a  body 
is  the  ratio  of  its  weight  to  the  weight  of  an  equal  volume 


of  some  other  body  assumed  as  a  conventional  standard. 
The  standard  usually  adopted  for  this  purpose  is  pure  dis- 
tilled water  at  a  given  temperature.  In  England,  the  tem- 
perature is  generally  taken  at  62°  of  Fahrenheit's  scale ; 
the  French  take  it  at  32°,  or  that  of  melting  ice  ;  sometimes 
at  the  temperature  at  which  its  density  is  the  greatest  (about 
39-4°  of  Fahrenheit).  The  latter  is  by  far  the  more  con- 
venient, inasmuch  as  it  can  be  easily  maintained  without 
variations;  whereas  it  is  hardly  ]x>ssible  to  perform  experi- 
ments at  the  exact  temperature  of  02°,  in  consequence  of  the 
continual  variations  of  the  temperature  of  the  air.  It  is 
only,  however,  when  very  great  precision  is  required,  the  t  it 
is  necessary  to  make  the  experiment  with  water  at  any  par- 
ticular temperature ;  in  general,  it  is  sufficient  to  note  the 
temperature,  and  apply  a  correction  depending  on  the  known 
density  of  water  at  the  different  degrees  of  the  thermomet- 
ric  scale. 

The  most  obvious  method  of  ascertaining  the  relative 
weights  or  specific  gravities  of  two  different  bodies  is  to  im- 
merse them  successively  in  a  cylindrical  or  prismatic  vessel 
of  a  known  area,  containing  a  liquid  of  less  density  than 
either.  When  a  solid  is  immersed  in  a  liquid,  the  liquid  oc- 
cupies as  much  more  space  than  it  did  before  as  is  exactly 
equal  to  the  bulk  or  volume  of  the  body;  and  therefore  by 
immersing  equal  or  known  weights  of  different  bodies  in  a 
vessel  of  me  form  specified,  the  relation  between  the  heights 
at  which  the  liquid  stands  will  give  the  relation  between 
their  densities.  This  was  the  method  proposed  by  Archime- 
des for  solving  the  famous  problem  of  the  crown  of  Hiero. 

The  method  now  employed  is  susceptible  of  far  greater 
accuracy.  It  depends  on  this  principle,  that  a  body  when 
immersed  in  a  fluid  loses  just  as  much  of  its  weight  as  is 
equal  to  the  weight  of  an  equal  volume  of  the  fluid.  By 
weishing  a  body,  therefore,  first  in  air  (or  rather  in  vacuo), 
and  then  in  a  liquid,  the  ratio  of  its  specific  gravity  to  that  of 
the  liquid  will  be  found  as  follows:  Let  s  =  the  specific 
gravity  of  the  body,  v  —  its  volume,  w  =  its  weight  in  air, 
ami  W  =;  its  weight  in  the  liquid ;  also  let  s'  =  the  specific 
gravity  of  the  liquid,  and  v'  and  io'  be  respectively  the  vol- 
ume and  weight  of  a  given  portion  of  it.  Now  it  is  evident 
in  the  first  place,  that  if  the  volume  of  a  body  be  supposed 
constant,  its  specific  gravity  will  be  directly  proportional  to 
its  weight ;  and,  in  the  second  place,  if  the  weight  remains 
constant,  the  specific  gravity  will  vary  inversely  as  the  vol- 
ume ;  that  is  to  say,  the  smaller  the  volume  the  greater  is 
the  specific  gravity.  The  specific  gravity  of  a  body  is  there- 
fore directly  as  its  weight,  and  inversely  as  its  volume 
Hence  we  have 


But  if  w«  suppose  v  —  v',  the  weight  of  the  portion  of  liquid 
whose  volume  is  v'  will  be  equal,  by  the  principle  laid  down, 
to  the  difference  between  the  weight  of  the  body  in  air  and 
in  the  liquid,  that  is,  equal  to  to  —  W;  whence  w'  =  w  —  W, 
and  the  proportion  becomes 

s  :  s'  :  :  w  :  w  —  W ; 


from  which  we  deduce  s  =  s' 


■W 


Now  let  the  liquid 


be  pure  water  at  the  standard  temperature,  then  s'  =  1,  and 

we  have  simply  s  = rn  \   so  lnat  >n  order  to  obtain  the 

w  —  W 
specific  gravity  of  a  solid  body,  its  weight  in  air  must  be  di- 
vided by  the  loss  of  weight  it  sustains  when  weighed  in  pure 
water. 

The  process  of  finding  the  specific  gravity  of  any  solid 
body  denser  than  water  is  rendered  very  simple  by  means  of 
the  hydrostatic  balance.  When  the  solid  is  less  dense  than 
water,  its  weight  in  that  liquid  cannot  be  ascertained  di- 
rectly; but  it  may  be  found  by  attaching  the  body  to  an- 
other sufficiently  dense  to  cause  both  to  sink.  Let  ?=the 
weisht  of  the  light  body  in  air,  and  x  =  its  weight  in  water: 
h  =  the  weight  of  the  heavy  body  in  air,  and  h'  =  its  weight 
in  water ;  c  (=  /  +  ft)  =  the  weight  of  the  compound  or  uni- 
ted mass  in  air,  and  c  =  its  weight  in  water.  All  these 
quantities  are  found  by  experiment,  excepting  x.  Now  we 
have  obviousiv  I  —  x -f- h  —  k'  =  c  —  c' ;  therefore  l  —  xz= 
(  c  _ c')  _  (A  —  ft').  But  if  s  denote  the  specific  gravity  of 
the  right  body,  we  have,  by  what  has  already  been  shown,  s  = 


- ;  therefore  s  = 


I 


l  —  x'  {c  —  c')  —  {h  —  h') 

In  this  manner  the  specific  gravity  of  a  solid  in  the  state 
of  powder  mav  be  found  by  placing  it  in  a  vessel  whose 
weight  in  air  and  in  water  has  been  previously  determined. 

The  specific  gravity  of  a  liquid  may  be  found  in  several 
ways  hy  means  of  the"  hydrostatic  balance.  Let  a  solid  body 
of  any 'convenient  form",  for  example  a  sphere  of  glass,  be 
taken,  and  let  w  =  its  weisht  in  air,  w  =  its  weight  in 
water,  and  w"  =  Its  weight  in  the  fluid  whose  specific 
gravity  is  to  he  ascertained  ;  then,  taking  s  to  denote  the  spe- 
cific cravity  of  the  solid   body,  s'  the  specific  gravity  of 

531 


GRAVITY,  SPECIFIC 

water,  and  s"  the  specific  gravity  of  the  liquid,  we  have  by 


the  first  formula  s  —  s' 


and  also  s  —  s"  - 


duce  s"  = 


7  —  s"  ■ — 77 ;  and  making  s'  =  1,  we  dc- 

to  —  w 

;.  It  is  evident  that  this  process  is  equiva- 
lent to  finding  the  ratio  of  the  density  of  the  solid  body  first 
to  water,  and  then  to  the  liquid  to  be  experimented  on. 

Another  method  is  to  take  a  phial  of  known  weight  and 
weigh  it  when  filled  with  water ;  the  increase  of  weight  is 
of  course  the  weight  of  the  water.  It  is  then  filled  with  the 
liquid,  and  again  weighed,  ami  the  weight  of  the  contained 
liquid  thus  ascertained.  We  have  then  the  weights  of  equal 
hulks  of  the  water  and  the  liquid,  whence  tile  ratio  of  their 
specific  gravities  is  known. 

For  many  practical  purposes,  and  especially  for  determin- 
ing the  specific  gravities  or  strengths  of  spirituous  liquors,  it 


is  necessary  to  have  recourse  to  more  expeditious  methods 
than  that  of  the  hydrostatic  balance.  In  such  cases,  the 
instrument  called  an  hydrometer  is  employed.  (See  Hy- 
drometer.) 

The  specific  gravities  of  the  gaseous  fluids  are  usually  de- 
termined in  terms  of  that  of  atmospheric  air.  The  diffe- 
rence between  the  weights  of  a  flask  when  exhausted  of  air 
by  means  of  the  air-pump  and  when  filled  with  the  gas 
gives  the  weight  of  the  gas  which  it  contains.  But  experi- 
ments of  this  kind  require  to  be  made  with  great  care,  as 
they  are  much  affected  by  small  variations  of  the  tempera- 
ture, pressure,  and  hygrometric  state  of  the  atmosphere.  For 
8  detailed  account  of  the  method  of  proceeding,  and  the 
manner  of  applying  the  requisite  corrections,  see  BioVs 
Traite  de  Physique,  tome  i. 

The  subjoined  tables  give  the  specific  gravities  of  the  sub- 
stances which  most  frequently  occur :  for  a  more  extended 
list,  we  refer  to  Brisson's  Table  (Pesanteur  specifique  des 
Corps) ;  or  to  the  Ency.  Britannica,  art.  "  Hydrostatics." 


I.  Table  of  the  Specific  Gravities  of  Solids  and  Liquids  at  the  Temperature  of  32°  of  Fahrenheit,  the  Density  of  Water 

being  1. 


Acid,  Acetic  ....  1.062 
Arsenic  ....  3.391 
Arsenious  ....  3.728 
Benzoic  ....  0.667 
Boracic,  crystallized  .  .  1.479 
fused  .  .  .  1.803 
Citric  ....    1.034 

Formic  ....  1.116 
Fluoric  ....  1.060 
Molybdic  ....  3.460 
Muriatic  ....  1.200 
Nitric  ....    1.271 

Do.  highly  concentrated    .     1.583 
Phosphoric,  liquid      .        .    1.558 
solid         .        .    2.800 
Sulphuric    ....    1.850 

Agate 2.590 

Alcohol,  absolute        .        .        .    0.797 
of  commerce         .        .    0.835 

Alum 1.714 

Amber         .        .        from  1.064  to  1.100 

Ambergris  .        .        from  0.780  to  0.926 

Amethyst,  common    .        .        .    2.750 

oriental     .        .        .    3.391 

Amanthus   .        .        from  1.000  to   .313 

Ammonia,  aqueous     .        .        .    0.875 

Arragonite  ....    2.900 

Azure-stone         ....    2.850 

Barytes,  Sulphate  of,   from  4.000  to  4.558 

Carbonate  of,   from  4.100  to  4.600 

Basalt .        .        .        from  2.421  to  3.000 

Beryl,  oriental     ....    3.549 

occidental         .        .        .    2.723 

Blood,  human      ....    1.053 

crassamentum  of      .        .    1.245 

Borax 1.714 

Butter 0.942 

Camphor 0.988 

Caoutchouc,  or  India  rubber  .  0.933 
Camelian,  speckled  .  .  .  2.613 
Chalcedony,conmion,  from  2.600  to  2.650 
Chalk  .        .        from  2.252  to  2.657 

Chrosyolite  ....  3.400 
Cinnabar,  from  Almaden  .  .  6.902 
Coals  .        .        from  1.020  to  1.300 

Copal 1.045 

Coral,  red    .        .        from  2.630  to  2.857 
white        .        from  2.540  to  2.570 

Corundum 3.710 

Cyder 1.018 

Diamond,  oriental,  colourless     .    3.521 

Do.  coloured  varieties,from  3.523  to  3.550 

Do.  Brazilian       ....     3.444 

coloured  varieties,  from  3.518  to  3.550 

Dolomite     .        .        from  2.540  to  2.830 

Dragon's  Blood  (a  resin)     .        .     1.204 

Ether,  Acetic      ....    0.866 

Muriatic    ....    0.729 

Nitric        ....     0.908 

Sulphuric  from  0.032  to  0.775 

Emerald      .        .        from  2.600  to  2.770 

Fat  of  beef 0.923 

Felspar  .  .  from  2.438  to  2.700 
Flint,  black  ....    2.582 

Gamboge 1.222 

Garnet,  precious         from 4.000 to 4.230 

common  from  3.576  to  3.700 

Glass,  crown       ....    2.520 

green        ....    2.042 

532 


Glass,  flint   .        .        from  2.760  to  3.000 

common  plate  .        .        •    2.760 

Granite        .        .        from  2.613  to  2.956 

Gum  arable        ....    1.452 

Gunpowder,  loose       .        •        •    0.836 

solid        .        .        .    1.745 

Gypsum,  compact,       from  1 .872  to  2.288 

crystallized,  from  2.311  to  3.000 

Heliotrope,  or  Bloodstone, 

from  2.629  to  2.700 

Honey 1.450 

Honeystone,orMellite,from  1.560  to  1.666 
Hornblende  .        from  3.250  to  3.830 

Hornstone  .  .  from  2.533  to  2.810 
Hyacinth  .  .  from  4.000  to  4.780 
Jasper  .        .        from  2.358  to  2.816 

Jet 1.300 

Indigo 1.009 

Ironstone  from  Canon        .        .    3.281 
Lancashire       .    3.573 

Isinglass 1.111 

Ivory  1.825 

Laid  0.947 

Lead — Glance,  or  Galena,  from 

Derbyshire       -        from  6.565  to  7.786 
Limestone,  compact,  from  2.380  to  3.000 
Magnesia,  native,  Hydrate  of     .    2.330 
Carbonate  of, 

from  2.220  to  2.612 
Malachite,  compact,  from3.572  to  3.994 
Marble,  Carrara  .        .        .    2.716 


Mastic  (a  resin)  . 

1.074 

Melanite,  or  black  Gamet,  from 

3.691  to  3.800 

Metals — Antimony 

6.702 

Arsenic 

5.763 

Bismuth 

9.880 

Brass     .        from  7.824  to  8.396 

Cadmium 

8.600 

Chromium     . 

5.900 

Cobalt   .... 

8.600 

Columbium   . 

5.600 

8.900 

Gold,  cast 

19.258 

hammered   . 

19.361 

Iridium,  hammered 

23.000 

Iron,  cast  at  Canon 

7.248 

forged  into  bars    . 

7.788 

Lead      .... 

11.352 

Manganese    . 

8.000 

Mercury 

13.598 

Molybdenum 

8.600 

Nickel,  cast  . 

8.279 

forged 

8.666 

Osmium   and  Iridium, 

alloy  of 

19.500 

Palladium 

11.800 

Platina,  forged 

20.336 

drawn  into  wire  21 .042 

in  plates  . 

22.069 

Potassium  at  59°  Fah. 

0.865 

Rhodium 

11.000 

Selenium 

4.300 

Silver     . 

10.474 

hammered     . 

10.510 

Sodium  at  59°  Fahr. 

0.972 

Steel,  soft      . 

7.833 

tempered 

7.816 

Metals— Steel,  hardened  .  .  7.840 
Tellurium,  from  5.700  to  6.115 
Tin,  Cornish  .        .    7.291 

hardened       .        .    7.299 
Tungsten       .        .        .  17.400 
Uranium        .        .        .    9.000 
Zinc      .        from  6.200  to  7.191 
Mica  .        .        from  2.650  to  2.934 

Milk  1.032 

Mineral   Pitch,   or  Asphaltum, 

from  0.905  to  1.233 
Mineral  tallow  ....  0.770 
Mynh  (a  resin)  ....  1.360 
Naphtha     .        .        from  0.700  to  0.847 

Nitre  1.900 

Obsidian      .        .        from  9.348  to  2.370 

Oils,  Essential— Amber       .        .    0.868 

Aniseseed  .        .    0.986 

Canawayseed  .    0.904 

Cinnamon .        .    1.043 

Cloves       .        .    1.036 

Lavender  .        .    0.894 

Turpentine        .    0.870 

Wormwood       .    0.907 

Expressed— Sweet  Almonds  0.932 

Hempseed  .    0.926 

Linseed     .        .    0.940 

Olives       .        .    0.915 

Poppyseed  .    0.939 

Rapeseed   .        .    0.913 

Whale       .        .    0.923 

Opal,  precious     .        .        .        .2.114 

common     .        from  1.958  to  2.114 

Opium 1.336 

Orpiment  .  .  from  3.048  to  3.500 
Pearl,  Oriental  .  from  2.510 to  2.750 
Pearlstone  ....    2.340 

Peruvian  Bark  ....  0.784 
Phosphorus  ....    1.770 

Pitchstone  .        from  1.970  to  2.720 

Plumbago,orGraphite,from  1.987  to  2.400 
Porcelain,  from  China  .  .  2.384 
Sevres  .  .  2.145 
Porphyry  .  .  from  2.458  to  2.972 
Seltzer  ....  1.003 
Proof-spirit  ....    0.923 

Pumice-stone  .  from  0.752  to  0.914 
Quartz  .  .  from  2.024  to  3.750 
Realgar  .  .  from  3.225  to  3.338 
Rock-crystal  .  from  2.581  to  2.888 
Ruby,  Oriental  ....  4.283 
Sapphire,  Oriental  from  4.000  to  4.200 
Sardonyx  .  .  from  2.602  to  2.628 
Scammony  of  Smyrna  .  .  1.274 
Schorl  .  .  from  2.922  to  3.452 
Serpentine  .  .  from  2.264  to 2.999 
Silver  Glance  .  from  5.300  to  7.208 
Slate  (drawing)  .  .  .  .2.110 
Spar,  Fl  uor  .        from  3.094  to  3  791 

calcareous.        from  2.620  to  2.837 

Spermaceti 0.943 

Stalactite    .        .        from  2.323  to  2.546 

Stone,  Bristol      .        from  2.510  to  2.640 

grinding   ....    2.142 

Portland  ....    2.496 

rotten       ....    1.981 

Sugar 1.606 

Sulphur,  native  ....  2.033 
fused    ....    1.990 


GRAYLING. 


Talc  .        .        from  2.080  to  3.000 

Tallow 0.941 

Topaz  .        .        from  4.010  to  4.0G1 

Tourmaline  .  from  3.086  to  3.361 
Turquoise  .  .  from  2.500  to  3.001 
Ultramarine  ....  2.362 
Vinegar  .  .  from  1.013  to  1.080 
Water,  distilled  ....    1.000 

sea 1.020 

of  Dead  Sea   .        .        .     1.248 

Wax,  Bees'         ....    0.964 

Shoemakers'  .        .        .    0.897 

Whey,  cows'      ....    1.019 

Wine,  Bourdeaux       .        .        .    0.993 

Burgundy  .        .    0.991 

Constance         .        .        .    1.081 

Malaga     ....    1.022 

Port  ....    0.997 

White  Champagne  .        .    0.997 

Wood,  Alder       ....    0.800 

Apple-tree        .       .        .    0.793 

Ash  ....    0.845 


GREEK  CHURCH. 


Table  I.  (continisd ) 
Wood,Bay-tree    . 
Beech 
Box,  French 

Dutch 
Brazilian,  Red  . 
Campeachy 
Cedar,  Wild     . 
Palestine 
Cherry-tree 
Citron 
Cocoa 
Crab-tree  . 
Cork 

Cypress,  Spanish 
Ebony,  American     . 

Indian 
Elder-tree 
Elm-tree 
Filbert-tree 
Fir,  Male 

Female 
Hazel 


Juniper-tree 

Lemon-tree 

Lignum  Vita;    . 

Mahogany 

Maple-tree 

Mulberry,  Spanish    . 

Oak-heart,  60  yrs.  old 

Olive-tree 

Orange-tree 

Pear-tree 

Plum-tree 

Pomegranate-tree 

Poplar 

White  Spanish 

Vine 

Walnut     . 

Willow     . 

Yew,  Dutch 

Spanish  . 
Woodstone  .        from  2.045 

Zeolite         .        .        from  2.073 
Zircon         .        .        from  4.385 


.  0.556 
.  0.703 
.  1.333 
.  1.063 
.  0.750 
.  0.897 
.  1.170 
,  0.927 
.  0.705 
.  0.766 
.  0.785 
.    1.351 

0.383 
,    0.529 

1.327 
,  0.681 
.  0.585 
.  0.788 
.  0.807 
to  2.675 
to  2.718 
to  4.700 


II.  Table  of  the  Specific  Gravities  of  the  Gases  and  Vapours,  that  of  Atmospheric  Air  being  1. 


Gases — Atmospheric  Air   . 

.    1.000 

Gases— Euchlorine 

Ammoniacal    . 

.    0.590 

Fluoboric  Acid 

Carbonic  Acid 

.    1.527 

Fluosilicic  Acid 

Carbonic  Oxide 

.    0.972 

Hydriodic  Acid 

Carburetted  Hydrogen 

.    0.972 

Hydrogen 

Chlorine 

.    2.500 

Muriatic  Acid  . 

Chlorocarbonous  Acid 

.    3.472 

Nitric  Oxide 

Chloroprussic  Acid  . 

.    2.152 

Nitrogen 

Cyanogen 

.     1.805 

Nitrous  Acid    . 

2.440 
2.371 
3.032 
4.340 
0.069 
1.284 
1.041 
0.972 
2.638 


Gases — Nitrous  Oxide        .        .  1.527 

Oxygen  .          ...  1.111 

Phosphuretted  Hydrogen .  0.902 

Prussic  Acid     .        .        .  0.937 

Sub-carburetted  Hydrogen  0.555 

Sub-phosphuretted  ditto  .  0.972 

Sulphuretted            ditto  .  1.180 

Sulphurous  Acid      .        .  2.222 


GRAYLING.     See  Salmo. 

GRAZIO  SO.  (It.)  In  Music,  an  instruction  to  the  per- 
former that  the  music  to  which  this  word  is  affixed  is  to  be 
executed  elegantly  and  gracefully. 

GREAVE.  (Fr.  greve.)  A  piece  of  armour  defending 
the  shin  (in  the  patois  of  Burgundy,  greve  still  signifies  shin). 
The  greave  was  a  piece  of  steel  hollowed  to  fit  the  front  of 
the  leg,  and  fastened  with  straps  behind.  The  Greeks  term- 
ed them  Kvtijjiides,  whence  the  common  epithet  of  ivKi'inxiSts 
'A%aioi,  or  "  well-greaved  Greeks,"  in  the  Iliad.  It  appears 
that  the  greave  common  among  the  Greeks  was  used  in  some 
instances  by  the  Roman  soldiery,  but  only  on  one  leg,  the 
other  being  covered  with  the  buckler.  It  is  said  to  have  been 
discontinued  in  the  armies  of  the  Greek  empire,  under  the 
emperor  Maurice  (about  the  end  of  the  6th  century),  and 
again  brought  into  use  in  those  armies  of  the  middle  ages 
about  1320.  They  were  also  called  jambs,  bcin-bergs,  &c. 
They  were  originally  of  leather,  quilted  linen,  &c.  The 
clavons  were  a  species  of  greaves  made  of  cloth. 

GREAVES,  or  GRAVES.  The  sediment  of  melted  tal- 
low, composed  of  the  membranous,  vascular,  nervous,  and 
muscular  matters  blended  with  the  fat,  and  which  not  being 
fusible,  are  easily  separated  from  it  by  straining  ;  they  are 
made  up  into  cakes,  and  sold  by  the  tallow-chandlers,  being 
chiefly  used  as  a  coarse  food  for  large  house-dogs. 

GREBE.     See  Podiceps. 

GRECIAN  ARCHITECTURE.     See  Architecture. 

GREEK  CHURCH,  THE,  comprises  the  great  bulk  of  the 
Christian  population  of  Russia  and  Greece,  Moldavia  and 
Wallachia,  besides  various  congregations  scattered  through- 
out the  provinces  of  the  Turkish  and  Austrian  empires,  who 
acknowledge  the  patriarch  of  Constantinople  as  their  head. 
This  prelate,  although  possessing  a  certain  spiritual  suprema- 
cy over  this  extensive  community,  has  never  ventured  to 
assert  any  claim  to  the  temporal  power  so  long  wielded  by 
his  rival  at  Rome.  His  ambition  was  curbed  in  the  first  in- 
stance by  the  jealousy  of  the  emperors,  with  whom  he  was 
brought  into  closer  contact;  and  since  the  Mohammedan 
conquest  the  state  of  weakness  and  poverty  into  which  the 
Christian  church  in  Turkey  has  been  thrown  has  annihi- 
lated all  views  of  aggrandizement.  In  earlier  times,  how- 
ever, the  Constantinopolitan  pontiffs  clearly  showed  that 
they  did  not  lack  the  will  to  raise  themselves  to  an  equal 
station  in  the  East  with  the  growing  authority  of  the  popes 
in  the  West.  The  origin  of  the  separation  which  has  now 
prevailed  for  many  hundred  years  between  two  such  impor- 
tant sections  of  Christendom  as  the  Latin  and  Greek  churches, 
approaching  so  near  as  they  do  in  many  of  their  fundamental 
principles,  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  rival  pretensions  set  up 
by  the  bishop  of  the  two  imperial  cities,  and  dates  almost 
from  the  foundation  of  the  younger  capital. 

As  early  as  the  year  451  the  council  of  Chalcedon  assign- 
ed Asia  Minor,  Pontus,  Thrace,  and  the  frontiers  of  Illyricum 
for  the  extent  of  the  spiritual  jurisdiction  of  the  church  of 
Byzantium,  and  conferred  upon  its  bishop  the  same  honours 


and  privileges  as  had  been  already  conceded  to  the  pope  of 
Rome.  The  patriarchs  of  Antioch  and  Alexandria  main- 
tained at  this  period  an  independent  authority;  but  were 
gradually  reduced  under  the  predominant  influence  of  the 
patriarch  of  the  East.  The  aggressions,  however,  of  the 
rival  pontiffs  did  not  proceed  pari  passu  :  the  Roman,  being 
farther  removed  from  the  imperial  authority,  which  was 
seated  at  Ravenna,  assumed  by  degrees  a  direct  temporal 
authority  over  the  neighbouring  districts,  which  led  the  way 
to  the  prodigious  indirect  supremacy  which  he  usurped  after 
the  lapse  of  several  ages.  The  Constantinopolitan,  on  the 
contrary,  was  always  strictly  watched,  and  fettered  by  the 
proximity  of  the  Eastern  emperors;  and  the  extension  or 
declension  of  his  authority  depended  in  most  cases  more 
upon  the  particular  character  of  the  wearer  of  the  crown 
than  of  the  mitre.  The  first  doctrinal  ground  of  dispute  was 
the  assertion  of  the  Latin  church,  about  the  beginning  of  the 
9th  century,  of  the  double  procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost  from 
the  Father  and  the  Son.  The  word  filioque,  first  surrep- 
titiously inserted  into  the  Constantinopolitan  creed  many 
years  after  its  promulgation,  became  the  badge  of  the  West- 
ern church ;  and  whatever  apparent  advantage  the  shame- 
ful forgery  above  mentioned  might  give  to  the  opposite 
party,  it  is  very  certain  that  the  other  dogma,  the  procession 
from  the  Father  alone,  had  never  been  declared  by  the 
council  of  the  church.  And  the  silence  of  the  symbols  upon 
it  was  no  argument  against  either  the  truth  of  the  doctrine, 
or  the  fact  of  its  having  been  held,  as  much  as  any  doctrine 
may  he  said  to  be  so,  before  it  has  been  brought  forward 
into  discussion  and  settled  in  men's  minds  by  the  great  mass 
of  the  learned  world. 

The  discussions  produced  by  this  controversy  were  brought 
to  a  head  by  the  sudden  elevation  of  Photius,  a  layman,  to 
the  patriarchate,  by  the  command  of  the  emperor.  In  six 
successive  days  he  passed  through  the  six  preliminary  orders : 
he  became  successively  monk,  reader,  subdeacon,  deacon, 
priest,  bishop,  and  finally,  on  the  seventh  day,  was  conse- 
crated patriarch  ;  and  all  this  to  the  violent  exclusion  of  the 
existing  pontiff,  Ignatius.  The  appointment  of  Photius,  who 
was  a  man  of  extraordinary  talents,  alarmed  the  Romish 
see.  The  cause  of  Ignatius  was  supported  in  the  West ;  and 
the  intruder  excommunicated  by  Nicholas  I.  The  thunder 
of  Rome  was  retorted  by  a  charge  made  on  the  part  of 
Photius  against  the  Latin  church  of  five  distinct  heresies ; 
which  it  may  be  as  well  to  enumerate,  in  order  to  show  the 
frivolity  of  the  greater  part  of  the  grounds  of  dispute  at  this 
period.  1.  It  was  objected  that  the  Romanists  fasted  on  the 
Sabbath,  or  seventh  day  of  the  week ;  2.  That  they  permit- 
ted the  use  of  milk  and  cheese  in  the  first  week  of  Lent;  3, 
That  they  forbade  their  priests  to  many;  4.  That  they 
authorized  bishops  to  baptize  with  the  chrism,  and  forbade 
the  priests  ;  5.  That  tliey  had  interpolated  the  creed  of  Con- 
stantinople with  the  word  filioque,  and  held  the  doctrine 
therein  implied. 

These  proceedings  widened  the  breach  which  had  already 

533 


GREEN  CLOTH,  BOARD. 

in  fact  taken  place  by  the  formal  transference  which  the 
emperor  had  effected  of  several  provinces  east  of  the  Adri- 
atic, from  the  jurisdiction  of  Rome  to  that  of  Constantinople. 
The  Roman  party  continued,  however,  still  powerful  in  the 
East,  and  the  intrigues  of  the  papal  see  were  frequently  suc- 
cessful ;  until  in  1054  the  mutual  excommunications  pronounc- 
ed upon  each  other  by  Leo  IX.  and  Cerularius  caused  the  final 
separation,  which  has  continued  to  the  present  day. 

The  opinions  of  the  Greek  church  bear  considerable  affini- 
ty to  those  of  the  Latin.  The  fundamental  distinction  is  the 
rejection  of  the  spiritual  supremacy  of  St.  Peter,  and  the 
denial  of  any  visible  representative  of  Christ  upon  earth. 
In  the  view  which  it  takes  of  the  procession  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  it  is  at  variance  not  only  with  the  Roman  Catholic 
church,  but  with.  Protestants  also.  It  recognizes,  however, 
the  seven  sacraments ;  authorizes  the  offering  of  prayer  to 
the  saints  and  Virgin  ;  and  encourages  the  use  of  pictures, 
though  forbidding  that  of  images.  It  holds  in  reverence  also 
the  relics  and  tombs  of  holy  men  ;  enjoins  strict  fasting  and 
the  giving  of  alms,  looking  upon  them  as  works  of  intrinsic 
merit ;  and  numbers  among  its  adherents  numerous  orders 
of  monks  and  nuns.  It  allows,  however,  the  marriage  of 
its  secular  priests,  and  rejects  auricular  confession.  It  holds 
that  modified  form  of  the  Roman  doctrine  of  the  eucharist 
which  is  denominated  consubstantiation ;  and  apparently 
entertains  some  confused  notions  of  a  purgatory,  in  consider- 
ation of  which  it  offers  prayers  for  the  dead.  It  administers 
baptism  by  immersion. 

The  services  of  this  church  mostly  consist  of  ceremonial 
observances ;  preaching  and  the  reading  of  the  scriptures 
form  but  a  small  part  of  them:  the  former,  indeed,  was  at 
one  period  altogether  forbidden  in  Russia.  The  mass  of  the 
people  are  in  a  state  of  the  grossest  ignorance  upon  religious 
subjects ;  and  the  worship  of  the  lower  orders,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  a  poor  and  unlettered  ministry,  is  hardly  distin- 
guishable from  the  grossest  heathenism. 

GREEN  CLOTH,  BOARD  OF.  A  court  of  justice  be- 
longing to  the  king's  household,  daily  sitting  in  the  king's 
palace,  under  the  lord  high  steward.  It  is  attended  by 
various  officers  of  the  household,  and  by  the  steward  of  the 
Marshalsea,  who  is  always  a  banister.  They  meet  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  daily  accounts  of  expenses,  making  pro- 
vision and  payments  for  the  household,  and  paying  the  wages 
of  the  king's  servants  under  the  lord  high  steward.  It  has 
jurisdiction  in  all  offences  committed  in  the  king's  palaces, 
and  within  the  verge  of  his  court. 

GREEN-HOUSE.  In  Gardening,  a  house  with  a  roof  and 
one  or  more  sides  of  glass,  for  the  purpose  of  containing 
plants  in  pots  which  are  too  tender  to  endure  the  open  air 
the  greater  part  of  the  year.  The  green-house,  being  a 
structure  of  luxury,  ought  to  be  for  the  most  part  situated 
near  the  house,  in  order  to  be  enjoyed  by  the  family  in  in- 
clement weather;  and,  if  possible,  it  should  be  connected 
with  the  flower-garden,  as  being  of  the  same  character  with 
reference  to  use.  Its  length  and  breadth  may  be  varied  at 
pleasure,  but  its  height  should  never  be  less  than  that  of  the 
loftiest  apartments  of  the  house  to  which  it  belongs.  The 
best  aspect  is  to  the  south  or  south-east ;  but  any  aspect  may 
be  chosen,  provided  the  roof  is  entirely  of  glass,  and  abundant 
heat  is  supplied  by  art.  In  green-houses  facing  the  north, 
however,  the  more  tender  plants  will  not  thrive  so  well  in 
winter :  more  artificial  heat  will  be  required  at  that  season  ; 
and  the  plants  should  be  chiefly  ever-greens,  and  other  plants 
that  come  into  flower  in  the  summer  season,  and  grow  or 
flower  but  little  during  winter.  In  most  green-houses  the 
plants  are  kept  in  pots  or  boxes,  and  set  on  stages  or  shelves, 
in  order  that  they  may  be  near  the  roof,  so  as  to  receive  the 
direct  influence  of  the  rays  of  light  immediately  on  their 
passing  through  the  glass.  An  orangery  differs  from  a  green- 
house in  having  an  opaque  roof,  and  in  being  chiefly  devoted 
to  plants  which  produce  their  shoots  and  flowers  in  the  sum- 
mer season  and  in  the  open  air;  and  they  are  set  in  the 
orangery  merely  to  preserve  them  through  the  winter.  Such 
a  structure  might  with  more  propriety  be  termed  a  conser- 
vatory ;  but  custom  in  the  present  day  has  applied  this  term 
to  structures  having  glass  roofs  in  which  the  plants  are  not 
kept  in  pots,  but  planted  in  the  free  soil,  and  in  which  a 
part  of  them  are  encouraged  to  grow  and  flower  in  the  win- 
ter months.     See  Orangery  and  Conservatory. 

GREEN  ROOM,  in  the  Theatre,  the  name  given  to  the 
actors'  retiring  room  ;  so  called,  in  all  probability,  from  its  be- 
ing originally  painted  or  otherwise  ornamented  with  green. 

GRE'ENSAND.  Beds  belonging  to  the  chalk  forma- 
tion :  they  often  contain  chlorite  or  green  earth  scattered 
through  the  sandstone  and  limestone  of  which  they  consist. 
Sec  Geology. 

GREEN,  SCHEELE'S.  An  arsenite  of  copper.  Mineral 
green  is  a  subcarbonate  of  copper,  and  Brunswick  green  an 
oxychloride  of  copper. 

GREEN  SICKNESS.     See  Chlorosis. 

GREENSTONE.    A  variety  of  traprock  composed  of 
felspar  and  hornblende.    See  Geology. 
534 


GRETNA  GREEN  MARRIAGES. 

GREEN  VITRIOL.  The  metallic  salts  of  sulphuric  acid 
were  formerly  designated  vitriols :  sulphate  of  iron  was 
termed  green  vitriol.  It  is  a  compound  of  1  atom  of  oxide 
of  iron  and  1  atom  of  sulphuric  acid :  the  crystals  contain 
7  atoms  of  water ;  hence  the  crystallized  salt  consists  of  36 
protoxide  of  iron,  40  sulphuric  acid,  and  63  water,  and  its 
equivalent  is  =  139.  Sulphate  of  copper  is  called  blue 
vitriol,  and  sulphate  of  zinc  white  vitriol. 

GREGO'RIAN  CALENDAR.  The  reformed  calendar 
of  the  church  of  Rome,  introduced  by  Pope  Gregory  XIII.  in 
1582,  in  which  the  error  of  the  civil  year  of  the  Julian  cal- 
ender was  corrected  by  the  omission  of  three  intercalary 
days  in  four  centuries,  and  the  moon's  age,  with  the  time  of 
Easter,  with  the  other  moveable  feasts  depending  on  it,  in- 
dicated by  the  table  of  epacts.    See  Calendar. 

GREGO'RIAN  EPOCH.  The  epoch  or  time  at  which 
the  computation  by  the  Gregorian  calendar  commenced. 
This  was  in  March,  1582.  » 

GREGO'RIAN  TELESCOPE.  The  first  and  most  com- 
mon form  of  the  reflecting  telescope,  invented  by  James 
Gregory,  professor  of  mathematics  in  the  university  of  St. 
Andrew's,  and  afterwards  of  Edinburgh,  and  described  by 
him  in  his  Optica  Promota,  published  in  1663.  See  Tele- 
scope. 

GREGO'RIAN  YEAR.  The  civil  year  of  the  Gregorian 
calendar.  In  the  Gregorian  calendar  the  common  year  con- 
sists of  365  days,  and  every  fourth  year  is  a  leap  year,  or 
contains  366  days,  excepting  the  last  years  of  every  century 
of  which  the  number  is  not  divisible  by  4.  Thus,  the  years 
1700,  1800,  1900,  are  not  leap  years ;  but  1600  and  2000  are 
leap  years,  the  numbers  16  and  20  being  divisible  by  4.  The 
period  is  consequently  400  years,  in  the  course  of  which  there 
occur  97  intercalations ;  so  that  400  years  contain  365  X  400 
+  97  =  146,097  days,  and  therefore  one  Gregorian  year  con- 
sists of  365-2425  mean  solar  days,  or  365  d.  5  h.  49  m.  12  sec. 
But  the  true  solar  year  consists  of  365  d.  5  h.  48  m.  49-62 
sec.  The  Gregorian  year,  therefore,  errs  in  excess  by  22-38 
seconds ;  but  the  error  is  not  worth  taking  into  account,  as 
it  only  amounts  to  one  whole  day  in  3866  years. 

GRENA'DE.  A  hollow  ball  of  iron  about  two  inches  and 
a  half  in  diameter,  charged  with  gunpowder  smd  furnished 
with  a  proper  fuse ;  it  is  often  called  a  hand  grenade,  being 
thrown  from  the  parapets  of  besieged  places  upon  the  in- 
vaders beneath. 

GRENADI'ERS,  was  the  name  given  at  first  to  the  sol- 
diers who  threw  the  grenade  ;  but  it  was  afterwards  confer- 
red on  certain  troops  of  the  line,  distinguished  from  the  latter 
chiefly  by  some  peculiarities  of  dress,  accoutrements,  &c. 
This  appellation  originated  with  the  French  in  1667,  but  was 
speedily  adopted  into  all  the  armies  of  Europe ;  and  wherever 
the  name  has  been  introduced,  the  finest-looking  and  tallest 
men  of  the  regiment  have  always  been  selected  to  form  what 
is  called  the  grenadier  companies. 

GRE'S.     (Fr.)     Sandstone  or  grit. 

GRESSO'RIAL,  in  Ornithology,  is  applied  to  the  feet  of 
birds  which  have  three  toes  forward,  two  of  which  are  con- 
nected, and  one  behind. 

GRETNA  GREEN  MARRIAGES.  A  species  of  mar- 
riage, so  called  from  its  being  usually  celebrated  at  that 
place.  The  following  statement,  which  we  have  borrowed 
from  the  Geographical  Dictionary,  conveys  so  full  and  ac- 
curate particulars  of  these  far-famed  marriages,  that  we 
have  taken  the  liberty  of  transferring  it  to  our  columns. 

"  The  marriage  ceremony  merely  amounts  to  an  admis- 
sion before  witnesses  that  certain  persons  are  man  and  wife ; 
such  acknowledgment  being  sufficient,  provided  it  be  follow- 
ed or  preceded  by  cohabitation,  according  to  the  law  of  Scot- 
land, to  constitute  a  valid  marriage.  A  certificate  to  this 
effect  being  signed  by  the  officiating  priest  (who  has  never 
been  above  the  rank  of  a  tradesman),  and  by  two  witnesses, 
the  union,  under  the  above  condition,  becomes  indissoluble. 
The  marriage  service  of  the  church  of  England  is  sometimes 
read,  in  order  to  please  the  parties.  The  marriages  of  this 
sort  celebrated  at  Gretna  Green  are  estimated  at  between 
300  and  400  a  year ;  but  as  similar  marriages  are  celebrated 
at  Springfield,  Annan,  Coldstream,  and  other  places  along 
the  border,  their  total  number  is  said  to  amount  to  500  a 
yeaT!  The  parties  are  generally  from  England,  and  of  the 
lowest  ranks ;  though  there  are  not  a  few  instances  of  per- 
sons of  the  higher  ranks,  and  even  of  lord-chancellors,  having 
had  recourse  to  the  services  of  the  soidisant  parsons  of  Gretna 
Green.  A  trip  to  Gretna,  or  the  presence  of  a  self-dubbed 
parson,  is  not,  however,  at  all  necessary.  Parties  crossing 
the  Scottish  border,  and  declaring  before  witnesses  that  they 
are  man  and  wife,  are,  under  the  previously  mentioned  con- 
ditions, married  according  to  the  law  of  Scotland.  This  law 
lias  been  much  objected  to,  but  we  are  inclined  to  think  with 
no  good  reason.  It  would,  indeed,  be  no  difficult  matter  to 
show  that  it  is,  on  the  whole,  productive  of  numerous  ad- 
vantages. Nowhere,  perhaps,  are  there  so  few  rash  or  im- 
provident marriages  as  in  Scotland;  and  the  retrospective 
effect  of  the  existing  law,  or  its  influence  in  legitimising  the 


GREYWACKE. 

children  bom  before  marriage,  is,  perhaps,  its  most  valuable 
feature.  But  it  is  necessary  to  observe,  that  though  legiti- 
mated in  Scotland,  children  born  previously  to  a  Scotch  mar- 
riage are  not  legitimated  in  England,  and  do  not  succeed,  ex- 
cept by  special  bequest,  to  heritable  property  in  that  part  of 
the  U.  Kingdom.  In  all  respects,  however,  Scotch  marriages 
convey  the  same  rights  and  privileges  in  England  as  English 
marriages.  The  practice  began  at  Gretna  Green  about  90 
years  ago  by  a  person  named  Paisley,  a  tobacconist,  who  died 
so  lately  as  1314.  It  is  now  carried  on  by  various  individ- 
uals :  indeed,  each  inn  has  its  rival  priest,  in  addition,  to 
others  who  carry  on  the  business  on  their  own  account ;  and 
so  far  has  competition  reduced  the  fees,  that  though  large 
sums  (£40  or  £50;  have  been  received,  the  solatium,  in  some 
instances,  is  now  so  low  as  nalf-a-crown.  One  of  these 
functionaries,  who  breaks  stones  daily  on  the  verge  of  Eng- 
land, has  the  best  chance  of  succeeding  ;  for  he  accosts  ev- 
ery partv  as  they  pass,  and  tries  to  strike  the  best  bargain." 

GKEYWACKE.     See  Grauwacke,  Geology. 

GRI'FFIN.  (Gr.  ypv4 .)  A  fabulous  animal  of  antiquity 
represented  with  the  body  and  feet  of  a  lion,  the  head  of  an 
eagle  or  vulture,  and  as  being  famished  with  wings  and 
claws.  The  griffin  is  one  of  those  imaginary  creatures  to 
which  the  ancients  were  so  confessedly  partial,  but  it  belongs 
more  to  the  romantic  than  the  classical  mythology.  It  plays 
a  prominent  part  in  the  fairy  tales  and  romances  of  the  mid- 
dle ages ;  and,  like  the  dragon  which  was  fabled  to  guard 
the  golden  apples  of  the  Hesperides,  its  chief  duties  consisted 
in  watching  over  hidden  treasures,  and  in  guarding  captive 
princesses,  or  the  castles  in  which  they  were  confined.  The 
griffin  is  at  once  the  symbol  of  strength  and  swiftness,  cour- 
age, prudence,  and  vigilance — qualities  which  its  form  is  well 
calculated  to  represent ;  and  hence  it  has  been  adopted  into 
the  language  of  heraldry,  where  it  constitutes  a  prominent 
feature  in  the  armorial  bearings  of  many  princely  and  noble 
families. 

GRIMA'CE.  (Fr.)  In  Painting  and  Sculpture,  an  un- 
natural distortion  of  the  countenance,  from  habit,  affectation, 
or  insolence. 

GRIPE.  The  fore  part  of  a  ship.  To  gripe,  the  tendency 
of  a  ship  to  bring  her  head  up  to  the  wind  when  carrying 
sail  on  the  wind. 

GRIT.  Hard  sandstone,  employed  for  millstones  and 
grindstones,  pavement,  &.c. 

GROAT.  An  old  English  silver  coin  equal  to  Ad.  of  our 
present  money.  It  was  introduced  by  Edward  III.  and  about 
the  year  1351,  and  has  lately  been  again  adopted  and  issued 
from  the  mint :  the  first  coinage  of  these  modem  silver  groats 
or  four-penny  pieces  took  place  in  1835. 

GROATS,  in  Agriculture,  are  the  small  grains  formed 
from  oats  by  being  cut  in  the  mill,  after  having  the  husks  or 
shells  taken  off  from  the  grain. 

GROLN.  (Sax.  grortn,  to  grow.)  In  Architecture,  the 
line  formed  at  the  intersection  of  two  arches  which  cross 
each  other  at  anv  angle. 

GRONI'NGENISTS.  In  Eccl.  History,  a  subdivision  of 
the  sect  of  Anabaptists.  (See  JWosheim,  transl.,  vol.  v.,  p. 
492.) 

GROOM.  A  name  now  usually  applied  to  servants  who 
are  employed  about  horses.  From  the  Flemish  grom,  a  boy 
The  groom-porter  was  an  officer  of  the  royal  household  in 
the  lord  steward's  department,  whose  place  is  said  to  have 
succeeded  that  of  the  master  of  the  revels.  Groom  is  still 
the  denomination  of  several  officers  of  the  royal  household, 
chiefly  in  the  lord  chamberlain's  department ;  such  as  grooms 
in  waiting,  groom  of  the  stole  or  robes,  &c.,  &c. 

GROOVE.  (Sax.  grafan,  to  dig.)  In  Architecture,  a 
sunken  rectangular  channel.  It  is  usually  employed  to  con- 
nect two  pieces  of  wood  together,  the  piece  not  grooved 
having  on  its  edge  a  projection  or  tongue,  whose  section  cor- 
responds to  and  fits  the  groove. 

GROSS.    In  Commerce,  the  number  of  12  dozen. 

GROSSULA  CEjE.  (Grossularia,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  shrubby  Exogens,  natives  of  most  parts  of 
the  world,  excepting  Africa,  and  the  tropics;  formerly  con- 
founded with  Cactacea.  Placed  by  Von  Martius  between 
SaxifragacetE  and  Onagracece ;  but  nevertheless,  on  account 
of  their  albuminous  seeds,  appearing  to  have  affinities  of 
another  nature,  especially  with  Berberacece  and  the  vine. 
The  gooseberry  and  currant  are  fruits  of  this  order,  to  which 
many  beautiful  hardy  shrubs  common  in  our  gardens  also 
belong. 

GROSSULA'RIA.  (Lat.  grossula,  a  gooseberry.)  A 
green  garnet  found  in  Siberia. 

GROTE'SaUE.  (Fr.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a  term  applied 
to  capricious  ornaments,  which  as  a  whole  have  no  type  in 
nature;  consisting  of  figures,  animal?,  leaves,  flowers,  fruits, 
and  the  like,  all  connected  together. 

Grotesque.  In  Architecture,  artificial  grotto-work  dec- 
orated with  rockwork,  shells,  &c. 

GROTTO.  (It.)  The  name  given  to  subterraneous  natural 
excavations  formed  in  the  heart  of  mountains  or  other  places. 


GUARDIAN  OF  SPIRITUALITIES, 

Many  of  these  cavities  are  famed  for  the  mephitic  exhala- 
tions that  issue  from  them,  and  to  this  class  belongs  more  espe- 
cially the  Grotto  del  Cane,  near  Naples ;  but  there  are  others 
not  less  celebrated  for  their  beauty  and  grandeur,  of  which 
the  grottoes  of  Antiparos  and  Fingal,  are  well-known  ex- 
amples. In  picturesque  gardening,  the  term  is  applied  to  an 
artificial  or  ornamental  cave  or  low  building  intended  to 
represent  a  natural  grotto.  The  best  specimen  of  this  kind 
is  the  grotto  attached  to  the  Colosseum,  which  may  be  con- 
sidered a  model  for  all  similar  designs. 

GROUND.  (Sax.  grund.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a  word  of 
various  application.  In  Painting,  it  is  the  first  layer  of  colour 
on  which  the  figures  or  other  objects  are  painted ;  of  Sculp- 
ture, it  is  the  surface  from  which,  in  relied,  the  figures  rise ; 
and  in  Architecture,  it  is  used  to  denote  the  face  of  the 
scenerv  or  countrv  round  a  building. 

GROUND  BAIT.  Balls  made  of  greaves,  bran,  boiled 
grain,  gentles,  &c,  mixed  up  with  clay  and  thrown  into  the 
water,  by  which  the  fish  are  brought  together  upon  those 
spots  which  the  angler  selects  for  his  sport. 

GROUND  PLATE,  or  SILL.  In  Architecture,  the  lower 
part  of  a  timber  building,  which  receives  the  principal  and 
other  posts. 

GROUNDS.  In  Architecture,  pieces  of  wood  flush  with 
the  plastering,  for  which  they  serve  as  a  guide,  &c,  to  which 
mouldings  and  other  finishings  are  attached. 

GROUP.  (Fr.  groupe.)  In  Painting,  an  assemblage  of 
objects,  whose  lighted  parts  form  a  mass  of  light,  and  their 
shaded  parts  a  mass  of  shadow :  the  word  is  also  used  to  de- 
note any  adjoining  assemblage  of  figures,  animals,  fruits, 
flowers,  &c.  In  speaking  also  of  objects  of  different  sorts,  it 
is  usual  to  say  that  one  object  groups  with  another.  Lights 
in  groups  should,  as  well  as  shadows,  be  connected  together, 
or  the  necessary  repose  will  be  wanting.  In  Sculpture,  the 
word  group  is  applied  to  a  design  in  which  there  are  two  or 
more  figures.  In  Music,  group  signifies  a  number  of  notes 
linked  together  at  the  stems. 

GROUSE.     See  Tetrao. 

GROUT.  (Sax.  grut.)  In  Architecture,  mortar  reduced 
to  a  state  of  fluidity  by  the  addition  of  water :  a  mixture  of 
plaster  and  fine  stuff,  putty,  or  coarse  stuff,  used  in  finishing 
the  best  ceilings ;  also  for  mouldings,  and  sometimes  for  set- 
ting walls. 

GRU'IDJE.  The  name  of  the  family  of  wading  birds  rep- 
resented by  the  stork  (Grus). 

GRUS.  (Lat.  the  Crane.)  One  of  the  modem  constella- 
tions in  the  southern  hemisphere     See  Constellation. 

GRY'LLID^E.  (Lat.  gryllus,  a  locust.)  The  name  of 
the  familv  of  locusts,  having  the  genus  G-ryllus  for  the  type. 

GRYPA'.MUM.  (Gr.  ypv-os,  incurved.)  In  Ornitholo- 
gy, the  rostrum  grypaftium  is  that  form  of  beak  in  which 
the  culmen  is  more  or  less  carinated,  and  is  so  continued  to 
the  apex  of  the  incurved  maxilla. 

GRYPILE'A.  (Gr.  ypviros.)  A  genus  of  Ostracean  Bi- 
valves, remarkable  for  the  curvature  of  the  apex  or  beak  of 
the  shell ;  it  is  chiefly  represented  by  fossil  species,  one  of 
which,  Gryphaa  virgula,  characterizes  the  Kimmeridge 
clay,  near  Oxford,  and  the  upper  oolite  of  parts  of  France. 

GRYPHO'SIS.  (Gr.  ypu-ouv,  to  incurvate.)  A  growing 
inwards  of  the  nails. 

GUA'IACUM,  is  a  peculiar  resinous  substance  obtained 
from  the  Ghiaiacum  officinale,  a  tree  of  the  West  Indies.  It 
has  some  chemical  peculiarities  which  distinguish  it  from  the 
common  resins,  especially  its  property  of  becoming  blue  and 
green  by  the  action  of  certain  oxidizing  substances.  Decoc- 
tion of  the  wood  of  the  tree,  and  the  tincture  of  the  resin, 
have  been  employed  in  the  cure  of  rheumatism,  and  as  an 
alterative  ;  but  it  is  an  unimportant  medicine. 

GUA'NO.  A  substance  found  upon  certain  small  islands, 
especially  in  the  South  Sea,  which  are  the  resort  of  large 
flocks  of  birds,  and  chiefly  composed  of  their  excrement:  it 
is  said  to  form  beds  fifty  to  sixty  feet  in  thickness.  It  is  an 
excellent  manure. 

GUARANTE'E,  in  Law,  is  an  undertaking  to  answer  for 
the  failure  of  another.  By  the  Statute  of  Frauds,  a  person 
is  not  liable  on  a  special  promise  in  the  nature  of  a  guarantee 
unless  a  written  agreement,  or  memorandum  of  such  prom- 
ise, shall  be  signed  by  the  part)'  making  the  promise,  or  some 
person  lawfulfv  authorized  by  him. 

GUA'RDIAN,  in  Law,  he  who  has  the  custody  of  such 
persons  as  are  incapable  of  directing  themselves,  and  especial- 
ly of  infants.  Guardians  at  common  law  were — 1.  In  chiv- 
a'lry  (under  the  feudal  principle  of  wardship,  abolished  with 
the  other  incidents  of  military  tenure  by  12  Ch.  2).  2.  By 
nature ;  the  father  in  all  cases ;  the  mother  to  daughters, 
where  no  guardian  is  assigned  by  the  father's  deed  or  will. 
3.  For  nurture ;  appointed  by  the  ordinary  in  default  of  father 
or  mother.  4.  In  socage,  being  the  nearest  of  kin  to  an  in- 
fant entitled  to  real  estate  who  cannot  inherit  that  estate. 

GUA'RDIAN  OF  SPIRITUALTIES.  In  Ecclesiastical 
Law,  the  person  to  whom  the  spiritual  administration  of  a 
diocese  is  entrusted  during  the  vacancy  of  the  see.    Of  Tem- 

535 


GUARD,  NATIONAL,  OP  FRANCE. 

poralties,  one  appointed  by  the  king  during  such  vacancy  to 
take  care  of  the  goods  and  profits,  and  deliver  an  account  to 
the  Exchequer. 

GUARD,  NATIONAL,  OF  FRANCE.  This  famous  in- 
stitution was  first  devised  by  the  Municipal  Committee  of 
Safety  of  1789,  which  sat  at  the  H6tel  de  Villa,  in  Paris,  be- 
fore the  taking  of  the  Bastile.  The  corps  which  was  then 
raised  at  first  carried  green  colours,  afterwards  replaced  by 
the  tricolour.  It  was  more  fully  organized  by  a  decree  of 
September,  1791,  to  be  raised  by  voluntary  enlistment,  both 
in  Paris  and  the  departments,  in  the  proportion  of  one  man 
out  of  every  twenty  citizens.  The  staff  of  the  national  guard 
was  dissolved  by  the  Convention  after  the  13  Vendemiaire 
(1795),  and  it  was  placed  under  control  of  the  military  au- 
thorities. Napoleon  made  of  the  national  guard  a  species  of 
military  nursery,  and  large  portions  of  it  volunteered  in  1813 
to  act  beyond  the  frontiers.  Under  the  Restoration  the  na- 
tional guards  were  deprived  of  the  privilege  of  choosing  their 
own  officers ;  and  in  1827,  in  consequence  of  their  public  de- 
mands for  the  dismission  of  the  ministry  (Villele's),  they 
were  dissolved.  By  their  constitution,  as  remodelled  in  1830, 
they  elect  their  own  officers  up  to  the  rank  of  sub-lieutenant 
inclusive :  the  rest  are  appointed  by  the  king. 

GUARD,  THE  IMPERIAL,  in  the  armies  of  the  Emperor 
Napoleon,  was  formed  from  a  small  corps  of  life-guards  (as 
they  might  be  termed)  which  had  served  to  defend  the  Con- 
vention, the  Corps  Legislatif  of  1795,  the  Directory,  and  after- 
wards the  Consulate.  In  1805,  when  Napoleon  became 
emperor,  the  consular  guard  had  already  been  increased  to 
3300  infantry  and  2100  cavalry,  besides  artillery  and  marines. 
Its  augmentation  and  equipment  became  afterwards  one  of 
Napoleon's  favourite  pursuits ;  and  as  soldiers  could  not  be 
enrolled  except  after  serving  four  campaigns  in  the  line  with 
distinction  or  from  the  preparatory  corps  called  the  young 
guards,  it  was  an  institution  of  the  highest  military  policy. 
In  the  end  of  1812,  the  Imperial  Guard,  old  and  young,  con- 
sisted of  56,000  men ;  and  its  farther  increase  was  only  pre- 
vented by  the  calamities  of  the  following  year.  At  the 
Restoration,  the  soldiers  of  the  young  guard  returned  to 
the  line ;  those  of  the  old  guard  were  formed  into  royal  regi- 
ments. 

GUARD,  YEOMEN  OF  THE,  were  first  raised  by  Henry 
VII.  in  1485,  and  appear  to  have  been  the  first  standing  mili- 
tary corps  ever  set  on  foot  in  this  country.  They  were  at 
first  fifty  men,  half  armed  with  bows  and  arrows,  and  half 
with  arquebusses;  afterwards  some  carried  halberds.  The 
arquebusses  were  exchanged  for  partizans  (which  they  now 
carry)  in  the  reign  of  William  III. 

GUARDS.  Troops  attached  to  the  person  of  the  sovereign. 
In  modern  times,  the  designation  is  applied  in  most  countries 
to  a  body  of  men  distinguished  from  the  line  by  difference  of 
pay,  dress,  &c,  and  possessing  a  certain  military  rank. 
Body-guards  have  been  an  inseparable  accompaniment  of 
monarchy  from  the  earliest  ages :  the  Assyrian  and  Persian 
monarchs  employed  them.  The  corps  of  Argyraspides,  or 
silver-shields,  were  selected  by  Alexander  out  of  the  bravest 
men  of  his  army.  The  Roman  emperors  had  their  Prajtorian 
guard.  Napoleon  first  created  a  small  troop  of  body-guards,, 
with  the  title  of  Guides,  while  yet  only  general,  in  his  first 
Italian  campaign.  From  this  arose  by  degrees  the  great  in- 
stitution of  the  Imperial  Guard,  itself  an  army,  with  its  two 
great  divisions  of  old  and  young,  and  120  pieces  of  cannon, 
the  whole  of  which  corps  was  broken  up  at  the  Restoration. 
On  the  revolution  of  1830,  the  royal  guards  of  France  were 
disbanded,  and  none  have  been  since  embodied  in  that  coun- 
try. In  England,  the  guards  (otherwise  called  household 
troops)  consist  of  the  life-guards,  the  royal  regiment  of  horse- 
guards,  and  three  regiments  of  foot-guards.  Many  of  the 
European  sovereigns,  before  the  French  Revolution,  had 
small  corps  of  foreign  troops  which  served  in  this  capacity. 
Thus  the  French  kings  had,  in  early  times,  a  body  of  Scotch 
Guards,  termed  archers ;  at  a  later  period,  a  body  of  Swiss 
Guards,  called  the  Cent-Swisses ;  and  after  the  Restoration 
of  1815  several  battalions  of  Swiss  Guards  were  organized 
for  the  same  service.  This  system  has  almost  disappeared, 
since  the  troubles  of  the  Revolution  have  introduced  a  spirit 
at  once  more  military  and  more  national  into  the  councils 
and  populations  of  Europe.  The  Pope  still  retains  his  Swiss 
Guards. 

GUA'VA.  The  fruit  of  the  Psidium  pomiferum,  from 
which  a  jelly  is  made  in  the  West  Indies. 

GU'DGEON.  The  common  name  of  a  small  species  of 
theCyprinoid  family  of  soft-finned  fishes;  having,  like  the 
barbel,  cirri  or  feelers  at  the  mouth,  and  both  the  dorsal  and 
anal  fins  short,  but  without  a  strong  bony  ray  at  the  com- 
mencement of  either.  The  species  consequently  forms  the 
type  of  a  distinct  subgenus  called  Gobio. 

GU'DGEONS.  In  Machinery,  the  pins  inserted  in  the  ex- 
tremities of  a  shaft,  or  the  axle  of  a  wheel,  on  which  it  turns, 
and  which  support  the  whole  weight.  In  order  to  diminish 
friction,  gudgeons  are  made  as  small  as  possible  in  diameter ; 
leaving,  however,  sufficient  strength  to  support  the  weight. 
536 


GUILD. 

They  are  frequently  formed  of  cast  iron,  on  account  of  ita 
cheapness ;  but  wrought  iron  of  the  same  dimensions  is  con- 
siderably stronger,  and  will  support  a  greater  load. 

GUE'BERS,  or  GUEBRES  (i.  e.  Giaours,  infidels).  The 
sectaries  of  the  ancient  Persian  religion,  of  which  the  chief 
peculiarity  consisted  in  the  worship  of  fire,  are  so  termed  by 
the  Mohammedans.  They  still  exist  in  some  of  the  southern 
and  eastern  districts  of  Persia ;  but  a  colony  of  them  has  been 
long  established  at  Bombay,  and  other  parts  of  the  western 
coast  of  India,  and  has  attained  to  wealth  and  distinction. 
These  are  termed  in  India  Parsees,  from  the  nation  from 
which  they  originally  sprang.  The  Guebres  explain  the 
worship  of  fire  by  professing  to  regard  it  as  a  symbol  only  of 
the  Divinity.  Their  sacred  books  are  termed  the  Zend- 
Avesta.     See  Parsees. 

GUELF,  ORDER  OF,  or  ROYAL  GUELPHIC  ORDER. 
An  Hanoverian  order  of  knighthood,  founded  in  1815  by 
George  IV.,  then  Prince  Regent.  It  consists  of  grand  crosses, 
commanders,  and  knights,  both  civil  and  military. 

GUELFS.  In  Italian  History,  during  the  middle  ages,  a 
political  party,  the  feuds  between  which  and  the  opposite 
party  of  the  Ghibellines  long  distracted  that  country.  The 
former  name  is  derived  from  that  of  the  great  German  house 
of  the  Welts  or  Guelfs.  These,  in  the  12th  century,  were 
dukes  of  Bavaria ;  and  carried  on  war  in  Germany  with  the 
house  of  Hohenstauffen,  from  one  of  whose  castles  (Weib- 
lingen)  the  name  Ghibelline  is  supposed  to  have  been  derived. 
The  latter  house  having  become  the  ruling  power  in  Ger- 
many under  Frederic  I.,  that  prince  invaded  Italy  in  order 
to  re-assert  the  rights  of  the  empire ;  and  thus  these  party 
names,  first  used  in  a  German  feud,  were  transplanted  into 
that  country.  The  chief  adversaries  of  the  house  of  Hohen- 
stauffen in  Italy  were  the  Popes,  who  thus  became  the  heads 
of  the  Guelf  party  ;  and  the  struggle  between  the  two  be- 
came, in  the  13th  century,  when  Frederic  II.  was  involved 
in  contests  with  several  successive  pontiffs,  a  contest  between 
the  temporal  and  spiritual  power.  In  that  instance  the  latter 
prevailed ;  but  the  Ghibellines  remained,  notwithstanding, 
powerful,  especially  in  the  north  of  Italy ;  and,  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  following  century,  the  invasion  of  the  emperor 
Henry  of  Luxemburg  added  considerably  to  their  power.  In 
the  early  part  of  that  century  the  leading  Ghibelline  powers 
generally  were,  Milan  under  the  house  of  Visconti,  Verona 
under  that  of  La  Scala,  and  the  Aragonese  kings  of  Sicily ; 
the  chief  Guelf  states  the  republic  of  Florence,  the  Angevin 
kings  of  Naples,  &c.  Other  states  were  alternately  under 
the  control  of  the  two  parties  as  they  in  turn  predominated. 
At  this  time  the  poet  Dante,  who  had  embraced  Ghibelline 
principles,  not  merely  on  party  grounds,  but  from  exalted 
political  speculation,  threw  the  lustre  of  his  genius  over  the 
civil  feuds  of  his  age.  In  the  course  of  the  14th  century, 
especially  after  the  removal  of  the  papal  seat  to  Avignon, 
the  original  principles  of  the  two  parties  were  entirely  lost ; 
while  the  names  continued,  and  factions  bearing  those  ap- 
pellations constantly  agitated  the  interior  of  Italian  cities  and 
monarchies  down  to  the  middle  of  the  15th  century,  or  even 
to  a  still  later  period.  The  most  complete  works  which  can 
now  be  consulted  on  the  subject  are  those  of  Raumer  (Ge- 
schichte  der  Hohenstaiiffen),  and  Sismondi  (Republiques 
Italiennes). 

GUERRI'LLA.  (Span,  little  war.)  The  plan  of  har- 
rassing  the  French  armies  by  the  constant  attacks  of  inde- 
pendant  bands,  acting  in  a  mountainous  country,  was  adopt- 
ed in  the  north  of  Spain  during  the  Peninsular  war.  It  was 
first  reduced  into  a  kind  of  system  in  1810.  (See  Napier's 
Peninsular  War,  book  ix.,  chap.  1.)  The  bands  which  con- 
ducted this  desultory  warfare  were  called  Partidas:  the 
name  of  Guerrilla  is,  by  a  misapplication  of  the  term,  fre- 
quently applied  to  them. 

GUIDE.  (Fr.)  In  Music,  the  leading  part  in  a  canon  or 
fugue. 

GUILD,  or  GILD.  (Sax.  gikbn,  to  pay ;  sard  to  be  de- 
rived from  payments  made  by  a  member  of  a  guild  on  ad- 
mission.) A  fraternity  or  association,  generally  of  mer- 
chants. The  Collegia  Opificum  of  the  later  Roman  empire 
appear  to  have  been  societies  of  this  description,  in  which  a 
body  of  artisans  or  traders  exercising  the  same  craft  were 
united  together  for  purposes  of  mutual  assistance,  and  pos- 
sessed what  we  should  term  corporate  rights.  The  Anglo- 
Saxon  guilds  were  voluntary  associations  for  various  purpo- 
ses, religious  and  social  as  well  as  commercial ;  and  the  old- 
est English  guild  of  which  the  history  is  at  all  ascertained  is 
said  to  have  been  the  Cnighten  guild  of  London,  which  has 
been  thought  by  its  name  to  have  been  a  military  company; 
but  this  is  doubtful,  and  its  history  is  altogether  extremely 
obscure.  But  the  more  important  guilds  of  later  times  have 
been  all  mercantile.  The  guild-merchant,  in  many  boroughs 
of  England,  seems  to  have  been  a  trading  society,  into  which 
all  persons  wishing  to  exercise  trade  within  the  borough 
were  obliged  to  be  admitted ;  and  hence,  in  process  of  time, 
the  freedom  of  the  borough,  which  originally  depended  upon 
mere  inhabitancy,  became  connected  with  admission  to  the 


GUILLEMOT. 

guild,  and  the  guild  and  corporate  body  of  the  borough  be- 
came co-extensive.  A  more  remarkable  change  took  place 
in  the  constitution  of  London,  where  the  several  trading 
companies  by  degrees  so  completely  engrossed  the  govern- 
ment that  admission  into  one  or  the  other  of  them  (the  liver- 
ied companies)  became  a  necessary  qualification  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  municipal  rights;  while  some  relics  still  remain 
(such  as  the  division  of  the  city  into  wards)  of  the  more  an- 
cient state  of  things.  The  name  guild  is  still  preserved  in 
the  ancient  boroughs  of  Scotland,  and  the  dean  of  guild  is 
the  second  municipal  magistrate  of  a  Scottish  borough.  The 
ziinfte  of  German  cities,  and  the  trading  companies  of  those 
of  France  and  Italy,  have  acted  an  equally  important  part  in 
the  history  of  those  countries. 

GUILLEMOT.     See  Uria. 

GUILLOCHE.  (Fr.)  In  Architec- 
ture, an  ornament  composed  of  curved 
fillets,  which,  by  repetition,  form  a  con- 
tinued series. 

GUILLOTI'NE.  (Fr.)  The  name  given  to  the  instru- 
ment of  capital  punishment  used  in  France ;  so  called  from 
Joseph  Ignace  Guillotin,  by  whom  it  was  introduced  into 
that  country.  This  person  was  born  at  Saintes,  and,  estab- 
lished as  a  physician  at  Paris,  obtained  a  certain  celebrity  in 
the  early  period  of  the  Revolution  by  the  strong  part  which 
he  took' in  favour  of  the  lights  of  the  Tiers-Etat.  He  was 
elected  in  consequence  a  deputy  to  the  National  Assembly. 
When  that  body  was  occupied  in  its  long  discussions  relative 
to  the  reform  of  the  penal  code  (in  1790)  Guillotin  proposed 
the  adoption  of  decapitation — up  to  that  time  used  only  for 
nobles — as  the  only  method  of  capital  punishment.  From 
sentiments  of  humanity  he  recommended  the  employment 
of  a  machine  which  had  been  long  known  in  Italy  under  the 
name  of  "  mannaja,"  and  in  other  countries  also ;  for  some- 
thing much  resembling  it  had  been  used  in  Scotland  (see 
Maiden),  and  in  England  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
borough  of  Halifax.  The  Assembly  applauded  the  idea,  and 
the  machine  was  adopted,  to  which  the  Parisians  have  given 
the  name  of  "Guillotine,"  and  of  which  Guillotin  is  most  er- 
roneously supposed  to  have  heen  the  inventor.  It  consists 
of  two  upright  pieces  of  wood  fixed  in  a  horizontal  frame ;  a 
sharp  blade  of  steel  moves  up  and  down  by  means  of  a  pulley 
in  grooves  in  the  two  uprights ;  the  edge  is  oblique  instead  of 
horizontal  in  shape,  which  gives  it  the  mechanical  power  of 
the  wedge.  The  criminal  is  laid  on  his  face,  his  neck  im- 
mediately under  the  blade,  which  severs  it  at  a  blow  from 
his  body.  It  is  equally  a  vulgar  error  that  Guillotin  perished 
by  the  instrument  which  bears  his  name.  He  was  impris- 
oned during  the  Reign  of  Terror,  but  released  at  the  revolu- 
tion of  July,  1794;  and  died  in  1814,  after  founding  the  asso- 
ciation termed  the  Academy  of  Medicine. 

GUI'NEA.  An  English  denomination  of  money ;  for- 
merly a  coin,  but  now  disused.  Its  value  is  21s.  The  coin 
weighed  1294  grains,  and  contained  118-7  grains  of  pure  gold. 
Guineas  were  first  coined  in  the  reign  of  Charles  H.  (1662) 
of  gold  brought  from  Guinea;  whence  the  name. 

GUI'NEA  PEPPER.     A  species  of  capsicum. 

GUI'NEA  WORM.  The  Filaria  medincnsis.  A  worm 
which  affects  the  skin,  especially  of  the  legs,  in  warm  cli- 
mates. While  it  remains  under  the  skin  this  worm  produces 
little  uneasiness,  till  a  part  suppurates,  and  it  puts  out  its 
head ;  much  pain  being  experienced  on  attempting  to  draw 
it  out,  especially  if  it  be  broken. 

GUITA'R.  (It.  chitarra.)  A  musical  stringed  instru- 
ment, whose  invention  is  attributed  to  the  Spaniards.  The 
strings  are  stretched  over  a  body  much  larger  than  the  violin, 
but  of  somewhat  similar  shape ;  except  that  the  sharp  cor- 
nels are  rounded  off,  and  the  strings,  which  are  more  in  num- 
ber than  the  violin,  and  are  not  carried  over  a  bridge,  are 
struck  or  pulled  with  the  fingers. 

GU'LA,  in  Zoology,  is  the  region  of  the  throat  nearest  the 
lower  jaw. 

Gu'la.    In  Architecture.     See  Gola. 

GULES.  (Fr.  gueule,  a  throat.)  In  Heraldry,  red  ;  one 
of  the  colours,  or  tinctures,  employed  in  blazonry.  It  is 
equivalent  to  ruby  among  precious  stones,  Mars  among  plan- 
ets.    In  engraving  it  is  represented  by  a  vertical  line. 

GULL.     See  Larus. 

GULPH.  In  Geography,  an  arm  of  the  sea  extending 
more  or  less  into  the  land,  and  distinguished  from  a  bay  only 
in  being  of  greater  size  and  extent  than  the  latter.  It  is  de- 
rived from  the  Gr.  ko\ttos,  signifying  bosom,  and  has  been 
adopted  with  a  slight  variation  into  all  the  languages  of  mod- 
em Europe. 

GUM.  A  vegetable  product,  distinguished  by  solubility  in 
water,  and  insolubility  in  alcohol ;  it  is  tasteless  and  inodo- 
rous. Gum-arabic,  which  is  the  produce  of  the  Jlcacia  vera, 
may  be  taken  as  a  sample  of  the  purest  form  of  gum.  It  is 
imported  from  Barbary  and  Morocco.  Its  specific  gravity  is 
1-45.  Its  solution  is  viscid,  and  is  termed  mucilage.  Gum 
is  used  as  a  demulcent  in  medicine,  and  for  giving  gloss  and 
stiffness  to  linens,  silks,  &c.    It  consists  of  carbon  41-4,  oxy- 


GUN. 

gen  52-09,  hydrogen  5-51 ;  or,  in  other  terms,  of  41-4  charcoal 
and  58-6  water. 

GUM-RESIN.  An  exudation  from  many  trees,  composed 
of  a  mixture  of  gum  and  resin,  or  of  a  substance  intermedi- 
ate between  the  two. 

GUN.  Under  this  general  term  most  of  the  species  of 
fire-arms  are  included,  the  pistol  and  mortar  being  almost  the 
only  exceptions.  Great  guns,  or  cannon  (see  Cannon),  be- 
gan to  be  used  as  military  engines  about  the  middle  of  the 
14th  century ;  but  small  guns,  or  muskets,  appear  to  have 
been  introduced  nearly  two  centuries  later,  namely,  1521. 
They  were  first  used  by  the  Spanish  infantry  at  the  siege  of 
Rhege.  Muskets  were  at  first  of  a  very  clumsy  construction, 
being  so  heavy  that  they  could  not  be  levelled  and  fired 
from  the  shoulder;  accordingly  the  soldier  was  provided 
with  a  rest,  which  it  was  necessary  to  carry  along  with  him 
and  plant  in  the  ground  in  order  to  support  the  weapon  be- 
fore it  could  be  used.  The  gun  was  generally  fired  with  a 
match ;  sometimes  by  means  of  sparks  generated  by  the  rev- 
olution of  a  notched  wheel  of  steel,  placed  directly  above 
the  pan  containing  the  priming.  Muskets  with  rests  were 
employed  so  lately  as  the  civil  wars  in  the  time  of  Charles 
I. ;  afterwards  a  lighter  matchlock  musket  came  into  use ; 
and  about  the  beginning  of  the  last  century  the  troops 
throughout  Europe  were  armed  with  firelocks. 

The  barrel  forms  the  essential  part  of  the  gun  ;  and  the 
first  requisite  to  a  good  barrel  is  toughness  in  the  material  of 
which  it  is  made,  for  safety  in  using  it  depends  mainly  on 
this  quality.  The  best  iron  for  the  formation  of  musket  bar- 
rels is  that  which  has  been  much  worn,  and  toughened  by 
the  loss  of  its  fiery  particles;  and,  accordingly,  old  horse 
stub-nails  are  much  in  request  for  this  purpose,  and  sold  at 
a  high  price  to  the  barrel-forgers.  Formerly  the  best  gun 
barrels  were  made  in  Spain ;  and  their  superiority  was  at- 
tributed to  the  excellency  of  the  iron  made  use  of,  which 
consisted  almost  exclusively  of  stub-nails,  and  the  old  shoes 
of  horses  and  mules :  but  the  barrels  now  made  in  this  coun- 
try are  not  inferior  to  those  of  any  country  in  the  world. 
The  method  of  making  the  barrel  is  this :  the  iron  is  first 
formed  into  a  thin  flexible  bar,  something  like  a  cooper's 
hoop,  and  when  heated  is  plied  or  twisted  round  a  mandril, 
much  in  the  same  manner  as  a  ribbon  of  leather  is  turned 
round  the  handle  of  a  whip.  For  the  best  barrels  the 
breadth  of  the  bar  does  not  exceed  half  an  inch ;  and  it  is 
turned  round  the  mandril  in  such  a  manner  that  the  edges 
are  brought  close  together,  but  do  not  overlap.  In  this  posi- 
tion it  is  welded  by  horizontal  strokes  with  the  hammer. 
But  in  common  guns  a  broader  bar  is  employed ;  and  its 
edges,  which  are  placed  so  as  to  overlap  considerably,  are 
welded  down  on  each  other.  The  Damascus  barrels,  prized 
for  their  beauty,  though  inferior  in  strength,  are  composed  of 
iron  and  steel  in  certain  proportions  laid  cross  ways,  and 
hammered  together  the  whole  length  of  the  barrel.  After 
the  barrel  has  been  forged,  the  inside  is  rendered  smooth 
and  perfectly  cylindrical  by  boring  it  with  a  bit,  or  rather 
bits  of  different  sizes  used  in  succession.  In  rifles  a  certain 
number  of  parallel  grooves,  either  straight  or  slightly  twist- 
ed, are  cut  in  the  inside  of  the  barrel,  of  equal  depth  and 
fineness,  and  through  its  whole  length.  The  exterior  is 
smoothed  by  turning  it  on  a  lathe. 

By  act  of  parliament  every  gun  barrel  offered  for  sale 
must  be  tried  by  a  certain  quantity  of  powder  and  weight  of 
shot  according  to  its  size ;  but  the  best  gun-makers  do  not 
trust  to  this  legal  test,  and  subject  them  to  a  severer  trial  by 
water-proof.  For  fowling  pieces  and  other  guns  of  the  best 
description  the  flint  lock  is  now  laid  aside,  and  the  percus- 
sion or  detonating  lock  almost  universally  substituted.  This 
ingenious  invention  belongs  to  a  Scottish  clergyman  the 
Reverened  Mr.  Forsyth,  minister  of  Belhelvie  in  Aberdeen- 
shire ;  but  it  has  since  received  some  great  improvements, 
especially  in  the  application  of  the  copper  cap — to  which, 
indeed,  may  be  attributed  all  its  superiority.  The  following 
are  the  dimensions  of  the  new  pattern  musket  carried  by  the 
British  troops : 

Length  of  the  barrel,  in  inches  .        .        .        .42" 
Diameter  of  the  bore   .                ....        "75 
Diameter  of  the  ball  for  service          .        .        .        -676 
Weight  of  the  ball  for  service,  in  ounces  avoir- 
dupois      106 

Weight  of  the  firelock  with  bayonet,  in  pounds 

avoirdupois 1225 

Length  of  barrel  and  bayonet,  in  inches      .        .  59- 

The  carbine  carried  by  regiments  of  light  cavalry  is  16 
inches  in  length,  and  weighs  6  pounds.  (Encyc.  Brit.,  art. 
"  Gun-making.") 

Great  guns,  or  cannon,  used  formerly  to  be  very  long  in 
the  bore,  and  constructed  with  a  view  to  support  large  char- 
ges of  powder;  but  the  experiments  of  Robins  and  Hutton 
proved  that  neither  great  length  of  the  bore  nor  large  char- 
ges are  ever  necessary.  In  consequence  of  these  experi- 
ments, a  great  improvement  took  place  in  the  artillery  servi- 
K  k  *  537 


GUNNER. 

ces  of  Europe  about  the  beginning  of  the  French  revolution- 
ary wars.  The  best  length  has  been  found  to  be  about  17 
calibres.  No  field-piece  has  now  a  bore  of  more  than  18 
calibres  in  length.  In  the  English  service  the  regulation 
length  is  14  calibres;  in  America,  during  the  late  war,  it 
was  reduced  to  12 ;  but  has  since  been  increased,  on  what 
principle  it  does  not  appear,  to  18.  The  length  of  the  gun 
must,  however,  be  regulated  in  many  cases  by  the  service 
for  which  it  is  destined.  In  battering  guns  a  certain  length 
in  front  of  the  trunnions  is  absolutely  necessary  ;  for,  gener- 
ally speaking,  they  are  fired  from  embrasures  of  earth,  which 
would  be  injured  by  the  firing  if  the  mouth  of  the  gun  did 
not  reach  beyond  it.  Navy  guns  should  also  project  to  a 
certain  distance  beyond  the  side  of  the  vessel,  and  the  same 
reasons  apply  to  garrison  as  to  battering  guns. 

With  regard  to  the  shape  of  guns,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  it 
ought  to  be  such  as  to  give  them  the  greatest  strength  at  the 
part  wliich  suffers  the  greatest  strain  of  firing.  This  is  prob- 
ably at  the  part  where  the  ball  is  lodged.  Coimt  Rumford 
therefore  proposed  to  make  the  thickness  of  the  metal  great- 
est at  this  point,  and  planned  a  gun  swelling  in  a  curve  from 
the  breech  to  the  lodgement  of  the  ball,  and  again  contract- 
ing in  a  curve  from  that  point  to  the  projection  of  the  muz- 
zle. In  some  guns,  as  the  American  navy  32  pounder,  the 
form  is  cylindrical  from  the  base  ring  to  the  trunnions,  and 
thence  conical  to  the  swell  of  the  muzzle.  In  respect  of 
British  guns,  the  proportion  of  the  weight  of  metal  of  an  iron 
gun  is  to  that  of  the  shot,  in  heavy  guns,  as  about  224  to  1  or 
2  cwt.  to  1  lb. ;  in  medium  guns  as  168  to  1,  and  in  light  guns 
112  to  1.  The  length  of  a  32  pounder,  used  in  the  lower 
deck  of  Iine-of-battle  ships,  is  9  ft.  6  in.,  and  its  weight  55 
cwt.,  being  about  192  times  that  of  the  ball.  The  medium 
12  pounder  brass  gun  is  6  ft.  6  in.  in  length,  weighs  18  cwt., 
and  has  a  calibre  of  4-6  in.  in  diameter.  The  length  of  brass 
18, 12,  9,  0,  and  3  pounders  is  17  calibres.  (See  Ency.  Brit., 
"  Gunnery.")  The  greater  quantity  of  metal  at  the  breech 
of  a  gun  than  at  the  muzzle  not  only  gives  greater  strength 
to  the  gun  at  the  part  where  the  danger  of  bursting  is  the 
greatest,  but  also  tends  to  diminish  the  force  of  recoil. 

GUNNER.  The  first  of  the  three  warrant  officers  of  a 
king's  ship.  He  has  the  charge  of  the  ordnance,  ammuni- 
tion, and  other  duties. 

GU'NNERY.  A  branch  of  the  military  art,  which  has  for 
its  object  the  management  of  guns  and  mortars,  and  of  char- 
ging and  directing  them  so  as  to  hit  a  proposed  mark  at  any 
distance  within  the  range  of  the  shot.  To  accomplish  this 
purpose  it  is  necessary  to  know  the  nature  of  the  path  which 
a  projectile  describes  in  the  air  with  a  given  initial  velocity, 
the  quantity  of  gunpowder  necessary  to  produce  that  veloci- 
ty, and  the  elevation  that  must  be  given  to  the  gun  in  order 
to  counteract  the  effect  of  gravity  and  the  resistance  of  the 
air  on  the  ball  in  its  flight.  Various  other  considerations  re- 
quire also  to  be  attended  to ;  as  the  proportion  between  the 
length  of  the  gun  and  the  diameter  of  its  bore,  the  proper 
windage  or  excess  of  the  diameter  of  the  bore  above  that  of 
the  ball,  and  the  size  or  weight  of  the  ball  proper  to  produce 
a  certain  effect — to  batter  down  a  wall,  for  example,  or  to 
penetrate  a  ship's  side.  The  method  of  mounting  and  work- 
ing guns,  so  as  to  render  them  most  serviceable  in  military 
operations,  belongs  to  the  head  Artillery. 

If  we  abstract  from  the  effect  of  the  resistance  of  the  air, 
the  path  described  by  a  projectile  is  easily  determined.  The 
only  force  which  acts  on  the  ball  to  deflect  it  from  the 
straight  line  in  which  it  is  projected  is  gravity,  and  it  conse- 
quently describes  an  arc  of  a  parabola.  (Projectile.) 
But  any  deductions  from  the  parabolic  theory  of  projectiles 
are  of  little  or  no  use  in  the  actual  practice  of  gunnery ;  for 
in  consequence  of  the  great  resistance  which  the  air  opposes 
to  a  body  moving  through  it  with  the  velocity  of  a  cannon 
ball,  the  circumstances  of  the  motion  are  completely  chan- 
ged. In  the  parabolic  theory,  the  motion  of  the  ball  in  the 
horizontal  direction  is  assumed  to  be  constant  and  uniform. 
But  the  resistance  of  the  air  brings  another  force  into  action. 
the  intensity  of  which  depends  on  the  velocity  of  the  ball, 
and  which  is  exerted  in  a  direction  exactly  opposite  to  that 
of  the  ball's  motion ;  hence  the  velocity  of  the  ball  is  con- 
tinually diminished  through  its  whole  course,  and  in  conse- 
quence the  ascending  and  descending  branches  of  the  trajec- 
tary,  AV  and  VB,  are  unequal 
and  dissimilar.  Instead  of  being 
branches  of  the  same  parabola, 
they  become  different  arcs  of  the 
hyperbolic  kind,  having  asymp- 
_  totes,  CD  and  EF,  dissimilarly  sit- 
uated  ;  the  former  being  inclined 
to  the  horizontal  line  DE,  and  the  latter  perpendicular  to  it. 
The  motion  of  the  ball  in  its  ascent,  being  opposed  by  the 
resistance  of  the  air  as  well  as  by  gravity,  will  neither  as- 
cend so  high  nor  range  to  so  great  a  distance  as  in  the  para- 
bolic theory;  and  in  descending  through  the  brancli  VI!  its 
motion  downwards  is  constantly  accelerated  by  gravity, 
while  its  horizontal  motion  is  constantly  retarded ;  so  that 
538 


GUNNERY. 

its  direction  continually  approaches  to  the  perpendicular,  or 
a  parallel  with  EF.  This  resistance  of  the  air  is  so  great  as 
to  amount  in  some  cases  to  twenty  or  thirty  times  the  weight 
of  the  ball  itself,  insomuch  that  a  ball  which  in  the  air 
ranges  only  to  the  distance  of  one  mile,  if  projected  with  the 
same  velocity  in  vacuo  would  range  ten  or  twenty  times 
that  distance. 

The  determination  by  theory  of  the  trajectory  described  by 
a  projectile  in  the  air  is,  as  Dr.  Hutton  remarks,  one  of  the 
most  difficult  problems  in  dynamics.  "  Even  the  solutions 
of  Newton,  Bernoulli,  Euler,  Borda,  &c.  &c,  after  the  most 
elaborate  investigations,  assisted  by  all  the  resources  of  the 
modern  analysis,  amount  to  no  more  than  distant  approxi- 
mations ;  and  are  rendered  nearly  useless,  even  to  the  spec 
ulative  philosopher,  from  the  assumption  of  a  very  errone- 
ous law  of  resistance  in  the  air,  and  much  more  so  to  the 
practical  artillerist,  both  on  that  account,  and  from  the  very 
intricate  process  of  calculation  which  is  quite  inapplicable 
to  actual  service."  ( Tracts,  vol.  iii.)  It  may  easily  be  in- 
ferred from  these  remarks  that  no  practical  rules  can  be 
founded  on  deductions  from  pure  theory ;  and  that  it  is  ne- 
cessary to  have  recourse  to  trial  and  experiment  in  order  to 
obtain  even  an  approximate  knowledge  of  the  path  of  a 
body  projected  with  so  great  a  velocity  as  that  of  a  cannon 
ball. 

The  first  extensive  series  of  accurate  experiments  on  this 
subject  was  made  by  Benjamin  Robins,  and  is  described  by 
him  in  his  New  Principles  of  Gunnery,  published  in  1742. 
In  this  work,  which  is  one  of  very  great  merit  and  elegance, 
Mr.  Robins  has  treated  very  fully  of  the  resistance  of  the  at- 
mosphere, the  force  of  gunpowder,  the  advantages  and  de- 
fects of  different  guns,  and  indeed  of  almost  everything  re- 
lating to  the  flight  of  military  projectiles.  Another  set  of 
experiments  was  undertaken  by  Dr.  Hutton,  at  Woolwich,  in 
1775,  of  which  an  account  was  published  in  the  Phil.  Trans. 
for  1778.  A  second  course  of  experiments  was  performed 
by  Dr.  Hutton  in  1783,  1784,  and  1785;  the  principal  objects 
of  which  were,  to  determine  the  effect  of  the  length  of  the 
gun  on  the  velocity  of  the  ball,  the  velocities  with  different 
charges  of  powder,  the  effect  of  varying  the  weight  of  the 
piece,  the  penetration  of  balls  into  blocks  of  wood,  the  ran- 
ges and  times  of  flight,  &c.  The  details  of  these  experi- 
ments, which  were  conducted  with  great  skill  and  ability, 
are  given  in  the  2d  and  3d  volumes  of  his  Tracts.  Previ- 
ous to  this  time  a  number  of  experiments  similar  to  those  of 
Robins  were  made  in  France  by  D'Arcy,  an  account  of 
wliich  is  given  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Academy  for  1751,  and 
in  his  Essai  d'une  Theorie  d'jlrtil'eric,  published  in  1760. 
There  is  also  an  extensive  series  of  experiments  on  the  ef- 
fects of  musket  balls  of  different  weights,  and  fired  with  dif- 
ferent charges  of  gunpowder,  by  Count  Rumford,  recorded 
in  the  Phil.  Trans,  for  1781,  and  republished  with  additions 
in  1802.  Since  the  days  of  Dr.  Hutton  farther  experiments 
with  heavy  guns  appear  to  have  been  made  from  time  to 
time  at  Woolwich,  under  the  direction  of  the  ordnance  de- 
partment, as  there  is  an  account  of  a  very  heavy  ballistic 
pendulum,  weighing  7408  lbs.  avoirdupois,  constructed  under 
the  care  of  Dr.  Olinthas  Gregory  in  1815  and  1818,  together 
with  some  results  from  experiments  on  it  with  a  24  pounder, 
given  in  the  Annates  de  Chiinie,  torn.  v.  and  ix.,  and  also  in 
Dupin's  Voyages  dans  la  Grande  Bretagnc ;  but  as  we  are 
not  aware  that  these  results  have  ever  been  published  in  any 
official  form,  we  know  not  what  credit  is  to  be  attached  to 
them.  The  experiments  of  Dr.  Hutton  continue  to  the  pres- 
ent time  to  afford  the  best  data  for  the  theory  of  practical 
gunnery. 

There  are  various  methods  by  which  the  initial  velocity 
(the  principal  element  in  the  theory)  of  military  projectiles 
may  be  determined.  The  first  is  by  the  ballistic  pendulum, 
which  consists  merely  of  a  heavy  block  of  wood  suspended 
in  such  a  manner  that  it  can  swing  freely  about  an  axis; 
into  this  the  ball  is  fired  ;  and  as  it  is  too  thick  for  the  ball 
to  pass  through  it,  the  whole  momentum  of  the  ball  is  trans- 
ferred to  the  block,  and  the  extent  of  the  arc  through  which 
it  vibrates  shows  what  this  momentum  has  been  ;  whence, 
as  the  weights  of  the  block  and  the  ball  are  known,  the 
velocity  with  which  the  latter  entered  the  block  may  be 
computed.  (Ballistic  Pendulum.)  Another  method  of 
determining  the  initial  velocity  of  the  ball  is  by  means  of 
the  recoil  of  the  gun.  The  principle  is,  that  the  explosive 
force  of  the  powder  must  communicate  equal  quantities  of 
motion  to  the  gun  and  to  the  ball  in  opposite  directions:  con- 
sequently, by  suspending  the  gun,  loaded  with  additional 
weights,  in  the  manner  of  a  pendulum,  the  extent  of  its  arc 
of  vibration  will  give  the  means  of  estimating  the  quantity 
of  motion  impressed  on  it ;  whence  the  initial  velocity  of  the 
ball  can  be  computed.  Both  the  above  methods  were  em- 
ployed by  Dr.  Hutton :  Robins  employed  the  first  only.  A 
third  method  consists  in  transferring  the  momentum  of  the 
ball  to  a  rotary  machine  instead  of  a  pendulum.  An  inge- 
nious apparatus  for  this  purpose  was  contrived  by  Dr.  Grego- 
ry, but  the  method  has  been  little  used. 


GUNNERY. 

The  following  are  the  practical  conclusions  deduced  by 
Dr.  Hutton  from  his  experiments : 

1.  The  velocity  is  directly  as  the  square  root  of  the  weight 
of  the  powder,  as  far  as  to  the  charge  of  about  eight  ounces ; 
and  so  it  would  continue  for  all  charges  were  the  guns  of  an 
indefinile  length.  But  as  the  length  of  the  charge  is  increased, 
and  bears  a  more  considerable  proportion  to  the  length  of  the 
bore,  the  velocity  falls  the  more  short  after  that  proportion. 

2.  That  the  velocity  of  the  ball  increases  with  the  charge 
to  a  certain  point,  which  is  peculiar  to  each  gun,  where  it  is 
greatest ;  and  that  by  farther  increasing  the  charge  the  velo- 
city diminishes  till  the  bore  is  quite  full  of  powder. 

3.  It  appears  that  the  velocity  continually  increases  as  the 
gun  is  longer,  though  the  increase  of  velocity  is  very  small 
in  respect  of  the  increase  in  length,  the  velocities  being  in  a 
ratio  somewhat  less  than  that  of  the  square  roots  of  the 
length  of  the  bore,  but  somewhat  greater  than  that  of  the 
cube  roots  of  the  length,  and  is,  indeed,  nearly  in  the  middle 
of  the  ratio  between  the  two. 

4.  The  range  increases  in  a  much  less  ratio  than  the  ve- 
locity, and  indeed  is  nearly  as  the  square  root  of  the  velocity, 
the  gun  and  elevation  being  the  same.  Very  little  is  gained 
in  the  range  by  a  great  increase  in  the  length  of  the  gun,  the 
charge  being  the  same ;  and  indeed  the  range  is  nearly  as 
the  5th  root  of  the  length  of  the  bore,  an  increase  so  small  as 
to  amount  only  to  about  one-seventh  part  more  range  for  a 
double  length  of  gun. 

5.  It  appears  that  the  time  of  the  ball's  flight  is  nearly  as 
the  range,  the  gun  and  elevation  being  the  same. 

6.  It  appears  also  that  there  Ls  no  sensible  difference 
caused  in  the  velocity  or  range  by  varying  the  weight  of  the 
gun,  nor  by  the  use  of  wads,  nor  by  different  degrees  of  ram- 
ming, nor  by  firing  the  charge  of  powder  in  different  parts 
of  it. 

7.  But  a  great  difference  in  the  velocity  arises  from  a 
small  degree  of  windage.  Indeed  with  the  usual  estab- 
lished windage  only,  namely,  about  l-20th  of  the  calibre,  no 
less  than  between  £  and  i  of  the  powder  escapes  and  is  lost ; 
and  as  the  balls  are  often  smaller  than  that  size,  it  frequently 
happens  that  half  the  powder  is  lost  by  unnecessary  wind- 
age. 

8.  It  appeals  that  the  resisting  force  of  wood  to  balls  fired 
into  it  is  not  constant;  and  that  the  depths  penetrated  by 
different  velocities  or  charges  are  nearly  as  the  logarithms 
of  the  charges,  instead  of  being  as  the  charges  themselves, 
or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  as  the  square  of  the  velocity. 

9.  These,  and  most  other  experiments,  show  that  the 
balls  are  greatly  deflected  from  the  directions  they  are  pro- 
jected in  ;  so  much,  indeed,  as  300  or  400  yards  in  a  range 
of  a  mile,  or  almost  %  of  the  range,  which  is  nearly  a 
deflection  of  an  angle  of  15  degrees.  (Dictionary,  art. 
"Gunnery.") 

Dr.  Hutton  gives  the  following  table  as  the  results  of  his 
experiments  with  a  medium  one-pounder  gun,  the  iron  ball 
being  nearly  two  inches  in  diameter ;  showing  the  velocity 
of  the  ball,  the  range,  and  time  of  flight,  corresponding  to 
different  charges,  the  elevation  of  the  gun  being  15  degrees : 


Powder. 

Initial  Velocity 
per  Spcond. 

Eange. 

Time  of  Flight. 

Ounces. 
2 
4 
8 
12 

Feet. 
860 
1230 
1640 
1680 

Feet 
4100 
5100 
6000 
6700 

Seconds. 
9 
12 

14  1-2 

15  1-2 

In  the  application  of  the  rules  derived  from  experimental 
inquiry,  it  is  necessary  to  take  into  consideration  the  effect 
that  is  intended  to  be  produced.  The  power  of  penetration 
which  a  ball  possesses  is  proportional  to  the  square  of  its 
velocity  ;  hence,  when  the  object  is  merely  to  penetrate,  the 
greatest  velocity  should  be  given.  Thus  in  breaching  walls 
the  guns  are  first  directed  so  as  to  cut  grooves  in  the  wall,  in 
order  to  detach  as  it  were  a  portion  from  the  rest  of  the  mass. 
This  is  done  by  the  penetration  of  the  balls ;  but  the  detach- 
ed portion  must  then  be  battered  so  as  to  cause  it  to  fall. 
For  this  purpose  a  heavy  ball  with  small  velocity  is  most 
effectual.  In  close  naval  engagements  great  velocities  are 
less  destructive  than  small  ones.  The  ball,  for  example, 
which  has  just  force  sufficient  to  go  through  a  ship's  side, 
generally  breaks  and  splinters  the  interior  surface,  and 
thereby  causes  far  more  damage  than  when  it  retains  a 
considerable  velocity  after  having  passed  through ;  for  in 
the  latter  case  it  will  only  cut  a  hole  without  splintering 
the  wood.  On  this  principle  the  carronadc  (a  short  species 
of  ordnance  fired  with  a  small  charge  of  powder  in  propor- 
tion to  the  ball)  has  been  introduced  into  the  naval  service. 

Pointing  and  elevating  Guns. — The  art  of  pointing  can- 
non so  as  to  strike  distant  objects  depends  on  two  things ;  1st, 
on  placing  the  gun  in  such  a  position  that  its  axis  is  in  the 
vertical  plane  passing  through  the  object  aimed  at ;  and  2d, 
on  giving  it  such  an  elevation  as  will  counteract  the  effect 
of  the  incurvation  of  the  flight  of  the  ball.  When  a  gun  is 
both  pointed  and  elevated,  it  is  said  to  be  laid. 


GUNPOWDER. 

A  line  drawn  from  the  highest  point  of  the  base  ring  to 
the  highest  point  of  the  swell  of  the  muzzle  is  called  the 
line  of  metal.  Now  if  the  line  of  metal  be  directed  to  the 
object,  that  line  will  necessarily  be  in  the  same  vertical 
plane  with  the  object ;  but  by  reason  of  the  conical  shape 
of  the  gun,  the  line  of  metal  has  an  inclination  to  the  axis, 
which  is  called  the  dispart,  and  in  consequence  of  which 
the  axis  will  only  be  in  the  same  vertical  plane  with  the  line 
of  metal  when  the  trunnions  are  perfectly  horizontal.  If 
they  are  not  so  (and  the  condition  cannot  be  easily  attained 
or  preserved),  the  shot  will  be  thrown  to  that  side  of  the 
object  on  which  the  lower  trunnion  is.  This  inconvenience 
is  obviated  by  placing  a  dispart  sight  on  the  muzzle,  at  a 
height  perpendicularly  above  its  highest  point  equal  to  half 
the  difference  of  the  diameters  of  the  muzzle  and  base  ring ; 
for  then  a  line  which  passes  from  the  highest  point  in  the 
base  ring  to  the  extremity  of  the  dispart  thus  placed  on  the 
muzzle  ring  will  be  parallel  to  the  axis,  and  consequently 
the  shot  will  not  be  thrown  to  the  right  or  left  of  the  object, 
however  much  the  one  trunnion  may  be  lower  than  the 
other. 

In  order  to  determine  the  proper  elevation  to  be  given  to 
the  gun,  it  is  necessary  to  know  the  distance  of  the  object 
fired  at.  Tables  have  been  constructed  from  actual  practice, 
showing  the  angles  of  elevation  which  in  different  guns  cor- 
respond to  different  distances ;  and  the  angle  being  found  from 
the  table,  the  proper  elevation  is  given  by  means  of  a  brass 
tangent-scale  which  slides  up  and  down  in  the  breech.  Thus 
suppose  C  D  E  F  to  be  the 
pieces,  A  B  its  axis,  F  m  half 
the  difference  of  the  diame- 
ters of  the  muzzle  ring  and 
base  ring  set  upon  the  muzzle, 
so  that  C  m  may  be  the  line  of  dispart ;  then  if  C  n  be  set 
upon  the  base  ring  equal  to  the  tangent  of  the  elevation 
found  from  the  table,  the  line  n  m  will  be  the  proper  fine 
for  pointing  the  piece,  or  the  gun  will  be  justly  laid  w-hen  n 
m  is  directed  to  the  object.  In  practice  the  length  of  C  n  is 
found  with  sufficient  accuracy  by  multiplying  the  length  of 
the  gun  in  feet  by  -21 ;  the  product  giving  C  n  in  inches. 
This  rule  is  founded  on  the  supposition  that  the  tangent  of 
one  degree  of  a  circle,  whose  radius  is  one  foot,  i3  equal  to 
the  21-100ths  of  an  inch,  which  is  very  near  the  truth. 

The  following  table  (from  the  Ency.  Brit.,  art.  "Gun- 
nery"), constructed  from  actual  practice  at  Woolwich,  shows 
the  elevations  corresponding  to  different  ranges  with  iron 
ordnance  of  the  kinds  therein  specified  : 


_ 

• 

^ 

■ 

p 

3  = 

6 

■£ 

V 

rt 

« 

rt 

a 

3 

-r'-J 

s 

t 

a 

5 

g 

8 

9 

a 

£ 

<J 

W 

* 

w 

a. 

W 

ffi 

Cult. 

Lis.  O: 

Yd: 

Yds. 

Yds. 

42-pr. 

5S  1-4 

14      0 

oooo 

400 

1-33- 

1100 

3-50" 

1500 

32 

55  1-2 

10     11 

0-25 

500 

200 

12C0 

3-75 

1550 

24 

50 

8 

ii  50 

600 

225 

1250 

4 

16C0 

18 

12 

6 

075 

700 

2  50 

13C0 

5 

1800 

12 

34 

4 

1  00 

600 

2  75 

1350 

6 

1980 

9 

31 

3 

1-25 

900 

3-00 

1400 

7 

2148 

1-50 

|  1000 

325 

1450 

■ 

4000 

(Robins'1*  Math.  Tracts  ;  Hutton1  s  Tracts  ;  Sir  Howard 
Douglas's  Naval  Gunnery ;  Paixhans,  Force  et  Faiblessc 
de  la  France ;  and  the  United  Service  Journal  for  1834. 
For  a  very  complete  theoretical  discussion  of  the  experi- 
ments hitherto  made,  the  reader  may  consult  a  Memoire 
sur  la  Vitesse  initiate  des  Projectiles,  in  the  Journal  de 
I'Ecole  Polytechnique,  torn,  xv.,  1835.) 

GU'NNEY.  (Bengal.)  A  coarse  sackcloth  made  in 
Bengal  of  the  fibres  of  two  species  of  corchoron.  Bice,  salt- 
petre, pepper,  and  other  articles  exported  from  Calcutta  are 
packed  in  bags  or  sacks  made  of  this  material ;  they  also 
form  a  considerable  article  of  exportation. 

GU  NPOWDER.  A  compound  of  about  78  parts  of  salt- 
petre, 12  of  charcoal,  and  10  of  sulphur.  The  ingredients 
should  all  be  perfectly  pure,  separately  reduced  to  powder, 
thoroughly  mixed,  moistened,  and  beaten  or  pressed  into  a 
cake  ;  which  is  afterwards  broken  up,  granulated  or  corned, 
dried,  and  polished  by  attrition.  Coarse  powder  is  less  care- 
fully and  nicely  manufactured.  The  force  of  the  explosion 
of  gunpowder  is  the  consequence  of  the  sudden  and  abund- 
ant" production  of  gaseous  matter  expanded  by  the  intense 
heat  resulting  from  the  action  of  the  combustibles  upon  the 
nitre.  The  gases  evolved  are  chiefly  carbonic  oxide,  car- 
bonic acid,  nitrogen,  and  sulphurous  acid,  and  their  volume 
probably  exceeds  two  thousand  times  the  bulk  of  the  pow- 
der. Count  Rumford's  experiments  show  the  immense 
energy  of  this  astonishing  agent  as  a  source  of  mechanical 
power  (Phil.  Trans.,  vol.  87) :  28  grains  of  gunpowder, 
confined  in  a  cylindrical  space  which  it  just  filled,  tore 
asunder  a  piece  of  iron  which  would  have  resisted  a  strain 
of  400,000  lbs.  applied  at  no  greater  mechanical  advantage. 
With  regard  to  the  introduction  of  gunpowder  into  warlike 

539 


GUNPOWDER  PLOT. 

operations,  Dr.  Thomson  has  the  following  remarks :  The 
discoverer  of  this  compound,  and  the  person  who  first  thought 
of  applying  it  to  the  purposes  of  war,  are  unknown.  It  is 
certain,  however,  that  it  was  used  in  the  fourteenth  century. 
From  certain  archives  quoted  by  Wiegleb,  it  appears  that 
cannons  were  employed  in  Germany  before  the  year  1372. 
No  traces  of  it  can  be  found  in  any  European  author  pre- 
viously to  the  thirteenth  century  ;  but  it  seems  to  have  been 
known  to  the  Chinese  long  before  that  period.  There  is 
reason  to  believe  that  cannons  were  used  in  the  battle  of 
Cressy,  which  was  fought  in  1346.  They  seem  even  to 
have  been  used  three  years  earlier,  at  the  siege  of  Algesiras ; 
but  before  this  time  they  must  have  been  known  in  Ger- 
many, as  there  is  a  piece  of  ordnance  at  Amberg  on  which 
is  inscribed  the  year  1303.  Roger  Bacon,  who  died  in  1292, 
knew  the  properties  of  gunpowder  ;  but  it  does  not  follow 
that  he  was  acquainted  with  its  application  to  fire-arms. 

GUNPOWDER  PLOT.  In  English  History,  the  cele- 
brated conspiracy  of  certain  disappointed  Roman  Catholics 
to  destroy  the  king,  James  I.,  and  the  two  Houses  of  Parlia- 
ment, by  gunpowder,  which  was  detected  on  the  4th  of 
November,  1605.  Its  details  are  among  the  most  popular 
portions  of  English  history,  and  too  well  known  to  need  repe- 
tition. But  the  miraculous  exercise  of  sagacity  by  which 
King  James  is  commonly  said  to  have  detected  the  nature 
of  the  plot,  from  the  mysterious  letter  sent  to  Lord  Montea- 
gle,  is  now  perhaps  negatived  beyond  a  doubt.  It  had  long 
been  remarked  that  Salisbury  and  Carlisle  (probably  before 
the  scheme  between  themselves  and  their  royal  master  was 
concerted)  had  claimed  for  themselves  the  credit  of  the  dis- 
covery; and  it  now  appears  that  Lord  Monteagle  had  been 
previously  rewarded  by  government  for  mysterious  services, 
apparently  rendered  in  the  capacity  of  spy:  so  that  it  is 
highly  probable  that  he  was  acquainted  with  the  design  of 
the  malecontents,  and  that  the  celebrated  letter  was  an  in- 
vention, destined  to  conceal  the  real  mode  of  discovery. 
Those  who  are  anxious  to  study  the  Roman  Catholic  version 
of  the  story  will  find  it  ably  detailed  in  the  pages  of  Lingard 
vol.  vii.,  ch.  1.,  4to  ed.).  That  writer  seeks  to  throw  the 
whole  onus  of  the  conspiracy  on  Catesby,  its  chief  promoter, 
and  to  expulcate  Father  Garnet ;  but  Mr.  Jardine  (in  his 
State  Trials),  who  has  fully  investigated  the  subject,  is  of 
a  different  opinion. 

GU'NTER'S  CHAIN,  so  called  from  its  reputed  inventor, 
is  the  chain  commonly  used  for  measuring  land.  It  is  66 
feet  or  4  poles  in  length,  and  is  divided  into  100  links,  each 
of  which  is  joined  to  the  adjacent  one  by  three  rings ;  and 
the  length  of  each  link,  including  the  connecting  rings,  is 
7'92  inches.  The  advantage  of  this  measure  consists  in  the 
facility  which  it  affords  to  numerical  calculation.  The 
English  acre  contains  4840  square  yards ;  and  Gunter's  chain 
being  22  yards  in  length,  the  square  of  which  is  484,  it  fol- 
lows that  a  square  chain  is  exactly  the  tenth  part  of  an 
acre.  A  square  chain  again  contains  10,000  square  links,  so 
that  100,000  square  links  are  equal  to  an  acre ;  consequently, 
the  contents  of  a  field  being  cast  up  in  square  links,  it  is  only 
necessary  to  divide  by  100,000,  or  to  cut  off  the  last  five 
figures,  to  obtain  the  contents  expressed  in  acres. 

GUNTER'S  LINE.  A  logarithmic  line  engraved  on 
scales,  sectors,  &c,  serving  to  perform  the  multiplication 
and  division  of  numbers  instrumentally,  as  a  table  of  lo- 
garithms does  arithmetically.  The  numbers  are  usually 
drawn  on  two  separate  rulers  sliding  against  each  other. 
In  rough  calculations  this  line  affords  considerable  facilities. 

GUNTER'S  QUADRANT.  A  quadrant  of  a  peculiar 
kind  adapted  to  the  problems  of  finding  the  hour  of  the  day, 
the  sun's  azimuth,  and  other  common  problems  of  the 
sphere. 

GUNTER'S  SCALE,  casually  called  by  seaman  the  Gun- 
ter,  is  a  large  plain  scale  having  various  lines  of  numbers 
engraved  on  it,  by  means  of  which  questions  in  navigation 
are  resolved  with  the  aid  of  a  pair  of  compasses.  On  one 
side  of  the  scale  the  natural  lines  (as  the  line  of  chords,  the 
line  of  sines,  tangents,  rhombs,  &c.)  are  placed,  on  the  other 
the  corresponding  logarithmic  ones. 

GU'NWALE  means,  generally,  the  upper  part  of  the  solid 
workmanship  of  the  vessel's  side :  the  part  above  this  is 
called  the  bulwark. 

GU'TTA  SERENA.     See  Amaurosis. 

GUTTVE.    In  Architecture.     See  Drops. 

GUTTI'FERjE,  or  CLUSIACE.dE.  A  natural  order  of 
arborescent,  shrubby,  and  occasionally  parasitical  Exogens, 
inhabiting  the  tropics. 

GUTTUR.  (Lat.  guttur,  a  throat),  in  Mammalogy,  is 
applied  to  the  whole  under  surface  of  the  neck. 

GU'TTURALS.  Letters  pronounced  by  a  peculiar  effort 
of  the  throat.  There  are  no  gutturals  properly  so  called  in 
the  English  language,  although  the  guttural  sound  may  often 
be  heard  in  some  provincial  pronunciations  of  the  letter  r. 
Nor  are  there  in  the  pure  French  or  Italian,  although  they 
are  frequent  in  the  dialects:  e.  g.  the  letter  c  hard  (as  in 
casa)  has  in  the  Tuscan  a  strong  guttural  sound.  In  the 
540 


GYMNOTUS. 

Spanish  language  alone,  of  those  derived  from  the  Latin 
gutturals  are  common.  In  German,  the  guttural  ch  is  largely 
used.  In  the  Celtic  languages,  gh  and  ch  are  also  sounded 
with  much  variety  of  guttural  intonation. 

GUY.  A  rope  used  to  swing  any  weight,  or  to  keep  steady 
any  heavy  body  and  prevent  it  from  swinging  while  being 
hoisted  or  lowered. 

GYMNA'SIARCH.  (Gr.  yvpvaaiapxos.)  An  Athenian 
officer  who  had  the  charge  of  providing  the  oil  and  other 
necessaries  for  the  gymnasia.  This  was  one  of  the  offices 
called  XciTovpytai  at  Athens,  the  expenses  of  which  were 
defrayed  from  tile  private  pocket  of  the  individual  on  whom 
they  devolved,  and  who  received  no  salary  from  the  state. 

GYMNA'SIUM.  (Gr.  yvfivdaiov,  from  yv/ivoi,  naked.) 
Originally  a  space  measured  out  and  covered  with  sand  for 
the  exercise  of  athletic  games.  Afterwards,  among  the 
classical  Greeks,  the  gymnasia  became  spacious  buildings  or 
institutions  for  the  mental  as  well  as  corporeal  instruction 
of  youth.  They  were  first  built  at  Lacedaemon,  whence 
they  spread  through  the  rest  of  Greece,  &c.  into  Italy. 
They  did  not  consist  of  single  edifices,  but  comprised  several 
buildings  and  porticoes,  used  for  study  and  discourse,  for 
baths,  anointing  rooms,  palaestras  in  which  the  exercises  took 
place,  and  for  other  purposes.  Two  of  the  Athenian  gym- 
nasia, viz.  the  Lyceum  and  Academy,  were  rendered  famous 
by  being  the  scenes  of  the  lectures  of  Aristotle  and  Plato 
respectively. 

The  term  Gymnasium  has  descended  to  modern  times. 
In  Germany  the  higher  schools,  intended  to  give  immediate 
preparation  for  the  universities,  are  termed  gymnasia.  In 
Prussia  the  scholars  undergo  examination  on  leaving  them  : 
their  compositions  at  this  examination  are  sent  to  the  minis- 
ter of  instruction  and  ecclesiastical  affairs ;  and  they  receive 
testimonials  of  fitness,  No.  1,  2,  or  3,  according  to  their  de- 
gree of  proficiency.  Persons  who  have  fitted  themselves 
for  the  universities  without  passing  through  the  gymnasia 
are  examined  by  a  committee  appointed  by  government, 
which  sits  half-yearly  for  the  purpose. 

GYMNA'STICS.  Under  this  name  were  comprised  by 
the  ancients  all  those  games  and  exercises  which  were  per- 
formed with  the  body  partly  naked  (yv/ivos) ;  such  as  wrest- 
ling, boxing,  running,  throwing  the  quoit,  playing  at  ball, 
&c.  They  were  first  instituted  at  Laceda-mon,  where  they 
were  not  confined  to  men,  but  were  also  considered  a  neces- 
sary part  of  the  education  of  females.  In  the  rest  of  Greece, 
where  they  subsequently  spread,  they  were  also  held  of  the 
highest  importance,  and  as  such  were  conducted  under  the 
superintendence  of  the  government,  and  entered  conspicu- 
ously into  the  political  schemes  of  the  philosophers.  In  this 
respect  the  Greeks  offered  a  remarkable  contrast  to  th'.ir 
Asiatic  neighbours,  among  whom  it  was  considered  a  great 
disgrace  even  for  a  man  to  be  seen  naked.  At  Rome  gym- 
nastics were  principally  exercised  by  the  mercenary  athletes. 

GYMNODONTS,  Oymnodontes.  (Gr.  yvuvos,  naked; 
o&ovs,  a  tooth.)  The  name  of  the  family  of  Plectognathic 
fishes,  comprehending  those  which  have  the  jaws  protruding, 
and  covered  with  a  more  or  less  complex  layer  of  dense 
ivory  substance  serving  the  office  of  teeth. 

GYMNO'SOPHISTS.  (Gr.  yvuvoooQioTai,  naked  philo- 
sophers.) A  sect  of  Indian  philosophers  who  lived  naked  in 
the  woods,  whence  they  derived  their  name,  and  submitted 
to  other  strange  austerities.  They  believed  in  the  immortal- 
ity of  the  soul  and  its  migration  into  several  bodies.  They 
enjoyed  great  reputation  for  astronomical  and  physical  sci- 
ence. 

There  was  likewise  an  African  sect  of  philosophers  bear- 
ing the  same  name,  who  are  said  to  have  lived  in  ^Ethiopia, 
near  the  sources  of  the  Nile,  whose  habits  differed  from 
those  of  the  Indian  sect,  inasmuch  as  they  lived  as  ancho- 
rites, while  the  latter  congregated  in  societies. 

GYMNO'TUS,  or  rather  Gymnonotus.  (Gr.  yvpvoc,  na- 
ked, and  I'orof,  the  back.)  The  name  of  the  genus  of  electric 
eels  which  are  found  in  the  fresh  waters  of  South  America : 
they  have  a  median  fin  extended  along  the  belly  but  none  on 
the  back.  Although  to  all  outward  appearance  the  gymno- 
tus  Is  nearly  allied  to  the  eel,  yet,  were  that  part  of  the  body 
cut  off  which  contains  the  nutrient,  respiratory,  and  genera- 
tive organs — all  the  parts,  in  fact,  which  are  essential  to  the 
existence  of  the  gymnotus  as  a  mere  fish — it  would  present  a 
short  and  thick-bodied  form,  very  different  from  that  of  the 
eel.  The  long  electric  organs  are  tacked  on,  as  it  were,  be- 
hind the  true  fish,  and  thus  give  the  gymnotus  its  anguilli- 
form  body.  The  back-bone  and  muscles  are  of  course  co- 
extended  with  the  electric  organs  for  their  support  and 
motion ;  and  the  air-bladder  is  continued  along  the  produced 
electrophorous  trunk,  to  give  it  convenient  specific  levity. 
Two  long  dorsal  nerves  are  continued  from  the  fifth  and 
eighth  cerebral  nerves  for  ordinary  sensation  and  motion. 
The  spinal  chord  is  continued  along  the  vertebral  column, 
for  the  exclusive  supply  of  the  electrical  organs.  These  or- 
gans  are  four  in  number;  two  very  large  above,  and  two 
small  ones  below.    The  electricity  discharged  from  them 


GYNiECEUM. 

decomposes  chemical  compounds,  produces  the  spark,  and 
magnetizes  iron,  as  does  that  of  the  torpedo.  But  the  mag- 
netizing power  seems  to  be  relatively  weaker,  while  the 
benumbing  shock  communicated  to  other  animals  is  stronger 
than  in  any  other  electric  fish. 

GYNiECE'UM.  (Gr.  yvvaixeiov.)  In  Ancient  Architec- 
ture, the  portion  of  a  Grecian  house  set  apart  for  the  occu- 
pation of  the  female  part  of  the  family. 

Gynsce'um.  In  Botany,  a  term  ii. vented  by  Rceper  to 
denote  that  organ  commonly  called  the  pistUlum :  it  may  be 
understood  to  signify  the  female  apparatus  in  plants. 

GYNA'NDRIA.  (Gr.  yvvii,  and  avnp,amale.)  The  name 
of  on"  of  the  classes  in  tiie  sexual  system  of  plants  invent- 
ed by  Linneus.  Its  character  is  to  have  the  stamens,  style, 
and  stigma  consolidated  into  a  body,  called  a  column.  The 
class  chiefiv  consists  of  the  plants  now  named  Orchidaceous. 

GYNCECO'CRACY.  (Gr.  yvvn,  and  Kparew,  I  govern.) 
A  term  sometimes  used  to  indicate  that  state  in  which 
women  are  legally  permitted  to  assume  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment. It  is  used  by  way  of  contradistinction  to  the  Salique 
law,  which  precludes  the  fair  sex  from  the  privilege  of  sov- 
ereignty. There  are  only  four  states  in  Europe  to  which 
the  operation  of  the  Salique  law  does  not  extend — England, 
Russia,  Spain,  and  Portugal. 

GY'NOPHURE.  (Gr.  yvvri,  and  <ptpw,  I  bear.)  The  stalk 
upon  which  some  ovaria  are  seated,  as  in  the  Passion-flower. 

GYNOSTE'MITM.  ((jr. ;  1/107,  ylld  trrnpuiv,  a  stamen.)  A 
term  invented  by  Richard  to  denote  the  column  of  an  Orchi- 
daceous plant.     It  is  a  combination  of  a  filament  anda  style. 

GYPOGE'RANUS.  (Gr.  yv\p,  a  vulture,  and  yepavog,  a 
crane.)  This  name  was  invented  by  Illiger  lor  a  most  sin- 
gular genus  of  Accipitrine  birds,  in  which  the  structure  of 
the  binl  of  prey  is  modified  by  a  lengthening  of  the  legs  and 
neck  to  adapt  the  species  to  o  mbat  with  and  destroy  the 
most  poisonous  of  the  serpent  tribe.  The  instincts  of  the 
gypogcranus,  or  secretary  bird,  as  it  is  termed,  correspond 
with  its  structure,  and  it  preys  principally  upon  serpents; 
not  refusing,  however,  lizards,  or  even  ;nsects.  The  bill  is 
shorter  than  the  head,  curved  nearly  from  its  base,  not 
toothed  ;  the  wings  are  armed  with  a  short,  stl 
tuse  spur;  the  feathers  are  continued  down  the  long  tibia  to 
the  tarsal  joint,  covering  the  front  but  not  the  back  part  of 
it;  the  toes  are  short,  but  strong;  the  anterior  ones  united 
by  a  membrane  at  the  base.  .Species  of  the  secretary  vul- 
ture inhabit  the  Cape,  the  Gambia  coast,  and  the  Philippine 
Islands.  The  Cape  secretary  (Oypogeranus  serpen 
lives  in  pairs,  builds  on  high  trees,  and  runs  with  considera- 
ble swifti 

GY'PSIES.  The  history  of  this  strange  nation  of  vag- 
rants has  been  recently  illustrated  by  the  labours  of  several 
German  writers,  particularly  Grellmau  (Historical  Inquiry 
respectinir  thr  Gypsies,  translated  into  English  by  Raper, 
1787)  and  Bischolf  (German  am!  Gypsy  Dictionary).  Their 
English  name  is  a  corruption  of  the  word  "Egyptian:"  the 
French  call  them  Bohemians;  but  the  names  by  which 
they  are  most  widely  known  throughout  Europe  are,  the 
German  Ziereuner,  Russian  Tzigan,  Italian  Zingaro,  Span- 
ish Gitano,  Turkish  Ckinganeh — all  apparently  varieties  of 
'he  same  distinctive  appellation.  Their  origin  has  long 
been  a  subject  of  curious  but  unsuccessful  antiquarian  re- 
search. In  western  Europe,  they  made  their  first  appear- 
ance early  in  the  fifteenth  century,  under  a  leader  who 
styled  himself  the  Duke  of  Lower  Egypt  ;  fortune-telling 
and  thieving  were  then,  as  now,  their  predominant  occupa- 
tions. They  were  at  that  time  treated  as  heatbens  and  sor- 
cerers, and  the  most  severe  laws  were  repeatedly  enacted 
against  them,  but  without  effect.  At  present  they  are  found 
not  in  Europe  only,  but  in  Asia  Minor,  Egypt.  Turkey,  &c.-, 
forming  everywhere  a  distinct  race.  In  Germany,  as  well 
•is  England,  they  profess  various  trades,  as  itinerant  horse- 
dealers,  smiths,  farriers,  &c. ;  but  have  never  been  reclaim- 
ed in  any  number  to  settled  occupations.  In  England,  their 
most  ordinary  haunts  are  in  the  midland  and  southern  coun- 
ties chiefly,  whither  they  are  invited  by  the  abundance  of 
green  Jfnes,  downs,  forests,  or  chases.  They  possess  a  lan- 
e  of  their  own  ;  and  are  apparently  destitute  of  religion, 
although  in  most  countries  professing  that  of  the  people 
among  whom  they  dwell.  (See  Marsden  on  thr  /. 
of  the  Gypsies;  Hoyland's  Hist.  Survey.  1816;  Quart. 
Jiev.,  vol.  Iv.  Mr.  George  Borrow's  Account  of  the  GT/psics 
of  Spain,  2  vols.  12mo,  1841,  may  also  be  consulted  with 
advantage.) 

GY'PSUM.  (Probably  derived  from  yv,  earth,  and  expw, 
I  concoct.)     Crystals  of  native  sulphate  of  lime. 

GY'EI  (Gr.  yyp  c,  a  circle),  in  Mammalogy,  the  annular 
series  of  scales  in  the  tails  of  certain  quadrupeds. 

GY'RODUS.  A  fos  il  fish  of  the  family  of  Pycnodonts. 
It  occurs  in  the  oolite  of  Baden. 

GYRO'GONITES.  (Gr.  yvpoc,  and  yovos,  seed.)  Bodies 
found  in  fresh-water  deposits;  originally  mistaken  for  small 
shells,  but  afterwards  ascertained  to  be  the  seed-vessels  of 
plants  of  the  genus  Chara. 

47 


HADJ. 

GY'ROMANCY.  (Gr.  yvpoc,  and  pavrua,  prophecy.)  A 
species  of  divination  performed  by  drawing  a  ling  or  circle 
and  walking  round  it 

H. 

II.  An  aspirate  of  the  guttural  kind,  used  in  all  modern 
and  in  must  ancient  languages.  The  claims  of  h  to  he,  re- 
gaided  as  a  letter  have  been  denied  by  many  grammarians; 
and  certainly,  when  it  is  remembered  that  the  sound  of  this 
letter  is  produced  by  a  mere  emission  ol  the  breath,  without 
any  conformation  of  the  organs  of  speech,  this  opinion  would 
seem  well  founded.  Then;  are  others,  However,  win.  insist 
that  there  is  no  feature  in  the  sound  or  qualities  of  this  let- 
ter which  it  does  not  possess  in  common  with  some  other 
consonants,  and  consequently  any  attempt  to  invalidate  its 
claim  to  the  distinction  militates  equally  against  them.  The 
figure  II  was  used  by  the  Greeks  to  signify  the  aspirate,  until 
the  5th  century  before  Christ.  After  that  time  it  was 
gradually  abandoned  in  Greek  writing,  while  its  use  was 
still  preserved  by  the  Latins.  In  the  former  language  it 
was  superseded  by  the  small  mark  called  the  spiritus  asper 
('),  which  was  placed  above  the  letter  to  which  the  aspira- 
ted sound  was  to  be  given.  The  various  interchanges  of 
which  this  letter  is  susceptible  will  be  found  in  the  Penny 
Cyclo.  The  chief  of  these  is  the  substitution,  in  Latin,  of 
the  letter  s  for  the  aspirate  of  the  Greeks:  as  sub  for  biro, 
sal  for  dXj,  sex  for  i{,  septem  for  tirra,  scrpo  for  ip-01,  &c. 
In  English,  this  letter  is  frequently  dropped  altogether  in 
pronunciation;  in  German,  it  is  sounded  only  at  the  begin 
ning  of  words  :  a:  d  n  nerevei  it  otherwise  occurs,  it  has  the 
effect  of  lengthening  the  vowel  after  which  it  is  placed,  as 
in  suhnen,  wuhi  it.  In  Latin,  many  words  are  written  in- 
differently wi  1  this  letter;  as  aruspez,  haruspez, 
onusms.  honustns,  &c.  As  an  abbreviation,  h  was  used  by 
I  the  Latins  for  homo,  litres,  and  hora;  and  as  a  numeral 
it  expressed  200. 

HAA'RKIES.    (German.)    Capillary  pyrites  in  very  del- 
I  icate  acicular  crystals.    The  term  is  also  applied  by  the 
German  mineralogists  to  a  native  sulphuret  of  nick.  I. 

HA'BEAS  CCRPUS.  (Lat.)  In  Law,  the  I 
writ,  of  Which  there  are  several  kinds.  Habeas  1 
respon  ove  a  j    isoner,  confined  by  die  pro- 

1  an  inferior  court,  in  order  to  charge  him  with  a  new 
j  action  in  a  court  above.  Habeas  corpus  ad  subjiciendum  is 
a  high  prerogative  writ,  directed  to  a  person  detaining  an- 
other, and  commanding  hirn  to  produce  the  body  of  the 
prisoner.  This  is  the  writ  which,  by  stat.  31  C.  2,  c.  2,  must 
be  granted  on  application  of  any  party  committed  and  char- 
ged with  any  crime  except  treason  or  felony;  or  if  charged 
with  those  crimes,  having  been  acquitted  or  not  tried  on  the 
second  term  or  session  alter  bis  commitment 

HABE'RE  FA'CIAS  POSSE'SSIO'NEM.  (Lat.)  In 
Law,  a  judicial  writ,  which  lies  where  one  hath  recovered 
a  term  of  years  in  action  of  ejectment  to  put  him  into  pos- 
session. Habere  facias  seisinam,  a  similar  writ  to  give  seisin 
of  a  freehold  estate  recovered  by  ejectment  or  other  action. 

HA'CKLE.  A  board  set  with  sharp  iron  spikes  for  comb- 
ing or  pulling  out  hemp. 

IIA'DES.  (Gr.  a£i)c;  also  aiSnc,  which  is  said  to  be  de- 
rived from  a  and  new,  I  see ;  invisible.)  In  Classical  My- 
thology, the  abode  of  the  dead.  According  to  lb  -ad  the 
mortals  of  the  brazen  age  were  the  first  who  descended  to 
Hades.  (See  especially  the  11th  book  of  the  Odyssey;  He- 
siod,  i  pya  Km  'Hpepai  ;  JEneid,  book  vi. ;  Warburton's 
Dissertation  on  the  latter;  Heyne,  Excursus  8,  ad  loc; 
Spence's  Polymctis,  Dial.  16.)  ilades  was  also  an  appella- 
tion of  the  god  Pluto ;  in  which  sense  alone,  it  is  said,  He- 
siod  uses  it. 

HA'DING.  In  Mining,  the  direction  of  a  slip  or  fault.  The 
deviation  from  the  vertical  of  a  mineral  vein  is  called  its  hade. 

HADJ.  (Arab.)  The  Mohammedan  pilgrimage  to  Mec- 
ca and  Medina:  whence  Hadji,  a  pilgrim,  or  one  who  has 
performed  this  pilgrimage;  Hedjaz,  the  Holy  Land,  where 
these  cities  are  situated.  By  far  the  most  authentic  descrip- 
tion of  it  is  that  1  f  Burkhardt,  who  performed  it  in  the  guise 
of  a  Mohammedan,  in  1814.  It  is  fixed  to  a  particular  lunar 
month,  and  consequently  takes  place  in  every  season  of  the 
year.  It  was  a  custom  long  anterior  to  the  establishment 
oflslamism,  when  the  famous  "black  stone"  of  the  Caaba 
at  Mecca  was  an  object  of  idolatrous  veneration.  Every 
year  a  black  rilk  stuffis  now  sent  by  the  sultan  to  cover  the 
Caaba.  There  are  usually  five  or  six  caravans  :  f  0111  Syria, 
Egypt,  Barbary,  the  East,  and  the  North.  In  3814,  the 
number  of  pilgrims  was  about  70,000,  and  this  was  consider- 
ed small.  The  lilgrims  go  through  several  ceremonies  at 
Mecca,  of  which  the  prim  i]  <'■  vaf,  or  procession 

round  the  Caaba,  and  drinkihe  ol  the  well  of  Zemzen ;  they 
then  proceed  to  the  summit  of  Mount  At  I:    tly  to 

Medina,  the  place  of  the   p  bu  ial.     (Burkhard&s 

Travels  in  Arabia,  1829;   Quart.  Jiev.,  vol.  xlii.) 


ILEMATEMESIS. 

ILEMATE'MESIS.  (Gr.  atpa,  Mood,  and  cptiv,  to  vomit.) 
Vomiting  of  blood  from  the  stomach,  generally  preceded  by 
weight  and  uneasiness  about  the  region  of  the  stomach,  and 
unaccompanied  by  cough  and  the  other  symptoms  of  hemop- 
tysis. 

HEMATITE.  (Gr.  aipa,)  Native  oxide  of  iron  ;  its 
streak  and  powder  are  bloodied. 

HjEMATOCE'LE.  (Gr.  aifia,  and  /0/X17.  0.  tumour.)  A 
tumour  arising  from  extravasated  blood. 

H^EMATOSI'NE.  (Gr.  atpa.)  The  red  colouring  mat- 
ter of  tin.!  blood. 

HEMATO'XYL,INE.  The  colouring  principle  of  the 
wood  of  the  Htcmatoxylon  campechianum,  or  logwood. 

H^EMATU'RIA.  (Gr.  ai/ia,  and  ovpoi;  urine.)  A  dis- 
charge of  bloodv  urine. 

HEMODORA'CEE  (rfamodorum,  one  of  the  genera.) 
A  natural  order  of  Endogens  principally  inhabiting  New 
Holland.  They  differ  from  Mmaryilidacem  in  their  flowers 
and  equitant  leaves;  from  Iridacca  in  their  stamens,  and  in 
the  anthers  bursting  inwards.  They  are  curious,  but  not 
useful  or  beautiful  plants;  except  in  the  case  of  Anigoran- 
thus,  a  genus  containing  some  striking  herbaceous  species. 

HEMO  PTYSIS.  (Gr.  tana,  blood,  and  titvu>,  /  spit.) 
The  coughing  up  of  blood,  sometimes  produced  by  fulness 
of  the  blood-vessels  of  the  lungs,  or  by  the  rupture  of  blood- 
vessels as  a  consequence  of  ulceration.  It  is  distinguished 
from  blood  coming  from  the  stomach  by  the  comparative 
smallness  of  its  quantity,  and  by  its  usual  florid  colour:  the 
latter  is  usually  blackened  by  the  acid,  and  often  mixed  with 
the  contents  of  the  stomach.  The  age  at  which  this  disease 
commonly  shows  itself  is  from  fifteen  to  five-and-twenty, 
and  it  is  sometimes  brought  on  by  violent  exercise  or  a  fit  of 
coughing.  It  is  not  very  uncommon  as  a  symptom  of  sup- 
pression of  some  natural  evacuation  ;  and  when  unattend- 
ed by  symptoms  of  consumption  and  constitutional  cough, 
and  occurring  in  persons  otherwise  strong  and  healthy,  it  is 
often  not  dangerous :  when  it  occurs  in  some  fevers,  and  in 
inflammation,  it  may  even  be  a  favourable  symptom.  Bleed- 
ing, aperients,  acids,  diaphoretics,  nauseants,  and  occasion- 
ally the  exhibition  of  small  doses  of  sugar  of  lead  and  of 
styptic  astringents,  are  the  remedies  usually  resorted  to. 

HEMORRHAGE.  (Gr.  aiua,  and  payij,  rent.)  A  bleed- 
ing or  flow  of  blood.  This  may  arise  from  two  causes: 
either  a  full  state  of  the  vessels,  or  plethora,  when  it  has 
been  called  active  hemorrhage ;  or  from  a  debilitated  state 
'  f  the  vessels,  or  of  the  system  generally,  when  it  is  called 
passive  hemorrhage.  When  haemorrhage  occurs  from 
cither  of  these  causes,  it  usually  requires  methods  of 
:  reatment  adapted  to  the  particular  case.  Where  haemor- 
rhage is  the  consequence  of  wounds,  the  bleeding  vessels 
must  be  secured  by  ligature ;  or  where  this  cannot  be  done, 
styptic  applications  are  applied. 

HEMORRHOIDS.  (Gr.  aipa,  and  pew,  I  flow.)  Tumours 
of  the  veins  of  the  rectum,  constituting  the  disease  com- 
monly called  piles. 

HjiRE  SIARCH.  (Gr.  dipcoig,  heresy;  apxu,  1 begin.) 
In  ecclesiastical  History,  the  founder  of  an  heretical  sect. 
See  Heresy. 

HERESI'MACHE  (Gr.  Hipeoig,  and  paxouat,  J fight.) 
In  Ecclesiastical  History,  those  who  have  written  contro- 
versial works  against  heresies.  Of  the  earliest  Christian 
writers  of  this  description,  who  wrote  chiefly  against  Basil- 
ides,  Marcion,  and  the  Montanists,  we  have  only  fragments 
remaining.  The  first  complete  treatise  of  this  description 
extant  is  that  of  Irenoeus  against  the  Gnostics  (A.D.  180). 

HAG,  or  HAG-FISH.  A  vernacular  name  for  a  species 
of  Cy clostomous  fish  called  Myxine  glutinosa  and  Gastro- 
branchus  emeus  by  ichthyologists. 

HAGIO'GRAPHA.  (Gr.  oyios,  holy,  and  ypa(p>'i,  writing 
or  Scripture.)  The  Holy  Scriptures.  The  term  is  also  ap- 
plied to  histories  or  legends  respecting  the  lives  and  actions 
of  the  saints.  See  Riddle's  Christian  Antiquities,  1839,  p. 
394,  as  to  that  particular  class  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures 
which  were  termed  by  the  Jews  Hagiographa. 

HAIL.  (Germ,  hagel.)  A  well-known  meteor,  which 
occurs  chiefly  in  spring  and  summer,  not  unfrequently  ac- 
companied with  thunder.  It  is  formed  of  rain  or  atmo- 
spheric vapours  congealed  by  cold  in  the  upper  regions  of 
the  atmosphere,  and  falling  to  the  ground  in  small  roundish 
masses,  or  hailstones.  On  examining  attentively  the  inte- 
rior structure  of  hailstones  they  are  usually  found  to  contain 
an  opaque  nucleus  of  a  spongy  or  porous  texture,  resembling 
hardened  snow,  surrounded  by  a  layer  of  ice  of  greater  or 
less  transparency.  Sometimes  several  transparent  layers 
are  distinguishable,  and  sometimes  the  layers  are  alternately 
transparent  and  opaque.  Hailstones  have  also  been  obser- 
ved having  a  radiating  structure.  Their  form  is  exceedingly 
various ;  in  general  it  is  roundish, but  sometimes  pyramidal, 
angular,  or  even  thin  and  flat,  with  irregular  surfaces.  The 
usual  size  of  hailstones  is  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  di- 
ameter ;  but  they  are  frequently  of  much  greater  magni- 
tude, and  instances  are  on  record  in  which  the  dimensions 
542 


HAIL. 

would  appear  incredible  if  they  were  not  attested  by  obser- 
vers of  known  character.  Halley  relates  that  on  the  9th 
of  April,  1697,  there  fell  in  Flintshire  hailstones  which 
weighed  5  ounces.  On  the  4th  of  May,  1697,  Robert  Tay- 
lor, in  Hertfordshire,  observed  hailstones  which  measured 
14  inches  in  circumference ;  that  is,  about  4  inches  in  diam- 
eter. Parent,  on  the  15th  of  May,  1703,  found  them  at  Iliers 
as  large  as  his  fist.  On  the  11th  of  July,  1753,  at  Toul, 
some  were  collected  by  Montignot  measuring  3  inches  in  di- 
ameter. Volta  affirms  that  on  the  night  of  the  19th  of  Au- 
gust, 1787,  in  a  hail  storm  which  ravaged  the  city  of  Como 
and  its  environs,  some  of  the  stones  were  found  "to  weigh  9 
ounces.  In  the  terrible  hail  storm  which  traversed  the 
whole  of  France  and  the  Netherlands  on  the  13th  of  July, 
1788,  M.  Pessier  relates  that  hailstones  were  picked  up 
which  weighed  8  ounces.  And  Dr.  Noggerath  informs  us 
that  on  the  7th  of  May,  1822,  hailstones  fell  at  Bonn,  weigh- 
ing from  12  to  13  ounces.  From  these  relations  we  may 
form  some  idea  of  the  destruction  occasioned  by  a  severe 
hail  storm  in  a  cultivated  country. 

Of  the  different  circumstances  accompanying  a  fall  of 
hail,  the  following  are  the  most  remarkable :  Hail  usually 
precedes  storms  of  rain,  sometimes  accompanies  them ;  but 
never,  or  very  rarely  follows  them,  especially  if  the  rain  is 
of  any  duration.  The  time  of  its  continuance  is  always  very 
short,  generally  only  a  few  minutes,  and  very  seldom  so 
long  as  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  The  quantity  of  ice  which 
falls  from  the  clouds  in  so  short  a  time  is  prodigious,  the 
ground  being  sometimes  covered  with  it  to  the  depth  of  sev- 
eral inches.  The  clouds  from  which  hail  is  precipitated 
appear  to  be  of  very  considerable  extent  and  depth,  inas- 
much as  they  produce  a  great  obscurity.  It  has  been  re- 
marked that  they  have  a  peculiar  gray  or  reddish  colour, 
and  that  their  lower  surfaces  present  enormous  protuberan- 
ces, while  their  edges  exhibit  deep  and  numerous  indenta- 
tions.  Hail  is  always  accompanied  with  electric  phenomena. 

Various  hypotheses  have  been  proposed  to  explain  the 
physical  cause  of  hail,  and  the  phenomena  by  which  it  is 
accompanied.  The  theory  requires  the  solution  of  two 
questions:  first,  how  the  cold  which  causes  the  congelation 
of  the  aqueous  particles  is  produced  1  and,  secondly,  how 
a  hailstone,  after  attaining  a  sufficient  size  to  fall  through 
the  air  by  its  own  weight,  remains  suspended  a  sufficient 
length  of  time  to  acquire  a  volume  of  twelve  or  fifteen  inches 
in  circumference?  But  both  these  questions  are  attended 
with  very  considerable  difficulty  ;  and  after  all  that  has 
been  written  on  the  subject,  the  theory  of  hail  is  still  involv- 
ed in  great  obscurity. 

The  first  hypothesis  we  shall  mention  is  that  of  the  cele- 
brated Volta.  In  order  to  solve  the  first  question,  Volta  sup- 
posed that  the  solar  rays  which  impinge  on  the  upper  sur- 
face of  a  dense  cloud  are  almost  entirely  absorbed,  whence 
a  very  rapid  evaporation  results,  and  that  this  evaporation 
produces  a  sufficient  degree  of  cold  to  freeze  water.  To  this 
part  of  the  theory  it  lias,  however,  been  objected,  that  the 
evaporation  of  a  liquid  through  the  effect  of  heat  can  only 
become  more  rapid  in  consequence  of  the  liquid  acquiring  a 
higher  temperature  ;  in  other  words,  that  a  liquid  cannot,  at 
the  same  time,  receive  an  additional  quantity  of  caloric  and 
have  its  temperature  diminished  without  the  intervention  of 
some  other  cause.  For  instance,  let  two  sheets  of  paper  be 
moistened  to  the  same  degree,  and  one  of  them  be  exposed 
to  the  sun's  rays,  and  the  other  placed  in  the  shade  ;  it  will 
soon  be  seen  that  the  one  on  which  the  sun's  rays  fall  dries 
more  quickly :  its  evaporation  is  greater ;  but,  at  the  same 
time,  it  becomes  warmer  than  the  other,  whereas,  according 
to  Volta's  argument,  it  ought  to  become  colder. 

Volta's  solution  of  the  second  question  is  ingenious,  but 
not  satisfactory.  Admitting  the  nuclei  of  the  hailstones  to 
be  formed,  and  that  there  exists  a  sufficient  degree  of  cold 
to  produce  their  enlargement  by  freezing  the  aqueous  va- 
pours, he  supposes  two  large  strata  of  clouds,  charged  with 
opposite  electricities,  to  be  disposed  the  one  over  the  other ; 
in  which  case  the  hailstones,  still  very  small,  falling  on  the 
lower  stratum,  would  experience  the  two  following  effects : 
In  the  first  place,  they  would  penetrate  the  stratum  on  which 
they  fall  to  some  extent,  and  be  covered  with  a  new  coating 
of  ice.  In  the  second  place,  they  would  acquire  the  same 
electricity  as  the  cloud,  and  consequently  be  repelled  by  it; 
while,  at  the  same  time,  they  would  be  attracted  by  the  up- 
per stratum,  on  account  of  its  preserving  the  opposite  elec- 
tricity. And  the  electric  attraction  of  the  cloud  being  sup- 
posed greater  than  the  force  of  gravity,  the  hailstones  would 
thus  pass  from  the  lower  to  the  upper  stratum,  where  anal- 
Ogous  effects  would  take  place,  and  whence,  consequently, 
they  would  be  repelled  to  the  lower  stratum.  Thus  they 
would  be  kept  pasnng  alternately  from  the  one  stratum  to 
the  other,  until  at  length,  either  becoming  too  heavy,  or  the 
clouds  losing  their  electricity,  or  being  carried  by  the  wind  to 
too  great  a  distance  from  each  other,  the  cause  which  kept 
the  hailstones  suspended  in  the  atmosphere  becomes  inade- 
quate to  support  them,  and  they  are  precipitated  to  the  ground. 


HAIR. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  accuracy  of  this  theory  cannot  be 
proved  by  any  direct  experiment ;  and  doubts  have  even 
been  raised  whether  the  existence  of  electric  forces  sufficient 
to  move  masses  of  ice  of  the  size  which  hailstones  are  fre- 
quently found  to  have,  in  the  manner  the  theory  supposes, 
be  really  possible.  The  following,  which  is  much  simpler, 
seems  adequate  to  the  effects :  We  may  suppose  the  cold 
necessary  for  the  formation  of  hail  to  be  produced  by  the 
wind;  and  that  when  the  hailstones  are  formed  they  are 
also  carried  along  through  the  atmosphere  by  currents  of 
wind  in  a  direction  very  oblique  to  the  horizon,  by  which 
means  they  may  be  kept  suspended  a  sufficient  length  of 
time  to  acquire  the  dimensions  they  possess  by  congealing 
the  particles  of  humid  vapour  with  which  tliey  successive- 
ly come  in  contact.  Thus  the  same  cause,  namely,  the 
wind,  determines  the  production  and  the  enlargement  of 
hailstones ;  and  the  electricity  with  which  the  phenomenon 
is  always  accompanied,  is  only  the  effect  of  the  passage  of 
the  particles  of  water  from  the  liquid  to  the  solid  state. 

For  farther  information  on  this  subject,  the  reader  is  re- 
ferred to  an  interesting  article  by  Arago  in  the  Jlnnnaire  Pre- 
sence au  Roi  for  1829  ;  also  Pouillet's  Elemens  de  Physique, 
tome  ii. 

HAIR.  (Germ.haar.)  The  characteristic  covering  of  the 
Mammifcrous  class  of  animals.  It  consists  of  slender,  more 
or  less  elongated,  horny  filaments,  secreted  by  a  matrix,  con- 
sisting of  a  conical  gland  or  bulb,  and  a  capsule,  which  is 
situated  in  the  mesh-work  of  the  corium,  or  true  skin.  The 
hairs  pass  out  through  canals  in  the  corium,  which  are  lined 
by  a  thin  layer  of  cuticle  adherent  to  the  base  of  the  hair  : 
the  straightness  or  curl  of  the  hair  depends  on  the  form  of 
the  canal  through  which  it  passes.  Spines,  bristles,  fur,  and 
wool  are  all  modifications  of  hair,  having  the  same  chemical 
composition,  mode  of  formation,  and  general  structure. 

In  the  spines  of  the  porcupine,  the  bulb  secretes  a  fluted 
pith,  and  the  capsule  invests  it  with  a  horny  sheath,  the 
transparency  of  which  allows  the  ridges  of  the  central  part 
to  be  seen.  In  the  spines  of  the  hedgehog,  the  spine-like 
whiskers  of  the  walrus,  and  the  bristles  of  the  hog,  the  two- 
fold structure  of  the  hair  is  very  conspicuous :  but  in  the  finer 
kind  of  hair,  as  of  the  human  head  and  beard,  the  central 
pith  can  only  be  demonstrated  in  fine  transverse  sections 
viewed  with  a  microscope.  Some  kinds  of  hair,  as  of  the 
human  head,  the  mane  and  tail  of  the  horse,  are  perennial, 
and  grow  continuously  by  a  persistent  activity  of  the  forma- 
tive capsule  and  pulp  ;  other  kinds,  as  the  ordinary  hair  of 
the  horse,  cow,  and  deer,  are  annual,  and  the  coat  is  shed  at 
particular  seasons.  In  the  deer  the  horns  are  shed  contem- 
poraneously with  the  deciduous  hair. 

Many  quadrupeds,  especially  those  of  cold  climates,  have 
two  kinds  of  hair :  a  long  and  coarse  kind,  forming  their 
visible  external  covering ;  and  a  shorter,  finer,  and  more 
abundant  kind,  which  lies  close  to  the  skin,  and  called  "  fur." 
It  is  one  of  the  processes  in  the  arts  to  remove  the  coarse 
hair,  and  leave  the  fur  attached  to  the  dried  skin,  as  in  the 
preparation  of  seal-skin,  &c.  The  peculiar  characteristic  of 
wool,  and  that  on  which  its  valuable  qualities  chiefly  de- 
pend, is  the  seriated  character  of  its  surface,  arising  from  its 
structure,  which  consists  of  a  series  or  succession  of  inverted 
cones,  the  base  of  each  being  directed  from  the  root  of  the 
woolly  fibre,  and  receiving  the  apex  of  the  succeeding  cone. 
It  results  from  this  structure  that  the  pressure  to  which  the 
workman  subjects  the  wool  in  moving  it  backwards  and  for- 
wards, brings  the  fibres  together,  and  multiplies  their  points 
of  contact.  The  agitation  gives  to  each  hair  a  progressive 
motion  towards  the  root,  and  the  serrations  of  one  hair  fix 
themselves  on  those  of  another  hair  which  happens  to  have 
its  root  turned  in  the  opposite  direction,  and  the  mass  at 
length  assumes  the  compact  form  which  is  termed  "felted" 
wool.  The  microscope  has  likewise  demonstrated  various 
other  remarkable  modifications  in  the  form  of  the  hair  in 
different  quadrupeds.  In  the  mole,  e.  g.,  each  hair  is  alter- 
nately constricted  and  expanded  from  its  root  to  its  apex, 
whereby  it  readily  assumes  any  position,  and  lies  flat  and 
smooth,  either  towards  the  head  when  the  little  bunower  is 
retrograding  in  his  subterraneous  galleries,  or  in  the  contrary 
direction  when  moving  forwards.  The  organization  of  the 
hair  is  such  as  to  allow  of  its  undergoing  certain  changes 
when  once  formed,  according  to  the  slate  of  health  and  gen 
eral  condition  of  the  rest  of  the  frame,  and  even  to  be  affect- 
ed by  loss  of  colour  in  consequence  of  violent  mental  emo- 
tions in  the  human  subject.  Some  of  the  lower  animal-,  as 
the  Alpine  hare,  are  subject  to  periodical  change  of  colour 
of  their  fur,  by  which  it  is  made  to  harmonize  with  the  pre- 
vailing hue  of  the  ground  which  they  habitually  traverse. 

The  chemical  properties  of  hair  were  first  pointed  out  by 
Mr.  Hatchett,  in  his  paper  in  the  Phil.  Trans,  for  1800.  It 
chiefly  consists  of  an  indurated  albumen,  and  when  boiled 
with  water  it  yields  a  portion  of  gelatine.  Soft  flexible  hair, 
which  easily  loses  its  curl,  is  that  which  is  most  gelatinous. 
Vauquelin  discovered  two  kinds  of  oil  in  hair :  the  one  col- 
ourless, and  in  all  hair ;  the  other  coloured,  and  imparting 


HALO. 

the  peculiar  tint  to  hair.  Black  hair  also  contains  iron  and 
sulphur. 

Hairs.  In  Botany,  minute,  transparent,  filiform  process- 
es, composed  of  cellular  tissue  more  or  less  elongated  and 
arranged  in  a  single  row.  They  spring  from  the  surface  of 
plants,  appear  always  to  have  a  circulating  system,  and 
probably  act  both  as  absorbents  of  moisture  and  protectors 
of  the  surface  in  which  they  grow.  Many  sorts  are  distin- 
guished by  phytotomists,  the  principal  of  which  are  the  se- 
creting or  glandular,  which  are  composed  of  cellules  that 
are  visibly  distended  either  at  the  apex  or  base  into  reccpta 
cles  of  fluid  ;  and  the  lymphatic,  which  consist  of  tissue  ta- 
pering gradually  from  the  base  to  the  apex. 

HA'LBERT.  A  word  of  uncertain  derivation,  applied 
to  an  offensive  weapon,  which  consists  of  a  shaft  five  feet 
long,  with  a  steel  head,  partly  in  the  form  of  a  crescent. 
This  weapon  was  formerly  in  considerable  use  in  the  army, 
and  indeed  gave  its  name  to  a  body  of  men  called  halber- 
diers ;  but  it  is  now  rarely  to  be  met  with  except  in  some 
borough  in  Scotland,  where  it  is  used  by  the  civil  officers 
who  attend  the  magistrates  in  processions,  and  on  other  pub- 
lic occasions. 

HA'LCYON.     See  Alcedo. 

HALCYON  DAYS.  A  name  given  by  the  ancients  to 
the  seven  days  that  precede  and  follow  the  winter  solstice, 
from  the  circumstance  of  the  halcyon  or  alcedo  selecting 
that  period  for  incubation.  While  this  process  was  going 
on,  the  weather  was  generally  remarkable  for  its  calmness; 
and  hence  the  expression  has  passed  into  a  proverb,  signify- 
ing days  of  peace  and  tranquillity.  This  circumstance  ia 
beautifully  alluded  to  by  Ovid  in  the  following  lines : 

Perque  dies  piacidos  hibemn  tempore  septem 
Incubat  Kalcyone  per.denlibus  aequoro  nidis. 
Turn  via  tuta  maris:  venlos  cuslodit  et  arcet 
iEolus  egressu  :  praetatque  nepotibus  xquor. 

HALCYONIDiE.  (Gr.  QX/aw,  a  kingfisher.)  The 
family  of  Fissirostral  birds,  having  the  kingfisher  as  the  type. 
(Halcyon,  from  o.\kvu>v,  itself  is  derived  from  Gr.  aAf,  and 
Kvu),  I  procreate,  because  the  halcyons  build  their  nest  on 
the  sea-shore.) 

IIALIO'TIDjE.  (Gr.  aAj,  the  sea,  and  ovs,  the  ear.)  A 
family  of  Gastropods,  having  as  its  type  the  genus  Haliotis, 
or  the  sea-ear. 

HALL.  (Sax.  heal.)  In  Architecture,  properly  a  large 
room  for  the  transaction  of  public  business ;  also  a  manor 
house  where  courts  are  held  for  the  admission  of  tenants  and 
other  manorial  business.  It  is  perhaps  a  term  improperly 
applied,  as  now,  to  the  entrance  of  a  dwelling-house,  though 
not  so  to  a  servants'  hall.  At  Oxford  an  unendowed  college 
is  styled  a  hall ;  but  at  Cambridge  the  term  is  used  indis- 
criminately for  college,  whether  endowed  or  not. 

HALLELU'JAH.  (Heb.  praise  ye  the  Lord.)  A  well- 
known  doxology,  derived  from  the  Old  Testament.  It  was 
used,  among  the  early  Christians,  at  Easter,  and  (luring  the 
interval  from  thence  to  Whitsuntide.  (Greg.,  Epist.  ix., 
Ep.  12.)     See  Riddle's  Christian  Antiquities,  p.  334. 

HA'LLIARDS,  Ifaulyards.  Ropes  by  which  yards,  sails, 
and  t-ignals  are  hoisted. 

HA'LO.  (Lat.  halo.)  In  Meteorology,  a  luminous  circle 
or  ring,  usually  coloured,  surrounding  the  sun  or  moon  under 
certain  conditions  of  the  atmosphere.  Of  such  rings  there 
are  two  kinds,  which  appear  to  depend  on  essentially  differ- 
ent physical  causes.  The  first  are  of  small  dimensions, 
their  diameters  being  between  5°  and  12°;  and  ceneralty 
three  or  more  concentric  rings  appear  together,  differently 
coloured,  and  presenting  appearances  similar  to  the  optical 
phenomena  of  the  rings  of  thin  plates.  These  are  usually 
called  corona: ;  and  they  appear  either  when  a  small  quan- 
tity of  aqueous  vapour  is  diffused  through  the  atmosphere, 
or  when  light  fleecy  clouds  pass  over  the  sun  or  moon.  The 
second  kind  consists  usually  of  a  single  luminous  ring,  but 
of  much  larger  dimensions,  the  diameter  being  about  45°.  It 
is  to  the  meteors  of  this  second  kind  that  the  term  halo  is 
usually  appropriated. 

The  apparent  diameters  of  haloes  of  the  second  kind  have 
frequently  been  measured,  and  are  always  found  to  subtend 
at  the  eve  of  the  observer  an  angle  of  between  44°  and  46°. 
The  lunar  halo  is  simply  a  white  luminous  circle,  without 
colour,  excepting  a  pale  red,  which  sometimes  fringes  the 
interior  edge  of  the  circle.  But  the  colours  of  the  haloes 
about  the  sun,  though  not  so  bright  as  those  of  the  rainbow, 
are,  however,  marked  with  sufficient  distinctness.  The  red 
occupies  the  interior  part  of  the  luminous  circle  ;  the  indigo 
and  violet  the  outer  part,  and  shade  away  by  insensible  de- 
grees till  they  are  blended  with  the  general  colour  of  the 
sky.  In  some  circumstances  a  second  halo  is  observed  con- 
centric with  the  former,  but  of  much  larger  extent,  its  ap- 
parent diameter  being  about  90°.  The  colours  of  this  sec- 
ondary halo  are  faint  and  pale,  and  its  Iuminousness  much 
inferior  to  that  of  the  inner  halo.  The  haloes  are  very  fre- 
quently attended  by  a  horizontal  white  circle,  with  brighter 
spots,  or  parhelia,  near  their  intersections  with  this  circle, 

543 


HALOGENS. 

and  with  portions  cf  inverted  arches  of  various  curvature?. 
See  Parhelia. 

Various  causes  have  been  assigned  for  the  origin  of  haloes  ; 
but  the  most  probable  is  that  of  Mariotte,  who  supposes  the 
phenomenon  to  arise  from  the  refraction  of  light  in  passing 
through  small  transparent  and  prismatic  crystals  of  ice  float- 
ing in  the  higher  regions  of  the  atmosphere.  Water  as- 
sumes, in  congealing,  a  great  varii  ty  of  crystalline  tonus, 
among  which  are  frequently  found  crystals  whose  faces  are 
inclined  to  each  other  in  an  angle  of  6u°;  thus  forming 
prisms  of  ice  of  which  the  refracting  angle  is  00°.  These 
prisms  are  turned  in  all  possible  directions,  and  consequent- 
sun's  rays  fall  on  their  faces  at  all  different  inclina- 
tions. But  in  certain  positions  i  f  the  prism  with  respect  to 
the  incident  light,  the  rays  which  traverse  it  suffer  a  mini- 
mum deviation,  which  happens  when  the  refracted  ray 
nial.es  an  isosceles  triangle  with  the  two  sides  of  the  prism. 
The  path  of  the  ray  in  the  interior  of  the  crystal  in  this  case 
an  angle  of  60°  with  the  face  of  the  crystal,  or  an  an- 
gle of  30°  with  the  perpendicular  to  that  face.  Tins  last 
e  is  the  angle  of  refraction  ;  and  it  is  known  by  experi- 
ment that,  in  the  case  of  ice,  the  angle  of  refraction  being 
30°,  the  angle  of  incidence  is  41° ;  hence  the  ray  falls  on  the 
crystal  at  an  angle  of  90° — 11°=49° ;  consequently  the  de- 
i  of  the  ray  from  its  original  direction  is  (i(J° — !9°=11°. 
On  escaping  from  the  crystal,  the  ray  suffers  a  second  flex- 
ure of 'the  same  amount;  and  the  total  deviation  from  its 
first  direction  is  now  2X11^=22°,  which  is  the  semidiameter 
of  the  halo.  It  follows,  therefore, 
that  the  parallel  rays  S  A,  8  B,  from 
the  sun  falling  on  such  prisms  at  A 
and  B  at  angles  of  incidence  equal 
to  41°,  will  be  refracted  into  the  di- 
rection A  E  and  B  E,  which  make 
angles  A  E  S  and  B  E  S  equal  to  22° ;  and  an  eye  situated 
at  the  intersection  E  will  see  a  luminous  circle,  of  which 
the  apparent  diameter,  or  angle  A  E  B,  is  about  44°.  With 
re  |  ''Lto  the  secondary  or  external  halo,  whose  diameter  is 
about  90°,  it  may  he  attributed,  says  Dr.  Young  (Lectures, 
vol.  i.,  p.  444),  either  to  two  successive  refractions  through 
different  prisms,  or  with  greater  probability,  as  Mr.  Cavend- 
ish suggested,  to  the  refraction  of  the  rectangular  termina- 
tions of  the  prisms. 

This  theory  explains  the  order  in  which  the  colours  are 
disposed.  The  ratio  of  the  refraction  of  the  violet  ray  being 
greater  than  that  of  the  red  ray,  the  former  will  suffer  a 
greater  deviation,  and  consequently  the  violet  band  of  the 
halo  will  have  a  greater  diameter  than  the  red.  Supposing 
this  theory  to  be  correct,  the  condition  necessary  for  the  ap- 
pearance of  haloes  is  the  existence  of  particles  of  ice  in  the 
upper  regions  of  the  atmosphere.  The  appearance  of  a 
halo,  therefore,  furnishes  information  respecting  the  tem- 
perature of  the  air  at  great  altitudes  above  the  earth. 

The  formation  of  corona;,  or  the  small  haloes  so  frequent- 
ly seen  round  the  sun  and  moon  in  fine  weather,  is  ascribed 
by  Fraunhofer  and  Sir  John  Leslie,  not  to  the  refraction. 
but  to  the  deflection  of  light  in  passing  by  the  small  watery 
globules  suspended  in  the  atmosphere.  If  a  piece  of  tinfoil 
punctured  with  the  point  of  a  needle  be  held  close  to  the 
eye,  the  sun  will  appear  through  it  surrounded  with  a  halo 
very  near  his  disk,  but  spreading  more  in  proportion  as  the 
hole  is  contracted.  Supposing  that  an  aqueous  globule  of 
equal  dimensions  would  produce  an  equal  deflection,  the 
magnitude  of  the  globules  might  thus  be  inferred  from  the 
diameter  of  the  halo.  When  the  halo  approaches  nearest 
to  the  luminous  body,  the  largest  globules  are  floating,  and 
therefore  the  atmosphere  is  surcharged  with  humidity  ; 
whence  the  justness  of  the  remark  that  a  dense  halo  close 
to  the  nice  hi  portends  rain.  For  a  full  exposition  of  the 
theory  of  haloes  and  other  similar  meteors,  the  reader  is 
referred  to  a  Memoir  by  Fraunhofer  in  Schumacher' s  Jls- 
tronomische  Abhandlungen,  3  tes.,  heft;  or  to  the  article 
"Hof,"  in  Oehler's  Physiealisches  Worterbuch.  See  also 
JVcwton's  Optics;  Smith's  (tjitirs  ;  Pouillet,  FJemens  dc 
Physique;  Cabinet  Cycl.,  art.  "Optics;"  L'.ncy.  Brit.,  art. 
"  Meteorology." 

HA'LOGENS.  (Or.  &\s,  salt.)  Substances  which  by 
combination  with  metals  produce  saline  compounds;  such 
as  chlorine,  iodine,  bromine,  fluorine,  which  are  simple  hal- 
ogens; and  cyanogen,  which  is  a  compound  halogen. 

HA'LOED.  (Gr.  dAc.)  This  term  is  applied  to  o  class 
of  chemical  combinations  composed  of  two  bi  elementary 

Compounds,  one  or  both  of  Which  arc  analogous  in  ci 

lion  to  sea  salt.  The  principal  groups  consist  of  double  chlo- 
rides, iodides,  fluorides,  and  cyanurets. 

HALTI'CA.  A  genus  embracing  numerous  species  of 
small  and  often  minute  Coleopterous  insects,  of  the  family 
Oalerucidm,  and  section  Tetramera.  These  insects  have  the 
femoral  joints  of  the  hind  legs  thick  and  strong,  and  an  CO] 
sequenily  good  leapers.  The  native  species  are  smaller  than 
the  foreign  ones,  but  are  more  noxious  than  might  be  ex- 
pected from  their  diminutive  size.  The  notorious  turnip-fly, 
544 


HANSEATIC   LEAGUE. 

or  rather  turnip-flea  [Chrysomela  nemorum  of  Linnaeus),  is  a 
species  of  the  present  genus. 

HAMADRY'ADS.  (Gr.  ,',;. .,,  together,  and  Spvs,  an  oak.) 
Certain  nymphs  or- interior  deities  supposed  bv  the  Greek 
and  Roman  poets  to  preside  over  woods  and  forests,  and,  as 
their  name  implied,  to  live  and  die  with  the  particular  trees 
to  which  they  were  attached. 

HA'MITEB.  (Lat.  humus,  a  hook.)  A  genus  of  extinct 
Cephalopoda,  which  inhabited  chambered  shells,  losing  their 
spiral  form  soon  after  their  commencement,  and  then  con- 
tinued for  a  considerable  extent  with  a  single  bend  upon 
themselves  like  a  hook.  The  Hamites  are  found  in  the 
greensand  formation  in  England. 

HA'MLET.  (Diminutive  of  the  Saxon  ham,  hone  or 
house.)  A  small  village.  In  Law,  a  hamlet  is  a  portion  of 
a  village  or  parish,  and  synonymous  with  vill. 

HA'MMER  BEAM.  "(Sax.  hamer.)  In  Architecture,  a 
horizontal  piece  of  timber  from  or  near,  but  above,  the  foot 
of  a  rafter,  the  object  of  which  is  to  act  as  a  tie. 

HA'MMOCK.  The  sailors'  bed.  An  oblong  piece  of 
hempen  cloth  :  at  each  end  are  fastened  several  small  lines, 
meeting  in  a  grummet  or  iron  ring ;  these  form  the  clues. 
The  whole,  having  a  mattress  and  pillow,  &c  placed  in  it, 
is  hoisted  up  into  its  place  by  small  ropes  called  laniards, 
between  two  battens  or  screws  in  the  beams  of  the  deck 
over  head,  about  nine  feet  distant  asunder.  The  hammock 
is  a  very  agreeable  bed,  especially  in  cold  weather ;  but 
some  little  practice  is  requisite  at  first  in  getting  in  and  out 
successfully.  During  the  day  the  hammocks,  lashed  up  tight 
in  the  form  of  caterpillars,  are  stowed  in  the  nettings  along 
the  upper  edge  of  the  bulwark. 

HA'MSTER.  A  Rodent  quadruped,  somewhat  larger 
than  a  rat,  common  in  all  the  sandy  regions  that  extend  from 
the  north  of  Germany  to  Siberia  ;  extremely  noxious  from 
its  fertility  and  great  destruction  of  grain,  but  an  object  of 
interest  on  account  of  the  economic  instincts  which  conduce 
to  its  preservation  and  support.  The  hamster  excavates  n 
complicated  burrow,  consisting  of  different  apartments  for 
rearing  the  young,  hibernating,  and  storing  up  winter  food. 
An  old  hamster  will  often  amass  a  hundred  pounds'  worth 
of  grain,  and  fill  up  a  subterraneous  magazine  which  is 
sometimes  seven  feet  deep.  To  effect  this  board  nature  has 
provided  the  hamster  with  a  means  of  transport  in  two 
large  cheek-pouches,  which,  during  its  incursion  among  cul- 
tivated grounds,  it  crams  full  of  grain,  beans,  or  peas,  and 
empties  on  its  return  to  its  hole  by  pressing  the  fore-paws 
against  the  cheeks.  The  hamster,  however,  is  not  wholly 
dependant  on  its  winter  store  for  existence.  During  the  in- 
clement months,  when  the  frost  becomes  severe,  animation 
is  in  great  measure  suspended,  and  the  need  of  nourishment 
abrogated  :  respiration  ceases,  the  animal  heat  falls,  sensa- 
tion is  benumbed,  and  a  kind  of  vegetative  life  is  maintained 
by  a  slow  circulation  of  dark  or  venous  blood  through  both 
sides  of  the  heart.  When  the  returning  warmth  of  spring 
stimulates  the  organic  machinery  to  its  wonted  activity,  the 
awakened  hamster  finds  in  the  nourishment  which  it  has 
providentally  stored  up  the  means  of  supplying  the  conse 
quent  waste,  and  of  maintaining  its  vital  energies.  They 
are  thus  enabled  to  commence  the  business  of  procreation  in 
April,  and  the  female  rears  a  litter  of  six  or  eight  twice  or 
thrice  every  year.  In  about  three  weeks  the  young  are  able 
in  provide  for  themselves,  and  are  driven  from  the  holes  of 
the  parents.  The  hamster  (Mus  cricetus  of  Linnaeus)  is  the 
type  of  the  genus  Cricetus  of  Cuvier,  characterized  by  the 
short  tail  and  cheek-pouches.  The  teeth  nearly  resemble 
those  of  the  rat. 

HAMULA'RIA.  (Lat.  hamus,  a  hook.)  A  species  of 
worm  said  to  have  been  found  in  the  bronchial  glands  of  a 
person  who  died  of  typhus. 

IIA'NAPER  OFFICE.  A  common  law  office  in  the 
court  of  Chancery,  in  which  writs  were  anciently  kept  in 
small  separate  wicker  baskets  'hampers,  hanaperia),  of 
which  specimens  may  still  be  seen  among  the  records  at 
the  Chapter  House.  Writs  relating  to  the  subject  were  de- 
posited there:  those  concerning  the  crown  in  the  Petty  or 
Little  B::g,  whence  another  office  of  the  same  court  is  de- 
nominated. 

IIA'NDLING.  (From  hand.)  In  Painting,  management 
of  the  pencil  by  touch.  Handling  should  be  bold,  with  fioe- 
dom,  firmness,  mid  spirit. 

HA'NDSPIKE.  A  wooden  lover  employed  on  board  a 
ship  in  working  the  windlass  and  capstan,  ojie  end  of  which 
is  squared  to  lit  the  holes  in  the  capstan  head  and  in  the 
barrel  of  the  windlass. 

HANK.  In  Spinning,  the  name  given  to  two  or  more 
skeins  of  yarn,  silk  or  cotton,  when  tied  together.  When 
single,  the}  are  called  skeins. 

HANKS.  Rings  of  ash  or  iron,  by  which  sails  are  con- 
fined to  their  stays,  upon  which  they  traverse  while  setting 
or  hauling  down. 

RANNO'S  PKRIPLUS.    See Pbriplus. 

HANSA,   I1ANSE,   or  HANSEATIC    LEAGUE.     In 


HAQ.UEBUT. 

European  History,  a  celebrated  confederacy  of  cities  on  the 
coasts  of  the  Baltic,  and  in  the  adjoining  countries.  The 
first  league  was  formed  in  1239,  between  Hamburg,  Minden, 
and  many  other  towns,  to  which  Liibeck  soon  afterwards 
acceded :  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  mutual  defence  against 
foreign  potentates,  especially  the  Danish  king  Waldemar,  as 
well  as  the  neighbouring  nobles  of  Germany.  The  league 
rapidly  spread,  and  comprehended,  at  one  period,  eighty-five 
cities,  divided  into  four  provinces.  It  had  four  chief  foreign 
depdts:  at  London,  Bruges,  Novgorod,  and  Bergen.  In  the 
14th  and  15th  centuries  the  league  became  of  high  political 
importance,  and  made  war  and  peace  as  an  independent  sov- 
ereign power,  but  it  was  never  recognized  by  the  German 
empire.  Its  decay  was  gradual,  and,  owing  to  the  increased 
protection  given  to  commerce  by  the  princes  of  the  several 
states  in  which  these  cities  were  situated,  rendering  the  alli- 
ance for  mutual  defence  unnecessary.  The  name  is  derived 
from  Hansa,  an  old  Teutonic  word  signifying  league. 

HA'Q,UEBUT.  A  word  of  French  origin,  or  more  proba- 
bly a  corruption  of  the  term  arquebuse  or  harquebuse,  with 
which  it  is  identified  in  meaning.     See  Arquebuse. 

HA'RBOUR,  has  been  defined  to  be  a  piece  of  water 
communicating  with  the  sea,  or  with  a  navigable  river  or 
lake,  having  depth  sufficient  to  float  ships  of  considerable 
burden,  where  there  is  convenient  anchorage,  and  where 
ships  may  lie,  load,  and  unload,  screened  from  the  winds 
and  beyond  the  reach  of  the  tide.  For  a  view  of  the  utility 
of  harbours  in  general,  and  the  qualities  essential  in  good  har- 
bours, with  a  notice  of  the  principal  harbours  in  this  and 
other  countries,  see  The  Commercial  Dictionary. 

HARD  BODIES,  in  Natural  Philosophy,  "are  such  as 
resist  any  pressure  or  percussion  whatever,  in  opposition  to 
soft  bodies,  the  parts  of  which  readily  yield  to  pressure,  and 
do  not  recover  themselves ;  and  to  elastic  bodies,  the  parts 
of  which  also  yield  to  pressure  or  impact,  but  presently  re- 
cover themselves  when  the  disturbing  force  ceases  to  act. 

HA'RDNESS.  In  Physics,  that  quality  of  bodies  in  vir- 
tue of  which  their  particles  resist  the  action  of  any  external 
force  tending  to  alter  their  relative  positions,  or  to  impart  to 
them  any  motion  in  respect  of  each  other.  Newton  sup- 
poses the  primary  particles  of  all  bodies  to  be  perfectly  hard, 
and  not  capable  of  being  broken  or  divided  by  any  power  in 
nature;  but  we  are  still  too  little  acquainted  with  the  consti- 
tution of  matter  to  determine  with  any  certainty  the  condi- 
tions of  the  elementary  particles  which  render  bodies  hard, 
brittle,  elastic,  &c. 

Hardness.  In  Mineralogy.  Minerals  may  occasionally 
be  distinguished  and  identified  by  their  relative  degrees  of 
hardness ;  to  specify  which  various  scales  have  been  sug- 
gested, among  which  that  of  Mobs  is  perhaps  the  most  sim- 
ple. According  to  it  the  relative  degrees  of  hardness  are 
expressed  in  numbers,  referring  to  the  following  standard 
substances,  which  are  easily  obtained  in  a  state  of  purity, 
or  crystallized;  namely, 

1.  Talc.  6.  Adularia  (Felspar). 

2  Rock-salt.  7.  Rock-crystal. 

3.  Calc-spar.  8.  Topaz. 

4.  Fluor-spar.  9.  Corundum. 

5.  Apatite.  10.  Diamond. 

Any  mineral  which  neither  scratches  nor  is  scratched  by 
any  one  of  the  above  substances  is  said  to  possess  the  hard- 
ness expressed  by  the  attached  number.  Thus  if  a  mineral 
neither  scratches  nor  is  scratched  by  calcareous  spar,  its 
hardness  is  represented  by  3 ;  if  it  scratches  felspar  and  not 
rock-crystal,  its  hardness  is  stated  to  be  between  6  and  7. 

HA'RDWARE,  is  used  to  signify  every  kind  of  goods 
manufactured  from  metals,  comprising  iron,  brass,  steel,  and 
copper  articles  of  all  descriptions.  The  hardware  manufac- 
ture is  one  of  the  most  important  carried  on  in  Great  Britain. 
Its  principal  seats  are  Birmingham  and  Sheffield,  which 
furnish  immense  quantities  of  knives,  razors,  scissors,  gilt 
and  plated  ware,  fire-arms,  &c,  both  for  home  consumption 
and  exportation.  The  total  aggregate  value  of  the  joint 
hardware  manufactures  of  England  and  Scotland  may  be 
estimated  (Statistics  of  British  Empire,  i.)  at  not  less  than 
£17,500.000  a-year,  affording  direct  employment  in  the  va- 
rious departments  of  the  trade  to  360,000  persons. 

HARE.     .See  Lagomyr  and  Lepus. 

HARELIP.  A  fissure  or  perpendicular  division  of  the 
lip,  so  named  from  its  supposed  resemblance  to  the  upper  lip 
of  a  hare.  Children  are  frequently  born  with  this  malfor- 
mation, and  sometimes  it  is  the  consequence  of  accidents  or 
wounds.  It  most  usually  affects  the  upper  lip;  and  is  not 
only  a  serious  deformity,  but  may  prevent  the  infant  from 
sucking  and  cause  impediment  of  speech.  The  cleft  is 
sometimes  double.  This  malformation  admits  of  partial  or 
entire  relief  by  a  surgical  operation,  which  should  gener- 
ally not  be  performed  upon  very  young  infants,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  risk  of  convulsions. 

HA'REM.  (Turk.)  The  name  given  to  those  apart- 
ments in  the  houses  of  the  East  which  are  appropriated  to 


HARMOSTES. 

the  exclusive  use  of  the  females  of  the  family.     See  Se- 
raglio. 

HA'RLEQUIN,  in  the  Italian  Comedy,  is  the  name  given 
to  the  person  who  performs  a  part  something  similar  to 
that  of  the  clown  or  merry-andrew  of  the  mountebank 
stages  in  our  own  country.  "Harlequin  forms  also  one  of 
the  standing  characters  in  the  grotesque  entertainment 
of  the  pantominc.  The  word  is  of  doubtful  etymology. 
See  Pantonine. 

HARMONICA.     See  Musical  Glasses. 

HARMO'NICAL  I'NTERVAL.  In  Music,  the  same  as 
Concord,  which  see. 

HARMO'NICAL  PROGRESSION.  A  series  of  num- 
bers, such  that  any  three  consecutive  terms  are  in  harmoni- 
cal  proportion.  The  principal  property  of  this  progression 
is,  that  the  reciprocals  of  the  terms  form  an  arithmetical 
progression ;  and,  conversely,  the  reciprocals  of  an  arith- 
metical form  an  harmonical  progression. 

HARMO'NICAL  PROPORTION,  called  also  Musical 
Proportion.  Three  numbers  are  said  to  be  in  harmonical 
proportion  when  the  first  is  to  the  third  as  the  difference 
of  the  first  and  second  is  to  the  difference  of  the  second  and 
third  :  thus,  2,  3,  and  6,  are  in  harmonical  proportion,  be- 
cause 2  :  6  :  :  1  :  3.  And  four  numbers  are  said  to  be  in 
harmonical  proportion  when  the  first  is  to  the  fourth  as 
the  difference  of  the  first  and  second  is  to  the  difference  of 
the  third  and  fourth :  thus  9,  12,  16,  and  24,  form  an  har- 
monical proportion  ;  for  3  :  9  :  :  8  :  24. 

HARMO'NICS.  In  Music,  the  doctrine  of  the  differ- 
ences and  proportions  of  sounds  with  respect  to  acute  and 
grave.  This  doctrine  was  by  the  ancients  divided  into  seven 
parts ;  viz.  of  sounds,  of  intervals,  of  system,  of  the  genera, 
of  the  tones  or  modes,  of  mutation,  and  of  melopaeia. 

HARMO'NIC  TRUD.  In  Music,  the  chord  of  a  note 
consisting  of  a  third  and  perfect  fifth,  or,  in  other  words,  the 
common  chord. 

HA'RMONITES.  A  sect  of  enthusiasts,  founded  by  one 
Rapp,  in  Wurtemburg,  about  1780;  who,  finding  no  tolera- 
tion there,  emigrated  with  his  followers  to  America.  He 
first  settled  in  Pennsylvania,  and  afterwards  removed  to 
Indiana ;  but  about  1822  again  returned  to  the  former  state, 
and  established  himself  near  Pittsburg.  Many  details  will 
be  found  on  the  subject  of  his  sect  in  books  of  travels  in 
America,  but  tew  written  with  any  knowledge  of  the  sub- 
ject beyond  mere  external  observation.  It  is  a  mistake  to 
suppose  that  his  followers  lived  in  celibacy;  but  they  re- 
garded marriage  as  no  part  of  the  discipline  of  their  church, 
and  treated  it  as  a  civil  act  only. 

HA'RMONY.  (Gr.  apuovia.)  In  Music,  an  agreeable 
combination  of  sounds  heard  at  the  same  instant.  As  a 
continued  succession  of  single  musical  sounds  produces 
melody,  so  does  a  continued  combination  of  several  together 
in  succession  produce  harmony. 

HA'RMONY  OF  THE  "SCRIPTUPvES,  GOSPELS, 
&c.  The  correspondence  of  the  several  writers  of  different 
pans  of  the  Scriptures  in  their  respective  narratives,  or 
statements  of  doctrine.  The  earliest  Harmony  of  the  Gos- 
pels was  composed  by  Tatian,  in  the  second  century,  with 
the  title  Diatcssaron.  Among  many  other  valuable  works 
of  this  description  may  be  mentioned  Osiander,  Harm. 
Evangelica;  Cartwright,  Harm.  Ev.,  Commentario  illus- 
trata,  1647;  Le  Clerc,  Harmonie  Ev.,  Amst.,  fol.  1699; 
Macknight's  Harmony  of  the  Four  Gospels,  1756. 

HA'RMONY,  PRE-ESTA'BLISHED.  A  hypothesis  in- 
vented by  Leibnitz,  to  explain  the  correspondence  between 
the  course  of  our  sensations  and  the  series  of  changes  actu- 
ally going  on  in  the  universe,  of  which,  according  to  that 
philosopher  and  many  others,  we  have  no  direct  knowledge. 
(See  Perception.)  This  hypothesis  is  connected,  in  the 
Leibnitzian  system,  with  the  doctrine  of  monads, — certain 
spiritual  powers  or  substances,  one  of  which  constitutes  the 
principle  of  vitality  and  consciousness  in  every  living  being. 
Each  of  these  is,  in  its  degree,  a  mirror,  in  which  the  changes 
going  on  in  the  universe  are  reflected  with  greater  or  less 
fidelity.  But  between  simple  substances,  such  as  spirit  and 
matter,  soul  and  body,  no  real  reciprocal  action  can  take 
place.  The  Author  of  the  universe  has  consequently  so 
ordained  that  the  series  of  changes  going  on  in  any  particu- 
lar conscious  monad,  corresponds  precisely  to  those  of  the 
monads  in  contiguity  to  which  it  is  placed.  Hence  arises 
our  belief  that  mind  is  acted  on  by  matter,  and  vice  versa ; 
a  belief  which  leads  to  no  practical  errors  in  virtue  solely 
of  this  pre-established  harmony.  (See  Tcnnemann,  Gruvdr., 
p.  339;  Broien's  Lectures,  31.) 

HARMO'STES.  (Gr.  apiionfr;  from  apu/Zu,  I  fit.)  In 
Ancient  History,  a  Spartan  magistrate,  called  also  seme- 
times  sophronistcs  (cuxppoviaTfjs,  moderator),  who  was  ap- 
pointed to  superintend  a  conquered  state.  It  is  conjectured 
from  Thucyd.,  iv.,  53,  that  the  office  was  annual.  Other 
Greek  states  which  made  conquests  afterwards  borrowed 
the  name.  Xenophon  speaks  of  Theban  harmosta:  in  Achsa. 
(Hist.,  1.,  vii.) 

L  l  545 


HARMOTOME. 

HA'RMOTOME.    (Gr.  &p:.wc.ajoint,  and  reuviA,  I  divide.) 
A  mineral  chiefly  from  Andreasberg,  in  the  Haitz,  the  crys- 
tal 5  of  which  often  intersect  each  other,  and  are  easily  sepa- 
It   is  also  c"!lcd  cross-stone,   or   staurolite.     See 

HA'RMUS,  (Gr.  apftoi.)     In  Ancient  Architecture,  a  tile 
iring  the  joint  between  two  common  tiles. 
(Germ,  harfe.)     A  musical  stringed  instrument 
it  :  atiquity,  in  which  the  strings  are  stretched  on  a 
formed  frame,  and  pinched,  or  rather  pull 
to  set  them  in  vibration  and  produce  the  differ- 
>unds.     The  harp  is  represented  on  many  Egj'ptian 
monuments  ;  and  though  it  is  usually  admitted  to  be  of 
Eastern  origin,  it  seems  doubtful  whether  it  was  known  to 
the  Greeks  and  Romans  in  any  shape  analagous  to  its  pres- 
ent form.     Of  late  years  this  instrument  has  been  much 
improved  by  pedals  "and  other  devices;  but  it  is  still  imper- 
fect, and  more  suited  to  the  chamber  than  the  orchestra. 

HA'RPA.  (Ger.  harfe.)  A  genus  of  Pectinibranc 
MolUtsks,  dismembered  from  fie  Linnsan  Buccinum,  and 
remarkable  for  the  elegance  el"  form  and  beauty  of  the 
markings  of  the  shell :  this  is  traversed  by  longitudinal  com- 
pressed sinuous  parallel  ribs,  which  may  be  compared  to 
the  strincs  of  a  harp. 

HA'RPALUS.  (Gr.  aprriXioc.  rapid.)  A  genus  of  pre- 
daceous  Coleopterans,  and  the  type  of  a  family  (Harpalida:), 
which  is  one  of  the  principal  divisions  of  the  LinnaDan 
genus  Oi  rebus. 

The  Harpalida  are  divi  led  into  three  principal  sections, 
characterized  by  modifications  of  the  anterior  tarsi  of  the 
male. 

1.  Harpalina,  having  the  f ->ur  anterior  tarsi  of  the  males 
dilated. 

2.  Fcroninaz,  having  the  two  anterior  tarsi  dilated,  and  the 
joints  heart-shaped. 

3.  Patellimana,  having  the  two  anterior  tarsi  of  the  males 
dilated ;  the  joints  being  s  inare  or  rounded. 

Each  of  these  sections  contains  numerous  subgenera,  of 
which  Harpalus  proper  contains  many  British  species. 
Harpa'us  ruficornis  is  perhaps  the  most  common:  it  ex- 
ceeds half  an  inch  in  length,  with  opaque  black  elytra  and 
body,  and  red  legs  and  antenna. 

HA'RPAX.  A  genus  of  fossil  shells,  oblong  and  some- 
what triangular,  the  hinge  being  fonned  by  two  projecting 
teeth.     (Parkinson.) 

HA'RPIES.  (Gr.  "Ap^uia  ;  from  apvm,  /  seize.)  In 
Greek  Mythology,  the  daughters  of  Pontus  and  Terra,  ac- 
cording to  some  mythologists.  Ilesiod  makes  them  three  in 
number,  with  the  names  Iris,  Aello,  Ocypete.  They  were 
a  species  of  furies  or  monsters,  winged  and  clawed  like 
birds.  They  are  best  known  from  the  celebrated  descrip- 
tion in  Hrrr>/  (JEn.,  hi.,  211,  &c).  See  a  memoir  in  vol. 
xii.  of  the  Mem.  de  VMc.  des  Inscr.  for  the  varying  mytholo- 
gical  accounts  respecting  litem. 

HARPOO'N.     A  well-known  spear  for  striking  the  whale. 

HA'RPSICHORD.  (Fr.)  A  keyed  musical  instrument, 
in  which  the  sounds  are  produced  by  means  of  small  verti- 
cal sticks,  called  jacks,  upon  which  the  keys  act  as  levers. 
In  the  jacks  are  inserted  short  pieces  of  quill ;  these,  upon 
passing  the  strings,  set  them  in  vibration.  This  instrument 
is  now  little  used;  indeed,  we  believe,  in  the  present  day 
none  are  manufactured. 

HARPY'IA.  (Gr.  'Apnvia,  Harpy.)  This  term  has 
been  applied  both  to  a  genus  of  Raptorial  birds  and  to  a 
genus  of  Lepidopterous  insects. 

HA'RROW.  In  Agriculture,  a  rectangular  frame  with 
a  number  of  spikes  inserted  in  it  on  one  side.  This  frame, 
when  dragged  over  ploughed  land,  breaks  the  furrow  slices 
into  small  pieces,  for  the  purpose  of  preparing  the  land  for 
seed  i.i  .  and  for  covering  the  seed  in  others.    The 

most  common  firm  of  the  frame  of  the  harrow  is  rectangu- 
lar, and  the  usual  material  employed  is  wood,  wi 

of  iron;  but  in  Mine  cases  both  the  frame  anil  the 
spikes  are  of  wood,  and  in  others  both  are  of  iron.  Occa- 
ly  the  frame  is  a  circle  of  iron;  and  the  spikes  are  in- 
serted in  it,  at  such  distances  that  when  the  frame  is  drawn 
along  in  a  straight  line,  the  spikes,  or  tines  as  they  are  tech- 
nically termed,  pass  through  every  part  of  the  soil  traversed 
by  the  frame  or  harrow.  In  the  common  kinds  of  harrows 
ikes  are  inserted  at  riitlit  angles  to  the  frame;  but  in 
the  Improved  form  al  an  oblique  angle, 

or  pointing  forwards,- by  which  means  the  ham      i    i 

asily  through  the  soil.  The  best  implement  of 
•  I  eription  at  present  in  use  is  Finlayson's  harrow. 
implement,  by  means  of  a  long  lev<  be  i  gulated 

1 1   arii  a  nicety  as  to  stir  the  soil  to  the  depth  of  only  one 
i  inches,  for  the  purpose  of  covet  clover 

pressed  into  it  of  such  a  depth  as  to  serve, 
:  stubble  lands,  instead  ef  ploughing.    WilMe's 
harrow  and  I  arrow  can  lie  used  for  similar  pur- 

poses.   They  differ  nothing  from  Finlayson's  in  principle; 
but  being  on  a  smaller  scale  can  be  worked  with  fewer 
546 


HAT. 

horses  than  Finlayson's,  which  commonly  requires  four 
or  six. 

HA'RROWING.  The  process  of  drawing  a  harrow 
through  the  soil  for  the  purpose  of  reducing  it  to  a  level,  of 
covering  seed,  or  of  turnin?  up  weeds  in  ploughed  eround. 
or  moss  in  grass  lands.  In  agriculture  the  harrow  is  drawn 
by  horses  or  oxen  ;  and  in  market-gardening,  where  a  light 
harrow  is  sometimes  employed,  by  men.  In  either  case  the 
more  rapid  the  motion  of  the  harrow,  up  to  a  certain  point, 
the  mote  efficient  will  be  its  operation.  For  meadow  lands, 
the  object  cf  harrowing  is  to  disperse  the  little  heaps  of 
earth  raised  during  winter  and  early  spring  by  moles  and 
worms;  and  for  this  purpose  the  harrows  in  some  parts  of 
tl;f  country  arc  turned  upside  down  ;  while  in  others,  as  in 
Middlesex,  thorn  branches  are  tucked  into  a  frame  resem- 
bling a  harrow,  and  dragged  over  the  surface  for  the  pur- 
pose of  effecting  the  same  object.  This  is  called  a  bash 
harrow. 

HA'RTSIIORN,  SPIRIT  OF.  An  impure  solution  of 
carbonate  of  ammonia,  obtained  by  the  destructive  distilla- 
tion of  harts'  horn  or  any  kind  of  bone.  An  impure  solid 
carbonate  of  ammonia,  called  salt  of  hartshorn,  is  fonned  at 
the  same  time. 

HA'RVEST.  (Germ,  herbst.)  In  Agriculture,  the  pe- 
riod at  which  any  crop  is  reaped.  The  term  is  more  com- 
monly applied  to  the  crops  of  corn  or  hay,  though  it  might, 
with  propriety,  be  applied  to  the  potatoe  crops,  or  to  hops 
and  other  field  products. 

HA'B  VESTING.  The  operation  of  pulling,  cutting,  root- 
ing up,  or  gathering  field  crops,  and  drying  or  otherwise  pre- 
paring them  for  being  stored  up  for  winter  use.  The  first 
In.  \  est  which  occurs  in  Britain  and  similar  climates  is  that 
of  the  forage  grasses,  or  other  plants  made  into  hay :  the 
next  is  the  harvest  of  cereal  grasses,  or  of  corn  crops ;  and 
the  third  the  potatoe  harvest,  or  harvest  of  root  crops,  such 
as  potatoes,  carrots,  turnips,  mangel  wurzel,  &c.  There  is 
also  the  harvest  of  occasional  crops ;  such  as  that  of  rape- 
seed,  turnip-seed,  dyers'  wood,  hemp,  flax,  and  various 
other  articles. 

HASTA'TI.  (Lnt.  liasta.  a  spear.)  One  of  the  three 
grand  divisions  of  the  Roman  infantry,  so  called  because 
they  were  armed  with  spears.  It  consisted  of  young  men 
in  file  flower  of  life,  who  were  always  drawn  up  in  the  first 
line  cf  battle.  The  other  two  divisions  were  called  Prin- 
cipes  and  Triarii ;  to  which,  in  the  first  Punic  war,  was 
added  another,  called  Velites,  or  light  troops,  from  volare, 

to  fill. 

HATCH,  is  the  covering  of  a  hatchway.  In  very  bad 
weather  the  hatches  are  battened  down,  to  keep  the  water 
which  comes  in  upon  the  decks  from  getting  below. 

HATCHETINE.  A  fusible  wax-like  substance,  found 
occasionally  in  nodules  of  ironstone:  named  after  Mr. 
Hatchert.  It  is  usually  placed  by  mineralogists  among  bit- 
umens. 

HATCHMENT.  In  Heraldry,  a  species  of  achievement 
or  funeral  escutcheon,  suspended  in  front  of  a  house  to 
mark  the  decease  of  one  of  its  inmates.  These  escutcheons 
are  always  drawn  up  with  heraldic  precision  ;  so  that  those 
acquainted  with  the  science  of  heraldry  can  discover  at  a 
glance,  from  the  form  and  accompaniments  of  the  field  and 
the  colour  of  the  ground  of  the  hatchment,  the  sex, 
tion,  and  rank  of  the  deceased.  See  Heraldry,  Es- 
cutcheon. 

HA'TCHWAY.     A  large  opening  in  a  ship's  deck  for 
communicatiriL'  with  the  decks  below,  the  hold,  tc. :  i 
are  the  fore,  main,  and  after  hatchways. 

HAT.  (Germ,  hut.)  What  is  usually  called  a  beaver 
hat  is  made  of  a  variety  of  furs,  chiefly  those  of  the  hare 
and  rabbit,  mingled  with  wool,  and  in  the  best  hats  a  pro 
portii  n  of  beaver's  fur:  but  the  latter  is  altogether  omitted 
in  ci  mmon  st«Jf  hats.  The  furs  are  mixed,  the  long  hair 
is  pickt  d  out,  and  they  are  then  placed  on  a  hurdle,  which 
is  shaken  and  made  to  vibrate  by  being  struck  with  a  how- 
string  ;  in  this  way  the  da  -'■  is  I  oaken  out,  anil  the  lib  i 
are  to  a' certain  este  Felt.)    A  quan- 

tity of  tltis  mass  of  '  for  one  hat  is  called  a  b  ft 

or  cape  '■•  [see  Vr  's  Dictii  nary,  art.  " Hnt-making") :  h  is 
pressed,  kneaded,  and  at  length  moulded  so  as  to  form  a 
kind  of  conical  cap,  the  irregularities  or  small  til  ires  oft 
different  furs  entangling  n  ith  each  other  so  as  to  !>e  ip  the 
is  then  dipped  into  warm  water 

acidulated  b\  id,  anil  wrought  by  the  hands  for 

sevi  ral  hours,  by  which  it  is  thickened  or  fulled:  the  knots 
are  picki  '  i    fresh  felt  here  and  there  added,  and 

the  beaver  ultimately  applied;  toe  hal  is  fl 
water  ,  lac  varnish,  tied  upon  a  block,  dyed, 

stiffened  by  the  application  of  a  solution  of  glue,  steamed. 
brushi  i  :  the  brim  is  then  trimmed,  and  it  i< 

ready  for  Lining  and  binding. 

Silk  hats  have  a  foundation  ef  woollen  felt,  similar  to 
those  which  are  covered  by  beaver,  upon  which  a  silk  plush 
is  afterwards  applied. 


HATTEMISTS. 

Various  processes  have  lately  been  suggested,  a:»d  some 
of  them  carried  into  effect,  for  the  purpose  of  improving 
this  manufacture.  Several  of  these  are  described  and  re- 
tired in  Ure's  Dictionary,  but  their  extension  and  introduc- 
tion have  hitherto  been  successfully  opposed  by  the  jour- 
neymen hatters,  "among  whom,"  says  Dr.  Ure,  "there 
exists  an  organized  combination,  by  which  the  masters 
throughout  the  kingdom  are  held  iu  a  state  of  complete 
servitude."  "  The  public  of  a  free  country,"  he  adds, 
"  ought  to  counteract  this  disgraceful  state  of  things  by  re- 
nouncing the  wear  of  stuff-hats,  a  branch  of  the  business 
entirely  under  the  control  of  this  despotic  union,  and  betake 
themselves  to  the  use  of  silk  hats,  which,  from  recent  im- 
provements in  their  fabric  and  dyeing,  are  not  a  whit  infe- 
rior to  the  beaver  hats  in  comfort,  appearance,  or  durability, 
while  they  may  be  had  of  the  best  quality  for  one  fourth 
part  of  their  price." 

HA'TTEMISTS.  An  ecclesiastical  sect  in  Holland,  so 
called  from  Pontian  von  Hattem,  a  minister  in  Zealand ; 
nearly  allied  to  the  Verschorists.  They  arose  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  17th  century.  They  appear  to  have  denied  the 
expiatory  sacrifice  of  Christ.  It  is  added,  that  they  denied 
the  corruption  of  human  nature,  and  the  difference  between 
moral  good  and  evil.     (Moshicm,  transl.,  ed.  1826,  v.  386.) 

IIAU'BERK.  (Ital.  usbergo.)  A  piece  of  armour,  sup- 
posed to  be  of  German  origin,  common  in  the  chain-mail, 
or  rather  ringed  mail,  of  the  twelfth  century ;  being  a  jacket 
or  tunic,  with  wide  sleeves  reaching  a  little  below  the 
elbow,  the  hood  being  of  one  piece  with  it.  The  hauberk 
of  ringed  mail  ceased  to  be  worn  about  the  reign  of  Henry 
IH.,  when  the  oriental  chain-mail,  properly  so  called,  came 
into  fashion  for  a  short  period. 

In  France  only  persons  possessed  of  a  certain  estate,  call- 
ed un  fief  de  hauber,  were  permitted  to  wear  a  hauberk, 
which  was  the  armour  of  a  knight ;  esquires  might  only 
wear  a  simple  coat  of  mail,  without  the  hood  and  hose. 

HAUGH.  A  Scotch  term,  applied  to  lands  which  in 
England  would  be  called  meadow  or  pasture. 

HAUL.  The  sea  term  for  pulling  upon  a  rope  directly. 
— To  haul  the  wind,  to  bring  the  ship  to  sail  close  by-  the 
wind  after  running  in  some  other  direction. 

HAUPT  TON.  (Ger.  head  note.)  In  Music,  that  note 
on  which  the  mark  tr.  is  placed,  when  a  shake  is  indicated ; 
the  secondarv  or  superior  note  being  called  the  hulfston. 

HA'USTELLATES,  Baustellata.  (Lat.  haustellum,  a 
sucker.)  A  name  of  a  grand  section  of  insects,  including 
all  those  which  in  the  perfect  state  have  the  oral  apparatus 
adapted  for  suction. 

HAUTBOIS.     Sec  Oboe. 

HAUYNE.  A  blue  mineral  in  small  granular  or  spheri- 
cal masses,  generally  found  in  basalt  or  lava.  Named  after 
Hairy,  the  celebrated  French  mineralogist. 

HA'VEN.    (Germ,  hafeu.)    The  same  as  harbour,  which 

HAWK.     See  Falco. 

HAWKERS,  PEDLARS,  and  PETTY  CHAPMEN. 
In  Law,  persons  travelling  from  town  to  town  with  goods 
and  merchandize  for  the  purp  >se  of  sale.  They  arc  re- 
quired to  take  out  licences  under  50  G.3,  c.  41.  Wholesale 
traders  are  exempt  from  the  provisions  of  this  act,  as  are  also 
licensed  auctioneers  going  from  town  to  town. 

HAWKING.    See  Falconry. 

HAWK-MOTH.     See  Sphinx. 

HAWSE.  The  part  of  the  bows  close  to  the  cables.  The 
cables  pass  through  the  hawse  holes,  which  are  made  in  the 
timbers  and  in  the  hawse  piece  outside.  When  the  ship  lias 
two  anchors  down,  and  the  cables  diverge  from  each  other, 
the  hawse  is  said  to  be  clear;  when  crossed  by  the  ship 
turning  ha'f  round,  there  is  a  cross  in  the  hawse.  Another 
cross  makes  an  elbow ;  then  a  round  turn  :  in  the  last  two 
cases  the  hawse  is  said  to  be  foul.  The  process  of  disen- 
gaging the  cables  is  called  clearing  hawse.  The  danger  of  a 
foul  hawse  is,  that  if  it  comes  on  to  blow  the  cables  cannot 
be  veered  from  their  friction  against  each  other. 

Freshening  hawse,  is  veering  out  a  little  cable  to  expose  a 
new  surface  to  the  friction  in  the  hawse  hole,  or  across  the 
cutwater. 

Athwart  hawse  implies  across  the  bows  of  a  vessel  at 
anchor. 

HAWSER.     A  large  rope  or  small  cable. 

HA'YMAKING.  The  operation  of  cutting  down,  drying, 
and  preparing  forage  grasses  and  other  forage  plants  for  being 
stacked  for  winter  use.  The  plants  are  mown  down  at  the 
time  when  they  are  supposed  to  contain  diffused  throughout 
the  whole  plant  a  maximum  of  nutritious  juices,  viz.,  when 
thev  are  in  full  flower.  Dry  weather,  and  if  possible  that  in 
which  sunshine  prevails,  is  chosen  for  this  operation ;  and 
the  mown  material  is  spread  out,  and  turned  over  two  or 
three  times  in  the  course  of  the  snme  day  in  which  it  is  cut. 
In  the  eveninz  it  is  put  into  small  heaps.  In  the  morning  of 
the  second  day  these  heaps  are  spread  out,  and  turned  over 
two  or  three  times ;  and  in  the  evening  they  are  formed  into 


HEART. 

heaps  somewhat  larger  than  they  were  the  day  before.  If 
the  weather  has  been  remarkably  warm  and  dry,  these  heaps, 
in  the  course  of  the  third  day,  are  carted  away  and  made  into 
a  stack ;  but  if  the  weather  has  been  indifferent,  the  process 
of  opening  out  the  heaps  and  exposing  them  to  the  sun  is  re- 
peated on  the  third  day,  and  stack-making  is  not  commenced 
till  the  fourth.  A  great  deal  might  be  said  on  the  subject  of 
haymaking ;  but  it  would  be  altogether  unsuitable  in  a  work 
of  this  nature.  Suffice  it  to  state,  that  the  grand  object  in 
making  hay  is  to  preserve  the  colour  and  natural  juices  of  the 
herbage,  which  is  best  done  by  continually  turning  it  so  as 
never  to  expose  the  same  surface  for  any  length  of  time  to 
the  direct  influence  of  the  sun.  In  stacking  the  hay,  the  ob- 
ject is  to  preserve  this  green  colour,  and  at  the  same  time 
induce  a  slight  degree  of  fermentation,  which  has  the  effect 
of  rendering  the  fibres  of  the  plants  which  compose  the  hay 
more  tender,  and  changing  a  part  of  the  parenchymous  mat- 
ter into  sugar,  on  the  same  principle  as  is  effected  by  malting 
barley.  This  sweet  taste  renders  the  hay  more  palatable  to 
horses.  The  be-t  directions  for  haymaking  will  be  found  in 
Middleton's  Agricultural  Surrey  of  Middlesex. 

HA'Y-WARD.  (Fr.  haie,  hedge.)  An  officer  anciently 
appointed  in  the  lord's  court  to  take  care  of  the  cattle  of  a 
manor,  and  prevent  them  from  injuring  the  hedges  or  fences. 

HEAD.  The  fore  extremity  of  a  ship.  It  generally  means 
the  cutwater,  which  is  adorned  with  a  figure.  By  the  head, 
implies  that  the  ship's  head  is  depressed  in  the  water.  Head 
sails,  head  yards,  are  the  sails  and  yards  in  the  fore  part  of 
the  ship. 

HE'ADACH.  This  is  a  common  symptom  in  various 
diseases;  it  frequently  occurs  both  in  full  and  in  debilitated 
habits,  and  also  in  persons  who  are  otherwise  healthy.  One 
form  of  headach  consists  in  a  degree  of  torpor  and  of  con- 
fusion, with  a  dull  pain  over  the  whole  head,  dimness  of 
sight,  and  inability  to  attend  to  anything  requiring  thought  or 
fixed  attention.  Sometimes  it  is  referable  to  disordered  stom- 
ach or  bowels,  but  it  also  conies  on  without  any  such  assign- 
able cause.  These  headachs  are  relieved  by  nervous  stimu- 
lants, such  especially  as  camphor,  ether,  and  ammonia.  A 
cup  of  strong  coffee  or  of  green  tea  often  acts  like  a  charm; 
ami  if  the  pain  prevents  rest,  a  small  dose  of  opium  is  some- 
times necessary,  with  perfect  rest  and  quiet.  Some  very 
troublesome  cases  are  relieved  by  cold  applications  to  the 
temples  and  head,  others  by  snuff"  and  nasal  stimulants. 
There  is  a  peculiar  form  of  headach  which  consists  of  throb- 
bing and  pain  of  one  particular  part,  or  sometimes  over  one 
side  of  the  head ;  it  lasts  an  hour  or  two  and  then  goes  off, 
and  returns  again  at  stated  intervals.  This  is  called  hemi- 
craniinn,  or  intermitting  headach,  and  for  its  permanent  cure 
often  requires  bark  or  stdphate  of  quinia :  blisters  behind  the 
ears  are  also  of  service.  In  bilious  or  sick  headach,  emetics 
and  purges  are  required.  Obstinate  headachs  are  not  un- 
frequendy  got  rid  of  by  change  of  air,  scene,  and  occupation; 
especially  where  they  are  the  result  of  too  intense  intellec- 
tual application. 

lli:A'DBOROUGH.  (Sax.  borg,  pledge.)  The  chief  of 
the  ten  jiledges  in  frankpledge  {see  Frankpledge)  ;  also 
styled  borsholder,  tythingman,  &c. 

1  LEA'DERS.  In  Architecture,  bricks  or  stones  with  their 
he;ids  or  short  faces  in  front. 

HEADING  COURSES.  In  Architecture,  those  courses 
which  consbt  entirely  of  headers. 

HEA'DLAND.  In  Geography,  a  term  nearly  synonymous 
with  cape,  mull,  er  promontory  :  which  see. 

Headland,  or  Head  Ridge,  in  Agriculture,  is  a  ridge  or 
border,  commonly  ten  or  twelve  feet  broad,  which  is  con- 
tinued round  a  field  in  some  cases,  and  which  in  others  is 
only  formed  at  the  two  opposite  sides,  for  the  purpose  of  af- 
fording space  for  the  horses  to  turn  on  while  ploughing. 

IIEALDS.  The  harness  for  guiding  the  warp  threads  in 
a  loom. 

HEA'RING  TRTJ'MPET.  An  instrument  for  concen- 
trating sound,  and  conveying  it  to  the  e:'r.  It  is  generally  a 
short  bent  tube,  wide  at  the  one  end  where  the  sound  enters, 
and  narrow  at  the  other  where  the  ear  is  applied.  The 
principle  on  which  it  acts  is  the  reflection  of  sound  at  an 
angle  equal  to  that  at  which  it  strikes  a  smooth  surface ;  and 
accordingly  the  form  of  the  instrument  ought  to  be  so  regu- 
lated  that  the  whole  of  the  vibrations  are  collected  into  a 
focus  at  the  smaller  end.  But  it  is  not  necessary  that  the 
form  which  theory  points  out  should  be  very  accurately  ob- 
served ;  the  principal  advantage  is  gained  by  confining  the 
advancing  sound  by  a  coniinual  reflection,  and  preventing  it 
from  spreading  laterally  and  being  dissipated. 

HEART.  (Germ,  herz.1  The  human  heart  is  a  hollow 
muscular  organ  of  a  somewhat  conical  shape,  the  broad  part 
of  which  is  called  its  base,  and  the  smaller  end  its  apex.  Its 
base  is  placed  upon  the  right  of  the  bodies  of  the  vertebra?, 
and  its  apex  obliquely  to  the  sixth  rib  on  the  left.  Internally 
it  is  divided  into  a  right  and  left  ventricle ;  the  former  an- 
terior, and  the  latter  almost  posterior,  in  consequence  of  the 
oblique  manner  in  which  it  is  placed.    Its  inferior  surface 

547 


HEART  WHEEL. 

rests  upon  the  diaphragm.  Attached  to  the  base  of  the  heart 
are  two  auricles,  so  called  from  their  resemblance  in  shape 
to  the  ear  of  an  animal :  they  are  muscular  sacs.  In  the 
right  auricle  are  four  apertures ;  two  of  the  vena1  cava1,  one 
of  the  coronary  vein,  and  one  an  opening  into  the  right  ven- 
tricle. In  the  left  auricle  there  are  five  apertures ;  namely, 
one  into  the  left  ventricle,  and  those  of  the  four  pulmonary  i 
veins.  Each  ventricle  has  two  orifices ;  one  from  the  auricle 
by  which  the  blood  enters,  and  another  into  the  artery  by 
which  it  passes  out.  They  are  supplied  with  valves ;  those 
at  the  arterial  openings  being  called,  from  their  form,  semi- 
lunar valves ;  those  at  the  orifice  of  the  right  auricle,  tri- 
cuspid ;  and  those  at  the  orifice  of  the  left  auricle,  mitral. 
The  valve  at  the  termination  of  the  vena  cava  inferior,  just 
within  the  auricle,  is  called  the  valve  of  Eustachius.  The 
cavities  are  lined  with  a  strong  smooth  membrane.  The  pul- 
monary artery  arises  from  the  right  ventricle,  and  conveys 
venous  blood  to  the  lungs,  where  having  been  changed  into 
arterial  blood  by  the  action  of  the  air,  it  returns  by  the  pul- 
monary reins,  which  terminate  in  the  left  auricle  ;  the  vense 
cava?,  which  bring  back  the  mass  of  venous  blond  from  all 
parts  of  the  body,  terminating  in  the  right  auricle.  The 
circle,  therefore,  which  the  blood  takes  is  this:  It  is  re- 
turned from  the  various  parts  of  the  body  by  the  venae  cava 
into  the  right  auricle,  whence  it  is  forced  into  the  right  ven- 
tricle, and  then  through  the  lungs ;  whence  it  returns  into 
the  left  auricle,  and  from  it  into  the  left  ventricle ;  and 
thence,  by  the  aorta,  through  the  general  arterial  circula- 
tion. The  substance  of  the  heart  is  supplied  by  nerves  and 
vessels  of  its  own,  which  are  called  coronary  vessels ;  the 
coronary  arteries  branch  off  from  the  aorta,  and  the  coronary 
veins  return  their  blood  into  the  right  auricle.  The  nerves 
are  branches  of  the  eighth  and  great  intercostal  pairs. 

HEART  WHEEL.  The  name  given  to  a  well-known 
mechanical  contrivance  for  converting  a  circular  motion  into 
an  alternating  rectilinear  one,  common  in  cotton  mills.  It  is 
an  ellipse  turned  either  on  an  axle,  or  by  means  of  a  w  inch 
and  handle  on  one  of  its  foci,  or  its  centre,  on  whose  edge  a 
moveable  point  or  circle  presses :  the  latter  receives  an  alter- 
nating motion  from  the  circumference  of  the  ellipse,  which 
in  its  revolution  presses  it  to  different  distances  from  the 
centre  of  motion.  The  practical  disadvantages  of  this  con- 
trivance are  the  inequality  of  pressure  and  of  moving  force 
w  hich  will  be  required  at  different  parts  of  the  rotation  of 
the  ellipse,  and  the  consequent  wearing  of  some  parts  of  it 
faster  than  others.     ( Gregory's  Mechanics,  vol.  ii.) 

HEART  WOOD.  In  Botany,  the  English  term  for  du- 
ramen. It  is  the  central  part  of  the  trunk  of  a  tree  hardened 
by  the  deposition  in  its  tissue  of  various  secretions,  which 
clog  up  the  passages  and  forbid  the  passage  of  anything 
through  them. 

HEAT.  This  term  has  been  applied  loiiv  to  the  sensation 
experienced  on  touching  a  hot  body,  and  n  ihe  cause  of  that 
sensation :  in  the  latter  sense  it  is  synonym  his  with  the  term 
caloric.  The  cause  of  the  phenomena  of  heat  is  unknown  : 
but  they  are  supposed  to  depend  upon  the  tresence  of  a 
highly  attenuated,  imponderable,  and  subtile  ivrin  of  matter, 
the  particles  of  which  repel  each  other,  but  ara  attracted  by 
other  bodies.  The  escape  of  heat  through  sp^.es  is  called 
the  radiation  of  heat,  and  its  communication  by  contact 
conduction.  The  term  specific  heat  is  applied  to  the  quan- 
tity of  thermometric  heat  required  to  raise  different  substan- 
ces to  the  same  temperature.  Thus  experiments  prove  that 
Ihe  quantity  of  heat  which  will  raise  olive  oil  two  degrees 
will  only  raise  water  one  degree ;  hence  a  pound  of  water 
at  212°  may  be  said  to  contain  twice  as  much  heat,  or  to 
have  twice  the  capacity  for  heat  that  belongs  to  oil :  or  the 
specific  heat  of  water  being  =1,  that  of  oil  is  0-5.  When 
heat  changes  the  state  or  form  of  bodies  a  large  quantity 
disappears,  and  remains  in  them  so  long  as  they  retain  one 
form.  To  heat  in  this  state  of  combination,  and  inappre- 
ciable by  the  thermometer,  the  term  latent  heat  or  caloric  of 
fluidity  has  been  applied.  See  Expansion,  Evaporation,  &c. 

HEATH,  or  HEATHER.  In  a  general  sense  the  term 
heath  is  applied  to  waste  land  in  which  the  prevailing  plants 
consist  of  one  or  more  of  the  common  species  of  heath — 
Calluna  and  Erica.  (Calluna  vulgaris,  Sal.  The  Erica 
communis  of  Linnsus.)  This  plant  covers  many  hundreds 
of  acres  in  the  Highlandsof  Scotland,  in  Ireland,  and  in  simi- 
lar climates  on  the  Continent.  It  attains,  in  many  places, 
the  height  of  three  or  four  feet ;  and  is  used  for  thatching 
houses,  making  besoms,  and  for  a  variety  of  other  purposes. 
The  tender  tops  form  a  substitute  for  mattresses  in  Highland  ! 
cottages  ;  and  they  are  also  eaten  green  and  in  a  dried  state 
by  horses,  cattle,  and  sheep,  in  countries  where  the  grasses 
and  clovers  do  not  begin  to  grow  till  late  in  the  spring. 

HEAVE,  in  nautical  phrase,  to  employ  force  to  move  great 
weights  by  the  lever,  &c. ;  as  to  heave  up  the  anchor  by  the 
capstan  or  windlass  :  to  heave  down  the  ship,  or  pull  her  over 
on  one  side  to  get  at  a  leak  ;  also  to  heave  taught  (tight),  or 
turn  the  capstan  till  the  rope  or  chain  applied  to  it  becomes 
tight 

548 


HEDGE. 

HEAVEN,  the  Celestial  Sphere,  or  Firmament,  or  Sky, 
in  Astronomy,  denotes  the  spaces  in  which  the  celestial 
bodies  are  placed,  or  through  which  they  apparently  perform 
their  diurnal  revolutions.  Aristotle  and  his  disciples  be- 
lieved the  heavens  to  be  composed  of  incorruptible  elements, 
incapable  of  destruction  or  of  any  change  whatever ;  and 
this  opinion  long  continued  to  exercise  a  baneful  influence 
on  the  progress  of  astronomy,  as  it  led  to  the  consequence 
that  the  celestial  bodies  are  altogether  of  a  different  nature 
from  the  earth,  and  have  nothing  in  common  with  our 
planet.  It  was  finally  overthrown  by  the  discoveries  and 
reasoning  of  Galileo.  The  term  heaven  is  also  frequently 
used  to  denote  the  orb  or  sphere  in  which  a  celestial  body- 
appears  to  move  ;  and  hence  the  ancient  astronomers  as- 
sumed the  existence  of  as  many  heavens  as  they  observed 
different  and  apparently  independent  motions.  They  sup- 
posed the  various  heavens  to  be  solid,  because  they  could 
not  otherwise  sustain  the  bodies  placed  in  them ;  and  sphe- 
rical, because  perfect  motion  must  be  performed  in  a  circle 
which  is  formed  by  the  section  of  a  sphere ;  and  crystalline, 
because  the  different  bodies  are  visible,  though  their  orbs  in- 
clude one  another.  The  first  heaven  was  that  of  the  Moon, 
the  second  of  Venus,  the  third  of  Mercury,  the  fourth  of  the 
Sun,  the  fifth  of  Mars,  the  sixth  of  Jupiter,  and  the  seventh 
of  Saturn.  The  eighth,  which  is  that  of  the  fixed  stars,  was 
called  particularly  the  firmament.  Ptolemy  added  a  ninth, 
which  was  the  Primwn  Mobile.  All  these  reveries  have 
been  exploded  by  the  discovery  of  the  true  system  of  the 
world,  and  the  laws  of  the  planetary  motions. 

HEA'VY  SPAR.  Native  sulphate  of  baryta.  This  is  a 
common  mineral  in  many  mining  districts.  It  occurs  in  se- 
veral crystalline  forms,  of  which  the  cleavage  is  a  right 
rhomboidal  prism  ;  it  also  occurs  fibrous,  radiated,  and  sta- 
lactitic.  Sume  beautiful  specimens  of  the  latter  variety  have 
been  found  in  Derbyshire  of  a  brown  colour.  The  crystals 
are  usually  white,  or  nearly  colourless.  The  specific  gravity 
of  sulphate  of  baryta  is  4-1  to  4-6.  It  consists  of  77  baryta, 
40  sulphuric  acid,  its  equivalent  being  117.  It  enters  into  the 
composition  of  some  kinds  of  pottery,  but  its  chief  consump- 
tion is  in  the  adulteration  of  white  lead. 

HE'BE  (Gr.  'H/3?;),  in  Grecian  Mythology,  was  the  goddess 
of  youth,  whose  office  it  was  to  hand  round  the  nectar  at  the 
banquets  of  the  gods.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Jupiter  and. 
Juno. 

HE'CATE.  (Gr.  'E/tanj).  In  Mythology,  a  Grecian  god- 
dess, daughter  of  the  Titan  Perses  and  Asteria.  She  pre- 
sided over  popular  assemblies,  war,  the  administration  of 
justice,  and  the  rearing  of  children.  There  is  a  good  deal 
of  obscurity  attached  to  this  goddess,  who  is  often  confounded 
with  Artemis  or  Diana,  and  Proserpine ;  whence  she  is  some- 
times considered  the  patroness  of  magic  and  the  infernal  re- 
gions. She  was  called  the  triple  goddess,  and  was  supposed 
to  wander  along  the  earth  at  night  Statues  were  set  up  to 
her  in  market  places,  and  especially  at  cross  roads. 

HE'CATOMB.  (Gr.  frard^.)  Properly  a  sacrifice  of  a 
hundred  oxen ;  but  the  word  is  often  used  to  signify  a  large 
sacrifice  of  anv  kind  of  victims. 

HECATOX'PEDON.  (Gr.  Uarov,  a  hundred,  and  jraos, 
a  foot.)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  any  temple  of  the  length 
of  one  hundred  feet. 

HECATO'NSTYLON.  (Gr.  imrov,  and  arvXos,  a  co- 
lumn.) In  Ancient  Architecture,  a  building  having  a  hun- 
dred columns. 

HECKLE.  (Germ,  heckel.)  An  instrument  used  in 
separating  the  fibres  of  flax  and  placing  them  in  parallel 
tresses. 

HE'CTIC  FEVER.  (Gr.  tjic,  habit.)  A  constitutional 
fever,  attended  by  debility,  a  small  quick  pulse,  paleness, 
loss  of  appetite,  excessive  perspiration  and  emaciation.  It 
generally  affects  more  or  less  of  an  intermittent  character; 
but  the  exacerbations  and  remissions  are  irregular,  and  the 
sweating  stage  is  not  followed  by  that  relief  which  it  usu- 
allv  announces  in  other  febrile  attacks.  It  is  often  sympto- 
matic of  some  particular  disease,  and  requires  to  be  treated 
accordingly.  Where  this  is  not  the  case,  or  where  it  mere- 
ly seems  an  attendant  on  general  debility,  a  course  of  sarsa- 
parilla  and  a  milk  diet  are  often  very  beneficial ;  but  where 
this  remedy  induces  perspiration  and  nauseates,  a  great  deal 
of  management  is  required  in  carrying  it  on  for  a  sufficient 
lencth  of  time  to  prove  of  service. 

HEDGE.  A  living  wall  formed  of  woody  plants,  sown 
or  planted  in  a  line,  and  cut  or  clipped  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  form  a  compact  mass  of  any  degree  of  width  and  height 
that  may  be  required  for  the  purpose  of  shelter,  separation, 
or  defence.  The  fences  most  generally  used  in  agriculture 
are  made  of  the  white  thorn  (Crataegus  oxyacantha,  Lin.), 
because  it  has  spiny  branches,  and  forms  a  strong  defence 
against  cattle.  Fences  for  the  purposes  of  shelter  and  sepa- 
ration are  chiefly  used  in  gardening,  and  for  the  most  part 
are  formed  of  evergreen  shrubs,  such  as  the  holly,  yew, 
box,  &c. ;  or  sub-evergreens,  such  as  the  privet ;  of  flower- 
ing shrubs,  such  as  the  Cydonia  japonica  ;  or  of  deciduous 


HEDGEHOG. 

shrubs  or  trees  with  persistent  leaves,  such  as  the  hornbeam 
and  beech.  In  the  management  of  hedges  of  every  descrip- 
tion an  important  point  is  to  keep  them  thick,  and  impervi- 
ous to  wind  or  animals  near  the  ground;  for  which  purpose 
the  section  of  the  hedge  requires  to  be  made  broader  at  the 
base  than  at  the  top,  in  order  tint  the  exterior  leaves  in 
every  part  of  the  hedge  may  enjoy  in  an  equal  degree  the 
influence  of  light,  air,  and  perpendicular  rams. 
HE'DGEHOG.     See  Erinaceus. 

HEEL.  The  after  extremity  of  the  ship's  keel ;  also  the 
foot  of  a  mast.     To  heel  over,  to  incline  to  one  side. 

HE'GIEA.  In  Chronology,  the  era  used  by  the  Moham- 
medans in  the  computation  of  time.  The  epoch  or  first  day 
of  this  celebrated  era,  so  extensively  employed  in  the  East, 
corresponds  to  Friday,  the  16th  day  of  July,  in  the  year  622 
of  the  Christian  era.  It  is  a  problem  of  some  importance  to 
convert  dates  expressed  by  the  Mohammedan  computation 
into  the  corresponding  dates  of  our  calendar ;  for  effecting 
this  it  is  necessary  to  be  acquainted  with  the  form  of  the 
Mohammedan  year. 

This  year  is  strictly  lunar ;  and  the  civil  months  are  ad- 
justed to  the  lunar  months  by  means  of  a  cycle  of  30  years, 
containing  19  common  years  of  354  days,  and  11  intercalary 
years  of  355  days ;  the  cycle  thus  containing  10,631  days,  or 
2!)  Julian  years  and  39  days.  Each  year  is  divided  into  12 
months,  containing  alternately  30  and  29  days,  excepting 
that  the  last  month  of  the  intercalary  year  contains  also  30 
days.  The  intercalary  veais  are  the  2d,  5th,  7th,  10th,  13th, 
16th,  18th,  21st,  24th,  26th,  and  29th  of  the  cycle.  The 
names  of  the  Mohammedan  months,  with  the  number  of 
days  in  each,  are  as  follows  : 

Days,  i  Davs. 

.  .  29 
.  .  30 
.  .  29 
.  .  30 
.    .    29 


Moharem 30'Shaban      .     , 

Saphar 29  Ramadan .     . 

Rabiul 30  Shawall    .    . 

Rabiu  II 29 Dhu'l  Kadah 

Jomadhi  1 30  Dhu'l  Ilajah 

Jomadhi  II 29 

Regeb 30 


-  in  intercala- 


ry years JU 

Such  are  the  chronological  elements  by  means  of  which 
Mohammedan  dates  are  reduced  to  the  Christian  era.  The 
rule  by  which  the  reduction  may  be  accomplished  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

1.  Divide  the  number  of  years  (of  the  Hegira)  elapsed  by 
30;  the  quotient  will  be  the  number  of  cycles,  and  the  re- 
mainder the  number  of  years  elapsed  since  the  beginning  of 
the  current  cycle.  Call  the  quotient  A,  and  the  remainder 
B,  and  let  x  be  the  number  of  intercalary  years  in  B  ;  then 
the  number  of  days  that  have  elapsed  from  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Hegira  to  the  beginning  of  the  year  in  which 
the  date  occurs  is  given  by  this  formula, 

10631  A  +  354B  +  3-.- 
for  10,631  is  the  number  of  days  in  the  cycle,  and  354  the 
number  of  days  in  the  common  lunar  year.  To  the  sum  ob- 
tained by  this  formula  add  the  days  since  the  beginning  of 
the  current  year,  and  the  result  is  the  number  of  days  from 
the  commencement  of  the  Hegira  to  the  given  date. 

2.  To  the  number  of  days  from  the  commencement  of  the 
Hegira  to  the  given  date  add  the  number  of  days  between 
the  commencement  of  our  era  and  the  Hegira,  and  the  sum 
is  the  number  of  days  from  the  first  of  our  era  to  the  given 
date.  The  number  of  days  from  the  beginning  of  our  era 
to  the  Hegira,  or  to  the  16th  of  July,  622,  is  227,016. 

3.  Having  now  found  the  number  of  days  from  the  Incar- 
nation to  the  given  date,  it  only  remains  to  convert  the  sum 
into  Julian  years.  For  this  purpose  divide  by  1461  (the 
number  of  days  in  the  Julian  intercalary  period),  and  call 
the  quotient  C.  Divide  the  remainder  by  365,  and  call  the 
quotient  D,  and  the  remainder  of  this  last  division  y.  Then 
4  C  -f-  D  is  the  number  of  Julian  years  elapsed  since  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Christian  era,  and  y  is  the  number  of  days 
that  have  elapsed  of  the  current  year.  This  gives  the  date 
in  Old  Style.  To  reduce  it  to  the  Gregorian  Style,  it  is  only 
necessary  to  add  11  days.  (See  art.  "  Chronology"  in  the 
Encyclopedia  Br  it  a  nn  ica.) 

HEIGHT.    In  Geometry,  the  same  as  altitude,  which  see. 

HEI'GHTEN.  (From  height.)  In  Painting,  a  verb  sig- 
nifying to  make  prominent  by  means  of  touches  of  light  or 
brilliant  colours,  as  contrasted  with  the  shadows. 

HEIGHTS,  MEASUREMENT  OF.  The  determination 
of  the  relative  altitudes  of  points  on  the  earth's  surface  is  of 
equal  importance  in  physical  geography  as  the  determina- 
tion of  their  latitudes  and  longitudes.  There  are  three  differ- 
ent methods  by  which  the  operation  is  usually  effected. 
When  it  is  required  to  determine  not  only  the  height  of  one 
point  or  station  relatively  to  another,  but  the  relative  heights 
of  a  number  of  points  above  a  common  horizontal  plane  (as 
for  tracing  the  line  of  a  canal),  recourse  is  had  to  the  opera- 
tion of  levelling.  The  second  method  is  to  observe  the  an- 
gle of  elevation  or  depression  of  one  station  as  seen  from 
another,  and  to  compute,  from  the  observation  and  from  the 


HEIGHTS,  MEASUREMENT  OP. 

distance  of  the  two  stations,  the  difference  of  altitude  by  the 
rules  of  trigonometry.  The  third  method,  and  the  "most 
important,  as  being,  generally  speaking,  the  most  applica- 
ble, is  to  deduce,  by  means  of  the  known  physical  properties 
of  the  atmosphere,  the  differences  of  vertical  height  from 
the  observed  differences  of  atmospheric  pressure  as  indicated 
by  the  barometer.  To  this  method  we  shall  here  confine 
our  attention. 

Pascal,  who  first  explained  the  true  cause  of  the  suspen- 
sion of  the  mercurial  column  by  referring  it  to  the  pressure 
of  the  atmosphere,  and  established  the  fact  of  the  pressure 
by  his  celebrated  experiment  on  the  Puy  de  Dome,  was  also 
the  first  to  suggest  the  application  of  the  barometer  to  the 
measurement  of  mountains ;  but  as  the  constitution  of  the 
atmosphere  and  the  laws  of  gaseous  bodies  were  in  that  age 
entirely  unknown,  the  numerous  attempts  which  were  made 
to  estimate  heights  in  this  manner,  soon  after  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  instrument,  had  very  little  success.  The  first 
step  towards  the  introduction  of  a  correct  theory  was  the 
discovery  by  Mariotte  that  the  elastic  force  of  air  (which  is 
the  same  as  the  pressure)  is  exactly  proportional  to  its  den- 
sity ;  an  important  relation,  which  is  true  of  all  the  gases, 
and  vapours,  and  goes  by  the  name  of  Mariotte's  law.  Dr. 
Halley  next  discovered  the  remarkable  relation  which  con- 
nects the  density  of  the  atmosphere  with  the  altitude,  and 
proved  that  the  densities  decrease  in  a  geometrical  progres- 
sion when  the  altitudes  increase  in  an  arithmetical  one. 
Dr.  Halley  likewise  supposed  that  the  observations  might 
be  affected  by  differences  of  temperature ;  and  he  roughly 
estimated  the  variation  to  amount  to  a  fifteenth  part  between 
winter  and  summer. 

De  Luc  was  the  first  who  gave  precision  to  barometrical 
measurements  by  taking  into  account  the  influence  of  heat 
in  expanding  the  air  ;  and  by  substituting  the  mercurial  for 
the  spirit  thermometer,  he  rendered  the  determination  of 
temperatures,  on  which  the  method  so  mainly  depends,  a 
matter  of  much  greater  certainty  than  it  had  formerly  been. 
He  ateo  investigated  the  dilatation  of  air  at  different  tem- 
peratures, and  gave  a  formula  for  the  computation  of  ba- 
rometrical measurements,  which  was  adapted  to  the  Eng- 
lish system  of  measures  by  Dr.  Maskelyne,  and  used  (with 
some  alterations  in  the  values  of  the  coefficients)  by  Sir 
George  Shuckburgh  and  by  General  Roy  in  the  determina- 
tion of  the  altitudes  of  many  of  the  principal  mountains  in 
Britain. 

Laplace,  in  the  Mecanique  Celeste,  has  given  a  formula 
which  embraces  all  the  different  circumstances  on  which 
the  solution  of  the  problem  depends,  and  enables  us  to  com- 
pute their  influence  numerically,  when  the  constants  to  be 
found  from  observation  have  been  accurately  determined. 
Among  these  are  the  ellipticity  of  the  earth,  the  relative 
densities  of  air  and  mercury  at  a  given  temperature,  their 
expansion  by  heat,  and  the  variation  of  the  elastic  force  of 
atmospheric  air  (composed  of  a  mixture  of  dry  gases  and 
watery  vapour)  corresponding  to  a  given  thermometric 
change.  In  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge,  some  doubt 
still  remains  on  several  of  these  points;  but  they  are  all 
known  with  sufficient  approximation  to  render  the  barome- 
ter a  most  valuable  instrument  for  geodetical  purposes.  It 
not  only  gives  the  relative  altitudes,  above  the  general  level, 
of  places  however  distant  at  which  simultaneous  observa- 
tions are  made,  but  even  enables  us  to  assign  the  height  of 
any  station  on  the  earth  at  wliich  the  mean  height  of  the 
barometer  is  ascertained.  We  now  proceed  to  give  the 
formula  by  which  the  height  is  computed  from  the  obser- 
vations. 

The  temperature  being  expressed  in  degrees  of  the  centi- 
grade scale,  let  us  assume 

ro  ==  the  atmospheric  pressure  at  temperature  zero, 

D  =  density  of  atmospheric  air  at  temperature  zero, 

0  =the  temperature  in  degrees, 

a  =  -00375,  the  dilatation  of  air  for  1°  of  increased  tem- 
perature, 

k  =  ^,  the  ratio  of  the  pressure  to  the  density. 

If  the  pressure  remains  constant  and  we  suppose  that  while 
the  temperature  changes  from  0  to  6  any  volume  V  of  air 
becomes  V,  and  its  density  D  becomes  D',  then  V'=:V 
(1  +  a  (?) ;  and  therefore,  the  densities  being  inversely  as  the 

volumes,  D' 


1+00' 

Let  us  next  suppose  the  pressure  to  vary  while  the  tem- 
perature 6  remains  constant,  and  that  D'  becomes  p  when  zs 
becomes  p  ;  then,  bv  the  law  of  Mariotte,  w  :  p  :  :  D'  :  p. 
Substituting  for  D'  its  above  value,  observing  that  rz  =  k  D, 
this  proportion  gives 

p  =  *p(l  +  <i0)....(l.) 
This  formula  holds  good  for  all  the  gases  and  vapours,  and 
for  the  mixtures,  as  well  as  for  air. 

To  form  the  differential  equation  of  the  equilibrium  of  the 

549 


HEIGHTS,  MEASUREMENT  OF. 

atmospheric  column  at  any  altitude  :  above  the  surface,  sup- 
pose a  column  of  air  whose  base  is  1  to  be  divided  into  thin 
horizontal  slices ;  then  the  difference  of  the  pressure  on  the 
under  and  on  the  upper  surface  of  any  slice  will  be  equal  to 
the  weight  of  the  slice.  Let,  therefore,  p  be  the  pressure, 
and  g*  the  force  of  gravity  at  the  height  i ;  then  p  being  the 
density,  and  d  z  the  thickness  of  the  slice,  we  have 

dp=— gfpdz (2.) 

Let  g  be  the  force  of  gravity  at  the  foot  of  the  column, 
or  at  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  r  the  mean  radius  of  the 
earth  =  20.837,030  feet  (see  Earth);  then,  neglecting  the 
small  variation  of  centrifugal  force  due  to  the  height 
i  g'  =  gr%-~-  (r-f-z)2.  Substituting  in  equation  (2)  this 
value  of  g',  and  eliminating  p  by  means  of  equation  (1), 
there  results 

d  p  — g  j-2  d  z 

y  =  k(l  +  ad)(r  +  z)2 
Integrating  this  equation  on  the  supposition  of  6  being  con- 
stant, and  determining  the  constants  so  that  p  =  zs  when  :  = 
0,  we  find 

log.~  = ±£T1 ....(3.) 

°    p       k(l  +  ad)(r  +  z)  K    ' 

To  apply  this  formula  to  the  determination  of  the  differ- 
ence of  altitudes  of  two  stations,  let 
A,  A'  =  heights  of  the  mercury  in  the  barometer  at  the  low- 
er and  upper  stations  respectively  in  inches, 
m,  m'  =  the  densities  of  the  mercury  at  the  two  stations, 
T,  T  =  the  temperatures  of  the  mercury  (in  centigrade  de- 
grees), 
t,  t'  =  the  temperatures  of  the  air, 
g,g'=  force  of  gravity  at  the  lower  and  upper  station, 
a,  p  =  the  pressure  ;  then 

a  =  m  g  A,  p  =  m'  g'  A'. 
Now  it  has  been  determined  by  experiment  that  the  den- 
sity of  mercury  increases  by  the  l-5550th  part  for  each  cen- 
tigrade degree  by  which  the  temperature  diminishes ;  there- 
fore, 

A   i  T  — T'n  ,  r2 

m=mC1+-555r);and^:=£r 


whence,   assuming 
therefore 


=  1  + 


-T'      tZ 


(r  +  Z)2> 
A(r  +  z)2 


and 


log.  -  =log.  A  —  log.  c  A'-f  2  log.  (l  +  -)■ 
Substituting  this  in  equation  (3),  and  transposing, 
2  =  _  (1  +  a  6)  [log.  h  —  log.  c  h'  +  2  log.  (1  +  7)] 

(l+V-.(4.) 

It  now  remains  to  convert  the  quantities  in  this  formula 
(all  of  which  are  known  excepting  z)  into  numbers. 

1.  The  logarithms  which  enter  the  equation  being  hyper- 
bolic, in  order  that  the  tabular  logarithms  may  be  used  it  is 
necessary  to  divide  the  second  member  by  the  modulus 
M  = -43429. 

2.  The  quantity  k,  which  expresses  the  ratio  of  the  pres- 
sure or  elastic  force  of  atmospheric  air  to  its  density,  depends 
upon  the  force  of  gravity  as  well  as  on  the  temperature,  and 
must  therefore  be  determined  with  respect  to  some  particular 
place.  Let  G  denote  the  accelerating  force  of  gravity  at 
Greenwich,  H  the  standard  height  of  the  barometer,  m  the 
density  of  mercury,  and  D  that  of  air,  both  at  the  freezing 

temperature:  then  n  =  mGH,  and  &=^  =  —- .  G.    For 

the  height,  H  =  -76  metres,  or  2-449348  feet,  the  ratio  of  m 
to  D,  in  respect  of  dry  air,  was  found  by  Biot  and  Arago 
to  be  10402.  According  to  this  determination,  we  have 
k  =  26086  8  X  G.  For  air  saturated  with  moisture,  they 
found  A:  =  261523  X  G.  Hence  if  we  adopt  the  mean  of  the 
two  coefficients  as  representing  the  ordinary  state  of  the  at- 
mosphere, we  have 

£  =  26120  XG,  in  feet 

3.  The  gravity,  g,  in  equation  (4)  is  that  which  corre- 
sponds to  the  lower  station,  and  to  the  latitude  of  the  place 
of  observation.  Denoting  the  latitude  of  the  station  by  ;, 
and  that  of  Greenwich  (to  which  G  corresponds)  by  L,  we 
have  from  the  theory  of  the  earth 

g 1  +  n  sin.  2  I 1  —  in  cos. 2 / 

G  ~~  l  +  7!sin.2L—  1— Jncos.2L 
(very  nearly.)     Here  the  coefficient  is  4  times  the  ratio  of 
the  centrifugal  force  to  gravity  at  the  equator,  diminished  by 
the ellipticity, or  |  X  o{g  X  3^  =  '005145  (see  Earth)  ; 


HEIR. 

and  in  =  -00257.     But  L  =  51°  28  39",  and  cos.  2  L  =  — 
•2242 ;  whence  we  find 

(1  — -00257)  cos.  2/ 

S  = G 

e  1-00058 

and  we  have  therefore  in  feet 

k 26120  X  1-00058  __  60168 

M  g  ~  -43429  (1  —  -00257  cos.  2  /)  ~~  1  —  -00257  cosTTf 
4.  For  6  we  may  take  J  (t  +  f),  the  mean  temperature  of 
the  lower  and  higher  station.  In  the  case  of  perfectly  dry 
air,  a  =  -00375 ;  but  as  the  density  of  air  mixed  with  vapour 
increases  as  the  temperature  is  diminished  in  a  faster  ratio 
than  dry  air,  we  may  assume  as  the  nearest  probable  value, 

(2t-|-t') 
a  —  -004.     This  gives  a  0  — 


1000 


For  the  sake  of  abridging,  put 
60168 


K  = 


2 1\  ^   1000  / 


1  —  -00257  cos 
then  the  equation  (4)  becomes 

z  =  K  [log.  A  -  log.  c  h'  +  2  log.  (l  +  l)J(l-f  i-). 

In  computing  from  this  formula,  an  approximate  value  of  z 
is  obtained  by  making 

z  =  K  (log.  A  —  log.  c  A') ; 
by  the  substitution  of  which  in  the  second  member  of  the 
above  equation  a  more  exact  value  is  found,  and  the  result 
is  the  height  of  the  second  station  above  the  first  in  feet. 

Instead  of  the  numerical  factor  60168  feet  in  the  coefficient 
K,  Poisson  (Mecanique,  torn,  ii.)  has  18337-46  metres,  w'hich 
is  equal  to  60163  feet.  The  difference  arises  from  our  hav- 
ing assumed  a  slightly  different  value  for  the  eccentricity  of 
the  earth,  and  having  referred  the  gravity  G  to  the  latitude 
of  Greenwich  instead  of  Paris. 

The  temperatures  have  been  assumed  to  be  expressed  on 
the  centigrade  scale,  as  the  most  convenient  for  computa- 
tion.    If  T  and  t  are  for  Fahrenheit's  thermometer,  it  is 

T         A 

,  and 


T — T"  T 

only  necessaiy  to  substitute  1  -1 — nnnn    for  1  + 


"JULIO 


:,:m  - 


j-j-t' 64  °(r.-4-r.') 

1 H g-QJj —  for  1  +  ~  10(X)  ',  respectively,  in  the  factors 

c  and  K. 

When  the  altitude  is  not  very  considerable,  the  fraction 
z-~r  is  very  small,  and  may  be  considered  as  constant; 
in  which  case  it  may  be  incorporated  with  the  factor  60168. 
Substituting  for  60168  the  number  60345  (deduced  from  a 
number  of  measurements  by  Ramond),  and  supposing  the 
substitution  to  change  K  into  K',  the  formula  for  the  alti- 
tude will  become 

z  =  K'(log.  A  — log.  eA'), 
which  is  the  formula  most  frequently  used. 

The  most  recent  and  complete  investigation  of  the  subject 
of  barometric  measurements  is  that  of  Bessel,  in  Schuma- 
cher's Jlstronomische  JVachrichtcn,  vol.  xv.  See  also  Biot, 
Astronomie  Physique,  torn.  iii. 

HEIR.  (Lat.  hieres.)  In  Law,  one  who  succeeds  by- 
descent  to  lands,  tenements,  and  hereditaments.  Strictly 
speaking,  a  person  is  not  properly  called  heir  in  the  life- 
time of  his  ancestor ;  according  to  the  ancient  maxim,  ne- 
mo est  hceres  viveutis.  (For  the  rules  which  govern  this 
succession  in  England  by  common  law  and  statute,  see 
Descent.)  Heir-apparent  is  he  who  (by  law  or  custom) 
must  succeed,  by  descent,  to  the  hereditaments,  if  he  sur- 
vive the  present  tenant ;  as,  at  common  law,  the  eldest 
son.  Heir-presumptive,  he  who  stands  nearest  in  succes- 
sion in  the  default  of  an  heir-apparent;  as  an  eldest  broth- 
er where  there  is  no  issue.  Hcir-at-laic,  or  heir-general, 
is  he  who  succeeds  by  descent  to  lands  in  fee-simple. 
Heir-special,  issue  in  tail  claiming  by  the  form  of  the  gift 
(See  Fee-Tail.)  Heir  by  custom,  he  who  succeeds  to 
lands  or  tenements  by  custom;  as  all  the  sons  by  gavel- 
kind. Heir-male,  i.  e.  the  nearest  male  in  the  succession, 
is  not  strictly  a  term  of  English  law,  since  lands  cannot  de- 
scend in  this  way;  but  some  dignities  are  thus  limited.  A 
devisee  is  sometimes  called  heir  by  devise,  or  hirres  factus. 
Bastards,  aliens,  persons  attaint  of  treason  and  felony,  can- 
not be  heirs;  but  idiots  and  lunatics  may.  Things  that 
pass  with  the  land,  as  conditions  and  covenants  real,  goods 
and  chattels  annexed  to  the  freehold  (see  Fixtures),  and 
terms  of  years  to  attend  the  inheritance,  are  in  ordinary  le- 
gal language  said  to  go  to  the  heir  :  as  also  heir-looms,  be- 
ing such  goods  and  chattels  as  go  by  special  custom  along 
with  the  inheritance.  In  Scottish  law,  the  word  heir  is 
taken  in  a  larger  acceptation,  as  to  personal  as  well  as  real 
property.  Heirs-at-law  are  termed  in  it  heirs  whatsomcver. 
It  recognises  several  species  of  heirs :  as  the  heir-active, 


HEIR-LOOMS. 

who  has  the  right  of  action ;  heir  of  line,  or  lineal  heir ; 
heir  by  conquest,  who  succeeds  to  estates  to  which  the  de- 
ceased donor  did  not  himself  succeed  by  descent;  heirs 
portioners,  in  English  law,  coparceners ;  heir  of  tailzie  (or 
in  tail),  and  so  forth.  By  the  civil  law,  heirs  are  of  two 
kinds — legitimate,  or  by  act  of  law  ;  and  instituted,  or  by 
the  will  of  the  possessor :  the  former  only  answering  to 
those  who  are  properly  designated  as  heirs  in  our  own  law, 
the  latter  to  our  purchasers.  Legitimate  are  either  heirs  of 
b'ood — heirs  under  the  title  "unde  vir  et  uxor"  (by  which, 
in  default  of  heirs  of  blood,  a  husband  or  wife  succeeded  to 
the  goods  of  the  deceased  spouse  ;  a  provision  not  general- 
ly preserved  in  modern  Continental  law) ;  and  heirs  irregu- 
lar— such  as  the  lord  to  whom  an  escheat  falls,  &c.  Heirs 
instituted  are  of  many  kinds. 

HEIR-LOOMS.  In  Law,  such  goods  and  personal  chat- 
tels as  go  to  the  heir  along  with  the  realty.  The  quality  of 
heir-looms  is  fixed  by  custom ;  deeds,  charters,  deer  in  a 
park,  &c,  are  usually  such.  "Loom"  is  from  an  old  Sax- 
on word,  "  limb,"  or  member. 

HELI'ACAL.  (Gr.  JjAiof,  the  sun.)  Something  relating 
to  the  sun.  In  the  ancient  astronomy,  a  star  is  said  to  rise 
keliacally  when,  after  being  in  conjunction  with  the  sun, 
and  consequently  invisible,  it  rises  so  soon  before  the  sun 
as  to  be  visible  in  the  eastern  horizon  in  the  morning  twi- 
light ;  and  it  is  said  to  set  keliacally  when  the  sun  approach- 
es so  near  to  it  that  it  is  lost  in  his  light,  or  ceases  to  be 
visible  in  the  western  horizon  when  he  has  disappeared. 
At  the  opposite  season  of  the  year  the  same  star  rises  as 
the  sun  sets,  and  sets  as  the  sun  rises ;  it  is  then  said  to  rise 
and  set  acronically.  When  a  star  or  planet  rises  and  sets 
at  the  same  instant  with  the  sun,  it  is  said  to  rise  and  set 
cosmically.  These  technical  terms  occur  frequently  in  the 
works  of  Hesiod,  and  in  Ovid's  Fasti.  The  ancients  fixed 
the  commencement  of  the  seasons  by  the  positions  of  the 
stars  relatively  to  the  sun  at  his  rising  and  setting. 

HELIiE'A.  (Gr.  'HXidta.)  In  Ancient  History,  the 
chief  of  the  ten  courts  among  which  the  C000  Athenian 
jurymen  were  distributed,  and  which  on  important  occa- 
sions sometimes  contained  them  all.  It  probably  derived 
its  name  from  being  open  to  the  sun  (^Xiost.  Before  this 
tribunal  causes  of  consequence  to  the  state  and  Individuals 
which  did  not  involve  bloodshed  were  brought.  (See  .1/'  m. 
de  I' Acad,  des  Inscrip.  vol.  xviii. ;  Boeckh's  Public  Econo- 
my of  Athens.) 

HE'LICOID,  or  PARABOLIC  SPIRAL.  (Gr.  iXil,  a 
spiral),  in  Geometry,  is  a  curve  line  which  is  generated  as 
follows :  Suppose  the  axis  of  the  common  or  Apollonian 
parabola  to  be  bent  into  the  circumference  of  a  circle,  the 
the  ordinates  X  B,  Y  D,  still  retaining 
their  places  and  perpendicular  posi- 
tions with  respect  to  the  axis ;  then 
the  spiral  curve,  A  B  D,  which  pass- 
es through  the  extremities  of  the  ordi- 
nates, is  the  helicoid.  It  is  obvious 
from  this  definition  that  all  the  ordi- 
nates, being  perpendicular  to  the  cir- 
cumference of  the  circle,  meet  in  its 
centre  C  ;  and  if  x  represent  any  cir- 
cular absciss  A  X,  and  y  the  corre- 
sponding ordinate  X  B,  the  equation  of  the  curve  will  be 
the  same  as  that  of  the  parabola ;  namely,  y2  =a  x,  a  being 
the  parameter. 

HE  LIOCAMI'NUS.  (Gr.  >)Aiof,  the  sun,  and  Kapivos,  a 
furnace.)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  an  arched  apartment 
heated  bv  the  ravs  of  the  sun. 

HE'LIOCE'NTRIC.  (Gr.  fjAio?,  and  Ktvrpov,  centre.) 
The  heliocentric  longitude  of  a  planet  is  the  angle  at  the 
sun's  centre,  formed  by  the  projection  of  its  radius  vector 
on  the  ecliptic  and  the  straight  line  drawn  from  the  centre 
of  the  sun  to  the  first  point  of  Aries;  and  the  heliocentric 
latitude  of  a  planet  is  the  inclination  of  the  straight  line 
which  joins  its  centre  with  that  of  the  sun  to  the  plane  of 
the  ecliptic.  The  greatest  heliocentric  latitude  is  conse- 
quently equal  to  the  inclination  of  the  planet's  orbit. 

HELIO'METER.  (Gr.  ^Aio?,  and  /xerpov,  measure.)  A 
kind  of  micrometer  for  measuring  the  diameters  of  the  sun, 
moon,  and  planets,  or  any  small  apparent  distance  between 
celestial  objects.  The  instrument  best  known  by  this  name 
appears  to  have  been  proposed  or  suggested  by  a  Mr.  Sa- 
very  {Phil.  Trans,  vol.  xlviii.),  about  the  year  1743 ;  but  it 
was  first  applied  by  Bouguer  in  1747,  and  has  since  been 
improved  by  Dollond  and  Fraunhofer.  The  principle  on 
which  the  instrument  is  constructed  is  as  follows :  Two  ob- 
ject-glasses of  the  same  focal  distance,  or  rather  the  two 
halves  of  a  divided  object-glass,  are  placed  side  by  side  in 
the  same  tube  with  an  apparatus  so  contrived  that  the  dis- 
tance between  the  centres  can  be  increased  or  diminished 
at  pleasure.  In  this  manner  two  images  of  the  sun  are 
formed  at  the  focus  of  the  common  eye-glass.  Thus  the 
circle  AAA  representing  the  field  of  view  of  the  tele- 
scope, or  the  visible  circle  at  the  common  focus  of  the  two 


HELIX. 

object-glasses  and  the  eye-glass,  and 
the  two  small  circles  representing  the 
two  images  of  the  sun  formed  by  the 
two  object-glasses,  when  the  observ- 
er proposes  to  measure  the  diameter 
of  the  sun,  the  two  object-glasses  are 
brought  by  means  of  a  tangent  screw 
to  such  a  distance  from  each  other 
that  the  two  images  touch  in  a  point 
T,  and  the  distance  between  the  cen- 
tres of  the  two  object-glasses,  esti- 
mated in  seconds,  gives  the  distance  between  B  and  C,  the 
centres  of  the  images  ;  that  is,  the  diameter  of  the  sun. 

Formerly  the  heliometer  was  formed  by  two  complete 
lenses ;  but  as  it  was  found  very  difficult  to  give  them  pre- 
cisely the  same  focal  length,  and  as  the  size  of  the  tube 
was  required  to  be  inconveniently  large,  they  are  now  made 
of  the  same  lens  by  dividing  it  across  its  centre.  The  cen- 
tres of  the  two  semi-lenses  are 
separated  by  means  of  the  screws 
S  S,  which  act  on  the  plates  in 
which  they  are  mounted ;  and 
the  distance  of  the  centres  A  and 
B  is  measured  by  a  scale  and 
vernier.  This  apparatus  is  oth- 
erwise called  the  divided  object-glass  micrometer.  The 
principle  has  also  been  applied  to  the  microscope.  See  Mi- 
crometer. 

HE'LIOSCOPE.  (Gr.  J/Aio?,  and  okottcu,  T  view.)  The 
name  given  by  Scheiner  to  an  instrument  of  his  own  in- 
vention for  observing  the  sun  without  hurting  the  eye. 
The  ordinary  method  is  to  place  a  disc  of  coloured  glass  be- 
fore the  eve-piece  of  the  telescope. 

HE'LIOSTAT.  (Gr.  JjAio?,  the  sun,  and  araui,  I  stand.) 
An  instrument  invented  by  Gravesande  for  the  purpose  of 
obviating  in  optical  experiments  the  inconvenience  arising 
from  the  continual  change  of  direction  of  the  solar  rays,  by 
reflecting  them  in  the  same  straight  line.  The  principle  on 
which  the  heliostat  is  constructed  may  be  explained  as  fol- 
lows :  Let  S  S'  S"  S'"  be 
the  diurnal  circle  descri- 
bed by  the  sun,  O  a  point 
on  the  surface  of  the 
earth  which  may  be  re-  S'" 
garded  as  the  centre  of 
the  circle  S  S'  S"  S'",  A 
B  the  mirror,  and  O  I) 
the  direction  in  which  it 
is  required  that  the  ray 
shall  be  reflected.  The 
solar  rays  will  succes- 
sively coincide  with  the 
straight  lines  whicli  form 
the  sides  of  the  conical  surface  OSS'  S"  S'".  Let  there- 
fore O  S'  be  one  of  these  rays,  and  let  us  consider  the  mo- 
tion it  will  be  necessary  to  give  to  the  mirror  in  order  that 
all  the  rays  O  S,  O  S',  &c.  may  be  reflected  by  the  mirror  in 
the  direction  O  D.  Produce  O  D  till  it  meet  the  plane  of 
the  earth's  diurnal  circle  in  D,  and  let  D  S  S'"  pass  through 
the  centre  of  the  circle.  Join  D  S',  and  draw  O  E'  at  right 
angles  to  A  B,  meeting  D  S'  in  E'.  The  angles  of  incidence 
and  reflexion  being  equal,  the  angle  S'  O  E'  is  equal  to  E'  O 
D  :  therefore  S'  E'  is  to  E'  D  in  the  ratio  of  S'  O  to  O  D, 
But  S'  O  and  O  D  are  constant,  therefore  the  ratio  of  S'  E' 
to  E'  D  is  constant.  But  D  is  a  given  point ;  therefore  by  a 
simple  theorem  in  elementary  geometry  (Leslie's  Geom. 
Analysis,  b.  iii.,  prop.  2),  the  locus  of  E'  is  a  given  circle. 
It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  axis  of  the  mirror  must  de- 
scribe in  24  hours  the  surface  of  a  cone,  the  base  of  which, 
parallel  to  the  plane  of  the  equator,  is  a  circle  determined 
in  magnitude  and  position  by  the  given  direction  O  D,  and 
the  parallel  which  the  sun  is  describing  on  a  given  day  of 
the  year. 

It  is  easy  to  conceive  a  mechanism  by  which  this  object 
may  be  accomplished.  Suppose  a  clock  to  be  placed  with 
its  dial  parallel  to  the  equator,  or  the  axis  of  the  index 
hands  parallel  to  the  axis  of  the  earth ;  and  suppose  a  rod 
connected  with  the  extremity  of  the  hour  hand  to  meet  the 
axis  produced  and  make  with  it  the  proper  angle ;  then  a 
mirror  fixed  perpendicularly  to  the  rod  will  have  the  mo- 
tion required. 

For  a  description  of  the  original  instrument  see  Grave- 
sandes'  Phys.  Elementa  ;  but  it  has  been  greatly  improved 
by  Charles,  Malus,  &c.  See  Journal  de  I'Ecole  Polytech- 
nique,  cahier  16:  Biot,  Physique  Experimental,  torn.  ii. 

HE'LIOTROPE.  A  deep-green  siliceous  m'neral,  some- 
what translucent,  and  often  variegated  with  blood-red 
spots:  from  Gr.  r]\ws,  the  sun,  and  Tps™,  I  turn.  Its  vul- 
gar name  is  bloodstone.  There  is  also  a  common  sweet- 
scented  plant  of  this  name. 

HE'LIX.  (Gr.  'iXi\.  a  whorl.)  The  name  of  a  Linnsean 
genus  of  the  Vermes  Testacea,  characterized  by  the  entire 


HELLEBORE. 

find  crescent-shaped  opening  of  the  shell,  and  forming  in 
the  system  of  Cuvier  the  t.\  pe  of  a  family  of  terrestrial  and 
air-breathing  Gastropods,  including  the  genera  Vitrina, 
Draparnaud;  Bulinus,  Adanson;  Pupa,  Lam.;  Chondrus, 
Cuv. ;  Succinea,  Drap. ;  and  Helix  proper,  of  which  our 
common  garden  snail,  Helix  hortensis,  is  an  example. 

The  great  vine  snail  {Helix  pomatia,  Linn.)  formed  one 
of  the  luxuries  of  the  tahles  of  the  ancient  Romans,  and  by 
peculiar  feeding  and  other  treatment  was  brought  to  attain 
an  immense  size.  It  is  still  an  article  of  food  in  certain 
cantons  in  Switzerland  and  France.  The  snails  do  much 
damage  to  the  vegetables  in  cultivated  grounds,  biting  off 
pieces  of  the  leaves  by  means  of  a  semicircular  dentated 
horny  plate,  which  is  affixed  to  the  upper  lip. 

Helix,  in  Anatomy,  is  applied  to  the  reflected  margin  of 
the  external  ear. 

Helix,  Helices.  In  Architecture,  the  curling  stalks  or 
volutes  under  the  flowers  in  each  face  of  the  abacus  of  the 
Corinthian  capital. 

HE'LLEBORE.  (Gr.)  In  Pharmacy  this  term  is  ap- 
plied to  the  roots  of  the  black  and  white  hellebore.  The 
root  of  black  hellebore  (Hellcborus  niger),  called  also  Me- 
lampodium,  has  a  bitterish  acrid  taste,  and  is  a  drastic 
purge  and  emetic :  the  root  of  the  white  hellebore  is  simi- 
lar, but  more  active  in  its  operation.  (See  Veratria.)  It 
was  formerly  used  in  the  cure  of  gout,  and  in  some  maniacal 
cases  where  no  effect  is  produced  except  by  very  powerful 
means ;  but  these  remedies  have  now  fallen  into  disuse. 
The  leaves  of  the  Helleborus  fatidus,  or  stinking  hellebore, 
have  also  been  used  to  evacuate  worms  from  the  intes- 
tines ;  but  they  are  dangerously  active. 

HELLE'NIC.  The  name  given  to  the  common  dialect 
which  prevailed  very  generally  among  the  Greek  writers 
after  the  time  of  Alexander.  It  was  formed,  with  very 
slight  variations,  from  the  pure  Attic  of  the  age  preceding 
its  introduction. 

HELLENI'STIC.  The  name  given  to  that  dialect  of 
the  Grecian  language  that  was  used  by  the  Jewish  writers. 
Its  peculiarities  consisted  in  the  introduction  of  foreign 
words  very  little  disguised,  but  more  especially  of  oriental 
metaphors  and  idioms ;  but  not  at  all  in  the  inflexions  of 
words,  which  were  the  same  as  in  the  Hellenic. 

HE'LLENISTS  (Gr.  i\Xt,vurrai,  from  'EAAj/v,  a  Greek), 
the  name  by  which  the  Jews,  who  from  their  foreign  birth 
or  travel  used  the  Greek  (Hellenic)  language,  are  distin- 
guished in  the  Acts  of  Apostles.  The  word  is  derived,  ac- 
cording to  a  common  method  of  formation  in  the  Greek 
language,  from  the  verb  iWTjvfyiv,  to  Helleniie,  or  adopt 
the  manners  of  a  Greek.  There  were  great  numbers  of 
Jews  scattered  throughout  the  Roman  empire  at  this  pe- 
riod, more  especially  in  the  Asiatic  and  East  African  prov- 
inces, where  the  Greek  was  the  current  language ;  and  as 
they  were  in  the  habit  of  making  frequent  journeys  to  and 
from  Jerusalem,  they  heard  the  preaching  of  the  Apostles, 
and  became  efficacious  instruments  in  conveying  the 
knowledge  of  the  word  throughout  all  lands.  From  their 
long  sojourn  in  foreign  countries  they  were  distinguished 
from  the  Hebraists,  or  native  Jews,  by  the  greater  liberali- 
ty of  their  views  with  respect  to  the  nature  of  the  promises 
of  the  Old  Testament.  It  appears  from  Acts,  vi.  1,  that 
these  Jews  retained  the  distinctive  name  of  Hellenists  after 
their  conversion  to  Christianity,  and  that  there  continued 
to  subsist  some  jealousy  between  them  and  the  native 
Christians. 

HELM,  implies  the  mechanism  of  the  steerage,  especial- 
ly the  tiller :  as,  to  put  the  helm  a-starboard,  is  to  put  the 
tiller  over  to  the  right  side ;  a-port,  to  the  left  side  ;  up,  to 
the  weather  side ;  down,  to  the  lee  side. 

HELM,  or  HE'LMET.  Defensive  armour  for  the  head : 
a  word  of  Scandinavian  derivation.  The  armour  of  the 
ancients,  which  particularly  guarded  the  head,  was  known 
by  the  general  denominations  of  head-piece,  casque,  and 
helmet.  Helmets  were  anciently  formed  of  various  mate- 
rials, but  chiefly  of  skins  of  beasts,  brass,  and  iron.  An 
open  helmet  covers  only  the  head,  ears,  and  neck,  leaving 
the  face  unguarded.  Some  open  helmets  have  a  bar  or 
bars  from  the  forehead  to  the  chin,  to  guard  against  the 
transverse  cut  of  a  broad-sword  ;  but  it  affords  little  de- 
fence against  the  point  of  a  lance  or  sword.  A  close  hel- 
met entirely  covers  the  head,  face,  and  neck;  having  on 
the  front  perforations  for  the  admission  of  air,  and  slits 
tlirough  which  the  wearer  may  see  the  objects  around 
him;  this  pari,  which  is  styled  the  visor  (from  the  French 
word  viser,  to  take  aim),  lifts  up  by  means  of  a  pivot  over 
each  ear.  Some  helmets  have  a  bever  (from  buveur,  drink- 
er, or  from  the  Italian  bevere,  to  drink),  which,  when  clo- 
sed, covers  the  mouth  and  chin,  and  either  lifts  up  1 
volving  on  the  same  pivots  as  tint  visor,  or  lets  down  by 
means  of  two  or  more  pivots  on  each  side  near  the  jaws. 
The  use  of  the  bever  was  to  enable  the  wearer  to  eat  and 
drink  more  commodiously  than  conld  be  done  in  a  helmet 
with  a  visor  only.  The  helmets  of  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
552 


HEMEROBIANS. 

mans  were  mostly  open,  not  unlike  scull-caps,  as  formerly 
worn  by  our  dragoons.  Montfaucon  says  he  never  saw  an 
ancient  helmet  With  a  visor  to  raise  or  let  down,  although 
be  is  of  opinion  that  they  had  those  contrivances.  It  seems 
as  if  the  Romans,  at  least  those  of  which  Pompey's  army 
was  composed  at  Pharsalia,  had  open  helmets,  as  CffiSBI 
directed  his  soldiers  to  strike  them  in  the  lace,  which  order, 
had  their  faces  been  covered,  he  would  not  have  gives. 
The  two  Grecian  helmets  in  the  British  Museum  have  a 
kind  of  contrivance  to  cover  the  nose.  Over  the  top  of  the 
helmet  rose  an  elevated  ridge  called  the  crest,  representing 
lions  or  dragons,  &.C.,  to  make  the  warrior  appear  taller  and 
more  terrible.  (Mirror,  1839.) 
HELMET,  or  HELMET-SHELLS.  See  Cassis. 
HELMINTHO'LOGY.  (Gr.  '{Xfiivs,  a  worm,  and  Xoyoc, 
a  discourse.)  The  natural  history  of  worms.  See  Intes- 
tinalia. 

HE'LMSMAN.  The  man  who  steers.  A  good  helms- 
man opposes  in  time  the  tendency  of  the  ship  to  deviate 
from  her  course  by  a  small  motion,  which  he  relaxes  as 
soon  as  the  effect  is  felt,  and  thus  disturbs  her  sailing  as  lit- 
tle as  possible.  A  bad  helmsman  gives  her  too  much 
helm,  and  keeps  her  perpetually  yawing  from  one  side  to 
the  other.  The  steerage,  therefore,  is  of  the  utmost  conse- 
quence in  chase. 

HELO'PIDjE.  (Gr.  'EAod/,  the  name  of  an  obnoxious 
reptile.)  A  family  of  Heteromerous  Coleopterans,  belong- 
ing to  the  section  Stenelytra,  and  including  numerous  sub- 
genera and  species.  The  typical  genus  He/ops  is  remarka- 
ble for  having  the  anterior  tarsi  of  the  males  dilated.  Of 
this  genus  there  are  four  British  species  known,  of  which 
the  Helops  caraboides  may  be  found  at  the  roots  and  under 
the  bark  of  trees:  it  presents  a  lengthened  ovate  form, 
a  brown  colour,  a  punctured  surface,  and  dusky  red  an- 
tennje  and  tarsi. 

HE'LOTS.  (Gr.  uXiirat.)  In  Ancient  History,  the  slaves 
of  the  Spartans,  who  consisted  originally  of  the  Achaean  in- 
habitants of  Laconia,  who  were  subdued  by  force  of  arms 
by  the  Dorian  invaders.  The  name  was  derived  from  He- 
los,  a  town  of  Laconia,  of  which  the  inhabitants  were  thus 
reduced  to  servitude ;  but  to  this  class  were  afterwards 
added  the  Messenians,  who  still  clung  to  their  native  soil 
after  its  subjugation  by  the  Spartans.  They  were  employ- 
ed either  as  domestic  slaves,  cultivators  of  the  land,  or  in 
the  public  works ;  and  though  they  do  not  appear  to  have 
been  treated  ordinarily  with  much  severity,  yet  the  recol- 
lection of  their  former  state  urged  them  frequently  to  revolt, 
while  their  numbers  rendered  them  so  formidable  to  their 
masters  as  to  drive  the  latter  to  schemes  of  the  most  abom- 
inable treachery  for  their  repression.  (See  particularly 
Mailer's  Hist,  of  the  Dorians ;  Wachsmuth  Hist.  Jint.  of 
the  Greeks,  transl.  i.,  323.) 
HE'LVER.  A  miner's  term ;  the  handle  of  a  tool. 
HE'MACRYMES,  Hemacryma.  (Gr.  Sii/ia,  blood,  and 
Kpvjios,  cold.)  A  name  by  which  Latreille  designates  the 
animals  with  cold  blood. 

HE'MATHERMS,  Hemathcrma.  (Gr.  a?f<«,  Sipfiy,  heat.) 
The  name  given  by  Latreille  to  the  animals  with  warm 
blood. 

IIE'MATIN.  (Gr.  iipa.)  The  red  colouring  principle 
of  logwood. 

HE'MATITE.     One  of  the  varieties  of  native  oxide  of 
iron.    It  occurs  in  nodules,  and  in  radiated  masses  of  a 
crystalline  fracture.    Its  name  is  derived  from  the  red  colour 
which  it  presents  superficially  or  when  rubbed  to  powder. 
HEMATOSIN.    See  H.ematosine. 

HEME'LYTRA.  (Gr.  fjutevs,  half;  t\vrpov,  a  sheath.) 
The  name  given  to  the  superior  wings  or  wing-rovers  of 
Tetrapterous  insects,  when  they  are  coriaceous  at  the  base 
and  membranous  at  the  extremity ;  as  in  the  order  Hem- 
iptcra. 

HE'MERALOPIA.  (Gr.  nutpa  day,  and  wip,  the  eye.) 
A  disease  of  the  eye  which  renders  virion  very  imperfect  ex- 
cept in  broad  daylight ;  it  has  been  relieved  by  tonics  and 
gentle  stimulants,  with  the  occasional  application  of  blisters 
behind  the  ears. 

HE  MEROBAPTISTS.  (Gr.  S1Utpa,  day;  0niml,<a,  I 
baptize.)  An  ancient  sect  among  the  Jews,  so  called  from 
w  ashing  themselves  as  a  religious  solemnity  every  day.  It 
is  thought  by  some  that  the  Christians  of  Saint  John,  or  Sa- 
bians,  descended  from  them.  (Moshcim,  transl.,  ed.  1826, 
Lv.,  236.) 

HEMERO'BIANS,  Hemerobiidm.  (Gr.  focpa,  and  /?m<, 
life  )  A  family  of  Neuropterous  i  ects,  of  the  section  coll- 
i  J  Planipi  tmes  by  Latreille ;  characterized  by  bavins  a  slen- 
der body,  which  is  greatly  exceeded  in  length  by  the  finely 
I  wings.  The  ova  are  deposited  in  clusters,  attach- 
ed each  by  a  long  glutinous  pedicle  to  the  leaves  of  various 
plants;  and  by  some  mycologists  have  been  described  as 
fungi.  The  larva'  of  these  insects  are  remarkable  for  their 
ravenous  habits;  and  as  they  feed  chiefly  on  the  plant-lice 
(Jlphides),  are  highly  beneficial.    They  subsist  on  their  jui- 


HEMICRANIA. 

ces,  suck  them  to  death,  and  with  a  singular  instinct  they 
clothe  themselves  with  the  skins  of  their  victims.  Of  the 
typical  genus  Hemerobius  there  are  fourteen  known  British 
species,  of  which  the  Hem.  perla,  Linn.,  is  the  most  beauti- 
ful. It  is  sometimes  called  the  "  golden-eye ;"  is  of  a  green 
colour  ;  the  wings  transparent,  and  veined  with  green. 

HEMICRA'NIA.  (Gr.  i'dhovs,  half,  and  Kpaviov,  the 
head.)  A  pain  of  one  side  of  the  head :  it  is  often  inter- 
mittent. 

HEMI'GAMOUS.  (Gr.  fourvs,  and  yauog,  marriage.) 
In  Botany,  a  term  employed  in  speaking  of  grasses,  when  of 
two  florets  in  the  same  spikelet  one  is  neuter  and  the  other 
unisexual,  whether  male  or  female,  as  in  Ischcemum. 

HE'MIOLO'GAMOSE.  (Gr.  fourvs,  o\o<;,  entire,  and 
yanoi,  marriage.)  A  term  employed  in  speaking  of  grasses, 
when  in  the  same  spikelet  one  of  two  florets  is  neuter  and 
the  other  hermaphrodite,  as  in  several  species  of  Panicum. 

HEMIO'PI  A,  or  HEMIO'PSIA.  (Gr.  ,'nxicvs,  and  u>ip,  the 
eye.)     A  disordered  vision,  in  which  objects  appear  divided. 

HEMI'PTERA.  (Gr.  fi/xiavs,  and  nrcpov,  a  whig.)  An 
order  of  Haustellate  insects,  having  the  wing-covers  of  a  con- 
sistence intermediate  between  the  elytra  of  beetles  and  the 
ordinary  membranous  wings.  By  Latreille  the  term  is  re- 
stricted to  those  insects  the  wing-covers  of  which  are  coria- 
ceous at  the  base  and  membranous  at  the  top;  the  term 
Homoptera  being  applied  to  those  Fabrician  Hemiptcra  of 
which  the  elytra  are  deflected  and  of  uniform  consistence 
throughout. 

When  the  Hemiptera  quit  the  egg  they  present  the  form 
of  small  hexapod  larva,  differing  but  little  from  the  perfect 
insect  save  in  the  absence  of  wings :  before  these  are  acquir- 
ed the  skin  is  shed  several  times,  during  which  the  larva 
acquires  an  increase  of  general  bulk.  The  pupa  is  active, 
and  is  distinguished  by  having  the  wings  and  elytra  con- 
cealed in  small  dorsal  cases:  the  next  moulling  exhibits  the 
perfect  insect  with  the  hemelytra  and  wings  fully  developed. 
The  bed-bug  (Cimex  leetularius),  and  water-bcatman  (JVV 
tonecta),  are  examples  of  the  present  order  of  insects. 

HE'MISPFIERE.  (Gr.  wiovs,  and  ntympa,  a  sphere.)  In 
Geometry,  the  half  of  a  sphere,  bisected  by  a  plane  passing 
through  its  centre.  In  Astronomy,  it  is  used  to  designate 
the  half  of  the  terrestrial  sphere  divided  by  the  equator. 
Hemisphere  also  denotes  a  map  or  projection  of  half  the  ter- 
restrial or  celestial  sphere  on  a  plane. 

HE'MISTICH.  (Gr.  }jutoTiX'°v  ;  from  '/in.  half,  and  ot£%<k, 
verse.)  In  Poetry,  half  a  verse.  The  unfinished  verses  in 
Virgil's  JEncid,  concerning  which  it  is  not  known  whether 
they  were  purposely  left  in  that  state,  or  are  owing  to  the  in- 
completeness of  tile  poem,  are  usually  called  hemistichs. 
The  Alexandrine,  or  French  hemi-verse,  requires  a  regular 
pause  at  the  end  of  the  first  hemistich. 

HE'MLOCK.  A  common  umbelliferous  plant  of  a  pecu- 
liar odour,  and  possessed  of  narcotic  powers.  For  medical 
use  the  leaves  should  be  collected  just  before  the  plant 
flowers ;  if  intended  for  powder,  they  should  be  carefuily  dri- 
ed at  a  temperature  not  exceeding  212° ;  if  for  extract,  the 
juice  should  be  squeezed  out  by  moderate  pressure,  and 
evaporated  in  a  water  or  steam  bath  to  a  proper  consistency. 
The  extract  of  hemlock  is  perhaps  the  best  preparation ;  but 
as  its  activity  is  liable  to  vaiy,  it  should  be  given  with  cau- 
tion. An  average  dose  is  five  grains;  an  over  dose  produces 
giddiness,  wandering  of  the  mind,  dilated  pupil,  convulsive 
motions  of  the  muscles  of  the  face,  and  the  other  symptoms 
of  this  class  of  poisons.  Hemlock  is  a  powerful  sedative, 
and  often  serviceable  as  a  substitute  for  or  an  accompani- 
ment to  opium.  In  allaying  morbid  irritability  of  the  system 
attended  by  any  locat*or  general  excess  of  vascular  action, 
as  in  certain  stages  of  phthysis,  in  the  coughs  that  are  apt  to 
hang  about  patients  who  have  suffered  from  pulmonic  in- 
flammation, in  glandular  tumours  and  unhealthy  sores,  hem- 
lock is  often  preferable  to  opium.  It  has  also  been  found 
very  useful  in  chronic  rheumatism,  and  occasionally  in  the 
treatment  of  whooping  cough.  A  poultice  composed  of  a 
mixture  of  finely-powdered  fresh  hemlock  with  bread  and 
water,  or  of  the  extract  of  hemlock,  is  applied  to  allay  the 
pain  of  irritable  ulcers  and  cancerous  sores:  it  is  sometimes 
singularly  effectual,  at  others  it  seems  inert,  and  sometimes 
appears  to  increase  irritation.  The  virtues  of  hemlock  re- 
side in  a  peculiar  alkaline  principle,  which  has  been  termed 
conia,  combined  in  the  herb  with  a  distinct  acid,  the  coneic 
acid. 

HEMP.  (Germ,  hanf.)  The  fibres  of  the  bark  of  the 
Cannabis  sativa.  It  is  prepared  for  spinning  in  the  same 
way  as  flax,  and  is  made  into  strands  or  yarn  for  ropes, 
sailcloth,  &c.  This  plant  is  supposed  to  be  a  native  of  In- 
dia, but  it  has  long  been  naturalized  and  extensively  culti- 
vated in  Italy,  and  many  other  countries  of  Europe,  particu- 
larly Russia  and  Poland,  where  it  forms  an  article  of  prima- 
ry commercial  importance.  It  is  also  cultivated  to  a  consid- 
erable extent  in  many  parts  of  America;  but  in  the  United 
Kingdom  it  is  but  little  grown,  except  in  a  few  districts  of 
Suffolk  and  Lancashire. 

48 


HEPTARCHY. 

HENBANE.    This  is  a  common  plant,  flowering  in  July ; 
I  the  Hyoscyamus  niger.    The  expressed  juice  of  the  leaves 
|  evaporated  to  the  consistency  of  extract  has  long  been  used 
|  as  a  sedative  or  narcotic.    It  has  a  peculiar,  strong,  and  disa- 
greeable odour,  and  a  nauseous  bitterish  taste.    From  two  to 
five  grains  of  the  extract  of  henbane  are  ofien  found  equiva- 
lent to  about  one  grain  of  opium,  and  where  the  latter  disa- 
grees it  often  produces  quiet :  in  many  cases  henbane  and 
various  forms  of  opium  may  be  combined.    Henbane  is  apt 
to  produce  giddiness ;  but  it  does  not  constipate  the  bowels, 
and  has  rather  a  diuretic  tendency. 

HE'NDECASYLLA'BIC.  (Gr.  ivBcKaJ  A  verse  of 
eleven  syllables.  The  Latin  hendecasyllabic,  of  which  the 
principal  specimens  left  to  us  are  from  the  pen  of  Catullus, 
consist  of  a  spondee,  dactyl,  and  three  trochees : 

Yivamus,  mea  Lesbia,  atque  amemus. 

The  Italian  heroic  verse,  and  those  of  England  and  Ger- 
many, when  increased  by  the  addition  of  a  final  short  sylla- 
ble, are  iambic  hendecasyllabics. 

The  licence  of  adding  an  eleventh  syllable  (and  sometimes 
also  a  twelfth)  is  more  frequently  admissible  in  English 
dramatic  than  epic  versification. 

HENRI'CIANS.  The  followers  of  an  Italian  monk  of 
the  name  of  Henry,  who  in  the  twelfth  century  preached 
with  fanatic  zeal,  principally  against  the  corruptions  and 
impostures  of  the  Romish  church.  He  traversed  the  south 
of  France  from  Lausanne  to  Toulouse,  and  met  with  great 
success  at  all  the  towns  at  which  he  halted.  He  rejected 
the  baptism  of  infants,  declaimed  vehemently  against  the 
vices  of  the  clergy,  and  exposed  the  vanity  and  absurdity  of 
many  of  the  ceremonies  of  the  church.  At  length  his  fol- 
lowers were  turned  against  him  by  the  eloquence  of  St.  Ber- 
nard,  and  he  died  in  prison,  into  which  he  had  been  thrown 
by  Eugenius  III.,  in  the  year  1148.  (  IVaddington's  History 
of  the  Church,  c.  10.) 

IIE'PAR.  (Gr.  hirap.)  This  term,  signifying  liver,  was 
applied  by  the  old  chemists  to  various  compounds  of  sulphur 
with  the  metals,  having  a  brown-red  or  liver  colour. 

HEPATA'LGIA.  (Gr.  >/z-tip,  the  liver,  and  a\yo;,  pain.) 
A  painful  affection  of  the  liver. 

HEPA'TICiE.  (Hepar,  liver,  in  allusion  to  the  form  of 
some  of  the  species.)  A  natural  order  of  fiowerless  plants, 
growing  in  damp  shady  places  in  all  temperate  climates ;  in 
some  respects  allied  to  mosses,  and  in  others  to  lichens. 
They  are  of  no  known  importance ;  but  are  interesting  to 
systematic  botanists,  because  they  offer  strong  traces  of  sex- 
ual apparatus  in  plants  of  a  very  low  kind  of  organization. 

HEPATI'TIS.  (Gr.  frap.)  Inflammation  of  the  liver. 
The  acute  or  active  form  of  this  disease  is  ushered  in  with 
pain  in  the  region  of  the  liver,  sickness,  costiveness,  and  a 
strong,  hard,  and  frequent  pulse ;  there  is  also  generally 
great  pain  about  the  clavicle  and  shoulder.  Bleeding,  and 
purging  with  salts,  senna,  and  calomel,  and  a  blister,  are 
usually  effectual  in  Europe  in  subduing  an  attack  of  this  dis- 
ease :  in  warm  climates,  calomel  and  mercurials  must  often 
be  continued  till  they  affect  the  mouth.  In  chronic  hepatitis 
the  same  general  plan  of  treatment  must  be  followed  up,  es- 
pecially as  regards  the  use  of  mercurials:  with  these,  and 
gentle  aperients  and  mild  bitters,  the  yellowness  of  the  com- 
plexion, lowness  of  spirits,  and  other  concomitants  of  what 
in  warm  climates  is  called  the  liver,  are  usually  subdued,  at 
least  in  Europe.  The  chronic  hepatitis  of  India  always  re- 
quires for  its  permanent  cure  a  change  of  climate. 

HE'PTAGON.  (Gr.  tirra,  seven,  and  yuvia,  angle.)  In 
Geometry,  a  plane  figure  of  seven  sides.  The  area  of  a  reg- 
ular heptagon  is  equal  to  the  square  of  one  of  its  sides  mul- 
tiplied into  the  constant  number  36339124,  or  seven  fourths 
of  the  tangent  of  the  angle  at  the  base  to  radius  1. 

HEPTA'GONAL  NU'MBERS,  are  a  kind  of  polygonal 
numbers,  of  which  the  difference  of  the  terms  of  the  corre- 
sponding arithmetical  progression  is  5.    Thus, 

Arithmeticals  .  .  1,  6,  11,  16,  21,  &c. ; 
Heptagonals  .  .  .  1,7, 18,  34,  55,  &c. ; 
the  latter  being  formed  by  the  continual  addition  of  the  terms 
of  the  first.  Among  other  properties  of  heptagonal  numbers 
there  is  one  very  remarkable;  namelj-,  that  if  any  heptago- 
nal number  is  multiplied  by  40,  and  9  added  to  the  product, 
the  sum  is  a  square  number. 

HEPTANDROUS.  (Gr.  itttq,  and  avnp,  a  man.)  Any 
flower  having  seven  stamens. 

HE'PTARCHY.  (Gr.  hrra,  and  apxw,  I  govern.)  In 
English  History,  the  division  of  England  into  seven  Saxon 
kingdoms,  which  are  represented  in  most  of  our  histories  to 
have  existed  at  the  same  time  with  and  independently  of 
each  other.  The  seven  kingdoms  in  question,  according  to 
the  common  divisions,  were  Kent,  Sussex,  Wessex,  Essex*, 
East  Anglia,  Mercia,  Northumberland.  But  in  point  of  fact 
there  was  no  period  of  history  when  these  seven  kingdoms 
existed  together ;  and,  in  the  constant  fluctuations  of  con- 
quest, fresh  subdivisions  and  unions  of  territory  were  contin- 
ually made  by  the  fortune  of  war-  The  sovereign  who  suc- 
'    U*  553 


HERACLEONITES. 

eeeded  in  obtaining  a  temporary  supremacy  over  bis  neigh- 
bour kings  generally  assumed  the  title  of  Bretwalda.or  ruler 
of  the  Britons,  of  whom  Ella,  king  of  Wessex,  was  the  first; 
hut  it  was  afterwards  borne  by  kings  both  of  Kent,  East  Anglia, 
and  Northuiubria.  In  617,  Edwin,  king  of  the  latter  district, 
appears  to  have  acquired  a  temporary  sovereignty  over  the 
whole  of  England,  which  was  also  gained  by  his  nephew  Os- 
wald in  034  :  but  after  the  brother  of  the  latter  king,  Oswio, 
no  Saxon  monarch  assumed  the  title  of  Bretwalda.  After 
the  death  of  the  latter  Alercia  rose  in  the  scale ;  and  its  king, 
Offa,  ruled  nearly  the  whole  of  the  Saxon  territories  in  the 
last  half  of  the  eighth  century.  After  his  death  Egbert,  king 
of  the  West  Saxons,  raised  his  power  on  the  ruins  of  that  of 
Mercia;  and  having  subdued  and  rendered  tributary  the 
other  kingdoms  then  subsisting,  he  became,  about  830,  mas- 
ter of  the  whole  Saxon  realm,  and  is  reckoned  as  the  eighth 
Bretwalda  or  ruler  of  Britain.  With  his  reign  the  heptarchy 
is  usually  considered  to  have  ended.  (See  Pa/grave's  His- 
tory of  England  ;    Turner's  Anglo-Saxons.) 

HERA'CLEONITES.  An  early  sect  of  heretics  belong- 
ing to  the  Gnostics,  so  called  from  Heracleon,  whose  tenets 
they  embraced.  They  rejected  all  the  ancient  prophecies, 
regarded  themselves  as  superior  to  the  Apostles,  and,  under 
the  pretext  of  a  sublime  or  elevated  exposition  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, propounded  the  wildest  and  most  extravagant  para- 
doxes. 

HERACLI'D/E.  A  general  designation  for  the  descend- 
ants of  Hercules,  who,  after  the  death  of  that  hero,  were 
expelled  from  the  Peloponnesus  by  Eurystheus,  king  of 
Mycena\  The  return  of  the  Heraclidre,  which  took  place 
about  140  years  after  their  expulsion,  or  80  years  after  the 
siege  of  Troy,  forms  a  celebrated  epoch  in  ancient  chonolo- 
gy,  as  it  has  been  generally  considered  to  mark  the  transition 
from  the  heroic  or  fabulous  ages  to  the  period  of  authentic 
history. 

HERiE'A.  The  name  of  a  celebrated  festival  instituted 
at  Argos  in  honour  of  Juno,  whom  the  Greeks  called  Hera. 
Another  festival  of  this  name,  in  honour  of  the  same  god- 
dess, was  held  at  Elis  every  five  years. 

HE'RALD.  (Gr.  Knpvl-)  An  officer  of  arms,  possessed 
of  important  functions.  The  ancient  heralds  (xripuKcs  among 
the  Greeks,  feciales  among  the  Romans)  were  privileged 
persons,  sacred  by  superstition  as  well  as  by  the  law  of  na- 
tions. Modern  heralds,  besides  their  employment  on  mes- 
sages between  states  and  in  matters  of  public  negotiation  (in 
which  capacily  their  services  are  grown  into  disuse,  or  be- 
come merely  subordinate),  acquired  a  new  character  from 
the  prevalence  of  hereditary  devices  on  coats  of  arms  early 
in  the  middle  ages.  The  multiplicity  of  these  inventions 
rendered  it  necessary  that  there  should  be  certain  persons 
about  a  court  skilled  in  interpreting  or  in  "  blazoning"  them ; 
according  to  the  rules  of  the  imaginary  scienee  to  which 
these  fanciful  creations  were  subjected.  (See  Heraldry.) 
It  became  also  necessary  that  they  should  have  a  perfect 
knowledge  of  the  hereditary  arms,  ensigns  armorial,  badges 
of  honour,  &c,  belonging  to  each  family,  in  order  that  they 
might  constitute  an  authority  to  which  appeal  might  be  had 
in  the  disputes  which  frequently  arose  respecting  the  rights 
of  individuals  to  these  honourable  distinctions.  Hence  the 
heralds  became,  in  modern  European  countries,  the  deposi- 
taries of  much  of  the  genealogical  science  which  is  conver- 
sant in  the  pedigrees  of  noble  or  gentle  families.  They  have 
also  important  parts  to  fulfil  on  occasions  of  public  solemni- 
ty, pageants,  installations,  nuptials,  funerals,  &c. 

Edward  III.  was  the  first  English  sovereign  who  created 
two  heraldic  kings-at-arms  (Surroy  and  Norroy),  whose  of- 
fice was  exercised  south  and  north  of  Trent  respectively. 
Richard  II.  gave  the  earl-marshal  power  to  preside  in  a 
court  of  chivalry,  assisted  by  the  heralds.  But  the  first,  her- 
aldic collegiate  chapter  was  held  at  the  siege  of  Rouen,  in 
1420.  The  kings-at-arms  were  fixed  at  three,  their  present 
number,  by  Henry  VIII.  Edward  VI.  fixed  the  establish- 
ment of  heralds  on  the  site  of  the  building  which  they  at 
present  occupy  in  the  city  of  London.  The  present  Heralds' 
College  (by  which  name  the  kings-at-arms,  heralds,  and  pur- 
suivants are  incorporated)  consist  of — 1.  Three  kings-at- 
arms — Garter,  Clarencieux,  and  Norroy ;  of  whom  the  first 
holds  the  highest  rank.  His  duties  are  chiefly  to  grant  sup- 
porters, arrange  funerals,  anil  present  the  order  of  the  Garter 
to  foreign  princes.  2.  The  heralds  are  six  in  number;  sty- 
led Windsor,  Chester,  Lancaster,  Somerset,  York,  and  Rich- 
mond :  they,  with  tho  kings-at-arms,  form  the  collegiate  chap- 
ter. 3.  The  four  pursuivants  (Portcullis,  Rouge  Dragon, 
Blue  Mantle,  and  Porte  Croix)  are  junior  officers,  or  proba 
doners,  who  afterwards  succeeded  to  the  higher  offices. 
The  duties  of  the  officers  of  the  Heralds' College  are  various, 
and  their  powers  have  been  considerable,  although  curtailed 
by  modern  Indifference  to  the  purity  of  their  ancient  science. 
They  keep  the  records  of  tin'  arms,  crests,  and  cognizances 
of  every  gentleman,  i.  e.,  persons  entitled  to  bear  them  ;  and 
they  have  considerable  authority  for  the  purpose  of  prevent- 
ing parties  from  bearing  arms  to  which  they  have  no  right. 
554 


HERALDRY. 

Their  title  to  confer  arms,  or  rather  to  assign  coats  of  arms 
to  persons  applying  for  permission  to  bear  them,  is  still  gen- 
erally recognised.  Heraldic  visitations  of  countries,  with  a 
view  to  collect  information  on  the  subject  of  genealogies  and 
coat-armour,  was  held  as  early  as  the  reign  of  Henry  IV. 
In  1528,  a  regular  commission  was  granted  for  the  whole 
kingdom ;  and  visitations  were  held  at  intervals  of  twenty  or 
thirty  years  from  that  time  to  the  beginning  of  the  last  cen- 
tury.    (See  Noble's  History  of  the  College  of  Arms,  1805.) 

HE'RALDRY.  The  science  of  conventional  distinctions 
impressed  on  shields,  banners,  and  other  military  accoutre- 
ments. Heraldry  has  been  divided  into  personal  and  nation- 
al. The  first  of  these  treats  of  bearings  belonging  to  indi- 
viduals, either  in  their  own  or  in  hereditary  right.  Devices 
adopted  by  champions  in  the  field,  and  borneon  their  shields 
or  on  their  banners,  are  of  very  high  antiquity.  The  sculp- 
tures on  the  shields  of  Achilles  and  Hercules,  in  Homer  and 
Hesiod,  are  rather  ornamental  than  heraldic.  But  in  the 
Seven  Chiefs  against  Thebes  of  iEschylus,  we  find  the  cog- 
nizances of  these  renowned  leaders  distinctly  blazoned,  as 
worn  by  them  on  their  shields,  in  the  same  fashion  with 
those  of  the  knights  in  the  middle  ages.  The  Romans  do 
not  seem  to  have  had  any  customary  devices  for  individuals 
resembling  our  armorial  insignia ;  except  their  distinctive 
crowns  for  particular  services.  The  jus  imaginum,  or  right 
of  possessing  small  statues  of  distinguished  individuals  of  the 
family,  seems  to  have  been  their  only  external  hereditary 
distinction.  Early  in  the  middle  ages,  however,  we  find 
abundant  notice  of  cognizances  borne  by  individuals.  These 
were  more  especially  in  use  in  tournaments,  where  the 
knights,  being  clad  in  complete  armour,  were  unknown  to 
the  spectators,  except  by  their  banner  or  shield  (see  Bla- 
zonry) ;  and  probably  it  was  in  the  lists  of  the  tournament 
that  the  fanciful  science  of  heraldry  first  found  its  subject 
matter.  This  science  appears  to  be  a  compound  of  inven- 
tions collected  from  very  different  quarters.  The  East,  the 
land  of  allegory  and  symbol,  seems  to  have  contributed 
many  of  its  most  singular  devices.  Its  ordinaries,  colours, 
metals,  and  gems,  are  said  to  be  derived  from  Germany  ;  and 
German  heraldry  appears  to  be  a  national  science,  from  the 
circumstance  that  its  terms  of  art  are  nearly  all  of  native  or- 
igin. But  the  Normans  and  French  undoubtedly  cultivated 
it  with  the  greatest  success,  and  reduced  it  to  its  present  sys 
tematic  form.  Our  English  terms  of  heraldry  are,  as  is  well 
known,  derived  entirely  from  the  French  language,  although 
not  wholly  from  France ;  as  some  additions  were  made  to 
the  science  by  the  Norman-English.  Hereditary  coat-ar- 
mour, it  is  said,  cannot  be  traced  with  certainty  to  an  earlier 
period  than  the  13th  century ;  but  it  seems  that,  in  the  reign 
of  Henry  HI.,  the  vocabulary  of  heraldry  was  nearly  as  full 
and  definite  as  at  the  present  day.  National  heraldry,  or 
the  adoption  of  distinctive  emblems  by  civil  communities,  is 


EXPLANATION  OF  THE  PLATE. 
I.  Lines. 
1.  Horizontal  or  s'raight.  2.  Angled.  3.  Bevilled.  4.  Escartele.  5. 
Nowy,  or  Franche.  6.  Arched,  or  enarched.  7.  Double  arched.  8.  Wavy, 
or  Ulidee.  9.  Inverted.  10.  Engrailed.  11.  Batiled-embatlltd,  or  crenel- 
lee.  12.  Batlled-embatlled.  13.  Nebuly.  14.  Potent.  15.  Indented.  16. 
Dancettee.     17.  Dovetailed.     18.  Urdee.     19.  Rayonnee,  or  radiant. 

II.  Points  of  the  Escutcheon,  Colours,  a?id  Furs. 
20.  Escutcheon,  points  of.    21.  Or.    22.  Argent.    23.  Gules.     24.  Azure. 
25.  Sable.     26.  Vert.    27.    Purpure.    28.  Terine.      29.  Sanguine.    30.  Er- 
mine.    31.   Ermines.      32.    Erminois.    33.   Pean.    34.    Vair.    35.    Vany 
cuppy. 

III.  Differences,  or  Filiafjons. 
36.  (First  son)  Label  of  three  points.    37.  (Secondl  Crescent.    38.  (Third) 
Mullet.     39.  (Fourth)  Martlet.    40.  (Fifth.)  Annulet.     41.  (Sijth)    Fleur- 
de-lys. 

Ordinaries,  be. 
42.  Chief.  43.  Pale  (between  two  annulets).  44.  Pallet.  45.  Parry  per 
pale.  46.  Border.  47.  Bars.  48.  Fess.  49.  Bend.  50.  Bend  sinis'er.  51. 
Border.  52.  Chevron.  53.  Cross.  54.  Cross  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  or 
Malta.  66.  Cross  palonce.  56.  Cross  moline.  57.  Cross  of  St.  Andrew. 
58.  Crosses  humettee.  59.  Cross  moline  in  saltier.  60.  Cross  bottonee,  or 
trefoil.  61.  Cross crosslet,  fitchee.  62.  Cross  flory.  63.  Cross  mascle.  64. 
Cross  fitchee.    65.  Lozenge,  fleury. 

V.  Miscellaneous  Bearings. 
66.  Lion,  statant  guardant.  67.  Passant.  6S.  Passant  guardant.  69.  Ram 
pant.  70.  Rampant  guardant.  71.  Rampant  regunrdant.  72.  Sejant.  73 
Couchant.  74.  Stag  at  gaze.  75.  Stag's  head  cabosheJ.  76.  Tiger,  heral 
die.  77.  Dragon.  78.  Griffin.  79.  Dragon's  head  erased.  80.  Wivern. 
81.  Eagle  displayed,  with  two  heads.  82.  Boar's  head  erased.  S3.  Water 
budgets.  84.  Snake,  bowed  dehruised.  85.  Quatrefcil.  86.  Trefoils.  87. 
Fleur-de-lys.    88.  Clarion,  or  rest.     89.  Mullets. 

VI.  Crouyns,  Coronet*,  8fC 
90.  Crown  of  England.  91.  Coronet  of  the  Prince  of  Wales.  92.  Coronet 
of  a  duke.  93.  Marquis.  94.  F.arl.  95.  Viscount.  96.  Baron.  97.  Mitre 
of  a  bishop.  98.  Eastern,  nr  antique  coronet.  99.  Celeslial  crown.  100. 
Crown  of  Edward  I.  101.  Mortu-r.  or  cap  of  sta'e.  102.  Cbapeau,  or  cap 
of  maintenance.  103.  Crown  of  France.  104.  Cardinal's  hat.  105.  Crown 
triple,  or  tiara  of  the  pope. 

The  principal  of  these  heraldic  terms  will  be  found  explained  under  their 
several  articles  in  the  Dictionary. 


HERALDRY. 


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HERBACEOUS.  * 

far  more  ancient  than  personal.  Badges,  we  know,  were 
borne  on  the  national  standards  of  antiquity :  an  eagle  was 
Ihe  device  of  Persia  and  of  Rome,  an  owl  of  Athens,  &.c. ; 
and  Turkey  and  Persia,  where  personal  heraldry  is  un- 
known, possess  at  this  day  national  ensigns  of  correct  her- 
aldic character. 

Arms  are  said,  in  the  heraldic  science,  to  be  of  dominion 
or  pretension  (national) ;  arms  of  community,  belonging  to 
episcopal  sees,  cities,  corporations ;  arms  of  patronage,  to 
governors  of  provinces,  &c. ;  arms  of  concession,  or  aug- 
mentations of  honour,  granted  by  sovereigns  to  individuals, 
which  in  the  nest  generation  become  hereditary ;  amis  of 
family,  or  hereditary  arms ;  arms  of  alliance,  showing  the 
union  of  families  and  relations  of  individuals  (marked  by 
various  devices  termed  differences,  &c. ;  see  Difference)  ; 
arms  of  succession,  which  accompany  the  possession  of 
certain  estates  or  lordships;  and,  finally,  arms  of  assump- 
tion, taken  up  by  individuals  from  caprice  or  vanity,  which, 
although,  common  enough  in  the  present  day,  are  borne  in 
violation  of  all  heraldic  laws ;  or,  arms  taken  up  with  the 
permission  of  the  sovereign,  through  his  principal  herald  (in 
England,  king-at-arms).  Armorial  bearings  were  chiefly 
displayed,  in  the  times  of  chivalry,  on  the  shield  or  escutch- 
eon. They  were  also  borne  on  the  pennon  or  banner ;  on 
sword-hilts,  as  early  as  A.D.  1250 ;  on  the  mantle  or  surcoat 
(hence  the  phrase  coat-of-arms) ;  and,  in  modem  times,  on 
carriages  or  articles  of  furniture.  The  science  of  heraldry, 
united  as  it  is  with  that  of  family  genealogy,  was  for  centu- 
ries one  of  the  most  favourite  literary  pursuits  (if  it  can  he 
termed  such)  among  the  higher  ranks  of  the  community.  It 
has  been  enriched  with  much  legendary  knowledge,  and 
diversified  with  many  fanciful  antiquarian  theories.  It  is 
entitled  to  respect,  not  merely  on  account  of  its  intimate 
connexion  with  historical  knowledge,  but  also  on  account 
of  the  refinement  and  curious  variety  of  the  learning  itself; 
which,  grounded  on  merely  imaginary  principles,  has  been 
wrought  into  a  system  of  the  minutest  accuracy.  The  best 
known  English  work  on  heraldry  is  that  of  Gicillim.  The 
Encyclopedia  Heraldica  of  Berry  contains  many  modern 
additions.  See,  also,  Edmonson's  complete  Body  of  Heraldry, 
1780;  Dallaway's  Inquiries,  1783;  and  the  article  "Herald- 
ry" in  the  Ene.  .Mitr.,  with  the  various  authorities,  English 
and  foreign,  there  referred  to. 

HERBA'CEOUS  (Lat.  herba),  in  describing  the  texture 
of  bodies,  denotes  their  being  green  and  cellular,  as  the 
tissue  of  membranous  leaves.  It  is  also  applied  to  such 
perennial  plants  as  lose  their  stems  annually,  while  their 
roots  remain  permanent  in  the  ground. 

HERBA'RIA.  (Lat.  herba.)  Collections  of  dried  planTI, 
sach  as  the  old  botanists  called  horti  sicci,  or  dry  gardens. 
They  are  formed  by  gluing  to  sheets  of  paper  branches  and 
other  parts  of  plants  pressed  flat,  and  dried  in  the  sun  or 
otherwise.  If  well  prepared,  they  are  as  useful  to  the  bot- 
anist as  plants  alive ;  but  it  is  necessary  to  have  some  prac- 
tical skill  to  be  able  to  employ  them  advantageously.  The 
largest  public  herbaria  are  those  of  the  Museum  at  Paris ; 
the  Imperial  collection  of  Vienna ;  the  Royal  of  Berlin ;  and 
that  of  the  British  Museum,  formerly  Sir  Joseph  Banks's. 
Nothing  certain  is  known  of  the  extent  of  these  collections, 
but  they  probably  contain,  in  some  cases,  as  many  as  60,000 
species.  The  herbarium  is  an  unattractive  part  of  public 
museums ;  but  a  very  important  one  for  numerous  purposes 
of  science,  both  practical  and  speculative. 

HE'RCULES.  In  Mythology,  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
personages  of  antiquity,  believed  to  be  the  son  of  Jupiter  and 
Alcmaena,  the  daughter  of  Electryon,  king  of  Mjfcena;.  The 
history  and  wonderful  exploits  of  this  hero  are  so  well 
known,  that  it  would  be  superfluous  to  dwell  upon  them 
here.  There  is,  perhaps,  no  subject  connected  with  anti- 
quity to  the  right  comprehension  of  which  such  formidable 
difficulties  are  presented ;  and  hence  the  numerous  attempts 
that  have  been  made  to  separate  truth  from  fiction  in  the 
history  of  Hercules,  by  divesting  it  of  the  mythological  tra- 
ditions with  which  it  had  been  encumbered  by  all  the  wri- 
ters of  antiquity.  In  some  shape  or  another, •ell  the  profane 
nations  of  antiquity  seem  to  have  possessed  a  divinity  to 
whom  they  attributed  an  extraordinary  degree  of  bodily 
strength,  combined  with  indomitable  perseverance  and  mor- 
al energy  in  prosecuting  and  overcoming  difficult  achieve- 
ments. The  reader  will  at  once  recognise,  as  belonsin;:  t" 
this  class,  the  Baal  of  the  Syrians,  the  Melkarth  of  Phoeni- 
cia, and  the  Rama  of  Hindostan ;  who,  like  the  Grecian 
Hercules,  outstripping  in  bodily  and  intellectual  endow- 
ments the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  the  rude  era  in  which 
they  lived,  achieved  a  multiplicity  of  deeds  which  were 
looked  upon  as  altogether  miraculous,  and  which  procured 
for  their  authors  empire  and  dominion  during  their  lives, 
and  after  death  a  place  among  the  gods.  (See  Mailer's  Do- 
rians, and  the  authorities  there  referred  to.) 

He'rcules.    One  of  the  old  constellations  in  the  northern 
hemisphere. 
HE  RDERITE.    (So  called  from  Herder,  who  discovered 
556 


HERMAPHRODITE. 

it.)  A  mineral  found  in  crystals  embedded  in  fluor  at  Eh- 
renfriedensdorf,  in  Saxony;  its  primary  form  is  a  bright 
rhombic  prism ;  its  lustre  is  vitreo-resinous,  and  its  specific 
gravity  2985. 

HEREDI'TAMENTS.  In  Law,  all  things  which  pass  to 
the  heir,  being  either  corporeal  (land,  with  those  adjuncts 
which  legally  are  comprised  within  that  designation),  or  in- 
corporeal, which  are  tilings  collateral  to  laud,  or  issuing  out 
of  it,  and  are  enumerated  in  Blackstone's  Commentaries, 
under  the  heads  "Advowsons,  Tithes,  Commons,  Ways, 
Offices,  Dignities,  Franchises,  Crodies  or  Pensions,  Annui- 
ties, and  Rents." 

HE'RESY.  A  word  signifying  the  taking  up  of  certain 
opinions  in  theological  matters:  from  the  Greek  aipeais, 
choice,  which  classical  writers  apply  to  the  sects  of  philoso- 
phers. It  is  now  confined  to  a  theological  sense,  and  is  de- 
fined by  Roman  Catholic  authorities  to  be  the  voluntary  as- 
sumption and  obstinate  maintaining  of  error  in  matters  of 
faith.  They  hold  all  error  to  be  voluntary  where  the  party 
knowingly  deviates  from  the  judgment  of  the  Church.  The 
Protestants  do  not,  for  the  most  part,  profess  to  have  any 
certain  standard  by  which  men  may  judge  whether  their 
fellow-men  be  heretical.  We  may  infer,  from  the  direc- 
tions of  St.  Paul  to  Titus,  that  the  nature  of  heresy  was  un- 
derstood by  the  first  preachers  of  Christianity ;  but  it  does 
not  necessarily  follow  that  any  infallible  tests  should  exist 
at  the  present  day.  It  seems  most  consonant  to  a  sense  of 
human  infirmity,  and  is  the  judgment  of  most  divines  of  the 
Reformed  persuasion,  that  those  only  should  be  considered 
as  heretics  by  any  community  who  maintain  what  are  ac- 
counted by  it  erroneous  opinions,  either  against  their  real 
^cwivictions  or  without  condescending  to  listen  to  fair  and 
reasonable  argument,  and*  in  defiance  of  persons  whose  sta- 
tion, le'amiBg,  and  piety  should  entitle  them,  at  all  events,  to 
attention. 

HE'RIOT.  In  Law,  originally  a  tribute  given  to  the  lord 
of  the  manor  on  occasion  of  his  engaging  in  a  war  (here  or 
heer-geW).  In  English  law  a  heriot  is  a  customary  service, 
due,  for  the  most  part,  on  copyhold  tenures,  and  termed 
heriot  custom,  being  usually  the  best  beast,  whether  horse, 
ox,  or  cow,  that  the  tenant  dies  possessed  of,  which  is  due 
and  payable  to  the  lord  of  the  manor.  Some  heriots,  however, 
are  due  on  reservation  in  a  grant  or  lease  of  land ;  such  are 
termed  heriot  service.  In  heriot  custom  the  lord  may  seize 
the  specific  article  which  he  seeks  to  recover;  for  heriot 
service  he  may  either  seize  or  distrain,  generally,  on  the 
goods  of  the  tenant  on  the  land. 

HERI'SSON.  (Ft.  a  hedgehog.)  In  Fortification,  a  beam 
armed  with  iron  spikes,  and  used  as  a  barrier  to  block  up  a 
passage. 

HE'RITABLE  RIGHTS,  in  Scottish  Law,  comprehend, 
in  senc-ral,  rights  to  land,  and  things  connected  with  land 
which  pass  to  the  heir ;  the  distinction  being,  in  most  prac- 
tical respects,  merely  identical  with  that  of  English  law  be- 
tween realty  and  personalty.  Heritable  jurisdictions  were 
grants  of  criminal  jurisdiction  bestowed  on  great  families  by 
the  crown.  Thev  were  abolished  after  the  rebellion  of  1745 
by  the  act  20  G.  2,  c.  40. 

HE'RMES.     See  Mercury.     Trismeoistus. 

HERM  A'PHRODITE.  (Gr. ;  from  the  well-known  myth- 
ological fable  of  the  union  or  confluence  of  the  bodies  of  the 
nymph  Salmacis  and  Hermaphrodites,  the  son  of  'Fpuns, 
Mercury,  and  A(ppo5iTn,  Venus.)  An  organized  body,  in 
which  there  is  either  a  real  or  apparent  combination  of  the 
characteristics  of  the  two  sexes.  The  first  is  the  "true," 
the  second  the  "spurious"  hermaphrodite.  Hermaphro- 
dites are  also  "natural"  or  "  preternatural." 

The  animals  in  which  the  organs  of  the  two  sexes  are 
naturally  combined  in  the  same  individual  are  confined  to 
the  invertebrate  division,  and  are  most  common  in  the  Mol- 
luscous and  Radiate  classes.  If  the  temi  hermaphrodite 
may  be  applied  to  those  species  which  propagate  without 
the  concourse  of  the  sexes,  but  in  which  no  male  organ  can 
be  detected,  as  well  as  to  those  in  which  both  male  and  fe- 
male organs  are  present  in  the  same  body,  then  there  may 
be  (tistiniuished  three  kinds  of  hermaphroditism. 

First,  The  Cryptandrous,  or  in  which  the  female  or  pro- 
ductive organs  are  alone  developed.  Ex. :  The  cystic 
M^azoa,  the  hydrostatic   Acaiephes,   some  Polypes,   and 

S.  <  i  :i  which  the  male  orenns 

are  developed,  but  so  disposed  as  to  fecundate  the  ova  of  the 
same  individual.  Ex.;  The  Cirripeds,  the  Rotifers,  the 
trematode  and  cestoid  Entozoa,  and  some  Acephala,  as  the 
Cyrlas. 

"Third,  The  .'ll/otriandrous,  or  in  which  the  male  organs 
are  so  disposed  as  not  to  fecundate  the  ova  of  the  same 
body,  but  where  the  concourse  of  two  individuals  is  required, 
notwithstanding  the  co-existence  in  each  of  the  organs  of  the 
two  sexes.  Ex. :  The  gastropodous  Mollusks,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  Pectinibranchiate  order,  and  class  Jlnnellida. 

All  the  other  invertebrates,  as  the  Cephalopoda  and  pec 


HERMETIC  ART. 

tinibir.nchiate  Gastropods,  most  of  the  acephalous  Mollasks, 
the  insects,  Arachnidans  and  Crustaceans,  the  Epizoa  and 
the  nematoid  Entozoa,  the  Echinodcrms  and  Medusa?,  are, 
like  tile  vertebrate  classes,  dioecious,  or  composed  of  male 
and  female  individuals. 

The  unnatural  hermaphrodites  may  be  divided  into  those 
in  which  the  parts  peculiar  to  the  two  sexes  are  blended  to- 
gether in  different  proportions,  and  the  whole  body  partici- 
pates of  a  neutral  character,  tending  towards  the  male  and 
female  as  the  respective  organs  predominate  ;  and  into  those 
in  which  the  male  and  female  organs  occupy  respectively 
separate  halves  of  the  body,  and  impress  on  each  lateral 
moiety  the  characteristics  of  the  sex. 

This  latter  and  very  singular  kind  of  hermaphroditism  has 
hitherto  been  found  only  in  insects  and  Crustaceans.  In  the 
extracts  from  the  Minute  Book  of  the  Linnaean  Society, 
printed  in  the  14th  volume  of  their  Transactions,  it  is  stated 
that  Alexander  Maclcay,  Esq.,  Sec.L.S.,  exhibited  a  curious 
specimen,  showing  that  two  Papiliones  referred  to  distinct 
families  by  Fabricius  are  in  reality  the  male  and  female  of 
the  same  species.  This  specimen  presented  the  forms  and 
colours  of  both  sexes,  divided  by  a  longitudinal  line  on  the 
body ;  the  right  wings  and  side  of  the  body  being  as  in  the 
male  [Pipilio  polycaon,  Fabr.),  and  the  left  as  in  the  female 
(Papilio  laodocus,  Fabr.). 

In  Loudon's  Magazine  of  Natural  History  (vol.  iv.,  p. 
434),  an  experienced  entomologist,  Mr.  J.  O.  Westwood,  has 
given  descriptions  and  figures,  not  only  of  dimidiate  her- 
maphrodites (the  example  is  the  Bombyz  pcnii),  hut  also  of 
quartered  hermaphrodites.  The  latter  singular  conditio*  is 
exemplified  in  a  specimen  of  the  Bombyz  castrensis,  in 
which  the  right  wing,  left  antenna,  and  left  side  of  the  ab- 
domen are  male;  the  left  wing,  right  antenna,  and  right  side 
of  the  abdomen  are  female:  and  again  in  a  specimen  or* 
stag-beetle  (Lucanus  cervus),  in  which  the  left  jaw  rind  right 
elytrum  are  masculine,  and  the  right  jaw  and  left  elytrum 
feminine. 

In  most  dimidiate  hermaphrodites  the  left  side  is  mascu- 
line; but  an  example  of  the  contrary  has  been  .-observerrin 
Sphinx  populi.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  condition  of  the 
internal  organs  of  generation  cannot  be  ascertained  in  the 
above  singular  examples;  but  this  deficiency  is  in  some  de- 
gree supplied  by  the  results  of  Dr.  Nicholl's  dissection  of  an 
hermaphrodite  lobster  (Philos.  Traits.,  xxxvi.,  p.  2f)U)  in 
which  a  testis  was  found  on  that  side  of  the  body  which  ex- 
hibited externally  the  male  characteristics,  and  an  ovarium 
on  the  opposite  side. 

In  Botany,  hermaphroditism  is  the  rule,  and  a  separation 
of  sexes  the  exception,  in  the  structure  of  flowers  or  repro- 
ductive organs. 

HERME'TIC  ART.  The  imaginary  art  or  science  of  al- 
<  lit  my;  so  termed  from  Hermes  Trismegistus,  a  personage 
of  questionable  reality,  looked  up  to  by  the  alchemists  as 
t^e  founder  of  the  art.  Some  spurious  works  bearing  his 
name  are  still  extant.     See  Alchemy. 

HERME'TIC  SEAL.  When  a  vessel  or  tube  is  perfect- 
ly closed  by  fusing  its  mouth  or  extremity,  it  is  said  to  be 
hermetically  sealed. 

HE'RMITS,  or  E'REMITES.  (Gr.  epyuoc,  desert.)  Per- 
sons who,  in  the  early  ages  of  Christianity,  secluded  them- 
selves from  the  world  for  devotional  purposes,  betaking 
themselves  to  solitary  and  desert  places  (ipn/jof),  whence 
their  name.  In  the  first  five  centuries  of  our  era  this  class 
of  persons  was  extremely  numerous ;  nor  have  individuals 
been  wanting  in  later  ages  who  have  undergone  the  same 
privations  with  the  same  mistaken  views,  and  have  ac- 
quired great  reputation  for  sanctity  in  consequence.  See 
Gieseler's  Text  Book,  vol.  i. ;  Riddle's  Christian  Jlnti- 
quities,  1839,  p.  743 ;  Heribertus,  Vita  Patrum  et  Eremit- 
artim,  1628;  Cavacius,  Jltustrium  Anachuretarum  Elogia, 
1625 ;  Enc.  Metropolitana.) 

UERMODA'CTYLS.  (Gr.  Hermes,  a  river  in  Asia,  and 
dactylus,  a  date:  or  from  I'putjc,  Mercury,  and  AiktvXos, 
finger ;  i.  e.,  the  fingers  of  Mercury.)  This  term  has  long 
been  applied  to  a  species  of  colchicum  tuber,  probably  that 
of  the  Colchicum  Illyricum :  it  is  irregularly  heart-shaped, 
and  has  a  furrow  upon  one  side,  not  unlike  the  tuber  of 
the  Colchicum  autumnale,  now  so  much  used  for  the  cure  of 
gout :  it  is  imported  from  Turkey,  and  was  formerly  esteem-, 
ed  as  a  cathartic.  Some  of  the  old  writers  who  are  fond 
of  the  doctrine  of  signatures,  compare  the  shape  of  the  her- 
modacty!  to  that  of  a  gouty  finger,  and  have  recommended 
its  efficacy  in  that  disease. 

HERNANDIA'CEjE.  (Hemandia,  one  of  the  genera.) 
A  small  natural  order  of  arborescent  Exogens,  inhabiting 
the  Indian  Archipelago  and  Guinea.  They  are  very  near 
Thymclacea?,  differing  only  in  their  fibrous  drupaceous  fruit, 
lobed  cotyledons  and  involucre ;  and  are  very  different  from 
Eauraceo?  and  Myristicacca?,  to  which  orders  they  have  been 
referred.  The  leaves,  stem,  &c,  are  slignr.y  purgative :  the 
roots  of  Hernandia  are  antidotes  to  the  Macassar  poison  ;  its 
juice  is  a  depilatory,  and  its  leaves  make  a  good  sort  of  tinder. 


HERRING. 

HE'RNIA.  (Gr.  cpvoc,  a  branch.)  A  rupture.  The  term 
is  generally  applied  to  a  tumor  arising  from  a  protrusion  of 
part  of  the  intestines  or  omentum  into  a  sac  composed  of 
peritoneum  :  the  groin,  or  upper  and  fore  part  of  the  thigh, 
below  Poupart's  ligament,  are  common  situations.  Other 
viscera  may  also  occasionally  form  hernial  tumours.  When 
the  condition  of  the  accident  is  such  that  the  parts  cannot  be 
reduced  or  returned  into  the  abdominal  cavity,  the  hernia  is 
said  to  be  strangulated,  and  in  that  case  the  passage  through 
the  intestines  is  interrupted ;  there  is  sickness  and  constipa- 
tion ;  and  inflammation,  and  even  mortification  of  the  part 
ensue,  unless  by  an  operation  the  cause  of  the  stricture  is  re- 
moved and  the  gut  returned.  What  is  termed  congenital 
hernia  is  the  protrusion  of  a  portion  of  intestine  along  with! 
the  testicle  in  its  descent  through  the  abdominal  ring  into 
the  scrotum.  Where  a  rupture  exists  in  early  infancy,  it  is 
commonly  referable  to  this  cause.  The  surgical  history  of 
ruptures  is  a  very  complicated  and  extensive,  but  highly  im- 
portant subject:  it  has  been  ably  illustrated  by  several  emi- 
nent practitioners,  who  have  published  treatises  upon  their 
causes  and  treatment. 

HE'RO.  (Gr.  >'ipo>t.)  Lennep  derives  it  from  the  verb 
apu>,  I  lift.  But  the  root  of  it  is  probably  to  be  found  in  the 
same  original  word  which  appears  in  the  Latin  herus,  mas- 
ter; Germ,  ari-mann  ;  perhaps  the  Sanscrit  sura.  The 
heroes  of  the  Greeks  were  deceased  mortals  to  whom  divine 
honours  were  paid.  It  is  probable,  indeed,  that  such  was 
the  origin  of  their  gods  themselves  (see  Polytheism)  ;  but 
if  so,  hero  worship  was  a  secondary  or  added  system,  which 
grew  up  in  a  later  age.  The  word  "hero,"  in  Homer,  Is 
simply  synonymous  with  warrior ;  nor  is  there  any  trace  (at 
least  in  the  Iliad)  of  hero-worship.  It  seems  to  have  com- 
menced not  long  after  the  composition  of  that  poem.  The 
[aa|  to  whom  any  honours  approaching  to  divine  seem  to 
have  been  paid,  were  the  Athenians  slain  at  Marathon. 
The  heroic  age,  commonly  so  called  in  Grecian  poetry,  seems 
to  have  ended  witli  the  descendants  of  those  who  returned 
from  Tn  ly.  ( ll'achsmuth.  Hist,  .intiq.  of  the  Greeks  ;  Thirl- 
walVs  History  of  Greece,  chap.  5 ;  Carlylc's  Hero  Worship.) 

HERO'DIANS.  A  sect  existing  among  the  Jews  at  the 
period  of  our  Saviour's  preaching.  (See  Matthew,  c.  xvi. : 
Mark,  c.  viii.,  v.  15.)  Much  doubt  exists  as  to  their  history 
and  tenets :  some  commentators,  both  ancient  and  modern, 
imagine  that  they  were  fanatics,  who  regarded  Herod  the 
Great  as  the  Messiah  ;  others,  that  they  were  a  mere  politi- 
cal party,  attached  to  tile  family  of  Herod ;  while  a  third 
opinion  (Bergier,  Victionaire  de  Theologie)  is,  that  thev 
supported  some  innovations  attempted  by  Herod  in  the  reli- 
gious observances  of  the  country  by  the  partial  introduction 
of  pagan  usages.  (See  Mil  man's  History  of  Christianity, 
L,311.) 

IIERO'IC  VERSE.  That  appropriated  to  epic  or  heroic 
poetry:  in  Greek  and  Latin,  the  hexameter.  In  English, 
Italian,  and  German,  the  iambic  of  ten  syllables,  either  with 
or  without  the  additional  short  syllable.  In  French,  the 
iambic  of  twelve  syllables.     See  Epic,  Hexameter. 

HE'RPES.  (Gr.  ipirtiv,  to  creep.)  A  cutaneous  disease, 
consisting  of  clusters  of  minute  vesicles  generally  containing 
a  brownish  or  milky  lymph :  in  about  eight  or  ten  days  they 
scab  off,  and  other  crops  appear.  It  is  not  limited  to  any 
part  ofthe  body,  but  is  generally  preceded  by  more  or  less 
fever  and  pain  or  irritation  of  the  part.  It  is  often  called  the 
tetters.  Another  form  of  it  constitutes  the  slmiglcs.  These 
eruptions  are  sometimes  confounded  with  erysipelas,  from 
which  they  are  distinguished  by  the  want  of  tumefaction 
and  considerable  constitutional  symptoms  and  by  the  natural 
state  of  the*skin  between  the  crops  of  eruption :  they  are 
distinguished  from  some  similar  eruptions  by  the  vesicular 
form  of  the  elevations  at  their  first  appearance,  by  their  regu  • 
lar  progress,  and  limited  duration. 

HE'RPETO'LOG  Y.  (Gr.  ipirtroc,  a  reptile ;  Aoyo?,  a  dis- 
course.) That  branch  of  science  which  treats  of  the  history 
of  reptiles. 

HE'RPETON.  (Gr.  tp-reroc,  a  reptile.)  A  genus  of  sct- 
pents  allied  loJZryz  ;  and  characterized  by  two  soft  promi- 
nences covered  with  scales  which  are  appended  to  tho 
muzzle.  Botanists  have  a  herpeton  which  is  a  section  of 
I  'iola. 

-  ■HE'RRING.'  (Gem),  beer,  an  army  ;  in  reference  to  the 
great  numbers  in  which  the  fishes  so  called  appear,  at  stated 
seasons,  along  our  coasts.)  The  name  is  commonly  applied 
to  two  distinct  but  closely  allied  species  of  the  genus  Clupea, 
Linmcus :  to  the  one  Mr.  Yarrell  restricts  the  name  of  Clupr.i 
harengus  ;  the  other  is  denominated  Clupea  Lcachii,  in  com- 
memoration of  the  excellent  naturalist  who  first  appears  to 
have  been  aware  that  our  coast  produced  a  second  species 
of  herring. 

The  genus  Clupea  is  so  nearly  allied  to  the  genus  Salmo 
that  they  are  both  included  in  the  same  natural  family,  un- 
der the  name  of  Halecoids,  by  M.  Agasaz;  the  principal  ex 
ternal  difference  consists  in  the  absence  of  the  small  adipose 
dorsal  fin  in  the  Clupea.    But  in  the  clupeoids,  as  in  the  sal- 

557 


HERRING  FISHERY. 

mon  tribe,  the  upper  maxillary  as  well  as  the  intermaxillary 
bones  enter  into  the  formation  of  the  mouth,  and  are  both 
armed  with  teeth  ;  the  body  is  always  covered  with  numer- 
ous scales;  and,  in  the  greater  number  of  the  herring  tri'ie, 
there  is  an  air-bladder,  and  the  duodenum  is  complicated 
with  many  cmca,  or  pyloric  appendages. 

The  annual  migration  of  the  herring  is  not,  as  has  been 
described,  from  one  latitude  to  another,  but  simply  from  a 
deeper  to  a  shallower  part  of  the  ocean.  The  common 
species,  impelled  by  the  stimulus  of  the  increasing  burden  of 
milt  or  row,  quits  the  deeper  recesses  of  the  ocean,  where 
it  has  passed  the  winter  and  spring  months,  and  approaches 
the  shallower  water  near  the  coasts,  where  the  ova  may  be 
deposited,  and  impregnated  with  the  requisite  amount  of 
heat,  light,  and  oxygen  for  their  development. 

The  common  herring  visits  different  parts  of  our  coast  in 
autumn,  generally  earlier  on  the  southern  than  on  the  north- 
ern localities,  and  deposits  its  ova  and  spawn  towards  the 
end  of  October.  In  this  state  the  fish  are  termed  "shotten 
herring,"  and  they  retire  from  the  shore  into  deep  water. 

Leach's  herring  has  a  different  season  of  sexual  migration. 
"  It  is  found,"  says  Mr.  Yarrell,  "  heavy  with  roe  at  the  end 
of  January,  which  it  does  not  deposittill  the  middle  of  Febru- 
ary. Its  length  is  not  more  than  seven  inches  and  a  half, 
and  its  depth  near  two  inches." 

During  the  long  period  in  which  the  herring  stays  in  deep 
water,  the  shoals  occasionally  travel  so  far  as  to  appear  at 
the  next  season  of  oviposition  at  a  different  part  of  the  coast 
from  that  where  they  were  previously  abundant.  Hence  the 
herring  has  been  described  as  a  most  capricious  fish  ;  and 
it  is  truly  said,  "that  there  is  scarcely  a  fishing  station  round 
the  British  islands  that  has  not  experienced  in  the  visits  of 
this  fish  the  greatest  variations,  both  as  to  time  and  quantity, 
without  any  accountable  reason. 

Herrings  are  taken  in  drift  nets,  and  during  the  night.  The 
stretching  of  the  nets  in  the  daytime  is  forbidden,  as  it  is 
supposed  that  the  practice  would  alarm  and  drive  away  the 
shoal.  The  darkest  nights,  and  a  breeze  that  ruffles  the  sur- 
face of  the  water,  are  the  circumstances  which  most  favour 
the  capture  of  the  herring. 

HERRING  FISHERY.     See  Fisheries. 

HE'RRNHUT.  (Ger.  herr,  the  Lord;  hut,  protection.) 
An  establishment  in  Upper  Lusatia,  comprising,  it  is  said,  at 
present  120  houses,  and  1500  inhabitants,  which  was  found- 
ed by  a  few  Moravians  about  the  year  1722,  under  the  pa- 
tronage of  Count  Zinzendorf.  The  principles  of  the  society 
thus  formed  are  seclusion  from  the  world,  the  enjoyment  of 
a  contemplative  life,  and  the  possession  of  all  goods  in  com- 
mon. Its  members  are  bound  together,  under  the  title  of 
Moravian  Brethren,  by  strict  laws  and  observances.  Accu- 
sations have  been  thrown  out  against  them  of  their  indulging, 
in  their  retirement,  in  many  licentious  practices ;  but  it  is 
certain  that  their  industry  supplies  many  of  the  markets  of 
Germany  with  various  useful  and  ornamental  articles  of 
handiwork ;  that  their  zeal  has  prompted  them  to  establish 
affiliated  societies  in  many  parts  of  Europe  and  America ; 
and  that  in  religious  matters  they  are  neither  extravagant 
themselves,  nor  intolerant  of  others.   (See  Mosheim,  vol.  vi.) 

HERSE,  HERSI'LLON.  In  Fortification,  a  lattice  or 
portcullis  armed  with  pikes,  to  block  up  a  gateway,  or  im- 
pede the  march  of  an  enemy. 

HER'THA  (sometimes  written  Aertha,  Aortha,  and  Eor- 
the.)  In  German  Mythology,  the  name  generally  assigned 
in  modern  times  to  the  chief  divinity  of  the  ancient  German 
and  Scandinavian  nations.  She  was  worshipped  under  a 
variety  of  names,  of  which  the  chief  were  exactly  analogous 
to  those  of  Terra,  Rhea,  Cybele,  and  Ops,  among  the  Greeks 
anil  Romans.  Long  before  the  Christian  era  the  knowledge 
of  Hertha  appeared  to  have  been  extended  over  a  great  por- 
tion of  northern  Europe;  for  in  his  work,  De  Moribus  Oer- 
manorum,  c.  40,  in  which  the  reader  will  find  a  graphic  de- 
scription of  the  peculiarities  of  her  worship.  Tacitus  speaks 
of  the  wonderful  unanimity  which  tribes  that  had  no  other 
feature  in  common  displayed  in  worshipping  this  goddess, 
whom  he  designates  Herthus,  or  Mother  Earth.  Her  chief 
sanctuary  was  situated,  according  to  the  same  authority,  in 
a  sacred  grove  in  an  island  of  the  ocean,  in  insula  oceani, 
which,  by  some  writers,  has  been  supposed  to  be  Riga,  and 
by  others  Zetland  or  Heligoland ;  but  no  modern  researches 
have  been  able  accurately  to  fix  its  locality.  A  great  deal  of 
curious  information  upon  this  subject  is  to  be  found  in 
Grimm's  Deutsche  Mjthologie,  chap.  x. 

HESPE'RI  A.  (Gr.  'Earcpia,  Evening ;  the  name  of  the 
daughter  of  Atlas.)  A  genus  of  butterflies,  now  the  type  Of 
a  family,  including  several  subgenera,  to  some  of  which  be- 
long the  British  species,  eight  or  ten  in  number. 

HESPE'RIDES.  In  Greek  Mythology  the  daughters  of 
Night,  or  the  granddaughters  of  Hesperus  the  brother  of 
Atlas,  three  or  seven  in  number,  possessors  of  the  fabulous 
garden  of  golden  fruit  watched  over  by  an  enchanted  dragon 
at  the  western  extremities  of  the  earth.  Such  at  least  is  the 
most  ordinary  form  of  the  fable,  but  it  is  very  variously  rep- 
558 


HETEROGENEOUS  QUANTITIES. 

resented ;  and  these  varieties  are  collected  by  M.  Massieu,  in 
a  very  complete  dissertation  on  the  subject,  in  vol.  iii.  of  the 
M moires  de  VJlc.  des  Inscrip.  et  Belles  Lettres.  There  are 
also  observations  on  the  subject  in  vol.  xviii.,  p.  54.  There 
is  a  difference  among  the  mythologisls  whether  the  treasures 
ol  the  Hesperides  were  in  reality  fruit  or  sheep,  the  word 
l*rj\a  signifying  either  (JDiod.  Sic,  lib.  v.) ;  but  the  former  is 
the  received  form  of  the  story  among  the  poets  (Ovid, 
Metam.,  4;  Virg.,  Eel.,  6;  Jlpollon.  Jihod.;  and  in  the 
well-known  lines  of  Milton, 

Hesperus  and  his  daughters  three 
Singing  around  the  golden  tree. 

and,  the  oldest  of  all,  Hesiod, 

'A(j  pr)\a  irepnv  k\vtov  ilKtavow, 

XPvoea  KaXa  ueXovm,  (pepovra  re  bzvbpta  Kapirov. 

Some  have  explained  this  pleasing  fable  by  the  groves  of 

orange  and  lemon  trees,  known  to  the  Greeks  only  in  the 

western  parte  of  Africa. 

HESPERI'DIUM.  In  Botany,  a  many-celled,  few-seeded, 
superior,  indehiscent  fruit,  covered  by  a  spongy  separable 
rind ;  the  cells  easily  separable  from  each  other,  and  con- 
taining a  mass  of  pulp,  in  which  the  seeds  are  embedded — 
example,  the  orange. 

HE'SYCHASTS.  (Gr.  fjavxaorat,  from  tjavxtct,  quiet; 
Quietists.)  In  Eccl.  History,  a  singular  class  of  fanatics, 
who  were  established  in  the  15th  century  in  some  of  the 
Greek  monasteries  of  Mount  Athos.  They  pretended  to 
have  attained  a  perfect  ulterior  life  of  devotional  repose  by 
intense  contemplation.  One  of  their  maxims,  apparently 
derived  from  some  of  the  strange  practices  of  the  Indian  as- 
cetics, directs  the  disciple  to  "raise  his  spirit  above  all  vain 
and  transient  things,  repose  his  head  on  his  breast,  and  turn 
his  eyes  with  his  whole  power  of  meditation  upon  his  navel." 
Hence  these  visionaries  derived  the  nickname  of  Ouifia- 
\oipvxoi,  or  Umbilicarii :  they  were  also  termed  Thaborites, 
from  their  notion  respecting  a  divine  light  inhabiting  the 
heart  of  the  devotee.  ( Waddingtoii's  Hist,  of  the  Church, 
chap,  xxvi.) 

HETiE'RIA.  (From  the  Greek  iraipua,  derived  from 
Zraipo;,  a  companion.)  This  word  is  frequently  used  by 
classical  writers  to  signify  an  association  of  any  description ; 
thus  the  fraternities  of  the  early  Christians  are  called  Hetse- 
rioe.  In  modern  times,  two  celebrated  associations  among  the 
modern  Greeks  have  assumed  the  name.  The  first  was  the 
Hetffiria  of  the  Philomusoi,  or  Friends  of  the  Muses  ;  a  so- 
ciety formed  for  the  purposes  of  education,  founded  (it  is 
said)  by  Capodistrias,  about  1814;  it  established  schools  at 
Athens  and  Milite  in  Thessaly,  and  numbered  at  one  time 
80,000  associates.  It  was  dissolved  in  1821,  but  renewed  in 
1824,  when  Athens  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Greeks.  The 
more  celebrated  political  Hetteria  owes  its  foundation  to  the 
celebrated  Rigas,  who  died  in  1798.  It  was  renewed  about 
1816,  extended  its  ramifications  through  all  Greece,  and  pro- 
duced the  Greek  revolution  begun  by  Ypsilanti  in  1821. 

HETEROCE'PHALOUS.  (Gr.  ercpos,  various,  and  kc 
<pa\r),  a  head.  In  Composite  plants,  when  some  flower  heads 
are  male  and  others  female  in  the  same  individual. 

HE'TEROCHRO'MOUS.  (Gr.  htpos,  and  xp^a,  colour.) 
When  in  a  flower-head  the  florets  of  the  centre  or  disk  are 
different  in  colour  from  those  of  the  circumference  or  ray. 

HE'TEROHOX  (Gr.  htpos,  and  So$a,  opinion),  signifying 
a  person  who  holds  opinions  different  from  some  standard 
with  which  they  are  compared,  is  opposed  in  theological 
language  to  orthodox,  one  who  holds  the  right  opinion. 
The  standard  of  orthodoxy,  by  which  all  heterodox  opinions 
must  be  tried,  resides,  humanly  speaking,  in  the  judgment  of 
each  particular  sect  of  believers.  It  is,  however,  generally 
allowed  to  represent  the  highest  and  strictest  interpretation 
of  the  creeds  which  were  received  in  the  ancient  church,  and 
in  England  is  conceded  by  general  consent  to  what  is  called 
the  High  Church  party.  The  use  of  these  terms  is  said  to 
have  come  into  fashion  in  England  in  the  beginning  of  the 
last  century,  when  there  arose  a  party  within  the  church 
who,  from  the  laxity  with  which  they  interpreted  its  formu- 
las, and  the  assumed  liberality  of  the  views  they  took  of  its 
nature  and  authority,  were  styled  Latitudinarians.  The 
High  Church  or  Orthodox  party,  on  the  other  hand,  were 
those  who  pushed  their  opposition  to  these  innovators  to  an 
extreme  length,  but  contented  themselves  with  branding  the 
others  with  the  title  of  Heterodox,  as  a  milder  term  than  that 
of  heretical,  to  which  they  would  probably  have  been  sub- 
jected in  earlier  and  more  violent  times. 

HETERO'G  AMOUS.  (Gr.  htpos,  and  yauos,  marriage.) 
In  Grasses,  when  the  arrangement  of  the  sexes  is  different 
in  different  spikelets  from  the  same  root,  as  in  Jlndropogon  : 
in  Composite  plants,  where  the  florets  are  of  different  sexes 
in  the  same  flower-head. 

HE'TEROGE'NEOUS  ATTRACTION.  See  Affinity, 
Chemical. 

HETEROGENEOUS  QUANTITIES,  in  Mathematics, 
are  such  as  are  incapable  of  being  compared  together  in  re- 


HETEROGYNA. 

spect  of  magnitude,  as  lines  and  surfaces,  surfaces  and 

Kulids,  &C. 

IlETERO'GYNA.  (Gr.  eTcpos,  and  yvvn,  a  female.)  A 
tribe  of  Aculeate  Hymenoptera,  in  which  the  females  are  of 
different  kinds ;  one  fertile,  the  other  infertile,  called  neuters, 
as  the  ants,  FormiciUcB  and  Mittillidm.    See  those  words. 

HETEROME'R  ANS,  Htteromera.  (Gr.  frtpos,  and  /xnpos, 
a  leg.)  Signifying  that  the  legs  have  a  different  structure 
from  one  another.  The  Coleopterous  insects  are  so  called 
which  have  five  joints  in  the  tarsus  of  the  first  and  second 
pairs  of  legs,  and  only  four  joints  in  the  tarsus  of  the  third 
pair.  Latreillc  divides  this  somewhat  artificial  section  into 
four  groups. 

1.  Jlclasomes,  having  the  wing-covers  hard,  wings  gener- 
ally wanting,  claws  simple,  and  maxilla;  with  a  hook. — Ex. : 
l'imeliidce,  Blapsidce,  TcnebrionidtB. 

H.  Tazicornes,  having  the  wing-covers  hard,  wings  present, 
antenna;  perfoliate  or  clavate,  claws  simple,  maxilla;  without 
a  hook. — Ex.:  Diapcrida,  Cossyphida. 

3.  Stenelytres,  having  the  wing-covers  hard  and  contract- 
ed posteriorly,  wings  present,  antennae  simple,  claws  simple 
or  toothed. — Ex. :  Helopida,  Cistelidce,  &c. 

■1.  Traclielides,  having  the  wing-covers  flexible,  wings 
piesent,  head  inserted  upon  a  neck,  claws  bifid. — Ex. :  Meloe, 
JMordclla,  Horia,  Lagria,  &c. 

HE'TEROPODS,  Heteropoda.  (Gr.  ctcOos,  and  move, 
foot.)  The  name  of  an  order  of  Gastropods,  comprehend- 
ing those  which  have  the  foot  compressed,  and  in  the  form 
of  a  thin  vertical  fin;  as  in  the  Carinaria. 

HETERO'PTERANS,  Heteroptera.  (Gr.  tripos,  and 
-Tepoi',  a  wing.)  The  name  of  a  section  of  Hemipterans, 
comprehending  those  in  which  the  hemelytra  terminate  ab- 
ruptly bv  a  membranous  appendage. 

HETERO'SCH,  or  HETERO'SCLYNS.  (Gr.  crepo;,  an- 
other, and  oKia,  shadow.)  An  epithet  applied  by  the  ancient 
geographers  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  two  temperate  zones, 
because  their  shadows  at  midday  are  always  projected  in 
the  same  direction  in  respect  of  themselves,  but  in  opposite 
directions  in  respect  of  each  other ;  in  one  case  to  the  north, 
and  in  the  other  to  the  south. 

HETERO'TROPAL.  (Gr.  frepo;,  and  rpmoi,  I  turn.)  A 
term  applied  to  the  embryo  of  a  seed  when  the  former  lies 
across  the  latter;  that  is  to  say,  neither  pointing  to  its  base 
nor  apex. 

HE'XACHORD.  (Gr.  i\,  and  %op5n.)  In  Music,  a  pro- 
gression of  six  notes,  to  which  Guido  attached  the  syllables 
ut,  re,  mi,  fa,  sol,  la.  The  hexachord  is  also  called  a  sixth ; 
and  is  twofold,  greater  and  less.  The  former  is  composed 
of  two  greater,  two  less  tones,  and  one  greater  semitone, 
making  five  intervals ;  the  latter  of  two  greater  tones,  one 
lesser  and  two  greater  semitones. 

HEXAE'DRON,  or  CUBE.  (Gr.  i I,  siz,  and  edpa,  seat.) 
One  of  the  five  regular  or  Platonic  solids,  so  called  from  its 
having  siz  faces.  The  whole  surface  of  a  hexaedron  is 
equal  to  24  times  the  square  of  the  radius  of  the  inscribed 
sphere,  and  to  8  times  the  square  of  the  radius  of  the  cir- 
cumscribed sphere.  Its  solid  content  is  8  times  the  cube  of 
the  inscribed  sphere.  The  other  four  regular  solids  are  the 
tetraedron  or  pyramid,  the  octaedron,  the  dodecaedron,  and 
the  icosaedron. 

HE'XAGON.  (Gr.  /£,  and  ywvia,  angle.)  In  Geometry, 
a  plane  figure  bounded  by  six  straight  lines.  When  these 
are  equal,  the  hexagon  is  regular.  The  side  of  a  regular 
hexagon  is  equal  to  the  radius  of  its  circumscribing  circle,  a 
property  which  has  numerous  useful  applications.  The  area 
is  equal  to  fhe  square  of  the  side  multiplied  into  the  constant 
number  2.598076;  that  is,  into  three  times  half  the  tangent 
of  60o. 

HEXA'METER.  (Gr.  [*,  and  ptrpov,  measure.)  The 
most  important  species  of  verse  used  by  the  Greeks  and 
Romans.  It  consisted  of  six  feet,  either  dactyls  or  spondees, 
which  might  be  used  indifferently  in  any  part  of  the  verse ; 
with  two  important  exceptions,  that  the  last  foot  must  in- 
variably be  a  spondee,  and  the  last  but  one  a  dactyl.  In 
some  instances  a  spondee  is  introduced  into  the  fifth  foot,  or 
last  but  one ;  a  license  which,  if  judiciously  used,  gives  an 
agreeable  variety  to  the  otherwise  unbroken' fall  of  the  verse, 
which  is  thence  termed  spondaic.  (See  Foot,  Cesura.) 
Hexameter  verse  was  employed  on  almost  every  topic  to 
which  poetry  can  be  applied.  In  modem  times  several 
poets  of  France,  England,  and  Germany  have  attempted  to 
introduce  this  measure  into  the  language  of  their  respective 
countries.  The  few  specimens  we  have  seen  of  it  in  French 
appeared  to  us  wholly  unsuccessful.  The  little  countenance 
given  to  the  attempts  made  by  Dr..  Southey  and  others,  to 
introduce  it  among  ourselves,  is  conclusive,  we  think,  against 
its  ever  being  generally  adopted  in  England ;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  lias  been  cultivated  in  Germany  with  great 
success,  as  the  Hermann  and  Dorothea  of  Goethe,  and  many 
other  examples  that  might  be  cited,  abundantly  prove.  How 
admirably  the  spirit  of  this  measure  had  been  caught  by  the 
learned  Voss,  and  transfused  into  his  translation  of  the  great 


HIEROGLYPHICS. 

Virgilian  and  Homeric  poems,  is  known  to  every  scholar ; 
and  a  similar  instance  may  be  seen  in  a  beautiful  little  poem 
in  the  same  language,  called  Hannchen  und  die  KuclUein,  by 
Ebcrhard.  The  qualities  and  effect  of  the  hexameter  have 
been  well  described  by  Schiller  in  the  following  distich,  of 
which  we  subjoin  an  excellent  translation  by  Coleridge ; 
who,  by  the  way,  we  may  state,  was  long  supposed  to  be 
the  original  author : 

Schwindelnd  tragt  er  dich  fort  auf  rastlos  stromenden  Wogen ; 

Hinter  dir  siehst  du,  du  siehst  vor  dir  nur  Hinimel  und  Meer. 

Strongly  it  bears  us  along,  in  swelling  and  limitless  billows  j 

Nothing  before  and  nothing  behind  but  the  sky  and  the  ocean. 

(See  Quart.  Rev.,  vol.  xlii.;  and  Edin.  Rev.,  vol.  xxxv.) 

HEXA'NDROUS.  (Gr.  l£,  and  avvp,  a  male.)  Any  flower 
having  six  stamens. 

HE'XAPLE.  (Gr.  !£,  and  dirXou,  I  ezplain.)  The  com- 
bination of  six  versions  of  the  Old  Testament  by  Origen  is  so 
called:  viz.,  the  Septuagint,  Aquila,  Theodotian,  Symma- 
chus,  one  found  at  Jericho,  and  another  at  Nicopolis.  See 
Biblical  History,  &c. 

HE'XAPODS,  Hexapoda.  (Gr.  i\,  and  novs,  a  foot.)  A 
name  applied  by  Mr.  Kirby  to  a  sub-order  of  Apterous  insects, 
including  those  which  have  not  more  than  six  legs. 

HE'XASTYLE.  (Gr.  fy,  and  otCAoj,  a  column.)  In  Ar- 
chitecture, that  species  of  temple  or  other  building  having 
six  columns  in  front. 

HIA'TUS.  (Lat.  yawning,  gaping.)  A  word  which  has 
passed  into  several  modern  languages.  In  Diplomatics  and 
Bibliography,  it  signifies  a  deficiency  in  the  text  of'an  author, 
as  from  a  passage  erased,  worn  out,  &c.  In  Grammar  and 
Prosody,  it  properly  signifies  the  occurrence  of  a  final  vowel, 
followed  immediately  by  the  initial  vowel  of  another  word, 
without  the  suppression  of  either  by  an  apostrophe.  This, 
in  Greek  and  Latin  poetry,  was  only  admissible  in  certain 
excepted  cases ;  as  where,  in  Greek,  a  final  long  vowel  is 
succeeded  by  an  initial  short  vowel,  and  becomes  sometimes 
short  by  position ;  or  in  Latin,  where  the  ctesura  (see 
Cssura)  gave  an  additional  force  to  the  first  vowel,  as  in 
the  celebrated  line, 

"  Ter  sunt  conati  imponere  Pelio  Ossam," 
which  affords  an  instance  of  both,  the  first  hiatus  being  oc- 
casioned by  the  cassura ;  the  second,  an  imitation  of  the  Greek 
prosody.  In  French  the  hiatus  is  carefully  avoided :  in  Eng- 
lish less  so,  although  by  the  more  accurate  poets  still  regard- 
ed as  a  blemish,  except  in  some  instances  where  a  long  vowel 
is  followed  by  a  short  one.  The  worst  species  of  hiatus  is 
where  the  same  vowel  sound  is  repeated. 

HIBI'SCUS  (for  Hybriscus ;  Gr.  vSpig,  haughtiness).  A 
genus  of  very  handsome  plants,  belonging  to  the  Malvaceous 
order,  with  unusually  large  and  showy  flowers.  They  are 
numerous  in  the  tropics,  where  they  generally  form  fine 
trees:  but  some  of  the  species  are  only  annual.  Of  the  lat- 
ter //.  trionum  is  a  commonly  cultivated  plant,  known  in  the 
seed-shops  under  the  name  of  bladder  katmia.  Very  few  of 
the  species  are  of  any  interest.  H.  Syriacus  is  the  Mthaia 
frutez  of  shrubberies ;  H.  abelmoschus  yields  the  musk-seed 
of  pharmacy ;  and  H.  esculcntus,  the  Gobbo  or  Ochro  of  the 
tropics,  bears  seed-vessels  abounding  so  much  in  mucilage 
as  to  be  a  common  ingredient  in  the  soups  of  the  hotter 
climates  of  the  world.  H.  Rosa  sinensis,  a  Chinese  plant, 
is  remarkable  for  the  property  possessed  by  its  flowers  of 
dyeing  black. 

HIDA'LGO.  A  Spanish  nobleman  of  the  lower  class; 
literally  "hijo  d'algo,"  son  of  somebody;  in  Portuguese, 
"fidalgo."  It  is  absurdly  derived  by  B.  St.  Vincent  from 
"  hijo  de  goto."    The  title  is  now  obsolete. 

HIDE.  (Germ,  haut.)  This  term  is  limited  in  commerce 
to  the  strong  and  thick  skin  of  the  horse,  ox,  and  other  large 
animals. 

HIDE-BOUND.     In  Farriery,  applied  to  a  certain  dis- 
ease of  cows  and  horses  in  which  the  skin  adheres  to  their 
sides. 
HIDE  OF  LAND.     See  Hyde. 

Hl'ERA  PICRA.  (Gr.  Upos,  sacred,  and  rriKpog,  bitter.) 
A  compound  of  aloes  and  canella  bark  made  into  a  powder 
with  honey. 

HI'ERARCHY  (Gr.  hpog,  and  apxu,  I  rule),  is  a  general 
term,  comprehending  the  various  ranks  and  orders  of  the 
sacred  ministry,  whether  of  angels,  according  to  an  ancient 
opinion,  or  of  the  pastors  of  the  church  of  God  upon  earth. 

HIEROGLY'PHICS.  (Gr.  upo;,  sacred,  and  y\v(pu>,  I 
engrave.)  Scripture-writing  or  picture-writing ;  i.e.,  the  ex-  " 
pression  of  a  series  of  ideas  by  representations  of  visible  ob- 
jects. The  name  is  more  peculiarly  applied  to  a  species  of 
writing  in  use  among  the  ancient  Egyptians.  According  to 
the  system  of  Champollion,  the  hieroglyphical  writing  of  the 
Esyptians  consists  of  three  different  species  of  characters : 
1.  The  hieroglyphic,  properly  so  called,  in  which  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  object  conveys  the  idea  of  the  object  itself; 
either  entire,  or  in  an  abridged  form.  Many  words  were  thus 
expressed,  chiefly  those  denoting  common  visible  objects. 


HIEROGRAMMATISTS. 

These  are  termed  by  Champollion  figurative,  and  divided 
into  figurative  proper,  figurative  conventional,  and  figura- 
tive abridged.  2.  The  second  class  of  hieroglyphical  char- 
acters consists  of  those  which  represent  ideas  by  images  of 
visible  objects,  used  as  symbols ;  and  these  are  generally  em- 
ployed in  the  expression  of  abstract  ideas  or  complex  modes : 
as,  a  tumult,  represented  by  a  man  throwing  arrows ;  adora- 
tion, by  a  censer  containing  incense,  &c.  In  some  of  these 
the  connexion  between  the  type  and  antitype  is  obvious ;  in 
others,  it  depends  on  associations  which  are  not  understood 
by  us,  and  consequently  cannot  be  traced.  These  characters 
are  what  the  Greeks  more  peculiarly  termed  hieroglyphics  : 
they  are  called  by  Champollion  symbolical.  3.  The  third 
class  consists  of  phonetic  characters,  in  which  the  sign  rep- 
resents, not  an  object,  but  a  sound.  This,  according  to 
Champollion,  was  effected  by  the  following  device.  The 
figure  representing  a  letter  was  the  likeness  of  some  animal 
or  other  object  of  which  the  name  began  with  that  letter. 
Thus  Champollion  has  constructed  an  alphabet  of  initials, 
in  which  the  letter  A  is  represented  by  an  eagle,  the  initial 
letter  of  the  Egyptian  word  "  eagle"  ( Ahorn)  being  A ;  and 
so  forth.  Twenty-nine  elementary  sounds  were  thus  repre- 
sented. But  the  writer  was  not  confined  to  the  use  of  one 
representative  of  a  letter  only.  At  first  sight  it  would  ap- 
pear that  all  objects,  the  initial  of  whose  name  was  a  par- 
ticular letter,  might  be  used  to  express  that  letter ;  but  cus- 
tom seems  to  have  applied  only  a  certain  number  of  objects 
to  this  use:  some  letters  have  eighteen  or  nineteen  known 
representatives,  others  six  or  seven.  In  selecting  out  of  these, 
the  writer  seems  to  have  been  guided  by  notions  of  what  was 
suitable  in  reference  to  the  word  which  he  was  writing  ;  as, 
for  example,  the  S  in  the  word  Si,  son,  is  commonly  repre- 
sented by  the  figure  of  a  goose,  on  account,  according  to 
Horus  Apollo,  of  the  supposed  attachment  of  that  bird  for  its 
young.  The  honour  of  the  recent  progress  made  in  the  ex- 
planation of  hieroglyphical  writing  is  divided  between  the 
English  Orientalist  Dr.  Young,  and  the  Frenchman  Cham- 
pollion ;  but  the  latter  appears  to  have  had  no  small  share 
in  the  original  discoveries,  as  well  as  to  have  carried  the 
science  to  a  high  degree  of  cultivation.  Besides  the  hiero- 
glyphic character,  the  Egyptians  used  the  hieratic  and 
demotic,  which  vere,  both  of  them,  conversions  of  the  hiero- 
glyphic into  a  kind  of  current  hand :  the  latter  nearly  alpha- 
betical. The  most  civilized  people  of  America,  the  Mexi- 
cans, at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  conquest,  had  advanced  as 
far  as  the  discovery  of  hieroglyphical  or  picture  writing,  al- 
though they  did  not  possess  a  written  alphabet.  The  Chinese 
writing  was,  originally,  wholly  ideographic;  i.  e.,  expressing 
ideas  by  symbols  (answering  to  the  second  class  of  Egyptian 
hieroglyphics,  with  some  admixture  of  the  first).  But  in 
process  of  time  the  greater  part  of  the  characters  have  be- 
come simply  phonetic.  (See  Dr.  Young's  "  Egypt"  in  the 
Enc.  Brit.,  and  his  "  Account  of  Recent  Discoveries,"  1823 ; 
the  works  of  Champollion ;  Jablonski,  Pantheon  JEgyptia- 
cum  ;  Quart.  Review,  vols,  xliii.,  liii. ;  Edinb.  Rev.,  vol.  xiv. ; 
SalVs  Essays  ;  Seyflarth,  Rudimenta  Hicroglyphices,  1825.) 

HIEROGRA'MMATISTS.  (Literally,  sacred  writers.) 
The  name  given  to  certain  Egyptian  priests  whose  duty  it 
was  to  decipher  hieroglyphics  and  preside  over  the  religious 
services. 

HIEROMNE'MON.  (Gr.  hpouvijuwv,  an  observer  of  sac- 
rifices.) In  Ancient  History,  the  title  of  one  of  the  two  depu- 
ties sent  to  each  meeting  of  the  Amphictyonic  Council  by 
each  tribe  composing  that  confederacy.  His  office  was,  as 
the  name  imports,  to  superintend  the  religious  rites  on  the 
occasion. 

HIERO'NYMITES,  or  JERONYMITES.  An  order  so 
named  from  its  patron  St.  Jerome.  It  originated  in  Spain, 
and  comprehended  religious  of  both  sexes.  The  Hieronymite 
convents  are  usually  in  mountainous  and  solitary  places,  in 
imitation  of  the  retreat  of  St.  Jerome  to  his  hermitage  at 
Bethlehem. 

HI'EROPHA'NTES.  (Gr.  Upog,  and  0U(VW,  /  show.) 
The  title  of  the  priest  who  initiated  candidates  at  the  Eleu- 
sinian  Mysteries.  He  was  necessarily  a  citizen  of  Athens, 
and  held  the  office  for  life,  which  was  regarded  as  one  of 
high  religious  importance.  (Meursius  on  the  Eleus.  Mys- 
teries ;  Potter's  Grecian  Antiquities,  vol.  i. ;  Mem.  de  VAcad. 
des  Inscr.  vol.  xxi.) 

HIGH  CHURCH.  In  English  History,  an  epithet  usual- 
ly applied  to  those  opinions  which  tend  to  exalt  the  eccle- 
siastical power,  and  to  the  parties  which  embrace  them. 
According  to  Burnet  {Times,  vol.  ii.,  p.  249),  the  term  "high 
church  party"  began  to  be  used  about  the  year  1700.  Those 
who  belonged  to  it  were  at  that  time  considered  to  be  un- 
friendly to  the  settlement  of  the  nation  at  the  Revolution, 
and  disposed  to  Jacobite  principles.  Under  Queen  Anne, 
high  church  principles  were  for  a  short  time  in  the  ascend- 
ency ;  but  after  the  accession  of  George  I.,  in  1715,  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  point  out  any  political  party  which  has  seriously  em- 
braced them.  But  in  matters  relating  to  the  discipline  of  the 
church  itself,  a  "  high  church"  and  a  "  low  church"  party, 
560 


HIGHWAY. 

the  former  attaching  more  and  the  latter  less  value  to  eccle- 
siastical dignities  and  ordinances,  have  always  existed  in  the 
establishment  of  England. 

HIGH  COMMISSION,  COURT  OF,  in  English  History, 
was  erected  by  1  Eliz.,  c.  1,  as  an  ecclesiastical  tribunal, 
without  power  to  fine  or  imprison.  The  commissioners  seem, 
however,  to  have  committed  various  arbitrary  acts  towards 
the  end  of  that  queen's  reign.  One  of  their  warrants  was 
declared  of  no  authority  in  42  Eliz.  Under  Charles  I.  it  as- 
sumed enormous  and  illegal  powers,  becoming  a  court  for 
the  trial  of  all  manner  of  offences  which  might  be  construed 
as  ecclesiastical ;  and  was  one  of  the  grievances  complained 
of  and  abolished  by  the  Dong  Parliament,  16  Car.  1. 

HIGHGATE  RESIN.  A  fossil  resin  discovered  on  cutting 
the  road  through  Highgate  Hill :  it  is  imbedded  in  the  clay 
in  detached  nodules. 

HI'GHNESS.  A  title  first  attributed  to  bishops;  after- 
wards to  European  kings  in  general  (succeeded  by  Majesty 
in  the  sixteenth  century),  afterwards  to  sovereign  princes 
and  their  descendants.  The  title  of  "  Royal  Highness"  was 
first  assumed  by  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  brother  of  Louis  XIU., 
in  1631 ;  and  it  is  now  conferred  on  all  royal  princes  and 
princesses,  whether  in  the  direct  line  of  succession  or  not. 
The  elector  of  Hesse  Cassel  and  the  grand  dukes  of  Ger- 
many have  also  the  title  of  royal  highness.  The  children 
of  the  emperors  of  Russia  and  Austria,  and  their  descendants, 
are  styled  imperial  highness ;  and  all  other  princes  not  in- 
cluded in  the  above  category  bear  the  title  serene  highness, 
which  is  a  literal  translation  of  the  term  Durchlaucht,  by 
which  they  are  addressed  in  Germany. 

HIGHWAY.  A  highway  is  a  way  over  which  the  pub- 
lic at  large  have  a  right  of  passage,  and  includes  a  horse- 
road,  or  a  mere  footpath,  as  well  as  a  carriage  road.  It  was 
considered  formerly  that  no  way  which  did  not  lead  to  a 
market  town  was  a  highway ;  but  it  is  now  settled  that  any 
way  common  to  all  people,  without  distinction,  is  a  highway. 
A  public  navigable  river  is  also  called  a  highway.  The 
right  of  the  public  in  a  highway  is,  however,  a  right  of  pas- 
sage over  it,  and  nothing  more.  The  soil  itself,  and  all  the 
profits  upon  it,  as  trees,  or  underneath  it,  as  mines,  minerals, 
&c,  and  also  any  strips  of  waste  land  lying  between  the 
highway  and  the  lands  adjoining  it  on  either  side,  belong,  in 
moieties,  to  the  owners  of  such  adjoining  lands.  But  if  such 
strips  of  waste  land  be  contiguous  to  or  communicate  with 
an  open  common,  they  are  then  taken  to  be  part  of  the  com- 
mon. A  highway  may  originate  from  a  continual  user  of 
land  by  the  public  in  traversing  it  without  interruption  from 
the  owner,  or  from  an  express  dedication  of  it  by  him  to  their 
use.  A  much  shorter  period  of  user  will  establish  a  right  in 
the  public  than  a  right  in  any  private  person  to  a  way ;  the 
user  in  the  former  case  being  so  open  and  notorious  that  the 
owner  of  the  land  may  fairly  be  presumed  to  have  had  early 
notice  of  it,  and  to  have  assented  to  it  by  not  opposing  it. 
Accordingly,  a  public  way  may  be  acquired  by  an  enjoyment 
for  five  or  six  years,  although  twenty  years'  enjoyment  is 
necessary  in  the  case  of  a  private  way.  A  highway  may 
also  take  its  origin  from  statute  or  from  necessity.  A  high- 
way originates  from  necessity  when  the  accustomed  line  of 
highway  is  out  of  repair  so  as  to  be  impassable ;  in  which 
case  the  public  have  a  right  to  traverse  the  adjoining  ground, 
even  if  it  be  sown  with  grain. 

The  duty  of  keeping  highways  in  repair  is  cast  by  the 
common  law  upon  the  occupiers  of  lands  in  the  parish  gen- 
erally; but  particular  persons  may  be  liable  to  repair  by 
prescription  or  tenure.  They  may  also  be  liable  in  respect 
of  enclosure;  that  is,  if  a  highway  be  free  from  fences  on 
either  side,  and  the  owner  of  the  adjoining  land  chooses  to 
fence  it  off  from  the  highway,  he  will  then  be  liable  in  re- 
spect of  his  enclosure,  because  he  has  thereby  deprived  the 
public  of  using  his  land  as  a  way  of  necessity,  in  the  event 
of  the  original  highway  becoming  impassable  for  want  of  re- 
pair. The  omission  to  repair  on  the  part  of  the  parish  or 
party  liable  is  an  indictable  offence,  and  may  be  punished 
accordingly.  Various  statutes  regulate  the  mode  in  which 
the  occupiers  in  a  parish  are  to  contribute  labour,  carts,  and 
cattle,  for  the  purpose  of  repairing  highways,  and  to  perform 
upon  them  what  is  therefore  called  statute  duty.  Survey- 
ors, also,  are  annually  appointed  in  furtherance  of  the  same 
objects.  Highways  are  frequently  placed  by  the  legislature 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  trustees;  such  highways  are  pop- 
ularly called  "  turnpike  roads."  If  sufficient  materials 
for  the  repair  of  roads  cannot  be  found  on  the  waste  lands 
of  a  parish,  the  surveyors  have  authority  to  take  them  from 
the  lands  of  any  private  person  ("such  lands  not  being  a 
garden,  yard,  avenue  to  a  house,  lawn,  park,  paddock,  or  en- 
closed plantation,  or  enclosed  wood,  not  exceeding  one  hun- 
dred acres  in  extent"),  on  making  him  satisfaction  for  the 
materials  taken  away  and  the  damage  done,  to  be  ascertain- 
ed by  the  justices  at  special  sessions.  Any  expenses  incurred 
by  the  above  proceedings  may  be  reimbursed  to  the  surveyors 
by  an  assessment  made  upon  the  occupiers  in  the  parish,  un- 
der the  authority  of  two  justices. 


HIMANTOPUS. 

The  laws  for  the  regulation  of  highways  have  recently 
been  consolidated  and  amended  by  the  5  &  6  Will.  4,  c.  50. 
By  previous  acts  of  parliament,  and  by  the  common  law,  the 
county  at  large  were  bound  to  repair  a  public  bridge,  and 
also  the  highways  at  the  end  of  such  bridge  to  the  extent 
of  300  feet.  The  recent  act  provides  that  in  future,  when 
any  bridge  shall  be  built  which  the  county  shall  be  liable 
to  repair,  "  all  highways  leading  to,  passing  over,  and  next 
adjoining  to  such  bridge,  shall  be  from  time  to  time  repaired 
by  the  parish,  person,  or  body  politic  or  corporate,  or  trus- 
tees of  a  turnpike  road,  who  were  by  law,  before  the  erec- 
tion of  the  bridge,  bound  to  repair  the  highway."  A  most 
important  alteration  has  been  effected  by  the  same  act  with 
respect  to  the  creation  of  highways  by  dedication.  Former- 
ly, as  appears  above,  if  land  had  been  traversed  as  a  way 
by  the  public  for  a  few  years  without  interruption,  a  high- 
way was  at  once  established,  and  the  liability  to  repair  it 
was  cast  upon  the  parish ;  but  by  this  act  no  road  is  to  be 
deemed  a  highway  which  the  inhabitants  of  a  parish  shall 
be  compellable  to  repair,  unless  the  person  proposing  to 
dedicate  it  to  the  use  of  the  public  shall  give  three  months' 
notice  to  the  surveyor  of  the  parish  of  his  intention  to  dedi- 
cate such  highway,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  parish,  in 
X'estry  assembled,  shall  deem  it  of  sufficient  utility  to  them 
to  justify  its  being  kept  in  repair  at  the  expense  of  the  par- 
ish. If  the  vestry  shall  not  deem  it  of  such  utility,  a  ma- 
gistrate, on  the  surveyor's  application,  is  to  summon  the 
party  proposing  to  dedicate  the  new  highway  to  appear  be- 
fore trie  justices  at  special  sessions,  and  the  question  as  to 
its  utility  is  to  be  determined  at  their  discretion. 

HIMA'NTOPUS.  (Gr.  iMas,  a  thong,  and  novc,  a  foot  : 
the  term  Himantopedes  is  given  by  Pliny  to  certain  birds 
remarkable  for  the  slenderness  of  their  legs.)  The  name  is 
now  restricted  to  a  genus  of  Grallce  or  wading-birds,  in 
which  the  legs  are  proportionally  longer  and  more  attenua- 
ted than  in  any  other  species:  the  bill  is  long  and  slender, 
depressed  at  the  base,  and  compressed  towards  the  tip,  with 
the  nasal  groove  extending  half  the  length  of  the  bill.  This 
genus  includes  the  British  species  called  the  common  stilt, 
or  longshanks  (Himantopus  mclanopterus) .  It  is  an  occa- 
sional visiter,  and  a  rare  bird. 

HI'PPIDES.  The  name  under  which  Latreille  and 
Eichwald  designate  a  family  of  the  tribe  of  Macrourous 
Decapod  Crustaceans,  typified  by  the  genus  Hippa. 

HI'PPOBO'SCA.  (Gr.  imroc,  a  horse,  and  (iooKU,  J feed.) 
A  genus  of  Dipterous  insects  belonging  to  the  Viviparous 
section  of  the  order,  in  which  the  young  are  not  only  exclu- 
ded from  the  ovum,  but  undergo  their  first  metamorphosis 
in  the  womb  of  the  parent,  and  are  brought  forth  in  the 
pupa  state.  {Pupipara,  Latr. ;  Homaloptera,L,each.)  The 
genus  is  now  the  type  of  a  numerous  family  (Hippobos- 
cid(s),  generally  known  by  the  name  of  "forest  flies,"  and 
divided  by  recent  entomologists  into  numerous  subgen- 
era. The  horse-fly  (Hippobosca  equina)  is  the  type  of  the 
familv. 

HIPPOCRATEACE^E.  (Hippocratea,  one  of  the  gene- 
ra.) This  is  a  small  natural  order  of  plants,  distinguished 
from  Celustracea  by  little  except  the  flowers  being  trian- 
drous,  and  the  filaments  broad  at  the  base.  There  are  no 
species  of  any  general  interest  included  in  the  order. 

HIPPOCRE'NE.  (Gr.  fanoc,  and  Kprjvn,  a  fountain.)  A 
celebrated  fountain  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Helicon,  supposed 
to  have  been  produced  by  the  horse  Pegasus  having  struck 
his  foot  against  the  mountain.  It  was  regarded  in  antiquity 
with  peculiar  veneration,  as  it  was  believed  to  be  a  favour- 
ite haunt  of  the  Muses,  and  was  consequently  looked  upon 
as  one  of  the  chief  sources  whence  the  poets  drew  their  in- 
spiration.    See  Muses,  Pegasus. 

HI'PPODROME.  (Gr.  t-mzos,  and  ?pouo;,  a  course.)  In 
Ancient  Architecture,  a  place  appropriated  by  the  Greeks 
to  equestrian  exercises,  and  in  which  the  prizes  were  con- 
tended for.  The  most  celebrated  in  antiquity  of  these  was 
at  Olympia,  which  was  four  leagues  long  and  one  in  breadth. 
The  term  is  still  in  use. 

HIPPOPO'TAMUS.  (Gr.  imroy,  and  wrapo;,  a  river.) 
A  genus  of  aquatic  Pachyderms,  represented  at  the  present 
time  by  a  single  species  {Hippopotamus  amphibius,  L.), 
which  inhabits  the  rivers  of  Africa.  The  generic  charac- 
ters are  four  toes  on  all  the  feet,  enclosed  in  small  hoofs  ; 
six  molar  teeth  on  each  side  of  both  jaws  ;  very  large  and 
strong  canines,  of  which  the  upper  ones  are  nearly  straight, 
the  lower  ones  curved,  and  working  upon  each  other  so  as 
to  produce  a  chisel-edge ;  four  incisors  in  each  jaw,  the  up- 
per ones  short  and  conical,  and  bent  inwards  towards  the 
mouth  ;  the  under  ones  long,  cylindrical,  and  pointins  for- 
wards. The  hippopotamus  lives,  during  the  daytime,  im- 
merged  in  the  waters  of  its  native  rivers,  rising  to  the  sur- 
face and  protruding  its  nostrils  for  the  purpose  of  breathing : 
it  conies  to  the  land  to  feed  during  the  night.  Remains  of 
species  of  hippopotamus  are  found  in  the  tertiary  formations 
of  Europe,  one  of  which  hardly  exceeded  the  size  of  a  hog. 
In  the  tertiary  beds  at  the  base  of  the  Himalaya  range,  an 


HISTER. 

extinct  species  of  hippopotamus  has  been  discovered  which 
had  six  incisor  teeth  in  each  jaw. 

HI'PPOPUS.  (Gr.  Imros,  a  horse ;  tvvs,  a  foot.)  The 
name  of  a  genus  of  Acephalous  Mollusks,  significative  of 
the  resemblance  which  their  shell  bears  to  the  foot  of  a 
horse.  The  valves  of  this  shell  are  equal,  regular,  but  ine- 
quilateral and  transverse;  the  hinge  has  two  compressed 
unequal  teeth ;  the  ligament  is  marginal  and  external.  The 
Hippopi  belong  to  the  family  Tridacnidce  of  the  Lamarchian 
system;  but  are  distinguished  from  the  genus  Tridacna  by 
having  the  posterior  slope  and  lunule  closed,  or  nearly  so, 
and  the  inner  margin  dentated  at  that  part.  The  spines 
which  arm  the  ribs  are  tubular,  and  are  never  arched  or 
vaulted.  The  type  of  the  genus  is  the  Hippopus  maculatus, 
or  spotted  hippopus  ;  the  JEstrea  hippopus  of  Linnaeus. 

HIPPU'RIC  ACID.  (Gr.  Imros,  and  ovpov,  urine.)  A 
peculiar  compound  deposited  from  the  urine  of  the  horse 
when  it  is  mixed  with  muriatic  acid.  It  closely  resembles, 
and  is  sometimes  substituted  for  benzoic  acid ;  but  it  con- 
tains nitrogen,  and  its  salts  are  distinct  from  the  benzoates. 

HI'PPURITES.  A  genus  of  extinct  Mollusks,  supposed 
to  be  bivalves,  and  referred  to  the  extensive  group  called 
Rudistes  by  Lamarck.  The  principal  valve  of  the  present 
genus  is  of  a  sub-cylindrical  or  elongated  conical  form,  trav- 
ersed by  one  or  more  internal  longitudinal  ridges,  and  closed 
by  a  small  sub-circular  discoid  valve  like  an  operculum. 

The  Hippurites  are  characteristic  of  the  rocks  of  the  cre- 
taceous era  in  the  south  of  France,  Spain,  Greece,  and  other 
countries  bordering  the  Mediterranean. 

HIPS.  (Sax.  hipe.)  In  Architecture,  the  inclined  diag- 
onal edges  of  a  roof  where  the  sides  intersect ;  hence  a  hip- 
ped roof  is  one  in  which  two  sides,  at  least,  must  intersect. 

HI'RCINE.  (Lat.  hircus,  a  he-goat.)  A  term  applied  by 
Chevreul  to  a  liquid,  fatty  matter  which  may  be  separated 
from  mutton  suet,  and  gives  it  a  peculiar  rank  smell,  resem- 
bling that  emitted  by  the  male  goat  at  the  period  of  the  rut- 
When  saponified,  it  produces  hircic  acid. 

HI'RING  AND  SERVICE,  in  Law,  constitute  the  rela- 
tion between  master  and  servant.  The  general  rule  with 
respect  to  hiring  and  service  is,  that  if  there  be  no  special 
agreement,  but  a  general  one  without  mention  of  time,  the 
hiring  is  for  a  year  certain ;  if  the  servant  continue  in  his 
employment  beyond  that  year,  a  second  year  is  implied,  &c. 
Consequently,  if  a  master  dismiss  a  servant  hired  generally, 
the  servant  is  entitled  to  wages  for  the  current  year,  unless 
the  dismissal  be  for  such  a  cause  as  will  legally  absolve  the 
master  from  his  contract:  ex.  g.,  moral  misconduct,  or  refu- 
sal to  obey  orders.  But,  in  the  case  of  domestic  servants, 
the  contract  is,  by  general  custom,  dissoluble  by  a  month's 
warning  on  either  part,  or  payment  of  a  month's  wages. 

HI'RSUTE.  (Lat.  hirsutus,  bristly.)  In  Zoology,  when 
an  animal  or  part  is  covered  with  long,  stiffish  hairs,  thickly 

HIRUDINE^E.     See  Leech. 

HIRU'NDO.  (Lat.  hirundo,  a  swallow.)  A  genus  which 
forms  the  type  of  the  Fissirostral  or  wide-gaping  Passerine 
birds  of  the  Cuvierian  system.  It  is  now  divided  into  the 
subgenera  Cypselus,  including  the  swift  and  Hirundo  proper, 
embracing  the  chimney  swallow  (Hirundo  rustica),  sand 
martin  (Hirundo  viparia),  &c.  Our  British  species  are  oc- 
casional visiters,  and  the  heralds,  generally  speaking,  of  the 
summer  season,  though  we  see  now  and  then  a  premature 
straggler,  which  has  given  rise  to  the  proverb  "  one  swallow 
does  not  make  a  summer."  Africa  appears  to  be  the  chief 
resort  of  the  British  species  during  the  winter  season.  Their 
disappearance  at  this  season  has,  it  is  true,  been  accounted 
for  on  the  hypothesis  that  the  swallows  passed  the  winter 
in  a  torpid  state,  submerged  in  river-heads  or  other  fresh 
waters.  No  warm-blooded  and  quick-breathing  animal  does 
or  can  hybernate  under  water ;  and  with  respect  to  a  bird,  it 
is  sufficient  to  observe  that  its  extra-vascular  plumage  would 
be  destroyed  and  decomposed  by  a  six  months'  immersion. 
Swallows,  like  the  cuckoo,  immigrate  to  us  for  the  purpose 
of  breeding. 

HI'SPID.  (Lat.  hispidus,  rough.)  In  Botany,  a  term 
used  in  describing  the  superficial  appendages  of  bodies,  to 
denote  their  being  covered  with  long  rigid  hairs,  as  the  stem 
of  Kchium  vulgare. 

Hi'spid.  In  Zoology,  when  a  surface  is  rough  from  mi- 
nute spines  or  very  rigid  bristles. 

HI'STER.  A  Linnaean  genus  of  Coleopterous  insects, 
now  raised  to  a  family  (Histeridce),  belonging  to  the  section 
Pentamera,  and  the  subsection  Clavicorncs  of  Latreille. 
Many  of  the  species  of  this  family  are  remarkable  for  the 
instinctive  promptitude  and  perfection  with  which  they  alter 
their  ordinary  appearance  when  alarmed,  by  drawing  in 
their  antenna?  and  folding  up  their  legs,  so  as  to  feign  death, 
and,  in  many  cases,  to  take  on  the  resemblance  of  a  small 
black  pebble  or  seed ;  whence  one  of  the  species  is  called 
Seminulum.  It  is  this  habit  which  probably  suggested  the 
generic  name  from  histrio,  an  actor.  There  are  about  fifty 
known  British  species  referable  to  the  Linnsan  genus,  and 
Mm  561 


HISTORICAL  PAINTING. 

now  divided  into  the  subgenera  Abraus,  Orithophilis,  Den- 
drophilus,  Plati/soma,  and  Hister  proper. 

HISTO'RICAL  PAINTING.  In  Painting,  that  depart- 
ment of  the  art  which  comprehends  all  representations 
whereof  history  furnishes  the  subject.  But  under  this  head 
are  generally  included  subjects  from  fabulous  history,  and 
those  founded  on  allegory. 

HISTORIO'GRAPHER.  (Gr.)  A  professed  historian,  or 
writer  of  histories.  It  has  been  a  common,  although  not 
uniform  practice  in  European  courts,  to  confer  the  place  of 
public  historiographer  on  some  learned  man  as  a  mark  of 
royal  favour.  Voltaire  had  at  one  period  the  title  of  Royal 
Historiographer  of  France. 

HI'STORY.  (Gr.  'mTopia,  from  the  verb  icToptui,  I  in- 
quire.) This  word  is  first  used  in  the  commencement  of  the 
work  of  Herodotus,  which  he  there  calls  by  the  title  Histo- 
ria.  It  is  probable  that  this  ancient  writer  thus  fixed  the 
sense  in  which  the  word  has  ever  since  been  used ;  as  ap- 
plicable, strictly  and  properly,  to  the  civil  history  of  man, 
although  it  has  been  analogically  used  to  express  other 
branches  of  investigation,  as  in  the  term  Natural  History, 
still  in  use ;  an  application  also  sanctioned  by  classical  usage, 
in  the  instances  of  Theopkrastus's  History  of  Plants,  Aris- 
totle's History  of  Animals,  &c. 

Civil  history,  properly  so  called,  has  also  been  subdivided 
Into  several  branches  ;  first,  according  to  the  class  of  events 
or  actions  which  is  made  the  subject  of  narration;  as  ec- 
clesiastical, political,  and  literary :  secondly,  according  to 
the  extent  of  the  subject ;  as  universal  history,  in  contradis- 
tinction to  the  history  of  particular  nations  or  districts,  or  of 
individual  men,  more  properly  termed  biography. 

Our  most  ancient  civil  history  is  to  be  found  in  the  Old 
Testament.  But  its  objects  are  confined,  after  the  brief  and 
introductory  narration  of  the  first  ages  of  the  world,  to  the 
annals  of  a  separate  and  peculiar  people,  the  Jews,  and  such 
incidental  notices  of  the  affairs  of  other  nations  (Assyrians, 
Phoenicians,  Egyptians,  &c.)  as  the  inspired  writers  found 
necessary  for  the  illustration  of  their  main  topic.  But  the 
great  empires  and  kingdoms  which  surrounded  the  little 
commonwealth  of  the  Hebrews  were  also  connected,  by 
various  circumstances  of  religion  and  descent,  with  the  first 
of  the  two  nations  (Greek  and  Roman)  whose  annals  con- 
stitute what  is  termed  classical  history,  with  which  again 
our  own  history,  or  that  of  modern  Europe,  is  in  intimate 
association.  Hence,  in  a  general  view  of  civil  history,  the 
whole  subject  may,  perhaps,  not  be  unappropriately  classed 
under  five  heads,  indicating,  as  it  were,  five  different  bodies 
of  history,  which,  in  the  main,  are  distinct  from  each  other 
in  the  subject,  and  partly  in  the  sources  from  whence  our 
knowledge  is  derived,  although  mutually  throwing  much 
light  on  each  other. 

I.  The  Jewish  history,  as  contained  in  the  Old  Testament. 

II.  The  history  of  the  empires  and  states  of  antiquity  in 
that  portion  of  the  world  known  to  the  classical  and  Jewish 
historians,  and  illustrated  by  classical  and  Jewish  history, 
viz.,  Assyria,  Persia,  Egypt,  Phoenicia,  and  its  colony  Car- 
thage. 

III.  Classical  history,  properly  so  called;  the  history  of 
the  national  affairs  and  conquests  of  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans. 

IV.  The  history  of  those  nations  and  states  (chiefly  Ori- 
ental) which  possess  annals  of  their  own,  independent  of 
classical,  Jewish,  and  modern  European  literature ;  China, 
India,  modern  Persia,  Arabia,  and  the  Mohammedan  con- 
quests. 

V.  Modern  European  history,  including  that  of  the  colo- 
nies and  conquests  of  Europeans. 

1.  The  Jewish  history,  as  we  have  said,  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Old  Testament,  some  Apocryphal  books,  and  in  the  wri- 
tings of  uninspired  Jewish  authors  (Josephus  and  Philo-Ju- 
da;us)  who  have  investigated  the  antiquities  of  their  country. 

2.  Of  Assyria,  Egypt,  Phoenicia,  ancient  Persia,  Carthage, 
&c,  we  possess  no  historical  notice  except  such  as  is  deri- 
ved, 1.  From  Jewish  or  classical  authors;  2.  From  monu- 
ments, especially  in  Egypt.  Phoenician  historical  authors 
of  repute  (Sanchoniatho,  Berosus,  &c.)  are  alluded  to  by 
classical  writers,  and,  perhaps,  in  part  abridged  by  them ;  but 
we  have  no  actual  remains  of  their  compositions  on  the  au- 
thenticity of  which  reliance  can  be  placed.  With  respect 
to  Persia,  much  industry  has  been  expended  in  endeavour- 
ing to  extract  from  the  histories  of  modern  native  writers 
coincidences  with  the  narrations  of  Greek  and  Roman  au- 
thors, but  hitherto  with  little  success. 

3.  The  poems  of  Homer  are  generally  regarded  as  con- 
taining the  oldest  fragments  of  Grecian  history.  Herodotus 
is  the  oldest  Greek  prose  writer.  His  invaluable  history 
comprises  a  description  of  several  countries  bordering  on 
Greece  and  the  Mediterranean ;  concise  narratives  of  Egyp- 
tian, Persian,  and  Assyrian  history ;  and  a  connected  ac- 
count, more  or  less  detailed,  according  to  circumstances,  of 
the  history  of  Greece,  both  civil  and  domestic,  for  about  fifty 
years  previous  to  the  invasion  of  Xerxes,  with  which  his 

562 


HISTORY. 

annals  close  (B.C.  about  480).  The  history  of  the  Grecian 
commonwealth  is  pursued  in  detail  by  Thucydides  and  Xen- 
ophon  for  about  a  century  afterwards.  After  that  period 
our  knowledge  of  Greek  domestic  history  is  confined  to  the 
incidental  notices  derived  from  various  cotemporary  writers, 
and  the  general  compilations  of  later  historians.  Among 
these  may  be  mentioned,  as  authors  from  whom  a  large 
portion  of  our  actual  knowledge  is  derived,  Diodorus  Sicu- 
lus,  the  author  of  a  very  miscellaneous  general  history,  of 
which  great  part  is  lost,  who  lived  alioul  the  ;ige  of  Augus- 
tus; Polybius,  whose  history  is  more  especially  devoted  to 
Roman  affairs  ;  Arrian  and  Quintus  Curtius,  the  historians 
of  the  conquests  of  Alexander  ;  Livy,  as  to  the  transactions 
between  Greece  and  Rome ;  Justin,  the  compiler  of  a  brief 
but  useful  abridgment  of  general  history  ;  Plutarch,  in  his 
Lives  of  Illustrious  Men,  &c.  These  writers  bring  the  stu- 
dent down  to  the  period  of  the  subjugation  of  Greece  by 
Rome  ;  after  which,  all  history  of  Greek  affairs,  properly  so 
called,  terminates,  until  the  establishment  of  the  Eastern 
empire,  and  we  have  little  knowledge  of  the  state  of  Greece 
and  the  Graeco-Asiatic  kingdoms  in  their  provincial  state. 

Ancient  Roman  history,  down  to  the  first  Punic  War,  is 
chiefly  known  from  the  compilations  of  Livy  and  Dionysius 
of  Halicarnassus,  writers  whose  credit  is  rendered  extremely 
doubtful  by  modern  investigation  ;  and,  where  these  fail, 
from  incidental  sources.  In  the  History  of  the  Punic  Wars, 
the  narrative  of  Livy  is  aided  by  the  admirable  work  of  Po- 
lybius. From  the  end  of  the  second  Punic  War  to  the  dic- 
tatorship of  Sylla  (nearly  150  years)  our  materials  for  Ro- 
man history  are  very  deficient ;  the  want  of  cotemporary 
writers  being  supplied  only  by  later  compilations,  and  by 
the  incidental  knowledge  derived  from  writers  on  various 
subjects,  the  course  of  whose  composition  led  them  to  touch 
on  past  events — of  whom  by  far  the  most  valuable  is  Cicero. 
From  the  period  of  Sylla's  dictatorship  to  the  accession  of 
Vespasian  (nearly  150  years)  we  have  the  advantage  of  a 
succession  of  cotemporary  writers,  some  of  them  actors  in 
the  events  which  they  describe,  and  comprising  some  of  the 
greatest  names  in  literature — Sallust,  Cicero,  Ca;sar,  Velleius 
Paterculus,  Tacitus.  Yet  even  here  there  is  one  considera- 
ble lacuna,  comprising  the  last  thirty  years  of  the  reign  of 
Augustus,  as  to  which  our  knowledge  is  scanty.  From  the 
accession  of  Vespasian  to  the  reign  of  Constantine,  a  long 
period  elapses  during  which  our  historical  acquaintance 
with  the  events  of  an  empire  then  comprising  the  greater 
part  of  the  civilized  world  is  vague  and  defective.  Dio 
Cassius  and  Herodian  are  the  two  best  writers  on  history 
who  can  be  named  in  this  long  interval ;  the  latter,  during 
the  short  epoch  which  he  illustrates  as  a  cotemporary,  is 
full  and  valuable.  After  the  accession  of  Constantine,  we 
have  abundant  materials  for  history,  both  eclesiastical  and 
civil,  from  the  hand  of  cotemporary  authors  down  to  the 
reign  of  Justinian  in  the  East  and  of  Theodoric  in  the  West, 
although  the  quality  of  the  writers  is  sensibly  degenerated. 
Perhaps  the  comparative  obscurity  and  uncertainty  into 
which  history  is  plunged  after  the  last  of  these  two  epochs, 
and  the  absence  of  all  standard  writers  after  Procopius,  ren- 
der it  the  best  period  to  fix  upon  for  the  arbitrary  limit  be- 
tween ancient  and  modem  history.  It  will  be  seen  from 
this  brief  summary  that  the  only  periods  of  any  extent  as  to 
which  we  have  the  assistance  of  cotemporary  historians  (or 
original  authority,  properly  so  called),  in  the  whole  extent 
of  classical  history,  are  :  1.  As  to  Greece,  from  B.C.  500  to 
B.C.  380 ;  2.  As  to  Rome,  from  the  dictatorship  of  Sylla  to 
the  accession  of  Vespasian  (B.C.  76  to  A.D.  70) ;  and,  finally, 
the  reigns  of  Constantine  and  his  successors. 

4.  After  the  downfall  of  the  Roman  empire,  a  long  series 
of  revolutions  in  dynasties  and  nations  followed  before 
Western  Europe  was  parcelled  out  into  the  several  great 
countries  which,  notwithstanding  all  subsequent  changes  in 
political  limits,  have  since  subsisted  as  geographical  divisions 
— Britain,  France,  Spain,  Germany,  Italy,  the  Scandinavian 
regions.  Another  period  elapsed  before  the  three  great 
countries  of  Eastern  Europe — Russia,  Poland,  Hungary — 
were  added  as  distinct  members  to  the  family  of  European 
states ;  and  the  Greek  empire  in  Europe  remained  apart, 
distinct  in  language,  manners,  and  political  history,  from  both 
the  other  divisions. 

From  the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire  to  the  revival  of  liter- 
ature (a  period  composing  in  round  numbers  about  eleven 
centuries)  our  knowledge  of  the  affairs  of  Western  Europe 
is  derived  from  a  series  of  writers,  in  each  country,  who  are 
usually  comprehended  under  the  title  of  chroniclers.  A 
chronicle,  or  book  of  annals,  is  properly  a  history  of  which 
the  continuous  narrative  is  so  interrupted  that  each  year 
forms  a  separate  section,  and  events  arc  thus  related  nearly 
in  strict  chronological  order.  This  is  a  form  very  common- 
ly adopted  by  the  historians  of  the  dark  ages,  of  whom  the 
greater  proportion  were  monks,  who  appear  to  have  noted 
down  the  acts  which  occurred  within  their  own  sphere  of 
knowledge  or  memory,  derived  from  the  accounts  of  older 
men,  merely  to  satisfy  the  vague  desire  of  communicating 


HISTRIONIC  ART. 

knowledge  to  posterity,  within  the  limited  circle  of  the  mon- 
astery or  society  to  which  they  belonged.  But  a  great  many 
of  the  histories  of  the  middle  ages  are  not  even  in  the  form 
of  chronicles;  they  have  all  the  requisites  which  the  most 
fastidious  criticism  can  require  of  a  regular  history.  Unity 
of  purpose,  and  a  sustained  and  energetic  style,  are  qualities 
in  which  some  of  the  early  national  annalists  of  modern 
Europe  have  been  unsurpassed  by  their  more  instructed 
successors. 

The  venerable  Bede,  who  wrote  in  the  9th  century,  pre- 
sents us  with  the  first  name  of  true  credit  and  authority 
among  the  annalists  of  England.  Of  our  monkish  Latin 
chroniclers  in  later  times,  Matthew  Paris  is  perhaps  best  en- 
titled to  the  character  of  an  historian.  After  the  period  of 
the  invaluable  Saxon  chronicle,  we  have  no  English  histo- 
ries in  the  native  language  of  the  country  worthy  of  note, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  meager  rhyming  chronicles,  un- 
til the  revival  of  letters  and  discovery  of  printing.  In  France, 
the  long  collection  of  native  Latin  chroniclers  presents  us 
with  few  names  of  interest  after  the  time  of  the  celebrated 
Gregory  of  Tours ;  but  the  Crusades  called  forth,  for  a  short 
space,  an  unusual  spirit  of  historical  description.  When  we 
arrive,  however,  at  the  14th  and  15th  centuries,  we  find 
among  the  native  French  historians  two  authors,  Froissart 
and  Philip  de  Comines,  whose  narratives  are  no  less  delight- 
ful from  the  talent  and  energy  of  the  writers,  than  from  the 
romantic  character  of  the  times  which  they  portray.  The 
annals  of  Italy  are  to  be  sought  in  the  pages  of  a  long  series 
of  chroniclers,  from  the  8th  century  downwards,  of  whom 
the  most  valuable  are  published  together  in  Muratori's  great 
collection.  Their  works  are  uniformly  in  Latin  until  the 
13th  century.  But  towards  the  end  of  that  age  the  Tuscan 
dialect  was  elevated,  as  it  were  at  a  single  step,  to  the  rank 
of  a  literary  language ;  and  the  little  Tuscan  republics  pro- 
duced a  succession  of  historians,  many  of  them  remarkable 
for  the  purity  of  their  style,  and  some  (as  the  three  Villain 
at  Florence)  fur  their  extensive  information  and  historical 
talent.  Germany  and  Spain,  in  the  middle  ages,  produced 
few  historical  works  above  the  rank  of  dry  chronicles.  But 
the  annals  of  the  Scandinavian  nations  form  the  most  im- 
portant part  of  their  early  and  peculiar  literature.  The 
Greek  empire  produced,  also,  a  series  of  chroniclers,  whose 
works  have  been  collected  in  the  Corpus  Histories  Byian- 
tincB. 

The  period  of  the  revival  of  letters,  and  the  following  cen- 
tury, were  distinguished  by  the  appearance  of  several  wri- 
ters of  first-rate  merit  in  the  department  of  history.  In  Italy, 
Guicciardini ;  in  France,  De  Thou ;  in  Spain,  Herrera  ;  and 
our  own  Camden  may  be  added,  not  without  justice,  to  the 
number.  To  follow  the  progress  of  history  in  modern  times 
would  be  an  impossible  task.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  with 
the  advance  of  literary  knowledge  and  the  increase  of  edu- 
cation, historical  writers  seem  to  become  more  strongly  divi- 
ded into  two  very  different  classes :  those  who  furnish  con- 
tributions towards  the  history  of  their  own  times,  especially 
the  writers  of  memoirs — a  delightful  and  useful  branch  of 
literature,  of  which  France  gave  the  first  examples,  and  still 
produces  the  most  numerous ;  and  the  historians,  more  prop- 
erly so  called,  who  collect,  discuss,  and  criticise,  endeavour- 
ing to  extricate  the  truth  from  the  mass  of  former  materials. 
The  latter,  in  our  times,  has  become  more  peculiarly  the 
province  of  literary  men.  Philosophical  history,  in  which 
the  mere  narrative  of  facts  is  regarded  as  subordinate  to  the 
elucidation  of  general  truths,  and  too  frequently  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  favourite  theories,  is  a  modem  improvement  in 
the  art ;  and  Voltaire  is  commonly  regarded,  not  without 
some  truth,  as  the  founder  of  the  school  of  philosophical 
historians,  among  whom  the  highest  rank  in  popularity  has 
been  attained  and  deserved  by  Gibbon. 

5.  The  history  of  the  more  remote  Oriental  nations,  and 
also  of  those  which  derive  their  religion  and  civilization 
from  Arabia,  may  be  conveniently  classed  apart ;  because 
the  knowledge  of  it  is  derived  from  wholly  different  sources, 
and  requires,  as  it  were,  a  peculiar  education.  Chinese  and 
Indian  history  form  two  entirely  distinct  bodies  of  knowl- 
edge. With  regard  to  that  of  the  Mohammedan  nations,  it 
may  be  observed  that  it  is  brought  into  contact  with  that  of 
modem  Europe  in  several  distinct  countries  and  periods,  of 
which  the  most  remarkable  instances  are  the  Crusades,  the 
annals  of  the  Moors  in  Spain,  and  the  history  of  the  Turkish 
empire  in  its  transactions,  first  with  the  Greeks,  and  after- 
wards with  the  other  nations  of  Christendom.  It  is  a  curi- 
ous subject  for  the  philosophical  historian,  and  one  which  has 
not  hitherto  received  the  attention  it  merits,  to  compare  the 
different  accounts  of  the  same  events  which  have  been  trans- 
mitted to  posterity  by  writers  of  distinct  nations,  religions, 
and  lancuages,  whose  minds,  from  difference  of  education, 
habitually  viewed  almost  every  object  in  a  totally  different 
light. 

HISTRIO'NIC  ART.  The  art  of  acting  in  dramatic  rep- 
resentations is  not  unfrequently  so  called,  from  the  Lat.  his- 
trio,  or  hister,  an  actor.    {See  Theatre.)    The  word  histrio 


HOLOTHURIANS. 

is  of  Etruscan  derivation,  as  was  the  Roman  dramatic  art 
also.     See  Mem.  de  V Ac.  des  Inscr.,  vol.  xxvii. 

HITCH.  In  Naval  affairs,  a  particular  kind  of  knot,  of 
which  there  are  several. 

HITHE.  An  old  Saxon  word,  signifying  a  port,  wharf, 
or  minor  harbour,  at  which  goods  are  shipped  or  landed: 
Oueenhithe  on  the  Thames  is  an  example. 

HOA'RY,  in  describing  the  superficial  appendages  of  bod- 
ies, denotes  their  being  covered  with  very  short  dense  hairs, 
placed  so  closely  as  to  give  an  appearance  of  whiteness  to 
the  surface  from  which  thev  grow. 

HO'BILERS  (Lat.  hobeilarii),  in  England,  were  feudal 
tenants  bound  to  serve  as  light  horsemen  or  bowmen,  for 
the  word  seems  to  have  been  of  somewhat  uncertain  em- 
ployment. The  smaller  feudal  gentry  were  long  styled  in 
France  "  Hobereaux." 

HOE.  In  Agriculture  and  Gardening,  an  instrument  for 
stirring  the  surface  of  the  soil,  cutting  annual  weeds  up  by 
the  roots,  and  earthing  up  plants.  The  hand  hoe  is  a  thin 
plate  of  iron  six  or  eight  inches  broad,  and  sharpened  on  the 
edge,  fixed  at  right  angles  on  the  extremity  of  a  pole  or  rod, 
which  serves  as  a  handle.  This  is  called  a  draw  hoe,  be- 
cause in  the  operation  of  hoeing  the  instrument  is  drawn  or 
pulled  towards  the  operator.  Another  description  of  garden 
hoe  has  the  blade  or  iron  plate  fixed  on  the  extremity  of  the 
handle,  and  in  continuation  of  it :  and  this  is  called  a  thrust 
hoe,  because  in  hoeing  .the  operator  always  pushes  the  hoe 
forward.  This  kind  is  also  called  a  Dutch  hoe,  most  prob- 
ably from  having  been  first  introduced  from  Holland.  In 
agriculture  there  are  hoes  of  the  thrust  kind  drawn  by  beasts 
of  labour,  and  commonly  called  horse  hoes.  In  general 
form  they  resemble  a  plough ;  but  instead  of  the  share  they 
have  one  or  more  iron  blades,  or  plates  with  sharp  edges, 
fixed  to  perpendicular  iron  rods  at  their  lower  extremities. 
These  sharpened  plates  being  drawn  through  the  soil,  cut 
through  the  roots  of  weeds  an  inch  or  two  beneath  the  sur- 
face. Agricultural  or  field  hoes  are  only  used  in  the  case 
of  those  field  crops  wThich  are  sown  or  planted  in  rows. 
There  are  a  great  many  kinds  of  field  or  horse  hoes  ;  but  it 
is  worthy  of  remark,  that  they  differ  very  little  in  mechani- 
cal merit.  The  implement,  indeed,  does  not  seem  suscepti- 
ble of  the  same  degree  of  improvement  as  the  plough  and 
the  harrow. 

HOEING.  The  operation  of  stirring  the  surface,  cutting 
off  weeds,  or  earthing  up  plants  with  a  hoe.  In  the  case  of 
any  of  these  operations  dry  weather  must  be  chosen,  other- 
wise the  result  will  either  be  useless  or  injurious.  Plants 
rooted  up  by  the  hoe  in  wet  weather  will  produce  fresh 
roots  and  grow  again,  while  plants  earthed  up  under  similar 
circumstances  will  have  the  leaves  which  are  covered  by 
the  soil  decayed  by  it.  In  either  case,  also,  the  ground  will 
be  hardened  by  the  treading  of  the  feet  of  men  or  horses,  so 
as  to  obstruct  the  progress  of  the  roots,  and  to  exclude  air 
and  water  from  penetrating  through  it  to  them.  Hoeing  is 
sometimes  performed  on  surfaces  which  are  without  weeds, 
for  the  purpose  of  stirring  the  soil ;  but  in  such  cases  prong- 
ed hoes,  or  hoes  having  three  or  more  long  spikes  or  teeth, 
are  more  effective  than  hoes  with  broad  plates  or  blades. 

HO  GSHEAD.  An  ancient  measure  of  capacity,  contain- 
ing 63  old  wine  gallons. 

HOLD.  (Sax.  healdan.)  The  inside  of  the  bottom  of 
the  ship.  It  is  divided  into  compartments  by  bulkheads 
across ;  and  contains  the  ballast,  water,  coal  and  wood,  pro- 
visions, and  cargo. 

Hold.    In  Music,  the  same  as  Pause,  which  see. 

HOLIDAYS  are  considered  to  be  those  days,  exclusive 
of  Sundays,  on  which  no  regular  public  business  is  transact- 
ed at  public  offices.  They  are  either  fixed  or  variable,  and 
vary  in  different  public  offices.  The  variable  holidays  are 
Ash  Wednesday,  Good  Friday,  Easter  Monday  and  Tues- 
day, Holy  Thursday,  Whit  Monday  and  Tuesday.  See 
Ferine. 

HO'LINESS.  The  title  by  which  the  Pope  is  addressed ; 
equivalent  to  the  Latin  "  Sanctissime." 

HO'LING.  (From  hole.)  In  Architecture,  piercing  the 
plates  to  receive  the  nails. 

Holing.    Undermining  beds  of  coal. 

HOLM.  (Sax.  and  Danish.)  An  island,  or  fenny  place 
surrounded  by  water.  Two  well-known  islands  in  the  Bris- 
tol Channel  are  called  the  Steep  Holm  and  Flat  Holm. 

HOLM  OAK,  or  HOLLY  OAK.     See  atJERCus. 

HO'LOCAUST.  (Gr.  6Ao?,  the  whole,  and  khiw,  I  burn.) 
A  solemn  sacrifice  among  the  ancients,  in  which  the  whole 
of  the  victim  was  consumed  upon  the  altar,  in  contradis- 
tinction to  the  usual  custom,  which  enjoined  that  only  a 
portion  thereof  should  be  consumed.  A  similar  custom 
prevailed  among  the  Jews;  it  is  called  in  Scripture  a  burnt 
offering. 

HO  LOGRAPH.  (Gr.  b'\6ypi(pov ;  from  &Aoc,  whole,  and 
ypatpu,  I  write.)  In  the  Civil  Law,  a  will  written  entirely 
by  the  hand  of  the  testator. 

HOLOTHU'RIANS.    (Gr.  bXoOovpidv.)    The  name  of 

563 


HOLT. 

the  family  of  Echinoderms,  having  the  genus  Holothuria 
for  its  type.  The  body  presents  a  subcylindrical  elongated 
form ;  is  defended  by  a  coriaceous,  not  spiny  integument, 
open  at  both  ends,  and  perforated  by  numerous  small  ca 
nals,  in  linear  series,  through  which  prehensile  and  adhe- 
sive suckers  are  protruded.  At  the  anterior  extremity  is 
the  mouth,  surrounded  with  complicated  retractile  tentacu- 
la.  At  the  opposite  end  is  the  aperture  of  the  cloaca,  in 
which  the  rectUBrt  and  a  respiratory  branched  tube  termi- 
nate. Tlic  intestine  is  very  long,  and  convoluted;  and  it 
frequently  happens  that  when  the  animal  is  disturbed,  it  is 
protruded  from  the  body,  or  ruptured  by  the  violence  of  the 
contraction  of  the  muscular  parietes  of  the  abdomen.  The 
"trepang"  of  Eastern  commerce  is  a  dried  species  of  Holo- 
thuria. 

HOLT.  (Sax.  a  wood;  Germ,  holz.)  The  termination 
of  many  names  of  places  in  England,  derived  from  their  an- 
cient situation  in  a  wood. 

HO'LY  ALLIANCE,  THE.  A  league  formed  between 
certain  of  the  principal  sovereigns  of  Europe,  after  the  de- 
feat of  Napoleon  at  Waterloo:  on  the  proposal,  it  is  said,  of 
the  Emperor  Alexander.  It  arose  from  the  religious  enthu- 
siasm which  was  prevalent  at  that  period  of  deliverance 
from  French  domination,  and  with  which  the  Russian  em- 
peror was  just  then  considerably  imbued.  The  act  of  this 
alliance  is  said  to  have  been  sent  in  his  handwriting  to  the 
Emperor  of  Austria  and  King  of  Prussia,  and  signed  by 
them.  It  is  not  supposed  that  the  original  terms  of  the 
league  were  other  than  indefinite ;  for  the  maintenance  of 
justice,  religion,  &c,  in  the  name  of  the  Gospel.  But  it  was 
subsequently  connected  with  the  determination  of  those 
monarchs  to  support,  in  conjunction  with  England  and 
France,  existing  governments  throughout  Europe,  by  the  Dec- 
laration of  November,  1819 :  afterwards  the  congresses  of 
Troppau,  Laybach,  and  Verona  established  the  character 
of  the  alliance;  to  which  the  war  of  France  against  Spain, 
in  1823,  gave  additional  illustration.  Since  the  secession  of 
England  and  France,  the  alliance  can  scarcely  be  said  to 
have  anv  active  existence.    (See  Ed.  Rev.,  vol.  xxxii.,  xxxix.) 

HO'LY  ROOD,  or  HOLY  CROSS.  A  festival  kept  on 
the  14th  of  September,  to  commemorate  the  exaltation  of 
the  Holy  Cross.  It  is  from  this  circumstance  that  the  royal 
palace  in  Edinburgh  has  derived  its  appellation. 

HO'LY  STONE.  A  stone  used  by  hand,  with  sand,  to 
scour  the  ship's  decks.  The  large  stone  worked  by  ropes  is 
called  the  bear.  The  sand  is  used  with  water;  but  it  has 
long  been  a  very  general  practice  in  the  navy  to  use  dry  sand 
below :  this  is  called  dry  holy-stoning ;  it  is  considered  more 
healthy  than  usins  water  frequently. 

HO'LY  THURSDAY,  or  ASCENSION  DAY.  In  the 
Romish  Calendar,  the  39th  day  after  Easter  Sunday.  A 
festival  in  commemoration  of  Christ's  ascension. 

HO'M^EOMERI'A.  (Gr.  buotopepein,  similarity  of  parts.) 
The  name  given  to  the  physical  theory  of  Anaxagoras,  a 
Grecian  philosopher  of  Clazomena?,  who  flourished  in  the 
fifth  century  B.C.  According  to  this  hypothesis,  every  mate- 
rial substance  is  made  up  of  infinitely  small  parts  similar  to 
itself.  Hence  the  growth  and  nourishment  of  animals  and 
vegetables  was  accounted  for,  by  supposing  the  alimentary 
substance  to  be  analyzed  into  its  various  component  parts 
corresponding  to  the  parts  of  the  substance  nourished.  For 
instance,  corn  was  supposed  to  contain  particles  of  blood, 
bone,  flesh,  skin,  &c,  which  by  the  process  of  digestion 
were  separated  from  each  other,  and  added  to  the  corre- 
sponding parts  of  the  animal  body.  This  theory  bears  some 
resemblance  to  that  of  the  monads  of  Leibnitz  in  modern 
times.    See  Monad. 

HO'.AM:oPA'I'IIY.  (Gr.t^oio.;,  similar ;  and  ttuOoc,  feel- 
ing or  affection.)  The  homreopathic  method  of  healing  dis- 
eases was  first  proposed  by  Samuel  Hahnemann,  a  German 
physician,  in  1796.  It  consists  in  the  administration  of  med- 
icines which  are  presumed  to  excite  in  healthy  persons 
symptoms  similar  to  those  of  the  disease  which  is  to  be 
treated,  upon  the  principle  that  similia  similibus  curantur. 
Thus  they  maintain  that  sulphur  produces  a  pustular  erup 
tion  upon  the  skin,  and  therefore  cures  pustular  eruptions; 
and  that  quinia  produces  febrile  symptoms,  and  therefore 
cures  agues,  and  so  forth.  Not  the  least  absurd  part  of  this 
practice  is  the  smallness  of  the  doses  in  which  the  homoeo- 
pathic remedies  are  administered,  it  being  presumed  thai  by 
infinite  subdivisions  the  virtues  of  remedies  are  proportion- 
ately refined  and  exalted.  A  grain,  for  Instance,  of  any 
active  remedy,  such  as  aloes,  is  triturated  with  1000  grains 
of  sugar  of  milk  ;  when  this  mixture  is  complete,  a  grain  of 
it  is  again  diluted  with  1000  of  the  vehicle  ;  and  so  of  medi- 
cines which  the  ordinary  practitioner  administers  in  doBM  Of 
One  or  two  grains  or  more,  the  nonUBOpathlBt  prescribes  in 
the  quantity  of  a  millionth  or  the  decillionth  of  a  grain,  or 
even  less.  It  is  not  surprising  that  enthusiasts  of  this  cast 
should  occasionally  start  up;  but  il  is  remarkable  that  they 
should  find  converts  among  persons  in  their  right  senses. 

HO'MAGE.  (Lat.  homagium,  or  hominium,  from  homo, 
564 


HOMOPHONY. 

man,  the  usual  term  by  which  the  vassal  or  dependant  of  a 
prince  is  designated  in  the  older  writers  of  the  middle  ages.) 
The  symbolical  acknowledgment  of  dependance  due  from  a 
\  assui  to  a  feudal  lord  or  superior  when  invested  with  a  fief, 
or  obtaining  it  by  succession.  In  the  earliest  periods  of  the 
feudal  system  fealty  and  homage  appear  to  be  confounded 
(see  Sir  F.  Palgrave  on  the  English  Commonwealth,  vol.  ii., 
p.  cccxc.) ;  but  in  later  times  the  distinction  was  clearly  es- 
tablished, and  fealty  might  sometimes  be  due  where  hom- 
age was  not.  Homage  was  either  homagium  ligcum,  liege 
homage,  by  which  full  and  unreserved  allegiance  was  ren- 
dered ;  or  homagium  non  ligeum,  simple  homage,  a  mere 
acknowledgment  of  feudal  superiority,  with  a  saving  or  ex- 
ception of  the  rights  of  other  feudal  lords.  The  one  was 
personal,  and  could  not  be  renounced  (hence  the  doctrine  of 
allegiance)  ;  the  other  bound  the  vassal  only  so  long  as  he 
helil  the  fief  in  respect  of  which  it  was  due. 

HO'MALIA'CEjE.  (Homalium,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  arborescent  or  shrubby  Exogens,  inhabiting 
the  tropics.  According  to  Brown,  related  to  Passifioracete, 
but  distinguished  by  their  inferior  ovary.  De  Candolle  pla- 
ces them  between  Samydaccw  and  Chaillctiacea.  They  are 
plants  of  some  beauty,  but  of  no  known  use. 

HOME,  in  Naval  language,  is  said  of  anything  that  is  close 
in  its  place  :  it  is  applied  to  the  sheets  of  the  sails,  the  shot 
and  cartridge  in  a  gun,  and  any  article  of  stowage. 

HO'MICIDE.  (Lat.  homo,  a  human  being,  and  caxlo,  / 
kill.)  In  Law,  the  killing  of  any  human  creature ;  which 
is  either  justifiable — viz.,  1.  In  case  of  necessity,  public  or 
private;  2.  By  permission  of  law  for  the  advancement  of 
justice ;  3.  For  the  prevention  of  forcible  and  atrocious 
crime.  Or  excusable — 1.  By  misadventure  ;  2.  In  self-de- 
fence on  a  sudden  affray,  or  chance-medley.  Or  felonious; 
of  which  the  species  are — 1.  Self-murder;  2.  Manslaughter, 
which  is  defined  "the  unlawful  killing  of  another  without 
malice,  expressed  or  implied ;"  3.  Murder,  or  the  wilful  kill- 
ing of  another  by  malice  aforethought  ;  4.  Petit  treason, 
which  by  the  Statute  of  Treasons  was  confined  to  the  cases 
of  a  servant  wilfully  killing  his  master,  a  wife  her  husband, 
or  an  ecclesiastical  person  his  superior ;  but  the  distinction 
in  judgment  between  this  offence  and  murder  is  now  abol- 
ished. 

HO'MILY  (Gr.  bfit\ia,  an  assemblage),  was  used  by  the 
early  fathers  in  the  same  sense  as  our  word  sermon  ;  both 
of  which,  according  to  their  original  meaning,  signify  the  fa- 
miliar discourse  with  which  the  primitive  teachers  enforced 
their  doctrines,  in  opposition  to  the  more  remote  and  declam- 
atory orations  which  were  more  fashionable  at  the  time. 
Up  to  the  fifth  century  the  practice  of  preaching  was  con- 
fined to  the  bishops,  and  the  only  homilies  extant  are  of 
their  composition.  The  term,  which  has  now  become  obso- 
lete, was  in  constant  use  as  late  as  the  Reformation;  and 
the  English  Book  of  Homilies  is  a  collection  of  plain  ser- 
mons, setting  forth  the  principal  doctrines  of  Christianity, 
and  pointtng  out  the  principles  of  Protestantism ;  of  which 
the  first  part  was  published  by  Cranmer  in  the  reign  of  Ed- 
ward VI.,  and  the  second  by  order  of  convocation  in  that  of 
Elizabeth. 

HOMOCHRO'MOUS.  (Gr.  bpov,  together,  and  xPoua. 
colour.)  When  all  the  florets  in  the  same  flower-head  are 
of  the  same  colour. 

HOMO'GAMOUS.  (Gr.  bptov.  and  yauog,  marriage.)  In 
Grasses,  when  all  the  florets  of  the  spikelets  of  the  same 
individual  are  hermaphrodite;  in  Composite  plants,  when 
all  the  florets  of  a  flower-head  are  hermaphrodite. 

HOMOGE'NEOUS.  (Gr.  bftov.  and  yevoi,  kind.)  Ho- 
mogeneous bodies  are  those  of  which  the  constituent  ele- 
ments are  all  similar.  Homogeneous  quantities  are  such  as 
can  be  added  to  or  subtracted  from  each  other. 

HOMO'LOGOUS.  (Gr.  bfiov,  and  Uyos,  ratio.)  Having 
the  same  ratio  or  proportion.  In  Geometry,  those  sides  of 
similar  figures  which  are  opposite  to  equal  and  correspond- 
ing angles  are  proportional  to  each  other,  and  therefore 
said  to  be  homologous.  The  areas  and  solid  contents  of  such 
figures  are  likewise  homologous  for  the  same  reason. 

HOMO'NYMS.  (Gr.  bfwv,  and  ovoua,  a  name.)  Words 
which  agree  in  sound,  but  differ  in  signification;  as  the  sub- 
stantive "bear"  and  the  verb  "bear." 

HOMOOU'SIANS  and  IIOMOIOU'SIANS.  Names  by 
which  the  Orthodox  and  Arian  parties  were  distinguished  in 
the  great  controversy  upon  the  nature  of  Christ  in  the  fourth 
century;  the  former  word  signifying  that  the  nature  of  the  • 
Father  and  Son  is  the  same,  the  latter  that  they  are  similar. 
[Gibbon,  vol.  iii.  See  Arians.)  Homoousian  (Gr.  ofioovoi- 
os)  is  derived  from  oiws,  the  same,  and  ovaia.  being ;  Homoi- 
ousian  (bfiotovaos)  from  b/ioio<;,  similar,  and  ovaia.  (See 
also  MUmatCs  Hist,  of  Christianity,  ii.,  443.) 

HOMOPHO'NOUS.  (Gr.  b^inc,  the  same,  and  #wi<i7,  voict 
or  tone.)  In  Music,  of  the  same  pitch,  or  unisonal.  Two 
or  more  sounds  arc  said  to  be  homophonous  when  they  are 
exactly  of  the  same  pitch. 

HOMOTHONY.     (Gr.  b/wi,  and  fuxu,  /  speak.)    Ho- 


HOMOPTERANS. 

mophonous  words  or  syllables,  in  language,  are  words  or 
syllables  having  the  same  sound,  although  expressed  in  wri- 
ting by  various  combinations  of  letters.  Languages  which 
abound  in  homophonies  are,  1.  Some  Oriental  monosyllabic 
tongues,  namely,  the  Chinese  and  its  kindred  dialects,  in 
which  very  few  sounds  comprise  the  whole  vocabulary, 
and  the  same  sound  is  expressed  by  a  variety  of  ideographic 
characters  (in  Chinese  there  are  only  400  such  sounds,  multi- 
plied by  the  distinctions  of  tone  and  accent  to  1600  or  2000)  ; 
and,  2.  Some  European  tongues  in  which,  according  to  the 
genius  of  the  dialect,  the  syllables  of  the  original  languages 
from  which  the  words  are  chiefly  derived  have  been  con- 
tracted in  speaking,  and  part  of  their  sounds  dropped,  while 
the  greater  part  of  the  letters  is  retained.  Thus  in  English, 
and  still  more  in  French,  which  is  peculiarly  a  dialect  of 
Latin  abounding  in  contractions,  homophonies  are  numer- 
ous (in  the  latter  tongue  the  number  of  syllables  differently 
spelt,  all  having  nearly  the  sound  of  our  broad  A,  amounts 
to  more  than  a  hundred) ;  while  in  Italian,  in  which  the 
original  proportions  of  the  Roman  language  are  preserved, 
they  are  scarcely  to  be  found  at  all. 

HOMO'PTERANS,  Homoptera.  (Gr.  6/iof,  and  rrtpov, 
a  wing.)  The  name  of  an  order  of  insects,  dismembered  from 
the  Hemiptera  of  Linnteus,  including  those  in  which  the 
wing-covers  are  of  a  uniform  semi-membranous  consist- 
ency. Latreille  divides  this  order  into  the  three  following 
divisions:  viz., 

1.  The  OteadaritB,  having  the  tarsi  three-jointed,  and  the 
antenns  very  short,  terminated  by  a  fine  bristle. 

2.  The  Aphidiens.  having  the  tarsi  two-jointed,  and  the 
antenns  longer,  without  a  terminal  bristle ;  containing  the 
families  Aphida  and  PsyllidtB. 

3.  The  Gallinsecta,  having  the  tarsi  one-jointed,  termina- 
ted by  a  single  claw.  The  males  have  two  wings,  and  are 
destitute  of  a  mouth ;  the  females  are  wingless,  and  fur- 
nished with  a  sucker. 

HOMO'TROPAL.  (Gr.  buos,  and  rpnoj,  I  turn.)  In 
Botany,  a  term  used  in  describing  the  direction  of  bodies,  to 
denote  any  one  having  the  same  direction  as  the  body  to 
which  it  belongs,  but  not  being  straight. 

HO  NET.  (Germ,  honig.)  A  sweet  viscid  substance 
elaborated  by  the  bee  from  the  juices  of  the  nectaries  of 
flowers,  and  deposited  in  the  waxen  cells  of  the  honey- 
combs. That  which  spontaneously  runs  out  of  the  comb  is 
called  virgin  honey.  Pure  honey  consists  of  a  syrup  or  un- 
crystallizable  sugar,  and  of  a  solid  or  granular  sugar  which 
resemble^  that  obtained  from  the  grape. 

HONEY  STONE.  A  yellow  mineral  found  in  octoedral 
crystals  at  Artem  in  Thuringia.  It  is  extremely  rare.  It 
consists  of  a  peculiar  acid  (the  mellitic  acid)  combined  with 
alumina  and  water. 

HONG.  The  Chinese  name  for  the  foreign  factories  situ- 
ated at  Canton.  The  hong  merchants  are  those  persons 
who  are  alone  legally  permitted  to  trade  with  foreigners. 
They  are  ten  in  number,  and  are  always  held  responsible 
by  the  government  for  paying  all  duties,  whether  on  im- 
ports or  exports  in  foreign  vessels.  No  foreign  ship  that 
enters  the  Chinese  ports  can  commence  unloading  until 
she  has  obtained  a  hong  merchant  as  security  for  the  du- 
ties. 

HONORA'RIUM.  (Lat.  honos,  honour.)  A  term  used 
almost  synonymously  with  fee,  and  applied  at  present  chief- 
ly to  the  fees  tendered  to  professors  in  universities,  and  to 
medical  or  other  professional  gentlemen  for  their  services. 
It  was  originally  applied  solely  to  the  salaries  of  the  great 
officers  of  state,  whose  services  it  was  considered,  by  a  per- 
haps pardonable  euphemism,  were  remunerated  only,  as  it 
were,  honoris  causa;  a  shade  of  meaning  which  is  still  per- 
ceptible in  the  present  use  of  the  term. 

HO'NOUR  (Lat.),  in  Law,  signifies  the  more  noble  sort 
of  seigniories,  on  which  other  lordships  or  manors  depend 
by  the  performance  of  customary  services. 

The  term  honour,  in  its  common  sense,  is  susceptible  of 
various  significations ;  all  of  which,  however,  may  easily  be 
traced  to  its  original  meaning,  esteem  or  regard  built  on 
opinion.  Among  the  Romans  honour  was  deified  ;  and  in 
modern  times  the  term  plays  a  no  less  important  part,  being 
used,  in  various  terms  of  phraseology,  to  indicate  certain 
rules  by  which  society  in  general,  and  especially  that  por- 
tion of  it  called  fashionable,  has  tacitly  consented  to  regu- 
late its  proceedings,  any  deviation  from  which  is  attended 
by  expulsion  from  its  pale.  To  this  class  may  be  referred. 
with  slight  modifications  of  meaning,  the  phrases  debt  of 
honovr.  /;  >r  of  honour,  court  of  honour,  affair  of  honour,  &c, 
which  are  all  self-explanatory.  The  term  was  formerly  the 
style  of  a  man  of  rank  generally  ;  but  it  is  now  distinctively 
conferred  on  the  Vice-chancellor,  and  the  Master  of  the 
Rolls. 

HO'NOURABLE.      A  title    prefixed  to  the  Christian 

names  of  the  younger  sons  of  earls,  and  to  those  of  all  the 

children,  both  sons  and  daughters,  of  viscounts  and  barons. 

It  is  also  conferred  on  persons  filling  certain  offices  of  trust 

49 


HOP  POLES. 

and  dignity,  such  as  the  maids  of  honour  of  the  qu.">cn  and 
queen  dowager;  and  collectively  on  certain  ;> 
or  institutions,  as  the  House  of  Commons,  the  Congies-.  of 
the  United  States,  the  East  India  Company,  &c.  &c.  The 
title  of  right  honourable  is  given  to  all  peers  and  peeresses 
of  the  United  Kingdom ;  to  the  eldest  sons  and  all  the  daugh- 
ters of  peers  above  the  rank  of  viscount ;  to  all  privy  coun- 
sellors ;  and  to  some  civic  functionaries,  as  the  lord-inavorj 
of  London  and  Dublin,  the  lord-provosts  of  Edinburgh  "and 
Glasgow,  &c. 

HONOUR,  LEGION  OF.    See  Legion-,  &c. 

HOOPING  COUGH.     See  Whooping  Cough. 

HOP.  The  Humulus  lupu/us  of  Linnaeus,  the  female 
flowers  of  which  are  used  for  imparting  a  bitter  flavour  to 
malt  liquors  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  them  from  fer- 
mentation. The  hop  plant  is  a  perennial  indigenous  to  Brit- 
ain and  different  parts  of  Europe ;  but,  to  produce  abundonce 
of  hops,  it  requires  to  be  very  carefully  cultivated  in  good 
soil,  and  even  then  is  one  of  the  most  precarious  of  crops. 
The  fields  in  which  hops  are  grown  are  commonly  called 
hop  gardens :  a  loamy  soil  on  a  dry  subsoil  is  chosen,  and 
the  plants  are  placed  in  hills,  stools,  or  groups  of  tlrree  or 
four  in  a  group,  the  hills  being  in  rows  five  or  six  feet  apart, 
and  at  about  the  same  distance  in  the  row.  A  full  crop  is 
not  produced  till  the  fourth  or  fifth  year  after  planting. 
Every  year  the  ground  is  dug  in  winter,  and  kept  clear  of 
weeds  during  summer;  and  the  hills  have  poles,  generally 
three  or  four  to  a  hill,  for  the  plants  to  twine  on :  the  pur- 
chase of  these  poles,  the  fixing  them  in  the  soil  every  spring, 
the  taking  them  down  and  stacking  them  every  autumn, 
and  their  removal  every-  five,  six,  eight,  or  ten  years,  accord- 
ing to  the  kind  of  wood  used,  constitute  a  considerable 
part  of  the  expense  of  hop  culture.  The  hops,  when  mature, 
are  picked  by  hand,  and  as  they  are  picked  they  are  carried 
to  a  drying  kiln,  dried,  and  packed  into  bags  or  pockets ;  and 
this  is  also  an  expensive  process.  The  hop  plant  is  particu- 
larly liable  to  be  injured  by  insects,  by  cold  and  continued 
rains,  and  by  thunder  storms ;  in  consequence  of  which,  it 
is  estimated  that  a  full  crop  is  not  obtained  oftener  than 
above  once  in  five  years.  Hence  it  is  easy  to  conceive  that 
the  price  of  hops  must  vary  greatly  in  different  years,  anl 
that  the  grower  who  has  a  command  of  capital  may  profit 
largely  by  keeping  them  back  from  market  when  the  prices 
are  low,  and  only  exposing  them  when  they  are  high.  In 
order  to  keep  hops  for  two  or  three  years,  they  require  to  be 
powerfully  compressed,  and  put  into  much  closer  canvass 
bags  than  when  they  are  to  be  sent  immediately  to  market ; 
they  also  require  to  be  kept  in  dry  airy  lofts,  neither  too 
warm  nor  too  cold.  The  culture  of  hops  was  introduced 
into  England  from  Flanders  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. 
The  most  extensive  plantations  are  in  Kent,  Sussex,  and 
Herefordshire ;  but  they  are  cultivated  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent in  many  other  counties.  The  hop-growers  are  placed 
under  the  surveillance  of  the  excise,  a  duty  of  18s.  8d.  per 
cwt.  being  charged  upon  all  hops  grown  in  this  country.  In 
1837,  the  number  of  acres  of  land  under  cultivation  of  hope 
was  56,323 ;  and  in  the  same  year  the  duty  amounted  to 
£310,794  4s. ,  of  which  Kent  contributed  nearly  one  half. 

HO'PLrTES.  (Gr.  b-^nat,  from  6-Xa,  arms.)  The 
heavy-armed  infantry  of  Grecian  antiquity.  According  to 
the  Athenian  regulations  (similar,  probably,  to  those  of 
other  states),  the  higher  classes  of  citizens  only,  as  estimated 
by  the  census,  were  liable  to  this  expensive  form  of  military 
service ;  in  process  of  time,  however,  it  seems  that  the  The- 
tes  or  inferior  classes  also  served  as  Hoplites.  The  Hop- 
lites  were  armed  in  early  times  with  the  spear,  heavy  defen- 
sive armour,  and  large  shield :  the  latter  were  exchanged 
after  the  time  of  Iphicrates  for  the  light  cuirass  and  target. 

HOP  OAST.  A  particular  description  of  kiln  used  for 
drying  hops.  The  floor  of  the  kiln  is  generally  of  wire 
cloth,  and  the  heat  is  generated  in  a  stove  with  flues  below. 
The  hops,  after  being  put  on  the  kiln,  are  frequently  turned, 
and  in  general  they  are  rendered  sufficiently  dry  in  the 
course  of  a  few  hours ;  when  dried,  they  are  taken  to  a  loft 
and  left  to  cool  for  a  day  or  two,  and  then  put  into  bass, 
having  been  previously  subjected  to  the  slight  action  of  the 
fumes  of  burning  sulphur  (sulphurous  acid),  by  which  they 
are  to  a  certain  extent  bleached. 

HO  PPLE.  A  mode  of  fettering  the  legs  of  horses  or 
other  animals  turned  out  to  graze  on  a  common  or  other 
unenclosed  place. 

HOP  POLES,  are  poles  or  stakes  annually  inserted  at 
the  roots  of  hop  plants  for  their  stems  to  twine  round. 
\Vhen  a  hop  plantation  is  first  made,  as  the  plants  are  weak, 
the  poles  are  not  required  to  be  more  than  five  or  six  feet  in 
length,  but  in  the  third  or  fourth  year  they  require  to  be 
ten  or  twelve  feet  in  length.  Any  kind  of  young  trees  or 
saplings  may  be  used  as  hop  poles ;  but  the  most  durable 
are  those  of  the  oak.  the  a^h,  the  sweet  chestnut,  and  the 
larch.  The  locust,  or  Rohinia.  was  strongly  recommended 
as  a  durable  hop  pole  by  Cobbett :  but,  though  this  wood  is 
verv  durable  when  of  not  more  than  a  certain  age,  it  does 

565 


HORARY  CIRCLES. 

not  ftpponr  to  be  so  when  of  the  size  most  proper  for  hop 
poles.  Much  of  the  durability  of  the  hop  pole  no  doubt 
depends  on  the  soil  in  which  it  is  grown;  but,  all  circum- 
stances being  alike,  poles  of  birch  wood,  which  art  much 
employed  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Farnham,  have  been 
found  to  hist  longer  than  any  other. 

HO'EARl  CIRCLES,  on  Globes,  are  hour  lines,  or  cir 
cles  marking  the  hours,  and  drawn  at  the  distance  of  15° 
on  the  equator  from  each  other.  They  are  the  same  as 
meridians. 

HO'KAKY  MOTION,  is  the  motion  of  a  celestial  body, 
or  the  space  which  it  moves  through,  in  an  hour.  The  ap 
parent  horary  motion  of  the  heavenly  bodies  in  their  diurnal 
revolution  is  153 ;  for  as  the  whole  circle  is  completed  m  - 1 
hours,  the  24th  part  of  it,  or  15°,  must  be  passed  over  in 
one  hour. 

HORDE.  A  collective  name  given  to  those  migratory 
nations  who,  like  the  Tartars,  are  not  addicted  to  a  pastoral 
life,  hut  exist  by  plunder  and  rapine. 

HO'RDEIN.  A  modification  of  starch,  which,  according 
to  Proust,  constitutes  about  55  per  cent,  of  barlev-meal. 

HO'DEOLI.U.  fLatdim.ofhordeum,6ariejr.)  Asmall 
tumour  on  the  eyelid,  somewhat  resembling  a  barley-corn ; 
it  is  a  little  boil  projecting  from  the  edge  of  the  eyelid,  and 
Is  commonly  called  a  stye. 

HO'REHOUND.  Tliis  indigenous  plant  has  a  bitter  and 
somewhat  aromatic  flavour,  and  is  considered  as  an  expec- 
torant, and  as  giving  relief  in  asthma;  hence  the  celebrity 
of  horehound  tea  among  the  common  people. 

HOIU'ZON  (Gr.  o/^oi,  /  bound  or  terminate),  in  As- 
tronomy and  Geography,  is  the  plane  of  a  great  circle  of  the 
sphere,  dividing  the  visible  from  the  invisible  hemisphere. 
The  horizon  is  either  sensible  or  rational.  The  sensible 
horizon  is  a  plane  which  is  a  tangent  to  the  earth's  surface 
at  the  place  of  the  spectator,  extended  on  all  sides  till  it  is 
bounded  by  the  sky  :  the  rational  horizon  is  a  plane  parallel 
to  the  former,  but  passing  through  the  centre  of  the  earth. 
Both  the  sensible  and  rational  horizon  are  relative  terms, 
and  change  Willi  every  change  of  the  spectator's  position  on 
the  surface  of  the  earth ;  in  all  cases  they  are  perpendicu- 
lar to  the  direction  of  gravity. 

If  the  eye  of  the  spectator  were  in  the  plane  of  the  sensi- 
ble horizon,  stars  would  not  appear  to  rise  till  they  are 
above  that  plane ;  but  if  he  is  elevated  above  the  horizon, 
a  greater  extent  of  the  earth's  surface  will  be  visible,  and 
the  stars  will  appear  to  rise  before  they  reach  the  plane 
which  is  a  tangent  of  the  earth.  Hence  the  sensible  hori- 
zon is  sometimes  defined  to  be  the  conical  surface  which 
has  its  apex  in  the  eye  of  the  spectator,  and  embraces  that 
portion  of  the  earth  over  which  the  eye  can  reach.  'Che 
visual  rays  which  are  tangents  to  the  earth  are  situated  in 
this  surface,  and  consequently  point  below  the  true  sensible 
horizon,  or  the  rational  horizon  which  is  parallel  to  it;  and 
the  angle  which  a  visual  ray  makes  with  the  plane  of  the 
horizon  is  technically  called  the  depression  of  the  horizon  or 
the  dip.  The  dip  can  he  easily  computed  from  the  known 
dimensions  of  the  earth,  and  the  height  of  the  eye  above  its 
surface ;  but  the  real  depression  of  a  visible  object  below 
the  horizon  cannot  be  determined  in  this  manner,  on  account 
of  the  refraction  of  the  atmosphere,  which  prevents  the 
rays  of  light  from  coming  to  the  eve  in  a  straight  line. 

HORIZONTAL  RANGE,  in  Gunnery,  is  the  distance  t" 
which  a  piece  of  ordnance  will  carry  a  ball  on  a  horizontal 
plane.  Supposing  no  resistance  from  the  atmosphere,  the 
greatest  range  would  be  when  the  piece  is  elevated  at  an 
angle  of  45°;  and  in  all  other  positions  the  horizontal  range 
would  be  as  the  double  of  the  sine  of  the  angle  of  eleva- 
tion In  a  resisting  medium  the  maximum  horizontal  range 
requires  the  elevation  to  be  less  than  45°.  It  is  found  by 
experience  that  with  the  ordinary  velocity  a  cannon  shot 
ranges  the  farthest  when  the  elevation  of  the  piece  is  about 
30°.    See  Gunnery. 

HORN,  partakes  of  the  chemical  nature  of  the  cartilagin- 
ous part  of  bone;  it  consists  chiefly  of  albumen,  with  some 
gelatine  and  a  trace  of  phosphate  of  lime.     See  Corma. 

Horn  (commonly  called  French  Horn).  A  brass  mu- 
sical wind  instrument  of  a  complex  spiral  form,  increasing 
In  diameter  to  its  end  or  mouth,  which  the  French  call  its 
pavillion.  The  inflexion  of  it  is  much  regulated  by  the  in- 
sertion of  the  hand  in  the  pavillion. 

HO'RNIU. ENDE.  A  mineral  of  a  dark  green  or  black 
colour,  abounding  in  oxide  of  iron,  and  entering  into  the 
Composition  Of  several  of  the  trap  rocks.  It  is  the  amphi- 
bole  of  Efauv. 

HOENBLENDE-SCHI8T.  A  slaty  vnriety  of  horn- 
blende, generally  including  felspar  and  grains  of  quart/. :  it 
is  of  a  dark  green  or  black  colour.  Where  clay  slate  i<  in 
contact  with  granite,  it  sometimes  passes  into  hornblende 
slate. 

HO  RNET.     See  VxBFIDS. 

HO'RNING,  LETTERS  OF.     In  Scottish  Law,  a   spe- 
cies of  diligence  (i.  c,  process)  against  a  debtor.    They  are 
566 


HOROLOGY. 

writs  in  the  king's  name,  proceeding  on  the  warrant  of  n  de- 
cree of  the  Court  of  Session,  or  ol  the  magistrates  of  bor- 
c  mghs,  and  of  various  other  inferior  authorities ;  but  in  these 
rases  a  warrant  of  the  Court  of  Session  must  nl.-o  be  ob- 
tained. They  direct  the  debt  to  be  paid  within  a  limited 
number  of  days  (according  to  the  nature  of  the  debt).  In 
default  of  such  payment  the  debtor  incurs  the  charge  of 
rebellion,  and  is  thereupon  liable  to  caption  or  arrest. 

HO'ENPIPE.  The  name  of  a  well  known  dance,  for  the 
skilful  performance  of  which  the  British  sailors  have  long 
been  celebrated.  The  origin  of  the  name  is  uncertain  ;  but 
it  is  believed  to  he  derived  from  a  kind  of  musical  instru- 
ment called  pih-eorn  (Aug.  hornpipe),  consisting  of  a  wooden 
tube  with  holes  and  a  reed,  anil  a  horn  at  each  end,  which 
was  formerly  used  in  Wales.  (.See  liarrington's  Archao- 
log-ia,  vol.  iii.  177.) 

HORN  SILVER.  A  name  given  by  the  elder  chemists  to 
chloride  of  silver,  which  when  fused  puts  on  a  homy  ap- 
pearance. For  the  same  reason  chloride  of  mercury  or 
calomel  is  occasionally  called  horn  quicksilver  ;  and  chlo- 
ride of  lead  horn  lead. 

HO'RNSTONE.  A  variety  of  flint  of  a  semitranspar- 
ency  somewhat  resembling  that  of  horn.  One  of  the  va- 
rieties of  porphyry  goes  under  the  name  of  hornstone 
porphyry. 

HORN  WORK.  In  Fortification,  a  kind  of  outwork  car- 
rying on  the  head  or  fore  part  two  demi-bastions  resembling 
horns,  whence  the  name. 

HORO'GRAPHY.  'Gr.  £>pa,  hour,  and  ypatyu,  I  write.) 
The  art  of  drawing  hour  lines,  or  of  constructing  dials. 

HOROLO'GIUM,  or  HOROLOGE.  (Gr.  wpa,  and  Xoyoc, 
discozirse.)  A  term  frequently  used  by  ancient  writers 
to  denote  a  clock,  watch,  or  other  machine  for  measuring 
time. 

HORO'LOGY  (Gr.  lopa,  and  Aoyoc,  discourse),  signifies 
literally  an  explanation  of  the  methods  of  measuring  and 
marking  the  hours  of  the  day.  Anciently  the  term  horo- 
logium  was  applied  to  any  sort  of  contrivance  for  measur- 
ing the  hours,  as  the  clepsydra  and  sun-dial  (see  the  terms) ; 
but  as  these  instruments  have  been  superseded  by  clocks 
and  watches,  horology  is  now  usually  understood  to  signify 
a  description  of  the  principles  on  which  machines  for  die 
measurement  of  time,  moved  by  weights  or  springs,  are 
constructed. 

Machines  for  measuring  time  are  designated  by  the  gene- 
ral appellation  of  clocks  and  watches  ;  hut  they  are  also  ilis 
tinguished  by  peculiar  names  arising  from  certain  modifica- 
tions in  their  construction,  or  from  certain  particular  pur- 
poses they  are  intended  to  serve.  By  the  term  clock  is  un- 
derstood an  instrument  which  not  only  shows,  but  also 
strikes,  the  hours.  A  time-piece  is  one  which  shows  the 
hours  without  striking  them  ;  a  quarter-clock  is  one  which 
strikes  the  quarters  as  well  as  the  hours ;  an  astronomical 
clock  is  one  which  shows  siderial  time ;  a  watch  is  a  porta- 
ble or  pocket  time-piece;  a  repeater  is  one  having  a  contri- 
vance by  means  of  which  it  can  be  made  at  any  time  to 
repeat  the  hours :  a  chronometer  is  a  watch  of  the  best 
kind,  or  one  fit  to  be  employed  for  astronomical  purposes. 

In  a  general  view,  horological  machines  may  be  regarded 
as  consisting  of  three  essential  parts  :  1st,  a  moving  power, 
which  produces  a  rotatory  motion  about  an  axle ;  2d,  a  train 
of  w  heel-work,  by  means  of  which  a  velocity  is  obtained 
having  any  required  ratio  to  that  of  the  primary  axle  ;  and 
3d,  a  regulator,  by  which  the  rapidity  of  the  revolution  is 
determined,  and  uniformity  of  motion  produced.  The  mov- 
ing power  is  either  a  heavy  w< light  which  descends  by  the 
force  of  gravity,  or  a  spring  which  is  coiled  up  within  a  bar- 
rel and  unwinds  itself  by  the  force  of  its  elasticity;  the  first 
being  preferred  on  account  of  the  perfect  regularity  of  its 
action  when  the  instrument  is  to  remain  fixed  in  a  place, 
and  the  second  being  necessary  for  pocket  time-pieces  and 
those  which  cannot  be  kept  in  a  fixed  position,  as  on  ship- 
board. The  train  of  wheel-work  is  chiefly  remarkable  or. 
account  of  the  delicacy  and  accuracy  of  its  construction. 
Tin-  regulator  is  either  a  pendulum,  of  which,  by  the  the- 
ory of  falling  bodies,  the  oscillations  are  isochronal  or  per- 
formed in  equal  times;  or  a  heavy  balance,  the  recipro- 
cal vibrations  of  which  are  also  isochronal.     Sec  Balance, 

PtNnULUM. 

( )f  the  various  mechanical  contrivances  introduced  into 
horological  machines  for  accomplishing  particular  purposes, 
it  would  be  useles  to  attempt  a  description  in  this  place,  as 
our  limits  will  not  permit  them  to  be  given  with  that  min- 
uteness of  detail  which  is  indispensable  in  order  to  convey 
a  clear  idea  of  their  action.  The  most  important  is  the 
escapement  (or  scapement),  or  that  part  of  the  mechanism 
by  which  the  original  rotatory  motion  is  converted  into  a  re- 
ciprocating motion,  and  gives  impetus  to  the  pendulum  or 
balance.  Some  other  parts  are  also  of  primary  importance ; 
as  the  maintaining  power,  a  contrivance  by  means  of  which 
the  motion  is  maintained,  or  the  machine  kept  going,  vvhilo 
the  weight  or  spring  is  being  wound  up ;  tho  fusee,  by  which 


HOROLOGY. 


in  watches  and  spring-clocks  the  force  acting  on  the  wheel- 
work  is  rendered  equal  in  all  states  of  the  tension  of  the 
spring.     Sec  Fusee. 

The  general  arrangement  of  the  wheel-work  of  a  clock 
or  watch  may  be  understood  from  the  following  description. 
Fig.  1.  represents  the  movement  of  a  common   vertical 

Cl.) 


^ 


loSSiSi        iln  irjr.-utA/uifiwSS  I 


watch,  the  frame  plates  being  omitted,  and  the  dial  being 
supposed  to  be  turned  downwards.  A  is  the  barrel,  contain- 
ing the  spring  which  produces  the  motion.  B  is  the  fusee, 
connected  with  the  barrel  by  the  chain  b.  C  is  the  fusee- 
■wheel,  called  also  the  first  or  great  wliecl,  which  turns  with 
the  fusee,  and  works  into  the  pinion  D,  called  the  centre- 
wheel  pinion  :  this  pinion,  with  the  centre  wheel  or  second 
wheel  E,  turns  once  in  an  hour.  The  centre  wheel  E  works 
into  the  third-wheel  pinion  F ;  and  on  the  same  arbor  is  G, 
the  third  wheel,  which  drives  the  fourth  or  ccntrate-wheel 
pinion  H,  and  along  with  it  the  cenirate  wheel  I.  The  teeth 
of  this  wheel  are  placed  at  right  angles  to  its  plane,  and  act 
in  the  pinion  K,  called  the  balance-wheel  pinion ;  L  being 
the  balance  wheel,  or  scape-wheel,  or  crown-wheel,  attach- 
ed to  the  same  arbor.  The  balance-wheel  acts  on  the 
two  pallets  m  and  n  attached  to  the  verge  or  arbor  of  the 
balance  M;  and  these  being  placed  at  a  distance  from  each 
other  equal  to  the  diameter  of  the  balance-wheel,  and  in 
different  planes,  receive  alternately  from  the  scape-wheel  an 
impetus  in  opposite  directions  which  keeps  up  the  vibratory 
motion  of  the  balance. 

This  last  part  of  the  mechanism,  which  it  requires  some 
attention  to  understand,  is  represented  more  distinctly  in 
(2.)  fig.  2.,  where  A  is  the  scape-wheel,  and 

B  and  C  the  two  pallets.  The  pallets, 
i=  it  is  to  be  observed,  are  not  placed  on 
the  verge  in  the  same  plane,  but  their 
planes  form  an  angle  equal  to  the  excur- 
sion of  the  balance  ;  so  that,  supposing 
one  of  them  to  be  about  40  or  50  degrees 
from  the  mean  point  towards  the  right, 
the  other  is  just  as  many  degrees  from  the 
same  point  towards  the  left.  The  teeth  of  the  scape-wheel  are 
bent  forward  in  the  direction  of  the  motion,  like  the  teeth  of 
a  saw,  and  their  number  is  odd.  Suppose,  now,  a  tooth  of 
the  scape-wheel  to  have  caught  the  pallet  B  ;  it  will  continue 
to  bear  on  that  pallet,  and  to  accelerate  the  balance,  until, 
by  the  revolution  of  the  verge,  the  extreme  edge  of  the  pal- 
let comes  into  the  plane  of  the  extremities  of  the  teeth,  when 
the  pallet  escapes.  But  as  the  balance  continues  for  a  short 
time  longer  to  move  in  the  same  direction,  the  pallet  C  now 
comes  in  between  two  teeth  at  the  point  diametrically  oppo- 
site to  the  front  of  the  tooth  which  B  has  just  quitted  ;  and 
as  the  vibration  of  the  balance  now  commences  in  the  op- 
posite direction,  this  pallet  is  in  its  turn  pressed  upon  and 
accelerated  by  the  wheel. 

The  crown-wheel  escapement,  now  described,  is  the  oldest 
and  the  original  form,  and  is  still  used  in  common  watches, 
where  it  answers  sufficiently  well ;  but  when  applied  to 
clocks  regulated  by  pendulums,  it  is  exceedingly  defective  ; 
for  as  it  requires  the  vibration  to  be  made  in  an  arc  of  con- 
siderable extent,  the  pendulum  must  of  necessity  be  short 
and  light,  and  hence  it  becomes  a  very  imperfect  regulator. 
In  order  to  obviate  these  defects,  Clement,  a  London  watch- 
maker, in  1680,  invented  the  crutch  or  anchor  escapement, 
which  was  greatly  improved  upon  by  Graham  about  the 
year  1700.  Graham's  escapement  is  represented  in  rig.  3. 
O  is  the  centre  of  the  scape-wheel.  B  A  C, 
the  crutch  or  anchor,  consists  of  a  heavy 
piece  of  metal  attached  to  the  rod  of  the  pen- 
dulum with  which  it  moves.  A  is  its  centre 
of  motion ;  and  in  the  original  construction 
of  Graham,  the  distance  of  A  from  O  was 
equal  to  the  diameter  of  the  scape-wheel.  The 
extremities  of  the  crutch  form  the  pallets,  the  acting  faces  of 
which  are  inclined  planes ;  while  the  parts  on  which  the  teeth 
successively  fall  are  cylindrical  surfaces,  the  radii  of  which 
are  equal  to  O  A.  The  tooth  being  received  on  this  surface, 
slides  along  it  without  tending  to  accelerate  or  retard  the 
pendulum,  until  the  pendulum  arrives  near  the  middle  of  its 
vibration,  when  the  inclined  plane  comes  to  the  exlremity 
of  the  tooth,  and  the  tooth  then  begins  to  act  upon  the  plane, 
and  to  turn  the  pallets,  and  consequently  accelerate  the 
pendulum.  By  this  arrangement  the  motion  of  the  wheel 
only  continues  during  the  short  time  the  tooth  is  sliding 
along  the  plane  of  the  pallet,  while  during  the  rest  of  the 


vibration  the  tooth  rests  on  the  cylindrical  surface,  and  the 
wheel  stands  still,  or  is  dead ;  whence  this  escapement  is 
called  the  dead  beat,  or  the  escapement  of  repose.  In  Hooke's 
form,  where  the  cylindrical  surfaces  are  wanting,  the  im- 
pulse given  to  one  pallet  carries  the  opposite  with  some  force 
against  the  approaching  tooth,  and  drives  the  wheel  back- 
ward, or  produces  a  recoil ;  and  this  force  being  applied  at 
the  extremities  of  the  vibrations,  tends  greatly  to  disturb 
their  isochronism.  By  Graham's  method  there  is  no  recoil : 
the  impetus  is  given  while  the  pendulum  is  near  the  middle 
of  the  vibration,  and  the  velocity  the  greatest ;  and  during 
the  rest  of  the  vibration  the  pendulum  is  nearly  altogether 
free  of  the  action  of  the  wheels. 

Numerous  other  modifications  of  the  crutch  escapement 
have  been  proposed,  and  some  of  them  carried  successfully 
into  effect ;  but  for  their  description  we  must  refer  to  the 
works  in  which  the  subject  is  technically  treated.  There 
are  two,  however,  which,  by  reason  of  the  greater  ingenuity 
displayed  in  their  contrivance,  and  their  almost  universal 
application  to  the  best  kinds  of  pocket  watches,  require  par- 
ticular notice.  These  are  the  duplex  and  the  detached  es- 
capement, the  latter  being  that  which  is  used  in  modern 
chronometers. 

Duplex  Escapement. — This  is  represented  in  fig.  4.  A  A 
is  part  of  the  scape-wheel,  which  is  fur- 
nished with  two  sets  of  teeth,  whence 
probably  the  name  is  derived.  M  N  R 
are  the  teeth  of  repose,  lying  in  the  plane 
of  the  wheel ;  mnr  are  the  teeth  of  im- 
pulse, and  stand  perpendicular  to  the  ' 
plane  of  the  wheel.  B  C  is  the  impulse  pallet,  fixed  upon 
the  arbor  of  the  balance  just  above  the  plane  of  the  wheel, 
so  that  its  extremity  C  may  be  caught  by  the  teeth  m  n  r, 
and  receive  the  impulse  from  them,  as  they  successively 
pass.  A  small  ruby  roller  is  also  placed  upon  the  arbor, 
behind  the  pallet,  having  a  notch  in  one  side  of  it  for 
receiving  the  teeth  M  is"  It.  When  the  tooth  m  has  passed 
the  claw  of  the  pallet,  the  tooth  M  falls  upon  the  ruby 
roller,  where  it  rests  until  by  the  returning  vibration  of  the 
balance  the  notch  is  brought  to  the  point  of  the  tooth. 
The  tooth  then  falls  into  the  notch,  and  thus  passes  the 
roller ;  and  the  next  impulse  tooth  n  comes  up  to  the  pal- 
let, on  the  point  of  which  it  acts  with  great  advantage 
in  consequence  of  the  long  lever.  As  the  successive  im- 
pulses are  all  given  in  the  same  direction,  the  balance  neces- 
sarily makes  two  vibrations  for  each  impulse  given  by  the 
upright  tooth.  The  chief  advantage  of  this  construction 
consists  in  there  being  only  one  pallet,  and  in  the  action 
being  independent  of  great  accuracy  in  the  execution  of  the 
teeth  of  the  scape-wheel,  which  is  indispensable  in  the  case 
of  the  escapements  already  described,  and  also  for  the  lever 
escapement,  which  in  fact  is  only  a  modification  of  the 
crutch. 

Detached  Escapement. — The  annexed  diagram,  fig.  5.,  rep- 
resents Earnshaw's  construction.  A 
is  the  main  pallet  projecting  from 
the  verge  or  arbor  of  the  balance, 
concentric  with  which  is  another 
small  pallet,  called  the  lifting  pallet, 
which,  when  the  balance  is  vibra- 
ting from  A  towards  B,  lifts  a  very 
slender  spring  B,  and  with  it  the  detent  spring  C,  so  as  to 
set  at  liberty  or  unlock  the  tooth  D,  the  point  of  which  rests 
on  a  ruby  pin  projecting  from  the  detent  spring  C,  and  form- 
ing the  detent.  The  point  E  of  the  principal  pallet  having 
passed  the  tooth  F,  the  wheel  moves  forward  by  the  action 
of  the  mainspring,  until  the  next  tooth  G  falls  upon  the  ruby 
pin  and  is  locked.  The  screw  H  serves  to  adjust  the  posi- 
tion of  the  detent  and  the  strength  of  the  locking.  In  the 
return  of  the  balance,  the  pallet  A  passes  easily  by  the 
detent  spring  by  forcing  back  the  slender  spring  B.  As  in 
the  case  of  the  duplex,  the  balance  here  makes  two  vibra- 
tions for  each  impulse. 

Maintaining  Power. — In  order  that  a  clock  or  watcli, 
when  perfectly  regulated,  may  continue  to  indicate  tru# 
mean  time,  it  is  necessary  that  it  have  some  contrivance  for 
continuing  the  action  while  it  is  wound  up.  Various  methods 
of  accomplishing  this  have  been  devised.  One  of  the  sim- 
plest consists  in  the  interposition  of  a  spring  between  the 
fusee  and  the  wheel  impelled  by  it,  a  little  inferior  in  force 
to  the  main-spring  (or  weight),  so  as  to  remain  always  bent 
until  the  pressure  of  the  main-spring  is  removed  by  the  ac- 
tion of  winding,  when  it  begins  to  act  upon  a  fixed  point  on 
one  side  and  the  wheel  of  the  fusee  on  the  other,  so  as  to 
propel  the  work  for  a  short  time  with  a  force  nearly  equal 
to  that  of  the  main-spring. 

Some  of  the  other  parts  of  the  mechanism,  .as  the  wheels 
for  moving  the  minute  and  second  hands,  the  striking  part 
of  a  clock,  and  the  repeating  part  of  a  watch,  though  they 
form  a  considerable  part  of  the  bulk  of  the  machine,  require 
no  great  refinement  of  invention  or  dexterity  of  construction, 
and  will  be  better  understood  from  the  inspection  of  a  com 

567 


HOROLOGY. 

mon  clock  and  repeating  watch  than  from  any  description 
mid  be  gh  i  a. 

The  history  of  the  invention  of  clocks  is  very  imperfectly 
known.  By  some  it  has  been  ascribed  to  Paciticus,  arch- 
■  i  Verona,  in  the  9th  century,  and  by  others  to 
Boethius  in  the  early  part  of  the  6th.  The  Saracens  are 
supposed  to  have  had  clucks  which  wen'  moved  by  weights 
as  early  as  the  11th  century  ;  and  as  the  term  is  applied  by 
Dante  to  a  machine  which  struck  the  hunts,  clocks  must 
have  been  known  in  Italy  about  the  end  of  the  t3th  or  be- 
ginning of  the  14th  century.  It  is  said  that  the  first  clock 
made  in  England  was  furnished  out  of  the  proceeds  of  a  fine 
imposed  upon  the  chief  justice  of  the  King's  Bench  in  1288, 
and  that  it  remained  in  its  original  situation,  in  old  Palace 
Yard,  as  late  as  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  In  the  Feign  of 
Richard  II.  a  large  astronomical  clock  was  made  by  Richard 
ot  Wallingford,  abbot  of  St.  Albans,  which  was  regulated  by 
a  fly.  But  the  most  ancient  clock  of  which  we  possess  any 
certain  account  was  erected  in  a  tower  of  the  palace  of 
Charles  V.,  king  of  France,  about  the  year  1304,  by  Henry 
de  YVyck  orde  Vick.  a  (Sermon  artist.  A  clock  was  erected 
at  Strasburg  about  1370,  at  Courtray  about  the  same  period,  i 
and  at  Spire  in  1395.  In  the  following  century  public 
clocks  appear  to  have  existed  in  all  the  principal  towns  of 
Europe,  and  private  ones  to  have  come  into  very  general 
use. 

The  earliest  clocks  were  doubtless  very  rude  and  imper- 
fect instruments,  and  their  present  state  of  excellence  must 
have  been  attained  by  slow  and  successive  improvements. 
Wheel-work,  set  in  motion  by  springs  and  weights,  was 
known  in  the  time  of  Archimedes  ;  and  in  order  to  have  a 
timepiece  it  was  only  necessary  to  apply  some  contrivance 
to  regulate  the  motion.  For  this  purpose  recourse  w 'as  first 
had  to  a  fly  wheel ;  but  it  would  soon  be  found  that  the  fly, 
the  action  of  which  depends  on  the  resistance  of  the  air, 
would  form  a  very  imperfect  regulator.  The  clock  of  Henry 
de  YV'yck,  above  mentioned,  was  regulated  by  an  alternating 
balance,  which  was  formed  by  suspending  two  heavy 
weights  from  a  horizontal  bar  fixed  at  right  angles  to  an 
upright  arbor,  and  the  movement  was  accelerated  or  retard- 
ed by  diminishing  or  increasing  the  distance  of  the  weights 
from  the  arbor.  It  had  no  regulating  spring,  and  the  action 
may  consequently  be  supposed  to  have  been  very  irregular ; 
nevertheless  clocks  regulated  in  this  way  were  used  for 
astronomical  purposes  by  Walther,  Tycho  Brahc,  Mcestlin, 
the  landgrave  of  Hesse,  and  others.  The  capital  improve- 
ment of  the  pendulum  dates  from  about  the  middle  of  the 
I7th  century  ;  but  it  is  very  uncertain  by  whom  the  appli- 
cation was  first  made  or  proposed.  Galileo  was  the  first 
who  remarked,  or  at  least  the  first  who  formally  announced, 
in  his  work  on  mechanics  and  motion,  which  was  published 
in  1039,  the  isochronal  property  of  oscillating  bodies  sus- 
pended by  strings  of  the  same  length  ;  and  it  has  been  pre- 
tended that  he  actually  applied  a  pendulum  to  a  clock  for 
the  purpose  of  observing  eclipses  and  determining  longitudes. 
There  is,  however,  no  proof  of  this  fact,  which  has  been 
strongly  disputed.  Sanctorius,  in  his  Commentary  on  fivi- 
cenna,  describes  an  instrument  to  which  he  had  applied  a 
pendulum  in  1612.  Richard  Harris  is  said  to  have  con- 
structed, in  1641,  a  pendulum  clock  in  London  for  the  church 
of  St.  Paul's,  Covent  Garden.  Vincenzo  Galilei,  a  son  of 
Galileo,  is  stated,  on  the  authority  of  the  Academy  del  (  inn  n- 
fo,  to  have  applied  the  pendulum  in  1649.  It  was  applied 
by  Huygcns  in  1656;  and  by  Hooke,  for  whom  the  invention 
has  in  i  a  claimed,  about  1670.  But  to  whomsoever  the 
merit  may  belong  of  having  first  made  the  application,  Huy- 
gens  is  unquestionably  the  first  who  accurately  explained 
the  theory  of  the  pendulum;  and  hence,  perhaps,  the  in- 
ventim  of  the  pendulum  clock  has  been  usually  ascribed  to 
him.  Huygens  demonstrated  that  the  vibrations  in  circular 
arcs  are  not  independent  of  the  length  of  the  arc,  and  that 
in  order  to  obtain  perfect  Isochronism,  the  ball  of  the  pen- 
dulum must  move  in  the  arc  of  a  cycloid  ;  and,  ingeniously 
implying  a  propertj  of  the  cycloid,  of  which  he  was  the 
discoverer,  namely,  that  its  involute  is  a  curve  similar  to  it 
self,  he  procured  the  requisite  motion  by  causing  the  pendu- 
lum to  vibrate  between  cycloidal  cheeks  about  which  the 
upper  and  flexible  part  of  the  suspending  rod  wrapped  itself 
in  its  motion.    Bui  i:  na   found  thai  no  practical  advantage 

COUld  be  obtained  from  this  beautiful  contrivance;  and  in 
fact  it  was  soon  rendered  unnecessary  by  the  invention  of 
the  anchor  escapement,  which  gives  the  means  of  rendering 

the  arcs  of  vibration   very  small,  in  which  ease  the  error 

depending  on  the  length  of  (he  arc  1 

The  application  of  the  spiral  spring  to  the  balance  is  the 

undoubted  invention  of  Hooke. 

Another  int  ention,  «  hich  marks  an  epoch  In  th 
of  horology,  is  that  of  a  method  of  counteracting  the  effect 
of  changes  of  temperature  on  the  pendulum  rod  and  balance. 
The  mercurial  compensation  pendulum  was  invented  by 

Graham  about  the  year  1715.     Graham  likewise:  suggested 
the  method  of  effecting  the  compensation,  by  means  of  the 
568 


HOSPITALLER. 

unequal  expansions  of  different  metals  ;  an  idea  which  was 
subsequently  realized  by  Harrison  in  the  construction  of 
the  gridiron  pendulum,  which  is  now  very  generally  used. 
The  compensating  apparatus  in  the  watch  balance  depends 
upon  the  same  principle,  but  the  mechanical  arrangement 
lily  very  different     See  Balance. 

For  full  information  on  this  subject  the  reader  is  referred 
to  the  following  works:  Berthoud,  Essai  sur  V Horlogerie ; 
Id.,  Histoire  de  la  Misurt  du  Terns  ;  dimming' s  Elements 
of  Clock  and  Watch- Work ;  Derham's  Artificial  Clock- 
maker  ;  Harrison's  Principles  of  his  Timekeeper;  Earn- 
shaw's  Explanations  of  Timekeepers;  Reid's  Treatise  on 
Clock  and  Watch-making1;  the  article  "Horology"  in  the 
Penny  Cyclopedia,  &c. 

HORO'METRY.  (Gr.  wpa,  and  ptrpov,  measure.)  The 
art  of  measuring  hours. 

HO'ROSCOPE.  (Gr.  S>pa,  and  oa-ottew,  /  observe.)  A 
representation  of  the  aspect  of  the  heavens  and  positions  of 
the  celestial  bodies  at  a  particular  moment,  drawn  according 
to  the  rules  of  the  imaginary  science  of  astrology.  Thus 
the  aspect  of  the  heavens  at  the  moment  of  the  birth  of  an 
individual  is  his  horoscope,  and  supposed  to  indicate  his 
future  destinies.     See  Astrology. 

HO'RPOE.    See  Upupa. 

HORRIPILA'TION.  (Lat.  horror,  and  pilus,  a  hair.) 
The  common  expression  of  the  "  hair  standing  on  end," 
implies  the  shuddering  sensation  to  which  medical  writers 
often  apply  this  term. 

HORSE.     SeeEqvvs.   ■ 

Horse.  In  Nautical  aflairs,  a  foot  rope  to  support  the 
feet  of  the  seamen  while  leaning  over  a  yard  or  boom  to 
furl  the  sail.  Also,  a  rod  or  rope  along  which  the  edge  or 
the  corner  of  a  sail  traverses  by  means  of  hanks. 

HORSE  POWER.  This  term,  as  applied  to  steam-en- 
gines, refers  to  the  weight  which  they  are  capable  of  raising 
to  a  given  height  in  a  given  time.  Watt  estimated  a  single 
horse  power  at  32,000  pounds  avoirdupois  lifted  to  the  height 
of  one  foot  per  minute ;  this  is,  however,  nearly  double  the 
work  of  a  simile  horse  as  usually  applied  to  raising  weights. 

HORSE  RA'DISH,  the  root  of  the  Cochlearia  armoracia, 
which  when  scraped  is  often  eaten  as  a  condiment  and  an 
ingredient  in  sauces,  has  a  place  in  the  .Materia  Medica  as 
a  stimulant,  and  a  compound  spirit  and  compound  infusion 
are  directed  in  the  Pharmacopoeia  :  the  latter  very  soon 
becomes  putrid,  and  neither  are  useful. 

HORSE  SHOE.  In  Fortification,  a  work  of  a  round  or 
oval  form. 

HORTICULTURE.  (Lat.  hortus,  a  garden,  and  colo,  / 
cultivate.)  The  culture  of  the  kitchen  garden  and  orchard. 
In  the  kitchen  garden  are  cultivated  every  description  of 
root,  herb,  flower,  and  fruit,  used  in  cookery ;  and  in  the 
orchard  the  more  hardy  fruits  used  in  cookery,  and  in  the 
dessert.  The  finer  fruits  are  grown  against  espaliers,  walls, 
hot  walls,  or  under  glass.  The  chief  difference  between 
horticulture  and  agriculture  is,  that  in  the  former  art  the 
culture  is  performed  by  manual  labour  in  a  comparatively 
limited  space  called  a  garden  ;  while  in  the  latter  it  is  per- 
formed jointly  by  human  and  animal  labour  in  fields,  or  in 
an  extensive  tract  of  ground  called  a  farm.  See  Gardening, 
Agriculture,  and  Farming. 

HO'RTUS  SICCUS.  A  collection  of  dried  plants  pre- 
served in  books  or  papers. 

HOSA'NNA.  (Heb.)  An  exclamation,  signifying  lite- 
rally save  now.  This  Hebrew  word  occurs  only  once  in 
the  Old  Test.,  viz.  Psalm  cxviii.  25.  This  psalm  is  the  last 
of  those  which  compose  the  "great  Hallcl.  ;"  and  hence, 
perhaps,  this  invocation  was  used  by  those  who  conducted 
our  Saviour  into  Jerusalem.  (Matt,  xxi.,  Mark  xi.,  John  xii.) 
It  was  afterwards  commonly  adopted  in  the  church.  (Rid- 
dle's Christian  Antiquities,  p.  335. ) 

HOSIERY.    See  Woollen  Manufacture. 

HO'SPITAL.  (Fr.  hopital.)  In  Architecture,  a  building 
raised  and  endowed  for  the  reception  of  persons  incapable 
of  supporting  themselves  and  procuring  medical  .assistance, 

or  as  o  refuge  for  the  unfortunate  or  needy.    Many  of  the 

charitable  institutions  in  Great  Britain  are  called  hospitals; 
and    are    incorporated    bodies,    possessed    of  greal    wealth, 

which  is  expended  in  the  support  of  schools,  &c.  (See 
M'Culloch's  statistics;  De  Gcrando  dc  la  Jiioifaisance 
publique,  vol.  Iv.,  hook  3.) 

HOSPITAL  GANGRENE.  A  species  of  ulcerating  gan- 
grene, peculiarly  characterized  by  its  infectious  nature,  and 
its  tendency  to  attack  wounds  or  ulcers  in  crowded  hospi- 
tals. 

HO'SPITALLER,  in  its  original  acceptation,  was  applied 
(0  certain  religious  bodies,  who  held  it  their  duty  to  provide 

lodging  and  entertal nl  for  those  persons  engaged  in  pil- 

One  of  the  most  celebrated  institutions  of  this 

kind  was  that  at  Jerusalem, Which  gave  its  mime  and  origin 

to  the  Knights  Hospitallers  ■  a  well-known  religious  body, 

instituted  about  the  end  of  the  1 1th  or  the  beginning  of  the 
12th  century.    They  soon  afterwards  settled  permanently 


HOSPITIUM. 

in  England,  and  gradually  attached  a  degree  of  wealth  and 
importance  unequalled  in  the  history'  of  similar  bodies. 
They  followed  the  rule  of  St.  Austin,  and  wore  a  black 
habit  with  a  white  cross  upon  it  At  their  original  institu- 
tion they  were  styled  Knights  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem  ; 
afterwards  Knights  of  Rhodes,  and  again  Knights  of  Malta, 
these  two  islands  having  been  successfully  conferred  on 
them  by  different  monarcbs.  See  St.  John  of  Jerusalem, 
Knights  of. 

HOSPI'TIUM  (Lat.),  signifies  in  general  a  place  or  inn  for 
the  reception  of  strangers,  in  which  sense  it  is  used  by  old 
writers ;  but  it  is  in  modern  times  almost  wholly  restricted 
to  the  celebrated  inns  on  St.  Bernard  and  St.  Gothard,  in 
Switzerland,  to  which  travellers  to  and  from  Italy  resort. 

HO'SPODAR,  or  WOIWODE.  The  lieutenants  appoint- 
ed by  the  Porte  to  govern  the  two  Christian  provinces  of 
Moldavia  and  Wallachia  are  so  called.  By  the  treaty  of 
Adrianople  between  Prussia  and  Turkey  (1829),  these  officers 
are  to  hold  their  appointments  for  life,  and  to  pay  a  fixed 
annual  tribute. 

HOST  (from  the  Latin  hostia,  a  victim),  is  applied  in 
Theological  language  to  the  bread  and  wine  under  the  ap- 
pearance of  which  the  Koman  Catholics  conceive  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ  to  be  present  upon  the  altar.  The  ele- 
vation of  the  Host  is  a  ceremony  prevalent  in  all  Catholic 
countries,  in  which  the  consecrated  elements  are  raised  aloft 
and  carried  in  procession  through  a  church,  or  even  through 
the  streets  of  a  city.  On  these  occasions  the  people  fall  on 
their  knees  and  worship  the  Host.  The  origin  of  the  custom 
is  dated  from  the  12th  century,  when,  it  is  said,  it  was  thought 
necessary  to  make  this  public  and  conspicuous  declaration 
of  the  Eucharist  on  the  occasion  of  the  promulgation  of  the 
opinions  of  Berengarius  against  transnbstantiation. 

HO'STAGE.  (Lat.  hospes,  guest.)  A  person  left  as  surety 
for  the  performance  of  the  articles  of  a  treaty.  The  practice 
of  taking  hostages  is  now  almost  unknown  in  the  mutual 
relations  of  civilized  communities,  but  was  formerly  so  com- 
mon as  to  have  given  rise  to  many  questions  in  the  law  of 
nations.  Hostages  were  divided  into  principal  and  accessa- 
ry, the  latter  being  where  it  is  expressly  stipulated  by  treaty 
that  the  hostage  shall  be  answerable  for  the  event.  One  of 
the  points  debated  among  civilians  on  this  subject  was, 
whether  such  a  hostage  could  lawfully  stake  his  life,  and 
whether,  in  the  event  of  his  doing  so,  it  was  lawful  to  take  it. 
The  affirmative  was  argued  from  the  most  ancient  example 
of  hostageship  on  record— Reuben's  words  to  Jacob,  "  slay 
my  two  sons  if  I  bring  not  Benjamin  back."  According  to 
Philip  de  Comines,  the  Liegois  having  given  hostages  to 
Charles  Duke  of  Burgundy,  with  express  power  to  put  them 
to  death  in  the  event  of  an  infraction  of  the  treaty,  and  that 
event  having  taken  place,  it  was  much  debated  in  the  coun- 
cil whether  the  power  should  not  be  carried  into  execution  ; 
and  after  much  discussion  their  lives  were  spared.  It  has 
also  been  questioned  whether  a  hostage  can  be  delivered 
up  against  his  will :  Grotius  decides  in  the  affirmative.  The 
extent  of  the  rights  of  conquerors  over  hostages,  the  events 
which  may  dissolve  their  obligation,  the  effect  of  their  escape 
upon  the  convention  between  the  principals,  and  other  points 
of  the  subject,  are  treated  at  length  by  writers  on  national 
law. 

HOTCHPOT,  in  Law,  is  a  blending  or  mixing  together  of 
lands  given  in  marriage  with  lands  in  fee  falling  by  descent. 
As  if  A.  had  two  daughters,  and  gives  a  third  part  of  his 
lands  in  marriage  with  one  of  them  to  her  husband,  and 
dies  seised  of  the  other  two  thirds  :  in  order  to  acquire  any 
farther  share  of  these  lands,  the  married  daughter  must 
bring  the  lands  first  given  into  hotchpot ;  that  is,  she  must 
renounce  the  gift,  and  allow  the  land  to  be  confovmded  with 
the  rest,  in  order  that  she  may  inherit  her  whole  share; 
otherwise  her  sister  will  have  the  remaining  two  thirds  of 
the  lands.  There  is  also  a  rule  of  hotchpot  with  respect  to 
the  distribution  of  personal  property  within  the  stat.  22  &  23 
C.  2,  c.  10 ;  as,  where  a  certain  sum  is  to  be  raised  and  paid 
to  a  daughter  for  her  portion  by  a  marriage  settlement,  if  the 
daughter  would  have  any  farther  share  of  her  father's  per- 
sonal estate  she  must  bring  this  money  into  hotchpot,  and 
allow  it  to  form  part  of  the  distributable  residue. 

HOTE'L  (Fr.),  signifies,  in  a  general  sense,  a  large  inn  for 
the  reception  of  strangers ;  but  in  a  particular  sense,  espe- 
cially in  France,  it  is  applied  to  the  residences  of  the  king, 
nobility,  or  other  persons  of  rank:  or  it  is  used  synon- 
ymously with  hospital,  as  the  Hotel  Dieu,  Hotel  des  Inaa- 
lides,  &c. 

HO'THOUSE.  A  general  term  for  the  glass  structures 
used  in  gardening,  and  including  stoves,  greenhouses,  orange 
ries,  and  conservatories.  Pits  and  frames  are  garden  struc- 
tures with  glass  roofs,  with  the  sides  and  ends  of  masonry 
or  wood  ;  but  they  are  generally  so  low  as  not  to  admit  of 
being  entered  and  walked  in,  and  this  seems  to  prevent  them 
from  being  included  under  the  term  hothouse.  Sec  Stove, 
Greenhouse,  Pits  and  Frames. 
HOTVVALL.     In  Gardening,  walls  for  the  growth  of 


HOUSE. 

fruit-trees,  which  arc  built  with  flues  or  other  contrivancef 
for  being  heated  in  severe  weather,  so  as  to  facilitate  the 
ripening  of  the  wood  or  the  maturity  of  the  fruit.  The  most 
common  form  of  hotwalls  is  that  in  which  flues  or  tunnels 
are  conducted  through  them,  into  which  the  smoke  and 
heated  air  from  fires  are  made  to  ascend  from  a  furnace  at 
the  bottom  of  the  wall  to  a  chimney  on  the  top;  but  in  soma 
cases  hotwalls  are  formed  by  constructing  the  entire  wall 
hollow,  tying  the  two  sides  together  by  cross-stones  or  bricks, 
and  introducing  heat  by  means  of  pipes  of  metal  containing 
steam  or  hot  water  along  the  bottom  of  the  vacuity,  the  heat 
of  which  rises  to  the  top  of  the  wall,  and  heats  every  part 
in  its  progress.  In  all  climates  north  of  the  meridian  of  Lon- 
don, hotwalls  are  of  great  use  for  ripening  fruits  and  young 
shoots,  and  preserving  tender  plants.     See  Wall. 

HOUNDS.  In  Naval  Architecture,  the  projecting  parts 
of  the  sides  of  the  mast,  near  its  head,  which,  like  shoulder^ 
support  the  rigging,  &c. 

HOUR,  in  its  general  acceptation,  denotes  the  twenty- 
fourth  part  of  a  mean  solar  day,  or  of  the  time  in  which  the 
earth  makes  a  complete  revolution  in  respect  of  the  sun. 
The  division  of  the  artificial  day,  or  time  from  sunrise  to 
sunset,  into  twelve  equal  parts,  belongs  to  the  remotest  ages 
of  antiquity  (see  Goguct,  Origine  des  Loix,  &c.) ;  the  divis- 
ion of  the  night  into  the  same  number  of  parts  was  intro- 
duced at  Rome  in  the  time  of  the  Punic  wars.  The  Italians 
make  the  day  commence  at  sunset,  and  reckon  on  to  twenty- 
four  hours,  or  to  the  succeeding  sunset  Astronomers  also 
reckon  twenty-four  hours  from  midday  to  midday ;  but  in 
the  civil  reckoning  only  twelve  hours  are  counted,  namely, 
from  midnight  to  midday,  and  from  midday  to  midnight. 
The  hours  which  result  from  the  division  of  the  artificial 
day  into  twelve  parts  are  called  temporary  hours,  from  being 
of  unequal  lengths  at  the  different  seasons  of  the  vear. 

HOUR  CIRCLES,  or  HORARY  CIRCLES.  The  same 
as  meridians ;  being  great  circles  of  the  sphere  perpendicular 
to  the  equator,  and  their  planes  making  with  each  other  an- 
gles of  fifteen  degrees. 

HOUR-GLASS.  A  species  of  chronometer  or  clepsydra, 
measuring  intervals  of  time  by  the  running  of  water  or  sand 
from  one  glass  into  another. 

HOU'RIS.  The  name  given  by  the  Europeans  to  the 
imaginary  beings  whose  company  in  the  Mohammedan 
paradise  is  to  form  the  principal  felicity  of  the  believers. 
The  name  is  derived  from  hur  al  oyun,  signifying  black-eyed. 
They  are  represented  in  the  Koran  as  most  beautiful  virgins, 
with  complexions  like  rubies  and  pearls,  and  possessed  of 
every  intellectual  and  corporeal  charm.  They  are  not 
created  of  clay,  as  mortal  women,  but  of  pure  musk;  and 
are  endowed  with  immortal  youth,  and  immunity  from  the 
diseases  and  defects  of  ordinary  beings.  (See  Koran,  chap. 
55,  56,  Sale's  translation  ;  and  the  Prel.  Discourse,  s.  4.) 

HOURS.  (Gr.  'Slpai.)  In  Mythology,  divinities  regarded 
in  two  points  of  view — as  the  goddesses  of  the  seasons,  and 
hours  of  the  day ;  and  their  number  is  stated  in  different 
ways  accordingly.  Their  duty  was  to  hold  the  gates  of 
heaven,  which  they  opened  to  send  forth  the  chariot  of  the 
sun  in  the  morning,  and  receive  it  again  in  the  evening.  No 
classical  poet  has  described  them  with  greater  beauty  than 
Shelley,  in  a  celebrated  passage  of  his  Prometheus  Unbound. 
These  goddesses  are  often  depicted  as  forming  the  train  of 
Venus.  (See  Homer.  Hymn,  ad  Ven^\A5\  Hes.,  Erg.,  vet. 
75,  and  Hymn,  ad  Spoil.,  ver.  194 ;  see  also  Gray's  Ode  on 
the  Spring.) 

HOURS,  CANONICAL.  The  seven  hours  of  prayer. 
observed,  it  is  said,  by  the  Catholic  Church  since  the  5th 
century  :  chiefly  in  monasteries.  The  number  seems  before 
that  time  to  have  varied,  although  some  peculiar  seasons  of 
the  day  and  night  were  always  set  apart  for  this  observance. 
They  became  finally  fixed  at  seven  by  the  rule  of  S'.  Bene- 
dict: a  number,  perhaps,  recommended  by  the  literal  accep- 
tation of  the  words  of  David  (Psalm  cxix.),  "  Seven  times  a 
clay  will  I  praise  thee."  These  hours  are  termed,  in  the 
language  of  the  Latin  Church,  matins,  prima,  tertia,  nona, 
vespers,  completa  or  completorium,  which  last  takes  place 
at  midnight.  At  the  time  of  the  Reformation  the  canonical 
hours  were  reduced  in  the  Lutheran  Church  to  two,  morning 
and  evening ;  the  "  reformed"  church  never  observed  them. 
(See  Bingham's  Ant.  Keel.,  5;  Riddle's  Christian  Ant.; 
Erseh  and  Gruber's  Encycl.,  "Horae.") 

HOUSE.  (Germ,  haus.)  A  human  habitation,  or  place 
of  abode  of  a  family.  Among  the  Eastern  nations,  and  those 
to  the  south,  houses  are  flat  on  the  top.  with  the  ascent  to 
the  upper  story  bv  steps  on  the  outside.  As  we  proceed 
northward,  a  declivity  of  the  roof  becomes  requisite  to 
throw  off  the  rain  and  snow,  which  are  of  greater  continu- 
ance in  higher  latitudes.  Among  the  ancient  Greeks,  Ro- 
mans, and  Jews,  the  houses  usual Iv  enclosed  a  quadrangular 
area  or  court,  open  to  the  sky.  This  part  of  the  house  was 
by  the  Romans  called  the  imp/uvium,  or  cavirdium,  and  was 
provided  with  channels  to  carry  oft' the  waters  into  the  sew- 
ers. Both  the  Roman  and  Greek  house  is  described  by 
Mm*  569 


HOUSEHOLDER. 

Vitruvius,  to  whose  works  we  must  refer  the  reader  for  far- 
ther information  on  these  heads.  The  word  housr  is  a  term 
used  in  various  ways;  as  in  the  phrase  "a  religious  house," 
oither  the  buildings  of  a  monastery,  or  the  community  of  per- 
sons  inhabiting  them,  may  be  designated.  In  the  middle 
ages,  when  a  family  retired  to  the  lodge  connected  with  the 
mansion,  or  to  their  country-seat,  it  w;is  called  "keeping 
their  secret  house."  (See A.  ,■//(« /«/-,  rland  Household  Book?) 
Every  gradation  of  building  for  habitation,  from  the  cottage 
to  the  palace,  Is  embraced  by  the  word  bouse ;  so  that  to  give 
a  full  account  of  the  requisites  of  each  would  occupy  more 
space  than  could  be  devoted  to  the  subject  in  this  work: 
indeed,  to  say  more  would  be  to  write  a  treatise  on  domestic 
architecture. 

HOUSEHOLDER.  In  Law,  the  occupier  of  a  house. 
Where  the  right  of  voting  for  members  of  parliament  is  in 
inhabitant  householders,  it  has  been  settled  by  a  current  of 
decisions  that  no  one  is  to  be  considered  as  such  who  does 
not  possess  the  exclusive  right  to  the  use  of  the  outward  door 
of  the  building,  lie  retains  the  character,  however,  although 
by  taking  inmates  he  may  for  a  time  have  relinquished  the 
exercise  of  that  exclusive  right.  The  "  outward  door,"  to 
satisfy  this  description,  need  not  be  a  door  opening  on  the 
public  way;  a  room  or  set  of  rooms  having  a  separate  and 
exclusive  outward  door  (as  chambers  in  one  of  the  Inns  of 
Court)  may  in  the  eye  of  law  constitute  a  house.  The 
same  principle  is  followed  in  criminal  law,  where,  to  consti- 
tute the  offence  of  burglary,  it  is  necessary  that  a  "house" 
shall  have  been  broken  and  entered. 

HOUSEHOLD,  THE  KING'S.  The  chief  officers  of  the 
king's  household  are:  1.  The  lord  chamberlain;  under 
whom  are  the  vice-chamberlain,  groom  of  the  stole,  lords  of 
the  bedchamber,  gentlemen  of  the  privy  chamber,  &c.  2. 
The  lord  steward ;  in  whose  office  are  the  treasurer  and 
comptroller  of  the  household,  yeomen  of  the  guard,  gentle- 
men pensioners,  master  of  the  horse,  &c. 

HOUSEHOLD  TROOPS.     See  Guards. 

HOUSE  OF  CORRECTION.  A  prison  for  the  punish- 
ment of  idle  and  disorderly  persons,  vagrants,  trespassers, 
&c.  They  are  regulated  by  4  G.  4,  c.  64,  and  other  statutes. 
See  Bridewell,  Prison. 

HOU'SING.  (From  house.)  In  Architecture,  the  space 
taken  out  of  one  solid  to  admit  of  the  insertion  of  another. 

HO'VEL.  An  open  shed  for  sheltering  cattle,  for  pro- 
tecting produce  or  materials  of  different  kinds  from  the 
weather,  or  for  performing  various  country  operations  during 
heavv  rains,  falls  of  snow,  or  severe  frosts. 

HOWITZER.  (Germ,  haufen,  to  Jill  up.)  A  species  of 
mortar,  or  piece  of  ordnance,  of  iron  or  brass.  The  iron 
howitzers  used  in  the  British  service  are  four  or  five  feet 
long,  and  eight  or  ten  inches  diameter. 

HOY.     A  small  vessel  having  generally  one  mast. 

HUBERT,  ORDER  OF  SAINT.  The  highest  Bavarian 
order  of  knighthood,  founded  in  1444. 

HUE  AND  CRY.  In  Law,  the  common  process  of  pur- 
suing a  felon.  This  custom  is  of  ancient  origin,  and  evi- 
dently arose  from  the  practice  of  pursuing  the  offender  with 
a  loud  outcry,  that  all  might  try  to  bring  him  to  justice. 

HU  GUENOTS.  In  French  History,  a  name  given  in 
the  sixteenth  century  to  the  Protestants  or  Calvinists  of 
France.  The  writers  of  that  time  were  not  acquainted  with 
the  true  derivation  of  ibis  popular  nickname,  to  which  they 
assigned  various  absurd  etymologies;  it  is,  undoubtedly,  a 
corruption  of  the  German  "  Eidgenossen,"  signifying  the 
Swiss  confederates.  Geneva  was  the  literary  and  ecclesias- 
tical  metropolis  of  the  French  reformed;  and,  consequently, 
they  were  naturally  confounded,  in  the  eye  of  the  Catholic 
populace,  with  the  Swiss,  who  supported  that  republic  by 
their  alliance.  After  a  long  period,  during  which  they  in- 
creased in  numbers  under  occasional  persecution  (under 
Francis  I.  and  Henry  II.),  a  large  party  of  the  Huguenots  took 
part  in  the  conspiracy  of  Amboise  in  1560;  and  although 
the  free  exercise  of  their  religion  was  secured  to  them  by 
the  edict  of  January  (1562),  yet  they  were  driven  by  the 
violations  of  thai  edict  to  take  ap  arms  against  the  govern- 
ment of  Francis  H.  in  the  same  year.  At  that  period  their 
leaders  were  of  the  houses  of  Bourbon  (King  of  Navarre 
and  Prince  of  Condi'-;  and  Chatillon  (the  Admiral  Coll 
They  were  powerful  in  numbers,  and  stHI  more  in  wealth 
and  consequence.  A  verj  large  proportion  of  the  higher 
nobility  ;  of  the  middle  nobility  and  gentry,  especially  in  the 
centrai  and  south-western  parts  of  fiance;  (he  whole  or 
greater  part  of  the  population  in  some  towns,  as  Rouen,  La 
Rochelle,  Dieppe,  nismes;  finally,  a  large  body  among  the 
peasantry  in  some  districts,  especially  of  the  south,  where 
the  doctrines  of  the  Alhigcois  were  never  fully  extinguish- 
ed— these  belonged  to  their  party.  But  during  the  religious 
wars  of  the  16th  century  they  gradually  lost  ground  under 
the  increasing  zeal  and  fanaticism  of  the  great  Catholic 
body;  and  after  the  conversion  of  Henry  IV.  most  of  their 
duel's  among  the  nobility  successively  abandoned  the  faith. 
Tliey  sustained  two  civil  wars  in  the  following  century 
570 


HUNDRED. 

against  Louis  XIII.,  which  cost  them  the  loss  of  the  strong 
places  which  they  had  held,  and  of  many  Of  their  privileges. 
The  history  of  the  Protestant  Church  is  "France  then  ceased 
to  be  the  history  of  a  political  party;  and  the  name  of  Hu- 
guenots, about  the  same  time,  began  to  pass  out  of  ordinary 
use.  De  Thou,  Davila,  D'Aubigny,  Lanoue,  are  perhaps 
the  most  valuable  of  the  numerous  cotemporary  historians 

of  the  16th  century.     Of  modem   i ipilations,  Smedlejfs 

History  of  the  Religious  liars  of  Franc i  ;  Wrnxnll;  Sis- 
mondi,  vols.  xvi.  to  xx. ;  Browning's  History  of  the  Jfugo- 
nots  from  the  Edict  uf  JVantes,  a  useful  compendium,  with 
references  to  the  best  authorities,  published  in  le'3'J. 

HUI'SSIER.  (Fr.  from  the  old  word  huis,  a  door ;  whence 
our  usher.)  Executive  officers  in  the  French  courts  of  jus- 
tice, whose  original  function  was  to  keep  the  door  of  the 
tribunal.  Such  officers  were  styled  by  the  Romans  appari- 
tores,  col ioi  tales,  cxecutores,  and  by  a  variety  of  other  names. 
In  France  the  huissiers  were  originally  a  •subdivision  of  the 
general  class  of  servientes,  sergens ;  but  afterwards  these 
latter  came  to  be  called  indiscriminately  huissiers.  Their 
functions  are  now  numerous  and  important.  They  give 
notice  on  behalf  of,  and  execute  the  processes  of  the  courts 
to  which  they  are  attached,  both  civil  and  criminal.  Those 
of  the  Court  of  Cassation  are  appointed  by  itself;  those  of 
the  Cours  Royale  on  the  recommendation  of  those  courts ; 
those  of  courts  of  commerce  by  the  government.  The  officers 
termed  huissiers-priseurs,  or  commissaires-priseurs,  arc  em- 
ployed as  appraisers  at  public  sale-. 

HU'LFSTON.  (Germ.)  In  Music,  the  secondary  or  su- 
perior note  in  a  shake.     Sec  Haupt  Ton. 

HULK.  The  name  given  to  an  old  ship  laid  by  as  unfit 
for  farther  service.  The  hulks  near  Woolwich  consist  of 
old  ships  to  which  convicts  are  sent  previously  to  their  de- 
parture from  the  country. 

HULL.  The  body  of  a  ship,  exclusive  of  the  masts,  rig- 
ging, &c. 

Hull  down,  expresses  that  the  hull  of  the  ship  is  concealed 
by  the  convexity  of  the  sea. 

HUMANITA'RIAN.  A  term  sometimes  applied  to  those 
who  deny  the  divinity  of  Christ,  and  assert  him  to  have  been 
mere  man.  This,  however,  is  more  than  the  word  exactly 
signifies,  and  the  term  Psilanthropist,  or  mere  Humanitarian, 
has  been  suggested  as  conveying  the  idea  more  precisely. 
Sec  Socinian,  Unitarian. 

HUMANITIES.  A  word  employed  in  modern  Eu- 
ropean schools  nnd  colleges  of  various  nations,  to  signify 
grammar,  rhetoric,  and  poetry,  including  the  study  of  the 
ancient  classics.  It  has  the  same  sense  with  polite  litera- 
ture. A  student  in  humanities  (litera:  humaniores)  is  term- 
ed a  humanist. 

HUMBLE  BEE.    Sec  Mellifera. 

HU'MOBLDTINE.  A  native  oxalate  of  the  protoxide  of 
iron.  It  occurs  crystalline  and  massive,  and  of  a  yellow 
colour;  the  massive  variety  is  earthy  and  greenish  yellow. 

HU'MBOLDTITE.  A  name  given  to  a  variety  .of  Dar 
tholite,  or  borosilicate  of  lime.  It  occurs  crystallized.  These 
minerals  are  named  in  honour  of  Humboldt,  the  celebrated 
traveller. 

HU'MERUS.  (Lat.)  The  bone  of  the  arm.  The  first 
of  the  radiated  system  of  bones  of  the  anterior  extremity, 
articulated  with  the  scapula  in  the  vertebrated  animals.  In 
Entomology,  Mr.  Kirby  so  calls  the  third  joint  of  the  anterior 
pair  of  lees  m  Hexapod  insects. 

HU'MIFU'SUS  (Lat.  humus,  the  ground,  and  fundo,  / 
pour  or  spread  out),  in  Botany,  denotes  the  spreading  of 
plants  over  the  surface  of  the  ground:  procumbent. 

HUMIRIA'CE/E.  (Huniirium,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  arborescent  or  shrubby  Exogens,  inhabiting 
Brazil,  but  not  very  well   understood.    They  differ  from 

Mcliaceai  m  their  albuminous  Beads  and  their  slender  em- 
bryo; agreeing  in  the  latter  respect,  and  in  their  balsamic 
wood,  with  Styracete.  Humirium  floribundum  yields,  on 
being  wounded,  a  liquid  yellow  balsam,  called  Balsam  of 
I'miri,  resembling  the  properties  of  Copaiva  and  Balsam 
ofTolu. 

HTJ'MTTE.  A  mineral  named  in  honour  of  Sir  Abraham 
Hume,  in  whose  celebrated  collection  it  was  found.  It  oc- 
curs in  yellow  brown  or  colourless  crystals  on  Monte  Som- 
ma.    It  has  not  been  analyzed. 

HI  ".M.MING   BIRD.     See  Trocuilus. 

HUMOUR.     Set  Wit. 

HU'MOURS  OF  THE  EYE.     Sec  Eye. 

HUNDRED.  A  hundred  is  a  territorial  division,  having 
for  il  -  Object  the  more  convenient  and  efficient  administration 
of  justice;  anciently  subsisting  in  other  countries,  particu- 
larly France  and  Lombard}-,  as  well  as  in  England,  and 
adopted  in  this  country  as  the  subdivision  of  a  county.  The 
institution  of  the  hundred,  as  well  as  that  of  the  county  and 
tything,  is.  upon  no  precise  authority,  usually  referred  to  the 
reign  of  Alfred ;  but  it  is  probable  that  the  division  was  of  an 

older  date,  and  that  it  was  not  introduced  into  all  parts  of 
England  at  the  same  time.    It  is  certain,  at  any  rate,  that 


HUNDRED  WEIGHT. 

the  term  had  not,  in  all  parts,  the  same  application ;  for 
the  meaning  usually  given  to  it,  namely,  that  of  a  district 
containing  a  hundred  free  families,  even  if  it  be  reconcilable 
with  what  appears  to  have  been  in  early  times  the  state  of 
the  population  in  the  southern  counties,  is  totally  inconsistent 
with  any  reasonable  conjecture  as  to  the  population  of  the 
north,  where  the  hundred  generally  includes  a  much  larger 
district.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  the  term,  having 
originated  in  the  south  with  the  meaning  stated,  was  subse- 
quently applied  to  the  divisions  previously  established  in  the 
northern  counties  under  the  name  of  Wapentakes.  To  each 
hundred  belonged  a  court  baron,  similar  in  the  nature  and 
extent  of  its  jurisdiction  to  the  county  court,  and  also  a  court 
leet  (see  tit.  Leet)  ;  both  of  which  were  usually,  and  by  the 
common  law,  held  either  by  the  sheriff,  or  by  a  deputy  or 
steward  having  authority  under  him.  But  in  some  cases 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  baron  and  court  leet,  or  of  one 
of  them,  within  the  hundred,  was  by  special  grant  of  the 
crown  vested  in  private  persons,  and  exercised  by  them  or 
their  deputies.  The  essential  use  of  the  hundred  was  in  the 
liability  of  the  hundreders,  when  offences  were  committed 
within  their  district,  either  to  produce  the  offender,  or  make 
good  the  damage.  This  liability,  much  restricted  by  statute, 
still  subsists  in  certain  cases  of  riotous  and  wilful  mischief. 
The  division  into  hundreds  is  frequently  used  in  acts  of  par- 
liament as  a  convenient  mode  of  reference. 

HU'NDRED  WEIGHT.  A  denomination  of  weight  con- 
taining 112  pounds.  It  is  subdivided  into  4  quarters,  each 
containing  28  pounds.     See  Weights. 

HUNTERS.  Venantes.  A  tribe  of  spiders  are  so  called 
which  are  incessantly  running  or  leaping  about  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  their  abode,  to  chase  and  seize  their  prey. 

HU'RDLE.  A  frame  usually  made  of  wood,  but  some- 
times of  iron,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  temporary  fences. 
The  frame  consists  of  two  perpendicular  stakes,  into  which 
are  fixed  five  or  six  horizontal  bars,  and  the  whole  is  braced 
together  by  one  or  two  diagonal  pieces.  When  a  fence  is 
to  be  formed,  the  hurdles  are  put  down  end  to  end ;  and 
they  are  made  fast  to  the  ground  by  the  insertion  of  the 
lower  end  of  the  stakes  into  it,  and  to  one  another  by  a  tie 
fastened  round  their  upper  ends,  or  by  a  movable  wooden 
pin  passed  through  them. 

UURO'XIA.  A  name  given  by  Mr.  Charles  Stokes  to 
certain  radiated  articulated  bodies  formerly  referred  to  the 
Polyparia,  found  in  the  transition  limestone  of  Lake  Huron. 
(Geol.  Trans.,  vol.  i.,  New  Series.) 

HU'RRICANE.  (Span,  huracan.)  A  violent  storm, 
generally  accompanied  by  thunder  and  lightning,  and  dis- 
tinguished from  every  other  kind  of  tempest  by  the  vehe- 
mence of  the  wind,  and  the  sudden  changes  to  which  it  is 
subject.  Hurricanes  prevail  chiefly  in  the  East  and  West 
Indies,  the  Isle  of  France,  and  in  some  parts  of  China.  The 
following  graphic  description  of  the  usual  phenomena  at- 
tending the  West  Indian  hurricanes,  from  the  pen  of  Edmund 
Burke,  may  be  interesting  to  the  reader :  "  It  is  in  the  rainy 
season,  principally  in  the  month  of  August,  more  rarely  in 
July  and  September,  that  they  are  assaulted  by  hurricanes, 
the  most  terrible  calamity  to  which  they  are  subject  from 
the  climate.  This  destroys  at  one  stroke  the  labour  of 
many  years,  and  frustrates  the  most  exalted  hopes  of  the 
planter,  and  often  just  at  the  moment  when  he  thinks  him- 
self out  of  the  reach  of  fortune.  It  is  a  sudden  and  violent 
storm  of  wind,  rain,  thunder,  and  lightning,  attended  with  a 
furious  swelling  of  the  sea,  and  sometimes  with  an  earth- 
quake ;  in  short,  with  even.'  circumstance  which  the  ele- 
ments can  assemble  that  is  terrible  and  destructive.  First 
they  see,  as  a  prelude  to  the  ensuing  havoc,  whole  fields  of 
sugar-canes  whirled  into  the  air,  and  scattered  over  the  face 
of  the  country.  The  strongest  trees  of  the  forest  are  torn  up 
by  the  roots  and  driven  about  like  stubble.  Their  wind- 
mills are  swept  away  in  a  moment.  Their  works,  their 
fixtures,  the  ponderous  copper-boilers  and  stills  of  several 
hundred  weight,  are  wTrenched  from  the  ground  and  bat- 
tered to  pieces.  Their  houses  are  no  protection ;  the  roofs 
are  torn  off  at  one  blast,  while  the  rain,  which  in  an  hour 
rises  five  feet,  rushes  in  upon  them  with  an  irresistible  vio- 
lence. There  are  signs  which  the  Indians  of  these  islands 
taught  our  planters,  by  which  they  can  prognosticate  the 
approach  of  a  hurricane.  It  comes  on  either  in  the  quar- 
ters, or  at  the  full  or  change  of  the  moon.  If  it  will  come 
on  at  the  full  moon,  you  being  at  the  change,  observe  these 
signs.  That  day  you  will  see  the  sky  very  turbulent.  You 
will  observe  the  sun  more  red  than  at  other  times.  You 
will  perceive  a  dead  calm,  and  the  hills  clear  of  all  those 
clouds  and  mists  which  usually  hover  about  them.  In  the 
clefts  of  the  earth,  and  in  the  wells,  you  will  hear  a  hollow, 
rumbling  sound  like  the  rushing  of  a  great  wind.  At  night 
the  stars  seem  much  larger  than  usual,  and  surrounded  with 
a  sort  of  burs.  The  north-west  sky  has  a  sort  of  menacing 
look,  and  the  sea  emits  a  strong  smell,  and  rises  into  vast 
waves,  often  without  any  wind.  The  wind  itself  now  for- 
sakes its  usually  steady  easterly  stream,  and  shifts  about  to 


HUSTINGS. 

the  west,  from  whence  it  sometimes  blows  with  intermis- 
sions violently  and  irregularly  for  about  two  hours  at  a 
time.  You  have  the  same  signs  at  the  full  of  the  moon. 
The  moon  itself  is  surrounded  with  a  great  bur,  and  some- 
times the  sun  has  the  same  appearance."  See  Storms, 
Tornado. 

HURST.  (Sax.)  A  wood ;  hence  the  termination  of  the 
names  of  several  places  in  England,  particularly  in  Kent 
and  Sussex. 

HU'SBANDRY.  A  comparatively  primitive  term,  in- 
cluding both  agriculture  and  gardening,  or  all  those  country 
occupations  which  the  father  of  a  family  is  expected  to  per- 
form in  the  country.  The  term  is  very  commonly  used  as 
synonymous  with  agriculture.  The  Berwickshire  hus- 
bandry, the  convertible  husbandry,  are  terms  used  in  agri- 
culture for  certain  systems  of  cropping,  in  which  the  land  is 
alternately  kept  under  grass  and  tillage. 

HUSSA'RS.  A  name  given  to  some  well-known  eques- 
trian troops,  used  in  all  the  armies  of  Europe.  The  term  is 
of  Hungarian  origin  (being  derived  from  busz,  twenty,  and 
ar,  pay,  every  twenty  houses  furnishing  one  man),  and  was 
first  applied  to  the  body  of  troops  raised  by  the  nobles  of 
Hungary  on  occasion  of  the  appeal  made  to  the  latter  in 
1458  by  Mathias  Corvin.  The  equipments  of  such  troops 
are  extremely  light  and  elegant,  and  their  arms  consist  of  a 
sabre,  a  carbine,  and  a  pair  of  pistols.  In  the  British  cav- 
alry there  are  five  regiments  of  Hussars. 

HU'SSITES.  The  followers  of  John  Huss,  a  Bohemian 
reformer  and  divine,  who  was  convicted  of  heresy  by  the 
Council  of  Constance,  and  burnt  by  order  of  the  Emperor  of 
Germany,  in  1415.  The  circumstances  attending  the  origin 
of  this  sect  are  interesting,  inasmuch  as  while,  on  the  one 
hand,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  writings  of  Huss  and 
Jerome  of  Prague  were  the  source  from  which  Luther  drew 
a  great  part  of  his  opinions  and  views,  it  is  ascertained  at 
the  same  time  that  it  was  from  the  books  of  Wiclif  that 
Huss  was  himself  induced  to  institute  his  bold  inquiries  into 
the  faith  and  morals  of  the  church.  The  errors  which 
were  charged  against  him  contain  many  of  the  opinions  now 
held  by  all  Protestants;  but  several  of  these  he  himself 
denied,  and  those  for  the  assertion  of  which  he  ultimately 
suffered  have  neither  been  universally  held  by  reformers, 
nor  seem  of  very  great  importance.  They  were  these:  1. 
That  Pope  Sylvester  and  the  Emperor  Constantine  did  evil 
to  the  church  when  they  enriched  it.  2.  That  if  any  eccle- 
siastic be  in  a  state  of  mortal  sin,  he  is  disqualified  for  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  sacraments.  3.  That  tithes  are  not  dues, 
but  merely  eleemosynary.  On  the  other  hand,  he  held  the 
Romish  idea  of  transubstantiation ;  and  the  opinion  of  the 
necessity  of  communion  in  both  kinds,  which  became  after- 
wards the  most  remarkable  feature  in  the  doctrines  of  the 
Hussites,  is  not,  in  reality,  to  be  ascribed  to  their  founder. 
The  condemnation  of  Huss  is  also  remarkable,  as  it  is  from 
the  circumstances  attendant  on  it  that  the  imputation  of  not 
keeping  faith  with  heretics  is  originally  charged  upon  the 
Roman  Church.  The  Emperor  Sigismund  gave  Huss  a  safe 
conduct,  to  secure  him  from  any  ill  consequences  that  he 
might  apprehend  from  delivering  himself  up  voluntarily  to 
be  examined  by  the  council.  Nor  did  the  council  assert 
any  right  to  condemn  him.  They  handed  him  over  to  the 
secular  arm,  to  the  emperor  himself.  But  it  is  confidently 
asserted  that  when  the  emperor  scrupled  to  violate  a  promise 
which  was  undoubtedly  binding  upon  him,  it  was  at  the 
pressing  instance  of  the  pope  or  cardinals  that  he  allowed 
the  execution  to  take  place.  The  apologists  of  the  Roman 
Catholics  in  this  matter  affirm  that  this  safe  conduct  imported 
only  that  Huss  might  go  to  Constance  without  being  harmed  ; 
the  Words  of  the  original  instrument,  however,  are  reported 
to  be,  ''Tranrfre,  stare,  morari,  redire  libere  permittatis." 

After  the  execution  of  Huss,  and  of  his  disciple  Jerome  in 
the  following  year,  there  arose  a  violent  insurrection  among 
their  partisans  in  Bohemia,  who  maintained  themselves  for 
many  years  by  force  of  arms,  and  split  into  two  sects,  under 
the  denominations  of  the  Calixtines  and  the  Thaborites.  The 
former,  so  called  from  demanding  the  cup  in  the  sacrament, 
were  finally  reconciled  to  the  church  by  the  concession 
which  they  required.  The  latter  were  so  called  from  the 
name  they  gave  to  the  hill  on  which  they  pitched  their 
camp  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Prague,  and  carried  their 
notions  upon  the  authority  of  the  church  and  its  ministers, 
ceremonies,  and  all  the  exterior  of  religion,  to  the  length  of 
an  extravagant  simplicity.  The  Bohemian  Brothers  and 
the  Beghards,  who  gave  so  great  an  impulse  to  the  reforma-  • 
tion,  were  the  descendants  of  this  branch  of  the  Hussites. 
(Cochlaeus,  Historia  Hussitarum  ;  Gieseler's  Text-book,  iii., 
355,  translation.) 

HU'STINGS.  (Either  from  the  French  hausser,  to  lift, 
or  Sax.  hus,  house,  and  ting,  court  or  judgment.)  The  prin- 
cipal court  of  the  city  of  London,  held  before  the  lord-mayor 
and  aldermen:  also,  in  common  language,  the  booth  or  ele- 
vated place  on  which  candidates  at  a  parliamentary  election 
are  proposed,  and  address  their  constituents. 

571 


HUTCHINSONIANS. 

HUTCHINSO'NIANS.  The  name  given  to  those  who 
embraced  the  opinions  of  John  Hutchinson,  a  well-known 
philosopher  and  naturalist  of  the  18th  century.  Though 
the  followers  of  Hutchinson  have  never  constituted  a  sect, 
they  have  reckoned  among  their  number  several  distin- 
guished divines  both  of  the  established  churches  of  the 
United  Kingdom  and  of  dissenting  communities.  The  num- 
ber of  professed  Hutchinsonians  is  rapidly  decreasing,  though 
the  principles  and  views  of  their  founder  are  still  entertained 
by  many.  The  chief  characteristics  of  Hutchinson's  phi- 
losophy consist  in  his  rejection  of  Newton's  doctrine  of 
gravitation  ;  and  in  his  maintaining  the  existence  of  a  ple- 
num on  the  authority  of  the  Old  Testament,  which,  accord- 
ing to  him,  embraces  a  complete  system  of  natural  philoso- 
phy as  well  as  of  religion.  See  his  works,  12  vols.,  8vo,  1748. 
HY'ACINTH.  (Or.)  In  Mineralogy,  one  of  the  names 
given  to  the  yellow  or  brown  crystals  of  zircon.  It  occurs 
in  beds  of  streams  and  rivers,  especially  in  Ceylon,  along 
with  rubies,  sapphires,  &.c.  Its  most  usual  form,  when  in 
crystals,  is  a  four-sided  prism  terminated  by  four  rhombic 
planes. 

HYACI'NTHUS.  In  Grecian  Mythology,  the  son  of 
Amyclas  king  of  Laconia,  and  of  the  muse  Clio,  accidentally 
killed  by  Apollo  while  they  were  playing  at  quoits.  The 
story  is  thus  related:  Zephyr,  enraged  at  the  preference 
displayed  by  Hyacinthus  for  Apollo,  caused  the  wind  of 
which  he  was  the  god  to  turn  from  its  course  a  quoit  thrown 
by  Apollo,  which  hitting  him  on  the  forehead  instantane- 
ously caused  his  death.  The  latter  immortalized  his  favour- 
ite by  causing  the  flower  which  still  bears  his  name  to  spring 
from  his  blood,  and  inscribed  the  word  AI  (Gr.  ai,  alas)  on 
its  leaves,  to  indicate  the  deep  grief  of  the  god  for  his  loss. 
An  annual  festival,  named  Hyaeinthia,  was  celebrated  at 
Amyclffi  in  honour  of  Hyacinthus.  (Athen.,  Deipn.,  iv., 
p.  139.) 

HYACY'NTHINE.  A  brown  or  greenish  mineral  in 
eight-sided  prisms,  transparent  and  doubly  refractive. 

HY'ADES.  (Gr.  huv,  to  rain.)  In  Mythology,  the  name 
given  to  the  daughters  of  Atlas  and  Pleione,  who,  over- 
whelmed with  grief  at  the  fate  of  their  brother  Hyas,  who 
was  torn  in  pieces  by  a  bull,  are  said  to  have  wept  so  vio- 
lently that  tlie  gods,  in  compassion,  took  them  into  heaven 
and  placed  them  in  the  Bull's  forehead,  where  they  still 
continue  to  weep,  and  are  thence  supposed  to  presage  rain. 
They  form  a  cluster  of  five  stars  in  the  face  of  Taurus. 
Hyades.     See  Taurus. 

HYjE'NA.  (Gr.  Yaiva.)  A  genus  of  digitigrade  Carniv- 
orous Mammals,  separated  by  Storr  from  tire  Canis  of  Lin- 
nteus,  from  which  it  not  only  differs  in  dentition  and  other 
important  particulars,  but,  in  general,  manifests  a  closer 
affinity  with  the  Fiverridcr,  between  which  and  Felis  the 
genus  Hyatva  is  placed  by  Cuvier.  The  characters  of  this 
genus  are,  five  molars  above  and  four  below  on  each  side, 
the  three  anterior  molars  being  conical,  smooth,  and  re- 
markably large,  adapted  for  breaking  the  bones  of  their 
prey ;  thie  tongue  has  a  broad  patch  of  cuticular  spines  on 
the  anterior  part  of  its  dorsum  ;  the  legs  are  each  terminated 
by  four  claws ;  there  is  a  peculiarly  large  perineal  glandular 
pouch ;  and  the  neck  and  jaws  are  remarkable  for  the 
strength  of  their  muscles.  The  species  of  hy»na  are  noc- 
turnal ;  they  prey  on  dead  carcasses.  An  extinct  species 
(hyeena  spelaia)  was  abundant  in  England  and  France  ante- 
rior to  the  glacier  epoch,  and  has  left  its  remains  in  many 
caverns  in  both  countries. 

HYALjE'A.  (Gr.  iiaXoi,  glass.)  A  genus  of  beautiful 
Pteropodous  Mollusks,  remarkable  for  the  delicacy  and 
transparency  of  the  shell.  This  bears  a  close  resemblance 
to  a  bivalve,  with  the  two  valves  unequal  and  soldered 
together  at  the  hinge.  That  portion  of  the  shell  which  cor- 
responds to  the  ventral  aspect  of  the  animal  is  convex  ;  the 
dorsal  plate  is  nearly  flat,  and  is  longer  than  the  other ;  the 
hinder  or  closed  margin  of  the  shell  is  produced  into  three 
sharp  points.  The  inhabitant  is  provided  with  two  large 
wing  like  processes  of  the  mantle,  which  it  protrudes  when 
swimming,  from  the  anterior  open  fissure  of  the  shell. 
The  species  are  found  floating  in  the  Mediterranean  and 
tropical  seas. 

HY'ALITE.  (Gr.  tiaXo?,  and  XiOoj,  a  stone.)  A  yellow  or 
gray  variety  of  uncleavable  quartz  or  opal ;  it  is  commonly 
concretionary  or  chalcedonic,  of  a  vitreous  fracture  and 
lustre.  It  occurs  in  trap  rocks  in  grains,  filaments,  and 
rhomboidal  masses:  it  is  silica  combined  with  about 6  per 
cent,  of  water. 

HY'ALOID.  (Gr.  8(/Ao?,  and  citos.form.)  A  tern)  ap- 
plied to  transparent  membranes,  and  more  particularly  to 
that  which  invests  the  vitreous  humour  of  the  eve. 

HYBERBO'REANS.  (Gr.  {imp,  beyond,  and  tloptas,  the 
north  wind.)  The  name  given  by  the  ancients  to  the  un- 
known inhabitants  of  the  most  northern  regions  of  the  globe, 
who,  as  their  name  implied,  were  supposed  to  be  placed 
beyond  the  influence  of  the  north  wind,  and  consequently 
to  enjoy  a  mild  and  delightful  climate.  The  question  of 
572 


HYBERNATION. 

the  existence  and  exact  situation  of  the  Hyberbnreans  long 
formed  one  of  the  most  intricate  in  the  whole  compass  of 
ancient  history  ;  but  the  general  opinion  now  inclines  to  re- 
gard them  as  synonymous  with  the  Laplanders,  Norwegians, 
and  some  other  nations  of  northern  Europe.  (See  the  Encyc. 
des  Gens  du  Monde.) 

HYUERNA'CULUM.  A  term  invented  by  Linna?us  to 
denote  a  leaf-bud,  which  he  rightly  considered  the  winter- 
quarters  of"  the  point  of  growth  in  a  plant. 

HYBERNATION.  (Lat.  hybemus,  icintry.)  The  act 
by,  or  the  state  in  which  certain  animals  exist  during  that 
season  of  the  year  when  excess  of  cold  or  of  heat,  or  lack 
of  food,  prevents  their  going  abroad  and  performing  their 
customary  functions.  As  the  state  is  generally  superinduced 
by  the  rigours  of  winter,  it  has  received  its  denomination 
from  that  circumstance ;  but  in  the  tropics,  the  effects  of  the 
hottest  and  driest  weather,  in  reducing  the  numbers  of  the 
insect  world,  are  such  as  to  render  it  necessary  for  many 
reptiles  and  some  insectivorous  mammals,  as  the  Tenrecs, 
to  pass  into  a  state  of  inactivity  or  torpidity,  in  order  to 
maintain  life  until  the  recommencement  of  the  rainy  season. 
The  condition  of  hybernation  is,  in  fact,  less  the  alteration 
of  temperature  than  the  abstraction  of  the  means  of  sub- 
sistence dependant  thereon  ;  as,  e.  g.,  the  disappearance  of 
insects  in  the  winter  season  of  our  own  climate. 

Animals  so  highly  organized  as  the  warm-blooded  and 
quick-breathing  mammalia  cannot  maintain  their  compli- 
cated organic  machinery  in  action  without  frequent  supplies 
of  food  :  an  interruption  in  this  respect  of  a  few  days,  or  at 
most  a  few  weeks,  is  fatal.  If,  therefore,  the  phenomenon 
of  hybernation  had  been  known  only  in  the  cold-blooded 
classes,  an  insectivorous  mammal  in  a  climate  where  in- 
sects could  not  subsist  for  several  months  in  the  year  would 
be  inconceivable.  The  modification  of  the  vital  powers  by 
which  a  warm-blooded  animal  is  made  even  temporarily  to 
assume  the  state  and  properties  of  a  reptile,  is  perhaps  one 
of  the  most  striking  instances  of  special  adaptations  to  meet 
an  exceptional  case  that  the  history  of  animals  presents. 
When  the  atmosphere  becomes  vacant  of  insect  life,  and 
the  bat,  in  its  nocturnal  flittings,  would  vainly  traverse  it  in 
search  of  food  ;  and  when  the  few  insects  that  survive  the 
winter  have  burrowed  too  deeply  in  the  earth,  or  concealed 
themselves  in  hiding-places  too  secure  for  the  reach  of  the 
hedgehog — these  species,  with  starvation  staring  them  in 
the  face,  are  preserved  by  the  suspension  of  those  functions, 
the  maintaining  of  which  in  a  state  of  activity  is  essentially 
dependant  on  an  uninterrupted  supply  of  nutriment.  The 
bat  suspends  itself  in  the  innermost  recesses  of  its  cave,  the 
hedgehog  creeps  to  its  concealed  nest  and  both  resign  them- 
selves to  deep  repose  ;  but  the  breathing  becomes  gradually 
slower  than  in  ordinary  sleep,  the  pulsations  of  the  heart 
diminish  in  force  and  frequency,  the  supply  of  stimulating 
arterial  blood  to  the  muscles  and  the  brain  is  progressively 
reduced,  relaxation  of  the  muscular  fibres  is  converted  into 
stiff  inaction,  and  sleep  sinks  into  stupor  :  at  length  respira- 
tion entirely  ceases,  and  with  it  those  chemical  changes  in 
the  capillary  circulation  on  which  animal  heat  mainly  de- 
pends. The  preservation  of  life,  in  its  passive  or  latent 
state,  is  now  due  to  the  irritable  property  of  the  heart's 
fibre,  which  is  excited  to  contract  by  the  blood  in  its  pres- 
ent dark  or  carbonized  state,  and  continues  to  propel  it 
slowly  over  the  torpid  frame  during  the  whole  period  of 
hybernation.  This  slow  circulation  of  venous  blood  through 
both  the  pulmonic  and  systemic  vessels  is  the  only  recogni- 
sable vital  act  during  that  period,  and  the  material  convey- 
ed by  the  absorbents  into  the  circulating  fluid  is  sufficient  to 
counterbalance  the  slight  waste  thus  occasioned.  So  long, 
therefore,  as  the  state  of  torpidity  continues,  the  hedgehog 
and  bat  are  independent  of  supplies  from  without,  hut  they 
purchase  that  independence  by  a  temporary  abrogation  of 
their  vital  faculties:  cold,  senseless,  motionless,  and  asphyx- 
iated, their  entry  into  death's  chamber  is  prevented  only  by 
their  being  brought  to  his  very  door. 

The  hybernation  of  lizards,  snakes,  frogs,  toads,  and  other 
cold-blooded  reptiles,  is  accompanied  by  analogous  changes, 
differing  only  in  degree ;  for  as  the  heart  in  these  animals 
is  at  all  times  destined  to  propel  blood  imperfectly  oxyge- 
nated— as  the  respiratory  or  oxygenating  apparatus  is  im- 
perfect— and  as  the  heat  of  the  body  in  them  rises  anil  falls 
with  the  external  temperature,  a  slight  deterioration  of  these 
lower  conditions  of  the  circulating  and  respiratory  functions 
induces  torpidity,  with  the  consequent  loss  of  appetite  and 
independence  of  food.  Some  quadrupeds,  as  the  dormouse 
and  squirrel,  which  subsist  on  articles  of  diet  better  adapted 
to  be  laid  up  in  store  than  insects,  carry  a  winter  provision 
to  their  livbernatini:  nests  ;  and  their  torpidity  is  more  near- 
ly allied  to  a  profound  but  ordinary  sleep:  respiration  is 
never  wholly  suspended  ;  the  waste  of  the  organism  is  pro- 
portionate to  the  degree  of  activity  in  the  working  of  the 
machine,  and  they  occasionally  rouse  themselves  and  take 
in  the  requisite  supply  from  their  provident  store.  Insectiv- 
orous birds,  being  independent,  through  their  power  of  trav- 


HYDRID. 

ershig  space,  of  the  vicissitudes  of  climate  and  their  conse- 
quences, transport  themselves,  when  their  food  fails  in  one 
country,  to  latitudes  favourable  to  its  abundance :  hence 
the  immigration  of  the  cuckoo  and  swallow  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  genial  season,  and  their  subsequent  dis- 
appearance. 

HY'BRID.  (Gr.  v6pic,  a  mule.)  The  produce  of  a  female 
plant  or  animal  which  has  been  impregnated  by  a  male  of  a 
different  variety,  species,  or  genus. 

The  most  common  hybrids  are  those  which  result  from 
the  connexion  of  different  varieties  of  the  same  species,  as 
the  produce  of  the  wild  boar  and  domestic  sow ;  the  end- 
less modifications  which  result  from  analogous  interbreed- 
ing from  varieties  of  the  rose  and  other  ornamental  or  use- 
ful plants  are  familiar  examples  of  the  principle  among  ve- 
getables. 

Specifical  hybrids  have  been  produced  from  the  artificial 
fertilization  by  Kcelreuter  of  the  Nicotiana  rustica  with  the 
pollen  of  the  Nicotiana  parriculata  ;  and  Schiek  has  dem- 
onstrated, by  numerous  observations,  that  a  multitude  of 
plants  produce  specifical  hybrids  in  a  state  of  nature. 

Hybrids  from  different  species  of  insects,  under  similar 
circumstances,  have  been  obtained  ;  as  from  the  connexion 
of  Papiliojurtina  with  P.janira,  of  Chrysomela  anea  with 
Chr.  alni,  of  Phalangium  cornutum  with  Ph.  opilio.  Specif- 
ical hybrids  have  been  obtained  in  the  class  of  fishes  by 
artificial  impregnation  between  the  Cyprinus  carpio  and 
Cypr.  carassias,  and  between  the  Cypr.  carpio  and  Cypr. 
gibclio.  In  birds,  hybrids  have  been  bred  between  the  gold- 
finch and  canary,  between  the  reeves  and  the  common 
pheasant  —  the  pheasant  and  the  common  fowl  —  the  swan 
{Anas  olor,  L.)  and  the  goose  (Anas  anser,  L.*) — between 
the  Tetrao  letrix  and  Tetrao  urogallus — between  the  Cor- 
vus  corone  and  Corvus  comix,  &c.  Among  Mammals,  hy- 
brids have  been  produced  between  the  lion  and  tiger,  the 
dog  and  wolf,  the  dog  and  jackal,  the  dog  and  fox,  the  goat 
and  ibex,  the  horse  and  zebra,  the  zebra  and  ass,  and  the 
horse  and  ass ;  the  produce  of  the  two  last  species,  as  it  is 
the  most  common  and  useful  of  hybrids,  being  termed,  par 
excellence,  "the  mule." 

But  a  fruitful  connexion  is  not  only  possible  between  in- 
dividuals of  different  varieties  or  of  distinct  species,  but  also 
occasionally  between  animals  of  different  genera.  Generi- 
cal  hybrids  have  thus  resulted  from  the  union  of  the  goat 
(Capra  hirens)  with  the  antelope  (Antilope  rupricapra),  of 
the  stag  with  the  cow,  and  of  the  bull  with  the  sheep,  not- 
withstanding their  disparity  of  size.  Among  reptiles,  be- 
tween the  toad  (Bufo)  and  the  frog  (Ra7ia) ;  among  insects, 
between  Cantharis  melanura  and  Elater  niger,  and  be- 
tween Melolontha  agricola  and  Cetonia  hirta.  Experiment 
alone  can  determine  the  amount  of  affinity  beyond  which 
fertilization  is  impracticable,  but  at  present  it  seems  to  be 
restricted  to  individuals  belonging  to  genera  of  the  same  nat- 
ural group. 

The  tendency  of  all  the  natural  phenomena  relating  to 
hybridity  is  to  prevent  its  taking  place,  and  when  it  has  oc- 
curred, to  arrest  the  propagation  of  varieties  so  produced, 
and  to  limit  their  generative  powers,  so  as  to  admit  only  of 
reversion  to  the  original  specific  forms. 

It  would  seem  that  in  most  cases  the  fertilizing  particles 
had  a  specific  power  over  the  ova  derived  from  the  same 
species,  or  were  attracted  by  them  in  a  peculiar  manner ; 
for  the  milt  and  roe  of  different  species  of  fishes  are  not  un- 
frequently  excluded  in  the  same  locality,  yet  hybrids  are 
not  met  with  in  consequence.  Spallanzani  was  not  able  to 
impregnate  the  ova  of  the  frog  with  the  semen  of  the  newt, 
nor  to  produce  a  fertile  combination  of  those  of  the  toad  and 
newt ;  nor  did  the  injection  of  the  semen  of  the  dog  into  the 
vagina  of  the  cat  impregnate  any  of  her  ova. 

The  individuals  of  different  species  which  produce  a  hy- 
brid offspring  do  not  voluntarily  copulate.  The  salacious 
mare  must  be  blindfolded,  or  she  will  not  receive  the  ass. 
The  stallion  refuses  to  mount  the  she  ass  if  a  mare  be  in 
sight.  Hunter  states  that,  being  desirous  "  to  have  a  she- 
wolf  lined  by  some  dog,  she  would  not  allow  any  dog  to 
come  near  her,  but  was  held  while  a  greyhound  lined  her ; 
while  in  conjunction  she  remained  pretty  quiet,  but  when  at 
liberty  endeavoured  to  fly  at  the  dog."  Buffon  reared  puppies 
of  the  wolf,  fox,  and  dog  together,  to  familiarize  them  with 
each  other ;  but  when  they  were  in  heat,  the  females  of 
each  species  exhibited  an  insurmountable  repugnance  to  the 
male  of  the  others,  and  mortal  combats  ensued  instead  of 
fertile  union  between  the  different  sexes  of  the  different 
species.     (Annates  du  Museum,  t.  xii.,  p.  119.) 

In  a  few  exceptional  cases,  serving  only  to  establish  the 
rule  of  their  infertility,  specifical  hybrids  have  been  known 
to  propagate  together,  and  produce  a  degenerate  intermediate 
lace,  which  soon  becomes  extinct :  it  more  commonly  hap- 
pens that  a  hybrid  is  sterile,  or  propagates  only  with  an  indi- 
vidual of  pure  breed. 

On  the  assumption  that  a  hybrid  produced  by  two  indi- 
viduals of  undoubtedly  distinct  species  is  sterile,  expert- 


HYDRARGO-CHLORIDES. 

ments  have  been  made  on  the  breeding  powers  of  hybrids, 
to  determine  the  nature  of  doubtful  species.  Thus  Hunter 
believed  that  he  had  obtained  absolute  proof  of  the  jackal 
being  a  dog,  and  to  have  equally  made  out  the  wolf  to  be  of 
the  same  species ;  and  he  then  proceeds  to  speculate  wheth- 
er the  wolf  is  from  the  jackal,  or  the  jackal  from  the  wolf; 
for  he  had  obtained  pups  from  the  connexion  of  a  female 
hybrid  jackal-dog  and  a  male  terrier,  and  between  a  female 
hybrid  dog-wolf  and  a  male  greyhound  ;  and  he  adds,  in  re- 
spect of  the  latter  fact,  that  "  it  would  have  equally  proved 
the  same  fact  if  she  had  been  lined  either  by  a  wolf,  a  dog, 
or  one  of  the  males  of  her  own  litter."  (Hunter's  Animal 
(Economy,  by  Owen,  8vo,  p.  323.)  But  this  assertion,  that 
the  fertility  of  a  hybrid  with  an  individual  of  a  pure  breed 
proves  the  fact  of  the  identity  of  two  supposed  distinct  spe- 
cies equally  with  the  production  of  offspring  from  the  con- 
nexion of  hybrid  with  hybrid,  cannot  be  admitted.  To 
prove  the  identity  of  two  supposed  distinct  species,  on  the 
assumption  that  the  fertility  of  the  hybrids  from  the  two 
gives  the  proof  required,  it  should  be  shown  that  such  hy- 
brids are  fertile  among  themselves,  and  capable  of  propaga- 
ting indefinitely  an  intermediate  variety.  Hunter's  celebra- 
ted experiments,  however,  only  proved  that  two  nearly  al- 
lied species  will  produce  a  hybrid  offspring,  and  that  such 
hybrid  may  be  impregnated  by  an  individual  of  the  pure 
breed ;  but  this  fact  illustrates  the  general  law  by  which  the 
reversion  of  the  hybrid  to  the  pure  breed  is  provided  for ; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  intermixture  of  distinct  spe- 
cies is  guarded  against  by  the  aversion  of  two  specifically 
different  individuals  to  sexual  union. 

HYDA'RTHRUS.  (Gr.v5o>p,  and  apdpov,  a  joint.)  The 
white  swelling :  the  joints  most  subject  to  it  are  the  knee, 
elbow,  wrist,  and  ankle.  It  is  distinguished  from  rheumatic 
swelling  of  the  joints  by  a  fixed  and  wearing  pain  preceding 
the  tumefaction,  and  often  existing  for  a  long  time  before 
any  enlargement  of  the  part  is  perceptible  ;  also  by  the  gen- 
eral state  of  the  habit. 

HYDA'TIDS,  Hydatis.  (Gr.  vSarts,  a  bladder.)  A  term 
somewhat  vaguely  applied  both  to  morbid  cysts  and  true 
Entozoons  of  the  order  Cystica.  Of  the  latter  some  are 
globular,  with  a  tunic  composed  of  a  double  albuminous 
membrane,  between  which  the  sporules  or  ova  are  develop- 
ed. In  the  species  developed  in  the  human  liver,  the  ova 
are  detached  from  the  internal  surface,  and  it  is  hence  term- 
ed Acephalo-cystis  endogena.  In  a  species  infesting  similar 
organs  in  tire  lower  animals,  the  ova  are  detached  from  the 
external  surface,  and  it  is  called  Acephalo-cystis  exogena. 
In  a  higher  organized  genus  of  Hydatids,  a  slender  more  or 
less  elongate  process  is  continued  from  the  cyst,  and  termi- 
nates in  an  extremity  provided  with  suckers  and  a  coronet 
of  recurved  booklets,  like  the  head  of  a  tape-worm :  this 
genus  is  termed  Cysticercus.  Another  genus  has  numerous 
similarly  organized  appendages  attached  to  the  cyst,  and  is 
accordingly  termed  Canurus.  It  is  a  hydatid  of  the  last  ge- 
nus which  is  developed  in  the  brain  of  sheep,  and  produces 
the  "  giddy  sickness"  or  "  staggers." 

HYDE,  or  HIDE.  A  measure  of  land,  common  in  Domes- 
day Book  and  old  English  charters.  Its  derivation  is  ob- 
scure. It  is  somewhat  fancifully  drawn  from  the  ancient 
fable  (common  to  many  nations)  of  the  deceit  practised  by 
a  colonist  in  acquiring  from  the  owner  so  much  land  as  he 
could  cover  with  the  hide  of  an  ox,  and  then  dividing  it  into 
strips  so  as  to  make  it  extend  over  a  large  space.  Its  con- 
tents are  also  uncertain,  but  are  stated  by  some  authorities  to 
amount  to  100  Norman  or  120  English  acres.  ( Warner's 
Hist,  of  Hampshire  ;  Ellis's  Introduction  to  Domesday.) 

HY'DRA.  In  Mythology,  a  fabulous  many-headed  mon- 
ster, which  was  said  to  infest  the  lake  Lerna  in  Pelopon- 
nesus. According  to  the  fable,  on  one  of  its  heads  being 
cut  off  it  was  immediately  succeeded  by  another,  unless  the 
wound  was  cauterized.  It  was  one  of  the  labours  of  Her- 
cules to  destroy  this  monster,  which  he  is  said  to  have  ac- 
complished by  the  constant  application  of  firebrands  to  the 
wounds  as  the  heads  were  cut  off.  The  term  hydra  is 
sometimes  used  in  a  metaphorical  sense  for  any  manifold 
evil. 

Hy'dra.  This  once-dreaded  name  is  restricted  in  mod- 
ern Zoology  to  a  genus  of  minute  fresh-water  Polyps.  The 
term  Hydras  was  applied  by  Linnaeus  to  a  genus  of  water- 
snakes. 

Hy'dra.  One  of  the  ancient  constellations  in  the  southern 
hemisphere. 

HYDRA'CIDS.  Acids  containing  hydrogen  as  one  of 
their  essential  elements  ;  such  as  the  hydrochloric  or  muri- 
atic acid,  the  hydriodic  acid,  &c. 

HY'DRAGOGUE.  (Gr.  Uuip,  water,  and  ayu>,  I  expel.) 
The  term  is  generally  applied  to  violent  cathartics,  which 
bring  away  a  large  quantity  of  watery  secretion  from  the 
intestines. 

HYDRA'RGO  -  CHLORIDES.  Compounds  of  the  bi- 
chloride of  mercury  with  other  chlorides,  forming  a  class  of 
haloid  salts.  _ 

573 


HYDRARGYLLITE. 

HYDRARGY'ELITE.  (Gr.  Hup,  Lat.  argilla,  clay.) 
A  name  given  to  the  native  phosphate  of  alumina,  under 
the  erroneous  idea  that  it  consisted  of  alumina  and  water. 

HYDRARGYRIA.  (Gr.  viup,  and  apyvpoc,  silver.)  An 
eruptive  disorder  occasioned  l>v  the  use  of  mercury. 

HYDRA'RGY BUM.     Uuicksilver.  or  mercury. 

HY'DRATES.  Compounds  containing  water  as  one  of 
their  proximate  elements,  and  in  definite  proportion.  Caus- 
tic potash  is  a  hydrate  of  potassa,  composed  of  1  equivalent 
of  potassa  =  48,  and  1  of  water =9.  Slaked  lime,  which  is 
an  apparently  dry  white  powder,  is  a  hydrate  of  lime. 

HYDRAULIC  RAM,  or  WATER  RAM.  An  ingenious 
hydraulic  machine  for  raisin;;  water  by  means  of  its  own 
impulse.  The  principle  of  its  action  and  the  mechanism  of 
its  construction  may  be  described  as  follows : 


The  water  arriving  at  A  from  the  reservoir  with  the  ve- 
locity due  to  the  height  of  the  fall,  passes  along  the  pipe  A 
B,  which  should  have  an  Inclination  of  at  least  an  inch  for 
every  two  yards,  escapes  through  an  orifice  C,  which  may 
be  shut  at  pleasure  by  means  of  a  valve.  A  reservoir,  F, 
filled  with  air,  is  attached  by  means  of  a  cylinder,  a  b  c  d,  to 
the  pipe  A  B  D  ;  in  the  middle  of  the  bottom  of  the  reser- 
voir F  is  a  circular  orifice,  to  which  there  is  adapted  a  short 
cylindrical  tube,  of  which  the  extremity  E  is  also  furnished 
with  a  valve.  Another  valve,  S,  serves  to  supply  the  air  to 
the  space  comprised  between  the  cylinder  abed  and  the 
tube  E.  G  I  H  is  an  ascensional  tube  rising  from  the  reser- 
voir F.  The  water  which  escapes  at  C  is  carried  off  by  the 
waste  pipe  K  L. 

The  form  of  this  apparatus  (or  perhaps  its  mode  of  ac- 
tion) suggested  the  name  it  has  received.  The  pipe  ABC 
is  called  the  body  of  the  ram  ;  and  the  extremity,  where  the 
valves  and  the  reservoir  F  are  placed,  is  called  its  head. 
Both  valves  I)  and  E  are  formed  of  hollow  balls  supported 
on  muzzles,  and  of  such  a  thickness  of  metal  that  they 
weigh  about  twice  as  much  as  the  quantity  of  water  they 
displace. 

We  may  now  consider  the  effects  of  the  engine  when  in 
action.  The  water,  flowing  through  the  orifice  C,  acquires 
the  velocity  duo  to  the  height  of  the  fall,  and  raises  the  ball 
D  from  its  support  till  it  comes  to  the  orifice  C  ;  the  extrem- 
ity of  this  orifice  is  covered  with  leather,  or  with  cloth  filled 
with  pitch,  so  that  when  the  ball  is  applied  to  it,  the  passage 
of  the  water  is  effectually  prevented.  As  soon  as  this  ori- 
fice is  closed,  the  water  raises  the  ball  E  which  had  shut 
the  orifice  of  the  reservoir  F,  and  a  portion  of  it  introduces 
itself  into  this  reservoir,  and  into  the  pipe  G  I  H.  It  thus 
loses  the  velocity  which  it  had  when  the  orifice  C  was  shut, 
and  the  balls  D  and  E  fall  down  in  consequence,  the  one 
on  its  support,  and  the  other  on  the  orifice  at  E.  When  this 
takes  place,  everything  is  in  the  same  state  in  which  it  was 
at  first.  The  water  begins  again  to  flow  through  the  orifice 
C  ;  the  valve  1)  is  again  shut ;  and  the  same  effects  are  re- 
peated in  an  interval  of  time,  which,  for  the  same  ram,  un- 
dergoes little  variation. 

Every  time  the  impulse  is  renewed,  a  quantity  of  water  is 
forced  up  into  the  reservoir  F  and  the  tube  H  ;  and  as  it  is 
prevented  from  returning  by  the  action  of  the  valve,  it  must 
necessarily  he  delivered  at  the  extremity  of  H.  The  use  of 
the  air-vessel  F  is  to  keep  up  a  continuous  motion  of  the 
ascending  column  of  water.  The  communication  with  the 
external  atmosphere  being  cut  off,  the  air  within  F  is  com- 
pressed by  a  force  proportional  to  the  height  of  the  surface 
of  the  water  in  H  above  its  surface  in  F ;  and  this  com- 
pressed air,  acting  by  its  elasticity  on  the  water,  maintains  a 
continuous  flow  through  II.  The  air-vessel,  however, 
though  it  assists  the  action  of  the  ram,  is  not  an  essential 
part  of  it ;  the  continuity  of  the  discharge  of  water  may  be 
effected  by  means  of  two  or  more  rams,  of  which  the  ascen- 
sional pipes  G  I  II  all  terminate  in  a  single  branch.  On  this 
principle  works  have  been  erected  at  Marly,  in  France, 
which  raise  water  in  a  continuous  jet  to  the  height  of  57 
metres,  or  187  English  feet. 

As  the  ascending  column  of  water  communicates  with 
the  air  in  the  reservoir  1\  this  would  soon  be  exhausted  if  a 
fresh  portion  of  air  were  not  introduced  at  each  stroke  of  the 
ram.  The  little  tube  S,  which  is  stopped  by  a  valve  open- 
ing inwards,  serves  for  this  purpose.  At  the  instant  when 
the  orifice  C  is  closed  a  recoil  takes  place,  by  which  the 
water  is  thrown  back  from  the  head  of  the  ram  towards  the 
574 


HYDRAULICS. 

cistern  ;  and  a  partial  vacuum  being  thus  produced  within 
the  cylinder  a  b  c  d,  the  pressure  of  the  external  atmosphere 
forces  open  the  valve  in  the  canal  8,  and  a  portion  of  air 
enters  the  cylinder,  whence  it  is  driven  into  the  reservoir, 
excepting  the  small  part  of  it  which  lodges  in  the  space  be- 
tween the  cylinder  abed  and  the  tube  E.  (Hachette,  Traitt 
des  Machines.) 

The  invention  of  the  hydraulic  ram,  at  least  in  the  im- 
proved form  here  described,  belongs  to  Mostgolfier  of  Mont- 
pelier.  A  machine,  however,  on  the  same  principle  had 
previously  been  suggested,  and  even  erected  at  Chester,  by 
our  countryman  Mr.  Whitehurst,  but  much  less  perfect  in 
its  mode  of  action  ;  for  the  orifice  C,  instead  of  being  opened 
and  shut  by  the  action  of  the  water  itself,  required  to  be 
opened  and  shut  by  the  hand  by  means  of  a  stop-cock.  Ow- 
ing to  this  circumstance,  Whitehurst's  machine  was  of  little 
utility,  and  appears  to  have  soon  been  entirely  forgotten. 

HYDRAU'LICS  (Gr.  v6up,  and  ouAos,  a  pipe),  is  that 
branch  of  natural  philosophy  which  treats  of  the  motions  of 
liquids,  the  laws  by  which  they  are  regulated,  and  the  ef- 
fects which  they  produce.  By  some  authors  the  term  Hy- 
drodynamics is  usually  applied  to  the  general  science  of  the 
motions  of  fluids  ;  while  Hydraulics  is  more  particularly  ap- 
plied to  the  art  of  conducting,  raising,  and  confining  water, 
and  to  the  construction  and  performance  of  water-works. 

There  is  no  part  of  mechanical  science  which  offers  great- 
er difficulties  to  the  mathematician,  or  where  the  results  of 
theoretical  investigation  present  so  little  agreement  with  ex- 
perience. This  arises  from  the  excessively  complicated  na- 
ture of  the  movements  which  take  place  among  the  panicles 
of  a  liquid  mass  when  its  equilibrium  has  been  disturbed, 
and  partly  from  the  great  number  of  disturbing  causes  by 
which  those  movements  are  affected. 

The  first  and  principle  problem  of  hydraulics  is  to  deter- 
mine the  velocity  with  which  a  liquid  Hows  through  an 


in 


(1) 


aperture  in  the  bottom  or  sides  of  the  containing  vessel 
order  to  discover  the  law  of  this  velocity,  let 
A  B  C  D  (fig.  1)  be  a  vessel  filled  with  water 
to  the  height  E  F,  and  let  O  be  a  very  small 
opening  in  the  side  of  the  vessel  ;  while  the 
water  stands  at  E  F,  it  will  issue  from  O  with  " 
a  certain  velocity  depending  on  the  height  E  F 
above  O.  Let  it  therefore  be  proposed  to  de- 
termine to  what  height,  G  II,  the  vessel  must  E 
be  filled  in  order  that  the  velocity  of  the  efflux  gjs] 
through  O  may  be  doubled.  From  the  prin — p^sggg 
ciples  of  hydrostatics,  it  is  shown  that  the  force  D 
urging  a  particle  of  the  liquid  at  O  through  the  orifice  is  the 
pressure  due  to  the  height  of  the  vertical  column  above  O. 
Now  we  may  consider,  in  the  first  place,  that  when  the  ve- 
locity of  a  particle  in  motion  is  doubled,  the  momentum,  or 
moving  force,  must  also  be  doubled ;  and,  in  the  second 
place,  that  if  the  velocity  of  the  efflux  is  doubled,  twice  the 
number  of  particles  will  be  put  in  motion  in  the  same  inter- 
val of  lime  ;  and,  consequently,  the  momentum  or  moving 
force  must  be  doubled  on  this  account  also.  Hence,  when 
the  velocity  of  the  discharge  through  O  is  doubled,  the  mo- 
ving force,  which  in  the  present  case  is  the  pressure,  must 
be  quadrupled.  But  the  pressure  is  proportional  to  the 
height  of  the  fluid  above  O,  hence  the  height  must  be  quad- 
rupled. By  the  same  process  of  reasoning,  we  conclude 
that  to  obtain  a  threefold  velocity  a  ninefold  depth  would  be 
necessary,  and  so  on  ;  and,  generally,  that  the  depths  must 
be  increased  as  rapidly  as  the  squares  of  the  velocities;  or, 
in  other  words,  the  velocities  are  proportional  to  the  square 
roots  of  the  depths  of  the  orifice  below  the  surface. 

By  means  of  this  law,  the  absolute  velocity  with  which 
water  issues  from  an  orifice  at  any  depth  under  the  surface 
may  be  ascertained,  provided  we  can  determine  the  velocity 
for  any  particular  depth.  Now  if  we  suppose  the  orifice  O 
to  be  on  a  level  with  the  surface  of  the  liquid,  or  if  we  sup- 
pose O  to  be  in  the  bottom  of  the  vessel  covered  with  an  in- 
finitely thin  film,  there  would  be  no  pressure  on  a  particle  at 
O,  which,  therefore,  would  drop  out  merely  by  the  effect  of 
its  own  weight,  and  consequently  with  the  velocity  of  a 
heavy  body  beginning  to  fall.  But  the  velocity  of  a  falling 
body  is  proportional  to  the  square  root  of  the  heisht  from 
which  it  has  fallen  :  therefore, since  it  has  been  shown  that 
the  velocity  of  Uie  discharge  through  an  orifice  is  also  pro- 
portional to  the  square  root  of  the  height  of  the  liquid  above 
the  orifice,  and  that  the  two  velocities  are  the  same  in  one 
particular  case,  it  follows  that  they  must  be  the  same  in  all 
cases;  and  hence  we  have  this  important  theorem:  "The 
velocity  with  which  a  liquid  issues  from  an  infinitely  small 
orifice  in  the  bottom  or  side  of  a  vessel  that  is  kept  full,  is 
equal  to  that  which  a  heavy  body  would  acquire  by  falling 
from  the  level  of  the  surface  to  the  level  of  the  orifice." 

Several  consequences  follow  immediately  from  this  fun- 
damental theorem.  In  the  first  place,  if  the  aperture  is  en- 
larged, each  panicle  of  the  liquid  presenting  itself  there  will 
escape  with  the  same  celerity  ;  and  hence  the  quantity  of 
water  that  issues  through  an  orifice  is  as  the  area  or  section 


HYDRODYNAMICS. 


of  the  orifice  multiplied  into  the  square  root  of  the  depth. 
Again,  if  the  water  is  thrown  up  in  a  perpendicular  jet,  it 
ought  to  ascend  to  the  height  of  the  reservoir ;  or,  if  several 
orifices  are  made  in  the  same  vessel,  each  presented  up- 
wards, the  jets  escaping  from  each  of  them  would  all  rise 
to  the  same  height.  But,  by  reason  of  the  resistance  of  the 
air,  the  friction  on  the  sides  of  the  orifice,  the  mutual  cohe- 
sion of  the  liquid  particles  which  impedes  their  separation 
and  escape,  and  trie  action  of  opposing  currents  formed  in 
the  interior  of  the  liquid,  these  conclusions  must  be  received 
with  considerable  modifications.  The  effects  of  the  dis- 
turbing causes  can  only  be  determined  by  a  comparison 
with  experiment. 

Water  issuing  through  a  hole  or  pipe  in  the  side  of  a  ves- 
sel kept  full,  like  all  other  projectiles  when  the  resistance 
of  the  air  is  supposed  to  be  withdrawn,  describes  a  parabo- 
la in  a  vertical  plane.      Let  ABCD  (fig.  2)  be  a  cylindri- 
ra  s  cal  vessel  filled  with  water,  and  E 

1   '  an  orifice  in  its  side ;  the  water  will 

be  projected  from  E  with  a  veloci- 
ty which  would  carry  it  horizon- 
tally through  double  the  space  B  E 
in  the  same  time  that  a  body  falls 
from  B  to  E.  But  from  the  instant 
it  escapes  at  E  it  begins  to  descend 
with  an  accelerated  motion  to  the 
level  of  D  C,  while  it  continues  its 
0  uniform  horizontal  flight,  and  thus 
describes  a  parabola  meeting  the  ground  in  P.  Now,  by  the 
theory  of  projectiles,  the  velocity  of  a  body  moving  in  a 
parabola  is  equal  to  that  which  is  acquired  by  a  body  fall- 
ing through  half  the  parameter  of  the  diameter,  and  it  was 
shown  that  the  velocity  at  E  is  equal  to  2  B  E ;  therefore 
the  directrix  passes  through  B,  and  consequently  4  B  E  X 
E  C  =  C  P2.  On  B  C,  as  a  diameter,  let  there  be  described 
a  semicircle  BLC;  then  BExEC  =  EL2,  and  conse- 
quently CP2  =  4EL2;  whence  CP  =  2EL,  or  the  hori- 
zontal range  is  double  the  ordinate  E  L.  The  horizontal 
range  is  therefore  greatest  when  the  aperture  is  at  F,  the 
middle  of  B  C,  and  is  then  C  Q,  which  is  equal  to  2  F  M,  or 
to  the  altitude  B  C.  In  all  other  cases  there  are  two  aper- 
tures, E  and  G,  equidistant  from  F,  which  give  the  same 
range ;  for  by  the  nature  of  the  circle  there  are  two  equal 
ordinates,  E  L  and  G  N. 

There  is  a  circumstance  connected  with  the  efflux  of  a 
liquid  through  an  orifice  which  requires  particular  attention. 
While  a  liquid  is  flowing  out  in  this  manner,  the  particles 
continue  to  descend  in  vertical  lines  till  they  reach  within  a 
short  distance  of  the  orifice,  as  at  C  D  (fig.  3), 
when  those  not  immediately  above  it  change 
the  direction  of  their  motion,  and  approach 
the  orifice  with  different  degrees  of  obliquity, 
converging,  as  it  were,  to  a  centre,  the  position 
of  which  is  somewhat  without  the  orifice.  In 
consequence  of  this,  the  vein  of  water,  as  it  is- 
sues out,  is  contracted,  its  breadth  at  mn  being  less  than  the 
width  of  the  orifice.  This  contraction  of  the  jet  was  first 
noticed  by  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  who  gave  it  the  name  of  the 
vena  contractu,  or  the  contracted  vein  of  the  liquid.  The 
distance  from  the  orifice  at  which  the  contraction  is  greatest 
depends  in  some  degree  on  the  magnitude  of  the  orifice,  and 
is  equal  to  about  half  its  diameter  when  the  orifice  is  circu- 
lar and  small.  The  consequence  of  this  contraction  is,  that 
the  discharge  of  water  is  not  so  great  as  the  theory  gives  it, 
but  is  reduced  in  the  proportion  of  the  breadth  of  the  vein 
where  the  contraction  is  greatest  to  that  of  the  orifice.  Ac- 
cording to  Newton,  this  proportion  is  5  to  7  nearly  ;  and  ac- 
cording to  Bossut,  5  to  8. 

As  the  same  quantity  of  liquid  must  evidently  pass 
through  the  orifice  and  the  contracted  vein  in  the  same  in- 
terval of  time,  it  follows  that  the  velocity  at  the  latter  point 
mast  be  greater;  and  therefore,  in  applying  the  theorem  re- 
specting the  velocity  of  discharge,  it  is  the  velocity  at  the 
contracted  vein  which  must  be  regarded. 

It  is  found  by  experience  that  if  a  short  tube,  about  one  or 
two  inches  long,  is  inserted  in  the  vessel,  and  the  water  be 
allowed  to  flow  through  the  tube,  the  contraction  of  the  vein 
is  very  considerably  diminished,  and  the  quantity  of  water 
discharged  through  the  tube  is  considerably  greater  in  the 
same  time  than  through  an  orifice  of  equal  diameter.  Ven- 
turi  found  that  the  discharge  through  a  smooth  hole  in  the 
bottom  of  a  reservoir  of  tin  amounted  to  64  quarts  in  100  sec- 
onds ;  a  short  pipe  of  the  same  diameter  being  applied  to  the 
bottom  of  the  reservoir,  so  as  to  be  flat  and  even  with  it,  the 
discharge  was  augmented  to  82  quarts  in  the  same  time ;  and 
(4.)  on  giving  the  bottom  of  the  vessel  the 

form  here  represented,  leaving  the 
area  of  the  orifice  at  A  (fig.  4)  the 
same  as  before,  the  discharge  was  in- 
creased to  98  quarts.  By  enlarging 
the  lower  end  of  the  pipe,  and  giving 
it  a  curvature  as  B,  the  quantity  of 


water  delivered  in  the  same  time  received  a  still  farther 
augmentation.    Such  additional  pipes  are  called  adjutages. 

The  velocity  and  other  circumstances  relative  to  the  mo- 
tion of  water  in  conduit  pipes,  and  in  open  canals  and  rivers, 
cannot  be  accurately  determined  from  any  theoretical  princi- 
ples ;  but  very  numerous  experiments  have  been  made  on 
the  subject,  from  which  results  have  been  deduced  of  great 
value  in  directing  the  practice  of  the  engineer.  When  water 
flows  from  a  reservoir  in  long  horizontal  pipes  of  the  same 
diameter,  the  discharges  made  in  equal  times  are  nearly  in 
the  inverse  ratio  of  the  square  roots  of  the  lengths.  But  this 
rule  applies  only  within  limits  which  are  not  very  extended, 
and  is  not  admissible  with  respect  to  long  pipes.  It  was 
found  by  Bossut  that  water  has  its  celerity  diminished  eight 
times  by  passing  through  a  tube  of  one  inch  in  diameter  and 
204  feet  long.  In  order  to  obtain  the  greatest  discharge  from 
a  pipe,  it  is  necessary  that  the  inside  be  smooth,  the  width 
uniform,  and  sudden  bendings  avoided.  The  want  of  even- 
ness of  surface  impedes  the  motion  of  the  fluid,  which  is  far- 
ther obstructed  by  any  violent  change  of  celerity  or  direction. 
Whether  tbe  channel  be  contracted  or  enlarged,  the  change 
is  unavoidably  attended  with  a  proportional  loss  of  impul- 
sion. Any  sharp  flexure  of  the  pipe  or  conduit  will  occasion 
a  still  greater  waste  of  the  inciting  force.  It  is  also  found 
that  a  curvilineal  pipe  discharges  less  water  than  a  recti- 
lineal one  of  the  same  length,  and  that  when  the  flexures  are 
vertical  the  quantity  discharged  is  less  than  when  they  are 
horizontal.  When  a  large  pipe  has  a  number  of  contrary 
flexures,  the  air  sometimes  mixes  with  the  water,  and  occu- 
pies the  highest  parts  of  each  flexure,  by  which  means  the 
velocity  of  the  fluid  is  greatly  retarded,  and  the  quantity  dis- 
charged much  diminished. 

When  liquids  flow  through  very  small  orifices,  or  capil- 
lary tubes,  the  resistance  is  greatly  augmented,  and  the  rules 
which  apply  to  orifices  or  pipes  of  considerable  diameter  no 
longer  hold  good.  In  this  case  the  celerity  depends  very 
considerably  on  the  temperature  of  the  liquid.  Thus  pure 
water,  at  a  temperature  near  the  boiling  point,  is  found  to 
flow  through  a  capillary  tube  five  times  faster  than  when 
the  temperature  is  near  the  freezing  point.  Alcohol  is  found 
to  flow  six  times  faster  when  the  temperature  is  raised  124 
degrees.  Quicksilver  is  less  affected,  but  it  endures  heat 
through  a  wider  range. 

With  respect  to  water  running  in  open  channels  or  in 
rivers,  the  resisting  forces  are  so  numerous,  and  of  so  irregu- 
lar a  nature,  that  it  is  of  little  use  to  attempt  to  deduce  their 
effect  from  any  general  principles.  In  all  cases  the  velocity 
is  increased  by  the  depth  of  the  stream  and  of  the  declivity 
on  which  it  runs  to  a  certain  limit;  that  is,  till  the  resist- 
ance, which  increases  with  the  velocity,  becomes  equal  to 
the  acceleration,  when  the  motion  of  the  stream  becomes 
uniform.  The  resistance,  of  course,  depends  much  upon  the 
evenness  of  the  bottom  and  sides  of  the  channel.  The 
greatest  velocity  of  a  river  is  at  the  surface  and  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  stream,  from  which  it  diminishes  towards  the 
bottom  and  sides,  where  it  is  least.  It  has  been  found  by  ex- 
periment, that  if  from  the  square  root  of  the  velocity  in  the 
middle  of  the  stream,  expressed  in  inches  per  second,  unity 
be  subtracted,  the  square  of  the  remainder  will  be  the  veloci- 
ty at  the  bottom.  Thus,  let  v  =  the  velocity  at  the  surface 
in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  then  the  velocity  at  the  bottom 
will  be  expressed  by  (y/v  —  l)2  =  t>  —  S^/o  +  l.  It  has  also 
been  found  by  experiment  that  the  mean  velocity  (or  that 
with  which,  were  the  whole  stream  to  move,  the  discharge 
would  be  the  same  with  the  real  discharge)  is  equal  to  half 
the  sum  of  the  greatest  and  least  velocities,  as  computed 
by  the  above  formula.  The  mean  velocity  is  therefore 
v  —  y/v-\-%.  These  formula1  are  deduced  from  the  experi- 
ments of  Du  Buat.  (See  Playfair's  Elements  of  Natural 
Philosophy.) 

When  the  sections  of  a  river  vary,  the  quantity  of  water 
remaining  the  same,  the  mean  velocities  are  inversely  as  the 
areas  of  the  sections ;  but  when  the  river  receives  a  perma- 
nent addition,  the  velocity  is  immediately  increased.  The 
effect  of  this  is  to  augment  the  action  on  the  sides  and  bot- 
tom, in  consequence  of  which  the  width  is  augmented,  and 
sometimes,  though  more  rarely,  the  depth.  This  increase 
of  width,  by  multiplying  the  points  of  resistance,  again  re- 
duces the  velocity,  till  an  equilibrium  is  established  between 
the  velocity  and  resistance;  after  which  the  bed  of  the  river 
changes  only  by  insensible  degrees.     See  River. 

The  determination  of  the  force  with  which  a  liquid  in 
motion  strikes  a  solid  at  rest,  and  the  force  necessary  to  pro- 
pel a  solid  immersed  in  a  liquid,  is  another  important  part 
of  hydraulics;  though,  of  the  general  principles  hitherto  de- 
duced from  theory,  there  are  only  a  very  small  number 
which  afford  a  tolerable  approximation  to  the  results  of  ex- 
periment. The  force  of  a  stream  must  be  regarded  as  com- 
pounded of  the  force  of  each  particle  and  of  the  number  of 
particles  that  strike  in  a  given  time.  Now  the  force  of  each 
particle  is  proportional  to  the  velocity  with  which  it  impin- 
ges :  and  the  number  of  particles  that  strike  in  a  given  time 

575 


HYDRIODIC  ACID. 

is  also  proportional  to  the  velocity  of  the  stream,  supposing 
its  section  to  remain  the  same;  hence  the  whole  force  of 
the  stream  is  a^  the  square  of  the  velocity.  It  follows  that 
if  the  plane  struck  by  a  stream  be  Itself  in  motion,  the  im- 
pulse will  be  as  tile  square  of  the  difference  of  their  veloci- 
ties; and  if  a  stream  strike  obliquely  on  a  plane,  its  force  is 
less  than  if  struck  directly  on  the  same  plane  in  the  ratio  of 
the  cube  of  the  sine  of  the  obliquity  to  the  cube  of  the  ra- 
dius. But  it  would  appear  from  experiment  that  this  last 
consequence  only  holds  true  when  the  angle  of  inclination 
ater  than  60  degrees.  It  might  seem  (and  it  is  agreea- 
ble to  theory  to  suppose)  that  a  plane  moving  against  a 
liquid  at  rest  with  a  given  velocity,  would  receive  the  same 
impulse  as  if  the  liquid  were  to  move  with  that  velocity  and 
the  plane  to  remain  at  rest.  This,  however,  is  not  confirmed 
by  experience,  which  proves  that  tin-  resistance  of  a  liquid 
to  a  body  in  motion  is  considerably  less  than  the  percussion 
of  the  liquid  moving  with  the  same  velocity  against  the  body 
at  rest.  The  difference  arises  from  the  action  of  the  liquid 
on  the  hinder  part  of  the  moving  hotly,  by  which  the  resist- 
ance is  in  some  degree  counteracted.  But  the  resistance  de- 
pends very  materially  on  the  figure  of  the  body,  and  the  re- 
lation of  its  length  to  its  breadth.  A  conical-shaped  body, 
when  its  length  is  considerable,  is  more  easily  drawn  through 
the  water  with  its  broad  than  with  its  narrow  end  foremost. 
In  general,  it  is  found  that  whatever  tends  to  diminish  the 
adhesion  of  the  body  to  the  liquid  tends  also  to  diminish  the 
resistance.  A  wedge  which  has  its  sides  rubbed  with  grease 
is  found  to  move  more  freely  through  the  water ;  hence  the 
great  benefit  derived  from  sheathing  a  ship's  bottom  with 
copper.     See  Resistance. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  best  works  on  this  subject: 
Bossut,  Traite  Elementaire  d' Hydrodynamique  ;  Belidor,  Ar- 
chitecture Hydraulique ;  Du  Buat,  Principles  d'Hydrau- 
lique ;  Prony,  S"ouvellc  Architecture  Hydraulique,  and  Re- 
cherches  Physico-jMathematiques  sur  la  Theorie  des  Eaux 
courante ;  Experimental  Inquiry  concerning  the  Motion  of 
Fluids,  by  J.  B.  Venturi,  translated  by  W.  Nicholson;  Ency. 
Brit.,  articles  '■  Hvdrodynamics,"  "River,"  &c. 

HYDRIO'DIC  ACID.  A  gaseous  compound  of  hydro- 
gen and  iodine,  obtained  by  the  mutual  decomposition  of 
iodide  of  phosphorus  and  water.  It  is  composed  of  126 
iodine +  1  hydrogen;  and  its  equivalent,  therefore,  is  127. 
The  specific  gravity  of  this  gas  is  4'4.  One  hundred  cubic 
inches  weigh  136  grains.  It  is  rapidly  absorbed  by  water, 
furnishing  a  sour,  colourless,  and  dense  liquid,  which  soon 
becomes  brown  by  exposure  to  air,  in  consequence  of  the 
evolution  of  a  little  free  iodine.  It  is  instantly  decomposed 
by  chlorine,  which  abstracts  the  hydrogen  to  form  hydro- 
chloric (muriatic)  acid,  and  sets  the  iodine  free. 

HYDROBRO'MIC  ACID.  A  gaseous  acid  composed  of 
78  bromine  +  1  hydrogen.  It  is  obtained  by  the  mutual  de- 
composition of  bromide  of  phosphorus  and  water. 

HYDROCA'RBON.  A  term  applied  by  chemists  to  com- 
pounds of  hydrogen  and  carbon.  These  elements  unite  in 
several  proportions,  and  form  a  variety  of  curious  definite 
combinations,  which  are  commonlv  called  hydrocarburets. 

HYDROCA'RBURETS.  Compounds  of  hydrogen  and 
carbon.  There  appear  to  be  several  definite  combinations 
of  these  elements ;  among  them  the  following  deserve  es- 
pecial notice:  1.  Light  carburetted  hydrogen  gas,  which  is 
the  firedamp  of  coal  mines  and  of  marshes :  100  cubic  inches 
weigh  about  174  grains.  It  consists  of  2  atoms  of  hydro- 
gen =2,  and  1  of  carbon  =  6;  its  equivalent  is  8.  It  burns 
with  a  pale  blue  flame.  2.  Olefiant  gas,  which  is  formed 
during  the  distillation  of  equal  measures  of  alcohol  and  sul- 
phuric acid  :  100  cubic  inches  weigh  305  grains.  It  is  com- 
posed of  2  atoms  of  hydrogen  =  2,  and  2  of  carbon  =12 ;  and 
its  equivalent,  therefore,  is  14.  It  bums  with  a  bright  white 
flame.  Coal  gas  consists  of  a  mixture  of  these  two  hydro- 
carbons. The  term  olefiant  gas  is  derived  from  the  action 
of  chlorine  u|>on  it,  which,  when  mixed  with  the  gas  over 
water,  gradually  condenses  it  into  a  liquid  looking  like  oil, 
which  is  a  hydrochloride  of  carbon.  3.  Quadricarburetted 
hydrogen,  which  is  produced  during  the  destructive  distilla- 
tion of  oil  (Faraday,  Annals  of  Philosophy,  xxvii.,  41),  and 
which  is  a  vapour  condensable  at  0°,  of  which  100  cubic  inch- 
es weigh  61'-  grains.  It  consists  of  4  atoms  of  hydrogen =  4, 
and  4  of  carbon  =24;  and  its  equivalent  is  28.  It  burns 
with  a  dense  and  very  smoky  flame.  This  compound  lias 
also  been  called  ethcrinc,  1  volume  of  the  vapour  of  ether 
being  constituted  of  1  volume  of  quadrihydrocarbon  and  1 
of  water  vapour.  4.  Bicarburet  of  hydrogen,  obtained,  like 
the  last,  from  the  volatile  products  fori 1  during  the  de- 
structive distillation  of  whale  oil.  When  the  quadrihydro- 
carbon  has  been  distilled  off  from  the  more  volatile  portion, 
that  which  remains  yields  a  product  which  congeals  at  0°. 
It  is  a  brittle  white  solid  at  that  temperature:  100  cubic 
inches  of  its  vapour  weigh  853  grains,  and  it  consists  of  3 
atoms  of  hydrogen  =  3,  and  6  of  carbon  =  3l>;  its  equiva 
lent,  therefore,  is  39.  These  are  the  principal  forms  of  hy- 
drocarbon which  have  been  satisfactorily  identified  :  they 
576 


HYDRODYNAMICS. 

all  afford  carbonic  acid  and  water  when  burned  in  a  suffi- 
cienc]  of  oxygen;  and  the  proportions  in  which  these  are 
formed,  together  with  the  specific  gravities  of  their  respect- 
ive vapours,  furnish  the  data  upon  which  their  composition 
is  estimated.     See  Naphtha  and  N'aphthalmi. 

HYDDOCA'RMA.     Dropsy  of  the  pericardium. 

1IYDROCEXE.  (Gr.  iSwp,  and  KvXn,  a  tumour.)  A 
collection  of  watery  or  serous  fluid  in  the  tunica  vaginalis 
testis. 

HYDROCEPHALUS.  (Gr.  iowp,  and  KcraXrj,  the  head.) 
Dropsy  of  the  brain,  or  water  in  the  head.  The  acute  form 
of  this  disease  is  almost  limited  to  childhood :  it  is  marked 
by  febrile  symptoms,  pain  of  the  head,  and  in  very  young 
children  enlargement  of  it.  The  eyes  are  irregularly  direct- 
ed and  the  pupil  dilated.  The  eyes  are  not  perfectly  ci 
in  sleep,  and  there  appears  a  degree  of  delirium,  as  far  as 
can  be  judged  of  in  children :  coma,  convulsions,  and  paral- 
ysis are  frequent  consequences.  The  ventricles  of  the  brain 
are  the  chief  seat  of  the  watery  accumulation.  Bleeding 
from  the  temporal  artery  or  jugular  vein,  cold  applications  to 
the  head,  and  brisk  purgatives  with  calomel,  are  the  leading 
remedies. 

HY'DROCHARA'CE^E.  (Hydrocharis,  one  of  the  gene- 
ra.) A  natural  order  of  floating  Endogens,  inhabiting  Eu- 
rope and  some  other  places,  known  by  their  tripetaloideous 
flowers  with  an  inferior  ovary.  They  agree  with  Alismaceo: 
in  habit  and  in  want  of  albumen,  but  differ  in  their  carpels 
being  definite  in  number.  They  are  not  of  any  known  use, 
but  many  of  the  species  are  handsome  when  in  flower. 

HYDROCHLORIC  ACID.  A  gaseous  compound  of  1 
atom  of  the  chlorine  =  36,  and  1  atom  of  hydrogen  =  l ;  the 
equivalent,  therefore,  of  the  hydrochloric  acid  is  =  37.  See 
Muriatic  Acid. 

HY'DROCO'RISjE.  (Gr.  Hup,  and  topic,  a  bug.)  The 
name  of  a  tribe  of  Hemipterans,  including  the  water-bugs  ; 
these  differ  from  the  Geocorisa?,  or  land-bugs,  in  Inning  mi- 
nute antenna;  inserted  beneath  the  eyes.  This  tribe  in- 
cludes the  water-scorpions  (Nepidce),  and  the  boat-men 
(JVotoneetu&B.) 

HYDROCYA'NIC  ACID.  (Gr.  ie)up,  and  tcvavoc,  blue.) 
This  highly  noxious  compound  was  first  discovered  in  Prus- 
sian blue,  and  hence  called  Prussic  acid.  It  is  best  obtain- 
ed by  gently  heating  in  a  small  retort  a  mixture  of  three 
parts  of  cyanuret  of  mercury  and  two  of  hydrochloric  acid : 
the  evolved  vapours  should  be  passed  through  a  tube  con- 
taining fragments  of  marble,  in  order  to  absorb  any  hydro- 
chloric acid  that  may  chance  to  distil  over,  and  ultimately 
condensed  in  a  receiver  immersed  in  a  freezing  mixture. 
The  hydrocyanic  acid  is  a  colourless  acid,  having  a  very 
strong  odour,  resembling  that  of  bitter  almonds  :  its  specific 
gravity  at  45°  is  0-7.  It  boils  at  80°,  and  freezes  at  0°.  Dis- 
solved in  a  large  quantity  of  water,  it  imparts  to  it  the  smell 
and  taste  of  laurel  or  bitter  almond  water:  it  is  intensely 
poisonous.  It  consists  of  26  cyanogen  4-1  hydrogen,  or  of 
14  nitrogen -4- 12  carbon +  1  hydrogen;  and  its  equivalent 
is** 

HYDRODYNA'MICS  (Gr.  vSiop,  and  Svvautc,  power), 
is  tyie  science  which  applies  the  principles  of  dynamics  to 
determine  the  conditions  of  motion  or  rest  in  fluid  bodies.  It 
is  usually  divided  into  two  branches;  namely,  hydrostatics. 
which  explains  the  laws  of  the  equilibrium,  pressure,  and 
cohesion  of  fluids;  and  hydraulics,  which  explains  the  laws 
of  their  motion,  together  with  the  machines  in  which  they 
are  chiefly  concerned.  Though  the  term  hydrodynamics  is 
sometimes  applied  generally  to  fluids  fit"  all  kinds,  it  is  more 
usually  restricted  to  the  non-elastic  or  incompressible  fluids, 
as  water,  mercury,  &c. ;  in  which  case  the  science  which 
treats  of  the  equilibrium  of  the  compressible  and  elastic 
fluids,  like  air,  is  called  aerostatics,  and  that  which  treats 
of  their  motion  pneumatics. 

Hydrodynamics,  though  a  science  of  immense  importance 
in  its  applications  to  the  various  purposes  of  life,  was  not 
cultivated  to  any  extent  by  the  ancients,  all  their  knowledge 
of  the  doctrine  of  fluids  being  limited  to  a  few  propositions 
regarding  the  pressure  and  equilibrium  of  water.  Arehimi- 
des.  indeed,  established  the  general  principles  which  serve 
as  the  foundation  of  hydrostatics,  in  bis  treatise  Dc  Jnsiden- 
tibus  Humido ;  and  Ctesibius  and  Hero,  who  flourished  at 
Alexandria  about  120  years  after  Christ,  invented  the  fount- 
ain of  compression,  the  siphon,  and  the  forcing-pump.  Ju- 
lius Frontinus,  who  was  inspector  of  the  public  fountains  at 
Rome  in  the  reigns  of  NerVB  and  Trajan,  wrote  a  work  on 
the  Roman  aqueducts,  and  the  modes  of  distributing  water 
then  in  use  :  but  he  appears  to  have  been  unacquainted  with 
the  law  of  the  velocities  of  running  water  depending  on  the 
depth.  The  first  modem  treatise  on  hydrodynamics  was 
published  in  1639  by  Castelli,  a  disciple  of  Galileo,  entitled 
Delia  Misura  dclV  Acque  Correnti,  and  contains  a  satisfac- 
tory explanation  of  various  phenomena  in  the  motion  of 
fluids.  Tonicelli  discovered  the  important  property  that  the 
velocities  of  fluids  issuing  through  an  orifice  are  as  the 
square  roots  of  the  pressures ;  Mariottc,  in  his  Traite  du 


HYDROFLUORIC  ACID. 

Mouvement  des  Earn,  employed  the  principle  of  Torricelli, 
and  explained  the  discrepancy  between  theory  and  observa- 
tion by  ascribing  it  to  the  retardation  of  tile  water's  velocity 
arising  from  friction.  Guglielmini  was  the  first  who  treated 
of  the  motion  of  water  in  rivers  and  open  canals.  The  sub- 
ject of  the  oscillation  of  waves,  one  of  the  most  difficult  in 
who  determined  the  duration  of  the  oscillations,  and  thence 
the  whole  science,  was  first  investigated  by  Sir  Isaac  Newton, 
concluded  that  the  velocities  of  waves  formed  on  the  surface 
of  water  are  in  the  subduplicate  ratio  of  their  size.  He  was 
also  the  first  who  observed  the  contraction  in  the  vein  of  a 
fluid  issuing  through  an  orifice,  and  regarded  the  contracted 
section  as  the  true  orifice,  by  which  the  theory  was  render- 
ed more  conformable  to  experience.  The  Hydrodynamica 
of  Daniel  Bernoulli  was  published  in  1738.  His  theory  of 
the  motion  of  fluids  consists  in  supposing,  1st,  that  the  sur- 
face of  a  fluid  in  a  vessel,  while  emptying  itself  by  an  ori- 
fice, remains  always  horizontal ;  and,  2d,  that  if  the  fluid 
mass  is  conceived  to  be  divided  into  an  infinite  number  of 
horizontal  strata,  all  the  strata  remain  parallel,  and  descend 
vertically  with  velocities  inversely  proportional  to  their 
breadth,  or  to  the  horizontal  sections  of  the  reservoir.  From 
these  suppositions,  and  by  means  of  the  application  of  the 
principle  of  the  conservation  of  living  forces,  he  obtained  so- 
lutions of  the  principal  problems  of  hydrodynamics.  The 
mathematical  theory  of  the  motion  of  fluids  was  farther  in- 
vestigated by  John  Bernoulli,  Maclaurin,  and  the  celebrated 
D'Alembert;  the  latter  of  whom  placed  it  in  an  entirely  new 
light  by  the  application  of  Eider's  calculus  of  partial  dif- 
ferences. One  of  the  best  treatises  on  hydrodynamics  which 
we  possess  is  that  of  the  Abbe  Bossut,  in  which  are  given 
the  results  of  a  very  extensive  set  of  experiments  performed 
with  great  judgment  and  accuracy.  Similar  experiments, 
and  more  extensively  varied,  were  afterwards  undertaken 
by  Du  Buat,  whose  Principes  a" Hydrauliquc,  in  three  vol- 
umes, contains  a  theory  founded  solely  on  the  results  of  ex- 
periments. Du  Buat  was  the  first  who  determined  experi- 
mentally the  influence  of  heat  in  promoting  fluidity.  Among 
other  experiments  more  recently  undertaken  for  the  purpose 
of  throwing  light  on  this  interesting  and  difficult  subject,  we 
may  mention  those  of  Coulomb,  of  Eytelwein  of  Berlin,  of 
Bidone  of  Turin,  of  General  Sabatier  of  Mctz,  of  Mr.  George 
Rennie,  and  of  Mr.  Jardine  of  Edinburgh,  from  which  some 
valuable  results  have  been  obtained  relative  to  the  discharge 
of  water  from  long  pipes. 

The  analytical  theory  of  hydrodynamics  resolves  itself 
into  the  integration  of  equations  of  partial  differences,  a 
branch  of  the  calculus  which  we  owe  to  the  illustrious 
Euler.  Euler  himself  gave  the  general  formula;  for  the 
motion  of  fluids,  founded  on  the  laws  of  their  equilibrium, 
and  thus  reduced  the  whole  mechanics  of  fluid  bodies  to 
a  single  question  of  analysis.  If  these  formula?  could  be  in- 
tegrated, we  should  be  able  to  determine  completely,  in 
every  case,  all  the  circumstances  of  the  motion  and  action 
of  a  fluid  subjected  to  the  influences  of  any  forces  what 
ever;  but  such  is  the  difficulty  of  the  subject,  that  the  in- 
tegration, except  in  a  few  limited  cases,  has  hitherto  resisted 
the  efforts  of  the  greatest  mathematicians.  Lagrange,  in 
his  Mecanique,  Analytique,  has  deduced  the  analytical  for- 
mula of  the  motion  of  fluids  from  the  principle  of  virtual 
velocities,  and  thus  shown  that  dynamics  and  hydrody- 
namics are  only  branches  of  one  great  principle,  and  results, 
as  it  were,  of  a  single  general  formula.  Laplace,  in  the  Me- 
canique Celeste,  has  also  given  the  general  equations  of 
hydrodynamics,  and  applied  them  to  the  questions  of  the 
figure  of  the  earth  and  the  tides.  Since  the  days  of  those 
illustrious  mathematicians,  the  theory  has  been  illustrated 
with  reference  to  applications  to  particular  cases  by  Poisson, 
Cauchy,  Navier,  Challis,  and  others;  but  it  cannot  be  said 
to  have  received  any  material  extension. 

Treatises  on  hydrodynamics  are  very  numerous.  Besides 
the  works  of  Lagrange  and  Laplace,  and  the  others  above 
mentioned,  we  would  refer  the  student  to  Bosstit's  Hy- 
drodynamique ;  Poisson1  s  Mecanique  ;  Moscley's  Element- 
ary Treatise  on  Hydrostatics  and  Hydrodynamics.  (See 
Hydrostatics  and  Hydraulics.) 

HYDROFLU'ORIC  ACID.  A  highly  corrosive  and  very 
volatile  liquid,  obtained  by  distilling  in  leaden  or  silver  ves- 
sels a  mixture  of  1  part  of  pure  fluor  spar  in  fine  powder 
with  2  of  sulphuric  acid.  This  compound  acts  vehemently 
upon  glass  and  all  silicious  combinations:  it  is  probably  a 
compound  of  13  fluorine  +  1  hydrogen. 

HY'DROGEN.  (Gr.  ISwp,  and  ytvvaeiv,  to  generate.) 
This  important  element  is  only  known  to  us  in  the  gaseous 
or  permanently  elastic  form.  It  was  foimerly  called  in- 
flammable air,  and  was  sometimes  considered  as  identical 
with  phlogiston,  or  the  matter  of  heat.  It  is  usually  pro- 
cured by  the  action  of  sulphuric  acid  and  zinc  or  iron  upon 
water,  or  by  passing  the  vapour  of  water  over  red-hot  iron. 
Pure  hydrogen  is  a  colourless,  tasteless,  and  inodorous  gas. 
100  cubic  inches  at  mean  temperature  and  pressure  weigh 
2-13  grains;  so  that  its  specific  gravity  compared  with  air  is 
50 


HYDROPERSULPHURIC  ACID. 

as  C9  to  1000,  and  it  is  exactly  16  times  lighter  than  oxygen. 
It  burns  in  contact  with  air  with  a  pale  blue  flame ;  and 
when  mixed  with  three  or  four  times  its  volume  of  air,  or 
with  half  its  volume  of  pure  oxygen,  and  inflamed,  it  burns 
rapidly,  and  in  the  latter  case  with  violent  explosion.  The 
only  product  of  this  combustion  is  water,  which  is  thus 
shown  to  consist  of  1  part  by  weight  of  hydrogen  with  8  of 
oxygen ;  so  that  upon  this  datum  the  number  8  becomes  the 
equivalent  of  oxygen,  and  9  that  of  water.  Hvdrogen  ia 
not  absorbed  by  water,  and  animals  soon  die  when  confined 
in  it. 

HYDRO'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  hgwp,  and  ypa(j>u),  I  write.) 
The  description  of  the  waters  which  exist  at  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  particularly  Willi  reference  to  the  bearings  of  the 
coasts,  the  depths,  currents,  and  other  circumstances  re- 
quired to  be  known  for  the  purposes  of  navigation.  This 
term  implies  the  same  thing  with  regard  to  the  sea  that  ge- 
ography implies  with  regard  to  the  land.  Hydrographical 
charts  or  maps  are  projections  of  some  part  of  the  ocean,  in 
which  the  rhumbs,  meridians,  parallels,  &c,  with  the 
coasts,  capes,  rocks,  shallows,  &c,  are  laid  down  for  the 
uses  of  navigation. 

HYDRO'GURETS,  or  HY'DURETS.  Compounds  of 
hydrogen  with  metals,  &c. 

HY'DROLEACEvE,  are  a  small  natural  order  of  Mono- 
petalous  Exogens,  resembling  Boraginacea  in  some  respects, 
and  Convolvulaceee  in  others ;  not,  however,  climbing  like 
the  latter.  They  chiefly  inhabit  watery  places  in  tropical 
climates,  and  have  flowers  of  some  beauly,  usually  belong- 
ing to  the  Cyanic  series. 

HYDRO'LOGY.  (Gr.  iSup,  and  Aoyo?,  discourse.)  That 
part  of  natural  history  which  treats  of  water,  and  of  its  va- 
rious properties  and  modes  of  existence  in  nature. 

HY'DROMANCY.  (Gr.  Uwp,  and  uavrua,  prophecy.) 
Among  the  ancients,  a  method  of  divination  by  water.  It 
was  performed  in  various  ways.  Its  origin  is  ascribed  by 
Varro  to  the  Persians ;  and  Numa  is  said  to  have  had  re- 
course to  it  for  instruction  how  he  should  settle  the  ceremo- 
nies of  religion. 

HY'DROMEL.  (Gr.  iStop,  and  ui\t,  honey.)  Water 
sweetened  with  honey,  which,  when  fermented,  forms  mead. 

HYDRO'METER.  (Gr.  vSo>p,  and  perpov,  measure.) 
An  instrument  for  determining  the  specific  gravities  of  li- 
quids, and  thence  the  strengths  of  spirituous  liquors  ;  these 
being  inversely  as  their  specific  gravities.  Various  instru- 
ments of  different  forms  have  been  proposed  for  ascertain- 
ing readily  the  specific  gravities  of  fluids ;  but  as  Sikes's 
hydrometer  is  directed  by  act  of  parliament  to  be  used  in 
collecting  the  revenue  of  the  United  Kingdom,  it  may  be 
considered  as  more  deserving  of  description 
than  any  of  the  others.  This  instrument  is 
represented  in  the  annexed  figure.  A  B  is  a 
flat  stem,  divided  on  both  sides  into  eleven 
equal  parts,  each  of  which  is  again  subdivi- 
ded into  two.  The  stem  carries  a  hollow  brass 
ball  B  C,  in  which  is  fixed  a  conical  stalk  C 
D,  terminating  in  a  pear-shaped  bulb  D.  Eight 
different  weights  of  a  circular  form,  and  mark- 
ed with  the  numbers  10,  20,  30,  40,  50,  60,  70, 
and  80,  are  cut  in  the  manner  represented  at 
W,  so  that  they  can  be  placed  on  the  stalk  C 
D.  When  the  strength  of  spirits  is  to  be 
measured,  one  of  the  circular  weights  is  pla- 
ced on  C  D,  which  is  found  by  trial  to  be  ca- 
pable of  sinking  the  ball  so  far  that  the  sur- 
face of  the  liquid  cuts  the  stem  at  one  of  the 
divisions  between  A  and  B.  The  number  of 
this  division  is  then  observed,  and  also  the 
temperature  of  the  liquid ;  and  the  corre- 
sponding strength  per  cent,  of  the  spirit  is  then  found  in  a 
table  which  accompanies  the  instrument. 

Another  easy  method  of  determining  the  densities  of  dif- 
ferent liquids,  frequently  practised,  is  by  means  of  a  set  of 
glass  beads  previously  adjusted  and  numbered.  Thrown 
into  any  liquid,  the  heavier  balls  sink  and  the  lighter  float 
at  the  surface ;  but  one  of  them  approaching  the  density  of 
the  liquid  will  be  in  a  state  of  indifference  as  to  buoyancy, 
or  will  float  under  the  surface.  The  number  on  this  ball 
indicates,  in  thousandth  parts,  the  specific  density  of  the 
liquid. 

HY'DKOMETRA.  (Gr.  vSuip,  and  pnrpa,  the  womb.) 
Dropsy  of  the  uterus. 

HY'DROME'TRHLE.  (Gr.  viwp,  and  pijrpa,  a  birth- 
place.) A  family  of  Geocoristz,  or  land-bugs,  but  of  aquatic 
habits ;  not,  however,  living  in  water,  but  frequenting  the 
surface. 

HY'DROPE'RICA'RDTUM.  (Gr.  Map,  and  TrtpiKapiiov.) 
Dropsy  of,  or  an  unnatural  accumulation  of  watery  fluid  in, 
the  sac  of  the  heart. 

HY'DROPERSULPHU'RIC  ACID,  or  BISULPHURET 
OF  HYDROGEN.  A  compound  of  2  equivalents  of  sul- 
phur and  1  of  hydrogen  :  its  equivalent  is  33. 

Ni  577 


HYDROPHANE. 

HY'DROPHANE.  (Gr.  botop,  and  ijiatvu,  I  shine.)  A 
variety  of  opal,  which  is  white  and  opaque  when  dry,  but 
becomes  transparent  in  water. 

HYDROTHIDES.  (Gr.  vSwp,  and  o<pif,  a  serpent.)  A 
name  applied  to  the  section  ot*  Ophidians,  including  the 
water-snakes.  These  are  principally  distinguished  by 
having  the  tail  compressed  or  flattened  sideways,  for  the 
purpose  of  swimming.  They  are  armed  with  ponton  fangs  ; 
but  these  are  ot"  small  size,  and  are  associated  with  a  row 
of  non-venomous  maxillary  teeth. 

HYDltoTHILIDiE.  (Gr.  viu>p,  and  <pi\cw,  I  love.)  A 
family  of  Pentamerous  Coleopterous,  including  those  species 
which  have  short  clavate  antenna',  long  and  Blender  palpi, 
mandibles  bidentate  at  the  tips;  body  oval  and  convex; 
and  the  hind  legs  often  ciliated.  The  Hydrophilida,  like 
the  Dyticidce,  are  aquatic  beetles,  and  have  wings  by  which 
they  can  transport  themselves  from  one  piece  of  water  to 
another ;  but  they  are  vegetable-feeders,  and  are  less  active 
in  their  movements  than  the  predatory  water-beetles.  The 
family  includes  many  genera.  The  typical  species,  Hy- 
dropliilus  caraboides,  is  common  in  the  stagnant  ponds  and 
ditches  of  this  country. 

UY'DROPHO'BIA.  (Gr.  viuip,  and  <j>o6zouat,  I  fear.) 
A  disease  remarkably  characterized  by  alarm  at  the  ap- 
proach of  water,  and  caused  by  the  bite  of  a  mad  dog  or 
other  rabid  animal ;  but  it  does  not  appear  capable  of  being 
communicated  by  the  human  subject.  At  some  indefinite 
period  after  the  bite,  and  often  long  after  all  local  injury 
has  healed,  itching  and  pain  in  the  bitten  part,  heaviness, 
great  restlessness  and  uneasiness,  and  mental  alarm  ensue, 
followed  by  pains  about  the  neck,  sense  of  choking,  and 
great  irritability  and  horror  at  any  attempt  to  drink,  al- 
though solid  food  can  generally  be  swallowed.  Fever, 
vomiting,  excessive  thirst,  spitting  of  viscid  saliva,  and  diffi- 
cult respiration  then  come  on,  with  irregular  pulse  and  con- 
vulsions, under  which  the  sufferer  sinks  more  or  less  rapid- 
ly, according  to  the  strength  of  his  constitution.  Delirium 
sometimes  precedes  death,  but  not  always ;  in  many  in- 
stances the  judgment  appears  unaffected.  It  unfortunately 
happens  that  nothing  in  the  way  of  cure,  and  little  even  as 
palliation,  has  been  successfully  effected  in  this  disease; 
but  there  appears  little  doubt  that  the  timely  application  of 
preventive  measures  has  been  successful,  and  of  these  the 
amputation  or  excision  of  the  bitten  part,  and  the  applica- 
tion of  caustics  to  it,  or  both  united,  are  most  to  be  relied 
on  ;  and  the  sooner  they  are  resorted  to,  the  better  the 
chance  of  success ;  but  it  appears  that  they  may  be  effective 
any  time  before  the  appearance  of  symptoms.  Among 
caustics,  the  nitric  acid  is  perhaps  the  most  effective.  It 
energetically  acts  upon  and  decomposes  all  animal  matter, 
and  fluids  more  especially  ;  and  if  applied  very  soon  after 
the  bite,  can  scarcely  fail  to  be  effective  :  it  also  penetrates 
the  wound,  and  forms  a  sloughing  sore.  The  appearance 
of  madness  in  dogs,  in  its  early  stages  at  least,  is  unfortu- 
nately not  very  well  defined,  nor  always  easily  distinguish- 
able from  their  other  maladies :  whether  the  bite  is  less 
dangerous  before  they  become  evidently  rabid  than  after- 
wards, seems  to  be  doubtful.  In  general,  the  animal  is  ob- 
served to  be  unusually  dull  and  unsociable,  refuses  food, 
hangs  his  head,  and  appears  drowsy  :  he  flies  at  strangers, 
but  usually  recognises  his  master,  though  with  great  com- 
parative indifference.  Afterwards  his  breathing  is  quick 
and  heavy  ;  frothy  matter  runs  from  his  mouth  ;  he  walks 
slowly,  but  occasionally  runs  and  starts  forward ;  at  length 
he  forgets  his  master,  often  falls  down,  flies  at  everybody 
in  his  way,  grows  furious,  and  in  four-and-twenty  or  thirty- 
hours  dies. 

HYDROPHYLLA'CE^E.  (Hydrophyllum,  one  of  the 
genera.)  A  natural  order  of  herbaceous  Exogcns,  inhabit- 
ing America  ;  very  near  to  Boraginacew,  from  which  they 
are  known  by  their  one-celled,  many-seeded  fruit,  and  many 
other  characters.  Some  Polcmoniacea;  have  the  habit  of 
this  order.  Some  of  the  species  of  Eutoca  and  Phacelia  are 
cultivated  on  account  of  their  pretty  flowers. 

HT'DROPHYTES.  (Gr.  vcwp,  and  (pvrov,  a  plant.) 
Plants  which  thrive  in  water:  a  name  confined  by  botanists 
to  Algaceous  plants  found  in  fresh  water.  It  has  been  re- 
marked by  .Mr.  Lyell  (Principles  of  Geology)  that  the 
Dumber  of  hydrophytes  is  very  considerable,  and  their  sta- 
tions more  varied  than  could  have  been  anticipated  :  for 
while  some  plants  are  daily  covered  and  uncovered  by  the 
tide,  others  live  in  abysses  of  the  ocean  at  the  extraordinary 
depth  of  1000  feet;  and  although  in  such  situations  there 
must  reign  darkness  more  profound  than  ninht,  at  least  to 
our  organs,  many  of  these  vegetables  are  highly  coloured. 

HY'DROPS.  (Gr.  Mvp.)  Dropsy.  An  unnatural  ac- 
cumulation of  fluid  in  the  cellular  membrane  or  cavities  of 
the  bod  v. 

HY'DROPTHA'LMIA.  (Gr.  hSup,  and  otfrOaXnoc,  the 
eye.)    Dropsy  of  the  eve. 

HYDROR'.U.'HITIS.     (Gr.  lfu>p,  and  o,w,  t/ic  spine.) 
A  tumour  upon  the  spine  of  infants  ;  at  first  of  a  blue  col- 
578 


n 


HYDROSTATICS. 

our,  but  afterwards  becoming  translucent :  it  is  attended 
w  ith  paralysis  of  the  lower  limbs,  and  usually  fatal  in  its 
consequences. 

HY'DRO-SALTS.    Salts  of  the  hydracids. 

HY'DROSCOPE.  (Gr.  vopooicomoi;  from  vcuip  and 
BKontb),  I  view.)  An  instrument  anciently  used  for  meas- 
uring time  by  means  of  the  flowing  of  water  through  a 
small  orifice.  It  consisted  of  a  cylindrical  tube,  conical  at 
the  bottom.  The  cylinder  was  graduated ;  and  as  the  water 
trickled  out  at  the  apex  of  the  cone,  its  surface  became  sue 
cessivcly  contiguous  to  the  divisions  marked  on  the  cone, 
and  thereby  pointed  out  the  hour. 

HYDROSTA'TICA.  (Gr.  vduip,  and  craw,  I  stand.) 
The  name  of  an  order  of  Jlcalephes,  including  those  which 
have  one  or  more  air-vessels  appended  to  their  body. 

HYDROSTA'TIC  BALANCE.  A  balance  for  weighing 
substances  in  water,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  their 
specific  gravities.     See  Ralance. 

HYDROSTATIC  BELLOWS.  An  apparatus  for  illus- 
trating the  hydrostatic  paradox,  or  that  peculiar  property  of 
liquids  in  virtue  of  which  they  transmit  pressure  equally  in 
every  direction.  In  the  annexed  fig- 
ure B  C  and  D  E  are  two  flat  boards 
united  by  leather  or  flexible  cloth  A, 
water-tight.  A  short  tube  fitted  with  a 
stop-cock  communicates  with  the  in- 
terior of  the  bellows,  by  which  the  li- 
quid may  be  discharged.  From  the 
short  tube  a  long  tube  T  rises  perpen- 
dicularly, and  terminates  in  a  funnel 
F.  The  upper  board  B  C  is  loaded 
with  weights,  which  press  it  against 
the  lower  board  D  E.  On  pouring 
water  into  the  funnel  F,  it  will  de- 
scend through  the  tube  T,  and  enter 
between  the  boards ;  and  by  continu- 
ing the  supply,  a  column  will  be  form- 
ed in  the  tube,  the  weight  of  which,  transmitted  through  the 
water  in  the  bellows,  will  raise  and  support  the  weights  on 
the  board.  The  load  which  may  be  thus  raised  is  easily  de- 
termined. Every  portion  of  the  surface  of  the  board  B  C, 
equal  in  area  to  the  section  of  the  tube,  is  pressed  upwards 
by  a  force  equal  to  the  weight  of  the  water  in  the  tube  above 
the  level  of  B  C.  Hence,  if  the  section  of  the  tube  T  is  one 
square  inch,  and  the  surface  of  the  board  B  C  is  1000  square 
inches,  then  a  column  of  water  in  T  weighing  one  pound 
will  sustain  a  weight  on  the  board  of  1000  pounds.  In  this 
manner  a  few  ounces  of  water  may  be  made  to  support  any 
weight,  however  great     Sec  Hydrostatics. 

HYDROSTATIC  PARADOX.  A  term  frequently  em- 
ployed to  designate  that  principle  in  hydrostatics  according 
to  which  any  quantity  of  water,  however  small,  may  be 
made  to  balance  any  weight,  however  great  See  Hydro- 
static Bellows. 

HYDROSTATIC  PRESS,  also  cnlled  the  Hydraulic 
Press,  and  sometimes,  from  the  name  of  the  engineer  who 
gave  it  the  form  under  which  it  is  now  constructed,  and 
brought  it  into  general  use,  Bramali's  Press,  is  a  machine 
by  means  of  which  an  enormous  force  of  pressure  is  ob- 
tained through  the  medium  of  water.  The  principle  is  the 
same  as  that  of  the  hydrostatic  bellows  ;  from  which,  in- 
deed, it  only  differs  by  the  substitution  of  a  strong  forcing 
ptunp  for  the  long  tube,  and  a  barrel  and  piston  for  the 
leather  and  boards.    It  consists  of  a  short  and  very  strong 

pump-barrel  A  B,  with  a  solid  pis-       , 

ton  C  of  proportionate  strength,      \ 

which  is  pushed  upwards  against    

the  thing  to  be  compressed  by- 
water  driven  into  the  barrel  be- 
neath it  at  F  from  the  small  for- 
cing pump  E.  If  the  small  pump 
have  only  "tie  thousandth  of  the 
area  of  the  large  barrel,  and  if  a 
man,  by  means  of  its  lever  handle  D,  press  its  piston  down 
with  a  force  of  five  hundred  pounds,  the  piston  of  the  great 
barrel,  in  virtue  of  the  hydrostatic  principle  of  equal  press- 
ure in  all  directions,  will  rise  with  a  force  of  a  thousand 
times  live  hundred  pounds,  or  more  than  200  tons.  The  hy- 
drostatic press  is  applied  to  a  great  variety  of  useful  pur- 
poses;  for  compressing  bales  of  goods,  as  paper,  cotton, 
wool,  tobacco,  &c. ;  for  expressing  oils  from  seeds,  raising 
weights,  uprooting  trees,  &c. 

HYDEOSTATICS  (Gr.  bSup,  and  arata,  I  stand),  is  the 
science  which  explains  the  properties  of  the  equilibrium 
and  pressure  of  liquids.  It  is  the  application  of  statics  to 
the  peculiar  constitution  of  water  or  other  bodies  existing  in 
the  perfectly  liquid  form. 

The  whole  doctrine  of  the  equilibrium  and  pressure  of 
liquids  is  deduced  from  the  following  fundamental  law  • 
"  When  8  liquid  mass  is  in  equilibrium  under  the  action  of 
forces  of  any  kind,  every  molecule  of  the  mass  sustains  an 
equal  pressure  in  all  directions."    This  law  is  derived  from 


\ o-cCT-> 


HYDROSTATICS. 


the  very  nature  of  a  liquid  body,  which  is  such  that  all  its 
particles  are  independent  of  each  other,  and  perfectly 
movable  in  every  direction  ;  whence  if  any  particle  sus- 
tained a  greater  pressure  in  one  direction  than  another,  it 
would  necessarily,  by  reason  of  the  absolute  facility  of  mo- 
tion with  which  it  is  endowed,  give  way  and  move  towards 
that  part  where  the  resistance  is  least,  and  consequently 
there  would  not  be  equilibrium. 

One  of  the  most  obvious  consequences  of  the  above  law  is, 
that  the  surface  of  a  liquid  when  at  rest  in  an  open  vessel, 
and  acted  upon  by  no  other  force  than  gravity,  is  horizontal, 
or  perpendicular  to  the  direction  of  gravity.  If  the  direc- 
tions of  gravity  are  parallel,  the  surface  will  consequently 
be  a  plane ;  if  they  converge  to  a  point,  the  surface  of  the 
liquid  will  be  a  portion  of  a  sphere.  Stagnant  water  at  the 
surface  of  the  earth,  therefore,  assumes  the  spherical  figure  ; 
but  by  reason  of  the  magnitude  of  the  sphere  the  curvature 
of  any  small  portion  of  it  is  insensible,  and  the  surface  may 
be  regarded  as  a  plane.  A  ring  surrounding  the  earth 
would  bend  away  from  a  perfectly  straight  line  only  eight 
inches  in  a  mile. 

If  a  free  communication  is  made  between  two  or  more 
vessels  containing  a  liquid  by  pipes  or  tubes,  or  otherwise, 
the  surface  of  the  liquid  when  in  equilibrium  will  always 
stand  at  the  same  level.  Let  A  B, 
A'  B'  be  two  tubes,  united  by  a  third, 
B  B',  placed  in  the  horizontal  position, 
and  suppose  water  to  be  poured  into 
one  of  the  tubes  at  A ;  it  will  pass 
along  the  tube  B  B',  and  rise  in  B'  A'  and  B  A  simultane- 
ously, its  surfaces  at  A  and  A'  always  remaining  level,  or  at 
equal  vertical  heights  above  B  B'.  This  property  is  famil- 
iarly illustrated  in  the  case  of  a  teapot,  or  any  vessel  hav- 
ing a  spout. 

The  liquid  contained  in  a  vessel  being  at  rest,  and  sub- 
jected to  the  action  of  gravity  only,  any  particle  of  it  is 
pressed  in  all  directions  (vertically,  horizontally,  or  oblique- 
ly) by  a  force  which  is  equal  to  the  weight  of  the  vertical 
column  of  the  liquid  incumbent  on  it.  This  important  prop- 
osition may  be  demonstrated  in  the  following  manner :  As 
the  pressure  in  all  directions  must  necessarily  be  equal  from 
the  supposition  of  equilibrium,  we  need  attend  only  to  the 
vertical  pressure.  Now,  suppose  the  whole  mass  of  the  fluid, 
with  the  exception  of  the  vertical  column  corresponding  to 
the  particle  in  question,  to  become  solid,  without  changing 
its  place  or  volume,  the  particle  will  obviously  remain  in  the 
same  state  of  compression  as  before;  but  as  the  column 
alone  remains  fluid,  the  only  pressure  on  the  particle  is  that 
produced  by  the  weight  of  the  column.  Hence  the  absolute 
weight  of  the  column  forms  the  measure  of  the  pressure 
sustained  by  the  particle  in  all  directions  when  surrounded 
by  the  liquid. 

Instead  of  a  particle  of  the  liquid  itself,  we  may  consider 
the  column  to  rest  on  an  indefinitely  small  portion  of  the 
bottom  or  the  sides  of  the  vessel  in  which  it  is  contained, 
and  it  will  follow  that  the  pressure  on  an  indefinitely  small 
portion  of  the  area  at  any  point  of  the  bottoni  or  sides  is  per- 
pendicular to  the  plane  of  that  area,  and  equal  to  the  weight 
of  a  vertical  column  of  the  liquid  standing  on  it  as  a  base 
and  reaching  to  the  surface.  Hence  the  whole  pressure 
sustained  by  any  finite  portion  of  the  bottom  or  sides  of  the 
vessel  Is  equal  to  the  weight  of  a  column  of  the  liquid  hav- 
ing for  its  base  the  surface  pressed  on  (extended  into  a 
plane  if  necessary),  and  for  its  altitude  the  distance  of  the 
centre  of  gravity  of  '.hat  surface  from  the  surface  of  the 
liquid. 

From  this  proposition  it  obviously  follows  that  the  press- 
ure on  the  bottom  of  the  vessel  depends  only  on  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  bottom  and  the  depth  of  the  liquid,  and  is  en- 
tirely independent  of  the  form  of  the  sides  and  of  the  quan- 


OPis 


liquid  in  the  vessel.  Suppose  the  three  vessels  A,  B, 
to  have  the  areas  of  their  bottoms  equal,  and  that  the 
fluid  stands  in  each  to  the  same  depth  ;  then 
the  pressure  on  the  bottom  of  each  vessel  is 
the  same,  and  equal  to  the  weight  of  the 
liquid  which  would  be  contained  in  a  vessel 
having  an  equal  bottom  and  its  sides  perpen- 
dicular. 

This  proposition  gives  rise  to  consequences 
which  at  first  view  appear  alwurd,  and  has 
jsp    hence  been  called  the  hydrostatic  paradox. 
c   Let  A  B  C  D  be  a  close  vessel  with  a  small 
hole  O  in  the  top,  into  which  a  narrow  tube 
screwed  water-tight.    Let  water  be  poured  into  the 


tube  till  the  vessel  A  B  C  D  is  filled,  and  the  water  stands 
in  the  tube  at  the  level  P.  According  to  the  principle  just 
established,  the  pressure  on  the  bottom  C  D  is  proportional 
to  the  depth  P  II,  or,  in  fact,  equal  to  the  weight  of  water 
which  would  fill  a  vessel  to  the  magnitude  E  D  C  F.  Now 
this  is  the  case,  however  shallow  the  vessel  A  B  C  D,  and 
however  narrow  the  tube  P  O  may  be ;  and  hence  a  very 
small  quantity  of  water  may  be  made  to  exercise  a  pressure 
of  any  amount,  however  great,  on  the  bottom  or  sides  of  the 
vessel  containing  it. 

The  whole  pressure  on  the  top  A  B  of  the  vessel,  and  tend- 
ing to  raise  it,  is  equal  to  the  weight  of  the  water  in  the  tube 
P  O,  increased  in  the  ratio  of  the  area  of  A  B  to  the  area  of 
a  section  of  the  tube.  Suppose  a  section  of  the  tube  to  be 
one  square  inch,  and  the  area  of  A  B  to  be  100  square  inches  ; 
then  a  column  of  water  O  P,  whose  weight  is  one  pound,  will 
exert  a  pressure  on  A  B  equal  to  100  pounds.  It  is  obvious 
that  the  pressure  in  the  narrow  tube  P  O  mav  be  produced 
not  merely  by  the  addition  of  water,  but  by  the  application 
of  any  kind  of  force,  such  as  the  working  of  a  piston,  &c. ; 
and  if  the  bottom  or  lid  of  the  vessel  A  B  C  D  be  made 
movable,  the  pressure  on  either  may  be  brought  to  bear  on 
one  point  of  an  external  body,  and  produce  an  enormous 
compression.  It  is  on  this  principle  that  the  very  useful  en- 
gine, the  hydrostatic  press,  is  constructed.  Sec  Hydros- 
tatic Press  and  Hydrostatic  Bellows. 

Many  striking  phenomena  of  the  natural  world  are  refer- 
able to  this  principle,  and  it  has  extensive  application  in  en- 
gineering. If  the  smallest  quantity  of  water  should  lodge 
to  a  considerable  height  in  the  gravel,  sand,  or  loose  earth 
behind  a  wall  or  embankment,  it  would  exert  a  lateral  press- 
ure sufficient  to  push  the  solid  materials  from  their  base. 
Hence  a  sudden  shower  often  occasions  great  devastation. 
The  same  principle  also  regulates  the  construction  of  pipes 
for  the  supply  of  water  to  cities.  The  pressure  acting  on  the 
inner  surface  of  the  pipe,  and  tending  to  burst  it,  being  pro- 
portional to  the  depth  below  the  level  of  the  reservoir,  the 
parts  of  the  pipe  much  below  that  level  must  have  a  greater 
strength  than  is  necessary  at  a  higher  situation.  A  pipe, 
the  diameter  of  whose  bore  is  4  inches,  has  an  internal  cir- 
cumference of  about  1  foot ;  and  the  internal  surface  of  1 
foot  of  such  a  pipe  will  be  1  square  foot,  or  144  square  inch- 
es. If  such  a  pipe  were  140  feet  below  the  level  of  the  res- 
ervoir, it  would  sustain  a  bursting  pressure  amounting  to 
about  60  pounds  on  every  square  inch  of  its  surface ;  for  a 
column  of  water,  the  area  of  whose  section  is  one  square 
inch,  and  of  which  the  height  is  27-727,  or  nearly  28  inches, 
weighs  one  pound ;  and  28  inches  are  contained  60  times  in 
140  feet.  Hence  a  piece  of  the  pipe  1  foot  long  will  sustain 
144  times  this  pressure,  that  is,  a  bursting  pressure  of  8640 
pounds.  This  exceeds  considerably  that  which  is  produced 
in  any  high-pressure  steam-engine. 

Weight  of  Bodies  immersed  in  Liquids. — A  body  immers- 
ed in  a  liquid  is  pressed  upwards  by  a  force  equal  to  the 
weight  of  the  liquid  it  displaces;  and  the  difference  be- 
tween the  absolute  weight  of  a  body  and  its  weight  when 
entirely  immersed,  is  the  same  with  the  weight  of  a  quanti- 
ty of  the  liquid  equal  in  bulk  to  the  body.  This  proposition, 
which  is  capable  of  strict  demonstration  from  the  funda- 
mental property  of  fluids,  may  be  illustrated  as  follows: 
Suppose  any  interior  portion  of  a  liquid  to  become  solid ;  it 
would  evidently  remain  in  the  same  state  of  indifference  or 
equilibrium  as  before.  It  must,  therefore,  be  borne  up  by 
the  vertical  pressure  of  the  liquid  with  a  force  just  equal  to 
its  weight,  or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  to  the  weight  of  the 
liquid  whose  place  it  occupies.  And  if  we  conceive  this 
congealed  mass  to  have  its  weight  augmented  or  diminished, 
it  will  be  pulled  downwards  or  upwards  by  the  difference  be- 
tween its  new  weight  and  the  weight  of  an  equal  bulk  of  the 
liquid.  Substitute  any  solid  body  instead  of  this  block  of  ice, 
and  the  loss  of  weight  it  sustains  by  the  immersion  will  be 
equal  to  that  of  the  volume  of  liquid  it  displaces. 

On  this  principle  is  founded  the  method  of  ascertaining 
the  relative  densities  or  specific  gravities  of  different  bodies. 
The  specific  gravity  of  a  body  is  the  ratio  of  its  weight  to  the 
weight  of  an  equal  bulk  of  water.  Let,  therefore,  W  be  the 
weight  of  a  body  in  air,  and  YV  its  weight  in  water ;  then 
W— W"  is  the  weisht  of  a  quantity  of  water  equal  in  bulk 

W 
to  the  body,  and      is  its  specific  gravity.    The  spe- 
cific gravities  of  bodies  are  therefore  found  by  weighing 
them  first  in  air  and  then  in  water.    Sec  Gravity,  Spe- 
cific. 

Solid  Bodies  floating  ore  Liquids. — The  equilibrium  of 
solid  bodies  floating  on  liquids,  a  subject  discussed  by  Ar- 
chimedes in  his  treatise  De  Humido  Insidentibus.  is  an  impor- 
tant part  of  hydrostatics,  in  consequence  of  its  relation  to  the 
construction  and  stowage  of  ships.  A  body  placed  on  a  fluid 
specifically  heavier  than  itself,  will  sink  so  far  that  the 
weight  of  the  fluid  displaced  is  equal  to  the  whole  weight  of 
the  body  ;  and  when  it  assumes  the  position  of  equilibrium, 
the  line  which  joins  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the  body  and 

579 


HYDROSULPHATES. 

(he  centre  of  buoyancy  (which  is  the  same  as  the  centre  of 
gravity  of  the  immersed  pan  supposed  to  be  homogeneous) 
is  perpendicular  to  the  surface  of  tiio  water,  or  the  horizon. 
The  centre  of  gravity  of  a  body  is  a  fixed  point  relatively 
to  the  bodj  itself;  but  the  centre  of  buoyancy,  which  de- 
pends on  the  figure  of  the  immersed  part,  will  change  Us 
place  when  the  figure  or  relative  situation  of  the  immersed 
part  undergoes  any  alteration.  It  is  on  the  relative  situa- 
tions of  the  centres  of  gravity  and  of  buoyancy  that  the  char- 
acter of  the  equilibrium  of  a  Boating  body  depends;  namely, 
whether  it  is  stable  or  unstable,  or  indifferent  If  the  figure 
and  position  of  the  body  be  such,  that  on  pulling  it  a  little 
aside  from  the  situation  of  rest,  its  centre  of  gravi 
higher  position,  the  body  has  n  tendency  to  redress  itself,  and 
the  equilibrium  is  stable.  On  the  contrary,  if  bj  a  slight 
change  of  position  the  centre  of  gravity  conies  to  occupy  a 
lower  place,  the  body  will  not  return  to  the  position  of  equi- 
librium, but  will  be  overturned  or  upset.  In  this  case  the 
equilibrium  was  unstable.  But  a  body  may  be  so  constituted 
(tbr  example,  a  homogeneous  sphere,  or  a  cylinder  floating 
with  its  axis  horizontal)  that  in  every  position  the  centres  of 
gravity  and  of  buoyancy  are  in  the  same  vertical  line.  In 
the  equilibrium  cannot  be  disturbed,  and  is  called 
the  equilibrium  of  in  difference,  the  body  having  no  tendency 
to  maintain  one  position  more  than  another. 

To  illustrate  this,  and  to  show  at  the  same  time  the  cir- 
cumstances on  which  the  stability  of  the  equilibrium  de- 
pends, let  A  H  D  K  be  a  body 

,, t •>.  7,  floating  on  water,  and  let  II  K  be 

,  J     ,  i   the  line  of  floatation ;  also  let  G 

be  its  centre  of  gravity,  and  B  its 
I  centre  of  buoyancy,  which  will 
;  be  in  the  same  vertical  with  G 
when  the  body  is  at  rest,  and  will 
j  obviously  be  below  G.  The  body 
now  pressed  down  by  its  own 
:ht  collected  at  G,  and  push- 
ed up  in  the  opposite  direction  by  an  equal  force  at  B.  Sup- 
pose it  to  be  drawn  aside  from  the  position  of  rest  till  the 
water  line  comes  into  the  position  h  k  ;  the  centre  of  buoy- 
ancy B  will  now  be  transferred  to  B',  and  the  line  of  support 
will  be  a  line  passing  through  B',  perpendicular  to  the  sur- 
face of  the  water.  Let  this  line  meet  the  principal  axis  A  D 
inM;  then  the  equilibrium  will  be  stable  or  unstable  ac- 
cording as  M  is  alic.  e  or  below  (J,  the  centre  of  gravity.  If 
M  is  above  G,  the  vertical  thrust  lends  to  redress  the  hody 
and  restore  the  equilibrium  ;  but  if  the  vertical  B'  J!  meets 
the  principal  axis  below  G,  the  body  will  be  pushed  men 
aside  till  it  is  overset.  The  point  M  possesses  several  re- 
markable properties.  Its  position  in  the  a_xis  A  D  remains 
unaltered  when  the  body  is  drawn  aside  from  the  position  of 
equilibrium;  audit  limits  the  greatest  elevation  which  the 
centre  of  gravity  can  have  in  order  that  the  equilibrium 
may  be  stable.  It  was  denominated  by  Bouguer  the  mcta- 
ccntre,  and  its  position  may  he  determined  in  all  cases  where 
the  figure  and  specific  gravity  of  the  floating  body  are  given. 
As  the  stability  of  a  floating  body  depends  on  the  height 
of  the  metacentre  above  the  centre  of  gravity,  the  construc- 
tion of  a  ship  should  be  so  regulated,  and  its  cargo  so  ar- 
ranged, that  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the  whole  mass  should 
be  at  the  lowest  possible  point.  Hence  the  heaviest  part  of 
the  cargo  is  stowed  away  nearest  the  ship's  bottom ;  and 
vessels  having  discharged  their  cargo  must  be  ballasted, 
in  order  to  give  them  requisite  stability.  When  a  vessel  is 
without  a  cargo  and  empty,  the  weight  of  the  masts  and 
rigging  raises  the  centre  of  gravity  to  such  a  height  as  to 
render  the  equilibrium  unstable,  or  at  least  renders  its  stabil- 
ity so  small  that  it  cannot  he  safely  subjected  to  the  ordi- 
nary pressure  on  the  sails  necessary  to  give  motion,  and  con- 
sequently would  be  altogether  incapable  of  encountering  a 
gale  or  a  heav\  sea. 

Another  important  application  of  the  theory  of  hydro- 
statics is  to  the  form  that  ought  to  be  given  to  the  several 
parts  of  embankments,  dams,  the  Hood  gates  of  canals,  and 
other  works  constructed  for  the  purpose  of  confining  or  op- 
posing the  course-  i  f  wafer.     This  inquiry,  which  is  purely 

mathematical,  is  "main  led  on  the  principle  that  the  pressure 
in  any  legal  point  is  direct!}  proportional  to  its  vertical  depth 
under  the  surface  of  the  water.  See  Hydraulics  and  Hy- 
drodynamics. 

HY'DROSULPHATES,  or  HY'DROSU'LPHURETS. 
Compounds  of  hydrosulphuric  acid  or  sulphuretted  hydrogen. 

HY'DROSULPHl  BJC  vin.  Sulphuretted  hydrogen. 
This  compound  was  also  called  hydrothionic  acid  (from  by 
drogen,  and  fir.  "-uoi  sulphur). 

HY'DROTHO'RAX  (Gr.)  Dropsy  of  the  chest  The 
symptoms  are,  difficult  breathing  when  in  a  recumbi  nt  po 

tun-,  |ialr-nev^,  cough,  thirsl,  swelling  of  the   legs  and   feel, 

quick  and  often  Irregular  or  intermitting  pulse. 

HY'DRUS.     (Gr.M  p,v>at  r.)     A.  genus  of  water  snakes, 
characterized  by  a  compressed  or  laterally  flattened   tail 
adapted   for  swimming,  and   by  having  many   maxillary 
580 


HYGROMETER. 

teeth,  like  non-venomous  serpents,  but  with  the  first  larger 
than  the  rest,  and  grooved  for  the  transmission  of  a  poi- 
son-duct. 

The  species  are  confined  to  the  seas  of  the  warmer  lati- 
tudes. 

Hv'drus.  The  Water  Snake;  a  constellation  in  the 
southern  hemisphere  formed  by  Lacaille.  See  Constel- 
lation. 

HYGEI'A.  (Gr.lyuia,  health.)  The  Goddess  of  Health, 
in  the  Greek  Mythology:  daughter  or  wife  of  JEsculapius, 
according  to  the  different  recitals  of  genealogists.  Her  stat- 
ues (of  which  the  most  celebrated  was  at  Sicyon)  sometimes 
represented  her  attended  by  a  large  serpent  coiled  round  her 
body,  and  elevating  its  head  above  her  arm  to  drink  of  a  cup 
which  she  held  in  her  hand.  I  sis,  in  Egyptian  monuments, 
appears  sometimes  in  a  similar  attitude.  The  employment 
of  the  serpent  as  a  mythological  symbol  of  life  and  health 
has  been  bj  Borne  derived  from  the  history  contained  in  the 
fust  chapter  of  Genesis. 

IIY'GELNE.  That  branch  of  medicine  which  relates  to 
the  means  of  preserving  public  health. 

llYtfRO'LOGY.  (Gr.  vypog,  moist,  and  Xoyos,  a  dis- 
course.) A  medical  term,  implying  the  doctrine  of  the  hu- 
i  fluids  of  the  body. 

HYGRO'METER.  (Gr.  vypos,  and  jxtrpov,  measure.) 
An  instrument  for  measuring  the  degrees  of  moisture,  or 
dryness  of  the  atmosphere. 

Variations  in  the  state  of  the  atmosphere  with  respect  to 
moisture  and  dryness  are  manifested  by  a  great  variety  of 
phenomena,  and,  accordingly,  numerous  contrivances  have 
been  proposed  for  ascertaining  the  amounts  of  those  varia- 
tions by  referring  them  to  some  conventional  scale.  All 
such  contrivances  are  called  hygrometers ;  but  though  the 
variety  of  form  that  may  he  given  to  them,  or  of  substances 
that  may  be  employed,  is  endless,  they  may  all  be  referred 
to  two  classes;  namely,  1st,  those  which  act  on  the  princi- 
ple of  absorption  ;  and,  2d,  those  which  act  on  the  principle 
of  condensation. 

1.  Hygrometers  on  the  Principle  of  Msorption. — Many 
substances  in  each  of  the  three  kingdoms  of  nature  absorb 
moisture  from  the  atmosphere  with  greater  or  less  avidity, 
and  thereby  suffer  some  change  in  their  dimensions,  or 
weight,  or  some  of  their  physical  properties.  Animal  fibre 
is  softened  and  relaxed,  and  consequently  elongated,  by  the 
absorption  of  moisture.  Cords  composed  of  twisted  vegeta- 
ble substances  are  swollen,  and  thereby  shortened,  when 
penetrated  by  humidity;  and  the  alternate  expansion  and 
shrinking  of  most  kinds  of  wood,  especially  when  used  in 
cabinet-work,  and  after  the  natural  sap  has  been  f  vaporated, 
is  a  phenomenon  with  which  every  one  is  familiar.  Many 
mineral  substances  absorb  moisture  rapidly,  and  thereby  ob- 
tain an  increase  of  weight.  Now  it  is  evident  that  any  of 
these  changes,  either  of  dimension  or  of  weight,  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  measure  of  the  quantity  of  moisture  absorbed, 
from  which  the  quantity  of  water  existing  in  the  atmo- 
sphere in  the  state  of  vapour  is  inferred ;  but  many,  indeed 
the  far  greater  part  of  them,  are  so  small  in  amount,  or  take 
place  so  slowly,  that  they  afford  no  certain  indication  of  the 
actual  state  of  the  atmosphere  at  any  particular  moment. 

Of  the  different  kinds  of  hygrometers  whose  construction 
depends  on  change  of  dimensions  arising  from  the  absorption 
of  moisture,  there  are  two  deserving  of  notice  on  account  of 
their  historical  celebrity,  though  they  are  now  seldom,  if  at 
all,  used  where  accurate  meteorological  observations  are  at- 
tempted. One  is  the  hair  hygrometer  of  Saussure ;  the  oth- 
er the  whalebone  hygrometer  of  He  Luc. 

Saussure's  hygrometer  consists  of  a  human  hair  prepared 
by  boiling  it  in  a  caustic  ley.  One  extremity  of  the  hair  is 
fastened  to  a  hook,  or  held  by  pincers  ;  the  Other  has  a  small 
weight  attached  to  it,  by  which  it  is  kept  stretched.  The 
hair  is  passed  over  a  grooved  wheel  or  pulley,  the  axis  of 
which  carries  an  index  which  moves  over  a  graduated  arch. 
Such  is  the  essential  part  of  the  instrument,  and  it  is  easy  to 
how  it  acts.  When  the  surrounding  air  becomes 
more  humid  the  hair  absorbs  an  additional  quantity  of  moist- 
ure, and  is  elongated;  the  counterpoise  consequently  de- 
scends, and  turns  the  pulley,  whereby  the  index  is  moved  to- 
v.  ards  the  one  hand  or  the  other.  I  in  the  contrary,  when  the 
ee  drier  the  hair  loses  a  part  of  its  humidity,  and  is 
shortened.  The  counterpoise  is  consequently  drawn  up,  and 
the  index  moves  in  the  opposite  direction.  The  accuracy  of 
ions  of  this  instrument  depends  on   the  assumed 

pan  ion  and  contraction  of  the  ban  are 
due  to  moisture  alone,  and  are  not  affected  by  temperature 
or  other  changes  in  the  condition  of  the  atmosphere.  Ex- 
iiat  the  influence  of  temperature  is  not  very 
gnat ;  but  after  all  precautions  have  been  taken  in  prepa- 
ring the  instrument  h  is  found  to  be  exceedingly  irregular  in 

its  movements,  and  subject  to  great  uncertainties.     Besides, 

ince  is  soon  deteriorated,  and  will  scarcely  main- 
tain its  properties  unimpaired  during  a  single  year. 
The  hygrometer  of  lie  Luc  consists  of  a  very  thin  slip  of 


HYGROMETER. 


whalebone  cut  transversely  or  across  the  fibres,  and  stretch- 
ed by  means  of  a  spring  between  two  points.  One  end  is 
fixed  to  a  bar,  while  the  other  acts  on  the  shorter  arm  of  the 
index  of  a  graduated  scale.  When  the  whalebone  absorbs 
moisture  it  swells,  and  its  length  is  increased ;  as  it  becomes 
dry  it  contracts ;  and  the  space  over  which  the  index  moves 
by  the  one  or  the  other  of  these  effects  gives  the  measure  of 
the  expansion  or  contraction,  and  the  corresponding  change 
in  the  hygroruetric  state  of  the  atmosphere.  The  action  of 
this  hygrometer  appears  to  be  more  uncertain  than  that  of 
Saussure. 

The  hygrometers  which  have  been  proposed  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  a  change  of  weight  arising  from  the  absorption  of 
moisture,  are  liable  to  still  greater  objections.  Changes  of 
weight  may  indeed  be  measured  with  greater  accuracy  by 
the  common  or  torsion  balance  :  but  in  the  present  case  they 
are  so  small,  that  the  particles  of  dust  which  are  at  all  times 
floating  in  the  atmosphere  may  produce  a  great  alteration  in 
the  results.  A  great  variety  of  substances  which  attract 
moisture  have  been  employed,  such  as  sponge,  cotton,  bibu- 
lous paper,  caustic  potash,  the  deliquescent  salts,  sulphuric 
acid,  &c. ;  but  the  indications  which  they  give  are  deserving 
of  very  little  credit.  Changes  of  property  indicated  by  the 
torsion  of  cords  formed  of  gut,  hemp,  cotton,  &c,  and  the 
torsion  of  certain  vegetable  fibres,  are  still  more  fallacious. 

2.  Hygrometers  on  the  Principle  of  Condensation. — The 
instruments  of  this  class  are  of  a  far  more  refined  nature 
than  those  which  we  have  been  describing.  In  order  to 
give  an  idea  of  the  general  principle  on  which  they  depend, 
iet  us  conceive  a  glass  jar,  having  its  sides  perfectly  clean 
and  transparent,  to  be  filled  with  water,  and  placed  on  a 
table  in  a  room  where  the  temperature  is,  for  example,  60°, 
the  temperature  of  the  water  being  the  same  as  that  of  the 
room.  Let  us  next  suppose  pieces  of  ice,  or  a  freezing  mixture, 
to  be  thrown  into  the  water,  whereby  the  water  is  gradually 
cooled  down  to  55,  50,  45,  &c,  degrees.  As  the  process  of 
cooling  goes  on,  there  is  a  certain  instant  at  which  the  jar 
loses  its  transparency,  or  becomes  dim  ;  and  on  attentively 
examining  the  phenomenon,  it  is  found  to  be  caused  by  a 
very  fine  dew,  or  deposition  of  aqueous  vapour  on  the  exter- 
nal surface  of  the  vessel.  The  precise  temperature  of  the 
water,  and,  consequently,  of  the  vessel,  at  the  instant  when 
this  deposition  begins  to  be  formed,  is  called  the  dew  point, 
and  is  capable  of  being  noted  with  great  precision.  Now  this 
temperature  is  evidently  that  to  which,  if  the  air  were  cool- 
ed down,  under  the  same  pressure,  it  would  be  completely 
saturated  with  moisture,  and  ready  to  deposit  dew  on  any 
body  in  the  least  degree  colder  than  itself.  The  difference, 
therefore,  between  the  temperature  of  the  air,  and  the  tem- 
perature of  the  water  in  the  vessel  when  the  dew  begins  to 
be  formed,  will  afford  an  indication  of  the  dryness  of  the 
air,  or  of  its  remoteness  from  the  state  of  complete  saturation. 

But  the  observation  which  has  now  been  described  is 
capable  of  affording  far  more  interesting  and  precise  results 
than  a  mere  indication  of  the  comparative  dryness  or  moist- 
ure of  the  atmosphere.  With  the  help  of  tables  of  the  elas- 
tic force  of  aqueous  vapour  at  different  temperatures,  it  gives 
the  means  of  determining  the  absolute  weight  of  the  aqueous 
vapour  diffused  through  any  given  volume  of  air,  the  pro- 
portion of  vapour  existing  in  that  volume  to  the  quantity 
that  would  be  required  to  saturate  it,  and  of  measuring  the 
force  and  amount  of  evaporation. 

The  elastic  force  of  aqueous  vapour  at  the  boiling  point 
of  water  is  evidently  equal  to  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere. 
This  may  be  assumed  as  corresponding  to  a  column  of  mer- 
cury 30  inches  in  height.  Mr.  Daltou,  in  the  filth  volume 
of  the  Manchester  Memoirs,  has  given  the  details  of  a  most 
valuable  and  beautiful  set  of  experiments,  by  which  he  as- 
certained the  elastic  force  of  vapour  from  water  at  every 
degree  between  its  freezing  and  boiling  points  in  terms  of 
the  column  of  mercury  which  it  is  capable  of  supporting. 
As  the  same  experiments  have  since  been  frequently  re- 
peated, and  the  different  results  present  all  the  accordance 
which  can  be  expected  in  so  delicate  an  investigation,  the 
tension  of  vapour  at  the  different  temperatures  may  be  re- 
garded as  sufficiently  well  determined.  Supposing,  then,  we 
have  a  table  exhibiting  the  elasticity  or  tension  correspond- 
ing to  every  degree  of  the  thermometer,  the  weight  of  a 
given  volume  of  vapour,  for  example  a  cubic  foot,  may  be 
determined  as  follows : 

Steam  at  212°,  and  under  a  pressure  of  30  inches  of  mer- 
cury, is  1700  times  lighter  than  an  equal  bulk  of  water  at  its 
greatest  density,  or  a  temperature  of  about  40°,  and  a  cubic 
foot  of  water  at  that  temperature  weighs  437272  grains ;  the 
weight,  therefore,  of  a  cubic  foot  of  steam  at  that  tempera- 
ture and  pressure  is  437272-^-1700=257-218  grains.  Hence 
we  may  find  the  weight  of  an  equal  bulk  of  vapour  of  the 
same  temperature  under  any  other  given  pressure,  suppose 
0-56  of  an  inch  :  for  the  density  being  directly  as  the  press- 
ure, we  have  30  in. : 0-56  in. : : 257218  grs. : 4801  grs.,  which 
is  the  weight  required. 

Having  found  the  weight  of  a  cubic  foot  of  vapour  under  a 


pressure  of  056  of  an  inch,  and  at  the  temperature  212°,  we 
may  find  its  weight  under  the  same  pressure  at  any  other 
temperature,  suppose  60°.  It  is  ascertained  by  experiment 
that  all  aeriform  bodies,  whether  vapours  or  gases,  expand 
the  l-480th  part  of  their  volume  for  every  accession  of  tem- 
perature equivalent  to  one  degree  of  Fahrenheit's  scale ; 
therefore,  reckoning  a  volume  of  gas  at  32°  as  unity,  its 

c>g  ion 

volume  at  60°  is  to  its  volume  at  212°  as  1 4-  — -  is  to  1  -I • 

^480  ^480" 

or  as  1-058 : 1-375  ;  and  the  density  and  weight  being  inverse- 
ly as  the  volume,  we  have 

1-058 : 1-375 : :  4-801  grs. :  6-222  grs. 
for  the  weight  of  a  cubic  foot  of  vapour  at  temperature  60°, 
and  under  a  pressure  of  056  of  an  inch  of  the  mercurial 
column. 

The  following  table,  abridged  from  DanieWs  Meteorologi- 
cal Essays,  shows  the  force  of  tension,  weight,  and  expan- 
sion of  aqueous  vapour,  at  different  temperatures  on  Fahren- 
heit's scale: 


Temp. 

Force. 

Weight  ol"  a  Cubic 
Foot. 

Expansion. 

0 

•068 

•866 

•9334 

•0S3 

1034 

■9438 

10 

•093 

1-208 

•9542 

15 

•119 

1-451 

•9646 

20 

•140 

1-668 

9750 

25 

•170 

2-028 

•9855 

30 

•200 

2-361 

■9959 

35 

•240 

2-805 

1-0062 

40 

•2S0 

3-239 

10166 

45 

•340 

3-893 

10270 

50 

•400 

4-535 

1-0375 

•476 

5  342 

10479 

eo 

•560 

6-222 

1-0583 

65 

•657 

7-230 

1-0687 

70 

•770 

8-302 

1-0791 

75 

•906 

9-780 

1-0895 

80 

1-060 

11-333 

11000 

85 

1-235 

13-081 

11104 

90 

1-430 

15005 

1-1208 

95 

1-636 

17-009 

1-1312 

[       212 

80-000 

257-218 

1  3749 

Having  thus  explained  the  principle  of  the  condensation 
hygrometer,  we  will  now  describe  one  or  two  of  the  forms 
under  which  it  has  been  most  frequently  constructed.  Dan- 
iell's  hygrometer  is  represented  in  the  annexed  figure,  a 
and  b  are  two  thin  glass  ..  . 

balls  of  li  inch  diame- 
ter, connected  together 
by  a  tube  having  a  bore 
about  |th  of  an  inch. 
The  tube  is  bent  at  right 
angles  over  the  two  balls, 
and  the  arm  b  c  contains 
a  small  thermometer  d 
e,  whose  bulb,  which 
should  be  of  a  lengthened 
form,  descends  into  the 
ball  b.  This  ball  having 
been  about  two  thirds 
filled  with  ether,  is  heat- 
ed over  a  lamp  till  the 
fluid  boils,  and  the  va- 
pour issues  from  the  ca- 
pillary tube  /  which  ter- 
minates the  ball  a.  The 
vapour  having  expelled 
the  air  from  both  balls, 
the  capillary  tube  is  her- 
metically closed  by  the 
flame  of  a  lamp.  The 
other  ball  a  is  now  to  be  covered  with  a  piece  of  muslin. 
The  stand  g  h  is  of  brass,  and  the  transverse  socket  i  is 
made  to  hold  the  glass  tube  in  the  manner  of  a  spring,  al- 
lowing it  to  turn  and  be  taken  out  with  little  difficulty.  A 
small  thermometer  k  I  is  inserted  into  the  pillar  of  the  stand- 
The  manner  of  using  the  instrument  is  this :  After  having 
driven  out  all  the  ether  into  the  ball  b  by  the  heat  of  the 
hand,  it  is  to  be  placed  at  an  open  window,  or  out  of  doors, 
with  the  ball  b  so  situated  that  the  surface  of  the  liquid  may 
be  on  a  level  with  the  eye  of  the  observer.  A  little  ether 
is  then  to  be  dropped  on  the  covered  ball.  Evaporation  im- 
mediately takes  place,  which  producing  cold  upon  the  ball 
a,  causes  a  rapid  and  continuous  condensation  of  the  ethereal 
vapour  in  the  interior  of  the  instrument.  The  consequent 
evaporation  from  the  included  ether  produces  a  depression 
of  temperature  in  the  ball  b,  the  degree  of  which  is  measured 
by  the  thermometer  d  e.  This  action  is  almost  instantaneous, 
and  the  thermometer  begins  to  fall  in  two  seconds  after  the 
ether  has  been  dropped.  A  depression  of  30  to  40  degrees 
is  easily  produced,  and  the  ether  is  sometimes  observed  to 
boil  and  the  thermometer  to  be  driven  below  zero  of  Fah- 
renheit's scale.  The  artificial  cold  thus  produced  causes  a 
condensation  of  the  atmospheric  vapour  upon  the  ball  b, 

581 


HYGROMETRIC. 

which  first  maki  ;  ce  in  a  thin  ring  of  dew  coin- 

cident with  tin'  surface  of  the  ether.  The  degree  at  which 
must  be  carefully  noted.  In  Very  damp  or 
windy  weather  the  ether  should  be  very  slowlj  dropped 
upon  the  ball,  otherwise  the  descent  of  the  thermometer 
will  be  so  rapid  as  to  i>  mely  dili'o  all 

tain  of  the  degree.  In  dry  weather,  on  the  contrary,  the  ball 
requires  to  be  well  wetted  more  than  once,  to  produce  the 
requisite  degreeof  cold.    {Darnell's  Jffeteri 

The  instrument  which  lias  now  been  described  is  ex- 
tremely beautiful  in  principle  ;  but  it  may  he  doubted  wheth- 
er, even  when  the  greatest  caution  Is  observed,  (he  tempera 
ture  which  it  ind  isely  that  at  which  1   - 

tioii  of  dew  takes  place.  The  depo  ition  first  occurs  In  a 
narrow  ring  on  a  level  with  the  surface  of  the  ether  in  the 
ball  b,  thereby  indicating  that  the  ether  is  colder  at  the  sur- 
face than  a  little  under  it.  But  if  the  temperature  is  not  uni- 
form throughout  the  ball,  i;  is  evident  that  only  a  small  part 
of  the  bulb  of  the  thermometer  can  be  placed  in  the  point 
where  the  greatest  cold  insequently  the  tempera- 

ture indicated  by  the  thermometer  will  be  greater  than  is 
necessary  for  producing  the  deposition  of  moisture:  in  other 
wards,  the  dew  point  will  be  given  too  high. 

Various  attempts  have  been  made  to  obviate  the 
of  Daniell's  hygrometer,  but  hitherto  without  much  success. 
The  apparatus  proposed  by  Pouilletmay  be  de- 
scribed as  follows :  A  small  cup  C  C,  formed 
~H  of  gold,  and  extremely  thin,  is  fixed  to  a  little 
\(P-pl  collar  of  ivory  B  B,  supported  on  a  stand.   The 
stem  of  an  inverted  thermometer  T  T  descends 
3   through  a  perforation  in  the  bottom  of  the  cup, 
and  is  fitted  closely  into  it  and  sealed,  the  ball 
of  the  thermometer  being  placed  at  the  cen- 
tre of  the  cup.    In  order  to  prevent  the  mer- 
cury from  separating,  a  small  portion  of  air  is 
left  in  the  stem.    When  an  observation  is  to  be 
made  sulphuric  ether  is  poured  into  the  cup; 
and  in  consequence  of  the  rapid  evaporation 
which  takes  place  a  considerable  degree  of  cold 
is  produced,  and  a  deposition  takes  place  on  the 
outside  of  the  cup.    The  degree  of  the  ther- 
mometer at  the  instant  the  brightness  of  the 
metal  begins  to  be  dimmed  gives  the  dew  point 
The  correctness  of  the  indication  depends  on 
the  identity  of  temperature  of  the  ether,  the 
metal  of  the  cup,  and  the  thermometer.   Bright 
gold  is  found  to  answer  the  purpose  better  than 
any  other  metal.     (Pouillet,  Elimens  de  Physique.) 

As  the  hygrometer  is  one  of  the  principal  instruments  in 
meteorological  researches,  its  theory  and  the  best  form  of  its 
construction  have  been  the  subject  of  frequent  discussion  in 
the  various  scientific  journals. 

HY'GROME  TEIC.  This  term  is  commonly  applied  to 
substances  which  readily  become  moist  aad  dry  with  corre- 
sponding changes  in  the  state  of  the  atmosphere,  or  which 
readily  absorb  and  retain  moisture.  Sea-weed,  several  saline 
substances,  porous  clays,  potash  and  its  carbonate,  chloride 
of  calcium,  sulphuric  acid,  are  in  this  sense  of  the  term  said 
to  be  li 

HY'GROSCOPE.  (Gr.  hypos,  and  cko-zcw,  I  view.)  An 
instrument  by  means  of  which  changes  in  the  condition  of 
the  atmosphere  with  respect  to  moisture  are  observed.  See 
Hygrometer,  by  which  the  same  changes  are  measured, 

HY'LiEOSAU'RUS.     (Gr.  BA17,   a   wood,  and   aavpos,  a 
lizard.)    A  name  given  by  Dr.  Mantel]  to  an  extinct  gigantic 
genu-  of  reptiles,  the  fossil  remains  of  which  he  ha 
ed  in  tin-  wealden  strata  of  Sussex. 

HTLO'BIUS.  (Gr.  SXti,  and  0toc,  life.)  A  genus  of 
Tetramerous  Coleoptera,  belonging  to  the  Gurcultonida,  or 

family  of  weevils,  and  noted  for  the  ravag 

ulio  (Metis  and  Curcvlio 
pint  of  Linnsus)  upon  firs  and  larches,  (specially  in  young 
plantations.  This  insect  varies  from  live  to  nine  lines  in 
length,  is  of  a  pitchy  black  colour,  with  numeroij 

■DOtE  on  the  elytra.      It  has  been  found  in  the  pine  woods  of 

Shropshire,  the  north  of  England,  ami  Scotland. 

HYLOZO  ISM.     (Gr.  BAij,  wood,  used  by  ancient  philos- 
opher- to  Hgnifj  die  abstract  idea  of  matter,  and  lu>;.  life.) 
In  Philosophy,  strictly  the  doctrine  that  matter  li-,  1 
writers  have  confined  this  name  to  the  (enet  of  the  animu 
mundi.  or  soul  of  the  world  :  others  to  the  theory 
liar  life  residing  in  the  whole  of  nature,  approaching,  there- 
lore,  in  its  sense  to  pantheism,    'lie 
ganic  or  actually  sentient:  the  latter  notion  ha-  i 

called Hylopathism.    (Seethe  remarl    onCudworl 

lectual  Sys'em  in  Bedlam's  Literature  of  Europe,  iv.,  188; 

and  F.r.s/t  and  Oruber's  I'neyelopwdia.) 

Hi 'MEN.     Among  .ho  ancients,  the  God  of 
The  origin  of  the  worship  •  .'  tin-  divinity  is  attributed  to  the 
following  story;  A  young  Athenian,  named  Hyrrj 
humble  circumstances,  having  become  enamoured 
and  noble  lady,  from  whose  presence  he  was  debarred,  at- 
582 


HYPALLAGE. 

tired  himself  in  female  habiliments,  and  joined  a  religious 
d  10  El'eusis,  in  which  his  mistress  took  part.    On 
their  way  thither  the  parties  who  composed  it  were  attacked 
by  pirates,  who  carried  them  into  captivity ;  but  1!' 
seized  the  opportunity  when  they  were  asleep  of  pie  i 
to  death,  and  departing  immediately  for  At:. 

die  ladies  to  their  families  on  condition  ol 
tabling  permission  to  marry  the  object  of  lii^ 
Athenians  consented;  the  nuptials  of  Hymensus  were 
crowned  with  happiness;  and  from  that  period  the  Greeks 
instituted  festivals  in  his  honour,  and  invoked  him  at  the  cele- 
bration of  their  marriages.  The  formula  employed  on  these 
was,  ""  Ihinenae  Hymen,  Hymen  O  Hymcnax'." 
(Cat.  Carm.,  61,  02.)  Hymeneal  is  used  to  signify  a  song  or 
celebration  of  a  marriage. 

HYME'NIUM,  in  describing  fungi,  denotes  that  part  in 

which  the  sporules  immediately  lie.     It  is  commonly  called 

the  sills  in  the  genus  Agaricus  ;  but  in  Boletus  is  a  corky 

substance  pierced  full  of  holes,  and  in  other  genera 

presents  a  variety  of  peculiar  appearances. 

HYMENO'PTERANS,  Jlymenoptera.  (Gr.  v/ojr,  a  mem- 
brane, and  irrtpor,  a  wing.)  An  order  of  mnndibulate  in- 
sects, comprehending  those  which  have  four  membranous 
wings  with  few  nervures.  Latreille  divides  this  order  into 
the  following  sections  and  tribes: 

1.  Terebrantia :  Abdomen  of  the  females  furnished  with  a 

saw  or  borer. 

a.  Securifera :  Abdomen  sessile,  furnished  with  a  saw ; 

larva  with  feet 

b.  Pupivora ;  Abdomen  pedunculated,  furnished  with  a 

borer ;  larva;  footless. 

2.  Jlculeata:  Abdomen  of  the  females  armed  with  a  sting. 

a.  Heterogyna  :  Females  wingless. 

b.  Fossores  :  Females  winged,  wings  not  folded ;  basal 

joint  of  posterior  tarsi  simple. 

r .  Lliploptcra  :  Females  winged,  wings  folded. 

d.  Mellifera  :   Females  w  inged,  wings  not  folded ;   pos- 
terior tarsi  enlarged  and  converted  into  a  pollimgerous 
organ. 
(See  the  above  terms ;  and  Apis  and  Formica.) 

HYMN.  (Gr.  vpvos-)  An  ode  in  praise  of  the  Deity,  or 
some  divine  personage.  The  earliest  Greek  hymns  are  those 
attributed,  probably  without  foundation,  to  Homer:  imitated 
by  Callimachus.  They  are  in  heroic  verse,  except  one  of 
Callimachus  in  hexameters  and  pentameters;  and  their  con- 
tents, t'oi  the  most  part,  are  narrations  of  the  events  in  the 
mythological  history  of  the  respective  gods  and  goddesses  to 
whom  they  are  dedicated,  related  in  an  encomiastic  strain. 
The  choric  strains  of  some  of  the  tragedians  in  honour  of 
deities,  introduced  into  their  dramas,  appear  also  to  have  the 
character  of  hymns  ;  especially  as  dramatic  performances 
among  the  Greeks,  had  something  of  a  religious  solemnity 
attached  to  them.  The  Theurgic  Hymns  were  strains  of  a 
higher  character,  and  intended  only  for  those  who  were  ini- 
tialed into  certain  mysteries,  supposed  to  have  for  their  ob- 
ject the  diffusion  of  more  exalted  notions  of  the  divinity. 
Those  which  are  falsely  attributed  to  Orpheus,  and  pass  by 
his  name,  are  said  to  be  of  this  class;  but,  except  from  their 
obscurity,  it  is  difficult  to  say  from  what  reason.  Philosophi- 
cal hymns,  intended  for  the  use  of  the  followers  of  a  still 
higher  species  of  worship,  are  mentioned  in  the  division  of 
ancient  hymns;  but  we  have  no  genuine  examples  of  such 
compositions.  In  modern  literature,  hymns  are  pieces  of 
sacred  poetrj  intended  to  besting  in  churches,  of  which  the 
Psalms  of  David,  the  most  ancient  pieces  of  poetry,  properly 
so  called,  on  record  (except  the  book  of  Job),  furnish  the 
chief  example  and  model.  St.  Hilary,  bishop  of  Poitiers,  is 
said  to  have  been  the  first  who  composed  hymns  to  be  sung 
in  churches.  The  Latin  hymns  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
church  are  well  Itnov  n,  from  the  exquisite  musk  to  which 
been  united.    (See  A'  ntiquities, 

p.  'Si3.     As  to  the  classical  hymns  and  hyinnogiaphers,  sic 
[nscr.,  vols.  \ii.  and  xvi.) 
CYA'MJ  \.     The  active  principle  or  alkaloid  of 
toe  common  henbane  (Hyoseuamus  n 

HI  P-iE'THRAL.     (Gr.  into,  under,  and  atQnp,  the  air.) 

In  Architecture,  a  building  or  temple  uncovered  by  a  roof. 

Tbe  temples  of  this  class  tire  arranged  by  Vitruvius  under 

01  order,  having  six  columns  in  front  and  rear,  and 

surrounded  by  a  dipteral  or  double  portico.    The  famous 
temple  of  Neptune  al  Paestum,  still  remaining,  is  an  example 
of  building. 

HYPA'LLAGE.  (Gr.  vzciWnaou,  I  change  slightly.)  In 
Grammar  and  Rhetoric,  a  species  of  inversion,  in  which  not 
only  tbe  natural  or  customary  succession  of  words  is  Changed, 
but  the  si  in  which 

are  transferred  from  their  proper  subject  to  an- 
other.   Such  examples  as  "gladium  vagina  vacuum,"  the 
ibard,  in  nova  fert  animus  mutatas 
die  ie  formas  corpora,"  where  tbe  adjective  "  new"  is  trans- 

im  •■  form"  to  "  bodj ,"  pre  en:  Btril 
this  figure ;  but  although  such  deviations  from  the  natural 


HYPANTHODIUM. 

sense  could  not  be  admitted  in  modern  language,  similar 
locutions  are  not  wholly  wanting  among  ourselves. 

H  FPANTHO'DIUM.  A  term  given  by  Link  to  that  form 
of  inflorescence  where  the  receptacle  is  fleshy  and  covered 
with  minute  flowers,  but  not  enclosed  within  an  involucrum ; 
as  in  Dorstenia  and  Ficus. 

HYPE'RBOLA.  (Gr.  vTrcp6o\>);  from  vircp,  above,  and 
(3a\\<ii,  I  throw.)  In  Geometry,  one  of  the  conic  sections, 
formed  by  cutting  a  cone  by  a  plane  which  is  so  inclined  to 
the  axis  that  when  produced  it  cuts  also  the  opposite  cone,  or 
the  cone  which  is  the  continuation  of  the  former  on  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  vertex.  The  term  hyperbola  was  given  to 
this  curve  by  Apollonius,  on  account  of  its  property,  that  the 
square  of  any  ordinate  is  greater  than  the  rectangle  under  the 
corresponding  absciss  and  the  parameter,  or  diners  from  that 
rectangle  in  excess. 

Like  the  ellipse  and  parabola,  the  hyperbola  may  be  de- 
fined in  various  ways,  and  all  its  properties  investigated  with- 
out any  reference  to  the  cone,  but  considered  entirely  as  a 
plane  curve.  The  definitions  most  usually  adopted  are  the 
following : — 

If  two  points  F  and  /  be  given  in  a  plane,  and  a  point  D 
be  conceived  to  move  around  them  in  such  a  manner  that 
the  difference  between  the  two  distances  D  F  and  D  /  is  al- 
ways constant,  the  point 
D  will  describe  on  the 
plane  an  hyperbola,  D 
A  M.  By  assuming  first 
one  of  the  given  points 
F,  and  then  the  other  /, 
as  that  to  which  the 
moving  point  is  nearest, 
the  difference  of  the 
lines  D  F  and  D  /  in 
both  cases  being  the 
same,  two  hyperbolas, 
DAM  and  D'  A'  M'  will  be  described  opposite  to  each  other ; 
so  that  the  curve  consists  of  two  branches.  The  points  F 
and  /  are  the  foci  of  the  hyperbola;  and  C,  which  bisects 
the  distance  between  the  foci,  is  its  centre.  The  line  A  A'  is 
the  major  or  transverse  axis  :  and  a  straight  line  B  B',  pass- 
ing through  the  centre,  perpendicular  to  A  A',  and  of  such  a 
length  that  the  square  of  its  half  C  B  or  C  B'  is  equal  to  the 
difference  between  the  squares  of  C  F  and  C  A,  is  the  minor 
or  conjugate  axis.  The  curve  may  be  described  mechani- 
cally as'  follows :  Let  one  end  of  a  string  be  fastened  to  F, 
and  the  other  to  K,  the  extremity  of  a  ruler  /  D  K ;  and  let 
the  difference  between  the  length  of  the  ruler  and  of  the  string 
be  equal  to  A  a.  Let  the  other  end  of  the  ruler  be  fixed  to 
the  point/,  and  let  the  ruler  be  made  to  revolve  about/  as  a 
centre  in  the  plane  in  which  the  axes  are  situated,  while  the 
string  is  stretched  by  means  of  a  pin  D,  so  that  the  part  of  it 
between  K  and  D  is  applied  close  to  the  edge  of  the  ruler : 
the  point  of  the  pin  will  by  its  motion  trace  a  curve  line  D  A  M 
upon  the  plane,  which  is  one  of  the  hyperbolas  required ;  and 
if  the  ruler  be  made  to  revolve  about  the  other  focus  F,  while 
the  end  of  the  string  is  fastened  to/,  the  opposite  hyperbola 
will  be  described  by  the  pin  D'. 

2.  The  hyperbola  may  also  be  defined  as  follows :  Let  F 
be  a  given  point,  and  Pfti  straight  line  given  in  position  ; 
if  another  point  D  move  in  the  same  plane,  so  that  its  dis- 
tance D  F  from  F  shall  have  always  to  the  perpendicular 
D  E,  or  its  distance  from  the  given  line  P  Q,  the  constant 
ratio  of  two  given  lines  X  and  Y,  of  which  X  is  greater  than 
Y,  the  locus  of  the  point  D  will  be  a  hyperbola.  The  line 
P  Q,  is  called  the  directrix,  and  its  distance  C  G  from  the 
centre  C  is  such  that  C  G  is  a  third  proportional  to  C  F  and 
C  A.  It  is  obvious  that  F  A  is  to  A  G  in  the  given  ratio  of 
XtoY. 

3.  Another  distinguishing  property  of  the  hyperbola  is,  that 
the  rectangle  under  A  H  and  H  A'  is  to  the  square  of  the 
ordinate  H  D  in  the  ratio  of  the  square  of  C  A  to  the  square 
of  CB.  LetC  A  =  o,  CB  =  1,  CH  =  i,  andHD  =  j;  then 
A  H  ■  H  A'  :  H  D2  : :  a2  :  J2,  that  is,  (x  —  a)(x  +  a)  :  y?  :  : 
a2  :  62,  or  x2  —  al  •  y2  • :  <# ;  J2 ;  whence  y2  =  —  (z2  —  a2),  an 


1. 


equation  which  may  be  put  under  this  form,  _  —  7-t 

a?        62 

4.  Like  the  ellipse,  the  hyperbola  may  also  be  defined  by 
a  polar  equation.  Let  F  D  =  r,  C  A  =  a,  C  F  the  eccen- 
tricity =  e,  and  the  angle  A  F  D  =  <f> ;  then  r  =       c      a 

a-\-  e  cos.  0' 

The  hyperbola  has  two  infinite  branches,  and  it  has  also 
two  asymptotes.  Through  A,  one  of  the  vertices  of  the 
transverse  axis,  let  a  straight  line  II  A  h  be  drawn  equal  and 
parallel  to  B  *,  the  conjugate  axis,  and  bisected  at  A ;  the 
straight  lines  C  II,  C  h,  drawn  through  the  centre,  and  the 
extremities  of  that  parallel,  are  asymptotes,  and  if  produced 
indefinitely  do  not  meet  the  curve,  though  their  distance 
from  it  becomes  less  than  any  assignable  line.  The  asymp- 
totes of  two  opposite  hyperbolas  are  common  to  both ;  and 


HYPERICACE^E. 

they  are  likewise  the  asymp- 
totes of  two  other  hyperbolas, 
E  B  E',  e  b  e',  whose  transverse 
axis  B  b  is  the  conjugate  axis  of  tj^ 
D  A  D',  and  whose  conjugate 
axis  is  the  transverse  axis  of  D 
A  D'.  These  two  hyperbolas, 
E  B  E'  and  e  b  e',  are  called 
conjugate  to  the  former  pair; 
and,  in  general,  whatever  pro- 
perty belongs  to  the  opposite 
hyperbolas  D  AH',  d  a  d',  the 
same  belongs  also  to  the  con- 
jugate hyperbolas  EBE'  and  e  b  e'. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  properties  of  the  asymptotes 
is  the  following:  If  one  of  the  asymptotes  C  M  be  divided 
in  continued  proportion  in  the 
points  D,  E,  G,  &c,  and  straight 
lines  be  drawn  from  the  points 
of  section  parallel  to  the  other 
asymptote,  meeting  the  curve 
in  the  points  P,  U,  R,  &c. ;  the 
spaces  D  P  a  E,  E  a  R  G,  &c, 
without  the  curve,  are  equal. 
The  hjberbolic  sections  C  P  Q., 
CQR,  &c,  are  also  equal  to 
each  other,  and  to  the  spaces  D  if^n 
P  E  Q,  E  Q  R  G,  &c.  Hence, 
from  the  nature  of  logarithms,  the  sectors  CPQ,CPR,  &c, 
or  the  equal  spaces  D  P  Q.  E,  D  P  R  G,  &.C.,  represent  the 
logarithms  of  the  ratios  of  C  D  to  C  E,  to  C  G,  &c. ;  and  if 
C  D  represent  the  unit  of  the  arithmetical  scale,  the  sector 
C  P  ft,  or  the  space  DPQE,  will  express  the  logarithm  of 
C  E  on  any  logarithmic  system  depending  on  the  angle  of  the 
asymptotes.  From  the  points P,  Q.,  R,  &c,  let P  d,  Q,e,Rgt 
be  drawn  parallel  to  C  M  ;  the  ordinates  C  d,  C  e,  C  g,  &c, 
are  also  in  geometrical  progression  decreasing ;  and  wherever 
the  points  I),  E,  G,  &c,  are  situated,  all  the  parallelograms 
CiiPD,  CeQE,  CgRG,  &c,  are  equal.  Hence  if  C  M 
be  taken  as  the  line  of  the  abscissa,  and  the  ordinates  be 
taken  parallel  to  C  N,  and  if  we  make  at  the  same  time 
CE  =  j,Cc  =  i,  the  nature  of  the  curve  will  be  expressed 
by  this  equation,  xy  =  ab.    See  Conic  Sections. 

HYPE'RBOLE.  In  Rhetoric,  a  figure  by  which  expres- 
sions are  used  signifying  more  than  it  is  intended  to  represent 
to  the  hearer  or  reader ;  as  when  thoughts  and  sentiments 
are  clothed  in  tumid  language,  or  ideas  are  brought  forward 
which  in  themselves  are  incredible,  in  order  to  induce  a  be- 
lief of  something  less  than  that  which  is  offered.  Exagge- 
ration is  hyperbole  applied  to  narrative,  when  false  asser 
tions  are  added  to  hue,  in  order  to  increase  the  impression 
made  by  them. 

HYPERBO'LIC  LOGARITHMS.  A  system  of  loga- 
rithms; so  called  because  the  numbers  express  the  areas 
between  the  asymptote  and  curve  of  the  hyperbola,  those 
areas  being  limited  by  ordinates  parallel  to  the  other  asymp- 
tote, and  the  ordinates  decreasing  in  geometrical  progression. 
But  as  such  areas  may  be  made  to  denote  any  system  of 
logarithms  whatever,  the  denomination  is  not  correct.  The 
term  Napierean  logarithm  (from  the  inventor  of  the  loga- 
rithms, Baron  Napier),  is  more  frequently  used,  at  least  by 
the  Continental  writers,  to  denote  the  same  thing.  The  hy- 
perbolic logarithm  of  any  number  is  to  the  common  loga- 
rithm of  the  same  number  in  the  ratio  of  2-30258509  to  1,  or 
as  1  to  -43429448.     See  Logarithm. 

HYPE'RBOLOID,  or  HYPERBOLIC  CONOID.  (Gr. 
vntp6o\n,  and  uiof,  form.)  A  solid  formed  by  the  revolution 
of  an  hyperbola  about  its  axis.  Hypcrboloids  also  denote 
hyperbolas  of  the  higher  kind,  defined,  generally,  by  the 

m    n          m-J-n      m,  , 
equation  x    y    =  a     '    .    The  asymptotic  area  of  any  hy- 
perbola of  which  this  is  the  equation  is x  y ;  and  it  is 

n  —  m 

very  remarkable  that  this  space  is  always  quadrible,  except 
in  the  case  of  the  common  hyperbola,  in  which  m  and  n 
being  each  1  the  denominator  n  —  m  becomes  zero. 

HYTERCATALE'CTIC.  (Gr.  bmp,  above,  and  kutcc- 
\r)KTiKo$,  deficient.)  In  Greek  and  Latin  poetry,  a  verse  ex- 
ceeding its  proper  length  by  one  syllable. 

HY'PERCRI'TICISM,  consists  in  viewing  the  works  of 
an  author  in  an  ungenerous  spirit,  exaggerating  minor  de- 
fects, and  overlooking  or  undervaluing  such  merits  or  beau- 
ties as  might  fairlv  be  considered  to  outweigh  the  former. 

HY'PERICA'CEiE.  (Hypericum,  one  of  the  genera.  A 
natural  order  of  Exogenous  plants,  usually  having  yellow 
flowers,  with  the  petals  wider  on  one  side  than  the  other, 
and  marked  with  black  dots,  while  the  leaves  are  in  many 
cases  marked  with  transparent  dots.  They  are  usually 
strong-scented  and  astringent.  Some  of  them  have  coppery 
red  flowers,  and  yield  a  resinous  substance  resembling  gam- 

b0ge-  583 


HYPERION. 

HYPE'RION.     Sec  Titan. 

HYPE'ROCHE.  (Gr.  pre-eminence.)  In  Music,  an  inter- 
val nearly  equal  to  one  comma  and  a  half. 

BYPEROXYMU'  MATES.  Combinations  of  the  chloric 
and  perchloric  acids  were  formerly  so  called  :  thus,  chlorate 
of  potash  was  called  hvperoxvmuriate  of  potash. 

BY'PEESTHENE.  "  Labrador  hornblende.  It  isa  ferro- 
silicate  of  magnesia,  with  traces  of  alumina  and  of  lime.  It 
occurs  crystalline  and  massive;  it  is  resplendent,  and  of  a 
gray.  (Teen,  or  reddish  hue. 

HY'PERTHYRUM.  (Gr.  bircp,  upon,  and  Svpa,  a  door.) 
In  Architecture,  the  lintel  of  a  doorway. 

HYPE'RTROPHY.  (Gr.  brrcp,  and  rpoajrj,  excess  of  nu- 
trition.) A  term  frequently  applied  to  the  morbid  enlarge- 
ment of  any  part  of  the  body.  "  This  term  ought  to  be  re- 
stricted to  cases  in  which  a  part,  though  increased  in  bulk, 
retains  its  natural  organization  and  structure." — (Cooper's 
Dictionary.) 

HY'PHA,  in  describing  Algce,  denotes  the  filamentous, 
fleshy,  watery  thallus  of  Byssacece. 

HY'PHEN.  (Gr.  b(pcv,  together  with.)  In  Writing,  a  mark 
or  character  thus  (-),  implying  that  two  words  or  syllables 
are  to  be  connected. 

H  YPNO'TICS.  (Gr.  birvoc,  sleep.)  Medicines  which  in- 
duce sleep. 

HYPOCATJ'STUM.  (Gr.  biro,under,  and  Kaio>,  I  burn.) 
In  Ancient  Architecture,  a  vaulted  apartment  from  which 
the  fire's  heat  is  distributed  to  the  rooms  above  by  means  of 
earthern  tubes.  This  method,  first  used  in  baths,  was  after- 
wards adopted  in  private  houses,  and  diffused  an  agreeable 
and  equable  temperature  throughout  the  different  rooms. 

HY'POCHONDRI'ASIS.  (Gr.  biro,  under,  and  xovr5/>oc, 
cartilage.)  ■  Uneasiness  about  the  region  of  the  stomach  and 
liver,  or  of  the  hypochondriac  region,  is  one  of  the  symptoms 
of  this  disease.  Particular  circumstances  may  induce  this 
disorder  in  any  individual ;  but  it  is  most  commonly  met  with 
in  persons  of  sallow  or  pale  complexions,  spare  habit  of  body, 
and  dark  hair  and  eyes.  Its  mental  symptoms  are  low  spirits, 
a  groundless  apprehension  of  evil,  imaginary  local  sensations, 
and  erroneous  impressions  respecting  the  opinions  and  senti- 
ments of  others,  with  a  tendency  to  misconstrue  their  actions ; 
aversion  to  society ;  want  of  mental  and  bodily  energy ;  see- 
ing persons  and  things  and  hearing  conversations  and  noises 
which  are  purely  imaginary.  The  bodily  symptoms  are  fla- 
tulency and  all  the  other  concomitants  of  indigestion — cos- 
tiveness,  dimness  of  sight,  noises  in  the  ears,  want  of  appetite 
and  sleep  in  most  cases,  in  a  few,  voracity  and  drowsiness. 
As  this  disease  is  usually  connected  with  imperfect  action  of 
the  liver  and  debility  of  the  stomach  and  bowels,  mild  ape- 
rients, small  doses  of  calomel  or  blue  pill,  and  tonics  are  to 
be  prescribed;  occasionally  doses  of  more  powerful  purges, 
such  as  calomel  and  jalap,  orscammony  with  salts  and  senna, 
must  be  resorted  to  where  the  bowels  are  foul  and  overload- 
ed ;  and  where  there  is  much  headach  a  blister  to  the  neck, 
or  the  loss  of  a  little  blood  by  cupping,  or  from  the  arm,  may 
be  of  service.  The  regularity  of  the  circulation  is  often 
much  disturbed,  and  it  is  generally  necessary  to  keep  the  feet 
warm. 

Change  of  scene  and  of  occupation,  cheerful  society,  mo- 
derate exercise  of  all  kinds,  and  great  kindness  and  attention 
on  the  part  of  the  medical  adviser,  are  generally  among  the 
essentials  in  the  treatment  of  this  diseased  state.  But  every 
amusement  and  relaxation  must  be  carefully  proposed  and 
pursued ;  and  though  it  is  generally  necessary  firmly  but 
gently  to  remonstrate  against  the  whims  and  caprices  of 
hypochondriacs,  yet  sometimes  they  must  be  conceded  to. 
When  persons  are  full  of  evil  forebodings  and  false  alarms, 
it  is  sometimes  well  to  induce  them  to  keep  a  diary  of  their 
feelings,  the  perusal  of  which,  as  they  recover,  or  in  their 
happier  moments,  is  often  comforting  proof  to  them  of  the 
utter  want  of  foundation  of  some  of  their  most  inveterate 
notions.  Persons  who  are  very  irritable  and  over-anxious, 
or  who,  after  having  been  actively  engaged  in  business,  re- 
tire to  a  life  of  ease  and  idleness,  who  take  no  interest  in 
study,  amusement,  or  exercise  ;  and  those,  again,  who  have 
kept  bad  hours,  or  who  have  led  debauched  lives,  or  who 
have  studied  intensely,  are  those  in  whom  some  of  the 
worst  forms  of  hypochondriasis  occur.  It  is  seldom,  in  the 
most  aggravated  cases  of  this  disorder,  that  well-grounded 
hopes  of  recovery  may  not  be  held  out,  and  that  its  recur 
rence  may  not  be  prevented  by  timely  and  firm  treatment ; 
but  if  it  be  allowed  to  run  its  course,  it  often  ends  in  melan- 
choly. 

HY'POCRATE'RIFORM.  (Gr.  biro,  xparnp,  a  cup,  and 
ipoDjiri,  shape.)  That  form  of  a  corolla  which  Consists  in  a 
cylindrical  tube  which  is  longer  than  the  flat  spreading  limb, 
as  in  the  flowers  of  the  genus  Phlox.  It  is  called  in  English, 
salver-shaped. 

HYPOG^E'OUS.  (Gr.  biro,  and  yn,  the  earth.)  Literally, 
subterranean.  In  Botany  it  denotes  all  parts  in  plants  which 
grow  beneath  the  surface  of  the  earth. 

HY'POGENE.     (Gr.  biro,  and  yivopai,  I  am  formed.)    A 


HYPOTHESIS. 

class  of  rocks  which  have  not  assumed  their  present  form 
and  structure  at  the  surface  of  the  earth,  but  are  apparently 
of  igneous  origin,  and  thrust  up  from  below.    .VccGeolooy. 

HYPO'GYNOUS  (Gr.  biro,  and  yvvn,  a  female),  in  Botany, 
in  describing  the  situation  of  plants,  denotes  anything  grow- 
ing from  below  the  base  of  the  ovarium. 

HY'POMO'CHLION  (Gr.  biro,  and  ^.oxXof,  lever),  in 
Mechanics,  is  the  fulcrum  or  support  of  a  lever,  or  the  point 
against  which  the  pressure  is  exerted.  This  term  is  only 
met  with  in  the  old  treatises  on  mechanics  ;  the  equivalent 
term  fulcrum  being  now  generally  used. 

HY'PONI'TROUS  ACID.  An  acid  intermediate  be- 
tween nitric  oxide  and  nitrous  acid,  composed  of  1  equivalent 
of  nitrogen  =  14,  and  3  of  oxygen  =  24,  the  equivalent  of  the 
hyponitrous  acid,  upon  the  hydrogen  scale,  being  =38. 

HY'POPHO'SPIIOROUS  ACID.  An  acid  composed  of 
2  atoms  of  phosphorus  and  1  of  oxygen,  or  32  phosphorus  -j- 
8  oxygen. 

HYPOPHY'LLIUM.  (Gr.  biro,  and  <pv\\ov,  a  leaf.)  A 
term  invented  to  denote  a  petiole  that  has  the  form  of  a 
small  sheath,  is  destitute  of  lamina,  and  surrounds  the  base 
of  certain  small  branches,  having  the  appearance  of  leaves ; 
as  in  asparagus.     It  is  nothing  but  a  rudimentary  leaf. 

HYPO'PIUM.  (Gr.  b  to,  and  irvov,  pus.)  A  disease  of 
the  eye,  in  which  there  is  an  apparent  collection  of  pus  un- 
der the  transparent  cornea;  that  is,  in  the  chamber  of  the 
aqueous  humour. 

HYPOSCE'NIUM.  (Gr.  biro,  and  aKnvr,,  a.  scene.)  In 
ancient  Architecture,  the  front  wall  of  a  theatre  facing  the 
orchestra  from  the  stage. 

HYPO'STASIS.  (Gr.  virocrraois,  from  viro  and  lorrjut,  I 
stand.)  A  term  invented  by  the  Greek  fathers  to  express 
the  distinct  personality  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost. 
Upoodirov,  in  Latin,  persona,  whence  our  person,  signifies 
properly  a  face  or  mask.  This  term,  however,  is  retained 
by  the  Latin  fathers,  who,  like  ourselves,  had  no  word  which 
could  exactly  represent  hypostasis,  which  differs  from  ovala, 
sabstance,  inasmuch  as  the  latter  is  used  for  the  divine  sub- 
stance, essence,  or  being — that  which  is  common  to  each  of 
the  hypostases,  persons,  or  individual  substances  which  com- 
pose the  one  Godhead. 

HY'POSULPHU'RIC  ACID.  An  acid  intermediate  be- 
tween the  sulphurous  and  sulphuric  acids.  It  may  be  re- 
garded as  containing  2  atoms  of  sulphur  (16  X  2  =  32),  and 
5  of  oxygen  (8X5  =  40) ;  or  as  constituted  of  1  atom  of 
sulphurous  acid  =  32,  and  1  of  sulphuric  acid  =  40.  In 
either  case  its  equivalent  is  72. 

H  YPOSULPH  U'ROUS  ACID.  An  acid  constituted  of  2 
atoms  of  sulphur  (10x2  =  32),  and  2  of  oxygen  (8x2  = 
16).  It  is  necessary  to  take  this  view  of  composition,  its 
equivalent  number  being  48. 

HYPO'THECA'TION.  (Gr.  biroQnur,,  that  which  is  sub- 
ject to  a  pledge.)  In  the  Civil  Law,  an  engagement  by  which 
the  debtor  assigns  his  goods  in  pledge  to  a  creditor  as  a  se- 
curity for  his  debt,  without  parting  with  the  immediate  pos- 
session; differing,  in  this  last  particular,  from  the  simple 
pledge.  The  term  hypothecation  is  usually  applied  to  things 
immoveable  only  (*.  e.,  according  to  the  division  of  the  Eng- 
lish law,  to  things  real,  things  personal  savouring  of  the 
reality,  and  choses  in  action),  and  not  to  things  moveable 
(i.  e.,  things  personal  in  possession).  It  answers,  in  general, 
to  the  English  mortgage.     Sec  Mortgage. 

HYPO'THENUSE  (Gr.  biro,  and  tcivui,  I  stretch),  in  Ge- 
ometry, denotes  the  longest  side  of  a  right-angled  triangle,  or 
the  side  which  subtends  the  right  angle.  The  famous  47th 
proposition  of  the  First  Book  of  Euclid,  namely,  that  in  any 
right  angled  rectilinear  triangle  the  square  described  on  the 
hypothenuse  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  squares  described  on 
the  two  sides,  is  said  to  have  been  discovered  by  Pythagoras, 
who  was  so  much  pleased  with  it  that  he  sacrificed  a  heca- 
tomb to  the  Muses,  in  gratitude.  Camerer,  in  the  Notes  to 
his  edition  of  the  first  Six  Books  of  Euclid,  in  Greek  and 
Latin,  has  collected  no  fewer  than  seventeen  different  de- 
monstrations of  this  celebrated  theorem,  from  the  principles 
of  elementary  geometry. 

IIYPO'THESIS  (Gr.  viroOtou,  from  biro,  and  Tt8nui.  I 
place),  in  Mathematical  Science,  is  a  supposition  made  with 
a  view  to  draw  from  it  some  consequence  which  establishes 
the  truth  or  falsehood  of  B  proposition,  or  gives  the  solution 
of  a  problem.  In  a  mathematical  proposition  there  are  two 
things  to  be  considered — the  hypothesis  and  the  conclusion  ; 
the  hypothesis  being  that  which  is  granted  or  supposed,  and 
the  conclusion  that  which  follows  from  reasoning  from  the 
data.  In  the  following  proposition,  "  If  two  triangles  be  equi- 
angular, their  homologous  sides  nre  proportional  ;"  the  first 
part,  if  two  triangles  be  equiangular,  is  the  hy|>nthesis  or 
data  from  which  we  are  to  reason ;  and  the  second  part,  the 
homologous  rides  art  proportional,  is  the  conclusion  or  con- 
sequence at  which  we  arrive  by  reasoning  from  that  hypo- 
thesis. 

In  Physics,  the  term  hypothesis  denotes  a  gratuitous  sup- 
position to  account  for  some  phenomenon  or  appearance  of 


HYPOTRACHELIUM. 

the  natural  world.  If  the  hypothesis  serves  to  explain  a 
great  number  of  the  circumstances  accompanying  a  pheno- 
menon, it  acquires  a  certain  degree  of  probability ;  and  if 
all  the  known  circumstances  can  be  deduced  from  it,  the 
probability  becomes  very  great,  and  in  the  lapse  of  time 
may  amount  to  certainty.  Thus  the  hypothesis  of  the  di- 
urnal rotation  of  the  earth  and  its  translation  in  the  ecliptic, 
imagined  by  Copernicus  to  explain  the  planetary  phenome- 
na, has  acquired  all  the  characters  of  certainty  from  continu- 
al astronomical  observation.  In  like  manner,  Kepler's  hy- 
pothesis that  the  planets  move  in  elliptic  orbits,  has  been  so 
fully  confirmed  by  subsequent  discoveries  and  computations, 
that,  however  doubtful  it  might  be  at  first,  no  one  who  is 
capable  of  understanding  the  evidence  can  hesitate  to  re- 
ceive it  as  an  established  law  of  nature.  "  A  well-imagined 
hypothesis,"  says  Sir  John  Herschel,  "  if  it  have  been  sug- 
gested by  a  fair  inductive  consideration  of  general  laws,  can 
hardly  fail  at  least  of  enabling  us  to  generalize  a  step  fur- 
ther, and  group  together  several  such  laws  under  a  more 
universal  expression.  But  this  is  taking  a  very  limited  view 
of  the  value  and  importance  of  hypotheses.  It  may  hap- 
pen (and  it  has  happened  in  the  case  of  the  undulatory  the- 
ory of  light)  that  such  a  weight  of  analogy  and  probability 
may  be  accumulated  on  the  side  of  an  hypothesis,  that  we 
are  compelled  to  admit  one  of  two  things — either  that  it  is 
an  actual  statement  of  what  really  passes  in  nature ;  or 
that  the  reality,  whatever  it  be,  must  run  so  close  a  parallel 
with  it  as  to  admit  some  mode  of  expression  common  to 
both,  at  least  in  so  far  as  the  phenomena  actually  known 
are  concerned.  Now,  this  is  a  very  great  step,  not  only  for 
its  own  sake,  as  leading  us  to  a  high  point  in  mathematical 
speculation,  but  for  its  applications ;  because  whatever  con- 
clusions we  deduce  from  an  hypothesis  so  supported  must 
have  at  least  a  strong  presumption  in  their  favour  ;  and  we 
may  be  thus  led  to  the  trial  of  many  curious  experiments, 
and  to  the  imagining  of  many  useful  and  important  contri- 
vances, which  we  would  never  otherwise  have  thought  of, 
and  which,  at  all  events,  if  verified  in  practice,  are  real  ad- 
ditions to  our  stock  of  knowledge  and  to  the  arts  of  life." 
{Discourse  on  the  Study  of  JVai.  Philosophy.) 

HY'POTRACHE'LIUM.  (Greek  biro,  under,  and  rpaxn^i 
the  neck.)  In  architecture,  the  slenderest  part  of  the  shaft 
of  a  column,  being  that  immediately  below  the  neck  of  the 
capital. 

HY'POTYPO'SIS.  (Gr.  vttotvttwcis,  from  tvtto?,  a  type), 
in  Rhetoric,  signifies  an  animated  representation  of  a  scene 
or  event  in  descriptive  language  highly  enriched  with  rhet- 
orical figures. 

HY'RAX.  (Gr.  'ipa\,  a  shrew-mouse.)  This  term  is  now 
applied  to  a  genus  of  small  Mammalia  which  ranks  next  the 
rhinoceros  in  the  order  of  their  affinities,  and  are  the  most 
diminutive  representatives  of  the  Pachydermatous  order. 
The  two  known  species  are  found  in  hilly  districts  at  the 
Cape  (Hyrax  capensis),  and  in  Syria  (Hyrax  Syriacus) : 
the  latter  species  is  the  "coney"  of  Scripture. 

HVSTERA'NTHUS,  in  describing  the  duration  of  leaves, 
denotes  their  appearance  after  the  flowers  ;  as  in  the  al- 
mond. 

HYSTE'RIA.  (Gr.  barepa  the  womb,  with  which  it  is 
supposed  that  the  disease  is  generally  connected.)  It  gen- 
erally attacks  unmarried  females  between  the  ages  of  15 
and  35,  coming  on  with  low  spirits  and  anxiety,  sickness, 
short  breath,  and  palpitations ;  sobbing,  and  a  sense  of  dis- 
tension of  the  bowels,  which  afterwards  seems  to  concentre 
itself  in  the  stomach,  and  then  rise  like  a  ball  into  the  throat, 
where  it  produces  gasping,  stupor,  convulsive  motions,  cry- 
ing, laughing,  hiccough,  flow  of  saliva  from  the  mouth,  and 
delirium  ;  at  length  the  spasms  abate,  and  the  person  gradu- 
ally recovers,  generally  with  the  expulsion  of  wind  from 
the  stomach.  Some  of  these  symptoms  are  often  much 
more  prevalent  than  others,  so  that  the  disorder  assumes 
many  forms ;  it  is  also  very  variable  in  its  duration,  lasting 
from  an  hour  or  two  to  one  or  two  days.  The  treatment 
varies  extremely  with  the  apparent  causes  of  the  disorder ; 
sometimes  bleeding  and  depletives,  at  others  stimulants  and 
tonics  are  required ;  in  mild  cases  sprinkling  with  water 
and  applying  nasal  stimulants  give  relief.  Great  attention  to 
the  exciting  cause,  exercise,  moderate  and  judicious  amuse- 
ments and  occupations,  regular  hours,  and  change  of  air  and 
scene,  are  among  the  best  preventives  of  its  recurrence. 

HYSTERI'TIS.  Inflammation  of  the  womb.  This  dan- 
gerous disease  generally  occurs  the  second  or  third  day  after 
delivery  ;  it  is  attended  by  fever  and  pain  of  the  part,  and 
requires  active  antiphlogistic  treatment. 

HYSTERO'LOGY,  or  HYSTERON  PROTERON.  (Gr. 
vorcpos  the  latter  of  two,  and  ^oyos,  speech.)  In  Rhetoric,  a 
figure  by  which  the  ordinary  course  of  thought  is  inverted 
in  expression,  and  the  last  put  first ;  as,  where  objects  sub- 
sequent in  order  of  time  are  presented  before  their  antece- 
dents, cause  before  effect,  &c.  Some  comprehend  the  fig- 
ure usually  called  anticlimax  (see  Climax)  under  the  name 
Hysterology. 


IAMBICS. 

HY'STRICI'D^E.  (Gr.  vorpi\,  aporcupine.)  The  name 
of  the  family  of  Rodent  Quadrupeds,  of  wliich  the  porcu- 
pine (Hystrix  cristala)  is  the  type. 

I     &    J. 

I,  the  ninth  letter  of  the  English  and  most  European  al- 
phabets, represents  two  very  different  sounds  in  different 
languages.  In  England  it  is  equivalent  to  the  French  or 
German  sounds  of  the  two  letters  a  i,  pronounced  rapidly  ; 
and  in  the  German  and  all  other  languages  witli  which  we 
are  acquainted,  it  is  identical  with  the  sound  of  the  long 
English  e.  In  the  Greek  language  the  letter  t,  is  the  simp- 
lest of  the  alphabetical  characters,  being  represented  by  a 
single  stroke,  thus,  i.  It  is  also  susceptible  of  various  inter- 
changes, more  particularly  in  the  Latin,  Greek,  and  French 
languages.  When  two  i's  followed  in  succession,  the  Ro- 
mans used  to  contract  them  into  a  single  long  i,  as  Dl  for 
Dii,  tibicen  for  tibiicen ;  or  made  the  letter  larger  than  usu- 
al, as  Chlus.  Shakspeare  sometimes  substitutes  /  for  ay 
or  yes. 

Did  your  letters  pierce  the  queen  ? 

7,  sir  j  she  took  'em  and  read  'em  in  my  presence. 

According  to  Gebelin,  the  letter  i  in  hieroglyphic  writing 
represents  the  human  hand,  the  instrument  of  which  man 
avails  himself  in  all  his  necessities,  the  seat  of  his  power 
and  might.  As  a  Roman  numeral  it  denotes  1 ;  and  if  placed 
before  V  or  X,  it  diminishes  by  a  unit  the  number  express- 
ed by  these  two  letters.  The  form  of  J  was  originally  iden- 
tical with  that  of  I ;  and  it  is  only  within  the  last  century 
that  any  distinction  was  made  between  them.  In  the  Eng- 
lish and  French  languages  J  has  a  sibilant  sound,  but  the 
Germans  pronounce  it  exactly  as  the  English  y  before  a 
vowel.  The  Latin  sound  of  this  letter  is  very  ambiguous, 
the  question  being  usually  decided  by  the  parties  who  dis- 
cuss it  according  to  its  pronunciation  in  the  vernacular.  In 
the  Spanish  language  J  represents  a  guttural,  and  is  fre- 
quently substituted  for  X,  which  has  the  same  sound. 

IA'CCHUS.     See  Bacchus. 

IA'MBICS.  A  species  of  verse  used  by  the  Greek  and 
Latin  poets,  and  especially  by  the  Greek  tragic  poets.  The 
derivation  of  the  word  has  never  been  ascertained,  but  it 
can  boast  of  an  origin  nearly  coeval  with  the  Greek  lan- 
guage. The  iambics  of  the  Greek  tragic  poets  consisted  of 
three  entire  metres  of  six  feet,  and  were  thence  styled  the 
tragic  trimeter  acatalectic.  They  were  composed  originally, 
as  their  name  implies,  of  a  succession  of  iambi  (^  — )  ;  but 
at  a  later  period,  various  other  feet  were  admitted,  of  which 
the  subjoined  table  will  convey  an  idea. 

1.  2.  3.  4.  5.  6. 


Hence  it  will  be  seen  that  a  tribrachys  may  be  introduced 
into  all  the  places  except  the  last ;  a  spondee  in  the  first, 
third,  and  fifth  places ;  a  dactyl  in  the  first  and  third  places ; 
and  an  anapest  in  the  first.  It  was,  however,  long  a  ques- 
tion of  great  doubt  among  grammarians  into  what  places 
the  anapest  might  be  legitimately  introduced.  The  discus- 
sion at  one  period  ran  high,  particularly  between  English 
and  German  critics  ;  but  it  now  seems  to  be  universally  ad- 
mitted that  this  foot  may  be  used  in  every  odd  place  of  the 
verse  except  the  last :  with  the  general  restriction,  that  in 
the  3d  and  5th  places  it  should  be  contained  in  a  proper 
name,  as  Antigone,  or  in  a  preposition  and  the  word  which 
it  governs.  The  comic  writers  used  much  greater  licence 
in  the  iambic  trimeter,  admitting  an  anapest,  even  in  com- 
mon words,  into  every  place  but  the  last.  For  a  full  expo- 
sition of  this  and  the  other  iambic  metres  employed  by  the 
Greek  and  Latin  poets,  the  reader  may  consult  Hermann's 
Elcmenta  Doctrinm  Metrical  ;  Porson's  editions  of  the 
Tragedies  of  Euripides  ;  and  the  article  "  Iambic  Verse" 
in  Recs's  Cyclopedia.  In  most  modern  European  languages, 
the  verse  of  five  iambic  feet  is  a  favourite  metre.  In  French 
it  is  used  almost  entirely  in  lighter  poetry,  as  by  La  Fon- 
taine and  similar  writers,  the  heroic  verse  being  the  sixth 
foot,  or  Alexandrine ;  but  in  English,  German,  and  Italian, 
the  former  is  the  verse  of  ordinary  use  in  serious  composi 
tion.  The  Italians  divide  it  into — 1.  The  verso  cadentc,  in 
which  the  line  is  decasyllabic,  consisting  of  five  iambi :  e.  g., 

"  E  come  albero  in  nave  si  levo."  Dante. 

This  variety  is  very  rarely  admitted  in  serious  composition, 
and  is  ill  suited  to  the  character  of  the  language.  Poets 
have,  however,  sometimes  sportively  attempted  whole  se- 
ries of  versi  cadenti ;  as  in  the  set  of  sonnets  of  Casti  call- 
ed 1  tre  Giuli.  2.  The  verso  eroico,  or  hendecasyllabic, 
which  is  the  ordinary  one,  ending  in  a  short  syllable : 
"  Canto  l'armi  pietose,  e  'I  capitino." 

Nn*  S85 


IBEX. 

3.  The  verso  sdrucciolo,  which  ends  with  two  short  sylla- 
bles after  the  fifth  iamb : 

"  Fassi  oziosa,  e  di  tua  gloria  immemore." 
This  also  is  rarely  used  in  serious  writing; ;  but  its  occasion- 
al employment  adds  a  [>eculiar  grace  to  lighter  poetry.  In 
English,  according  to  the  genius  of  the  language,  the  deca- 
syllabic line  is  most  common  ;  the  hendecasyllabic  occa- 
sional, and  more  frequent  in  blank  verse  than  in  rhymes, 
in  consequence  of  the  comparative  rarity  of  trochaic  rhymes ; 
the  sdrucciolo,  also  occasionally  used  by  dramatic  poets ; 
e.g., 

"  What's  Hecuba  lo  him,  or  he  to  Hecuba  " 
The  licence  is  sometimes  carried  so  far  as  to  add  three  short 
syllables  to  the  last  iamb :  e.  g., 

"  The  senator  shall  bear  contempt  hereditary." 
The  German  language  is  rich  both  in  iambic  and  trochaic 
terminations:  consequently  the  decasyllabic  and  hendeca- 
syllabic are  more  indiscriminately  employed  than  in  either 
English  or  Italian  ;  and  it  is  not  uncommon  to  use  the  ele- 
gant variety  of  alternate  iambic  and  trochaic  rhymes,  like 
the  French  masculine  and  feminine. 

I'BEX.  (Lat,  a  wild  goat.)  The  name  is  restricted  to  a 
species  of  goat ;  the  Capra  Ibex  of  Linnaeus,  Bouquetin  of 
ButTon  and  the  French  naturalists.  It  is  characterized  by 
having  large  horns,  with  a  flattened  anterior  surface,  and 
marked  with  prominent  transverse  ridges  or  knots.  It  in- 
habits the  summits  of  the  highest  mountain  chains  in  the 
continents  of  Europe,  Africa,  and  Asia,  but  does  not  exist 
in  the  New  World. 

I'CEBERG.  (Germ,  eis,  ice,  and  berg,  mountain.)  The 
name  given  to  the  masses  of  ice  resembling  mountains  of- 
ten found  floating  in  the  polar  seas.  They  are  sometimes 
formed  in  the  sea  itself  by  the  accumulation  of  ice  and 
snow ;  at  other  times  they  seem  to  be  glaciers  which  have 
been  piling  up  on  shore  till  quite  overgrown,  and  ultimate- 
ly broken  and  launched  into  the  ocean  by  their  own  weight. 
Masses  of  this  sort  abound  in  Baffin's  Bay,  where  they  are 
sometimes  two  miles  long,  and  half  or  one  third  as  broad. 
Scoresby  counted  500  of  these  bergs  drifting  along  in  lati- 
tudes 69°  and  70°  N.,  which  rose  above  the  surface  from 
the  height  of  100  to  -200  feet,  and  measured  from  a  few  yards 
to  a  mile  in  circumference.  (Voyage  in  182*2,  p.  233.)  Many 
of  them  were  loaded  with  beds  of  earth  and  rocks,  of  such 
thickness  that  the  weight  was  conjectured  to  be  from  50,000 
to  100,000  tons ;  and  on  closer  examination  the  mass  was 
found  to  be  composed,  among  other  substances,  of  granite, 
gneiss,  mica,  schist,  clayslate,  granular  felspar,  and  green- 
stone. Some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  immense  depth  to 
which  icebergs  descend,  from  the  fact  that  the  mass  of  ice 
below  the  level  of  the  water  is  about  eight  times  greater 
than  that  above.  Icebergs  have  been  known  to  drift  from 
Baffin's  Bay  to  the  Azores,  and  from  the  South  Pole  to  the 
immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  (See 
LyeWs  Geology,  book  ii.,  c.  3;  Murray's  Encyc.  of  Geog- 
raphy.) 

ICELAND  MOSS,  Lichen  Islandicus,  Cetraria  Islandi- 
ca.  This  is  a  common  lichen  in  the  mountainous  districts 
of  Europe.  It  contains  a  bitter  principle,  and  a  considera- 
ble quantity  of  starchy  matter ;  it  is  tonic  and  nutritive,  and 
is  often  prescribed  in  disorders  of  debility,  and  in  pulmona- 
ry consumption. 

ICELAND  SPAR.  A  transparent  rhomboidal  variety  of 
calcspar,  or  carbonate  of  lime.  This  form  of  crystallized 
carbonate  of  lime  is  particularly  valuable  for  experiments 
on  the  double  refraction  and  polarization  of  light, 

ICE  SPAR.  A  variety  of  felspar,  from  Somma  near  Na- 
ples. 

ICH  DIEN.  (Germ.)  Literally,  I  serve :  the  motto  of 
the  Prince  of  Wales,  which  was  originally  adopted  by  Ed- 
ward the  Black  Prince  in  proof  of  his  subjection  to  his  fa- 
ther Edward  III.,  and  has  been  continued  without  interrup- 
tion down  to  the  present  time. 

[CHNEU'MON.  (<;r.  (xvevuwv,  Pharaoh's  rat,  the  de- 
stroyer of  crocodiles ;  perhaps  from  txi'c6u>,  because  it  track- 
ed the  foot-prints  of  the  crocodile.)  A  name  applied  in  zo- 
ology, in  a  double  sense,  to  a  Viverrine  genus  of  quadru- 
peds, and  to  a  family  of  Pupivorous  Hymenoptera.  As  re- 
gards the  Mammalia  the  name  is  changed  for  Herpestes  by 
Illiger,  and  the  latter  has  been  generally  adopted  by  BngHun 
zoologists.  (See  IIerpestes  for  the  generic  characters.) 
The  ichneumon  of  the  Nile  (//<  rpestet  Pharaonis  i  n  as  me 
of  the  sacred  animals  of  the  ancient  Egyptians ;  and  al- 
though many  fabulous  feats  were  narrated  of  it  as  the  ene- 
my of  the  crocodile,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  its  Industri- 
ous instinctive  searching  out  of  the  eggs  of  die  crocodile  U 
an  article  of  food  tends  materially  to  diminish  the  number 
of  that  destructive  reptile.  The  ichneumon  preys,  how  ev- 
er, on  the  eggs  and  young  of  various  species  Of  animals. 
Mr.  Bennett  relates  that  on  one  occasion  a  grey  Ichneumon 
(Herpestcs  griseus)  killed  no  fewer  than  a  dozen  full-grown 
rats,  which  were  loosed  to  it  in  a  room  sixteen  feet  square, 
586 


ICHTHYOLOGY. 

in  less  than  a  minute  and  a  half.  For  an  account  of  the  in- 
sect ichneumons,  see  Pupivora. 

ICHNO'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  ixvos,  a  model,  and  ypa<pto,  I 
draic.)  In  Architecture,  the  representation  of  the  ground 
plot  of  a  building.  In  perspective  it  is  its  representation  in- 
tersected by  a  horizontal  plane  at  its  base  or  ground  floor. 

I'CHOR.  (Gr.)  A  thin  watery  discharge.  By  the 
Greeks  it  was  applied  to  the  divine  fluid  that  issued  from 
the  wounds  of  the  gods. 

I'CIITHIOCO'LLA.  (Gr.  iX0vs,  a  fish,  and  Ko\\a,  glue.) 
See  Isinglass. 

ICHTHYO'LOGY.  (Gr.  iX0uc,  and  Aoyoc,  a  discourse.) 
The  science  which  treats  of  the  nature,  uses,  .and  classifi- 
cation of  fishes. 

Fishes  are  those  oviparous  vertebrate  animals  which 
have  a  heart  consisting  of  one  auricle  and  one  ventricle, 
which  breathe  water,  and  have  the  nasal  cavity  communi- 
cating with  the  external  surface  only.  In  a  few  species  an 
air-bladder  is  present,  and  so  organized  as  to  act  the  part  of 
a  lung ;  but  the  principal  if  not  exclusive  organ  of  respira- 
tion consists,  throughout  the  whole  class,  of  branchia;  or 
gills.  The  gills  are  composed  of  rows  of  slender  flattened 
processes  suspended  by  arches,  attached  in  general  to  the 
hyoid  bone,  and  covered  with  a  membrane  or  tissue  of  in- 
numerable minute  and  close-set  blood-vessels.  The  water 
which  the  fish  takes  in  by  the  mouth,  instead  of  being 
swallowed,  passes  through  the  interspaces  of  the  gills,  and 
escapes  by  the  fissures  on  each  side  of  the  head,  called  gill- 
apertures.  The  air  contained  in  the  water,  acts  upon  the 
blood,  which  is  minutely  subdivided  in  the  branchial  ves- 
sels ;  and  the  bilocular  heart  serves  exclusively  to  propel 
the  whole  of  the  venous  blood  to  the  branchial  arteries,  and 
is  thus  analogous  in  function  to  the  pulmonary  auricle  and 
ventricle  of  the  warm-blooded  classes.  The  blood  having 
been  decarbonized  in  the  gills  is  collected  into  the  dorsal 
arterial  trunk  or  aorta,  and  is  propelled,  without  the  influ- 
ence of  a  systematic  heart,  to  all  parts  of  the  body ;  whence 
it  is  again  returned  by  the  veins  to  the  branchial  auricle  and 
ventricle. 

The  whole  structure  of  a  fish  is  as  evidently  adapted  for 
swimming  as  that  of  a  bird  for  flight.  Being  suspended  in 
a  fluid  of  nearly  the  same  specific  gravity  as  itself,  it  needs 
not  widely-expanded  wings  for  its  support.  Many  species, 
moreover,  have  the  air-bladder  so  organized  and  developed 
as,  by  its  contractions  and  dilatations,  to  vary  the  specific 
gravity  of  the  fish,  and  aid  in  its  ascent  to  the  surface,  or 
descent  into  the  depths  of  the  water.  Ordinary  progression 
is  effected  by  the  motions  of  the  tail,  which,  by  the  action 
of  powerful  muscles,  displaces  the  water  alternately  to  the 
right  and  left ;  the  gills,  also,  in  expelling  the  water  back- 
wards, may  contribute,  by  the  reaction  of  the  current,  to 
propel  the  fish  forward.  The  ordinary  extremities,  there- 
fore, being  of  little  use,  are  reduced  to  a  low  or  rudimental 
condition ;  they  are  chiefly  remarkable  for  the  number  of 
parts  corresponding  to  the  digital  phalanges  of  the  higher 
classes,  and  which,  from  their  disposition,  are  called  "  rays." 
The  pieces  analogous  to  the  bones  of  the  arms  and  legs  are 
extremely  shortened,  and  often  quite  concealed ;  the  mem- 
brane supported  by  the  diverging  rays  rudely  represents  the 
hands  and  feet.  The  members  thus  constructed  are  called 
"fins;"  those  which  answer  to  the  anterior  extremities  are 
called  the  "  pectoral  fins ;"  those  which  answer  to  the  pos- 
terior extremities  are  the  "  ventral  fins."  Other  rays  attach* 
ed  to  peculiar  bones  above  or  between  the  extremities  of  the 
spinous  processes  support  the  vertical  fins,  which  are  mesial 
and  single,  either  above  the  back,  beneath  the  tail,  or  at  the 
extremity  of  the  tail.  The  upper  vertical  fin  or  fins  are 
called  the  dorsal,  the  lower  ones  the  anal,  and  the  terminal 
one  the  caudal  fin.  The  fin-rays  are  of  two  kinds.  Some 
consist  of  a  single  bony  piece,  usually  hard  and  pointed, 
sometimes  flexible  and  elastic,  and  divided  longitudinally  ; 
they  are  called  "  bony  or  spinous  rays :"  the  others  are  com- 
posed of  a  vast  number  of  little  joints,  generally  branched 
at  the  extremity;  they  are  called  "soft,  Jointed,  or  branch- 
ed rays."  In  genera]  the  fins,  which  are  placed  in  pairs, 
and  correspond  to  the  ordinary  extremities,  are  four  in  num- 
ber :  but  sometimes  there  are  but  two,  and  sometimes  they 
are  entirely  wanting.  When  both  pectoral  and  ventral  lins 
are  present,  they  may  have  the  ordinary  relative  position  , 
i.  e  ,  the  pectoral  tins  may  be  considerably  in  advance  of  the 
ventrals — such  fishes  are  said  to  be  "abdominal"  or  the 
Ventrals  may  be  placed  below,  or  on  the  same  or  nearly  the 
same  transverse  line  as  the  pectOTals — such  fishes  are  term- 
ed "thoracic  :"  or  the  ventrals  may  be  situated  in  advance 
of  the  pectorals,  under  the  throat  of  the  fish — when  the 
species  are  called  "jugular"  fishes.  The  vertebra;  of  fish- 
es, when  completely  ossified,  are  united,  with  very  few  ex- 
ceptions, try  opposite  concave  surfaces.  Most  fishes  have 
the  body  covered  with  scales.  They  are  destitute  of  or- 
gans of  prehension,  except  the  teeth.  The  imperfection 
of  the  organ  of  touch  is  remedied  in  some  by  the  develop- 
ment of  soft  tentacles  or  feelers. 


ICHTHYOPHTHALMITE. 

The  teeth  are  very  various  as  to  their  number,  form,  and 
relative  size.  They  are  either  anchylosed  to  the  jaw-bones, 
attached  to  ligaments,  or  implanted  in  sockets ;  when  the 
latter,  the  tooth  has  always  a  single  and  simple  fang.  The 
teeth  may  be  placed  on  the  maxillary,  intermaxillary,  or 
lower  jaw-bones  ;  upon  the  vomer  or  sphenoid  bones  ;  upon 
the  palatine  or  pterygoid  bones,  the  tongue,  the  branchial 
arches,  or  the  pharyngeal  plates ;  or  they  may  be  entirely 
wanting. 

Besides  the  branchial  arches,  the  hyoid  bone  supports  on 
each  side  a  number  of  rays,  which  support  the  branchial  or 
opercular  membrane.  This  membrane  is  also  generally  far- 
ther strengthened  by  three  osseous  plates  called  the  "  oper- 
cular," subopercular,"  and  "  interopercular"  bones:  the  kind 
of  door  thus  formed  is  joined  to  the  tympanic  bone,  and  plays 
upon  a  piece  called  the  "  preopercular"  bone. 

With  respect  to  the  subdivision  of  the  class  of  fishes  into 
orders,  Cuvier  admits  the  great  difficulty  which  exists  in  de- 
fining them  by  fixed  and  easily  appreciable  characters,  and 
after  many  attempts  adopted  the  following  classification. 

He  first  divided  the  class  into  two  sub-classes. 
Sub-class  I.  Pisces  ossei,  or  fishes  properly  so  called. 

II.  Pisces  cartilaginei,  or  Chondropterygians,  car- 
tilaginous fishes. 

The  first  sub-class  are  arranged  according  to  the  modifica- 
tions of  their  organs  of  locomotion.  All  the  osseous  fishes 
which  have  the  anterior  part  of  the  dorsal  fin,  or  the  first 
dorsal  where  there  are  two,  supported  by  bony  rays,  with 
some  bony  rays  in  the  anal  fin,  and  at  least  one  bony  ray  in 
each  of  the  ventials,  are  collected  into  an  order,  called  Acan- 
thoptcrygians. 

All  those  osseous  fishes  in  which,  with  the  exception  of 
the  anterior  dorsal  and  pectoral  rays,  all  the  others  are  soft, 
constitute  the  order  Malacopterygians. 

The  Malacopterygii  are  subdivided,  according  to  the  rela- 
tive position  or  absence  of  the  ventral  fins,  into  "  abdomi- 
nal," "jugular,"  or  "sub-branchial,"  and  "apodal"  fishes. 

Those  fishes  which  have  the  branchia;  in  the  form  of 
tufts  constitute  the  order  of  Lophobranchii. 

Those  fishes  in  which  the  maxillary  and  palatine  arches 
are  firmly  united,  or,  as  it  were,  soldered  to  the  cranium,  are 
called  the  Plectognathi. 

The  Chondropterygian  fishes  are  divided  into  the  three  or- 
ders of, 

Sturionians, 

Selacians,  and 

Cyclostomes.     (See  those  words.) 

The  chief  modification  in  the  arrangement  of  the  class  of 
fishes  has  been  the  consequence  of  a  study  of  the  nature  and 
affinities  of  the  numerous  extinct  forms,  and  a  comparison 
of  these  with  existing  species. 

M.  Agassiz  has  proved  that  certain  species,  which  stand 
out  as  exceptions  to  the  ordinary  form  and  structure  of  the 
class  among  recent  fishes,  are  the  types  of  extensive  orders 
which  peopled  the  seas  of  the  ancient  world,  and  now  char- 
acterize particular  strata.  This  naturalist  has  likewise  ob- 
served more  closely  than  his  predecessors  the  relations  which 
subsist  between  the  external  scales  and  the  internal  struc- 
ture ;  and  he  accordingly  proposes  to  arrange  the  class  of 
fishes  according  to  the  modifications  of  the  scaly  covering, 
and  divides  them  into  four  orders,  each  of  which  contains 
fishes  having  a  cartilaginous  skeleton:  and  in  each  there 
are  both  Acanthopterygian  and  Malacopterygian,  Abdomi- 
nal and  Apodal  genera.  These  orders  are  named  Placoidcs, 
Ganoides,  Ctenoides,  and  Cycloides.     (See  those  terms.) 

I'CHTHYOPHTHA'LMiTE.  (Gr.  ix6vS,  and  o^Qai^oq, 
the  eye.)  A  species  of  zeolite  of  a  peculiar  pearly  lustre,  re- 
sembling the  eve  of  a  fish  (whence  its  name). 

I'CHTHYOSAU'RUS.  (Gr.  iX9»S,  a  fish,  and  aavpoq,  a 
lizard.)  A  genus  of  extinct  marine  animals,  which  com- 
bined the  characters  of  saurian  reptiles  and  of  fishes  with 
some  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  Cetaceous  Mammalia.  The 
vertebra;  of  the  back-bone  of  the  Ichthyosauri  resemble 
those  of  fishes  in  having  their  bodies  joined  by  opposite  con- 
cave surfaces ;  but  the  superior  arches  remain  permanently 
detached,  as  in  reptiles.  The  cranium  resembles  in  struc- 
ture that  of  the  crocodiles,  but  is  characterized  by  a  peculi- 
arly large  orbit,  in  which  a  circular  series  of  osseous  sclerotic 
plates,  analogous  to  those  of  the  crocodile  and  birds,  but  rel- 
atively much  larger,  has  been  so  frequently  found  as  to 
prove  it  to  be  a  generic  structure.  The  nostrils  are  situated, 
not  as  in  the  crocodile,  near  the  point  of  the  snout,  but  close 
to  the  anterior  part  of  the  orbit. 

The  teeth  resemble  in  structure  those  of  the  crocodiles ; 
but  are  lodged,  as  in  some  of  the  Lacertine  Sauria,  in  a 
groove,  and  not  in  distinct  sockets.  The  locomotive  ex- 
tremities are  similar  in  construction  to  the  paddles  of  the 
whale;  but  they  are  four  instead  of  two  in  number,  and  the 
anterior  pnddles  are  connected  by  a  broad  coracoid,  a  com- 
plete clavicle,  and  a  supplementary  coracoid  bone  to  a  strong 
sternum  ;  the  flattened  phalangeal  bones  supporting  the  fin 
are  polygonal,  and  are  relatively  shorter  and  more  numerous 


ICTIDES. 

than  in  the  whale  tribe.  The  hind  paddles  are  smaller  than 
the  fore,  and  are  attached  to  a  pelvis  similar  to  that  of  the 
crocodile.  Small  supplementary  bones  are  wedged  into  the 
lower  part  of  the  joint  of  the  atlas  and  occiput,  and  a  few 
of  the  succeeding  vertebral  joints ;  and  the  tail  often  presents 
a  fracture  at  a  particular  point,  whence  the  existence  of  a 
caudal  fin  has  been  inferred.  From  the  form  and  position 
of  masses  of  crushed  and  apparently  half-digested  fish-bones 
and  scales  in  the  abdominal  cavity  of  the  ichthyosaurus,  it 
is  concluded  that  they  preyed  chiefly  on  fish ;  that  they  had 
a  simple  and  capacious  stomach,  and  an  intestine  provided 
with  a  spiral  valve.  The  geological  range  of  the  ichthyo- 
saurus seems,  says  Dr.  Buckland,  to  have  begun  with  the 
muschelchalk,  and  to  have  extended  through  the  whole  of 
the  oolitic  period  into  the  cretaceous  formation.  The  most 
recent  stratum  in  which  any  remains  of  this  genus  have  yet 
been  found  is  the  chalk  marl  at  Dover.  The  chief  deposito- 
ry of  the  bones  of  the  Ichthyosauri  occurs  in  the  lias  at 
Lyme  Regis  in  Dorsetshire, 

ICHTHYOSIS.  (Gr.  iX0vf.)  A  roughness  and  thick- 
ening of  the  skin,  portions  of  which  become  hard  and  scaly, 
and  occasionally  corneous,  with  a  tendency  to  excrescences. 
Friction,  warm  bath,  and  occasionally  stimulating  ointments, 
have  been  of  service  in  mitigating  the  progress  of  this  dis- 
ease ;  but  it  seldom  yields  permanently  to  any  plan  of  treat- 
ment. 

I'CHTHYS.  (Gr.  ajish.)  A  word  found  on  many  seals, 
rings,  urns,  tombstones,  &c,  belonging  to  the  early  times  of 
Christianity,  and  supposed  to  have  a  mystical  meaning, 
from  each  character  forming  an  initial  letter  of  the  words 
Irjaov;  Xpto-Tos,  Beov  Yioj,  Xuirnp  ;  i.  e.,  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Son  of  God,  the  Saviour.  This  interpretation  is  not  unlike- 
ly, when  we  consider  at  once  the  universal  reverence  with 
which  the  fish  was  symbolically  regarded  among  most  an- 
cient nations,  and  the  many  signs  and  ceremonies  adopted 
by  the  Christians,  with  some  change  of  meaning,  from  the 
religious  rites  of  the  surrounding  nations. 

ICO'NOCLASTS.  (Gr.  uku>v,  an  image,  and  K\au>,  I 
break.)  Literally,  breakers  of  images ;  a  title  applied  to 
two  of  the  Byzantine  emperors,  Leo  the  Isaurian  and  his 
son  Constantine  Capronymus,  who,  during  their  reigns, 
which  extended  from  726  to  795,  persevered  in  overthrowing 
the  images  in  the  Christian  churches,  and  in  extirpating  their 
worship.  The  338  bishops,  also,  who  attended  a  council  at 
Constantinople  in  the  reign  of  the  latter  prince,  and  declared 
themselves  in  favour  of  his  views,  were  stigmatized  by  the 
orthodox  party  under  the  same  name.  In  the  year  787,  how- 
ever, a  general  council  was  assembled  at  Nicsea  by  the  em- 
press Irene,  who  inclined  towards  the  old  superstition,  and 
the  images  were  on  this  occasion  restored  to  their  former 
honours.  This  council,  the  second  of  Nice,  is  the  last  re- 
specting which  the  Greek  and  Latin  churches  coincide  ;  the 
practice,  however,  of  the  Greek  church  makes  a  distinction 
between  the  use  of  pictures,  which  it  allows,  and  graven 
images,  which  it  studiously  rejects.  (Moshcim,  Eccl.  Hist., 
vol.  i.,  p.  262,  transl.;  Schlosser's  History  of  the  Iconoclast 
Emperors,  Frankfort,  1812;  JVeander,  parts  3  and  4.) 

I'COSAE'DRON.  (Gr.  ukoci,  twenty,  and  tipa,  base.) 
One  of  the  five  regular  or  Platonic  bodies,  bounded  by 
twenty  equilateral  and  equal  triangles.  It  may  be  regarded 
as  formed  of  twenty  equal  and  similar  triangular  pyramids, 
whose  vertices  all  meet  in  the  same  point ;  and  hence  the 
content  of  one  of  these  pyramids  multiplied  by  twenty  gives 
the  whole  content  of  the  icosaedron.  Let  the  linear  edge 
of  one  of  its  faces  be  denoted  by  a ;  then  the  surface  of 
the  icosaedron  is  =:  5  a?  y/"A  =  8660254  a2 ;  and  the  solidity 

—  5  aS^/'Ltl^  —  2-181695  a?.    (See  Hutton's  Mcnsura- 

6  2 

tion,  or  Sharpc's  Geometry  Improved.) 

I'COSA'NDROUS.  (Gr.  cikooi,  and  avnp,  a  male.)  Lit- 
erally any  flower  having  twenty  stamens  or  thereabouts; 
hut  it  is  usually  confined  to  those  flowers  in  which  these 
stamens  are  inserted  into  the  calyx. 

I'CTERUS.  (Gr.  iKrcpoc.)  The  jaundice  :  so  called 
from  its  resemblance  to  the  golden  thrush,  which  the  Latin 
form  of  the  word  signifies. 

I'CTIDES.  (Gr.  liens,  a  weasel,  and  ti$o<;,  form.)  A  ge- 
nus of  nocturnal  carnivorous  Mammals,  intermediate  be- 
tween the  Plantigrade  and  Viverrine  Digitigrade  tribes,  hav- 
ing the  plantigrade  walk  of  the  racoons  and  coatis,  and  the 
slender  conical  snout  of  the  civets  and  other  Vivcrridas, 
The  dental  formula  of  the  genus  is 

T     .     6  1.1.  ,   3.  3.  3.  3. 

Incis.  — ;  can.  -——  ;  praemol.  jr-v  ;  mol.  —  -  =  38. 

D  1.1.  Z.  Z.  .(..I. 

The  teeth  resemble  those  of  the  Paradoxurus,  but  are 
thicker  and  more  tuberculous ;  and  thus  contribute,  with 
the  plantigrade  structure  of  the  feet,  to  indicate  the  affinity 
of  the  Ictides  to  the  Plantigrade  Fere.  Three  species  of  the 
present  genus  are  recorded  ;  they  are  all  natives  of  Southern 
Asia,  and  are  called  licnturongs.     The  common  Indian 

587 


IDEA. 

species  (Tctides  albifrons)  is  of  the  size  of  a  domestic  cat : 
but  its  body  is  longer  and  heavier,  its  legs  shorter,  and  its 
gait  lower  and  more  crouching.  The  tail  Is  extremely  thick 
at  its  commencement,  and  gradually  tap  remity, 

where  it  curls  upwards.    The  pupil  of  tlie  rye  contn 
ring  daylight  into  a  vertical  fissure.     A  benturong  which 
1    |>:  in  captivity  many  \ -ears  was  fed  on  a  mixed  diet 
of  animal  and  vegetable  substances;  and  they  most  proba- 
bly subsist  on  similar  food  in  a  state  of  nature. 

IDE' A.  (Gr.  iSea,  from  tiav,  to  see.)  Literally,  the  im- 
age or  resemblance  of  any  object  conceived  by  the  mind. 
There  is  no  word  in  any  language  the  definition  of  which, 
from  the  obscurity  of  metaphysical  writers,  is  attended  with 
such  difficulty  as  the  term  idea  :  and  the  difficulty  is  enhan- 
ced when  we  consider  the  vagueness  with  which  its  equiv- 
alents are  expressed  in  different  languages,  and  the  man] 
metaphysical  systems  that  have  been  constructed  on  their 
several  significations.  Like  many  other  terms  of  mental 
philosophy,  the  word  idea  is  derived  from  the  most  eminent 
of  the  senses,  that  of  sight,  and  in  its  most  extended  accep- 
tation is  employed  to  Indicate  "every  representation  of  out- 
ward objects  through  the  senses,  and  whatever  is  the  object 
of  thought."  To  give  even  a  cursory  glance  at  the  various 
theories  of  the  origin  and  nature  of  ideas  would  be  to  write 
the  history  of  mental  philosophy  from  Plato  to  Kant,  and 
would  far  exceed  our  limits,  even  if  the  difficulty  of  the  sub- 
ject did  not  deter  us  from  the  attempt.  The  reader  will 
find  the  besl  exposition  of  some  of  the  theories  alluded  to  in 
Dugald  Stewart's  Phil.  Essays,  Appendix  II.  ;  Kant's 
Critik  derreinen  Vcrnunfl;  Hitter's  Gcschichte  der  Philo- 
sophic; Hi  id  on  t/ir  Human  Mind;  and  the  Edin.  Review, 
Green's  Hunterian  Oration,  1840. 

IDEAL  (BEAU),  or  IDEAL  BEAUTY.  An  expres- 
sion in  the  Fine  Arts,  used  to  denote  a  selection  lor  a  par 
ticular  object  of  the  finest  parts  from  different  subjects, 
united  in  that  one  so  as  to  form  a  more  perfect  whole  than 
nature  usually  exhibits  in  a  single  specimen  of  the  species; 
or,  in  other  words,  the  divesting  nature  of  accident  in  the 
representation  of  an  individual.  From  the  nature  of  the 
expression  and  its  definition,  it  is  clear  that  it  more  immedi- 
ately attaches  to  the  arts  of  painting  and  sculpture:  in  ar- 
chitecture it  is  susceptible  of  refinements  dependant  on  the 
selection  of  examples,  upon  which,  however,  a  less  univer- 
sal agreement  exists.  **" 

IDE'ALIS.M.  (Or.  ilea,  form.)  A  term  applied  to  sev- 
eral metaphysical  systems,  varying  in  its  signification  ac- 
cording to  the  meaning  attached"  in  each  particular  scheme 
to  the  word  idea  ;  from  which  it  is  derived.  In  England  the 
best  known  system  of  idealism  is  that  of  Berkeley.  In  ref- 
erence to  this  philosopher's  doctrines,  the  word  is  used  in  its 
empirical  sense  for  the  object  of  consciousness  in  sensation. 
(See  Perception.)  In  its  Platonic  or  transcendental  sense, 
the  term  idealism  has  been  applied  to  the  doctrines  of  Kant 
and  Schelling;  neither  of  whom  is  an  idealist  in  the  way  in 
which  Berkeley  may  be  so  called.  The  system  of  Berkeley 
may  be  thus  expressed:  The  qualities  of  supposed  objects 
cannot  be  perceived  distinct  from  the  mind  that  perceives 
them;  and  the-e  qualities,  it  will  be  allowed,  are  all  that 
we  can  know  of  such  objects.  If,  therefore,  there  were 
external  bodies,  it  is  impossible  we  should  ever  know  it; 
and  if  there  were  not,  we  should  have  exactly  the  same 
reason  for  believing  there  were  as  we  have  now.  All, 
therefore,  which  really  exists  is  spirit,  or  the  thinking  prin- 
ciple—ourselves, our  fellow  men,  and  God.  What  we  call 
ideas  are  presented  to  us  by  God  in  a  certain  order  of  suc- 
cession, which  order  of  successive  presentation  is  what  we 
mean  by  the  laws  of  nature. 

inE'NTITV.  PERSONAL,  denotes  the  sameness  of  the 
conscious  subject,  /,  throughout  all  the  various  states  of 
which  it  is  the  subject  The  question,  Wherein  consists  our 
identity,  and  what  is  its  evidence  !  has  been  a  source  of 
manifold  controversy  to  modern  metaphysicians.  By  philo- 
sophers of  the  materialist  school  the  doctrine  has  been 
ejected,  as  incompatible  with  daily  and  obvious  experience. 
But  independently  of  any  hypothesis  respecting  the  nature 

of  the  scud  in  itself.it  has  been  argued,  and  with 

plausibility,  tint  a-  all  our  knowledge  of  a  substance  j 
rived  from  tin.'  qualities  or  phenomena  which  it  presents  to 
our  senses,  so  that  all  we  can  mean  by  a  Bubstance  being 
the  same  with  itself  is,  thai  it  possesses  the  same  qualities 
which  it  previously  did  (for  if  not,  the  substance  i-  chan 
ged) ;  6o  all  we  can  know  of  the  sub  in  particu- 

lar is  derived  from  observation  of  the  changes  which  it 
undergoes.  But  we  find  tint  what  we  conceive  to  be  the 
same  individual  does,  at  different  periods,  assume  under  the 
same  circumstances  widely  varying  appearances.  A  man 
shall  laugh  at  w  hat  w  hen  he  «  as  a  child  would  ha\  e  exci- 
ted his  angel  or  jealousy.  This  reasoning  contains  an  evi 
dent  fallacy.     I;  does,  in  fact,  like  all  other  reasoning  of  the 

same  kind,  imply  that  very  doctrine  which  it  meat 
fute.    Co  erted,  is  the  joint  eflect  of  two 

substances  acting  one  on  the  other.    How,  then,  can  we  af- 
588 


IDIOPATHIC. 

firm  that  one  of  these  substances  is  chanced,  unless  by  assu- 
ming that  the  other  remains  the  same  ?  How  can  we  show 
thai  the  phenomenon  laughter  in  the  man  is  different  from 
the  phenomenon  jealousy  or  anger  in  the  boy,  unless  we 
admit  that  we  who  observe  these  phenomena  —  /.  ■  ..  by  the 
pr«  noises,  on  whom  these  phenomena  produce  a  git 
-  remain  the  same  as  we  were  when  we  were  affected  pre- 
Viously  in  a  different  manner.  A  lump  of  sugar,  as  we  take 
it  to  be,  no  longer  melts  in  what  we  take  to  be  water.  As- 
suming that  the  water  remains  water,  we  may  fairly  infer 
that  the  lump  in  question  is  not  sugar,  or  vice  versa ;  not  so 

if  we  profess  ourselves  equally  ignorant  of  the  identity  Of 
both  substances.  This  argument,  it  will  be  seen,  applies 
equally  to  the  materialisl  and  non-materialist.  .Such  may 
be  said  to  be  the  negative  evidence  of  our  identity.  Its  pos- 
itive evidence  rests  on  the  necessity  and  universality  of  its 
belief,  as  implied  in  every  act  of  memory.  To  remember  is 
to  refer  a  past  state  of  consciousness  to  the  same  subject 
which  now  at  the  present  moment  recalls  it.  (Pec  Bishop 
Butler's  Treatise  on  Pea  '''/;   Brown's  Thil.  of 

Human  .Mind.  Led.  12,  Kl,  14,  &c.  &.C.) 

IIH.vrn'Y.  SYSTEM  OP.  In  Philosophy  (otherwise 
called  Identism),  a  name  which  has  been  given  to  the  meta- 
physical theory  of  the  German  writer  Sehelling.  It  rests  on 
the  principle  that  the  two  elements  of  thought,  the  objects 
respectively  of  understanding  and  reason,  called  by  the  vari- 
ous terms  of  matter,  and  spirit,  objective  and  subjective, 
real  and  ideal,  &c,  are  only  relatively  opposed  to  one  an- 
other as  different  forms  of  the  one  absolute  or  infinite; 
hence  sometimes  called  the  two  poles  of  the  absolute.  See 
Sthelling,  Philosophy  of. 

LDEOGRA'PHIC  CHARACTERS.  (Gr.  tSta,  an  idea, 
and  i  paipui,  I  write.)  In  Philology,  characters  used  in  wri- 
ting which  express  figures  or  notions,  instead  of  the  arbitrary 
signs  of  the  alphabet.  The  Chinese  characters  are  ideo- 
graphic, although  the  symbols,  at  first  intended  to  represent 
distinct  objects,  have  become  by  use  merely  conventional. 
The  hieroglyphical  characters  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  were 
of  the  same  description.  Ideographical  writing  is  opposed 
to  phonetic.    See  Phonetic. 

IDEO'LOGY  (Gr.  tSea,  and  Aoyo?,  a  discourse),  literally, 
the  science  of  mind,  is  the  term  applied  by  the  later  disciples 
of  Condillac  to  the  history  and  evolutions  of  human  ideas, 
considered  as  so  many  successive  modes  of  certain  original 
or  transformed  sensations.  The  writings  of  this  school  are 
characterized  by  an  unrivalled  simplicity,  boldness,  and 
subtlety  ;  and  the  different  phases  of  iis  doctrines  are  admi- 
rably exhibited  in  the  physiological   researches  ol'Cahanis, 

the  moral  dissertations  of  Garat  and  Volney,  and  the  roeta- 
physical  disquisitions  of  Destutt  de  Tracy.  (Damiron,  Hist. 
de  Phil,  en  France,  ire.  A-c.) 

IDES.  (Suppi  I  to  be  derived  from  the  obsolete  verb 
iduare,  to  dii-ide.)  One  of  the  three  epochs  or  divisions  of 
the  ancient  Roman  month.  The  calends  were  the  first  days 
of  the  different  months;  the  ides,  days  near  the  middle  of 
the  months  ;  and  the  nones,  the  ninth  day  before  the  ides. 
In  the  months  of  March,  May,  July,  and  October,  the  ides 
fell  on  the  15th ;  in  the  other  months  on  the  13th.  The  Ro- 
mans used  a  very  peculiar  method  of  reckoning  the  days  of 
the  month.  Instead  of  employing  the  ordinal  numbers  first, 
second,  third,  &c,  they  distinguished  them  by  the  number 
Of  days  intervening  between  any  given  day  and  the  next 
following  of  the  three  fixed  divisions.  For  example,  as  there 
were  always  eight  days  between  the  nones  and  the  ides  the 
day  after  the  nones  was  called  the  eighth  before  the  ides, 
the  next  the  seventh  day  before  the  ides,  the  next  the  sixth 
day  before  the  ides,  and  so  on.  In  leap  years,  when  Febru- 
ary had  twenty-nine  days,  the  extra  day  was  accounted  for 
by  calling  both  the  twenty-fourth  and  twenty-fifth  days  of 
that  month  the  sixth  day  before  the  calends  of  March; 
w  bence  the  leap  year  got  the  name  of  bissextile  (from  bis, 
d  sextus,  sixth.     See  Bissextile. 

1'DIOM.  (Gr.  iStoc, peculiar.)  In  Philology,  a  mode  of 
speaking  or  writing  foreign  from  the  usages  of  universal 
grammar  or  the  general  laws  of  language,  and  restricted  to 
the  genius  of  some  individual  tongue.     Thus,  a  sentence  or 

phrase  consisting  of  words  arranged  in  a  particular  manner 

may   be  a    Latin   idiom;    the  same,  arranged  in  a  different 

manner,  an  Engli  b  idiom,  &c.    The  use  of  a  particular  in- 

•  fa  wind  may  also  be  an  idiom.    We  also  use  the 

term  idiom  in  a  more  general  sense,  to  express  the  general 

genius  or  character  of  a  language,    We  have  a  number  of 

subordinate    words    to   express  the  idioms   of   particular 

thus,  a  Latin  idi<  m  is  a  Larinism,  a  French  idiom 

lictem,  &.c.    The  word  idiom  is  also  not  uncommonly 

but   incorrectly,  used   in   the  same  sense  with   the  French 

idiomi  :  a  dialect  or  variety  of  language.     Idiotisme  is  the 

term  <  spresBing  the  correct  signification  of  the  Eng- 

lish  "  idii  in." 

I'DIOF  VTIMC.    (Gr.  lew,  nod  miOot.  an  affection.)   A  dis 

ease  which  dees  not  depend  upon  any  other  disease.and  which 
is  thus  opposed  to  those  diseases  which  are  symptomatic. 


IDIOSYNCRASY. 

FDIOSY'NCRASY.  (Gr.  tStos,  aw,  with,  and  upaaic,  a. 
temperament.)  A  state  of  constitution  peculiarly  suscepti- 
ble of  certain  agents  which,  in  general,  produce  no  effect,  or 
one  perfectly  different.  Thus  honey  and  coffee  act  with 
some  few  persons  as  violently  aperient ;  very  minute  doses 
of  antimony  are  occasionally  followed  by  powerful  emetic 
effects,  and  of  mercury  by  salivation,  &c. 

I'DIOT.  (Gr.  <<5<ii)rr/s,  originally  a  private  individual.)  In 
contemplation  of  Law,  one  who  has  been  born  totally  defi- 
cient in  understanding,  or  has  lost  it  by  sickness,  so  as  to 
have  no  lucid  intervals :  lunatic,  properly  speaking,  one  who 
has  lucid  intervals.  The  care  of  idiots  and  lunatics  is  a 
branch  of  the  prerogative  of  the  crown,  and  exercised  ordi- 
narily by  the  chancellor.  By  the  common  law,  persons  were 
found  idiots  or  lunatics  by  verdict  of  a  jury  on  a  writ  de  idi- 
ota  or  de  lunatico  inquirendo ;  but  in  later  times,  by  com- 
missions issued,  on  petition  from  near  relations,  under  the 
great  seal.  Commissions  are  also  frequently  issued  to  de- 
termine not  specifically  whether  the  party  be  an  idiot,  &c, 
but  whether  he  be  under  such  imbecility  as  to  require  pro- 
tection in  the  management  of  his  affairs ;  and  such  is  now 
the  more  ordinary  course.  The  custody  of  an  idiot's  estate 
is  then  entrusted  to  the  committee  of  the  estate. 

IDIO'TICON.  (Gr.)  '  A  word  oF  frequent  use  in  Germa- 
ny, signifying  a  dictionary  confined  to  a  particular  dialect, 
or  containing  words  and  phrases  peculiar  to  one  part  of  a 
country. 

I'DOCRASE.  (Gr.  idea,  form,  and  Kfaag,  mixture;  in- 
dicating that  its  forms  are  a  mixture  of  the  forms  of  certain 
other  minerals.)  The  volcanic  garnet.  It  is  of  various  col- 
ours, and  is  sometimes  called  volcanic  crysolite  or  hyacinth. 
It  occurs  in  the  ejected  masses  of  Vesuvius,  and  elsewhere. 
It  is  an  alumino-silicate  of  lime,  with  about  5  per  cent,  of 
oxyde  of  iron. 

I'DOL,  IDO'LATRY.  (Gr.  f'«5wAoi<,  a  similitude,  repre- 
sentation, or  image ;  ^arpan,  worship.)  The  figures  of 
metal,  stone,  or  wood,  by  which  Pagans  for  the  most  part 
represent  their  divinities,  are  termed  idols,  and  the  worship 
paid  to  them  idolatry.  This  practice  is  expressly  forbidden 
by  the  second  commandment  of  the  Decalogue,  which  says, 
"Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thyself  any  graven  image  : 
Thou  shalt  not  bow  down  to  them  nor  worship  them ;" 
which  must  be  interpreted  to  forbid  the  making  of  an  image 
for  the  purpose  of  worshipping  it.  The  absurdity  and  crim- 
inality of  idolatry  are  also  clearly  pointed  out  by  the  light  of 
nature.  Roman  Catholics,  however,  are  accused  of  idolatry, 
upon  the  supposition  of  their  performing  acts  of  adoration  to 
the  images  of  Christ,  the  Virgin,  and  Saints  :  the  adoration 
of  the  Host,  or  consecrated  elements,  is  also  made  a  charge 
against  them.  The  reply  which  thsy  make,  that  "  they 
kneel  not  to  the  image,  but  to  the  spiritual  being  represented 
by  it,"  is  the  answer  of  every  enlightened  heathen  in  his 
own  case,  but  does  not  express  the  feelings  of  the  multitude  ; 
nor  was  room  allowed  to  the  Jews  for  any  such  subterfuge 

In  a  wider  sense,  the  adoration  of  any  visible  objects,  such 
as  the  sun  and  the  host  of  heaven  (Sablanism),  is  idolatry; 
and  the  adoration  of  animals  by  the  Egyptians.  But,  in  the 
more  restricted  signification  of  the  word,  it  denotes  the  ado- 
ration by  men  of  the  works  of  their  own  hands ;  properly  as 
images  (£«5wAa),  supposed  to  represent  divine  beings.  Al- 
though Grecian  idolatry  was  dignified  by  all  the  charms 
which  art  could  throw  around  it,  it  appears  that  the  most 
popular  idols  were  rude  and  almost  formless  images;  tradi- 
tionary representations  of  the  divinities,  to  many  of  which 
the  vulgar  notion  attributed  a  divine  origin,  believing  them 
to  have  fallen  from  heaven.  Such  were  the  Hernia;  of  Ath- 
ens; the  image  of  Diana  (iioircrrii)  at  Ephesus,  mentioned 
in  the  Acts;  the  sacred  "Ancilia,"  or  shields,  of  the  Ro- 
mans: which  seem  to  have  commanded  more  of  the  vener- 
ation of  the  common  people  than  the  Pallas  of  the  Parthe- 
non or  the  Jupiter  Olympius  of  Elis.  (See  Vossius,  De  Ori- 
gine  hlololatrim  ;  Graves  on  the  Pentateuch  ;  Creuzer,  Sym- 
bolik  der  altin  Voelker  ;  Spence's  Polymetis  ;  Mem.  de  I' Ac. 
des  fnscr.,  vol.  xxxviii.) 

I'DRIALINE.  A  fusible  inflammable  substance,  found 
by  Dumas  in  a  mineral  from  the  quicksilver  mines  of  Idria, 
in  Carniola. 

I'DYL.  (Gr.  f!i5uA>cn<,  the  diminutive  of  £?<5oc,  form.)  A 
short  pastoral  poem.  The  Greek  word  is  derived  from  afios, 
form,  or  visible  object ;  and  hence  the  object,  or,  at  least,  the 
necessary  accompaniment  of  this  speeies  of  poem,  has  been 
said  to  be  a  vivid  and  simple  representation  of  ordinary  ob- 
jects in  pastoral  nature.  But  in  common  usage  the  significa- 
tion of  this  word  is  hardly  different  from  that  of  eclogue. 
The  poems  of  Theocritus  are  termed  Idyls,  those  of  Virgil 
Eclogues;  but  it  would  be  difficult  to  assign  a  distinction 
between  the  two,  except  what  arises  from  the  greater  sim- 
plicity of  language  and  thought  which  characterizes  the  for- 
mer. Many  critics,  however,  aver  that  the  eclogue  requires 
something  of  epic  or  dramatic  action ;  the  idyl  only  pictu- 
resque representation,  sentiment,  or  narrative.  (See  Ec- 
logue, Bucolic.)  In  English  poetry,  among  this  class  may 
51 


IGUANODON. 

be  ranked,  The  Seasons  of  Thomson,  Shenstone\i  Sckoolmis 
tress,  Burns'  Cottager's  Saturday  JWgAJ,  Goldsmith's  D» 
serted  Village,  &c,  &c. 

IGASU'RIC  ACID.  A  name  given  by  Pelletier  and  Cav- 
cntou  to  an  acid  which  is  found  combined  with  strychnia  in 
the  Nuz  vomica  and  St.  Ignatius's  bean. 

IGNA'TIUS'S  BEAN.  The  seed  of  the  Ignatia  amara, 
used  in  the  Philippine  Islands  as  a  cathartic  and  emetic. 
See.  Strychnia. 

I'GNIS  FA  TUUS.  (Lat.  vain  or  foolish  fire  ;  a  transla- 
tion of  the  Fr.  feu  follet.)  A  kind  of  luminous  meteor, 
which  flits  about  in  the  air  a  little  above  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  and  appears  chiefly  in  marshy  places,  or  near  stag- 
nant waters,  or  in  churchyards,  during  the  nights  of  sum- 
mer. There  are  many  instances  of  travellers  having  been 
decoyed  by  these  lights  into  marshy  places,  where  they  per- 
ished ;  and  hence  the  names  Jack-with-a-lantcrn,  IVill-with- 
a-wisp :  the  people  ascribing  the  appearance  to  the  agency 
of  evil  spirits,  who  take  this  mode  of  alluring  men  to  their 
destruction.  The  cause  of  the  phenomenon  does  not  seem 
to  be  perfectly  understood ;  it  is  generally  supposed  to  be 
produced  by  the  decomposition  of  animal  or  vegetable  mat- 
ters, or  by  the  evolution  of  gases  which  spontaneously  in- 
flame in  the  atmosphere. 

IGNI'TION.  (Lat.  ignis,  fire.)  The  act  of  setting  fire  to, 
or  of  taking  fire  ;  as  opposed  to  combustion  or  burning,  which 
is  a  consequence  of  ignition.  The  term  spontaneous  ignition 
is  applied  to  cases  in  which  substances  take  fire  without  pre- 
vious application  of  heat :  thus  spongy  platinum  is  said  to 
become  spontaneously  ignited  when  introduced  into  a  mix- 
ture of  oxygen  and  hydrogen  gases,  and  to  cause  their  com- 
bustion. The  particles  of  steel  struck  off  by  collision  with 
flint  become  ignited  on  passing  through  the  air,  and  falling 
upon  gunpowder,  ignite  it,  and  combustion  ensues.  Iron 
wire,  when  red  hot,  is  also  often  said  to  be  ignited,  or  in  a 
state  of  ignition  ;  and  when  in  that  state  it  is  plunged  into 
oxygen  gas,  or  into  chlorine,  it  undergoes  combustion,  and 
burns  in  those  gases  with  the  farther  extrication  of  heat  and 
light. 

IGNORA'MITS.  (Lat.  we  are  ignorant.)  In  Law,  the 
endorsement  of  a  grand  jury  on  a  bill  of  indictment,  equiva- 
lent to  "  not  found."  The  jury  are  said  to  ignore  a  bill 
when  they  do  not  find  the  evidw&ce  such  as  to  make  good 
the  presentment. 

IGUA'NA.  (Cuvier  states,  with  reference  to  the  deriva- 
tion of  this  term,  that  it  was  originally  a  St.  Domingo  word, 
where  it  was  pronounced  by  the  natives  hiuana  or  igoana, 
and  quotes  Hernandes  and  Scaliger  as  his  authorities.  He 
then  proceeds  to  say  that  Bonrius  regards  it  as  derived  from 
the  Javanese  word  leguan.  In  this  case  the  Portuguese  or 
Spaniards  must  have  transported  it  to  America,  where  they 
transformed  it  into  iguana.  They  apply  this  term  to  the 
monitor  as  well  as  to  the  iguana.  The  leguan  of  Bontius 
is  a  monitor.  The  best  authorities  in  erpetology  have 
adopted  the  Latinized  iguana  as  the  generic  name  of  the 
reptiles  under  consideration.)  A  genus  including  certain 
large  and  beautiful  lizards  common  in  the  tropical  parts  of 
America,  some  of  which  feed  on  vegetable  substances,  and 
are  esteemed  delicious  food.  The  common  iguana  (Iguana 
tubcrculata,  Laur.)  has  accordingly  received  the  specific 
names  delicatissima  and  sapidissima.  The  generic  name 
iguana  is  now  restricted  to  those  species  which  present  the 
following  characters  :  A  large,  thin  fold  of  skin  or  dewlap 
under  the  chin  ;  cephalic  cuticular  plates,  polygonal,  un- 
equal in  diameter,  flat  or  carinated  ;  a  double  row  of  small 
palatal  teeth  ;  maxillary  teeth,  with  their  edges  finely  den- 
tilated  ;  a  crest  on  the  back  and  tail ;  toes  long  and  unequal ; 
a  single  row  of  femoral  pores  ;  tail  very  long,  slender,  com- 
pressed, covered  with  small,  equal,  imbricated  carinated 

IGUA'NIDjE.  (From  Iguana.)  The  family  of  lizard?, 
of  which  the  genus  Iguana  is  the  type,  and  which  is  divi- 
ded, according  to  minor  modifications  of  the  leading  charac- 
ters of  the  Iguanas,  into  the  subgenera  Iguana  proper,  Cc~ 
rythophones.  Basiliscus,  Moponotus,  Amblyrhynrhvs.  Meto- 
poceros,  Cyclura,  Brachylophus,  Knyalus,  and  Ophrymssa. 

IGUA'NINjE.  (From  Iguana.)  The  Lezards  iguaniena 
of  French  erpetologists.  This  extensive  tribe  of  Lacertino 
Sauria  is  divided  by  MM.  Diuneril  and  Bibron  into  two 
groups,  Pleuntdontes  and  Acrodontes. 

The  Pleurodontes  include  the  families  Iguanidw,  Polij- 
chrida:,  Anoliidm,  Tropidohpidida;.  and  Ophtriihe. 

The  Acrodont.es  embrace  the  families  Galcotidw,  Agami- 
dee,  Phrynocephalida:,  and  Stcllionida. 

A  short  and  thick  tongue,  with  base  not  retractable  in  a 
sheath,  and  with  the  extremity  free,  mobile,  and  very 
slightly  cleft,  is  the  general  character  of  this  extensive  tribe. 

fGUA'NODON.  (From  Iguana;  and  Gr.  o6ovs,a  tooth.) 
An  extinct  genus  of  gigantic  herbivorous  reptiles,  discover- 
ed by  Dr.  Mantell  in  the  wenklen  fresh-water  formation  of 
the  South  of  England,  in  the  localities  of  Tilgate  Forest, 
Isle  of  Wight,  and  Purbeck.    The  chief  distinctive  charac- 

589 


ILEUM. 

tcr  of  this  genus  is  the  form  of  the  teeth,  which  are  denti- 
lated  along  the  margin  of  the  crown,  as  in  the  iguana  ;  but 
thicker,  .so  as  to  present,  when  worn  down,  a  broader  grind- 
ing surface.  The  structure  by  which  these  teeth  were 
adapted  to  the  cropping  of  coarse  and  tough  vegetable  food, 
such  as  the  Clathrasite  and  similar  fossil  plants  of  the 
wcalden  strata, may  be  supposed  to  have  afforded  the  igua- 
■nodan,  is  thus  described  by  Dr.  Buckland  :  "  The  teeth  ex- 
hibit two  kinds  of  provisions  to  maintain  sharp  edges  along 
the  cutting  surface,  from  their  first  profusion  until  they 
were  worn  down  to  the  very  stamp.  The  first  of  these  is  a 
sharp  and  serrated  edge, extending  on  eacli  side  downwards 
from  the  point  to  the  broadest  portion  of  the  body  of  the 
tooth.  The  second  provision  is  one  of  compensation  for  the 
gradual  destruction  of  this  serrated  edge,  by  substituting  a 
plate  of  thin  enamel  to  maintain  a  cutting  power  in  the  an- 
terior portion  of  the  tooth  until  its  entire  substance  was  con- 
sumed in  the  service.  While  the  crown  of  the  tooth  was 
thus  gradually  diminishing  above,  a  simultaneous  absorp- 
tion of  the  root  went  on  below,  caused  by  the  pressure  of  a 
new  tooth  rising  to  replace  the  old  one,  until  by  this  contin- 
ual consumption  at  both  extremities  the  middle  portion  of 
the  older  tooth  was  reduced  to  a  hollow  stump,  which  fell 
from  the  jaw  to  make  room  for  a  more  efficient  successor." 
The  anterior  surface  of  the  crown  of  the  tooth,  also,  instead 
of  being  flat  and  even,  was  traversed  by  alternate  longitu- 
dinal ridges  and  furrows,  the  latter  serving  "  as  ribs  or  but- 
•  strengthen  and  prevent  the  enamel  from  scaling 
otf.  and  i  her  with  the  furrows,  an  edge  slightly 

wavy,  and  disposed  in  a  series  of  minute  gouges  or  fluted 
chisels ;  hence  the  tooth  became  an  instrument  of  greater 
power  to  cut  tough  vegetables  under  the  action  of  the  jaw 
titan  if  the  enamel  had  been  a  continuous  straight  line.  By 
these  contrivances,  also,  it  continued  effective  during  every 
stage  through  which  it  passed,  from  the  serrated  lancet  point 
of  the  new  tooth  to  its  final  consumption." 

l'r<  :n  the  proportions  which  the  hones  of  the  iguanodon 
bear  to  those  of  the  iguana,  this  extinct  monster  of  a  former 
world  is  calculated  to  have  been  70  feet  in  length  from  the 
snout  to  the  end  of  the  tail ;  the  length  of  the  tail  alone  is 
calculated  to  have  been  5-2S  feet,  the  circumference  of  the 
body  1U.  The  thigh-bone  of  the  full-sized  irruanodon  is 
twenty  times  the  size  of  that  of  the  iguana.  The  snout  of 
the  iguanodon  was  armed  with  a  short  but  strong  horn  ;  but 
and  powerful  tail  formed  probably  its  most  formi- 
d:  ble  instrument  of  attack  and  defence. 

IL'EUM.  (Gr.  u\tu,  I  turn  about.)  The  last  portion  of 
the  small  intestines,  terminating  at  the  valve  of  the  caecum. 

['LIA.  (Lat.)  The  flanks,  or  the  part  of  the  abdomen 
which  includes  the  small  intestines.  Tiie  6s  ilium  is  the 
haunch  bone,  the  upper  part  of  the  os  innominatum,  which 
supports  the  in'. 

PLIAC  PA'SSION.  (Lat.  ilia,  the  bowels.)  A  vomiting 
of  bilious  and  fecal  matter  in  consequence  of  obstruction  in 
the  intestinal  canal. 

I'LIAD.  (Gr.  iXirif.)  The  oldest  epic  poem  in  exist- 
ence ;  commonly  attributed  to  Homer,  but,  according*  to 
some  modern  hypotheses,  the  work  of  several  hands.  The 
theme  of  the  poem  is  the  siege  of  Ilium  (whence  its  name) 
or  Troy  ;  or,  more  properly  speaking,  the  quarrel  of  Achil- 
les with  Agamemnon,  general  of  the  Grecian  army  before 
that.  city.  It  consists  of  f.  enty-four  books.  The  first  book 
relates  the  origin  of  the  quarrel ;  and  the  residue  of  the  poem 
contains  an  account  of  the  efforts  made  by  Agamemnon  and 
the  chiefs  who  adhered  to  his  parly  to  conquer  the  Trojans 
without  the  aid  of  Achilles,  their  defeat,  the  pacification  of 
Achilles,  his  resumption  of  arms  in  the  common  cause,  and 
the  death  of  Hector  by  his  hand.  Neither  the  landing  of 
the  chieftains,  nor  the  conclusion  of  the  war  and  capture 
of  Trov,  come  within  its  range.     Sec  Epic. 

ILLATIVE  CONVERSION,  in  Logic,  is  that  in  which 
the  truth  of  the  converse  follows  from  the  truth  of  the  ex- 
posita  or  proposition  given.  Thus  the  proposition  "  no  vir- 
tuous man  is  a  rebel,"  becomes,  by  illative  conversion,  "no 
rebel  is  a  virtuous  man."  "Some  boasters  arc  cowards;" 
therefore.  a  COnverso,  "some  cowards  are  boasters." 

ILLCMINATI.  or  THE  ENLIGHTENED.  A  secret 
society  formed  in  ITTii,  chiefly  under  the  direction  of  Adam 

Weishaupt,  professor  of  law  at  Ingolstadt,  in  Rivaria.  Its 
professed  object  was  the  attainment  of  a  higher  degree  of 
virtue  and  morality  than  that  reached  iii  the  ordinary  course 
of  society.  It  numbered  at  one  time  9000  members.  It  was 
suppressed  by  the  Bavarian  government  in  1784.  It  h;is 
been  supposed  that  this  and  some  other  secret  societi'-  were 
actively  engaged  in  preparing  the  way  for  the  French  revo 
lotion;  but  of  this  no  satisfactory  proof  has  bei  n  adduced. 

(See  the   Knrti.  eon   Ersch  unJ  Crubcr.) 

ILLUSTRATION,  in  Rhetoric,  appears  to  differ  from 
Comparison  or  Simile  in  this  only,  that  the  latter  Is  used 
merely  to  give  force  to  the  expression  ;  the  former  to  throw 
light  upon  an  argument.  The  term  Illustration  is,  however, 
sometimes  used  in  a  wider  sense,  in  which  it  seems  to  com- 
590 


IMAGINARY  ROOTS  OF  EQUATIONS. 

prehend  example,  which  is  the  recital  of  a  particular  fact  or 
instance  evincing  the  truth  of  a  general  pro]  oeilion  laid 
down  in  the  argument;  and  parable,  which  is  a  species  of 

symbolical  narrative,  in  which  the  actors  and  events  ;.re  in- 
tended (0  represent  certain  other  actors  and  events  in  a  typi- 
cal manner.     Sec  Parable. 

['MAGE.  (Lat.  imago.)  In  Rhetoric,  a  term  somewhat 
loosely  used  ;  but  which  appears  generally  to  denote  a  met- 
aphor dilated,  and  rendered  a  more  complete  picture  by  the 
assemblage  of  various  ideas  through  which  tiie  same  mi  la- 
phor  continues  to  run,  yet  not  sufficiently  expanded  to  form 
an  allegory. 

I'mage.  A  representation  of  the  Deity  in  stone,  wood,  or 
metal.  (.Sec  art.  Idol.)  The  custom  of  representing 
the  Virgin,  and  the  Saints  by  images  in  the  churches,  which 
forms  a  principal  feature  of  Roman  Catholic  worship,  is  an 
ancient  but  not  a  primitive  practice.  For  the  principal 
events  in  the  lustory  of  Christian  image  worship,  see  art. 
Iconoclasts. 

I'mage,  in  Optics,  is  the  spectrum  or  appearance  of  an 
object  made  by  reflection  or  refraction ;  or  the  image  of  an 
object  may  be  more  correctly  defined  as  the  locus  of  all  tho 
pencils  of  converging  or  diverging  rays  emanating  from  every 
point  of  the  object,  and  received  on  a  surface.  It  is  by  means 
of  optical  images  that  vision  is  effected.  The  eye  is  an  as- 
semblage of  lenses  which  concentrate  the  rays  emanating 
from  each  point  of  the  object  on  a  tissue  of  very  delicate 
nerves  called  the  retina,  where  an  exact  image  or  repre- 
sentation of  the  object  is  formed  ;  and  it  is  this  image  which 
is  perceived  ox  felt  by  the  retina. 

The  brightness  of  an  image  depends  evidently  on  the 
quantity  of  light  concentrated  in  each  point.  Setting  aside 
the  effects  of  aberration,  the  brightness  must  therefore  bo 
proportional  to  the  apparent  magnitude  (as  seen  from  the 
object)  of  the  mirror  or  lens  by  which  the  rays  are  reflected 
or  refracted,  multiplied  by  the  area  of  the  object  and  divided 
by  the  area  of  the  image.  But  the  apparent  magnitude  of 
the  lens,  as  seen  from  the  object,  is  proportional  to  the 
square  of  the  diameter  of  the  lens  divided  by  the  square  of 
the  distance  of  the  object ;  and  the  area  of  the  object  divided 
by  the  area  of  the  image  is  equal  to  the  square  of  the  dis- 
tance of  the  object  divided  by  the  square  of  the  distance  of 
the  image  from  the  lens :  therefore  the  brightness  of  the 
image  is  proportional  to  the  square  of  the  diameter  of  the 
lens  divided  by  the  square  of  the  distance  of  the  image  from 
the  lens  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  brightness  or  degree  of  illumi- 
nation of  the  image  depends  only  on  the  apparent  magni- 
tude of  the  lens  as  seen  from  the  image,  and  not  in  any  way 
on  the  distance  of  the  object.  When  the  object  and  its  im- 
age are  only  physical  points,  and  have  no  apparent  magni- 
tude, as  stars  for  example,  the  brightness  of  the  image  is 
simply  proportional  to  the  magnitude  of  the  lens,  or  to  the 
square  of  the  diameter  of  the  aperture  of  the  telescope  ;  and 
for  this  reason  certain  stars  are  rendered  visible  by  large 
telescopes,  while  their  light  is  too  feeble  to  be  perceived  by 
smaller  ones. 

The  hnages  of  external  objects  are  painted  on  the  retina 
in  a  reversed  position,  and  from  the  retina  the  impressions 
are  transmitted  to  the  seusorium  by  tho  optical  nerves.  See 
Eye,  Optics. 

I'.MAGERY  may  be  defined  as  the  generic  term  for  simi- 
les, allegories,  and  metaphors,  or  such  rhetorical  figures  as 
denote  similitude  or  comparison. 

IMA'GINARY  QUANTITIES,  or  IMPOSSIBLE 
QUANTITIES,  in  Algebra,  are  the  even  roots  of  negative 
quantities,  or  the  imaginary  results  of  some  impossible  op- 
eration. The  square  root  of  any  positive  number  may  be 
affected  indifferently  with  the  positive  or  negative  sign  ; 
thus,  ,/9a2  =  X3a  ;  because  -)-3a  or  — 3a,  raised  to  the 
sipiare.  equally  produce  9u2.  But  if  the  number  or  quantity 
is  negative,  the  extraction  Of  its  square  root  is  impossible, 
because  the  square  of  any  quantity,  whether  positive  or 
negative,  is  essentially  positive;  that  is  to  say,  a  negative 
quantity  cannot  be  the  square  of  any  real  quantity  whatev- 
er. The  symbolical  expressions  y/ — 9,  y/—4a*,  y/ — 5.  indi- 
cate operations  which  are  impossible;  and  hence  they  are 
designated  imaginary  impressions.  But,  though  the  quan- 
tities denoted  by  these  symbols  have  no  real  values,  the 
symbols  themselves  may  have  all  the  algebraic  operations 
performed  on  them  which  can  be  performed  on  real  quanti- 
ties.   Thus,  ,/^9  =  ,/9  •  ,/- 1=3,/— 1;   and  ^^ 

N/4n-  •  y/ — 1  =2av/ — 1.  Such  expressions  are  of  very  fre- 
quent occurrence  in  the  higher  analysis,  and  sometimes  lead 
to  results  of  the  greatest  importance,  which  it  would  be  dif- 
ficult, if.  indeed,  possible,  to  obtain  in  another  way.  (See 
Peacock's  Ji/irrbra.) 

IMAGINARY  ROOTS  OF  EQUATIONS  arc  roots 
which  can  only  be  indicated  bv  imaginary  expressions. 
D'AIembert  first  demonstrated  thnt  every  imaginary  root  of 
an  equation  can  be  reduced  to  the  form  a-\-by/ — I,  where  a 


IMAGINATION. 

and  4  arc  real  quantities :  and  from  this  it  is  proved  that  if 
an  equation  have  a  root  of  the  form  a-\-b^/ — 1,  it  has  also 
another  of  the  form  a — by/ — 1 ;  so  that  imaginary  roots  al- 
ways enter  an  equation  by  pairs,  or  their  number  is  always 
even. 

IMAGINATION,  in  Metaphysics,  may  be  said,  in  its 
widest  sense,  to  be  synonymous  with  invention,  denoting 
that  faculty  of  the  mind  by  which  it  either  "  bodies  forth  the 
forms  of  tilings  unknown,"  or  produces  original  thoughts  or 
new  combinations  of  ideas  from  materials  stored  up  in  the 
memory.  It  would  be  vain  to  enumerate  the  various  defini- 
tions of  this  term,  or  to  attempt  to  give  even  an  abstract  of 
the  diversity  of  views  entertained  by  philosophers  respecting 
the  nature  and  extent  of  its  operations.  While  some  (and 
among  these  Ried  and  Addison)  limit  the  domain  of  this  facul- 
ty so  far  as  to  teach  that  it  is  nothing  more  than  a  lively  con- 
ception of  the  object  of  sight,  differing  from  conception  only 
as  a  part  from  the  whole ;  others,  like  Dugald  Stewart,  place 
it  in  the  foremost  rank  of  the  mental  faculties,  attributing  to 
its  operation  the  origination  and  development  of  the  sub- 
limest  and  boldest  thoughts  in  all  departments  of  human 
knowledge.  Dr.  Ried's  chapter  on  the  Train  of  Thought  in 
the  Mind  gives  a  vivid  though  simple  picture  of  the  power 
of  the  imagination;  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  exhibits  a 
tolerably  faithful  specimen  of  the  difficulty  of  treating  this 
subject,  owing  to  a  want  of  precision  in  the  definition  of  the 
term.  In  many  philosophical  disquisitions  imagination  is 
used  as  nearly  synonymous  with  fancy.  But  it  should  seem 
that  this  is  an  erroneous  application  of  the  term  ;  for,  as  Du- 
gald Stewart  observes,  the  latter  should  rather  be  considered 
as  that  peculiar  habit  of  association  which  presents  to  our 
choice  all  the  different  materials  that  are  subservient  to  the 
efforts  of  the  former,  and  which  may  therefore  be  consider- 
ed as  forming  its  groundwork.  See  Association.  Poetry. 
IMA'N.  An  inferior  order  of  ministers  of  religion  in  the 
Turkish  empire.  The  chief  iman  of  each  mosque  (Imam'ul- 
Haikh)  performs  the  ordinary  civil  functions  which  in  Europe 
have  been  in  most  countries  assigned  to  parish  priests,  as- 
sisting at  the  circumcision,  marriages,  burials,  &c.  of  his 
parishioners.  He  presides  over  the  assembly  of  the  faithful 
at  the  ordinary  prayers ;  but  the  solemn  noon  prayer  of  Fri- 
day is  under  the  superintendence  of  the  Khatib,  a  higher 
minister  (who  is  also  called  from  that  circumstance  the 
Imam'ul  Djumd,  or  Friday  Iman).  The  legitimate  successor 
of  Mahomet,  in  whom,  in  theory,  the  temporal  and  eccle- 
siastical government  of  Islam  should  reside,  is  termed  Imam 
by  way  of  pre-eminence :  but  the  Mussulmans  are  not  agreed 
among  themselves  as  to  the  character  of  this  dignity,  or  as 
to  those  who  have  rightfully  borne  it.  The  Persians  reckon 
twelve  legitimate  Imams,  of  whom  they  believe  the  last 
(Mahadi)  to  be  still  living.  (See  Taylor's  Hist,  of  Moham- 
medanism, ch.  viii.) 

IM'BRICATED.  In  Botany,  a  term  used  in  speaking  of 
the  arrangement  of  bodies,  to  denote  that  their  parts  lie  over 
each  other  in  regular  order  like  the  tiles  upon  the  roof  of  a 
house ;  as  the  scales  upon  the  cup  of  some  acorns  :  also  ap- 
plied in  speaking  of  the  aestivation  of  petals  or  leaves,  to  de- 
note that  they  overlap  each  other  at  the  margin  without  any 
involution. 

IMBRO'GLIO.  (A  word  borrowed  from  the  Italian  bro- 
gliare,  to  confound  or  mix  together;  whence  the  French 
brouiller  and  English  embroil.)  In  literary  language,  the 
plot  of  a  romance  or  a  drama,  when  much  perplexed  and 
complicated,  is  said  to  be  an  "  imbroglio."  The  small  bur- 
lesque theatrical  pieces  so  termed  by  the  Italians  derive  their 
ludicrous  character  from  a  similar  species  of  absurdity. 

IMITA'TION.  (Lat.)  In  Music,  a  species  of  composi- 
tion in  which  each  part  is  made  to  imitate  the  other.  Some- 
times the  motion  or  figure  of  the  notes  is  only  imitated,  and 
frequently  by  a  contrary  motion,  making  what  is  called  a 
retrograde  imitation,  or  imitations  canchcrizante.  Imitation, 
according  to  M.  Brossard,  differs  from  a  fugue  in  that  the 
repetition  must  be  a  second,  third,  sixth,  seventh,  or  ninth ; 
whereas  in  a  fugue  the  repetition  must  be  in  the  unison 
fourth,  fifth,  or  octave,  and  the  intervals  exactly  the  same  in 
the  comes  and  guide. 

IMME'RSION  (Lat.  immergo,  /  plunge,  under),  in  As- 
tronomy, denotes  the  disappearance  of  any  celestial  object 
behind  another  or  in  its  shadow.  Thus  in  an  eclipse  of  one 
of  Jupiter's  satellites,  the  immersion  takes  place  when  the 
satellite  disappears  behind  the  body  of  the  planet,  or  enters 
into  the  planet's  shadow ;  and  in  an  occultation  of  a  planet 
or  fixed  star  by  the  moon,  the  immersion  is  the  disappearance 
of  the  star  or  planet  behind  the  body  of  the  moon.  In  like 
manner,  the  reappearance  of  the  body  is  called  its  emersion. 
The  immersions  and  emersions  of  fixed  stars  occulted  by  the 
moon,  are  phenomena  of  great  importance  for  correcting  the 
lunar  tables. 

IMMERSION,  BAPTISM  BY,  seems  to  have  been  the 
most  ancient  mode  adopted  in  the  Christian  church.  The 
trine  immersion,  in  honour  of  the  three  persons  of  the  Divini- 


IMPEACHMENT. 

ty,  is  mentioned  by  Tertullian,  and  prescribed  in  the  Sncra- 
mentary  of  Gregory  the  Great ;  but  single  immersion  was 
held  valid  by  that  pope,  and  his  decision  was  confirmed  by 
the  fourth  council  of  Toledo,  A.D.  633.  {Riddle's  Christian 
Antiquities,  402.) 

IMMOLA  TION.  (Lat.)  A  ceremony  used  in  the  Ro- 
man sacrifices,  which  consisted  of  throwing  upon  the  head 
of  the  victim  some  sort  of  corn  or  frankincense,  together  with 
the  moal,  or  salt  cake,  and  a  little  wine. 

IMMU'NITY.  In  Jurisprudence,  legal  freedom  from  any 
legal  obligation.  Thus  the  phrase  "ecclesiastical  immuni- 
ties" comprehends  all  that  portion  of  the  righ'.sof  the  Church, 
in  different  countries,  which  consists  in  the  freedom  of  its 
members,  or  of  its  property,  from  burdens  thrown  by  law  ou 
other  classes. 

I'MPACT.  (Lat.  impingo,  /  impinge  on  anything.)  In 
Mechanics,  the  instantaneous  action  of  one  body  on  another 
to  put  it  in  motion.  If  the  body  moves  in  the  direction  of  the 
stroke,  the  impact  was  direct;  if  in  a  different  direction,  the 
impact  was  oblique. 

IMPA'GES.  (Lat.)  In  Architecture,  a  word  usually 
taken  to  mean  the  rails  of  a  door. 

IMPA  LEMENT.  In  Heraldry,  the  division  of  a  shield 
palewise,  when  the  shield  is  said  to  be  party  per  pale.  Im- 
palement per  baron  et  feme  is  the  division  which  lakes  place 
on  marriage ;  when  the  husband's  coat  is  borne  on  the  dex- 
ter side  of  the  pale,  and  the  wife's  on  the  sinister.  Former- 
ly, the  husband's  and  wife's  anus  were  impaled  by  dimidia- 
tion  ;  that  is,  the  dexter  half  of  the  husband's  coat  impaled 
with  the  sinister  half  of  the  wife's ;  and  this  inconvenient 
mode  of  marshalling  was  pursued  in  French  heraldry  down 
to  the  period  of  the  Revolution. 

Impalement.  A  species  of  punishment  formerly  in  use 
among  the  Turks  and  some  barbarous  nations,  which  con- 
sisted in  thrusting  a  stake  through  the  body,  and  thus  leav- 
ing the  victim  to  a  lingering  death.  Instances  are  on  record 
of  persons  enduring  this  horrid  torture  for  several  days  be- 
fore death  released  them  from  agony.  (See  Shaw's  Travels 
in  Barbary.) 

IMPANA'TION,  in  Theology,  otherwise  termed  Assump- 
tion, signifies  the  substantial  union  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  with  the  elements  of  the  eucharist  without  a  change 
in  their  nature.  The  word  appears  to  be  first  used  in  the 
controversy  about  the  real  presence  in  the  11th  century, 
and  to  be  applied,  by  the  supporters  of  trnnsubslantiation,  to 
the  less  material  doctrine  of  Berengarius  and  his  followers. 
It  has  since  been  objected,  by  Roman  Catholics,  to  the  Lu>- 
theran  theory,  that  it  revived  the  old  error  of  impanation. 
The  supporters  of  the  opinion  of  Berengarius  were  some- 
times termed  Adcssenarii ;  from  the  word  adesse,  to  b* 
present. 

IMPA'RLANCE.  (Fr.  parler,  to  speak.)  A  mode  of  de- 
laying proceedings  in  a  civil  action  by  petition  to  the  court 
for  farther  time.  General  imparlance  was  to  the  next  term ; 
special  imparlance  to  a  specified  day,  which  might  be  in  the 
same  term.  The  practice  of  imparlance  appears  to  be  abol- 
ished by  2  W.  4,  c.  39,  except  as  to  actions  not  commenced 
under  the  process  given  bv  that  act. 

IMPASTA'TION.  In  Sculpture,  the  mixture  of  different 
matters  bound  together  by  means  of  cements  capable  of  re- 
sisting the  action  of  fire  or  air. 

IMPEA'CHMENT.  (From  the  Latin  impetere,  to  prose- 
cute.) A  species  of  process  against  persons  accused  of  trea- 
son, or  high  public  crimes  and  misdemeanours  of  an  inferior 
description.  The  first  regular  instances  of  this  proceeding 
appear,  according  to  Mr.  Hatsell,  on  the  rolls  of  parliament 
in  the  latter  end  of  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  Before  that 
time  the  Lords  seem  to  have  exercised  a  high  but  irregular 
jurisdiction  over  state  offences,  at  the  prayer  of  the  crown 
or  of  private  persons.  But  in  the  case  of  Richard  Lyon, 
1376,  we  first  find  the  Commons  appearing  in  their  public 
capacity  as  prosecutors:  and  several  similar  instances  occur 
in  the  course  of  the  following  century.  But  from  the  reign 
of  Henry  VI.  to  that  of  James  I.  impeachments  seem  to  have 
fallen  into  disuse ;  bills  of  attainder,  and  prosecutions  in  the 
Star  Chamber,  having  been  prosecuted  in  their  stead.  In 
the  seventeenth  yea/  of  James  I.  this  form  of  proceeding 
was  revived  against  Sir  Giles  Mempesson  for  having  pro- 
cured illegal  patents,  and  from  that  time  to  the  present  has 
been  the  regular  constitutional  form  of  accusation  for  state 
offences.  The  form  of  the  accusation  exhibited  by  the  Com- 
mons is  styled  the  articles  of  impeachment.  It  is  an  undoubt- 
ed right  of  the  Commons  to  exhibit  such  articles  against  a 
peer  for  treason,  or  anv  other  high  crimes  and  misdemean- 
ours ;  but  it  has  been  doubted  whether  the  Lords  have  juris- 
diction in  capital  cases  over  a  commoner  in  this  proceeding. 
In  one  instance  (in  1681)  they  refused  to  do  so,  but  have  in 
several  other  instances  admitted  their  competency.  Man- 
agers are  appointed  bv  the  Commons  to  conduct  the  prose- 
cution befoie  the  Lords.  In  caee  of  an  impeachment  of  a 
peer  for  treason,  it  is  usual  to  address  the  crown  to  appoint 
a  lord  high  steward ;  but  the  appointment  of  such  an  officer 

001 


IMPENETRABILITY. 

docs  not  stem  essentia]  to  the  conduct  of  an  impeachment 
By  12  ii.  13  W.  :i.  C  2,  it  is  enacted  that  a  pardon  under  the 
great  seal  shall  not  be  pleadable  to  an  impeachment.  This, 
however,  does  not  deprive  the  king  of  his  prerogative  of 
pardoning  aftet  conviction.  It  was  determined,  on  the  im- 
peachment of  Warren  Hastings,  that  tin^  proceeding  m  the 
Lords  is  not  put  an  end  to  by  the  prorogation  or  dissolution 
of  parliament;  and  an  act  was  passed  to  prevent  prorogation 
or  dissolution  from  having  the  effect  of  putting  a  stop  to  the 
previous  proceedings  in  the  House  ofComm  ins.  Judgment 
on  impeachment  must  proceed  on  the  same  evidence  which 
would  be  required  in  the  ordinary  courts  of  justice  :  in 
which  respect  this  proceeding  differs  from  that  by  bill  of  at- 
tainder. 

IMPE'NETRAUl'I.ITY.  la  Physics,  one  of  the  essen- 
tial properties  of  matter  or  body.  It  is  a  property  inferred 
from  invariable  experience,  and  resting  on  this  incontroverti- 
ble fact  that  ii- •  two  bodies  ran  occupj  the  same  portion  of 
•space  in  the  same  instant  of  time.  Impenetrability,  as  re- 
spects solid  bodies,  requires  no  proof;  it  is  obvious  to  the 
touch.  With  regard  to  liquids,  the  property  may  be  proved 
by  very  simple  experiments.  Let  a  vessel  be  tilled  to  the 
brim  with  water,  and  B  solid  incapable  Of  solution  in  water 
be  plunged  into  it;  a  portion  of  the  water  will  overflow  ex- 
actly equal  in  bulk  to  the  body  immersed.  If  a  cork  be 
rammed  hard  into  the  neck  of  a  [dual  full  of  water,  the  phial 
will  burst,  while  its  neck  remains  entire.  The  disposition  of 
air  to  resist  penetration  may  be  illustrated  in  the  following 
way:  Let  a  tall  glass  vessel  be  nearly  filled  With  water,  on 
the  surface  of  \\  Inch  a  lighted  taper  is  set  to  float  If  over 
this  glass  a  smaller  cylindrical  vessel,  likewise  of  glass,  be 
inverted  and  pressed  downwards,  the  contained  air  maintain- 
ing its  place  ;  the  internal  body  of  the  water  will  descend, 
while  the  rest  will  rise  up  at  the  sides,  and  the  taper  will 
continue  to  burn  for  some  seconds,  encompassed  by  the 
whole  mass  of  liquid.  (Leslie's  Elements  of  Natural  Phi- 
losopliy.) 

EKPE'NNATES,  Impennes.  (Lat.  in,  and  penna.  a  wing.) 
The  name  of  a  tribe  of  swimming  birds,  having  short  wings 
covered  wit'.i  feathers  resembling  scales.  The  penguin 
{f/Sptenodytes)  is  a  good  example  of  this  group. 

IMPE'kATlVr.  MOOD.  (Lat.  impero,  /  command.) 
That  form  of  the  verb  which  denotes  command,  entreaty, 
or,  in  general,  desire.     See  Grammar. 

IMPE'RFECT  CADENCE.     In  Music.     Sec  Cadence. 

1MPF/IUECT  CONCORDS.  In  Music,  such  as  are 
liable  to  ehSHte  from  major  to  minor,  or  the  contrary,  as 
are  thirds  an^Rixths ;  still,  however,  not  losing  their  con- 
sonancy. 

IMPE'RFECT  NUMBER.  A  perfect  number  is  one 
whose  aliquot  parts,  added  together,  make  a  sum  etpial  to 
the  number  itself.  An  imperfect  number,  consequently,  is 
one  such  that  the  sum  of  its  aliquot  parts,  or  divisors,  is  not 
equal  to  the  number  it-elf.  Thus  12  is  an  imperfect  num- 
ber; for  the  sum  of  its  divisors,  1,  2,  3,  4,  ti,  is  111,  which  is 
greater  than  12. 

DIPE'B  l'i:i  T  TENSE.  In  Grammar,  that  modification 
of  a  verb  whirl;  expresses  that  the  action  or  event  of  which 
we  speak  was,  at  a  cci tain  time  to  which  we  refer,  in  an  un- 
finished state.  This  is  in  English  designated  by  the  auxiliary 
"was,"  joined  with  the  present  participle. 

IMPE'RIAL.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture,  a  species  of  dome 
whose  profile  is  pointed  towards  the  top  and  widens  towards 
the  base,  thus  forming  a  curve  cf  contrary  flexure. 

IMPE'RSONAL  VERBS,  in  Grammar,  are  those  used 
only  in  the  third  person  ;  as  clean,  licet,  it  is  lawful.  It  is 
quite  clear  that  every  verb,  whether  active  or  passive,  must 
have  0  .    to  some  noun,  either  expressed 

or  understood,  for  its  nominative ;  and  hence  the  doctrine  of 
Impersonal  verbs  has  been  justly  rejected  by  the  best  gram- 
marians, both  ancient  and  modern.     Sir  Grammar. 

IMPKTI'Gi  i.  (Lat  impetire,  to  infest.)  An  emption  of 
small  pustules,  sometimes  called  the  moist  tetter:  the  vesi- 
cles discharge  an  acrid  Ichor.  Something  of  this  kind  is 
often  produced  by  particular  trades,  where  irritating  sub- 
stances are  applied  to  the  skin.  Cleanliness,  cooling  oint- 
ments, and  occasionally  the  nitrated  mercurial  ointment 
much  diluted,  are  useful.  Hnrrowgate  water  and  baths  have 
been  recommended,  and  mild  aperients.  The  eruption  is 
not  contagious. 

IMPETUS.  (Lat.  force.)  In  Mechanics,  th'e  same  with 
momentum  or  force.  Impetus,  in  Gunnery,  is  the  altitude 
through  which  a  heavy  body  musl  fall  to  acquire  a  velocity 
equal  to  that  with  which  the  ball  is  discharged  from  tie 
piece. 

I'MPLEMENTS,  AGRICULTURAL.  Almost  all  the 
operations  of  agriculture  may  be  performed  by  the  plough, 
the  harrow,  the  scythe,  and  the  Hail  ;  ami  these  are  tie-  aole 
implements  in  the  primitive  agriculture  of  all  countries. 
With  the  progress  of  Improvement,  however,  many  other 
Implements  have  been  introduced  ;  tit*?  more  remarkable  of 
which  are  the  drill  plough,  the  horee-hoe,  the  winnowing 
5W2 


IMPRIMATUR. 

machine,  the  threshing  machine,  the  hay-making  machine 
and  the  reaping  machine.  The  object  of  all  these  imple- 
ments and  machines  Is  to  abridge  human  labour,  and  to  per- 
form the  different  operations  to  which  they  are  applied  with 
a  greater  degree  of  rapidity  and  in  a  more  perfect  manner 
than  before. 

I'MPLEMENTS,  HORTICU'LTURAL.  The  essential 
implements  of  horticulture  are  the  spade  and  the  pruning 
knife.  The  rake  might  be  added,  but  it  can  be  done  with- 
out; because  if  seed  be  sown  on  a  rough  surface,  it  may  be 
covered  by  beating  that  surface  smooth  with  the  spade;  and 
if  on  a  smooth  surface,  it  may  lie  covered  by  scattering  with 
the  spade  a  very  thin  sprinkling  of  earth  over  it.  Even  the 
pruning  knife  might  be  dispensed  with;  because  culinary 
vegetables  might  be  pulled  up  by  the  roots,  or  cut  off  at  the 
surface  of  tne  mound  with  the  spade;  and  fruit  trees  will 
produce  crops  without  pruning ;  as  by  disbudding  and  thin- 
ning \\  itli  the  linger  and  thumb  as  large  fruit  may  be  grown 
BI  e\er  will  be  produced  by  the  use  of  the  knife.  It  must 
be  confessed,  however,  that  the  knife  and  the  rake  are  very 
nearly  essential  instruments  of  horticulture.  With  the  prog- 
ress of  horticulture  a  great  number  of  implements,  instru- 
ments, utensils,  and  machines  have  been  brought  into  use. 
Of  these  may  be  mentioned  the  hoe  for  stirring  the  soil  and 
cutting  up  weeds;  aDd  this  implement  on  a  larger  scale  in 
warm  countries  is  used  as  a  substitute  for  the  spade.  The 
watering  pot  in  modern  gardening  is  an  important  utensil, 
and  the  syringe  a  machine  that  can  scarcely  be  dispensed 
with.  In  the  forcing  department,  we  have  the  thermometer, 
the  hygrometer,  and  various  contrivances  for  supplying  and 
regulating  heat  admitting  or  excluding  air,  and  producing 
artificial  vapour  or  rain. 

IMPLICATION.  (Lat.  implico.  /  evolve.)  In  Law,  an 
inference  necessarily  arising  from  something  declared.  Thus 
contracts  are  said  to  be  either  express  or  implied.  See  Con- 
tract. 

IMPLU'VIUM.  (Lat)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  the 
outer  part  of  the  court  of  a  house  which  was  exposed  to  the 
weather.  In  the  summer  lime  it  was  the  practice  to  stretch 
an  awning  over  it. 

IMPONDERABLE  SUBSTANCES.  Heat  light,  elec- 
tricity, and  magnetism  are  so  called,  being  supposed  to  de- 
pend upon  very  subtile  forms  of  matter  of  inappreciable 
weight. 

IMPORTS  AND  EXPORTS.  The  articles  imported  into 
and  exported  from  a  country.     See  Commerce. 

IMPOSING.  (Fr.  imposer),  in  Printing,  is  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  pages  of  a  sheet  upon  the  imposing  stone  in  their 
proper  order,  so  that  when  printed  and  the  sheet  folded  they 
Will  follow  each  other  consecutively:  putting  the  furniture 
about  them,  with  the  chase ;  and  wedging  them  up,  so  as  to 
I  be  ready  to  print. 

IMPOSITION  OF  HANDS.  (Lat.  impono,  J  place 
upon),  is  maintained  in  the  English  and  other  churches,  as 
conformable  to  the  apostolic  practice  and  that  of  the  earliest 
ages,  in  which  confirmation  and  the  ordination  of  priests  and 
deacons  are  supposed  to  have  been  accompanied  with  the 
performance  of  this  ceremony.  In  Acts  vi.,  the  apostles  lay 
their  hands  on  those  appointed  to  be  deacons;  in  Acts  viii. 
and  xix.,  the  converts  who  had  been  already  baptized  by 
Philip  and  John  are  in  the  same  manner  confirmed  by  Paul 
and  the  other  apostles. 

IMPOSSIBLE  QUANTITY.  See  Imaginary  Quan- 
tity. 

IMPOST.  (Lat.  impono,  I  lav  on.)  In  Architecture,  the 
capital  of  a  pier  or  pilaster  which  receives  an  arch.  The 
impost  varies  with  the  order  whereto  it  is  applied.  Some- 
times the  whole  of  the  entablature  serves  as  an  impost  to 
an  arch.  The  term  is  applicable  to  any  supporting  piece. 
Impost  is  also  frequently  used  as  synonymous  with  tax  or 
public  burden. 

[MPRE'SSION.  (Lat  imprimo,  I  press  upon.)  In  the 
line  Arts,  the  sensation  on  the  mind  which  is  excited  by  a 
work  Of  .art.  The  word  is  also  used  to  denote  a  copy  of  an 
engraving  drawn  off  from  the  plate  or  block  on  which  the 
subject  is  engraved. 

[MPRE'SSMENT.  The  forcible  levying  of  mariners  for 
the  king's  service  at  sea.  The  power  of  impressment  la  a 
branch  of  the  king's  prerogative.  It  is  mentioned  in  the 
statute  'J  Richard  2,  c.  -1  as  a  recognised  usage.  Various 
EUre  exempted  from  it  by  particular  stat- 
utes.   The  officer  impressing  acts  under  an  impress  warrant 

for  that  especial  purpose;  but  the  regularity  of  this  instru- 
ment is  carefully  watched  by  the  courts,  and  criminal  in- 
formations have  been  also  granted  against  officers  guilty  of 
unnecessary  severity  or  acts  of  private  malice  in  carrying  it 

execution.    (See,  for  arguments  in  favour  of  maintain- 
ing tins  practice,  (Juart.  ]<rv.,vo\.  xliv.,  p.  -I'.Hi.  &.C  ;  against 
of  Motions,  M-'Culloch's  cd.,  note  \ii.) 
IMPRIMATUR.     (Lat  tat  I  (the  book)  be  printed.)     The 
term  applied  to  the  privilege  which,  in  countries  subjected 
to  the  censorship  of  the  press,  must  be  granted  by  a  public 


IMPRINT. 

functionary  appointed  for  tlic  purpose  before  any  book  can 
be  printed.  This  formula  was  much  used  in  English  books 
printed  in  the  16th  and  17th  centuries ;  and  this  permission  is 
even  still  vested  in  some  of  our  own  universities,  especially 
in  Scotland,  where  it  is  nothing  unusual  to  find  on  the  title- 
page  of  some  works  recommended  to  public  favour  by  the 
senatus  academicus  the  "imprimatur"  of  the  principal. 

IMPRI'NT.  (Fr.  imprinter.)  The  designation  of  the 
place  where,  by  whom,  and  when  a  book  is  published,  are 
always  placed  at  the  bottom  of  the  title.  Among  the  early 
printers  it  was  inserted  at  the  end  of  the  book,  and  is  styled 
the  colophon.  By  the  39  Geo.  3,  c.  79,  every  printer  is  obli- 
ged to  affix  his  name  and  residence  to  each  article  he  shall 
print,  and  if  it  consist  of  more  than  one  leaf,  then  upon  the 
first  and  last  leaves,  under  a  heavy  penalty;  but  there  are 
some  exceptions. 

IMPRO'MPTU.  (Lat.  in  readiness.)  In  Literature,  any 
short  and  pointed  production  supposed  to  be  brought  forth 
on  the  spur  of  the  moment;  generally  of  an  epigrammatic 
character. 

IMPRO'PER  FRACTION,  in  Arithmetic  and  Algebra,  is 
a  fraction  whose  numerator  is  equal  to,  or  greater  than,  its 
denominator. 

IMPROPRIATION,  in  Law,  is  where  the  tithes,  glebe, 
or  other  ecclesiastic  dues  of  a  parish  are  in  the  hands  of  a 
layman.  The  religious  societies  having  at  the  time  of  the 
Reformation,  the  property  of  many  benefices  in  their  hands, 
clauses  were  inserted  in  the  acts  by  which  they  were  dis- 
solved to  give  that  property  absolutely  to  the  king,  by  whom 
it  was  granted  out  to  lay  proprietors.  In  common  language, 
such  benefices  are  said  to  be  impropriated  as  are  in  the 
hands  of  laymen ;  such  as  are  held  by  spiritual  corporations, 
sole  or  aggregate,  are  termed  appropriated. 

I'MPROVISATO'RE.  (Lat.  improviso,  unforeseenly,un- 
premeditatcdly.)  An  Italian  word,  signifying  a  person  who 
has  the  talent  of  composing  and  reciting  a  suite  of  verses  on  a 
given  subject  immediately  and  without  premeditation.  This 
peculiar  talent,  thus  restricted,  appears  to  belong,  almost  ex- 
clusively, to  the  Italian  language  and  people.  Much,  no  doubt, 
of  the  facility  of  these  improvisatori,  which  appears  almost 
preternatural  to  one  unaccustomed  to  hear  them,  arises  from 
the  peculiar  ease  and  flexibility  of  their  language,  and  its 
richness  in  rhymes.  But  this  circumstance  will  not  wholly 
account  for  so  singular  a  national  faculty ;  for,  about  the 
time  of  the  revival  of  letters,  Italy  possessed  improvisatori  in 
Latin  as  well  as  Italian.  Many  poets  have  enjoyed  consid- 
erable celebrity  in  their  day  from  their  success  in  this  mode 
of  composition ;  but  we  are  not  aware  that  any  of  their  po- 
ems have  acquired  a  permanent  celebrity,  although  often 
taken  down  from  their  recitation.  Tuscany  and  the  Vene- 
tian States  have  been  most  famous  for  the  production  of  im- 
provisatori, especially  Sienna  and  Verona ;  in  which  latter 
city  the  talent  seems  to  have  been  perpetuated  by  succession. 
The  chevalier  Bernardino  Perfetti,  the  most  famous  of  all 
these  reciters,  was  of  Sienna:  he  flourished  in  the  first  half 
of  the  17th  century.  He  is  said  to  have  possessed  unbound- 
ed erudition,  and  to  have  been  able  to  pour  fourth  extempore 
poetical  essays  on  the  most  abstruse  questions  of  science. 
There  have  been  many  distinguished  females  possessed  of 
this  talent  (improvisatrici).  Corilla,  the  most  celebrated  of 
them,  was  of  Pistoia  in  Tuscany.  She  was  the  original  of 
Madame  de  Steel's  Corinne.  She  received  in  1776  the  lau- 
reate crown  at  Rome,  an  honour  which  had  also  been  ac- 
corded to  Perfetti.  Germany  is  said  to  have  produced  one 
noted  improvisatrice,  Anna  Louisa  Karsch.  There  appears 
no  reason  why  the  term  improvisation  should  not  also  be 
applied  to  the  deliver}-  of  unpremeditated  discourses  in 
prose.  It  is  the  exertion  of  a  very  similar  faculty,  perfected 
in  the  same  manner  by  habits  to  a  degree  almost  inconceiv- 
able by  those  not  accustomed  to  witness  its  exercise.  It  is, 
however,  much  more  general.  The  North  American  In- 
dians are  represented  to  possess  it  in  a  high  degree.  In  Eu- 
rope, it  is  most  generally  to  be  found  in  the  pulpit.  Public 
secular  oratory  of  this  unpremeditated  description  is  far 
more  common  in  England,  and  the  power  much  more  sedu- 
lously cultivated,  than  in  any  Continental  country.  (See 
Forsyth's  Italy ;  Ed.  Rev.,  vol.  xxii.  j  F.ncyc.  Jlletr.) 

INAU'GURA'TION  (Lat.  inaugurare,'  to  take  omens), 
was  originally  applied  to  the  Roman  ceremony  of  admission 
to  the  college  of  augurs,  or  soothsayers,  or  to  the  selection 
of  a  proper  site  for  the  erection  of  temple?  or  other  national 
edifices ;  but  it  afterwards  received  a  more  extended  signi- 
fication, and  is  now  used  in  a  sense  nearly  synonymous  with 
the  consecration  of  a  prelate,  or  the  coronation  of  a  king  or 
emperor.  It  means  also  an  introduction  to  any  office  with 
certain  ceremonies. 

INCA,  or  VNCA.  A  name  given  by  the  Indians  of  an- 
cient Peru  to  their  kings  and  princes  of  the  blood.  The  em- 
pire of  the  Incas,  founded,  according  to  tradition,  by  the  cel- 
ebrated Manco  Capac,  extended  over  the  table-land  of  the 
Andes,  from  Pasto  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Chili,  as  well  as 
the  low  lands  on  the  coast.    It  was  destroyed  by  the  Span- 


INCEPTIVE. 

iards  under  Pizarro  and  Almagro.  The  blood  royal  of  tile 
Incas  is  preserved,  or  believed  to  be  so,  among  the  Indians 
of  the  present  day  ;  and  Tupac  Amaru,  who  carried  on  a 
long  and  nearly  successful  insurrection  against  Spain  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  last  century,  professed  to  be  descended 
from  them. 

IN  (LENA  DOMINI.  (Lat.  at  the  Lord's  Supper.)  The 
name  of  a  celebrated  papal  bull,  containing  a  collection  of 
extracts  from  different  constitutions  of  the  pope,  comprising 
those  rights  which,  since  the  lime  of  Gregory  VII.,  have 
been  uninterruptedly  claimed  by  the  Roman  see,  and  a  proc- 
lamation of  anathema  against  all  who  violate  them.  It  was 
annually  read  on  Holy  Thursday,  whence  it  receives  its 
name ;  but  lately  on  Easter  Monday.  The  sects  of  heretics 
are  cursed  in  it  by  their  several  designations.  A  copy  of  the 
bull  is  hung  up  at  the  door  of  the  churches  of  St.  Peter  and 
St.  John  Lateran :  and  all  patriarchs,  primates,  bishops, 
&c,  are  required  to  have  it  read  once  or  more  annually  in 
their  churches. 

INCANDE'SCENCE.  (Lat.  in,  and  candere.  to  be  warm.) 
The  luminosity  exhibited  by  a  substance  when  heated  up  to 
a  certain  point. 

INCANTA'TION.  (Lat.  in,  and  canto,  /  sing.)  A  form 
of  words  combined  with  certain  ceremonies  and  mixtures  of 
heterogeneous  substances  used  by  the  ancients  for  many  su- 
perstitious purposes.  They  were  most  commonly  resorted 
to  by  unsuccessful  lovers ;  in  which  case  they  were  termed 
love  potions,  or  philtres,  which  see. 

INCARCERATION.  (Lat.)  Literally,  imprisonment. 
In  Surgery,  this  term  is  generally  applied  to  ruptures  or  her- 
nial, with  the  same  meaning  as  strangulation ;  but,  accord- 
ing to  Scarpa,  an  incarcerated  hernia  is  that  in  which  the 
course  of  the  intestinal  matter  is  interrupted  without  any 
considerable  injury  of  the  bowel  itself;  whereas  in  strangu- 
lated hernia  the  vitality  of  the  bowel  is  affected,  or  there  is 
organic  injury  of  its  coats.  The  functions  of  the  merely  in- 
carcerated intestine  are  healthily  resumed  upon  its  return 
into  the  abdomen,  which  is  not  the  case  where  true  stran- 
gulation has  taken  place. 

INCARNATION.  (Lat.  cm  o,  flesh.)  A  word  in  com- 
mon use  among  the  theologians  to  express  the  union  of  the 
Godhead  with  the  Manhood  in  Jesus  Christ.  St.  John 
says,  "The  Word  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us;" 
a  text  sufficiently  explicit,  when  coupled  with  other  ex- 
pressions respecting  the  divine  nature  of  the  Word,  to  main- 
tain the  doctrine  of  the  incarnation  among  tim  vast  major- 
ity of  the  Christian  world.  But  the  subtle^Pbiries  which 
men  have  instituted  into  the  manner  and  nature  of  this 
union  have  given  rise  to  many  varieties  of  opinion,  and  to 
many  sects  which  have  incurred  the  reproach  of  heresy. 
Not  the  Socinians  only,  but  the  Arians  and  Sabellians  also, 
are  led  necessarily  by  their  premises  into  heterodoxy  upon 
this  point;  the  Nestorians,  however,  and  Eutychians,  may 
be  considered  the  principal  sects  which  have  joined  an  or- 
thodox belief,  as  to  the  relations  of  the  three  persons  of  the 
Trinity  one  to  the  other,  with  peculiar  conceptions  of  the 
manner  of  the  union  of  the  two  natures  in  Jesus  Christ. 
(See  the  respective  articles.) 

The  real  manner  of  this  union,  or  indwelling  of  the  God 
in  the  Man,  is  allowed  to  be  a  mystery  such  as  cannot  be 
fully  apprehended  by  the  human  intellect.  It  is  easier  to 
point  out  the  errors  which  beset  its  investigation  than  to  ex- 
press in  words  the  true  doctrine.  The  phrase,  "  The  Word 
was  made  flesh,"  cannot  imply  that  the  divinity  was  lost 
and  annihilated  in  becoming  flesh  ;  nor  that  it  changed  its 
own  nature  and  was  turned  into  humanity.  In  either  of 
these  cases,  Christ  would  cease  to  be  a  divine  being  while 
on  earth.  Nor  did  the  Godhead  inspire  the  Manhood  after 
the  manner  in  which  the  Prophets  had  been  inspired  In  ear- 
lier times ;  for  the  terms  applied  to  Christ  are  of  a  very  dif- 
ferent kind.  Nor,  on  the  other  hand,  could  the  humanity 
be  lost  and  absorbed  in  the  divinity,  which  would  seem  to 
destroy  the  sympathy  with  which  the  man  Christ  regarded 
mankind,  upon  which  so  much  of  the  superstructure  of  his 
relision  is  raised. 

INCE'NDIARY.  (Lat.  incendo,  I  burn.)  Literally,  one 
who  sets  fire  wilfully  to  a  building  or  stores ;  but  it  is  used 
also  in  a  metaphorical  sense  for  any  political  agitator  who 
seeks  to  inflame  the  minds  of  the  people.     Sec  Arson. 

INCENSE.     See  Frankincense. 

INCE'PTIVE.  (Lat.  incipio,  T  begin.)  A  word  used  by 
Dr.  Wallis  to  express  such  moments  or  first  principles  as, 
though  possessed  of  no  magnitude  themselves,  have  yet  the 
power  of  producing  it  by  being  extended  or  enlarged.  Thus 
a  point  or  a  line,  though  the  former  has  no  proper  magni- 
tude and  the  latter  no  breadth,  are  both  said  to  be  inceptive 
of  enlargement.  In  the  Latin  language  inceptive  or  inchoa- 
tive verbs  (the  latter  term  being  derived  from  the  Lat.  in- 
choare,  to  begin)  are  those  which,  according  to  grammari- 
ans, are  characterized  by  the  termination  sco  or  scor  added 
to  their  primitives,  and  are  expressive  of  a  commencement 
of  increase  or  augmentation  of  the  qualities  indicated  by  the 
Oo  593 


INCERTUM  OPUS, 
words  from  which  they  are  derived :  as  augere,  to  increase ; 
mugeseere,  to  begin  to  increase;  paiUrc,  to  be  pale  ;  palles- 
cere,  to  crow  pale.  ,  . 

INCE'RTUM  O'PUS.  (I.at.)  In  Ancient  Architecture, 
a  species  i  i  walling  whose  face  exhibits  an  irregularly  for- 
med masonry,  not  laid  in  horizontal  courses. 
INCH.  A  measure  of  length :  the  twelfth  part  of  a  foot 
Inch.  A  work  used  as  a  prefix  to  certain  small  Scottish 
Islands,  as  lnch-Keith,  Inch-Garvie.  It  is  derived  from  the 
old  Irish  or  Gaelic  word  inis,  signifying  air  island. 

INCIDENCE.  (Lat-incido,  T fall  upon.)  The  meeting 
of  one  body  with  another.  The  term  angle  of  incidence  is 
used  by  writers  on  mechanics  and  optics  in  different  senses. 
Thus,  in  the  case  of  a  body  striking  against  a  plane,  the  an- 
cle of  incidence  is  by  some  understood  to  signify  the  angle 
formed  by  the  line  in  which  the  body  moved,  with  a  straight 
line  perpendicular  to  the  plane;  while  others  use  the  term 
to  denote  the  angle  which  the  line  of  incidence  mokes  with 
the  plane  itself.  When  light  or  any  elastic  body  is  reflected 
from  a  surface,  the  angle  of  incidence  is  equal  to  the  angle 
of  reflection ;  and  in  the  case  of  refraction,  the  sine  of  the 
angle  of  incidence  has  to  the  sine  of  the  angle  of  refraction 
a  constant  ratio. 

I'NCIDENT.  In  Law,  something  necessarily  appertain- 
ing  to  and  depending  on  another,  which  is  termed  the  prin- 
cipal. 

LNt  INERA'TION.  (Lat.  incinero,  T reduce  to  ashes.) 
The  combustion  of  organic  substances  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining  their  ashes  or  incombustible  residue. 

INCFSORS,  Tncisores.  (Lat.  incido,  I  cut.)  The  teeth 
implanted  in  the  intermaxillary  bones  of  the  upper  jaw,  and 
in  the  corresponding  place  in  the  lower  jaw,  and  which  are 
generally  shaped  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  or  coarsely  di- 
viding the  food. 

INCLINATION.  (Lat.)  A  term  of  frequent  occur- 
rence  in  geometry,  mechanics,  physics,  and  astronomy.  It 
i  i.i  all  cases  measured  by  an  angle.  Thus,  the  inclination 
of  the  orbit  of  a  planet  is  the  angle  between  the  plane  of  its 
orbit,  and  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic.  In  the  history  of  ge- 
ometry, il\(\probl.em  of  inclinations  is  a  subject  that  was 
treated  of  by  Apollonlus  in  two  books,  which  are  lost,  but 
of  which  a  description  has  been  given  by  Pappus.  The 
p  oblem  proposed  was  this:  "To  insert  a  straight  line  of  a 
given  magnitude,  and  tending  to  a  given  point,  between  two 
Which  are  given  by  position."  The  problem  was  re- 
stored by  Marinus  Ghetaldus :  and  various  other  investiga- 
tions have  since  been  given  by  the  method  of  the  ancient- 
nnalysls. 

l\(_'Ll'NED  PLANE.  One  of  the  five  simple  mechan- 
ical powers.  The  theory  of  the  inclined  plane  is  easily  de- 
duced from  the  decomposition  of  forces.  Let  A  C  be  the 
position  of  the  plane,  B  C  its  al  ti- 
ts -p.  tmle,  and  A  B  the  horizontal  dis- 
tance of  the  foot  of  the  plane  from 
the  perpendicular  B  C.  Suppose  a 
load  to  be  placed  on  the  plane  at  D, 
and  let  it  be  required  to  determine 
the  relation  between  its  whole 
weight  and  its  tendency  to  descend 
along  the  plane.  Let  D  E  denote  the  vertical  pressure  of  the 
weight,  and  decompose  this  into  D  F  parallel  to  the  plane, 
and  F  E  perpendicular  to  it ;  and  complete  the  parallelo- 
gram P  <;.  Now  the  part  F  E  is  supported  by  the  resistance 
Of  the  plane;  there  remains,  therefore,  only  the  force  rep- 
resented by  F  D  to  urge  the  descent  of  the  weight  along  the 
plane.  Hilt  the  triangle  D  F  E  is  obviously  similar  to  C  B 
A,  and  therefore  D  F  is  to  D  E  as  C  B  to  C  A  ;  that  is,  the 
force  of  descent  along  the  plane  is  to  the  whole  weight  of 
the  body  as  the  height  of  the  plane  to  its  length,  or  as  the 
Sine  of  its  elevation  is  to  radius.  The  force,  therefore, 
Which  is  required  to  raise  a  body  along  the  plane,  is  less 
than  that  which  Is  required  to  raise  it  perpendicularly  in  the 
name  proportion. 

This  fundamental  proposition  was  first  demonstrated  by 
Stevinus  of  Bruges,  but  by  a  very  different  process  of  rea- 
soning. He  supposed  a  chain  or  choplet  composed  .if  equal 
links  to  be  thrown  over  the  triangle  A  B  C,  and  the  two 
ends  to  be  united  a  little  below  the  base  A  B.  It  is  evident 
that  this  chain  would  remain  at  rest,  for  On  altering  its  po- 
:  each  link  would  be  succeeded  by  a  similar  one  in  the 
same  Situation ;   and   if  it   began  to   move  of  itself  it  would 

m  ive  forever,  a  supposition  which  is  absurd.    But  the  pari 

Mow  the  base,  being  suspended  equally  at  both  extremities, 
is  evidently  in  a  state  of  equilibrium ;  therefore  the  part 

which  hangs  along  the  perpendicular  BC  must  balance  the 
part  la\mg  along  the  Inclined  plane;  and  the  weights  of 
these  two  parts  being  as  their  lengths,  it  follows  that  a 
weight  placed  on  the  plane  is  to  the  force  r.  quired  to  sus- 
tain it  as  the  length  of  the  plane  to  its  height. 

1  here  are  two  properties  connected  with  the  motion  ol 
bodies  on  Inclined  planes  which  deserve  to  be   noticed. 
The  first  is,  that  the  velocity  acquired  by  a  body  in  descend- 
504 


INCOMBUSTIBLE  CLOTH. 

ing  from  any  altitude  to  a  horizontal  plane  is  the  same  when 
it  reaches  the  horizontal  plane,  whether  it  has  been  allow- 
ed to  fall  freely  in  the  vertical,  or  been  constrained  to  move 
along  an  inclined  plane  at  any  angle  of  elevation.  The 
sim  uiid  is,  that  the  times  of  descent  through  all  chords  of 
the  same  circle  to  the  lowest  point  are  equal,  and  equal  to 
the  time  the  body  would  take  to  fall  through 
a  height  equal  to  the  diameter  of  the  circle. 
Thus,  kt  A  B  be  the  diameter,  and  C  B,  1)  B 
and  E  B  chords  of  a  circle ;  the  time  a  heavy 
body  would  consume  in  falling  vertically 
through  the  diameter  is  the  same  as  that  in  s[ 
which  it  would  roll  down  the  inclined  plane 
C  B,  or  D  B,  or  E  B.  In  other  words,  bodies 
placed  at  A,  C,  D,  and  E,  and  abandoned  at 
the  same  instant  to  the  action  of  gravity, 
would  arrive  at  B  at  the  same  time.  In 
these  proportions  it  is  supposed,  of  course,  that  there  is  no 
resistance  from  friction. 

IN"  LO'SURE.  (Lat.  includo,  I  shut  up.)  This  term,  in 
a  general  sense,  is  one  of  the  first  acts  of  appropriation,  since 
in  a  new  country  when  any  portion  of  land  is  purchased,  01 
taken  possession  of,  it  is  inclosed  ;  that  is,  surrounded  by  8 
boundary  line,  indicated  by  certain  objects,  natural  or  arti- 
ficial, or  of  both  kinds.  In  a  particular  sense,  to  inclose 
land  is  to  divide  it  into  fields,  and  may  be  devoted  to  a  par 
ticular  description  of  culture.  If  nothing  farther  than  the 
cultivation  of  plants  of  different  kinds  were  carried  on  in  the 
fields  of  a  farm,  their  subdivision  by  fences  would  be  alto- 
gether unnecessary' ;  but  as  in  most  cases  fields  are  kept  al- 
ternately under  tillage  and  pasture,  it  is  desirable  to  have 
fences  to  confine  the  pasturing  animals  to  the  field  appropri- 
ated for  their  use. 

INCLU'SA.  (Lat.  includo,  /  inclose.)  The  name  of  a 
tribe  of  shell-bearing  Acephalous  Mollusks  in  the  system  of 
Cuvier,  characterized  by  the  closed  stale  of  the  mantle, 
which  everywhere  surrounds  and  envelopes  the  body,  leav- 
ing only  a  narrow  aperture  for  the  passage  of  the  foot,  and 
being  prolonged  posteriorly  into  two  siphons  projecting  be- 
yond the  shell,  which  is  always  open  at  its  two  extremities. 
The  bivalves  of  this  family  are  remarkable  for  their  pow- 
ers of  burrowing  and  excavating  clay,  sand,  wood,  or  even 
stony  rocks ;  and  many  of  the  genera  secrete,  in  addition  to 
the  ordinary  valves,  a  calcareous  lining  to  their  burrows, 
which  fornis  a  tube  surrounding  the  valves  themselves. 
The  relative  proportions  of  the  tube  and  valves  well  illus- 
trate the  so-called  law  of  the  "  balance  of  organs,"  the 
valves  becoming  diminished  in  size  as  the  external  sheath 
is  more  developed.  In  the  ship-borer  (Teredo  navalis), 
which  has  the  longest  tube,  the  valves  are  of  the  smallest 
size,  being  reduced  to  the  office  of  mere  boring  Instruments, 
instead  of  serving  to  protect  the  soft  parts  of  the  animal.  1  u 
the  watering-pot  shell  {JispergUlum,  Lam.)  they  cease  to  bo 
moveable  organs,  and  are  blended  or  confluent  with  the  ex- 
ternal tube;  this  is  dilated  at  the  anterior  extremity,  which 
is  surrounded  with  a  projecting  radiated  ridge,  and  closed 
by  a  convex  plate,  perforated  like  the  mouth  of  a  water- 

'"  LNCLU'SI,  or  RECLU'SI.  (Lat.  shut  up.)  In  Ecclesi- 
astical History,  a  class  of  religious  persons  who  lived  as  her 
mi's  in  single" cells,  generallv  attached  to  monasteries,  som<  - 
times  in  the  neighbourhood  of  villages  and  towns— under 
the  law  of  not  leaving  them  unless  in  case  of  extreme  at 
ce-sily,  and  with  the  approbation  of  the  bishop;  whose 
seal,  or  that  of  the  abbot,  was  impressed  on  its  door.  The 
cells  are  said  to  have  been  commonly  twelve  feet  in  length 
and  breadth.  Nuns  became  sometimes,  but  more  rarely,  re- 
cluses. ,  •  .   i  ■  .     • 

INCn'GNITO  (Ital.  unknown),  abbreviated  into  incogs 
denotes  the  disguise  resorted  to  by  the  great  when  the; 
unwilling  to  be  recognised.  It  consists  either  in  assuming 
a  different  name  or  title  for  the  nonce,  or  in  travelling  fn  m 
one  place  to  another  without  a  retinue  or  other  marks  of 
distinction. 

INCOMBU'STIBLE  CLOTH.   This  term  was  originally 
applied  to  cloth  with  which  asbestus  was  interwoven ;  on 
burning  away  the  fibre,  the  incombustible  mineral  t( 
remained. 

More  recently,  cloth  and  other  materials  have  been  ren- 
dered to  a  great  extenl  incombustible  by  impregnating  them 

with  certain  -  aces,  which,  upon  the  .application 

of  lire,  form  a  Bpecies  of  glaze  upon  the  goods,  and  prevent 

them  burning  with  tin by  protecting  them  from  the  ne- 

.,   access  of  air.    (See  Combustion.)    Borax,  alum, 

and  phosphate  of  so, la,  or  ammonia,  are  the  most  effectual 

saps  for  this  purpose  ;  and  by  properly  applying  them,  with 

starch.  If  to  muslin  dresses,  curtains,  or  bed  furniture,  or 
With  Size  to  paper   hangings  and  scenery,  these  several  aril- 

cles  may  be  rendered  incapable  of  burning  with  flame,  and 
thus  serious  accidents  by  fire  prevented.  Wood  may  also 
be  leaden  d  comparatively  incombustible  by  soaking  it  in  so- 
lutions of  the  above  salts.     See  Asbestus. 


INCOMMENSURABLE. 

INCOMMENSURABLE.  Two  numbers  or  homogen- 
eous quantities  of  any  kind  are  said  to  be  incommensurable 
when  tiicy  have  no  common  measure,  or  when  no  number 
or  quantity  of  the  same  kind  can  be  found  which  will  divide 
them  both  without  a  remainder.  Thus  the  numbers  21  and 
22  are  incommensurable.  The  side  of  a  square  and  its  di- 
agonal are  incommensurable  lines,  as  is  proved  by  Euclid  in 
his  tenth  book.  Numbers  are  said  to  be  incommensurable  in 
power  when  their  squares  or  second  powers  are  incommen- 
surable ;  as  2  and  3,  the  squares  of  which,  4  and  9,  have  no 
common  measure.  It  is  owing  to  the  incommensurability  of 
quantities,  that  it  is  found  so  difficult  to  explain  the  doctrine 
of  proportion  in  the  elements  of  geometry. 

INCOMPA'TIBLES.  In  Chemistry,  salts  and  other  sub- 
stances are  said  to  be  incompatible  which  cannot  exist 
together  in  solution  without  mutual  decomposition.  Thus 
the  soluble  salts  of  lead  and  of  baryta  are  incompatible  with 
sulphuric  acid  and  the  sulphates,  because  the  sulphates  of 
lead  and  of  baryta  are  insoluble,  and  consequently  thrown 
down  in  the  form  of  precipitates. 

INCOMPRE'SSIBILITY.  That  quality  of  bodies  in 
virtue  of  which  their  volumes  cannot  be  diminished.  There 
are  no  substances,  perhaps,  absolutely  incompressible.  Li- 
quids, however,  resist  compression  with  great  force ;  but 
tile  experiments  of  Canton  have  proved  that  water  has  its 
bulk  sensibly  enlarged  by  withdrawing  the  pressure  of  the 
atmosphere.  Nevertheless  the  extent  to  which  the  com- 
pression can  be  carried  is  very  small.  On  enclosing  water 
within  an  iron  cannon,  the  sides  of  which  were  three  inches 
in  thickness,  and  applying  a  very  great  force  of  pressure, 
the  cannon  burst  before  the  volume  of  water  had  been  re- 
duced to  19  20ths  of  its  original  dimensions.  A  pressure 
equal  to  that  of  the  atmosphere  reduces  the  bulk  of  water 
only  about  48  parts  in  one  million. 

I'NCREMENT.  (Lat.  increase),  in  the  higher  Mathe- 
matics, denotes  a  small  but  finite  increase  of  a  variable 
quantity.  It  is  the  difference  between  two  successive  values 
of  the  function  of  a  quantity  increasing  according  to  a  de- 
terminate law.  The  method  of  increments  was  the  name 
given  by  Dr.  Brook  Taylor  to  a  method  of  analysis  invented 
by  him,  and  which  has  since  been  extensively  cultivated 
under  the  appellation  of  the  calculus  of  finite  differences.  It 
is  of  great  use  for  the  summation  of  series,  and  furnishes  an 
easy  and  rapid  solution  of  a  great  variety  of  difficult  prob- 
lems to  which  other  means  of  investigation  would  hardly 
apply.  Taylor's  Methodus  Incrementorum  was  published 
in  1715,  and  contained  the  celebrated  theorem  which  has 
since  been  made  the  basis  of  the  differential  calculus.  (See 
Euler's  Calcu'us  Differentialis  ;  Bossut,  Calcul  Diffrentiel 
et  Integral;  Lacroix's  large  work;  and  Sir  J.  Herschel's 
Essay  in  the  Appendix  to  the  Cambridge  translation  of 
Lacroix's  Differential  and  Integral  Calculus .) 

Increment,  in  Rhetoric,  is  a  species  of  climax  rising 
gradually  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest.     See  Climax. 

IXCRUSTA'TION.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture  and  Sculp- 
ture, a  work  fixed  with  cement  or  cramp  irons  into  notches 
made  to  receive  it ;  such  as  inlaid  work  and  mosaics,  &x. 

INCUBA'TION.  (Lat.  incumbo,  I  brood  over.)  Hatch- 
ing, or  the  lying  down  of  an  animal  upon  her  own  or  another's 
eggs,  communicating  to  them,  and  maintaining  them  at,  her 
own  temperature :  a  condition  essential  to  their  development. 
In  many  animals  the  development  of  the  fuetus  takes  place 
after  the  exclusion  of  the  egg,  and  whilst  it  is  maintained  in 
contact  with  the  external  surface  of  the  parent's  body,  as  in 
crab  and  lobster  tribes,  beneath  the  caudal  plates ;  or 
agglutinated  to  the  surface  of  the  abdomen  as  in  certain 
species  of  pipe-fish  (Syngnathus) ;  or  concealed  in  cutaneous 
marsupial  cavities,  as  in  other  species  of  Syngyiathus,  and 
the  Hippocampus ;  but  in  these  and  other  instances  from 
the  cold-blooded  animals,  the  protection  of  the  ova  seems  to 
be  the  object  of  their  attachment  to  the  parent,  and  not  the 
communication  of  warmth  or  any  other  influence  essential 
to  their  development.  It  is  only  in  the  Oviparous  class 
with  warm  blood,  or  birds,  that  true  incubation  takes  place, 
and  in  this  class  without  any  exception.  Another  charac- 
teristic of  true  incubation  is  that  the  place  of  the  eggs  deter- 
mines that  of  the  incubator,  which  can  only  perform  its 
office  by  lying  down  upon  the  eggs  ;  while  in  most  of  the 
examples  of  false  incubation  in  the  cold-blooded  animals, 
the  eggs  are  retained  by  special  contrivances  in  contact  with 
the  parent,  without  occasioning  any  restraint  upon  her  pos- 
tures or  movements. 

That  a  due  degree  of  warmth  is  the  essential  object  of 
incubation  in  birds,  is  proved  by  the  ancient  and  well-known 
practice  of  substituting  artificial  heat,  by  which  fertile  eggs 
are  hatched  in  the  same  period,  and  the  excluded  chick  is 
as  fully  and  strongly  developed,  as  when  produced  by  natural 
incubation.     (See  infra.) 

The  mean  temperature  of  incubation  is  100°  Fah.;  it  may 
vary  from  95°  to  105°,  and  towards  the  close  of  the  process, 
may  be  suspended  for  one  or  two  hours,  or  for  a  longer  pe- 
riod, according  to  the  degree  of  extraneous  heat  which  the 


INCUBUS. 

eggs  may  derive  from  their  situation,  without  fatal  conse- 
quences to  the  embryo. 

The  power  of  communicating  the  requisite  degree  of 
warmth  to  their  eggs  arises  out  of  the  unusual  development 
of,  and  determination  of  blood  to,  a  peculiar  plexus  of  ves- 
sels distributed  over  the  skin  of  the  abdomen,  and  which,  in 
most  birds,  is  connected  with  a  derivation  of  blood  from  the 
internal  organs  of  generation,  after  the  subsidence  of  the 
functional  activity  of  the  ovarium  and  oviduct,  to  the  exter- 
nal integuments.  The  vascular,  hot,  and  sensitive  condition 
of  the  skin  of  the  abdomen  is  the  exciting  cause  of  that  un- 
controllable propensity  to  incubate  which  the  Greeks  de- 
nominated "storge,"  and  which,  with  its  associated  phe- 
nomena of  patience,  abstinence,  and  self-denial,  forms  so 
remarkable  a  feature  in  the  economy  of  birds.  The  egg  of 
the  bird  presents  several  peculiarities  in  relation  to  the  cir- 
cumstances under  which  it  is  to  be  developed  :  its  oval  form 
permits  a  greater  proportion  of  its  surface  to  be  in  contact 
with  the  heat-communicating  skin  of  the  parent  than  if  it 
had  been  a  spherical  body  ;  while  the  shell,  by  virtue  of  its 
hard  calcareous  texture,  and  its  arched  disposition  about  the 
soft  contents,  sufficiently  defends  them  from  the  superin- 
cumbent pressure.  As  warmth  is  the  only  essential  influence 
which  the  egg  derives  from  the  parent,  the  shell  is  porous, 
and  permeable  to  air,  and  the  germ  is  surrounded  by  an 
adequate  store  of  nutritious  matter.  This  matter  is  of  two 
kinds:  the  external,  called  the  white  of  the  egg,  or  albumen, 
which  wholly  disappears  during  the  process  of  incubation  ; 
and  the  internal  part,  or  yolk;  inclosed  in  a  peculiar  mem- 
brane, and  rendered  lighter,  and  of  an  orange  colour  by  the 
admixture  of  a  peculiar  oil.  The  germ  is  situated  at  the 
superficies  of  the  yolk,  beneath  the  vitelline  membrane,  in 
the  circular  opaque  white  spot  called  the  "cicatricula,"  or 
"tread;"  and  a  peculiar  mechanism  is  superadded  to  the 
yolk  by  means  of  which  the  germ-bearing  surface  of  the 
yolk  is  always  kept  uppermost  and  next  the  warmest  surface 
of  the  egg,  and  at  the  same  time  is  relieved  from  the  pres- 
sure against  the  hard  shell,  to  which  it  must  have  been 
subject  if  the  light  yolk  had  not  been  restrained  from  rising 
to  absolute  contact,  with  that  surface.  Both  these  purposea 
are  effected  by  the  attachment  of  two  cords  of  condensed 
albumen,  continued  at  one  end  from  near  the  poles  of  the 
yolk,  but  a  little  more  distant  from  the  germ-bearing  side 
than  the  line  of  the  transverse  axis,  and  expanding  at  the 
opposite  end,  which  is  lost  in  the  layers  of  albumen  near 
the  poles  of  the  egg.  Thus  by  their  presence  and  place  of 
attachment  these  cords,  called  the  "  chalazaV'  restrain  and 
regulate  the  rising  of  the  yolk  ;  so  that  whichever  way  an 
egg  be  turned,  the  larger  proportion  of  the  light  yolk  always 
rises  above  the  attachment  of  the  restraining  cords,  with 
the  cicatricula  upon  its  summit.  The  period  of  incubation 
is  generally  directly  as  the  size  of  the  bird,  but  the  degree 
of  development  which  the  chick  attains  prior  to  exclusion 
varies.  As  a  general  rule,  it  is  inferior  in  birds  of  flight,  as 
the  Accipitrine  and  Passerine  orders,  than  in  the  terrestrial, 
wading,  and  swimming  birds ;  and  the  warmth  and  com- 
plexity of  the  nest  bears  relation  to  this  difference  of  devel- 
opment. If  the  thrush  had  been  forewarned  that  her  young 
would  be  excluded  from  the  egg  naked  and  helpless,  she 
could  not  have  prepared  beforehand  a  warmer  and  more 
comfortable  abode  than  her  instinct  had  led  her  to  construct 
for  their  accommodation;  and  if  with  such  a  nest  we  con- 
trast the  rude  recess  of  straw  in  which  the  hen  deposits  and 
incubates  her  eggs,  it  might  be  imagined  that  she  knew 
beforehand  that  her  chickens  would  come  into  the  world 
well  clothed,  and  strong  enough  at  once  to  run  about  and 
pick  up  their  own  food.  In  this  case,  therefore,  the  nest 
relates  only  to  incubation  ;  in  the  other  to  incubation  and 
subsequent  rearing  of  the  young :  and  according  to  the  degree 
of  development  attained  during  incubation,  and  the  asso- 
ciated condition  of  the  nest  and  habits  of  the  parent,  birds 
have  been  divided  into  two  great  groups,  the  Aves  altrices, 
and  Jives  prweoces.     See  Avis. 

Artificial  incubation  has  been  practised  from  a  remote 
period  by  the  Egyptians  and  Chinese;  the  former,  indeed, 
have  carried  this  process  to  such  a  high  degree  of  perfection, 
as  in  many  instances  to  have  entirely  superseded  the  use  of 
the  hen  in  hatching.  It  is  effected  either  by  means  of  an 
oven,  stove,  or  steam,  the  principles  of  which  will  be  found 
detailed  in  lire's  Dictionary  of  Arts,  Sec.  This  process 
has  received  considerable  attention  from  the  French  philoso- 
phers ;  but  perhaps  the  best  exemplification  of  its  results 
that  has  been  witnessed  in  Europe  is  given  by  the  Eccaleo-  * 
bion,  which  was  lately  exhibited  in  Pall  Mall.  This  term, 
recently  invented  to  express  the  process  of  artificial  incuba- 
tion, is  derived  from  the  Gr.  cKKaXtw,  I  call  out  or  produce, 
and  (imc,  life. 

I'NCUBUS.  (Lat.  incubo,  /  lie  upon  ;  because  the  suf- 
ferer feels  as  if  something  pressed  upon  his  chest.)  The 
nightmare.  The  name  incubus  is  derived  from  imaginary 
fiends  or  spectres,  to  whom  strange  powers  are  attributed  by 
the  writers  on  demoniacal  agency.     Many  noble  families 

59S 


INCUMBENT. 

were  supposed  to  have  their  origin  from  the  connexion  of 
incubi  with  females,  as  in  the  well-known  instance  of  Robert 
of  Normandy,  called  le  Diable.     (See  Encyc.  Metr.) 

INCU'MBENT.  (Lat.  incumbo,  I  lie  upon,  or  occupy.) 
A  tenn  applied  to  the  holder  of  an  ecclesiastical  benefice. 

INCUNA  BULA.  (Lat  a  cradle.)  In  Bibliography,  a 
term  applied  to  books  printed  during  the  early  period  of  the 
art :  in  general  confined  to  those  which  appeared  before  the 
year  1500. 

INCU'RVED.  (Lat.  incurvo,  /  curve  inwards.)  In 
Zoology,  when  a  part  is  carved  Inwards. 

INDECLI'NABLE.  In  Grammar,  a  word  admitting  of 
no  declension  or  inflexion.  Adverbs,  prepositions,  particles, 
conjunctions,  are  all  indeclinable.  In  classical  languages, 
indeclinable  nouns  are  those  few  (chiefly  borrowed  by  the 
Greeks  and  Latins  from  foreign  languages)  of  which  the 
termination  is  not  altered  in  the  several  cases. 

INDEFINITE.  In  Botany,  when  stamens  are  above 
twenty  in  number :  the  word  is  applied  to  all  other  parts 
when  their  number  is  greater  than  can  be  readily  counted. 
This  term  always  refers  in  botany  to  number,  and  never  to 
form. 

INDEFINITE  PROPOSITION,  in  Logic,  is  one  which 
has  for  its  subject  a  common  term,  without  any  sign  to  in- 
dicate whether  it  is  distributed  or  undistributed.  See  Propo- 
sition. 

INDEHI'SCEXT.  (Lat.  in,  and  dehisco,  I  gape),  is  said 
of  a  fruit  the  pericarpium  of  which  continues  perfectly  closed, 
without  opening  in  any  degree  when  ripe. 

INDE'MMTY.  (Lat.  in.  without,  and  damnum,  loss.) 
In  Politics  and  Jurisprudence,  a  word  of  various  significa- 
tions, but  applied  usually  to  laws  passed  to  relieve  individuals 
from  penalties  to  which  they  are  liable  in  consequence  of 
acting  in  an  illegal  manner.  The  Act  of  Indemnity,  annually 
passed  by  the  British  parliament  for  many  years  prior  to  the 
repeal  of  the  Test  and  Corporation  Acts  in  1838,  was  a 
measure  for  the  relief  of  persons  who  had  assumed  any 
office  without  qualifying  themselves  for  it  by  taking  the 
oaths  prescribed  by  those  enactments.  In  Feudal  Jurispru- 
dence, the  right  of  the  lord  to  a  certain  duty  payable  by 
religious  establishments  to  compensate  him  for  the  loss  of 
those  fines  on  alienation  which  would  probably  have  accrued 
from  time  to  time  had  their  property  remained  in  lay  bands, 
was  termed  indemnity.  In  the  language  of  modem  politics, 
compensations  paid  by  a  state  to  other  states,  corporations, 
or  individuals,  for  loses  sustained  through  its  acts,  bear  the 
same  name.  Acts  of  indemnity  are  also  sometimes  passed 
to  relieve  ministers  from  the  responsibility  of  measures  ex 
ceeding  their  strict  constitutional  powers,  taken  by  them 
when  parliament  was  sitting  to  meet  some  unforeseen  pub- 
lic emergency,  or  in  ignorance,  it  may  be.  that  they  had  ex- 
ceeded tlie  powers  vested  in  them  by  the  constitution.  In 
1825  a  law  of  indemnity  was  passed  in  France  to  compensate 
the  losses  sustained  by  the  emigrants,  their  families,  and 
those  of  persons  who  had  been  condemned  to  death  for 
political  offences  in  the  course  of  the  Revolution.  The  sum 
allotted  to  this  purpose  was  an  annual  amount  of  30,000,000 
francs  (about  £1,200,000).  A  special  commission  was  ap- 
pointed to  carry  it  into  execution  ;  but  it  appears  that  its 
labours  were  broken  off  before  their  completion  by  the 
political  change?  of  1830. 

INDE'NTURE.  In  Law,  a  writing  or  deed  comprising 
some  contract  between  two  or  more  parties.  The  name  is 
derived  from  the  ancient  practice,  according  to  which  the 
original  and  counterpart  original  (to  be  retained  by  each 
party  respectively)  were  written  on  the  same  skin  of  parch- 
ment, and  then  the  two  parts  were  separated  by  n  notched 
or  indented  cut.  so  that  when  applied  to  each  other  they 
would  appear  to  match.    [Set  Deed.) 

DTDEPE'NDENCE,  DECLAB  \TlON  OF,  in  the  History 
of  the  United  States  of  America.  The  "Declaration  of 
Rights"  was  adopted  by  the  first  general  congress  of  the  then 
revolted  colonies,  which  met  at  Philadelphia  in  September, 
1775.  In  this  declaration  that  assembly  asserted  the  right 
of  internal  legislation  and  taxation  to  be  in  the  provincial 
legislatures,  and  declared  various  acts  of  the  mother  country 
to  be  infringements  and  violations  of  the  right-  of  th 
nists.  The  second  congress,  which  met  in  Hay,  177l>.  adopted 
on  July  4,  of  that  year  a  declaration  of  independence;  by 
which,  after  again  recapitulating  tlie  grievances  complained 
of  in  the  former  declaration,  it  declared  the  colonies  to  be 
free  and  independent  state-,  absolved  from  all  allegiance  to 
Great  Britain.  The  first  draught  of  tliis  famous  declaration 
was  prepared  by  a  committee  of  Ave  consisting  of  Ji 
and  Adams  (both  afterward-  presidents),  Franklin,  and 
Sherman  and  Livingston.  Jelli-rson  and  Adams  wen-  after- 
wards deputed  as  a  sub  committee  to  prepare  the  declaration 
itself;  but,  in  the  shape  in  which  it  finally  appeared,  it  was 
in  fact  the  work  of  the  former. 

INDEPF.  NPL'NTS.     A  Protestant  sect;  BO  called  because 
they  maintain  that  every  single  congregation  of  Christians 
which  meet  in  any  one  place  for  public  worship  forms  a 
596 


INDEPENDENTS. 

church  or  independent  religious  society  in  itself,  unconnected 
With,  and  not  amenable  to,  any  other  church  or  congregation. 
They  consequently  condemn  every  tiling  like  a  national  es- 
tablisbment  of  religion,  whether  episcopal  or  presbyterian  ; 
and  insist  that  each  congregation  of  Christians  has  inherent 
and  indefeasible  power  in  itself  to  exercise  ecclesiastical 
government,  to  fix  their  own  tenets  and  form  of  religious 
worship,  and  to  adopt  their  own  standard  of  church  disci- 
pline, without  being  responsible  to  bishops,  presbyteries,  or 
Is,  or  even  to  the  state  itself.  The  Independents  were 
not  at  any  time,  and  are  not  at  this  day,  remarkable  for  any 
peculiarity  of  religious  creed.  They  have  always  maintain- 
ed, speaking  generally,  Calvinistic  doctrines;  their  only 
peculiarity  consisting  in  their  maintenance  of  independent 
ecclesiastical  government. 

Of  the  history  of  this  sect  it  may  be  proper  to  give  a  brief 
account.  On  the  reformation  of  religion  in  England,  the 
great  body  of  Protestants  adopted,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
government,  the  episcopal  form  of  church  polity,  which  was 
in  consequence  established  as  the  national  religion.  But 
there  were  not  a  few  who  conscientiously  thought  that  this 
polity  too  nearly  resembled  that  which  had  been  supplanted  ; 
and  objected,  besides,  to  the  vestments  adopted  by  the  clergy 
in  the  celebration  of  divine  worship,  to  the  liturgy,  and  above 
all  to  the  sign  of  the  cross  used  in  baptism,  as  unscriptural 
and  erroneous.  These  non-conformists,  or  dissentients  from 
the  established  faith,  are  known  in  history  under  the  name 
of  Puritans,  as  the  followers  of  Novatinn  had  been  denomi- 
nated in  the  third  century.  They  were  evidently  so  called 
in  detision,  in  consequence  of  tlie  superior  purity  and  sanc- 
tity they  assumed,  and  of  the  greater  deference  they  showed 
to  scripture  authority,  both  as  to  doctrine  and  the  form  of 
religious  worship.  But  while  tiny  forsook  the  national 
church,  and  condemned  many  of  her  tenets,  they  did  not 
agree  among  themselves.  They  were,  in  truth,  unanimous 
in  nothing  but  in  resisting  the  constitution  of  the  predominant 
hierarchy.  Some  of  them  were  in  favour  of  presbytery,  or 
ecclesiastical  government  vested  in  a  gradation  of  church 
courts,  such  as  Calvin  had  established  in  Geneva,  and  as 
Knox  had  introduced  into  Scotland.  Others  were  against 
every  firm  of  state  religion,  or  union  of  churches  under  the 
ecclesiastical  government;  but  regarded  each  congre- 
gation of  Christians  as  being  jure  divino  a  complete  and  in- 
dependent church,  competent  to  judge,  decide,  and  act  for 
itself,  without  any  external  interference  or  responsibility 
whatever.  Of  this  latter  opinion,  which  constitutes  the 
pure  principle  of  English  Independency,  the  author  and 
great  advocate  was  Robert  Brown,  who  was  originally  a 
clergyman  of  the  Protestant  episcopal  church,  from  which 
he  seceded,  and  avowed  his  new  doctrines  about  the  year 
1580.  (.Yial's  Hist,  of  the  Puritans,  vol.  i.,  ch.  vi.  London, 
1822.)  Brown  is  represented  by  Neal  as  a  vehement  and 
popular  declaimer,  and  insinuating  in  his  manners ;  and 
hence  he  succeeded  in  detaching  many  from  the  episcopal 
faith,  and  in  establishing  several  separate  churches.  He  not 
only  advocated  the  leading  principles  of  Independency  as 
we  have  stated  them  above,  but  taught  that  the  priesthood 
was  neither  a  distinct  order  in  the  Christian  church,  nor 
conferred  an  indelible  character;  that  every  person  regarded 
by  the  majority  of  a  congregation  as  qualified  to  teach  might 
be  set  apart  for  that  office  by  the  election  of  his  brethren, 
and  by  imposition  of  their  hands  ;  in  like  manner,  by  their 
authority,  lie  might  be  discharged  from  that  function,  and 
reduced  to  the  rank  of  a  private  Christian,  He  also  main- 
tained that  the  right  of  the  pastors  to  preach  was  not  pecu- 
liar to  them  :  on  the  contrary,  that  any  member  who  thought 
proper  to  exhort  or  instruct  the  brethren  enjoyed  the  inherent 
right  of  doing  so,  or  of  "prophesying"  before  the  whole 
assembly.  Hence  it  happened  that  after  the  stated  pastor 
had  flnisned  his  services,  the  ordinary  members  were  allow- 
ed to  communicate  in  public  their  s.  ntiments  on  any  reli- 
gious subject,  (Ibid.;  and  Jloshcim's  Ch.  Hist.  vol.  v., 
353-6.  London,  1822.)  But  while  Brown  enforced  these 
views,  and  claimed  liberty  of  conscience  to  himself,  he  was 
not  willing  to  allow  similar  privileges  to  other  sect-,  particu- 
larly the  Church  of  England.  "The  BrownistS,"  for  so  the 
Puritans  were  now  called,  "did  not  differ  from  the  Church 
of  England  in  any  articles  of  faith  :  but  were  very  rigid  and 
narrow  in  points  of  discipline.  They  denied  the  Church  of 
England  to  be  a  true  church,  and  her  ministers  to  be  tightly 
d.  They  maintained  the  discipline  of  the  Church 
of  England  to  be  popish  and  anti-Christian,  and  all  her  or- 
dinances and  sacraments  invalid.  Hence  they  forbade  their 
pe  iple  to  join  with  them  in  prayer,  in  hearing,  or  in  any 
part  of  public  worship;  nay,  they  not  only  renounced  com- 
munion with  the  Church  of  England,  but  with  all  other 
reformed  churches,  except  such  as  should  be  of  their  own 
model."    (.V,«/,  i„  303.) 

Brown  and  his  followers,  as  they  had  imbibed  such  ex- 
treme views,  cannot  be  expected  to  have  been  allowed  to 
live  undisturbed  in  the  dark  times  to  which  we  refer,  lie, 
in  truth,  suffered  severely  for  his  principles,  both  for  some 


INDEPENDENTS. 


works  he  published,  and  for  the  ecclesiastical  doctrines 
which  he  travelled  throughout  England  in  propagating.  He 
was  committed,  as  he  afterwards  boasted,  to  no  fewer  than 
thirty-two  prisons  in  succession,  in  some  of  which  he  could 
not  see  his  hand  at  noonday.  Nor  were  his  adherents  more 
mercifully  treated  :  many  of  them  were  fined  and  imprison- 
ed, and  some  put  to  death.  (Neal,  i.,  313.)  Under  these 
circumstances,  a  body  of  the  party,  with  Brown  at  their 
head,  fled  to  Holland,  and  founded  churches  at  Middleburg, 
Amsterdam,  and  Leyden.  But  these  establishments  were 
neither  solid  nor  lasting.  When  the  Brownists  were  de- 
livered from  the  hands  of  the  bishops  their  oppressors,  they 
quarrelled  among  themselves ;  and  their  leader,  weary  of 
his  oflice,  returned  to  England  in  1589,  and  not  merely  re- 
nounced the  opinions  which  he  had  suffered  so  much  in 
promulgating,  but  returned  into  the  bosom  of  the  church 
which  he  had  abandoned,  and  which  he  had  so  long  and  so 
severelv  calumniated. 

The  Brownists  that  still  remained  in  Holland,  now  left  to 
their  own  discretion,  and  learning  moderation  from  experi- 
ence, were  not  unprepared  to  modify  or  reform  the  severity 
of  the  discipline  of  their  founder.  This  judicious  change 
was  brought  about  by  John  Robinson  of  Norfolk,  member 
of  the  congregation  at  Leyden  ;  "  a  man  who  had  much  of 
the  solemn  piety  of  the  times,  and  who,  perceiving  the  de- 
fects that  reigned  in  the  discipline  of  Brown,  and  in  the  spirit 
and  temper  of  his  followers,  employed  his  zeal  and  dili- 
gence in  correcting  them,  and  in  modelling  the  society  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  render  it  less  odious  to  his  adversaries, 
and  less  liable  to  the  just  censure  of  those  true  Christians 
who  looked  on  charity  as  the  end  of  the  commandments." 
(Mosheim,  v.,  359-60.)  Hitherto  the  sect  had  been  called 
Brownists :  they  now  renounced  that  name,  and  have  since 
been  known  under  the  title  of  Independents;  and  Robinson, 
who  wrote  an  "  Apology"  (Apologia justa  et.  necessaria  pro 
F.xulibus  Anglis.,  qui  Brown  istwvulgo  appcllantur.  Lugd. 
Batav.,  1619,  8vo)  for  them,  in  which  he  gave  a  minute  and 
systematic  exposition  of  their  principles,  was  considered  as 
their  founder.  The  Independents  were  much  more  com- 
mendable than  the  Brownists,  particularly  in  the  moderation 
of  their  sentiments  and  the  order  of  their  discipline.  They 
laid  aside  that  hostility  to  other  sects  which  Brown  had  in- 
culcated. They  agreed  with  the  reformed  churches  gener- 
ally in  articles  of  faith.  They  wished  to  maintain  commu- 
nion with  them.  They  differed  with  them  only  on  the  sub- 
ject of  church  government.  They  were  also  much  more  at- 
tentive than  the  Brownists  had  been  to  the  establishment  of 
a  regular  ministry  in  their  communities ;  for,  while  the  latter 
promiscuously  allowed  all  ranks  and  orders  of  men  to  tench 
in  public,  and  to  perform  the  other  pastoral  functions,  the 
Independents  had,  and  still  have,  a  certain  number  of  min- 
isters chosen  respectively  by  the  congregations  where  they 
are  fixed.  Nor  is  any  person  among  them  permitted  to  speak 
in  public  till  he  has  received  the  sanction  of  the  congrega- 
tion,    (lb.;  and  Mosheim,  ut  supra.) 

Independency,  thus  put  on  a  more  rational  and  Christian 
footing  in  Holland,  was  introduced  into  England  by  Mr. 
Henry  Jacobs  in  1616;  an  individual  who  established  the 
first  Independent  or  (as  it  is  not  inappropriately  called)  Con- 
gregational Church  in  this  country.  For  some  time,  how- 
ever, the  sect  made  but  slow  progress  in  England.  Its  mem- 
bers concealed  their  principles  from  public  view,  to  avoid  the 
penal  laws  that  were  in  existence  against  non-conformists. 
But  during  the  latter  part  of  the  reign  of  Charles  I.,  when, 
amid  the  shock  of  civil  and  religious  discord,  the  authority 
of  the  Episcopal  Church  began  to  decline,  the  Independents 
assumed  greater  courage,  and  publicly  avowed  their  princi- 
ples with  a  degree  of  confidence  not  previously  exhibited  by 
them.  From  this  period  their  progress  was  rapid :  a  circum- 
stance that  may  be  imputed  to  a  variety  of  causes,  particu- 
larly the  learning  of  their  teachers,  the  unpopularity  and 
declining  state  of  episcopacy,  and  the  support  of  Oliver  Crom- 
well, who  espoused  their  cause  and  enrolled  himself  among 
the  list  of  their  members.  They  probably  were,  during 
Cromwell's  lime,  the  most  powerful  and  important  religious 
body  in  England ;  though  for  a  few  years  previous  to  the 
death  of  Charles  I.  the  Presbyterians  may  be  said  to  have 
had  the  ascendency.  Indeed,  presbytery  had  been  establish- 
ed by  act  of  parliament  as  the  national  church ;  and  it  was 
chietlv  owing  to  the  growing  influence  of  the  Independents 
that  this  art  was  rendered  inoperative.  (Murray's  Life  of 
Samuel  Rutherford,  chap,  viii.,  Edinburgh,  1628.)  Notwith- 
standing the  "  x\poIngy"  written  by  Robinson,  which  was 
regarded  as  containing  the  best  summary  of  the  principles 
of  the  sect,  the  Independents,  as  a  body,  had  not  agreed  on 
any  standard  of  faith  and  discipline:  but  in  the  year  1658, 
their  lendins  members  held  a  meeting  in  London,  under  the 
sanction  of  the  Protector,  and  passed  "  the  Savoy  Confession, 
or  a  Declaration  of  the  Faith  and  Order  owned  and  practised 
by  the  Congregational  Churches  in  England,  agreed  upon 
and  consented  unto  by  the  Elders  and  Messengers  in  their 
Meeting  at  the  Savoy,  Oct.  J2,  1658."    This  Confession,  and 


Robinson's  "Apology,"  on  which  it  is  mainly  founded,  con- 
tain a  synopsis  of  their  various  tenets  ;  and  from  these  it  ap- 
pears, as  Mosheim  remarks,  "that  they  differed  from  the 
Presbyterians  or  Calvinists  in  no  single  point  of  any  conse- 
quence except  that  of  ecclesiastical  government."  (Adam's 
Religious  World  Disp'ayed,  ii.,  312-13.) 

Thus  matters  stood  at  the  date  which  we  have  just  speci- 
fied. What  might  have  been  the  issue  of  the  struggle  be- 
tween the  Independents  and  Presbyterians  if  Cromwell  had 
lived,  or  if  the  dynasty  which  he  established  had  lasted, 
cannot  be  told.  But  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.,  and  with 
him  the  Episcopal  Church,  put  an  end  to  the  influence  of 
both  sects.  The  Act  of  Uniformity  was  passed  in  1662;  the 
object  of  which  was  to  crush  non-conformists,  particularly 
the  Independents  and  Presbyterians.  The  Act  required  from 
clergymen  a  direct  recognition  of  the  principle  of  episcopacy. 
The  effect  of  this  was  the  retirement  of  about  2000  clergy- 
men from  their  respective  churches — Independents,  Presbyte- 
rians, and  Baptists ;  whom  Dissenters  still  characterize  in 
history  as  "  the  illustrious  two  thousand,"  "  the  ejected  mem- 
bers," or  "  the  Bartholomew  worthies."  The  Independents, 
however,  though  proscribed,  still  subsisted,  but  in  a  state 
of  persecution,  dejection,  and  weakness.  But  the  Revolu- 
tion of  1688,  and  the  Act  of  Toleration,  which  was  passed 
in  the  subsequent  year,  brought  them  pence  and  the  free 
exercise  of  their  religion.  They  were  now  a  small  body  as 
compared  with  the  Presbyterians ;  but  the  two  sects,  hav- 
ing much  in  common,  and  differing  only  as  to  church  gov- 
ernment, entered  into  an  association  with  each  other,  under 
certain  heads  of  agreement,  which  tended  to  the  mainte- 
nance of  their  respective  institutions.  ( Winston's  Memoirs 
of  his  Life  and  Writings,  vol.  ii. ;  Mosheim,  v.,  361-63.) 

Since  the  period  of  the  Revolution,  the  Independents  have 
greatly  increased  both  in  numbers  and  importance.  Tho 
extraordinary  revival  of  religious  zeal  which  took  place 
about  the  middle  of  last  century,  under  the  influence  of  the 
two  Wesleys  and  Whitfield,  was  of  essential  service  to  the 
sect  of  which  we  are  treating.  Many  other  persons,  awa- 
kened to  a  deeper  sense  of  religion,  refusing  to  unite  with 
any  of  the  three  bodies  of  Methodists,  the  Wesleyan,  the 
Whitfieldian,  or  the  Countess  of  Huntingdon's,  joined  the  In- 
dependents, and  formed  numerous  churches  in  connexion 
with  that  sect.  The  Independents  have  long  ago  with- 
drawn from  their  association  with  the  Presbyterians,  or,  in- 
deed, with  any  body  of  Dissenters,  and  act  by  themselves. 
They  are  distinguished  from  all  other  Protestant  communi- 
ties chiefly  by  the  two  following  circums'ances :  First,  They 
reject  the  use  of  all  creeds  and  confessions  (including  the 
Savoy  Confession  and  Declaration)  drawn  up  by  fallible 
men ;  requiring  of  their  teachers  no  other  test  of  orthodoxy 
than  a  declaration  of  their  belief  in  the  gospel  of  Jesus,  and 
their  adherence  to  the  Scriptures  as  the  sole  standard  of 
faith  and  practice.  Second,  They  attribute  no  virtue  what- 
ever to  the  rile  of  ordination  ;  for  they  declare  that  the 
qualifications  which  constitute  a  regular  minister  of  the  gos- 
pel are  a  firm  belief  in  the  Bible,  fervent  piety,  a  desire  for 
the  glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  mankind,  a  competent 
stock  of  knowledge,  and  an  initiation  to  the  pastoral  charge 
from  some  Christian  congregation.  These  two  circumstan- 
ces constitute  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  the  Inde- 
pendent denomination.  They  do  not  believe,  as  may  also 
be  mentioned,  that  an  imposition  of  the  hands  of  bishops  or 
presbyters  at  ordination  confers  any  new  power  or  pregroga- 
tive ;  though  it  is  their  custom  to  impose  hands  in  inducting 
a  pastor  to  a  particular  charge  as  a  token  of  recognition  in  a 
new  relation.  In  point  of  religious  doctrine  they  vary  from 
the  high  Calvinism  of  the  Savoy  Confession ;  though  mod- 
erate Calvinism  is  maintained,  speaking  generally,  by  both 
pastors  and  people.  The  Independents  teach  that  every 
point  both  of  doctrine  and  church  discipline  is  vested  exclu- 
sively in  the  congregation,  and  that  whatever  is  supported 
by  a  majority  must  necessarily  be  law.  They  do  not  think  it 
imperative  to  assemble  synods;  yet  if  any  such  be  held, 
which  they  are  periodically,  they  look  on  their  resolutions 
as  prudential  counsels,  but  not  as  decisions  to  which  they 
are  obliged  to  conform.  (Adams's  Rel.  World  Displayed,  ii., 
314.) 

Of  the  extent  and  influence  of  the  Independents  in  Eng- 
land a  pretty  correct  idea  may  be  formed  from  the  number 
of  their  colleges  or  academies,  and  of  their  chapels.  These 
colleges  or  academies  are  exclusively  confined  to  the  edu- 
cation of  ministers  belonging  to  Iheir  own  denomination. 
Some  of  these  institutions  are  wealthy  endowments :  others 
of  them  are  supported  by  annual  subscriptions.  Their  num- 
ber is  ten ;  the  oldest  of  which  is  at  Honiei  ton,  Middlesex, 
which  was  founded  in  1730.  The  last  established  college  is 
at  Manchester,  which  was  instituted  in  1837.  The  others 
were  founded  at  different  intermediate  dates.  The  number 
of  Independent  chapels  in  England  in  1829.  according  to  the 
Congregational  Magazine  for  the  year  1829,  was  1683;  but 
that  number  is  now  understood  to  have  been  increased  to 
upwards  of  1700.    In  Scotland  the  Independents  have  OS 

597 


INDETERMINATE. 

chapels,  and  in  Inland  about  30;  but  it  is  reckoned  that 
they  have  do  fewei  than  1000  congregations  in  the  United 

Stales. 

1NDETE 'it Ml. NATE.  In  Mathematics,  quantities  which 
change  their  values  are  said  to  be  indcttrminatr,  in  oppo- 
sition  to  those  Whose  values  remain  Bxed  and  invariable. 
For  example,  in  the  equation  of  the  ellipse  blxl-\-  anfi  — 
a2  fc2,  the  co-ordinates  x  and  y  are  indeterminate,  while  the 
axes  a  and  4  are  constant,  quantities. 

INDETERMINATE.  In  Botany,  when  a  stem  is  never  ter-  I 
minuted  by  s  flower,  nor  has  its  growth  stopped  by  any  other  j 
organic  cause :  example,  Veronica  arcensis. 

INDETE'RMIXATE  ANA  LYSIS,  is  a  branch  of  Alge- 
bra which  has  for  its  object  the  investigation  of  problems 
which  admit  of  an  infinite  number  of  different  solutions. 
When  the  enunciation  of  a  problem  furnishes  a  less  number 
of  equations  than  there  are  unknown  quantities!  the  problem  | 
is  indeterminate  in  this  sense— that  the  equations  may  be  | 
satisfied  bv  assigning  to  the  unknown  quantities  an  infinity 
of  different  values.  It  happens,  however,  in  the  greater 
number  of  cases,  that  the  nature  of  the  question  requires  the 
values  of  the  unknown  quantities  to  be  expressed  in  whole 
and  positive  numbers ;  a  condition  which  greatly  restricts 
the  number  of  solutions. 

As  in  the  ordinary  algebraic  analysis,  problems  belong- 
ing to  the  Indeterminate  analysis  are  of  the  first  or  second 
degree,  according  as  the  simple  powers  or  squares  of  the  un- 
known quantities  enter  into  the  equations  expressing  their 
conditions.  Every  equation  of  the  first  degree,  containing 
two  unknown  quantities,  may  be  reduced  to  the  form  ax-\- 
6y  =  c;  and  it  is  plain  that  if  only  one  equation  of  this  sort 
is  given,  the  values  of  z  and  y  are  wholly  indeterminate,  for 
any  value  whatever  may  be  given  to  one  of  these  quantities, 
and  it  will  be  easy  to  find  a  value  of  the  second  which  will 
satisfy  the  equation.  In  the  indeterminate  analysis,  the  ob- 
ject is  to  find  all  the  values  which  x  and  y  can  have  in 
whole  numbers ;  the  constants  a,  b,  and  c  denoting  whole 
numbers,  either  positive  or  negative. 

For  example,  let  it  be  proposed  to  divide  the  number  159 
into  two  parts,  one  of  which  is  divisible  by  8,  and  the  other 
by  13.  If  we  denote  by  x  and  y  the  quotients  of  the  re- 
quired parts,  divided  respectively  by  8  and  13,  these  parts 
themselves  must  be  Sx  and  13y ;  consequently,  the  problem 
is  expressed  by  this  equation, 

81  + 13^  =  159 (1), 

and  it  will  be  solved  when  x  and  y  are  expressed  by  whole 
positive  numbers. 

159  —  13;/ 

In  the  first  place,  this  equation  gives  x  = ,  or 

o 

7 5  y 

e  =  19  —  y-\ -;  but  as  x  and  y  must  be  whole  num- 


bers, it  is  obviously  necessary  that 


7  —  5y 


be  also  a  whole 


7—5?/ 
number.    Suppose  this  to  be  n ;  we  have  then  — -—  =  n  ; 

whence  5y  +  8n  =  7  .  . .  .  (2), 

an  equation  of  the  same  form  with  (1).     The  value  of  y 

...  .            7  — 8n               ,              2  —  3,1 
deduced  from  this  is?/=  — - — ,  or  ?/  =  ! — n-\ z 

Now,  precisely  in  the  same  manner  as  before,  since  y  and 
s  are  whole  numbers,  — ; —  must  necessarily  be  a  whole 

2  — 3n 
number.    Suppose  this  to  be  ri,  and  we  have  — _ —  =  n  ; 


whence  3  n  +  5  ri  =  2  .  . 

From  this  last  equation  wc  get  n 
2— 2n' 

3 
2— 2n' 


.(3.) 
2  —  5ri 


,  om  = — n'  + 


Continuing  the  same   process,   we  now   make 

=  71"  (where  n"  must  be  a  whole  number),  whence 
2n'  +  3n"  =  2 (4); 

,       2  — 3n"  ,  n" 

from  which  we  obtain  n  = — ,  or  n==  1  —  n   —  --• 

Suppose,  next,  —  =n'",  and  there  results 

n"  =  2n'" (5). 

Thus  at  last  OH  equation  has  been  found  which  is  satis- 
fied by  makinc  *'"  equal  to  any  whole  number  whatever; 
and,  on  attending  to  the  different  steps  of  the  process,  it  w  ill 
readily  be  observed  that  x  and  y,  and  the  indeterminate 
quantities  ".  «'.  »",  ri",  are  connected  by  the  following  sys- 
tem of  equations: 
598 


INDEX  EXPURGATORIUS. 

i  =19  —  y    -4-n 

y  =  1  —  n    -f-n' 

*  =  0  —  ri  +n" 

n'  =   1  —  n"  —  ri" 

n"=  2ti'". 
On  deducing  from  these  equations  the  values  of  i  and  o 
in  terms  of  ri",  we  find  z  =  15+13h'",  and  t/  =  3  —  Sri  . 
Now,  on  making  ri"  successively  equal  to  0,  1,  2,  3,  &c,  or 
equal  to  — 1,  — 2,  — 3,  &c,  these  two  equations  will  give  all 
the  values  of  x  and  y  in  whole  numbers,  whether  positive 
or  negative,  by  which  the  equation  8 1-4-137/  =159  can  be 
sati  fled.  But  if,  as  the  conditions  of  the  problem  require, 
we  take  account  only  of  the  positive  solutions,  the  values 
of  ?('"  must  be  so  assumed  that  the  expressions  15-4- 13 ri" 
and  3  —  Bn'"  are  both  positive;  and  it  is  manifest  that  this 
can  only  be  done  by  assuming  ri  '  =  0,  or  else  n  " ■=. —  J.  for 
all  other  numbers  substituted  for  ri"  render  the  one  or  the 
other  of  these  two  expressions  negative.  If  we  make  ri'  =0, 
we  obtain  z  =  15.  y  =  3  ; 

and  if  we  make         n'"  =  — 1, 

z  =  2,j/  =  ll; 
and  either  of  these  two  systems  of  values  verifies  the  pro- 
posed equation. 

The  preceding  example  will  show,  more  distinctly  than 
perhaps  any  rule  would  do,  the  general  methods  employed 
to  solve  indeterminate  algebraic  problems  of  the  first  de- 
gree. With  regard  to  equations  of  the  second  degree,  the 
difficulties  of  solution  are  infinitely  greater,  and,  in  fact,  in- 
volve some  of  the  most  abstruse  theories  of  algebraic  analy- 
sis. The  subject  is  discussed  at  length  in  Lcgendre's  T/ieorit 
ties  Jfombrcs. 

The  oldest  treatise  on  the  subject  of  indeterminate  analy- 
sis is  the  Arithmetic  of  Diophantus  of  Alexandria,  the  best 
edition  of  which  is  that  of  Toulouse,  1670;  with  a  Comment- 
ary by  Bachet,  and  notes  by  the  celebrated  Fermat.  On 
the  revival  of  the  mathematical  sciences,  the  subject  was 
extensively  cultivated  by  Fermat,  Descartes,  Wallis,  Lord 
Brounker,  and  others.  One  of  the  most  luminous  elementa- 
ry treatises  on  the  subject  is  contained  in  the  second  volume 
of  y.ul,  r's.ilgebra. 

INDETERMINATE  COEFFICIENTS.  A  method  of 
analysis  invented  by  Descartes,  and  of  very  extensive  appli- 
cation in  the  higher  mathematics.  The  principle  of  the 
method  of  indeterminate  coefficients  consists  in  this,  that  if 
we  have  an  equation  of  this  form, 

A-f-Bx  +  Cz2-fDz3-f-&c.  =  0, 
in  which  the  coefficients  A,  B,  C  are  constant  quantities,  and 
i  a  variable,  which  may  be  supposed  as  small  as  ever  we 
please,  each  of  these  coefficients,  taken  separately,  is  neces- 
sarily equal  to  zero;  that  is  to  say.  we  must  always  have 
A  =  0,  B  =  0,  C  =  0,  &.C.,  whatever  may  be  the  number  of 
terms  of  the  given  equation. 

In  fact,  since  z  may  be  supposed  as  mall  as  we  please,  it 
is  always  possible  to  render  the  sum  of  all  the  terms  of  the 
given  equation  which  have  x  for  a  factor  as  small  as  we 
please;  that  is,  the  sum  of  all  the  terms  following  the  first 
may  be  rendered  as  small  as  we  please.  Hence  the  first 
term  differs  from  zero  only  by  a  quantity  which  may  be  less 
than  any  assignable  quantity ;  but  the  first  term  A  being 
constant,  its  difference  from  zero  cannot  be  any  finite  quan- 
tity assumed  at  pleasure,  for  this  would  suppose  it  to  be  va- 
riable. It  follows,  therefore,  that  A  can  be  nothing  else 
than  zero;  that  is,  we  must  have  A  =  0,  whence  there  re- 
mains 

Bz  +  Cz2  +  Dz3-f  &c.  =  0. 
Divide  this  last  equation  by  z,  and  there  results 

B  +  Cz  +  Dz2-f&c.  =  0; 
and,  for  the  same  reason  as  before,  it  is  manifest  that  we 
must  have  B  =  0.     Proceeding  in  the  same  manner,  wc  find 
successively  C  =  0,  D  =  0,  &c. 

The  principle  here  explained  is  extremely  fertile  in  ap- 
plications, and  in  fact  Live-  the  means  of  resolving  by  ordi- 
nary algebra  all  the  questions  which  are  considered  as  be- 
longing to  the  infinitesimal  analysis.  The  respective  pro- 
i., lines  of  both  methods,  when  properly  simplified,  are  ab- 
solutely the  same:  all  the  difference  consists  in  the  manner 
of  viewing  the  - 

I'NDEX.  In  Bibliography, an  alphabetical  table,  containing 
tiie  principal  subjects  of  a  work,  or  words  employed  in  it, 
with  references  to  the  part  of  the  work  in  which  they  are  to 
be  found.  Many  Indi  pendent  works,  containing  catalogues 
of  various  kinds,  have  been  also  entitled  index. 

1  mpi\.  (Lat.  indico,  I  point  out.)  A  term  often  applied 
to  the  tore  finger. 

I'NDEX.     In  Mn-ie,  the  same  as  iJirert.  which  9  B. 

I'NDEX  EXPURGATO'RIUS.    A  catalogue  of  works, 

which  the  Church  of  Rome  prohibits  the  faithful  from  read- 
ing, or  condemns  as  heretical.  It  is  annually  published  at 
Rome. 


INDEX  OF  A  aUANTITY. 

I'NDEX  OF  A  QUANTITY,  in  Arithmetic  and  Alge- 
bra, is  used  in  the  same  sense  with  exponent.  Thus,  in 
the  expression  (a  +  J)3,  3  is  the  index,  and  denotes  that 
the  quantity  a  +  J  is  to  be  raised  to  the  third  power,  or 
cube.  The  index  of  a  logarithm,  or  its  characteristic,  is  the 
figure  prefixed  to  the  logarithm  for  the  purpose  of  indicating 
the  unit's  place  in  the  corresponding  number.  See  Loga- 
rithm. 

I'NDEX  OF  REFRACTION,  in  Optics,  expresses  the 
constant  ratio  which  exists  between  the  sines  of  the  angles 
of  incidence  and  refraction.  Thus,  with  respect  to  a  ray  of 
light  falling  obliquely  on  the  surface  of  water,  the  sine  of 
the  angle  of  incidence  is  found  by  experiment  to  be  to  the 
sine  of  the  angle  of  refraction  in  the  constant  ratio  of  1*336 
to  1.  Hence  1*336  is  the  index  of  refraction  in  water.  See 
Refraction. 

INDIAN  ARCHITECTURE.     See  Architecture. 

INDIAN  INK.  A  species  of  ink  used  in  Europe  for  the 
lines  and  shadows  of  drawings.  It  is  principally  manufac- 
tured in  China,  and  there  used  for  writing.  From  the  ex- 
periments of  Dr.  Lewis,  it  appears  to  be  a  compound  of  fine 
lampblack  and  animal  glue.     See  Ink. 

I'NDIANITE.  A  mineral  which  occurs  in  granular 
masses,  associated  with  garnet,  felspar,  and  hornblende. 
It  is  hard  enough  to  scratch  glass,  and  of  a  white  or  gray 
colour. 

INDI'CATIVE  MOOD.  (Lat.indico,  I  point  out.)  That 
form  of  a  verb  wnich  expresses  a  simple  or  unconditional 
judgment.     Sec  Grammar. 

I'NDICATOR.  (Lat.  indico.)  A  genus  of  birds  belong- 
ing to  the  cuckoo  tribe  (Cuculidie),  characterized  by  a 
straight  finch-like  bill,  with  compressed  sides  and  a  triangu- 
lar base,  the  culmen  and  gonys  being  equally  inclined  to- 
wards the  lip,  and  the  gonys  angulated  ;  wings  lengthened, 
pointed ;  tail  moderate,  rounded  ;  feet  short ;  middle  toe 
much  longer  than  the  tarsus. 

The  species  of  Indicator  are  remarkable  for  their  habit  of 
indicating  the  nests  of  bees,  and  of  guiding  men  to  them  by 
their  motions  and  cries ;  whence  both  their  scientific  name 
and  common  appellation  of  honey  guides. 

Indica'tor.  A  muscle  of  the  lower  part  of  the  forearm 
which  extends  the  forefinger. 

INDICA  VIT.  (Lat.  he  has  shown.)  In  Law,  a  species 
of  the  writ  of  prohibition.  It  lies  for  a  patron  of  a  church, 
whose  incumbent  is  sued  in  the  spiritual  court  by  another 
clergyman  for  tithes  amounting  to  a  fourth  part  of  the  profits 
of  the  advowson  ;  and  depends  on  stats.  West.  2,  c.  5 ;  13 
Ed.  I.,  st.  4. 

INDI'CTION.  (Lat.  indictio,  establishment,  order,  or  de- 
nunciation.) In  Chronology,  a  cycle  or  period  of  fifteen 
years,  the  origin  of  which  is  involved  in  obscurity.  Unlike 
other  cycles,  the  indiction  has  no  reference  to  any  astronom- 
ical phenomena,  but  is  supposed  to  relate  to  certain  judi- 
cial acts,  probably  the  publication  of  tariffs  of  the  taxes, 
which  took  place  a#stated  intervals  under  the  Greek  em- 
perors. The  Caesarean  indiction  fell  on  the  8th  of  the  cal- 
ends of  October  (24th  of  September) :  the  indiction  of  Con- 
stantinople (beginning  A.D.  312)  on  the  1st  of  September; 
the  pontifical  indiction  on  the  calends  of  January.  It  is  a 
date  commonly  employed  in  very  ancient  charters.  The 
commencement  of  this  computation  is  generally  referred  to 
the  1st  of  January  of  the  year  313  of  the  common  era ; 
hence,  by  counting  backwards,  it  will  be  found  that  the  first 
year  of  our  era  corresponded  to  the  fourth  of  one  of  the  cy- 
cles of  indiction.  The  year  of  indiction,  corresponding  to 
any  other  year  of  our  era,  is  found,  therefore,  by  this  rule  : 
Add  3  to  the  date,  divide  the  sum  by  15,  and  the  remainder 
is  the  year  of  the  indiction.  The  remainder  0  indicates  the 
15th  of  the  cycle.  Thus  the  year  1800  was  the  third  of  the 
indiction.  See  as  to  the  historical  commencement  of  the 
era  of  indictions,  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall,  ii.,  223,  last 
ed.     Mem.  dc  I'Jlcad.  des  Inscr.,  vol.  xli. 

INDI'CTMENT,  PROCESS  BY.  (Lat.  indico,  J  pro- 
claim against.)  In  Law,  all  persons,  without  exception,  are 
liable  to  be  arrested  on  a  warrant  of  a  justice  of  peace,  if 
charged  on  suspicion  with  a  crime  ;  and  some  officers,  as 
the  sheriff  or  constable,  have  the  power  of  apprehending 
without  a  warrant  on  some  occasions.  When  the  party  is 
arrested  and  brought  before  a  justice  of  peace,  he  is  exam- 
ined, and  the  information  of  those  who  came  with  him  is 
taken  ;  and  the  deposilions  of  the  witnesses,  if  taken  down 
in  the  presence  of  the  prisoner,  are  evidence  against  him  on 
the  trial.  If  the  offence  be  bailable,  the  justice  must  then 
take  sufficient  bail  on  the  part  of  the  prisoner.  It  other- 
wise, he  commits  him  to  prison ;  and  the  witnesses  are 
bound  over  to  attend  and  give  evidence,  the  king  being  in 
all  cases  the  nominal  prosecutor.  The  grand  jury  being 
summoned  by  the  sheriff  (at  every  session  of  the  peace, 
commission  of  oyer  and  terminer,  and  jail  delivery),  con- 
sisting of  not  fewer  than  twelve  nor  more  than  twenty-three 
of  the  principal  men  of  the  county,  receives  the  indictment 
or  presentment  (as  it  is  also  termed)  preferred  againat  the 


INDIGO. 

prisoner,  and  either  finds  or  ignores  it;  returning  it  into 
court,  in  the  first  case,  endorsed  a  true  bill ;  in  the  latter, 
not  found. 

An  indictment  may  be  found  in  the  absence  of  the  pris- 
oner, but  cannot  be  tried  unless  he  personally  appears. 
The  summons,  when  he  is  absent,  in  order  to  bring  him  into 
court,  is  by  capias  ;  and  if  he  still  abscond,  he  may  be  far- 
ther pursued  to  outlawry.  When  the  prisoner  appears  on 
this  process,  or  voluntarily,  or  is  brought  up  in  custody,  he 
is  arraigned;  that  is,  called  before  the  bar  to  answer  the 
indictment.  If  the  prisoner  refuse  to  answer  (in  which 
event  he  was  subjected,  in  former  days,  to  the  famous  peine 
forte  et  dare,  by  which  it  was  intended  to  torture  him  into 
pleading,  in  order  that  the  forfeiture  of  his  goods  might  at- 
tach), a  plea  of  not  guilty  is  now  recorded,  and  the  trial  pro- 
ceeds ;  if  he  plead  guilty,  judgment  is  awarded.  Otherwise 
he  may  plead — 1.  To  the  jurisdiction ;  i.  e.,  that  the  court 
before  which  he  is  arraigned  is  not  competent  to  try  the  of- 
fence. 2.  In  abatement  for  misnomer ;  but  the  advantage 
of  this  plea  is  now  taken  away  by  7  G.  4.  3.  He  may  de- 
mur to  the  sufficiency  in  law  of  parts  of  the  indictment.  4. 
He  may  plead  one  of  the  four  special  pleas  in  bar  (former 
acquittal,  former  conviction,  former  attainder,  and  pardon). 
5.  He  may  plead  not  guilty  of  the  crime  alleged.  If  the 
prisoner  plead  not  guilty,  the  fact  of  his  guilt  is  forthwith 
tried  on  examination  of  witnesses  by  the  petty  jury.  The 
nobility,  it  must  be  observed,  are  tried  by  their  peers  for 
treason  or  felony,  and  misprision  of  these  crimes,  but  in 
other  cases  by  a  jury.  The  jurors  are  taken  by  the  panel  or 
list  returned  by  the  sheriff;  and  criminal  offences  are  tried 
by  the  same  common  jurymen  who  try  the  issue  of  facts  in 
civil  cases  in  which  a  special  jury  has  not  been  demanded. 
(See  Jury.)  The  rules  of  evidence  observed  on  the  trial 
are  mostly  the  same  with  those  which  prevail  in  civil  ac- 
tions. (See  Evidence.)  One  testimony,  however,  peculiar 
to  this  branch  of  law,  is  that  of  an  accomplice  ;  but  it  is 
considered  essential  that  his  testimony  should  be  confirmed 
by  other  evidence.  The  verdict  of  the  jury  must  in  all  ca- 
ses be  unanimous.  After  trial  and  conviction  follows  judg- 
ment, unless  arrested  by  motion  for  that  purpose,  which  it 
still  may  be  on  some  exceptions  to  the  indictment  in  point 
of  law.  Benefit  of  clergy,  as  it  was  termed,  was  usually 
prayed  after  conviction  ;  and  was  held,  in  cases  where  not 
abolished  by  statute,  to  discharge  the  claimant  from  the 
capital  part  of  the  punishment.  But  this  ancient  privilege, 
which  had  long  been  founded  on  a  mere  fiction  of  law,  waa 
abolished  by  7  G.  4,  c.  36.  Forfeiture  of  real  property,  ab- 
solutely, is  a  consequence  of  judgment  in  cases  of  high  trea- 
son. The  forfeiture  of  goods  and  chattels  relates  to,  that  is, 
takes  effect  upon,  conviction  ;  but  fraudulent  conveyances 
without  consideration,  in  order  to  escape  the  forfeiture  by 
the  transfer  of  the  property  after  or  in  contemplation  of  in- 
dictment, are  void  as  against  the  king.  The  sentence  of 
punishment  pronounced  or  recorded  on  judgment  is  in  some 
cases  fixed  and  stated,  so  that  the  judges  cannot  modify  the 
statutory  penalty  ;  in  others  (as  in  all  offences  at  common 
law  unregulated  by  statute),  it  is  wholly  or  partly  discre- 
tionary. 

A  criminal  judgment  may  be  reversed  by  writ  of  error  for 
notorious  mistakes  and  irregularities.  A  reprieve  suspends 
the  execution  of  a  judgment:  a  pardon  avoids  the  judgment 
altogether ;  and  a  pardon  may  be  conditional  on  the  prison- 
er's submitting  to  a  substituted  punishment,  which  is  the 
ordinary  mode  of  mitigating  the  severity  of  the  law  in  capi- 
tal felonies. 

INDIGE'STION.     See  Dyspepsia. 

INDI'GETES.  The  title  of  a  class  of  Latin  divinities, 
concerning  the  exact  import  of  which  there  is  some  dispute  ; 
but  it  is  probably  most  correctly  referred  to  deified  heroes, 
who  became  tutelary  deities  after  death,  according  to  the 
ancient  mythology  —  as  Romulus.  The  word  is  of  very 
doubtful  etymology. 

I'NDIGO.  A  blue  substance  much  used  as  a  dye-stuff. 
The  best  indigo  is  obtained  from  an  Asiatic  and  American 
plant,  the  Indigofera.  The  plant  is  bruised  and  fermented 
in  vats  of  water,  during  which  it  deposits  indigo  in  the  form 
of  a  blue  powder,  which  is  collected  and  dried,  so  as  to  form 
the  cubic  cakes  in  which  it  usually  occurs  in  commerce. 
Indigo  is  quite  insoluble  in  water;  when  heated  it  yields  a 
purple  vapour,  which  condenses  in  the  form  of  deep  blue  or 
purple  acicular  crystals.  When  indigo  is  exposed  to  the  ac- 
tion of  certain  deoxidizing  agents,  it  becomes  soluble  in  al- 
kaline solutions,  losing  its  blue  colour  and  forming  a  green 
solution,  from  which  it  is  precipitated  by  the  acids  white; 
but  it  instantly  becomes  blue  by  exposure  to  air.  This 
white  indigo  has  been  termed  indigogrnr,  and  indico  ap- 
pears to  be  its  oxide.  It  is  best  obtained  by  mixing  3  parts 
of  finely  powdered  and  pure  indigo  with  4  of  green  vitriol,  5 
of  slaked  quicklime,  and  100  of  water,  repeatedly  shaking 
the  mixture.  In  about  twenty-four  hours  the  suprmntant 
liquor,  which  is  transparent,  and  of  a  green  colour,  is  to  be 
decanted  off,  and  poured  into  dilute  muriatic  acid,  when  the 

599 


IND1G0LITE. 

deoxidized  indigo  is  thrown  down  ;  but,  in  order  to  prevent 
its  absorbing  oxygen  and  becoming  blue,  it  must  bo  most 
carefully  excluded  from  the  contact  of  air,  which  may  be 
effected  by  syphoning  it  off  into  the  acid,  collecting  it  in  ves- 
sels filled  with  hydrogen,  and  washing  it  With  water  depri 
Ted  of  air  and  holding  in  solution  a  little  sulphate  of  am- 
monia. In  this  white  state  indigOgene  absorbs  between  Jl 
and  12  per  cent,  of  oxygen  to  become  blue  indigo.  It  would 
appear  from  Dumas's  experiments  that  indigOgene  is  a  com- 
pound of 

Atoms.    Equivalents. 

Carbon 45  =  271) 

Hydrogen          .        .        .        .  15  =  15 

Nitrogen 3  =  42 

Oxygen 4  =  32 

1  359 

and  that  indigo  consists  of  1  atom  of  indlgogene  =  359,  and 
2  of  oxygen  =  16.  The  chemical  equivalent  of  indigo, 
therefore,  is  375. 

When  indigo  is  dissolved  in  concentrated  sulphuric  acid, 
it  forms  a  deep  blue  liquid,  known  to  the  dyers  by  the  name 
of  Saxo7i  blur.  The  great  mart  for  indigo  is  Bengal,  and  the 
other  provinces  subject  to  the  presidency  of  that  name, 
from  the  20th  to  the  30th  deg.  of  N.  lat. ;  but  it  is  also  culti- 
vated, though  not  nearly  to  the  same  extent,  in  the  province 
of  Tinnevelly,  under  the  Madras  government  in  Java;  in 
Luconia,  the  chief  of  the  Philippine  Islands  ;  and  in  Guate- 
mala and  the  Caraccas  in  Central  America.  The  following 
remarks,  from  the  Commercial  Dictionary,  will  exhibit  the 
history  of  this  now  indispensable  commodity,  and  the  diffi- 
culties with  which  it  had  to  contend  before  it  obtained  a 
permanent  footing  in  the  commerce  of  Europe.  "  It  appears 
pretty  certain  that  the  culture  of  the  indigo  plant,  and  the 
preparation  of  the  drug,  have  been  practised  in  India  from  a 
very  remote  epoch.  It  has  been  questioned,  indeed,  wheth- 
er the  indicum  mentioned  by  Pliny  (Hist.  Nat.,  lib.  xxxv., 
c.  6)  was  indigo;  but,  as  it  would  seem,  without  any  good 
reason.  Pliny  states  that  it  was  brought  from  India  ;  that 
when  diluted  it  produced  an  admirable  mixture  of  blue  and 
purple  colours  (in  diluendo  misturam  purpura;  emruleique 
mirabi'rm  reddit) ;  and  he  gives  tests  by  which  the  genuine 
drug  might  be  discriminated  with  sufficient  precision.  It  is 
true  that  Pliny  is  egregiously  mistaken  as  to  the  mode  in 
which  the  drug  was  produced ;  but  there  are  many  exam- 
ples in  modern  as  well  as  ancient  times  to  prove  that  the 
possession  of  an  article  brought  from  a  distance  implies  no 
accurate  knowledge  of  its  nature,  or  of  the  processes  fol- 
lowed in  its  manufacture.  Beckmann  (Hist,  of  Inventions, 
vol.  iv.,  art.  'Indigo')  and  Dr.  Bancroft  (Permanent  Colours, 
vol.  i.,  p.  241-252)  have  each  investigated  this  subject  with 
great  learning  and  sagacity,  and  agree  in  the  conclusion 
that  tli e  indicum  of  Pliny  was  real  indigo,  and  not,  as  has 
been  supposed,  a  drug  prepared  from  the  isatis  or  woad. 
At  all  events,  there  can  be  no  question  that  indigo  was  im- 
ported into  modern  Europe,  by  way  of  Alexandria,  previ- 
ously to  the  discovery  of  the  route  to  India  by  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope.  When  first  introduced,  it  was  customary  to 
mix  a  little  of  it  with  woad  to  heighten  and  improve  the 
colour  of  the  latter;  but,  by  degrees,  the  quantity  of  indigo 
was  increased;  and  woad  was,  at  last,  entirely  superseded. 
It  is  worth  while,  however,  to  remark,  that  indigo  did  not 
make  its  way  into  general  use  without  encountering  much 
opposition.  The  growers  of  woad  prevailed  on  several  gov- 
ernments to  prohibit  the  use  of  indigo!  In  Germany,  an 
imperial  edict  was  published  in  1654,  prohibiting  the  use  of 
indigo,  or  '  devil's  dye,'  and  directing  great  care  to  be  taken 
to  prevent  its  clandestine  importation ;  '  because,'  says  the 
edict,  'the  trade  in  woad  is  lessened,  dyed  articles  injured, 
and  money  carried  out  of  the  country  !'  The  magistrates  of 
Nuremhurg  went  farther,  and  compelled  the  dyers  of  that 
city  to  take  an  oath  once  a  year  not  to  use  indigo,  which 
practice  was  continued  down  to  a  late  period.  In  1598, 
upon  an  urgent  representation  of  the  states  of  Languedoc, 
at  the  solicitation  of  the  woad  growers,  the  use  of  indigo 
was  prohibited  in  that  province;  and  it  was  not  till  17:)7 
that  the  dyers  of  France  were  left  at  liberty  to  dye  with 
such  articles,  and  in  such  a  way,  as  they  pleased."  (Beck- 
mann, vol.  iv.,  p.  142.) 

INDI'GOUTK.     Blue  tourmalin. 

INDIGO'TIC  ACID.  An  acid  obtained  by  boiling  indi- 
go in  nitric  acid  diluted  with  an  equal  weight  of  water.  It 
forms  white  crystals,  very  soluble  in  hot  water,  but  very 
sparingly  soluble  in  cold  water.  It  consists,  in  the  lull  parts. 
of  4823  carbon,  2-70  hydrogen,  7-73  nitrogen,  and  tt'88 
oxygen;  or,  according  to  Dumas,  of  I  atom  of  indigog8ne= 
359,  and  '.W  atoms  of  oxygen  =  240. 

INDIVIDUAL.  (Lat  individuus.)  In  the  Fine  Arts, 
that  which  is  proper  or  peculiar  to  a  single  object  of  u 
species. 

INDIVISIBLES.    Infinitely  small  quantities  which  ad 
unt  of  no  farther  division. 
600 


INDUCTION. 

In  Algebra,  the  method  of  indivisibles  is  the  name  given 
to  a  peculiar  species  of  calculus,  invented  by  Cavalieri,  a 
disciple  of  Galileo,  and  much  used  by  mathematicians  be- 
fore the  invention  of  the  method  of  fluxions,  or  the  differen- 
tial and  integral  calculus;  for  which  it  prepared  the  way, 
and  of  which,  to  a  certain  extent,  it  supplied  the  place. 

In  the  method  of  indivisibles,  lines  are  considered  as 
composed  of  an  infinite  number  of  points,  surfaces  as  com- 
posed of  an  infinite  number  of  lines,  and  solids  of  an  infi- 
nite number  of  surfaces.  These  hypotheses  are  no  doubt 
inconsistent  with  the  rigorous  exactness  of  the  ancient  ge- 
ometry, and,  taken  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  terms,  absurd  j 
for  lines,  however  they  may  he  multiplied,  can  never  com- 
pose a  surface,  or  anything  else  than  linear  magnitude; 
nor  can  surfaces,  however  they  may  be  .added  together, 
compose  a  solid,  or  anything  but  an  area.  Nevertheless,  in- 
accurate as  these  ideas  are,  the  conclusions  deduced  from 
them  are  strictly  correct ;  and  they  afford,  in  numerous  ca- 
ses, a  means  of  obtaining  readily  and  easily  what  could  only 
be  found  by  a  very  long  and  troublesome  process  in  follow- 
ing the  ancient  and  rigorous  method  of  exhaustions.  In 
fact,  the  objections  apply  rather  to  the  manner  in  which  the 
hypotheses  are  stated  than  to  the  method  itself,  which,  in 
reality,  is  merely  a  formula  of  abbreviation,  extremely  use- 
ful as  a  means  of  avoiding  the  tediousness  of  the  method  of 
exhaustion  without  diminishing  in  any  way  the  accuracy  of 
the  results.  Its  purpose  is  to  give  at  once  the  result  of  an 
infinite  series  of  successive  approximations;  and,  as  is  re- 
marked by  Professor  Playfair,  nothing,  perhaps,  more  in- 
genious, and  certainly  nothing  more  happy,  ever  was  con- 
trived, than  to  arrive  at  the  conclusion  of  nil  these  approxi- 
mations without  going  through  the  approximations  them- 
selves. 

As  an  example — Let  it  be  proposed  to  determine  the  vol- 
ume of  a  cone.  From  A,  the  vertex  of  the  cone,  let  a  per- 
pendicular, A  II,  be  drawn  to  its  base. 
Conceive  this  perpendicular  to  be  divi- 
ded into  an  infinite  number  of  equal 
parts,  and  through  each  of  the  points  of 
division  a  plane  to  pass  parallel  to  the 
base  of  the  cone ;  according  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  method  of  indivisibles, 
each  of  these  planes,  as  b  c,  limited  by 
its  intersection  with  the  surface  of  the 
cone,  will  be  one  of  the  elements  of  the 
volume  of  the  cone,  and  the  whole  vol- 
ume will  be  the  sum  of  all  these  elements.  Now,  by  the 
properties  of  the  cone,  these  elements  are  to  each  other  as 
the  squares  of  their  distances  from  the  vertex  ;  therefore, 
taking  A  to  represent  the  area  of  the  base  of  the  cone  B  C, 
a  the  area  of  the  plane  b  c,  H  the  height  A  II,  and  A  the 

A 
height  A  A,  we  have  A  :  a  :  :  H2  :  A2  ;  whence  a  =  =j-A2. 

Now  if  we  make  V=the  sum  of  these  elements,  or  the 
volume  of  the  cone,  it  is  evident  that  we  have  V  equal  to 

the  constant  jr,  multiplied  by  the  sum  of  the  squares  A2. 

But  the  distances  A  increase  as  the  series  of  natural  num- 
bers from  nothing  to  H  ;  consequently,  the  quantities  A2  rep- 
resent the  squares  of  those  numbers  from  0  to  II  .  Now  it 
is  known  that  the  sum  of  the  squares  of  the  natural  num- 
bers, from  0  to  H2  inclusive,  is 

2H3-f3H?-fH. 
6 
but  in  the  present  case,  the  number  II  being  supposed  infi- 
nite, all  the  terms  in  the  numerator  after  the  first  will  be 
infinitely  small  in  comparison  of  the  first,  and  ought  there- 
fore to  be  rejected ;  whence  the  sum  of  all  these  squares  is 
reduced  to  i  H3.     Multiply,  therefore,  this  value  by  the 

constant  =5  found  above,  we  have  for  the  volume  of  the 

H2 
cone  V  =  i  A  II ;  that  is  to  say,  the  volume  of  the  cone  is 
equal  to  the  product  of  its  base  by  a  third  of  its  altitude. 

In  a  similar  manner,  the  arei  sof  innumerable  curves,  and 
the  cuhature  of  many  solids,  arc  found  without  difficulty. 
It  was  in  this  way  that  Torricclli,  Or  Roberval,  found  the 
quadrature  of  the  cycloid — a  problem  of  great  celebrity 
among  the  early  mathematicians.  The  work  of  Cavalieri, 
Geometria  Tndivisibilibus  ctmtinuorum  nova  quadam  rati- 
onc promota.  was  published  at  Bologna  in  1653;  but  he  had 
treated  of  the  subject  in  a  previous  work,  Ezercitationcs 
OeometrietB  Sex,  published  in  1(',!7. 

INDU'CEMENT.  In  Law,  a  term  used  specially  in  va- 
rious CBSes  to  signify  a  statement  of  facts  alleged  by  way  of 
previous  explanation  or  introduction  to  other  material  facts. 
Averments  which  are  mere  inducement  need  not  be  proved 
so  precisely  as  others. 

INDU  CTION  (Lat.  in,  and  duco,  /  lead),  the  countcr- 
proce-s  hi  scientific  method  to  deduction,  implies  the  raising 
individuals  into  generals,  and  those  into  still  higher  gener- 


INDULGENCE. 

ulities:  deduction  being  the  bringing  down  of  universals  to 
lower  genera  or  to  individuals.  Every  deduction,  therefore, 
to  be  valid,  must  rest  on  a  prior  induction,  which,  in  order 
that  we  may  obtain  logical  certainty,  must  be  a  complete  in- 
duction ;  that  is  to  say,  must  include  all  the  individuals 
which  constitute  the  genus.  This,  it  is  evident,  is  impossi- 
ble, so  long  as  we  assume  the  only  power  necessary  to  in- 
duction to  be  the  observation  of  particulars ;  for  these  are 
infinite  in  number :  we  can  never  be  sure  that  we  have  ob- 
served them  all.  We  are  therefore  compelled,  if  we  are  to 
admit  the  possibility  of  science  properly  so  called,  to  allow 
the  necessity  of  some  spontaneous  action  of  the  understand- 
ing in  every  inductive  process  ;  of  a  faculty,  in  short,  which 
takes  occasion  from  experience  to  arrive  at  the  knowledge 
of  truths  not  contained  in  that  experience.  Philosophers 
differ  widely  in  the  language  under  which  they  convey 
their  belief  of  this  truth.  Had  the  thing  itself,  however, 
been  more  distinctly  bome  in  mind,  we  should  have  been 
saved  much  useless  obscurity ;  in  particular,  we  should 
have  escaped  that  altogether  futile  distinction  made  by  lo- 
gicians between  "perfect  and  imperfect  induction."  All 
the  certainty  that  can  be  obtained  in  physics  is  a  hypotheti- 
cal certainty,  founded  on  our  belief  that  the  course  of  na- 
ture is  uniform ;  but  as  regards  the  form  of  our  reasoning, 
which  is  all  that  the  logician  contemplates,  that  remains 
the  same  whether  the  certainty  be  real  or  assumed.  (See 
for  valuable  accounts  of  the  Baconian  system  of  induction, 
Playfair's  Introductory  Essay  to  the  Enc.  Brit.  ;  and  Hal- 
lam  on  the  Literature  of  Europe,  vol.  iii.) 

Indu'ction.  In  Electricity,  when  one  electrified  sub- 
stance is  opposed  to  another,  the  latter  acquires,  under  cer- 
tain circumstances,  an  opposite  electric  state  upon  the  surface 
opposed  to  the  inducing  body,  and  is  rendered  electro-polar. 
See  Electricity. 

INDU'LGENCE.  (Lat.)  A  power  claimed  by  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  of  granting  to  its  contrite  members  remission 
for  a  certain  term,  either  on  earth  or  in  purgatory,  of  the 
penalty  incurred  by  their  transgressions.  The  practice  was 
first  instituted  in  the  eleventh  century  by  Popes  Gregory  VII., 
Victor,  and  Urban  II.,  as  a  recompense  to  those  who  em- 
barked in  the  perilous  enterprise  of  the  Crusades ;  but  its 
benefits  in  process  of  time  extended  to  all  who,  either  by 
donations  or  other  services,  contributed  to  the  wellbeing  of 
the  church.  It  was  the  profligate  sale  of  indulgences  that 
first  excited  Luther  to  commence  his  warfare  against  the  see 
of  Rome ;  and  although  the  traffic  in  indulgences  has  been 
reprobated  by  many  councils,  and  some  minor  corruptions 
have  been  partially  reformed,  still  the  Council  of  Trent 
decreed  the  usefulness  and  validity  of  such  instruments,  and 
left  the  whole  control  of  their  nature  and  manner  of  issuing 
them  entirely  in  the  discretion  of  the  pope  for  the  time  being. 
(For  an  elaborate  exposition  of  this  subject,  see  the  Biblio- 
thenue  S'acree,  article  "  Indulgence ;"  also  Mosheim,  iii.,  83, 
translation.) 

INDUME'NTUM.  (Lat.  induo,  /  put  on.)  In  Zoology, 
the  term  is  restricted  in  its  signification  to  the  plumage  of 
birds.  This  consists  of  the  peculiar  epidermic  organs  called 
feathers  and  down,  with  sometimes  a  scanty  admixture  of 
hair.  (The  description  of  the  component  parts  of  plumage 
is  given  under  the  head  of  Feathers.)  The  plumage  is 
generally  more  than  once  changed  before  it  attains  that 
state  Which  is  characteristic  of  the  fully  mature  bird.  The 
period  during  which  these  mutations  are  proceeding  varies 
from  one  to  five  years,  and  many  birds  rear  a  progeny  before 
they  acquire  the  plumage  of  maturity.  When  the  indu- 
mentum of  the  male  bird  differs  in  colour  from  that  of  the 
female,  the  young  birds  of  both  sexes  resemble  the  latter  in 
their  first  plumage;  but  when  both  the  adult  male  and  fe- 
male are  of  the  same  colour,  the  young  have  then  a  plumage 
peculiar  to  themselves.  In  some  species  the  adult  birds 
have  a  plumage  during  the  breeding  season  decidedly  differ- 
ent in  colour  from  that  which  they  bear  in  winter:  in  these 
cases  the  young  birds  differ  in  colour  from  both  parents,  and 
have  a  plumage  which  is  intermediate  in  its  general  tone  to 
that  of  the  two  periodical  states  of  the  parent  birds,  and 
bearing  indications  of  the  colours  to  be  afterwards  attained 
at  either  period. 

The  changes  in  the  colour  of  the  plumage  of  birds  are 
effected  either  by  a  total  moult  of  the  old  and  acquisition 
of  new  feathers;  or  by  a  partial  moult,  and  the  admixture 
of  new  feathers  with  a  certain  proportion  of  the  previous 
plumaee ;  or  on  the  bird's  obtaining  a  certain  number  of 
new  feathers  without  shedding  any  of  the  old  ones  ;  or, 
lastly,  by  the  ftillv-formed  featlier  itself  becoming  altered  in 
colour:  the  last  two  changes  take  place  in  the  adult  birds 
at  the  approach  of  the  breeding  season.  The  change  of 
colour  of  a  fully-developed  featlier  is  produced  either  me- 
chanically by  the  wearing  away  of  the  lighter-coloured  tips, 
which  exposes  the  brighter  tints  of  the  plumage  beneath,  or 
by  some  internal  chemical  or  vital  influence  upon  the  colour- 
ing matter  of  the  feather  itself:  the  latter  change  begins 
at  that  part  of  the  web  nearest  the  body  of  the  bird,  and 


INFANTICIDE. 

gradually  extends  outwards  till  it  pervades  the  wholn 
feather. 

INDU'SIAL  LIMESTONE.  A  fresh-water  limestone 
found  in  Auvergne,  abounding  in  the  indusise  or  cases  of  the 
larva;  of  Phrygania,  great  heaps  of  which  have  been  in- 
crusted  by  hard  travertin  and  formed  into  rock. 

INDU'SIUM.  (Lat.  induo.)  A  cup  that  surrounds  the 
stigma  of  Goodeniaceous  and  some  other  plants;  it  is  also 
the  name  of  the  membrane  that  covers  the  thecce  in  Dor- 
siferous ferns. 

INDU'VI^E.  (Lat.)  The  withered  remains  of  leaves 
that,  not  being  articulated  with  the  stem,  cannot  fall  off;  the 
part  covered  by  them  is  said  to  be  indue iatc. 

LNEQUA'LITY,  in  Astronomy,  is  applied  to  any  devia- 
tion in  the  motion  of  u  planet  or  satellite  from  its  uniform 
mean  motion. 

INE'RTES.  (Lat.  iners,  slothful.)  The  name  of  an 
*order  of  birds  in  the  ornithological  system  of  Temminck, 
including  the  dodo  and  apteryx. 

INE'RTIA.  (Lat.  iners.)  This  term  is  used  to  denote 
the  principle  or  law  of  the  material  world  that  all  bodies  are 
absolutely  passive  or  indilierent  to  a  state  of  rest  or  motion, 
and  would  continue  forever  at  rest,  or  persevere  in  the 
same  uniform  and  rectilinear  motion,  unless  disturbed  by 
the  action  of  some  extrinsic  force.  The  ancients  attributed 
to  matter  a  certain  inaptitude,  reluctance,  or  renitency  to 
motion  ;  but  that  a  body  in  motion  required  the  operation 
of  an  extrinsic  cause  to  bring  it  to  rest  was  first  discovered 
by  Galileo.  Kepler,  conceiving  the  disposition  of  a  body  to 
maintain  its  motion  as  indicating  an  exertion  of  power,  pre- 
fixed ihi!  word  vis ;  and  the  compound  expression,  vis  iner- 
tia, though  less  accurate,  has  been  generally  retained.  Inertia 
is  one  of  the  inherent  properties  of  matter,  and  unceasingly 
recalled  to  our  observation  in  every  incident  of  life. 

INESCU'TCHEOX.  In  Heraldry,  a  species  of  ordi- 
nary, being  an  escutcheon  placed  upon  the  fess  point  (see 
Fess)  ;  and  containing,  it  is  said,  the  third  part  when 
charged,  the  fifth  when  otherwise.  All  escutcheons  borne 
within  escutcheons  are  by  some  heralds  called  by  this 
name. 

IN  ESSE.  (Lat.)  A  term  applied  to  things  actually 
existing.  A  difference  is  made  by  authors  between  in  esse 
and  in  posse :  the  latter  being  applied  to  things  that  are  not, 
but  may  be ;  the  former  being  said  of  things  actually  appa- 
rent and  visible. 

I'NFANT.  In  Law,  a  person  under  twenty-one  years  of 
age.  He  is  not  considered  in  law  as  having  sufficient  ability 
to  contract,  and  is  protected  from  his  own  improvidence  and 
the  artifices  of  designing  persons  by  liis  not  being  liable  for 
any  engagements  into  which  he  may  have  entered,  except 
for  necessaries  suited  to  his  condition  in  life.  His  contracts, 
however,  are  not  absolutely  void,  but  only  voidable ;  and 
though  they  cannot  be  enforced  against  him,  yet  he  may,  if 
be  do  not  choose  to  avoid  them,  enforce  them  against  another, 
and  may  always  confirm  them  on  the  termination  of  his  mi- 
nority. He  is,  in  general,  responsible  in  damages  for  torts 
committed  by  him,  as  for  slander  or  assault.  His  responsi- 
bility for  crime  varies  according  to  his  age  and  discretion : 
under  seven  years  of  age  he  cannot  be  guilty  of  felony; 
between  seven  and  fourteen  a  presumption  arises  that  he  is 
doli  incapax  ;  but  this  presumption  may  be  repelled  by 
proof  that  he  could  plainly  distinguish  between  good  and 
evil,  and  he  may  then  suffer  death  as  a  felon;  and  after 
fourteen  he  is,  in  general,  as  amenable  to  punishment  as  a 
person  of  full  age. 

His  disabilities,  many  of  which  are  in  the  nature  of  privi- 
leges, and  established  for  his  protection,  are  numerous ;  he 
cannot  fill  any  office  connected  with  the  administration  of 
justice,  or  sit  in  parliament ;  he  cannot  be  an  executor,  nor 
appear  in  court  by  attorney.  The  consent  of  parents  or 
guardians,  or  of  the  Court  of  Ciiancery,  is  requisite  to  his 
marriage. 

I'NFANTE,  INFANTA.  The  titles  borne  by  the  younger 
sons  and  the  daughters  of  a  king  of  Spain,  the  eldest  son 
being  styled  Prince  of  Asturias.  It  is  found  in  a  docu- 
ment of  the  year  999,  applied  to  the  sons  of  King  Veremond 
II.  It  appears,  however,  to  have  been  anciently  given 
to  all  hidalgoes.  (Quart.  Rev.,  vol.  lxii.,  p.  104,  where 
the  reader  is  referred  to  the  Ley  de  Partidas,  1,  2.)  The 
word  "childe"  was  similarly  used  in  England  in  the  middle 
ages. 

INFA'NTICIDE,  or  CHILD-MURDER,  by  the  law  of 
England  is  placed  upon  the  same  footing  with  other  homi- 
cide. By  9  G.  4,  c.  41,  s.  14,  a  woman  indicted  for  murder 
of  her  child  may,  if  acquitted  of  the  murder,  be  convicted 
of  the  misdemeanour  of  secreting  the  body  of  the  child  to 
conceal  its  birth.  To  administer  poison,  or  use  other  means 
to  procure  the  miscarriage  of  a  woman  great  with  child,  is 
a  capital  felony  by  the  same  statute  (c.  14).  The  exposure 
of  new-born  infants,  especially  females,  is  a  common  prac- 
tice among  many  savage  nations  at  the  present  day,  and 
especially  prevalent  among  the  Chinese.  According  to  Lord 
Oo*  601 


INFANTRY. 

Macartney,  the  number  of  infanticides  committed  In  Pekin 
■lone  exceeds  20,000  a  year;  but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  this 
calculation  is  highly  exaggerated. 

I'NFANTRY.  The  general  name  for  soldiers  who  serve 
on  foot.  The  term  is  in  all  probability  derived  from  the 
Italian  word  fante,  signifying  a  child  or  young  person  ;  ami 
was  originally  conferred  on  the  young  Italian  peasantry, 
who  served  in  the  wars  on  foot,  the  nobles  being  usually 
mounted.  There  are,  however,  various  other  accounts  of 
I  i  of  the  term.  Among  the  ancient  Greeks  and 
Romans,  the  infantry  constituted  the  chief  strength  of  an 
army  :  ami.  with  the  exception  of  that  period  in  European 
history  during  which  the  institutions  of  chivalry  prevailed, 
when" the  tournament  with  its  gay  appendages  engaged  the 
attention  of  all  the  powerful  nobles  and  otherwise  distm- 
guished  persons,  who  thus  imparted  to  the  cavalry  a  facti- 
tious importance,  it  has  generally  been  regarded  as  the 
principal  military  arm.  Since  the  institution  of  standing 
armies  this  has  been  peculiarly  the  case.  From  the  period 
of  the  Conquest  down  to  ihe  reign  of  Henry  VII.,  the  in- 
fantry of  this  country  consisted  of  the  interior  vassals  of  the 
feudal  tenants,  and  from  the  cause  above  referred  to  was 
neglected  both  in  discipline  and  accoutrements;  but  the 
connection  of  that  monarch  with  Charles  V.  of  Germany 
and  Francis  I.  of  France,  whose  rivalry  in  arms  had  intro- 
duced great  improvements  into  this  arm,  was  the  means  of 
directing  attention  to  the  defects  of  the  English  infantry, 
and  paved  the  way  for  the  introduction  of  that  system  of 
discipline  which  after  the  lapse  of  three  centuries  has  now 
brought  it  to  perfection.  The  British  army  comprises,  ex- 
clusively of  the  militia,  artillery,  engineers,  and  marines,  99 
regiments  of  regular  infantry,  three  regiments  of  foot  guards  ; 
besides  a  rifle  brigade,  two  West  India  regiments,  and  the 
Ceylon  rifle  regiment.  Sec  Army,  and  the  authorities  there 
referred  to. 

INFE'CTION.     See  Contagion. 

LNFE'RLE.  (Lat.)  Sacrifices  offered  by  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  to  the  Dii  Manes,  or  the  souls  of  deceased  heroes, 
or  any  person  whose  memory  was  held  in  veneration.  These 
sacrifices  consisted  of  almost  every  kind  of  offering,  and 
were  instituted  on  the  ninth  and  thirtieth  days  after  inter- 
ment. They  are  supposed  by  some  writers  to  have  been 
the  origin  of  the  exequies  (quod  vide)  of  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church. 

INFE'RIOR.    A  term  given  to  a  calyx  that  is  distinct 

the  ovarium,  as  in  silece ;  or  to  an  ovary  that  ad- 

to  the  calyx,  as  in  the  myrtle.     It  is  a  bad  expression, 

though  commonly  employed,  for  which  the  French  school 

have  substituted  the  words  non-adherent  and  adherent. 

I'NFERO-BRANCHIA'TA.  (Lat.  inferus,  lower;  Gr. 
fiP-'YX'"'  giUs.)  An  order  of  Gastropods,  characterized  by 
the  position  of  the  gills,  which  are  situated  beneath  the 
produced  margin  of  the  mantle;  they  consist  of  two  long 
series  of  leaf- shaped  vascular  organs.  This  order  compre- 
hends, in  the  system  of  Cuvier,  two  genera,  Phyllidia  and 
Diphyllidia. 

I'NFIDEL.  (Lat.)  A  term  applied  to  such  persons  as 
are  not  baptized,  or  do  not  believe  in  the  Christian  religion. 
See  Deist. 

l'X FINITE.  (Lat.  infinitus,  boundless.)  In  Geometry, 
an  infinite  quantity  is  properly  that  which  is  greater  than 
any  assignable  magnitude ;  and  as  no  such  quantities  exist 
in  nature,  it  follows  that  an  infinite  quantity  is  merely  an 
abstraction  of  the  mind,  formed  by  excluding  the  idea  of 
limit  or  boundary.  An  infinitely  small  quantity  is  a  quan- 
tity considered  as  less  than  any  assignable  magnitude.  There 
Is,  however,  a  peculiar  signification  attached  to  this  expres 
sion  in  mathematical  language,  which  has  frequently  been 
misunderstood.  Infinitely  small  quantities  arc  not  abso- 
lutely zeros,  ,,r  even  quantities  actually  less  than  certain 
determinate  magnitudes  ;  they  are  merely  quantities  which 
the  conditions  of  the  proposed  question  permit  to  he  re- 
garded as  variable  until  the  calculation  is  entirely  com- 
pleted, and  as  diminishing  continually  until  they  become 
as  small  as  we  please,  without  its  being  necessary  to  change 
the  values  ofthose  quantities  of  which  the  relation  is  sought. 

It  is  in  this  circiimstnuci ly  that  the  peculiar  character 

of  what  are  called  Infinitely  small  quantities  consists,  ami 
not  in  the  littleness  which  their  denomination  seems  to 
Imply,  or  in  the  absolute  nullity  which  may  be  attributed 
to  them. 

INFINITF'SIM  \L.     In  Geometry  and  Analysis,  an  in 

finitely  small  quantity;  that  is  to  say,  a  quantity  which  is 

less    than    any   assignable    magnitude.      The    tiifiiu' 

analysis  is  the  art  of  employing  infinitesimal  quantities  :is 

auxiliaries,   in  order  to  discover  the   relations  which  exist 

among  the  proposed  quantities.    It  differs  from  the  differ 

cnlial  calculus,  or  the  method  of  fluxions,  only  in  re<|iect  of 
its  metaphysical    principles;    the    analytical    processes   are 

precisely  the  same  in  both.  In  the  theory  of  infinitesimals, 
a  curve  is  regarded  as  a  polygon  of  an  infinite  number  of 

sides,  anv  one  of  which  represents  the  arc.    Thus,  let  1'  U. 
602 


INFLEXION. 

be  one  of  those  sides ;  then  P  Q  is  the 
hypothenuse  of  aright  angled  triangle, 
or  which  the  sides  P  R  and  R  Q,  are 
the  differentials  of  the  co-ordinates  A 
M  and  M  P,  or  of  x  and  y.  Hence, 
making  P  Q,  =  d  z,  we  have  d  i-  =  d 
x-  +  d  y~.  On  the  same  principle,  if 
a-  denote  the  infinitely  small  element 
of  the  area,  or  the  space  M  P  Q.  N, 
we  shall  have  il  w  —  y  d  i  -f-  A  dy  dx 
(for  M  P  11  X  =  M  P  R  N  +  P  a  R 
=  M  P  •  M  N  -f  £  U  R  •  P  R).  But  the  second  part  of 
this  expression,  namely,  \dyd  x,  is  an  infinitesimal  of  the 
second  order,  being  the  product  of  two  infinitely  small  quan- 
tities, and  therefore  infinitely  smaller  than  y<lx,  which  is 
an  infinitesimal  of  the  first  order.  The  part  hdyd  x  must 
therefore  be  omitted,  being  of  no  value  in  comparison  of  the 
quantity  to  which  it  is  added,  and  we  have  consequently 
ds  —  ydx.  The  elemental  triangle  P  U  1!  also  shows  at 
once  the  difl'erential  values  of  the  trigonometrical  lines. 
Thus,  supposing  the  curve  A  B  to  be  a  circle  whose  centre 
is  C,  then  the  radius  C  P  being  unity,  and  the  arc  A  P  being 
denoted  by  z,  we  have  1  :  cos.  r  :  :  P  Q. :  Q,  R  :  :  d  z  :  d  sin. 
: ;  whence  d  sin.  z  =  cos.  z  d  z.  Again,  1  :  sin.  :::PQ: 
P  R  :  :  d  z  :  — d  cos.  :  ;  therefore  d  cos.  z  =  —  sin.  z  d  z. 

The  theory  of  infinitesimals  affords  very  great  facilities 
in  the  application  of  the  calculus  to  the  higher  geometry, 
and  especially  in  the  doctrines  of  physics.  Whatever  view 
may  be  taken  of  the  principles,  the  results,  if  deduced  by- 
correct  reasoning,  are  rigorously  accurate;  and  the  mathe- 
matician will  scarcely  be  restrained  by  metaphysical  con- 
siderations from  attempting  to  reach  bis  object  in  the  shortest 
way,  which,  in  very  numerous  applications  of  the  calculus, 
is  by  the  infinitesimal  method. 

INFINITIVE  MOOD.  In  Grammar,  that  inflexion  of 
the  verb  which  expresses  the  conception  merely,  without 
affirming  or  denying  it,  of  any  subject.     Sec  Grammar. 

INFINITY.     See  Infinite. 

IN1TRMARY.  (Lat.  infirmus,  weak.)  An  hospital  for 
the  reception  of  the  sick  poor,  either  supported  by  the  pub- 
lic, or  endowed  by  benevolent  persons  with  funds  to  defray 
the  necessary  expense.  Establishments  bearing  this  name 
are  not  uncommon  in  all  considerable  towns  of  the  British 
empire.     See  Hospital. 

INFLAMMA'TION.  In  Pathology,  this  term  is  applied 
to  redness  and  heat  of  some  part  of  the  body,  attended  by 
pain  and  swelling:  the  vascular  action  of  the  part  is  in 
creased ;  and  if  it  does  not  subside  or  terminate  in  resolution 
it  produces  three  different  effects,  which,  where  they  tak« 
place  healthily,  follow  each  other  in  regular  order.  Thesi 
are,  1,  adhesion;  2,  suppuration;  :i,  ulceration. 

I'NFLEXED.  (Lat.  inflecto,  /  bend.)  In  Zoology,  whei 
a  part  is  bent  inwards. 

INFLE'XION.  In  Grammar,  in  strictness  of  language 
is  any  change  which  takes  place  in  a  word  from  a  modifi 
cation  of  its  sense  between  the  root  and  the  termination 
The  inflexion  must  therefore  not  be  confounded  with  th< 
termination  itself.  Thus  the  syllable  am  is  the  root  of  at 
the  words  employed  in  the  conjugation  of  the  Latin  vert 
amo,  /  love :  in  the  imperfect  tense,  the  inflexion  is  the  syl 
lable  ab.  The  termination  varies  according  to  the  person: 
amabam,  amabas,  amabut. 

Infle'xion.  In  Optics,  the  same  as  diffraction  ;  or  that 
property  of  light  by  reason  of  which,  when  it  passes  very 
near  the  borders  of  an  opaque  body,  it  is  turned  from  its 
rectilinear  course.     See  Diffraction  and  Lioiit. 

Point  of  inflexion,  in  Geometry,  is  that  point  of  a  curve 
line  where  the  curvature  in  relation  to  the  axis  chances 
from  concave  to  convex,  or  from  convex  to  concave.  The 
same  point  is  also  called  the  p<  hit  of  contrary  flexure ;  and 
if  the  direction  changes  suddenly  with  relation  to  the  ordi- 
nate as  well  as  the  absciss,  the  point  becomes  a  point  of  re- 
gression. Thus,  let  A  P  be  a  curve  which  from  A  to  P  is 
concave   towards  the   axis  A   B,  and  D 

from  P  to  I)  convex  towards  the  axis; 
the  point  P,  at  which  it  passes  from 
concave  to  convex,  is  the  poin'  of  inflex- 
ion ;  and  if  the  curve  at  P  is  turned 
backwards  as  p  K,  t li<-  P  is  the  point  of 
regression.  The  determination  Of  these 
points  is  attended  with  no  difficulty, 
and  the  method  of  determining  them 
will    be   obvious    from    the   following  A  u 

considerations.  When  a  curve  is  concave  to  the  axis,  the 
differential  of  the  ordinate  (that  of  the  absciss  being  su)>- 
posed  constant)  decreases;  consequently  the  second  differ- 
ential or  d-  y,  is  negative.  On  the  contrary,  when  the  curve 
is  convex  to  the  axis,  d  y  increases,  and  d"  y  is  positive.  At 
the  point,  therefore,  at  which  the  curvature  changes  from 
concave  to  convex,  d2  y  changes  its  sign  ;  but  us  no  variable 
quantity  can  change  its  sign  without  becoming  nothing  or 
Infinite  in  relation  to  its  former  magnitude,  it  follows  that 


INFLORESCENCE. 

at  the  point  of  inflexion,  or  regression,  d2  y  =  0  or  infinity. 
Hence  to  rind  the  point  of  inflexion  in  any  given  curve,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  find  from  the  equation  of  the  curve  the 

value  of  —   ;  this  value,  made  equal  to  0  or  infinity,  will 
d  x- 

give  an  equation  hy  which  x  is  determined.  This  subject 
is  treated  at  length  in  the  work  of  Cramer,  Sur  les  Lignes 
Courbes ;  also  in  Lacroix's  Caicul  Dijfcrcntieljt  Integral; 
and  noticed  in  almost  every  work  on  the  Differential  Cal- 
culus. 

INFLORE'SCENCE.  (Lat.  inflorescere,  to  flourish.) 
The  general  arrangement  of  the  flowers  upon  a  stem  or 
branch.  It  consists  of  the  following  principal  kinds :  viz., 
the  spike,  the  raceme,  the  panicle,  the  capitulum,  the  um- 
bel, and  the  cvme ;  each  of  "which  is  mentioned  in  its  place. 

INFLUE'NZA.  (As  if  produced  by  the  influence  of  the 
stars.)  An  epidemic  catarrh,  generally  attended  by  lan- 
guor, headache,  quick  pulse,  and  febrile  symptoms,  which 
often  run  verv  high,  and  assume  a  variety  nf  aspects,  de- 
pendant upon"  the  season  and  other  causes.  Vhe  possibility 
of  the  existence  of  some  highly  poisonous  and  irritating 
vapour,  though  in  very  minute  quantity,  ns  the  exciting 
cause  of  influenza,  has  been  suggested  by  Dr.  Prout.  It 
may  possiblv  be  of  volcanic  origin  ;  and  such  a  substance  as 
seleniuretted  hydrogen,  the  effects  of  which,  even  in  ex- 
tremely minute  quantity,  are  highly  deleterious,  might  per- 
haps account  for  some  of  the  phenomena  of  this  extraordi- 
nary disease. 

I.N  FO'RMA  PAU'PERIS.  In  Law,  a  person  is  said  to 
sue  as  a  pauper,  or  in  forma  pauperis,  when  he  takes  ad- 
vantage of  the  stat.  11  H.  7,  c.  12,  swearing  himself  not  to 
be  worth  five  pounds ;  in  which  case  he  is  entitled  to  have 
original  writs  and  subpeenas  gratis,  and  attorney  and  coun- 
sel assigned  him  without  fee,  and  is  excused  from  paying 
costs  when  plaintiff.  By  misconduct,  and  under  certain 
other  circumstances,  the  party  is  dispaupered,  and  loses  his 
privilege.  He  is  capable  of  recovering  costs,  although  not 
liable. 

INFORMATION.  In  Law,  an  accusation  exhibited 
against  a  defendant  for  some  criminal  offence ;  not  on  the 
oath  of  jurors,  but  on  the  special  allegation  of  an  officer 
empowered  to  exhibit  it.  Criminal  informations  are  either 
partly  at  the  suit  of  the  king  and  partly  at  that  of  a  subject, 
namely,  such  as  are  brought  upon  certain  penal  statutes  at 
the  suit  of  common  informers ;  or  wholly  at  the  suit  of  the 
king.  These  are  of  two  sorts :  1,  those  filed  ex  officio  by  the 
attorney-general,  which  is  a  proceeding  resorted  to  in  the 
case  of  some  particular  misdemeanors  of  a  public  nature, 
as  libels  and  various  other  offences  concerning  the  public 
government;  and  2,  informations  filed  at  the  suit  of  the 
master  of  the  crown  office,  which  lie  for  some  gross  and  no- 
torious misdemeanors,  as  riots,  batteries,  libels,  &c,  not 
immediately  tending  to  disturb  the  government. 

INFO'RMED  STARS  (Informes  Stella;),  in  Astronomy, 
are  stars  not  included  in  any  of  the  constellations.  See 
Constellation. 

I'NFRALAPSA'RIANS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a 
sect  of  Presbyterians  who  maintain  that  God  has  created 
a  certain  number  of  human  beings  only  to  be  damned,  with- 
out allowing  them  the  opportunity  of  salvation  even  if  they 
chose  to  embrace  it.  They  are  thus  designated  because 
they  hold  that  the  decrees  of  God  were  formed  infra  lapsum, 
after  his  knowledge  of  the  fall,  and  in  consequence  of  it. 

See  Sr/PRALAPSARIANS. 

INFUSO'RIA.  (Lat.  infundo,  I  pour  in.)  A  name  ap- 
plied by  Otho  Fr.  Midler  to  an  assemblage  of  microscopic 
animalcules  which  are  for  the  most  part  developed  in  in- 
fusions of  decayed  animal  and  vegetable  substances.  Some 
of  these  minute  organized  beings  were  known  to  Linnteus, 
and  were  placed  by  him  at  the  end  of  the  class  Vermes,  in  a 
genus  which  he  denominated  Chaos.  Muller,  who  made 
the  Infusoria  a  subject  of  special  study,  discovered  numer- 
ous distinct  genera  and  species,  which  he  named  and  classi- 
fied according  to  their  outward  form.  Gmelin  and  Lamarck 
introduced  Midler's  discoveries  and  classification  of  the  In- 
fusoria into  their  systems  without  any  particular  modifica- 
tion. Cuvier,  in  1829,  observes,  that  "  Naturalists  usually 
close  the  catalogue  of  the  animal  kingdom  with  beings  so 
extremely  minute  as  to  be  invisible  to  the  naked  eye,  and 
which  have  been  discovered  only  since  the  invention  of  the 
microscope  has  unveiled  to  us,  as  it  were,  a  new  world. 
Most  of  them  present  a  gelatinous  body  of  the  greatest  sim- 
plicity, and  for  these  this  is  undoubtedly  the  situation ;  but 
authors  have  placed  among  the  Infusoria  animals  apparent- 
ly much  more  complicated,  and  which  only  resemble  them 
in  their  minuteness  and  the  dwelling  in  which  they  are 
usually  found."  These  higher-organized  Infusoria  were 
placed  by  Cuvier  at  the  head  of  the  class  in  a  distinct  order, 
under  the  name  of  Rotiferes  or  Rotifera,  a  name  which  has 
subsequently  been  retained.  Cuvier  attributes  to  these  ani- 
malcules a  mouth,  a  stomach,  an  intestine,  and  an  anus ; 


INHIBITION. 

and  notices  the  prominences  on  the  anterior  part  of  the 
body,  which  some  observers  had  regarded  as  eyes.  The 
anterior  lobatcd  organ  and  its  vibratory  denticulalions,  the 
mec  wive  action  of  which  gives  to  the  organ  the  appearance 
of  a  swiftly  rotating  wheel,  forms  the  main  external  charac- 
ter of  the  order.  Cuvier  includes  in  the  order  Rotatoria  the 
genera  Furcularia.  Lam. ;  Vaginicola,  Lam. ;  Tubicolaria, 
Lam.;  Brachionu.*,  Muller. 

The  investigations  of  Ehrenbcrg,  with  the  aid  of  a  supe- 
rior microscope  to  that  of  his  predecessors,  have  brought  to 
light  many  additional  organs  and  complexities  of  structure 
in  the  Rotifera,  besides  several  genera  and  species  before 
unknown;  and  since  these  researches  naturalists  have  gen- 
erally regarded  the  Rotifera  as  a  distinct  class  of  Invertt- 
brata,  which  Professor  Grant  has  placed  in  the  Articulate 
sub-kingdom,  and  Professor  Owen  in  the  Nematoneura,  or 
higher  division  of  Cuvier's  Radiata.  For  the  character, 
subdivision,  and  organization  of  the  Rotifera,  see  that  word. 
The  second  order  of  Infusoria  in  Cuvier's  system  is  de- 
nominated Homogenea;  a  term  sufficiently  expressive  of 
the  inadequate  ideas  current  at  that  recent  period  respecting 
their  organization.  Cuvier  says,  "  The  body  of  the  Homo- 
genea presents  neither  viscera  nor  other  complication,  and 
is  frequently  destitute  of  even  the  appearance  of  a  mouth." 
Ehrenbcrg  has  since  shown  that  they  have  not  only  really  a 
mouth,  but  that  the  greater  part  of  the  Homogenea  of  Cuvier 
possess  a  digestive  cavity  complicated  with  many  eweal 
pouches  or  stomachs;  and  accordingly  propose  to  name  the 
order  Polygastrica.  Cuvier  includes  in  his  second  order  of 
Infusoria  the  genera  Urceolaria,  Lam. ;  Trichoda.  Lc-vcophra. 
Kcrona.Himantopus,  Cercaria,  Furcocerca,  Vibrio,  Proteus, 
Volvox,  and  Monas.  As  the  polygastric  structure  has  not 
been  detected  in  any  species  of  Cercaria,  but  as,  on  the  con- 
trary, some  species,  as  Cercaria  lemnce,  possess  a  simple  ali- 
mentary canal,  this  genus,  together  with  the  cercarial  Sper- 
matozoa, and  the  Vibrionida>,  which  all  possess  a  straight 
and  simple  alimentary  canal,  have  been  removed  from  the 
Infusoria,  and  classed  by  Mr.  Owen  with  the  Entozoa. 

Thus  the  animals  of  infusions,  although  of  comparatively 
simple  organization,  possessing  neither  a  heart  nor  respira- 
tory organs,  vet  manifest  at  least  three  distinct  types  of 
structure,  and  are  referable  to  three  different  classes  of 
animals. 

Many  genera  of  Infusoria  are  protected  by  an  external 
siliceous  case.  The  observations  which  Ehrenberg  had 
made  on  the  modifications  of  the  form  and  surface  of  these 
cases  of  the  existing  Infusoria  led  to  his  capital  discovery 
of  their  remains  in  a  fossilized  state.  The  mineral  called  Polir- 
schcifer,  used  for  a  long  period  in  the  arts  for  polishing  metals 
and  other  substances,  was  first  discovered  to  be  composed  of 
myriads  of  the  microscopic  flinty  cases  of  polygastric  Infu- 
soria belonging  to  the  genera  Grilloncella,  Bacillaria,  Dia- 
torna^  &c.  Whole  strata  of  considerable  extent  and  thick- 
ness have  since  been  found  to  consist  almost  exclusively  of 
the  fossil  remains  of  Infusoria. 

INGLU'VIES.  (Lat.  a  crop.)  The  crop  or  dilatation  of 
the  oesophagus,  in  which  the  food  is  accumulated  and  macer- 
ated, but  not  digested.  It  is  largest  in  the  Gallinaceous  birds 
and  pigeons,  but  exists  in  certain  birds  of  prey ;  also  in  the 
flamingo,  and  others. 

I'NGOT.  A  word  of  doubtful  origin,  signifying  chiefly  the 
small  masses  or  bars  of  gold  and  silver  intended  either  for 
coining  or  exportation. 
INGRO'SSING.  See  Engrossing,  Forestalling. 
INHA'BITANT.  In  Law,  a  word  used  in  various  tech- 
nical senses.  Thus  a  person  having  lands  or  tenements  in 
his  own  possession  is  an  inhabitant  for  the  purpose  of  repair 
of  bridges,  wherever  he  may  reside  ;  but  for  purposes  of  per- 
sonal services  the  "inhabitant"  must  necessarily  be  a  resi- 
dent. For  the  purpose  of  the  poor  rate  the  word  means  a 
person  residing  permanently  and  sleeping  in  the  parish. 
Where  the  right  of  voting  is  in  "inhabitant"  householders,  a 
variety  of  divisions  in  committees  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
in  some  instances  conflicting,  have  taken  place  on  the  point. 
But  it  appears  to  be  generally  understood  that  an  inhabitant 
is  one  who  keeps  a  house  in 'his  own  occupation,  either  per- 
sonally residing  in  it,  or  having  it  occupied  by  servants  and 
ready  for  his  residence ;  having  what  is  termed  the  "  animus 
levertendi."  or  intention  to  return. 

INHARMO'NICAL  RELATION.  In  Music,  that  in 
which  a  dissonant  sound  is  introduced. 

INHERITANCE.  In  Law,  an  estate  or  real  property 
which  a  man  has  to  himself  and  his  heirs,  or  the  heirs  of  his 
bodv.  &c.  is  termed  a  freehold  of  inheritance. 

INHIBITION.  (Lat.  inhibeo,  7  restrain.)  In  Scottish 
Law,  a  species  of  diligence ;  i.  e.  process.  It  is  a  writ  in  the 
kin»'s  name,  passing  under  the  signet,  whereby  a  debtor  v. 
prohibited  from  contracting  any  debt  which  may  become  a 
burden  on  his  heritable  property  in  competition  with  the 
creditor  at  whose  instance  the  inhibition  is  taken  out;  and 
from  granting  any  deed  of  alienation,  &c,  to  the  prejudice 
of  the  creditor.    The  heir  of  the  debtor  is  not  aflected  by  the 


INIS. 

inhibition  of  his  ancestor.  Other  species  of  inhibition  are, 
that  of  a  lni-l>.-ii!<l  against  his  wife,  intended  to  signify  that 
her  superintendence  over  domestic  affairs  has  ceased,  on 
which  his  liability  for  domestic  expenditure  contracted  by 
iii  r  also  ceases :  and  inhibition  of  tithes  or  sends. 

Inhibition,  la  Ecclesiastical  Law,  a  writ  commonly 
issuing  out  of  a  higher  court  Christian,  to  forbid  an  inferior 
judge  from  further  proceeding  in  a  cause  before  him;  being 
analogous  Co  a  prohibition  issuing  out  of  one  of  the  Kind's 
superior  courts  of  justice. 

INIS.     An  Irish  word  signifying  island,  used  as  a  prefix  to 

the  names  of  some  islands  on  the  coast  of  Ireland,  and  of 
several  towns  situated  on  lakes  or  rivers  in  the  same  country  ; 
as  Inisfallen,  [niskilling,  ice. 

INITIATIVE.  (Lot  milium,  a  beginning.)  la  Politics. 
In  legislative  assemblies  constituted  so  as  to  comprise  more 
than  one  chamber,  or  more  than  one  distinct  and  co-ordinate 
power,  that  branch  of  the  legislature  to  which  belongs  of 

light  the  power  to  propose  measures  Of  a  particular  class  is 
said  to  have  the  initiative  with  respect  to  those  measures. 
Thus  in  England  till   propositions  for  taxing  the  subject, 

whether  directly  or  indirectly,  must  begin  In  the  Commons; 

a  usage  which  has  been  adopted  in  most  modern  constitu- 
tions. On  Che  other  hand,  there  are  some  private  bills  which 
by  custom  originaie  m  the  Lords;  and  one  bill,  that,  namely, 
for  a  general  pardon,  is  proposed  in  the  first  instance  by  the 
crown.  In  Prance,  by  the  charter  of  183!),  the  three  branches 
of  the  constitution  enjoy  like  privileges  in  proposing  laws; 
but  custom  generally  concedes  the  initiative  to  Che  Chamber 
of  Peers,  excepting  in  the  case  of  money  bills,  which  must, 
as  in  England,  originate  with  the  Chamber  of  Deputies. 

INJUNCTION,  in  Law,  is  8  writ  which  issues  under  the 
seal  of  a  court  of  equity.  It  is  granted  in  various  cases, 
where  the  court  thinks  fit  to  interfere  on  equitable  grounds 
with  the  acts  of  parties,  or  with  the  course  of  other  jurisdic- 
tions. Thus  injunctions  are  granted  under  certain  circum- 
stances to  stay  proceedings  at  common  law  ;  to  restrain  the 
negotiation  of  notes  and  other  securities;  to  restrain  parties 
from  the  commission  of  waste:  to  preserve  property  \\  inch 
is  in  course  of  litigation,  &c.  Injunctions  are  also  granted 
lo  direct  parties  to  quit  possession  of  hinds,  fcc,  alter  a  de- 
cree. Disobedience  lo  an  injunction  is  punishable  as  u  con- 
tempt of  the  court  from  which  it  issues. 

INK.  (Germ,  dinte.)  The  colouring  matter  of  common 
writing  ink  is  the  tamiogallate  of  iron,  which  is  suspended 
in  water  by  gum  arabic:  a  little  logwood  is  general!}  added 
to  deepen  and  improve  the  colour.  A  good  writing  ink  is 
made  as  follows — Take  six  ounces  of  finely  bruised  galls, 
four  ounces  of  gum  arabic,  four  onces  of  green  vitriol,  and 
90X  pints  of  soft  water.  Boil  the  galls  in  the  water  :  then 
add  the  other  ingredients;  and  mixing  the  whole  well  to- 
gether, keep  it  in  a  well-corked  bottle,  occasionally  shaking 

it.     In  two  months'  lime  carefully  pour  oil'  the  ink  from  the 

residue  into  gloss  bottles,  which  should  be  well-corked ;  a 

few  cloves  ,ir  a  drop  or  two  of  creosote  put  into  each  bottle 
prevents  moulding.  The  addition  of  a  little  sugar  to  ink  gives 
it  a  gloss,  and  prevents  its  diving  rapidly  and  perfectly;  so 
that  it  is  generally  used  in  what  is  called  copying  ink,  from 
the  writing  with  which  copies  may  be  taken  by  pressure. 
Indian  ink  is  a  compound  of  very  tine  lampblack  and  size. 
It  cannot,  like  common  writing  ink,  be  removed  by  acids  ; 
but  as  it  does  not  bite  or  sink  into  the  paper,  it  may  generally 
be  wiped  off  with  a  moist  sponge.  Printing  ink  is  made 
with  boiled  linseed  or  nut  oil  and  lampblack.  Red  ink  is  a 
solution  of  alum  coloured  with  brazil  wood.  Boil  two  ounces 
of  brazil  wn.nl,  half  an  ounce  of  gum  arabic,  and  a  quarter 
of  an  ounce  of  alum  in  a  pint  of  water  for  ten  minutes; 
rtrain  the  decoction,  and  set  it  aside  to  clear.  Sympathetic 
inks  are  compounds  which  when  written  with  will   remain 

invisible  till  heated:  solutions  of  cobalt  thus  become  bine 
or  green,  lemon  juice  turns  brown,  and  averj  dilute  sulphuric 
acid  blackens.  Marking  ink  is  made  as  follows  : — Dissolve 
one  drachm  of  lunar  caustic  (fused  nitrate  of  silver)  in  half 
mi  ounce  of  water  previously  thickened  with  a  little  sap 

preen:  write  with  this  upon  the  linen  previously  prepared 
for  its  reception  by  tin-  application  of  a  weak  solution  of 
carbonate  of  soda  Chickened  with  a  little  gum  arabic,  aid 
Buffered  Co  dry  upon  the  linen. 

INLI'D.WS,  Inlidce.  The  name  of  a  family  of  Myriapods, 

hav'niL'  the  inlus  or  gally-wonn  as  die  type. 

I'NNOCENTS'  DAY.  in  the  Calendar,  a  festival  cele 
prated  on  the  28th  of  December,  in  commemoration  of  the 
infants  murdered  by  Herod. 

INNO'MINATUM.     (Lot.  in,  priv.,  and  nomen,  a  nnmr  ; 

without  a  name.)    Each  of  the  lower  bones  of  the  pelvis  is 
called  ns  innominatum  ;  because  the  three  bones  of  wbicb 
itconsi-t-:  originally,  namely,  the  ischium,  the  ilium,  and  the 
pubis,  or  the  hi]  i  bone,  Che  haunch  bone,  ami  che  share  inn, 
grow  afterwards  together  so  as  to  form  what  appears  to  be  a 

Single  bene,  which  is  thUS  left  nameless. 

INNS  OF  COURT,    four  corporate  societies  established 
u.  London.     Every  candidate  for  the  rank  of  barrister  al- 
004 


INQUISITION. 

law  is  obliged  to  be  admitted  a  member  of  one  of  these 
societies,  and  submit  to  its  regulations  as  a  student.  These 
are — 1,  the  Inner  Temple,  to  which  three'  Inns  of  Chancery 
(Clifford's,  Lyon's,  and  Clement's)  belong;  -J,  the  Middle 
Temple,  With  Strand  Inn  (no  longer  existing)  and  New  Inn 
dependent  on  il ;  3.  Lincoln's  Inn  (with  I'urnival's  and 
Thavie's  Inns),  Gray's  Inn  (with  Staple's  inn  and  Bernard's 
Inn). 

INNUE'NDO.  (Lat.  innuo,  /  nod  or  beckon.)  In  Law. 
In  the  old  Latin  forms  of  pleadings  this  term  was  used  as 
a  word  of  reference,  when  in  relating  the  words  of  another 
party  it  was  nccessarj  to  describe  more  particularly  the 
person  or  thing  meant  by  that  party;  as,  for  instance,  in  a 
declaration  in  action  for  slander,  which  is  the  most  ordinary 
modern  case  of  the  employment  of  the  innuendo,  the  plain- 
tiff avers  that  the  defendant  said  that  "he,"  innuendo 
(meaning  the  plaintiff),  wasa  thief,  &e.  Hence  the  word 
•'  an  innuendo"  in  ordinary  language  to  signify  a  covert 
allusion. 

INO't  I'LATION.  The  insertion  of  poisonous  or  infec 
iioiis  matter  into  any  part  of  the  body  ;  bit!  in  this  country 
the  phrase  is  commonly  used  to  signify  the  insertion  of  the 
virus  of  the  common  smallpox,  the  insertion  of  the  virus  of 
the  cowpox  being  called  lure  i nut  ion.  Inoculation  was  in- 
troduced into  general  notice'  i>\  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Mon- 
tague, whose  BOn  was  innOCUlaCed  at  Constantinople  about 
the  year  1721,  and  whose  daughter  was  the  first  who  under- 
went the  operation  in  this  country.  A  milder  disease  la 
tints  propagated  than  when  it  is  received  in  the  natural 
way.  Inoculation  is  performed  by  inserting  the  point  of  a 
lancet  tinned  with  proper  matter  just  under  the  cuticle,  ami 
afterwards  gently  rubbing  the  armed  part  over  the  pricked 
cuticle.      Sei  Vac  i  isa'i  ION. 

INO'CULATION  or  GRASS  LANDS.  The  ordinary 
method  of  turning  a  ploughed  field  into  a  meadow  or  pasture 
is  by  sowing  it  with  grass  seeds  ;  imt  as  this  part  of  agricul- 
ture has  hitherto  been  very  ill  understood,  and  the  resulC 
of  sowing  grass  seeds  has  frequently  no!  answered  the  ex- 
pectations of  the  sower,  the  practice  of  what  is  Called  inocu- 
lation has  of  hue  years  been  invented,  though  practised  in 
but  very  few  instances.  This  consists  in  preparing  the  soil 
as  if  it  were  to  be  sown  down  with  grass  seeds ;  but  instead 
of  sowing  these  on  the  surface,  there  are  distributed  over  it 
small  fragments  of  turf  taken  from  the  best  old  pasture 
hind  which  the  neighbourhood  affords.  These  fragments 
may  be  about  two  or  three  inches  square,  and  they  are  laid 
down  on  the  surface  at  the  rate  of  about  one  in  every  square 
foot.   After  they  ale  deposited,  grOSS  seeds  mixed  With  clover 

tire  scattered  over  the  surface,  and  the  field  is  rolled  to  press 
down  the  turf  and  press  in  the  seeds.  In  consequence  of 
the  fragments  of  turf  being  placed  on  fresh  soil,  the  u' 
and  other  vegetables  which  they  contain,  if  of  the  creeping 
kind,  grow  luxuriantly,  and  their  stems  cover  the  intervals 
between  the  fragments ;  but  if  the  grasses  which  the  frag- 
ments contain  should  not  be  of  the  creeping  or  stoloniferous 
kinds,  it  is  evident  that  the  intervals  between  them  must 
chiefly  depend  for  their  grassy  surface  on  the  seeds  which 
have  been  sown.  On  the  w  hole,  the  inoculation  of  grass 
land  may  be  considered  as  a  needlessly  expensive  process, 
altogether  unscientific,  and  unsuitable  to  the  present  ad- 
vanced  state  of  agriculture. 

INO'RDLVATi:  PROPORTION,  in  Geometry,  is  a  pro- 
portion in  which  the  terms  are  placed  out  of  the  regular 
order. 

INOSCULATION.  (Lat  inosculatio.)  The  union  of 
vessels  by  conjunction  of  their  extremities.  This  term 
is  sometimes  limited  to  the  communication  of  trunks  or 
large  vessels  with  each  other;  and  where  the  ramifications 
which  unite  ore  small  or  capillary,  the  vessels  are  said  to 
anastomose. 

I'NQUEST.  In  Law,  an  inquisition  of  jurors  in  causes, 
civil  or  criminal,  when  the  facts  are  referred  to  their  trial, 
being  empanelled  by  the  sheriff  for  that  purpose.  Also  the 
persons  to  whom  the  trial  of  fact  in  any  question,  civil  or 
criminal,  is  committed.  An  inquest  of  otlice,  or  inquisition, 
is  on  inquiry  made  by  the  king's  officer,  sheriff,  coroner,  etc., 
by  virtue  of  their  office,  or  by  writ  sent  them  for  that  pur- 
pose, or  by  persons  acting  under  a  special  commission,  to 
inquire  concerning  any  matter  which  entitles  the  king  to  the 

DOE  i      ion  ol   lauds  and  tenements,  or  goods  and  chattels; 

as  forfeiture  for  offences,  wreck,  treasure-trove,  &c.    The 

I. inn's  title  in  i i.'il  commences  on  office  found. 

INQUISITION.     The  title  given  to  a  court  turned  with 

extensive  criminal  authority  in  various  European  countries; 
especiall]  instituted  to  inquire  into  offences  against  the  estab- 
lished religion.  The  first  of  these  tribunals  of  faith  was  that 
e  tablisbi  3  In  Che  south  of  France  after  the  conquest  of  the 
AJbigeios  in  Che  13th  century.  They  were  established  in 
Spain  in  the  middle  of  the  same  century,  nol  without  much 

Opposition  On  the  |>:> rt  of  the  bishops  and  secular  clergy,  w  ho, 
in  Castile,  long  maintained  their  exclusive  spiritual  jurisdic- 
tion.    In  1840,  the  supreme  general  inquisition  was  founded 


INSANITY. 

at  Seville  by  Queen  Isabella,  with  the  aid  of  the  Cardinal 
Pedro  Gonzalez  de  Mendoza.  This  great  court,  commonly 
known  by  the  name  of  the  Holy  Office,  had  far  more  exten- 
sive authority  than  those  local  tribunals  of  the  same  name 
which  had  previously  been  established.  Thomas  de  Tor- 
quemada,  prior  of  a  Dominican  convent,  was  its  first  presi- 
dent, with  the  title  of  inquisitor-general.  The  process  of 
the  inquisition  was  widely  different  from  that  of  all  other 
courts  of  justice.  The  kings  named  the  grand  inquisitor, 
who  appointed  his  assessors,  some  of  whom  were  secular, 
but  the  greater  part  regular  ecclesiastics:  the  counsellors 
were  six  or  seven  in  number,  of  whom  one,  by  the  ordnance 
of  Philip  III.,  must  be  a  Dominican.  A  party  who  was 
brought  under  cognizance  of  the  court  by  secret  accusation 
was  immediately  seized  by  its  officers  (termed  officials  or 
familiars),  and  his  property  put  under  sequestration.  If  the 
accused  was  fortunate  enough  to  absent  himself,  and  did  not 
appear  at  the  third  summons,  he  was  excommunicated,  and 
in  some  cases  burnt  in  effigy.  The  subsequent  process  of 
the  court  by  imprisonment,  secret  examination,  and  torture, 
is  well  known.  Penitent  offenders  were  subjected  to  im- 
prisonment, scourging,  confiscation,  and  legal  infamy.  Those 
convicted,  who  were  sentenced  to  death,  were  burnt  at  the 
Autos  da  Fe,  which  usually  take  place  on  some  Sunday 
between  Trinity  and  Advent.  During  the  18th  century,  the 
chief  officers  of  the  inquisition  were  for  the  most  part  men 
of  intelligence  and  moderation,  and  its  proceedings  chieffy 
directed  against  parties  guilty  of  such  offences  against  de- 
cency or  religion  as  would  have  been  punishable  in  most 
European  countries,  although  not  by  an  equally  arbitrary 
process.  But  there  were  exceptions  to  this  general  charac- 
ter; and  by  the  provincial  courts  of  inquisition,  of  which 
Spain  contained  sixteen,  some  acts  of  barbarous  injustice 
were  committed.  According  to  a  common  calculation,  340,000 
persons  had  been  punished  by  the  inquisition  from  1481  to 
1808,  of  whom  nearly  32,000  were  burnt.  In  that  year  it 
was  abolished  by  Napoleon.  It  was  afterwards  re-estab- 
lished by  Ferdinand  III.  in  1814;  but  having  been  again 
abrogated  by  the  Cortes  in  1820,  it  has  not  been  since  recon- 
stituted. In  Portugal,  the  supreme  court  of  inquisition  was 
established  in  1557.  Its  history  in  many  respects  resembles 
that  of  the  Spanish  court;  but  in  the  eighteenth  century  its 
power  was  greatly  curtailed  by  ordinances  which  required  a 
certain  degree  of  publicity  in  its  procedure.  It  was  abolish- 
ed by  the  Cortes  of  1821.  There  were  courts  of  inquisition 
in  various  southern  provinces  of  France,  the  principal  that 
of  Languedoc,  established  at  Toulouse,  which  was  first 
founded  after  the  war  against  the  Albigeois ;  but  their  power 
was  limited  not  long  after  their  creation,  and  fell  into  desue- 
tude long  before  their  final  abolition.  In  several  Italian 
states  courts  of  inquisition  have  been  established ;  but  the 
institution  has  never  taken  much  hold  on  the  sentiments  or 
habits  of  the  people  of  that  country.  It  was  restored  at 
Rome  by  Pius  VII.  after  the  expulsion  of  the  French,  but 
had  jurisdiction  only  over  the  faith  and  conduct  of  the  cler- 
gy. Several  well-known  histories  of  the  inquisition  have 
been  published,  particularly  that  of  Limbosch.  The  reader 
may  also  consult  Jlloskeim,  vol.  iii. ;  PrescotVs  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella  ;  Quart.  Rev.,  vol.  Iv. ;  L/orentc's  Hist,  of  the 
Inquisition. 

INSANITY.     See  Lunacy,  Madness. 

INSCRI'BED  FI'GURE.  In  Geometry,  a  circle  is  said 
to  be  inscribed  in  a  triangle  when  it  touches  each  of  the 
three  sides  of  the  triangle.  In  like  manner,  it  is  inscribed  in 
a  polygon  when  it  touches  all  the  sides  of  the  polygon.  A 
triangle  or  polygon  is  inscribed  in  a  circle  when  each  of  the 
angles  of  the  figure  stands  on  the  periphery  of  the  circle.  It 
is  a  very  obvious  but  remarkable  property,  that  the  area  of 
a  triangle  is  equal  to  the  product  of  the  radius  of  the  inscri- 
bed circle  into  half  the  perimeter  of  the  triangle. 

INSCRI'PTION.  In  Numismatics,  words  placed  in  the 
middle  of  the  reverse  side  of  some  coins  and  medals.  See 
Numismatics. 

INSECTA.     See  Entomology. 

INSECTI'VORA.  (Lat.  insecta,  insects,  and  voro,  I  de- 
vour.) The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Zoophagous  Mammals,  com- 
prehending those  which  live  wholly  or  chiefly  on  insects ; 
also  of  an  order  of  birds  in  the  ornithological  system  of  Tem- 
minck. 

INSE'RTED  COLUMN.  In  Architecture,  one  standing, 
or  appearing  to  stand,  partly  in  a  wall. 

INSE'RTION  is  a  term  employed  in  Botany  to  denote  the 
manner  in  which  one  part  grows  out  of  another.  It  was  in- 
vented at  a  time  when  the  laws  of  vegetable  structure  were 
unknown,  and  it  was  supposed  that  bodies  that  really  grow 
from  each  other  were  inserted  into  each  other.  Thus  sta- 
mens said  to  be  inserted  into  a  calyx  are  in  reality  stamens 
that  adhere  to  the  sides  of  a  calyx. 

INSESSO'RES.  (Lat.  insideo,  /  sit.)  A  name  by  which 
Mr.  Vigors  has  designated  his  second  order  of  birds,  inclu- 
ding the  Passeres  and  Scansores  of  Cuvier;  and  which  C. 
Bonaparte  applies  to  a  primary  division  of  birds  in  his  Sys- 


INSTITUTIONS. 

tema  Vertebrctorum,  including  the  Passeres,  Sca7isores,  and 
Jlccipitres  of  Cuvier.  As  the  term  signifies  those  birda 
which  perch,  it  is  applicable  to  numerous  species  belonging 
to  Linnsan  and  Cuvierian  orders  not  yet  included  by  later 
innovations  under  the  term  of  Perchers  or  Inscssores. 

INSOLA'TION,  or  SCORCHING.  A  local  disease  of 
plants,  attributable  to  exposure  to  too  bright  a  light,  which 
causes  an  excessively  rapid  evaporation,  the  effect  of  which 
is  to  kill  the  part  in  which  the  evaporation  takes  place. 

INSO'LVENCY.  In  Law,  the  inability  of  an  individual 
not  engaged  in  trade  to  pay  his  debts.  The  insolvency  of  a 
trader  is  called  Bankruptcy,  which  see.  Several  statutes 
have  been  enacted  successively  for  the  relief  of  insolvent 
debtors,  by  releasing  them  from  imprisonment  on  surren- 
der of  the  whole  of  their  effects  to  their  creditors.  Their 
provisions  were  consolidated  in  the  last  general  insolvent 
act  (7  Geor.  4,  c.  57),  and  are  now  materially  modified 
by  the  Act  for  abolishing  Arrest  on  Mesne  Process  (1  & 
2  Victor.,  c.  110).  The  Insolvent  Court  consists  of  four 
commissioners  and  other  officers ;  and  is  a  court  of  record, 
with  power  to  examine  witnesses,  compel  attendance,  &c. 
The  courthouse  is  in  London  (Portugal-street) ;  but  single 
commissioners  make  circuits  three  times  a  year  through 
England  and  Wales.  The  court  proceeds  upon  petition 
from  prisoners  in  actual  custody ;  or,  if  the  prisoner  do  not 
pray,  on  petition  from  a  creditor.  An  order  is  then  made 
vesting  the  prisoner's  estate  and  effects  in  the  provisional 
assignee  of  the  court ;  which,  however,  is  void  if  the  petition 
be  dismissed.  The  duty  of  the  provisional  assignee  is  to  re- 
ceive and  dispose  of  the  property,  and  account  for  the  prod- 
uce to  the  court.  Other  assignees  are  afterwards  appointed 
by  the  court,  in  whom  the  property  vests,  who  must  former- 
ly have  been  creditors ;  but  this  appears  to  be  no  longer  ne- 
cessary. The  insolvent  delivers  into  court  a  schedule, 
which  must  contain  a  full  account  of  his  property.  The  pe- 
tition is  then  heard  ;  and  at  the  hearing,  creditors  may  oppose 
the  discharge  and  compel  a  full  investigation  of  the  prison- 
er's accounts.  The  court  may  order  the  discharge  either 
forthwith,  or  may  remand  him  for  a  discretionary  period, 
but  not  exceeding  three  years,  if  any  frauds  or  malpractices 
on  his  part  with  reference  to  the  state  of  his  affairs  should 
be  detected.  The  insolvent  then  executes  a  warrant  of  at- 
torney for  the  amount  of  his  debts  which  the  distribution  of 
his  property  is  inadequate  to  cover,  and  other  modes  are 
provided  by  which  his  future  property  may  be  made  availa- 
ble for  his  creditors.  It  has  long  been  proposed,  and  is  now 
under  contemplation  (1840),  to  unite  the  bankrupt  and  insol- 
vent courts. 

LNSPIRA'TION.  (Lat.  in,  and  spiro,  /  breathe.)  The 
act  of  drawing  air  into  the  lungs.     See  Respiration. 

Inspira'tion.     See.  Revelation. 

INSTALLATION.  (Modern  Lat.  in,  and  stallum,  a 
seat.)  A  name  applied  to  the  ceremony  of  instating  persons 
in  honours  or  dignities;  as  a  knight  of  the  Garter  in  the 
chapel  of  St.  George  at  Windsor;  a  chancellor  in  a  univer- 
sity; or  a  dean,  prebendary,  or  other  ecclesiastical  dignitary 
in  the  stall  of  the  cathedral  to  which  he  belongs. 

I'NSTANT.  (Lat.)  A  part  of  time  or  duration  in  which 
no  succession  is  perceived.  There  are  three  kinds  of  in- 
stants distinguished  by  the  schoolmen  ;  a  temporary,  a  natu- 
ral, and  a  rational  instant.  The  first  is  a  part  of  time  imme- 
diately preceding  another;  the  second  is  what  is  otherwise 
termed  a  priority  of  nature,  which  obtains  in  things  subordi- 
nated in  acting,  as  first  and  second  causes,  or  causes  and 
their  effects;  and  the  third  is  not  any  real  instant,  but  a 
point  which  the  understanding  conceives  to  have  existed 
before  some  other  instant,  founded  on  the  nature  of  the 
tilings  which  cause  it  to  be  conceived. 

INSTA'NTIjE  CRUCIS.  In  Philosophy,  crucial  instan- 
ces or  examples ;  a  phrase  invented  by  the  fancy  of  Bacon. 
The  use  of  crucial  examples  or  experiments  is  to  facilitate 
the  process  of  induction.  For  example,  A  and  B,  two  differ- 
ent causes,  may  produce  a  certain  number  of  similar  effects; 
find  some  effect  which  the  one  produces  and  the  other  does 
not,  and  this  will  point  out,  as  the  direction-post  at  a  point 
where  two  highways  meet  (crux),  which  of  these  causes 
may  have  been  in  operation  in  any  particular  instance. 
Thus,  for  example,  many  of  the  symptoms  of  the  Oriental 
plague  are  common  to  other  diseases ;  but  when  the  obser- 
ver discovers  the  peculiar  bubo  or  boil  of  the  complaint,  he 
has  an  instantia  crucis,  which  directs  him  immediately  to 
its  discovery.  (See,  among  other  commentaries  on  Bacon, 
Plaufnir's  Introduction,  and  Ed.  Rev.,  vol.  xxxvi.) 

INSTINCT.     See  Reason. 

I'NSTITLTTE.  The  principal  philosophical  and  literary 
society  of  France,  formed  in  1795  by  the  union  of  four  acad- 
emies'. (.Sec  Academy.)  Institute  is  applied  also  to  sev- 
eral works  imbodying  the  principles  of  Roman  law ;  of 
these  the  chief  are  those  of  Justinian  and  Gaius. 

INSTITU'TIONS.  (Lat.  instituo,  /  instruct.)  In  Liter- 
ature, a  term  denoting  originally  a  svstem  of  the  elements  or 
rules  of  any  art  or  science,  but  signifying  in  a  more  compre- 

605 


INSTRUMENT,  MUSICAL. 

henstve  sense  all  associations  formed  for  the  improvement 
of  society  at  large,  ot  the  parties  immediately  concerned,  by 
whatever  name  they  arc  designated,  t>r  to  whatever  object 
the  labours  of  the  members  are  directed.  institutions  form- 
ed for  tli''  promotion  of  learning  or  science  have  been  dis- 
tinguished by  the  name  of  academies  or  societies,  ami  ass.v- 

etations   constituted  tor   commercial   purposes   are   usually 

styled  companies ;  while  those  formed  tor  ether  purposes 
have  various  designations,  or   have   some  epithet   prefixed 

descriptive  of  their  character. 

I'NSTRUMENT,  MUSICAL.  A  musical  instrument  is 
one  for  the  production  of  musical  sounds,  either  by  percus- 
sion, wind,  the  drawing  a  how  across  strings,  or  the  produc- 
tion of  sound  from  the  vibration  of  the  strings  by  pulling  or 
pinching  them  transversely,  as  in  the  harp  or  guitar. 

I'NSULATED.  (Lot  insula,  nti  island.)  In  Architec- 
ture, a  term  implying  that  the  building  to  which  it  is  applied 
is  detached  from  any  other.  Thus  a  church  is  said  to  he 
insulated  when  it  adjoins  no  other  building;  so  also  a  col- 
umn is  said  to  he  insulated  when  standing  cut  free  from  a 
wall  :  hence  the  columns  of  peripteral  temples  are  insulated. 

INSULA'TIONT.  A  body  is  said  to  be  insulated  which, 
containing  a  quantity  of  free  caloric,  or  the  electric  fluid,  is 
surrounded  by  non-conductors,  and  the  communication  with 
other  bodies  thereby  cut  oil'.    See  Electricity. 

INSU'RANCE.  A  contract  of  indemnity,  whereby  the 
insurer,  in  consideration  of  a  certain  premium,  undertakes 
to  indemnify  the  insured  against  loss  arising  by  the  occur- 
ring of  a  contingent  event ;  such  as  the  destruction  id'  houses 
by  tire,  the  loss  of  ships  at  sea,  the  failure  of  crops  through 
the  inclemency  of  the  seasons. 

Insurance  is  sometimes  synonymously  used  with  assu- 
i  hi  the  latter  term  is  now  more  frequently  applied 
to  one  particular  class  of  contracts,  namely,  those  which 
depend  on  the  continuance  or  failure  of  human  life,  while 
insurance  is  applied  to  risks  of  all  other  kinds.  For  the  ex- 
planation of  the  principles  on  which  life  assurances  are  cal- 
culated, see  Assikance. 

In  all  cases  of  insurance,  the  first  thing  to  he  determined 
is  the  degree  of  probability  that  the  event  under  considera- 
tion will  take  place:  but  it  seldom  if  ever  happens  that  this 
is  known  with  any  moderate  degree  of  precision.  Even  in 
the  commonest  cases,  it  is  perhaps  altogether  impossible  to 
procure  the  data  necessary  for  the  accurate  determination 
of  this  element  Suppose,  for  example,  an  insurance  is  to 
be  effected  on  a  ship  bound  on  a  voyage  to  China:  in  what 
manner  is  the  probability  of  its  reaching  its  destination  in 
safety  to  he  determined  ?  Even  if  an  accurate  account  had 
been  kept  of  all  the  voyages  made  during  a  century,  and 
the  number  of  successful  as  well  as  the  number  of  unsue- 
■  <  ful  ones  were  precisely  known,  the  data  would  still  he 
very  insufficient  for  determining  the  risk  of  the  loss  of  any 
individual  vessel.  The  loss  of  a  ship  is  not  a  simple  event 
like  the  turning  up  of  a  number  on  the  face  of  a  die.  The 
greater  or  less  prevalence  of  hurricanes  at  the  season  of  the 
year  when  the  voyage  is  to  be  made;  the  strength  of  the 
ship  and  sufficiency  i  i  its  erpiipment;  the  skill  of  the  com- 
monder,  and  the  character  and  discipline  of  the  crew — are 
all  elements  materially  affecting  the  risk,  but  which  it  is 
impossible  to  reduce  to  numerical  values  and  precise  calcu- 
lation. All,  therefore,  that  can  he  done  is  to  adopt  certain 
mean  or  average  values,  deduced  from  observations  of  the 
fate  of  vessels  in  circumstances  not  indeed  precisely  the 
same,  but  having  some  degree  of  similarity.  To  the  insurer, 
if  he  sufficiently  multiplies  his  adventures,  the  result  will 
t»o  the  some  in  the  long  run  as  If  he  had  a  more  accurate 
appreciation  of  the  separate  influences  of  which  the  proba- 
bility of  the  safe  arrival  of  a  vessel  at  a  given  port  is  com- 
posed ;  but  the  evil  which  results  from  this  deficient  knowl- 
edge of  facts  is.  that  the  owner  of  a  good  ship,  by  paying  the 
same  premium  for  insurance  as  the  owner  of  a  bail  one.  is 

charged  for  indemnification  against  a  risk  which  be  really 
does  not  run  :  and  hence  the  motives  for  improving  the  con- 
struction of  vessels  are  not  only  destroyed,  but  it  even  be- 
comes an  object  of  pecuniary  interest  to  expend  in  their 
equipment  nothing  beyond  what  is  necessary  to  give  them 

that  moderate  degr f  goodness  or  sea  worthiness  which 

suffices  to  render  them  insurable  on  the  ordinary  terms. 
This  system,  however  much  it  is  to  be  deprecated,  is  rather 

advantageous  than  Otherwise  to  the  underwriters  or  insu- 
rers; because  their  premiums  are  charged  in  proportion  and 
it  renders  insurance  more  necessary  :  the  pecuniary  loss  falls 
ultimately  on  the  million  who  consume  the  merchandise; 
and  as  to  the  loss  id'  human  lite,  that  consideration  will 

probably  operate  as  a  check  to  cupidity  only  m  so  far  as  it 
may  tend  to  raise  the  wages  of  seamen. 

With  respect  to  insurances  against  lire,  the  exact  appro 
elation  of  the  risk  is  not  less  difficult  than  in  the  case  oi' 

marine  insurances;  but  mathematical  niielv  on  tins  subject 
is  of  little  importance,  for  the  amount  of  experience  aflbrdt  d 
bj  the  general  prevalence  of  the  practice,  and  the  competi- 
tion which  exists  among  Uie  numerous  rival  companies, 
606 


INTEGRAL  CALCULUS. 

have  probably  had  the  effect  of  adjusting  the  premium  to 
the  average   risk  with  all  the  accuracy  which  is  practically 

attainable.    1  he  premium  charged  bj  "the  London  offices  for 

insuring  property  of  the  value  of  X'100  tor  a  year  is  one  shil- 
ling and  sixpence,  which  corresponds  to  an  average  annual 
loss  of  nearly  one  in  1300;  but  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the 
sum  which  is  charged  as  premium  is  proved  to  be  sufficient 

not  only  to  cover  the  losses,  but  also  to  defray  the  expenses 
of  the  establishment,  and  to  afford  an  adequate  interest  on 
the  amount  of  the  capital  laid  out  or  risked  by  the  insurance 
company.  Notwithstanding  the  extent  to  which  the  prac- 
tice of  insuring  is  now  carried,  it  is  probable  that  it  Would 
be  still  more  general  were  it  not  for  the  circumstance  that 
the  government  imposes  a  lax  on  the  transaction  of  three 
shillings  per  annum  for  each  X'100  insured,  which  is  double 
the  amount  of  the  premium  charged  by  the  insurer.  In 
1837,  the  government  duty  on  insurances  amounted  to 
£863,106  12*.  'ill.,  which  supposes  the  value  of  the  property 
insured  in  that  year  to  have  been  upwards  of  .">?">  millions. 

The  characteristic  property  of  insurances,  of  whatever 
nature,  is  their  tendency  to  reduce  to  a  certain  average  val- 
ue the  prolils  or  advantages  arising  from  all  speculations  of 
the  same  kind,  however  great  the  number  may  be.  The 
gain  which  the  insurer  makes  on  his  successful  speculations 
indemnifies  him  for  the  loss  he  sustains  by  those  which  are 
unsuccessful ;  and  to  the  insured  the  result  is  the  same  as  if 
they  had  paid  their  premiums  into  a  common  fund,  and 
agreed  to  make  good  to  each  other  their  individual  losses. 
The  insurers  are  only  the  intermediate  agents  of  this  sup- 
posed association,  ami  their  profits  maj  be  regarded  simply 
as  the  salary  of  their  functions.  If  other  means  exist  of 
dividing  the  risks,  insurance  becomes  unnecessary.  A  mer- 
cantile company  employing  a  very  great  number  of  ships,  or 
taking  part  in  a  very  great  number  of  enterprises,  would 
derive  no  benefit  from  insurance.  The  loss  on  those  which 
are  unsuccessful  is  compensated  by  the  premiums  saved  on 
the  whole ;  in  fact  the  company  acts  as  insurer  to  itself. 
Oh  this  principle  the  government  neither  insures  vessels  be- 
longing  to  the  royal  navy  nor  public  buildings. 

LN'TA'GLIO.  (It.  hitagliare,  to  cut  in.)  In  Sculpture 
ami  Gem  Sculpture,  a  stone  or  gem  in  which  the  subject  is 
hollowed  out  so  that  an  impression  from  it  would  present 
the  appearance  of  a  has  relief. 

['NTEGER.  ('-at.  entire.)  In  Arithmetic,  a  whole 
number,  as  opposed  to  a  fractional  number,  or  a  mixed 
number. 

I'NTEGRAL  CALCULUS.  The  branch  of  mathemati- 
cal analysis  which  treats  of  the  processes  by  which  a  func- 
tion may  he  found  such  that  its  differential  shall  be  a  given 
quantity.  By  English  writers  this  function  used  to  be  de 
nominated  the  fluent  01  flowing  quantity  ;  and  the  method  of 
finding  it  was  called  the  inverse  method  of  fluxions.  For- 
eign mathematicians,  who  adopted  tin-  views  and  notation 
of  Leibnitz,  have  called  it  the  integral  or  sum  of  the  pro- 
posed differential ;  and  this  phraseology  is  now  universally 
adopted  by  the  mathematicians  of  our  own  country. 

The  method  by  which  the  integral  of  a  proposed  differen- 
tial quantity  is  to  he  found  is,  generally  speaking,  neither 
obvious  nor  capable  of  being  reduced  to  fixed  and  general 
rules.  When  an  integral  is  proposed,  its  differential  may 
always  be  found  by  general  rules;  but  there  is  no  direct 
method  of  returning  from  the  differentia]  to  the  integral  :  the 
analyst  can  only  compare  the  differential  expression  which 
is  to  be  integrated  with  the  differentials  of  known  quantities, 
and  from  such  comparison  infer  the  form  of  the  correspond- 
ing integral.  The  principal  art  employed  in  the  Integral  cal- 
culus consists  in  transforming  the  proposed  functions  into 
expressions  which  are  known  to  be  the  differentials  of  given 
quantities. 

In  order  to  denote  the  integral  of  a  quantity,  the  symbol 

/  (originally  S.  the  initial  letter  of  the  word  sum)  is  em- 
ployed. Thus  /  X  d  x  denotes  the  integral  of  the  differen- 
tial' Xdx.        J 

I.  To  begin  with  the  simplest  cases — Let  it  he  pro]>osed  to 
integrate  the  expression  z'"  d  x,  or  to  find  the  function  deno- 
ted by  /  xm  d  x.  It  has  been  shown,  under  the  term  Dif- 
ferential Calculus,  that  the  differential  of  a  quantity  xa 
is  n  xo  —  I  d  x  :  thai  is  to  say.  d  z*>  =  ?i  x"  —  1  d  x.  Let  n 
=  m  -f-  1,  and  this  becomes  i/'jin-j-lr  (m  -\- 1)  x">  d  x  ; 
d  •  xm-U  i 

w  heme  we  have  i»  d  x  = ~ — I  or,  as  the  constant 

m  + 1 
quantity  (jn  -f-  1)  does  not  affect  the  differentiation,  arm  d  i 

2-ni  -4-  1 

=  d  • J—.    But  as  the  integral  of  an  expression  d  ■  V  is 

in  -\-  I 

evidently  P,  the  equation  gives,  on  integrating  both  members, 
2-m  -J-  I 

From  this  we  derive  the  following 


/- 


i"iiii  =  ' 


m  -f-  1 
general  ru'e  for  integrating  a  differential  of  one  term:  In 


INTEGRAL  CALCULUS. 


crease  Hie  exponent  of  the  variable  quantity  by  unity,  and 
then  divide  by  the  new  exponent  and  by  d  x. 

It  is  necessary,  however,  to  remark,  that  the  integral  thus 
formed  may  either  be  the  expression  from  which  the  differ- 
ential xm  d  x  was  derived,  or  it  may  be  that  expression  in- 
creased or  diminished  by  any  constant  quantity.  For  the 
differential  of  a  z5  being  5  a  z4  d  x,  and  of  a  x$  -4-  b  being 
also  5  a  x4  d  x  (b  being  any  constant  quantity  whatever) ;  it 
follows  that  if  we  have  to  integrate  the  expression  5  a  x±  d 
x,  the  integral  will  be  incomplete,  unless  we  add  to  it  a 
quantity  which,  though  indeterminate,  does  not  change  its 
value  with  the  variation  of  x.    We  have,  therefore,  in  gen- 

/X">  X1 
z"  d  x  —  — , 1-  C,  where  C  is  a  quantity,  posi- 
m  +  1 
tive  or  negative,  the  particular  value  of  which  remains  to 
be  determined  by  the  nature  of  the  problem  under  consider- 
ation. This  quantity,  C,  which  is  necessary  in  order  to 
complete  the  integral,  was  denominated  by  the  older  Eng- 
lish writers  the  correction  of  the  fluent;  in  the  language  of 
modern  analysts,  it  is  the  arbitrary  constant. 

2.  The  differential  of  a  polynomial  being  composed  of 
the  sum  of  the  differentials  of  its  terms  taken  separately, 
the  integral  of  a  polymonial  is  in  like  manner  formed  by 
adding  into  one  sum  the  integrals  of  its  component  terms. 

Thus, 
f                                                                              cin-l 
/  (a  dx-\~b  xdx  —  czndz)  =  az-f-£6  z2- -f-  C ; 

and  one  constant  is  only  necessary,  for  the  sum  of  the  con- 
stants which  arise  from  the  integration  of  the  separate  terms 
may  evidently  be  represented  by  a  single  letter.  In  the 
same  manner,  the  integral  of  a  function  having  the  form 
(a  +  b  x  +  c  x2)n  may  be  found  when  n  is  a  whole  positive 
number,  it  being  only  necessary  to  raise  the  root  to  the  power 
denoted  by  n. 

d  x 

3.  By  the  differential  calculus,  d  •  log.  x  =  — .     When 

x 
any  differential   expression,  therefore,  can  be  reduced  to 
this  form,  its  integral  will  be  found  by  means  of  a  loga- 
rithm.   Thus  supposing  it  were  required  to  find  the  integral 

ad  x  d  z 

of       ,   ,    .    Suppose  a  4-  b  x  =  z,  and  we  have  «i=  -r. 

a  +  bx  lr  '  b 

Substitute  this  in  the  given  expression,  and  we  have  — — —  = 

a-\-bx 
adz     _       /'adz       a      rd  z       a,  .     _        ... 

.— .    But/— — =7-    / =-rloe.  z  4-  C ;  which,  on 

b  z  J    b  z         b   J     z         b 

writing  for  z  its  value,  becomes  -  log.  (a  +  b  x)  -\-  C. 

4.  An  extensive  class  of  differential  expressions,  of  very 
frequent  occurrence  in  the  solution  of  problems,  is  integrated 
by  means  of  circular  arcs.  Let  x  be  the  sign  of  an  arc  z,  we 
have  then  i  =  sin.  z ;  and  by  the  differential  calculus  d  z  = 

d  x 

cos.  zdz,  whence  d  z  =  ■ .    But,  by  the  properties  of  the 

cos.  z 
trigonometrical  lines,  cos.  2z  +  sin.  "z  =  1 ;  whence  cos.  z 
—  ,/l  —  sin.  2 z,  or  cos.  z  ==  y/1  —  z2  ;  consequently  (!:  = 
d  x 

2.    Transposing  the  terms  of  this  equation  and  tor 

n     dx 
tegrating,  we  find  /  /   g  =  z  -f-  C,  z  being  an  arc  of 

which  the  sine  is  x.    Whenever,  therefore,  an  expression 
d  x 


occurs  of  the  form 


vr 


z  we  know  that  its  integral,  though 


it  cannot  be  expressed  generally  in  numbers  when  a  numer- 
ical value  is  given  to  x,  is  represented  by  means  of  an  arc 
of  a  circle. 

d  x 

=7  is  reducible  to  the  same  form; 


The  expression     ,~2- 


for,  on  dividing  the  numerator  and  denominator  by  a,  or 
d  x  d  u 

"z5      y/l  —  u2  ' 


•v/a2,  and  making  -  =  u,  we  get   -  — 
a  V>~ 


and 


~     du 

J  -J\  —  u-i~ 


arc  of  which  the  sine  is  u,  or  -.    The 


constant  C  in  the  present  case  is  zero,  for  the  arc  and  its 
sine  both  vanish  together. 

Let  us  suppose,  in  the  second  place,  x  =  cos.  z.    By  dif- 
ferentiating, we  find  ii  =  —  sin.  zdz;  whence  d  z  = 
dx 


d  x 


d  x 


sin.  z  v^i  —  cos.  2z  v  1 - 

d  x 


integrating  as  before,  /  - 


—2.     Transposing  and 
;  =  z  +  C,  z  being  the 


arc  whose  cosine  is  x.    In  this  case,  the  constant  C  must  be 
determined  from  this  consideration  that  when  the  cosine  of 


an  arc  is  0,  the  arc  itself  is  equal  to  a  quadrant.    Supposing, 

then,  z  =  0,  and  consequently  — -==zzzzz  —  0,  and  denoting 

vl-  z2 
the  semicircumference  as  usual  by  tt,  the  integral  becomes 
0  =  4  t  +  C  ;  whence  C  =  —  \  tt.    Substituting  this  value  of 

-,  we  get,/  —  ^— — -  =  z  —  i  tt  =  —  (A  tt  —  z). 

Lastly,  let  us  suppose  z  =s  tang.  z.  The  differential  of 
the  tangent  of  an  arc  is  equal  to  the  differential  of  the  arc 

divided  by  the  square  of  the  cosine.    Hence  d  x  =      dz    ■ 

cos.  2z ' 

and,  therefore,  d  z  =  d  x  cos.  2z.    But  cos.  z  = — -—  ; 

sec.  z 
,  .  dx  d  x  dx 

whence  d  z  = —  =  — — — -  =  — . — -.    Transpc- 

sec.  2  z       1  +  tan.  2  z       1  +  x- 

sing  and  passing  to  the  integral,  we  have   /   =  z  + 

J      1  +  X' 

C.  In  this  case,  as  the  arc  and  its  tangent  vanish  together, 
C  =  0 ;   therefore  /  ■=— j- — -„  =  arc  whose  tangent  is  x. 

To  this  form  we  may  reduce  the  expression  /      .,    , — g. 

Divide  the  terms  by  a2,  and  make  -  =  u;  it  then  become* 
a 

/l        d  u  1     f  d  u  ,  r  d  x         1 

-  •  rr i — 1»  or  —   li— i — ^ ;  whence  1-^—. — „  =  -  x  arc 
a    l  +  u-        ajl  +  u-  J  d*  +  x~      a. 

,  .   x 

whose  tangent  is  - . 

a 

5.  In  transforming  differentia,  expressions  into  others  of 
which  the  integrals  are  known,  it  is  frequently  very  con- 
venient to  employ  an  artifice  which  is  usually  termed  inte- 
gration by  parts.    This  consists  in  making  an  integral  of  the 

form  J  v  d  u  depend  on  another  of  the   form    /  u  d  v. 

Thus,  by  the  differential  calculus,  d(uv)=^udv-\-vdu; 

transposing  and  integrating,  we  get  /  u  d  v  =:  u  v  —  f  v 

d  u,  which  is  the  formula  by  which  the  artifice  in  question  in 
accomplished.  As  an  example,  let  it  be  proposed  to  find  in 
this  manner  the  integral  fxm  d  x.     Make  i™  =  «,  and  d  x 

=  d  v ;  we  have  then  s  =  i,iu  =  iiiii  =  i»i-)-!liiu=: 
m  x  ">  —  1  d  x,  and  !)dii  =  mi"iiii.  Substituting  these 
expressions  in  the  formula  /  u  dv  —  v.  v  —  fvdu,  it  be- 
comes /  i»(ii  =  ini  +  I  —  /  m  xm  d  x;  whence  (since 
/  m  xuidx  =  m  f  x^dz)  we  have  by  transposing  (1  -f  m) 

hich 

is  the  same  expression  as  was  given  above.  It  may  be  re- 
marked, that  by  the  use  of  this  artifice,  the  integral  of  the 
pression  xm  d  z  has  been  found  by  differentiating  xm,  and 
making  the  substitutions  ordinarily  employed  in  common  al- 
gebra. 

Another  method  of  integration  consists  in  transforming 
the  given  expression  into  a  series,  and  taking  the  integrals 
of  the  several  terms  separately.  Let  it  be  proposed,  for  ex- 
ample, to  integrate  by  the  method  of  series  the  expression 

dx 

— 7— ,  which  is  the  differential  of  the  logarithm  of  (a  +  x). 
a-f-i 

d  x  1 

In  the  first  place,  — ; —  =  — r—  X  dx;  but  on  expanding 
o+  x      a-j-  x 

into  a  series  by  division,  we  have 

a  +  z 

I  1       x     .  x-      x3 

— r—  = 5  + ~3 T  +  &C.; 

a-\- x       a       a-       aJ       o* 
and  multiplying  both  sides  by  d  z,  and  integrating  by  the 
rules  already  explained,  we  find 


//•  zm+' 

zmdz  =  z™  + 1,  and,  therefore,  /  z"»  d  x  =  — — ,  w 
J  1  +  in 


f  dx 


z3 


tax         x         x'-     .    x°        „        ,    _ 
Ja-+-x=I-2a-2+^-^-  +  C' 
that  is  to  say, 

&c.+  C. 


log.  (a  -4-  z) : 


_jr2  z3 


2a2^3a3 

In  order  to  determine  the  constant,  suppose  z  =  0,  and  the 
expression  becomes  log.  a  =  C ;  whence,  substituting  Ihia 
value  of  C. 

log.  (a  +  z)  =  log.a  +  ^-^-2  +  ^3-&c.; 

a  series  by  which  the  logarithm  of  one  number  may  be  found 
from  another,  when  the  difference  between  them  is  small  in 

607 


INTEGRAL  CALCULUS. 


oomparison  of  the  latter  number;   or,  which  is  the  same 
thing,  when  the  series  converges  with  sufficient  rapidity. 
As  a  second  example  of  this  method,  let  the  proposed  dif- 
dz  1 

fcrenlial  be   — ; 1  or  — — ,  X  d  x. 

1  -j- 12        1  + xl 

In  this  case  we  have ,— j — -  =  1  —  x^A-x*  —  z6  +  &£m 
1  -\-  i* 

whence,  multiplying  by  d  x  and  integrating  the  terms, 

/•  dx  z3   ,  i5      z7 

dx 

But      .        is  the  differential  of  the  arc  whose  tangent  is  z  ; 

therefore, 

arc.  (tan.  =  z)=x-^+|-"  +  &c.+C. 

and  as  the  arc  and  its  tangent  both  vanish  together,  the  con- 
stant C  is  in  this  case  =  0. 

The  series  which  has  now  been  found  for  the  arc  in 
terms  of  the  tangent  converges  only  when  the  tangent  is 
less  than  radius,  or  when  x  is  less  than  unit ;  but  it  may  be 
put  under  a  form  which  will  be  convergent  when  x  is  great- 
er than  unit,  or  the  arc  greater  than  45°.    Thus,  the  series 

1  —  x-  +  z4  —  z*+  &c- 
was  obtained  by  dividing  1  by  1  +  x2 ;   but  if  instead  of 
dividing  by  1  +  x2,  we  divide  by  its  equal  z2  + 1,  we  shall  find 

_>_=I_2+i— I  +  fcc.; 
x2  -f- 1       z2       z4       z6       z& 
whence 

and  on  multiplying  each  term  of  the  second  member  by  d  x 
and  integrating, 

arc(tan.  =  z)=— I  + -L  _  J_  +  &C.  +  C. 
X        JiJ       5  xi 
In  order  to  find  the  constant,  we  cannot  in  this  case  suppose 
x  —  0,  for  on  this  supposition  the  second  member  of  the 
equation  is  infinite;  but  if  we  suppose  z  =  infinity,  the  arc 
becomes  a  quadrant,  or  A  t,  and  the  equation  becomes 

i-  =  0  +  C,  or  0  :=  —  |ir  +  C; 
and  subtracting  this  equation  from  the  former, 

arc  (tan.  =i)=i* \- =—.  — lr-_  + &.c. 

x       dx3       5  xS 

which  converges  the  more  rapidly  the  greater  we  assume 
the  value  of  z. 

The  preceding  examples  will  give  an  idea  of  the  method 
by  which  the  primitive  function  is  obtained  from  its  differ- 
ential ;  but  the  subject  is  of  by  far  too  extensive  and  abstruse 
a  nature  to  be  entered  into  at  any  length  in  this  place.  We 
shall,  therefore,  content  ourselves  with  indicating  some  of 
the  applications  of  the  integral  calculus  to  geometry. 

One  of  the  first  objects  to  which  the  new  calculus  was  ap- 
plied by  its  inventors  was  the  finding  of  the  quadratures,  or 
areas,  of  curve  lines,  and  their  rectification,  or  the  determi- 
nation of  the  lengths  of  their  arcs. 
Let  A  B  be  a  curve  referred  to  two  rectangular  co-ordi- 
nates O  X  and  O  Y  ;  let  E  and  F  be 
given  points  in  it ;  and  let  it  be  re- 
quired to  find  the  quadrature  of  the 
curvilinear  space  between  E  G  and  F 
H,  the  ordinates  passing  through  E 
and  F.  Through  P  any  point  of  the 
arc  E  F  draw  the  ordinate  P  Q.,  and 
also  p  q  indefinitely  near  to  P  O. ; 
then  the  space  F  Q,  q  p  is  the  differen- 
tial clement  of  the  area  G  E  P  Q,,  and 
the  area  itself  is  equal  to  the  sum  of 
all  the  differential  elements  taken  between  E  G  and  F  H. 
But  by  the  principles  of  the  differential  calculus  the  space 
P  G.  g  p  is  ultimately  (that  is,  when  U  </  is  less  than  any  as- 
signable quantity)  equal  to  the  rectangle  under  P  G  and  Q, 
q  ;  therefore,  making  as  usual  OQ  =  i,  Pft  =  y,  and  s  = 
Lite  area,  we  have  ds=-y  dx,  and  consequently  the  area  = 

t  =  /  y  d  x.     In  order  to  apply  this  formula,  it  is  necessary, 

in  the  first  place  to  determine  y  in  terms  of  z  by  means  of 
the  equation  of  the  given  curve. 

Suppose  the  given  curve  to  be  the  common  Apollonian 
parabola,  the  equation  of  which  is  yz  =a  z,  a  being  a  con- 
stant. From  this  equation  y  =  a-  z~,  and  consequently  ydx 
=  ch  z£  d  x ;  whence,  passing  to  the  integral  by  means  of 

/im+l  f   l     i 

zdi  d  x  =  — pi  +  C,  we  obtain  /  a- x~  dx  = 
m  -J-  1  ** 

3  o-  z^  +  C,  which,  on  substituting  for  a-  its  value  in  terms 
of  y,  becomes  §y  x  -f-  C.  'Phis  is  the  general  expression  for 
the  area  of  the  parabola;  to  determine  it  between  the  pro- 
posed limits  we  have  only  to  substitute  in  it  the  values  of  z 


and  y  at  those  limits.  At  the  point  E  it  becomes  3  O  G  •  GE 
+  C :  and  at  the  point  F  it  becomes  J  O  H •  HF-j-C.    Sub 

trading,  therefore,  the  first  of  these  from  the  second,  we 
have  the  space  G  E  F  II  =  5(0  H  ■  11  F  —  O  G  •  GE),  the 
indeterminate  C  being  eliminated  by  the  subtraction. 

From  this  example  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  space  repre- 
sented by  the  integral/  y  dx  is  the  increment  which  a  cer- 
tain area  receives  while  the  independent  variable  z  passes 
from  one  state  of  magnitude  to  another  ;  and  that  the  abBO 
lute  magnitude  which  represents  the  integral  cannot  be 
known  before  C  is  determined  or  eliminated  as  above.  For 
the  purpose  of  expressing  the  limits  within  which  the  inte- 
gral is  to  be  taken,  a  particular  notation  is  employed.  Let 
U  G  =  k,  and  OH  =  /;  then  it  is  usual  to  write 


area  GE 


FH  =  / 
J  I 


ydx, 


to  express  that  the  integral  includes  all  values  of  z,  from  z  = 
k  to  x=zl.  The  one  of  these  is  the  value  of  x  at  its  com- 
mencement, the  other  at  its  completion  ;  and  the  integral  it- 
self is  an  indeterminate  quantity  till  the  initial  and  final  val- 
ues of  z  are  assigned. 

The  rectification  of  curve  lines  is  another  of  the  earliest 
applications  of  the  integral  calculus.  To  rectify  a  curve, 
signifies  to  find  a  straight  line  equal  to  its  arc.  According 
to  the  principles  of  the  differential  calculus,  if  z  denote  the 
arc  of  a  curve,  then  d  z  =  y/d  z2  +  dy*\  consequently,  if 
the  value  of  d  y2  be  found  by  means  of  the  equation  of  any 
curve  in  terms  of  z  (or  that  of  d  x'2  in  terms  of  y)  and  substi- 
tuted in  this  equation,  the  radical  will  contain  only  one  va- 
riable, and  when  the  expression  is  capable  of  being  integra- 
ted, the  curve  is  rectifiable.  It  is,  however,  only  in  a  com 
paratively  small  number  of  cases  that  the  differential  of  the 
arc  of  a  curve  can  be  integrated  in  finite  terms. 

As  an  example,  let  us  take  the  circle,  the  equation  of 

which  is  xi  +  y2  =  a2,  reckoning  the  co-ordinates  from  the 

centre.     From  this  equation  y  =  ^/a2 — z2,  whence  dy  — 

—  zdx  a2  dx*        ,  .  adx         „ 

— ,  d  r2  J-  j ,f>  — ,.anddz  =  — r— ■     This 


expression  cannot  be  integrated  otherwise  than  by  an  infinite 
series.     We  have  already  seen  that  is  reducible  to  the  form 

z But  the  expression     ,-  expanded   by  the 

VI  — z2  Vl  —  xn- 

binominal  theorem,  gives 

whence,  multiplying  by  d  x  and  integrating  the  terms  sep- 
arately, 

r    dx  z3        1-3*5      1-3-5  z7 

J  vT^72  =  x  +  'F3  +  27475  +  iFT^ + *°- 

Now,  if  in  this  series  we  write  —for  x,  and  multiply  the 


whole  by  z,  we  shall  have 
adx  ,      z3 


1-3  z5 


1  •  3  •  5  xl 


&c. 


Jy/aT^l2~ '"~1~2-3a2  '  2-4  -5a<  T2'4-  6-7  a6  ' 
for  the  length  of  the  arc  of  the  circle  whose  radius  is  a  and 
absciss  z.  Suppose  z  =  o  =  1 ;  this  series  gives  for  the 
length  of  the  quadrant 

1.1-3.     1-3-5 


!  +  „-,  +  , 


.+:, 


y=  +  fcC. 


3   '  2-4-5  ' 2-4-6-7 

The  quadrature  and  rectification  of  the  circle  are  prob- 
lem* which  have  exercised  the  ingenuity  of  mathematicians 
ever  since  the  invention  of  the  science;  but  the  solution 
neither  of  the  one  nor  the  other  can  be  obtained  in  finite 
terms. 

The  application  of  the  integral  calculus  to  the  determina- 
tion of  the  volumes  and  surfaces  of  solids,  is  perfectly  anal- 
ogous to  the  determination  of  the  areas  and  arcs  of  plane 
curves.  Supposing  the  solid  to  be  generated  by  the  revolu- 
tion of  a  plane  curve  about  its  axis,  the  expression  for  its 

volume  bi  I  y2d z,  where  t,  is  the  semicircumference  of 
the  circle  win  si  radius  is  unit.  The  expression  for  its  sur- 
face is  2  7r  y  y/d  x2  -f-  d  y-.  In  these  expressions  the  values 
Of  11-,  n,  and  d  ij-  must  be  found  in  terms  of  1  from  the  equa- 
tion of  the  curve  by  the  revolution  of  which  the  solid  in 
formed;  and  when  the  values  thus  found  are  substituted, 
the  formula;  will  contain  no  other  variable  than  1. 

The  integral  calculus  also  affords  the  readiest,  and,  in 
general,  the  only  means  of  determining  the  centres  of  gravi- 
ty, of  oscillation,  gyration,  &.C. ;  and  is,  in  fact,  the  instru 
ment  by  which  mathematicians  have  succeeded  in  solving 
the  difficult  and  important  questions  of  dynamics  and  phy.-i- 
cal  astronomy,  and  in  ascertaining  the  laws  which  regulate 
the  motions  of  tho  material  world. 


INTEGRANT  PARTS. 

As  the  integral  calculus,  with  its  various  applications,  em- 
bodies almost  tiie  whole  of  mathematical  science,  the  trea- 
tises which  have  been  composed  to  explain  or  illustrate  its 
principles  are  by  far  too  numerous  to  be  mentioned  in  this 
place.  Almost  all  the  improvements  of  the  calculus  were 
first  given  in  the  form  of  Academical  Memoirs.  The  great 
repositories  in  which  it  is  contained  are  the  writings  of  New- 
ton, Cotes,  Demoivre,  the  Bemoullis,  Maclaurin,  Simpson, 
Euler,  D'Alembert,  Lagrange,  Laplace,  Legendre,  Monge, 
Poisson,  Gauss,  Ivory,  &c.  The  best  systematic  treatises 
are  Euler's  Calculus  Integrate,  in  4  vols.  4to.,  now  very 
scarce ;  and  Lacroix's  Traite  du  Calcul  Differential  ct  du 
Calcul  Integral,  in  3  vols.  4to.  Of  the  minor  works  we 
may  mention  Bossut's  Calcul  Differcntiel  et  Integral :  Bou- 
charlat;  Lacroix's  smaller  treatise,  translated  by  Babbage, 
Herschel,  and  Peacock ;  and  the  treatises  which  have  re- 
cently been  published  at  Cambridge,  particularly  those  of 
Hymer,  Peacock,  Mvers,  Hind,  &c. 

INTEGRANT  PARTS,  in  the  Corpuscular  Philosophy, 
are  the  small  parts  of  a  body,  by  the  aggregation  of  which 
it  may  he  conceived  to  be  formed.  Integrant  parts  result 
from  the  mechanical  division  of  a  body ;  constituent  parts 
from  its  chemical  decomposition. 

I'NTELLECT.    See  Understanding. 

INTE'NDANT.  (Lat.  intendo,  /  give  my  mind  toany 
thing.)  A  title  in  common  use  among  the  French,  applied 
to  persons  who  have  the  conduct,  inspection,  and  manage- 
ment of  any  office  or  function  ;  as  intendants  of  the  marine, 
of  the  finances,  of  provinces,  buildings,  houses,  &c,  which 
are  all  self-explanatory  terms. 

INTE'NTIONS,  FIRST  AND  SECOND.  A  distinction 
drawn  by  the  schoolmen  between  those  acts  of  thought 
which  relate  to  an  object  out  of  the  mind,  and  those  which 
consist  in  the  mind's  reflex  action  on  its  own  states  of  con- 
sciousness. Thus  the  generalizations  animal,  production, 
are  first  intentions  :  such  terms  as  abstraction,  inference, 
&c,  are  the  expression  of  second  intentions.  It  is  to  be  re- 
gretted that  this  distinction  is  disused  by  modern  inquirers, 
or  misunderstood  by  them,  as  in  particular  by  Whately. 
Great  ambiguity  might  be  avoided  in  philosophical  language 
were  it  closely  kept  in  view  ;  as  in  such  terms  ns  cause  and 
effect,  which  may  either  allude  to  a  connection  between 
natural  phenomena  in  themselves,  or  to  our  mode  of  view- 
ing them  derived  from  the  essential  laws  of  the  understand- 
ing. The  distinction  was  first  revived  in  the  present  centu- 
ry, in  a  learned  and  acute  review  of  VVhately's  Logic  con- 
tained in  the  115th  number  of  the  Edinburgh  Review. 

INTE'RCALARY  DAY.  (Lat.  calo,  /  call.  See  Cal- 
endar.) In  the  Calendar,  a  day  inserted  out  of  the  usual 
order  to  preserve  the  account  of  time.  Thus  every  fourth 
year  containing  366  days,  while  the  other  years  contain  only 
365,  one  of  the  months  in  that  year  must  have  an  addition- 
al day,  which  is  called  the  intercalary  day.  The  additional 
day  was  given  to  February,  as  being  the  shortest  month, 
anil  in  the  ancient  Roman  calendar  was  inserted  between 
the  24th  and  25th  days.  In  the  ecclesiastical  calendar  it 
still  retains  that  place ;  but  in  the  civil  calendar  it  is  the 
29th.     See  Bissextile. 

INTERCE'LLULAR  PASSAGES,  in  Vegetable  Anato- 
my, are  the  spaces  that  exist  between  the  cells,  tubes,  or 
vessels  of  which  the  tissue  of  a  plant  consists.  As  the 
cells  are  usually,  and  the  tubes  or  vessels  are  always  round, 
it  necessarily  follows  that  when  pressed  together  there  will 
be  spaces  left  between  their  sides. 

I'NTERCOLUMNIATION.  (Lat.  inter,  between,  and 
eolumna,  a  column.)  In  Architecture,  the  distance  between 
two  columns  measured  at  the  lower  parts  of  their  shafts. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  important  elements  in  architecture, 
and  on  it  depend  the  effect  of  the  columns  themselves,  their 
proportion,  and  the  harmony  of  an  edifice.  Intercolumina- 
tions  are  of  five  species,  viz.  Picnostylos,  Systylos,  Diasty- 
los,  Araostylos,  and  Eustylos  ;  under  which  several  terms 
in  this  work  they  are  defined,  and  to  them  die  reader  is  re- 
ferred. 

I'NTERCO'STAL.  (Lat.  inter,  and  costa,  a  rib.)  A 
term  applied  to  muscles  and  vessels  situated  between  the 
ribs. 

I'NTERDICT.  (Lat.)  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  spi- 
ritual weajxm  by  which  the  Popes  used  in  former  times  to 
reduce  individuals  or  whole  states  to  the  most  abject  sub- 
mission to  their  power.  In  the  middle  ages  it  was  the  most 
terrible  blow  which  could  be  inflicted  on  the  people  or  the 
prince.  When  an  interdict  was  laid  on  a  kingdom  all  spi- 
ritual services  ceased  ;  the  churches  were  shut  up ;  the  sa- 
craments were  no  longer  administered  ;  no  corpses  were 
buried  with  funeral  rites ;  and  all  the  ministry  of  the  church 
which  was  then  believed  to  be  the  only  channel  of  salva- 
tion was  forbidden  to  be  exercised.  The  first  memorable 
occasion  on  which  this  method  of  warfare  was  adopted 
was  the  marriage  of  King  Robert  of  France  with  Bertha 
his  cousin,  when  Gregory  V.  in  998  issued  interdicts  against 
the  whole  country,  and  compelled  the  sovereign  to  dissolve 


INTEREST. 

his  union.  It  had,  however,  been  often  used  before  by  bish- 
ops ;  an  instance  is  quoted  by  Moreri  as  early  as  A.D.  870. 
(See  Gicseler's  Text  Book,  ii.  117,  translation.)  The  ban 
under  which  England  was  laid  in  the  reign  of  John  by  In- 
nocent III.  is  well  known  in  the  history  of  tliis  country. 
The  latest  pretensions  to  the  exercise  of  this  power  were 
assumed  by  Pius  VII.,  when  he  issued  an  inefficient  decree 
against  Napoleon  in  1809. 

Interdict.  The  technical  term  in  Roman  law  for  a  de- 
cree of  the  praetor  concerning  the  acquisition,  retention,  or 
recovery  of  property.  For  an  elaborate  article  on  this  sub- 
ject see  the  Penny  Cyclopedia. 

I'NTEREST.  The  premium  or  sum  of  money  given  for 
the  loan  or  use  of  another  sum  of  money,  generally  estima- 
ted at  so  much  per  cent.,  or  per  100/.  The  sum  lent,  and 
for  which  interest  is  paid,  is  called  the  principal,  and  the 
sum  charged  as  interest  is  called  the  rate.  The  rate  will 
evidently  be  proportional  to  the  time  ;  for  whatever  interest 
is  paid  for  the  use  of  100/.  for  one  year,  twice  that  interest 
will  be  required  for  the  use  of  100/.  for  two  years.  The 
principal  added  to  the  interest,  or  the  whole  sum  paid  back 
to  the  lender,  is  called  the  amount. 

Interest  is  either  simple  or  compound.  Simple  interest  is 
that  which  is  reckoned  and  allowed  upon  the  principal  only 
during  the  whole  time  of  the  loan  ;  compound  interest  is 
reckoned  not  only  on  the  principal  sum  lent,  but  also  on  the 
interest  as  it  becomes  due.  It  is  convenient  to  treat  of  these 
separately. 

1.  Simple  Interest.— Lei  us  assume 

a  =  the  amount, 

p  =  the  principal  sum  lent, 

n  =  the  number  of  years  for  which  it  is  lent, 

r  =  the  rate,  or  interest  of  1/.  for  one  year. 
Now,  the  interest  of  XI  for  one  year  being  r,  the  interest 
of  p  pounds  for  one  year  is  p  r,  and  for  n  years  prn.  The 
amount,  therefore,  of  p  pounds  for  n  years,  at  the  rate  r,  is 
p-\-prn;  or,  a=p  (1  +  rn).  From  this  equation  we  may 
determine  any  one  of  the  four  quantities  in  terms  of  the 
others.  The  four  equations  are  as  follow  :— 
a—p  (14-ra)  =the  amount, 

=  fhe  principal, 

i 

■  —  the  time  in  years, 
.  the  rate  of  interest. 


p  n 


These  formulae  suffice  for  the  solution  of  all  questions  of 
simple  interest.  It  is  only  necessary  to  observe,  that  when 
the  time  is  less  than  a  year,  n  is  a  fraction  :  for  example,  if 
the  time  is  seven  months,  n  =  y^  ;  and  if  the  time  is  100 
days,  then  n  =  \^x  If  the  rate  of  interest  be  4  per  cent, 
per  annum,  then  r  =  -04  ;  if  the  rate  be  5  per  cent,  per  an- 
num, r  =  '05  ;  and  so  on. 

2.  Compound  Interest. — Though  the  law  does  not  permit 
money  to  be  let  at  compound  interest,  yet  in  purchasing  an- 
nuities, reversions,  leases,  &c,  or  effecting  assurances  on 
life,  it  is  always  allowed ;  the  subject  is  therefore  of  con- 
siderable importance. 

In  order  to  show  the  manner  in  which  any  given  sum  in- 
creases at  compound  interest,  let  us  suppose  .£100  to  be  lent 
at  the  rate  of  5  per  cent,  per  annum.  At  the  end  of  the  first 
year  this  will  amount  to  j£105.  Now  this  .£105  may  be  re- 
garded as  a  new  principal  lent  out  the  second  year  at  the 
same  rate ;  its  interest  will  therefore  be  £5  5s. ;  and  conse- 
quently the  amount  at  the  end  of  the  second  year  is  £110  5s. 
This  again  may  be  regarded  as  a  new  principal ;  and  in  the 
same  manner  the  amount  at  the  end  of  the  third  year  will 
be  jE115  15s.  3d.,  and  so  on  for  any  longer  period.  At  sim- 
ple interest  the  amount  at  the  end  of  any  given  time  will  be 
greater,  as  the  number  of  payments  or  times  the  interest  is 
added  to  the  principal  is  greater. 
As  before,  let 

a  =  the  amount, 
p  =  the  principal, 
n  =  the  number  of  years, 
r  =  the  rate  of  interest. 
Therefore,  since  1/.  amounts  to  1  +  r  at  the  end  of  the  first 
year,  and  as  every  other  sum  is  increased  in  the  same  pro- 
portion, we  have  1  :  1  +  r  :  :  1  +  r  :  (1  +  r)2  =  the  amount 
of  £1  at  the  end  of  the  second  year.    In  like  manner,  we 
have  1  :  1+r  :  :  (1  +  r)2  :  (l  +  r)3=the  amount  at  the 
end  of  the  third  year,  and  so  on.    In  general,  Die  amount 
of  j£1  at  the  end 

of  the  1st  year  =    1  +  r 
2d  =  (l  +  r)2 

3d  =(l  +  r)3 

4th  =(l  +  r)* 

nth  =(l+r)n 

The  amount,  therefore,  of  any  principal  p,  at  the  end  of 
m  years,  is  p  ( 1  +r)n  ;  and  from  tliis  we  derive  the  follow  - 


P? 


609 


INTERFERENCE. 


ing  formula:  for  finding  any  one  of  the  four  quantities  when 
the  three  others  are  given : 

a  =  p  (1  +  r)n  =  the  amount, 
j  =  o  (1  +  '')  —  ■>  =  tlie  principal, 
log.  a  —  log.  p  . 

n  = : =  the  number  of  years, 

log.  (1  +  r) 

r  =  (  —  ) 1  =  the  rate  of  interest. 

Vp/n 

As  an  example,  suppose  it  were  required  to  find  in  how 
many  years  a  sum  of  money  lent  at  compound  interest,  at 
5  per  cent,  per  annum,  would  double  itself.  Here  the  quan- 
tity to  be  found  is  n,  and  we  must  apply  the  third  formu- 
la. We  have  in  the  present  case  a  =  2p,  and  1  +  r  =^ 
log.  2  p  —  log.  p       log.  2         3010300 

1-05;  therefore,  n  = :— £— ,— —  =  ; r^  —  <v)na<vi 

log.  l-0o  log.  rOo      IBUbB3 

=14.2067  nearly ;  therefore,  at  the  rate  of  5  per  cent,  per 
annum,  any  sum  of  money  doubles  itself  in  14£  years. 

In  the  above  formula;  the  interest  is  supposed  to  be  paya- 
ble yearly,  and  r  denotes  the  Simple  interest  of  £1  for  one 
year;  but  if  the  payments  become  due  at  different  intervals 
from  a  year,  then  r  will  not  be  the  annual  rate  of  interest  ac- 
tually yielded  by  the  principal,  but  the  nominal  rate  which 
determines  the  amount  of  the  first  payment.  For  example, 
suppose  the  payments  due  half-yearly,  and  the  nominal  in- 
terest or  simple  interest  for  a  year  5  percent.;  jCIOO  princi- 
pal will  produce  £-2  10s.  of  interest  the  first  half  year.  But 
the  interest  the  second  half  year  being  on  £102  10s.,  will  be 
£2  lis.  3d. ;  so  that  while  the  nominal  interest  is  5  per  cent., 
the  interest  actually  made  in  a  year  on  £100  is  £5  Is.  3d. 

The  advantages  arising  from  a  sum  of  money  put  out  to 
compound  interest  for  shorter  periods  than  a  year  may  be 
determined  as  follows:  Suppose  the  payments  to  be  made 
half-yearly ;  then  each  payment  being  half  of  the  annual 
simple  interest,  the  amount  of  It.  at  the  end  of  the  year  will 
(        r  \a  r2 

be  expressed  by  I  1  +  —  )  ,  which  is  equal  to  1  -f-  r  +  — . 

But  the  amount  at  a  yearly  payment  is  1  -f  r ;  the  advan- 
tage, therefore,  of  the  half-yearly  payment  is  4,th  of  the 
square  of  r.  If  the  payments  of  interest  be  supposed  to  be 
made  quarterly,  then  the  amount  of  £1  at  the  end  of  the 

(r\*                   3  r2      j1 
1  +  yy  =  1  +  »•-!-  — |-tt:  + 

..« 

,  which  exceeds  the  amount,  when  the  payment  is  year- 


256 


3r= 


3r2      r3       r4 
tyt  by  -g-  +  —  +  ^-  ,  or  by  — -  nearly,  the  remaining  terms 

8        16      256  o 

being  very  small,  and  of  scarcely  any  sensible  value.  Gen- 
erally, if  the  interest  is  payable  m  times  a  year  (each  pay- 
ment being  the  mth  part  of  the  annual  simple  interest),  the 
amount  of  £1  at  the  end  of  the  year  will  be  expressed  by 
(m  —  1)  (m  —  2) 


(l  +  l)m=l  +  r+^pir2  +  i 

(m  —  1)  (m  —  2)  (m— 3) 


2  •  3  m2 


+ 


l+&c. 


2-3-  4  m3 

As  r  is  a  small  number,  all  the  terms  of  this  series  multi- 
plied by  the  cube  and  higher  powers  of  r  may  be  omitted, 

and  the  amount  becomes  1  +  r  -\ — r2,  which  exceeds 


-1 


If 


2?» 

the  amount  when  the  payment  is  yearly  by 

we  suppose  m  to  be  infinitely  great,  or  the  interest  to  become 
due  and  to  be  added  to  the  principal  momently,  the  series 
becomes 

_2  -J  _i 

l  +  r  + 


2  +  l-2-3+l-2-3-4+  &C  ; 
which  is  equal  to  the  number  whose  Naplerean  logarithm  is 
r,  or  the  number  whose  logarithm  is  r  X  "4342945  in  the 
common  tables.  Suppose  the  rate  to  he  5  per  cent.,  We  have 
•05  X  "4342945=  -0217147,  the  natural  Dumber  corresponding 
to  which  is  105127 ;  consequently  the  amount  of  £100  at  5 
per  cent.,  on  the  hypothesis  of  momently  payments  for  a 
year,  is  £105127=  £105  2s.  Gkd.  nearly,  exceeding  the 
amount  at  simple  interest  only  by  2s.  6.W.,  which  differs 
very  little  from  Jr2. 

INTKRFE'RENCE.  In  Optics,  a  term  first  employed 
by  Dr.  Young  to  express  certain  phenomena  which  result 
from  the  mutual  action  of  the  rays  of  light  on  each  other. 
The  phenomena  in  question  are  considered  of  very  great 
importance,  and  have  accordingly  been  examined  with  great 
care,  on  account  of  the  proof  which  they  are  supposed  to 
give  of  the  truth  of  the  undulatory  theory  of  light. 

The  phenomena  may  be  thus  explained: — Supine  two 
minute  pencils  of  light,  radiating  from  two  different  lumin- 
ous points  to  fall  on  the  same  s|x>t  of  a  screen  or  piece  of 
paper,  and  making  a  small  angle  with  each  other.  If  the 
spot  on  which  both  pencils  fall  is  at  the  same  distance  from 
610 


both  foci  or  luminous  points,  the  intensity  of  the  illumina- 
tion is  greater  than  would  have  been  produced  by  either 
pencil  alone.  Now  it  has  been  found  that  there  is  a  certain 
difference  between  the  lengths  of  the  paths  at  which  the  in- 
tensity of  illumination  produced  by  their  concourse  is  the 
same  as  when  the  paths  are  equal.  Call  this  difference  d  ,' 
then  it  is  also  found  by  experience  that  similar  bright  bands 
or  fringes  are  produced  when  the  difference  between  the 
lengths  of  the  paths  of  the  two  pencils  is  3d,  or  3d,  or  id, 
&c.  But  it  is  very  remarkable  that  when  the  difference  be- 
tween the  lengths  of  the  two  paths  is  £d,  -ijrf.  ?d,  &.c,  the 
two  pencils,  instead  of  adding  to  each  Other's  intensity,  de- 
stroy one  another,  and  produce  a  black  spot  or  fringe.  The 
two  pencils  thus  act  on  each  other,  increasing  the  effect  in 
one  case  and  diminishing  it  in  another  ;  and  it  is  this  mutu- 
al action  which  is  called  interference. 

In  order  to  study  the  phenomena  in  detail,  Dr.  Young  ad- 
mitted a  pencil  of  homogeneous  light  into  a  darkened  chamber 
through  a  hole  made  with  a  fine  needle  in  a  sheet  of  paper,  and 
observed  at  different  distances  the  shadow  of  a  thread  or 
opaque  disc  (the  diameter  of  which  did  not  exceed  l-30thof 
an  inch)  placed  a  little  behind  the  opening.  Having  remarked 
that  the  shadow  received  on  a  screen  \\ 'as  divided  by  paral- 
lel bands,  of  which  that  in  the  middle  was  always  white,  he 
proved  that  the  bands  were  produced  by  the  interference  of 
the  rays  passing  by  the  two  sides  of  the  thread  or  disc.  This 
was  demonstrated  by  intercepting  the  light  which  fell  on  one 
of  the  sides  of  the  disc  by  means  of  a  screen  placed  between 
the  disc  and  shadow,  and  allowing  it  to  pass  freely  by  the 
other  side,  as  represented  in  the  annexed 
figure ;  in  which  O  is  the  hole,  A  B  the 
disc,  E  F  its  shadow,  and  C  D  the  interpo- 
sed screen,  the  border  of  which  receives 
the  shadow  of  the  side  B  of  the  disc.  The 
instant  the  screen  is  brought  within  the 
shadow  of  A  B,  all  the  fringes  of  the  shad- 
ow immediately  disappear,  although  the 
light  inflected  by  the  side  of  the  disc  A 
continues  to  follow  the  same  route  as  be- 
fore ;  which  necessarily  supposes  that  it 
receives  some  modification  from  the  prox- 
imity of  that  which  passes  by  the  side  B. 

The  field  of  inquiry  which  had  thus 
been  opened  by  the  ingenuity  of  Dr.  Young 
was  explored  to  a  much  greater  extent  by  Arago  and  Fres- 
nel.  Instead  of  the  screen  C  D,  Arago  introduced  the  edge 
of  a  thin  plate  of  glass  into  the  shadow  of  the  disc,  and 
found  that  the  luminous  fringes  received  various  modifica- 
tions, according  as  the  plate  of  glass  was  more  or  less  thick. 
When  the  plate  was  of  a  certain  thickness,  the  central  fringe 
M  was  brought  nearer  to  F,  and  the  first  dark  fringe  on  the 
same  side  occupied  the  place  which  had  before  been  occu- 
pied by  the  second ;  the  second  took  the  place  of  the  third, 
and  so  on.  On  the  other  side  of  M  the  appearance  was  the 
reverse  ;  the  third  fringe  took  the  place  of  the  second,  the 
second  of  the  first,  and  the  first  was  brought  into  the  middle 
of  the  spectrum  at  M.  On  using  glass  a  little  thicker,  the 
displacement  was  doubled  ;  the  first  fringe  fell  upon  the 
place  of  the  third,  the  second  on  that  of  the  fourth,  and  so 
on.  This  experiment  of  Arago  proves  that  the  mutual  ac- 
tion of  the  rays  does  not  alone  depend  on  a  particular  modi- 
fication which  the  rays  receive  at  the  boundaries  of  a  body 
which  they  graze  in  their  course,  but  also  on  the  different 
media  which  they  traverse  from  their  source  to  the  point 
where  they  interfere. 

Fresnel  adopted  a  still  more  ingenious  method  of  per- 
forming the  experiment.  Having  placed  two  plane  metallic 
mirrors  in  a  vertical  position,  and  so  as  to  make  a  very  ob- 
tuse angle  with  each  other,  he  concentrated,  by  means  of  a 
lens  of  small  focal  length,  a  pencil  of  homogeneous  light  di- 
rected horizontally,  at  a  point  so  situated  before  the  mirrors 
that  part  of  the  diverging  cone  fell  upon  the  one  mirror  and 
part  of  it  upon  the  other.  The  rays  of  light  reflected  from 
the  two  surfaces  being  rendered  convergent  by  the  position 
Of  the  mirrors,  again  met  each  other  at  a  small  angle ;  and 
at  the  point  of  intersection  produced  alternations  of  brilliant 
and  dark  fringes.  These  fringes  are  parallel  to  the  line  of 
intersection  of  the  two  mirrors,  and  on  screening  one  of  the 
mirrors  they  immediately  disappear. 

In  the  experiment  of  Dr.  Young  and  Arago  it  mieht  be 
supposed  that  the  fringes  were  produced  by  some  physical 
action  of  the  interposed  body  on  the  light ;  but  in  Fresnel's 
experiment  tin-  light  is  reflected  in  the  usual  way,  and  no 
question  can  he  raised  about  the  influence  of  the  body  by 
the  borders  of  which  it  passes.  The  fact  is  thus  established 
beyond  all  doubt,  that  two  rays  of  light,  issuing  from  n 
Common  source,  anil  alter  pursuing  a  ditl'erent  path  meeting 
agsiin  under  a  small  obliquity,  exercise  an  influence  on  each 
other  to  the  extent  of  doubling  the  intensity  of  the  light  on 
the  one  hand,  or  destroying  it  altogether  on  the  other.  The 
phenomenon  of  the  two  rays  of  light  neutralizing  each  other 


INTERFERENCE. 

and  producing  their  mutual  extinction,  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  in  the  whole  range  of  physical  science.  Though 
first  explained  by  Dr.  Young,  and  established  by  Arago 
and  Fresnel,  it  had  formerly  been  observed  and  described  by 
Grimaldi. 

The  fact  of  the  interference  of  the  luminous  rays  having 
been  established,  it  was  interesting  to  determine  the  con- 
stant interval  d,  or  difference  between  the  lengths  of  the 
paths  of  the  two  pencils  at  which  the  greatest  effect  is  pro- 
duced. This  interval  has  been  very  carefully  determined 
both  by  Fresnel  and  by  Fraunhofer,  and  is  found  to  be  dif- 
ferent for  the  different  colours.  The  following  are  values 
of  d  found  by  Fraunhofer  for  the  different  colours  of  the 
Bpectrum,  expressed  in  decimals  of  an  English  inch  : 
Red  -  -  -     d—  0-00002582 

Orange  yellow    -  -       =0-00002319 

Green       -  -  -       =0-00002073 

Blue         -  -  -        =000001912 

Indigo       -  -  -        =0-00001692 

Violet       -  -  -        =0-00001572 

These  values  of  d,  being  obtained  by  direct  experiments, 
are  independent  of  any  hypothesis  respecting  the  propaga- 
tion of  light;  they  are  equally  real,  whether  light  be  sup- 
posed to  be  emitted  from  a  luminous  body,  or  produced  by 
the  vibrations  of  an  elastic  medium  ;  or  rather  they  are  nu- 
merical conditions  which  must  be  satisfied  by  any  theory  of 
light  which  may  be  adopted.  But  the  phenomena  of  inter- 
ference are  scarcely  susceptible  of  probable  explanation  by 
the  theory  of  emission  ;  whereas,  if  we  adopt  the  undula- 
tory  hypothesis,  their  explanation  is  remarkably  simple. 
Indeed,  they  afford  the  most  decisive  reasons  yet  known 
for  adopting  that  theory  in  preference  to  the  other.  Accor- 
ding to  the  undulatory  system,  the  phenomena  are  thus  ex- 
plained : 

If  two  luminous  waves  reach  an  ethereal  molecule  at  the 
same  instant  of  time,  it  will  receive  two  simultaneous  im- 
pulsions, and  the  resulting  motions  will  be  directed  in  the 
diagonal  of  the  parallelogram  of  which  the  two  sides  repre- 
sent the  impulsions ;  consequently,  if  the  component  veloci- 
ties are  nearly  in  the  same  direction,  the  resultant  will  be 
nearly  equal  to  their  sum ;  and  if  they  are  in  opposite  di- 
rections, equal  to  their  difference.  Let  us  now  suppose,  1st, 
that  two  vibratory  movements,  produced  by  a  series  of  equal 
and  successive  undulations  indefinitely  repeated  in  an  elas- 
tic medium,  are  simultaneously  experienced  at  the  same 
point,  situated  at  any  distance  from  their  common  centre ; 
2d,  that  after  having  followed  different  paths,  their  direc- 
tions at  this  point  are  sensibly  confounded ;  3d,  that  in  con- 
sequence of  the  unequal  lengths  of  the  two  paths,  or  of 
their  unequal  velocities,  the  time  which  a  wave  takes  to  ar- 
rive at  the  point  by  the  first  path  (A)  is  shorter  than  that 
which  it  takes  to  arrive  at  the  second  path  (B).  These  sup- 
positions being  made,  it  is  evident  that  an  ethereal  molecule 
situated  at  a  point  common  to  the  two  paths  A  and  B  will 
begin  to  vibrate  in  consequence  of  the  undulations  propa- 
gated along  A  before  the  undulation  which  comes  by  B 
reaches  it;  and  when  this  second  undulation  docs  take  ef- 
fect, the  motion  of  the  ethereal  particle  will  be  increased  or 
diminished  according  as  the  new  impulse  conspires  with  or 
opposes  the  former.    Three  cases  may  occur : 

1.  The  difference  of  the  lengths  of  the  paths,  or  the  dif- 
ference of  velocities,  may  be  such  that  the  wave  coming  by 
the  path  B  may  reach  the  molecule  at  an  interval  of  time 
after  it  has  been  affected  by  the  wave  coming  by  A  precisely 
equal  to  that  of  a  semi-vibration.  In  this  case,  the  vibrating 
molecule  having  reached  its  limit  of  excursion  on  one  side, 
and  about  to  return  to  the  point  of  repose,  would  at  that  in- 
stant receive  an  impulse  constraining  it  to  move  in  the  op- 
posite direction  with  the  same  velocity.  The  coexistence  of 
the  two  systems  of  vibrations  would  therefore  destroy  the 
motion,  and  the  molecule  would  remain  at  rest.  The  same 
thing  will  take  place  if  the  difference  of  the  lengths  of  the 
paths  or  velocities  is  such  that  vibrations  propagated  along 
B  arrive  at  the  intersection  of  the  paths  precisely  3-2,  5-2, 
7-2,  &c,  of  a  period  of  undulation  after  those  which  come 
by  A. 

2.  The  undulations  propagated  along  B  may  arrive  at  the 
molecule  after  those  coming  by  A  at  an  interval  of  time  ex- 
actly equal  to  that  of  a  complete  vibration,  or  of  several 
vibrations ;  in  which  case  the  molecules  would  receive  the 
impulse  of  two  vibrations  conspiring  together,  and  conse- 
quently the  velocity  and  amplitude  of  its  excursions  would 
be  doubled  instead  of  being  destroyed. 

3.  The  interval  between  the  two  impulses  may  be  neither 
an  odd  nor  an  even  multiple  of  the  time  of  a  semi-vibra- 
tion. In  this  ense,  the  molecule  will  vibrate  with  a  velocity 
less  than  the  double  of  that  which  it  would  have  if  each 
impulse  took  place  independently  of  the  other.  (Herschcl's 
Treatise  on  Light,  in  the  Ency.  Metropo/itana.) 

It  is  a  strong  presumption  in  favour  of  the  undulatory  the- 
ory of  light,  that  it  affords  not  only  a  complete  and  satisfac- 
tory explanation  of  the  whole  of  the  phenomena  of  diffrac- 


INTERMITTING  SPRINGS. 

tion,  but  also  the  means  of  submitting  them  to  arithmetical 
calculation.     See  Light. 

I'NTERIM.  (Lat.  in  the  mean  time.)  In  Modern  Euro- 
pean History,  the  name  given  to  a  decree  of  the  Emperor 
Charles  V.,  after  the  overthrow  of  the  Protestant  League 
of  Smalcalde,  in  which  he  attempted  to  reduce  to  harmony 
the  conflicting  opinions  of  the  Protestants  and  Romanists. 
The  use  of  the  cap,  however,  and  the  marriage  of  the  cler- 
gy, were  the  only  points  which  he  conceded  to  the  Reform- 
ers ;  and  it  became  a  question  among  them,  and  gave  rise 
to  many  serious  disputes,  whether  they  could  conscientiously 
submit  even  to  a  temporary  decree  of  such  a  nature.  The 
enactments  of  the  interim  were  intended  only  to  remain  in 
full  force  till  some  definitive  settlement  could  be  made; 
whence  it  derives  the  name  by  which  it  is  generally  known. 
It  received  the  force  of  law  at  the  Diet  of  Augsburgh,  in 
1548.  Its  provisions  against  the  Protestants  were,  however, 
in  most  respects  set  aside  by  the  treaty  of  Passau,  1552.  (See 
JWoshcim,  vol.  iv.) 

INTERJE'CTION.  In  Grammar,  a  part  of  speech  ex- 
pressing simple  emotion,  without  involving  any  act  of  con- 
ception.    See  Grammar. 

INTERLO  CUTOR.  (Lat.  inter,  and  loquor,  /  speak.) 
In  Literary  phraseology,  a  person  who  is  introduced  as  tak- 
ing part  in  a  dialogue ;  in  Dramatic  literature,  termed  dra- 
matis persona :  the  latter  name,  however,  comprehends 
such  as  appear  on  the  stage  but  take  no  part  in  speaking, 
termed  by  the  Greeks  mute  personages. 

INTERLO'CUTORY  JUDGMENTS.  In  Law,  such  as 
are  given  in  the  course  of  a  cause  upon  any  proceeding  aris- 
ing out  of  it,  and  do  not  finally  determine  it:  as  the  judg- 
ment in  an  action  of  damages  upon  which  a  writ  of  in- 
quiry issues  to  assess  such  damages.  So  a  decree  in  chan- 
cery is  either  final  or  interlocutory. — In  Scottish  Law,  a 
judgment  of  the  court  of  session,  or  lord  in  ordinary,  which 
if  allowed  to  become  final  will  be  conclusive,  is  termed 
interlocutor. 

I'NTERLUDE.  (Lat.  inter,  between,  and  ludo,  J  play.) 
A  short  dramatic  piece,  generally  accompanied  with  music : 
properly,  such  as  is  represented  or  performed  between  the 
acts  of  longer  performances. 

I'NTERMEDE,  or  INTERMEZZO.  In  Dramatic  Lite- 
rature, nearly  the  same  with  interlude.  A  short  musical 
piece,  generally  of  a  burlesque  character;  but  many,  not  in- 
tended merely  for  introduction  between  the  acts  of  a  more 
serious  performance,  are  comprised  under  these  names  by 
the  French  and  Italians. 

INTERMITTENT.  Any  disease  which  ceases  for  a 
time  and  again  returns,  so  that  the  patient  is  free  from  it  in 
the  intermediate  intervals.     See  Ague. 

INTERMITTING  SPRINGS,  are  springs  which  after 
having  run  for  a  certain  time  stop  altogether,  and  after  a 
time  begin  to  run  again,  and  then  stop,  and  so  on  alternately, 
the  flowings  and  intermissions  generally  succeeding  each 
other  at  pretty  regular  intervals.  These  phenomena,  which 
often  excite  wonder  in  the  ignorant,  and  have  sometimes 
even  been  ascribed  to  the  influence  of  witchcraft,  are  ex- 
plained on  the  principle  of  the  siphon.  Let  A  be  a  cavem 
in  a  mountain,  and  a  b  c  a  channel  commu- 
nicating with  A,  and  terminating  in  the 
side  of  the  mountain  or  adjacent  plain  ; 
and  let  us  suppose  the  cavern  to  be  fed  by 
small  streamlets  of  water,  of  which  the 
united  supply  is  less  than  can  be  discharged  ^SJgM^Kf 
by  the  channel  a  b  c.  Let  the  cavern  be 
supposed  empty.  The  water  from  the  rills  or  fissures  by 
which  it  is  fed  will  collect  at  the  bottom,  and  as  it  rises  in 
the  cavern  will  also  rise  in  the  channel  a  b  till  it  reaches  the 
highest  level  b,  when  it  will  begin  to  flow  out  through  b  c, 
and  by  the  property  of  the  siphon  will  continue  to  flow  till 
the  whole  cavern  is  drained  to  the  level  of  a.  The  cavern 
then  begins  to  fill  anew,  and  the  same  series  of  phenomena 
is  repeated  at  intervals,  of  which  the  length  depends  on  the 
relative  capacity  of  the  cavern  and  channel,  and  the  abun- 
dance of  the  supply  through  the  fissures.  When  the  supply 
is  constant,  the  intervals  of  intermission  will  be  equal. 
Some  springs  of  this  kind  do  not  cease  altogether  to  flow, 
but  only  discharge  a  much  smaller  quantity  for  a  certain 
time,  and  then  a  greater  quantity.  In  this  case  they  are 
called  variable,  or  reciprocating  springs.  They  may  be 
caused  by  the  circumstance  of  a  smaller  fissure  connecting 
the  cavern  with  the  lower  part  of  the  channel  c,  through 
which  a  portion  of  water  continues  to  flow  while  the  main 
discharge  is  stopped ;  or  there  may  be  several  siphons  all 
communicating  with  a  common  outlet.  It  is  easy  to  imag- 
ine a  combination  of  circumstances  by  which  the  discharge 
of  water  will  be  greatly  increased  by  the  elastic  force  of  air 
compressed  at  the  top  of  the  cavern  A.  This  will  take 
place  when  the  fissures  which  communicate  with  the  exter- 
nal atmosphere  are  filled  with  water,  and  there  is  in  conse- 
quence no  opening  by  which  the  air  in  the  cavern  can  es- 
cape.   The  water  will  then  be  propelled  through  the  chan- 

611 


INTERMODILLION. 

ipI  with  considerable  force,  or  even  raised  in  a  jet,  by  the 
very  sa  1 11 1'  principle  as  in  the  fountain  of  Hem.  [See  JfiM- 
schenbrock,  Introd.,  t.  ii.,  $2379;  Vesaguliers.  F.iper.  Phil, 
vol.  ii..  p.  173;  Nicholson's  I'liil.  .hum.  UXV.,  p.  178;  Fer- 
guson's Lectures  on  Select  Subject*,  by  Brewster.) 

ENTERMODI'LLION.  (Lat.  inter,  between,  and  modil- 
lion.)  Ii.  Vrchitecture,  the  space  between  two  modillions, 
which  is  equal  throughout  the  entablature. 

I'NTERNODE.  (Lat.  inter,  and  nodus,  a  knot.)  In  Bot- 
any, the  space  that  intervenes  upon  a  branch  between  the 
leaves. 

INTERXr.NTirS,  or  INTERNUNCIO.  An  envoy  of 
the  Pope,  sent  to  small  states  and  republics:  distinguished 
from  tiie  nuncio,  who  represents  the  Pope  at  the  courts  of 
emperors  and  kings.  Also  a  species  of  diplomatic  officers, 
who  ranked,  according  to  the  old  practice,  between  ambas 
sadors  and  plenipotentiaries.  Since  the  Congress  of  Vi- 
enna, as  no  mention  of  internuncios  is  made  in  its  rules. 
they  are  considered  on  D  level  with  plenipotentiaries.  This 
is  (or  lately  was)  the  title  of  the  Austrian  envoy  at  Constan- 
tinople. 

INTEROSSEOUS  MUSCLES.  Small  muscles  between 
the  metacarpal  bones  of  the  hand  and  the  metatarsal  of  the 
foot ;  tile  former  are  concerned  in  moving  the  fingers,  and 
the  latter  the  toes. 

INTERPILA'STER.  (Lat.  inter,  and  pilaster.)  In  Ar- 
chitecture, the  space  between  two  pilasters,  which  depends 
entirely  on  the  same  rules  as  intercolumniation,  and  that 
more  especially  if  both  are  employed  in  the  same  building. 

I.VTKKl'LE'ADER.  In  Law."  A  bill  of  interpleader, 
in  equity,  is  filed  by  a  person  who  is  under  an  obligation  of 
debt  or  rent  to  one  of  the  parties  to  a  suit  in  equity,  but  can- 
not ascertain,  until  the  determination  of  the  suit  to  which 
of  the  parties  he  is  indebted ;  and  by  this  bill  he  desires 
to  interplead,  in  order  that  he  may  save  himself  harm- 
less in  the  event  of  the  success  of  either  party.  In  tile 
common  law  courts,  by  1  &  2  W.  4,  c.  58,  relief  can  be 
given  in  some  cases  against  adverse  claims  made  on  sher- 
iffs and  other  officers,  and  persons  having  no  interest  in 
the  subject  of  such  claims,  by  a  judge's  order  calling  on 
the  third  party  to  appear  and  maintain  or  relinquish  his 
claim. 

INTERPOLATION.  In  Alge»ra  and  Astronomy,  is  a 
method  employed  for  filling  up  the  intermediate  terms  of  a 
series  of  numbers  or  observations,  by  numbers  which  fol- 
low the  same  law.  The  general  problem  to  be  resolved  is 
this:  Given  two  series  of  numbers,  the  corresponding  terms 
of  which  have  some  determinate  relation  to  each  other. 
and  of  which  the  first  is  called  the  series  of  roots,  and  the 
second  the  series  of  functions ;  to  find  the  function  corres- 
ponding to  any  term  in  the  series  of  roots  from  the  numbers 
in  the  series  of  functions  which  precede  or  follow  that 
which  is  required.  Thus,  supposing  the  series  of  roots  to 
be  the  natural  numbers  101,  102,  104,  105,  and  the  se- 
ries of  functions  to  be  the  logarithms  of  those  numbers ; 
then  the  question  may  be  to  find  the  logarithm  of  103  by 
means  of  the  logarithms  of  101, 102, 104,  and  105.  In  the  lan- 
guage of  algebraists,  the  problem  is  to  determine  the  value 
of  Yx^_n  in  a  function  of  the  terms  which  precede  or  fol- 
low Yz. 

In  Astronomy  and  Physics,  interpolation  signifies  the 
method  of  finding  a  mathematical  law  which  will  connect 
together  a  number  of  observed  facts.  Thus,  supposing  20 
places  of  a  comet  have  been  determined  by  observation; 
these  places  are  said  to  be  interpolated  when  a  curve  de- 
fined by  an  analytical  equation  has  been  found  which  passes 
throuah  them  all :  for  by  means  of  this  curve  the  place  of 
the  comet  at  any  intermediate  time  can  be  found.  Accord- 
ing tu  this  view  of  the  subject,  the  problem  of  interpolation 
i-  altogether  indeterminate :  for  an  infinity  of  analytic  curves 
of  different  forms  may  be  found  which  will  pass  through  20 
given  points  :  but  in  general  the  circumstances  of  the  ques- 
tion impose  such  restrictions  OS  render  it  determinate.  In 
the  instance  now  given  we  know  that  the  curve  must  be  an 
ellipse;  and  as  an  ellipse  cannot  be  made  to  pass  through 
20  points  taken   any  how,  the   question   resolves  itself  into 

this:  To  find  the  ellipse  which  will  most  near/;  pass  through 

the  given  points,  or  represent  the  given  observations.  Anoth- 
er question  new  arises— what  conditions  must  be  fulfilled  in 
order  that  the  obsen  ations  may  be  represented  must  nearly  ? 

These  conditions  most  be  determined  from  other  considera- 
tions. Suppose  the  condition  to  he  that  the  sum  of  the 
squares  of  the  errors  of  observation  (that  is,  of  the  differ- 
-  between  the  i  bserved  places  of  the  comet  and  the 
corresponding  places  in  the  orbit  to  be  found;  shall  be  a 
minimum:  the  problem  is  now  quite  determinate,  thouf 
solution  may  be  sufficiently  difficult  and  laborious. 

The  method  of  interpolation  by  differences  wits  first  em- 
ployed by  BliggS  in  the  calculation  of  logarithms;  but  was 
aftcrwaid-  treated  in  a  more  general  way  by  Wallis,  New- 
ton, Cotes.  Stirling,  and  others.    In  the  fifth  lemma  of  the 
012 


INTESTINALIA. 

third  book  of  the  Principia,  Newton  has  given  a  solution  of 
the  problem  of  determining  the  curve  which  passes  through 
the  extremities  of  any  number  of  ordinates.  By  modern 
writers  the  subject  is  treated  as  a  branch  of  the  calculus  of 
finite  differences.  It  is  discussed  ;it  length  by  Laplace  in 
the  2d  vol.  of  the  Jfccanit/ue  Celeste,  and  also  in  thvTheorie 
Analitique  des  Probabi/ttes  :  by  Lagrange,  in  the  .lour/ml 
de  V Ecole  Polytcchnique,  &c.  Sec  also  the  Treatise  on  Dif- 
ferences and  Series  by  Sir  John  Herschel  In  the  Appendix 
to  the  English  translation  of  Lacroix's  Differential  ami  Inte- 
gral Calculus,  or  the  3d  vol.  of  Lacroix's  large  Ti. 

INTERRE'GNUM.  (Lat.)  The  period  between  the 
death  of  one  kins  and  the  accession  of  another  under  the 
Roman  monarchy  :  or,  under  the  republic,  the  space  of  time 
when  there  were,  by  some  accident,  no  curule  magistrates 
who  could  hold  the  public  assemblies  of  the  people  (com- 
itia),  during  which  tin  iuterrex  was  appointed.  See  Inter- 
rex. 

I WTERREX.  A  person  appointed  to  discharge  the  royal 
functions  during  a  vacancy  of  the  throne.  The  Romans 
first  elected  an  interrex  after  the  death  of  Romulus,  and  the 
custom  was  continued  while  the  monarchy  lasted.  The 
manner  of  their  election  was  this:  the  senate  chose  ten 
individuals  out  of  its  body,  each  of  whom  discharged  the 
functions  of  royalty  for  five  days,  in  an  order  appointed  by 
lot.  It  has  been  supposed  that  these  ten  senators  were  not 
elected,  but  they  were  the  respective  seniors  of  the  ten  de- 
curies  into  which  the  original  body  of  patricians  was  divided, 
and  that  this  office  devolved  on  them  by  virtue  of  their 
rank.  An  interrex  was  also  appointed  sometimes  under  the 
republic,  to  preside  over  elections  of  magistrates,  &.c,  when 
the  consuls  were  absent,  or  their  election  declared  void  and 
no  dictator  had  been  created. 

INTERSCE'XDEXT.  (Lat.  inter,  and  scando,  f  climb.) 
In  Algebra,  a  term  applied  by  Leibnitz  to  quantities  when 
the  exponents  of  their  powers  are  irrational.  Such  expres- 
sions are  called  inter scendevt,  as  holding  a  mean  as  it  were 
between  algebraic  and  transcendental  quantities. 

INTERSECTION.  (Lat.  inter,  and  seco,  /  cut.)  In 
Geometry,  the  meeting  or  concourse  of  lines  or  surfaces. 
The  intersection  of  two  lines,  or  of  a  line  and  a  surface,  is 
a  point;  and  the  intersection  of  two  surfaces  is  a  line. 

l'XTERTIE.  (Lat.  inter,  and  tie.)  In  Architecture,  a 
horizontal  piece  of  timber  framed  between  two  posts  in 
order  to  tie  them  together. 

INTERVAL.  (Lat.  intervallum.)  In  Music,  the  ima- 
ginary distance  between  two  sounds  as  respects  their  acute- 
ness  and  gravity,  called  by  the  ancients  a  diastein.  Inter- 
vals are  divided  into  simple  and  compound ;  the  former  be- 
ins  without  parts  or  divisions,  the  latter  consisting  of  seve- 
ral smaller  intervals. 

INTERVENTION.  (Lat.  inter,  and  *enio,  /  come.)  In 
Politics,  the  interposition  of  one  state  in  the  domestic  affairs 
of  another.  The  right  of  armed  intervention  is  one  of  the 
most  contested  portions  of  the  public  law  of  nations :  as, 
although  practised  frequently  enough  by  the  more  powerful 
with  reference  to  the  weak,  it  had  never  been  regarded 
otherwise  than  as  a  permitted  abuse  of  power  until  the  time 
of  the  congresses  of  Vienna,  Laybach,  &c,  when  it  was 
publicly  recognised  by  the  leading  cabinets  of  Europe. 

IXTE'STACY.  (Lat.  in  the  sense  of  irithout,  and  testor, 
/  ti  stifii.)  In  Law,  the  condition  of  a  party  who  dies  with- 
out having  made  a  will.  Freehold  lands  and  tenements  iu 
which  he  has  an  estate  of  inheritance  descend  to  his  heir, 
subject  to  such  charges  as  affect  real  estate  ;  copyhold  lands 
of  inheritance  to  the  heir,  by  the  custom  of  the  manor  ;  chat- 
tels must  be  distributed  (subject  to  debts),  by  the  party  who 
takes  out  letters  of  administration  to  the  deceased's  estate 
and  effects  according  to  the  provisions  of  the  Statute  of  Dis- 
tributions. 

INTESTINA'LIA.  intestinal  Worms.  (Lat.  intestina,  an 
intestine.)  The  name  by  which  Linnaus  and  Cuvier  have 
designated  the  class  of  animals  which  infest  the  interior  of 
other  animal  bodies,  and  which  indicates  their  most  common 
locality,  viz.  the  intestinal  tube. 

The  knowledge  of  the  intestinal  worms,  as  a  distinct  class 
of  invertebrate  animals,  is  of  a  very  late  date.  In  the 
twelfth  edition  of  the  Si/stcma  JVatura,  1787-8,  only  eleven 
species  of  true  Entozou  are  enumerated,  and  of  these  only 
all  are  placed  anions  the  Intestina — Cur/ltus  medinensis,  As- 
enris  vermicularis,  Jlscaris  lumbricoidos,  Fasciola  hepatica. 
Fas.  intestinalis,  and  Fas.  barbata ;  the  remaining  specie-, 
viz.,  Hydra  hydatula,  Tamia  solium.  Tan.  vulgaris,  Tan. 
lata,  and  Tarn,  canina,  are  ranged  with  the  Zoophyta. 
Hindi's  Treatise  on  the  Generation  of  Intestinal  If'orms, 
and  the  succeeding  work  of  Goezc,  entitled  fersurb  einer 
Naturgrschiclilc  i/er  Kingeirciilrwurmer   Thierischer    Kbr 

per,  1782,  added  largely  to  the  number  of  the  described 
-,  and  led  to  the  foundation  of  some  accurately  de- 
fined groups,  and  better  ideal  of  classification.  Gmelin, 
availing  himself  of  the  labours  of  these  authors,  and  com- 
bining  with   them  the  species  described  by  Rcdi,  Pallas, 


INTESTINALIA. 

O.  P.  Miiller,  and  Werner,  was  enabled  to  give  two  hundred 
and  ninety-nine  species  of  Intestinaiia,  in  the  thirteenth 
edition  of  /June's  Systcma  Natures :  but  of  this  labour  it 
has  been  justly  remarked,  "Gmelinus,  auctorum  plurimo- 
rum  observationes  concessit,  sed  tarn  judicio  et  experientia 
quam  solertia  destitutus,  plarima  miscuit  et  implicuit,  ut  in 
synonimis  ab  eodem  perperam  allegatis,  extricandis,  C.  A. 
Rudolphi  et  Zederus  multiiiu  desudaverint." 

The  first  clear  definition  of  the  intestinal  worms  as  a  class, 
and  their  distribution  into  a  system  of  orders  and  genera, 
are  contained  in  the  great  work  by  Rudolphi,  entitled  Ento- 
zoorum  sea  Vcrmium  Inlcstinalium  Historia  Naturalis, 
8vo'  1808-10.  In  this  work,  Rudolphi,  after  dividing  the 
great  class  Vermes,  of  Linnreus,  into  four  classes,  viz.  Mo- 
lusca,  Gymnodela,  Entotoa,  and  Phytozoa,  characterizes  the 
third  class  as  follows  :  "  Entozoa  ergo  classem,  aut  si  mavis 
ordinem  sistunt  peeuliarem  continentem,  aids  in  animali- 
bus  obvia,  oculis  nudis  con.ipicua,  nereis  carentia,  partibus 
internis  dissimilibus  instructa."  Of  the  class  of  animals 
thus  characterized,  Rudolphi  enumerates,  in  a  subsequent 
work,  Synopsis  Entozoorum,  1819,  upwards  of  eleven  hun- 
dred species.  At  the  present  time  nearly  double  that  num- 
ber of  Entozoa  are  known. 

Rudolphi  distributes  the  intestinal  worms  into  five  orders, 
which  are  characterized  as  follows : 

Order  I.  Nematoidea  (Round- worms). — Char.:  Body  elon- 
gated, rounded,  elastic ;  an  intestinal  canal,  with  a  sepa- 
rate mouth  and  vent ;  sexes  distinct. 
Order  II.   Acanthocephala  ( Hooked- worms). — Char.:   Body 
roundish,  utricular,  elastic ;  head  with  a  retractile  pro- 
boscis, armed  with  hooks  or  recurved  spines  ;  sexes  dis- 
tinct. 
Order  III.    Trematoda  (Fluke-worms). — Char.:  Body  soft, 
rounded,  or  flattened  ;  suctorial  pores ;  male  and  female 
organs  in  the  same  individual. 
Order  IV.  Cestoidca  (Tape-worms).— Char.:  Body  elongated, 
flattened,  soft,  continuous,  or  articulated;  head  either 
simply  labiated,  or  provided  with  pits  (bothria),  or  suc- 
torious  orifices,  either  two  or  four  in  number ;  male  and 
female  organs  in  the  same  individual. 
Order  V.   Cystica    (Hydatids). — Char. :   Body  flattened   or 
rounded,  continued   posteriorly  into  a  cyst,  which   is 
sometimes  common  to  many  individuals ;  head  provided 
with  two  or  four  pits,  or  with  four  suckers,  and  with  a 
circle  of  hooklets,  or  with  four  unarmed  or  uncinated 
tentacles ;  sexual  organs  hitherto  indiscernible. 
The  Entozoa  which  are  included  in  the  last  four  orders 
of  Rudolphi  have  no  distinct  intestinal  canal ;  and  Cuvier 
considered  the  presence  of  this  structure  in  the  Nematoidea 
of  Rudolphi  of  sufficient  importance  to  form  the  character 
of  a  primary  group,  equivalent  to  all  the  remaining  orders 
combined  ;  and  he  observes  that  the  orders  thus  distinguish- 
ed might  form  two  classes. 

The  first  order  Cuvier  terms  Cavitaires ;  and  he  includes 
in  it  not  only  the  Nematoid  Entozoa,  but  also  the  genus 
Pentastoma  of  Rudolphi.  and  the  Epizoa,  or  Vers  rigidities, 
of  Lamarck. 

The  organization  of  the  Pentastomala,  which  were  defined, 
prior  to  Rudolphi,  by  Froelich,  under  the  name  of  Lingua- 
tula,  unquestionably  entitles  them  to  rank  with  the  highest 
organized  Entozoa  (see  Zoological  Trans.,  vol.  i.,  p.  381,  pi. 
41) ;  but,  with  respect  to  the  Epizoa,  or  the  external  Ler- 
nasan  parasites  of  fishes,  although  they  agree  with  the  Nema- 
toidea and  all  other  Entozoa  in  the  absence  of  distinct  res- 
piratory organs,  yet  the  ciliated  natatory  extremities  which 
they  possess  in  the  young  state,  and  the  external  ovarian 
appendages  of  the  adult,  are  characters  which  raise  them 
above  the  Entozoa,  and  indicate  their  intimate  relations  with 
the  Siphonostomous  Crustaceans. 

I  have,  therefore,  combined  the  Nematoidea  of  Rudolphi 
with  the  genera  Linguatula,  Porocephalus,  and  Syngamus, 
&c,  which,  under  the  habit  of  Cestoid  or  Trematode  worms, 
mask  a  higher  grade  of  organization,  to  form  a  class  under 
the  name  of  Calclmintha.  This  class  already  embraces  the 
types  of  three  different  orders,  of  which  one  is  formed  by 
the  Nematoidea  of  Rudolphi;  and  a  second  has  been  estab- 
lished by  Diesing,  for  the  Linguatula,  and  o  her  congeneric 
species,  under  the  name  of  Jicanthotheca.  The  remarkable 
organization  of  the  genus  Syngamus,  as  described  by  Siebold, 
clearly  indicates  the  type  of  a  third  order  of  Cwlclmintha. 
(See  that  word.) 

The  four  orders  of  intestinal  worms  which  have  no  dis- 
tinct intestine,  but  in  which  the  digestive  function  is  carried 
on  in  blind  canals,  excavated  in  the  parenchymatous  sub- 
stance of  the  body,  Cuvier  combines  into  a  group,  which  he 
terms  Vers  intestinaux  parenchymateux,  and  for  which  1 
have  proposed  the  name  of  Stcrelmintha.  (See  that  word.) 
This  group  Cuvier  subdivides  into  three  families  or  or- 
ders; the  first  corresponding  to* the  Jlcinthocephala  of  Ru- 
dolphi, the  second  to  the  Trematoda,  and  the  third  being 
equivalent  to  the  Cestoidca  and  Cystica  combined  ;  with  the 
exception  of  the  genus  Liguta  of  Bloch,  of  which  Cuvier 
53 


INTRORSES. 

makes  a  fourth  order,  restricting  to  it  the  application  of  Ru- 
dolphi's  term  Cestoidca.  To  this  distinction  it  must  be  ob- 
jected that  the  passage  from  the  Tainiee  to  the  Ligulai  is 
rendered  very  gradual  by  the  traces  of  bothria  and  of  gen- 
erative organs,  which  make  their  appearance  in  the  higher- 
organized  Ligulai  which  infest  the  intestines  of  certain 
aquatic  birds,  and  respecting  which  Rudolphi  hazards  the 
following  ingenious  hypothesis ;  viz.,  that  these  species  are 
actually  the  more  simple  Ligulai  of  fishes,  developed  into  a 
higher  grade  of  organization  by  virtue  of  the  warmth  and 
abundant  nutriment  which  they  enjoy  in  the  intestines  of 
the  birds  that  have  swallowed  the  fishes  so  infested.  To 
the  conjunction  of  the  hydatids  with  the  tapeworms  no 
sound  objection  can  be  made  ;  the  structure  of  the  Tctrar- 
hynchi  and  Anthocephali,  on  the  contrary,  shows  how  un- 
natural is  the  separation  of  the  Cestoid  from  the  Cystic  En- 
tozoa. The  Cysticercus  fasciolaris  may  be  regarded  as  the 
point  of  transition,  or  of  conjunction,  between  the  two  groups. 
The  head  in  Catnurus  and  Echinococcus  presents  the  form 
and  structure  of  that  of  Tmni  ;  and  the  head  of  the  Tetrar- 
hynchus,  the  proboscis  exempted,  precisely  resembles  that 
of  the  Echinococcus,  although  the  Tetrarhynchi  neither  in- 
habit a  vesicle,  nor  terminate  in  a  vesicle.  The  Cystica  ap- 
pear, in  fact,  to  be  incomplete  Cestoidea ;  both  consist  at 
first  of  a  simple  cyst,  like  the  Jlcephalocyst ;  but  both  pro- 
ceed to  develope  therefrom  a  suctorious  and  uncinated  head, 
from  which  the  Cestoidea  proceed  to  develope  not  only 
ova,  but  generative  organs,  in  successive  segments,  which  in 
some  species,  as  the  Sothriocephalus  punctatus,  seems  to  be 
annually  shed  and  reproduced. 

Thus,  the  intestinal  worms,  as  at  present  known,  form  two 
classes,  each  divisible  into  three  orders. 

Class  I.   CtELELMINTHA. 

Order  1.  Nematoida. — Ex. :  Filaria  medinensis,  Filoculi, 
Fil.  bronchialis,  Jiscaris  lumbricoides,  JJsc.  vermicu- 
laris,  Tricoccphalus  dispar,  Spiroptera  hominis,  Stron- 
gylus  gigas,  Strong,  spiniger,  Trichina  spiralis. 

Order  2.  Jicanthotheca. — Ex. :  Linguatula  tamioides. 

Order  3.  Syngamoidea. — Ex. :  Syngamus  trachealis. 

Class  II.  Sterelmintha. 
Order  1.  Jlcanthocephala.-*-Y-.\. :  Echinorhynchus  gigas. 
Order  2.   Trematoda. — Ex. :  Distoma  hepaticum,  Polystomtt 

pinguicola 
Order   3.    Ttunioidea. — Ex. :   Bothrioccphalus   latus   Tmnia 
solium,  Cysticercus  cellulosce,  Echinococcus  hominis. 

The  examples  quoted  are  species  which  infest  man,  with 
the  exception  of  those  belonging  to  the  orders,  Jicanthotheca, 
Syngamoidea,  and  Jicanthoccphala,  which  have  no  repre- 
sentatives among  the  human  internal  parasites.  For  tho 
parts  of  the  body  which  these  latter  infest,  the  reader  is  re- 
ferred to  Entozoa. 

INTE'STINE.  The  convoluted  membranous  and  mus- 
cular tube  extending  from  the  pylorus  to  the  anus.  It  i9 
distinguished  into  small  and  large  intestines :  the  former  in- 
cluding the  duodenum,  the  jejunum,  and  the  ileum ;  the  lat- 
ter the  cacum,  colon,  and  rectum.  The  small  intestines  have 
internal  membranous  folds,  called  valvule?  conniventes ;  the 
large  have  three  parallel  muscular  bands  upon  their  sur- 
face. The  intestines  admit  of  separation  into  three  coats : 
the  external,  membranous  or  peritoneal ;  the  middle  coat, 
muscular;  and  the  inner  one,  villous.  They  are  attached 
to  the  body  by  the  mesentery.  The  structure  of  the  intes- 
tinal canal  in  different  animals  is  wonderfully  adapted  to  its 
required  functions,  dependent  upon  the  nature  of  their  food 
and  other  circumstances.  Of  these  peculiarities  the  princi- 
pal are  adverted  to  under  the  titles  of  the  animals  in  which 
they  occur. 

INTONA'TION.  (Lat.  in,  and  tonus,  a  tone.)  In  Music, 
the  act  of  sounding  with  the  voice  the  consecutive  notes  of 
the  scale,  or  in  any  other  given  intervals.  To  do  this  cor- 
rectly is  the  first  qualification  of  a  good  singer.  It  is  scarce- 
ly practicable  without  the  assistance  of  a  good  ear,  as  well 
as  a  reference  to  some  common  idea,  such  as  the  key  or 
mode  wherein  a  piece  is  written.  From  the  word  tone, 
sometimes  used  in  a  sense  almost  identical  with  that  of  key, 
the  word  has  its  origin.  The  musical  definition  of  this 
word  in  Todd's  edition  of  Johnson's  Dictionary,  is  absurd- 
ly given  as  "the  act  of  singing  together." 

INTRA'DOS.  The  interior  and  lower  line  or  curve  of 
an  arch.  The  exterior  or  upper  curve  is  called  the  eztrados. 
See  Arch. 

INTRE  NCHMENT.  In  Fortification,  any  work  that 
fortifies  a  post  against  the  attack  of  an  enemy.  It  most 
usuallv  denotes  a  ditch  or  trench  with  a  rampart. 

I'NTROIT.  (Eat.  introitus,  entry.)  In  Ecclesiastical 
Antiquities,  the  verses  chaunted  or  repeated  at  the  first  en- 
tering of  the  congregation  into  the  church  ;  a  custom  as  old 
as  the  fourth  century:  called  "ingressa"  in  the  Ambrosian 
Ritual.     (Palmer,  Origines  Liturgicie,  ii.  19.) 

INTRO'RSES.     (Eat.  introrsum,  inwards.)    Turned  in- 

613 


INTRUSION.  INVESTITURE. 

wards  A  term  used  in  describing  the  direction  of  bodies,  to  i  time,  how  many  men  will  be  required  to  cut  down  6  acres 
denote  their  being  turned  towards  the  axis  to  which  they  |  in  the  same  time?"  belongs  to  the  direct  rule,  the  quantity 
anucrt  ain  ■  thus  in  most  plants  the  anthers  are  introrse,  be-  |  of  work  done  being  directly  proportional  to  the  number  Of 
lneturned  towards  the  style.  I  men  employed  :  but  the  question  "if  20  men  do  a  piece  of 


lug  turned  towards  the  styl 

INTRI  'SION.  (Lat.  intrudo,  f  thrust  upon.)  In  Law, 
a  species  of  injury  to  freehold  property.  It  arises  when  a 
'  intrudes  between  the  death  of  tenant  for  life  or 
■  i  the  entry  of  the  heir  of  a  remainder-man  or  rever- 
sioner expectant  on  the  estate  for  life  or  years,  who  had 
died  previous  to  the  decease  of  such  tenant  for  life  or  years. 
Writ  of  intrusion  lies  only  for  a  party  who  has  the  remainder 
or  reversion  in  fee:  remainder-man  in  tail  has  remedy  by 
formedon.    See  Fee-Tail,  Formedon. 

INTUITION.  (I>;tt.  Intueor,  /  look  into.)  In  Philoso- 
phy, any  act  of  the  mind  by  which  a  truth  is  immediately 
perceived,  and  as  it  were  beheld,  without  any  previous  pro- 
cess of  analysis  or  ratiocination.  Such,  according  to  Kant, 
are  the  fundamental  propositions  of  geometry ;  as  that  "two 
straight  lines  cannot  inclose  a  space,"  &c. 

rNTUSSUSCE'PTION.  (Lat.  intus,  within,  and  sus- 
ceptio.)  In  Anatomy,  a  term  applied  to  the  folding  or  pass- 
ing of  one  portion  of  intestinal  canal  into  another. 

1'NULIX.  A  white  powder  deposited  by  a  decoction  of 
the  roots  of  the  Inula  helenium  or  elecampane.  In  its 
chemical  properties  it  appears  intermediate  between  gum 
and  starch. 

INUNDATION.  (Lat  in,  and  unde,  a  wave.)  In  Agri- 
culture, lands  which  are  overflowed  by  water  from  natural 
causes  uncontrolled  by  art,  are  said  to  be  Inundated:  when 
in  consequence  of  the" exercise  of  art  and  skill,  the  result  is 
termed  irrigation. 

INVALFDS.  (Lat.  invalidus,  weak.)  Those  soldiers  or 
sailors  who,  either  on  account  of  wounds  or  length  of  service, 
are  admitted  into  hospitals,  and  there  maintained  at  the 
public  expense.  The  practice  of  making  provision  for  sol- 
diers worn  out  or  disabled  in  the  public  service  dates  from 
high  antiquity.  The  liberality  of  Fisistratus  to  the  Athenian 
soldiers  is  known  to  every  scholar;  and  the  history  of  an- 
cient Home  is  replete  with  instances  of  the  veterans  of  the 
legions  being  rewarded  with  grants  of  land.  It  must  be  ad- 
mitted, however,  that  in  ancient  times  such  recompences 
had  not  their  origin  in  that  high  philanthropic  feeling  by 
which  the  moderns  are  actuate^  in  making  provision  for 
military  and  naval  invalids;  for  they  were  granted  only 
after  victory,  and  emanated  more  from  individual  power  or 
favour  than  from  any  general  or  established  principles  of 
benevolence.  In  modern  times  there  is  no  civilized  country' 
■without  institutions  for  I  he  maintenance  of  invalids;  hut  the 
most  magnificent  are.  without  question,  the  Greenwich  and 
Chelsea  hospitals  in  England,  and  in  France  the  Hotel  des 
Invalides. 

INVE'NTION.  (Lat.  invenire,  J  find.)  In  the  Fine, 
Arts,  the  choice  and  production  of  such  objects  as  are  proper 
to  enter  into  the  composition  of  a  work  of  art.  "Strictly 
speaking,"  says  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  "  invention  is  little 
more  than  a  new  combination  of  those  images  which  have 
been  previously  gathered  and  deposited  in  the  memory: 
nothing  can  come  of  nothing:  he  who  has  laid  up  no  ma- 
terials can  produce  no  combinations."  Though  there  be 
nothing  new  under  the  sun,  yet  novelty  in  art  will  be  attain- 
able till  all  the  combinations  of  the  same  things  are  exhaust- 
ed— a  circumstance  that  can  never  come  to  pass. 

INVE'NTION  OF  THE  CROSS.  A  festival  celebrated 
May  3d,  in  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  in  honour  of  the 
finding  of  the  cross  on  which  our  Saviour  was  executed. 
The  Bearch  was  instituted  by  order  of  St.  Helena,  mother 
of  the  Emperor  Constantino,  A.D.  32(i ;  anil  the  cross  ac- 
cording to  St  Cyril,  was  found  among  the  ruins  of  Mount 
Calvarj . 

I'NVENTORY.  (Lat  invenio,  I  find.)  A  catalogue  of 
movables.     S,r  Executor. 

I'NVERSE  METHOD  OF  FLUXIONS.  The  method 
of  finding  (be  fluents  of  given  tluxional  expressions.  It  is 
the  same  with  the  integral  calculus. 

['NVERBE  METHOD  OF  TANGENTS.  The  method 
of  finding  the  curve  whose  tangents  arc  lines  drawn  accord- 
ing tO  some  determinate  law,  or  which  fulfil  some  given 
condition.     For  example,  suppose  rays  of  light  issuing  from 

a  luminous  point  to  fall  on  the  concave  surface  of  a  sphere, 
nnd  to  be  thence  reflected  ;  the  problem  may  be  proposed  to 
determine  the  nature  of  the  curve  to  which  all  the  reflected 
rays  in  any  given  plane  are  tangents.    Problems  of  th 
require  the  application  of  the  integral  calcuhu  :  and  hence 

the  method   by  which  they  are  BOlved  is  called  the  j 

method  of  tangents,  as  opposed  to  the  direct  method,  viz., 
that  of  finding  the  tangent  to  a  curve  which  is  performed  by 
the  differential  calculus. 
I'NVERSE  PROPORTION,  In  Algebra  and  Ari 

Is  the  application  of  the  rule  of  Hue.',  or  proportion  In  a  re- 
verse or  contrary  order.  This  is  usually  described  by  say- 
ing that  less  requires  more,  or  more  requires  less.  Thus, 
the  question,  "  if  20  men  cut  down  3  acres  of  com  in  n  given 


014 


work  in  6  days,  in  what  time  will  40  men  perform  the 

same  ! "  is  one  Of  inverse  proportion,  for  more  men  will  do 
the  work  in  less  time,  or  the  number  of  men  required  is  In- 
versely as  the  time.  The  question  may  be  slated  in  this 
manner,  A  :  J~  :  :  (i ;  and  the  answer  is  3. 

I'.N  V  ERSE  RATH ).     The  ratio  of  the  reciprocals  of  two 
members.     See  INVERSE  Proportion. 

INVE'RSION.  (Lat.)  In  Rhetoric  and  Philology,  the 
transposition  of  words  out  of  their  natural  order.  Every 
language  has  a  customary  arrangement  of  its  own  to  regulate 
the  order  of  succession  in  which  words  forming  part  of  tho 
same  sentence,  member,  or  proposition  follow  each  other. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  is  undoubtedly  a  natural  or  philo- 
sophical order  of  words  following  each  other  in  the  same 
analytical  succession  in  which  ideas  present  themselves  to 
the  mind,  varied  occasionally  by  that  produced  by  the  suc- 
cession of  sentiments  or  emotions;  and  as  in  every  language 
many  customary  phrases,  if  not  the  general  arrangement  of 
the  words,  are  contrary  to  this  primitive  order,  every  lan- 
guage has  customary  inversions  of  its  own.  Deviations  from 
the  customary  order  of  words  are  more  commonly  called 
transpositions ;  but  each  word  has,  of  course,  a  relative  and 
somewhat  arbitrary  signification.  As  an  instance  of  ordinary 
inversion,  it  may  be  observed  that,  according  to  the  meta- 
physical or  analytical  order,  the  subject  of  a  proposition  pre- 
cedes the  predicate,  being  the  first  idea  which  presents  itself 
to  the  mind.  Thus,  in  the  construction  of  a  sentence  con- 
taining a  proposition  (see  Logic),  "  Solon  is  wise,"  or 
"Alexander  reigns,"  we  habitually  follow  the  order  of  na- 
ture. But  when  a  substantive  and  adjective  in  connexion 
form  part  of  a  sentence,  i.  e.,  a  subject  or  predicate,  or  0  part 
of  either,  the  substantive  is  that  which  seems  naturally  to 
present  itself  first  to  the  mind ;  whereas  in  most  modern 
languages  it  follows  the  adjective,  while  in  the  Greek  and 
Latin  its  ordinary  although  not  its  necessary  place  was  be- 
fore it:  "Who  is  a  wise  man?"  "Vir  bonus  est  quis?" 
"The  end  of  a  long  silence."  "Finis  silentii  diutunri."  It 
is  in  general  to  be  observed,  that  modern  languages  admit 
far  less  readily  than  ancient  of  transposition  ;  but  there  are 
considerable  differences  in  this  respect  between  m  'dcrn  lan- 
guages themselves.  German  admits  much  latitude,  French 
verj  little.  In  our  own  language  we  are  frequently  able  to 
vary  the  analytical  order  by  following  wha!  may  he  termed 
the  order  of  emotion,  where  a  French  writer  could  not  do 
so:  thiLs  in  the  proposition  "Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephe 
sians,"  it  would  he  impossible,  in  French,  to  give  the  forco 
which  is  added  to  the  expression  by  the  transposition  of  tho 
predicate  to  the  beginning  without  violating  the  habitual 
rules  of  construction.  A  similar  instance  of  inversion  is  to 
be  found  in  the  Swedish  and  some  kindled  languages,  in 
which  the  article  follows  instead  of  preceding  the  noun. 

Inversion.  In  Music,  the  change  of  place  between  two 
notes  of  an  interval ;  that  is,  placing  the  lower  note  an  oc- 
tave higher,  or  the  higher  note  an  octave  lower. 

INVE'RTEBRATES,  Tnorrtebrata.  (Lat.  in,  priv. ;  ver- 
tebra, a  joint  of  the,  back-bone.)  The  animals  w  Inch  are  de- 
void of  vertebrae,  or  an  internal  bony  skeleton  ;  and  which 
include  the  Molluscous,  Articulate,  Nematoneurous,  and 
Acrite  sub  kingdoms.  Lamark's  primary  division  of  the  ani- 
mal kingdom  into  Vertebrata  and  Tnvcrtebrata  corresponds 
with  that  proposed  by  Aristotle  into  Enaima  and  Jinaima. 
It  is,  however,  subject  to  the  same  objection  OS  applies  to 
most  of  the  Dichotomous  systems  in  Zoology  ;  viz.,  that  the 
two  members  of  the  division  are  not  equivalent  to  each 
other.  The  Tnvertebrata,  for  example,  contain  three  if  not 
four  primary  divisions  of  the  animal  kingdom,  each  of  which 
are  equivalent  to  the  Vertebrata. 

INVE'RTED  ARCH.  In  Architecture,  one  wherein  the 
lowest  stone  or  brick  is  the 
keystone.  It  is  used  in  U  AJ. 
foundations,  to  distribute 
the  weight  of  particular  _ 
points,  such  as  A  A  A,  over  ^£JS=irri=rr±r^rr_ 
ihc  whole  extent  of  the  foundation,  and  hence  its  employ- 
ment is  frequently  of  the  first  importance  in  constructive 
architecture. 

INVE'STITURE.  In  Feudal  Law,  the  deli  very  of  a  fief 
by  B  lord  to  his  vassal,  accompanied  by  peculiar  ceremonies. 

I  s  ii  i  dai  System.)  The  Investiture  of  a  bishop  was, 
properly  speaking,  his  endowmenl  with  the  fiefs  and  tem- 
poral les  oi  the  see.  Hence  il  become  a  subject  of  contest 
between  the  popes  and  emperors,  and  one  of  the  principal 
grounds  of  the  great  quarrel  of  Guelfe  and  Ghibellines.  It 
was  conceded  by  the  emperors  to  the  Roman  see  in  1122; 
bui  the  question  was  raided  by  a  substantial  compromise, 
which  left  Hit-  nomination  in  reality, in  the  hands  of  tho 
temporal  prince  in  European  monarchies  under  Ihe  Roman 
Catholic  religion.     (See  llallam's  Middle  Ages  ;  Haumor's 


INVOCATION. 

History  of  the  Hohenstauffcn  ;  Gieseler's  Text  Book  of  Ec- 
eiesiastical  History,  vol.  ii. ;  Mosheim's  Eccl.  History.) 

INVOCA'TION  (Lat.  invoco,  /  cadi  upon),  in  Literature, 
signifies,  in  a  general  sense,  an  address  at  the  commence- 
ment of  a  poem,  preferred  to  the  Muses  or  some  other  Being 
supposed  capable  of  giving  inspiration.  Thus,  while  the  an- 
cient poets  generally  addressed  their  invocations  to  some 
particular  muse  or  divinity.  Milton  invokes  the  "  Heavenly 
Muse"  and  the  "Holy  Spirit;"  and,  in  his  Hcnriade,  Vol- 
taire calls  to  his  aid  "auguste  Veritc."  For  the  chief  rules 
of  poetical  invocation,  see  the  Vict,  dc  Richelct,  and  the 
Diet,  dc  'a  Conversation. 

INVOCA'TION  OF  SAINTS.  In  Theology.  Accord- 
ing to  Protestant  writers,  the  veneration  of  saints  and  mar- 
tyrs increased  rapidly  throughout  the  4th  century  ;  but  their 
invocation  as  intercessors  with  the  Divinity  did  not  general- 
ly commence  much  before  the  5th.  (See  Mosheim,  ii.,  32, 
102,  ed.  1820,  transl. ;  Gieseler,  i.,  283,  transl.)  The  follow- 
ers of  Origen  are  said  to  have  been  the  first  "  who  apostro- 
phised the  martyrs  in  their  sermons,  and  besought  their  in- 
tercession." Prayers  for  the  saints  among  other  departed 
spirits  were  discontinued  about  the  5th  century,  on  the  prin- 
ciple laid  down  by  Saint  Augustine,  "  Injuria  est  pro  mar- 
tyre  orare,  etijus  nos  debemus  orationibus  commendari." 
See  Martyrs,  Saints. 

I'NVOICE.  A  list  or  account  of  goods  or  merchandise 
Eent  by  merchants  to  their  correspondents  at  home  or  abroad, 
in  which  the  peculiar  marks  of  each  package,  with  their 
value,  customs,  provision,  charges,  and  other  particulars, 
are  set  forth.     (See  Com.  Diet.) 

LN'VOLUCE'LLUM.  (Lat.)  In  Botany,  the  secondary' 
Involucrum  surrounding  one  of  the  umbellules  of  an  um- 
belliferous flower,  or  the  florets  of  a  capitulum. 

LNVOLU'CRUM.  (Lat.)  In  Botany,  a  term  having  three 
significations : 

1.  A  ring  of  bracts  surrounding  one  or  many  flowers. 

2.  In  describing  fens  to  denote  the  superincumbent  cuticle 

coveriug  the  son. 

3.  In  describing  Equisetacete,  to  denote  the  cases  of  re- 

productive organs. 

I'NVOLUTE,  in  the  Higher  Geometry,  is  a  curve  con- 
ceived to  be  described  by  the  extremity  of  a  string  unwind- 
ing itself  fn  m  the  arc  of  another  curve  about  which  it  has 
been  lapped.  All  curves,  in  which  the  curvature  is  neither 
infinitely  great  nor  infinitely  small,  may  he  generated  in  this 
way  by  the  evolution  of  a  thread  from  another  curve,  which 
is  called  the  evolutt  of  the  new  curve.     Sec  Evolute. 

The  method  of  generating  curves  by  evolution  is  a  geo- 
metrical theory  invented  by  Huygens,  and  given  in  his 
Horo/ogium  Oscillatorium,  where  he  shows  that  the  invo- 
lute of  a  cycloid  is  another  cycloid  equal  to  the  original  one  ; 
and  he  applies  this  property  to  the  practical  purpose  of  caus- 
ing a  pendulum  to  vibrate  in  the  arc  of  a  cycloid  ;  in  which 
case,  by  another  remarkable  property  of  that  curve,  the  vi- 
brations are  performed  in  equal  times,  whether  the  arc  of 
vibration  be  ereat  or  small. 

INVOLUTION,  in  Arithmetic  and  Algebra,  is  the  meth- 
od of  finding  any  power  of  an  assigned  quantity ;  and  is  the 
reverse  of  evolution,  which  denotes  the  method  of  finding 
the  root  of  any  quantity,  which  is  considered  as  a  power  of 
that  root. 

The  successive  powers  of  any  quantity  are  found  by  the 
continual  multiplication  of  the  quantity  itself.  Thus,  taking 
the  number  5,  we  have 

5=5',  the  first  power  or  root, 

5  X  5  =  52  or  25,  the  second  power  or  square, 

5X5X5  =  53  or  125,  the  third  power  or  cube, 

and  so  on  ;  whence  we  see  that  the  number  of  multiplica- 
tions required  to  raise  a  number  to  any  power  is  one  less 
than  the  number  of  the  index  by  which  the  power  is  ex- 
pressed. 

In  algebra,  simple  quantities  are  involved  by  multiplying 
the  exponents  of  the  symbols  by  the  index  of  the  power  re- 
quired, and  racing  the  coefficients  to  the  same  power. 
Thus  the  cube  or  third  power  of  2  a2  x  is  8  aG  i3.  Com- 
pound quantities  are  involved  in  the  same  manner  as  num- 
bers by  a  continual  multiplication  of  the  quantity  itself,  or 
more  generally  and  expeditiously  by  means  of  the  binomial 
theorem. 

I'ODINE.  (Gr.  twSv<:,  violet-coloured.)  A  substance  dis- 
covered in  1812  by  M.  Courtois  of  Paris.  In  this  country  it 
is  usually  prepared  from  kelp,  which  is  lixiviated  with  wa- 
ter ;  and  when  the  crystallizable  salts  have  been  separated, 
the  mother  liquors  are  mixed  with  sulphuric  acid  and  black 
oxide  of  manganese.  On  the  application  of  heat  the  iodine 
rises  in  the  form  of  a  dense  violet-coloured  vapour,  which 
by  condensation  forms  steel-gray  crystals  looking  like  mica- 
ceous iron.  The  specific  gravity  of  iodine  is  between  4  and 
5 ;  when  dry  it  fuses  at  227°,  and  boils  and  evaporates  in 
purple  fumes  at  345°.  When  heated  with  water  it  distils 
over  at  temperatures  below  212°.    The  specific  gravity  of  its 


IONIC  PHILOSOPHERS. 

vapour  is  about  87,  so  that  100  cubic  inches  would  weigh 
nearly  270  grains.  Iodine  belongs  to  the  electro-negative 
supporters  of  c  mbustion.  It  has  an  acrid  taste,  and  a  pecu- 
liar odour  somewhat  like  that  of  chlorine.  It  is  an  irritant 
poison  ;  but  in  small  doses,  and  cautiously  administered,  it 
has  occasionally  been  of  great  service  in  certain  forms  of 
glandular  disease.  It  is  very  sparingly  soluble  in  waler,  of 
which  it  requires  7000  parts  for  its  solution ;  the  colour  of 
the  solution  is  brown;  it  dissolves  copiously  in  alcohol  and 
in  ether,  and  forms  dark-brown  liquids.  It  possesses  strong 
powers  of  combination,  forming,  with  the  metals,  a  class  of 
compounds  called  iodides ;  with  oxygen  it  forms  the  iodic 
acid,  and  perhaps  one  or  more  oxides.  Combined  with  hy- 
drogen, it  forms  the  hydriodic  acid.  Its  equivalent  number 
is  126,  and  that  of  the  hydriodic  acid  127.  Starch  is  a  char- 
acteristic test  of  the  presence  of  free  iodine,  forming  with  it 
a  compound  of  a  deep  blue  colour.  It  is  so  delicate  that  a 
solution  of  starch  dropped  into  water  containing  less  than  a 
400,000th  part  of  iodine,  is  ringed  blue  by  it;  but  the  solu- 
tions must  be  cold,  for  the  blue  compound  is  soluble  in  hot 
water.  The  great  consumption  of  iodine  is  in  medicine;  it 
is  employed  in  its  pure  state,  and  in  the  form  of  iodide  of 
potassium,  which  is  obtained  by  dissolving  iodine  in  a  solu- 
tion of  pure  potash,  evaporating  to  dryness,  and  fusing  the 
residue.  This  compound  is  sometimes  called  hydriodate  of 
potash. 

I'OLITE.  (Gr.  tav,  violet.)  A  mineral  of  a  violet  blue 
by  transmitted  light;  it  occurs  crystallized,  and  in  small 
grains  and  rolled  masses. 

IO'NTC  DIALECT,  the  most  euphonious  of  the  four 
written  varieties  of  the  Greek  language,  was  spoken  by  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Ionian  Islands,  and  in  their  colonial  pos- 
sessions in  Asia  Minor.  It  was  originally  the  same  as  tha 
Attic  dialect,  at  least  they  boasted  of  a  common  origin  ;  but 
from  the  extensive  commercial  intercourse  of  the  Ionians 
with  the  eastern  nations,  their  language  gradually  imbibed 
a  portion  of  Asiatic  erieminacy,  which  at  length  became  its 
chief  characteristic,  forming  a  striking  contrast  to  that  com- 
bination of  strength  and  harmony  which  distinguished  tha 
dialect  of  Attica.  The  chief  writers  in  the  Ionic  dialect  are 
Herodotus,  Hippocrates,  and  Galen :  but  it  is  in  the  wrir 
tings  of  the  first  that  the  most  complete  specimen  Is  to  be 
found.  fc 

IO'NTC  ORDER.  On5  of  the  five  orders  of  architecture, 
whose  distinguishing  feature  is  the  volute  of  its  capital. 
In  the  Grecian  Ionic  the  volutes  appear  the  same  in  tha 
front  and  rear,  being  connected  on  the  flanks  by  a  baluster- 
like form:  through  the  external  angles  of  the  capitals  of  the 
corner  columns,  however,  a  diagonal  volute  is  introduced. 
The  Romans  gave  their  Ionic  four  diagonal  volutes,  and 
curved  the  sides  of  the  abacus.  The  Greek  volute  contin- 
ues the  fillet  of  the  spiral  along  the  face  of  the  abacus, 
whereas  in  the  Roman  its  origin  is  behind  the  ovolo.  In 
some  Grecian  specimens  a 
neck  is  added  below  the 
echinus,  sculptured  with 
flowers  and  leaves.  The 
height  of  the  column  is 
about  nine  diameters,  and 
the  base  varies  considera- 
bly in  different  examples. 
When  a  pedestal  is  used  it 
is  somewhat  higher  and 
more  ornamental  than  the 
Doric  pedestal.  The  Greeks 
usually  made  the  entabla- 
ture of  this  order  very  sim- 
ple. The  architrave  has 
two  fascia?,  the  frieze  plain, 
and  the  cornice  of  few  sub- 
divisions ;  but  the  modern 
Ionic  is  seldom  with  less 
than  three  fascis,  the  frieze 
is  often  cushioned,  and  the 
cornice  is  deeper  and  not 
unfrequenlly  modillioned, 
its  profile  being  much  vari- 
ed. The  dentil  is  also  much 
used  in  the  bed  mouldings. 
The  shaft  is  cut  with  twen- 
ty-four flutes  separated  by 
fillets.  Some  of  the  most  celebrated  examples  of  the  order 
are  the  temple  on  the  Ilyssus,  of  Minerva  Polias  at  Athens 
Priene,  Bacchus  at  Teos,  Apollo  Didymanis  at  Miletus.  For- 
tuna  Virilis  and  the  Coliseum  at  Rome.  The  profile  above 
given  is  after  Palladio. 

IO'NIC  PHILOSOPHERS.  The  earliest  among  the 
Greek  schools  of  philosophy.  Speculation  arose  in  Greece, 
as  elsewhere,  in  the  attempt  to  discover  the  laws  of  outward 
phenomena,  and  the  origin  and  successive  stages  of  the 
world's  development.  Such  an  attempt,  it  is  needless  to 
say,  must  at  first  have  been  extremely  rude.    To  the  student 

615 


IPECACUANHA. 

of  philosophical  literature,  however,  no  such  undertaking, 
however  unsuccessful,  can  possibly  he  otherwise  than  Inter- 
esting; and  in  this  instance  in  particular  we  are  able  to  dis- 
cover manifest  traces  of  that  liveliness  of  thought  and  sys- 
tematic  spirit  which  distinguish  the  later  Greek  speculations. 
The  fathers  of  the  [onic  school  were  Thales  and  his  disci- 
ple Anaximenes.  They  were  succeeded  in  the  same1  line  of 
thought  l>y  Diogenes  of  Apol  Ionia,  and  Heraclitus  of  Ephe- 
sws.  The  characteristical  mark  which  distinguishes  the 
speculations  of  these  thinkers  is  the  endeavour  to  refer  all 
Feasible  things  to  one  original  principle  in  nature.  The  two 
first  named  were  satisfied  with  a  very  simple  solution  of  the 
problem.  Water  with  the  one,  and  air  with  the  other,  were 
made  the  original  materials  out  of  which  all  things  arose, 
and  into  which  they  were  finally  resolved.  In  their  suc- 
cessors the  germs  of  a  more  philosophical  doctrine  are  appa- 
rent. They  retain,  indeed,  the  simplicity  of  on  original  ele- 
ment; but  the  otrof  Diogenes  and  thejireof  Heraclitus  arc 
apparently  only  sensible  symbols,  which  they  used  only  in 
order  to  present  more  vividly  to  i)w  imagination  the  energy 
of  the  one  vital  principle  which  is  the  ground  of  all  outward 
appearances.  It  would  indeed  be  a  mistake  to  regard  these 
philosophers  as  materialists.  The  distinction  between  ob- 
jective and  subjective,  between  a  law  operating  in  the  uni- 
verse, and  the  corresponding  apprehension  of  that  law  by 
reason,  however  obvious  it  may  seem  at  the  present  day. 
seems  to  have  required  the  deep  meditation  of  numerous 
powerful  thinkers  to  bring  it  into  clear  consciousness. 

That  the  two  things  were  confounded  by  Heraclitus  is  ev- 
ident from  his  attributing  to  this  universal  fire  the  attributes 
of  a  universal  reason — tlie  source  at  once  of  the  order  in  the 
world,  and  of  the  insight  into  that  order  possessed  by  man. 
Notwithstanding  this  confusion,  the  discovery  is  due  to  him 
of  the  important  truth,  that "  reason  is  common  to  all  men  ;" 
that  the  ultimate  principles  of  science  derive  their  validity 
from  their  universality ;  n  truth  the  value  of  which  is  net 
diminished  by  our  finding  it  combined  with  the  physical  hy- 
pothesis to  which  we  hive  alluded. 

The  philosophers  enumerated  above  may  be  considered  as 
forming  one  division  of  the  Ionic  school.  They  agree  in  re- 
garding the  universe  as  the  result  of  the  spontaneous  evolu- 
tion of  a  single  principle  or  power;  and  all  sensible  things 
as  modifications  of  this  principle, real  only  in  referi 
their  ultimate  ground.  But  we  meet  also  with  a  class  of 
thinkers  in  whom  the  contrary  tendency  prevailed.  Anax- 
imander  (B.C.  590)  and  Anaxagoras,  the  master  of  Pericles, 
agree  in  this  respect,  that  they  consider  the  world  to  he  made 
up  of  numberless  small  particles,  of  different  kinds  and  of 
various  shapes,  by  the  change  in  whose  relative  position  all 
phenomena  are  to  be  accounted  for.  This  hypothesis  is 
combined  by  Anaxagoras  with  a  Supreme  Reason,  the  au- 
thor of  all  that  is  regular  and  harmonious  in  the  disposition 
of  these  elementary  atoms.  Anaxagoras  may  indeed  be 
considered  as  the  first  philosopher  who  clearly  and  broadly 
stated  the  leading  distinctions  between  mind  and  matter. 
For  a  statement  at  once  luminous  and  accurate  of  the  lead- 
ing peculiarities  of  this  philosopher's  doctrines,  and  those  of 
his  predecessors,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Bishop  Thirl  wall's 
admirable  History  of  Greece,  vol.  ii.,  chap.  IS.  The  stu- 
dent who  wishes  for  more  minute  information  may  consult 
Brandis  and  Ritter's  Histories  of  Philosophy,  of  the  latter  of 
which  a  translation  has  appeared  at  Oxford.  (See  especi- 
ally book  iii.)  See  also  a  collection  of  the  Fragments  ,,f 
Heraclitus  in  H'olf  ami  Jiutt  man's  .Museum  of  Antiquities, 
Bd.  I.,  stck.  3 ;  and  the  .Mcmoircs  de  VAc.  des  Inscriptions, 
vol.  xvii. 

IPK(  A'CI  A'XIIA.  The  root  of  the  Cephne'is  ipecacu- 
anha. This  important  article  of  the  .Materia  .Medica  is  the 
produce  of  South  America;  it  is  in  short  wrinkled  pieces, 
covered  with  a  gray  or  brownish  gray  epidermis,  and  hav- 
ing a  central  woody  fibre,  surrounded  by  a  pale  gray  corti- 
cal part,  in  which  its  virtue  resides.  It  has  a  nauseous 
odour,  and  a  repulsive  bitterish  taste.  It  is  difficultly  redu- 
cible to  |K>wder,  and  the  dust  which  it  tbrnws  off  while  un- 
der the  process  of  pulverization  is  apt  to  excite  1'reat  irrita- 
tion of  the  respiratory  organs.  Prom  flfteen  to  tv 
grains  of  powdered  ipecacuanha  tool  taken  in  an  ounce  of 
water  is  one  of  the  Bafest  ami  surest  emetics;  in  doses  of 
from  one  to  three  or  four  grains  it  is  a  navseant  ;  and  in 
smaller  doses,  repealed  every  four  or  six  hours,  as  from  a 
fourth  of  a  grata  t"  a  gra  rant  and  diaphoretic. 

It  contains  from  twelve  to  sixteen  per  cent,  "t  m 
which  its  medical  activity  is  referable.  When  long  boiled 
with  water  its  emetic  power  is  diminished,  but  the  decoction 
is  aperient.  There  are  several  varieties  ol  Ipecacuanha, 
some  of  which  arise  from  modifications  of  soil  and  climate: 
others  appear  to  be  the  roots  of  distinct  i 

IRIDViri  I.  one  of  the  genera.)  A  natural  order 
of  berbace  h  habiting  the  ''ape  and  Bome  other 

places.    It  differs  from  Jimaryllidacea  essentially  in  being 
triandnus.  with  the  anthers  turned  outwards;  from  Orchi- 
dacece,  in  not  being  gynandrous ;   and   from    Ztngiberatea 
616 


IRON. 

and  Marantacea,  in  having  three  perfect  stamens.  The 
species  are  more  remarkable  for  their  beautiful  flowers  than 
tor  their  utility.  The  substance  called  saffron  is  the  dried 
stigmata  of  the  Crocus  sativus.  The  various  species  of  frit, 
lua.  Gladiolus,  'I'igridia,  Crocus,  &.C,  are  among  the  fa- 
vourite flowers  ot  tiie  gardener. 

IIU'Dir.M.  (Lat  iris,  the  rainbow,  in  consequence  of  the 
variety  of  colours  exhibited  by  its  solutions.)  A  metal  dis- 
covered by  Dr.  Wolluston.  associated  with  the  ore  of  plati- 
num. It  is  gray,  brittle,  very  infusible,  and  its  specific  grav- 
ity is  about  18-C.  It  forms  several  oxides  and  chlorides,  and 
combines  readily  with  carbon. 

[BIS.  (Gr.  !/>!$■.)  In  Grecian  Mythology,  the  j>ersonifica- 
tion  of  the  rainbow.  She  also  performed  the  duties  of  a 
messenger  to  Jupiter  and  Juno. 

Iris.     A  name  for  the  rainbow.     See  Rainbow. 

Iris.  In  Anatomy,  the  anterior  part  of  the  choroid  coat 
of  the  eye,  with  its  central  perforation,  called  the  pupil;  the 
posterior  part  or  hack  of  the  iris  is  called  the  uvea.  The 
term  iris  is  applied  to  that  part  of  the  eye  on  account  of  its 
various  colours.     .Sec  Eye. 

IRI TIS.     Inflammation  of  the  iris  of  the  eye. 

l'RO.V  A  metal  known  from  remotest  antiquity,  of  a  pe- 
culiar gray  colour,  and  possessing  when  polished  much  lus- 
tre. It  is  not  very  malleable,  but  extremely  ductile,  and 
very  tenacious.  At  common  temperatures  it  is  hard  and  un- 
yielding ;  but  at  a  red  heat  it  is  soft  and  pliable,  and  at  a  high 
red  heat  it  may  be  united  to  another  piece  equally  heated 
by  hammering  them  together:  this  process  is  called  weld- 
ing. The  specific  gravity  of  pure  iron  is  about  ?•".  Its  tex- 
ture is  fibrous;  it  is  wry  difficult  of  fusion,  requiring  for 
that  purpose  the  highest  temperature  of  a  wind  furnace.  It 
is  attracted  by  the  magnet,  and  is  it-elf  susceptible  of  being 
rendered  magnetic,  a  property  possessed  by  no  other  metal 
except  nickel.  Another  remarkable  circumstance  in  the 
history  of  iron  is,  that  it  has  only  hitherto  I"  en  found  notice. 
(that  is,  in  its  pure  metallic  state),  in  stones  and  masses  ap- 
parently of  meU  aric  origin  ;  for  the  accounts  of  other  forms 
of  native  iron  are  doubtful.  In  combination  with  oxygen 
and  with  sulphur,  and  occasionally  with  other  substances, 
it  is  very  abundant  in  the  mineral  world,  and  is  found  in 
small  quantities  in  many  animal  and  vegetable  substances. 
Those  minerals  which  contain  iron  so  combined  as  to  be 
employed  as  sources  of  the  metal  for  the  purposes  of  the  arts 
ami  manufactures  are  more  exclusively  termed  the  ores  of 
iron  ;  and  among  them  the  different  oxides  of  iron,  and  the 
carbonate,  either  pure  or  in  combination  with  various  earthy 
matters,  forming  the  clay  ironstone  of  our  coal  districts,  are 
the  most  important.  The  red  oxide,  and  the  black  oxide 
(ferrosoferric  oxide  of  Berzelius),  are  also  valuable  ores. 
The  finest  Swedish  iron  is  chiefly  procured  from  the  purer 
oxides,  and  especially  from  the  native  black  oxide  or  mag- 
nettc  iron  ore,  and  is  reduced  by  charcoal  ;  in  this  country 
clay  ironstone  is  chiefly  resorted  to,  and  it  is  reduced  by  coke. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  iron,  known  in  commerce  under 
the  names  of  cast  and  wrought  iron.  There  are  also  two 
principal  varieties  of  cast  iron,  distinguished  by  the  terms 
white  and  gray.  The  first  is  very  hard  and  brittle,  and 
when  broken  of  a  radiated  texture :  gray  iron  is  softer  and 
less  brittle  and  may  be  bored  and  turned  in  the  lathe.  The 
varieties  of  cast  iron  are  also  very  different  in  their  chemical 
composition;  some  much  purer  than  others;  they  often  con- 
tain traces  of  sulphur,  phosphorus,  silicium,  calcium,  man- 
ganese, and  always  more  or  less  oxide  of  iron  and  carbon. 
The  purer  kinds  of  cast  iron,  which  are  chiefly  carburets  of 
iron,  may  be  converted  into  malleable  iron  by  heating  them, 
surrounded  by  pure  oxide  of  iron,  by  which  the  carbon  is 
gradually  extracted  in  the  form  of  carbonic  oxide  ;  it  is  thus 
that  horse  shoes,  and  oilier  articles,  ~ucli  even  as  knives, 
scissors,  snuffers,  See.,  are  fashioned  by  casting,  and  after- 
wards  purified   by   the   curious   process   just   noticed.     The 

east  iron  manufactured  in  this  country  is  converted  into  bar 
or  malleable  iron,  chiefly  by  process  called  puddling,  which 
consists  iii  subjecting  it  to  the  continued  action  of  heat  in  a 
reverberatory  furnace,  where,  as  soon  as  it  melts.it  is  stirred 
about  till  it  gradually  becomes  Ie>s  and  less  fusible,  and  at 
length  grows  tough  and  pulverulent.  During  ibis  part  of 
the  process  the  miss  heaves  and  emits  a  blue  flame,  in  con- 
sequence  of  the  burning  off  of  some  of  its  impurities;  the 
fire  is  then  so  far  increased  as  to  agglutinate  the  metal  into  a 
mass,  which,  intensely  heated,  is  transferred  to  a  powerful 
rolling-mill ;  as  it  pass, .^  successively  through  the  roll  i 
large  quantity  of  Impurities,  chiefly  it>  earthy  ingredient*, 
in  combination  with  oxide  of  iron,  are  squeezed  out  in  the 
form  tit'  a  fluid  slag,  and  the  iron  is  extended  into  malleable 
bars;  tl  into  pieces,  placed  in  parcels  or  faggots 

in  a  very  hoi  furnace,  and   again   hammered  or   rolled  into 

bars;  they  thus  become  more  tough,  flexible,  and  malleable, 

but  much  less  fusible,  and  may  now  be  considered  as  nearly 
pure  iron. 

When  iron  is  heated  red  hot  with  the  free  access  of  air.  it 
undergoes  a  slow  combustion  ;  that  is,  it  combines  with  the 


IRON. 

oxygen  of  the  air,  and  is  converted  into  a  black  fusible  sub- 
stance, as  is  seen  when  a  bar  of  white-hot  iron  is  beaten 
upon  the  smith's  anvil,  the  scales  which  rly  off  in  brilliant 
combustion  producing  the  black  oxide  of  iron.  When  a  thin 
piece  of  iron  is  introduced  red-hot  into  oxygen  gas,  or  when 
a  current  of  oxygen  is  directed  upon  it,  it  burns  with  great 
splendour,  throwing  oft' brilliant  sparks,  and  becoming  rapid- 
ly oxidized.  When  this  black  oxide,  or  when  metallic  iron  is 
exposed  to  air  and  moisture,  or  heated  for  a  long  time  in  con- 
tact of  air.  it  becomes  converted  into  a  brown  oxide,  famil- 
iarly known  as  rust  of  iron.  When  iron  is  acted  upon  by 
dilute  sulphuric  acid,  it  decomposes  the  water  of  the  acid, 
and  becomes  converted  into  a  protoxide  of  iron,  which  is 
taken  up  by  the  acid,  and  yields  a  green  solution  ;  from 
which,  on  evaporation,  green  crystals  may  be  obtained  of 
protosulphate  of  iron,  commonly  known  as  green  vitriol. 

It  appears  from  the  analyses  of  these  compounds  that  the 
number  28  may  be  assumed  as  the  equivalent  of  iron,  and 
that  the  protoxide  (existing  in  green  vitriol  and  in  the  pro- 
tosalts  of  iron  generally)  is  constituted  of  1  atom  of  iron  =; 
23,  and  of  1  of  oxygen  :=  8,  and  is  consequently  represented 
by  the  equivalent  number  28  -f-  8  =  36 ;  that  the  brown  or 
red  oxide,  or  peroxide  of  iron,  consists  of  28  iron  and  12  ox- 
ygen, and  is  represented  by  the  equivalent  40;  and  that 
many  of  the  native  oxides,  and,  generally  speaking,  the 
scales  of  iron,  are  a  definite  combination  of  the  above  pro- 
toxide and  peroxide,  containing  2  atoms  of  protoxide  and  1 
of  peroxide. 

The  most  efficient  tests  of  the  presence  of  iron  in  water, 
and  in  solution  generally,  are  the  tincture  of  galls,  which 
produces  a  purple  or  dark  blue  tint  in  liquids  containing 
very  minute  proportions  of  iron,  or  a  black  precipitate  where 
the  metal  is  more  abundant ;  and  the  ferrocyanate  of  potash, 
which  produces  Prussian  blue  under  similar  circumstances. 

Of  the  combinations  of  iron,  steel  is,  perhaps,  the  most  im- 
portant. It  is  formed  by  heating  pure  iron  in  contact  with 
charcoal,  and  is  a  compound  of  iron  with  a  small  proportion 
of  carbon.     See  Steel. 

The  manifold  uses  of  this  valuable  metal  are  too  well 
known  to  require  being  pointed  out ;  and  no  one  can  doubt 
that  its  discovery  has  done  more  perhaps  than  anything  else 
to  facilitate  the  advance  of  mankind  in  the  career  of  im- 
provement. "  It  accommodates  itself,"  as  Dr.  Ure  has  ob- 
served, "  to  all  our  wants,  our  desires,  and  even  our  caprices  ; 
it  is  equally  serviceable  to  the  arts,  the  sciences,  to  agricul- 
ture and  war ;  the  same  ore  furnishes  the  sword,  the  plough- 
share, the  pruning  hook,  the  needle,  the  graver,  the  spring 
of  a  watch  or  of  a  carnage,  the  chisel,  the  chain,  the  an- 
chor, the  compass,  the  cannon,  and  the  bomb.  It  is  a  medi- 
cine of  much  virtue,  and  the  only  metal  friendly  to  the  hu- 
man frame.  The  ores  of  iron  are  scattered  over  the  crust 
of  the  globe  with  a  beneficent  profusion,  proportioned  to 
the  utility  of  the  metal ;  they  are  found  under  even,'  latitude, 
every  zone,  and  in  every  mineral  formation ;  and  they  are 
disseminated  in  every  soil.  But  though  iron  is  the  most  com- 
mon of  the  metals,  it  is  by  far  the  most  difficult  to  obtain  in 
a  state  fit  for  use ;  and  the  discovery  of  the  method  of  work- 
ing it  seems  to  have  been  posterior  to  the  use  of  gold,  silver, 
and  copper.  It  w  ould  be  vain  to  attempt  to  investigate  the 
steps  by  which  men  were  at  fust  led  to  practise  the  processes 
required  to  fuse  it,  and  render  it  malleable  ;  but  th  at  the  inven- 
tion of  these  curious  arts  is  of  a  very  early  date,  is  evident 
from  the  fact  that  Tubal  Cain,  but  a  short  time  after  the 
creation,  was  "  an  instructor  of  every  artifice  in  brass  and 
iron."  In  most  instances,  the  profane  historians  of  antiquity 
have  either  attributed  the  discover}'  of  iron  and  its  uses  to 
their  divinities,  or  they  have  deified  those  to  whom  they 
supposed  they  owed  the  blessings  of  so  valuable  a  discovery. 

At  what  period  iron  began  to  be  made  in  this  country  there 
is  no  means  of  ascertaining  ;  but  there  is  authentic  evidence 
to  show  that  iron  works  were  established  by  the  Romans  in 
the  Forest  of  Dean  in  Gloucestershire,  and  in  other  parts  of 
the  kingdom.  (Pennant's  TVales,  vol.  i.,  p.  89,  ed.  1810.) 
They  were  also  established  at  an  early  period  in  Kent  and 
Sussex  ;  but  it  was  not  till  after  the  celebrated  invention  of 
Lord  Dudley  in  1G19,  by  which  pit  coal  was  substituted  for 
timber  in  the  smelting  of  iron  ore,  that  a  great  impetus  was 
given  to  the  working  of  this  valuable  mineral ;  an  invention 
which,  though  interrupted  and  clogged  for  a  time  by  the  de- 
vices of  an  ignorant  rabble,  at  last  established  for  itself  a  sure 
footing  both  in  this  and  in  every  other  European  country. 
From  1740  (the  period  at  which  Lord  Dudley's  invention  be- 
came generally  adopted)  the  progress  of  the  manufacture  has 
exceeded  the  most  sanguine  expectations;  and  thoush  we 
have  no  means  of  ascertaining  the  exact  quantity  produced, 
the  subjoined  estimates  will  show  at  once  the  value  of  the 
manufacture,  and  the  unexampled  rapidity  of  its  growth 
during  the  last  centurv.  In  1740,  the  quantity  amounted,  in 
England  and  Wales  onlv,  to  17,000  tons  ;  in  i750,  to  22.000; 
in  1788,  to  68,000 ;  in  1796,  to  12.1,000  ;  in  1806,  to  250,000 ;  in 
1820,  to  400,000;  in  1827,  to  690,000;  and  in  18-10,  to  up- 
wards of  1,000,000  tons. 


IRREDUCIBLE  CASE. 

IRON  TYRITES.  Yellow  sulphuret  of  Iron.  A  bi-sul- 
phuret  of  iron,  composed  of  28  iron +  32  sulphur.  It  is  a 
very  common  and  abundant  ore  of  the  metal;  hitherto  it 
has  only  been  used  for  the  production  of  sulphate  of  iron,  or 
green  vitriol ;  but  attention  has  lately  been  turned  to  it  as  a 
source  of  sulphur. 

I'RONY.  (Gr.  iipt&vsia  ;  from  upiov,  a  dissembler.)  In 
Rhetoric,  the  quality  of  style  and  of  sentiment  which  Arw 
totle  designates  by  the  term  hpuniua,  is  somewhat  i 
from  that  which  bears  the  same  title  in  modtrn  phraseology, 
being,  in  fact,  only  a  subdivision  of  it.  Eironeia,  in  his  sense 
of  the  word,  is  an  artful  representation  of  qualities  or  things 
as  less  than  they  really  are.  Thus,  among  the  vaiious  char- 
acters of  the  human  mind  as  given  by  him,  the  hpwv  (iron) 
is  one  who  affectedly  conceals  or  depreciates  his  own  got  d 
qualities.  Quintilian  gives  to  rhetorical  irony  a  far  moro 
general  sense,  terming  it  diversiloquium,  or  the  use  of  ex- 
pressions contrary  to  the  thoughts  of  the  speaker.  He  also  dis- 
tinguishes it  into  two  species,  treating  it  as  a  trope  or  figure  of 
speech  where  the  opposition  of  thought  to  language  extends 
only  to  a  few  words  ;  a  figure  of  thought,  where  it  extends  to 
a  whole  passage  or  discourse.  The  Socratic  irony  is  em- 
ployed in  argument  when  one  speaker  affects  to  take  the  posi- 
tions of  the  other  for  granted,  in  order  adroitly  to  lead  him 
into  self-contradiction  or  obvious  absurdity.  In  the  ordinary 
sense,  irony  is  a  more  delicate  species  of  sarcasm,  by  which 
praises  are  bestowed  where  it  is  intended  to  convey  the  op- 
posite sense  of  disapprobation  ;  or  assent  is  notified  where  the 
real  object  is  to  express  dissent. 

IRRADIATION,  in  Physics  and  Astronomy,  is  the  phe- 
nomenon of  the  apparent  enlargement  of  an  object  strongly 
illuminated.  The  impression  produced  by  light  on  the  retina 
appears  to  be  extended,  though  to  an  extremely  small  dis- 
tance, round  the  focus  of  the  rays  concentrated  by  the  lenses 
of  the  eye.  Hence  the  image  of  a  star  is  never  a  point,  but 
a  disc  having  a  sensible  diameter,  and  larger  in  proportion  as 
the  light  is  more  intense  ;  and  hence  also  the  luminous  part 
of  the  moon  at  her  first  quarter  appears  larger  than  the 
other.  This  effect,  which  is  termed  irradiation,  results  evi- 
dently from  the  very  nature  of  the  organ  of  vision. 

IRKA'TIONAL.  In  Arithmetic  and  algebra,  a  term  ap- 
plied to  numbers  or  quantities  of  which  the  roots  are  incom- 
mensurable with  unity,  and  therefore  cannot  be  accurately 
extracted.  Thus  the  root  ,/2  is  irrational,  because  it  cannot 
be  expressed  by  any  finite  number.  If  the  side  of  a  square 
=  1,  then  y/-2  is  its  diagonal ;  and  it  is  proved  by  elementary 
geometry  that  the  diagonal  of  a  square  is  incommensurable 
with  its  side.     Irrational  quantities  are  also  called  surds. 

IRREDU'CIBLE  CASE,  in  Algebra,  is  that  particular 
case  in  the  solution  of  a  cubic  equation  in  which  Cardan's 
celebrated  formula  contains  an  imaginary  expression,  and 
therefore  fails  in  its  application.  This  circumstance  oc- 
casioned great  embarrassment  to  the  early  analysts,  and 
all  the  efforts  of  their  successors  to  overcome  the  difficulty 
in  a  direct  way  have  proved  unsuccessful.  In  order  to 
show  in  what  it  consists,  let  the  proposed  cubic  equation 
be  x^-\-a  z-\-c^=0;  then,  by  Cardan's  rule,  we  have  x  = 

(—  ic  +  ^\a3  +  icl)h  +  (-Ac  —  vV~  a3  +  i^)£- 
Now,  if  in  this  expression  a  is  negative,  and  Jj»  a?  is  greater 
than  ic2;  then  J^  a3  +  i  c2  will  be  a  negative  quantity, 
and  consequently  the  extraction  of  its  square  root  will  ba 
impossible,  or  the  expression  ^/-^^  a3  +  i  c2  will  be  imagin- 
ary. But  it  is  known  from  the  theory  of  equations  that  every 
cubic  equation  must  have  at  least  one  real  root ;  and  it  is  a 
circumstance  not  a  little  remarkable  that  those  cubic  equa- 
tions in  which  this  imaginary  expression  occurs  have  not 
only  one  real  root,  but  have  ail  the  three  roots  real. 

It  is  possible  to  disengage  the  expression  for  the  value  of 
x  from  the  imaginary  quantities  by  expanding  it  by  the  bi- 
nomial theorem  ;  for  the  imaginary  quantities,  which  will  be 
the  same  in  both  the  resulting  series,  will  be  positive  in  the 
one  series  and  negative  in  the  other ;  and  therefore,  on  add- 
ing the  series  together,  they  will  be  eliminated.  But  the 
series  which  results  from  this  addition  will  very  rarely  bj 
convergent ;  consequently  this  method  is  of  no  use  whatever. 
Various  indirect  methods  of  finding  the  roots  have  been  pro- 
posed ;  the  following  is  one  of  the  simplest : 

Let  y%  —  ?  y  =  c  be  the  proposed  equation.  Find  in  the 
trigonometrical  tables  an  arc  a  whose  natural  cosine  is  3  r 
V  3  —  2  q  y/  q ;  then  the  three  roots  of  the  proposed  equation 
are, 

y=2v/^?X  cos.  $a, 

y  =  -2V"£Vx  sin.  i  (90°  —  a), 

y  —  —  2Vi?Xsin.  i  (90°  +  n). 

These  formula  apply,  whether  r  be  positive  or  negative ; 
but  when  r  is  negative,  it  is  more  convenient  to  choose  the 
arc  a  such  that  its  natural  sine  is  3  r  J  3-H2  q  J  q,  and  the 
three  roots  are  then  _._ 

P  p  *  C17 


IRREGULAR  CADENCE. 


y^Zy/lqXsin.  Jo, 
y=2V'i?XC0S.i(«P  +  *), 
«=— Zy/ig X  cos.  J  (9tP-(l). 
Soe  the  article  "Algebra,"  by  Professor  Wallace,  in  the 
Enat.  Britannica,  .       . 

IRRE'GULAR  CADENCE.  In  Music,  one  winch  does 
not  end  upon  the  essential  chord  of  the  mode  in  which  a 
piece  is  composed.    SeeGuniNCK. 

IRRIGA'TION.  (Lat.)  The  art  of  watenng  lands  arti- 
ficially and  by  means  of  surface  drains  or  channels,  as  con 
frosted  witli  watering  by  manual  labour.  In  Britain,  and  in 
analogous  climates,  irrigation  is  almost  exclusively  applied 
to  grass  lands;  but  in  warmer  climates,  such  as  those  Of 
Italy,  Syria,  India,  &c,  irrigation  is  considered  as  essentia 
to  the  production  of  large  crops  in  every  description  ot  field 
and  garden  culture.  When  any  surface  is  to  he  irrigated, 
the  supnlv  Of  water  which  is  to  be  used  lor  this  purpose  is 
conducted  to  the  highest  part  of  that  surface,  and  from  thence 
it  is  led  over  it  in  open  gutters,  so  as  to  run  very  slowly,  and 
sink  into  the  earth  as  it  proceeds.  As  in  general  no  very- 
great  extent  of  surface  can  be  irrigated  at  once,  different  parts 
of  a  held  or  farm  are  irrigated  in  succession;  and  in  coun- 
tries where  this  practice  is  universal,  it  often  happens  that 
one  source  of  supply  is  common  to  two  or  more  forms,  the 
occupiers  of  which  have  it  on  alternate  days.  In  the  south 
of  France  and  Italy,  abundant  crops  cannot  be  produced 
without  irrigation.  "Even  the  potatoe  crop  and  madder  are 
Irrigated  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Avignon  ;  and  in  I  uscany 
wheat,  maize,  beans,  turnips,  and  every  other  crop  that  can 
be  sown  in  drills  in  the  fields,  is  watered  from  artificial  chan- 
nels The  practice  is  as  old  as  human  civilization,  and  some 
of  the  first  machines  which  we  read  of  in  history  are  those 
for  raising  water  from  the  Nile  for  irrigating  the  lands  on  its 
banks.  Water,  in  short,  is  to  the  agriculture  of  warm  cli- 
mates, what  manure  is  to  the  cultivator  of  temperate  regions. 
It  is  not  altogether  a  substitute  for  manure  ;  but  as  in  temper- 
ate regions  water  without  manure  would  be  ot  little  use,  so 
in  warm  regions  manure  without  water  cannot  be  rendered 
lit  for  being"  taken  up  bv  the  roots  of  plants. 

ISBRA'NIKI.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  name  ot  the 
Russian  sect  of  Raskolniks.     'Moshcim,  vol.  v.) 

I'SCHIUM.  (Gr.  ioX<S,  the.  loin.)  So  called  from  its 
proximity  to  the  loin,  it  js  one  of  the  bones  ot  the  total 
pelvis,  ;lncl  a  part  of  the  OS  innominatum  in  the  adult. 

ISCHU'RLA.  (Gr.  iox",  I  retain,  mid  ovpov,  the  urine.) 
Retention  of  urine.  .  , 

I'SINGLASS.  A  very  pure  form  of  gelatine,  prepared 
from  certain  parts  of  the  entrails  of  several  fish.  The  best 
is  derived  from  the  sturgeon,  and  is  almost  exclusively  im- 
ported from  Russia,  twisted  up  in  rolls  or  formed  into  cakes, 
which  are  afterwards  torn  into  shreds  or  cut  into  fine  shav- 
ings in  this  country.  Good  isinglass  should  he  free  lrom 
Kiicll  and  taste,  and"  perfectly  soluble  in  boiling  water. 

I'SIS.  One  of  the  chief  deities  in  the  Egyptian  Mythology. 
It  is  difficult  amid  the  mass  of  contradictory  assertions  to  as- 
certain the  real  origin  and  attributes  of  this  divinity;  tor 
whHe  the  Egyptians  themselves  are  said  to  have  confined 
their  worship  chiefly  to  Isisond  Osiris  (quod  vide),  the  (.reek 
and  Latin  writers,  though  exceedingly  discrepant  in  details, 
assert  broadly  that  these  two  divinities  rrfbluded,  under  differ- 
ent names,  the  whole  pagan  mythology.  It  would  be  futile 
In  this  place  to  trace  the  attempt  of  the  Greeks  to  identity 
Isis  with  lo,  the  daughter  of  Inachus,  whom  they  represent 
to  have  hern  introduced  into  Egypt  under  the  form  ot  a  cow, 
and  in  that  shape  worshipped  by  the  inhabitants  ot  the  coun- 
try. By  the  Egyptians  themselves  Isis  was  regarded  as  the 
Bister  or  sister-wife  of  Osiris,  who  concurred  with  her  in  the 
endeavour  to  polish  and  civilize  their  subjects,  to  teach  them 
agriculture,  and  several  other  necessary  arts  ot  life.  Among 
the  higher  and  more  philosophical  theologians,  she  was 
made  the  symbol  of  Pantheistic  divinity :  see  especinllj  the 
remarkable  passage  at  the  end  of  the  Golden  Ass  oi  Apu- 
leius.    By  the  people  she  was  worshipped  as  the  goddess  ol 

fecundity,  and  in  her  honour  an  annual  festival  was  insti- 
tuted which  lasted  seven  days.  The  cow  was  sacred  to  her. 
(she  was  represented  variously,  though  most  usually  as  a 
woman  with  the  horns  of  a  cow,  and  sometimes  with  the 

iOtOS  on  her  head  and  the  sistnim  in  her  hand.  Her  priests 
were   bound   to  observe  perpetual   (-hastily  ;  but  on   her  WOT 

shin  passing  into  foreign  countries  her  rites  ben, me  merely 
a  clonk  for  sacerdotal  licentiousness,  which  al  last  reached 
such  a  pitch  that  the}  were  prohibited  at  Rome ;  and  ribenus, 
in  the  hope  of  annihilating  them  forever,  ordered  tne  images 
of  the  "od. less  to  be  thrown  into  the  river.  The  worship  ol 
isis  however,  was  afterwards  revived,  and  furnished  an  am- 
ple theme  for  the  indignant  pen  of  Juvenal.  I  he  IsiacTa 
He  in  the  Turin  Museum,  which  was  BO  long  Blippo  I  A   OJ 

the  learned  to  represent  the  mysteries  pi  bis,  "has  been 
lodged  by  Champolllan  to  be  the  work  of  an  (initiated  artist 
little  acquainted  with  the  worship  of  tlieBOddeBS,  and  proba- 
bly of  the  age  of  Hadrian."  (Owner's  MijUiol. ;  1'lutarch  s 
018 


ISOPERIMETRICAL  FIGURES. 

Treatise  on  his  and  Osiris,  &c.  &c. ;  an  Essay  by  De 
Montfaucon,  Hist,  tie  I'jIc.  tlrs  laser.,  vol.  xvi.,  which  con- 
tains a  summary  of  the  Grecian  learning  on  the  subject; 
Mem.  dc  VAc.  des  laser.,  xxxiv. ;  and  Quart.  Rev.,  July, 
1840.) 

Isis.  (Isidos  proclamos,  a  marine  plant,  like  coral,  ac- 
cording to  Pliny.)  The  name  of  a  genus  of  jointed  coral,  in 
which  the  joints  are  composed  of  substance  resembling  horn. 
I'SLAM,  or  ESLAM.  The  religion  of  Mohammed.  Tho 
body  of  the  faithful,  and  the  countries  wherein  it  is  profess- 
ed are  so  termed  by  the  Mohammedans.  The  original  word 
is  iaid  to  Bignify  submission  to  God.  All  those  \\  ho  profess- 
ed the  true  religion  and  the  unity  of  God,  before  the  arrival 
of  Mohammed,  are  considered  as  comprised  in  the  character 
and  privileges  of  lslamism.  The  Mufti  of  Constantinople,  or 
chief  minister  of  religion  in  Turkey,  bears  the  title  of  Sheikh- 
ul  Islam.  „,      .  . 

[SL  \ND.  (Eat.  insula.)  A  tract  of  land  encompassed 
With  water,  whether  of  the  sea,  a  river,  or  a  lake ;  in  con- 
tradistinction to  continent  or  terra  firma. 

ISLANDS  OF  THE  BLESSED.  (Insula-  Beatorum, 
Fortunatic  Insula?;  Nijooi  Mu/cupuu.)  According  to  the 
Grecian  Mythology,  the  Happy  Islands,  supposed  to  lie  west- 
ward in  the  ocean,  whither,  after  death,  the  souls  ot  the 
virtuous  were  transported.  In  the  early  mythology  of  the 
Greeks  the  Islands  of  the  Blessed,  the  F.lysian  fields,  and  the 
infernal  regions,  were  generally  confounded  with  each  other. 
See  Elysium.  ,  ,    .      , .,    . 

ISMAE'LIANS.  A  Mohammedan  sect  who  derived  their 
name  from  maintaining  the  pretensions  of  Ishmail,  the  son 
of  Jaafar,  to  the  rank  of  Imam,  to  the  exclusion  Ol  Moussa, 
who  was  adopted  by  that  saint.  They  consequently  rejected 
the  claims  of  Moussa  and  tin-  live  subsequent  Imams.  The 
Ismaelians  formed  a  secret  association,  founded  in  the  10th 
century  of  the  Christian  era  by  Abdullah,  a  Persian.  I  rom 
them  originated  the  famous  society  ol  the  Assassins.  (  Tay- 
lor's Hist,  of  Mohammedanism,  p.  225;  Mem.  de  I  Ac.  des 
Inscr.,  vol.  xvii. ;  "  Secret  Societies  of  the  Middle  Ages  pub- 
lished in  the  Library  of  Entertaining  Knowledge,  1837.) 

I'SOCHROMATIC.  (Gr.  taoi,  equal,  and  \pi»na,  col- 
our )  Having  the  same  colours.  In  certain  experiments 
with  doublv  refracting  crystals,  the  decomposed  light  tonus 
a  double  series  of  coloured  rings  or  curves  ot  ditlerent  tonus, 
orroneed  in  a  certain  Order,  each  curve  in  the  one  series  hav- 
ing one  corresponding  to  it  both  in  form  and  colour  in  the 
other  The  two  curves  or  lines  which  have  the  same  tint 
are  called  isoehromotie.  (See  Herschel's  Treatise  on  Light, 
in  the  Enen-  jMctropolilana.)    „„„,_,„_       ,_  _    - 

ISOCHRONAL  or  ISOCHRONOUS.  (Gr.  «toc,  and 
xpova,  time  ;  performed  in  equal  times)  1  wo  pendulums 
winch  vibrate  in  the  same  time  are  isochronal  ;  or  the  vibra- 
tions of  a  pendulum  in  the  curve  of  a  cycloid  are  SO,  being 
all  performed  in  the  same  time,  whether  they  are  to  be  large 
or  small.  Isochronal  lines  are  those  along  which  a  heavy 
body  descends  with  a  uniform  velocity. 

ISO'DOMUM.  (Gr.  taos,  and  &oun,  structure.)  In  An- 
cient Architecture,  a  species  of  walling,  m  whieh  all  the 
courses  were  the  same  height.  . 

I'SOLATED  (Fr.  isole,  from  the  Ital.  isola,  Lat.  insula, 
an  island.)  In  Electrictity,  a  body  is  said  to  be  isolated 
when  it  is  surrounded  by  non-conductors,  or  bodies  to  which 
it  cannot  communicate  its  electric  virtue,  except  by  mductjon, 
Bodiesmay  be  isolated  in  various  ways;  by  suspending  them 
by  meansof  silken  cords ;  by  placing  them  on  a  cake  ot  v,  ax 
resin,  oi  sulphur,  or  on  a  stand  of  glass  or  dry  varnished 

WTS6'MERISM.  (Gr.  icoq,  and  pspos , part.)  Compounds 
Which  contain  the  same  elements  in  the  same  ratio,  and  yet 
exhibit  distinct  chemical  qualities,  are  sa„l  to  be  mn 
Ti„.  cyanic  and  ful.ninic  acids  are  isomeric  compounds  of 

nitron-,,,  oxygen,  and  carbon.     The  distinctions  thus  arising 

are  probably  referable  to  the  different  ways  in  which  the 
same  elementary  atoms  are  grouped  in  the  compound. 

ISOMORPHISM.  (Gr.  taos,  and  ,«»></»,,  form.)  Sun- 
Btonces  which  resemble  each  other  in  their  crystalline  forms, 
but  differ  in  their  component  parts,  ore  said  to  be  isomor- 
vhous  Thus  tin-  phosphate  and  biphosphate  ol  soda  have 
the  same  form,  or  are  isomorphous,  with  the  arsemote  and 

binarseniat '  soda;  and  in  regard  to  other  bases,  such  as 

potash  and  ammonia,  each  arsenate  has  a  corresponding 

phosphate  possessed  of  the  same  form.  In  these  cases  there 
js  ne'e-   :, nl     an    analogy  in   the   atomic   constitution  of    he 

,,,„,,,  ,„nds,  which  are  observed  to  possess  the  same  number 
of  equivalents  of  acid,  alkali,  and  water  oi  crystallization, 
and  differ  in  nothing  except  thai  die  one  series  contains  an 
atom  of  arsenic,  and  the  other  an  atom  o  phosphorus 

'SOPE'RIMETRICAL  FIGURES  (Gr.  iooS,  and  irepi 
„  rp  „.,„•■«  mf  e.  net ),  are  such  as  hove  equal  perimeters  or 
rencei.     The  term,  isoperimetncal    !»*>■»*  «» 

, lern  analysis,  designates  n  very  extensive  and  difficult 

clnssof  problems,  the  solution  o(  which  requires  the  uppll 
cation  of  u  peculiar  analysis.    The  general  problem  is  mis 


ISOPODA. 

Among  all  curves  having  the  same  length,  to  determine  that 
of  which  some  assigned  property  is  a  maximum  or  a  mini- 
mum ;  for  example,  among  all  curves  having  the  same  peri- 
meter, to  find  that  which  has  the  greatest  area.  This  is  the 
simplest  question  of  the  kind,  and  the  curve  to  which  the 
property  belongs  is  proved  by  elementary  geometry  to  be  a 
circle. 

In  all  isoperiinetrical  problems  there  are  two  conditions  to 
be  fulfilled  ;  according  to  the  first  of  which  a  certain  proper- 
ty is  to  remain  constant,  or  to  belong  to  all  individuals  of  the 
species ;  and  according  to  the  second,  another  property  is  to  be 
the  greatest  or  least  possible.  In  the  problems  of  this  kind 
which  first  attracted  the  particular  attention  of  mathemati- 
cians, the  constant  quantity  was  the  perimeter  of  a  certain 
curve  ;  and  hence  the  origin  of  the  term,  which  is  now  applied 
to  all  problems  indifferently  in  which  the  question  is  to  find 
curves  having  a  property  of  maximum  or  minimum,  with  or 
without  the  condition  of  equality  of  perimeters. 

James  Bernoulli  was  the  first  who  discovered  the  true  prin- 
ciples on  which  questions  of  this  kind  depend,  and  the  cir- 
cumstances which  render  the  ordinary  methods  of  maxima 
and  minima  inapplicable  to  them.  The  immediate  subject 
of  his  researches  was  the  problem  of  the  Brachystochrone 
(see  the  term),  or  curve  of  quickest  descent,  celebrated  in  the 
early  history  of  tile  calculus  on  account  of  the  controversy  to 
which  it  gave  rise  between  the  two  brothers,  .lames  and  John 
Bernoulli.  The  analysis  of  the  former,  Jlnalysis  magni 
Problematis  Isoperimctrici,  was  published  at  Basle  in  1701, 
and  in  the  Eeipsic  Acts  of  the  same  year.  Solutions  were 
afterwards  given  by  Taylor  in  his  Mcthodus  Incrementorum  ; 
by  John  Bernoulli  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences 
for  1718;  and  by  Euler  in  the  Petersburg-  Memoirs.  Euler 
afterwards  gave  a  complete  and  general  solution  of  the 
problem  in  his  Mcthodus  Inviendi  Lineas  Curvas  Maximi 
Minimive  proprietatc  gaudentes,  a  work  of  which  Lagrange 
has  said  that  there  is  perhaps  no  other  which  can  be  of  more 
use  to  those  who  wish  to  exercise  themselves  in  the  integral 
calculus.  The  method,  however,  which  is  followed  in  this 
work  has  been  superseded  by  the  invention  of  the  calculus 
of  variations  by  Lagrange ;  a  most  important  branch  of 
analysis,  of  which  the  subject  of  isoperimetrical  problems  is 
one  of  the  most  obvious  applications.  (Lagrange,  Lecons 
sur  le  Calcul  des  Fonctions ;  Wondhouse,  On  Isoperimetri- 
cal Problems  ;  Lacroix,  Traite  du  Calcul  L> ijferentiel  et  In- 
tegral ;  Airy's  Tracts,  <$-c.) 

ISO'PODA.  (Gr.  «ru?,  and  -ttouc,  a  foot.)  The  name  of 
an  order  of  Crustaceans,  comprehending  those  which  have 
the  legs  all  alike,  and  adapted  only  for  locomotion  and  pre- 
hension. 

I'SOPO'DIFORM.  The  larva;  of Saprophagous  Hexapods 
are  so  called,  which  have  an  oblong  bod) ■.  a  distinct  thoracic 
shield,  and  a  vent  provided  with  filaments  or  lamina;. 

I'SOPYRE.  (Gr.  taos,  and  -nvp.fir^  In  Mineralogy,  a 
silicate  of  alumina,  lime,  and  peroxide  of  iron,  found  near 
the  granite  of  St.  Just,  near  Penzance  in  Cornwall.  It  is  a 
black  amorphous  substance,  occasionally  variegated  with 
gray  or  red  spots  or  streaks,  slightly  translucent.  Its  specific 
gravity  is  about  3. 

ISO'SCELES.  (Gr.  »<roc,  and  o-io/Aos,  leg.)  In  Geome- 
try, an  isosceles  triangle  is  that  which  has  two  equal  sides. 
Among  the  properties  of  isosceles  triangles,  one  is  that  the 
angles  at  the  base  are  equal ;  and  as  the  demonstration  whicli 
is  given  of  this  proposition  in  Euclid's  Elements,  where  it 
stands  at  the  very  commencement,  is  somewhat  intricate  and 
puzzling  to  beginners,  the  proposition  has  been  called  the 
pons  asinorum. 

ISOSTE'MONOUS  (Gr.  ico?,  and  arnpuv,  a  stamen),  in 
Botany,  in  expressing  the  proportion  that  one  part  bears  to 
another,  denotes  that  the  stamens  are  equal  in  number  to 
the  petals. 

ISOTHERMAL.  (Gr.  woq,  and  Sip/tr,,  heat.)  In  Physical 
Geography,  isothermal  lines  are  those  which  pass  through 
those  points  on  the  surface  of  the  earth  at  which  the  mean 
annual  temperature  is  the  same.  Isothermal  zones  are  spaces 
on  opposite  sides  of  the  equator  having  the  same  mean  tem- 
perature, and  bounded  by  corresponding  isothermal  lines. 
On  account  of  the  irregular  form  and  disposition  of  the  con- 
tinental masses,  by  which  the  climate  of  different  places  is 
greatly  influenced,  the  isothermal  curves  are  not  parallel  to 
the  equator,  excepting  in  the  very  low  latitudes.  According 
to  Humboldt,  the  isothermal  line  which  corresponds  to  the 
temperature  of  32°  of  Fahrenheit,  passes  between  Ulea  in 
Lapland,  lat.  06°,  and  Table  Bay  on  the  coast  of  Labrador, 
lat.  54°.  The  isothermal  line  of  41°  passes  near  Stockholm, 
lat.  594°,  and  St.  George's  Bay,  Newfoundland,  lat.  48°. 
The  line  of  50°  passes  through  the  Netherlands,  lat.  51°, 
and  near  Boston  in  the  United  States,  lat.  4'21°;  that  of  5<J° 
between  Rome  and  Florence,  lat.  43°,  and  Raleigh  in  North 
Carolina,  lat.  3GC.  In  all  these  cases  wc  see  that  the  iso- 
thermal lines,  in  passing  from  the  western  side  of  the  conti- 
nent of  Europe  to  the  eastern  coast  of  America,  deviate  very 
considerably  towards  the  south ;  the  deviation,  in  one  case, 


ITCH. 

amounting  to  ll.J°  of  latitude.  In  passing  over  tire  American 
continent,  they  again  recede  to  the  northward  ;  and  in  Cali- 
fornia, and  to  the  north  of  that  peninsula,  along  the  western 
side  of  the  continent,  the  annual  temperature  is  nearly  the 
same  as  under  similar  latitudes  in  the  west  of  Europe.  From 
the  western  to  the  eastern  side  of  the  old  continent,  the 
flexure  of  the  isothermal  curves  and  the  diminution  of  the 
mean  annual  temperature  under  the  same  parallels,  are  not 
less  conspicuous.  The  isothermal  line  of  55°  passes  through 
Nantes,  lat.  47°,  and  Pekin,  lat.  394°.  Edinburgh  and  Kasan 
(in  the  east  of  Russia)  have  the  same  latitude  ;  but  the  mean 
annual  temperature  of  the  former  is  48°,  while  that  of  the 
second  is  below  38°.  For  the  different  causes  which  affect 
the  parallelism  of  the  isothermal  lines,  or  which  produce  the 
differences  of  the  mean  annual  temperature  of  places  under 
the  same  parallel  of  latitude,  see  Climate. 

Humboldt  gives  the  name  of  isotheral  lines  (tao;,  and 
S-epof,  summer)  to  the  curves  passing  through  those  places 
at  which  the  mean  summer  heat  is  the  same ;  and  of  isochi- 
menal  (oxof,  and  xn/iwi*,  winter)  to  those  which  pass  through 
the  places  at  which  the  mean  temperature  of  winter  is  the 
same.  The  isotheral  and  isochimenal  curves  deviate  much 
more  from  the  parallels  of  latitude  than  the  isothermal.  The 
latitudes  of  places  having  the  same  winter  temperature  some- 
times differ  so  much  as  18°  or  20°.  The  winter  of  Scotland 
is  as  mild  as  that  of  Milan.  The  mean  temperature  of  the 
winter  months  at  Edinburgh  is  about  38A° ;  of  Kasan,  under 
the  same  parallel,  only  2°.  The  winter  of  Pekin  is  as  rigo- 
rous as  that  of  Stockholm.  (Humboldt's  Fragmens  Asiati- 
ques  ;  Murray's  Geography,  Introduction.) 

I'SSUANT.  In  Heraldry,  a  charge  represented  as  issuing 
or  coming  up  from  another  charge  or  bearing ;  also,  a  lion 
or  other  beast  represented  as  rising  from  the  bottom  line  of 
a  chief. 

I'SSUE.  In  Law,  in  the  most  ordinary  senses  of  the  word, 
1.  The  points  in  dispute  in  a  suit  at  law  between  two  parties, 
ascertained  by  the  pleadings,  are  termed  the  issues  ;  and  are 
either  issues  in  law,  to  be  determined  by  the  court,  or  in  fact, 
to  be  ascertained  by  a  jury.  In  each  form  of  action  (see 
Action,  Pleading)  there  was  formerly  a  formal  trasverse, 
by  which  the  whole  or  principal  part  of  the  allegations  of  the 
plaintiff  in  his  declaration  might  be  denied:  this  was  termed 
the  general  issue.  Since  the  adoption  of  the  new  rules  of 
pleading  (1834),  there  is  now,  properly  speaking,  no  general 
issue;  except  in  certain  cases,  where  the  privilege  of  giving 
special  matter  in  evidence  under  it  is  given  by  statute.  A 
feigned  issue  is  a  technical  mode  of  trying  some  questions, 
supposing  an  imaginary  wager.  In  the  Scottish  practice  of 
trial  by  jury,  it  is  usual  to  put  printed  copies  of  the  issues  into 
the  hands  of  the  jurors.  2.  The  legitimate  offspring  of  a 
man. 

Issue,  in  Surgery,  is  an  artificial  ulcer.  It  is  commonly 
made  by  wounding  or  cutting  the  skin,  and  placing  a  pea 
upon  it,  which  is  pressed  upon  the  part  by  a  bandage. 

1'STHMIAN  GAMES.  One  of  the  four  great  national 
festivals  of  Greece ;  so  called  from  their  being  celebrated  on 
the  Isthmus  of  Corinth.  They  were  common  to  all  the 
states,  with  the  exception  in  this  case  of  the  Eleans,  against 
whom  a  curse  had  been  pronounced  should  they  ever  pre- 
sent themselves  there.  They  were  held  near  a  temple  of 
Neptune,  the  god  who  presided  over  them ;  and  were  cele- 
brated every  third  year,  according  to  some  accounts,  but 
others  assign  them  a  period  of  one  or  four  years.  The  con- 
tests were  the  same  as  in  the  other  sacred  games  (see  Olym- 
pic Games)  :  the  victors  were  crowned  with  garlands  of 
pine  leaves.  (See  Potter's  Grecian  Antiquities  ;  JVachs- 
muth's  Historical  Antiquities,  ii.,  162,  translation.) 

I'STHMUS.  In  Geography,  a  narrow  neck  of  land  join- 
ing two  continents,  or  a  continent  and  peninsula.  Thus,  the 
Isthmus  of  Darien,  joining  North  and  South  America ;  the 
Isthmus  of  Suez,  connecting  Africa  with  Asia. 

ITALIAN  ARCHITECTURE.     See  Architecture. 

ITA'LIC  SCHOOL  OF  PHILOSOPHY,  comprehends 
properly  the  Pythagorean  and  Eleatic  systems  taken  together ; 
but  sometimes  it  is  used  as  synonymous  merely  with  the 
school  of  Pythagoras.  Under  the  several  heads  will  be 
found  the  chief  features  of  these  philosophical  systems, 
which,  comprising  as  they  do  all  that  can  be  said  in  reference 
to  the  Italic  school,  it  would  seem  unnecessary  in  this  place 
!  further  to  advert  to.  The  Italic  school  has  been  so  desig- 
|  nated  because  its  founder,  Pythagoras,  taught  in  Italy,  spread- 
ing his  doctrine  among  the  people  of  Tarentum,  Metapontum, 
Heraclea,  Naples,  &c.  * 

ITCH.  A  disease  of  the  skin,  consisting  in  an  eruption 
of  minute  itching  vesicles,  which  are  commonly  rendered 
more  inflamed  and  troublesome  by  scratching.  They  gene- 
rally make  their  first  appearance  between  the  fingers,  or 
about  the  bend  of  the  wrist  and  often  spread  to  other  parts 
of  the  body,  especially  where  cleanliness  is  neglected.  The 
itch  is  highly  contagious,  and  is  supposed  to  depend  upon  a 
minute  insect  burrowing  in  the  skin ;  some  have  regarded 
the  insect  as  a  consequence,  and  not  the  cause,  of  the  disease. 

619 


ITIHASAS. 

The  itch  is  cured  by  sulphur,  which  should  be  given  Inter- 
nuliy,  ami  applied  externally  In  the  form  of  ointment 

ITIHA'SAS.  The  two  great  heroic  poems,  of  the  Hindoos, 
the  Ramayana  and  .Malta  liharata,  are  so  called.  They  are 
of  great  antiquity;  later,  however,  than  the  /  edas.  Si  me, 
indeed,  have  attributed  the  latter  poem  to  a  period  later  than 
that  of  Alexander. 

ITTNERARY.  (Lat  iter,  a  journey.)  In  Literature,  a 
work  containing  notices  or  descriptions  of  the  pi. tee-  and 
stations  to  be  met  with  in  pursuing  a  particular  line  of  road; 
as,  an  Itinerary  from  Pans  to  Rome:  or  of  the  principal 
places  and  s;.iti  ins  on  the  greal  mads  throughout  a  country  ; 
as,  Itinerary  of  France,  Italy,  &c.  The  Latin  Itineraries 
which  have  been  preserved  to  us  consist  merely  of  catalogues 
of  stations,  and  are  principally  valuable  to  us  because  they 
contain  the  distance,  in  Roman  miles,  from  one  to  another, 
and  thus  furnish  us  with  assistance  towards  determining  the 
actual  site  of  each  place  mentioned. 

ITIS.  Tins  termination  added  to  the  genitive  case  of  the 
Greek  name  of  an  organ  or  part  of  the  body,  implies  inflam- 
mation of  that  part ;  as,  gastritis,  inflammation  of  the  sto- 
mach ;  pleuritis,  of  the  pleura,  &c. 

I'TTNERITE.  -Named  after  Ittner.  A  rare  mineral, 
which  occurs  massive  and  in  rhombic  dodecaedrons,  of  a 
gray  or  blueish  colour.  It  consists  chiefly  of  silica,  alumina, 
and  soda,  together  with  some  hydrosulpburet. 

IU'LUS.  (Lat)  A  genus  of  Myriapodous  insects,  cha- 
racterized as  follows:  Antenna'  with  seven  joints,  slightly 
enlarged  towards  the  end  ;  mandibles  two,  thick,  without 
palps,  each  divided  into  two  by  a  middle  joint;  provided 
with  imbricated  teeth  ;  an  inferior  lip  formed  by  the  conflu- 
ence of  two  maxilla1 ;  feet  attached  in  double  pairs  to  most 
of  the  joints ;  body  long,  cylindrical,  capable  of  being  con- 
tracted into  a  discoidal  spire.  The  common  gally-wonn 
(lulus  terrcstris)  is  an  example  of  this  genus. 

I'VORY.  The  tusk  of  the  male  elephant.  It  is  less  brittle 
than  bone,  and  of  a  beautifully  uniform  texture,  admitting 
of  turning  in  tint  lathe  and  receiving  a  high  polish.  It  con- 
sistsof  about  2-1  percent,  animal  matter  resembling  horn,  and 
66  of  phosphate,  with  a  trace  of  carbonate  of  lime.  The 
chief  consumption  of  ivory  in  England  is  in  the  manufacture 
of  handles  fur  knives;  hut  it  is  also  extensively  used  in 
the  manufacture  of  musical  and  mathematical  instruments, 
chess-men,  billiard-balls,  plates  for  miniatures,  toys,  &c. 
Ivory  articles  are  said  to  be  manufactured  to  a  greater  ex- 
tent, and  with  better  success,  at  Dieppe,  than  in  any  other 
place  in  Europe;  but  the  preparation  of  this  beautiful  ma- 
terial is  much  better  understood  by  the  Chinese  than  by  any 
other  people.  No  European  artist  has  hitherto  succeeded  in 
cutting  concentric  balls  after  the  manner  of  the  Chinese ;  and 
their  boxes,  chess-men,  and  other  ivory  articles,  are  all  far 
superior  to  any  that  are  to  be  met  with  anywhere  else. 

The  western  and  eastern  coasts  of  Africa,  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  Ceylon,  India,  and  the  countries  to  the  eastward  of  the 
Straits  of  Malacca,  are  the  great  marts  whence  supplies  of 
ivory  are  derived;  but  the  most  esteemed  come  from  Africa, 
being  of  a  closer  texture,  and  less  liable  to  turn  yellow,  than 
those  from  the  East  Indies.  The  medium  weight  of  a  tusk 
is  about  60 lbs.,  and  the  average  importation  for  the  three 
years  ending  1838,  was  5,752  cwt,  yielding  a  duty  of  £5,752. 

I'VORY  BLACK.  The  mixture  of  charcoal  and  phos- 
phate of  lime  obtained  by  burning  bone,  is  sold  under  this 
name,  and,  like  other  forms  of  animal  charcoal,  is  very  effec- 
tive in  depriving  certain  substances  of  their  colour. 

JABI'RX.  The  name  of  a  Grallatorial  or  wading  bird  be- 
longing to  the  genus  Mycteria.     See  that  word. 

JACam.VR.    Agenusof  Scansorial  birds.    See  Galbula. 

JACA'NA.  The  wading  birds  of  Uie  genus  Farra  are  so 
called.     Sir  Parra. 

JA'CCHUS.  (Gr.  tax»>,  I  cry  aloud.)  A  genus  of  PI a- 
tyrrhine  (iuadrumnna,  or  South  American  monkeys,  with 
thumbs  on  the  hind  fool  only;  all  the  digits  of  the  fore  foot 
having  the  same  direction,  and  being  armed  with  narrow, 
curved,  claw-like  nails.    The  characters  of  the  genus  are: 

upper  middle  incis  IIS  separated  from  and  larger  than  the  la- 
teral ones;  lower  mil  >r-  elongated,  narrow,  ami  vertical, 
the  lateral  ones  the  longest ;  upper  canine  teeth  conical,  and 
of  moderate  size,  but  more  developed  than  the  lower  ones. 
The  species  of  Jacchus  are  few  in  number,  and  nut  very 
clearly  defined;  the)  an-  all  of  small  size.  The  Jacchus 
penicillatus,  which  is  remarkable  for  the  radiated  lull  of 
white  hairs  which  projects  in  front  of  each  ear,  has  hied  in 
captivity  in  this  country.  It  is  a  very  delicate  little  animal, 
Busceptible  <>t  cold,  ami  provided  with  a  Ions  and  bushy  tail, 

which  it  v  !   its  head  and  body  when  asleep  or  re- 

quiring warmth,  its  fund  is  of  a  mixed  nature;  hut,  in  tin- 
Wild  state,  Die  banana  is  said  to  be  its  principal  and  favourite 
nutriment 

JACK.    In  Mechanics,  an  engine  far  raising  heavy  weights. 

Jack  is  also  the  name  given  to  a  machine  in  common  Use 
for  turning  a  spit.  The  common  roasting  jack,  or  worm  jack, 
consists  of  a  double  set  of  wheels ;  a  barrel,  round  which  Die 
620 


JACOBINS. 

chain  attached  to  the  weight  or  moving  power  is  wound ;  a 
perp  tual  screw;  ami  a  fly,  which  Becures  a  steady,  uniform 
motion.  A  multiplying  wheel  is  usually  added,  in  order  that 
[hi  may  he  longer  in  running  down. 

The  svwkt  jack  is  used  for  the  same  purpose  as  the  com- 
mon jack,  and  is  so  called  because  it  appears  to  he  moved  by 
tin-  smoke  of  the  tire.  It  is  in  fact  moved  by  the  ascending 
current  of  rarifled  air,  which  acts  on  a  fan  properly  placed 
in  the  chimney.  The  motion  may  be  Obtained  by  various 
contrivances.  Sometimes  spiral  livers  coiled  about  a  vertical 
axis  are  employed,  but  more  frequently  a  verticil  wheel 
with  oblique  leaves  like  the  sails  of  a  windmill. 

Jack,  in  Nautical  language,  is  a  flag  or  colours  used  in 
making  signals.  In  the  British  navy,  the  Jack  is  a  small 
union  flag,  composed  of  red  and  white  eros-es  :  in  merchants* 
.-hips,  this  union  is  bordered  by  a  red  field. 

Jack.     A  common  name  for  the  pike.     See  Esox. 

Jack,  in  Botany,  is  the  name  of  the  Tsjaca  or  Jlctocarpus 
itUegrifolia,  a  species  of  the  bread-fruit  tree,  found  in  the 
Indian  Archipelago. 

JACKAL.  (Ar.  tschakkal ;  Fr.  chacal.)  A  wild  species 
of  dog,  the  Canis  aureus  of  Linnams;  of  gregarious  habits; 
hunting  in  packs;  rarely  attacking  the  larger  quadrupeds, 
but  supposed  to  indicate  their  presence  to  the  lion  by  the 
piercing  cries  w  liich  the  jackals  set  up  in  chorus  while  scent- 
ing their  tracks;  feeding  on  the  remnants  of  the  lion's  prey, 
on  dead  carcasses,  and  the  smaller  animals  anil  poultry. 
The  jackal  interbreeds  with  the  common  dog  ;  its  period  of 
gestation  is  the  same,  and  the  hybrid  progeny  is  fertile.  The 
wild  jackal  emits  a  highly  offensive  odour,  which  is  scarcely 
perceptible  in  the  domesticated  animal.  Some  are  of  opinion 
that  the  300  animals,  called  foxes,  between  whose  tails 
Samson  is  said  to  have  put  firebrands  in  order  to  destroy  the 
crops  of  the  Philistines,  were  jackals.  The  Canis  aureus  is 
abundant  in  the  wanner  parts  of  India  and  Africa,  but  is  not 
found  in  the  New  World. 

JA'CKDAW,  or  DAW.  (Corvus  monedula,  Lin.)  A 
common  English  bird,  which  frequents  church  steeples,  old 
towers,  and  ruins,  in  flocks,  where  they  build  their  nests  :  the 
female  lays  five  or  six  eggs,  paler  and  smaller  than  those  of 
the  crow .  The  daw  may  be  readily  tamed,  and  taught  to 
imitate  the  sounds  of  words.  Like  other  species  of  the  crow 
geiiiis.  they  have  the  singular  habit  of  stealing  and  hiding 
glittering  and  metallic  substances. 

JACKS.     Wooden  wedges  used  in  coal  mines. 

JACK  SINKERS.    Parts  of  a  stocking  frame. 

JACK  TIMBERS.  In  Architecture,  those  in  a  bay  of 
timbers  which,  being  intercepted  by  some  other  piece,  aro 
shorter  than  the  rest;  thus,  in  a  hipped  roof,  each  rafter 
which  is  shorter  than  the  side  rafters  is  called  a  jack  rafter. 

JA'COBINS.  In  French  History,  a  political  club,  which 
bore  a  well-known  part  in  the  first  revolution.  It  was  first 
formed  by  some  distinguished  members  of  the  Firsl  Assembly, 
particularly  from  Brittany,  where  revolutionary  sentiments 
ran  high.  They  took,  at  first,  the  name  of  Friends  of  the 
Revolution  :  but  as.  at  the  end  of  1789,  thej  held  their  meet- 
ings in  the  hall  of  a. suppressed  Jacobin  monastery  in  the  Rue 
Saint  Honor-,  the  name  of  Jacobins,  at  first  familiarly  given 
them,  was  finally  assumed  by  themselves.  The  history  of 
the  Jacobin  club  is,  in  effect,  the  history  of  the  Revolution. 
It  contained  at  one  time  more  than  2,500  members,  and  cor- 
responded with  more  than  -100  affiliated  societies  in  France. 
The  club  of  the  Cordeliers,  formed  by  B  small  and  more  vio- 
lent party  out  of  the  general  body  of  Jacobins,  was  reunited 
with  the  parent  society  in  June,  1791 :  but  continued  to  form 
a  separate  section  within  its  limits.  The  Jacobin  club,  which 
had  almost  controlled  the  first  assembly,  was  thus,  during 
the  continuance  of  the  second,  itself  divided   between  two 

contending  parties ;  although  the  name  of  Jacobins,  as  a  po- 
litieal  parry,  is  commonlj  given  to  that  section  which  op- 
posed the  Girondists  or  less  moderate  in  the  club  no  lesBthan 

in  the  assembly.  After  the  destruction  of  the  latter  under 
the  Convention,  the  club  was  again  exclusively  governed  by 
the  more  violent  among  its  own  members,  until  the  dnwnfal 
n!'  Robespierre.     After  that  period  it  became  unpopular:  and 

its  members  having  attempted  an  insurrection  on  behalf  of 

the  subdued  Terrorists.  Nov.  II.  1"'.I4.  the  n.eeling  was  dis- 
persed b]  lone,  and  the  club  finally  suppressed.  Some 
writers,  such  as  Barruel  (Hist.  du  Jacobinisme),  have  M-i-n 
in  tin-  fust  formation  of  this  and  similar  societies,  the  long- 
concocted  operations  of  a  eon-piracy  against  legitimate  gov- 
ernment aid  religion  throughout  Europe.  The  Jacobins  mid 
the  other  principal  clubs  of  the  Revolution,  adopted  all  the 

forms  of  a  legislative  assembly.  In  the  constitution  of  1792, 
their  legal  existence  was  recognised.  See  the  historians  of  the 
Fri  i  ch  Revolution,  especially  Carlyle,  Mignet,  and  Thiers, 
foi  general  views;  .Messrs.  Buchezet  Rous,  Histoirt  I'arle- 
1  <  lire.  Francaise,  for  the  most  complete  Beries 
of  details  respecting  the  Jacobins  and  their  meetings  which 
has  yet  been  made  public. 

Jai  OBI1I8.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  the  religious  of  the 
order  of  St  Dominic  were  so  called  in  France,  from  the  situ- 


JACOBITES. 

ation  of  the  principal  convent  at  Paris,  near  the  Rue  St 
Jacques;  also  called  Freres  Precheurs. 

J  A'COBITES.  In  English  History,  that  party  which,  after 
the  Revolution  of  1688,  adhered  to  the  dethroned  monarch 
James  I.,  and  afterwards  to  his  descendants.  In  Scotland 
and  Ireland,  where  the  revolution  was  not  effected  except 
with  the  assistance  of  arms,'  the  Jacobite  party  formed  one 
of  the  two  great  divisions  of  each  nation  ;  and  although 
crushed  in  the  latter  country  by  conquest,  they  continued  in 
the  former  to  comprise  a  large  proportion  of  the  population 
until  long  after  the  last  rebellion  in  1745.  But  in  England 
the  revolution  was  effected  at  first  with  the  consent  of  all 
parties ;  the  adherents  to  the  exiled  monarch  were  silenced : 
yet,  in  a  year  or  two,  the  Jacobite  faction  rose  into  strength, 
and  continued  to  harass  the  government  of  William  through- 
out his  reign.  "  It  seems  undeniable,"  says  Hallam  (Consti- 
tutional History  of  England,  vol.  iii.,  p.  149),  "  that  the 
strength  of  the  Jacobite  taction  sprung  from  the  want  of  ap- 
parent necessity  for  the  change  of  government."  Its  imme- 
diate cause,  however,  was  to  be  found  in  the  refusal  of  a 
portion  of  the  bishops  and  clergy  to  take  the  oaths  to  the  new 
government  (see  Nonjurors),  which  gave,  as  it  were,  a  cer- 
tain consistency  and  tangible  ground  of  opposition  to  the 
friends  of  the  dethroned  monarch  in  general.  At  the  same 
time  many  of  William's  chief  advisers  and  officers  maintain- 
ed a  secret  correspondence  with  James  II.  at  the  French 
court,  less  from  any  attachment  to  his  cause  than  with  a 
view  to  secure  their  own  interest  in  case  of  his  return. 
After  the  death  of  James  II.  in  France,  and  accession  of 
Anne  in  England,  the  efforts  of  the  party  languished  for  a 
time ;  but  towards  the  close  of  her  reign  they  revived,  on  the 
prospect  of  a  change  in  the  succession.  We  have  now  un- 
deniable proofs,  from  the  French  archives,  of  a  fact  which 
had  been  long  suspected,  that  Bolingbroke  and  Oxford,  with 
others  of  Anne's  Tory  ministers,  were  in  treaty  with  the  son 
of  James  II.,  and  either  really  or  in  pretence  negotiating  for 
his  return.  In  1715,  on  the  arrival  of  George  I.,  broke  out 
the  unsuccessful  first  rebellion  in  Scotland:  its  ill  conduct 
and  failure  proved  a  considerable  check  to  the  hopes  of  the 
English  Jacobites.  Bishop  Afterbury,  the  last  of  their  bolder 
intriguers  and  adherents,  was  banished  in  1722 :  after  which 
time  it  is  probable  that  no  extensive  conspiracy  took  place 
on  their  part.  In  Scotland,  however,  the  party  maintained 
its  strength  unabated,  until  the  second  rebellion  of  1745,  by 
its  complete  failure,  put  an  end  to  its  political  existence.  It 
is  said  that  some  of  the  party  maintained  a  correspondence 
Willi  Charles  Edward,  until  his  decease  in  1787.  The  Car- 
dinal of  York,  his  brother,  died  in  1807 ;  and  it  has  been  said 
that,  by  his  death,  the  adhesion  of  the  Jacobites,  if  any  ex- 
isted, was  transferred  to  the  reigning  family  as  his  next  heirs. 
This,  however,  is  a  vulgar  error ;  the  royal  house  of  Sar- 
dinia and  other  families  intervening  between  the  house  of 
Brunswick  and  the  crown  of  England,  according  to  the  strict 
rules  of  hereditary  descent. 

Jacobites.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  the  monophysite 
Christians  of  Syria  are  so  called,  from  Jacob  Baradzi,  who 
revived  their  belief  and  form  of  worship  in  that  country  and 
Mesopotamia,  in  the  middle  of  the  6th  century.  Many  un- 
successful attempts  have  been  made  at  various  times  to 
unite  them  with  the  church  of  Rome.  (Gieseler's  Text 
Book,  trans., ii., 419;  iii., 414,  &c.)     See  Monophysites,  Eu- 

TYCHIA.NS. 

JA'COB'S  LADDER.  In  Naval  affairs,  a  rope-ladder 
with  wooden  steps  or  spokes. 

JACOB'S  STAFF.  The  same  as  cross-staff.  An  instru- 
ment used  by  surveyors  in  measuring  heights  and  distances 
where  expedition  and  little  accuracy  are  required. 

JACQ.UA'RD.  A  piece  of  mechanism  applicable  to  silk 
and  muslin  looms  for  the  purpose  of  weaving  figured  goods. 
The  name  is  that  of  its  inventor.  (For  a  description  of  the 
loom,  see  lire's  Dictionary  of  Arts  and  Manufactures.) 

JA'CQUERIE.  In  History,  the  name  popularly  given  to 
a  revolt  of  the  French  peasantry  against  the  nobility,  which 
took  place  while  King  John  was  a  prisoner  in  England  in 
1350.  Jacques  Bonhommc  was  a  term  of  derision  applied 
by  the  nobles  to  the  peasants,  from  which  the  insurrection 
took  its  name.  It  began  in  the  Beauvoisis,  under  a  chief  of 
the  name  of  Caillet,  and  desolated  Picardy,  Artois,  and 
Brie,  where  savage  reprisals  were  executed  against  the  no- 
bility for  their  oppressions.  It  was  suppressed  after  some 
weeks  by  the  dauphin  and  Charles  the  Bad,  king  of  Na- 
varre. A  similar  spirit  in  England  produced  not  many  years 
afterwards  the  rebellion  of  Watt  Tyler.  (See  M.  /.('ray,  i., 
838  ;  Froissart ;  Sismondi,  Hist,  des  Francais,  vol.  x.) 

JADE.     In  Mineralogy,  a  synonyme  of  nephrite. 

JAGUA'R.  (Felis  onca,  Linn.)  The  largest  and  most 
formidable  feline  quadruped  of  the  New  World.  It  is 
marked  with  large  dark  spots  in  the  form  of  circles,  with  a 
dark  spot  or  pupil  in  the  centre  of  each ;  it  is  generally 
pretty  numerous  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  large  rivers 
where  the  capibara  abound?,  and  preys  chiefly  on  those 
large  Rodents. 


JANTHINA. 

JA'LAP.  So  called  from  Xalapha  in  Mexico,  whence  it 
originally  came.  The  dried  root  of  the  Ipomaiajalapa.  This 
root  occurs  in  irregular  globular  pieces,  of  a  dense  and  resin- 
ous texture :  when  reduced  to  powder  it  has  a  very  peculiar 
and  nauseous  odour  and  taste.  In  doses  of  from  five  to 
twenty  grains,  jalap  is  a  drastic  purge  :  it  is  apt  to  gripe  and 
nauseate. 

JAMB.  A  Sea  term  ;  to  squeeze  tight.  The  opposite  of 
jamb,  applied  to  a  rope,  is  to  render. 

JAMBS.  (Fr.  jambes.)  In  Architecture,  the  side  or 
vertical  pieces  of  any  opening  in  a  wall  which  bear  the 
piece  that  discharges  the  superincumbent  weight  of  such 
wall. 

JA'MESONITE.  A  mineral  named  after  Professor  Jame- 
son. It  occurs  crystallized  and  massive  :  it  consists  of  sul- 
phur, lead,  and  antimony. 

JAMES,  SAINT,  ORDER  OF  THE  SWORD  OF.  A 
very  ancient  military  order  in  Spain  and  Portugal.  The 
reigning  kings  are  grand-masters  in  those  countries  respect 
ivelv.  The  orders  in  the  two  countries  were  disunited  in 
1288. 

JA'NISSARIES,  or  JA'NIZARIES.  (A  corruption  of 
the  Turkish  word  yeni  tscheri,  new  troops.)  A  celebrated 
militia  of  the  Ottoman  empire.  The  establishment  of  this 
corps  has  been  usually  attributed  to  Sultan  Amurath  I.,  in 
1368;  but  the  researches  of  Hammer  (History  of  the  Otto- 
man Empire,  vol.  i.,  p.  92)  carry  it  back  to  Orchan,  the  con- 
queror of  Nicrea  (1326).  This  new  corps  was  blessed  by  a 
saint  of  that  time,  Hadji  Bektash  by  name,  who  cut  off  a 
sleeve  of  his  fur  mantle  and  gave  it  them  as  a  token ; 
whence  was  derived  the  fur  cap  that  remained  their  dis- 
tinguishing characteristic.  This  irregular  infantry  long  re- 
mained the  chief  military  strength  of  the  empire,  and  form- 
ed a  kind  of  warlike  republic  within  its  limits.  It  was  long 
supplied  chiefly  by  the  capture  of  young  Christian  slaves ; 
and  when  under  Mohammed  IV.  it  began  to  be  recruited 
principally  from  the  children  of  the  soldiers  themselves,  its 
power  and  importance  gave  signs  of  decay.  Each  regiment 
or  oda  of  the  Janissaries  had  its  own  soup  kettle,  which,  in. 
process  of  time,  acquired  a  sort  of  prescriptive  sanctity,  and 
formed,  as  it  were,  the  chief  standard  of  the  regiment ;  and 
the  officers  and  other  military  functionaries  drew  their  titles 
from  their  various  supposed  employments  as  cooks  or  kitch- 
en servants.  The  militia  of  the  Janissaries  continued  to  re- 
tain a  great  influence  in  the  empire  itself  long  after  it  had 
ceased  to  be  serviceable  in  the  field  against  the  armies  of 
modern  Europe.  They  controlled  the  sultans  themselves, 
and,  as  it  is  alleged,  presented  a  serious  obstacle  to  all  im- 
provement, until,  in  the  year  1826,  the  late  sultan,  on  the 
occasion  of  a  mutiny,  dissolved  the  whole  corps,  after  a 
bloody  struggle  in  his  capital,  in  which  20,000  of  them  were 
said  to  have  perished  ;  but  the  number  is  now  thought  to 
have  been  exaggerated.  There  was  an  official  publication 
relating  to  the  destruction  of  the  Janissaries,  which  was 
translated  into  French  (Paris,  1833).  ,  See  also  Walsh's  Res- 
idence, at  Constantinople;  Duval,  Deux  Annies  a  Const. 
(1828)  ;  Quarterly  Review,  vol.  xli. ;  and  Ed.  Rev.,  vol.  1.; 
Slade's  Travels  in  Germany,  Turkey,  ft-c.  (1840). 

JA'NSENISTS.  A  denomination  of  Roman  Catholics  in 
France,  who  followed  the  opinions  of  Jansen,  bishop  of 
Ypres,  and  formed  a  considerable  party  in  the  latter  half  of 
the  17th  century.  The  Jansenists  were  Calvinistic  in  many 
of  their  sentiments,  and  in  several  respects  approximated  to 
the  Reformed  opinions.  They  did  not,  however,  separate 
themselves  from  the  Catholic  church  ;  nor  did  they  long 
survive  the  decree  of  Alexander  VII.,  by  which  certain 
propositions  extracted  from  their  writings  are  condemned  as 
heretical.  The  Jansenists  are  chiefly  celebrated  for  the  con- 
test they  maintained  with  the  Jesuits,  by  whom  they  were 
at  last  overcome,  and  subjected  to  the  enmity  both  of  Louis 
XIV.  and  the  Pope.  (See  Leclerc,  Bibl.  Univ.,  vol.  xiv.  ; 
Racine,  Histoire  clu  Port  Royal ;  Fontaine,  Memoires  pour 
servir  a  I' Hist,  du  P.  R. ;  Saint  Simon's  Memoirs  ;  Palmer, 
Essa7js  on  the  Church,  i.,  320,  &c. ;  Hallam  on  the  Literature 
of  Europe,  vol.  iii.  ;  Schriikh,  Kirchevireschichte  seit  der 
Reformation,  parts  iv.  and  vii. ;  Mosheim,  translation,  ed. 
1790,  vol.  v.,  208,  &c.) 

JANTHI'NA.  (Gr.  tavQov,  violet  colour.)  A  genus  of 
Gaslropodous  Testaceous  Mollusks,  so  denominated  on  ac- 
count of  the  beautiful  violet  colour  of  the  shell.  There  are 
but  a  few  species  of  this  genus  known,  all  of  which  are  ma- 
rine, and  are  generally  met  with  floating  on  the  surface  of 
the  ocean  in  warm  and  tropical  latitudes.  The  shell,  as  in 
all  floating  pelagic  Teslacea,  is  light  and  fragile,  whence  the 
specific  name  of  the  most  common  species  (Janthina  fra- 
gi'is)  ;  but,  besides  this  relation  of  the  shell  to  the  habits  and 
sphere  of  existence  of  the  animal,  each  species  also  pos- 
sesses a  peculiar  organ,  by  which  it  can.  as  it  were,  suspend 
itself  to  the  surface  of  the  water,  and  which  has  not  hitherto 
been  observed  in  any  other  molluscous  species  :  this  organ 
consists  of  a  congeries  of  transparent  vesicles  filled  with  air, 
the  parietes  of  the  bubble-like  cells  being  composed  of  a 

C21 


JANUARY. 

thin  colourless  condensed  mucus,  and  the  whole  being  at- 
tached to  tin'  posterior  pari  of  the  foot.  On  account  of  this 
place  of  attachment,  the  vesicular  Boat  has  been  regarded 
as  the  analogue  of  the  operculum,  which  otherwise  is  want- 
ing; but  there  is  an  important  difference  connected  with  the 
float,  viz..  the  power  which  the  animal  has,  ami  frequently 
exercises,  of  detaching  ami  reproducing  it  at  will.  Thus  the 
mucous  air-vesicles  are  cast  off  when  the  animal  desires  to 
sink:  they  are  also  made  subservient  to  the  reproductive 
economy  of  the  janthina,  which  attache,  us  egg  cells  to  the 
under  surface  of  the  float,  and  when  it  is  thus  Laden  easts  it 
off.  By  this  means  the  ova  are  preserved  in  a  situation 
where  they  may  best  receive  the  full  influence  of  heat  and 
light;  and  the  power  which  the  parent  possesses  of  repro- 
ducing its  float  obviates  the  inconvenience  which  would 
otherwise  result  from  this  contribution  to  the  well-being  of 
its  offspring.  The  following  is  the  process  by  which  the 
janthina  has  been  observed  to  repair  a  mutilation  purposely 
made  in  its  float :  The  foot  was  advanced  upon  the  remain- 
ing vesicles  until  about  two  thirds  of  that  part  rose  above 
the  surface  of  the  water  ;  it  was  then  expanded  to  the  ut- 
termost, and  thrown  back  upon  the  water,  like  the  foot  of  a 
Lymnea  when  it  begins  to  swim  ;  it  next  became  contracted 
at  the  edges,  and  was  formed  into  the  shape  of  a  hood,  en- 
closing a  globule  of  air,  which  was  slowly  applied  to  the 
extremity  of  the  float;  there  was  now  a  vibratory  movement 
throughout  the  foot,  and  when  it  was  again  thrown  back  to 
renew  the  process  the  globule  was  found  enclosed  in  its  new- 
ly made  envelope.  From  this  it  results  that  the  membrane 
enclosing  the  cells  is  secreted  by  the  foot,  and  that  there  is 
no  attachment  between  the  float  and  the  animal  other  than 
that  arising  from  the  nice  adaptation  and  adjustment  of  the 
adjoining  surfaces. 

The  genus  Janthina  belongs  to  the  Pectinibranchiate  or- 
der of  Gastropods ;  the  branchial  cavity  is  capacious,  and 
contains  two  pectinated  gills.  Cuvier  places  the  genus  be- 
tween Pyramidella  and  Neritri ;  M.  Itoux  considers  it  to  be 
intermediate  to  JlmpuUaria  and  Litiopa. 

JA'NUARY.  The  first  month  of  the  year.  By  some  the 
name  is  derived  from  Janus,  a  Roman  divinity  ;  by  others 
from  janua,  a  gate.  The  months  of  January  and  February 
were  inserted  in  the  Roman  year  by  Numa  Pompllius.  The 
Roman  feast  of  the  kalends  of  January  seems  to  have  been 
converted  in  the  Cth  century  into  the  Christian  festival  of 
the  circumcision.  (Beugnot,  JJcstr.  du  Paganisme  en  Occi- 
dent, vol.  ii.) 

JA'Nl'S.  A  Latin  deity,  originally  the  same  as  the  sun. 
He  was  represented  with  two  faces  looking  opposite  ways, 
and  holding  a  key  in  one  hand  and  a  staff  in  the  other.  He 
presided  over  the  commencement  of  all  undertakings,  whence 
the  first  month  in  the  year  was  named  after  him.  His  tem- 
ple at  Rome  was  kept  open  in  the  time  of  war,  and  shut  in 
peace.  The  warlike  disposition  of  the  Romans  is  manifest 
from  the  fact  that  this  temple  was  only  shut  six  times  in  800 
years:  viz.,  once  in  the  reign  of  Numa  ;  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  first  Punic  war  ;  thrice  in  the  reign  of  Augustus  ;  and 
once  again  under  Nero. 

JAPA'NNING.  The  art  of  covering  paper,  wood,  or 
metal  with  a  thick  coat  of  a  hard  brilliant  varnish  :  it  on 
ginated  in  Japan,  whence  articles  so  prepared  were  first 
brought  to  Europe.  The  material,  if  of  wood  or  papier -ma- 
chee,  is  first  sized,  polished,  and  varnished  ;  it  is  then  col- 
oured or  painted  in  various  devices,  and  afterwards  covered 
with  a  highly  transparent  vnrnish  or  lacquer,  which  is  ulti- 
mately dried  at  a  high  temperature,  and  carefully  polished. 

JA'RGOON.  In  Mineralogy,  one  of  the  varieties  of 
zircon. 

JARL.  A  word  of  Scandinavian  extraction,  signifying 
noble  ;  applied  in  the  early  history  of  the  northern  European 
kingdoms  to  the  lieutenants  or  governors  appointed  over 
each  province.  It  appears  to  bear  considerable  analogy  to 
the  Eneli=h  earl  (quod  vide). 

JAS.MINA'CE.K.  (Jasminum,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
small  natural  order  of  Exogenous  plants,  with  mondpetalous 
diandrous  flowers  of  a  regular  figure.  It  contains  few  spe- 
cies,  chiefly  Inhabiting  the  wanner  parts  of  the  world.  The 
only  plants  of  any  interest  are  the  jasmines,  well  known  for 
their  fragrance. 

JA'SPER.  A  siliceous  mineral  of  various  colours;  some- 
times spotted,  banded,  or  variegated.  It  takes  a  tine  polish, 
and  the  variety  and  richness  of  its  colours  render  it  useful  in 
the  ornamental  art*. 

JAU'NIMCF..  A  disease  characterized  by  a  vellow  col- 
our of  the  eyes  and  skin,  deep-coloured  urine,  and  pale  evac- 
uation from  the  bowels:  it  cones  on  with  languor,  loss  of 
appetite,  dyspeptic  symptoms,  vomiting,  bitter  taste  in  the 
mouth,  and  generally  pain  in  the  region  of  t!i"  liver.  It  is 
apparently  caused  either  by  obstruction  of  the  duel  that 
conveys  the  bile  into  the  intestine  by  a  gall  stone  ;  or  by  a 
morbid  and  viscid  slate  of  the  bile,  which  prevents  its  flow- 
ing freely;  or  by  spasm  of  the  gall  ducts,  or  by  some  acci- 
dental pressure  :  the  consequence  is,  that  the  bile,  instead  of 


JESUITS. 

passing  off  by  the  bowels,  is  absorbed  into  the  blood,  and 
becomes  visible  upon  the  skin,  and  especially  in  the  more 
delicate  vessels.  It  is  an  occasional  consequence  of  preg- 
nancy. It  sometimes  affects  infants  Boon  after  birth;  in 
which  ease  it  usually  goes  off  in  a  few  days,  aided  by  gen- 
tle aperients.  The  most  common  cases  of  jaundice  an 
probably  occasioned  by  viscidity  of  bile.  Aperii 
small  doses  of  blue  pill,  with  tonics,  are  the  most  essential 

remedies  ;  and  where  it  ensues  in  sedentary  habit-,  moder- 
ate walking  and  horse  exercise  are  requisite,  (t  is  often  a 
protracted  and  troublesome  complaint,  and  then  indicative 

of  Structural    derangement.     Jaundice  & gall  spines  is 

often  attended  by  excruciating  pain  and  vomiting,  owing  to 
the  passage  of  the  stone.  Opiates  and  such  remedies  as  al- 
lay the  irritability  of  the  stomach  are  to  he  had  recourse  to, 
and  the  warm  bath  is  useful.  It  is  the  beneficial  influence 
of  saline  aperients  and  diluents  in  this  disorder,  that  has 
given  celebrity  to  the  waters  of  Cheltenham  and  similar 
mineral  springs. 

JA'VELJN.  (Fr.  javeline.)  A  sort  of  spear  or  missile, 
anciently  used  both  by  horse  and  foot  soldiers.  It  was  about 
live  feet  long,  with  an  iron  head  hooked  and  jagged  at  the 
end.     The  pilum  of  the  Romans  was  of  this  description. 

JAY.  The  native  bird  so  called  is  a  species  of  the  genus 
Owrralus,  separated  by  Cuvier  from  the  genus  Corvus  of 
Linnaeus  on  account  of  the  weaker  mandibles  terminating 
in  a  sudden  and  nearly  equal  curve.  The  tail  is  cuneiform, 
not  long  :  and  the  slender  feathors  of  the  forehead  can  be 
erected  like  a  crest.  The  common  jay  (Corvus  glandarius, 
Linn.)  nidificates  in  woods,  and  builds  a  simple  nest  of 
sticks  and  slender  twigs  ;  the  female  lays  live  or  six  eggs, 

of  a  grayish  ash  colour  mixed  with  green,  and  faintly  spotted 

with  brown.  The  young  associate  with  the  parents  till  the 
following  spring,  when  they  separate  to  form  new  pairs. 

JEERS.  Strong  tackles  for  swaying  vp  or  raising  the 
lower  yards. 

JE'FFERSONITE.  In  Mineralogy,  a  species  of  pyroxene. 
It  is  found  in  New  Jersey. 

JEHO'VAH.  The  name  by  which  the  Deity  is  repre- 
sented in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  ;  in  which  language  it  sig- 
nifies the  Self-existent,  the  /  am.  The  word  itself  was 
held  in  peculiar  veneration  by  the  Jews,  n  bo  never  allowed 
themselves  to  pronounce  it  in  the  reading  of  their  sacred 
books,  but  substituted  for  it,  whenever  it  occurred,  the  term 
Adonai,  or  Lord.  This  practice  is  maintained  even  to  this 
day;  nor  will  they  write  the  word  in  perfect  Hebrew  let- 
ters. And.  agreeable  to  this  scruple,  they  have  left  the 
word  Jehovah  imperfectly  written  over  the  beautiful  altar- 
piece  in  the  recently-erected  synagogue  in  St.  Helen's  Place; 
making  it  to  resemble  that  word,  but  in  reality  to  signify  tka 
Beloved. 

JEJU'NUM.  (Lat.  jejunus,  empty.)  The  second  division 
of  the  small  intestines  ;  so  termed  because  when  examined 
after  death  it  is  generally  found  empty  or  nearly  so. 

JELLY.     See  Gelatin. 

JERBOA.     See  Diprs  and  Hklamys. 

JE'SUATES  OF  SAINT  JEROME.  A  religious  order, 
founded  in  1363  by  Giovanni  Colombino,  of  Sienna  ;  of  ex- 
tremely ascetic  habits  ill  its  origin.  It  was  suppressed  by 
Clement  IX.  in  1668. 

JE'SUITES  DE  ROBE  ;  applied  to  secular  persons  of 
high  rank  bound  to  the  order  of  Jesuits  by  vows  of  obedi- 
ence, without,  however,  having  taken  the  spiritual  vow. 

JE'SUITS,  or  THE  SOCIETY  OF  JESIS.  The  most 
celebrated  of  all  the  Romish  religious  orders;  founded  by 
Ignaliiis  Loyola,  a  Spaniard,  in  the  year  153-1,  when  he.  with 
Francis  Xavier  and  four  or  five  other  students  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Paris,  bound  themselves  to  undertake  the  conver- 
sion of  unbelievers.  The  first  principle  of  the  society  which 
was  then  formed  Was  implicit  submission  to  the  commands 
of  the  Holy  See,  in  consideration  of  which  their  order  was 
confirmed,  in  1540,  by  Pius  HI.;  and  from  that  time  to  the 
present,  though  with  many  alternations  <>t'  success  and  re- 
verse, the  Jesuits  have  been  one  of  the  main  bulwarks  of 
the  authority  of  Rome,  and  have  exercised  immense  influ- 
ence in  the  destinies  of  the  Christian  world.  The  zeal 
which  they  manifested  at  the  period  immediately  succeed- 
ing the  Reformation,  when  the  Dominic  ins  ami  other  orders 
which  had  been  founded  on  similar  principles,  and  had 
faithfully  executed  thi  u  mission  for  many  ages,  had  degen- 
erated into  luxury  and  indifference  Becured  for  them  the 
the  sovereigns  and  other  political  partisans  of 
Borne    The\  s  ion  became  installed  in  the  confessionals  of 

all  the  Catholic  kings  of  Europe,  and  throughout  the  16th 
and  following  century  were,  in  foot,  tin-  directors  of  their 
Counsels  111111  the  rulers  of  their  subjects. 

Iii  Protestant  countries  they  acted  as  the  emissaries  and 

spies  of  the  Pope  ;  and  in  England,  where,  early  in  Eliza- 
beth's reign,  their  landing  upon  OUT  shores  was  made  a  cap- 
ital crime,  they  persevered,  nevertheless,  in  keeping  aliva 
the  spirit  of  Roman  Catholicism  among  the  harassed  rem- 
nant of  the  old  faith  ;  and  passed  and  repassed  the  channel 


JESUITS. 

year  after  year,  devoting  their  lives,  with  almost  a  certainty 
of  eventually  suffering,  to  the  maintenance  of  an  illegal, 
and  often  a  treasonable,  correspondence  with  the  court  of 
Rome  and  the  enemies  of  the  queen's  government.  At  the 
same  time  another  division  of  their  numerous  body  employ- 
ed themselves  with  the  most  undaunted  energy,  and  with  an 
apparent  success  such  as  has  never  crowned  the  efforts  of 
any  other  missionaries,  in  converting  the  heathens  of  Asia 
and  America.  St.  Francis  Xavier,  the  Apostle,  as  he  is  call- 
ed, of  the  Indies,  planted  Christianity  in  Hindostan  and  Ja- 
pan ;  and  Ricci  introduced  it  into  China.  In  the  course  of 
a  few  years  the  number  of  professing  Christians  in  these 
countries  became  very  large ;  although  it  cannot  be  denied 
both  that  the  means  which  the  missionaries  took  to  increase 
the  number  of  their  conversions  were  little  in  accordance 
with  the  spirit  of  their  religion,  and  that  the  form  of  Chris- 
tianity which  they  allowed  to  be  propagated  was  more  de- 
graded and  idolatrous  than  that  of  Rome  itself.  It  should 
be  remarked,  however,  that  the  great  secret  of  their  success 
seems  to  have  been  the  address  with  which  they  obtained 
the  confidence  of  the  ruling  powers.  In  Japan  and  China 
they  became  the  intimate  advisers  of  the  sovereigns,  and  fre- 
quently obtained  the  assistance  of  the  civil  power  in  the 
furtherance  of  their  missionary  system. 

The  Jesuits  obtained  also,  throughout  Roman  Catholic 
Europe,  the  direction  of  the  education  of  youth  :  they  found- 
ed many  schools  and  colleges,  not  only  for  the  instruction 
of  those  who  were  designed  for  members  of  their  own  or- 
der, but  for  that  of  the  upper  and  lower  classes  generally, 
in  the  education  of  both  of  which  they  were  eminently  suc- 
cessful. 

As  a  religious  body,  the  Jesuits  differ  from  their  predeces- 
sors, inasmuch  as,  their  principle  being  to  conform  as  much 
as  possible  with  the  manners  of  the  age,  they  have  never 
adopted  the  austere  observances  and  exclusive  spiritual 
character  upon  which  all  earlier  orders  had  grounded  their 
claims  to  notoriety.  They  are  divided  into  different  classes ; 
of  which  only  the  professed  take  the  religious  vows  of  pov- 
erty, chastity,  and  obedience  to  their  superior.  Among  the 
novices  are  frequently  enrolled  influential  laymen,  as  was 
Louis  XIV.  himself  in  his  latter  years ;  and  this  is  one  of 
the  means  which  the  order  has  employed  to  extend  its 
efficiency  where  it  would  be  least  liable  to  observation. 
The  Professed  are  of  several  ranks,  the  whole  body  being 
under  the  absolute  control  of  the  General,  whose  abode  is 
fixed  in  Rome,  and  whose  council  consists  of  an  admonitor 
and  five  assistants  or  counsellors,  who  represent  the  five 
principal  Catholic  states — Italy,  Germany,  France,  Spain, 
and  Portugal.  To  Rome,  as  the  central  seat  of  the  order, 
are  sent  monthly  communications  from  the  superiors  of  the 
different  provinces  through  which  its  members  are  dis- 
tributed. 

The  Pope  has  conceded  to  the  Jesuits  greater  indulgence 
than  even  to  laymen,  in  exempting  them  from  the  religious 
observances  which  are  enjoined  to  all  Roman  Catholics, 
and  especially  to  the  religious  orders ;  and  hence  it  is  that 
they  have  been  enabled  to  devote  so  great  a  portion  of  their 
time  not  only  to  instruction,  but  to  many  branches  of  learn- 
ing and  practice,  by  means  of  which  they  have  insinuated 
themselves  into  the  confidence  and  the  concerns  of  the  laity. 
They  are  remarkable  also  for  the  worldly  air  which  when 
occasion  serves  they  studiously  assume — for  the  ease  with 
which  they  dispense  with  all  the  outward  appearance  of 
their  spiritual  character  in  places  where  their  objects  seem 
to  be  more  attainable  by  a  dilterent  behaviour ;  and  they 
have  been  reproached  at  all  times  with  allowing  themselves, 
on  the  same  principle,  to  make  use  of  mental  reservations 
and  other  pious  frauds  in  pursuance  of  the  peculiar  ends  of 
their  society.  Hence,  even  when  their  influence  in  Europe 
was  at  its  height,  great  distrust  was  manifested  towards 
them  in  many  quarters.  In  France  they  were  supposed  to 
be  implicated  in  the  plots  by  which  Henry  III.  fell,  and  the 
life  of  Henry  IV.  was  attempted,  and  were,  indeed,  banished 
from  that  country  by  royal  decree  before  the  end  of  the  16th 
century  :  they  were  re-admitted,  however,  and  continued  in 
the  enjoyment  of  their  full  influence  in  spite  of  the  strong 
opposition  of  the  Jansenists  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV. 
They  were  banished,  in  the  course  of  the  18th  centurv, 
from  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  and  other  Catholic  states ;  arid 
in  1773  Clement  XIV.  issued  a  bull  by  which  he  decreed 
the  total  abolition  of  the  order.  The  invitation,  however, 
of  Catherine  II.  into  Russia,  and  the  favour  of  the  successor 
of  Clement,  restored  them  in  some  degree ;  and  they  still 
exist  and  exercise  considerable  influence  in  Italy  and  Spain. 
From  Russia  they  are  at  the  present  moment  entirely  ban- 
ished; nor  has  Portugal  re-admitted  them  since  their  expul- 
sion in  1759.  In  France  and  Germany  their  presence  ap- 
pears to  be  connived  at,  though  they  have  never  formally 
been  allowed  to  re-establish  themselves  in  those  countries. 
In  England  they  have  been  allowed  to  found  and  maintain 
the  Roman  Catholic  college  at  Stonyhurst.  and  their  num- 
bers in  Ireland  are  supposed  to  be  considerable.    By  the 


JEZIDS. 

Roman  Catholic  Relief  Bill,  natural-bom  Jesuits  resident  in 
the  United  Kingdom  are  required  to  register  themselves' 
with  the  clerk  of  the  peace  in  every  county  :  foreigners  must 
provide  themselves  with  licences  from  a  secretary  of  state. 

The  history  of  the  order  of  Jesus  has  often  been  written  ; 
but  wilh  so  much  exaggeration  both  of  fiiends  and  enemies, 
that  it  is  difficult  to  point  out  a  fair  account.  The  Historia 
Jesuitica  of  Hospinian,  a  Protestant,  carries  it  down  to  the 
end  of  the  16th  century.  Or/andi  and  Sacchilti's  History 
of  the  Jesuits  was  proscribed  by  the  parlement  of  Paris;  a 
5th  part  was  added  to  it  by  Souvency.  Coudrette,  one  of 
the  order,  published  a  history  of  it  just  before  its  dispersion, 
6  vols.  l'Jmo.,  with  Supplement,  1761-4.  D'Alembert  pub- 
lished an  account  of  the  destruction  of  the  order  in  France, 
1765.  See  also  Gear  get's  Memoires,  Paris,  1817.  The 
celebrated  Lettres  Provinciates  of  Pascal  contain  a  power- 
ful exposure  of  the  errors  of  the  casuistical  theologians  of 
the  16th  and  17th  centuries,  of  whom  a  large  proportion 
were  Jesuits.  (See  also  Moshcim,  transl.,  ed.  1790,  iv. 
154.)  The  voluminous  French  collection,  entitled  Nouvelles 
Ecclesiastiques,  continued  from  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  to 
the  Revolution,  was  under  the  management  of  Jansenists, 
and  contains  every  charge  which  hostility  could  suggest 
against  the  Jesuits.  Ranke's  History  of  the  Popes  of  the 
\tith  and  \~lth  Centuries  contains  much  valuable  matter 
relative  to  that  period. 

JESUITS'  BARK.     See  Cinchona,  or  Peruvian  Bark. 

JET.  A  bituminous  carbon.  Some  varieties  admit  of 
polish,  and  are  used  for  ornamental  purposes. 

JET  D'EAU.  (Fr.)  A  fountain  which  throws  up  water 
to  some  height  in  the  air.  According  to  the  theory  of  hy- 
drostatics, the  velocity  with  which  water  issues  from  an 
orifice  is  equal  to  that  which  would  be  acquired  by  a  heavy 
body  in  falling  through  a  height  equal  to  the  difference  be- 
tween the  levels  of  the  orifice  and  the  fountain  head  ; 
whence,  if  the  resistance  of  the  air  and  other  impediments 
were  removed,  the  height  of  the  jet  would  be  equal  to  that 
of  the  surface  of  the  leservoir.  Among  the  causes  which 
prevent  the  jet  from  obtaining  the  height  which  theory 
assigns  to  it,  the  following  are  the  principal :  1st.  The  resist- 
ance of  the  air,  which  is  proportional  nearly  to  the  square 
of  the  velocity.  2d.  The  friction  against  the  sides  of  the 
pipe  and  the  orifice  through  which  the  water  issues.  3d. 
The  velocity  of  the  particles  diminishing  at  every  instant  as 
they  ascend,  the  lower  particles  of  the  ascending  column 
press  against  those  next  above  them  ;  and  the  pressure  being 
by  the  nature  of  fluids  communicated  in  all  directions,  the 
consequence  is,  that  the  column  is  enlarged  and  proportion- 
ally shortened.  4th.  The  water  at  the  top  of  the  jet  does 
not  fall  oft' instantaneously  when  its  velocity  is  destroyed  ;  it 
rests  for  a  moment  at  the  top  of  the  column,  where  its 
weight  opposes  an  obstacle  to  the  particles  next  succeeding, 
which  retards  their  velocity,  and  this  retardation  is  commu- 
nicated to  the  whole  column.  This  last  obstacle  may  be 
avoided  by  slightly  inclining  the  jet  from  the  vertical  ;  and 
it  is  found  by  experience  that  a  jet  so  inclined  plays  higher 
than  one  quite  upright,  though  the  effect  is  thereby  rendered 
less  pleasing.  It  is  necessary  that  the  diameter  of  the 
adjutage  or  orifice  be  considerably  less  than  that  of  the 
pipe.  (See  Desagulier's  Ezperimcntal  Philosophy ;  Mari- 
otte,  Mouvcment  des  Eaux.) 

JE'TERUS.  A  disease  of  plants,  where  the  system  be- 
comes affected  with  a  general  yellowness. 

JEWS'  HARP.  An  instrument  of  metal,  with  a  flexible 
vibratory  thin  metal  tongue  fixed  to  its  circular  base ;  on 
which  tongue  the  breath,  acting  in  different  degrees  of 
force,  produces  something  like  a  modulated  air.    Shaped 


thus, 


The  outer  bars  are  placed  between   the 


teeth,  and  the  central  piece  or  tongue  is  set  in  vibration  by 
the  action  of  the  fingers. 

JEW  STONE.  The  fossil  spine  of  a  large  egg-shaped 
echinus. 

JE'ZIDS,  or  DA'VASIN.  A  sect  of  religionists,  long  set- 
tled in  the  mountainous  country  near  Mosul :  said  to  be 
disciples  of  Yezid  Ben  Anisa,  a  Mohammedan  doctor. 
Their  religion,  however,  is  said  to  he  a  mixture  of  the  an- 
cient Manichean  belief  of  those  regions,  with  the  tenets  of 
Mohammedanism  and  Zendism.  They  appear  to  be  on 
better  terms  with  the  Christians  than  with  the  neighbouring 
Turks,  by  whom  they  are  characterized  as  worshippers  of 
the  Devil  (Arab.  Scheitan),  whose  name,  it  is  said,  no  threats 
of  punishment  will  force  them  to  pronounce,  and  whom 
they  only  mention  by  periphrases,  as  "the  great  sliiikh," 
or  "he  whom  you  know  of."  They  live  in  villages,  huts, 
and  tents,  and  are  dreaded  for  their  ferocity  and  robber-like 
habits.  They  are  noticed  at  length  in  a  preliminary  disser- 
tation to  Sylvcstre  de  Sacy's  Description  du  I'acha'ik  de 
Bagdad,  1809  ;  said  to  be  the  work  of  Father  Garzoni,  who 
was  eighteen  years  a  missionary  in  Kurdistan.  (Wee  the  art 
"  Jeziden"  in  Ersch  and  Gruber's  Encyclopedia.) 

623 


JIB. 

JIB.  A  large  triangular  snil,  between  the  fore-topmast 
head  ami  the  boom  thence  called  jib-boom),  which  projects 
beyond  the  bowsprit. 

The  effect  of  tins  sail  would  soem  to  be  to  lift  the  ship's 
head  :  >•  1  seamen  find  that  as  the  wind  freshens  it  causes 
the  ship,  on  the  contrary,  to  plunge,  and  they  either  ease  it 
in  (along  the  boom),  or  haul  it  down.  This  anomalous 
effect  may  be  explained  as  follows: 

Let  z  and  z  be  the  horizontal  and  vertical  co-ordinates  of 
the  centre  of  effort,  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the  vessel  being 
the  origin:  let  P  be  the  resultant  of  the  pressures  on  the 
sail.  This  may  obviously  be- resolved  into  three:  r5  the 
direct  effort  along  x,  A  the  lateral  effort  along  y,  and  p  the 
vertical  effort  in  i.  The  moment  to  raise  the  bow  is  x  p  — 
t  5.  If  2  6  exceed  x  p.  the  effect  is  negative,  or  tends  to 
depress  the  bow.  In  all  vessels  x  >  z,  also  <5  >  p  generally ; 
hence  the  effect  is  not  so  decided  as  it  may  appeal  at  first 
to  be. 

Let  c  be  the  angle  which  P  makes  with  the  horizon,  and 
d>  be  the  angle  between  x  and  the  horizontal  projection  of 
Y ;  then  p  =  P  sin.  e,  and  6  =  P  cos.  t  cos.  <f> :  hence  the 
effect  is 

P  (i  sin.  t  —  2  cos.  e  cos.  (p). 

When  the  wind  is  aft,  0  =  0,  and  [  =  90  —  k  (the  inclina- 
tion of  the  jib-stay  to  the  horizon  nearly)  ;  and  the  effect  is 

P  (i  cos.  k  —  z  sin.  k), 
which,  as  k  =  45°,  is  positive  or  lifting. 

When  the  wind  blows  fresh,  the  vessel  being  close-hauled 
and  heeling  over,  the  stay  sags  to  leeward  ;  and  the  after- 
leech  being  also  slacker  than  the  foot,  the  resultant  P  may 
become  horizontal,  or  c  =0,  or  even  negative ;  in  which  last 
case  the  effect  is 

—  P  (i  sin.  t  +  i  cos.  e  cos.  <p) 
which  is  altogether  depressing.  If  now  the  jib  be  eased  in, 
x  and  z  are  diminished.  Hence,  in  general,  the  plunging 
effect  of  the  jib  is  owing  to  the  heeling  of  the  ship,  and  to 
the  sheet  being  too  tlat  aft.  The  like  reasoning  obviously 
applies  to  stavsaiis. 

JIB  DOOR.  (Derivation  uncertain.)  In  Architecture,  a 
door  so  constructed  that  it  stands  (lush  with  the  adjoining 
face  of  the  wall  on  both  sides,  and  without  dressings  or 
architraves.  Thus  it  appears  |>art  of  the  wall,  the  intention 
being  to  conceal  even  the  appearance  of  a  door. 

JO'GGLED  JOINTS.     En   Architecture,   the  joints  of 

I    stones  or  other  masses  indented  in  such  a  way  that  the  ntl- 
j    jacent  stones  fitting  into  the  indentations,  they  are  prevented 
from  being  pushed  away  from  each  other  by  any  force  per- 
pendicular to  the  pressures  by  which  they  are  thus  held 
together. 

JO'GGLE  PIECE.  (Perhaps  from  joug,  a  yoke.)  In 
Architecture,  a  truss  post  whose  shoulders  and  sockets  re- 
ceive the  lower  ends  of  the  struts. 

JOHN  HILL,  the  well-known  collective  name  of  the 
English  nation,  was  first  used  in  Arbuthnot'.s  satire,  The 
Historij  of  John  Hull,  usually  published  in  Swift's  works ; 
hi  which  the  French  are  designated  as  Lewis  Baboon,  the 
Dutch  as  Nicholas  Frog,  &c. 

JOI'NERY.  (Fr.  joindre.)  In  Architecture,  the  art  of 
framing  wood-work  for  the  finishing  of  houses,  such  as  doors, 
sashes,  shutters,  &.c.  The  term  Carpentry  is  applied  to  the 
rough  timbering,  in  which  tile  only  tools  used  are  the  axe, 
adze,  chisel,  and  saw. 

JOINT  STOCK  COMPANY.  In  Mercantile  Law,  a 
partnership  (insisting  of  a  large  number  of  members,  whose 
rights  and  liabilities  are  defined  by  certain  peculiar  regula- 
tions imposed  by  themselves,  generally  contained  in  an  in- 
strument termed  a  deed  of  settlement,  and  heretofore  in  an 
act  of  parliament  passed  for  the  purpose ;  but  now,  by  4  &  5 
W.  4,  c.  94,  the  king  is  enabled  to  grant  the  necessary  powers 
by  letters  patent.  The  deed  constitutes  trustees,  directors, 
and  other  officers  ;  contains  the  necessary  covenants  ;  limits 
the  number  of  shores,  &c,  and  details  the  rules  to  be 
adopted  in  the  management  of  the  concern.  By  a  clause 
contained  in  this  instrument  the  shares  are  rendered  trans- 
ferable by  each  partner  without  the  consenl  of  the  other 
shareholders,  subject,  in  general,  to  the  approbation  of  the 
directors.  The  act  of  parliament,  or  letters  patent,  enables 
the  company  to  sue  ami  be  sued  in  the  name  of  its  secretary 
or  other  officer,  &.c.  It  concludes  with  the  customary  pro- 
viso, that  nothing  therein  contained  shall  be  construed  to 
incorporate  the  partnership. 

JOINT  TE'NANCY,  in  Law,  is  where  land-;  and  tene- 
ments are  granted  to  two  or  more  persons  to  hold  in  fee- 
aunple,  fee  toil,  for  life,  for  years,  or  at  will.    It  is  created 

by  particular  words  in  a  i\it-i\  or  devise.  Its  properties  are 
said  to  be  unity  of  interest,  of  title,  of  time,  and  of  possession  ; 
and  it  is  subject  to  the  ri^'ht  of  survivorship  in  the  C 
estates  for  life.  Joint  tenancy  may  be  severed  by  partition, 
or  by  the  alienation  of  any  party.  Personal  chattels  may 
be  the  subjects  of  a  joint  tenancy. 
GJ4 


JUDGES. 

JOI'NTURE.  In  Law,  a  settlement  of  lands  and  tene- 
ments made  on  a  woman  in  consideration  I  f  maniBge:  or- 
dinarily an  estate  for  life.  A  jointure  was  made  a  bar  of 
dower,  it  granted  with  certain  requisites,  by  27  H.  8,  c.  10. 
See  .Makiuagk,  Law  op. 

JOISTS.  (Fr.  joindre.)  In  Architecture,  the  timbers  of 
a  floor  whereto  the  boards  or  laths  for  the  ceiling  are  nailed. 
They  either  rest  on  the  walls  or  on  girders,  or  sometimes 
on  both. 

Where  only  one  tier  of  joists  is  used,  it  is  called  single 
flooring  (fig.  1 ),  A  A  A  being  the  joists ; 
and  In  this  sort  of  flooring  such  joists 
should  not  exceed  sixteen  feel  in  length 
or  bearing,  and  even  when  the  length  is 
more  than  eight  feet  they  should  have 
stiffening  pieces  to  prevent  torsion. 

When  two  sets  of 
joists  are  used,  it  is  call- 
ed double  flooring  (fig 
ure  2) ;  in  which  A  A 
are  called  the  floor  or 
bridging  joists,  B  B  the 
G  C  C  the  ceil- 
ing joists. 

If  the  binding  joists  be  fra- 
med into  girders,  the  floor  is 
then  properly  called  a  double- 
framed  floor,  of  which  the  sub- 
joined    is  a   diagram  (fig.  3); 
wherein    A   is   a  girder,   B   a 
binding  joist,  C  C  C  are  bridg- 
ing joists,  and  D  D  D  are  ceiling  joists,  E  being  the  floor  boards. 
of  this  floor  it  is  manifest  that  the  girders  are  the  main  sup- 
port. 
!      JOLLY  BOAT.     See  Yawl. 

JOU'RNAL.     (Ital.  giomale,  i.  e.,  diurnale.)     Strictly  a 
j  record  or  account  of  daily  occurrences.    It  is  more  exten- 
j  sively  employed  to  signify  a  narrative,  periodically  or  occa- 
|  sionally  published,  of  the  transactions  of  a  society,  &c. ;  as 
by  ourselves  in  the  phrase  "Journals  of  the  Houses  of  Par- 
liament," &c.     It  is  also  used  as  synonymous  with  Magazine, 
or  other  periodical  publications  of  that  class. 
!      JU'BA.     (Lat.  a  mane.)     The  long  and  thick-set  hairs 
which  adorn  the  neck,  chest,  or  spine  of  certain  quadrupeds. 
JUBILATE.     (Lat.  rejoice.)     A  name  given  to  the  third 
Sunday  after  Easter;  so  called  because  in  the  primitive 
church  divine  service  was  commenced  with  the  words  of 
the  66th  Psalm,  "Jubilate  Deo,  omnes  terra?,"  "Sing  to  the 
Lord,  all  ye  lands." 

JU'BILEE.  (Lat.  jubilo,  I  rejoice.)  The  name  given 
among  the  Jews  to  the  grand  sabbatical  year,  which  w  as 
celebrated  after  every  seven  septennaries  of  years:  whether 
every'  forty-ninth  or  fiftieth  year  is  still  a  question  among 
the  learned.  The  institution  of  this  festival  is  recorded  in 
Lev.  XXV.,  8 — 17.  This  was  a  year  of  general  release  not 
only  of  all  debts,  like  the  common  sabbatical  year,  but  of  all 
slaves,  and  of  lands  and  possessions  which  had  been  aliena- 
ted from  their  original  owners.  It  has  been  commonly  sup- 
posed that  the  jubilee  was  intended  to  be  typical  of  the 
release  and  redemption  of  mankind  under  the  Gospel  dis- 
pensation; and  it  was  with  this  idea  that  Pope  Boniface 
VIII.,  at  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century,  proclaimed  a 
general  indulgence  to  all  Christians  who  should  \i~it  the 
tombs  of  the  Apostles  at  Rome  in  the  secular  year  1300.  At 
this  peiiod  it  was  intended  that  the  same  celebration  should 
take  place  only  every  hundredth  year.  In  consequence, 
however,  of  the  enormous  afflux  of  pilgrims  which  this  pro- 
clamation brought  together,  and  the  gain  winch  resulted 
from  it,  Clement  VI.  abridged  the  interval  to  fifty  years; 
and  the  solemnity  then  received  the  name  of  the  jubilee  in 
imitation  of  the  Jewish  custom.  The  second  jubilee  was 
accordingly  solemnized  in  1350.  In  1389,  Urban  V.  reduced 
the  term  to  thirty-three  years,  the  number  of  the  life  of  our 
Saviour:  it  was  raised  again  by  Nicholas  V.  to  fifty;  and 
finally,  in  M7(i,  fixed  by  Paul  II.  at  twenty-five;  and  the 
jubilee  has  ever  since  been  solemnized  every  quarter  of  a 
century,  beginning  on  Christmas  eve,  when  the  Pope  opens 
with  great  pomp  the  door  of  St.  Peter's,  closed  except  on 
that  occasion.     (Mosheim's  Eccl.  Hist.,  Transl.,  ed.  1790, 

in ,  a63.j 

.11  DAlSM.  Attachments  to  the  rites  of  the  Jewish  law. 
The  .Iiiilaizing  spirit  of  many  of  the  early  Chiis:ians  is  a 
subject  of  observation  in  many  of  Ht  Paul's  Bptettli 

dally  that  to  the  Gelations),  and  continued  for  a  long  period 
to  exercise  much  influence  on  the  character  of  the  religion, 
(See  Mihimn's  Hist,  of  Christianity,  vol.  i.,  81,  451.  &c.) 
JU'DGES,    (Lut.  judex.)    Certain  supreme  mnpistrntea 

who  presided  aver  the  Israelites  from  the  time  of  .lev bin  to 
the  reign  of  Saul,  a  period  of  about  330  years.  They  were 
so  called  because  they  formed  at  once  the  civil  and  the  mili- 


JUDGMENT. 

tary  governors  of  the  people.    The  dignity  was  retained  for 
life,  though  it  was  not  always  hereditary. 

JU'DGMENT.  (Lat.  judicium.)  In  Law,  the  sentence 
of  the  law  pronounced  by  the  court  upon  the  matter  con- 
tained in  the  record.  The  term  judgment,  in  English  legal 
language,  is  restricted  to  the  decisions  of  a  court  of  common 
law :  those  of  a  court  of  equity  are  denominated  decrees. 
Judgments  are  said  to  be  of  four  sorts :  1.  Judgments  in 
law  (on  demurrer,  where  the  facts  are  confessed  upon  the 
pleading).  2.  Judgments  in  fact  (on  the  verdict  of  a  jury). 
3.  Judgments  by  confession  or  default,  i.  e.  where  both  facts 
and  law  are  admitted  by  the  defendant  4.  Judgments  on  a 
nonsuit  or  retraxit,  where  both  fact  and  law  are  admitted 
by  the  plaintiff,  who  thereupon  withdraws  his  claim.  Judg- 
ments are  also  said  to  be  either  interlocutory,  on  matter 
arising  in  the  course  of  the  proceeding ;  or  final,  on  the 
merits  of  the  case.  Judgments,  when  obtained,  must  be 
signed  by  the  proper  officer,  and  entered  of  record,  without 
which  they  are  not  judgments.  Arrest  of  judgment  arises 
from  error  appearing  upon  the  face  of  the  record  ;  but  such 
error  must  now  be,  generally  speaking,  in  substantial  matter 
of  law,  and  not  on  mere  matter  of  form. 

Ju'dgments,  in  Logic,  is  defined  to  be  the  second  of  the 
three  logical  operations  of  the  mind.  It  is  the  comparing 
together  two  of  the  notions  which  are  the  subjects  of  simple 
apprehension,  and  pronouncing  that  they  agree  or  disagree 
with  each  other.  Judgment,  therefore,  is  either  affirmative 
or  negative  ;  and  the  subjects  of  judgment  are  propositions, 
which  are  expressions  of  the  agreement  or  disagreement  of 
one  term  with  another. 

Ju'dgment.  In  the  Fine  Arts,  the  faculty  of  selecting 
that  which  is  most  suitable  to  the  purpose. 

JU'DICA.  (Lat.  judge.)  The  fifth  Sunday  after  Lent 
was  so  called,  because  the  primitive  church  began  the  ser- 
vice on  that  day  with  the  words  of  the  43d  Psalm,  "  Judica 
me,  Domine,"  "  Judge  me,  O  Lord." 

JUDI'CIUM  DEI.  (Lat.  judgment  of  God.)  The  term 
formerly  applied  to  all  extraordinary  trials  of  secret  crimes, 
as  those  by  arms,  single  combat,  ordeals,  &c,  in  which  it 
was  believed  that  Heaven  would  miraculously  interfere  to 
clear  the  innocent  and  confound  the  guilty.  (See  Ordeal, 
Question.)  Full  particulars  of  the  ceremonies  instituted 
on  such  occasions  will  be  found  in  Ducange. 

JU'GAL  BONE.  (Lat.  jugum,  or  Gr.  {vyov.  a  yoke.) 
The  cheek  bone  ;  so  called  because  it  has  a  yoke-like  artic- 
ulation to  the  bone  of  the  upper  jaw. 

JUGA'TA.  Two  heads  represented  upon  a  medal,  side 
by  side,  or  joining  each  other. 

JU'GGERNAUT.     See  Vishnu. 

JU'GGLERS.  (Fr.  jongleurs.)  A  general  denomination 
for  those  persons  who  practise  the  arts  of  legerdemain,  or 
who  exhibit  feats  of  uncommon  strength  or  dexterity.  The 
reader  will  find  in  Beckman's  History  of  Inventions  a 
learned  and  curious  account  of  the  origin  and  history  of  all 
the  feats  of  this  kind  exhibited  both  in  ancient  and  modern 
times. 

JUGLANDA'CE/E.  (Juglans,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
small  natural  order  of  Exogenous  trees,  distributed  through 
the  temperate  parts  of  North  America  and  Asia.  The  com- 
mon walnut,  Juglans  regia,  is  well  known  for  its  agreeable 
fruit,  and  the  useful  oil  it  yields  by  pressure.  Hickory,  a 
very  elastic  kind  of  timber,  is  the  wood  of  Carya  alba. ; 
and  that  of  other  species,  especially  Juglans  nigra  and 
regia,  is  valuable  for  cabinetmakers'  work  and  similar 
purposes. 

JU'GULARS,  Jugulares.  (Lat)  The  name  under 
which  Linnaeus  comprehended  all  those  fishes  which  have 
the  ventral  fins  anterior  to  the  pectorals. 

JU'GULAR  VEINS.  (Lat.  jugulum,  the  throat.)  The 
veins  which  bring  the  blood  from  the  head,  descending 
upon  the  sides  of  the  neck :  they  are  divided  into  external 
and  internal.  By  their  union  with  the  subclavian  vein 
they  form  the  superior  vena  cava,  which  terminates  in  the 
superior  part  of  the  right  auricle  of  the  heart. 

JU'GULUM.  (Lat.  the  throat.)  In  Mammalogy,  it  is 
restricted  to  the  fore-part  of  the  neck,  which  intervenes  be- 
tween the  throat  (aula)  and  the  chest.  The  fossa  jugu- 
laris  is  the  hollow  in  front  of  the  sternum  at  the  base  of  the 
neck. 

JUJU'BE.  The  fruit  of  the  Rhamnus  zizyphus  :  it  re- 
sembles a  small  plum,  and  is  occasionally  used  as  a  sweet- 
meat. What  is  sold  under  the  name  of  jujube  paste  pro- 
fesses to  be  the  dried  jelly  of  this  fruit  but  is,  in  fact,  a  mix- 
ture of  gum  arable  ami  sugar  slightly  coloured. 

JU'LIAN  JERA.  The  commencement  of  a  period  in- 
vented to  correspond  with  the  cycles  of  the  Julian  year.  It 
coincides  with  the  710th  year  before  the  creation  of  the 
world,  according  to  common  chronology. 

JULIAN  CALENDAR.    The  civil  calendar  introduced 

at  Rome  by  Julius  Caesar,  and  used  by  all  the  Christian 

countries  of  Europe  till  it  was  reformed  by  Pope  Gregory 

XUI.  in  1582.    Before  the  time  of  Julius  Caesar,  the  Roman 

54 


JUMPING  HARE. 

year  was  lunisolar;  and  as  the  pontiff's,  who  had  a  discre 
tionary  power  of  adjusting  the  calendar,  followed  no  certain 
rule  in  their  intercalations,  but  sometimes  inserted  a  greater 
or  less  number  of  days  for  the  purpose  of  prolongjng  or 
shortening  the  period  of  a  particular  magistracy,  the  civil 
year  did  not  long  correspond  with  the  astronomical  or  the 
course  of  the  seasons,  and  the  reckoning  of  time  fell  into 
great  confusion.  With  the  advice  of  the  astronomer  Sosi • 
genes,  Caesar  fixed  the  mean  length  of  the  year  at  36a} 
|  days  ;  and  in  order  that  the  year  should  always  commence 
with  the  commencement  of  a  day,  he  decreed  that  three 
successive  years  should  contain  365  days,  and  the  fourth 
366,  and  so  on  forever.  He  also  restored  the  vernal  equi- 
nox to  the  25th  of  March,  the  place  it  occupied  in  the  time 
of  Numa  ;  and  thus  fixed  the  correspondence  of  the  civil 
year  with  the  seasons. 

In  distributing  the  days  of  the  year  among  the  twelve  cal- 
endar months,  Caesar  adopted  a  very  commodious  arrange- 
ment which  unfortunately  was  not  long  suffered  to  prevail. 
He  ordained  that  the  odd  months,  viz.,  the  first,  third,  fifth, 
seventh,  ninth,  and  eleventh,  should  have  each  31  days, 
and  the  even  months  30  days ;  with  the  exception  of  Febru- 
ary, which  in  common  years  should  have  only  29,  but  in 
the  intercalary  years  30  days.  This  was  as  simple  and  nat- 
ural a  disposition  as,  perhaps,  it  is  possible  to  make  ;  but  the 
whole  arrangement  was  soon  thrown  into  disorder  and  con- 
fusion, to  gratify  the  frivolous  vanity  of  Augustus,  by  giving 
to  the  month  which  he  had  named  after  himself  the  same 
number  of  days  as  July,  which  bore  the  name  of  the  first 
Caesar.  A  day  was  accordingly  taken  from  February  and 
given  to  August;  and  in  order  that  three  months  of  30  days 
might  not  come  together,  September  and  November  were 
reduced  to  30  days,  and  31  given  to  October  and  December. 
Such  was  the  origin  of  the  capricious  arrangement  which 
has  ever  since  been  adhered  to.     See  Calendar. 

JULIAN  EPOCH.  In  Chronology,  the  epoch  or  com- 
mencement of  the  Julian  Calendar.  The  first  Julian  year 
commenced  with  the  1st  of  January  of  the  46th  year  before 
the  birth  of  Christ,  and  the  708th  from  the  foundation  of 
Rome. 

JULIAN  PERIOD,  in  Chronology,  is  a  period  consisting 
of  7980  Julian  years.  The  number  7980  is  formed  by  the 
continual  multiplication  of  the  three  numbers  28, 19,  and  15 ; 
that  is,  of  the  cycle  of  the  sun,  the  cycle  of  the  moon,  and 
the  cycle  of  indiction.  The  first  year  of  the  Christian  era 
had  10  for  its  number  in  the  cycle  of  the  sun,  2  in  the  cycle 
of  the  moon,  and  4  in  the  indiction.  Now  the  only  number 
less  than  7980  which,  on  being  divided  successively  by  28, 
19,  and  15,  leaves  the  respective  remainders  10,  2,  and  4,  is 
4714.  Hence  the  first  year  of  the  Christian  era  correspond- 
ed with  the  year  4714  of  the  Julian  period ;  and  hence  also 
the  year  of  our  era  corresponding  to  any  other  year  of  the 
period,  or  vice  versa,  is  found  by  the  following  rule  : 

1.  When  the  given  year  is  anterior  to  the  commencement 
of  the  era,  subtract  the  number  of  the  year  of  the  Julian 
period  from  4714,  and  the  remainder  is  the  year  before 
Christ:  or  subtract  the  year  before  Christ  from  4714,  and 
the  remainder  is  the  corresponding  year  in  the  Julian  pe- 
riod. 

2.  When  the  given  year  is  after  Christ  subtract  4713 
from  the  year  of  the  period,  and  the  remainder  is  the  year 
of  the  era ;  or  add  4713  to  the  year  in  the  era,  and  the  sum 
is  the  corresponding  year  of  the  Julian  period.  (Ency. 
Brit.,  art.  "Chronology.") 

JU'LIAN  YEAR.  "The  year  adopted  in  the  calendar  of 
Julius  Caesar,  and  equal  to  365^  days.  The  Julian  year  ex- 
ceeds the  mean  solar  year,  as  determined  by  the  best  astro- 
nomical observations,  by  11  minutes  and  1035  seconds, 
which  amounts  to  a  day  in  129  years.  In  the  course  of  a 
few  centuries  this  error  would  become  very  perceptible,  as 
the  equinoxes  and  solstices  would  fall  back  towards  the  be- 
ginning of  the  year.  When  the  Julian  calendar  was  intro- 
duced by  Caesar,  the  vernal  equinox  fell  on  the  25th  of 
March  ;  at  the  time  of  the  Council  of  Nice,  in  325,  it  fell  on 
the  21st ;  and  at  the  reformation  of  the  calendar,  in  1582,  it 
had  retrograded  to  the  11th.  This  observation  enabled  Pope 
Gregory  to  fix  the  length  of  the  year  more  precisely,  and 
correct  the  intercalations.     .See  Calendar. 

JU'LIS.  (Lat.  the  name  of  a  fish.)  A  genus  of  Labroid 
fishes,  distinguished  by  the  following  characters :  Head 
smooth;  cheeks  and  gill-covers  without  scales;  lateral  line 
bent  suddenly  downwards  when  opposite  the  end  of  the  dor- 
sal fin.  The  rainbow  wrasse  (Julis  Mcditerranea)  has  been 
taken  on  the  coast  of  Cornwall. 

JULY,  so  named  by  Mark  Antony,  in  honour  of  Caius 
Caesar,  the  dictator,  whose  gentile  name  was  Julius,  is  at 
present  the  seventh  month  of  the  year.  In  the  Latin  calen- 
dar it  was  the  fifth,  and  hence  was  termed  Quintilis.  The 
Dog-days  are  supposed  to  commence  on  the  3d  of  this 
month. 

JU  MPING  HARE.  A  Rodent  quadruped,  the  largest  of 
the  family  of  the  Jerboas  (Dipodidte),  and  the  type  of  the 
Q,  q  625 


JUNCACEjE. 

genus  Helamys,  is  so  colled.  It  is  a  native  of  tlie  Cape  of 
«;i h h!  Hope,  ond  inhabits  deep  burrows.    Set  IIki.amys. 

JUNCA'CEiE.  (Juncus,  one  of  the  genera.)  .\  small 
■  iii-i-  ;i r«-  natural  order  of  Endogenous  plants,  in  most  respects 
resemtfling  Liliaeem,  and  differing  cliiotly  in  their  flowers 
bei  _  glumaceous;  that  is,  thin,  dry,  and  cither  brown  or 
green  in  colour.  There  are,  however,  species  intermediate 
between  the  two  orders  in  this  respect.  None  of  the  Bpecies 
are  of  any  importance.  The  common  rush  is  the  usual  type 
of  this  order. 

.11  \( '.VCl.VU'E.E.  A  small  natural  order  of  Endoge- 
nous plants  growing  in  marshes,  with  minute  green  flowers. 
They  are  considered  by  botanists  allied  to  .Iracea:,  on  ac- 
count of  the  structure  of  the  embryo;  in  their  genera]  aspect 
they  are  something  like  little  rushes. 

JUNE;  so  named,  according  to  some,  either  from  the 
Latin  Junius,  Juno,  or  Juniores  (May.  as  was  alleged,  being 
derived  from  Majores).  At  present  the  sixth  month  of  the 
year,  but  in  the  old  Latin  calendar  the  fourth.  It  consisted 
originally  of  twenty-six  days,  to  which  Romulus  is  said  to 
have  added  four.  Numa  afterwards  deprived  it  of  one  day; 
which,  however,  was  again  restored  by  Julius  Ca:sar,  and  it 
has  ever  since  remained  unaltered. 

JUNGEKMANNIAVK.E.  (Jnngermannia,  one  of  the 
penera.)  A  very  small  natural  order  of  Acrogenous  or 
Cryptogenic  plants,  resembling  mosses  in  appearance,  and, 
like  them,  growing  upon  the  hark  of  trees  and  in  damp 
ground  in  shady  places.  They  hear  their  seeds  in  cases 
containing  spiral  threads,  which,  by  their  elasticity,  disperse 
the  former  when  ripe.  Until  lately  they  were  considered  to 
form  a  part  of  Hrpatica. 

JU'NIPER  BERRIES.  Tiie  fruit  of  the  Juniperus  com- 
munis. They  are  used  in  medicine  as  a  diuretic  ;  but  their 
principal  consumption  is  in  flavouring  gin.  When  distilled 
with  water  they  yield  an  essential  oil,  upon  which  their  pe- 
culiar flavour  depends.  The  resin  of  this  tree  is  called  ju- 
niper gum  or  sandarach,  and  is  occasionally  used  in  var- 
nishes. When  powdered  it  is  used  under  the  name  of 
pounce,  to  prevent  ink  sinking  into  paper  from  which  wri- 
ting has  been  erased. 

JUNK.  A  large  flat-bottomed  vessel,  with  three  masts, 
and  a  short  bowsprit  placed  on  the  starboard  bow,  used  by 
the  Chinese.    The  masts  are  supported  by  two  or  three 

shrouds,  which  at  times  are  all  carried  on  the  windward 
Fide;  and  the  fore  or  main  mast  carries  a  sort  of  lug-sail  of 
cane  or  bamboo. 

.IT  NO.  The  Latin  name  of  the  divinity  called  by  the 
Greeks  Hera  (  Hpn).  She  was  the  sister  and  consort  of  Ju- 
I  iter,  and  was  held  to  preside  over  marriage,  and  protect 
married  women.  She  wns  represented  as  the  model  of  ma- 
jestic beauty,  in  royal  attire,  and  attended  by  her  favourite 
bird  the  peacock.  Her  principal  temples  in  Greece  were  at 
Samoa  and  Argos.  She  was  also  the  patroness  of  Veii, 
whence  she  was  invited  to  Rome  on  tlie  occasion  of  the  last 
siege  of  the  former  city. 

Ju'no.  One  of  the  four  small  extra-zodiacal  planets 
which  circulate  between  the  orbits  of  Mars  and  Jupiter. 
Juno  was  discovered  by  Professor  Harding  of  Lilienthal 
(near  Bremen),  on  the  22d  of  Septemher,  1804;  Ceres  and 
Pallas  having  been  discovered  previously.  Juno  appears 
like  a  star  of  the  eighth  or  ninth  magnitude,  and  is  of  a 
whitish  colour,  without  nebulosity.  This  planet  is  distin- 
guished by  the  great  eccentricity  of  its  orbit,  exceeding  that 
of  any  other  planet,  and  amounting  to  '2578,  the  semi-axis 
major  being  taken  as  unit.  The  effect  of  this  eccentricity 
on  the  motion  of  the  planet  is  such,  that  the  half  of  the 
orbit  which  is  bisected  by  the  perihelion  is  described  in 
about  half  the  time  in  which  the  other  half  is  described. 
The  sidereal  revolution  is  performed  in  1592-66  mean  solar 
davs.  The  inclination  of  the  orbit  to  the  ecliptic,  is  13°  4' 
10";  and  the  greatest  equation  of  the  centre  29°  4ti'  19". 
The  extreme  smollness  of  the  planet  renders  it  impossible  to 
determine  its  apparent  diameter,  and  consequently  its  mag- 
nitude, with  any  degree  of  certainty. 

JU'NTA.  (Span,  an  assembly.)  A  grand  Spanish  coun- 
cil of  state.  Resides  the  assembly  of  the  stales  or  cortes, 
there  were  two  juntas:  one  which  presided  over  the  com 
merce,  the  mint,  and  the  mines;  and  the  other  forming  a 
board  for  regulating  the  tobacco  monopoly.  The  assem- 
bling of  a  junta  by  Napoleon  in  1808,  and  the  part  they 
subsequently  played  in  Spanish  history,  are  guflSi 
known  to  the  reader.  In  England  the  term  juntn  (evident- 
ly of  Spanish  origin)  is  used  almost  synonymously  with  ca- 
bal or  faction. 

JU'IMTF.It.  Tn  Mythology,  the  Latin  name  of  the  deity 
called  b\   the  Greeks  Zeus(Zfus):  "  's  derived  from  thai 

word  with  the  addition    I'ater.   Foliar.      He  WOS  tin-  son  of 

Saturn,  whom  be  deposed  from  his  throne,  ami  thence  be- 
came the  supreme  monarch  of  gods  and  men.  He  married 
his  sister  Juno,  by  whom  he  had  Vulcan  ;  I  nt  besides  this 
deity  he  had  a  large  progeny  of  gods  and  demigods  by  bis 
numerous  divine  and  mortal  paramours.    Tlie  most  celc- 


JUPITER. 

brated  of  his  children  were,  Minerva,  who  had  no  mother, 
but  sprung  armed  from  her  father's  forehead.;  Bacchus,  tlie 
Muses,    Venus,    Apollo    and    Diana,    Mercury,    Proserpine, 

Hercules,  Perseus,  and  Minos.  The  most  celebrated  Gre- 
cian temple  of  this  god  was  at  ( >l\mpia  in  Klis,  where  every 
fourth  year  the  Olympian  games  were  celebrated  in  his 
honour:  his  most  revered  oracle  was  among  the  oak  woods 
of  Dodona  in  Epirus.  The  Romans  considered  Jupiter  as 
especially  the  patron  of  their  eity,  in  which  he  accordingly 
had  some  splendid  temples:  that  in  the  capitol  was  the 
grandest.  Of  that  dedicated  to  Jupitor  Stator  there  are  still 
three  columns  standing,  Jupiter  was  represented  as  the 
model  of  dignity ;  grave,  but  mild  :  he  is  seated  on  a  throne 
grasping  his  sceptre  and  a  thunderbolt,  and  by  his  side 
stands  bis  peculiar  bird,  the  eagle. 

It  has  been  remarked  that  there  is  a  striking  similarity 
between  Jove  (from  Jovis,  gen.  of  Jupiter),  and  the  Hebrew 
name  of  the  Supreme  Deity,  Jehovah. 

Jupiter.  In  Astronomy,  one  of  the  planets,  and  the  lar- 
gest in  the  system.  The  mean  diameter  of  Jupiter  is  no 
less  than  87,(HH)  miles,  or  about  eleven  times  that  of  the 
earth  :  consequently  his  hulk  is  about  1300  times  greater 
than  that  of  the  earth.  The  distance  of  Jupiter  from  the 
sun  is  nearly  490  millions  of  miles,  or  about  5-J  times  the  ra- 
dius of  the  earth's  orbit;  and  he  performs  his  revolution  in 
respect  of  the  stars  in  4332  days,  14h.  2m.  8A  sec,  which  is 
nearly  12  years.  The  inclination  of  the  orbit  to  the  plane 
of  the  ecliptic  was  1°  18'  51"  at  the  beginning  of  the  pres- 
ent century,  and  undergoes  a  diminution  of  about  a  fourth 
of  a  second  in  a  year. 

"The  disc  of  Jupiter  is  always  observed  to  he  crossed  in 
one  certain  direction  by  dark  bands  or  belts.  These  belts 
are.  however,  by  no  means  alike  at  all  times;  they  vary  in 
breadth  and  in  situation  on  the  disc  (though  never  in  their 
general  direction).  They  have  even  been  seen  broken  up, 
and  distributed  over  the  whole  face  of  the  planet;  but  this 
phenomenon  is  extremely  rare.  Branches  running  out  from 
them,  and  subdivisions,  as  well  as  evident  dark  spots,  like 
strings  of  clouds,  are  by  no  means  uncommon ;  and  from 
these,  attentively  watched,  it  is  concluded  that  the  planet 
revolves  in  the  surprisingly  short  period  of  9h.  55m.  50  sec. 
(sid.  time)  on  an  axis  perpendicular  to  the  direction  of  the 

belts. 

The  parallelism  of  the  belts  to  the  equator  of  Jupiter, 
their  occasional  variations,  and  the  appearances  of  spots 
seen  upon  them,  render  it  extremely  probable  that  they  sub- 
sist in  the  atmosphere  of  the  planet,  forming  tracts  of  com- 
paratively clear  sky,  determined  by  currents  analagous  to 
our  trade  winds,  but  of  a  much  more  steady  and  decided 
character,  as  might  indeed  be  expected  from  the  immense 
velocity  of  its  rotation.  That  it  is  the  comparatively  darker 
body  of  the  planet  which  appears  in  the  belts  is  evident 
from  this — that  they  do  not  come  up  in  all  their  strength  to 
the  edge  of  the  disc,  but  fade  gradually  away  before  they 
reach  it."  (HerscheVs  Astronomy,  Cabinet  Cyclopaedia,  p. 
281.) 

The  radius  of  Jupiter  being  11  times  greater  than  that  of 
the  earth,  and  the  rotation  on  the  axis  being  24  times  more 
rapid,  the  space  passed  over  by  a  point  on  the  equator  of  the 
planet  will  he  26  times  greater  than  that  described  by  a 
point  of  the  terrestrial  equator  in  the  same  time.  Hence 
the  centrifugal  force  is  about  26  times  greater,  and  we  may, 
therefore,  conclude  that  its  effect  in  impressing  a  flattened 
form  on  the  planet  will  be  much  greater  than  takes  place 
With  regard  to  the  earth.  Now  observation  shows  this  to 
he  the  case.  The  disc  of  Jupiter  is  evidently  not  circular, 
but  elliptic,  being  considerably  flattened  in  the  direction  of 
its  axis  of  rotation  ;  and  this  appearance  is  no  optical  illu- 
sion, but  is  authenticated  by  micrometrica]  measures,  which 
nsML'ii  15  to  14  as  the  proportion  of  the  equatorial  and  polar 
diameters.  This  far  exceeds  the  compression  of  the  earth, 
the  ratio  of  the  equatorial  to  the  polar  diameter  of  which  is 
302  to  301. 

The  annual  parallax  of  Jupiter  is  less  than  12°;  conse- 
quently the  earth,  as  seen  from  Jupiter,  will  never  appear  at 
a  greater  distance  than  12°  from-  the  sun.  The  digressions 
of  Mars  will  he  17°.  those  of  Venus  8°,  and  those  of  Mer- 
cury only  4°  16'.  An  inhabitant  of  Jupiter  would  therefore 
probably  be  ignorant  of  the  existence  of  Mercury,  which 
will  be  almost  constantly  plunged  in  the  sun's  rays,  and 
likewise  diminished  in  splendour,  on  account  of  the  greater 
distance. 

The  density  of  Jupiter  is  very  nearly  the  same  as  that  of 
the  sun.  and  about  one  fourth  of  the  mean  density  of  the 
earth.  The  moss  of  the  planet,  compared  with  that  of  the 
sun  taken  as  unity,  is  '000943;  hut  this  is  sufficient  to  pro- 
duce a  very  sensible  perturbation  of  the  motions  of  some  of 
tlie  i-i'm  r  planets.  The  proportion  of  light  and  heat  receiv 
ed  by  Jupiter  (rem  tlie  sun,  comjmred  with  that  received  by 
the  earth,  is  as  (137  to  1. 

Jupiter,  through  tlie  telescope,  is  observed  to  be  accom- 
panied by  four  moons  or  satellites,  which  revolve  ubout  the 


JURISCONSULT. 

planet  nearly  in  the  plane  of  its  equator,  exactly  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  moon  revolves  about  the  earth.  Their  con- 
figuration changes  at  every  instant;  they  appear  to  oscillate 
on  each  side  of  the  planet,  and  their  rank  or  order  of  dis- 
tance is  determined  by  the  extent  of  their  oscillations.  In 
coming  between  the  sun  and  Jupiter,  the  satellites  throw 
their  shadows  on  the  planet,  and  produce  eclipses  of  the 
Bun  ;  and  when  they  come  to  the  side  of  the  planet  opposite 
to  the  sun  they  are  eclipsed  in  passing  through  the  shadow. 
The  beginnings  and  endings  of  these  eclipses  can  be  ob- 
served with  great  precision  ;  and  their  observation  furnishes 
the  surest  means  of  determining  the  sidereal  and  synodic 
revolutions  of  the  satellites.  The  same  observations  also 
afford  a  means  of  determining  terrestrial  longitudes;  and  it 
was  by  means  of  them  that  astronomers  discovered  and 
measured  the  velocity  of  light.    See  Planet  and  Satellite. 

JU'RISCONSU'LT.  (Juris  consultus,  learned  or  skilled 
in  law.)  A  title  given  to  a  class  of  Roman  lawyers,  and 
commonly  denoted  by  the  abbreviation  ictus.  From  what 
we  know  of  the  jurisconsults,  they  appear  to  have  been  a 
different  class  from  the  advocati  or  causidici  who  conducted 
causes,  and  to  have  confined  themselves  to  the  employment 
of  giving  responsa  or  opinions  on  cases  put  to  them.  (See 
Mem.  de  VAc.  des  fnscr.,  vol.  xh.)  From  the  recorded 
opinions  of  the  most  learned  jurisconsults  the  Digest,  the 
great  work  of  Justinian,  was  chiefly  compiled.  See  Advo- 
cate. 

JU'RISPRU'DENCE.  The  science  of  right.  (From  the 
Latin  words  juris  prudens,  skilled  in  law.)  The  term  civil 
jurisprudence  is  sometimes  restricted  to  the  science  of  the 
Roman  or  civil  law.  For  a  literally  complete  list  of  works 
on  this  extensive  subject,  see  Krug's  Philosophisches  Lexi- 
con, art.  "  Rechtslehre." 

JURY-MAST.  In  Naval  affairs,  a  temporary  mast  erect- 
ed in  a  ship  in  the  room  of  one  that  has  been  carried  away 
by  tempest  or  any  other  accident.  Jury-masts  are  some- 
times erected  in  a  new  ship  to  navigate  her  down  a  river, 
or  to  a  neighbouring  port,  where  her  proper  masts  are  pre- 
pared for  her. 

JURY,  TRIAL  BY.  Of  the  origin  and  progress  of  this 
institution,  as  far  as  it  has  been  very  imperfectly  traced  by 
antiquarians,  some  account  has  been  given  in  the  historical 
review  of  the  Common  Law.  When  issue  has  been  taken 
in  fact  in  a  civil  suit  (see  Pleading),  the  cause  stands  ready 
for  trial  at  bar  of  the  court  itself  (see  Law,  Superior 
Courts),  unless  by  the  fiction  of  nisi  prius  (ib.)  it  is  trans- 
ferred to  the  sittings  in  London  and  Middlesex,  or  the  as- 
sizes in  the  country.  (A  trial  at  bar  is  now  only  granted  on 
application  in  some  special  cases.)  The  sheriff  of  the  coun- 
ty is  directed  by  writ  of  venire  facias  to  summon  jurors  to 
attend  at  the  assizes  ;  and  by  a  farther  compulsory  process, 
called  a  distringas,  he  is  ordered  to  distrain  them  by  their 
lands  and  goods  if  they  make  default  in  appearance.  On 
motion  of  either  the  plaintiff  or  defendant,  the  court  orders  a 
special  jury  to  be  summoned.  The  list  of  persons  liable  to 
serve  as  common  jurors  is  made  out  by  the  churchwardens 
and  overseers  in  each  parish,  and,  after  being  considered  by 
justices  at  petty  sessions,  is  copied  into  a  book  and  deliver- 
ed to  the  sheriff.  On  the  return  of  the  writs  of  venire  fa- 
cias, the  sheriff  annexes  a  panel  or  list  of  persons  taken  from 
this  book,  in  number  from  48  to  72  ;  and  the  judges  are  em- 
powered to  direct  the  same  panel  to  attend  both  for  the  civil 
and  the  criminal  sides,  amounting  in  all  to  144.  The  twelve 
jurors  who  are  to  try  the  cause  are  chosen  by  ballot  out  of 
this  list.  The  qualification  of  a  common  juror  is,  to  be  a 
natural-born  subject  (unless  on  trial  of  an  alien,  in  which 
he  may  if  he  pleases  have  a  jury  de.  medietate  lingua,  of 
which  one  half  consists  of  aliens),  to  be  free  from  attaint  of 
an  infamous  crime,  and  to  be  between  the  ages  of  21  and 
60.  All  such  persons  (with  certain  privileged  exceptions) 
possessing  £10  a  year  in  freehold  or  copyhold  lands  and 
tenements,  or  £20  a  year  in  lands  held  on  lease  for  21 
years,  or  rated  as  householders  to  the  poor's  rate  in  Middle- 
sex for  £30,  elsewhere  £20,  or  occupying  a  house  with  15 
windows,  are  liable  to  serve.  In  the  city  of  London  the 
juror  must  be  a  householder  or  occupier  within  the  city, 
and  have  property,  real  or  personal,  to  the  amount  of  £100. 
All  persons  described  in  the  jurors'  book  as  esquires  or  of  a 
higher  degree,  or  as  bankers  or  merchants,  are  qualified  to 
serve  on  special  juries.  If  on  a  trial  sufficient  qualified  ju- 
rors are  not  in  attendance,  a  tales  may  be  prayed ;  and  by- 
standers are  called  in  to  fill  up  the  number.  This  seldom 
occurs  but  in  special  jury  cases;  and  in  these  the  talesmen, 
as  they  are  vulgarly  termed,  are  taken  from  the  common 
jury  list. 

The  jury  being  summoned,  the  trial  proceeds;  unless 
either  party  challenge  the  jurors.  Challenges  are  either  to 
the  array  or  to  the  polls.  A  challenge  to  the  array  is  an 
objection  to  the  whole  panel,  and  can  only  be  on  account 
of  default  or  partiality  of  the  sheriff.  Challenges  to  the 
polls,  i.  e.,  to  individual  jurors,  are  said  to  be  of  four  kinds ; 
propter  honoris  respectum,  propter  defectum,  propter  affectum, 


JUSTICES  OF  THE  PEACE. 

and  propter  delictum.  1.  Where  a  party  is  exempted  by 
statute  from  serving,  he  may  challenge  himself.  2.  Insuffi- 
cient qualification  is  a  ground  of  challenge  by  either  party. 
3.  On  supposed  bias  or  partiality,  as  by  reason  of  kindred. 
Challenges  to  the  favour  are  on  a  mere  suspicion  of  partial- 
ity. 4.  Legal  infamy  is  the  fourth  ground  of  challenge.  In 
8  criminal  case  the  law  of  challenges  is  the  same  as  in  a 
civil  one;  except  that  the  prisoner  for  felony  has  the  addi- 
tional privilege  of  making  peremptory  challenges  without 
cause  assigned  to  any  number  of  jurors  not  exceeding  twen 
ty.  Challenges  for  cause,  if  to  the  polls,  are  tried  by  the 
court ;  except  those  to  the  favour,  which  the  court  appoints 
two  jurors  if  sworn- If  not,  two  indifferent  persons,  to  try. 
Challenges  to  the  array  are  tried  entirely  at  the  discretion 
of  the  court. 

According  to  the  common  course  of  a  trial  at  nisi  prius, 
the  counsel  for  that  party  on  which  the  affirmative  of  the 
issue  is  thrown  by  the  pleadings  (that  is,  except  in  occa- 
sional cases,  the  plaintiff)  opens  his  case  by  a  statement  to 
the  jury,  and  then  calls  witnesses  to  prove  it.  The  counsel 
for  the  other  party  then  replies ;  and  if  he  also  calls  wit- 
nesses, the  first  speaker  has  a  final  reply.  After  the  evi- 
dence is  given  and  the  case  closed,  the  jurors  are  kept 
together  to  deliberate  of  their  verdict.  They  must  be  with- 
out meat,  drink,  or  fire,  unless  otherwise  ordered  by  the 
judge ;  and  as  unanimity  is  necessary  to  a  verdict,  it  was 
held  at  common  law  that  if  the  jury  could  not  agree,  the 
judge  might  cause  them  to  be  carried  round  the  circuit 
from  town  to  town  in  a  cart.  In  practice  it  is  usual,  when 
they  cannot  be  brought  to  agreement,  to  discharge  the  jury. 
Although  the  jury  in  ordinary  language  are  said  to  be  judges 
of  the  fact  only,  yet  a  general  verdict  in  a  civil  or  crimi- 
nal case  ordinarily  decides  both  the  facts,  and  whether  the 
law  as  stated  by  the  judge  is  immediately  applicable  to 
those  facts:  c.  g.,  a  verdict  "  guilty"  on  a  charge  of  murder 
implies  both  that  the  act  was  committed,  and  that  it  was 
committed  under  circumstances  amounting  to  murder.  The 
jury  may,  however,  find  under  certain  circumstances  a  spe- 
cial verdict,  that  is,  a  verdict  in  which  the  facts  of  the  case 
are  specially  stated,  and  it  is  left  to  the  court  to  apply  the 
law ;  or  they  may  find  a  general  verdict,  subject  to  a  special 
case  as  to  a  point  of  law.  In  cases  of  criminal  prosecution 
for  libel,  much  difference  of  opinion  formerly  prevailed  as 
to  the  effect  of  a  verdict.  It  was  held  by  most  lawyers  that 
the  only  questions  for  their  consideration  were  the  fact  of 
publication,  and  the  truth  of  what  is  technically  called  the 
innuendos,  viz.,  that  the  passages  of  the  libel  cited  did  ap- 
ply to  such  or  such  facts  and  individuals.  But  by  32  G.  3,  c. 
GO  (passed  through  the  influence  of  Mr.  Fox),  it  was  enact- 
ed, that  on  every  trial  of  an  indictment  or  information  for 
libel,  the  jury  may  find  a  general  verdict  of  guilty  or  not 
guilty  upon  the  whole  matter  in  issue,  thus  deciding  wheth- 
er the  matter  published  amounts  to  a  libel  or  no.  As  to  the 
grand  jury,  see  Law,  Criminal. 

JUST,  or  JOUST.  (Ital.  giostra.)  A  combat  between 
two  persons  with  lances:  properly,  a  mere  amicable  contest 
or  trial  of  strength.     See  Tournament. 

JUSTE  MILIEU.     See  Milieu  Juste. 

JU'STICES  OF  THE  PEACE,  in  Law,  are  descended 
from  the  ancient  conservators  of  the  peace,  and  are  appoint- 
ed to  their  office  in  every  county  by  the  lung's  special  com- 
mission under  the  great  seal  ;  which  appoints  them  all, 
jointly  and  separately,  to  keep  the  peace,  and  any  two  or 
more  of  them  to  inquire  of  or  determine  felonies  or  misde- 
meanors. Some  justices,  also,  are  so  by  act  of  parliament 
(namely,  a  few  high  ecclesiastical  officers) ;  and  some  by 
charter  or  grant,  as  the  mayor  and  other  magistrates  in  cor- 
porate towns.  Some  justices  are  expressly  nominated  in 
the  commission,  so  that  certain  business  cannot  be  transact- 
ed without  their  presence ;  these  are  said  to  be  of  the  quo- 
rum, and  all  the  justices  are  now  usually  included  in  the 
list.  The  qualification  of  a  justice  is  to  have  an  estate  of 
£100  a  year  free  of  incumbrance,  or  a  reversion  after  one  or 
more  lives  of  £300  a  year;  but  many  privileged  persons 
may  act  without  qualification  by  estate.  A  justice  intending 
to  act  under  this  commission  sues  out  a  writ  of  dedimus  po- 
testatem  from  the  clerk  of  the  crown  in  chancer)',  and  takes 
certain  usual  oaths. 

The  duties  and  powers  of  a  justice  of  the  peace  are  of 
two  kinds ;  ministerial  and  judicial.  1.  He  acts  in  the  for- 
mer capacity  in  preserving  the  peace  ;  hearing  charges 
against  offenders  ;  examining  the  informant  and  his  witness- 
es; binding  over  the  parties  to  prosecute  or  give  evidence; 
and  committing,  or  admitting  to  bail,  according  to  the  nature 
of  the  offence,  parties  who  are  brought  before  him.  The 
stat.  7  &  8  Geo.  4,  c.  64,  requires  justices  to  take  the  most 
material  part  of  the  evidence  on  examinations  before  them 
in  writing,  to  be  returned  to  the  assizes,  both  in  charges  of 
felony  and  misdemeanor.  2.  An  extensive  jurisdiction,  sum- 
mary and  formal,  is  now  exercised  by  justices  of  the  peace, 
numerous  branches  of  judicature,  both  criminal  and  civil, 
having  been  gradually  confided  to  their  authority,  either  ex- 

627 


JUSTICIARY,  CHIEF. 

ercised  by  them  individually,  or  at  the  petty  sessions  and  gen- 
eral quarter  sessions  of  the  pence.  The  latter  conn,  by  34 
Ed.  3,  lias  jurisdiction  over  all  felonies  and  trespasses  what- 
ever: in  practice,  simple  larcenies  and  many  other  felonies 
and  small  misdemeanors  are  tried  by  a  jury  before  it.  It 
has  also,  by  various  statutes,  jurisdiction  over  several  offen- 
ces relating  to  highways  and  to  game;  it  is  an  appellate 
court  from  many  decisions  of  individual  magistrates;  and  it 
has  one  large  and  exclusive  power  committed  to  its  care  by 
the  legislature,  \>/..,  the  hearing  and  deciding  appeals  from 
orders  of  magistrates  relative  to  the  imposition  of  the  poor's 
rate,  and  to  the  removal  of  paupers  from  one  parish  to  an- 
other in  which  they  are  shown  to  have  a  legal  settlement. 
(See  Settlement.)  Justices  have,  either  singly  or  jointly, 
summary  jurisdiction  in  questions  of  contract  between  cer- 
tain classes  of  masters  and  servants;  in  small  illegal  takings 
of  property,  whether  strictly  personal,  or  in  part  connected 
with  the  freehold,  not  exceeding  j£5  in  value ;  and  in  com- 
mon assaults  and  batteries  not  causing  injury  exceeding  £5 
(in  the  latter  case  two  justices  are  required) ;  and  in  certain 
malicious  injuries  to  property.  The  proceedings  are  in  gen- 
eral on  a  written  charge,  sometimes  termed  a  complaint; 
hut  in  proceedings  for  a  penalty  more  generally  an  informa- 
tion :  on  receiving  which,  the  justice  grants  a  summons  to 
cause  the  appearance  of  the  party  charged.  An  appeal  to 
the  quarter  sessions  from  the  conviction  or  order  of  justices 
is  sustainable  only  where  expressly  given  by  statute ;  and 
the  court  of  session,  on  hearing  the  case,  is  said  either  to 
affirm  or  quash  the  conviction  or  order.  And  the  proceed- 
ings are  farther  removable  in  some  cases  into  the  superior 
courts  by  certiorari. 

Other  summary  remedies  afforded  by  magistrates  are,  in 
cases  of  forcible  entry  and  detainer,  and  some  that  arise  be- 
tween landlord  and  tenant. 

Justices  of  the  peace  are  liable  to  actions  at  the  suit  of 
parties  injured  by  them  wilfully  in  the  exercise  of  their  au- 
thority. But  it  is  provided  by  statute  that  they  shall  have 
notice  of  any  action  commenced  against  them,  and  the  cause 
of  such  action,  one  month  before  the  writ  is  sued  out ;  and 
the  action  must  lie  commenced  within  six  months  after  the 
injury  complained  of.  Persons  recovering  a  verdict  against 
a  justice  for  any  wilful  or  malicious  injury  are  entitled  to 
double  costs.  These  magistrates  are  also  punishable  crimi- 
nally by  indictment  or  information. 

The  police  justices  of  London  and  its  vicinity  are  stipendi- 
ary magistrates,  created  bv  act  of  parliament. 

JUSTICIARY,  CHIEF.  (Lat.  magnus  justiciarius,  or 
capitalis  justiciarius  totius  Anglias.  An  officer  of  high  pow- 
er and  dignity  under  the  Norman  kings  of  England,  who 
presided  over  all  functionaries  in  the  aula  regia,  or  king's 
court,  so  long  as  it  followed  the  person  of  the  king ;  and 
was,  says  Blackstone,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  guardian  of 
the  realm  in  the  king's  absence.  The  formidable  power  of 
the  chief  justiciary  was  curbed  to  some  extent  by  the  pro- 
visions of  the  great  charter,  especially  that  which  fixed  the 
trial  of  common  pleas  at  Westminster;  and  became  alto- 
gether obsolete  when  the  various  branches  of  his  jurisdiction 
were  broken  into  distinct  courts  of  judicature  under  Ed- 
ward I.     (Bl.  Corn.,  in.,  3!>.l 

JUSTI'CIARY,  THE  HIGH  COURT  OF,  IN  SCOT- 
LAND, is  composed  of  five  of  the  Lords  of  Session,  added 
to  the  Justice-Clerk,  the  president  of  the  court.  It  is  the 
supreme  court  of  criminal  justice;  with  the  power  of  advo- 
cating or  suspending  all  sentences  of  inferior  criminal  judges. 
It  has  circuit  courts  twice  a  year;  and  an  additional  circuit 
is  now  held  in  Glasgow  during  the  Christmas  recess  of  the 
Court  of  Session.  The  sinecure  office  of  Lord  Justice- 
General  was  in  1831  merged  in  that  of  the  Lord-President. 
See  Session,  Coi:rt  of. 

JUSTI'CIES.  In  Law,  a  special  writ  empowering  the 
flheriff  of  a  county  to  hold  plea  of  an  action  in  his  court. 
By  means  of  this  writ  all  personal  and  many  real  actions 
mav  be  tried  in  the  county  courts. 

JUSTIFICATION.  I, at.  transl.  of  the  Greek  word  ^i- 
Kai(oot$.)  In  Theology,  men  are  said  to  be  Justified  when 
accounted  just  or  righteous  in  the  sil'IiI  of  Coil,  or  placed  in 
a  state  of  salvation.  Justification  is  used  of  the  state  of 
Christians  in  the  present  life  only;  as  in  Rom.,  v.,  "J,  "Be- 
ing justified  by  his  blood,  we  shall  lir  saved  from  wrath 
through  him."  The  doctrine  of  justification  through  faith 
or  rather  by  faith  (tit  riirrcuK.  Sta  irtortv  for  or  by  rea 
faith)  is  set  out  with  peculiar  distinctness  in  the  whole 
Epistle  to  the  Romans.  According  to  the  eleventh  article 
of  the  Church  of  England,  we  are  justified  "by  faith,  and 
not  of  our  works  or  deservlngs."  The  twelfth  declares, 
that  "although  good  works,  which  are  the  fruits  of  faith. 
and  follow  after  justification,  cannot  put  away  our  sins  and 
endure  the  sevet  iiy  of  God's  judgment,  yet  are  they  pleasing 
and  acceptable  to  God  in  Christ,  and  spring  aeces  arily  out 
of  a  true  and  lively  faith,  insomuch  that  by  them  a  lively 
faith  may  be  as  evidently  known  as  a  tree  is  discerned  by 
the  fruit."    The  first  of  theso  articles  is  chiefly  directed 


KALEIDOSCOPE. 

against  the  Romanist  doctrine  of  meritorious  works;  the 
d,  based  on  the  language  of  Sl  Jiunes,  that  a  "man  is 
justified  by  works,  and  not  by  faith  only"  (c.  ii.,  24),  re- 
gards faith  and  works  as  inseparably  connected,  and  is 
aimed  principally  against  the  doctrine  of  those  who  were 
termed  Antinomians  or  Solifidians.  For  a  summary  of  the 
opinions  generally  embraced  by  the  best  divines  of  the  early 
Church  of  England  on  this  difficult  subject,  see  Hoskin's 
Sermon  on  .Justification;  foi  the  views  of  what  is  called 
the  High  Church  body  of  the  present  day,  Newman's  lec- 
tures on  Justification. 


K.  | 

K,  a  consonant  used  in  most  ancient  and  modem  langua- 
ges. It  is  derived  from  the  Greek  kappa,  or  the  Hebrew 
kiiph.  It  has  the  same  sound  as  C  before  a,  o,  and  u,  and 
hence  it  has  often  been  pronounced  superfluous.  In  Latin, 
K  occurs  only  in  a  few  words,  though  it  was  frequently 
used  in  the  same  language  as  an  abbreviation  for  words  be- 
ginning with  C ;  as  K.T.  for  capite  tonsus,  K.R.C.  for  cara 
civitas,  &c.  &c.  In  the  French  alphabet,  K  is  only  used  in 
words  derived  from  foreign  languages.  As  a  numeral,  it 
was  employed  to  express  250 — 

K  quoque  ducentos  et  quinquiginta  docebit. 

KA'ABA.     Sec  Caaba. 

KA'KOXENE.  (Gr.  kukos,  bad,  and  o\vs,  sharp;  so 
called  probably  from  the  mischief  it  does  to  the  iron.)  A 
mineral  occurring  in  brown  or  red  radiated  crystals  in  the 
ironstone  of  Zbiron  in  Bohemia ;  when  heated  it  emits  a 
green  phosphoric  light.  It  contains  phosphoric  and  fluoric 
acids,  peroxide  of  iron,  and  silica. 

KA'LAND.  (Germ.)  A  lay  fraternity  instituted  in  Ger- 
many in  the  13th  century  for  the  purpose  of  doing  honour  to 
deceased  relatives  and  friends.  The  term  is  probably  de- 
rived from  kalends,  the  first  day  of  any  month,  as  the  mem- 
bers of  this  society  chose  that  day  for  the  observance  of 
their  ceremonies.  These  consisted  originally  of  prayers,  fol- 
lowed by  a  slight  repast,  in  which  all  the  members  partici- 
pated ;  but  in  process  of  time  the  religious  purposes  of  the 
society  became  wholly  merged  in  the  festivities,  so  that  it 
eventually  was  found  necessary  to  abolish  the  fraternity  on 
account  of  its  excesses. 

KALEI'DOSCOPE.  (Gr.  ko\os.  pretty ;  tiSos,  form ;  and 
oKo-ntii),  I  view.)  An  optical  toy  invented  or  revived  by  Sir 
David  Brewster,  which,  by  a  particular  arrangement  of  re- 
flecting surfaces,  presents  to  the  eye  a  series  of  symmetrical 
images  often  remarkable  for  their  beauty. 

The  kaleidoscope  is  formed  by  two  plane  mirrors  or  slips 
of  glass,  from  six  to  ten  inches  in  length,  and  from  an 
inch  to  an  inch  and  a  half  in  breadth  at  the  one  end,  though 
somewhat  narrower  at  the  other,  joined  together  along  the 
edges  lengthwise,  and  inclined  to  each  other  in  an  angle, 
which  must  be  an  even  aliquot  part  (that  is  to  say,  the 
sixth,  eighth,  tenth,  &c.)  of  four  right  angles.  The  edges 
of  the  mirrors  are  kept  in  contact  by  a  strip  of  black  silk 
glued  along  the  back  of  the  plates,  which,  if  formed  of 
glass,  must  be  coated  with  black  varnish  or  sealing  wax,  to 
prevent  reflexion  from  their  posterior  surfaces.  The  mirrors 
being  adjusted  at  the  proper  angle,  are  placed  within  a  tin 
tube,  where  they  are  kept  in  their  proper  position  by  pieces 
of  cork  or  wood  wedged  in  between  them  and  the  tube. 
One  end  of  the  tube  has  a  small  circular  aperture  in  its  cen- 
tre, to  which  the  eye  is  applied ;  in  the  other  end  two  plane 
glasses  are  fixed  parallel  to  each  other,  and  perpendicular 
to  the  axis  of  the  tube,  and  about  an  eighth  of  an  inch  apart. 
Between  these  glasses,  which  form  a  cell,  the  objects  which 
produce  the  images  ate  placed.  Those  which  answer  the 
purpose  best  are  small  fragments  of  coloured  glass,  beads, 
or  other  coloured  diaphanous  matters,  of  such  a  size  that 
when  the  tube  is  turned  round  they  move  freely  within  the 
cell,  and  assume  new  positions.  In  order  that  the  eye  may 
not  be  disturbed  by  objects  without  the  tube,  the  outer  glass 
should  he  slightly  ground,  but  the  inner  must  be  perfectly 
transparent. 

On  applying  the  eye  to  the  aperture  of  the  tube  the  objects 
within  the  cell  at  the  other  end  are  seen  multiplied  by  re- 
peated  reflexions  from  the  two  mirrors,  and  a  succession  of 

symmetrical  Images  presented,  all  arranged  round  a  centre, 
and  combined  Into  a  perfect  whole.  As  the  objects  are 
placed  loosely  in  the  cell,  every  motion  of  the  tube  changes 
their  relative  positions,  whereby  an  entirely  new  Image  is 
produced  ;  and  it  is  this  constant  change  and  endleSB  variety 
of  new  combinations  which  create  the  pleasing  effect 

In  order  to  show  how  this  multiplication  of  the  images  is 
produced,  let  A  C  represent  one  of  the  mirrors,  and  B  C  the 
other,  and  suppose  them  to  make  with  each  other  an  angle 
of  C0°:  let  a  also  be  an  object  placed  between  tin;  planes 
of  the  two  mirrors,  or  one  of  the  diaphanous  bodies  in  the 


KALENDERS. 

cell  between  the  two  parallel  glasses 
at  the  end  of  the  tube.  Now  when  an 
object  is  seen  reflected  from  a  mirror, 
the  image  always  appears  as  far  be- 
hind the  mirror  (in  a  perpendicular 
line)  as  the  object  itself  is  before  it ; 
and,  with  relation  to  a  second  mirror, 
this  image  will  have  all  the  effect  of 
a  real  object.  Let,  therefore,  a  m  and 
a  n  be  drawn  perpendicular  to  A  C  and 
8  C,  and  produced  till  m  a  =  m  a,  and  n  a"  =  n  a;  then  a' 
and  a"  will  be  the  two  first  images  of  the  object  a.  Make 
a'  p  perpendicular  to  B  C,  and  a"  q  to  A  C,  and  let  p  ft'  = 
a'  p,  and  q  ft"  =  a"  q ;  then  will  A  and  b"  be  the  images  of  a 
formed  by  a  second  reflexion.  Again,  draw  ft'  r  perpendicu- 
lar to  A  C,  and  ft"  s  perpendicular  to  B  C,  and  let  r  c'  =  ft'  r 
and  s  c"  =  ft"  s  ;  then  will  c  and  c"  be  the  images  of  a 
formed  by  the  third  reflexion.  But  by  the  geometrical  prop- 
erties of  the  figure  these  two  points  c'  and  c"  coincide,  or  the 
two  images  are  blended  together,  and  the  object  will  be  seen 
in  six  different  places  symmetrically  arranged  in  a  circular 
field  about  the  centre  C.  In  like  manner,  if  A  B  C  had  been 
the  8th  part  of  360°,  the  object  would  appear  in  eight  po- 
sitions, and  so  on;  but  if  the  angle  at  C,  which  is  the  angle 
of  the  mirrors,  be  the  7th  or  9th,  or  any  odd  aliquot  part  of 
360°,  the  images  will  not  coincide,  and  the  symmetrical  ar- 
rangement will  not  be  produced. 

The  kaleidoscope  here  described  was  first  made  known 
by  Sir  David  Brewster,  who  took  out  a  patent  for  it  in  the 
year  1817  ;  but  by  some  means  or  other  its  properties  were 
discovered,  and  it  had  acquired  great  popularity  as  an  agree- 
able toy,  and  was  in  the  hands  of  everybody  before  any 
number  of  the  patent  kaleidoscopes  could  be  prepared  for 
sale.  It  was  also  very  soon  remarked  that  the  discovery 
was  by  no  means  new,  as  an  instrument  on  the  same  prin- 
ciples had  been  described  by  Baptista  Porta  and  Kircher; 
and  also  in  a  work  published  in  England  in  1810,  under  the 
title  of  Neic  Improvements  of  Planting  and  Gardening,  by 
R.  Bradley,  in  which  it  was  recommended  as  useful  for  as- 
sisting to  form  designs  of  garden  plots  and  fortifications.  In 
fact,  the  principle,  so  far  as  the  multiplication  of  images 
and  their  general  arrangement  are  concerned,  had  been  long 
known ;  but  in  order  to  produce  the  symmetry  which  con- 
stitutes the  principal  beauty  of  the  kaleidoscope,  it  is  also 
necessary  that  the  object  and  the  eye  have  certain  positions 
with  respect  to  the  mirrors ;  and  the  discovery  of  this  condi- 
tion seems  to  belong  exclusively  to  Sir  D.  Brewster.  See 
Brewster's  Treatise  on  the  Kaleidoscope ;  Harris's  Treatise 
on  Optics ;  Brewster's  Optics,  Cab.  Cycl. ;  the  Ency.  Brit., 

&.C. 

KA'LENDERS.  (From  an  Arabic  word  signifying  pure 
gold.)  Wandering  dervises.  (See  Lane's  Arabian  Nights' 
Entertainments .) 

KA'LI.  An  Arabic  word,  signifying  the  ashes  left  after 
the  combustion  of  vegetable  substances;  hence  the  word 
alkali.  Potassa  is  frequently  termed  kali,  and  potassium 
kalium.  by  the  German  chemists  ;  hence  they  use  K  as  the 
symbol  for  potassium. 

KA'LMIA.  (From  Kalm,  a  traveller  in  North  America.) 
A  genus  of  beautiful  North  American  plants,  with  a  mo- 
nopetalous  corolla,  which  confines  ten  stamens  by  their  an- 
thers in  the  same  number  of  niches  in  its  sides.  The  flowers 
are  white  or  pink,  and  the  leaves  evergreen;  but  the  plants 
are  said  to  be  deleterious. 

KA'MI.  Spirits  or  divinities,  the  belief  in  which  appears 
to  have  characterized  the  ancient  religion  of  Japan  before  it 
became  intermingled  with  foreign  doctrines,  and  still  consti- 
tutes its  groundwork.  These  spirits  are  partly  elemental, 
subordinate  to  the  gods  of  the  sun  and  moon,  and  partly  the 
spirits  of  men;  but,  in  fact,  every  natural  agent  or  phenom- 
enon has  its  spirit  or  genius.  The  human  spirits  survive  the 
body,  and  receive  happiness  or  punishment  for  the  actions 
of  the  individual  in  life.  Distinguished  benefactors  of  their 
species,  or  men  renowned  for  purity  of  life,  are  deified ;  and 
their  kami  become  objects  of  worship,  like  the  heroes  of  an- 
tiquity. The  number  of  them  is  said  at  present  to  be  above 
3000.  They  are  worshipped  in  temples  in  which  no  images 
are  retained,  each  particular  divinity  being  merely  typified 
by  a  mirror,  the  emblem  of  purity  ;  and  all  the  rites  of  the 
worship  appear  to  be  symbolical  of  purification.  The  priests 
of  these  temples  are  styled  Kami-Nusi,  i.  e.,  ministers  of  the 
spirits.  {Klaproth,  Jlnnals  of  Japan,  1834 ;  Wiener  Jahrbuch 
for  1SJ7.) 

KAMIC'III.  The  name  of  a  Rassorial  or  Gallinaceous 
bird,  remarkable  for  having  its  wings  armed  with  two  strong 
spurs,  and  its  head  with  a  long,  slender,  cylindrical,  ami 
nearly  straight  horn.     See  Palamedea. 

KA'NGAROO.  The  native  name  of  a  large  indigenous 
quadruped  of  New  Holland;  it  belongs  to  a  genus  charac- 
terized by  a  strictly  herbivorous  modification  of  the  marsu- 
pial type  of  the  dental  organs,  and  by  a  remarkably  long  and 
strong  tail  and  hind  legs.    See  Macropus  and  Mar  =a-n alia. 


KARMATHIANS. 

KA'NTIAN  PHILOSOPHY  (known  also  by  the  name 
of  the  Critical  Philosophy.)  A  system  which  owes  its  ex- 
istence to  Immanuel  Kant,  professor  of  logic  and  metaphys- 
ics in  the  university  of  KOnigsberg  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
18th  century.  The  promulgation  of  Kant's  doctrines  forms 
!  a  very  marked  era  in  the  history  of  philosophy.  Our  limits 
will  prevent  us  from  giving  an  explanation  of  this  system  in 
j  any  degree  adequate  to  its  importance.  We  must  confine 
ourselves  to  a  brief  outline  of  its  leading  features.  At  the 
time  when  Kant  commenced  his  metaphysical  labours  the 
;  philosophical  world  was  divided  between  the  sensualism  of 
the  French  followers  of  Locke  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
dogmatic  rationalism  of  the  disciples  of  Wolf  and  Leibnitz 
on  the  other.  The  former,  by  a  species  of  analytical  leger- 
demain, resolved  all  our  mental  powers  into  modifications 
of  sense;  while  the  latter,  in  an  equally  indiscriminating 
spirit,  though  with  far  more  laudable  intentions,  sought  to 
construct  a  system  of  real  truth  out  of  the  abstract  concep- 
ceptions  of  the  understanding.  Against  both  of  these  schools 
Kant  declared  open  warfare.  Withdrawing  himself  from 
all  ontological  speculation,  he  sought,  by  a  stricter  analysis 
of  our  intellectual  powers,  to  ascertain  the  possibility  and  to 
determine  the  limits  of  human  knowledge.  He  divides  the 
speculative  part  of  our  nature  into  three  great  provinces — 
sense,  understanding,  and  reason.  Our  perception  of  the 
outward  world  is  representative  merely :  of  things  as  they 
are  in  themselves  it  affords  us  no  notices.  In  order  to  render 
human  experience  possible,  two  ground-forms,  under  which 
all  sensible  things  are  contemplated,  are  assumed — time  and 
space.  To  these  he  assigns  a  strictly  subjective  reality. 
The  truth  of  the  fundamental  axioms  of  geometry  rests  on 
the  necessity  and  universality  of  our  intuitions  of  space  in 
its  three  dimensions — intuitions  which  are  not  derived  from 
any  one  of  our  senses,  or  from  any  combinations  of  them, 
but  lie  at  the  ground  and  are  the  condition  of  all  sensible 
human  experience.  The  understanding,  or  the  faculty  which 
combines  and  classifies  the  materials  yielded  by  sense,  Kant 
subjects  to  a  similar  analysis.  All  its  operations  are  general- 
ized into  four  fundamental  modes  or  forms  of  conception ; 
which,  after  the  example  of  Aristotle,  he  names  categories. 
(See  Category.)  These  are  four  in  number :  1.  Quantity, 
including  unity,  multeity,  totality ;  2.  Quality,  divided  into 
reality,  negation,  and  limitation;  3.  Relation,  viz.  substance 
and  accident,  cause  and  effect,  action  and  reaction ;  and 
4.  Modality,  also  subdivided  into  possibility,  existence,  and 
necessity.  These  form,  as  it  were,  the  moulds  in  which  the 
rude  material  of  the  senses  is  shaped  into  conceptions,  and 
becomes  knowledge  properly  so  called.  The  categories  in 
themselves  are  the  subject-matter  of  logic,  which  is  so  far 
forth  a  pure  science,  determinable  A  priori.  The  third  and 
highest  faculty,  the  reason,  consists  in  the  power  of  forming 
ideas — pure  forms  of  intelligence,  to  which  the  sensible 
world  has  no  adequate  correspondents.  Out  of  these  ideas 
no  science  can  be  formed  ;  they  are  to  be  regarded  as  regu- 
lative only,  not  as  constitutive.  The  existence  of  God,  im- 
mortality, freedom,  are  the  objects  after  which  the  reason 
is  perpetually  striving,  but  concerning  which  it  can  decide 
nothing  either  one  way  or  the  other.  Thus  far  Kant's  sys- 
tem may  be  regarded  as  one  of  pure  skepticism.  The  de- 
ficiencies of  our  speculative  reason  he  conceives  to  be  sup- 
plied by  the  moral  faculty,  to  which  he  has  given  the  name 
of  practical  reason,  the  object  of  which  is  to  determine,  not 
what  is,  but  what  onaht  to  he.  As  the  former  determines  the 
form  of  our  knowledge,  so  the  latter  prescribes  the  form  of  our 
action.  Obligation  is  not  a  mere  feeling ;  it  has  a  pure  form  un- 
der which  the  reason  is  compelled  to  regard  human  conduct. 
The  personality  of  man,  which  lies  at  the  ground  of  specu- 
lative knowledge  becomes,  in  relation  to  action,  freedom  of 
the  will.  It  is  in  our  moral  nature  that  we  must  seek  for 
the  only  valid  foundation  of  the  belief  in  God,  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul,  and  a  future  state  in  which  the  demands 
of  the  practical  reason  shall  be  realized.  (See  Eavt's  Phi- 
losophical Works  ;  Kritik  dcr  Rcinen  Vernnnft :  Kritik  der 
Practischen  Vernnnft,  &c.) 

KA'OLIN.  The  Chinese  name  for  porcelain  clay.  A 
large  tract  of  this  useful  substance  occurs  near  St.  Austin 
in  Cornwall,  whence  our  potteries  and  porcelain  manufacto- 
ries are  copiously  supplied.  Its  essential  component  parts 
are  silica  and  alumina;  the  former  usually  preponderates. 
The  kaolin  of  Cornwall,  and  probably  of  other  countries, 
is  derived  from  the  decomposition  of  the  felspar  of  granitie 
rocks. 

KA'RA.  A  Tartar  word,  signifying  black,  used  in  many 
of  the  Eastern  languages  as  a  prefix  to  geographical  names; 
as  Kriramania,  the  country  of  the  black  people.  It  has  also 
been  employed  in  the  same  capacity  to  signify  "tributary;" 
as  kara  kalpacks,  tributary  kaJpacks. 

KARMA'THIANS,  or  KARMATIANS.  A  Mohamme- 
dan sect  which  arose  in  Irak  during  the  9th  century  of  the 
Christian  era.  It  derived  its  name  from  Karmata,  its  foun- 
der, a  poor  labourer,  who  assumed  the  rank  of  a  prophet. 
They  maintained  bloody  ware  with  the  caliphs  for  nearly  a 


KARPHOLITE. 

eentury.  (.Taylor.  Hist,  of  Mohammedanism,  p.  203;  Secret 
Societies  of  the  Middle  .Iges,  Lib.  Knt.  Kn.  1837.1 

KAUPHOLITE.  (Gr.  Kap<pw,  I  dry  or  shrivel.)  A  min- 
eral w  Inch  ocean  in  stellated  crystals  of  a  yellowish  colour 
and  silky  lustre:  it  is  a  hydrated  silicate  of  alumina  and 
niangai 

K  '  lil'lHK-MlH'.'RITE.  A  mineralogical  name  of  the 
hydrntcil  phosphate  of  iron  of  Labrador. 

KEEL.  (Probably  from  the  Gr.  koi\os,  hollow.)  The 
principal  piece  Of  limber  of  B  ship,  usually  fust  laid  on  the 
blocks  in  building.  If  we  compare  the  body  of  a  stop  to 
the  human  skeleton,  the  keel  seems  to  resemble  the  back 
bone,  and  the  timbers  the  ribs.  It  is  generally  composed 
of  several  thick  pieces  of  wood  placed  lengthways,  which 
after  being  scarfed  together,  arc  bolted  and  clenched  upon 
the  upper  side.  Keelage  signifies  the  duty  paid  by  a  ship  on 
coming  into  port. 

Keel.  In  Botany,  a  name  applied  in  a  figurative  sense 
to  the  two  lowest  petals  of  a  Papilionaceous  corolla,  which, 
together,  have  some  resemblance  to  the  keel  of  a  boat. 

KEEL-HAULING.  A  nautical  punishment  practised 
chiefly  in  the  Dutch  navy,  by  which  the  culprit  is  let  down 
on  one  side  of  the  ship,  "and  alter  passing  under  the  keel  Is 
hauled  up  on  the  other.  The  punishment  was  formerly  not 
altogether  unknown  in  the  British  navy;  but  it  is  not  now 
resorted  to. 

KEE'LING.  A  name  for  the  common  cod  (Moorhua 
vulgaris,  Cuv.).     See  Morrhua.  and  Gaous. 

KEEP.  (Anglo-Sax.  kepan.)  Applied  in  ancient  Mili- 
tary History  to  the  Stronghold  of  a  castle,  to  which  in  cases 
of  emergency  the  besieged  inmates  retreated,  and  there  made 
their  last  efforts  of  defence.  It  is  almost  synonymous  with 
donjon  (which  see). 

KEE'PER  OF  THE  GREAT  SEAL,  LORD,  or  LORD 
KEEPER.  An  officer  of  hilh  dignity  in  the  Enilish  consti- 
tution, whose  office  is  created  by  the  delivery  of  the  king's 
great  seal  into  his  custody.  He  is  prolocutor  or  speaker  of 
the  House  of  Lords  by  prescription.  By  5  Eliz.,  c.  18,  the 
offices  of  lord  chancellor  and  lord  keeper  are  declared  to  be 
of  exactly  the  same  authority ;  and  when  there  is  no  chan- 
cellor the  great  seal  is  ordinarily  put  in  commission.  (See 
Chancellor,  Seal.  Bl.  Com.,  hi.  47.)  The  keeper  of"  the 
privv  seal  is  styled  lord  privy  seal. 

KEEPING.  (Ang.  Sax. 'kepan,  to  keep.)  In  Painting, 
the  management  of  the  lights,  shadows,  colours,  and  aerial 
tints  in  such  subordination  to  each  other,  that  each  object 
may  seem  to  stand  rightly  in  the  place  that  the  linear  per- 
spective has  assigned  to  it.  Objects  in  the  nearer  parts  or 
foreground  of  a  picture  will  necessarily  receive  the  Strongest 
lights  and  shadows:  and  as  more  air  is  interiwsed  in  nature 
between  the  eye  and  the  objects  as  they  become  more  dis- 
tant, so  in  the  representations  of  them  the  colours  must  be 
less  brilliant  as  they  recede  from  the  eye  towards  the  dis- 
tance wherein  they  are  lost.  This  word  must  not  be  con- 
founded with  the  term  effect,  though  effect  is  doubtless  the 
result  of  keeping  in  a  picture,  that  word  being  more  pecu- 
liarly applicable  to  the  sensation  produced  by  the  combina- 
tion of  accidental  circumstances  in  the  disposition  of  light 
and  shade. 

KELP.  A  common  term  for  sea  weed  or  vraic,  which 
consists  of  different  species  of  Fucus  (Lin.).  In  a  strut 
sense,  the  term  kelp  is  confined  to  the  produce  of  sea  weeds 
when  burned,  which  consists  of  alkaline  ashes  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  class  and  soap.  It  has  been  recently  found, 
however,  that  the  alkali  required  for  these  purposes  ran  be 
obtained  more  abundantly  from  sea-salt,  and  kelp  is  at 
present  chiefly  used  as  a  manure.  For  this  purpose  it  is 
eagerly  Bought  after  by  all  farmers  on  the  sea  coast,  and  es- 
pecially by  those  who  have  dry  soils,  the  salt  contained  in 
the  kelp  beini  a  powerful  absorbent  of  moisture  from  the 
atmosphere.  It  has  lately  acquired  much  importance  as  a 
Bource  of  iodine. 

KE'NNEL.  Applied  literally  to  the  house  in  which  a 
pack  of  hounds  is  lodged,  but  used  metaphorically  also  for 
the  pack  itself.  It  signifies  also  the  spot  to  which  the  fox  after 
his  nocturnal  depredations  retires  about  the  dawn  of  day. 
Hence,  on  being  found  by  the  hounds  in  drawing  cover,  he 
is  said  to  be  unkennelled. 

KKTI.EU'S   LAWS,  in  Astronomy,  are  the  laws  of  the 

planetary  motions,  first  di-r. .vend  and  demonstrated  by 

Kepler,  and  which  form  the  basis  of  the  whole  theory  of 
gravitation  and  physical  astronomy.  They  are  three:  1. 
That  the  planets  describe  ellipses,  each  of  which  has  one  of 
its  foci  in  the  same  point,  namely,  the  centre  of  the  sun. 
2.  That  every  planet  moves  so  that  the  line  drawn  from  it 
to  the  sun  describes  about  ih"  sun  areas  proportional  to  the 

times.  ;).  That  the  squares  of  the  times  of  the  revolutions 
of  the  planets  are  as  the  cubes  of  their  mean  distal  ces  from 
the  sun.  These  three  laws  or  general  facts  were  discover- 
ed by  Kepler  from  a  comparison  of  astronomical  observa- 
tions; and  though  it  was  by  means  of  them  that  Newton  es 
tabUshed  the  more  general  law  of  attraction  inversely  as  the 
630 


KERATONYXIS. 

square  of  the  distance,  they  are  themselves  direct  conse 
quences  of  that  hypothesis.  The  first  law,  that  of  the  ellip- 
tic motion  of  the  planets,  was  announced  by  Kepler  in  his 
famous  work,  Physica  Calcstis  tradita  (vmmentariis  dc 
Motibus  Stella:  Mortis,  1609.  Kepler  having  computed  from 
the  observations  of  Tycho  Brahe  the  distance  of  Mars  from 
the  sun  at  different  points  of  his  orbit,  found  that  the  orbit 
was  not  circular,  as  had  always  been  supposed  by  astrono- 
mers till  then,  but  elliptical ;  and  that  the  sun  occupies  one 
of  the  foci  of  the  ellipse.  He  afterwards  discovered  the 
same  tiling  to  be  true  of  the  earth's  orbit ;  and  thence  ex- 
tended it  by  antilogy  to  till  the  other  planets.  Newton  dem 
onstrated  in  the  I'rincipia  that  if  a  body  projected  in  space 
is  acted  upon  by  a  central  force  varying  inversely  as  the 
square  of  the  distance,  the  body  will  necessarily  describe 
one  of  the  three  conic  sections;  but  whether  the  orbit  will 
be  an  ellipse,  an  hyperbola,  or  a  parabola,  depends  on  tile 
intensity  of  the  force  with  which  it  is  projected. 

Kepler  was  led  to  the  discovery  of  his  second  law  by  a 
comparison  of  the  sectors  formed  by  two  contiguous  radii 
oectores  and  the  angles  included  between  them.  The  data 
which  he  assumed  were  not  rigorously  exact;  but  Newton 
afterwards  demonstrated  from  the  theory  of  dynamics  that 
the  fact  is  necessarily  true  of  all  motions  regulated  by  a 
central  force,  whatever  the  law  of  that  force  maybe. 

The  history  of  the  discovery  of  the  third  law  is  remarka- 
ble, and  detailed  by  Kepler  himself  in  his  Harmoniccs  Mun- 
di.  lib.  v.  He  had  long  been  persuaded  that  some  numeri- 
cal relation  must  exist  between  the  periodic  times  of  the 
planets  and  their  distances  from  the  sun.  In  order  to  dis- 
cover this  relation  he  tried  successively  numerous  hypothe- 
ses, each  of  which  involved  a  mass  of  tedious  calculation. 
He  began  by  comparinsr  the  intervals  between  the  planetary 
orbits  with  the  five  regular  solids;  and  having  failed  in  this 
speculation  as  well  as  various  others,  he  at  length  thought 
of  comparing  the  different  roots  and  powers  of  the  periods 
and  distances.  After  many  attempts  and  failures,  he  at 
last  perceived  the  analogy  of  which  he  had  been  so  long  in 
search. 

"  Sera  quMem  respexit  inertem, 
Respeiit  tamen  et  longo  post  tempore  ventt," 

he  exclaims ;  and  in  the  fulness  of  his  delight  he  has  re- 
corded the  year  and  day  on  which  the  discovery  wns  made. 
It  was  the  15th  of  May,  1018;  and,  as  Professor  Play  fair 
has  remarked,  "perhaps  philosophers  will  agree  that  there 
are  few  days  in  the  scientific  history  of  the  world  which  de- 
serve so  well  to  he  remembered."  (Dissertation,  Kncy. 
Brit.    Hoe  Kepler's  ttarmonices  Mundi,  p.  189.) 

KE'PLER'S  PROBLEM.  The  discovery  made  by  Ke- 
pler, that  the  planetary  orbits  are  ellipses  having  the  sun  in 
the  focus  which  is  common  to  each  ellipse,  and  that  the 
line  which  joins  the  centres  of  the  sun  and  a  planet  passes 
over  equal  areas  in  equal  times,  made  it  necessary  to  solve 
a  problem  which  transcended  the  geometry  of  that  time: 
Supposing  the  semitransverse  axis  of  a  planet's  orbit  to  be 
represented  by  1,  and  the  eccentricity  by  c ;  also  the  mean 
anomaly  at  any  given  instant  of  time  by  2,  and  the  eccen- 
tric anomaly  by  x,  both  being  reckoned  from  the  perihelion. 
Kepler  found  the  relation  between  the  angles  x  and  2  to  be 
expressed  by  the  equation  z=z —  c  sin.  x.  When  7.  is 
given,  2  is  easily  found  from  the  triconometrical  tables; 
but  there  is  no  direct  way,  unless  by  infinite  series,  of  find- 
ing x  when  2  is  given,  which  is  the  case  that  occurs  in  as- 
tronomy. The  determination  of  x  in  terms  of  z  constitutes 
what  is  called  Kepler's  Problem.  Solutions  of  this  import- 
ant problem  are  to  be  found  in  most  works  on  astronomy. 
They  are  generally  tentative,  depending  on  a  combination 
of  geometrical  and  trigonometrical  principles;  but  two  very 
elegant  ones,  purely  analytical,  are  given  by  Professor 
Wallace,  in  the  Memoirs  of  the.  Royal  Jlstronomical  So- 
ciety,  vol.  ix.,  p.  185.  The  first  of  these  solutions  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

1.  Find  x',  a  first  approximation  to  the  eccentric  anomaly 
x,  by  this  formula, 

tan.  (x  —  &  2)  =  r-1— ;  tan.  J z. 


1  —  e 


2.  Find  7/  such  that 


1-f-e 
tan.  (£z'  +  y)=,  —  tan.  Jr'. 
1  —  e 

3.  Find  c,  a  correction  of  x',  so  that 

sin.  »/     sin.  1"      , 

sin.  (y  —  c)  =  - — —  . ( x 

sin.  x  e 


•*)• 


(Here  r'  —  1  must  be  expressed  in  seconds  of  a  decree.) 
•I.  Then  the  eccentric  anomaly,  x  =  x'  +  c.     The  compu 

tation  of  the  eccentric  anomaly  by  this  method  is  extremely 

simple. 

KK'RATONY'XIS.     (Gr.  Ktpif.  a  horn,  it(ij,  punetvrr.) 

A  tei  m  applied  by  the  German  surgeons  to  tho  operation  of 


KERICHETIB. 

couching,  performed  by  introducing  a  needle  through  the 
cornea  01  horny  coat  of  the  eye,  and  depressing  or  breaking 
the  opaque  lens. 

KERICHETIB.  (Heb.)  In  Philology,  the  name  given 
to  various  readings  in  the  Hebrew  Bible.  Keri  signifies  that 
■which  is  read,  andChetib  that  which  is  written.  When  any 
such  various  readings  occur,  the  false  reading  or  chetib  is 
written  in  the  text,  and  the  true  reading  or  ken  is  written  in 
the  margin,  with  n  under  it.    These  corrections,  which  are 

about  1000  in  number,  have  been  generally  attributed  to 
Ezra;  but  as  several  Keri-chetibs  are  found  in  the  sacred 
books  the  produce  of  his  own  pen,  it  is  more  probable  that 
they  are  of  later  date.  (See  Dr.  KennicoWs  Dissertatio 
Generalis.) 

KE'RMES.  (Arab,  little  worm.)  An  insect  found  in 
many  parts  of  Asia  and  the  south  of  Europe ;  the  Coccus 
ilicis  of  LinnEeus.  They  were  long  taken  for  the  seeds  of 
the  tree  on  which  they  live,  and  hence  called  grains  of 
kermes.  They  are  used  as  a  red  and  scarlet  dye,  but  very 
inferior  to  cochineal.  Previously  to  the  introduction  of 
cochineal,  by  which  it  is  now  nearly  wholly  superseded, 
kermes  had  been  the  most  esteemed  drug  for  dyeing  scarlet 
from  a  remote  period  of  antiquity.  Cloths  dyed  with  ker- 
mes are  of  a  deep  red  colour ;  and  though  much  inferior  in 
brilliancy  to  the  scarlet  cloths  dyed  with  real  Mexican  cochi- 
neal, they  retain  the  colour  better  and  are  less  liable  to  stain. 
The  tapestries  of  Brussels  and  other  parts  of  Flanders, 
which  have  scarcely  lost  anything  of  their  original  brillian- 
cy, even  after  a  lapse  of  200  years,  were  all  dyed  with  ker- 
mes. (See  Beckmann's  History  of  Inventions  ;  and  Ban- 
croft's Permanent  Colours.) 

KE'RMES  MINERAL.  A  name  given  by  the  old  che- 
mists to  the  hydrosulphuret  of  antimony,  in  consequence  of 
its  reddish  colour. 

KE'RODON.    (Gr.  kcoD,  a  heart,  oSovc,  a  tooth.)    A  genus 

4  •  4 
of  Herbivorous  Rodents,  characterized  by  - — -  molar  teeth, 

4  •  4 
each  composed  of  two  equal  parts,  of  which  the  transverse 
section  presents  a  cordiform  or  heart-shaped  figure ;  the  two 
parts  are  united  on  the  external  side  in  the  upper,  and  on  the 
internal  side  in  the  lower  jaw.  The  incisors  are  two  in 
number  in  both  jaws,  and  present  the  form  common  to  the 
Cavies,  to  which  family  the  present  genus  belongs.  The 
species  are  small,  scarcely  equalling  in  size  the  Guinea-pig. 
They  are  peculiar,  with  the  other  Cavies,  to  the  South 
American  continent. 

KE'RSEY.  (Probably  a  corruption  of  Jersey,  whence  it 
originally  came.)  A  kind  of  coarse  cloth,  usually  ribbed, 
and  woven  from  long  wool.  It  is  chiefly  manufactured  in 
the  North  of  England.  Kerseymere,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a 
thin  stuff,  generally  woven  plain  from  the  finest  wools ;  and 
hence  it  has  been  inferred  that  these  two  terms,  whose 
meaning  is  so  distinct,  cannot  be  referred  to  the  same  origin. 
Kerseymere  is  said  to  have  derived  its  appellation  from 
Cashmir,  a  country  which  produces  the  finest  wool,  and  is 
consequently  most  celebrated  for  the  works  of  its  looms. 
In  England  it  is  principally  manufactured  in  the  Western 
district. 

KETCH.  (Ital.  caicchio.)  An  old  English  term  applied 
to  a  vessel  equipped  with  two  masts,  and  from  100  to  250 
tons  burden.  It  was  nearly  synonymous  with  the  modern 
term  yacht,  being  used  chiefly  by  ambassadors  or  other  dis- 
tinguished personages  in  voyages  from  one  place  to  another, 
and  was  furnished  with  all  the  apparatus  necessary  for  de- 
fence or  aggression. 

KE'TCHUP.  The  juice  which  exudes  from  salted  mush- 
rooms. 

KEU'PER.  A  term  applied  by  the  German  geologists  to 
the  upper  portion  of  the  new,  red  sandstone  formation. 

KEY.  (Sax.  cEeze.)  In  Architecture,  a  piece  of  wood  let 
into  the  back  of  another  in  the  contrary  direction  of  the  grain, 
to  preserve  the  last  free  of  warping. 

KEY,  or  KEY  NOTE.  In  Music,  the  principal  or  funda- 
mental note  in  a  composition,  on  which  frequent  closes  or 
cadences  are  made.  It  is  that  in  which  the  piece  begins 
and  usually  ends,  and  is,  as  it  were,  the  musical  subject  to 
which  regard  must  be  had  in  all  the  other  combinations  of 
sounds  in  the  composition,  and  under  whose  influence  they 
are. 

KEY-BOARD.  In  Music,  the  series  of  levers  in  a  keyed 
instrument,  as  a  piano-forte,  organ,  or  harpsichord,  upon 
which  the  fingers  press  to  produce  percussion  of  the  strings, 
or  in  the  organ  the  opening  of  valves.  It  consists  of  short 
Mack  and  long  white  keys. 

KEYSTONE.  The  middle  voussoir  in  the  arch  of  a 
bridge,  or  the  archstone  in  the  crown  or  immediately  over 
the  centre  of  the  arch.  The  length  of  the  keystone,  or  thick- 
ness of  the  archivolt  at  top,  is  allowed  to  be  about  l-15th  or 
l-16th  of  the  span  bv  the  best  architects. 

KHALIFF.     SeeCvLiPH. 

KHAN.    In  Persia,  properly  speaking,  the  title  of  an  offi- 


KING. 

cer  or  governor,  added  after  his  name.  The  sovereigns  of 
many  independent  states  of  northern  Asia  are  styled  Khans. 
Khan  is  frequently  used  by  our  own  countrymen  to  signify 
an  Eastern  caravansera  (which  see) ;  in  which  travellers 
find  a  gratuitous  lodging,  provided  their  stay  be  limited  to  a 
single  night. 

KHOH.  A  Persian  word  signifying  bald,  and  used  as  a 
prefix  in  many  geographical  terms.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  the  name  Caucasus  has  been  derived  from  Khoh  Kasp, 
or  bald  mountain;  i.  e.,  having  the  summit  without  vegeta- 
tion. But  be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  singular  enough  that  the 
same  metaphorical  expression  has  been  introduced  into  two 
modem  languages,  the  French  and  the  German  ;  in  the  for- 
mer of  which  is  found  Chaumont,  and  in  the  latter  Kohlen- 
berg, both  indicative  of  a  mountain  bald,  or  without  vegeta- 
tion. 

KHO'TBAH  (Arab.),  denotes  a  peculiar  form  of  prayer, 
used  in  Mohammedan  countries  at  the  commencement  of 
public  worship  in  the  great  mosques  on  Friday  at  noon.  It 
was  originally  performed  by  the  Prophet  himself,  and  by  his 
successors  till  the  time  of  Mohammed  VIII.  ( A.D.  936),  who 
appointed  special  ministers  for  the  purpose,  on  which  foot- 
ing it  has  continued  to  the  present  time.  The  khotbah  is 
chiefly  a  "  confession  of  faith,"  and  a  general  petition  for 
success  to  the  Mohammedan  religion.  It  is  divided  into 
two  distinct  parts,  between  which  the  officiating  khatib  or 
priest  makes  a  considerable  pause,  and  is  regarded  by  the 
Mussulmans  as  the  most  solemn  and  important  part  of  their 
worship.  The  insertion  of  his  name  in  this  prayer  has  al- 
ways been  considered  one  of  the  chief  prerogatives  of  the 
sultan  of  Turkey. 

KIDNA'PPING.  In  Law,  the  forcible  abduction  of  any 
one  from  his  own  country  into  another.  It  is  an  offence  at 
common  law.  By  the  11  and  12  W.  3,  c.  7,  penalties  were 
denounced  against  masters  of  vessels  having  aboard  persons 
who  had  been  kidnapped  against  their  will,  which  was  prob- 
ably occasioned  by  the  practice,  not  uncommon  in  those 
days,  of  carrying  away  by  force  or  fraud  labouring  persons 
to  serve  in  the  plantations  in  America.  This  clause  is  re- 
pealed by  9  G.  4,  c.  31,  by  which  masters  of  vessels  are  made 
punishable  for  leaving  abroad  any  of  their  men  against  their 
will,  or  refusing  to  take  them  back  if  in  a  condition  to  return. 
The  stealing  of  children  away  from  persons  having  the  law- 
ful custody  of  them  (popularly  termed  kidnapping)  is  felony 
under  the  same  statute. 

KI'DNEYS.  The  organs  in  which  the  urine  is  secreted : 
there  is  one  on  each  side  in  the  loins,  near  the  first  lumbar 
vertebra,  and  behind  the  peritoneum.  The  pelvis  of  the 
kidney  terminates  in  the  ureter,  and  is,  divided  into  several 
portions  called  calyces,  into  each  of  which  a  papilla  pro- 
jects, through  the  minute  orifices  of  which  the  secreted  urine 
passes  into  the  cavity  called  the  pelvis,  and  thence  by  the 
ureter  into  the  bladder. 

KI'LLAS.  A  provincial  term,  applied  to  the  clay-slate 
rocks  of  Cornwall. 

KI'LLINITE.  A  mineral,  sometimes  described  as  a  va- 
riety of  spodumene,  from  Killiney,  near  Dublin.  It  is  a  hy- 
d rated  silicate  of  alumina,  containing  potash  and  oxyde  of 
iron. 

KILN.  A  term  applied  to  various  furnaces  and  stoves: 
as  brick  and  lime  kilns,  and  hop  and  malt  kilns.  (See  those 
articles.) 

KI'LOGRAM.  A  French  measure  of  weight,  equal  to  2 
lbs.  3  oz.  5  drs.  avoirdupois. 

KILT.  A  loose  dress,  extending  from  the  belly  to  the 
knee  in  the  form  of  a  petticoat;  worn  in  the  Highlands  by 
men,  and  by  children  in  the  Lowlands.  The  term  is,  ac- 
cording to  Jnmieson,  unquestionably  Gothic.  The  High- 
landers designate  the  kilt  as  the  filibeg.  This  singular  na- 
tional dress  is  fast  hastening  into  disuse  ;  and  but  for  a  few 
Highland  regiments  in  which  it  is  still  maintained,  it  would 
probably  long  ere  now  have  been  universally  superseded  by 
the  dress  of  the  Lowlanders. 

KING.  A  title  of  dignity  in  the  languages,  extinct  and 
living,  of  the  Gothic  and  Teutonic  races.  The  term  has 
long  been  considered  of  uncertain  origin ;  but  there  can  be 
little  doubt  that  it  is  derived  from  the  German  word  kiinnen, 
to  be  able,  thus  in  the  very  threshold  giving  an  idea  of  supe- 
rior power  or  ability.  In  its  primary  acceptation  it  denotes 
a  person  in  whom  is  vested  the  chief  executive  authority ; 
but  it  is  susceptible  of  as  great  a  variety  of  shades  of  mean- 
ing as  there  are  states  or  nations  to  be  governed.  Thus  it  is 
applied  equally  to  the  limited  sovereign  of  England  and  the 
absolute  sovereign  of  Prussia ;  to  the  chief  magistrate  of  Po- 
land in  former  times,  who  was  elected,  and  to  that  of  Eng- 
land, who  succeeds  by  hereditary  right;  to  the  head  of  a 
savage  tribe  or  barbarous  horde,  as  well  as  to  that  of  the 
most  refined  and  civilized  nation.  It  is  expressed  in  Greek 
by  the  word  Basileus,  and  in  Latin  and  its  cognate  languages 
by  Rex ;  but  all  the  nations  of  Europe  have  adopted  into 
their  respective  languages  the  equivalent  terms  in  use  among 
the  people  with  whom  they  carry  on  intercourse.    Thus  we 

631 


KING-AT-ARMS. 

speak  of  the  Shah  of  Persia,  the  Grand  Sultan,  the  Pasha  of 
Egypt,  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  &c. 

In  couiitrii ts  where  the  kingly  office  is  hereditary,  bi  me 
form  baa  always  been  gone  through  on  the  accession  of  a 
new  kin<r.  in  winch  there  is  a  recognition  on  the  part  of  the 
people  of  bis  right :  a  claim  from  them  that  he  should  pledge 
himself  to  the  performance  of  certain  duties ;  and  generally 
a  religious  ceremony  performed,  in  which  anoiniinii  him  with 
oil,  by  which  a  certain  sacrednees  is  thrown  around  his  per- 
son, and  placing  a  crown  upon  his  bead  as  a  symbol  of  su- 
premacy, are  conspicuous  acts.  {Penny  <  )fclop.)  The  whole 
solemnity  is  styled  the  coronation.  Iu  modern  Europe  the 
Pope  and  the  Emperor  of  Germany  assumed  as  a  joint  pre- 
rogative the  riirlit  of  conferring  the  dignity  of  kin;:.  Frederic 
I.  of  Prussia  was  the  first  sovereign  who  assumed  the  title, 
and  had  it  acknowledged  by  the  other  states  of  Europe 
without  their  authorization. 

King.  The  sacred  books  of  the  Chinese,  containing  at 
once  the  principles  of  their  domestic  and  public  morality 
and  the  foundation  of  their  historical  traditions.  According 
to  a  learned  dissertation  by  M.  Frerct  in  vol.  xv.  of  the  Me- 
moires  dc  Cslc.  its  Inscr.  ct  Belief  Lettres,  the  original  books 
known  properly  under  this  title  are  only  four  in  number ;  but 
those  commonly  so  designated  amount  to  thirteen,  which  are 
published  together.  The  first  four  contain  the  writings  of 
Confucius.  (See,  also,  vols,  xxxvi.,  xxxviii ;  and  Ersch  and 
Grubcrs  Encyclopedia.) 

KING-AT-ARMS.  An  officer  of  great  antiquity,  and  for- 
merly of  great  authority,  whose  business  is  to  preside  over 
the  chapters,  and  to  direct  the  proceedings  of  heralds.  The 
origin  of  this  office  is  involved  in  obscurity.  There  are  three 
kings-at-arms  in  England — Garter,  Clarencieux,  and  Norroy ; 
the  first  of  whom  is  styled  principal  king-at-arms,  and  the 
two  latter  provincial  kings,  because  their  duties  are  confined 
to  the  provinces.  The  name  Clarencieux  is  said  to  be  deri- 
ved from  Clarence,  brother  of  Henry  V.,  first  king-at-arms 
for  the  south  of  England ;  that  of  Norroy  (Norman  French 
for  northern  king)  is  self  explanatory.  There  is  also  a  Lyon 
king-at-arms  for  Scotland,  as  well  as  an  lister  king-at-arms 
for  Ireland,  whose  duties  are  nearly  analogous  to  those  of 
England.     (See  Noble's  History  of  the  College  of  *1rms.) 

KING.  Tin..  I  ii'  ENGLAND,  exercises  the  supreme  ex- 
ecutive power,  together  with  a  share  in  the  legislative  au- 
thority jointly  with  the  two  Houses  of  Parliament.  (For  his 
legislative  functions,  see  Parliament.)  The  right  to  the 
throne  of  England  (now  extended  to  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land) is  hereditary,  subject  to  the  authority  of  parliament  to 
limit  the  succession.  This  was  last  done  by  the  stat.  12  & 
13  W.  3.  when  it  was  fixed  in  the  heirs  of  the  electress  So- 
phia of  Hanover,  being  Protestants.  The  duties  of  the  king, 
according  to  the  constitution,  are  unbodied  in  the  coronation 
oath  fixed  by  stat.  1  W.  &  M.  Incidental  prerogatives  are 
legal  exceptions  in  favour  of  the  crown  where  its  claims 
clash  with  those  of  a  subject ;  relating  to  such  matters  as 
descents  of  land,  debts,  &c.  The  direct  prerogatives  of  the 
crown  are  those  which  attach  to  his  person  in  respect  of  his 
political  authority :  such  as  the  sanctity  of  his  person  ;  his 
prerogatives  as  head  of  the  executive ;  the  power  of  making 
war  and  peace  ;  treaties  with  foreign  powers ;  military  and 
naval  command ;  the  supreme  dispensation  of  justice  through 
his  courts ;  the  power  of  erecting  and  disposing  of  offices  and 
honours;  the  power  of  issuing  proclamations  binding  on  the 
subject  in  certain  cases,  with  the  advice  of  his  privy  coun- 
cil; and,  lastly,  the  supreme  government  of  the  National 
Church.  The  king's  revenue  is  of  two  sorts,  ordinary  and 
extraordinary.  The  ordinary  revenue  or  patrimony  is  such 
a9  either  has  subsisted  in  the  crown  time  out  of  mind,  or  has 
been  granted  by  parliament  in  exchange  for  such.  (See  I  i\ 
il  List.)  The  extraordinary  revenue  consists  of  the  sup- 
plies annually  granted  by  parliament.  See  Parliament, 
Prerogative. 

KING  CRAB.     ,s>f  Limcli. 

KING  FISH.  A  name  sometimes  applied  to  the  opah 
(Lampris  guttatus,  Betz.). 

KING  I'i  1ST.  In  Architecture,  the  middle  post  of  an  as- 
semblage of  trussed  framing  for  supporting,  or,  rather,  sus- 
pending, the  tie  beam  at  the  middle  and  the  lower  ends  of 
the  struts. 

KING'S  BENCH.  COtJBT  OF,  in  Law.  originated  in  the 
ancient  Aula  Begia,  in  which  the  king  was  accustomed  (as 
he  BtjU  is  supposed  in  the  Kirm's  Bench  by  fiction  of 
sit  in  jterson,  and  which  followed  him  in  all  his  progress!  B. 
The  judges  of  the  court  of  King's  Bench,  as  will  as  of  the 
other  superior  courts,  formerly  varied  in  number  according 
to  the  royal  discretion.  At  a  later  period  the] 
to  four;  now  increased,  by  stat.  l  \V.  I.  <•.  70,  to  live — the 
chief-justice,  who  is  the  highest  common  law  judge,  and  four 
puisne  or  younrri  r  Judges,    The  court  of  King's  Bench,  i»- 

sides  those  brandies  of  its  jurisdiction  which  it  has  in  com 
mon  with  the  other  two  superior  common  law  courts  (see 
Courts,  Superior),  has  also  peculiar  authority,  or  presents 
more  advantages  in  some  particular  proceedings. 
632 


KIT-CAT  CLUB. 

It  is  the  preferable  although  not  the  only  tribunal  for  dis- 
charging prisoners  under  the  Habeas  Corpus  Acts.  It  has 
control  over  all  inferior  courts  by  means  of  the  process  called 
certiorari,  which  is  a  writ  sued  out  of  this  court,  by  virtue 
of  which  proceedings  may  be  removed  into  it  out  of  such 
inferior  jurisdiction  whether  in  criminal  or  civil  cases.  It 
lias  also  an  exclusive  authority  (except  in  a  few  cas> 
compel  all  inferior  courts  and  officers,  and,  in  some  instan- 
ces, private  persons,  to  perform  acts  of  a  public  nature,  and 
connected  with  a  public  duty.  By  means  of  a  prohibition  it 
can  restrain  all  other  courts  from  proceeding,  where  they 
exceed  or  misuse  their  jurisdiction :  this  i  writ 

directed  to  the  judge  and  the  plaintiff  in  the  inferior  court 
A  writ  of  error  in  law  from  ail  inf,  rmr  courts  is,  with  cer- 
tain exceptions,  returnable  in  the  King's  Bench.  This  court 
likewise  hears  and  determines  cases  stated  by  courts  of  ses 
sions.  The  greater  proportion  of  these  are  questions  on  the 
validity  of  poor's  rates,  or  on  parochial  statements.  When 
a  court  of  sessions  entertains  a  doubt  on  a  point  of  law  ari- 
sing in  the  argument,  it  will  usually  authorize  the  party 
against  which  it  decides  to  have  the  judgment  thus  review- 
ed, the  cases  being  stated  in  writing.  The  criminal  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  King's  Bench  is  still  extensive.  It  has,  at  com- 
mon law,  jurisdiction  by  indictment  over  every  species  of 
criminal  offence  committed  in  Middlesex;  and  in  practice 
misdemeanors,  as  conspiracies  or  perjuries,  committed  in  the 
county,  are  still  indicted  in  this  court,  and  tried  alter  term 
at  nisi  prius  among  the  civil  causes.  Sometimes,  also,  trial 
at  bar,  or  by  the  full  court,  is  granted  on  special  application. 
It  has  also  jurisdiction  by  criminal  information,  which  lies  in 
cases  of  misdemeanor  only,  a  proceeding  which  supersedes 
the  necessity  of  an  indictment  found  by  a  grand  jury.  An 
information  is  filed  either  by  the  attorney-general,  cz  officio, 
as  it  is  termed  ;  a  proceeding  generally  I  ertain 

misdemeanors  of  a  public  nature,  or  at  the  suit  of  a  private 
party  by  leave  of  the  court. 

An  information  in  the  nature  of  a  quo  warranto  is  in  form 
a  criminal,  but  substantially  a  civil,  proceeding.  It  is  grant- 
ed where  any  subject  or  body  politic  has  assumed  a  fran- 
chise or  privilege  not  being  legally  entitled,  and  to  the  injury 
of  some  other  party  or  the  public.  Any  indictment,  present- 
ment, &c.,  found  in  any  part  of  England  may  be  moved  by 
certiorari  into  this  court ;  as  may  be  also  all  convictions  or 
orders  of  justices  of  the  peace,  unless  where  such  appeal  is 
prevented  by  particular  statutes. 

KING'S  EVIL.  Scrofula  attacking  the  glands,  respect- 
ins  which  a  superstitious  notion  long  existed  that  it  was  cu- 
rable by  the  touch  of  royalty. 

KI'NGSTON.  A  name  sometimes  given  to  the  angel-fish 
(Squ/itina  angelus,  Dunn.).     See  Sqiwi 1-  . . 

KLNG'S  YELLOW.  A  pigment  the  basis  of  which  is 
orpiment.  or  yellow  sulphuret  of  arsenic. 

KI'NTC  ACID.  The  acid  with  which  quinia  and  cm- 
chonia  are  combined  in  yellow  and  pale  Peruvian  bark.  Its 
ultimate  elements  are,  according  to  Lubig.  IS  atoms  of  car- 
bon, 9  of  hydrogen,  and  9  of  oxygen. 

Kl'NKAJOU.  The  native  name  of  a  Plantigrade  quadru- 
ped of  South  America,  of  arboreal  habits,  with  a  long,  pre- 
hensive  tail,  a  short  muzzle,  and  a  thick  coat  of  woolly  hair. 
It  forms  the  type  of  the  genus  Potos  of  Cuvier,  which  name 
Ille«:er  changed  to  Cercoleptes.  Only  one  species  is  well  es- 
tablished, the  Cercoleptes  caudivolrulus  of  Illiu'er. 

KINo.  An  Indian  word,  applied  to  an  astringent  vege- 
table extract,  the  source  of  which  is  doubtful  ;  it  is  probably 
a  name  given  to  the  products  of  different  plants  jn  Africa, 
and  in  the  East  and  West  Indies  and  America.  The  finest 
kino  is  in  brilliant  fragments  of  a  deep  brownish-red  colour, 
ami  highly  astringent:  it  contains  tannin,  gum,  and  extract- 
ive matter. 

KIOSK.  A  Turkish  word,  signifying  a  kind  of  open  pa- 
vilion or  summer-house,  supported  by  pillars.  These  orna- 
ments have  of  late  years  been  introduced,  to  a  considerable 
extent,  into  tin-  gardens  of  European  countrii  J. 

KIRK.  (Germ,  kirche.)  A  Scottish  term  synonymous 
with  church,  and  used  chiefly  to  designate  the  form  of  reli- 
gion established  in  that  country.     .S'ccPresbyteriamsm. 

KIKK  SESSION.    The  lowest  ecclesiastical  court  of  fhe 

Kirk  of  Scotland.  It  is  composed  of  the  minister  of  the  par- 
Mi.  and  of  lav  elders.  It  takes  cognizance  of  cases  of  scan- 
dal, of  the  poor's  fund,  and  of  matters  of  general  ecclesiasti- 
cal discipline.     There  is  an  appeal  from  its  decisions  to  the 

pre~li\  tiTV. 

Kl  KSCHWASSER.     (Germ,  cherry  water.)     An    nlco- 

liqnar,  obtained   by  fermenting  tbe  small   and  Bweet 

black   cherry.     The    liquor  produced   is  distilled.  ;:u\   Often 

Savoured  with  hydrocyanic  acid,  derived  from  the  bruised 

kernels  of  the  fruit :  this  gives  to  kirschv.  \  i  ct- 

ened,  tin-  character  of  noyau. 

KIT  ('  \ T  I  1.1  B.  The  name  of  a  celebrated  associa- 
tion, instituted  about  1688  by  "some  younc  men  of  wit  and 
pleasure  about  town,"  originally  for  convivial  purposes;  but 
as  its  most  distinguished  members  were  Whigs  in  politics,  it 


KITE. 

gradually  assumed  a  political  character,  till  in  the  reign  of 
Queen  Anne  it  came  to  be  regarded  as  exclusively  political 
in  its  objects.  At  that  period  it  comprised  above  forty  no- 
blemen and  gentlemen  of  the  first  rank  and  quality,  merit 
and  fortune,  firm  friends  to  the  Hanoverian  succession  ; 
among  whom  were  Addison,  Steele,  Marlborough,  Walpole, 
&c.  &c.  It  was  originally  formed  in  Shire  Lane,  and  deri- 
ved its  name  from  one  Christopher  (Kit)  Kat,  who  supplied 
the  members  with  mutton  pies.  The  fame  of  this  club  has 
been  transmitted  chiefly  by  the  collection  of  the  portraits  of 
the  members  painted  by  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller,  himself  a  mem- 
ber, who  was  obliged  to  invent  a  new-sized  canvass  accom- 
modated to  the  height  of  walls ;  whence  has  originated  the 
application  of  the  epithet  kit-cat  to  any  portrait  about  three 
quarters  in  length.  It  was  dissolved  in  the  year  1720. 
( Quart.  Rev.,  vol.  xxvi.) 

KITE.  A  well-known  toy ;  first  employed  by  Romas  in 
France,  and  Dr.  Franklin  in  America,  to  elevate  a  conductor 
into  a  thunder-cloud,  whereby  the  identity  of  lightning  with 
the  electric  spark  was  ascertained.  It  is  formed  of  a  slender 
frame  of  wood  and  pack-thread,  rounded  at  one  end  and 
terminating  in  a  point  at  the  other,  resembling,  in  some 
measure,  a  cross-bow,  and  covered  with  paper.  A  long 
string  is  attached  to  the  frame,  near  its  centre  of  gravity,  by 
which  it  is  held  in  the  hand.  In  order  that  the  kite  may  be 
capable  of  being  raised,  it  is  necessary  that  its  flat  surface 
be  presented  obliquely  to  the  direction  of  the  wind  ;  a  string 
or  tail,  carrying  some  light  substance,  is  therefore  attached 
to  the  sharp  end  of  the  frame,  and  serves,  by  means  of  its 
gravity,  to  maintain  the  proper  inclination.  The  force  of  the 
wind,  impinging  obliquely  on  the  surface,  is  resolved  into 
two  parts;  one  perpendicular,  and  the  other  parallel  to  the 
surface :  the  first  of  these  parts  is  counterbalanced  by  the 
tension  of  the  string  held  in  the  hand,  and  the  second  is  ex- 
pended in  elevating  the  kite.  The  position  in  which  the 
wind  acts  with  the  greatest  effect  is,  when  the  perpendicular 
to  the  surface  is  inclined  to  the  direction  of  the  wind  (that 
is,  to  the  horizon)  in  an  angle  of  about  54A  degrees. 

Kite.  The  native  bird  so  called  is  a  species  of  the  genus 
Milvus,  separated  by  Bechstein  from  the  genus  Falco  of 
Linnaeus  on  account  of  the  forked  tail,  length  of  wings,  and 
the  short  and  weak  beak  and  feet  in  proportion  to  the  size 
of  the  body.  This  deterioration  of  their  destructive  instru- 
ments renders  the  kite  the  most  cowardly  of  the  birds  of 
prey.  The  common  kite  or  glead  (Milvus  vulgaris)  preys 
chiefly  on  the  smaller  quadrupeds  and  birds,  young  chick- 
ens, &.c. ;  yet  the  courage  of  the  mother  hen  renders  her 
more  than  a  match  for  the  robber,  and  she  generally  repels 
his  attacks  on  his  favourite  prey.  The  female  lays  two  or 
three  eggs  of  a  whitish  colour,  spotted  with  pale  yellow,  and 
of  a  roundish  form. 

The  term  kite  is  applied  in  some  places,  as  Devonshire 
and  Cornwall,  to  the  brill  (Rhombus  vulgaris). 

KI'VI-KIVI.  The  native  name  of  the  New  Zealanders 
for  their  singular  bird  the  Jlpteryx  australis.    Sec  Apteryx. 

KNEE.  (Sax.  cneo.)  In  Architecture,  a  naturally  or  ar- 
tificially bent  piece  of  timber,  on  which  another  is  received 
to  relieve  a  weight  or  strain. 

KNEE  PAN.  A  small,  flat, heart-shaped  bone  placed  at 
the  fore  part  of  the  knee  joint.  It  is  an  important  defence 
to  that  large  joint,  and  also  serves  to  increase  the  powers  of 
the  muscles  which  extend  the  leg.  It  is  attached  by  a  strong 
ligament  to  the  upper  end  of  the  tibia. 

KNIGHT-ERRANT.  In  the  language  of  Chivalry,  a 
knight  wandering  in  search  of  adventures,  sometimes  under 
vows,  for  a  certain  period.  Knight-errantry  was  not  alto- 
gether a  fiction  of  romance.  It  originated,  as  Mr.  Turner 
says,  partly  from  the  frequency  of  private  war  in  feudal 
times,  which  made  military  aid  constantly  acceptable  to  the 
great  barons;  and  as  a  knight  had,  for  the  most  part,  no 
other  tie  to  the  soil  than  his  duties  towards  his  feudal  supe- 
rior, he  was  at  liberty  to  follow  his  own  bent  whenever  his 
services  were  not  needed  by  him.  Such  a  mode  of  life  pe- 
culiarly suited  the  tastes  of  the  men  of  that  age,  and  in  some 
degree  served  the  exigencies  of  society.  "  Knights,  there- 
fore, were  perpetually  errant,  or  travelling  in  quest  of  ad- 
ventures or  employment :  some  from  the  pleasure  of  the 
expedition,  and  some  for  its  expected  profits.  They  often 
met  the  oppressed  or  the  unsuccessful ;  and  they  cheerfully 
engaged  themselves  to  redress  those  wrongs  which  laws 
were  too  feeble  to  remedy,  and  for  redressing  which,  honour, 
plunder,  or  rich  donations  became  usually  their  compensa- 
tion." (Turner's  History  of  England  during  tlic  Middle 
Jlges,  ch.  xiii.) 

KNIGHT,  KNIGHTHOOD.  The  word  knight  is  un- 
doubtedly derived  in  its  first  origin  from  the  root  "  to  knit," 
or  connect ;  from  whence  also  the  German  knecht,  slave  or 
servant.  The  Anglo-Saxon  cnicht  bore  the  same  meaning; 
and  this  etymology  points  to  the  primitive  meaning  of  the 
institution  of  knighthood.  This  may  be  found  in  the  usage 
recorded  by  Tacitus  and  other  writers  of  the  ancient  Ger- 
mans, among  whom  the  kings  and  chiefs  were  attended  in 


KNIGHT. 

war  and  peace  by  a  select  body  of  faithful  companions. 
Kings,  and  great  thanes,  and  aldermen  had  each  among  the 
Anglo-Saxons  their  attendant  cnichts  or  military  servants, 
who  owed  them  a  species  of  fealty  rather  personal  than 
territorial.  But  the  order  of  knighthood,  in  the  more  recent 
sense  of  the  word,  was  introduced  among  us  from  France. 
Among  the  French  and  Germans,  indeed,  the  order  of 
knights  was  designated  by  another  name — chevalier  or  ritter, 
from  their  serving  on  horseback  in  battle,  and  holding  a 
rank  above  the  footmen.  But  the  Norman  chevalier  so 
completely  answered  to  the  Saxon  cnicht  in  the  peculiar 
attribute  of  being  personally  attached  to  the  military  service 
of  some  chieftain,  that  the  English  appellation  was  soon  in 
general  use,  as  if  to  express  the  same  meaning  conveyed  by 
the  French  title,  and  by  its  Latin  equivalent  miles.  The 
Saxons  appear,  indeed,  to  have  occasionally  practised,  long 
before  the  Conquest,  some  ceremonies  resembling  those 
which  became  usual  in  later  times  on  the  creation  of  a 
knight;  thus  Alfred  is  said  to  have  honoured  Athelstan  by 
the  gift  of  a  belt  and  robe,  and  girding  him  with  a  sword. 

Like  most  other  inquiries  into  the  ancient  usages  of 
Europe,  that  into  the  origin  of  knighthood  as  an  order — 
that  is,  the  period  when  the  term  miles  or  chevalier,  instead 
of  merely  denoting  the  higher  class  of  military  companions 
of  a  chief,  came  to  signify  one  enjoying  a  definite  rank  in 
society  and  admitted  by  certain  ceremonies — is  altogether 
inconclusive.  It  is  said  in  general  that  knighthood  had  be- 
come an  established  institution  in  the  11th  century;  but 
that  the  characteristic  which  belonged  to  it  in  later  times, 
that  of  being  restricted  to  men  of  noble  birth,  did  not  become 
general  until  the  fourteenth.  The  privilege  of  conferring 
knighthood  seems  to  have  belonged  originally  to  the  sover- 
eign, and  to  have  been  retained  as  his  prerogative  in  all 
European  constitutions,  although  frequently  delegated  to 
or  usurped  by  high  feudatories,  generals  of  armies,  &c. ; 
although  in  later  times,  and  when  knighthood  had  assumed 
its  peculiar  romantic  character,  the  most  distinguished  and 
valorous  knights  were  allowed  to  confer  it,  and  kings  them- 
selves sought  for  the  distinction  of  knighthood  at  their  hands. 
It  was  a  prerogative  of  high  value  and  importance ;  and  we 
frequently  find  the  states  and  other  authorities  in  feudal 
sovereignties  interfering  to  limit  its  exercise,  especially 
before  usage  had  absolutely  restricted  it  to  those  of  noble 
birth. 

It  was  common  to  create  knights  on  various  occasions. 
The  most  honourable  species  of  knighthood  was  that  con- 
ferred on  the  field  and  after  a  battle ;  but  the  more  common 
fashion,  especially  in  France,  the  parent  country  of  chival-  i. 
rous  institutions,  was  to  make  knights  when  a  battle  was 
expected.  Five  hundred  were  created  at  once  in  the  French 
army  before  the  battle  of  Agincourt.  Some  inconvenience 
attended  this  practice.  For  example,  on  one  occasion  in 
Flanders,  in  the  14th  century,  when  two  armies  were  ranged 
in  battle  order,  on  the  eve  of  engagement,  the  French,  ac- 
cording to  their  usual  practice,  created  a  great  number  of 
knights ;  but  on  the  following  morning  the  forces  separated 
without  coming  to  action.  A  hare  having  been  seen  cross- 
ing the  space  between  the  armies,  the  French  knights 
made  on  that  occasion  received  the  nickname  of  Chevaliers 
du  Lievre.  Knights  were  also  created  on  other  solemn 
occasions ;  as  great  festivals,  coronations,  princely  mar- 
riages, &c. 

In  describing  the  ordinances  of  knighthood  as  they  existed 
when  that  institution  was  brought  to  the  point  of  imaginary 
perfection,  the  period  to  which  we  must  refer  is  the  14th 
century ;  and  the  countries  chiefly  France,  Germany,  and 
England.  In  Italy  and  Spain,  and  generally  in  other  parts 
of  Christendom,  the  chivalrous  customs  of  the  first-named 
regions  were  imitated,  but  do  not  appear  to  have  grown  up 
spontaneously  as  part  of  the  popular  usages.  Before  this 
epoch,  indeed,  the  Crusades  had  communicated  to  the  insti- 
tution much  of  its  religious  character ;  and  the  poems  of  the 
Troubadours  and  Trouveurs  attest  how  much  of  gallantry 
had  already  been  fancifully  interwoven  with  the  military 
habits  of  the  age.  But  it  was  not,  perhaps,  until  the  epoch 
alluded  to,  when  the  favourite  fictions  of  romance  had 
begun  to  act  strongly  on  the  popular  imagination,  that  the 
ideal  usages  of  chivalry  were  completely  engrafted  in  prac- 
tice on  the  substantial  institution  of  knighthood. 

The  orders  of  chivalry  were  three.  The  future  knight 
was  first  educated,  in  general,  as  a  page  attached  to  the 
family,  and  especially  to  the  ladies  of  some  noble  house: 
when  of  full  age,  he  became  a  squire  (ecuyer).  The  proper 
office  of  the  squire,  in  the  theory  of  chivalry,  was,  as  his 
name  of  "shield  bearer"  denotes,  to  attend  on  the  person  of 
a  knight,  to  whom  he  was  bound  to  render  devoted  and 
faithful  service.  In  this  capacity  he  was  a  sort  of  apprentice 
to  knighthood  ;  but  as  many  esquires  never  reached  the 
order  of  knighthood  at  all,  but  remained  independent,  the 
rank  of  esquire,  in  ordinary  usage,  became  an  intervening 
order  between  the  knight  and  the  simple  gentleman :  in 
which  sense  it  is  still  retained  in  England.  The  order  of 
Qq*  633 


KNIGHT. 

knighthood  followed  this  double  probation.  Knights,  how- 
ever, mere  often  made  without  having  passed  regularly 
through  the  intervening  stages;  and  even  in  the  age  of  chiv- 
alry, the  honour  was  occasionally  conferred  on  mere  chil- 
dren; although  this  was  an  evident  abuse,  and  regarded  as 
such.  When  the  order  of  knighthood  was  conferred  with 
full  solemnity  in  the  leisure  of  a  court  or  city,  imposing  prc- 
liminarv  ceremonies  were  required  of  the  candidate.  He 
prepared  himself  by  prayer  and  fasting,  watched  Ins  arms 
all  night  in  a  chapel,  and  was  then  admitted  with  the  per- 
formance of  religious  rites.  Knighthood  was  conferred  by 
the  accolade,  which,  from  the  derivation  of  the  name,  should 
appear  to  have  been  originally  an  embrace;  but  afterwards 
consisted,  as  it  still  docs,  in  a  blow  of  the  flat  of  a  sword  on 
the  neck  of  the  kneeling  candidate.  The  oath  of  knighthood 
was  previously  administered,  which  contained  at  different 
times  various  fanciful  clauses :  in  France  there  were  twentj 
vows  comprised  in  it.  (See  on  this  subject,  among  many 
other  authorities,  the  Memoirs  on  Chivalry  of  the  French 
antiquary  Sainte-Palaye.) 

Knighthood  was  an  institution  which  served  in  some 
respects  as  a  compensation  for  the  inequalities  of  rank  inci- 
dent to  the  feudal  system.  All  knights,  from  the  king  to 
the  lowest  bachelor,  were  brethren  of  the  same  order  ;  and 
when  chivalry  was  in  its  most  flourishing  state,  it  may 
almost  be  said  that  they  were  all  of  the  same  country.  Na- 
tional distinctions  had  little  place  between  knights,  who 
were  only  enemies  in  time  of  warfare,  from  their  feudal 
duties,  which  attached  them  to  the  banner  of  a  particular 
king  or  suzerain.  At  tournaments,  court  festivals,  &c,  in 
time  of  peace,  knights  of  all  nations  were  admitted  indiffer- 
ently ;  and  the  candidate  for  knighthood  sought  that  honour 
at  the  hands  of  the  most  distinguished  name  in  chivalry 
rather  than  of  a  countryman.  The  chief  distinction  of  rank 
which  subsisted  between  knights,  in  France  and  England, 
was  rather  of  a  feudal  than  a  chivalrous  character ;  it  was 
that  of  knights-bachelors  and  knights-bannerets.  The  knight- 
bachelor  was  of  the  lower  order.  His  name  has  been  va- 
riously derived.  It  is  by  some  considered  as  a  corruption  of 
"  bas-chevalier;"  but  others  deduce  the  name  from  the  bar- 
barous Latin  word  "baccalare,"  said  to  signify  a  small  fief, 
such  as  was  originally  considered  as  entitling  its  possessor 
to  the  honour  of  knighthood.  But  in  the  more  chivalrous 
times  (as  in  all  later  periods)  this  honour  was  conferred 
without  any  reference  to  a  qualification  of  property.  Many 
knights  bachelors  were,  in  fact,  mere  adventurers,  uncon- 
nected by  feudal  ties  of  any  sort ;  who  offered  their  services 
in  war  to  any  successful  leader,  and  who  found  in  their 
sword  a  means  of  subsistence,  not  only  by  pay  and  plunder, 
but  by  the  regularly  established  system  of  ransom  which 
every  knight  taken  in  action  paid  for  his  liberty.  The 
"chevalier-banneret"  was  one  who  possessed  fiefs  to  a 
greater  amount,  was  obliged  to  serve  in  war  with  a  greater 
attendance,  and  carried  a  banner.  Under  Charles  VII.  the 
bannerets  of  France  made  remonstrances  against  the  services 
required  of  them,  on  the  ground  of  their  impoverishment  by 
the  English  wars;  and  it  appears  that  this  order  fell  af- 
terwards into  disuse  in  that  country.  In  England  the  dis- 
tinction appears  to  have  been  of  a  somewhat  different  char- 
acter. The  "  knights'  fees,"  into  which  England  was  divided 
by  the  Conqueror,  were  such  portions  of  land  as  could  main- 
tain a  simple  knight  or  bachelor ;  and  by  a  statute  of  Ed- 
ward II.  persons  who  had  the  amount  of  £20  a  year  in  fee, 
or  for  life,  were  obliged  to  take  this  order  of  knighthood. 
This  statute  grew  into  disuse,  except  when  occasionally  put 
in  force,  as  it  was  for  the  last  time  under  Charles  I.,  as  a 
means  of  extorting  money,  by  way  of  fines,  for  not  taking  up 
the  order.  Bannerets,  on  the  other  hand,  in  England,  ap- 
pear to  have  been  such  knights  as  were  made  or  promoted 
from  the  lower  degree  on  the  field  of  battle.  (See  Ban- 
neret.) The  distinction  in  the  field  between  the  different 
orders  of  chivalry  was,  at  least  at  one  period,  the  follow- 
ing : — The  esquire  bore  the  pennoncel  or  triangular  streamer ; 
the  knight-bachelor  the  pennon  or  forked  streamer  (swallow- 
tailed),  made  by  dividing  the  end  of  the  pennoncel ;  the 
banneret  a  banner  (which  was,  in  strict  usage,  of  an  oblong 
shape,  barons  being  entitled  to  a  square  banner).  Thus, 
when  a  banneret  was  made  on  the  field,  the  ceieinony  was 
accomplished  by  cutting  off"  the  forked  end  of  his  pennon 
and  converting  it  into  a  banner.  Common  knights  and 
esquires  were  then  under  his  command. 

The  confinement  of  the  order  of  knighthood  to  men  of 
noble  birth  (on  the  Continent,  for  tin'  strict  line  of  demarca- 
tion between  nobility  and  commonalty  was  never  accu- 
rately drawn  in  England),  although  necessary  in  theory  to 
the  completion  of  the  chivalric  system,  tended  in  practice  in 
its  decay.  Knighthood,  after  the  i-iih  century,  became  more 
and  more  an  honorary  distinction,  to  which  birth  alone  gave 
a  title,  and  which  was  not  considered  to  represent  any  ac 
tual  duty  or  service;  .and  finally,  through  various  steps,  it 
became  again  a  mere  personal  distinction,  which  it  was  pari 
of  the  sovereign's  prerogative  to  confer,  either  to  military 
634 


KOBOLD. 

persons  or  any  others;  and  by  the  multiplication  of  orders, 
into  which  nobility  of  birth  was  not  always  a  necessary 
qualification  for  admission,  this  peculiar  property  of  the 
knightly  order  became  again  effaced.  There  are,  however, 
in  most  Continental  countries,  several  orders  into  which 
nobility  still  constitutes  a  necessary  title  for  admission. 

Orders  of  knighthood  are  of  two  classes:  either  they  are 
associations  or  fraternities  possessing  property  and  rights  of 
their  own  as  independent  bodies,  into  which  knights  are 
admitted  as  members  into  a  religious  foundation  ;  or  they 
are  merely  honorary  associations,  established  by  sovereigns 
within  their  respective  dominions,  consisting  of  members 
whose  only  common  lie  is  the  possession  of  the  same  titular 
distinction.  To  the  former  class  belonged  the  three  cele- 
brated religious  orders  founded  during  the  Crusade, — Tem- 
plars. Hospitallers,  and  Teutonic  knights ;  which  were 
societies,  not  belonging  to  any  particular  crown  or  realm, 
possessed  of  extensive  property,  and  acting  in  some  respects 
as  independent  republics.  (See  those  articles.)  Several  (if 
the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  orders  of  knighthood  partake 
of  both  characters:  they  were  originally  religious,  hut  have 
become  secular.  The  kings  of  those  countries,  as  grand 
masters,  exercise  the  privilege  of  admission,  and  make  use 
of  it  as  a  means  of  conferring  distinction ;  but  the  knights, 
as  a  body,  form  an  independent  society  possessed  of  property 
and  privileges.  {See  Orders  of  Calatrava,  Alcantara. 
&.c.)  The  other  class,  consisting  of  orders  merely  titular, 
embraces  most  of  the  European  orders,  including  all  those 
of  our  country.  These  were  probably  founded  in  imitation 
of  the  great  military  societies:  although  antiquarians  have 
traced  real  or  imaginary  orders  of  knighthood  under  the 
reigns  of  princes  of  much  more  remote  date,  as  Charles 
Martel,  Charlemagne,  &c.  Hut  these  accounts  are  apoc- 
ryphal ;  and  no  subsisting  order  of  knighthood  is  of  the  date 
of  the  Crusades,  except  a  few  of  those  in  Spain  and  Portugal, 
which,  as  we  have  said,  were  framed  on  the  model  of  the 
great  societies  first  mentioned.  (See  as  to  foreign  orders  of 
knighthood,  the  work  of  Carlisle,  1839.) 

KMGIIT  OF  THE  SHIRE,  is  the  designation  given  to 
the  representative  in  Parliament  of  English  counties  at  large, 
as  distinguished  from  such  cities  and  towns  as  are  counties 
of  themselves  (which  are  seldom  if  ever  called  shires) ;  and 
the  representatives  of  which,  as  well  as  the  members  for 
other  cities  and  towns,  are  called  citizens  or  Burgesses.  It 
was  formerly  imperative  on  knights  of  a  shire,  as  well 
as  their  choosers,  either  to  be  resident  or  to  have  a  house- 
hold in  the  county ;  but  this  regulation,  which  had  long 
fallen  into  disuse,  was  formally  repealed  bv  14  Geo.  3,  c.  58. 

KNIGHT  SERVICE,  Servitium  Mi/it'nrc.  The  tenure 
by  which  a  knight  held  his  land.     See  Feudal  S\ 

KNIGHT'S  FEE,  Feodum  Militarr.  In  the  language  of 
English  feudal  usage,  a  portion  of  land  held  by  custom  suffi- 
cient to  maintain  a  knight  to  do  service  as  such  for  the  king. 
William  the  Conqueror  by  his  military  grants  is  said  to  have 
created  60,000  such  fees.  But  although  William's  vassals 
were  undoubtedly  bound  to  follow  him  to  war,  it  is  doubted 
by  modem  antiquarians  whether  feudal  services,  strictly  so 
called,  were  attached  to  these  grants  by  the  Conqueror,  or 
whether  they  were  not  peculiarities  arising  subsequently 
when  the  feudal  system  grew  into  vigour,  and  attributed  to 
the  Conqueror  by  the  legists  of  later  times. 

KNOLL.  A  term  used  in  many  parts  of  England  for  the 
pinnacle  of  a  small  hill,  or  for  the  hill  itself. 

KNO'PPERN.  A  species  of  gall-nut  or  excresence  formed 
by  the  puncture  of  an  insect  upon  several  kinds  of  oak. 
They  are  flat,  hard,  and  prickly :  they  abound  in  Croatia, 
Styria,  Sclavonia,  and  Natolia,  and  are  used  in  Austria  and 
Germany  for  tanning  and  dyeing. 

KNOT.     See  Log. 

KNOUT,  THE.  An  instrument  used  in  the  infliction  of 
a  well-known  Russian  punishment  The  fi>I lowing  descrip- 
tion is  by  a  writer  in  the  New  Monthly  Magazine  for  1830 
(vol.  xxv'iii.,  p.  128):  "The  handle  may  be  two  feet  long,  a 
little  more  or  less,  to  Which  is  fastened  a  flat  leather  thong 
about  twice  the  length  of  the  handle,  terminating  with  a 
large  cupper  or  brass  ring;  to  this  ring  is  affixed  a  strip  of 
hide  about  two  inches  broad  at  the  ring,  and  terminating,  at 
the  end  of  two  feet,  in  a  point.  This  is  soaked  in  milk,  and 
dried  in  the  sun  to  make  it  harder;  and  should  it  fall,  in 
Striking  the  culprit,  on  the  edge,  it  would  cut  like  a  penknife. 
Vteverj  sixth  stroke  the  tail  is  changed.  In  the  hands  of 
a  stranger  it  would  be  a  most  innocent  weapon  ;  nor  could  I, 
after  a  quarter  of  an  hour's  practice,  make  any  considerable 
Impression  <in  the  BUOW,  while  the  executioner  will  leave  a 
pretty  fair  mark  on  a  deal  plank."  Notwithstanding  the 
assertion  of  Dr.  Granville  to  the  contrary  {Travels  to  St, 
Petersburgh,  ii.,  451),  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  excessive 
-  I  the  punishment. 

KOA'LA.    The  native  name  of  a  Marsupial  quadruped 

of  New  Holland.     (See  Piiasooi. .uteres.)     The  Mahrattas 
apply  the  B  Hoe  irmie  to  the  jackall. 
k<  >T.<  )I,D.     A  German  word  signifying  a  spirit,  or  spec- 


KOLPODES. 

tre,  and  corresponding  to  the  English  goblin,  of  which  it  is 
probably  the  origin.  In  many  parts  of  Germany  there  is 
scarcely  a  house  or  a  family  to  which  kobolds  are  not  said 
to  be  attached ;  and  according  to  the  superstitious  notions 
of  the  peasantry,  they  preside  over  all  domestic  operations, 
many  of  which  they  perform.  The  name  of  the  metal 
cobalt  is  derived  from  the  above. 

KOLPO'DES,  Kolpoda.  (Gr.  ko\tw$tis,  sinuous.)  The 
name  of  a  genus  of  Polygastric  Infusories,  characterized  by 
their  flat  and  sinuous  figures. 

KO'RAN.     See  Alcoran. 

KOSSACKS.     See  Cossacks. 

KOUMISS,  or  KUMISS.  A  vinous  liquid,  obtained  in 
Tartarv  by  fermenting  the  whey  of  mare's  milk. 

KO'UPHOLITE.  (Gr.  kovQos,  light,  and  h9oc,  a  stone.) 
A  species  of  zeolite  or  prehnite  from  the  Pyrenees :  it  occurs 
in  small  rhomboidal  plates,  of  a  pearly  lustre,  and  of  a  yel- 
lowish or  green  colour. 

KRAAL.  The  name  given  to  the  villages  of  the  Hot- 
tentots. 

KRA'KEN.  A  name  applied  in  the  fabulous  epoch  of 
zoology  to  a  marine  monster  of  gigantic  size. 

KRAMERIA'CE^E  (Krameria,  one  of  the  genera),  is  a" 
small  natural  order  of  plants,  allied  to  Polygalacem,  and 
chiefly  remarkable  for  the  extreme  astringency  of  their  roots ; 
one  of  the  species  furnishing  the  rhatany  or  rhatanhia  root 
of  the  druggists,  a  substance  notoriously  used  in  the  adulter- 
ation of  port  wine. 

KRAME'RIC  ACED.  An  acid  obtained  from  the  root  of 
the  Krameria  triandria,  or  rhatany. 

KREOSO'TE.     See  Creosote. 

KRY'OLITE.  (Gr.  KpvoS,  ice,  and  \t9oc,  a  stone.)  A 
hydrated  filiate  of  alumina  and  soda.  When  heated  it  sud- 
denly fuses ;  hence  its  name. 

KRY'STALLINE.  A  term  applied  by  Unverdorben  to 
a  salifiable  base  which  forms  crystallizable  compounds  with 
the  acids,  and  which  he  obtains  from  animal  empyreu- 
matic  oil. 

KU'FIC.  An  epithet  given  to  the  ancient  Arabic  charac- 
ters :  from  Kufa,  a  town  on  the  Euphrates. 

KU'PFERNICKEL.  (Germ.)  An  ore  of  nickel  of  a 
copper  colour. 

KU'PFERSCHI'EFER.  (Germ,  copper  slate.)  A  term 
applied  by  German  geologists  to  certain  laminated  rocks  at 
the  base  of  the  magnesian  limestone  formation  of  Thuringia: 
they  are  impregnated  with  copper,  and  abound  in  fossil 
remains  of  fishes.  These  rocks  appear  to  correspond  to  the 
marl  slate  of  Durham  and  Northumberland. 

KY'ANITE.  (Gr.  nvavos,  blue.)  A  mineral  which  oc- 
curs in  long  radiated  crystals,  and  occasionally  massive ;  it 
is  the  disthene  of  Hauy,  and  the  sappare  of  some  other  min- 
eralogists.    See  Cyanite. 

KYRIOLO'GICAL,  or  CIVIC-LOGICAL.  (Gr.  Kvpioc, 
proper;  \oyo;,  discourse.)  A  term  applied  by  YVarburton, 
in  his  Divine  Legation  (book  ii.,  s.  4),  to  that  class  of  Egyp- 
tian hieroglyphics  in  which  a  part  is  conventionally  put  to 
represent  a  whole — e.  g.,  a  pair  of  armed  hands  for  a  battle, 
a  scaling  ladder  for  a  siege,  &c. ;  distinguished  from  the 
tropical,  in  which  visible  objects  are  used  as  emblems,  or 
figuratively.    See  Hieroglyphics. 


L.  The  first  of  those  letters  in  the  English  and  most 
other  alphabets  called  liquids  or  semivowels;  because,  like 
vowels,  they  can  be  pronounced  for  any  length  of  time, 
which  is  not  the  case  with  the  consonants  called  mutes,  as 
p,  d,  &c.  It  is  derived  from  the  Greek  lambda,  or  the  He- 
brew or  Phoenician  lamed,  and  is  found  in  the  languages  of 
almost  all  nations,  excepting  those  of  some  Brazilian  and 
Japanese  tribes.  In  the  ancient  Greek,  Hebrew,  Phoenician, 
Celtic,  and  Latin  languages,  and  in  those  derived  from  them, 
the  letter  L  consists  invariably  of  two  strokes,  though  in 
every  possible  shape  and  combination.  Thus,  in  the  most 
ancient  Greek  alphabets  it  is  written  A  V  A.  in  the  Etrus- 
can >,  in  the  Celtic  <  V.  in  Hebrew  L),  and  in  Latin  L. 
(For  the  interchanges  which  this  letter  has  undergone,  see 
the  Penny  Cijclo.)  L,  as  an  abreviature,  stands  for  Lucius, 
L.L.D.  Doctor  of  Laws,  and  L.L.S.  for  a  sestertium.  As 
a  numeral,  L  represented  among  the  ancients,  as  at  present, 
the  number  50,  according  to  the  line — 

Quinquies  L  denos  numero  designat  habendos. 


LA.  In  Musi^.  the  syllable  by  which  Guido  denoted  the 
last  sound  in  the  hexachord. 

LA'BADISTS,  or  LA'BBADISTS.  A  sect  of  religious 
enthusiasts  in  the  17th  century ;  so  called  from  Jean  Laba- 
die.  a  native  of  France  domiciled  in  Holland,  who  was  de- 
posed from  his  preachership  by  the  synod  of  Dort.  They 
endeavouied  to  introduce  among  Protestants  similar  notions 
to  those  of  the  Quietiste  in  the  Roman  Catholic  church  (see 


LABRUM. 

that  word),  and  were  accused  of  similar  perversities  in  prac- 
tice.    (See  Moshcim,  transl.,  ed.  1790,  v.,  511.) 

LABARRA'UUE'S  DISINFECTING  LIQUID.  A  so- 
lution of  carbonate  of  soda  impregnated  with  chlorine. 

LA'BARUM.  The  standard  of  Constantine,  which  he 
caused  to  be  formed  in  commemoration  of  the  vision  of  the 
cross  in  the  heavens.  It  is  described  as  a  long  pike  sur- 
mounted by  a  golden  crown  inclosing  a  monogram  which 
contains  the  two  first  letters  of  the  name  of  Christ,  and  is  at 
the  same  time  a  representation  of  the  figure  of  the  cross. 
Ancient  monuments  exhibit  the  figure  under  two  forms, 
-g  or  ^  (sc.  X7  p)-  The  silken  banner  which  depended 
from  it  was  embroidered  with  the  figure  of  Constantine  and 
his  family.  The  labarum  is  engraved  on  some  of  his  medals 
with  the  famous  inscription, 

EN  TOYTJ1I  NIKA; 
and  it  was  preserved  for  a  considerable  time,  and  brought 
forward  at  the  head  of  the  armies  of  the  emperor  on  impor- 
tant occasions,  as  the  palladium  or  safeguard  of  the  empire. 
The  origin  of  the  word  is  still  undecided.  (See  Beugnot, 
Hist,  de  la  Destruction  du  Paganisme  en  Occident,  i~,  57 ; 
Milman,  Hist,  of  Christianity,  ii.,  152.) 

LA'BDANUM,  or  LADANUM.  The  resin  of  the  Cystus 
Creticus. 

LA'BEL.  In  Heraldry,  a  figure  chiefly  used  by  way  of 
distinction  or  difference  in  the  coat-armour  of  an  eldest  son 
during  the  life  of  the  father ;  in  which  case  it  has  three 
points ;  five  points  when  borne  by  the  heir-presumptive  of  a 
grandfather  living,  and  so  forth. 

LABE'LLUM.  (Lat.)  A  term  given  to  a  lower  lip  of 
a  labiate  corolla.  It  is  usually  differently  formed  from  the 
other  divisions  of  the  corolla,  and  in  the  natural  order  Or- 
chidacem  assumes  various  grotesque  appearances. 

LA'BIALS.  (Lat.  labium,  a  lip.)  The  letters  B,  P,  V, 
F,  M,  are  so  called,  on  account  of  the  organ  chiefly  employ- 
ed in  their  pronunciation. 

LA'BIA'T^E,  or  LAMIACE^E.  A  natural  order  of  Mo- 
nopetalous  Exogenous  plants,  consisting  of  many  hundred 
species,  inhabiting  the  more  temperate  regions  of  the  earth. 
A  two-lipped  monopetalous  corolla,  an  irregular  number  of 
stamens,  and  a  four-lobed  ovary,  are  the  essential  marks  by 
which  it  is  known  from  all  others.  The  species  are  gener- 
ally herbaceous,  with  square  stems ;  a  small  number  only 
consists  of  shrubs.  The  flowers  are  all  colours,  but  pure 
blue  is  uncommon  in  the  order.  Many  of  the  species  are 
valued  for  their  fragrance,  as  lavender  and  thyme ;  others 
for  their  stimulating  qualities,  as  mint  and  peppermint ;  some 
as  aromatics,  as  sage,  basil,  and  marjoram ;  while  a  few  are 
regarded  as  febrifuges.  Numerous  species  are  objects  of 
great  beauty,  on  which  account  the  order  is  well  known  in 
gardens.  Among  the  most  ornamental  are  various  kinds  of 
sage,  gardoquia,  and  dracocephalum. 

LA'BIUM  (Lat.  labium,  a  lip),  in  Entomology,  is  a  move- 
able organ,  often  biarticulate,  which,  terminating  the  face 
anteriorly,  covers  the  mouth  from  beneath,  and  represents 
the  under  lip. 

LA'BORATORY.  A  place  properly  constructed  and 
fitted  up  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  chemical  investiga- 
tions. Those  who  are  about  to  fit  up  a  chemical  laboratory 
will  do  well  to  consult  the  first  section  of  Mr.  Farraday's 
Chemical  Manipulation. 

LA'BOUR.  (Lat.  labor.)  In  Naval  language,  the  action 
of  a  ship  in  a  heavy  sea  when  she  jerks  or  is  uneasy. 

La'bour.     See  Political  Economy. 

LA'BOURED.  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a  term  applied  to 
wTorks  of  art  wherein  are  apparent  the  marks  of  constraint 
in  the  execution ;  and  used  in  opposition  to  the  term,  easy  or 
free. 

LA'BRADORITE.  Labrador  spar.  A  beautiful  variety 
of  opalescent  felspar  from  the  coast  of  Labrador:  it  exhibits 
brilliant  and  mutable  tints  of  blue,  red,  green,  and  yellow, 
and  is  susceptible  of  a  good  polish.  It  is  cut  into  small  slabs, 
and  employed  in  ornamental  jewellery.  It  is  a  silicate  of 
alumina,  lime,  and  soda,  with  traces  of  oxide  of  iron. 

LA'BRAX.  (Lat.)  A  genus  of  Percoid  fishes,  dismem- 
bered by  Cuvier  from  the  Linnsan  Perca  on  account  of  cer- 
tain modifications  of  the  gill-covers  and  tongue ;  the  differ- 
ences being  that  the  opercula  of  the  Labrax  terminates  in 
two  spines,  and  the  tongue,  instead  of  being  smooth,  is 
roughened  with  many  minute  teeth. 

LA'BRIDANS,  LABRID^E,  or  LABROLDES.  The 
Bream  tribe.  A  family  of  Acanthopterygii,  having  the 
genus  Labrus  as  the  type.  The  fishes  of  this  family  may 
be  recognised  by  their  oblong  scaly  body ;  a  single  dorsal  tin, 
supported  in  front  by  spines,  each  of  which  is  generally 
furnished  with  membranous  appendages:  the  jaws  are 
covered  with  fleshy  lips,  and  the  pharyngeal  bones  are 
armed  with  numerous  and  strong  teeth,  disposed  like  a 
pavement. 

LA'BRUM  (Lat  labrum),  in  Entomology,  is  the  usually 

635 


LABRUS. 

moveable  part  which,  terminating  the  face  anteriorly,  covers 
the  mouth  from  above,  and  represents  the  upper  lip. 

LA'BRUS.  (Lat.  labium,  a  Up.)  A  genus  of  spiny-finned 
fishes  in  the  system  of  Cuvier,  so  called  on  account  of  their 
well-developed  double  fleshy  lips.  The  fishes  of  this  genus 
ore  termed  "breams;"  and  are  further  characterized  by 
their  conical  maxillary  teeth,  of  which  the  middle  and  an- 
terior are  the  longest,  and  by  their  cylindrical  and  obtuse 
pharyngeal  teeth,  which  are  arranged  like  a  pavement — 
the  upper  ones  on  two  large  plates,  the  lower  ones  on  a  sin- 
gle one,  which  correspond  with  the  two  others. 

LA'BYRINTH.  (Gr.  Aa6ur«>'0oj.)  Literally  a  place, 
usually  subterraneous,  full  of  inextricable  windings.  An- 
cient history  gives  an  account  of  four  celebrated  labyrinths; 
the  Cretan,  Egyptian,  Lemnian,  and  Italian.  The  first  was 
built  by  Da-dalus  at  the  instigation  of  Minos,  to  secure  the 
Minotaur ;  the  second  is  said  to  have  been  constructed  by 
Psammetichus,  king  of  Egypt ;  the  third  was  on  the  island 
of  Lemnos,  and  was  supported  by  columns  of  great  beauty; 
and  the  fourth  was  designed  by  Porsenna,  king  of  Etruria, 
as  a  tomb  for  himself  and  his  successors.  Of  these  laby- 
rinths the  Cretan  is  most  celebrated  in  the  historical  and 
mythological  writings  of  antiquity ;  but  the  Egyptian  was 
by  far  the  most  important,  both  in  extent  and  magnificence. 
The  latter,  which  was  built  on  the  isle  of  Meroe,  was  a  vast 
edifice,  composed  of  twelve  palaces,  all  contained  within 
the  compass  of  one  wall,  and  communicating  with  each 
other.  It  had  only  one  entrance ;  but  the  innumerable  turn- 
ings and  windings  of  the  terraces  and  rooms  of  which  it  con- 
sisted rendered  it  impossible  for  those  who  had  once  entered 
within  its  walls  to  get  out  without  a  guide.  It  is  said  to  have 
been  designed  either  as  a  burial-place  for  the  Egyptian  kings, 
or  for  the  preservation  of  the  sacred  crocodiles,  the  chief 
objects  of  Egyptian  idolatry.  It  was  partly  demolished  be- 
tween the  reigns  of  Augustus  and  Titus;  but  even  at  the 
period  of  Pliny's  visit,  its  ruins  were  magnificent.  (Pliny, 
lib.  xxxv.)  Pococke's  History  of  the  East  (vol.  i.,  p.  61,  &c), 
and  Perry's  View  of  the  Levant  (p.  381),  contain  a  plan 
and  description  of  the  modern  state  of  this  labyrinth.  With 
regard  to  the  labyrinth  of  Crete,  no  doubt  can  now  remain, 
after  the  statements  of  Cockerell  and  Tournefort,  that  its 
existence  was  a  reality,  and  not  merely  a  fabulous  creation 
of  the  Grecian  imagination.  According  to  these  travellers 
the  island  of  Crete  abounds  even  at  the  present  day  in  ex- 
tensive caverns,  one  of  which,  consisting  principally  of  many 
long  windings  and  narrow  passages  that  can  only  be  safely 
explored  by  means  of  a  clue,  exhibits  a  wonderful  similarity 
I  in  all  essential  particulars  to  the  famous  labyrinth  of  Didalus. 
i  It  is  impossible,  at  this  distant  period,  to  pronounce  with 
certainty  on  so  difficult  a  question ;  but  the  substantial  coin- 
cidences that  exist  between  the  ancient  and  modern  laby- 
rinths seem  to  leave  little  doubt  as  to  their  identity.  (See 
Geo.  Diet.,  art.  "  Crete.") 

La'byrinth.  In  Metallurgy,  a  series  of  troughs  attached 
to  a  stamping  mill,  through  which  a  current  of  water  passes 
for  the  purpose  of  washing  away  the  suspended  pulverized 
ore,  and  subsequently  depositing  it  at  different  distances,  de- 
pending upon  its  state  of  comminution. 

La'byrinth.  A  term  applied  by  anatomists  to  the  inter- 
nal parts  of  the  ear,  from  the  intricacy  of  their  winding  pas- 
sages.    Sec  Ear. 

LABYRFNTHODON.  (Gr.  \a6vptv6oc,  and  olovs,  a  tooth.) 
The  name  of  an  extinct  genus  of  Reptiles,  probably  of  the 
Batrachian  order,  characterized  by  teeth  of  a  peculiarly 
complicated  structure,  the  outer  coat  of  enamel  being  inflect- 
ed in  complex  wavy  folds  into  the  body  of  the  tooth,  and 
alternating  with  corresponding  wavy  plates  of  dentine,  which 
give  the  appearance  of  a  labyrinth  to  the  transverse  section 
of  the  tooth.  The  remains  of  the  reptiles  of  this  genus 
peculiarly  characterize  the  Keuper  formation  of  Germany, 
and  the  corresponding  sandstones,  as  that  of  Warwick  in 
England. 

LAC.  This  substance  flows  from  the  Ficus  indica,  the 
Khamnus  jujuba,  and  some  other  trees,  in  the  form  of  a 
milky  fluid,  in  consequence  of  punctures  made  upon  their 
branches  by  a  small  insect,  the  Coccus  ficus.  The  commer- 
cial varieties  of  lac  are,  stick  lac,  which  is  the  substance  in 
its  natural  state,  investing  the  small  twigs  of  the  tree;  seed 
lac,  which  is  the  same,  broken  off  the  twigs,  and  which 
when  melted  and  formed  into  thin  cakes  constitutes  shell 
lac.  These  varieties  of  lac  have  been  examined  by  Mr. 
Hatchett  (Phil.  Trans.,  1804),  with  the  following  results  :— 


Resin 

Colouring  matter 

Wax 

Gluten 

Foreign  bodies  - 

Lon 


Nick  lac. 

Seed  lac. 

8S-5 

Shell  lac 

680 

90-9 

10-0 

2  5 

05 

M 

4-5 

40 

5-5 

20 

2-8 

6  5 

40 

25 

1-8 

1000 

100  0 

100  0 

The  great  consumption  of  lac  is  in  the  manufacture  of 
636 


LACHRYMATORY. 

dye  stuffs,  sealing  wax,  and  of  certain  varnishes  and  lac- 
quers. 

LA'CCIC  ACID.  A  peculiar  acid  separated  from  stick 
lac  by  Dr.  John.  It  is  yellow,  crystallizable  ;  and  forms 
soluble  salts  with  potassa,  soda,  and  lime,  and  insoluble 
sails  with  the  oxides  of  mercury  and  lead.  It  occasions  no 
precipitate  in  solution  of  baryta  or  of  oxide  of  silver. 

LACCINE.  A  substance  discovered  in  shell  lac  by  Un- 
verdorben.  It  remains  after  all  the  soluble  matters  in  water, 
alcohol,  and  ether  have  been  extracted.  It  is  brittle,  yellow, 
translucent;  and  soluble  in  caustic  potash,  and  in  sulphuric 
acid. 

LAC  DYE,  LAC  LAKE.  These  are  two  preparations 
of  lac  imported  in  small  cubic  cakes  from  the  East  Indies, 
and  extensively  used  in  the  production  of  scarlet  dye.  They 
are  said  to  be  prepared  by  digesting  lac  in  an  alkaline  solu- 
tion, which  produces  a  deep  pink  liquid,  the  colouring  mat 
ter  of  which  is  thrown  down  in  combination  with  alumina 
by  the  addition  of  a  solution  of  alum. 

LACE.  (Lat.  lacinia,  the  hem  of  a  garment.)  An  orna- 
mental fabric  of  linen  or  cotton  thread,  formerly  made  by 
hand  (when  it  was  called  pillow  or  bone  lace),  but  of  late 
years  produced  by  machinery,  and  generally  termed  bobbin- 
net.  "  This  manufacture,"  says  Dr.  Ure,  "  may  be  said  to 
surpass  every  other  branch  of  human  industry  in  the  com- 
plex ingenuity  of  its  machinery ;  one  of  Fisher's  spotting 
frames  being  as  much  beyond  the  most  curious  chronometer 
in  the  multiplicity  of  mechanical  device,  as  that  is  beyond  a 
common  roasting  jack." 

The  costly  and  complicated  machines  by  means  of  which 
bobbin-net  is  produced  are  termed  lace  frames.  They  are 
constantly  undergoing  improvements,  and  this  beautiful 
branch  of  manufacture  is  apparently  destined  to  become 
much  more  perfect  than  even  at  present. 

A  rack  of  lace  is  a  certain  number  of  meshes  counted  per- 
pendicularly, and  contains  240  meshes  or  holes ;  and  such 
has  already  been  the  improvement  in  this  manufacture,  that 
the  cost  of  labour  in  making  a  rack,  which  was  twenty 
years  ago  three  shillings  and  sixpence,  is  now  reduced  to  one 
penny.  Formerly  the  wholesale  price  of  a  24-rack  piece, 
five  quarters  broad,  was  17/.  sterling  ;  the  same  is  now  sold 
for  seven  shillings.  In  the  Commercial  Dictionary  will  be 
found  full  statistical  details  of  the  value  of  the  lace  manu- 
facture in  this  country,  together  with  a  learned  and  curious 
account  of  the  origin  and  history  of  the  fabric. 

LACE'RNA.  A  long  woollen  military  cloak,  worn  at 
first  only  by  the  Roman  soldiers,  but  which  increased  so  much 
in  fashion  that  at  the  period  of  the  triumvirate  it  became  a 
favourite  piece  of  dress  with  all  the  higher  classes  of  Ro- 
man citizens,  both  civil  and  military,  and  remained  so  till 
the  times  of  the  emperors  Valentinian  and  Theodosius, 
when  the  senators  were  prohibited  from  wearing  them  in 
the  city.  Martial  speaks  of  lacerna?  which  cost  10,000  ses- 
terces (80/.) 

LACE'RTA.  (Lat.)  The  Lizard;  a  constellation  of  the 
northern  hemisphere,  near  Cepheus  and  Cassiopeia,  formed 
by  Hevelius. 

LACE'RTIANS,  or  LACERTINE  SAURIA.  A  name 
sometimes  given  to  a  primary  division  of  the  order  Sauria 
of  Cuvier,  including  all  those  species  which  differ  from  the 
Loricate  or  Crocodilian  Sauria  in  having  a  direct  communi- 
cation between  the  ventricles  of  the  heart,  a  double  intromit- 
tent  organ,  a  tongue  bifurcate  or  emarginate  at  the  tip,  an 
ear-drum  unprotected  by  an  opercular  fold,  and  a  covering 
of  scales  sometimes  bony,  without  osseous  plates  or  scutte. 

LACE'RTIDiE.  tLat.  lacerta,  a  lizard.)  A  group  of 
the  order  Sauria,  forming  the  second  family  in  the  Cuvierian 
system,  in  which  the  characters  are  given  as  follows : 
Tongue  long,  slender,  extensible,  and  burficate  at  the  ex- 
tremity, as  in  the  serpent  tribe ;  ear-drum  membranous,  on 
a  level  with  the  surface  of  the  head,  or  very  slightly  sunk  ; 
eyelids  consisting  of  a  production  of  the  skin,  with  a  longi- 
tudinal slit,  closed  by  a  sphincter,  and  a  rudimental  nictita- 
ting or  third  eye-lid ;  body  elongated ;  feet  wilh  five  toes 
each;  digits  separate  and  unequal,  particularly  the  hind 
ones,  all  aimed  with  nails  ;  scales  on  the  belly  and  round 
the  tail  arranged  in  transverse  and  parallel  hands.  Cuvier 
subdivides  the  Lacerlida  into  two  great  genera,  Monitor  and 
Lacerta,  each  of  which  have  been  again  subdivided. 

LA'CHES.  (Fr.  lache,  negligent.)  In  Law,  slackness 
or  negligence.  A  term  used  to  signify  that  degree  of  negli- 
gence which  throws  on  the  party  committing  it  the  evil  con- 
sequences resulting  to  him  from  it. 

LA'CHRYMAL.  Relating  to  tears;  as  the  lachrymal 
glands,  by  which  they  are  secreted.  They  are  placed  in  a 
depression  of  the  frontal  bone,  above  the  external  angle  of 
tin  eye  the  tears  pass  from  them  to  the  eye  by  the  lachry- 
mal duels,  which  are  six  or  eight  in  number. 

LA'CHRYMATORY.  A  small  vessel  of  glass  or  earth- 
enwnre,  which  it  was  customary  at  Roman  funerals  to  fill 
with  the  tears  of  the  mourners,  and  deposit  them  with  the 
ashes  of  the  deceased  in  the  sepulchre. 


LACK. 

LACK.  In  Commerce,  a  word  used  in  the  East  Indies, 
to  denote  the  sum  of  100,000  rupees,  or  12,000/.  sterling. 

LACI'NULA.  In  Botany,  a  term  given  to  the  abruptly 
inflexed  acumen  of  each  of  the  petals  of  an  umbelliferous 
flower. 

LACO'NICUM.  (Lat.)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  an 
apartment  in  the  baths,  which  received  its  name  from  hav- 
ing been  first  used  in  Laconia. 

LA'CONISM.  A  short  and  pointed  saying;  so  termed 
from  the  celebrity  which  the  Lacedaemonians  enjoyed  in 
antiquity  for  their  brief  and  sententious  mode  of  expressing 
themselves  produced  by  the  severe  discipline  of  their  institu- 
tions, and  the  gravity  which  it  engendered.  When  they 
became  famous  for  this  quality,  they  appear  to  have  begun 
to  aim  at  the  exhibition  of  it  in  rather  an  affected  manner, 
of  which  some  curious  instances  are  contained  in  Herodotus. 
None  of  the  many  Laconisms  recorded  in  ancient  history 
are  more  noble  than  the  expression  of  the  Spartan  mother  to 
her  son,  when  presenting  him  with  his  buckler :  r]  rav  h  bn 
rav — "  either  bring  it  back,  or  be  brought  home  dead  upon 
it."     There  is  an  essay  by  Puteanus,  De  Laconismo. 

LA'CQUER.  A  yellow  varnish,  consisting  of  a  solution 
of  shell  lac  in  alcohol,  coloured  by  gamboge,  saffron,  annotto, 
or  other  yellow,  orange,  or  red  colouring  matters.  Lacquers 
are  chiefly  used  for  varnishing  brass  and  some  other  metals, 
in  order  to  give  them  a  golden  colour  and  preserve  their 
lustre. 

LACTA'RIUM.  (Lat.)  In  Architecture,  strictly  a  dairy 
house.  In  Ancient  Architecture,  it  was  a  place  in  the  Ro- 
man herb  market,  indicated  by  a  column,  called  the  Lacta- 
ria  Columna,  where  foundlings  were  fed  and  nourished. 

LA'CTEALS.  (Lat.  lac,  milk.)  The  absorbents  of  the 
mesentery,  which  convey  the  milky  fluid  called  chyle  from 
the  small  intestines  to  the  thoracic  ducts. 

LA'CTIC  ACID.  (Lat.  lac.)  The  acid  of  sour  milk. 
A  similar  acid  is  obtained  from  the  fermented  juice  of  the 
beet  root.  It  appears  to  consist  of  6  atoms  of  carbon,  5  of 
hydrogen,  and  5  of  oxygen,  its  equivalent  being  81. 

LACTO'METER.  (Lat.  lac,  and  metrum,  a  measure.) 
A  term  applied  to  a  glass  tube  for  ascertaining  the  propor- 
tion which  the  cream  bears  to  the  milk  of  any  particular 
cow,  or  of  the  produce  of  a  whole  dairy.  The  tube  is  about 
half  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  a  foot  in  height,  with  a  grad- 
uated scale  marked  on  the  outside.  It  is  filled  with  milk 
when  newly  drawn  from  the  cow ;  and  as  it  cools,  the  cream 
rises  to  the  surface,  and  the  proportion  which  it  bears  to  the 
milk  is  ascertained  by  counting  the  degrees  opposite  to  each. 

LACTU'CARIUM.  The  inspissated  milky  juice  of  the 
Lactuca  saliva,  or  common  garden  lettuce.  It  possesses 
slight  anodyne  properties,  and  is  sometimes  used  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  opium. 

LACTU'CIC  ACID.  A  peculiar  acid,  discovered  by 
Pfaff  in  the  juice  of  the  Lactuca  virosa.  It  bears  some 
resemblance  to  oxalic  acid ;  but  differs  from  it  in  giving  a 
green  precipitate  with  the  protosalts  of  iron,  and  a  brown 
precipitate  with  sulphate  of  copper. 

LACU'NA.  (Lat.)  In  Botany,  a  term  applied  in  de- 
scribing lichens,  to  denote  one  of  the  small  hollows  or  pits 
on  the  upper  surface  of  the  thallus.  Also  a  name  given 
occasionally  to  the  internal  organ,  commonly  called  an  air- 
cell,  lying  in  the  midst  of  the  cellular  tissue  of  plants. 

LACU'NAR.  (Lat.)  In  Architecture,  the  ceiling  or  un- 
der surface  of  the  member  of  an  order.  Also  the  under 
side  of  the  larmier  or  corona  of  a  cornice.  The  under  side 
also  of  that  part  of  the  architrave  between  the  capitals  of 
columns.  The  ceiling  of  any  part  in  architecture  only  re- 
ceives the  name  of  lacunar  when  it  consists  of  compart- 
ments sunk  or  hollowed  without  spaces  or  bands  between 
the  panels :  if  it  is  with  bands,  it  is  called  laquear. 

LACUNO'SE.  (Lat.  lacuna,  a  break.)  In  Zoology, 
when  a  surface  has  a  few  scattered,  irregular,  broadish,  but 
shallow  excavations. 

LACU'STRINE.  (Lat.  lac-us,  a  lake.)  Belonging  to  a 
lake.  The  term  lacustrine  deposit  is  applied  by  geologists 
to  certain  fresh-water  formations  which  occur  in  the  newer 
rocks.     See  Geology. 

LA'DDER.  The  sea  term  for  the  staircases  between  the 
decks.    Ladders  are  also  made  of  rope. 

LA'DY.  A  title  said  to  be  compounded  of  two  Saxon 
words,  and  to  signify  the  giver  or  distributor  of  bread ;  i.  e., 
the  mistress  of  a  family.  It  properly  belongs  to  the  daugh- 
ters of  all  peers  above  the  rank  of  a  viscount;  and  is  ex- 
tended, by  courtesy,  to  the  wives  of  knights  of  every  degree. 

LA'DY  DAY.  In  the  Calendar,  the  25th  of  March,  be- 
ing the  annunciation  of  the  Holy  Virgin.  It  is  one  of  the 
immoveable  festivals  of  the  church,  having  relation  to 
Christmas,  or  the  day  of  the  nativity  of  Christ,  which  it  pre- 
cedes by  nine  months. 

LiEMODI'PODS,  Lamodipoda.  (Gr.  Xaif/os,  throat,  novs, 
foot.)  The  name  of  an  order  of  Crustaceans,  in  which  the 
head  is  confluent  with  the  first  segment  of  the  thorax,  and 
supports  the  four  anterior  feet.    The  Ltemodipods  are  the 


LAMA. 

only  Malacostracans  with  sessile  eyes,  and  in  which  the  pos- 
terior extremity  of  the  body  exhibits  no  distinct  branchiae 
The  females  carry  their  ova  beneath  the  second  and  third 
segments  of  the  body,  in  a  pouch  formed  of  approximated 
scales.    All  the  species  are  marine. 

LA  GOMYS.  (Gr.  Xayois,  a  hare;  uvs,  a  mouse.)  The 
generic  name  of  certain  Rodents,  called  "rat-hares,"  now 
peculiar  to  Siberia.  They  differ  from  the  hares  proper  in 
having  moderate-sized  ears,  legs  nearly  equal,  clavicles 
nearly  perfect,  and  no  tail.  The  fossil  Bones  of  a  species 
of  Lagomys  have  been  discovered  in  the  osseous  breccia 
of  Corsica. 

LAGOO'N.  (Lat.  lacuna,  a  morass.)  The  name  given 
particularly  to  those  creeks  extending  along  the  coast  of  the 
Adriatic,  and  which  are  formed  by  water  running  up  in  the 
land.  In  some  places  they  are  deep ;  but  generally  they 
are  so  shallow  as  to  emit  noxious  exhalations.  They  con- 
tain many  islands,  on  sixty  of  which  the  city  of  Venice  is 
built.  Towards  the  sea  the  islets  are  secured  by  dams, 
either  natural  or  artificial. 

LAGO'PUS.  (Gr.  Xayus,  a  hare ;  kovs,  a  foot.)  The 
generic  name  of  those  birds  of  the  grouse  tribe  which  have 
a  round  or  square  tail,  and  whose  toes  are  feathered  as 
well  as  the  legs.     See  Ptarmigan. 

LAGO'STOMA.  (Gr.  Xayus,  and  croua,  the  mouth.)  The 
harelip. 

LA'GOTHRIX.  (Gr.  Xayuis ;  Opil,  a  hair.)  A  genus  of 
South  American  or  Platyrrhine  monkeys,  characterized  by 
their  round  head,  a  thumb  on  the  anterior  hand,  and  the  tail 
partly  naked.  The  grison,  or  silver-haired  monkey,  is  a  spe- 
cies of  this  genus. 

LAGRIMO'SO.  (Ital.)  In  Music,  a  direction  to  the  per- 
former, when  appended  to  a  piece  of  music,  denoting  that 
it  is  to  be  performed  in  a  weeping  plaintive  manner. 

LAIRD.  A  Scottish  term,  applied,  as  Libb  observes,  to 
"  a  landed  gentleman  under  the  degree  of  a  knight ;  but  re- 
garded by  many  philologists  as  originally  equivalent  to  lord 
(quod  vide).  Anciently  the  title  of  laird  was  given  only  to 
those  proprietors  who  held  immediately  of  the  crown ;  and 
this  distinction  is  still  preserved  in  the  Highlands.  The  de- 
signation tiern,  corresponding  to  laird,  and  rendered  by  it,  is 
given  to  no  one  whose  property  is  not  worth  two  or  three 
hundred  per  annum,  while  it  is  withheld  from  another 
whose  rental  extends  to  as  many  thousands ;  because  the 
former  acknowledges  no  superior  under  the  king,  while  the 
latter  does. 

LA'ITY.  (Gr.  Xaos,  people.)  The  great  body  of  the 
faithful,  as  opposed  to  those  who  are  set  apart  for  the  minis- 
tration of  the  services  and  sacraments — the  clergy.  This 
distinction  is  plainly  observed  in  the  writers  of  the  thud 
century- — Origen,  Cyprian,  and  Tertullian ;  and  is  generally 
supposed  to  have  prevailed  from  the  first  foundation  of 
Christianity.  The  word  laity  is  properly  a  general  name 
for  the  people :  in  the  writings  of  the  Fathers  piwnxoi,  secu- 
lars, iStuTai,  private  men,  and  Xaucoi,  laymen,  are  used  in- 
differently to  express  this  class. 

LAKE.  (Lat.  Lacus.)  In  Geography,  a  collection  of 
water  surrounded  by  land.  Lakes  are  divided  into  four  dis- 
tinct classes :  1.  Those  which  have  no  outlet,  and  receive 
no  running  water.  2.  those  which  have  an  outlet,  but  re- 
ceive no  superficial  running  water,  and  are  consequently 
fed  by  springs.  3.  Those  (by  far  the  most  numerous  class) 
which  both  receive  and  discharge  streams  of  water.  4. 
Those  which  receive  streams  of  water,  and  which  have  no 
visible  outlet  or  communication  with  the  sea.  The  Caspian 
Sea,  which  receives  the  Wolga  and  several  other  large 
rivers,  and  Lake  Aral,  which  receives  the  Amoo,  belong  to 
this  class.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  all  lakes  of  this  class 
are  salt.  Some  lakes  present  the  curious  phenomena  of 
disappearing  and  reappearing  periodically,  without  regard 
to  the  rainy  season.  Lake  Chirtunitz  in  Illyria  is  of  this 
description.  Some  of  them,  as  Loch  Lomond  in  Scotland, 
and  Lake  Wetter  in  Sweden,  experience  violent  agita- 
tions during  severe  weather.  This  may  be  supposed  to  pro- 
ceed from  an  escape  of  subterraneous  gasses,  or  winds 
blown  into  some  cavern  with  which  they  communicate; 
though  a  coincidence  of  dates  leaves  ground  to  suppose  that 
the  phenomenon  was  connected  with  earthquakes  in  distant 
countries. 

Lake.  A  compound  of  aluminous  earth  with  the  red 
colouring  matter  of  certain  animal  and  vegetable  substances ; 
thus  we  have  cochineal  and  lac  lakes,  madder  lake,  &c. 
Sometimes  the  term  lake  is  indiscriminately  applied  to  all 
compounds  of  alumina  and  colouring  matter. 

LALLA'TION.  The  imperfect  pronunciation  of  the  let- 
ter r,  which  is  made  to  sound  like  /;  hence  also  the  term 
lambdacismus.  The  imperfect  pronunciation  of  the  letter  r 
is  peculiar  to  the  Chinese. 

LA'MA.  (Mother  or  pastor  of  souls.)  Among  the  Mon- 
gols a  title  given  to  priests  in  general ;  among  the  Calmucks 
to  the  higher  classes  of  priests  only.  The  Dalai-Lama 
(i.  e..  Great  Lama)  is  honoured  as  the  representative  of  di- 

637 


LAMANTIN. 

vinity,  or  rather  as  a  real  divinity  dwelling  on  the  earth,  by 
various  tribes  of  Tartaric  descent.  This  personage  resides 
at  Lassa,  in  Thibet,  and  pilgrimages  arc  made  to  Ins  resi- 
dence by  tlie  inhabitantaof  many  distant  regions  of  Tart ary. 
He  is  now  chiefly  dependant,  in  a  ixilitical  sense,  on  tbe Chi- 
nese empire.  When  the  actual  Dalai-Lama  dies,  his  spirit 
is  supposed  to  seek  another  body  in  which  to  be  born  again  ; 
and  the  new  Dalai-Lama  can  only  be  discovered  by  a  cer- 
tain favoured  class  among  the  priests.  The  worshippers  of 
the  Dalai-Lama  also  pay  peculiar  reverence  to  two  other 
subordinate  Lamas  (Teeshoo  and  Taranaut  Lama.)  They 
are  distinguished  by  the  title  of  Yettoto  Caps:  the  Red 
Caps,  another  sect  in  Tartary,  are  under  three  other  Lamas, 
styled  the  three  S/iamonars. 

Lama,  Llama,  or  Glama.  The  name  of  a  species  of  the 
camel  tribe,  peculiar  to  South  America.     See  Auchknia. 

LAM  A'NTLV  The  name  given  by  French  naturalists  to 
the  manatee,  or  sea  COW.     See  Manati  9. 

LAMBDOI'DAL  SUTURK.  The  union  of  the  parietal 
with  the  occipital  bones ;  shaped  something  like  the  Greek 
letter  A,  or  lambda. 

LAME'LLA.  In  Botany,  a  term  applied  by  some  writers 
to  the  foliaceous  erect  scales  appended  to  the  corolla  of 
many  plants,  as  in  silent.  Also  used  in  describing  fungi,  to 
denote  the  gills  forming  the  hymenium  of  an  agaric. 

LAMELLIBRA  WCIHATES.  J.amcllibranehiata.  (Lat. 
lamella,  a  thin  platr ;  hranchia;,  g-ills.)  An  order  of  Ace- 
phalous Mollusks,  comprehending  those  which  have  the 
gills  in  the  form  of  large  semicircular  layers  disposed  sym- 
metrically, two  on  each  side. 

LAME'LLICORNS.  (Lat.  lamella,  a  plate;  cornu,  a 
horn.)  The  sixth  and  last  section  of  Pentamerous  Coleoptera 
of  the  system  of  Latreille,  in  which  the  antennre  are  inserted 
into  a  deep  fossula  under  the  lateral  margin  of  the  head :  they 
are  always  short,  usually  consist  of  nine  or  ten  joints,  and  are 
always  terminated  in  a  club,  usually  composed  of  the  three 
last,  which  are  lamellar.  Sometimes  tlabelliform,  or  dis- 
posed like  the  leaves  of  a  book,  opening  and  closing  in  a 
similar  way  ;  sometimes  concentrically  contorted  and  fitting 
into  each  other,  the  first  or  inferior  then  being  semi-infundi- 
buliform  and  receiving  the  others,  and  sometimes  arranged 
perpendicular  to  the  axis,  and  forming  a  sort  of  comb. 

The  body  is  generally  ovoid  or  oval,  and  thick.  The  ex- 
terior side  of  the  two  anterior  tibia;  is  dentated ;  and  the 
joints  of  the  tarsi,  with  the  exception  of  those  of  some 
males,  are  entire,  and  without  brush  or  pellet  beneath. 

The  anterior  extremity  of  the  head  most  commonly  pro- 
jects, or  is  dilated  in  the  manner  of  an  epistome.  The  men- 
Dim  is  usually  large,  covers  the  labrum,  or  is  incorporated 
with  it,  and  bears  the  palpi.  The  mandibles  of  several 
are  membranous,  a  character  observed  in  no  other  Coleopte- 
rous insects.  The  males  frequently  differ  from  the  females, 
either  by  prominences  on  the  thorax  or  head  in  the  form  of 
horns  or  tubercles,  or  by  the  largeness  of  their  mandibles. 

This  family  is  very  numerous ;  and  with  respect  to  the 
Bize  of  the  body,  and  the  variety  of  forms  exhibited  in  the 
head  and  thorax,  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  the  order ; 
and  frequently,  also,  as  regards  the  splendour  of  the  metallic 
colours  which  ornament  those  species  feeding  on  living  ve- 
getables. The  other  species,  however,  feeding  on  decom- 
posed vegetable  matter,  arc  usually  of  one  black  or  brown 
hue.  Some  of  the  Coprophagi,  however,  do  not  yield  even 
in  this  respect  to  the  former.  They  are  all  furnished  with 
win^s,  and  their  gait  is  heavy. 

The  body  of  the  larva  is  long,  almost  semicylindrical, 
soft,  frequently  rugose,  whitish,  and  divided  into  twelve  an- 
nuli,  witb  six  squamous  feet:  the  head  is  squamous,  and 
armed  with  stout  mandibles.  Each  side  of  the  body  is  fur- 
nished with  nine  stigmata,  or  breathing  pores.  Its  posterior 
extremity  is  thicker,  rounded,  and  almost  always  doubled 
under  it;  so  that  the  back  being  arcuated  or  convex,  the 
animal  cannot  extend  itself  in  a  straight  line,  crawls  badly 
on  a  level  surface,  and  falls  backwards  or  on  its  side  every 
instant. 

Some  of  them  require  three  or  four  years  to  hecome  pups : 
they  construct  in  their  place  of  residence  an  ovoid  shell,  or 
one  resembling  an  elongated  ball,  composed  of  earth  or  the 
remains  of  substances  they  have  gnawed,  the  particles  of 
which  are  cemented  by  a  glutinous  matter  produced  from 
their  body.  Their  aliment  consists  of  the  dung  of  various 
animals,  mould,  and  the  roots  of  vegetables  (frequently  such 
ns  are  necessary  to  man),  of  which  they  sometimes  destroy 
immense  quantities,  to  the  great  loss  of  the  cultivator  of  the 
soil. 

LAMELLIRO'STRALS,  Lamellirostres.  (Lat. lamella, 
a  tain  platr  ;  rostrum,  a  beak.)  A  tribe  of  .swimming  birds, 
the  fourth  in  tlie  system  of  Cuvier,  comprehending  those  in 
which  the  margin  of  the  beaks  are  furnished  with  numerous 
lamella1  or  dental  plates,  arranged  in  a  regular  series,  as  in 
the  swan,  goose,  and  duck.  The  birds  comprised  in  this 
family  pass  most  of  their  time  in  the  fresh  waters.  Some 
tome  on  shore  to  graze ;   others  feed  on  aquatic  plants,  in- 


LAMP. 

sects,  vermes,  or  small  fish  and  reptiles,  which  their  long 
neck  enables  them  to  reach  or  seize  witli  facility.  Some 
of  the  species  dive  in  quest  of  their  prey,  and  can  remain  a 
considerable  lime  under  water.  All  the  Laniellirosters  of 
Cuvier  were  comprised  in  the  great  genus  Anas  of  Linnaeus. 
LAMIA.  (Gr.  Aauia.)  An  imaginary  being,  concern- 
ii!«  which  many  superstitious  notions  were  prevalent  among 
the  Greeks  and  Romans;  sometimes  represented  as  a  spe- 
cies of  monstrous  animal,  sometimes  as  a  spectre  or  vam- 
pire. The  Lamia;  of  Pliny  are  animals,  with  the  face  and 
head  of  a  woman  and  tail  of  a  serpent,  inhabiting  the  des- 
erts of  Africa.  According  to  mycologists,  the  first  Lamia 
w  as  daughter  of  Neptune,  a  malevolent  goddess,  who  seizes 
and  devours  new-born  infants  in  their  cradles:  whence 
Horace's  caution  to  tragic  writers  against  indulging  in  the 
description  of  unnatural  horrors : 

Nee  prans«  Lamise  vivum  puerum  extrahat  aWo. 

In  the  well-known  story  of  Machates  and  Philemon, 
(from  which  (locthe  has  borrowed  his  magnificent  ballad  of 
the  Bride  of  Corinth),  a  young  man  is  represented  as  mar- 
rying a  Lamia,  or  Empusa,  who  sucks  his  blood  at  night.  A 
similar  tale  occurs  in  the  Life  of  Jipollonius  of  Tyana,  by 
I'hilostratus.  The  Christian  superstition  of  incubi,  and  the 
( Mental  belief  in  vampires,  seem  to  bear  marks  of  the  same 
origin. 

LAMI'DjE.  (Lat.  lamia,  the  name  of  an  imaginary  ani- 
mal in  Pliny.)  The  subdivision  or  family  of  l^amina,  in 
which  the  sides  of  the  thorax  are  either  smooth  and  round- 
ed, or  tuberculate,  rugous,  or  spiny,  but  not  furnished  with 
movable  tubercles  or  spines. 

LAMI'NjE.  (Lat.  lamia.)  A  tribe  of  Longicorn  beetles, 
distinguished,  according  to  Latreille,  by  their  vertical  head  ; 
filiform  palpi,  whose  terminal  joint  is  more  or  less  ovoid,  and 
tapers  to  a  point ;  maxilla;  with  the  outer  lobe  slightly  nar- 
rowed at  the  end ;  antenna;  frequently  setaceous  and  sim- 
ple ;  and  thorax,  exclusive  of  the  lateral  spines  or  tubercles, 
nearly  equal  throughout.  Some  species  are  apterous,  a 
modification  which  occurs  in  no  other  tribe  of  Longicoru 
beetles. 

LA'MINARITES.  A  term  applied  by  Brogniart  to  a 
species  of  fossil  fucies  found  in  the  secondary  strata  of  Aix, 
near  La  Rochelle. 

LA'MMAS  DAY.  In  the  Calendar,  the  1st  of  August. 
Dr.  Johnson  supposes  this  term  to  be  a  corruption  of  Latter- 
math,  which  signifies  a  second  mowing  of  grass.  Others 
derive  it  from  a  custom  which  once  prevailed  in  some  parts 
of  England,  of  bringing  a  lamb  alive  on  this  day  into  the 
church  at  high  mass.  Others  again  derive  it  from  a  Saxon 
term  signifying  loaf-mass,  so  named  as  a  feast  of  thanks- 
giving for  the  first  fruits  of  the  com. 

LAMP.  (Gr.  Xa^crac.)  The  general  term  for  the  well- 
known  contrivances  used  in  producing  artificial  light  from 
the  combustion  of  liquid  or  other  inflammable  bodies.  The 
peculiar  applicability  of  oil  to  the  production  of  artificial 
light,  which  could  not  fail  to  be  discovered  ut  a  very  early 
period,  rendered  the  use  of  lamps  universal  among  the  na- 
tions of  antiquity.  The  Egyptians,  the  Hebrews,  Greeks,  and 
Romans,  vied  with  each  other  in  tlie  construction  of  these 
instruments ;  and  the  specimens  of  some  that  have  been 
transmitted  to  our  times  display  much  taste  and  elegance  of 
external  design.  It  would  seem,  however,  that  the  ancients 
had  confined  themselves  merely  to  the  external  embellish- 
ment of  the  lamp ;  for  it  is  a  singular  circumstance,  that  not- 
w  ithstanding  the  simplicity  of  the  invention,  and  its  obvious 
capability  of  improvement,  it  is  only  within  the  last  sixty 
years  that  any  material  improvement  has  been  effected  in 
its  original  construction.  To  give  anything  like  a  complete 
View  of  the  principles  and  structure  of  the  numerous  lamps 
of  which  the  present  age  has  witnessed  the  invention,  would 
be  quite  impracticable  without  a  multiplicity  of  illustrative 
diagrams,  which  would  be  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  this 
work  ;  but  a  brief  notice  of  the  principle  on  which  the  action 
of  every  lamp,  both  simple  and  complicated,  depends,  and 
of  some  of  the  most  celebrated  improvements  in  their  struc- 
ture, may  not  be  considered  out  of  place. 

The  most  simple  lamp  consists  in  a  vessel  of  any  shape 
filled  with  oil  or  other  inflammable  liquid,  and  having  n 
short  depression  or  spout  on  one  side,  in  which  lies  a  wick 
composed  of  any  fibrous  substance,  and  capable  of  imbibing 
the  oil  by  it"  capillary  attraction.  The  oil  thus  raised  and 
diffused  through  the  wick,  when  ignited,  admits  of  being 
heated  to  such  a  degree  of  temperature  as  is  capable  of  vola 
tili/.ing  the  oil,  the  vapour  of  which,  in  a  state  of  combus- 
tion, constitutes  the  flame  of  the  lamp.    The  wick  of  a  lamp 

serves  only  tor  the  purpose  of  raising  up  the  oil  by  capillary 
attraction,  and  thus  giving  a  constant  and  adequate  supply 
to  the  flame.  It  furnishes  no  part  of  the  light  by  the  com- 
bustion of  its  own  substance;  for  the  quantity  consumed  is 
too  small  to  merit  attention,  and  it  is  usually  coated  over 
with  a  broad  deposit  of  carbonaceous  matter,  which  cannot 
buru  for  want  of  the  access  of  air,  from  which  it  is  kept  by 


LAMPADEPHORIA. 

the  flame.  To  render  the  air  accessible  to  every  part  of  the 
flame  in  order  to  ensure  the  most  perfect  combustion  of  the 
oil,  is  one  of  the  most  essential  objects  in  the  modern  im- 
provement of  lamps ;  and  hence  the  texture,  materials,  and 
dimensions  of  the  wick  are  matters  of  much  importance.  If, 
on  the  one  hand,  the  wick  be  large,  a  great  deal  of  carbon 
vapour  remains  unbunit  in  the  interior  of  the  flame,  and 
breaks  out  in  the  form  of  smoke,  producing  a  most  disagree- 
able smell ;  and  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the  wick  be  too  small, 
though  the  unconsumed  carbon  will  naturally  be  less,  and 
the  flame  consequently  clearer  than  those  of  the  larger  wick, 
it  will  yield  but  very'  little  light,  as  the  light  diminishes  with 
the  superficies  of  the  flame.  The  inconvenience  of  a  thick 
wick  had  been  long  observed,  and  attempts  were  often  made 
to  remove  it ;  in  some  instances  by  substituting  two  or  more 
small  wicks  for  one  large  one,  and  in  others  by  making  the 
wick  flat  instead  of  cylindrical.  These  experiments,  though 
limited  in  their  operation,  were  no  doubt  beneficial ;  and  in 
houses  where  economy  more  than  elegance  was  studied, 
they  procured  for  the  lamp  a  more  extended  use  than  it  pre- 
viously enjoyed.  Still,  however,  the  smoke  and  disagreeable 
smell  arising  from  the  burning  of  oil  in  common  lamps,  and 
the  unsightly  appearance  of  the  whole  process,  had  Ion? 
banished  the  lamp  from  the  apartments  of  the  wealthy ;  and 
)t  was  not  till  the  year  1780,  when  M.  Argand  invented  the 
well-known  lamp  which  bears  his  name,  that  the  instrument 
came  into  general  use.  This  invention  embraces  so  many 
improvements  upon  the  common  lamp,  and  has  become  so 
general  throughout  Europe,  that  it  may  be  justly  regarded 
us  one  of  the  greatest  discoveries  of  the  age.  As  a  substi- 
tute even  for  the  best  wax  candles,  it  combines  the  advantage 
of  economy  and  convenience,  with  much  greater  brilliance ; 
while  even  as  a  means  of  producing  heat  it  is  found  to  be  of 
most  essential  service  in  chemical  operations.  The  great 
principle  on  which  the  superiority  of  this  lamp  depends  is  the 
admission  of  a  quantity  of  air  into  the  centre  of  the  flame. 
This  Argand  accomplished  by  making  the  wick  of  a  circular 
form,  instead  of  a  solid  cylinder  as  before ;  by  which  means 
a  current  of  air  rushes  through  the  hollow  cylinder  while 
the  wick  is  burning,  thus  admitting  air  into  the  centre  of  the 
flame.  Improving  upon  this  invention,  which  was  found 
perfectly  to  succeed,  he  added  a  glass  cylinder  or  chimney, 
open  at  bottom,  to  surround  the  flame  at  a  short  distance ; 
by  which  another  current  of  air  is  made  to  pass  upwards  on 
the  exterior  part  of  the  flame,  and  between  it  and  the  glass. 
Thus  every  part  of  the  thin  circular  flame  is  between  two 
currents  of  air,  which  supply  the  combustion  with  such  a 
quantity  of  oxygen  as  to  create  a  heat  sufficient  to  convert 
into  a  brilliant  flame  the  smoke  which  escapes  from  an  or- 
dinary lamp. 

Such  is  a  brief  account  of  the  leading  principles  of  Ar- 
gand's  invention.  Various  improvements  have  since  been 
made  on  the  original  by  the  Sinumbra,  the  French,  the  Iris 
lamp  (now  in  general  use  as  a  table-lamp),  and  a  variety  of 
others,  which  it  would  be  superfluous  to  enumerate;  all  of 
which,  however,  may  be  regarded  as  improvements  more  of 
detail  than  principle.  Indeed,  the  great  merit  of  Argand's 
invention  consists  in  the  facility  with  which  it  can  be  in- 
grafted on  lamps  of  every  variety  of  form  and  structure, 
while  not  all  the  beauty  of  design  and  execution  witnessed 
in  the  endless  diversity  of  the  lamps  at  present  in  general 
use  would  be  sufficient  to  procure  for  them  any  considera 
ble  notice,  if  they  were  destitute  of  the  Argand  principle. 
This  facility  of  general  application  has  recently  been  ex- 
emplified in  an  ingenious  invention,  by  which  lamps  on  the 
Argand  principle  have  been  made  to  burn  the  common  fish 
oil  instead  of  spermaceti,  which  had  hitherto  been  indis- 
pensable. This  improvement,  which  is  so  desirable  in  an 
economical  point  of  view,  consists  chiefly  in  an  extension  of 
Argand's  original  principle ;  viz.,  in  supplying  the  flame  with 
a  greater  quantity  of  oxygen  than  had  hitherto  been  effect- 
ed. This  is  accomplished  by  means  of  apertures  in  the  sides 
of  the  lamp,  and  a  cap  with  a  deflector ;  but  in  applying  this 
improvement  to  lamps  on  Argand's  principle,  a  larger  and 
coarser  kind  of  wick  must  be  employed,  and  the  tubes  with 
which  the  burners  and  the  wick  are  supplied  with  oil  must 
also  be  enlarged.  Lamps  constructed  on  this  principle  are 
designated  solar  lamps.  The  best  account  of  lamps  is  to  be 
found  in  Peclet,  Traite  de  I'  Eclairage,  Paris,  1827 ;  and  in 
Kruniti's  Encyclop.,  an.  "  Lampe."  See  also  the  Haus 
Lexicon. 

LAMPADEPHCRIA.  (Gr.  XaixnaSvpoph,  a  carrying 
of  torches.)  A  torch  race,  which  it  was  customary  to  ex- 
hibit at  certain  sacred  festivals  at  Athens.  The  performers 
were  three  young  men,  to  one  of  whom,  chosen  by  lot,  was 
given  a  lighted  torch,  which  he  was  to  carry  to  the  goal  un- 
extinguished;  or  if  he  failed,  to  deliver  it  to  the  second; 
who,  if  he  failed  also,  gave  it  to  the  third :  whence  a  meta- 
phor is  sometimes  derived  by  ancient  writers,  to  be  applied 
to  persons  who  anxiously  wait  for  the  deaths  of  others.  If 
the  runners  slackened  their  pace,  they  were  driven  on  by 
the  blows  of  the  spectators.    This  ancient  usage  is  beauli- 


LANCE. 

I  fully  applied  by  Lucretius  to  the  succession  of  human  gen- 
!  erations: 

Et,  quasi  cursored,  vitai  lampada  tradimt. 

LAMPBLACK.  Finely  divided  charcoal.  It  is  the  soot 
obtained  by  the  imperfect  combustion  of  resin  of  turpentine ; 
this  is  burned  in  chambers  hung  with  old  sacking,  upon 
which  the  smoke  collects,  and  is  from  time  to  time  scraped 
off.  It  contains  about  -20  per  cent,  of  peculiar  resinous  pro- 
ducts, water,  and  saline  matter. 

LA'MPIC  ACID.  A  term  given  by  Mr.  Daniell  to  the 
acid  produced  by  the  slow  combustion  of  the  vapour  of  al- 
cohol and  etiier  in  the  lamp  without  flame:  he  has  since 
ascertained  that  it  is  acetic  acid  modified  by  the  presence  of 
a  peculiar  hydrocarbon. 

LAMPOO'N.     See  Satire. 

LAMP,  SAFETY.     See  Safety  Lamp. 

LAMPY'RID^E.  Glow-worms.  (Gr.  \apr>vpi<;,  a  glow- 
worm.) A  family  of  soft-skinned  Serricorn  beetles,  of  the 
tribe  Lampyrinm  (which  see),  characterized  by  antenna? 
closely  approximated  at  their  base ;  head  concealed  beneath 
the  thorax,  or  produced  in  the  form  of  a  snout ;  eyes  of  the 
males  large  and  globular;  mouth  small.  In  one  division 
the  abdomen  of  the  female  is  luminous ;  and  the  male,  which 
is  destined  to  be  attracted  by  this  luminosity,  has  his  head 
almost  entirely  occupied  by  his  largely  developed  eyes,  and 
it  is  not  produced  in  the  form  of  a  snout.  The  luminous 
property  of  the  glow-worm  is  confined  to  the  two  or  three 
terminal  segments  of  the  flattened  abdomen,  which  differ  in 
colour  from  the  rest,  and  are  usually  yellowish  or  whitish  ; 
this  character  is  peculiar  to  the  true  glow-worms,  and  an- 
nounces their  phosphorescence.  The  light  diffused  by  the 
glow-worm  is  of  a  lambent,  electric,  greenish  colour :  the  in- 
sect can  vary  or  suspend  its  luminosity  at  will.  The  light- 
emitting  segments  preserve  their  peculiar  property  for  some 
time  after  being  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  body,  and 
manifest  it  even  in  vacuo,  or  when  immersed  in  gases  which 
are  not  supporters  of  combustion. 

In  a  second  division  of  Lampyrida  the  females  are  not 
luminous,  but  are  provided  with  wings;  the  head  is  exposed, 
and  is  mostly  produced  in  the  shape  of  a  snout;  the  thorax 
is  widened  posteriorly,  with  pointed  lateral  angles.  The 
elytra,  in  several,  expand  posteriorly,  where  they  are  some- 
times strongly  dilated  or  rounded,  especially  in  the  females. 
To  this  group  belong  the  genera  Lycus,  Uictyoptcra,  and 
Omalisus. 

LAMPY'RIX^E.  (Gr.  Xaprrvptc,  a  glow-icorm.)  A  Lin- 
naan  genus  of  Coleopterous  insects,  which  constitutes  the 
type  of  the  present  tribe  of  the  soft-skinned  or  Malacoderm- 
ous  Serricorns  in  the  system  of  Latreille.  This  tribe  is 
characterized  by  the  enlarged  termination  of  the  palpi,  or  at 
least  of  the  maxillary  palpi;  by  their  soft,  straisht,  depress- 
ed, or  but  slightly  convex  body ;  and  by  the  thorax,  some- 
times semicircular,  at  others  nearly  square  or  trapezoidal, 
and  projecting  over  the  head,  which  it  either  wholly  or  par- 
tially covers.  The  mandibles  are  usually  small,  arid  termi- 
nate in  a  slender,  arcuated,  very  acute  point,  which  is  gen- 
erally entire.  The  penultimate  joint  of  the  tarsi  is  always 
bilobate,  and  the  terminal  claws  have  neither  dentations  nor 
appendages. 

The  females  of  some  of  the  Lampyrine  tribe  are  apterous, 
or  have  but  very  short  elytra,  and  are  luminous.  All  the 
Lampyrines,  when  seized,  press  their  feet  and  antennae 
against  their  body,  and  remain  as  motionless  as  if  they  were 
dead.     See  Lampyrid^. 

LA'NATE.  (Lat.  lana,  wool.)  In  Zoology,  when  a  part 
is  covered  with  fine,  very  long,  flexible,  and  rather  curling 
hair,  like  wool. 

LANCASTER,  CHANCELLOR  OF  THE  DUCHY  OF. 
The  officer  before  whom,  or  his  deputy,  the  court  of  the 
Duchy-Chamber  of  Lancaster  is  held :  which  is  a  court 
having  special  equitable  jurisdiction  as  to  lands  holden  of 
the  duchy.  The  office  has  long  been  a  sinecure,  and  is  one 
of  the  most  valuable  at  the  disposal  of  the  ministry'  of  the 
day ;  the  salary  is  £4000  per  annum. 

LANCE.  (Fr.)  A  weapon  consisting  of  a  long  shaft 
with  a  sharp  point,  much  used  by  the  nations  of  antiquity, 
and  also  by  the  modems  before  the  invention  of  gunpowder. 
The  Macedonian  phalanx  and  the  Roman  infantry,  as  well 
as  the  most  barbarous  nations,  all  considered  the  lance  as 
one  of  the  most  effective  weapons;  and  even  at  the  present 
day  it  is  still  considered  of  great  value,  though  it  is  now  al- 
most universally  borne  by  cavalry.  Almost  all  the  armies 
of  Europe  have  now  regiments  of /<i?(c«-s,  so  called  from  the 
lance  being  the  chief  offensive  weapon  with  which  they  are 
armed.  The  lances  in  use  among  the  European  cavalry 
have  a  shaft  of  ash  or  beech  wood,  eight,  twelve,  or  in  some 
cases  even  sixteen  feet  long,  with  a  steel  point  eight  or  ten 
inches  in  length,  adorned  by  a  small  flag,  the  waving  of 
which  is  said  to  frighten  the  enemy's  horses.  The  ancient 
lances  was  a  general  term  foi  missile  weapons  or  javelins  : 
the  pilum  is  termed  lancea  in  Lucan : 

C39 


LANCEOLATE. 

Cujns  torta  toinu  commisit  lancei  bellum.  (Lib.  Tii.) 

For  a  detailed  description  of  the  lances  of  knights  in  the 
middle  ages,  see  .Mem.  dc  I'Jic.  des  Inscr.,  vol.  xx.  From  its 
being  the  common  knightly  weapon,  the  force  of  the  mount- 
ed gendarmerie  on  its  first  institution  in  the  15th  century 
was  usually  numbered  by  "lances,"  each  "lance"  having 
four  or  five  attendants.  The  lance  has  become  again  a  fa- 
vourite cavalry  weapon  of  late  years,  owing  to  the  exploits 
of  Napoleon's  Polish  lancers  and  the  Cossacks. 

LA'NCEOLATE.  (Lat.  lancea,  a  lance.)  In  Zoology, 
an  animal  or  a  part  is  so  called  when  it  is  oblong  and  gradual- 
ly tapering  towards  each  extremity. 

LAND  (Germ.),  in  its  widest  acceptation  is  used  to  denote 
the  solid  matter  of  which  the  globe  is  composed,  in  contra- 
distinction to  the  liquid  matter,  or  water;  but  in  its  most  re- 
stricted signification  it  is  confined  to  arable  ground.  The 
latter  is  the  legal  meaning  of  the  term ;  and  in  this  sense  it 
is  used  in  all  original  writs,  and  in  all  correct  and  formal 
pleadings. 

LA'NDAMMAN,  in  Switzerland,  the  president  of  the 
diet  of  the  Helvetic  republic.  The  highest  magistrate  in  ten 
of  the  cantons  also  bears  the  title  of  landamman ;  in  the 
others  he  is  designated  by  various  appellations. 

LA'NDAU.  The  name  given  to  a  peculiar  kind  of  carriage, 
which  opens  and  closes  at  the  top ;  so  called  from  Landau 
in  Germany,  where  they  were  originally  made. 

LA'NDFALL.  The  first  land  seen  after  a  voyage  is  so 
called.  A  good  landfall  is  when  the  land  is  seen  as  ex- 
pected. 

LA'NDGRAVE.  A  title  taken  by  some  German  counts 
in  the  twelfth  century,  who  wished  to  distinguish  themselves 
from  the  inferior  counts  under  their  jurisdiction ;  and  thus 
assumed  the  designation  of  land-graf,  or  count  of  the  whole 
country.  This  was  the  origin  of  the  landgraves  of  Thurin- 
gia,  of  Lower  and  Higher  Alsace,  the  only  three  who  were 
princes  of  the  empire. 

LAND-LOCKED.  A  term  applied  to  a  harbour  or  piece 
of  water  which  is  so  environed  by  land  on  all  sides  as  to 
exclude  the  prospect  of  the  sea,  unless  over  some  interve- 
ning land.  If  a  ship  is  at  anchor  in  such  a  place,  she  is  said 
to  ride  land-locked,  and  is  therefore  considered  to  be  safe 
from  the  violence  of  winds  and  tides. 

LA'NDMARK  signifies,  in  a  general  sense,  anything  by 
which  the  boundary  of  a  property  is  defined.  In  ancient 
times  tho  correct  division  of  lands  was  an  object  of  great  im- 
portance ;  and  various  means  were  adopted  to  give  distinct- 
ness and  permanency  to  the  boundaries  of  every  man's  prop- 
erty. Stones  and  hillocks  were  the  most  usual  landmarks. 
The  importance  of  this  subject,  among  the  Israelites  particu- 
larly, may  be  judged  of  from  the  denunciation  of  Moses : 
•'  Cursed  be  he  that  removeth  his  neighbour's  landmark." 
In  naval  language,  landmark  is  applied  to  any  conspicuous 
object  which  serves  as  a  guide  in  entering  a  harbour  or 
avoiding  a  danger. 

LANDREEVE.  A  subordinate  officer  on  an  extensive 
estate,  who  acts  as  an  assistant  to  the  land  steward. 

LANDSCAPE.  The  scenery  presented  to  the  eye  in  the 
country ;  as  also,  in  its  more  common  acceptation,  a  picture 
representing  such  scenery.  A  landscape  in  the  latter  sense 
may,  however,  become  allegorical  and  historical,  in  the 
meaning  applied  by  artists  to  those  terms.  The  chief  study 
of  the  landscape  painter  is  the  vegetable  world,  air,  water, 
rocks,  and  buildings.  To  these  he  may  impart  an  ideal 
beauty,  and  thus  elevate  his  art  above  mere  topographical 
painting ;  which  may  be  applied  to  his  work,  if  he  merely 
copies  without  refinement  what  is  presented  to  his  eye. 

LANDSCAPE  GARDENING.  The  art  of  laying  out 
grounds  so  as  to  produce  the  effect  of  natural  landscape.  Its 
principles  are  the  same  as  those  upon  which  the  landscape 
painter  proceeds  in  composing  a  picture ;  and  though  it  is  an 
art  of  which,  like  many  others,  everybody  thinks  he  is  a 
judge,  it  requires,  to  be  properly  practised,  powers  of  a  much 
higher  order  than  fall  to  the  lot  of  most  men.  Mr.  Brown, 
commonly  called  Capability  lirown,  was  the  first  who  prac- 
tised the  art  in  this  country  so  as  to  render  himself  worthy 
the  name  of  an  artist.  To  lay  down  the  principles  of  the 
art  would  be  quite  Impossible  in  this  article;  but  this  general 
observation  contains  the  sum  of  them — let  selected  and 
beautiful  nature  be  constantly  your  model,  and  success  must 
follow. 

LANDSLIP.  A  portion  of  land  that  has  slid  down  in 
consequence  of  disturbance  by  an  earthquake,  or  from  being 
undermined  by  the  action  of  water. 

LAND  SPRINGS.  Land  springs  are  sources  of  water 
which  only  come  into  action  after  heavy  rains  ;  while  con- 
stant springs,  which  derive  their  supplies  from  a  more  abun- 
dant source,  (low  throughout  the  year.  All  springs  owe 
their  origin  to  rains.  In  the  case  of  land  springs,  the  water, 
when  it  sinks  through  the  surface,  is  speedily  interrupted  by 
a  retentive  stratum,  and  there  accumulating,  Boon  bursts  out 
in  a  spring,  which  ceases  to  flow  a  short  period  after  the 
cause  which  gave  it  birth  has  ceased  to  operate ;  but  the 
640 


LANGUAGE. 

water  which  supplies  constant  springs  sinks  deeper  into  the 
earth,  and  accumulates  in  rocky  or  gravelly  strata,  which 
become  saturated  with  the  fluid. 

LAND  STEWARD.  A  person  who  has  the  care  of  a 
landed  estate,  and  whose  duties  vary  in  different  countries 
according  to  the  mode  in  which  landed  property  is  managed. 
In  England,  where  the  landlord  very  commonly  undertakes 
to  keep  the  buildings  and  fences  of  his  tenants  in  repair,  the 
duties  of  the  land  steward  are  constant  and  multifarious  ; 
while  in  Scotland,  where  the  buildings  and  fences  are  kept 
in  repair  by  the  tenant,  the  duties  of  the  steward  are  limited 
to  receiving  the  rents,  and  seeing  that  the  covenants  of  the 
leases  are  duly  fulfilled.  In  many  parts  of  the  Continent, 
and  particularly  in  Italy,  where  the  landlord  is  a  partner 
with  his  tenant,  and  shares  the  produce  with  him,  the  du- 
ties of  the  land  steward,  or  fattore,  as  he  is  there  called, 
are  much  more  onerous  than  in  Britain.  It  is  generally 
considered,  both  by  British  and  Continental  writers  on  agri- 
culture, that  one  principal  cause  of  the  retardation  of  this 
art  has  been  the  employment  of  lawyers  as  land  stewards; 
and  the  truth  of  this  can  hardly  be  denied,  more  especially 
in  those  countries  where  the  tenant  is  bound  down  by  his 
lease  to  particular  modes  of  cropping,  or  where  there  is  a 
discretionary  power  as  to  cropping  on  the  part  of  the  steward. 
The  objection  to  lawyers  as  stewards  is  founded  on  their 
general  habits  of  acting  from  precedent  rather  than  from 
principle  ;  and  hence  such  a  habit,  exercised  in  the  case  of 
an  art  that  is  calculated  to  be  so  rapidly  progressive  as  agri- 
culture, must  materially  impede  its  advancement.  At  the 
same  time,  the  convenience  to  a  landed  proprietor  of  having 
a  land  steward  who  possesses  legal  knowledge  is  so  great 
as  generally  to  overpower  the  objections  that  are  made 
against  them  by  farmers  and  agricultural  writers. 

LA'NDWAITER.  An  officer  of  the  customs,  whose 
duty  it  is,  upon  landing  any  merchandise,  to  taste,  weigh, 
measure,  or  otherwise  examine  the  various  articles,  &c,  and 
to  take  an  account  of  the  same. 

LA'NDWEHR.  (Germ,  land-guard.)  The  militia  of 
Prussia  and  Austria  are  so  called.     See  Militia. 

LA'NGREL.  A  particular  kind  of  shot,  formed  of  bolts, 
nails,  and  other  pieces  of  iron,  tied  together,  and  forming  a 
sort  of  cylinder  which  corresponds  with  the  bore  of  the  can- 
non from  which  it  is  discharged.  It  is  used  chiefly  to  de- 
stroy the  masts  and  rigging  of  the  enemy's  ships. 

LANGUAGE,  (Lat.  lingua,  tongue),  has  been  defined 
"  the  expression  of  our  ideas  and  their  various  relations  by 
certain  articulate  sounds,  which  are  used  as  the  signs  of 
those  ideas  and  relations." 

Whether  language  was  originally  given  to  man  by  his 
Creator,  or  is  the  fruit  of  human  invention,  is  a  subject  of 
dispute,  on  which  philosophy  is  scarcely  capable  of  arriving 
at  satisfactory  conclusions.  Among  those  writers  who  have 
maintained  the  latter  thesis,  three  {Lord  Monboddo  on  the 
Origin  and  Progress  of  Language ;  Jidam  Smith's  Con- 
siderations on  the  Formation  of  languages  ;  and  Stewart's 
Philosophy  of  the  Human  Mind,  part  3,)  are  particularly  de- 
serving of  attention.  The  first  of  these,  in  his  ingenious 
speculation  on  the  subject,  mentions  four  ways  in  which  he 
conceives  that  ideas  could  have  been  communicated  before 
the  invention  of  speech :  viz.,  1.  Inarticulate  cries,  expressive 
of  sentiments  and  passions ;  2.  Gestures,  and  the  expression 
of  countenance ;  3.  Imitative  sounds,  expressive  of  audible 
things ;  and,  4.  Painting,  by  which  visible  sounds  are  repre- 
sented. And  he  appears  to  consider  language  to  have  been 
produced  by  gradual  development  out  of  the  first  of  these. 

Many,  whether  satisfied  with  Lord  Monboddo's  specula- 
tions or  not,  are  ready  to  condemn  the  supernatural  theory 
as  "unphilosophical."  But  our  views  on  this  subject  must 
materially  depend  on  those  which  we  may  take  of  the  kin- 
dred speculations  respecting  the  origin  of  civilization.  If  we 
are  led  to  the  conclusion — once  commonly  adopted,  with 
little  inquiry,  by  philosophical  writers — that  the  progress  of 
man  from  the  lowest  state  of  barbarism  to  refinement  has 
been  gradual  in  all  societies,  we  shall  probably  also  believe 
that  the  formation  of  language  accompanied  this  develop- 
ment in  its  course.  But  if  we  are  more  forcibly  impressed 
with  the  strength  of  the  historical  difficulties  which  oppose 
this  theory;  that  all  our  research  only  reveals  to  us  the 
story  of  one  family  of  civilized  men  (in  the  proper  sense  of 
that  word)  succeeding  another;  that  the  more  barbarous 
races  appear  to  have  lost  civilization — to  have  fallen  back 
from  some  better  condition,  instead  of  being  at  the  lowest  or 
commencing  step  (a  notion  strongly  entertained  by  the  gifted 
historian  Niebuhr,  among  many  others) ;  and  that  the  lan- 
guages of  some  of  the  most  savage  races  (such  as  several  of 
the  American  Indians),  instead  of  partaking  in  their  want  of 
refinement  in  other  respects,  are  remarkable  for  the  number 
and  delicacy  of  their  inflections,  we  shall  probably  arrive 
at  the  conclusion  that  the  more  likely  speculation  is  that 
which  coincides  best  with  the  faint  indications  afforded  by 
the  inspired  writings,  and  points  out  Revelation  as  the  source 
both  of  knowledge  and  of  the  primary  laws  of  human  society. 


LANGUAGE. 


Considering  the  phenomenon  of  language  as  it  now  pre- 
sents itself,  the  most  interesting  philosophical  questions  to 
which  it  gives  rise  are  those  which  concern  the  connexion 
and  relative  antiquity  of  existing  languages,  and  their  com- 
parative utility  and  beauty  as  modes  of  communicating  ideas. 
The  first  lead  the  mind  to  consider  the  history  of  language ; 
the  latter  the  principles  of  its  structure. 

The  former  of  these  subjects  is  one  of  those  which  may 
be  most  emphatically  pronounced  peculiar  to  modern  re- 
search. The  affinity  of  the  great  family  of  European  and 
Western  Asiatic  languages,  those  with  which  we  are  the 
most  familiar,  was  scarcely  studied  with  serious  attention 
before  the  time  of  Adelung  (whose  great  work,  Mithridates, 
appeared,  we  believe,  in  1804).  The  affinities  of  the  Semitic 
and  other  oriental  tongues  had  been,  perhaps,  earlier  investi- 
gated ;  but  their  elucidation  remains  nevertheless  still  more 
imperfect  at  the  present  day.  On  a  topic  now  pursued  with 
great  interest,  especially  by  the  learned  men  of  Germany  and 
Britain,  we  must  content  ourselves  with  indicating  a  few- 
simple  rules  for  the  guidance  of  the  student. 

The  importance  of  the  coincidence  of  single  words,  as  a 
proof  of  the  connexion  of  languages,  is  rather  under  than 
over  estimated  in  common  opinion.  The  late  Dr.  Young, 
whose  researches  into  this  question  are  of  such  high  value, 
calculated  that  nothing  could  be  inferred,  as  to  the  relation 
of  two  languages,  from  their  agreement  in  one  word ;  that 
the  odds  are  only  three  to  two  against  their  casual  agree- 
ment in  two ;  but  that  they  rise  so  rapidly  that  there  are 
nearly  100,000  chances  to  one  against  their  casual  agreement 
in  eight. 

But,  again,  nothing  could  be  inferred  as  to  the  relationship 
of  languages  from  their  agreement  in  particular  words  if  the 
nations  which  spoke  them  were  neighbours,  and  the  words 
such  as  the  one  might  easily  borrow  from  the  other  by  mu- 
tual intercourse.  The  Latin  word  and  the  low  German 
word  for  wine  are  the  same ;  vinum,  wyn,  pronounced  vecn. 
But  the  Germans  learned  the  use  of  the  thing  from  the  Ro- 
mans, and  along  with  it  they  doubtless  borrowed  the  name. 
JVo  conclusion  could  therefore  be  drawn  from  this  example 
as  to  the  connexion  between  German  and  Latin.  The  Greek 
name  for  a  lion,  lis,  is  nearly  the  same  with  that  used  in  a 
very  different  family  of  languages,  the  Semitic  (Hebrew, 
laist;  Arabic,  laith).  But  the  animal  itself,  although  at  one 
time  occasionally  found  in  Greece,  was  probably  a  wanderer 
from  Asia ;  and  the  fact  of  its  name  being  common  to  both 
tongues  proves  therefore  nothing  as  to  their  relationship. 

In  examining  the  connexion  of  languages  by  their  agree- 
ment in  words,  two  things  are  to  be  considered :  the  root, 
and  tile  inflexions.  The  root  is  arrived  at  by  striking  oft' the 
inflective  part  of  the  word.  Thus  the  termination  us  (prop- 
erly os  or  o)  is  the  inflective  part,  in  the  nominative,  of  a 
numerous  order  of  masculine  nouns  in  Latin  as  well  as 
Greek.  The  root  of  "equus"  is  equ,  or  ec ;  the  root  of 
"  albus"  (white),  alb.  It  is  in  these  roots  that  we  are  first 
to  look  for  the  connexion  of  languages ;  and  in  examining 
them,  it  is  necessary  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  one  of  the 
most  important  and  most  difficult  to  ascertain  among  the 
primary  facts  relating  to  languages,  the  ordinary  substitution 
of  letters,  especially  consonants,  in  different  cognate  lan- 
guages of  the  same  family.  With  reference  to  the  great 
class  of  languages  already  alluded  to.  commonly  called  the 
'•  Indo-European,"  these  substitutions  have  been  only  of  late 
classified,  and  that  as  yet  imperfectly.  Thus  it  has  been 
found  that  the  Greek  aspirate  is  often  represented  in  Latin 
by  s>  Hi  inra,  sez,  septan ;  that  the  Greek  -  is  frequently 
represented  in  the  Teutonic  tongues  by  /,  novs,  rzarnp,  foot, 
father ;  that  the  Greek  and  Latin  d  is  often  ;  in  German, 
dens,  digitus,  decern — zahn,  zehe,  zehen.  A  good  list  of  the 
most  common  among  these  transformations  will  be  found  in 
the  Penny  Clycloptedia,  art.  "  Language,"  taken  from  Potts' 
Etymologische  Forschungen. 

Correspondence  in  inflections  is  a  still  closer  sign  of  rela- 
tionship. That  peculiar  class  of  Greek  verbs  commonly 
called  in  our  grammars  "verbs  in  mi,"  has  a  corresponding 
class  in  the  Sanskrit,  Zend,  and  some  Sclavonic  tongues. 

Greek.  Sanskrit.  Lithuanian. 

I  stand,  ioTi7jui.  Tisthami.       Stowmi. 

Thou  standest,    Jor^;.  Tisthasi.        Stowi. 

He  stands,  icrncri.  Tisthati.        Stow. 

I  give,  c*ifiu>ui.  Dadami.       Dudmi. 

Thou  givest,        <5«5oj{.  Dadasi.         Dusi. 

He  gives,  Itiwat.  Dadato.        Dusti. 

In  other  cognate  languages  this  mode  of  conjugation  is 
either  lost  or  much  altered.  Here,  therefore,  is  an  indica- 
tion (not,  of  course,  a  conclusive  one)  of  a  nearer  connexion 
between  these  than  others  of  the  same  family  ;  Celtic  and 
Latin,  for  instance. 

The  connexion  between  languages  being  established,  the 
mind  is  next  led  to  consider  their  derivation  one  from  an- 
other. And  here  historical  assistance  soon  fails  us.  We 
say  that  Spanish  and  Italian  are  derived  from  Latin,  be- 


cause we  know  the  fact  historically ;  but  at  the  earliest 
period  of  which  we  have  any  authentic  account,  we  find 
several  independent  nations  using  different,  but  strongly  re- 
sembling varieties  of  speech,  of  whose  historical  connexion 
we  know  nothing.  We  know  little,  for  example,  on  the 
question  in  what  consisted  the  relationship  between  the 
Latins  and  the  Greeks ;  and  nothing  whatever  as  to  the  con- 
nexion of  either  with  the  Celts  or  the  Sclavonians.  And 
hence  it  is  easy  to  perceive  the  absurdity  of  the  fashion,  of 
which  we  still  constantly  meet  with  examples  in  dictionaries 
and  works  of  reference,  of  speaking  of  words  in  cognate  lan- 
guages as  "  derived"  from  one  another ;  for  example,  a  Latin 
word  as  "  derived"  from  the  Greek,  an  English  as  "  derived" 
from  the  German.  The  Romans  undoubtedly,  in  later 
ages,  borrowed  a  few  words  from  the  richer  vocabulary  of 
Greece;  e.  g.,  historia,  pocma ;  and  the  English  have  bor- 
rowed a  very  few  from  the  Germans.  But  Greek  and  Latin, 
Anglo-Saxon  and  German,  are  respectively  only  varieties, 
derived  alike  from  some  ancient  original  which  our  inquiries 
are  unable  to  reach. 

The  distinction  between  a  separate  language  and  a  dialect 
is  very  arbitrary.  We  speak  of  Spanish  and  Portuguese, 
Swedish  and  Danish,  as  distinct  languages  ;  yet  they  resem- 
ble each  other  quite  as  nearly  as  some  varieties  of  French, 
perhaps  of  Italian.  The  name  seems  appropriated,  in  ordi- 
nary usage,  to  every  variety  of  speech  which  is  in  national 
use  for  purposes  of  government  and  literature. 

The  relative  antiquity  of  languages  is  a  subject  involved 
in  obscurity,  and  on  which  our  conclusions  are  little  better 
than  conjectural.  The  theory  that  all  languages  are  de- 
rived from  a  common  original  is  difficult  to  be  maintained; 
and  yet  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  tendency  of  modern  re- 
search is,  by  accurate  classification,  to  reduce  the  number 
of  original  tongues  from  which  those  in  actual  use  are  deriv- 
ative varieties. 

The  following  table  of  languages,  divided  into  classes  or 
groups,  is  given  by  Dr.  Young,  in  the  art.  "Language,"  in 
the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica. 

f  Chinese. 

1.  Monosyllabic  class:    {  A\™ 

[Tibetan. 
f  Sanskrit. 

Zend  (Median). 

Semitic  (Arabian,  Syriae, 
I      Hebrew,  &.c). 
!  Lycian. 
i  Phrygian. 

2.  Indo-European  class :{  Greek. 

I  Germanic. 
|  Celtic. 
I  Etruscan. 

Latin. 
I  Cantabrian. 
I  Sclavic. 

3.  Tartaric  class. 

4.  African  class. 

5.  American  class. 

This  classification,  however,  is  rather  geographical  than 
ethnographical,  and  in  some  respects  apt  to  mislead.  For 
example,  those  great  families  of  languages,  the  Sanskrit, 
Greek,  Latin,  and  Germanic,  are  all  nearly  connected  with 
one  another.  The  Celtic  and  Sclavonic  belong  to  the  same 
division,  while  the  Semitic  languages  form  a  very  peculiar 
group  apart,  and  should  be  excepted  from  the  Indo-Eu- 
ropean class. 

Languages  have  also  been  classed  in  the  following  manner: 

1.  Languages  composed  of  monosyllabic  roots,  without 
any  form  of  grammar.  These  have  no  inflections,  and  variety 
of  meaning  is  only  shown  by  the  position  of  words  in  a  sen- 
tence. To  this  order  belong  the  languages  which  Dr.  Young 
terms  monosyllabic. 

2.  Languages  composed  of  monosyllabic  roots  with  a 
great  abundance  of  grammatical  forms.  Of  these  the  great 
Indo-European  family  are  an  example. 

3.  Languages  whose  verbal  roots  consist,  in  their  present 
form,  of  two  syllables,  and  require  three  consonants  to  ex- 
press their  fundamental  meaning.  This  division  appears  to 
comprehend  the  Semitic  languages  only,  as  far  as  at  present 
ascertained. 

The  comparative  perfection  of  a  language,  as  an  instru- 
ment for  the  communication  of  thought,  depends  mainly  on 
its  copiousness.  In  order  to  estimate  this,  it  must  be  borne 
in  mind  that  the  classes  of  words  employed  in  a  language 
are  all  reducible  into  two,  which  have  been  termed  by  some 
notional  and  relational.  The  former  express  distinct  ideas 
or  notions;  the  latter  serve  to  display  the  relation,  connexion, 
and  order  of  ideas.  Nouns  and  verbs  belong  to  the  first 
class;  prepositions,  adverbs,  &c,  and  the  signs  denoting  the 
inflections  of  verbs  and  nouns,  to  the  latter.  With  respect 
to  the  former  class,  all  languages,  to  be  serviceable  for  the 
purposes  of  life,  must  be  sufficiently  copious  to  express  all 
Re  641 


LANGUENTE. 

distinct  notions.  But  the  comparative  richness  of  a  language 
is  mainly  shown  by  the  manner  in  which  this  is  done.  As 
nations  advance  from  barbarism  towards  civilization,  new 
notions,  and  new  varieties  of  notions,  are  constantly  requi- 
ring utterance.  In  those  in  which  this  can  easily  be  done  by 
composition  (as  in  Greek  and  German),  great  facilities  are 
afforded  for  the  easy  expression  of  thought,  comparatively 
with  those  in  which  it  can  only  be  effected  by  the  laborious 
process  of  borrowing  and  adopting  words  from  the  vocabu- 
laries of  more  advanced  nations. 

But  it  is  in  the  relational  words,  or  modes  in  which  rela- 
tions of  ideas  are  expressed,  that  the  genius  of  different  lan- 
guages most  varies.  The  Chinese,  in  their  singular  and  ob- 
scure tongue,  seem  never  to  have  reached  beyond  the  pro- 
cess of  varying  the  collocation  of  their  unchangeable  roots 
in  the  sentence,  in  order  to  express  varieties  of  meaning. 
The  next  process  should  appear  to  be  that  of  using  auxiliary 
words.  In  many  languages  (our  own  among  the  number) 
relations  are  almost  wholly  expressed  in  this  manner.  But 
in  others  the  auxiliary  words  have,  in  course  of  time,  coa- 
lesced with  the  principal ;  so  that  many  relations  are  ex- 
pressed by  varying  the  beginning,  termination,  &c,  of  the 
principal  word.  This,  at  least,  is  the  most  probable  origin 
of  those  forms  termed  in  grammar  inflections,  or  forms  of 
declension  and  conjugation,  in  which  Greek,  Latin,  Sans- 
krit, German,  and  their  derivative  languages  are  more  or 
less  rich  ;  the  Greek,  for  example,  being  more  copious  than 
the  Latin  or  modern  German,  in  having  the  dual  form  and 
additional  tenses  (the  aorists,  and  the  paulo-post  futurum). 
And  some  languages  (especially  among  the  American  In- 
dians) are  so  curiously  constructed  as  to  carry  the  power  of 
inflection  far  beyond  this  point.  A  complex  idea,  which  in  Eng- 
lish would  require  to  be  expressed  by  a  pronoun,  an  adverb, 
and  an  auxiliary  verb  (or,  perhaps,  a  second  auxiliary  verb 
also,  e.g.,  "I  desire,"  or"  I  abstain"),  together  with  the  prin- 
cipal verb,  would  in  some  American  languages  be  expressed 
merely  by  a  variety  of  the  form  of  the  principal  verb  itself. 

As  a  general  rule,  the  power  of  inflexion  adds  greatly  to 
the  copiousness  of  a  language  ;  and  although  some  enthusi- 
asts, in  their  admiration  of  our  own,  have  maintained  that  the 
process  of  conjugating  or  declining  by  auxiliary  words  and 
particles  is  more  convenient,  and  affords  more  variety  and 
harmony  than  that  by  changes  in  the  termination  of  the 
verb  or  noun,  it  is  probable  that  few  candid  reasoners  will 
hold  the  same  opinion.  But  there  are  distinctions  in  lan- 
guage, arising  out  of  relations  simply  imaginary,  which  may 
be  pronounced  unnecessary  and  cumbersome.  Such  are  the 
genders,  common  to  almost  all  languages  of  the  Indo-Eu- 
ropean family  except  our  own,  but  for  which  it  would  be 
ditficult  to  assign  either  utility  or  beauty. 

Another  and  a  more  substantial  disadvantage  of  language 
rich  in  inflections,  if  the  fact  be  true,  is  to  be  found  in  the 
greater  difficulty  which  common  people  are  supposed  to 
have  in  framing  their  speech  grammatically  and  accurately 
under  this  system  than  the  other.  The  greater  the  niceties 
of  a  language,  it  has  been  urged,  the  greater  the  difference 
must  inevitably  be  between  the  variety  spoken  and  written 
by  educated  men  and  that  in  use  among  the  uneducated ; 
and  it  has  been  contended  that  in  ancient  Italy,  for  instance, 
the  rustic  language  was  altogether  different  from  the  written 
Latin.  But  the  facts  on  which  this  reasoning  rests  may  be 
pronounced  extremely  controvertible.  There  are  certainly 
some  grounds  far  the  suspicion  that  there  was  an  unusual 
difference  between  the  vulgar  and  the  polished  Roman 
tongue,  at  least  in  the  later  times  of  the  empire  ;  but  if  this 
was  always  the  case,  it  is  singular  that  Plautus  and  Terence 
should  nowhere  furnish  us,  by  way  of  heightening  the  ludi- 
crous, with  instances  of  ungrammatical  locution.  The  lan- 
guage of  ancient  Greece  was  more  refined  and  inflective  than 
that  of  Rome ;  and  there  is  no  appearance  that  there  was  a 
greater  diversity  between  the  speech  of  the  peasant  and  the 
philosopher  and  rhetorician  than  in  any  modern  country. 
In  Attica  the  very  reverse  seems  to  have  been  the  truth, 
since  its  most  elegant  writers  and  orators  appear  carefully 
to  have  modelled  their  language  on  the  common  dialect  of 
their  countrymen.  And,  finally,  the  wild  Indians  of  America 
speak  with  purity  a  language  often  surpassing  in  variety  of 
inflections  those  of  the  most  civilized  and  illustrious  nations 
of  the  Old  World. 

Among  tile  numerous  and  valuable  works  which  may  as- 
sist the  reader  in  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  the  existing 
varieties  of  spoken  tongues,  may  be  mentioned  Voter's 
IAnguarum.  Totius  Orbis  Index  .'llpkabcticus,  1815;  Mars- 
den's  Catalogue  of  Dictionaries,  A-c,  1796,  and  his  .1//  ,-,  { 
laneous  Works  (as  to  Oriental  language*)  ;  .idrlung's  Mith- 
ridates,  already  cited ;  the  works  of  Dr.  Prichara  ;  a  very 
valuable  article  in  the  Penny  Cyclopedia,  of  which  much 
use  has  been  made  in  the  above  pages. 

LANGUE'NTE.  (Ital.)  In  Music,  a  direction  to  the  per- 
former, when  prefixed  to  a  composition,  denoting  that  it  is  to 
be  performed  in  a  languishing  or  soft  manner. 

LA'NIARIES,  Dentes  Laniarii.  (Lat.  lanio,  /  rend.) 
642 


LAOCOON. 

The  long  conical  and  sharp-pointed  teeth  which  are  placed 
next  behind  the  incisors.    They  are  also  called  dentes  canini 

and  cuspidati.    They    never  exceed  —  in  number  in  the 

Ferine  Mammalia. 

LA'NIUS.  (Lat.  lanio.)  A  Linnsean  genus  of  Passerine 
birds,  forming  the  typical  family  of  the  Dentirostral  division 
of  that  order  in  the  system  of  Cuvier.  The  birds  of  the  fam- 
ily Laniadw,  or  shrikes,  are  characterized  by  a  strong,  com 
pressed,  conical  beak,  more  or  less  hooked,  and  emarginate 
near  the  point,  as  in  the  other  Dentirostres.  The  shrikes  live 
In  families,  and  fly  irregularly  and  precipitately,  uttering  shrill 
cries ;  they  build  in  trees,  lay  five  or  six  eggs,  and  take  great 
care  of  their  young.  They  have  the  habit  of  Imitating  a 
part  of  the  songs  of  such  birds  as  live  in  their  vicinity.  The 
larger  and  stronger  birds  are  predatory,  and  attack,  slay,  and 
devour  smaller  birds. 

LA'NSQUENETS,  Lansknechts.  The  German  infantry 
first  raised  by  the  Emperor  Maximilian  to  confront  that  of 
the  Swiss,  in  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  name  is 
derived  from  the  German  words  landcs  knecht,  countryman 
or  country  lad,  and  not,  as  is  sometimes  stated,  from  lanz,  a 
lance  or  pike.  The  lansknechts  were  very  irregularly  arm- 
ed, tile  greater  part  with  pikes,  but  certain  companies  in 
every  division  with  muskets.  They  were  raised  by  volun- 
tary enlistment,  and  their  leaders  passed  with  little  reluc- 
tance into  the  service  of  any  power  which  was  willing  to 
pay  them.  This  infantry  played  a  conspicuous  part  in  the 
wars  of  Italy,  in  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century',  after 
which  the  name  fell  into  disuse. 

LANTA'NIUM.  (Gr.  Xavdavctv,  to  conceal.)  A  metallic 
substance  discovered  by  Mosander  in  cerite ;  it  is  associated 
with,  and  concealed,  as  it  were,  by  the  oxide  of  cerium. 
The  oxide  of  lantanium  is  of  a  brick-red  colour. 

LANTERN.  (Fr.  lanterne.)  In  Architecture,  a  drum- 
shaped  erection,  either  square,  circular,  elliptical,  or  polyg- 
onal, on  the  top  of  a  dome,  or  on  that  of  an  apartment,  to 
give  light.     See  Cupola. 

LA'NTERN,  MAGIC.     See  Magic  Lantern. 

LA'NTERN  WHEEL.  In  Mechanics,  a  kind  of  pinion, 
having,  instead  of  leaves,  cylindrical  teeth  or  bars,  called 
trundles  or  spindles,  on  which  the  teeth  of  the  main  wheel 
act.  The  ends  of  the  trundles  being  fixed  in  two  parallel 
circular  boards  or  plates,  the  lantem  wheel  has  the  form  of 
a  box  or  lantem,  whence  the  name. 

LA'NYARD.  The  sea  term  for  certain  lashings,  whether 
fixed  or  temporary. 

LAO'COON.  In  Fabulous  History,  the  priest  of  Apollo 
or  Neptune  during  the  Trojan  war.  While  he  was  engaged 
in  sacrificing  a  bull  to  Neptune,  two  enormous  serpents  sent 
by  Minerva,  in  revenge  for  his  having  endeavoured  to  dte- 
suade  the  Trojans  from  admitting  the  famous  wooden  horse 
within  their  walls,  issued  from  the  sea  ;  and  having  fasten- 
ed on  his  two  sons,  whom  he  vainly  endeavoured  to  save, 
at  last  attacked  the  father  himself,  and  crushed  him  to  death 
in  their  complicated  folds.  Virgil  has  tints  described  the  oc- 
currence : 

Et  primum  parca  duorum 
Corpora  natorum  strpens  amplexus  uterque 
Implicit,  et  miseros  niorsu  depascilur  artus: 
Post,  ipsum,  auxiliis  subeuntem  ac  tela  terenteni 
Corripiunt,  spirisque  ligant  ingentibus :  et  jam 
Bis  medium  aniplexi,  bis  collo  squamea  circum 
Terga  dati,  superan!  capile,  et  cervicibus  altis. 

This  story  has  gained  immortal  celebrity  from  its  forming 
the  subject  of  one  of  the  most  beautifid  groups  of  sculpture 
in  the  whole  history  of  ancient  art.  The  composition  is 
pyramidal,  and  represents  Laocoon  and  his  two  sons  writh- 
ing and  expiring  in  the  convolutions  of  the  serpents.  Agony 
in  an  intense  degree  is  exhibited  in  the  countenance  and  con- 
vulsed body  of  Laocoon,  who  is  attempting  to  disengage 
himself  from  the  serpents  ;  and  the  sons  are  represented  as 
Imploring  assistance  from  their  helpless  parent.  Some  con- 
noisseurs, who  have  ventured  upon  a  criticism  of  the  group, 
have  discovered  that  its  complexity  destroys  it  effect;  but 
we  doubt  the  value  of  their  criticism,  and  to  counteract  it 
give  the  opinion  of  Fuseli  (no  mean  judge),  from  his  lectures 
on  Painting.  "  In  the  group  of  the  Laocoon  the  frigid  ec- 
strwii  s  of  German  criticism  have  discovered  pity  like  a  va- 
pour swimming  on  the  father's  eyes  ;  he  is  seen  to  suppress, 
in  the  groan  for  his  children,  the  shriek  for  himself;  his  nos- 
trils are  drawn  up  to  express  indignation  at  unworthy  suffer- 
ings, while  he  is  said,  at  the  same  time,  to  implore  celestial 
help.  To  these  are  udded  tile  winged  effects  of  the  serpent 
poison,  the  writhingsof  the  body,  the  spasms  of  the  extremi- 
ties. To  the  miraculous  organization  of  such  expression, 
Agesander,  the  sculptor  of  the  Laocoon,  was  too  wise  to  lay 
claim.  His  figure  is  a  class;  it  characterizes  every  beauty 
of  virility  verging  on  age:  the  prince,  the  priest,  the  father, 
are  visible;  but,  absorbed  in  the  man,  seem  only  to  dignify 
tin  victim  of  one  great  expression.  Though  polled  by  the 
artist,  for  us  to  apply  the  compass  to  the  face  of  the  Laocoon 
is  to  measure  the  wave  fluctuating  in  the  storm :  this  tern- 


LAPIDARY  STYLE. 

pestuous  front,  this  contracted  nose,  the  immersion  of  these 
eyes,  and  above  all  that  long-drawn  mouth,  are,  separated 
and  united,  seats  of  convulsion — features  of  nature  struggling 
within  the  jaws  of  death." 

Of  this  famous  group  of  sculpture  Pliny  says,  that  it  is 
"  opus  omnibus  pictures  et  statuare<e  artis  preferendum." 
It  was  discovered  at  Home  among  the  ruins  of  the  palace 
of  Titus,  at  the  beginning  of  the  lCth  century,  and  after- 
wards placed  in  the  Farnese  palace,  whence  it  found  its  way 
to  the  Vatican.  It  was  executed  by  Polydorus,  Agesander, 
Athenodorus,  the  three  celebrated  artists  of  Rhodes.  The 
Penny  Cyclopaedia  has  an  excellent  article  on  this  subject, 
to  which  we  beg  to  refer. 

LAPIDARY  STYLE  (Lat.  lapis,  a  stone),  denotes  the 
style  proper  for  monumental  or  other  inscriptions,  and  is 
thence  sometimes  used  to  express  a  terse,  expressive  style. 
The  rules  of  this  style  have  been  prescribed  by  Cicero :  "  Ac- 
cedat  oportet  oratio  varia,  vehemens,  plena  spiritus.  Om- 
nium sententiarum  gravitate,  omnium  verborum  ponderibus 
est  utendum." 

LAPI'LLI.  (Lat.  lapillus,  a  little  stone.)  Small  volcanic 
cinders. 

LA'PIS.  (Lat.)  In  Roman  Antiquity,  literally  a  stone  ; 
but  used  among  the  Romans  to  signify  a  mile,  at  the  end  of 
which  lapides  or  stones  were  erected  with  a  mark  thereon, 
to  show  the  distance  from  Rome.  Hence  the  phrases  "  ter- 
tius  lapis,"  "  centesimus  lapis,"  &c,  for  3,  100,  &c,  miles ; 
and  sometimes  even  the  ordinal  number  was  used,  with 
lapidem  understood,  as  "  ad  duo  decimum,"  twelve  miles  dis- 
tant. The  Roman  practice  of  indicating  the  distance  of  one 
place  from  another  by  the  erection  of  stones  has  been  bor- 
rowed by  almost  all  the  nations  of  modern  Europe. 
LA'PIS  CAUSTICUS.  Caustic  potash. 
LA'PIS  INFERNA'LIS.  Fused  nitrate  of  silver ;  often 
called  lunar  caustic. 

LA'PIS  LA'ZULI.  A  blue  mineral  found  in  masses  or 
nodules,  consisting  chiefly  of  silica  and  alumina,  with  about 
twenty  per  cent,  of  soda,  and  some  peculiar  combination  of 
sulphur,  to  which  it  probably  owes  its  colour ;  it  is  often 
sprinkled  with  yellow  pyrites.  It  furnishes  the  valuable 
pigment  known  under  the  name  of  ultra  marine,  and  was 
formerly  much  employed  in  ornamental  inlaid  work.  Persia, 
China,  and  Russia  are  its  chief  sources. 

LA'PITH^E.  In  Ancient  Geography,  a  people  of  Thes- 
saly,  chiefly  known  to  us  from  their  fabled  contests  with 
the  Centaurs.  The  battle  between  the  Centaurs  and  the 
Lapifhx  has  been  described  by  Hesiod,  and  by  Ovid  with 
great  minuteness.  (Met.,  xii.)  To  the  Lapitha?  has  been 
attributed  the  invention  of  bits  and  bridles  for  horses. 

LAPSE  (Lat.  lapsus,  a  slip),  in  Ecclesiastical  Law,  is 
the  omission  of  a  patron  to  present  a  clergyman  to  a  benefice 
within  six  months  after  its  being  void ;  in  which  case  the 
benefice  is  said  to  be  void,  and  the  right  of  presentation  is 
lost  to  the  patron.  In  England  the  right  of  presentation  then 
accrues  to  the  bishop,  and  to  the  sovereign  by  the  neglect  of 
these  ;  and  in  Scotland  it  devolves  on  the  presbytery. 

LA'PWING.  The  name  of  a  native  species  of  the  genus 
Vanellus,  dismembered  by  Bechstein  from  the  Tringa  of 
Linnaeus.  (See  Vanellus  and  Tringa.)  The  lapwing  or 
pee-wit  ( Vanellus  cristatus,  Bechst.)  is  a  constant  inhabi- 
tant of  this  country  ;  subsists  chiefly  on  worms  and  the  ani- 
malcules of  the  sea-shore,  which  it  frequents  in  great  num- 
bers. The  female  makes  a  simple  nest  by  scraping  together 
a  little  dry  grass,  and  deposits  thereon  four  eggs,  of  a  dirty 
olive  colour  spotted  with  black.  The  young  birds  are  cov- 
ered with  a  thick  down  when  hatched,  and  soon  begin  to  run 
about :  at  the  approach  of  danger  they  squat  down,  and  the 
parent,  by  a  curious  instinct,  endeavours  to  attract  the  atten- 
tion of  the  intruder,  and  draw  him  away  from  the  spot,  by 
fluttering  about  with  cries  of  inquietude,  or  even  running 
along  the  ground  as  if  lame.  In  October  the  lapwings  are 
fat,  and  in  good  condition  for  the  table  :  their  eggs  are  con- 
sidered a  great  delicacy. 
LA'OUEAR.  In  Architecture.  See  Lacunar. 
LARA'RIUM.  (Lat.)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  the  apart- 
ment in  which  the  lares  or  household  gods  were  deposited ; 
it  also  frequently  contained  statues  of  the  proprietor's  an- 
cestors. 

LA'RBOARD.  The  left-hand  side  of  a  ship  to  a  person 
whose  face  is  turned  towards  the  head.  The  other  side  is 
called  the  starboard. 

LA'RCENY.  (Lat.  latrocenium,  theft.)  In  Law,  a  spe- 
cies of  felony,  distinguished,  formerly,  into  simple  and  mixed : 
the  latter  of  which  was  the  taking  of  goods  and  chattels  from 
the  person  or  from  the  house,  if  above  the  value  of  twelve- 
pence.  But  this  distinction  has  been  abolished  by  the  statute 
which  consolidated  the  laws  relative  to  this  class  of  offences 
(7  &  8  G.  4,  c.  29).  Larceny  is  the  felonious  and  fraudulent 
taking  and  carrying  away  of  the  goods  and  chattels  of  ano- 
ther. Thefts  of  things  affixed  to  the  freehold,  if  forming 
part  of  what  is  termed  real  property,  are  not  larceny  at  com- 
mon law ;  but  many  offences  of  this  description  have  been 


LARVIPARA. 

brought  within  the  character  of  larceny  by  enactment.  Rob- 
bery, breaking  into  and  stealing  in  a  dwelling-house,  if  in  the 
daytime,  piracy,  &c,  are  species  of  mixed  larceny.  A  re- 
ceiver of  stolen  goods  is  indictable  either  for  a  substantive 
felony,  or  as  accessary  to  the  theft  or  robbery.  Many  of  the 
offences  under  this  class  are  still  punishable  by  death ;  but 
in  these,  and  all  felonies  except  murder,  sentence  of  death, 
instead  of  being  pronounced  immediately,  may  be  recorded, 
to  enable  the  judges  to  pronounce  eventually  a  discretionary 
sentence,  according  to  the  merits  of  the  case. 

LA'RES.  (Lat.)  Domestic  deities  of  the  Italians,  who 
were  probably  regarded  as  the  souls  of  the  deceased  ances- 
tors of  a  family.  Their  worship,  however,  was  not  confined 
to  private  houses,  as  there  were  lares  of  the  city,  the  coun- 
try, roads,  &c.     See  Penates. 

LARGE.  (Ital.)  In  Music,  a  character  representing  the 
greatest  measure  of  musical  quantity ;  one  large  containing 
two  longs,  one  long  two  breves,  one  breve  two  semibreves, 
and  so  on  in  duple  proportion. 

LARGHE'TTO.     (Ital.  dimin.  of  largo.)     In  Music,  a 
movement  a  little  quicker  than  largo. 
LARGO.     (Ital.)     In  Music.     See  Allegro. 
L  A'RHLE.    A  family  of  swimming  birds,  having  the  gull 
(Larus)  as  the  type. 

LARK.  The  common  name  of  the  native  species  of  the 
genus  Alauda  of  Linnasus ;  of  which  one,  the  Alauda  arven- 
sis,  is  distinguished  as  the  sky-lark  or  lavrock ;  the  other, 
Alauda  campestris,  Linn.,  is  called  the  field-lark.  As  the 
species  of  the  present  genus  differ  from  most  other  Insessorial 
birds  in  resting  habitually  and  sleeping  upon  the  ground,  their 
feet  present  a  singular  but  simple  modification,  which  at  the 
same  time  beautifully  adapts  them  to  their  office  of  support- 
ing the  superincumbent  body  on  a  flat  surface :  it  consists  in 
the  extreme  elongation  in  an  almost  straight  line  of  the  claw 
of  the  hinder  toe,  which  is,  at  the  same  time,  proportionally 
robust ;  thus  the  plane  of  support  is  extended  at  the  expense 
of  the  prehensile  faculty,  which  the  habits  of  the  lark  ren- 
der of  little  or  no  value  to  it. 

The  sky-lark  is  universally  admired  for  the  power  and 
melody  of  its  song,  and  for  the  beautiful  associations  inspired 
by  the  circumstances  under  which  its  notes  are  most  richly 
poured  forth — viz.,  while  soaring  aloft  to  greet  the  rising  sun. 
It  ascends  in  the  air  almost  perpendicularly,  by  successive 
flights,  to  an  elevation  at  which  its  song  becomes  inaudible : 
its  descent  is  generally  oblique.  The  female  builds  her  nest 
on  the  ground,  and  lays  four  or  five  eggs,  which  are  of  a 
grayish  brown  colour  marked  with  darker  spots:  she  sits 
about  fifteen  days,  and  usually  rears  two  broods  in  the  year. 
This  prolific  species  is  granivorous,  and  in  the  winter  large 
flocks  congregate  together ;  they  are  very  fat  at  this  season, 
and  are  captured  in  great  numbers  for  the  table. 

L  A'RMIER.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture,  the  same  as  corona, 
which  see. 

LA'RUS.  (Gr.  Aapu?,  a  gull.)  A  Linnsean  genus  of 
aquatic  birds  belonging  to  the  Longipennate  division  of  Pal- 
mipedes in  the  system  of  Cuvier,  and  now  raised  to  the  rank 
of  a  family  comprising  several  subgenera.  The  Laridm,  or 
gulls,  are  characterized  by  their  compressed,  elongated,  point- 
ed bill,  of  which  the  superior  mandible  is  curved  downwards 
near  the  end,  and  the  inferior  forms  a  salient  angle  beneath. 
The  nostrils,  placed  near  its  middle,  or  a  little  more  forwards, 
are  long,  narrow,  and  form  a  complete  transverse  perfora- 
tion ;  the  tail  is  ample,  and  sometimes  pointed.  (Lestris.) 
The  gulls  are  common  and  numerous  on  the  sea-coast,  and 
feed  on  the  different  animal  substances  which  are  left  on 
shore  or  float  down  with  the  ebbing  tide.  The  black-headed 
gull  (Larus  rudibundus,  Linn.)  breeds  on  the  marshy  edges 
of  rivers  or  fens ;  the  female  makes  her  nest,  among  the 
reeds  and  rushes,  of  heath  or  dried  grass,  and  lays  three  or 
four  eggs,  of  an  olive  brown  colour  spotted  and  streaked  with 
dusky  red.  When  the  young  are  able  to  accompany  the 
parents  they  all  resort  to  the  sea-shore.  The  other  species 
of  gulls  build  for  the  most  part  in  the  sand  or  the  clefts  of 
rocks. 

LA'RVA.  (Lat.  larva,  a  mask.)  A  Metabolian  insect  in 
its  first  stage  after  exclusion  from  the  egg  is  so  called,  be- 
cause its  real  form  is,  as  it  were,  masked :  the  same  term  i9 
also  applied  to  those  reptiles  which  undergo  a  metamorphosis, 
as  the  frog,  when  at  a  corresponding  period  of  existence. 

Larva.  Spectres  of  the  deceased  were  so  termed  by  the 
Romans  :  mere  empty  forms  or  phantoms,  as  their  name  in- 
dicates ;  yet  endowed  with  a  sort  of  existence  resembling 
life,  since  they  were  to  be  propitiated  by  libation  and  sacri-  » 
rice.  The  larva  of  Caligula,  according  to  Suetonius,  was 
often  seen  in  his  palace  after  his  decease.  The  larva?  are 
described  by  Seneca,  and  often  represented  in  paintings  and 
on  gems  under  the  figure  of  a  skeleton ;  sometimes  under  those 
of  old  men,  with  shorn  locks  and  long  beards,  carrying  an 
owl  on  their  hands. 

LARVI'PARA.  (Lat.  larva,  and  pario,  /  bring  forth.) 
Those  insects  are  so  called  which  bring  forth  larvae  instead 
of  eggs,  the  latter  being  hatched  in  the  oviduct. 

643 


LARYNGITIS. 

LARYNGITIS.  Inflammation  of  the  larynx.  Thesymp- 
toms  are  hoarseness,  sense  of  sud'ocal'ion,  great  anxiety  and 
restlessness,  anil  spasmodic  difficulty  of  deglutition.  The 
acute  term  of  the  disease  sometimes  terminates  fatally  in  94 
hours.  Chronic  inflammation  of  the  larynx  is  not  an  un- 
common complaint,  and  often  a  very  troublesome  one  ;  it  is 
frequently  met  with  among  dram  drinkers:  low  diet,  absti- 
nence from  spirituous  liquors,  and  astringent  lozea 
gargles,  generally  relieve  it :  the  acute  form  of  the  disease 
requires  local  and  general  bleeding,  and  a  blister  on  the  ex- 
ternal throat. 

LABYNGOTHONY.  (Gr.  \apvy\,  and  <pwvn,  the  voice.) 
The  sound  of  the  voice  as  heard  by  applying  the  stethoscope 
over  the  larynx. 

LAEYNGOTOMY.  (Gr.  Xapvyl,  and  rqivu,  leut.)  The 
operation  of  making  an  opening  into  the  larynx.  See  Bron- 
chotomy. 

LARYNX.  (Gr.  Xapvy\.)  The  upper  extremity  of  the 
trachea.  It  is  a  cartilaginous  cavity,  the  superior  opening 
of  which  is  called  the  a-lottis.  Its  various  parts,  anatomi- 
cally considered,  are  extremely  complex  and  intricate,  espe- 
cially in  reference  to  its  construction  and  physiology  as  the 
organ  of  voice. 

LA'SCARS.  The  name  given  to  the  native  Indian  sailors, 
many  of  whom  are  in  the  service  of  our  mercantile  navy. 

LA'SER.  A  gum  resin  greatly  esteemed  by  the  ancients, 
and  obtained  from  the  north  of  Africa.  It  is  described  by 
Dioscoridcs  (lib.  iii.,  c.  48) ;  and,  under  the  name  of  silphion, 
by  Theophrastus.  Different  names  were  given  to  different 
parts  of  the  plant  which  affords  it,  the  term  laser  or  lasoorn 
being  exclusively  applied  to  the  inspissated  juice.  From  the 
representations  of  the  plant,  upon  the  coins  of  Cyrene,  it  ap- 
pears to  have  been  one  of  the  Umbellifers.  According  to 
Dr.  Lindley  (Flora  Medica,  p.  52),  it  was  in  all  probability 
obtained  from  Thapsia  asclepium. 

LAST.  In  Commerce,  a  measure  of  uncertain  quantity, 
varying  in  different  countries,  and  with  respect  to  different 
articles.  Generally,  however,  a  last  is  estimated  at  4000  lbs. 
(See  Commercial  Dictionary.) 

LATEE'N  SAIL.  A  peculiar  sail  having  a  long  yard 
much  inclined  to  the  horizon,  and  used  by  polacres,  kebecs, 
and  other  vessels  navigated  in  the  Mediterranean. 

LA'TENT  HEAT.  Heat  insensible  to  the  thermometer, 
upon  which  the  liquid  and  agriform  states  of  bodies  depend, 
and  which  becomes  sensible  during  the  conversion  of  va- 
pours into  liquids  and  of  liquids  into  solids.     See  He  \t. 

LA'TERAL  OPERATION.  A  surgical  term  applied  to 
one  of  the  methods  of  cutting  for  the  stone. 

LA'TERA.V  A  church  at  Rome,  the  Pope's  see,  and  the 
metropolitan  of  the  whole  world,  dedicated  to  St.  John  La- 
teran.  The  name  is  derived  from  the  Roman  family  of  the 
Laterani,  who  possessed  a  palace  on  this  spot,  which  was 
seized  by  Nero,  and  became  from  his  time  an  imperial  resi- 
dence. The  Lateran  palace  was  given  by  Constantine  ti  >  the 
popes  (see  .Milman's  Hist,  of  Christianity,  ii.,  361),  who  con- 
tinued to  inhabit  it  until  their  retirement  to  Avignon,  when 
it  was  exchanged  for  the  Vatican.  The  building  was  then 
converted  into  a  church.  Eleven  councils  have  been  held 
in  the  Basilica  of  this  name  (hence  styled  Lateran  councils 
in  ecclesiastical  history)*  of  which  four  are  considered  by 
tlie  Roman  Catholics  to  be  general.  The  last  of  these  (or 
the  12th  General,  according  to  the  same  computation)  is  the 
mast  celebrated.  It  was  held  in  1215  by  Innocent  III.,  and 
is  principally  famous  as  establishing  the  Roman  Catholic 
doctrine  of  the  Eucharist,  using  for  the  first  time  the  term 
transubstantiation  for  the  change  of  the  elements.  This 
council  was  convoked  on  the  occasion  of  the  heresy  of  the 
Albigenses,  and  its  exposition  of  the  Catholic  faith  is  direct- 
ed principally  against  them.  It  established  also  some  canons 
for  the  maintenance  of  discipline  among  the  clergy,  and  that 
(omnia  utriusque  sexus)  which  enforces  confession  and  com- 
munion upon  all  the  faithful  at  least  once  a  vear. 

LATEMTIOU8.  (Lat.  later,  a  brick.)'  This  term  is 
applied  to  the  reddish  sediment  which  is  often  deposited  by 
the  urine. 

LA'TEX.  (Lat.)  A  term  given  to  a  peculiar  fluid  found 
In  certain  vessels  that  have  been  discovered  by  Schultz  to 
be  present  in  plants.  It  is  as  yet  but  little  understood,  but  is 
described  by  its  discoverer  as  a  peculiar  secretion  having  a 
rapid  vital  motion,  and  containing  numerous  granules  of  or- 
ganizable  matter.  He  supposes  it  to  In-  analogous  to  the 
blood  in  cold-blooded  animals.  What  is  usually  denomi- 
nated the  milk  of  plants  appears  to  be  latex. 

LATH.  (Sax.  latta.)  In  Architecture,  a  thin  cleft  piece 
of  wood  used  in  slating,  tiling,  and  plastering.  There  are 
two  sorts  of  laths,  single  and  double ;  the  former  being  barely 
a  quarter  of  an  inch,  whilst  the  latter  arc  three  eighths  of 
an  inch  thick.  Pantile  laths  are  long  square  pieces  of  iir  <>h 
which  the  pantiles  hang. 

LATHE.     A  Saxon  territorial  division,  of  which  the  ety- 
mology is  uncertain.    Kent  is  the  only  county  divided  into 
lathes,  each  of  which  contains  four  or  live  hundreds.    Each 
644 


LATITUDE. 

was  originally  under  the  jurisdiction  of  a  lathereeve,  subor- 
dinate to  the  sheriff  of  the  county.  Lathe  is  also  the  name 
of  a  well-known  instrument  or  engine  used  in  turning  wood, 
ivorv,  or  other  materials. 

LATH  FLOATED  AND  SET  FAIR.  In  Architecture, 
three-coat  plasterer's  work ;  in  which  the  first  is  called 
pricking  up,  the  second  floating,  the  third  or  finishing  is  done 
with  fine  .-lull". 

LATH  LAID  AND  SET.  In  Architecture,  two-coated 
plasterer's  work ;  except  that  the  first  is  called  laying-,  and  is 
executed  without  scratching,  unless  with  a  broom.  When 
used  on  walls,  this  sort  of  work  is  generally  coloured ;  when 
on  ceilings,  it  is  white. 

LATH  PLASTERED.  SET,  AND  COLOURED.  In 
Architecture,  the  same  as  lath  laid,  set,  and  coloured. 

LATH  PRICKED  IT,  FLOATED,  AND  SET  FOR 
PAPER.    The  same  as  lath  floated  and  set  fair. 

LA  TICLAVE.  (Lat.  latus  clavus.)  The  broad  stripe 
which  Roman  senators  and  patricians  were  privileged  to 
wear  on  their  robe. 

LATI'SSLMUS  DORSI.  A  broad  muscle  of  the  back 
which  pulls  the  os  humeri  downwards  and  backwards,  and 
assists  in  its  rotatory  motion. 

LA'TITUDE  (Lat  latitudo,  breadth),  in  Geography,  sig- 
nifies the  distance  of  a  place  from  the  equator,  expressed  in 
degrees  of  the  earth's  circumference;  or  it  is  the  angle  which 
a  line  perpendicular  to  the  horizon  of  any  place  makes  with 
the  plane  of  the  earth's  equator.  In  Astronomy,  the  term 
latitude,  as  applied  to  a  celestial  body,  has  a  different  signi- 
fication, and  means  the  distance  of  the  body  from  the  eclip- 
tic, or  plane  of  the  earth's  orbit.  The  term  declination  is 
applied  to  denote  the  angle  corresponding  to  terrestrial  lati- 
tude :  namely,  the  distance  of  a  star  or  planet  from  the  plane 
of  the  earth's  equator.  This  double  signification  of  the  term 
is  extremely  unfortunate,  as  it  tends  to  create  a  confusion  of 
ideas ;  but  having  been  introduced  by  the  early  astronomers, 
and  being  ingrafted  into  every  existing  work  on  tile  science, 
it  is  now  too  late  to  remedy  the  evil. 

Latitude  and  longitude  being  the  co-ordinates  by  which 
the  positions  of  places  on  the  terrestrial  surface  are  defined, 
their  determination  forms  the  most  important  application  of 
astronomy. 

In  order  to  give  an  idea  of  the  methods  of  finding  the  lati- 
tude of  a  place,  or  of  a  ship  at  sea,  it  is  necessary  to  recall 
some  of  the  elementary'  properties  of  the  sphere.  Let  H  H' 
be  the  horizon  of  a  spectator  placed  at 
C ;  C  P  the  direction  of  the  axis  of  the 
earth's  rotation  ;  and  C  Z  the  direction 
of  the  zenith,  or  perpendicular  to  the  / 
horizon.  Let  C  E  be  drawn  perpen-  « 
dicular  to  C  P,  in  the  plane  determined 
by  the  straight  lines  C  P  and  C  Z,  or  the  plane  of  the  merid- 
ian ;  then  C  E  is  the  intersection  of  the  planes  of  the  equator 
and  meridian  ;  the  semidiameter  of  the  earth  being  neglected 
as  infinitely  small  in  comparison  of  the  distances  of  the  stars, 
to  which  C  P,  C  Z,  and  C  E  are  supposed  to  be  prolonged. 

Now,  by  the  definition,  the  angle  ECZis  the  latitude  of 
C ;  and  it  is  this  angle,  therefore,  which  is  to  be  determined. 
The  observer  always  knows  his  zenith  by  the  direction  of  the 
plumb-line;  but  there  is  no  visible  mark  in  the  heavens  by 
which  he  can  at  all  times  determine  the  place  of  the  equator, 
or  tile  position  of  E  in  the  meridian,  or  even  the  meridian 
itself.  But  the  angles  E  C  P  and  Z  C  H  being  each  right 
angles,  E  C  Z  is  equal  to  P  C  H ;  that  is  to  say,  the  latitude 
of  the  place  is  equal  to  the  height  of  the  visible  pole.  Now 
the  pole  is  a  fixed  point  in  the  heavens,  and  its  position  in 
tile  northern  hemisphere)  is  indicated  nearly  by  a  star,  called 
the  pole  star,  or  polaris.  which  describes  a  small  circle  of 
the  sphere  within  1°  40'  of  it.  By  observing,  therefore,  the 
height  of  the  pole  star  at  anyplace,  an  approximation  to  the 
latitude  will  be  obtained  within  1°  4C  of  its  true  value.  But 
this  approximation  is  very  far  from  being  sufficient  for  any 
useful  purpose. 

The  places  of  the  principal  stars  being  given  In  the  existing 
catalogues,  the  observed  altitude  of  any  one  of  them  at  the 
time  it  passes  the  meridian  will  give  the  latitude  of  the  place. 
Let  S  be  a  star  on  the  meridian,  and  S  P  its  polar  distance  in 
the  catalogue,  and  let  its  altitude  H'  S  be  observed ;  then 
H'  S  being  known,  S  Z,  the  zenith  distance,  is  also  known  ; 
and  S  P  being  also  known,  we  have  SP —  S  Z  =  Z  P,  the 
complement  of  the  latitude.  In  like  manner,  the  latitude 
may  be  found  by  observing  the  meridional  altitude  of  the  sun, 
or  moon,  or  a  planet,  the  declinations  of  all  these  bodies  at 
any  tunc  being  known.  But,  though  all  the  methods  are 
equally  good  in  theory,  they  are  not  all  equally  practicable, 
and  some  of  them  give-  a  result  attended  with  much  greater 
uncertainty  than  others.  The  following  are  those  which  are 
chiefly  employed : 

1.  By  observing  the  altitude,  or,  which  comes  to  the  same 
thing,  the  zenith  distance,  of  a  star  on  the  meridian.  This 
is  the  simplest  in  practice,  requiring  only  a  single  observa- 
tion, and  no  other  correction  than  for  refraction.    It  is,  ac- 


LATITUDINARIANS. 

cordingly,  generally  employed  for  common  geographical  pur- 
poses. When  the  sun  or  planets  are  the  bodies  observed, 
corrections  must  also  be  applied  for  the  semidiameter  of  the 
body  and  for  the  parallax.  At  sea  the  bodies  selected  are 
the  sun  and  moon,  the  observation  of  a  star  or  planet  being 
difficult  on  account  of  the  motion  of  the  vessel.  To  know 
when  a  heavenly  body  is  on  the  meridian,  it  is  necessary  to 
have  a  pretty  accurate  knowledge  of  the  time ;  but  it  may  be 
remarked  that  near  the  meridian  the  altitude  varies  very 
slowly,  and  therefore  a  small  error  in  respect  of  the  time 
does  not  much  affect  the  result. 

2.  By  the  altitudes  of  the  circumpolar  stars  (those  which 
never  go  below  the  horizon  of  the  place)  at  their  upper  and 
lower  transits.  If  the  altitude  of  a  star  on  the  meridian  is 
observed  both  above  and  below  the  pole,  the  sum  of  the  two 
altitudes  is  equal  evidently  to  twice  the  height  of  the  pole, 
or  twice  the  latitude.  The  only  correction  required  is  for 
refraction,  which  is  not  the  same  in  the  two  observations. 

3.  The  latitude  may  also  be  found  by  observing  the  great- 
est and  least  meridian  altitudes  of  the  sun  in  the  course  of  a 
year.  The  sum  of  the  altitudes  of  the  sun  at  the  summer 
and  winter  solstices  is  equal  to  twice  the  height  of  the  equa- 
tor, or  twice  the  complement  of  the  latitude ;  but  this  method 
requiring  observations  to  be  made  at  an  interval  of  six  months, 
is  seldom  had  recourse  to  excepting  in  fixed  observatories. 

4.  All  the  preceding  methods  suppose  the  body  observed 
to  be  on  the  meridian ;  but  this  condition,  though  it  renders 
some  calculation  unnecessary,  is  not  indispensable.  The 
latitude  may  be  determined  by  the  observed  altitude  of  a 
body  out  of  the  meridian ;  and,  indeed,  with  more  certainty, 
because  several  observations  may  be  made  successively,  the 
mean  of  which  will  give  a  surer  result  than  a  single  merid- 
ional observation.  Let  P  be  the 
pole,  S  the  place  of  the  star  or  planet, 
and  S  Z  its  observed  zenith  distance, 
or  the  complement  of  its  observed 

-^.p  altitude.  In  the  triangle  P  S  Z,  P  S, 
the  polar  distance  of  the  star,  is 
known ;  S  Z  is  given  by  observation ;  and  the  hour  angle 
Z  P  S  is  given,  because  the  time  of  the  observation  is  sup- 
posed to  be  exactly  known  ;  therefore  P  Z,  the  co-latitude, 
may  be  found  by  the  solution  of  a  spherical  triangle.  This 
method,  however,  can  only  be  successfully  applied  by  ob- 
serving near  the  meridian,  and  some  artifices  of  analysis  are 
required  to  adapt  the  trigonometrical  formulseto  calculation. 
A  method  has  lately  been  proposed  by  Professor  Littrow,  of 
Vienna,  for  determining  the  latitude  by  means  of  observa- 
tions of  the  pole  star  off  the  meridian,  which  is  found  to  be 
of  great  practical  utility. 

5.  The  last  method  which  we  shall  notice  for  finding  the 
latitude  is  one  that  has  been  proposed  by  Bessel,  and  con- 
sists in  observing  the  eastern  and  western  passages  of  a  star 
through  the  prime  vertical ;  that  is,  the  vertical  plane  at 
right  angles  to  the  meridian.  When  a  transit  instrument  is 
adjusted  to  move  in  this  plane,  and  consequently  has  its  hor- 
izontal axis  in  the  direction  of  the  meridian,  all  the  stars 
which  pass  the  meridian  between  the  zenith  and  the  equa- 
tor will  twice  enter  the  field  of  the  telescope.  Now  let  t  be 
the  time  of  the  eastern  transit,  t'  the  time  of  the  western 
transit,  8  the  declination  of  the  star,  <p  the  latitude,  and  P  the 
diurnal  arc  corresponding  to  the  time  £  (t  —  t') ;  then  the 
formula  by  which  the  latitude  is  determined  is 

tan.  & 

tan.  $  = b- 

T      cos.  P 

The  advantages  of  this  method  are,  that  the  observations 
may  be  made  with  a  portable  instrument,  which  can  easily 
be  oriented  by  means  of  the  circumpolar  stars ;  a  small  error 
in  the  adjustment  will  produce  no  sensible  error  in  the  re- 
sult if  the  stars  observed  pass  near  the  zenith ;  the  observa- 
tions are  altogether  independent  of  errors  in  the  division  of 
the  instrument ;  and  in  determining  differences  of  latitude, 
errors  of  declination  are  also  eliminated  by  observing  the 
same  stars  at  all  the  stations.  It  is  therefore  a  very  conve- 
nient method  for  a  trigonometrical  survey. 

LATITUDINA'RIANS.  In  Eccl.  History,  a  class  of 
English  divines  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  opposed  alike  to 
the  high  tenets  of  the  ruling  party  in  the  church,  and  the 
fanaticism  which  then  distinguished  so  many  of  the  Dis- 
senters. They  were,  of  course,  the  objects  of  much  attack ; 
and  one  of  their  number,  Fowler,  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  ex- 
plained their  principles  in  his  treatise  entitled  "  The  prin- 
ciples and  Practice  of  certain  modern  Divines  of  the  Church 
of  England,  vulgarly  called  Latitudinarians,  truly  repre- 
sented and  defended,  by  way  of  Dialogue.  1670."  Henry 
More,  and  the  other  Platonizing  divines  of  the  time,  were 
sometimes  comprehended-  under  this  appellation.  (See 
Mosheim,  vol.  v.,  p.  412,  transl.,  ed.  1790.)  The  word  has 
been  since  very  generally  used  to  designate  those  who  hold 
opinions  at  variance  with  the  more  rigid  interpretation  of 
Scripture  and  church  traditions,  or  merely  as  a  term  of  party 
vituperation. 


LAUREATE. 

LA'TROBITE.  A  mineral  found  on  the  coast  of  Labra- 
dor, and  also  in  Finland.  Jt  is  translucent,  of  a  pale  red 
colour,  and  occurs  both  crystallized  and  massive.  It  is  a 
silicate  of  alumina  with  lime,  potash,  and  oxide  of  manga- 
nese. 

LA'TTEN.  (Fr.laiton.)  Brass  or  bronze.  Tinned  iron 
is  also  sometimes  known  under  this  name. 

LA'TUS  RE'CTUM.  In  the  Conic  Sections,  the  same 
with  parameter.  Latus  transversum,  the  same  with  the 
transverse  axis.     See  Conic  Sections. 

LAU'DANUM.  (Supposed  to  be  derived  from  Lat.  laus, 
praise.)  Different  preparations  of  opium  have  been  so 
termed :  the  tinctures  used  formerly  to  be  called  liquid 
laudanum. 

LAUDICOENI  (Lat.),  among  the  Romans,  were  per- 
sons who  (like  the  modern  claqueurs  in  France,  or  the  puffers 
in  England  at  auctions)  attended  the  performance  of  plays 
and  the  delivery  of  orations,  in  order  to  raise  or  to  join  in 
the  acclamation.  The  derivation  of  the  word  would  indi- 
cate that  an  entertainment  was  the  chief,  if  not  the  only 
reward,  which  they  obtained  for  their  services. 

LAUDS.  (Lat.  laudes,  praises.)  In  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church,  the  prayers  formerly  used  at  daybreak,  between 
those  of  "matins"  and  "prime."  In  later  times  they  have 
become  generally  confounded  with  "  matins." 

LAU'MONITE.  A  variety  of  zeolite,  named  in  honour 
of  its  discoverer,  Gillet-Laumont.  It  crumbles  when  exposed 
to  air  in  consequence  of  loss  of  water.  It  is  a  silicate  of 
alumina  and  lime  with  16  per  cent,  of  water. 

LAUNCH.  The  putting  of  a  new  vessel  into  the  water. 
When  the  vessel  is  to  be  launched,  a  frame  called  cradle  is 
built  under  her,  thus :  At  about  one  third  of  the  extreme 
half  breadth  are  laid,  on  each  side  of  the  keel  and  parallel 
to  it,  long  pieces  of  timber,  forming,  as  it  were,  two  keels 
under  the  principal  portion  of  the  vessel.  On  these  are 
placed  vertical  timbers  meeting  the  ship's  bottom,  and  main- 
tained from  slipping  outwards  by  a  strong  plank  or  riband. 
This  apparatus,  which  is  the  cradle,  rests  on  each  side  upon 
a  platform  sloping  to  the  water ;  these  platforms  are  called 
t/ie  ways,  and  are  greased.  The  blocks  on  which  the  keel 
was  laid  being  removed  with  the'  shores,  the  vessel  rests  on 
the  cradle,  which  Is  kept  from  sliding  down  by  a  small  piece 
or  bar  of  wood  fixed  to  it,  lying  nearly  horizontal,  abutting 
against  a  place  in  the  ways  called  the  dog  shore,  which, 
being  struck  downwards,  falls,  and  the  vessel  slides  down 
into  the  water.  When  afloat,  she  is  rolled  from  side  to  side 
by  the  persons  on  board  to  disengage  the  cradle. 

Launch.    A  wide  and  flat  boat,  the  largest  carried  by  a  , 
man-of-war. 

L  AUR  A'CE^E.  (Laurus,  one  of  the  genera.)  A  natural 
order  of  arborescent  Exogens,  inhabiting  the  cooler  parts  of 
the  tropics  and  some  temperate  countries.  They  are  distin- 
guished from  all  other  incomplete  apetalous  Exogens,  ex- 
cepting Mherospermacea,  by  the  peculiar  dehiscence  of  the 
anthers,  which  open  in  consequence  of  the  face  of  the  valves 
rolling  back ;  and  from  that  order  by  the  ovules  being 
pendulous,  not  erect.  The  species  are  generally  tonic  and 
stimulant.  Cinnamon  and  cassia  are  the  produce  of  some, 
camphor  of  others,  and  the  common  sweet  bay  is  a  frequent 
instance  of  the  order  in  the  northern  form.  A  few  are  so 
aromatic  that  their  seeds  have  been  used  as  substitutes  for 
nutmegs. 

LAU'RE  ATE.  (Lat.  laureatus.)  Literally  crowned  with 
laurels ;  applied  at  present  to  a  well-known  officer  in  the 
royal  household.  At  the  Certamina,  or  gymnastic  and  other 
contests  celebrated  under  the  Roman  emperors,  especially 
at  the  Quinquatria,  or  Feast  of  Minerva,  poets  also  con- 
tended, and  the  prize  was  a  crown  of  oak  or  olive  leaves. 
But  it  was  from  some  traditionary  belief  respecting  the 
coronation  of  Virgil  and  Horace  with  laurel  in  the  Capitol 
(of  which,  however,  no  record  is  extant)  that  the  dignity  of 
poet  laureate  was  invented  in  the  14th  century,  and  con- 
ferred on  Petrarch  at  Rome  by  the  senator  or  supreme 
magistrate  of  the  city.  It  was  intended  to  confer  the  same 
honour  on  Tasso,  who,  however,  died  on  the  night  before 
the  proposed  celebration.  In  1725  and  1776  it  was  granted 
to  two  celebrated  improvisatori,  the  Signor  Rufetti  and  the 
Signora  Morelli,  better  known  by  the  name  of  Corilla  (.see 
Improvisatori).  In  most  European  countries  the  sovereign 
has  assumed  the  privilege  of  nominating  a  court  poet  with 
various  titles.  In  France  and  Spain  these  have  never  been 
termed  poets  laureate  ;  but  the  imperial  poet,  or  Poeta  Ce- 
sareo,  in  Germany,  was  invested  with  the  laurel.  This 
crown,  however,  was  customarily  given  at  the  universities 
in  the  middle  ages  to  such  persons  as  took  degrees  in  gram- 
mar and  rhetoric,  of  which  poetry  formed  a  branch ;  whence, 
according  to  some  authors,  the  term  Baccalaurcatus  (quod 
vide)  has  been  derived.  In  England  traces  of  a  stipendiary 
poet  royal  are  found  as  early  as  Henry  III.,  and  of  a  poet 
laureate  by  that  name  under  Edward  IV.  Skelton,  under 
Hen.  VII.  and  VIII.,  was  created  poet  laureate  by  the 
universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  and  appears  to  have 

645 


LAURINE. 

held  the  same  dignity  at  court ;  but  the  academical  and 
court  honour  were  distinct  until  the  extinction  of  the  uni- 
versity custom,  of  which  Henry  VIlI.'s  reign  exhibits  the 
last  instance. 

Royal  poets  laureate  are  supposed  not  to  have  begun  to 
write  in  English  until  after  the  Reformation.  The  office 
was  made  patent  by  Charles  L,  and  the  salary  fixed  at  £100 
annually,  and  a  tierce  of  Spanish  Canary  wine.  Under 
Queen  Anne  it  was  placed  in  the  control  of  the  lord-cham- 
berlain.  In  the  reign  of  George  III.  the  annual  tierce  of 
wine  was  commuted  for  an  increase  of  salary,  and  at  the 
close  of  the  same  reign  the  custom  of  requiring  annual  odes 
from  the  lord-chamberlain  was  discontinued. 

LAURINE.  A  fatty  matter  of  an  acrid  taste,  contained 
to  the  amount  of  about  1  per  cent,  in  the  berries  of  the  com- 
mon laurel. 

LA'VA.  The  substances  which  flow  in  a  melted  state 
from  a  volcano.  They  vary  considerably  in  texture  and 
composition.    See  Geology. 

LAVER.  (Lat.  lavo,  to  wash ;  because  washed  by  the 
waters  of  the  ocean.)  A  species  of  ulva  which  is  eaten  as 
a  delicacy. 

LAW,  in  Latin  Lex ;  derived  from  the  verb  lego,  I  collect 
or  select. 

Law,  collective  and  particular. — We  employ  the  term 
"  law"  to  denote  a  body  of  rules,  or  all  the  rules  applicable 
to  a  given  subject ;  e.  g.,  the  Roman  Law,  the  Law  of 
Nature.  We  employ  the  term  "  a  law"  to  denote  an  indi- 
vidual rule. 

The  idea  of  law,  in  its  strictest  sense,  comprehends  the 
notion  of  two  parties  ;  a  superior  imposing  it,  and  an  inferior 
obeying  it. 

Laws,  improperly  or  metaphorically  so  called. — In  com- 
mon language  it  is  usual  to  apply  the  word  "law"  to  desig- 
nate principles  or  properties  which  can  only  be  thus  named 
by  analogy.  Whenever  certain  causes  invariably  or  gen- 
erally produce  like  effects,  this  consequence  of  effect  upon 
cause  is  popularly  termed  "a  law."  Thus  we  speak  of  the 
law  of  nature  with  reference  to  inanimate  or  irrational  sub- 
jects ;  of  the  law  of  gravitation,  by  which  bodies  are 
mutually  attracted  to  each  other  ;  of  the  laws  of  motion ;  of 
the  laws  which  regulate  certain  processes  in  animal  and 
vegetable  economy,  &c.  In  this  sense,  laws  have  been 
defined  to  mean  "  the  necessary  relations  resulting  from  the 
nature  of  things."  The  analogy  is  nobly  expounded  in  a 
well-known  passage  of  Hooker's  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  at 
the  end  of  the  first  book. 

Law  defined. — Law,  in  its  stricter  sense,  as  applied  to  the 
voluntary  actions  of  man,  comprises  the  notion  of  a  com- 
mand issued  by  a  superior  imposing  an  obligation  on  a 
subject. 

Laws,  Divine  and  Human. — Laws  are  divided,  according 
to  the  superior  who  imposes  them,  into  divine  and  human  : 
the  law  of  God,  and  the  law  of  man. 

Divine  Law. — The  Author  of  our  being  has  declared  his 
will  to  mankind  at  various  times,  through  the  instrumentality 
of  inspired  prophets  and  teachers.  There  are  also  certain 
rules  of  right  and  wrong  commonly  received,  which  are 
generally  supposed  to  have  their  origin  in  the  nature  of  man, 
and  to  subsist  independently  of  God's  revealed  will.  Thus 
the  term  "  divine"  law  signifies,  1.  Revealed  law ;  2.  Natural 
law. 

Revealed  Law. — God,  as  the  Lawgiver  of  the  Jewish 
nation,  dictated  to  Moses  a  code  of  laws  for  that  people, 
comprising  both  a  confirmation  of  such  laws  as  are  com- 
monly considered  natural  by  specific  sanctions,  and  also 
various  minute  ceremonial  and  social  observances,.  Thus 
the  Jewish  law  is  commonly  said  to  consist  of,  1.  The 
moral  law;  2.  The  ceremonial  law;  3.  The  civil  or  politi- 
cal law. 

Law  of  Christianity. — The  second  branch  of  revealed 
law  is  that  which  is  declared  to  us  in  the  New  Testament. 

Law  of  Nature. — The  law  of  nature,  however  extensive 
in  its  philosophical  meaning,  is  much  more  confined  in  that 
sense  in  which  alone  it  is  within  the  province  of  jurispru- 
dence. Regarding  it  as  merely  applicable  to  the  relative 
duties  of  men  in  a  community,  it  is  sufficient  for  practical 
purposes  to  observe,  with  <;mtius,  that  its  first  principle  is 
the  sociability  of  man  ;  and,  consequently,  that  the  conser- 
vation of  society  in  its  actual  state,  u  hither  from  the  motive 
of  mutual  distrust,  as  Hobbes  maintained,  or  from  innate 
benevolence,  as  his  adversaries  contended,  is  the  duty  which 
it  imposes  on  every  one. 

Let  us  suppose,  therefore,  that  in  a  community  such  as 
our  own  there  could  occur  at  once  a  suspension  of  all  civil 
positive  law,  and  that,  at  the  same  time,  the  sanctions  of 
God's  revealed  law  could  be  withdrawn.  Men  would  thus 
be  restored  to  a  state  of  natural  liberty.  The  natural  law  is 
that  code  of  duties  which  would  then  take  the  place  of  all 
other  legislation.  Every  act  tending  to  injure  our  neighbour 
in  person  and  property,  every  act  in  any  way  tending  to  dis- 
turb or  impair  the  frame  of  society,  would  then  be  prohibited 
640 


LAW. 

by  natural  law,  as  it  now  is  prohibited  by  laws  human  and 
divine.  Undoubtedly  the  natural  law,  in  the  sense  in  which 
it  is  commonly  used,  comprehends  a  far  \\  ider  range  of  ob- 
jects. The  duties  of  personal  holiness,  the  relative  duties 
of  the  members  of  a  family,  the  duties  of  active  benevolence ; 
all  these  are  dictated  to  us  by  conscience,  as  much  as  absti- 
nence from  positive  injustice.  But  the  province  of  jurispru- 
dence is  too  limited  to  admit  of  the  consideration  of  these 
higher  parts  of  morality ;  it  is  with  political  society  only  that 
she  is  concerned. 

Law  of  Nations. — The  principle  of  natural  law  between 
individuals  in  a  community  would  thus  be  the  maintenance 
of  the  status  quo,  or  actual  condition  of  things,  and  the  en- 
suring to  everyone  the  continuance  of  all  his  pose 
This,  therefore,  is  the  elementary  dogma  of  that  only  branch 
of  natural  law  which  can  be  said  to  exist  as  a  definite  rule 
of  conduct,  namely,  the  law  of  nations.  Nations  are  in  a 
state  of  natural  liberty  with  reference  to  other  nations.  For, 
since  they  have  no  earthly  superior  to  establish  rules  for 
them,  and  since  the  decrees  of  Christianity,  addressed  as 
they  are  directly  to  individuals,  have  been  generally  dis- 
carded in  the  practice  of  collective  bodies,  the  only  maxims 
which  govern  their  intercourse  are  certain  conventional 
arrangements,  the  object  of  which  is  the  maintenance  of  the 
existing  society  and  intercourse  between  the  subjects  of  dis- 
tinct sovereign  states.  All  the  rules  of  national  law  have 
this  for  their  ultimate  end.  The  natural  law  of  men,  to  use 
the  phrase  of  Hobbes,  teaches  the  absolute  duties  subsisting 
between  men  and  men ;  the  natural  law  of  nations,  those 
subsisting  between  men  in  societies :  or  (in  a  compendious 
definition),  national  law  is  the  law  of  nature  applied  to  in- 
dependent states  as  if  they  were  individuals. 

The  law  of  nations,  according  to  the  comprehensive  ar- 
rangements of  Mackintosh,  comprises  "  the  principles  of 
national  independence,  the  intercourse  of  nations  in  peace, 
the  privileges  of  ambassadors  and  inferior  ministers,  the 
commerce  of  private  subjects,  the  grounds  of  just  war,  the 
mutual  duties  of  belligerent  and  neutral  powers,  the  limits 
of  lawful  hostility,  the  rights  of  conquest,  the  faith  to  be 
observed  in  warfare,  the  force  of  an  armistice,  of  safe  con- 
ducts and  of  passports,  the  nature  and  obligation  of  alliance*, 
the  means  of  negotiation,  the  authority  and  interpretation 
of  treaties  of  peace." 

But  the  law  of  nations,  in  its  practical  sense,  widely  dif- 
fers from  this  extensive  and  philosophical  compendium  of 
international  duties.  Many  of  the  maxims  which  relate  to 
the  subjects  here  enumerated  belong  rather  to  the  higher 
province  of  morality  than  to  that  of  jurisprudence.  The 
only  punishment  of  which  the  sanction  can  be  applied  in 
this  species  of  law  is  the  hostility  of  other  states  towards 
that  which  violates  it  Whoever,  therefore,  is  powerful 
enough,  whether  from  his  own  strength  or  from  position  and 
alliances,  to  defy  such  punishment,  is,  in  a  certain  sense, 
above  the  law.  Hence,  although  the  law  of  nations,  con- 
sidered as  a  branch  of  that  of  nature,  would  lay  down  abso- 
lute rules  of  conduct  in  the  highest  as  well  as  the  lowest 
matters  of  policy  within  its  reach,  it  may  safely  be  said  that 
the  law  of  nations  as  a  body  of  recognised  right  extends  only 
to  a  portion,  and  that  the  least  important,  of  these  matters. 
The  only  maxims  which  can  be  said  to  subsist  as  laws  are 
those  which  are  never  or  rarely  violated  by  European  states, 
because  the  inconvenience  of  their  general  neglect  would 
overbalance  the  particular  inconvenience  of  adhering  to 
them  in  a  given  instance.  Thus  all  will  acknowledge  that 
there  is  a  wide  difference,  in  point  of  preciseness  ;ind  obliga- 
tion, between  the  principles  which  forbid  unjust  B| 
or  severity  towards  the  conquered,  and  those  which  prescribe 
the  privileges  of  ambassadors  and  the  protection  of  |>eaceful 
aliens. 

The  subjects  to  which  national  law  is  most  strictly  con- 
fined are  customary  rules  respected  by  the  mutual  consent 
of  nations,  rarely  infringed  by  the  voluntary  act  of  a  sover- 
eign power,  and  of  which  the  infringement  is  considered  to 
require  satisfaction  and  reparation. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  that  although  several  of  the  maxims 
of  national  law  (such,  for  example,  as  the  sanctity  of  the 
persons  of  ambassadors)  are  usually  held  binding  in  trans- 
actions with  all  nations  of  the  globe,  yet  the  great  bulk  of 
its  rules  are  only  recognised  and  observed  by  the  Christian 
states  of  Europe  and  America  in  their  dealings  with  each 
other. 

National  law  (from  its  defective  sanction,  and  want  of  a 
sovereign  legislator  as  to  its  details)  may,  perhaps,  be  more 
properly  termed  the  custom  than  the  law  of  nations. 

The  reduction  of  the  law  of  nations  to  a  system  was  first 
made  by  Grotius,  in  a  work  which,  as  Sir  J.  Mackintosh 
has  well  observed,  though  we  now,  indeed,  justly  deem  II 
imperfect,  is  perhaps  the  most  complete  that  the  world  has 
yet  owed,  at  w>  early  a  stage  in  the  progress  of  BO] 
to  the  genius  and  learning  of  one  man.  To  him  succeeded 
Puftendorf ;  who,  avoiding  the  inconvenient  and  unscientific 
method  of  Grotius,  has,  to  use  the  words  of  the  statesman 


LAW. 


already  quoted,  without  the  genius  of  his  master,  and  with 
very  inferior  learning,  yet  treated  the  subject  with  sound 
sense,  with  clear  method,  with  extensive  and  accurate 
knowledge,  and  with  a  copiousness  of  detail  sometimes  in- 
deed tedious,  but  always  instructive  and  satisfactory.  But, 
in  addition  to  the  works  of  these  illustrious  authors,  the  rules 
of  national  law  are  to  be  found,  first,  in  the  treatises  of 
several  other  authors,  who  are  usually  regarded  as  authori- 
ties, of  whom  Bynkerschoek  (Opera  Omnia,  fol.,  Lug.  Bat., 
1767 ;  Engl,  trans.,  fol.,  1749),  Vattel,  Wicquefort,  Ruther- 
forth  (Institutes,  1779),  Von  Martens,  and  others,  may  be 
cited :  secondly,  in  the  treaties  which  have  been  at  different 
times  concluded  between  European  states,  especially  those 
of  Westphalia,  1048;  Utrecht,  1713;  Aix-la-Chapelle,  1748; 
Paris,  1763 ;  and  Vienna,  1814.  A  pretty  complete  summary 
of  the  bibliography  of  this  subject  will  be  found  in  the  intro- 
ductory chapter  of  Mr.  Manning's  work  on  the  Law  of  Na- 
tions (1839).  (See  also  Dr.  Wheaton  on  International  Law, 
2  vols.  8vo.,  Lond.,  1836.) 

The  language  of  conventions  and  treaties  has  frequently 
given  occasion  to  disputes.  Subsequently  to  the  revival  of 
letters,  and  until  the  peace  of  Nimeguen  (1679),  the  state 
language  ordinarily  used  was  the  Latin  ;  but  since  that 
period  it  has  chiefly  given  way  to  the  French,  which  is  now 
commonly  used  between  nations  employing  different  lan- 
guages in  their  public  acts. 

Law,  Positive  or  Municipal. — This  is  the  term  usually 
employed  to  distinguish  law,  in  its  ordinary  sense  (the  ex- 
pression of  the  will  of  the  supreme  power  in  a  state),  from 
all  the  other  species  of  law  (improperly  so  called)  with 
which  we  have  hitherto  been  occupied.  It  is  called  positive 
law,  because  established  in  the  form  of  direct  and  definite 
injunctions ;  municipal,  from  the  Latin  municipium,  a  town 
possessed  of  privileges  and  local  laws. 

Positive  law  is  "  a  rule  of  civil  conduct  prescribed  by  the 
supreme  power  in  a  state."  Blackstone  adds,  "command- 
ing what  is  right,  and  prohibiting  what  is  wrong."  But  as 
it  is  clear  that  the  right  commanded  and  the  wrong  prohibited 
acquire  the  character  of  right  and  wrong  only  from  being 
so  commanded  and  prohibited,  the  latter  half  of  the  defini- 
tion is  evidently  comprehended  in  the  first.  A  regulation  or 
body  of  regulations,  usually  adhered  to  by  men  in  their 
dealings  with  each  other,  but  not  commanded  by  the  civil 
power  nor  enforced  by  lawful  punishment,  is  properly  called 
a  custom  ;  but  when  such  regulations,  whether  set  by  men 
to  each  other  on  a  footing  of  equality,  or  by  subordinate 
bodies  within  the  state  to  individuals,  can  be  enforced  by 
lawful  punishment,  the  sovereign  power  allowing  such 
punishment,  the  sovereign  power  thereby  adopts  the  regu- 
lations, and  they  become  laws  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the 
word. 

A  law  is  also  defined  "  a  command  of  a  political  superior 
obliging  the  subject  to  a  particular  course  of  conduct."  This 
definition  comprehends  most  of  the  civil  institutions  with 
which  jurisprudence  is  concerned,  but  it  appears  to  exclude 
some  which  are  nevertheless  within  the  province  of  that 
science.    For  example, 

1.  Many  laws  are  enacted  to  explain  former  laws,  and 
also  to  repeal  former  laws.  Neither  of  these  can  be  said,  in 
strictness,  to  answer  the  definition  of  law  which  describes  it 
as  a  command,  unless  we  consider  them  as  re-enacting  for- 
mer commands.  2.  The  Roman  jurists  applied  the  term 
"  laws  of  imperfect  obligation"  to  certain  enactments  of  their 
law  prescribing  particular  conduct,  but  without  any  penalty 
being  expressed  in  the  event  of  their  violation.  These  were 
not  commands,  not  being  enforced,  and  could  not  be  said  to 
oblige  the  subject,  who  was  at  liberty  to  escape  the  obliga- 
tion. Our  laws  recognise  no  such  rules  as  these.  If  a  statute 
enjoins  or  prohibits  an  action  without  adding  any  express 
penalty,  the  courts  of  justice  presume  that  a  violation  of  the 
statute  is  punishable.  Law,  as  the  subject  matter  of  juris- 
prudence, is  that  which  obliges  the  subject  to  a  particular 
course  of  conduct  by  general  rules  of  action.  This  ex- 
cludes— 

1.  Laws  made  to  permit  or  restrain  the  acts  of  specified 
individuals.  Such  were  called  by  the  Romans  privilegia, 
or,  under  the  emperors,  private  rescripts ;  in  our  law,  private 
acts  of  parliament.  The  sovereign  body  in  the  state,  having 
the  power  to  repeal  and  modify  its  own  enactments,  can  by 
an  expression  of  its  will  exempt  particular  persons  from  its 
own  injunctions,  or  can  impose  new  duties  on  particular  per- 
sons. Such  decrees  have  all  the  force  of  law,  but  they  do 
not  form  a  part  of  the  general  law  of  the  country. 

2.  Laws  made  to  suit  a  particular  emergency,  occasional 
or  particular  commands,  which  are  distinguished  from  gen- 
eral laws  by  their  shorter  duration.  To  exemplify  this  dif- 
ference, it  has  been  said  that,  should  a  sovereign  command 
all  his  subjects  to  wear  black  as  their  ordinary  dress,  such  a 
command  would  be  a  law  ;  but  should  he  order  a  general 
mourning  for  a  stated  time,  such  an  order  would  not  have 
sufficient  permanence  to  entitle  it  to  that  appellation. 

Every  command  given  by  a  political  superior  is  a  law  in 


point  of  force  ;  but  it  is  necessary  to  establish  some  distinc- 
tion between  occasional  and  general  commands,  as  other- 
wise every  direction  of  a  public  officer,  every  incidenta! 
command  of  a  military  superior,  must  be  considered  as  a 
law.  An  act  to  suspend  the  collection  of  a  duty  for  a  given 
time ;  an  order  in  council  to  admit  bonded  goods,  or  to  issue 
any  temporary  regulations  respecting  trade  and  commerce  ; 
royal  proclamations  ;  all  these  are  familiar  instances  of  the 
species  of  occasional  or  particular  commands. 

Municipal  law  is  commonly  divided  into  two  branches  ; 
that  which  concerns  the  public  duties  of  individuals  with 
reference  to  the  state,  and  that  which  concerns  the  private 
relations  of  individuals  towards  each  other.  The  division 
between  these  branches  is  not  in  all  systems  the  same.  Un- 
der the  old  Germanic  institutions,  for  example,  most  crimes 
were  considered  as  civil  injuries  only. 

Laws,  strictly  so  called,  and  forming  the  body  of  public 
right  in  each  separate  state,  are  to  be  found  either  in  codes 
sanctioned  by  the  authority  of  the  state,  or  in  decrees  issued 
and  made  public  by  such  authority,  or,  finally,  in  certain 
unwritten  customs,  to  which  that  authority,  by  sanctioning 
them,  has  given  the  force  of  law. 

The  code  of  law,  under  all  Mohammedan  governments,  is 
to  be  found  wholly  or  in  part  in  the  Koran,  which  to  Mo- 
hammedans bears  the  character  both  of  tevealed  and  civil 
law.  Those  of  the  Hindoos,  and  many  other  nations,  have 
likewise  the  authority  of  an  imaginary  religious  sanction. 

In  Western  Europe,  the  laws  in  force  in  most  of  its  coun- 
tries, although  modified  and  republished  by  their  several  le- 
gislatures, are  in  great  measure  founded  on  what  is  termed 
the  Roman  law.  This  body  of  law  is  principally  declared 
in  the  Pandects,  Code,  and  Institutes  of  the  Emperor  Jus- 
tinian ;  but  these  contain  only  a  digest  of  a  small  portion  of 
the  laws  which  prevailed  in  the  ancient  Roman  empire. 

The  Roman  Law. — "  Inasmuch,"  to  use  the  words  of  our 
own  learned  judge  Lord  Holt,  "  as  the  laws  of  all  nations 
are  doubtless  raised  out  of  the  civil  law,  as  all  governments 
are  sprung  from  the  ruins  of  the  Roman  empire,  it  must  be 
owned  that  the  principles  of  our  law  are  borrowed  from  the 
civil  law,  therefore  grounded  upon  the  same  reason  in  many 
things."  The  manner  in  which  the  Roman  law  has  been 
introduced  into  the  jurisprudence  of  modern  Europe  may  be 
said  to  have  been  twofold :  first,  through  the  prevalence  of 
Roman  usages,  derived  from  the  times  of  the  empire,  among 
the  population  of  various  countries,  especially  that  part  of  it 
which  was  collected  in  towns  ;  secondly,  through  the  efforts 
of  the  ecclesiastics,  who  learned  the  civil  law  from  the 
Codex  of  Theodosius  and  from  the  works  of  Justinian,  and 
introduced  it,  as  far  as  their  authority  extended,  into  such 
branches  of  justice  as  they  were  permitted  to  administer, 
and  especially  into  their  canon  law,  which  the  various  prin- 
ces of  Europe  permitted  to  be  binding,  to  a  different  extent 
in  different  countries,  upon  their  lay  as  well  as  clerical  sub- 
jects. Thus  the  Roman  law  is,  in  one  sense,  the  oldest  and 
fundamental  part  of  public  right  in  many  countries;  in  an 
other  sense,  it  is  a  comparatively  recent  importation,  altering 
the  character  of  their  respective  legislations.  The  Roman 
law  comprises  what  are  termed  the  Institutes,  Pandects, 
Code,  and  Novella:.  (See  these  terms.)  These  have  been 
collected  and  separately  published  under  the  title  of  Corpus 
Juris  Civilis ;  the  best  editions  being  those  of  Amsterdam 
(8vo,  1664)  for  the  text,  and  of  Gothofred  (folio,  Paris,  1628) 
for  the  text  and  notes.  The  most  elaborate  modern  work 
on  the  history  of  the  Roman  law  is  that  of  Savigny. 

It  would  be  impossible,  within  our  limits,  to  give  the  read- 
er any  useful  bibliographical  notice  on  a  subject  which  in 
foreign  countries  has  necessarily  received  such  abundant  at- 
tention and  illustration  ;  and  English  treatise  writers  on  the 
civil  law  are  few,  and  of  no  great  value,  that  law  having 
only  existed  among  ourselves,  as  we  have  seen,  in  certain 
limited  departments. 

Civil  Law  in  England. — In  England,  while  in  the  way 
of  ancient  custom  there  are  fewer  vestiges  of  the  civil  law 
than  in  any  other  of  the  provinces  of  ancient  Rome,  yet  in 
the  way  of  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  it  has  been  wider 
spread  and  continued  longer  in  force  than  almost  anywhere 
else. 

Although  Britain  was  a  highly  civilized  province,  possess- 
ing 140  cities  and  towns  in  the  time  of  the  Romans,  yet  the 
numbers  and  violence  of  her  invaders,  especially  the  Sax- 
ons and  the  Danes,  appear  to  have  extinguished  almost  ev- 
ery relic  of  her  provincial  customs  and  jurisprudence.  It  is 
chiefly,  therefore,  to  the  clergy  that  we  are  to  look  for  the 
prevalence  of  the  civil  law  in  England,  and  it  has  been  in- 
troduced by  them  in  several  ways. 

1.  At  the  Norman  invasion  a  considerable  accession  to 
the  numbers  and  influence  of  the  spiritual  body  in  England 
took  place.  A  century  afterwards  the  discovery  of  the 
Pandects  rendered  the  study  of  jurisprudence  familiar  chiefly 
among  that  body,  who  monopolized  most  of  the  learning  and 
intelligence  of  the  age.  They  introduced  it  into  England; 
and,  as  the  rude  and  simple  justice  of  the  Saxons  was  inad- 

647 


LAW. 


equate  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  people,  most  of  the  early 
lawyers,  who  were  themselves  chiefly  ecclesiastics,  sought 
in  the  pages  of  their  favourite  works  for  principles  to  supply 
the  defects  as  they  arose.  Hence,  in  the  works  of  Bracton, 
Britton,  and  Fleta  (written  expressly  on  the  common  law 
of  England  ;  that  is,  the  customary  law  of  the  Saxons  modi- 
fied by  extensive  introduction  of  Norman  usages),  we  And 
constant  reference,  not  only  in  spirit,  but  in  words,  to  the 
civil.  The  time  during  which  the  study  of  this  latter  was 
most  in  vogue  among  English  lawyers  appears  to  have  been 
between  the  reigns  of  Stephen  and  Edward  III.  During  the 
greater  part  of  that  period  a  constant  struggle  was  carried 
on  between  the  ecclesiastical  lawyers,  supported  in  many 
cases  by  the  crown,  and  the  popular  party  in  favour  of  the 
old  customary  right,  which  was  defended  by  the  temporal 
nobility.  The  final  victory  of  the  common  law,  and  its  es- 
tablishment as  the  rule  of  the  lnnd,  except  in  particular  cases, 
may  be  dated  from  the  reign  of  Edward  I. 

2.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  lord-chancellor  of  England  is  a 
subject  considered  elsewhere.  (See  Chancery.)  It  is  suf- 
ficient here  to  observe  that,  as  most  of  the  chancellors  un- 
der the  Plantagenet  kings  were  ecclesiastics,  and  as  the  mat- 
ters intrusted  to  their  decision  were  such  as  the  rules  of  the 
common  law  did  not  apply  to,  they  generally  searched  for 
precedents  in  that  of  Rome,  which  has  hence  been  largely 
imported  into  one  great  branch  of  modern  English  law, 
namely,  Equity. 

3.  In  some  particular  matters,  the  rules  of  the  civil  law 
have  always  been  allowed,  by  custom,  to  prevail  in  England. 
These  are,  such  as  were  taken  cognizance  of  by  the  courts 
of  honour  and  chivalry,  now  fallen  into  disuse  ;  in  the  High 
Court  of  Admiralty  (see  Admiralty)  ;  and  in  the  courts  of 
the  two  Universities,  which  originally  were  ecclesiastical 
bodies. 

4.  The  chief  influence  of  the  civil  law  in  England  has 
been  through  the  canon  law,  which  was  founded  upon  it. 

Law,  Canon. — The  rules  which  were  framed  by  the 
Christian  Church  for  its  own  spiritual  polity  may  be  suppo- 
sed to  have  had  their  origin  in  the  very  earliest  periods  of 
Christianity  itself;  but  all  the  authority  and  force  which 
they  possessed  could  arise  only  from  the  mutual  consent  of 
the  faithful  to  be  bound  by  them,  until  the  establishment  of 
Christianity  as  a  state  religion  entirely  altered  the  character 
of  its  spiritual  constitution.  The  temporal  jurisdiction,  which 
was  then  too  liberally  conceded  to  the  bishops,  together  with 
the  legal  force  given  by  several  emperors,  Justinian  in  par- 
ticular, to  the  canons  of  councils,  gradually  called  into  ex- 
;  istence  a  new  and  independent  body  of  legislation. 
'  When  the  Western  Empire  had  been  overthrown,  the 
authority  of  the  popes  as  temporal  governors  was  by  de- 
grees confirmed  in  the  city  of  Rome  and  the  adjacent  coun- 
try. At  the  same  time,  the  power  of  the  ecclesiastical  body 
was  increased  and  extended  in  other  countries ;  and  the  rev- 
erence attached  to  their  authority  gave  to  the  spiritual  cen- 
sures with  which  they  visited  particular  offences  a  greater 
force  than  to  the  sanctions  of  the  national  law.  Thus,  be- 
sides matters  of  church  government,  which  were  at  first  the 
particular  subject  of  the  pontifical  law,  it  comprehended 
within  its  purview  numerous  and  important  branches  of  the 
civil  law  of  persons  and  property. 

About  the  year  1150,  the  various  edicts  then  in  force  of  the 
several  popes,  together  with  the  canons  of  councils,  and  the 
authoritative  declarations  of  fathers  and  doctors  of  the  church, 
were  collected  together  by  the  monk  Gratian,  and  reduced 
into  a  volume  called  the  Decretum,  and  considered  as  the 
earliest  authority  in  canon  law. 

In  the  next  century,  Pope  Gregory  IX.  published  five 
books  of  Decretals,  collected  from  the  Decretal  Epistles  of 
the  Pope  ;  to  which  Boniface  Vm.  added  a  sixth  book,  about 
the  end  of  the  same  century.  To  these  were  added,  at  sub- 
sequent periods,  the  Clementine  Constitutions,  a  seventh 
Book  of  Decretals,  and  a  Book  of  Institutes.  The  whole  of 
these  authorities  were  collated  and  published  by  Gregory 
XIII.  in  1580,  under  the  title  of  Corpus  Juris  Canonici. 

In  matters  of  evidence,  and  as  far  as  practicable  in  the 
forms  of  proceeding,  the  compilers  of  the  canon  law  founded 
their  system  upon  that  of  Rome,  with  which  they  were  best 
acquainted.  In  all  such  matters  of  civil  jurisdiction  as  their 
legislation  embraced,  they  likewise  assumed  it  as  the  basis 
of  their  structure.  By  the  practice  of  all  ecclesiastical  courts, 
the  civil  law  is  allowed  to  come  in  aid  of,  and  to  supply  the 
canon  law,  in  all  such  cases  as  are  there  omitted.  The  rob 
jects  of  the  canon  law  were,  1.  The  hierarchy  and  govern- 
ment of  the  church  ;  2.  All  things  relating  to  pious  uses;  3. 
The  wills  of  defuncts,  the  guardianship  of  orphans,  and  mat- 
ters of  marriage  and  divorce.  But  it  was  by  no  means  per- 
manently received,  in  most  European  countries,  to  its  full 
extent.  Its  jurisdiction  only  subsisted  by  the  toleration  of 
princes,  and  therefore  varied,  according  as  the  superstition 
or  piety  of  these  sovereigns,  or  their  jealousy  of  ecclesi.isti 
cal  usurpation,  alternately  predominated.  But,  upon  the 
whole,  its  authority  became  so  deeply  rooted,  that  even  in 
648 


countries  which  have  rejected  in  later  times  the  authority 
of  the  pope,  its  rules  are  still  referred  to,  not  merely  in  mat- 
ters relating  to  church  benefices,  but  also  in  some  cases  of 
purely  civil  jurisdiction. 

Nevertheless,  although  in  early  times  its  authority  was 
asserted  by  the  popes  on  the  ground  of  their  temporal  su- 
periority over  all  earthly  sovereigns,  its  force  in  every  coun- 
try must  now  be  said  to  depend  upon  the  will  of  the  state, 
which  gives  the  force  of  law  to  its  provisions. 

It  is  supposed  that  the  decrees  and  canons  of  tile  Church 
of  Rome  were  adopted  in  this  country  so  early  as  A.D.  605, 
shortly  after  the  introduction  of  Christianity  among  the  Sax- 
ons ;  but  they  were  not  fully  recognised  by  the  state  until 
after  the  Norman  conquest.  The  bishops,  who  had  in  Saxon 
times  sat  with  the  sheriffs  and  landed  proprietors  in  the 
county  courts,  then  withdrew  from  participation  with  the 
execution  in  civil  government.  From  that  period  the  power 
of  the  bishops  made  rapid  strides,  insomuch  that  they  have 
succeeded  in  retaining  many  branches  of  jurisdiction  of 
which  in  other  countries  the  temporal  power  has  deprived 
them.  In  addition  to  the  general  canon  law,  we  have  in 
England  a  particular  provincial  law — the  constitutions  of 
the  papal  legates  and  councils  of  this  country  in  1237  and 
1269 ;  and  a  farther  body  of  constitutions,  framed  in  provin- 
cial synods  under  the  authority  of  successive  archbishops  of 
Canterbury',  from  Stephen  Langton  in  1222,  to  Archbishop 
Chichele  in  1414,  and  adopted  subsequently  by  the  province 
of  York.  These  constitutions  have  been  illustrated  by  the 
commentaries  of  distinguished  ecclesiastics,  and  principally 
those  of  Lyndwood,  who  flourished  in  the  reigns  of  Henry 
V.  and  VI.  The  canons  of  the  Protestant  Church  passed  in 
the  Convocation  of  A.D.  1603,  although  ratified  by  King 
James  I.  for  himself  and  his  successors,  yet  do  not  (as  Lord 
Mansfield  finally  decided)  bind  the  laity,  except  so  far  as 
they  declare  the  older  provisions  of  the  law.  The  most 
standard  work  on  English  Ecclesiastical  Law  is  Gibson's 
Codex  Juris  Anglicani.  The  best  guides  for  the  student 
are  the  treatise  of  Dr.  Burn,  and  the  recent  one  of  Mr.  Rogers 
(1840). 

Law  of  England,  Common  Law. — This  expression  is  used 
in  two  different  senses,  according  to  the  subject  under  con- 
sideration. We  speak  of  the  common  law  in  contradistinc- 
tion to  the  civil  law  or  to  equity,  meaning  a  certain  portion 
of  our  laws  relating  to  a  definite  subject  .matter,  and  admin- 
istered in  courts  following  particular  rules  of  evidence  and 
modes  of  procedure.  We  also,  by  the  common  law,  some- 
times mean  the  unwritten  or  ancient  customary  law  :  in  this 
sense  it  is  opposed  to  the  statute  law,  which  is  of  positive 
enactment. 

The  constitution  and  laws  of  our  Anglo-Saxon  ancestors 
have  been  the  subject  of  innumerable  theories  and  contra- 
dictory systems  since  the  ingenuity  of  modern  times  has 
been  applied  to  their  investigation  ;  but  all  the  efforts  of  the 
learned  have  gone  no  farther  than  to  establish  the  existence 
of  a  few  principles  and  customs,  common,  for  the  most  part, 
to  the  Germanic  tribes  in  general.  The  leaders  of  the  Sax- 
ons emulated  each  other  in  assuming  the  kingly  dignity  in 
every  district  of  the  island,  and  endeavoured,  as  far  as  the 
independent  spirit  of  their  followers  would  allow,  to  adopt 
the  imperial  style  and  legislative  powers  which  the  British 
kings  had  derived  from  the  provincial  tyrants  of  the  empire, 
and  these  from  the  Cajsars.  The  vanquished  population  lost 
its  language  and  rights,  and  became  bond  to  the  invaders. 
These  divided  the  land  among  them  as  partitioners  equal  in 
rights,  on  the  system  called  allodial,  or  granted  benefices  to 
their  dependants  ;  and  hence  arose  the  principles  of  feudali- 
ty. But  for  centuries  England  was  one  battle-field  between 
the  several  clans  of  Saxons  who  had  usurped  her  dominion  : 
Mercia,  Wessex,  and  Northumberland  were  divided  in  law 
and  custom  scarce  less  than  in  government ;  and  when  the 
island  had  at  last  fallen  under  the  dominion  of  a  prevailing 
Saxon  dynasty,  the  invasion  of  the  Danes  again  mixed  and 
adulterated  her  blood  and  her  institutions.  Edward  the 
Confessor  reduced  the  customs  of  the  country  into  some- 
thing resembling  a  system  of  law  ;  and,  although  his  enact- 
ments are  lost,  it  is  to  his  reign  that  we  must  look  for  the 
most  authentic  form  of  Saxon  polity.  The  king  was  guided 
and  controlled  in  his  deliberations  by  the  witan,  or  chief 
men,  assembled  in  the  gemote,  or  meeting ;  but  their  relative 
power  and  that  of  the  sovereign  varied  according  to  the 
strength  or  weakness  of  the  latter.  The  body  of  landhold- 
ers held  their  lands  by  an  independent  tenure,  which  cus- 
tom, rather  than  law,  hud  rendered  hereditary ;  but  there 
were  many  who  held  benefices  or  enjoyed  land  under  per- 
sonal grants  from  the  king,  or  from  the  great  earls,  who  had 
succeeded  the  aldermen  of  the  early  Saxon  times,  or  from 
the  thanes  or  inferior  nobility.  Great  part  of  the  land  was 
cultivated  in  common  by  the  people  of  hamlets  and  tythings. 
Justice  was  administered  in  the  county  courts,  where  the 
good  men  or  land-owners  assembled,  and  the  bishop  and 
sherilT  presided.  Questions  of  property  were  decided  by 
ordeal,  or  by  a  tribunal  of  sworn  witnesses.    In  criminal  as 


LAW. 


well  as  civil  cases  the  defendant  sometimes  freed  himself 
by  the  oath  of  compurgators,  or  wager  of  law,  as  it  was 
called  when  adopted  by  the  Normans.  The  inhabitants  of 
every  district  were  mutual  guarantees  by  the  custom  of 
frankpledge,  which  was  founded  on  two  principles :  the  one, 
the  liability  of  the  lord  or  superior  for  the  appearance  of  his 
vassals ;  the  other,  the  collective  responsibility  of  the  tything, 
or  hundred,  for  all  its  individual  members  ;  which  was  not 
prevalent  in  all  England,  and  entirely  unknown  in  the  north- 
ern shires. 

By  the  Norman  conquest,  and  the  division  of  the  better 
portion  of  England  between  Norman  proprietors  holding  in 
chief  of  the  crown,  the  feudal  system  of  law,  as  regarded 
land  and  its  incidents,  was  early  introduced  into  the  country. 
Other  portions  of  Norman  jurisprudence  were  imported  at  a 
later  period  through  the  medium  of  the  king's  courts ;  which, 
being  at  first  confined  in  jurisdiction  to  the  domains  of  the 
crown,  gradually  supplanted  the  old  Saxon  courts,  although 
these  long  continued  to  be  governed  by  their  national  law. 

The  three  great  institutions  in  which  English  law  diners 
from  that  of  other  countries — the  parliament ;  the  system  of 
tenures  and  their  incidents,  on  which  the  law  of  real  prop 
erty  is  founded  ;  and  the  trial  by  jury — may  perhaps  be  said 
to  have  been  founded  on  Norman  jurisprudence,  but  to  have 
become  prevalent,  through  their  analog}-,  to  Saxon  institu- 
tions.    See  Parliament. 

The  first  consequence  of  the  invasion  of  the  Normans 
was,  that  different  modes  of  trial  were  prevalent,  according 
to  the  nation  to  which  the  contending  parties  belonged. 
Compurgation,  or  "  wager  of  law,"  was  the  common  mode 
of  decision  between  Englishmen.  In  criminal  cases,  it  was 
usually  by  the  oath  of  eleven  compurgators  chosen  out  of 
an  array  of  fourteen.  In  civil  suits,  the  amount  of  the  com- 
purgation required  seems  to  have  been  regulated  by  the 
value  of  the  property  claimed.  To  this  peculiarly  English 
mode  of  trial  was  added  the  wager  of  battle,  which  is  first 
named  in  the  lawsof  the  Conqueror,  but  which  either  French, 
or  English  and  French,  might  use.  Inquest  of  witnesses  was 
a  Norman  mode  of  trial  in  civil  cases,  by  which  witnesses 
were  summoned  from  the  neighbourhood  in  which  the 
quarrel  arose,  to  declare  on  their  oath  the  truth  concerning 
the  matter  in  question.  Finally,  the  ancient  proof  of  ordeal 
subsisted  in  criminal  cases. 

This  diversity  in  the  modes  of  trial  was  accompanied  by 
a  diversity  of  judicature.  The  ancient  comity  courts  receiv- 
ed one  blow  by  the  withdrawal  of  the  bishops,  who  ceased 
to  preside  in  them,  becoming  chiefly  foreigners,  and  who 
gradually  established,  as  before  shown,  a  separate  jurisdic- 
tion of  their  own.  A  still  more  important  wound,  in  its 
consequences,  was  inflicted  by  the  increasing  power  and  in- 
fluence of  the  king's  courts,  at  first  only  confined  to  causes 
arising  within  the  royal  demesne,  in  which  the  Norman 
law  and  modes  of  procedure  were  adopted,  and  in  which 
the  machine  of  our  own  common  law  was  gradually  elabo- 
rated by  judicial  ingenuity  during  successive  centuries. 

Henry  the  Second  is  commonly  regarded  as  the  founder 
of  the  common  law.  His  principal  contribution  towards  it 
consisted  in  his  ordinance  of  the  grand  assize ;  justices  in 
eyre,  or  circuit  justices  of  the  king's  courts,  being  appointed 
to  try  causes  by  inquest  of  twenty-four  witnesses,  at  the  option 
of  the  tenant  or  demandant,  if  either  party  preferred  to  pur- 
chase tills  mode  of  trial  instead  of  the  ordinary  trial  by  battle. 
Shortly  after  his  reign,  the  Fourth  Council  of  Lateran.  by 
abolishing  the  ordeal  (A.D.  1215),  gave  a  new  impulse  to  the 
development  of  the  jury  system.  Criminal  cases  were  now 
tried  by  a  jury  of  witnesses  de  vicineto ;  and  the  process  by 
which  these  witnesses,  both  in  civil  and  criminal  cases,  be- 
came converted  into  swom  judges  of  the  fact,  has  never  been 
distinctly  traced ;  but  the  intermediate  steps  had  certainly 
all  been  passed  before  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  possibly  be- 
fore the  death  of  the  first  monarch  of  that  name. 

If  Henry  the  Second  was  the  founder,  Edward  I.  may 
almost  be  regarded  as  the  completer  of  the  common  law. 
From  his  time  to  the  present  no  change  has  taken  place  in 
its  general  principles:  all  that  subsequent  reforms  have  ef- 
fected has  been  to  accommodate  those  principles  to  altered 
circumstances.  And  long  may  the  spirit  of  these  institu- 
tions remain  unchanged  amid  the  march  of  improvement 
— holding  together,  as  they  now  do,  the  mightiest  commer- 
cial community  of  the  globe,  with  no  less  beneficial  author- 
ity than  they  exercised  six  hundred  years  ago  over  the 
barons,  peasants,  and  burghers  of  a  small  feudal  monarchy  ! 

The  system  of  real  property  may  be  said  to  have  been 
fixed  by  the  statute  Quia  Emptores,  18  Edw.  1.  Before 
that  time  we  may  consider  the  lands  of  England  as  having 
been  subject,  in  general,  to  the  unrestricted  feudal  law. 
All  land  was  held,  mediately  or  immediately,  of  the  king. 
The  two  classes  of  free  proprietors  were  those  who  held 
by  the  military  service  (of  Norman  introduction),  and  those 
who  held  by  the  old  Saxon  custom,  their  property  in  their 
lands  being  retained  by  them,  subject  only  to  acknowledg- 
ment or  fealty  to  the  sovereign — a  less  honourable,  but 
56 


probably  a  less  burdensome  tenure.  But  either  of  these 
tenants  might,  in  his  turn,  create  fresh  tenants  under  him, 
yielding  the  same  homage  to  him  which  he  yielded  to  the 
sovereign.  Below  these,  the  only  two  classes  of  tenants 
recognised  by  the  law  were  those  who  held  of  the  king,  or 
mesne  lords,  by  pure  villenage,  or  absolute  and  base  ser- 
vice ;  and  by  villein  socage,  which  was  also  a  base  service, 
but  restricted  to  certain  specified  duties.  From  the  tenure 
of  pure  villenage  have  sprung  our  present  copyhold  tenures ; 
by  which  certain  lands  are  held  within  manors  (which  are 
the  old  estates  held  in  early  times  directly  of  the  king)  by 
the  will  of  the  lord,  as  it  is  expressed  in  their  grant,  although 
by  long  usage  the  will  of  the  lord  is  merely  nominal,  and 
the  obligations  of  the  tenant  consist  only  in  certain  specified 
rents  and  services. 

The  object  of  the  statute  Quia  Emptores  was  to  restrain 
the  creation  of  fresh  subordinate  estates,  by  declaring  that  if 
any  one  alienated  his  land  by  sale  or  feoffment  (which  pur- 
ported to  convey  it  in  perpetuity)  the  feoffee  should  hold 
the  same,  not  of  the  feoffor,  but  of  the  feoffor's  lord,  wheth- 
er a  mesne  lord  or  the  king  himself.  Hence  all  manors 
must  have  existed  prior  to  the  reign  of  Edward  the  First ; 
as  it  is  essential  that  there  should  be  in  them  tenants  who 
hold  of  the  lord,  and  such  tenancies  could  not  have  been 
created  at  a  later  period. 

When  alienation  of  lands  and  tenements  was  made  in 
early  Norman  times,  the  alienation  was  either  to  the  donee 
and  his  heirs  forever — thus  giving  him  an  absolute  unre- 
stricted property,  descendible  to  his  heirs,  whether  male  or 
female,  subject  only  to  his  homage  to  the  donor  ;  in  other 
words,  a  fee-simple ;  or  it  was  upon  condition — as,  for  in- 
stance, a  grant  to  a  donee,  provided  he  had  issue ;  under 
which  grant,  if  the  donee  died  without  issue,  or  his  issue 
came  to  fail,  the  land  would  revert  to  the  donor.  The  con- 
ditional donees  had  devised,  with  the  assistance  of  the 
king's  judges,  various  ingenious  methods  of  defeating  these 
provisions ;  as  by  aliening  as  soon  as  they  had  issue,  and 
then  repurchasing  the  fee-simple.  It  was  to  fix  the  law  of 
conditional  gifts  that  the  statute  De  Donis,  13  Edw.  1,  was 
passed  ;  by  which  such  a  donee  was  absolutely  prevented 
from  aliening  the  tenements.  Hence  arose  estates  in  fee- 
tail  :  in  other  words,  estates  granted  to  a  man  and  to  certain 
specified  heirs  ;  for  example,  the  heirs  male  of  his  body.  In 
after  times,  when  the  restraint  on  alienation  which  this 
statute  created  began  to  be  repugnant  to  the  more  liberal 
feelings  of  the  people,  certain  devices  were  invented  (fines 
and  recoveries),  whereby  the  donee  in  tail  was  enabled  to 
bar  the  entail  and  acquire  the  fee-simple,  as  he  could  have 
done  before  this  statute  was  passed. 

Besides  these  famous  statutes,  we  find  the  reign  of  Ed- 
ward I.  distinguished  by  the  confirmation  of  Magna  Charts 
and  the  Charter  of  Forests.  The  first  of  these  great  consti- 
tutional acts  contains  few  provisions  of  much  importance 
in  legal  history,  and  was  far  more  valuable  as  an  evidence 
of  the  spirit  of  the  country  in  restraining  arbitrary  usurpa- 
tions, than,  as  is  commonly  supposed,  by  establishing  any 
new  franchises,  or  even  confirming  ancient  ones.  Perhaps 
its  most  important  legal  effect  was  the  fixing  to  the  city  of 
Westminster  the  court  of  Common  Pleas,  which  had  for- 
merly caused  the  suitors  much  inconvenience  by  following 
the  person  of  the  king  in  his  numerous  progresses. 

It  is  also  to  Edward  the  First's  reign  that  we  must  refer 
for  the  distinct  definition  of  the  province  of  that  court,  and 
of  the  other  two  superior  common  law  courts  of  record,  the 
King's  Bench  and  Exchequer.  The  history  of  these  three 
courts  is  far  too  intricate,  and  requires  too  much  explana- 
tory statement,  to  find  a  place  in  these  pages.  It  must  suf- 
fice to  observe,  that  the  King's  Bench  is  the  ancient  Aula 
Regia,  in  which  the  king  was  supposed,  as  by  fiction  of  law 
he  still  is,  to  sit  in  person,  and  which  followed  him  in  all 
his  progresses,  insomuch  that  in  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  it 
actually  sat  in  Scotland.  Its  jurisdiction  consequently  ex- 
tends to  all  matters  which  are  of  the  lung's  prerogative:  it 
took  cognizance  of  criminal  causes  on  the  crown  side,  and 
of  civil  causes ;  at  first  those  in  the  result  of  which  the 
king  was  interested,  and  by  a  fiction  all  personal  actions 
whatever.  It  was  likewise  a  court  of  appeal  from  all  in- 
ferior courts  of  records.  The  court  of  Common  Pleas,  or 
Common  Bench,  had,  in  strictness,  jurisdiction  in  all  civil 
causes  between  subject  and  subject.  In  this  court  only  real 
actions,  in  which  the  right  to  land  is  tried — now  nearly  fall- 
en into  disuse  (see  Pleading),  but  anciently  the  most  im- 
portant part  of  judicial  business  —  could  be  adjudicated. 
The  court  of  Exchequer  was  intended  to  recover  the  king's 
debts,  and  ordinary  revenues  of  the  crown.  It  acquired  in 
process  of  time  a  jurisdiction  over  common  personal  actions, 
by  the  fiction  of  the  complaining  party  being  a  debtor  to  the 
king  ;  and  also  an  equitable  jurisdiction,  similar  in  form  to 
that  of  the  chancellor's  court. 

The  equitable  jurisdiction  of  the  chancellor  had  probably 
commenced  long  before  the  reign  of  Edward  I.,  (see  Chan- 
cery), and  before  his  reign  the  original  writs,  by  which  ac- 
Br*  649 


LAW. 


tions  were  commenced,  had  been  sued  out  or  obtained  in 
the  chancery  ;  the  Clerks  of  which,  like  Hie  pontifical  tra- 
iners of  the  actunus  among  the  Romans,  had  the  monopoly 
of  drawing  up  these  magical  instruments.  In  the  reign  of 
Edward  I.  (bj  Statutt  of  Westminster  the  Second,  13  Edw. 
I),  an  important  change  was  made  in  this  branch  of  law, 
by  authorizing  the  clerks  to  frame  writs  adapted  to  particu- 
lar cases  which  the  old  forms  did  not  adequately  suit. 
Hence  originate  our  modern  actions  of  trespass  on  the  case. 
Sm  Pleading. 

From  the  same  statute  the  modem  judges  of  assize  and 
nisi"  prius  (see  Xisi  Pants)  are  chiefly  derived.  These 
were  originally  occasional  commissioners,  scat  down  into 
the  counties  to  deliver  the  jail  of  prisoners,  or  to  try  civil 
causes.  By  this  statute  the  commission  was  first  directed 
to  he  given  to  the  king's  justices,  associated  (as  they  still 
are  in  form)  with  one  or  two  discreet  knights  of  the  county. 
The  commission  of  assize  is.  strictly  speaking,  a  commission 
to  try  disputes  respecting  land  wherein  the  writ  of  assize 
(which  dates,  as  before  stated,  from  Henry  II.)  was  brought 
— now  fallen  into  disuse.  The  commission  of  nisi  prius 
originates  in  what  may  now  be  called  a  legal  fiction.  When 
the  pleadings  in  an  action  in  the  superior  courts  (see  Plead- 
ing) are  concluded,  and  an  issue  of  fact  is  taken  between 
the  parties,  the  issue  is  appointed,  by  the  entry  on  the  record 
or  written  proceedings,  to  be  tried  by  a  jury  from  the  county 
in  which  the  proceedings  arise,  at  Westminster,  unless  before 
the  day  appointed  (nisi  prius)  the  judges  shall  have  come 
to  the  county  in  question.  Besides  these  commissions,  the 
same  judges  try  criminal  cases  by  virtue  of  a  commission  of 
the  peace,  in  which  they  are  associated  with  the  justices  of 
the  county  :  a -commission  at  oyer  <u>il  ta  miner,  to  hear  and 
determine  all  treasons,  felonies,  and  misdemeanors ;  and  a 
commission  of  general  jail  delivery,  to  try  and  deliver 
every  prisoner  who  shall  be  in  the  jail  at  their  arrival  in 
the  county. 

Having  referred  to  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  as  the  period  un- 
der which  a  general  sketch  of  our  old  common  law  might 
be  most  advantageously  presented,  we  proceed  to  notice 
very  briefly  the  chief  alterations  which  mark  its  subsequent 
history.  These  alterations  can  be  easily  ascertained  where 
they  were  caused  by  the  highest  legal  authority — by  the 
parliament  of  the  nation.  Hut  far  greater  changes  have 
been  wrought  by  the  silent  course  of  the  tribunals — by  the 
discretionary  power  which  our  judges  have  assumed  to  ex- 
i  ml  the  remedies,  which  fhey  were  authorized  to  admin- 
ister, to  cases  unprovided  for  by  earlier  law.  which  either 
the  ingenuity  of  practitioners,  or.  in  many  more  instances, 
the  increasing  wants  and  more  intricate  relations  of  life 
had  called  into  existence.  To  trace  such  alterations  is  as 
impossible  as  to  note,  day  by  day,  the  increase  of  stature  by 
which  the  child  grows  into  the  man.  Often,  in  laboriously 
investigating  the  history  of  our  English  jurisprudence,  we 
are  surprised  when  wo  look  back,  after  perusing  the  events 
of  a  generation  or  a  century,  to  the  state  of  things  as  it  ex- 
isted at  the  beginning  of  that  epoch,  and  find  that  although 
we  cannot  with  all  our  diligence  detect  in  its  history  the  oc- 
currence of  any  external  changes  in  the  subject  on  which 
our  minds  are  fixed,  yet  the  same  forms,  the  same  modes 
and  circumstances  present  themselves  to  our  eyes  under  a 
totally  different  aspect  and  character. 

The  rei'_'n<  of  Henry  II.  and  HI.  are  principally  remarka- 
ble for  the  gradual  substitution  of  the  king's  justices  of  the 
peace  for  the  various  elective  magistrates  who  exercised 
the  several  duties  of  that  office  before.  It  was  in  the  reign 
of  the  latter  prince  also  that  the  parliament  is  supposed  to 
have  finally  acquired  its  present  form.  Under  the  success- 
ors of  the  Edwards,  and  during  the  wars  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  small  accessions  were  made  to  the  general  bulk  of 
English  law  ;  hut  during  those  times  very  great  changes 
were  silently  taking  place  in  the  disposition  of  propertj  by 
means  of  the  Invention  of  Uses,  borrowed  from  the  civil 
law.     This   extensive  and   most   important  subject  will  he 

found  briefly  treated  of  under  the  head  of  Chancery. 

The  laws  of  Henry  VII.  had  principally  in  view  the  ben- 
efit of  his  exchequer ;  and  hence  various  more  compendious 
modes  of  enforcing  justice  against  delinquents  who  might 
be  liable  to  line,  date  from  his  reign — method-;  which  in  un- 
just times  were  oppressive  and  arbitrary,  although  now  u-e 
ful  instruments  in  the  hands  of  justice.  Such  was  the  pro- 
ceeding by  information,  instead  of  indictment,  in  various 
cases  on  behalf  of  the  crown.  The  Statute  of  Pines,  passed 
in  this  reign,  confirmed  and  extended  a  mode  already  in  use 

of  barring  entails.  I'nder  his  BUCCeSBOT,  whose  reign  forms 
so  important  an  epoch  in  political  history,  the  laws  of  prop- 
erty were  very  considerably  modified  by  the  two  statutes  of 
Uses  and  Wills,  (for  the  former,  see  CHANCERY.)  The 
latter  rendered  general  the  power  of  devising  estates  by 
will.  The  system  of  bankrupt  laws  also  had  its  commence 
rnent  under  Henry  VIII.  His  daughter  Elizabeth  did  not 
add  much  to  the  essential  and  valuable  parts  of  our  statute 
book;  but  under  her  government  the  acta  which  restrained 
650 


the  alienation  of  lands  by  ecclesiastical  bodies  were  pnsaed, 
and  also  the  celebrated  statute  respecting  the  poor,  of  which 
the  policy  forms,  even  at  the  present  day,  a  subject  of  such 
ardent  controversy.  In  the  succeeding"  century,  the  reign 
of  Janus  I.  witnessed  the  tirst  attempt  to  limit  the  period  at 
which  actions  and  suits  might  be  commenced  ;  and  the  first 
statute  of  bankruptcy.  Hut  it  is  must  remarkable  for  the 
laborious  attempt  lo  systematize  our  ancient  law  by  Sir  E. 
i  loke,  one  of  the  most  acute,  if  not  philosophical  jurists  of 
any  age  or  country.  That  of  Charles  II.  forms  the  next 
marked  epoch  in  the  history  of  our  law,  after  those  of  Ed- 
ward  I.  and  Henry  Vllf.  liis  restoration  was  distinguished 
by  the  .abolition  of  feudal  tenures  and  incidents,  and  the  re- 
duction of  all  the  modes  by  which  estates  of  inheritance 
might  be  held  (with  few  exceptions)  to  two  only — freehold 
and  copyhold.  Tiie  Statute  of  Frauds,  a  necessary  protec- 
tion perhaps  to  unwary  transactors  of  business,  but  a  source 
of  endless  litigation ;  the  statute  which  regulates  the  distri- 
bution of  the  effects  of  intestates;  and,  finally,  the  celebra- 
ted Habeas  Corpus  Act,  which  gave,  or  rather  confirmed, 
to  every  person  imprisoned  by  any  authority  short  of  the 
express  and  definite  course  of  justice,  the  means  of  releasing 
himself — tire  all  productions  of  this  reign. 

The  eighteenth  century',  while  it  gave  rise  to  new  views 
and  widely  extended  discussions  on  jurisprudence,  did  not 
in  England  produce  much  substantial  alteration  by  statutory 
enactment.  It  was  rather  a  period  of  preparation  for 
change,  in  the  political  as  well  as  the  legal  world,  than  of 
actual  reform.  But  it  was  distinguished  by  the  learning 
and  acuteness  of  several  judges  who  occupied  the  seats  of 
justice  during  many  years,  and  introduced,  by  the  slow  ex- 
ertion of  their  own  authority,  a  new  spirit  into  institutions 
of  which  the  forms  were  preserved. 

Recent  years  have  introduced  some  material  changes,  of 
which  the  effect  has  not  yet  been  fully  tried.  Lord  Ellen- 
borough  and  Lord  Eldon  had  pursued  the  work  of  main- 
taining and  embellishing  the  old  institutions;  succeeding 
judges  have  at  last  assumed  in  some  degree  the  character 
of  reformers.  Sir  Robert  Peel's  criminal  statutes  conferred 
a  great  benefit  on  the  country,  by  removing  many  of  the 
technical  difficulties  incident  to  this  branch  of  law.  although 
they  did  not  materially  affect  its  spirit,  which,  m  the  article 
of  capital  punishments,  has  been  gradually  moderated  by  a 
succession  of  enactments,  from  the  beginning  of  the  reign 
of  George  III.  until  that  of  our  present  sovereign.  Many  of 
the  artificial  distinctions,  grounded  on  obsolete  reasons, 
which  subsisted  between  the  practice  of  the  different  com 
mon  law  courts  have  been  removed.  The  system  of  plead- 
ing (see  that  article)  has  been  very  materially  chanced. 
And  in  consequence  of  the  general  feeling  in  favour  of  local 
courts  of  justice  to  administer  redress  in  trifling  disputes  be- 
tween parties  at  a  distance  from  London,  some  extension 
has  been  given  to  the  authority  of  the  sheriff's  court,  and 
some  local  tribunals  have  been  constituted.  Lastly,  the  an- 
cient usage  of  imprisonment  on  mesne  process  has  been 
abolished,  and  much  additional  power  given  in  lieu  of  it  to 
the  Insolvent  Conn  over  the  property  of  debtors. 

The  term  Common  Law  is  ordinarily  employed  in  two 
different  senses.  In  its  legal  signification  it  expresses  the 
old  unwritten  law,  established  by  precedent  and  custom; 
comprising,  it  has  been  said.  "  all  recognised  doctrines  and 
customs,  however  introduced,  which  are  neither  to  be  found 
in  the  statute  book,  nor  depend  on  the  adjudication  of  courts 
of  equity."  Fortius  floating  mass  of  legal  principles  our 
ordinary  sources  arc  precedents,  or  decisions  of  common 
law  judges,  as  contained  in  published  reports.  Where 
these  fail  us,  reference  may  sometimes  be  had  to  more  un- 
certain guides,  the  dicta  of  legal  writers,  or  the  general 
principle  and  tendency  of  our  laws,  for  authority  in  deci- 
ding a  particular  dispute. 

In  its  popular  sense,  common  aw  is  opposed  to  equity 
and  ecclesiastical  law;  and  thus  comprises  the  whole  of 
that  law,  both  criminal  and  civil,  which  is  administered  in 
courts  having  trial  by  jury,  and  all  the  other  subjects  which 
are  within  the  purview  of  the  common  law  courts  of  West 
minster  Hall,  and  of  the  various  local  jurisdictions  of  the 
country  (except  so  far  as  some  of  them  exercise  equitable 
authority).    It  has  been  defined  " the  whole  of  that  code, 

whether  founded  on  statute,  usage,  or  precedent,  which  is 
now  administered  in  the  common  law  courts  of  Westmin- 
ster Hall;"  and  this  definition  will  comprehend  the  law 
administered  in  the  various  local  courts  in  question,  as 
these  are  bound  to  act  on  the  decisions  of  the  Superior 
courts.  Its  peculiar  characteristic  is,  that  questions  of  fact 
arising  out  of  its  proceedings  are  submitted  to  the  decision 
of  a  jury. 

It  is,  |ierhaps,  not  very  easy  to  assign  either  the  history  or 
the  theoretical  principles  of  the  separation  of  equitv  from 
common  law.  The  former  was  undoubtedly  in  the  first  in- 
stance a  jurisdiction  of  a  remedial  character,  intended  to 
moderate,  according  to  the  conscience  of  the  judge,  the  rig- 
our of  legal  judgments ;  but  this  is  a  peculiarity  which  can 


LAW,  MARITIME. 

scarcely  be  said  to  distinguish  it  in  the  present  day.  Its 
rules  are  as  accurately  laid  down  by  precedents  as  those  of 
the  common  law  itself;  but  there  are  some  subjects  (as 
trusts)  which,  having  been  created  in  frustration  of  the  pro- 
visions of  the  common  law,  are  out  of  its  cognizance.  Over 
these,  courts  of  equity  have  an  exclusive  jurisdiction.  There 
are  others  over  which  both  equity  and  law  have  concurrent 
jurisdiction.  But  the  remedies  applied  by  law  to  injuries 
committed  are  subject  to  certain  inflexible  rules.  The  pow- 
er of  a  jury  has  limits  from  the  very  nature  of  the  institu- 
tion. It  can  award  a  debt  sought  to  be  recovered,  or  dama- 
ges for  an  injury  ;  but  it  cannot  modify  the  remedy  accord- 
ing to  peculiar  circumstances.  Nor  has  it  any  means  to  en- 
force a  course  of  action  other  than  by  imposing  damages  for 
neglecting  it.  To  take  a  familiar  instance :  If  A  sues  B  at 
law  for  breach  of  covenant,  and  judgment  passes  in  favour 
of  A,  all  that  a  jury  can  do  is  to  award  damages  to  A  for 
the  breach  of  contract;  but  equity  can,  by  a  process  of  its 
own,  compel  B  to  a  specific  performance  of  the  contract 
under  the  penalties  attached  to  a  contempt  of  court.  So,  if 
one  of  several  joint  contractors  be  liable,  at  law,  for  penal- 
ties  or  debus  incurred  in  respect  of  their  joint  undertaking, 
his  only  legal  remedy  is  by  an  action  against  each  ;  in  equi- 
ty, he  can  compel  each  of  his  partners  to  contribute  to  the 
extent  of  their  liability. 

LAW,  MARITIME.     See  Maritime  Law. 

LAW,  MARTIAL,  is  proclaimed  by  authority  of  parlia- 
ment, on  an  emergency  of  rebellion,  invasion,  and  insurrrec- 
tion.  It  is  properly  the  putting  under  the  cognizance  of 
courts  martial  a  great  variety  of  subjects  which  by  ordinary 
military  law  do  not  appertain  to  them,  to  be  tried  in  a  sum- 
mary way.  Where  martial  law  is  proclaimed  all  military 
persons,  under  all  circumstances,  are  placed  within  its  ju- 
risdiction :  even  their  debts  are  subject  to  inquiry  before  a 
military  tribunal.  It  extends  also  to  a  variety  of  cases  not 
relating  to  the  discipline  of  the  army,  and  offences  commit- 
ted by  non-military  persons,  as  plots  against  the  sovereign, 
intelligence  to  the  enemy,  &c.  The  statute  for  putting  into 
execution  martial  law  usually  gives  a  power  to  arrest  and 
detain  in  custody  all  suspected  persons,  and  to  cause  them 
to  be  brought  to  trial  in  a  summary  manner  by  courts  mar- 
tial, and  to  execute  the  sentence  of  all  such  courts,  wheth- 
er of  death  or  otherwise  ;  and  declares,  that  no  act  done  in 
consequence  of  these  powers  shall  be  questioned  in  any  of 
the  king's  ordinary  courts  of  law,  and  that  all  who  act  un- 
der the  statute  shall  be  responsible  for  their  conduct  only  to 
such  courts  martial. 

LAW,  MILITARY,  is,  properly,  that  law  which  is  ad- 
ministered by  courts  martial,  under  the  authority  of  parlia- 
ment and  the  Mutiny  Act,  annually  passed,  together  with 
the  Articles  of  War.     Sec  Courts  Martial. 

LAWN.  (Fr.  linon.)  A  fine  variety  of  cambric,  for- 
merly exclusively  manufactured  in  Flanders.  Of  late  the 
lawn  manufacture  of  Scotland  and  of  the  north  of  Ireland 
has  been  brought  to  rival  that  of  the  Flemish  weavers. 

Lawn.  In  Gardening,  a  surface  of  grass  or  turf  in  pleas- 
ure grounds  kept  smoothly  mown. 

LA'XATIVE  (Lat.  laxare,  to  loosen),  a  gentle  aperient 
medicine;  opposed  to  cathartics,  which  arc  drastic  pur- 
gatives. 

LAY.  (Probably  the  same  word  with  the  German  lied, 
song.)  The  lyric  poems  of  the  old  French  minstrels,  or 
trouveres,  were  termed  lais ;  but  the  title  appears,  in  mod- 
em usage,  to  be  peculiarly  appropriate  to  narrative  poems, 
or  serious  subjects  of  moderate  length  in  simple  style  and 
light  metre. 

Lay.    In  .Agriculture.    See  Lea. 

LAY  BROTHERS.  Persons  received  into  convents  of 
monks,  under  the  three  vows,  but  not  in  holy  orders.  The 
introduction  of  this  class  of  devotees  appears  to  have  begun 
in  the  11th  century.  They  are  dressed  somewhat  different- 
ly from  the  other  monks  or  brothers  of  the  choir,  and  often 
employed  in  the  manual  exercises  necessary  for  the  uses  of 
the  community.  The  Carthusian  and  Cistercian  orders  are 
said  to  have  first  recognised  the  distinction,  and  their  exam- 
ple was  followed  by  the  other  orders.  The  same  distinction 
exists  in  monasteries  of  females  between  the  nuns  properly 
so  called  and  the  lay  sisters,  or  sisters  converse. 

LAY  ELDERS.  In  Presbyterian  churches,  ministers  of 
ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  not  ordained  as  clergymen,  who 
assist  the  pastor  in  each  congregation.  (S'ee  Presbyte- 
rians, Kirk.)  The  divines  of  that  persuasion  rest  the  ap- 
pointment of  lay  elders  in  some  measure  on  that  of  pres- 
byters "in  every  city,"  by  Paul  and  Barnabas,  who,  they 
imagine,  from  the  manner  in  which  they  are  mentioned, 
could  not  have  been  all  preachers.  (See  Hooker,  Reel. 
Pol.,  b.  vi.) 

LAYERS.  In  Gardening,  a  mode  of  propagating  plants 
by  laying  down  shoots,  and  covering  a  portion  of  them  with 
soil,  so  that  the  extremity  of  the  shoot  is  left  above  ground. 
and  the  shoot  itself  not  detached  from  the  plant.  In  order 
to  facilitate  the  rooting  of  such  layers,  the  portion  of  the 


LEAD. 

shoot  buried  in  the  soil  is  fractured  by  twisting  or  bruising, 
or  cut  with  a  knife  immediately  under  a  bud.  This  opera- 
tion, by  obstructing  the  return  of  the  sap  from  the  leaves, 
occasions  its  accumulation  at  the  wounded  part,  when 
roots  are  there  produced  from  the  effort  of  nature  to  perpet- 
uate life. 

LAY'ING.  In  Architecture,  the  first  coat  on  lath  of 
plasterer's  two-coat  work,  the  surface  whereof  is  roughed  by 
sweeping  it  with  a  broom ;  the  difference  between  laying 
and  rendering  being  that  the  latter  is  the  first  coat  upon  brick. 

LAYMAN.  (Gr.Xaixos;  from  Xaos,  people.)  The  appel- 
lation by  which  the  rest  of  the  community  are  distinguished 
from  the  clergy.  (See  Laity.) — Layman,  or  lay-figure, 
among  painters,  signifies  a  small  statue,  whose  joints  are  so 
formed  that  it  may  be  put  into  any  attitude  for  the  purpose 
of  adjusting  the  draperv  of  iisures. 

LA'ZAR  HOUSE,  or  LAZARETTO.  (Ital.)  A  public 
building  in  the  southern  European  states,  of  the  nature  of 
an  hospital,  for  the  reception  of  the  poor  and  those  afflicted 
with  contagious  disorders.  In  some  places  lazarettoes  are 
set  apart  for  the  performance  of  quarantine ;  in  whicii  case 
only  those  are  admitted  who  have  arrived  from  countries 
infested  by  the  plague,  or  suspected  of  being  so.  Howard's 
well-known  account  of  the  principal  lazarettoes  of  Europe 
furnishes  the  most  detailed  and  interesting  particulars  of 
these  establishments,  and  to  it  we  refer  the  reader  for  full 
information. 

LA'ZARISTS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  body  of  mis- 
sionaries founded  by  St.  Vincent  de  Paule  in  1632  ;  so  termed 
from  occupying  the  priory  of  St.  Lazarus,  at  Paris,  as  their 
head  quarters.  Their  primary  object  was  to  dispense  reli- 
gious instruction  and  assistance  among  the  poorer  inhabit- 
ants of  the  rural  districts  of  France.  They  were  dispersed 
at  the  lime  of  the  Revolution,  but  have  since  re-established 
a  congregation  at  Paris ;  and  the  French  government  has 
lately  projected  entrusting  them  with  the  spiritual  care  of 
the  colonv  at  Algiers. 

LA'ZARUS,  SAINT,  ORDER  OF.  A  military  order 
of  religious  persons,  originally  an  association  of  knights,  for 
the  purpose  of  maintaining  lepers,  &c,  in  lazar-houses  or 
hospitals,  especially  in  the  Holy  Land.  Being  driven  out 
of  Palestine  in  1253,  they  followed  St.  Louis  to  France.  In 
1490,  their  order  was  suppressed  by  Pope  Innocent  VIII., 
and  united  with  that  of  St.  John ;  but  the  bull  was  not  uni- 
versally received.  In  1572,  they  were  united  in  Italy  with 
the  order  of  St.  Maurice  ;  in  1608,  in  France,  with  that  of 
Our  Lady  of  Mount  Carmel.  The  knights  of  these  united 
orders  were  allowed  to  inarrv. 

LA'ZULITE.  A  blue  mineral  from  Styria  and  the  Tyrol, 
composed  of  66  alumina,  10  silica,  18  magnesia,  2  lime,  3 
oxide  of  iron. 

LAZZARO'NI.  A  name  given  to  the  poorer  classes  at 
Naples,  from  the  Hospital  of  St.  Lazarus,  which  served  as 
a  refuge  for  the  destitute  in  that  city.  Forty  years  ago  two 
large  sections  of  the  people  were  generally  comprehended 
under  this  name— the  fishermen  ;  and  the  lazzaroni,  properly 
so  called,  who  lived  in  the  streets,  and  performed  no  other 
labour  but  that  of  errand  porters  and  occasional  servants. 
These  alone  were  estimated  at  40,000.  These  Lazzaroni 
formed  a  powerful  community,  which,  under  Masaniello, 
accomplished  the  revolution  of  Naples  ;  and,  in  later  times, 
overthrew  the  popular  government,  under  the  influence  of 
Cardinal  Ruil'o  and  the  English  party.  But  during  the 
French  occupation  of  Naples  they  ceased  to  exist  as  a  dis- 
tinct class;  and  the  name  is  now  only  used  to  designate,  in 
general  language,  the  mob  or  populace  of  that  great  city. 

LEA,  in  Agriculture,  is  a  term  applied  to  lands  which  are 
kept  under  grass  or  pasturage  for  a  short  period.  For  exam- 
ple, in  a  rotation  of  fallow,  wheat,  clover,  and  rye  grass,  for 
three  years.  The  ground,  when  under  clover  and  rye  grass, 
is  said  to  be  in  lea,  in  Scotland;  or  in  England,  in  lay. 

LEAD.  A  metal  of  a  bluish-gray  colour.  Its  specific 
gravity  is  11-38.  It  is  very  soft,  flexible,  and  inelastic;  and 
though  ductile  and  malleable,  is  possessed  of  very  little 
tenacity.  It  fuses  at  about  600° ;  and  if  air  be  carefully  ex- 
cluded, it  does  not  appear  to  be  volatile  at  a  white  heat. 
When  melted  in  open  vessels,  it  sewn  changes  into  gray 
powder,  which  upon  further  exposure  to  heat  and  air  be- 
comes yellow,  and  is  called  massicot;  or,  when  partially 
fused,  so  as  to  assume  a  scaly  form,  litharge.  If  massicot 
be  heated,  and  stirred  to  prevent  fusion,  it  gradually  absorb* 
oxvgen,  acquires  a  red  colour,  and  is  called  red  lead.  When 
red  iead  is  heated  in  nitric  acid,  it  is  partially  dissolved,  and 
partly  converted  into  a  brown  powder,  which  is  insoluble, 
and  is  a  peroxide  of  lead.  Massicot,  or  the  yellow  oxide  of 
lead,  is  the  protoxide,  and  that  which  forms  the  salts  of  this 
metal :  it  is  constituted  of  1  atom  of  lead  =  104,  and  1  of 
oxvgen  =  8,  and  its  equivalent  is  112.  The  brown  peroxide 
consists  of  I  atom  of  lead  and  2  of  oxygen  ;  and  red  lead  is 
intermediate  between  the  two  extremes,  consisting,  probably, 
of  an  indefinite  mixture  of  the  two  oxides.  The  protoxide 
of  lead  is  soluble  in  the  greater  number  of  the  acids,  and 

651 


LEAD,  BLACK. 

forms  a  variety  of  salts;  of  these  the  carbonate  and  the  ace- 
tale  arc  the  most  important.  Carbonate  of  lead,  or,  as  it  is 
commonly  colled,  white  lead,  Ib  the  basis  of  white  oil  paint, 
and  consequently  of  a  number  of  other  colours:  it  may  be 
prepared  by  exposing  sheet  lead  to  the  fames  of  vinegar,  by 
which  it  is  gradually  corroded,  and  its  surface  becomes 
covered  with  an  incrustation,  which,  when  scraped  oil' and 
well  levigated,  is  white  lead.  This  article  is  also  made  by 
precipitating  a  solution  of  acetate  of  lead  by  carbonate  of 
soda:  ii  consists  of  112  oxide  of  lead  and  23 carbonic  acid. 
.icetatc  of  lead  is  made  by  dissolving  carbonate  of  lead  in 
acetic  acid,  for  which  purpose  the  pyroligneous  vinegar  is 
chiefly  used,  it  crystallizes  in  six-sided  prisms,  but  is  gen- 
erally met  with  in  confused  crystalline  masses.  It  is  soluble 
in  about  4  parts  of  cold  water,  and  the  solution  has  a  re- 
markably sweet  taste ;  whence  the  term  sugar  of  lead, 
usually  applied  to  this  salt.  It  consists  of  112  oxide  of  lead 
and  51  acetic  acid.  The  crystals  include  3  atoms  of  water, 
and  are  therefore  represented  by  the  equivalent  190;  or  163 
dry  acetate  and  27  water.  When  protoxide  of  lead  is  boiled 
in  distilled  vinegar,  or  in  a  solution  of  acetate  of  lead,  a 
dense  solution  or  subacetate  or  triacetate  of  lead  is  obtained : 
it  is  difficultly  crystallizable.  This  solution  is  often  used  in 
the  chemical  laboratory  as  a  test  and  precipitant:  and  it 
forms  the  extract  of  lead,  or  Goulard's  extract  of  phar- 
macy. 

The  most  important  native  combination,  or  ore  of  lead,  is 
the  sulphurct,  composed  of  104  lead  and  16  sulphur.  It  is 
the  galena  of  mineralogists,  and  from  it  the  commercial  de- 
mands for  lead  are  supplied :  it  is  roasted  to  expel  sulphur, 
and  the  lead  thus  oxidized  is  reduced  by  heating  with  char- 
coal. The  action  of  water  upon  lead  is  curious  and  interest- 
ing, in  consequence  of  the  universal  use  of  cisterns  lined 
with  this  metal.  Perfectly  pure  water,  such  as  distilled 
water,  put  into  a  clean  leaden  vessel  and  exposed  to  air, 
soon  oxidizes  and  corrodes  it,  and  delicate  tests  discover 
oxide  of  lead  in  solution  in  the  water ;  but  river  and  spring 
water  exert  no  such  solvent  power:  the  carbonates  and  sul- 
phates in  such  water,  though  in  very  minute  quantities, 
entirely  prevent  ils  solvent  power.  Hence  it  is  that  leaden 
cisterns  are  used  with  impunity  for  the  preservation  of  com- 
mon water,  and  that  the  crust  which  forms  upon  the  metal 
effectually  prevents  all  further  action.  As  this  crust  partly 
consists  of  carbonate  of  lead,  which  is  very  poisonous,  great 
care  should  be  taken  to  prevent  is  diffusion  through  the 
water  upon  any  occasion,  as  by  scraping  or  cleaning  the 
cistern.  There  is  another  way  in  which  leaden  cisterns 
sometimes  prove  injurious;  and  that  is  in  consequence  of 
galvanic  action,  where  iron  or  zinc  pipes  are  soldered  or  let 
into  them :  the  lead  is  thus  rendered  electro-negative,  alka- 
line matter  is  evolved  upon  it,  and  small  quantities  of  the 
oxide  or  carbonate  are  thus  rendered  soluble.  There  are 
several  re-agents  by  which  very  minute  quantities  of  lead 
may  be  detected;  among  these,  solution  of  sulphuretted 
hydrogen  is  perhaps  the  most  effective :  it  produces  a  brown 
tint  in  water  containing  the  minutest  trace  of  lead,  and  it 
similarly  discolours  the  greater  number  of  the  insoluble  sails 
of  the  metal.  A  solution  of  sulphate  of  soda  is  also  a  sensi- 
ble test  of  the  presence  of  dissolved  oxide  of  lead ;  it  forms 
a  white  cloud  in  water  containing  the  smallest  traces  of  it: 
a  fragment  of  iodide  of  potassium  dropped  into  such  water 
presently  occasions  in  it  a  yellow  tint,  in  consequence  of  the 
formation  of  an  iodide  of  lead. 

LEAD,  BLACK.    See  Plumbago. 

LEAD,  for  Sounding.    The  common  hand  lead  weighs  11 
lbs.  with  about  20  fathoms  of  line.    The  leadsman  stands  j 
somewhere  on  the  side  of  the  vessel,  leaning  against  a  band  | 
for  the  purpose :  lets  the  lead  descend  near  the  water  ;  then, 
swinging  it  over  his  head  once,  or  twice,  if  the  ship  is  going 
fast,  throws  it  forward.    The  line  is  marked  at  5,  7,  10,  13,  ; 
17,  and  20  fathoms.    The  numbers  between  are  called  deeps  ;  I 
thus,  ••  by  the  mark  7,"  "  bv  the  deep  nine,"  indicates  7  and 
it  fathoms. 

When  the  depth  is  great,  the  deep-sea  lead  of  28  lbs.  is  ! 
used.    The  lead  is  dropped  from  the  fore  part  of  the  vessel, 
the  line  being  passed  outside  all.     It  is  generally  necessary  j 
to  heave  the  ship  to. 

LEADING  NOTE.  In  Music,  the  sharp  seventh  of  the 
scale 

LEADS,  or  SPACE  LINES,  are  pieces  of  type  metal  I 
cast  to  specific  thicknesses  and  lengths,  lower  than  t>  pi 

that  they  do  not  make  any  impression  in  printing,  but  leave 
a  white  space   where   placed.     Their  genera]    use   is  to   lie 

placed  between  the  hues  when  a  work  is  not  closely  printed, 
which  is  considered  to  look  belter  than  when  punted  solid, 
and  also  to  branch  out  the  beads  of  pages  and  titles. 

LEAF.  (Sax.)  An  expansion  of  the  liark  at  the  base  of 
a  leaf-bud,  prior  to  which  it  i<  developed  ;  its  function  being 
at  once  that  of  respiration,  digestion,  and  nutrition.     It  is  a 

plate  of  parenchyma,  through  which  spiral   vessels  and 
woody  tissue  ramify.     Its  surface  is  covered  with  stomates, 
which  communicate  with  minute  hollow  chambers  in  the 
638 


LEAP-YEAR. 

[  interior.  It  is  in  the  leaf  that  all  the  peculiar  secretions  of 
a  plant  are  prepared  out  of  the  under  sap  which  the  roots 
obtain  from  the  soil. 

LEAF-BUDS.  Rudiments  of  young  branches,  made  up 
Of  scales  imbricated  over  each  other,  the  outermost  being 
the  hardest  and  thickest,  and  surrounding  a  minute  axis, 
which  is  in  direct  communication  with  the  woody  and  cel- 
lular tissue  of  the  stem.  When  stimulated  by  light  and  heat 
they  extend  into  branches ;  or  if  artificially  removed  from 
the  plant  that  hears  them,  they  are  capable  of  multiplying 
the  individual  from  which  they  have  been  taken. 

LEA'FLET.  A  small  leaf  formed  by  the  petiole  of  a 
leaf  branching  out,  and  separating  the  cellular  tissue  of  the 
lamina  into  more  than  one  distinct  portion,  each  of  which 
forms  a  perfect  lamina  of  itself. 

LEAGUE.  A  measure  of  length,  used  in  reckoning  dis- 
tances by  sea.  The  sea  league  is  three  nautical  or  geographi- 
cal miles,  or  the  l-20th  of  a  degree,  and  consequently  about 
3-45  English  miles. 

The  common  land  league  is  a  well-known  itinerary  meas- 
ure on  the  continent  of  Europe,  chiefly  in  France.  The 
French,  however,  have  two  distinct  leagues :  the  legal  post- 
ing league  (lieue  depostc),  containing  2000  toises,  and  equal 
to  2-42  English  miles ;  and  a  league  of  25  to  the  degree 
(anciently  the  lieue  moyenne),  or  equal  to  about  2'76  English 
miles.  This  last,  however,  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  a 
definite  measure ;  and  previous  to  the  Revolution  the  league 
was  different  in  the  different  provinces.  The  word  is  said 
to  be  derived  from  the  Celtic  leach,  stone;  the  distances 
having  been  marked  by  stones  in  the  Roman  provinces.  In 
Gaul  alone  of  those  provinces,  they  were  marked  in  some 
instances  by  leagues  as  well  as  miles.  The  Gaulish  league 
was  considered  by  the  Romans  as  equal  to  a  mile  and  a  half 
of  their  own  measure,  or  as  containing  1500  Roman  paces. 
It  is  supposed  that  the  league,  or  leuca,  was  introduced  into 
England  by  the  Normans,  where,  at  an  early  period,  it  came 
to  be  reckoned  as  an  equivalent  to  two  miles  of  the  time  ; 
this  being  the  sense  in  which  the  term  leuca  is  used  by  the 
oldest  law  writers,  and  in  most  of  the  old  English  charters. 
See  Mile. 

League,  in  Politics,  appears  to  be,  in  strictness,  an  alliance 
between  two  or  more  powers,  in  order  to  execute  some  com- 
mon enterprise.  It  is  therefore  more  active,  and  less  dura- 
ble, than  an  alliance  or  a  confederacy  ;  both  of  which  have 
some  permanent  object,  while  neither  necessarily  requires 
active  co-operation.  In  the  middle  ages,  the  word  league 
was  used  nearly  in  the  sense  now  attached  to  these  latter 
terms:  hence  we  read  of  the  Hanseatic  league,  and  of  the 
three  leagues  still  subsisting  in  the  canton  of  the  Grisons  in 
Switzerland;  both  of  which  were  more  properly  confeder- 
acies. The  word  is  of  Spanish  origin  ;  and  it  has  been  said 
that  the  period  of  its  commonest  use  in  political  language 
was  commensurate  with  that  during  which  the  Spanish 
government  exercised  the  greatest  influence  among  those  of 
Europe — the  16th  and  17th  centuries. 

LEAGUE,  SOLEMN.     See  Covenant. 

LEAGUE,  THE  HOLY,  or  simply  THE  LEAGUE.  In 
French  History,  a  political  association  formed  by  the  Roman 
Catholic  party  in  France  under  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  The 
project  of  the  League  is  said  to  have  been  framed  by  one 
David,  an  advocate ;  or,  rather,  he  first  conceived  the  idea 
of  uniting  the  separate  associations  of  the  Catholic  party  in 
the  provinces  into  one  great  confederacy.  His  written  scheme 
bears  date  1575.  It  was  ardently  received,  especially  by  the 
municipality  and  citizens  of  Paris  and  other  huge  towns. 
The  object  of  the  League  was  at  first  only  the  overthrow 
of  the  Protestant  power;  hut  the  princes  of  the  house  of 
Guise  soon  placed  themselves  at  its  head,  and  the  leaders  of 
the  party  were  not  slow  in  adopting  the  project  of  changing 
the  succession,  and  placing  the  Duke  of  Guise  on  the  throne. 
In  1588,  the  citizens,  under  the  Impulse  of  the  League,  drove 
Henry  III.  from  Paris  on  the  day  of  tho  Barricades,  and 
formed  the  revolutionary  government  of  "  the  Sixteen."  But 
after  the  death  both  of  the  duke  and  the  king,  much  division 
arose  in  the  head  quarters  of  the  League  at  Paris  as  to  the 
choice  of  a  successor;  and  in  1591  the  popular  party,  or  that 
of  the  Sixteen,  was  put  down  by  the  citizens:  which  event 
in  effect  destroyed  the  power  of  this  great  association, 
although  it  still  continued  to  exist,  even  after  the  abjuration 
of  Henry  IV. 

LEAKAGE.  In  Commerce,  an  allowance  in  the  customs, 
granted  to  importers  of  wine  for  the  waste  and  damage  the 
'nhiiI.  are  supposed  to  receive  by  keeping. 

LEA'NTO.    (Span.)    In  Architecture,  a  building  whose 

rafters  pitch  against  or  lean  on  another  building. 

LEAP-V  EAR.  or  BISSEXTILE.  A  year  containing  3G6 
days.  In  the  Gregorian  calendar  this  occurs  every  fourth 
ccepting  years  which  complete  centuries;  in  which 
case  the  intercalary  day  is  omitted,  unless  the  number  of 
the  year  is  divisible  by  four.  The  term  is  probably  derived 
from  the  leap  or  start  occasioned  by  the  insertion  of  tho 
intercalary  day,  and  would  have  been  more  appropriate  if 


LEASE. 

the  year  had  been  deficient  by  a  day  instead  of  being  re- 
dundant.    See  Calendar. 

LEASE,  in  Law,  is  properly  a  conveyance  of  lands  and 
tenements  (usually  in  consideration  of  rent  or  other  annual 
recompense),  made  for  life,  for  years,  or  at  will,  but  always 
for  a  less  time  than  the  lessor  or  party  letting  has  in  the 
premises.  The  usual  words  of  operation  are,  "  demise, 
grant,  and  to  farm  let."  The  conveyance  by  a  lessee  of  part 
of  his  interest  is  properly  an  under-lease;  of  the  whole,  an 
assignment. 

LEASE  AND  RELEASE.  In  Law,  a  mode  of  convey- 
ance appropriate  to  estates  of  freehold  in  lands,  tenements, 
or  hereditaments.  Before  the  Statute  of  Uses,  27  H.  8,  c.  10, 
it  was  customary  to  give  lands  to  one  person  for  the  use  of 
another ;  or  to  devise  the  use  of  land  to  one  party,  while  the 
common  law  right  to  the  same  land  descended  to  another. 
In  a  court  of  equity  the  legal  owner  of  the  fee  was  com- 
pelled to  cede  to  the  cestuy  que  use,  or  proprietor  of  the  use, 
the  enjoyment  of  the  land ;  and  certain  modes  of  convey- 
ance were  employed  by  which  the  use  was  conveyed  inde- 
pendent of  the  legal  estate.  By  that  statute  uses  were 
declared  to  be  executed ;  i.  e.,  that  if  land  were  conveyed 
to  one  party  to  the  use  of  another,  the  cestuy  que  -use  became 
seised  of  the  legal  estate.  Hence  a  bargain  and  sale,  i.  e., 
a  deed  in  which  for  a  recited  pecuniary  sum,  technically 
called  a  consideration,  land  was  conveyed  to  A  for  the  use 
of  himself  or  of  D,  became  a  good  conveyance;  because 
the  deed  gave  the  use,  and  the  statute  immediately  added 
the  legal  estate.  To  prevent  secret  conveyances  it  was  con- 
sequently enacted,  in  the  same  reign,  that  no  estate  of  in- 
heritance or  freehold  should  be  conveyed  by  bargain  and 
sale,  unless  the  deed  was  enrolled  or  registered  in  a  certain 
specified  manner.  But  as  this  statute  did  not  extend  to  hnr- 
gains  and  sales  for  a  less  estate  than  of  freehold,  the  inge- 
nuity of  lawyers  soon  devised  a  new  method  of  secret  con- 
veyance :  the  land  was  made  over  to  the  purchaser  by 
bargain  and  sale  for  a  year,  and  then  the  purchaser  received 
a  release  of  all  the  vendor's  remaining  interest.  Thus,  by 
these  two  deeds  (which  are  now  ordinarily  comprised  in 
one),  a  perfect  conveyance  is  created,  which  has  almost 
superseded,  in  general  use,  the  older  and  more  solemn 
modes  of  alienation  for  estates  in  fee-simple. 

LEA'THER.  (Germ,  leder.)  The  prepared  skins  of  ani- 
mals. The  principal  object  of  the  art  of  converting  skin  into 
leather  is  to  render  it  strong  and  toush,  durable,  and  often 
water-proof,  and  to  prevent  its  destruction  by  putrefaction. 
The  skins  are  first  cleansed  of  hair  and  cuticle,  and  then 
impregnated  either  with  vegetable  tan  and  extract,  as  in  the 
production  of  what  is  called  tanned  leather,  or  with  alum 
and  other  salts,  as  for  tawed  leather:  these  processes  are 
sometimes  combined,  and  tanned  leather  often  undergoes 
the  further  operation  of  currying,  or  impregnation  with  oil. 
As  instances  of  these  different  results,  thick  sole  leather  is 
tanned;  white  kid  for  gloves  is  tawed;  the  upper  leather 
for  boots  and  shoes  is  tanned  and  curried;  and  fine  Turkey 
leather  is  tawed,  and  afterwards  slightly  tanned. 

Tanned  leather. — For  thin  skins  which  are  afterwards 
curried,  the  hide  is  cleansed,  and  soaked  for  a  day  or  two  in 
water;  it  is  then  beamed,  or  stretched  upon  a  solid  half  cyl- 
inder of  stone,  where  it  is  cleared  of  adhering  fat  or  flesh  ; 
it  is  then  soaked  for  several  days  in  a  pit  of  lime  and  water, 
by  which  the  hair  and  cuticle  are  so  far  loosened  as  to 
admit  of  being  scraped  off  upon  the  beam ;  the  hide  is  then 
washed  and  put  into  the  mastering  pit,  which  is  a  mixture 
of  water  and  dung — that  of  hens,  pigeons,  or  dogs  is  pre- 
ferred, cow  or  horse  dung  not  being  sufficiently  putrescible. 
When  the  hide  has  here  become  soft  and  supple,  it  is  again 
thoroughly  cleaned,  and  submitted  to  the  tanning  liquor 
which  is  at  first  used  very  weak,  and  gradually  strengthened 
till  the  operation  is  complete :  this  requires  from  two  to  four 
months  for  calf  skins,  and  from  twelve  to  eighteen  months 
for  thick  ox  and  boar  hides,  intended  for  strong  sole  leather ; 
and  the  latter  hides,  instead  of  being  limed  and  dunged,  are 
generally,  after  having  been  cleaned  in  water,  placed  in 
neaps,  where  they  begin  to  putrefy,  and  then  the  hair  may 
be  removed  without  lime,  which  would  he  apt  to  render  the 
skin  hard  and  harsh.  The  further  opening  of  the  texture. 
so  as  to  prepare  it  for  tanning,  is  effected  by  immersion  in  a 
sour  liquor  of  fermented  rye  or  barley,  or  in  weak  sulphuric 
acid.  The  process  is  called  raising,  and  immediately  pre- 
cedes the  tanning.  When  fully  tanned,  the  goods  are 
drained,  stretched  upon  a  convex  piece  of  wood  called  a 
horse,  and  beaten  and  smoothed;  or  the  leather  is  some- 
times passed  between  cylinders  to  make  it  more  solid  and 
supple:  it  is  lastly  dried,  by  suspension  in  an  airy  covered 
building.  It  will  be  obvious  (see  Tan  and  Gelatine)  that 
the  principal  change  effected  in  this  process  depends  upon 
the  combination  of  the  gelatine  of  the  skin  with  the  tanning 
of  the  oak  bark,  or  other  astringent  material  which  is  used, 
and  that  great  care  is  requisite  to  ensure  the  perfect  pene- 
tration of  the  hide  (especially  where  it  is  thick)  by  the  tan- 
ning material :  hence  the  necessity  of  using  weak  liquors  at 


LEAVEN. 

I  first,  and  gradually  increasing  their  strength ;  for  if  the  hide 
were  in  the  first  instance  put  into  a  strong  infusion  of  bark, 
I  the  exterior  surfaces  would  become  so  perfectly  tanned  as 
to  be  impe  vious  to  the  further  action  of  the  liquor,  and  the 
centre  would  remain  untaaned,  and  consequently  soluble 
and  putrescible ;  so  that  we  judge  of  the  completion  of  the 
process  by  the  leather,  when  cut  through,  being  of  a  uni- 
form brown  throughout,  anything  like  a  white  streak  in  the 
centre  announcing  the  imperfection  just  mentioned. 

Tawed  Leather,  Src. — The  skins  are  first  soaked,  scraped, 
and  hung  in  a  warm  room  till  they  begin  to  exhale  an  am- 
moniacal  odour  and  the  wool  readily  pulls  oft";  they  are  then 
scraped  and  soaked  for  some  weeks  in  lime  water,  which 
checks  the  putrefaction  and  hardens  the  texture  ;  the  skin  is 
then  again  beamed,  smoothed,  and  trimmed,  and  put  into  a 
vat  of  bran  and  water,  where  it  is  kept  for  some  weeks  in  a 
state  of  gentle  fermentation,  and  becomes  thin  and  extensi- 
ble, and  fit  for  any  subsequent  operation:  in  this  state  it  is 
called  a  pelt.  The  method  of  bringing  kid  and  goat  skin  to 
the  state  of  pelt  is  nearly  the  same  as  for  lamb  skin,  except 
that  liming  is  used  before  the  hair  is  taken  off,  which  is  only 
sold  to  plasterers;  whereas  lambs'  wool  is  more  valuable, 
and  would  be  injured  by  the  lime.  If  the  pelts  are  to  be 
tawed,  they  are  worked  about  in  a  solution  of  alum  and  salt 
in  warm  water,  which  again  makes  them  thick  and  tough ; 
they  are  then  washed,  and  again  fermented  in  bran  and 
water  till  the  thickening  is  reduced  by  the  removal  of  some 
of  the  salts ;  lastly,  they  are  stretched  on  hooks,  and  dried  in 
a  stove  room,  when  they  become  a  tough  flexible  white 
leather ;  hut  to  give  them  gloss  and  suppleness  they  are 
again  soaked  in  water,  and  trodden  in  a  large  pail  contain- 
ing the  yolks  of  eggs  beat  up  with  water ;  they  are  then 
dried  in  a  loft,  and  smoothed  with  a  warm  iron. 

Morocco  leather,  as  it  is  called,  is  chiefly  prepared  from 
sheep  skins,  which,  after  the  action  of  lime  water,  are 
brought  down  by  a  dung  bath,  and  reduced  to  the  state  of 
pelt.  If  intended  to  be  dyed  red,  they  are  sewn  up  in  the 
fonn  of  a  sack,  with  the  grain  side  outward,  and  immersed 
in  a  warm  cochineal  bath;  the  sac  is  then  tanned  in  a  bath 
of  sumach  :  the  skins  intended  to  he  blacked  are  sumached 
without  any  previous  dyeing.  The  graining  and  polishing 
are  effected  as  follows:  The  skins  are  stretched  upon  a 
smooth  inclined  board,  and  rubbed  over  with  a  little  oil  to 
supple  them.  Those  intended  for  black  leather  are  previ- 
ously brushed  over  with  a  solution  of  iron ;  they  are  then 
rubbed  over  with  a  glass  ball  cut  into  a  polygonal  surface 
which  polishes  them,  and  makes  them  firm  and  compact; 
lastly,  the  grained  surface  is  given  by  rubbing  the  leather 
with  a  grooved  boxwood  ball.  Curried  leather  is  tanned, 
and  then  softened  by  soaking  in  water  and  rubbing ;  it  is 
then  pared  with  a  broad  sharp  knife,  rubbed  with  a  polished 
stone,  and,  while  still  wet,  besmeared  with  fish  oil,  or  a  mix- 
ture of  this  with  tallow.  As  it  dries  the  oil  gradually  pene- 
trates in  proportion  as  the  moisture  evaporates.  The  grain 
side  is  blackened  by  iron  liquor,  but  the  flesh  side  with  lamp- 
black  and  oil. 

Shammoy  leather  is  generally  sheep  or  doe  skin,  prepared 
as  already  mentioned  by  dressing,  liming,  &.C.,  and  dyed  if 
necessary,  and  then  finished  in  oil.  Russia  leather  acquires 
its  peculiar  odour  from  birch  tar.  (There  is  an  excellent 
abstract  of  the  manufacture  of  different  kinds  of  leather  in 
JUkin's  Dictionary  of  Chemistry,  from  which  the  above  Is 
chiefly  abridged.) 

The  leather  manufacture  of  Great  Britain  is  of  very  great 
importance,  being  inferior  in  point  of  value  and  extent  only 
to  those  of  cotton,  wool,  and  iron.  ,-If  we  look  abroad," 
says  Dr.  Campbell,  "on  the  instruments  of  husbandry,  on 
the  implements  used  in  most  mechanic  trades,  on  the  struc- 
ture of  a  multitude  of  emrines  and  machines',  or  if  we  con- 
template at  home  the  necessary  parts  of  our  clothing — 
breeches,  shoes,  boots,  gloves — or  the  furniture  of  our  houses. 
the  books  on  our  shelves,  the  harness  of  our  horses,  or  even 
the  substance  of  our  carriages,  what  do  we  see  but  instances 
of  human  industry  exerted  upon  leather'!  What  an  apti- 
tude has  this  single  material  in  a  variety  of  circumstances  for 
the  relief  of  our  necessities,  and  .supplying  conveniences  in 
every  state  and  stage  of  life  1  Without  it,  or  even  without 
it  in  the  plenty  we  have  it,  to  what  difficulties  should  we  be 
exposed?"  (Polit.  State  of  Great  Britain,  xi.  176.)  The 
number  of  persons  engaged  in  all  the  various  branches  of  the 
leather  manufacture  in  Great  Britain  is  estimated  at  between 
200,000  and  300,000,  the  total  quantity  of  all  sorts  of  leather 
at  65,000,000  lbs.,  and  the  entire  value  of  the  manufacture  at 
£13,500,000.  Leather  was  long  subject  to  a  dim-,  which 
necessarily  placed  the  manufacture  under  the  surveillance 
of  the  excise  ;  but  it  was  totally  abolished  in  1830 ;  and  as 
the  manufacture  is  now  relieved'  from  every  sort  of  trammel 
and  restraint,  its  rapid  increase  may  be  confidently  expected 
(See  Commercial  Dictionary.) 

LEAVEN.  (Lat.  levare,  to  raise.)  A  piece  of  sour  dough 
used  to  ferment  and  render  light  a  much  greater  quantity  of 
dough  or  paste.     By  the  law  of  Moses  leaven  was  strict}-. 

^  053 


LEAVES. 

forbidden  daring  the  Passover;  and  the  Jews,  taught  to  re- 
gard it  from  the  vigil  of  the  feast  as  unclean,  with  religious 
ulosity  purified  their  houses  from  the  contaminating 
influence.  In  its  figurative  sense,  leaven  is  applied  to  any- 
thing that  powerfully,  but  gradually,  deteriorates  the  quali- 
ties of  the  mind  or  heart;  in  contradistinction  to  the  expres- 
i  nleavened,  which  implies  the  qualities  of  sincerity  and 
truth. 

LEAVES.     (Sax  lreaf.)    In  Architecture,  ornaments  imi- 
tated from   natural  leaves;  whereof  the  ancients  used  Iwo 
natural  and  imaginary.     The  former  were  those  of  the 
laurel,  palm,  acanthus,  and  olive;  but  in  the  representation 
of  all  ot  'them  they  took  great  liberties. 

LECTTCA.  (Lot)  A  sort  of  couch  used  by  the  Ro- 
mans for  the  same  purpose  as  the  sedan  chair,  or  rather  the 
palanquin,  is  employed  by  the  moderns,  with  this  difference, 
that  the  person  carried  on  the  lectica  reclined.  It  was  osed 
also  for  the  conveyance  of  dead  bodies  to  the  funeral  pile. 
The  persons  who  carried  the  lectica  were  called  Irrticarii, 
whose  number  in  the  Lower  Empire  is  said  to  have  amount- 
.  d  to  11.000. 

LE'CTISTE'RNIUM.  (Lat.  lectus,  a  couch,  and  ster- 
nere,  to  prepare.)  A  religious  festival  or  ceremony  among 
the  ancient  Romans,  celebrated  during  times  of  public  ca- 
lamity, and  remarkable  as  a  singular  relic  of  barbarous  su- 
perstition, retaining  the  impression  of  a  very  rude  age.  In 
this  festival  the  gods  themselves  were  invited  to  the  enter- 
tainment ;  their  statues  were  taken  from  their  pedestals,  laid 
on  couches  with  pillows  and  pedestals,  and  placed  at  the  table, 
while  the  servants  used  gravely  to  convey  the  viands  to  the 
idols'  lips.  The  first  festival  of  this  sort,  according  to  Livy, 
which  took  place,  was  held  in  the  year  of  Rome  354,  on  the 
occasion  of  a  contagious  disease  which  committed  frightful 
ravages  among  their  cattle,  and  lasted  for  eight  successive 
days.  On  the  celebration  of  this  festival  enemies  were  said 
to  forget  their  animosity,  and  all  prisoners  were  liberated. 

LErCTOR.  In  the  early  Church,  a  person  set  apart  for 
the  purpose  of  reading  parts  of  the  Bible  and  other  writings 
of  a  religious  character  to  the  people.  They  were  conse- 
crated by  prayers  and  ceremonies  for  this  office,  and  in  the 
third  century  appear  to  have  formed  proper  officers  of  the 
church.  It  is  probably  from  this  institution  that  the  order 
of  preachers  in  parish  churches  in  England  called  lecturers 
i^  derived,  who  hold  a  distinct  office  from  the  vicar,  rector, 
or  other  ecclesiastical  functionaries  ;  they  are  chosen  by  the 
vestry  or  chief  inhabitants  of  the  parish,  supported  by  volun- 
tary subscriptions  and  legacies,  and  usualh  officiate  on  Sun- 
day afternoon. 

LE'CTURE  (Lat.  lego,  /  read),  signifies  generally  a  dis- 
course read,  as  the  derivation  of  the  word  implies,  by  a  pro- 
fessor to  his  pupils ;  but  it  is  applied  in  a  more  extended  sense 
to  every  species  of  instruction  communicated  vied  voce.  In 
the  Scotch  and  Continental  universities,  as  well  as  in  those 
recently  established  in  England,  the  great  business  of  teach- 
ing is  carried  on  by  means  of  public  lectures,  delivered  at 
stated  periods,  and  embracing  every  subject  included  in  the 
curriculum  of  study  ;  but  at  the  two  great  English  universi- 
ties, as  is  well  known,  a  different  system  is  adopted.  There 
the  established  mode  of  instruction  is  by  private  tutors; 
and  though  a  few  lectureships  have,  from  time  to  time,  been 
founded,  and  lectures  are  sometimes  voluntarily  given  by 
active  members,  still  these  are  rather  to  be  considered  as 
incidental  appendages  than  as  constituent  parts  of  a  regular 
system. 

Public  lectures  have  been  adopted  from  the  earliest  ages 
as  a  convenient  mode  of  teaching  the  elements  of  every 
branch  of  human  knowledge  ;  and  it  is  perhaps  true  that  if 
they  be  properly  compiled,  and  accompanied  by  strict  and 
regular  examinations,  few  means  seem  better  calculated  to 
awaken  the  attention  of  the  student,  to  abridge  his  labours, 
to  guide  his  inquiries,  and  to  impress  upon  his  recollection 
the  first  principles  of  science.  The  endless  diversity  of  sub 
jects  on  which  lectures  have  been  or  may  be  given  precludes, 
of  course,  any  attempt  to  lay  down  rules  applicable  in  all 
cases  for  the  guidance  of  individual  lecturers  ;  but  there  are, 
notwithstanding,  some  great  leading  principles  that  should 
in  every  case  be  kept  steadily  in  view,  first  of  all,  it  should 
be  borne  in  mind  that,  a  lecture  being  an  oral  discourse,  if 
the  meaning  of  the  lecturer  be  at  any  time  mistaken  or  not 
perceived,  the  student  or  hearer  cannot  return,  as  he  would 
do  to  a  book,  for  farther  explanations,  and  the  subsequent 
nart  of  the  lecture  may  in  consequence  be  rendered  nearly 
useless.  Hence  /irrspiruity  of  statement  is  the  first  and  Iiil;!i 
est  quality  of  a  lecturer.  Perspicuity,  indeed,  is  indispensa- 
ble to  all  good  writing  and  sneaking ;  but  in  by-tturipg 

dally  it  is  the  one  thing  needful,  and  without  it  Other  quali- 
ties can  avail  little  or  nothing.  To  attain  this  essential 
quality  the  subjects  of  the  lecture  should  he  so  arranged  that 
they  may  follow  each  other  naturally  and  easily  ;  the  sen- 
tences should  be  clear  and  distinct,  neither  too  long  nor  too 
short:  the  illustrations  should  he  apposite,  and  of  a  kind 
fitted  to  excite  and  keep  awake  the  attention  of  the  hearer ; 
654 


LEECH. 

and  the  lecture  so  composed  should  be  delivered  in  a  plain, 
distinct,  and  impressive  manner.  If  a  lecturer  he  deficient 
in  these  qualities,  he  can  be  of  little  or  no  use  as  a  teacher, 
how  well  soever  he  may  be  acquainted  with  the  subject  on 
which  he  prelects.  Dr.  Brown,  of  Edinburgh,  is  an  instance 
in  point:  bis  views  with  respect  to  the  philosophy  of  the 
mind  are  often  original,  sometimes  just,  and  always  ingeni- 
ous; but  the  stj  le  in  w  hich  they  air  expounded  is  as  had  as 
possible,  even  in  a  book  made  for  the  closet,  and  rendered 
his  lectures  all  but  unintelligible  to  nine  tenths  of  his  stu- 
dents. It  has  been  the  fashion  among  certain  parties  who 
certainly  do  not  owe  much  to  the  belles  Icttres  to  depreciate 
the  lectures  of  Dr.  Blair ;  but  they  may  be  safely  referred  to 
as  all  but  perfect  models  of  the  style  and  manner  in  which 
lectures  should  be  written. 

When  lectures  are  prepared  in  the  way  now  stated  by  par- 
ties well  versed  in  the  subjects  prelected  upon,  and  when 
they  arc  regularly  followed  up  next  day  by  a  .searching  ex- 
amination of  the  students  on  the  various  subjects  treated  of, 
and  explanations  are  given  of  such  difficulties  as  may  have 
occurred  to  them,  they  may,  perhaps,  as  already  stated,  be 
regarded  as  a  pretty  unexceptionable  method  of  teaching. 
But  lectures  got  up,  as  they  generally  are,  not  to  instruct  the 
hearer,  but  to  exhibit  the  attainments  or  prejudices  of  the 
lecturer,  and  unaccompanied  either  by  examinations  or  ex- 
ercises, are  about  the  least  profitable  exhibitions  at  which  a 
student  can  be  present. 

LE'DGER.     See  Book-keeping. 

LEDGER-LINE.  (Dutch,  leggen,  to  lie.)  In  JIusic,  a  line 
either  above  or  below  the  staff,  when  that  is  not  sufficient 
in  extent  to  lay  the  notes  upon.  It  is  above  the  staff  in 
ascending  progressions,  and  in  descending  progressions  be 
low  it. 

LE'DGERS.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture,  horizontal  pieces 
of  timber  used  in  scaffolding,  lying  parallel  to  the  wall  oppo- 
site to  which  they  are  erected. 

LEE,  LEEWARD.  Sea  terms,  denoting  generally  the 
side  or  quarter  not  directly  exposed  to  the  wind.  The  lee- 
side  of  a  ship  is  the  opposite  to  that  on  which  the  wind  blows 
when  it  crosses  her  course,  and  which  is  termed  the  weather 
side.  Leeward  is  on  the  lee-side;  opposed  to  windward,  or 
the  weather  side.  A  lee-shore  is  the  shore  on  the  lee-sidc 
of  the  ship,  or  the  shore  on  which  the  wind  blows;  and  a 
ship  is  said  to  be  under  the  Ice  of  the  shore  when  the  wind 
blows  from  the  shore,  or  when  she  is  in  some  measure  shel- 
tered by  the  shore.  The  names  Leeward  and  Windward,, 
as  applied  to  the  West  India  Islands,  were  given  to  them 
from  their  situation  in  a  voyage  from  the  ports  of  Spain  to 
Carthagena  or  Portobello.  The  islands  which  lie  to  leeward 
extend  from  Portorico  to  Demerara. 

LEE-BOARD.  A  small  platform  of  planks,  which  being 
let  down  into  the  water  on  the  lee  side  of  flat-bottomed 
\  easels,  opposes  the  action  of  the  wind  to  drive  them  to  lee- 
ward. 

LEECH.  This  name  is  given  to  those  abranchiate  red- 
blooded  worms,  or  anellidans,  which  are  provided  with  a 
sucker  at  both  ends  of  the  body  {see  Hirudo),  and  of  which 
we  possess  a  few  native  species ;  some  frequenting  the  fresh 
waters,  as  the  horse  leeches  (Hamopis  sanguisorba  and  II. 
stagnorum) ;  others  the  ocean,  where  they  are  parasitic 
upon  fishes,  as  the  skate-sucker  (Pontobdella  mvricata). 
The  medicinal  leech  (Sanguis  u^ra  mcdicinalis)  belongs  to 
that  subdivision  of  the  family  llirudinida:  which  is  charac- 
terized by  having  the  superior  lip  of  the  anterior  cup  or 
sinker  divided  into  several  segments,  and  the  oral  aperture 
transverse,  triradiate,  and  surrounded  by  three  cartilaginous 
jaws,  each  armed  with  two  rows  of  very  fine  teeth.  This 
apparatus  enables  the  leech  to  penetrate  the  skin  so  as  to  en- 
sure a  ready  flow  without  causing  a  dangerous  wound.  The 
upper  lip  is  marked  with  ten  small  points  considered  as  eyes. 
The  specie  :  of  the  '-onus  Sanguisuga,  viz.  .S.  officinalis  and 
S.  medicinalis,  are  most  common  in  the  south  of  France, 
ce  great  numbers  are  exported  to  this  country.  The 
leech-dealers  of  Bretagne  drive  horses  and  cows  into  the 
ponds,  that  the  leeches  may  fatten  and  propagate  more 
abundantly  by  sucking  their  blood.  Children  are  employed 
to  catch  them  by  the  hand  ;  and  the  grown  persons  wade 
into  the  shallow  waters  In  Hie  spring  of  the  year,  and  catch 
the  leeches  that  adhere  to  their  nak-il  legs.  They  are  also 
taken  by  a  sort  Of  net  made  of  twigs  and  rushes,  which  is 
used  in  the  summer  when  the  leeches  retire  into  the  deeper 
waters. 

The  best  method  of  preserving  these  valuable  little  am" 
mals  is  stated  by  the  author  of  the  article  "Leech"  in  the 
Penny  Oyclopadia  to  be  that  described  by  Fee.  It  is  as  fel- 
lows: 

Into  a  marble  or  stone  trough  a  layer  of  seven  inches  of 
a  mixture  of  moss,  turf,  and  charcoal  is  to  be  put.  and  some 
small  pebbles  placed  above  it;  at  one  extremity  of  the 
trough,  and  midway  between  the  bottom  and  the  top,  place 
a  thin  plate  of  marble  pierced  with  numerous  small  holes, 
upon  which  there  should  rest  a  stratum  of  moss,  or  portions 


LEELITE. 

of  the  Equisetum  palustre,  or  horse-tail,  firmly  compressed 
by  a  layer  of  pebbles.  The  trough  to  be  filled  with  water 
only  so  high  that  the  moss  and  pebbles  should  be  but  slight- 
ly moistened.  A  cloth  is  to  be  kept  over  the  mouth  of  the 
trough.  This  is  imitating  as  nearly  as  possible  their  natural 
condition ;  and  the  charcoal  not  only  aids  in  keeping  the 
water  sweet,  but  appears  to  prevent  the  leeches  being  at- 
tacked by  parasitic  animals,  to  which  they  are  very  liable. 
The  water  should  be  changed  about  once  a  week,  and  more 
frequently  in  warm  weather. 

The  great  importance  of  ascertaining  the  best  method  of 
preserving  the  medicinal  leech  may  be  inferred  from  the  ex- 
tent to  which  the  trade  is  carried  on,  and  the  consequent  in- 
creasing scarcity  of  these  indispensable  adjuncts  to  medi- 
cine. Four  onlv  of  the  principal  dealers  in  London  import 
7,200,000  annually. 

LEE'LITE.  A  pink  silico-aluminous  mineral,  tinged  by 
oxide  of  manganese.     Named  from  Mr.  Lee  of  Cambridge. 

LEET.  (Sax.  leod ;  Germ,  leute,  people.)  The  court 
leet,  or  view  of  frankpledge,  was  an  ancient  Saxon  institu- 
tion answering  a  double  purpose :  1.  The  administration  of 
justice  in  the  trial  of  offences  and  the  abatement  of  nuisan- 
ces; 2.  The  preservation  of  the  peace,  and  the  prevention 
of  crime,  by  the  reception  and  enrolment  of  the  pledge 
which  each  man  was  obliged  to  give  by  becoming  a  member 
of  some  tything.  The  possession  of  a  court  leet  was  the 
characteristic  of  the  hundred,  of  which  the  proper  leet  was 
distinct  from,  and  subordinate  to,  that  which  was  held  by 
the  sheriff  on  his  tourn.  The  court  leet  of  the  hundred  was 
usually  held  by  a  bailiff  or  steward  of  the  sheriff;  but  it  was 
sometimes  granted,  as  well  as  the  leet  of  a  smaller  jurisdic- 
tion, to  private  lords.  A  court  leet  also  properly  belonged 
to  a  borough,  which  ranked  as  a  hundred ;  but  such  private 
and  borough  leets  were,  like  the  leet  of  the  hundred,  subor- 
dinate to  the  county  leet  of  the  tourn. 

LEE-WAY,  in  Navigation,  is  the  deviation  of  the  course 
actually  run  by  a  ship  from  the  course  steered  upon ;  or  it 
is  the  angle  formed  between  the  line  of  the  ship's  keel  and 
the  line  which  she  actually  describes  through  the  water. 
In  consequence  of  the  action  of  the  wind  or  currents,  a  ship 
is  generally  impelled  sideways  as  well  as  forward,  whence 
the  direction  of  her  motion  is  different  from  that  of  the  keel. 
Suppose  the  whole  force  urging  the  ship  to  be  resolved  into 
j,  two  —  one  producing  the  motion 
1  A  B  in  the  direction  of  the  keel, 
and  the  other  the  motion  A  C  in 
the  same  time  at  right  angles  to  the  former ;  then  the  ship 
will  move  in  the  direction  of  the  diagonal  A  D,  and  the  an- 
gle DAB  is  the  lee-way.  To  obviate  the  effects  of  this 
lateral  motion,  the  ship  is  laid  on  a  course  to  the  windward 
of  the  point  to  which  she  is  bound. 

LEGACY.  See  Wills.  (Lat.  lego,  /  bequeath.)  A  gift 
by  will  of  personal  property,  as  goods  and  chattels ;  a  testa- 
mentary gift  of  real  property  being  called  a  devise.  Lega- 
cies are  general,  such  as  a  gift  of  a  sum  of  money  out  of  the 
general  estate  of  the  deceased  ;  or  specific,  as  a  gift  of  a  par- 
ticular bank  note  or  coin,  or  of  any  other  individual  chattel, 
as  a  horse  or  a  jewel ;  or  residuary,  as  a  gift  of  the  residue 
of  the  estate  remaining  after  all  the  debts  of  the  deceased 
and  general  and  specific  legacies  have  been  satisfied.  Gen- 
eral legacies  are  subject  to  an  equal  rateable  abatement,  if 
the  estate  is  not  sufficient  for  payment  of  them  in  full ;  but  a 
specific  legacy  is  not  subject  to  abatement,  unless  it  be  ne- 
cessary for  the  payment  of  debts.  A  specific  legacy  is,  how- 
ever, subject  to  what  is  called  ademption,  which  is  the  con- 
sequence of  the  subject  matter  of  the  legacy  being  one  iden- 
tical thing  in  specie :  thus,  if  a  testator  bequeath  a  particu- 
lar horse,  which  he  afterwards  disposes  of  in  his  lifetime, 
the  legacy  is  said  to  be  adeemed,  or  taken  away,  because 
the  horse  bequeathed  has  no  longer  any  existence  as  part 
of  his  property,  and  the  legatee  will  not  be  entitled  to  anoth- 
er horse  of  the  testator's  in  lieu  of  it.  This  identity  of  cor- 
pus is  so  inherent  in  the  notion  of  a  specific  legacy,  that  if  a 
jEIOO  in  Consols  were  bequeathed,  and  the  same  sum  were 
afterwards  transferred  by  the  testator  to  another  stock,  the 
transfer  of  itself  would  adeem  the  legacy.  The  mode  of 
compelling  executors  to  pay  a  legacy  is  by  suit  in  equity  for 
the  administration  of  the  testator's  assets :  courts  of'law 
have  not,  in  general,  any  jurisdiction  over  such  matters. 
Executors  cannot  be  compelled  to  pay  a  legacy  until  the 
expiration  of  a  year  after  the  testator'sdeath :  they  are  al- 
lowed that  period  for  ascertaining  and  discharging  his  debts ; 
and  even  after  a  legacy  has  been  paid  the  legatee  must  re- 
fund, if  it  should  be  necessary,  for  the  payment  of  creditors 
who  come  in,  although  after  the  period  abovementioned. 
The  party  to  whom  a  legacy  is  bequeathed  is  termed  lega- 
tee. For  an  account  of  the  legacy  duties,  see  art.  "Taxa- 
tion," F.ncyc.  Britannica,  (new  edition). 

LE'GATE.  (Lat.  legatus.)  A  high  functionary,  in  gen- 
eral a  cardinal  or  bishop,  whom  the  pope  sends  as  ambassa- 
dor to  the  courts  of  foreign  powers.  Legates  are:  1.  A  La- 
tere, who  possess  the  highest  degree  of  authority ;  2.  De 


LEGION. 

Latere :  the  former  arc  such  as  the  pope  commissions  to  take 
his  place  in  councils.  3.  Legates  by  office  are  such  as  en- 
joy the  titular  distinction  of  legate  by  virtue  of  their  dignity 
and  rank  in  the  church,  but  have  no  special  mission. 

LEGATION.     See  Ambassador.    Diplomacy. 

LEGA'TO.  (Ital.  tied.)  In  Music,  a  term  used  to  denote 
the  tying  one  note  to  another,  which  is  done  by  placing  these 
marks  ^  ^  above  or  below  the  notes  intended  to  be  so  joined. 
This  is  also  known  by  the  name  of  sycope. 

LEGATU'RA.     (Ital.)    In  Music.    See  Driving  Notes. 

LEGA'TUS.  (Lat.)  In  Roman  History,  an  officer  who 
acted  as  deputy  under  a  commander-in-chief,  and  whose  duty 
it  was  to  aid  the  proconsuls  and  proprators  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  Roman  provinces.  Of  the  number  of  the  le- 
gati  nothing  certain  is  known  ;  though  the  probability  is,  that 
there  was  one  to  every  legion.  In  the  absence  of  the  con- 
suls and  other  magistrates  entitled  to  the  fasces,  this  honour 
was  conferred  on  the  legati. 

LE'GEND.  (Lat.  legenda,  things  to  be  read.)  A  book 
originally  used  at  divine  service  in  the  Romish  churches,  in 
which  are  recorded  the  lives  of  saints  and  martyrs,  portions 
of  which  were  selected  and  read  for  the  edification  of  the 
people.  These  legends,  which  contained  many  ridiculous 
stories  of  the  lives  of  the  saints,  were  studiously  perused  in 
the  refectories  of  cloisters,  and  were  earnestly  recommended 
to  the  perusal  of  the  laity,  as  so  many  evidences  of  the  truth 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith.  Among  these  the  Golden  Le- 
gend (the  work  of  Jacobus  de  Voragine,  archbishop  of 
Genoa  in  the  13th  century),  which  is  a  collection  of  the  lives 
of  the  saints,  maintained  its  ground  in  the  church  for  two 
hundred  years ;  though,  from  the  number  of  ridiculous  stories 
with  which  it  teems,  it  has  now  sunk  into  merited  oblivion. 
But  although  many  of  the  legends  consist  of  tasteless  and 
unmeaning  fictions,  the  offspring  of  a  childish  credulity, 
which,  indeed,  they  were  intended  to  gratify,  there  are  many 
of  them  of  a  highly  poetical  and  striking  character ;  and 
hence  it  is  not  surprising  that  this  species  of  literature  has 
often  been  regarded,  even  by  persons  of  taste,  as  a  verdant 
oasis  amid  the  desert  of  imaginative  writings  in  the  middle 
ages.  There  are  some  sensible  remarks  as  to  the  value  of 
the  early  Christian  legends  in  Beugnot,  Hist,  de  la  Destruc- 
tion du.  Paganisme  en  Occident,  i.,  280.  In  a  general  sense 
the  term  legend  is  used  to  denote  any  fictitious  or  doubtful 
narrative ;  such  as  the  exploits  of  heroes  of  the  middle  ages, 
or  the  history  of  a  people  or  district  in  which  truth  is  so 
mixed  with  fable  as  to  be  inseparable  from  it. 

Legend.  In  Numismatics,  that  which  is  written  round 
the  field  of  a  medal ;  opposed  to  inscription,  which  is  writ- 
ten across  it.    See  Numismatics. 

LEGERDEMAIN.  (Fr.  light  of  hand.)  A  term  given 
to  some  deceptive  or  slight-of-hand  performances,  which  de- 
pend entirely  on  dexterity  and  address,  or  derive  but  a  small 
degree  of  aid  from  philosophical  principles.     See  Magic. 

LEGGIA'DRO.  (Ital.)  In  Music,  a  direction  to  the  per- 
former that  the  music  to  which  the  word  is  appended  is  to 
be  performed  gaily  or  briskly. 

LE'GION.  A  division  of  the  Roman  army,  comprising 
ten  cohorts,  thirty  maniples,  or  sixty  centuries;  so  that  if 
there  had  always"  been  one  hundred  men  in  each  century, 
as  its  name  imports,  the  legion  would  have  consisted  of  six 
thousand  men.    But  the  number  was  in  fact  variable. 

There  were  usually  three  hundred  cavalry  joined  to  each 
legion,  which  were  divided  into  ten  troops  (turmaj),  and 
each  of  these  troops  into  three  bodies  of  ten  men  (decurtxe). 
The  defensive  arms  of  the  legionaries  were  an  oblong  shield, 
a  helmet,  hauberk,  and  greaves ;  their  offensive  weapons 
were  a  sword  and  two  long  javelins.  The  legion  was  drawn 
up  in  three  lines  ;  the  soldiers  in  each  of  which  were  distin- 
guished by  the  names  Hastati,  Principes,  and  Triarii.  The 
Hastati,  who  formed  the  first  line,  were  young  men  in  the 
flower  of  life,  and  originally  used  long  spears,  which  were, 
however,  afterwards  discarded.  The  Principes  occupied  the 
second  line,  and  were  men  in  the  prime  of  life.  The  Triarii 
were  veteran  soldiers,  and  formed  the  third  line.  In  each 
legion  there  were  six  military  tribunes,  who  commanded  un- 
der the  consul,  each  in  his  turn,  usually  for  about  a  month. 
This  was  the  early  organization  of  the  legion,  as  it  is  known 
to  us  chiefly  from'the  description  of  Livy,  at  the  time  of  the 
great  Latin  war  in  the  fifth  century  of  the  Republic.  It  was 
materially  changed  in  later  times;  and  the  three  original 
lines  were  discarded,  probably  about  the  time  of  the  Punic 
war.  But  it  always  retained  its  distinctive  character  of  a 
separate  armv,  as  it  were,  provided  with  its  complement  of 
cavalrv  and  iight  infantry ;  and  it  has  been  remarked,  as  a 
striking  proof  of  the  military  genius  of  the  Romans,  that  after 
so  many  ages  of  additional  experience,  recent  captains,  and 
particularly  Napoleon,  have  found  it  advantageous  to  divide 
their  armies  into  separate  corps,  each  in  a  similar  manner 
complete,  with  its  own  cavalry  and  artillery;  and  these,  in 
the  French  imperial  armies,  usually  averaged  from  4000  to 
6000  men,  or  about  the  number  of  a  Roman  legion.  The 
organization  of  the  legion  is  explained  in  most  works  on 

655 


LEGION  OF  HONOUR. 

Roman  antiquities,  hut  has  been  nowhere  so  thoroughly 
treated  as  by  M.  Le  Beau,  in  a  long  Beries  of  memoirs  which 
appeared  from  time  to  time  In  the  Mem.  de  I'.ic.dcs  Inscrip- 
tions ct  Belles  Lettre*.  See  particularly  vols.  w\v..  \\\ui.. 
mix.    The  reader  may  also  now  consult  Dr.  Arnold's 

History  of  Kvuie.  vol.  ii. 

LE'GION  OF  HONOUR.  An  order  instituted  by  Na- 
poleon, when  first  consul  of  France,  for  merit,  both  military 
and  civil.  The  order  consisted,  under  the  Empire,  of  grand 
crosses,  grand  officers,  commanders,  officers,  and  leg 
They  were  divided  into  sixteen  cohorts,  each  of  -KIT  mem 
bers  ;  but  the  total  amount  was  afterwards  much  Increased. 
Pensions,  from  250  to  5000  trams  per  annum,  were  attached 
In  these  distinctions.  After  the  restoration  of  Louis  \  \  III 
the  order  underwent  some  modifications  in  its  constitution, 
and  its  members  were  limited  on  a  smaller  scale.  See  Hon- 
our. 

LEGISLATION.     See  Law. 

LE'GISLATOR.  (Lat.)  One  who  frames  or  establishes 
the  laws  and  polity  of  a  state  or  kingdom.  The  term  is 
chiefly  applied  to  some  distinguished  persons  of  antiquity, 
such  as  Moses  among  the  Jews;  Theseus,  Draco,  Si. Ion, 
among  the  Athenians  ;  Lycurgus  among  the  Spartans  ;  and 
Noma  among  the  Romans. 

LEGISLATURE.  The  name  given  to  the  body  or  bodies 
in  a  slate  in  whom  is  vested  the  power  of  making  laws. 
Thus  the  king,  lords,  and  commons  of  Great  Britain,  whose 
united  consent  is  indispensable  to  the  framing  of  a  law,  are 
styled  the  legislature. 

LEGITIMACY,  in  Polities,  signifies,  in  its  strictest  sense, 
the  accordance  of  an  action  or  an  institution  with  the  muni- 
cipal law  of  the  land.  The  principle  of  obedience  to  civil 
authority,  in  whatever  hands  the  law  has  placed  it,  is  conse- 
crated by  religion  as  well  as  by  sound  philosophy.  Resistance 
to,  or  evasion  of,  the  legal  commands  of  a  superior,  is  thus 
an  offence  against  the  law  of  God  as  well  as  of  man,  in 
things  in  themselves  indifferent  as  well  as  in  things  com- 
manded by  the  principles  of  morality.  How  far  they  must 
be  obeyed  when  against  the  conscience  of  the  subject,  is  one 
of  those  questions  of  casuistry  which  never  can  receive  a 
solution  applicable  to  all  cases  and  circumstances.  In  this 
sense  it  is  clear  that  the  attribute  of  legitimacy  belongs  to 
no  particular  form  of  government,  but  is  equally  inherent  in 
ail  when  lawfully  established.  But,  looking  at  the  subject 
from  a  higher  point  of  view,  the  question  arises,  when  and 
how  shall  a  government  be  taken  to  he  lawfully  established  ? 
This  can  only  be  directly  answered  by  two  classes  of  political 
philosophers.  The  first  attribute  the  quality  of  legitimacy 
only  to  hereditary  monarchical  government,  which  they 
conceive  to  lie  peculiarly  of  divine  appointment,  deriving  it 
from  the  patriarchal  form  of  society.  This  theory  has  the 
advantage  of  simplicity  ;  but  its  advocates  have  never  been 
able  to  show  any  real  foundation  for  it  in  the  language  of 
Scripture,  and  it  is  of  course  impossible  to  raise  it  on  any 
other  basis.  (See  Divine  Right.  Non-resistance.)  The 
second  class  bases  society  on  the  abstract  rights  of  man,  at- 
tributes all  power  to  the  people,  and  considers  no  govern- 
ment legitimate  except  such  as  is  founded  on  their  consent. 
This  theory  also  is  plain  and  clear  in  the  abstract;  but  has 
the  defect  of  becoming  impossible  in  application.  For,  1. 
The  principle  of  the  social  contract,  or  implied  consent  of 
the  people,  is  a  mere  philosophical  fiction.  2.  The  actual 
consent  of  the  people  (i.  c,  the  majority  of  it)  to  any  existing 
form  of  government  has  never  been  satisfactorily  ascertained. 
This  is  notoriously  the  case  in  every  European  country ; 
and  even  the  representative  government  of  the  United  States 
of  America  is  chosen  by  a  constituency  from  which  slaves, 
women,  and  persons  under  twenty-one  years  of  age  (that  is, 
in  all,  five  sixths  of  the  population)  are  excluded.  Now  the 
exclusion  of  any  one  of  these  classes  can  only  be  justified  on 
grounds  of  expediency ;  and  similar  grounds  might  equally 
justify  the  adoption  of  other  tests  («.  g.,  that  of  property,  as 
in  England  and  other  European  countries)  which  wouldstill 
farther  reduce'  the  number  of  the  constituency.  '.',.  Buppoe 
ing  a  government  established  by  the  actual  voices  of  a  ma- 
jority of  the  whole  people,  the  question  would  still  arise, 
whether  every  subsequent  act  of  thai  government  was  legiti- 
matized by  that  original  validity.  This  question  was  much 
debated  in  Prance  at  the  period  of  the  trial  of  Louis  XVI.. 
when  the  Convention,  elected  itself  by  a  majority  of  the  peo- 
ple, was  assuming  the  extraordinary  [Miuer  of  judging  that 
monarch.  The  Cirondins,  on  that  occasion,  contended  that 
an  appeal  to  the  people  (i.  e.,  to  Hie  suifrages  of  a  majority 
of  the  constituents)  was  necessary  in  order  to  ratify  the  act ; 
and  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  it  must  always  arise,  when 
ever  an  alteration  in  circumstances  since  the  period  of  the 
election  of  the  representative  body  has  called  for  the  adoption 
of  extraordinary  measures.  Between  these  tun  . 
theoretical  politicians,  the  greater  number  are  content  to  hold. 
that  the  only  fundamental  principle  of  government  is  ev 
pediency  ;  and  its  only  right,  that  given  by  municipal  law  or 
peaceable  possession.  In  their  view,  all  government  is 
656 


LEMISCATA. 

equally  legitimate  so  soon  as  it  is  fairly  established  ;  while 
they  fully  admit  that  a  question,  and  often  a  very  difficult 
one,  arises  on  every  violent  change  of  Institutions,  as  to  how 
s,kiu  the  new  government  de  facto  has  acquired  the  charac- 
ter of  legitimacy.  In  the  language  of  modern  politics  this 
word  has  acquired  a  peculiar  sense;  chiefly  from  its  em- 
ployment about  tile  period  of  the  Cong  i,  when 
the  old  hereditary  dynasties  were  terne, I  i,  gritunate  in  con- 
tradistinction to  those  which  the  French  revoluti  >n  and  sub- 
sequent wars  had  founded.  Hence  the  principle  of  legiti- 
macy has  been,  very  incorrectly,  opposed  to  that  of  repre- 
sentative or  popular  government ;  a  mere  abuse  of  terms,  but 
an  importantone,  from  the  powerful  effect  which  words  are 
able  M  produce  in  political  discussion. 

Legitimacy.  (Lat  legitimus,  lawful.)  In  Jurisprudence, 
the  stair  of  a  child  born  in  lawful  wedlock. 

LEGITIMATION.  The  act  by  which  natural  children 
are  rendered  legitimate.  See  Gret.na  Green  Marriages, 
Bastaro. 

LEGU'MEN.  (Lat.)  In  Botany,  a  one-celled,  one  or 
many  seeded,  two-valved,  superior  fruit,  dehiscing  by  a 
suture  along  both  its  face  and  its  back,  and  bearing  its  seeds 
on  the  ventral  suture  only.  It  differs  from  the  follicle  only 
in  dehiscing  by  two  valves.  Sometimes  it  is  indehiscent,  as 
in  Cassia  fistula,  &c. ;  but  the  line  of  dehiscence  is  in  such 
species  indicated  by  the  presence  of  sutures.  It  is  very  near 
a  drupe,  into  which  it  passes  in  many  genera,  such  as  Dip- 
tcryx,  fee. 

LEGU'MINO'SJE.  A  very  extensive  natural  order  of 
Polypetalous  Exogenous  plants  found  in  all  parts  of  the 
world  ;  forming  large  trees  and  huge  twiners  in  the  Tropics, 
and  being  herbaceous  plants  or  small  hushes,  rarely  trees,  in 
colder  countries.  The  order  contains  a  great  variety  of  use- 
ful and  beautiful  species,  some  of  which,  like  clover,  lucern, 
saintfoin,  and  vetches,  are  cultivated  for  cattle;  others,  as 
peas,  beans,  lentils,  and  various  other  kinds  of  pulse,  form 
part  of  the  food  of  man.  Indigo,  logwood,  and  many  others 
are  well  known  dying  plants;  several  acacias  produce  gum 
arabic;  certain  .Istragali  yield  tragacanth  ;  the  tamarind 
and  others  bear  pods,  whose  interior  is  filled  with  an  agree- 
i la.  or  pulp;  Cassia  acutifolia  and  others  yield  sen- 
na ;  Qlyeyrrhiza  the  liquorice  root;  Ceratonia  the  wild  lo- 
cust fruits  of  Scripture  ;  finally,  many  are  valuable  tonics, 
and  some  are  dangerous  narcotics,  among  which  the  com- 
mon laburnum  is  to  be  named.  The  larger  part  of  this  order 
consists  of  plants  called  Papilionaceous,  because  of  a  fancied 
resemblance  between  their  flowers  and  a  butterfly.  Such 
plants  have  one  large  expanded  petal,  and  four  others  much 
smaller,  which  form  alas  and  carina  in  front  of  the  vexillum  ; 
but  in  others  the  more  usual  form  of  corolla  is  observed,  and 
there  are  even  some  wffiich,  like  Ceratonia,  are  apctalous. 
The  division  of  the  order  called  Mimosa  is  remarkable  for 
having  very  small  flowers  with  long  stamens,  and  growing 
in  balls  or  spikes. 

LE'MMA.  (Gr.  ^.tip/ia,  from  \aii6avw,  I  take  or  assume.) 
In  Geometry,  a  preliminary  proposition,  laid  down  for  the 
purpose  of  facilitating  or  rendering  more  i>erspicuous  the 
demonstration  of  a  theorem,  or  the  construction  of  a  problem. 

LE'MMING.  A  name  given  to  a  species  of  claviculate 
Rodents  (Georychus  lemmus.  III.),  very  abundant  in  the 
north  of  Europe  on  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  ocean.  It  is  as 
large  as  a  rat,  with  black  and  yellow  fur,  and  is  remarkable 
for  its  occasional  migrations  in  innumerable  bodies.  At  these 
periods  tin-  lemmings  are  said  to  march  in  a  straight  line,  re- 
gardless of  rivers  and  moimtains;  and,  unimpeded  by  any 
obstacle,  they  devastate  the  country  through  which  they 
pass.    Si .  Geokychus. 

LEMNI'SCATA.  (Gr.  Xi/hvickos,  a  riband.)  In  Geome- 
try, the  name  given  to  a  curve  of  the  fourth  degree,  having 
the  form  of  the  figure  8,  and  of  which  the  equation  is  z--^- 
2/2  =  0-^x2 — yi.  There  are  many  other  curve*  of  thesame 
order  having  a  similar  form,  but  their  equations  dlfler  from 
tlir  above.  The  lemniscata,  though  a  re-entering  curve,  is 
susceptible  of  indefinite  quadrature ;  and  its  whole  area  is 
equal  t<.  the  square  of  its  semi-axis.  It  is  a  remarkable  prop- 
erty of  this  curve  that  it  is  capable  of  being  divided  alge- 
braic ally  into  equal  though  dissimilar  portions. 

The  various  properties  of  tins  curve  are  most  easily  de- 
rived from  its  polar  equation.    LetC  P     p 
A— a,  CQ=  i,  andP  Q.  =  y;  the      /|^sp/ 
equation  of  the  curve  is  x2  -J-  yl  =  „  A.[ — L- 

v/i2  — 1/2.  Now  let  CP  =  r,  and 
the  angle  PC  Q= it,  we  shall  have  r  =  r  cos.  u,  and  y  =  r 
sin.  u.  Substituting  these  values  Of  i  and  y  in  the  equation 
of  the  curve,  it  becomes,  after  reduction,  r*  =  o* COB.  8  ?/. 
But,  by  the  general  theory  of  curves,  the  differential  of  the 
ana  referred  to  polar  co-ordinates  is  A  r-  il  u  :  therefore  in 
the  present  case  d  area=;  £  a2  cos.  9  u  d  u,  and,  Integrating, 
i '  /<  P  <i  _ia;  sin.  u  cos.  u.  At  the  point  C  we  have  r 
=  0;  therefore  cos.2u  =  0,  and  consequently  i<  =  45°.  At 
this  point,  therefore,  sin.  u  :=  y/ £,  and  cos.  u  =;  ^  \  ;  and  at 


LEMONS,  ESSENTIAL  SALT  OF. 

the  point  A  we  have  u  =  0,  therefore  the  area  comprised 
between  C  A  and  the  curve  AP/?C=|a2.  Hence  the 
whole  area  bounded  by  both  branches  (the  two  brandies 
being  similar)  is  equal  to  a2,  or  tho  square  of  A  C,  wliich  is 
£AB. 

Let  P  be  any  point  in  the  curve,  and  p  another  point  re- 
lated to  P  by  the  equation  cos.  AC  P  X  cos.  A  Cp  —  ^/ £; 
then  the  curvilinear  arc  A  P  is  equal  to  C  p,  which  is  the 
property  above  alluded  to.  A  similar  property,  however, 
belongs  also  to  some  other  curves.  (See  Legendre,  Exer- 
cises de  Calcul  Integral,  tome  i.) 

LE'MONS,  ESSENTIAL  SALT  OF.  The  binoxalate 
of  potash  is  often  sold  under  this  name  ;  it  is  chiefly  used  for 
removing  iron-moulds  and  ink-stains  from  linen. 

LE'MUR.  (Lat,  lemur,  a  ghost.)  This  term  was  ap- 
plied in  the  Linnsean  system  to  several  of  the  lower  Qua- 
druinanous  animals  of  different  structure  and  habits;  it  is 
now  restricted  to  those  which  have  the  inferior  incisors  long, 
compressed,  straight,  and  sloping  forwards,  and  the  lower 
canines  approximated,  and  of  similar  form  and  direction,  dif- 
fering only  in  a  slight  increase  of  size,  whence  they  have 
usually  been  enumerated  as  incisors :  the  upper  incisors  are 
straight,  and  the  intermediate  ones  are  separated  from  each 
other.  The  long,  pointed  canines  of  the  upper  jaw  are  prin- 
cipally opposed  to  the  trenchant  anterior  false  molars  below. 
Each  of  the  four  extremities  is  provided  with  an  opposable 
thumb ;  but  the  index  digit  of  the  hinder  hand  has  its  nail 
developed  into  a  long,  curved,  sharp-pointed  claw.  The  use 
of  this  claw  is  to  clean  or  dislodge  vermin  from  the  long  and 
thick  woolly  hair.  The  lemurs  deviate  from  the  typical 
tiuadrumanes,  and  approximate  to  the  ordinary  quadruped 
in  their  elongated,  pointed  head,  and  sharp,  projecting  muzzle ; 
the  posterior  limbs  are  a  little  longer  than  the  anterior ;  the 
tail  is  long,  thick,  and  bushy.  They  are  all  natives  of  Mad- 
agascar and  of  some  of  the  smaller  islands  in  its  neighbour- 
hood. To  judge  from  the  nature  of  their  covering,  it  might 
be  supposed  that  the  lemurs  were  natives  of  a  cold  climate 
but  their  fur  has  relation  to  the  season  of  their  activity. 
They  sleep  by  day,  and  move  about  in  the  night  season,  du- 
ring which  time  the  air  is  often  sufficiently  cold  in  the  tropi- 
cal latitudes.  Their  nutriment  is  a  mixed  diet  of  fruits,  in- 
sects, and  small  birds ;  the  latter  they  surprise  while  at 
roost. 

LE'MURES.  Male  and  female  genii,  or  infernal  gods, 
believed  by  the  ancient  Romans  to  haunt  solitary  rooms  and 
silent  places :  they  were  propitiated  by  casting  beans  to  them. 
Their  feast  was  celebrated  under  the  name  of  Lemuria  or 
Lemuralia. 

LE'MURIM:.  (Lat.  lemur,  a  ghost.)  The  family  of 
(iuadrumanous  Mammals,  of  which  the  genus  Lemur  is  the 
type ;  it  includes  the  genera  Tarsius,  Otolicnus,  Ste7iops, 
IAchanotus,  and  Lemur  proper:  see  those  terms. 

LENS.  (Lat.)  In  Optics,  a  thin  piece  of  glass  or  any 
other  transparent  substance,  bounded  on  both  sides  by  polish- 
ed spherical  surfaces,  or  on  the  one  side  by  a  spherical  and 
on  the  other  by  a  plane  surface ;  and  having  this  property, 
that  parallel  rays  of  light,  in  passing  through  it,  have  their 
direction  changed,  so  as  to  converge  to  a  given  point,  called  the 
principal  focus  of  the  lens,  or  to  diverge  as  if  they  proceeded 
from  that  point. 

Lenses  receive  different  denominations  according  to  their 
different  forms.    Thus, 


M  — 


D       E 


G 


T~K 


A  spherical  lens,  shown  at  A,  is  a  sphere  or  globule  of 
glass. 

A  double  convex  lens,  shown  at  B,  is  a  solid  formed  by  two 
convex  spherical  surfaces;  and  is  equally  convex  or  un- 
equally convex,  according  as  the  radii  of  its  two  surfaces  are 
equal  or  unequal. 

A  plano-convex  lens,  C,  is  that  of  which  one  of  the  sur- 
faces is  plane  and  the  other  convex. 

A  double  concave  lens,  D,  is  bounded  by  two  concave 
spherical  surfaces,  which  have  either  the  same  or  a  differ- 
ent curvature. 

A  plano-concave  lens,  E,  has  one  surface  plane,  and  the 
other  concave. 

A  meniscus,  F  (so  called  from  its  resemblance  to  a  little 
moon),  is  a  lens  of  which  one  of  the  surfaces  is  convex  and 
the  other  concave,  and  which  meet  if  continued.  The 
radius  of  the  convex  surface  is  consequently  smaller  than 
the  radius  of  the  concave. 

A  concavo-convex  lens,  G,  is  that  of  which  one  of  the  sur- 
faces is  concave  and  the  other  convex  ;  but  in  this  case  the 
surfaces  will  not  meet  though  continued,  the  radius  of  the 
concave  surface  being  smaller  than  that  of  the  convex  one. 

The  straight  line  M  N  which  passes  through  the  centres 
of  all  the  curved  surfaces,  or  is  perpendicular  to  both  sur- 


LENS. 

faces  of  the  same  lens,  is  called  the  axis  of  the  lens ;  and  it 
is  in  this  line  that  the  focus  of  the  lens  is  situated. 

It  was  observed,  at  an  early  period,  that  a  transparent 
body  of  a  spherical  form  has  the  property  of  collecting  at  the 
focus  the  parallel  rays  of  light  which  fall  on  its  surface. 
But  it  was  remarked,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  illumination 
at  these  foci  was  extremely  feeble,  in  consequence  of  the 
thickness  of  the  glass  which  the  light  had  to  pass  through. 
This  inconvenience  is  removed  by  taking  only  two  small 
segments  instead  of  the  entire  sphere  ;  by  which  means,  as 
the  retraction  takes  place  only  at  the  surfaces,  and  not  in 
the  interior  of  the  glass,  the  very  same  refraction  of  the 
rays  is  produced  as  when  the  whole  sphere  is  used ;  and 
the  thickness  of  the  glass  being  greatly  diminished,  the  rays 
pass  through  it  in  much  greater  number,  and  the  intensity 
of  the  light  in  the  focus  is  much  more  considerable. 

The  rules  for  finding  the  focal  distances  of  the  different 
sorts  of  lenses  are  the  following.  They  depend  in  some 
measure  on  the  refracting  power  of  the  glass.  We  shall 
here  suppose  the  index  of  refraction  to  be  1-500. 

1.  Rays  of  light,  R  L,  R  L,  falling  on  a  convex  lens  in 
directions  parallel  to  the  axis,  , 
are  refracted  into  the  point  JJ- 
F,  which  is  called  the  prin- 
cipal focus.     In  a  double  and 
equally  convex  lens,  the  dis- 
tance of  F  from  C,  the  centre                                  ^ 

of  the  lens,  is  equal  to  the  radius  of  the  spherical  surfaces. 
If  the  lens  is  plano-convex,  the  focal  distance  is  equal  to  twice 
the  radius  of  the  spherical  surface.  If  the  lens  is  unequally 
convex,  its  focal  distance  is  found  by  this  rule:  Multiply 
the  two  radii  of  its  surfaces,  and  divide  twice  that  product 
by  the  sum  of  the  radii ;  the  quotient  will  be  the  focal  dis- 
tance required. 

2.  When  the  rays  falling  on  a  convex  lens,  whose  princi- 
pal focus  is  F,  converge  Jt- 
towards  a  point  O,  their 
convergency  will  be  has- 
tened, and  they  will  be  It- 
refracted  into  a  point  O', 
which  is  nearer  the  lens      ^_______— — 

than  the  principal  focus  R 
F.  The  two  points  O  and  O'  are  called  conjugate  foci ;  and 
they  are  related  to  each  other  in  such  a  manner  that  C  O' 
is  a  fourth  proportional  to  C  O  +  C  F,  C  O  and  C  F.  Hence, 
when  the  point  O  is  given,  the  conjugate  focus  O'  will  be 
found  by  this  rule :  Multiply  the  principal  focal  distance 
C  F  by  C  O,  and  divide  the  product  by  the  sum  of  those 
numbers.  It  is  obvious  that  as  the  distance  of  O  becomes 
greater,  O'  approaches  to  F,  and  when  O  is  at  an  infinite 
distance,  O'  coincides  with  F. 

3.  Suppose  diverging  rays  issuing  from  a  point  O  to  fall 
on  a  double  concave  lens  of  which  the  principal  focus  is  F. 
In  this  case  they  will  be  refracted  to  a  point  O' ;  and  the 
conjugate  foci  O  and  O'  are  so  related  that  C  O'  is  a  fourth 


proportional  to  C  O  —  C  F,  C  O  and  C  F.  Hence  O'  is  found 
by  the  following  rule :  Multiply  the  principal  focal  distance 
C  F  by  C  O,  and  divide  the  product  by  the  difference  be- 
tween C  O  and  C  F.  As  the  point  of  divergence  O  recedes 
from  the  lens,  the  point  O'  approaches  nearer  to  F ;  and 
when  O  is  at  an  infinite  distance,  O'  coincides  with  F.  As 
O  approaches  the  lens,  O'  recedes  from  it ;  when  O  is  at  F' 
(the  focal  distance),  the  refracted  rays  become  parallel  to 
the  axis ;  and  when  O  is  between  F'  and  C,  as  at  M,  the  re- 
fracted rays  diverge  in  the  directions  L  m,  L  m'. 

4.  The  focal  distance  of  a  concave  lens  is  the  same  as  that 
of  a  convex  one  whose  surfaces  have  the  same  curvature, 
and  the  rules  for  finding  the  conjugate  foci  are  precisely  the 
same ;  but  the  rays,  instead  of  being  collected,  are  scattered 
by  passing  through  a  concave  lens,  and  the  principal  focus 
is  on  the  same  side  as  the  point  from  which  the  rays  pro- 
ceed. Parallel  rays  R  L,  R  C,  R  L,  falling  on  the  concave 
lens  L  L  in  the  direction  of  the  axis,  become  divergent,  as 
if  they  proceeded  from  F'  (the  principal  focus).  When  the 
rays  which  fall  on 
a  concave  lens 
converge  towards 
the  point  F,  they 

are    refracted    in  H — r *S 

the  direction  par- 
allel to  the  axis. 
When  the  inci- 
dent rays  converge 
to  a  point  O  beyond  F,  the  refracted  rays  diverge,  as  if  they 
Ss  657 


LENS-SHAPED,  LENTICULAR. 

proceeded  from  a  conjugate  point  O',  also  farther  from  the 
lens  than  F' ;  and  when  the  incident  rays  converge  towards 
a  point  M,  between  C  and  P,  the  refracted  rays  will  be  con- 
vergent, and  meet  in  a  conjugate  point  M'  on  the  same  side 
of  the  lens  with  M.  These  conjugate  foci  are  determined 
by  the  rules  which  have  been  given  for  convex  lenses. 
Lastly,  when  the  incident  rays  diverge  from  a  point  <>',  far- 
ther from  the  lens  than  the  principal  focus,  the  refracted 
rays  will  be  more  divergent,  and  proceed  as  if  they  ema- 
nated from  a  point  between  the  principal  focus  and  the 
lens.  The  rule  is,  in  this  case,  also  the  same  as  for  convex 
Jenses. 

5.  The  effect  of  a  meniscus  is  the  same  as  that  of  a  con- 
vex lens  of  the  same  focal  distance  ;  and  that  of  a  concavo- 
convex  lens  the  same  as  that  of  a  concave  lens  of  the  same 
focal  distance.  The  principal  focal  distance  is  found  by  this 
rule:  Divide  twice  the  product  of  the  two  radii  by  the  dif- 
ference of  the  radii. 

6.  The  above  rules  for  finding  the  principal  and  conjugate 
foci  of  the  several  kinds  of  lenses  may  be  all  expressed  by 
two  simple  algebraic  formula;.  Let  It  denote  the  radius  of 
the  anterior  surface  (or  that  at  which  the  light  enters),  S 
that  of  the  posterior  surface,  and  let  It  and  S  be  considered 
as  positive  when  the  surfaces  are  convex,  and  negative 
when  concave.  Also,  let  F  denote  the  distance  of  the 
principal  focus,  and  ?j  the  index  of  refraction  ;  then,  neglect- 
ing the  thickness  of  the  lens  as  inconsiderable,  the  formula 
which  gives  the  principal  focus  is 

*=(»-i)(i+|) a.) 

For  the  conjugate  foci  of  convergent  and  divergent  rays, 
let  U  be  the  distance  C  O  of  the  focus  of  the  enterings  rays, 
and  V  the  distance  C  O'  of  the  focus  of  the  emerging  rays ; 
and  let  U  be  considered  as  negative  when  the  entering  rays 
are  divergent,  and  V  negative  when  the  emerging  rays  are 
convergent ;  then, 


1,1      1        .,      U  F 


u 


U— F 


(2.) 


the  point  F  being  determined  by  the  formula  (1). 

For  the  application  of  these  formulae  to  the  different  cases, 
and  the  correction  to  be  made  for  the  thickness  of  the  lens, 
see  Codtlingto7i's  Treatise  on  the  Reflection  and  Refraction 
of  Light. 

In  deducing  the  above  rules,  it  has  heen  assumed  that  the 
focus  into  which  the  rays  are  refracted  is  a  mathematical 
point ;  but  this  is  not  strictly  true,  unless  the  rays  only  fall 
on  the  lens  very  near  its  centre,  by  reason  of  the  spherical 
aberration.  (See  Aberration.)  For  the  correction  of  the 
chromatic  aberration,  arising  from  the  unequal  refrangibility 
of  the  luminous  rays,  see  Achromatism.  .See  also  Light, 
Optics,  and  Refraction. 

LENS-SHAPED,  or  LENTICULAR,  or  LENTIFORM. 
A  term  used  in  describing  the  general  figure  of  bodies,  to 
denote  their  resembling  a  double  convex  lens ;  as  the  seeds 
of  Amaranthus. 

LENT.  A  solemn  time  of  fasting  in  the  Christian  Church  ; 
so  called  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  signifying  spring.  The  term 
of  Lent  comprises  the  forty  days  before  Easter,  by  which  it 
is  determined.  The  period  of  time  is  intended  to  commemo- 
rate the  fasting  of  our  Saviour  in  the  wilderness.     See 

LE'NTE,  or  LENTO.  (Ital.)  In  Music,  a  direction  to 
the  performer  that  the  music  to  which  the  word  is  prefixed 
is  to  be  performed  slowly. 

LE'NTIBULA'RIA'CE^E.  A  very  small  natural  order 
of  Herbaceous  Exogens,  natives  of  the  marshes  and  waters 
of  all  parts  of  the  world.  They  are  nearly  allied  to  Scro- 
phulariacea,  but  are  distinguished  by  their  free  central  pla- 
centa and  minute  exalbuminous  embryo ;  from  Primulacca: 
by  their  irregular  tlowers,  their  stamens,  and  their  ovary. 
The  beautiful  Pinguicula,  a  wild  plant  in  marshes,  is  one 
of  the  genera,  and  Utricularia  another.  They  are  of  no 
known  use. 

LE'NTICELLES,  or  LENTICULAR  GLANDS.  A 
term  invented  by  De  Candolle  to  denote  certain  minute 
speck-like  tubercles  on  stems.  Notwithstanding  the  impor- 
tance assigned  them  by  this  great  botanist,  his  lenticelles 
appear  to  be  nothing  more  than  the  points  of  roots  attempt- 
ing to  spring  from  the  surface  of  bark. 

LKNTPGO.  A  freckle  of  the  skin;  so  named  from  its 
resemblance  to  a  lentil  seed. 

LE'NZINTTE.  A  hydrated  silicate  of  alumina,  found 
at  Eilield  in  Prussia;  it  is  white,  translucent,  and  falls  into 
small  hard  grains  when  put  into  water. 

LE'O.  (Eat.  a  lion.)  One  of  the  zodiacal  constellations, 
situated  chiefly  on  the  northern  side  of  the  ecliptic.  The 
star  Rrgulus,  called  also  Cor  Lconis,  belongs  to  this  con- 
stellation. 

LE'O  MI'NOR.  The  Little  Eion :  a  constellation  of  the 
northern  hemisphere,  between  Leo  and  Ursa  Major.  This 
658 


LEPIDOPTERA. 

constellation  has  been  formed  by  the  moderns,  and  is  not 
given  in  Ptolemy's  catalogue. 

LE'ONINE  VERSES.  Latin  verses  according  to  the 
rules  of  ancient  prosody,  but  rhymed.  The  name  is  said  to 
be  derived  from  one  of  the  popes  Leo,  or,  more  probably, 
from  a  monk  called  Leoninus.  The  end  rhymes  to  the  mid- 
dle, i.  e.,  to  the  two  last  syllables  before  the  cssura,  in  hex- 
ameters;  in  pentameters,  the  two  divisions  arc  rhymed. 
The  following  distich  may  serve  as  an  example : 

Daemon  languebat,  monachus  tunc  esse  voleb.it  j 
Ast  uhi  couvaluit,  mansil  ut  aute  fuil. 

LE'PADITES,  Lepadila.  (Gr.  Acttos,  a  shell-fish.)  Goose 
barnacles ;  an  order  of  Cirripeds,  comprehending  tho:  e  which 
have  a  long,  flexible,  contractile  stem,  fixed  by  its  base  to 
some  solid  body,  and  supporting  at  its  extremity  the  princi 
pal  parts  of  the  animal,  enclosed  by  a  multivalve  shell,  or 
coriaceous  case. 

LE'PADOGA'STER.  (Gr.  Aerac,  and  yacTvp,  stomach.) 
A  genus  of  Discoholous  Malacopterygian  fishes,  having  the 
following  characters:  pectoral  fins  expanded,  with  stouter 
rays  at  their  lower  edges,  which  curve  slightly  forwards, 
and  unite  with  each  other  beneath  the  throat  by  means  of  a 
transverse  membrane  directed  forwards,  constituting  the 
boundary  of  an  adhesive  disk,  close  to  which  there  is  a 
second,  formed  by  the  union  of  the  ventrals  ;  body  smooth, 
and  without  scales  ;  head  broad  and  depressed  ;  snout  salient 
and  protractile  ;  branchiae  slightly  cleft,  and  furnished  with 
four  or  five  rays;  dorsal  fin  single,  and  opposite  to  the  anal, 
which  is  near  the  tail.  Of  this  genus  we  possess  two  native 
species;  one  of  which,  called  the  Cornish  sucker  [Lepado- 
gaster  cornubiensis),  was  discovered  by  Dr.  Borlase  oil  the 
coast  of  Cornwall ;  the  other  (Lepadogaster  bimaculatus)  has 
heen  taken  on  different  parts  of  the  South  Weymouth  coast. 
Both  species  adhere  by  means  of  their  ventral  suckers  to 
rocks,  stones,  &c,  whence  the  generic  name:  they  feed 
principally  on  Crustacea. 

LE'PALS.  A  term  invented  to  denote  stamens  that  are 
sterile.    It  is  very  rarely  used. 

LEPI'CENA.  A  term  invented  by  Richard  to  denote  tho 
two  empty  bracts  situated  at  the  base  of  the  locusta  of  a 
grass,  and  usually  called  glumes. 

LE'PIDOIDS.  A  family  of  extinct  fossil  fishes  belonging 
to  the  oolitic  formation,  remarkable  for  their  lnrge  rhom- 
boidal  bony  scales.  Figures  of  these  scales  are  given  in  Dr. 
Buckland's  Bridgewater  Treatise. 

LE'PIDOLITE.  (Gr.  Acjtic,  a  scale,  and  AiOoc,  stone.)  A 
mineral  of  granular  and  foliated  texture,  moderately  hard, 
of  a  pinkish  colour.    It  contains  lithia. 

LEPIDO'PTERA.  (Gr.  A£;ric,  and  irrepov,  a  wing.)  The 
third  order  of  insects  in  the  system  of  Liniuius,  and  the 
tenth  in  that  of  Latreille,  who  has  given  the  following  con- 
cise and  comprehensive  description  of  the  characters  com- 
mon to  the  insects  of  this  most  interesting,  useful,  and 
beautiful  group. 

The  wings  are  four,  covered  on  both  sides  with  minute 
generally  coloured  scales,  resembling  farinaceous  dust,  which 
are  removed  by  merely  coming  in  contact  with  the  finger. 
The  oral  apparatus  consists  principally  of  a  proboscis,  to 
which  the  name  of  antlia  has  been  given,  which  is  rolled 
spirally  between  two  palpi,  covered  with  scales  or  hairs. 
This  forms  the  most  important  part  of  the  mouth,  and  is  the 
instrument  with  which  these  insects  extract  the  nectar  from 
flowers,  their  only  aliment.  It  is  composed  of  two  tubular 
threads,  representing  the  maxilla?,  each  bearing,  near  its  ex- 
ternal base,  a  very  small  superior  palp,  in  the  form  of  a 
tubercle.  The  apparent  (inferior)  palpi,  which  form  a  sort 
of  sheath  to  the  proboscis,  replace  the  labial  palpi  of  the 
mandibulated  insects :  they  are  cylindrical  or  conical,  usually 
turned  up,  composed  of  three  joints,  and  inserted  in  a  fixed 
labium,  which  completes  that  portion  of  the  buccal  cavity 
inferior  to  the  proboscis.  Two  little  and  scarcely  distinct, 
ComeOUS,  And  more  or  less  ciliated  pieces,  situated,  one  on 
each  side,  on  the  .anterior  and  superior  margin  of  the  front 
of  the  head,  near  the  eyes,  seem  to  be  vestiges  of  mandibles. 
Finally,  we  observe,  and  under  an  equally  small  proportion, 
the  labrum  or  upper  lip. 

The  antenna;  vary,  and  were  always  multi-articulated. 
Two  ocelli  are  observable  in  several  species,  but  concealed 
between  the  scales.  The  three  segments  of  which  the 
thorax  is  usually  composed  are  united  in  one  single  body ; 
the  first  is  very  short,  and  the  two  others  are  blended  to- 
gether. The  scutellum  is  triangular,  hut  the  apex  is  direct- 
ed towards  the  head.  The  wings  are  simply  veined,  and 
vary  in  size,  figure,  and  position;  in  several  the  inferior 
ones  are  plaited  longitudinally  near  the  inner  margin.  At 
the  base  of  each  Of  the  superior  Wings  i8  a  kind  of  epaulette, 
prolonged  posteriorly,  which  corresponds  to  the  piece  called 
tegula  in  the  llyuienoptera.  The  abdomen,  composed  of 
from  six  to  seven  annuli,  is  attached  to  the  thorax  by  a  very 
small  portion  of  its  diameter,  and  presents  neither  sting 
nor  ovipositor.  In  several  females,  however,  as  in  Cos s us, 
the  last  rings  become  narrowed  and  extended,  to  form  an 


LEPIDOPUS. 

oviduct  resembling  a  pointed  and  retractile  tail.  The  tarsi 
always  have  five  joints.  There  are  never  more  than  two 
kinds  of  individuals,  males  and  females. 

The  females  usually  deposit  their  ova,  frequently  very- 
numerous,  on  the  vegetable  surfaces  which  are  to  nourish 
their  larva,  and  soon  after  perish. 

The  larva;  of  Lepidopterous  insects  are  well  known  by 
the  name  of  caterpillars.  They  have  six  squamous  or  hook- 
ed feet,  which  correspond  to  the  legs  of  the  perfect  insect, 
and  from  four  to  ten  additional  membranous  ones,  or  pro- 
pedes ;  the  two  last  of  which  are  situated  at  the  posterior 
extremity  of  the  body.  Those  caterpillars  which  have  but 
ten  or  twelve  in  all  have  been  called,  from  their  mode  of 
progression,  geometry.  Several  of  these  geometers,  when 
at  rest,  remain  fixed  to  the  branches  of  plants  by  the  hind 
feet  alone,  whence  in  the  form,  colour,  and  directions  of 
their  body,  they  resemble  a  twig.  They  can  support  them- 
selves in  this  position  for  a  long  time  without  exhibiting  the 
slightest  symptom  of  life.  So  fatiguing  an  attitude  must 
require  prodigious  muscular  force;  and,  in  fact,  Lyonnet 
counted  4041  muscles  in  the  caterpillar  of  the  Cossus  lig- 
nipcrda . 

The  body  of  these  larva?  is  generally  elongated,  almost 
cylindrical,  soft,  variously  coloured ;  sometimes  naked,  and 
sometimes  covered  with  hairs,  tubercles,  and  spines.  It  is 
composed  of  twelve  segments  or  annuli,  exclusive  of  the 
bead,  with  nine  stigmata  on  each  side.  Their  head  is  in- 
vested with  a  corneous  or  squamous  dermis,  and  presents  on 
each  side  six  shining  granules,  which  appear  to  be  ocelli ; 
and  it  is  furnished  with  two  very  short  and  conical  antenna, 
and  a  mouth  composed  of  strong  mandibles,  two  maxillae,  a 
labrum,  and  four  small  palpi.  The  silk  which  they  use  is 
elaborated  in  two  long  and  tortuous  internal  vessels,  of  which 
the  attenuated  superior  extremities  terminate  in  the  lip.  A 
tubular  and  conical  mamilla  forms  the  spinnaret  through 
which  the  threads  are  spun. 

Most  caterpillars  feed  on  the  leaves  of  plants ;  some  gnaw 
their  flowers,  roots,  buds,  and  seeds;  others  attack  the  lig- 
neous or  hardest  part  of  trees,  softening  it  by  means  of  a 
lluid  which  they  disgorge.  Certain  species  attack  our  wool- 
lens and  furs,  thereby  doing  us  much  injury ;  even  our 
leather,  bacon,  wax,  and  lard,  are  not  spared  by  them. 
Several  confine  themselves  exclusively  to  a  single  article  of 
diet ;  others  are  less  delicate,  and  devour  all  sorts  of  organ- 
ized matters. 

Some  of  them  form  societies,  and  frequently  live  under  a 
silken  tent,  spun  by  them  in  common,  which  even  shelters 
them  in  winter.  Several  construct  sheaths  for  themselves, 
either  fixed  or  portable;  others  make  their  abode  in  the 
parenchyma  of  leaves,  where  they  form  galleries.  The 
greater  number  are  diurnal :  the  others  never  issue  forth  but 
at  night.  The  severity  of  winter,  so  fatal  to  almost  all  insects, 
does  not  affect  certain  Phaltena:,  which  only  appear  in  that 
season. 

Caterpillars  usually  change  their  skin  four  times  previous- 
ly to  passing  into  the  state  of  a  nymph  or  chrysalis.  Most 
of  them  spin  a  cocoon  in  which  they  enclose  themselves. 
A  frequently  reddish  liquor,  which  Lepidopterous  insects 
eject  at  the  moment  of  their  metamorphosis,  softens  or 
weakens  the  extremity  of  the  cocoon,  and  facilitates  their 
exit :  one  of  these  extremities,  also,  is  generally  thinner  than 
the  other,  or  presents  a  favourable  issue  by  the  peculiar  dis- 
position of  the  fibres.  Other  caterpillars  are  contented  with 
connecting  leaves,  particles  of  earth,  or  of  the  substances 
on  which  they  have  lived,  and  thus  forming  a  rude  cocoon. 
The  nymphs  of  the  diurnal  Lepidoptera  are  ornamented  with 
golden  spots,  whence  the  term  chrysalis  applied  to  them : 
they  are  naked,  and  fixed  by  the  posterior  extremity  of  the 
body.  The  nymphs  of  all  the  Lepidoptera  are  swathed,  or 
resemble  mummies.  Those  of  several  insects  of  this  order, 
particularly  of  the  Diurnm,  undergo  their  metamorphosis  in 
a  few  days;  they  even  frequently  produce  two  generations 
in  the  course  of  the  year.  The  caterpillars  or  chrysalides 
of  others,  however,  remain  during  the  winter  in  one  of  these 
states,  and  undergo  their  final  transformation  in  the  ensuing 
spring.  The  Lepidoptera  issue  from  their  nymphal  en- 
velope through  a  slit,  which  is  effected  in  the  back  of  the 
thorax. 

LE'PITJOPUS.  (Gr.  Ac-if,  and  rrovg,  a  foot.)  A  genus 
of  Taenioid  fishes,  characterized  by  the  reduction  of  the 
ventral  fins  to  the  condition  of  small  scaly  plates.  The  thin 
and  elongated  body  is  without  scales :  it  is  furnished  with  a 
dorsal  fin,  which  extends  its  whole  length,  and  a  narrow 
anal  fin ;  it  terminates  in  a  well-formed  caudal.  The 
branchiostegous  rays  are  eight  in  number ;  the  head  is  point- 
ed, with  a  ■  ingle  row  of  laniary  teeth  in  each  jaw,  the  largest 
above,  and  others,  very'  small,  on  the  palatine  and  pharyn- 
geal bones.  Of  this  genus  one  native  species  is  known, 
called  the  Scabbard-fish  (Lcpidopus  argyreus).  It  is  very 
rare  :  only  four  examples  are  recorded  by  Mr.  Yarrell,  which 
were  taken  on  the  southern  shores. 

LEPIDO'TUS.    In  Palaeontology,  the  name  of  a  fossil  fish, 


LEPUS. 

distinguished  by  its  large,  thick,  rhomboidal,  enamelled 
scales,  and  its  hemispherical  or  obtusely  conical  teeth :  its 
remains  are  widely  diffused  through  the  wealden  formation. 

Lepidotus.     In  Botany,  Latin  term  for  leprous. 

LE'PIS.  (Gr.  Atx-i?,  a  scale.)  A  scale  or  scurf,  consisting 
of  a  thin  transparent  membrane  attached  by  its  middle,  and, 
owing  to  the  imperfect  union  towards  its  circumference  of 
the  cellular  tissue  of  which  it  is  composed,  having  a  lacer- 
ated irregular  margin.  It  gives  origin  to  the  adjective  Le- 
pidote. 

LEPI'SMA.  (Gr.  Xe-ic/ia,  decortication.)  A  Linnaean 
genus  of  Apterous  insects,  forming  the  first  family  of  Thy- 
sanourous  insects  in  the  system  of  Latreille.  The  body  of 
these  apterans  is  elongated,  and  covered  with  small  scales, 
frequently  silvery  and  brilliant :  from  which  circumstance 
the  most  common  species  has  been  compared  to  a  little  fish. 
The  antennae  are  setaceous,  and  usually  very  long.  The  feet 
are  short,  and  frequently  have  very  large  and  strongly  com- 
pressed coxae,  resembling  scales.  These  insects  run  with 
great  velocity :  some  of  them,  by  means  of  their  caudal  ap- 
pendage, are  enabled  to  leap.  Several  species  conceal  them- 
selves in  the  cracks  of  the  framework  of  windows,  in  ward- 
robes, under  damp  boards,  &c. :  others  hide  beneath  stones. 

Lepisma.  In  Botany,  a  term  sometimes  applied  to  the 
cup-shaped  disk  of  Pazonia.  and  Aconitttm ;  but  seldom  em- 
ployed. 

LEPI'SMIDiE.  The  family  of  Thysanourous  insects,  of 
which  the  genus  Lepisma  is  the  type.  It  includes  the  genera 
Lepisma  proper,  and  Jlfachiles.     See  those  words. 

LEPO'RID^E.  The  hare  tribe,  or  the  family  of  Rodents, 
of  which  the  genus  I.epus  is  the  type. 

LE'PRA.  (Gr.  Xe-npos,  rough.)  The  leprosy;  a  disease 
of  the  skin,  characterized  by  scaly  patches,  nearly  of  a  cir- 
cular form.  The  cuticle  becomes  reddish  and  scaly ;  at  first 
upon  some  one  spot,  often  upon  the  knee,  and  thence  grad- 
ually spreads  over  the  body,  which  becomes  stiff  and  un- 
comfortable, and  most  unseemly  in  appearance.  Friction, 
warm  baths,  sulphur  baths,  and  afterwards  slightly  stimu- 
lating ointments,  such  as  pitch  ointment,  or  weak  citrine  oint- 
ment, with  light  and  moderate  diet,  and  careful  abstinence 
from  wine  and  stimulants,  are  the  principal  means  of  cure. 
This  disease  appears  to  have  been  of  much  more  frequent 
occurrence  in  ancient  than  in  modem  times;  but  it  is  gen- 
erally believed  that  the  lepers  mentioned  in  the  sacred  and 
profane  authors  were  afflicted  with  a  disease  resembling 
more  that  known  bv  the  name  of  elephantiasis  than  leprosy. 

LEPTOCE'PHALANS.  Leptocephalidas.  (Gr.  Xtrrros, 
slender  ;  KKp-iXn,  a  head.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  fishes 
characterized  by  the  smallness  of  the  head,  of  which  the 
genus  Leptocephalus  is  the  type. 

LEPTOCE'PHALUS.  A  genus  of  Apodal  Malncoptery- 
gian  fishes,  in  the  system  of  Cuvier,  characterized  by  a  very 
small  and  short  head,  and  a  remarkably  compressed  and 
delicate  body :  the  pectoral  fins  and  branchial  apertures  are 
very  small ;  the  dorsal  and  anal  fins  are  narrow,  and  united 
at  the  point  of  the  tail.  One  species  of  this  rare  and  singu- 
lar genus  was  discovered  near  Holyhead,  and  was  described 
by  Gronovius  under  the  generic  name  of  Leptocephalus,  in 
reference  to  the  diminutive  size  of  the  head.  The  Leptoce- 
phali  are  more  common  in  the  seas  of  hot  climates. 

LEPTU'RA.  (Gt.Xc-tos,  slender  ;  ovpa,atail.)  A  Lin- 
naean genus  of  Longicom  beetles,  now  the  type  of  an  exten- 
sive family  (Lepturida),  in  which  the  eyes  are  rounded  and 
entire,  or,  if  slightly  emarginate,  with  the  antennae  inserted 
before  the  emargination.  The  head  is  always  inclined  pos- 
teriorly behind  the  eyes,  oris  abruptly  contracted  at  its  junc- 
tion with  the  thorax,  in  the  manner  of  a  neck ;  the  thorax  is 
conical  or  trapezoidal,  narrowed  anteriorly ;  the  elytra  be- 
come gradually  narrower.  The  term  Leptura  is  now  re- 
stricted to  those  Lepturidans  in  which  the  head  is  abruptly 
narrowed  immediately  behind  the  eyes ;  the  antennae  insert- 
ed near  the  anterior  extremity  of  the  internal  emargination 
of  the  eyes,  the  two  eminences  from  which  they  rise  being 
almost  confounded  in  one  plane.  The  thorax  is  almost  al- 
ways smooth,  or  without  lateral  tubercles. 

LE'PUS.  (Lat.  a  hare.)  A  genus  of  Rodents  peculiarly 
distinguished  by  having  their  superior  incisors  double;  i.  e., 
each  of  them  has  a  smaller  one  behind  it.  The  molar  teeth 
are  also  more  numerous  than  in  most  other  Rodentia,  there 
being  six  on  each  side  of  the  upper  jaw,  and  five  on  each 
side  of  the  lower  jaw :  the  ears  are  very  long,  the  tail  short 
and  turned  up.  The  species  of  this  genus  are  called  hares 
and  rabbits.  The  eyes  are  large  and  prominent,  and,  with 
the  well-developed  ears,  serve  to  announce  to  these  timid 
and  defenceless  animals  remote  objects  and  sounds  of  peril : 
the  strength  and  proportions  of  the  limbs,  of  which  the  hind 
pair  is  much  longei  than  the  fore,  enable  them  to  escape  by 
rapid  flight.  The  smaller  species,  as  the  rabbit,  add  to  their 
means  of  safety  by  burrowing  in  the  soil.  Among  the  ana- 
tomical characters  of  the  genus  Lrpus  may  be  reckoned  the 
rudimental  condition  of  the  clavicles,  and  the  reticulate  bony 
structure  of  the  infra-orbital  spaces. 

659 


LERINLEIFORMES. 

Lepus.  The  Hare.  In  Astronomy,  one  of  the  forty-eight 
ancient  constellations  of  Ptolemy,  Blasted  in  the  southern 
hemisphere. 

LERN.'EU'O'RMES.  (Lat.  lcrmra,  a  parasitic  worm ; 
forma,  form.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Siphonostomous 
Crustaceans,  comprehending  those  with  a  long  vermiform 
body. 

LERNE'A.  (Gr.  \epvai7j,  a  name  of  the  hydra.)  A  Lin- 
iia;u>  genus  of  low-organized  crustaceous  animals,  all  Of 
Which  are  external  parasites  of  fishes,  and  constitute  the  class 
Epiioa  of  modern  systems. 

LE  ROI  LE  VEUT.  (Fr.  the  sovereign  wills  it,  or  as- 
sents.) A  form  of  words  by  which  the  royal  assent  is  inti- 
mated by  the  clerk  of  parliament  to  the  passing  of  public 
bills.  To  private  bills  the  royal  assent  is  expressed  by  Soit 
fait  comme  il  est  desire'.  The  dissent  of  the  sovereign  to  the 
passing  of  any  measure  is  signified  by  the  words  JLe  roi 
s'aviscra.     See  Parliament. 

LE'SSONS  (Lat.  lego,  f  read),  are  certain  portions  of  the 
scriptures  read  in  most  Christian  churches  during  divine  ser- 
vice, tile  performance  of  which  in  the  ancient  church  de- 
volved, among  other  duties,  on  the  catechumen.  In  the 
English  Church,  the  course  of  lessons  begins  with  the  year 
at  the  book  of  Genesis,  and,  with  the  omission  of  the  two 
books  of  Chronicles,  continues  through  the  Old  Testament, 
including  portions  of  the  Apocrypha. 

In  the  second  lessons,  as  they  are  called,  the  same  course 
is  followed  with  the  New  Testament.  In  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  the  word  lesson,  in  this  sense,  is  unknown,  though 
the  practice  of  reading  a  portion  of  scripture  is  almost  uni- 
versally adopted  ;  but  the  selection  of  the  passage  is  left  to 
the  choice  of  the  officiating  clergyman. 

LESTRIS.  (Lat.  a  robber.)  A  subgenus  of  Gulls,  separ- 
ated from  the  Larus  proper  on  account  of  their  large  mem- 
branous nostrils  opening  nearer  the  point  and  edge  of  the 
beak,  and  their  tail  being  pointed.  They  pursue  the  small 
gulls  with  singular  pertinacity  and  boldness  to  rob  them  of 
their  food  ;  and  hence  their  name. 

LE'THARGY.  (Gr.  \nOn,forgetfulness.)  A  heavy  un- 
natural slumber,  somelimes  bordering  upon  apoplexy,  from 
which  persons  are  difficultly  roused.  It  sometimes  arises 
from  a  plethoric  slate  of  habit,  in  which  case  it  requires  de- 
pletion; but  it  often  also  is  a  symptom  of  over  fatigue  of 
mind,  and  then  nervous  remedies  are  indicated. 

LE'THE.  (Gr.  \nOn.)  In  Greek  Mythology,  the  River 
of  Oblivion  :  one  of  the  streams  of  the  infernal  regions.  Its 
waters  possessed  the  quality  of  causing  those  who  drank 
them  to  forget  the  whole  of  their  former  existence.  In  the 
sixth  book  of  Virgil's  JEncid,  the  shades  of  the  departed, 
after  fulfilling  their  various  destinies  in  the  infernal  regions 
during  a  thousand  years,  are  brought  to  drink  of  the  water 
of  Lethe,  as  a  preparation  for  their  transmigration  into  new 
bodies. 

Has  omnes,  ubi  mille  rotam  volvere  per  annos, 
Lethasum  ad  fiuvium  deus  evocat  agmine  magno  ; 
Scilicet  immemnres  supera  ut  convexa  revisant, 
Rursus  et  uicipiaut  in  corpora  velle  reverti. 

The  beautiful  verses  of  Milton  are  well  known: 

Far  off  from  these,  a  slow  and  silent  stream, 
Lethe,  the  river  of  oblivion,  rolls 
Her  watery  labyrinth  :  whereof  whoso  drinks 
Straightway  his  former  sense  and  being  forgets — 
Forgets  both  joy  and  grief,  pleasure  and  pain. 

Nor  is  the  "slow  and  silent  stream"  less  exquisitely  de- 
scribed by  Dante : 

Tutte  Pacque,  che  son  di  la  piu  monde, 
Parrieno  avere  in  se  mi.stura  alcuna 
Verso  di  quella.  che  nulla  nasconde  ; 
Avvegnache  ti  muova  bruna  bruna 
Sotlo  lombra  perpetua,  che  mai 
Raggiar  non  tascia  sole  ivi,  ne  luna. 

Geographers  have  placed  the  river  Lethe  (that  is,  its  sup- 
posed issue  on  the  surface  of  the  earth)  in  Bceotia,  near  Leb- 
adca,  in  Crete,  and  on  the  coast  of  Africa.  There  was  also 
a  river  of  oblivion  (limia  oblivionis)  in  Spain,  now  the  Lima. 

LETTER.  (Eat.  lilera.)  A  character  used  to  expree 
one  of  the  Simple  sot  mils  of  the  voice.  Letters  properly  cunt 
bined  form  the  visible  signs  of  those  sounds  by  Which  we 
communicate  our  ideas.  What  letters  were  originally,  who 
first  invented  them,  and  among  what  people  they  were  pri- 
marily used,  are  still  questions  of  profound  obscurity.  Philo, 
says  the  F.ncy.  Brit.,  attributes  (ins  great  .'mil  noble  invert 
tion  to  Abraham ;  St.  Ircmeiis  and  others  to  Enoch;  Hibli- 
anderto  Adam ;  Bnsebius,  <  Siemens  Alezondrinus,  ( lornellos 
Agrippa,  and  others,  to  Moses;  Pomponlus  Mela,  Herodlnn, 
Rufns  I'Ystus,  Pliny,  Lucan,  and  others,  to  the  Phoenicians; 
St.  Cyprian  to  Saturn  ;  Plato  and  Tacitus  to  the  Egyptians  : 
some  U)  the  Ethiopians,  and  others  to  the  Chinese,  Who  can 
not  possibly  he  entitled  to  this  honour,  since  till  their  charac- 
ters are  the  signs  of  simple  ideas,  and  have  nothing  in  com- 
mon with  letters.  Various,  also,  are  the  conjectures  run 
ceming  the  different  kinds  of  letters  used  in  different  lan- 
guages. Thus,  Moses  is  supposed  by  Crinitus  to  have  invent- 
(360 


LEVEL. 

ed  the  Hebrew  letters ;  Abraham  the  Syriac  and  Chaldaic ; 
the  Phoenicians  those  of  Attica  ;  Nicostrata  the  Komun  ;  Isis 
the  Egyptian;  and  Vulfflns  those  of  the  Goths.  All  these 
statements,  however,  are  purely  conjectural,  and  it  would 
be  vain  to  examine  the  foundation  on  which  they  are  based. 
Letters  are  distinguished  by  grammarians  into  vowels,  and 
consonants  (which  latter  are  again  subdivided  it, to  mutes 
and  liquids),  and  diphthongs,  according  to  the  organ  employ- 
ed in  their  pronunciation.     See  Alphabet,  Language. 

Letter,  in  Printing,  is  the  usual  term  for  an  aggregate 
quantity  of  types  in  a  printing  office;  as  when  a  work  is  put 
in  hand,  and  there  happens  to  be  a  great  quantity  of  type  of 
the  proper  sort  unemployed,  it  is  usual  to  say  "there  is  plenty 
of  letter ;"  and,  on  the  contrary,  "there  is  a  scarcity  of  letter." 

LETTER  OF  CREDIT.  "A  letter  written  by  one  mer- 
chant or  correspondent  to  another,  requesting  him  to  credit 
the  bearer  with  a  certain  sum  of  money.  The  bearet  ahi  mid 
be  described  with  as  many  particulars  as  possible,  lest  the 
letter  fall  improperly  into  other  hands. 

LETTER  OF  LICENSE.  An  instrument  by  which  cred- 
itors allow  a  party  who  has  failed  in  his  trade,  time  for  pay- 
ment of  debts  and  management  of  affairs. 

LETTER  OF  ATTORNEY.  A  document  by  which  a 
party  gives  another,  named  therein,  power  to  do  certain  law- 
ful acts  in  his  stead,  the  party  so  authorized  being  called  his 
attorney ;  such  as  to  give  seisin  of  lands,  sue,  or  receive 
rents,  debts,  and  dividends. 

LE'TTERS  OF  MARQUE.     Sec  Marque. 

LE'TTERS  PATENT,  or  LETTERS  OVERT,  in  Law, 
are  letters  of  the  king,  open,  but  sealed  at  the  foot  with  the 
great  seal  of  England,  conferring  some  privilege  whereby  a 
party  is  enabled  to  do  or  enjoy  that  which  otherwise  he  could 
not.  Such  are  letters  patent  to  make  denizens,  to  protect 
inventions,  &c. 

LEU'CIN.  (Gr.  XcvKos,  white.)  A  white  pulverulent  sub- 
stance, obtained  by  the  action  of  dilute  sulphuric  acid  on 
muscular  fibre.  It  combines  with  nitric,  acid,  forming  the 
nitro-lcueic  acid. 

LEU'CITE.  (Gr.  acckoc.)  A  crystallized  mineral  of  a 
gray  or  white  colour,  generally  opaque,  and  something  resem- 
bling the  garnet  in  form.  It  usually  occurs  in  lava,  especially 
in  that  of  Vesuvius  ;  hence  it  is  also  termed  Vesucian  and 
volcanic  garnet. 

LEUCO'MA.  A  white  opacity  of  the  cornea  of  the  eye, 
arising  from  inflammation. 

LECCOPETRIANS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  the  nam* 
of  a  fanatical  sect  of  Christians  which  sprang  up  in  the  Greek 
and  Eastern  churches  towards  the  close  of  the  12th  century. 
The  tenets  which  they  embraced  were  peculiarly  strict; 
while  they  rejected  all  the  outward  ceremonies  of  religion, 
and  spent  their  whole  time  in  prayer  and  supplication  to  the 
Deity.  They  derived  their  name  and  origin  from  an  enthu- 
siast, Leucopetrus,  of  whom  little  is  known  beyond  his  name. 

LEU'COPHLEGMATIC.     A  pallid,  flabby  state  of  body. 

LEVA'NT  (It.  levante,  rising),  in  Geography,  is  applied 
in  a  general  sense  to  any  country  situated  to  the  eastward  of 
us,  or  in  the  eastern  part  of  any  continent  or  country ;  but,  in 
a  more  contracted  signification,  it  is  given  to  that  part  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  bounded  by  Asia  Minor  on  the  north, 
Syria  and  Palestine  on  the  east,  Egypt  and  Barca  on  the 
south,  and  by  the  island  of  Candia  and  the  rest  of  the  Medi- 
terranean on  the  west. 

LEVA'RI  FACIAS.  In  Law,  a  writ  of  execution  direct- 
ed to  the  sheriff',  whereby  he  is  commanded  to  levy  a  sum 
of  money  upon  the  lands  and  tenements,  goods  and  chattels, 
of  a  man  who  has  forfeited  his  recognizances.  It  is  super- 
seded in  practice  by  the  writ  of  elegit,  except  in  cases  of  out- 
lawry. 

LEVA'TOR  MUSCLES.  Those  which  lift  the  part  to 
which  they  are  attached. 

LE'VEE  (Fr.  lever,  to  rise),  is  the  term  used  in  court 
language  for  the  ceremonial  visits  which  distinguished  per- 
sonages receive  in  the  morning ;  or,  as  the  word  implies,  at 
their  rising.  It  is  chiefly  applied  in  this  country  to  the  Stated 
public  occasions  on  which  her  majesty  receives  visits  from 
such  of  her  subjects  as  are  entitled  by  rank  or  fortune  to  the 
honour.  The  difference  between  a  levee  and  a  drairing-room 
consists  in  this,  that  while,  at  the  former,  gentlemen  alone 
appear  (with  the  exception  of  the  chief  ladies  of  the  court), 
both  hniies  and  gentlemen  are  admitted  to  the  latter. 

I.KVKi:  EN'  MASSE.      (Fr.,  literally  a  universal  rising.) 

A  military  expression  for  the  rising  of  a  whole  people  to  de- 
fend their  country  from  invasion,  in  Germany  it  is  styled 
landsturm,  in  contradistinction  to  the  landweiir  or  militia 
(quod  vide)  :  and  there,  as  in  Spain  and  Tyrol,  its  efforts 
have  often  proved  instrumental  in  rescuing  the  country  from 
foreign  Invasion. 

LE'VEL.  An  instrument  which  shows  the  direction  of 
a  straight  line  parallel  to  the  plane  of  the  horizon. 

The  plane  of  the  sensible  horizon  Is  indicated  In  two  ways : 
by  the  direction  of  the  plummet  or  plumb  line,  to  which  it  is 
perpendicular ;  and  by  the  surface  of  a  fluid  at  rest.     Ac 


LEVELLERS. 

cordingly,  levels  are  formed  either  by  means  of  the  plumb- 
line,  or  by  the  agency  of  a  fluid  applied  in  some  particular 
manner.  They  all  depend  upon  the  same  principle,  namely, 
the  action  of  terrestrial  gravity. 

Levels  in  which  the  plumb-line  forms  the  essential  part 
are  those  most  usually  employed  for  the  common  purposes 
required  by  bricklayers,  masons,  carpenters,  &e.  They  are 
constructed  under  many  different  forms,  but  the  genera! 
principle  is  as  follows :  A  frame  or  board  is  prepared,  having 
one  edge  perfectly  straight,  and  a  straight  line  is  drawn  on 
the  frame  at  right  angles  to  the  straight  edge.  To  some  point 
of  this  straight  line  a  thread  carrying  a  plummet  is  attached ; 
consequently,  when  the  frame  is  placed  in  such  a  position 
that  the  thread  of  the  plummet,  hanging  freely,  coincides 
with  the  straight  line,  the  straight  edge  of  the  frame,  which 
is  perpendicular  to  it,  must  be  horizontal.     See  Plummet. 

The  Artillery  Foot  Level,  and  the  Gunner's  Level.,  besides 
the  line  and  plummet,  have  a  scale  for  showing  the  inclina- 
tion of  a  straight  line  to  the  horizon.  The  former  has  two 
equal  legs  or  branches  placed 
at  right  angles  ;  and  from  their 
point  of  junction  a  thread  and 
plummet  hangs,  and  plays 
over  a  quadrant  divided  into 
twice  45°  from  the  middle. 
The  plane  or  line  on  which 
the  two  ends  rest  is  horizontal  when  the  thread  falls 
over  the  zero  point  of  the  scale ;  and  when  it  falls  over  any 
other  point,  the  degree  marked  on  the  scale  indicates  the  in- 
clination of  the  line  to  the  horizon.  The  gunner's  level  is 
on  the  same  principle,  though  differently  constructed ;  the 
thread  or  plummet  being  replaced  by  a  solid  piece  of  brass, 
loaded  at  the  lower  end,  and  the  legs,  or  rather  the  edges, 
of  the  brass  plate  making  an  angle  of  45°.  It  is  used  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  former. 

Spirit  Level. — By  far  the  most  convenient  and  also  the 
most  accurate  level  is  the  spirit  level,  represented  in  the  an- 
nexed figure ;  "  which  is  nothing 
more  than  a  glass  tube  nearly 
filled  with  a  liquid  (spirit  of  wine 
being  now  generally  used,  on  ac- 
count of  its  mobility,  and  not  being  liable  to  freeze),  the  bub- 
ble in  which,  when  the  tube  is  placed  horizontally,  would 
rest  indifferently  in  any  part  if  the  tube  could  be  made  math- 
ematically straight;  but  that  being  impossible  to  execute, 
Ttnd  every  tube  having  some  slight  curvature,  if  the  convex 
side  be  placed  upwards  the  bubble  will  occupy  the  higher 
part,  as  in  the  figure  (where  the  curvature  is  purposely  ex- 
aggerated). Suppose  such  a  tube  as  A  B  firmly  fastened  on 
„     2>  a  strai?nt  bar  C  D,  and  marked  at 

a  b,  two  points  distant  by  the  length 
of  the  bubble ;  then,  if  the  instru- 
ment be  so  placed  that  the  bubble 
shall  occupy  this  interval,  it  is  clear  that  C  D  can  have  no 
other  than  one  definite  inclination  to  the  horizon  ;  because, 
were  it  ever  so  little  moved  one  way  or  oilier,  the  bubble 
would  shift  its  place,  and  run  towards  the  elevated  side. 
Suppose  now  that  we  would  ascertain  whether  any  given 
line  P  Q.  be  horizontal :  let  the  base  of  the  level  C  D  be  set 
upon  it,  and  note  the  points  a  b,  between  which  the  bubble 
is  exactly  contained ;  then  turn  the  level  end  for  end,  so  that 
C  shall  rest  on  Q,  and  D  on  P :  if  then  the  bubble  continue 
to  occupy  the  same. place  between  a  and  b,  it  is  evident  that 
P  Q.  can  be  no  otherwise  than  horizontal :  if  not,  the  side 
towards  which  the  bubble  runs  is  highest,  and  must  be 
lowered.  Astronomical  levels  are  furnished  with  a  divided 
scale,  by  which  the  places  of  the  ends  of  the  bubble  can  be 
nicely  marked."     (Herschel's  Astronomy,  p.  92.) 

The  accuracy  of  the  indications  of  the  level  depends  in  a 
considerable  degree  on  the  regularity  of  the  interior  surfaces 
of  the  tube.  They  are  commonly  made  of  glass  tubes  in  the 
same  state  as  they  are  obtained  at  the  glass-house ;  but 
when  very  great  accuracy  is  required,  as  in  astronomical  ob- 
servations, the  interior  surfaces  are  sometimes  ground  so  as 
to  give  them  a  regular  cylindrical,  or  rather  spindle  form, 
with  a  slight  spherical  curvature.  The  tube  and  bubble 
must  be  of  considerable  length.  The  larger  the  bubble,  the 
more  freely  it  moves,  and,  consequently,  the  more  sensible  is 
the  level  to  a  small  inclination.  With  proper  care  they  can 
be  executed,  it  is  said,  with  such  delicacy  as  to  indicate  a 
single  second  of  angular  deviation  from  exact  horizon- 
tality. 

LE'VELLERS.  In  English  History,  a  party  which  arose 
in  the  army  of  the  Long  Parliament,  about  the  time  when 
it  overawed  that  assembly,  and  transferred  the  king  to  Hamp- 
ton Court,  in  1647.  The  Levellers  professed,  what  their  name 
implied,  a  determination  to  level  all  ranks,  and  establish  an 
equality  in  titles  and  estates  throughout  the  kingdom.  Sev- 
eral of  the  officers  belonging  to  this  party  were  cashiered  in 
1649 ;  and  on  Cromwell's  departure  for  Ireland  in  the  end 
of  that  year,  they  raised  mutinies  in  various  quarters  occu- 
pied by  the  army,  and  were  put  down  by  Fairfax  with  some 
57 


LEVELLING. 

bloodshed.  John  Lilbume,  one  of  the  chiefsof  the  faction— 
of  whom  it  was  said  that,  "  if  none  but  he  were  left  alive  in 
the  world,  John  would  quarrel  with  Lilbume"— published, 
in  1649,  his  Manifestation  from  J.  Lilbume  and  others,  styled 
Levellers.  (See  Clarendon,  books  x.  and  xii. ;  Godwin's 
History  of  the  Commonwealth.) 

LEVELLING  STAVES.  Instruments  used  with  the 
spirit  level,  for  supporting  a  mark,  and  showing,  at  the  same 
time,  its  height  above  the  ground.  As  constructed  by 
Troughton,  they  consist  of  three  sliding  rods  of  mahogany, 
each  about  four  feet  long,  and  divided  into  feet  and  "hun- 
dredths. They  carry  each  a  circular  sliding  vane,  having 
at  the  lower  edge  a  square  aperture,  one  side  of  which  ia 
levelled  ;  and  a  line  on  the  levelled  side 
denotes  the  reading  of  the  staff.  The  face 
of  the  vane  is  made  of  white  holly,  with 
an  inlaid  lozenge  of  ebony,  forming  at 
once  a  conspicuous  object,  and  one  easy 
of  bisection.  In  levelling,  the  vane  must 
be  moved  up  or  down  till  the  horizontal 
wire  of  the  telescope  bisects  the  acute  an- 
gle of  the  lozenge,  as  shown  in  the  figure. 
As  the  line  on  the  levelled  edge  at  a  de- 
notes the  reading  of  the  staff,  a  piece 
equal  in  length  to  the  distance  a  A  is  cut 
off  from  the  bottom  of  the  staff,  or,  rather,  the  divisions  com- 
mence at  that  number  of  inches  above  zero.  (Simms's 
Treatise  on  Mathematical  Instruments,  1834.) 

LEVELLING.  A  branch  of  surveying,  which  has  for 
its  object  to  discover  how  much  any  assigned  point  is 
higher  than  another  assigned  point  above  a  level  surface, 
or  such  a  surface  as  water  would  assume  when  perfectly 
at  rest. 

In  ordinary  cases  of  levelling  (for  example,  for  canala, 
railroads,  &c.)  the  instruments  commonly  employed  are  a 
spirit  level  attached  to  a  telescope,  and  a  pair  of  staves. 
(See  Levelling  Staves.)  Suppose  that  the  difference  of 
level  between  A  and  B  is  to 
be  found :  the  staves  are 
placed  successively  at  A,  C, 
&c. ;  the  intervals  not  ex- 
ceeding 400  yards,  on  ac- 
count of  the  curvature  of 
the  earth,  and  the  levelling  instrument  placed  between,  at 
equal  distances,  to  avoid  corrections  for  refraction.  It  is 
then  directed  backwards  to  the  first  staff,  A  D,  and  next  for- 
ward to  the  second,  C  E ;  and,  at  each  observation,  the  di- 
vision on  the  staff,  or  the  height  at  which  the  visual  ray 
meets  it,  is  noted.  The  difference  of  the  heights— that  is,  C 
E,  A  D — is  the  height  of  the  higher  station  above  the  lower. 
The  hindmost  staff,  and  the  levelling  instrument,  are  now 
carried  forward  to  a  new  position,  and  the  back  and  fore 
observations  repeated  ;  and  so  on  till  the  operation  is  com- 
pleted. Then  the  difference  between  the  sum  of  the  heights 
measured  in  the  back  observations,  and  the  sum  of  the 
heights  measured  in  the  fore  observations,  will  give  the 
height  of  the  one  extreme  station  above  the  other. 

But,  in  extensive  surveys,  it  is  often  necessary  to  place  the 
levelling  staves  at  much  greater  distances  from  each  other 
than  300  or  400  yards,  in  which  case  allowance  must  be 

made  for  the  earth's  curvature.    Let  D  b     A.     h 

A  D'  represent  the  arc  of  a  great  circle       ~? 
of  the  earth's  surface,  and  A  the  place  of    /x 
an  observer.    All  the  points  in  this  arc    ' 
are  in  the  same  level ;  but  the  line  of 
sight  indicated  by  the  level  is  a  tangent  c 

to  the  circumference  at  A,  and,  consequently,  objects  B  B', 
in  this  line,  will  appear  in  the  same  level  with  A,  though 
they  are  really  elevated  above  it  by  the  distances  B  D,  B'  D', 
intercepted  on  the  radii  between  the  arc  and  the  tangent. 
Now,  from  the  nature  of  the  circle  A  B2  =  B  D  (2  C  D+  B 
D) ;  but,  in  all  cases  of  actual  levelling,  the  arc  A  D  is  very 
small  in  comparison  of  the  whole  circumference,  conse- 
quently the  square  of  B  D  may  be  neglected,  and  the  arc 
substituted  for  the  tangent :  we  have  then,  for  the  value  of 

A  D- 
B  D,  tins  expression,  B  D  =  ()—  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  de- 
pression of  the  true  level  below  the  apparent  level  is  equal 
to  the  square  of  the  distance  divided  by  twice  the  radius  of 
the  curvature  of  the  earth.  Supposing  the  diameter  of  the 
earth  to  be  7916  miles,  and  A  D  =  1  mile  :  we  shall  have  B 
D  equal  to  the  l-7916th  of  a  mile,  or  8-004  inches.  At  the 
distance  of  2  miles,  the  correcion  will  be  four  times  this 
quantity,  or  32'016  inches ;  and  so  on,  increasing  as  the 
square  of  the  distance.  It  is  most  convenient  to  reckon  both 
the  distances  and  the  corresponding  depressions  in  feet  and 
decimals  of  a  foot ;  in  which  case  the  correction  becomes 

79j0~x  5°80  A  *)2'  to  be  sut>tracted  from  the  apparent  or 
observed  level,  in  order  to  obtain  the  true.  The  following 
table  shows  the  depression  in  feet  and  decimals  of  a  fooT 

661 


LEVER. 

for  the  different  distances  therein  stated,  the  mean  diameter 
of  tlie  earth  being  assumed =7916  miles: 


Distance. 

Depression. 

Dislauce 

Depression. 

Yards. 

ft  I. 

Afffct. 

Fat. 

100 

0-00216 

1 

0  667 

ZOO 

2 

2  609 

300 

001938 

3 

6  006 

400 

O'O.l.Ui 

4 

10-1.77 

500 

5 

16-683 

600 

0  07752 

6 

24-024 

700 

0-10.51 

7 

32-699 

HX> 

0137-1 

8 

42709 

900 

0  17441 

9 

64-054 

1000 

0-21533 

10 

66-733 

1100 

0-26055 

11 

80-747 

1200 

0-3  008 

12 

9C095 

1300 

0  3S;»0 

13 

11!  779 

1400 

0-42205 

14 

130-796 

1500 

0-48449 

15 

1600 

0-55124 

16 

170-836 

LE'VER.  In  Mechanics,  an  inflexible  rod  movable  about 
a  fulcrum  or  prop,  and  having  forces  applied  to  two  or 
more  points  in  it.  The  lever  is  one  of  the  mechanical 
powers :  and.  being  the  simplest  of  them  all,  was  the  first 
that  was  attempted  to  be  explained.  Its  properties  are  treat- 
ed of  by  Aristotle;  but  the  first  accurate  explanation  was 
given  by  Archimedes,  in  his  Treatise  Dc  Equipondcrantibus. 

In  treating  of  the  lever,  it  is  convenient  to  distinguish  the 
forces  applied  to  it  by  different  names.  One  is  usually  call- 
ed the  power,  the  other  the  iceiirht  or  resistance. 

Levers  are  commonly  divided  into  three  kinds,  according 
(1-)  (20 

*"  "wi  J .    J'1 

to  the  relative  positions  of  the  power,  the  weight,  and  the 
(3.)  fulcrum.     In  a  lever  of  tlie  first  kind, 

Pjn  (fig.  1),  the  fulcrum  F  is  between  the 

3|        j,     power  P  and  the  weight  W.     In  a  le- 
*"   ver  of  the  second   kind  (fig.  2),  the 
weight  W  is  between  the  fulcrum  F 


~7 


and  the  power  P.  In  a  lever  of  the  third  kind  (fig.  3),  the 
power  P  is  between  the  fulcrum  F  and  the  weight  W. 

The  general  principle  of  the  lever  is,  that  when  the  pow- 
er and  weight  are  in  equilibrio,  they  are  to  each  other  in- 
versely as  their  distances  from  the  fulcrum.  This  property 
is  almost  an  obvious  consequence  from  the  principle  of  vir- 
tual velocities;  hut  it  may  be  deduced  from  more  familiar 
considerations.  Let  A  B  be  a  cylinder  or  bar  of  homogene- 
ous matter.  If  supported  from  the  middle,  O,  the  two  ends 
would  evidently  balanee  each  other,  and  the  pressure  at  O 
would  be  the  same  as  if  the  whole 
matter  of  the  bar  were  concentra- 
A  t,    U      c     e  „   teu  in  tnat  Point-     Suppose  it  to 

1gT~  f    consist  of  two  parts,  A  C  and  B  C, 

these  again  would  be  separately 
supported  at  their  middle  points  D  and  E;  or  the  whole  of 
the  matter  in  A  C  may  be  conceived  to  be  concentrated  at 
D,  and  the  whole  of  that  in  B  C  at  E,  and  the  equilibrium 
would  not  be  disturbed.  Hence  the  weight  of  A  C  attached 
at  D,  and  tlie  weight  of  B  C  attached  at  E,  would  balance 
the  inflexible  line  I>  B,  it' supported  at  n,  the  centre  of  the 
whole  bar  A  B.  But  O  D=  A  O  — A  D=i  A  B  — A  A  C 
=  iBC;  andOE  =  OB  —  EB  =  J  AB  —  JCB=UC; 
consequently,  « >  I)  is  to  O  E  as  B  C  to  A  C  ;  or  O  D  is  to  O 
E  as  the  weight  concentrated  at  E  to  the  weight  concentra- 
ted at  I).  This  demonstration  is  commonly  ascribed  to  Ar- 
chimedes.   (Maclaurin's  .  lecount  of  JVeieton's  Principia.) 

This  proposition  shows  the  advantage  obtained  by  using 
the  lever  as  a  mechanical  engine.  The  arm  I*  F  (fig.  1),  is 
commonly  longer  than  W  I-',  and,  consequently,  when  there 
is  equilibrium  the  weight  exceeds  the  power.  The  propor- 
tion in  which  the  weight  exceeds  the  power  is  called  the 
mechanical  advantage,  or  purchase.    Suppose  I'  P  (figs.  I 

nnd  2)  —  4  feet,  and  W  F  1  foot;  then  a  power  of  1  lb. 
acting  at  P  will  overcome  a  resistance  of  4  lbs.  at  W. 

Suppose  tin-  lexer  witli  the  weight  i'  nnd  w  in  turn  round 
the  fulcrum,  '  its  to  which  1'  and  W  are  attach- 

ed will  describe  arcs  proportional  to  the  radii  F  I',  r  U  ; 
consequently,  the  power  I'  is  to  the  weight  W  as  the  velo 
city  of  the  weight  to  the  velocity  of  the  power.  Therefore 
in  this,  as  in  all  mechanical  engines,  when  a  small  power 
raises  a  great  weight,  the  velocity  of  the  power  is  much 
greater  than  the  velocity  of  the  weight  ;  and  what  is  gained 
in  force  i  aid  to  be  lost  in  time. 

When  the  power  and  the  weight  do  not  act  on  the  lexer 

indirections  perpendicular  to  its  length,  or  when  the  arms 

of  the  lever  are  not  in  lie-  Bnme   Straight   line,  or  no 
then  the  power  anil  the  weight  are  not  to  each  other  recip 
rocally  as  the  arms  of  the  lever,  but  as  the  straight  line-; 
drawn  from  the  fulcrum  perpendicular  to  the  respective  di- 
rections in  which  the  power  and  the  weight  take  effect. 


' 


LEVIATHAN. 

Examples  of  the  application  of  the  lever  are  of  constant 
Occurrence  in  the  mechanical  arts.  The  crowbar,  the  hand 
spike,  the  poker,  scissors,  nippers,  pincers,  &.c,  are  levers  of 
the  first  kind;  tin-  toothed  hammer  is  onlv  a  bent  lever  of 
this  kind.  The  second  kind  includes  the"  chipping  knife, 
nut-crackers,  the  common  door,  oars  and  rudders,  the  wheel- 
barrow, &c.  To  levers  of  the  third  kind  belong  the  sheep- 
shears,  the  treddle  of  the  turning  lathe,  tongs,  flee.  :  these 
have  a  mechanical  disadvantage,  hut  admit  of  a  proportion- 
ally wider  motion.  The  bones  of  animals  are  generally  le- 
vers of  this  sort.  The  socket  of  the  bone  is  the  fulcrum  ;  a 
strong  muscle  attached  to  it  near  the  socket  is  the  power ; 
and  the  weight  of  the  limb,  with  whatever  resistance  is  op- 
posed to  its  motion,  is  the  weight.  A  very  moderate  con- 
traction of  the  muscle  thus  gives  considerable  motion  to  the 
limb. 

From  the  principle  of  the  lever  is  deduced  the  distribution 
of  pressure  in  the  case  of  a  pole  bearing  an  intermediate 
weight.  If  the  weight  hang  from  the  middle,  the  carriers 
will  share  the  burden  alike;  hut  if  a  load  is  laid  over  the 
pole,  and  a  vertical  from  its  centre  of  gravity  divides  the 
length  unequally,  as  will  be  the  case  on  altering  tin-  inclina- 
tion of  the  pole  (for  example,  in  climbing  a  hill),  then  the 
bearer  nearest  to  whom  the  vertical  falls  suffers  a  greater 
strain  than  the  other. 

Universal  Lever,  is  the  name  given  to  a  machine  formed 
of  a  combination  of  the  lever  with  the  wheel  and  axle,  the 
object  of  which  is  to  give  a  continued  rectilinear  motion  to 
a  heavy  body  by  means  of  the  reciprocating  motion  of  tlie 
lever.  F  G  H  is  a  straight  line,  whose  centre  of  motion  is 
at  G.  At  the  extremity  of 
its  shorter  arm  hang  two 
bars,  the  former  of  which 
has  a  hook  to  catch  into  the 
teeth  of  the  wheel  A  C  I), 
while  the  latter  has  its  end 
bent  in  order  to  slide  over 
the  outer  parts  of  those 
teeth.  Tlie  axle  A  has  a 
cord  wound  round  it,  to  the 
end  of  which  is  attached 
the  weight  W.  Now  sup- 
pose the  end  II  of  the  lever 
to  be  raised  from  H  to  I,  while  the  other  end  descends  from 
F  to  B;  the  bar  F  E  will  then  push  the  tooth  E  of  the 
wheel  to  C,  while  the  hook  D  slides  over  an  equal  space  on 
the  other  side  of  the  wheel.  On  bringing  down  again  the 
end  of  the  lever  from  I  to  H,  the  other  extremity  ascends 
through  B  F,  and  the  hook  I)  raises  up  the  left  band  side  of 
the  wheel  through  a  space  equal  to  F,  ('.  Thus  the  recip- 
rocating motion  of  the  lever  is  made  to  communicate  a  con- 
tinued rotatory  motion  to  the  wheel,  and,  consequently,  to 
lift  the  weight  W  suspended  from  its  axle  by  the  cord. 
The  universal  lever  has  long  been  employed  in  saw  -mills, 
for  the  purpose  of  drawing  along  the  logs  to  the  saw. 
[Oregory's  Mechanics,  vol.  ii.) 

LEVIATHAN.  The  name  of  a  great  marine  animal  in 
the  Book  of  Job,  described  in  chapter  xli.,  which  was  cov- 
ered with  close-joined  or  confluent  scales,  and  had  the  jaws, 
or  "doors  of  tlie  face,"  armed  with  terrible  teeth  round 
about.  isYmie  naturalists  have  supposed  that  the  crocodile 
might  be  the  subject  of  the  sacred  poet's  allusions;  but  the 
"  breath  that  kindleth  coals"  could  scarcely  be  suggested 
by  the  respiratory  actions  of  a  cold-blooded  reptile.  The 
same  objection  applies  to  the  opinion  that  the  leviathan  of 
Job  was  the  extinct  megolosaums  ;  with  this  additional  dif- 
ficulty, that  the  megaloeauTtis  was  a  terrestrial  reptile,  as 
the  large  medullary  cavities  of  its  bones  prove;  while  of 
the  leviathan  it  is  said  that  "He  maketb  the  deep  to  boil 
like  a  pot ;  he  maketh  the  sea  like  a  lKit  of  ointment  ;  he 
maketh  a  path  to  shine  after  him  :  one  would  think  the 
deep  to  be  hoary.  Fpon  earth  there  is  not  his  like." 
These  expressions  accord  well  with  the  violent  and  impetu- 
ous exertions  of  a  huge  cetacean  in  his  native  element ;  and 
the  verse,  "Out  of  his  nostrils  goeth  smoke,  as  out  of  a 
seething-pot  or  cauldron,"  does  not  inaptly  figure  the 
"Mowing"  Of  a  whale.  The  teeth  of  either  tin-  cachalot 
or  grampus  might  well  he  termed  terrible  ;  and  their  exter- 
nal epidermic  covering,  if  considered  as  analogous  to  the 
Bcoles  of  fishes,  would  have  its  distinguishing  peculiarities 
correctly  defined  by  the  following  expressions:  "  His  scales 
are  his  pride,  shut  up  together  as  with  a  close  seal.    One  is 

so  near  another  that  no  air  can  come  between  them.  They 
OXe joined  one  to  another,  thru  sliil;  together,  tiny  rannot  be 

sundered."— (Verses  15,  Hi.  17.)  Many  persons  must  have 
witnessed  the  phenomena  of  the  luminosity  ><(  the  sea  on 

our  own  COOStS,  where  it  is  usually  feeble  in  comparison 
with  that  produced  in  the  warmer  latitudes  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean, or  in  the  tropes.  The  phenomena  which  natural- 
ists and  voyagers  have  described  iis  being  produced  by  the 
swimming  and  blowing  of  the  cetaceous  animals  in  a  phos- 
phorescent ocean,  during  the  night,  might  likewise  have 


LEVIGATION. 

suggested  the  description  of  the  fire  and  sparks  that  escape 
from  the  mouth  of  the  leviathan,  and  of  the  shining  path 
lhat  he  leaves  behind  him  in  the  deep. 

LEVIGA'TION.  (Lat.  lsevus,  smooth,.)  The  process  of 
reducing  substances  to  a  state  of  fine  mechanical  division, 
by  mixing  them,  previously  powdered,  with  water  or  some 
other  fluid,  anil  rubbing  the  paste  upon  a  hard  smooth  slab, 
with  the  flat  face  of  a  stone  called  the  muller.  The  paste 
is  then  often  stirred  into  a  large  vessel  of  water,  where  the 
coarser  powder  first  falls,  and  the  finer  remains  suspended, 
and  is  afterwards  collected  by  pouring  it  off  with  the  water, 
and  suffering  it  slowly  to  subside.  In  this  way,  by  repeated 
subsidences,  powders  of  very  different  degrees  of  fineness 
are  obtained. 

LE' VITES.  The  descendants  of  Levi,  one  of  the  twelve 
sons  of  Jacob,  to  whom  no  distinct  territory  was  allotted  in 
the  land  of  Canaan,  as  to  the  other  tribes;  but  who  were 
set  apart  for  the  ministration  of  the  religious  services 
throughout  the  country,  and  had  forty  cities,  situated  in  va- 
rious parts  of  Palestine,  peculiarly  appropriated  to  their  res- 
idence. The  law  of  Moses  commanded  the  tenth  of  the 
vegetable  produce  of  the  land,  and  also  of  the  cattle,  to  be 
given  to  them ;  of  this  a  tenth  was  set  apart  for  the  priests, 
whose  assistants  the  Levites  were.  When  God  destroyed 
the  first-born  of  the  Egyptians,  he  appointed  that  the  first- 
born males  of  the  Israelites  should  be  "set  apart  unto  him- 
self" (Exod.  xiii.),  in  commemoration  of  the  immunity  from 
that  visitation  which  was  vouchsafed  to  the  chosen  people. 
Afterwards  it  is  recorded  that,  upon  the  sons  of  Levi  dis- 
covering an  extraordinary  zeal  against  idolatry,  in  the  case 
of  the  golden  calf  (Exod.  xxxii.),  the  religious  offices  of  the 
first-born  were  assigned  as  an  honourable  privilege  to  that 
tribe.  The  priests  were  confined  to  the  family  of  Aaron, 
who,  with  Moses  his  brother,  were  both  of  the  tribe  of  Levi. 
For  the  classes  of  which  the  Levites  were  composed,  their 
offices,  privileges,  &c,  see  particularly  Numb,  iii.,  iv.,  viii. ; 
also  1  Chron.  xxiii.-xxvi. 

LE'VYNE  (so  called  from  Levy,  the  crystallographer). 
A  crystallized  mineral  found  in  Ireland,  Faroe,  and  else- 
where, closely  allied  (o  the  zeolites.  It  is  a  hydrated  alu- 
mino-silicate  of  lime  and  soda. 

LEXICO'LOGY,  or  LEXICOGRAPHY.  (Gr.  \i\ts,  a 
word  or  phrase,  and  Xoyoc,  description.)  A  word  used  by 
some  writers  to  express  that  branch  of  philology  which 
treats  of  words  aione,  independently  of  their  grammatical 
and  rhetorical  uses  ;  considering  their  senses,  their  composi- 
tion, and  their  etymology.  (See  Philology.)  There  are 
two  useful  papers  in  the  Quarterly  Review  on  Greek  lexi- 
cography, vols,  xxii.,  xliv. 

LE'XICON.  (Gr.  \s\ig.)  A  dictionary  of  words,  or  vo- 
cabulary, originally,  and  still  usually,  confined  to  diction- 
aries of  the  Greek  or  Hebrew  tongues.  The  oldest  Greek 
lexicon  is  the  Onomasticon,  which  was  written  180  years 
before  Christ :  the  oldest  Hebrew  lexicon  belongs  to  the  'Jth 
century.     See  Dictionary. 

LEYDEN  JAR.     Sec  Electricity. 

LEZE-MAJESTY.  In  Jurisprudence,  any  crime  com- 
mitted against  the  sovereign  power  hi  a  state.  The  name  is 
derived  from  the  Roman  phrase,  "  crimen  la:sa;  majestatis," 
which  denoted  a  charge  brought  against  a  citizen  for  acts 
of  rebellion,  usurpation  of  office,  and  general  misdemean- 
ours of  a  political  character,  which  were  comprehended  un- 
der the  title  of  injuries  to  the  "  majesty  of  the  Roman  peo- 
ple." The  emperors  transferred  to  all  offences  against 
themselves  the  same  criminal  character ;  and  offences  of 
Eeze-majesty  were  multiplied  under  their  arbitrary  govern- 
ments. 

LI  AS.  A  provincial  name,  adopted  by  geologists,  for  an 
argillaceous  limestone,  which,  together  with  its  associated 
beds,  is  characterized  by  peculiar  fossils.     See  Geology. 

LIBA'TION.  (Lat  libo,  I  pour.)  The  solemn  pouring 
of  wine  and  other  liquids  in  the  religious  ceremonies  of  an- 
tiquity; in  Greek,  airev&uv.  Libation  appears  (if  our  trans- 
lation is  correct)  to  have  been  used  in  the  earliest  recorded 
sacrifice ;  for  Abel  offered  milk  (Gen.  iv.,  4) :  a  daily  liba- 
tion of  water  was  used  by  the  Jews  in  the  Feast  of  Taber- 
nacles; the  burnt  offering  instituted  by  Moses  was  of 
wine.  (Numb,  vi.,  7.)  The  Grecian  libations,  in  like  man- 
ner, were  of  unmixed  wine:  but  sacrifices  to  nymphs,  Ce- 
res, Proserpine,  and  some  other  deities,  were  attended  by 
libations  of  oil  and  wine,  &c.  The  wine  was  poured  be- 
tween the  horns  of  victims,  on  the  altar  or  on  the  ground. 
The  ancients  had  also  a  well-known  custom  of  pouring  out 
a  small  quantity  of  wine,  by  way  of  libation  to  the  gods,  at 
the  commencement  of  their  banquets;  and  libation  for  the 
emperors  became  common  under  imperial  Rome.  (See  this 
art.  in  the  Enc.  Met.) 

Te  muita  prece,  te  prosequitur  mero 

Dtfuso  pateris.  Horace. 

LIBA'VIUS'S  FUMING  LIQUOR.  Bichloride  of  tin, 
obtained  by  distilling  a  mixture  of  1  part  of  tin  filings  with  3 


LIBERTAS. 

of  corrosive  sublimate.  It  emits  dense  white  vapours  when 
exposed  to  air. 

Ll'BEL.  In  the  Spiritual  Courts,  the  original  declaration 
in  a  civil  action  is  so  termed.     See  Law,  Ecclesiastical. 

Libel,  in  Law,  signifies  almost  any  malicious  publication 
by  writing  or  printing,  or  by  signs,  pictures,  &c.  Whatever 
tends  to  render  a  man  odious  or  ridiculous,  or  to  lower  liim 
in  the  esteem  and  opinion  of  the  world,  is  a  libel  ;  and  may 
either  be  made  the  subject  of  a  civil  action  for  compensation 
in  damages  to  the  individual  injured,  or,  as  having  a  tendency 
to  excite  his  wrath,  and  provoke  a  breach  of  the  peace,  may 
be  proceeded  against  by  indictment  or  criminal  information. 
Where  it  is  sought  to  make  a  party  responsible  in  damages 
for  a  libellous  publication,  he  may  set  up  the  truth  of  it  as 
an  answer  to  the  complaint;  for  the  plaintiff,  if  really  guilty 
of  the  misconduct  or  other  thing  imputed  to  him,  is  not  con- 
sidered to  sutler  by  its  disclosure  any  private  injury  which 
can  be  a  legitimate  ground  of  compensation  to  him;  but 
when  the  proceeding  is  by  criminal  prosecution,  the  truth  is 
no  defence  whatever,  as  being  altogether  immaterial ;  for 
the  libellous  matter  may  equally  provoke  a  breach  of  the 
peace,  whether  it  be  true  or  false.  The  court,  however, 
will,  in  general,  before  granting  a  rule  for  a  criminal  informa- 
tion, which  supersedes  the  usual  practice  of  a  presentment 
by  the  grand  jury,  require  the  prosecutor  to  deny  on  affidavit 
the  truth  of  the  matters  charged  against  him.  It  will  be 
seen,  however,  that  there  is  not  in  any  case  a  legal  founda- 
tion for  the  maxim  vulgarly  ascribed  to  the  law,  "  The 
greater  the  truth  the  greater  the  libel."  All  publications 
are  libels,  and  criminally  punishable  as  such,  which  have  a 
tendency  to  disturb  the  public  peace,  his  majesty's  govern- 
ment, the  established  religion,  public  morals,  or  the  admin- 
istration of  justice.  Before  the  32  Geo.  3,  c.  60,  (Fox's 
Act),  on  a  criminal  trial  for  libel  the  jury  were  not  allowed 
to  take  the  whole  question  into  consideration,  and  return  a 
general  verdict  of  guilty  or  not  guilty  ;  but  could  only  decide 
upon  the  fact  of  publication,  and  whether  the  libel  meant 
that  which  it  was  alleged  in  the  indictment  to  mean;  the 
court  alone  taking  upon  itself  to  determine  the  criminality  or 
innocence  of  such  meaning.  Now,  however,  in  libel,  as  pre- 
viously in  all  other  criminal  cases,  it  is  competent  to  the  jury 
to  apply  their  judgment  to  the  whole  question,  and  return  a 
general  verdict  of  guilty  or  not  guilty. 

Libel  is  deemed  in  law  a  greater  offence  than  slander,  in- 
asmuch as  written  defamation  is  commonly  the  result  of 
more  deliberate  malice  than  that  which  is  merely  spoken, 
and  frequently  inflicts  more  extensive  and  permanent  injury 
on  the  object  of  its  attack.  Many  words,  such  as  "rogue," 
"  swindler,"  which  are  not  actionable  when  spoken,  are  so 
when  written. 

Libel  may  almost  always  be  made  the  subject  of  an  in- 
dictment, although  slander  seldom  can ;  and,  in  an  action 
for  libel,  a  verdict  for  a  farthing  damages  formerly  gave  the 
plaintiff  his  full  costs,  until  the  recent  Act  of  Lord  Deuman  ; 
whereas,  in  slander,  if  the  damages  are  found  under  forty 
shillings,  the  plaintiff  is  entitled  to  no  more  costs  than  dam- 
ages. 

LIBE'LLULINES.  A  genus  of  Neuropterous  insects,  of 
which  the  dragon-fly,  Libcllula,  is  the  type. 

LI'BER.  (Lat.  hark.)  In  Botany,  the  interior  lining  of 
the  bark  of  Exogenous  plants.  It  consists  of  woody  tissue 
in  great  quantity,  and  very  thick-sided,  intermixed  with 
cellular  tissue.  It  appears  to  be  formed  annually,  at  the 
same  time  as  the  concentric  zones  of  wood,  and  is  intended 
by  nature  to  convey  downwards  the  secretions  elaborated 
iii  the  bark  and  leaves.  It  is  the  principal  seat  of  laticifer- 
ous  vessels. 

Liber.  In  Roman  Mythology,  a  surname  of  Bacchus,  in 
reference,  perhaps,  to  the  idea  of  his  being  a  liberator  or  de- 
liverer. Liber  was  originally  an  old  divinity,  who  presided 
over  fertility,  and  who  was  worshipped  in  connexion  with 
Libera  (a  name  of  Proserpine,  according  to  Cicero,  De  da- 
tura J)corum)  and  Ceres. 

LI'BERAL.  In  Politics,  a  cant  name,  which  has  been 
applied  since  1815  to  the  party  in  each  country  which  ad- 
vocates constitutional  institutions  where  they  do  not  exist, 
or  their  extension  into  a  more  popular  character  where 
they  do.  As  a  party  name,  this  word  has  been  definitely 
adopted  in  Spain,  where  the  party  of  the  Cortes  assumed  the 
title  of  Liberates,  and  nicknamed  their  adversaries  by  that  of 
Semites. 

LIBERA'LIA.  A  sacred  festival,  with  games  ;  so  called 
from  Liber,  a  Latin  name  of  Bacchus,  in  honour  of  which 
god  they  were  celebrated  at  Rome.  It  was  on  occasion  of 
this  festival  that  the  Roman  youths  who  had  attained  the 
age  of  seventeen  assumed  the  manly  dress,  or  toga. 

LIBE'RTAS,  in  the  mythology  of  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans, was  a  goddess  worshipped  with  peculiar  veneration. 
By  the  former  she  was  invoked  by  the  synonymous  title 
Eleutheria;  and  throughout  all  parts  both  of  Greece  and 
Italy,  statues,  temples,  and  altars  were  erected  in  honour 
of  her.     At  Rome,  her  most  famous  temple,  built  by  T. 

663 


LIBERTINES. 

Gracchus,  was  situated  on  the  Aventine  Mount.  She  was 
represented  under  the  figure  of  u  woman,  holding  in  one 
hand  a  cap,  the  symbol  erf  Liberty,  and  two  poniards  in  the 
other.  In  modern  times  a  cap  is  also  used  aa  a  symbol  of 
Liberty;  thus,  in  France  a  red  cap  formed  the  badge  of  the 
Jacobin  club.  In  England  a  blue  cap  with  a  white  border 
i>  used  as  a  symbol  of  the  constitutional  freedom  of  the 
nation,  and  Britannia  sometimes  bears  it  on  the  point  of  her 
spear. 

Ulir.KTIXHS.  In  Church  History,  a  name  given,  in 
England,  to  the  early  Anabaptists,  about  the  middle  of  the 
16th  century.  Moshcim,  vol.  iv.,  p.  430,  transl.,  ed.  1790.) 
Sec  Anabaptists. 

LTBERTT.    In  Philosophy.     See  Necessity. 

LIBITTXA.  An  Italian  goddess,  patroness  of  funerals 
And  undertakers  ;  synonymous  with  the  Venus  Infera  or 
Rpithambia  of  tin-  Greeks.  She  had  a  temple  at  Koine,  in 
which  was  deposited  a  small  coin,  called  Libitinai  ratio,  fur 
over)  person  who  died.  This  custom,  which  originated  in 
the  desire  of  tin-  Boman  authorities  to  procure  a  faithful 
account  of  the  number  of  deaths,  may  perhaps  be  regarded 
as  among  the  first  attempts  to  obtain  an  accurate  census  of 
the  population. 

Ll'BBA.  (Lat.  Vie  balance.)  One  of  the  zodiacal  con- 
stellations, the  seventh  in  order,  beginning  with  Aries.  Li- 
bra is  one  of  the  forty-eight  ancient  constellations  of  Ptolemy. 

Libra  denotes  also  the  ancient  Roman  pound.  See 
Weights. 

LIBRARIES,  ITINERATING.  The  name  given  to  a 
peculiar  species  of  circulating  library,  instituted  a  few  years 
age  at  Haddington,  in  Scotland,  by  Mr.  Samuel  Brown.  The 
principle  on  which  such  libraries  are  formed  consists,  as  the 
epithet  itinerating  implies,  in  the  books  being  sent  from  one 
part  or  district  of  a  country  to  another  on  the  following  plan  : 
The  books  nre  formed  into  divisions,  consisting  each  of  a 
certain  number  of  volumes,  and  proportioned  in  number  to 
the  extent  of  the  country  intended  to  be  supplied.  Each 
division  remains  for  a  certain  period  (in  some  instances  one 
or  two  years)  in  the  same  place,  when  it  is  removed  to  an- 
other locality,  and  succeeded  by  a  new  supply  of  books  of 
the  same  number ;  by  which  means  each  locality  has  a  fresh 
supply  of  useful  reading  at  short  stated  intervals.  In  Had- 
dingtonshire, which  may  be  called  the  headquarters  of 
itinerating  libraries,  the  books  consist  of  43  divisions  of  50 
volumes  each  ;  and  on  the  principle  above  explained,  each 
volume,  at  an  average  of  the  43  divisions,  is  read  Jive  times 
during  two  years,  the  period  at  which  the  books  are  changed. 
Tin-  system  of  itinerating  libraries  has  been  extended  to 
various  other  parts  of  Scotland,  to  several  districts  of  Eng- 
land, to  Ireland,  Canada,  South  Africa,  and  Jamaica.  The 
use  of  the  books  is  gratuitous,  if  so  wished  ;  and  never  more 
man  \d.  per  annum  has  been  systematically  taken  from  any 
reader.  Voluntary  contributions,  however,  either  in  books 
or  money,  are  received.  (See  Geo.  Diet.,  art.  "Hadding- 
ton.") 

LI'BRARY.  (Lat.  liber,  book.)  The  name  given  either 
to  a  collection  of  books,  or  to  the  aparunent  or  edifice  in 
which  they  are  kept.  The  oldest  public  library-  of  anfiquily, 
of  which  we  have  any  credible  account,  is  that  founded  by 
Pisistratus  at  Athens,  which  was  carried  by  Xerxes  into 
Persia,  and  recovered  by  Seleucus  Nicanor.  Whether  this 
was  the  same  library  which  Sylla  (according  to  Plutarch) 
carried  to  Rome,  and  which  was  again  restored  by  Hadrian, 
is  not  clear;  nor  is  its  ultimate  destiny  known.  According 
to  a  well-known  tradition,  the  Goths,  when  masters  of 
Athens,  refused  to  bum  the  public  libraries,  which  con- 
tributed to  the  effeminacy  of  its  citizens.  The  library  of 
Alexandria  was  the  most  famous  of  antiquity.  Its  history 
has  been  written  by  Bonamy  (Mem.  de  VAc.  des  fnscr.,  vol. 
ii.),  Keinhard  (Gotting.,  1792),  and  many  others.     It  was  first 


LIBRATION. 

formed  by  the  Ptolemies,  Soter,  Lagides,  Philadelphus,  and 
Buergetea,  the  last  of  whom  resorted  to  very  royal  meas- 
ures lor  the  accomplishment  of  so  laudable  an  end,  for  he  is 
said  to  have  seized  on  books  imported  from  Greece,  caused 
them  to  be  copied,  and  returned  the  copies  to  the  proprietors, 
keeping  the  orisinal  for  his  library.  The  collection  of  Soter 
is  said  to  have  been  deposited  in  a  suburb  called  liruchium, 
which  was  burned  by  the  troops  in  Cajsar's  Egyptian  war. 
That  of  Philadelphus  (the  smaller  of  the  two)  was  preserved 
in  the  temple  of  Serapis,  and  became  the  nucleus  of  the  later 
library,  which  was  augmented  by  the  great  library  of  Per- 
gamus  (said  to  have  amounted  to  200,000  volumes),  presented 
to  it  by  Mark  Antony.  The  narrative  of  the  destruction  of 
this  library  by  the  fanatical  Arabs,  in  A.l).  641,  is  among  the 
popular  chapters  of  history ;  and  the  most  careful  inquirers 
are  of  opinion  that  it  is  substantially,  if  not  literally,  true,  not- 
withstanding the  doubts  thrown  on  it  by  Gibbon  and  others. 
The  lirst  public  library  at  Rome  was  founded  by  Asinius  Pol- 
lio,  A.D.  716 ;  the  second,  the  Palatine,  by  Augustus,  in  726  : 
great  part  of  it  was  consumed  under  Commodus,  but  much  re- 
mained even  in  the  time  of  Constantine.  Reusch  (1734),  Eck- 
erman  (1764),  and  Eckhart  (1799),  have  published  separate 
dissertations  on  the  libraries  of  the  Romans.  The  ancient 
libraries  of  the  West  must  have  wholly  perished  in  the  con- 
vulsions which  attended  the  overthrow  of  its  empire.  The 
history  of  those  of  the  East  is  not  easy  to  investigate.  Con- 
stantinople certainly  possessed,  at  the  period  of  its  capture, 
extensive  remains  of  ancient  literature ;  and  many,  but  al- 
most wholly  fruitless  investigations,  have  been  made  of  late 
years  in  the  monastic  libraries  of  modern  Greece,  particular- 
ly of  Mount  Atlios,  for  valuable  manuscripts.  (See  fValpole's 
Oriental  Memoirs  ;  Journal  of  Education,  vol.  ii.)  The 
best  accounts  of  ancient  libraries,  to  which  we  are  able  to 
refer  the  reader,  are  contained  in  the  work  of  Petit  Radel, 
Recherches  sur  les  Bibliotheques  Jlncicnncs  ct  Modcrncs  ; 
Heeren,  History  of  the  Study  of  Classical  literature,  vol. 
i. ;  Ersch  and  Grubcr's  Encyclopedia,  art.  "  Bibliotheken  ;" 
Taylor's  History  of  the  Transmission  of  ancient  Books  in 
7nodern  Times ;  Enc.  Brit.,  Suppl.,  "  Library." 

Of  modem  public  libraries,  the  greatest  and  most  cele- 
brated is  that  of  Paris  (Bibl.  Royale).  It  was  commenced 
by  King  John,  in  the  middle  of  the  14th  century,  with  ten 
volumes;  and  has  been  augmented  by  subsequent  kings  to 
the  enormous  number  it  now  possesses.  (Le  Prince,  Essai 
Uistorigue  sur  la  Bibl.  du  Hoi,  Paris,  1787.)  Next  to  that 
of  Paris  in  extent,  and  possibly  in  value,  are  the  libraries 
of  St.  Petersburg  and  Munich.  In  Italy,  the  Ambrosian 
at  Milan,  and  the  Vatican  at  Rome,  are  peculiarly  rich  in 
MSS.  Of  British  libraries,  the  greatest  are  those  of  the 
British  Museum;  of  the  two  English  universities,  of  which 
that  of  Oxford  (the  Bodleian)  is  peculiarly  rich  in  Oriental 
manuscripts;  that  of  the  Advocates,  at  Edinburgh;  and  of 
Trinity  ( 'ollege,  Dublin.  Statements  of  the  number  of  books 
contained  in  public  libraries  will  be  found  in  many  works, 
but  no  statistical  information  is  more  imperfect  and  worth- 
less. Some  have  not  scrupled  to  say  that  there  is  no  infor- 
mation respecting  the  great  foreign  libraries,  as  to  the  num- 
ber of  printed  books,  which  can  be  relied  upon  within  one 
half.  Such  skepticism  may  be  exaggerated  ;  but  that  there 
is  some  ground  for  it  may  be  conjectured  from  the  following 
comparison,  which  we  have  made  between  different  state- 
ments. That  of  M.  Panizzi  is  contained  in  the  Appendix  to 
the  Report  on  the  Brit.  Mus.,  1838,  vol.  ii.,  No.  6.  The 
'*  Returns"  are  those  furnished  by  official  persons  to  inquiries 
addressed  on  the  same  occasion,  and  will  be  found  in  the 
same  work.  We  should  premise  that  the  number  of  print- 
ed Imoks  belonging  to  the  library  of  the  Brit.  Mus.  was  ac- 
tually returned  in  1833  at  218,937,  and  is  now  probably 
260,000;  volumes  of  MSS.  in  1833,  21,900. 


Paris  (Royale)  .  . 
Munich  .... 
Petersburg  .  .  . 
Vienna  .... 
Gottingen  .... 
Dresden  .... 
Copenhagen  .     .    . 

Berlin 

Vatican  .... 
Ambrosian  .  .  . 
Florence  (Magliab.) 


Returns,  1836. 


Vols,  MSS. 

700,000  80,000 
800,000 

300,000  16,000 


Panizzi,  1S36. 


Vote, 

650,000 
500,000 

300,000 
200,000 

■J5I  1,000 
100,000 
320,000 

100,000 
140,000 


MSS. 
80,000 


16,000 
1,500 
2,700 

15,000 

10,000 

4,633 
13,000 


260,000 
280,000 
40,000 


Conv.  Lexicon, 

Krsch  and  Gruber'a 

1828. 

Kncy., 

IS>;1. 

Vols. 

MSS 

Vols. 

MSS. 

350,000 

70,000 

350,000 

70,000 

400,000 

9.000 

300,000 

9,000 

300,000 

11,000 

300,000 

12,000 

300,000 

12,000 

300,000 

- 

200,000 

•J'JO.IIOO 

2,700 

220,000 

2,700 

130,500 

3,000 

200,000 

250,000 

4,600 

200,000 

2,000 

30,000 

40,000 

30.(KH) 

40,000 

60,000 

15,000 

60,000 

15,000 

150,000 

9,000 

120,000 

8.000 

LIBRA'TION.  (Lat.  libra,  a  balance.)  In  Astronomy,  a 
term  applied  to  certain  phenomena  resulting  from  the  moon's 
motion,  whereby  the  spots  very  near  the  border  of  the  lunar 
disk  alternately  disappear  and  become  Visible,  making  stated 
periodical  oscillations,  and  indicating,  as  it  were,  a  sort  of 
vibratory  motion  of  the  lunar  globe. 

The  libratlon  is  of  three  kinds ;  the  libration  in  longitude, 
664 


the  libration  in  latitude,  and  the  diurnal  libration.  The 
libration  in  longitude  is  occasioned  by  this  circumstance, 
that  the  rotatory  motion  of  the  moon  about  her  .axis  is  not 
always  precisely  equal  to  the  angular  velocity  in  her  orbit. 

If  the  n n's  orbital  motion  were  uniform,  and  performed 

in  the  same  time  as  her  rotation  about  the  axis,  the  radius 
vector  from  the  centre  of  the  earth  would  always  intersect 


LICENCE. 

the  lunar  disk  in  the  same  point,  or  the  moon  would  always 
present  exactly  the  same  face  to  the  earth.  But  the  rotatory 
motion  is  sensibly  uniform  ;  while  the  orbital  motion,  being 
performed  in  an  ellipse,  is  sometimes  slower  and  some- 
times faster  than  its  average  amount.  Hence  the  spots  near 
the  eastern  and  western  borders  alternately  disappear  and 
reappear. 

The  libration  in  latitude  is  occasioned  by  the  incUnation 
of  the  moon's  axis  of  rotation  to  the  plane  of  her  orbit.  Sup- 
posing this  axis  'always  to  have  the  same  direction  in  space, 
the  angle  which  it  makes  with  the  radius  vector  of  her  orbit 
will  be  acute  during  one  part  of  her  revolution  and  obtuse 
in  another.  Hence  the  two  poles  of  rotation,  and  the  adja- 
cent parts  of  the  surface,  are  alternately  visible  from  the  earth. 

The  diurnal  libration  Is  simply  a  consequence  of  the  lunar 
parallax  The  observer,  being  placed  at  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  perceives  points  on  the  moon's  disk  at  the  time  of  her 
rising,  which  disappear  as  her  elevation  is  increased  ;  while 
new  ones  on  the  opposite  border,  that  were  before  invisible, 
come  into  view  as  she  descends  towards  the  horizon.  See 
Moon. 

The  libration  in  latitude  and  diurnal  vibration  were  dis- 
covered by  Galileo.  Hevelius  first  observed  and  explained 
the  libration  in  longitude. 

LI'CENCE.  (Lat.  licet,  it  is  lawful.)  In  Law,  a  power 
or  authority  given  to  a  man  to  do  some  lawful  act,  and  may 
be  by  word  or  by  deed.  If  a  party  give  licence  to  another 
to  do  acts  on  his  ground,  which  without  that  licence  would 
•be  trespass,  and  the  party  abuses  his  licence,  he  becomes  a 
trespasser  ab  initio.  Licence  is  also  commonly  taken  for 
the  admission  of  an  individual,  by  proper  authority,  to  the 
right  of  doing  particular  acts,  practising  in  professions,  &c, 
and  also  for  the  certificate  of  such  admission. 

LICE'NTIATE.  A  degree  in  some  foreign  universities ; 
but  not  known  in  the  universities  of  England,  except  in  the 
instance  of  the  degree  of  licentiate  in  medicine,  which  is 
granted  at  Cambridge.  In  the  original  sense  of  the  word  it 
appears  to  have  been  only  a  title  applied  to  such  as  had  ob- 
tained a  licence  to  teach.  It  is  said  to  be  of  Italian  origin, 
and  first  granted  at  the  university  of  Bologna.  Where  the 
degree  of  licentiate  exists,  it  intervenes  between  that  of 
bachelor  and  that  of  doctor. 

LI'CHEN.  CGr.  'XaxWy  a  roughness  of  the  skin.)  In 
Pathology,  a  papulous  eruption  oi'  the  skin,  terminating  in 
scurfy  exfoliations:  it  is  generally  symptomatic  of  disni;der- 
<ed  stomach  and  bowels. 

LICHE'NIC  ACID.  The  acid  peculiar  to  some  species 
of  lichens.     It  appears  to  be  the  malic  acid. 

LI'CHENIN.  A  substance  closely  allied  to  starch,  ex- 
tracted from  the  Cetraria  is/andica,  or  Iceland  moss. 

LI'CHENS.  Plants  of  a  very  low  organization,  which 
grow  on  the  bark  of  trees  or  rocks,  when  they  form  a  kind 
of  incrustation ;  or  upon  the  ground,  when  they  consist  of 
irregular  lobes  parallel  with  the  earth's  surface.  Occasion- 
ally, in  all  situations,  they  are  found  in  a  branched  state ;  but 
their  subdivisions  are  generally  irregular  and  without  order. 
Their  fructification  consists  of  hard  nuclei,  called  shields, 
which  break  through  the  upper  surface  of  the  thallus  or 
main  substance  of  the  lichen,  are  of  a  peculiar  colour  and 
texture,  and  contain  the  reproductive  particles.  Lichens 
abound  in  the  cold  and  temperate  parts  of  the  world.  The 
greater  part  are  of  no  known  use ;  but  some,  as  the  reindeer 
moss  (Cenomijce  rangiferina),  the  Iceland  moss  (Cetraria 
islandica,)  and  various  species  of  Gyrophora,  are  capable  of 
sustaining  life,  either  in  animals  or  man.  The  Iceland  moss, 
when  deprived  of  its  bitterness  by  boiling,  becomes  indeed  a 
diet  recommended  to  invalids.  Others  are  used  as  tonic 
medicines,  as  Variolaria  faginca,  and  Parmelia  parietina. 
Their  principal  use  is,  however,  that  of  furnishing  the  dyer 
with  brilliant  colours;  orchall,  cudbear,  and  perolle,  with 
many  more,  are  thus  employed. 

LICKS.  A  term  applied  in  North  America  to  sandy  tracts 
of  land,  upon  which  common  salt  forms  an  efflorescence, 
and  which  almost  all  graminivorous  animals  resort  to  for  the 
purpose  of  licking  the  surface. 

LI'CTORS.  (Lat.  ligo,  /  bind.)  Officers  whose  duty  it 
was  to  attend  the  principal  Roman  magistrates  (such  as  the 
consuls,  master  of  the  horse,  and  prators)  and  the  vestal 
virgins  on  their  appearance  in  public,  and  to  act  as  consta- 
bles under  their  command.  Their  insignia  were  the  fasces 
or  bunch  of  rods  (originally  encircling  an  axe,  which  was 
removed  by  Publicola,  used  under  the  republic  only  by  dic- 
tators, and  restored  under  the  emperor),  and  the  virga  or 
rod,  which  was  used  to  touch  the  door  of  the  magistrate  on 
returning  home.  The  number  of  lictors  in  attendance  varied 
according  to  the  rank  of  the  magistrate;  thus,  the  consuls 
had  twelve,  the  praters  six,  and  dictators,  according  to  some, 
twenty  four. 

LIEGE.  In  the  Latin  of  the  middle  ages  ligeus,  from 
ligare,  to  bind.  A  liege  lord,  in  feudal  language' is  a  supe- 
rior to  whom  allegiance  is  owed,  and  a  liegeman  he  who 
owes  such  allegiance.    Hence  all  subjects  are  termed  lieges 


LIFE  GUARDS. 

of  the  king.  Some  writers  derive  the  word  liege  from  the 
Teutonic  word  leude  (modern  German  leute,  people),  which 
was  used  in  the  sense  of  vassal. 

Ll'EN.  (Fr.  lien,  bond.)  In  Law,  signifies  the  right 
whicli  a  creditor  has  to  retain  the  property  of  his  debtor 
until  the  debt  has  been  paid  ;  and  furnishes  one  of  very  few 
instances  in  which  a  party  is  allowed  to  take  the  law,  as  it 
were,  into  his  own  hands.  Liens  are  either  general  or  par 
ticular.  A  general  lien  is  the  right  to  retain  a  thing  for  a 
general  balance  of  accounts,  and  not  for  those  demands  only 
which  arise  in  respect  of  the  thing  retained.  This  sort  of 
lien  is  said  not  to  be  favoured  by  law.  A  particular  lien, 
which  the  law  is  said  to  favour,  is  a  right  to  retain  a  thing 
when  the  claim  against  the  owner  of  it  arises  out  of  the 
thing  retained  itself;  as,  where  a  tailor  has  made  the  cloth 
of  his  customer  into  a  coat,  the  tailor  is  allowed  to  retain 
the  cloth  until  he  is  paid  for  his  labour  in  making  it  into  a 
coat.  The  payment  of  a  simple  contract  debt  cannot  be  en- 
forced by  action  after  six  years  have  elapsed  from  the  time 
the  debt  was  incurred  ;  but  a  party  who  has  a  lien  on  prop- 
erty may  retain  it  for  an  unlimited  period,  until  his  claim 
has  been  satisfied. 

LIE-TO.     See  Lye-to. 

LIEUTE'NANT.  (Fr.)  An  officer,  who,  as  the  deriva- 
tion of  the  word  implies,  supplies  the  place  and  discharges 
the  duty  of  a  superior  in  his  absence. 

Lieutenant  in  the  Army.  The  officer  immediately 
subordinate  to  the  captain,  in  whose  absence  he  takes  the 
command  of  his  company.  In  the  British  service  the  lieu- 
tenants of  the  Life  Guards  and  Horse  Guards,  and  of  the 
three  regiments  of  Foot  Guards,  have  the  rank  of  captain. 
In  the  artillery,  engineers,  marines,  and  rifle  brigade,  of  the 
British  service,  and  in  all  the  regiments  of  most  of  the 
Continental  nations,  there  being  no  cornets  or  ensigns,  the 
subaltern  officers  are  distinguished  as  first  and  second  lieu- 
tenants. The  pay  of  a  lieutenant  varies,  according  to  the 
regiment  or  branch  of  the  service  to  which  he  belongs,  from 
10s.  4d.  to  6s.  tjd. ;  and  the  price  of  his  commission,  accord- 
ing to  the  present  regulations,  is,  for  the  Life  Guards,  £1785 ; 
Horse  Guards,  £1600 ;  Cavalry,  £1190 ;  Foot  Guards,  £2050 ; 
Infantry,  £700. 

Lieutenant  in  the  Navy.  The  next  rank  to  that  of 
commander,  and  co-ordinate  with  that  of  captain  in  the 
army.  The  number  of  lieutenants  appointed  to  ships  of 
war  varies  with  their  rate.  A  ship  of  the  first  rate  carries 
eight  lieutenants,  besides  supernumeraries  ;  and  those  of  the 
second,  third,  fourth  rates,  &c.  have  respectively  one  less 
than  the  number  appointed  to  the  preceding  rate.  The 
monthly  pay  of  a  lieutenant  in  the  British  navy  varies, 
according  to  the  ship  and  his  duration  of  service,  from  £11 
10s.  to  £9  4s. 

LIEUTE'NANT-GENERAL  OF  THE  KINGDOM.  A 
dignity  equivalent  to  that  of  regent,  which  has  been  occa- 
sionally held  in  France  on  temporary  emergencies.  The 
Count  d'Artois  (afterwards  Charles  X.)  took  this  title  in 
1814  on  entering  France,  and  held  it  until  the  arrival  of  his 
brother,  Louis  XVIII.  On  the  expulsion  of  Charles  X.,  in 
1830,  the  Duke  of  Orleans  was  constituted  lieutenant- 
general,  both  by  an  ordinance  of  that  prince,  and  by  the 
provisory  government  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  on  July  29 ; 
and  retained  the  title  until  he  was  proclaimed  king,  on  the 
7th  August  following. 

LIFE  ANNUITY.     See  Annuity. 

LIFE  ASSURANCE.     See  Assurance. 

LIFE  BOAT.  A  boat  originally  made  at  Shields,  in 
1789,  by  Mr.  Greathead,  for  saving  the  crews  of  shipwrecked 
vessels.  The  following  are  the  general  principles:  The 
boat  is  wide  and  shallow  ;  the  head  and  stem  are  alike,  for 
pulling  in  either  direction,  and  raised,  to  meet  the  waves;  it 
pulls  double-banked,  the  oars  being  fir,  for  lightness,  nnd 
fitted  with  thole  pins  and  grummets,  and  is  steered  with  an 
oar.  The  boat  is  cased  round  inside,  on  the  upper  part,  with 
cork,  in  order  to  secure  her  buoyancy  with  as  many  persons 
as  she  can  carry,  even  though  full  of  water ;  the  cork  like 
wise  assists  in  maintaining,  or,  if  overset,  in  recovering,  the 
position  of  stable  equilibrium.  The  boat  is  painted  white, 
to  be  conspicuous  in  emerging  from  the  hollow  of  the  sea. 
It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  smugglers  paint  their  boat* 
white  for  the  contrary  reason,  because  dark-coloured  objects 
alone  are  discernible  in  dark  nights. 

LIFE  BUOY.  A  buoy,  with  a  mast  to  render  it  con- 
spicuous, thrown  into  the  sea  upon  a  man's  falling  over- 
board. The  life  buoy  invented  by  Lieut.  Cooke,  R.  N.,  is 
furnished  with  a  composition  which  is  fired  by  the  act  of 
disengaging  the  buoy  from  its  place,  at  night,  and  bums 
with  a  strong  light. 

LIFE  GUARDS.  The  cavalry  tioo|>s  composing  the 
body  guard  of  a  sovereign  prince  are  so  called.  In  England 
they  consist  of  two  regiments,  comprising  each  32  officers, 
53  non-commissioned  officers,  and  351  privates.  In  Ger- 
many snch  troops  are  styled  the  Icib  garde  (body  guard)  ; 
and  in  France  the  garde  du  corj>s.     See  Guards. 

S  e  *  065 


LIFE  LINK. 

LIFE  LINE.  In  a  Ship,  any  rope  stretched  along  for 
the  safety  of  tin   men,  as  is  practised  in  bad  weather. 

LIFE,  MEAN  DURATION  OF.  See  Expectation  of 
Life. 

LIFE  RENT.  In  Scottish  Law,  the  right  of  enjoyment, 
either  of  an  heritage  or  a  sum  of  money,  for  the  life  of  the 
life  renter.  The  Buperior  proprietor  of  the  subject,  or  fee,  in 
which  this  rent  subsists,  is  termed  the  flar.  Terce  («".  e., 
dower)  and  courtesy  (analogous  to  the  courtesy  of  England 
in  English  law)  are  instances  of  legal  life-rents. 

LIFTING  PUMP.     SeePi-Mi-. 

LIFTS.  The  ropes  which  support  the  ends  of  yards  or 
booms  against  the  weight  of  the  men  upon  them. 

LI'GAMENTS.  (Lat.ligo,  rtrind.)  Strong  elastic  mem- 
branes connecting  the  extremities  of  the  moveable  bones. 
When  boiled  in  water  they  yield  more  or  less  gelatine,  and 
leave  a  portion  of  insoluble  albumen. 

LIGATURE.  (Lat.  ligo.)  In  Music,  the  tie  which 
binds  several  notes  of  like  length  together,  by  w-hich  they 

appear  in  groups.  Thus  LLL^  f°nr  quavers,  by  means 
of  a  ligature  at  the  top  or  bottom,  assume  the  form  nTr  , 

the  line  connecting  them  being  the  ligature. 

LIGHT.  (Germ,  licht.)  The  cause  of  those  sensations 
which  we  refer  to  the  eyes,  or  that  which  produces  the 
sense  of  seeing.  The  phenomena  of  light  and  vision  have 
always  been  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  interesting  branches 
of  natural  science  ;  though  it  is  only  since  the  days  of  New- 
ton that  they  have  been  examined  with  such  care  as  to 
afford  grounds  for  any  safe  speculation  respecting  the  nature 
of  light,  and  the  mode  of  its  propagation  through  space. 
But  the  solution  of  these  two  questions  is  involved  in  very 
great  difficulty ;  for  notwithstanding  the  splendid  discoveries 
of  that  immortal  philosopher,  and  the  long  train  of  interest- 
ing and  important  facts  which  have  been  investigated  since 
his  time,  and  more  particularly  since  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century',  the  true  theory  of  light  still  remains  an 
enigma.  This  does  not  arise  from  any  difficulty  there  is  in 
framing  an  hypothesis  which  shall  afford  a  mechanical 
explanation  of  the  various  phenomena,  but  from  the  cir- 
cumstance that  more  hypotheses  than  one  have  been  ima- 
gined by  which  all  the  phenomena  can  be  explained,  not 
merely  in  a  general  way,  but  with  the  precision  of  numeri- 
cal calculation. 

The  knowledge  of  the  laws  which  regulate  the  phe- 
nomena of  light  constitutes  the  science  of  Optics,  which  is 
divided  into  a  number  of  subordinate  branches.  An  account 
of  the  principal  phenomena  will  be  found  under  the  terms 
Aberration,  Chromatics,  Interference,  Optics,  Po- 
larization, Reflection,  Refraction,  &c.  The  present 
article  will  be  confined  to  a  brief  enumeration  of  some  of 
the  principal  properties  of  light,  and  a  statement  of  the  two 
rival  theories  by  which  modern  philosophers  explain  its 
nature  and  propagation. 

Properties  of  IAght. — Experiments  of  the  simplest  and 
most  familiar  kind  suffice  to  show  that  light  is  propagated 
from  luminous  bodies  in  all  directions.  Provided  nothing 
intervenes  to  intercept  the  light,  they  are  seen  in  all  situa- 
tions of  the  eye.  Thus,  the  flame  of  a  lamp  is  visible  from 
every  part  of  the  sphere  of  which  it  occupies  the  centre ; 
and  tin'  same  is  the  case  with  respect  to  a  phosphorescent 
body,  an  electric  spark,  a  ball  heated  red  hot,  or  light  having 
nny  other  source.  The  sun  throws  its  light,  not  only  on 
the  earth,  but  on  the  planets,  and  comets,  and  every  other 
body  in  the  firmament. 

Another  property  of  light  is,  that  in  a  homogeneous 
medium  it  is  always  propagated  in  straight  lines.    This  is 

evident  from  various  considerations.  The  forms  of  shadows 
correctly  represent  the  outlines  of  the  objects  which  pro- 
duce  them,  as  seen  from  the  luminous  body,  which  could 
not  be  unless  the  light  proceeded  in  straight  lines  from  the 
extremities  of  the  objects  to  the  borders  of  the  shallow.  If 
three  plates  of  metal,  each  pierced  with  a  small  hole,  are 
placed  at  some  distance  behind  each  other,  and  in  such 
positions  that  the  three  holes  are  exactly  in  one  straight 
line,  the  light  will  pass  freely  through  them;  but  if  the 
holes  are  not  exactly  in  a.  straight  line,  no  light  will  pass. 
In  like  manner,  if  a  number  of  similar  objects  are  placed 
behind  each  other  in  a  straight  line,  the  first  renders  till  tin- 
others  invisible  to  an  eye  placed  in  the  same  line.  We 
cannot  see  through  a  bent  tube. 

A  third  property  of  light  is  that  it  requires  time  lor  its 
propagation.  The  velocity  with  which  it  passes  from  One 
l«)int  to  another  is,  however,  so  great,  that,  with  respect  to 
any  terrestrial  distances,  the  passage  may  l«-  COD  lidered  BS 
instantaneous.      Hut   astronomy   furnishes    the    means,   not 

only  of  detecting  its  propagation,  but  of  measuring  Its  velocity 

with  great  precision.     Tin-  eclipses  and  emersions  of  Jupi- 
ter's satellites  become  visible  about  1G  mm.  28  sec.  earlier 
when  the  earth  is  at  its  least  distance  from  Jupiter,  than 
666 


LIGHT. 

when  it  is  at  its  greatest.  Light  therefore,  occupies  above 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  in  passing  through  the  diameter  of  the 
earth's  orbit.  Now,  the  sun's  distance  from  the  earth  being 
nearly  '.15,000,000  of  miles,  it  follows  that  light  must  travel 
through  space  with  the  prodigious,  though  finite,  velocity  of 
192,500,  or  nearly  900,000  miles,  in  a  second  of  time,  and 
consequently  would  pass  round  the  earth  in  the  eighth  part 
of  a  second.  Astounding  as  this  conclusion  is,  no  resull  of 
science  rests  on  more  certain  evidence.  It  is  also  proved, 
by  the  phenomena  of  aberration,  that  the  light  of  the  sun, 
planets,  and  all  the  fixed  stars,  travels  with  one  and  the 
same  velocity. 

When  light  in  its  progress  encounters  an  obstacle,  or  enters 
a  different  medium,  it  undergoes  certain  modifications,  de- 
pending on  tlie  nature  of  the  body  on  which  it  falls,  or  the 
medium  into  which  it  enters.  When  it  falls  on  a  smooth 
polished  surface,  a  portion  of  it  is  regularly  reflected  ;  lhat 
is  to  say,  it  is  returned  from  the  surface  at  an  angle  equal  to 
the  angle  of  incidence,  and  pursues  its  course  in  a  Straight 
line  as  before  the  reflection.  The  quantity  of  light  thus  re- 
flected depends  on  the  nature  and  polish  of  the  surface,  and 
on  the  angle  of  incidence,  being  greatest  when  that  angle  is 
small  ;  but  it  is  calculated  that  even  the  brightest  and  most 
opaque  surfaces,  mercury  for  example,  do  not  reflect  more 
than  three  fourths  of  the  incident  light.  Another  portion 
of  it  enters  the  medium,  and  there  (if  the  medium  is  homo- 
geneous) pursues  a  rectilinear  course,  but  differing  from  its 
former  direction.  In  this  case  it  is  said  to  be  refracted. 
The  angle  of  refraction  depends  on  the  nature  of  the  medium, 
each  different  medium  having  its  own  peculiar  law  of  ac- 
tion on  light.  In  many  media,  comprehending  the  liquids 
and  most  of  the  uncrystallized  substances,  the  whole  of  the 
refracted  light  is  bent  from  its  original  direction  at  the  same 
angle.  In  many  others,  as  in  most  crystallized  media,  part 
of  the  refracted  light  follows  one  course,  and  another  part 
of  it  a  different  one  ;  the  two  portions  acquiring  at  the  same 
time  different  physical  properties.  In  this  case  the  refraction 
is  said  to  be  double.  A  third  portion  of  the  light  falling  on 
a  body  is  neither  reflected  nor  refracted  regularly,  but  is 
scattered  in  all  directions;  and  it  is  this  portion  which  ren- 
ders bodies  visible.  All  bodies  on  which  light  falls  absorb 
a  certain  part  of  it ;  more  or  less  in  proportion  to  their 
opacity.  In  perfectly  opake  bodies  the  absorption  is  total, 
ttfd  the  light  does  not  penetrate  to  a  sensible  depth  under 
the  surface.  In  others  it  penetrates  farther ;  but  even  in  the 
most  transparent  it  is  gradually  stifled  and  lost.  A  depth 
of  only  seven  feet  of  pure  water  is  required  to  extinguish 
one  half  of  the  incident  light.     See  Reflection. 

Solar  light,  refracted  by  a  prism  or  other  body,  is  separated 
into  a  multitude  of  rays  of  different  colours,  each  of  which 
afterwards  proceeds  in  its  course  independently  of  all  the 
others.  These  differently  coloured  rays  possess  different 
physical  properties,  and  different  degrees  of  refrangibility. 
It  is  to  this  dispersion  or  separation  of  light  by  refraction 
that  we  owe  all  the  pleasure  derived  from  the  variegated 
hues  of  natural  bodies.  The  investigation  of  the  laws  of 
the  dispersion  of  the  coloured  rays  forms  the  subject  of 
chromatics.  One  of  the  principal  facts  connected  with  it  is, 
that  the  dispersion  of  the  rays  by  different  refracting  sub- 
stances is  not  proportioned  to  the  refraction  ;  the  dispersive 
power  of  some  substances  being  greater  than  that  of  others, 
while  their  refracting  power  is  less.  This  fact  led  to  the 
important  discovery  of  the  achromatic  telescope.  Sec  Achro- 
matic, Chromatics. 

Light  on  being  regularly  reflected  or  refracted,  undergoes 
a  modification  termed  polarization,  in  virtue  of  which  it 
presents,  on  encountering  another  medium,  different  phe- 
nomena of  reflection  and  refraction  from  those  presented  by 
light  which  has  not  undergone  such  modification.  When  a 
ray  of  li'.'ht,  having  acquired  this  modification,  is  made  to 
tail  on  a  plane  reflecting  surface  under  a  certain  angle  of 
incidence,  no  portion  of  it  will  be  reflected;  the  whole  is 
transmitted  or  absorbed.  Hut,  in  the  case  of  ordinary  light, 
some  portion  is  always  reflected  from  a  polished  surlace, 
whatever  be  the  angle  of  incidence  ;  the  light  has  therefore 
acquired  the  property  of  being  acted  upon  in  a  particular 
way:  whence  .Malm,  who  first  Investigated  this  subject  in 
a  philosophical  manner,  gave  the  phenomena  the  name  of 
polarization,  from  its  analogy  to  the  effect  produced  by  a 
magnet  on  a  set  ies  of  m  edles.    See  Polarization. 

The  hist  property  of  light  which  we  shall  notice,  as  im- 
portant towards  forming  a  theory  of  its  propagation,  is  that 
to  which  Dr.  Young  gave  the  name  of  interference.  Under 
certain  circumstances,  the  rays  of  light  exercise  a  mutual 
influence  on  each  other;  Increasing,  diminishing,  or  modi- 
fying each  other's  effects  according  to  certain  laws.  This 
mutual  action  of  the  rays  on  each  other  gives  rise  to  a  great 
number  of  the  most  intricate  phenomenn  of  optics,  and 
aflords  a  sufficiently  simple  explanation  of  them,  in  nume- 
rous cases  where  no  other  explanation  has  yet  been  found 
on  other  hypotheses.  The  phenomenon  is  described  under 
the  term  Interference. 


LIGHT. 


Theories  of  Light. — Two  different  theories  have  long 
divided  the  opinion  of  philosophers  respecting  the  nature 
and  propagation  of  light.  One  of  these  consists  in  supposing 
it  to  be  composed  of  particles  of  excessive  minuteness,  pro- 
jected from  the  luminous  body  with  a  velocity  equal  to 
nearly  200,000  miles  in  a  second.  This  hypothesis  was 
adopted  by  Newton,  and,  till  recently,  has  been  acquiesced 
in  by  the  greater  number  of  writers  on  optics.  The  other 
hypothesis  supposes  light  to  be  produced  by  the  vibrations 
or  undulations  of  an  ethereal  fluid  of  great  elasticity,  which 
pervades  all  space  and  penetrates  all  substances,  and  to 
which  the  luminous  body  gives  an  impulse  which  is  propa- 
gated with  inconceivable  rapidity,  in  spherical  superficies,  by 
a  sort  of  tremor  or  undulation,  as  sound  is  conveyed  through 
the  atmosphere,  or  a  wave  along  the  surface  of  water. 
Both  of  these  hypotheses  are  rendered  probable  by  the  great 
number  of  phenomena  of  which  they  afford  a  mechanical 
explanation  ;  but  they  are  both,  also,  attended  with  very 
great  difficulties.  Other  theories  have  also  been  proposed  ; 
but  they  have  not  met  with  such  general  attention  from 
philosophers  as  to  make  it  necessary  to  explain  them  in  this 
place. 

Corpuscular  Theory  of  Light. — Sir  John  Herschel,  in  his 
admirable  Essay  on  Light  in  the  Encyclopedia  Mitropoli- 
tana,  states  the  principles  of  the  Newtonian  or  Corpuscular 
theory  as  follows : 

1.  "  That  light  consists  of  particles  of  matter  possessed  of 
inertia,  and  endowed  with  attractive  and  repulsive  forces, 
and  projected  or  emitted  from  all  luminous  bodies  with 
nearly  the  same  velocity,  about  200,000  miles  per  second. 

2.  "That  these  particles  differ  from  each  other  by  the  in- 
tensity of  the  attractive  and  repulsive  forces  which  reside 
in  them  ;  and  in  their  relations  to  the  material  world :  and 
also  in  their  actual  masses,  or  inertia. 

3.  "  That  these  particles,  impinging  on  the  retina,  stimu- 
late and  excite  vision  ;  the  particles  whose  inertia  is  greatest 
producing  the  sensation  of  red,  those  of  the  least  inertia  of 
violet,  and  those  in  which  it  is  intermediate,  the  intermediate 
colours. 

4.  "  That  the  molecules  of  material  bodies  and  those  of 
light  exert  a  mutual  action  on  each  other,  which  consists  in 
attraction  and  repulsion,  according  to  some  law  or  function 
of  the  distance  between  them ;  that  this  law  is  such  as  to 
admit,  perhaps,  of  several  alternations  or  ciianges  from  re- 
pulsive to  attractive  force ;  but  that  when  the  distance  is 
below  a  certain  very  small  limit  it  is  always  attractive  up 
to  actual  contact;  and  that  beyond  this  limit  resides  at  least 
one  sphere  of  repulsion.  This  repulsive  force  is  that  which 
causes  the  reflection  of  light  at  the  external  surfaces  of  dense 
media  ;  and  the  interior  attraction  that  which  produces  the 
refraction  and  interior  reflection  of  light. 

5.  "That  these  forces  have  different  absolute  values  or 
intensities,  not  only  for  all  different  material  bodies,  but  for 
every  different  species  of  the  luminous  molecules,  being  of 
a  nature  analogous  to  chemical  affinities  or  electric  attrac- 
tions ;  and  that  hence  arises  the  different  refrangibilities  of 
the  rays  of  light. 

6.  "  That  file  motion  of  a  particle  of  light,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  these  forces  and  its  own  velocity,  is  regulated  by 
the  same  mechanical  laws  which  govern  the  motions  of 
ordinary  matter  ;  and  that  therefore  each  particle  describes 
a  trajectory,  capable  of  strict  calculation  as  soon  as  the  forces 
which  act  on  it  are  assigned. 

7.  "  That  the  distance  between  the  molecules  of  material 
bodies  is  exceedingly  small  in  comparison  with  the  extent 
of  their  spheres  of  attraction  and  repulsion  on  the  particles 
of  light. 

8.  "That  the  forces  which  produce  the  reflection  and  re- 
fraction of  light  are,  nevertheless,  absolutely  insensible  at  all 
measurable  or  appreciable  distances  from  the  molecules 
which  exert  them. 

9.  "  That  every  luminous  molecule,  during  the  whole  of 
its  progress  through  space,  is  continually  passing  through 
certain  periodically  recurring  states,  called  by  Newton  fits 
of  easy  reflection  and  easy  transmission,  in  virtue  of  which 
they  are  more  disposed,  when  in  the  former  states  or  phases 
of  their  periods,  to  obey  the  influence  of  the  repulsive  or  re- 
flective forces  of  the  molecules  of  a  medium  ;  and  when  in 
the  latter,  of  the  attractive." 

Such  are  the  postulates  on  which  the  corpuscular  theory 
of  light  depends.  Most  of  them  may  be  admitted  without 
difficulty  :  and  they  afford  data  for  the  application  of  mathe- 
matical reasoning  to  the  phenomena,  which  may  he  investi- 
gated by  the  same  sort  of  analysis  witli  which  mathemati- 
cians are  already  familiar  in  the  theories  of  heat,  capillary., 
attraction,  and  other  molecular  forces. 

Undulatory  Theory. — The  principles  of  the  undulatory 
theory  are  thus  stated  by  Sir  J.  Herschel : 

1.  "That  an  excessively  rare,  subtle,  and  elastic  medium, 
or  ether,  fills  all  space,  and  pervades  all  material  bodies, 
occupying  the  intervals  between  their  molecules :  and  either 
by  passing  freely  among  them,  or  by  its  extreme  rarity, 


offering  no  resistance  to  the  motion  of  the  earth,  the  plan- 
ets, or  comets,  in  their  orbits,  appreciable  by  the  most  deli- 
cate astronomical  observations  ;  and  having" inertia,  but  not 
gravity. 

2.  "  That  the  molecules  of  the  ether  are  susceptible  of 
being  set  in  motion  by  the  agitation  of  the  particles  of  pon- 
derable matter ;  and  that  when  any  one  is  thus  set  in  motion 
it  communicates  a  similar  motion  to  those  adjacent  to  it  ■ 
and  thus  the  motion  is  propagated  farther  and  farther  in 
all  directions,  accorSng  to  the  same  mechanical  laws  which 
regulate  the  propagation  of  undulations  in  other  elastic 
media,  as  air,  water,  or  solids,  according  to  their  respective 
constitutions. 

3.  "  That  in  the  interior  of  refracting  media  the  ether  ex- 
ists in  a  state  of  less  elasticity,  compared  with  its  density, 
than  in  vacuo  (i.  e.,  in  space  empty  of  all  other  matter)  ; 
and  that  the  more  refractive  the  medium,  the  less,  relative- 
ly speaking,  is  the  elasticity  of  the  ether  in  its  interior. 

4.  "  That  vibrations  communicated  to  the  ether  in  free 
space  are  propagated  through  refractive  media  by  means  of 
the  ether  in  their  interior,  but  with  a  velocity  corresponding 
to  its  inferior  degree  of  elasticity. 

5.  "That  when  regular  vibratory  motions  of  a  proper 
kind  are  propagated  through  the  ether,  and,  passing  through 
our  eyes,  reach  and  agitate  the  nerves  of  our  retina,  they 
produce  in  us  the  sensation  of  light,  in  a  manner  bearing  a 
more  or  less  close  analogy  to  that  in  which  the  vibrations 
of  the  air  affect  our  auditor}"  nerves  with  that  of  sound. 

0.  "  That  as,  in  the  doctrine  of  sound,  the  frequency  of 
the  aerial  pulses,  or  the  number  of  excursions  to  and  fro 
from  the  point  of  rest  made  by  each  molecule  of  the  air,  de- 
termines the  pitch  or  note;  so,  in  the  theory  of  light,  the 
frequency  of  the  pulses,  or  number  of  impulses  made  on  our 
nerves  in  a  given  time  by  the  ethereal  molecules  next  in 
contact  with  them,  determines  the  colour  of  the  light :  and 
that  as  the  absolute  extent  of  the  motion  to  and  fro  of  the 
particles  of  air  determines  the  loudness  of  the  sound,  so  the 
amplitude  or  extent  of  the  excursions  of  the  ethereal  mole- 
cules from  their  points  of  rest  determines  the  brightness  or 
intensity  of  the  light." 

Whichever  theory  we  adopt  to  explain  the  phenomena 
of  light,  we  are  led  to  conclusions  which  strike  the  mind 
with  astonishment.  According  to  the  corpuscular  theory, 
the  molecules  of  light  are  supposed  to  be  endowed  with  at- 
tractive and  repulsive  forces,  to  have  poles,  to  balance  them- 
selves about  their  centres  of  gravity,  and  to  possess  other 
physical  properties  which  we  can  only  ascribe  to  ponderable 
matter.  In  speaking  of  these  properties,  it  is  difficult  to  di- 
vest one's  self  of  the  idea  of  sensible  magnitude,  or  by  any 
strain  of  the  imagination  to  conceive  that  particles  to  which 
they  belong  can  be  so  amazingly  small  as  those  of  light  de- 
monstrably are.  If  a  molecule  of  light  weighed  a  single 
grain,  its  momentum  (by  reason  of  the  enormous  velocity 
with  which  it  moves)  would  be  such  that  its  effect  would 
be  equal  to  that  of  a  cannon-ball  of  150  pounds,  projected 
with  a  velocity  of  1000  feet  per  second.  How  inconceivably 
small  must  they,  therefore,  be,  when  millions  of  molecules, 
collected  by  lenses  or  minors,  have  never  been  found  to 
produce  the  slightest  effect  on  the  most  delicate  apparatus 
contrived  expressly  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  their  mate- 
riality sensible. 

If  the  corpuscular  theory  astonishes  us  by  the  extreme 
minuteness  and  prodigious  velocity  of  the  luminous  mole- 
cules, the  numerical  results  deduced  from  the  undulatory 
theory  are  not  less  overwhelming.  The  extreme  smallness 
of  the  amplitude  of  the  vibrations,  and  the  almost  incon- 
ceivable but  still  measurable  rapidity  with  which  they  suc- 
ceed each  other,  were  computed  by  Dr.  Young,  and  are  ex- 
hibited by  Sir  J.  Herschel  in  the  following  table  : 


Colours. 

Length  of  undu- 
lation iu  parts 
of  an  inch. 

Number  of 

undulations 
iu  an  inch. 

Number  of  undula- 
tions per  second. 

Extreme  Red     .    . 

00000266 

37640 

458,000000X00000 

Red 

0-OOOO256 

39  ISO 

477.00O0O0.CO0000 

Orange      .... 

0-0000340 

41610 

506,000000,000000 

Yellow      .... 

00000227 

4-1000 

53n,OOOOO0,0C0O00 

0O00O2H 

47460 

577,000000,000000 

00000196 

51110 

622,000000.000000 

Indigo  

0-0000185 

54070 

65S000009.000000 

0-0000174 

57490 

699,000000,000000 

Extreme  Violet .    . 

000G0167 

59750 

727,000000,000000 

The  velocity  of  light 
being  assumed  at 
192,000  miles  per 
second. 

On  a  cursory  view,  it  must  appear  singular  that  two  hy- 
potheses, founded  on  assumptions  so  essentially  different, 
should  concur  in  affording  the  means  of  explaining  so  great 
a  number  of  facts  with  equal  precision  and  almost  equal  fa- 
cility. This,  however,  is  the  case  with  respect  to  the  cor- 
puscular and  undulatory  theories  of  light,  from  both  of  which 
the  mathematical  laws  to  which  the  phenomena  are  subject 
may  be  deduced,  though  not  in  all  cases  with  the  same  de~ 

667 


LIGHT. 

{tree  of  facility.  So  far  as  the  corpuscular  doctrine  is  avail- 
able for  the  purposes  of  deductive  explanation,  it  possesses 
all  the  characteristics  of  a  good  theory.  It  supposes  theop- 
eration  of  a  force  with  which  we  are  in  some  measure  fa- 
miliar. We  are  accustomed  to  contemplate  the  effects  of 
attraction  in  the  grand  phenomena  of  astronomy  ;  we  per- 
ceive them  at  every  instant  in  the  downward  tendency  of 
all  heavy  bodies;  and,  though  they  disappear  in  the  small 
bodies  of  nature,  they  are  reproduced  in  the  phenomena  of 
electricity,  magnetism,  capillary  attrition,  electricity,  and 
various  chemical  actions,  where  they  can  be  not  only  dis- 
tinctly traced,  but  reduced  to  mathematical  formula,  and 
submitted  to  accurate  calculation.  The  nndulatory  hypoth- 
esis is  not  seized  by  the  mind  with  the  same  facility  ;  yet  it 
also  possesses  some  of  the  least  equivocal  characteristics  of 
philosophical  truth.  No  phenomenon  hasyel  been  discov- 
ered decidedly  at  variance  with  any  of  its  principles.  On 
the  contrary,  most  of  the  phenomena  follow  from  those 
principles  with  remarkable  ease  ;  and,  in  numerous  instan- 
ces, consequences  deduced  from  the  theory  by  a  long  atid 
intricate  analysis,  and  where  no  sagacity  could  possibly 
have  divined  the  result,  have  been  found  to  be  accurately 
true  when  brought  to  the  test  of  experiment.  Hence  this 
hypothesis  begins  to  be  generally  adopted  by  philosophers, 
and,  in  recent  times,  by  far  the  most  illustrious  names  in 
the  annals  of  optical  discovery  are  included  iu  the  list  of  its 
supporters. 

That  the  sensation  of  light  is  produced  by  the  vibrations 
of  an  extremely  rare  and  subtle  fluid,  is  an  idea  that  was 
maintained  by  Descartes,  Hooke,  and  some  others ;  but  it  is 
to  Huyghens  that  the  honour  solely  belongs  of  having  redu- 
ced the  hypothesis  to  a  definite  shape,  and  rendered  it  avail- 
able to  the  purposes  of  mechanical  explanation.  Owing  to 
the  great  success  of  Newton  in  applying  the  corpuscular 
theory  to  his  splendid  discoveries,  the  speculations  of  Huy- 
ghens were  long  neglected  ;  indeed,  the  theory  remained  in 
the  same  state  in  which  it  was  left  by  him  till"  it  was  taken 
up  by  our  countryman,  the  late  Dr.  Young.  By  a  train  of 
mechanical  reasoning,  which  in  point  of  ingenuity  has  sel- 
dom been  equalled,  Dr.  Young  was  conducted  to  some  very- 
remarkable  numerical  relations  among  some  of  the  appa- 
rently most  dissimilar  phenomena  of  optics  to  the  general 
laws  of  diffraction,  and  to  the  true  principles  of  the  colora- 
tion of  crystallized  substances.  Mains,  so  late  as  1810,  made 
the  important  discovery  of  the  polarization  of  light  by  re- 
flection, and  successfully  explained  the  phenomenon  by  the 
hypothesis  of  an  undulatory  propagation.  The  theory  sub- 
sequently received  a  great  extension  from  the  ingenious  la- 
bours of  Fresnel ;  and  the  still  more  recent  researches  of 
Arago,  Poisson,  Herschel,  Airy,  and  others,  have  conferred 
on  it  so  great  a  degree  of  probability  that  it  may  be  almost 
regarded  as  ranking  in  the  class  of  demonstrated  truths.  "  It 
is  a  theory,"  says  Herschel,  "  which,  if  not  founded  in  na- 
ture, is  certainly  one  of  the  happiest  fictions  that  the  genius 
of  man  has  yet  invented  to  group  together  natural  phenome- 
na, as  well  as  the  most  fortunate  in  the  support  it  has  re- 
ceived from  whole  classes  of  new  phenomena,  which  at 
their  discovery  seemed  in  irreconcilable  opposition  to  it.  It 
is,  in  fact,  in  all  its  applications  and  details,  one  succession 
of  felicities ;  insomuch  that  we  may  almost  be  induced  to 
say,  if  it  be  not  true,  it  deserves  to  be  so."  (Enc.  Metr., 
"  Light,"  §  595.) 

Relations  of  Light  and  Heat. — Light  and  heat  are  so  inti- 
mately related  to  each  other,  that  philosophers  have  doubt- 
ed whether  they  are  identical  principles,  or  merely  coexist- 
ent in  the  luminous  rays.  They  possess  numerous  proper- 
ties in  common;  being  reflected,  refracted,  and  polarized 
according  to  the  same  optical  laws,  and  even  exhibit  the 
same  phenomena  of  interference.  Most  substances  during 
combustion  give  out  both  liL'ht  and  heat ;  and  all  bodies,  ex- 
cepting the  cases,  when  heated  to  a  high  temperature  be- 
come incandescent.  Nevertheless,  there  are  many  circum- 
stances in  which  they  appear  to  differ. 

A  thin  plate  of  transparent  glass  interposed  between  the 
face  ami  a  blazing  tire  intercepts  no  sensible  portion  of  the 
light,  but  most  sensibl]  diminishes  the  heat.  Light  and 
beat  are,  therefore,  not  intercepted  alike  by  the  same  sub 
stances.  Heat  is  also  combined  in  different  degrees  with  the 
different  rays  of  the  solar  Bpectnim.  A  very  remarkable  dls 
covery  on  this  subject  was  made  by  Sir  William  Herschel, 
which  would  seem  to  establish  tin-  Independence  of  the 
heating  and  illuminating  effects  of  the  solar  rays.  Having 
placed  thermometers  in  the  several  prismatic  colours  of  the 
solar  spectrum,  lie  found  the  heating  power  of  the  ravs 
gradually  increased  from  the  violet  (where  it  was  least)  to 
the  extreme  red,  and  that  the  maximum  temperature  existed 
at  some  distance  beyond  the  red,  out  of  the  visible  part  of 
the  spectrum.  The  experiment  was  soon  after  repeated 
with  great  care  by  Berard,  who  confirmed  Herschel's  eon 

elusions  relatively  to  the  augmentation  of  the  calorific  power 
from  the  violet  to  the  red  ;  but  he  found  the  maximum  heat 
existed  at  the  extremity  of  the  red,  and  not  beyond  the  spec- 
668 


LIGHTHOUSE. 

trum.  This  discovery  of  the  inequality  of  the  heating  power 
of  the  different  rays  led  to  the  inquiry  whether  the  chemical 

action  produced  by  light  on  certain  bodies  was  merely  the  ef- 
fect of  the  heat  accompanying  it,  or  owing  to  some  other  cause. 
By  a  series  of  delicate  experiments,  Berard  found  that  this 

action  is  not  only  independent  of  the  healing  power,  but  fol- 
lows an  entirely  different  law  ;  its  intensity  being  greatest  in 
the  violet  ray,  where  the  heating  power  is  the  bast,  and 
least  in  the  red  ray,  where  the  healing  power  is  greatest. 
We  are  thus  led  to  the  conclusion  that  the  solar  rays  pos 
sess  at  least  three  distinct  powers — those  of  heating,  illumi- 
nating, and  effecting  chemical  combinations  and  decomposi- 
tions;  and  these  powers  are  distributed  among  the  differ- 
ently refrangible  rays  in  such  a  manner  as  to  show  their 
complete  independence  of  each  other. 

Light  acts  a  very  important  part  in  the  vegetable  economy. 
The  green  colour  of  plants  and  the  hue  of  (lowers  entirely 
depend  on  it ;  and  it  is  found  even  to  influence  the  form  of 
their  leaves.  Its  effects  in  developing  the  forms  of  some  of 
the  lower  classes  of  animals  have  also  been  proved  by  vari- 
ous experiments  ;  and  there  are  probably  many  other  powers 
resident  in  the  same  wonderful  agent  of  which  we  can  at 
present  form  no  adequate  notion.  (See  Sir  ./.  HerscheTs 
Treatise  on  Light ;  .lirt/s  Mathematical  Tracts  ;  Brew- 
ster''s  Optics ;  Young's  Lectures;  Biot,  Traite  dc Physique  ; 
Pouillet,  E'imcns  de  Physique.) 

Light.  In  Painting,  the  medium  by  which  objects  are 
discerned.  In  a  picture  it  means  the  part  the  most  illumi- 
nated. This  may  happen  from  natural  light,  as  the  sun  or 
moon  ;  or  from  artificial  light,  as  a  fire,  candle.  &c.  The 
principal  light  is  generally  made  to  fall  on  the  spot  where 
the  principal  figures  are  placed,  and  generally  near  the  cen- 
tre of  the  picture.  A  reflected  light  is  that  which  a  body 
in  shadow  receives  from  a  contiguous  light  object. 

Light.    The  sea  term  for  not  laden. 

LIGHTER.  A  strong  vessel  or  barge  for  transporting 
goods  or  stores,  chieflv  on  rivers  and  canals. 

LIGHTHOUSE.  An  establishment  for  the  exhibition  of 
a  light  or  landmark  to  direct  the  mariner.  The  use  of  lights 
for  such  a  purpose  is  of  very  high  antiquity,  but  their  early 
history  is  involved  in  much  obscurity.  In  the  ancient 
world,  there  were  lighthouses  at  Ostea,  Ravenna,  Puteoli, 
Gaprea,  Rhodes,  on  the  Thracian  Bosphorus,  &c.  (Suctonii 
< '/"  ™,  torn,  i.,  p.  755)  ;  but  by  far  the  most  celebrated  light- 
house in  antiquity  was  that  erected  by  Ptolemy  Soter  on  the 
small  island  of  Pharos,  opposite  to  Alexandria:  "  noctumiH 
ignibus  cursum  navium  regens."  (Pliny,  lib.  v.,  c.  31.)  Its 
extraordinary  height,  which  some  authors  have  estimated 
at  500  feet  and  upwards,  procured  for  it  a  place  among  the 
wonders  of  the  world  :  and,  according  to  Josephus,  its 
"  beaming  summit"  could  be  seen  at  a  distance  of  UOO  stadia, 
about  4-2  British  miles.  It  is  said  to  have  cost  800  talents  : 
and  its  celebrity  was  such  that  Pharos  rapidly  became,  and 
still  continues  to  be,  in  many  countries  a  generic  term  equiv- 
alent to  lighthouse. 

The  most  celebrated  lighthouses  of  modern  times  are,  the 
Tour  de  Carduan,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Gironde.  in  France ; 
the  Eddystone  lighthouse,  opposite  to  Plymouth  Sound  ;  and 
that  more  recently  constructed  on  the  Bell  Rock,  opposite  to 
the  Frith  of  Tav.  The  first  of  these  was  begun  in  1 584,  and 
finished  in  1611.  It  is  186i  feet  (English)  in  height ;  and. 
besides  being  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  sailor  on  so 
dangerous  and  frequented  a  coast,  it  forms,  at  the  same  time, 
a  splendid  specimen  of  architectural  beauty.  The  Eddy- 
stone  lighthouse,  constructed  by  the  celebrated  engineer 
Smeaton,  was  completed  in  1759,  is  regarded  as  a  master- 
piece of  its  kind,  and,  as  has  well  been  observed,  bids  fair  to 
be  little  less  lasting  than  the  rocks  upon  which  it  stands. 
The  Bell  Rock  lighthouse  was  built  by  Mr.  Stevenson  on 
the  model  of  the  Eddystone.  Numerous  lighthouses,  mark- 
ing the  most  dangerous  points,  ami  the  entrance  to  the  prin 
cipal  harbours,  are  now  erected  in  most  civilized  maritime 
countries.  In  the  Baltic  and  tin  Sound  they  are  particu- 
larly abundant ;  the  Dutch  have  20  lights  on  their  coast 
and  in  the  Zuyder  Zee,  and  on  the  northern  and  western 
coasts  of  France  there  are  no  fewer  than  B9  excellent  lights. 
(The  Admiralty  has  lately  published  lists  of  all  these  lights.) 
But  the  coasts  id" no  country  are  so  well  provided  with  light- 
houses as  those  of  the  United  Kingdom.  For  England  they 
are  under  the  management  of  the  Brethren  of  the  Trinity 
House;  for  Ireland,  under  that  of  the  Board  for  the  Im- 
provement of  the  Port  of  Dublin  ;  and  for  Scotland,  under 
that  of  the  Commissioners  of  Northern  Lighthouse-  meeting 
al  Edinburgh.  It  would  swell  our  pages  to  too  great  an  ex- 
tent were  we  to  attempt  to  give  a  complete  list  of  the  vari- 
ous lighthouses  of  this  country  ;  we  must,  therefore,  beg  to 
refer  the  reader  to  the  Commercial  Dictionary  for  full  par- 
ticulars upon  this  subject,  and  shall  devote  what  remains  of 

our  limit-  to  a  \  lew  of  the  djflerenl  principles  adopted  in  the 

construction  of  their  important  machinery. 

The  ancient  mode  of  exhibiting  lights  as  beacons  to  the 
mariner  consisted  in  burning  wood  or  coal  in  a  chauffer  on 


LIGHTHOUSE. 


the  top  of  a  tower  ;  and  till  the  year  1807  the  Eddystone  light 
was  nothing  better  than  the  feeble  blaze  of  a  few  tallow 
candles,  without  any  apparatus  for  concentrating  the  light 
or  giving  it  any  particular  direction.  But  as  rays  of  light 
proceeding  from  a  luminous  focus  are  equally  dispersed  over 
the  surface  of  the  sphere  which  has  the  focus  for  its  centre, 
it  is  evident  that  without  some  means  of  giving  the  light  a 
horizontal  direction,  the  greater  part  of  it  must  be  wholly 
lost ;  for  only  those  rays  which  are  directed  in  the  plane  of 
the  horizon,  or,  at  least,  which  are  depressed  only  a  few 
degrees  below  it,  can  be  seen  by  a  ship  at  a  distance.  Hence 
the  first  object  to  be  attained  is  to  prevent  the  loss  of  light 
by  throwing  the  whole  of  it  forward  in  the  plane  of  the  ho- 
rizon, in  order  that  its  intensity  may  be  increased  in  the 
greatest  possible  degree.  Now  there  are  two  principles  on 
which  this  may  be  accomplished — reflection  and  refraction. 
The  object  is,  accordingly,  carried  into  effect  by  a  catoptric 
or  dioptric  apparatus.  Sometimes  both  principles  are  com- 
bined in  the  same  apparatus. 

Catoptric  System. — The  usual  mode  of  applying  the  ca- 
toptric principle  is  by  burning  an  Argand  lamp  in  the  focus 
of  a  parabolic  mirror.  This  mode  of  illumination  appears 
to  have  been  first  carried  into  effect  at  the  Carduan  light- 
house above-mentioned,  under  the  direction  of  Borda,  about 
the  year  1780.  A  few  years  later,  reflecting  mirrors  were 
placed  in  some  of  the  English  lighthouses,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Trinity  House ;  and  in  1786  the  principle  was 
adopted  in  the  only  two  beacons  then  existing  on  the  coast 
of  Scotland,  viz.,  the  Isle  of  May,  in  the  Frith  of  Forth,  and 
the  Cumbrae  Isle  in  the  Clyde.  Soon  afterwards  it  was 
adopted  generally  in  this  country.  Borda's  reflector  was 
fnmied  of  a  sheet  of  copper  plated  with  silver  ;  those  ap- 
plied in  Scotland  were  formed  of  small  facets  of  mirror- 
glass,  placed  in  hollow  parabolic  moulds  of  plaster.  The 
mirrors  in  general  use  in  the  British  lighthouses  at  the  pres- 
ent time  are  of  copper,  lined  with  silver  ;  the  focal  length  is 
about  3  or  4  inches,  and  the  diameter  at  the  outer  edge  about 
CI  inches. 

If  the  curvature  of  a  reflector  could  be  made  truly  para- 
bolic, and  if  the  light  issued  from  a  mathematical  point,  the 
rays  would  be  reflected  from  the  mirror  exactly  parallel  to 
the  axis  of  the  generating  curve,  and  the  beam  of  projected 
light  would  be  a  cylinder  having  a  diameter  equal  to  that 
of  the  mirror.  Such  a  form  of  the  beam  would  render  the 
light  nearly  useless,  on  account  of  the  small  portion  of  the 
horizon  which  would  be  illuminated ;  and  it  is  accordingly 
necessary  to  give  the  rays  a  certain  degree  of  divergence : 
this  is  practically  effected  by  the  size  of  the  flame.  The 
burner  of  the  lamp  is  usually  an  inch  in  diameter;  and  the 
origin  of  the  luminous  rays  being  thus  at  a  small  distance 
from  the  focus,  instead  of  being  reflected  parallel,  they  are 
projected  in  a  cone  having  a  divergence  of  about  14°.  The 
curvature  of  the  mirror  may  also  be  so  adjusted  as  to  in- 
crease the  divergence. 

In  order  to  produce  a  light  of  sufficient  intensity,  several 
parabolic  mirrors,  sometimes  as  many  as  eight,  are  placed 
on  a  frame,  with  their  axes  all  parallel  to  each  other,  so 
that  the  light  reflected  by  all  of  them  is  blended  together  in 
the  same  beam.  To  form  a  revolving  light,  the  frame  is  at- 
tached to  a  horizontal  axis,  which  is  turned  by  means  of 
clock  machinery ;  and  in  this  manner  the  different  quarters 
of  the  horizon  are  successively  illuminated.  But  as  a  rapid 
motion  would  be  inconvenient,  the  frame  has  usually  three 
or  four  sides,  on  each  of  which  the  same  number  of  mirrors 
and  lights  is  placed,  so  that  the  illumination  is  repeated 
three  or  four  times  in  one  revolution.  To  form  a  stationary 
light,  a  number  of  reflectors  are  placed  round  a  circular 
frame,  having  their  axes  on  the  radii  of  the  circle.  This  ar- 
rangement has  one  obvious  defect,  namely,  that  the  illumi- 
nation will  not  be  equally  intense  at  all  azimuths,  but 
strongest  in  the  direction  of  the  several  axes,  and  feeblest  in 
the  direction  of  lines  bisecting  the  several  angles  formed  by 
<-ach  pair  of  contiguous  axes.  The  defecfis  one  which  can- 
not be  entirely  remedied  in  a  stationary  light  on  the  catoptric 
principle. 

Dioptric  System. — The  introduction  of  lenses  for  the  pur- 
pose of  giving  the  light  a  horizontal  direction  is  of  recent 
date.  A  project  for  this  purpose  is,  indeed,  mentioned  by 
Smeaton  in  his  account  of  the  Eddystone  lighthouse,  and 
about  the  end  of  the  last  century  the  method  was  tried  at 
some  lighthouses  in  the  south  of  England ;  but  from  the 
imperfect  figure  of  the  lenses,  and  the  absorption  of  the  light 
caused  by  the  great  thickness  of  the  glass,  it  did  not  succeed. 
But  the  art  of  grinding  spherical  lenses  having  been  since 
brought  to  greater  perfection,  and  a  means  of  greatly  dimin- 
ishing the  absorption,  and  also  of  constructing  lenses  of  a 
much  greater  size,  having  been  found  in  the  use  of  polyzo- 
nal lenses  (that  is  to  say,  lenses  formed  of  several  pieces 
separately  prepared  and  afterward  united — see  Polyzonal 
Lens),  the  system  has  been  revived  of  late  years,  and  in 
many  instances  carried  successfully  into  execution.  The 
merit  of  first  applying  such  lenses  to  lighthouses  belongs  to 


the  late  Auguste  Fresnel,  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  of 
Paris.  The  annular  lenses,  constructed  under  the  direction 
of  Fresnel  for  the  principal  lighthouses  in  France,  are  plano- 
convex, having  a  focal  distance  of  about  3  feet ;  and  they 
are  formed  of  crown  glass,  as  being  less  liable  to  stria;  than 
flint-glass.  The  effective  divergence  of  the  cone  of  light 
projected  by  a  lens  is  generally  less  than  in  the  case  of  a 
paraboloidal  refractor,  being  only  about  5°  if.  As  the  lu- 
minous cone  is  formed  of  only  that  portion  of  the  light  which 
falls  on  the  surface  of  the  lens,  it  might  be  supposed  that  an 
apparatus  of  this  kind  would  be  far  inferior  in  its  effect  to  a 
parabolic  mirror ;  but  when  it  is  considered  that,  owing  to 
the  imperfections  of  the  form  and  polish  of  the  reflecting 
surface,  more  than  one  half  of  the  incident  light  is  lost  in 
every  case,  and  also  that  a  larger  and  more  intense  flame 
may  be  used  for  illuminating  the  lens  than  can  be  applied 
to  a  parabolic  reflector,  it  will  easily  appear  that  the  supe- 
riority may  be  on  the  side  of  the  lens.  In  fact,  a  lens  of  the 
largest  size  used  in  the  French  lighthouses  projects  a  cone 
of  equal  intensity  to  that  of  eight  mirrors  of  the  best  kind. 

The  construction  of  a  revolving  dioptric  apparatus  of  the 
first  order  is  usually  as  follows :  The  revolving  frame  which 
carries  the  principal  lenses  has  eight  sides  ;  and  there  are 
consequently  eight  large  lenses,  so  arranged  that  their  axes 
are  all  in  the  same  horizontal  plane,  and  meet  in  the  com- 
mon focus,  where  the  lamp  is  placed.  This  frame,  with  its 
lenses,  consequently  forms  an  octagonal  prism.  For  the 
purpose  of  preventing  the  loss  of  the  rays  which  fall  above 
and  below  the  principal  lenses,  various  methods  are  em- 
ployed. One  is  to  place  above  the  first  frame  a  second 
frame,  whose  sides  form  the  frustum  of  an  octagonal  pyra- 
mid of  50°  of  inclination,  in  each  of  the  sides  of  which  is 
placed  a  lens  having  its  focus  in  the  flame  of  the  lamp. 
The  rays  falling  on  these  inclined  lenses  are  refracted  into 
directions  parallel  to  the  axis  of  the  lens,  and  are  then  re- 
flected into  the  horizontal  direction  by  plane  mirrors  placed 
above  the  second  frame.  Another  method  is  to  place  curved 
reflectors  above  the  frame  containing  the  principal  lenses. 
But  a  third  and  still  more  elegant  method,  proposed  by  Fres- 
nel, is  to  substitute  for  the  upper  lenses  and  mirrors  a  series 
of  triangular  prisms,  having  their  axes  arranged  in  hori- 
zontal planes,  and  so  adjusted  that  the  light  falling  on 
the  face  next  the  flame  is  thrown  upon  the  back  of  the 
prism,  where  it  suffers  a  total  reflection ;  and  a  second  re- 
fraction at  the  third  side  of  the  prism  gives  it  the  horizontal 
direction. 

For  fixed  lights  on  the  dioptric  system,  it  is  necessary 
to  increase  the  number  of  the  lenses,  which  in  fact  ought 
to  be  infinite,  or  to  form  a  true  cylinder,  in  order  to  pro-  ' 
duce  an  equal  diffusion  over  every  point  of  the  horizon. 
In  some  of  the  French  lighthouses  the  refracting  appara- 
tus consists  of  a  polygonal  belt  of  32  lenses;  but  on  es- 
tablishing a  dioptric  apparatus  at  the  Isle  of  May  light- 
house, in  1836,  Mr.  Alan  Stevenson  proposed  to  form  a  true 
cylindric  belt ;  and  the  task,  though  attended  with  much 
difficulty,  was  successfully  executed  at  a  glass-house  in 
Newcastle. 

The  dioptric  system  is  peculiarly  adapted  for  fixed  lights ; 
and  its  advantages  are  these:  1.  A  light  of  equal  intensity 
is  distributed  round  every  point  of  the  horizon.  2.  The  con- 
sumption of  oil  is  less  for  the  same  intensity  of  light,  and 
consequently  the  expense  of  maintaining  the  light  is  less. 
3.  The  trouble  of  attending  it  is  less,  as  there  is  only  one  light 
to  trim,  and  the  lenses  are  easily  kept  in  order ;  whereas  the 
reflecting  surfaces  require  much  care  and  attention.  On 
the  other  hand  there  is  more  risk  from  accident ;  for  the  ac- 
cidental extinction  of  the  lamp  leaves  the  whole  horizon  in 
darkness ;  whereas  in  a  system  of  reflectors  the  light  would 
be  extinguished  over  only  a  small  portion  of  it. 

Fresnel  published  his  first  memoir  on  the  subject  in  1822  ; 
since  that  time  the  dioptric  system  has  been  generally 
adopted  for  all  the  principal  lighthouses  of  Fiance  and  Hol- 
land. In  this  country  it  has  been  applied  only  at  Inchkeith 
and  the  Isle  of  May  in  the  Frith  of  Forth,  and  at  the  Star 
Point  in  Devonshire. 

Lamps. — For  the  lights  on  the  catoptric  system  the  illu- 
mination is  usually  produced  by  an  Argand  fountain  lamp, 
having  a  burner  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  tipped  with 
silver,  in  order  that  it  may  the  better  withstand  the  effect  of 
the  heat  evolved.  In  the  dioptric  system  a  larger  flame  is 
requisite ;  and  Fresnel  invented  a  lamp  the  peculiarity  of 
which  consists  in  its  having  a  series  of  concentric  burners. 
For  lights  of  the  first  class  the  number  is  four ;  and  they  are 
protected  from  tire  effects  of  the  excessive  heat  by  a  super- 
abundant supply  of  oil,  which  is  thrown  up  from  a  cistern 
below  bv  a  clock-work  movement,  and  is  kept  constantly 
overflow'ing  the  wicks.  A  tall  chimney  is  necessary  to 
supply  a  sufficiency  of  air.  In  this  country  the  lamp  is  fed 
with  spermaceti  oil ;  in  France  the  oil  of  colza  (expressed 
from  the  seed  of  the  wild  cabbage)  is  used ;  and  in  some 
parts  of  the  Mediterranean  olive  oil ;  but  the  light  obtained 
from  this  is  comparatively  feeble.    In  a  few  instances  coal 


LIGHTNESS. 

gas  has  been  used  for  dioptric  lights.  All  attempts  to  apply 
the  Druinmond  light,  and  Voltaic  lights,  have  tailed  by  rea- 
son of  the  great  practical  difficulties  with  which  those 
modes  of  illumination  are  attended. 

Method  of  distinguishing  Sea  Lights. — An  object  of  great 
importance  in  the  establishment  of  lighthouses  is  tovaij 
the  appearances  of  the  different  lights,  so  that  each  may 

have  some  <lu  tinctive  character  by  which  it  may  be  readily 
recognised,  and  the  mariner  be  made  aware  of  the  part  of 
the  coast  he  is  approaching.  Aiming  the  methods  adopted 
fortius  purpose  are  the  following:    1.  The  interposition  of 

coloured  shades  before  the  lenses  of  refractors,  so  as  to  give 
a  particular  colour  to  the  light:  red  is  the  only  colour  which 
can  be  used,  as  shades  of  any  other  colour  are  found  to  ab- 
sorb too  much  light.  2.  The  time  of  revolution,  or  the 
length  of  the  interval  between  the  successive  appearances  of 
the  light:  this  is  the  only  mode  of  distinguishing  lights 
adopted  on  the  French  coasts.  3.  A  flashing  light ;  that 
is,  a  light  of  which  the  alternate  flashes  and  eclipses  succeed 
each  other  so  rapulU  as  to  give  the  appearance  of  a  succes- 
sion of  brilliant  scintillations.  -1.  An  intermittent  light, 
which  consists  of  a  lived  light  which  is  suddenly  eclipsed, 
and  after  a  stated  interval  as  suddenly  revealed  :  the  appear- 
ance of  this  light  is  entirely  different  from  that  of  any  re- 
volving light.  5.  The  exhibition  of  a  double  light,  which 
admits  of  other  distinctions ;  for  the  one  light  may  be  placed 
vertically  above  the  other,  or  in  the  same  horizontal  plane; 
or  one  may  be  white  and  the  other  red.  Sometimes  three 
lights  are  necessary  to  indicate  the  entrances  to  har- 
bours, &c. 

The  average  annual  expense  of  maintaining  a  land  light 
in  Great  Britain  is  about  .£500,  and  that  of  a  floating  light 
about  £1500. 

(Encyc.  Brit.,  art.  "Sea  Lights;"  Smeaton,  Narrative  of 
the  Eddystone  Lighthouse,  1793 ;  Stevenson's  Account  of 
the  Bell  Rock  Lighthouse,  1824 ;  Id.,  British  Pharos,  1831 ; 
Brewster's  Treatise  on  Burning  Instruments,  1812;  The 
Lighthouses  of  the  British  Islands,  1836;  Report  of  Select 
Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  on  Lighthouses,  1839 ; 
Report  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Northern  Lighthouses, 
by  A.  Stevenson,  1834  ;  and  on  the  Inchkeith  Dioptric  Light, 
1836;  Belidor,  Architecture  Hydrauliquc,  tome  iv. ;  Peclet, 
Traite  d'Eclairage,  Paris,  1827;  Fresnel.  Alemoire  sur  un 
Nouveau  Systeme  d' Eclairage  des  }'hnres,lS-2H;  A.  Fresnel, 
Description  Sommairc  des  Fhares  et  Fanaux  allumes  sur  les 
Cotes  dc  France,  1837,  &c.) 

LIGHTNESS.  (Teut.  leicht.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a  qual- 
ity indicating  freedom  from  weight  or  clumsiness. 

LI'GHTNING.  An  electric  phenomenon,  produced  by 
the  passage  of  electricity  between  one  cloud  and  another, 
or  between  a  cloud  and  the  earth. 

The  identity  of  lightning  with  electricity,  though  it  had 
been  previously  suspected,  was  first  directly  demonstrated 
by  the  celebrated  Dr.  Franklin,  in  the  year  1749,  by  the  ex- 
periment of  drawing  sparks  from  the  electric  kite.  Since  that 
time  the  science  of  electricity  has  been  greatly  advanced ; 
nevertheless,  the  cause  of  some  of  the  appearances  con- 
nected with  lightning  is  not  well  explained  even  at  the  pres- 
ent day. 

There  are  three  phenomena  in  particular  for  which  theory 
fails  satisfactorily  to  account.  The  first  is  the  form  of  the 
flash,  which  is  almost  always  zigzag,  in  broken  lines, 
making  a  greater  or  smaller  angle  with  each  other.  The 
second  is  the  frequent  repetition  of  the  flashes  from  the 
same  cloud,  which  often  follow  one  another  in  quick  suc- 
cession, contrary  to  what  takes  place  in  the  case  of  electric 
conductors,  which  generally  recover  their  natural  state  or 
discharge  the  whole  of  their  electricity  at  a  single  stroke. 
The  third  is  the  length  of  the  flash,  which  sometimes  ap- 
pears to  embrace  a  large  extent  of  the  sky.  This  phenome- 
non can  be  best  observed  from  the  tops  of  mountains  reach- 
ing above  the  clouds  from  which  the  lightning  proceeds; 
and  observers  in  such  circumstances  agree  in  stating  that 
they  have  seen  flashes  certainly  extending  several  miles  in 
length. 

The  zigzag  form  of  the  flashes  is  common  to  lightning 
and  the  electric  spark :  the  game  explanation  should  conse- 
quently apply  to  both;  but  this  the'  theory  has  not  yet  been 
able  to  give.  With  regard  to  the  second  phenomenon,  the 
repetition  of  the  flashes,  we  may  suppose  that  the  mass  of 
vapours  constituting  an  electric  i  loud  is  a  les- perfect  con- 
ductor of  electricity  than  metallic  substances;  and  without 

knowing  bow  electricity  is  distributed  and  arranged,  BO  as  to 
be  in  equilibrium  over  imperfect  conductors,  whose  sur 
faces,  as  in  the  case  of  the  cloud-,  often  extend  many  miles, 
it  is  easy  to  see  that  an  instantaneous  contact  with  the 
ground,  or  with  another  .substance  having  an  opposite  elec 
tricity,  would  not  be  sufficient  to  effect  a  complete  discharge  ; 
and  that,  consequently,  a  single  spars  would  not  restore  them 
to  their  natural  state.  Tin-  we  may  suppose  to  be  the  cause 
why  numerous  flashes  are  darted  from  the  same  cloud. 
With  respect  to  the  third  phenomenon,  the  great  length  of 
670 


LIGULA. 

the  flash  may  also  be  a  consequence  of  the  feeble  conduct- 
ing power  of  the  clouds,  and  of  the  mobility  of  their  con- 
stituent parts;  or  we  may  suppose  parcels  of  vapour  or  air, 
electrified  by  the  influences  of  two  clouds  charged  with  op- 
posite electricities,  to  be  scattered  at  very  small  intervals  be- 
tween the  clouds,  and  that,  at  a  given  instant,  the  equilibri- 
um is  destroyed,  without  a  transference  of  the  electricity 
of  the  one  cloud  to  the  other,  but  merely  from  parcel  to 
parcel,  along  the  whole  extent  of  the  line  in  which  lite  flash 
appears. 
The  theory  of  an  electric  fluid,  and  the  well-ascertained 

-  in  the  conducting  power  of  different  substances. 
Suggested  the  idea  of  protecting  buildings  from  the  destruct- 

-  of  lightning  by  metallic  rods.  It  has  been  dis- 
puted whether  conductors  ever  have  been  or  can  be  of  use 
in  any  case;  and  the  question  will  not  probably  be  satisfac- 
torily answered  until  the  cause  and  nature  oi'  electric  action 
are  better  understood.     See  Electricity,  Tiwndbr. 

LIGHT-ROOM.  A  small  room  from  which  the  light  is 
afforded  to  the  powder  magazine  of  a  ship. 

LIGHTS,  NORTHERN.     See  Aurora  Bore.u-is. 

LI'GNEOUS.  (Lat.  lignum,  wood.)  In  Entomology,  a 
part  is  so  called  when  it  is  composed  of  a  hard  inelastic 
substance  like  wood. 

LI'GNIN.  (Lat.  lignum.)  The  woody  fibre.  This  most 
important  proximate  principle  of  vegetables  exhibits  itself  in 
a  variety  of  forms,  constituting  the  different  textures  of  hard 
and  soft  wood  ;  and  various  fibrous  products,  such  as  hemp, 
flax,  cotton,  &c.  When  by  fine  mechanical  division  it  is 
reduced  to  a  pulpy  state,  it  is  formed  into  paper.  When,  by 
different  reagents,  all  the  soluble  matters  are  extracted  from 
wood,  the  insoluble  residue  is  lignin:  its  ultimate  compo- 
nents are  charcoal,  oxygen,  and  hydrogen,  the  latter  ele- 
ments being  in  the  same  ratio  as  in  water ;  so  that  wood 
may  be  considered  as  a  compound  of  carbon  and  water, 
and,  according  to  Dr.  Prout's  experiments,  almost  exactly  in 
equal  weights.  Lignin  is  very  imperishable  ;  but  under  cer- 
tain circumstances  it  is  attacked  by  dry  rot,  arising  out  of  the 
growth  of  a  parasitic  fungus,  which  causes  its  rapid  decay. 
Damp  timber,  in  situations  where  air  has  not  free  access, 
is  particularly  subject  to  its  attacks;  and  when  once  it  has 
made  its  appearance,  the  well-seasoned  limber  in  its  neigh- 
bourhood becomes  liable  to  the  same  disease.  The  dry  rot 
may  be  prevented  by  impregnating  the  timber  with  certain 
saline  solutions,  and  of  these  a  solution  of  corrosive  subli- 
mate has  been  found  most  effectual :  the  chloride  combines 
Chemically  with  the  lignin,  and  the  compound  is  very  inde- 
structible. (.See  Dry  Rot.)  Lignin  has  also  a  strong  at- 
traction for  alumine ;  and  hence  linen,  cotton,  paper,  and 
other  forms  of  this  fibre,  may  be  aluminized  by  steeping  them 
in  hydrated  alumine  diffused  through  water ;  or,  more  effec- 
tively, by  soaking  them  in  certain  aluminous  solutions,  (Irv- 
ing them,  and  afterwards  washing  out  the  excess  of  the 
salt.  It  is  in  this  way  that  cotton  goods  are  impregnated 
with  alumine  for  the  purpose  of  dyeing  and  calico  printing. 
Other  metallic  oxides  exhibit  similar  attractive  powers,  es- 
pecially the  oxide  of  iron. 

The  analogy  that  exists  between  the  composition  of  sugar, 
gum,  starch,  and  even  vinegar  and  lignin,  suggests  the  possi- 
bility of  the  conversion  of  those  proximate  elements  into 
each  other ;  and  it  has  accordingly  been  found  that  by  care- 
fully roasting  pure  and  fine  sawdust,  it  is  rendered  partially 
soluble  in  water,  and  that  a  part  of  it  is  converted  into  a  nu- 
tritious substance,  probably  intermediate  between  sugar  and 
starch;  and  which,  when  mixed  with  a  little  flower,  yields 
a  palatabe  bread,  not  very  unlike  that  made  by  some  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  northern  parts  of  Europe  of  the  bark  of 
trees.  Mixed  with  sulphuric  acid,  lignin  passes  into  gum  ; 
and  from  this  sugar  may  be  obtained  by  boiling  it  lor  some 
hours  in  a  very  dilute  sulphuric  acid  :  this  sugar,  when  pu- 
rified, much  resembles  grape  OT  honey  sugar.  By  this  pro- 
cess rags  may  be  converted  into  nearly  their  own  weight  of 
this  peculiar  saccharine  matter. 

The  production  of  vinegar  by  the  destructive  distillation  of 
wood  was  originally  suggested,  about  the  middle  of  the  17th 
century,  by  Glauber,  a  celebrated  German  chemist  of  that 
time:  it  has  lately  become  a  very  Important  branch  of  man- 
ufacture in  this  country.  Upon  the  whole,  there  are  very 
few  natural  products  equally  important  with  lignin  in  their 
applications  to  the  useful  and  ornamental  arts. 

LKjNIP'ERDOUS.  (Lat.  lignum,  and  perdo,  I  destroy.) 
Insects  whicb  destroy  wood. 

LI'GNlTE.  (Lat  lignum,  .and  ignis,  fire.)  Wood  con- 
verted into  a  kind  of  coal. 

LI'GULA.  (Lat  a  tie.)  In  Botany,  a  membranous  np 
pendage  at  the  apex  of  the  sheathing  petiole  of  grasses,  and 
analagous  to  the  corona  of  some  SUenaceous  plants.  The 
term  ligula  is  also  applied  to  certain  bodies  proceeding  from 
the  base,  and  alternate  with  the  boms,  of  tile  organ  called 
the  orbieulus  in  Asclepiadaceous  plants. 

Li'giji.a.  In  Entomology,  a  name  appled  by  Latriclle  to 
the  lower  lip  of  insects,  or  lalrrum  of  English  entomologists. 


LIGURITE. 

LI'GURITE.  A  mineral  found  in  a  talc  rock  on  the 
banks  of  the  Stura  in  the  Apennines ;  it  occurs  in  yellow- 
green  crystals,  and,  as  a  gem,  resembles  the  chrysolite. 

LLLIA'CEtE.  A  large  natural  order  of  Endogenous 
plants,  with  hexapetaloid  hexandrous  flowers,  a  superior 
ovary,  and  anthers  which  burst  internally.  They  are  fa- 
miliarly known,  in  consequence  of  the  asparagus,  the  lily, 
the  fritillary,  the  harebell,  the  star  of  Bethlehem,  and  many 
other  common  plants,  forming  a  part  of  the  order ;  which 
differs  from  Melanthacea  in  having  a  single  style,  not  three 
styles,  and  in  the  anthers  opening  towards  the  style,  not  to- 
wards the  petals.  The  species  are  extremely  varied :  some, 
like  the  dragon  trees,  form  a  tall,  woody,  perennial  stem, 
which  emulates  that  of  palm  trees;  others  are  small  bul- 
bous plants,  whose  stem  only  lives  a  few  weeks.  Almost 
all  the  order  is  sought  after  by  the  cultivator  of  beautiful 
plants ;  and,  in  the  case  of  the  tulip  and  the  hyacinth,  innu- 
merable varieties  constitute  the  riches  of  the  florist.  It  is  the 
general  property  of  Liliaceous  plants  to  secrete  a  little  stim- 
ulating principle,  which,  in  different  degrees  of  concentra- 
tion and  modification,  gives  their  activity  to  onions,  garlic, 
chives,  and  similar  garden  productions,  and  their  medical 
value  to  aloes  and  squills. 

LILIA'CEOUS.  In  Botany,  a  term  invented  by  Link  to 
denote  a  corolla,  the  petals  of  which  have  their  ungues 
gradually  dilating  into  a  limb,  and  standing  side  by  side.  It 
is  rarely  employed. 

LI'MA.  (Lat.  a  file.)  A  genus  of  Lamellibranchiate 
Bivalves,  of  the  tribe  Ostracea,  characterized  by  the  length 
of  their  shells  as  compared  with  those  of  the  nearly  allied 
genus  Pecten,  and  their  more  regular  oval  form.  The 
ridges  of  the  shell  are  most  of  them  relieved  with  scales. 
The  Lima  swim  with  rapidity  by  means  of  their  valves, 
but  in  a  young  state  they  secure  themselves  by  means  of 
a  byssus. 

LIMA'CID^E.    See  Limax. 

LI'AIACI'NA.  (Lat.  dim.  of  limax,  a  slug.)  A  genus  of 
Testaceous  Pteropodous  Mollusks,  existing  in  considerable 
numbers  in  the  northern  seas,  and  forming,  with  the  Clio 
borealis,  and  other  small  marine  animals,  the  food  of  the 
whalebone  whale.  The  body  terminates  in  a  spirally  con- 
voluted tail,  and  is  lodged  in  a  very  thin  shell,  formed  by 
one  whorl  and  a  half,  umbilicated  on  one  side,  and  flattened 
on  the  other.  The  animal  uses  its  light  shell  as  a  boat,  and 
;ts  wing-like  fins  as  oars,  and  thus  navigates,  in  countless 
fleets,  the  surface  of  the  tranquil  deep. 

LI'MAX.  (Lat.  limax,  a  slug.)  The  name  of  a  genus  of 
the  Linnrean  Vermes  Mollusca,  of  which  the  common  slug 
is  the  type.  The  genus  enters  into  the  class  Gasteropoda 
and  order  Pulmonaria  of  the  system  pf  Cuvier,  and  is  now 
raised  to  the  rank  of  a  family  (Limacidm)  which  includes 
Limax  proper ;  Arion,  Fer. ;  Stenopus,  Guild. ;  Vaginulus, 
Fer. ;  Testacrlla,  Lara. ;  Parmacella,  Cuv.,  &c.  Each  of 
these  genera  has  a  small  scutiforni  rudiinental  shell  de- 
veloped in  the  substance  of  the  mantle,  and  protecting  the 
heart.  The  orifice  of  respiration  in  the  true  slugs  (Limax, 
Cuv.)  is  on  the  right  side,  and  not  so  far  forward  as  in  Arion. 
The  rudiinental  shell  is  marked  with  fine  and  concentric 
stria?,  and  is  calcified  internally.  The  species  of  this  genus 
are  the  pests  of  gardens  and  cultivated  grounds.  Young 
plants  may  be  protected  from  slugs  by  having  a  coarse  horse- 
hair rope  coiled  round  their  stems,  or  by  being  plentifully 
sprinkled  with  soot;  or  they  may  be  watered  morning  and 
evening  with  strong  and  fresh  lime  water. 

LIMB.  In  Astronomy,  signifies  the  border  or  outermost 
pdge  of  the  sun  or  moon.  Also  the  graduated  edge  of  a 
circle,  or  other  astronomical  instrument. 

LI'MBERS.  In  Artillery,  a  sort  of  advanced  train  to 
which  the  carriage  of  a  cannon  is  attached  on  a  march.  It 
is  composed  of  two  shafts,  wide  enough  apart  to  receive  a 
horse  between  them,  joined  by  two  bars  of  wood  and 
mounted  on  a  pair  of  wheels. 

LI'MBO.  (Lat.  limbus,  a  hem  or  edge.)  A  region  sup- 
posed by  some  of  the  school  theologians  to  lie  on  the  edge 
or  neighbourhood  of  hell.  This  served  as  a  receptacle  for 
the  souls  of  just  men,  not  admitted  into  purgatory  or  heaven. 
Such  were,  according  to  some  Christian  writers,  the  patri- 
archs and  oilier  pious  ancients  who  died  before  the  birth 
of  Christ:  hence  the  limbo  was  called  Limbus  Patrum. 
These,  it  was  believed,  would  be  liberated  at  Christ's  sec- 
ond coming,  and  admitted  to  the  privileges  of  the  blessed 
in  heaven.  Though  some  have  asserted  that,  when  our 
Saviour  went  down  into  hell,  he  liberated  these  souls,  and 
carried  them  away  with  him  into  heaven.  This  latter  idea 
is  probably  an  adorned  representation  of  the  remarkable 
passage  in  St.  Peter's  Epistle  (i.,  3,  19),  where  he  says  that 
Christ  preached  to  the  spirits  in  prison ;  and,  being  held  by 
certain  of  the  later  fathers,  seems  to  have  given  some  influ- 
ence to  the  growing  opinion  in  favour  of  a  purgatory.  The 
limbus  puerorum,  or  infantum,  was  a  similar  receptacle  al- 
lotted by  some  of  the  schoolmen  to  the  souls  of  infants  who 
die  unbaptized.    Dante  has  fixed  his  limbo,  in  which  the 


LIME. 

distinguished  spirits  of  antiquity  are  confined,  as  the  outer- 
most of  the  circle  of  his  hell.  The  use  which  Milton  has 
made  of  the  same  superstitious  belief  is  well  known.  (Par 
adisc  Lost,  book  iii.) 

LI'MBUS.  A  term  applied  to  petals,  to  denote  that  por 
tion  which  is  supported  by  the  unguis;  it  is  the  same  organ 
in  a  petal  as  the  lamina  in  a  leaf,  and  is  what  constitutes 
the  broad,  thin,  coloured  part  which  renders  many  flowers 
so  beautiful. 

LIME.  (Germ,  leim,  glue.)  This  very  useful  earth  is 
obtained  by  exposing  chalk  and  other  kinds  of  limestone,  or 
carbonates  of  lime,  to  a  red  heat — an  operation  generally 
conducted  in  kilns  constructed  for  the  purpose ;  the  carbonic 
acid  is  thus  expelled,  and  lime,  more  or  less  pure,  according 
to  the  original  quality  of  the  limestone,  remains.  In  this 
state  it  is  usually  called  quicklime.  When  sprinkled  with 
water  it  becomes  very  hot,  and  crumbles  down  into  a  dry 
powder,  called  slaked  lime,  or  hydrate  of  lime.  When  ex- 
posed for  some  weeks  to  the  air  it  also  falls  into  powder,  in 
consequence  of  the  absorption  of  moisture,  and  of  a  portion 
of  carbonic  acid ;  so  that,  in  this  case,  part  of  the  lime  grad- 
ually reverts  to  the  state  of  carbonate,  and  loses  its  caus- 
ticity. Pure  lime  may  be  obtained  by  heating  powdered 
Carrara  marble  to  whiteness  in  an  open  crucible.  It  is 
white,  very  fusible,  highly  luminous  when  heated  to  full 
redness,  and  of  a  specific  gravity  of  about 23.  It  requires 
for  solution  about  500  parts  of  water,  and  is  somewhat 
more  soluble  in  cold  than  in  hot  water.  But,  weak  as  this 
solution  is,  it  acts  powerfully  alkaline  upon  vegetable  col- 
ours, and  has  an  acrid  taste ;  hence  the  term  alkaline  earth 
applied  to  lime.  It  absorbs  carbonic  acid  by  exposure  to  air, 
and  as  carbonate  of  lime  is  insoluble  in  water,  it  becomes 
milky  in  consequence ;  so  that,  from  this  property,  lime- 
water  is  a  useful  test  of  the  presence  of  carbonic  acid. 
The  nature  of  lime  was  first  demonstrated  by  Llavy  in  1807 : 
he  showed  that,  like  the  other  alkalies,  it  was  a  metallic 
oxide.  The  metallic  base  of  lime  has  been  termed  calcium : 
its  equivalent  is  20,  and  lime,  being  a  compound  of  one  atom 
of  calcium,  and  one  of  oxygen,  is  represented  by  the  equiv- 
alent number  28 ;  and  hydrate  of  lime  by  28  lime-)- 9  water 
=  37.  The  salts  of  lime  are  generally  obtained  by  dissolv- 
ing carbonate  of  lime  in  the  respective  acids :  several  of  them 
exist  native.  Sulphate  of  lime,  selenite,  or  gypsum,  is  an 
abundant  natural  product,  and  may  be  formed  artificially 
by  adding  sulphuric  acid,  or  the  soluble  sulphates,  to  so- 
lutions of  the  salts  of  lime.  It  consists  of  28  lime  +  40  sul- 
phuric acid,  and  its  crystals  include  two  atoms  =  18  of  water. 
When  these  crystallized  sulphates  of  lime  are  heated,  they 
part  with  their  water  and  fall  into  a  white  powder,  called 
plaster  of  Paris;  when  this  is  mixed  with  water  it  again 
combines  with  it,  and  concretes  into  a  white  mass ;  hence 
its  use  for  casts,  busts,  &c.  Sulphate  of  lime  is  often  con- 
tained in  spring  water,  which  is  thus  rendered  hard  and  un- 
fit for  washing.  These  waters  become  turbid  upon  the  ad- 
dition of  a  spirituous  solution  of  soap.  Phosphate  of  lime 
is  found  native,  constituting  the  mineral  called  apatite :  this 
is  a  subphosphate,  composed  of  3  equivalents  of  lime  =  84, 
and  2  of  phosphoric  acid  =  72.  The  earth  of  bones  is  also 
chiefly  a  similar  phosphate  of  lime.  Oxalate  of  lime  is  very 
insoluble,  and  is  precipitated  whenever  oxalic  acid  or  a  so- 
lution of  oxalate  is  added  to  solutions  containing  lime;  hence 
it  is  that  oxalate  of  ammonia  is  so  valuable  a  test  of  the 
presence  of  lime,  and  is  frequently  used  for  the  purpose  of 
separating  lime  in  analysis.  When  oxalate  of  lime  is  well 
dried,  at  500°,  it  is  anhydrous,  and  consists  of  28  lime  -f-  36 
oxalic  acid  =  64  oxalate  of  lime.  This  substance  is  occasion- 
ally found  in  the  human  urine,  and  sometimes  forms  calculi : 
these  are  often  of  a  reddish  brown  colour  and  a  rougli  ex- 
terior, whence  they  have  been  termed  mulberry  calculi. 
When  hydrate  of  lime  is  exposed  to  chlorine,  the  gas  is  ab- 
sorbed, and  a  chloride  of  lime  is  obtained.  This  article  is 
manufactured  upon  an  extensive  scale,  under  the  name  of 
bleaching  powder.  It  evolves  chlorine  when  acted  upon  by 
acids ;  and  gives  it  out  very  slowly  when  exposed  to  air,  in 
consequence,  probably,  of  the  absorption  of  carbonic  acid. 
It  is  a  most  useful  disinfecting  material,  and,  when  dissolved 
in  water,  forms  bleaching  liquid.  Carbonate  of  lime  is 
thrown  down  when  alkaline  carbonates  are  added  to  solu- 
tions of  the  salts  of  lime.  It  is  a  most  abundant  natural 
product,  and  is  found  pure  in  the  varieties  of  calcareous 
spar  and  statuary  marble.  Chalk  and  several  varieties  of 
•imestone  are  also  nearly  pure  carbonates  of  lime.  It  is 
easily  distinguished  from  other  minerals  by  effervescing  in 
dilute  muriatic  acid,  and  by  yielding  quicklime  when  a  frag- 
ment is  heated  before  the  blowpipe.  It  is  constituted  of  28 
lime-j-22  carbonic  acid;  the  equivalent,  therefore,  of  car- 
bonate of  lime  is  50. 

The  uses  of  lime  are  very  numerous.  Its  most  important 
application  is  in  the  manufacture  of  mortar  and  other  ce- 
ments used  In  building.  It  is  also  very  extensively  used  in 
this  country,  and  in  some  parts  of  the  Continent  and  North 
America,  as  a  manure  to  fertilize  land.    But  it  is  a  curious 

671 


LIMESTONE. 

fact  that  the  use  of  lime  as  a  manure  is  entirely  a  European 
practice,  Lte  employment  in  this  wa\  having  been  never  so 

much  as  dreamed  of  by  the  natives  of  Asia  or  Africa.    (See 
Commercial  Diet.) 

LTMESTONE.  A  generic  term  for  those  varieties  of 
carbonate  of  lime  which  are  neither  crystallized  nor  earthy  ; 
the  former  being  calcareous  spar,  the  latter  chalk.  When 
burned  they  yield  a  quicklime.    See  Geology. 

I.I'M  IT,  in  Geometry,  denotes  a  given  or  determinate 
quantity  lo  which  some  other  variable  quantity  continually 
approaches  in  value.  Imt  which  it  can  never  exceed.  Thus, 
if  we  suppose  a  polygon  to  be  inscribed  in  a  circle,  by  in- 
creasing the  number  of  sides  of  the  polygon  its  area  is 
increased.  But  the  area  can  never  exceed  that  of  the  circle 
within  which  the  polygon  is  inscribed ;  and  it  is  only  when 
the  number  of  its  sides  is  conceived  to  be  infinitely  great 
that  its  area  becomes  equal  to  that  of  the  circle.  The  cir- 
cle is  thus  said  to  be  the  limit  of  the  areas  of  the  inscribed 
polygon. 

Method  of  Limits,  the  same  with  the  method  of  prime 
and  ultimate  ratios ;  a  peculiar  method  of  analysis  em- 
ployed by  Newton  in  the  Principia,  equivalent  to  fluxions 
or  the  diferential  calculus,  but  preserving  the  form  of  the 
ancient  geometry. 

LIMITATION  OF  ACTIONS  AT  LAW.  The  period 
beyond  which  personal  actions  of  trespass,  or  debt  on  simple 
contract,  cannot  be  brought  is  defined  by  the  stat.  21  J.  1,  c. 
16.  They  must  be  commenced  within  six  years  after  the 
cause  of  action  ;  with  the  exception  of  actions  of  assault, 
menace,  and  imprisonment,  which  are  limited  to  four.  But 
a  right  of  action  may  be  revived  by  an  express  acknowledg- 
ment on  the  part  of  the  debtor. 

Penal  actions  for  forfeitures  made  by  statute  must  he  sued 
in  general,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  statutes,  within  two 
years  or  one  year. 

By  the  recent  statute  3  &  4  W.  4,  c.  27,  all  process  for  the 
recovery  of  land  by  entry  and  distress,  or  by  action,  whether 
real  or  mixed,  must  be  commenced  within  twenty  years 
after  the  right  of  action  accrued.  Persons  under  the  disa- 
bilities of  infancy,  coverture,  idiotcy,  lunacy,  unsoundness 
of  mind,  or  absence  beyond  seas,  are  allowed  ten  years  after 
the  termination  of  their  disability;  so  that  forty  years  be  in 
all  cases  the  extreme  limit.  This  statute  extends  both  to 
suits  in  equity  and  actions  at  law.  No  advowson  can  be 
recovered  afier  one  hundred  years.  Money  charged  upon 
land,  and  legacies,  are  deemed  satisfied  at  the  end  of  twenty 
years,  unless  there  have  been  some  receipt  or  acknowledg- 
ment. Arrears  of  rent,  or  interest  of  money  charged  on  land, 
cannot  be  recovered  after  six  years.  lint  it  has  been  thought 
that  this  limitation  has  been  extended  by  the  subsequent 
statute  3  &  4  W.  4,  c.  42,  which  enacts  that  actions  of  cove- 
nant and  debt  for  rent,  &c,  may  be  brought  at  any  time 
within  twenty  years  after  the  cause  of  action  has  accrued. 

The  statutes  of  limitations  apply  to  equitable  remedies 
directly,  and  by  the  plain  import  of  the  statutes,  where  the 
equitable  remedy  is  sought  (as  it  may  be  in  some  cases)  for 
a  right  enforceable  at  law  ;  and  they  have  been  adopted  by 
analogy  in  those  cases  where  a  purely  equitable  right  is  the 
counterpart  of  a  legal  one,  as  the  right  to  mesne  profits  in 
respect  of  an  equitable  ownership,  or  a  debt  payable  in 
equity  but  not  in  law.  Where  there  is  not  this  strict  cor- 
respondence between  the  equitable  and  legal  claims,  the 
rule  prevails  that  twenty  years'  adverse  possession,  which 
is  in  law  a  bar  to  the  possessory  action  for  land,  shall  be  a 
bar  to  all  equitable  claim,  whether  the  adverse  right  be 
merely  equitable  also  or  equitable  and  legal ;  such  period 
of  limitation  being,  as  al  law,  capable  of  extension  from  in- 
fancy, absence,  or  disability.  But  time  is  not  a  bar  to  the 
claim  of  cestui  que  trust  against  his  trustee,  where  the  trus- 
teeship was  in  the  origin  direct  and  express,  and  not  coupled 
with  any  beneficial  interest,  as  it  is  in  the  case  of  a  mortgage  ; 
nor  does  a  purchaser,  with  notice  from  a  trustee,  stand  in  a 
better  situation  in  respect  to  time  than  the  trustee  himself. 

LI'MNEUS.  (GT.Xiuin,  apool.)  A  genus  of  fresh-water 
snails;  so  named  from  their  general  location  in  ponds, 
ditches,  and  other  receptacles  of  stagnant  water.  Many 
species  of  this  u'euus  are  natives  of  Britain. 

LI'MNING.  The  art  of  painting  in  water  colours;  in 
which  sense  it  is  used  to  distinguish  it  from  painting  in  oil 
colours. 

LIMO'SA.  (Let  limus,  mud.)  A  genus  of  wading  birds, 
belonging  lo  the  Longiroatnu  tribe;  and  characterized  by 
a  straight  beak,  longer  than  that  of  the  snipes  (Scolopax), 
and  sometimes  slightly  bent  at  the  extremity  ;  the  nasal 
groove  extends  close  to  the  tip,  which  is  blunt  and  some- 
what depressed  ;  there  is  no  third  groove  or  pnnctation  on 
its  surface     The  external  toes  are  pnlrainated  at  the  base : 

they  are  longer  and  -l<  nderer  than  in  the  Snipes.  The  spe 
eies  of  Ldmoaa  which,  with  us,  are  vernacularly  termed 
Godwits.  frequent  salt  marshes  and  the  sea  sbori 

LTMULUS.     (Let  limus.)     A  genus  of  gigantic   Ento- 
mostracous  Crustacea,  in  which  the  haunches  of  the  first 
672 


LINEN. 

six  pairs  of  feet  are  beset  with  small  spines,  and  are  so 
closely  approximated  about  the  mouth  as  to  serve  the  office 
of  jaws.  The  resophagUS,  instead  of  proceeding  backwards, 
is  continued  forwards  for  a  short  distance  into  the  unterior 
part  of  the  shield  before  it  enters  the  stomach  :  this  cavity 
is  lined  with  a  thick  rugous  cuticle,  and  terminates  in  the 
intestine  by  a  long  muscular  and  valvular  projection.  The 
heart  is  elongated,  vasiform,  and  muscular;  the  branchiee 
are  supported  on  a  series  of  closely-packed  broad  plates 
beneath  the  post  abdomen.  The  total  number  of  feel  is 
twenty-two:  the  first  ten,  with  the  exception  of  the  two 
anterior  ones  in  the  males  of  some  species,  are  terminated 
by  a  didactyle  forceps,  and  are  inserted,  with  the  two  fol- 
low ing  pairs,  beneath  a  large  semilunar  shield.  The  species 
of  this  genus  are  found  on  the  shores  of  the  North  American 
and  Asiatic  continents:  they  are  commonly  known  by  the 
names  of  king  crabs,  horse-shoe  or  mollusca  crabs.  The 
tail  is  long,  straight,  sharp-pointed,  and  of  sufficient  strength 
and  size  to  be  used  as  a  spear-head  or  arrow-point  by  savages. 

LINA'CE./E.  (Linum,  one  of  the  genera.)  A  small 
natural  order  of  herbaceous  Exogens,  principally  inhabiting 
Europe  and  the  north  of  Africa ;  allied,  according  to  De 
Candolle,  to  Silenacem,  Malvaceae,  and  Geraniaeea.  Aug. 
de  St.  1  lila ire  considers  them  to  be  a  mere  section  of  Oera- 
niacca.  The  want  of  a  gynobasic  structure,  the  imbricate 
calyx,  the  regular  flowers,  and  the  small  quantity  of  albu- 
men in  the  seeds,  rather  point  out  an  affinity  with  Cistaccos 
and  its  allies.  Their  chief  characters  are.  the  tenacity  of 
their  fibre,  the  mucilage  of  their  seeds,  and  the  beauty  of 
their  flowers.  Common  flax  or  lin  (whence  linseed)  is  the 
most  important  plant  of  the  order. 

LINE,  in  Military  Affairs,  is  a  term  used  to  distinguish 
what  may  be  called  the  regular  infantry  of  Great  Britain 
from  other  military  corps  or  establishments.  Thus  all  num- 
bered infantry  or  marching  regiments,  with  the  exception  of 
the  Foot  Guards,  are  designated  by  this  term,  in  opposition 
to  the  cavalry,  the  artillery,  the  engineers,  the  marines,  the 
militia,  the  yeomanry,  &c. 

Line,  in  Fortification,  signifies  any  extended  defence  ;  as 
a  ditch  with  its  parapet,  a  row  of  gabions,  &c. 

Line,  in  Geography  and  Navigation,  is  used  for  the  equa-     t 
tor ;  as  equinoctial  line.  ' 

Line.  In  Geometry,  a  magnitude  having  only  one  dimen- 
sion. Euclid  defines  it  to  be  "  that  which  has  length  without 
breadth." 

LI'NEAR.  In  Geometry,  a  linear  problem  is  one  that  is 
solved  by  the  intersection  of  two  straight  lines,  or  by  an 
etpiation  of  the  first  degree,  and  which,  consequently,  admits 
only  of  a  single  solution. 

Linear  Equations,  hi  the  Integral  Calculus,  are  those  in 
which  the,  unknown  quantity  is  only  of  the  first  degree. 
Thus  A  x  -f-  B  =  O  is  a  linear  equation,  if  A  and  B  are  not 
functions  of  x;  and  Arfy  +  By-f  C=0  is  also  a  linear 
equation,  when  A,  B,  and  C  do  not  contain  y. 

JAnear  Perspective  is  that  which  regards  only  the  posi- 
tions, magnitudes,  and  forms  of  the  objects  delineated ;  as 
distinguished  from  aerial  perspective,  in  which  the  variations 
of  the  light  colour,  and  shade  of  objects,  according  to  their 
different  distances  and  the  quantity  of  light  that  falls  on 
them,  are  also  considered  and  represented. 

LINEN.  (Germ,  leinwand.)  A  species  of  cloth  woven 
with  the  fibres  of  the  flax  plant  (Linum  vsitatissirnum). 
The  origin  of  the  manufacture  of  linen  is  lost  in  its  antiquity. 
In  the  lime  of  Herodotus  linen  was  an  article  of  export  from 
Egypt  where  it  had  been  used  from  time  immemorial ;  but 
it  is  evident  tiiat  in  ancient  times  its  use  was  limited  to  the 
noble  and  the  rich.  In  modern  times  linen  constitutes  a 
staple  manufacture  in  almost  all  European  countries;  but 
more  especially  in  Germany,  Russia,  Switzerland,  Flanders, 
England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland.  In  England  it  has  been 
prosecuted  for  a  very  long  period  :  but  until  of  late  years  its 
progress  has  been  inconsiderable,  compared  at  least  with 
that  made  in  other  branches  of  manufacture,  This  seems 
to  be  partly  owing  to  the  attempts  to  bolster  up  and  eneour- 
age  the  manufacture  in  Ireland,  partly  to  the  absurd  restric- 
iions  that  were  for  a  lengthened  period  laid  on  the  importa- 
tion of  foreign  tin  s  and  lump,  and  partly  to  the  rapid  growth 
of  the  cotton  maniifactiiri — fabrics  of  cotton  having,  to  a 
considerable  extent,  superseded  those  of  linen.  It  is  only 
within  the  last  fiftj  years  that  any  machinery  has  been  used 
in  the  production  of  linen  cloth- the  first  mills  for  the  spin- 
ning of  flax  having  been  constructed  at  Darlington  about 
fbrty-eighl  yean  ago.  (.Set  Flax,  Hemp.)  The  principal 
seal  of  the  manufacture  is — in  England,  Leeds  and  its  im- 
mediate vicinity,  and  in  Lancashire,  Dorset,  Durham,  and 
Salop;  in  Scotland,  Dundee,  which  indeed  may  be  regarded 
chief  seat  of  the  British  manufacture  (see  Oeo.  Diet., 
art.  "Dundee");  and  in  Ireland,  the  province  of  Mister. 
The  entire  value  of  the  linen  manufacture  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland  is  estimated  at  X8.000.000,  and  the  tolal  number 
of  persons  employed  in  it  about  185,000.  (Statist,  of  tlte 
Brit.  Empire,  vol.  i.,  679.) 


LINE  OP  BATTLE* 

LINE  OF  BATTLE,  is  the  line  formed  by  the  ships  of 
the  fleet  when  ranged  ahead  and  astern  of  each  other,  at 
equal  distances,  and  close-hauled,  or  nearly  so.  It  may  be 
formed,  accordingly,  upon  either  tack.  The  line  is  composed 
of  ships  of  not  less  than  two  decks,  thence  called  Une-of- 
battle-ships.    The  line  is  also  called  the  line  ahead. 

LINE  OF  BEARING,  THE,  is  formed  by  the  ships  of 
the  fleet  when  ranged  on  a  line  six  points  from  the  wind,  at 
equal  distances,  and  with  their  heads  in  any  direction  what- 
ever. The  line  is  called  by  the  name  of  that  tack  upon 
which,  if  the  ships  were  to  haul  to  the  wind  together,  they 
would  form  the  line  ahead.  For  example :  suppose  the 
wind  N.,  and  the  ships  in  a  line  W.N.W.  and  E.S.E.  of 
each  other:  this  is  the  starbeard  line  of  bearing,  whether 
the  ships  are  going  free,  or  close-hauled  upon  the  larboard 
tack. 

LINE  OF  DIP.  In  Geology,  the  strata  which  form  the 
crust  of  the  globe  are  rarely  horizontal,  but  incline  to  some 
point  of  the  horizon,  and  rise  to  the  opposite  point ;  a  line 
drawn  through  these  points  is  called  the  line  of  their  dip. 

LI'NGUA.  (Lat.  a  tongue.)  In  Entomology,  the  name 
of  an  organ  situated  within  the  labium  or  emerging  from  it, 
by  which  insects,  in  many  cases,  collect  their  food  and  pass 
it  down  the  phnrynx,  which  is  situated  above  its  root. 

LI'NGUA  FRA'NCA.  The  dialect  spoken  chiefly  along 
the  European  and  African  coast  of  the  Mediterranean.  It 
is  a  species  of  corrupt  Italian,  mingled  with  words  of  other 
languages,  and  may  be  termed  the  Creole  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean. 

LI'NGULA.  (Lat.)  A  genus  of  Palliobranchiate  Bi- 
valves, with  two  nearly  flat,  smooth,  oblong,  triangular 
valves,  attached  between  the  two  apices  to  a  long  fleshy 
pedicle.  The  arms,  or  labial  appendages,  are  spirally  con- 
voluted, as  in  the  rest  of  the  class. 

LrNIMENT.  (Lat.  lino,  /  anoint.)  A  semifluid  oint- 
ment, or  a  soapy  application,  to  rub  upon  painful  joints. 
The  term  is  also  applied  to  spirituous  and  other  stimulating 
applications  for  external  use. 

LrNING.  In  Architecture,  any  covering  of  an  interior 
surface.  The  linings,  for  instance,  or  boxings  of  window 
shutters,  are  the  pieces  forming  the  backs  of  the  recesses 
into  which  the  shutters  are  folded.  In  doorways,  they  are 
the  facings  on  each  side  the  aperture :  to  sashes,  they  are 
the  vertical  pieces  parallel  with  the  surface  of  the  walls. 

LI'NTEL.  (Span,  lintel.)  In  Architecture,  an  horizon- 
tal piece  of  timber  or  stone,  over  a  door,  window,  or  other 
opening,  to  discharge  the  superincumbent  weight. 

LION.  (Felis  leo,  Linn.)  The  largest,  most  formidable, 
and  most  noble  of  the  Carnivorous  animals,  though  not  the 
most  typical  of  the  genus  at  which  it  stands  at  the  head.  It 
is  chiefly  distinguished  by  the  presence  of  a  full,  flowing 
mane  in  the  male,  and  by  a  tufted  tail  and  the  disappear- 
ance of  the  feline  markings  in  both  sexes  before  they  arrive 
at  maturity ;  the  colour  then  being  a  nearly  uniform  light 
fulvous  brown,  with  mane  inclining  to  black,  especially  in 
the  Central  and  South  African  races.  The  mane  is  scantier 
and  lighter  coloured  in  the  Asiatic  than  in  the  African  lions ; 
and  there  exists  a  nameless  variety  in  the  eastern  parts  of 
Hindostan.     See  Felis. 

Lion,  in  Heraldry,  a  beast,  of  which  the  figure  is  very 
commonly  borne  as  a  charge.  The  attitudes  in  which  the 
lion  is  represented  are  very  various.  (See  Rampant,  Pas- 
sant, Regardant,  Gardant,  Couchant,  Salient,  Se- 
jant.) A  lion  passant  is  termed,  in  French  heraldric 
language,  a  leopard;  and  hence  the  common  notion  that 
the  lions  of  Eneland  were  substituted  for  leopards. 

LION  OF  ENGLAND.  A  lion  passant  or  regardant 
(being  the  bearing  of  England),  is  frequently  thus  termed 
in  heraldry. 

LIP.  A  term  applied  to  either  of  the  two  divisions  of  a 
Monopetalous  corolla,  where  one  portion  takes  a  direction 
upwards  and  the  remainder  downwards,  as  in  Labiala.  It 
is  the  same  as  labellum,  which  see. 

LI'PARIS.  (Gr.  Xnrdpos,  glistening.)  The  name  of  a 
genus  of  Lepidopterous  insects ;  also  applied  by  Pliny  to  a 
genus  of  fishes.  In  Botany,  it  is  the  name  of  a  genus  of 
plants  of  the  Orchidaceous  order. 

LIPOGRAMMA'TIC  WORKS  or  WRITINGS.  (Gr. 
Xeitw,  /  omit,  and  ypaftua.  a  letter.)  Compositions  in  which 
a  particular  letter  is  omitted  throughout.  The  ancients 
produced  many  ingenious  trifles  of  this  description.  In  the 
Odyssey  of  Tryphiodorus  there  was  no  A  in  the  first  book, 
no  B  in  the  second,  and  so  on.  There  are  other  pieces  of 
modern  invention,  such  as  the  Pugna  Porcorum,  in  which 
all  the  words  begin  with  the  letter  P.  Odes  in  Spanish, 
containing  only  one  of  the  vowels,  are  refinements  on  the 
same  invention. 

LIPO'RNA.     (Gr.  \iiroc,  fat.)     A  soft  fatty  tumor. 

LIPPITU'DO.      (Lat.  lippus,  blear-eyed.)     The   disease 
commonly  called  bleared  eyes,  consisting  in  a  puriform  ex- 
udation from  the  margin  of  the  eyelids,  which  often  causes  ' 
them  to  adhere  together  after  sleep. 
58 


LITERATURE. 

LIOUEFA'CTION.  (Lat.  liquefactio.)  The  act  of 
melting  or  of  fusion.  This  term  is  also  used  synonymously 
with  solution. 

LI'QUIDS.  In  Grammar,  the  letters  /,  m,  n,  and  r  are  so 
called. 

LI'QUOR  SI'LICUM.  Liquor  of  flints.  A  solution  of 
silicated  potash. 

LIRE'LLA.  In  Botany,  a  term  used  in  describing  lichens 
to  denote  a  linear  shield,  with  a  channel  along  its  middle, 
as  found  in  Opegrapha. 

LIST.  The  enclosed  field  or  ground  wherein  the  ancient 
knights  held  their  jousts  and  tournaments ;  so  called  from 
its  being  encircled  with  pales,  barriers,  or  stakes,  as  with  a 
list.  Some  of  these  were  double,  one  for  each  cavalier, 
which  kept  them  apart,  and  prevented  them  from  coming 
nearer  each  other  than  a  spear's  length.  Hence  the  expres- 
sion to  enter  the  lists  is  synonymous  with  engaging  in  contest. 

List.  The  name  given  to  the  border  or  selvage  of  a  piece 
of  cloth,  &c. 

List,  or  Listel.  In  Architecture,  the  same  as  fillet  or 
annulet. 

LIST,  CIVIL.     See  Civil  List. 

LI'STING.  (Fr.  leziere.)  In  Architecture,  the  cutting 
away  the  sappy  part  from  the  edge  of  a  board. 

LI'TANY  (Gr.  \travia,  supplication),  signifies  a  general 
supplication ;  and  was  applied  by  the  Eastern  Church  in 
early  ages  to  a  special  form  of  prayer  which  was  introduced 
into  the  ritual,  or  used  on  particular  occasions.  The  term 
passed  over  into  the  Western  Church,  where  the  words  ro- 
gatio  and  supplicatio  have  been  used  in  the  same  technical 
sense.  It  is  supposed  by  Palmer  (jlntiq.,  i.,  269)  that  the 
change  of  term  was  occasioned  by  the  frequency  of  proces- 
sional supplications  from  the  Eastern  to  the  Western  church- 
es, beginning  in  the  4th  century.  It  appears  that  some  of 
the  Eastern  litanies  contain  the  supplication  to  saints  which 
forms  a  distinguishing  feature  of  the  Roman.  This  is  suf- 
ficient to  justify  the  English  Church,  even  on  antiquarian 
grounds,  in  rejecting  these  portions  of  the  service.  Our  lita- 
ny is  mostly  translated  from  the  forms  of  the  Western  lita- 
nies previously  used  in  this  country  ;  those  of  the  breviary 
of  Salisbury  and  York.  The  direction  in  the  Prayer  Book 
is,  that  the  litany  shall  be  read  on  Wednesdays,  Fridays,  and 
Sundays:  on  the  two  former,  as  fastdays  in  the  primitive 
Church ;  the  one  as  the  day  in  which  Christ  was  sold  by  Ju- 
das, the  other  as  that  of  the  crucifixion,  and  therefore  peri- 
ods of  peculiar  humiliation :  on  the  Sunday,  as  the  day  ap- 
pointed for  the  most  complete  and  solemn  service  in  the 
week.  (See  Riddle's  Christian  Antiquities,  p.  623,  1839 ; 
Palmer's  Origines  Liturgicce,  i.,  264.) 

LITERA'Tl  (Lat.),  denotes,  in  general,  learned  men  ;  but 
is  applied  in  China  to  such  persons  as  are  able  to  read  and 
write  their  own  language,  and  also  to  a  particular  sect,  con- 
sisting chiefly  of  the  most  learned  men  of  that  country; 
among  whom  it  is  called  Jukiao,  or  learned.  It  is  from  the 
class  of  the  literati  that  the  mandarins  (quod  vide)  are  alone 
capable  of  being  selected. 

LI'TERATURE.  (Lat.  litera,  letter),  comprises,  in  the 
general  sense  of  the  word,  the  entire  results  of  knowledge 
and  fancy  preserved  in  wTiting ;  but,  in  the  narrower  use  to 
which  ordinary  custom  restricts  it,  we  draw  a  distinction 
between  literature  and  positive  science,  thus  exempting  from 
the  province  of  the  former  one  extensive  branch  of  our 
studies  and  attainments.  And,  in  a  still  more  restricted 
sense,  the  word  literature  is  sometimes  used  as  synony- 
mous with  polite  literature,  or  the  French  belles  lettres 
(which  see). 

The  history  of  literature  is  a  peculiar  and  distinct  sub- 
ject, comprising  several  subdivisions,  such  as  histories  of 
the  literature  of  special  ages  or  countries;  or  histories  of 
separate  branches  of  literature,  such  as  poetry.  For  its 
complete  execution  it  requires  an  union  of  bibliographical 
knowledge  with  critical  acumen.  It  should  give  the  reader 
a  sufficient  acquaintance  with  the  titles,  contents,  and  dates 
of  remarkable  books,  and  with  the  general  biography  of  re- 
markable authors,  together  with  a  critical  appreciation  of 
the  characters  and  value  both  of  authors  and  books,  and  of 
the  dependence,  connection,  and  derivation  of  literature; 
that  is,  the  mode  in  which  opinions,  taste,  and  style  have 
been  propagated  or  changed.  This  last,  as  it  is  the  most 
difficult  part  of  the  subject,  so  is  it  that  of  which  the  execu- 
tion has  been  hitherto  most  imperfect. 

Antiquity  has  left  us  no  relics  of  this  species  of  history ; 
although  the  constant  references  of  such  writers  as  Cicero, 
Pliny,  and  Quintilian,  to  earlier  authors,  accompanied  by 
critical  appreciation  of  their  merits,  show  that  the  taste  and 
materials  for  it  were  not  wanting.  A  remarkable  passage 
of  Velleius  Paterculus,  in  which  he  shows,  by  historical  in- 
stances, how  many  of  the  great  names  of  antiquity  were 
cotemporary  with  each  other,  in  limited  periods  of  time, 
clustering,  as  it  were,  together  in  particular  seasons  and 
places,  is  one  of  the  earliest  instances  we  have  of  that  spirit 
of  generalization  from  literary  phenomena  which  is  now  so 

6       Tx  673 


LITERATURE. 


common  as  to  leave  Utile  room  even  for  the  display  of  origi- 
nality. 

In"  the  following  brief  notices  of  the  principal  works  of 
general  literarj  history  which  the  student  has  it  now  in  his 
power  to  consult,  we  shall  follow,  in  great  measure,  the 
criticisms  of  Mr.  llallaui.  in  the  Preface  to  his  Introduction 
to  tin  Literature  of  Europe  in  tht  Ftfteenth,  Sixteenth,  and 
Seventeenth  Centuries.  The  oldest  work  of  this  description 
(if  such  it  can  he  called)  is  that  of  Polydore  Virgil,  Vc  In- 
ventoribus  11,  rum.  1489.  Conrad  Gesner,  who  has  been 
termed  the  "  father  of  literary  history,"  published  his  Bibli- 
othcca  Universalis  at  Zurich,  1545-55.  Notwithstanding 
these  and  a  few  other  meagre  attempts,  Lord  Bacon,  says 
Mr.  Hallam,  was  justified  in  denying  that,  up  to  his  time, 
any  real  history  of  letters  had  been  written  :  "and  he  com- 
pares that  of  the  world  wanting  this  to  a  statue  of  Polyphe- 
mus wanting  his  single  eye."  The  next  in  order  of  time  is 
Lambuc's  Prodrumus  Histories  Literaria,  1C59;  a  work 
pursued  on  a  great  plan,  but  scarcely  begun.  But  Morhof's 
Polyhiator  Literarrus,  first  published  in  1688,  and  much  en- 
larged by  subsequent  editors,  "is  still  found  in  every  con- 
siderable library."  Andres,  a  Spanish  Jesuit,  published  his 
I  Irigine,  Progresso,  c  Stato  Attuale  d'ogni  Lettcratura,  from 
1782  to  1799;  a  very  extensive,  and,  in  some  respects,  valua- 
ble work,  though  without  much  display  of  taste,  and  no 
signs  of  genius.  In  the  present  century,  no  writers,  except 
of  Germany,  have  attempted  a  field  which  has  become  of 
such  enormous  extent ;  but  Eichhorn's  Literary  History,  in 
six  volumes,  1805,  1811,  appears  to  be  now,  on  the  whole, 
the  most  complete  and  valuable  work  of  this  kind  extant. 
Waehler's  Manual  of  Literary  History,  in  four  volumes, 
appeared  at  Leipsig  in  1833. 

But  besides  these  general  compendia,  much  assistance  is 
to  be  derived  from  general  biographers.  Of  these  the  well- 
known  Dictionary  of  Bayle,  first  published  in  1697,  is  the 
earliest  of  any  value.  It  is  characterized  by  Hallam  (p.  xi.) 
in  a  manner  perhaps  too  depreciating.  That  of  Niceron, 
Memoires  pour  servir  a  r  Histoire  des  Homines  ittustres  dc 
la  Republique  des  Lettres,  43  vols.,  12mo,  1733,  17-15,  is  ex- 
traordinarily copious  and  useful  in  biographical  details,  but 
in  other  respects  of  no  great  value.  The  Biographic  Vni- 
Tersellc  (of  which  the  original  edition  was  in  52  volumes, 
and  a  supplement  is  now  in  course  of  publication  which  has 
reached  the  letter  H)  stands  incomparably  first  among  this 
class  of  works.  Cha/mer's  Biographical  Dictionary  scarce- 
ly deserves  mention  as  a  literary  work  ;  but  its  historical  de- 
tails are  sometimes  minute  and  useful,  though  not  unfre- 
quently  most  so  in  the  obscurest  names. 

Of  partial  works  on  literary  history  some  of  the  most  re- 
markable and  useful  are,  1.  According  to  subjects — History 
of  Philosophy,  Brucker,  Buhle,  Tennemann  (abridged  by 
Victor  Cousin).  To  these  we  may  add,  brief  as  they  are, 
the  Introductory  Essays  of  Stewart  and  Playfair  to  the  Kn- 
cyclopedia  Britannica.  Of  Belles  Lettres,  generally,  Bouter- 
wek,  12  vols.,  8vo.  Poetry,  Quadrio,  Storia  d'ogni  Poesia ; 
a  work  of  remarkable  industry,  though  strangely  defect- 
ive in  point  of  critical  taste.  2.  According  to  countries — 
French:  Laharp,  Cours  de  Litterature  Franraise ;  a  per- 
formance of  considerable,  but  in  parts  superficial  and  showy, 
talent.  Italian:  Tiraboschi,  Storia  della  Letteratura  Ital- 
iana  ;  a  work  of  extraordinary  value,  in  which  the  history 
of  Italian  literature  has  been  traced,  with  the  greatest  care 
and  the  most  elaborate  research,  from  the  earliest  times 
clown  to  the  last  century.  It  has  been  abridged,  but  with 
some  original  criticism,  by  Ginguene,  in  his  Histoire  Litte- 
raire  de  I'lta'ie ;  Corniani,  Scco/i  delle  Lettcratura  Haliana 
dopo  il  suo  risorgimento,  1804,  1813.  Sismondi's  Litterature 
de  Midi  dc  V Europe  is  most  valuable,  also,  in  its  Italian 
chapters,  although  those  on  Spanish  and  Portuguese  litera- 
ture tomb  on  subjects  less  generally  known.  In  England, 
as  Mr.  Hallam  observes,  "we  cannot  claim  for  ourselves  a 
single  attempt  of  the  most  superficial  kind.  If'arton's  His- 
tory of  Poetry  contains  much  that  bears  on  our  general 
learning;  but  it  leaves  us  about  the  accession  of  Elizabeth." 
3.  According  to  ages:  The  recent  work  of  Mr.  Hallam, 
which  comprehends  the  literary  history  of  Europe  from 
1400  to  1700;  a  work  almost  approaching  to  universal  in  its 
character.  Its  peculiar  excellences  are,  a  philosophical  spirit, 
manliness  and  candour  of  judirment,  great  honesty  in  the 
execution,  and  a  taste  unusually  cultivated  and  correct. 
It  is,  however,  as  might  be  expected  from  a  work  of  so  com- 
prehensive a  character,  unequal  both  m  the  space  which  it 
allots  to  different  subjects  and  authors,  and  in  point  of  exe- 
cution. 

The  love  of  literature  is,  perhaps,  the  most  remarkable 
and  charncterictic  form  in  which  advancing  civilization  ex- 
hibits itself.  From  being  the  absorbing  pas-ion  of  the  learn- 
ed feu  ,  it  becomes,  with  the  progress  of  education,  the  de- 
light and  favourite  occupation  of  numbers:  losing,  perhaps, 
in  intensity  what  it  gains  in  universality.  For,  without  join 
ing  in  the  views  of  the  indiscriminate  culogisers  of  past 
times,  it  cannot,  we  think,  be  fairly  denied  that  lite  engross- 
674 


lag  devotion  to  study  which  characterized  the  learned  men 
of  the  first  two  centuries  after  the  revival  of  knowledge,  es- 
pecially in  the  branches  of  philology  and  divinity,  rarely 
finds  a  counterpart  at  the  present  day.  More  diversified  sub- 
jects of  interest  now  present  themselves  to  the  il 
mind:  objects  in  themselves  of  inferior  character,  such,  foi 
example,  as  the  establishment  of  correct  rules  of  classical 
composition,  are  less  appreciated,  because  we  have  daily 
opportunities  of  discussing  topics  of  much  higher  interest, 
from  which  it  is  difficult  to  carry  back  the  faculties  to  pur- 
BUitS  of  special  investigation.  That  all  this  has  some  disad- 
vantages it  were  vain  to  deny.  Some  imagine  that  n.it  only 
extent  and  minuteness  of  knowledge,  but  real  depth  of  learn- 
ing and  power  of  mind,  are  more  rare  among  the  literati  of 
the  present  day  than  heretofore ;  that  we  have  lost  in  pro- 
fundity, to  use  the  common  expression,  what  we  have  gain- 
ed in  surface.  Of  that  opinion  we  are  not.  But  we  imagine 
ourselves  to  trace,  both  in  the  composition  and  tone  of  think 
ing  of  the  day,  a  want  of  finish  and  harmony  of  tone — a 
want  of  those  qualities  which  are  the  result  of  patience,  and 
of  that  complacent  dwelling  of  the  mind  on  some  favourite 
object  of  study  which  w;is  so  common  in  former  ages.  The 
]>owers  of  men  of  ability  are  too  much  dissipated,  both  by 
the  vast  variety  of  subjects  pressing  on  their  attention,  and 
by  the  temptation  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  the  public  by 
hasty  execution. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  the  four  literary  countries  of  the 
present  day — France,  Germany,  England,  Italy,  and  especi- 
ally the  three  former — the  number  of  persons  to  whom 
literature  furnishes  the  sole  and  beloved  recreation,  has  in- 
creased, within  the  last  century,  we  may  add  the  last  gener- 
ation, to  an  amount  perfectly  surprising.  Were  it  possible 
to  calculate  the  number  of  individuals  more  than  half  of 
whose  waking  hours  are  spent  in  reading,  and  writing  on 
literary  subjects,  the  result  woidd  be  startling.  In  Germany 
the  number  of  books  published  has  nearly  trebled  since  tin: 
peace  of  1815.  The  great  bulk  of  the  increase  belongs  to 
literature  specially  so  called.  In  France  and  England  the 
accumulation  is  scarcely  less.  And  by  the  process,  common 
in  all  these  countries,  of  circulating  libraries,  the  same  copy 
of  a  book  performs  an  infinitely  greater  quantity  of  service, 
passing  under  the  eyes  of  many  more  readers  than  hereto- 
fore. It  is  curious,  among  ourselves,  to  trace  the  decline  of 
the  favourite  amusements  of  our  ancestors.  The  theatres 
are  almost  deserted  by  the  ranks  which  used  to  frequent 
them.  The  public  assembly  rooms  of  the  rich,  the  suburban 
places  of  resort  for  nightly  entertainments,  once  so  common 
among  the  middle  classes,  are  alike  falling  into  comparative 
disuse.  Of  the  increased  infrequency  of  play,  or  even  games 
of  skill,  in  society,  every  one  can  judge.  Of  wine  the  con- 
sumption has  certainly  not  increased  one  half  in  a  century, 
while  the  number  of  consumers  has  probably  been  quintu- 
pled or  sextupled.  All  these  tilings  afforded  a  certain  quan- 
tity of  occupation ;  and  the  substitute  for  one  and  all  has 
been  the  same — literature. 

It  is  plain,  therefore,  how  far  more  important  a  part  than 
heretofore  literature  must  perform  in  modelling  the  public 
mind  of  nations.  There  have  been  times  when  it  scarcely 
represented  the  national  disposition  at  all  ;  but  merely 
that  of  a  class  by  which  it  was  encouraged.  Any  one  who 
was  to  judge  of  the  social  state  of  England  under  Charles 
II.  by  its  literature,  would  pronounce  that  the  nation  com- 
prised a  learned  class  of  great  knowledge,  but  visionary  and 
unpractical  habits  of  mind ;  and  a  frivolous,  coarse,  de- 
bauched community.  Yet,  in  truth,  the  great  bulk  of  the 
nation  was  staid,  sober,  religious,  and  of  a  plain  and  business- 
like character.  The  literature  of  the  latter  part  of  Louis 
XrV.'s  reitrn  is  grave,  decorous,  even  rigorous  in  tone;  be- 
cause such  was  the  affectation  of  the  court.  The  people  are 
not  represented  in  it  at  all.  Such  anomalies  are  now  im- 
possible. The  floating  literature  of  the  day  is  and  must  he 
the  real  expression  of  the  popular  mind. 

Now  the  effect  of  literature  on  the  moral  habits  of  man  is 
Incalculable.  It  is  the  remark  of  a  profound  religious  writer 
of  the  present  day,  that  we  frequently  read  a  literary  work 
without  acquiring  any  positive  knowledge  at  all,  or  forget- 
ing  it  as  soon  as  acquired  ;  but  very  rarely  without  receiving 
some  moral  impression.  And  in  this  view  we  regard  the 
predominance  of  literary  habits  in  a  nation  as  advantageous. 
For,  unless  public  taste  is  very  far  corrupted  indeed,  the  tone 
of  morality  in  the  ordinary  literature  of  the  day,  to  meet  ap- 
proval, must  be  good  :  not  solidly  good  perhaps — superficial, 
it  may  be,  and  occasionally  false;  hut  still  more  right  than 
WRing.  And  such  a  tone  of  literature,  reacting  on  the  minds 
cd"  the  public,  will  tend  to  preserve  and  augment  right  feel- 
ing! in  the  reading  classes.  The  more  special  tendencies  of 
literary  habits  seem  to  be  to  soften  the  disposition — to  melt 
down  rancorous  feelings — to  encourage  benevolence  of  sen- 
timent, and  a  read]  sympathy  With  generous  conduct.  That 
they  serve  essentially  to  promote  self-denial  and  self  devo- 
tion, and  virtue  of  the  limber  order,  we  do  not  contend  ;  but 
we  see  no  ground  for  the  suspicion  which  some  entertain 


LITHARGE. 

that  they  are  incompatible  with  the  sterner  stuff  of  these 
more  serious  qualities,  or  tend  to  weaken  the  main  springs 
of  thought  and  action.  On  the  other  band,  although  a 
prevalence  of  literary  habits  may  render  the  success  of  an 
utterly  corrupt  style  of  literature  "more  improbable,  yet,  when 
such  success  does  occur,  its  effects  must  be  infinitely  more 
noxious  and  destructive.  Were  such  a  taste  as  French 
lighter  literature  has  of  late  exhibited  likely  to  obtain  a  real 
ascendency  in  that  country,  there  could  not  be  a  more  pow- 
erful cause,  as  well  as  decisive  symptom,  of  national  de- 
generacy ;  but,  in  truth,  it  will  prove  only  a  temporary  ex- 
travagance. 

One  more  effect  of  the  spread  of  literary  habits  remains 
to  be  noticed— the  enormously  increased  importance  of  what 
may  now  be  justly  termed  the  literary  profession.  Such 
fortunes  as  that  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  are  phenomena  belong- 
ing to  this  age  alone.  At  this  moment  (November,  1840)  the 
two  contending  party  leaders  in  France,  on  whom  the  eyes 
of  Europe  are  fixed,  are  writers  by  profession,  who  have 
risen  to  their  present  eminence  through  literary  distinction  ; 
and  of  the  most  noted  public  men  on  both  sides,  several  be- 
long to  the  same  class.  Spain  has  had  a  play-writer  for  her 
prime  minister.  In  Germany,  when  a  national  movement 
is  attempted  against  an  alleged  act  of  usurpation  on  the  part 
of  a  sovereign,  those  who  assume  the  lead  are  the  profes- 
sors of  an  university.  In  England,  the  less  excitable  nature 
of  the  people,  and  the  great  influence  of  wealth  and  aristo- 
cratic distinction,  have  kept  the  great  men  of  the  press 
hitherto  in  a  state  of  comparative  subordination.  But  a  little 
attention  to  the  signs  of  the  times  will  lead  us  to  suspect 
that,  if  the  frame  of  our  society  were  shaken  by  any  sudden 
impulse,  men  of  this  class  would  assume  a  more  marked  po- 
sition than  they  have  hitherto  occupied.  This  is  the  bril- 
liant side  of  the  picture.  On  the  other  hand,  the  multiplica-' 
tion  of  a  body  of  men  whose  employment  is  essentially  pre- 
carious, their  remuneration  irregular,  their  education  high, 
their  tastes  luxurious,  their  wants  numerous,  their  success 
requiring  a  constant  strain  upon  the  spirits  and  activity  of  the 
brain,  is  in  some  respects  a  thing  to  be  regretted.  In  ill-gov- 
erned and  restless  communities  they  form  the  most  danger- 
ous class;  in  orderly  and  flourishing  ones  they  contribute 
greatly  to  the  brilliancy  of  society,  but  at  the  expense  of 
much  of  their  own  peace  and  happiness.  We  have  outlived 
the  days  when  the  ideas  of  poverty  and  learning  were  hab- 
itually associated,  and  the  custom  of  the  humiliating  depend- 
ence of  intellect  on  wealth, 

Toil,  envy,  want,  the  patron  and  the  gaol ; 

but  the  young  aspirant  to  literary  distinction  may  be  usefully 
reminded  of  the  words  of  a  great  writer  of  our  day.  "  Nev- 
er" (that  is,  with  a  free  choice  before  you)  "  pursue  litera- 
ture as  a  profession.  It  would  be  a  sort  of  irreligion,  and 
scarcely  less  than  a  libel  on  human  nature,  to  believe  that 
there  is  any  established  and  respectable  profession  or  em- 
ployment in  which  a  man  may  not  contrive  to  act  with 
honesty  and  honour ;  and  doubtless  there  is  likewise  none 
which  may  not  at  times  present  temptations  to  the  contrary. 
But  wofully  will  that  man  find  himself  mistaken  who 
imagines  that  the  profession  of  literature,  or,  to  speak 
more  plainly,  the  trade  of  authorship,  besets  its  members 
with  fewer  or  with  less  insidious  temptations  than  the 
church,  the  law,  or  the  different  branches  of  commerce.  Let 
literature  be  an  honourable  augmentation  to  your  arms,  but 
never  fill  the  escutcheon."  {Coleridge,  Autobiographic/. 
Litcraria.) 

LITHA'RGE,  Lythargyrum.  (Gr.  \idog,  a  stone,  and 
apyvpos,  silver ;  probably  from  its  silvery  appearance.) 
Fused  oxide  of  lead.     See  Lead. 

LI'THIA.  (Gr.  A(0£io5,  lapideous.)  A  rare  alkaline  sub- 
stance, discovered,  in  1818,  by  M.  Arfwedson  in  a  mineral 
called  petalite ;  it  has  also  been  found  in  some  other  lapide- 
ous bodies.  It  is  distinguished  from  potassa  and  soda  by  the 
difficult  solubility  of  its  carbonate ;  from  baryta,  strontia,  and 
lime,  by  the  solubility  of  its  sulphate  and  oxalate;  and  from 
magnesia  by  the  alkalinity  of  its  carbonate.  It  is  the  oxide 
of  a  white  metal  which  has  been  named  lithium ;  the  equiv- 
alent of  which  is  10,  and  that  of  lithia  18. 

LITHI'ASiS.  (Gr.  Ai0jf,  a  stone.)  The  disease  of  stone 
in  the  bladder  or  kidney. 

L1THIC  ACID.  (Gr.  XtBoc.)  The  substance  generally 
termed  uric  acid :  it  forms  the  commonest  variety  of  urinary 
calculus. 

LITHODENDBON.  (Gr.  >,0,?,  and  levfpov,  a  tree.) 
Corals  have  been  thus  designated,  from  their  frequent  arbo- 
rescent appearance. 

LITHODE'RMIS.  (Gr.  hOoc,  and  Stpua,  skin.)  A  ge- 
nu- of  Apodal  Echinoderms,  in  the  system  of  Cuvier  ;  char- 
acterized by  an  oval  body  compressed  posteriorlv,  of  which 
the  surface  is  covered  with  a  layer  of  calcareous  granules, 
which  form  an  extremelv  indurated  crust. 

LI'THODOMES,  Lithodoma.  (Aifloj.  and  <5£/,w,  I  build.) 
This  term  is  applied  to  those  bivalves  which  are  found  in 


LITURGY. 

rocks  and  stones,  inhabiting  cavities,  which  they  form  for 
that  purpose.     A  particular  genus  is  called  I.ythodomus. 

LITHO'DOMI.  (Gr.  Aifos,  and  Lat.  domus,  a  house.) 
Molluscous  animals  which  bore  into  rocks  and  lodge  them- 
selves in  the  holes. 
LITHOGRAPHY.  See  Engraving. 
LITHOLO'GICAL.  (Gr.  Xtdoi,  and  Xoyoc,  a  discourse.) 
A  term  expressing  the  stony  structure  or  character  of  a 
mineral  mass.  We  speak  of  the  lithological  character  of  a 
structure,  as  distinguished  from  its  zooloaical  character. 

LI'THOMANCY.  (Gr.  Aitfoj,  and  y.avTua,  prophecy.) 
A  species  of  divination  practised  by  the  ancients.  Their 
oracular  stones  appear  to  have  returned  audible  answers  to 
those  who  consulted  them.  Modem  conjurors  have  another 
species  of  lithomancy — the  inspection  of  the  surface  of 
smooth  agates  or  crystals.  Such  was  the  divination  of  the 
notorious  Dr.  Dee  and  his  assistant  Kelly  in  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth. 

LI'THOMARGE.  Stone-marrow.  A  variety  of  talc  of 
various  colours,  and  generally  associated  with  magnesian 
minerals. 

LI'THONTRI'PTICS.  (Gr.  A<0o?,  and  rpigo),  /  carry 
away.)  Remedies  which  are  supposed  to  dissolve  stone  in 
the  bladder,  or  which  prevent  the  deposition  of  calculous 
matter  in  the  urine. 

LI'THONTRI'PTOR.  (Gr.  Xidos,  and  Spvirruv,  to 
break.)  An  instrument  for  breaking  calculi  in  the  bladder, 
so  as  to  reduce  them  to  small  particles  which  may  admit  of 
being  passed  along  with  the  urine,  and  thus  render  the 
operation  of  lithotomy  unnecessary. 

LITHOTOMY.  (Gr.  Ai6V,  and  rtuvw,  I  cut.)  The 
operation  of  cutting  into  the  bladder  for  the  removal  of  a 
stone. 

LITHO'TRITY.  (Gr.  \idoc,  and  retpo).  I  break  down.) 
The  operation  of  breaking  a  stone  in  the  bladder  into  small 
pieces  capable  of  being  voided  by  urine :  it  is  effected  by  the 
introduction  of  instruments  by  the  urethra. 

LI'TMUS.  In  Chemistry,  a  blue  pigment  obtained  from 
the  lichen  Roce/la,  which  grows  in  the  Canary  Islands:  it 
is  often  called  turnsol,  and  yields  the  dye  called  archil. 
Paper  tinged  blue  by  linn  us  is  reddened  by  the  feeblest  acids, 
and  hence  is  used  as  a  test  of  the  presence  of  acids ;  and 
litmus  paper  which  has  been  reddened  by  an  acid  has  its 
blue  colour  restored  by  an  alkali. 

LI'TOTES.  (Gr.  Xitotvs-)  In  Rhetoric,  a  figure,  ac- 
cording to  the  Greek  and  Latin  rhetoricians,  in  which  an 
affirmative  is  expressed  by  the  negative  of  the  contrary ;  it 
is,  therefore,  a  species  of  irony  in  the  ancient  sense  of  the 
word  (see  Irony),  in  which  less  is  expressed  than  what  is 
intended  to  be  conveyed  to  the  mind  of  the  reader  or  hearer. 
Thus,  "  a  citizen  of  no  mean  city"  means  "of  an  illustrious 
city."  It  is  a  figure  constantly  employed  to  soften  what 
might  otherwise  appear  obnoxious  in  self-commendation. 

LITRE.  The  French  standard  measure  of  capacity  in 
the  decimal  system.  The  litre  is  a  cubic  decimetre  ;  that  is, 
a  cube,  each  of  the  sides  of  which  are  3-937  English  inches : 
it  contains  61 '028  English  cubic  inches,  and  is  therefore 
rather  less  than  our  quart.  Four  and  a  half  litres  are  a 
close  approach  to  the  English  imperial  gallon. 

LITTLE.  (Sax.  litel.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a  term  denot- 
ing that  a  work  is  void  of  those  qualities  that  tend  to  raise 
the  feelings  of  the  spectator  in  contemplating  a  work  of  art. 
It  is  a  term  always  used  in  a  condemnatory  sense. 

LITTORI'NA.  (Lat.  litus,  the  sea  shore.)  A  genus  of 
Pectinibranchiate  Mollusks  of  the  tribe  Trochoida  ;  charac- 
terized by  its  thick  shell,  of  which  the  aperture  presents  a 
small  angle,  and  is  without  a  ridge.  The  common  peri- 
winkle of  our  coasts  ( Turbo  littoreus,  Linn.)  is  a  species  of 
the  present  genus. 

LITURGY.  (Gr.  Xei-ovpyia.)  An  office  at  Athens,  by 
which  persons  of  considerable  property  were  bound  to  per- 
form certain  public  duties,  or  supply  the  commonwealth 
with  necessaries  at  their  own  expense.  The  persons  on 
whom  this  office  was  imposed  were  usually  among  the  rich- 
est inhabitants  ;  and  if  any  one  selected  to  fill  it  could  find 
another  more  wealthy  than  himself  who  was  exempt  from 
public  duty,  he  could  insist  on  being  released  from  his 
charge,  which  then  devolved  on  the  party  denounced.  This 
obnoxious  institution  was  abolished  on  the  proposition  of 
Demosthenes.  (See  Boeckh's  Public  Economy  of  Athens.) 
It  is  from  this  term  that  the  English  liturgy  (quod  vide),  in 
ecclesiastical  meaning,  has  been  derived;  the  sense  having 
been  contracted  from  public  ministry  or  service  in  general 
to  the  ceremonies  of  religious  worship. 

Liturgy.  The  ritual  according  to  which  the  religious 
services  of  a  church  are  performed.  In  the  writings  of  the 
ancients  the  name  is  restricted  to  the  service  of  the  Eucha- 
rist, which  afterwards  came  to  be  distinguished  in  the  West- 
ern Church  bv  the  term  missa,  or  mass. 

There  still  "exist  in  Greek,  Latin,  and  some  Oriental  lan- 
gnages,  various  rituals  by  which  the  Eucharist  was  cele- 
brated in  very  early  ages.    Some  have  supposed  that  all 

675 


L1TUUS. 

these  may  be  referred  to  one  original  liturgy,  which  may 
have  been  universally  adopted  in  the  primitive  church,  Pal- 
mer, the  latest  English  writer  <>n  this  subject  (j&ntiq.,  vol!  i., 
p.  8),  conceives  that  the  number  of  original  liturgies  ma}  be 
reduced  to  tour,  but  not  lower.  These  be  entitles  the  great 
Oriental  liturgy,  the  Alexandrian,  the  Roman,  and  the  Gal- 
ilean; each  of  which  was  extensively  used  from  the  apos- 
tolic am-  in  the  quarters  from  which  he  assigns  them  tlnir 
names,  and  became  the  parents  of  many  Other  riiuals,  such 
as  were  used,  with  constantly  diverging  variations,  in  the 
different  patriarchates  of  the  empire. 

The  earliest  period  at  which  any  liturgical  forms  were  con- 
signed to  writing  is  the  end  of  the  third  or  beginning  of  the 
fourth  century  ;  at  least  the  liturgy  called  of  St.  Basil  can  he 
traced  as  high  as  the  latter  period.  This  practice,  also, 
seems  frequently  to  have  been  applied  only  to  certain  parts 
■  i  tin  service.  We  find,  therefore,  great  differences  in  the 
MSS.  which  now  exist;  and  it  becomes  very  difficult  to  as- 
certain what  the  contents  of  the  primitive  rituals  were,  and 
trace  the  periods  at  which  many  rites  and  ceremonies  have 
been  introduced  into  the  service. 

The  liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England  is  a  liturgy,  in  the 
wider  and  more  usual  acceptation  of  the  term,  comprehend- 
ing the  whole  of  the  various  services  used  on  ordinary  and 
extraordinary  occasions  throughout  the  year.  For  the  his- 
tory of  tliis  liturgy,  see  Common  Prayer.  See  also  Asse- 
manni,  Cuilez  Liturgicus ;  Muratori,  IJturgia  Romana 
fetus  ;  Breff's  Collection  of  Liturgies  ;  Palmer's  Origines 
lAturgicm  ;  Riddle's  Christian  Antiquities,  p.  369,  377. 
As  to  the  reforms  in  the  English  liturgy,  which  were  seri- 
ously contemplated  a  few  years  ago  by  various  classes  of  the 
Church,  see  Quart.  Review,  vols,  xlvii.,  1. 

L1TUUS.  (Lat.)  In  the  geometry  of  curve  lines,  the 
name  given  by  Cotes  to  a  spiral,  of  which  the  characteristic 
property  is,  that  the  squares  of  any  two  radii  vectores  are 
reciprocally  proportional  to  the  angles  which  they  respect- 
ive]) make  with  a  certain  straight  line  given  in  position,  and 
which  is  an  asymptote  to  the  spiral.  Let  r  and  u  denote 
any  two  radii  vectores  drawn  from  the  pole  to  the  curve,  and 
let  <j>  and  xp  be  the  measures  of  the  angles  they  respectively 
make  with  the  asymptote;  then  r2  :  u2  : :  t// '.  0.  If  we  take 
the  angle  i|=  57-29578°  (or  such  that  the  arc  is  equal  to  the 
radius),  and  call  a  the  corresponding  value  of  u,  the  above 
proportion  becomes  r% :  a? : :  1 :  $  ;  whence  we  have  for  the 
equation  of  the  curve,  r2  =  <j2  0—1 

Among  the  properties  of  the  curve  are  the  following:  1. 
The  radius  vector  is  reciprocally  proportional  to  the  circular 
arc  intercepted  between  its  extremity  and  the  asymptote.  2. 
The  area  included  between  the  two  radii  vectores  a  and  r 
and  the  curve  is  equal  to  «2  log.  {u-r-a) ;  or  proportional  to 
the  logarithm  of  the  ratio  of  u  to  a. 

For  the  properties  of  the  lituus  see  Varignon,  Mem.  Acad. 
Paris,  1704;  Cotes,  Harmonia  Mensurarum,  p.  85;  Pea- 
eock's  Examples  to  the  Diff.  and  Integral  Calculus,  p.  183. 

Lituus.  Among  the  Romans,  a  crooked  staff,  resembling 
a  crozier,  made  use  of  by  the  augurs  in  quartering  the 
heavens.  It  is  affirmed  by  Dr.  E.  D.  Clarke,  that  the  use  of 
the  augural  lituus,  as  it  was  called,  is  much  posterior  to  that 
of  the  regal  or  ijuirinal  lituus,  which  was  instituted  by 
Romulus,  and  used  as  a  sceptre  by  the  Roman  kings;  and 
that  tiny  had  nothing  in  common  except  the  name.  The 
origin  of  the  word  is  uncertain.  (See  Clarke's  Observations 
on  the  "  Lituus,"  in  the  Jlrchaolog.,  six.,  p.  386.) 

LI'VER.  (Germ,  leber.)  The  viscus  in  which  bile  is  se- 
creted. It  is  situated  in  the  right  hypochondriac  region  un- 
der the  diaphragm  ;  and  in  the  human  body  is  divided  into 
two  lobes,  of  which  the  right  lobe  is  the  largest.  There  is 
between  them  a  smaller  lobular  process,  called  the  Lobulus 
Spigelii.  The  ultimate  arrangement  of  the  different  blood- 
vessels of  the  liver  is  very  peculiar.  It  has  been  ably  In- 
vestigated by  Mr.  Kiernan,  by  whom  it  is  described  in  the 
Philosophical  Transactions. 

LI'VER  OF  SULPH1 '  R.  Fused  sulphuret  of  potassium  ; 
so  called  from  its  linr  colour. 

M  Vl'.RY.  (Pr.  livree.)  A  word  derived,  probably,  from 
the  clothes  delivered  by  masters  to  their  servants,  in  which 
sense  it  still  continues  to  lie  used.  At  tournaments  the  cava- 
liers used  to  distinguish  themselves  by  wearing  the  livery  or 
badge  of  their  mistresses;  and  persons  of  distinction  former 
ly  gave  liveries  to  persons  unconnected  with  their  own 
household  or  family,  to  engaite  them  in  their  quarrels  for 

the  time  being.    The  Kverynu  n  of  L Ion  are  a  number  of 

men  belonging  to  the  freemen  of  the  ninerj  one  companies, 
which  embrace  the  different  trades  of  the  metropolis ;  and 
are  so  called  because  they  are  entitled  to  wear  the  livery  of 
lh>  ir  respective  Companies.  By  this  body  are  elected  the 
COmmon-COUnCilmen,  sheriffs,  aldermen,  and  son ther  su 

perloT  officers  of  the  city  ;  and.  down  to  the  passing  of  the 
Reform  Bill  In  1832,  they  had  the  exclusive  pii\  ilege  of  vot- 
ing at  the  election  of  members  of  parliament. 
Ll'VERT  OF  SEISIN.    In  Law,  a  delivery  of  pa 

in  lands,  tenemenls,  and  hereditaments,  to  one  that  has  a 
076 


LOCK. 

right  to  the  same  :  a  ceremony  at  common  law  used  in  the 
conveyance  of  lands,  whereby  uu  estate  of  freehold  passes 
by  feoffment.     Sec  Feoffment. 

LIVE  STOCK.  The  quadrupeds  and  other  animals  kept 
in  a  farm  for  the  purpose  of  being  employed  in  farm  labours, 

for  breeding,  for  being  fattened,  or  for  other  purposes  of 

profit.  In  the  farming  of  Britain  and  similar  Climates  the 
principal  description  Of  live  stuck  are  horses,  cattle,  sheep, 
and  swine;  but  to  these  are  generally  added  poultry,  and 
sometimes  goats,  rabbits,  fish,  and  bees.  In  warmer  climates 
the  silkworm  may  he  considered  as  part  of  the  live  BUM  k  ; 
and  under  particular  circumstances,  both  in  England  and  on 
the  Continent,  deer,  and  even  hares  and  pheasants,  are  bred 
for  sale. 

L1VIXG  FORCE.     See  Force. 

LI'VRE.  (Lat.  libra,  a  pound.)  An  ancient  French  coin, 
which  appears  as  early  as  rUU  A.D.  It  was  at  first  divided 
into  20  solidos,  and  afterwards  into  20  soma.  At  the  French 
revolution  the  franc  was  substituted  for  the  livre. 

LIXTVIUM.  A  term  employed  by  the  old  chemists  to 
signify  un  alkaline  ley  or  solution. 

I, IZARD.     See  Lacerta. 

LLOYD'S  LIST.  A  well-known  periodical  publication, 
which  contains  a  full  account  of  shipping  intelligence.  It 
derives  its  name  from  Lloyd's  coffee-house,  so  long  cele- 
brated as  the  resort  of  all  classes  connected  either  with  the 
mercantile  or  shipping  interest ;  and  its  importance  in  sup- 
plying full,  trustworthy,  and  early  maritime  Information  can- 
not be  easily  overrated.    It  has  been  in  existence  since  1716. 

LOA'DSTONE.    The  same  with  magnet,  which  see. 

LOA'MY  SOIL,  in  the  language  OI  practical  agricultu- 
rists and  gardeners,  is  one  in  winch  clay  prevails:  it  is  called 
heavy  or  light,  as  the  clay  may  be  more  or  less  abundant ; 
and  sandy,  gravelly,  or  calcareous,  according  as  these  earths 
predominate  in  the  composition.  In  general,  loamy  soils  are 
more  fertile  than  sand  or  chalk  ;  but  the  fertility  of  any  soil 
is  til  ways  to  a  certain  extent  relative  to  the  nature  of  the  sub- 
soil, and  to  the  local  climate. 

LO  BATE.  (Lat.  lobus,  a  lobe.)  A  term  applied  by  Lin- 
naeus to  the  feet  of  those  birds,  as  the  grebe,  which  were  fur- 
nished at  their  sides  with  broad-lobed  membranes. 

LO'BBY.  (Ger.  laube,  an  arbour.)  In  Architecture,  a 
hall  or  passage  serving  as  an  ante-apartment  for  communi- 
cation to  rooms. 

LOBE'LIA  INFLATA.  Indian  tobacco.  The  leaves  of 
this  plant  have  been  used  in  medicine  as  an  expectorant  and 
emetic ;  it  quiets  the  action  of  the  heart,  and  relaxes  the 
muscles.  It  has  been  found  of  great  use  in  allaying  the 
paroxysms  of  spasmodic  asthma,  and  as  a  relaxant  in  hoop- 
ing-cough. 

LO'CAL  PROBLEM  (Lat.  locus),  in  the  ancient  Geome- 
try, is  a  problem  which  admits  of  an  infinite  number  of  solu- 
tions, or  which  can  be  solved  not  only  by  a  single  point,  but 
by  all  points  situated  in  some  line  which  may  he  found.  See 
Locus. 

LOCH.  The  Scotch  term  for  lake,  which  see.  See  also 
Lough. 

LOCK,  in  Internal  Navigation,  is  a  part  of  a  canal  includ- 
ed between  two  floodgates,  by  means  of  which  a  vessel  is 
transferred  from  a  higher  to  a  lower  level,  or  from  a  lower 
to  a  higher.     See  Canal. 

LOCK.  (Saxon,  loc.)  An  instrument  composed  of  springs 
and  bolts,  used  to  fasten  doors,  drawers,  chests,  &c.  A  good 
lock  is  the  masterpiece  in  smithery,  and  requires  mucb  art 
and  delicacy  in  contriving  and  varying  the  wards,  springs, 
bolts,  and  other  parts  whereof  it  is  composed,  so  as  to  adjust 
them  to  the  places  where  they  are  serviceable,  and  to  the 
various  occasions  of  their  use.  The  structure  of  locks  is  so 
varied,  and  the  number  of  inventions  of  different  sorts  so  ex- 
tended, that  we  cannot  attempt  to  enumerate  them.  Those 
placed  on  outer  doors  are  called  stock  locks,  those  on  cham- 
ber doors  spring  locks,  and  such  as  are  bidden  in  the  thick- 
ness of  the  doors  to  which  they  are  applied  are  called  mor- 
tise locks.  The  padlock  is  too  well  known  to  need  descrip- 
tion. We  here  add  the  conditions  u  huh,  to  .Mr.  Nicholson, 
appear  necessary  in  a  lock  of  the  most  perfect  kind:  1.  That 
certain  parts  of  the  lock  should  he  variable  in  position 
through  a  great  Dumber  of  combinations,  one  only  of  which 
shall  allow  the  lock  to  he  o|iened  or  shut.  2.  That  this  last- 
mentioned  combination  should  be  variable  at  the  pleasure  of 
the  possessor.  3.  That  it  should  not  be  possible,  alter  the 
lock  is  closed   and   the  combination   disturbed,  for  any  one, 

not  even  the  maker  of  the  lock,  to  discover,  by  any  examina- 
tion, what  may  be  the  propel  situations  of  the  pails  required 
to  open   the  lock.     4.  That  trials  of  this  kind  shall   not   be 

capable  of  injuring  the  works.  5.  That  it  shall  require  no 
key  ;  6.  And  be  as  easily  opened  in  the  dark  as  in  the  light. 
7.  That  the  Opening  and  shutting  should  he  done  by  a  pro- 
cess as  simple  as  that  of  a  common  lock.  8.  Thai  it  should 
open  without  a  key,  or  with  one,  at  pleasure.  9.  That  the 
keyhole  be  concealed,  defended,  or  Inaccessible.  10.  That 
the  key  may  be  us.  d  by  a  stranger,  without  his  knowing  or 


LOCOFOCOS. 

being  able  to  discover  the  adopted  combination.  11.  That 
the  key  be  capable  of  adjustment  to  all  the  variations  of  the 
lock,  and  yet  he  simple.  12.  That  the  lock  should  not  be 
liable  to  be  taken  off  and  examined,  whether  the  receptacle 
be  open  or  shut,  except  by  one  who  knows  the  adopted  com- 
bination. These  considerations  involve  a  mechanical  prob- 
lem of  great  difficulty ;  but  much  towards  its  accomplish- 
ment has  been  effected  in  various  inventions  that  have  been 
promulgated,  and  more  especially  in  those  of  Bramah, 
Chubbs,  Taylor,  &c. 

LCCOPCCOS.  The  name  by  which  the  ultra  demo- 
cratical  party  in  America  has  been  distinguished  since  the 
year  1834.  The  term  originated  in  the  following  incident. 
Some  of  that  party  having  had  a  meeting  at  Tammany  Hall, 
in  New- York,  tlie  lamps  were  accidentally  extinguished; 
and  on  the  hall  being  relighted  with  lucifers  (which  in 
America  are  termed  locofocos,  probably  from  the  Lat.  loco 
foci,  instead  of  a  fire),  the  word  was  adopted  as  a  distin- 
guishing appellative,  and  is  now  of  universal  application. 

LO'COMO'TION.  (Lat.  loci  motio,  change  of  place.) 
Such  motion  as  is  attended  by  change  of  place  in  the  body 
which  moves,  in  contradistinction  to  motions  which  a  body 
may  have  which  is  stationary.  Thus,  a  clock,  a  mill,  a  lathe 
moves  ;  but  no  change  of  place  of  the  machine  is  produced  : 
such  motion  is  not  locomotion.  A  steam  engine  which,  being 
fixed  in  its  position,  impels  others  bodies,  is  a  stationary  en- 
gine ;  but  one  which  travels  with  the  bodies  which  it  drives 
is  called  a  locomotive  engine. 

LOCOMOTIVE  ENGINE.  Any  engine  which,  being 
employed  to  draw  loads  in  transport  overland,  travels  with 
the  load  which  it  draws. 

Since  the  improvement  and  extension  of  iron  railways,  this 
term  has  been  exclusively  applied  to  the  steam  engine,  by 
which  loads  are  drawn  upon  them.  Although,  strictly  speak- 
ing, the  steam  engine  by  which  a  ship  is  propelled  is  a  loco- 
motive engine,  it  is  not  usual  to  apply  that  term  to  it ;  such 
an  engine  is  called  a  marine  engine.  (See  Steam  Naviga- 
tion.) The  term  locomotive  engine  must,  therefore,  as  at 
present  used,  be  understood  to  express  the  travelling  steam 
engine  by  which  trains  are  drawn  on  railways. 

History  of  the  Locomotive  Engine. —  The  first  practical 
application  of  the  steam  engine  as  a  locomotive  power  took 
place  in  1804,  on  a  railroad  at  Merthyr  Tydvi),  in  South 
Wales.  The  engine  was  constructed  by  Messrs.  Trevethick 
and  Vivian,  under  a  patent  obtained  by  them  two  years 
previously.  This  engine,  in  several  respects,  resembled  in 
its  form  and  structure  those  which  have  been  since  used  for 
a  like  purpose. 

The  boiler  was  a  cylinder,  with  flat  circular  ends  placed 
upon  its  side.  A  large  tube  entered  it  at  one  end,  and,  being 
carried  near  the  other,  was  there  received  and  carried  back 
parallel  to  its  first  direction  ;  its  course  through  the  boiler  re- 
sembling the  letter  U.  The  two  mouths  or  openings  of  this 
tube  were  therefore  placed  at  the  same  end  of  the  boiler. 
One  of  the  mouths  of  this  tube  communicated  with  the 
chimney,  the  base  of  which  was  flanged  upon  it,  and  the 
other  contained  the  grate  and  furnace.  The  flame  and  heat- 
ed air  were  drawn  through  the  curved  tube,  and  up  the 
chimney.  The  engine  was  worked  by  high-pressure  steam 
without  condensation  ;  the  steam  being  admitted  to  the  cyl- 
inder, and  withdrawn  from  it,  by  the  well-known  mechanical 
contrivance  called  a  four-way  cock.  The  cylinder  was  placed 
on  its  side ;  and  in  one  position  of  the  cock  a  communication 
was  opened  between  the  boiler  and  one  end  of  the  cylinder, 
while  another  communication  was  opened  between  the 
other  end  of  the  cylinder  and  a  tube  leading  to  the  chimney. 
Steam  was  thus  admitted  to  act  on  one  side  of  the  piston,  and 
allowed  to  escape  from  the  other  side  to  the  chimney.  When 
the  piston  attained  the  end  of  the  stroke,  the  position  of  the 
cock  was  reversed,  and  the  steam  which  had  just  driven  the 
piston  in  one  direction  was  allowed  to  escape  to  the  chimney, 
while  steam  from  the  boiler  was  admitted  on  the  other  side 
of  the  piston,  to  impel  it  in  the  contrary  direction ;  and  in 
this  manner  the  piston  was  continually  driven  backwards 
and  forwards,  in  a  horizontal  direction,  and  parallel  to  the 
direction  of  the  load.  The  piston  rod  was  moved  through  a 
hole,  corresponding  with  it  in  magnitude,  in  the  cover  of  the 
cylinder,  in  which  it  was  rendered  steam-tight  by  a  stuffing 
box  properly  lubricated.  This  piston  rod  acted  bv  means  of 
a  connecting  rod  on  a  crank,  which  it  kept  in  revolution  in 
the  same  manner  as  the  crank  in  a  common  double-acting 
steam  engine  is  moved.  (See  Steam  Engine.)  On  the 
axle  of  this  crank  was  placed  a  cogged  wheel,  which,  by 
means  of  ordinary  gearing,  conveyed  inotion  to  the  axle  of 
the  hind  wheels  of  the  engine,  so  as  to  keep  that  axle  in 
constant  revolution.  The  wheels  being  keyed  upon  that 
axle,  so  as  not  to  be  capable,  like  the  wheels  of  a  common 
carriage,  of  turning  upon  it,  were  necessarily  made  to  revolve 
with  it:  and,  so  long  as  their  pressure  upon  the  road  was 
sufficient  to  prevent  them  from  slipping,  a  progressive  mo- 
tion of  the  carriage  was  the  necessary  consequence  of  their 
revolution. 


LOCOMOTIVE  ENGINE. 

The  early  projectors  of  locomotive  engines  were  all  im- 
pressed with  a  notion  that  the  adhesion  of  the  driving  wheels 
with  the  rails  must  he  insufficient  to  enable  the  power  ap- 
plied to  these  wheels  to  give  progressive  motion  to  the  car- 
riage; and,  without  thinking  it  necessary  to  ascertain  by  ac- 
tual experiment,  whether  such  were  really  the  case  or  not, 
they  expended  much  ingenuity  and  capital  in  devising  means 
of  overcoming  this  difficulty,  which,  after  all,  turned  out  to 
be  merely  imaginary.  Engineers  were,  in  fact,  impressed 
with  a  notion  that  if  any  power  compelled  the  wheels  to  re- 
volve, they  would  merely  slip  upon  the  rails,  and  that  the 
carriage  or  engine  would  remain  stationary.  To  provide 
against  this,  Messrs.  Trevethick  and  Vivian  proposed  to  make 
the  external  rims  of  the  wheels  intended  for  common  roads 
rough  and  uneven,  by  surrounding  them  with  projecting 
heads  of  nails  or  bolts,  or  by  cutting  tranverse  grooves  in 
them.  Seven  years  afterwards,  Mr.  Blinkensop,  of  Leeds, 
obtained  a  patent  for  a  method  of  surmounting  his  imaginary 
difficulty,  by  the  substitution  of  a  rack  rail  for  the  ordinary 
smooth  rail,  and  constructing  teeth  on  the  driving  wheels  to 
work  in  the  teeth  of  this  rack.  Various  other  ingenious  con- 
trivances were  subsequently  produced  for  the  same  purpose, 
until  about  the  year  1814,  when  experience  at  length  forced 
upon  engineers  the  knowledge  of  the  fact,  that  the  adhesion 
of  the  tires  of  the  wheels  with  the  rails  was  amply  suffi- 
cient to  propel  the  engine,  even  when  drawing  after  it  a 
great  load. 

In  1814,  an  engine  was  constructed  at  Killingworth  col- 
liery, near  Newcastle,  having  two  cylinders  with  a  cylindri- 
cal boiler,  and  working  two  pair  of  wheels  by  cranks  placed 
at  right  angles,  so  that  when  one  was  in  full  operation,  the 
other  was  at  its  dead  points.  By  these  means  the  propelling 
power  was  always  in  action.  The  cranks  were  maintained 
in  this  position  by  an  endless  chain,  which  passed  round 
two  cog  wheels  placed  under  the  engine,  and  fixed  on  the 
same  axles  on  which  the  wheels  were  placed.  The  wheels 
in  this  case  were  fixed  on  the  axles,  and  turned  with  them. 

In  an  engine  subsequently  constructed  by  Mr.  Stevenson 
for  the  same  railway,  the  mode  adopted  of  connecting  the 
wheels  by  an  endless  chain  and  cog  wheels  was  abandoned, 
and  the  same  effect  was  produced  by  connecting  the  two 
cranks  by  a  straight  rod.  This  method  is  still  used  in  the 
coupled  engines  which  are  applied  to  draw  the  trains  of 
merchandise  on  the  present  railways. 

The  next  stimulus  which  the  progress  of  this  invention 
received,  arose  from  the  project  of  constructing  a  railway 
between  Liverpool  and  Manchester,  for  the  purposes  of 
general  traffic.  When  this  project  was  undertaken  it  was 
not  decided  what  moving  power  was  most  eligible — whether 
horse  power,  stationary  steam  engines,  or  locomotive  en- 
gines ;  but  the  first,  for  many  obvious  reasons,  was  soon 
rejected,  in  favour  of  one  or  other  of  the  last  two. 

The  steam  engine  may  be  applied  to  move  carriages  on 
a  railway  by  two  distinct  methods.  By  one,  the  engine  is 
fixed  and  draws  a  train  of  carriages  towards  it  by  a  rope  ex- 
tending the  whole  length  of  the  road  on  which  the  engine 
works.  By  this  method  the  line  of  road  is  divided  into  a 
number  of  short  stages,  at  the  extremity  of  each  of  which  an 
engine  is  placed.  The  wagons  or  carriages,  when  drawn  by 
any  engine  to  its  station,  are  detached,  and  connected  with 
the  extremity  of  the  rope-work  by  the  next  stationary  engine, 
and  thus  the  journey  is  performed  from  station  to  station  by 
separate  engines.  For  a  more  detailed  account  of  this 
method  of  working  a  railway,  see  Stationary  Engine. 
By  the  other  method,  each  load  transported  along  the  line 
is  drawn  by  an  engine  which  travels  with  it  as  horses  travel 
with  a  carriage  on  a  common  road. 

To  enable  them  to  decide  which  of  these  two  methods 
of  working  the  proposed  railway  it  would  be  most  advisa- 
ble to  adopt,  the  directors  of  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester 
line  employed  Messrs.  Stevenson  and  Locke,  and  Messrs. 
Walker  and  Rastrick,  experienced  engineers,  to  visit  the 
different  railways  then  in  operation,  to  obtain  the  results  of 
the  experience  which  they  afforded  as  to  these  two  methods 
of  applying  steam  power  to  transport,  and  to  report  their 
opinion  on  the  relative  merits  of  the  two  methods.  After 
an  elaborate  inquiry,  the  decision  of  the  directors  was  given 
in  favour  of  locomotive  power. 

Until  the  period  to  which  we  now  advert,  railways  had 
been  almost  exclusively  confined  to  the  transport  of  mineral 
products  from  the  mines  up  to  the  places  of  shipment,  and 
to  this  purpose  exclusively  had  the  locomotive  engine  been 
applied;  but  the  ends  to  be  attained  by  a  railway  of  thirty 
miles  in  length,  connecting  the  largest  manufacturing  town, 
in  the  greatest  manufacturing  country  in  the  world,  with 
the  greatest,  most  active,  and  most  opulent  commercial  port, 
were  of  a  nature  so  much  more  extensive  and  important, 
that  it  was  considered  that  more  than  ordinary  means  should 
be  resorted  to  to  obtain  a  moving  power  commensurate  with 
the  traffic  which  might  be  expected  under  such  circum- 
stances. Prizes  were  therefore  proposed  to  be  given,  un- 
der certain  stipulations,  to  those  who  would  construct  the 

err 


LOCOMOTIVE  ENGINE. 


■i-  live  locomotive  engines  for  the  purposes  of  the  road. 
This  proposal  produced,  as  was  anticipated,  much  compe- 
tition ;  and  the  spirit  of  emulation  being  roused,  a  trial  was 
appointed,  which  t< ><>k  place  on  the  railway  in  October, 
1839.  Engines  of  seven]  tonus  were  produced;  and  the 
prize  was  awarded  to  one.  called  the  Rocket,  constructed  by 
Mr.  Robert  Stevenson,  the  son  of  Mr.  George  Stevenson,  the 
engineer  of  the  railway.  In  the  first  trial,  this  engine  attain- 
ed the  then  astonishing  speed  of  twenty  nine  miles  an  hour  ; 
and  when,  unhappily,  at  the  ceremony  of  the  opening  of  the 
railway,  the  accident  occurred  which  deprived  the  coUntrj 
of  Mr.  HustdsBon,  his  wounded  body  was  conveyed,  by  the 
same  engine,  a  distance  of  about  fifteen  miles  in  twenty-five 

being  at  the  rate  of  thirty-six  miles  an  hour.  This 
e  igine,  which  involved  in  its  construction  all  those  mechan- 
ical arrangements  to  Which  the  extraordinary  speed  and 
power  of  the  locomotive  engine  of  the  present  day  are  due, 
is  represented  in  elevation  in  tig.  1 ;  and  a  crosB  section  of 


above  mentioned,  thfl-conaomption  of  fuel  In  the  new  engines 
was  reduced  to  14  pound  per  Ion  per  mile.  The  position  of 
the  cylinder  was  also  advantageously  changed.  Instead  of 
being  placed,  as  in  the  Rocket,  OUtEide  the  boiler,  and  ex- 
posed to  the  COld  air.  through  which  the  engine  passed  with 
mm  U  a  velocity,  they  were  now  placed  in  that  part  of  the 
engine  called  the  smoke  bur,  an  enclosed  space  al  the  base 
of  the  chimney,  into  which  the  (lame  and  heated  air  escap- 
ing from  the  tubes  passed.  By  this  arrangement  the  cylin- 
ders were  always  maintained  as  hot  as  tin.  air  which  issued 

from  tin,'  Hues,  and  all  condensation  of  steam  by  their  ex- 
posure prevented. 

The  engine  in  this  improved  form,  is  represented  in  fig.  3. 
As  the  cylinders  were  now  placed   between  the  wheels, 


the  boiler  and  furnace  is  represented  in  fig.  2.  It  is  sup|x>rt- 
ed  on  four  wheels,  the  weight  being 
principally  thrown  on  the  larger  pair 
worked  by  the  engine.  The  boiler  is  a 
cylinder  6  feet  long,  having  the  chim- 
ney at  one  end,  and  the  fire  box  B  at  the 
other.  This  box  is  surrounded  with  a 
hollow  casing,  which  communicates 
with  the  bottom  of  the  boiler  by  a  tube 
C,  and  with  the  top  by  a  tube  D.  The 
water  in  the  boiler,  therefore,  flows  into 
the  casing,  and  fills  it  to  the  same  level 
as  that  which  it  has  in  the  boiler.  When 
the  engine  is  at  work,  the  boiler  is  kept  about  half  filled  with 
water,  and,  consequently,  the  casing  round  the  furnace  is 
completely  filled.  Steam  is  abundantly  generated  in  this 
casing,  exposed  as  it  is  on  every  side  to  the  radiant  heat  of  the 
fire :  this  steam  rises  in  bubbles,  and  passes  through  the  tube 
T)  into  the  boiler.  The  lower  part  of  the  boiler  is  traversed 
by  a  number  of  copper  tubes,  the  ends  of  which  appear  in 
fig.  2.  The  flame  and  heated  air  proceeding  from  the  burn- 
ing fuel  pass  through  these  tubes,  and,  after  traversing  the 
whole  length  of  the  boiler,  escape  into  the  chimney,  impart- 
ing, on  their  passage,  heat  to  the  water  in  the  boiler.  The 
necessary  draught  through  the  furnace  is  maintained  by 
causing  the  cylinders  to  discharge  the  waste  steam  into  a 
pipe,  which  is  presented  up  the  chimney,  and  is  called  the 
blast  pipe.  There  are  two  cylinders  placed  outside  the  en- 
gine, on  either  side  of  it,  as  represented  in  fig.  1 ;  they  are 
placed  in  a  diagonal  position,  and  their  rods  move  in  guides  ; 
the  end  of  the  piston  rod  is  connected  with  one  of  the  spokes 
of  the  wheels  by  a  connecting  rod,  and  the  piston,  as  ft  is 
driven  by  the  steam  in  each  direction  in  the  cylinder,  causes 
the  wheels  to  revolve. 

The  circumstances  in  this  mechanical  arrangement,  on 
Which  the  rapid  production  of  steam  depends,  are  two-fold: 
first,  the  extensive  surface  exposed  in  the  radiant  heat  of  the 
fire,  by  the  casing  surrounding  the  fire  box,  and  by  the  tubes, 
twenty -five  in  number  and  only  three  inches  in  diameter,  by 
Which  the  flame  and  heated  air  are  conducted  through  the 
boiler  from  the  lire  box  to  the  Chimney;  and,  secondly,  by 
the  powerful  draught  maintained  in  the  furnace  by  the  cur- 
rent of  steam  constantly  discharged  up  the  chimney.  It  has 
been  mainly  by  bringing  these  principles  more  fully  into 
operation,  that  all  the  improvements  since  made  in  the  loco- 
motive engine  have  been  effected. 

The  railway  was  not  lone  in  operation,  when  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  tidies  in  the  boiler  was  improved  ;  their  number 
was  increased  from  twenty  live  to  one  hundred  and  upwards, 
and  their  diameters  diminished  from  three  Inches  to  an  inch 
and  a  half.  This  change  alone  produced  an  increased  effi- 
ciency of  the  fuel,  in  the  proportion  of  nearly  two  to  one  ; 
the  consumption  of  coke  in  the  Rocket  having  been  very 
nearly  2A  pounds  per  ton  per  mile,  while,  by  the  change 
078 


their  operation  could  not  be  effected  in  the  same  manner  as 
in  the  Rocket.  The  connecting  rods  were  accordingly  made 
to  act  on  two  cranks,  constructed  upon  the  axle  of  the  wheels, 
plnced  at  right  angles  to  each  other,  so  that  one  may  always 
be  at  its  dead  point  while  the  other  was  in  full  action.  This 
double-cranked  axle  was,  from  the  weakness  consequent 
upon  its  form,  liable  at  first  to  fracture ;  but  improved  methods 
of  forging  them  subsequently  gave  them  sufficient  strength, 
and  now  the  fracture  of  a  cranked  axle  rarely  occurs. 

The  two  chief  improvements  in  the  locomotive  engine, 
which  succeeded  those  now  explained,  and  which  brought 
that  machine  to  its  present  state  of  efficiency,  consisted, 
first,  in  the  substitution  of  brass  for  copper  tubes;  and, 
secondly,  in  the  addition  of  another  pair  of  wheels  to  sup- 
port the  engine.  It  was  found,  by  continued  experience, 
that  the  copper  tubes,  from  some  peculiar  action  of  the  fire 
upon  them,  which  lias  never  been  explained  or  understood, 
were  subject  to  rapid  decay  ;  and  in  the  year  1833,  after  an 
experience  of  about  three  years  of  the  working  of  these  en- 
gines, it  occurred  to  Mr.  Dixon,  then  one  of  the  superintend- 
ents of  the  engineering  department  of  the  Liverpool  and 
Manchester  railway,  to  try  the  effect  of  brass  tubes.  The 
experiment  was  eminently  successful ;  they  were  found  to 
last  sis  or  eight  times  as  long  as  copper  tubes  of  the  same 
dimensions.  Having  now  brought  down  the  history  of  the 
locomotive  engine  to  the  present  time,  we  shall  give  a  de- 
scription of  one  of  these  machines  iri  its  most  improved  form. 

Description  of  the  most  improved  Locomotive  Engine  in 
operation  in  1840. — A  longitudinal  vertical  section  of  a  loco- 
motive engine  is  represented  in  fig.  4 ;    and  a  plan  of  the 


working  machinery,  including  the  cylinders,  pistons,  eccen- 
trics, fee,  which  are  under  the  boiler,  and  by  the  operation 
of  which  the  engine  is  driven,  is  represented  in  fig.  5.  These 
and  the  other  cuts  referred  to  in  the  present  article  have 
been  taken,  with  the  permission  of  the  author  and  publish- 
ers, from  the  7th  edition  of  Dr.  Lnrdner's  work  on  the 
Steam  Engine ;  to  which  the  reader  is  referred  for  a  more 
detailed  account  of  Ihe  history,  the  structure,  and  the  oper- 
ation of  the  locomotive  engine,  than  the  limits  of  the  present 
article  « 111  allow  ns  to  supply. 

The  boiler,  as  has  been  explained  in  the  engines  already 
described,  is  u  cylinder  placed  upon  its  side ;  the  fire  bos 


LOCOMOTIVE  ENGINE. 


consists  of  two  casings  of  metal,  one  within  the  other,  bolted 
together  by  rivets,  represented  at  k ;  the  fire  grate  is  repre- 
sented at  D.  The  fire  door  is  represented  at  g,  opening 
upon  the  platform  where  the  engineer  stands.  It  will  be 
perceived  in  the  section  fig.  4,  as  well  as  in  the  plan  fig.  5, 


that  the  fire  box  is  on  every  side  surrounded  by  the  water 
contained  between  the  two  casings,  the  level  of  the  water 
in  the  boiler  being  above  the  roof  of  the  fire  box.  The  tubes 
by  which  the  flame,  and  the  products  of  combustion,  are 
drawn  from  the  fire  box  into  the  smoke  box  are  represented 
at  E.  fig.  4.  The  smoke  box  containing  the  cylinders  and 
blast  pipe,  and  supporting  the  chimney,  is  represented  at  F. 
In  the  engine  from  which  this  drawing  was  taken,  the  boiler 
is  a  cylinder  7£  feet  long  and  3£  feet  diameter ;  it  is  clothed 
with  a  boarding  of  wood,  represented  at  a,  and  bound  round 
by  iron  hoops  screwed  together  at  the  bottom.  Wood  being 
a  slow  conductor  of  heat,  this  covering  has  the  effect  of 
keeping  the  boiler  warm,  and  checking  the  condensation  of 
steam. 

The  external  casing  of  the  fire  box,  B  B,  is  nearly  square 
in  its  plan,  as  seen  in  fig.  5,  being  4  feet  wide,  and  3  feet  7i 
inches  long:  it  is  constructed  of  wrought-iron  plates,  and 
descends  two  feet  below  the  boiler,  as  seen  in  fig.  4;  the 
top  being  semi-cylindrical,  of  a  diameter  greater  than  that 
of  the  boiler,  and  concentrical  with  it.  The  inner  casing, 
it  k,  fig.  5,  is  similar  in  shape  to  the  external ;  but  it  is  low- 
er, and  flat  at  the  roof,  as  seen  in  fig.  4.  The  space  between 
the  two  casings  is  from  3  to  4  inches  in  width.  This  internal 
fire  box  is  made  of  copper  plates. 

As  the  top  of  the  fire  box  would  be  liable  to  be  destroyed 
by  the  action  of  the  fire  if  the  level  of  the  water  in  the  boiler 
were  suffered  to  fall  below  it,  so  as  to  leave  it  uncovered,  a 
leaden  plug  m  is  inserted  in  it,  which  would  melt  out  before 
the  copper  would  become  injuriously  heated,  and  the  steam 
rushing  out  at  the  aperture  would  cause  the  fire  to  be  ex- 
tinguished. The  tubes  E,  which  serve  to  conduct  the  flame 
through  the  boiler  to  the  smoke  box,  are  made  of  the  best 
rolled  brass,  l-13th  of  an  inch  thick,  and  If  of  an  inch  in 
external  diameter;  they  are  124  in  number,  and  the  distance 
between  tube  and  tube  is  three  quarters  of  an  inch.  The 
number  of  these  tubes  is  at  present  seldom  less  than  90,  and 
Varies  between  that  and  150.  The  tubes  act  as  stays,  con- 
necting the  ends  of  the  boiler  to  strengthen  them  ;  but  be- 
sides these  there  are  rods  of  wrought-iron,  represented  at  o, 
fig.  4,  which  extend  from  end  to  end  of  the  boiler,  above  the 
roof  of  the  fire-box.  The  smoke  box  F,  containing  the  cylin- 
ders, steam  pipe,  and  blast  pipe,  is  4  feet  wide,  and  2  feet 
long:  it  is  formed  of  wrought-iron  plates,  rivetted  in  the 
same  manner  as  those  of  the  fire  box.  From  the  top  of  the 
smoke  box,  which,  like  the  fire  box,  is  serni-cylindncal,  rises 
the  chimney  G,  15  inches  diameter,  made  of  |-inch  iron 
plates,  rivetted  and  bound  round  by  hoops.  Near  the  bot- 
tom of  the  smoke  box  the  working  cylinders  are  placed  side 
by  side,  in  a  horizontal  position,  with  the  slide  valves  up- 
wards, as  seen  in  fig.  5. 

At  the  top  of  the  external  fire  box,  fig.  4,  a  circular  aper- 
ture is  formed  15  inches  in  diameter ;  and  upon  this  aperture 
is  placed  the  steam  dome  T,  2  feet  in  height,  and  secured  to 
the  aperture  by  nuts.  The  steam  dome  is  made  of  brass, 
nearly  half  an  inch  thick.  A  funnel-shaped  tube  d,  with  its 
wide  end  upwards,  is  flanged  upon  the  side  of  the  great 
steam  pipe  S,  and  is  carried  upward,  so  that  its  mouth  is 
near  the  top  of  the  steam  dome  T.  In  order  to  pass  into  the 
steam  pipe  S,  the  steam  which  fills  the  upper  part  of  the 
boiler  A  must  ascend  the  steam  dome  and  enter  the  funnel 
d,  as  indicated  by  the  bent  arrow  in  fig.  4.  This  arrange- 
ment prevents,  in  a  great  degree,  the  effect  of  priming,  by 
which  word  is  expressed  technically  the  spray  of  water 
which  rises  from  the  water  of  the  boiler,  and  is  mixed  with 
the  steam  in  the  upper  part  of  it :  as  the  steam  ascends  the 
steam  dome  this  spray  falls  back,  and  nothing  but  pure 
steam  enters  the  funnel  d.  The  wider  part  of  the  great 
steam  pipe  S  is  flanged,  and  screwed  at  the  hinder  end  to  a 
corresponding  aperture  in  the  back  of  the  fire  box,  where  the 
engineer  stands:  this  opening  is  covered  by  a  circular  plate, 
secured  by  screws,  having  a  stuffing  box  in  its  centre,  of  the 
same  kind  as  is  used  for  the  piston  rods  of  steam  cylinders. 
Through  this  stuffing  box  the  spindle  or  rod  a  of  the  regula- 
tor passes ;  and  to  its  end  is  attached  a  winch  h,  by  which 


the  spindle  a'  is  capable  of  being  turned.  To  the  other  end 
of  this  spindle,  at  e,  is  attached  a  plate,  which  moves  upon 
apertures  formed  in  the  cover  of  the  end  of  the  great  steam 
pipe  S ;  so  that,  by  turning  the  winch  A  more  or  less,  this 
plate  e  may  be  removed  more  or  less  from  over  the  openings ; 
and  thus  the  steam  may  be  allowed  to  enter  the  steam  pipe 
S  from  the  steam  dome  T  in  greater  or  less  quantity,  or  may 
be  shut  off"  altogether.  The  steam  pipe  S  being  enclosed 
within  the  boiler,  is  maintained  at  the  same  temperature  as 
the  steam  in  the  boiler ;  and  therefore  tiie  steam,  in  passing 
through  it,  is  not  liable  to  condensation.  The  steam  pipe, 
passing  through  the  tube  plate  at  the  front  of  the  boiler, 
is  turned  down  at  right  angles  in  the  smoke  box,  where, 
dividing  into  two  branches,  one  is  conducted  to  each  of  the 
valve  boxes  of  the  cylinders.  The  lower  ends  of  these 
branches  are  flanged  to  the  valve  boxes  at  the  ends  of  the 
cylinders  nearest  to  the  boiler:  by  these  pipes  the  steam  is 
conducted  into  the  valve  boxes,  or  steam  chests,  from  which 
it  is  admitted  by  slide  valves  to  the  cylinders  to  work  the 
pistons.  On  the  upper  sides  of  the  cylinders  are  the  steam 
chests  U,  communicating  with  the  passage ;  m,  tig.  5,  lead- 
ing to  the  top  of  the  cylinder,  n  leading  to  the  bottom,  and  o 
leading  through  the  side  pipe  P'  to  the  blast  pipe.  These 
openings  are  governed  by  a  slide,  so  that,  when  steam  is  ad- 
mitted through  m,  the  communication  shall  be  opened  be- 
tween n  and  o.  Thus,  when  steam  is  admitted  to  the  top 
of  the  cylinder,  the  steam  from  the  bottom  will  flow  from 
n,  through  o,  into  the  blast  pipe.  When  the  piston  reaches 
the  bottom  of  the  cylinder,  then  the  slide  opens  a  communi- 
cation between  n  and  the  steam  pipe,  and  between  m  and  o. 
Thus  steam  will  be  admitted  to  the  bottom  of  the  cylinder, 
while  the  steam  from  the  top  will  escape  from  in,  through 
o,  to  the  blast  pipe.  In  this  way,  by  the  alternate  shifting 
of  the  slide,  steam  is  admitted  alternately  to  each  end  of  the 
cylinder,  and  allowed  to  escape  from  the  other  end,  and  the 
alternate  motion  of  the  piston  and  the  cylinder  is  thereby 
maintained.  The  pistons  used  in  locomotive  engines  are  of 
the  kind  called  metallic  pistons,  and,  from  their  horizontal 
position,  they  have  a  tendency  to  wear  unequally  in  the 
cylinders,  their  weight  pressing  them  on  one  side  only ;  but 
from  their  small  magnitude,  this  effect  is  found  to  be  im- 
perceptible in  practice.  The  cross  pipe  P',  which  communi- 
cates with  the  eduction  passage  o,  in  each  of  the  valve 
boxes,  has  an  opening  in  the  centre  presented  upward,  as 
seen  in  fig.  5.  To  this  opening  is  flanged  the  base  of  the 
blast  pipe  p,  fig.  4,  which  rises  in  a  direction  slightly  curved, 
and  has  its  mouth  presented  upward  in  the  centre  of  the 
chimney  G.  The  steam  which  is  discharged  at  each  stroke 
of  the  pistons  from  the  cylinders  passes  through  this  pipe, 
and  escapes  up  the  chimney  by  puffs.  When  an  engine  is 
moving  slowlv.  these  puffs  are  distinctly  audible,  resembling 
the  coughing  "of  a  horse ;  but  when  at  full  speed,  they  suc- 
ceed each  other  so  rapidly  that  the  ear  can  scarcely  distin- 
guish their  intervals.  It  is  this  stream  of  waste  steam,  con- 
tinually rushing  up  the  chimney,  that  maintains  the  necessary 
draught  in  the  fireplace ;  the  upper  current  thus  produced 
in  the  funnel  causes  a  corresponding  current  into  the  smoke 
box  F,  through  the  tubes  E  ;  and  there  is  this  excellence  in 
the  arrangement,  that  the  force  of  the  draught  in  the  chim- 
ney being  proportional  to  the  quantity  of  steam  produced,  it 
must  be  therefore  proportional  to  the  quantity  of  fuel  neces- 
sary to  be  consumed. 

The  force  of  the  steam  thus  impressed  upon  the  pistons  is 
communicated  by  the  piston  rods  Y,  fig.  4,  the  cross  heads 
of  which  move  in  guides  to  the  connecting  rods  B,  which 
are  attached  to  the  crank  pins  of  the  working  (6.) 

axle  C ;  so  that,  as  the  piston  rods  are  driven 
backwards  and  forwards  in  the  cylinders,  the 
working  axle  is  made  to  revolve.  This  axle, 
with  the  two  cranks  formed  upon  it,  is  repre- 
sented in  fig.  6,  where  the  two  cranks  must  be 
understood  to  be  in  a  position  at  an  angle  of  45° 
with  the  plane  of  the  figure,  and  therefore  at  an  i 
angle  of  90°  with  each  other.  As  this  axle  is  i 
the  instrament  by  which  the  impelling  force  is  | 
conveyed  to  the  load,  and  as  it  has  to  support  a 
great  portion  of  the  weight  of  the  engine,  it  is 
constructed  with  great  strength  and  precision. 
Its  length  is  6£  feet,  and  its  diameter  5  inches. 
At  the  centre  part  A  it  is  cylindrical,  and  is  in- 
creased to  5^  inches  at  C,  where  the  cranks  are 
formed.  The  sides  D  of  the  cranks  are  4  inches 
thick ;  and  the  crank  pins  B,  which  are  truly 
cylindrical,  are  5  inches  in  diameter  and  3 
inches  in  length.  Upon  the  parts  F,  which  are 
7£  inches  long,  the  great  driving  wheels  D,  fig. 
4,  are  firmly  fastened,  so  as  to  be  prevented 
from  turning  or  shaking  upon  the  axle.  Brass- 
es are  fixed  on  the  outside  frame  of  the  engine, 
which  rest  upon  these  projections  G  of  the  axle ; 
and  upon  these  brasses  the  weight  of  the  en- 
gine is  supported. 


LOCOMOTIVE  ENGINE. 


The  strength  and  accuracy  of  construction  necessary  for 
these  axles  render  them  expensive:  they  cost  about  x">o 
each.  They  arc  sciil.un  broken,  but  sometimes  bent  when 
the  engine  escapes  from  the  mils. 

The  method  by  which  the  slides  arc  made  to  govern  the 

admission  and  escape  Of  the  steam  to  and  frmn  the  cylinders 
is  nearly  the  same  as  in  the  steam  engine  used  for  the  (.'en- 
oral  purposes  of  manufacture;  and  tor  a  general  description 

01"  the  method  see  Stkxm    Engine.     Meanwhile  it  may  be 

here  briefly  stated,  that  this  is  effected  by  two  circular  plates 
called  eccentrics,  fixed  at  E  E,  fig.  5,  on  the  great  working 
axle.  These  eccentrics  are  circular  plates  or  rim:s.  formed 
upon  or  attached  to  the  axle  so  as  to  revolve  in  their  own 
plane,  forming,  in  effect,  a  part  of  the  axle  itself;  hut  they 
BCed  that  their  centres  do  not  coincide  with  the  cen- 
tre of  the  axle,  and,  consequently,  as  they  revolve  with  the 
axle,  their  centres  are  alternately  thrown  backwards  and 
forwards,  as  they  pass  on  the  one  side  or  the  other  of  the 
axle.  These  circular  plates  are  surrounded  by  rim:s.  w  ithin 
which  they  revolve,  but  which  do  not  revolve  with  them. 
These  rings  are  alternately  thrown  backward  and  forward 
by  the  play  of  the  eccentrics;  and  to  these  rings  are  attach- 
ed rods  c  e,  which  communicate  motion  to  the  arms  which 
drive  the  rods  of  the  slides.  Thus  the  alternate  motions  of 
the  eccentrics  backward  and  forward  proceeding  from  the 
working  axle,  produce  a  corresponding  backward  and  for- 
ward motion  in  the  slides,  and  thereby  govern  the  admission 
and  escape  of  the  steam  to  and  from  the  cylinders.  When 
it  is  required  to  reverse  the  motion  of  the  engine,  or  to  make 
i;  move  backwards,  the  motion  of  the  slides,  and  therefore 
the  positions  of  the  eccentrics  on  the  working  axle,  must  be 
the  contrary  of  that  necessary  to  produce  a  progressive  mo- 
lion.  Sometimes  this  is  effected  by  shifting  the  position  of 
the  eccentrics  on  the  working  axle;  but  more  commonly  it 
is  effected  by  a  second  pair  of  eccentrics,  represented  at  F  F, 
fig.  5,  placed  on  the  axle  in  a  position  contrary  to  the  others. 
When  the  engine  is  driven  backward,  the  eccentrics  E  E 
are  thrown  out  of  gear,  and  the  eccentrics  F  F  are  brought 
into  action. 

As  all  the  moving  parts  of  the  engine  require  to  be  con- 
stantly lubricated  with  oil,  to  diminish  the  friction  and  keep 
them  cool,  oil  cups  for  this  purpose  are  fixed  upon  them.  In 
some  eiiL'ines  these  oil  cups  are  attached  separately  to  all  the 
moving  parts:  in  others  they  are  placed  near  each  other  in 
a  row  on  the  side  of  the  boiler,  and  communicate  by  small 
tubes  With  the  several  parts  to  be  lubricated. 

The  tender  is  a  carriage  attached  behind  the  engine,  and 
close  to  it,  carrying  coke  for  the  supply  of  the  furnace,  and 
a  tank  containing  water  for  the  boiler.  The  feed  for  the 
boiler  is  conducted  through  a  curved  pipe  proceeding  from 
the  tank,  and  carried  first  downwards,  and  afterwards  in  a 
horizontal  direction,  as  represented  at  K,  fig.  4,  under  the 
boiler.  It  communicates  with  a  forcing  pump,  which  is 
worked  by  an  arm  driven  by  the  cross  head  of  the  steam 
piston.  By  this  pump  water  is  constantly  forced  into  the 
boiler,  so  long  as  the  pump  is  kept  in  communication  with 
the  tank ;  but  this  communication  may  be  opened  and  cut 
off  by  a  cock  /.  governed  by  the  engineer.  As  the  feed  of 
the  boiler  by  the  introduction  of  cold  water  checks  the  ac- 
tivity of  the  evaporation,  it  is  the  custom  not  to  feed  the 
boiler  regularly  and  constantly,  but  to  throw  on  the  feed 
when  the  work  on  the  engine  is  light  and  the  consumption 
of  stetun  small,  and  to  shut  it  off  when  much  steam  is  re- 
quired. The  circumstances  of  a  railway  naturally  suggest 
this.  When  the  engine  is  ascending  an  incline,  all  the  steam 
which  tin'  boiler  is  capable  of  producing  is  required,  and 
therefore  the  activity  of  the  boiler  is  stimulated  by  shutting 
off  the  feed  :  but  in  descending  an  incline  less  power  is  re- 
quired, and  the  feed  is  put  on. 

Until  within  the  last  few  years,  locomotive  engines  were 
Supported  on  only  four  wheels.  It  is  now,  however,  tie'  gen- 
era!  practice  to  place  them  on  six,  the  driving  wheels  being 
in  the  middle,  as  represented  in  fig.  4.  To  give  greater  se- 
curity to  the  position  of  the  engine  between  the  rails,  it  is 

usual  to  construct  flanges  on  the  tires  of  all  the  six  wheels. 
Mr.  Stevenson,  however,  has  been  in  the  practice  of  con- 
BtTUCting   the  driving  wheels  without  flanges,  and  with  tires 

trulj  cylindrical,  depending  on  the  flanges  of  the  two  pairs 

ot'  smaller  wheels  to  maintain  the  engine  between  the  rails. 
The  w  heels  ot'  the  engine  represented  in  I'm.  •),  are  construct- 
ed  in  this  manner.     The  driving  Wheels  l»  are  fixed  00  the 

cranked  axle  C,  and  are  constructed  with  cylindrical  tires 
without  flanges.  They  are  5  feet  in  diameter.  The  w  heels 
L  are  'J  feel  6  In.  in  diameter,  and  have  conical  Urea  with 
flanges.    They  are  placed  Immediately  behind  the  smoke 

box.  The  wheels  M  are  precisely  similar  to  L,  and  arc 
placed  immediately  behind  the  lire  box. 

When  an  engine  is  required  for  the  transport  of  very  heavj 

loads,  sue  1 1  as  those  of  merchandise,  the  adhesion  of  one  pair 
of  working  wheels  is  insufficient;  and.  in  such  cases,  one 

of  the  two  pairs  of  wheels  I.  or  ,M  is  made  of  the  same  di- 
ameter, as  the  driving  wheels,  and  a  bar  is  attached  to  points 
080 


on  the  outside  of  the  wheels,  at  equal  distances  from  their 
eiutre,  connecting  them  in  such  a  manner  that  any  force 
applied  to  make  one  pair  of  wheels  revolve  must  necessarily 
impart  the  same  motion  to  the  other  pair.  By  such  means 
the  force  of  the  steam  is  made  to  drive  both  pairs  ot'  wheels, 
and  consequently  a  proportionally  increased  adhesion  is  ob- 
tained. 

The  speed  which  an  engine  is  capable  of  imparting  de- 
pends on  the  rate  at  which  the  pistons  are  capable  of  being 
moved  in  the  cylinders.  By  every  motion  of  each  piston 
backward  and  forward  one  revolution  of  the  driving  wheel 
is  produced  ;  and  by  each  revolution  of  the  driving  wheels, 
supposing  them  not  to  slip  upon  the  mils,  the  load  is  driven 
through  a  distance  equal  to  their  circumference.  As  the 
two  cylinders  work  together,  it  follows  that  a  quantity  of 
steam  sufficient  to  till  four  cylinders  must  be  supplied  by  the 
boiler  to  the  engine,  to  move  the  train  through  a  distance 
equal  to  the  circumference  of  the  driving  wheels;  and  in 
accomplishing  this  each  piston  must  move  twice  from  end 
to  end  of  the  cylinder,  each  cylinder  must  he  twice  filled 
with  steam  from  the  boiler,  and  that  steam  must  be  twice 
discharged  from  the  blast  pipe  into  the  chimney.  If  the 
driving  wheels  be  5  feet  in  diameter,  their  circumference 
will  be  15  feet  7  inches.  To  drive  a  train  with  a  velocity  of 
30  miles  an  hour,  it  is  necessary  that  the  engine  he  propelled 
through  45  feet  per  second;  and  to  accomplish  this  with  5 
feet  wheels  they  must  make  nearly  three  revolutions  per 
second;  and  as  each  revolution  requires  two  motions  of  the 
piston  in  the  cylinder,  it  follows  that  each  piston  must  move 
three  times  forward  and  three  times  backward  in  the  cyl- 
inder in  a  second  ;  that  steam  must  be  admitted  six  times  per 
second  to  each  cylinder,  and  discharged  twelve  times  per 
second  through  the  blast  pipe :  the  motion  of  the  slides  and 
other  reciprocating  parts  of  the  machinery  must  consequent- 
ly correspond. 

This  rapid  reciprocating  motion  being  injurious  to  the  ma- 
chinery, attempts  have  been  made  to  diminish  it  by  the 
adoption  of  larger  working  wheels,  and  the  driving  wheels 
on  several  of  the  great  lines  have  been  accordingly  increased 
to  5k  and  6  feet  in  diameter.  Such  engines  have  not  been 
yet  sufficiently  long  in  use  to  afford  a  practical  estimate  of 
the  effects  of  this  change.  Experiments  of  a  much  bolder 
kind  have  been  tried  on  the  Great  Western  Railway,  where 
driving  wheels  of  10  feet  in  diameter  have  been  worked. 
From  a  course  of  experiments,  however,  made  by  Dr.  Lard- 
ni  r  with  those  engines,  it  did  not  appear  that  they  had  any 
advantage  over  those  constructed  with  smaller  and  lighter 
wheels.  Experience  appears  to  have  since  confirmed  this, 
as  they  are  now  for  the  most  part  abandoned.  The  pres- 
sure of  steam  in  the  boiler  is  usually  limited  by  two  safety 
valves — one  represented  at  X,  under  the  control  of  the  en- 
gineer ;  and  the  other  at  O,  which  cannot  be  approached  by 
him.  The  safety  valve  at  N  is  held  down  by  a  lever  r, 
which  is  attached  to  a  spiral  spring,  and  which  may,  by  an 
adjusting  screw,  be  made  to  press  on  the  valve  with  any  re- 
quired force.  The  second  valve  O  is  pressed  by  several 
small  elliptical  springs,  placed  one  above  another  over  the 
valve,  and  held  down  by  a  screw,  which  turns  in  a  frame 
fixed  into  the  valve  seat.  By  this  screw  the  pressure  on  the 
valve  can  be  adjusted. 

In  order  to  give  notice  of  the  approach  of  the  train,  a  steam 
whistle  Z,  fig.  4,  is  placed  immediately  above  the  fire  box  at 
the  back  of  the  engine.  This  is  an  apparatus  composed  of 
two  small  hemispheres  of  brass,  separated  one  from  the  other 
by  a  small  space.  Steam  is  made  to  pass  through  a  hollow 
space  formed  in  the  lower  hemisphere,  and  escapes  from  a 
very  narrow  circular  opening  round  the  edge  of  that  hemis- 
phere. The  edge  of  the  upper  hemisphere  presented  down- 
wards encounters  this  steam,  and  an  effect  is  produced  simi- 
lar to  the  action  of  air  in  organ  pipes.  A  shrill  whistle  is 
produced  which  can  be  heard  at  a  grei  t  distance,  and  differ 
ing  from  all  ordinary  sounds,  never  fails  to  give  notice  of  the 
approach  of  a  train. 

It  is  not  usual  to  express  the  power  of  locomotives,  in  the 
same  manner  as  that  of  other  engines,  by  the  term  horse 
power.  Indeed,  until  the  actual  amount  of  resistance  en- 
countered by  these  machines  shall  he  more  certainly  ascer- 
tained, it  is  impossible  that  their  efficiency  can  be  estimated. 
The  quantity  of  water  evaporated  supplies  a  major  limit  to 
the  power  exerted;  but  even  this  necessary  element  is  not 

ascertained.    Mr.  Stevenson  states  thai  an  engine  such  as 

that  above  described  is  capable  of  evaporating  only  77  cubic 
feet  of  water  per  hour;  hut  Dr.  I.ardner  found  that  the 
mean  evaporation  obtained  by  a  very  accurately  conducted 
experiment  over  200  miles  of  railway,  with  an  engine  called 

the  iieela,  similar  to  the  above,  was  90  cubic  feet  per  hour 
very  Dearly. 

But  a  still  greater  evaporating  power  than  this  is  found 
among  the  large  engines  working  on  the  (Jreai  Western  Rail- 
way. In  an  experiment  made  by  Dr.  Lardner  with  the  North 
Star,  drawing  HOj  tons  gross,  at  3(M  miles  an  hour,  the 
evaporation  was  'JOO  cubic  feet  per  hour.  ' 


LOCOMOTIVE  POWER. 

On  the  evaporating  power  of  the  engines,  other  things  be- 
ing the  same,  must  ultimately  depend  the  speed  of  railway 
traffic.  For  it  must  be  apparent  tiiat  no  modification  which 
can  be  made  in  the  mechanism  of  the  engine,  no  change  in 
the  magnitude  of  the  driving  wheels,  nor  any  other  expedient 
of  the  same  kind,  can  add  anything  to  the  real  working 
power  of  the  machine.  Mechanism  is  the  means  by  which 
power  is  modified  and  conveyed  to  the  working  points,  not 
the  agent  by  which  it  is  produced.  The  real  and  the  only 
source  of  power  in  the  steam  engine  is  to  he  found  in  the 
phenomena  which  are  evolved  in  the  conversion  of  water 
into  vapour  (for  an  account  of  which  phenomena  see 
Steam)  ;  and  therefore  the  limit  of  railway  speed  must  al- 
ways depend  on  the  rate  at  which  the  locomotive  boiler  is 
capable  of  evaporating  water.  The  experiments  above  ex- 
plained show  the  actual  evaporating  powers  possessed  by 
the  boilers  now  in  use,  and  every  addition  to  such  evapo- 
rating power  will  produce  a  corresponding,  though  not  a  pro- 
portionate, augmentation  of  the  speed  of  railway  trains. 

Nothing  can  be  more  absurdly  exaggerated  than  the  ac- 
counts which  have  been  put  in  circulation  of  the  speed  at- 
tained on  railways.  No  reliance  whatever  can  or  ought  to 
be  placed  on  such  reports,  unless  they  are  attested  by  com- 
petent persons  accustomed  to  that  kind  of  inquiry,  and  who 
have  been  themselves  witnesses  of  them.  In  the  extensive 
courses  of  experiments  which,  for  several  years  back,  have 
been  conducted  by  Dr.  Lardner,  he  has  never  in  any  instance, 
even  with  an  unloaded  engine,  exceeded  a  speed  of  45  miles 
an  hour ;  nor  was  that  speed  ever  maintained  for  any  con- 
siderable distance.  With  the  best  and  most  powerful  en- 
gines on  the  Great  Western  Railway  at  their  disposal,  Mr. 
Nicholas  Wood  and  Dr.  Lardner  were  unable  to  attain  a 
speed  in  their  experiments  exceeding  45  miles  an  hour.  The 
question,  however,  of  most  interest  to  the  public  is,  not  the 
speed  which  can  be  obtained  in  experiments  for  short  dis- 
tances with  engines  put  into  racing  order,  but  the  average 
speed  which  can  be  maintained  in  the  general  working  of  a 
road.  The  returns  of  the  railway  companies,  so  far  as  they 
have  been  made  public,  do  not  supply  the  means  of  deter- 
mining this;  but  it  is  known  that  the  first  class  trains  be- 
tween London  and  Birmingham,  a  distance  of  112  miles, 
cannot  make  the  journey,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  in 
less  than  5£  hours:  this  would  give  an  average  speed,  in- 
cluding stoppages,  of  20  miles  an  hour.  On  the  Grand  Junc- 
tion line  between  Liverpool  and  Birmingham,  the  journey, 
including  stoppages,  is  usually  made  in  4$  hours,  and  the 
distance  is  97  miles :  this  again  is  at  the  rate  of  about  20 
miles  an  hour.  No  other  lines  of  railway  have  yet  been  con- 
structed of  sufficient  length  to  afford  a  fair  estimate  of  aver- 
age speed  ;  and  it  may  therefore  be  assumed  that  the  present 
rate  of  railway  travelling,  for  long  distances  with  first  class 
trains,  stoppages  included,  is  20  miles  an  hour. 

On  the  railway  between  Liverpool  and  Manchester  the 
average  speed  of  first  class  trains  is  greater.  The  railway 
is  only  30  miles  in  length ;  and  there  is  but  one^ stoppage,  at 
Newton,  which  is  so  arranged  as  to  be  attended  with  very 
little  loss  of  time.  The  journey  is  very  frequently  made  in 
an  hour,  and  seldom  exceeds  80  minutes ;  the  average  speed 
for  the  fastest  trains  on  that  line  is  therefore  probably  not 
less  than  25  miles  an  hour,  including  stoppages.  (For  far- 
ther details  respecting  the  locomotive  engine,  see  Lardner 
on  the  Steam  Engine,  7th  edit.,  1840.) 

LOCOMOTIVE  POWER,  in  contradistinction  to  station- 
ary power,  is  any  kind  of  moving  power  applied  to  the  trans- 
port of  loads  on  land  which  travels  with  the  load  which  it 
draws.  Horses  employed  to  draw  carriages  or  carry  loads 
are  locomotive  powers.     See  Locomotive  Engine. 

LO'CULICI'DAL.  In  Botany,  a  term  applied  to  the 
dehiscence  of  a  fruit  when  it  takes  place  through  the  back 
of  the  cells.  It  is  what  botanists  formerly  called  a  dehiscence 
with  the  valves  opposite  the  dissepiments. 

LO'CUS.  (Lat.  place),  in  the  Geometrical  Analysis,  is  the 
line  traced  by  a  point  which  varies  its  position  acccording  to 
some  determinate  law.  For  example,  let  this  problem  be 
proposed :  To  find  a  point  P  such 
that  its  distances  from  two  given 
points,  A  and  B,  shall  have  a 
given  ratio.  If  the  line  joining 
A  and  B  be  divided  in  E,  so  that 
A  E  is  to  E  B  in  the  given  ratio, 
then  a  point  is  found  which  ful- 
fils the  conditions  of  the  problem. 
But  this  is  not  the  only  point 
which  has  this  property ;  for  let 
F  be  taken  in  the  prolongation  of  A  B,  so  that  A  F  is  to  B  F 
in  the  given  ratio,  and  on  E  F  as  a  diameter  let  a  circle  be 
described ;  then,  if  straight  lines  be  drawn  from  A  and  B  to 
any  point  whatever,  P,  in  the  circumference  of  this  circle, 
A  P  will  have  to  P  B  the  same  ratio  as  A  E  to  E  B,  or  as  A  F 
to  F  B,  that  is,  the  ratio  given.  The  circle  E  P  F  is  hence 
called  the  locus  of  the  point  P. 

When  the  locus  of  the  variable  point  is  a  straight  line  or 


LOG,  LOG-LINE. 

a  circle,  it  was  called  by  the  ancient  geometers  a  plane 
locus  ;  and  when  one  of  the  conic  sections,  a  solid  locus. 

The  plane  loci  formed  a  branch  of  the  ancient  analysis, 
which,  according  to  the  account  of  Pappus,  was  treated  of 
by  Apollonius  in  two  books  which  have  been  lost.  They 
were  partly  restored  by  Schooten,  a  Dutch  geometer,  who 
flourished  in  the  17th  century,  and  by  Fermat ;  but  after- 
wards in  a  complete  manner  by  Dr.  Simson  of  Glasgow, 
whose  treatise,  He  Locis  Planis,  published  in  1749,  is  a 
model  of  geometrical  elegance.  The  principal  propositions 
may  be  found  in  Leslie's  Geometrical  Analysis. 

The  moderns  distinguish  the  loci  into  orders,  according  to 
the  dimensions  of  the  algebraic  equations  by  which  they 
are  represented.  Thus  the  equation  a  x  -f-  b  y-\-  c  =  o  is  a 
locus  of  the  first  order ;  axl-\-by*-\-cxy-\-dx-\-ey-\-f 
=  o,  a  locus  of  the  second  order,  and  so  on.  The  loci  of  all 
equations  of  the  second  degree  are  conic  sections  or  circles. 
(See  JUac/aurin's  Algebra.) 

LO'CUST.  From  the  Latin  word  signifying  a  crayfish  ; 
but  now  the  common  name  of  a  species  of  insects,  forming 
a  group  or  subgenus  of  the  Gryllus  of  Linnaeus.  They 
have  coloured  elytra,  and  large  wings,  disposed  when  at 
rest  in  straight  fan-like  folds,  as  in  other  Orthoptera,  and 
frequently  exhibiting  bright  blue,  green,  or  red  colours.  The 
thorax  is  capacious,  to  afford  room  for  the  powerful  mus- 
cles of  the  wings,  and  is  marked  in  many  species  with  one 
or  more  crests  or  wart-like  prominences.  The  locusts  fly 
by  starts,  but  frequently  rise  to  a  considerable  height.  Cer- 
tain species,  called  "  migratory  locusts,"  unite  in  incalcula- 
ble numbers,  and  emigrate,  resembling  in  their  passage 
through  the  air  a  dense  cloud :  wherever  they  alight  all  signs 
of  vegetation  quickly  disappear,  and  cultivated  grounds  are 
left  a  desert.  But  the  mischief  does  not  end  here ;  for  when 
dead  the  mass  of  decomposing  bodies  is  so  great  that  the  air 
becomes  poisoned  by  the  fetid  exhalations.  The  2d  chapter 
of  Joel  gives  a  powerful  description  of  the  devastation  com- 
mitted by  these  destructive  insects. 

M.  Miot,  in  his  translation  of  Herodotus,  has  given  it  as 
his  opinion  that  the  heaps  of  bodies  of  winged  serpents 
which  that  historian  states  that  he  saw  in  Egypt,  were 
nothing  more  than  masses  of  this  species  of  locust.  These 
insects  are  eaten  in  various  parts  of  Africa,  where  the  in- 
habitants collect  them  both  for  home  consumption  and  for 
commerce.  They  take  away  their  elytra  and  wings,  and 
preserve  them  in  brine.  One  species  (Acridium  migratorium, 
Latr.)  occasionally  commits  devastations  in  the  south  of 
Europe  and  Poland ;  and  stragglers  have  occasionally  reach- 
ed our  own  coasts.  In  the  United  States  the  term  "  locust" 
is  applied  to  a  species  of  Cicada,  which  by  their  numbers 
and  voracity  are  almost  as  destructive  as  the  true  locusts  of 
the  old  world. 

LOCU'STA.  In  Botany.  If  that  form  of  inflorescence 
called  a  spike  consist  of  flowers  destitute  of  calyx  and  corolla, 
the  place  of  which  is  occupied  by  bractese,  the  rachis  is 
flexuose  and  toothed,  and  does  not  fall  to  the  ground  with 
the  flowers,  as  happens  in  grasses,  each  part  of  the  inflor- 
escence so  arranged  is  called  a  locusta,  the  structure  of 
which  is  as  follows :  At  the  base  are  two  opposite  empty 
bractere  called  glumes,  one  of  which  is  attached  to  the 
rachis  a  little  above  the  base  of  the  other ;  above  the  glumes 
are  several  florets  sitting  in  denticulations  of  the  rachis ; 
each  of  these  consists  of  one  bractea,  sometimes  with  the 
midrib  quitting  the  lamina  a  little  below  the  apex,  and 
elongated  into  a  bristle ;  and  of  another  bractea,  facing  the 
first,  with  its  back  to  the  rachis,  bifid  at  the  apex,  with  no 
dorsal  vein,  but  with  its  edges  indexed,  and  a  rib  on  each 
side  at  the  line  of  inflexion  ;  and,  lastly,  within  these  bractea? 
are  situated  two  extremely  minute  fleshy  scales,  which  are 
sometimes  connate,  and  stand  at  the  base  of  the  sexual  or- 
gans. 

LODE.  A  term  used  by  miners,  generally  synonymously 
with  metallic  or  mineral  vein.  The  lodes  containing  metal- 
lic ores  are  said  to  be  alive ;  others  which  merely  contain 
lapideous  matters  are  called  dead  lodes. 

LODGE.  (Fr.  logis.)  In  Architecture,  a  small  house 
situated  in  a  park  or  domain  subordinate  to  the  mansion  ; 
also,  the  cottage  situated  at  the  gate  of  the  avenue  that  leads 
to  the  mansion. 

Lodge.     See  Freemasonry. 

LODI'CULA.  In  Botany,  a  term  given  by  Palisot  de 
Beauvois  to  the  two  minute,  colourless,  fleshy,  hypogynous 
scales  which  are  situated  beneath  the  ovary  of  grasses. 

LOESS.  A  German  geological  term,  applied  to  a  tertiary 
alluvial  deposit  which  occurs  in  patches  between  Cologne 
and  Basle.  The  term  is  often  used  by  English  geologists  in 
reference  to  that  peculiar  yellow  loam  with  calcareous  con- 
cretions. 

LOG,  LOG-LINE.  In  sea  language,  the  log  is  a  piece 
of  wood,  in  the  form  of  a  sector  of  a  circle  (usually  a  quad- 
rant) of  five  or  six  inches  radius.  It  is  about  a  quarter  of 
an  inch  thick  ;  and  so  balanced,  by  means  of  a  plate  of  lead 
nailed  to  the  circular  part,  as  to  swim  perpendicularly  in  the 
T  t  *  081 


LOGAN  STONES. 

water,  with  about  two  thirds  immersed  under  the  surface. 
The  log-line  is  a  small  cord,  one  end  of  which  is  fastened  to 
the  log,  while  the  other  is  wound  round  a  reel  in  the  gallery 

Of  the  ship.  The  log  thus  poised,  keeps  its  place  in  the 
water,  while  the  hue  is  unwound  from  the  reel  as  the  ship 
mores  through  the  water ;  and  the  length  of  line  unwound 
in  B  sivcn  time  gives  the  rate  of  the  ship's  sailing.  This  is 
calculated  bj  knots  made  on  the  line  at  certain  distances, 
while  the  time  i*  measured  by  a  sand-glass  of  a  certain 
number  Of  seconds.  In  order  to  avoid  calculation,  the  length 
between  the  knots  is  so  proportioned  to  the  time  of  the  glass 
that  the  number  of  knots  unwound  while  the  glass  runs 
down,  shows  the  number  of  miles  the  ship  is  sailing  per 
hour.  Thus,  suppose  the  glass  to  be  a  half-minute  one,  it 
will  run  down  120  times  in  an  hour.  Now,  distances  by 
sea  are  reckoned  by  nautical  miles  of  60  to  a  degree;  so  that 
each  mile  contains  about  6100  feet,  the  120th  part  of  which 
is  51  feet.  If,  therefore,  the  knots  (which  are  pieces  of 
coloured  cloth)  are  fastened  to  the  log  line  at  distances  of 
51  feet,  the  number  of  knots  unwound  from  the  reel  in  half 
a  minute  is  the  number  of  miles  the  ship  runs  in  one  hour. 
It"  the  glass  runs  down  in  less  than  half  a  minute,  the  inter- 
vals between  the  knots  must  he  diminished  in  proportion. 
The  first  knot  is  placed  about  five  fathoms  from  the  log,  to 
allow  the  latter  to  get  clear  of  the  ship  before  the  reckoning 
commences  ;  and  the  part  of  the  line  between  the  lead  and 
the  first  knot  is  called  the  stray-tine. 

LO'GAX  STONES.     See  Rocking  Stones. 

LO'GAIHTII.M.  (Gr.  \oyos,  in  the  sense  of  a  proportion, 
and  apiOfioi,  number.)  The  logarithm  of  a  number  is  the 
exponent  of  the  power  to  which  another  given  invariable 
number  must  be  raised  in  order  to  produce  the  first  number. 
Thus,  in  the  common  system  of  logarithms,  in  whicli  the 
invariable  number  is  10,  the  logarithm  of  1000  is  3,  because 
10  raised  to  the  third  power  is  1000.  In  general,  if  a*  =  ?/, 
in  which  equation  a  is  a  given  invariable  number,  then  x  is 
the  logarithm  of  y.  All  absolute  numbers,  whether  positive 
or  negative,  whole  or  fractional,  may  be  produced  by  raising 
an  invariable  number  to  suitable  powers.  The  invariable 
number  is  called  the  base  of  the  system  of  logarithms:  it 
maybe  any  number  whatever  greater  or  less  than  unity; 
but,  having  bean  once  chosen,  it  must  remain  the  same  for 
the  formation  of  all  numbers  in  the  same  system.  What- 
ever number  may  be  selected  for  the  base,  the  logarithm  of 
the  base  is  1,  and  the  logarithm  of  1  is  0.  In  fact,  if  in  the 
equation  a*  =  y  we  make  1  =  1,  we  shall  have  a'  =  a, 
whence,  by  the  definition,  log  a  =  1 ;  and  if  we  make  x  =  0, 
we  shall  have  a«  =  1,  whence  log.  1  =  0. 

From  the  nature  of  the  exponential  equation,  by  which 
logarithms  have  been  defined,  it  is  easy  to  discover  some  of 
the  principal  properties  and  uses  of  those  artificial  numbers. 
Suppose  that  we  have  a  series  of  numbers,  y,  y',  y",  y",  &c, 
to  be  multiplied  together.  Let  a  be  the  base  of  the  system 
of  logarithms  (supposed  to  be  calculated),  and  let  x,  x',  x", 
x'",  &.c.  be  the  logarithms  of  y,  y',  y",  y'",  &c.  respectively. 
We  have  then,  according  to  the  definition,  the  series  of 
equations, 

y  =  a*,  y'  =  a*',  y"  =  a*",  y'"  =  ox'",  &x. 
Multiplying  the  corresponding  members  of  these  equations 
into  each  other,  we  get, 

y y'  y"  y"  &c.  =  a*  +  *'  +*"  +  *"'  +  &c- ; 

whence  log.  y  y  y"  y'"  &c.  =  x  -4-  x'  +  x"  +  x'"  -f-  &c.  = 
log.  y  +  big.  y'  +  log.  y"  -4-  log.  y'"  -f-  &c. :  whence  we  infer 
this  chief  property  of  logarithms,  namely,  that  the  logarithm 
of  a  product  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  logarithms  of  its 
factors. 

Again,  let  there  be  two  numbers,  y  and  y\  to  be  divided 
the  one  by  the  other,  and  let  x  and  ar  be  their  logarithms. 
We  have,  as  before,  the  equations  y  ■=.  a*,  and  y'  =  a*' ; 

'/'  y' 

whence  —  =  a*  —  *,  and  therefore  log.  —  =  x'  —  x  =  log. 

y'  —  log.  ;/;  that  is  to  say,  the  logarithm  of  the  quotient  of 
a  division  is  equal  to  the  difference  between  the  logarithm 

of  the  dividend  and  the  logarithm  of  the  divisor. 

These  properties  of  logarithms  areofvery  great  importance 

in  facilitating  the  arithmetical  operations  of  multiplication 
and  division.  For  if  a  multiplication  is  to  be  effected,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  take  from  the  logarithmic  tables  the  logo 

rithnis  of  the  factors,  and  add   them   Into  one  sum,  which 

gives  the  logarithm  of  the  required  product ;  and  on  finding 
in  the  table  the  number  corresponding  to  this  nevt  logarithm, 
the  product  itself  is  obtained.  Tim-  by  means  of  a  table  of 
logarithms  the  operation  of  multiplication  is  performed  by 

simple  addition.  In  like  manner.  If  i Dumber  Is  W  In- 
divided  by  another,  it  Is  only  necessary  to  subtract  the  logs 

rithm  of  the  divisor  from  that  of  the  dividend,  and  to  Bad 
in  the  table  the  number  corresponding  to  this  difference, 

which  number  is  the  quotient  required.     Thus,  the  quolienl 

of  a  division  is  obtained  by  simple  subtraction. 
Logarithms  apply  with  equal  advantage  to  the  formation 
682 


LOGARKtx.vJL. 

of  powers  and  extraction  of  roots.  Let  y  be  a  number  to  be 
raised  to  the  power  m  (in  being  any  number,  whole  or  frac- 
tional, positive  or  negative).  As  before,  we  have  ;/  =  a* ; 
and,  on  raising  both  sides  of  the  equation  to  the  power  m, 

ym  —  a<nx;  whence,   by   the   definition,   log.   ym  =  mx=«l 

log. y ;  that  is,  the  logarithm  of  the  power  of  a  number  is 
equal  to  the  product  of  the  logarithm  of  the  number  by  the 

exponent  of  the  power. 

If  in  the  equation  of  log.  ym  =  m  log.  y  we  make  m  =  — ' 

1 

-  n  ] 

we  shall  have  log.  y1'  (or  log.  ^/  y)  =  -  log.  y  ;  that  is  to 

say,  the  logarithm  of  any  root  of  a  number  is  equal  to  the 
logarithm  of  the  number  divided  by  the  index  of  the  root. 

From  these  two  hist  results  it  is  obvious  that  by  means  of 
a  table  of  logarithms  numbers  may  be  raised  to  any  power 
by  simple  multiplication,  and  that  the  roots  of  numbers  may 
be  extracted  by  simple  division. 

The  properties  which  have  now  been  demonstrated  are 
true  of  every  system  of  logarithms  which  may  be  adopted  ; 
but  their  application  to  numerical  computations  supposes 
the  construction  of  a  table,  including  on  the  one  hand  the 
natural  numbers,  and  on  the  other  the  logarithms  of  those 
numbers  calculated  for  a  given  base.  The  tables  usually 
employed  are  those  of  which  the  base  is  10,  and  their  con- 
struction is  equivalent  to  the  solution  of  the  algebraic  equa- 
tion 10x  =  ?/.  Hence,  making  y  successively  equal  to  the 
numbers  1,  2,  3,  4,  &c,  we  have  to  resolve  the  equations, 
10x  =  l,  10*  =  2, 10*  =  3,  10i  =  4,  &.c. 

The  labour  of  computing  the  tables  is  greatly  abridged  by 
the  circumstance  that  it  is  only  necessary  to  calculate  the 
logarithms  of  the  prime  numbers;  for,  as  all  the  other  num- 
bers may  be  obtained  by  the  multiplication  of  prime  numbers 
into  each  other,  their  logarithms,  according  to  what  has 
been  already  shown,  may  rwifound  by  the  addition  and  sub- 
traction of  the  logarithms  of  the  prime  numbers.  Hence  a 
table  containing  merely  the  logarithms  of  the  prime  num- 
bers is  all  that  is  strictly  necessary  for  effecting  computations 
by  logarithms. 

When  a  table  of  logarithms  has  been  calculated  for  any 
given  base,  it  is  easy  to  find  by  means  of  it  any  other  system 
of  logarithms  corresponding  to  a  different  base,  without 
having  again  recourse  to  the  solution  of  exponential  equa- 
tions. Thus,  supposing  a  system  of  logarithms  lias  been 
calculated  of  which  the  base  is  a,  or,  which  is  the  same 
tiling,  that  the  value  of  x  has  been  found  for  every  different 
value  of  y  in  the  equation  a*  =  y,  and  that  it  is  required  to 
construct  another  table  of  which  the  base  is  A,  or  to  find  the 
values  of  v  corresponding  to  every  different  value  of  y  in  the 
equation  bv  = y,  we  may  proceed  as  follows :  Taking  tite 
logarithms  of  both  members  of  this  last  equation  from  the 
table  supposed  already  calculated,  of  which  the  base  is  a, 
and  recollecting  that  log.  iv  =  v  log.  b,  we  have  v  log.  4  ==  log. 
log.  y 

v  ;  whence  v  =  , ;"     But  because  bv  =  y,  it  follows  that 

3  log.  o 

v  is  the  logarithm  of  y  in  the  system  of  which  the  base  is  b  ; 
therefore,  denoting  the  logarithms  in  this  new  system  by 

L,  wehaveLw  = ,— ^f-    Hence  it  appears  that,  in  order  to 

log.  b 
find  the  logarithm  of  any  given  number  y  in  the  new  sys- 
tem, it  is  only  necessary  to  multiply  its  logarithm  in  the 

system  already  calculated  by  the  constant  number  -j -• 

This  constant  number,  by  means  of  which  we  pass  from 
the  one  table  to  the  other,  is  called  the  modulus  of  the  new 
table  with  reference  to  the  old. 

In  the  common  system  of  logarithm-  of  which  the  base  is 
10,  those  numbers  only  which  are  perfect  powers  of  10  (that 
is,  mil,  1000,  &c.)  can  have  commensurable  logarithms. 
The  logarithms  of  all  other  numbers  are  incommensurable, 
and  can  only  be  obtained  to  a  certain  degree  of  approxima- 
tion. In  general,  the  approximation  will  be  sufficient  if 
carried  to  the  seventh  decimal  figure,  and  accordingly  the 
ordinary  tables  contain  the  logarithms  only  to  seven  places 
Of  decimals;  but  where  very  great  accuracy  is  required,  as 
in  some   astronomical  calculations,  it   may  be  necessary  to 

ii-.'  logarithms  exact  to  ten  places.  In  Vlacq's  tables  they 
are  computed  to  this  extent 

The  relation  between  a  number  and  Its  logarithm  in  tho 
common  system  being  10«  =  y  (where  y  is  the  natural  num- 
ber and  ./  its  Logarithm),  if  we  make  successive!) 

x  =  0,  1,  2,  3,  4 n, 

we  shall  have  for  the  corresponding  values  of  y 

y  =  1,  10,  100,  1000,  10000 10"  ; 

and  if  we  make 


wc  shall  have 


1  =  0  —  1  —  2  —  3—4. 


LOGARITHM. 


»=1, 


_L,  _L-i    i    ...  1  . 

10  100 '  1000  10000  '  '  '  10"' 
From  these  series  it  is  evident  that  the  logarithms  of  all 
numbers  greater  than  unity  are  positive,  and  that  the  loga- 
rithms of  all  fractions  are  negative.  It  is  also  evident  that 
the  logarithm  of  every  number  between  0  and  10  is  a  deci- 
mal, of  every  number  between  10  and  100  is  1  +  a  decimal, 
of  every  number  between  100  and  1000  is  2  +  a  decimal, 
and  so  on.  But  the  digits  in  any  number  between  10  and 
100  are  2,  between  100  and  1000  are  3,  and  so  on ;  therefore 
the  common  logarithm  of  any  number  is  expressed  by  the 
number  of  its  digits  diminished  by  unity,  with  a  certain 
decimal  fraction  added.  For  example,  the  number  73594, 
comprised  between  10000  and  100000,  or  between  10*  and 
105,  has  for  its  logarithm  4,  with  a  decimal  added.  This  in- 
tegral part  of  the  logarithm,  which  is  common  to  all  num- 
bers between  two  successive  powers  of  10,  is  called  the 
characteristic,  because  it  shows  at  once  of  how  many  digits 
the  natural  number  corresponding  to  the  logarithm  to  which 
it  is  prefixed  is  composed.  If,  then,  we  know  the  logarithm 
of  any  number,  we  have  only  to  add  1,  2,  3,  &c.  to  its 
characteristic,  in  order  to  have  the  logarithm  of  a  number 
10  times,  100  times,  or  1000  times,  &c.  as  great.  Thus  we 
have 

log.  73594  =  4-8668424 

log.    7359-4         =  3-8668424 

log.        73-594      =  1-8668424 

log.  7-3594    =0-8668424 

log.  -73594  =T8668424 

In  this  last  example  the  negative  sign  is  placed  over  the 
characteristic,  this  only  being  negative.     But  it  is  more 
usual  and  convenient  to  substitute  for  the  negative  charac- 
teristics their  arithmetical  complements ;  thus, 
log.  -73594      =  9-8668424 
log.  -073594    =  8-8668424 
log.  -0073594  sc  7-8663424 

Regard  must  be  had  to  this  substitution  in  the  final  result ; 
but  no  mistake  is  likely  to  arise,  for  its  effect  would  be  to 
carry  the  decimal  point  10  digits  to  the  right  or  left  of  its 
true  place — an  error  which  would  at  once  be  evident.  In 
modern  tables  the  characteristic  is  properly  omitted ;  the 
logarithm  to  which  it  would  be  prefixed  belonging,  in  fact, 
not  only  to  one  particular  number,  but  also  to  all  multiples 
or  sub-multiples  of  that  number  by  10. 

The  methods  employed  by  the  first  computers  of  the 
logarithmic  tables  were  founded  on  the  successive  extrac- 
tion of  roots,  and  involved  calculations  of  very  great  labour, 
but  analysts  have  since  discovered  series  by  which  the  com- 
putations are  rendered  much  more  expeditious  and  easy. 
Let  it  be  required  to  find  the  logarithm  of  any  number  z  by 
means  of  a  converging  series.    Assume  log.  (1  -f-  z)  =  A  z 

+  B  x2  +  C  z3  +  DiH«tc (1),  in  which  A,  B,  C,  D, 

&c.  are  coefficients  to  be  determined.  Taking  another  num- 
ber z,  we  shall  have,  in  like  manner, 

log.  (1  +  2)  =  A  z  +  B  z2  +  C  z3  +  D  z4  +  &.c.  ...  (2.) 
Subtracting  equation  (2)  from  (1)  we  get 
log.  (1  +  z)— log.  (l  +  z)  =  A  (i  — z)  +  B(i2_22)  +  c 

(x3  —  z3)  +  &c (3.) 

But,  by  the  nature  of  logarithms,  log.  (1  -f-  z)  —  log.  (1  -4-  z) 

=  log. 


l  +  x 

1  +  z 


=  log.  (l  +  j-jT")  ;  and,  on  developing  this 

expression  in  the  same  manner  as  log.  (1  -)-  z)  in  the  equa- 
tion (1),  we  have 

log.  (l  +  *J=-Z)=  A  X^+  B C-^V+  Cf--Zf 
°   V.    ^l+z^  1  +  z^     Vl  +  zy  ^     M  +  zV 

+,  &c. 
Substituting  this  development  for  log.  (1  +  z)  —  log.  (1  +  z), 
in  the  equation  (3),  and  dividing  both  sides  by  (z —  z)  there 
results 

=  A  +  B  (z  +  z)  +  C  (x2  +  x  z  +  22)  +,  &c. 
Now,  as  this  equation  is  true  independently  of  any  particu- 
lar values  of  x  and  z,  let  us  suppose  z  =  z,  and  it  becomes 

Aj-^— =  A  +  2Bz  +  3Cz2+4Dz3  +  &c. 
which,  on  expanding  the  quantity  j-^—  by  division,  gives  A 

(1—  z  +  z2  —  z3  +  z<—  ,&c.)  =  A  +  2Bz-f-3Cz2  +  4D 
z3  +,  &c.  Therefore,  by  the  theory  of  indeterminate  coeffi- 
cients, we  must  have  the  separate  equations  A  =  A  A  = 

2  B,  -f-  A  =  3  C,  —  A  =  4  D,  &c. ;  and,  on  substituting  the 
resulting  values  of  B,  C,  D,  &c,  in  terms  of  A  in  equation 
(1),  we  get 


*2 


log.(l  +  z)=A(|-|  + 


x*      z5 


—  &c.) 


z3 

3"    4    '   5 

The  quantity  A,  which  is  still  indeterminate,  is  the  modu- 
lus; and  on  assigning  to  it  a  particular  value,  we  character- 
ize the  system  which  we  wish  to  consider. 

Let  us  suppose  A  =  1,  and  denote  the  particular  system 
of  logarithms  resulting  from  this  supposition  by  L ;  we  shall 
then  have 

L  (1  +  z)  =  z  —  §  z2  +  £  X3  _  J  Xi  +,  &c. 
This  series  in  its  present  form  is  unfit  for  the  calculation  of 
the  logarithms  of  whole  numbers,  for  when  x  is  greater  than 
unity  it  is  divergent ;  but  it  may  be  easily  transformed  into 
others  having  the  required  properties.  On  substituting  —  z 
for  z,  it  becomes 

L  (1  —  z)=  —  x  —  £z3  —  Jz3  —  £z4— ,  &c. 
And  on  subtracting  this  from  the  former  series,  we  have, 
since  L(l+ z)  —  L(l— z)  =l(^x)> 


Li=z=<r+  3+^+7+-  &4 

1+ z  ,  1 

Let  us  now  suppose  - —  =  l-\ — ,  or 


1_ 

2z+r 


then, 


l(_1-| — J  =  L- —  =  L(z+l)  —  Lz,  the  last  series  be- 


comes, by  substitution,  L(z+1)  —  Lz 
+,&c.) 


V2z-J 


z-f-1  '  3(2z+l)> 


+ 


5(2z+l)s 

This  series  gives  the  difference  between  the  logarithms  of 
two  consecutive  numbers,  and  it  converges  with  sufficient 
rapidity.    Supposing,  successively,  z  =  1,  2,  3,  4,  &c,  it  gives 

L2  =  2W+3^+5^+7^+'  &C) 

L3-L2  =  2(^34h-54^+'&c) 
L4-L3=2(i+i+Ar^+,  &c.) 

It  will  be  observed  that  as  the  values  of  z  increase,  the  series 
becomes  much  more  rapidly  convergent.  Suppose,  for  ex- 
ample, z  =  100 ;  we  have  then 

L101  =  L100+2(^Il3,21013l5,21Ql5+,  *c.) 

The  logarithm  of  100  being  supposed  known,  the  first  term 
of  this  series  will  give  the  logarithm  of  101  true  to  seven 
places  of  decimals. 

The  series  now  found  gives  the  logarithms  of  the  particu- 
lar system  of  which  the  modulus  is  1,  and  which  is  called 
the  Napierian  system.,  because  it  is  that  according  to  which 
logarithms  were  first  computed  by  their  inventor,  Baron  Na- 
pier. But,  as  has  already  been  shown,  when  the  logarithms 
have  been  found  in  any  one  system,  they  may  be  transferred 
into  those  of  any  other  system  by  means  of  a  constant  factor. 
In  the  common  system  the  base  is  10,  and  the  Napierian  log- 
arithm of  any  number  is  consequently  transformed  into  the 
common  logarithm  of  the  same  number  by  multiplying  by 

the  modulus  j~r^.  This  number,  which  is  of  great  impor- 
tance in  the  computation  of  the  logarithmic  tables,  is  found 
to  be  0-4342944819,  &x.,  the  Napierian  logarithm  of  10  being 
2-30258509,  &e.  It  may  also  be  remarked  that  this  modulus 
04342944819  is  the  ordinary  logarithm  of  the  base  of  the  Na- 
pierian system  ;  for,  calling  e  this  base,  we  shall  have  eU° 
=  10,  whence,  taking  the  ordinary  logarithm  of  both  sides 
of  the  equation  LlOXlog.  e  =  log.  10  =  1 ;  therefore,  log.  e  = 

pj7j  =  04342944819.    On  passing  to  numbers,  we  find  e= 

2^718281 8284. 

The  Napierian  logarithms  are  sometimes  called  the  nat- 
ural logarithms,  on  account  of  the  modulus  of  the  system 
being  unity ;  and,  more  frequently,  hyperbolic  logarithms, 
because  they  represent  the  area  of  a  rectangular  hyperbola 
between  its  asymptotes. 

Logarithms  were  invented  by  Lord  Napier,  Baron  of  Mer- 
chiston,  in  Scotland,  and  made  known  in  a  work  published 
by  him  in  1614,  under  the  title  De  mirifici  Logarithmorum 
Canonis  Constructione.  Henry  Briggs,  a  contemporary  of 
Napier,  and  professor  of  geometry  in  Gresham  college,  con- 
structed another  system,  having  for  its  base  the  number  10, 
which,  corresponding  with  our  system  of  numeration,  is 
much  more  convenient  for  the  ordinary  purposes  of  calcula- 
tion. Briggs  calculated  the  logarithms  to  14  places,  besides 
the  index,  of  all  numbers  between  1  and  20,00(1,  and  between 
90,000  and  100,000,  and  published  them  hi  liis  .'h-ithmetica 

C83 


LOGARITHMIC  CURVE. 

Logarithmica  in  1694.  Adrian  Vlarq.  a  native  of  Holland, 
computed  the  logarithms  <>t"  the  numbers  from  20,000  to 
<jiuhhi,  and  thus  completed  what  had  bean  begun  and  partly 
accomplished  by  Briggs;  but  he  reduced  the  tallies  to  10  de- 
cimal places.  Vlacq'a  .Irithmetica  Logarithmica  was  pub* 
1isli.il  at  Gouda  in  1628,  and  contained  the  logarithms  of  all 
numbers  from   1   to  100,000.  calculated  to  10  decimals;    as 

also  the  logarithms  of  the  sines,  tangents,  and  secants  of  ev- 
ery minute  of  the  quadrant.  Vlacq  afterward,  in  1633,  pub- 
lished another  most  valuable  work,  his  Trigonumetria  .jrti- 

ficiaJis,  containing  the  logarithmic  sines,  cosines,  tangents, 

and  cotangents  for  every  ten  seconds  of  the  quadrant,  calcu- 
lated from  the  natural  sines,  &c,  of  the  Opus  I'alatinum  Of 
Kheticus.  In  the  same  year  another  work  of  the  same  kind, 
the  Trigonomctria  Britannira,  was  published  at  Gouda, 
containing  the  logarithmic  sines  and  tangents  for  the  100th 
part  of  every  degree  of  the  quadrant,  together  with  a  table 
of  natural  sines,  tangents,  and  secants.  These  had  been 
computed  by  Briggs. 

Logarithms  being  of  constant  use  in  astronomical  and  trig- 
onometrical calculations,  the  tables  which  have  been  pub- 
lished are  very  numerous.  The  most  complete  are  those  of 
Vlacq,  already  mentioned,  to  ten  decimals  ;  but  they  are 
very  scarce,  and  can  with  difficulty  be  procured.  There  is 
an  edition  of  them  by  Vega,  in  17'J7,  also  scarce.  Gardiner's 
Logarithms,  printed  in  1742,  in  4to,  and  another  edition  of 
them  at  Avignon,  in  France,  in  1770,  are  to  seven  decimals. 
Collet's  Logarithms,  in  8vo,  like  Gardiner's,  contain  the 
logarithmic  sines,  &c,  for  every  10  seconds.  Taylor's  Log- 
arithms, in  4to,  and  also  Baguay's,  have  them  to  every  sec- 
ond. Hutton's  Logarithms,  and  Babbage's  Logarithms  of 
Numbers,  are  well  known.  The  latter  was  carefully  colla- 
ted, and  is  very  accurate  and  convenient.  Hulssc's  Samm- 
lung  JMathematischer  Tafeln  (8vo,  Leipsig,  1840)  deserves  to 
be  mentioned  as  a  very  useful  collection.  The  above  (ex- 
cepting Vlacq's  and  Vega's)  are  all  to  seven  decimal  figures; 
but  for  many  purposes  logarithms  to  a  less  number  of  deci- 
mals are  sufficiently  accurate.  For  navigation  and  survey- 
ing,  tables  to  six  figures  are  the  most  convenient,  as  they 
give,  in  general,  the  trigonometrical  lines  correct  to  single 
seconds.  The  best  tables  of  this  kind  are  Farley's  Tables 
of  six-figure  Logarithms  (12mo,  1840).  For  many  auxiliary 
computations  in  astronomy  it  is  sufficient  to  have  the  loga- 
rithms to  five  places.  The  reprint  of  Lalande's  five-figure 
Table  by  the  Useful  Knowledge  Society  (18mo,  1839)  is  con- 
venient, and  may  he  relied  on  for  accuracy. 
LOGARITHMIC  or  LOGISTIC  CURVE.  In  the  higher 
0  /  Geometry',  8  curve  line  hav- 
ing this  property,  that  its  ab- 
scissa are  proportional  to  the 
logarithms  of  the  correspond- 
ing ordinates.  It  is  construct- 
ed in  the  following  manner: 
t  >n  the  straight  line  A  D  let 
the  parts  A  B,  A  C,  A  D,  &c, 
be  taken  in  arithmetical  pro 
gression  (or  such  that  A  B  = 
B  C  —  C  D  =  &c),  and  from 
the  several  points  A,  B,  C,  D,  &c,  let  the  perpendiculars  A  L, 
B  M,  C  N,  1)  O,  &c,  be  erected,  forming  a  geometrical  pro- 
gression, or  such  that  AL:BM=:BM:CN  =  CN:DO  = 
&c;  then  their  summits  L,  M,  N,  O,  &c,  will  mark  the  log- 
arithmic curve.  The  curve  is  ascending  or  descending,  ac- 
COTding  as  it  is  continued  from  L  upwards  towards  M,  or 
downwards  towards  m. 

The  equation  of  the  curve  is  x  =  a  log.  y ;  and  hence  its 
principal  properties  are  easily  deduced.    Taking  the  differ- 
ential of  the  equation,  we  get  dx  =  a—  ;  whence  u—  =  a. 
V  Jdy 

XT  "X 

Now,  in  any  curve,  y  -  is  the  expression  of  the  subtangent: 

therefore,  the  subtangents  of  the  logarithmic  at  different 
points  are  all  equal.  The  constant  a  to  which  the  subtan 
gents  are  equal,  is  the  modulus  of  the  system  of  logarithms 
represented  bj  the  particular  curve,  when  the  subtangent 
(B  T,  for  example)  is  equal  to  A  L,  the  primary  ordinate 
which  represents  unity,  the  curve  will  exhibit  the  natural  or 


Napierian  logarithms. 


iy 


From  the  equation  dx  =  a—  we  have  ydx  =  ady ;  but  ydx 

—  the  differential  of  the  area,  therefore  the  area=/  ady  — 

ay -f  const.  Making  first  y=zt)0,  and  then  i/  =  CN,  we 
have  the  area  CN  O  D  =  a(D  O  — C  N) ;  that"  is  to  say,  the 
area  contained  between  two  ordmates  is  equal  to  the  rectan- 
gle under  their  difference  and  the  constant  subtangent. 

The  logarithmic  curve  was  proposed  by  Gregory,  of  St. 
Vincent,  soon  after  the  discovery  of  logarithms,  and  its  lead- 
ing properties  wire  investigated  by  Huvgens  and  others. 
Great  use  is  made  rif  it  in  various  applications  of  physical 
science,  and  particularly  in  exhibiting  the  relations  of  elastic 
684 


LOGIC. 

fluids.  (See  K'eiU's  Tract  on  Logarithms  ;  F.ulcr's  Introd, 
in  Anal.  Inf.,  vol.  ii. ;  Leslie's  Geometry  of  Curves.  fee) 

LOGARITHMIC  SPIRAL,  or  LOGISTIC  SPIRAL.  A 
curve  line,  which  is  generated  as  follows:  Let  the  lines  S T 
revolve  uniformly  about  a  fixed  point  S, 
while  another  point  P  advances  or  recedes 
on  S  T  with  a  velocity  always  proportional 
to  Its  distance  from  the  centre  S  ;  then  the 

point  p  w  ill  trace  out  the  logarithmic  spirali 

From  this  definition  of  the  curve  it  fol- 
low s  that  radiants  S  I.,  B  M,  S  N,  &c,  ma- 
king equal  angles  with  each  oilier,  are  con- 
tinued proportionals;  and  that  the  angles 
about  the  pole  S  are  the  logarithms  of  the  ratios  of  the  suc- 
cessive radiants  :  whence  the  curve  has  its  name.  Let  S  L 
=  l,SM  =  j,  the  angle  LSM^i;  then  z  =  a  log.  y,  where 
a  is  a  constant  quantity.  The  curve  is,  consequently,  anal- 
ogous to  the  common  logarithmic,  the  difference  being  that 
the  abscissa  are  in  the  latter  taken  as  straight  lines,  where- 
as in  the  case  of  the  spiral  they  may  be  conceived  to  be  ta- 
ken as  the  arcs  of  a  circle. 

The  logarithmic  spiral  has  many  remarkable  properties. 
One  of  them  is,  that  the  curve  intersects  all  its  radiants  at 
the  same  angle;  and  this  angle  is  the  modulus  of  the  sys- 
tem of  logarithms  which  the  particular  spiral  represents. 
Another  of  its  properties  is,  that  its  involute  and  evolute  are 
the  same  curve  with  itself.  Newton  proved  that  if  the 
force  of  gravitation  had  been  inversely  as  the  cube  of  the 
distance,  instead"  of  the  square,  the  planets  would  have  shot 
off  from  the  sun  in  logarithmic  spirals.  (Principia,  lib.  i., 
prop,  ix.) 

LOGEI'ON.  (Gr.  'Xoycwv.)  In  ancient  Architecture,  the 
Greek  name  for  proscenium  (which  see).  By  the  Romans 
it  was  called  the  aulpitum. 

LO'GIC  (Gr.  Xoyixv  (fix*7!'  understood);  from  \6yoc.  speech, 
discourse,  or  calculation),  has  been  defined  the  science,  and 
also  the  art,  of  reasoning.  It  is  a  science,  because  it  inves- 
tigates those  principles  on  which  reasoning  proceeds :  it  has 
been  termed  an  art,  as  furnishing  rules  whereby  the  formal 
part  of  an  argument  may  be  constructed.  Logic  was  highly 
valued,  perhaps  overvalued,  among  ancient  philosophers. 
The  Stoics,  in  particular,  were  celebrated  for  their  applica- 
tion of  its  principles  to  their  own  favourite  metaphysical  dis- 
cussions. From  the  abuse  of  logical  know  ledge  arose  the 
celebrated  fallacies  of  the  Sophists,  who,  according  to  the 
satirical  representations  of  Athenian  writers,  were  hired  to 
furnish  their  pupils  with  the  means  of  defending  right  or 
wrong  positions  with  equal  facility.  Zeno  of  Elea  is  called 
the  father  of  logic,  or  dialectics,  according  to  the  ancient 
appellation  of  the  science:  but  we  are  not  well  acquainted 
With  the  discipline  which  he  taught  ;  although  it  can  hardly 
have  consisted,  as  more  recent  writers  have  represented,  of 
a  mere  manual  of  captious  fallacies.  But  it  is  to  the  master 
mind  of  Aristotle  that  the  science  owes,  as  far  as  we  are 
able  to  ascertain,  not  only  its  first  exposition,  but  its  com- 
plete development;  for,  although  logic  has  been  extensively 
interwoven  in  later  times  with  the  subtleties  of  metaphysics 
and  of  rhetoric,  yet,  as  far  as  the  limited  province  of  the  pure 
science  extends,  little  has  been  done  besides  placing  in  a 
clearer  light  the  discoveries  of  the  Stagyrite.  When,  in  the 
middle  ages,  the  Aristotelian  logic  became  the  foundation 
of  the  scholastic  philosophy  (which  was  little  better  than  a 
revival  under  another  form  of  that  of  the  Athenian  sophists), 
attempts  were  made,  especially  one  by  the  famous  Raymond 
Lullius,  to  throw  the  science  into  a  new  form,  but  without 
success.  In  consequence  of  the  various  misapplications  and 
perversions  which  the  system  had  undergone  in  the  hands 
of  later  dialecticians,  it  fell  into  great  disrepute  in  modern 
times ;  and  many  of  our  first  metaphysical  writers,  as  Locke, 
for  example,  have  treated  it  with  very  unmerited  contempt. 
Confined  to  that  narrow  limit  to  which  alone  its  rules  really 
extend,  it  is  a  serviceable  exercise  for  the  mind,  and  affords 
an  accurate  insight  into  the  formal  part  or  machinery  of 
reasoning. 

However  multifarious  the  subjects  to  which  reasoning 
may  be  applied,  and  however  complicated  its  details  may 
become,  the  process  1>\  which  ,",11  reasoning  is  conducted  is 
one  and  the  same.  Whoever  seeks  to  prove  that  because 
one  thing  is  thus,  therefore  another  thing  is  so,  whether  he 
be  a  philosopher  pursuing  a  recondite  truth,  or  a  labourer 
commenting  on  the  events  of  his  daily  life,  cannot  travel  out 
of  the  bounds  of  the  Aristotelian  syllogism.  In  analyzing 
the  process  in  question,  we  find,  in  the  first  place,  that  every 
truth  or  apparent  truth,  arrived  at  by  reasoning,  technically 
termed  a  conclusion,  is  deduced  from  tWO Other  propositions, 

technically  termed  premises,  either  both  expressed,  or  one 

expressed  and  the  other  implied.  In  many  instances,  it  is  at 
once  evident  to  the  mind  of  one  capable  Of  reasoning,  that  if 
the  two  premises  lie  true,  the  conclusion  must  follow  .  Thus, 
if  I  wish  to  prove  tile  mathematical  truth,  that  every  A  is 
Cfllial  to  B,  I  find  a  third  quantity,  C,  Which  is  equal  to  both  ; 

and  my  argument  then  assumes  the  following  shape :  what- 


LOGIC. 

ever  is  equal  to  C  is  equal  to  B  ;  but  every  A  is  equal  to  C, 
therefore  every  A  is  equal  to  B.  Here  the  connexion  be- 
tween the  conclusion  and  the  premises  is  at  once  evident 
and  true;  but  there  are  many  cases  in  which  there  is  an 
apparent  connexion  which  is  in  reality  false  :  in  other  words, 
from  two  premises  a  conclusion  is  deduced,  which,  admit- 
ting the  truth  of  those  premises,  does  not,  in  reality,  follow 
from  them.  The  following;,  for  example,  is  an  instance  of 
a  conclusion  incorrectly  deduced  from  its  premises,  which, 
nevertheless,  might  at  first  sight  pass  current  for  reasoning: 
"  Every  rational  agent  is  accountable ;  brutes  are  not  ration- 
al agents,  therefore  brutes  are  not  accountable."  To  ex- 
plain the  reason  why  the  first  of  these  two  arguments  is 
sound,  and  the  latter  unsound,  requires  not  the  examination 
of  truths  in  mathematics  or  in  natural  religion,  but  simply 
of  the  common  process  of  reasoning ;  and  it  is  the  means  of 
making  such  an  analytical  investigation  which  are  afforded 
by  logic. 

The  first  of  these  arguments  is  a  correct,  the  latter  a  false 
or  apparent,  syllogism  (see  Syllogism)  ;  and  the  validity  of 
the  first  and  invalidity  of  the  latter  depend  upon  the  neces- 
sary or  unnecessary  connexion  between  the  premises  and 
the  conclusion,  the  rules  for  ascertaining  which  will  be 
found  compendiously  given  under  the  head  Syllogism.  A 
single  sentence  may  often  be  foimd  to  contain,  elliptically 
expressed,  and  compressed  into  a  narrow  compass,  a  whole 
chain  of  separate  syllogisms ;  but  every  single  conclusion 
has  been  arrived  at  by  this  process,  and  by  this  only. 

The  principle  of  the  syllogism  is  contained  in  the  famous 
maxim  termed  in  the  schools  of  the  middle  ages  the  "  dic- 
tum de  omni  et  nullo,"  viz.,  that  "  whatever  is  predicated 
(«.  e.,  affirmed  or  denied)  universally  of  any  class  of  things, 
may  be  predicated,  in  like  manner  (i.  e.,  affirmed  or  denied), 
of  anything  comprehended  in  that  class."  Thus,  for  exam- 
ple, in  the  instance  previously  given  of  a  valid  argument,  if 
it  can  be  predicated  of  the  whole  class  of  things  which  are 
equal  to  C,  that  they  are  also  equal  to  B,  if  I  find  anything 
equal  to  C,  I  may  predicate  of  it  that  it  is  equal  to  B  also. 
Hence  my  second  premise,  A  is  equal  to  C,  serves  to  bring 
me,  logically,  to  the  required  conclusion — that  A  is  equal  to 
B.  This,  therefore,  is  the  general  principle  on  which  that 
process  is  conducted  which  takes  place  in  every  syllogism. 

In  order  that  reasoning  may  be  contemplated  simply  as 
reasoning,  without  any  reference  to  the  essential  truth  or 
falsehood  of  the  propositions  contained  in  it,  which  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  science  we  are  now  considering,  and 
also  with  a  view  of  furnishing  brief  and  expressive  forms, 
like  those  of  algebra,  instead  of  words  at  length,  a  set  of  ar- 
bitrary symbols  are  employed  in  logic,  to  denote  the  quantity 
and  quality,  as  they  are  termed,  of  propositions.  Every 
proposition  either  affirms  or  denies  a  fact ;  every  proposition, 
also,  predicates  (i.  e.,  affirms  or  denies)  that  a  certain  attri- 
bute belongs  either  to  a  whole  class,  or  to  some  members  of 
a  class,  of  objects:  propositions  are,  therefore,  in  quality  ei- 
ther affirmative  or  negative ;  in  quantity,  universal  or  par- 
ticular. Thus  the  four  symbols  of  propositions  in  logical 
manuals  are,  A,  universal  affirmative;  I,  particular  affirma- 
tive; E,  universal  negative;  O,  particular  negative.  And 
the  form  of  a  syllogism,  according  to  the  character  of  each 
of  its  premises  and  of  the  conclusion,  is  expressed  by  three 
of  these  letters.  Thus  the  syllogism  first  given,  consisting 
of  three  universal  affirmatives  (for  it  will  be  found,  on  ex- 
amination, that  each  proposition  predicates  a  certain  attri- 
bute of  all  the  members  of  a  class),  will  be  designated  by 
AAA;  a  syllogism  termed  in  logical  language  barbara. 
See  Syllogism. 

It  is  also  found,  on  farther  analysis,  that  a  syllogism  em- 
braces three  separate  objects  or  notions,  two  of  which  are 
compared  with  the  third,  and,  in  consequence  of  that  com- 
parison, pronounced  to  agreee  or  disagree  with  each  other. 
Thus,  in  the  syllogism  "No  dishonest  man  is  a  good  citizen : 
Caius  is  a  dishonest  man ;  therefore,  Caius  is  not  a  good  cit- 
izen." The  individual  object,  "  Caius,"  and  the  class  of 
ohjects,  "good  citizens,"  being  compared  with  a  third  class, 
"  dishonest  men,"  are  found,  the  one  to  agree,  the  other  to 
disagree,  with  that  class;  and  hence  it  inevitably  follows 
that  they  disagree  with  each  other ;  i.  e.,  the  conclusion  of 
the  syllogism  is  negative.  These  three  objects  or  terms,  as 
they  are  called  in  logic,  occur  in  every  syllogism.  The  pred- 
icate of  the  conclusion — i.  e.,  that  term  which,  in  the  conclu- 
sion, is  predicated  of  the  other,  in  this  instance  "  good  citi- 
zen"— is  called  the  major  term  ;  the  subject  of  the  conclu- 
sion— i.  e.,  that  term  of  which  the  other  is  predicated  (Caius) 
— is  the  minor  term ;  and  the  term  with  which  the  other 
two  are  respectively  compared,  "  dishonest  man,"  is  the 
middle  term. 

But  every  word,  or  combination  of  words,  is  not  capable 
of  constituting  a  term  ;  i.  e.,  something  which  may  be  predi- 
cated of  another  thing,  or  of  which  another  thing  may  be 
predicated.  In  the  first  place,  adverbs,  prepositions,  nouns 
in  any  inflection  from  the  nominative  case,  &c,  can  only 
fonn  parts  of  a  term  ;  in  logical  phrase,  they  ore  syncatego- 
59 


LOGOGRAPHY. 

rematic  :  adjectives,  also,  have  always,  impliedly,  a  nomina- 
tive subjoined,  when  employed  as  terms.  Verbs  are  mixed 
words,  being  resolvable  into  a  term  employed  as  a  predicate, 
united  to  the  copula  or  auxiliary  Verb  (is  or  is  not).  Thus, 
nouns  in  the  nominative  case  alone  are  simple  terms  orcat- 
egorematics;  these,  again,  are  eilher  the  name  of  an  indi- 
vidual or  the  name  of  the  class  :  the  former  (singular  terms) 
may  be  subjects,  but  cannot  be  predicates ;  the  latter  may 
be  either.  Thus,  in  the  proposition  "  Crassus  is  rich,"  the 
singular  term,  "  Crassus,"  is  the  subject  of  which  it  is  predi- 
cated that  he  is  rich ;  i.  e.,  a  rich  man. 

A  common  term,  being  a  word  equally  applicable  to  a 
number  of  individuals,  expresses  a  notion  formed  by  the 
faculty  of  abstraction.  When,  for  example,  we  contemplate 
several  individual  oak  trees,  and  abstract  from  each  its  sep- 
arate peculiarities  of  height,  growth,  &c,  we  form  the  no- 
tion of  an  oak.  Contemplating  a  number  of  trees  of  mixed 
species,  and  abstracting  from  each  its  specific  peculiarities 
of  leaf,  fruit,  &c,  we  next  arrive  at  the  common  notion  tree. 
These  common  notions  or  terms  are,  then,  the  predicables 
which  can  be  affirmed  or  denied  of  other  objects. 

Predicables  are  divided  into  several  kinds,  although  the 
division  is,  perhaps,  strictly,  rather  appertaining  to  meta- 
physical than  logical  science.  Every  predicable  is  said,  ac- 
cording to  this  division,  to  express  either  the  genus,  species, 
difference,  property,  or  accident,  belonging  to  an  individual. 
(See  these  heads,  and  Predicable.)  But  it  is  to  be  re- 
membered that  a  predicable  may  be  referred  to  one  or  other 
of  these  several  kinds,  according  to  the  point  of  view  from 
which  it  is  contemplated.  If  I  say  of  Csesar  that  he  is  a 
"  man,"  I  express  his  species,  considering  him  in  those  re- 
spects in  which  he  differs  from  other  animals.  If  I  say  that 
he  was  "  brave,"  I  express  a  property.  If  I  predicate  of 
him  the  several  circumstances  in  which  he  absolutely  dif- 
fered from  all  other  men,  I  express  that  property  or  that 
bundle  of  united  properties  which  forms  his  "  difference." 
Every  predicable,  with  a  little  attention,  may  be  ranged 
under  one  or  the  other  of  these  five  classes,  although  it 
must  be  confessed  that  the  distinction  seems  occasionally 
arbitrary  and  unphilosophical. 

In  this  hasty  outline  of  some  leading  features  of  the  art 
of  logic,  as  taught  at  Oxford  (where  alone,  we  believe,  pure 
unapplied  logic  forms  a  branch  of  study),  we  have  chiefly 
made  use  of  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  Dr.  Whately's  valu- 
able Elements  of  Logic. 

The  following  passage  is  cited  by  Mr.  Hallam  from  the 
Port  Royal  Logic,  as  giving  a  juster  view  of  the  value  of 
the  Aristotelian  method  than  its  admirers  are  wont  to  enter- 
tain :  "  Cette  partie,  que  nous  avons  maintenant  a  traiter, 
qui  comprend  les  regies  du  raisonnement,  est  estimee  la 
plus  importante  de  la  logique,  et  c'est  presque  l'unique 
qu'on  y  traite  avec  quelque  soin ;  mais  il  y  a  sujet  de  dou- 
ter  si  elle  est  aussi  utile  qu'on  se  l'imagine.  La  plupart  des 
erreurs  des  homines  viennent  bien  plus  de  ce  qu'ils  raison- 
nent  sur  de  faux  principes,  que  de  ce  qu'ils  raisonnent  mal 
suivant  leurs  principes.  II  arrive  rarement  qu'on  se  laisse 
tromper  par  des  raisonnemens  qui  ne  soient  faux,  que  parce- 
que  la  consequence  en  est  mal  tiree  ;  et  ceux  que  ne  serai- 
ent  pas  capables  d'en  reconnaitre  la  faussete  par  la  seule 
lumiere  de  la  raison,  ne  le  seraient  pas  ordinairement  d'en- 
tendre  les  regies  que  Ton  en  donne,  et  encore  moins  de  les 
appliquer.  Neanmoins,  quand  on  ne  considereroit  ces 
regies  que  comme  verites  speculatives,  elles  serviraient 
toujours  a  exercer  l'esprit."  (Esprit  de  Pcnser,  part  3.) 
"  To  represent  this  portion  of  logical  science  as  the  whole,' ' 
adds  the  same  writer,  "  appears  to  me  almost  like  teaching 
the  scholar  Euclid's  axioms,  and  calling  this  the  science  of 
geometry."  (Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  Europe,  vol. 
iii.,  p.  221.)  All  that  can  be  said  in  answer  is,  that  the 
more  general  meaning  of  the  term  logic  is  undefined,  and 
that  it  is  employed  by  various  writers  and  schools  in  the 
most  arbitrary  manner ;  while  this  portion,  though  it  may 
be  but  a  small  one,  is  so  clearly  marked  out,  and  forms  so 
distinct  a  body,  that  it  has  occupied  in  common  language 
the  character  of  the  whole  science. 

LOGO'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  yoyos,  speech;  ypacbo),  I  write.) 
A  system  of  taking  down  the  words  of  an  orator  without 
having  recourse  to  short-hand,  which  was  put  in  practice 
during  the  French  revolution.  Twelve  or  fourteen  report- 
ers were  seated  round  a  table.  Each  had  a  long  slip  of  pa- 
per, numbered.  The  writer  of  No.  1  took  down  the  first 
three  or  four  words,  and  as  soon  as  they  were  spoken  gave 
notice  to  his  neighbour  by  touching  his  elbow,  or  some  oth- 
er sign ;  No.  2  passed  the  sign  to  No.  3,  and  so  on,  until  the 
first  line  of  each  slip  was  filled  ;  No.  1  then  becan  the  sec- 
ond line :  thus  all  the  12  or  14  slips,  when  filled,  being  ar- 
ranged parallel  to  each  other,  formed  a  single  page.  This 
mode  required  great  attention  and  quickness,  and  was  not 
found  to  answer  well  in  practice.  It  was  introduced  in  the 
National  Assembly  in  October,  1790,  the  expenses  being 
paid  by  the  civil  list ;  and  continued  until  the  10th  August, 
1792,  when  Louis  XVI.  and  his  family,  taking  refuge  from 
'  085 


LOGOGRYPH. 

insurrection  in  the  assembly,  occupied  the  box  of  the  logo- 
graphe.  Alter  that  time  it  was  not  used.  {Victionnairc  dc 
ta  Conversation.) 

Logography  is  also  used  to  denote  a  method  of  printing 
in  which  whole  words  in  type  are  used  instead  of  single 
letters.  This  method  was  at  one  time  introduced  into  the 
printing  of  The  Timet  newspaper;  but  after  a  short  trial 
was  abandoned  as  inconvenient. 

LO'GOGRYPH.  (Gr.  Aoyoj,  and  )  p<«t>os,  a  mi.)  A 
i  riddle  proposed  for  solution,  in  order  to  exercise 
the  mind,  is  so  called.    The  word  is  used  by  Ben  Jonaon. 

1,(  it;  WOOD.  The  wood  of  the  HamaXoxvlon  campechi- 
anum.  a  tree  growing  in  many  parts  of  the  West  Indus  and 
on  the  adjoining  continent.  It  is  employed  in  dyeing  and 
calico-printing  for  the  production  of  reds,  blacks,  drabs,  and 
several  compound  colours.  Its  colouring  principle  has  been 
termed  kttmatine.  An  extract  of  logwood  is  used  in  medi- 
cine as  an  astringent.  The  price  of  logwood  varies  from 
Xo  10s.  to  j£7  per  ton;  and  the  quantity  imported  into 
Great  Britain  in  the  three  years  ending  1839  averaged  15,000 
tons. 

LOI'MIC.  (Gr.  Xoipos,  contagious  matter.)  Relating  to 
the  plague  or  contagions  disorders. 

LOK.  In  Northern  Mythology,  the  name  of  a  malevo- 
lent deity ;  corresponding  to  the  Ahriman  of  the  Persians, 
who  is  represented  to  be  at  war  with  both  gods  and  men, 
and  originating  all  the  evil  with  which  the  universe  is  deso- 
lated. In  the  Kdda  (the  great  poem  of  the  Norwegian  na- 
tions) he  is  described  as  the  great  serpent  which  encircles 
the  earth  (supposed  to  be  emblematical  of  sin  or  corruption), 
and  as  having  given  birth  to  Hela,  or  Death,  the  queen  of 
the  infernal  regions. 

LO'LLARDS.  A  class  of  persons  in  Germany  and  the 
Netherlands,  who  professed,  in  the  14th  century,  to  under- 
take spiritual  offices  in  behalf  of  the  sick  and  dead,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  attracting  the  attention  and  love  of  the  mass  of 
the  people  when  they  were,  in  a  great  measure  alienated 
from  tlie  secular  and  regular  clergy  by  their  general  indif- 
ference and  neglect.  The  origin  of  the  name  has  been 
much  disputed  ;  but  the  inquiries  of  Mosheim  seem  to  lead 
to  the  result  that  it  is  compounded  of  the  German  words 
lallen  (identical  with  the  lallare  of  the  Romans,  and  the  lull 
of  our  own  language,  signifying  to  sing  in  a  murmuring 
strain)  and  hard,  a  common  affix,  as  in  the  somewhat  simi- 
lar word  beghard.  A  Lollard,  therefore,  meant  one  in  the 
habit  of  singing  to  the  praise  of  God,  or  funeral  dirges  and 
the  like,  as  was  the  custom  of  the  early  professors  of  this 
holy  manner  of  life.  The  Lollards,  however,  were  accused 
— probably  through  the  envy  and  spite  of  the  mendicant 
friars  and  others  whose  neglected  duties  they  so  zealously 
performed — of  holding  many  heretical  opinions.  It  is  not 
impossible  that  there  might  have  been  some  degree  of  en- 
thusiasm mixed  up  with  so  ardent  and  unworldly  a  devo- 
tion ;  but  the  charges  of  violent  reforming  views,  still  more 
those  of  practical  vice,  appear  to  rest  upon  no  authentic 
grounds.  In  process  of  time  the  term  was  applied  by  the 
partisans  of  the  church  to  the  heretics  and  schismatics  of 
tbeday  generally;  and  the  followers  of  Wiclitfe  in  England 
are  frequently  stigmatized  under  the  name  of  Lollards. 
(See  Gieseler's  Text-book,  transl.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  99,  128.) 

LO'MBARD.  A  term  anciently  used  in  England  for  a 
banker  or  money-lender.  The  name  is  derived  from  the 
Italian  merchants,  the  great  usurers  or  money-lenders  of 
the  middle  ages,  principally  from  the  cities  of  Lombardy, 
who  are  said  to  have  settled  in  London  in  the  middle  of  tlie 
13th  century,  and  to  have  taken  up  their  residence  in  a 
street  in  the  city  which  still  bears  their  name.  Btowe,  in 
his  Survey  of  London,  says,  "  Then  have  ye  Lombarde- 
street,  so  called  of  the  Longobards  and  other  merchants, 
strangers  of  diverse  nations,  assembling  there  twice  every 
day.  The  meeting  of  which  merchants  there  continued 
until  the  22d  of  December,  in  the  year  15G8  ;  on  the  which 
day  the  said  merchants  to  make  their  meetings  at  the 
Bursse,  a  place  then  new  builded  for  that  purpose  in  tin- 
ward  of  Cornbill,  and  was  since,  by  her  majesty  Queen 
Elizabeth,  named  the  Royal  Exchange."    (P.  202.) 

LOME'NTUM.  A  fruit  similar  to  a  legume,  excepting 
that  it  is  contracted  in  the  spaces  between  each  seed,  and 
there  separates  into  distinct  pieces  ;  or  is  Indehiscent,  lint 
divided  by  internal  spurious  dissepiments,  whence  it  ap- 
pears at  maturity  to  consist  of  many  articulations  and  divis- 
ions.   It  occurs  in  the  genera  OrnMopus,  Hedysarum,  tec. 

LONG.  A  musical  character  of  this  form  p,  whose 
length  in  common  time  is  equal  to  four  semilireves,  and 
i  onseqnently  eight  minims. 

LO'NGICORNS,  Longicomta,  (Lat.  longus,  long;  cor- 
nu,  a  horn.)  The  fourth  tribe  of  Coleopterous  insect!  in 
the  system  of  Latreille;  so  called  on  account  of  the  length 
of  tlie  anterin.T,   which   are  rarely  shorter  than   the   body, 

and  commonly  surpass  it  in  length.    But  this  conspicuous 

character  is  not  the  only  one  which  the  Longicoro  beetles 

i  common.    In  all  of  them  the  under  part  of  the 


LONGITUDE. 

first  three  joints  of  the  tarsi  is  furnished  with  a  brash  ; 
lie  second  ami  third  are  cordiforni ;  the  fourth  is  deeply 
bilobate  ;  and  there  is  a  little  nodule,  resembling  a  joint,  at 
the  hase  of  the  last.  The  ligula,  placed  on  a  short  ami 
transversal  incntum,  is  usually  membranous,  cordiform, 
emarglnate,  OT  bifid ;  but  sometimes  is  corneous,  and  forms 
the  segment  of  a  very  short  and  transverse  circle.  The 
antenna;  are  either  filiform  or  setaceous:  they  are  some- 
times simple  in  both  sexes,  and  sometimes  serrate,  pectin- 
ate, or  flabelliform  in  the  males.  The  eyes  in  some  species 
are  rounded  and  entire,  or  hut  slightly  emarginate,  and  in 
these  species  the  thorax  is  trapezoidal  or  narrowed  anteri- 
orly :  hut  in  most  of  the  Longicorns  the  eyes  are  renifonn 
and  surround  the  base  of  the  antennte. 

As  the  larvee  of  a  very  great  proportion  of  the  Longi- 
corns live  in  the  interior  of  trees,  or  under  their  bark,  they 
are  destitute  of  feet,  or  have  but  very  small  ones.  Their 
body  is  soft,  whitish,  thickest  anteriorly  ;  and  the  head 
squamous,  and  provided  with  stout  mandibles.  They  do 
much  injury  to  trees,  the  large  ones  particularly,  perforating 
them  very  deeply,  and  sometimes  drilling  them  in  every  di- 
rection.    Some  of  them  attack  the  roots  of  plants. 

The  abdomen  of  the  female  Longicorns  is  terminated  by 
a  tubular  and  horny  ovipositor.  These  insects  produce  a 
small  sharp  sound,  by  rubbing  the  pedicle  of  the  base  of 
their  abdomen  against  the  interior  of  the  parietes  of  the 
thorax. 

LO'NGD?ALPS,  Longipalpi.  (Lat.  longus,  long;  pal- 
pus, feeder.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Brachelytrous  Cole- 
opterans,  or  short-winged  beetles,  which  have  the  maxil- 
lary feelers  almost  as  long  as  the  head. 

LO'NGIPE'NNATEB,  Longipcnnes.  (Lat.  longus,  and 
penna,  a  wing.)  A  family  of  swimming  birds,  compre- 
hending those  in  which  the  wings  reach  as  far  as  or  be- 
yond the  tail ;  as  the  tropic  bird,  albatross,  &.c.  They  are 
all  denizens  of  tlie  high  seas,  and  from  their  powers  of 
flight  are  to  be  met  with  in  various  latitudes.  The  hind 
toe  is  free  or  wanting.  The  beak  is  hooked  or  pointed  at 
the  tip. 

LONGIRO'STERS,  Longirostrcs.  (Lat.  longus,  and 
rostrum,  a  beak.)  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Gralla?,  or  wading 
birds,  including  those  in  which  the  beak  is  remarkable  for 
its  length  and  tenuity,  and  by  the  high  sensibility  of  its  tip 
is  weli  adapted  for  searching  or  probing  in  mud  or  sand  for 
worms  or  insects.  The  different  gradations  in  the  form  of 
the  bill  serve  to  divide  the  Longirosters  into  families  and 
genera. 

LONGI'SSIMUS  DORST.  A  muscle  of  the  back,  which 
assists  others  in  keeping  the  spinal  column  erect 

LO'NGITUDE,  in  Astronomy,  has  two  different  significa- 
tions, according  as  it  is  applied  to  a  celestial  or  terrestrial 
object.  The  longitude  of  a  heavenly  body  is  the  arc  of  the 
ecliptic  intercepted  between  the  vernal  equinox  and  a  great 
circle  perpendicular  to  the  ecliptic  passing  through  the  body. 
It  is  reckoned  eastward  all  round  the  sphere,  from  Oto  360°. 
The  longitude  and  latitude  of  a  celestial  object,  having  ref- 
erence to  the  ecliptic,  and  not  to  the  plane  of  the  earth's  di- 
urnal motion,  cannot  be  directly  observed.  The  elements 
necessary  for  determining  a  star's  place,  which  are  given 
directly  by  observation,  are  its  right  ascension  and  declina- 
tion, from  which  the  longitude  and  latitude  must  be  calcu- 
lated by  the  rules  of  spherical  trigonometry.  In  the  plane- 
tary theory,  however,  it  is  convenient  to  refer  the  motion  of 
a  planet  to  the  plane  of  the  earth's  orbit,  or  to  make  the 
longitude  and  latitude  the  co-ordinates  of  its  motion.  But 
the  places  of  the  stars  are  always  defined,  by  modem  as- 
tronomers, by  means  of  their  right  ascensions  and  declina- 
tions. 

The  longitude  of  a  place  on  the  earth  is  the  arc  of  the 
equator  intercepted  between  the  meridian  of  the  place  and 
some  conventional  fixed  meridian,  which  is  regarded  as  the 
origin  from  which  the  measures  are  reckoned.  Terrestrial 
longitudes  and  latitudes  correspond  to  right  ascensions  and 
declinations  in  the  heavens:  with  this  distinction,  however, 
that  the  right  ascensions  are  always  reckoned  from  the  ver- 
nal equinox,  or  point  in  which  the  equator  intersects  the 
ecliptic;  whereas  the  longitudes  are  reckoned  by  different 
geographers  from  different  points,  selected  for  some  local 
reason,  there  being  nothing  connected  with  the  earth's  di- 
urnal rotation  which  can  render  one  point  of  the  equator 
more  convenient  than  another.  Right  ascensions  are  also 
reckoned  in  ihe  same  direction  'eastward)  round  the  com- 
plete circumference;  while  geographical  longitudes  are 
reckoned  both  eastward  and  westward,  180°  each  way. 

The  parallels  of  latitude  on  the  earth  are  distinctly  mark- 
ed out  by  the  diurnal  circles  described  hy  the  stars,  and 
consequently  latitude  can  always  he  determined  by  direct 
observation  of  the  heavens:  but  the  case  is  entirely  differ- 
ent with  respect  to  longitude ;  for  to  observers  situated  un- 
der the  same  parallel  of  latitude,  hut  under  different  meridi- 
ans, the  heavens  present  exactly  the  same  aspect,  and  there 
is  nothing  whatever  to  indicate  any  difference  of  locality. 


LONGITUDE. 


Longitude,  therefore,  cannot  be  measured  by  direct  observa- 
tion ;  it  can  only  be  inferred  from  the  measurement  of  inter- 
vals of  time  to  which  it  is  proportional.  In  the  course  of  a 
sidereal  day  the  rotation  of  the  earth  brings  successively 
every  different  meridian  under  the  same  star  ;  and,  the  ro- 
tation of  the  earth  being  perfectly  uniform,  it  follows  that 
the  angular  distance  of  any  two  meridians  will  be  the  same 
part  of  360°  that  the  interval  of  time  which  elapses  between 
their  coming  to  the  same  star  is  of  twenty-four  hours.  For 
example,  if  a  star  pass  the  meridian  of  a  place  A  at  a  cer- 
tain moment,  and  that  of  B  exactly  one  hour  of  sidereal 
time  later  ;  then  the  difference  of  longitude  between  A  and 
B  is  the  twenty-fourth  part  of  360°,  or  15°,  and  the  longitude 
of  B  is  15°  west  of  A.  The  determination  of  longitudes 
consequently  resolves  itself  into  the  measurement  of  time  ; 
and  as  the  time,  or  the  instant  of  mean  noon,  at  any  place 
can  always  be  found  without  difficulty,  if  an  observer  at  one 
place  can  by  any  means  determine  trie  precise  hour  it  is  at 
any  other  place  at  the  same  instant,  he  has  then  determined 
the  difference  of  longitude  between  the  two  places. 

Of  the  various  methods  by  which  differences  of  longitude 
may  be  determined,  the  simplest  and  most  obvious  is  that 
of  transferring  chronometers  from  one  place  to  another. 
Suppose  two  observers,  at  the  distant  stations  A  and  B, 
each  to  regulate  his  clock  according  to  the  true  sidereal 
time  of  his  station  ;  and  suppose  a  chronometer,  also  regu- 
lated to  true  sidereal  time,  to  be  compared  with  the  clock  at 
A,  and  then  transported,  without  suffering  any  change  of 
rate  to  B — the  difference  of  the  two  clocks  would  thus  be 
exhibited  ;  and  this  difference  is  exactly  the  time  occupied 
by  the  equinoctial  point,  or  by  any  star  in  passing  from  the 
meridian  of  A  to  that  of  B  ;  or  it  is  the  difference  of  longi- 
tude of  the  two  places  expressed  in  sidereal  hours,  minutes, 
and  seconds.  Were  chronometers  perfect,  nothing  more 
complete  and  convenient  could  be  desired  ;  but  this,  unfor- 
tunately, is  even  now  very  far  from  being  the  case,  and  un- 
til within  a  comparatively  very  recent  time  the  practical  de- 
termination of  the  longitude  by  means  of  chronometers 
could  not  be  attempted. 

Another  method  of  determining  the  difference  of  longi- 
tude between  two  places,  independently  of  astronomical  ob- 
servations, is  that  by  telegraphic  signals.  This  method, 
though,  from  its  nature,  of  limited  application,  is  susceptible 
of  great  accuracy.  The  explosion  of  a  rocket,  the  flash  of 
gunpowder  in  an  open  dish,  the  extinction  of  a  bright  light, 
&c,  are  instantaneous  phenomena  which  can  be  seen  at 
great  distances  and  noted  with  the  utmost  precision.  A  sig- 
nal of  this  kind,  made  at  a  station  visible  from  two  observa- 
tories, must  be  seen  at  the  same  absolute  instant  of  time 
from  both  ;  and  the  time  marked  by  the  clock  of  each  ob- 
servatory at  this  instant  being  noted,  the  difference  of  their 
local  times,  and  consequently  the  difference  of  their  longi- 
tudes, becomes  known.  This  method  is  chiefly  practised  in 
connexion  with  geodetical  operations  for  measuring  degrees 
of  longitude  on  the  earth's  surface,  and  is,  perhaps,  the  best 
that  can  be  adopted  for  determining  the  difference  of  longi- 
tude between  two  observatories  situated  at  no  very  great 
distance  from  each  other.  By  means  of  intermediate  sig- 
nals, and  observers  suitably  disposed  between  each,  it  may 
also  be  applied  to  transfer  the  time  from  one  place  to 
another,  when  the  distance  is  too  great  to  allow  an  artificial 
signal  of  any  kind  to  be  seen  from  both.  (See  Phil.  Trans., 
1826.) 

When  the  distance  between  two  places  is  very  considera- 
ble, artificial  signals  cannot  be  employed,  and  it  becomes 
necessary  to  have  recourse  to  the  methods  furnished  by  as- 
tronomy.   These  are  principally  the  following : 

1.  Eclipses  of  the  Moon. — The  instant  of  time  at  which 
the  moon's  disk  enters  or  quits  the  earth's  shadow  is  inde- 
pendent of  the  position  of  the  observer ;  and  therefore,  if  the 
phenomenon  could  be  accurately  observed,  would  give  the 
longitudes  of  all  places  from  which  the  eclipse  is  visible. 
But  the  penumbra  of  the  earth  renders  it  impossible  to  de- 
termine the  precise  instant  at  which  the  disk  enters  into  the 
true  shadow :  the  observation,  in  fact,  is  uncertain  to  the 
amount  of  a  minute  of  time,  which  corresponds  to  a  quarter 
of  a  degree  of  longitude  ;  and  therefore  this  method,  which 
was  proposed  and  employed  by  Ptolemy,  is  now  altogether 
abandoned. 

2.  Eclipses  of  Jupiter's  Satellites. — These  phenomena 
also  occur  at  the  same  instant  of  absolute  time  to  all  places 
on  the  earth  ;  but  they  are  not  susceptible  of  being  observed 
with  much  exactness,  for  the  same  reason  which  renders 
the  lunar  eclipses  uncertain,  namely,  the  penumbra  of  the 
planet.  The  uncertainty  is  least  in  the  case  of  the  first  sat- 
ellite, on  account  of  its  quick  motion  ;  and  as  the  eclipses 
of  this  satellite  occur  much  more  frequently  than  those  of 
the  others,  the  observations  are  chiefly  confined  to  it.  The 
tunes  of  the  eclipses  of  the  first  three  satellites  are  given  in 
the  Nautical  Almanac ;  so  that  an  observer  at  any  part  of 
the  world,  who  observes  one  of  these  eclipses,  has  only  to 
compare  his  local  time  with  that  assigned  to  the  phenome- 


non in  the  almanac  in  order  to  determine  the  distance  of  his 
meridian  from  that  of  Greenwich.  But,  on  account  of  the 
uncertainty  of  the  observation,  the  longitude  obtained  by 
this  method  may  be  considerably  in  error. 

3.  Occultations  of  Fixed  Stars  by  the  Moon. — This  meth- 
od, which  is  one  of  the  readiest  and  most  useful  on  land, 
though  it  can  seldom  be  practised  at  sea,  consists  in  observ- 
ing accurately  the  time  at  which  a  certain  fixed  star  disap- 
pears behind  the  disk  of  the  moon,  or  reappears  after  hav- 
ing been  occulted.  The  first  of  these  phenomena  is  called 
the  immersion  of  the  star,  the  second  the  emersion.  But, 
on  account  of  the  moon's  parallax,  the  immersion  or  emer- 
sion of  a  star  behind  her  disk  does  not  take  place  at  the 
same  absolute  instant  to  observers  on  different  parts  of  the 
earth  ;  a  calculation  is  therefore  necessary  to  clear  the  ob- 
servation of  parallax,  or  to  determine  the  time  at  which  the 
phenomenon  would  have  occurred  if  it  had  been  seen  from 
the  centre  of  the  earth.  This  reduction  being  made,  the 
moon's  apparent  semidiameter  at  that  instant  must  be  cal- 
culated ;  by  means  of  which,  after  applying  the  proper  cor 
rections  for  parallax,  refraction,  &c,  the  exact  distance  of 
the  star  from  the  moon's  centre  at  the  moment  of  the  im- 
mersion becomes  known.  Now,  suppose  the  same  occulta- 
tion  to  have  been  observed  at  another  place,  and  the  true 
distance  of  the  star  from  the  centre  of  the  moon  computed 
in  the  same  manner ;  or,  without  a  corresponding  observa- 
tion, suppose  the  time  at  the  second  place  (Greenwich,  for 
example)  to  be  computed,  for  which  the  star's  distance  from 
the  moon  was  the  same  as  observed  at  the  first  place,  the 
comparison  of  those  times  will  show  the  difference  of  the 
longitudes  of  the  places.  The  length  of  the  calculations  by 
which  the  longitude  is  deduced  is  a  disadvantage  which 
attaches  to  this  method.    See  Occdltation. 

4.  Eclipses  of  the  Sun. — The  longitude  is  deduced  from 
the  observation  of  solar  eclipses,  In  the  same  manner,  and  by 
precisely  the  same  sort  of  calculations,  as  from  the  oculta- 
tion  of  fixed  stars.  An  eclipse  of  the  sun  is,  in  fact,  an  oc- 
cultation;  but  these  phenomena  occur  so  seldom  at  any 
particular  place  that  they  afford  little  assistance  in  the  deter- 
mination of  longitudes.  It  may  be  remarked  that  the  irregu- 
larities of  the  border  of  the  moon's  disk  render  the  instant 
of  the  commencement  or  end  of  a  solar  eclipse,  as  also  of 
the  immersion  or  emersion  of  a  fixed  star,  somewhat  uncer- 
tain. But  this  uncertainty  is  corrected,  or  rather  avoided, 
by  measuring  with  a  micrometer  the  distance  between  the 
two  cusps,  which,  shortly  after  the  commencement  of  the 
eclipse,  appear  as  brilliant  points,  sharp  and  well  defined. 
Knowing  the  distance  of  the  cusps,  or  length  of  the  chord, 
and  also  the  semidiameters  of  the  two  bodies,  the  true  dis- 
tance of  their  centres  at  the  instant  the  measure  was  taken 
can  be  calculated  without  much  difficulty.  As  this  mea- 
surement can  be  executed  with  much  precision,  and  can  also 
be  repeated  frequently  during  the  progress  of  the  eclipse,  the 
phenomenon  of  a  solar  eclipse  affords  one  of  the  most  cer- 
tain methods  of  determining  a  longitude  which  can  be  prac- 
tised.   See  Eclipse. 

5.  Transits  of  the  Moon. — This  method  is  founded  on  the 
moon's  rapid  change  of  place  among  the  stars,  which  be- 
comes very  sensible  even  in  short  intervals  of  time.  Sup- 
pose an  observer  at  the  station  A  to  determine  the  sidereal 
time  of  the  transit  of  the  moon's  centre  over  his  meridian  ; 
and  suppose  another  observer  at  B,  to  the  west  of  A,  also  to 
note  the  sidereal  time  of  the  same  transit :  if  the  moon's 
right  ascension  had  in  the  interval  undergone  no  change,  the 
sidereal  times  marked  by  the  two  observers  would  have 
been  the  same ;  but  as  the  right  ascension  has  increased, 
while  the  moon  was  passing  from  the  meridian  of  A  to  tint 
of  B,  the  sidereal  time  of  the  transit  at  the  latter  place  will 
be  increased  ;  and,  supposing  the  change  of  right  ascension 
to  be  uniform,  the  difference  of  the  times  of  the  transit  will 
be  proportional  to  the  difference  of  meridians.  The  chief 
objection  to  this  method  is,  that  any  minute  error  in  the  ad- 
justment of  the  transit  instrument  or  rate  of  the  clock  is 
thrown  upon  the  longitude,  on  which  it  produces  a  very 
sensible  effect.  The  method  can,  therefore,  only  be  safely 
practised  at  fixed  observatories  with  the  best  instruments. 

6.  Moon  culminating  Stars. — This  method  has  been  pro- 
posed for  the  sake  of  eluding  the  effect  of  minute  instru- 
mental errors,  which  render  the  method  last  described  so 
difficult.  A  star  is  chosen  which  culminates  (that  is,  comes 
to  the  meridian)  at  nearly  the  same  time  with  the  moon, 
and  which  has  very  nearly  the  same  decimation ;  so  that  it 
may  be  seen  in  the  field  of  view  without  altering  the  posi- 
tion of  the  transit  instrument.  The  transit  of  the  star,  as 
well  as  the  transit  of  the  moon's  limb,  is  observed  at  both 
stations  (or  at  least  observed  at  the  one  station,  and  calcu- 
lated for  the  other  whose  meridian  is  known),  and  the  dif- 
ference of  sidereal  time  between  the  two  transits  noted  at 
each.  This  difference,  in  consequence  of  the  moon's  motion 
in  right  ascension,  is  not  the  same  at  both  stations ;  and  its 
variation  gives  the  difference  of  the  longitude.  By  this 
means  any  error  of  the  position  of  the  transit  instrument  af- 

087 


LONG  US  COLLI. 

fects  the  star  and  the  moon  both  alike:  but  it  1?  erroneous 
to  suppose  that  the  method  is  Independent  of  accuracy  in 
the  adjustment  i>t'  th<-  transit  instrument;  for  if  the  instru- 
ment is  out  of  the  meridian,  the  resulting  longitude  will  be 
In  error  by  the  amount  of  the  moon's  variation  In  right  as- 
cension during  the  corresponding  interval.  This  method  is 
now  much  practised. 

7.  Lunar  Distances. — None  of  the  methods  which  have 
yet  been  described  (excepting  that  by  chronometers)  can  he 
applied  to  the  very  important  problem  of  determining  the 
longitude  of  a  ship  at  sea.  In  this  case,  no  lived  or  meridian 
Instrument  can  be  employed;  and  the  observer  can  only 
measure  the  apparent  distance  of  the  moon's  limb  from  a 
fixed  star  or  planet  with  a  sextant,  or  some  reflecting  instru- 
ment which  can  be  held  in  the  hand.  For  the  purpose  of 
rendering  this  method  available  to  seamen,  the  distance  of 
the  moon  from  certain  fixed  stars  is  computed  (several  years 
previously)  for  every  three  hours  of  Greenwich  time,  and 
published  in  the  Nautical  .itmanac.  The  moon's  distance 
from  one  of  these  stars  being  observed  on  board  a  ship,  and 
corrected  for  refraction  and  parallax,  and  the  apparent  time 
at  the  place  and  moment  of  observation  being  determined 
in  the  usual  manner  by  the  altitude  of  the  sun  or  a  known 
star,  the  difference  between  the  apparent  time  of  the  obser- 
vation and  the  apparent  time  at  Greenwich  corresponding 
to  the  same  distance,  interpolated  from  the  A'autical  .ilmanac, 
gives  the  longitude  of  the  ship.     See  Lunar  Method. 

In  the  projection  of  maps  and  charts  it  is  necessary  to  as- 
sume a  point  of  the  equator  as  the  origin  of  the  longitudes. 
The  meridian  passing  through  this  point  is  called  the  first 
meridian;  and  as  its  selection  is  perfectly  arbitrary,  it  has 
been  placed  by  different  geographers  at  various  parts  of  the 
earth  :  a  circumstance  which  occasions  some  inconvenience 
in  consulting  works  of  geography.  Modern  geographers 
usually  assume  the  meridian  of  the  capital  of  their  own 
country-  as  the  first  meridian.  English  writers  generaly 
adopt  the  meridian  of  the  Greenwich  Observatory,  for  which 
the  Nautical  .ilmanac  is  computed;  the  French  that  of  the 
Observatory  of  Paris.  (See  Meridian.)  Ptolemy,  and  the 
most  celebrated  of  the  ancient  geographers,  placed  the  first 
meridian  at  the  Fortunate  Islands  (now  the  Canaries),  which 
they  conceived  to  be  the  utmost  boundary'  of  the  habitable 
earth.  The  Arabian  astronomers  also  counted  the  longitude 
from  the  Fortunate  Islands ;  and  many  of  the  modern  geo- 
graphers have  counted  from  the  island  of  Ferro,  one  of  the 
most  westerly  of  the  Canaries.  The  reason  for  fixing  on  this 
point  was  probably  that  as  there  was  no  land  known  to  the 
west  of  the  first  meridian,  the  longitudes  of  all  places  would 
he  reckoned  in  the  same  direction,  or  there  would  be  no  west 
longitude.  The  discovery  of  America  destroyed  the  force 
of  this  reason.  The  inconvenience  of  counting  in  two  di- 
rections is  not  very  great ;  but  it  might  be  avoided  by  reck- 
oning the  longitude  all  round  the  circle  to  360°,  which  would 
undoubtedly  be  an  improvement  on  the  present  method. 

Degrees  of  Longitude. — The  figure  of  the  earth  being 
spherbdial,  the  degrees  of  longitude  diminish  as  we  proceed 
1  Vc  >m  the  equator  towards  either  pole.  For  the  law  of  their 
variation,  and  their  lengths  on  the  different  parallel  circles, 
see  Degree. 

Geocentric  Longitude  is  the  longitude  of  a  planet  as  seen 
from  the  earth  :  that  is,  the  point  of  the  ecliptic  to  which  it 
per|>endicularly  corresponds  as  seen  from  the  centre  of  the 
earth. 

Heliocentric  Longitude  is  the  longitude  of  a  planet  as 
seen  from  the  sun.  See  the  terms  Geocentric  and  Helio- 
centric. 

LO'NGUS  CO'LLI.  The  name  of  a  pair  of  muscles  of 
the  neck:  when  one  contracts,  it  moves  the  neck  to  one  side; 
when  they  both  act,  the  neck  is  bent  forwards. 

LOOM.  The  will-known  machine  for  producing  cloth 
by  tin  interweaving  a  series  of  parallel  threads  which  run 
lengthwise,  called  the  warp  or  chain,  with  other  threads 
thrown  transversely  with  the  shuttle,  called  the  w  ...it'  <>r 
weft.  Under  the  head  Wkavino  will  be  found  a  notice  of 
the  history  of  the  loom,  and  the  numerous  improvements 
that  have  taken  place  in  its  construction,  from  the  earliest 
times  down  to  the  Invention  of  Jacquard. 

l.ou'MIN'G.  The  indistinct  and  magnified  appearance 
of  objects  seen  in  particular  states  of  the  atmosphere.  See 
Mil!  m;e. 

Li  KyPHOLBS.  In  Fortification,  apertures  formerly  made 
in  the  battlements,  or  in  the  walls  of  fortified  plan-  foi  dls 
charging  arrows  and  javelins  against  the  assailants.  Since 
the  Invention  of  gunpowder,  and  the  substitution  of  cannon 
for  such  missiles,  loopholes  have  necessarily  been  discon- 
tinued in  the  construction  of  fortre--.-.  the  assailants  of 
Which  are  Aw  sought  to  be  driven  back  by  guns  tired 
through  apertures  of  a  different  character,  designated  em- 

LO  PHOBRA'NCHIATES,  Lophcbraueku.  'Gr.  Xo^os, 
a  tuft;  Bpayxut,  gills.     An  order  of  Osseous  fishes,  com 

liiehcmlirig  those  in  which  the  gills  are  in  the  form  of  small 


LORE. 

tufts,  and  disposed  in  pairs  along  the  branchial  arches ;  as  in 
the  pipe  fish  and  hippocamp. 

L0THOTE8.  i.r.Aotfiof.)  A  genus  of  Tamioid  fishes, 
characterized  by  a  short  head,  surmounted  by  a  high  osseous 

crest,  to  the  summit  of  which  a  long  and  stout  spine  is  at- 
tached, bordered  behind  with  a  membrane  and  a  low  fin,  of 

which  the  rays  are  nearly  all  simple,  and  which  extends 
from  the  occipital  spine  to  the  lw.int  of  the  tail ;  this  is  termi- 
nated by  a  distinct  but  very  small  caudal  riu. 

LOPHY'ROPODS.  Lo'phijropoda.  (Gr.XoQvpoc,  crested; 
tovc,  a  foot.)  The  name  of  a  section  of  Entomostracous 
Crustaceans,  comprehending  those  species  with  cylindrical 
or  conical  ciliated  or  tutted  feet. 

LO'PPIXt.'.  Cutting  oil' all  the  branches  of  a  tree  for  the 
sake  of  the  profit  to  be  derived  from  them;  as  contrasted 
with  priming,  by  which  some  of  the  branches  are  cut  off  for 
the  sake  of  tlic  tree.  The  lopping  of  a  tree,  however,  does 
not  include  the  cutting  off  of  the  crop  or  leading  shoot ;  and 
hence,  when  timber  trees  are  sold,  the  purchaser  bargains  to 
take  them  either  with  or  without  the  lop  and  crop,  as  the 
case  may  be. 

LORANTHA'CEJS.  (Loranthus,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  parasitical  Exogens,  principally  inhabiting 
the  equinoctial  regions  of  Asia  and  America.  They  are  dis- 
tinguished from  Caprifoliacem  and  all  other  orders  by  their 
parasitical  habit,  and  by  the  stamens  being  opposite  to  the 
petals.  Brown  suggests  their  relation  to  Proteacets;  and, 
upon  the  whole,  the  structure  of  this  order  appears  to  be 
rather  that  of  a  polypetalous  or  apetalous  than  of  a  mono- 
petalous  order.  Schleiden  has  lately  made  the  startling  as- 
sertion that  they  are  gymnospermous.  The  bark  is  usually 
astringent.  Their  chief  peculiarity  is  their  power  of  rooting 
in  the  wood  of  other  plants.  They  effect  this  when  they 
first  germinate,  by  fixing  their  root  upon  the  bark,  and  then 
by  slow  degrees  introducing  it  into  the  tissue  till  they  reach 
the  wood,  between  the  wedges  of  which  they  slightly  in- 
sinuate themselves,  thus  placing  their  abortive  roots  m  the 
line  of  the  current  of  ascending  sap.  They  are  generally 
beautiful  plants,  but  are  scarcely  capable  of  cultivation. 
Misletoe  is  the  most  northern  species  of  the  order. 

LORD.  A  title  of  honour ;  said  to  be  derived  from  two 
Saxon  words  signifying  a  giver  or  distributor  of  bread.  It 
may  be  said  to  be  either  a  title  of  hereditary  dignity  (as  lord 
of  parliament) ;  or  a  title  expressing  certain  powers,  as  lord 
of  a  manor,  lord  chancellor,  lord  of  the  treasury,  &c.  The 
eldest  sons  of  earls,  and  all  the  sons  of  dukes  and  marquises, 
are  stvled  lords  by  courtesy. 

LORD-ADVOCATE  OF  SCOTLAND.   See  Advocate. 

LORD-KEEPER.     See  Keeper,  Chancellor. 

LORD-LIEUTENANT  OF  IRELAND.  The  chief  exe- 
cutive officer  of  the  Irish  government,  representing  in  some 
respects  the  person  of  the  king.  The  first  viceroy  or  lieu- 
tenant of  Ireland  appears  to  have  been  appointed  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  II. ;  and  by  acts  of  parliament  passed  in  the 
reigns  of  Richard  III.  and  Henry  VIII.  provision  was  made 
for  the  election  of  a  governor  by  the  chancellor,  treasurer, 
and  other  high  officers  of  the  government,  on  the  death  or 
resignation  of  a  lieutenant,  until  the  king's  pleasure  were 
known.  The  chief  officer  in  Ireland  has  been  variously 
styled  at  different  times ;  as  custos  or  keeper,  justiciary, 
warden,  procurator,  seneschal,  constable,  deputy,  and  lieu- 
tenant. He  is  appointed  by  letters  patent,  durante  bene 
placito.  He  has  a  council,  composed  of  the  great  officers  of 
the  crown  in  Ireland,  and  others  appointed  by  the  crown- 
He  corresponds  with  the  secretary  for  the  home  department ; 
but  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  Irish  government 
in  London  is  chiefly  entrusted  to  the  secretary  for  Ireland, 
who  is  also  chief  secretary  of  the  lord-lieutenant  He  has 
also  a  household,  consisting  of  a  private  secretary,  steward, 
comptroller,  chamberlain,  gentleman  usher,  master  of  the 
burse,  and  subordinate  officers.  His  salary  has  been  usually 
£20,000  per  annum. 

LORD-LIEDTENANTS  of  COUNTIES.  In  England 
and  Wales,  officers  appointed  by  the  king,  and  entrusted  by 

parliament  with  full  power  and  authority  to  call  together, 
arm,  and  array  the  militia,  and  cause  them  to  be  trained  and 
exercised  once  every  year.  Each  may  appoint  twenty  or 
more  deputy  lieutenants,  who  must  have  X'-ini  a  year  free- 
hold estate;  except  in  the  Welch  and  some  small  English 
Counties,  where  the  qualification  is  only  X150.  The  lord- 
lieutenant  also  nominates  officers  in  the  militia  and  yeo- 
manry: but  the  names  both  of  deputy  lieutenants  and  offi- 
cers must  I..-  laid  before  the  king ;  and  if  he.  within  fourteen 
days,  expresses  disapprobation,  the  commissions  do  not  issue. 

LORD  PRIVY  BE  \l..     Set  Bbix. 

I.'  IRDSHIP.     Set  I.ket. 

LOB  i"  (Lat.  loruin.  a  strap),  in  Ornithology,  signifies  the 

tween  the  bill  and  the  eye,  which  is  ban-  In  some 

birds,  as  the  great  crested  grebe;  but  is  generallj  covered 

with  feathers.      In  Entomology  the  term   is  applied   to  a 

corni b  angular  machine  observable  In  the  mouth  of  some 

insects,  upon  the  intermediate  angle  of  which  the  tucutum 


LORICA. 

sits,  and  on  the  lateral  ones  the  cardines  of  the  maxillare, 
and  by  means  of  which  the  trophi  are  pushed  forth  or  re- 
tracted, as  in  the  Hymenopterous  insects. 

LORI'CA.  (Lat.  lorum,  a  thong.)  A  cuirass  or  crest  of 
mail,  made  of  leather  and  set  with  plates  of  metal  in  various 
forms,  chiefly  in  rings  like  a  chain,  used  by  the  Roman  sol- 
diers. 

LO'RICATES,  Loricata.  (Lat.  lorica,  a  coat  of  mail.) 
The  name  given  by  Merrem  to  an  order  of  reptiles  dismem- 
bered from  the  Sauria  of  Cuvier,  and  including  those  species, 
as  the  crocodile,  which  are  protected  by  an  armour  of  bony 
plates. 

LORICA'TION.  (Lat.  loricare,  to  crust  over.)  A  term 
of  old  chemistry,  signifying  the  application  of  a  lute  or  coat- 
ing to  glass  and  other  vessels. 

LORIS.     See  Stenops. 

LOSS.    In  Geology.     See  Loess. 

LOTE  TREE  (of  the  Ancients).  Of  this  there  were  two 
kinds:  the  one  a  small  plant,  from  which  the  Lotophagi de- 
rived their  name ;  the  other  a  tree  with  cut  leaves  and  very 
hard  wood.  The  former  was  the  Zizyphus  lotus,  the  latter 
the  Altis  australis.  In  the  Hindoo  mythology,  the  lote  tree 
is  regarded  as  the  symbol  of  creation.     See  Lotophagi. 

LO'THIAN.  A  name  common  to  that  part  of  Scotland 
which  stretches  along  a  considerable  part  of  the  southern 
shores  of  the  Frith  of  Forth,  and  comprehends  the  three 
counties,  Haddingtonshire,  Edinburghshire,  and  Linlithgow- 
shire ;  otherwise  called  East,  Mid,  and  West  Lothian.  The 
etymology  of  the  name  is  doubtful.  Lothian  was  taken  pos- 
session of  by  the  Saxon  invaders  A.D.  450,  and  became  the 
scene  of  contest  between  the  Saxon-Gaels  and  Scoto-Irish, 
and  was  at  length  ceded  to  Malconi  II.  in  1020.  Lothian  was 
considered  as  a  country  wholly  distinct  from  Scotland  in  the 
reign  of  David  I.,  and  the  period  of  its  incorporation  with  the 
rest  of  the  country  is  assigned  to  the  11th  or  12th  century. 

LO'TION.  (Lat.  lotum,  supine  of  lavare,  to  wash.)  A 
mixture  of  different  ingredients,  or  a  solution  of  various  medi- 
cinal substances,  in  water  or  other  menstrua,  designed  for 
external  application.  Indolent  ulcers  and  tumours  require 
stimulating  lotions ;  whereas  sedative  and  narcotic  mixtures 
are  used  to  alleviate  pain. 

LOTO'PHAGI.  (Gr.  \wtos,  and  <payciv,  to  eat.)  A  name 
given  to  a  people  of  ancient  Africa  who  inhabited  the  Regio 
Syrtica  (Iber.  iv.,  177) ;  so  called  from  the  lotus  berry  form- 
ing their  principal  food.  They  were  represented  as  a  mild, 
hospitable  race  of  men.  The  food  with  which  they  were 
nourished,  among  other  peculiar  qualities,  is  said  to  have 
had  the  power  of  obliterating  all  remembrance  of  one's 
native  country. 

LO'TTERY  (Germ,  loos,  lot),  is  defined  as  a  game  of 
hazard,  in  which  small  sums  are  ventured  for  the  chance 
of  obtaining  a  larger  value,  either  in  money  or  other  articles. 
Lotteries  are  formed  on  various  plans;  but  in  general  they 
consist  of  a  certain  number  of  tickets  drawn  at  the  same 
time,  with  a  corresponding  number  of  blanks  and  prizes,  by 
which  the  fate  of  the  tickets  is  determined.  The  invention 
of  lotteries  has  been  ascribed  to  the  Romans :  by  whom, 
however,  they  seem  to  have  been  resorted  to  as  a  means 
chiefly  of  amusing  and  gratifying  the  people.  In  modem 
times  this  species  of  gaming  has  been  sanctioned  at  different 
periods  by  most  of  the  European  governments,  as  a  means 
of  raising  money  for  public  purposes.  It  would  be  difficult 
to  give  a  complete  account  of  the  various  changes  which 
have  taken  place  in  the  regulation  of  lotteries  in  different 
countries;  but  the  subjoined  summary  of  their  history,  from 
their  origin  down  to  their  suppression  in  England,  may  not 
be  uninteresting.  The  earliest  English  lottery  of  which  there 
is  an  authentic  record  was  drawn  in  1569,  when  400,000 
tickets  were  sold  at  10  shillings  each.  The  prizes  consisted 
chiefly  of  plate,  and  the  net  profits  were  intended  to  be  ap- 
propriated to  repairing  the  harbours  of  the  kingdom  and 
other  public  works.  In  the  year  1612  a  lottery  was  drawn 
for  the  benefit  of  the  English  colonies ;  and,  in  the  course  of 
the  same  century,  the  desire  for  embarking  in  speculations 
of  this  kind  increased  to  such  a  degree,  and  gave  rise  to  such 
an  infinity  of  piivate  undertakings,  many  of  which  were 
formed  on  the  most  delusive  and  fraudulent  principles,  that, 
in  the  beginning  of  Queen  Anne's  reign,  parliament  found  it 
necessary  to  suppress  private  lotteries  "  as  public  nuisances." 
The  year  1709  saw  the  birth  of  the  first  state  or  parliament- 
ary lottery,  and  from  that  time  down  to  1823  they  were 
annually  licensed  by  act  of  parliament,  under  a  variety  of 
regulations  and  modifications.  In  the  very  early  part  of  last 
century  the  prizes  were  paid  in  the  form  of  terminable  an- 
nuities. Thus,  in  1746,  a  loan  of  £3,000,000  was  raised  on 
4  per  cent,  annuities,  and  a  lottery  of  50,000  tickets,  at  £10 
each ;  and  in  the  following  year  £1,000,000  was  raised  by 
the  sale  of  100,000  tickets,  the  prizes  in  which  were  founded 
in  perpetual  annuities  at  the  rate  of  4  per  cent,  per  annum. 
During  the  same  century  government  constantly  availed 
itself  of  this  means  to  raise  money  for  various  public  works, 
of  which  the  British  Museum  and  Westminster  Bridge  are 


LOUVRE. 

well-known  examples.  But,  at  the  commencement  of  the 
present  century,  a  great  repugnance  began  to  be  manifested 
in  parliament  to  this  method  of  raising  any  part  of  the  public 
revenue,  in  consequence  of  the  spirit  of  gambling  which  it 
tended  to  foster  in  the  great  body  of  the  people ;  and  not- 
withstanding the  influence  of  the  acts  of  1778  and  1793, 
which  were  confessedly  attended  with  much  good,  the  evils 
to  which  it  gave  birth  at  last  became  so  palpable  that,  in  the 
year  1823,  the  legislature  at  last  consented  to  the  entire  abo- 
lition both  of  state  and  private  lotteries.  It  would  be  super  ■ 
fluous  to  enter  into  any  argument  to  point  out  how  preju- 
dicial all  such  establishments  must  be  to  public  morals,  by 
giving  the  countenance  of  government  to  systematic  gam- 
bling, no  less  than  by  diffusing  a  spirit  of  speculation  by 
which  the  mind  is  misled  from  habits  of"  continued  industry 
to  delusive  dreams  of  sudden  and  enormous  wealth,  which, 
in  the  great  majority  of  instances,  must  end  in  poverty  and 
ruin.  Those  who  wish  to  see  the  melancholy  results  of  this 
system  of  finance  exhibited  in  its  true  colours,  will  find  ample 
information  in  the  two  parliamentary  reports  presented  to 
the  House  of  Commons  on  the  subject  of  lotteries  in  1808 ; 
but  we  cannot  refrain  from  inserting  a  paragraph  from  the 
Wealth  of  Nations,  which  illustrates  their  principle  and— 
operation  with  great  brevity  and  effect : 

"  The  world  neither  ever  saw,  nor  ever  will  see,  a  per- 
fectly fair  lottery,  or  one  in  which  the  whole  gain  compen- 
sated the  whole  loss ;  because  the  undertaker  could  make 
nothing  by  it.  In  the  state  lotteries,  the  tickets  are  really 
not  worth  the  price  which  is  paid  by  the  original  subscribers, 
and  yet  commonly  sell  in  the  market  for  twenty,  thirty,  and 
sometimes  forty  per  cent,  advance.  The  vain  hope  of  gain- 
ing some  of  the  great  prizes  is  the  sole  cause  of  this  demand. 
The  soberest  people  scarce  look  upon  it  as  a  folly  to  pay 
a  small  sum  for  the  chance  of  gaining  10  or  20,000  pounds ; 
though  they  know  that  even  that  small  sum  is  perhaps  20 
or  30  per  cent,  more  than  the  chance  is  worth.  In  a  lottery 
in  which  no  prize  exceeded  £20,  though  in  other  respects 
it  approached  much  nearer  to  a  perfectly  fair  one  than  the 
common  state  lotteries,  there  would  not  be  the  same  demand 
for  tickets.  In  order  to  have  a  better  chance  for  some  of 
the  great  prizes,  some  people  purchase  several  tickets,  and 
others  small  shares  in  a  still  greater  number.  There  is  not, 
however,  a  more  certain  proposition  in  mathematics,  than 
that  the  more  tickets  you  adventure  upon,  the  more  likely 
you  are  to  be  a  loser.  Adventure  upon  all  the  tickets  in 
the  lottery,  and  you  lose  for  certain  ;  and  the  greater  the 
number  of  your  tickets,  the  nearer  you  approach  to  this 
certainty."  (See  also  Degerando's  Bienfaisance  Publique, 
1.  ii.,  ch.  6.) 

State  lotteries  were  abolished  in  France  in  1836,  along 
with  the  gambling  houses,  from  which  a  great  revenue  had 
been  derived.  They  still  exist  in  several  of  the  German 
states.  That  of  Hamburg  is  established  on  a  compara- 
tively fairer  principle  than  was  adopted  either  in  France  or 
England;  the  whole  money  for  which  the  tickets  are  sold 
being  distributed  among  the  buyers,  excepting  a  deduction 
of  10  per  cent,  made  from  the  amount  of  the  prizes  at  the 
time  of  their  payment.     See  Penny  Cyclo. 

LOUGH.  An  Irish  term,  synonymous  with  the  Scotch 
loch,  but  not  with  the  English  lake ;  for  loch  and  lough  are 
applied  to  designate  arms  of  the  sea,  as  well  as  collections 
of  fresh  water,  which  lake  is  not. 

LOUIS  D'OR.  A  gold  coin  under  the  old  system  of 
France,  first  struck  under  Louis  XIII.,  in  1641,  from  whom 
they  derived  their  name.  The  louis  d'or,  says  Kelly,  coined 
before  1726,  which  passed  then  for  20  livres,  were  coined  at 
the  rate  of  36$  per  French  mark  of  gold  22  carats  fine.  From 
the  year  1726  to  1785  louis  d'ors  were  coined  at  the  rate  of 
30  to  the  mark  of  gold;  and  about  this  period  all  the  gold 
coins  in  France  were  ordered  to  be  brought  to  the  mint  to  be 
melted  down  ;  and  a  new  coinage  then  took  place,  at  the 
rate  of  32  louis  d'ors  to  the  mark  of  the  same  degree  of 

fineness,  with  a  remedy  of  15  grains  in  the  weight,  and  L§ 

of  a  carat  in  the  alloy.  The  intrinsic  value  of  this  new 
coin  was  18s.  9$d.  sterling.  Louis  d'ors  were  formerly  re- 
garded as  a  current  coin  in  all  parts  of  the  Continent ;  but 
in  England  they  are  sold  merely  as  merchandise,  and  their 
value  has  fluctuated  from  18s.  6<2.  to  21s.  sterling.  The 
term  louis  d'or  is  still  given  to  the  gold  coinage  of  the  pres- 
ent dynasty  of  France,  though  they  are  also  often  called 
20-franc  pieces. 

LOUIS,  SAINT,  OF  FRANCE.  A  royal  military  order, 
founded  by  Louis  XIV.  in  1693.  The  badge  is  a  cross  of 
eight  points,  with  fleur-de-lis,  and  bearing  a  circular  shield 
containing  the  effigy  of  Saint  Louis. 

LOU'VRE.  One  of  the  most  ancient  palaces  of  France. 
It  existed  in  the  time  of  Dagobert  as  a  hunting  seat,  the 
woods  then  extending  all  over  the  actual  site  of  the  northern 
portion  of  Paris  down  to  the  banks  of  the  Seine.  The  origin 
of  its  name  has  not  been  satisfactorily  ascertained.  It  was 
formed  into  a  stronghold  by  Philip  Augustus,  who  surrounded 
Uu  689 


LOVE,  FAMILY  OF 

it  with  towers  and  fosses,  and  converted  it  into  a  state  prison 
for  confining  the  refractory  vassals  of  the  crown.  It  was 
then  without  the  walls  of  Pans;  but,  on  their  extension  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  14th  century,  it  was  included  within 
their  circuit.  Charles  V.  made  additions  to  it.  That  part 
of  the  palace  now  called  the  fieux  Louort  was  commenced 
under  the  reign  of  Francis  I.,  after  the  designs  of  Pierre 
L'Escot,  abbot  of  Clugny.  When  Charles  IX.  resided  in 
the  Louvre,  he  began  the  long  gallery  which  connects  it 
with  the  Tuilleries,  and  in  which  is  now  deposited  the  cele- 
brated collection  of  pictures.  It  was  finished  under  Henry 
IV.  Lous  XIV.,  from  the  designs  of  Lemercicr,  erected  the 
peristyle  which  forms  the  entrance  to  the  Vieux  Louvre 
from  the  side  of  the  Tuilleries.  That  monarch  also  gave  a 
beginning  to  the  remainder  of  the  present  modern  edifice, 
from  the  designs  of  <  'lande  Perrault.  The  edifice  has  never 
been  finished  ;  though,  under  the  reigns  of  succeeding  mon- 
nrchs,  and  especially  during  that  of  Napoleon,  it  has  slowly 
advanced  towards  completion.  The  eastern  front,  though 
not  finished  even  now,  exhibits  a  facade  of  surpassing 
beauty — perhaps,  in  its  kind,  never  equalled.  The  quad- 
rangle of  the  Louvre  is  a  perfect  square  on  the  plan.  Three 
of  its  sides  were  from  the  designs  of  Perrault,  alxwe  men- 
tioned. An  immense  expenditure  will  be  necessary  to  con- 
nect the  Louvre  with  the  Tuilleries,  to  which  it  is  joined  at 
present  only  on  the  river  side  by  the  great  gallery  above 
mentioned ;  but  preparations  are  in  progress  to  effect  this 
object,  and  on  the  side  next  the  Rue  St.  Honore  about  1400 
feet  have  been  executed.  Besides  the  gallery  above  ad- 
verted to,  which  contains  some  of 'the  finest  pictures  in  the 
world,  the  Louvre  contains  a  museum  of  sculpture,  antiqui- 
ties, and  other  s|>ecimens  of  art,  equally  valuable. 

LOVE,  FAMILY  OF.  A  sect  of  fanatics  in  the  16th 
century,  holding  tenets  resembling  those  of  the  early  Ana- 
baptists. There  is  a  proclamation  against  them  by  Queen 
Elizabeth,  date<l  from  her  manor  of  Richmond,  1580. 

LOVE  FEASTS.  A  species  of  religious  ordinance  held 
quarterly  by  the  Methodists,  to  which  members  of  their 
church  alone  are  admitted,  and  that  only  on  presenting  a 
ticket  or  a  note  from  the  superintendent.  They  are  a  relic 
of  the  Agapie  (which  see)  held  by  the  early  Christians. 

LOWER  CHALK  AND  GREENSAND.     See  Geology. 

LOWER  EMPIRE.  The  Roman  empire,  from  the  re- 
moval of  the  imperial  seat  to  Constantinople,  and  its  suc- 
cessor, the  Byzantine  empire,  down  to  the  capture  of  the 
city  by  the  Turks,  are  frequently  joined  together  under  this 
name  by  modern  historians. 

LOW  SUNDAY.  In  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities,  the 
Sunday  next  after  Easter  has  been  popularly  so  called  in 
England ;  perhaps  by  corruption  for  close  (Pascha  clausum, 
close  of  Easter,  one  of  the  many  names  by  which  it  was 
known  in  the  Christian  church).  [Riddle's  Christ.  Ant.,  640.) 

LO'XIA.  (Gr.'  Aoi-o?,  crooked.)  A  genus  of  Conirostral 
Passerine  birds,  characterized  by  having  a  compressed  beak, 
and  the  two  mandibles  so  strongly  curved  that  their  points 
cross  each  other,  sometimes  on  one  side,  sometimes  on  the 
other.  The  crossbill  (Lozia  curvirostra)  is  the  type  of  this 
genus. 

LOXODRO'MIC  CURVE  or  SPIRAL  (Gr.  Aojoc,  oblique, 
and  tpouos,  course),  is  a  kind  of  logarithmic  spiral  traced  on 
the  surface  of  a  sphere :  the  meridians  which  it  intersects  all 
under  the  same  ancle  being  regarded  as  the  radii  of  the 
spiral.  It  is  the  path  which  a  slrip  sailing  always  on  the 
.same  rhumb,  or  making  the  same  angle  with  the  meridians, 
describee  on  the  surface  of  the  terrestrial  sphere.  The 
properties  of  the  curve  are  analagous  to  those  of  the  com- 
mon logarithmic  spiral.  It  always  approaches  the  pole,  but 
never   reaches  it;  so  that  a  ship,  by  following  always  the 

same  oblique  course,  would  < tinually  approach  the  pole 

of  the  earth  without  arriving  at  it.  To  "find  the  equation  of 
the  loxodromic,  let  <p  be  the  arc.  of  the  meridian  intercepted 
between  any  point  of  the  curve  and  the  pole,  and  A  the  lon- 
gitude of  that  point;  then  the  infinitely  small  arc  of  the 
parallel  of  latitude  corresponding  to  an  Increment  of  the 
curve  is  d  A  sin.  <f>,  and  the  differential  of  the  co-latitude  is 
d  <b ;  but,  because  the  curve  cuts  all  the  meridians  under 
the  same  angles,  the  variation  of  the  parallel  of  latitude  cor- 
responding to  an  increment  of  the  curve  is  proportional  to 
the  variation  of  the  co-latitude ;  consequently  a  d  X  sin.  </>  _; 

d<b 
d  d>,  or  a  d  A  =  .      , .  which  is  the  differential  equation  of 

T  sin,  <p 

the  loxodromic,  a  being  a  constant  quantity. 

LO'ZENGE.  An  oblique-angled  parallelogram,  or  rhom- 
bus, formed  by  constructing  two  equal  isosceles  triangles 
upon  opposite  sides  of  the  same  straight  line. 

Lozknok.  In  Heraldry,  a  bearing  in  the  shape  of  a  par- 
allelogram, with  two  obtuse  and  two  acute  angles.  The 
arms  of  maidens  and  widows  are  borne  on  shields  of  this 
shape. 

LOZEHOB.     In   Pharmacy,  a   medicinal   substance  made 
up  into  a  small  cake  gradually  to  be  dissolved  iu  the  mouth. 
090 


LUCERNARIA. 

Sugar,  gum,  and  starch  are  the  usual  inert  parts  of  lozenges ; 
and  minute  quantities  of  active  substances  are  added, ac- 
cording to  the  purposes  for  which  they  are  intended:  such 
a-  ipecacuanha  or  squills,  for  pectoral  lozenges ;  extract  of 
poppies  or  opium,  for  sedative  lozenges;  kyan  pepper  as  a 
stimulant;  oil  of  peppermint  as  an  antispasmodic,  itc. 

LUCA'NID.E.  (Gr.  \vko$,  a  wulf ;  also  the  name  of  an 
insect.)  A  family  dismembered  from  the  Linnson  genus 
I.urmius.  and  including  those  insects  which,  in  addition  to 
the  comprehensive  characters  of  the  original  genus,  present 
antenna;  strongly  geniculate,  glabrous,  or  but  slightly  pilose  ; 
the  labrum  very  small,  or  confounded  with  tint  epistome  ; 
maxilla-  terminated  by  a  membranous  or  coriaceous,  silky, 
pencilliform  lobe  ;  edentate,  or  with  one  tooth  ;  and  a  ligula 
either  entirely  concealed  or  incorporated  with  the  lneiitum, 
or  divided  into  two  narrow,  elongated,  silky  lobes,  extending 
more  or  less  beyond  the  mentum.  The  scutellum  is  situ- 
ated between  the  elytra.  The  stag-beetle,  Lucanus  eerous, 
&c.,  is  the  type  of  this  family.  The  subgenera  are  (Esalus, 
LiUin/irina,  Stnodendrum,  &c. 

LUCA'NUS.  (Gr.  \vko(.)  A  Linnrean  genus  of  Coleop- 
tera,  forming  the  type  of  a  tribe  of  Lamellicom  beetles 
{Lucanina),  in  the  system  of  Latreille,  by  whom  it  is  thus 
characterized :  Antenna;  composed  of  ten  joints,  the  first  of 
which  is  usually  much  the  longest ;  the  attennal  club  has 
its  leaflets  or  teeth  arranged  perpendicularly  to  its  axis,  in 
the  manner  of  a  comb.  The  mandibles  are  always  corne- 
ous, and  most  commonly  exhibit  a  sexual  superiority  of 
developement  and  peculiarity  of  form  in  the  males.  The 
maxilla?  are  generally  terminated  by  a  narrow,  elongated, 
and  silky  lobe;  but  sometimes  are  entirely  corneous  and 
dentated.  The  ligula  in  most  of  the  Lucanines  is  formed 
of  two  small  silky  pencils,  projecting  more  or  less  beyond 
an  almost  semicircular  or  square  mentum.  The  anterior 
legs  in  the  greater  number  are  elongated,  and  their  tibia 
dentated  along  the  whole  of  their  outer  side.  The  tarsi 
terminate  in  two  equal  and  simple  hooks,  with  a  little  ap- 
pendage with  two  seta;  between  them.  The  elytra  cover 
the  whole  of  the  upper  part  of  the  abdomen.  The  insects 
thus  characterized  were  first  divided  by  the  immediate  suc- 
cessors of  Linnaus  into  two  genera,  Lucanus  proper  and 
Passalus,  both  of  which  are  now  elevated  to  the  rank  of 
families,  and  subdivided  into  numerous  subgenera.  See 
Lucanid.*  and  Passalid*. 

LU'CERES.  (Lat.)  In  Roman  antiquities,  a  body  of 
horse  composed  of  Roman  knights,  first  established  by  Rom- 
ulus and  Tatius.  It  is  said  to  have  received  its  name  either 
from  an  Etrurian,  who  aided  the  Romans  against  the  Sa- 
bines;  or  from  the  Lat.  lucus,  a  grove,  where  Romulus  had 
instituted  an  asylum  for  all  fugitives,  slaves,  and  homi- 
cides, in  order  that  he  might  people  his  infant  city  :  but  it  ia 
difficult  to  account  for  the  real  origin  of  the  word. 

LUCE'RN.  (Medicago  tatioa.)  A  well-known  plant  of 
the  Linna-an  class  Diadelphia,  and  order  Decandria,  and  of 
the  natural  family  of  the  Ijfguminosee.  There  are  many 
species  of  the  Medicago,  but  of  these  the  artificial  grass, 
called  Lucem,  is  most  deserving  of  notice.  This  plant  was 
in  high  estimation  among  tire  ancients;  and  its  nutritious 
qualities,  easy  cultivation,  rapid  growth,  and  luxuriant  prop- 
erties, have  placed  it  in  the  first  rank  of  vegetable  food  for 
cattle,  even  in  the  present  times.     Lucem,  says  an  old 

writer,  is  commended  for  an  excellent  fodder There 

is  not  any  pulse  or  other  feeding  which  is  more  agreeable 
or  more  precious  for  feeding  beasts  than  lucerne :  so  that  it 
may  seem  to  spring  out  of  the  earth  ...  as  a  more  especial 
favour  from  God,  not  only  for  nourishing  and  fattening 
herds  of  cattle,  but  also  to  serve  as  ti  phvsic,  for  beasts  that 
aresick.  (Country  Farm,  3d  edit, foL  1616,  p.  364.)  Those 
who  wish  to  see  the  properties  of  this  plant  fully  developed 
at  once  from  the  author's  personal  experience,  and  the  con- 
current testimony  of  the  best  agricultural  writers  both  an- 
cient and  modem,  and  its  history  traced  from  its  discovery 
during  the  Persian  expedition  under  Darius  to  its  subsequent 
introduction  successively  into  Greece,  Italy,  Spain,  France, 
Germany,  and,  in  fact,  wherever  the  art  of  husbandry  has 
made  any  progress,  down  to  its  arrival  in  England,  will  find 
ample  details  in  the  learned  Essays  on  Husbandry  by  tho 
Rev.  Walter  Ham;  |  London,  177(1;  to  which  we  beg  to  refer. 
The  origin  of  the  term  lucem  is  involved  in  obscurity.  Some 
authors  have  derived  it,  naturally  enough,  from  the  canton 
in  Switzerland  of  that  name;  but  from  the  account  given 
by  Mr.  Harte  of  the  history  of  this  plant,  it  does  not  appeal 
either  that  Switzerland  was  particularly  famous  lor  pro- 
ducing it,  or  that  the  northern  and  western  nations  of  Eu- 
rope received  it  thence. 

LUCERNA'RIA.  (Lat.  lucerna,  a  lamp.)  A  genus  of 
flesh]  polypi  ( Polypi  carnosi)  in  the  system  of  Cuvier, char- 
acterized by  a  long  and  slender  pedicle  supporting  a  radiated 
disk,  which  send-  off  numerous  tentacula  united  in  bundles. 
The  l.iitrrnaritr,  Cuvier  regards  as  being  nearly  allied  to 
the  .irtiiinr  or  sea  anemones;  but  their  substance  is  softer. 
Thej  emit  phosphorescent  light. 


LUCIFER. 

LU'CIFER.  (Lat.  lux,  light ,  fero,  I  bring.)  The  morn- 
ing star.  A  name  given  to  the  planet  Venus,  when  she 
appears  in  the  morning  before  sunrise.  When  Venus  fol- 
lows the  sun,  or  appears  in  the  evening,  she  was  called 
Hesperus,  the  evening  star.  These  names  no  longer  occur 
except  in  the  old  poets. 

Lu'cifers.  Matches  tipped  with  a  mixture  of  chlorate 
of  potash  and  sulphuret  of  antimony :  they  are  inflamed  by 
friction  upon  a  piece  of  emery  paper. 

LUCIFE'RIANS.  The  name  of  an  ancient  sect  of  here- 
tics, so  called  from  Lucifer,  bishop  of  Cagliari,  in  the  4th 
century,  whose  opinions  they  embraced.  The  Luciferians 
considered  the  soul  to  be  of  a  carnal  nature  and  to  be  trans- 
mitted from  father  to  child ;  but  the  chief  occasion  of  the 
schism  of  Lucifer  arose  from  his  refusal  to  hold  any  com- 
munion with  the  clergy  who  had  conformed  to  the  Anan 
doctrines,  and  whom  a  synod  at  Alexandria,  A.D.  352,  had 
determined  to  re-admit  into  the  church  on  condition  of  an 
open  acknowledgment  of  their  errors.  The  number  of  this 
sect  was  never  considerable,  and  it  was  extinct  in  the  time 
of  Theodoret;  but  it  deserves  notice  from  being  considered 
by  the  Roman  Catholics  as  one  of  the  greatest  schisms  in 
their  church.     See  Schism. 

LUCI'NA.  In  Roman  Mythology,  the  goddess  who  pre- 
sided over  the  birth  of  children.  Her  name  is  derived  either 
from  lucus  or  lux,  according  to  Ovid's  explanation, — 

Gratia  Lueina?,  dedit  bazc  tibi  oomina  lucus  j 
Aut  quia  pnncipiuiu,  tu,  Dea.  lucis  babes. 

She  is  said  to  be  the  daughter  of  Jupiter  and  Juno ;  and  has 
frequently  been  confounded  with  Diana  and  Juno,  both  of 
whom  presided  over  childbirth.  She  was  called  Ilithya  by 
the  Greeks. 

LUCU'LLITE.  A  black  limestone,  often  polished  for 
ornamental  purposes,  to  which  it  is  said  first  to  have  been 
applied  by  Lucullus,  the  Roman  consul. 

LU'ES.     (Lat.)     A  poison  or  pestilence ;  a  plague. 

LUFF.  The  foremost  edge  or  leach  of  a  fore-and  aft  sail. 
To  luff,  to  brine  the  ship's  head  nearer  the  wind. 

LU'FFER  BOARDING.  (Fr.  louvre.)  In  Architecture, 
boards  in  an  aperture  placed  above  each  other  at  regular 
distances,  and  inclined  to  the  horizon  at  an  angle  of  forty- 
five  degrees,  so  as  to  admit  air  without  allowing  the  rain  to 
penetrate. 

LUG-SAIL.  A  four-sided  sail  bent  to  a  yard,  which  is 
slung  about  one  fourth  from  the  lower  end. 

LU'MACHE'LLA.  Shell  marble;  the  fragments  having 
a  pearlv  lustre,  it  is  sometimes  termed  fire  marble. 

LUMBA'GO.     See  Rheumatism. 

LUM'BAR  A'BSCESS.  An  abscess  of  the  loins  formed 
upon  the  psoas  muscle :  it  is  frequently  mistaken  for  ne- 
phritic or  rheumatic  disease,  and  when  it  forms  a  swelling 
iu  the  groin,  for  hemia. 

LUMBRICAL  MUSCLES.  (Lat.  lumbricus,  an  earth- 
worm.) Small  muscles  of  the  hand  which  assist  in  bend- 
ing the  fingers. 

LU'MBRICUS.  (Lat.)  A  Linnsan  genus  of  Vermes, 
now  the  type  of  a  family  (Lumbricina)  which  ranks  as  the 
first  of  the  Setigerous  Abranchian  Anellidans  in  the  system 
of  Cuvier.  All  the  species  of  this  family — the  earthworms, 
as  they  are  commonly  called — are  characterized  by  a  long 
cylindrical  body,  divided  by  ruga?  into  a  great  number  of 
rings,  and  by  an  edentate  mouth.  The  common  earthworm 
{Lumbricus  terrestris,  Linn.)  attains  nearly  afoot  in  length, 
and  is  composed  of  upwards  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
rings.  This  species  is  extremely  abundant :  they  traverse 
the  soil  in  ever}-  direction,  swallowing  quantities  of  earth, 
together  with  portions  of  roots  and  ligneous  fibres,  and  other 
organized  substances,  which  they  assimilate  for  their  own 
nutriment.    Their  castings  constitute  a  rich  soil. 

LUNA.  (Lat.  the  moon.)  In  Mythology,  the  daughter 
of  Hyperion  and  Terra,  usually  confounded  with  Diana, 
which  see.  The  heavenly  bodies  were  favourite  objects  of 
worship  among  the  ancients;  and  as  they  considered  the 
sun  to  be  sacred  to  Apollo,  whom  they  worshipped  as  Sol, 
so  they  consigned  the  moon  to  the  guardianship  of  his  sister 
Diana,  whom  they  worshipped  under  the  name  of  Luna. 

LU'XA  CO'RXEA.  Fused  chloride  of  silver ;  so  called 
from  its  horn-like  appearance,  luna  being  the  term  by  which 
the  old  chemists  designated  silver. 

LU'XACY,  in  Law,  is  strictly  the  condition  of  an  insane 
person  who  has  lucid  intervals,  which  in  former  times 
were  supposed  to  depend  on  the  phases  of  the  moon  ;  whence 
such  persons  were  styled  lunatici.  But,  for  convenience, 
the  term  is  commonly  used  as  embracing  the  condition  of  all 
those  who  are  under  certain  legal  disabilities  on  account  of 
mental  deficiency:  such  as  idiots,  fatuous  persons,  &c.;  all, 
in  short,  who  are  of  unsound  mind.  The  chief  of  these  dis- 
abilities are,  incapacity  to  make  contracts,  either  personal 
or  affecting  the  estate ;  to  sue  or  defend  in  courts  of  justice ; 
to  perform  offices  and  duties  ;  to  make  devises  or  bequests. 
By  ancient  legal  maxim,  the  sovereign  has  the  custody  of 


LUNAR  METHOD. 

'  lunatics.  This  is  in  practice  delegated  to  the  keeper  of  the 
|  great  seal,  by  virtue  of  the  sign  manual,  countersigned  by 
I  two  secretaries  of  state.  Applications  for  a  commission  of 
lunacy  are  consequently  directed  to  him.  When  he  deter- 
|  mines  that  such  a  commission  is  proper,  it  issues  to  certain 
commissioners,  appointed  by  the  same  authority.  They 
summon  a  jury  to  try  the  fact  of  lunacy.  If  the  party  is 
found  lunatic  by  its  inquisition,  the  inquisition  may  still  be 
avoided  by  a  traverse  ;  on  which  the  record  goes  into  the 
King's  Bench,  which  either  gives  judgment  or  grants  a  new 
trial  on  it.  If  the  lunatic  recover,  the  inquisition  may  be 
superseded.  On  the  return  of  the  inquisition,  the  custody 
of  the  lunatic's  person  and  estate  devolves  on  the  crown  ; 
and  the  chancellor,  on  petition,  appoints  committees  to  have 
the  custody  of  either  or  both. .  These  may  be  w7hoever  the 
chancellor  thinks  fit,  although  next  of  kin  are  ordinarily  pre- 
ferred. Lunatics  are  maintained  by  an  allowance  out  of 
their  own  estate :  when  they  have  none,  by  statute,  in  pub- 
lic asylums.  The  custody  of  lunatics  by  private  individuals 
is  under  the  control  of  the  provisions  of  the  stat.  3  At  4  W. 
4,  c.  36,  by  which  visiters  are  empowered  once  a  year  to  in- 
spect their  condition.  Licensed  houses  for  the  reception  of 
lunatics,  under  the  keeping  of  medical  men,  are  within  the 
regulations  of  2  and  3  W.  4,  c.  107,  under  the  inspection  of 
licensing  commissioners.  Persons  of  unsound  minds  who 
are  paupers,  and  those  who  have  been  tried  for  offences 
and  found  insane,  and  also  lunatic  convicts,  are  usually  con- 
fined in  county  lunatic  asylums,  wherever  these  are  estab- 
lished. As  to  the  statistics  of  lunatic  hospitals  or  asylums, 
see  Degerando,  de  la  Bienfaisance  Publique,  vol.  iv.,  part 
3,  book  3. 

The  incapacity  of  a  person  of  unsound  mind  to  commit  a 
crime,  depends,  it  is  said,  upon  his  irresponsibility,  moral  and 
legal.  The  general  mode  of  directing  a  jury  has  been  to  ac- 
quit the  prisoner,  if  satisfied  that  he  was  incapable  of  know- 
ing right  from  wrong ;  or,  as  some  eminent  judges  have 
worded  it,  if  he  was  unconscious  that  the  act  was  a  crime 
against  the  laws  of  God  and  nature.  On  acquittal  taking 
place  on  evidence  of  Iunacv,  the  jury  are  now  required,  by 
39  &  40  G.  3,  c.  94,  to  find  specially  whether  the  person 
was  insane  at  the  time  of  committing  the  offence ;  and  on 
that  finding  he  is  taken  into  public  custodv. 

LU'XAR  BONE.    One  of  the  bones  of  the  wrist 

LU'XAR  CAUSTIC.    Fused  nitrate  of  silver. 

LU'XAR  CYCLE.  The  period  of  time  after  which  the 
new  moons  return  on  the  same  days  of  the  year.  See 
Cycle. 

LU'XAR  DI'STAXUE.  In  Navigation,  the  distance  of 
the  moon  from  the  sun,  or  from  a  fixed  star  or  planet;  by 
means  of  which  the  longitude  of  a  ship  is  found. 

LU'XAR  ME'THOD.  In  Astronomy  and  Navigation, 
the  method  of  determining  the  longitude  of  a  place  or  ship 
from  the  observation  of  lunar  distances.  This  problem, 
which  is  of  the  very  highest  importance,  on  account  of  its 
being  the  only  astronomical  method  of  finding  the  longitude 
practicable  at  sea,  resolves  itself  into  two  parts.  The  first 
is  to  ascertain  the  distance  of  the  moon's  centre  from  one 
of  the  principal  planets  or  fixed  stars  at  a  given  moment ; 
and  the  second,  to  find  the  Greenwich  time  to  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  tables,  that  distance  corresponds.  The  general 
method  of  procedure  maybe  explained  as  follows:  Six  or 
eight  observations  of  the  star's  distance  from  the  nearest 
point  of  the  moon's  limb  are  taken  with  a  sextant  as  quickly 
in  succession  as  possible,  and  the  corresponding  time  at  each 
observation  noted :  the  mean  of  the  observed  distances,  at 
the  mean  time,  gives  a  single  distance  corresponding  to  a 
known  instant  of  time.  The  true  apparent  time  is  here  sup- 
posed to  be  given  by  the  chronometer,  the  rate  and  error  of 
which  are  determined  by  observations  of  altitude.  Contem- 
poraneously with  the  observations  of  distance  two  assistants 
are  employed  in  taking  the  altitudes  both  of  the  moon 
and  star,  for  the  purpose  of  applying  the  proper  correction 
for  refraction.  The  remainder  of  the  operation  consists  in 
making  the  requisite  calculations.  In  the  first  place,  the 
moon's  semidiameter  is  added  to  the  observed  distance, 
whereby  the  true  apparent  distance  is  found.  In  the  next 
place,  the  corrections  are  applied  for  refraction  and  parallax, 
and  the  apparent  distance  reduced  to  the  centre  of  the  earth. 
This  part  of  the  operation  is  technically  called  clearing  the 
distance.  The  computer  then  turns  to  the  JVuutical  Alma- 
nac, in  which  the  distances  of  the  moon  from  some  of  the 
principal  stars  and  planets  is  given  for  every  three  hours. 
Having  found  in  the  almanac  the  distances  next  less  and 
greater  than  the  true  distance  deduced  from  the  observa- 
tions, their  difference  gives  the  change  of  distance  in  three 
hours:  whence,  by  interpolation,  the  Greenwich  time  is  ob- 
tained at  which  the  distance  was  exactly  the  same,  and  con- 
sequently the  Greenwich  time  corresponding  to  the  apparent 
time  at  the  instant  of  the  observation. 

This  method  of  finding  the  longitude  at  sea  was  first  pro- 
posed by  John  Werner  of  X'uremberg  so  early  as  1514,  and 
recommended  by  several  other  astronomers  who  lived  during 

691 


12 

44 

2-84 

7 

43 

4-71 

7 

43 

11-54 

13 

18 

37-40 

5 

5 

35-60 

LUNAR  MONTH. 

the  same  century  :  but  the  theory  of  the  lunar  motions  was 
then,  and  for  a  long  time  after,  by  tar  too  Imperfect  to  allow 
of  its  practical  application.  Besides,  previously  to  the  inven- 
tion of  Hadley's  quadrant,  there  was  no  instrument  by  which. 
the  distances  could  be  measured  with  the  requisite  precision. 
The  advancement  of  astronomy,  and  the  perfection  of  in- 
struments of  observation,  have  obviated  all  difficulties;  and 
tlie  method  of  lunar  distances  is  now  mainly  relied  on  by  the 
mariners  of  all  countries. 

LUNAR  MONTH.  The  time  in  which  the  moon  com- 
pletes a  revolution  about  the  earth,  and  returns  to  the  same 
position  relatively  to  some  celestial  body,  or  point  in  space, 
with  which  her  motion  is  compared.  But  the  moon's  period 
may  be  determined  in  relation  to  several  objects — as  the  sun, 
the  equinoctial  points,  a  fixed  star,  the  pcrigree  or  nodes  of 
her  orbit :  and  accordingly  there  are  as  many  different  lunar 
months  as  tbere  are  assumed  points  of  comparison,  provided 
these  points  have  different  motions  in  the  heavens. 

1.  The  proper  lunar  month  is  the  same  as  the  lunation  or 
synodic  month,  ami  is  the  time  which  elapses  between  two 
consecutive  new  or  full  moons,  or  in  which  the  moon  re- 
turns to  the  same  position  relatively  to  the  earth  and  sun. 

2.  The  periodic  month,  or  synodic  month,  is  the  revolution 
with  respect  to  the  moveable  equinox. 

3.  The  .sidereal  month  is  the  interval  hetween  two  succes- 
sive conjunctions  with  the  same  fixed  star. 

4.  The  anomalistic  month  is  the  time  in  which  the  moon 
returns  to  the  same  point  (for  example,  the  perigree  or 
apogee)  of  her  moveable  elliptic  orbit. 

5.  The  nodical  month  is  the  time  in  which  the  moon  ac- 
complishes a  revolution  with  respect  to  her  nodes,  the  line 
of  which  is  also  moveable. 

The  exact  mean  lengths  of  these  different  lunar  months 
are  as  follows : 

days.  h.  m.  sec. 
Svnodic  month  ....  29 
Tropical  month  ....  27 
Sidereal  month  ....  27 
Anomalistic  month  ...  27 
Nodical  month  ....  27 
These  mean  motions  are  not  uniform,  but  are  subject  to  pe- 
riodic and  secular  variations.    Sec  Moon. 

LU'NAR  YEAR,  is  the  period  of  twelve  synodic  lunar 
months,  and  consequently  contains  354  days;  the  lunar 
months  in  the  calendar  being  alternately  29  and  30  days. 
The  exact  period  of  12  lunar  months  is  354  days,  8  hours,  48 
niin.  34  sec. ;  so  that  the  lunar  year  of  the  calendar  requires 
to  be  adjusted  by  intercalation  every  third  year.  See  Cal- 
endar. 

U'NA'TIOX.  The  period  of  a  synodic  revolution  of 
the  moon,  or  the  time  from  one  new  moon  to  the  follow- 
ing, being  that  in  which  the  moon  passes  through  all  her 
phases. 

LUNE,  orLU'NULA.  A  geometrical  figure  in  form  of  a 
crescent,  hounded  by  two  arcs  of  circles  intersecting  at  its 
extremities.  The  lunula  of  Hippocrates,  of  Chios,  is  cele- 
brated on  nccount  of  a  remarkable  property  discovered  by 
that  geometer ;  namely,  that  it  can  be  exactly  squared, 
though  the  quadrature  of  the  whole  circle  has  baffled  the 
ingenuity  of  mathematicians  of  all  ages.  Let  ADB  be  a 
^  semicircle  whose  centre  is  at  C,  and  A  E  B 

a  quadrant  of  another  circle  whose  centre 
is  at  F  (C  F  being  perpendicular  to  the  di- 
ameter A  BJ  :  then  the  space  contained 
•  b  between  A  I)  B  and  A  E  B  is  the  lune  of 
Hippocrates;  and  it  is  equal  to  the  area  of 
the  triangle  A  F  B.  For  the  square  of  A  F 
being  equal  to  the  squares  of  A  C  and  C  F, 
i?  or  twice  the  square  of  A  C,  and  circles 

being  to  one  another  as  the  squares  of  their  radii,  the  whole 
circle  of  Which  A  F  is  the  radius  is  equal  to  twice  the  circle 
of  which  A  C  is  the  radius;  and  consequently  the  area  of 
the  quadrant  A  E  B  F  is  equal  to  the  semicircle  A  I)B.  Take 
away  the  common  space  A  E  B  A,  and  there  remains  the 
triangle  A  I?  F,  equal  to  the  lune. 
LUNETTE.    (Fr.)    In  Fortification,  an  enveloped  coun- 

terguard  or  elevation  of  earth,  mode  bej I  the  second  ditch, 

to  the  place  of  arms;  differing  from  the  ravelins 
only  in  situation,  tamettes  are  also  works  made  on  both 
sides  of  a  ravelin.     See  Fortification. 

i.i  \i  ri  k.  In  Architecture,  an  aperture  for  the  admis- 
sion of  light  in  a  concave  ceiling;  such  are  the  upper  lights 
to  the  naves  of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome  and  of  St.  Paul's  at 
1  iondon. 

LUNGS.  (Genu.  lungenO  The  viscera  by  which  respi- 
ration is  carried  on.  The  right  Inns  is  divided  Into  three 
lobes,  (he  left  Into  two.  They  are,  as  it  were,  suspended  In 
(he  chest  by  the  traehea,  and  separated  by  (he  mediastinum  ; 
they  are  also  attached  to  the  In-art  by  the  pulmonary  ves- 
sels. They  are  nourished  by  the  bronchial  artery,  which  is 
a  branch  of  the  aorta  ;  and  the  pulmonary  artery  carries  the 
vcdou*  blood  through  them  from  the  heart,  to  subject  it  to 

m 


LUSTRATION. 

the  action  of  the  air  in  their  cellular  structure;  the  blood 
when  arterialized  returns  to  the  heart  by  the  pulmonary 
veins,  the  four  trunks  of  which  enter  the  left  auricle.  The 
bronchial  veins  terminate  in  the  vena  a/.ygos.  The  nerves 
of  the  lungs  are  from  the  eighth  pair  and  great  intercostal. 

LU'NIBO'LAB.  (Lat.  lima,  the  mooii,  and  sol,  the  sun.) 
Combining  the  motions  of  the  sun  and  moon.  A  lunisolar 
period  is  that  after  which  the  eclipses  again  return  in  the 
same  order.  {See  Cycle.)  The  Dyonysian  period  of  538 
years,  formed  by  multiplying  together  the  solar  and  lunar 
cycles  of  28  and  19  years,  has  sometimes  been  called  the  lu- 
DJselar  year. 

LCPERCA'LIA.  A  Roman  festival  in  honour  of  Pan, 
celebrated  in  February  ;  when  the  Luperci  ran  up  and  down 
the  city  naked,  having  only  a  girdle  of  goat's  skin  round 
their  waist,  and  thongs  of  the  same  in  their  hands,  with 
which  they  struck  those  they  met,  particularly  married 
women,  who  were  thence  supposed  to  be  rendered  prolific. 
The  name  is  derived  from  lupus,  a  wolf;  because  Pan  pro- 
tected cattle  from  that  animal.  The  indecencies  and  ex- 
cesses attending  the  processions  of  the  Lupercals,  which 
had  degenerated  from  high  religious  rites  to  vulgar  super- 
stitions, provoked  the  indignation  of  Christians  in  the  4th  and 
5th  centuries.  It  is  commonly,  but  erroneously,  supposed 
that  pope  Gelasius  caused  them  to  be  abolished.  {Gibbon, 
vol.  vi.)  Beugnot  has  shown  the  contrary.  {Vest.  du.  Pa- 
ganisme  en  Occident,  book  xix.,  ch.  2.) 

LUPE'RCI.  The  Roman  priests  of  Pan,  and  most  an- 
cient religious  order  in  the  state,  having  been  instituted,  ac- 
cording to  tradition,  by  Evander,  king  of  l'allantiuin,  a  town 
that  occupied  the  Palatine  Hill  before  Rome  was  built. 
There  were  thTee  companies  of  them  ;  viz.  the  Fabiani, 
Quintiliani,  and  Julii — the  last  of  whom  were  founded  in 
honour  of  Julius  Ca'sar.  For  the  derivation  of  the  word  see 
Lfpercalia. 

LU'PINITE.  A  bitter  substance,  extracted  from  the  leaves 
of  the  white  lupin. 

LU'PULIN.  The  active  principle  of  the  hop ;  it  is  more 
properly  called  lupulite. 

LU'PUS.  (Lat.)  The  wolf.  One  of  the  southern  con- 
stellations, situated  on  the  south  of  Scorpio. 

Lr'pus.  In  Pathology,  a  disease  wliich  eats  away  the 
parts  attacked  by  it  with  great  rapidity. 

LU'SIAD.  The  name  given  to  the  great  epic  poem  of 
Portugal,  written  by  Camoens,  and  published  in  1571.  The 
subject  of  this  poem  is  the  establishment  of  the  Portuguese 
empire  in  India;  but  whatever  of  chivalrous,  great,  betruti- 
tiful,  or  noble,  could  be  gathered  from  the  traditions  of  his 
country,  has  been  interwoven  into  the  story.  Among  all  the 
heroic  poets,  says  Schlegel,  either  of  ancient  or  modem 
times,  there  has  never,  since  Homer,  been  any  one  so  in- 
tensely national,  or  so  loved  or  honoured  by  his  countrymen, 
as  Camoens.  It  seems  as  if  the  national  feelings  of  the  Por- 
tuguese had  centered  and  reposed  themselves  in  the  person 
of  this  poet,  whom  they  consider  as  worthy  to  supply  the 
place  of  a  whole  host  of  poets,  and  as  being  in  himself 
a  complete  literature  to  his  country.  Of  Camoens  they 
say, 

Vertpre  fas ;  square  nefas  ;  a-quabilis  uni 
Estsibi  ;  par  nemo;  nemo  secundus  erit. 

The  great  defects  of  the  Lusiad  consists  in  its  preposterous 
mythological  machinery,  and  its  clumsy  management;  but 
in  all  (he  qualities  of  versification  and  beauty  of  language 
it  is  perfect,  and  may  be  regarded  as  the  "well,  pure  and 
untleiiled,"  of  the  Portuguese  language. 

Few  modern  poems  have  been  so  frequently  translated  as 
the  Lusiad.  Mr.  Adamson,  whose  Memoirs  of  the  Life  and 
Writings  of  Camoens  must  be  familiar  to  the  reader,  notices 
one  Hebrew  translation  of  it,  five  Latin,  six  Spanish,  four 
Italian,  three  French,  four  German,  and  two  English.  Of 
the  two  English  versions  one  is  that  of  Sir  R.  Fanshawe, 
written  during  Cromwell's  usurpation,  and  distinguished  for 
it-  fidelity  to  the  original ;  the  other  is  (hat  of  Mickle,  who, 
unlike  the  former,  took  great  liberties  with  the  original,  but 
whose  additions  and  alteration-;  have  met  with  great  appro- 
bation from  all  rritics — except,  as  indeed  was  to  he  e\pi  cted, 
from  the  Portuguese  themselves.  (See  the  Quarterly  Hc- 
l-ii  ir.  vol.  xvvii.) 

LUBTRATION.  (Lat  lustro,  ■/  purify.)  In  Roman 
Antiquities,  a  sacrifice  by  which  the  Romans  purified  their 
cities,  fields,  armies,  or  people,  defiled  by  any  crime  or  im- 
purity.     There   were   various   manners   of  performing  this 

ceremony,  according  t"  the  nature  of  the  lustration.  When 
Bervius  Tullius  had  numbered  the  Roman  people,  he  puri- 
fied them,  as  they  were  assembled  m  the  Campus  Martina, 
by  causing  a  young  pi;:,  a  sheep,  and  a  bull,  just  sacrificed, 
to  be  paraded  round  them.  Before  the  celebration  of  the 
i.udi  Beculares,  which  took  place  only  once  in  a  century, 
the  populace  was  purified  by  a  little  sulphur,  bitumen,  and 

perfume,  fixed  to  B  piece  of  fur  called  talila,  which  was 
lighted,  and  which  thus  circulated  the  smoke  around  them 
The  army  was  purified  by  causing  the  soldiers  to  defile  be 


LUSTRUM. 

rween  the  two  quivering  halves  of  a  victim,  while  the  priest 
offered  up  certain  prayers.  The  lustration  of  a  funeral  pile 
was  effected  by  making  the  spectators  march  round  it  before 
the  fire  was  kindled.  (See  Memoires  de  I'Ac.  des  Inscrip- 
tions, vol.  xx.vvi.)     See  Ambarvalia. 

LU'STRUM.  (Lat.)  In  Roman  Antiquities,  a  space  of 
about  five  years :  at  the  end  of  which  period  the  feast  called 
Lustralia  was  celebrated,  in  which  the  censor  purified  the 
people  by  several  sacrifices  and  ceremonies ;  among  others, 
the  suovetaurilia,  or  sacrifice  of  a  hog,  sheep,  and  goat.  It 
appears  that  rather  more  than  five  years  usually  elapsed  be- 
tween one  lustralia  and  the  next;  but  the  word  lustrum  is 
usually  employed  for  the  exact  quinquennial  period.  The 
derivation  of  the  word  is  uncertain.  Lustrare,  in  Latin,  sig- 
nifies to  purify  by  a  solemn  ceremony :  and  many  other  lus- 
tral  ceremonies  were  in  use;  as,  for  example,  the  dies  lus- 
trales,  or  lustral  days,  being  the  fifth,  or,  according  to  some 
writers,  the  eighth  day  after  the  birth  of  a  child,  on  which 
it  was  purified  with  certain  solemnities,  named,  and  placed 
under  the  protection  of  the  gods  of  the  family ;  the  lustra- 
tion of  sheep  in  April,  the  crops  in  May,  &c,  of  which  so 
many  are  continued  in  the  Roman  Catholic  worship  of  mod- 
ern times.  Sea-water  was  the  most  ordinary  article  used  in 
lustrations.  Varro  derives  the  word  lustrum  from  lucre,  to 
pay  ;  because,  according  to  the  custom  ordained  by  Servius 
Tullius,  who  first  instituted  the  census  (566  B.C.),  the  tribute 
imposed  by  the  censors  was  paid  at  the  beginning  of  every 
fifth  year,  the  last  of  the  lustrum.  (See  an  Essay  in  the 
Memoires  de  I' Ac.  des  Inscr.,  vol.  xxxix. ;  and  Niebuhr's 
History.) 

LU'SUS  NATURAE.  (Lat.  a  sport  of  nature.)  A  term 
applied  to  anything  unnatural  in  the  physical  world. 

LUTE.  (It.  liuto.)  A  musical  stringed  instrument  of  the 
guitar  species,  and  played  in  a  similar  way ;  but  in  form 
more  resembling  the  section  of  a  pear,  with  a  back  in  ribs, 
like  those  of  a  melon. 

LUTES,  in  Chemistry,  applications  hy  which  the  junc- 
tions of  vessels  are  rendered  tight.  A  glass  retort  is  said  to 
be  luted  when  smeared  over  with  clay,  so  as  more  perfectly 
to  resist  the  effects  of  heat,  and  to  prevent  its  fusion.  Com- 
mon lute  is  a  mixture  of  pipe-clay,  linseed  meal,  and  water, 
and  is  spread  upon  paper  and  applied  to  the  joinings  of  stills 
and  of  retorts  and  receivers.  Fat  lute  is  a  mixture  of  pipe- 
clay and  linseed  oil. 

LU'THERANS,  or  FOLLOWERS  OF  LUTHER.  The 
denomination  of  Christians  whose  religious  system  had  its 
origin  in  the  preaching  of  Luther.  This  system,  in  some 
respects,  approaches  nearer  to  Romanism  than  that  of  any 
other  of  the  reformed  churches.  The  notions  of  Luther 
upon  the  nature  of  the  Eucharist  are  known  under  the  name 
of  consubstantiation,  or  the  coexistence  of  the  body  and 
bread,  the  blood  and  the  wine,  at  the  same  time.  It  en- 
courages, also,  the  private  confession  of  sins,  makes  use  of 
wafers  in  the  administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  al- 
lows of  images  in  churches.  It  insists,  however,  very  strong- 
ly upon  Luther's  cardinal  doctrine,  the  justification  of  man 
by  faith,  and  not  by  any  merit  in  human  actions.  With  re 
spect  to  the  divine  decrees,  it  holds  that  God  foreknows  the 
dispositions  of  men,  whether  they  will  be  good  or  bad,  and 
predetermines  their  salvation  or  rejection  accordingly ;  dif- 
fering therein  from  the  tenet  of  the  Calvinists,  which  repre- 
sents the  Supreme  Being  as  making  his  decrees  by  his  own 
mere  will.  The  dogmas  of  the  Lutheran  Church  are  care- 
fully set  forth  in  various  symbolic  books  :  the  Confession  of 
Augsburg,  the  Articles  of  Smalcald,  the  Shorter  and  Larger 
Catechisms  of  Luther,  and  the  Form  of  Concord.  The  prin- 
ciple, however,  of  this  church,  which  considers  Christians 
as  accountable  to  God  alone  for  their  religious  opinions,  al- 
lows its  teachers,  at  the  present  day,  an  unbounded  liberty 
of  dissenting  from  these  decisions.  The  Lutheran  Church 
predominates  in  the  north  of  Germany,  in  Prussia,  Norway, 
Denmark,  and  Sweden :  there  are  congregations  also  of  the 
same  denomination  in  England,  Holland,  Russia,  and  Ameri- 
ca. In  the  Prussian  dominions  it  has  been  remodelled  under 
the  late  king,  and  is  called  the  Evangelical  Church.  See 
Christianity. 

LU'THERN.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture,  the  same  as  dor- 
mer, which  see. 

LU'TRA.  (Lat.  an  otter.)  A  genus  dismembered  by 
Storr  from  the  Linnaean  Mustela,  and  now  raised  to  the  rank 
of  a  family  {Lutrida). 

LUXA'TION.  (Lat.  luxare,  to  put  out  of  joint.)  A  dis- 
location of  a  bone. 

LYCA'NTHROPY.  (Gr.  XvKog,  a  7uolf,  and  avOo^og,  a 
man.)  Herodotus  relates  that  the  Neurians,  a  Scythian 
tribe,  were  supposed  to  be  changed,  for  a  certain  number  of 
days  every  year,  into  wolves,  and  then  to  resume  their  for- 
mer shape;  and  a  similar  superstition  is  noticed  by  Virgil  in 
his  Eclogues,  by  Pliny,  Pausanias,  and  other  writers.  The 
same  superstition,  of  the  power  possessed  by  men  of  convert- 
ing themselves  into  wolves,  remained  in  more  modern  times ; 
but  that  which  the  classical  ancients  had  believed  to  be  ef- 


LYMPHATICS. 

fected  by  the  power  of  herbs,  or  by  innate  powers,  was  hy 
Christians  considered  as  a  species  of  sorcery.  These  human 
wolves  were  called  loup-garoux  by  the  French,  were-wolves 
by  the  Anglo  Saxons,  wehrwolfe  by  the  Germans:  words 
of  the  same  derivation,  and  bespeaking  that  the  superstition 
in  those  countries  was  of  Teutonic  origin.  They  were  be- 
lieved to  be  extremely  ferocious,  and  to  devour  not  only 
beasts,  but  human  beings;  but  if  they  were  pursued  and 
wounded,  the  spelt  was  frequently  dissolved,  and  the  sorcer- 
ers were  found  mutilated  in  those  limbs  in  which  they  had 
received  the  wound  in  their  wolfish  shape.  From  the  prev- 
alence of  these  superstitions  in  the  minds  of  an  ignorant 
peasantry  originated  the  hideous  species  of  madness  termed 
lycanthropy,  in  which  the  patient  believed  himself  to  be  a 
wolf,  and  frequently  imitated  the  howl  and  actions  of  that 
animal.  In  France,  in  the  16th  century,  numbers  of  these 
unfortunate  beings  were  executed,  like  witches,  on  their 
own  confession  ;  and  in  the  avowals  which  they  made,  of 
having  killed  and  devoured  mankind,  they  were  probably 
not  always  under  a  delusion.  Some  of  these  maniacs  de- 
clared that  they  were  actually  wolves,  but  that  in  them  the 
hair  grew  inside,  or  between  the  skin  and  the  flesh.  Oriba- 
sius,  who  lived  in  the  fifth  century  of  our  era,  mentions  ly- 
canthropy by  its  true  character  as  a  species  of  madness,  and 
describes  the  symptoms  and  the  cure.  This  species  of  in- 
sanity seems  to  have  gradually  died  away  along  with  the 
superstition  which  gave  it  birth.  (See  a  curious  article  in 
the  Enc.  Mctropolitana.) 

LYCE'UM.  An  academy  at  Athens  was  so  termed,  from 
its  situation  near  the  temple  of  Apollo  Lyceus.  It  was  fre- 
quented, according  to  tradition,  by  Aristotle.  Preparatory 
schools  for  the  universities,  in  which  the  Aristotelian  philos- 
ophy was  formerly  taught,  hence  received  on  the  Continent 
the  name  of  Lyceum. 

LY'CHNITES.  An  ancient  name  of  marble  ;  from  Aux* 
vos,  its  quarries  being  worked  by  lamp-light. 

LY'COPO'DI  A'CEjE.  (Lycopodium,  one  of  the  genera.) 
A  natural  order  of  Acrogens,  inhabiting  all  parts  of  the 
world,  but  abounding  chiefly  in  hot,  humid  situations.  They 
are  intermediate,  as  it  were,  between  ferns  and  coniferae  on 
the  one  hand,  and  ferns  and  mosses  upon  the  other.  Lyco- 
podium rubrum  is  a  violent  cathartic  ;  clavatum  and  selago 
excite  vomiting ;  and  the  powder  contained  in  the  seed-ves- 
sels of  all  the  species  is  so  highly  inflammable  as  to  be  em- 
ployed occasionally  in  the  manufacture  of  fireworks.  They 
are  propagated  by  spores  formed  in  two-valved  cases  axillary 
to  the  upper  leaves. 

LY'COPO'DIUM.  A  fine  yellow  dust  or  powder,  being 
the  seed  of  the  Lycopodium  clavatum,  or  club  moss :  when 
thrown  into  the  flame  of  a  candle,  or  of  spirits  of  wine,  it 
burns  with  a  bright  flash.  It  is  much  sought  after  for  pro- 
ducing theatrical  lightning,  and  is  an  excellent  substance  to 
sprinkle  upon  pills  to  prevent  their  adhering. 

LYCO'SA.  (Gr.  \vnos,  a  wolf.)  A  genus  of  spiders,  in 
which  the  eyes  form  a  quadrilateral  group,  as  long  or  longer 
than  it  is  wide ;  the  two  posterior  eyes  not  placed  on  an  ele- 
vation. The  first  pair  of  legs  is  evidently  longer  than  the 
second,  but  shorter  than  the  fourth,  which  is  the  shortest  of 
all.  The  internal  extremity  of  the  jaws  is  obliquely  trun- 
cated. Almost  all  the  Lycosce  keep  on  the  ground,  where 
they  run  with  great  swiftness.  They  inhabit  holes  in  the 
ground,  which  they  line  with  silk,  and  enlarge  in  proportion 
to  their  growth.  Some  establish  their  domicil  in  chinks  and 
cavities  in  walls,  where  they  form  a  silken  tube,  covered  ex- 
ternally with  particles  of  earth  or  sand.  In  these  retreats 
they  change  their  tegument ;  and,  as  it  appears,  after  closing 
the  opening,  pass  the  winter  in  a  state  of  torpidity.  The  fe- 
males, when  they  go  abroad,  carry  with  them  their  eggs  en- 
veloped in  a  cocoon  attached  to  the  abdomen  by  threads. 
On  issuing  from  the  egg,  the  young  ones  cling  to  the  body  of 
the  mother,  and  remain  there  until  they  are  able  to  provide 
for  themselves.  The  Lycosce  are  extremely  voracious,  and 
courageously  defend  their  dwelling.  The  famous  Tarantula 
spider  is  a  species  of  this  genus. 

LY'DIAN  STONE.  A  silicious  slate,  used  by  the  an- 
cients as  a  touchstone,  from  Lydia. 

LY'ING  PANELS.  In  Architecture,  those  in  which  the 
fibres  of  the  wood  lie  in  a  horizontal  direction. 

LYING-TO.  A  nautical  term,  denoting  the  state  of  the 
ship  when  the  sails  are  so  disposed  as  to  counteract  each 
other,  and  thereby  retard  or  destroy  the  progressive  motion 
of  the  vessel.  The  fore  and  main  staysails  and  mizen  try- 
sail serve  very  well  for  this  purpose,  as  they  cause  but  little 
way,  and  have  sufficient  power  to  keep  the  ship  heeled  over, 
and  therefore  steady,  with  her  decks  turned  from  the  sea. 
When  the  sea  runs  very  high,  the  lower  sails  are  liable  to  be 
becalmed  by  the  waves,  and  therefore  to  suffer  the  ship  to 
roll  to  windward  ;  the  maintopsail  is  then  used. 

LYMPH.  (Lat.  lympha,  water.)  The  liquid  contained 
in  the  lymphatics. 

LYMPHA'TICS.  Absorbent  vessels,  which  carry  lymph 
from  all  parts  of  the  body,  and  terminate  in  the  thoracic  duct 


LYNCH  LAW. 

LYNCH  LAW.  The  irregular  and  revengeful  species 
of  justice  administered  by  the  populaee  ...  Borne  parts  ot  the 
United  States,  is  said  to  have  been  so-called  from  aVir- 
ci  m  fanner  of  the  name  of  Lynch,  who  took  the  law  into 
h  hands  on  some  occasion,  by  charing  a  thief,  tj  m,  am  to 
a  tree  and  flogging  him  with  his  own  hands.  Some  ob- 
servers have  thought  that  this  barbarous  system  was,  to  a 
"e,  .'min  extent,  palliated  by  the  difficulty  of  enforcing  regular 
law  which  Captain  Marryal  {Diary  in***  ncc  I  ^^ 
With  what  justice  we  know  not,  to  the  inadequate  pa>  ot  he 
judicial  establishment  in  the  newly-settled  districts,  and  the 
ul  character  of  many  of  the  judges,  raised  to  the  bench  by 
etecttoneering  politics.    Lynch  law  may  be  called  a  demo- 

■  t  ■  mutation  of  the  old  feudal  Vehm-peric  lite,  or  selt- 
constituted  tribunals  in  Westphalia  and  elsewhere,  which 

assumed  the  right  of  controlling  the  violent  actions  ot  the 
nobles,  and  have  been  the  subject  ot  so  much  romantic  fic- 

U°LYNX.     A  constellation  of  the  northern  hemisphere, 

*l£L*  A  natTgiven  to  the  different  species  of  a  group 
Of  iheCats  CiFWi&s),  distinguished  by  short  tails,  and  gen- 
en  lv  tuf  ed  ears.  The  lynxes  have  been  long  famed  for 
the  hs  rp  sWht-a  quality  which,  in  all  probability,  they 
dVr  ed  '-ether  with  their  name,  from  Lynceus,  one  of  the 
Son autef  'whom,  on  their  perilous  expedition,  his  quick 
right  was  of  essential  service  in  enabling  them  to  steer  clear 
of  rocks  and  sand-banks.    The  lynx  was  consecrated  to 

BT  Y' R  \  (Lat.)  The  Harp :  one  of  the  forty-eight  con- 
stellations'of  Ptolemy.    It  is  situated  in  the  northern  hemi- 

SPLyr1  A  portion  of  the  brain,  the  medullary-  fibres  of 
which  "are  so  arranged  as  to  give  it  somewhat  the  appear- 

aiLYREa  l5A  musical  instrument  of  the  greatest  antiquity 
among  the  Egyptians  and  Greeks.  Tradition  attributes ;  its 
invention  to  the  accident  of  finding  on  the  banks  of  the Nto 
a  tortoise,  whose  flesh  was  entirely  decomposed,  but  whose 
tendons,  laving  been  dried  and  stretched  by  the  sun's  rays, 
were  capable,  on  being  struck,  of  yielding  musical  sounds. 
Hermes,  the  finder  of  this  tortoise,  having  made  an  instru- 
ment in  imitation  of  it,  is  supposed  thus  to  be  «*»£«*"* 
the  lvre  The  Greeks  attribute  the  invention  to  their  Hermes 
(Mercury),  the  son  of  Jupiter  and  Maia.  It  is  generally  con- 
sidered that  the  original  Egyptian  lyre  was  only  of  three 
strings,  and  that  the  Greek  Mercury  improved  upon  the  in- 
vention ;  that  the  Muses  clubbed  together  to  add  one  string, 
Orpheus,  Linus,  and  Thomyris  adding  one  each,  thus  torm- 
ineit  altogether  into  a  heptachord,  or  seven-stringed  lyre. 
At  a  later  period  the  lyre  consisted  of  eleven  strings,  which 
were  madefof  the  sinews  of  animals;  its  body  was  hollow 
to  increase  the  volume  of  tone  ;  and  it  was  played  with  the 
plectrum  or  lyre-stick  of  ivory  or  polished  wood,  and  some- 
times with  die  fingers,  like  the  harp.  It  went  by  the  diffei- 
ent  names  of  lyra,  phorminx,  chalys,   barbitos,  barbiton, 

01  LYRE  BIRD,  or  LYRE  PHEASANT.    See  Menura. 

LYRIC.     See  Ode.  . 

LYTHRA'CEiE.  (Lythrum,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  Polvpetalous  Exogenous  plants,  with  long, 
tubular,  striated  calyxes,  in  the  orifice  of  which  are  inserted 
the  petals,  while  the  stamens  grow  nearly  at  the  base.  1  hey 
are  little  known  in  cultivation  ;  but  some  of  them,  belonging 
to  the  genera  La<rerstra>,mia,  Diplusodon,  Lafoensta,  &C, 
are  objects  of  striking  beauty.  The  rosewood  of  the  cabinet- 
maker is  the  trunk  of  Physocalymna  floribunda;  and  the 
henna,  employed  in  the  toilet  of  Oriental  ladies,  is  oblauied 
from  Lawsonia  inermis. 


M. 


M.  The  labial  letter  of  the  liqiud  series.  It  is  susceptible 
of  various  interchanges,  more  especially  in  the  Greek  and 
Latin  languages.  (See  Penny  Cyclo.)  In  writing  two  M  s 
successively  the  Germans  frequently  drop  one,  and  replace 
it  bv  a  stroke  over  that  which  they  retain  ;  thus  m.  As  an 
abbreviation  M  stands  for  Marcus,  Manlius,  Martins,  and 
Mucius;  M.A.  tor  M.-igister  Artium,  MS.  lor  Manuscript 
and  MSS.  for  Manuscripts.  M,  or,  more  properly,  a  symbol 
somewhat  resembling  ...  was  used  bj  the  Romans  to  denote 
1000;  and  the  moderns  have  also  adopted  that  letter. 

M  \B  The  name  given  by  the  English  poets  ol  the  loth 
and  succeeding  centuries  to  the  imaginary  queen  o  toe 
fairies  The  passage  In  Romao  and  Juliet,  m  wtucn  ner 
qualities  and  attributes  are  so  beautifully  set  forth,  is  lannliar 

'"mAC      A  Scotch  term,  signifying  son,  prefixed  to  many 
surnames,  as  Mac  Donald,  fcc.     It  is  synonymous  with.  titi 
In  England,  and  U  in  Ireland. 
0U4 


MACHINE. 

MACA'CUS.  A  genus  of  Catarrhine  or  Old  World 
monkeys,  characterised  by  having  a  fifth  tubercle  on  their 
last  molars;  ischial  callosities  and  cheek  pouches;  com- 
paratively short  and  thick  limbs;  a  projecting  muzzle,  and 
prominent  superciliary  arches.  They  have  generally  a 
pendant  tail  ;  but  in  some  it  is  short,  as  in  the  pig-tailed  ba- 
boon (Macacus  rhesus).  When  they  cry  out,  they  inflate  a 
membranous  sac,  which  communicates  with  the  larynx 
above  the  thyroid  cartilage. 

MACAEO'NIC  VERSE.  Verse  in  which  the  words  of 
a  modern  language  are  ludicrously  distorted  into  Greek  or 
Latin  inflections  and  metre.  Theophilo  Folengo,  who  w  rote 
under  the  name  of  Merlinus  Coccaius,  in  Italy,  in  the  loth 
century,  and  calls  himself  the  inventor  of  this  sort  of  bur- 
lesque composition,  informs  us  that  its  name  is  derived  from 
the  Italian  macaroni,  eatables  composed  of  flour,  cheese,  and 
butter  •  and  that  it  expresses  the  gross  and  rustic  characters 
appropriate  to  its  words  and  sentiments.  JJrummond's 
Polcmo  Muldinia,  a  Scottish  burlesque,  is  perhaps  the  best 
known  macaronic  form  of  our  language. 

MACCABEES,  BOOK  OF  THE.  The  two  last  books 
in  the  arrangement  of  the  Apocryphal  writings  enumerated 
by  our  church.  The  first  is  a  Greek  translation  (as  is  sup- 
posed) from  a  Chaldaic  original.  The  second  appears  to  be 
a  compilation  from  various  sources.  The  two  books  are  not 
connected:  the  former  comprehends  the  events  of  Jewish 
history  for  nearly  40  years,  B.C.  176  to  139  ;  the  second  be- 
gins about  B.C.  187,  and  extends  over  about  16  years.  Nei- 
ther has  been  reckoned  by  the  Jews  in  their  catalogue  of 
sacred  writings;  but  they  are  received  into  the  canon  of 
Scripture  by  the  Church  of  Rome,  with  the  title  of  3d  and 
4th  Chronicles.  There  are  two  other  hooks,  commonly  call- 
ed 3d  and  4th  Maccabees,  which  were  never  received  by  any 
church.  ,  .... 

MACE.  A  word  of  doubtful  etymology,  signifying  some- 
times a  club  of  metal,  and  sometimes  a  military  weapon  ap- 
propriated to  the  cavalry-  About  the  period  of  Edvyard  II. 
maces  were  generally  used  in  England,  both  in  battles  and 
tournaments  ;  and  they  remained  so  till  the  time  ot  Eliza- 
beth when  they  were  displaced  by  the  pistol.  Maces  are 
still  used  by  the  Turkish  cavalry.  The  mace,  as  an  ensign 
of  authority,  is  often  borne  before  magistrates.  By  the  old 
English  writers  it  is  used  synonymously  with  sceptre. 

Mace  the  external  envelope  of  the  seed  of  the  nutmeg,  is  a 
particular  form  of  what  botanists  call  arillus.  It  is  aromatic, 
but  less  so  than  the  nutmeg  ;  and  is  chiefly  used  in  cookery 
or  in  pickles,  and  not,  like  the  latter,  in  confectionary. 

MACEDONIANS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  sect 
which  derives  its  name  from  a  bishop  of  Constantinople, 
who,  in  the  4th  century,  denied  the  distinct  existence  and 
Godhead  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  he  conceived  to  be  mere- 
ly "a  divine  energy  diffused  throughout  the  universe, 
''while  the  Father  and  Son  together  constitute  the  one  exist- 
ing Deity."  These  opinions  were  condemned  at  the  second 
general  council  held  at  Constantinople  in  381.    See  Pneuma- 

T°MACERA'TION.  The  steeping  of  substances  in  any 
cold  liquor.  ,     s 

MACHAIRODTJS.  (Gr.  uaxaifia,  a  sabre,  and  obovs,  a 
tooth.)    An  extinct  mammal,  allied  to  the  hear. 

MACHE'TES.  (Gr.  paxnm,  a  combatant.)  The  generic 
name  under  which  Cuvier  has  distinguished  the  ruffe  ana 
reeves  from  the  sandpipers,  godwits,  and  other  allied  brails;. 
The  ruffs  have  the  bill  and  carriage  of  the  genus  Calulris  ; 
hut  the  membrane  between  their  external  toes  is  nearly  as 
extensive  as  in  IJmosa.  Our  native  species  [Machetes  pug- 
nax  Cuv.)  is  somewhat  smaller  than  a  snipe,  and  celebrated 
for  the  furious  combats  that  take  place  among  the  males  in 
their  nuptial  season.  At  this  period  the  head  ®  partly 
covered  with  a  red  papilla-;  the  neck  is  surrounded  with  a 
thiek  collar  of  feathers,  which  often  varies  in  different  mdi- 

V  "mVCHI  AVELISM.  A  name  given  to  the  system  of  gov- 
erning which  is  propounded  in  the  general  writings  of 
Machiavelli,  and  particularly  in  his  treatise  called  I  he 
Prince  The  term  is  still  used  in  a  disparaging  Benee,  not- 
withstanding the  differenl  construction  which  has  ot  late 
been  given  to  the  motives  and  purposes  tor  which  Macnia- 
velli  wrote  his  work.  . 

MVCHl'COLATED.  (Fr.  machicoulis.)  In  Gothic  and 
castellated  Architecture,  a  building  whose  parapets  project 

l„.v I  the  faces  of  the  walls,  and  are  supported  by  arches 

springing  fr lame  corbels  or  consoles. 

MAClll'NE  (Gr.  uaXa;n),  in  a  general  sense,  sign. he, 
anything  which  serves  to  increase  or  regulate  the  eflect  ot  a 
riven  tone.  Machines  are  either  simple  or  compouna\  i  he 
simple  machines,  otherwise  called  the  simple  mechanical 
powers,  are  usually  reckoned  six  in  number;  namely,  the 
lever,  the  wheel  and  axle,  the  pulley,  the  wed/re,  the  screw, 
and  the  funi,  ular  machine.     See  the  respective  terms. 

Compound  machines  are  formed  by  combining  two  or 
more  simple  machines.    They  are  classed  under  .dillerent 


MACHINERY. 

denominations,  according  to  forces  by  which  they  are  put  in 
motion,  as  hydraulic  machines,  pneumatic  machines,  electri- 
cal machines,  &c.  ;  or  the  purposes  they  are  intended  to 
serve,  as  military  machines,  architectural  machines,  &c. 

Although  there  are  no  limits  to  the  combinations  and 
adaptations  of  machinery,  there  are  certain  general  princi- 
ples which  may  be  applied  in  estimating  the  effects  of  any 
machine  whatever.  When  a  machine  attains  its  state  of 
uniform  motion,  the  momentum  of  the  power  is  equal  to  that 
of  the  resistance,  and  is  the  same  that  would  be  in  equilibria 
with  the  resistance  if  there  were  no  motion  at  all.  From  this 
principle,  and  from  the  consideration  that  in  all  machines  the 
work  done  is  to  be  estimated  not  merely  from  the  quantity  of 
resistance  which  is  overcome,  but  from  the  quantity  over- 
come in  a  given  time,  we  can  ascertain  the  relation  that 
ought  to  subsist  between  the  velocity  and  the  load  or  resist- 
ance in  order  that  the  effect  of  the  machine  may  be  a  maxi- 
mum. This  maximum  effect  is  produced  when  the  two 
following  conditions  are  fulfilled:  1.  When  the  load,  or  re- 
sistance, is  about,  four  ninths  of  that  which  the  power,  when 
fully  exerted,  is  just  able  to  balance,  or  that  which  would 
keep  the  machine  at  rest  altogether ;  and,  2,  when  the  veloci- 
ty of  that  part  of  the  machine  to  which  the  power  is  applied 
is  one  third  of  the  greatest  velocity  of  the  power.  These 
conditions  are  deduced  from  the  following  empirical  expres- 
sion, which  is  adopted  by  Euler  and  other  writers  to  repre- 
sent the  law  of  the  moving  power :  Let  P  =  the  power  ap- 
plied (or  weight  which  the  power,  when  fully  exerted,  is 
just  able  to  overcome)  ;  R  =  the  resistance,  or  load,  or 
weight  to  be  overcome;  c  the  greatest  velocity,  or  that  at 
which  the  power  ceases  to  act ;  v  —  any  other  velocity :  then 
the  law  of  the  moving  power  is 


R  =  p(l-02 


The  variables  in  this  expression  are  R  and  v,  and  the 
effect  is  represented  by  the  product  R  v ;  on  making  which 
a  maximum,  the  rules  of  the  differential  calculus  give  v  =  £ 
c;  whence  the  formula  becomes  R  =  |P. 

From  these  expressions  it  follows,  that  when  the  moving 
power  and  the  resistance  are  both  given,  if  a  machine  be  so 
constructed  that  the  velocity  of  the  part  to  which  the  power 
is  applied  is  to  the  velocity  of  the  part  to  which  the  resistance 
is  applied  in  the  ratio  of  9  R  to  4  P,  the  effect  of  the  machine 
will  be  a  maximum,  or  it  will  work  to  the  greatest  possible 
advantage.  The  above  conditions  apply  equally  to  machines 
impelled  by  animal  force  and  the  agents  of  nature,  as  run- 
ning water,  steam,  the  force  of  gravity,  &c.  An  animal  ex- 
erts itself  to  the  greatest  advantage,  or  performs  the  greatest 
quantity  of  work  in  the  least  time,  when  it  moves  with 
about  one  third  of  the  utmost  speed  with  which  it  is  capable 
of  moving,  and  is  loaded  with  four  ninths  of  the  greatest  load 
which  it  is  capable  of  putting  in  motion.  It  has  been  sup- 
posed in  the  above  remarks  that  the  friction  of  the  parts  of  the 
machine  is  included  in  the  resistance.  (See  Coriolis,  De 
l'  Effet  des  Machines  ;  Navier,  Lecons  sur  l' Application  de  la 
Mecanique ;  Belidor,  Architecture  Hydraulique  ;  Gregory's 
Mechanics ;  Moseley's  Mechanics  applied  to  the  Arts,  &x.) 

MACHINERY.  A  general  term  by  which  the  works  of 
the  complex  machines  are  designated. 

MA'CIGNO.     (Ital.)     A  hard  silicious  sandstone. 

MA'CLE.  A  mineral ;  called  also  chiastolite.  It  forms 
prismatic  crystals,  white  externally  and  gray  within,  which 
are  found  imbedded  in  clay-slate.  Its  principal  component 
parts  are  silica  and  alumnia,  with  a  little  oxide  of  iron. 

MACLU'REITE.  A  mineral  named  after  Dr.  Maclure, 
from  New- York  and  New-Jersey.  It  occurs  in  roundish 
imbedded  masses,  imperfectly  crystalline.  It  is  a  silicate  of 
magnesia,  with  traces  of  potash,  oxide  of  iron,  and  fluorine. 

M.U'MILLANITES.  A  religious  sect  in  Scotland,  the 
successors  and  representatives  of  the  Covenanters  in  the  17th 
century,  and  more  recently  denominated  the  Reformed  Pres- 
bytery. On  the  first  settlement  of  presbytery  as  the  estab- 
lished church  of  Scotland  at  the  Revolution  in  1688,  a  small 
body  of  the  people,  the  remnant  of  the  Covenanters,  con- 
demned the  principles  on  which  that  act  was  founded  as 
Erastian.  They  insisted  not  only  that  the  church,  though 
endowed  by  the  state,  should  be  entirely  independent  of  civil 
authority,  and  uncontrollable  and  supreme  in  itself,  but  that 
the  revolution  government  should  not  be  recognised,  inas- 
much as  it  was  not  founded  on  the  Solemn  League  and 
Covenant,  and  did  not  restore  presbytery  as  it  had  obtained 
during  what  thev  called  the  "  Second  Reformation,"  or  be- 
tween 1638  and  1649,  at  the  death  of  Charles  I.  Though  re- 
duced to  a  very  small  number  at  the  era  of  the  Revolution, 
and  deserted  by  their  pastors,  who,  in  1689,  gave  in  their  ac- 
cession to  the  judicatories  of  the  established  church,  they 
maintained  their  principles  with  unshaken  firmness,  and 
would  accept  of  no  conditions  of  which  these  were  not  the 
basis.  They  also  continued  zealously  to  maintain  those 
praying  societies  (hence  they  were  sometimes  called  Society 


MACROURANS. 

people)  which  they  had  formed  in  the  time  of  Charles  II. 
when  deprived  of  religious  ordinances  from  the  paucity  of 
clergymen.  A  regular  correspondence  between  these  vari- 
ous fraternities  were  maintained,  in  order  to  ascertain  the 
state  of  matters  throughout  the  body  at  large,  and  to  culti- 
vate a  closer  acquaintance  with  each  other. 

Thus  they  remained  without  a  pastor  for  sixteen  years ; 
and  as  they  wTere  a  small,  so  they  were  generally  regarded 
as  a  fanatical  and  illiberal  sect,  enemies  equally  to  the  eccle- 
siastical and  civil  authorities.  Meanwhile,  Mr.  John  M'Mil- 
lan,  who  had  been  ordained  parochial  minister  of  Balmaghie, 
in  the  stewartry  of  Kirkcudbright,  in  1701,  adopted  and 
publicly  avowed  their  principles,  and  was,  in  consequence, 
deposed  in  1704  from  the  office  of  the  ministry.  He  did 
not,  however,  renounce  his  ministerial  character,  but  con- 
tinued to  officiate  both  among  his  former  people,  who  almost 
to  a  man  adhered  to  him,  and  others  who  favoured  his 
views.  In  1706,  having  received  a  unanimous  call  from 
the  scattered  societies  to  be  their  minister,  he  accepted  the 
invitation ;  and  in  a  short  time  he  was  joined  by  Mr.  John 
M'Neil,  a  licentiate  of  the  established  church,  who,  like 
himself,  had  been  deprived  of  all  connexion  with  that 
church.  The  high  veneration  which  Mr.  M'Millan  and  Mr. 
M'Neil  entertained  for  presbyterian  government  prevented 
any  attempt  being  made  to  obtain  ordination  for  the  latter 
in  an  irregular  way.  Neither  would  they  compromise  their 
principles  to  gain  the  co-operation  of  other  ministers  who, 
like  themselves,  but  for  somewhat  different  opinions,  had 
been  expelled  from  the  establishment.  They  renewed  the 
Covenant  in  1712,  and  never  ceased  to  bear  public  testimony 
against  what  they  regarded  the  defections  and  corruptions  of 
the  church  of  Scotland. 

On  the  death  of  Mr.  M'Neil,  which  took  place  not  long 
afterwards,  Mr.  M'Millan  was  joined  by  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Nairn,  who  had  been  driven  from  the  church,  and  had  for 
some  time  been  connected  with  the  Secession.  The  pros- 
pects of  the  M'Millanites,  as  this  sect  had  long  been  called 
in  honour  of  their  eminent  leader,  now  began  to  brighten. 
Their  two  clergymen  and  some  lay  elders  (formerly  ordain- 
ed) constituted  a  presbytery,  in  1743,  at  Braehead,  nearCarn- 
wath,  Lanarkshire,  and  gave  their  body  the  name  of  the  Re- 
formed Presbytery — a  designation  which  has  superseded,  in 
a  great  measure,  that  of  M'Millanites.  They  are  also  called 
Mountain  or  Hill  people;  because,  having  at  first  no  chap- 
els, they  conducted  public  worship,  in  imitation  of  their  per- 
secuted ancestors  in  the  reigns  of  Charles  II.  and  his  brother, 
in  the  open  air,  generally  on  the  side  of  a  hill. 

From  the  time  they  were  constituted  into  a  presbytery, 
their  number  has  gradually  but  slowly  increased.  Li  1809 
they  had  sixteen  congregations,  but  their  highest  ecclesi- 
astical court  was  a  presbytery.  They  now  form  a  synod, 
consisting  of  six  presbyteries,  the  number  of  congregations 
being  thirty-five.  In  the  days  of  persecution,  some  of  their 
adherents  took  refuge  in  the  north  of  Ireland  ;  and  the  M'Mil- 
lanites there  form  four  presbyteries,  embracing  twenty-one 
congregations.  The  sect  prevails  also  in  the  United  States, 
to  the  extent  of  eight  or  ten  congregations.  Some  of  their 
congregations  in  Scotland  are  very  small,  and  none  of  them 
are  large.  They  have  a  professor  of  divinity  belonging  to 
their  own  body.  In  doctrine  they  profess  the  highest  Cal- 
vinism, and  may  be  characterized  as  the  strictest  sect 
of  Presbyterians.  They  still  hold  substantially  the  same 
sentiments  as  the  alleged  Erastianism  of  the  established 
church,  or  what  they  regard  as  her  unscriptural  subjection 
to  the  civil  power.  Some  of  their  extreme  opinions,  how- 
ever, on  the  subjects  of  the  covenant  and  presbytery,  have 
of  late  been  somewhat  modified.  They  generally,  if  not 
universally,  use  public  prayers  for  the  sovereign  and  for 
civil  magistrates;  an  act  which  they  from  conscience  avoid- 
ed for  about  a  century  after  their  organization  under  Mr. 
M'Millan.  Wherever  their  numbers  are  sufficiently  large, 
they  have  built  chapels ;  and  public  worship,  in  any  cir- 
cumstances, rarely  takes  place  out  of  doors.  They  have 
not  thought  it  expedient  to  renew  the  Covenant  since  1745. 
In  short,  they  have  become  a  comparatively  liberal  and  en- 
lightened sect  of  Christians,  and  are  eminently  character- 
ized by  pietv  and  moral  strictness.  (See  Adam's  Religious 
World  Displayed,  vol.  iii.,  157-169;  The  Testimony  of  the 
Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  Paisley,  1837;  Historical 
Part  of  the  Testimony,  Glasgow,  1839;  A  short  Ace.  of  the 
Old  Presbyterian  Dissenters,  Glasgow,  1824 ;  Acts  of  Gen. 
Assembly  apud  Ann.  1704,  1708,  1715:  also  the  articles 
Cameronians  and  Covenanters  in  this  work.) 

MACRODA'CTYLI.  Gr.  uaitpos,  long;  S,iktv\oc,  a  fin- 
ger.) A  tribe  of  wading  birds,  comprehending  those  in 
which  the  toes  are  remarkable  for  their  extreme  length  ;  as 
the  jacanas. 

MA'CROPUS.  (Gr.  fiaicpoc,  long ;  T7ov;.  foot.)  The  ge- 
neric name  of  the  kangaroo ;  also  applied  to  a  genus  of 
beetles. 

MACROU'RANS,  Macroura.  (Gr.  iiak-poc,  long,  and 
ovPa,  a  tail.)    A  section  of  Decapod  Crustaceans,  including 

695 


MACULiE. 

b!1  those  which  have  the  tail,  or  post  abdomen,  as  long  or 
longer  than  the  body. 

MA  Vt'L.E.  (Lat.  spots.)  Dark  spots  on  the  surfaces 
of  the  sun  and  moon,  and  on  some  of  the  planets.  The  so- 
lar sp.  as  arc  very  variable  as  to  form  and  continuance. 
They  were  first  observed  by  Galileo  in  Italy,  and  Harriot 
in  England,  soon  after  the  invention  of  the  telescope,  and 
Unknown  to  each  other.  The  spots  on  the  moon  are  perma- 
nent, and  are  caused  by  the  shadows  of  its  mountains,  and 
the  unequally  reflecting  materials  of  which  parts  of  it  are 
composed.  The  planets  have  some  permanent  macule,  as 
the  belts  of  Jupiter ;  and  some  variable,  especially  Mars  and 
Venus,  and  frequently,  also,  Jupiter.  These  macula  have 
led  to  many  fanciful  conjectures  respecting  the  constitution 
and  atmospheres  of  the  bodies  of  the  solar  system.  See 
StJH,  -Moon. 

MA  DDER.  The  prepared  root  of  the  Jtubia  tinctorum. 
It  is  extensively  used  as  a  red  dye  stuff ;  its  infusion  is  of  a 
dirty  red  colour;  but  it  is  rendered  bright  and  permanent  by 
an  aluminous  mordant.  Its  colouring  principle  has  been 
termed  alizarine. 

MADIA.  (Gr.  /lae'oc,  bald.)  A  genus  of  Composite 
plants,  inhabiting  South  America  and  California,  and  im- 
portant because  of  the  utility  of  the  fruit  as  a  source  of  ve- 
getable oil.  From  some  German  reports  It  appears  that  it  is 
the  most  productive  of  all  oil  plants. 

MADO  NNA.  (Engl,  my  lady.)  An  Italian  term  ap- 
plied to  the  Virgin  Mary.  Hence  pictures  of  the  Italian 
school  representing  the  Virgin  are  generally  designated  as 
"  Madonnas." 

MA'DREPO'RA.  (A  hybrid  compound  of  the  French 
madre,  spotted,  and  the  Latin  porus,  a  pore.)  The  word  ap- 
pears to  have  been  first  used  by  Imperati  to  designate  a  genus 
of  Lithophytes,  in  which  the  calcareous  axis  has  its  whole 
surface  beset  with  small  lamellate  and  stellate  depressions. 

The  genus  was  adopted  by  Linnajus,  who  placed  it 
among  his  Vermes  Zoophyta,  and  characterized  it  as  fol- 
lows: "Animal  resembling  a  medusa;  coral  with  lamellate 
star-shaped  cavities."  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  observe 
that  the  animal,  especially  in  the  larger  madrepores,  as  the 
Fun  gin,  most  closely  resembles  the  Actinia  in  its  general 
organization.  Cuvier  places  the  madrepores  in  the  tribe 
I.ithophyta,  of  the  family  of  Polypi  corticati.  The  Litho- 
phytes having  the  common  character  of  the  Limuean  ge- 
nus are  now  subdivided  into  the  genera  Fungia,  Lam.; 
Turbinolia,  Lam. ;  Cyclolytbus,  Lain. ;  Caryophyllira,  Lam. ; 
Ociilina.  Lam. ;  Pacillopora,  Lam. ;  Serialopora,  Lam. ;  As- 
tn  a.  F.xplanaria,  Poritrs,  Meandrina,  Cuv. ;  Pavo?iia,  Cuv. ; 
Hydrophora,  Fischer ;  Agaricina,  Cuv. ;  Sarcinula,  Lam. ; 
Stylina.  Cuv. ;  and  Madrepora  proper. 

MA'DREPORITE.  A  species  of  columnar  carbonate  of 
lime  found  in  Norway  and  Greenland. 

MA  DRIER.  In  Military  Engineering,  a  thick  plank  cov- 
ered with  plates  of  iron,  and  having  a  cavity  sufficient  to 
receive  the  mouth  of  a  petard,  with  which  it  is  applied 
against  a  gate,  or  any  other  obstacle  intended  to  be  broken 
down.  Also,  the  flat  beams  laid  in  the  bottom  of  a  moat  or 
ditch  to  support  the  wall.  There  are  also  madriers  lined 
with  tin  and  covered  with  earth,  to  form  roofs  over  certain 
portions  of  military  works,  in  order  to  afford  protection 
against  fires  in  lodgments,  &c. 

MADRIGAL.  One  of  the  lesser  kind  of  poems,  usually 
consisting  of  fewer  verses  than  the  sonnet  or  roundelay,  iii 
Its  composition  the  fancy  and  convenience  of  the  poet  arc 
not  subjected  to  very  strict  rules,  rhymes  and  verses  of  dif- 
ferent species  being  often  intermixed.  The  subjects  are 
mostly  Of  a  tender  and  gallant  nature;  the  character  often 
(piaint.  the  expressions  marked  with  great  simplicity.  Some- 
times, however,  a  loftier  and  sublimer  train  of  thought  finds 

its  way  into  tin  9e  compositions,  especially  a ng  those  of 

the  English  school,  as  in  the  following  celebrated  speel n, 

set   to  music,   and   perhaps  written,  bv  Orlando  Gibbons,  in 
101-J: 

Oh  !  that  the  learned  poets  of  this  time, 

Who  in  a  lovesick  line  so  Well  can  speak. 

Would  not  consume  good  nil  in  hateful  rhvme, 

Jlu'  with  deep  .ire  i  ime  belter  subject  find; 

For  if  their  music  nil  ue  ill  Birth  ■ 

Bow  would  it  sound  if  strung  with  heavenly  strings ! 

Of  a  lighter  and  more  regular  sort,  the  following  may  serve 
for  a  specimen : 

When  Thoralis  delights  to  walk, 

The  fairies  do  attend  her; 
They  sweetly  sing  and  sweetly  talk, 

And  sweetly  do  commend  her. 
The  satyrs  leap  and  dance  around. 
And  make  their  conges  to  the  ground  ; 
An  I  evermore  their  song  is  this, 
"  Long  may's!  thou  live,  fair  Thoralis!" 

Grassineau.  in  his  Musical  Dictionary,  describes  the  mad- 
rigal as  "a  little  piece  of  poetry,  the  verses  whereof  were 
1 1  l  BJ  'I  easy,  usually  unequal :  it  borders  on  a  sonnet  and 
an  epigram,  but  has  not  the  briskness  of  the  one,  nor  the 
poignancy  of  the  other  " 
696 


MAGAZINE. 

It  is  extraordinary  that  the  etymology  of  this  word,  though 
introduced  but  little  more  than  three  "centuries  ago.  is  now 
altogether  lost.    We  subjoin  the  conjectures  that  have  been 

raised  upon  it.  Kengifo  (Arte  Poctica)  savs  that  it  is  cor- 
rupted from  the  word  mandrial,  a  sheep/old.  Cardinal  Bem- 
bo  seems  to  think  with  the  last-named  author,  and  defines 
it  as  a  pastoral  love-song;  adding,  moreover,  that  it  is  of  Pro- 
vencal origin,  lluet  brings  it  from  Martegavz,  the  name 
of  a  people  of  Provence.  "  Ces  martegalles  el  inadiigaux," 
he  observes,  "out  pris  leur  noms  des  Marteirauv  pcuple 
Montagnards  de  Provence:  de  mesme  que  les  Gavots,  peu- 
ple  Blontagnards  du  pays  de  Gass,  ont  donne  le  nam  ■ 
que  nous  appellons  gavotte."  (Traitedcs  Romans,  p.  YU.) 
Covarruvitis  (  Tresor  de  la  Langue  Castellan)  derives  it  from 
mandra.  So  that  there  is  much  testimony  in  favour  of  its 
pastoral  origin.  But  the  most  curious,  perhaps,  of  all  the 
etymologies  is  that  of  Ferrari,  in  his  Origine  de  la  I.anguc 
Italimne,  who  derives  the  word  from  the  Spanish  verb  mad 
rugar,  (0  rise  in  the  morning';  which  Menage,  in  his  Diet, 
Ety.,  says  is  naught.  This  last-named  author  throws  out  a 
suggestion  that  it  may  have  had  its  origin  in  a  town  called 
Madiigal  (of  which  name,  indeed,  there  are  two  in  Old  Cas 
tile),  in  Spain ;  as  from  Vallee  de  Vire  has  been  formed 
the  word  Vaudeville  (p.  464).  Others,  supposing  that  the 
earliest  specimens  of  this  sort  of  poetry'  were  addressed  to 
the  Virgin  (alia  madre),  have  thence  derived  madrialle  and 
madi  igale ;  and  go  on  to  say  that  having  afterwards  been 
applied  to  poems  of  love  and  gallantry,  the  original  meaning 
was  lost.  The  words  of  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  mad- 
rigals of  the  sixteenth  century',  a  period  when  they  were 
most  in  favour,  are  certainly  compositions  indicating  ad- 
dresses to  the  mother  of  love  and  gallantry  (alia  madre  ga- 
lante)  rather  than  to  the  Virgin.  At  this  period,  moreover, 
the  composers  called  their  motels  madrigali  spirit  uali.  We 
regret  that  we  cannot  guide  the  reader  with  any  certainty 
upon  this  subject,  in  which  we  must  leave  him  to  a  choice 
among  the  etymologies  here  set  down,  or  to  find  one  of  his 
own  that  he  may  think  more  germane  to  the  matter. 

We  will  now  endeavour  to  define  this  word  in  a  musical 
sense ;  and  we  do  not  think  we  can  better  accomplish  that 
object  than  in  the  quaint  language  of  old  Charles  Butler 
(Principles  of  Music,  London,  1636).  He  says,  "The  mad- 
rigal is  a  chromatic  mode  in  distant,  whose  notes  do  often 
exceed  the  number  of  the  syllables  of  the  ditty,  sometimes  in 
duple,  sometimes  in  triple  proportion,  with  quick  and  sweet 
reports  and  repeats,  and  all  pleasing  varieties  of  art,  in  four, 
five,  or  six  parts  ;  having  in  one  or  more  of  them  one  or  more 
rests,  especially  in  the  beginning,  to  bring  in  the  points  be- 
gun in  another  part."  Choron  calls  it  a  species  of  compo- 
sition resembling  the  fugue,  but  the  style  of  which,  being 
less  dry,  is  susceptible  of  every  kind  of  expression.  The 
simple  madrigal  is  for  voices  only ;  the  accompanied  madri- 
gal, as  its  name  imports,  is  with  an  accompaniment  of  one 
or  more  instruments,  mostly  the  organ.  To  Arcadelt,  a 
Flemish  composer,  has,  but  without  foundation,  been  attrib- 
uted the  honour  of  composing  the  first  madrigals.  They, 
however,  exist  by  more  ancient  composers,  even  by  those  of 
the  Flemish  school ;  and  to  our  readers  who  are  at  all  con- 
versant with  the  subject,  the  name  of  Adrian  Willaert  will 
doubtless  occur  as  one  of  the  composers  alluded  to.  The 
fact  is,  that  simple  madrigals  appeared  about  the  beginning 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  during  which,  and  the  whole  of 
that  following,  the  style  was  particularly  cultivated  and  en 
couraged,  and  may  be  considered  to  have  now  passed  away, 
unless  we  are  allowed  to  consider  the  English  glee  an  offset 
from  it.  The  first  madrigals  were  in  a  style  of  music  very" 
much  resembling  that  of  the  church ;  but  they  afterwards 
assumed  a  character  peculiar  to  themselves,  which  is  stri- 
kingly exemplified  in  those  of  Luca  Marenzio  soon  after  the 
time  that  Palestrina  flourished),  and  after  him  in  the  works 
of  Gesualdo,  the  Prince  of  Venosa,  Monteverde,  and  Ma- 
zocchi.  It  is  in  their  madrigals  that  the  restraints  which 
laboured  counterpoint  imposed  were  abandoned,  to  make 
way  for  imitations,  canons,  and  fugues.  The  style  was  In- 
deed that  of  the  age,  but  the  subjects  were  free;  and  the 
tender  and  impassioned   poetry  adopted  was  well  expressed 

in  the  affections  of  the  harmonies  employed.  The  original 
character  gradually  became  more  free,  and  was  carried  to 

its  utmost  limit  in  the  compositions  of  the  celebrated  Ales- 
sandro  Scarlatti.  In  England,  during  the  reign  of  Eliza- 
beth, the  composition  of  the  madrigal  attained  a  very  high 
degree  of  excellence,  perhaps  the  highest.  Our  composers 
were  in  no  respect  inferior  to  those  of  Italy  and  the  Nether- 
lands. It  is  hardly  necessary  to  observe  that  among  them 
are  to  be  found  the  names  of  Orlando,  Gibbons,  Dowland, 
Wilbye,  Ward.  Bennett,  and  Morlev. 

MAESTO'SO.  (Itnl.)  In  Music,  a  direction  to  the  per- 
former that  the  music  to  which  the  word  is  prefixed  is  to  be 
performed  slowly  and  with  grandeur. 

MAGAZINE.  (Pr.  magazln.)  A  receptacle  for  military 
store-,  hut  especially  for  gunpowder,  in  a  fortress. 

Magazine.    An  apartment  below,  in  the  after  part  of  the 


MAGELLANIC  CLOUDS. 

ship  in  which  the  powder  is  kept.  As  lights  nre  not  allow- 
ed to  be  burnt  here,  the  light  is  received  from  another  apart- 
ment, called  the  light-room. 

Maoazine.  In  Literature,  the  general  designation  for  the 
periodical  literature  of  a  country,  exclusive  of  the  newspa- 
per and  review-  The  peculiar  province  of  the  two  latter 
seems  to  be  to  communicate  information — the  one  on  politics 
and  passing  events,  the  other  on  literary  and  scientific  sub- 
jects; while  that  of  the  magazine  is  of  a  more  miscellane- 
ous character,  embracing  all  the  features  of  the  newspaper 
and  review,  but  at  the  same  time  containing,  in  the  form  of 
tales,  sketches,  and  poetry,  &c,  a  great  variety  of  what  may 
be  peculiarly  termed  original  matter,  the  introduction  of 
which  would  be  foreign  to  the  purposes  of  the  others.  The 
earliest  publication  of  this  kind  in  England  was  the  Gentle- 
man's Magazine,  which  still  exists.  It  appeared  in  1731  ; 
and  the  success  which  so  deservedly  followed  its  establish- 
ment immediately  called  into  the  field  a  host  of  competitors, 
which  have  so  increased  in  number  and  variety  as  to  form 
an  era  in  literarv  history-     See  Periodicals,  Review. 

MAGELLANIC  CLOUDS.  Three  nebula;  in  the  south- 
em  hemisphere,  first  recorded  by  the  navigator  Magellan, 
and  named  after  him  ;  two  of  them  about  12°  or  13°  from 
the  south  pole,  and  the  third  more  distant.  Whether  they 
be  resolvable  into  stars  by  means  of  the  larger  telescopes, 
has  not  been  yet  ascertained ;  but,  from  their  distinctness  as 
nebula?,  thev  probably  are. 

MA'GIAN'S.  The  caste  of  priests  (hereditary)  among 
the  Persians  and  Medians  are  so  termed  by  ancient  Greek 
historians.  The  name  has  been  derived  by  modern  ori- 
entalists from  mog  or  mag,  signifying  priest  in  the  Pehlevi 
language.  Zoroaster  is  designated  as  the  great  reformer  of 
the  order ;  but  the  history  and  the  very  existence  of  that 
celebrated  character  are  enveloped  in  complete  obscurity. 
He  is  generally  supposed  to  have  lived  at  no  long  period  be- 
fore the  age  of  Cyrus.  The  most  remarkable  feature  of  his 
doctrine  consisted  in  the  two  principles  of  Good  and  Evil 
(Oromastes  and  Arimanes),  who  were  held  to  divide  the 
dominion  of  the  world,  in  alternate  periods,  during  its  whole 
predestined  duration  of  1-2.000  years.  The  books  termed  the 
Zendavesta,  brought  to  Europe  in  the  last  century  by  An- 
quetil  du  Perron,  are  supposed  by  some  to  contain  the  essen- 
tial doctrines  of  this  religion  ;  but  their  authenticity  has  been 
the  subject  of  much  discussion.  The  fire-worshippers  of  Per- 
sia and  India  still  hold  them  in  reverence.  (.See  Zendaves- 
ta,  GrEBRES.)  Our  amplest  resources  for  the  study  of  the 
religion  and  character  of  the  ancient  magi  are  to  be  found  in 
the  learned  researches  of  Anquetil.  (See  especially  Mi- 
moires  de  I' Acad,  des  Inscriptions,  vol.  xxxiv.) 

MAGIC.  (Lat.  ars  magica,  the  art  of  the  Magi;  be- 
cause those  Persian  philosophers  were  ranked  by  the  Ro- 
mans among  the  highest  professors  of  supernatural  powers, 
through  intercourse  with  the  genii  or  intelligences  with 
which  their  universe  was  peopled.)  Common  as  the  su- 
perstitious belief  in  the  possession  of  such  powers  has  been 
among  all  nations  hitherto  discovered  on  the  globe,  the 
Romans  were,  perhaps,  the  most  superstitious  in  this  and 
other  respects  of  all  people.  No  American  tribe  has  a  more 
implicit  faith  in  its  rude  "medicines"  or  "mysteries,"  than 
this  great  and  civilized  people  had  in  its  auguries  and  divi- 
nations ;  and  it  is  a  remarkable  feature  in  their  character, 
that  while  their  religion  prescribed  these  rites,  the  popular 
imagination  was  always  searching  after  fresh  excitement 
from  others,  which  were  not  only  unauthorized,  but  con- 
demned by  their  laws — the  practices  of  the  Thessalian 
witches,  the  magi,  the  sorcerers  of  Egypt  and  Phrygia,  and 
the  numberless  other  foreign  nations  with  which  their  do- 
minion brought  them  in  contact.  Against  these  the  emper- 
ors were  continually  renewing  their  ineffectual  edicts ;  and 
it  seems  to  have  been  mainly  from  this  circumstance  that 
the  idea  of  magic,  as  a  black  and  forbidden  art,  became 
rooted  in  the  minds  of  the  people  of  modern  Europe.  For 
the  northern  conquerors  held  such  supernatural  power  in 
high  respect;  and  in  the  East,  the  favourite  land  of  sorcery 
and  magic,  the  professors  have  from  time  immemorial  been 
regarded  rather  as  venerable  than  as  hateful.  As  to  ancient 
magic,  see  Mem.  de  VAcad.  des  Inscr.,  vol.  xxxix.  Hence,  if 
run  systematic  account  can  be  attempted  of  matters  which 
have  their  foundation  in  the  strange  caprices  of  popular  cre- 
dulity, it  may  be  thought  that,  in  the  superstition  of  the 
middle  ages,  white  magic  or  celestial  magic,  according  to 
Cornelius  Agrippa's  division,  originated  in  the  North  or 
East :  superstitious  or  diabolical  magic,  from  Roman  notions 
ingrafted  on  Christianity  ;  while  natural  magic  arose  merely 
from  the  disposition  among  the  scientific  of  those  days  to  take 
advantage  of  the  vulgar  propensity  to  attribute  everything 
extraordinary  to  supernatural  causes.  It  is  to  be  observed 
that  among  the  crusaders,  and  other  Christian  warriors  of 
the  middle  ages,  magic  was  regarded  as  a  peculiar  ally  of 
the  eastern  and  northern  infidels  with  whom  they  were  in 
contact.  The  inhospitable  North  was  peopled  by  their  ima- 
gination with  enchanted  castles  and  spectral  illusions  (see 
00 


MAGIC  LANTERN. 

Scott's  Damonology  and  Witchcraft,  letter  v.) ;  and  Frols- 
sart  gives  a  most  picturesque  account  of  the  spells  which 
were  resorted  to  by  Mohammedan  warriors  in  their  conflicts 
with  the  soldiers  of  the  cross.  In  the  romances  founded 
on  these  historical  encounters  there  are  usually  a  good  ma- 
gician or  witch  (not  the  degraded  witch  of  vulgar  supersti- 
tion, but  the  French  fee,  Italian  fata)  enlisted  in  the  Chris- 
tian party;  evil  necromancers  in  that  of  the  infidels.  Thus, 
in  Ariesto,  Malagigi  and  Melissa  aid  the  one  side,  and  Atlas 
the  other.  The  notion  of  white  witches,  or  beneficent  wiz- 
ards, was  assiduously  kept  up  by  those  impostors  who  wish- 
ed to  profit  by  the  public  credulity,  and  yet  avoid  the  pen- 
alties awarded  by  the  church  ;  and  in  the  church  itself  there 
was  a  contest  continually  maintained,  whether  magic,  prac- 
tised through  laborious  research  and  study  of  the  celestial 
influences  or  intermediate  spirits,  was  lawful.  But  the  pub- 
lic opinion  always  inclined  the  other  way ;  and  the  magi- 
cians of  highest  pretensions  were  always  in  danger  of  being 
classed  with  the  hated  necromancers  who  derived  their 
power  from  compact  with  the  devil.  Among  the  earliest 
fables  respecting  the  higher  order  of  European  magicians  is 
that  of  Virgil,  the  Latin  poet,  turned  into  a  wizard  by  popu- 
lar belief,  which  dates  as  high  as  the  11th  or  12th  century. 
Robert  of  Lincoln  (Grossetete),  Michael  Scot,  Albertus  Mag- 
nus, and  the  famous  Roger  Bacon,  all  lived  in  the  13th.  Of 
these  the  first  was  a  church  reformer,  who  seems  to  have 
lain  under  the  imputation  of  magic  merely  on  account  of  the 
displeasure  with  which  he  was  regarded  by  the  orthodox. 
Michael  Scot  is  almost  wholly  a  traditional  personage ;  that 
is,  his  real  history  is  scarcely  known :  the  European  reputa- 
tion which  he  had  achieved  as  a  wizard  is  proved  by  the 
high  mention  of  him  in  the  Inferno  of  Dante,  who  condemns 
all  magicians  indiscriminately  to  eternal  punishment.  It  is 
difficult  to  say  that  Roger  Bacon  ever  gave  any  cause  by 
pretensions  of  his  own,  like  so  many  other  eminent  natural 
philosophers  of  early  time,  to  those  charges  of  magic  to 
which  his  high  genius  subjected  him.  Perhaps  Sir  F.  Pal- 
grave,  in  his  amusing  fiction  {The  Merchant  and  Friar),  is 
not  far  wrong  in  representing  him  as  partly  dazzled  by  an 
inability  to  comprehend  the  real  extent  of  those  extraordinary 
discoveries  which  were  opening  upon  him,  and  partly  owing 
his  magical  reputation  to  the  impostures  practised  by  his 
servants  in  his  name.  Albertus  Magnus,  a  Dominican,  and 
a  celebrated  magician  in  his  time,  lies  more  justly  open  to 
the  charge  of  quackery.  It  seems  to  have  been  after  this 
time,  about  the  14th  century,  that  magic  rose  for  a  season 
into  high  repute  as  a  lawful  art,  and  sovereigns  had  profess- 
ed magicians  and  astrologers  attached  to  them.  The  ex- 
traordinary tales  related  of  some  of  these  point  evidently  to 
results  effected  by  means  of  legerdemain :  the  feats  of  Zitto, 
sorcerer  to  Wenceslas,  king  of  Bohemia  (Godwin,  Lives  of 
the  .Xecromancers,  p.  273),  are  exactly  a  counterpart  of  what 
Tavemier  saw  at  the  court  of  the  Great  Mogul.  The  higher 
order  of  magicians  maintained  their  pretensions  with  diffi- 
culty after  the  revival  of  letters.  Yet  the  three  most  famous 
of  all  belong  to  the  commencement  of  that  era :  Doctor 
Faustus  (if  that  personage  be  not  altogether  traditional), 
Cornelius  Agrippa,  and  Paracelsus.  It  will,  however,  be 
evident,  to  any  one  who  reads  their  history,  that  the  belief 
in  celestial  magic  was  with  difficulty  maintained  in  their 
days,  while  that  in  necromancy  and  witchcraft  was  becoming 
more  prevalent  than  ever.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  mystery 
about  the  character  of  the  famous  Dr.  Dee ;  and  it  docs  not 
appear  distinctly  how  far  he  pretended  to  those  powers 
which  are  ascribed  to  him  in  that  dreary  work,  entitled  A 
True  Relation  of  what  passed  between  Dr.  Dee  and  some 
Spirits,  published  by  Meric  Casaubon,  in  1659.  In  1634,  the 
French  curate,  Urbain  G  randier,  was  burnt  for  sorcery  at 
Loudun  :  in  1640,  the  pretender,  Dr.  Lamb,  was  murdered  by 
the  London  mob :  and  these  are  nearly  the  latest  instances  of 
distinguished  magicians,  while  the  degraded  belief  in  witch- 
craft lasted  much  longer.  As  to  natural  magic,  or  the  pro- 
duction of  singular  phenomena  by  natural  means,  see  Brews- 
ter's Letters  on  ~Yat.  Magic ;  Quart.  Rev.,  vols,  xlviii.,  lit. 
MAGIC  LANTERN.  An  optical  instrument,  by  means 
of  which  small  figures,  painted  with  transparent  vamish  on 
slides  of  glass,  are  represented  on  a  wall  or  screen  consider- 
ably magnified.  It  is  generally  used  as  a  toy,  and  affords 
amusement  from  the  grotesque  character  of  the  figures ;  but 
is  also  employed  to  enlarge  the  diagrams  employed  in  as- 
tronomical lectures,  so  as  to  be  seen  by  an  audience:  for 
which  purpose  it  is  well  adapted,  both  by  its  portability  and 
the  small  cost  of  the  whole  apparatus.  The  principle  of  its 
construction  is  very  simple.  A  lamp  L,  with  a  powerful 
Argand  burner,  is  placed  within  a  closed  lantern,  and  in  the 
focus  of  a  concave  mirror  M  N.  At  the  opposite  side  of  the 
lantern  is  fixed  a  tube  A  B,  containing  a  hemispherical  illu- 
minating lens  A,  and  a  convex  lens  B  ;  and  between  A  and 
B  is  a  slit  C  D,  through  which  the  sliders  of  painted  glass 
are  introduced.  In  this  manner  the  picture  is  placed  in  the 
axis  of  the  tube,  and  strongly  illuminated,  in  consequence  of 
the  li"ht  being  concentratedupou  it  by  the  mirror.  The  pic- 
Uo* 


C97 


MAGIC  SaUARE. 

ture  being  also  in  one  of  the  conjugate  foci  of  the  lens  B.  an 
enlarged  image  of  it  is  formed  upon  u  wall  or  screen  E  F  at 


1 

16 

11 

6 

13 

4 

7 

10 

8 

9 

U 

3 

12 

5 

2 

15 

some  distance  behind.  The  tube  A  B  is  made  to  pull  out, 
go  that  the  distance  of  the  lens  B  from  the  slider  can  be  in- 
creased or  diminished  at  pleasure,  and  consequently  an  image 
formed  of  any  size  within  moderate  limits:.  The  magic 
lantern  was  invented  by  Athanasius  Kircber. 

MAGIC  SQUARE.  A  term  used  to  denote  a  series  of 
numbers  in  arithmetical  progression,  arranged  in  the  equal 
cells  of  a  square  in  such  a  manner  that  the  vertical,  hori- 
zontal, and  diagonal  columns  give  the  same  sum.  For  exam- 
ple, let  the  first  sixteen  numbers  be  arranged  as  in  the  an- 
nexed table,  and  a  magic  square  will  be 
produced ;  for  the  numbers  in  each  verti- 
cal column,  in  each  horizontal  column, 
and  in  the  two  diagonal  columns,  being 
added  together,  give  the  same  sum, 
namely,  34.  This  is,  however,  only  one 
of  a  great  number  of  ways  in  which  the 
same  numbers  may  be  arranged  so  as  to 
fulfil  the  conditions.  Frenicle  (Divers 
Ourrages,  Paris,  1693)  has  shown  that 
there  are  878  such  arrangements.  Emanuel  Moscopolus,  a 
Greek  author  of  the  14th  or  15th  century,  is  the  first  who  is 
known  to  have  treated  of  magic  squares,  and  to  have  given 
rules  for  their  construction.  The  principal  authors  who  have 
written  on  the  subject  are  Stifels,  Leibnitz,  Bachet,  Poignard, 
Lahire,  Ozanam,  Franklin,  &c.  For  the  history  of  the  sub- 
ject, see  .Muntucla,  vol.  i.,  p.  346,  or  Hutton's  Dictionary  ; 
and  for  the  methods  of  constructing  them,  Ozanam' s  or  Hut- 
ton's  Mathematical  Recreations. 

MAGILP.  When  linseed  oil  and  mastic  varnish  are 
Mixed  together,  they  produce  a  gelatinous  compound  known 
under  the  above  name,  and  used  by  artists  as  a  vehicle  for 
colours'. 

MA'GILUS.  A  name  given  by  Montfort  to  a  genus  of 
Tubulibranchiate  Gastropods  in  the  system  of  Cuvier.  chiefly 
remarkable  for  the  form,  length,  and' solidity  of  their  shell. 
The  modifications  of  this  dermal  production  are  due  in  the 
present  instance,  in  great  measure,  to  the  accidental  circum- 
stances of  the  locality  in  which  the  growth  of  the  individual 
proceeds.  The  young  JMagi/us  commences  its  career  in  a 
bed  of  lithophytous  coral,  and  during  the  early  and  rapid 
stages  of  its  development,  secretes  its  calcareous  covering  in 
the  ordinary  form  of  a  spiral  univalve ;  but  soon  the  growth 
of  the  surrounding  madrepore  surpasses  its  own,  and  it  is 
compelled  to  bring  its  oral  and  respiratory  orifices,  by  the 
most  direct  route,  to  the  level  of  the  surrounding  coral. 
While  'his  change  of  place  is  being  effected,  the  mollusk 
continues  to  secrete  fresh  layers  of  shell  coextensive  with  its 
own  advance,  and  to  fill  up  the  deserted  part  of  the  shell 
with  a  solid  deposit  of  a  dense,  semivitreous,  and  subtrans- 
parent  carbonate  of  lime,  and  finally  produces  an  elongated, 
Slightly  wavy,  tubular  shell,  with  the  apex  sculptured  in  the 
form  of  a  spiral  univalve,  and  the  opposite  end  excavated 
for  a  certain  depth  for  the  lodgment  of  the  animal.  The 
tube  is  characterized  by  being  longitudinally  carinated. 

MAGI'STEB  (contracted  Mistcror  Mr.).  An  appellation 
given,  in  the  middle  ages,  to  those  persons  who  had  attain- 
ed some  degree  of  literary  or  scientific  eminence — in  scientia 
aliquft  preserttm  literaria.  It  wasequivalent  to  the  modem 
title  of  doctor. 

MAGISTBR  EQT'ITVM.  An  officer  among  the  Romans 
subordinate  to  the  dictator,  by  whom  he  was  usually  elected. 
See  Dictator. 

MA  GISTERY.  The  old  chemists  generally  applied  this 
term  to  precipitates  produced  by  the  dilution  of  certain  solu- 
tions with  water:  such  as  magistery  of  bismuth,  which  is  an 
Insoluble  subnitrate,  obtained  by  pouring  nitrate  of  bismuth 
into  water. 

MA'GISTRATE.  (Lat.)  A  general  designation  of  those 
public  officers  to  whom  the  executive  power  >>t  the  law  is 
committed,  either  wholly  or  in  part.  It  is  almost  Imprac- 
ticable to  give  any  definition  of  this  term  so  comprehensive 
as  to  include  within  it  all  the  offices,  both  in  ancient  and 
modem  times,  to  which  this  appellation  has  been  given. 
Under  the  various  heads,  the  reader  will  find  a  notice  of  the 
principal  magistrates  of  all  ages  and  mw  • 

U  \<;MA.  (Gr.  naccw,  I  blend  together.)  A  thick  oint- 
ment or  confection. 


MAGNET,  NATURAL. 

M  V  GNA  t'HARTA.     See  Charta,  Magna. 

U  \  (..\  V1T.S.  In  Hungary  at  this  day,  and  formerly 
also  in  Poland,  the  title  of  the  noble  ertate'  in  the  national 
representation.  (See  States.)  The  Hungarian  magnates 
are  divided  into  greater  and  lesser  ;  certain  high  state  offi- 
cers belonging  to  the  first  class,  the  counts  and  barous  of  the 
kingdom  to  the  second.    The  title  is  of  Latin  derivation, 

MAGNESIA.  A  white,  tasteless,  earthy  euhstar.ee. 
usually  obtained  by  exposing  its  hydrated  carbonate  to  a 
red  heat.  Its  specific  gravity  is  2-3.  It  is  almost  insoluble; 
lint  win  d  moistened  and  put  upon  turmeric  paper  it  reddens 
it :  this  sometimes  depends  upon  a  trace  of  lime.  It  is  an 
oxide  of  a  brilliant  white  metal,  which  has  been  called  mag- 
nesium, and  which  may  be  obtained  by  healing  chloride  of 
magnesium  with  potassium :  they  act  intensely  upon  each 
other,  chloride  of  potassium  is  formed,  and  magnesium 
separatee:  it  may  be  washed  with  water  and  dried.  Heat- 
ed to  redness  in  the  air,  it  burns  with  great  brilliancy  into 
magnesia.  1*2  parts  of  the  metal  combining  with  8  of  oxygen 
to  form  'JO  of  magnesia.  In  commerce,  pure  magnesia  is 
generally  distinguished  by  the  term  calcined  magnesia  ;  and 
the  hj  drated  carbonate  of  magnesia,  obtained  by  precipita- 
ting a  solution  of  sulphate  of  magnesia  by  carbonate  of  soda, 
and  washing  and  drying  the  precipitate,  goes  by  the  name 
of  magnesia,  or  magnesia  alba.  The  chief  use  of  magnesia 
and  its  carbonate  is  in  medicine.  Sulphate  of  magnesia  is 
obtained  by  evaporating  the  residue  of  sea-water  after  the 
common  salt  has  been  separated,  or  by  adding  sulphuric 
acid  to  bittern  and  evaporating,  so  as  to  obtain  the  resulting 
sulphate  of  magnesia.  This  salt  is  also  obtained  by  the  ac- 
tion of  dilute  sulphuric  acid  on  magnesian  limestone,  and  it  is 
not  uncommon  in  mineral  waters :  it  was  formerly  procured 
from  certain  springs  near  Epsom,  in  Surrey,  and  was  hence 
termed  Epsom  salt.  It  crystallizes  m  four-sided  prisms 
with  dihedral  summits.  Its  crystals  are  soluble  in  their 
weight  of  water  at  60°,  and  in  three  fourths  their  weight  at 
212*5.  They  melt  when  heated,  and  gradually  lose  their 
water  of  crystallization.  They  consist  of  20  magnesia,  40 
sulphuric  acid,  and  63  water.  This  salt  is  a  useful  purga- 
tive in  medicine,  and  is  the  chief  source  of  the  other  forms 
of  magnesia.  All  the  magnesian  salts  have  a  peculiar  bit- 
terish flavour.  Magnesia  is  found  native  in  the  state  of 
hydrate  and  carbonate ;  it  exists  as  a  component  part  of 
several  minerals,  and  many  of  them  are  soft  or  soapy  to  the 
touch. 

MAGNE'SIAN  LIMESTONE.  An  extensive  series  of 
beds  lying  in  geological  position  immediately  above  the  coal 
measures  ;  so  called  because  the  limestone,  which  is  the 
principal  member  of  the  series,  contains  magnesia.  See 
Geology. 

MAGNESITE.    Native  magnesia. 

MAGNESIUM.    The  metallic  base  of  magnesia;  which 

MAGNETIC  COMPASSES.     See  Compass. 

MAGNETIC  COMPENSATOR.  A  contrivance  devised 
by  Mr.  Barlow  for  eliminating  the  influence  of  a  ship's  guns 
and  other  iron  in  deranging  the  bearings  of  the  compass.  It 
consists  of  a  plate  or  combination  of  plates  of  iron  placed 
near  the  binnacle,  so  as  to  counteract,  by  an  equal  and  op- 
posite attraction,  that  of  the  rest  of  the  iron  on  board  the 
vessel.  Mr.  Airy  (Phil.  Trans.,  1839)  has  investigated  the 
law  of  disturbance  in  the  case  of  vessels  built  of  iron,  and 
shown  that  the  disturbing  force  consists  of  a  very  large  force 
of  permanent  magnetism  in  the  rolled  and  hardened  plates 
employed  in  the  construction  of  the  vessel,  and  a  very  small 
force  of  induced  magnetism,  which  changes  with  the  place 
of  the  ship,  or  rather  with  the  varying  circumstances  of  ter- 
restrial magnetism  by  which  it  is  produced.  Mr.  Airy  has 
given  a  set  of  practical  rules  for  correcting  the  disturbing 
forces  by  means  of  two  powerful  magnets  placed  at  right 
angles  to  each  other  below  the  compass,  and  a  box  of  small 
iron  chain,  which  is  used  instead  of  Barlow's  correcting 
plate. 

MA'GNET,  NATURAL.  One  of  the  numerous  oxides 
of  iron  :  possessed,  however,  of  properties  peculiar  to  itself, 
if  we  except  the  metals  nickel  and  cobalt,  which  possi  9B  it 
also  in  a  very'  slight  degree.  The  magnet  consists  chiefly  of 
two  oxides,  together  with  a  small  portion  of  quartz  and 
alumine.  Its  colour  varies  in  different  specimens,  accord- 
Ing  to  minute  differences  in  the  ratios  of  the  two  oxides,  and 
the  nature  of  the  foreign  substances  with  which  they  are 
found  united  :  but  it  is  usually  of  a  dark-gray  hue,  and  has 
a  dull  metallic  lustre.  It  is  found  in  considerable  masses  in 
the  iron  mines  Of  Sweden  and  Norway  :  in  the  Isle  of  Elba  ; 
in  different  parts  of  Arabia,  China,  Siam,  and  the  Philippine 
Islands.  Small  magnets  are  also  occasionally,  though  rarely 
met  with  among  the  iron  ores  of  this  country-.  The  proper- 
lies  are. 

1.  It  attracts  iron  in  all  its  states  except  the  oxides. 

2.  If  formed  into  a  bar,  and  suspended  freely  by  a  hair, 
or  on  a  pivot  passing  through  its  centre,  it  will  turn  itself 
round,  and,  after  a  few  pendulous  vibrations,  settle  into  some 


MAGNETIC  NEEDLE. 

one  position ;  which  it  will  retain  if  left  undisturbed,  or  if 
disturbed  will,  after  a  few  similar  vibrations,  return  to  it 
again  as  before. 

3.  By  rubbing  on  a  bar  of  steel  it  will  give  the  bar  the  same 
properties',  and  a  bar  of  soft  iron  will,  while  contiguous  to 
it,  even  when  not  touched  by  it,  obtain  the  same  properties, 
which,  however,  the  iron  does  not,  like  the  steel,  retain  upon 
removal. 

4.  The  position  of  rest  is  different  at  different  places,  and 
different  at  the  same  place  at  distant  periods  of  time. 

A  great  number  of  amusing  toys  have  been  formed  of  this 
substance,  and  the  phenomena  are  often  at  first  sight  very 
surprising ;  but  its  application  to  the  purposes  of  navigation 
renders  it  one  of  the  most  important  discoveries  ever  made. 
The  earlier  navigators  believed  that  it  pointed  always  to  the 
north  pole  of  the  world  ;  and  that,  therefore,  by  means  of  it 
they  could  always  at  once  tell  the  direction  of  their  meridian, 
and  consequently  in  what  direction  they  were  sailing.  It 
was  hence  called  the  loadstone,  or  leading  stone. 

The  employment  of  the  loadstone  itself  for  the  purposes 
of  navigation  has  long  been  laid  aside  ;  as  artificial  magnets 
can  be  constructed  having  a  much  greater  intensity  of  direc- 
tive power.     See  Magnetism. 

MAGNETIC  NEEDLE.  An  instrument  suspended  by 
its  centre,  and  magnetized,  which  shows  the  direction  of  the 
resultant  of  the  magnetic  forces  at  the  place  of  observation. 
See  Compass  and  Dipping  Needle. 

MAGNETIC  PYRITES.  Native  black  sulphuret  of 
iron  ;  it  attracts  the  magnetic  needle. 

MA'GNETISM.  The  science  which  investigates  the  phe- 
nomena presented  by  natural  and  artificial  magnets,  and  the 
laws  by  which  they  are  connected.  The  following  brief  ex- 
planation of  it  under  both  aspects  will  serve  to  render  the 
subject  generally  intelligible;  but  it  is  impossible  to  give 
more  than  the  essential  phenomena  and  the  general  laws, 
without  descending  to  the  detail  of  particular  cases.  For 
farther  information,  reference  may  be  made  to  the  excellent 
compendium  of  Dr.  Roget,  in  the  Library  of  Useful  Knowl- 
edge; to  Mr.  Barlow's  Magnetic  Attractions  (2d  ed.),  and 
Treatise  on  Magnetism  in  the  Encyclopedia  Metropolitana ; 
Sir  D.  Brewster's  Treatise,  on  Magnetism  in  the  Encyc. 
Britannica;  Gilbert,  De  Magncte,  1600,  folio;  Robison's 
Mechanical  Philosophy  ;  Biot.,  Traite  de  Physique,  torn.  iii. ; 
Pouillet,  Elemcns  de  Physique;  Becquerel,  Traite  d' Elec- 
tricity et  du  Magnetisme ;  and  various  papers  in  the  Trans- 
actions of  the  Royal  Society  of  London  and  Edinburgh.  To 
the  work  of  Dr.  Roget  we  have  been  under  great  obligations 
in  drawing  up  the  present  abstract. 

Phenomena  of  Magnetism. — Phenomenon  1.  If  a  nicely 
balanced  piece  of  steel  be  suspended  from  its  middle  by  a 
piece  of  untwisted  silk,  or  allowed  to  rest  upon  a  pivot,  free 
to  turn  in  all  directions,  both  horizontally  and  vertically ; 
and  if  it  be  then  magnetized  by  any  of  the  methods  hereafter 
described,  it  will  turn  itself  into  one  particular  position,  and 
if  disturbed  by  any  means  it  will  return  invariably  to  the 
same  as  its  position  of  repose.  The  horizontal  angle  which 
it  makes  with  the  meridian  is  called  its  variation  or  its  de- 
clination, and  the  vertical  angle  which  it  makes  with  the 
horizon  its  dip  or  inclination. 

Phenomenon  2.  Both  these  angles  (dip  and  variation) 
continually  change  at  the  same  place  of  observation ;  some- 
times the  latter  very  rapidly;  the  former,  so  far  as  has  yet 
been  observed,  very  slowly  at  all  places.  Tints,  about  1639, 
at  London,  the  needle  pointed  in  the  direction  of  the  geo- 
graphical meridian :  before  that  time  it  had  pointed  east- 
ward of  it ;  but  from  that  time  till  about  1818  it  had  con- 
tinually made  an  angle  more  and  more  westward,  till  it  ar- 
rived at  a  variation  of  244°.  Since  then  its  motion  has 
again  been  retrograde,  and  it  is  now  little  more  than  23A° 
west.  (See  Compass.)  The  dip  has  also  undergone  similar 
variations :  at  London,  in  1773,  it  was  72°  19',  and  in  1830  it 
was  69°  38'. 

Phenomenon  3.  The  observation  of  navigators  shows  that 
there  is  a  curve  line  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  at  every 
point  of  which  the  needle  will  take  a  horizontal  position. 
This  is  called  the  magnetic  equator.  It  seems  to  cross  the 
geographical  equator  in  four  points;  and  its  form  and  posi- 
tion are  also  undergoing  continual  changes.  M.  Morlet  and 
M.  Hansteen  have  investigated  this  subject  with  great  care ; 
and  the  former  thinks  it  changes  only  its  position,  not  its 
form,  which  is  contrary  to  what  theory  would  lead  us  to 
expect. 

The  lines  at  which  the  dip  is  the  same  number  of  degrees 
are  called  magnetic  parallels  of  that  degree,  or,  more  prop- 
erly, lines  of  equal  dip  ;  and  the  points  at  which  the  needle 
takes  a  vertical  position  the  poles,  poles  of  convergency,  or 
more  properly,  poles  of  verticity.  The  points  at  which  the 
variation  is  any  given  number  of  degrees  constitute  lines  on 
the  earth's  surface,  called  lines  of  equal  variation,  or  (after 
Dr.  Halley,  who  made  a  considerable  number  of  observa- 
tions on  them)  Halleyan  lines  ;  and  the  vertical  circle  whose 
plane  coincides  with  the  needle  in  its  free  position  at  any 


MAGNETISM. 

place  is  called,  though  improperly,  the  magnetic  meridian 
of  that  place. 

Phenomenon  4.  If  the  same  needle,  whether  compelled 
by  its  form,  or  by  loading  one  end  of  it  with  a  weight  sliding 
as  an  armature  to  keep  a  horizontal  position,  or  free  to  take 
its  own  proper  dip  at  each  place  successively,  be  made  to 
vibrate  by  being  drawn  from  its  natural  position,  and  then 
liberated,  it  will  perform  its  vibrations  more  rapidly  in  some 
places  than  in  others,  and  in  the  same  place  at  different  dis- 
tant periods.  Its  places  of  most  rapid  horizontal  vibration 
are  not  to  be  considered  as  those  at  which  the  most  rapid 
vibrations  of  the  freely  suspended  needle  take  place.  Han- 
steen has  very  laboriously  investigated,  from  observations 
made  by  himself  and  others,  the  curves  where  the  horizon- 
tal vibrations  are  the  same ;  and  he  thinks  there  are  four 
poles  at  which  it  is  more  rapid  than  at  any  points  imme- 
diately near  them.  But  the  rate  of  vibration  of  the  free 
needle  has  as  yet  been  observed  at  very  few  places  with 
sufficient  care  to  justify  any  general  conclusion  respecting 
such  poles  of  vibration.  The  velocity  of  vibration  indicates 
the  variation  of  the  intensity  of  the  vibrating  force,  the 
needle  itself  acting  as  a  pendulum. 

Phenomenon  5.  The  intensity  itself  varies  at  different 
times  of  the  day,  and  under  all  variations  of  temperature  in 
the  surrounding  medium,  the  place  of  observation  being 
the  same.  This  was  first  observed  more  than  a  century 
ago ;  but  its  laws  and  circumstances  have  been  only  recently 
investigated  by  Mr.  Christie,  and  subsequently  by  M.  KCipffer. 
(See  Phil.  Trans.,  1824 ;  Jinnales  de  Chimie,  1826 ;  and 
Mr.  Christie's  Report  on  the  Present  State  of  our  Knowledge 
respecting  Terrestrial  Magnetism,  in  the  Reports  of  the 
British  Association.)  The  variation  also  undergoes  similar 
changes,  and  it  is  believed  the  dip  also ;  but  this  has  not 
been  well  established  by  observation. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Christie,  Sir  David  Brewster,  and 
others,  that  the  places  on  the  earth  where  the  temperature 
is  lowest  are  precisely  those  where  the  magnetic  intensity 
is  the  greatest,  accordant  with  what  Mr.  Christie's  experi- 
ments on  the  influences  of  temperature  would  lead  us  to 
expect;  but  till  we  have  more  certain  knowledge  of  the 
stale  of  magnetic  intensity  at  those  places,  we  cannot  affirm 
this  to  be  the  case,  probably  as  it  may  seem  to  be. 

In  the  following  phenomena  the  place  is  supposed  to  be 
chosen,  and  the  dip,  variation,  and  intensity  to  be  fixed 
thereby.  It  may  be  any  place  whatever  on  the  surface  of 
the  earth.  We  shall  suppose  it  to  be  London  (and  there 
is  comparatively  little  variation  of  these  elements  in  the 
British  Isles).  The  point  of  the  needle  which  dips  below 
the  horizon,  and  points  to  the  westward  of  the  meridian,  is 
called  the  north  pole  of  the  needle,  and  the  elevated  one  the 
south  pole.  When  the  horizontal  needle  is  used,  the  same 
terms  apply,  the  end  which  varies  westward  being  the 
north  pole,  and  the  other  the  south  pole. 

Phenomenon  6.  If  either  pole  of  a  magnet  be  brought 
near  any  small  piece  of  soft  unmagnetized  iron,  it  will  be 
found  to  attract  it.  Iron  filings,  for  instance,  are  immediate- 
ly collected  together  when  a  magnet  is  placed  among  them ; 
and  they  adhere  to  it  when  lifted  up,  and  more  especially 
about  the  poles  of  the  magnet,  in  thick  clusters.  About  the 
intermediate  parts  the  number  that  adhere  is  much  less 
than  nearer  the  ends ;  and  in  every  magnet  there  is  a  part 
to  wiiich  the  filings  have  no  tendency  to  adhere  at  all.  It 
thus  appears  that  the  magnetic  forces,  whatever  he  their 
nature,  are  situated  near  the  extremities  of  the  magnet ;  but 
it  has  been  long  questioned  whether  they  be  resident  in  two 
isolated  points,  or  diffused  for  considerable  distances  round 
those  points,  but  in  a  state  of  less  intensity  as  they  recede 
from  those  centres. 

Phenomenon,  7.  When,  instead  of  fragments  of  iron,  we 
substitute  a  rectangular  or  cylindrical  bar  of  soft  unmagnet- 
ized iron,  the  magnet  and  the  iron  will  be  mutually  attract- 
ed towards  each  other.  The  best  mode  of  exhibiting  this 
is  to  suspend  them  by  threads  of  untwisted  silk  at  the  ap- 
propriate distances,  as  the  friction  they  would  undergo  in 
sliding  on  a  table  is  thus  removed.  It  will  be  found  that  the 
ends  which  are  nearest  to  each  other  will  tend  to  coalesce; 
and  that  the  other  ends  will  tend  to  coalesce  or  recede,  ac- 
cording as  the  remote  end  of  the  iron  happens  to  be  situated 
with  respect  to  the  body  of  the  magnet. 

If  another  iron  body  be  brought  near  the  former  in  this 
state  of  the  apparatus,  the  first  iron  will  be  found  to  be  con- 
verted into  a  temporary  magnet  also ;  and,  in  like  manner, 
the  second  piece  of  iron  may  be  proved  to  have  become  also 
a  temporary  magnet ;  and  then  the  third,  and  so  on.  The 
intensity  of  attraction  and  repulsion  is,  however,  weaker  hi 
each  in  succession,  till  it  at  length  becomes  insensible.  This 
is  prettily  exhibited  by  attaching  a  key  to  a  magnet,  a  nail 
to  the  key,  a  smaller  nail  to  that,  a  sewing  needle  to  the 
smaller  nail,  and  so  on,  as  long  as  there  is  sufficient  magnetic 
force  developed  to  sustain  the  concatenation  in  a  stute  of  sus- 
pension. Some  magnets  will  sustain  a  considerable  weight ; 
ohers,  of  course,  are  capable  of  exerting  very  little  force. 
'  699 


MAGNETISM. 


The  iron  is  said  to  be  converted  into  a  magnet ;  or,  more 
briefly,  to  be  magnetized  hij  induction  ;  or,  to  use  the  French 
term,  to  be  magnetized  Itij  influence. 

Phenomenon  8.  It  two  magnets  be  suspended,  as  in  the 
last  experiment,  it  will  be  found  that  the  two  north  poles 
repel  each  other,  and  the  two  south  poles  repel  each  other: 
but  the  north  i>ole  of  the  one  and  the  south  pole  of  the  other 
mutually  attract  each  other.  They  will,  in  consequence  of 
this  mutual  action  upon  each  other,  take  positions 
different  from  those  which  they  would  each  take  in  the  ab- 
sence of  each  other. 

Phenomenon  9.  If  the  poles  of  the  successive  induced 
magnets,  spoken  of  in  Phen.  8,  be  examined  as  to  their  na- 
ture, by  means  of  their  action  on  the  poles  of  a  small  mag- 
netic needle,  it  will  be  found  that  each  of  them  is  a  distinct 
magnet,  each  consecutive  pair  of  them  having  their  dissimi- 
lar poles  in  contact.  This  is  known  at  once  by  observing 
which  end  of  the  needle  is  attracted  before  the  next  piece  of 
iron  is  put  on,  and  which  after  it  is  added,  the  needle  being 
applied  near  the  untouched  end  of  the  iron. 

If,  moreover,  the  pieces  of  iron  be  laid  on  a  table,  and  not 
in  contact,  the  same  phenomena  will  be  observed  on  the  ap- 
plication of  the  trial  needle  near  their  extremities. 

When  two  or  more  magnets  are  employed  to  act  by  in- 
fluence on  the  same  piece  of  iron,  the  phenomena  become 
more  complex,  and  the  operation  is  called  complex  induction. 
The  phenomena  are  very  curious  and  interesting. 

Phenomenon  10.  If  the  iron  be  removed  it  instantly 
ceases  to  be  magnetic,  and  may  have  its  position  reversed 
with  precisely  the  same  effect  as  before,  each  phenomenon 
taking  place  now  at  the  end  opposite  to  that  where  it  was 
exhibited  before ;  and  this  will  be  the  case,  however  long 
the  apparatus  has  been  allowed  to  remain  in  the  position 
spoken  of.  If,  however,  pieces  of  steel  be  employed,  the 
inductive  influence  is  less  than  in  the  iron:  while,  instead 
of  losing  its  magnetism  instantaneously,  as  the  iron  did,  it 
retains  a  portion  of  it,  and  becomes  itself  a  permanent  mag- 
net There  are  indeed  few,  if  any.  pieces  of  iron  and  steel 
in  which  the  magnetic  force  is  wholly  lost  or  wholly  retain- 
ed upon  removal;  but  we  here  speak  of  the  sensible  and 
approximate  circumstances  of  the  phenomena. 

Phenomenon  11.  If  a  magnet  be  broken  or  any  way  sev- 
ered, it  is  converted  into  two  separate  magnets  ;  the  two  ends 
of  the  fragments  at  which  the  fracture  was  made  being  of 
opposite  kinds  to  the  two  ends  of  the  whole  bar  respectively, 
as  if  they  had  been  but  two  magnets  united  by  opposite  poles. 

Phenomenon  12,  If  two  magnets  be  brought  near  each 
other,  their  intensity  of  action  on  the  vibrations  of  a  needle 
are  affected  according  to  the  relative  positions  of  the  poles, 
indicating  not  only  that  the  direction  of  the  quiescent  state 
of  the  needle  is  affected  (Phen.  8),  but  that  the  intensity  of 
the  magnetic  force  is  also  altered.  This  shows  that  the 
magnetized  bar  itself  is  affected  by  the  inductive  power  of 
the  other  bar,  as  soft  iron  is. 

Phenomenon  13.  If  a  mass  of  soft  iron  be  brought  into 
the  vicinity  of  a  magnetic  needle,  the  needle  will  he  gener- 
ally deflected  from  its  natural  position  in  various  degrees 
and  directions,  according  to  the  form  and  position  of  the 
needle  and  the  mass.  When  an  iron  sphere  is  employed,  as 
a  cannon  ball,  the  investigation  of  the  order  of  the  phenom- 
ena becomes  more  simple  and  easy  ;  and  it  was  by  remark- 
ins  that  in  this  case  there  was  a  certain  plane  in  any  point 
of  which  the  needle  may  be  placed  with  respect  to  the 
sphere  where  the  needle  would  not  be  at  all  deflected,  that 
Mr.  Barlow  was  led  to  prosecute  his  celebrated  experiments 
on  this  subject.  Mr.  Christie  remarked  that  this  plane  was 
the  plane  passing  through  the  centre  of  the  hall,  perpendicu- 
lar to  the  natural  direction  of  the  needle  itself. 

There  are  alvi  lines  on  the  iron  sphere  in  which  if  the 
needle  is  placed  the  deflection  will  be  a  given  quantity. 

The  same  phenomena,  however,  are  exhibited,  whatever 
be  the  form  of  the  mass.  .Mr.  Barlow  experimented  on  a 
gun  58  cwt.,  and  found  it  so.  He  also  found  that  the  action 
did  not  depend  upon  the  mass  itself,  but  upon  the  surface  of 
the  mass;  as  the  same  effects  were  produced  by  a  ten-inch 
ball,  a  ten-inch  shell,  and  a  globe  of  sheet  iron  of  III.  same 
diameter.  If,  however,  the  sheet  iron  was  loss  than  1-lOih 
of  an  inch  in  thickness,  the  effects  were  diminished  ;  but 
Up  to  that  degree  of  thinness  the]  did  not  seem  to  vary, 
while  after  they  varied  very  rapidly,  and  soon  became  in 
sensible. 

Phenomenon  14.  If  disks  of  various  metals  be  put  into 
rapid  rotation,  they  will  also  deflect  the  magnetic  needle 
from  its  natural  position.  That  this  is  not  owing  to  vibration 
or  voracity  produced   in   the   air  is  rendered   evident  \i\   the 

same  effects  takinc  place  in  a  more  intense  degree  in  vai  no 
than  in  the  open  air.  The  phenomenon  Itself  u 
served  by  Arago  in  Prance  ;  but  it  has  been  chiefly  investi- 
gated in  this  country  by  Mi-~rs.  Herschel,  Babbage, Christie, 
Harlow,  Faraday,  and  Mams,  t,,  u  hose  memoirs  on  the 
Subject,  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions,  the  reader  is  es- 
pecially referred. 
700 


Phenomenon  15.  Bars  that  have  long  stood  in  a  vertical 
position,  as  iron  railings,  ate,  are  found  to  have  become 
permanently  magnetic  A  bar  of  soft  iron,  placed  in  the 
natural  direction  of  the  magnetic  needle,  acquires  temporary 

magnetism;  and  if  a  bar  of  steel  !"■  left  there  for  a  sufficient 

time,  it  becomes  a  permanent  magnet  These  facts  show 
that  the  earth  itself  is  a  great  magnet,  and  converts  the 
others  into  magnets  by  induction.  This  was  observed  so  far 
back  as  the  time  of  Dr.  Gilbert;  and  it  is  remarkable  that, 
while  his  L'reat  cotemporary  Lord  Bacon  was  prei 
urging  the  new  organon  in  philosophy,  Gilbert  was  actually 
putting  it  into  the  most  careful  practice.  The  doctrine  of 
terrestrial  induction,  as  taught  by  Gilbert,  is  the  doctrine  of 
tin-  present  hour,  and  with  scarcely  a  single  improvement  in 
the  whole  range  of  the  theory. 

The  foregoing  contain  the  most  important  phenomena  of 
magnetism  which  depend  upon  terrestrial  influence  merely  : 
those  which  depend  upon  electrical  influence  will  be  found 
under  the  head  Electro-magnetism. 

Laics  of  Magnetic  Action. — Law  1.  The  intensity  of  the 
attractive  force  exercised  by  the  north  pole  of  one  magnet 
on  the  south  pole  of  another,  and  its  repulsive  force  on  the 
north  pole  of  the  second,  varies  inversely  as  the  square  of 
the  distance  of  those  poles  ;  and  the  like  occurs  when  we 
consider  the  action  of  the  south  pole  of  the  first  magnet  on 
the  north  and  south  poles  respectively  of  the  other.  The 
same  law,  precisely,  holds  with  respect  to  the  attraction  of  a 
corpuscle  of  unmagnetized  iron. 

This  is  the  fundamental  law  of  the  science,  and  may  be 
considered  as  the  source  from  which  the  others  flow  by 
mathematical  reasonintr.  It  has  been  determined  with  great 
care  by  several  philosophers,  but  especially  Michel!  and 
Coulomb,  by  means  of  the  torsion  balance.  Other  laws 
were,  in  the  earlier  state  of  the  science,  conjectured  to  ob- 
tain ;  as.  for  instance,  Newton  supposed  the  forces  to  vary 
as  the  cubes  of  the  distances,  and  some  recent  inquirers  have 
contended  for  the  simple  inverse  of  the  distances;  but  New- 
ton's opinion  was  founded  upon  insufficient  experiments, 
and  that  of  the  authors  referred  to  upon  an  oversight  in  their 
mode  of  estimating  the  intensity  of  the  forces.  Not  the 
slightest  doubt,  however,  now  remains  upon  the  minds  of 
those  who  are  competent  to  form  an  opinion  of  the  truth  of 
the  law  stated  above. 

Law  J.  When  the  needle  is  very  short  in  comparison 
with  the  distance  and  length  of  the  magnet,  and  has  its  cen- 
tre fixed  immoveably,  but  is  otherwise  at  liberty  to  take  any 
directive  position,  it  will  so  arrange  itself  that  its  line  of 
direction  will  be  in  the  plane  drawn  through  the  two  poles 
of  the  magnet  and  its  own  (the  needle's)  centre  of  rotation  ; 
and  the  line  of  the  needle's  direction,  being  produced  to 
meet  the  magnetic  line  (or  line  drawn  through  the  poles), 
will  divide  the  latter  into  segments  estimated  from  the  poles, 
which  are  in  the  ratios  of  the  cubes  of  the  distances  of  the 
poles  from  the  centre  of  the  needle.  When  the  needle  is 
not  small  in  comparison,  as  above,  the  law  becomes  more 
complicated. 

Law  3.  If  two  magnetic  needles  be  made  to  vibrate,  the 
intensities  of  their  magnetic  forces  are  as  the  squares  of 
their  number  of  vibrations  made  in  the  same  lime.  This  is 
true,  whatever  be  the  planes  in  which  they  vibrate,  so  far 
as  the  force  is  effective  in  that  plane ;  but  for  a  direct  com- 
parison of  the  ratio  of  the  intensities  without  further  com- 
putation, the  vibrations  of  both  needles  must,  in  both  cases, 
be  made  in  the  same  plane.  The  planes  most  commonly 
used  for  vibration  are — the  horizontal  plane;  the  plane 
which  has  been  called  the  magnetic  meridian,  or  that  verti- 
cal plane  which  passes  through  the  natural  direction  of  the 
needle  at  the  place  of  observation  ;  and  the  vertical  plane 
at  right  angles  to  this. 

Law  4.  If  the  needle  be  allowed  to  move  vertically  in 
a  plane  making  any  angle  with  the  magnetic  meridian,  the 
dip  in  that  case  is  equal  to  the  dip  in  the  magnetic  meridian 

multiplied  by  the  cosine  of  the  inclination  of  the  two  planes  ; 
and  if  two  planes  be  taken  at  right  angles,  in  which  the  dip 
is  observed,  the  square  of  the  cotangenl  of  the  natural  dip 

at  that   place  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  squares  of  the  CO- 

tangents  of  the  observed  dips. 

Law  .">.  The  intensity  of  the  horizontal  force  is  equal  to 
the  intensity  of  the  n  hole  force  multiplied  by  the  cosine  of 

the  dip.      If.   therefore,  the  same  needle  hi'  used  in  all  the 

experiments,  and  observations  be  made  to  determine  the  dip 

and  horizontal  intensity  at  several  ditferent  places,  the  rela- 
tive intensities  of  the  terrestrial  magnetic  force  can  be  de- 
duced from  those  observations  by  the  three  last  laws  for 
each  of  the  pla 

The  laws  according  to  which  magnetic  force  is  influenced 
by  temperature  have  been  chiefly  investigated  by  Coulomb, 
Kupfler,  Barlow,  and  Christie.    It  appears,  generally,  that 

betwi  I'll  the  temperature  of — 3°and-f  18T°of  Fahrenheit, 

the  intensity  of  magnets  decreases  as  the  temperature  In- 
creases; ami  that  at  temperatures  above  100°  a  part  of  the 
power  of  the  magnet  is  permanently  destroyed.    The  effects 


produced  oft  soft  iron  by  changes  of  temperature  appear  to 
be  directly  the  reverse  of  those  produced  on  magnets,  an  in- 
crease of  temperature  causing  an  increase  of  magnetic  force. 
On  the  Formation  of  Artificial  Magnets.— I.  ff  a  steel  bar 
be  held  in  the  natural  direction  of  the  needle,  and  two  or 
three  smart  blows  be  given  at  the  upper  end  with  a  hammer, 
it  will  become  a  permanent  magnet. 

2.  If  the  end  of  a  steel  bar  be  placed  in  contact  with  one 
of  the  poles  of  a  magnet,  it  will  become  permanently  mag- 
netic by  induction.  A  better  plan  is  to  place  the  needle  in  a 
line  between  the  opposite  poles  of  two  magnets  of  equal  in- 
tensity. 

3.  Lay  the  bar  flat  on  a  table,  and  draw  another  magnet 
(placed  upright  upon  it)  several  times  from  one  end  to  the 
other,  always  the  same  way.  Or  take  two  magnets,  and 
lay  them  horizontally  upon  the  bar  to  be  impregnated,  hav- 
ing their  dissimilar  ends  in  contact  over  its  middle ;  and  slide 
each  towards  the  end  of  the  bar.  This  must  be  repeated 
several  times.  Or,  again,  instead  of  laying  them  horizon- 
tally, hold  them  in  any  angle  of  inclination  (each  in  the 
same  angle,  estimated  from  the  perpendicular  to  the  middle 
of  the  bar),  and  draw  them  several  times  along  towards  the 
ends,  without  varying  their  inclinations. 

The  above  methods  were  those  originally  employed  ;  but 
when  the  principles  of  magnetic  induction  came  to  be  better 
understood,  more  complicated  but  more  effective  processes 
were  invented,  for  the  explanation  of  which  reference  must 
be  made  to  works  expressly  on  the  subject.  (See  Brew- 
ster's Treatise  on  Magnetism.)  Those  more  complicated 
processes  may  be  greatly  simplified  by  the  substitution  of  a 
magnet  in  the  form  of  a  horse-shoe  for  the  compound  mag- 
nets. If  placed  at  once  in  the  middle  of  the  needle  to  be 
magnetized,  with  the  poles  turned  in  a  direction  the  reverse 
of  the  poles  intended  to  be  given  to  the  needle,  and  then 
moved  backwards  and  forwards  along  the  surface  of  the 
needle,  taking  care  to  pass  over  each  half  of  it  an  equal 
number  of  times,  and  repeating  the  same  operation  on  the 
other  side,  the  needle  is  speedily  and  effectually  rendered 
magnetic.  This  is  by  far  the  simplest  mode  of  magnetizing ; 
and  it  may  be  considered  as  a  method  by  induction,  the  in- 
duction being  accelerated  by  the  friction. 

On  the  subject  of  terrestrial  magnetism,  which  at  the 
present  time  is  occupying  so  much  of  the  attention  of  scien- 
tific men,  reference  may  be  made,  in  addition  to  the  works 
above  cited,  to  the  foilowing :  Hansteen,  Untersuchungen 
iiber  der  Mngnetismus  der  Erde,  4to.  Christiana,  1817  ;  Bar- 
low, Phil.  Trans.  1833;  Allgemeine  Theorie  des  Magneli- 
schen  Vereins  im  Jahre,  1838,  by  Gauss  and  Weber,  Leipzig, 
1839  (a  translation  of  which  will  be  found  in  Taylor's  Sci- 
entific Memoirs) ;  Intensitas  Vis  Magneticai  Terreslris  ad 
Mensuram  Absolutam  revocata,  Auctore  E.  F.  Gauss,  Got- 
tingir,  1833;  Major  Sabine's  Report  to  the  Seventh  Meeting 
of  the  British  Association,  1838 ;  The  Report  of  the  Presi- 
dent and  Counsel  of  the  Royal  Society  on  the  Objects  of  Sci- 
entific Inquiry,  1840 ;  and  to  an  excellent  popular  abstract 
of  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge  on  the  subject  in  the 
Quarterly  Review  for  June,  1840. 

MAGNETISM,  ANIMAL.  This  pretended  influence,  or 
agent,  had  its  origin  in  Vienna  about  the  year  1776,  when  a 
person  of  the  name  of  Anthony  Mesmer  published  a  thesis 
Ore  the  Influence  of  the  Planets  on  the  Human  Body.  About 
the  same  time  a  Jesuit,  called  Father  Hehl,  imagined  that 
by  the  help  of  a  loadstone  and  certain  steel  plates  rendered 
magnetic  he  had  cured  several  diseases;  and  being  struck 
with  the  analogy  of  Mesmer's  views  to  his  own,  they  enter- 
ed into  a  kind  of  partnership  as  joint  practitioners,  and  at- 
tracted considerable  notice ;  so  that,  although  they  soon 
quarrelled,  their  system  of  treatment  had  acquired  some 
notoriety  and  many  powerful  advocates.  Hehl  continued 
to  practise  this  new  and  occult  science  in  Germany;  and 
Mesmer,  in  1778,  went  to  Paris,  and  in  the  course  of  a  short 
time  performed  such  wonderful  cures,  and  took  care  to  have 
them  so  satisfactorily  attested,  that  his  apartments  were 
daily  thronged  with  patients  of  all  ranks,  and  fees  and  repu- 
tation poured  in  from  all  quarters.  He  here,  however,  un- 
luckily associated  himself  with  a  M.  d'Eslon,  a  medical 
man,  who  being  more  skilful  in  the  art  of  pleasing  patients 
than  his  master,  contrived  to  gain  the  ascendancy,  and  so  to 
disgust  Mesmer  that  he  was  induced  to  quit  Paris  for  Spa; 
where  he  soon  contrived,  under  the  pretence  of  initiating 
others  in  the  secrets  of  his  trade,  to  raise  about  14,000/.,  with 
which  he  retired  to  his  native  place  (Mersburg  in  Suabia), 
and  left  magnetism  and  the  magnetizers  to  their  own  re- 
sources. 

As  the  jargon  of  Mesmer  has  been  revived  in  our  own 
days,  it  may  be  worth  while  to  give  his  own  definition  of  his 
art,  which  is  quite  as  intelligible  as  some  of  the  later  versions 
of  it  which  have  recently  appeared  in  London ;  for,  in  this 
"  hotbed  of  quackery,"  Mesmerism,  as  it  is  called,  has  oc- 
casionally taken  root,  and  at  one  time,  but  for  an  accident, 
which  we  shall  presently  notice,  threatened  to  thrive  ai>d 
prosper. 


MAGNETISM. 

"Animal  magnetism,"  says  Mesmer,  "is  a  fluid  univer- 
sally diffused ;  it  is  the  medium  of  a  mutual  influence  be- 
tween the  heavenly  bodies,  the  earth,  and  animated  bodies ; 
it  is  continuous,  so  as  to  leave  no  void ;  its  subtility  admits 
of  no  comparison ;  it  is  capable  of  receiving,  propagating, 
communicating,  all  the  impressions  of  motion  ;  it  is  suscepti- 
ble of  flux  and  of  reflux.  The  animal  body  experiences  the 
effects  of  this  agent ;  by  insinuating  itself  into  the  substance 
of  the  nerves,  it  affects  them  immediately.  There  are  ob- 
served, particularly  in  the  human  body,  properties  analogous 
to  those  of  the  magnet ;  and  in  it  are  discerned  poles  equally 
different  and  opposite.  The  action  and  the  virtues  of  ani- 
mal magnetism  may  be  communicated  from  one  body  to 
other  bodies,  animate  and  inanimate.  This  action  takes 
place  at  a  remote  distance,  without  the  aid  of  any  interme- 
diate body ;  it  is  increased  and  reflected  by  mirrors ;  com- 
municated, propagated,  augmented,  by  sound ;  its.  virtues 
may  be  accumulated,  concentrated,  transported.  Although 
this  fluid  is  universal,  all  animal  bodies  are  not  equally  sus- 
ceptible of  it;  there  are  even  some,  though  a  very  small 
number,  which  have  properties  so  opposite  that  their  very 
presence  destroys  all  the  effects  of  this  fluid  on  other  bod- 


"  Animal  magnetism  is  capable  of  healing  diseases  of  the 
nerves  immediately,  and  others  mediately.  It  perfects  the 
action  of  medicines ;  it  excites  and  directs  salutary  crises  in 
such  a  manner  that  the  physician  may  render  himself  mas- 
ter of  them ;  by  its  means  he  knows  the  state  of  health  of 
each  individual,  and  judges  with  certainty  of  the  origin,  the 
nature,  and  the  progress  of  the  most  complicated  diseases ; 
he  prevents  their  increase,  and  succeeds  in  healing  them, 
without  at  any  time  exposing  his  patient  to  dangerous  ef- 
fects or  troublesome  consequences,  whatever  be  the  age,  the 
temperament,  and  the  sex.  In  animal  magnetism  nature 
presents  a  universal  method  of  healing  and  preserving  man- 
kind." ' 

Many  of  our  readers  have  probably  witnessed  the  silly 
and  disgraceful  exhibitions  in  this  line  of  practice  which 
have  lately  been  tolerated  in  London,  and  are  therefore) 
aware  of  the  means  by  which  the  magnetized  are  brought 
under  the  "  influence."  It  is  always  necessary  that  the 
magnetizer  himself  should  be  charged  with  the  fluid,  and 
that  the  magnctizees  should  be  susceptible  of  its  influence, 
which,  be  it  observed,  all  persons  are  not ;  nor  can  all  per- 
sons be  magnetizers :  some  want  power,  and  others  faith ; 
in  short,  there  must  be  a  due  share  of  folly  or  of  imposture, 
or  both,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  credulity,  cunning,  or  mor- 
bid irritability  on  the  other,  and  then  all  goes  right.  The 
magnetizer,  with  his  wand  of  office,  performs  certain  antics 
before  the  patient ;  and  the  patient  either  falls  asleep  or  into 
a  fit,  or  is  dumb,  or  deaf,  or  garrulous  and  painfully  sensi- 
tive to  sounds,  as  the  case  may  be.  But  it  is  by  no  means 
necessary  that  the  doctor  and  the  person  magnetized  should 
see  each  other :  a  skilful  artist,  well  charged,  can  magnetize 
a  fit  subject  in  another  room,  house,  street,  or  town ;  and 
can,  moreover,  tell  by  his  own  sensations  to  what  extent  the 
influence  is  communicated,  and  how  the  persons  receive  it. 

Mesmer  availed  himself  of  certain  aids  which  our  modern 
practitioners  have  rejected ;  such  as  boxes  of  steel  bars,  mag- 
netized water,  and  musical  instruments  imbued  with  the 
magnetic  influence  :  he  also  frequently  tied  his  customers 
together,  or  made  them  link  their  thumbs,  when  several 
were  to  be  magnetized  at  once.  When  patients  are  in  the 
crisis,  or  under  the  full  influence  of  the  power,  they  can  be 
immediately  roused  out  of  it  by  certain  looks,  gestures,  and 
touches  of  the  adept. 

To  ascertain  how  far  the  pretensions  of  the  animal  mag- 
netizers were  entitled  to  any  attention  or  support,  the  French 
government  very  properly  appointed  a  committee  of  scien- 
tific and  unprejudiced  persons  to  investigate  its  merits,  among 
whom  were  Bailly,  Franklin,  and  Lavoisier ;  and  it  is  curi- 
ous that  their  report,  which  was  translated  into  English,  and 
published  here  in  1785,  is  not  more  often  quoted.  "  This 
pretended  agent,"  say  they,  "is  not  magnetism ;  for,  on  ex- 
amining the  grand  reservoir  of  the  fluid  by  a  needle  and 
electrometer,  neither  magnetism  nor  electricity  could  be  de- 
tected. We  tried  it  upon  ourselves  and  others  without  ef- 
fect ;  and  on  blindfolding  those  who  professed  great  suscep- 
tibility of  its  influence,  all  its  ordinary  effects  were  produced 
when  nothing  was  done  but  when  they  imagined  they  were 
magnetized  ;  while  none  of  its  effects  were  produced  when 
they  were  really  magnetized  but  imagined  nothing  was  done. 
So  also  when  brought  under  a  magnetized  tree;  nothing 
happened  if  they  thought  they  were  at  a  distance  from  it, 
while  they  immediately  went  into  violent  convulsions  when 
they  thought  thev  were  near  the  tree,  though  really  not  so. 
The  effects,  therefore,"  say  the  commissioners,  "  are  purely 
imaginary;  and  although'they  have  wrought  some  cures, 
thev  are  not  without  danger,  for  the  convulsions  sometimes 
spread  among  the  feeble  of  body  and  mind,  and  especially 
among  women.  And,  finally,  there  are  parts  of  the  opera- 
tions which  may  readily  be  turned  to  vicious  purposes ;  and, 


MAGNETO-ELECTRICITY. 

In  fact,  immoral  practices  have  already  actually  grown  out 
of  them." 

Some  year*  ago  a  great  animal  magnetizer  arose  in  this 
country,  called  Perkins,  Who  invented  what  lie  called  "me- 
tallic tractors,  for  collecting,  condensing,  and  applying  ani- 
mal magnetism  :"  but  Dr.  Falconer  and  Mr.  uaygartb  of 
liatli  soon  put  an  end  to  his  pretensions,  by  performing  all 
manner  of  cures  and  wonders  with  a  pair  of  wooden  trac- 
tors; and  as  those  rases  were  well  attested,  they  proved,  as 
every  person  of  common  sense  before  knew,  that  all  Per- 
kins's results  were  imaginary  or  assumed,  and  90  animal 
magnetism  fell  into  oblivion.  Within  the  last  rive  years. 
some  lamentable  attempts  have  t>een  made  to  revive  it  in 
London;  not  by  quacks  and  impostors,  but  by  regular  prac- 
titioners, and  even  by  persons  who  enjoyed  no  inconsidera- 
ble share  of  public  respect  and  favour.  They  have  unfor- 
tunately reaped  the  hitter  fruits  of  their  credulity  and  folly  ; 
and  the  mania  has  again  subsided,  and  will  now  probably 
remain  dormant. 

MAGNETO-ELECTRICITY.  Under  the  term  Elec- 
tro magnetism  will  be  found  the  description  of  certain 
magnetic  phenomena  produced  by  electricity.  It  has  been 
demonstrated  by  Faraday  that  electric  phenomena  may  be 
produced  by  magnetism,  and  to  these  the  term  maa-ncto-elec- 
a  tricitij   has   been   applied.      Let  a 

Kl  *Vfffnff{rffflTifl — IS  represent  a  hollow  helix  of  copper- 
wire  covered  by  silk,  the  ends  b  c 
of  which  are  connected  with  a  del- 
icate galvanometer  ;  and  N  S  a 
powerful  bar  magnet,  which  can  easily  be  thrust  into  and 
withdrawn  from  the  spiral  or  helix :  it  will  then  be  found 
that  every  time  the  magnet  is  pushed  into  the  helix  the  gal- 
vanometer is  deflected  in  one  direction,  and  each  time  it  is 
■withdrawn  it  is  deflected  in  the  opposite  direction.  On  re- 
peatedly threading  the  helix  with  the  magnet,  the  deflection 
also  takes  place.  Now,  as  the  deflection  of  the  galvanome- 
ter can  only  be  produced  by  the  motion  of  electricity  in  the 
helix,  it  is  obvious  that  an  electric  current  is  produced  each 
time  that  the  magnet  moves  through  it:  hence  as,  on  the 
one  hand,  electricity  in  motion  produces  magnetism  ;  so, 
here,  magnetism  in  "motion  produces  electricity.  By  caus- 
ing the  pole  of  a  powerful  magnet  to  revolve  before  a  coil 
of  wire,  or,  what  amounts  to  the  same  thing,  if  the  coil  be 
made  to  revolve  opposite  to  the  pole  of  a  magnet,  an  electric 
current  will  be  established  in  the  coil,  which  may  be  made 
sensible  bv  sparks,  shocks,  and  chemical  effects. 

MA'GXETO'METER.  An  instrument  for  measuring 
the  intensity  of  terrestrial  magnetism.  The  three  elements 
sought  to  be  deduced  from  magnetic  observations  are,  the 
declination,  the  inclination  or  dip,  and  the  absolute  intensity, 
together  with  the  variations  to  which  they  are  subject ;  and 
each  of  these  elements  requires  for  its  determination  a  pe- 
culiar apparatus.  A  detailed  account  of  the  construction 
and  various  adjustments  of  the  instruments  made  use  of  in 
the  magnetic  observatories  recently  established,  and  of  the 
methods  of  olwerving,  will  he  found  in  the  Report  of  the 
President  and  Council  nf  the  Royal  Society  on  the  Objects  of 
Scientific  Inquini  in  Physics  and  Meteorology,  1840.  The 
firs!  accurate  measurements  of  magnetic  force  were  made 
by  Coulomb  will]  the  torsion  balance;  but  the  more  precise 
method  which  is  now  generally  adopted,  and  which  depends 
on  the  dynamical  principle  of  observing  the  number  of  vi- 
brations made  by  a  needle  in  a  given  time,  was  proposed  by- 
Graham  so  long  ago  as  17.K*. 

MAGNETOMO"TOR.  (Eat.  lit.  magnet-mover.)  A  term 
applied  to  a  voltaic  series  of  two  or  more  large  plates,  which, 
producing  a  great  quantity  of  electricity  of  low  tension,  is 
well  adapted  to  the  exhibition  of  electro-magnetic  phenom- 
ena. 

MA'GNITUDE.  (Eat.)  Size,  extent,  quantity.  This 
term  was  originally  employed  to  designate  the  space  occu- 
pied by  any  figure ;  or.  in  other  words,  it  was  applied  to  ob- 
jects strictly  termed  geometrical,  and  of  three  dimensions — 
length,  breadth,  and  thickness :  then  it  was  extended  to  des- 
ignate the  quantity  of  any  one  of  these,  and  also  of  angular 
space,  or  the  inclination  of  two  lines  to  one  another  ;  or, 
again,  the  compound  idea  of  a  solid  angle  formed  by  any 
number  of  planes  meeting  in  a  point.  The  amount  of  any 
one  of  these,  taken  in  reference  to  some  standard  of  the' 
same  kind  of  quantity  as  that  spoken  of,  \\  as  called  Its  mag 
nitude.  The  term  was  gradually  enlarged  in  its  significa- 
tion, so  as  to  apply  to  every  kind  of  quantity  that  admits  of 
exhibition  or  mensuration,  or  of  which  greater  or  less  can 
be  predicated  ;  and  in  this  sense  it  was  used  bv  Euclid. 

MAGNITUDE,  APPARENT.  The  angular  space  (plane 
or  solid)  \inder  which  a  body  appears  when  viewed  from 
some  distant  point.  The  term  is  chiefly  used  in  speaking 
of  the  celestial  bodies,  and  is  then  employed  to  express  tin- 
plane  angle  subtended  by  the  diameter  of  the  \isiinl  disk  of 
the  body.  It  Is  also  used  in  many  branches  of  optical  s<  i 
cure,  but  always  with  the  same  general  meaning. 
MAGNOLIA'CEiE.  (Magnolia,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
702 


MAINTENANCE. 

natural  order  of  Exogenous  plants,  consisting  of  trees  or 
shrubs  of  great  beauty,  usually  with  evergreen  leaves,  and 

huge  fragrant  Bowers.    They  inhabit  the  temperate  parts 

of  America  and  Asia. , -is  well  as  the  tropics,  and  are  univer- 
sal objects  of  cultivation.  The  bark  of  the  tulip-tree,  and 
of  some  of  the  true  magnolias,  has  the  reputation  of  being  a 
good  febrifuge. 

M  \  GPIE.  A  common  species  of  the  (Vow  tribe,  Corrvs 
pica,  of  Linmrus;  now  the  type  of  a  distinct  genus.  Pica 
caudata.  They  continue  in  pairs  throughout  the  year,  and 
prey  on  a  variety  of  food,  chiefly  animal,  as  the  young  of 
hares,  rabbits  and  feathered  game,  young  poultry,  eggs,  car- 
rion, and  insects ;  lastly,  fruit  and  grain.  The  magpie  is 
celebrated  for  its  crafty  instincts,  its  power  of  imitating 
wor.ls,  and  the  propensity  which  it  has,  in  common  with 
other  species  of  the  crow  tribe,  to  purloin  and  secrete  glit- 
tering articles.  The  nest  of  the  magpie  is  admirably  con- 
structed for  strength  and  warmth,  and  is  commonly  defend- 
ed by  a  dome.  It  lays  six  or  seven  eggs  early  in  spring,  of 
a  yellowish-white,  spotted  with  brown,  and  cineritious.  In 
winter,  magpies  will  assemble  in  great  numbers  to  roost  in 
some  coppice  towards  the  evening,  but  separate  again  on  the 
approach  of  day. 

MAHA'HARATA.  The  name  of  one  of  the  great  Indian 
epic  poems,  the  subject  of  which  is  a  long  civil  war  between 
two  dynasties  of  ancient  India,  the  Kurus  and  Pandus.  This 
poem  embraces  the  whole  circle  of  Indian  mythology ;  but 
it  is  still  more  valuable  as  imbodying  an  immense  number 
of  historical  fragments,  which  will  be  of  great  importance  to 
the  future  historian  of  India.  Many  episodes  from  the  Ma- 
habarata  have  been  ably  translated  by  some  of  our  most 
celebrated  Orientalists;  and  parts  of  the  original  have  been 
published  at  different  periods  in  Germany.  The  period  at 
which  the  .Mahabaratn  was  written  is  wholly  unknown,  and 
it  has  no  less  baffled  all  the  researches  of  the  learned  to  dis- 
cover tire  date  at  which  it  assumed  its  present  methodical 
form.  The  Penny  Cyclopedia  contains  an  able  analysis  of 
this  poem.     See  Ramayana. 

MA'HADO.  A  name  of  one  of  the  Indian  deities,  from 
whom  the  sacred  Ganges  is  fabled  to  spring.  He  is  incor- 
rectly used  in  Goethe's  well-known  poem,  JDcr  Gott  und  die 
Bajadere,  which  begins  "  Mahado,  du  Herr  der  Erde"  (Lord 
of  Earth),  as  synonymous  with  Siva. 

MAHOMETaNISM.     See  Mohammedanism. 

MAI'A.  In  Grecian  Mythology  ;  1.  The  daughter  of  At- 
las and  Pleione,  one  of  the  Pleiads,  who  became  mother  of 
Mercury  by  Jupiter :  2.  A  daughter  of  the  god  Faunus,  and 
wife  of  Vulcan  ;  frequently  confounded  by  mythologists 
with  the  former  personage. 

MAI'D/E.  A  family  of  crabs  (Brachyurous  Crustaceans), 
of  which  the  genus  Maia  is  the  type  The  form  of  the  shell 
is  ovoid  :  the  manus  and  the  preceding  joint  are  nearly  of  the 
same  length.  The  species  called  Maia  sqvinado  is  occa- 
sionally taken  on  our  ow-n  coasts,  as  well  as  those  of  France 
and  of  the  Mediterranean :  it  is  commonly  called  the  "  sea 
spider." 

MAI'DEX.  The  name  given  in  Scotland  to  a  sharp-edged 
instrument,  formerly  used  for  the  beheading  of  criminals. 
It  resembles  in  its  construction  the  guillotine  of  the  French. 
See  Guillotine. 

MAIDEN'  HAIR.  The  .Idianium  capi/lus  veneris:  a 
fern  found  in  many  parts  of  Europe  on  damp,  shaded  rocks. 
It  formed  an  ingredient  in  the  syrup  of  capillaire  of  old 
pharmacy. 

MAIL."  (Fr.  mnille.)  A  small  piece  of  metal  or  money, 
but  used  collectively  to  defensive  armour,  formed  of  iron 
rings  or  round  meshes.     Sec  Hauberk. 

Mail  signified  originally  the  bag  which  contains  letters 
forwarded  by  government  for  the  public  convenience  ;  but 
it  was  soon  afterwards  extended  to  the  letters  themselves, 
and  it  is  now  used  also  for  the  conveyance  in  which  they 
are  forwarded.    See  Postopfiok. 

MAILS,  or  MALLLS.  In  Scottish  Law.  the  rents  of  an 
estate.  (Silver  halfjience,  in  England,  were  anciently  called 
mailes.J  In  the  northern  counties  of  England,  and  in  Scot- 
land, payments  made  by  the  occupiers  or  owners  of  lands  to 
persons  in  league  w  it  1 1  the  various  classes  of  freebooters  who 
Infested  the  country  were  termed  b/ark  mail.  To  take  it 
w  as  made  a  capital  felony  by  stat.  4)1  Eliz.,  c.  13. 

MAIM,  or  MAYHEM.  In  old  English  Jurisprudence,  a 
w  011  ml  by  which  any  one  was  so  disabled  as  to  he  less  fit  to 
defend  himself  in  tight,  and  therefore  distinguished  from  an 
injury  which  merely  disfigured.  Appeal  of  mayhem  was 
abolished,  with  other  criminal  appeals,  by  50  G.  3,  c.  46. 
Cutting  and  stabbing,  "with  intent  to  murder,"  and  with  in- 
tent to  maim  or  disfigure,  are  now  distinct  offences,  under  !) 
G.  4,  e.  31,  s.  11  and  12.  The  latter  w -as  thereby  made  a 
capital  felony  only  in  such  cases  in  which,  If  death  had  en- 
sued, it  would  have  been  murder. 

M  \l'N"IT.\A.\rE.  in  Law.  is  defined  to  be  an  officious 
intermeddling  in  a  suit  that  in  no  wax  belongs  to  one,  by 
maintaining  and  assisting  either  party  with  money  or  other- 


MAINTENANCE,  CAP  OF. 

Wise  to  prosecute  or  defend  it.  The  punishment  by  common 
law  is  fine  and  imprisonment,  and  by  30  H.  8,  c.  9,  a  forfeit- 
ure of  ten  pounds. 

MAINTENANCE,  CAP  OF.  A  cap  of  dignity,  ancient- 
ly belonging  to  the  rank  of  a  duke ;  termed  by  the  French 
bonnet  ducal.  The  lord-mayor's  fur  cap  is  also  called  a  cap 
of  maintenance. 

MAIZE  (Mais,  the  American  name),  a  kind  of  corn  ex- 
tensively cultivated  for  food,  is  the  grain  of  the  plant  named 
by  Linnaeus  Zea  mays.  Like  other  corn,  it  is  a  species  of 
grass,  whose  albumen  is  sufficiently  large  and  farinaceous 
to  be  ground  into  flour.  In  this  plant  the  grains  are  unusu- 
ally large,  compressed,  and  packed  closely  in  regular  paral- 
lel lines  along  the  sides  of  a  receptacle  many  inches  long. 
In  the  young  state  each  grain  is  tipped  with  a  long,  slender 
style  as  fine  as  a  thread  of  silk ;  and  many  hundreds  of  such 
styles  being  collected  together  from  each  receptacle,  the 
whole  resemble  a  silken  tassel  hanging  down  from  the  ori- 
fice of  the  sheathing  leaves  in  which  the  inflorescence  is  en- 
wrapped. When  ripe,  the  corn  is  still  covered  by  the  sheath- 
ing leaves,  and  is  only  to  be  discovered  when  the  latter  are 
stripped  back.  The  male  or  barren  flowers  grow  in  a  loose 
panicle  at  the  end  of  the  stem.  There  are  many  varieties 
of  maize ;  some  with  stems  seven  or  eight  feet  high,  others 
not  exceeding  the  stature  of  two  feet ;  some  requiring  a  long 
summer  to  ripen  their  grain,  others  coming  to  perfection  in  a 
couple  of  months.  The  colour  of  the  grain  is  also  variable ; 
chocolate-coloured,  red,  crimson,  yellow,  white,  and  varie- 
gated, are  all  known  to  the  American  planter.  This  kind  of 
corn  is  not  grown  exclusively  for  the  sake  of  the  ripe  grain  ; 
the  young  female  inflorescence,  which  is  sweet  and  tender, 
is  boiled  or  cooked  in  other  ways  as  a  delicate  vegetable,  and 
the  young  stems  are  occasionally  given  to  cattle.  Many  at- 
tempts have  been  made  to  cultivate  maize  in  England  as  a 
field  crop,  but  without  sviccess.  It  does  not  thrive  north  of 
the  basin  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  requires  a  higher  sum- 
mer heat  than  we  experience  in  these  islands. 

MA'JESTY.  This  title  of  honour  is  derived  from  the 
Romans,  among  whom  it  stood  for  the  collective  power  and 
dignity  of  the  sovereign  body ;  as  majestas  populi  Romani. 
Hence  treason  was  termed  crimen  lasses  majestatis,  an  injury 
offered  to  majesty.  Majesty  was  the  attribute  of  consuls, 
praetors,  &c,  only  as  representing  the  public ;  and  hence,  in 
later  times,  when  it  was  transferred  to  the  emperors  along 
with  the  sovereign  power,  inferior  magistrates  were  entitled, 
in  ceremonial  language,  by  the  appellation  of  dignitas.  Ma- 
jesty is  now  the  conventional  title. of  European  emperors 
and  kings.  (The  Sultan  of  Turkey  has  no  more  elevated 
title  in  our  ceremonial  than  Highness.)  It  appears  to  have 
been  first  assumed  by  the  German  emperors,  who  were  con- 
sidered as  representing  the  imperial  dignity  of  Rome ;  then 
by  the  French  king  Henry  II. :  in  England,  by  Elizabeth. 
The  Emperor  of  Austria  has  the  title  Majesty,  with  the  pre- 
fix K.  K.  (Kaiserliche,  Konigliche;  i.  e.,  Imperial,  Royal). 

Apostolical  Majesty. — A  title  bestowed  on  Stephen,  duke 
of  Hungary,  about  A.D.  1000,  by  Pope  Sylvester  II.  Re- 
conferred  on  the  empress  queen,  Maria  Theresa,  in  1758. 

Catholic  Majesty. — A  title  bestowed  on  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  of  Spain  by  Pope  Alexander  VI.  in  1491,  in  mem- 
ory of  the  conquest  of  the  Moors:  it  had,  however,  been 
borne  by  earlier  Spanish  monarchs. 

Most  Christian  Majesty. — A  title  borne  by  the  kings  of 
France ;  first  solemnly  conferred  on  Louis  XI.,  in  1469,  by 
Pope  Paul  II. 

Most  Faithful  Majesty. — The  title  of  the  kings  of  Portu- 
gal ;  bestowed  by  Benedict  XIV.  on  John  V. 

MA'JOR.  In  the  art  Military,  a  field-officer  next  in  rank 
above  a  captain,  and  immediately  inferior  to  a  lieutenant- 
colonel.  His  chief  duties  consist  in  superintending  the  exer- 
cises of  his  regiment  or  battalion,  and  of  putting  in  execution 
the  commands  of  his  superior  officer.  This  class  of  field- 
officers  did  not  exist  till  the  beginning  of  the  17th  century. 
The  prices  of  a  major's  commission  and  his  pay  in  the  Brit- 
ish army  are  as  follow :  In  the  regiments  of  the  line,  £3200/ ; 
pay,  16s.  per  diem :  in  the  dragoons,  £4575 ;  pay,  19s.  3d.  per 
diem :  in  the  life  and  royal  horse  guards,  £5350 ;  pay,  £1  4s. 
5d.  per  diem :  and  in  the  foot  guards  (with  the  rank  of  col- 
onel), .£8300 ;  pay,  £1.  3s.  This  appellation  of  major  does 
not  exist  either  in  the  artillery  or  engineers.  Brigade-major 
is  a  staff-officer,  who  performs  for  a  brigade,  or  in  a  garrison, 
duties  equivalent  to  those  of  a  major  in  a  regiment  or  bat- 
talion. Major-general  is  an  officer  next  in  rank  below  a 
lieutenant-general,  whose  functions  he  has  to  discharge  in 
the  absence  of  his  superior  officer. 

MAJOR  AND  MINOR.  In  Music,  terms  applied  to  im- 
perfect concords  differing  from  each  other  by  a  semitone 
minor.  They  are  used  in  the  same  sense  when  applied  to 
discords. 

MAJORA'T-  In  modern  legal  phraseology,  as  employed 
by  several  Continental  nations,  the  right  of  succession  to 
property  according  to  age.  It  is  defined  "  a  fidei-commissum 
gradual,  successive,  perpetual,  indivisible,  made  with  a  view 


MALACOLOGY. 

to  preserve  the  name,  arms,  and  dignity  of  a  family,  and 
destined  forever  to  the  eldest  member  of  it."  In  the  German 
empire  and  in  Spain  this  species  of  entails  is  of  great  anti- 
quity.    See  Mayorazgo. 

Majorat,  in  the  French  Law,  expresses  the  property, 
landed  or  funded,  which  by  virtue  of  several  decrees  of  the 
empire  might  be  reserved  by  individuals  enjoying  hereditary 
titles  of  honour,  and  attached  to  the  title  so  as  to  descend 
with  it.  The  German  and  Spanish  laws  of  majorat  had  no 
exact  equivalent  in  old  France  ;  but  a  species  of  majorat 
existed  in  the  case  of  the  Duches-Pairies,  abolished  at  the 
Revolution,  with  other  feudal  institutions.  The  general  rule 
of  French  law,  that  children  succeed  equally  to  their  pa- 
rents' property,  is  only  modified  by  the  regulations  respect- 
ing what  is  termed  a  "  portion  disponible."  {Cod.  Civil,  art. 
913,  &c.)  A  person  who  leaves  one  child  only  can  dispose, 
by  will  or  donation,  of  half  his  property  ;  one  who  leaves 
two,  one  third,  and  so  on :  a  person  who  dies  without  de- 
scendants, but  leaving  "  ascendants,"  one  half  or  three 
fourths,  according  to  certain  rules  ;  if  he  leaves  only  collat- 
erals, he  may  dispose  of  the  whole. 

MA'JOR  DOMO.  (Lat.  major  domus,  greater  officer  of 
the  house.)  In  the  courts  of  those  kingdoms  which  were 
formed  out  of  the  fragments  of  the  Western  Empire,  three 
different  offices  seem  to  be  designated  by  this  title:  1.  The 
maitre  d'hotel,  or  chief  officer  of  the  prince's  table,  prae- 
fectus  mensas,  architriclinus,  dapifer,  &c. ;  2.  The  mayor  of 
the  palace  (asconomus,  steward) ;  3.  The  first  minister,  pre- 
fect of  the  palace,  count  of  the  palace,  &c.  Charles  Martel 
is  termed  major  domus  by  some  ancient  historians.  This 
title  became  in  later  times  confounded  with  that  of  senes- 
chal. In  Germany,  under  the  Othos  and  the  house  of 
Swabia,  the  dapifer  was  an  officer  of  high  rank,  who  bore, 
among  other  duties,  the  standard  of  his  sovereign.  The 
count  palatine  was  dapifer  of  the  empire :  the  Elector  of  Ba- 
varia, arch-dapifer.  In  England  he  was  a  personage  of  less 
distinction,  and  his  subscription  generally  appears  last 
among  the  attesting  witnesses  to  ancient  charters. 

MAJO'RITY.  In  Politics,  the  age  at  which  the  sover- 
eign, in  hereditary  monarchies,  becomes  capable  of  exerci- 
sing supreme  authority.     See  Minority,  Regent. 

MA'JOR  TERM,  in  Logic,  is,  in  a  syllogism,  the  predi- 
cate of  the  conclusion.  The  major  premise  is  that  which 
contains  the  major  term.  In  hypothetical  syllogisms,  the 
hypothetical  premise  is  called  the  major. 

MAJU'SCUL^E,  or  CAPITALES  LITERS.  In  Diplo- 
matics, capital  letters.  The  Latin  manuscripts  of  the  classi- 
cal age  which  we  possess  (those  found  at  Pompeii,  and  a 
few  parchment  MSS.  of  very  early  date)  are  written  in  cap- 
ital letters.  Few  instruments  or  books  of  a  later  date  than 
the  sixth  century  are  in  capital  letters. 

MA'LACHlTE.  (Gr.  tia\axn,  the  mallow  flower;  or 
//aXafco?,  soft ;  hence,  also,  called  velvet  copper  ore.)  The 
blue  and  green  carbonate  of  copper. 

MALA'CIA.  (Gr.  uaXaKiov,  a  ravenous  fish.)  A  depra- 
ved appetite. 

MA'LACODERMS,  Malacodermi.  (Gr.  uaXaicos,  and 
lepua,  skin.)  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Serricorn  beetles,  in- 
cluding those  with  a  soft  and  flexible  body. 

MA'LACOLITE.  (Gr.  uaXaKo;.)  A  variety  of  augite 
of  a  dark -green  colour. 

MALACO'LOGY.  (Gr.  uaXaKta,  the  Aristotelian  name 
of  the  Mollusca  of  the  moderns ;  and  Xoyos,  a  discourse.) 
The  science  of  the  Mollusks.  (See  that  word  for  their  gen- 
eral characters.)  Cuvier,  the  great  reviver  of  this  branch  of 
natural  history,  divides  the  Mollusks  into  six  classes. 

I.  Cephalopoda.— Mantle  in  form  of  a  sac,  open  anterior- 
ly, containing  the  branchiae  and  abdominal  viscera ; 
head  protruding  from  the  mantle,  well  developed, 
and  crowned  by  fleshy  productions,  by  means  of 
which  they  crawl  and  seize  various  objects. 
n.  Pteropoda.— Mantle  closed;  appendages  of  the  head 
either  wanting  or  extremely  reduced.  The  principal 
organs  of  locomotion  are  two  membranous  fins,  like 
wings,  situated  on  the  sides  of  the  neck. 

III.  Gastropoda.— These  crawl  by  means  of  a  fleshy  disk 

on  their  belly.    The  mouth  is  supported  by  a  head. 

IV.  Acephala. — The  mantle  encloses  the  branchia?  and  vis- 

cera ;  the  mouth  opens  within  its  cavity,  and  is  not 
supported  by  a  distinct  head.    The  mantle  may  be 
open  throughout  its  length,  at  both  ends,  or  at  one  ex- 
tremity only. 
V.  Brachiopoda.— These  are  also  enclosed  in  a  mantle 
without  an  apparent  head  ;  but  have  a  pair  of  long, 
fleshy,   ciliated   arms,   which   are   spiral   when   re- 
tracted. 
VI.  Cirrhopoda.— This  class  Cuvier  defines  as  being  similar 
to  the  other  Mollusks  in  the  mantle,  branchiae,  &c. ; 
but  as  differing  from  them  in  having  numerous  horny 
and  articulated  limbs,  and  a  nervous  system   more 
nearly  resembling  that  of  the  Articulata. 
Since  the  early  form  and  metamorphoses  of  the 
703 


MALACOLOGY. 


Cirrhopoda,  or,  more  properly,  Cirripedia.  were 
known,  most  zoologists  have  regarded  them  as  mem- 
bers Of  the  Articulate  sub-kingdom. 
The  classification  of  the  Molluscs  has  been  much  per- 
fected b\  those  zoologists  Who  have  been  attracted  to  the 
Study  oi'  tli is  department  Of  the  animal  kingdom  by  the 
beautiful  ami  diversified  coverings  of  the  testaceous  species. 
Among  these,  Lamarck  ranks  deservedly  the  clue!';  and 
his  system  Is  still  that  which  mainly  guides  the  concholo- 
gist  in  the  arrangement  of  his  shells. 
The  follow  tog  is  the  outline  of  the  Lamarckian  system: 
In  the  system  of  Lamarck,  the  natural  primary  group  of 
animals,  to  which  the  science  of  malacology  relates,  consti- 
tutes the  llth  and  12th  classes  of  his  Invertebrate.  The 
first  of  these  classes,  under  the  name  of  Conchifera,  is  equiv- 
alent to  the  Testaceous  .icephala  and  Brachiopoda  of  Cuvier ; 
and  these  low-organized,  headless  Molluscs  have  their  ex- 
ternal shelly  defensive  covering  rendered  the  more  complete 
by  way  of  compensation  for  the  slight  development  of  the 
nervous  centres  to  Which  the  impressions  of  external  ob- 
jects are  referred,  and  from  which  the  acts  of  volition  em- 
anate. Instead  of  one  shell,  they  are  therefore  provided 
With,  and  generally  completely  covered  by,  two  shells, 
Which  are  technically  called  -valves;"  and  the  Conchifera 
of  Lamarck  thus  include  the  Mollusks  with  bivalve  shells. 
These  are  divided  into  two  orders,  Dimyaria  and  Mono- 
myaria. 

Class  I.  Conchifera. 

Order  1.    Conchifera  Dimyaria.— Char. :   Two  muscles  of 
attachment  at  least ;  shell  internally  with  two  muscular 
impressions,  which  are  separate  and  lateral. 
(1.)    Shell  regular,  generally  equivalve. 
(A.)  Shell  gaping  in  general  at  the  lateral  extremities,  its 
valves  being  approximated. 
(*)  Crassipede  Conchifers. — Mantle  with  its  lobes  united 
anteriorly,  either  entirely  or  partially;   foot  thick : 
gape  of  the  shell  wide. 
Family  1.   Tubicolidir. — Shell  either  contained  in  a  tubu- 
lar sheath  distinct  from  its  valves,  or  entirely  or  par- 
tially incrusted  in  the  wall  of  its  sheath,  or  projecting 
externally.     {.■Ispirgillum,  Clanagclla,  Teredo,  &c.) 
Family  2.  Pholadidat.—SheU  without  a  tubular  sheath, 
either  furnished  with  accessory  pieces  or  gaping  very 
much  anteriorly.     [Pholas,  Gastrochcena.) 
Family  3.  Solemida. — Shell  without  accessory  pieces,  and 
gaping  at  the  lateral  extremities  only  ;  ligament  exter- 
nal.    (Solen,  Panopaa,  Glycymeris.) 
Family  4.   Myida. — The  same   characters  of  the  shell, 
with  the  ligament  internal.     (J\lya,  .flnatina.) 
(**)  Tcnuipede  Conchifers.— -Mantle  with  its  lobes  not  uni- 
ted,  or   hardly   united   anteriorly;    foot  small,  com- 
pressed; gaping  of  the  shell  often  considerable. 
Family  5.  Mactrida. 

a.  Ligament  internal  only.     {Mactra,  Crassatella,  Enj- 

cina,  Lutraria.) 

b.  Ligament  partly  internal,  partly  external.     (Unguli- 

na,  Solemya,  .  hnphidesma.) 

Family  6.  Corbulidw. — Shell  inequivalve ;  ligament  in- 
ternal.    (Corbula,  Pandora.) 

Family  7.  Lithopagida. — Ligament  partly  external,  part- 
ly internal  ;  shells  without  accessory  pieces  or  any  par- 
ticular sheath,  more  or  less  gaping  at  their  anterior 
side.     (Saricara,  Petricola,  I'tnerupis.) 

Family  8.  Nymphido. — Two  cardinal  teeth  at  most  in  the 
same  valve  ;  shell  often  gaping  a  little  at  the  lateral  ex- 
tremities; ligament  external;  nymphs  in  general  ga- 
ping outwards.  [Sanguinolaria,  Psammobia,  Tcllina, 
Corbis,   Lucina,  Donax,  Capsa,  Crassma.)     See  Con- 

CHOl.OGY. 

(B.)  Shell   closed   at  the  lateral  extremities  when  the 

valves  are  shut. 

(***)  Lamellipede  '  mirhifcrs. — Foot  flattened,  lamelliform, 
not  posterior. 
Family  9.  Conchida. — Three  cardinal  teeth  at  least  in  one 
valve,  with  as  many  or  less  in  the  other;  lateral  teeth 
sometimes. 

1.  Fluviatile  Qmchidm. — Shell  with    lateral    teeth,  and 

covered  with  a  false  epiderm.     (Cyclas,  Cyrena,  Ga- 
lalhea.) 

2.  .Marine   Conrhidtr. — No   lateral   teeth   in   the   greater 

number;   rarely  an   epidermis,  which   covers  the 

whole   shell  except  the  umbones.     (Cyprina,  Cythe- 

:  mis.    I'm,  ri,  uritia.) 

Family  10.  Cardiida. — Cardinal  teeth  Irregular  either  in 
their  form  or  situation,  and  accompanied  in  general  by 
one  or  two  lateral  teeth.     (Cardium,  Cardita,  / 
fcc.) 

Family  11.  Arcida. — Cardinal  teeth  small,  numerous,  in- 
trant, and   disposed   In  each  valve  on  a  line,  which  is 

either  straight,  or  arched,  or  broken.    (Oucullaa,  jlrca, 
I'ii luuculus,  NuctUa,  Trigvnia,  and  CasLa.Uu.) 
7W 


Family  12.  A'aiida. — Fluviatile  shells,  whose  hinge  la 
sometimes  furnished  With  an  irregular  cardinal  tooth, 
which  is  simple  or  divided,  and  with  a  longitudinal 
tooth,  which  is  prolonged  under  the  corslet;  and  some- 
times without  any  tooth  at  all,  or  is  furnished  along  its 
length  with  irregular  granulous  tubercles.  UtnboneS 
with  the  epidermis  peeled  off,  and  frequently  eroded. 
(Onto,  Hyria,  Jlnodon,  and  Indina.) 

Family  13.    Chamida. — Shell   irregular,   inequivalve;    a 
single  cardinal  tooth,  oblique  and  subcrenate,  inserted 
into  a  little  pit  in  the  opposite  valve  ;  muscular  im- 
pressions distant,  lateral ;  external  ligament  depressed. 
(Dicras,  Chama,  F.theria.) 
Order  2. —  Conchifera  JMonomyaria. — Only  one  muscle  of  at- 
tachment, which  seems  to  traverse  their  body. 
Shell  with   an  internal  subcentral  muscular  impres- 
sion. 
(*)  Ligament  marginal,  elongated  on  the  border,  sublinear. 

Family  14.  Tridacnida;. —  Shell  transverse,  equivalve, 
with  an  elongated  muscular  impression  bordering  the 
upper  limb.     (Tridacna,  Hippopus.) 

Family  15.  Mytilido:. — Shell  longitudinal  or  subtrans- 
verse,  with  a  muscular  impression  contracted  into  an 
isolated  space  without  bordering  the  limb  ;  hinge  with 
a  subinternal  ligament,  which  is  marginal,  linear,  very 
entire.     (JMadiola,  Mytilus,  Pinna.) 

Family  16.  Mallcida. — Ligament  sublinear,  cither  inter- 
rupted by  serial  teeth  or  simple  ;  shell  suhinequivalve, 
foliated.     (Crcnatula,  Perna,  Malleus,  Avicula.) 
(**)  Ligament  not  marginal,  contracted  into  a  short  space 
under  the  umbones,  and  not  forming  a  tendinous 
tube  under  the  shell. 

Family  17.  Pcctinida. — Shell  regular,  compact,  not  foli- 
ated. (Pedum,  Lima,  Plagiostoma,  Pectcn,  Plicatula^ 
Spondylus,  Podopsis.) 

Family  18.   Ostreida. 

a.  Ligament  partly  external  ;  shell  foliated,  but  never- 

theless often  acquiring  great  thickness.     (Grypha:a, 
Ostrea,  Vulsella.) 

b.  Ligament    internal ;     shell    delicate,    papyraceous. 

(Placuna,  Jlnomia.) 
(***)  Ligament  cither  wanting  or  represented  by  a  tendi- 
nous chord  which  sustains  the  shell. 
Family  19.  Rudista. — Shell  very  inequivalve.     (Sphmru- 
lites,  Radiolites,  Calccola,  Birostrites,  Discina,  Crania.) 
Family  20.  Brachiopoda. — Shell  adherent,  either  immedi- 
ately or  by  a  tendinous  chord;    mantle  bilobate,  the 
lobes  separated  anteriorly,  enveloping  the  body ;  two 
opposed,  elongated,  fringed  arms  near  the  mouth,  roll- 
ed spirally  when  retracted.      {Orbicula,   Tcrcbratula, 
Lingula.) 

Class  II.  Mollusca. 

Order  1.  Pterapoda. — Char. :  No  foot  for  creeping,  nor  arms 
for  progress  or  seizing  the  prey  ;  two  fins,  opposed  and 
similar,  proper  for  natation ;  body  free  and  floating  ;  some 
naked ;   others  with  thin,  semitransparent,  symmetrical 
shell.      (Hyaleea,    Clio,    Cleodora,  Limacina,    Cymbulia, 
Pneumodermon. 
Order  2.    Gasteropoda. — Animals  with    a    straight    body, 
never  spiral,  nor  enveloped  in  a  shell  which  can  contain 
the  entire  body  ;  a  foot  or  muscular  disk  along  the  whole 
length  of  the  under  part  of  the  body,  serving  for  creeping; 
some  naked ;  others  protected  by  a  dorsal  shell  not  im- 
bedded ;  and  others  containing  a  shell  more  or  less  hid- 
den in  their  mantle. 
Section  1.  Ifydrobranchiata. — Branchiae,  whatever  be  their 
position,  developed  either  in  the  form  of  a  network,  in 
lamina-,  in  a  pectinated  form,  or  in  a  riband-like  shape. 
The  Gastropods  of  this  section  breathe  water  only. 
Family  21.   Tritonida. — Branchia'  external,  placed  above 
the  mantle,  cither  on  the  hack  or  on  the  sides,  and  nut 
being  in  any  particular  cavity.     [Glaiicus,  F.olis,  Tri- 
tonia,  Scylhra,  Trt/n/s,  Doris.) 
Family  22.  Phytlididtr. — Branchia'  placed  under  the  bor- 
der of  the  mantle,  and  disposed  in  a  longitudinal  series 
around  the  body,  or  on  one  side  only,  not  being  in  any 
particular  cavity.     (I'hylUdia,  C/iitomllus,  Chiton,  Pa- 
tella.) 
Family  23.  Semiphyllidida. — Branchia?  placed  under  the 
border  of  the  mantle,  and  disposed  in  a  longitudinal 
scries  on  the  right  side  of  the  body  only.     (Plcurobran- 
r/ius.  Umbrella.) 
Family  24. — Calyptraida. — Branchia-  placed  in  a  particu- 
lar cavity  upon   the  hack,  situated  anteriorly  near  the 
neck  ;    shell    always   external,   and    covering    the    soft 
parts.     [Parmophorus,    Emarginu/a,  Fissure/la,  Pilo- 

opsis,  Cn/ii/ilrira.  Crrpidula,  Jlneulus.) 

Family  25.  BuUida. — Branchia  placed  in  a  particular 

cavity  towards  the  posterior  part  of  the  hack,  and  cov- 
ered either  by  the  mantle  or  by  an  opercular  escutch- 
eon.    (Bulla,  Jlplysia,  Dolabclla.) 


MALACOLOGY. 

Section  2.  Pneumobranchiata. — Branch  ia:  creeping,  in  the 
form  of  a  vascular  network,  on  the  wall  of  a  particular 
cavity,  the  aperture  of  which  is  small,  and  can  be  con- 
tracted or  dilated  at  will.  The  Gastropods  of  this  section 
breathe  nothing  but  air. 
Family  Limacidoe.     (See  Limax.) 

Order  3.  Trachelipoda. — Body  spiral  in  its  posterior  part, 
which  is  separated  from  the  foot,  and  always  lodged  in  a 
shell ;  the  foot  free,  flattened,  attached  to  tie  lower  base 
of  the  neck  or  to  the  anterior  part  of  ttie  body,  and  serv- 
ing for  creeping  ;  shell  equivalve  and  sheathing. 

Section  1.  Phytiphaga.— Trachelipods  without  a  projecting 
siphon,  and  respiring  in  general  by  means  of  a  hole  ;  the 
greater  part  phytiphngous,  and  furnished  with  jaws ;  shell 
with  the  aperture  entire,  having  at  its  base  neither  dorsal 
subascending  notch  nor  canal. 

(*)  Breathing  air  only ;  shell  spirivalve,  unarmed,  not  dis- 
tinctly nacreous. 
Family  26.  Helicidas. 

a.  Four  tentacles.     {Helix,  Bulimus,  Achatina,  &c.) 

b.  Two  tentacles.     {Auricula,  Cyclostoma.) 

Family  27.  Limnmidm. — Amphibious ;  living  in  the  wa- 
ter, but  coming  to  the  surface  to  breathe ;  shell  with  a 
sharp  edge  to  the  lip.     (Planorbis,  Physa,  Limncea.) 
(**)  Breathing  water  only  ;  branchiae  projecting  in  form  of 
filaments,  laminae,  or  tufts  in  the  branchial  cavity; 
shell  often  nacreous,  and  often  also  having  protu- 
berant parts  on  the  surface. 
(a.)  Shell  fluviatile,  operculated,  the  left  border  of  which 

does  not  resemble  a  demi-partition. 
Family  28.  Me'anidm. —  Shell    with    disunited    borders. 

(Melania,  Melanopsis,  Pirena.) 
Family  29.  Peristomidm. —  Shell    with    united    borders. 

(Valvata,  Paludina,  Ampullarice.) 
(b.j  Shell  fluviatile  or  marine,  the  left  border  resembling 

a  demi-partition. 
Family  30.  Neritidoe. —  Navicella,  Neritina  (fluviatile), 

Nerita,  Natica  (marine), 
(c.)  Shell  marine,  the  left  border  not  resembling  a  demi- 
partition. 
Family  31.  Janthinidm. — Shell  floating  at  the  surface  of 

the  water.     (Janthina.) 
Family  32.  Macrostomidm. — Shell  not  floating,  having  the 
aperture  very  wide ;  no  columella.     (Sigaretus,  Stoma- 
tella,  Haliotis.) 
Family  33.  Plicacida. — Aperture  of  shell  not  very  wide  ; 

plaits  on  the  columella.     (Tornatella,  Pyramidella.) 
Family  34.  Scalaridce. — Borders  of  the   aperture  united 
circularly;    no  plaits  on  the  columella.     (Vermctus, 
Scalarim,  Delphinula.) 
Family  35.   TurbinidtE. — Borders  of  the  aperture  disuni- 
ted.    (Solarium,  Kotella,   Trochus,  Monodonta,   Turbo, 
Planaxis,  Phasianella,  Turritella.) 
Section  2.  Zoophaga. — Trachelipods  with  a  projecting  si- 
phon, and  which  only  breathe  water,  which  reaches  the 
branchiae  by  means  of  this  siphon.     These  feed  on  animal 
substances  only,  are  marine,  have  no  jaws,  and  are  fur- 
nished  with    a    retractile    proboscis.     Shell    spirivalve, 
sheathing  the  soft  parts,  with  an  aperture  which  is  either 
canaliculated,  or  notched,  or  turned  up  at  its  base. 
(a.)  Shell  with  a  canal  more  or  less  long  at  the  base  of 
its  aperture,  and  the  right  border  of  whose  lip  does 
not  change  with  age. 
Famliy  36.     Canalifera. 

1.  No  constant  process  on  the  right  lip  of  the  shell. 

(Cerithium,    Pleurotoma,    Turbinclla,   Cancellaria, 
Fasciolaria,  Fusus,  Pyrula.) 

2.  A  constant  process  on  the  right  lip  in  all  the  species. 
a.  No  processes  on  the  spire.     (Struthiolaria.) 

j3  Processes  on  the  spire.     (Rane/la,  Murex,  Triton.) 

(b.)  Shell  with  a  canal  more  or  less  long  at  the  base  of  its 
aperture,  and  the  right  border  of  whose  lip  changes 
its  form  with  age,  and  has  a  sinus  inferiorly. 

Family  37.  Mala—  Wing  shells.  (Rostellari'a,  Ptcroce- 
ras,  Strombus.) 

(c.)  Shell  with  a  short  canal  ascending  posteriorly,  or 
with  an  oblique  notch  at  the  base  of  its  aperture,  this 
demicanal  being  directed  towards  the  back. 

Family  38.  Purpurifera. 

1.  Canal   ascending  or   recurved    towards    the    back. 

(Cassis,  Cassidaria.) 

2.  An  oblique  notch  directed  backwards.     (Purpura, 

Ricinuta,  Monoccras,  Concholepas,  Harpa,  Dolium, 
Buccinum,  Eburna,  Terebra.) 
(d.)  No  canal  at  the  base  of  the  aperture,  but  a  subdorsal 

notch,  and  plaits  on  the  columella. 
Family  39.    Columellidts.  —  Columbella,    Mitra,    Voluta, 

Marginella,  Volvaria. 
(e.)  Shell  without  a  canal,  but  having  the  base  of  its  ap- 
erture notched  or  versant,  and  the  whorls  of  its  spire 
large,  compressed,  and  enrolled  in  such  a  manner  that 
the  last  whorl  nearly  entirely  covers  the  others. 


MALIC  ACID. 

Family  40.    Convolutidw.—Ovula,    Cypraa,    Terebellum, 
Ancillaria,  Oliva,  Conus. 
Order  4.  Cephalopoda. — Mantle  in  form  of  a  sac,  containing 
the  lower  part  of  the  body  ;  head  projecting  from  the  sac, 
surrounded  by  arms,  which  are  not  articulated  [but  fur- 
nished with  suckers,  and  which  environ  the  mouth  ;  two 
sessile  eyes ;  two  horny  mandibles  to  the  mouth  ;  three 
hearts*] ;  sexes  separate. 
Division  1.  Polythalamous  Ccphalopods.—  Shell   multilocu- 
lar,  enveloped  completely  or  partially,  and  which  is  en- 
closed in  the  posterior  part  of  the  animal,  often  with  ad- 
herence. 

Family  41.  Ortkoccratida>. — Shell  straight,  or  nearly  so, 
with   simple  or  not  sinuous  chambers.      (Belemnites, 
Orthoceros,  JVodosaria,  Hippurites,  Conilites. 
Family  42.  Lituolitida. — Shell  partially  spiral ;  last  whorl 
continued  in  a  straight  line.     (Spirula,  Spirulina,  Litu- 
ola.) 
Family  43.  Cristacida. — Shell  semidiscoid  ;   spire  eccen- 
tric.    (Rcnulina,  Cristellaria,  Orbiculina.) 
Family  44.    Spherulida. — Shell  globulose,  spheroidal,  or 
oval,  with  enveloping  whorls  or  partitions  united  en 
tunique.     (Jililiola,  Gyrogona,  Mclonia.) 
Family  45.    Radiolididw. — Shell  discoid,  with  a  central 
spire,  and  partitions  radiating  from  the  centre  to  the  cir- 
cumference.    (Rotalia,  Lenticulina,  Placentula.) 
Family  46.  JVautilida. — Shell  discoid,  with  a  central  spire, 
and  partitions  which  do  not  extend  from  the  centre  to 
the   circumference.      (Discorbis,   Siderolites,  Polys  to- 
mella,  Vorticialis,  Nummulites,  Nautilus.) 
Family  47.  Ammonitidw. — Shell  multilocular,  with  cham- 
bers sinuous  at  the  edges.     (Ammonites,  Orbulites,  Am- 
monoceras,  Turrilites,  Baculites.) 

[From  regard  being  only  had  to  the  characters  af- 
forded by  the  shell,  the  Polythalamous  Cephalopods 
of  Lamarck  form  the  least  natural  of  his  groups. 
Many  of  the  genera,  especially  the  microscopic  species, 
belong  to  a  different  primary  division  of  the  animal 
kingdom  ;  and  one  genus,  Gyrogona,  to  another  king- 
dom of  nature,  it  being  a  fossil  seed.    The  genera 
Belemnites  and  Spirula,  which  are  true  Cephalopods, 
have  been  removed  to  the  higher-organized  or  Dibran- 
chiate  order  of  Cephalopods.] 
Division  2.  Monothalamous  Cephalopods. — Shell  unilocular, 
entirely  external,  and  enveloping  the  animal. 
Family  48.     Genus  Argonauta. 
Division  3.  Sepiary  Cephalopods. — No  shell,  either  internal 
or  external ;  a  solid,  free,  cretaceous  or  horny  body,  con- 
tained in  the  interior  of  the  greater  part  of  the  animals. 
Family  49.  Genera  Octopus,  Loligopsis,  Loligo,  Sepia. 
Order  5.  Hcteropoda. — Body  free,  elongated,  swimming  hori- 
zontally ;  head  distinct ;  two  eyes ;  no  arms  surrounding 
the  head;  no  feet  under  the  belly  or  under  the  throat  for 
creeping ;  one  or  more  fins  without  any  regular  order,  and 
not  disposed  by  pairs. 

Family  50.  Genera  Carinaria,  Pterotrachea,  Phylliroe. 
Modifications  of  more  or  less  importance  in  the  classifica- 
tion of  the  Mollusca  have  been  proposed  by  Oken  (Natur- 
geschichte,  Jena,  1816),  Ferussac  (1819),  De  Blainville  (1814 
and  1825),  J.  E.  Gray  (London  Medical  Repository,  1821), 
Des  Hayes,  Rang,  and  others.  For  an  account  of  the  struc- 
ture and  growth  of  shells,  see  Conchology. 

MALACOPTERY'GIANS,  Malacopterygii.  (Gr.  na\a- 
/coc,  and  TTTipv\,  a  wing.)  The  name  of  a  division  of  the 
class  of  fishes  comprehending  all  those  which,  with  an  in- 
ternal osseous  skeleton,  have  the  rays  supporting  the  fins 
soft,  except  the  first  ray  of  the  dorsal  and  pectoral  fins. 

MALACO'STRACANS.  (Gr.  fiaXaKOi,  oarpaKov,  a  shell.) 
The  name  of  a  division  of  the  class  Crustaceans,  including 
those  which  are  covered  with  a  crust  softer  than  the  shell 
of  the  Mollusks,  but  firmer  than  the  covering  of  the  Ento- 
mostracans.  (See  that  word.)  The  term  Malacostraca  was 
first  applied  by  Aristotle  to  the  Crustacea  of  the  moderns, 
being  used  by  him  in  a  comparative  sense,  as  contrasted  with 
the  Ostracoderma,  which  are  the  modern  Testacea. 

MALyEIC  ACID.  An  acid  obtained  by  distilling  malic 
acid  at  a  temperature  of  about  400°.  When  malic  acid  is 
exposed  for  a  longer  time  to  a  moderate  heat,  it  becomes 
modified  into  varamal&ic  acid. 

MALA'GMA.  (Gr.  naXaaactv,  to  soften.)  A  poultice. 
MALA'RIA.  (Ital.mal'  aria,  a  bad  air.)  The  exhalation 
of  marshy  districts,  which  produces  intermittent  fevers.  This 
term  has  now  become  of  general  application  ;  but  it  was  long 
restricted  to  that  district  of  Italy  extending  from  Leghorn  to 
Terracina  in  one  direction,  and  from  the  sea  to  the  Apen- 
nines in  another.  Even  in  the  time  of  Horace,  Rome  was 
deserted  two  months  in  the  year,  on  account  of  the  dangers 
of  the  malaria. 
MA'LIC  ACID.     (Lat.  malum,  an  apple.)     A  peculiar 

*  The  character!  included  within  brackets  apply  only  to  the  24  division 
of  Lamarck's  order. 

705 


MALICE. 

ncid  contained  in  the  juice  of  the  apple  and  several  other 
fruits :  it  may  be  obtained  also  from  the  berries  of  the  Sorbus 
aucuparia.  or  mountain  ash,  and  has  hence  been  called  surbic 
acid. 

MALICE  (Lat.  malitia),  in  the  English  Law,  does  not 
necessarily  bear  the  signification  of  particular  ill  I 
towards  an  individual,  imt  is  a  tenia  directly  importing 
wickedness  in  the  commission  of  an  act,  and  excluding  B 
just  cause  or  excuse.  (Sec  Murder.)  Malicious  injur)  to 
properly  is  in  some  instances  a  felony,  in  others  a  misde- 
meanour ;  punishable,  in  some,  on  summary  conviction  :  the 
law  respecting  which  is  consolidated  in  one  of  the  statutes 
commonly  called  reel's  Acts  (7&  8G.4,  c.  30).  By  sect. 25 
of  this  act  it  is  expressly  declared  that  the  word  malice,  in 
relation  to  these  injuries,  bears  its  legal  and  not  its  popular 
signification;  it  being  there  declared" that  the  act  applies, 
'whether  the  offence  shall  be  committed  from  malice  con- 
ceived against  the  owner  of  the  property,  or  otherwise."  In 
civil  actions  for  injuries  to  which  malice  is  essential,  e.g., 
slander,  libel,  &c,  the  question  of  tbe  existence  of  malice  is 
one,  in  general,  for  the  jury  ;  but,  under  certain  circumstan- 
ces, it  may  be  implied  by  the  court  from  the  absence  of  rea- 
sonable and  probable  cause,  as  in  actions  for  malicious  pros- 
ecution. 

MALLEABI'LITY.  (Lat.  malleus,  a  hammer.)  The 
property  of  being  susceptible  of  extension  under  the  blows  of 
a  hammer.  It  is  especially  characteristic  of  some  of  the 
metals,  and  in  this  quality  gold  exceeds  all  the  others:  com- 
mon gold  leaf  is  not  more  than  a  two  hundred  thousandth 
part  of  an  inch  in  thickness;  five  grams  may  be  thus  extend- 
ed so  as  to  cover  a  surface  of  more  than  270  square  inches. 
See  Ductility. 

MA'LLECS.  (Lat.  a  hammer.)  One  of  the  small  hones 
of  the  internal  ear,  attached  to  the  membrana  tympani,  some- 
what in  shape  resembling  a  hammer. 

Malleis.  A  genus  of  Ostracean Bivalves, characterized 
by  having,  in  addition  to  the  simple  pit  for  the  ligament,  a 
notch  on  the  side  of  the  ligament  for  the  passage  of  a  byssus. 
The  species  of  this  genus  are  called  "  hammer-oysters." 
Tin  must  noted  is  the  Ostrea  malleus  of  Linnaeus,  which  has 
the  cardinal  region  of  the  shell  forming  something  like  the 
head  of  a  hammer,  of  which  the  elongated  valves,  extending 
transversely,  represent  the  handle.  It  is  a  native  of  the 
Indian  archipelago,  and  still  ranks  among  the  number  of 
rare  and  high-priced  shells. 

MA'LLOYV  (Lat.  malva),  is  a  weed  common  by  hedge- 
rows and  waysides  in  Europe.  It  has  mucilaginous  proper- 
ties, and  has  been  employed  in  the  preparation  of  emollient 
poultices,  in  the  same  way  as  the  marsh  mallow.  Its  fruit 
is  a  depressed  disk,  and  is  called  by  the  country  people 
"cheeses"  (Fr.  Fromageon). 

M  V  LLUM.  The  public  assembly  or  meeting  of  the 
people  according  to  the  usage  of  the  old  Teutonic  nations. 
Under  the  Cariovingian  monarchs,  the  mallum  appears  to 
have  been  summoned  by  the  missus,  or  deputy  of  the  sover- 
eign. There  is  a  separate  mallum  for  every  leading  state 
or  kingdom  which  composed  the  empire ;  and  it  was  attend- 
ed by  the  notables  of  all  the  various  races  of  inhabitants 
(Roman,  Frankish,  Gothic,  &c),  and  in  some  instances  by 
the  Bcabini  or  Echevins,  who  represented  the  communities 
of  the  towns. 

MALMSEY.  A  strong  and  fine-flavoured  sweet  wine, 
made  in  Madeira  of  grapes  which  have  been  allowed  to 
shrivel  upon  the  vine:  it  is  of  a  deep  golden  hue.  It  con- 
tains between  lti  and  17  per  cent,  of  alcohol. 

MALT,  is  used  to  designate  grain  which  has  hecome 
sweet  in  consequence  of  incipient  germination.  Malt  forms 
the  principal  ingredient  in  the  manufacture  of  beer,  and  is 
not  used  for  any  other  purpose.  Three  different  kinds  arc 
employed :  1.  Pale  or  amber  malt,  which  yields  the  saccha- 
rine or  fermentable  extract ;  2.  Brown  or  blown  malt,  which 
is  not  fermentable,  but  is  used  to  impart  flavour;  3.  Roasted 
or  black,  or  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  patent  malt,  which  is 
employed  instead  of  burnt  Miliar  merely  as  a  colouring  mat- 
ter. The  process  followed  in  the  manufacture  of  malt  is 
very  simple,  and  has  been  carried  on  for  a  very  long  period 

nearly  in  the  same  manner  in  which  it  is  conducted  at  pres- 
ent.    (See  Thomson's  Chemistry.) 

The  manufacture  of  malt  has  been  carried  on  in  England 
to  a  L'reat  extent  from  a  very  early  period  ;  but  it  is  singular 
thai,  notwithstanding  the  products  obtained  from  it  have  a] 
ways  formed  the  principal  beverage  of  the  great  bulk  of  the 
people,  the  consumption  of  malt  varied  very  little  from  tbe 
beginning  of  the  last  century  till  within  the  last  half  dozen 
years!     This  extraordinary  result,  so  different  from  what 

would  have  been  a  priori  anticipated,  i-  BSCrlbable  partly  to 
tbe  increased  duties  laid  on  malt,  but  still  more  to  il 

Increase  of  those  laid  on  beer,  its  principal  product  .No 
doubt,  however,  it  has  been  partly,  also,  occasioned  by  the 
Change  that  has  taken  place  in  the  mode  of  living  by  the  in 

traduction  ami  universal  n->-  of  tea,  coffee,  and  other  articles 

substituted  in  the  place  of  beer.     But  the  increase  that  has  , 
700 


MAMMALIA. 

taken  place  in  the  consumption  of  malt  since  the  reduction 
of  the  duty  on  it  in  1822,  and  the  repeal  of  the  beer  duty  in 
1830,  seems  to  prove  that  the  duties  were  at  least  quite  as 
instrumental  in  checking  the  consumption  as  'the  introduc- 
tion of  the  articles  alluded  to.  Hall  was  first  made  to  con- 
tribute to  the  public  revenue  in  England  in  Ki'.iT.  in  Scotland 
in  1713,  and  in  Ireland  in  17S,").  From  the  period  at  which 
the  duty  was  first  levied  on  malt  down  to  the  present  lime, 

it  has  been  subject  to  numerous  changes,  a  succinct  account 

of  which  will  he  found  in  the  Penny  Oyclopadia.  The  pres- 
ent duty  on  malt  from  barley  is  2s.  ~d.  per  bushel,  and  from 
bere  or  bigg,  2s.  The  quantity  of  malt  charged  with  duty 
in  the  United  Kingdom  during  the  three  years  ending  1838, 
averaged  418,148,81 1  bushels;  and  the  revenue  derived  from 
it  averaged,  in  the  same  period,  £5,282,972. 

MALTHA.  A  mineralogical  term  applied  to  mineral 
pitch;  an  inflammable  bituminous  product,  probably  derived 
from  the  exsiccation  of  mineral  tar.  A  cement  containing 
mineral  pitch  was  used  by  the  ancients  for  plastering  their 
walls,  and  was  composed  of  pitch,  wax,  plaster,  and  grease. 
Another  sort,  with  which  the  Romans  used  to  plaster  the 
interior  of  their  aqueducts,  was  made-  of  lime  incorporated 
with  melted  pitch.  The  various  bituminous  pavements 
which  have  lately  come  into  use  are  similar  combinations. 

MALVA'CE.'E.  (Malva,  one  of  the  genera.)  A  natural 
order  of  mucilaginous  Exogenous  plants,  with  polypetak>US 
flowers  and  monadelphous  stamens.  The  species  are  herbs, 
bushes,  or  trees,  and  are  found  all  over  the  temperate  and 
tropical  parts  of  the  world,  especially  the  latter.  Their 
flowers  are  in  many  cases  large  and  handsome ;  but  the  or- 
der is  chiefly  interesting  from  the  Qossypium,  or  true  cotton 
plant,  forming  a  part  of  it.  Another  species  is  the  marsh 
mallow,  or  *1ltha*a  officinalis ;  and  some  yield  a  fibre  fit  for 
manufacture  into  cordage. 

MA'MELUKE.  (Arabic,  memalik,  a  slave.)  A  name 
applied  to  the  male  slaves  imported  from  Circassia  into  Egypt 
by  the  master  of  that  country.  In  the  13th  century,  when 
the  countries  in  the  vicinity  of  Mount  Caucasus  were  rav- 
aged by  Genghis  Khan,  Nojmedden,  sultan  of  Egypt,  pur- 
chased several  thousands  of  the  natives  of  those  regions, 
especially  Turks,  and  formed  them  into  an  armed  body  of 
guards.  These  guards,  or  Mamelukes,  in  the  sequel,  seized 
on  all  the  power  of  the  country,  murdered  the  sultan  Touran 
Shah,  A.D.  1258,  and  made  Ibeg,  one  of  their  own  number, 
his  successor.  After  that  period  the  Mamelukes,  whose 
numbers  were  continually  enriched  by  importations  from 
their  own  country,  governed  Egypt  263  years.  (See  Gibbon, 
vol.  xi.)  This  military  sovereignty  was  destroyed  by  Selim 
I.,  the  Turkish  sultan,  who  took  Cairo  in  1517.  Neverthe- 
less, the  Mamelukes,  under  their  24  beys,  continued  for  200 
years  more  to  exercise  a  power  scarcely  interior  to  that  of 
the  Turkish  pachas,  whom,  in  the  18th  century,  they  re- 
duced to  mere  ciphers  in  the  government.  Their  power  was 
again  considerably  broken  by  the  French  invasion  under 
Bonaparte,  to  which  they  offered  a  determined  opposition. 
After  the  abandonment  of  Egypt  by  the  French,  the  struggle 
between  the  beys  and  the  pachas  was  renewed :  finally,  in 
1811,  the  present  pacha,  Mohammed  Ali,  having  invited  the 
principal  leaders  of  the  Mamelukes  to  a  banquet,  slew  470 
of  them  by  treachery,  and  compelled  the  remainder  to  sub- 
mission. 

MA'MERTINE  PRISONS.     See  Prisons. 

MAMMA'LIA.  (Lat.  mamma,  a  teat.)  The  most  highly 
organized  class  of  animals,  at  the  head  of  the  great  scale 
of  organized  nature.  They  possess  mammary  glands,  and 
suckle  their  young:  the  foetus  is  developed  in  the  womb. 
Their  external  distinguishing  marks  are,  a  covering  of  hair, 
and  teats  or  nipples;  but  to  the  manifestation  of  these  two 
characters  there  are  a  few  exceptions.  The  principal  ana- 
tomical character  is  the  condition  of  the  longs,  which  are 
suspended  freely  in  a  thoracic  cavity, separated  by  a  perfect 
diaphragm  from  the  abdomen.  The  entire  tissue  of  the 
lungs  Is  Occupied  by  extremely  minute  air  cells,  with  highly 
vascular  parietcs,  so  that  the  air  Inspired  is  rapidly  decom- 
posed, and  breathing  can  be  safely  suspended  only  for  a 
short  time.  The  whole  mass  of  circulating  blood  is  trans- 
mitted  to  the  lungs  i>>  the  mechanism  of  a  pulmonary  auri- 
cle and  ventricle,  equally  perfect,  and  inferior  only  in  power 

to  the  systemic  auricle  and  ventricle,  which  subsequently 

propel   the  aBrated  blood  to  the  general  system:  the  heart 
consequently  consists  of  four  distinct  cavities. 

The  upper  jaw  of  the  Mammalia  is  fixed  ;  the  two  rami 
of  the  lower  jaw  conslsteach  of  a  single  bony  piece,  and  are 
articulated  by  n  convex  or  flat  condyle  to  the  base  of  the 
zygomatic  process,  and  not  the  tympanic  element  of  the  tem- 
poral hone.  With  a  few  exceptions,  the  jaws  of  the  Mam- 
malia are  armed  with  teeth  :  these  are  arranged  in  a  single 
row.  are  lodged  in  sockets,  sometimes  by  two  or  more  fangs, 
and  are  never  anchylosed  to  the  substance  of  the  jaw.  A 
deciduous  tooth  is  never  succeeded  by  more  than  one  cor- 
responding tooth  in  the  vertical  direction.  The  tongue  is 
fleshy,  well  developed,  with  the  apex  more  or  less  free. 


MAMMALIA. 


The  posterior  openings  of  the  nasal  passages  are  protected 
by  the  "soft  palate,"  and  the  larynx,  or  opening  of  the  wind- 
pipe, by  an  "epiglottis."  The  alimentary  canal  varies  with 
the  nature  of  the  food,  but  the  "ccecum  coli"  is  usually 
single.  The  rectum  commonly  terminates  by  a  distinct  aper- 
ture behind  the  urinary  and  generative  orifices. 

The  bodies  of  the  vertebra;  have  their  articular  surfaces 
more  or  less  flattened,  and  always  joined  together  by  a  series 
of  concentric  ligaments  with  interposed  glairy  fluid.  The 
cervical  vertebrae,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  are  seven  in 
number.  The  atlas  is  articulated  by  two  surfaces  to  two 
occipital  condvles,  developed  from  the  ex-occipital  elements. 
With  two  exceptions,  the  coracoid  bone  appears  as  a  small 
process  or  appendage  of  the  scapula.  The  sternum  is  nar- 
row, and  consists  of  a  simple  longitudinal  series  of  bones. 

The  brain  presents  its  highest  state  of  development  in  the 
Mammalia :  it  consists  of  a  cerebrum,  which  is  generally 
more  or  less  convoluted,  a  cerebellum  with  lateral  lobes,  and 
a  medulla  oblongata  with  a  distinct  "  tuber  annulare."  The 
optic  lobes  are  solid,  divided  by  a  transverse  fissure,  and 
hence  called  "  bigeminal  bodies :"  they  are  situated  on  the 
upper  part  of  the  crura  cerebri,  and  are  generally  concealed 
by  the  overlapping  posterior  cerebral  lobes.  The  rudiment 
of  the  "corpus  callosum,"  or  great  cerebral  commissure, 
first  begins  to  be  distinctly  recognisable  in  the  Implacental 
Mammalia ;  and  in  a  state  of  normal  development,  or  where 
it  bears  a  direct  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  corpora  striata 
or  hemispheres  of  the  brain,  it  is  peculiar  to  the  Placental 
Mammalia. 

The  eyes  of  the  Mammalia  are  never  complicated  with  a 
pecten  or  marsupium,  a  choroid  gland,  or  sclerotic  bony 
plates. 

The  organ  of  hearing  acquires  in  the  Mammalia  a  fully 
developed  cochlea  with  a  "  lamina  spiralis :"  there  are  three 
distinct  ossicles  in  the  tympanum ;  the  drum,  or  membrana 
tympani,  is  usually  concave  towards  the  meatus,  which 
generally  commences  with  a  more  or  less  complicated  ex- 
ternal ear,  supported  by  a  distinct  fibro-cartilage. 

The  Mammalia,  without  exception,  bring  forth  their  young 
alive ;  hence  they  were  termed  by  Aristotle  Zootoca.  This 
phenomenon  is,  however,  by  no  means  peculiar  to  the  pres- 
ent class ;  but  it  was  supposed  that  they  differed  from  other 
viviparous  animals,  as  the  viper,  in  the  development  of  the 
germ  by  means  of  a  placenta.  Such,  however,  is  not  the 
case  with  the  marsupial  animals,  and  probably  not  with  the 
Monotremes;  and  as  the  absence  of  the  placenta  is  associa- 
ted with  several  important  modifications  of  structure  in  the 
species  so  developed,  by  which  they  approximate  to  the  char- 
acters of  the  oviparous  classes,  the  class  Mammalia  may 
be  primarily  divided  into  two  great  sub-classes,  called  Pla- 
centalia  and  Implacentalia. 

Before,  however,  the  subdivisions  of  these  groups  are  char- 
acterized, it  may  be  advantageous  to  trace  the  principal 


steps  by  which  the  present  views  of  the  affinities  and  clas* 
sification  of  the  Mammalia  have  been  acquired. 

Aristotle,  although  he  has  left  no  evidence  of  a  systematic 
arrangement  of  the  Mammalia  in  which  the  succession  and 
subordination  of  the  orders  and  families  are  methodically 
laid  down,  was  nevertheless  the  first  who  indicated  the 
larger  groups  into  which  the  Mammalia  resolved  themselves, 
according  to  their  natural  affinities. 

We  may  infer,  e.  g.,  from  one  part  of  the  Historic,  Ani- 
malium,  that  the  Zootoca  would  be  divided,  according  to  the 
nature  of  their  locomotive  organs,  into  three  sections:  1st, 
Dipoda,  or  bipeds  ;  2d,  Tetrapoda,  or  quadrupeds ;  and,  3d, 
Apoda,  or  impeds.  Man  is  cited  as  the  type  of  the  first,  and 
the  whale  tribe  is  included  in  the  last  of  these  primary 
groups ;  the  second  embraces  all  the  rest  of  the  class,  which, 
in  common  language,  are  called  quadrupeds.  These  Aris- 
totle subdivides  into  two  great  natural  groups,  according  to 
the  modifications  of  the  organs  of  touch.  In  the  first,  a  part 
of  the  digits  is  left  free  for  the  exercise  of  the  tactile  faculty, 
the  nail  or  claw  being  placed  upon  one  side  only :  in  the  sec- 
ond group  the  extremities  of  the  digits  are  enclosed  in  hoofs. 

The  first  of  these  subdivisions  is  acknowledged  to  be  nat- 
ural, and  has  been  retained  by  modern  mammalogists  under 
the  name  of.  Unguiculata.  The  following  families  were 
characterized  in  it  by  Aristotle:  1st,  those  which  have  the 
front  teeth  trenchant,  and  the  back  teeth  flattened,  as  the 
Pithecoida.  or  apes,  and  the  Dcrmaptera,  or  bats ;  2d,  those 
with  acuminated,  trenchant,  or  carnivorous  teeth,  which 
Aristotle  calls  Karcharadonta  ;  3d,  the  Rodent  quadrupeds, 
which  are  indicated  by  a  negative  dental  character.  With 
respect  to  the  hoofed  or  "ungulate"  quadrupeds,  Aristotle 
points  out  subordinate  groups,  and  characterizes  them  by 
modifications  of  the  feet.  Thus,  the  1st  are  the  Polyschidce, 
or  multungulate  quadrupeds,  as  the  elephant;  the  2d  are 
the  Dischidce,  or  bisulcate  quadrupeds,  as  the  Ruminants  and 
hog ;  the  3d  are  the  AschidcE,  or  solidungulate  quadrupeds, 
as  the  horse  and  ass.  From  the  imperfect  mode  in  which 
the  zoological  writings  of  the  Stagyrite  have  been  handed 
down,  we  have  not  the  means  of  knowing  whether  Aristotle 
viewed  any  of  the  groups  thus  defined  in  their  relation  of 
subordination  to  each  other,  or  in  the  spirit  of  modem  classi- 
fication ;  for  although  they  agree  in  relative  value  with  those 
termed  Classes,  Orders,  Families,  Genera,  yet  Aristotle  ap- 
plies to  each  of  them  the  same  denomination,  viz.,  genos,  or 
genus. 

The  honour  of  having  formed  an  original  scheme  for  the 
classification  of  quadrupeds,  in  which  the  subordination  of 
characters  and  of  groups  is  attended  to,  is  due  to  our  great 
countryman  Ray.  From  Aristotle  to  his  time  the  classifica- 
tion of  the  Mammalia  received  no  improvement  worthy  of 
notice.  Ray's  arrangement  is  given  in  a  tabular  form  in 
his  Synopsis  Silethodica  Animalium  Quadrupedum,  and  is 
as  follows : 


A  Table  of  Viciparous  four-footed  Animals. 
Viviparous  hairy  animals  or  quadrupeds  are, 
Ungulate ;  and  these  either 

f  Solidipedous,  as  the  Horse,  Ass,  Zebra. 
Bisulcate,  which  are 

{Ruminants  with  horns,  that  are 
f  Persistent,  as  in  the  Ox,  Sheep,  Goat ; 
or        <         or 
[  Deciduous,  as  in  the  Stag. 
Not  Ruminants,  as  the  Hog. 
Quadrisulcate,  as  the  Rhinoceros,  Hippopotamus. 
I.  Unguiculate,  whose  feet  are  either 

i  Bifid,  as  in  the  Camel,  or 
(  Multifid,  which  are 

(With  digits  adhering  together,  and  covered  with  a  common  integument,  so  that  the 
extremities  alone  are  visible  at  the  margin  of  the  foot,  and  are  covered  with  obtuse 
nails,  as  in  the  Elephant. 
With  digits  in  some  measure  distinct,  and  separable  from  each  other,  the  nails  being 
f  Depressed,  as  in  Apes ; 

1  or 

[  Compressed,  where  the  incisor  teeth  are 

(Many,  in  which  group  all  the  animals  are  carnivorous  and 
rapacious,  or  at  least  insectivorous,  or  subsist  on 
insects,  with  vegetable  matter. 
The  larger  ones  with  the 

.Muzzle  short,  and  head  rounded,  as  the 

Feline  tribe :  or  with  the 
Muzzle  long,  as  the  Canine  tribe. 
The  smaller  ones  with  a  long,  slender  body,  and 
short  extremities,   as  the  Weasel  or  Ver- 
mine*  tribe. 
Tico  very  large,  of  which  tribe  all  the  species  are  phytivorous, 
as  the  Hare. 

"  The  anomalous  species,"  he  afterwards  observes,  I  tamandua,  the  bat,  and  the  sloth.  The  first  five  of  these 
"among  the  viviparous  quadrupeds,  with  a  multifid  foot,  species  agree  with  the  canine  and  vermine  genera  in  their 
are  the  hedgehog,  the  armadillo,  the  mole,  the  shrew,  the  |  elongatedmuzzle,  but  differ  from  them  in  the  form  and  dis- 


#  Geaus  Vermineum,  from  their  wonulilse  form. 


707 


MAMMALIA. 


i.m  of  the  teeth;  the  tamandua,  indeed,  is  altogether 
destitute  of  tcetli :  the  remaining  two  anomalous  species 
have  the  muzzle  shortened." 
Linmrus  defines  the  class  Mammalia  as  follows:  Heart 

With  two  auricles  and  tWO  ventricles;  blood  wiinn  ;  lungs 
respiring  reciprocally  (pulniones  respirantcs  reciproce) ;  jaws 
Incumbent,  covered*  armed  with  teeth  in  most;  penis  in- 
trans ;  generation  viviparous,  lactiferous ;  si  mm,  tongue, 
nostrils,  eyes,  ears,  tactile  papilla; ;  covering,  hairs  few  in 
tropical,  very  sparing  in  aquatic,  mammals;  support,  four 
feet,  except  In  those  which  are  entirely  aquatic,  in  which 
the  posterior  feet  are  hound  together  in  the  tin  of  the  tail ;  a 
tail  in  most. 

Linnajus,  like  Aristotle  and  Ray,  founds  his  primary  di- 
visions of  the  class  Mammalia  on  tiie  locomotive  organs; 
hut  his  secondary  divisions  or  orders  are  taken  chiefly  from 
modifications  of  the  dentary  system.  The  following  is  the 
scheme  of  his  arrangement : 

Mammalia. 

C  Front  teeth,  none  in  either  jaw Brata. 

Thumi&mfitiim  <  Front  teeth,  cutters  2,  laniaries  0 Glires. 

t- ngU'C"""'  \  Front  teelh,  cutleri  4,  laniaries  I Primato. 

'  Front  teeth,  piercerf  (6,  2,  10),  laniaries  1      .    .     Fern. 
Jf-n^nnip         5  Front  teeth,  in  both  upper  and  lower  jaw      .    .     Jidlitir. 
vnguuut     .    JFront  iceth,  nooe  jn  t he  upper  jiw        ....    Puma. 

Muticatl      .      Teeth  variable Ccte. 

(From  the  Systema  Nature  ed.  16,  Holmiae,  p.  24.) 

On  comparing  the  three  preceding  systems,  it  will  be  found 
that  the  most  important  errors  of  arrangement  have  been 
committed,  not  by  Aristotle,  but  by  the  modern  naturalists. 
Both  Ray  and  Linnaus  have  mistaken  the  character  of  the 
horny  parts  enveloping  the  toes  of  the  elephant,  which  do 
not  defend  the  upper  part  merely,  as  is  the  case  with  claws, 
but  embrace  the  under  parts  also,  forming  a  complete  case  or 
hoof. 

With  respect  to  Linna?us,  however,  it  must  be  observed, 
that  although  he  has  followed  Ray  in  placing  the  elephant 
in  the  unguiculate  group  of  quadrupeds,  he  has  not  over- 
looked the  great  natural  divisions  which  the  latter  naturalist 
adopted  front  Aristotle,  as  is  evident  from  the  table  above 
quoted.  He  erred,  perhaps,  in  not  giving  names  to  those 
primary  divisions. 

From  the  manner  in  which  Linnajus  has  arranged  his  or- 
ders in  this  table,  it  would  seem  that  he  had  the  circular 
progression  of  affinities  in  view.  The  walrus  among  Bruta 
connects  the  commencement  of  the  chain  with  Cetc,  which 
forms  the  last  link;  but  whether  or  not  he  had  perceived 
the  affinity  of  F.Irphas  to  the  Glires,  and  intended  it  as  the 
transitional  genus  to  that  order,  as  Cuvier  has  subsequently 
shown,  is  less  certain. 

Pallas,  in  his  great  posthumous  work,  entitled  Zoographia 
Rosso-Asiatiea,  has  given  the  following  outline  of  a  Syste- 
ma  Mammalium  : 

Ordo  I.  Ferte,.— 1.  Felis;  2.  Canis;  3.  Ursus;   4.  Meles;  5. 
Viverra ;  6.  Mustela ;  7.  Phoca. 
II.  Semifere.-*-l.  Simia;   2.  Lemur;   3.  Didelphys;  4. 
Vespertilio ;  5.  Talpa  ;  6.  Sorex  ;  7.  Erinaceus. 

III.  Glires.— I.  Hystrix ;  2.  Castor ;  3.  Lepus ;  4.  Arc- 

tomys;  5.  Spalax;  6.  Cricetus;  7.  Mus;  8.  Myo- 
da;  0.  Myoxus;  10.  Dipus  ;  11.  Sciurus. 

IV.  Ruminantia. — 1.  Camelus;   2.  Moschus;   3.  Cer- 

vus;  4.  ^Egoceros;  5.  Bos;  6.  Antilopes. 
V.  Anomalopoda. — 1.  Equus;   2.  Sus;   3.  Rhinoceros; 

4.  Hippopotamus. 
VI.  Bellum. — 1.  Elephas;  2.  Rosmarus. 
VII.  Cetacea. — 1.  Manntus;   2.  Delphinus;   3.  Physeter; 
4.  BaUena ;  5.  Ceratodon. 
We  shall  now  proceed  to  the  arrangement  of  the  Mam- 
malia proposed  by  Cuvier  in  the  last  edition  of  the  Regno 
Animal ;  ami  tins  is  the  more  interesting,  as,  in  giving  the 
outline  of  this  method,  Cuvier  develops  the  principles  on 
which  his  divisions  are  founded. 

"The  characters  by  which  Mammalia  difTer  most  essen- 
tially one  from  another  are  derived  from  the  organs  of 
touch,  from  which  results  their  degree  of  dexteritj  ;  and 
from  the  organs  of  mastication,  which  determine  the  nature 
of  their  food  ;  and  upon  these  very  closely  depends  not  only 
everything  whicb  is  connected  with  the  digestive  functions, 
but  a  variety  of  other  circumstances  relative  even  to  their 
degrees  of  intelligence. 

"The  perfection  of  the  organs  of  touch  is  estimated  by  the 
number  and  mobility  of  the  digits,  ami  the  extent  of  which 
they  are  enclosed  in  a  claw  or  in  a  hoof.  A  hoof  which 
Completely  encloses  that  part  of  the  (licit  u  Inch  touches  the 
ground  precludes  the  exercise  of  it  as  an  organ  of  touch  or 
I"'  tension.  The  opposite  extreme  is  where  the  nail,  in  the 
form  of  ;i  simple  lamina,  covers  only  one  side  of  the  end  of 
the  digit,  leaving  the  other  side  in  posses-ion  of  all  its  deli- 
cacj  of  tact 

"The  kind  of  food  is  indicated  by  the  molar  teeth,  to  the 
form  of  which  the  articulation  of  the  jaws  Invariably  cone 
sponds. 

708 


"For cutting  flesh,  the  molar  teeth  must  be  trenchant  and 
seriated  ;  and  the  jaws  tilted  together, SO  as  to  move  like  the 
blades  of  a  pair  of  scissors,  simply  opening  and  closing  in 
the  vertictil  direction. 

"For  bruising  grains  and  roots,  the  molar  teeth  must  have 
flattened  crowns,  and  the  jaws  a  horizontal  motion:  and 
farther,  that  the  grinding  surface  maybe  always  unequal, 
like  a  millstone,  the  teeth  must  lie  composed  of  BUbstances 
of  different  degrees  of  density,  and  Consequently  wearing 
down  in  different  proportions. 

"The  ungulate  quadrupeds  are  all,  of  necessity,  herbivo- 
rous, or  with  Mat  crowned  molares,  because  the  conforma- 
tion of  their  feet  does  not  permit  them  to  seize  living  prej . 

"The  unguiculate  animals  are  susceptible  of  more  varie- 
ty. They  are  not  limited  to  one  kind  of  food  ;  and.  besides 
the  consequent  variation  in  the  form  of  their  molares,  they 
differ  materially  from  each  other  in  the  mobility  and  sensi- 
bility of  their  digits.  There  is,  moreover,  a  characteristic 
which  prodigiously  influences  their  dexterity,  and  gives  va- 
riety to  their  modes  of  action  :  it  is  the  faculty  of  opposing 
a  thumb  to  the  other  fingers,  eo  as  to  seize  the  smallest  ob- 
jects, which  constitutes  a  lianil,  properly  so  called.  This 
faculty  is  carried  to  its  highest  degree  of  perfection  in  man, 
in  whom  the  whole  anterior  extremity  is  free,  and  can  be 
exclusively  employed  in  prehension.  These  different  com- 
binations, which  strictly  determine  the  nature  of  the  sever- 
al raammiferous  animals,  have  formed  the  grounds  for  their 
distribution  into  the  following  orders: 

"Among  the  unguiculate  animals,  the  first  is  man,  who, 
in  addition  to  his  peculiar  privileges  in  every  respect,  is  dis- 
tinguished, zoologically,  by  possessing  hands  on  the  anterior 
extremities  alone,  the  posterior  extremities  being  destined 
to  sustain  him  in  an  erect  position. 

"The  order  which  comes  nearest  to  man — that  termed 
Quadrumana — has  hands  on  the  four  extremities. 

"Another  order,  termed  Carnivora,  has  not  the  thumb 
free  and  opposable  on  the  anterior  extremities. 

"These  three  orders  possess,  likewise,  severally,  the  three 
kinds  of  teeth;  viz.,  molars,  laniaries,  and  incisors. 

"The  quadrupeds  of  the  fourth  order,  viz.,  the  Rodentia, 
have  the  digits  differing  little  from  those  of  the  Carnivora  ; 
but  they  want  the  laniary  teeth,  and  have  the  incisors  of  a 
form  and  disposition  altogether  peculiar  to  themselves. 

"To  these  succeed  the  animals  whose  digits  now  become 
much  cramped,  being  sunk  deep  in  large,  and,  most  com- 
monly, crooked  claws.  They  are  farther  defective  in  the 
absence  of  incisor  teeth ;  some  of  them  even  want  the  loni- 
aries,  and  others  are  altogether  destitute  of  dentary  organs. 
We  shall  comprehend  them  under  the  term  Edentata. 

"This  distribution  of  unguiculate  animals  would  be  per- 
fect, and  would  form  a  very  regular  chain,  if  New-Holland 
had  not  lately  furnished  us  with  a  small  collateral  chain, 
composed  of  the  Marsupial  animals,  all  the  genera  of  which, 
while  they  are  connected  by  a  general  similarity  of  organi- 
zation, at  the  same  time  correspond,  in  their  dentition  and 
diet,  some  to  the  Carnivora,  others  to  the  Rodentia,  and  a 
third  tribe  to  the  Edentata. 

"The  ungulate  animals  are  less  numerous,  and  present 
fewer  variations  of  form. 

"The  Ruminantia,  by  their  cloven  feet,  their  want  of  up- 
per incisors,  and  their  complicated  stomach,  form  a  very  dis- 
tinct order. 

"All  the  other  quadrupeds  with  hoofs  might  be  united 
into  a  single  order,  which  I  would  call  Pachydermata  or 
Jumrnta;  the  elephant  excepted,  which  might  form  an 
order  of  itself,  having  some  remote  affinities  to  the  order 
Rodentia. 

"Last  of  all  come  the  Mammalia  which  have  no  hinder 
extremities,  and  whose  ti>h  like  form  and  aquatic  life  would 
induce  us  to  form  them  into  a  separate  class,  if  their  econo- 
my was  not  in  every  other  respect  the  same  as  in  the  class 
in  which  we  shall  leave  them.  They  are  the  warm  blood- 
ed fishes  of  the  ancients,  or  the  Cetacea,  which,  combining 
the  powers  of  other  Mammalia  with  the  advantage  of  being 
sustained  upon  the  watery  element,  include  the  most  gigan- 
tic forms  to  be  found  In  the  whole  animal  creation."  (Regne 
minimal,  2d  ed.,  p.  65.) 

The  proofs  that  the  small  collateral  rhain  of  mammals 
which  New  Holland  has  principally  furnished  form  a  dis- 
tinct primary  group  in  that  class,  have  been  successively  es- 
tablished in  the  memoirs  by  Mr.  Owen  on  the  Generation, 
the  Structure  of  the  lirain,  the  Osteology,  and  the  Classifi- 
cation of  the  Marsupial  Animals,  and  on  the  Mammary 
Glands,  the  <  >viim.  and  the  Voting  of  the  Ornithorhynchus, 
published  in  the  Philosophical  and  Zoological  Transactions. 
In  the  latest  classifications  of  the  Mammalia  (Charles  Lii- 
cieu  Bonaparte,  Systema  Vertebratorum ;  Martin,  History 
of  Mammalia),  the  binary  division  of  the  class  Mammalia, 
founded  on  the  anatomical  and  physiological  facts  detailed 
in  those  memoirs,  has  been  adopted. 

The  fust  of  these  divisions,  which  we  have  proposed  to 
call  subclass  Place.ntaua,  includes  the  following  orders: 


MAMMALOGY. 

I.  Bimana. — Ex. :  Man. 
II.  Quadrumana. — Ex. :  Ape,  Monkey,  Lemur. 

III.  Cheiroptera. — Ex. :  Bat. 

IV.  Jnsectivora.—Ex. :  Shrew,  Mole,  Hedgehog. 

V.  Carnivora.—  Ex. :  Dog,  Civet, Cat,  Weasel, Bear,  Seal. 
VI.  Cetacea. — Ex. :  Porpoise,  Whale. 
VII.  PacJiyderma.  —  Ex. :    Manatee,   Hippopotamus,    Ele- 
phant, Hog,  Horse. 
VIII.  Ruminantia.—iZx. :  Camel,  Deer,  Antilope,  Ox. 
IX.  Edentata.— Ex. :  Sloth,  Anteater,  Manis,  Armadillo. 

X.  Rodentia.— Ex. :  Rat.  Squirrel,  Rabbit,  Guinea-pig. 

The  second  division,  or  the  subclass  Implacentalia,  in- 
cludes the  orders, 
XI.  Marsupiata.-^Ex.:  Wombat,  Kangaroo,  Opossum. 
XII.  Monotremata.— Ex. :  Omithorhynchus. 

Besides  the  modification  introduced  into  the  Cuvierian 
system  in  the  binary  subdivision  of  the  class,  there  are  a  few 
minor  differences  in  the  above  classification  on  which  some 
explanation  is  requisite. 

From  Pallas's  great  group  of  Semifcrw,  the  families  of 
which  he  conceived  to  be  linked  together  by  an  uninterrupt- 
ed series  of  affinities,  the  Simim  and  Opossums  are  removed, 
in  the  Cuvierian  system,  to  form  the  types  of  two  distinct 
orders :  we  conceive  that  the  modification  of  the  locomotive 
system,  by  which  the  bat  is  enabled  to  fly,  is  as  cogent  an 
argument  for  regarding  it  as  the  type  of  an  order,  as  the 
hinder  hands  are  in  the  case  of  the  ape  and  lemur.  The 
Insectivera,  also,  in  their  continuous  dental  series,  com- 
paratively feeble  canines,  and  generally  perfect  clavicles, 
seem  to  claim  equivalency  of  rank  with  the  remaining  Car- 
nassiers  of  the  Cuvierian  system,  which  will  thus  corre- 
spond with  the  Fcrm  of  Pallas.  From  the  seals,  with  their 
largely  developed  brains,  acuminated  teeth,  and  rudimental 
hind  fins,  the  transition  seems  more  natural  to  the  piscivo- 
rous Cetacea.  The  herbivorous  Cetacea,  for  reasons  given 
at  length  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Zoological  Society,  1838, 
we  propose  to  remove  to  the  Pachyderma,  between  which 
and  the  true  Cetacea  they  unquestionably  form  transitional 
links.  No  linear  arrangement  of  the  orders  of  a  class  can 
ever  express  more  than  a  part  of  their  mutual  affinities.  If 
we  were  to  place  them  according  to  their  natural  relations, 
the  Quadrumana  would  occupy  the  centre  of  the  class, 
as  from  these  the  greatest  number  and  variety  of  affinities 
seem  to  radiate.  Thus,  the  genus  Galeopithccus  leads  to 
the  Cheiroptera,  the  Lemur  to  the  Carnivora,  the  Loris  to 
the  sloths  among  the  Edentata ;  while  with  the  Rodentia 
the  Lemurs  claim  close  alliance  through  the  Cheiromys  or 
Aye-aye.  The  Insectivora  closely  approach  one  extreme 
of  the  implacental  group,  while  the  Edentata  join  the 
other.  The  Rodentia  approach  still  more  closely  to  the 
marsupial  wombat.  The  Rodentia,  again,  by  the  Capybara 
and  the  extinct  Toxodon,  evidently  merge  into  the  Pachy- 
derma ;  and  the  Patagonian  hare  seems  to  lead  them  to  the 
small  musk-deer  among  the  Ruminantia.  The  Edentata 
have  lost  in  the  mailed  Glyptodon  a  transitional  step  to  the 
thick  and  tubercular-hided  rhinoceros.  The  twofold  affin- 
ity of  the  Cetacea  to  the  seals  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  the 
manatee  and  the  hippopotamus  on  the  other,  has  been  al- 
ready alluded  to. 

In  this  reticulate  interweaving  of  affinities,  under  which 
image  the  true  relations  of  the  Mammalia,  as  at  present 
known,  can  alone  be  impartially  and  faithfully  expressed, 
it  will  be  observed  that,  as  the  series  diverge  from  the 
Quadrumana,  they  likewise  descend ;  so  that  the  scheme 
may  be  likened  to  a  cone,  of  which  Man  is  the  culminating 
point. 

From  different  points  at  the  base  of  this  cone  the  connex- 
ion may  be  traced  with  the  inferior  classes:  the  most  di- 
rect transition  appears  to  be  made  by  the  Monotremes  to  the 
class  of  Reptiles.  The  extinct  Enaliosauria  once  formed  a 
transition,  perhaps  not  less  close,  from  the  crocodiles  to  the 
Cetacea.  The  Pterodactyles  seem  to  have  connected  the 
Cheiroptera  with  the  flying  ovipara.  The  Mammalia  which 
present  the  closest  relations  to  birds  are  the  marsupial  Pe- 
taurists  and  the  arboreal  Rodents  ;  but  the  hiatus  is  great. 
Between  mammals  and  fishes,  the  reptiles  interpose  at  all 
points ;  the  extinct  Ichthyosaurus  seems  to  have  been  the 
transitional  step  from  the  Cetacea  to  the  true  fishes. 

MAMMA'LOGY.  (Lat.  mamma,  a  teat;  Gr.  \oyoc,  a 
discourse.)  The  science  of  Mammals :  the  doctrine  of  their 
organization,  habits,  properties,  and  classification.  See  Mam- 
malia. 

MA'MMIFERS,  Mammifera.  (Lat.  mamma,  a  teat ;  fe- 
ro,  I  bear.)  A  term  synonymous  with  Mammals,  or  Mam- 
malia. 

MAMMI'LLARY.  (Lat.  dim.  mammilla.)  In  Geology, 
a  surface  studded  over  with  rounded  projections. 

MA'MMON  (Syr.),  used  in  scripture  to  signify  either 
riches,  or  the  god  thereof.  By  poetic  license  Milton  makes 
Mammon  one  of  the  fallen  angels,  and  has  portrayed  his 
character  in  some  admirable  lines,  which  are  too  well 
known  to  be  cited  here. 

a 


MAMMOTH. 

MAMMOTH.  A  word  of  Tartar  origin,  applied  in  Sibe- 
ria to  burrowing  animals.  It  is  commonly  applied  to  an 
extinct  species  of  elephant  (Elephas  primigenius,  Blum.). 
The  remains  of  this  animal  occur  pretty  frequently  in  the 
newer  tertiary  deposits  in  England,  the  continent  of  Europe, 
and  Asia.  In  Siberia  an  entire  animal  has  been  discovered, 
with  the  soft  parts  preserved  in  the  frozen  soil  of  the  banks 
of  a  Siberian  river.  The  particulars  of  this  remarkable  dis- 
covery are  as  follow:  In  1799,  a  Tungusian,  named  Schu- 
marhotf,  who  generally  went  to  hunt  and  fish  at  the  penin- 
sula at  Tamut,  after  the  fishing  season  of  the  Lena  was 
over  had  constructed  for  his  wife  some  cabins  on  the  banks 
of  the  lake  Opcoul,  and  had  embarked  to  seek  along  the 
coasts  for  mammoth  boms  (tusks).  One  day  he  saw  among 
the  blocks  of  ice  a  shapeless  mass,  but  did  not  then  discover 
what  it  was.  In  1800  he  perceived  that  this  object  was  more 
disengaged  from  the  ice,  and  that  it  had  two  projecting  parts ; 
and,  towards  the  end  of  the  summer  of  1801,  the  entire  side 
of  the  animal  and  one  of  his  tusks  were  quite  free  from  ice. 
The  summer  of  1802  was  cold  ;  but  in  1803,  part  of  the 
ice  between  the  earth  and  the  mammoth,  for  such  was  the 
object,  having  melted  more  rapidly  than  the  rest,  the  plane 
of  its  support  became  inclined,  and  the  enormous  mass  fell 
by  its  own  weight  on  the  bank  of  sand.  In  March,  1804, 
Schumarhoff  came  to  his  mammoth,  and,  having  cut  off  the 
tusks,  exchanged  them  with  a  merchant  for  goods  of  the 
value  of  fifty  rubles.  Adams  gives  the  following  account 
of  this  remarkable  occurrence.  "  Two  years  afterwards,  or 
the  seventh  after  the  discovery  of  the  mammoth,  I  fortu- 
nately traversed  these  distant  and  desert  regions,  and  I  con- 
gratulate myself  in  being  able  to  prove  a  fact  which  appears 
so  improbable.  I  found  the  mammoth  still  in  the  same 
place,  but  altogether  mutilated.  The  prejudices  being  dissi- 
pated, because  the  Tungusian  chief  had  recovered,  there 
was  no  obstacle  to  prevent  approach  to  the  carcass  of  the 
mammoth ;  the  proprietor  was  content  with  his  profit  from 
the  tusks,  and  the  Jalutski  of  the  neighbourhood  had  cut  off 
the  flesh,  with  which  they  fed  their  dogs  during  the  scarcity. 
Wild  beasts,  such  as  white  bears,  wolves,  wolverines,  and 
foxes,  also  fed  upon  it,  and  the  traces  of  their  footsteps  were 
seen  around.  The  skeleton,  almost  entirely  cleared  of  its 
flesh,  remained  whole,  with  the  exception  of  one  fore-leg, 
the  spine,  from  the  head  to  the  os  coccygis,  one  scapula :  the 
bones  of  the  other  three  extremities  were  still  held  together 
by  the  ligaments  and  by  parts  of  the  skin.  The  head  was 
covered  with  a  dry  skin  :  one  of  the  ears,  well  preserved, 
was  furnished  with  a  tuft  of  hairs.  All  these  parts  have 
necessarily  been  injured  in  transporting  them  a  distance  of 
11,000  wersts  (7330  miles)  ;  yet  the  eyes  have  been  pre- 
served, and  the  pupil  of  the  eye  can  still  be  distinguished. 
This  mammoth  was  a  male,  with  a  long  mane  on  the  neck, 
but  without  tail  or  proboscis."  (The  places  of  the  insertion, 
of  the  muscles  of  the  proboscis  are,  it  is  asserted,  visible  on 
the  scull ;  and  it  was  probably  devoured,  as  well  as  the  end 
of  the  tail.)  "  The  skin,  of  which  1  possess  three  fourths,  is 
of  a  dark  gray  colour,  covered  with  a  reddish  wool  and  black 
hairs.  The  dampness  of  the  spot  where  the  animal  had  lain 
so  long  had  in  some  degree  destroyed  the  hair.  The  entire 
carcass,  of  which  I  collected  the  bones  on  the  spot,  is  4 
archines  (9  feet  4  inches)  high,  and  7  archines  (16  feet  4 
inches)  long,  from  the  point  of  the  nose  to  the  end  of  the 
tail,  without  including  the  tusks,  which  are  a  toise  and  a 
half  (9  feet  6  inches),  measuring  along  the  curve:  the  dis- 
tance from  the  base  or  root  of  the  tusk  to  the  point  is  3  feet 
7  inches  in  length  ;  the  two  together  weighed  360  lbs.  avoir- 
dupois ;  the  head  alone,  until  the  tusks,  weighs  11  poods  and 
a  half  (414  lbs.  avoirdupois).  The  principal  object  of  my 
care  was  to  separate  the  bones,  to  arrange  them,  and  put 
them  up  safely,  which  was  done  with  particular  attention. 
I  had  the  satisfaction  to  find  the  other  scapula,  which  had 
remained  not  far  off.  I  next  detached  the  skin  of  the  side 
on  which  the  animal  had  lain,  which  was  well  preserved. 
This  skin  was  of  such  extraordinary  weight,  that  ten  per- 
sons found  great  difficulty  in  transporting  it  to  the  shore.  After 
this  I  dug  the  ground  in  various  places,  to  ascertain  whether 
any  of  its  bones  were  buried,  but  principally  to  collect  all  the 
hairs  which  the  white  bears  had  trod  into  the  ground  while 
devouring  the  flesh.  Although  this  was  difficult,  from  the 
want  of  proper  instruments,  I  succeeded  in  collecting  more 
than  a  pood  (36  pounds)  of  hair.  In  a  few  days  the  task 
was  completed,  and  I  found  myself  in  possession  of  a  treas- 
ure which  amply  recompensed  me  for  the  fatigues  and  dan- 
gers of  the  journey,  and  the  considerable  expenses  of  the  en- 
terprise. The  place  where  I  found  the  mammoth  is  about 
60  paces  distant  from  the  shore,  and  nearly  a  hundred  paces 
from  the  escarpment  of  the  ice  from  which  it  had  fallen. 
The  escarpment  occupies  exactly  the  middle  between  the 
two  points  of  the  peninsula,  and  is  three  wersts  long  (two 
miles) ;  and,  in  the  place  where  the  mammoth  was  found, 
this  rock  has  a  perpendicular  elevation  of  30  or  40  toises. 
Its  substance  is  a  clear,  pure  ice ;  it  inclines  towards  the  sea , 
its  top  is  covered  with  a  layer  of  moss  and  friable  earth,  half 


MAN. 


on  archlne  (14  inches)  in  thickness.  During  the  heat  of  the 
month  of  July,  a  part  of  this  crust  is  melted,  but  the  rest  re- 
mains frozen.  Curiosity  induced  me  to  ascend  two  Other 
hills  at  some  distance  from  the  sea:  they  were  of  the  same 
substance,  and  less  covered  with  moss.  In  various  places 
were  seen  enormous  pieces  of  wood  of  all  kinds  produced  in 
Siberia;  and  also  mammoths'  horns  (tasks),  in  great  num- 
bers, appeared  between  the  hollows  of  tile  rocks:  they  all 
were  of  astonishing  freshness.  How  ail  these  things  could 
become  collected  is  as  CUliOUS  as  difficult  to  resolve.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  coast  call  this  kind  of  wood  adaineina, 
and  distinguish  it  from  the  Boating  pieces  of  wood  which  are 
broughtdown  by  the  large  rivers  lo  the  ocean,  and  collect  in 
masses  on  the  shores  of  the  Frozen  Sea  :  the  latter  are  called 
a.  I  have  seen,  when  the  ice  melts,  large  lumps  of 
earth  detached  from  the  hills  mix  wilh  the  water,  and  form 
thick,  muddy  torrents,  which  roll  slowly  towards  the  sea. 
The  earth  forms  wedues  which  till  up  the  spaces  between  the 
blocks  of  ice.  The  escarpment  of  the  ice  was  35  to  40  toises 
high  ;  and.  according  to  the  report  of  the  Tungusians,  the  ani- 
mal was,  when  they  first  saw  it,  seven  toises  below  the  surface 
of  the  Ice,  &c.  On  arriving  with  the  mammoth  at  Boschaya, 
our  tirst  care  was  to  separate  the  remaining  flesh  and  liga- 
ments from  the  bones,  which  were  then  packed  up.  When 
I  arrived  at  Jakutsk  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  repurchase 
the  tusks,  and  from  thence  expedited  them  to  St.  Petersburg. 
This  skeleton  is  now  in  the  museum  of  the  academy,  and 
the  skin  still  remains  attached  to  the  head  and  feet."  A  part 
of  the  skin,  and  some  of  the  hair  of  this  animal,  were  sent  by 
Mr.  Adams  to  Sir  Joseph  Banks,  who  presented  them  to  the 
museum  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons.  The  hair  is  en- 
tirely separated  from  the  skin,  excepting  in  one  very  small 
part,  where  it  still  remains  attached.  It  consists  of  two 
sorts — common  hair  and  bristles ;  that  remaining  fixed  on 
the  skin  is  of  the  colour  of  the  camel,  an  inch  and  a  half 
long,  very  thick  set,  and  curled  in  locks ;  it  is  interspersed 
with  a  few  bristles,  about  three  inches  long,  of  a  dark  reddish 
colour.  The  skin,  when  first  brought  to  the  museum,  was 
offensive ;  it  is  now  quite  dry  and  hard,  and  where  most 
compact  is  half  an  inch  thick.  Its  colour  is  the  dull  black 
of  the  living  elephant's  skin. 

MAN.  (Germ,  mann  ;  probably  from  the  Lat  hnimanua 
or  mens.)  Uf  all  living  beings  on  the  surface  of  this  planet, 
the  first  is  man;  who,  in  addition  to  his  peculiar  privileges 
in  every  other  respect,  is  distinguished  zoologically  by  pos- 
sessing  a  hand  on  the  anterior  extremities  only,  the  posterior 
or  lower  limbs  being  destined  to  sustain  him  in  an  erect  pi  >si- 
tion.  He  is,  however,  naked,  and  without  natural  defen- 
sive or  destructive  weapons.  It  is  the  modifications  of  the 
bones  and  muscles  of  the  lower  extremities,  and  especially 
of  the  feet,  that  constitute  the  most  striking  anatomical 
characters  of  the  human  species ;  but  with  these  are  associ- 
ated many  other  characteristic  conditions  of  the  general 
framework  of  the  body,  which,  as  they  have  been  nowhere  so 
accurately,  truly,  and  eloquently  set  forth  as  in  the  lectures 
of  Professor  Green,  we  shall  take  the  liberty  to  give  in  the 
words  of  that  philosophic  anatomist  and  accomplished  writer. 
"  In  a  comparison  of  the  frame  and  capabilities  of  man  with 
those  of  the  inferior  animals,  if  we  take  the  human  frame  as 
the  ideal  standard  of  form,  it  will  be  found  that  all  others 
present  so  many  declensions  from  the  idea  by  exaggeration  or 
defect ;  and  it  will  be  found  from  this  survey  that  man  is 
unquestionably  endowed  with  that  structure,  the  perfection 
of  which  is  revealed  in  such  a  balanced  relation  of  the  parts 
to  a  whole  as  may  best  fit  it  for  a  being  exercising  intelligent 
choice,  and  destined  for  moral  freedom.  It  is  not,  therefore, 
an  absolute  perfection  of  the  constituents  singly,  but  the  pro- 
portional development  of  all,  and  their  harmonious  constitu- 
tion to  One,  for  which  we  contend — a  constitution  which  im- 
plies in  a  far  higher  degree  than  in  any  other  animal  a  bal- 
anced relation  of  the  living  powers  and  faculties,  and  which 
requires,  therefore,  in  man  pre-eminently  the  endowment  of 
rational  will  as  necessary  for  the  control  and  adjustment  of 
the  balance.  Han  has  not  the  quick  hearing  of  the  timid 
herbivorous  animals;  but  it  was  not  intended  that  he  should 
catch  the  sound  of  distant  danger,  and  be  governed  by  his 
fears:  he  has  not  the  piercing  sight  of  the  eagle,  nor  the 
keen  scent  of  the  beast  of  prey ;  but  neither  was  man  intend 
ed  to  be  the  fellow  of  the  tiger,  or  a  denizen  of  the  forest. 
Hence  the  departure  from  the  perfect  proportion  of  man 
which  we  observe  in  the  inferior  animals  may  be  regarded 
as  deformities  by  exaggeration  or  defect,  dependant  upon  a 
preponderance  of  a  part  that  necessitates  a  particular  use, 
or  the  absence  of  a  part  that  deprives  the  animal  of  a  power, 
and  in  both  instances  alike  abrogates  that  freedom  for  which 
provision  is  made  in  the  balanced  relation  of  the  constitu- 
ents of  the  human  fabric,  which  permits  the  free  choice  of 
means,  and  the  adaptation  to  any  purpose  determined  by  an 
intelligent  free-will.  Dilate  the  head,  and  you  have  a 
symptom  <>f  disease;  protrude  the  jaws,  you  have  a  vora 
cious  animal;  lengthen  the  ears,  timidity  is  expressed;  let 
the  nose  project,  and  the  animal  is  governed  by  its  scent ;  en- 
710 


large  the  belly,  and  you  are  reminded  of  the  animal  appe- 
tites ;  long  arms  may  lit  him  for  an  inhabitant  of  the  trees, 
anil  a  lit  companion  for  the  ape  ;  and  predominant  length  of 
legs  are  infallibly  associated  with  the  habits  of  the  wading 
or  leaping  animals.  In  all,  regarding  man's  form  with  refer- 
ence to  his  destination  as  the  ideal  standard,  the  means  be- 
come  ends;  deformity  prevails,  and  becomes  the  badge  of 
unintelligent  slavery  to  the  mere  animal  nature. 

"This  may  be  farther  illustrated  by  a  general  and  brief 
comparison  of  the  components  of  the  skeleton  in  the  verte- 
brated  animals  with  that  of  man.  In  considering  the  scull, 
it  will  be  found  that  man,  of  all  animals,  has  the  largest  and 
roundest  cranium.  From  the  ape  to  the  fish  the  brain-case 
decreases  in  capacity,  in  correspondence  with  a  proportion- 
ably  diminishing  development:  but  in  the  same  ratio  the 
parts  allotted  to  the  senses,  and  the  parts  merely  subserx  lent 
to  the  preparation  of  the  food,  increase  in  size.  In  looking 
at  the  head  of  the  horse  and  the  dog,  it  will  be  readily  observed 
how  much  the  cranium  recedes  and  the  jaws  protrude  ;  but 
in  birds,  reptiles,  and  fish,  the  proportions  are  so  altered  by 
the  diminution  of  the  cranium  that  the  whole  head  appears 
almost  to  consist  of  the  jaws  :  witness  the  mandibles  of  the 
stork  and  pelican,  and  the  enormous  jaws  of  the  crocodile 
and  shark.  And  we  may  add,  that  man  is  the  only  animal 
that  has  a  prominent  chin.  This  distinguishing  character  of 
the  human  scull,  found  in  the  proportion  of  the  brain-case 
to  the  jaws  when  compared  with  the  same  in  the  inferior 
animals,  the  ingenious  Camper  devised  the  method  of  more 
accurately  determining  by  means  of  what  has  been  called 
the  '  facial  angle.'  It  consists  in  drawing  one  line  from  the 
most  prominent  part  of  the  forehead  to  the  sockets  of  the 
upper  incisor  teeth,  and  a  second,  which  describes  the 
ground  plane  of  the  cranium,  through  the  external  meatus 
of  the  ear  and  lower  edge  of  the  nose,  and  which,  cutting 
the  first  on  the  upper  jaw,  forms  with  it  a  determinate  angle ; 
and  it  is  evident  that  this  angle  will  be  greater  in  proportion 
to  the  development  of  the  forehead  and  recession  of  the  su- 
perior maxilla,  less  or  more  acute  in  proportion  to  the  projec- 
tion of  the  upper  jaw  and  recession  of  the  forehead.  Ac- 
cording to  this  mode  of  relative  admeasurement,  it  appears 
that  the  facial  angle  in  the  European  exceeds  that  in  the 
negro  ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  Greek  sculptors, 
who  were  careful  to  mark  strongly,  or  even  exaggerate 
those  circumstances  which  peculiarly  mark  the  human 
character,  have  often  exceeded  the  right  angle  in  the  ideal 
anatomy  of  their  deities,  though  at  the  same  time  with  the 
discriminative  taste  which  prevented  them  from  exceeding 
the  limit  beyond  which  the  form  would  have  become  a 
symptom  of  disease.  It  follows,  then,  that  the  size  of  the 
brain-case  in  man,  proportionate  to  the  development  of  the 
brain,  indicates  the  predominance  of  this  organ  over  those 
of  the  senses,  which  may  be  regarded  as  the  measure  of  the 
subserviency  of  the  animal  to  the  outward  excitants,  and 
over  the  organs  for  the  preparation  of  the  food,  the  pre- 
ponderance of  which  marks  the  subjugation  of  the  creature 
to  the  mere  animal  needs — that  the  predominant  develop- 
ment of  the  cranium,  I  say,  is  the  mark,  symbol,  and  condi- 
tion of  man's  characteristic  excellence,  as  pre-eminently 
gifted  with  mind." 

"If  we  compare  the  lower  limbs  of  man  with  the  hinder 
extremities  of  quadrupeds,  we  find  the  peculiar  character 
and  perfection  of  the  former  in  their  adaptation  and  appropri- 
ation to  maintain  the  balance  of  the  body  in  the  erect  pos- 
ture. In  some,  indeed,  the  hinder  limbs  are  so  formed  as  to 
permit  the  creature  to  obtain  for  a  time  the  free  use  of  the 
fore  extremities  ;  but  the  endowment  serves  but  to  mark,  as 
in  the  monkey,  that  it  was  intended  for  a  climbing  animal, 
and  the  extraordinary  length  and  strength  of  the  legs  of  the 
kangaroo  show  only  its  aptitude  to  leap.  And  if,  in  birds, 
the  support  of  the  body  is  effected  by  two  legs,  it  leaves  the 
interior  extremities  free  only  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in, 
and  of  executing,  a  different  mode  of  locomotion.  In  man 
alone  the  lower  extremities,  providing  wholly  the  means  of 
support  and  progression,  leave  the  upper  limbs  as  instru- 
ments, the  use  of  which  is  entirely  at  the  choice  of  the  agent. 
And,  in  aid  of  this  purpose,  we  find  in  man  the  most  perfect 
upper  extremity.  From  the  ape  to  the  fish  the  different  com- 
ponents diminish  in  number,  development,  and  variety  of  mo- 
tion. This  is  especially  noliceablein  thehand;  which,  incon- 
sequence of  the  length  of  the  fingers,  the  number  of  articu- 
lations, and  tin-  multiplicity  of  their  movements,  especially  in 
i  onsi  qui  ace  "i  the  capability  of  opposing  the  thumb  to  the 
fingers,  becomes  an  instrument  fitted  for  the  most  delicate  and 
\  Bried  operations  directed  by  the  skill  and  intellect  of  man. 
Compare,  in  this  respect,  this  flexible  and  modifiable  appara- 
tus with  the  single  digit  of  the  extremity  of  the  horse,  on  the 
horny  tip  of  which  the  weight  of  the  animal  (by  an  admira- 
ble mechanism  indeed)  Is  supported  and  carried;  or  with 
the  abortive  hand  of  the  whale,  sufficiently  like  the  human 
to  be  so  called,  but  retracted,  enveloped  in  skin,  and  degen- 
erated into  a  fin,  that  merely  serves  as  an  oar  in  propelling 
the  animal  through  the  water.    It  might  be  said,  perhaps, 


MAN. 


that  the  hand  of  the  monkey  claims  the  praise  of  as  great 
perfection  as  that  of  man  ;  but  the  dwindled  thumb  marks 
its  imperfection  for  handling  and  for  touch :  and  the  anus 
even  of  the  anthropoeidorang-outan,  lengthened  to  deformity, 
irresistibly  prove  their  use  to  be  little  else  than  for  grasping 
and  climbing. 

"In  the  contemplation  of  the  human  skeleton,  its  most 
striking  characteristic,  however,  and  that  which  contradis- 
tinguishes it  from  the  bony  fabric  of  all  other  animals,  is  its 
adaptation  to  the  erect  position  ;  an  attribute  not  only  pecu- 
liar to  man,  but  without  which  his  structure  could  not  corre- 
spond to  his  spiritual  endowments,  since  it  is  at  once  the  need 
and  symbol  of  a  being  raised  above  the  servile  condition  of 
the  mere  animal  nature. 

"Thus  the  scull  is  poised,  with  only  a  slight  preponderance 
anteriorly, -at  the  top  of  the  vertebral  column  ;  and  a  plumb- 
line  dropped  from  the  point  of  its  support  falls  through  the 
centre  of  gravity  between  the  feet,  which  present  the  base 
of  support  to  the  whole  towering  fabric.  We  remark,  how- 
ever, that  the  supporting  parts  do  not  range  with  this  line. 

"  The  spine  is  bent  like  an  italic  S :  it  recedes  at  the  chest, 
in  order  to  give  room  to  its  cavity,  and,  at  the  same  time,  is 
harmoniously  inflected  forwards  at  the  loins  and  neck,  in 
order  to  facilitate  its  balance  over  the  points  of  support ;  and 
it  cannot  be  doubted  that  these  curves  contribute  to  the  capa- 
bility of  bending  and  changing  the  position  of  the  trunk, 
without  endangering  the  loss  of  balance.  But  the  balance 
of  the  body  is  also  greatly  aided  by  the  breadth  of  the  hu- 
man pelvis,  which,  supplying  a  broad  base  of  support,  per- 
mits the  inclinations  of  the  trunk  without  the  necessity  of 
altering  the  position  of  the  lower  limbs.  The  lateral  breadth 
of  the  pelvis,  however,  throws  the  heads  of  the  thigh  bones, 
upon  which  the  weight  of  the  body  is  transmitted,  to  some 
distance  on  each  side  of  the  line  that  falls  through  the  cen- 
tre of  gravity,  and,  in  order  to  provide  a  compensating  ad- 
justment, the  thigh  bones  are  placed  obliquely,  inclining  to- 
wards each  other;  so  that  in  the  upright  posture,  with  the 
feet  together,  they  touch  at  the  knees,  and  the  weight  is  then 
received  upon  the  heads  of  the  leg  bones  or  tibia,  which 
stand  perpendicularly  under  the  centre  of  gravity :  and  these, 
again,  are  planted  upon  the  arch  of  the  foot  or  instep,  on 
which  the  whole  weight  of  the  body  securely  rests.  Then, 
in  order  to  secure  in  the  foot  the  requisite  firmness  in  stand- 
ing, we  find  that  it  is  articulated  with  the  leg  at  right  angles, 
so  that  both  the  heel  and  toes  touch  the  ground  ;  and  the 
joint  is  placed  nearer  the  posterior  than  the  anterior  part  of 
the  foot,  so  as  to  increase  the  base  of  support  in  that  direction 
towards  which  the  body  tends  most  to  fall :  besides  which, 
the  weight  is  here  received  on  the  inner  side  of  the  foot, 
where  it  is  most  arched,  thereby  offering  not  only  the  ad- 
vantage of  a  strong  support,  but  one  which  is  highly  elastic, 
yielding  without  injury  in  alighting  upon  the  feet,  and  acting 
as  a  spring  in  progression.  Thus  the  majestic  column  of  the 
human  form  is  raised  and  built  up  upon  its  pedestal ;  and 
the  living  pillar,  readily  maintaining  its  equipoise,  bears 
aloft  its  capital,  while  the  upper  limbs  are  left  free  to  ad- 
libitive  motion.  Thus  the  place  of  the  head,  as  the  cor- 
poreal representative  of  that  which  perceives  and  wills ;  the 
disposition  of  the  senses  therein  as  the  media  of  intelligence, 
and  of  the  organs  of  speech  as  the  interpreters  of  thought ; 
and  the  arrangement  of  the  upper  limbs  as  instruments  of 
volition,  no  longer  subservient  to  mere  animal  needs — all 
impress  us  with  the  conviction  that  even  the  skeleton  can- 
not be  intelligible  to  us  without  admitting  that  the  human 
bodily  frame  was  designed  for  the  instrument  and  dwelling 
of  a  being  contradistinguished  from,  and  elevated  above,  all 
other  animals — 

A  creature,  who,  not  prone 

And  brute  as  other  creatures,  but  endued 

With  sauctity  of  reason,  mi^ht  erect 

His  stature,  and  upri^h',  with  front  serene, 

Govern  the  rest,  self  knowiDg. 

"  Man  alone  is  erect.  It  is  to  this  posture  that  the  body  of 
a  man  owes  the  character,  impressed  on  the  whole  frame,  of 
its  emancipation  from  subserviency  to  the  mere  animal  needs, 
and  becomes  expressive  of  mind  and  of  free  and  intelligent 
action  It  will  be  seen  that  the  lower  limbs,  answering  the 
purposes  of  support  and  locomotion,  have  alone  any  obvious 
or  necessitated  utility ;  while  the  upper  extremities  are,  in 
consequence,  left  at  liberty,  as  the  ready  and  facile  instru- 
ments of  his  will.  Hence,  too,  the  senses  are  best  freed  from 
their  servitude  to  the  bodily  wants,  and  the  countenance  is 
raised  as  the  expressive  exponent  of  thoughts  and  feelings, 
which  the  mouth  declares  and  interprets  by  words.  And 
thus,  as  the  stem  bears  the  corolla,  the  head  is  carried  on 
high  as  the  most  noble  part  of  the  frame  which  it  surmounts ; 
all  the  rest  of  the  body  seems  as  if  intended  to  carry  it ;  and 
when  considered  in  its  fitness  for  expression,  it  may  be  said 
to  be  the  representative  of  the  whole  man. 

"If,  principally  connected  with  erect  posture,  the  body  is 
admirable,  and  acquires  its  human  character,  we  shall  no 
less  find,  in  directing  our  attention  to  the  organs  of  motion 


in  man,  the  aptitude  and  capabilities  of  a  being  designed  for 
intelligent  freedom.  We  find  in  man  the  organic  structure 
adapted  for  the  greatest  variety  of  motion.  It  is  true,  in- 
deed, that  many  of  the  Mammalia  are  so  constituted  as 
greatly  to  excel  man  in  particular  kinds  of  locomotion  ;  but 
we  shall  in  vain  look  for  the  same  combination  and  mastery 
of  his  powers  which  the  erect  posture  implies.  The  monkey 
climbs  and  jumps  with  a  facility  truly  extraordinary  ;  but  it 
is  with  difficulty,  or  only  for  a  short  time,  that  he  raises  him- 
self into  the  erect  position.  Dogs,  horses,  deer,  excel  man 
in  swiftness ;  but  they  cannot  climb  nor  walk  erect.  The 
otter,  the  beaver,  and  the  seal  swim  well ;  but  it  is  their  only 
boast  above  creatures  of  their  own  kind.  And  whales,  or 
other  cetaceous  animals,  though  admirably  adapted  for 
swimming,  have  no  other  means  of  locomotion.  Man,  on 
the  other  hand,  stands  and  walks  erect ;  rims,  jumps,  climbs, 
swims.  Man  alone  can  so  modify  his  frame  that  it  is  in  his 
power  to  waive  the  high  privilege  of  the  harmony  and  bal- 
ance of  his  faculties ;  and,  by  concentring  his  volition  to  any 
one  property  or  perfection,  we  have  reason  to  believe  that 
he  might  equal  or  excel  the  beast  most  characterized  by  that 
perfection — outrun  the  deer,  outwrestle  the  bear,  climb  with 
the  monkey.  In  short,  man  has  the  most  modifiable  organs 
of  motion,  and  is  most  capable  of  subjugating  them  to  his  will, 
and  of  rendering  them  the  instruments  of  his  varied  purposes. 

"The  capability  of  varied  motion  in  man  depends  greatly 
upon  the  facility  with  which  the  different  parts  of  the  body, 
especially  the  limbs,  move  at  the  same  time  in  opposite  di- 
rections— a  power  which  not  only  permits  variety  of  move- 
ment, and  confers  an  aptitude  of  expressive  action,  but  like- 
wise gives  pre-eminently  a  character  of  suppleness,  ease,  and 
freedom  to  the  total  motion.  But  it  is  the  equipoise  of  his 
body,  in  connexion  with  the  erect  position,  which  gives  the 
unity  to  any  totality  of  movement,  and  determines  the  atti- 
tude or  carriage  necessary  to  preserve  its  balance.  In  order 
to  balance  the  body,  whether  at  rest  or  in  motion,  it  is  neces- 
sary that  the  man  should  exert  an  imcomparably  greater 
number  of  muscles  than  the  inferior  animals ;  and  for  the 
same  reason,  a  far  greater  effort  of  his  volition  is  required 
for  adjusting  the  proportional  action  of  each,  and  for  com- 
bining and  harmonizing  the  actions  of  all ;  in  short,  of  all 
animals,  man  must  be  the  master  of  his  own  body. 

"  It  is  farther  deserving  of  notice,  mat  the  inflections  of 
the  trunk,  the  motions  of  the  limbs,  and  the  play  of  the  sev- 
eral joints,  all  tend  to  the  circular  and  curvilineal  in  their 
movements ;  a  circumstance  which  mainly  tends  to  confer 
on  human  motion  the  character  of  beauty.  And  it  may  be 
safely  affirmed  that,  under  all  the  varieties  of  expressive 
movement,  the  very  structure  and  mechanism  of  the  body 
tend  to  reduce  its  motions  to  the  form  of  the  beautiful,  or 
resolve  them  into  grace ;  a  fact  of  which  we  may  convince 
ourselves  in  watching  the  sinuous  movements  of  the  dance, 
wherein,  aided  by  the  totality  of  motion  in  the  dancer,  they 
present  a  harmony  by  continuity — a  problem  of  grace  which 
is  ever  solving  and  ever  beginning  anew. 

"  Beauty  of  attitude  and  grace  of  carriage  are,  however, 
intimately  connected  with  the  maintenance  and  equipoise 
of  the  body.  No  attitude  can  be  beautiful  in  which  the  idea 
of  rest  is  not  conveyed  by  that  permanence  and  security 
which  result  from  a  perfectly  felt  balance.  'Grace  of  car- 
riage requires  not  only  a  perfect  freedom  of  motion,  but  also 
a  firmness  of  step,  arising  from  a  constant  bearing  of  the 
centre  of  gravity  over  the  base  of  support.'  {Arnott's  Phys- 
ics, p.  128.)  It  includes  ease  and  security.  And  in  both, 
whether  it  be  motion  becoming  fixed  as  attitudes,  or  atti- 
tudes presenting  themselves  in  the  shaping  flow  of  motion, 
beauty  and  grace  reveal  themselves  in  self-command,  and 
in  freedom  made  manifest  by  self-control.  In  short,  look  at 
the  body  in  any  position  or  attitude,  in  any  of  the  incidental 
or  casual  forms  arising  out  of  the  free  and  unconstrained 
movements  of  man,  healthy  in  frame  and  unshackled  by 
conventional  usages,  and  the  truth  will  force  itself  on  your 
conviction.  Pass  in  review  the  ponderous  strength  of  the 
Hercules,  the  agile  Mercury,  the  graceful  ease  of  the  Anti- 
nous,  the  reclining  Ilyssus,  all  the  animated  forms  of  the 
frieze  of  the  Parthenon — whatever  Greek  art  has  signalized 
or  modern  genius  realized ;  witness  the  sports  of  children, 
or  go  even  to  the  wild  denizens  of  the  American  forest,  and 
proof  will  no  longer  be  needed  that  grace  and  beauty  are 
inherent  in,  not  accidents  of,  the  human  body,  as  the  fit  in- 
strument of  human  freedom  and  intelligence,  and  the  trans- 
lucent medium,  as  it  were,  of  man's  proper  and  spiritual 
being."     (Green's  Vital  Dynamics,  1840,  p.  60.) 

The  main  points  of  internal  anatomy  in  which  man  dif- 
fers from  or  excels  the  lower  animals  are  the  following: 
First  of  all  in  the  magnitude  of  the  brain,  which  is  rela- 
tively greater  than  the  spinal  chord  and  nerves  in  him  than 
in  any  other  animal.  This  superiority  is  chiefly  due  to  the 
great'  development  of  the  hemispheres  of  the  cerebrum, 
which  are  likewise  characterized  in  man  by  the  number 
and  depth  of  the  convolutions,  by  which  the  cineritious  and 
vascular  surface  is  augmented.    The  parts  which  are  most 

711 


MAX. 


evidently  superadded  to  the  human  brain  are  the  posterior 
lobes  of  the  cerebrum,  the  corresponding  horn  of  the  lateral 
ventricle,  and  the  lesser  hi]  pocampus 

Of  the  external  senses,  that  of  smell  is  the  least  developed  ; 
but  both  this  ami  the  other  organs  are  well  balanced,  and  in 
their  organisation  most  delicate  and  perfect  The  two  eyes 
are  directed  forward ;  and  thus,  though  man  does  not  see  on 
-  at  once,  like  many  quadrupeds,  there  is  more  unity 
in  the  result  oi'  his  vision,  and  he  can  concentrate  his  atten- 
tion more  closely  on  the  objects  of  his  scrutiny.  The  exter- 
nal ear.  having  little  mobility  or  extent,  does  not  increase 
the  intensity  of  sounds:  notwithstanding  which.  Cuvierwell 
remarks  that  man  best  distinguishes  their  intonation.  So 
also  with  respect  to  the  organ  of  smell:  though  moat  am 
mals  excel  man  in  their  power  of  scent  for  particular  objects, 
there  are  none,  perhaps,  which  can  distinguish  so  many 
varieties  of,  or  which  are  so  uniformly  affected  by,  unpleas- 
ant odours.  In  the  discrimination  and  delicacy  of  taste 
man  has  unquestionably  the  advantage  over  tho  lower  ani- 
mals; and  in  no  species  is  the  hand  so  framed,  or  the  tactile 
extremities  of  the  digits  so  expanded,  or  endowed  with  such 
an  exquisitely  sensitive  and  discriminative  integument,  as 
in  man. 

"Man,"  says  Cuvier,  "has  a  particular  pre-eminence  in 
his  organs  of  voice:  he  is  the  only  mammal  that  can  articu- 
late sounds;  probably  on  account  of  the  form  of  his  mouth 
and  the  great  mobility  of  his  lips.  Hence  results  his  most 
valuable  mode  of  communication ;  for  of  all  signs  that  can 
be  conveniently  employed  for  the  transmission  of  ideas, 
varied  sounds  are  those  which  can  be  perceived  at  the 
greatest  distance,  and  in  most  directions  simultaneously." 

The  position  of  the  heart,  which  rests  obliquely  on  the 
diaphragm,  and  on  which  depends  the  absence  of  the  azy- 
gos  lobe  of  the  right  lung,  and  of  the  thoracic  inferior  cava — 
both  of  which  exist  in  most  of  the  inferior  Mammalia — 
relates  to  man's  erect  position. 

The  alimentary  organs  of  man  indicate  his  natural  desti- 
nation for  a  mixed  diet  of  animal  and  vegetable  substances  ; 
but  the  prehensile  faculty  of  his  hands,  and  the  intelligence 
which  governs  its  application,  permitted  the  teeth  to  remain 
of  such  forms  and  proportions  as  might  simply  serve  to  di- 
vide and  crush  the  food  which  the  hands  carry  to  the  mouth. 
Thus  the  canine  teeth,  though  present  and  with  crowns 
shaped  for  piercins,  do  not  exceed  the  adjoining  teeth  in 
size,  and  no  Interval  in  the  dental  series  of  one  jaw  is  re- 
quired to  receive  a  produced  tusk  of  the  opposite  jaw  when 
the  mouth  is  closed  :  thus  the  dental  series  in  man  is  not 
only  equable,  but  unbroken.  The  fore  teeth  are  framed  for 
dividing;*  the  hack  teeth  have  flat  and  tuberculate  crowns 
for  bruising :  the  short  and  but  moderately  strong  jaws 
hardly  admit  of  the  mastication  of  herbage,  or  the  devour- 
ing of  flesh  that  has  not  been  previously  prepared  by  cook- 
ing. 

The  orsans  of  disestion  conform  with  those  of  manduca- 
tion  ;  the  stomach  is  simple;  the  intestinal  canal  of  mean 
length ;  the  small  intestines  are  provided  witli  numerous 
transverse  folds  of  the  secreting  and  absorbing  mucous 
membrane,  called  rali-ultp  conniventes:  the  large  intestines 
are  well  marked ;  they  commence  by  a  short  and  wide 
ca-cuin,  provided  with  a  long,  slender,  and  vermiform  ap- 
pendage. 

The  period  of  gestation  is  nine  months :  in  general  there 
is  only  one  child  at  a  birth;  twins  are  born  once  in  about 
five  hundred  cases  of  parturition,  and  more  than  that  num- 
ber is  extremely  rare.  The  foetus  of  seven  months  is  eleven 
inches  in  length ;  that  of  nine  months,  eighteen  inches. 
Those  which  are  born  prior  to  the  seventh  month  usually 
din.  The  first,  or  milk-teeth,  begin  to  appear  a  few  months 
after  birth,  commencing  u  ith  the  incisors  ;  at  two  years  the 
entire  deciduous  series,  twenty  in  number,  is  attained. 
These  an-  shed  successively  from  about  the  seventh  year, 
to  be  replaced  by  others.  The  eight  deciduous  incisors  are 
succeeded  by  eight  permanent  ones:  the  four  deciduous 
canines  by  four  permanent  ones;  the  eight  deciduous  mo- 
lares  by  the  eight  bicuspides.  of  the  twelve  true  or  poste- 
rior molars,  which  are  permanent,  there  arc  four — one  on 

each  -ide  of  both  jaws— that  make  their  appearance  a:  four 

years  and  a  half;  four  more  at  nine  years;  Hie  last  four 
being  frequently  not  cut  until  the  twentieth  year.  The 
fcetus  presents  one  fourth  of  the  adult  Btature  "  Inn  born  ;  it 

has   attained  one  half  of  it   at  tun  years  and   a   hall,  and 

three  fourths  at  nine  or  ten  \ears.  Between  the  seventeenth 
and  twenty-first  yean  the  growth  almost  entirely  ceases. 
Man  rarely  exceeds  six  feet,  and  seldom  remains  undt  r  ii\  ■■. 

Woman  is  ordinarily  some  inches  slioiter.  When  the  full 
stature  is  attained  the  body  generally  begins  to 

bulk;  fat  is  accumulated  in  the  cellular  tissue ;  afterwards 
the  BoUds  become  rigid;  the  fat  Is  commonly  absorbed ;  the 
before  smoothly-filled  Integument  falls  in  wrinkles;  and  old 

*  The  intermaxillary  Ixidcs  in  which  the  inciion  an  developed,  are  an* 

cb)  lov-d  to  'lie  nii-uUarira  at  an  early  period  oi  -stal  existence. 

712 


age  arrives,  with  decrepitude,  decay,  and  death.  Man  rarely 
lives  beyond  a  hundred  years;  and  most  of  the  species, 
either  from  disease,  accidents,  or  men  ly  old  age,  perisli  be- 
fore that  term. 

"The  child,"  says  Cuvier,  "needs  the  assistance  of  its 
mother  much  longer  than  her  milk;  whence  results  an  edu- 
cation intellectual  as  well  as  physical,  and  a  durable  mutual 

attachment.  From  the  long  period  of  infantile  weakness 
results  domestic  subordination,  and,  consequently,  the  order 
of  society  at  large,  as  the  young  persons  u  Inch  compose  the 
new  families  continue  to  preserve  with  their  parents  those 
tender  nlations  to  which  they  have  been  so  long  accus- 
tomed.   Tins  disposition  to  mutual  assistance  multiplies  to 

an  almost  unlimited  extent  those  advantages  previously  de- 
rived by  isolated  man  from  his  intelligence  :  it  has  assisted 
him  to  tame  or  repulse  other  animals,  to  defend  himself 
from  the  effects  of  climate,  and  thus  enabled  him  to  cover 
the  earth  with  his  species.  Circumstances,  more  or  less 
favourable,  have  restrained  the  social  condition  within  lim- 
ited degrees,  or  have  promoted  its  development.  The  glacial 
climates  of  the  north  of  both  continents,  and  the  Impenetra- 
ble forests  of  America,  are  still  inhabited  by  the  savage 
hunter  or  fisherman  :  the  immense  sandy  or  salt  plains  of 
Central  Asia  and  Africa  are  covered  with  a  pastoral  people 
and  innumerable  herds:  these  half-civilized  hordes  assem- 
ble at  the  call  of  every  enthusiastic  chief,  and  overrun  the 
cultivated  countries  that  surround  them,  in  which  they 
establish  themselves  hut  to  become  enervated,  and  to  be  sub- 
jected in  their  turn  to  the  next  invaders.  This  is  the  true 
cause  of  that  despotism  which,  in  every  age,  has  crushed 
the  industry  called  forth  under  the  fine  climate  of  Persia, 
India,  and  China.  Mild  climates,  soils  naturally  irrigated; 
and  rich  in  vegetables,  are  the  natural  cradles  of  agriculture 
and  civilization  ;  and  when  their  position  is  such  as  to  atford 
shelter  from  the  incursions  of  barbarians,  talents  of  every 
kind  are  mutually  excited.  Such  were  formerly  (the  first 
in  Europe)  Greece  and  Italy;  and  such  is  at  present  nearly 
all  the  happy  portion  of  the  earth's  surface.' 

The  influences  of  climate,  and  of  the  different  habits  and 
social  conditions  thence  resulting,  are  associated  with  differ- 
ences of  form,  stature,  features,  and  colour  of  the  skin  ; 
not  greater,  however,  than  the  corresponding  difference 
which  indicate  varieties  of  a  species  in  the  lower  Mamma- 
lia :  and,  accordingly,  naturalists  have  distinguished,  and 
have  characterized  with  more  or  less  success,  different  races 
or  varieties  of  man.  As  the  races  and  varieties  of  the  do- 
mesticated quadrupeds,  so  also  those  of  the  human  species, 
blend  imperceptibly  with  each  other;  and  the  absence  of 
well-defined  boundaries  depends  not  only  on  the  gradual 
subsidence  and  change  of  those  physical  causes  which  prob- 
ably gave  rise  to  the  original  varieties,  but  also  to  the  fac- 
ulty common  to  the  individuals  of  different  varieties  of  tho 
same  species  to  produce,  by  their  union,  individuals  capable 
of  propagating  the  intermediate  variety.  Hence  has  arisen 
the  difficulty  of  defining  the  primary  races  of  man,  and  the 
discrepancy  which  exists  in  the  conclusions  of  those  natu- 
ralists who  have  devoted  the  greatest  attention  to  this  im- 
portant and  most  interesting  branch  of  zoology.  Cuvier 
considers  that  three  varieties  are  eminently  distinct — the 
white,  or  Caucasian  ;  the  yellow,  or  Mongolian  ;  the  black, 
or  .  'Ethiopian. 

"The  Caucasian,"  he  observes,  "to  which  we  belong,  isj 
distinguished  by  the  beauty  of  the  oval  which  forms  the 
head ;  and  it  is  this  one  which  has  given  rise  to  the  most 
civilized  nations — to  those  which  have  generally  held  the 
rest  in  subjection:  it  varies  in  complexion  and  in  the  colour 
of  the  hair. 

"The  Monsolian  is  known  by  his  projecting  cheek-bones, 
flat  visage,  narrow  and  oblique  eyebrows,  scanty  beard,  and 
Olive  complexion.  Great  empires  have  been  established  by 
this  rare  m  China  and  Japan,  and  its  conquests  have  90me- 
times  extended  to  this  side  of  the  Great  Desert,  but  its  civil- 
ization has  always  remained  stationary. 

Tin  Negro  or  .(Ethiopian  race  is  confined  to  the  south- 
ward of  the  Atlas  chain  of  mountains:  its  colour  is  black, 
its  hair  crisped,  the  cranium  is  contracted,  and  the  nose  flat- 
tened. The  projecting  muzzle  and  thick  lips  evidently  ap- 
proximate it  to  the  apes:  the  hordes  of  which  it  is  composed 
have  always  continued  barbarous." 

To  the  three  primary  races  characterized  by  Cuvier,  Blu- 
menbacb  adds  the  Malayan  and  American  races.  Of  the 
Malays,  however,  Cuvier  asks,  "('an  they  be  clearly  dis- 
tinguished from  their  neighbours  on  both  sides,  the  Cauco 

sian  Indians  and  the  Mongolian  Chinese?"  And  with 
regard  to  the  Americans,  he  states,  "They  have  no  precise 
or  constant  character  which  can  entitle  them  to  be  consid- 
ered as  a  particular  race.  Their  copper-coloured  complex- 
ion is  not  sufficient  Their  general  black  hair  and  scanty 
beard  would  induce  us  to  approximate  them  to  the  Mongols, 

ii  their  defined  features,  their  nose  as  projecting  as  ours, 

their  lart'e  and  open  eyes,  did  not  oppose  such  a  Iheorv,  and 
correspond  tl  ith  the  features  of  the  European."     Dr.  fritch- 


MANATEE. 

ard,  however,  considers  that  there  are  seven  classes  of  na- 
tions which  may  be  separated  from  each  other  by  strongly- 
marked  lines. 

The  first  class  corresponds  with  Cuvier's  Caucasian  va- 
riety, but  which  Dr.  Pritchard  prefers  to  call  Iranian. 

The  second,  which  he  terms  Turanian,  is  equivalent  to 
the  Mongolian  variety. 

The  third  class  are  the  native  American  races,  excluding 
the  Esquimaux  and  some  tribes  which  resemble  them  more 
than  the  majority  of  inhabitants  of  the  new  world. 

The  fourth,  class  comprises  only  the  Hottentot  and  Bush- 
man races. 

A  fifth  class  includes  the  Negroes. 

The  sixth  class  consists  of  the  Papuans,  or  woolly-haired 
natives  of  Polynesia. 

The  seventh  class  includes  the  Alfourou  and  Australian 
races. 

A  study  of  the  resemblances  and  differences  of  human 
speech  in  various  regions  and  various  ages  has  added  much 
and  will  contribute  more  to  the  true  knowledge  and  defini- 
tion of  the  primitive  races  of  the  human  species.  It  has 
already  led  to  the  establishment  of  the  following  families 
of  languages :  The  Semitic,  to  which  belong  the  Hebrew, 
Arabic,  Chaldean,  Syrian,  Phoenician,  and  Ethiopian;  the 
Indo- European,  which  includes  Sanskrit,  Persian,  Greek, 
Latin,  German,  and  Celtic  ;  the  Monosyllabic  languages,  as 
Chinese,  Thibetan,  Birman,  Siamese ;  the  Polysynthctic 
languages,  a  class  including  most  of  the  American  Indian 
dialects.  The  combination  of  zoological,  anatomical,  and 
glossological  characters  is  still  wanting  to  establish  the 
exact  characters  and  limits  of  the  human  races. 

MANATE'E.  A  herbivorous  Cetacean,  forming  the  type 
of  a  distict  genus,  Manatus.     See  that  word. 

MANA'TUS.  (Lat.  manus,  a  hand.)  The  name  given 
by  Cuvier  to  a  genus  of  his  herbivorous  Cetaceans,  including 
the  species  usually  called  sea-cows.  They  have  an  oblong 
body,  terminated  by  a  lengthened  oval  fin ;  their  grinders, 
which  are  eight  on  each  side  of  both  jaws,  have  square 
crowns  marked  by  two  transverse  ridges.  There  are  no 
incisors  or  canines  in  the  adult,  but  when  very  young  there 
are  two  very  small  pointed  teeth  in  the  intermaxillary  bones, 
which  soon  disappear.  Vestiges  of  nails  are  visible  on  the 
edge  of  their  swimming  paws,  which  they  employ  with 
some  address  in  carrying  their  young ;  hence  the  comparison 
of  these  organs  with  hands,  and  the  name  Manatee  and 
Manatus  applied  to  the  animal.  There  are  two  species  of 
Manatee  in  America,  and  one  in  Africa;  they  inhabit  the 
mouths  of  the  great  rivers,  and  browse  on  the  herbage  that 
clothes  the  banks. 

MANCHINEEL.  (Mancinella,  the  Spanish  name.)  A 
tree  inhabiting  the  West  India  islands,  and  celebrated  for 
its  poisonous  qualities.  It  is  asserted  that  to  sleep  beneath 
its  shade  is  to  poison ;  and  that  the  land-crabs  found  in  the 
groves  of  manchineel  become  poisonous  from  feeding  on  its 
seeds.  Although  there  is  doubtless  much  exaggeration  in 
these  stories,  no  doubt  exists  of  the  deadly  effects  of  man- 
chineel juice  when  introduced  into  the  system. 

MANDA'MUS.  In  Law,  a  prerogative  writ,  in  the  form 
of  a  command,  issuing  from  the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  di- 
rected to  any  person,  corporation,  or  inferior  court  of  judica- 
ture within  the  king's  dominions,  requiring  them  to  perform 
various  duties.  It  is  grounded  on  the  suggestion  of  a  party 
injured  by  the  acts  or  omissions  of  such  persons  or  bodies ; 
and  lies,  for  instance,  to  compel  the  admission  or  restoration 
of  a  party  applying  to  an  office  or  franchise  which  has  been 
illegally  withheld,  for  the  production  of  public  papers,  to 
compel  the  holding  of  courts,  &c. 

MANDARI'N.  The  Portuguese  term  for  a  member 
of  the  official  order  of  nobility  in  China.  Mandarins  are 
either  civil  or  military :  of  the  former  there  are  nine  classes, 
of  the  latter  five.  Although  the  mandarins  are  inferior  in 
dignity  to  the  higher  class  of  nobility,  whose  dignity  par- 
takes of  a  personal  character,  they  form  the  effective  minis- 
try and  magistracy  of  the  country.  The  Chinese  equiva- 
lent of  mandarin  is  kouon,  which  signifies  literally  a  public 
character. 

MA'NDIBLE,  Mandibula.  (Lat.  mandibula,  a  jaw.)  In 
zoology,  this  term  is  applied  to  the  lower  jaw  of  mammals, 
and  to  both  jaws  of  birds  (except  by  Illiger,  who  restricts  its 
appellation  to  the  lower  jaw  in  this  class  also).  In  insects 
it  is  applied  to  the  upper  or  anterior  pair  of  jaws. 

MANDI'BULATES,  Mandibulata.  (Lat.  mandibula,  a 
jaw.)  The  name  of  a  grand  section  of  insects,  including  all 
those  which  preserve  their  organs  of  mastication  in  their  last 
or  perfect  stage  of  metamorphosis. 

MA'NDISC.  The  American  name  of  the  plant  which  is 
otherwise  called  cassava,  and  which  is  most  extensively  cul- 
tivated within  the  tropics  of  America  for  the  sake  of  the 
nutritive  frecula  contained  in  its  stems.  It  is  the  Jatro- 
pha  manihot  of  botanists.  The  substance  called  tapioca  is 
one  of  its  products.  In  its  raw  state  the  whole  plant  is 
poisonous;  but  by  the  preparation  and  torrefaction  of  the 


MANGANESE. 

fsecula,  the  poisonous  principle,  which  is  volatile,  is  driven 
off. 

MA'NDRAKE,  or  MANDRAGORA.  A  herb  of  fabu- 
lous character,  concerning  which  there  existed  many  singu- 
lar superstitions.  The  herb  mentioned  in  Genesis,  ch.  xxx., 
which  our  translation  renders  mandrake,  was,  probably, 
some  flower  or  root  to  which  common  belief  attached  value 
as  a  philter.  The  mandrake  of  modern  as  well  as  classical 
superstition  is  a  herb  supposed  to  have  a  resemblance  to  the 
shape  of  a  man.  Those  who  tear  it  from  the  ground  are 
obliged  to  do  so  with  peculiar  ceremonials  (according  to 
some,  dogs  must  be  employed  to  do  so,  which  die  instantly 
after) :  shrieks  and  groans  are  heard  to  issue  from  it,  which 
have  the  power  of  injuring  the  unwary  person  who  hears 
them.  Its  favourite  habitat  was  believed  to  be  the  ground 
under  a  gallows  on  which  a  criminal  was  hanging.  When 
plucked,  it  was  said  to  be  useful  in  conjurations,  for  the 
transformation  of  men  or  beasts ;  and  was  also  believed  to 
enable  the  possessor  to  acquire  riches  at  play,  and  to  dis- 
cover hidden  treasures.     (Encyc.  Metropol.) 

MA'NDREL.  (Fr.  mandrin.)  In  Machinery,  a  revolv- 
ing shank  to  which  turners  affix  their  work  in  the  lathe. 

MA'NDRILL.  (Eng.  man,  and  drill.)  A  baboon.  The 
name  of  the  Catarrhine  monkeys  of  the  genus  Papio,  Cuv. 
They  are  the  largest,  most  brutal,  and  ferocious  of  the  ba- 
boons. The  mandrill  proper  is  the  great  blue-faced  baboon 
of  our  menageries — Simia  mormon  and  maimon  of  Linna'us. 
It  is  of  a  grayish-brown,  inclining  to  olive  above,  with  the 
cheeks  blue  and  furrowed.  The  nose  in  the  adult  male 
becomes  red,  and  even  inclines  to  a  fine  scarlet  at  the  end. 
It  is  difficult,  says  Cuvier,  to  imagine  a  more  hideous  or  ex- 
traordinary animal.  The  male  attains  the  size  of  a  man, 
and  is  a  terror  to  the  negroes  of  Guinea  and  the  other  parts 
of  Africa,  of  which  this  species  is  a  native. 

MANE'GE  (Fr.  from  the  Ital.  maneggio),  is  used  in  Eng- 
land to  signify  either  the  art  of  horsemanship  or  of  training 
horses. 

MA'NES.  A  word  of  uncertain  etymology,  applied  gen- 
erally by  the  Romans  to  souls  separated  from  the  dead. 
There  is  some  obscurity,  however,  about  the  precise  mean- 
ing of  this  term.  According  to  Apuleius,  the  Manes  were 
originally  called  Lemures,  and  consisted  of  two  classes — the 
Lares  and  the  Larvae  ;  the  former  of  whom  were  the  souls 
of  those  who  had  led  virtuous  lives,  and  the  latter  of  those 
who  had  lived  improperly  ;  and,  at  a  later  period,  the  term 
Manes  came  to  be  a  general  designation  for  both.  On  the 
other  hand,  St.  Augustin  maintains  that  Manes  was,  from 
the  first,  a  term  applied  to  the  spirits  of  deceased  men  when 
no  definite  opinion  could  be  formed  of  their  merits :  "  Animas 
hominum  dsmones  esse,  et  ex  hominibus  fieri  Lares,  si 
meriti  boni  sint ;  Lemures  sive  Larvas,  si  mali ;  manes  autem 
cum  incertum  est  bonorum  eos,  sive  malorum  esse  rnerito- 
rum."  In  the  month  of  February,  annually,  the  Manes 
were  propitiated  at  their  sepulchres  during  twelve  days.  It 
was  the  duty  of  the  pontifex  maximus  to  see  that  proper 
ceremonies  were  observed.  The  stones  in  the  Roman  burial- 
places,  and  their  funeral  urns,  were  generally  inscribed  with 
the  letters  D.  M.  S.  (Dis  Manibus  Sacrum). 

MANGANE'SE.  This  name  is  generally  given  to  a  black 
mineral,  originally  described  in  the  year  1774,  by  Scheele, 
as  a  peculiar  earth,  and  which  was  afterwards  shown  by 
Gahn  to  be  the  oxide  of  a  metallic  substance  which  he 
called  magnesium.  This  term,  however,  having  been  ap- 
plied to  the  metallic  base  of  magnesia,  the  word  manganese 
has  been  adopted  to  designate  the  metal,  and  the  ore  above 
alluded  to  has  been  called  black,  or  peroxide  of,  manga- 
nese. The  metal  itself  has  a  specific  gravity  of  about  8. 
It  is  gray,  hard,  brittle,  and  very  difficult  of  fusion,  and  has 
not  been  applied  to  any  use.  The  black  oxide,  on  the  con- 
trary, is  largely  employed  as  a  soiuce  of  oxygen,  and  is  es- 
pecially important  from  the  use  which  is  made  of  it  in  the 
decomposition  of  common  salt  for  the  production  of  chlorine. 
Manganese  may  be  represented  by  the  equivalent  28 ;  and 
the  black  oxide,  being  a  compound  of  1  atom  of  manganese 
and  2  of  oxygen,  has  the  equivalent  44  (28  -f- 16).  There 
is  also  a  protoxide  of  manganese,  composed  of  28  metal  +  8 
oxygen,  which  is  the  basis  of  the  salts  of  this  metal.  When 
hydrate  or  carbonate  of  potassa,  or  nitre,  are  fused  with 
peroxide  of  manganese  in  an  open  vessel,  a  dark-coloured 
compound  is  obtained,  long  known  under  the  name  of  cha- 
meleon mineral,  in  consequence  of  its  yielding  in  cold  water 
a  solution  which  is  at  first  green,  then  blue,  purple,  red, 
brown,  and  ultimately  deposits  a  brown  powder,  and  be- 
comes colourless.  This  substance  has  since  been  termed 
manganate  of  potash,  and  has  been  proved  to  contain  a 
compound  of  1  atom  of  manganese  and  3  of  oxygen,  which 
has  been  called  manganic  acid,  and  is  represented  by  the 
equivalent  52.  In  the  pink  solution,  which  is  produced  at 
once  by  the  action  of  hot  water,  manganese  exists  in  a  still 
higher  state  of  oxidizement,  forming  the  pir-manganic  acid, 
in  which  2  atoms  of  manganese  are  combined  with  7  of 
oxygen.    Both  these  compounds  are  very  easy  of  decompo- 


MANGE. 

eition.  Some  of  the  proto-salts  of  manganese  have  ateiy 
been  used  in  calico-priming  as  the  source  of  brown  colours, 
and  occasionally  as  deoxidizing  agents. 

MANGE.  An  eruptive  disease  which  attacks  several 
domestic  animals,  especially  the  dog.  Ii  is  said  to  resemble 
the  itch.  and.  like  that  disease,  to  be  produced  by  a  minute 
mis  which  burrows  beneath  the  cuticle,  it  is 
stated  that  the  mud  discharged  from  the  eruption  of  mange, 
in  horses  and  dogs,  has  produced  the  itch  upon  the  human 
skin.  It  is  commonly  produced  by  confinement  and  want 
of  cleanliness,  and  had  or  insufficient  food. 

M  V'NGEL  WURZEL.  The  root  of  the  Beta  hijbrida. 
This  German  name  is  translated  root  of  scarcity ;  the  root 
being  large,  and  used  as  a  substitute  for  bread.  It  is  culti- 
vated for  the  food  of  cattle. 

MA'NGER.  The  trough  in  which  is  placed  the  com  or 
other  short  food  L'iven  to  live  stock,  and  more  especially  to 
8m  Back, 

M  v  soKR.  The  space  near  the  hawse  holes,  bounded  on 
the  upper  side  by  a  partition  across  the  hows,  called  the 
■manger  board,  to  receive  the  water  while  it  enters  the  hawse 
holes  and  prevent  it  from  flooding  the  deck. 

MA'XliO  (Mangos  marum.  in  the  Tamul  language  of 
India),  is  a  very  large  fruit-tree,  inhabiting  the  tropical  parts 
of  Asia,  throughout  all  which  it  is  as  extensively  cultivated 
as  the  apple  and  pear  trees  are  in  Europe.  Old  specimens 
have  been  Been  with  a  trunk  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet  in  cir- 
cumference. The  fruit  is  something  like  a  nectarine,  but 
more  compressed,  longer,  and  more  curved.  It  contains  a 
large  stone,  covered  with  coarse  fibres,  which  lose  them- 
selves in  the  succulent  flesh.  The  wild  and  inferior  varieties 
of  this  fruit  taste  so  strongly  of  turpentine  as  to  be  wholly 
unfit  for  use  by  Europeans ;  but  in  the  fine  varieties  this 
flavour  is  replaced  by  a  rich  sugary  quality,  which  renders 
it  very  delicious.  In  this  country  the  mango  has  rarely 
ripened  its  fruit,  but  it  is  common  in  the  shops  in  a  pickled 
state.  The  fruit  of  the  Mangifera  Indica,  a  tree  cultivated 
in  Asia,  is  also  called  mango. 

MA'XCi  >STEEN.  The  fruit  of  the  Garcinia  mangos- 
tana,  growing  in  Java  and  the  Molucca  Islands  :  it  is  of  the 
size  of  an  orange,  and  of  a  delicious  flavour. 

M  kNGROVE  (probably  an  abbreviation  of  mangle  grove, 
the  former  being  the  Malay  name),  is  a  tree  inhabiting  the 
shores  of  the  tropical  parts  of  the  world  in  either  hemi- 
sphere, and  well  known  to  navigators  on  account  of  the 
dense  groves  it  forms  even  down  into  the  water  itself.  It 
belongs  to  the  genus  Rhisophora.  and  is  principally  remark- 
able for  its  seeds  germinating  before  they  leave  the  case  in 
which  they  were  generated  on  the  branches.  The  young 
radicle  grows  downwards  through  the  humid  air  till  it 
reaches  the  mud,  in  which  it  fixes  itself,  and  then  the  leaves 
and  new  stem  unfold  at  the  opposite  end.  The  white  man- 
grove, another  shore  plant  of  the  tropics,  is  Avieennia  to- 
nuntosa,  quite  a  different  genus  from  the  genuine  plants  of 
that  name. 

M  \ MA.  (Gr.  /xaivofiai,  I  rage.)  Madness.  It  is  de- 
fined to  be  delirium,  unattended  by  fever,  in  which  both 
judgment  and  memory  are  impaired,  and  the  irritability  of 
the  body  diminished  so  as  to  resist  many  morbid  causes. 
There  is  a  false  perception  of  things,  marked  by  incoherence 
or  raring,  and  resentment  of  restraint.  It  is  divided  into 
melancholic  and  furious :  the  former  marked  by  dejection 
of  spirits,  the  latter  by  violent  exertion  of  strength,  malice 
to  particular  individuals,  and  repugnance  to  scenes  and 
places  before  agreeable.  Dissection  has  shown  that  in  cases 
ot' madness  there  is  usually  effusion  of  water  in  the  cavities 
of  the  brain,  or  appearances  of  previous  inflammation  of  its 
membranes,  or  hardness  of  its  substance,  or  peculiar  thick- 
ness of  the  scull  ;  and  it  has  lately  been  stated  that  chemi- 
cal analysis  has  shown  an  excess  or  deficiency  of  phospho- 
rus in  the  composition  of  the  brain  in  cases  of  madness  and 
idiotcv. 

MANICHEISTS.  The  followers  of  Manes,  an  Oriental 
heretic  of  the  third  century,  who.  having  been  ordained  a 
Christian  presbyter,  attempted  to  effect  a  combination  be- 
tween the  religion  which  he  was  appointed  to  preach  and 
the  current  philosophical  s\siim~  . . i"  the  Cast,  lie  pursued 
herein  the  same  course  as  the  Valensnians,  llasilidians,  and 
many  others,  whose  leading  idea-  may  he  denominated 
Gnostic.  He  maintained  a  dualism  of  principles  governing 
the  world,  and  a  succession  of  dualisms  generated  from 
them,  like  the  Gnostic  eons.  All  things  were  effected  by 
the  combination  or  repulsion  of  the  good  and  the  bad  .  nun 
had  a  double  soul,  good  and  evil:  even  their  boih,  -  were 

supposed  to  be  formed,  the  upper  hall' by  Cod,  the  lower  by 
the  Devil.  The  Old  Testament  was  referred  to  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  evil  principle,  the  New  to  that  of  ttie  good  In 
the  latter,  however.  Manes  proposed  many  alterations,  ami 

maintained   also  the  authenticity  of  various  apocryphal 

scriptures.     A  great  part  of  his  s]  Stem  related  to  COSmogOnj 
aud  psychology,  in  which  flelds  of  speculation  he  expatiated 
With  the  most  arbitrary  freedom.    Like  most  other  Oriental 
714 


MANNA. 

systems,  the  Manichean  heresy  was  celebrated  alike  for 
the  austerities  which  it  enjoined",  and  for  the  scandalous  ex 

cesses  which  were  attributed  to  its  most  zealous  votaries 
The  charge  of  ManicheiMii.  which  in  later  times  becomes 
scarcely  intelligible,  was  frequently  brought  against  the 
early  reforming  sects,  such  as  the  Albigenees,  U'aldenses, 
Picards,  fcc.  [See  Mosheim  (transl.),  ed.  1790,  i.,  30-3,  etc.; 
lieausohre.  Hi*t.  Oritiqiu  de  Mnniclue  it  du  JHanicAiisme, 
Amst,  1734  :  Oieseler,  vol.  i..  150  (transl.),  ii.,  151,  hi.,  340; 
Milman,  Hist  of  Christianity,  ii.,  332. 

MANIFESTO.  In  Politics,  a  declaration  of  motives 
publicly  issued  by  a  belligerent  state,  or  by  a  general  acting 
with  full  powers,  previously  to  the  commencement  of  DOS 
tilities.  They  are  in  the  form  of  letters,  with  a  superscrip- 
tion or  heading  addressed  to  the  public  in  general,  and  signed 
with  the  name  of  the  sovereign  who  sends  them  forth. 
The  usage  of  issuing  manifestoes  is  said  to  date  so  far  back 
as  tin;  14th  century.  The  term  is  probably  derived  from 
the  Latin  words  ••  manifestum  est,'*  with  which  such  docu- 
ments usually  commenced. 

MA'XTOC.  The  Indian  name  of  amylaceous  products 
of  the  shrub  called  Jatropha  manihot. 

MAXITL'I.ATIOX,  in  Chemistry,  embraces  the  manual 
and  mechanical  operations  of  the  laboratory ;  and  in  the 
delicate  details  of  analysis,  as  well  as  in  the  exhibition  of 
class  experiments,  great  skill  and  practice  in  manipulation 
are  required  to  ensure  success.  The  processes  of  weighing, 
measuring,  filtering,  distilling,  precipitating,  dissolving,  using 
the  blowpipe,  fcc,  all  come  within  the  meaning  of  manipu- 
lation. Mr.  Faraday  has  published  an  excellent  treatise 
upon  this  subject. 

MA. MP  LEI'S.  (Lat.  manus,  hand.)  In  Roman  Mili- 
tary- Antiquities,  a  subdivision  of  the  cohort :  so  called  from 
the  handful  of  grass,  straw,  fcc.  which  formed  its  original 
standard.  A  maniple  of  triarii  consisted  of  60  men,  one  of 
hastati  and  principes  of  120,  when  the  number  of  the  legion 
was  300.  (See  M.  le  Beau's  Eighth  Dissertation  on  the 
Roman  Legion,  Mem.  de  I' Ac  des  Inscr.,  vol.  xxxii.) 

MA'XTS.  The  name  of  a  genus  of  Edentate  Mammals, 
singularly  characterized  by  being  covered  with  large,  strong, 
imbricated,  homy  scales,  like  the  Lacertine  reptiles,  and 
hence  commonly  called  scaly  lizards,  and  figuring  in  old 
zoological  works  among  that  class  of  animals.  The  manises, 
or  pangolins,  are,  however,  true  warm-blooded  mammals, 
and  rank  in  the  system  of  Cuvier  among  the  Edentate  order ; 
of  which  they  may  be  regarded  as  typical  forms,  being  wholly 
destitute  of  teeth,  and  provided  with  a  tongue  of  extraordi- 
nary length,  with  associated  glands  for  preparing  an  abun- 
dance of  adhesive  lubricous  mucus.  By  this  organization 
they  are  peculiarly  adapted  to  prey  on  ants,  termites,  fcc. ; 
and  certain  of  their  claws  are  extraordinarily  developed,  to 
enable  them  to  break  through  the  walls  of  the  habitations 
of  these  social  insects.  The  manises  are  confined  to  the 
warmest  regions  of  Asia  and  Africa,  where  they  play  a  cor- 
responding part  with  that  assigned  to  the  true  anteaters 
{Myrecophaga)  in  South  America. 

MAXTl'KI  XK.  Maxtor  uncus,  in  Entomology,  is  a  term 
given  to  the  anterior  segment  of  the  trunk,  iu  which  the 
head  inosculates,  or  on  which  it  turns. 

MY  NNA.  (Syrian  rnano,  a  gift ;  it  being  a  term  applied 
to  the  food  given  by  God  to  the  children  of  Israel  in  the 
wilderness.)  What  we  now  call  manna  is  a  saccharine 
substance  which  exudes  from  the  bark  of  the  Frazuius 
ornus,  and  some  other  species  of  ash,  natives  of  the  south 
of  Europe,  especially  Sicily  and  Calabria.  Manna  is  used 
in  medicine  as  a  mild  aperient.  It  differs  remarkably  from 
common  sugar  in  not  being  susceptible  of  vinous  fermenta- 
tion ;  so  that,  if  mixed  with  common  sugar  and  yeast,  and 
subjected  to  the  process  of  fermentation,  the  sugar  becomes 
converted  into  alcohol,  but  the  manna  remains  unaltered  in 
the  liquor.  When  manna  is  dissolved  in  boiling  alcohol, 
the  solution,  as  it  cools,  deposits  it  in  flaky  and  acicular 
crystals,  often  arranged  in  concentric  groups.  Manna,  thus 
purified,  has  been  chemically  designated  by  the  term  man- 
nit  e. 

Various  opinions  have  been  entertained  respecting  the 
precise  nature  of  the  manna  on  which  the  Israelites  were 
sustained,  anil  attempts  have  been  made  at  various  times  to 
account  for  its  miraculous  appearance  on  natural  <  BUS!  - 
but,  in  our  opinion,  w  ithout  any  success.  The  Byriac  won 
mano  means  a  rift,  referring  to  this  circumstance,  and  is  no 
doubt  derived  from  the  Hebrew  manhu,  the  Scripture  ex- 
planation of  which  is  certainly  the  best.  The  word  asks  a 
question,  and  signifies  "  What  is  this?"  "for  they  wist  not 
what  it  was.''  (Exodus,  \\i.,  15.)  And  if  they  did  not 
know  thl  ii  "  What  it  was."  it  is  not  likely  we  should  know- 
now.  They  could  see  that  it  was  a  little  round  grain,  or 
something  like  a  grain,  of  the  size  of  coriander-seed,  ami 
w  Ion  a- the  hoar  trust  on  the  ground  :  bnt  it  had  no  com- 
ponent parts  such  as  they  could  describe.  And  even  ad- 
mitting, as  has  been  frequently  maintained,  that  it  exuded 
from  the  bark  of  the  ash,  or  some  other  tree,  it  is  incredible 


MANNER. 

that  it  could  be  supplied  in  such  abundance  in  the  deserts  of 
Arabia  as  to  give  sustenance  to  500,000  Israelites  for  40  years, 
without  the  miraculous  intervention  of  Providence. 

MANNER.  (Fr.  maniere.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a  pecu- 
liarity of  treating  a  subject,  or  of  executing  it,  by  which  in- 
dividual artists  are  distinguished  :  the  latter  arising  out  of  a 
particular  mode  of  using  the  media  and  implements  of  art, 
the  former  out  of  a  singular  method  of  observing  nature. 
(See  Sir  J.  Reynolds's  Sixth  Discourse.) 

MAN-OF-WAR,  MERCHANT-MAN.  The  common 
terms  for  ship-of-vvar,  merchant-ship. 

MANO'METER,  or  MA'NOSCOPE.  (Gr.  uavos,  rare, 
and  fitrpov,  a  measure,  or  okottcw,  I  view.)  An  instrument 
for  measuring  the  density  of  the  air,  or  rather  its  elastic  force, 
to  which  the  density  is  supposed  to  be  proportional.  See 
Pneumatics. 

MA 'NOR  (Lat.  maneo,  I  reside ;  from  the  residence  of 
the  lord),  signifies  a  district  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  a 
court  baron.  In  the  feudal  ages,  a  grant  of  lands  from  the 
king  carried  with  it  a  right  of  dominion  ;  and  the  grantee  or 
baron  had  power  to  make  laws,  and  hold  a  court  of  justice 
for  his  dependants  within  the  territory,  which  was  called  a 
manor.  The  baron  might  also,  by  subinfeudation,  parcel 
out  the  land  so  granted  to  others,  to  hold  of  him,  as  he  held 
of  the  king,  by  military  service  or  other  tenure.  These, 
again,  farther  subdivided  the  land  by  grants  to  others,  and 
so  on,  increasing  manors  by  this  process  ad  infinitum.  The 
services  due  to  the  lord  of  the  fee  were,  in  consequence,  very 
negligently  performed ;  and,  to  meet  this  inconvenience,  the 
statute  of  Ed.  I.,  called  Quia  Emptores,  was  passed,  which 
enacted  that  the  buyers  of  lands  should  hold  them  by  the 
same  services,  and  of  the  same  lord,  as  they  were  before 
held  by  when  in  the  hands  of  the  seller.  This  put  a  stop 
to  the  increase  of  manors ;  and  every  manor,  therefore,  now 
in  existence,  must  have  existed  in  the  time  of  Ed.  I.,  and 
before  the  enactment  above  mentioned. 

MA'NSARD  ROOF.  (So  called  from  the  name  of  its 
inventor,  a  celebrated  architect.)  In  Architecture,  the  same 
as  curb  roof,  which  see. 

MA'NTELET.  A  movable  parapet,  constructed  of 
boards  covered  with  tin,  iron,  or  leather,  to  serve  as  a  pro- 
tection to  the  miners  in  carrying  a  sap  or  a  trench  towards 
a  besieged  place.  Mantelets  are  of  various  forms,  adapted 
to  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  approach. 

MA'NTIS.  (Gr.  /xavric;  applied  by  Theocritus  (Idyl,  x., 
18)  to  the  cicada.)  A  Linnasan  genus  of  Orthopterous  in- 
sects, characterized  by  having  the  head  exposed,  and  the 
body  narrow  and  elongated ;  the  palpi  short,  and  terminating 
in  a  point ;  the  ligula  quadrifld  ;  the  tarsi  five-jointed,  and 
the  wings  simply  plaited  longitudinally,  and  not  ray-wise, 
like  a  fan.  The  true  mantises — sometimes  called  praying 
insects,  on  account  of  the  position  of  the  anterior  pair  of  legs, 
which  differ  from  the  rest — are  found  only  in  tropical  and 
temperate  climates :  they  are  diurnal,  and  remain  almost 
stationary  on  plants  and  trees ;  frequently  resembling,  in  a 
remarkable  degree,  their  leaves  and  branches  in  both  the 
form  and  colour  of  the  wings  and  body,  and  thus  they  de- 
ceive the  smaller  insects  on  which  they  prey.  Their  eggs 
are  usually  enclosed  in  a  capsule  formed  of  some  glutinous 
substance,  which  hardens  by  exposure  to  the  air,  and  is 
divided  internally  into  several  cells.  It  is  curious  to  trace 
the  correspondence  with  the  vegetable  kingdom  already 
noticed  in  the  wings  and  body  continued  into  the  form  of 
the  egg-capsules,  which  in  many  species  closely  resemble  a 
seed  receptacle  of  a  plant,  presenting  regularly  disposed 
ridges  and  angles,  or  even  being  bristled  with  little  spines. 
The  female  attaches  it  by  an  adhesive  secretion  generally 
to  the  stem  of  a  plant. 

A  second  group  of  mantises,  characterized  by  having  the 
anterior  legs  like  the  following  ones,  now  form  a  distinct 
subgenus,  Spectrum,  and  are  generally  called  spectre  insects  : 
they  feed  exclusively  on  vegetables,  of  which  they  singularly 
resemble  dried  twigs.  The  progress  of  entomology  has  re- 
quired farther  subdivisions  of  both  the  above  groups. 

MANTI'SSA.  The  decimal  part  of  a  logarithm  is  some- 
times called  the  mantissa  of  the  significant  digits,  the  inte- 
gral part  being  the  characteristic.  Thus,  in  log.  900  == 
295434,  the  characteristic  of  the  logarithm  of  the  number  is 
2,  and  95424  is  the  mantissa,  which  belongs  equally  to  the 
numbers  9,  90,  900,  -9,  &c. 

MA'NTLE.  (Fr.  manteau.)  In  Architecture,  the  piece 
lying  horizontally  across  from  one  jamb  of  a  chimney  to  the 
other.  In  Malacology,  the  external  fold  of  the  skin  of  the 
mollusks. 

MA'NUAL  (Lat.manus,  the  hand),  was  applied  originally 
to  the  Roman  Catholic  service  book,  from  its  convenient 
size  (being  such  as  might  be  carried  in  the  hand)  ;  hut  it 
now  signifies  any  small  work  used  chiefly  for  the  purpose 
of  reference. 

MANUFACTURE.  (Lat.  manus,  a  hand,  and  facio,  I 
make.)  In  Political  Economy,  a  term  employed  to  designate 
the  changes  or  modifications  made  by  art  and  industry  in 


MANUFACTURE. 

j  the  form  or  substance  of  material  articles,  in  the  view  of 
rendering  them  capable  of  satisfying  some  want  or  desire  of 
\  man.  Hence  the  perfection  of  manufacturing  consists  in 
the  being  able  to  effect  the  vvished-for  changes  in  the  raw 
material  with  the  least  expenditure  of  labour,  or  at  the  least 
cost. 

With  the  exception  of  fishing,  hunting,  mining,  and  such 
branches  of  industry  as  have  for  their  object  to  obtain  pos- 
session of  material  products  in  the  state  in  which  they  are 
fashioned  by  nature,  all  other  branches  may,  in  fact,  he 
comprised  under  the  term  manufacture.  Generally,  indeed, 
it  is  applied  only  to  those  departments  of  industry  in  which 
the  raw  material  is  fashioned  into  desirable  articles  by  art 
and  labour  without  the  aid  of  the  soil.  But  there  is  no 
really  good  foundation  for  any  such  limitation  ;  which,  un- 
less explained,  is  apt  to  make  it  be  supposed  that  businesses 
which  are  substantially  identical  not  only  differ  from,  but 
are  opposed  to,  each  other.  It  is  obvious,  indeed,  on  the 
slightest  consideration,  that  agriculture  is  nothing  but  a 
manufacture ;  for  the  business  of  the  agriculturist  is  so  to 
dispose  of  the  soil,  seed,  manure,  and  other  materials,  that 
they  may  supply  him  with  other  and  more  desirable  products. 
Manufacturing  industry  consists,  in  fact,  in  the  application 
of  art,  science,  and  labour  to  bring  about  certain  changes  or 
modifications  of  already  existing  materials  ;  and  its  varieties 
depend  wholly  on  the  modes  in  which  this  application  is 
made.  The  manufacture  of  any  particular  article  usually 
derives  its  name  from  the  raw  material  manufactured,  modi- 
fied, or  wrought  up  into  a  new  shape.  Thus  the  terms 
woollen,  cotton,  and  hardware  manufacture,  mean  the  work- 
ing up  of  wool,  cotton,  or  metals  into  useful  or  desirable 
articles ;  ship-building  is  the  manufacture  of  timber  and  iron 
into  ships ;  agriculture  (ager  and  colo)  is  the  production  of 
corn,  beef,  and  other  products,  by  the  adaptation  of  the  soil 
and  the  vegetative  powers  of  nature  to  their  manufacture, 
and  so  on.  The  knowledge  of  the  means  by  which  art  and 
labour  may  be  most  successfully  employed  in  each  of  these 
departments  forms  the  peculiar  business  of  the  woollen, 
cotton,  and  hardware  manufacturers,  ship-builders,  agricul- 
turists, &c. 

It  would  far  exceed  our  limits  to  attempt  to  enter  into 
any  details  with  respect  to  the  application  of  labour  in  the 
separate  departments  of  manufacturing  industry ;  but  con- 
sidering the  vast  importance  of  manufactures  to  mankind, 
and  especially  to  the  British  nation,  we  may,  perhaps,  be 
excused  for  endeavouring  shortly  to  state  some  of  those  con- 
ditions and  circumstances  that  seem,  in  a  general  point  of 
view,  most  essential  to  success  in  manufactures. 

These  are  partly  of  a  moral  and  political,  and  partly  of  a 
physical  description.  Of  the  former  class,  the  most  im- 
portant seem  to  be,  the  security  and  free  disposal  of  proper- 
ty ;  the  absence  of  monopolies,  and  the  non-interference  of 
government  in  industrious  undertakings ;  the  diffusion  of 
knowledge  among  the  people;  the  cordial  reception  of 
foreigners;  and  the  emulation  and  energy  inspired  by  in- 
equality of  fortune,  and  by  the  gradual  increase  of  taxation. 
Among  the  more  prominent  of  the  physical  circumstances 
conducive  to  the  progress  of  manufactures  are  supplies  of 
the  raw  materials  to  be  manufactured,  with  the  command 
of  power ;  that  is,  of  coals,  water-falls,  &c.  A  good  deal, 
also,  of  the  progress  of  manufactures  seems  to  depend  on  the 
advantageous  situation  of  a  country  for  commerce,  and  on 
the  nature  of  its  climate.  We  shall  briefly  notice  some  of 
the  more  prominent  of  these  circumstances. 

1.  Moral  Circumstances  contributing  to  the  Progress  of 
Manufactures— \.  It  is  unnecessary  to  take  up  the  reader's 
time  by  enlarging  on  the  necessity  of  security,  and  of  the 
free  disposal  of  property,  to  success  in  manufacturing  in- 
dustry, or,  indeed,  in  any  laborious  undertaking.  Without 
security  there  can  be  neither  industry  nor  invention.  No 
man  will  engage  in  any  employment,  or  exert  either  his 
bodily  or  mental  powers,  unless  he  be  well  convinced  that 
he  will  be  allowed  to  reap  all  the  advantages  accruing  front 
his  labour,  skill,  or  genius.  Any  doubt  as  to  this  is  sure  to 
paralyze  his  exertions.  And  if,  owing  to  the  weakness  or 
ignorance  of  government,  the  prevalence  of  a  revolutionary 
spirit,  or  any  other  cause,  the  security  of  property  were  ma- 
terially impaired,  all  sorts  of  industrious  undertakings  that 
did  not  promise  an  immediate  return  would  be  forthwith 
abandoned,  and  every  person  possessed  of  property  would 
endeavour  to  convey  it  out  of  the  country.  The  want  of  se- 
curity is,  in  fact,  the  greatest  of  public  calamities.  In  its  ab- 
sence we  find  nothing  hut  the  most  abject  poverty  and  bar- 
barism ;  and,  supposing  other  things  to  be  equal,  the  wealth 
and  civilization  of  nations  will  be  pretty  nearly  proportioned 
to  the  security  of  property  they  respectively  enjoy.  Every 
other  circumstance  conducive  to  the  advancement  of  in- 
dustry may  exist  in  a  country  ;  but,  without  security,  theso 
can  be  of  no  material  service.  A  high  degree  of  security 
will  compensate  for  manv  deficiencies,  but  nothing  can  make 
up  for  its  want;  it  is  a  sine  qua  non  of  manufacturing  and 
national  prosperity. 


MANUFACTURE. 


2.  The  absence  of  monopolies,  and  the  non-interference 
of  government  in  industrious  undertakings,  undoubtedly 
conduce  in  no  ordinary  degree  to  the  progress  of  industry. 
Every  man  is  always  Matting  himself  to  lind  out  how  lie 
may  iicst  extend  his  command  over  the  necessaries  and  con 
venjences  of  life;  and  sound  policy  requires  that  he  should, 
so  long  as  he  does  not  Interfere  with  the  tights  and  pri\  lieges 
of  others,  be  allowed  to  pursue  his  own  interest  in  his  own 
way.  That  individuals  are,  generally  speaking,  the  best 
judges  of  what  is  must  beneficial  for  themselves,  is  now 
universally  admitted  to  he  the  only  print  iple  that  can  be  Bafe- 
ly  relied  on.  It  is  the  duty  of  governments  to  preserve  order; 
to  prevent  one  individual  from  injuring  another;  to  main- 
tain, in  short,  the  equal  rights  and  privileges  of  all.  But  it 
is  not  possible  for  them  to  go  one  step  farther  without  re- 
ceding from  the  principle  of  non-interference,  and  laying 
themselves  open  to  the  charge  of  acting  partially  by  some 
and  unjustly  by  others. 

The  most  comprehensive  experience  corroborates  the  truth 
of  this  statement  Since  the  passing  of  the  famous  act  of 
James  I.  in  ltiJ4,  for  the  abolition  of  monopolies,  full  scope 
has  been  given  in  Great  Britain  to  the  competition  of  the 
home  producers ;  and  though  the  various  resources  of  talent 
and  genius  have  not  been  so  fully  perhaps,  or  at  least  so 
early  developed,  as  they  would  have  been  had  there  been 
no  restrictions  on  our  intercourse  with  foreigners,  they  have 
been  stimulated  in  a  degree  unknown  in  most  other  coun- 
tries. France,  previously  to  the  Revolution,  was  divided 
into  provinces,  having  each  peculiar  privileges  and  separate 
codes  of  revenue  laws ;  and,  in  consequence,  the  intercourse 
between  theui  was  subject  to  the  most  oppressive  restrictions. 
In  Germany  and  Spain  the  same  miserable  system  prevail- 
ed; so  that  they  were  not  only  deprived  of  the  freedom  of 
foreign,  but  even  of  internal  commerce.  The  inhabitants  of 
each  province  being  in  a  great  measure  isolated  from  the 
rest,  there  was  comparatively  little  competition  ;  and,  instead 
of  invention  and  active  exertion,  there  was  nothing  but  rou- 
tine and  sluggish  indifference.  Holland  and  the  United 
States  have  been  almost  the  only  countries  that  have  enjoy- 
ed the  same  degree  of  internal  freedom  as  Great  Britain; 
and  the  former,  notwithstanding  the  unfavourable  physical 
circumstances  under  which  she  is  placed,  has  long  been, 
and  still  is,  the  richest  country  in  Europe ;  while  the  latter, 
whose  condition  is  in  other  respects  more  favourable,  is  ad- 
vancing with  giant  steps  in  the  career  of  improvement. 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  restrictions  on  industry  and  com- 
merce cannot  be  so  injurious  as  has  been  represented,  seeing 
the  progress  we  have  made  notwithstanding  they  have  al- 
ways existed  among  us.  The  previous  details  show  the 
weight  to  be  attached  to  this  allegation.  The  restrictions  re- 
ferred to  have  been  confined  to  some  branches  of  foreign 
trade;  and,  luckily,  the  freedom  allowed  to  all  sorts  of  in- 
dustry at  home  would  have  insured  our  advance  even  had 
our  foreign  trade  been  a  good  deal  more  fettered  and  restrain- 
ed than  it  actually  has  been.  But  to  imagine,  as  many  have 
done,  that  these  restrictions  contributed  to  accelerate  our 
progress,  is  the  climax  of  folly.  Their  influence  is,  in  every 
case,  distinctly  and  completely  the  reverse  ;  but  though  con- 
siderable, even  in  Great  Britain,  it  has  been  insufficient  to 
countervail  the  advantages  resulting  from  the  freedom  we 
otherwise  enjoyed. 

3.  The  ability  to  read,  and  the  diffusion  of  instruction 
among  all  ranks  and  orders  of  the  people  by  the  general  cir- 
culation of  books  and  journals  the  establishment  of  me- 
chanics' institutes,  &.c,  have  had  a  material  influence  over 
the  advancement  of  arts  and  industry.  They  have  had  the 
double  advantage  of  multiplying  the  means  and  chances  of 
improvement,  and  of  preventing  any  invention  or  discovery, 
when  made,  from  being  lost  or  engrossed  by  a  few.  An  un- 
Instructed  people,  though  surrounded  by  all  the  means  and 

-  required  tor  the  manufacture  of  commodities  and 
tin-  accumulation  of  riches,  being  unable  to  apply  them,  are 
>  poor  and  destitute;  but  an  intelligent  people, 
though  placed  in  a  comparatively  unfavourable  situation, 
never  fail,  by  availing  themselves  of  the  powers  and  ener- 
gies of  nature,  and  making  them  subservient  to  their  pur- 
pose-, tu  attain  to  distinction  as  manufacturers,  and  so  be- 
come rich  and  prosperous.  That  "knowledge  is  power"  is 
true  in  manufactures  as  well  as  in  morals.  The  more  fa- 
miliar our  acquaintance  with,  and  the  more  complete  our 
Command  over  natural  agents,  the  greater,  of  COUItie  must 
be  our  ability  to  modify  rude  products,  and  to  make  them 
minister  to  our  wants  and  the  gratification  Of  our  de- 
tail -■  In  tracing  the  causes  of  our  success  in  manufactures 
anil  industry,  it  is  not  possible  to  appropriate  to  each  cir- 
cumstance the  portion  belonging  to  it  of  a  result  which  is 
the  joint  effect  of  the  whole;  but  if  this  could  be  done,  it 
would  be  found  that  do  inconsiderable  share  is  fairly  ascriba 
ble  to  the  extraordinary  diffusion  among  us  of  scientific  in 
formation. 

I.  For  a  lengthened  period  the  reception  given  to  foreign- 
ers in  England  was  anything  but  cordial.    In  most  countries, 

na 


indeed,  not  in  an  advanced  state  of  civilization,  str.injrTs  arc 
uniformly  the  objects  of  popular  dislike;  and  this  feeling 
seems  at  one  time  to  have  prevailed  quite  as  much  in  Eng- 
land as  any  where  else.  But  notwithstanding  the  various 
legal  disabilities  laid  on  foreigners,  and  the  ill-treatment  they 
often  experienced,  their  settlement  here  has  been  productive 
of  the  most  advantageous  results.  The  Flemings,  Invited 
over  and  protected  by  Edward  III.,  gave  the  first  great  im- 
pulse to  the  woollen  manufacture;  and  the  Immigrations 
from  the  Low  Countries  during  the  persecutions  of  the  Duke 
of  Alva,  and  from  France  subsequently  to  the  revocation  of 
the  Edict  of  Nantes,  materially  forwarded  our  commerce 
and  many  branches  of  manufactures.  During  the  last  cen- 
tury the  prejudice  against  aliens  lost  much  of  its  force;  and 
several  of  the  disabilities  imder  which  they  formerly  labour- 
ed have  been  removed.  But  in  all  that  respects  the  treat- 
ment of  foreigners,  our  policy  has  been  less  liberal  and  en- 
lightened than  that  of  the  Dutch.  In  Holland  they  have  al- 
ways been  received  with  open  arms ;  and  a  short  residence 
in  the  country,  and  a  small  payment  to  the  state,  have  en- 
titled them  to  all  the  privileges  enjoyed  by  natives.  The 
highest  authorities  agree  that  this  was  one  of  the  main  causes 
of  the  extraordinary  progress  made  by  the  republic  in  com- 
merce and  wealth.  "  It  has  always  been  our  constant  policy 
to  make  Holland  a  perpetual,  safe,  and  secure  asylum  for  all 
persecuted  and  oppressed  strangers;  no  alliance,  no  treaty, 
no  regard  for,  nor  any  solicitation  of,  any  potentate  whatever 
has  at  any  time  been  able  to  weaken  or  destroy,  or  make 
the  state  recede  from  protecting,  those  who  have  fled  to  it 
for  their  own  security  and  self-preservation.  Throughout 
the  whole  course  of  all  the  persecutions  and  oppressions 
that  have  occurred  in  other  countries,  the  steady  adherence 
of  the  republic  to  this  fundamental  law  has  been  the  cause 
that  many  people  have  not  only  fled  thither  for  refuge,  with 
their  whole  stock  in  ready  cash,  and  their  most  valuable  ef 
fects,  but  have  also  settled  and  established  many  trades 
fabrics,  manufactures,  arts,  and  sciences,  in  this  country, 
notwithstanding  the  first  materials  for  the  said  fabrics  and 
manufactures  were  almost  wholly  wanting  in  it,  and  not  to 
be  procured  but  at  a  great  expense  from  foreign  parts." 
(Memorial  by  Dutch  Merchants,  presented  to  the  Prince  of 
Orange  in  1751.) 

5.  We  incline  to  think  that  the  great  inequality  of  fortune 
that  has  always  prevailed  in  this  country  has  powerfully 
contributed  to  excite  a  spirit  of  invention  and  industry  among 
the  less  opulent  classes.  It  is  not  always  because  a  man  is 
absolutely  poor  that  he  is  perseveringly  industrious  and 
economical ;  he  may  have  already  amassed  considerable 
wealth,  but  he  continues  with  unabated  energy  to  avail  him- 
self of  every  means  by  which  he  may  hope  to  add  to  his  for- 
tune, that  he  may  place  himself  on  a  level  with  the  great 
landed  proprietors,  and  those  who  give  the  tone  to  society  in 
all  that  regards  expense.  No  successful  manufacturer  or 
merchant  ever  considers  that  he  has  enough  till  he  be  able 
to  live  in  something  like  the  same  style  as  the  most  opulent 
landlords.  Those  immediately  below  the  highest  become, 
as  it  were,  a  standard,  to  which  the  class  next  to  them  en- 
deavour to  elevate  themselves;  the  impulse  extending,  in 
this  way,  to  the  very  lowest  classes,  individuals  belonging  to 
which  are  always  raising  themselves  by  industry,  address, 
and  good  fortune  to  the  highest  places  in  society.  Had  there 
been  less  inequality  of  fortune  among  us,  there  would  have 
been  less  emulation,  and  industry  would  not  have  been  so 
successfully  prosecuted.  It  is  true  the  desire  to  emulate  the 
great  and  the  affluent,  by  embarking  in  a  lavish  course  of  ex- 
penditure, is  often  prematurely  indulged  in,  and  carried  to  a 
culpable  excess;  but  the  evils  thence  arising  make  but  a 
trifling  deduction  from  the  beneficial  influence  of  that  pow- 
erful stimulus  which  it  gives  to  the  inventive  faculties,  and 
to  that  desire  to  improve  our  condition  and  to  mount  in  the 
scale  of  society  which  is  the  source  of  all  that  is  great  and 
elevated.  Hence  we  should  disapprove  of  any  system, 
which,  like  that  of  the  law  of  equal  inheritance  established 
in  Franee,  had  any  tendency  artificially  to  equalize  fortunes. 
To  the  absence  of  any  such  law,  and  the  prevalence  of  cus- 
toms of  a  totally  different  character,  we  are  inclined  to  at- 
tribute a  considerable  portion  of  our  superior  manufactures, 
wealth,  and  Industry. 

li.  We  are  also  disposed  to  believe,  how  paradoxical  so- 
ever such  a  notion  may  appear,  that  the  taxation  to  which 
we  are  subject  has  hitherto  at  least  been  favourable  to  the 
progress  of  industry.  It  is  not  enough  that  a  man  has  tho 
means  of  rising  in  the  world  within  his  command  .  he  must 
be  placed  in  such  B  situation  that  unless  he  avail  himself  of 
them,  and  put  forth  all  his  energies,  he  will  be  cast  down  to 
a  lower  station.  Now  this  is  what  our  taxation  has  effect- 
ed: to  the  desire  of  rising  in  the  world,  implanted  in  the 
In.  a-t  nl  every  man,  it  superadded  the  fear  of  being  thrown 
down  tu  a  low  ei  place  in  SOdety;  anil  the  two  prim- i pies  com- 
bined produced  results  that  could  not  have  been  produced 

by  either  separately.    Bad  taxation  been  carried  be] i  thw 

bounds,  it  would  not  have  had  this  effect.    But  though  con- 


MANUFACTURE. 

siderable,  its  increase  was  not  such  as  to  make  the  contribu- 
tors despair  of  being  able  to  meet  the  sacrifices  it  imposed 
by  increased  skill  and  economy ;  and  the  efforts  they  made 
in  this  view  were  far  more  than  sufficient  for  their  object; 
and  consequently  occasioned  a  large  addition  to  the  public 
industry  and  wealth,  that  would  not  otherwise  have  existed. 
II.  Physical  Circumstances  contributing  to  the  Progress 
of  Manufactures. — 1.  Supplies  of  the  raw  material  may  be 
classed  among  the  more  prominent  of  this  description  of  cir- 
cumstances. Those  who  reflect  on  the  value  and  import- 
ance of  our  manufactures  of  wool ;  of  the  useful  metals, 
such  as  iron,  tin,  lead,  copper,  &c. ;  of  leather,  flax,  and  so 
on— will  readily  admit  that  our  success  in  them  has  been 
materallv  facilitated  by  our  possessing  abundant  supplies  of 
the  raw 'material.  It  is  of  less  consequence  when  the  ma- 
terial of  a  manufacture  possesses  considerable  value  in 
small  bulk,  whether  it  be  furnished  from  native  sources  or 
be  imported  from  abroad;  though  even  in  that  case,  the  ad- 
vantage of  having  an  internal  supply,  which  cannot  be 
withdrawn  through  the  jealousy  or  hostility  of  others,  is 
far  from  immaterial.  But  no  nation  can  make  any  consid- 
erable progress  in  the  manufacture  of  bulky  and  heavy  arti- 
cles, the  conveyance  of  which  to  a  distance  necessarily  occa- 
sions a  large  expense,  unless  she  have  supplies  of  the  raw 
material  within  herself.  Had  we  been  destitute  of  iron  ore, 
lead,  and  tin,  we  could  never  have  distinguished  ourselves 
by  the  magnitude  and  value  of  our  manufactures  of  these 
articles;  and  any  one  who  reflects  on  the  signal  advantage 
resulting  to  every  branch  of  manufacturing  industry  from 
being  able  to  procure  abundant  supplies  of  iron  at  the  cheap- 
est rate,  will  be  convinced  that  we  are  under  anything  but 
slight  obligations  to  our  exhaustless  stores  of  this  mineral. 

2.  But  of  all  the  physical  circumstances  that  have  con- 
tributed to  our  extraordinary  progress  in  manufactures  and 
industry,  none  have  had  so  much  influence  as  our  possession 
of  the  most  valuable  coal  mines.  These  have  conferred  ad- 
vantages on  us,  not  enjoyed  in  an  equal  degree  by  any  other 
country.  Our  extraordinary  success  in  the  manufacture  of 
iron,  copper,  &c,  is  not  owing  so  much  to  our  possessing  the 
ores,  as  to  our  possessing  the  coal  by  the  aid  of  which  they 
have  been  smelted  and  refined.  The  paramount  importance 
of  coal  as  a  manufacturing  agent  has,  however,  been  prin- 
cipally manifested  since  the  invention  of  the  steam  engine. 
Without  a  cheap  and  abundant  supply  of  fuel,  the  engine, 
as  now  constructed,  would  be  of  comparatively  little  use. 
It  is,  as  it  were,  the  hands  by  which  the  most  gigantic  re- 
sults are  effected ;  but  coal  is  the  muscle  by  which  the  hands 
are  set  in  motion,  and  without  which  their  all  but  illimitable 
power  and  dexterity  could  not  be  called  into  action,  or  made 
subservient  to  any  useful  purpose.  Our  coal  mines  may 
thus,  in  truth,  be  regarded  as  vast  magazines  of  hoarded  or 
warehoused  power ;  and  unless  some  such  radical  change 
should  be  made  on  the  steam-engine  as  should  very  decided- 
ly lessen  the  quantity  of  fuel  required  to  keep  it  in  motion, 
or  some  equally  serviceable  machine,  but  moved  by  different 
means,  be  introduced,  it  is  not  at  all  likely  that  any  nation 
should  come  into  successful  competition  with  us  in  those  de- 
partments of  manufacturing  industry  in  which  steam-en- 
gines, or  machinery  moved  by  steam,  may  be  advantageous- 
ly employed. 

3.  The  advantageous  situation  of  a  country  for  commerce, 
and  the  nature  of  its  climate,  have  also  a  powerful  influence 
over  manufacturing  industry.  Owing  to  the  facilities  afford- 
ed by  the  insular  situation  of  Great  Britain  for  maintaining 
an  intercourse  with  all  parts  of  the  world,  our  manufacturers 
have  been  able  to  obtain  supplies  of  foreign  raw  materials 
on  the  easiest  terms,  and  to  forward  their  own  products 
wherever  there  was  a  demand  for  them.  Had  we  occupied 
a  central  or  internal  situation  in  any  quarter  of  the  world, 
our  facilities  for  dealing  with  foreigners  being  so  much  the 
less,  our  progress  would  have  been  comparatively  slow  ;  but 
being  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  the  sea,  that  is,  by  the 
great  highway  of  nations,  we  have  been  able  to  deal  with 
the  most  distant  as  well  as  with  the  nearest  people,  and  to 
profit  by  the  peculiar  capacities  of  production  enjoyed  by 
each.  Under  such  circumstances,  it  would  have  been  sin- 
gular had  we  not  shot  ahead  of  most  of  our  competitors  in 
the  race  of  improvement ;  and  it  will  require  some  pow- 
erful counteracting  agency  to  neutralize  or  overcome  these 
advantages. 

4.  Our  climate  is  peculiarly  favourable  for  all  sorts  of  ex- 
ertion and  enterprise;  without  being  too  severe,  it  is  suffi- 
ciently so  to  render  comfortable  clothing  and  lodging  indis- 
pensable ;  and  consequently  gives  rise  to  wants  that  are 
either  unknown,  or  less  sensibly  felt,  in  more  genial  regions. 
Its  inequality  too,  by  requiring  incessant  care  and  attention 
on  the  part  of  the  husbandmen,  or  manufactures  of  com, 
makes  them  vigilant  and  active,  as  well  as  industrious;  and 
the  qualities  that  are  thus  naturally  impressed  on  this  great 
class  are,  through  their  example,  universally  diffused. 

The  author  of  a  valuable  article  on  English  statistics  in 
the  Edinburgh  Encyclopedia,  when  enumerating  the  causes 


MANURES. 

of  our  extraordinary  success  in  manufactures,  lays  the  great- 
est stress  on  the  superiority  of  our  machinery,  the  magnitude 
of  our  capital,  and  the  extent  to  which  the  division  of  labour 
is  carried  among  us.  But  this  is  to  mistake  effects  for 
causes.  These,  in  fact,  are  the  means  and  instruments  by 
which  manfacturing  industry  is  immediately  carried  on ; 
and  the  real  inquiry  is,  what  are  the  circumstances  that  have 
rendered  us  so  abundantly  supplied  with  these  means  1  We 
have  endeavoured  briefly  to  answer  this  inquiry,  by  stating 
what  appear  to  be  the  most  prominent  causes  of  that  ex- 
traordinary accumulation  of  capital,  and  of  that  universal 
employment  of  improved  and  powerful  machinery  and  sub- 
divided labour,  which  mark  our  eminence  as  a  manufac- 
turing people.  Still,  however,  we  are  inclined  to  think  that 
a  good  deal  must  in  these  matters  be  ascribed  to  chance,  or 
to  some  lucky  contingency,  that  could  not  d  priori  be  look- 
ed for.  Had  Hargreaves,  Arkwright,  Watt,  or  Wedgwood 
not  existed,  or  been  born  abroad,  it  is  impossible  to  say  how 
much  it  might  have  affected  the  state  of  industry  here ;  but 
there  seems  to  be  sufficient  grounds  for  thinking  that  it  would 
have  been,  at  this  moment,  materially  different  from  what 
it  actually  is.  A  good  deal,  too,  depends  on  priority.  A 
country,  town,  or  district,  that  has  already  established  and 
made  a  considerable  progress  in  any  manufacture,  acquires, 
in  consequence,  an  advantage  that  may  enable  it  success- 
fully to  contend  with  competitors  placed  under  what  are  na- 
turally more  favourable  circumstances ;  its  merchants  are 
already  in  possession  of  the  markets ;  its  inhabitants,  being 
trained  to  the  business,  have  acquired  that  peculiar  sleight 
of  hand  that  is  necessary  to  form  expert  workmen ;  and  they 
are  in  this  way  frequently  able  to  preserve  their  ascendency 
for  a  lengthened  period,  and  sometimes  even  to  drive  those 
from  the  field  who  have  a  preponderance  of  natural  advan- 
tages on  their  side. 

It  seems  to  be  the  peculiar  good  fortune  of  England  that, 
as  respects  all  the  great  branches  of  manufacture,  she  has 
at  once  the  advantages  of  priority  and  of  acquired  skill  and 
dexterity  on  her  side,  as  well  as  the  natural  advantages  al- 
ready noticed,  of  abundant  supplies  of  the  raw  material,  of 
inexhaustible  beds  of  coal,  and  of  situation.  Cotton  is  not 
an  exception  ;  for  though  the  raw  material  be  the  product 
of  other  countries,  the  freight  upon  it  is  not  very  considera- 
ble, and  is  but  a  trifling  deduction  from  the  other  circum- 
stances that  seem  to  insure  our  superiority  in  this  depart- 
ment. To  excel  in  machine-making  is  to  excel  in  what  is 
certainly  the  most  important  branch  of  manufacturing  in- 
dustry. Superiority  in  any  single  branch,  except  this,  may 
exist  "simultaneously  with  great  inferiority  in  many  others  ; 
but  eminence  in  the  manufacture  of  machinery  is  almost 
sure  to  lead  to  eminence  in  every  other  department. 

Considerable,  though  not,  as  it  appears  to  us,  too  much 
stress,  has  been  laid  on  the  practice,  generally  adopted  in 
Great  Britain,  of  paying  workmen,  wherever  it  is  practica- 
ble, by  the  piece,  or  by  the  work  done,  and  not  by  the  day. 
This  system  gives  the  workmen  an  interest  in  being  indus- 
trious, and  makes  them  exert  themselves  to  execute  the 
greatest  quantity  of  work  in  the  least  space  of  time  ;  and  in 
consequence  of  its  prevalence,  this  practice  materially  in- 
fluences even  the  day  labourers,  who,  to  avoid  invidious 
comparisons,  make  exertions  unknown  in  other  countries. 
Hence  a  given  number  of  hands  in  Great  Britain  perform 
much  more  work  than  is  executed  by  the  same  number  of 
hands  almost  anywhere  else ;  in  fact,  if  we  regard  wages  in 
their  proper  light,  that  is,  if  we  look  upon  them  as  a  com- 
pensation for  work  done,  and  not  for  the  time  spent  in  doing 
it,  they  will,  we  believe,  be  found  to  be  cheaper  in  Great 
Britain  than  in  most  other  countries.  (For  farther  particu- 
lars, see  the  section  on  Manufactures  in  the  Statistical  Ac- 
count of  the  British  Empire,  whence  this  article  has  been 
partly  abstracted.) 

MANUMI'SSION,  or  ENFRANCHISEMENT.  (Lat. 
manus,  and  mitto,  I  send  away.)  The  grant  of  liberty  to  a 
slave.  Ancient  charters  containing  such  grants  were  fre- 
quently termed  chartae  ingenuitatis.  (See  a  law  of  William 
the  Conqueror,  Lamb.  Jirchai.,  126.)  The  term  manumis- 
sion is  derived  from  a  practice  adopted  by  the  ancient  Ro- 
mans in  enfranchising  their  slaves.  The  master  seized  the 
hand  of  the  slave,  and  dismissed  him  with  the  words 
"nunc  hominem  liberum  esse  volo."  Among  the  Romans 
there  were  two  classes  of  manumission,  called  perfect  and 
imperfect ;  the  former  of  which  were  effected  in  three  dif- 
ferent ways.  The  enfranchisement  was  perfect — 1.  Per 
censum  ;  by  which  the  name  of  the  slave  was,  at  the  mas- 
ter's request,  placed  in  the  register  of  free  citizens.  2.  Per 
vindictam  ;  when  the  slave  was  led  before  the  pra>tor,  and, 
the  master  having  demanded  his  liberty,  that  magistrate  laid 
the  vindicta  (or  rod  of  office)  on  his  head,  with  the  words 
"  aio  te  liberum  esse  more  quiritium."  3.  Per  testamentum  ; 
by  will.  It  was  imperfect  when  the  slave  was  enfranchised 
at  private  entertainments,  or  by  letter.     See  Client. 

MANU'RES.  Substances  added  to  the  soil,  with  a  view 
of  accelerating  vegetation,  and  increasing  the  production  of 

717 


MANUSCRIPTS. 

the  crop?.  Animal,  vegetable,  and  mineral  substances  are 
used  for  this  purpose.  Decomposing  animal  matter  of  any 
kind  forma  one  of  the  most  powerful  manures,  and  in  many 
-  accelerates  the  decay  and  decomposition  of  inert 
vegetable  matters  mixed  \\  ith  it ;  as  in  the  mixture  of 
dune  and  straw  which  forms  the  common  offal  of  stables. 
All  animal  excrements  are  also  powerful  manures,  and. 
when  duly  applied  10  the  soil,  soon  exhibit  their  influence 
by  the  luxuriance  of  the  crop.  It,  however,  often  hap- 
pens in  respect  to  esculent  vegetables  that  their  quality  is 
deteriorated,  and  that  they  acquire  a  coarse  and  rank  fla- 
vour, if  over  -manured ;  as  is  the  case  with  much  of  the 
produce  of  the  market  gardens  near  London,  where,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  vicinity  of  the  metropolis,  manure  is  abun- 
dant, and  luxuriant  and  fine-looking  vegetables  in  great  re- 
quest for  the  table. 

In  all  cases  where  animal  manures  are  used,  care  should 
be  taken  that  they  are  brought  into  action  upon  the  soil  as 
soon  as  they  begin  to  decompose,  or  as  soon  as  possible  af- 
terwards, and  not  suffered  to  rot,  and  exhale  their  best  con- 
stituent parts  while  lying  in  the  farm-yard.  The  drainings 
and  the  exhalations  of  a  common  dung-heap  contain  its 
most  effective  ingredients  ;  and  these  are  often  suffered  to 
go  to  waste,  or  to  contaminate  the  air  and  collect  in  pools 
of  filth.  The  fresh  and  the  old  manure  of  this  decomposi- 
tion are  known  to  fanners  under  the  terms  long  and  short 
dung :  the  advantages  and  economy  of  the  former,  when 
properly  applied,  cannot  be  doubted.  Those  animal  ma- 
nures which  are  slow  of  decomposition  are  most  durable, 
and  generally  most  effective  in  their  operation.  Of  these, 
the  best  is  ground  bones,  the  animal  part  of  which  is  very 
gradually  dissolved  out  by  moisture ;  so  that  their  effect  is 
long-continued,  and  their  earthy  matter  is  also,  probably, 
beneficial,  at  least  to  many  crops.  Vegetable  manures  are 
often  very  effective,  especially  as  in  the  case  of  ploughing 
in  a  green  crop,  where  all  the  soluble  matters  are  brought 
into  action  ;  and  inert  vegetable  substances  may  be  render- 
ed active  by  mixture  with  those  which  easily  putrefy,  or 
with  animal  matter.  Some  vegetables,  such  as  cabbages 
and  many  other  cruciform  plants,  approximate  to  animal 
matter  in  their  composition,  and  are  proportionately  good 
manures.  Mineral  manures  act  in  two  ways:  either  by 
their  causticity,  as  is  the  case  with  quicklime,  by  which 
they  decompose  most  organic  bodies,  such  as  roots,  fibres, 
&c,  and  render  them  soluble  and  nutritious  to  the  growing 
crop  ;  or  they  alter  the  texture  of  the  soil.  Thus,  sand  may 
be  called  a  manure  for  clayey  lands,  and  clay  and  loam  for 
those  that  are  sandy.  Upon  the  same  principle,  stiff  soils 
are  improved  by  paring  and  burning,  by  which  a  superficial 
sandiness  is  produced,  and  the  texture  of  the  soil  rendered 
more  appropriate  for  vegetation. 

MA'BfUSCRIPTS.  (Lat.  manu  scriptum,  written  by  the 
hand.)  Literally  writings  of  any  kind,  whether  on  paper 
or  any  other  material,  in  contradistinction  to  such  as  are 
printed.  Books  were  generally  written  upon  vellum,  after 
the  papyrus  used  in  classical  times  had  become  obsolete, 
until  the  general  introduction  of  paper  made  from  rags, 
about  the  15th  century  after  Christ;  and  the  finest  and 
whitest  vellum  is  generally  indicative  of  great  age  in  a  manu- 
script. The  dearness  of  this  material  gave  rise  to  the  prac- 
tice of  using  old  manuscript  books  on  which  the  writing  had 
been  erased  (see  Palimpsest),  and  also  to  that  of  abbrevia- 
tions. These  were  carried  to  excess  in  the  12th  century, 
and  from  that  time  until  the  invention  of  printing  ;  and  for 
a  long  period  subsequent  to  that  invention,  abbreviations 
were  still  in  common  use:  in  Greek  printing  they  were  usu- 
al until  within  the  last  fifty  years.  ( if  Latin  MSS.,  those 
prior  to  the  reign  of  Charlemagne  (A.D.  800)  are  considered 
ancient.  Manuscripts  of  the  early  classical  age  were  writ- 
ten on  sheets  rolled  together.  Illuminated  manuscripts  are 
Buch  as  are  embellished  with  ornaments,  drawings,  em- 
blematical figures,  &c.  illustrative  of  the  text.  This  prac- 
tice was  introduced  at  a  very  early  period  :  for  we  find  the 
works  of  Varro,  Pomponius  Aniens,  and  others  adorned  by 
illuminations.  But  it  was  chiefly  employed  in  the  brevia- 
ries and  prayer  book  of  the  early  Christian  church.  The 
colours  ni"st  employed  for  (his  purpose  were  gold  and 
azure.  Illuminations  were  in  a  high  Btate  of  perfection  be- 
tween the 5th  and  LOth  centuries;  after  which  thej  Beem 
to  have  partaken  of  the  barbarism  of  the  middle  ages, 
which  threw  their  chilling  influence  over  everj  description 
of  art     On   the   revival   of  the   arts  in  the   15th   and   ll'ilh 

centuries  many  excellent  performances  were  produced  i  but 
the  art  did  not  take  deep  root,  and  we  believe  tbi  lasl  Bpe 
cimen  of  illumination  executed  in  this  country  w  as  ( 'animal 
-  Leetionary,  at  Christ  Church,  Oxford.  See  Co- 
dex,  Diploma  in  s.   Paleography. 

HAP.     i  Lat.  m.ippa.i     A  delineation  of  some  portion  of 

the  surface  of  the  sphere  (terrestrial  or  celestial)  on  a 
plane.    Terrestrial  maps  are  geographic  or  hydrographies 

:  as  the]  denote  a  portion  of  the  land  or  of  the  sea ; 
the  latter,  however,  are  usually  called  charts.    ($te  Chart.) 

718 


MAP. 

A  map  representing  a  small  extent  of  country  is  called  a 
topographical  map. 

Tims  trial  Maps. — The  object  of  a  terrestrial  map  is  to 
exhibit  the  boundaries  of  countries  and  the  relative  posi- 
tions of  their  several  parts.  A  perfect  representation  of  a 
country  should  present  all  its  parts,  not  only  in  their  true 
relative  positions,  but  also  in  their  just  proportions.  This 
may  be  accurately  done  on  a  globe  ;  but  as  the  earth's  sur- 
face is  spherical,  it  is  impossible  to  represent  an]  considera- 
ble portion  of  it  on  a  plane  so  that  the  distances  of  places 
shall  retain  the  same  proportions  which  they  have  on  the 
sphere,  and  geographers  have  accordingly  had  recourse  to 
various  methods  of"  delineations,  all  of  which  have  their 
peculiar  advantages  in  particular  cases. 

(  mo  method  is  to  represent  the  points  and  lines  of  the 
sphere  according  to  the  rules  of  perspective,  or  as  they 
would  appear  to  the  eye,  having  some  assigned  position  rel- 
atively to  the  sphere  and  the  plane  of  representation.  This 
method  gives  rise  to  the  different  modes  of  projecting  the 
sphere,  of  which  the  three  principal  are  the  orthographic, 
the  stereograph ic,  and  the  central.  The  method  of  projec- 
tion answers  very  well  when  the  surface  to  be  represented 
is  small,  and  the  eye  is  placed  perpendicularly  over  it ;  but 
when  it  embraces  a  considerable  portion  of  the  sphere,  the 
parts  near  the  extremities  of  the  map  are  much  distorted. 
See  Projection. 

A  second  method  is  to  suppose  the  surface  to  be  repre- 
sented to  be  a  portion  of  the  surface  of  a  cone,  whose  vertex 
is  somewhere  in  the  polar  axis  produced,  and  which  either 
touches  the  sphere  at  the  middle  latitude  of  the  surface  to 
be  represented,  or  falls  within  the  sphere  at  the  middle  lati- 
tude, and  without  it  at  tile  extreme  parallels.  The  conical 
surface  is  then  supposed  to  be  dex'eloped  on  a  plane  (which 
it  admits  of  being) ;  whence  this  method  is  called  the  meth- 
od of  development.  Of  this  method  there  are  various  mod- 
ifications :  as  that  of  Murdoch,  who  supposes  the  side  of  the 
cone  to  be  parallel  to  the  tangent  of  the  meridian  at  the 
middle  latitude,  but  to  penetrate  the  surface  of  the  sphere 
between  the  middle  latitude  and  the  extremities  of  the  pro- 
jected arc  ;  that  of  De  Lisle,  who  assumed  the  cone  such  as 
to  intersect  the  sphere  in  the  two  parallels  equally  distant 
from  the  extreme  and  middle  latitudes ;  that  of  Euler, 
who  placed  the  apex  of  the  cone  at  a  determinate  distanco 
beyond  the  pole. 

A  third  method  is  to  lay  down  the  points  on  the  map  ac- 
cording to  some  assumed  mathematical  law,  the  condition 
to  be  fulfilled  being  that  the  parts  of  the  spherical  surface 
to  be  represented,  and  their  representations  on  the  map, 
shall  be  similar  in  their  small  elements.  Of  such  methods 
the  best  known  is  .Mcrcator's  Chart  (which,  however,  may 
be  produced  also  by  development),  in  which  the  meridians 
are  equidistant,  parallel,  straight  lines,  and  the  parallels  of 
latitude  are  also  straight  lines  perpendicular  to  the  meridi- 
ans ;  but  of  which  fhe  distances  from  each  other  increase 
in  going  from  the  equator  in  such  a  proportion  as  always  to 
show  the  true  bearings  of  places  from  one  another.  See 
Mercator's  Chart. 

Celestial  Maps. — For  the  construction  of  his  maps  of  the 
stars,  the  astronomer  Flamsteed  adopted  the  following 
method  :  All  the  parallels  on  the  sphere  are  represented  by 
straight  lines,  and  likewise  one  of  the  meridians;  namely, 
that  which  passes  through  the  middle  of  the  map,  as  in  the 
annexed  diagram.  The  parallels  which  are  all  perpendicu- 
lar to  this  meridian  have  North. 
the  same  relative  lengths  as 
on  the  sphere,  and  conse- 
quently the  degrees  of  lon- 
gitude are  represented  in 
their  just  proportions  ;  that 
is  are  proportional  to  the 
cosine  of  the  latitude.  If, 
therefore,  the  parallels  be 
each  divided  into  the  same 
number  of  equal  parts,  a  curve  line  drawn  through  the 
points  of  division  will  represent  the  meridians.  By  Ibis 
method,  any  distance  in  the  direction  of  the  parallels  is 
equal  to  the  corresponding  distance  on  the  sphere  ;  but  it  is 
evident  that  the  map  is  much  distorted  towards  the  extrem- 
ities, in  consequence  of  the  oblique  directions  of  the  meri- 
dians. Fltunsteed's  method  is  sometimes  used  in  geography 
for  representing  countries  which   lie  on   both   Bides  "I   tli' 

equator,  In  which  case  the  distortion  is  less,  A  modification 
of  it.  which  consists  in  substituting  arcs  of  circles  for  tho 
Straight  lines  representing  the  meridians,  whereby  their 
obliquity  is  diminished,  is  extensively  employed  in  the  con- 
struction of  maps.  The  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful 
Knowledge  has  adopted  the  gnomonk  projection  for  laying 

down  tlnir  maps  of  the  stars. 

Fur  details  respecting  the  genera]  construction  of  maps, 
we  refer  the  reader  to  the  work  of  Mr.  Jamieson  on  the 
subject;  Malt*  Bruit's  Geography i  Malte  lirun's  and 
Balbi's  Systems  of  Geography  Abridged;  .Murray's  £»- 


MARANATHA. 

eylepedia  of  Geography ;  De  Morgan's  Explanation  of  the 
Gnomonic  Projection  of  the  Sphere;  and  particularly  the 
Traite  de  Topographic  d\irpentage  et  de  Nioellcment  of 
Puissant. 

MARANA'THA.  (Syr.)  A  form  of  anathematizing 
among  the  Jews,  which  was  viewed  as  a  tremendous  de- 
nunciation. (See  1  Cor.,  xvi.,  22.)  It  signifies  "  the  Lord 
will  come  ;"  i.  e.,  to  take  vengeance. 

MARANTA'CEjE  (Maranta,  one  of  the  genera),  form 
the  natural  order  of  Endogenous  plants,  from  which  the 
most  genuine  kind  of  arrow-root  is  prepared.  This  sub- 
stance is  the  starch  contained  in  the  tubers  of  Maranta, 
Arundinacea,  and  some  other  species,  and  of  certain  kinds 
of  canna.  Marantacece  are  very  nearly  the  same  as  Zingi- 
beracece ;  from  which  they  differ  in  the  flowers  being  more 
irregular,  and  the  anther  having  but  one  lobe  instead  of 
two. 

MARA'SMUS.  (Gr.  papaiva,  I  waste  away.)  Emacia- 
tion ;  atrophy. 

MA'RBLE.  (Fr.  marbre.)  A  term  limited  by  mineralo- 
gists and  geologists  to  the  several  varieties  of  carbonate  of 
lime  which  have  more  or  less  of  a  granular  and  crystal- 
line texture.  In  sculpture,  the  term  is  applied  to  several 
compact  or  granular  kinds  of  stone  susceptible  of  a  very 
fine  polish.  The  varieties  of  it  are  extremely  numerous. 
The  most  valuable  sorts  used  by  the  ancients  were  the 
Pentclican,  which  was  white,  and  obtained  from  Mount 
Pentiles  in  Attica  :  the  Parian,  also  called  Marpessian,  ob- 
tained from  the  island  of  Paros,  was  of  a  white  colour,  as 
was  that  from  Mount  Hymettus  in  Attica.  Thasus  and 
Lesbos  also  produced  white  marbles,  which  were  in  much 
repute.  A  place  called  Luna,  in  Etruria,  produced  a  mar- 
ble whose  whiteness  exceeded  that  from  Paros.  Of  the 
white  marbles  were  those  from  Mount  Phelleus  ;  from  the 
neighbourhood  of  Corallos,  in  Phrygia ;  from  Cyzicus,  in 
Asia  Minor  ;  and  the  Marmor  Phrygium,  found  near  Syn- 
nada  in  Phrygia.  The  black  marbles  most  used  were  from 
Taenarus,  and  the  Numidian.  The  Chium  Marmor,  from 
the  island  of  Chios,  was  of  a  black,  transparent,  checkered 
colour.  The  Obsidianum,  procured  from  Ethiopia,  was 
black.  The  Proconesian  marble  was  with  black  veins. 
Mount  Taygetes  afforded  the  Marmor  Laconicum,  which 
was  green,  and  is  better  known  by  the  name  of  Verde  An- 
tique. A  marble  of  mingled  green  was  obtained  from 
Carystus.  The  Atrician  marble,  from  Mount  Atrax  in 
Thessaly,  was  a  mixture  of  black,  white,  blue,  and  green. 
The  Tiberian  and  Augustan  marbles  were  green,  and 
brought  from  Egypt.  The  Marmor  Memphites  was  green, 
and  is  what  we  call  serpentine.  Corinth  produced  a  yellow 
marble.  The  Marmor  Phengites  was  white,  with  yellow 
spots;  the  Rhodian  was  marked  with  spots  of  a  golden 
colour,  and  that  of  Milos  yellow.  In  modern  times  the 
quarries  of  Carrara  almost  supply  the  world  with  white 
marble.  Of  variegated  marbles  there  are  many  sorts  found 
in  this  country  of  singular  beauty.  See  Elgin  Marbles  : 
see  also  Geology. 

MARCH.  The  first  month  of  the  Roman  year,  and  the 
third  of  the  English.  In  the  ecclesiastical  calendar,  used  in 
England  till  the  change  of  style  in  1752,  this  was  also  the 
first  month,  as  it  was  in  the  Roman.  It  is  named  Martius, 
in  honour  of  Mars,  the  reputed  father  of  Romulus.  There 
is  an  old  proverb  still  prevalent  in  Scotland,  which  repre- 
sents March  as  borrowing  three  days  from  April,  which 
have  thence  come  to  be  designated  the  borrowed  days. 
They  will  be  found  noticed  in  the  Complainte  of  Scotland. 
Upon  this  subject  Dr.  Jamieson  observes,  "  Those  who  are 
much  addicted  to  superstition  will  neither  borrow  nor  lend 
on  any  of  these  days.  If  any  one  would  propose  to  borrow 
of  them,  they  would  consider  it  as  an  evidence  that  the  per- 
son wished  to  employ  the  article  for  the  purpose  of  witch- 
craft against  the  lenders." 

March.  In  Music,  a  military  air,  played  by  inflame  and 
pulsatile  instruments,  to  regulate  the  steps  and  to  animate 
the  minds  of  soldiers.  The  march,  however,  has  long  been 
adapted  to  every  species  of  musical  instrument,  and  some 
of  the  most  celebrated  compositions  of  the  greatest  masters 
are  in  this  style ;  as  the  March  of  the  Priests  in  Mozart's 
Zauber-fiote,  the  Peasant's  March  in  Weber's  Freischutz, 
and,  above  all,  Beethoven's  Funeral  Marches.  In  the  Sup- 
plement to  the  First  Edition  of  the  Encyclopaedia,  it  is  truly 
said  that  a  march  should  be  always  composed  in  common 
time,  with  an  odd  crotchet  or  quaver  at  the  beginning.  It 
is  usually  quick  for  ordinary  marching,  and  slow  for  grand 
occasions ;  but  no  general  rules  can  be  laid  down  for  its 
composition. 

March,  in  Military  language,  signifies  the  motion  of  a 
body  of  troops  from  one  place  to  another.  It  consists  of 
three  measures:  1,  ordinary  time,  in  which  about  75  paces 
are  taken  in  a  minute  ;  2,  quick  time,  in  which  about  108 
steps  are  taken  in  a  minute ;  3,  the  quickest,  or,  as  it  is 
called,  wheeling  time,  at  the  rate  of  300  feet  in  the  same 
space. 


MARINES. 

MA'RCHES.  The  name  given  to  the  borders  or  frontiers 
of  any  district,  but  more  especially  applied  to  the  boundaries 
between  England  and  Wales,  and  England  and  Scotland. 
The  term  is  derived  from  an  old  Anglo-Saxon  word  signify- 
ing a  mark,  and  is  to  be  found  in  every  language  of  Teutonic 
descent.  Several  titles  of  dignity  both  in  this  and  other 
countries  derive  their  origin  from  their  possessors  having 
been  appointed  governors  of  the  marches  or  frontiers  of  their 
respective  countries;  of  these,  marquis  in  England  and  mark- 
graf  in  Germany  are  the  most  prominent.  The  title  Earl  of 
March,  now  enjoyed  by  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  was  origi- 
nally bestowed  on  Mortimer,  a  member  of  the  family  so 
celebrated  in  English  history,  because  he  was  the  governor 
or  superintendent  of  the  Welsh  marches.  In  the  middle 
ages,  the  name  marchers  was  given  to  the  noblemen  who 
lived  on  the  marches  of  Wales  and  Scotland.  According 
to  Camden  they  had  once  their  own  laws,  and  even  the 
"  power  of  life  and  death  like  petty  kings  ;"  but  these  privi- 
leges were  abolished  by  Henry  VIII.  There  was  formerly 
a  court  of  the  inarches  of  Wales  in  existence,  where  pleas 
of  debt,  or  damages  not  above  the  value  of  £5,  were  tried 
and  determined. 

MA'RCIONITES.  The  followers  of  Marcion,  a  heretic 
of  the  2d  century,  who  adopted  the  Oriental  notion  of  the 
two  conflicting  principles,  and  imagined  that  between  them 
there  existed  a  third  power,  neither  wholly  good  nor  evil, 
the  Creator  of  the  world  and  the  God  of  the  Jewish  dispen- 
sation. The  object  of  the  Good  Principle,  or  Supreme  God, 
is  to  restrain  the  ambition  of  these  two  powers,  which  wage 
a  constant  war  against  each  other  as  well  as  himself.  For 
this  purpose  it  was  that  he  sent  his  son  Jesus  Christ  to 
destroy  the  Evil  Principle  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  counteract 
and  coerce  the  power  of  the  Jewish  Deity  on  the  other. 
The  Marcionites  were  a  branch  of  the  great  Gnostic  heresy. 
Their  opinions  are  found  in  the  writings  of  Irensus,  Epipha- 
nius,  and  Tertullian  against  them. 

MARCO'SIANS.  An  early  sect  of  Christians,  a  branch 
of  the  Gnostics,  who  derived  their  name  from  an  Egyptian 
called  Marcus,  and  reputed  a  magician.  The  Marcosians 
had  a  great  number  of  apocryphal  books  which  they  held  to 
be  canonical ;  and  many  of  their  fables  are  still  in  use  and 
credit  among  the  Greek  monks. 

MA'REKANITE,  is  a  variety  of  obsidian,  found  at  Mare- 
kan,  in  Siberia,  in  small  spherules. 

MARGA'RIC  ACID.  (Gr.  txapyapirv,  a  pearl.)  The 
substance  into  which  the  margarine,  or  concrete  portion  of 
certain  oils,  is  converted  by  the  action  of  alkalies.  It  has  a 
pearly  lustre,  and  is  insoluble  in  water;  but  readily  soluble 
in  hot  alcohol,  which  deposites  it  as  the  solution  cools.  It 
fuses  at  140°,  and  reddens  litmus.  It  closely  resembles 
stearic  acid. 

MA'RGARINE.  The  solid,  fatty  matter  of  certain  vege- 
table oils  has  been  thus  termed  by  Lecanu,  from  its  pearly 
lustre.  The  purest  margarine  is  obtained  from  the  concrete 
portion  of  olive  oil. 

MARGARl'TIC  ACID.  A  distinctive  term  applied  to 
one  of  the  fatty  acids  which  result  from  the  saponification 
of  castor  oil.  By  the  same  process,  this  oil  also  yields  the 
ricinic  and  the  elaiodic  acids. 

MARGARO'NE.  When  margaric  acid  is  mixed  with 
quicklime  and  distilled,  a  peculiar  fatty  product,  which 
crystallizes  in  pearly  scales,  is  obtained,  which  has  been 
distinguished  by  the  above  term  from  other  analogous  sub- 
stances. 

MA'RGIN  (Fr.  marge),  in  Printing,  is  the  arrangement 
of  the  pages  in  a  sheet  at  proper  distances  from  each  other, 
according  to  the  size  of  the  paper ;  so  that  when  the  sheet 
is  printed  and  folded,  the  border  of  white  paper  round 
them  shall  be  regular  and  uniform  in  every  leaf  of  the 
book. 

MA'RGIN  OF  A  COURSE.  In  Architecture,  that  part 
of  the  upper  side  of  a  course  of  slates  which  appears  uncov- 
ered bv  the  next  superior  course. 

MARGI'TES.  The  title  of  a  satirical  poem  attributed, 
but  with  little  probability  of  truth,  to  Homer ;  if  by  him  is 
meant  the  author  of  the  Iliad  or  Odyssey.  The  subject  of 
the  poem,  which  has  not  come  down  to  us,  was  the  charac- 
ter of  a  sillv,  empty-headed  man  (fmpymis). 

MA'RGRAVE,  or,  more  properly,  MARKGRAVE.  A 
title  of  rank  formerly  used  in  Germany,  and  equivalent  to 
the  English  marquis.  Both  words  spring  from  a  common 
origin.     See  Marquess. 

MARI'A  THERESA,  ORDER  OF.  A  military  order 
of  Austria,  consisting  of  grand  crosses,  commanders,  and 
knights  :  founded  in  1757. 

MARI'NES.  A  corps  of  men  enlisted  to  serve  as  soldiers 
on  board  of  ships-of-war  in  naval  engagements,  and  on  shore 
under  certain  circumstances.  They  sometimes  assist,  par- 
ticularly in  the  British  service,  in  performing  some  naval 
duties  on  board  of  ship.  The  period  at  which  a  distinct 
corps  was  unbodied  for  this  department  of  the  British  ser- 
vice is  unknown.    In  1084  mention  is  made  of  the  Duke  of 

719 


MARIOTTE'S  LAW. 

York's  maritime  regiment  of  foot ;  and  in  the  reign  of  Will. 
Ml.  several  regiments  were  placed  on  the  establishment: 
these,  however,  were  subsequently  disbanded.  In  the  be- 
ginning of  Queen  Anne's  reign,  ail  regfanents  of  maritime 
soldiers  were  raised  :  and  though  these  were  again  disband- 
ed in  IT-1'.I.  six  years  afterwards  130  companies  were  raised, 

on  the  recommendation  of  Lord  Anson,  consisting  in  all  of 
above  5000  men.    Since  the  commencement  of  the  presenl 

century  great  additions  have  been  made  to  this  corps,  and 
at  present  its  strength  amounts  to  9000  men.  The  men  are 
clothed  anil  armed  in  the  same  manner  as  the  infantry  of 
the  line.  The  corps  is  commanded  by  a  lieutena 
and  a  major-general,  who  are  naval  officers,  holding,  in  ad- 
dition to  their  rank  as  such,  these  military  titles :  there  arc 
also  four  colonels  commandants  of  divisions,  besides  four 
colonels  and  second  commandants.  No  commissions  in  the 
corps  are  obtained  by  purchase  ;  and  the  officers  of  marines 
rise  in  it  by  seniority,  without,  however,  being  able  to  obtain 
higher  rank  than  that  of  colonels  commandant.  (See  P<  ninj 
Ci/cloptedia.) 

MARIOTTE'S  LAW.  In  Pneumatics,  a  general  prop- 
erty of  elastic  fluids,  first  established  by  Mariotte,  namely, 
that  the  elasticity  or  pressure  is  directly  proportional  to  the 
density;  or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  inversely  proportional 
to  the  space  which  the  fluid  occupies.     See  Pneumatii  s. 

MA'RITIME  LAW,  signifies  the  laws  relating  to  har- 
bours, ships,  and  sailors.  It  forms  an  important  branch  of 
the  commercial  law  of  all  trading  nations,  and  embraces  an 
infinite  variety  of  subjects,  most  of  which  have  been  defined 
under  their  respective  heads.  The  most  celebrated  codes 
of  maritime  law  have  been,  in  classical  times,  that  of  Rhodes; 
in  modern  times,  the  Consolato  del  .Marc,  a  compilation  sup 
posed  to  have  been  framed  at  Barcelona  as  early  as  the  9th 
century  ;  the  laws  of  the  Isle  of  Oleron,  in  the  time  of  Rich- 
ard 1.  of  England ;  the  laws  of  Wisby,  in  the  island  of  Goth- 
land, to  which  some  northern  jurists  have  assigned  an  ear- 
lier origin  than  the  laws  of  Oleron,  but  which  there  can  be 
Utile  doubt  were  merely  a  compilation  from  those  above  spe- 
cified. But  by  far  the  most  complete  and  well-digested  sys- 
tem .  if  maritime  jurisprudence  that  has  ever  appeared  is  that 
comprised  in  the  Ordonnance  dt  la  Marine,  issued  by  Louis 
XIV.  in  1881,  by  which  maritime  law  was  elevated'  to  the 
rank  of  a  regular  system,  and  has  formed  the  basis  of  many 
of  the  subsequent  decisions  of  English,  American,  and  other 
foreign  courts.  This  excellent  code  was  compiled  under  the 
direction  of  M.  Colbert,  by  individuals  of  irreat  talent  and 
learning,  after  a  careful  revision  of  all  the  ancient  sea  laws 
of  France  and  other  countries,  and  upon  consultation  with 
the  different  parliaments,  the  courts  of  admiralty,  and  the 
chambers  of  commerce  of  the  different  towns,  It  combines 
whatever  experience  and  the  wisdom  of  aces  had  shown  to 
be  hist  in  the  Roman  laws,  and  in  the  institutions  of  the 
modem  maritime  states  of  Europe.  In  the  preface  to  his 
treatise  on  the  Law  of  Shipping,  Lord  Tenterden  says,  "  If 
the  reader  should  be  offended  at  the  frequent  references  to 
this  ordinance,  I  must  request  him  to  recollect  that  those 
references  are  made  to  the  maritime  code  of  a  great  com- 
mercial nation,  which  has  attributed  much  of  its  national 
prosperity  to  that  code:  a  code  composed  in  the  reign  of  a 
politic  prince  ;  under  the  auspices  of  a  wise  and  enlightened 
minister:  by  laborious  and  learned  persons,  who  selected 
the  in.. -i  valuable  principles  of  all  the  maritime  laws  then 
existing  :  and  which,  in  matter,  method,  and  style,  is  one  of 
the  most  finished  acts  of  legislation  that  ever  was  promul- 
gated." The  ordinance.,!'  168]  was  published  m  1760,  Willi 
a  detailed  and  most  elaborate  commentary  by  M.  Valin,  in  -2 
vols.  4to.  See  Admiralty,  Court  of.  "(See  also  the 
■  nil  J)ict.) 

MARK.  An  old  coin  current  in  England  and  Scotland, 
valued  at  13s.  4d.  A  piece  of  money  so  called  is  at  present 
used  in  Hamburgh;  it  is  equal  to  l.,-.  4-/.  sterling. 

MA'RKET.  Mod.  Latmercheta,from  merx.)  InLaw, 
the  libertj  or  franchise  whereb]  a  town  is  enabled  to  set  up 

and  ope,,  shops,  &c,  at  a  certain  place  within  its  limits,  for 
buying  and  selling,  and  better  provision  of  such  victuals  as 

the  subject  wanteth.  The  establishment  of  a  market,  with 
the  grant  of  the  tolls  thereunto  belonging,  Is  one  of  the  kind's 

prerogatives,  and  can  only  be  effected  by  virtue  of  the  king's 
grant,  or  supported  on  Ions  and  immemorial  usage  and  pre- 
scription which  presuppose  sue,',  a  grant  The  general  rule 
of  law  is.  thai  all  sales  and  contracts  of  anything  vendible 

In  fairs  or  markets  o*en  ■/.,..  open    shall  not  onij  beg I 

between  the  partus,  but  v,,|j,|  against  all  claim  by  others 
having  any  right  or  property  in  the  subject 

MA'RKING  INK.  An  indelible  ink  used  for  marking 
linen;  it  effectively  resists  washing,  and  almost  all  chemical 
agents:  its  basis  is  oxide  of  silver,  which  has  a  ~tn,nL'  ni- 
hility for  the  fibre  of  linen  and  cotton,  and  acquires  by  ex- 
posure a  black  colour.  A  good  marking  ink  is  prepared  by 
dissolving  a  drachm  of  fused  nitrate  of  silver  in  half  ;iii 
ounce  of  distilled  water,  and  colouring  it  with  a  little  sap- 
green  ;  but  as  this  is  apt  to  run  if  wrttten  with  upon  the  un- 
720 


MAROONS. 

prepared  linen,  the  place  to  be  written  upon  is  comtnonlv 
prepared  lor  its  reception  by  the  previous  application  of 
liquid  pounce,  which  is  made  by  dissolving  two  drachms  of 
carbonate  of  soda  and  two  drachms  of  gum  arable  in  four 

ounces  of  water  :  this  also  effectively  precipitates  the  0 
of  silver  upon  the  vegetable  fibre,  and  prevents  any  injury 
from  the  corrosive  aeti.m  of  the  salt  ,.t'  silver.  \  solution 
,.f  ammonio-nitrate  of  silver,  thickened  by  a  little  gum,  forms 
a  marking  ink  which  may  be  used  without  any  previous 
preparation. 

M  VI!  KING  NUT,  in  Botany,  is  the  seed  or  nut  of  the 
■juis  anacardium,  a  tropical  tree  related  tothecushew 
nut.      It   derives  its  name   from   the  juice  contained  in  its 
fruits  staining  linen  of  a  dee))  and  indelible  black  colour. 

MARK,  ORDER  OF  SAINT.  A  Venetian  order  of 
knlghth 1  ;  St.  .Mark  the  Evangelist  having  been  the  pa- 
tron of  that  republic.  The  knights  were  elected  by  the 
doge  and  senate. 

MAUL,  is  composed  of  carbonate  of  lime  and  clay  in  va- 
rious proportions,  and  in  different  degrees  of  compactness 
and  friability.  In  some  marls  the  proportion  of  clay  is 
small,  in  which  case  the  marl,  as  a  manure,  acts  on  soils 
much  in  the  same  manner  as  lime;  but  where  clay  is  the 
predominant  ingredient  of  marl,  it  acts  on  the  soil  partly  as 
lime,  but  principally  by  altering  the  texture  of  the  soil. 
Hence  all  sandy  soils  are  improved  by  marl,  in  consequence 
of  its  increasing  their  compactness  and  capacity  for  rctain- 
in<r  moisture,  while  argillaceous  marls  applied  to  clays  are 
of  little  or  no  use.  From  these  long-established  facts  has 
arisen  the  old  adage, 

Who  marls  sand  shall  bury  land, 
Who  marls  clay  throws  all  away. 

Marl  is  found  in  almost  every  country ;  not  like  limestone, 
in  protruding  rocks,  but,  from  its  friable  nature,  which 
moulders  down  into  a  comparatively  earthy  mass,  under  or 
near  the  surface  of  the  soil,  whence  it  is  dug  out  and  spread 
on  the  surface.  Hence,  while  limestone  is  quarried,  chalk 
and  marl  are  dug  out  of  pits.  Marl  has  been  in  use  in  Eu- 
rope since  the  time  of  the  Romans :  it  is  very  generally  em- 
ployed as  a  manure  in  France  and  Germany,  and  in  England 
it  is  most  employed  in  Xorfolk. 

MA'RLINGSPIKE.  An  iron  bolt  tapering  to  a  point  for 
opening  the  strands  of  rope. 

MA'RLY,  MACHINE  OF.  A  celebrated  piece  of  mech- 
anism, one  of  the  most  complex,  perhaps,  ever  constructed, 
for  raising  water  from  the  Seine  to  supply  the  town  of 
Marly,  us  well  as  Versailles  and  Trianon.  Its  mean  produce 
was  from  30.000  to  40,000  gallons  per  hour,  and  was  attend- 
ed with  an  expense  of  about  a  farthing  for  15  gallons.     It 

was  erected  in  1682  by  Runnequin,  apon  very  unscientific 

principles,  but  still  with  considerable  skill  in  its  details.  It 
was,  as  such  complicated  machines  always  are,  often  out 
of  repair;  and  Hachette  reports  of  it  that,  after  1-2S  years,  it 
fell  into  total  ruin.  Details  of  its  construction  may  be  seen 
in  Belidor,  .Irch.  Hydraulique ;  Gregory's  Mechanics,  vol. 
ii..  and  other  places. 

MARMORATUM.  (Lat)  Tn  Architecture,  a  cement 
formed  of  pounded  marble  and  lime  well  beaten  together. 

MA'RMOT.  The  Rodent  animal  so  called  is  the  type  of 
a  genus  (Jirctomys)  nearly  allied  to  the  squirrels,  being  char- 
acterized by  having  rive  molar  teeth  on  each  side  of  the  up- 
per and  four  on  each  side  of  the  lower  jaw,  all  bristled  with 
points,  and  indicative  of  a  somewhat  mixed  diet.  The  mar- 
mots, however,  in  their  general  form  are  nearly  the  reverse 
of  the  squirrels,  beintr  heavy,  with  short  legs,  a  middle-sized 
or  short  tail,  and  a  barge,  flat  head.  They  pass  the  winter 
in  a  stale  of  torpor,  concealed  in  deep  holes,  the  entrance  of 
which  they  close  with  a  heap  of  dried  grass.  They  are  na- 
tives of  Europe  and  -North  America,  live  in  societies,  and  are 
easily  tamed. 

MA'Ri  INITF.S.  The  followers  of  Maro.  inhabitants  of 
the  mountains  Libanus  and  Antilibanus  in  Syria,  who  adopt- 
ed in  the  7th  century  the  opinions  of  the  Monothelites;  they 
continued  to  form  a  separate  sect  until  the  12th  century, 
when  they  became  reconciled  to  the  see  of  Rome.  The 
Maronite  writers,  however,  have  always  maintained  their 
freedom  from  the  errors  imputed  to  them,  and  declare  them- 
Belvee  to  have  been  uniformly  attached  to  the  doctrines  of 
the  Catholic  Church.  (See  Monothelites.  Muaheim, 
transl.,  ed.  1790,  ii..  1%.) 

\l  \  li<  >(  i'NS.  i  Supposed  to  be  derived  from  a  word  used 
in  Spanish  America,  signifying  kog-hunters.)  A  name  given 
in  Jamaica  to  runaway  negroes.  When  Jamaica  was  con- 
quered from  the  Spaniards,  a  number  of  negroes,  abandoned 
by  their  former  masters,  occupied  some  of  the  mountainous 
parts  of  the  island,  and  caused  great  trouble  to  the  colonists. 

About  1730  the]  became  extremely  formidable ;  but.  after  a 
war  of  eight  j  ears,  at  length  submitted  to  a  capitulation,  by 

which  they  were  allowed  to  retain  their  free  settlements  in 
the  heart  of  the  island  :  in  1795  a  portion  of  them  again  rose 
in  arms,  but  were  speedily  put  down,  and  transported  to  a 


MARQ.UE,  LETTER  OP. 

new  settlement  in  Nova  Scotia.     (See  Dallas's  History  of 
the  Maroons.) 

MARQUE,  LETTER  OP.  A  commission  granted  in 
time  of  war  to  a  private  person  commanding  a  vessel  to 
cruise  at  sea  and  make  prize  of  the  enemy's  ships  and  mer- 
chandise :  the  ship  so  commissioned  is  sometimes  called  by 
the  same  name.  (See  Reprisals,  Letter  of.)  The  word 
is  derived  from  mark  (Germ,  frontier),  as  being  a  right  of 
capturing  property  beyond  the  limits  or  frontiers  of  another 
prince. 

MA'ROUESS.  (Germ,  mark,  a  limit  or  frontier.)  A  ti- 
tle of  dignity  in  England,  France,  and  Italy,  next  in  rank  to 
that  of  duke.  It  is  of  German  origin ;  those  military  chief- 
tains in  the  Teutonic  kingdoms  and  empires  which  arose  on 
the  fall  of  the  Western  empire,  who  were  intrusted  with  the 
defence  of  districts  on  the  frontiers,  having  been  styled  mark- 
grafen,  counts  of  the  marches  or  frontiers  (in  Latin,  marchi- 
ones).  Many  of  these  officers  were  appointed  by  Charle- 
magne, although  he  was  not,  probably,  the  first  creator  of 
the  office.  According  to  the  ordinary  cause  of  the  develop- 
ment of  feudal  institutions,  these  chiefs,  from  military  gov- 
ernors appointed  for  life,  became  territorial  potentates,  hold- 
ing their  lands  by  hereditary  right ;  and,  on  the  decay  of  that 
system,  this  honour,  like  others,  became  merely  titular.  In 
England,  the  first  marquess  was  Robert  de  Vere,  earl  of  Ox- 
ford, created  by  Richard  II.,  in  1387,  Marquess  of  Dublin  for 
life.  The  next  creation  was  of  John  de  Beaufort,  earl  of  Som- 
erset, raised  to  the  rank  of  marquess  in  1397;  which  dignity 
he  afterwards  refused  to  bear,  as  a  strange  and  novel  one. 
(See  Nicolas,  Introduction  to  the  Peerage,  Ixxvi.)  After 
that  period  the  title  fell  into  disuse,  until  the  reign  of  Ed- 
ward VI. 

MA'RQUETRY.  (Fr.  marquetrie.)  In  Architecture,  in- 
laid work  consisting  of  different  pieces  of  divers  coloured 
woods  of  small  thickness  glued  on  to  a  ground  usually  of 
oak  or  fir,  well  dried  and  seasoned,  which,  to  prevent  cast- 
ing and  warping,  is  composed  of  several  thicknesses.  The 
early  Italian  builders  used  it  in  cabinet  work,  and  John  of 
Vienna,  and  others  of  his  period,  by  its  means  represented 
figures  and  landscapes ;  but  in  the  present  day  it  is  chiefly 
confined  in  its  use  to  floors,  in  wiiich  the  various  pieces  of 
wood  are  usually  disposed  in  regular  geometrical  figures, 
and  are  rarely  of  more  than  three  or  four  species. 

MA  RRIAGE,  LAW  OF.  Marriage,  in  its  legal  sense,  is 
a  civil  contract  binding  parties  to  certain  reciprocal  obliga- 
tions ;  and  the  general  principle  of  law  respecting  this,  as 
well  as  other  contracts,  is,  that  it  is  to  be  held  valid  accord- 
ing to  the  usage  of  the  country  wherein  it  is  made.  Thus  a 
marriage  between  English  subjects  in  Scotland,  according  to 
the  formalities  of  Scottish  law,  is  binding,  and  the  children 
of  such  parents  are  legitimate  in  England.  A  marriage  be- 
tween English  subjects  in  France  according  to  the  ceremo- 
nies in  the  Church  of  England  would  not  be  valid,  according 
to  the  principles  of  general  law,  unless  registered  before  the 
civil  magistrate  according  to  the  provisions  of  the  French 
code.  But,  by  the  statute  4  G.  4,  c.  91,  marriages  between 
English  subjects,  solemnized  abroad  by  ministers  of  the 
Church  of  England  in  the  chapel  of  a  British  ambassador  or 
British  factory,  are  valid  in  the  United  Kingdom. 

Previous  to  the  passing  of  the  first  Marriage  Act  in  1754, 
the  law  of  England  was  governed  by  the  canon  law;  and, 
consequently,  an  agreement  to  marry,  followed  by  consum- 
mation, formed,  as  it  now  forms  in  Scotland,  a  sufficient 
union.  That  statute  first  rendered  necessary  the  prelimina- 
ries of  the  publication  of  banns,  or  the  obtaining  a  license. 
It  was  amended  by  4  G.  4,  c.  17.  But  that  act  imposed  so 
many  additional  restrictions  on  parties  wishing  to  become 
husband  and  wife,  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  repeal  it 
in  all  haste,  and  another  statute  was  passed  (4  G.  4,  c.  76), 
by  which  English  marriages  were  next  regulated. 

By  this  act  the  banns  of  marriage  are  to  be  published  three 
Sundays  in  a  parish  church,  or  public  chapel  of  the  Estab- 
lishment, in  the  parish  wherein  both,  or  the  parish  wherein 
each,  of  the  parties  dwell.  A  license  is  a  dispensation  by 
virtue  of  which  marriage  may  be  solemnized  without  the 
publication  of  banns.  It  is  granted  by  surrogates,  or  per- 
sons having  authority  from  the  bishop.  No  license  can 
now  be  obtained,  unless  vipon  affidavit  that  the  parish  or 
district  in  which  the  marriage  is  to  be  solemnized  has  been 
the  usual  place  of  residence  of  one  of  the  parties  for  fifteen 
days  immediately  preceding  the  granting  of  the  license.  The 
affidavit  must  also  declare  that  there  is  no  impediment  of 
kindred  or  alliance,  nor  any  other  lawful  cause  of  hinder- 
ance. 

A  special  license  dispenses  with  all  restrictions  as  to  time 
and  place  of  marriage.  By  a  regulation  of  Archbishop  Seek- 
er, it  is  not  to  be  granted  except  to  persons  of  a  specified  rank ; 
but  in  practice  the  privilege  is  extended  as  a  matter  of  fa- 
vour.    See  Registrar. 

The  power  of  parents  and  guardians  in  restricting  the  mar- 
riage of  minors  under  their  tutelage  is  now  confined  within 
the  following  limits :  The  publication  of  banns  is  void,  if  the 
61 


MARRIAGE,  LAW  OP. 

parent  or  guardian  of  either  party  declare,  or  cause  to  be  de- 
clared, their  dissent  in  public  at  the  time  of  the  proclama- 
tion. In  case  of  marriage  of  a  minor  by  license,  the  father 
or  guardian,  or,  if  none,  the  mother,  or  the  guardian  appoint- 
ed by  the  court  of  chancery,  must  give  consent,  and  such 
consent  must  be  notified  in  the  affidavit  on  application  for 
the  license.  If  consent  lie  unreasonably  withheld,  the  only 
resource  of  lovers  against  the  flinty  hearts  of  parents  or 
guardians  is  by  petition  to  the  lord-chancellor,  who  mav,  if 
he  pleases,  interpose  his  judicial  authority  in  favour  of  their 
union. 

Marriage  is  void  if  solemnized  knowinely  and  wilfully  (by 
either  party)  in  an  unlawful  place,  or  without  banns  or  li- 
cense, or  by  any  person  not  in  holy  orders.  So  if  the  banns 
be  published,  whether  wilfully  or  accidentally,  in  a  wrong 
name,  unless  it  be  a  name  by  which  the  party  is  generally 
known.  Marriages  are  also  void  where  there"  is  a  prior  ex- 
isting marriage,  and  in  case  of  lunacy  or  incapacity. 

But  if  the  marriage  of  a  minor  be  duly  solemnized,  but  by 
false  oath  or  by  fraud  the  necessary  consent  is  dispensed 
with,  such  marriage  is  not  void  ;  but  the  party  so  offending 
shall  forfeit,  upon  complaint  of  the  parent  or  guardian,  all 
property  which  might  have  accrued  to  such  party  by  the 
marriage. 

Proof  of  a  marriage  is  by  the  evidence  of  a  party  who  was 
present  at  the  celebration  ;  or  by  production  of  "the  parish, 
register,  and  showing  the  identity  of  the  parties. 

The  ecclesiastical  courts  have  the  direct  cognizance  of 
questions  respecting  the  legality  of  a  marriage ;  but  as  the 
common  law  courts  decide  in  questions  of  property,  and  oth- 
ers in  which  the  fact  of  marriage  may  be  incidentally  called 
in  question,  they  can  require  proof  of  it  without  resorting  to 
the  assistance  of  the  former. 

Marriage  is  voidable  by  suit  in  the  ecclesiastical  court, 
where  such  marriage  has  been  contracted  under  a  canonical 
impediment,  namely,  consanguinity  or  affinity,  or  bodily  in- 
capacity of  either  of  the  parties.  Marriages  solemnized  by 
force  are  also  voidable,  and  such  as  are  contracted  in  error 
under  certain  circumstances.  A  voidable  marriage  is  good, 
to  all  intents,  until  rendered  void  by  a  sentence  of  the  court. 

Other  matrimonial  causes  in  these  courts  are — 1.  Jactita- 
tion of  marriage.  When  one  party  gives  out  or  reports 
that  he  or  she  is  legally  married  to  another,  the  person  in- 
jured may  libel  the  other  (see  Ecclesiastical  Courts, 
under  the  head  of  Law)  in  the  spiritual  court ;  and  unless 
the  defendant  proves  marriage,  silence  is  enjoined,  which  is 
the  only  remedy  the  spiritual  court  can  give. 

1.  Adultery,  as  a  public  crime,  is  left  to  the  cognizance 
of  the  spiritual  courts:  as  a  civil  injury,  it  is  pursued  by  tlte 
husband  in  an  action  of  trespass  for  damages  against  the 
adulterer  in  those  of  common  law. 

2.  In  suits  on  the  ground  of  adultery  in  the  spiritual  court 
the  remedy  prayed  is  a  separation,  or  divorce,  a  mensd  et 
thoro,  from  bed  and  board.  And  it  may  be  obtained  by 
either  party ;  but  will  be  refused  in  case  the  other  party 
recriminates  and  mutual  unfaithfulness  is  proved,  or  in  case 
other  circumstances  are  shown  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
court,  disentitle  the  complainant  to  the  remedy  he  prays  for. 

A  divorce  o  vinculo  matrimonii,  that  is,  the  annulment 
of  marriage,  can  only  be  conferred  by  act  of  parliament. 
Evidence  must  be  given  on  applying  for  the  bill  that  there 
was  judgment  for  the  plaintiff  on  an  action  for  damages 
against  the  seducer;  or  sufficient  cause  shown  why  suck 
action  was  not  brought  or  such  judgment  obtained. 

3.  Another  ground  on  which  the  spiritual  courts  will  grant 
a  separation  is  cruelty ;  buj  the  cruelty  for  which  such  re- 
lief can  be  granted  is  only  such  as  directly  endangers  the  life 
or  health  of  the  injured  party. 

4.  A  suit  for  restitution  of  conjugal  rights  is  to  compel 
mutual  cohabitation.  And  no  deed  of  separation  or  mutual 
agreement,  nothing  short  of  a  sentence  by  the  court,  can  bar 
the  complainant  of  his  or  her  right  to  promote  this  suit ;  but 
cruelty  or  adultery  may  be  pleaded  in  reply,  as  constituting 
lawful  grounds  for  separation. 

5.  Alimony  is  that  legal  proportion  of  the  husband's  estate 
which,  by  the  decree  of  the  ecclesiastical  court,  is  allotted 
to  the  wife  for  her  maintenance  during  the  pendency  of  a 
suit  between  them ;  or  after  a  sentence  of  divorce  d  mensd 
et  thoro  by  reason  of  the  cruelty  or  adultery  of  the  husband, 
the  permanent  allowance  to  be  paid  to  the  wife  during  their 
separation.  The  quantum  of  alimony  is  decided  by  the  court 
on  a  statement  of  the  husband's  projierty  (called  an  allega- 
tion of  faculties)  and  his  answer  thereto. 

Marriage,  its  Effect  on  Property. — The  consideration  of 
the  legal  effect  produced  by  marriage  on  the  property  of  the 
parties  contracting  it  divides  itself  into, 

1.  The  law  of  husband  and  wife,  as  it  respects  property 
acquired  by  either  before  marriage. 

2.  As  it  respects  property  acquired  by  cither  after  mar- 
riage. 

3.  As  its  dispositions  are  affected  by  separation  or  divorce. 
(1,  2.)  As  to  real  property.    If  the  wife  is  seised  of  lands 

Yr  721 


MARRIAGE,  LAW  OF. 

or  tenements  in  an  estate  of  inheritance,  and  dies  having  had 
iiurii  Living,  the  husband  is  entitled  to  the  lands  01 
tenements  for  his  life,  being  tenant  as  it  is  termed,  by  the 
courtesy  of  England  :  and  this,  whether  the  lands  be  held 
by  a  legal  or  equitable  title. 

Dower  is  now.  fine.'  the  statute  3  &  4  W.  4.  c.  115,  the 
wife's  right  to  one  third  part,  for  life,  of  all  estates  of  in- 
heritance which  her  husband  dies  entitled  to  or  seised  of  in 
possession.  It  formerly  attached  to  all  estates  of  inheritance 
of  which  he  was  at  any  time  possessed,  bo  that  he  could  not 
defeat  her  title  by  alienation,  hut  to  legal  estates  only. 
Since  the  1st  of  Januarys  1834,  the  period  on  which  the 
abovementioned  act  came  into  operation,  equitable  estates 
are  also  subject  to  it.  It  has  long  been  customary  to  bar 
this  right  to  dower  by  various  complicated  processes,  which 
the  law  has  permitted  to  defeat  the  wile's  claim  ;  and  espe- 
cially by  settlements  before  marriage,  giving  a  jointure  or 
provision  in  lieu  of  dower.  It  may  now  he  barred  by  the 
husband's  alienation  in  his  lifetime;  or  by  his  will  ;  or  by  a 
declaration  in  the  deed  of  conveyance  of  the  land  to  the 
husband.  Anciently  a  feme  coeert  could  only  alienate  real 
property  by  the  public  solemnity  of  a  fine:  now,  by  a  deed 
executed  after  her  examination  by  commissioners,  to  show- 
that  no  control  is  exercised  by  the  husband. 

All  the  personal  property  to  which  a  woman  is  entitled 
vests  in  her  husband  by  marriage.  Her  chattels,  real,  that 
is,  leasehold  property  for  a  term  of  years,  will  revert  to  her 
if  she  survive  him  ;  and  although  the  husband  may  alienate 
them  in  his  lifetime,  he  cannot  dispose  of  them  by  will.  But 
should  he  survive  her,  they  are  his  absolutely.  Her  chattels 
personal — money  and  goods — are  his  without  restriction,  to 
give  or  bequeath  as  he  pleases  even  in  her  lifetime.  Her 
ckoses  in  action  (that  is,  property  of  which  there  is  no  im- 
mediate occupation,  as  debts  due  to  her,  money  in  the  funds, 
&c.),  are  the  husband's  property  conditionally ;  that  is,  if  he 
reduce  them  into  possession  by  exercising  his  rights  over 
them  during  her  life.  If  not,  they  survive  to  her  absolutely  ; 
and  should  she  die  first,  he  only  takes  them  as  her  adminis- 
trator, which  he  is  by  right. 

H"  the  husband  die  intestate,  the  wife  is  entitled  to  half 
his  personal  property  if  there  be  no  issue,  and  to  one  third  if 
there  be  issue. 

The  husband  is  liable  for  all  his  wife's  debts  and  engage- 
ments made  while  unmarried  ;  but  not  for  such  as  she  may- 
have  contracted  during  a  former  marriage.  But  he  is  re- 
leased from  his  liability  by  her  decease  :  and  if  he  die  first, 
she  only  is  responsible.  For  debts  contracted  by  the  wife 
during  marriage  the  husband  is  not  liable  unless  they  have 
been  contracted  with  his  consent,  express  or  implied ;  and 
this  implied  assent  gives  rise,  as  may  well  be  supposed,  to 
numberless  questions  in  courts  of  law. 

As  to  tiie  acts  of  husband  and  wife  before  marriage:  The 
will  of  a  bachelor  or  widower  not  having  children  is  re- 
voked by  his  subsequent  marriage  and  birth  of  issue.  A 
warrant  of  attorney  given  by  an  unmarried  woman  is  re- 
voked by  her  marriage.  So  is  her  will,  in  every  case ;  but 
there  are  others  of  her  acts — such  as  the  grant  of  a  lease  at 
will — which  are  not  revoked,  but  merely  revocable. 

Settlements  or  articles,  made  in  contemplation  of  mar- 
riage, are  contrivances  to  modify  the  effects  which  would  be 
produced  by  the  mere  act  of  law  on  the  rights  of  the  re- 
spective parties;  and  also  to  ensure  an  alienable  provision 
for  issue.  It  is  usual  to  vest  the  property  of  both  parties  in 
trustees;  generally  for  the  benefit  of  the  husband  during 
their  joint  lives,  then  for  the  benefit  of  the  survivor,  after  his 
or  her  death  for  the  benefit  of  the  children,  in  such  propor- 
tions as  the  nature  of  the  property  or  circumstances  of  the 
family  may  dictate.  But  it  is  usual  to  give  authority  to  the 
parents  by  means  of  a  power  to  vary  these  relative  propor- 
tions. A  jointure,  although,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word, 
a  joint  estate  to  husband  and  wife,  is  in  practice  a  separate 
estate  to  the  wife  in  lands  and  tenements,  to  take  effect 
immediately  on  the  husband's  death,  and  to  secure  a  com- 
petent provision  for  her  during  her  life  at  least:  it  is  usually 
provided  by  settlement,  and  bars  dower.  Pin-money  is 
an  annual  income  settled  gratuitously  before  marriage  by 
the  husband  on  the  intended  wife;  usually  by  means  of 
trustees. 

But  in  other  cases,  and  especially  when  the  casualties  of 
a  trade  render  it  desirable  to  secure  a  certain  protection,  the 
wife  is  provided  for  in  the  settlements  by  vesting  her  own 
property,  or  a  portion  of  it,  in  trustees  for  her  sole  and  sep- 
arate use.  In  this  case  the  sums  so  secured  arc  \\  holly  in- 
dependent of  her  husband's  control.  Where  bequests  an- 
made  to  a  married  woman  for  her  separate  use,  and  no 
trustees  are  named  to  protect  them,  a  court  of  equity  will 
Consider  her  husband  a  trustee  for  her.  She  may  sue  him, 
or  any  other  person,  in  those  courts,  in  respect  of  such  prop 
erty.  Her  savings  out  of  it  are  likewise  hers  in  separate 
right.  But  savings  made  by  a  wife  out  of  an  allow 
her  private  expenditure  are  not  in  every  case  her  separate 
property. 

722 


MARSEILLAISE  HYMN. 

-V  married  woman  has  also  a  claim,  in  a  court  of  equity, 
to  a  provision  out  of  her  own  propertv  in  several  cases. 
especially  where  the  husband  deserts  or  ill  treats  her,  or 
w  here,  being  a  ward  of  chancery,  she  is  clandestinely  mar- 
ried. 

(3.)  On  a  divorce  a  vinculo  matrimonii  dower  is  gone; 
and  if  such  divorce  be  on  account  of  pre-contract,  consan- 
guinity, or  affinity,  the  children  are  illegitimate,  and  the 
wife's  property  is  restored  to  her.  But  a  divorce  i  uunsd  et 
thvro  does  not  bastardize  the  children  or  bar  dower. 

Adultery  duriiiL'  a  voluntary  separation  entitles  the  ag- 
grieved party  to  a  divorce  a  maud  it  thoro  as  much  as  dur- 
ing cohabit, liion  ;  and  frees  the  husband  from  all  debts  of  his 
wife,  or  claims  by  reason  of  her. 

A  husband  is  not  held  liable  for  debts  contracted  by  his 
wife,  even  for  necessaries,  if  he  have  turned  her  out  of 
doors  for  adultery  ;  or  if,  after  being  turned  out,  she  commit 
adultery;  or  if  she  depart  from  him  without  his  consent ;  or 
if  she  elope  with  an  adulterer;  or  if  the  husband  and  wife 
separate  by  mutual  agreement,  in  cases  where  the  wife  has 
separate  means,  or  is  provided  tor  by  separate  maintenance. 
Bigamy,  or  polygamy,  is  a  felonious  offence,  punishable 
by  transportation  for  seven  years ;  and  is  now  (since  the 
statute  9  G.  4,  c.  31)  equally  punishable,  although  the 
second  marriage  took  place  out  of  the  jurisdiction  of  Eng- 
lish law. 

A  wife  committing  any  felony,  except  murder  or  man- 
slaughter, in  company  with  her  husband,  is  not  responsible 
for  the  offence ;  but  she  is  indictable  for  high  treason  so 
committed. 

In  both  civil  and  criminal  cases  (with  the  exception  of 
treason),  husband  and  wife  are  not  allowed,  except  under 
particular  circumstances,  to  give  evidence  for  or  against  each 
other. 

MARS.  In  the  Solar  System,  one  of  the  old  planets,  and 
the  fourth  in  the  order  of  distance  from  the  sun.  The  mean 
distance  of  Mars  from  the  sun  is  1-5-236923,  the  mean  dis- 
tance of  the  earth  from  the  sun  being  1 :  it  is,  consequently, 
about  142,000,000  of  miles.  Mars  performs  his  mean  sidereal 
revolution  in  686-9796458  mean  solar  days,  and  his  synodical 
revolution  (that  is,  returns  to  the  same  position  in  respect  to 
the  earth  and  sun)  in  779.936  days.  His  orbit,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  present  century  was  inclined  to  the  ecliptic  in 
an  angle  of  1°  51'  6"  ;  and  its  eccentricity  is  .093307,  half  the 
major  axis  being  unit.  His  apparent  diameter  varies  from 
36"  at  his  greatest,  to  18-28  at  his  least  distance  from 
the  earth.  At  his  mean  distance  the  apparent  diameter  is 
6-29" ;  whence  the  true  diameter  is  found  equal  to  517,  that 
of  the  earth  being  unit,  or  about  4100  miles.  Mars  has  a 
rotation  about  his  axis  which  is  performed  in  24  h.  39  m.  21 
sec.  The  inclination  of  the  axis  to  the  ecliptic  is  30°  18'. 
When  the  opposition  of  Mars  takes  place  at  the  time  he  is 
near  the  aphelion  of  his  orbit  he  is  then  at  his  least  distance 
from  the  earth,  and  presents  an  interesting  appearance  when 
seen  throinjh  a  powerful  telescope.  "In  this  planet,"  says 
Sir  John  Herschel,  "  we  discern,  with  perfect  distinctness, 
the  outlines  of  what  may  be  continents  and  seas.  Of  these 
the  former  are  distinguished  by  that  ruddy  colour  which 
characterizes  the  light  of  this  planet  (which  always  appears 
red  and  fiery),  and  indicates,  no  doubt,  an  ochrey  tinge  in 
the  general  soil,  like  what  the  red  sandstone  districts  on  the 
earth  may  possibly  offer  to  the  inhabitants  of  Mars,  only 
more  decided.  Contrasted  with  this  (by  a  general  law  in 
optics)  the  seas,  as  we  may  call  them,  appear  greenish. 
These  spots,  however,  are  not  always  to  be  seen  equally 
distinct,  though,  when  seen,  they  offer  always  the  same  ap- 
pearance. This  may  arise  from  the  planet  not  being  entirely 
destitute  of  atmosphere  and  clouds  ;  and  what  adds  greatly 
to  the  probability  of  this  is  the  appearance  of  brilliant  white 
spots  at  its  poles,  which  have  been  conjectured,  with  a  great 
deal  of  probability,  to  be  snow;  as  they  disappear  when 
they  have  been  long  exposed  to  the  sun.  and  are  greatest 
when  just  emerging  from  the  long  night  of  their  polar  win- 
ter."    (.'lstrononni.  Call.  Cue)     Set  l'l.ANET. 

MARS,  or  MAYORS.  The  Latin  names  of  the  deity 
railed  by  the  Greeks  Aprjf.  lie  was  fabled  to  be  the  son  of 
Juno,  conceived  by  means  of  the  virtue  of  a  certain  plant ; 
and  was  worshipped  as  the  God  of  War.  At  Rome  he  was 
honoured  as  the  progenitor  of  Romulus,  the  founder  of  the 
city,  of  which  he  was  held  to  be  the  protector;  and  it  was 
to  the  honour  of  this  divinity  that  'he  Latin  husbandmen 
used  to  offer  1 1 1 1  a  peculiar  sacrifice,  called  suoretauri/ia, 
which,  a--  the  derivation  of  the  word  implies,  consisted  of  a 
pig,  a  sheep,  and  a  bull.  The  priests  of  Mars  were  called 
talH,  and  to  their  care  was  intrusted  the  sacred  shield 
.  which  was  said  to  have  fallen  from  heaven  during 
the  reign  of  Noma.     Set  Sw.u,   \\cii.e. 

M  VJttSEILLAISE  HYMN.  The  name  popularly,  though 
erroneously,  given  to  the  national  anthem  of  the  French. 
The  origin  of  this  song,  which  has  played  so  important  a 
pan  in  the  revolutions  not  only  of  France  but  of  other  conti- 
nental states,  was  long  involved  in  obscurity ;  and  we  scarce- 


MARSH. 

If  think  it  will  be  considered  out  of  place  to  embody  in  our 
pages  the  following  statement  respecting  it,  which  may  be 
relied  on  as  authentic:  The  Marseillaise  Hymn  was  the  pro- 
duction of  Rouget  de  Lille,  a  French  officer  of  engineers, 
who  was  quartered  at  Strasburg  in  the  year  1791,  when 
Marshal  Luckner  commanded  the  army,  at  that  time  entirely 
composed  of  young  conscripts.  The  marshal  was  to  march 
the  following  morning  of  a  certain  day ;  and,  late  in  the 
evening  previous,  he  inquired  if  there  were  any  men  of  a 
musical  or  poetical  genius  in  the  army  who  could  compose  a 
soul-inspiring  song  to  animate  his  young  soldiers.  Some  one 
mentioned  Captain  Rouget  de  Lille,  who  was  immediately 
ordered  into  the  presence  of  the  marshal  to  receive  his  com- 
mands on  the  subject;  which  having  been  given,  and  a 
promise  made  by  lie  Lille  that  a  song  would  be  ready  the 
following  morning,  he  went  to  his  quarters,  and  during  the 
night  he  not  only  wrote  the  song  in  question,  but  also  set  it 
to  music ;  and  next  morning  the  army  marched  to  its  tune, 
and  carried  every  thing  before  it  with  an  enthusiasm  only 
to  be  equalled  by  absolute  phrensy. 

The  song  is  said  to  have  been  styled  the  Marseillaise 
Hymn  from  a  body  of  troops,  on  their  march  from  Mar- 
seilles, having  entered  Paris  playing  that  tune  at  a  time 
when  it  was  little  known  in  the  capital.  The  Original  of 
the  Marseillaise  is  said  to  be  in  the  possession  of  Louis 
Philippe. 

MARSH.  A  flat  surface,  the  soil  of  which  is  so  far 
saturated  with  water  throughout  the  year  as  to  be  unfit  for 
culture  by  the  spade  or  plough ;  but  not  so  much  as  to  pre- 
vent it  from  producing  coarse  grasses,  and  other  kinds  of 
herbage.  Marshes  are  generally  situated  in  bottoms,  where 
they  are  kept  moist  by  the  water  which  descends  from  the 
surrounding  lands:  or  along  the  banks  of  rivers  or  lakes, 
where  their  humidity  arises  from  their  being  nearly  on  the 
same  level  with  the  adjoining  water.  Where  a  marsh  is 
situated  so  as  to  be  occasionally  overflowed  by  the  sea,  or 
by  a  river  up  which  the  tide  flows,  it  is  called  a  salt  marsh  ; 
and  the  herbage  produced  by  such  lands  is  found  highly 
conducive  to  the  health  of  animals  which  pasture  on  them 
for  a  certain  portion  of  the  year,  from  the  alterative  efl'ect 
of  its  saline  properties. 

MA'RSH  AL.  A  title  of  honour  in  many  European  coun- 
tries, applied  to  various  dignities  and  high  offices.  The 
derivation  of  the  word,  and  its  early  use,  are  extremely  un- 
certain. The  title  of  Marshal  of  England  is  now  hereditary 
in  the  family  of  the  Dukes  of  Norfolk.  William  Fitz-Osborn 
and  Roger  de  Montgomery  are  said  to  have  been  marshals 
to  William  the  Conqueror :  their  successors  for  some  time 
are  not  accurately  known  ;  but  the  office  was  held  in  1138, 
in  fee,  by  the  family  of  Clare,  and  thence  descended  to  the 
Earls  of  Pembroke,  and  thence  to  Roger  de  Bigod,  Earl  of 
Norfolk,  who  surrendered  it  to  Edward  I.  After  being  grant- 
ed for  life,  and  during  pleasure,  to  several  successive  mar- 
shals, the  dignity,  with  the  title  of  Earl  Marshal,  was  given 
to  Mowbray,  afterwards  Duke  of  Norfolk;  in  whose  family 
the  dignity  subsisted  until  it  reverted  to  the  crown  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  IV.  Richard  III.  granted  it  to  his  favourite, 
Howard.  Duke  of  Norfolk ;  after  whose  death  and  attainder 
it  passed  through  many  hands ;  but  was  by  Charles  I.  grant- 
ed for  life  to  his  descendant,  Thomas  Howard,  Earl  of 
Arundel ;  and  finally  his  grandson,  Henry  Howard,  Earl  of 
Norwich,  was  constituted  hereditary  earl  marshal  of  Eng- 
land in  1672,  with  remainder  to  the  issue  male  of  the  Earl 
of  Arundel  aforesaid ;  in  which  latter  line  it  now  subsists. 
The  earl  marshal  is  eighth  in  rank  among  the  great  officers 
of  state  in  England.  He  has  the  same  jurisdiction  over  the 
court  of  chivalry  which  was  formerly  exercised  by  the  con- 
stable and  marshal  jointly. 

Marshal  of  the  King's  Household,  or  Knight  Marshal. 
An  officer  whose  office  is  said  to  be  to  hear  and  determine 
pleas  of  the  crown,  and  suits  between  those  of  the  king's 
household  and  other  persons  within  the  verge.  The  mar- 
shal of  the  King's  Bench  has  the  custody  of  the  King's  Bench 
prison  in  South wark. 

Marshal  of  France  is  the  highest  military  rank  in  the 
French  army.  This  officer  appears  first  in  history  under  the 
reign  of  Philip  Augustus,  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  royal 
armies.  The  number  of  marshals  was  increased  by  several 
successive  sovereigns:  in  the  reign  of  Henry  IV.  the  states 
of  Blois  limited  it  to  four,  but  this  restriction  was  not  observ- 
ed ;  and,  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  there  were  at  one 
period  no  less  than  twenty.  In  the  same  reign  officers  of 
the  navy  as  well  as  the  army  received  the  rank  of  marshal. 
The  marshals  bore  two  batong  or  marshal's  staffs — azure, 
seines  of  fleur  de-lys  or  saltier-wise— as  the  token  of  their 
dignity.  After  the  deposition  of  Louis  XVI.  the  dignity  of 
marshal  ceased;  but  was  revived  by  Napoleon,  with  the 
title  of  Marshal  of  the  Empire. 

MA'RSHALLING.  In  Heraldry,  the  arrangement  and 
distribution  of  coats  in  a  shield  so  as  to  denote  the  several 
matches  and  alliances  of  the  family.     See  Blazonry. 

MA'RSIIALSEA.    In  Law,  the  court  or  seat  of  a  raar- 


MARSUPIALS. 

shal.  The  King's  Bench  prison,  in  Southwark,  is  said  to  be 
so  called  because  the  marshal  of  the  king's  house  was  wont 
to  sit  there,  or  to  keep  his  prison.  The  Marshalsea,  or 
Knight-marshal's  Court,  commonly  called  the  Palace  Court, 
was  created  by  Charles  I. ;  and  has  jurisdiction  of  personal 
actions  within  a  circuit  of  twelve  miles  round  Whitehall. 

MARSH  MIASMA.  The  infectious  vapours  which  rise 
from  certain  marshes  and  marshy  soils,  and  which  tend  to 
the  production  of  intermittent  and  remittent  fevers. 

MARSU'PIALS,  Marsupialia,  or  Marsupiata.  (Lat. 
marsupium,  a  pouch.)  An  order  of  Implacental  Mammil'er- 
ous  quadrupeds,  of  which  the  females  have  a  portion  of  the 
abdominal  integument  folded  inwards,  forming  either  a  de- 
pression containing  the  mamma!,  or  a  pouch  serving  also  as 
a  temporary  abode  for  the  young ;  and  the  males  have  a 
corresponding  portion  of  the  abdominal  integument  extend- 
ed outwards,  forming  a  scrotum  or  pedunculate  bag  for  the 
testes.  In  both  sexes  two  supplementary  trochlear  bones 
are  developed  in  the  internal  pillars  of  the  abdominal  rings, 
and  are  articulated  to  the  anterior  part  of  the  brim  of  the 
pelvis,  around  which  bones  play  the  muscles  supporting 
and  compressing  the  testes  in  the  male,  and  the  mammary 
glands  in  the  female:  the  trochlear  ossicles,  from  their  con- 
nexion by  means  of  these  muscles  with  the  pouch,  are  call- 
ed "marsupial." 

The  quadrupeds  associated  together  by  the  common  ex- 
ternal and  osteological  characters  above  defined  so  far  re- 
semble the  oviparous  animals  that  a  placenta  is  not  organ- 
ized, and  the  chorion  of  the  foetus  contracts  no  adhesion 
with  the  parietes  of  the  uterus.  The  foetus  is  prematurely 
born  after  a  gestation  of  only  thirty-eight  days,  in  the  great 
kangaroo,  in  which  it  does  not  exceed  an  inch  in  length. 
It  is  then  received  into  the  pouch,  and  adheres  to  the  nipple 
for  many  months  before  it  quits  the  pouch.  The  generative 
organs  themselves,  both  male  and  female,  offer  several 
striking  peculiarities  common  to  all  the  Marsupials,  and 
by  which  they  differ  from  the  ordinary  Mammalia.  Cuvier 
accordingly,  in  181G,  separated  the  marsupial  from  the  other 
unguiculate  quadrupeds,  to  form  a  distinct  group,  which  he 
describes  as  forming  with  the  Monotremes  a  small  collateral 
chain ;  all  the  genera  of  which,  while  they  are  connected 
together  by  the  peculiarities  of  the  generative  system,  at  the 
same  Lime  correspond  in  their  dentition  and  diet,  some  to  the 
Carnivora,  others  to  the  Rodentia,  and  a  third  tribe  to  the 
Edentata.  M.  de  Blainville,  in  the  Tables  of  the  Animal 
Kingdom  which  he  published  in  the  same  year,  1816,  con- 
stituted a  distinct  subclass  of  Cuvier's  "small  collateral 
chain"  of  mammals,  and  gave  to  the  subclass  the  name  of 
Didelphes,  in  antithesis  to  that  of  Monodclphes,  by  which  he 
distinguished  the  Placental  Mammalia. 

Many  acute  and  sound-thinking  naturalists  refused  their 
assent  to  these  views,  which,  as  they  were  supported  by  a 
knowledge  of  the  conformity  of  organization  of  only  the 
generative  system  in  the  Marsupials,  were  unquestionably 
defective  in  the  evidence  essential  to  enforce  conviction. 
The  best  arguments  for  returning  to  the  older  views  of  classi- 
fication, and  for  distributing  the  marsupial  genera,  according 
to  the  affinities  indicated  by  their  dental  and  locomotive 
systems,  among  the  different  orders  of  the  Placental  Mam- 
malia, were  advanced  by  Mr.  Bennett,  the  accomplished 
author  of  The  Gardens  and  Menagerie  of  the  Zoological  So- 
ciety  delineated  (vol.  i.,  p.  265) ;  and  these  have  been  re- 
peated with  approbation,  and  adopted  by  later  classificators, 
as  Mr.  Swainson. 

The  discover)'  of  the  true  affinities  of  the  Marsupialia  could 
only  flow  from  an  insight  into  their  whole  organization;  and 
the  question  which  Mr.  Bennett  proposes,  with  reference  to 
the  genus  Phascolomys,  "  What  is  there  of  importance  in  the 
structure  of  the  wombat,  except  this  solitary  character  of  the 
marsupium,  to  separate  it  from  the  Rodent  order  V— a  ques- 
tion which  he  might,  in  1831,  have  asked  with  equal  force 
in  reference  to  any  other  marsupial  genus — could  only  be 
answered  satisfactorily  by  the  anatomist  who  had  submitted 
the  Marsupialia  in  question  to  a  thorough  dissection. 

Although  the  Marsupials  present  modifications  of  the  dental 
system  corresponding  with  the  carnivorous,  omnivorous,  and 
herbivorous  types,  yet  they  agree  with  each  other,  and  differ 
from  the  analogous  Placental  Mammalia  in  having  four  in- 
stead of  three  true  molars,  i.  e.,  four  molars  which  are  not 
displaced  and  succeeded  by  others,  in  the  vertical  direction. 

In  the  locomotive  organs  it  is  true  that  we  see  some  of  the 
Marsupials  having  a  hinder  thumb,  like  the  Placental  Quad- 
rumana;  others  are  digitigrade,  with  falculate  claws,  like 
the  Placental  Ferai;  a  third,  as  the  wombat,  has  the  feet 
adapted  for  burrowing;  a  fourth,  like  the  Cheironectes,  is 
aquatic,  and  has  webbed  feet :  yet  all  these  Marsupials  agree 
with  each  other  in  having  a  rotatory  movement  of  the  hind 
foot,  analogous  to  the  pronation  and  supination,  which,  in  the 
placental  quadrupeds,  are  limited,  when  enjoyed  at  all,  to 
the  fore  feet ;  and  they  manifest,  moreover,  a  peculiar  modi- 
fication of  the  muscles  of  the  hind  leg  and  foot,  in  relation 
to  these  rotatory  movements.    In  those  Marsupials,  as  the 

723 


MART. 

kangaroos,  potoroos,  and  perami  lee,  in  which  the  offices  of 
support  and  locomotion  are  devolved  exclusively  or  in  great 
part  upon  the  hind  legs,  these  ore  strengthened  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  loss  of  the  rotatory  movements  of  the  feet ;  bat 
in  the  enormous  development  of  the  tw  o  outer  toes,  and  the 
conversion  of  the  two  inner  ones  into  onguiculate  appi  ad 
ages,  useful  only  in  cleansing  the  fur,  these  Marsupials  differ 
from  all Plocentals,  whilst  the  Borne  peculiar  condition  of 
the  toes  may  he  traced  through  the  Pedimanous  group  of 
marsupials.  Thus  the  locomotive  organs,  notwithstanding 
their  adaptation  to  different  kinds  of  progression,  testifj  to  the 
unity  of  the  Marsupial  group  in  the  two  remarkable  peculi- 
arities of  structure  above  cited. 

The  vascular  system  gives  evidence  to  the  same  effect 
All  the  Marsupials  present  the  following  peculiarities  in  the 
structure  of  the  heart,  viz.,  the  right  auricle  manifests  no 
trace  of  either  fossa  oralis  or  annul  us  oralis,  and  receives 
the  two  vents  cava  supcriorcs  by  two  separate  inlets.  This 
generalization  is,  however,  less  urgent  in  the  present  ques- 
tion than  the  preceding,  because  the  modification,  as  regards 
the  separate  entry  of  the  superior  ut  nte  cava-  obtains  in  a  few 
placental  species,  as  the  elephant  and  certain  Rodents ;  but 


MASCAGINiN. 
as  the  first-cited  cardiac  character  is  common  and  peculiar 

to  the  Marsupial  Mammalia,  and  as  the  second,  while  ii  is 
universal   In  the  Marsupials,  occurs  only  as  an  exceptional 

condition  in  the  placental  series,  the  arguments  which  they 
nti'ord  to  the  unity  of  the  marsupial  group  cannot  be  over- 
looked in  a  philosophical  consideration  of  the  affinities  of 
the  Mammalia. 

With  respect  to  the  nervous  system,  it  has  been  shown 
that,  in  the  structure  of  the  brain,  the  Marsupialia  exhibit  a 
dose  correspondence  with  the  Ovipara  in  the  rudimental 
state  of  the  corpus  callo&urn  :  the  difference  which  the  most 

closely  analogous  placental  speries  offer  in  this  respect  is 
broadly  marked.  (Owen  on  the  Brain  of  the  Marsupial 
Animate,  mil.  Trans.  1837,  p.  89,  pi.  vi.) 

These  coincidences  in  the  Marsupialia  of  important  or 
ganic  modifications  of  the  dental,  locomotive,  vascular,  cere- 
bral, ami  reproductive  systems,  establish  the  fact  that  they 
constitute  a  natural  group,  inferior,  on  the  whole,  in  organi- 
zation to  ttie  Placental  Mammalia. 

The  following  is  a  tabular  view  of  the  subordinate  divi- 
sions of  the  Marsupialia  regarded  as  an  order  of  the  Impla- 
cental  subclass  of  Mammalia: 


Tribes. 
Sarcoi>haga. 


Classification  of  the  Marsupialia. 

Families. 


Three  kinds  of  teeth  ;  canines  long  in  both  jaws ;  a  simple  (  n  . , 

stomach;  no  intcstinum  cecum.  S  -L,a*J"m<"8 

Extinct  transitional  forms  ...... 

Entomophaga. 
Three  kinds  of  teeth  in  both  jaws;  a  simple  stomach ;  a?  a„,i„7„,„„-„ 
moderately  long  intcsUnum  cecum.  \  •*»»««*»■»« 


Saltatoria 
Scansoria 


Sarcophaga. 


Anterior  incisors  large  and  long  in  both  jaws ;  canines  in-  ) 
constant ;  stomach  simple,  or  with  a  special  gland ;  a  very  >  Phalangistidai 
long  inlcstinum  ctscum.  ) 


POEPHAGA. 


Fhascolarctidte 


Anterior  incisors  large  and  long  in  both  jaws ;   canines  ) 
present  in  the  upper  jaw  only,  or  wanting;  a  complex  > Macropodidm 
stomach ;  a  long  intcstinum  ctscum.  > 

RmZOPHAGA. 

Two  scalpriform  incisors  in  both  jaws;  no  canines;  stom-1 
ach  with  a  special  gland ;  cecum  short,  wide,  with  a  \  Phascolomyidts 
vermiform  appendage.  ) 


t  Thylacinus. 
<  Dasyurus. 
(  Phascogale. 
\  Phaecolotherium 

i  Thylacotheriuiu 

Myrmecobius. 

I  Chasropus. 
(  Peraiueles. 

Didelphys 

C  Phalangista 

t  Petaurus    - 
Phascolarctus. 


(  Hypsiprymnus. 
(  Macropus. 


ST'hnscolomys. 
Diprotodon 


Subgenera. 


Fossil. 


\  Didelphys. 
I  Cheironectes. 

(  Cuscus. 

<  Pseudocheirus. 
(  Tapoa. 

i  Petaurista. 

<  Belidia. 

f  Acrobata. 


Fossil. 


MART.     See  Fair  and  Market. 

MARTE'LLO  TOWERS.  The  name  given  to  the  cir- 
cular buildings  of  mas  inry  which  were  erected  along  different 
parts  of  the  British  coasts  at  the  commencement  of  the 
present  century,  intended  as  a  defence  against  the  meditated 
invasion  of  Napoleon.  The  origin  of  the  name  is  usually 
supposed  to  be  derived  from  B  fort  in  Mortella  (Myrtle)  Bay, 
Corsica,  which,  after  a  determined  resistance,  was  at  last 
captured  by  the  British  in  1794.  These  towers  were  pro- 
vided with  vaulted  roofs,  and  consisted  of  two  stories — the 
lower  for  the  reception  of  stores,  the  upper,  which  was  shell- 
proof,  for  Die  cas,  men!  of  troops;  and  the  wall  of  the  build- 
in.'  terminated  in  a  parapet,  which  secured  the  men  in 
Working  the  pieces  of  artillery,  which,  besides,  were  con- 
structed on  moi  in»  pivots,  so  as  to  be  fired  in  any  direction. 
In  most  places  of  England  these  towers  have  been  dis- 
mantled ;  those  that  remain  either  serve  as  stations  for  the 
use  of  the  i  oast  bloi  kade  force,  or,  like  that  near  Leith,  are 
not  employed  for  any  purpose. 

MARTIXKT.  A  cant  phrase  for  a  severe  military  dis- 
ciplinarian; probably  derived  from  a  certain  Colon,. I  Marti 
net,  w  ho  s<  r v <  d  in  the  1  "n  nch  army  under  Louis  XIV..  who 

was  the  inventor  of  a  peculiar  whip,  (ailed  by  his  name,  for 
the  purpose  of  military  punishment,  and  also  (if  Voltaire 
may  be  believed   of  the  bo  i 

M  \  i:tiv;.\i.i:.  [n  Naval  afioira,  a  rope  leading  down- 
wards from  the  jib-boom  end,  to  keep  the  Jib-boom  down 
against  the  force  of  the  sail  and  stay.  In  the  menage,  mar 
ringale  is  applied  tea  thong  of  leather  fastened  at  the  end  of 
the  girths  under  the  belly  of  a  horse,  and  at  the  other  end  to  the 
musrol,  passing  between  the  legs  to  keep  him  from  rearing. 

M  I'RTLET.  In  Heraldry,  a  fanciful  bird,  shaped  like  a 
martin  or  swallow,  but  depii  ted  with  short  tufts  of  feathers 
in  the  place  of  legs.    It  is  the  difference  or  distinction  of  a 

fourth 
MA'RTVR.     (Gr.  paDTvp,  or  uaPros,  witness:  in  which 
724 


sense  the  word  is  used  by  the  writers  of  the  N.  Test.  wh«n 
speaking  of  themselves,  in  reference  to  the  testimony  they 
bore  to  the  actions  of  Christ.)  When  the  members  of  the 
Christian  Church  were  subjected  to  persecution  under  the 
Roman  emperors,  the  persons  accused  were  questioned  as  to 
their  belief;  and,  in  undergoing  punishments  and  death, 
were  said  to  bear  witness  of  their  Master  before  the  world. 
A  distinction  was  also  made  between  those  who,  although 
they  boldly  asserted  their  belief,  were  yet  not  visited  with 
extreme  punishment,  who  were  designated  under  the  name 
of  confessors,  and  those  who  actually  suffered  death,  who 
alone  were  dignified  with  the  title  or  martyrs,  and  said  to 
obtain  the  crown  of  martyrdom.  Martyr,  in  itsordman  Big 
nification,  denotes  a  person  who  sutlers  death  or  persecution 
on  account  of  his  belief.  (See  Jtfoshtim's  Feci.  History 
(transl.),  ed.  1790,  i.,  77  ;  Giestler  (transl.),  r.  8,  U,  71,  &c. 
As  to  the  intercession  of  mart]  rs,  lb.  109,  168.) 

MA'RTYRO'LOGY.  (Gr.  uaprvs,  and  \oyos,a  descrip- 
tion.) The  name  given  to  that  department  of  ecclesiastical 
history  which  n  lates  to  the  acts  and  deaths  of  martyrs.  It 
also  signifies  a  calendar  or  n  gister  kept  in  religious  houses 
wherein  were  inserted  the  names  and  donations  of  their 
benefactors,  and  the  days  of  till  ir  death.     As  specimens  of 

tins  species  of  works,  we  may  mention  the  Martyrology  of 

Eusebiufl,  which  was  so  celebrated  in  the  early  church,  but 

which  is  lost:  and  / ■',,'..  ,  '  /rs,  the  most  valu- 

able record  of  the  sufferings  of  the  English  reformers.  Many 
accounts  in  the  early  martyrologies  are  purely  fabu- 
lous. Bee  ft ni Hurt'.,  .ir'i  Martyrum;  Boronii,  Martyro- 
logvum  Romanian  :  and  Middieton's  Free  Inquiry.  Gallo- 
nius,  l)r  Sanctorum  Martyrum  Cruciatibus,  1598,  and  sub- 
sequent  editions,  is  a  book  which  has  had  great  popularity 

On  the  Continent. 

M  ISC  \  'C  \  I  V.  A  mlneralogical  name  of  the  native  sul- 
phate of  Bi mia  of  volcanic  districts;  named  after  Ma&- 

cagni,  who  first  discovered  it. 


MASCLE. 

MA'SCLE.  In  Heraldry,  a  bearing  in  t)ie  form  of  a  loz- 
enge perforated ;  supposed  to  represent  the  meshes  of  a  net. 

MA'SONRY.  (Fr.)  The  science  of  combining  and  join- 
ing stones  for  the  formation  of  walls  and  other  parts  in  con- 
structing buildings.  The  science,  when  applied  in  the  con- 
struction of  domes,  groins,  and  circular  arches,  is  difficult 
and  complicated,  depending  on  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
descriptive  geometry.  Hence  the  various  methods  of  obtain- 
ing the  requisite  lines  for  the  artificer  would  require  a  space 
and  diagrams  which  cannot  be  given  here ;  but  the  reader 
who  desires  acquaintance  with  that  part  of  the  subject  may 
consult  Rondelet,  Traite  Theorique  et  Pratique  de  VArt  de 
Butir,  Paris,  le'29-30,  4to,  with  the  certainty  of  finding  all 
the  information  he  requires.  Vitruvius  mentions  several 
kinds  of  masonry  among  the  ancients,  which  were  distin- 
guished from  each  other  by  the  different  modes  of  arranging 
the  stones.  The  principal  are,  1.  The  Reticulatum,  whicli 
is  arranged  in  diagonal  courses,  like  the  meshes  of  a  net; 
whence  its  name.  2.  The  Incertum,  wherein  the  rising 
courses  are  so  laid,  without  any  certain  sizes  of  the  stones, 
as  that  the  vertical  joint  above  always  falls  over  the  middle 
of  the  joint  below.  The  appearance  of  this  work  is  not 
perhaps  so  pleasing  as  that  of  the  first,  but  the  work  itself  is 
stronger.  3.  The  Isodomum,  in  which  all  the  courses  are  of 
equal  height,  as  its  name  imports.  4.  The  Pseudisodomum, 
which  received  its  name  from  the  courses  being  unequal 
in  height.  5.  The  Emplcctum,  in  which  the  faces  of  the 
work  were  wrought,  and  the  centre  of  the  wall  filled  up  with 
rubble  work,  in  which  species  of  work  the  Greeks  employed 
diatoni  or  bond  stones,  running  in  one  piece  through  the 
thickness  of  the  wall  to  tie  it  together.  The  first  principles 
to  be  attended  to  in  building  stone  walls  are,  that  the  vertical 
joints  in  any  course  should  not  fall  over  the  vertical  joints 
in  the  course  immediately  below  it;  and  that  where  the 
thickness  of  the  wall  consists  of  two  or  more  pieces  of  stone, 
bond  stones  or  blocks  which  run  through  the  whole  wall 
transversely,  if  possible  in  one  piece,  should  be  introduced  as 
frequently  as  possible  for  the  purpose  of  binding  the  whole 
mass  together.  The  different  species  of  masonry  in  present 
use  may  be  reduced  to  four :  1.  Bond  masonry,  wherein  the 
stones  of  each  succeeding  course  are  laid  so  that  the  joint 
that  mounts  and  separates  two  stones  always  falls  directly 
over  the  middle  of  the  stone  below.  2.  That  of  brickwork, 
where  the  bodies  and  projections  of  the  stones  enclose  square 
spaces  or  panels,  &c,  formed  with  bricks.  3.  That  called 
by  the  French  demotion,  or  small  work,  wherein  the  courses 
are  equal,  well  squared,  and  their  edges  or  beds  rusticated. 
4.  That  wherein  the  courses  are  unequal,  and  filled  up  in 
the  middle  with  small  stones  and  mortar. 

Masonry.     See  Freemasonry. 

MASQUE,  or  MASK.  A  species  of  drama.  It  originated 
from  the  custom  in  processions,  and  other  solemn  occasions, 
of  introducing  personages  in  masks  to  represent  imaginary 
characters.  Many  of  these  characters,  even  in  the  religious 
shows  of  Italy,  &c,  were  of  a  grotesque  description,  and  the 
performance  often  intermixed  with  dancing  and  buffoonery. 
By  degrees,  in  England,  something  of  a  dramatic  character 
was  added  to  these  exhibitions.  At  first,  as  in  the  well- 
known  progresses  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  monologues  or  dia- 
logues in  verse  were  put  into  the  mouths  of  the  masked  per- 
formers ;  and,  in  the  reign  of  James  I.,  they  had  ripened  into 
regular  dramatic  performances :  sometimes,  as  in  the  Tem- 
pest of  Shakspeare,  introduced  by  way  of  interlude  in  regu- 
lar plays ;  at  other  times  acted  as  separate  pieces,  with  much 
machinery  and  decoration.  Ben  Johnson  was  the  first,  and 
indeed  almost  the  only  classical  English  writer  (with  the 
exception  of  Milton,  in  the  solitary  and  noble  specimen  of 
Comus)  who  devoted  much,  labour  and  taste  to  this  depart- 
ment of  the  drama.  His  masques  were  represented  at  court : 
the  queen  of  James  I.,  and  after  her  the  accomplished  Queen 
Henrietta  Maria,  did  not  disdain  to  take  part,  at  least  as  silent 
dramatis  persona;,  in  some  of  these  pageants.  The  taste  for 
them  died  away  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I.;  and  after  the 
interraption  given  to  the  progress  of  dramatic  art  and  litera- 
ture by  the  civil  wars,  they  were  not  again  brought  into 
fashion. 

MASQUERA'DE.  (Ital.  mascherata.)  An  amusement 
practised  in  almost  every  civilized  country  of  modern  times, 
consisting  of  a  ball  and  other  festivities,  in  which  only  those 
who  are  masked  or  disguised  can  participate.  This  species 
of  amusement  had  its  origin  in  Italy,  where,  according  to 
Hall's  Chronicle,  they  had  become  fashionable  so  early  as 
the  beginning  of  the  16th  century.  Of  its  introduction  into 
England,  Hall  thus  speaks :  "  On  the  date  of  the  Epiphaine, 
at  night  (A.D.  1512-13),  the  king  (Henry  VIII.)  with  eleven 
others,  were  disguised  after  the  manner  of  Italie,  called  a 
maske,  a  thing  not  seen  afore  in  England ;  they  were  apa- 
reled  in  garmentes  long  and  brode,  wrought  all  with  golde, 
with  visers  and  cappes  of  golde ;  and  after  the  banket  doen, 
these  maskers  came  in  with  the  six  gentlemen  disguised  in 
silk"  (in  all  probability  the  domino  of  more  recent  times), 
"  barynge  staffe  torches,  and  desired  the  ladies  to  daunce ; 


MAST. 

some  were  content ;  and  some  that  knew  the  fashion  of  it 
refused,  because  it  was  not  a  thing  commonly  seen.  And 
after  thel  daunced  and  commoned  together,  as  the  fashion 
of  the  maskes  is,  thel  tokc  their  leave  and  departed,  and  so 
did  the  quene  and  all  the  ladies."  The  invention  of  mas- 
querades is  ascribed  to  Granacci,  who  died  in  1543. 

MASS.  (Lat.  missa.)  The  name  by  which  the  Roman 
Catholics  designate  the  celebration  of  tile  Lord's  Supper  after 
the  forms  of  their  church.  The  term  is  derived  from  the 
phrase,  "Ite,  missa  est,  concio"  (i.  e.,  Go,  the  assembly  is 
dissolved) ;  by  which  the  priest,  in  the  primitive  ages,  signi- 
fied to  the  catechumens  that  all  that  part  of  the  service  of 
the  church  was  concluded  whicli  it  was  allowed  to  all  be- 
lievers indiscriminately  to  attend.  The  communion  of  the 
eucharist  was  extended  only  to  the  higher  class,  ihefidcles, 
who  had  completed  the  period  of  initiation  and  instruction : 
and,  after  the  pronunciation  of  these  words,  the  offering  of 
the  body  and  blood  was  made.  It  was  to  this  offering  itself 
that  the  term  missa  came  to  be  applied.  The  service  of  the 
mass,  as  it  is  still  retained  throughout  Catholic  countries, 
was  the  work  of  Gregory  I.,  in  the  6th  century.  It  consists 
of  three  parts :  the  onertorium,  or  offering  of  the  elements 
upon  the  altar;  the  consecration,  by  which  they  are  sup- 
posed to  undergo  the  transubstantiation  into  the  real  body 
and  blood  of  Christ ;  and  the  sumption,  or  actual  participa- 
tion in  them  by  the  communicants.  These  ceremonies  are 
accompanied  by  the  recitation  of  various  prayers;  and  the 
priests  go  through  numerous  evolutions,  which  are  supposed 
to  represent  the  circumstances  attending  the  passion  of  our 
Lord.  High  mass  is  the  performance  of  this  service  accom- 
panied with  music. 

Mass.  (Germ,  masse.)  The  quantity  of  matter  of  which 
any  body  is  composed.  The  mass  is  directly  as  the  product 
of  the  volume  of  the  body  into  its  density.  The  mass  mul- 
tiplied into  the  constant  force  of  gravity  constitutes  the 
weight ;  and  hence  the  mass  of  any  body  is  rightly  estimated 
by  its  weight.     See  Mechanics. 

Mass.  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a  large  quantity  of  matter  of 
light  or  shade.  It  is  generally  applied  in  painting  to  light 
and  shade  brought  upon  objects  proper  for  their  reception, 
and  grouped  or  arranged  so  as  to  give  repose  and  pleasing 
variety  both  of  one  and  the  other  without  being  scattered. 

MASSA'LIANS.     Sec  Euchites. 

MA'SSETER  (Gr.  naaaaoiiai,  I  chew.)  A  short  thick 
muscle  which  raises  the  lower  jaw,  and  assists  in  moving  it 
backwards  and  forwards  in  the  act  of  chewing. 

MA'SSICOT.    Yellow  oxide  of  lead. 

MA'SSORA,  or  MASORA.  A  critical  work  among  the 
Jews,  containing  remarks  on  the  verses,  words,  letters,  and 
vowel-points  of  the  Hebrew  text  of  the  Bible.  As  the  sa- 
cred books  were  originally  written  without  any  breaks  or 
divisions  into  chapters  or  verses  or  even  words,  the  Jews 
found  it  necessary  to  establish  a  canon  to  fix  and  ascertain 
the  reading  of  the  Hebrew  text.  This  rule  or  canon  is  de- 
signated Jilassora,  or  tradition,  in  which  the  verses,  letters, 
words,  &c,  are  all  numbered  ;  and  by  this  means  the  slightest 
variations  can  be  detected.  The  Jewish  rabbis  who  drew  up 
this  work  are  styled  Massorites.    See  Biblical  History,  &c. 

MAST.  A  long  piece  or  system  of  pieces  of  timber, 
placed  nearly  perpendicular  to  the  keel  of  a  vessel  to  sup- 
port the  yards  or  gaffs  on  which  the  sails  are  extended. 
When  the  mast  is  one  entire  piece,  it  is  called  a  pole-mast ; 
but  in  all  larger  vessels  it  is  composed  of  several  lengths, 
called  lower,  top,  and  top-gallant  masts :  sometimes  a  fourth, 
called  a  royal  mast. 

The  method  of  supporting  each  mast  on  the  one  next  be- 
low it  is  peculiar.  On  the  sides  of  the  lower  mast,  some 
feet  below  the  head,  are  placed  cheeks :  on  these  are  fixed 
horizontally  two  short  pieces  of  wood,  fore  and  aft,  called 
trestle  trees.  Across  these  at  right  ungles  are  laid,  before 
and  abaft  the  mast,  two  or  more  longer  and  lighter  pieces, 
called  cross  trees,  which  give  the  name  to  the  entire  system. 
On  the  mast  head  itself  is  a  cap. 

The  topmast  being  placed  up  and  down,  the  fore  side  of 
the  lower  mast  is  swayed  up  between  the  trestle  trees,  and 
through  the  round  or  foremast  hole  in  the  cap.  When 
raised  so  high  that  the  heel  of  the  topmast  is  nearly  up  to  the 
surface  of  the  cross  trees,  a  piece  of  iron,  called  the  fid,  is 
put  through  the  hole  in  the  heel  for  the  purpose ;  and  on 
this  fid,  of  which  the  ends  are  supported  on  the  trestle  trees, 
the  topmast  rests.  When  fidded,  the  topmast  is  stayed, 
and  the  rigging  or  shrouds  set  up  to  the  dead  eyes  in  the 
ends  of  the  cross  trees.  These  dead  eyes  pull  from  the 
lower  rigging  below,  and  thus  the  cross  trees  serve  merely 
to  extend  the  rigging.  The  topgallant  is  supported  in  the 
same  manner  on  the  topmast.  When  the  mast  is  to  be 
taken  down,  it  is  first  raised  to  relieve  the  fid  ;  which  being 
drawn  out,  the  mast  is  lowered. 

The  masts  are  supported  by  a  strong  rope,  leading  for- 
ward called  the  stay;  by  others,  leading  aft  on  each  side  of 
the  ship,  called,  in  general,  backstays ;  and  by  others  abreast, 
called  s'ltrowds,  and  also  breast  backstays. 

7*5 


MASTER. 

Large  lower  masts  rue  composed  of  pieces,  ami  ha,e  for 
some  years  been  made  <>t'  several  lengths,  about  a  foot  or 
-  -'1:11V.  ami  the  whole  supported  merely  by  hoops  at  in- 
tervals. 

linmast  ^  near  the  middle  of  the  vessel,  the  fore- 
mast is  that  which  is  nearest  the  fore  part,  and  the  miien- 
mast  is  abaft  the  mi  inmost, 

The  old  rule  for  the  length  of  the  main  lower  mast  is  to 
take  J  the  sum  of  the  length  of  the  lower  deck  and  extreme 
breadth:  the  foremast  is  8-0thsof  the  mainmast,  the  mizen- 
mast  considerably  smaller.  The  topmast  is  about  3-5ths  of 
the  lower  mast.  These  rules,  as  well  as  others  for  the 
thicknesses,  fee.,  are  merely  for  convenience,  based  on  no 

mechanical  principle,  and  are  by  no  means  strictly  follow  ed. 

MA'STER.  (Lot  mngister]  \  dtle  frequent  among 
the  Romans:  as  magister  equitum  (master  of  the  horse,  the 
lieutenant  or  second  in  command  to  a  dictator),  magister 
peditum,  magister  census,  fee.  Magister  Militia;  (master  of 
the  army,  or  of  military  affairs)  was  a  title  under  the  later 
Roman  emperors.  Grand  master,  in  modern  times  is  the 
common  title  of  the  chief  of  the  orders  of  knighthood,  and 
of  some  fraternities,  as  the  Freemasons.  The  oldest  sons 
of  some  noble  landed  proprietors  are  designated  as  mas- 
ters in  Scotland ;  as  the  master  of  Gray,  master  of  Doug- 
las, fee. 

Master.  In  the  Universities,  a  degree  in  arts;  the  most 
ancient  of  all  the  academical  titles.  In  the  university  of 
Paris,  where  this  as  well  as  the  other  learned  distinctions 
appear  to  have  originated,  it  was  originally  a  mere  title,  be- 
longing to  those  who  taught  in  the  schools  (magistri,  doc- 
tores).  Thus  every  master  was.  of  necessity,  a  lecturer.  In 
process  of  time  (and  probably  about  the  middle  of  the  13th 
century)  the  title  became  a  degree,  attainable  by  all  after  a 
certain  amount  of  residence  and  proficiency:  While  the  duty 
of  lecturing  was  confined  only  to  a  certain  number  of  mas- 
ters, termed  regents.  About  the  same  period  the  separation 
of  the  degrees  of  master  and  doctor  took  place.  In  the 
English  universities,  the  degree  of  master  of  arts  follows 
that  of  bachelor.  A  master  becomes  a  regent  after  a  short 
period:  and,  according  to  the  old  academical  constitution, 
is  supposed  to  read  lectures  during  the  year  of  his  regency. 
On  becoming  a  regent,  he  becomes  a  member  of  the  govern- 
ing body  of  the  university;  having  a  vote  in  congregation 
ami  convocation  at  Oxford,  in  the  senate  at  Cambridge.  In 
our  universities  the  degree  of  master  is  the  highest  in  the 
faculty  of  arts:  but  subordinate  to  that  of  bachelor  of  di- 
vinity. Elsewhere  the  faculty  of  arts  is  synonymous  with 
that  of  philosophy,  in  which  the  degree  of  doctorate  is  con- 
ferred, superior  to  that  of  master. 

Master,  otherwise  called  Captain,  in  Commercial  Navi- 
gation, the  person  entrusted  with  the  care  and  navigation  of 
a  ship.  His  duties  are  very  important.  In  some  countries 
no  one  can  be  appointed  to  this  office  who  has  not  been  de- 
clared to  fill  it  by  a  legally  constituted  board ;  but  in  this 
country  the  owners  are  left  to  their  own  discretion  as  to  the 
skill  and  honesty  of  the  master ;  and  although  he  is  bound 
to  make  good  any  damage  that  may  happen  to  the  ship  and 
cargo  by  bis  negligence  or  unskilfulness,  he  cannot  be  pun- 
ished as  a  criminal  for  mere  incompetence.  No  one  is 
qualified  to  he  master  of  a  British  ship  unless  he  be  a  natu- 
ral-born British  subject,  or  naturalized  by  act  of  parliament ; 
or  have  become  a  subject  to  his  majesty  by  conquest,  cession, 
&c.,  and  have  taken  the  oaths  of  allegiance;  or  a  foreign 
seaman  who  has  served  three  years  in  time  of  war  on  board 
of  his  majesty's  ships. 

Master.  In  the  Royal  Navy,  the  officer  who  has  the 
charge  of  the  navigation  of  the  ship,  with  other  duties  :  bis 
rank  is  next  to  lieutenant. 

Master  Attendant.  The  officer  next  in  rank  to  the 
superintendent  of  the  royal  dock  yard. 

Master  at  Arms.  A  petty  officer  of  the  navy,  who  Is, 
in  fact,  the  head  of  the  police  of  the  ship:  his  assistants 
are  called  ship's  corporals. 

Master  of  the  Ceremonies.  An  officer  attached  to 
all  European  courts,  whose  duty  consists  in  regulating  all 
matters  of  etiquette  and  state  ceremony.  {See  Ceremo- 
nies, &c.)     The  name  is  also  applied  to  any  individual  who 

is  appointed  by  general  consent  to  preside  over  the  arrange 
ments  of  a  public  ball,  with  the  power  of  deciding  all  dis- 
putes that  may  arise  therein. 

Master  of  the  Horse.  The  third  great  officer  in  the 
British  court.  When  not  put  in  commission,  this  office  is 
always  filled  by  a  nobleman,  lie  has  the  management  of 
all  the  royal  stables  and  bred  horses,  with  authority  over 
all  the  equerries  and  pages,  coachmen,  footmen,  grooms,  &.c. 
In  solemn  cavalcades  he  rides  ne\t  the  sovereign.  Salary, 
£1376  13s.  id.  per  annum.  The  queen  dowager  s  ' 
hold  has  also  a  master  of  the  horse  and  three  equerries. 

Master  of  the  Household.  An  officer  employed  un- 
der the  treasurer  of  the  household  to  survey  accounts. 

Master  of  ttie  Mint.     See  Mint. 

Master  of  tub  Robes.    An  officer  of  the  royal  house- 
720 


MATERIALISM. 

m.  the  lord  chamberlain's  department     His  salary  fe 
£800  per  annum. 

Master  of  the  Rolls.     See  Masters  in  Chancery. 

Masters  in  Chancery,  are  assistants  to  the  lord  chan- 
cellor.    The  masters  in  ordinary  are  twelve  in  aumbei 
win. m  the  master  of  the  rolls  is  chief.     To  them   are  refer- 
red interlocutory  orders  for  stating  accounts,  computing 
ages,  fee     They  also  administer  oaths,  take  affidavits  and 

acknowledgments,  and  examine  bids  in  chancery  w  ith  refei 

eni-e  to  their  propriety.  The  masters  are  also  employed  by 
the  house  of  peers  in  carrying  messages  to  the  commons. 
Masters  extraordinary  are  appointed  to  act  in  the  countrj  be- 

> i  twenty  miles  from  London     By  3  fe  4  W.  4,  c.  94,  s. 

in.  the  appointment  of  masters  In  ordinary  is  taken  from  the 
lord  chancellor,  and  vested  in  the  crown. 

MA'STER-SI'NGERB.  A  class  of  poets  who  flourished 
in  Germany  during  the  L5th  and   part  of  the   16th   Century. 

They  were  confined  to  a  few  imperial  towns,  and  their  chief 

seat  was  the  city  of  Nuremberg.  They  were  generally  of 
hurgher  extraction  ;  and  formed  regular  corporations,  Into 
which  proficients  were  admitted  by  the  ordinary  course  of 
apprenticeship.  Their  poetry  generally  confined  to  devo- 
tional or  scriptural  pieces,  legendary  tales,  with  some  admix- 
ture of  satire  and  of  amatory  lyrics)  was  subjected  to  a  pe- 
culiar and  pedantic  code  of  laws,  both  composition  and  ver- 
sification :  and  a  board  of  judges  (styled  merker)  assembled 
to  hear  the  poems  recited,  and  mark  the  faults  which  might 
be  committed  in  either  particular:  he  who  had  the  fewest 
faults  received  the  prize.  Hans  Sachs,  the  famous  cobbler 
of  Nuremberg,  was  a  member  of  these  societies ;  although 
his  genius  was  of  too  independent  a  character  to  submit  to 
the  trammels  of  their  poetical  regulations. 

.MASTIC.  (Gt.  ixaoTiKi),  a  species  of  gum.)  In  Archi- 
tecture, a  cement  of  recent  introduction  into  England,  em- 
ployed for  plastering  walls.  It  is  used  with  a  considerable 
portion  of  linseed  oil,  and  sets  hard  in  a  tew  days.  From 
this  latter  circumstance,  and  from  its  being  fit  for  the  rendi- 
tion of  paint  at  an  early  period,  it  is  much  used  in  works 
where  great  expedition  is  requisite. 

M  lstic,  A  peculiar  resin  which  exudes  from  the  Pista- 
cia  Icntiscns.    Its  chief  use  is  in  varnishes. 

MA'STICOT.  (Fr.  massicot.)  In  Tainting,  a  yellow  col- 
our, being  an  oxkle  of  lead. 

MASTI'TIS.  (Gr.  paoroc,  tke  breast.)  Inflammation  of 
the  breast  in  women :  it  commonly  terminates  in  suppura- 
tion. 

MA'STODON.  (Gr.  paoros,  a  vipple.  and  oeouf,  tooth.) 
A  genus  of  extinct  fossil  quadrupeds  allied  to  the  elephant : 
so  called  from  the  conical  projections  upon  the  surfaces  of 
the  molar  teeth. 

MA'STOID.  (Gr.  pacrTo;,  and  c«5of,  form.)  Certain 
nipple  like  protuberances  of  the  bones. 

MASTOTHE'CA.     (Gr.  paeTOc,  and  ^VKrj.  a  receptacle 
A  name  sometimes  used  for  Marsupiuui,  and  applied  to  the 
abdominal  pouch  of  tin'  marsupial  animals. 

MATE.  In  a  Merchant  Ship,  the  deputy  of  the  master, 
taking  in  his  absence  the  command.  There  are  sometimes- 
only  one,  and  sometimes  two,  three,  or  four  mates  in  a 
merchantman,  according  to  her  size;  denominated  1st,  2d, 
3d,  &c.  mates.  The  law,  however,  recognizes  only  two 
descriptions  of  persons  in  a  merchantman — the  master  and 
mariners;  the  mates  being  included  in  the  latter,  and  the 
captain  being  responsible  for  their  proceedings. 

In  men-of-war,  the  officers  immediate!}  subordinate  to 
the  captain  are  called  lieutenants.  But  the  master,  or  offi- 
cer whose  peculiar  duty  it  is  to  take  charge  of  the  naviga- 
tion (if  the  ship,  has  certain  mates  under  him,  selected  from 
the  midshipmen.  The  boatswain,  gunner,  carpenter,  fee, 
have  each  their  mates  or  deputies,  taken  from  the  crew. 

The  officers  subordinate  to  the  commander  in  the  ships 
belonging  to  the  East  India  Company  were  called  1st.  -Jd. 
:id,  ti.i\,  offli  ere.  East  [ndtamen  bad  no  sailing  masters,  the 
commanders  performing  that  duty.  {Falconer's  Marine 
Dictionary,  &c) 

Mate.  The  Paraguay  name  of  a  plant  called  Ilez  para- 
guensis  by  botanists,  whose  leaves  are  used  extensively  in 
that  country  as  a  substitute  for  tea.  It  has  the  property  of 
turning  milk  blackish  when  mixed  with  it. 

.MATE'KIAI,.  Anything  composed  of  matter,  or  pos- 
sessing ihe  fundamental  properties  of  matter.     9m  Matter. 

MATERIALISM.  That  metaphysical  theory  which  is 
founded  on  tin-  hypothesis  that  all  existence  may  he  resolv- 
ed into  a  modification  of  matter,  including,  of  course,  the 
conscious  subject.  .Materialists,  of  one  sort  or  other,  have 
abounded  in  every  stage  of  philosophical  thought.    They 

have  consisted,  in  the  main,  of  persons  accustomed  to  the 

exclusive  pursuit  of  merely  physical  or  empirical  science, 
who  have  transferred  the  habits  and  prejudices  thus  engen- 
dered to  the  higher  sciences  of  metaphysics  and  physiology. 
The  most  celebrated  materialists  were,  among  the  ancients, 

Democritus  and  his  later  disciples ;  Epicurus  and  bis  sect; 

to  whom  may  be  added,  though  in  a  somewhat  ditferent 


MATERIA  MEDICA. 

sense,  the  Stoics :  among  the  moderns,  Gassentli,  Hobbes, 
Hartley,  and  Dr.  Priestley.  Most  schemes  of  materialism 
rest  on  the  assumption  that  all  that  is  real  in  nature  con- 
sists in  the  minute  particles  from  the  juxtaposition  of  which 
all  sensible  objects  arise.  This  is  what  is  variously  desig- 
nated as  the  atomic,  the  mechanical,  or  the  mechanico-cor 
puscular  theory,  and  has  met  with  supporters  chiefly  in 
France.  Among  ourselves,  in  very  recent  times,  Dr.  Thomas 
Brown  has  eloquently  maintained  that  part  of  this  system 
which  relates  to  physical  phenomena ;  though  he  has  com- 
batted,  with  the  utmost  subtlety  and  ingenuity,  the  portion 
of  it  which  includes  the  nature  of  the  mind  itself.  (Com- 
pare sect,  v.-ix.  with  sect,  xii.-xiv.  See  also  Priestley's 
Disquisitions  on  Matter  and  Spirit,  1776 ;  and  his  Three 
Dissertations  on  the  Doctrine  of  Materialism  and  Philo- 
sophical Necessity.  Also,  Price's  Letters  on  Materialism 
and  Philosophical  Necessity.)  The  latest  and  boldest  de- 
fence of  materialism  that  has  appeared  in  England  is  to  be 
found  in  the  celebrated  lectures  of  Mr.  Lawrence,  who 
maintained  that  the  brain  is  to  be  conceived  as  secreting 
thought,  in  the  same  sense  in  which  the  liver  secretes  bile 
or  the  stomach  the  gastric  juice. 

MATE'RIA  MEDICA.  This  term  implies  tlie  various 
substances,  natural  and  artificial,  which  are  used  in  the 
cure  of  disease,  and  which  are  usually  called  medicines. 
They  are  frequently  arranged  into  classes  dependent  upon 
their  virtues  and  effects,  or  upon  their  constituent  parts; 
but  perhaps  the  most  convenient  arrangement  is  the  alpha- 
betical. 

MATHEMA'TICS.  (Gr.  /ladtws,  learning.)  The  sci- 
ence which  investigates  the  consequences  which  are  logic- 
ally deducible  from  any  given  or  admitted  relations  between 
magnitudes  or  numbers.  It  is  usually  divided  into  two  parts : 
pure,  where  geometrical  magnitude  or  numbers  are  the 
subject  of  investigation ;  and  mixed,  where  the  deductions 
thus  made  are  from  relations  which  are  obtained  by  obser- 
vation and  experiment  from  the  phenomena  of  material 
nature,  and  which  constitutes  what  is  otherwise  called 
physics,  or  physical  science. 

The  first  object  of  mathematical  science  was  geometry, 
and  this  received  its  highest  degree  of  cultivation  among 
the  Greeks.  Several  of  their  works  have  come  down  to  our 
own  times,  but  all  have  undergone  more  or  less  mutilation  ; 
and  some  of  the  most  interesting  are  either  wholly  lost,  as 
the  Porisms  of  Euclid,  or  only  known  to  us  through  the 
medium  of  Arabic  translations,  as  the  Sectio  Hationis  of 
Apollonius.     See  Geometry. 

The  next  object  of  research  that  comes  under  the  denomi- 
nation of  pure  mathematics  is  number,  the  science  of  which 
constitutes  arithmetic.  By  reason  of  their  defective  system 
of  notation,  the  Greek  geometers  were  under  the  necessity 
of  employing  very  complicated  methods  for  performing  or- 
dinary arithmetical  calculations ;  and  for  investigating  the 
more  abstruse  properties  and  relations  of  numbers  they  had 
recourse  to  geometrical  constructions.  The  modems  have, 
however,  discovered  a  much  more  simple  and  direct  system 
of  processes,  constituting  algebra ;  and  this  has  also  been 
applied  with  great  success  to  the  solution  even  of  geomet- 
rical problems  and  theorems,  which  by  purely  geometrical 
methods  had  never  been  effected.  The  differential  calculus 
and  the  calculus  of  functions  are  also  branches  of  algebra. 
See  Arithmetic  and  Algebra. 

Of  the  various  branches  of  the  mixed  mathematics,  or 
applied  mathematics,  astronomy  is  by  far  the  most  advanced 
towards  perfection ;  and  next  to  it  the  doctrine  of  optics, 
which  has  been  cultivated  as  subservient  to  astronomy. 
This  has  depended  chiefly  on  the  simplicity  of  the  laws 
which  connect  the  phenomena,  and  the  consequent  simpli- 
city of  the  mathematical  investigations  which  are  necessary 
for  the  development  of  their  consequences.  Nevertheless, 
simple  as  those  laws  are,  and  relatively  simple  as  the  in- 
vestigations to  which  they  lead  also  are,  their  perfect  de- 
velopment is  beyoud  the  present  powers  of  mathematical 
science,  which  in  numerous  cases  can  only  furnish  approxi- 
mate results. 

MA'TINS.  In  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  the  earliest 
of  the  canonical  hours  of  prayer.     See  Hours. 

MA'TRASS.  A  chemical  vessel  employed  in  sublima- 
tions, and  in  digesting  solutions  in  a  sand  heat.  It  is  super- 
seded in  the  modern  laboratory  by  a  flask. 

MATRI'CULA.  (Lat.  mater,  mother.)  A  register  kept 
of  the  admission  of  persons  into  any  body  or  society,  of 
which  a  list  is  made.  In  the  Romish  Church  there  was  a  ma- 
tricula  clericorum,  a  list  or  catalogue  of  the  officiating  cler- 
gy ;  and  matricula  pauperum,  a  list  of  poor  persons  to  be 
relieved.  Hence,  when  a  student  is  entered  in  the  register 
of  the  universities,  he  is  said  to  be  matriculated. 

MA'TRIMONY.     See  Marriage. 

MA'TRIX.  (Lat.)  In  Metallurgy,  the  stony  substance 
in  which  crystalline  minerals  and  metals  are  embedded  is 
frequently  tenned  their  matrix  or  gangue.  In  dyesinking 
the  matrix  is  the  indented  mould  from  which  impressions 


MAUR,  ST.  CONGREGATION  OF, 

are  taken  in  relief.  Type-founders  apply  the  term  to  the 
iron  moulds  in  which  the  letters  are  cast. 

MA'TTER.  (Lat.  materies.)  Substance.  Of  the  inti- 
mate nature  of  matter  the  human  faculties  cannot  take  cog- 
nizance, nor  can  data  be  furnished,  by  observation  or  ex- 
periment, on  which  to  found  an  investigation  of  it.  All  we 
know,  or  ever  can  know  of  matter,  is  its  sensible  properties. 
Some  of  these  are  the  foundation  of  physical  science ; 
others  of  the  different  subordinate  sciences,  as,  for  instance, 
of  chemistry. 

Matter  is  divisible  by  abrasion,  and  other  means,  into 
small  fragments,  which,  when  the  division  is  carried  to  any 
considerable  extent,  are  called  particles.  It  is  supposed, 
however,  and  many  reasons  appear  to  justify  the  hypothe- 
sis, that  it  is  capable  of  reduction  into  particles  (called 
atoms)  of  particular  forms,  and  each  class  having  its  own 
proper  magnitude  and  peculiar  properties ;  that  determinate 
numbers  of  atoms  of  one  kind  admit  of  combination  with 
some  determinate  number  of  another  kind,  or  of  several 
kinds,  and  of  thereby  forming  compounded  atoms,  having 
properties  peculiar  to  that  combination,  and  different  from 
the  known  properties  of  their  elemental  atoms.  These  so- 
lutions and  combinations  result  from  properties  inherent  in 
the  atoms  themselves;  but  whether  the  simple  classes  of 
atoms  that  are  believed  to  exist  are  themselves  really  pri- 
mary and  elemental  is  not  known,  and  probably  never  can 
be  with  certainty. 

In  larger  masses,  or  in  masses  of  aggregated  atoms,  so 
classed  that  their  peculiar  properties  are  mutually  neutral- 
ized, phenomena  are  exhibited  which  bear  a  great  resem- 
blance to  one  another  through  considerable  classes  of  such 
compounds,  whose  elements  we  have  reason  to  believe  dif- 
fer very  considerably ;  and  other  properties  are  found  to 
exist  in  all,  and  differing  only  in  degree  or  intensity.  These 
last  are  the  subjects  of  physical  investigation :  they  are 
called  emphatically  the  properties  of  matter;  and  the  laws 
of  their  mutual  influences  are  the  foundation  of  mechanical 
philosophy.  These  properties  may  be  regarded  as  either  es- 
sential or  contingent.  The  essential  properties  of  matter 
are  usually  reckoned  the  following : 

1.  Divisibility,  or  the  property  which  every  known  sub- 
stance possesses  of  being  separable  into  parts,  and  these  again 
into  smaller  parts,  and  so  on  until  the  parts  become  inappre- 
ciable to  our  senses  ;  nor  can  any  limit  be  placed  to  the  sub- 
division. 

2.  Impenetrability,  or  a  resistance  exerted  by  every  body 
to  the  occupation  of  its  place  by  another.  This  resistance  is 
of  various  degrees  of  intensity,  dependent  on  the  state  and 
atomic  composition  of  the  bodies  ;  but  no  two  bodies  can 
simultaneously  occupy  the  same  place. 

3.  Porosity,  or  the  separation  of  the  particles  or  atoms 
from  each  other  by  intervals  or  pores.  Every  substance 
with  which  we  are  acquainted  is  more  or  less  porous. 

4.  Compressibility,  or  the  property  in  virtue  of  which  the 
volume  of  every  body  may  be  contracted  into  smaller  dimen- 
sions. 

Among  the  essential  properties  of  matter  may  also  be  in- 
cluded extension  and  figure;  but  these  belong  also  to  space, 
and  form  the  subject  of  geometry. 

The  contingent  properties  of  matter  are  mobility  and 
weight.  Matter  in  every  form  is  capable  of  being  moved 
from  one  place  to  another ;  and  every  substance  gravitates 
towards  the  centre  of  the  earth.  But  motion  has  reference 
to  space,  and  weight  to  the  attraction  of  other  matter. 

The  above  are  the  general  properties  of  matter,  upon 
which  physical  investigations  depend.  There  are,  however, 
various  other  qualities  belonging  to  particular  substances,  or 
to  matter  in  particular  states,  the  consideration  of  which  is 
important  in  mechanical  philosophy.  Among  these  the 
principal  are  elasticity,  fluidity,  hardness,  rigidity,  solidity 
— for  which  see  the  respective  terms. 

MAU'NDRIL.    In  Coal  Mines,  a  pick  with  two  shanks. 

MAUNDY  THURSDAY.  The  Thursday  preceding 
Easter,  on  which  the  sovereign  of  England  distributes  alms 
to  a  certain  number  of  poor  persons  at  Whitehall ;  so  named 
from  the  maunds  or  baskets  in  which  the  gifts  were  former- 
ly contained.  (See  Shere  Thursday.)  This  custom  is  of 
very  great  antiquity ;  and,  according  to  Ducange,  it  derives 
its  origin  from  St.  Augustine.  (See  JVare's  Glossary ;  Fos- 
brooke's  Encyc.  of  Antiquities,  p.  702. 

MAUR,  SAINT,  CONGREGATION  OF.  A  learned 
body  of  religious  of  the  Benedictine  order ;  so  called  from  a 
village  near  Paris,  where  they  were  established  in  1618.  On 
the  request  of  Louis  XIII.,  Gregory  XV.  gave  this  order  his 
approval  by  an  apostolical  brief,  dated  17th  of  May,  1621 ; 
and  it  obtained  new  privileges  from  Urban  VIH.,  by  a  bull 
dated  21st  of  Jan.,  1627.  The  fame  of  this  body  attracted  the 
attention  of  many  other  religious  orders,  several  of  which 
were  induced  to  submit  to  its  rules ;  and  at  last  it  munbered 
upwards  of  a  hundred  religious  houses.  The  literary  world 
owes  to  them  a  series  of  very  valuable  editions  of  ancient 
Greek  authors,  chiefly  fathers,  during  the  17th  century. 

727 


MAUSOLEUM. 

Among  the  most  eminent  of  its  members  during  that  period 
may  be  mentioned  Jean  MabiUon,  Thierri  Ruinart,  Hugh 
Menard,  and  Bernard  de  Montfaucon,  &c.  &.c.  (See  Mo- 
eheim,  keel.  Hist.,  vol.  v.) 

MAUSOLE'l  M.  A  sepulchral  building;  so  called  from 
Mausolus,  king  of  Caria,  to  whose  memory  it  was  raised  bj 
his  wife  Artemisia,  about  353,  B.C. :  hence  all  sepulchral 
structures  of  importance  have  obtained  the  name  ofmausolea. 
Fmm  iis  extraordinary  magnificence  it  was  esteemed  the 
seventh  wonder  of  the  world.  According  to  Pliny,  it  was 
one  hundred  and  eleven  feet  in  circumference,  and  one 
hundred  and  forty  feet  high.  It  is  said  to  have  been  encom- 
passed by  thirtj  six  columns,  and  exceedingly  enriched  with 
sculpture. 

MAXI'LLA.  (Lat.  maxilla,  a  jaw.)  In  Anatomy,  this 
term  is  applied  to  the  bones  supporting  the  teeth  of  both  jaws. 
In  Zoology,  it  is  restricted  to  the  upper  jaw  in  Mammalia, 
and  to  the  inferior  pair  of  horizontal  aws  in  articulate  ani- 
mals. 

MA'XIM.    Synonymous  with  axiom,  which  see. 

MA  X1MA  AM)  Nil  MM  A.  Terms  employed  in  analysis 
to  signify  not  the  absolute  greatest  and  least  values  of  a 
variable  quantity,  but  the  values  it  has  at  the  instant  when 
it  ceases  to  increase  and  begins  to  decrease,  or  vice  versd.  A 
variable  quantity  may  therefore  have  several  maxima  and 
minima.  The  theory  of  maxima  and  minima  forms  a  part 
of  the  differential  calculus,  and  is  accordingly  given  in  all 
works  on  that  subject. 

MAY.  The  tilth  month  of  our  year,  but  the  third  of  the 
Roman.  The  name  is  supposed  to  be  derived  from  Maia, 
the  mother  of  Mercury,  to  whom  the  Romans  offered  sacri- 
fices on  the  first  day  of  the  month  ;  but  various  other  deri- 
vations have  been  assigned  to  it.     See  Calendar. 

MAY-DAY;  The  1st  of  May  is  usually  so  called  in  Eng- 
land, by  way  of  eminence,  in  commemoration  of  the  festivi- 
ties which  from  a  very  early  period  were  till  recently,  and 
in  many  parts  of  the  country  are  still  observed  on  that  day. 
It  would  be  out  of  place  in  this  work  to  give  any  detailed  ac- 
count of  them,  as  they  are  universally  known ;  but  a  few 
words  as  to  their  origin  may  not  he  out  of  place.  In  looking 
at  the  nature  of  these  rites,  which  are,  to  a  certain  extent, 
common  to  every  place  in  which  they  are  observed,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  they  had  their  origin  in  the  heathen  observances 
practised  in  honour  of  the  Latin  goddess  Flora;  but  it  is  im- 
possible to  fix  with  accuracy  the  precise  period  at  which  they 
were  introduced  into  England.  The  earliest  notice  of  the 
celebration  of  May-day  may  be  traced  to  the  Druids,  who  on 
May-eve  were  accustomed  to  light  large  fires  on  eminences 
in  gratitude  and  joy  for  the  return  of  spring.  At  a  later 
peril. (1  the  observance  of  this  day  appears  not  to  have  been 
peculiar  to  any  dass  of  society,  for  trie  most  exalted  as  well 
as  the  lowest  persons  took  part  in  it.  In  his  Court  of  Love 
Chaucer  says,  that  on  this  day  "forth  goeth  all  the  court, 
most  ami  least,  to  fetch  the  fiowres  fresh,  and  braunch  and 
bloom  ;"'  and  it  is  well  known  that  Henry  VIII.  and  Kath- 
erine,  and  all  the  court  partook  in  their  diversion.  The  may- 
pole, which  is  still  visible  in  many  of  the  English  villages, 
and  .Jack  in  the  green  are  still  relics  of  this  custom.  (Some 
interesting  remarks  on  this  subject  are  to  be  found  in  Grimm's 
]>,  utsche  Mythologie,  p.  448-451.) 

MAYOR.  (Lat.  major,  meaning  the  first  or  senior  alder- 
man.) The  title  of  the  chief  municipal  officer  of  a  borough, 
to  whom  it  appears  to  have  been  first  given  by  charters 
granted  some  lime  alter  the  Conquest.  But  the  title  and 
office  of  portreeve  or  boroughreeve  still  continued,  in  some 
few  places  to  the  i  sclusion  of,  and,  in  some  others,  in  con- 
junction wiili.  that  of  mayor,  until  the  passing  of  the  Muni- 
cipal Reform  Hill,  5  &  G\V.  4,  by  which  the  latter  title  was 
applied  universal]}  and  exclusively  to  every  borough.  The 
chief  magistrates  of  London  and  lJublin  are"  designated  Lord 
Mayor. 

Mayor.  (Main.)  In  France,  the  fust  municipal  officer 
of  each  commune,  according  to  a  general  system  established 
by  the  law  of  iiib  Dec,  i"  -!i,  «  bich  created  municipalities. 
Since  1831  tiny  are  a  lected  by  the  crown  out  of  the  muni- 
cipal council,  which  is  chosen  by  the  electoral  body.  The 
main-  has  one  or  more  adjuncts  or  assessors,  according  to  the 
population  of  the  commune,  chosen  in  the  same  manner. 
The  maire  keeps  the  registers  of  births,  marriages,  &<■.  of  the 
commune;  he  acts  as  ;1  magistrate  in  the  apprehension  and 
commitment  of  offenders;  he  has  also  a  judicial  power  over 
certain  minor  offences.  He  is  also  the  principal  agent  of  the 
general  administration  for  his  commune,  and  the  executive 
authority  to  carry  into  effect  the  ordinances  of  the  munici- 
pal council. 

MAYORA'ZGO.  Span.,  from  Lat.  magistratus.  See 
Majorat.)  Strictly,  the  right  possessed  by  the  eldest  bom 
in  noble  families  to  inherit  certain  property  on  condition  of 
transmitting  it  entire  to  those  possessed  of  the  same  righl  on 
his  decease.  Five  distinct  species  of  mayorazgo,  or  ri^bt  of 
hereditary  succession,  are  now-  know  n  in  Spanish  law.  Prop- 
erly held  in  virtue  of  the  right  cannot  be  alienated  or  dia- 
7SB 


Measure. 

posed  of.  The  mischievous  effects  of  this  strict  system  of 
entail  on  agriculture  and  national  wealth,  and  on  the  charac- 
ter of  the  higher  classes  of  Spain,  have  been  long  insisted  on 
bv  political  philosophers. 

'mayor  OF  THE  PALACE.  (Lat major domus  regise.) 
In  early  French  History,  the  title  of  the  chief  officer  of  state 
under  the  Merovingian  kings.  After  the  death  of  Dagobert 
I.,  A.D.  638,  and  in  the  subsequent  decay  of  the  royal  au- 
thority, these  functionaries  by  degrees  usurped  almost  the 
entire  power  of  the  state.  The  firstoftho.se  mayors  who 
exercised  this  kind  of  sovereignty  wasGrimoald,  under  Sigc- 
bcrt  III.,  king  of  Australia.  Pepin,  son  of  Charles  Martel, 
having  succeeded  his  father  in  the  office  of  mayor  of  the 
palace,  afterwards  ascended  the  throne  in  75'J ;  after  which 
time  the  office  lost  its  importance,  or  was  altogether  abolished. 
(See  Turner,  Hist,  of  Engl,  in  the  Middle  Jlgcs,  vol.  i.,  p.  8.) 

MEAD  (Dutch,  meede.)  A  vinous  liquor  made  by  dis- 
solving one  part  of  honey  in  three  of  boiling  water,  flavour- 
ing it  with  spices,  and  adding  a  portion  of  ground  malt  and 
a  piece  of  toast  dipped  in  yeast,  and  suffering  the  whole  to 
ferment.  The  Scandinavian  mead  is  flavoured  with  prim- 
rose blossoms.  Mead  formed  the  ancient,  anil  for  centuries 
the  favourite  beverage,  of  the  northern  nations.  It  is  fre- 
quently mentioned  in  Ossian. 

MEA'DOW.  A  flat  surface  under  grass,  generally  on  the 
banks  of  a  river  or  lake ,  but  so  far  above  the  surface  of  the 
water  as  to  be  considerably  drier  than  marsh  hind,  and,  con- 
sequently, to  produce  grass  and  herbage  of  a  superior  quali- 
ty. The  soil  of  meadow  lands  is  generally  alluvial,  and 
more  or  less  mixed  with  sand  ;  and  it  is  kep't  in  a  state  of 
fertility  by  the  depositions  made  on  its  surface,  in  conse- 
quence of  being  occasionally  overflowed  by  the  adjoining 
river  or  lake.  The  produce  of  meadows  is  generally  made 
into  hay,  which,  though  not  equal  in  quality  to  that  produced 
on  drier  grass  lands,  is  yet  superior  to  what  is  obtained  from 
marshes. 

MEAN.  In  Mathematics,  a  quantity  having  an  intermedi- 
ate value  between  several  others  which  are  formed  accord- 
ing to  any  assigned  law  of  succession. 

The  arithmetical  mean  of  several  quantities  is  simply  the 
average  formed  by  dividing  the  sum  of  all  the  quantities  by 
their  number.  In  physical  inquiries,  where  a  great  number 
of  values  of  a  quantity  have  been  determined  by  observa- 
tion or  experiments,  of  which  the  error  is  as  likely  to  be  in 
excess  as  defect,  the  average  or  arithmetical  mean  is  the 
most  probable  result. 

The  geometrical  mean  between  two  quantities,  or  the  mean 
proportional,  is  a  quantity  which  forms  the  middle  term  of 
a  duplicate  ratio,  or  continued  proportion  of  three  terms: 
viz.,  such  that  the  first  given  term  is  to  the  quantity  Bought 
as  that  quantity  is  to  the  other  given  term.  In  arithmetic,  it 
is  the  square  root  of  the  product  of  the  two  given  terms. 

The  harmonica!  mean  is  such  a  number  that,  the  first  and 
third  terms  being  given,  the  first  is  to  the  third  as  the  differ- 
ence of  the  first  and  second  is  to  the  difference  of  the  second 
and  third  ;  or,  if  a,  b,  c  he  the  numbers,  b  being  the  mean — 

,      2<zc  2      1,1 

b  =  — r-,  or  .=-+-• 

a-\-c        b      a      c 

ME'ASLES.     See  Rubeola. 

MEASURE.  (Lat.  mensura.)  In  Geometry,  a  magnitude 
or  quantity  taken  as  unit,  and  employed  to  express  the  rela- 
tions of  other  magnitudes  or  quantites  of  the  same  kind. 
Euclid  defines  the  measure  of  a  quantity  to  he  that  which, 

being  repeated  a  certain  number  of  limes,  bee is  equal  to 

the  quantity  measured.  Thus,  in  Arithmetic,  the  measure 
of  a  number  is  any  number  which  divides  the  given  number 
without  leaving  a  remainder ;  but  this  definition  rather  corre- 
sponds to  the  notion  of  aliquot  part. 

In  a  genera]  sense,  the  term  measure  is  applied  to  that  by 
which  anything  is  compared  in  respect  of  quantity.  Thus, 
we  have  measures  of  extension,  of  weight,  time,  force,  re- 
sistance, temperature,  &.<-. ;  in  short,  of  everything  of  which 
greater  and  less  can  he  predicated;  and  it  frequently  hap- 
pens that  the  unit  or  measure  is  not  taken  in  the  thing  or 
property  which  is  the  immediate  subject  of  consideration,  but 
in  something  else  which  depends  on  it,  or  is  proportional  to 

it.  Angular  space,  for  example,  is  measured  by  an  arc  of  a 
circle;  time,  by  the  rotation  of  the  earth  about  its  axis,  or 
its  revolution  about  the  sun  ;  force,  by  the  quantity  of  mo- 
tion il  impresses  on  a  body  ;  degrees  Of  beat,  by  the  expan- 
sion of  metals  or  other  substances;  muscular  strength,  by 
the  resistance  of  a  spring,  &c.  See  Angle,  Chronology, 
Gravity,  Thermometer,  l>\  NAMOMETEB,  &c. 

By  measure,  in  an  absolute  sense,  is  Understood  the  Unit 
or  standard   by   which    we  measure  extension.      We    have, 

therefore,  measures  of  length,  of  Buperfices,  and  of  volume 

"r  capacity  ;  but,  as  the  two  latter  ma\  be  deduced  in  all 
Cases  from  the  former,  it  is  only  necessary  to  establish  a  unit, 

or  standard  of  length.  The  choice  of  such  a  standard,  and 
the  different  multiples  and  pom  of  it  taken  for  the  uses  of 
society,  form  a  metrical  system,  or  system  of  metrology. 


MEASURE. 


Standards  of  Measure.— As  no  precise  notion  can  be 
formed  of  the  magnitude  of  a  line  in  any  other  way  than  by 
comparing  it  with  another  line  of  a  known  length,  the  ne- 
cessity of  having  recourse,  for  the  interchange  of  ideas,  to 
measures  not  entirely  arbitrary,  but  fixed  by  nature,  and  in- 
telligible alike  to  all  mankind,  seems  to  have  been  perceived 
in  the  earliest  ages.  Hence  originated  the  foot,  the  cubit, 
the  span,  the  fathom,  the  barleycorn,  the  hairbreadth,  and 
other  denominations  of  measure,  taken  from  parts  of  the  hu- 
man body,  or  from  natural  objects,  which,  though  not  of  an 
absolute  and  invariable  length,  have  a  certain  mean  value 
suriicientlv  definite  to  answer  all  the  purposes  required  in  a 
rude  state  of  society.  But,  as  civilization  advanced,  the  ne- 
cessity of  adopting  more  precise  standards  would  be  felt,  and 
the  inadequacy  of  such  measures  as  the  foot,  the  cubit,  &c. 
(referred  only  to  the  human  body)  to  convey  accurate  no- 
tions, would  be  rendered  most  apparent  in  their  application 
to  itinerary  measures,  or  the  estimation  of  great  distances  ; 
where  differences  of  the  fundamental  measure,  of  no  account 
when  one  or  two  units  only  are  taken  into  consideration, 
would  amount,  by  repeated  multiplication,  to  enormous  quan- 
tities. In  order  to  avoid  this  inconvenience,  recourse  was 
had  to  other  methods  of  estimation,  but  which,  in  fact, 
amounted  only  to  descriptions  more  or  less  vague,  and  not 
to  measures.  Thus,  in  ancient  authors,  we  frequently  read 
of  a  day's  journey,  a  day's  sail,  and  so  forth  ;  and  in  many 
parts  of  the  continent  of  Europe,  even  at  the  present  time,  it 
is  the  custom  of  the  peasantry  to  reckon  itinerary  distances 
by  hours. 

"  On  looking  among  the  objects  of  nature  for  a  standard  of 
measure  perfectly  definite,  and,  at  the  same  time,  invariable 
and  accessible  to  all  mankind,  a  very  slender  acquaintance 
with  geometry  and  natural  philosophy  will  suffice  to  show 
that  the  subject  is  beset  with  innumerable  difficulties.  In 
fact,  nature  presents  only  two  or  three  elements  winch,  with 
the  aid  of  profound  science  and  a  refined  knowledge  of  the 
arts,  can  be  made  subservient  to  the  purpose,  and  none  at 
all  which  are  applicable  without  such  aid.  The  earth  is 
nearly  a  solid  of  revolution,  and  its  form,  and  absolute  mag- 
nitude are  presumed  to  remain  the  same  in  all  ages:  hence 
the  distance  between  the  equator  and  the  pole  is  an  invari- 
able quantity ;  and  any  assigned  part  of  that  distance,  as 
the  90th,  or  a  degree  of  the  meridian,  is  constant,  and  will 
furnish  a  precise  and  unalterable  standard  of  measures,  fit 
for  the  purposes  of  metrology,  provided  we  have  the  means 
of  comparing  it  with  the  rods  or  scales  which  must  neces- 
sarily be  used  in  comparing  distances,  or  the  magnitudes  of 
bodies.  The  force  of  gravity  at  the  earth's  surface  is  con- 
stant at  any  given  place,  and  very  nearly  the  same  at  all 
places  under  the  same  parallel  of  latitude  and  at  the  same 
height  above  the  level  of  the  sea;  hence  the  length  of  a 
pendulum  which  makes  a  given  number  of  oscillations  in  a 
day  is  also  constant  at  a  given  place,  and,  with  proper  skill 
and  precautions,  may  be  determined  in  terms  of  any  assumed 
scale.  These  two  elements,  the  length  of  a  degree  of  the 
meridian,  and  the  length  of  the  seconds'  pendulum,  are  the 
only  ones  furnished  by  nature  which  have  yet  been  used  as 
the  basis  of  a  system  of  measures.  One  or  two  others  have 
been  suggested,  as  the  height  through  which  a  heavy  body 
falls  in  a  second  of  time,  determined,  like  the  length  of  the 
pendulum,  by  the  force  of  gravity ;  or  the  perpendicular 
height  through  which  a  barometer  must  be  carried  till  the 
mercurial  column  sinks  a  determinate  part — for  example,  a 
30th  of  its  own  length  ;  but,  for  reasons  which  it  is  unneces- 
sary here  to  state,  these  distances  are  not  so  susceptible  of 
being  accurately  determined  as  the  terrestrial  degree,  or  the 
length  of  the  seconds'  pendulum. 

It  has  been  supposed  (Paucton,  Mctrologie ;  Bailly,  His- 
toire  de  V.fistronomie  ancienne)  that  some  ancient  nations 
referred  their  measures  of  length  to  a  unit  chosen  from  an 
aliquot  part  of  the  earth's  circumference,  and  that  the  differ- 
ent stadia  were  only  different  aliquot  parts  of  the  same  great 
unit;  but  the  supposition  is  altogether  improbable,  for  the 
ancients  had  no  means  of  determining  the  magnitude  of  the 
earth  with  any  tolerable  precision,  and  do  not  themselves 
make  any  reference  to  such  a  standard.  Mouton,  an  astron- 
omer of  Lyons,  about  1670,  proposed  as  a  universal  stand- 
ard of  measure  a  geometrical  foot,  of  which  a  degree  of  the 
earth's  circumference  should  contain  600,000 ;  and  remarked 
that  a  pendulum  of  this  length  would  make  3959A  vibrations 
in  a  half  hour.  In  1671  Picard  proposed  a  similar  idea  ;  and 
Huygens  first  suggested  the  pendulum  as  the  unit  or  standard 
of  measures.  Condamine,  one  of  the  French  academicians 
engaged  in  the  measurement  of  the  terrestrial  arc  in  Peru, 
proposed  that  the  equatorial  pendulum  ought  to  be  adopted, 
as  being  the  most  natural  measure,  and  independent  of  the 
pretensions  of  different  countries.  No  attempt,  however, 
was  made  to  establish  a  regular  system  of  measures  on  any 
of  these  standards  until  the  time  of  the  French  revolution, 
when  a  system  of  weights  and  measures,  referred  to  the 
terrestrial  degree,  and  accommodated  to  our  arithmetical 
scale,  was  adopted  in  that  country. 


English  Standard  Measures. — The  unit  of  lineal  measure 
in  this  country  is  the  yard,  all  other  denominations  being 
either  multiples  or  aliquot  parts  of  the  yard.  But  as  this  is 
an  entirely  arbitrary  measure,  and,  until  the  year  1824,  was 
never  strictly  defined  by  the  legislature,  great  perplexity  has 
often  arisen  in  attempting  to  ascertain  the  exact  portion  of 
space  it  was  meant  to  represent.  For  the  purpose  of  pre- 
serving some  degree  of  uniformity  among  the  ordinary 
measures  of  the  kingdom,  certain  standards  were  preserved 
in  the  exchequer,  with  which  all  rods  were  required  to  be 
compared  before  they  were  stamped  as  legal  measures.  The 
oldest  of  these  standards  in  existence  dates  from  the  reign 
of  Henry  VII. ;  but  it  has  long  been  disused  ;  and  that 
which,  till  the  year  1824,  was  considered  as  the  legal  stand- 
ard, was  a  brass  rod,  of  the  breadth  and  thickness  of  about 
half  an  inch,  placed  there  in  the  time  of  Elizabeth.  There 
was  another  similar  rod  of  the  same  date,  called  an  ell.  The 
ell,  however,  does  not  appear  ever  to  have  been  established 
as  a  legal  measure,  but  was  conventionally  considered  aa 
equal  to  a  yard  and  a  quarter.  To  these  rods  belonged  a 
brass  bar,  on  one  edge  of  which  was  a  hollow  bed  or  matrix 
fitted  to  receive  the  square  rod  of  a  yard,  and  on  another  a 
like  bed  fitted  to  receive  that  of  an  ell ;  and  into  these  beds 
were  fitted  the  yard  and  ell  measures  brought  to  be  examined 
and  stamped  with  the  standard  marks.  All  rods  so  stamped 
became  standard  measures.  It  is  abundantly  obvious  that 
measures  determined  in  this  coarse  manner  could  have  no 
strict  claim  to  be  considered  as  accurate  copies  of  the  original 
standard  ;  but  it  would  seem  that  the  standard  itself  was  in- 
capable of  affording  any  definite  or  correct  measure.  It  is 
thus  described  by  Mr.  Baily,  in  his  Report  on  the  new 
Standard  Scale  of  the  Royal  Astronomical  Society ;  "  I  have 
had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  this  curious  instrument,  of 
which  it  is  impossible,  at  the  present  day,  to  speak  too  much 
in  derision  or  contempt.  A  common  kitchen  poker,  filed  at 
the  ends  in  the  rudest  manner,  by  the  most  bungling  work- 
man, would  make  as  good  a  standard.  It  has  been  broken 
asunder,  and  the  two  pieces  been  dovetailed  together,  but 
so  badly  that  the  joint  is  nearly  as  loose  as  that  of  a  pair 
of  tongs ;  and  yet  till  within  the  last  ten  years,  to  the  dis- 
grace of  this  country,  copies  of  this  measure  have  been  cir- 
culated all  over  Europe  and  America,  with  a  parchment 
document  accompanying  them,  certifying  that  they  are  true 
copies  of  the  English  standard."  (Memoirs  Roy.  Jlstr.  Soc, 
vol.  ix.) 

Such  being  the  condition  of  the  legal  standard,  it  was  ob- 
viously impossible  that  any  measure  could  be  found  in  terms 
of  it,  where  great  accuracy  and  minuteness  were  necessary  ; 
for  instance,  that  of  the  seconds'  pendulum,  or  a  degree  of 
the  meridian.  In  fact,  it  was  utterly  inapplicable  to  any 
scientific  purpose  whatever.  In  the  year  1742  some  Fellows 
of  the  Royal  Society,  and  Members  of  the  Academy  of 
Sciences  at  Paris,  proposed  to  have  accurate  standards  of 
the  measures  and  weights  of  both  nations  made  and  care- 
fully examined,  in  order  that  a  means  might  be  provided  of 
comparing  the  results  of  scientific  experiments  in  England 
and  France.  The  committee  who  undertook  the  matter, 
besides  the  legal  standard  in  the  Exchequer,  found  some 
others  which  were  considered  of  good  if  not  equal  authority. 
At  Guildhall  they  found  two  standards  of  long  measure, 
which  were  only  two  beds  or  matrices,  one  of  a  yard,  and 
the  other  of  an  ell,  cut  out  of  the  edges  of  a  substantial  brass 
bar,  like  that  at  the  Exchequer.  Another,  preserved  in  the 
Tower  of  London,  was  a  solid  brass  rod,  about  7-10ths  of 
an  inch  square,  and  41  inches  long ;  on  one  side  of  which 
was  the  measure  of  a  yard,  divided  into  inches.  Another, 
belonging  to  the  clockmakers'  company,  delivered  to  that 
corporation  by  indenture  from  the  Exchequer  in  1671,  was  a 
brass  rod  of  eight  sides,  nearly  half  an  inch  thick,  on  which 
the  length  of  the  yard  was  expressed  by  the  distance  betw-een 
two  upright  pins,  or  small  checks,  filed  away  to  the  proper 
quantity.  The  committee  selected  the  standard  in  the 
Tower,  as  being  the  best  defined,  and  consequently  the  best 
adapted  to  their  purpose  :  and  Mr.  George  Graham  (a  cele- 
brated clockmaker),  at  their  desire,  laid  off  from  it,  with 
great  care,  the  length  of  the  yard  on  two  brass  rods,  which 
were  then  sent  to  the  Academy  of  Sciences  at  Paris,  who  in 
like  manner  set  off  thereon  the  measure  of  the  Paris  half 
toise.  One  of  these  was  kept  at  Paris,  the  other  was  return- 
ed to  the  Royal  Society,  where  it  still  remains  :  but,  unfor- 
tunately, it  was  not  stated  at  what  temperature  the  toise 
was  set  off;  and,  consequently,  the  comparison  is  now  of 
little  or  no  value. 

In  1758  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  was  ap- 
pointed to  inquire  into  the  original  standards  of  weights  and 
measures  in  the  kingdom.  The  committee  entered  very 
fully  into  the  subject,  and  presented  to  the  house  an  elabo- 
rate report,  in  which  they  recommended  that  a  rod  which, 
at  their  order,  had  been  made  by  Mr.  Bird  from  that  of  the 
Royal  Socielv,  and  marked  "  Standard  Yard,  1758,"  should 
be  "declared  the  legal  standard  of  all  measures  of  length. 
This  rod  consisted  of  a  solid  brass  bar,  1-01  inch  square  and 
Y  y  *  739 


MEASURE. 


3906  inches  long.  At  about  It  inch  from  each  end  a  gold 
pin  or  stud  is  inserted  :  in  which  pins.  at  the-  distance  of  36 
inches,  are  two  points,  intended  to  designate  the  length  of 
the  yard.  It  was  proposed  that  this  rod  should  be  carefully 
laid  up  in  safe  custodyito  be  used  only  occasionally ;  and, 
for  the  ordinary  sizing  of  yards,  another  rod  was  prepared 
by  the  same  artist,  furnished  with  cheeks,  and  divided  into 
inches  and  parts,  for  the  easier  adjusting  of  any  comparative 
measure. 

In  the  following  year  another  committee  was  formed  on 
tin-  subject  It  concurred  in  the  recommendation  of  the 
former  committee,  that  Hird's  standard  yard  should  he  the 
only  unit  of  lineal  measure;  and  at  the  same  time  recom- 
mended that  a  copy  of  it  should  he  made,  for  security  against 
accidents,  and  deposited  in  some-  public  otiice.  Accordingly, 
a  second  standard  was  constructed   by  Bird,  in  17(311,  similar 

to  the  former,  of  which,  indeed,  it  was  intended  to  be  a  copy. 

This  last  standard  (of  1760)  w  as  declared  by  the  act  of  1824 
to  be  the  legal  standard  of  the  kingdom. 

Notwithstanding  these  two  parliamentary  reports,  no  le- 
gislative enactment  was  passed,  and  the  subject  remained  for 
a  long  time  in  the  same  state  of  uncertainty,  in  179(3  a 
scale  was  constructed  by  the  celebrated  Troughton,  for  Sir 
George  Shuckburgh,  which  has  been  much  referred  to  in 
scientific  treatises,  in  consequence  of  its  having  been  used 
in  the  experiments  made  by  Captain  Kater  for  determining 
the  length  of  the  pendulum;  and  also  carefully  compared 
with  all  the  other  standards,  and  with  the  French  metre. 
Troughton  at  several  times  made  various  other  measures  ; 
but,  as  they  never  possessed  any  legal  authority,  it  is  un- 
necessary' to  allude  to  them  farther  than  to  state  that  they 
were  all" copies,  as  nearly  as  could  be  made,  of  a  scale  that 
had  been  constructed  by  Bird,  and  had  belonged  to  Mr. 
Harris,  assay-master  at  the  Mint. 

In  1814  the  subject  of  standard  measures  and  weights 
was  again  brought  under  the  consideration  of  parliament ; 
and  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  made  a  report, 
which,  however,  was  attended  by  no  result.  In  1819  a 
commission  was  named  by  the  prince  regent,  consisting  of 
Sir  Joseph  Hanks,  Sir  George  Clerk,  Mr.  Davies  Gilbert,  Dr. 
Wollaston,  Dr.  Young,  and  Captain  Kater,  who  first  recom- 
mended that,  for  the  legal  determination  of  the  standard 
yard,  the  yard  which  had  been  employed  by  General  Roy, 
in  the  measurement  of  a  base  on  Hounslow  Heath  as  a 
foundation  of  the  trigonometrical  survey,  should  be  adopted  ; 
but  in  a  subsequent  report,  made  the  following  year  (1820), 
they  proposed  the  standard  which  had  been  made  by  Bird 
in  1700,  on  account  of  its  being,  as  they  stated,  "  both  laid 
down  in  the  most  accurate  manner,  and  as  best  agreeing 
With  the  most  extensive  comparisons  which  have  been  hith- 
erto executed  by  various  observers  and  circulated  throughout 
Europe,  and  in  particular  with  the  scale  employed  by  the 
late  Sir  George  Shuckburgh."  This  last  report  having  been 
approved  by  a  committee  of  the  Commons,  an  act  was  at 
length  passed,  in  June,  1824,  in  which  the  unit  of  measure 
was  for  the  first  time  defined,  and  in  the  following  terms: 

"  The  straight  line  or  distance  between  the  centres  of  the 
two  points  in  the  gold  studs  in  the  brass  rod,  now  in  the 
custody  of  the  clerk  of  the  House  of  Commons,  whereon 
the  words  and  figures  Standard  Yard,  1700,  are  engraved, 
shall  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  declared  to  be,  the  original 
and  genuine  standard  of  that  measure  of  length  or  lineal 
extension  called  a  yard  ;  and  that  the  same  straight  line  or 
distance  between  the  centres  of  the  said  two  points  in  the 
said  gold  studs  in  the  said  brass  rod,  the  brass  being  at  the 
temperature  of  62°  of  Fahrenheit's  thermometer,  shall  be 
and  is  hereby  denominated  the  Imperial  Standard  Yard, 
and  shall  be,  and  is  hereby  declared  to  be,  the  unit  or  only 
Standard  measure  of  extension."  And  the  act  further  de- 
clared, that  if  at  any  time  hereafter  the  said  imperial  stan- 
dard yard  shall  be  lost,  or  shall  be  in  any  manner  destroyed, 
defaced,  or  otherwise;  injured,  it  shall  be  restored  by  making, 
under  the  directions  of  the  lords  of  the  treasury,  a  new 
standard  yard,  bearing  the  proportion  to  a  pendulum  vibra- 
tniL'  seconds  of  mean  tiine,  in  the  latitude  of  London,  in  a 
vacuum,  and  at  the  level  of  the  sea,  as  30  inches  to  39-1393 
inches. 

The  recommendation  of  the  commissioners,  on  which  this 
enactment  was  founded,  has  been  severely  criticised;  and, 
in  point  of  fact,  so  far  as  the  exact  length  of  the  yard  is 
concerned,  the  subject  remained  in  the-  same  doubtful  slate 
in  which  it  was  before  the  act  was  passed.  That  the  stan- 
dard which  was  adopted  was  not  an  original  measure  (it 

was  in  fact,  a  copj  of  Bird's  stain  Ian  I  of  1758,  Which  was  a 

copj  of  that  of  the  Royal  Society,  which  again  was  a  copy 
of  that  in  the  Tower;  was  of  little  consequence,  provided 
the  measure  had  been  laid  down  on  it  with  such  precision 
as  to  leave   no  doubt  as  to  its  exact  length  ;  but  so  far  was 

this  from  being  the  case,  that  when  it  came  to  be  compared 

with  a  lieu  standard  scale  made  for  the  Royal  Astronomical 

Society,  h  was  found  to  be  utterly  impossible  to  ascertain 

the  centres  of  the  points  in  the  gold  studs  within  distances 
730 


perfectly  appreciable  by  the  methods  of  observation  now 
practised.  Mr.  Daily,  in  his  report  above  cited,  says  the 
mean  diameter  of  each  of  the  holes  was  nearly  100th  of  an 
inch;  and  they  by  no  means  presented  any  thing  like  a  cir- 
cular shape.  In  fact,  not  only  did  different  persons  differ  in 
their  estimate  of  the  centres,  hut  the  same  persons  also 
differed  at  different  times,  according  to  the  degree  or  direction 
of  tie'  light  that  impinged  on  the  sides  of  the  holes.  And 
he  adds,  "How  the  legislature  of  the  present  day.  when 
the  art  of  making  mathematical  instruments  has  arrived  at 
such  a  state  of  perfection,  could  have  sanctioned  the-  adop- 
tion of  such  an  imperfect  and  undefinable  measure  as  this 
for  a  standard,  must  always  be  a  matter  ot'  astonishment  ; 
more  especially  when  we  consider  that  the  French  had  re- 
cently set  us  a  laudable  example,  in  the  great  pains  and 
labour  taken  in  the  execution  of  a  new  set  of  standard 
weights  and  measures  of  superior  accuracy  and  precision." 
{Mem.  H.A.  S.,  vol.  vii.) 

This  scale  was  destroyed  by  the  fire  which  consumed  the 
two  houses  of  parliament  in  1834  ;  so  that  the  country  is  at 
the  present  time  without  a  legal  standard,  for  the  provision 
of  the  act  relative  to  its  restoration  by  comparison  with  the 
seconds'  pendulum  is  perfectly  nugatory.  Its  restoration 
could  not  be  thus  effected  with  any  tolerable  certainty. 
The  length  of  the  seconds'  pendulum  is  one  of  those  con- 
stants of  nature  which  it  is  possible  to  determine  only  within 
certain  limits;  very  narrow  indeed,  but  still  too  wide  for  the 
purpose  in  question.  Besides,  the  standard  adopted  by  the 
legislature  had  never  been  directly  compared  with  the  pen- 
dulum ;  and  the  relation  between  them  assigned  in  the  act, 
namely,  36  to  39.1393,  is  now  known  to  be  incorrect,  on  ac- 
count of  the  neglect  of  certain  precautions  in  the  determi- 
nation of  the  length  of  the  pendulum  which  subsequent 
experiments  have  shown  to  be  indispensable.  Accident  has, 
however,  given  the  means  of  effecting  what  the  legislative 
enactment  would  have  failed  to  do.  Early  in  the  year  1834 
a  most  laborious  and  minute  comparison  of  the  different 
standard  measures  was  made  with  a  new  scale  constructed 
for  the  Royal  Astronomical  Society.  The  length  of  the 
legal  standard,  as  nearly  as  it  could  be  determined,  is  known 
in  terms  of  this  scale,  and  may  therefore  be  recovered ;  but, 
as  a  new  act  is  necessary  in  any  case,  the  legislature  may 
probably  be  advised  to  do  now  what  ought  to  have  been 
done  in  the  first  instance,  namely,  cause  a  standard  to  be 
made  in  a  more  skilful  manner,  and  authenticated  copies  of 
it,  or  rather  other  measures  having  ascertained  relations  to 
it,  to  be  deposited  in  several  public  places,  and  only  to  he 
used  in  cases  of  emergency.  The  evil  in  this,  as  in  many 
other  instances,  has  arisen  from  legislating  too  much.  All 
that  is  required  is,  that  two  very'  fine  points  be  struck  in  a 
strong  rod  of  platinum,  or  a  block  of  cast  iron,  at  any  con- 
venient distance  ;  and  to  declare  that  the  distance  between 
those  points,  at  a  given  temperature  of  the  metal,  shall  be 
the  standard  of  measure,  and  that  so  many  parts  of  this 
standard  shall  constitute  the  yard  or  unit :  all  the  rest  may 
he  safely  left  to  experimental  philosophers  and  mathematical- 
instrument  makers. 

English  System  of  Lineal  Measures. — The  unit  of  mea- 
sure, as  already  stated,  is  the  yard.  The  yard  is  divided 
into  3  feet,  and  the  foot  subdivided  into  12  inches.  The 
multiples  of  the  yard  are  the  pole  or  perch,  the  furlong,  and 
the  mile  ;  5J  yards  being  a  pole,  40  poles  a  furlong,  and  8 
furlongs  a  mile.  But  the  pole  and  furlong  are  now  scarcely 
ever  used,  itinerary  distances  being  reckoned  in  miles  and 
yards.  The  relations  of  these  different  denominations  are 
exhibited  in  the  following  table : 


In. 

Feel. 

Yards. 

Poles. 

Furlongs. 

Miles. 

1 

00=3 

0028 

000505 

0-00012626 

00000I57S2S 

12 

1 

0  333 

006060 

0-00151515 

000018939 

3 

] 

0  ISIS 

0  004545 

0-00056S18 

198 

16  5 

5-5 

1 

0.025 

0-003125 

7920 

660 

220 

40 

1 

0-125 

63360 

S2S0 

1700 

320 

8 

1 

Measures  of  Superficies. — In  square  measure  the  yard  is 
subdivided  as  in  general  measure  into  feet  and  inches  :  N4 
square  inches  being  equal  to  a  square  foot,  and  9  square 
feet  to  a  square  yard,  for  land  measure  the  multiples  of 
the  J  aid  are  the  pole,  the  rood,  and  the  nrrr  ;  3(1',  (the  square 
of  5*)  square  yards  being  a  pole,  40  poles  a  rood,  and  4  roods 
an  acre.  Very  large  surfaces,  as  of  whole  countries,  are  ex 
pressed  in  square  miles.  The  following  are  the  relations 
of  square  measure: 


Bq   leet 

Sq.  Yards. 

Poles. 

1(,    .,;,. 

Aero.       | 

1 

9 
272-25 

IOSCO 
43560 

0.1111 

1. 
3025 
1210 
4840 

(1-00307309 
0-0330579 

1 
40 

|i  ji 

0-000091827 

- 

4 

0  00625 

0-25 

1 

Measures  of  Volume.— Solids   arc   measured   by  cubic 
yards,  feet,  and  indies;  1728  cubic  inches  making  a  cubic 

foot,  and  27  cubic  feet  a  cubic  yard.    For  all  sorts  of  liquids, 


MEASURE. 

corn,  and  other  dry  goods,  the  standard  measure  is  declared 
by  the  act  of  1824  to  be  the  imperial  gallon,  the  capacity  of 
which  is  determined  immediately  by  weight,  and  remotely 
by  the  standard  of  length,  in  the  following  manner:  Accord- 
ing to  the  act,  the  imperial  standard  gallon  contains  10 
pounds  avoirdupois  weight  of  distilled  water,  weighed  in  air 
at  the  temperature  of  62°  Fahrenheit's  thermometer,  the 
barometer  being  at  30  inches.  The  pound  avoirdupois  con- 
tains 7000  troy  grains  ;  and  it  is  declared  that  a  cubic  inch 
of  distilled  water  (temperature  02°,  barometer  30  inches) 
weighs  252458  grains.  Hence  the  contents  of  the  imperial 
standard  gallon  are  277-274  cubic  inches.  The  parts  of  the 
gallon  are  quarts  and  pints  ;  2  pints  being  a  quart,  and  4 
quarts  a  gallon.  Its  multiples  are  the  peck,  the  bushel,  and 
the  quarter ;  the  peck  being  2  gallons,  the  bushel  4  pecks, 
and  the  quarter  8  bushels.    The  following  are  the  relations : 


Pints. 

Quarts. 

Gallons. 

Pecks. 

~0062S 

Bushels. 

Quarters.      | 

1 

0-5 

0-125 

0-015625 

0-001953125 

2 

1 

025 

0-123 

0-03125 

000390625 

8 

4 

1 

0-5 

0125 

0  015625 

16 

8 

2 

1 

0-25 

003125 

64 

32 

8 

4 

1 

0-125 

512 

256 

61 

32 

8 

1 

For  an  account  of  the  various  other  measures  used  in 
commerce,  see  the  Commercial  Dictionary ;  or  Colonel  Pas- 
ley's  Observations  on  the  Measures,  Weights,  and  Money 
used  in  this  Country  (London,  1834),  where  a  full  description 
is  given. 

h'renck  System  of  Measures. — The  French  system  of 
measures,  introduced  during  the  Revolution,  has  for  its 
standard  the  length  of  a  quadrant  of  the  earth's  meridian. 
The  unit  of  measures  of  length  is  the  metre,  which  is  a  ten- 
millionth  part  of  the  quadrant.  This  length,  deduced  from 
the  great  trigonometrical  measurement  of  the  meridian  from 
Dunkirk  to  Barcelona,  is  marked  by  two  very  fine  parallel 
lines  drawn  on  a  bar  of  platinum,  and  preserved  in  the 
archives  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences.  From  a  comparison 
of  the  standards  of  this  country  with  a  copy  of  the  metre  in 
the  possession  of  the  Royal  Society,  Captain  Kater  found  the 
length  of  the  metre  to  be  39-37079  inches  of  the  English 
standard.  (Phil.  Trans.  1818.)  Mr.  Baily  found  the  length 
of  the  metre  to  be  393696780  inches  of  the  Royal  Astronomi- 
cal Society's  scale  (Mem.  R.  A.  S.,  vol.  i.x.,  p.  133),  from 
which,  by  reducing  to  the  imperial  standard  yard  by  the  data 
given  in  the  same  memoir,  the  true  length  of  the  metre  is 
39-370091  inches  of  the  imperial  yard.  The  comparison  is, 
however,  attended  with  some  degree  of  uncertainty,  from 
the  circumstance  that  a  reduction  must  be  made  for  the  ex- 
pansion of  the  metals ;  the  standard  temperature  of  the 
English  measures  being  62°  Fahrenheit,  and  that  of  the 
French  measures  32°,  or  the  temperature  of  melting  ice. 

In  the  French  system  the  unit  of  superficial  measure  is 
the  are,  a  surface  of  10  metres  each  way,  or  100  square 
metres.  The  unit  of  measures  of  capacity  is  the  litre,  a 
vessel  containing  the  cube  of  a  tenth  part  of  the  metre,  and 
equivalent  to  0-220097  parts  of  the  British  imperial  gallon. 
The  standard  temperature  is  that  of  melting  ice.  All  the 
divisions  and  multiples  of  the  units  are  decimal ;  and  the 
principle  of  nomenclature  adopted  was  to  prefix  the  Greek 
numerals  to  the  decimal  multiples,  and  the  Roman  numerals 
to  the  decimal  subdivisions. 
The  measures  of  length  are, 

Mvriametre  =  10000  metres. 
Kilometre     =     1000 
Hectometre  =      100 


Metre 
Decimetre 
Centimetre 
Millimetre 

= 

0-1 

o-ot 

0001 

The  measures 

of  surface  are, 

Hectare 

Are 

Centiare 

~ 

10000  sq.  metres. 
100 

1 

The  measures 

of  capacity  are, 

Kilolitre 

Hectolitre 

Decalitre 

Litre 

Decilitre 

Centilitre 

= 

1000  litres. 

ioo 

10 

1 

0-1 
001 

The  unit  of  solid  measure  is  the  stere  or  cube  of  the  me"tre, 
equal  to  35-31658  English  cubic  feet. 

No  system  of  metrology  hitherto  invented  can  be  compared 
with  this  of  the  French  in  a  scientific  point  of  view  ■  never- 
theless the  decimal  subdivisions  have  been  found  unsuited 
to  the  purposes  of  retail  traffic,  to  which,  in  fact,  only  a 
binary  system,  or  the  division  of  the  unit  into  halves  and 
quarters,  seems  applicable.  Accordingly,  it  has  been  found 
necessary  to  permit  a  modified  system  for  such  purposes  •  so 
that  there  are,  in  fact,  at  present  in  France  three  different 
systems  of  measures ;  the  ancient,  which  was  never  wholly 
abandoned  ;  the  decimal  system ;  and  a  binary  system,  or 
systems  usuel,  having  the  decimal  standards  for  its  basis, 


English  foot. 
=  1 

=  1-065765 
=  1-029722 
=  O957501 
=  0-958333 
=  0-929118 
=  1-037128 


MECHANICS, 

with  binary  divisions,  to  which  the  names  of  the  ancient 
weights  and  measures  are  given,  the  word  usuel  being  an- 
nexed to  prevent  confusion. 

Of  the  different  measures  of  length  used  in  European 
countries,  the  foot  is  the  most  universally  prevalent.  We 
subjoin  the  relation  between  the  foot  of  different  countries 
and  the  English  foot : 

Russian  foot 
Paris  foot 

Prussian  and  Danish  foot 
Bavarian  foot 
Hanoverian  foot 
Saxon  foot 
Austrian  foot 

Comparative  tables  of  the  measures  used  in  different  coun- 
tries are  given  in  various  works  :  one  of  the  most  complete 
and  convenient  will  be  found  in  Hu/sse's  Sammlung  Mathe- 
matischer  Tafeln,  Leipzig,  1840.  For  further  information 
on  the  subject  of  this  article,  see  Paucton's  Metrologie  on 
Traitedes  Mesures,  Paris,  1780;  Kelly's  Universal  Cambist, 
1821.  See  also  League,  Mile  ;  and  on  the  subject  of 
weights,  see  Weight. 

Mea'sure.  In  Music,  the  interval  or  space  of  time  be- 
tween raising  and  depressing  the  hand  in  a  movement ;  being 
the  same  as  bar.  The  measure  is  regulated  according  to 
the  different  values  of  the  notes  of  a  piece,  by  which  the 
time  assigned  to  each  note  is  expressed.  Semibreves,  for 
instance,  occupy  one  rise  and  one  fall,  called  a  whole  mea- 
sure. 

Mea'sures.  In  Geology,  sometimes  used  as  synonymous 
with  beds  or  strata  ;  as  coal  measures. 

MECHA'NICAL  CURVE.  A  curve  of  such  a  nature 
that  the  relation  between  the  absciss  and  the  ordinate  cannot 
be  expressed  by  an  algebraic  equation.  Such  curves  are 
now  more  commonly  called  transcendental  curves.  See 
Curve. 

MECHA'NICAL  PHILOSOPHY.  The  science  of  me- 
chanics applied  to  physical  inquiries. 
MECHA'NICAL  POWERS.  See  Machine. 
MECHA'NICAL  SOLU'TION  OF  A  GEOMETRI- 
CAL PROBLEM.  In  the  constructions  of  pure  geometry 
only  the  ruler  and  compasses  are  allowed  to  be  used  ;  or,  in 
other  words,  the  constructions  are  required  to  be  effected  by 
means  of  straight  lines  and  circles  only.  The  ancient  ge- 
ometers soon  discovered  that  there  were  many  problems  (as 
the  duplication  of  the  cube  and  the  trisection  of  an  angle, 
for  instance)  which  could  not  be  constructed  by- these  means. 
They  hence  had  recourse  to  other  instruments  (machines)  to 
effect  this  purpose ;  and  such  solutions  were  distinguished 
from  the  geometrical  ones  by  the  term  mechanical. 

MECHA'NICS  (Gr.  urixiivn,  machine),  in  Natural  Phi- 
losophy, is  the  science  which  treats  of  forces  and  powers, 
and  their  action  on  bodies,  either  directly  or  by  the  inter- 
vention of  machinery. 

The  theory  of  mechanics,  which  is  a  branch  of  mixed 
mathematics,  is  founded  on  an  axiom  or  principle  called  the 
law  of  inertia,  or  Newton's  first  law  of  motion;  namely, 
that  a  body  must  remain  forever  in  a  state  of  rest,  or  in  a 
state  of  uniform  and  rectilineal  motion,  if  it  be  not  disturbed 
by  the  action  of  an  external  cause.  Theoretical  mechanics 
is  therefore  divided  into  two  parts :  statics,  which  treats  of 
the  equilibrium  of  forces ;  and  dynamics,  which  is  the  sci- 
ence of  accelerating  or  retarding  forces,  and  of  the  actions 
they  produce.  When  the  bodies  under  consideration  are  in 
the  fluid  state,  these  become  respectively  hydrostatics,  and 
hydrodynamics,  which  are  comprehended"  under  hydraulics  ; 
and  sometimes  the  terms  arostatics  and  a-rodynamics  are 
used  to  denote  the  corresponding  divisions  of  pneumatics ; 
but  all  these  divisions  are  more  frequently  included  under 
the  general  term  mechanics. 

Practical  mechanics,  or  a  knowledge  of  the  effects  of  some 
of  the  mechanical  powers,  must  have  existed  to  some  extent 
from  the  earliest  ages  of  the  world  ;  but  of  the  machines 
used  by  the  ancients  in  their  constructions,  the  oldest  ac- 
count which  we  possess  is  contained  in  the  Architecture  of 
Vitruvius.  Archimedes,  in  his  Treatise  De  JEquiponderan- 
tibus,  first  investigated  theoretically  the  principles  of  equi- 
librium ;  and  the  same  philosopher  is  celebrated  for  the 
mechanical  contrivances  by  which,  in  the  siege  of  Syracuse, 
he  so  long  frustrated  the  efforts  of  the  Roman  army  under 
Mnrcellus.  During  the  eighteen  centuries  which  succeeded 
the  age  of  Archimedes,  the  theory  of  mechanics  remained 
in  the  same  state.  Galileo  laid  the  foundations  of  modern 
dynamics  by  his  discovery  of  the  law  of  accelerating  forces, 
and  by  reducing  the  propositions  of  that  science  to  mathe- 
matical formula?.  In  the  hands  of  Newton  mechanics  as- 
sumed a  new  form  ;  and  the  discovery  of  the  new  analysis 
enabled  mathematicians  to  complete  what  had  been  begun 
by  Galileo,  and  to  express  all  the  effects  of  the  actions  of 
bodies  on  each  other  by  analytical  equations. 
For  points  connected  with  the  theory,  see  Acceleration! 

731 


MECHANICS1  INSTITUTES. 

Dynamics.  Force,  Statics,  Slc.  ;  and  for  details,  Lever. 
Pollby,  Wehl  and  Axle,  &c.  The  best  treatise  on  the 
subject  is  that  ofPoisson,  Traiti  dc  Micanique,  2d  ed.,  1833. 

MECHA'NICS'  INSTITUTES.  Tlie  name  given  to  the 
means  by  which  instruction  is  communicated  to  tradesmen 
and  mechanics  in  large  towns  throughout  the  British  empire. 
These  institutes  may  be  safely  said  to  owe  their  origin  to 
Dr.  Birkbeck,  who,  in  1800,  delivered  a  course  of  lectures  on 
natural  philosophy  and  its  application  to  the  arts  to  an  audi- 
ence composed  entirely  of  the  mechanics  of  Glasgow  ;  though 
it  was  not  until  after  the  lapse  of  twenty  years  that  his  idea 
was  followed  up.  Institutions  of  this  sort  are  at  present 
established  in  almost  every  town  in  England  whose  popu- 
lation amounts  to  10,000,  and  in  some  of  much  smaller  num- 
ber. They  are  supported  partly  by  contributions,  and  partly 
by  the  subscription  of  the  members.  Short  courses  of  lec- 
tures, illustrated  with  experiments,  are  given  on  the  most 
popular  and  interesting  branches  of  natural  philosophy,  and 
occasionally  on  departments  of  literature,  moral  philosophy, 
political  economy,  &c.  Reading  rooms  are  attached  to  the 
greater  number  of  these  institutions,  which,  speaking  gen- 
erally, are  well  attended.  On  the  whole,  we  believe  these 
establishments  have  been  productive  of  considerable  advan- 
tage. The  instruction  they  supply  is,  no  doubt,  very  flimsy 
and  superficial ;  but  it  notwithstanding  serves  to  expand  and 
inform  the  minds  of  the  auditors,  and  is  probably  the  most 
suitable  for  them.  An  Improvement  in  the  system  of  school 
education,  by  qualifying  the  members  of  mechanics'  insti- 
tutes the  better  to  appreciate  accurate  scientific  discussions, 
would  be  the  most  likely,  or  rather,  perhaps,  the  only  means, 
by  which  to  improve  the  lectures  given  at  the  institutions  in 
question.     (See  Stat,  of  Brit.  Empire,  vol.  ii.,  p.  359.) 

ME'CH ANISTS.  Those  philosophers  who  refer  all  the 
changes  in  the  universe  to  the  effect  of  merely  mechanical 
forces,  such  as  impact,  weight,  and  the  like.  They  are  op- 
posed to  the  dynamical  philosophers,  or  those  who  assume 
a  living  and  spontaneous  power  in  nature,  antecedent  to 
and  different  from  the  phenomena  present  to  the  senses. 
See  Materialism. 

MECHLO'IC  ACID.  A  compound  of  meconia  and 
chlorine. 

M  ECHO'ACAN.  (From  the  province  of  Mexico,  whence 
it  is  brought.)  The  root  of  the  Convolvulus  mechoacauna : 
it  is  a  purgative,  and  was  formerly  used  as  a  substitute  for 
jalap. 

MECO'XTC  ACLD.  (Gr.  mkuv,  the  poppy.)  The  pe- 
culiar acid  with  which  morphia  is  combined  in  opium. 
When  pure,  it  forms  small  white  crystals.  Its  aqueous 
solution  forms  a  deep  red  colour  with  "the  persalts  of  iron, 
which,  therefore,  are  good  tests  for  it,  both  free  and  com- 
bined. The  salts  of  this  acid  are  termed  meconates ;  those 
of  lime,  baryta,  lead,  and  silver  are  white,  and  souble  in 
nitric  acid.  Meconic  acid  is  constituted  of  7  atoms  of  car- 
bon =  42,  -2  of  hydrogen  =  2,  and  7  of  oxygen  =  56 :  its 
equivalent  therefore  is  100. 

ME'COXIX.  (Gr.  /iijkuiv.)  A  white  fusible  substance, 
procured  from  opium,  and  supposed  to  be  a  distinct  principle. 
It  is  said  that  not  more  than  from  two  to  three  grains  of  it 
are  contained  in  a  pound  of  opium ;  it  seems  doubtful 
whether  it  be  an  educt  or  a  product. 

MECO'NIUM.  {Gt.  WW.)  Opium.  The  term  is  also 
applied  to  the  excrement  found  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
foetal  Intestines. 

ME'DAL.  (Fr.  medaille.)  A  piece  of  metal,  in  the 
shai>e  of  a  coin,  engraven  with  figures  or  devices,  struck  and 
distributed  in  memory  of  some  person  or  event.  Ancient 
coins,  although  intended  for  the  purpose  of  circulation,  are 
also  commonly  termed  medals.    See  Numismatics. 

MEDA'LLION.  (Fr.)  In  Numismatics,  this  name  is 
appropriated  to  coins  struck  in  Rome,  and  the  provinces 
under  the  empire,  which,  in  gold  or  silver,  exceed  in  size  the 
largest  coins  of  which  the  name  and  value  are  known  in 
those  respective  metals;  viz.,  the  aureus  in  gold,  and  the 
denarius  m  silver.  It  lias  been  doubted  whether  they  were 
intended  for  the  purpose  of  circulation,  or  merely  struck, 
like  modem  medals,  to  commemorate  persons  or  events.  See 
Numismatics. 

M  K  DALLURGY.  (Fr.  medaille,  and  Gr.  cpyov,  work.) 
The  art  of  making  and  striking  medals  and  coins.  See  Nu- 
mismatics. 

ME'DLE.  (Gr.  ptSai,  middle.)  The  three  letters,  b,  g, 
and  d  (beta,  gama,  delta)  are  so  called  in  the  Greek  alpha- 
bet, as  holding  respectively  a  middle  place  between  their 
several  U  nuts,  p,  k,  t  (pi,  kappa,  tau),  and  aspirates,  ph,  ch, 
th  (phi,  chi.  theta). 

ME'DIANT.  (I. at.  medius.)  In  Music,  the  chord  which 
is  a  major  or  minor  third  higher  than  the  key  note,  accord- 
ing as  the  mode  is  major  or  minor. 

ME'DIASTTNUM.  The  duplicature  of  the  pleura,  which 
divides  the  cavity  of  the  thorax  into  two  parts. 

ME'DIATISA'TTON.  The  annexation  of  the  smaller 
German  sovereignties  to  larger  contiguous  states,  which  took 
732 


MEDUSA. 

place,  on  a  large  scale,  after  the  dissolution  of  the  German 
empire  in  1800.  The  same  thing  had  been  done  on  various 
■  us  during  the  continuance  of  the  empire;  and  the 
dominions  so  annexed  were  said  to  be  mediatised, »'.  c.,  made 
mediately  instead  of  immediately  dependant  on  the  empire. 
The  term  was  retained  when  the  abolition  of  the  German 
union  had  rendered  it  in  strictness  inappropriate.  A  few- 
more  were  mediatised  after  the  peace  of  1815.  See  Cono. 
Lex.;  and  Hawkins's  Germany,  1838,  which  contains  a 
chapter  on  tliis  subject. 

MEDIA'TOR.  A  term  applied  to  Jesus  Christ,  as  inter- 
ceding between  God  and  man,  and  obtaining  for  the  latter 
lh«'  remission  of  the  punishment  due  to  original  and  con- 
tracted sin.  The  divinity  of  our  Saviour  is  argued  from  his 
mediatorial  character:  it  seeming  impossible  to  conceive 
that  a  mere  man  could  efficaciously  intercede  by  the  sacrifice 
of  himself  for  the  sins  of  his  fellow  men.  Those  reasoners. 
therefore,  who  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion  of  the  mere 
humanity  of  Christ,  either  expressly  deny  or  essentially 
modify  the  idea  of  his  mediatorial  character. 

ME'DIUM.  In  Physics,  the  substance  or  matter  in  which 
bodies  exist,  or  through  which  they  move  in  passing  from 
one  point  to  another.  The  resistance  which  different  me- 
diums oppose  to  bodies  in  motion  is  proportional  to  the 
respective  densities  of  the  mediums.  Xewton  supposed  the 
existence  of  a  universal  medium,  or  ether,  infinitely  more 
rare  and  subtle  than  air,  and  diffused  through  the  whole 
creation.  The  modern  discoveries  of  the  propagation  of 
light  by  undulation,  and  of  the  acceleration  of  some  of  the 
small  comets,  give  great  probability  to  this  supposition. 

ME'DLAR.  (Corruption  of  Mespilar  1)  The  fruit  of  the 
Mespilus  germanica,  a  plant  found  wild  in  several  parts  of 
Central  Europe.  It  is  remarkable  for  the  austerity  of  its 
fruit  when  first  gathered,  and  for  its  total  loss  of  that  qual- 
ity after  a  few  weeks,  when  it  becomes  soft,  brown,  and 
sweet — a  condition  which  the  French  call  blessi.  Of  the 
garden  varieties  the  Dutch  medlar  is  the  finest  as  to  size,  and 
the  Nottingham  the  most  delicate  in  flavour.  In  the  eyes 
of  a  botanist  the  medlar  is  only  a  hawthorn  berry  of  large 

MEDU'LLARY  RAYS.  (Lat.  medulla,  marrow.)  The 
vertical  plates  of  cellular  tissue  which  radiate  from  the 
centre  of  the  stem  of  Exogenous  plants,  through  the  wood 
to  the  bark.  They  cause  that  appearance  in  timber  which 
carpenters  call  silver  grain,  or  flower  of  the  wood. 

MEDULLARY  SHEATH,  is  a  thin  layer  of  vessels 
which  surround  the  pulp  of  Exogenous  plants,  and  thence 
extend  into  the  leaves  and  parts  of  fructification. 

MEDU'LLARY  SUBSTANCE.  The  interior  white  por- 
tion of  the  brain.  The  medulla  oblongata  is  a  part  of  the 
brain,  lying  upon  the  basiliary  process  of  the  occipital  bone, 
and  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  crura  of  the  brain  and 
cerebellum:  it  terminates  in  the  spinal  marrow. 

MEDU'LLIX.  That  form  of  lignin  which  constitutes 
the  pith  of  certain  plants,  as  the  pith  of  the  sunflower. 

MEDU'SA.  In  Mythology,  the  chief  of  the  Gorgons 
(which  see) ;  according  to  Hesiod,  the  eldest  daughter  of 
Celo  and  the  sea-god  Phorcus.  Various  stories  are  related 
of  this  mythological  personage  ;  but  her  chief  peculiarity 
was  the  power  she  possessed  of  turning  all  who  looked  upon 
her  into  stone.  She  was  slain  by  Perseus,  who  placed  her 
head  in  the  shield  of  Minerva,  where  it  continued  to  retain 
the  same  petrifying  power  as  before. 

Medt/sa.  In  Zoology,  a  name  given  by  Linnaeus  to  a 
genus  of  marine  animals,  now  forming  an  extensive  tribe 
(Medusaria)  in  the  class  Acalcphn  of  the  Cuvierian  system. 
The  body  is  in  the  form  of  a  gelatinous  disk,  more  or  less 
convex  above,  called  the  "  umbel,"  from  the  centre  of  which, 
and  from  the  margin,  there  depend  in  most  of  the  species 
processes  or  filaments  more  or  less  numerous,  and  more  or 
less  elongated  :  whence  the  resemblance  to  the  fabled  mon- 
ster which  sugffested  the  original  eeneric  term.  The  Medusa 
are  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  "sea-blubber,"  "jelly- 
fish," &c.  They  have  a  stomach  or  digestive  cavity  exca- 
vated in  the  centre  of  the  disk,  and  opening  externally  either 
by  a  central  and  inferior  crucial  mouth,  or  continued  into 
branched  appendages,  and  receiving  the  nutriment  by  innu- 
merable minute  pores,  analagous  to  the  "stomata"  of  plants, 
or  those  root-like  appendages.  The  digested  fluid  is  con- 
veyed by  vessels  from  the  stomach  to  an  exquisite  network 
or  plexus  situated  on  the  under  surface  of  the  border  of  the 
i\]-k.  where  it  receives  the  influence  of  the  atmosphere,  and 
is  fitted  for  assimilation.  Some  species,  as  the  Medusa 
have  also  intestinal  canals  leading  from  the  stomach 
to  separate  anal  outlets.  Traces  of  a  nervous  system  and 
rudimental  organs  of  vision  have  been  discerned  in  some 
of  the  Medusa.  They  swim  by  muscular  contraction  of 
the  margins  of  the  disk.  They  are  of  distinct  sexes,  which 
congregate  together  chiefly  in  the  autumnal  months.  The 
male  and  female  organs  much  resemble  each  other,  and  are 
situated  in  both  sexes,  in  corresponding  cavities,  generally 
four  in  number,  on  the  under  surface  of  the  disk.    The  ova 


MEERSCHAUM. 

are  received  when  impregnated  in  marsupial  sacs  appended 
to  the  arms  (in  Medusa  aurita),  whence  they  escape  in  the 
form  of  ciliated  infusoria,  afterwards  assume  the  structure 
of  eight-armed  polypes,  pass  the  winter  in  this  state,  and 
undergo  their  final  transformation  in  spring.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  complication  of  the  organic  machinery,  functions, 
and  generative  economy  of  the  Medusa,  their  solids  form  so 
small  a  proportion  of  their  frame  that,  of  a  Medusa  of  ten 
pounds  weight,  what  remains  upon  the  filter  through  which 
its  fluid  parts,  chiefly  sea-water,  have  escaped,  does  not 
exceed  two  drachms.  A  great  number  of  the  Medusa  are 
phosphorescent,  shining  in  the  gloom  of  night  like  globes  of 
fire ;  but  the  nature  and  the  agents  of  this  wonderful  prop- 
erty remain  to  be  discovered.  Most  of  the  Medusai  at  cer- 
tain seasons  sting  and  inflame  the  hand  that  touches  them ; 
but  the  cause  of  this  property  is  equally  unknown. 

MEERSCHAUM.  (Germ,  foam  of the  sea.)  A  silicated 
magnesian  mineral  found  in  various  parts  of  Europe,  but 
chiefly  in  some  parts  of  Greece  and  Turkey.  It  is  light  and 
soft,  and  is  employed  in  the  Turkish  dominions  as  fuller's 
earlh.  In  Germany  it  is  extensively  used  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  tobacco  pipes,  which  are  prepared  for  sale  by  being 
soaked  first  in  tallow,  then  in  wax,  and  finally  by  being  pol- 
ished with  shave  grass.  Imitation  meerschaum  pipes  are 
sold  in  large  quantities,  and  the  greatest  caution  is  neces- 
sary to  guard  against  deception.  To  the  connoisseur,  the 
best  criterion  is  the  beautiful  brown  colour  which  the  genu- 
ine meerschaum  assumes  after  being  soaked  some  time. 

MEGALE'SIAN  GAMES.  (Gr.  ixiyag,  great.)  One  of 
the  most  magnificent  of  the  Roman  exhibitions  of  the  circus ; 
in  honour  of  Cybele,  the  mother  of  the  gods. 

MEGALFCHTHYS.  (Gr.  ucyas,  andixOws.  a  fish.)  An 
extinct  genus  of  fishes,  including  species  of  great  size  ;  one 
of  which,  the  Megalichthys  Hibbcrti,  has  left  its  teeth  and 
other  parts  in  the  channel  coal  of  Fifeshire,  and  the  Edin- 
burgh coalfield. 

MEGALO'NYX.  (Gr.  utyas,  and  owl,  «  claw.)  A  large 
fossil  mammalian,  the  remains  of  which  were  found  in  a 
cavern  in  the  limestone  of  Virginia,  in  America. 

MEGALO'PTERANS,  Megaloptera.  (Gr.  ncyas,  and 
■nTcpov,  a  wing.)  A  name  given  by  Latreille  to  a  family  of 
Planipennate  Neuropterous  insects,  comprehending  those 
which  have  large  wings  horizontally  folded. 

MEGALOSAU'RUS.  (Gr.  ucyas,  and  aavpos,  a  lizard.) 
The  generic  name  applied  by  Dr.  Buckland  to  an  extinct 
genus  of  gigantic  Saurians,  discovered  by  him  in  the  oolitic 
slate  of  Stonesfield,  near  Oxford.  The  species  on  which  the 
genus  is  founded  included  individuals  measuring  from  forty 
to  fifty  feet  in  length  ;  they  partook  of  the  structure  of  the 
crocodile  and  monitor.  The  entire  skeleton  has  not  as  yet 
been  found.  The  femur  and  tibia  measure  nearly  three 
feet  each;  and  a  metatarsal  bone  has  been  found  of  the 
length  of  thirteen  inches.  The  bones  of  the  extremities 
have  large  medullary  cavities.  The  generic  character  is 
principally  founded  on  the  teeth,  which  Dr.  Buckland  thus 
graphically  describes:  "In  the  structure  of  these  teeth  we 
find  a  combination  of  mechanical  contrivances  analagous 
to  those  which  are  adopted  in  the  construction  of  the  knife, 
the  sabre,  and  tiie  saw.  When  first  protruded  above  the 
gum,  the  apex  of  each  tooth  presented  a  double  cutting  edge 
of  serrated  enamel.  In  this  stage  its  position  and  line  of  ac- 
lie.n  were  nearly  vertical,  and  its  form  like  that  of  the  two- 
edged  point  of  a  sabre,  cutting  equally  on  each  side.  As  the 
tooth  advanced  in  growth,  it  became  curved  backwards,  in 
form  of  a  pruning  knife,  and  the  edge  of  serrated  enamel 
was  continued  downwards  to  the  base  of  the  inner  and  cut- 
ting side  of  the  tooth;  whilst  on  the  outer  side  a  similar 
edge  descended  but  to  a  short  distance  from  the  point,  and 
the  convex  portion  of  the  tooth  became  blunt  and  thick,  as 
the  back  of  a  knife  is  made  thick  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
ducing strength.  In  a  tooth  thus  formed  for  cutting  along 
its  concave  edge,  each  movement  of  the  jaw  combined  the 
power  of  the  knife  and  saw;  whilst  the  apex,  in  making  the 
first  incision,  acted  like  the  two-edged  sabre.  The  back- 
ward curvature  of  the  full-grown  teeth  enabled  them  to 
retain,  like  barbs,  the  prey  which  they  had  penetrated." 
{Bridgewater  Treatise,  i.,  p.  238.)  These  formidable  teeth, 
which  sufficiently  bespeak  the  carnivorous  and  predatory 
nature  of  the  extinct  monster,  were  arranged  in  a  pretty 
close  series,  in  sockets,  along  the  alveolar  border  of  the  jaws. 
MEGANY'CTERANS.  (Gr.  pxyai,  and  wicrcpis,  a  bat.) 
The  first  division  or  tribe  of  the  order  Cheioptera,  including 
the  largest  species  of  bats,  or  "  flying  foxes ;"  which,  how- 
ever, are  exclusively  vegetable  feeders,  living  mostly  on  soft 
fruits,  and  having  the  molar  teeth  adapted  to  that  kind  of 
fond  by  their  broad  simple  crowns.  The  tribe  is  also  distin- 
guished from  the  animal-feeding  bats,  whether  bloodsuckers 
or  insect  catchers,  by  having  the  two  innermost  fingers  armed 
with  hook-shaped  claws,  and  by  the  simple  structure  of  the 
nose  and  ears.  The  alimentary  canal,  and  especially  the 
stomach  of  the  great  frugivorous  bats,  are  likewise  more 
complicated  than  in  the  other  tribes.  The  meganycterans 
62 


MELASOMES. 

are  distributed  over  the  warmer  parts  of  Asia,  Africa,  and 
the  Polynesian  Isles,  but  do  not  exist  in  America. 

MEGA'RIAN  SCHOOL  OF  GREEK  PHFEOSOPHY, 
founded  at  Megara  by  the  disciples  of  Socrates,  who  retired 
thither  after  his  death,  and  distinguished  in  later  times  by 
its  logical  subtlety.  Its  most  celebrated  names  were  those 
of  Euclides,  Eubulides,  and  Stilpo. 

ME'GASCOPE.  (Gr.  ucyas,  and  okokcw,  I  view.)  An 
optical  instrument  proposed  by  M.  Charles,  of  the  French 
Academy  of  Sciences,  for  the  examination  of  bodies  of  con- 
siderable dimensions.  It  is  a  modification  of  the  solar  mi- 
croscope, and  has  been  used  for  determining  the  curvature 
of  the  different  parts  of  the  eye.    See  Microscope. 

ME'GASTOMES,  Megastoma.  (Gr.  ncyaq,  and  otouw, 
mouth.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Univalve  shells,  com- 
prehending those  which  are  not  symmetrical,  and  which 
have  a  verv  large  aperture  or  mouth. 

MEGATHE'RIUM.  (Gr.  ueyas,  and  Srjpwv,  beast.)  The 
name  given  by  Cuvier  to  a  genus  of  extinct  Edentate  quad- 
rupeds, including  and  represented  by  one  of  the  most  gigantic 
of  terrestrial  mammalia.  The  haunches  of  the  Megathe- 
rium Cuvieri  were  more  than  five  feet  wide,  and  its  body 
twelve  feet  long  and  eight  feet  high ;  its  feet  were  a  yard  in 
length,  and  terminated  by  formidable  compressed  claws  of 
immense  size ;  its  tail  was  of  great  length,  and  probably 
much  larger  than  that  of  any  other  extinct  or  living  terres- 
trial mammal.  The  head  of  the  megatherium  was  rela- 
tively small :  the  cranium  presents  many  of  the  peculiarities 
of  that  of  the  sloth.  The  upper  jaw  was  armed  with  five 
teeth  on  each  side,  the  lower  jaw  with  four  on  each  side  : 
all  the  eighteen  teeth  belong  to  the  molar  series.  They 
were  perpetually  growing,  like  the  incisors  of  the  Rodents; 
but  had  their  grinding  surface  traversed  by  two  transverse 
ridges,  and  their  texture  composed,  as  in  the  teeth  of  the 
sloth,  of  a  central  body  of  coarse  ivory,  a  thick  outer  coating 
of  caementum,  and  a  thin  intermediate  layer  of  fine  and 
dense  ivory,  which  forms  the  prominent  terminating  ridgea 
of  the  crown. 

Nothing  certain  is  known  of  the  nature  of  the  integuments 
of  this  singular  and  enormous  animal;  but  the  fossil  bony 
armour  which  has  been  conjectured  to  have  appertained  to 
the  megatherium  unquestionably  belongs  to  another  species 
of  gigantic  Edentate,  more  nearly  allied  to  the  armadillo. 
See  Glyptodon. 

ME'GRIM.  (Fr.  migraine;  probably  from  Gr.  fou,  half, 
and  KDaviov,  the  scull.)  A  violent  intermitting  pain  affecting 
one  side  of  the  head. 

MEI'ONITE.  A  mineral  found  in  grains  or  small  shining 
crystals,  chiefly  at  Mount  Somma,  near  Vesuvius.  The 
name  is  from  petuiv,  less  ;  implying  the  lowness  of  the  ter- 
minating pryramids  of  its  crystals,  and  the  consequent  short- 
ness of  the  axis  of  the  primitive  form. 

MELjE'NA.  (Gr.  ue\a;,  black,)  The  black  vomit- 
When  blood  is  thrown  up  from  the  stomach  it  is  generally 
black,  in  consequence  of  the  presence  of  acid. 

ME'LAM.  A  substance  formed  during  the  distillation  of 
a  mixture  of  sal-ammoniac  and  sulphocyanuret  of  potassium. 
It  is  said  to  consist  of  12  equivalents  of  carbon,  11  of  nitrogen, 
and  9  of  hvdrogen. 

ME'LANCHOLY.  (Gr.  nt'Xas,  black,  and  %oXj;,  bile.)  A 
disease  of  the  mind,  chiefly  characterized  by  ungrounded 
fear  and  apprehension  of  evil. 

MELA'NIA.  (Gr.  /uAaf.)  A  genus  of  fluviatile  Pec- 
tinibranchiate  Gastropods,  having  a  moderately  thick  shell, 
with  an  aperture  longer  than  it  is  wide,  enlarging  opposite 
the  spire,  and  the  columella  without  folds  or  umbilicus:  the 
length  of  the  spire  is  various.  They  have  long  tentacula, 
with  the  eyes  on  their  external  side,  and  at  about  the  third 
of  their  length  from  the  base. 
ME'LANITE.  (Gr.  u&ag.)  The  black  gamet. 
MELANO'SIS.  (Gr.  /^Xa? .)  A  malignant  disease,  char- 
acterized by  deposition  of  a  black  matter  in  various  parts  of 
the  body. 

MELA'NTERITE.  (Gr.  ut\a;.)  A  mineralogical  name 
of  the  native  sulphate  of  iron. 

MELANTHA'CE^E.  (Melanthium,  one  of  the  genera.) 
An  order  of  Endogenous  plants,  with  a  regular  six-parted 
inferior  perianth,  and  six  stamens  with  the  anthers  look- 
ing outwards.  The  number  of  species  included  in  it  is  in- 
considerable;  but  among  them  are  the  Veratrum,  or  white 
hellebore,  and  Cohhicum,  or  meadow  saffron,  the  poison- 
ous qualities  of  which  indicate  the  general  properties  of  the 
order.  .,.„.. 

ME'LAS.  (Gr.  u&as.)  A  disease  endemial  in  Arabia: 
it  consists  in  the  formation  of  dark  brown  or  black  spots  upon 
the  skin. 

MELAS'MA.  (Gr.  ue\a<;.)  A  disease  of  aged  persons,  m 
which  a  black  spot  appears  upon  the  skin,  which  soon  forms 
a  foul  ulcer.  . 

ME'LASOMES,  Melasoma.  (Gr.  fuXm,  and  awua,  body.) 
A  tribe  of  Heteromerous  Coleopterous  insects,  comprising 
those  which  are  of  a  uniform  black  or  gray  colour. 


MELASTOMACEiE. 

MELASTOMA'CE.E.  (Melastoma,  one  of  the  genera.) 
A  natural  order  of  Exogenous  plants,  with  polypetalous 
flowers  and  strongly  ribbed  leaves,  inhabiting  tropica]  coun- 
tries in  great  numbers,  but  unknown  in  Europe  in  a  wild 
state,  ami  only  occurring  very  sparingly  in  the  temperate 
parts  of  America.  In  the  equatorial  regions  of  this  continent 
they  are  extremely  numerous ;  and  some  of  the  species  bear 
berries,  the  juice  of  which  stains  the  mouth  black,  whence 
their  name  (pcAas,  and  oroua,  a  mouth).  Their  most  char- 
acteristic mark  is  to  have  the  anthers  bent  downward  and 
prolonged  into  a  horn,  which  is  held  fast  in  sockets  of  the 
ovary  Before  the  flower  expands.  Many  of  the  species  are 
ornamental,  none  are  useful. 

MELCHl'SEDE'CIANS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  sev- 
eral sects  of  early  heretics  have  been  so  termed,  from  the 
opinions  entertained  by  them  respecting  the  character  and 
office  of  Melchisedec,  arising  from  the  language  of  St.  Paul 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  The  Theodotians,  in  the  3d 
century,  are  said  to  have  regarded  him  as  superior  to  Christ. 
A  sect  of  visionaries  in  Phrygia,  who  appear  to  have  been 
a  branch  of  the  Manicheans,  are  reported  to  have  made 
Melchisedec  an  object  of  adoration.  Many  divines  of  later 
limes  have  entertained  the  belief  that  the  Son  of  God  ap- 
peared to  Abraham  under  the  form  of  Melchisedec.  (Cuneus, 
lie  Rep.  Hebrworum.) 

ME'LCHITES.  (Syr.  malek,  king.)  In  Ecclesiastical 
History,  the  Eulychians,  when  condemned  by  the  council  of 
Chalcedon,  gave  this  name  (royalists,  imperialists)  to  the 
orthodox,  who  endeavoured  to  put  the  order  of  the  Emper- 
or Marcian  into  execution  against  them.  Among  Oriental 
Christians  it  now  designates,  in  a  general  manner,  all  those 
who  are  neither  Jacobites  nor  Nestorians,  including  the 
Maronites,  Catholic  Greeks,  and  non-Catholic  Greeks  of 
the  three  Eastern  patriarchates.  (Mosheim,  Eccles.  Hist., 
vol.  ii.) 

MELEA'GRIS.  (Gr.  a  guinea-hen.)  A  term  employed 
by  Linnams  to  designate  the  genus  of  which  the  turkey  is 
the  type.  The  head  and  upper  part  of  the  neck  is  invested 
with  a  phuneless  and  carunculated  skin :  there  is  a  cutaneous 
appendage  of  a  similar  construction  under  the  throat,  and 
another  of  a  conical  form  on  the  forehead,  which  in  the 
male,  when  under  excitement,  can  be  distended  and  elon- 
gated so  as  hang  over  the  point  of  the  heak.  From  the 
lower  part  of  the  neck  of  the  adult  male  hangs  a  tuft  or  tas- 
sel of  stitT  hairs.  The  coverts  of  the  tail  are  shorter  and 
stiffer  than  in  the  peacock,  but  can  be  erected  and  displayed 
in  the  same  way.  The  tarsi  of  the  male  are  aimed  with 
weak  spurs.  The  common  turkey  (Meleagris  gallopavo, 
L.)  was  introduced  into  Europe  in  the  16th  century.  Its 
size,  and  the  excellence  of  its  flesh,  led  to  its  being  culti- 
vated with  peculiar  care :  it  is  now  common,  and  widely  dis- 
persed. Its  wild  original  of  the  American  woods  is  of  a 
greenish  colour,  with  a  copper  gloss.  A  second,  and  much 
more  beautiful  species  (Meleagris  ocellata,  Cuvier),  has  been 
discovered  in  Honduras:  its  domestication  is  greatly  to  be 
desired. 

MELES.  (Lat.  meles,  a  badger.)  A  genus  separated  by 
Storr  from  the  Linnrean  Ursus,  and  characterized  by  Mr. 
Hell  as  follows  .  Second  incisor  in  the  lower  jaw  placed  be- 
5—5 


hind  the  others;  molars 


6—6' 


arranged  in  an  uninterrupted 


series;  feet  plantigrade ;  a  glandular  pouch  underneath  the 
tail,  having  a  transverse  orifice.  Since  the  extirpation  of 
the  common  bear,  the  badger,  Ursus  meles  of  Linnaeus, 
which  is  a  typical  species  of  the  present  genus,  is  the  sole 
representative  of  the  Ursine  family  in  our  indigenous  zoolo- 
gy. The  habits  of  this  quadruped  are  nocturnal,  inoffensive, 
and  slothful ;  its  food  consists  of  roots,  earthnuts,  fruits,  the 
eggs  of  birds,  insects,  reptiles,  and  the  smaller  quadrupeds: 
its  noxious  qualities  are  consequently  few  and  of  slight  mo- 
in.  lit.  and  by  no  means  justify  the  exterminating  war  unin- 
termittingly  waged  against  it.  The  muscular  strength  of 
the  badger  is  great,  its  bite  proverbially  powerful;  and  a 
dog  musl  betrained  and  encouraged  to  enter  willingly  into 
a  combat  with  this  species.  The  long  claws  of  the  fore 
feet  enable  the  badger  to  dig  with  effect  ;  and  he  habitually 
dwells  in  burrows,  which  he  ilifis  by  choice  in  declivities 
covered  by  thick  coppice,  or  concealed  in  the  recesses  of 
woods.  The  female  prepares  a  nest  of  moss  and  grass,  and 
brings  forth  her  litter  of  three  or  four  blind  young  in  the 
summer  season. 

MELETIANS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  the  partisans 
of  Meletius,  bishop  of  Lycopolis  in  Egj  pt,  deposed  in  a  synod 
at  Alexandria  about  306,  on  the  charge  ofhaving  sacrificed  to 
idols  during  the  persecution  by  Diocletian.  He  was  support- 
ed by  numerous  adherents;  and  thus  a  schism  began,  winch 

was  partially  concluded  by  the  submission  of  Ai-enius,  chief 

of  the  party,  to  Athanasius  in  333,  but  does  no1  si  em  to  have 
been  wholly  extinct  for  190  years.     (Mo.'/uim,  vol.  i.) 

MELICE'RIS.  (Gr.  /<rAi,  honey,  and  icnpof,  wax.)  An 
encysted  tumour,  the  contents  of  which  resemble  honey. 

MELIIiO'TUS.  (Lat.  mel,  honey,  and  lotus,  a  Ugumin- 
731 


MELUSINE. 

ous  plant.)  A  honey-scented  plant,  with  an  erect  stem  and 
long  erect  racemes  of  small  yellow  or  white  flowers,  re- 
sembling those  of  clover,  of  which  it  was  formerly  regarded 
as  a  species.  In  some  parts  of  Europe  two  or  three  species 
are  cultivated  as  annual  fodder-plants. 

MELITCE'A,  or  MEUNCEA.  (From  McXiraia,  a  state 
in  Thessaly ;  or  MtXivaia,  a  name  of  Venus,  derived  from 
Ht\i,  honey.)  In  Zoology,  a  genus  of  beautiful  corals,  and 
also  a  genus  of  butterflies. 

MELLI'PHAGANS,  Melliphagidce.  (Gr.  ,/cXi,  honey; 
<pay<i>,  I  eat.)  A  family  of  Tenuirosters,  comprising  the 
birds  which  feed  on  the  nectar  of  flowers. 

MELLITE,  or  MELILITE.  (Gr.^eAt,  and  hOos,  a  stone.) 
A  yellow  crystallized  mineral,  composed  of  mellitic  acid 
and  alumine.  It  is  very  rare,  and  was  first  observed  in  the 
beds  of  brown  coal  in  Thuringia.  The  term  melilite  has  also 
been  applied  to  a  yellow  mineral  which  occurs  in  very  mi- 
nute crystals  in  the  fissures  and  cavities  of  lava.  It  fuses 
into  a  glass  before  the  blow-pipe,  but  its  composition  has  not 
been  determined. 

MELLI'TIC  ACID.  The  peculiar  acid  of  the  mellite  or 
honeystone  of  Thuringia.  According  to  Liebig,  the  ultimate 
elements  of  this  acid  are  4  equivalents  of  carbon  =  24,  4  of 
oxygen  =  32,  and  one  of  hydrogen  =  1. 

ME'LLON.  A  lemon-yellow  substance,  composed  of  6 
equivalents  of  carbon  and  4  of  nitrogen,  obtained  by  heating 
dry  bisulphuret  of  cyanogen. 

MELOCA'CTUS.  (  Melon  -cactus. )  Round-stemmed, 
ribbed,  succulent  plants,  covered  with  spines  on  the  ridge 
of  the  ribs,  and  producing  the  flowers  among  wool,  on  a 
hairy  head  or  cap,  which  is  protruded  from  the  top  of  the 
stem.  They  were  included  by  Linnoeus  in  his  genus  Cactus ; 
and  they  are,  in  fact,  scarcely  distinguishable  from  those  dis- 
memberments of  the  genus  to  which  the  modern  names  of 
Cereus  and  Echino  cactus  are  applied.  For  the  sake  of  their 
grotesque  form,  they  are  often  cultivated  by  persons  curious 
in  collecting  singular  vegetables. 

MELODRA'MA.  (Gr.  ncXos,  song,  and  Spd/.ta,  drama.) 
A  short  drama  in  which  music  is  introduced  ;  but  differing 
from  the  opera,  as  the  greater  part  of  the  words  are  recited, 
and  not  sung.  In  Germany,  the  melodrama  is  a  short  dra- 
matic piece  in  lyrical  verse  ;  hut  among  ourselves,  and  in 
France,  its  character  is  chiefly  that  of  being  a  vehicle  for 
gorgeous  decoration  and  scenery,  with  an  insignificant  plot, 
usually  of  a  serious  or  romantic  description. 

ME'LODY.  (Gr.  pieXuSta  ;  from  ueXos,  a  song.)  In  Mu- 
sic, the  arrangement  in  succession  of  different  sounds  for  a 
single  voice  or  instrument,  being  distinguished  from  harmo- 
ny, which  is  the  result  of  the  union  of  two  or  more  concord- 
ing  musical  sounds. 

ME'LOE.  (Gr.  nn\n,  a  probe.)  A  genus  of  Coleopterous 
insects,  of  the  section  Hetcromera,  tribe  Trachclides,  and 
family  Cantharida,  in  the  system  of  Latreille.  In  this  genus 
the  antennae  are  composed  of  short  and  rounded  joints,  the 
intermediate  of  which  are  the  largest,  and  sometimes  so  dis- 
posed that  these  organs  present  in  this  point,  in  several 
males,  an  emargination  or  crescent.  The  wings  are  want- 
ing; and  the  elytra,  oval  or  triangular,  with  n  portion  of  the 
inner  margin,  crossing  each  other,  only  partially  cover  the 
abdomen,  particularly  in  the  females,  in  which  this  segment 
of  the  body  is  extremely  voluminous.  The  meloes  crawl 
along  the  ground,  or  upon  low  plants,  on  the  leaves  of  which 
they  feed.  A  yellowish  or  reddish  oleaginous  liquid  exudes 
from  the  articulations  of  their  legs.  In  some  districts  of 
Spain  these  insects  are  used  in  the  place  of  the  true  blister- 
flies  (Cantharides) ;  they  are  also  employed  by  the  farriers. 
Latreille  is  of  opinion  that  the  modern  meloes  were  the  Bu- 
prcstes  of  the  ancients — insects  to  which  they  attributed 
very  noxious  properties,  supposing  them  to  be  fatal  to  the 
oxen  that  swallowed  them. 

MELOLON'THIDANS,  Melolonthidm.  The  family  of 
Coleopterous  insects,  of  which  the  May-chaffer  (Melolontha 
vulgaris)  is  the  type. 

MELPOMENE.  (Gr.  ueXnopai,  I  sing.)  Themusewho 
presides  over  tragedy ;  represented  usually  with  a  mask  in 
one  hand,  a  club  or  dagger  in  the  other,  and  with  buskins  on 
her  feet. 

MELUSI'NE.  In  the  medieval  Mythology  of  France,  a 
beautiful  nymph  or  fairy,  whose  history  occupies  a  large 
space  In  the  popular  superstitions  of  that  country.  She  is 
represented  as  the  daughter  of  Ilelmas,  king  of  Albania,  and 
the  fairy  Persine;  and  ns  having  married  Raymond,  count 
of  Toulouse,  who  hull!  her  (he  magnificent  castle  of  Lu»ig- 

nan  (originally  called  Eusineein,  the  anagram  of  Melusine). 

Like  most  of  the  fairies  of  that  period,  she  was  doomed  to  a 
periodical  metamorphosis,  during  which  the  lower  part  of 
her  body  assumed  the  form  of  a  fish  or  a  serpent.  On  these 
occasions  she  exerted  all  her  ingenuity  to  escape  observa- 
tion; hut  Inning  been  once  accidentally  seen  by  her  husband 
in  this  condition,  she  BWOOned  away,  and  soon  afterwards 
disappeared,  none  knew  whither.  Hut  her  form  is  said  to 
be  seen  from  time  to  time  on  the  tower  of  Lusignan,  clad  in 


MELYRIS. 

mourning,  and  uttering  deep  lamentations ;  and  her  appear- 
ance is  universally  believed  to  indicate  an  impending  calam- 
ity to  the  roval  family  of  France. 

MELY'RIS.  (Gr.  pcXovpis,  an  insect  mentioned  by  Ni- 
cander.)  A  Fabrician  genus  of  Coleopterous  insects,  belong- 
ing to  the  section  Pentamera,  subsection  Serricornes,  tribe 
Malacodermi,  and  constituting  the  family  Melyrida  in  the 
system  of  Latreille;  in  which  it  is  characterized  as  follows; 
Palpi  commonly  short  and  filiform ;  mandibles  emarginated 
at  the  point;  body  usually  narrow  and  elongated;  head 
covered  at  the  base  by  a  flat  or  slightly  convex  thorax ;  joint 
of  the  tarsi  entire,  and  the  terminal  hooks  unidentate  or  bor- 
dered with  a  membrane ;  antennae  usually  serrate,  and  in 
the  males  of  some  species  even  pectinate. 

MEMBRA'NA  TVMPANI.  Tbe  membrane  which  sep- 
arates the  internal  from  the  external  ear.  The  drum  of  the 
ear. 

MEMBRANE.  The  expansion  of  any  of  the  tissues  of 
the  body  into  a  thin  layer.  Anatomists  generally  enumerate 
three  kinds  of  membrane;  namely,  the  mucous,  the  serous, 
and  the  fibrous.  The  mucous  membranes  are  those  which 
line  the  canals  of  the  body  which  are  exposed  to  the  action 
of  air  or  foreign  matters — such  as  the  lining  of  the  nose, 
trachea,  assophagus,  stomach,  intestines,  &.c.  The  serous 
membranes  form  the  lining  of  the  sacs  or  closed  cavities,  as 
of  the  chest,  abdomen,  &c.  The  fibrous  membranes  are 
tough,  inelastic,  and  of  a  tendinous  character  ;  such  as  the 
dura  mater,  the  pericardium,  the  capsules  of  joints,  &.c. 

ME'MNON.  In  Greek  Mythology,  a  fabulous  king  of 
Ethiopia,  son  of  the  goddess  Aurora,  who  is  said  to  have  as- 
sisted the  Trojans  in  the  siege  of  Troy,  and  to  have  been 
slain  by  Achilles.  Several  Egyptian  kings  of  this  name  are 
also  mentioned  by  different  Greek  writers.  But  the  name 
is,  in  fact,  supposed  to  be  a  general  appellation  or  epithet 
(Mei-amun,  beloved  of  Amnion)  borrowed  by  the  Greeks  from 
the  Egyptian  language,  and  erroneously  applied  by  them  to 
particular  individuals.  The  famous  statue  called  by  the 
Greeks  Memnon,  at  Thebes  in  Upper  Egypt,  which  possess- 
ed the  real  or  imaginary  property  of  emitting  a  sound  like 
that  of  a  harp,  at  the  rising  of  the  sun,  is  supposed  to  have 
been  in  the  building  called  by  M.  Champollion  the  Rhames- 
seion,  from  its  founder  Rhameses,  or  Sesostris,  of  which  the 
stupendous  ruins  are  still  seen  between  Medinet-Habou  and 
Koumah.  (See  Champollion,  Lettres  ecrites  d' Egypte  etde 
JVubie,  p.  261.)  The  statue  of  black  granite  in  the  British 
Museum,  already  styled  the  brother  of  the  younger  Memnon, 
was  found  in  the  Rhamesseion.  The  real  Memnonium  was, 
however,  probably  the  temple  erected  by  Amenoph,  or 
Amenothph.     (Champollion,  ib.,  p.  303.) 

MEMOIR.  In  Literature,  two  different  species  of  com- 
position are  popularly  designated  by  the  terms  Memoir  and 
Memoirs.  A  short  biographical  notice  of  an  individual,  or 
a  short  essay  on  a  particular  subject  (especially  to  accom- 
pany and  explain  a  map,  view,  facsimile,  or  other  representa- 
tion of  a  curious  object  in  art,  &c.)  is  called  a  Memoir.  This 
name  is  particularly  appropriated  to  papers  read  before 
scientific  or  literary  societies.  The  account,  by  an  individual, 
of  his  own  life,  accompanied  with  narratives  and  remarks 
respecting  the  personages  and  events  of  the  rimes  in  which 
he  lived,  is  termed  his  Memoirs ;  being  supposed,  as  the 
name  denotes,  to  have  been  drawn  up  with  the  object  of  as- 
sisting his  memory  in  reflecting  on  past  events.  In  modem 
but  incorrect  diction  the  life  of  a  person  by  another  is  also 
termed  his  Memoirs,  if  drawn  up  with  a  somewhat  less  reg- 
gular  arrangement,  and  containing  more  matter  not  imme- 
diately connected  with  the  subject  than  the  species  of  nar- 
ration which  we  term  a  Life.  The  French  were  the  earliest, 
and  have  always  been  by  far  the  most  successful  writers,  in 
this  branch  of  literature.  Their  historical  memoirs,  partly 
autobiographical,  and  partly  the  works  of  authors  who  had 
access  to  the  papers  and  memorials  of  those  whose  lives 
they  illustrated,  form  a  complete  series  from  the  10th  cen- 
tury to  the  present  time,  and  throw  the  greatest  light  on  some 
portions  of  history ;  while  their  memoirs  of  celebrated  in- 
dividuals in  the  ranks  of  literature  and  fashion  are  still  more 
numerous  and  interesting.  In  the  last  century  this  branch 
of  literature  became  so  popular,  that  any  distinguished  indi- 
vidual who  did  not  leave  authentic  memoirs  of  himself  was 
sure  to  become  the  subject,  after  his  death,  of  fabricated 
memoirs,  published  under  his  name;  and  this  species  of 
falsification,  of  which  Voltaire  then  complained,  appears  to 
be  now  carried  on  as  extensively  as  at  anv  former  period. 
The  collections  of  historical  memoirs  recently  edited  in  Paris 
contain  three  series  of  historical  memoirs  relating  to  French 
history,  and  one  of  English  memoirs,  translated^illustratins 
the  period  of  our  great  civil  war  and  revolution.  The  latter 
undertake  was  conducted  by  M.  Guizot. 

MEMO'RIAL.  In  Diplomacy,  a  species  of  informal  state 
paper  much  used  in  negotiation.  Memorials  are  said  to  be 
of  three  classes.  1.  Memorials  in  the  form  of  letters,  sub- 
scribed by  the  writer,  and  speaking  in  the  second  person  as 
addressed  to  another.    2.  Memorials  proper,  or  written  rep- 


MENDICITY. 

resentations,  subscribed  by  the  writer,  and  with  an  address, 
but  not  speaking  in  the  second  person.  3.  Notes,  in  which 
there  is  neither  subscription  nor  address.  Species  of  the 
first  class  of  memorials  are,  circulars  from  the  bureau  of 
foreign  affairs  sent  to  foreign  agents;  answers  to  the  me- 
morials of  ambassadors ;  and  notes  to  foreign  cabinets  and 
ambassadors. 

ME'MORY  (Lat.  memini,  /  remember),  is  defined  to  be 
the  power  or  capacity  of  having  what  was  once  present  to 
the  senses  or  the  understanding  suggested  again  to  the  mind, 
accompanied  by  a  distinct  consciousness  of  past  existence. 
The  term  is  also  employed,  though  more  rarely,  to  denote 
the  act  or  operation  of  remembering,  or  the  peculiar  state 
of  the  mind  when  it  exercises  this  faculty,  in  contradistinc- 
tion to  the  faculty  itself.  Various  opinions  have  been  pro- 
pounded by  metaphysicians  respecting  the  nature  and  origin 
of  the  faculty  of  memory.  Upon  this  point,  however,  it  is 
not  our  intention  to  enter  into  any  details,  as  this  question 
is  so  mixed  up  with  that  of  other  faculties  of  the  mind,  such 
as  perception  and  association,  and  such  metaphysical  ques- 
tions, as  personal  identity,  &c,  as  to  be  inseparable  from 
thcru ;  and  to  these  heads  we  must  refer  the  reader  for  in- 
formation. We  may,  however,  remark,  that  the  ancient 
Platonists  and  Peripatetics  ascribed  the  faculty  of  memory 
to  the  common  theory  of  ideas ;  that  is,  of  images  in  the 
brain,  or  in  the  mind,  of  all  the  objects  of  thought ;  and  in 
this  opinion  they  were  supported,  with  slight  modifications, 
by  many  other  philosophers  of  antiquity.  But  Dr.  Reid,  who 
has  examined  this  question  with  great  acuteness,  has  satis- 
factorily demonstrated  the  theory-  of  the  ancients  to  be  very 
defective.  The  more  modern  theories  of  Locke,  Hume,  and 
other  philosophers,  also  meet  with  little  consideration  from 
the  same  acute  metaphysician,  who,  after  exposing  their 
fallacies,  sums  up  in  these  words:  "Thus,  when  philoso- 
phers have  piled  one  supposition  on  another,  as  ihe  giants 
piled  the  mountains  in  order  to  scale  the  heavens,  it  is  all  to 
no  purpose — memory  remains  unaccountable  ;  and  we  know 
as  little  how  we  remember  things  past  as  how  we  are  con- 
scious of  the  present."  (Ried  on  the  Human  Mind,  p.  15'J, 
185.) 

MENA'CHANITE.  Ferruginous  oxide  of  titanhun,  found 
in  the  vale  of  Menachan,  in  Cornwall. 

MENDICANT  FRIARS.     See  Orders,  Mendicant. 

MENDI'CITY.  (Lat.  mendico,  J  beg.)  The  condition 
of  habitual  beggars.  One  of  the  greatest  curses  which  can 
afflict  a  civilized  society  is  the  prevalence  of  mendicity ;  and 
it  is  very  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  prejudices  of  excel- 
lent and  humane  persons  have  so  constantly  interposed,  and 
still  interpose,  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  adoption  and  en- 
forcement of  correct  principles  on  this  subject.  For  there 
are  too  many  who  persist  in  seeing  in  mendicity  only  the 
natural  expression  of  that  indigence  into  which  numbers  are 
unhappily  thrown  by  the  inequality  of  property  and  uncer- 
tainty of  employment  prevailing  in  almost  all  communities ; 
and  who  forget  that  the  encouragement  of  it  affords  a  pre- 
mium to  the  idle,  the  artfid,  the  criminal — to  all  or  any,  in 
short,  except  those  really  deserving  sufferers  whom  it  is  the 
object  of  true  charity  to  relieve.  (For  the  law  of  England, 
past  and  present,  respecting  mendicity,  see  Vagrancy.) 
Under  the  operation  of  this  law,  of  the  national  provision  of 
the  poor  laws,  and  far  more  than  either  the  activity  of  Eng- 
lish industry,  mendicity  has  long  been  less  extensive  and 
public  in  England  than  perhaps  in  any  other  country.  And, 
owing  to  that  very  circumstance,  it  is,  perhaps,  worse  in  Eng- 
land than  in  any  other  country ;  that  is,  the  established  men- 
dicants are  more  connected  with  the  criminal  part  of  the 
population.  (See  the  recent  report  of  the  Constabulary 
Force  Commission.)  Ireland  has  long  been  unhappily  cele- 
brated for  the  prevalence  of  mendicity.  The  number  of 
"  destitute  persons"  in  the  island  was  estimated  by  Mr.  Stan- 
ley in  1837  at  about  80,000  {Mr.  NichoWs  Report  on  Poor 
Laws  in  Ireland)  ;  the  number  of  street  mendicants  in  Dub- 
lin at  nearly  1000,  or  almost  one  ticentictk  of  the  population. 
Mr.  Lewis,  following  the  evidence  adduced  before  the  Irish 
Poor  Law  Commission,  divides  the  habitual  mendicants 
into — 1.  Wandering  beggars,  chiefly  cripples,  blind,  maimed, 
&c.  2.  Professional  strolling  beggars,  who  have  no  fixed 
domicile,  and  live  constantly  by  mendicancy.  3.  Town  beg- 
gars, who  live  by  mendicancy,  but  have  a  fixed  domicile : 
these,  he  says,  "  are  generally  known  by  those  who  relieve 
them,  and  their  character  is  not  on  the  whole  very  bad." 
4.  Poor  housekeepers,  who  are  relieved  by  three  or  four 
neighbours,  to  whom  their  wants  are  known,  but  who  would 
not  resort  to  general  becging.  (On  Local  Disturbances  in 
Inland,  1835.)  "Mendicancy  and  wretchedness."  says  Mr. 
Nicholl,  "have  become  too  common  to  be  disgraceful." 
And  he  compares  with  truth  the  effects  of  indiscriminate 
alms-giving  in  Ireland  to  those  of  indiscriminate  legal  relief 
in  England.  What  effect  the  new  system  of  poor  laws  may 
have  on  this  and  other  evils  of  that  country,  time  must  show. 
In  France,  depots  de  mendicite  were  first  founded  in  1767;  a 
kind  of  half  way  between  prisons  and  hospitals  for  mendi- 

735 


MENILITE. 

cants.  Their  situation  was  rendered  dependent  on  their 
good  behaviour.  These  receptacles  held  (5000  or  8000  per- 
sons in  1789.  in  1808,  by  a  new  law,  "vagabonds,"  mere 
vagrants,  were  distinguished  from  "beggars,"  i.  e.,  disabled 
persons,  or  other  persons  begging  within  their  own  arron- 
dissement:  the  former  were  sent  to  "maisonsde  detention." 
There  are  now  two  gaol  depots  tor  Paris,  at  St.  Denis  and 
Villers  Coterets.  in  1838  the  prefet  of  police  reported  that 
they  had  manifestly  diminished  mendicity  at  Paris.  (Ue- 
gerando,  L>e  la  Eienfaisance  Publigue,  iii..  part  3,  b.  1.) 
"The  road  to  mendicity,"  says  M.  sismondi,  "is  now  too 
wide  and  too  easj  ;  instead  of  calling  on  religion  to  smooth 
it,  we  should  multiply  as  tar  as  possible  the  resources  of  the 
poor,  in  order  to  prevent  their  -being  dragged  into  it."  See 
Poor  Laws. 

ME'JVILITE.  A  mineral  somewhat  resembling  semi- 
opal,  found  at  Menil  Montant,  near  Paris. 

MENISCI'S.  A  lens  convex  on  one  side  and  concave 
on  the  other.     See  Lens. 

MENISPE'RMIC  ACID.  An  acid  contained  in  the  ber- 
ries of  the  Menispermum  cocculus  (Cocculus  indicus), 
where  it  exists  in  combination  witli  the  vegetable  alkali 
called  pierotoxia. 

MEVNON1TES.  The  title  by  which  the  Anabaptists 
of  Holland  came  to  be  distinguished,  after  they  had  put 
themselves  under  the  guidance  of  Menno,  a  native  of  Fries- 
land,  who  undertook  to  moderate  the  extraordinary  fanati- 
cism of  those  sectarians.  (Mosheim,  transl.,  ed.  1790.  v. 
490.)     See  Baptists,  Anabaptists. 

MENOBRA'NCHUS.  (Gr.  utvm,  I  remain,  [Spayx'a, 
gills.)  A  Perennibranchiate  amphibian,  which  retains  the 
external  gills. 

ME'NOPOME,  Menopoma.  (Gr.  uevio,  and  -nu>iia,  a  lid.) 
A  Perennibranchiate  amphibian,  which  retains  the  opercu- 
lar aperture,  but  not  the  external  gills. 

ME'NORHA'GIA.  (Gr.  /o/c,  a  month,  and  {tew,  I  flow.) 
Flooding ;  immoderate  menstrual  discharge  ;  haemorrhage 
from  the  uterus. 

ME'NSTRUUM  (Lat.  mensis,  a  month),  signified,  in  the 
language  of  the  old  chemists,  some  preparation  or  drug 
which  could  only  operate  effectually  at  a  particular  period 
of  the  moon  or  month  ;  but  it  is  now  used  for  any  fluid  sub- 
stance which  dissolves  a  solid  body. 

MENSURA'TION.  Though  this  term  literally  signifies 
the  act  of  measuring,  it  is  usually  employed  to  denote  the 
branch  of  practical  geometry  which  teaches  the  methods  of 
calculating  the  dimensions  and  areas  of  figures,  the  volumes 
of  solids,  &.c,  from  the  measurement  of  certain  lines  or 
angles  of  the  figures  or  solids,  which  supply  the  requisite 
data. 

Every  rectilineal  plane  figure  may  be  decomposed  into 
triangles ;  and  hence  the  mensuration  of  such  figures  re- 
solves itself  into  the  determination  of  the  sides  or  area  of  a 
triangle.  (Sec  Trigonometry.)  Solids  bounded  by  planes 
may,  in  like  manner,  be  resolved  into  pyramids,  and  their 
contents  consequently  determined  by  the  methods  of  ele- 
mentary geometry.  (See  Pyramid.)  The  determination  of 
the  lengths  of  curve  lines,  the  areas  of  figures  bounded  by 
curves,  and  of  solids  bounded  by  curve  surfaces,  requires 
the  application  of  the  integral  calculus.  (See  Quadra- 
ture, Rectification.)  For  the  areas  and  volumes  of  the 
most  usual  geometrical  figures,  see  the  respective  terms,  as 
Circle,  Ellipse,  &c. 

MENTUM.  (Lat.  the  chin.)  In  Mammalogy,  the  term 
is  restricted  to  the  anterior  and  inferior  margin  of  the  man- 
dible, or  lower  jaw.  The  mentum  pruminitlum  is  that 
which  extends  beyond  the  perpendicular  line  dropped  from 
the  upper  margin  of  the  lower  jaw  ;  the  mentum  abscondi- 
tum  is  that  which  cannot  be  distinguished. 

MENU,  INSTITUTES  OF.  The  name  given  to  the 
most  celebrated  code  of  Indian  civil  and  religious  law  ;  so 
caileil  from  Menu,  Menou,  or  Manu,  the  son  of  Brama,  by 
whom  it  is  supposed  to  have  been  revealed.  The  Hindoos 
themselves  ascribe  to  this  system  the  highest  antiquity;  and 
many  of  the  most  learned  Europeans  are  of  opinion  that  of 

all  known  works  there  i>  none  which  carries  with  it  more 
convincing  proofs  of  high  antiquity  and  perfect  integrity. 

Sir  W.  .tones  assigns  the  date  of  its  origin  somewhere  be 
tween  Homer  and  the  Twelve  Tables  of  the  Romans;  and 
Bchlegel  asserts  it  as  his  belief  that  il  was  seen  by  Alex- 
ander the  Great  in  a  state  not  materially  different  from  that 
in  which  we  possess  it.  The  Institutes  of  Menu  are  of  a 
most  comprehensive  nature:  they  embrace  all  that  relates 
to  human  life  ;  the  history  of  the  creation  of  the  world  and 
man  ;  the  nature  of  Cod  and  spirits;  ami  a  complete  sys- 
tem of  morals,  government,  and  religion.  The  work,  says 
Sir  \V.  Jones,  contains  abundance  or  curious  matter,  Intei 
esting  both  to  speculative  lawyers  and  antiquaries,  with 
many  beauties  which   need  not   to  be  pointed  out.  and  with 

many  blemishes  which  cannot  be  justified  or  palliated  :  it  is 

a  system  of  despotism  and   priestcraft  ;  both,  indeed,  limited 
by  law,   but  artfully  conspiring   to  give   mutual   support. 
730 


MERCATOR'S  CHART. 

But,  notwithstanding  these  and  other  defects,  as  has  fre- 
quently been  remarked,  the  most  striking  features  by  which 
the  code  of  Menu  is  distinguished  are  the  rigour  and  purity 

of  its  morals.  Many  of  its  maxims  have  all  the  sublimity 
of  the  precepts  of  Christianity  ;  to  winch,  in  fact,  they  bear 
a  close  resemblance,  not  only  in  the  style  of  thought  but  of 
expression.  Thus,  "Let  not  a  man  complain,  even  though 
in  pain ;  let  him  not  injure  another  in  deed  or  in  thought  ; 
let  him  not  even  utter  a  word  by  which  his  fellow-creatures 
may  suffer  uneasiness."  Again,  "Let  him  bear  a  reproach- 
ful speech  with  patience  ;  let  him  speak  reproachfully  to  no 
man  ;  with  an  angry  man  let  him  not  in  return  he  angry  : 
abused,  let  him  answer  mildly."  The  inspired  words  of 
the  Psalmist,  "  The  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart  there  is  no 
God,"  are  thus  almost  verbally  rendered,  "The  wicked 
have  said  in  their  hearts  no  one  sees  us :  yes,  the  gods  dis- 
tinctly see  them,  and  so  does  the  spirit  within  their  bn  - 
The  Institutes  of  Menu  have  been  translated  into  the  Eng- 
lish and  French  languages  :  into  the  former  by  Sir  W. 
Jones  in  1794,  the  latter  by  Des  Longchamps  in  1830  (Stras- 
burg).  An  edition  of  the  original  Sanscrit,  together  with 
Sir  W.  Jones's  translation,  was  published  at  Calcutta  in 
182-2-25  by  Sir  Graves  Haughton. 

MENU'RA.  (Gr.  i*tvos,  strength,  and  ovpa,  a  tail.)  A 
name  invented  by  Dr.  Shaw  for  a  genus  of  birds  peculiar  to 
Australia,  the  true  affinities  of  which  have  been  the  subject 
of  much  discussion  and  diversity  of  opinion  among  ornithol- 
ogists. Cuvier  observes  that  the  Mcr.nura>,  or  lvre-pheas- 
ants,  evidently  belong  to  the  order  Passerine,  and  approach 
the  thrushes  in  their  beak,  which  is  triangular  at  the  base, 
elongated,  slightly  compressed,  and  emarginate  at  the  point 
Only  one  species  is  at  present  known,  and  this  is  chiefly  pe- 
culiar for  an  extraordinary  sexual  development  of  the  tail 
feathers  of  the  male.  Of  these  there  are  three  kinds  :  the 
twelve  common  ones,  with  very  fine  and  widely  separated 
barbs ;  two  more  in  the  middle,  of  which  only  one  side  is 
furnished  with  thickly -set  barbs ;  and  two  external  ones, 
curved  in  the  figure  of  an  S,  or  like  the  arms  of  a  lyre, 
whose  internal  barbs,  large  and  thickly  set,  form  a  kind  of 
broad  riband,  while  the  external  ones  are  very  short,  be- 
coming longer  only  near  the  tip.  The  female  has  only  the 
twelve  ordinarv  quills. 

MENYA'NTHES.  (Gr.  /xevoc,  and  avQoc,  flower.)  A 
genus  of  Gentianaceous  plants  with  powerful  tonic  proper- 
ties. The  M.  trifoliata,  a  wild  aquatic  plant  with  white 
flowers  densely  crested  with  hairs,  is  employed  in  medicine 
as  a  bitter,  emetic,  tonic,  and  diaphoretic. 

MENY'NGES.  (Gr.  urjviy\,  a  membrane.)  The  mem- 
branes which  cover  the  brain  are  so  called. 

MEPHI'TIS.  (Lat.)  Any  noxious  exhalation  ;  but  more 
particularly  applied  to  carbonic,  acid  gas.  Mephitis  was  the 
name  of  a  Latin  goddess  who  was  invoked  by  the  Romans 
as  their  protectress  against  noxious  vapours. 

MERCA'PTAN.  A  liquid  composed  of  sulphur,  car- 
bon, and  hydrogen,  which  has  received  the  above  name 
from  its  energetic  action  on  mercury — corpus  mercurium. 
captans.     (Zeise,  Annates  de  Chimie  et  Physique,  lv.,  87.) 

MERCA'TOR'S  CHART,  or  PROJECTION.  A  repre- 
sentation of  the  sphere  on  a  plane,  in  which  the  meridians 
are  represented  by  equidistant  parallel  straight  lines,  and 
the  parallels  of  latitude  also  by  straight  lines  perpendicular 
to  the  meridians.  This  projection,  which  is  universally 
adopted  for  nautical  charts,  by  reason  of  the  facilities  which 
it  affords  in  navigation  from  the  circumstance  that  the 
rhumb,  or  sailing  course  between  two  points,  is  represented 
by  a  straight  line,  was  invented  by  Gerard  Mercatof  (his 
true  name  was  Kavffman,  of  which  MercatOT  is  the  Latin 
equivalent),  a  native  of  Rupelmonde,  in  East  Flanders, 
born  in  the  year  1512.  But,  though  Mercator  gave  his 
name  to  the  projection,  it  does  not  appear  that  he  knew  the 
law  according  to  which  the  distance  of  the  parallels  from 
the  equator  increases.  The  true  principles  of  the  construc- 
tion were  found  by  Edward  Wright,  of  Cains  College,  Cam- 
bridge, who  explained  them  in  his  treatise,  entitled  The 
Correction  of  certain  Errors  in  Navigation,  published  in 
1599,  and  are  as  follows:  Suppose  one  of  the  meridians  on 
the  globe  to  bo  divided  into  minutes  of  a  degree;  one  of 
th.se,  taken  at  any  parallel  of  latitude,  will  he  to  a  minute 
of  longitude,  taken  on  that  parallel,  as  the  radius  of  the- 
equator  to  the  radius  of  the  parallel  ;  that  is,  as  radius  to 
the  cosine  of  the  latitude,  or  as  the  secant  of  the  latitude  to 
radius.  This  proportion  holds  true  on  the  map  in  this 
sense,  that  if  a   minute  of  the  equator  bn  taken  as  the  unit 

nt  a  bi  ale,  and  that  unit  be  considered  as  the  radius  of  the 

tables,  then  the  representation  of  a  minute  of  latitude  will 

hi'  expressed  bj  the  number  in  the  trigonometrical  tables 

Which  i-  the  secant  of  that  latitude.  Hence,  in  the  map, 
while  the  degrees  of  longitude  are  all   equal,  the  degrees  of 

latitude  marked  on  the  meridian  form  a  scale  of  which  the 
distances  go  on  increasing  from  (he  equator  towards  the 
poles,  each  being  (approximately)  the  sum  id' the  secants  of 
all  the  minutes  of  latitude  in  the  degree.    The  numbers  re- 


MERCURIALE. 

milting  from  the  addition  of  the  secants  of  the  successive 
minutes,  reckoned  from  the  equator,  form  a  scale  of  meri- 
dional parts,  which  is  given  in  all  books  of  navigation. 
The  very  remarkable  property  of  this  projection,  namely, 
that  the  divisions  of  the  meridian  are  analogous  to  the  ex- 
cesses of  the  logarithmic  tangents  of  half  the  respective 
latitudes  augmented  by  45°,  above  the  logarithm  of  the  ra- 
dius, was  discovered  by  Bond  about  the  year  1645 ;  but  was 
first  demonstrated  by  James  Gregory,  in  his  Exercitationcs 
Mathematics,  published  in  1668.  (See  the  Scriptores  Log- 
arithmici,  vols.  ii.  and  iv.) 

MERCURIA'LE.  The  first  Wednesday  after  the  great 
vacation  of  the  parliaments,  under  the  old  French  regime. 
On  that  day  tliey  met  to  discuss  grievances  and  deficien- 
cies, and  to  reprimand  members  for  misconduct.  Hence, 
an  harangue  of  reproof  is  popularly  termed  in  French  a 
mercuriale. 

ME'RCURY.  (Probably  from  the  Lat.  merx,  merchan- 
dise.) The  Latin  name  of  the  Grecian  Hermes.  He  was 
the  son  of  Jupiter  and  Maia,  and  discharged  the  office  of 
the  messenger  of  the  gods.  Part  of  his  duty  was  also  to 
conduct  the  shades  of  the  dead  to  the  infernal  regions.  He 
presides  over  eloquence,  profit,  good  fortune,  and  theft ;  in 
which  he  was  himself  so  great  a  proficient  that,  on  the  day 
of  his  birth,  he  stole  fifty  kine  from  the  herds  of  Apollo, 
whom  he  repaid  by  the  gift  of  his  invention,  the  lyre.  (See 
the  Hymn  ascribed  to  Homer,  with  the  beautiful  translation 
.il  it  by  Shelley.)  His  attributes,  exploits,  and  insignia  are 
briefly  enumerated  by  Horace  (Ode  I.,  10) : 

Mercuri  facunde,  nepos  Atlantis, 
Qui  feros  cultos  hominum  recentum 
Voce  formasti  catus,  et  decora 

More  palaestra, 
Te  canam,  magni  .Tovis  et  Deorum 
Nuntium  curvaeque  lyra  parentem 
Calidum,  quicquid  placuit  jocoso 

Condere  furto. 

Between  which  passage  and  the  lines  of  Ovid  (Fasti,  v.  663 
-€69),  a  curious  coincidence  will  be  found.  Mercury  was 
represented  as  a  youth  lightly  clad,  with  the  petasus,  or 
winged  hat,  and  wings  at  his  heels.  In  his  hand  he  bears 
the  emblem  of  his  herald's  office,  the  caduceus,  a  rod  with 
two  serpents  twined  about  it.  The  more  ancient  statues  of 
Mercury  were  square  blocks  of  stone,  with  a  rudely  carved 
head  ori  them.  They  were  set  up  in  great  numbers  in  the 
streets  of  Athens. 

Me'rccry.  In  the  Solar  System,  the  planet  nearest  the 
sun.  The  mean  distance  of  Mercury  from  the  sun  is 
0-3870981,  the  radius  of  the  earth's  orbit  being  taken  as  unit ; 
it  is  consequently  little  more  than  a  third  of  the  earth's  dis- 
tance, and  equal  to  about  36,000,000  of  miles.  His  mean 
sidereal  revolution  is  performed  in  87-969258  mean  solar 
days,  and  his  successive  oppositions  or  conjunctions  take 
place  at  intervals  of  115-877  mean  solar  days.  The  orbit  is 
inclined  to  the  ecliptic  in  an  angle  of  7°  0'  9" ;  and  its  ec- 
centricity is  greater  than  that  of  any  other  of  the  old  plan- 
ets, being  0205515,  the  major  axis  being  unit.  Mercury  be' 
ing  an  inferior  planet  always  appears  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  sun  ;  his  greatest  elongation,  or  angular  distance 
from  the  sun,  amounts  only  to  28°  48' ;  so  that  he  is  very 
seldom  visible  to  the  naked  eye.  His  apparent  diameter 
varies  from  5"  at  his  superior  conjunction  when  at  his 
greatest  distance  from  the  earth,  to  12"  at  his  inferior  con- 
junction when  nearest  the  earth.  At  a  distance  equal  to 
the  mean  distance  of  the  sun  from  the  earth,  the  apparent 
diameter  is  69".  His  true  diameter,  compared  with  that  of 
the  earth  taken  as  unity,  is  -398,  or  about  3140  miles.  On 
account  of  the  smallness  of  the  planet  and  its  proximity  to 
the  sun,  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish  any  variety  on  the  sur- 
face. The  disk  is  round,  and,  in  a  good  telescope,  exhibits 
phases;  and  the  planet  is  supposed  to  revolve  about  its  axis 
in  the  space  of  24  h.  5  m.  28  sec.  Mercury  is  sometimes 
seen  to  pass  over  the  sun's  disk.  This  can  only  happen 
when  he  is  in  one  of  his  nodes  nearly  at  the  same  time  that 
he  is  at  his  inferior  conjunction.  The  phenomena  are  of 
more  frequent  occurrence  than  the  transits  of  Venus,  but  of 
far  less  astronomical  importance.  The  five  next  transits 
will  be  visible  in  this  countrv,  and  will  occur  at  the  follow- 
ing dates:  1845,  May  8;  1848,  Nov.  9;  1861,  Nov.  11 ;  1868, 
Nov.  4  ;  1878,  May  6.    See  Planet. 

Me'rchry.  This  metal  is  found  chiefly  in  the  state  of 
sulphuret,  which  is  decomposed  by  distillation  with  iron  or 
lime.  It  is  also  found  native.  Mercury  is  the  only  metal 
which  is  liquid  at  common  temperatures ;  it  is  white  and 
very  brilliant.  It  freezes  and  assumes  a  crystalline  texture 
at  40°  below  zero.  Its  specific  gravity  is  135.  It  boils  at 
660°,  and  its  vapour  condenses  upon  cool  surfaces  in  minute 
brilliant  globules.  It  is  not  altered  by  exposure  to  air  at 
common  temperatures,  but  when  kept  in  vessels  to  which 
air  has  access,  at  a  temperature  near  its  boiling  point,  it 
gradually  becomes  converted  into  a  deep  red  crystalline 
substance,  which  is  the  peroxide,  or  red  oxide,  of  mercury. 


MERGER. 

When  mercury  is  dissolved  in  cold  dilute  nitric  acid,  the 
pure  alkalis  throw  it  down  in  the  form  of  black  protoxide. 
The  same  oxide  is  also  oh'ained  by  triturating  calomel  with 
solution  of  caustic  potash.  These  are  the  only  definite  ox- 
ides of  mercury.  The  equivalent  of  this  metal*  is  about  200, 
and  the  oxides,  consisting  respectively  of  1  atom  of  mercury 
and  1  of  oxygen,  and  1  and  2  are  represented  by  200  +  8  = 
208,  and  200  +  16  =  216.  Mercury  is  represented  in  chemi- 
cal formula?  by  hg.,  from  the  Latin  hydrargyrum,  literally 
signifying  water  silver.  The  symbol  of  the  protoxide  will 
then  be  (hg.  +o.),  and  of  the  peroxide  (hg.-\-2  o.).  Each 
of  these  oxides  combines  with  the  acids,  and  produces  the 
protosalts  and  persalts  of  mercury. 

Mercury  and  Chlorine. — There  are  two  chlorides  of  mer- 
cury ;  a  protochloride  or  calomel,  and  a  perchloridc  or  cor- 
rosive sublimate.  Calomel  may  be  obtained  by  mixing  60 
parts  (1  equivalent)  of  common  salt,  or  chloride  of  sodium, 
with  248  parts  (1  equivalent)  of  protosulphate  of  mercury, 
and  exposing  the  mixture  in  a  proper  subliming  vessel  to  a 
red  heat ;  the  chlorine  of  the  salt  combines  with  the  mer- 
cury of  the  sulphate  to  form  protochloride  of  mercury  (con- 
sisting of  200  mercury  and  36  chlorine) ;  and  the  sodium  of 
the  salt,  uniting  with  the  oxygen  of  the  oxide  of  mercury, 
becomes  soda,  which,  with  the  sulphuric  acid,  forms  sul- 
phate of  soda.  Calomel  may  also  be  obtained  by  mixing 
200  parts  of  mercury  with  272  of  corrosive  sublimate,  and 
subliming  the  mixture.  When  thoroughly  washed  and 
levigated,  calomel  is  a  tasteless,  white  powder  ;  its  specific 
gravity  is  7-2.  When  heated  it  acquires  a  yellow  colour  ; 
and  at  a  temperature  below  redness  it  rises  in  dense  white 
fumes,  which  are  deposited  in  the  form  of  a  white  powder 
upon  cold  surfaces.  It  is  insoluble  in  water.  When  has- 
tily sublimed  it  often  becomes  a  crystalline  horny  mass, 
and  occasionally  forms  beautiful  prismatic  crystals.  It  ia 
sometimes  found  native  ;  forming,  however,  a  very  rare  ore, 
called,  from  its  appearance,  horn  quicksilver. 

Perchloride  of  mercury,  or  corrosive  sublimate,  is  obtain- 
ed by  sublimation  from  a  mixture  of  120  parts  of  common 
salt  (or  2  equivalents),  and  296  (or  1  equivalent)  of  persul- 
phate of  mercury.  It  rises  in  the  form  of  a  white  crystal- 
line substance,  of  an  acrid  metallic  taste,  highly  poisonous, 
soluble  in  20  parts  of  cold  and  in  2  of  boiling  water.  Its 
specific  gravity  is  52.  When  heated  it  evaporates  in  acrid 
fumes,  at  a  temperature  below  that  required  for  the  volatil- 
ization of  calomel.  Corrosive  sublimate  is  a  compound  of 
1  equivalent  of  mercury  and  2  of  chlorine.  In  the  above 
process  for  preparing  it,  the  chlorine  is  furnished  by  the 
chloride  of  sodium,  and  sulphate  of  soda  is  the  other  pro- 
duct. 

Bisulphuret  of  Mercury,  known  also  by  the  name  of  cin- 
nabar or  vermilion,  is  prepared  artificially  by  heating  to- 
gether 100  parts  of  mercury  with  about  20  of  sulphur ;  they 
form  a  black  compound,  which,  when  strongly  heated,  rises 
in  the  form  of  a  deep  crimson-coloured  sublimate ;  this,  re- 
duced by  long  trituration  into  a  fine  powder,  acquires  a 
brilliant  red  colour.  It  is  tasteless,  and  insoluble  in  water  ; 
it  consists  of  200  mercury  and  32  sulphur,  or  (hg.  +  2  s.) 
A  black  protosulphuret  of  mercury  (hg.-\-s.)  is  precipitated 
by  sulphuretted  hydrogen  from  a  solution  of  the  protoni- 
trate.  When  a  mixture  of  equal  weights  of  finely-powdered 
peroxide  of  mercury  and  Prussian  blue  is  boiled  in  water 
till  the  blue  colour  disappears,  the  solution  yields,  when 
filtered  and  evaporated,  a  crop  of  straw-coloured  prismatic 
crystals,  which  are  bicyanuret  of  mercury  :  (icy.-\-hg. 

Mercury  is  found  in  various  parts  of  the  world.  Among 
the  principal  mines  are  those  of  Almaden,  near  Cordova, 
in  Spain;  Idria,  in  Carniola;  Wolfstein  and  Morsfield,  in 
the  Palatinate;  Guancavelica,  in  Peru.  It  is  stated  by  Dr. 
A.  T.  Thompson,  in  his  Dispensatory,  that  most  of  the  mer 
cury  used  in  this  country  is  brought  from  Germany.  But, 
whatever  may  have  been  the  case  formerly,  this  is  not  cer- 
tainly true  at  present.  On  the  contrary,  of  314,286  lbs.  of 
quicksilver  imported  in  1831,  none  was  brought  from  Ger- 
many: 269,558  lbs.  were  brought  direct  from  Spain,  and 
13,714  lbs.  from  Gibraltar;  of  the  latter  a  part  was  derived 
from  Carniola,  and  a  part  from  Spain ;  31,014  lbs.  were 
brought  from  Italy.  Only  192,310  lbs.  were  retained  for 
home  consumption  in  1831.  (Pari.  Paper,  No.  550.  Sess. 
1833.)  Quicksilver  is  produced  in  several  of  the  provinces 
of  China.  During  the  war,  when  the  intercourse  between 
Europe  and  America  was  interrupted,  the  price  of  quicksil- 
ver rose  to  such  a  height  in  the  latter  that  it  answered  to 
import  it  from  China ;  but  since  the  peace  it  has  been  regu- 
larlv  exported  to  the  latter.  At  an  average  of  the  14  years 
ending  with  1828,  the  imports  of  quicksilver  by  the  English 
and  Americans  into  Canton  amounted  to  648,085  II  is.  a  year, 
worth  340,262  dollars.  (Lords'  Report  of  1831,  p.  657.) 
Besides  its  uses  in  medicine,  mercury  is  extensively  em- 
ployed in  the  amalgamation  of  the  noble  metals,  in  water- 
gilding,  the  making  of  vermilion,  the  silvering  of  looking- 
glasses,  the  making  of  barometers  and  thermometers,  &c. 

ME'RGER,  in  Law,  is  the  destruction  of  a  lesser  estate  in 
Zz  737 


MERGUS. 

lands  and  tenements  by  (he  acquisition  of  s  greater  estate  in 
the  same  immediate!]  succeeding  by  th<  same  party  and  in 
the  same  riirli t .  Thus  an  estate  for  years  is  said  to  merge, 
or  sink,  in  an  estate  for  life,  If  there  be  no  other  estate  vesl 
ed  in  another  person  Intervening  between  the  two;  and  an 
estate  for  life  in  an  estate  of  inheritance.  There  is  no  mer- 
ger of  :ui  estate  tail. 

ME'RGUS.  (I,at.  mergus,  the  name  of  a  sea-bird,  sup- 
posed to  apply  to  the  cormorant.)  A  Linmean  genus  of  An- 
serine birds,  characterized  by  a  beak  thinner  and  more  cy- 
lindrical than  that  of  the  ducks,  and  With  each  mandible 
armed  at  its  margins  With  small  pointed  teeth  directed  hack 
wards,  like  those  of  a  saw ;  the  upper  mandible  is  curved 
downwards  at  its  extremity.  The  goosander  (Mergus  scr- 
ratar)  and  the  merganser  [JWergns  merganser)  are  exam- 
ples of  this  genus. 

MERI'DIAN.  (Lat.  meridies,  mid-day.)  In  Astronomy, 
a  great  circle  of  the  sphere  passing  through  the  earth's  axis 
and  the  zenith  of  the  spectator.  It  is  the  circle  on  which 
the  latitudes  of  places  are  reckoned,  commencing  from  the 
equator,  which  it  intersects  at  right  angles.  The  terrestrial 
meridian  is  the  great  circle  (or  rather  ellipse)  formed  by  the 
intersection  of  the  surface  of  the  earth  with  the  plane  pas- 
sing through  the  poles  and  the  place  of  the  spectator.    See 

MERI'DIAN  ALTITUDE.  The  altitude,  or  height  above 
the  horizon,  &c.  in  degrees,  of  any  celestial  object,  when  it 
crosses  the  meridian  of  a  place. 

MERI'DIAN,  FIRST.  The  meridian  from  which  longi- 
tudes are  reckoned.  The  choice  of  the  first  meridian  is  en- 
tirely arbitrary;  and  most  nations  reckon  the  longitudes 
from  their  capital,  or  meridian  passing  through  their  princi- 
pal observatories.  Thus,  in  English  works,  the  longitude  is 
reckoned  from  Greenwich;  in  French,  from  Paris;  in  Rus- 
sian, from  St.  Petersburg,  &c.  Ptolemy  employed  the  Ca- 
nary Islands,  the  French  formerly  reckoned  from  Ferro,  and 
the  Dutch  from  the  Peak  of  Teneriffe.  Mercator  chose  the 
island  Del  Corvo.     See  Longitude. 

MERIDIAN  LINE.  A  line  traced  on  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  coinciding  with  the  intersection  of  the  meridian  of  the 
place  with  the  sensible  horizon. 

MERIDIAN  OF  A  GLOBE,  OR  THE  BRASS  MERIDI- 
AN, is  a  graduated  circular  ring,  within  which  the  globe  is 
suspended  and  revolves,  and  by  means  of  which  it  is  con- 
nected with  the  frame  bearing  the  horizontal  scale.  Meridi- 
an lines  are  also  traced  on  the  globe  itself,  usually  at  15° 
distance,  or  a  difference  of  longitude  corresponding  to  an 
hour  of  time.  It  is  probable  that  these,  with  the  parallels 
of  latitude,  susigested  to  Descartes  the  idea  of  co-ordinates, 
which  he  applied  so  successfully  to  connect  algebra  with 
geometry. 

MERI'NO  SHEEP.  A  breed  of  sheep  till  lately  peculiar 
to  Spain,  but  now  reared  in  Saxony,  England,  and  more  par- 
ticularly in  Australia,  chiefly  for  the  superior  fineness  of 
their  wool.  The  word  merino  signifies  an  overseer  of  pas- 
ture lands,  and  is  applied  to  this  breed  of  sheep,  because,  in 
Spain,  they  are  kept  in  immense  flocks,  under  a  system  of 
shepherds,  with  a  chief  as  a  head,  and  with  a  general  right 
of  pasturage  all  over  the  kingdom.  The  best  flocks  of  Span- 
ish merinos  are  found  in  Leon  and  Castile :  of  the  Saxon 
variety,  at  Stolpen  and  Rochsberg;  but  merinoes  are  to  be 
found  in  North  America,  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  above 
all  in  New  South  Wales,  which  promises  to  be  one  of  the 
principal  woolgrowing  countries  in  the  world.     See  Sheep. 

ME'RLON.  In  Fortification,  the  part  of  the  parapet  or 
epaulement  included  between  two  embrasures. 

MF/RMAID.  (Germ,  nicer,  sea,  and  magd.  maid.)  A 
fabulous  creature;  the  fore  part  woman,  the  hinder  half 
fish.  The  species  of  actually  existing  animals  that,  viewed 
at  a  distance  in  the  sea,  may  have  originated  the  idea  of 
mermen  and  mermaids,  are  the  cetaceous  dugong  and  sun- 
ntee ;  these  have  their  fore  fins  rudely  fashioned  like  arms 
and  hands,  and  terminate  behind  in  a  fish-like  tail.  The 
nipples  are  pectoral ;  and  they  are  often  seen  ascending  to 
the  surface  to  breathe,  clasping  their  suckling  young  to  the 
breast. 

MERO'PIDANS,  Meropida.  The  family  of  Insessorial 
birds,  of  which  the  bee-cater  (JSIcrnps)  is  the  type. 

ME'ROS.  (Gr.)  In  Architecture,  the  plane  face  between 
the  channels  in  the  triglvphs  of  the  Doric,  order. 

MERU'LIDANS,  JUerulida.  The  family  of  Dentirostral 
perchers,  of  which  the  thrush  (Mrruln)  is  the  type. 

MESE'MBRYA'NTHEMUM  (Gr.  vzaot,  the  middle,  (Ipvw, 
I  grow,  and  nvOoi,  a  flower),  is  a  very  lame  genus  of  succu- 
lent Cape  plants,  of  which  many  species  are  conspicuous  fur 

the  beauty  of  their  flowers,  which  expand  in  sunshine,  and 
close  up  in  gloomy  weather.  They  are  chiefly  Interesting 
on  account  Of  the  hygrometical  quality  of  their  fruit,  which, 
when  wetted.  Opens  out  into  numerous  radiating  valves,  and 
when  dry  contracts  with  force  into  a  compact  and  appa- 
rently solid  body.  This  fruit  is  sometimes  called  the  fig- 
marigold. 

738 


MESSIAH. 

MESENTERY.  (Gr.  ptoos,  and  tvrcpov,  an  intestine' 
Tlie  membrane  by  which  the  intestines  are  attached  to  the 
vertebra";  it  is  formed  of  a  duplicative  of  the  peritoneum, 
and  supports  the  nerves  and  vessels  of  the  intestines. 

MESMERISM.     See  Magnetism,  Animal. 

MESNE  PROCESS.  Such  process  as  intervenes  be- 
tween the  beginning  and  end  of  a  suit.  It  is  opposed  to 
final  process,  or  that  which  takes  place  byway  of  execution 
after  judgment.  Imprisonment  for  debt  on  mesne  process 
was  effected  by  the  bare  affidavit  of  one  person,  stating 
that  another  owes  him  £20.  It  is  abolished  under  certain 
exceptions,  by  1  &  2  Vict.,  c.  110.     See  Arrest. 

MESOCO'LON.  (Gr.  peaos,  and  ku\oS,  the  colon.)  The 
mysentery  of  the  colon :  it  is  an  extensive  duplicature  of  the 
peritonaeum. 

ME'SOLABE.  (Gr.  ptaoc,  and  XapGavfo,  /  take.)  An 
instrument  employed  by  the  ancients  for  finding  two  mean 
proportionals  between  two  given  lines,  which  were  required 
in  the  problem  of  the  duplication  of  the  cube.  (See  Euto- 
cius  on  the  Works  of  Archimedes,  and  the  3d  Book  of  Pap- 
pus.) 

ME'SOLYTE.  (Gr.  pcaoc,  and  \i9oc,  a  stone.)  A  hy- 
drated  silicate  of  alumina,  lime,  and  soda.  It  is  also  called 
needle-stone. 

MESOPHY'LLUM  (Gr.  pctroc,  and  QvWov,  a  leaf),  is  the 
parenchymatous  tissue  forming  the  fleshy  part  of  a  leaf  be- 
tween the  upper  and  lower  integuments. 

MESOTHO'RAX  (Gr.  pecos,  and  $u>(>al,  the  chest),  in 
Entomology,  is  the  posterior  segment  of  the  alitrunk,  which 
bears  the  posterior  pair  of  wings  and  the  third  or  posterior 
pair  of  legs. 

ME'SOTYPE.  (Gr.  firsro?,  and  twos,  form.)  A  hydrated 
silicate  of  alumina  and  soda.  It  has  also  been  called  natro- 
lite.  It  occurs  in  trap  rocks  and  in  the  ancient  lava  of 
Vesuvius. 

MESS,  in  Military  Language,  signifies  the  public  dinner 
prepared  either  for  the  officers  of  the  same  regiment,  or  for 
those  of  different  regiments,  if  in  garrison,  and  to  the  support 
of  which  they  are  bound  to  contribute  a  portion  of  their 
pay.  Generally  speaking,  only  married  officers  are  ex- 
empted from  contributing  to,  and  dining  at,  the  mess;  the 
rest  preside  over  it  in  rotation,  without  respect  to  military 
rank. 

ME'SSENGER.  In  Naval  Language,  a  hawser  or  small 
cable  of  about  sixty  fathoms  in  length,  wound  round  the 
capstan,  and  having  its  two  ends  lashed  together.  When 
the  anchor  is  to  be  weighed  this  rope  is  attached  to  the  ca- 
ble by  the  nippers,  and  thus  nets  as  an  endless  rope.  Chain 
messengers  are  sometimes  emploved. 

ME'SSENGERS,  KING'S.  Certain  officers  employed  in 
the  secretary  of  state's  department  to  convey  despatches, 
either  at  home  or  abroad.  They  were  formerly  employed 
in  serving  the  secretaries'  warrants  for  the  apprehension  of 
parties  charged  with  high  treason,  or  other  grave  offences ; 
and  in  such  cases  it  was  not  unusual  for  them  to  detain 
their  prisoners  at  their  own  houses.  In  the  year  1713  the 
ambassador  of  the  emperor  of  Morocco  was  taken  into  cus- 
tody by  a  king's  messenger,  and  released  only  after  a  lapse 
of  six  months. 

MESSI'AD.  The  name  given  to  the  only  modern  epic 
poem  of  Germany ;  the  subject  of  which  is,  as  the  name  im- 
plies, the  sufferings  and  triumphs  of  the  Messiah.  It  is 
written  in  hexameter  verse,  for  which,  as  we  have  else- 
where observed,  the  German  is  better  fitted  than  any  mod- 
ern language,  and  consists  of  20  books.  The  publication  of 
this  poem  procured  for  its  author  unbounded  reputation  ; 
but  posterity  does  not  appear  to  sanction  the  high  award 
pronounced  on  it  by  contemporaneous  writers:.  Sehlegel, 
indeed,  maintains  that  the  modern  literature  of  Germany 
may  be  said  to  date  from  the  Messiad ;  but  this  high  praise 
must  be  understood  as  referring  chiefly  to  its  having  been 
among  the  first  productions  in  which  the  power  and  re- 
sources of  the  German  language  were  developed,  rather 
than  to  its  innate  merits  as  an  epic  poem,  or  to  the  influence 
it  has  exercised  over  the  national  poetry  of  Germany.  The 
reputation  of  Klopstock  among  his  own  countrymen  rests 
chiefly  on  his  Odes;  and  it  must  be  admitted  that  in  all 
those  parts  of  his  epic  poem  into  which  a  lyric  spirit  could 
be  infused — in  other  words,  whenever  the  feelings  or  the 
sympathies  were  to  be  excited — there  arc  few  poets,  either 
ancient  or  modem,  to  whom  he  deserves  to  be  postponed ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  dignity  and  sublimity  of  his 
sentiments  are  not  unfrerpientlv  disfigured  by  the  pedantry 
and  affectation  of  his  style,  and  the  tediousness  of  his  epi- 
sodes. 

MESSI'AH.  An  old  Hebrew  word,  signifying  the  anoint- 
ed or  sacred,  corresponding  with  the  Creek  word  ypinToi;; 
and  in  this  Sense  applied  to  the  Saviour,  as  it  was  anciently 
applied  by  the  .lews  to  their  prophets,  priests,  and  kings,  it 
being  Customary  to  anoint  all  these  high  personages  when 
they  assumed  their  office.  We  read  in  Psalm  ii.  2,  "The 
kings  of  the  earth  set  themselves  against  the  Lord  and 


MESSUAGE. 

against  his  anointed"  (i.  e.  his  Messiah) ;  and  in  Psalm  xlv., 
7,  "Therefore  God,  even  thy  God,  hath  anointed  thee  with 
the  oil  of  gladness  above  thy  fellows."  This  anointing, 
therefore,  was  not  a  sensible  unction  with  external  oil  or 
ointment,  but  a  symbol  of  it;  a  spiritual,  an  internal  unction 
of  grace,  given  by  the  Holy  Ghost — "And  God  gave  not  the 
spirit  by  measure  unto  him."  St.  Luke  tells  us  that  our 
Saviour  applied  this  anointing  to  himself  at  the  time  when 
he  entered  the  synagogue  of  Nazareth.  In  the  synagogue 
service  there  is  a  pause  for  any  one  to  speak  or  read  who 
can  enlighten  or  instruct  the  people :  when  this  period  came, 
our  Saviour  stepped  forward,  took  up  the  Hebrew  roll,  and 
opened  it  at  the  book  of  the  prophet  Isaiah,  and  read  aloud 
Uiis  passage:  "The  spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because 
he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor,"  &c. ; 
and  he  closed  the  book,  and  gave  it  to  the  minister,  and 
sat  down.  The  eyes  of  all  them  that  were  in  the  synagogue 
were  fastened  on  him ;  and  he  said,  "This  day  is  this  scrip- 
ture fulfilled  in  your  ears;  and  all  bare  him  witness,  and 
wondered  at  the  gracious  words  which  proceeded  out  of  his 
mouth."    (Luke,  iv.,  17,  &c.) 

ME'SSUAGE  (modern  Lat.  messuagium),  in  Law,  is  said 
to  be  properly  a  dwelling-house  with  a  small  portion  of  land 
adjacent,  or  the  site  of  the  manor.  It  is  now  one  of  the 
general  words  used  in  the  legal  description  of  dwelling- 
houses  with  the  land  attached. 

MESTI'NO.  In  Spanish  America,  the  child  of  a  Spaniard 
or  Creole  and  a  native  Indian.    See  Mulatto. 

METABO'LIANS.  (Gr.  ncraSoXn,  change.)  A  subclass 
of  insects,  including  all  those  vvliich  undergo  a  metamor- 
phosis. 

METACA'RPAL.  (Gr.  ficra,  between,  and  Kap-rro$,  in  the 
sense  of  the  wrist.)  Belonging  to  the  metacarpus,  or  that 
part  of  the  hand  which  is  between  the  wrist  and  fingers. 

METACE'NTRE.  (Gr.  fiera,  and  kcvtPov,  centre.)  A 
term  first  applied  by  Bouguer  to  that  part  of  a  floating  body 
in  which,  when  the  body  is  disturbed  from  the  position  of 
equilibrium,  the  vertical  line  passing  through  the  centre  of 


METAMORPHOSIS. 

buoyancy  meets  the  line  which,  when  the  body  is  at  rest, 
passes  through  the  centre  of  buoyancy  and  centre  of  gravity. 
In  order  that  the  body  may  float  with  stability,  the  position 
of  the  metacentre  must  be  above  that  of  the  centre  of  gravi- 
ty.    See  Hydrostatics. 

METAGA'LLIC  ACID.  When  gallic  acid  is  rapidly  heat- 
ed up  to  about  480°,  carbonic  acid  and  water  are  evolved, 
and  a  black  product  remains  soluble  in  the  alkalies,  and 
forming  insoluble  compounds  with  many  of  the  metallic  ox- 
ides. This  product  has  been  termed  metagallic  acid;  its 
ultimate  elements  are  12  atoms  of  carbon  =72,  3  atoms  of 
oxygen  =  24,  and  3  atoms  of  hydrogen  =  3,  making  its  equiv- 
alent =99. 

METALLOI'DS.  (Gr.  ptraAW,  a  metal,  and  ciio;, 
form.)  A  term  sometimes  applied  by  chemists  to  the  in- 
flammable non-metallic  bodies,  such  as  sulphur,  phospho- 
rus, &c.  The  metallic  bases  of  the  fixed  alkalies  and  alka- 
line earths  have  also  been  by  some  called  metalloids,  in 
consequence,  probably,  of  their  low  specific  gravity. 

METALLURGY.  (Gr.  peraMov,  and  epyov,  a  work) 
The  art  of  separating  metals  from  their  ores.  The  principa. 
metallurgic  processes  are  described  under  the  respective 
metals. 

ME'TALS  (Gr.  ptraWov),  are  distinguished  by  their  very 
peculiar  lustre,  arising  out  of  their  opacity  and  reflective 
power  in  regard  to  light.  They  conduct  electricity  and  heat ; 
and  they  have  not  been  resolved  into  other  forms  of  matter, 
so  that  they  are  regarded  as  simple  or  elementary  sub- 
stances. When  their  compounds  are  electrolysed  the  metals 
appear  at  the  negative  surface,  and  are  hence  considered  as 
electro-positive  bodies.  They  are  enumerated  in  the  fol- 
lowing table,  together  with  the  names  of  the  chemists  by 
whom  they  were  discovered,  the  date  of  their  discovery, 
their  specific  gravities,  melting  points,  equivalent  or  atomic 
weights,  and  symbolic  abbreviations.  For  their  individual 
distinctive  characters,  see  the  respective  metals.  Lantanum 
is  omitted,  inasmuch  as  its  properties  and  combining  weight 
have  not  been  accurately  examined. 


Authors,  and  Dates  of  their 

Specific 

Melting 

Equivalent 
Weights. 

Abbreviations 

Names  of  Metals. 

Discovery. 

Gravity. 

Points. 

or  Symbols. 

1.  Gold     ....    ©1 

'    19-25 

Fahr. 

201 6° 

200 

au. 

2.  Silver  ....     J) 

3.  Iron     .    .    .    .     S 

(Known  to  the  ancients,  and 

10-47 

1873 

110 

ag- 
fe. 

represented  by  the  annex- 

7-78 

2800 ?  s.  {.* 

28 

4.  Copper     ...     9   I 

5.  Mercury  ...     5 

6.  Lead    .    .    .    .     ^ 

ed  planetary  symbols,  with 

8-89 

1996 

64 

cu. 

which  they  were  supposed 

13-56 

39 

200 

hg. 
pi. 

to  be  mysteriously  connect- 

11-35 

612 

104 

7.  Tin      ....     4. 

ed.) 

k      7-29 

442 

58 

sta. 

8.  Antimony     .... 

Basil  Valentine      .    .    1490 

6-70 

65 

an. 

Agricola 1530 

9-80 

497 

72 

bi. 

Paracelsus?   ....    1530 

700 

773 

32 

zn. 

11.  Arsenic    .    .    .    .     ) 

(      5-88 

38 

ar. 

12.  Cobalt      ....     J 

(      8-53 

2810? 

30 

cob. 

13.  Platinum      .... 

Wood 1741 

20-98 

oh.  bp.f 

96 

pi  a. 

14.  Nickel 

Cronstedt 1751 

8-27 

2810? 

28 

nic. 

15.  Manganese   .... 

Gahn 1774 

6-85 

s.  f. 

28 

man. 

16.  Tungsten      .... 

D'Elhuiart     ....    1781 

17-60 

100 

tu. 

17.  Tellurium     .... 

611 

620? 

32 

tel. 

18.  Molybdenum    .    .    . 

Hielm 1782 

7-40 

oh.  bp. 

48 

mol. 

19.  Uranium      .... 

Klaproth 1789 

900 

oh.  bp. 

217 

ur. 

20.  Titanium     .... 

Gregor 1791 

5-30 

oh.  bp. 

24 

ti. 

21.  Chromium   .... 

Vauquelin     ....    1797 

oh.  bp. 

28 

chr. 

22.  Columbium  .... 

oh.  bp. 

185 

col. 

23.  Palladium    .    .    .     ) 

24.  Rhodium      .    .    .     \ 

Wollaston     ....    1803 

<  '  11-50 

oh.  bp. 

54 
45 

pal. 
rh. 

25.  Iridium    .    .    .    .     ) 

26.  Osmium   ....     J 

Tennant 1803 

|;     ; 

(  oh.  bp. 
(  oh.  bp. 

96 
100 

ir. 

OS. 

48 

ce. 

28.  Potassium     .    .    .    ") 

(    0-86 

136 

40 

po. 

29.  Sodium    .... 

0-97 

190 

24 

so. 

30.  Barium     ....}• 

Davy 1807 

V        • 

70 

ba. 

31.  Strontium     ... 

1-        • 

44 

str. 

32.  Calcium   ....    J 

I.        • 

20 

cal. 

33.  Cadmium     .... 

Stromeyer     ....    1818 

8-60 

442 

56 

cad. 

Arfwedson    ....    1818 

10 

li. 

35.  Silicium  .    .    .    .     ) 

i  '.        '. 

8 

36.  Zirconium     .    .    .     \ 

1:    : 

30 

zir. 

37.  Aluminum  .    .    .     i 

i- 

10 

al. 

38.  Glucinum     .    .    .    \ 

Wiihler 1828 

\-    • 

18 

gl- 

39.  Yttrium   .    .    .    .    ) 

I.    ■ 

32 

yt 

40.  Thorium      .... 

60 

th. 

41.  Magnesium  .... 

12 

mag. 

42.  Vanadium    .... 

Seftstrom 1830 

68 

va. 

METAMECO'NIC  ACID,  is  produced  by  boiling  the  aque- 
ous solution  of  meconic  acid.  It  evolves  carbonic  acid,  and 
becomes  brown.    Two  atoms  of  meconic  acid  are  thus  re- 


solved into  1  of  metameconic  acid  and  2  of  carbonic  acid. 
It  is  represented  bv  12  car.  +  4  h.  + 10  ox. 

METAMO'RPHOSIS.     (Gr.  pera,  indicating  change,  and 


'  Smith's  forge. 


(  Oxyhydrogen  blow-pipe. 


739 


METAPHOR. 

popQt),  form.)  Transformation.  The  heroic  poem  of  Ovid, 
in  which  he  recounts  the  most  celebrated  mythological  nar- 
ratives respecting  the  gods  of  Greece  and  Rome,  and  the 
changes  of  this  description  effected  by  their  supernatural 
power,  is  called  (he  Bn,>ks  of  MeUsmarjSnemea. 

Mktamo'kpiiosis.  In  Entomology,  the  change  of  form 
Which,  the  Metabolian  insects  and  wine  otter  animals  under- 
go in  passing  from  one  stase  of  existence  to  another ;  in  each 
of  Which  they  manifest  different  habits,  and  have  a  different 
organization.  The  three  stages  of  a  Lepidopterous  insect 
ore  larva,  pupa,  and  imago. 

METAPHOR.  (Gt.  neraQipw,  I  transfer :  indicating  the 
substitution  of  one  word  for  another  of  similar  meaning.) 
J:i  Rhetoric,  a  figure  by  which  a  word  is  transferred  from 
the  subject  to  which  it  properly  belongs,  and  applied  to  an- 
other which  has  some  similitude  to  its  proper  subject,  with 
a  view  to  give  energy  to  the  expression  of  the  former.  A 
comparison  or  simile  (see  Comparison)  appear:,  to  be  only 
a  metaphor  with  the  addition  of  a  sign  denoting  that  it  has 
been  thus  transferred.  Thus  "  the  silver  moon"  is  a  meta- 
phorical expression  ;  the  "moon,  bright  as  silver,"  a  compar- 
ison. As  language  advances  from  the  mere  indication  of 
sensible  objects  by  names  to  the  expression  of  the  feelings 
and  wants  of  a  complicated  mode  of  life,  it  becomes  more 
and  more  metaphysical  in  character,  until  it  is  found  that  a 
very  laree  proportion  of  the  words  in  common  use  are  either 
metaphors,  or  are  words  derived  from  foreign  languages,  and 
whose  primary  sense  as  derivatives  is  the  same  with  their 
secondary  or  metaphorical  sense  in  the  language  from  which 
they  came.  Thus,  the  English  word  "  character,"  used  a 
few  lines  above,  is  drawn  from  the  metaphysical  use  of  the 
Greek  \apuKT>jp,  which,  in  its  primary  signification,  denoted 
something  engraven  on  a  hard  substance.  Metaphors  have 
been  divided  by  writers  on  rhetoric  into  several  classes ; 
but  the  most  appropriate  are  those  which  are  termed  analo- 
gical, and  which  derive  their  force,  not  from  any  actual  re- 
semblance between  two  objects,  but  from  a  resemblance  be- 
tween the  relations  which  they  bear  respectively  to  certain 
other  objects.  Thus  "  the  sea  of  life"  is  a  common  and  ap- 
propriate metaphor;  not  from  any  resemblance  between  the 
idea  of  the  visible  sea  and  the  complex  notion  of  that  ab- 
straction which  we  term  human  life,  but  because  there  is  a 
fancied  similarity  between  the  position  of  navigators  in  an 
uncertain  voyage  and  that  of  human  beings  engaged  in  the 
manifold  scenes  of  life. 

ME'TAPHOSPHO'RIC  ACID.  A  term  by  which  some 
chemists  designate  the  dry,  flaky  acid  obtained  by  burning 
phosphorus  under  a  bell  class  of  air  or  oxvgen. 

METAPHY'SICS.  (Gr.  pera,  after,  and  (pvtric,  nature.) 
A  word  employed,  in  popular  usage,  to  denote  all  those  in- 
quiries which  are  conversant  about  objects  other  than  mere- 
ly physical  and  sensible.  It  is  an  observation  of  Sir  James 
Mackintosh,  that  "  the  term  metaphysics  affords  a  specimen 
of  all  the  faults  which  the  name  of  a  science  can  combine. 
To  those  who  know  only  their  own  language,  it  must,  at 
their  entrance  on  the  study,  convey  no  meaning.  It  points 
their  attention  to  nothing.  If  they  examine  the  language  in 
which  its  parts  are  significant,  they  will  be  misled  into  the 
pernicious  error  of  believing  that  it  seeks  something  more 
than  the  interpretation  of  nature.  It  is  only  by  examining 
the  history  of  ancient  philosophy  that  the  probable  origin 
of  this  name  will  be  found,  in  the  application  of  it  as  the 
running  title  of  several  essays  of  Aristotle,  which  were  pla- 
ced in  a  collection  of  the  manuscripts  of  that  great  philoso- 
pher after  his  treatise  on  physics."  The  censure  thus  con- 
veyed we  cannot,  with  all  deference  for  so  eminent  an  au- 
thority, regard  as  more  than  partially  correct.  Though  the 
account  of  the  origin  of  the  word  is,  as  far  as  it  goes,  the  true 
one,  it  does  not  comprehend  the  whole  truth. 

If  Sir  James  Mackintosh  had  examined  the  contents  of 
those  treatises  of  Aristotle  to  which  he  adverts,  he  would 
have  found  that  the  title  metaphysics  was  prefixed  to  them, 
not,  as  his  words  imply,  merely  because  they  happened,  ac- 
cording to  the  arrangement  of  the  compiler,  to  follow  the 
physical  treatise;  but  also  because  there  was  the  best  possi- 
ble reason  tor  their  being  so  placed,  in  the  fact  that  the  in- 
quiries which  compose  them  were  conceived  by  Aristotle 
himself  to  admit  of  a  general  distinction  from  that  depart- 
ment of  Inquiry  which  he  included  under  the  name  of  phj  b- 
ics.  The  first  few  chapters  of  the  ra  ncra  rd  <pvtriKii  are 
devoted  to  the  elucidation  of  this  very  distinction,  and  to  the 
endeavour  to  clear  up  the  popular  contusions  on  the  sub- 
ject, by  marking  at  once  the  objects  of  the  highest  philoso- 
phy, ami  the  faculty  whereby  they  were  to  be  apprehended. 
Admitting,  therefore,  as  we  most  readily  do.  that  great  mis- 
apprehensions are  popularly  entertained  with  regard  to  the 
nature  of  metaphysics,  we  shall  endeavour,  as  far  as  the 
limits  of  the  present  article  will  permit  us.  to  remove  such 
mist;i'  gulshing  the  science  of  metaphysics  from 

other  sciences,  with  which,  as  they  are  closely  connected 
with  it,  it  has  too  frequently  been  confounded. 
Metaphysics  we  understand  to  be  the  science  which  re- 
74U 


METAYER, 

gards  the  ultimate  grounds  of  being,  as  distinguished  from 
its  phenomenal  modifications.  As  a  means  of  attaining  this 
end,  it  considers  the  correlative  of  being,  knowledge;  and 
know  ledge,  not  merely  in  reference  to  its  form,  as  it  is  capa- 
ble of  law  and  regulation,  for  that  is  the  province  of  logic— 
nor  in  regard  to  its  history,  and  the  successive  stages  of  its 
ileveli  ipment,  which  are  the  objects  of  psychology,  or  mental 
philosophy— but  knowledge  as  it  is  in  relation  "to  being,  or 
objective  reality.  Philosophers  have  not  been  satisfied  with 
marking  the  resemblances  of  the  appearances  in  nature,  and 
the  order  in  which  they  succeed  each  other,  whether  those 
appearances  were  outward  and  sensible,  or  internal  and  re- 
vived by  observation  of  their  own  mental  processes :  they 
have  not  even  been  content  with  the  discovery  that  their 
knowledge  of  phenomena  was  self-consistent,  and  obeyed 
certain  determined  or  determinable  canons  or  forms ;  they 
have  felt  that  the  highest  end  of  science  could  then  only  be 
attained  when  all  knowledge  was  perceived  to  depend  on  a 
one  ultimate  principle,  which  should  demonstrate  at  once 
its  consistency  with  itself  and  its  absolute  foundation  in  re- 
ality. That  the  science  of  this  ultimate  unity  is  that  to 
which  the  greatest  philosophers  have  with  more  or  less  dis- 
tinctness assigned  the  name  of  metaphysics,  we  may  safely 
appeal  to  the  history  of  philosophy  for  a  sufficient  demon- 
stration. 

Whether  the  object  thus  proposed  were  one  which  the 
human  faculties  are  capable  of  reaching  is  itself  the  first 
problem  of  metaphysics,  and  enters  not,  therefore,  into  that 
with  which  we  have  at  present  to  do — a  definition  of  the 
word.  We  may,  indeed,  with  Hume  and  his  followers,  re- 
ject all  such  attempts  as  chimerical,  and  endeavour  to  re- 
solve the  speculations  to  which  they  have  led  into  the  delu- 
sions of  association  or  caprice ;  or  we  may,  with  Kant,  con- 
fine ourselves  to  the  critique  of  our  mental  laws,  and,  as  the 
result  of  our  investigation,  pronounce  that  we  possess  no 
faculty  capable  of  reaching  outward  reality.  In  the  first 
case,  if  we  have  been  careful  to  ascertain  that  our  analysis 
has  at  every  step  been  legitimate,  we  are  bound  to  admit, 
not  that  metaphysics  is  an  impossible  science,  but  that  it 
does  not  yet  exist  as  a  science.  In  the  second  instance,  we 
are  constrained  to  allow  that  all  reality  is  subjective  only, 
and  that  we  can  only  know  things  in  relation  to  our  own 
modes  of  knowing  ;  and  this  is  itself  a  metaphysical  princi- 
ple, preclusive  of  farther  inquiry.  In  defiance,  however, 
alike  of  the  sneers  of  the  skeptic,  and  the  yet  profounder 
skepticism  of  the  critical  philosophy,  our  own  days  have 
witnessed  the  rise,  in  Germany  and  France,  of  more  than 
one  professed  system  of  metaphysical  science.  The  fre- 
quency of  such  endeavours  as  these,  undertaken,  as  they 
are,  by  men  of  such  acknowledged  acuteness  and  philosoph- 
ical insight  as  Fichte,  Schelling,  and  Hegel,  even  if  they  in- 
spire us  with  no  hope  of  a  nearer  approximation  to  the  ob- 
jects which  they  pursue,  may  at  least  serve  to  convince  us 
that  the  propensity  to  such  speculations  constitutes  an  ina- 
lienable and  indestructible  instinct  of  our  intellectual  and 
moral  nature. 

ME'TAPLASM.  (Gr.  prep,  utra,  signifying  change,  and 
■tt\aaaw,  I  form.)  In  Grammar,  a  general  term,  compre- 
hending all  those  figures  of  diction  which  consist  in  altera- 
tions of  the  letters  or  syllables  of  a  word  ;  taking  place  in 
three  ways — by  augmentation,  diminution,  or  immutation. 
1.  Augmentation  at  the  beginning,  prosthesis  ;  in  the  mid- 
dle, epentkesis  ;  at  the  end,  paragoge ;  to  which  may  be 
added  disresis,  adding  to  the  number  of  syllables  by  the 
resolution  of  a  diphthong.  2.  Diminution  at  the  beginning, 
apharcsis  ;  in  the  middle,  syncope  ;  at  the  end,  apocope;  by 
contraction  of  two  vowels,  synceresis  or  crasis.  3.  Immu- 
tation, antithesis,  signifying  the  change  of  one  letter  for  an- 
other ;  metathesis,  transposition  of  the  order  of  letters.  (See 
those  respective  heads.) 

META'STASIS.  (Gr.  /iera,  and  araoic,  station.)  The 
transference  or  translation  of  a  disease  from  one  part  of  the 
bodv  to  another. 

M'ETATA'KSrS.  (Gr.  »tra,  and  rapaoc,  heel.)  The  in- 
step is  -jo  called  bv  surirical  writers. 

METATHESIS.  (Gr.  utra,  and  &ectc,  position.)  In 
Grammar,  the  transposition  of  the  letters  of  a  word;  a  fig- 
ure of  uncommon  occurrence  in  modern  orthography,  but 
which  very  ordinarily  takes  place  in  the  gradual  formation 
of  the  dialects  of  a  language :  e.  g.,  German,  ross  ;  English, 
horse.     See  Metapi.vsm. 

ME'TATOME.  (Gr.  utra,  and  rtuvu,  I  cut.)  In  Archi- 
tecture, the  space  between  one  dentil  and  the  next 

META'YER.  (Fr. ;  in  Italian,  mezzaiuolo;  Lat.  colonus 
medietarius.)  In  France  and  Italy,  a  farmer  holding  land 
on  condition  of  yielding  half  the  produce  to  the  proprietor, 
from  whom  he  receives  tools  and  stock.  Land  thus  occu- 
pied is  said  to  be  held  in  metairir.     The  conditions  of  the 

contract,  however,  vary  essentially  in  different  countries 

.and  districts.     The  antiquity  Of  this  mode  of  letting  land  is 

very  great    it  i-  probably  the  same  which  was  called  by  the 
ilomaas  locativ  in  partilmt  (see  l'lin.  Epist.) ;  and  the  farmer 


METEMPSYCHOSIS. 

thus  holding  was  also  termed  colonus  partiarius.  It  now 
prevails  extensively  in  the  south  and  middle  of  France, 
throughout  Italy,  in  parts  of  Spain,  and,  it  is  said,  in  the 
East.  For  a  very  valuable  summary  of  the  character  and 
effects  of  this  agricultural  system,  the  reader  may  be  refer- 
red to  Mr.  Jones's  Essay  on  Wealth  ;  and  for  a  highly-col- 
oured view  of  the  state  of  the  peasantry  under  it  in  some 
parts  of  Italy,  to  JI.  Sismondi's  Etudes  sur  C  Economic  Po- 
litique. 

METE'MPSYCHO'SIS.  (Gr.  p.tra,  change,  and  ipv%V- 
soul.)  A  Greek  word  denoting  the  migrations  of  the  soul 
through  different  successive  bodies.  The  doctrine  of  the 
transmigration  of  souls  has  existed  in  the  belief  of  various 
religious  and  philosophical  sects  from  the  remotest  antiquity. 
It  formed  the  leading  doctrine  of  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
schools  of  philosophy  in  the  whole  heathen  world  (see 
Pythagorean  Philosophy)  ;  it  was  said,  too,  to  have  found 
numerous  adherents  in  Egypt ;  but  it  is  chiefly  among  the 
Indians  that  this  doctrine  has  taken  deep  and  permanent 
root.  With  them  it  appears  to  have  been  an  article  of  faith 
from  the  period  at  which  we  can  first  perceive  any  trace  of 
their  existence  as  a  nation ;  and  it  is  not  going  too  far  to  say 
that  not  only  all  the  opinions,  but  even  all  the  manners  of 
the  Indians,  are  at  this  hour  built  upon  this  doctrine.  The 
Indian  doctrine  of  metempsychosis  rests  on  the  supposition 
that  all  beings  derive  their  origin  from  God,  and  are  placed 
in  this  world  in  an  altogether  degraded  condition,  from 
which  they  all,  but  more  particularly  the  human  race,  must 
either  decline  into  still  lower  degradation,  or  rise  gradually 
to  a  higher  state  more  accordant  with  their  divine  original, 
according  as  they  give  ear  to  the  vicious  or  the  virtuous 
suggestions  of  their  nature.  It  must  be  remarked,  however, 
that  the  Indians  make  a  wide  distinction  between  the  fu- 
ture destiny  of  those  who  have  passed  through  life  tainted 
by  the  usual  vices  and  infirmities  of  human  nature,  and  those 
whose  lives  have  been  spent  in  the  constant  discharge  of  re- 
ligious duties.  In  the  latter  case,  the  soul  does  not  pass 
through  different  stages  of  existence,  "  but  proceeds  directly 
to  reunion  with  the  Supreme  Being,  with  which  it  is  identi- 
fied, as  a  river  at  its  confluence  with  the  sea  merges  therein 
altogether.  His  vital  faculties,  and  the  elements  of  which 
his  body  consists,  are  absorbed  completely  and  absolutely  ; 
both  name  and  form  cease  ;  and  he  becomes  immortal,  with- 
out parts  or  members."  (See  Mr.  Colebrooke's  translation 
of  Extracts  from  the  Brahma- Sutras,  in  the  Transac.  of  the 
Hoy.  Ms.  Soc.  vol.  ix.) 

METEMPTO'SIS.     See  Proemptosis. 

METEORO'LOGY.  (Gr.  nercupos,  aerial,  and  \oyoc, 
discourse.)  The  science  of  meteors,  or  the  science  which 
explains  the  various  phenomena  which  have  their  origin  in 
the  atmosphere.  Under  the  term  meteorology,  it  is  now 
usual  to  include,  not  merely  the  observation  of  the  accident- 
al phenomena  to  which  the  name  of  meteor  is  applied,  but 
every  terrestrial  as  well  as  atmospherical  phenomenon, 
whether  accidental  or  permanent  depending  on  the  action  of 
heat,  light,  electricity,  and  magnetism.  In  this  extended  signi- 
fication, meteorology  comprehends  climatology.and  the  great- 
er part  of  physical  geography;  and  its  object  is  to  determine 
the  diversified  and  incessantly  changing  influences  of  the 
four  great  agents  of  nature  now  named,  on  land,  in  the  sea, 
and  in  the  annosphere.  See  Atmosphere,  Climate,  and 
the  various  terms  referred  to  under  Meteors. 

ME'TEORS.  (Gr.  ptrewpa.)  A  name  given  to  any  phe- 
nomena of  a  transitory  nature  which  have  their  origin  in  the 
atmosphere.  Meteors  are  of  various  kinds.  Some  are  pro- 
duced simply  by  a  disturbance  of  the  equilibrium  of  the  at- 
mospheric fluid,  and  are  called  aerial  meteors.  (See  Winds, 
Whirlwinds.)  A  second  class  arise  from  the  deposition 
of  the  aqueous  particles  which  the  atmosphere  holds  in  so- 
lution, and  which  are  precipitated  in  consequence  of  a  dimi- 
nution of  pressure  or  temperature,  sometimes  in  a  fluid  and 
sometimes  in  a  concrete  form.  These  are  called  aqueous 
meteors.  (See  Dew,  Fogs,  Hail,  Rain,  Snow,  Vapour, 
&c.)  A  third  class  of  meteors,  or  atmospherical  phenome- 
na, are  caused  by  the  action  of  the  aqueous  particles  dis- 
persed in  the  atmosphere  on  the  rays  of  licht.  These  are 
called  luminous  meteors.  (See  Fata  Morgana,  Halo, 
Mirage,  Parhelia.  Rainbow.)  A  fourth  class  are  the  ig- 
neous meteors,  comprehending  those  which  present  the  phe- 
nomena distinctive  of  combustion.  See  Aerolite,  Aurora 
Borealis,  Fire  Balls,  Lightning,  Shooting  Stars,  &c. 

METHE'GLIN.  (Germ,  meth,  mead.)  A  beverage  made 
of  honev  and  water,  fermented  by  the  addition  of  yeast. 

ME'THOD.  From  the  Greek  word  pcdoSos,  which  sismi- 
fies  a  journey  undertaken  in  quest  of  anv  object,  or  a  way 
of  attaining  any  end :  hence,  in  Logic,  it  denotes  a  mode  of 
investigating  truth.  Thus  we  have  the  dialectic  method, 
the  inductive  method,  the  analytical  method,  &c.  See  Dia- 
lectics, Induction,  Analysis. 

ME'THODISTS.  The  body  of  Christians  to  whom  this 
name  is  chiefly  applied  are  the  followers  of  the  late  John 
Wesley,  the  founder  of  this  numerous  sect ;  hence  called 


METHODISTS. 

Wesleyan  Methodists.  But  the  term  bears  a  more  exten- 
sive meaning,  being  applied  also  to  several  bodies  or  sec- 
tions of  Christians  who  have  seceded  or  withdrawn  from 
the  Wesleyan  denomination. 

The  origin  of  the  Methodist  Society  took  place  at  Oxford 
in  1729.  After  the  Revolution,  when  the  principles  of  reli- 
gious toleration  were  recognised  amid  the  progress  of  free 
inquiry,  the  clergy  of  the  Established  Church  were  thought 
by  some  to  have  sunk  into  a  state  of  comparative  lukewarm- 
ness  and  indifference.  This  alleged  degeneracy  was  observ- 
ed with  pain  by  John  Wesley  and  his  brother  Charles,  when 
students  at  the  University  of  Oxford  ;  and  being  joined  by  a 
few  of  their  fellow-students  who  were  intended  for  the  min- 
istry in  the  Established  Church,  they  formed  the  most  rigid 
and  severe  rules  for  the  regulation  of  their  time  and  studies, 
for  reading  the  Scriptures,  for  self-examination,  and  other 
religious  exercises.  The  ardent  piety  and  rigid  observance 
of  system  in  everything  connected  with  the  new  opinions 
displayed  by  the  Wesleys  and  their  adherents,  as  well  as  in 
their  college  studies,  which  they  never  neglected,  attracted 
the  notice  and  excited  the  jeers  of  the  various  members  of 
the  University,  and  gained  for  them  the  appellation  of  Meth- 
odists ;  in  allusion  to  the  methodici,  a  class  of  physicians  at 
Rome  who  practised  only  by  theory.  (Celsus,  inPrefat.de 
J\Iedicina.) 

In  the  mean  time  Wesley  took  orders  in  the  Established 
Church,  and  acted  for  a  few  months  as  assistant  to  his  fa- 
ther, who  was  rector  of  Epworth,  in  Lincolnshire.  After 
the  death  of  the  latter,  he  was  induced  (1735),  in  company 
with  his  brother  Charles  and  two  other  friends,  to  accept  of 
an  offer  to  go  to  Georgia,  in  North  America,  to  preach  the 
gospel  to  the  Indians.  On  his  return  to  England  in  1737, 
Wesley  officiated  in  several  churches  of  the  establishment. 
But  the  higher  ranks  were  offended  at  his  declamatory  and 
enthusiastic  mode  of  preaching  ;  and  the  clergy  having  dis- 
claimed some  of  his  doctrines,  the  churches  in  general  were 
soon  shut  against  him.  It  was  his  desire,  however,  to  be 
allowed  to  officiate  in  the  pulpit  of  his  native  church.  His 
object,  in  truth,  was  to  effect  a  reformation  in  the  church, 
not  to  recede  from  connexion  with  it ;  and  the  rules  he  ob- 
served himself,  and  imposed  upon  his  followers,  were  design- 
ed as  supplementary  to  the  established  ritual,  not  as  super- 
seding it.  But  the  circumstances  to  which  we  have  refer- 
red threw  his  labours  into  a  different,  and  ultimately  an  op- 
posite channel ;  and  in  short,  without  having  at  first  intended 
it,  he  became  the  founder  of  the  most  numerous  class  of 
Dissenters  in  Great  Britain. 

Being  thus  virtually  excluded  from  the  Established  Church, 
he  preached  in  Dissenting  chapels  in  London  and  other  pla- 
ces where  he  could  obtain  admission.  In  course  of  time, 
and  owing  to  the  vast  multitudes  that  crowded  to  listen  to 
his  ministrations,  he  adopted  the  expedient  of  officiating  in 
the  open  air,  and  commenced  field-preacher.  He  first  form- 
ed his  followers  into  a  separate  society  in  1738,  the  year  af- 
ter his  return  from  America,  though  he  referred  the  estab- 
lishment of  Methodism  to  a  prior  date.  (See  Wesley's  Eccl. 
Hist.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  175.)  Wesley,  from  this  date,  devoted  his 
time  and  his  great  talents  exclusively  to  the  propagation  of 
what  he  regarded  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  and  to  the 
extension  of  that  sect  of  which  he  was  the  founder.  His 
labours  were  chiefly  confined  to  England  ;  but  he  also  paid 
visits  to  Scotland  and  Ireland,  in  the  former  of  which  his 
success  was  inconsiderable.  (Sir  H.  Moncreiff's  Life  of 
Dr.  Erskine,  cap.  vii.)  But  while  he  confined  his  own  la- 
bours to  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  he  was  not  inattentive  to 
the  spiritual  necessities  of  other  countries,  and,  by  means  of 
a  succession  of  missionaries,  propagated  his  doctrines  to  a 
very  great  extent  in  America  and  many  of  the  West  Lidia 
islands. 

The  unparalleled  success  which  attended  his  great  mis- 
sionary exertions  was  not  gained  without  much  obloquy  and 
persecution,  particularly  in  the  United  Kingdom.  Owing  to 
the  intelligence  and  liberality  of  the  age,  neither  himself  nor 
any  of  his  missionaries  were  exposed  to  stripes  and  impris- 
onment ;  but  all  of  them  met  with  violent  opposition  on  the 
part,  not  merely  of  clergymen,  both  Established  and  Dissent- 
ing, and  the  wealthier  classes,  but  also  of  the  people  ;  and 
some  of  them  were  beset  with  mobs,  assai'ed  by  showers 
of  stones  and  other  missiles,  and  sometimes  dragged  through 
the  streets  as  raving  enthusiasts  and  as  disturbers  of  the 
public  peace.  It  must,  at  the  same  time,  be  confessed,  that 
the  imprudence  of  some  of  his  followers  contributed  some- 
what to  the  reproach  which  they  experienced. 

Finding  his  societies  rapidly  increasing,  and  having  been 
refused  assistance  from  the  established  clergy,  Wesley  was 
induced  to  have  recourse  to  lay  preachers;  an  expedient 
which  he  was  at  first  exceedingly  averse  to  adopt,  but 
which  he  afterwards  found  most  efficient  in  promoting  the 
triumph  of  his  views.  He  was  thus  enabled  to  exercise  su- 
perintendence over  all  his  followers,  and  greatly  to  extend 
his  sphere  of  action. 

Wesley  objected  to  his  adherents  being  called  Dissenters, 

741 


METHODISTS. 

and  required  them  to  attend  the  Established  Church  when 
they  had  no  opportunity  of  bearing  their  own  preachers.  His 
creed  is  Amiinian,  and  differs,  therefore,  from  the  system 
of  Calvin  in  regard  to  predestination,  election,  and  the  ex- 
tent of  the  atonement,  which  he  maintained  was  for  all  men. 
He  held  that  repentance  preceded  faith.  He  taught  that,  by 
virtue  of  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  the  operation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  it  was  the  privilege  of  Christians  to  arrive  at  that 
maturity  in  grace  and  participation  of  the  Divine  nature 
which  excludes  sin  from  the  Dealt,  and  tills  it  with  perfect 
love  to  God  and  men.  [Wesley's  Plain  Ace.  of  Christian 
Perfection.)  These  and  other  minor  opinions,  in  which  he 
differed,  or  seemed  to  differ,  from  the  creed  of  the  Establish- 
ed Church,  are  still  retained  by  the-  Methodists.  (In  addition 
to  Wesley's  works,  particularly  his  Sermons,  see  Unison's 
Apology  for  the  Methodists  ;  and  Myles's  Chronol.  Hist,  of 
the  MetJiodists.)  Wesley  and  his  followers,  we  may  here  ob- 
serve, continued,  long  after  their  separation  from  the  church, 
to  read  the  service  of  that  church  ;  nay,  the  practice  was 
continued,  in  a  few  instances,  after  his  death.  The  great 
body  of  the  Wesleyans,  though  they  are  now  classed  among 
Dissenters,  are  in  favour  of  a  national  establishment  of  reli- 
gion, and  give  the  benefit  of  their  support  to  the  Established 
Church  of  England.  There  is,  in  truth,  a  pretty  large  body 
who  fluctuate  between  Methodism  and  the  national  creed. 

But  while  this  is  the  case,  the  Methodists  have  adopted  a 
system  of  church  discipline  and  government  quite  distinct 
from  those  of  the  establishment,  and  which  seems  to  partake 
as  much  of  presbytery  as  of  any  other  polity.  Of  this  sys- 
tem, which  is  considerably  complicated,  the  following  are 
the  leading  features :  1.  Each  society  or  congregation  is 
divided  into  smaller  bodies,  called  classes,  each  class  em- 
bracing from  twelve  to  twenty  persons,  one  of  whom  is 
styled  the  leader.  Each  society  has  also  a  body  of  men 
called  stewards,  whose  office  is  similar  to  that  of  deacon  in 
the  Established  Church.  The  duties  of  leaders — namely, 
visiting  the  sick,  and  holding  religious  intercourse  with  the 
members  belonging  to  their  class — are,  in  many  respects, 
akin  to  those  of  lay-elders  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Scotland.  The  leaders,  stewards,  and  minister  meet  once 
a  week  (and  this  is  called  a  leader's  meeting),  on  the  reli- 
gious business  of  the  society ;  and  to  account  for  the  funds 
received  from  the  members  in  support  of  schools  or  of  the 
gospel. 

A  number  of  these  societies  united  constitutes  a  circuit, 
which  is  large  or  small  as  the  circumstances  of  each  locality 
require.  One  of  the  ministers  within  the  district  is  termed 
the  superintendent.  The  ministers  officiating  in  the  circuit 
meet  all  the  classes  quarterly,  and  speak  personally  to  each 
member.  Those  whose  conduct  is  devoid  of  reproach  re- 
ceive a  ticket,  the  chief  use  of  which  is  to  prevent  impos- 
ture. After  the  conference  with  the  classes  another  meet- 
ing (called  a  quarterly  meeting)  is  held,  consisting  of  all  the 
ministers,  leaders,  and  stewards  in  the  circuit.  On  this  oc- 
casion the  stewards  deliver  their  collections  to  a  circuit 
steward,  and  every  thing  relating  to  secular  matters  is 
publicly  settled.  At  this  meeting,  also,  the  candidates  for 
the  ministry  are  proposed ;  and  the  stewards,  after  a  definite 
period  of  service,  are  changed. 

From  five  to  ten  or  fifteen  of  the  circuits,  according  to 
their  extent,  form  a  district,  the  ministers  in  which  meet 
annually,  the  meeting  being  termed  a  district  meeting. 
This  assembly  has  authority  "to  try  and  suspend  ministers 
who  are  found  immoral,  erroneous  in  doctrine,  or  deficient 
in  ability ;  to  decide  concerning  the  building  of  chapels ;  to 
examine  the  demands  from  the  circuits  respecting  the  sup- 
port of  clergymen ;  and  to  elect  a  representative  to  attend 
and  form  a  committee,  four  days  before  the  meeting  of  the 
annual  conference,  in  order  to  prepare  a  draught  of  the  sta- 
tions for  the  ensuing  year.  (Myles,  ut  supra.)  The  circuit 
stewards  are  present  at  this  meeting  during  the  settlement 
of  all  financial  matters.  The  judgment  of  the  assembly  is 
conclusive  until  the  meeting  of  the  conference,  to  which  an 
appeal  is  allowed  in  all  cases. 

The  conference,  which  is  the  supreme  judicatory,  and 
whose  decisions  are  final,  consists,  strictly  speaking,  only  of 
a  hundred  of  the  senior  itinerant  preachers,  in  terms  of  n 
deed  of  declaration  executed  by  Wesley  and  enrolled  in 
chancery.  In  this  deed  the  meeting  is  termed  "the  Confer- 
ence of  the  people  called  Methodists."  Hut  the  conference 
is  generally  composed  of  the  preachers  elected  at  the  pre- 
vious district  meetings  to  be  their  representatives,  of  the 
superintendents  of  the  circuits,  and  of  every  minister  who 
chooses  to  attend  ;  all  of  tin  m  being  allow . ■< i  the  game  right 
of  voting  as  the  hundred,  ox  legal  conference.  From  this 
body  all  authority  emanates,  and  by  them  all  regulations 
to  be  observed  throughout  the  whole  Methodist  connexion 
are  framed.  In  their  name  are  levied  all  the  funds  required 
for  carrying  on  the  operations  of  the  body.  Ministers  are 
by  them  appointed  to  the  stations  they  are  respectivel]  t" 
occupy;  they  nominate  the  superintendents  of  the  various 
districts;  they  decide  on  all  cases  of  appeal ;  and,  generally 
713 


METONYMY. 

speaking,  the  whole  state  of  the  connexion  comes  under 
their  review  and  control.  All  their  deliberations  are  carried 
on  with  closed  doors,  so  that  tin-  people  have  no  cheek  ,,Ver 
their  proceedings;  but  the  results  of  their  discussions  are 
annually  published  after  each  meeting,  under  the  title  of 
Minutes  of  Conference,  which  imbody  the  laws  of  the  so- 
ciety. The  gradation  of  courts,  and  the  supreme  authority 
being  vested  in  the  conference,  are  somewhat  similar  in 
spirit  and  operation  to  the  various  judicatories  of  the  Church 
01  Scotland,  in  which,  like  the  conference  of  the  Methodists, 
the  general  assembly  is  supreme;  the  chief  exception  being 
that  the  latter  judicatory  is  composed  of  certain  relative 
proportions  of  lay  elders  and  clergymen,  while  the  Method- 
Lit  conference  is  confined  exclusively  to  ministers.  I 
Rules  of  the  Methodist  Society;  Adam's  Religion 
vol.  hi.,  p.  113-119.) 

At  the  death  of  Wesley  in  1791,  there  were,  in  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  about  300  itinerant  preachers  in  con- 
nexion with  the  new  sect,  and  1000  of  what  are  called  local 
preachers — some  of  them,  however,  having  very  small  con 
gregations — and  80,000  members.  But  the  Wesleyan  .Meth- 
odists have  established  foreign  stations  in  Australia,  Van 
Diemen's  Land,  Gibraltar,  Malta,  Germany,  6lc.  ;  and  so 
rapidly  have  they  increased,  that  the  number  of  Wesleyan 
Methodists  in  1840,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  amounted  to 
1,137,424 ;  and  the  total  number  of  preachers,  regular  and 
supernumerary,  was  5031. 

Various  offshoots  have  taken  place  from  the  Wesleyan 
Methodists  at  various  times :  among  the  most  important  of 
which  may  be  reckoned  the  followers  of  Whitfield,  for- 
merly the  coadjutor,  and  afterwards  the  most  powerful  and 
eloquent  opponent  of  Wesley,  and  supporter  of  Calvinism  ; 
the  Methodists  of  Lady  Huntingdon's  connexion,  in  whose 
chapels  service  is  performed  according  to  the  ritual  of  the 
Church  of  England  ;  the  Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodists  ;  the 
Primitive  Methodists,  or  Ranters  (which  see)  ;  the  New 
Connexion  Methodists  (which  see) ;  the  Independent  Meth- 
odists ;  Bryanites,  Warrenites,  &c.  Some  of  these  sects, 
particularly  the  Whitfieldians,  are  nearly  allied  in  church 
government  and  discipline  to  the  Independents ;  and  it  is  not 
unlikely  that  a  coalition  may  take  place  between  them  and 
this  latter  denomination.  (In  addition  to  the  works  already 
quoted,  see  Journal  of  John  Wesley;  Lives  of  Wesley,  by 
Coke,  More,  Southey,  &c. ;  Nightingale's  Portraiture  of 
Methodism ;  Mosheim's  Church  History.  For  a  full  ac- 
count of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United 
States,  see  Dr.  Bangs's  History ;  The  Discipline  of  the 
Church  :  Dr.  Emory's  Defence  of  our  Fathers,  &c.  &.c.) 

ME'THYLENE.  (Gr.  ueOv,  wine  and  v\n,  wood.)  When 
wood  is  subjected  to  destructive  distillation,  there  is  formed 
along  with  the  tar,  acetic  acid,  and  other  products,  a  highly 
volatile  and  inflammable  liquid,  which,  when  purified  by 
distillation  off  quicklime,  was  called  spirit  or  alcohol  of 
wood,  or  pyroxilic  spirit.  The  hydrocarbon  which  forms 
the  basis  of  this  form  of  alcohol,  and  to  whieli  the  term 
methylene  has  been  applied,  is  presumed  to  consist  of  1  atom 
of  carbon  ==  0,  and  1  atom  of  hydrogen  =  1 :  its  density  (in 
reference  to  hydrogen)  being  just  half  that  of  olefiant  gas, 
or  =  7.  The  alcohol  of  wood  is  a  hydrate  of  this  hydrocar- 
bon, or  a  compound  of  1  atom  of  methylene  =  7,  and  1 
atom  of  water  =:  9 :  the  equivalent,  therefore,  of  the  alcohol 
of  wood  is  7  +  9  =  16. 

ME'TOCHE.  (Probably  from  uctcxw-,  I  partition.)  In 
Architecture,  the  space  between  two  dentils. 

METCE'CI.  (Gr.  uItoikoi,  sojourners.)  The  resident 
aliens,  who  formed  a  large  class  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Athens.  They  were  distinguished  from  the  few  full  citi- 
zens by  many  disabilities  and  burdens.  They  had  no  share 
in  the  administration  of  the  state,  and  were  precluded  from 
the  power  of  possessing  landed  estates.  Each  was  com- 
pelled to  purchase  the  shelter  he  received  from  the  state  by 
the  payment  of  a  small  annual  sum  {ptrdiKtov),  and  to  place 
himself  under  the  guardianship  of  a  citizen  (Trpwrar^j),  who 
was  his  formal  representative  in  the  courts  of  law.  They 
were  generally  engaged  in  mercantile  and  mechanical  busi- 
ness. 

METO'NIC  CYCLE.  So  called  from  Meton,  its  inventor 
(B.C.  432).  A  cycle  of  nineteen  years,  or,  more  accurately, 
of  G940  days;  at  the  end  of  which  time  the  new  moons  fall 
On  the  same  days  of  the  year,  and  the  eclipses  return  in 
nearly  the  same  order.  The  reason  of  this  is,  that  in  nine- 
teen solar  years  there  are  235  lunations  (with  a  difference 
ut'  a  tew  hours),  and  very  nearly  one  complete  revolution 
of  the  union's  nodes.  The  cycle  was  corrected  by  Calippus. 
See  Caui-imc  Period,  Cycle. 

M  BT(  I'M  Y  MY.  (Gr.  ixcToivvula  ;  derived  from  the  prepo- 
sition ucTn,  change,  and  iivoua,  n  name.)    In  Rhetoric  and 

Composition,  a  limine  by  which  tile  name  of  an  idea  or  thing 
is  substituted  for  that  of  another,  to  which  it  has  a  certain 
relation.  Thus,  the  effect  is  frequently  substituted  for  the 
cause — "gray  hairs"  stands  for  "old  age;"  the  abstract  for 
the  concrete—"  What  doth  gravity"  (t,  e.,  the  grave  person) 


METOPA. 

«  out  of  his  bed  at  midnight  ?"— substance  for  quality,  prece- 
dent for  subsequent,  &c. 

The  term  Metonomasia  (of  the  same  origin  as  metonomy) 
was  invented  during  the  last  century  by  the  French  to  de- 
signate a  practice  which  prevailed  to  a  great  extent  among 
the  literati  of  the  Continent,  viz.,  of  adopting  some  name  in 
preference  to  their  own. 

METO'PA.  (Gr.  fitra,  between,  and  o-n,  a  hole.)  In 
Architecture,  the  square  space  in  tlie  frieze  between  the 
triglyphs  of  the  Doric  order.  It  is  left  either  plain  or  deco- 
rated, according  to  the  taste  of  the  architect.  In  the  most 
ancient  examples  of  this  order,  the  metopa  was  left  quite 
open,  as  is  manifest  from  a  passage  alluded  to  in  the  art. 
Architecture. 

METOPO'SCOPY.  (Gr.  uirairov,  a  forehead,  and  cko- 
wto),  I  view.)  The  art  of  divination  by  inspecting  the  fore- 
head, treated  of  especially  by  the  famous  Cardanus.  The 
signs  of  the  forehead  are  chiefly  its  lines ;  but  moles  and 
spots  are  also  supposed  to  have  their  particular  meaning. 
The  lines  are  under  the  dominion  of  their  several  planets. 

ME'TRE.  (Gr.  hctPov,  measure.)  In  the  classical  sense 
of  the  word,  a  subdivision  of  a  verse.  The  Greeks  meas- 
ured some  species  of  verses  (the  dactylic,  choriambic,  anti- 
spastic,  Ionic,  &c.)  by  considering  each  foot  as  a  metre ;  in 
others  (the  iambic,  trochaic,  and  anaprestic),  each  dipodia,  or 
two  feet,  formed  a  metre.  Thus,  the  dactylic  hexameter 
(the  heroic  verse)  contains  six  dactyls  and  spondees:  the 
iambic,  anapaestic,  and  trochaic  trimeter,  six  of  those  feet 
respectively.  A  line  is  said  to  be  acatalectic  when  the  last 
syllable  of  the  last  foot  is  wanting;  brachycatalectic,  when 
two  syllables  are  cut  off  in  the  same  way  ;  hypercataleptic, 
when  there  is  one  superfluous  syllable. 

ME'TRONOME.  (Gr.  utrpov,  and  vc-pos,  a  law.)  An 
instrument  for  measuring  musical  time.  It  is  contrived  on 
the  principle  of  a  clock,  having  a  short  pendulum,  whose 
bob  being  movable  up  and  down  on  the  rod,  is  thus  capa- 
ble of  increasing  or  decreasing  the  length  of  a  note  or  bar  as 
required  by  the  character  of  the  music.  The  length  or  du- 
ration of  a  note  is  often  expressed  at  the  head  of  a  piece  of 
music  by  stating  that  a  pendulum  of  a  given  length  in  inches 
will  vibrate  a  minim,  crotchet,  or  other  note,  as  the  case 
mav  be. 

METROPOLIS.  (Gr.  [i-mnp,  mother,  and  TroAif,  city,  or 
state.)  1.  A  parent  state  from  which  colonies  have  sprung, 
in  which  sense  the  word  is  uniformly  employed  by  ancient 
Greek  writers.  2.  The  chief  city  of  a  province  in  the  later 
ages  of  the  Roman  empire.  The  Christian  Church  having 
adopted  the  secular  division  of  the  Roman  empire  into 
provinces,  the  episcopal  seat  established  in  every  such  city, 
and  the  bishop  of  it  himself,  were  termed  metropolitan.  3. 
In  modern  usage,  the  chief  or  capital  city  of  an  independent 

METROPOLITAN,  in  early  Ecclesiastical  History,  was 
a  title  applied  to  the  archbishop,  or  chief  ecclesiastical  dig- 
nitary, resident  in  a  city.  The  establishment  of  metropoli- 
tans took  place  at  the  end  of  the  third  century,  and  was 
confirmed  by  the  council  of  Nice.  In  some  of  the  Protest- 
ant states  of  Germany  the  title  exists  to  the  present  time, 
and  the  person  in  possession  of  it  has  rank  equivalent  to  the 
bishops  of  the  English  Church. 

MEZZANINE.  fLat.  mezzano,  middle.)  In  Architec- 
ture, a  story  of  small  height  introduced  between  two  higher 
ones. 

ME'ZZO  SOPRA'NO.  (Ital.)  In  Music,  a  high  counter- 
tenor, having  the  C  sol  ut  clef  on  the  second  line. 

MEZZOTI'NTO.  (Ital.  half  tinted.)  A  particular  method 
of  engraving  on  copper.     See  Engraving. 

MIA'SMA.  (Gr.  ixiaivoi,  I  infect.)  Infectious  or  conta- 
gious matter.  The  term  is  generally  applied,  under  the 
name  of  marsh  miasma  (malaria  of  the  Italians),  to  the  in- 
fectious emanations  from  marshy  lands  and  stagnant  waters, 
which  are  peculiarly  characterized  by  producing  various 
forms  of  intermittent  and  remittent  fevers. 

MI'CA.  (Lat.  mico,  I  shine.)  A  mineral  generally  found 
in  thin  clastic  lamina;,  soft,  smooth,  and  of  various  colours 
and  degrees  of  transparency.  Silica,  alumina,  potash,  and 
oxide  of  iron  are  its  principal  components.  It  is  one  of  the 
constituents  of  granite.  In  some  parts  of  Siberia  and  else- 
where it  forms  an  article  of  trade,  often  known  under  the 
name  of  Muscovy  glass. 

MI'CA  SLATE.  One  of  the  lowest  of  the  stratified 
rocks,  composed  of  quartz  and  mica.     See  Geology. 

MI'CHAELMAS.  The  feast  of  St.  Michael  the  Arch- 
angel. It  fails  on  the  29th  of  September,  and  is  supposed 
to  have  been  established  towards  the  close  of  the  fifth  cen- 
tury ;  Brady  says  in  487.  In  England,  Michaelmas  is  one 
of  the  regular  periods  for  settling  rents;  and  an  old  custom 
is  still  in  use  of  having  a  roast  goose  for  dinner  on  that  day, 
probably  because  geese  are  at  that  period  most  plentiful,  arid 
in  the  highest  perfection.     (See  Brand's  Pop.  Jintiq.) 

MI'CHAEL,  SAINT.  A  French  order  of  knighthood, 
instituted  by  Louis  XI.  in  1469,  in  honour  of  St.  Michael, 


MICROMETER. 

the  supposed  ancient  protector  of  France.  The  motto  of 
the  order  was  "  immensi  tremor  oceani."  It  was  at  first,  and 
for  some  time  after  its  institution,  in  high  repute :  but  under 
Catharine  of  Medicis,  who  lavished  it  indiscriminately,  it 
came  to  be  held  of  no  account,  from  which  state  it  never 
recovered. 

MI'CROCOSM.  (Gr.  uticpos  kocuo;,  little  universe.) 
Man  has  been  called  so  by  some  fanciful  writers  on  natural 
philosophy  and  metaphysics,  by  reason  of  a  supposed  cor- 
respondence between  the  different  parts  and  qualities  of  his 
nature  and  those  of  the  universe. 

MICRODA'CTYLUS.  (Gr.  utKpoc,  and  Ioktv^oc,  a 
digit.)  A  name  proposed  by  M.  Geoffrey  for  the  short- 
toed  genus  of  wading  birds,  called  by  Illiger  Dicholophus. 
See  that  word. 

MI'CRODON.  (Gr.  uiKpoc,  and  olovs,  a  tooth.)  The 
name  of  a  genus  of  extinct  fishes,  belonging  to  the  thick- 
toothed  or  Pycnodont  family,  in  the  Ichthyological  system 
of  Agassiz. 

MICRO'METER.  (Gr.  niKpoc,  and  nerpov,  measure.) 
An  instrument  applied  to  telescopes  and  microscopes  for 
measuring  very  small  distances,  or  the  diameters  of  objects 
which  subtend  very  small  angles.  A  great  number  of  con- 
trivances of  various  kinds,  and  depending  on  different  prin- 
ciples, have  been  employed  for  this  purpose ;  but  it  will  be 
sufficient  to  give  a  general  description  of  some  of  the  most 
useful  or  remarkable  ones. 

Wire  Micrometer. — This  instrument,  when  placed  in  the 
tube  of  a  telescope,  at  the  focus  of  the  object  glass,  presents 
the  appearance  represented  in  the  annexed  figure  (fig.  1). 
A  a  is  a  spider's  web  line,  or  very  fine 
wire  fixed  to  the  diaphragm ;  and  B  6 
and  C  c  are  similar  wires  stretched 
across  two  forks,  each  connected  with 
a  milled-headed  screw.  By  means  of 
these  screws  the  two  wires,  B  b  and  C 
c,  which  are  exactly  parallel  to  each 
other,  are  movable  in  the  direction  per- 
pendicular to  A  a ;  and,  in  order  that  the 
wire  A  a  may  be  placed  in  any  direc- 
tion relatively  to  the  meridian,  there  is 
an  adjusting  screw,  which  works  into  an  interior  toothed 
wheel,  and  turns  the  apparatus  round  in  its  own  plane  per- 
pendicular to  the  axis  of  the  telescope. 

The  method  of  using  the  micrometer  is  as  follows:  Sup- 
pose the  object  to  be  accomplished  were  the  measurement 
of  the  angle  of  position  and  distance  of  two  very  close  stars ; 
the  telescope  being  set  and  kept  on  the  objects,  the  microm- 
eter is  turned  by  its  adjusting  screw  until  the  spider  line  A 
a  coincides  with  the  line  joining  the  two  stars,  or  threads 
them  both  at  the  same  moment.  The  milled  heads  of  the 
screws,  which  carry  the  two  movable  wires,  are  then  turned 
until  B  b  bisects  one  of  the  two  stars,  and  C  c  bisects  the 
other.  The  observation  is  now  completed,  and  it  only  re- 
mains to  ascertain  the  position  and  distance  indicated  by  the 
micrometer.  For  the  first  of  these  purposes,  the  circumfer- 
ence of  the  micrometer  is  divided  into  degrees  and  minutes, 
and  read  by  two  verniers :  this  reading  gives  the  position  of 
A  a  in  respect  of  the  horizontal  and  vertical  planes,  and 
consequently  the  angle  of  position  of  the  two  stars.  To  find 
their  distance,  the  head  of  the  screw  which  carries  one  of 
the  movable  wires,  for  instance  C  c,  is  turned  until  C  c  coin- 
cides with  B  b ;  and  the  number  of  revolutions,  and  parts  of 
a  revolution,  required  to  effect  the  coincidence,  gives  the  dis- 
tance of  the  stars  when  the  value  of  the  scale  of  the  mi- 
crometer is  known  ;  that  is  to  say,  when  the  number  of 
seconds  of  space  which  correspond  to  one  revolution  of  the 
screw  is  known.  The  screws  must  be  made  with  great 
accuracy,  and  their  heads  are  usually  divided  into  60  equal 
parts,  representing  seconds. 

The  value  of  the  scale,  or  of  a  revolution  of  the  screw,  is 
obtained  in  the  folk  wing  manner:  Set  tlie  two  wires,  B  b 
and  C  c,  apart  to  a  certain  number  of  revolutions,  and  place 
them  in  the  direction  of  the  meridian.  Observe  the  transits 
of  several  stars  of  known  declination  over  the  wires ;  then 
multiply  each  interval  of  seconds  by  15,  and  by  the  cosine 
of  the  star's  declination ;  and,  taking  the  mean,  you  have 
the  seconds  of  space  which  correspond  to  a  known  number 
of  revolutions  of  the  screw.  (See  Appendix,  by  the  Rev.  R. 
Sheepshanks,  to  Professor  Be  Morgan's  Explanation  of 
the  Gnomonic  Projection  of  the  Sphere.) 

Circular  Micrometer— -This  instrument,  which  differs 
entirely  from  the  above,  was  first  suggested  by  Boscovich, 
in  the  Leipzic  Acts  for  1740,  and  used  by  Lacaille  in  ob- 
serving a  comet  in  1742;  but  seems  afterwards  to  have 
fallen  into  disuse,  until  it  was  revived  by  Dr.  01  bers,  about 
1*98.  The  principle  maybe  explained  as  follows:  If  the 
field  of  a  telescope  be  perfectly  circular  (which  may  be 
effected  by  means  of  a  diaphragm  turned  in  a  lathe),  and  if 
its  diameter  be  determined  from  observation,  the  paths  of  ' 
two  celestial  bodies  across  the  field  may  be  considered  as 
two  parallel  chords,  which  are  given  in  terms  of  a  circle  of 


MICROMETER. 

known  diameter.  The  differences  of  the  times  at  Which 
two  stars  arrive  at  the  middle  of  their  paths  will  be  their 
ascensional  differences ;  and  the  distance  between  the  chords, 
which  is  readily  computed  from  their  lengths,  gives  the  dif- 
ference of  the  declinations  of  the  two  bodies. 

The  most  approved  construction  of  the  annular  micrometer 
is  that  of  the  late  Fraunhofer.   It  consists  of  a  disk  of  parallel 
plate  glass  (fig.  2),  having  in  its  centre  a  round  hole  of  about 
(2_)  half  an  inch  in  diameter,  to  the  edges  of 

which  a  ring  of  steel  is  cemented,  and 
afterwards  truly  turned  in  a  lathe.  The 
disk  being  mounted  in  a  brass  tube,  so 
that  it  may  be  accurately  adjusted  in  the 
focus  of  the  eye-piece,  and  applied  to  a 
telescope,  the  steel  ring  is  alone  visible, 
and  appears  as  if  suspended  in  the  at- 
mosphere, whence  the  instrument  is  call- 
ed the  suspended  annular  micrometer. 
The  advantage  of  this  construction  consists  in  the  accuracy 
u  ith  which  the  moment  of  ingress  or  egress  is  determined, 
from  the  body  being  seen  in  the  field  of  view  before  it  comes 
up  to  the  edge  of  the  steel  ring.  The  annular  micrometer  is 
conveniently  used  for  comparing  the  place  of  a  small  star  or 
a  comet  with  that  of  a  known  star  in  nearly  the  same  paral- 
lel of  declination.     (.Istronomische  JVachrichten,  b.  iv.) 

Divided  Object  Glass,  or  Double  Image  Micrometer. — 
This  instrument  is  formed  by  dividing  the  object  glass  of  a 
telescope  or  microscope  into  two  halves,  the  straight  edges 
being  ground  smooth,  so  that  they  may  easily  slide  by  one 
another.  A  double  image  of  an  object  in  the  field  of  view 
is  produced  by  the  separation  of  the  segments ',  and,  by 
bringing  the  opposite  edges  of  the  two  images  into  contact, 
a  measure  of  the  diameter  of  the  object  is  obtained  in  terms 
of  the  extent  of  the  separation.  From  its  being  used  to 
measure  the  diameter  of  the  sun,  this  is  usually  called  the 
heliometer  (see  Heliometer).  Instead  of  a  divided  object 
glass,  Ramsden  preferred  a  divided  lens  in  the  eye-tube, 
which  form  of  the  instrument  is  called  the  dioptric  microm- 
eter. The  double  image  micrometer  was  suggested  by 
Roemer,  about  1678,  but  first  brought  into  use  by  Bouguer, 
about  1748. 

Micrometer  by  Double  Refraction. — The  Abbe  Rochon 
conceived  the  ingenious  idea  of  applying  the  principle  of 
double  refraction  to  micrometrical  measurement.  Conceive 
two  prisms,  ABC  and  BCD  (fig.  3),  formed  of  the  same 


(3.) 


w 

yv 

I 

■R 

o 

/T 

■\r 

U 

X 

n 

p 

s 

crystal,  and  so  disposed  that  the  face  A 
B  of  the  first  is  perpendicular  to  the  axis 
of  the  crystal,  while,  in  the  second,  the 
axis  is  parallel  to  the  line  of  the  inter- 
section of  the  two  faces  C  B  and  C  D,  so 
that  the  axes  of  crystallization  of  the  two 
prisms  are  at  right  angles  to  each  other. 
The  prisms  are  placed  in  perfect  contact, 
and  cemented  by  mastic;  and  together 
form  a  plate  of  which  the  opposite  sides 
are  parallel.  Now,  suppose  a  ray  of 
light  M  I  to  fall  perpendicularly  on  the 
face  A  B,  it  will  proceed  through  the 
prism  A  C  B,  in  the  same  straight  line  I 
O,  without  being  separated,  because  I  O 
is  parallel  to  the  axis  of  the  crystal.  But  when  it  arrives  at 
O,  and  enters  the  second  prism  B  C  D,  it  will  be  separated 
into  two:  the  ordinary  ray  will  continue  to  follow  the  same 
direction  I  O  N  P,  because  the  refracting  powers  of  the  two 
prisms  are  the  same  ;  but  the  extraordinary  ray  will  take  a 
different  direction  O  R  (towards  B  D,  if  the  crystal  is  attrac- 
tive, as  rock  crystal ;  but  towards  A  C,  if  the  crystal  is  re- 
pulsive, as  Iceland  spar),  and,  on  emerging  from  the  prism 
at  R,  will  be  refracted  in  the  line  R  S.  The  angle  P  T  S  of 
the  inclination  of  the  two  rays  after  their  emergence  from 
the  prism  is  constant  for  the  same  crystal,  and  must  be  de- 
termined by  experiment. 

Let  us  now  conceive  this  apparatus  to  be  placed  in  the 
tube  of  a  telescope,  of  which  O  (fig.  4)  is  the  object  glass 
and  F  the  focus,  and  the 
telescope  directed  upon  a 
distant  object  at  D  (as  a 
planet),  the  diameter  of 
which,  m  n,  is  to  be  meas- 
ured. Suppose  the  double 
prism  at  T' :  two  images 
will  he  formed ;  the  ordinary  image  at  a,  and  the  extraordi- 
nary image  at  b'.  By  sliding  the  prisms  along  the  tube  to- 
wards O  the  distance  between  the  images  will  be  increased  ; 
and  by  sliding  them  towards  the  focus  F,  it  will  be  diminish- 
ed; and  if  placed  exactly  in  the  focus,  the  two  Images  will 
coincide.  Let  V  denote  the  visual  angle  or  apparent  mag- 
nitude of  the  object,  /  the  focal  distance  F  O  of  the  tele- 
scope, U  the  constant  angle  aT  b  depending  on  tin-  i  >ri  -iti. 
and  D  the  distance  FT:  we  shall  then  have  the  diameter 
of  the  image=/ tan.  V,  and  the  distance  oJ  =  D  tan.  U. 
Now,  if  the  apparatus  be  slid  along  the  tube  from  T'  to  T, 
744 


MICROSCOPE. 

where  the  two  images  are  in  contact,  then  the  diameter  of 
the  image  will  be  equal  to  the  distance  ab;  and  we  have, 
consequently,  /  tan.  V  =  D  tan.  U.  Here  the  quantities  / 
and  U  are  found  by  experiment;  whence  V,  the  angular 
magnitude  of  the  object,  becomes  known  in  terms  of  D. 

The  prism  micrometer,  when  constructed  in  the  manner 
now  described,  has  this  important  defect,  that  the  extraordi- 
nary image  is  accompanied  by  the  prismatic  colours,  espe- 
cially if  the  angle  to  be  measured  exceeds  a  few  minutes; 
and  hence  Rochon  found  that  he  could  not  use  it  for  meas- 
uring the  diameters  of  the  sun  and  moon.  But  this  defect 
has  been  ingeniously  remedied  by  M.  Arago,  by  simply  al- 
tering the  arrangement  of  the  apparatus,  and  giving  the 
double  prism  a  fixed  position  out  of  the  tube  and  before  the 
eye-glass.  By  this  disposition  two  images  are  formed  at  the 
focus,  the  centres  of  which  are  fixed  points,  whose  distance; 
depends  on  the  refracting  power  of  the  crystal ;  and  the  con- 
tact of  the  images  is  produced  by  increasing  or  diminishing 
tile  magnifying  power  of  the  eye-glass,  instead  of  altering  the 
position  of  the  prism.  The  magnifying  power  thus  becomes 
the  measure  of  the  visual  angle  subtended  by  the  diameter 
of  the  observed  object. 

Various  modificadons  of  the  three  principles  now  explained 
have  been  proposed  ;  for  details  respecting  which  we  refer 
to  Bretcster's  Treatise  on  JVew  Philosophical  Instruments, 
or  to  the  article  "  Micrometer,"  in  the  Ency.  Brit.,  by  the 
same  author;  and  to  Dr.  Pearson's  Introduction  to  Practi- 
cal Astronomy. 

The  micrometer  is  an  instrument  of  the  utmost  importance 
in  astronomy,  and  one,  in  fact,  to  which  that  science  is  as 
much  indebted  as  to  the  telescope  itself.  From  a  paper  by 
Mr.  Townley,  in  the  Phil.  Trans,  for  1667,  it  appears  certain 
that  a  micrometer  with  a  moveable  wire  was  first  constructed 
by  our  countryman  Gascoigne  about  the  year  1640,  and  used 
by  him  for  measuring  the  diameters  of  the  moon  and  some 
of  the  planets;  but  as  Gascoigne,  who  was  killed  in  the 
civil  wars  in  1644,  published  no  account  of  his  invention,  the 
instrument  was  entirely  forgotten,  and  the  merit  of  reinvent- 
ing it,  and  bringing  it  into  general  use,  belongs  to  the  French, 
astronomer  Azout,  who  published  a  description  of  it  in  1667. 
Huygens,  a  few  years  previously,  had  contrived  to  measure 
the  diameter  of  a  planet  by  inserting  in  the  tube  of  a  tele- 
scope, at  the  focus  of  the  object-glass  and  eye-glass,  a  slip  of 
metal  which  covered  exactly  the  image  of  the  planet,  and 
then  deducing  the  diameter  from  the  breadth  of  the  slip, 
compared  with  the  diameter  of  the  field ;  and  Malvasia  had 
employed  for  the  same  purpose  a  reticle  or  network  of  fine 
silver  wires,  crossing  each  other  at  right  angles,  and  dividing 
the  field  of  the  telescope  into  a  number  of  equal  squares. 
(For  the  history  of  the  invention  and  successive  improve- 
ments of  the  micrometer,  see  the  notes  by  Mathieu  to  De- 
lambrc's  Histoire  de  I'Jlstronomia  au  Mine  Steele,  p.  616  and 
645.) 

MI'CROPHONE.  (Gr.  uiKpo;,  and  (buvn,  a  voice.)  An 
instrument  for  increasing  the  intensity  of  low  sounds,  by 
subjecting  a  more  sonorous  body  than  that  which  emits  the 
sound  to  be  affected  by  the  vibrations  of  that  body,  and 
thereby  also  sounding  itself. 

MI'CROPYLE  (Gr.  uiKpos,  and  7ti>Aj;,  a  gate),  in  Botany, 
is  a  perforation  through  the  skin  of  a  seed,  over  against  the 
apex  of  the  nucleus.  It  is  what  was  the  foramen  or  exos- 
tome  of  the  ovule. 

MI'CROSCOPE.  (Gr.  pUpoc,  and  cKomo),  I  view.)  An 
optical  instrument  which  enables  us  to  see  and  examine  ob- 
jects which  are  too  minute  to  be  seen  by  the  naked  eye. 
Microscopes  are  single  or  compound,  according  to  the  nature 
of  their  construction  ;  a  single  microscope  being  one  through 
which,  whether  it  consists  of  a  single  lens  or  a  combination 
of  lenses,  the  object  is  viewed  directly  ;  and  a  compound 
microscope  one  in  which  two  or  more  lenses  arc  so  arranged 
that  an  enlarged  image  of  the  object  formed  by  one  of  them 
is  magnified  by  the  second,  or  by  the  others,  if  there  are  more 
than  two,  and  seen  as  if  it  were  the  object  itself. 

Single  Microscope. — This  instrument  is,  for  the  most  part, 
simply  a  lens  or  sphere  of  any  transparent  substance,  which 
refracts  the  rays  of  light  issuing  from  a  small  body  placed  in 
its  focus,  and  gives  them  such  a  degree  of  convergency  as  is 
necessary  for  distinct  vision.  In  order  that  the  rays  of  light 
issuing  from  the  several  points  of  a  very  small  body  may 
produce  n  sensible  impression  on  the  retina  of  the  eye,  it  is 
necessary  that  the  object  be  brought  very  near  the  eye ; 
but  when  this  is  done,  the  rays  coming  from  its  different 
points  are  so  divergent  as  to  produce  only  a  confused  image. 
.Now,  if  a  convex  lens  be  interposed  between  the  object 
and  the  eye,  and  so  placed  that  its  distance  from  the  object 
is  a  little  less  than  its  focal  distance,  the  diverging  rays  issu- 
iii'.'  from  the  object  are  refracted  by  the  lens,  and  enter  the 
eye  placed  behind  it,  cither  parallel,  or  so  nearly  parallel  as 
to  afford  distinct  vision.  The  object  is  then  seen  in  the  di- 
i.  i  in  of  the  refracted  rays,  and  at  the  distance  at  which  it 
could  be  distinctly  seen  by  the  naked  eye,  and  consequently 
magnified  in  the  ratio  of  the  distance  of  distinct  vision  to  the 


MICROSCOPE. 


focal  distance  of  the  lens.  This  ratio  is  called  the  magnify- 
ing power  of  the  lens ;  hence,  for  single  microscopes,  the 
magnifying  power  is  equal  to  the  distance  at  which  a  small 
object  can  be  seen  distinctly  by  the  naked  eye,  divided  by 
the  focal  distance  of  the  lens ;  and,  as  the  distance  of  dis- 
tinct vision  is  constant  (at  least  for  the  same  individual),  the 
magnifying  power  is  inversely  as  the  focal  distance.  If  we 
suppose  the  distance  which  limits  distinct  vision,  in  respect 
of  minute  objects,  to  be  5  inches  (which  is  about  the  average 
for  good  eyes),  and  the  focal  distance  of  the  lens  to  be  1 
inch,  the  object  will  be  magnified  5  times  in  linear  dimen- 
sions, and  25  times  in  superficial.  If  the  focal  distance  is  one 
tenth  of  an  inch,  the  magnifying  power  will  be  50  in  linear 
extent,  and  2500  in  superficial. 

A  single  microscope  may  be  obtained  very  easily  by 
piercing  a  small  circular  hole  in  a  slip  of  metal,  and  intro- 
ducing into  it  a  drop  of  water,  which  Will  assume  a  spheri- 
cal form  on  each  side  of  the  metal.  The  substance  com- 
monly used  for  microscopic  lenses  is  plate  glass ;  but  they  are 
sometimes  formed  of  rock  crystal,  which  is  better.  Flint 
glass,  by  reason  of  its  great  dispersive  power,  is  unfitted  for 
the  purpose.  The  precious  stones,  as  the  garnet,  ruby,  sap- 
phire, and  diamond,  have  been  proposed  ;  but  the  numerous 
and  skilful  attempts  of  Mr.  Varley  and  Mr.  Pritchard  have 
proved  that  the  advantages  arising  from  the  greater  refrac- 
tive power  of  those  substances  are  more  than  counter- 
balanced by  their  colour,  reflective  power,  double  refraction, 
and  heterogenous  structure.  The  crystalline  lenses  of  min- 
nows and  other  small  fishes  give  a  very  perfect  image  of 
minute  objects. 

When  the  object  to  be  examined  is  of  such  magnitude  as 
to  subtend  an  angle  of  some  degrees,  the  requisite  distinct- 
ness cannot  be  given  to  its  whole  surface  by  an  ordinary 
lens,  in  consequence  of  the  confusion  occasioned  by  the 
lateral  rays ;  unless,  indeed,  the  rays  are  only  permitted  to 
enter  the  lens  through  a  very  small  aperture,  whereby  the 
quantity  of  light  is  greatly  diminished.  In  order  to  remedy 
this  inconvenience,  Dr.  Wollaston  contrived  a  form  of  lens, 
to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  pcriscopic  lens.  Its  construc- 
tion is  as  follows :  two  plano-convex  lenses  or  hemispheres 
are  ground  to  the  same  radius,  and  between  their  plane  sur- 
faces a  thin  plate  of  metal,  with  a  circular  aperture,  is  in- 
troduced. The  aperture  which  appeared  to  give  the  most 
distinct  image  was  about  $fh  of  the  focal  length  in  diameter ; 
and,  when  the  aperture  was  well  centered,  the  visible  field 
was  as  much  as  20°  in  diameter.  A  lens  of  this  kind  pos- 
sesses the  double  advantage  of  having  a  very  short  focal  dis- 
tance, and  very  little  spherical  aberration.  Dr.  Wollaston's 
contrivance  may,  however,  be  improved  upon  in  various 
ways;  for  example,  by  filling  up  the  central  aperture  with  a 
cement  of  the  same  refractive  power  as  the  lenses,  whereby 
the  loss  of  light  from  the  double  number  of  surfaces  is 
avoided ;  or  by  grinding  away  the  equatorial  parts  of  a 
sphere  of  glass,  so  as  to  leave  a  deep  groove  all  round  it,  in 
the  plane  of  a  great  circle  perpendicular  to  the  axis  of  vision, 
and  filling  the  groove  with  opake  matter.  This  last  construc- 
tion is  called  the  Coddington  lens  (from  the  name  of  its  pro- 
poser) ;  and  when  executed  in  gamet,  and  used  in  homo- 
geneous light,  it  is  considered  by  Sir  David  Brewster  to  be 
the  most  perfect  of  all  lenses,  either  for  single  microscopes, 
or  the  object  lenses  of  compound  ones. 

In  using  a  single  lens  as  a  magnifier,  it  is  always  necessary 
that  the  light  be  made  to  pass  through  a  very  small  aper- 
ture, in  order  that  the  object  may  be  seen  distinctly  and  with- 
out distortion.  This  necessity  arises,  both  from  the  spherical 
aberration  and  the  chromatic  dispersion  of  the  light  falling 
on  the  surface  of  the  lens  under  an  angle  of  considerable 
obliquity ;  and  the  consequence  is,  that  the  quantity  of  light 
admitted  to  the  eye  is  so  much  diminished  that  the  object 
cannot  be  clearly  seen.  To  remedy  this  inconvenience,  Dr. 
Wollaston  proposed  a  combination  of  two  lenses,  called,  in 
consequence,  a  microscopic  doublet,  the  optical  part  of  which 
may  be  described  as  follows:  M  and  N  (fig.  1)  are  two 
plano-convex  lenses,  whose  focal  lengths 
are  in  the  ratio  of  3  to  1,  or  nearly  so,  and 
placed  one  over  the  other,  so  that  their 
plane  sides  are  towards  the  object.  The 
adjustment  of  the  distance  between  the 
lenses  is  best  accomplished  by  trial ;  and 
they  must,  accordingly,  be  mounted  so  that 
the  distance  may  be  varied  at  pleasure.  A 
sTj  B  is  a  diaphragm  or  stop  for  limiting  the 
aperture.  Though  it  does  not  appear  that 
the  stop  was  contemplated  by  Dr.  Wollas- 
ton, who  makes  no  allusion  to  it,  the  per- 
formance of  the  microscope  depends  much  on  its  nice  adjust- 
ment. It  is  obvious  that  as  each  of  the  pencils  of  light  from 
the  extremities  of  the  object  is  rendered  eccentric  by  the 
stop,  and  made  to  pass  through  the  two  lenses  on  opposite 
sides  of  the  common  axis,  they  are  affected  by  opposite  er- 
rors, which,  in  some  degree,  serve  to  counteract  each  other. 
This  doublet,  when  correctly  made,  is  infinitely  superior  to 
63 


any  single  lens,  and  will  transmit  a  pencil  of  from  35°  to  50O 
without  any  very  sensible  errors.  The  original  description, 
by  Dr.  Wollaston,  is  given  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions 
for  1829. 

The  above  construction  has  been  improved  upon  by  sub- 
stituting two  plano-convex  lenses  for  N  in  the  doublet,  the 
plane  side  of  the  one  being  in  contact  with  the  convex  side 
of  the  other,  and  the  stop  being  retained  between  them  and 
the  third.  This  combination  is  called  a  triplet;  and  its  ad- 
vantage is,  that  the  errors  of  the  doublet  are  still  farther  re- 
duced by  the  greater  approximation  to  the  object,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  the  refractions  take  place  nearer  the  axis. 

Another  form  of  doublet,  proposed  by  Sir  John  Herschel, 
is  represented  in  the  annexed  figure  (2).  It  ,a  \ 

consists  of  a  double  convex  lens,  whose 
radii  of  curvature  are  as  1  to  6 ;  and  of  a 
plano-concave,  whose  focal  length  is  to 
that  of  the  other  as  13  to  5,  placed  in  con- 
tact with  the  flatter  surface  of  the  former, 
and  having  its  concavity  turned  towards 
the  object.  Many  other  combinations  have 
been  proposed,  but  those  which  have  now  been  described 
appear  to  be  the  most  useful. 

When  the  magnifying  power  of  the  lens  is  considerable, 
and,  consequently,  its  focal  distance  very  small,  it  requires 
to  be  placed  at  the  proper  distance  from  the  object  with  great 
precision  ;  and,  as  it  cannot  be  held  in  the  hand  with  suffi- 
cient steadiness  for  any  length  of  time,  it  requires  to  be 
motmted  in  a  frame  having  a  rack  and  screw,  by  means  of 
which  its  distance  from  the  object  can  be  adjusted  with  ac- 
curacy. Mirrors  for  collecting  the  light  and  throwing  it 
upon  the  object  are  also  necessary  for  many  puijwses. 

Compound  Microscope. — The  simplest  kind  of  compound 
microscope  is  formed  by  the  combination  of  two  converging 
lenses,  whose  axes  are  placed  in  the  same  straight  line.  The 
arrangement  of  the  lenses, 
and  the  path  of  the  rays, 
will  be  readily  understood 
from  the  annexed  dia- 
gram (fig.  3).  M  N  is  the 
object-glass,  which  has  a 
very  short  focal  distance, 
and  P  Q,  the  eye-glass.  A 
small    object    a   b   being 

placed  before  the  object-  a" 

glass,  a  little  farther  from  it  than  the  focus  or  parallel  rays, 
a  reversed  and  enlarged  image  a'  b'  will  be  formed  at  some 
distance  behind  M  N.  The  lens  P  Q,  is  placed  at  such  a 
distance  from  M  N  that  its  principal  focus  is  in  the  line  at 
a'  b' ;  consequently  the  rays  of  light  from  every  point  of  the 
image  a'  b'  emerge  nearly  parallel  from  P  Q,  and  to  the  eye 
at  E  the  image  a'  b'  is  magnified,  as  if  it  were  a  real  object, 
into  a"  b",  and  appears  at  a  distance  equal  to  the  limits  of 
distinct  vision,  which,  as  stated  above,  is  about  5  inches. 

The  magnifying  power  of  this  microscope,  or  the  ratio  of 
a"  b"  to  a  b,  is  found  as  follows:  In  the  first  place,  if  we  as- 
sume d  to  denote  the  distance  of  the  first  image  a'  V  from  M 
N,  and  /  the  distance  of  a  A  from  M  N,  or  the  focal  distance 
of  M  N,  we  have  this  proportion,  a!  V  :ab::d:f.  In  the  sec- 
ond place,  if  I  denote  the  limit  of  distinct  vision,  or  distance 
of  the  second  image  a"  b"  from  P  CI,  and/'  the  focal  dis- 
tance of  Pft  (or  distance  of  a'  V  from  P  Q),  we  shall  also 
have  a"  b"  :a'b'::l:f.  These  two  proportions,  being  mul- 
tiplied together,  give  — — =-— - ;  which,  therefore,  is  the 

a  b  f'f 
magnifying  power  of  the  microscope.  It  thus  appears  that 
the  magnifying  power  is  inversely  as  the  product  of  the  focal 
distances  of  the  two  lenses,  and  directly  as  the  distance  be- 
tween them.  The  magnifying  power  will  therefore  be  in- 
creased by  increasing  the  distance  between  the  object-glass 
and  eye-glass ;  but  a  limit  is  soon  placed  to  this  increase  by 
the  indistinctness  of  the  image,  and,  in  practice,  it  is  not  ad- 
visable to  make  the  distance  of  a'  b'  from  M  N  more  than 
from  5  to  7  inches.  Suppose  the  focal  distance  of  M  N  to 
be  ith  of  an  inch,  and  the  distance  of  a'  b'  from  M  N  to  be 
5  inches,  then  a'  b'  will  be  20  times  greater  than  a  b ;  and  if 
the  focal  distance  of  P  Q.  be  half  an  inch,  and  the  distance 
of  a"  b"  from  P  Q,  be  5  inches,  then  a"  b"  will  be  10  times 
greater  than  a'  b',  and,  consequently,  200  times  greater  than 
a  b ;  or  the  magnifying  power  is  200. 

The  great  defects  of  the  microscope,  when  constructed  in 
the  manner  now  described,  consist  in  the  smallness  of  the 
field  of  view,  and  want  of  achromatism  in  the  object  glass, 
in  consequence  of  which  the  images  a'  b'  and  a"  b"  are 
fringed  with  the  prismatic  colours.  For  the  sake  of  enlar- 
ging the  field  of  view,  a  third  lens,  larger  than  either  of 
the  others,  and  called  the  field  glass,  is  usually  interposed 
between  the  image  a'  V  and  the  object-glass. 

Reflecting  Microscope.— The  principle  of  the  reflecting 
microscope  is  very  simple,  and  easily  conceived.    Suppose 
M  N  (fig.  4)  to  be  a  concave  speculum,  and  a  small  object 
Z z  *  745 


MIDDLE  AGES. 


(4.) 


to  be  placed  before  it  at  /.  A 
reflected  image  of  the  object 
will  be  formed  at  F,  where  the 
rays  issuing  from  each  point  of 
the  object  intersect  each  other, 
and  magnified  in  the  propor- 
tion of  F  M  to/M.  If  the  image  at  F  is  viewed  witli  the 
naked  eye,  the  instrument  is  a  single  reflecting  microscope; 
but  if  ihe  image  is  viewed  through  a  refracting  lens  P  Q  (or 
a  combination  of  lenses  forming  an  eye-piece),  by  which  the 
rays  are  made  to  converge  towards  the  eye  at  E,  it  becomes 
a  compound  reflecting  microscope. 

The  reflecting  microscope  was  first  proposed  by  Sir  Isaac 
Newton  in  the  form  now  described ;  but,  on  account  of  the 
impracticability  of  illuminating  the  object,  it  was  long  dis- 
used. It  has,  however,  been  recently  revived,  under  a  modi- 
fied form,  by  Professor  Amici  of  Modena,  who  places  the 
object  outside  the  tube  of  the  microscope,  below  the  line 
A  F ;  and,  in  order  that  an  image  may  be  formed  in  the 
speculum,  the  rays  issuing  from  the  object  fall  upon  a  small 
plane  mirror  placed  at  /,  inclined  to  the  axis  of  the  specuJum 
in  an  angle  of  45°,  whereby  they  are  thrown  upon  the  spe- 
culum in  the  same  manner  as  if  the  object  itself  were  placed 
at  /.  By  this  means  the  object  can  be  illuminated  with 
perfect  facility.  The  concave  speculum  M  N  is  ground  into 
an  ellipsoidal  surface;  the  diagonal  mirror  is  placed  at  the 
nearest  focus  /,  and  the  image  is  consequently  formed  at  the 
other  focus  F.  The  image  at  F  is  viewed  with  a  single  or 
double  eye-piece,  as  in  other  microscopes. 

Solar  and  Oxyhydrogen  Microscopes. — The  solar  micros- 
cope is  composed  essentially  of  a  mirror  and  two  converging 
lenses.  The  plane  metallic  mirror,  C  D  (fig.  5),  reflects  the 
suu"s  rays  upon  the  lens  M  N,  by  which  they  are  concen- 


trated upon  the  object  a  b  placed  in  its  focus.  The  object, 
being  thus  strongly  illuminated,  is  placed  before  a  second 
lens  P  Q,  (a  little  before  the  principal  focus),  by  which  the 
rays  are  rendered  still  more  convergent,  and  produce  a  mag- 
nified image  of  the  object  upon  a  screen  suitably  placed  at  a 
distance  of  some  feet  behind  the  lens.  The  object  is  here 
supposed  to  be  transparent ;  if  opaque,  the  light  must  be 
thrown  upon  it  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  reflected  by  it  to 
P  Q..  The  mirror  and  lens  M  N  are  placed  in  the  hole  of  a 
window-shutter  in  a  darkened  room ;  and  the  mirror  must 
be  moveable,  in  order  that  the  sun's  rays  may  always  fall 
upon  it  under  a  proper  angle  to  be  reflected  to  the  lenses. 
But  the  solar  microscope  is  now  almost  entirely  superseded 
by  the  oxyhydrogen  microscope ;  so  called  because  the  il- 
lumination, instead  of  being  produced  by  the  sun's  rays,  is 
produced  by  burning  a  small  piece  of  lime  or  marble  in  a 
stream  of  oxyhydrogen  gas.  In  this  case  the  plane  mirror 
C  D  becomes  unnecessary ;  and  instead  of  the  lens  M  N  a 
concave  speculum  is  employed,  in  frontof  which  the  ball  of 
lime  is  placed,  and  an  intense  light  thus  thrown  upon  the 
object  a  b,  the  rays  from  which  are  brought  to  foci  upon  the 
screen  by  the  lens  P  Q,.  For  full  details  respecting  the 
management  of  this  apparatus,  which  forms  a  very  popular 
exhibition,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Goring  and  Pritchard's 
Micographia.  For  descriptions  of  the  various  kinds  of  mi- 
croscopes, see  Brewster's  Treatise  on  Mew  Philosophical 
Instruments  ;  or  the  Ency.  Brit.,  art.  "  Microscope." 

MI'DDLE  AGES.  (In  French,  moyen  age.)  A  term 
usually  employed  to  denote,  somewhat  vaguely,  a  space  of 
several  centuries  in  European  annals,  intervening  between 
what  are  called  the  ancient  and  modern  periods  of  history. 
The  centuries  between  the  ninth  or  tenth  and  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  after  Christ,  are  generally  comprehended  under  this 
loose  denomination.  In  the  work  of  Mr.  Ilallam  on  the 
Middle  Jiges,  that  historian  has  assumed  as  his  period  of 
commencement  the  conquest  of  Gaul  by  the  Franks,  about 
A.D.  500;  and,  for  his  conclusion,  the  invasion  of  Italy  by 
Charles  VIII.,  about  1500;  and  with  reference  to  the  afiaJrs 
of  the  Greeks  and  their  oriental  neighbours,  be  places,  as  the 
most  convenient  limit  between  ancient  and  modem  history, 
the  era  of  Mohammed. 

MI'DDLE  CADENCE.    In  Music.     See  Cadence. 

MI'DDLE  LATITUDE  SAILING,  in  Navigation,  la  a 
method  of  converting  the  departure  (or  diatance  'in  the  pa- 
rallel) into  difference  of  longitude,  and  the  difference  of  lon- 
gitude into  departure,  when  the  ship's  course  is  oblique  to 
the  meridian.  It  is  founded  on  this  principle,  which,  how- 
ever, is  only  approximately  true  in  any  case,  and  not  even 
approximately  in  high  latitudes,  when  there  is  also  consider- 
able difference  between  the  latitudes  left  and  arrived  at ; 
namely,  that  the  departure  may  be  accounted  an  arc  of  a 
74G 


MIGRATION. 

parallel  of  latitude  midway  between  the  two  extreme  lati- 
tudes.    Its  rules  are, 

radius  :  cos.  middl.  Iat.  :  :  diff.  longitude  :  departure, 
cos.  middl.  Iat.  :  tan.  course  :  :  dill'.  Iat.  :  dill",  long. 
See  Navigation. 

MI'DDLE  RAIL.  In  Architecture,  the  rail  of  a  door 
level  with  the  hand,  on  which  the  lock  is  usually  fixed 

MI'DDLE  TERM  of  a  Categorical  Syllogism,  in  Logic, 
is  that  with  which  the  two  extremes  of  the  conclusion  are 
separately  compared.    See  Syllogism. 

MI'DSHIPMAN.  In  the  Navy,  the  step  next  above  volun- 
teer of  the  first  class,  which  is  generally  the  commencement. 
At  nineteen  years  of  age  the  midshipman  passes  one  exam- 
ination in  seamanship,  and  another  in  navigation,  when  ho 
becomes  eligible  for  a  lieutenant's  commission. 

MIDSHIPS.  The  middle  of  the  ship,  with  reference  to 
length  or  breadth. 

MI'EMITE.  A  magnesian  carbonate  of  lime  of  a  green 
colour,  from  Miemo,  in  Tuscany. 

MIGRATION.  (Lat.  migro,  /  migrate.)  This  word  is 
used  in  Zoology  to  signify  the  transit  of  a  species  of  animals 
from  one  locality  or  latitude  to  another.  The  passage  is 
usually  to  and  fro  between  a  temperate  and  a  cold  climate, 
or  a  temperate  and  a  warm  climate ;  and  this  periodical 
change  of  abode  is  most  general  in  the  arctic  species  of  ani- 
mals, and  least  prevalent  in  the  tropical  species.  The  most 
remarkable,  rapid,  and  extensive  migrations  are  performed 
by  birds,  in  virtue  of  their  pre-eminent  locomotive  powers, 
and  of  their  ability  to  maintain  a  long  and  rapid  flight  through 
a  medium  which  oilers  the  least  opposition  to  their  progress. 
The  inequalities  and  alternations  of  land  and  water  upon  the 
surface  of  the  earth,  and  the  presence  of  enemies  and  other 
dangers,  would  appear  to  form  insurmountable  obstacles  to 
any  general  or  extensive  migration  of  quadrupeds ;  yet  the 
musk-ox,  the  reindeer,  the  arctic  fox,  &c,  are  driven  south- 
ward by  the  rigours  of  the  polar  winter,  and  return  to  the 
extreme  latitudes  in  the  summer  season.  Less  regular,  but 
not  less  general  migrations,  take  place  among  the  quadrupeds 
which  range  the  tropical  continents  in  seasons  of  unusual 
drought.  Countless  herds  of  oxen,  goaded  by  intolerable 
thirst,  are  thus  impelled  in  an  irresistible  course  over  vast 
tracts  of  the  South  American  Pampas  in  quest  of  water* 
The  valleys  of  the  warmer  parts  of  Africa  are  occasionally 
traversed  by  numerous  assemblages  of  the  wild  quadrupeds 
of  that  continent,  migrating  under  the  same  stimulus.  Lions 
and  other  carnivora  have  on  these  occasions  been  seen 
mingled  with,  and  absolutely  hemmed  in  by,  the  countless 
assemblage  of  antelopes,  gnus,  and  other  herbivorous  species 
which  constitute  their  prey.  The  Scandinavian  lemming, 
however,  is  the  species  of  quadruped  that  is  most  remarkable 
for  its  migration.  But  the  migratory  periods  are  not  regular ; 
nor  are  the  immense  bodies  that  travel  in  a  given  direction 
ever  known  to  return.  In  this  respect  the  migration  of  the 
lemmings  resembles  rather  that  of  the  locusts  among  insects, 
than  the  true  and  regular  migration  of  birds.  The  ordinary 
residence  and  breeding-place  of  the  lemmings  appear  to  be 
the  shores  of  the  arctic  ocean.  Here,  when  their  numbers 
exceed  the  means  of  subsistence,  they  congregate  together, 
and  commence  a  migratory  course  southward,  moving  in  a 
straight  line,  crossing  rivers,  climbing  mountains ;  and  while 
no  insurmountable  obstacle  impedes  their  progress,  they 
devastate  the  country  through  which  they  pass.  The  migra- 
tion of  birds  appears  to  be  influenced  mainly  by  the  neces- 
sity of  providing  sufficient  food  for  their  young,  and  by  the 
temporary  continuance  of  such  food  in  the  climates  best 
suited  for  propagation. 

The  arctic  and  northern  seas,  which  teem  with  life  during 
the  long  unbroken  day  that  constitutes  the  summer  season 
of  such  latitudes,  are  resorted  to  by  numerous  aquatic  birds 
during  the  breeding  season ;  and  these  birds  regularly  mi- 
grate southward  when  the  severities  of  winter  set  in.  In 
temperate  latitudes,  as  those  of  England,  certain  spring  and 
summer  months  are  peculiarly  favourable  to  the  production 
of  insects  in  their  different  stages ;  and  our  island  is  accord- 
ingly frequented  by  many  insectivorous  birds,  which  leave 
warmer  latitudes  during  these  months  to  breed  and  rear  their 
young  with  us.  As  a  general  rule,  it  may  be  stated  that 
birds  migrate  southward  in  the  northern  hemisphere  for  food 
principally  ;  but  that  they  migrate  northward  both  to  feed 
and  breed.  The  most  remarkable  summer  immigrants  that 
visit  England  from  the  smith  anil  breed  in  this  island,  are 
the  swifts,  swallows,  cuckoo,  nightingale,  and  many  other 
Insectivorous  Passerine  birds;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  the 
males  of  the  song  birds  always  precede  the  other  6ex  in  their 
vernal  Bight 

The  winter  immigrants  from  the  north  are  the  species  of 
wild  swan;  many  species  of  wild  duck;  the  smews,  mer- 
L'.'inser.  anil  <  it  he  r  aquatic  birds;  the  woodcock,  &C.  It  oc- 
casionally happens  thai  a  winter  Immigrant  remains  with  us 
the  whole  summer,  and  breeds.  Thus  the  woodcock's  eggs 
and  young  have  occasionally  been  taken  in  our  woods;  but 
Uii-tis.  an  exceptional  or  individual  case.    It  is  a  rare  occur- 


MILDEW. 

rence  when  a  summer  immigrant  prolongs  its  sojourn  into 
the  winter  months,  as  happens  when  by  late  hatching,  or 
debility  produced  by  accident  or  disease,  a  swallow  or  martin 
has  been  prevented  from  joining  the  main  body  of  autumnal 
emigrants  of  its  own  species,  and  is  seen  flying  about  when 
an  unusually  mild  day  may  have  called  some  insects  abroad 
in  the  months  of  November  or  December. 

The  season  of  migration  is  that  of  association,  both  in  birds 
and  other  animals.  The  swifts  congregate  for  their  depart- 
ure about  the  middle  of  August ;  the  swallows  assemble 
together  for  the  same  purpose  in  September.  Their  powers 
of  flight  are  more  than  equivalent  to  the  extent  of  space  they 
have  to  traverse  to  reach  the  wanner  latitudes,  as  the  Medi- 
terranean shores  of  Africa,  where  they  have  been  seen  in 
those  months  when  they  have  disappeared  from  us.  Yet 
there  have  not  been  wanting  naturalists  who  have  believed 
that  the  life  of  the  swallow  was  maintained  during  the 
absence  of  its  insect  food  in  England,  by  the  same  torpidity 
which  enables  the  bat  and  hedgehog  to  exist  through  the 
winter,  and  resume  their  vital  functions  in  spring.  The  bur- 
rows of  the  sand-martin  have  been  explored  in  winter  with 
this  view ;  but  neither  there  nor  in  any  other  hiding-place 
has  a  torpid  martin  or  swift  been  ever  found.  It  was  next 
conjectured  that  these  birds  went  under  water  in  autumn, 
and  passed  the  winter  not  only  torpid,  but  submerged.  The 
supporters  of  this  theory,  however,  have  neither  explained 
how  the  difference  of  specific  gravity  which  makes  the  body 
of  a  swallow  float  upon  water  was  overcome,  nor  how  the 
extravascular  plumage  was  preserved  undecomposed  and  fit 
for  use  after  six  months'  soaking  in  water. 

The  short  migrations  of  the  cuckoo  and  nightingale  are 
unquestionable :  why  should  the  longer  migrations  of  sum- 
mer-breeding birds  of  greater  powers  of  flight  be  doubted  1 
The  direct  observation  of  swallows  in  the  act  of  migrating, 
and  the  slowly  acquired  hut  certain  knowledge  of  their 
winter  resort,  have  finally  put  to  rest  the  skepticism  as  to  the 
migration  of  the  swallow  tribe,  which  only  the  authority  of 
such  eminent  naturalists  as  White  of  Selborne  could  have 
60  long  rendered  excusable  in  works  of  Zoology. 

MI'LDEW.  This  term  is  generally  applied  to  a  particular 
mouldy  appearance  on  the  leaves  of  plants,  which  is  pro- 
duced by  innumerable  minute  fungi,  which,  if  not  checked 
in  their  growth,  will  occasion  the  decay  and  death  of  the 
parts  on  which  they  grow,  and  sometimes  of  the  entire  plant. 
In  agriculture,  this  appearance  is  frequently  termed  rust,  and 
sometimes  blight  It  is  common  on  wheat,  and  on  the  hop ; 
and,  in  gardens,  on  the  leaves  of  the  peach,  the  nectarine, 
and  other  fruit  trees.  The  causes  favourable  to  the  produc- 
tion of  mildew  are  a  rich  soil  and  a  moist  atmosphere,  with- 
out a  free  circulation  of  air  or  sunshine.  In  agriculture,  this 
parasitical  disease  is  generally  considered  without  remedy ; 
but,  in  gardening,  it  may  be  checked  by  the  application  of 
powdered  sulphur  to  the  leaves  covered  by  the  fungi,  which 
is  found  to  destroy  them  without  greatly  injuring  the  leaf. 
Dry-rot  is  only  mildew  of  a  more  formidable  kind. 

MILE.  (Lat.  mille  passuum,  a  thousand  paces.)  The 
Roman  pace  being  5  feet,  and  a  Roman  foot  being  equal  to 
1162  modem  English  inches,  it  follows  that  the  ancient 
Roman  mile  was  equivalent  to  1614  English  yards,  or  very 
nearly  ll-12fhsof  an  English  statute  mile. 

The  English  statute  mile  was  denned  (incidentally,  it 
would  seem)  by  an  act  passed  in  the  35th  year  of  the  reign 
of  Queen  Elizabeth,  by  which  persons  were  forbidden  to 
build  within  three  miles  of  London;  and  the  mile  was 
declared  to  be  8  furlongs  of  40  perches  of  16£  feet  each. 
The  statute  mile  is,  therefore,  1760  yards,  or  5280  feet.  See 
Measures. 

The  mile  is  used  as  an  itinerary  measure  in  almost  all 
countries  of  Europe,  particularly  those  which  were  formerly 
under  the  sway  of  the  Romans ;  but  it  is  very  difficult  to 
conjecture  the  causes  which  have  given  rise  to  the  great 
diversity  of  its  values.  It  has  been  supposed-  that  in  some 
countries  the  Roman  mile  was  confounded  with  the  ancient 
Celtic  league. 

The  following  table,  given  on  the  authority  of  Kelly's 

Cambist,  shows  the  length  of  the  modern  mile,  and  also  the 

league,  of  various  countries,  and  their  relation  to  the  English 

statute  mile :  Yds.         Stat.  Miles. 

Modern  Roman  mile  .        .        .      1628    —      -925 

English  statute  mile  .        .        .      1760    —    1000 

Tuscan  mile 1808    —    1-027 

Ancient  Scottish  mile       .        .        .      1984    —    1-127 

Irish  mile  2240    —    1-273 

French  posting  league  .  .  .  4263  —  2422 
Spanish  judicial  league  .  .  .  4635  —  2-634 
Portugal  league  ....  6760  —  3841 
German  short  mile  ....  6859  —  3897 
Flanders  league  ....  6864  —  3900 
Spanish  common  league   .        .        .      7416    —    4214 

Prussian  mile 8237    —    4680 

Danish  mile 8244    —    4684 

Dantzicmile 8475    —    4-815 


MILK. 

Yds.  Stat.  Miles. 

Hungarian  mile  .        .        .        .9113  —    5-178 

Swiss  mile 9153  —    5201 

German  long  mile     ....    10126  —    5-753 

Hanoverian  mile        ....    11559  —    6-568 

Swedish  mile 11700  —    6648 

According  to  the  same  authority,  the  Arabian  mile  is  2148 
yards,  the  Persian  parasang  6086  vards,  the  Russian  werst 
1167  yards,  and  the  Turkish  berri  1826  yards.  The  English 
geographical  mile  is  l-60th  of  a  degree  of  latitude,  or  about 
2025  yards ;  the  geographical  league  of  England  and  France 
is  3  such  miles,  or  6075  yards ;  and  the  German  geographical 
mile  is  equal  to  4  English  geographical  miles,  or  8100  yards. 
See  an  excellent  disquisition  on  the  history  of  the  English 
mile  in  the  Penny  Cyclopedia. 

MILIA'RIA.  (Lat.  milium,  millet  seed.)  A  disease  at- 
tended by  an  eruption  resembling  millet  seed.    Miliary  fever. 

MILIEU  (JUSTE)— PARTY  OF  THE.  A  French  party 
nickname,  arising,  it  is  said,  out  of  a  casual  expression  of 
King  Louis  Philippe,  but  which  has  obtained  a  notoriety 
rather  greater  than  such  ephemeral  phrases  usually  acquire. 
It  has  served  to  denote  the  great  party  opposed  to  the  Carlists, 
or  Legitimists,  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  the  extreme  left  sec- 
tion of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  with  its  allies  the  Republi- 
cans, on  the  other.  After  the  overthrow  of  the  feeble  ministry 
of  Lafitte,  in  March,  1831,  Casimir  Perier  was  authorized  to 
form  a  new  cabinet ;  and  his  administration  seems  to  have 
realized  more  than  any  other  the  ideal  of  a  government  of 
the  Juste  Milieu.  Under  its  rule  the  hereditary  peerage  was 
abolished ;  the  continual  street  disturbances  which  had  al- 
most controlled  the  will  of  the  previous  ministry  quelled ; 
Ancona  seized ;  and  the  foundation  of  the  successful  interven- 
tion of  France  in  the  Hollando-Belgic  quarrel  laid.  Perier 
died  of  cholera  on  the  16th  of  May,  1832.  After  a  short 
interval  he  was  succeeded  by  Soult ;  who  has  been  perhaps, 
since  that  time,  more  identified  with  the  Juste  Milieu  party 
than  any  other  minister :  Mole,  Guizot,  Dupin,  Thiers,  Barrot, 
the  most  eminent  statesmen  of  France,  having  each  of  thern 
adopted  a  line  and  formed  to  a  certain  extent  a  party  of  his 
own,  alternately  aided  and  opposed  by  the  great  body  of  the 
partisans  of  the  Juste  Milieu. 

MILI'OLA.  (Lat.  milium,  a  millet-seed.)  The  generic 
name  applied  by  Lamarck  to  an  extinct  mollusk,  or  zoophyte, 
which  has  left  its  small  forameniferous  multilocular  shell  in 
great  numbers  in  the  strata  of  many  quarries  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Paris. 

MILI'TIA.  A  body  composed  of  citizens  regularly  en- 
rolled, and  trained  to  the  exercises  of  war ;  but  not  perma- 
nently organized  in  time  of  peace,  or,  in  general,  liable  to 
serve  out  of  the  country  in  time  of  war.  Such  an  establish- 
ment exists  in  most  European  countries  under  different 
names.  (See  Guard,  National.)  In  Austria  and  Prussia 
it  is  called  landwehr ;  and  in  the  latter  country  receives  full 
pay  during  a  certain  part  of  every  year  when  it  is  in  exercise. 
Various  and  unsuccessful  efforts  were  made  by  German 
sovereigns,  during  the  wars  of  the  last  century,  to  organize 
bodies  of  troops  which  should  be  as  cheaply  raised  as  militia, 
and  yet  be  serviceable  in  foreign  war.  Frederick  the  Great 
used  such  troops  for  garrison  service.  The  militia  of  England 
and  Scotland  now  consists  of  a  certain  number  of  men  in 
every  county,  drawn  by  lot  to  serve  for  five  years,  and  liable 
to  be  called  out  and  embodied,  on  danger  of  rebellion  or  in- 
vasion, by  proclamation  of  the  king  in  council,  and  with 
notification  to  parliament,  if  that  body  is  sitting.  During  the 
late  war,  the  militia  was  kept  constantly  on  foot  and  might 
be  sent  to  any  part  of  the  kingdom ;  so  that  it  differed  little 
from  the  regular  army,  except  that  it  could  not  be  sent 
abroad,  and  that  it  was  recruited  by  ballot.  But,  in  addition 
to  the  above,  a  militia  called  local,  or  fencibles,  in  many 
instances  raised  and  supported  entirely  at  the  expense  of 
some  great  landed  proprietor,  was  established  in  every 
county.  After  the  peace  of  1815  the  militia  was  disem- 
bodied; but,  as  we  remarked  above,  it  is  still  liable,  if  it  be 
considered  necessary,  to  be  called  out.  In  Prussia  every 
man  who  has  served  his  three  years,  or  a  single  year  in  cer- 
tain cases,  of  lawful  service  in  the  standing  army,  belongs 
to  the  first  class  of  the  landwehr  until  his  thirtieth  year ;  and 
from  that  time  until  his  fortieth  to  the  second  class. 

MILK.  (Germ,  milch.)  A  fluid  secreted  by  peculiar 
glands  in  the  breasts  of  the  class  of  animals  called  Mammalia, 
and  destined  for  the  nourishment  of  their  young. 

The  obvious  components  of  milk  are  cream,  curd,  and 
whey— 1000  parts  of  cream  (of  cow's  milk),  of  the  sp.  gr. 
10244,  consist,  according  to  Berzelius,  of 

Butter 45 

Curd 35 

Whey 920 

1000 
The  remaining  skimmed  milk  has  a  specific  gravity  of 
about  1033,  and  consists  of— 

747 


MILK  FEVER. 

Water 8-29 

Curd  with  a  trace  of  butter  28 

Sugar  of  milk 35 

Lactic  acid,  lactate  of  potash,  and  a  trace 

bf  lactate  of  iron  ....  6 
Muriate  and  phosphate  of  potash  and 

earthy  phosphates        ....  2 

1000 

If  we  subtract  the  curd,  the  remaining  substances  con- 
stitute whey.  The  curd  of  milk,  or  caseous  muttt  r,  partakes 
in  many  of  its  chemical  properties  of  the  nature  of  albumen  ; 
in  others  it  resembles  vegetable  gluten,  more  especially  in 
the  fermentation  which  it  undergoes  when  kept  in  a  moist 
state.  Sugar  of  milk  is  obtained  by  evaporating  whey. 
When  purified  it  has  a  sweet  taste,  and  requires  7  of  cold 
and  4  of  boiling  water  for  solution,  and  is  insoluble  in  alco- 
hol :  when  digested  with  nitric  acid  it  is  partially  converted 
into  mucous,  or  saccholactic  acid,  and  not,  like  common 
sugar,  into  oxalic  acid.  This,  therefore,  though  an  animal 
product,  closely  resembles  the  vegetable  proximate  princi- 
ples ;  and  milk  may  hence  be  considered  as  partaking  of  the 
nature  of  vegetable  as  well  as  animal  food.     See  Dairy. 

MILK  FEVER.    See  Puerperal  Fever. 

MILK  TREE,  so  called  from  its  trunk  yielding  a  milky 
fluid  when  wounded,  is  a  name  applied  more  particularly  to 
those  species  in  which  the  fluid  is  harmless  and  fit  for  food ; 
an  uncommon  circumstance  among  lactescent  plants,  whose 
secretions  are  generally  dangerous.  In  the  Caraccas  there 
is  one  sort,  the  palo  de  vaca,  or  cow  tree  of  Humboldt,  whose 
milk  is  a  common  article  of  diet  among  the  natives ;  this  is 
the  Galactodendron  utile.  In  that  and  other  countries, 
plants  of  the  Sapotaceous  order,  especially  species  of  Acho- 
as,  also  furnish  such  a  secretion.  In  Ceylon  has  been  found 
the  Kiriaguni  plant,  or  Taberntemontuna  utilis,  which  is 
used  by  the  Cingalese  in  a  similar  manner. 

MILK  VESSELS,  in  Plants,  are  the  anastomosing  tubes 
lying  in  the  bark  or  near  the  surface  of  plants,  in  which  a 
white  turbid  fluid  is  secreted.  They  are  one  of  the  forms 
of  the  vital  veins  of  Schultz,  which  see. 

MILKY  WAY,  or  VIA  LACTEA,  or  GALAXY.  A 
broad  and  irregular  zone  of  stars  that  surrounds  the  heavens, 
so  distant  that  their  united  light  gives  but  an  indistinct  and 
undefined  whitishness  to  the  whole  appearance — whence  its 
name.     See  Galaxy. 

MILL.  (Gr.  nwXrj ;  Lat  mola.)  This  term  seems  to  have 
signified  originally  an  engine  for  grinding  corn,  but  it  is  now 
used  in  a  general  sense  to  denote  a  great  variety  of  machines, 
whose  action  depends  chiefly  on  circular  motion.  The  par- 
ticular purpose  is  usually  indicated  by  a  prefix  ;  thus,  bark- 
mill,  cotton-mill,  flour-mill,  oil-mill,  saw-mill,  spinning- 
mill,  &.C. 

The  machinery  by  which  it  is  necessary  to  accomplish 
the  ultimate  objects  of  the  mill  must  obviously  vary  almost 
indefinitely.  Many  voluminous  works  on  this  subject  have 
been  published,  as  well  as  separate  accounts  of  particular 
structures.  See  Brewster's  edition  of  Ferguson's  Lectures ; 
Gray's  Experienced  Millwright ;  Buchanan  on  Millwork, 
byTredgold;  Banks  on  Mills;  The  Repository  of  Arts,  &x. 
A  catalogue  of  the  principal  works  on  the  subject  of  mills  is 
given  in  Gregory's  Mechanics,  vol.  ii. 

MILL,  BARKER'S.     See  Centrifugal  Machine. 

MLLLCNNlUM.  (Lat.  mille  anni,  a  thousand  years.) 
The  reign  of  Christ  with  his  saints  upon  earth  for  the  space 
of  a  thousand  years;  an  idea  derived  from  a  passage  in  the 
20th  chap,  of  the  Apocalypse,  and  not  uncommonly  enter- 
tained by  Christians  in  all"  ages,  but  especially  in  the  times 
of  the  primitive  church.  The  opinion  seems  to  be  traced  as 
far  back  as  to  Papias,  a  fattier  of  the  second  century.  It  is 
the  subject  of  much  discussion  among  the  writers  of  that 
and  the  succeeding  ages  ;  was  maintained  by  Justin  Martyr. 
Irena:us,  Tertullian,  and  many  others,  and  powerfully  re- 
futed by  Origen.  (See  the  work  of  .Mstedius,  translated  bj 
Bruton,  1043;  Gibbon,  ch.  xv., with  Adman's  notes;  Ber 
tholdt,Christologia  Judaorum  ;  Eisenmenger,  Das  Entdcckte 
Judenthum;   Ltghtfoot;  Mosheim,  vol.  i.) 

MI'I.EEPORES,  Mi'lrpora.  (Lat.  nnlle,  a  thousand,  po- 
ms, a  pore.)  A  tribe  of  Lithophytous  Polypes,  including 
those  in  which  the  calcareous  axis  is  perforated  by  extreme 
ly  numerous  pores. 

MI'LLET.  (Lat.  milium ;  Fr.  millet.)  A  plant  classed 
by  botanists  among  the  grasses,  though  some  of  tie  species 
attain  a  height  of  from  16  to  20  feet  in  favourable  situations. 
There  are  many  species  of  this  plant:  of  which  the  princi- 
pal are  the  Polish,  the  common  or  German,  and  the  Indian 
millet.     In  several  parts  of  Europe  it  is  cultivated  as  B  grain, 

and  is  sometimes  employed  as  a  substitute  for  rice  or  sago  i>v 
the  poorer  classes,  but  more  frequently  it  is  used  for  feeding 
chickens  and  domestic  animalB.  It  is  cultivated  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  in  France.  Switzerland,  Southern  Germany, 
and  most  extensively  in  Egypt,  Svria,  Xubia,  China,  aiid 
748 


MINE. 

Hindostan  ;  but  the  climate  of  England  is  not  sufficiently  dry 
and  warm  to  allow  of  its  being  cultivated  here. 

MI'LLION.  A  thousand  thousand,  or,  as  often  defined, 
ten  hundred  thousand.     See  Numeration. 

MILLSTONE  GRIT.  A  geological  term  applied  to  a 
group  of  strata  which  occur  between  the  mountain  limestone 
and  the  superincumbent  coal  formations;  it  is  a  coarse- 
grained quartzose  sandstone. 

MI'LVINES,  Mi/rini.  A  family  of  Raptorial  birds,  of 
which  the  kite  (Milvus)  is  the  tyin.'. 

MIME.  (Lat.  mimus;  Gr.  pi^tos,  from  mucouai,  I  imitate.) 
The  name  given  by  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans  at  once 
to  a  species  of  dramatic  entertainment,  and  to  the  authors 
and  actors  by  whom  it  was  respectively  composed  and  per- 
formed.  It  consisted  chiefly  of  a  rude  representation  of 
common  life,  and  resembled  the  modern  farce  or  vaudeville 
in  its  character  and  accompaniments.  Sophron  of  Syracuse, 
who  lived  about  400  years  before  the  Christian  era,  is  con- 
sidered the  inventor  of  this  species  of  composition.  His 
pieces  were  read  even  with  pleasure  by  Plato,  who  is  said 
to  have  introduced  this  kind  of  dramatic  entertainment  into 
Athens.  (The  Museum  Criticum,  No.  7,  contains  several 
fragments  of  mimes  by  Sophron.)  At  what  period  mimo- 
graphy  was  first  practised  at  Rome  cannot  be  precisely  ascer- 
tained ;  but  in  the  time  of  the  emperors,  and  even  under 
Augustus,  this  species  of  entertainment  had  attained  a  high 
degree  of  popularity.  Among  the  Romans,  it  was  of  a  still 
more  farcical  character  than  among  the  Greeks,  from  whom 
it  was  borrowed,  and  bordered  more  upon  such  mountebank 
representations  as  Punch  and  Judy  among  ourselves,  and 
the  Fantoccini  of  the  Italians.  Mimes  originally  formed  a 
part  of  the  usual  theatrical  exhibitions  ;  but  they  were  soon 
introduced  by  the  wealthy  Romans  into  their  private  enter- 
tainments to  divert  their  guests.  At  Rome  they  also  held 
a  prominent  place  at  funerals,  on  which  occasions  their  duty 
consisted  in  praising  the  virtues  and  exposing  the  defects  of 
the  deceased.  It  is,  however,  very  probable  that  less  license 
of  caricature  was  then  admissible ;  but  the  highest  rank  was 
not  exempt  from  the  practice.  Thus,  Suetonius  tells  us  that 
the  archmime  Favo  was  present  at  the  funeral  of  Vespasian  : 
"  Sedet  in  funere  Favo  archimimus,  personam  ejus  ferens, 
imitansque,  ut  mos  est,  facta  et  dicta  vivi." 

MI'MUS.  (Lat.  a  mimic.)  A  genus  of  Passerine  birds, 
separated  by  Boie  from  the  thrushes  (Turdus  of  Linnaeus) 
on  account  of  the  more  elongated  form  of  the  body,  and  par- 
ticularly of  the  tail,  the  shorter  wings,  and  more  curved 
upper  mandible.  The  type  of  this  genus  is  the  celebrated 
mocking-bird.    See  that  word. 

Ml'XA.  (Gr.  Mi,7.)  A  weight  and  coin  in  use  among 
the  Greeks,  but  which  was  different  in  different  states.  The 
Attic  mina,  which  is  that  most  frequently  mentioned,  was 
heavier  than  the  Roman  pound  by  about  four  drachms. 
Each  mina  contained  100  drachma",  and  was  itself  contained 
60  times  in  an  Attic  talent.  The  coin  was  worth  a  little 
more  than  3/.  of  our  money. 

MI'NARET.  (Arab,  menarah,  a  lantern.)  A  slender 
and  lofty  turret  in  the  mosques  of  Mohammedan  countries, 
used  for  the  purpose  of  summoning  the  people  to  prayers, 
and  consequently  answering  the  purpose  of  the  belfry  in 
Christian  churches.  They  are  usually  surrounded  with  pro 
jecting  balconies,  and  are  crowned  with  spires  surmounted 
by  a  crescent.  Before  the  hour  of  prayer  the  criers  of  the 
mosques  ascend  the  minarets,  whence  they  summon  the 
people  to  prayers  with  the  words.  '•  Come,  ye  people,  to  the 
place  of  rest  and  integrity ;  come  to  the  asylum  of  safety." 

MIXIfERE'RCS'S  SPIRIT.  Solution  of  acetate  of  am- 
monia, first  recommended  as  a  febrifuge  by  Raymond  Min- 
dererus,  a  physician  of  Augsburg. 

MIXE.  Tiie  name  given  generally  to  every  system  of 
subterraneous  work  or  excavation  which  has  for  its  object 
the  discovery  and  extraction  of  the  metallic  ores  or  other 
mineral  produce.  But  in  addition  to  the  underground  works 
which  constitute  the  mine  properly  so  called,  the  term 
usually  comprehends  also  the  ground  on  the  surface,  to- 
gether with  the  numerous  appendages  which  are  required 
there;  as  steam-engines,  water  wheels,  and  other  machinery 
for  drainage,  the  extraction  of  the  ores,  and  their  mechani- 
cal preparation,  with  various  buildings  and  erections.  The 
subject  of  mines  is  one  of  the  most  important  within  the 
whole  range  of  human  knowledge  I  their  contents  constitute 
the  main  springs  of  civilization  ;  and  the  means  employed  to 
obtain  them  are  to  be  ranked  among  the  most  extraordinary 
instances  of  human  enterprise,  patience,  and  ingenuity. 
The  art  of  mining  has  been  practised  from  the  earliest  an- 
tiquity, and  has  formed  a  branch  of  industry  to  the  most 
barbarous  as  well  as  the  most  civilized  communities.  It  is 
true  that  we  COO  scarcely  dignify  by  the  name  of  mining  the 
operation  by  which  the  savage  merely  collects  crains  of  gold 
in  the  Bonds  of  rivers,  or  extracts  it  by  pounding,  when  me- 
chanically combined  with  other  substances;  bill  even  this 
simple  operation  becomes  interesting  when  viewed  as  the 
first  link  in  the  chain  of  those  elaborate  and  scientific  pro- 


MINE. 


cesses  now  employed  in  the  extraction  of  metallic  and  other 
mineral  substances  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth.  In  Eng- 
land, mining  had  a  very  early  origin,  compared  with  the 
progress  of  other  arts  in  the  country.  It  was,  in  all  proba- 
bility, the  first  source  of  trade  to  these  islands ;  and  so  cele- 
brated was  British  tin  over  the  whole  of  the  then  known 
world,  that  the  Phoenicians  traded  to  Cornwall  for  this  metal. 
At  that  early  period,  however,  and  indeed  for  centuries  after- 
wards, the  art  of  mining  was  necessarily  in  a  comparatively 
rude  and  imperfect  state,  arising  from  the  want  of  an  effect- 
ive means  of  drainage  and  of  blasting  implements ;  and  it 
was  not  until  hydraulic  machines  were  applied  to  raise  the 
waters  which  accumulated  in  mines  of  every  description 
that  metals  could  be  followed  to  any  considerable  depth,  and 
not  until  gunpowder  had  furnished  the  means  of  splitting  Ihe 
hardest  rock  that  the  miner  was  enabled  to  surmount  the 
obstacles  which  the  most  indurated  strata  opposed  to  his 
progress.  These  inventions,  therefore,  may  be  regarded  as 
most  important  epochs  in  the  history  of  mining :  but  the 
present  comparatively  perfect  state  of  the  art  is  mainly  ow- 
ing to  the  invention  of  the  steam  engine  and  the  improved 
manufacture  of  iron,  which  took  place  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  last  century.  The  former  gave  to  the  miner  a  power 
capable  of  universal  application,  and  of  an  effect  that  added, 
as  it  were,  new  regions  of  subterranean  country  to  his  con- 
trol ;  while  the  latter  has  proved  no  less  important  in  con- 
tributing to  the  same  result,  by  the  improved  machinery  and 
apparatus  it  has  placed  within  his  reach. 

The  art  of  mining  embraces  such  an  infinity  of  topics  and 
processes,  differing  from  each  other  in  proportion  to  the  dif- 
ference of  the  locality  of  the  lodes,  the  habits  of  the  popula- 
tion, and  the  character  and  the  resources  of  the  country  in 
which  it  is  practised,  many  of  which,  besides,  are  of  so  ab- 


struse and  complicated  a  nature  as  to  be  utterly  unintelligi- 
ble without  the  most  lengthened  details,  and  the  introduction 
of  numerous  diagrams  that  would  have  been  foreign  to  the 
object  of  this  work,  that  we  shall  refrain  from  entering  upon 
a  subject  which  it  would  be  impossible  for  us  to  treat  satis- 
factorily in  this  place.  We  must  therefore  refer  the  reader 
to  lire's  Diet,  of  Arts,  S,-c,  which  contains  full  details  upon 
the  numerous  processes  connected  with  this  most  important 
art,  and  content  ourselves  with  subjoining  the  following 
tables :  the  one  made  up  from  the  Geo.  Diet.,  containing  an 
estimate  of  the  mineral  produce  of  Great  Britain  on  an 
average  of  years  and  prices  ;  the  other  being  a  Comparative 
Table  of  celebrated  Mines  in  Europe  and  America,  which 
we  have  borrowed  from  the  Quarterly  Mining  Review  for 
July,  1835,  p.  CO.  (The  various  mining  terms,  as  shaft,  lode, 
&c,  will  be  found  defined  under  their  respective  heads ;  and 
the  different  metallurgical  processes  explained  under  the 
separate  metals.) 

Estimate  of  the  Mineral  Produce  of  Great  Britain,  on  an 


Average  of  Years  and  Prices. 

Quantity. 

Silver    .  .       10,000  lbs.  troy 

Copper  .  .        13,000  tons 

Tin        .  .  5,500 

Lead      .  .        46,000 

Iron        .  .   1,250,000 

Coal       .  .32,000,000 

Salt,  alum,  and  other  minor  produce  ) 

more  than ', 

Total  value  probably  exceeds 


Value. 

.£30,000 

1,300,000 

550,000 

950,000 

10,000,000 

12,000,000 

1,000,000 
£25,830,000 


Comparative  Table  of  celebrated  Mines  in  Europe  and  America.    By  J.  Burr,  Esq. 


Situation  . 
Elevation 


Nature  cf  the  rock 


Nature  of  the  metalifer- 
ous  deposites 


Produce  of  the  ores . 


(At  present  the  richest 
mines  in  Cornwall.) 


Two  miles  east  of  Redruth, 

Elevation  of  the  surface  above  th> 
level  of  the  sea,  from  200  to  300 
feet.  Depth  of  the  bottom  of 
the  mine  below  the  level  of  the 
sea,  about  1370  feet. 


Primary  clay  slate,  resting  imme 
diately  on  granite,  a  short  dis- 
tance westward  of  the  mines. 
The  clay  slate  is  intersected  by 
numerous  channels  of  porphyry, 
which  have  nearly  the  sami 
rection  as  the  mineral  veins, 
and  are  often  of  considerable 
width.  The  porphyry  some- 
times  appears  also  to  form  large 
irregular  masses  in  the  clay 
slate.  Both  rocks  are  traversed 
by  veins  of  quartz  and  clay  in. 
tersectiug  the  metalliferous 
veins. 


tn  the  consolidated  mines,  the 
eight  following  lodes  are  exten- 
sively worked :  Wheal  Fortune 
lode,  Cusvea  lode,  Heebie's 
lode,  Old  lode,  Taylor's  lode. 
Tregonning's  lode,  Martin's 
lode,  and  Glover's  lode.  In  the 
united  mines,  the  principal 
workings  are  upon  the  Old 
lode,  and  about  five  or  six  oth- 
ers are  more  or  less  productive. 
Numerous  smaller  lodes  or 
u  branches"  occur  also  in  both 
mines.  The  principal  lodes  are 
from  2  or  3  to  7  or  8  feet  wide  ; 
the  "branches"  are  generally 
12  or  IS  inches  wide.  The  di- 
rection of  the  lodes  varies  from 
nearly  east  and  west  to  about  20 
degrees  north  of  east  and  south 
of  west.  The  underlie  of  the 
principal  lodes  is  from  2  to  3 
feet  per  fathom  north ;  that  of 
the  smaller  ones  about  the  same 
south. 

Chiefly  copper  ore,  occasionally 
native  copper,  blue  and  green 
carbonate  of  copper.  Tin,  or 
oxide  of  tin,  also  occurs,  but 
not  in  very  great  abundance. 

9^  per  cent,  of  fine  copper ;  aver- 
age produce    in  100   parts  of 


Veta  Grande  Mines. 


(At  present  the  richest 
mines  in  Mexico.) 


Four  miles  north  of  Zacatecas. 

Elevation  of  the  surface  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  supposed  to  be 
about  6000  feet.  Elevation  of 
the  bottom  of  the  mine  above 
the  level  of  the  sea,  probably 
near  5000  feet. 

Transition  clay  slate,  alternating 
with  dolomite,  and  occasionally 
with  greywacke.  This  clay 
slate  is  sometimes  decomposed 
it  rests  on  syenitic  rocks,  and 
is  in  some  places  covered  wilh 
porphyry. 


One  principal  vein  (the  Veta 
Grande),  which  is  generally 
separated  into  3  branches,  and 
sometimes  into  four.  Wli 
ramified,  the  width  extends  to 
60  or  70  feet ;  when  united, 
varies  from  8  or  10  to  20  or  30 
feet.  The  branches  are  gener- 
ally about  10  or  12  feet  wide, 
and  the  upper  one  is  most  pro 
ductive.  The  direction  of  the 
Veta  Grande  is  from  30  to  40 
degrees  Bouth  of  east,  and  north 
of  west,  and  its  underlie,  from 
two  to  three  feet  per  fathom 
south.  Other  veins  of  less  size 
occur  in  the  neighhbourhood  of 
the  Veta  Grande,  which  cross 
it  at  an  acute  angle.  One 
these  appears  to  heave  the  vein 
for  about  700  feet,  being  the 
most  remarkable  derangement 
of  the  kind  on  record. 


Chiefly  red  silver,  native  silver, 
sulphuret  of  silver,  and  argenti- 
ferous pyrites. 


3|  ca.  per  quintal. 


Mine  of  Vatenciana. 

(Jtichest  of  the  Mexican 

mines  at  the  beginning  of 

the  present  century.) 


Mine  of  Himmelsfurst. 

(Richest  of  the  Saxon 

mines  at  the  beginning 

of  the  present 

century.) 


One  mile  north  of  Guanaxuato. 

Elevation  of  the  surface  above  th 
level  of  the  sea,  7617  feet.  Ele 
vation  of  the  bottom  of  the 
mine  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
6730  feet. 


The  Veta  Madre  of  Guanaxuato, 
upon  which  this  mine  is  work 
ed,  traverses  both  clay  slate  and 
porphyry,  but  it  is  most  produc- 
tive in  the  former  rock.  The 
clay  slate  is  considered  by 
Humboldt  to  belong  to  the 
transition  class,  but  situate  neai 
the  limits  of  primary  forma 
tions.  This  rock  in  depth  pass^ 
es  into  chlorite  slate,  and  talc 
slate.  It  contains  subordinate 
beds  of  syenite,  hornblendi 
slate,  and  serpentine.  Th 
porphyry  rests  upon  the  clay 
slate,  and  is  conformable  to  it, 
both  in  direction  and  stratifica- 
tion. 

One  Veta  (the  Veta  Madre), 
which  is  often  separated  into 
three  brauches,  extending  from 
130  to  160  feet  in  width 
When  not  ramified,  its  width 
varies  from  20  or  30  to  60  c 
feet,  but  is  more  commonly 
from  40  to  50  feet.  The  direc- 
tion of  the  vein  is  north-west 
and  south-east;  its  underlie 
south,  and  about  5  or  6  feet  per 
fathom. 


Sulphuret  of  silver,  native  silver, 
prismatic  black  silver,  red  sil- 
ver, native  gold,  argentiferous 
galena. 

Four  ounces  of  silver  per  quintal 
of  100  lbs.  Equivalent  to  2i 
parts  of  metal  in  1000  of  ore,  or 
V  per  cent. 


Two  miles  south-east  of 
Freyberg. 

Elevation  of  the  surface 
above  the  level  of  thi 
sea,  1346  feet.  Eleva 
tion  of  the  bottom  of 
the  mine  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  263 
feet 

The  rock  prevailing  in 
the  neighbourhood  of 
Freyberg,  in  which 
this  and  most  of  thi 
other  mines  are  situ 
ate,  is  a  formation  of 
primary  gneiss. 


There  are  five  veins 
worked  in  this  mine. 
The  principal  vein 
(Teichflache)  is  from 
1  foot  6  inches  to  3 
feet  in  width ; 
others  are  from  6  to  12 
inches  wide.  The  di- 
rection of  this  \( 
nearly  north  and  south; 
its  underlie  is  west, 
and  about  3  feet  per 
fathom.  Some  of  tht 
other  veins  intersect  it 


Argentiferous  sulphuret 
of  lead,  native  silver, 
sulphuret  of  silver,  red 
silver. 

Six  to  seven  ounces  of 
silver  per  quintal  of 
100  lbs-  Equivalent  to 
from  3 J  to  4  J  parts  of 
metal  in  101)0  of  ore, 
or  from  3-Sths  to  near- 
ly h  per  cent. 

749 


MINE. 

Table— c  ontinur't. 


Mineral    substances    ac 
conipanyiug  the  ores 


Depth  of  adit  at  the  prin 
cipal  shafts  . 


Quantity  of  water 


(At  present  the  richest 
miues  in  Cornwall.) 


Power      employed     ii 
drainage 


Probable    equivalent 
actual  horse-power 


Average  annual  expense 
drainage  . 

Quantity  of  ore  annually 

produced 
Produce  in  metal    . 

Total  returns,  or  value 

of  the  above 
Total  costs  of  the  mine 


Clear  profit  to  the  pro- 
prietors. 
Amount  of  capital  invest- 


Number  of  men  employ 
ed 

Wages  of  the  miners  per 

day 
Quantity  and  expense  of 

powder 
Manner     in  which    the 

ores  are  disposed  of 


The  ores  are  generally  accompa 
nied  by  "  gossan"*  in  the  backs 
of  the  lodes,  by  blende,  and  by 
iron,  and  arsenical  pyritel  in 
depth. 

tVuoIfs  engine-shaft,  249  fath- 
oms: Pearce's  ttigitit-shajt, 
275  fathoms.  Some  of  the  oth- 
er engine-shafts  are  scarcely  in- 
ferior in  depth. 

At  Woolf's  engine-shaft,  13  fath- 
oms. The  average  depth  of  the 
adit  at  the  other  engine-shafts 
is  about  30  or  40  fathoms. 

Varies  from  2000  to  3000  gallons 
per  minute. 


Vtta  Grande  Mints. 


(At  present  the  richest 
mines  in  Mexico.) 


Mine  of  Valenciana. 

(Richest  of  the  Mexican 

mines  at  the  beginning  of 

the  present  century.) 


\M 


Chiefly  quartz,  occasionally  ame-  Quartz,  amethyst,  carbonate  of 
thyst,  carbonate  of  lime,  and  lime,  pearlspar,  and  hornstone. 
sulphate  of  barytes. 

ire  generally  accompa- The  ores  are  accompanied  by 
Died  by  blende,  BulphuTet  Of  an<  blenJe,  spathose  ironf  copper 
timouy,  and  iron  pyrites.  and  iron  pyrites. 


Tiro  General,  182  fathoms  ;  Gal-  Tiro  General,  310  fathoms. 
lega  shaft,  13S  fathoms. 


There  is  no  adit  to  this  mine. 


About  SO  gallons  per  minute. 


About  230  fathoms  at  the  Consol- 
idated Mines;  at  the  United 
Mines  about  110  fathoms. 

9  steam-engines  j  3  of  90-inch 
cylinder,  3  of  S5,  1  of  SO,  and  2 
of  65.  A  water  wheel  48  feet 
in  diameter. 

1500  constantly  at  work,  or  a  total 
number  of  above  4500. 


12,700Z.,  taking  the  average" 
of  the  last  ten  years. 

16,400  tons  of  copper  ore,  a 

tons  of  tin  ore. 
1517  tons  of  fine   copper,  a 

little  tin. 
119,800/. 

93,500/.   exclusive  of    lord's 
98,5001.    including 


lord's 

21,000/.  perc 

75,000/. 


80  per  cent,  after    paying 
back  the  original  capital. 


Costs  exclusive  of  lord's  dues, 
78  per  cent. 


About  2500  persons,  of  whom 
about  1450  are  employed  under 
ground. 

Probably  about  3  shillings  oi 
average. 


Sold  to  the  smelting  companies, 
and  smelted  by  them  at  Swan- 
sea, in  South  Wales. 


On  an  average  about  150  fathoms, 
Usually  about  10  malacates.t 

32  horses  constantly   work--^ 
ing,  or  a  total  number  of 
about  100  horses. 

20,000/.  per  annum. 

21.3S0  tons  of  silver  ore. 
153,000  lbs.  troy  of  silver 
423,400/.  per  annum. 
252,170/.  per  annum, 

171,240/.  per  annum. 
130,000/. 


Nearly  700  per  cent,  after 
paying  back  the  original 
capital. 

About  59  J  per  cent. 


Aboot  900,  of  whom  nearly  600 
are  employed  under  ground. 


About  8  or  9  shillings  per  day. 


Chiefly  reduced  by  the  company 
at  the  Hacienda  of  Sanceda,  by 
smelting  and  amalgamation. 


Quartz,  pearlspar,  and 
calcareous  spar. 

The  ores  are  accompa- 
nied by  blende,  spath- 
ose iron,  and  a  little 
iron  and  arsenical  py- 
rites. 

FrantenschachtylSQ  fath- 
oms. 


There  is  no  adit  to  this  mine. 


The  Valenciana  was  a  dry  mine 
from  its  commencement  iu  1760 
to  17S0,  when  it  first  became 
troubled  with  water,  in  conse- 
quence of  some  of  the  workings 
being  inadvertently  communi- 
cated with  the  adjoining  mine 
of  Tepeyac  ;  which,  although 
upon  the  same  vein,  was  ex- 
tremely wet  The  quantity  of 
water  raised  during  the  late 
working  appears  to  have  been 
about  HO  gallons  per  minute, 
but  the  regular  influx  was  much 


310  fathoms. 


A  stcam-cn^ine  of  30-inch  cylii 
der,  and  7  malacates. 


About  40,000/.  per  annum.  * 

32,500  tons  of  silver  ore. 
221,900  lbs.  troy  silver. 
About  600,000/. 
197,900/.  per  annum. 


of  Himmelsfurst. 

(Richest  of  the  Saxon 

mines  at  the  beginning 

of  the  present 

century.) 


The  adit  aH>.»<w  r*\ 
ed   Fran 

47  fathoms  ui  depth. 

50  gallons  per  minute.. 


■t 


118,750/.  per  annum. 

CaDnot  be  ascertained,  but 
known  to  have  been  very 
small. 

Not  known,  but  certainly 
many  hundred  per  cent. 


Costs  60  per  cent.  In  the 
nine  years  following  the 
proportion  was  80  per 
cent.  ;  at  the  end  of  that 
time  the  working  of  the 
mine  was  stopped  by  the 
revolution  in  the  year  IS09, 

3100   Indians    and   Mestizoes 
whom  1800  are  employed  under 
ground. 

From  4  to  5  shillings. 


1420  cwt. ;  value  15,830/. 

Sold  to  the  Rescatadores,  and  re- 
duced by  smelting  and  amalga- 
mation at  Haciendas,  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Guanaxua'o. 


16  horses  constantly  "\ 
at  work,  or  a  to- 
tal    number    of 
about  50. 

Cannot  be  ascertain- 
ed, but  evidently 
very  small. 

630    tons  of  silver 

6160    lbs.     troy  of 
About  18,000/. 
9500/.  per  annum. 


? 


3560!.  per  annum. 

Cannot  be  ascertain* 
ed,   but  probably 
very  small. 
Not     known,     but 
probably     very 
high. 
Costs  73  per  cent,     j 


700  miners,    of    whom 
550  are  employed  i 
der  ground. 

About  Is.  Sd.  per  day. 


240  cwt.  ;  value  1070;. 

■  slivered  to  the  Gov- 
ernment, reduction 
works  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Freyberg, 
where  they  are  partly 
smelted,  and  partly 
run;\ltrn  mated. 


*  Gossan,  or  Gozzan  ;  oxide  of  iron  and  quartz. 

Mines  and  Minerals,  Law  of.  Bv  the  law  of  Eng- 
land all  minerals  are  part  of  the  freehold  of  the  soil  under 
which  they  are  found,  with  the  exception  of  gold  and  silver, 
which  are  said  to  belong  to  the  crown.  But,  hy  1  W.  & 
M.,  c.  50,  no  mine  of  copper  or  lead  is  adjudged  a  royal 
mine,  though  silver  be  extracted.  A  lease  of  land,  with 
mines  mentioned,  conveys,  it  is  said,  the  right  to  carry  on 
open  mines  only,  and  not  open  new  ones,  unless  expressly 
reserved  ;  but  that,  if  there  are  no  open  mines,  the  lessee 
may  then  dig  new  ouch,  as  otherwise  the  grant  would  he  of 
none  effect.  But,  unless  the  lessee  be  authorized,  to  dig 
mines  is  waste.  Mines  are  not  rateable  to  the  relief  of  the 
poor,  with  the  exception  of  coal  mines;  the  latter  being  ex- 
pressed in  the  statute  of  Eliz.,  the  former  are  held  to  be  ex- 
cluded by  implication.    But  quarries  are  rateable;  and  the 


t  Malacate,  a  horse  whim. 

distinction  between  a  mine  and  a  quarry  is  taken  to  be,  not 
the  nature  of  the  mineral  extracted,  but  the  mode  of  work- 
ing :  thus,  a  mine  of  limestone  worked  by  a  shaft  is  not 
rateable.  The  law  of  mines  and  minerals  is  subject  to  a 
variety  of  local  customs,  of  which  those  of  Devon  and  Corn- 
wall are  the  most  remarkable.     See  Stannaries. 

Mine.  In  Fortification,  a  subterraneous  passage  leading 
to  a  chamber  underneath  any  place  intended  to  be  blown  up 
by  gunpowder.  See  Mutter's  Art  of  War,  and  other  worka 
on  military  engineering  of  subsequent  date. 

MI'NERAL  ADIPOCERE.  A  greasy  bitumen,  found 
in  tlic  arL'illnrenus  on-,  of  iron.     .S'te  IIatciietine. 

MI'N'KRAr.  CAOITCHOUC.  The  clastic  bitumen 
found  at  Castleton  in  Derbyshire. 

MINERAL    L'llAMi-ELEON.      See   Manganese.     A 


MINERAL  GREEN. 

manganesate  of  potash,  obtained  by  fusing  a  mixture  of 
nitre  and  black  oxide  of  manganese.  So  called  from  the 
variety  of  colours  which  its  aqueous  solution  successive ly 
exhibits.  . 

MI'NERAL  GREEN.  Carbonate  of  copper,  obtained  by 
precipitating  a  hot  solution  of  sulphate  of  copper  by  carbon- 
ate of  soda. 

MINERALI'ZERS.  The  substances  with  which  metals 
are  combined  in  their  ores.  Thus,  in  the  native  oxides, 
oxygen  is  called  the  mineralizer ;  sulphur  is  also  a  very 
common  mineralizer,  as  in  the  ores  of  copper,  lead,  &c. 

MINERA'LOGY.  A  branch  of  physico-chemical  sci- 
ence, which  teaches  the  properties,  composition,  and  rela- 
tions of  mineral  bodies,  and  the  art  of  distinguishing  and  de- 
scribing them.  ;      l 

"  There  is  no  branch  of  science,"  says  Sir  J.  Herschel, 
"  which  presents  so  many  points  of  contact  with  other  de- 
partments of  physical  research,  and  serves  as  the  connect- 
ing link  between  so  many  distant  points  of  philosophical 
speculation,  as  this.  To  the  geologist,  the  chemist,  the  op- 
tician, the  crystallographer,  it  offers  especially  the  very  ele- 
ments of  their  knowledge,  and  a  field  for  many  of  their 
most  curious  and  important  inquiries  ;  nor,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  chemistry,  is  there  any  which  has  undergone  more 
revolutions,  or  been  exhibited  in  a  greater  variety  of  forms. 
To  the  ancients  it  could  scarcely  be  said  to  be  at  all  known  ; 
and,  up  to  a  comparatively  recent  period,  nothing  could  be 
more  imperfect  than  its  descriptions,  or  more  inartificial  and 
unnatural  than  its  classifications.  The  more  important 
minerals  in  the  arts,  indeed — those  used  for  economical 
purposes,  and  those  from  which  metals  were  extracted — 
had  a  certain  degree  of  attention  paid  to  them  for  the  sake 
of  their  utility  and  commercial  value,  and  the  precious 
stones  for  that  of  ornament:  but  until  their  crystalline 
forms  were  attentively  observed,  and  shown  to  be  determi- 
nate characters,  on  which  dependance  could  be  placed,  no 
mineralogist  could  give  any  correct  account  of  the  real  dis- 
tinction between  one  mineral  and  another.  It  was  only, 
however,  when  chemical  analysis  had  acquired  a  certain 
degree  of  precision  and  universal  applicability,  that  the  im- 
portance of  mineralogy  as  a  science  began  to  be  recognised, 
and  the  connexion  between  the  external  characters  of  a  stone 
and  its  ingredient  constituents  brought  into  distinct  notice." 

In  the  above  quotation,  the  two  characters  of  minerals 
upon  which  their  classification  is  founded  are  adverted 
to,  namely,  their  structure  and  their  composition  ;  and,  pur- 
suing these  as  their  leading  objects,  mineralogists  have  of 
late  discarded  a  number  of  other  qualities  upon  which 
much  stress  was  formerly  laid,  but  which  are  so  variable 
and  indefinite  as  to  be  really  of  little  value ;  such,  for  in- 
stance, as  weight,  colour,  touch,  and  other  sensible  quali- 
ties, which  often  vary  in  different  specimens  of  the  same 
mineral. 

There  are  so  many  disadvantages  belonging  to  any  miner- 
alogical  arrangement  founded  exclusively  on  crystalline 
form,  or  on  chemical  composition,  that,  for  all  practical 
purposes,  it  is  necessary  to  blend  the  two ;  but  since  the 
chemical  theory  of  definite  proportionals,  or,  as  it  is  com- 
monly called,  the  atomic  theory,  has  been  shown  to  be  ap- 
plicable to  the  greater  number  of  mineral  combinations,  the 
chemical  arrangement  of  mineral  substances  has  assumed  a 
new  and  important  aspect :  it  being  of  course  necessary,  in 
describing  a  mineral,  that  its  crystalline  form  and  modifica- 
tions should  in  all  cases  form  an  essential  part  of  such  de- 
scription, where  at  least  it  can  be  attained  ;  for  it  must  be 
recollected  that  there  are  many  cases  in  which  minerals  do 
not  occur  crystallized,  and  where  that  characteristic,  there- 
fore, would  be  totally  at  fault.  It  has  been  well  observed 
by  Dr.  Thomson  (System  of  Chemistry,  Part  III.,  Introduc- 
tion), "  that  if  mineralogy  were  to  be  confined  to  mere  crys- 
tallized bodies,  it  would  be  divested  of  the  greatest  part  of 
its  utility ;  for  a  very  great  proportion  of  those  minerals  that 
are  of  the  greatest  utility  to  man,  and  which,  therefore,  it  is 
peculiarly  important  to  be  able  to  distinguish  from  others, 
are  seldom  found  in  the  state  of  regular  crystals.  How 
often  do  the  ores  of  copper,  tin,  lead,  and  iron  occur  in  an 
amorphous  state  1  And  were  a  mineralogist  incapable  of 
distinguishing  them  from  each  other,  and  from  other  miner- 
als, except  in  the  rare  cases  when  they  assume  a  regularly 
crystallized  form,  his  knowledge  would  be  useless,  as  far 
as  the  important  arts  of  mining  and  metallurgy  are  con- 
cerned." 

Mineralogical  analysis,  as  connected  with  the  atomic 
theory,  has  made  no  inconsiderable  progress  in  the  skilful 
and  industrious  hands  of  Berzelius  ;  but  it  is  still  quite  in  its 
infancy  as  regards  the  foundation  of  a  mineral  arrange- 
ment ;  and,  before  it  can  be  successfully  adopted  as  such, 
many  new  analyses,  and  much  laborious  revision  of  for- 
mer researches,  will  be  requisite.  One  of  the  latest  authors 
on  mineralogy,  who  has  adopted  an  arrangement  founded 
upon  the  chemical  composition  of  minerals,  is  Dr.  Thomas 
Thomson.    He  divides  minerals  into  three  classes : 


MINERALOGY. 

Class  I.  Acid  Bases.     (Those  bodies  which  become  acids 
when  combined  with  oxygen.) 

Specie*. 

Genus  I.  Carbon 11 

n.  Boron 1 

III.  Silicon 7 

IV.  Phosphorous. 

V.  Sulphur 1 

VI.  Selenium. 

VII.  Tellurium 1 

VIII.  Arsenic 5 

IX.  Antimony 5 

X.  Chromium. 

XI.  Molybdenum 1 

XII.  Tungstein. 

XIII.  Columbium. 

XIV.  Titanium. 

XV.  Vanadium. 

Class  II.  Alkaline  Bases 

I.  Ammonia 2 

II.  Potassium 1 

HI.  Sodium 7 

IV.  Lithium. 

V.  Barium 5 

VI.  Strontium 6 

VII.  Calcium 30 

VIII.  Magnesium 37 

IX.  Aluminum. 

1.  Pure,  or  combined  with  bases        .         7 

2.  Simple  salts 24 

3.  Double  anhydrous  salts  ...        39 

4.  Double  hydrous  salts,  soluble  in  wa- 

ter  3 

5.  Double,   insoluble   in   water,  and 

phosphates 4 

6.  Double  hydrous  aluminous  silicates, 

or  zeolites 39 

7.  Triple  aluminous  salts     ...  15 

8.  Quadruple  aluminous  salts     .        .  12 
X.  Glucinum 4 

XI.  Yttrium 6 

XII.  Cerium 8 

XIII.  Zirconium 5 

XIV.  Thorinum 1 

XV.  Iron. 

1.  Uncombined,  or  united  to  a  simple 
substance 13 

2.  Oxygen  salts  of  iron        ...  22 

Double  ditto 19 

Triple  ditto 6 

3.  Sulphur  salts  of  iron        ...  2 

XVI.  Manganese. 

1.  Combined  with  simple  bodies          .  11 

2.  Simple  oxygen  salts         ...  5 

3.  Double  oxygen  salts         ...  5 

4.  Triple  oxygen  salts  ....  1 
XVH.  Nickel. 

1.  Combined  with  simple  bodies        .  5 

2.  Oxygen  salts 1 

3.  Sulphur  salts 2 

XVHI.  Cobalt. 

1.  Combined  with  simple  bodies         .  5 

2.  Oxygen  salts 2 

3.  Sulphur  salts 1 

XIX.  Zinc. 

1.  United  to  simple  bodies    ...  4 

2.  Oxygen  salts 6 

3.  Sulphur  salts 1 

XX.  Lead. 

1.  Native,  or  united  to  simple  bodies  7 

2.  Oxygen  salts  of  lead. 

a  Simple 7 

ft  Double 10 

c  Triple 2 

3.  Sulphur  salts 5 

XXI.  Tin 2 

XXH.  Bismuth. 

1.  Native,  or  combined  with  simple 
bodies 6 

2.  Oxygen  salts 2 

3.  Sulphur  salts 1 

XXDJ.  Copper.  . 

1.  Native,  or  combined  with  simple 
bodies 6 

2.  Oxygen  salts 19 

3.  Chlorine  salts 1 

4.  Sulphur  salts 5 

5.  Selenium  salts          ....  1 
XXIV.  Mercury 5 

XXV.  Silver.  ■ 

1.  Native,  or  combined  with  simple 

bodies 10 

751 


MINERALOGY. 


Species. 

2.  Oxygen  salts * 

3.  Sulphur  salts 6 

XXVI.  Uranium •» 

XXVII.  Palladium » 

Class  HI.  Neutral  Bases. 

I.  Gold 8 

II.  Platinum J 

III.  Iridium 1 

We  have  given  the  above  as  a  specimen  of  a  chemical 
mineralogif  al  arrangement ;  and  except,  perhaps,  that  the 
la<t  classes  unnecessarily  separated  from  the  preceding,  it  is 
sufficiently  simple  and  explicit  The  individual  characters 
of  each  species,  such  as  colour,  fracture,  hardness,  specihe 
gravity,  and  crystalline  forms,  constitute,  of  course,  a  neces- 
sary part  of  their  description. 

One  of  the  most  useful  practical  works  on  Mineralogy, 
and.  in  our  language  at  least,  the  most  available  for  the  use 
of  the  student,  is  Mr.  Allan's  edition  of  the  Elementary  In- 
troduction to  that  science  of  the  late  Mr.  William  Phillips. 
In  this  work  the  following  order  of  arrangement  is  adopted ; 
and  the  annexed  tables  give  the  distinctive  constituents  of 
the  respective  species. 

N.B.— The  proportions  are  indicated  by  figures,  where  ascertained ;  when 
doabtful,  are  marked  thus  — . 

EARTHY   MINERALS. 


Silica. 

Silica     1 

Quarts    . 

100 

Alu- 

Opal 

— 

mina. 

Flint       . 

98 

2 

Calecdony 

84 

16 

Iron. 

Jaspar     .        • 
Hornstone      ■        * 

71 

16 

Lime. 

Water. 

10 

Man- 
gan. 

Leelite  . 

75 

22 

3 

Karpholite  (    . 

37 

29 

11 

3 

20 

Alumo-calcite 

86 

3 

7 

4 

Garnet   . 

43 

16 

20 

21 

Cinnamon-stone 

40 

23 

32 

5 

Idocrase          .        . 

40 

33 

22 

5 

Gehlenite 

29 

24 

35 

5 

7 

Prebnite 

44 

23 

20 

5 

3 

Stilbite    . 

68 

17 

9 

16 

Heulandite     . 

59 

15 

12 

14 

Dipyre  . 

62 

25 

11 

2 

Davyne  . 

45 

34 

13 

8 

Laumonite 

50 

22 

12 

16 

Zoisite    . 

43 

31 

22 

4 

Epidote 

40 

28 

15 

17 

Axini'e 

50 

16 

17 

9 

S 

Isopyre  . 
Indianite 

43 

14 

16 

22 

43 

38 

15 

4 

Xanthile         . 

35 

14 

38 

13 

Mag- 
nesia. 

Anthophyllite        • 

63 

14 

4 

2 

13 

4 

Amphodelite  . 

46 

36 

10 

2 

5 

Smaragdite     . 

50 

21 

13 

13 

3 

Anorthite 

45 

34 

15 

I 

5 

Clays      . 

75 

10 

5 

3 

2 

Kerolite 

39 

13 

31 

17 

Pyrophyllite  . 

60 

30 

5 

1 

4 

Fahlunite 

48 

29 

13 

6 

6 

Chiastolite 

67 

30 

3 

Iolite      . 

50 

34 

6 

11 

Sordawalite    . 

50 

15 

Bar.  and 

Strontia. 

5 

19 

11 

Harmotome    . 

47 

IS 

20 

15 

Brcwsterite    . 

54 

17 

15 

Lithia. 

13 

1 

Petalite  . 

78 

17 

5 

gpodumene    .       . 

66 

25 

8 
Lime. 

1 

Man- 
gan. 

Jeffersonite     .        . 

68 

2 

16 

10 

14 

Tabular  spar  . 

52 

46 

2 

Okenite  . 

57 

27 

16 
Titan. 

Mag- 
nesia. 

Melinite 

40 

3 

20 

4 

14 

19 

Gismondine    . 

43 

3 

48 

4 

2 

Augite    . 

53 

■22 

17 

8 

Piopside 

58 

17 

6 

19 

Babingtonite. 

Bucklandite. 

Hornblende    .        . 

59 

14 

7 

20 

Arfnedtonite. 

Hypersihcnc  . 

56 

3 

I 

Water. 

26 

14 

Schiller  spar  . 

43 

I 

13 

14 

29 

Bronzite 

60 

8 

32 

Thulite  . 

47 
Alu- 

23 
Wa- 

23 

2 

Alumina. 

miaa. 

ter. 

Silica. 

Iron. 

Corundum 

9S 

2 

Diaspnse 

85 

14 

1 

Gibbsite 

65 

35 

Calaile  . 

74 

19 

7 

Hvdrate  of  alumina 

45 

40 

n 

Alluphane      . 

34 

42 

24 

Scarbroite 

43 

48 

8 

1 

Hallonito 

34 

26 

411 

Worth  ile 

54 

6 

41 

1 

1 

702 

EARTHY  MINERALS— amtmutd. 

Alu- 

Alumina. 

mina. 

Silica. 

Iron. 

Fibrolite         . 

58 

38 

4 

Sillimanite     . 

55 

43 

2 

Kayanite        • 

64 

34 

2 

Staurolite       . 

52 

Mag. 

nesia. 

30 

18 

Fluor. 
A. 

Ox.  of 
Zinc. 

Antomalite     ■ 

60 

3 

4 

9 

24 

Fluellite 

— 

— 

Topa2     . 

68 

35 

7 

Chrysoberyl  .        • 

81 

19 

Spinel     .        . 

74 

S 

15 

3 

Sappliinne     ■ 

64 

17 

15 

4 

Pleonaste        • 

67 

14 

8 

16 

Lime. 

Turnerite 

Mag- 

Wa- 

Magnesia. 

nesia. 

ter. 

Hydrate  of  magnesia 

70 

30 

Chrysolite 

43 

33 

19 

Olivine 

38 

60 

12 

Ligairite. 

Forsterite 

Condroditc     . 

56 

38 

6 

Humite. 

Tautolite 

— 

— 

— 

Alu- 

Serpentine 

40 

15 

42 

3 

mina. 

Soapstone       •        . 

25 

19 

46 

1 

9 

Steatite 

32 

7 

59 

2 

Potstone 

30 

3 

49 

12 

6 

Nephrite 

31 

3 

50 

6 

10 

Nemalite 

52 

29 

13 

6 

Marmolite 

42 

15 

42 

1 

Picrolite         . 

38 

12 

41 

9 

Picrosmine    . 

35 
Zirco- 

8 

65 

2 

Zirconia, 

nia. 

Zircon    .       . 

69 

29 

2 

Ostiaoite, 

Glucina. 

Glucina. 

Euclase          • 

22 

44 

3 

31 

Emerald 

15 

Glu- 

63 

1 

16 
Ce- 

Yttria. 

Yttria. 

cina. 

rium. 

Gadolinlte 

38 

5 

25 

16 
Iron, 

16 
Wa- 

77ioriruJ, 

Thorina. 

Lime. 

&c. 

ter. 

Thorite  .       . 

58 

3 

20 

9 

10 

ALKALINO-EARTHY  MINERALS. 

Alu- 

Mag- 

Potath. 

Potash. 

Silica. 

mina. 

Water. 

Iron. 

( 

in 

46 

14 

10 

20 

Mica       .       .     > 

8 

48 

25 

4 

Lime. 

15 

Rub.-ll.ine 

10 

45 

in 

5 

10 

20 

Margarite               . 

2 

40 

42 

1 

10 

5 

Leucile           •       . 

21 

56 

23 

Herschellite. 

Andalusite 

4 

36 

55 

5 

Bucholzite 

2 

46 

60 

2 

Pbillipsite      . 

7 

48 

23 

16 

6 

Apophyllite   . 

5 

82 

18 

25 

Dysctasite 

2 

55 

14 

26 

Mag- 
nesia. 

Nacrite           .        . 

IS 

50 

23 

SuIph.A. 

1 

5 

Hauyne          . 

16 

38 

19 

13 
Water. 

12 

2 

Weissite         .         . 

6 

55 

23 

4 

9 

3 

Peailstone 

4 

76 

12 

5 

3 

Gieseckite      .        ■ 

7 

48 

36 

6 

4 

Finite     . 

9 

56 

25 

10 

Pyrargylllte   . 

3 

44 

29 

16 

3 

5 

Felspar 

14 

67 

19 

Lime. 

Latrobite       . 

7 

45 

37 

2 

9 

Agalmatolite 

7 

56 

29 

6 

2 

Mag. 

uesia. 

1 

Chlorite 

7 

52 

10 

6 

12 

13 

Kllliuite 

6 

66 

27 

8 

Lime. 

3 

Couzeranite '  i 

10 

53 

24 

13 

Glaucolite      . 

6 

62 

29 

and 
Flu.  A. 

14 
Li- 
thia. 

Lepidolite 

9 

50 

29 

6 

6 

2 

Soda. 

Soda. 

Water. 

Lime. 

Mcsotype       . 

16 

48 

27 

9 

Thomsonite    . 

5 

33 

30 

13 

14 

Mesole   . 

8 

42 

23 

1 1 

11 

Needlestone  . 

6 

47 

26 

12 

9 

Brcvlcite 

10 

44 

29 

10 

7 

Gmelinite 

5 

50 

20 

21 

4 

Comptonite, 

Mag- 
nesia. 

Fhos. 

A. 

Ledererito 

4 

50 

22 
Alu- 
mina. 

9 

12 

3 

Hypoetilbite  . 

2 

63 

IS 

19 

8 

MINERALOGY. 


ALKALINO-EARTHY  MINERALS— confiiHMa'. 


Soda. 

Soda. 

Epistilbite      . 

2 

Spherostilbite 

and 

Potash 

Erlamite 

3 

Humbrjldtilite 

D 

Lapis-lazuli    . 

9 

Nephelioe 

20 

Itinerite 

14 

Elaolite 

21 

Nuttalite 

8 

Soda. 

Sodalite 

26 

Cancrinite 

26 

Spinellane 

IS 

Pericline 

10 

Labradorite    . 

4 

Albite    . 

11 

1     Analcime 

14 

Sarcolite. 

Pitchstone 

3 

Pumice 

3 

Obsidian 

10 

Spberulite 

4 

Saussurite       .       ■ 

6 

Scapolite 

1 

Ekebergite     . 

5 

Pei/tolite 

10 

Chabasie        . 

2 

Levyne. 

Tourmaline   . 

3 

Meionite 

2 

Edingtonite    . 

3 

Krokydolite   . 

S 

Achmite 

11 

Cummiogtonite 

9 

Eudvalite 

14 

Alu- 


Magne- 

3 

10 

Water. 

2 

17 

3 

14 

4 

34 

19 

10 

Mag- 

Bor.  A. 

nesia 

Iron, 


ACIDIFEROUS  EARTHY  MINERALS-conttwuerf. 


ACIDS. 

Sulphuri 
Boracic 

Sulphur. 

40 

Boron. 

26 

Oxygen. 
60 

Oxygen. 
74 

ACIDIFEROUS  EARTHY  MINERALS. 

1 

Alu- 

\Alumma. 

Sul.  A. 

mina. 

Water. 

Subsulphate     of 

alumina 

24 

30 

46 

Sulphate  of  alu- 

mina 

36 
Phos.  A. 

16 

4S 

Wavellite  . 

35 

37 

28 

Silica. 

Iron. 

Eakoxene  . 

IS 

10 

26 

10 

36 

Lithia. 

Amblvgonite 

64 

39 

7 

Childrenite 

Magne- 

Azurite 

43 

35 

6 

3 

3 

10 

Lima. 

Carb.  A. 

Lime. 

Carbonate  of  lime 

44 

56 

Stron- 
tia. 

Arragonite 

44 

54 

1 

1 

Magne- 

Bitter  spar  . 

50 

34 

2 

14 

Ankerite    . 

35 

50 

3 

12 

Plumbo-calcite  . 

43 

Phos.  A. 

54 

3 

Apatite 

44 

56 

Herderite. 

Fluor. 
A. 

Fluor  spar  . 

2S 
Sul.  A. 

72 

Anhydrite  . 

68 

42 

Gypsum 

46 
Nit.  A. 

33 

21 

Nitrate  of  lime  . 

66 
Bor.  A. 

34 

Datholite    . 

22 

Arsen. 

A. 

36 

6 

37 

Pharmacolite 

50 

26 

24 

Haidingcrite 

57 

29 

14 

Tung. 

A. 

Tungstateoflime 

80 

|    20 

1 

1            1 

Carb. 

Magne- 

Mapies  ia. 

A. 

Water. 

Carbonate  of  magnesia 

50 

48 

2 

Iron. 

Breunnerite   .        . 

49 

42 

9 

Lime. 

Conite    .... 

49 
Sul.  A. 

33 

3 

15 

Sulphate  of  magnesia     . 

33 
Nit.  A. 

16 

51 

Nitrate  of  magnesia 

72 

Phos. 

A. 

28 

Fluor. 
A. 

Wagnerite      .        • 

42 

Borac. 

A. 

47 

4 

7 

Boracite         • 

69 

31 

Lime. 

Hydro-boracite 

50 
Carb. 

11 

26 

13 

Baryta. 

A. 

Baryta. 

Witherite 

22 

78 

Baryto-calcite 

31 

Sul.  A. 

51 

18 

"  Barytes 

34 
Carb. 

66 
Stron- 

S(ron(i'a. 

A. 

tia. 

Strontites     ,  .        • 

30 

70 

Sul.  A. 

Bary- 
ta. 

Lime, 
&c. 

Barystrontianite     . 

22 
Sul.  A. 

48 

9 

IS 

3 

Celestine        .        , 

44 
Phos. 

56 

1 

Yttria. 

A. 

Yttria. 

Iron. 

Phosphate  of  yttria 

1       35 

63 

1 

2 

ACIDIFEROUS  ALKALINE  MINERALS. 


Potash. 

Nitric  Acid. 

Potash. 

Nitrate  of  potash 

54 
Sulp.  Acid. 

46 

Sulphate  of  potash    . 

46 

64 

Soda. 

Carbon.  Acid. 

Soda. 

Water. 

Carbonate  of  soda 

35 

60 

15 

Trona       .... 

39 

Sulph.  A. 

38 

23 

Sulphate  of  soda 

45 
Nitric  A. 

35 

20 

Nitrate  of  soda 

63 

Boracic  A. 

37 

Borate  of  soda  . 

37 

Muriatic  A. 

15 

4S 

Muriate  of  soda 

47 

63 

Ammonia 

Sulph.  A. 

Ammonia. 

Sulphate  of  ammonia 

53 
Muriatic  A. 

23 

24 

Muriate  of  ammonia 

51 

1          32 

17 

ACIDIFEROUS  ALKALI  NO- EARTHY  MINERALS. 

Alu- 

Potash. 

Sul.  A. 

Potash. 

mina. 

Water. 

Alum    . 

34 

10 

11 

45 

Alum-stone    . 

36 

10 

40 

Lime. 

14 

Mag- 
nesia. 

Polyhallite    . 

53 
Fluor. 

15 

19 

6 

7 

Soda. 

A. 

Soda. 

Cryolite 

44 
Sul.  A. 

32 

24 

Glauberite     . 

57 

22 
Potash. 

21 

Mur.  A. 

Reussite         •       . 

67 

29 

2 
Water. 

12 

Soda-alum     . 

38 
Carb.  A. 

8 

12 

42 

Gaylussite     . 

29 

20 

1 

IS 

32 

Iron, 

Native  carbonate  of 

ate. 

lime  and  soda    . 

37 

9 

39 

10 

5 

Ammonia. 

Ammo- 

Mag- 

Sulphate of  alumina 

Sul.  A. 

nia. 

nesia. 

and  ammonia     . 

37 

5 

12 

45 

METALLIFEROUS  MINERALS. 

Iron. 

Iron. 

Sul- 
phur. 

Nickel. 

Native  iron 

97 

Iron  pyrites 

47 

63 

White   iron 

pyrites 

46 

54 

Magnetic 

iron  pyrites 

61 

39 

Arsenical 

Arsen. 

iron 

36 

21 

43 

Oxydulated 

72 

Oxygen. 
28 

Specular 

69 

31 

Water. 

Silica. 

Lime. 

Red  haematite 

65 

29 

3 

2 

1 

3A 

VM 

MINERALOGY. 


METALLIFEROCS  MINERALS— continued. 


Iron. 

Iron. 

Oxvgen. 

Water. 

Silica. 

Maiijcui. 

Zinc. 

Franklinite 

46 

30 

10 

14 

Hydrous   ox- 

'ide  of  iron 

57 

26 

14 

2 

1 

Goethite      . 

61 

26 

11 

Brown   he- 

matite 

Stilpnosider- 

ite  . 

56 

25 

16 

3 

M>g- 
Desia. 

Cronstedtite 

42 

IS 

II 

22 

2 

5 

Pinguite      . 

25 

11 

26 

37 

I 

Anhydrous 

silicate  of 

iron 

51 

19 

29 

1 

Alu- 
mina. 

Chloropal    . 

24 

11 

16 

44 

2 

1 

CUamoisite 

42 

19 

17 

14 

8 

Siierochiso- 

lite  . 

53 

20 

7 

16 

4 

Hisiagerite 

37 

15 

12 

29 

1 

6 

Lime 

Yenite 

39 

16 

1 

30 

2 

st 

12 
Arsen. 

Pitchy  iron 

A. 

ore  . 

24 

11 

29 

ro 

Mur.  A. 

26 
Mangan. 

Pyrosmalite 

24 

10 

36 

Carb.  A 

16 

Spathose  iron 

46 

14 

40 

Phosphate  of 

Phos.  A. 

iron 

32 

10 

27 

31 

Heteposite  . 

32 

11 

— 

43 

9 

Karphosider- 

ite  . 

— 

— 

~ 

Sulph. 

Sulphate  of 
iron 

19 

7 

45 

A. 
29 

Botryogene 

25 

10 

33 

32 

Misy  . 

— 

— 

Arsen. 

Arseniate  of 

A. 

iron 

29 

13 

20 

33 

Oxalate  of 

Oxal.  A. 

iron 

41 

13 

46 
Tung. 

Tungstate  of 

A. 

iron 

14 

9 

2 

71 

4 

Manganese. 

Mangan. 

Baryta. 

Hausmannite 

78 

22 

Braunite     . 

68 

29 

1 

2 

Pyrolusite  . 

66 

31 

2 

t 

Gray  oxide  of 

10 

manganese 

68 

22 

16 

Psilomelane 

55 

23 

6 

Silica. 

&c 

Iron. 

Wad  . 

48 

21 

17 

10 

4 

Cupreous 

Copper. 

mangan  . 

53 

23 

20 

Sulph. 

1 

3 
Iron. 

Glucina. 

Helrine      . 

34 

S 

5 

33 

6 

9 

Siliciferous 

oxide  of 

Water. 

manganese 

36 

17 

8 

40 

4 

Hydrosilicate 

of  manga- 

nese 

Knebelite    . 

27 

15 

33 

25 

Lime. 

Bustamite  . 

23 

S 

49 

15 

Sulphuret  of 

Sulphur. 

Carb.  A. 

manganese 

66 

IS 

5 

11 

Carbonate  of 

Lime. 

manganese 

39 

17 

1 

38 

6 

Pelokonite  . 

~ 

Phos.  A. 

Huraulite    . 

24 

14 

16 

8 

33 

Phosphate  of 

Lime. 

manganese 

25 

14 

2 

25 

34 

Molybdma. 
Sulphuret  of 

Molyhd. 

Sulph. 

molybdena 

60 

40 

Oxide  of  mo- 

Oxygen. 

lybdena   . 

85 

15 

Tin. 

Tin. 

Oxide  of  tin 

79 

21 

Sulphuret  of 
tin  . 

36 

Sulph. 
26 

Copper. 
36 

Iron. 
2 

Tungsten. 

Ismgd 

Oxygen. 

Oxide   of 

tungsten  . 

86 

14 

Titanium. 

Titan. 

Iron. 

Silica. 

Ana'ase 

— 

— 

Rutile  .      . 

Iserine 

45 

16 

36 

3 

Brookite 

— 

— 

— 

Crtchtonitc 

— 

— 

— 

Mangan. 

Ilmenite 

69 

10 

30 

1 

Mohsite 

_ 

— 

— 

Lime. 

Spbene 

!      33 

34 

33 

METALUFEROfS  MINERALS— conti?iued. 


Titan  m 

Tit.  A. 

Oxygen. 

Water. 

Cerium. 

Lmie. 

Ino. 

Pyrochlore 

63 

10 

4 

Iron,  4c. 

5 

13 

5 
Zircon. 

iEscbynite  . 

36 

4 

4 

12 

an! 
Yttria. 

4 

20 

Polymignite 

53 

12 

16 

4 

15 

Cerium. 

Cerium. 

Silica. 

Water. 

Iron. 

Cerile 

54 

15 

18 

10 

2 

1 

Silicate   of 

cerium     . 

and 
Alum. 

All.mite       . 

19 

15 

33 

3 

26 

4 

Torrelite     . 

11 

8 

33 

4 

28 

and 

Yttria. 

16 

Orthite 

16 

6 

36 

8 

24 

10 

and 

Carbon. 

Pyrorthite  . 

12 

4 

11 

27 

5 

41 

Carbonate  of 

Carb.  A. 

cerium    . 

60 

16 

Lime. 

13 

11 

Fluor. 
A. 

Yttria. 

Yttro- cerile 

14 

4 

47 

25 

10 

Fluate  of  ce- 

rium 

66 

17 

16 

1 

Sulp. 
Lead. 

Uranium. 

Cran. 

Silica. 

Iron. 

Pitchblende 

82 

5 

5 

Lime. 
&c 

3 

Water. 

Phos.  A. 

Uranite 

65 

7 

7 

I 

15 

15 

Chalkolite  . 

65 

8 
Carb.  A. 

Copper. 

15 

16 

Carbonate  of 

uranium 

Sulph. 
A. 

Johannite    . 

— 

— 

— 

Tantalum. 

Tantal. 

Oxygen. 

Iron. 

Mangan. 

Yttria. 

Tantalite 

81 

4 

5 

Lime. 

Yttro  tantalite 

51 

4 

4 

Cerium. 

Tin,  &c. 

37 

4 
Zer- 

conia. 

Fergusonite 

44 

5 

3 

3 

42 

3 

Chrtyme. 

Chr. 

Iron. 

Oxide  of 

chrome    . 

70 

30 

Alu- 

Chromate of 

mina. 

iron 

39 

28 

26 

7 

Bismuth. 

Bis- 

Native  bis* 

muth. 

Sulphur. 

Copper. 

Lead. 

muth 

100 

Sulphuret  of 

bismuth  . 

81 

19 

Cupreous  bis* 

muth 

49 

13 

38 

Needle  ore 

43 

15 

12 

30 

Oxide  of  bis- 

Oxygen. 

90 

10 

Bismuth- 

Silica. 

Iron. 

Phos.  A. 

blende 

62 

9 

23 

2 

Sulphur 

4 

Telluric  bis- 

Tellur. 

&  Selen. 

Silver. 

muth 

64 

31 

3 

2 

Arsenic 

Arsenic. 

Iron. 

Anti- 

Native ar- 

mony. 

senic 

96 

1 

3 

Oxide  of  ar- 

senic 

76 

24 

Sulphuret  of 

Sulph. 

70 

30 

Arsenical  py- 

Nickel. 

rites 

65 

5 

28 

2 

Cobalt. 

Cobalt. 

Arsenic 

Sulphur. 

Iron. 

Bright  white 

cobalt      . 

34 

44 

20 

2 

Tin  white 

cobalt      . 

22 

75 

3 

Bis- 

Bismuth co- 

muth. 

balt  ore  . 

10 

78 

3 

5 

4 

Sulphuret  of 

Copper. 

cobalt 

44 

Oxygen. 

39 

Water. 

4 

13 

Earthy  cobalt 

61 

23 

Arsen. 

A. 

Cobalt  bloom 

31 

9 

33 

22 

Lime. 

Mag- 
nesia. 

Roselite 

— 

— 

Sulph. 

— 

Sulphate  of 

A. 

cobalt      . 

23 

6 

30 

41 

Nickel. 

Nickel. 

Sulph. 

Sulphuret  of 

nickel 

65 

35 

Anti- 

Antimnnial 

rnonv. 

nickel 

23 

16 

56 

I 

MINERALOGY. 


METALLIFEROUS  MINERALS— continued. 


Nickel. 

ArseDical 

Nickel. 

Sulph. 

Arsenic. 

nickel     . 

44 

1 
Oxygen 

55 

Aran. 

A. 

Water 

Nickel  ochre 

30 

s 

37 

Silica. 

25 

Fimelite 

13 

3 

35 

38 

Silver. 

Silver. 

Native  silver 

100 

Anti- 

Antimouial 

mony. 

silver 

S4 

16 

Telluric  sil- 

Tellur. 

ver 

63 

37 

SulphuTel  of 

Sulphur. 

silver 

87 

13 

Flexible  sul- 

phuret   of 

Iron. 

silver 

Sternbergite 

33 

33 

34 

Brittle    sul- 

phuret  of 

Antim. 

silver      . 

68 

16 

14 

2 

Sulphuret  of 

silver  and 

antimony. 

Polybasite  . 

65 

17 

5 

Red  silver  * 

60 

23 
20 

17 

Miargyrite 

37 

22 

40 

Sulphuret  of 

silver  and 

copper     . 

53 

16 

Bis. 

Bismuthic 

muth. 

silver      . 

15 

17 
Sele- 

28 

6 

Seleniuret  of 

nium. 

silver 

69 

26 

Seleniuret  of 

silver  and 

copper     . 

39 

28 
Iodine. 

Iodic  silver 

— 

— 

Anti- 

Carbonate of 

mony. 

Bilver 

73 

15 

Muriate    of 

silver 

72 

6 

Gansekothig- 

er2 

— 

— 

Copper. 

Copper. 

Native  cop- 

per 

100 

Sulphuret  of 

Sulphur. 

Iron. 

copper     . 

78 

19 

3 

Kupferindig 

65 

33 

2 

Bi-sulphuret 

of  copper 

67 

33 

Purple  cop- 

per 

62 

23 

15 

Arsenic 

Grey  copper 

48 

13 

25 

14 

Copper   py- 

rites 

33 

36 

31 

Selen. 

Seleniuret  of 

copper     . 

60 

Oxygen. 

40 

Red  oxide  of 

copper     • 

69 

11 

Black  copper 

80 

20 

Blue  carbo- 

nate of  cop- 

Carh. A. 

per  . 

55 

14 

26 

Green  carbo- 

nate of  cop- 

per . 

57 

15 

19 

Chrysocolla 

35 

9 

Dioptase 

38 

11 

Sulph. 

Sulphate    of 

A. 

copper     . 

25 

7 

32 

Brochantite 

53 

15 

17 

Kupfer- 

sammterz 

Muriate    of 

Vlur.  A. 

copper     . 

57 

15 

11 

Phosphate  of 

Phos.  A. 

copper     . 

51 

14 

23 

Hydrous 

phosphate 

of  copper 

50 

13 

22 

Arseniate  of 

A.  ' 

copper     . 

2D 

S 

28 

Euchroite   . 

38 

10 

33 

Kupfer- 

schaum    . 

37 

9 

26 

F.rinite 

47 

12 

34 

Skorodite    . 

18 

10 

21 

32 

Gold. 

Gold. 

Native  gold 

100 

Alu- 
mina. 
6 


Copper. 


METALLIFEROUS  MINERALS-ctmfi>iu«*. 


Plat  via. 

Platiua. 

Native  pla- 
tina 

100 
Palla- 

Lime, 

Palladium. 

dium. 

&c. 

Native    pal- 

5 

ladium    . 

Iridium. 

Native    iri- 
dium 

100 

Iridium. 

100 

Rho- 

Iridium and 

Osmium. 

dium. 

osmium   . 

47 
Tellu- 

49 

3 

Tellurium. 

rium. 

Gold. 

Silver. 

Native    tel- 

lurium    . 

92 

1 

Graphic  tel- 

lurium    . 

53 

28 

12 

Yellow    tel- 

lurium    . 

45 

27 

8 

Black      tel- 

lurium    i 

16 

6 

Arsenic. 

Anti- 

4 

Antimony. 
Native    an- 

mony. 

Sulph. 

Iron. 

15 

timony    . 

100 

Berthierite 

53 

31 

16 

Sulphuret  of 

antimony 

74 

26 

Jamesonite 

35 

23 

2 

Plagionite  . 

33 

2Z 

Lead. 

Zinkenite    . 

45 

23 

34 

Red  antimo- 

ny  . 

75 

20 

Oxide  of  an- 

5 

timony     . 

84 

Carb. 

Antimonial 

A.  &c. 

ochre 



9 

Antimon- 
phyllite   . 

_ 

Carb. 

Lead. 

Lead. 

A. 

Native  lead. 

12 

Sulphuret  of 

lead 

S4 

16 

Mur.  A. 

22 

Bournonite 

41 

20 

Arsen. 

A. 

Prism,   cop- 

per glance 
Native    mi- 
nium. 
Seleniuret  of 

33 

10 

Selen. 

lead 

70 

28 

Plomb- 

Oxygen. 

Water. 

gomme    . 

40 

3 

19 

Carbonate  of 

lead         . 

74 

10 

Sulphato- 

carbonate 

of  lead 

82 

Sulphato-tri- 

carbonate 

of  lead     . 

S3 

Cup.      sul. 

carbonate 

of  lead     . 

72 

Muriate     of 

lead 

Cotunnite   . 

Murio-car- 

bonate  of 

lead 

80 

6 

Phosphate  of 

lead 

76 

6 

Silica. 
36 

37 

Polyspharite 

- 

- 

_ 

Arseniate  of 

lead 

72 

6 

Tin,  &c. 

3 

Sulphate   of 

Zinc. 

lead 

65 

7 

2 

Cupreous 
sulphate  of 

lead         , 

66 

4 

5 

Molybdateof 

lead 

57 

4 

Chromate  of 

lead         . 

63 

6 

Melano- 

chroite     . 

71 

6 
6 

Vauquelinite 

57 

Carb.  of 

Lime. 

10 

Tungstate  of 
lead 

44 

4 

Alu- 
mina. 

Vanadiate  of 

2 

lead 

— 

Zinc. 

Zinc. 

Sulph. 

Iron. 

Sulphuret  of 
zinc 

63 

33 

4 

Copper 


Copper. 


Sulph. 


Oxygen. 


Copper. 


Mag- 
nesia. 


Sulph. 


Molyb. 


Tung. 


755 


MINERAL  PITCH. 

METALLIFEROUS  MINERALS-«mlmt«d. 


SSinc. 

Red  oxide  of 

Zinc. 

Oxygen. 

Iron. 

zinc 

74 

IS 

8 

Siliceous  ox- 

Silica. 

ide  of  erne 

54 

13 

25 

8 

Carbonate  of 

zinc 

— 

— 

— 

Carb. 

Willelmine 

52 

13 

35 

Sulphate    of 

Sulph. 

zinc 

22 

6 

42 

Hopeite 

— 

M emery. 

Mer- 
cury. 

Native  quick- 

100 

Native  amal- 

gam 

85 

Chlo- 
rine. 

Muriate     of 

mercury 

85 

15 

Iodic  mercu- 

Iodine. 

ry    .        .1 

— 

— 

MINIATURE. 


COMBUSTIBLE  MINERALS. 


sulphur. 

Sulphur         .        , 

100 

Diamond 

100 

Plumbago       . 
Anthracite 

92 
72 

S 
4 

Hydrogen. 

Silica. 
24 

83 

12 

Oxygen. 

Bitumen 

Coal       ... 

53 

75 

7 
6 

Azote. 
14 

Dysodjle        .        . 

Amber            .        .         . 

81 

12 

Halchetine     . 

Schererite 

76 

24 

Ozokerile 

Mellite          .        .        .  | 

Mel.  A. 
41 

Alumin. 

Water. 

Ketinaspbalt. 

frossil  copil. 

I 

MI'NERAL  PITCH,  Maltha.  A  solid,  sottish  bitumen. 
Sp.  gr.  about  1-5. 

MI'NERAL  TAR.  The  bituminous  substance  called  pe- 
troleum. It  is  brown,  viscid,  and  unctuous.  Its  specific 
gravity  is  0-88.  It  is  found  in  Britain,  and  on  the  continent  of 
Europe,  in  the  West  Indies  (Barbadoes  tar),  and  in  Persia.  It 
may  be  resolved  bv  distillation  into  naphtha  and  petroleum. 

MI'NERAL  WATERS.  This  term  is  applied  to  certain 
spring  waters  containing  so  large  a  proportion  of  foreign 
matter  as  to  be  unfit  for  ordinary  use. 

Mineral  waters  may,  in  most  cases,  be  artificially  prepared 
by  the  skilful  application  of  the  knowledge  derived  from 


analyses,  with  such  precision  as  to  imitate  very  closely  the 
native  springs.  When  the  various  earthy  or  metallic  con- 
stituents are  held  in  solution  by  carbonic  acid  or  sulphuret- 
ted, they  should  be  placed  along  with  their  due  proportions 
of  water  in  the  receiver  of  the  aerating  machine,  and  then 
the  proper  quantity  of  gas  should  be  injected  into  the  water. 
Sufficient  agitation  will  be  given  by  the  action  of  the  for- 
cing-pump to  promote  their  solution.  (See  Ure's  Vict  of 
Arts,  eye.) 

The  following  table,  and  the  one  on  the  opposite  page, 
show  the  composition  of  several  of  the  principal  mineral 
springs  of  Europe. 


Tabular  View  of  the  Composition  of  the  Principal  Mineral  Waters  of  England. 
One  Pint  (Wine  Measure)  contains  the  following  Ingredients: 


Sulphurous. 
Harrowgate       .    .    • 

Moffat 

Cheltenham     sulphur 
spring 

Saline. 
Cheltenham  pure  sa- 
line       

Bristol 

Buxton 

Bath 

Scarborough      .    .    . 

Kilburn 

Leamington  New  Bath 
Leamington  Old  Bath 

Chalybeate. 
Tunbridge    .... 
Cheltenham       chaly- 
beate     

Brighton      .... 


Go 

. 

&~ 

'go 

ia 

S- 

« 

o^ 

0-8 

i- 

0-5 

0-6 

3:5 

0-2 

1-2 

3-5 

tl-4 

a  trace 

U-3 

0-59 

1- 

2-5 

2-2 

I  a  trace  of  I 
i   oxygen   ( 


Sulphates. 


Muriates. 

a 

Oxide 
of 
Iron. 

i 

gj 

S 

If 

I" 

Is 

:  5 
33 

p.. 

77- 

gr'. 

1-5 

cold 

94- 

4-5 

do. 

4-5 

35- 

03 

do. 

65- 

60- 

do. 

80-5 

0-5 

1- 

74" 

6- 

0-2 

0-3 

82u 

1-83 

3  3 

a  trace 
ditto 

IH! 

116° 

COM 

14-6 
2-9 

2-5 

5-5 

0-8 

ditto 

do. 

64  2 

53- 

1-5 

0-8 

do. 

88.3 

41- 

do. 

73-5 

0-30 

003 

0-06 

0-28 

da 

0-56 

41-3 

0-8 

.]". 

73-8 

3- 

0.75 

1-4     1  014 

do. 

929 

Authority. 


Parkes  &  Brande 


Dilto. 

Carrick. 

Pearson. 

Phillips. 

Saunders. 

Schmeisser. 

Lambe. 

Ditto. 


MI'NERAL  YELLOW,  or  PATENT  YELLOW.  A 
compound  of  oxide  and  chloride  of  lead,  obtained  by  di- 
gesting powdered  litharge  in  a  solution  of  common  salt, 
washing,  drying,  and  fusing  the  product.  It  is  used  as  a  pig- 
ment. 

MINE'RVA.  The  Latin  goddess  corresponding  to,  and 
confounded  with,  the  Grecian  Pallas  (ILiAAuc),  or  Athena 
(A'Onvn).  She  was  fabled  to  have  sprung  in  full  armour 
from  the  forehead  of  her  father  Jupiter.  Minerva  was  wor- 
shipped as  the  goddess  of  wisdom,  and  the  patroness  "i  in 
dustry  and  the  arts.  Athens,  the  city  to  which  she  gave 
name,  was  her  favourite  spot;  and  thero  her  worship  was 
celebrated  with  great  splendour,  and  the  magnificent  temple, 
the  Parthenon,  erected  to  her  honour.  But  she  was  also 
worshipped  at  Rome  with  peculiar  veneration.  There  she 
had  three  temples:  one  on  the  Capitol,  which  she  shared 
with  Jupiter  and  Juno;  a  second  on  the  Avertible;  and  a 
third  on  the  Ctelian  mount,  in  which  she  was  worshipped  as 
Minerva  Capta,  an  epithet  said  to  have  been  applied  when 
her  statue  was  transported  from  Falerii,  after  the  capture  of 
that  city  by  Camillas.  At  Rome  there  were  also  two  great 
festivals  celebrated  annually  in  her  honour:  the  one  called 
756 


Quinquatrus  or  Quinquatria,  the  other  Quinquatria  Minora. 
(See  these  words.)    The  origin  of  the  name  of  Minerva  has 
long  puzzled  etymologists.    Cicero  says  she  is  called  "Mi- 
nerva, quia  miniiit  or  minatur;"  but  it  has  been  also  fancied 
that  the  word  is  a  shortened  form  of  Meminerva  (from  me- 
mini,  /  remember),  she  being  the  goddess  of  memory.    It  ia 
possibly  from  the  same  root  as  the  Lat.  mens,  mind,  which 
is  expressed  so  clearly  in  many  languages  wholly  unalhed, 
of  which  the  Germ,  mann  (whence  the  English  man),  and 
the  Hindostan  menn,  may  serve  as  examples.    But  the  Tus- 
can name  of  the  goddess  is  Menrfa,  which  seems  the  im- 
mediate source.     She  was  represented  as  a  young  woman, 
with  a  grave  and  noble  countenance,  clothed  in  armour. 
see  Pallas. 

MI'NIATURE.     (Fr.)     A  reprn.,— •:-.,  r-r  n»n,rp  on  a 
very  small  scale.     Miniature  Painting  !>,,*...>.......,  executed 

on  ivory ;  and  is,  as  to  composition,  drawing,  and  finishing, 
subject  to  the  same  laws  as  Painting  (which  see).  The  out- 
line is  traced  upon  the  ivory  with  a  silver  point  or  pencil, 
Bud  must  be  extremely  light  and  delicate.  This  is  after- 
wards drawn  in  with  thin  carmine  as  correctly  as  possible; 
the  corrections  being  made  with  finely  powdered  pumice- 


MINIM. 

Tabular  View  of  the  Composition  of  the 


MINNEHOFE, 

Principal  Mineral  Waters  of  Germany. 


Ingredients  found  in  16 

oz.  of  Water  in  a  dry 

state,  in  grains. 

Carisbad. 

Ems. 

Marienbad. 
Kreutzbr. 

Auschowitz. 
Ferdinands, 
brunnen. 

1  <.  E°er- 
Franzensbr. 

Pyrmont. 

Spa. 

Geilnau 

Setters. 

Seidschutz 

Pullna. 

Carbonate  of  soda  .     . 

9-695 

10-750 

826 

6-197 

5-00 

0-7375 

66210 

6-155 

Sulphate  of  soda     .     . 

19-895 

39-72 

22-544 

25-50 

2  14566 

I/-037. 

00420 

23-4960 

123-3 

Muriate  of  soda      .     . 

7-975 

7-634 

1245 

8-996 

7-95 

0-44948 

0-5430 

17.292 

Sulphate  of  potash  .    . 

0-540 

0-93 

0-93 

0-04194 

U07D09 

0-2872 

0-397 

4-8940 

4-8 

Muriate  of  potash  .     . 

0-045 

Carbonate  of  lime  .    . 

2-37 

11407 

4-1S00 

4-016 

1-847 

5-98824 

0-9850 

2-9705 

2-1870 

6-8060 

077 

Sulphate  of  lime    .     . 

7-22  U2 

1-5050 

2-6 

Sub  phosphate  of  lime 

00017 

0014 

001366 

00156 

00035 

Finite  of  lime       .    . 

0024 

0-0019-2 

0-0018 

Carbonate  of  magnesia 

1-369 

0-7SS7 

30560 

2-4 

0-600 

0-32352 

1-1227S 

2-1709 

1-3780 

1-0980 

6405 

Sulphate  of  magnesia  . 

2-69752 

83-ISS0 

93-^80- 

Muriate  of  magnesia  . 

112664 

1-6300 

19  666 

Nitrate  of  magnesia    . 

7-9070 

Alumina       .... 

0-0075 

0.0247 

Sub-phosphate  of  alum 

0-0024 

0-00  IS 

0-01478 

0-0085! 

00027 

0*0117 

Carbonate  of  strontian 

0-007 

00107 

0-0192 

Sulphate  of  strootian  . 

0-02063 

0-0468 

Carbonate  of  barytes  . 

0-0029 

0-0019 

0-577 

0-4139 

0-8800 

0-669 

0-56S 

0-49689 

0-49S5 

0-2695 

0302 

0-1200 

0  17S 

Carbonate  of  iron  .     . 

0-0278 

0026 

0-1760 

0-4 

0-350 

0-42846 

0-3751 

00127 

Carbonate  of  manga* 

uese 

Total     .... 

Carbonic  acid  gas  in  1 
100  cubic  inches    .  \ 

0-006 

0-0037 

0-0065 

0-09-2 
45-3 1~4 

0-006 
42-775 

004852 
20-55412 

0-0519 
4-35903 

0-0042 

41-9239 

21-35932 

69-616 

12-92SS 

2S-0946 

130  6845 

251  3075 

58 

51 

125 

149-56 

154 

160 

13 

163-3 

130 

64 

6-9 

(  Sprud.     165" 

\ 

Temperature  (Fahr.) .  j 

)  Neub.     138° 
1  Muhl.     128° 

Kess.    117°  1 
Kran.    84= 

>    53° 

4S° 

53° 

56° 

SO"          51° 

58° 

58=- 

58° 

Analyzed  by      .    .    .  | 

I  Tber.      122° 

» 

Bcrzelius.      1 

Struve.     1 

Struve.    | 

Steinmann. 

Struve. 

Struve. 

Struve.!  Struve. 

Vr.ve. 

Siruve. 

Struve. 

stone,  rubbed  on  with  a  paper  or  leather  stump.  The  dead 
colouring  then  proceeds,  wherein  the  shadows  are  left  deli- 
cate and  the  lights  strong,  the  full  effect  being  afterwards 
produced  by  dotting.  The  artist  usually  begins  the  shades 
with  Vermillion  and  carmine,  giving  the  strongest  touches  to 
the  most  prominent  parts,  and  to  those  where  separations 
are  marked  out  in  shades  that  are  obscure.  Indigo  is  after- 
wards used  for  the  bluish  shades  on  such  parts  as  recede 
from  the  light.  Yellow  tints,  composed  of  ochre  and  ver- 
milion, are  usually  employed  on  the  sides  of  the  nose  to- 
wards the  bottom,  under  the  eyebrows,  underneath  the 
cheeks,  and  on  other  parts  rising  towards  the  light.  The 
backgrounds,  if  dark,  are  commonly  composed  of  bistre,  um- 
ber, or  Cologne  earth,  with  black  and  white;  others  of  a 
yellow  cast  by  the  use  of  ochre.  The  gray  back-grounds 
are  formed  by  black,  white,  and  a  little  indigo.  When  of  a 
green  or  olive  hue,  Dutch  pink,  white,  and  Mack  are  the  in- 
gredients. The  back-grounds  are  formed  in  two  coats,  first 
laying  on  a  light  thin  tint,  and  afterwards  a  darker  one  of 
the  same  colour,  evenly  and  smooth.  The  dotting  is  per- 
formed by  separate  dots,  or  by  short  notching  strokes  crossing 
each  other  every  way  so  as  to  have  the  appearance  of  being 
dotted. 

MI'NIM.  (Lat.  minimus.)  In  Music,  a  character  Q 
equal  in  duration  to  two  crotchets,  or  half  a  semibreve. 

Mi'nim.  The  smallest  liquid  measure,  generally  regarded 
as  about  equal  to  one  drop.  The  fluid  drachm  is  divided 
into  sixty  minims. 

MI'NIMS,  or  MINIMI,  ORDER  OF  THE.  A  religious 
order  instituted  by  Sir  Francis  De  Paulo  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. The  name  is  derived  from  the  Lat.  minimus,  the 
least ;  by  which  the  founder  meant  to  indicate  that  humili- 
ty should  be  the  distinguishing  feature  of  the  order.  In  con- 
formity with  this  design  the  rules  he  prescribes  were  of  the 
strictest  kind.  Besides  the  three  usual  vows  of  poverty, 
continence,  and  obedience,  the  most  rigid  abstinence  was 
inculcated.  Except  in  cases  of  illness,  the  members  were 
prohibited  not  only  from  touching  animal  food,  but  even 
butter,  milk,  or  cheese,  or  indeed  any  kind  of  sustenance  in 
the  composition  of  which  such  materials  were  used.  Their 
dress  was  of  the  coarsest  and  meanest  kind ;  the  colour 
being  black,  like  that  of  the  Franciscans.  Long  before  the 
death  of  its  founder,  this  order  had  attained  so  high  a  de- 
gree of  celebrity  for  sanctity  that  it  could  boast  ot  monas- 
teries in  Italy,  France,  Spain,  and  Germany ;  and  at  no  very 
distant  period  it  counted  no  fewer  than  450  religious  houses 
scattered  throughout  Europe  and  Asia.  (See  the  Diet,  de  la 
Conversation.) 

MINISTER.  In  Politics,  a  servant  of  the  sovereign  exe- 
cutive power  in  a  state :  generally  speaking,  the  head  of  a 
department  or  branch  of  government.  Usage,  in  different 
countries,  fixes  very  differently  the  limits  of  that  higher  class 
of  servants  to  which  the  term  is  applied.  In  the  British 
•empire,  none  but  the  heads  of  administrative  departments 
are  termed  ministers :  part  of  whom  belong  to  the  cabinet, 
and  part  are  not  included  in  it.  The  cabinet  ministers  have 
varied  under  different  administrations ;  and  as  our  govern- 
ment is  of  mixed  organization,  partly  to  serve  the  actual 
necessities  of  state,  and  partly  retaining  ancient  distinctions 
of  office  founded  on  usage  only,  some  of  the  ministers  hold 
merely  sinecure  appointments.  In  France,  where  the  forms 
€4 


of  government  are  established  more  on  the  principle  of 
utility,  there  are  eight  ministers  so  called :  1,  of  the  interior ; 
2,  of  finance;  3,  of  justice  ;  4,  of  public  instruction  and 
ecclesiastical  affairs;  5,  of  commerce  and  public  works;  6, 
of  the  marine  and  colonies  ;  7,  of  war ;  8,  of  foreign  affairs. 
In  England,  ministers  sit  and  vote  in  either  house  of  parlia- 
ment— by  hereditary  right,  if  peers ;  as  representatives  only, 
if  commoners.  In  France,  the  same  regulation  prevails ; 
but  ministers  have  also,  by  virtue  of  their  office,  a  right  to 
Bit  and  take  part  in  the  debates  in  either  chamber.  In  the 
United  States,  no  minister  (or  secretary,  in  the  language  of 
that  government)  can  be  chosen  either  representative  or 
senator.  In  some  European  countries  (as  Russia),  a  distinc- 
tion is  established  between  the  private  affairs  of  the  sove- 
reign and  foreign  affairs,  on  the  one  hand,  which  form  the 
combined  duties  of  the  cabinet  ministers ;  and  the  affairs  of 
the  interior,  which  are  entrusted  to  ministers  of  state.  There 
are  also  in  some  governments  honorary  or  conference  minis- 
ters, without  any  real  department  of  duty.  The  representa- 
tives of  minor  sovereigns  at  foreign  courts  are  usually  styled 
ministers,  instead  of  ambassadors.  The  term  minister  is 
also  frequently  used  in  a  sense  synonymous  with  clergyman. 

MI'NIUM.  (Lat.)  In  Painting,  a  red  colour,  being  a 
calx  of  lead :  according  to  Pliny  it  was  the  common  red  lead. 
See  Lead. 

MINNE'HOFE.  (Germ. ;  literally  courts  of  love.)  The 
name  given  by  the  Germans  to  the  cours  d'amour,  so  famous 
in  the  history  of  chivalry.  The  subjects  brought  before 
these  courts  were  chiefly  connected  with  the  Romantic  gal- 
lantry of  (he  period,  and  consisted  either  of  questions  pro- 
posed with  the  view  to  entrap  the  judges  into  some  awkward 
decision  ;  or  of  serious  complaints,  resulting  from  affaires  du 
creur,  which  were  discussed  and  decided  upon  with  all  the 
formality  of  a  court  of  law.  These  minnehofe  were  for  a 
long  period  looked  upon  as  forming  an  indispensable  part 
in  all  chivalrous  exercises.  Knights,  ladies,  and  poets  par- 
ticipated alike  in  their  proceedings;  and  large  collections 
of  their  decisions  are  still  extant.  A  certain  number  of 
ladies,  remarkable  at  once  for  personal  and  mental  attrac- 
tions, acted  as  judges  in  these  courts:  the  fair  sex  also 
conducted  the  proceedings  as  counsel,  attorneys-general,  and 
solicitors-general,  &c. ;  and  they  were  attended  by  a  nume- 
rous train  of  nobles,  knights,  and  others,  who  were  invested 
by  the  court  with  gradations  of  rank  and  precedency  analo- 
gous to  those  conferred  by  the  sovereign.  These  courts 
were  held  periodically  at  Signes,  Avignon,  Lille,  and  Pierre- 
feu.  The  last  regular  court  of  this  kind  was  celebrated  by 
Charles  VI.  and  his  wife  Isabella  of  Bavaria ;  but  they  were 
now  and  then  renewed  at  irregular  intervals,  and  the  last 
on  record  took  place  as  late  as  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  at 
Ruefie,  at  which  the  princess  Maria  of  Gonzaga  presided, 
and  Mademoiselle  de  Soudey  represented  the  advocate- 
general.  We  subjoin  a  few  specimens  of  the  questions  pro- 
posed in  these  courts  for  debate  and  decision  ;  from  which 
it  will  be  evident  that  although  at  the  present  day  there 
would  be  little  difficulty  in  deciding  upon  them,  they  could 
not  fail  at  that  romantic  era  to  excite  considerable  discussion. 
1.  Which  is  harder  to  bear — the  infidelity  or  the  death  of 
the  beloved  1  2.  Whether  does  a  man  whose  wife,  or  a  lover 
whose  betrothed  is  unfaithful,  suffer  most  1  3.  Who  is  more 
culpable— the  man  who  boasts  of  favours  from  a  lady  which 


MINNESINGERS. 

he  never  received,  or  he  who,  having  really  received  them, 
makes  it  known  ?  (See  the  Damen  Lexicon,  Adorf,  1837.) 
Ml'XN'ES.ENGERS.  Tlie  most  ancient  school  of  Ger- 
man poets,  whose  name  is  derived  from  the  old  German 
word  minne  {love).  The  songs  and  fame  of  the  Provencal 
troubadours  appear  to  bave  penetrated  into  Germany  under 
the  first  emperors  of  the  house  of  Hohenstaufien  ;  in  whose 
time  the  crusades  and  the  frequent  Italian  wars  combined 
to  bring  their  nation,  seated  as  it  is  in  the  centre  of  Europe, 
in  closer  communication  with  those  surrounding  it.  The 
minnescengers  imitated  in  German  the  strains  of  those  early 
ad,  like  them,  made  love  their  principal  subject; 
which  was  celebrated  with  much  of  pedantry  and  false 
conceits,  but,  at  the  same  time,  not  without  generous  and 
chivalric  feeling.  The  verses  of  the  minnesingers  are  in 
the  old  Swabian  dialect  of  the  high  German,  which,  under 
the  Hohenstauffens,  themselves  of  Swabian  race,  was  the 
court  language.  As  was  the  case  with  the  troubadours,  the 
minnesangers  belonged  to  two  different  classes:  there  were 
among  thein  many  knights,  princes,  and  even  sovereigns ; 
while  there  was  also  another  class  of  more  professional 
poets — wandering  minstrels,  who  attached  themselves  to 
the  persons  of  distinguished  chiefs,  or  wandered  from  court 
to  court.  The  oldest  of  the  minnesaengers  known  to  us  is 
Henry  of  Veldeck,  about  1170.  During  the  remainder  of 
the  12th  and  first  half  of  the  13th  century,  this  school  of  poets 
flourished  ;  afterwards  it  gradually  declined,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  less  chivalrous  and  homelier  school  of  the 
master-singers.  We  possess  the  names  of  more  than  300 
poets,  and  pieces  of  the  composition  of  a  large  proportion  of 
them,  who  sang  during  the  short  period  in  question.  The 
German  amatory  poets  had  their  high  and  low  minne,  like 
the  celestial  and  popular  Venus  of  the  ancients  ;  the  former 
an  abstract  and  chivalric  devotion  to  a  beloved  object,  the 
latter  a  less  elevated  passion.  The  ancient  German  national 
epic,  called  the  Niebelungen-Licd,  and  the  heroic  poetry  of 
the  Heldenbuch,  belong  to  the  same  period  and  dialect,  and 
were  works  of  the  same  race  of  poets  ;  as  were  also  other 
poetical  romances,  founded  on  the  foreign  traditions  of 
France,  Brittanv,  and  classical  antiquitv. 

MTNNOW,  or  MINIM.  (Lat.  minimus,  least.)  The 
name  of  a  species  of  Cyprinoid  fish  (Leuciscus  phozinus, 
Cuv.),  and  the  smallest  of  the  British  species  of  that  family. 
It  inhabits  many  of  the  fresh-water  streams  and  canals  in 
England,  and  spawns  in  June,  when  each  female  is  attended 
by  two  males. 
MINOR.     In  Music.     See  Major. 

MINORITY".  In  Politics,  the  period  during  which  the 
sovereign  in  an  hereditary  monarchy  is  incapacitated  from 
exercising  the  supreme  authority,  by  reason  of  not  having 
attained  the  age  prescribed  by  law ;  also  the  state  of  such 
incapacity.  The  royal  authority,  in  hereditary  monarchies, 
never  dies  ;  and  when  a  sovereign  deceases  leaving  a  suc- 
cessor below  age,  it  passes  immediately  to  the  person  or 
persons  whom  the  constitution  has  invested  with  the  au- 
thority of  regent ;  as  it  also  does  when  a  king  becomes 
subject  to  any  other  incapacity.  The  term  of  royal  minority 
is  variously  regulated  by  the  constitution  of  different  coun- 
tries. The  legal  majority  of  a  king  of  France  was  fixed  at 
fourteen  by  an  ordinance  of  Charles  V.,  which  has  been 
since  followed  in  that  country  ;  but,  as  a  year  commenced 
is  reckoned  as  accomplished,  the  actual  period  at  which  a 
king  of  France  begms  to  govern  is  the  age  of  thirteen  years 
and  a  day.  The  same  period  is  fixed  by  the  laws  of  Spain 
and  Portugal.  By  the  constitution  of  Great  Britain,  the 
sovereign  is  of  full  age  at  eighteen  years,  as  far  as  can  be 
collected  from  the  statutes  passed  at  several  times  to  em- 
power the  king  to  name  a  regent  whenever  it  has  been 
apprehended  that  the  crown  was  in  danger  of  devolving  on 
a  prince  under  age. 

Minority.  In  Law,  the  state  of  an  individual  of  either 
sex  who  has  not  attained  the  age  prescribed  by  law  at 
which  civil  rights  can  be  exercised.  In  England  and  in 
France  majority  is  attained  an  the  completion  of  the  21st 
year ;  in  Germany  on  the  2oih.  The  distinctions  made  by 
the  Roman  law  between  different  periods  of  minority  are 
unknown  to  our  law. 

MINOR  TERM,  of  a  Categorical  Syllogism,  in  Logic,  is 
the  subject  of  the  conclusion.  The  minor  premise  is  thai 
which  contains  the  minor  term.  In  hypothetical  syllogisms, 
the  categorical  premise  is  called  the  minor. 

MINOS,  in  Mythological  History,  was  son  of  Jupiter  and 
Europa,  and  king  of  Crete,  and  so  celebrated  as  a  lawgiver 
on  earth  that  after  his  death  he  was  appointed  judge  of  the 
infernal  regions,  in  which  office  he  was  associated  with 
JSacus  and  Uhadamantlius. 

MI'NOTAUR.  (Gr.  Mumj,  and  mi'/>os,  abull.)  A  fabled 
monster  of  classical  antiquity,  half  man  and  half  bull,  fre- 
quently mentioned  by  t Ik-  poets,  lie  was  said  to  he  the  son 
of  l'a.-iphae.  wife  of  Minos  II.,  king  of  Crete,  by  a  bull 
(ravpoc) ;  hence  the  term  Minotaur.  He  lived  on  human 
flesh ;  hence  Minos  shut  him  up  in  the  famous  labyrinth  of 
75d 


MINT. 

Dadalus,  feeding  him  with  criminal.',  and  afterwards  with 
youths  and  maidens  sent  from  Athens.     As  is  well  known, 

I  In  aeus,  by  the  assistance  of  Ariadne,  succeeded  in  destroy- 
ing him,  and  thereby  rescued  the  Athenians  from  the  obli- 
gation of  sending  their  chddren  to  be  devoured.  The  Diet. 
tie  la  Conversation  gives  an  ingenious  explanation  of  this 
mythological  story.  See  also  Schuenk's  .Mythologisehe  An- 
deutungen,  p.  65. 

MTNSTER  (Germ.),  was  anciently  applied  only  to  the 
church  of  a  monastery  or  convent ;  and  forms  the  termina- 
tion of  the  name  of  many  places  in  England  in  which  such 
churches  formerly  existed,  as  Westminster,  Leominster,  &.c. 
It  is  sometimes,  but  incorrectly,  used  in  common  language 
to  signify  a  cathedral  church. 

MINSTRELS.  (Fr.  minestral.orold  Germ,  minne,  love.) 
Defined  by  Percy  as  an  order  of  men  in  the  middle  ages  who 
subsisted  by  the  arts  of  poetry  and  music,  and  sang  to  the 
harp  verses  composed  by  themselves  or  others.  They  ap- 
pear to  have  been  the  successors  of  the  minnesamgers, 
scalds,  and  bards  of  different  European  nations,  who,  even 
after  the  age  of  chivalry  had  passed,  attempted  to  gain  a 
subsistence  by  practising  those  arts  which  at  an  earlier 
period  had  procured  fame  and  honour  for  their  predecessors. 
The  origin,  character,  and  decline  of  the  minstrels,  are  thus 
ably  traced  in  vol.  lxxiii.  of  the  Edinburgh  Review.  In  the 
piping  times  of  peace,  the  minstrel,  "  omnis  luxuries  inter- 
pres,"  as  Pliny  said  of  Menander,  sang  of  mimic  war  to  the 
dull  barons  of  dungeon  castles,  who  had  ears,  although  they 
could  not  read ;  who,  doubly  steeped  in  the  ennui  of  wealth 
and  want  of  occupation,  listened  greedily,  like  other  great 
men,  to  their  own  praises.  Minstrelsy  supplied  the  lack  of 
a  more  refined  intellectual  entertainment  and  of  rational 
conversation,  as  professional  gentlemen  do  now  at  civic  ban- 
quets :  their  harpings  lulled  the  rude  Sauls  to  sleep,  which. 
is  now  done  by  quarto  epics.  The  person  of  the  minstrel 
was  sacred  ;  his  profession  was  a  passport ;  he  was  "  high 
placed  in  hall  a  welcome  guest ;"  the  assumption  of  his 
character  became  the  disguise  of  lovers  of  adventure.  These 
advantages  raised  pseudo-laureates,  "  idle  vagabonds,"  ac- 
cording to  the  act  of  Edward  L,  "  who  went  about  the 
country  under  the  colour  of  minstrelsy ;"  men  who  cared 
more  about  the  supper  than  the  song  ;  who,  for  base  lucre, 
divorced  the  arts  of  writing  and  reciting,  and  stole  other 
men's  thunder.  Their  social  degeneracy  may  be  traced  in 
the  dictionary  :  the  chanter  of  the  gests  of  kings — "  gesta 
ducum  regiomque" — dwindled  into  a  "  gesticulator,"  a  jester ; 
the  honoured  joglar  of  Provence  into  the  mountebank,  the 

juggler,  "the  jockie,"  or  doggrel  ballad-monger. 

Beggars  they  are  by  one  consent, 
And  roguee  by  act  of  parliament 

They  descended  by  the  usual  stages  of  things  of  mere 
fashion  :  at  first  the  observed  of  all  observers,  and  therefore 
then  imitated,  until  they  became  common — vulgar  ;  which 
is  but  one  step,  and  the  test  at  once  of  merit,  universal 
acceptance,  and  the  forerunner  of  disgrace :  no  sooner  taken 
up  by  the  bi  ttoXAoi,  than  rejected  by  the  exclusive.  In 
Spain,  particularly,  this  occurred  very  soon.  The  really 
good  clergy  were  shocked  at  their  abuses,  while  the  interest- 
ed grudged  the  money  earned  by  rivals  who  interfered  with 
their  monopoly  of  instructing  the  people  in  pious  prose,  or 
of  amusing  them  with  alexandrine  legends.  Their  Latin 
synonyme  for  ''scald  rhymers" — scurra  mimus,  &c. — will 
outlive  their  sculptured  caricatures ;  when  mendicant  monks, 
minstrels,  fools,  monkeys,  and  beasties  are  pilloried  on  pin- 
nacle and  gargoyle,  in  cloister  and  cathedral.  The  itinerant 
monks  and  mountebanks  repaid  all  this,  like  Falstaff,  by 
showing  up  the  irregularities  of  regulars  and  seculars,  "  in 
ballads  to  be  sung  to  filthy  tones."  They  undermined  their 
influence.  Preachings  and  songs  take  part  in  all  national 
changes;  for  doctrines  precede  actions.  They  were  the 
popular  press  of  the  time ;  opposed  by  the  privileged  orders, 
and  watched  by  statesmen,  as  Burleigh  afterwards  employ- 
ed agents  to  listen  to  street  songs — the  thermometer  of  the 
people's  temper.  In  all  these  alterations  for  the  worse,  the 
primitive  principle  "to  entertain"  remained  unchanged.  To 
this  the  original  ballad  was  sacrificed  ;  passing  from  one  to 
another,  each  minstrel  begged,  borrowed,  or  stole  from  all 
quarters.  The  originals  were  corrupted  and  remodelled; 
Ihey  got  their  bread  by  pleasing.  "  magister  artis  ingenii 
que  largitor  venter."  .\<  late  as  the  beginning  of  last  cen- 
tury, the  houses  of  man)  leading  families,  especial!]  in  the 
northern  parts  of  the  empire  were  provided  with  minstrels, 
w  ho  were  employed  in  various  duties;  all  of  them,  however, 
in  some  degree  connected  with  their  original  occupation. 
Se<  Bard,  Bi  u.d.  Minnks.£nokrs,  Bali.au. 

MINT.  Gi Tin.  muntze.)  The  place  in  which  the  coin 
of  the  realm  is  manufactured.  The  whole  of  the  British 
coin  is  issued  from,  or  manufactured  in,  the  Royal  Mint  in 
London.  The  general  details  of  the  business  of  the  Mint 
are  briefly  stated  under  the  article  Coinage. 

The  Royal  Mint  received  its  constitution  of  superior  officers 


MINT,  MASTER  OF  THE. 

in  the  18th  year  of  the  reign  of  Edward  II.,  and  continued 
nearly  as  then  established  to  carry  on  its  operations  within 
the  Tower  of  London. 

Between  the  years  1810  and  1815  the  present  magnificent 
and  commodious  building  was  erected  on  Tower  Hill,  at  the 
suggestion  of  a  committee  of  the  king's  privy  council,  ap- 
pointed in  1798  "  to  take  into  consideration  the  state  of  the 
coins  of  the  kingdom,  and  the  establishment  and  constitution 
of  the  Mint ;"  and  in  1815  a  new  constitution  was  introduced, 
founded  upon  a  report  drawn  up  by  the  present  Lord  Mary- 
borough, who  was  then  master.  The  chief  officers  of  the 
mint  are  the  master,  the  deputy  master,  the  comptroller,  the 
king's  (or  queen's)  assay  masters,  the  clerk  of  the  papers, 
and  the  clerk  of  the  irons  and  superintendent  of  machinery : 
these  constitute  "the  mint  board,"  and  meet  every  Wednes- 
day, or  as  often  as  may  be  required,  to  transact  all  the 
general  business  of  the  establishment.  The  manufacture 
of  the  coin  is  carried  on  under  the  direction  of  the  company 
of  mi  ineyers.  The  other  officers  are  the  master's  assayer, 
the  melter,  the  chief  engraver,  the  weigher  and  teller,  the 
surveyor  of  the  meltings,  and  the  solicitor.  The  duties  of 
these  officers  are  fully  set  forth  in  the  "  mint  indenture." 
As  relates  to  the  general  history  of  the  coinage,  the  reader 
is  referred  to  the  new  edition  of  Ruding's  Annals  of  the 
Coinage.  The  article  "  Coinage,"  in  the  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica,  gives  an  abstract  of  the  duties  of  the  respective 
officers,  and  is  especially  valuable  as  containing  the  only 
extant  account,  illustrated  by  engravings,  of  the  machinery 
employed  in  the  mint :  this  account,  though  scanty  and  im- 
perfect, is  tolerably  correct.  A  mass  of  valuable  informa- 
tion, and  details  respecting  the  whole  establishment,  will  be 
found  in  the  Parliamentary  Report  of  the  Select  Committee 
on  the  Royal  Mint,  and  its  Appendix,  published  by  order  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  30th  June,  1837. 

Mint.  (Lat.  mentha.)  A  name  given  to  several  herba- 
ceous aromatic  plants  belonging  to  the  natural  order  Labials, 
and  genus  Mentha.  Spearmint,  or  Mentha  viridis,  is  that 
which  is  so  generally  used  in  this  country,  mixed  with  vine- 
gar and  sugar,  as  a  sauce.  Peppermint,  or  Mentha  piperita, 
yields  the  stimulating  oil  of  the  same  name.  Horsemint  and 
others  are  also  species  of  the  same  genus. 

MINT,  MASTER  OF  THE.  An  officer  in  the  English 
administration,  generally  removable  with  a  change  of  min- 
istry.   His  salary  is  £2000  a  year.    See  Mint. 

MI'NUET.  (Fr.)  A  species  of  dance,  performed  in  slow 
time  and  with  measured  steps,  formerly  of  great  celebrity, 
but  now  rarely,  if  ever,  met  with. 

MI'NUTE.  (Lat.  minutum.)  The  sixtieth  part  of  an 
hour  of  time,  and  the  sixtieth  part  of  a  degree  of  angular 
space.  In  modern  astronomical  works  minutes  of  time  are 
denoted  by  the  initial  letter  m,  and  minutes  of  space  by  the 
dash  or  acute  accent,  winch  was  first  used  by  Ptolemy. 

Minute.  In  Architecture,  the  sixtieth  part  of  the  diameter 
of  a  column  ;  by  which  subdivision  architects  measure  the 
smaller  parts  of  an  order. 

MINUTE  GUNS.  Guns  fired  at  intervals  of  a  minute, 
as  a  signal  from  a  vessel  in  distress.  Also  in  mourning  for 
great  persons. 

MI'NUTES.  Originally  the  rough  draught  of  a  public  in- 
strument drawn  up  by  a  notary  ;  so  termed  because  usually 
written  in  a  smaller  character  than  the  instrument  itself. 
The  term  is  now  applied  to  a  brief  report  of  the  proceedings 
of  a  society  drawn  up  by  the  clerk  or  secretary  :  in  which 
sense  it  is  nearly  synonymous  with  protocol,  which  see. 

MI'OCENE.  (Gr.  jjciuv,  minor,  and  koivoc,  recent.)  A 
term  applied  by  Mr.  Lyell,  in  his  Elements  of  Geology,  to 
geological  formations  containing  a  minority  of  fossil  shells 
of  recent  species. 

MI'QUELETS.  In  Modern  History,  a  species  of  partisan 
troops  raised  in  the  north  of  Spain,  and  chiefly  in  Catalonia. 
The  Miquelets  became  first  known  in  the  wars  between 
Spain  and  France  in  the  17th  century.  At  several  periods 
(in  1689,  1789,  and  again  in  the  wars  of  Napoleon)  the 
French  have  endeavoured  to  organize  similar  corps,  to  op- 
pose to  the  Miquelets  in  the  mountain  warfare  of  those  dis- 
tricts. 

MI'RACLE.  (Lat.  miror,  I  wonder.)  According  to  the 
definition  of  Dr.  Johnson,  "something  beyond  human  pow- 
er;" which,  though  in  itself  evidently  vague  and  insuf- 
ficient, may  be  explained  by  the  addition  of  "  a  deviation 
from  the  established  laws  of  nature."  A  miracle  must  be 
not  only  superhuman,  but  preternatural.  Some  writers  add 
the  "  immediate  interference  of  God"  as  another  condition 
of  a  miracle  ;  but  this  assumes  a  point  which  is  open  to 
controversy,  inasmuch  as  it  precludes  the  agency  of  evil 
spirits  in  such  interruptions  of  the  course  of  nature,  which 
is  still  a  question  among  theologians.  With  respect  to  the 
credibility  of  miracles,  the  most  popular  argument  against 
them  is  that  of  Hume,  who  considers  no  weight  of  particular 
testimony  credible  when  balanced  against  our  universal  ex- 
perience of  the  constancy  of  the  laws  of  nature.  "  No  testi- 
mony," he  says,  "  is  sufficient  to  establish  a  miracle,  unless 


MISDEMEANOR. 

the  testimony  be  of  such  a  kind  that  its  falsehood  would  be 
more  miraculous  than  the  fact  it  endeavours  to  establish." 
If  the  words  incredible  or  contrary  to  experience  be  substi- 
tuted for  miraculous  in  this  passage,  the  startling  effect  of 
this  statement  of  the  argument,  in  which  its  efficacy  resides, 
will  disappear,  and  the  question  will  be  left  upon  the  very 
grounds  which  the  believer  would  choose  for  his  own  posi- 
tion. Hume  was  answered  by  Dr.  Campbell,  in  his  Disser- 
tation on  Miracles.  (See  also  Rutherford's  Discourse, 
1757 ;  Douglas's  Criterion ;  Locke's  Discourse  on  Mira- 
cles ;  Lardner's  Credibility ;  Middleton's  Free  Inquiry ; 
Price's  JVature  of  Miracles  ;  some  very  valuable  remarks 
of  Paley,  in  his  Evidences  of  Christianity  ;  Hooker's  Ecct. 
Polity,  b.  vii.,  "  on  Miracles  as  the  Tests  of  a  Supernatural 
mission  ;"  Bentham's  Rationale  of  Evidence.) 

MIRA'GE.  (Fr.)  An  optical  illusion  very  common  at 
sea,  and  especially  in  high  latitudes,  and  sometimes  also 
witnessed  on  land,  particularly  in  Egypt  and  Persia,  and  on 
the  margin  of  rivers  and  lakes,  or  on  the  sea-shore.  It 
arises  from  unequal  refraction  in  the  lower  strata  of  the  at- 
mosphere, and  causes  remote  objects  to  be  seen  double,  as 
if  reflected  in  a  mirror,  or  to  appear  as  if  suspended  in  the 
air.  When  the  effect  is  confined  to  apparent  elevation,  the 
English  sailors  call  it  looming ;  when  inverted  images  are 
formed,  the  Italians  give  it  the  name  of  Fata  Morgana  (see 
the  term).  Ships  in  the  whale  fisheries  are  often  descried, 
and  sometimes  known,  by  means  of  the  mirage,  at  consid- 
erable distances.  Captain  Scoresby  recognised  his  father's 
ship  at  the  distance  of  more  than  30  miles,  and  consequently 
when  below  the  horizon,  by  its  inverted  image  in  the  air, 
though  he  did  not  previously  know  that  it  was  cruising  in 
that  part  of  the  fishery.  The  mathematical  theory  of  the 
phenomenon  is  given  by  Biot,  in  the  Memoires  de  I'lnstitut 
for  1809.  (See  also  Caddington's  Optics  ;  Biot's  Traite  de 
Physique,  tome  Hi.;  Brewster's  Optics,  Cabinet  Cyclopedia.) 

MI'RROR.  (Fr.  miroir.)  A  speculum  or  looking-glass, 
or  any  other  polished  body  capable  of  reflecting  the  images 
of  objects,  rays  of  light  from  which  fall  upon  them.  Silver 
is  considered  to  be  the  most  powerful  reflector;  but  the 
speculum  metal,  as  now  prepared,  is  scarcely  inferior,  if  at 
all  so,  and  in  some  cases  even  better.  In  the  very  early 
ages  of  the  world,  polished  metallic  specula  were  employed 
as  mirrors  by  the  Jewish  and  Egyptian  women,  especially 
of  brass ;  but  in  modern  times,  quicksilvered  plates  of  glass 
are  alone  used  as  mirrors. 

Concave  Mirrors  are  used  to  concentrate  the  rays  of  the 
sun  in  a  single  point,  and  thereby  produce  intense  heat. 
The  surfaces  formed  by  the  revolution  of  the  ellipse,  para- 
bola, and  hyperbola,  are  such  as  reflect  them  accurately  to 
one  point ;  provided  they  emanate  from  one  point,  are  parallel 
to  one  another  (as  the  solar  rays),  or  would  converge  to  a 
more  remote  point  than  it  is  desirable  to  use.  The  great 
difficulty  of  constructing  these  has  led  to  the  employment 
of  spherical  segments,  which,  though  not  accurate,  yet,  un- 
der proper  restrictions,  are  approximately  so.  For  the  math- 
ematical theory,  see  Reflection  ;  see  also  Burning  Glass, 
Speculum  Telescope. 

MIRZA.  (A  corruption  of  the  Persian  title  Emir-Zadeh, 
sons  of  the  prince.)  The  common  style  of  honour  in  Per- 
sia, when  it  precedes  the  surname  of  an  individual.  When 
appended  to  the  surname  it  signifies  prince. 

MISA'NTHROPY  (Gr.  uiaoc,  hatred,  and  avOptovoc,  a 
man),  signifies  a  general  dislike  or  aversion  to  man  and  man- 
kind ;  in  contradistinction  to  philanthropy,  which  means  the 
love  of  our  species. 

Ml'SCELLANY.  (Lat.  misceo,  /  mix.)  A  word  usu- 
ally applied  to  a  collection  of  literary  works  or  treatises. 
The  most  celebrated  collection  of  works  known  by  this 
name  is  Constable's  Miscellany. 

MI'SCHNA.  The  text  of  the  Jewish  Talmud,  on  which 
the  Oemara,  or  second  part,  is  a  commentary.  It  consists 
of  traditions  and  explanations  of  scripture.  The  former 
are  supposed  by  the  Jews  to  have  been  delivered  to  Moses 
on  the  mount,  and  from  him  to  have  passed,  through  the 
keeping  of  a  succession  of  prophets  and  sages,  to  Rabbi 
Juda  of  Tiberias,  who  committed  them  to  writing.  Their 
compilation  is  supposed  by  modern  commentators  to  have 
taken  place  about  A.C.  150  or  190.  See  Prideaux,  Connex- 
ion, vol.  ii. ;  and  Lardner,  Collection  of  Jewish  and  Heathen 
Testimonies,  vol.  i.) 

MISDEMEA'NOR,  in  Law,  is  any  offence  which  is  the 
subject  of  indictment  and  punishment,  not  of  a  felonious 
character ;  such  are  seditious  acts,  perjury,  battery,  libels, 
conspiracies,  attempts,  and  solicitations  to  commit  felonies, 
&c.  Over  these  offences  the  justices  of  the  peace  at  quar- 
ter sessions  have  a  general  jurisdiction,  although  they  may 
be  removed  by  certiorari  to  the  King's  Bench ;  and  in  the 
trial  the  defendant  has  had  for  a  long  period  of  time  one  re- 
markable privilege,  viz.,  that  his  counsel  might  address  the 
jury,  which  was  equally  the  case  in  treason,  but  not  until 
the  year  1837  in  any  sort  of  felony.  The  ordinary  punish- 
ment of  misdemeanors  are  by  fine  aiul  imprisonments ;  some- 

759 


MISELTOE. 

times  by  statute,  transportation.  Misdemeanors  have  been 
sometimes  termed  misprisions;  although  this  word,  in  its 
more  restricted  signification,  is  applied  to  concealments  of 

l'elony,  or  treason. 

MISELTOE,  or  MISSELTO.  A  parasitical  plant  in- 
habiting the  brunches  of  many  kinds  of  trees  in  the  north 
of  Europe.  It  is  the  Viscum  album  of  botanists.  Its  con- 
nexion with  Druidical  ceremonies  is  well  known ;  but,  us 
tradition  tells  us  that  the  priests  of  that  superstition  only 
employed  the  miseltoe  of  the  oak,  some  doubt  has  been  en- 
tertained of  the  plant  now  so  called  being  really  that  of  our 
ancient  chronicles,  because  it  had  not  been  found  upon  the 
oak  for  many  centuries.  It  has,  however,  been  recently 
discovered  upon  that  tree  in  the  west  of  England  ;  and  this 
leaves  no  doubt  upon  the  subject.  The  powder  of  the  leaves 
or  shoots  of  the  miseltoe  has  been  used  in  epilepsy. 

MISERE'RE.  The  50th  Psalm,  4th  of  the  Penitential 
Psalms,  is  that  designated  by  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
under  this  word,  on  account  of  its  first  words  (in  the  Vul- 
gate translation,  "  miserere  mei  Deus,  secundum  magnam 
lniserieordium  main").  It  is  the  usual  psalm  appointed  for 
acts  of  penitence  and  mortification. 
MI'SERE'RE  MEI.  A  name  given  to  the  iliac  passion. 
Ml  SE1UCO  KDIA.  A  narrow  bladed  dagger ;  so  termed 
in  the  middle  ages  because  it  was  the  weapon  used  by  a 
knight  against  a  dismounted  adversary  when  he  enforced 
him  to  cry  for  mercy. 

MISNO'MER.  In  Law,  the  description  of  a  person  by  a 
wrong  name.  In  grants  by  deed  such  mistakes  may,  in  some 
instances,  be  corrected  by  the  courts,  if  the  party  be  suffi- 
ciently pointed  out  in  the  instrument  itself.  In  grants  by 
will  such  construction  will  be  more  liberally  exercised.  It 
is  said  that  the  law  is  not  so  precise  as  to  surnames  as  with 
respect  to  Christian  names.  The  proper  mode  for  the  de- 
fendant to  avail  himself  of  a  misnomer  in  an  action  was 
formerly  by  plea  of  abatement;  but  now  the  court  will 
amend  on  motion  (3&  4  W.  4,  c.  42).  In  criminal  cases,  the 
court  had  the  power  to  amend  still  earlier  (0  G.  4,  c.  64) 
where  the  defendant  was  misnamed.  But  if  the  prosecu- 
tor be  misnamed  in  an  indictment,  tire  variance  is  fatal,  and 
the  defendant  must  be  acquitted.  It  is  to  be  observed  that 
mere  misspelling  is  no  misnomer,  if  the  name  have  the 
same  sound  with  the  real  one. 

MISPRISION.  (From  the  Fr.  mespris,  contempt,  or  neg- 
ligence.) In  Criminal  Law,  in  its  larger  sense,  it  is  used  to 
signify  every  considerable  misdemeanor  which  has  not  a 
certain  name  given  to  it  in  the  law ;  and  it  is  said  that  the 
offence  of  misprision  is  involved  in  every  treason  or  felony 
whatsoever.  Generally,  however,  by  the  word  misprision 
is  understood  the  contempt  or  neglect,  that  is,  the  non-dis- 
closure or  concealment,  of  any  treason  or  felony,  committed 
or  to  be  committed,  which  a  man  is  cognizant  of,  but  has 
never  assented  to ;  for  if  he  expressly  assented,  this  makes 
him,  in  a  case  of  treason,  a  principal,  and  in  a  case  of  felo- 
ny, either  a  principal  or  accessory,  according  to  circum- 
stances. Misprision  of  treason  is  punished  by  loss  of  the 
profits  of  lands  during  life,  forfeiture  of  goods,  and  impris- 
onment for  life.  Misprision  of  felony  in  a  public  officer  is 
punished  by  imprisonment  for  a  year  and  a  day ;  in  a  com- 
mon person,  by  imprisonment  for  a  less  discretionary  time ; 
and  in  both  by  fine. 

Ml'SSAL.  The  book  containing  the  ritual  for  the  cele- 
bration of  the  various  masses  of  the  Roman  communion. 
The  missals  in  use  in  different  churches  are  not  identical  in 
all  respects ;  but  the  most  important  part  of  them,  the  canon 
of  the  mass,  as  delivered  in  the  Sacramentary  of  Gregory 
the  Great,  winch  was  taken  from  that  of  Pope  Gelasius  in 
the  5fh  century,  and  which  is  affirmed  by  Roman  Catholics 
to  be  a  faithful  representation  of  the  ritual  of  the  primitive 
church,  is  common  to  all. 

MTSSft  INARIES.  In  ordinary  language,  ministers  who 
go  abroad  to  preach  the  gospel  to  infidel  nations.  The  fol- 
lowing table  of  the  present  condition  of  some  of  the  more 
remarkable  missionary  societies  now  existing  in  England 
is  taken  from  the  Penny  Cyclopaedia :  1.  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts:  receipts,  1837, 
£43,000;  expenditure,  £56,000;  subscribers,  about  12,000. 
This  society  is  conducted  on  the  principles  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  was  Incorporated  In  L701,  chiefly  with  a  view 
to  our  then  American  possessions.  'J.  Ilaptist  Missionary 
Society,  founded  1780:  receipts,  1837-8,  £22,000 ;  expendi- 
ture, £20,000.  The  operations  of  this  society  are  chiefly 
carried  OD  in  the  East  and  West  Indies.  3.  Loudon  Mission- 
ary Bociaty,  founded  1795,  now  chiefly  supported  bj  the  hi 
dependents:  receipts,  1838,  £70,000;  expenditure,  £77,000. 

Much  connected  with  the  East  Indies  and  the  South  Seas. 

4.  Church  MiBgionar}  Society,  founded  1804,  "for  Africa 
.•mil  the  East;"  but  which  has  recently  sent  out  missionaries 
extensively  to  New   Zealand:    receipts,  £72,000;  expendi 

ture,   £91,000.     .',.  Weslevan   MUsionan    Society,   founded 
1817:  receipts,  £85,000;  expenditure,  L"  11(0,000.     Itsnmstcx 
tensive  field  of  labour  is  in  the  West  Indies.    C.  Missions  of 
760 


MITRE. 

I  the  Church  of  Scotland:  chiefly  India.  7.  Missions  of  the 
I  United  Brethren,  or  Moravians,  who  have  been  distinguished 
in  this  line  of  exertion  since  1731.  The  Danish  missions  are 
among  the  oldest  Protestant;  those  of  the  United  States  are 
now  among  the  most  extensive.  The  history  of  Roman 
Catholic  missions  iii  the  East  is  detailed  in  many  works. 
See  Duhatde,  for  China.  The  rise  and  fall  of  Christianity 
in  Japan  is  narrated  by  Charlevoix  (1715) ;  those  in  Ameri- 
ca are  slightly  noticed  in  the  article  immediately  following 

MISSIONS.  Stations  of  missionaries  in  infidel  countries. 
In  Geography,  the  extensive  districts  formerly  under  the 
control  of  missionaries  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  on  the  bor- 
ders of  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  settlements  in  America, 
were  so  called.  These  missionaries  chiefly  belonged  to  the 
orders  of  the  Capuchins,  Dominicans,  and  Jesuits ;  but  the 
latter  were  the  most  celebrated  and  the  most  successful. 
Their  settlements  in  Paraguay  comprehended  a  vast  prov- 
ince, which  they  governed  with  independent  authority  :  in 
Brazil  they  had  also  extensive  districts  under  their  control. 
The  downfall  of  the  order  was  followed  by  the  destruction 
of  these  settlements :  those  of  Paraguay  were  wholly  ruined  ; 
those  of  Brazil,  by  regulations  of  the  Marquis  de  Pombal, 
taken  from  their  spiritual  governors  and  placed  on  a  new 
footing.  The  missions  of  the  other  orders  still  continue  to 
subsist  on  the  banks  of  the  Upper  Amazon  and  Orinoco,  and 
in  California;  but  they  have  undergone  severe  losses  from 
the  revolutionary  wars.  The  success  of  the  experiment  of 
governing  the  American  Indians  by  missionaries  has  been 
the  subject  of  much  controversy.  It  is  certain  that  the 
Jesuits  succeeded  better  than  any  other  governors  have  done 
in  rendering  them  industrious,  and  subjecting  them  to  disci- 
pline. But  it  is  contended  that  this  was  only  effected  by  an 
artificial  system,  which  rendered  them  servile  and  childish 
dependants  of  their  spiritual  masters,  and  that  this  slavish 
state  was  injurious  to  them,  not  only  in  a  moral,  but  a  phys- 
ical point  of  view,  inducing  premature  decay;  insomuch 
that,  it  is  said,  the  population  of  all  the  missions  was  con- 
tinually decreasing,  although  endeavours  were  made  to  keep 
it  up  by  violent  seizures  of  free  natives,  who  were  brought 
by  force  within  their  boundaries.  See  Charlevoix,  Hist,  du 
Paraguay ;  the  Lettres  Edijiantcs ;  Raynal,  Histoire  des 
Jndes ;  and  Southey's  History  of  Brazil :  the  two  last  wri- 
ters especially  for  philosophical  views  on  the  subject,  al- 
though the  latter  is  perhaps  too  favourable ;  Humboldt's 
Personal  JVarrative,  for  those  on  the  Orinoco  ;  Forbes's  Cali- 
fornia, for  a  very  unfavourable  view  of  the  condition  of 
those  in  the  latter  country.  American  missionaries  have 
established  a  government  in  some  of  the  South  Sea  Islands. 
See  Ellis's  Polynesian  Researches ;  the  Voyages  of  Capt. 
Beechey,  Capt.  Fitzroy,  and  others. 

MITES.  A  tribe  of  minute  Acaridan  Condylopes,  which 
do  not  suck  their  food.     See  Acaris. 

MI'THRAS.  The  grand  deity  of  the  Persians,  supposed 
to  be  the  sun  or  the  god  of  fire,  to  which  they  paid  adora- 
tion as  the  purest  emblem  of  the  divine  essence.  The  Ro- 
mans also  raised  altars  to  the  honour  of  this  divinity,  with 
the  inscriptions  Deo  Soli  Mithra,  or  Soli  Deo  invicto  Mi- 
thrm.  As  to  the  introduction  of  this  Oriental  worship  in 
Rome,  see  Mem.  dc  I'Jic.  des  Inscr.,  vol.  xvi.,  p.  270.  It 
was  one  of  those  which  resisted  Christianity  the  longest. 
See  Beugnot,  Destruction  du  Paganisme  en  Occident;  Mil- 
man's  Hist,  of  Christianity. 

MI'THRIDATE.  A  celebrated  medicinal  confection,  in- 
vented by  Damocrates,  physician  to  Mithridates,  king  of 
Pontus,  and  supposed  to  be  an  antidote  to  all  effects  of  poison 
and  contagion  ;  its  active  ingredient  was  opium. 

MI'TRAL  VALVES.  The  valves  of  the  left  ventricle 
of  the  heart. 

METRE.  (Gr.  pirpa,  a  head  band,  or  diadem.)  The  pon- 
tifical ornament  worn  on  the  he:.d  by  the  pope,  cardinals, 
and  in  some  instances  by  abbots,  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  and  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  by  arch- 
bishops and  bishops,  upon  solemn  occasions.  It  appears  to 
have  been  a  hierarchal  head-covering  from  the  earliest 
ages  of  antiquity.  Pellerin  saj  s  it  was  that  worn  by  the 
reiral  pontiffs  of  the  Hebrews,  and,  with  a  few  slight  modi- 
fications, was  afterwards  adopted  by  the  Oriental  kings  and 
pagan  high  priests  under  the  name  of  cidaris.  Among  the 
Romans  the  mitre  was  originally  a  sort  of  head-dress  worn 
by  ladies;  and  Servius  makes  it  a  matter  of  reproach  to 
the  Phrygians  that  they  were  dressed  like  women,  inas- 
much as  they  wore  mitres.  There  is  every  reason  for  sup- 
posing that  in  England  the  mitre  was  worn  by  the  bishops 
on  the  first  introduction  of  Christianity  into  the  island;  and 
It  Is  supposed  in  Gaugh's  Sepulchral  Monuments  (vol.  i.,  p. 
153)  that  the  practice  was  borrowed  from  the  apex  or  tutu 
Ins  of  the  I'lamen  Dialis  in  ancient  Koine.  As  an  heral- 
dic ornament,  the  mitre  of  a  bishop  is  surrounded  by  a  fillet 
set  with  precious  stones:  the  archbishop's  mitre,  on  the 
other  hand,  Issues  from  a  ducal  coronet. 
Mitrk.     In  Architecture,  a  junction  of  two  pieces  of 


MITTIMUS. 

wood  or  other  material  at  an  interior  or  exterior  angle  by 
diagon.nl  fitting. 

MITTIMUS.  (Lat.  we  send.)  In  Law— 1,  a  writ  for 
transferring  records  from  one  court  to  another ;  2,  a  pre- 
cept under  the  hand  and  seal  of  a  justice  of  peace  commit- 
ting an  offender  to  his  charge.     See  Commitment. 

MIXED  CADENCE.    In  Music.    See  Cadence. 

MIXED  FEVER.  A  fever  intermediate  between  inflam- 
matory and  low  or  typhus  fever. 

MI'ZZEN  MAST.  The  name  given  to  the  mast  which 
supports  the  after  sails,  being  nearest  the  stern  of  the  ship. 

MNEMO'NICS.  (Gr.  nvi/p,  memory.)  The  art  of  re- 
freshing the  memory  of  particular  things  by  artificial  aids. 
The  common  process  of  tying  a  knot  in  a  handkerchief, 
&c,  will  exemplify  the  simplest  species  of  mnemonics,  in 
which  we  endeavour  to  connect  certain  arbitrary  acts  with 
peculiar  associations,  so  that  the  memory  of  the  former  may 
call  up  the  latter.  Some  persons  have  taken  the  precaution, 
before  delivering  an  address  by  heart,  of  entering  the  room 
in  which  it  was  to  be  spoken,  and  connecting  in  their  own 
minds  particular  portions  of  their  intended  language  with 
certain  visible  objects  in  the  room.  The  well-known  solem- 
nities observed  on  the  perambulation  of  parish  boundaries, 
&c,  form  another  instance  of  practical  mnemonics,  the  ob- 
ject being  to  fix  the  memoiy  of  particular  spots  in  the  mind 
of  those  present.  For  the  purpose  of  facilitating  the  remem- 
brance of  dates,  names,  &c,  various  methods  have  been 
devised  by  different  writers  (especially  Feinagle  and  Gray  in 
England)  under  the  names  of  Memoria  Technica,  or  Arti- 
ficial Memory. 

MNEMO'SYNE.  (Gr.  nvrinouvvrj.)  In  Classical  Mythol- 
ogy, the  goddess  of  memory :  daughter,  according  to  the 
genealogists,  of  Uranus  (Heaven)  and  Gaia  (Earth),  and 
mother,  by  Jupiter,  of  the  Nine  Muses.  Her  statues  usu- 
ally have  the  figure  enveloped  in  long  and  ample  drapery, 
and  the  right  hand  raised  towards  the  chin. 

MOAT.  A  ditch  made  round  the  old  castles,  and  filled 
with  water.  In  some  cases  this  still  remains,  as  at  Lick- 
hill  Castle ;  whilst  in  others  they  are  drained  and  planted, 
as  at  the  palace  of  the  Black  Prince  at  Eltham.  For  the 
most  part,  however,  all  traces  of  them  have  disappeared. 

The  moat  surrounding  a  military  fortress  of  modem  con- 
struction (or  the  ditch)  is  left  dry  ;  but  where  it  is  capable 
of  inundation  at  pleasure,  this  circumstance  is  considered 
an  advantage  to  the  system  of  defence. 

MOBI'LITY.  (Lat.  moveo,  I  move.)  One  of  the  gen- 
eral properties  of  matter,  in  virtue  of  which  every  body  at 
rest  can  be  put  in  motion  by  the  action  of  a  force  adequate 
to  overcome  its  inertia.     See  Matter. 

MOCHA  STONE.    A  species  of  agate. 

MO'CKING  BIRD.  A  name  given  to  one  of  the  family 
of  thrushes,  the  Turdus  polyglottus  of  Linnceus,  on  account 
of  the  surprising  facility  and  accuracy  with  which  it  can 
imitate  almost  any  sound ;  it  is  also  the  finest  of  natural 
song-birds,  and  the  vocal  organs,  w-hich  are  well  developed 
in  all  the  thrush  tribe,  find  their  highest  perfection  and  com- 
plication in  the  mocking  bird. 

This  species,  in  modern  ornithological  systems,  forms  the 
type  of  a  genus  (Mimus  of  Boie) :  it  includes  other  spe- 
cies besides  the  M.  polyglottus,  all  of  which  are  natives  of 
America. 

MODE.  (Lat.  modus.)  A  term  used  by  Locke  to  denote 
"such  complex  ideas,  which,  however  compounded,  contain 
not  in  them  the  supposition  of  subsisting  by  themselves,  but 
are  considered  as  dependences  on,  or  affections  of,  sub- 
stances." Of  these  modes  there  are  two  kinds,  simple  and 
mixed.  Simple  modes  are  "only  variations  or  different 
combinations  of  the  same  simple  idea,  without  the  mixture 
of  any  other,  as  a  dozen  or  a  score,  which  are  nothing  but 
the  ideas  of  so  many  distinct  units  added  together."  Mixed 
modes  are  those  "  compounded  of  simple  ideas  of  several 
kinds  put  together  to  make  one  complex  one — e.  g.,  beauty ; 
and  consisting  of  a  certain  composition  of  colour  and  figure, 
causing  delight  in  the  beholder."  It  need  hardly  be  said 
that  this  distinction  is  founded  on  a  very  imperfect  and  false 
analysis.  The  term  is  now  universally  laid  aside  by  writers 
on  mental  philosophy. 

Mode.  In  Music,  the  melodious  constitution  of  the  oc- 
tave, as  consisting  of  seven  essential  and  natural  sounds  be- 
sides the  key  or  fundamental.  It  is  not  any  single  note  or 
sound,  but  the  order  of  the  concinous  degrees  of  an  octave, 
the  fundamental  note  whereof  may,  in  another  sense,  be 
called  the  key,  as  it  signifies  the  principal  note  which  regu- 
lates the  rest.  The  difference  between  a  mode  and  a  key  is, 
that  an  octave  with  its  natural  concinous  degrees  is  called 
a  mode  with  respect  to  the  manner  of  dividing  it,  whilst  as 
regards  its  place  in  the  scale  of  music  or  pitch  it  is  called  a 
key. 

MO'DEL.  (Lat.  modulus.)  In  Mechanics,  a  small  or 
miniature  representation  of  the  structure  of  a  machine,  so 
as  to  exhibit  its  mode  of  working,  &c.  Owing  to  the  effect 
of  increased  mass  in  making  the  machine  itself,  the  results 


MOHAMMEDANISM. 

obtained  from  the  model  exceed  those  of  the  machine  in  a 
greater  ratio  than  the  linear  dimensions  of  the  two  works. 

Model.  In  the  Fine  Arts,  that  which  is  an  object  of  imi- 
tation. In  Painting  and  Sculpture,  it  is  the  individual  whom 
the  artist  procures  for  getting  up  his  proportions,  details, 
play  of  the  muscles,  &c.  Also  in  Sculpture,  it  is  the  term 
applied  to  the  small  sketch  in  wax  or  clay  for  a  work  of 
art.  In  Architecture,  it  is  a  small  pattern  in  relief,  either  of 
wood,  plaster,  or  other  material,  of  the  building  proposed  to 
be  executed. 

MO'DELLING.  In  the  Fine  Arts,  the  art  of  making  a 
mould  from  which  works  in  plaster  are  to  be  cast ;  also  used 
for  the  forming  in  clay  of  the  design  itself. 

MODERA'TORS,  SENIOR  and  JUNIOR.  In  the  Uni- 
versity of  Cambridge,  two  public  officers  appointed  annually 
to  perform  various  duties.  They  are  ex  officio  examiners  in 
the  senate-house.  Their  name  is  derived  from  another  of 
their  duties,  viz.,  that  of  moderating  or  presiding  in  the  op- 
ponemies,  or  exercises  publicly  performed  in  the  schools  be- 
tween under-graduates  candidates  for  the  degree  of  bachelor 
of  arts.  These  disputations,  relics  of  the  old  university  sys- 
tem, are  now  reduced  to  little  more  than  matters  of  form. 
Moderator  is  also  the  name  applied  to  the  president,  for  the 
time  being,  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land, and  of  the  other  inferior  church  courts,  the  synods,  and 
presbvteries. 

MODI'LLION.  (Fr.  modillion.)  In  Architecture,  an 
ornament  sometimes  square  on  its  profile,  and  sometimes 

scroll-shaped,  thus  fonts' ,  whh  the  intervention  of  one 
or  two  small  horizontal  members  placed  at  intervals  under 
the  corona  in  the  richer  orders.  They  should  stand  cen- 
trally over  columns  when  the  latter  are  employed.  They 
are  simplest  in  the  Ionic  and  Composite  orders,  more  carv- 
ing being  bestowed  on  them  in  the  Corinthian  order.  The 
mutule  of  the  Doric  order,  which  should  always  stand  over 
the  centre  of  a  triglyph,  is  the  same  sort  of  thing,  and  occu- 
pies the  same  place  in  the  entablature  as  the  modillion. 

MO'DULATION.  (Lat.  modulor.)  In  Music,  the  act 
of  moving  through  the  sounds  in  the  harmony  of  any  par- 
ticular key  to  those  of  another,  or  the  transition  from  one 
key  to  another. 

MO'DULES.  (Lat.  modulus.)  In  Architecture,  a  meas- 
ure equal  to  the  semi-diameter  of  a  Doric  column.  It  is  a 
term  only  applied  in  the  Doric  order,  and  consists  of  thirty 
minutes. 

MO'DULUS.  In  Analysis,  the  constant  coefficient  or 
multiplier  in  a  function  of  a  variable  quantity,  by  means  of 
which  the  function  is  accommodated  to  a  particular  system 
or  base.  Thus,  in  the  theory  of  logarithms,  it  is  the  num- 
ber by  which  all  the  logarithms  in  one  scale  of  notation 
must  be  multiplied  to  adapt  them  to  the  same  number  in 
another  scale.  The  only  scales  or  bases  actually  used  in 
calculation  are  those  of  the  hyperbolic  (or  Napierean)  and  of 
the  common  logarithms  ;  and  the  modulus  of  conversion  is 
043429448.    For  modulus  of  elasticity,  see  Elasticity. 

MO'DUS  (Modus  decimandi,  or  special  manner  of  ti- 
thing), in  Law,  is  when  lands,  tenements,  or  some  certain 
annual  sum  or  other  profit  hath  been  given,  time  out  of 
mind,  to  a  parson  and  his  successors  in  full  satisfaction  and 
discharge  of  all  tithes  in  kind.  It  is  in  some  cases  a  pecu- 
niary compensation,  in  others  compensation  in  work  and  la- 
bour.    See  Tithes. 

MOGRA'BIANS,  or  MEN  OF  THE  WEST.  A  name 
formerly  given  to  a  species  of  Turkish  infantry,  composed 
of  the  peasants  of  the  northern  parts  of  Africa,  who  sought 
to  ameliorate  their  condition  by  entering  into  foreign  service. 

MOG'UL,  GREAT.  The  name  by  which  the  chief  of  the 
empire  so  called,  founded  in  Hindostan  by  Baber  in  the  15th 
century,  was  known  in  Europe.  The  last  person  to  whom 
this  title  of  right  belonged  was  Shah  Allum  ;  and  the  Mogul 
empire  having  terminated  at  his  death  in  1806,  his  vast  pos- 
sessions fell  chiefly  into  the  hands  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany. 

MOHAIR.  (Gr.  mohr ;  Fr.  moire  ;  It.  moerro  ;  Sp.  mue, 
muer.)  The  hair  of  a  variety  of  the  common  goat,  famous 
for  being  soft  and  fine  as  silk,  and  of  a  silvery  whiteness.  It 
is  not  produced  anywhere  but  in  the  vicinity  of  Angora,  in 
Asia  Minor.  The  exportation  of  this  valuable  and  beautiful 
article,  unless  in  the  shape  of  yarn,  was  formerly  prohibit- 
ed ;  but  it  may  now  be  exported  unspun.  The  production, 
preparation,  and  sale  of  mohair  have  long  engrossed  the 
principal  attention  of  the  inhabitants  of  Angora ;  and  it  used 
to  form  an  important  article  of  Venetian  commerce.  It  is- 
manufactured  into  camlets  and  other  expensive  stuffs. 
Hitherto  but  little  has  been  imported  into  England. 

MOHA'MMEDANISM.  One  of  the  most  celebrated  sys- 
tems of  religion  in  the  world  ;  so  called  from  Mohammed, 
its  author  and  founder,  who  was  born  at  Mecca,  in  Arabia, 
in  May,  571.  This  founder  of  a  new  religion,  and  of  a  polit- 
ical power,  which,  even  in  his  lifetime,  extended  over  his 
native  country,  and  which,  under  his  successors,  threatened 
3  A  *  761 


MOHAMMEDANISM. 


to  embrace  the  empire  of  the  world,  traced  his  ggnealogj  in 
;i  direct  line  through  eleven  descents  from  Koreish,  the 
founder  of  the  powerful  tribe  that  bore  his  name,  and  who 
again  was  affirmed  to  be  in  direct  descent  from  Ishmael,  the 
son  of  Abraham  'i'he  future  prophet  sprung,  therefore, 
from  the  noblest  tribe  of  the  Ishmaelitish  Arabs ;  and  his 
grandfather  was  at  the  time  of  his  birth  sovereign  of  Mecca, 
and  guardian  of  the  Caaba  (which  from  time  immemorial 
had  been  identified  in  the  minds  of  the  Arabs  with  every 
sacred  feeling) :  consequently,  from  the  sanctity  of  his  terri- 
tory  and  Ins  utlice,  a  prince  of  great  power  and  influence. 
But,  though  descended  from  so  powerful  a  family,  Moham- 
med's early  life  was  spent  in  comparative  dependence.  His 
lather  was  a  younger  son  of  Abdol  Motalleb  :  and  having  in 
his  early  infancy  lost  both  his  parents,  his  only  inheritance 
was  five  camels  and  a  female  slave.  <  >n  his  paternal  grand- 
father was  devolved  the  guardianship  of  the  future  prophet ; 
hut  of  this  protector  he  was  deprived  by  death  when  only 
eight  years  of  age.  In  a  dying  charge,  Motalleb  confided 
this  tender  plant  of  the  ancient  stock  of  the  Koreish  to  the 
hands  of  Abu  Taleb,  his  eldest  son,  and  tile  successor  of  his 
authority,  who  amply  redeemed  the  trust  reposed  in  him 
by  continuing  throughout  life  the  steadfast  friend  of  his 
ward  amid  all  the  difficulties  and  dangers  to  which  the  lat- 
ter was  exposed  in  the  promulgation  of  his  doctrines.  His 
education,  however,  is  said  to  have  been  extremely  scanty  ; 
and  at  the  early  age  of  thirteen,  being  intended  for  a  com- 
mercial life,  he  accompanied  his  uncle's  trading  caravan 
into  Syria.  He  afterwards  entered  into  the  service  of  Khadi- 
jah.  a  ricli  widow  of  Mecca,  to  whom  his  skill  in  commerce 
or  his  other  accomplishments  so  far  endeared  him  that,  at 
the  end  of  three  years,  she  bestowed  upon  him  her  hand  and 
fortune,  an  alliance  whicli  restored  him  to  the  station  of  his 
family.  At  this  period  he  was  twenty-five,  and  bis  wife 
forty  years  of  age. 

During  the  first  thirteen  years  of  bis  marriage  little  or  no- 
thing is  known  of  his  history  ;  but  at  the  termination  of  that 
period  he  withdrew  from  society,  resorted  to  a  cave  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Mecca,  where  he  gave  himself  up  to  con- 
templation, and  laid  the  foundation  of  that  bold  and  hazard- 
ous project  which  afterward  raised  him  to  glory  and  domin- 
ion. It  was  in  this  retirement  he  gave  out  that  for  two 
years  he  was  in  daiiy  communication  with  the  Deity. 

In  his  40th  year  he  assumed  the  prophetic  office,  and  dis- 
played his  views  and  principles  to  his  domestic  circle.  His 
first  convert  was  Khadijab,  whom  he  always  retarded  with 
affection,  and  even  reverence,  and  whom  he  placed,  after 
her  death,  among  the  only  four  perfect  women  the  world 
ever  saw ;  the  other  three  being  Miriam,  the  sister  of  Moses : 
the  Virgin  Mary ;  and  Fatima,  the  youngest  of  his  own 
daughters.  The  progress  of  the  new  sect  was  at  first  very 
slow.  Three  years  were  silently  employed  in  the  conver- 
sion of  fourteen  (some  say  nine)  proselytes ;  but  in  the  fourth 
year  he  extended  the  theatre  of  his  preaching,  and  proclaim- 
ed his  doctrines  publicly  to  his  fellow-citizens.  The  faith 
which,  under  the  name  of  Islam  (i. <?.,  salvation),  he  preach- 
ed, was  compounded  substantially  of  two  great  principles, 
which,  as  Gibbon  says,  involves  an  eternal  truth  and  a  ne- 
cessary fiction,  namely,  that  "  there  is  only  one  God.  and 
that  Mohammed  is  his  prophet — the  last  and  greatest  of  the 
prophets."  He  did  not,  however,  aim  so  much  at  founding 
a  new  religion  as  reforming  the  old,  as  declared  by  the  for- 
mer prophets,  Adam,  Noah,  Abraham,  Moses,  aiid  Christ, 
by  putting  an  end  to  those  superstitions  and  idolatries  by 
Which  the  true  faith  had  been  corrupted.  Being  urged  to 
confirm  the  reality  of  his  divine  mission  by  miracles,  he 
wisely  declined  the  attempt,  appealing  to  the  internal  evi- 
dence of  his  doctrines,  and  declaring  that  miracles  would 
depreciate  the  merit  of  faith.  The  only  miracle  which  he- 
professed  to  have  accomplished  is  a  nocturnal  journey  from 
Mecca  to  Jerusalem,  and  thence  through  the  heavens,  on  an 
imaginary  animal  called  Borack,  i.  «.,  lightning ;  but  the 
words  of  the  Koran  are  often  regarded  as  figurative  and  al- 
legorical. He  persevered  with  assiduity  in  the  public  exer- 
cise of  his  mission.  The  citizens  of  Mecca  listened  to  the 
exposition  of  his  principles  with  patience  till  he  attacked  the 
idols  of  the  Caaba.  This,  however,  raised  such  a  storm 
against  him,  particularly  on  the  part  of  the-  Koreishites,  that, 
notwithstanding  the  protection  of  Abu  Taleb,  who.  though 
not  converted  to  Mainism,  continued  the  warm  and  stead- 
fast protector  of  his  nephew:  many  of  his  followers  Bed  to 
other  countries,  chieliy  to  Kthiopia.  Tins  happened  in  the 
sixth  vear  of  liis  mission,  and  is  called  the  firjt  Skein,  or 
flight. 

In  the  tenth  year  of  his  mission  he  lost  both  his  wile 
Khadijab  and  his  uncle  Abu  Taleb.  Tin  death  of  the  lat- 
ter being  the  severest  blow  that  the  new  faith  had  \el  ma 
tained,  this  year  is  known  in  the  Mohammedan  annals  as 
"  the  year  of  mourning.''  The  death  of  Abu  Taleb  remov  ed 
the  only  check  to  the  virulent  enmity  of  the  Koreishifes; 
and  a  stranger  having  succeeded  to  the  sovereigntj  <>r  Me. 
ca,  after  a  troubled  residence  vi  three  years,  marked,  how-  , 
762 


ever,  by  the  accession  of  many  proselytes,  Mohammed,  en 
tlie  in\  itation  of  a  deputation  (ram  Medina,  fled  to  that  city 
anil  instantly,  as  if  by  magic,  the  proscribed  and  condemned 
exile  became  a  powerful,  and,  as  it  soon  appeared,  an  all 
but  invincible  monarch.  The  flight  from  Mecca  to  Medina, 
which  is  called  the  second  Hegira,  or,  par  excellence,  Thb 
Hegira,  is  the  epoch  from  which  the  Mohammedans  date 
their  .tra.  It  occurred  in  the  53d  year  of  Mohammed's  age, 
ami  13th  of  his  mission,  and  coincides  with  the  ltith  July, 
A.D.  6*1. 

Hitherto  Mohammed  had  used  only  the  mild  words  of 
persuasion  and  argument  in  propagating  his  religion. 
Throughout  the  eighty-five  chapters  of  tlie  Koran,  pub- 
lished at  Mecca,  so  far  from  the  use  of  any  species  of  coer- 
cion being  recommended  to  be  employed  in  support  of  his 
faith,  he  exhorts  his  followers  to  bear  with  meekness  the 
injuries  to  whicli  their  principles  might  expose  them,  decla- 
ring that  he  had  no  authority  to  compel  any  one  to  embrace 
his  creed.  In  the  eighteen  chapters  published  at  -Medina, 
on  the  contrary,  he  taught  a  very  different  doctrine,  and  an- 
nounced that  God  had  commanded  him  to  extirpate  idolatry 
by  force  of  arms,  and  to  force  universal  submission  to  his 
authority.  The  enjoyments  of  paradise  were  promised  to 
"  those  who  tight  for  the  cause  of  God,  whether  they  be 
slain  or  not."  (Sur.  11,  4,  9.)  Nor  were  these  mere  words 
of  course ;  they  were  soon  reduced  to  practice.  Moham- 
med, soon  after  his  arrival  in  Medina,  assumed  the  exercise 
both  of  the  sacerdotal  and  regal  office.  The  option  of  friend- 
ship, or  submission,  or  battle,  was  proposed  to  the  enemies 
of  Islamism.  His  petty  excursions  for  the  defence  or  attack 
of  a  caravan  prepared  his  troops  for  tlie  conquest  of  Arabia. 
But  what  established  his  power,  and  laid  the  foundation  of 
future  conquests,  was  the  issue  of  the  battle  of  Bedr,  near 
Medina,  fought  in  the  second  year  of  tlie  Hegira,  between 
the  troops  of  Abu  Sophian,  the  new  sovereign  of  Mecca,  and 
his  own,  in  which  the  latter,  though  only  a  third  of  the 
number  of  the  enemy,  gained  a  complete  victory,  with  the 
loss  of  only  forty  men.  From  this  period  the  progress  of 
Mohammed,  if  not  a  complete  triumph  (for  he  sustained 
some  defeats),  affords  an  example  of  perhaps  the  most  rapid 
success  on  record  ;  and  at  the  lapse  of  six  years,  in  the  eighth 
Hegira,  his  victorious  troops  entered  the  city  of  Mecca — an 
epoch  from  which  may  be  dated  the  final  establishment  of 
the  Mohammedan  faith  in  Arabia.  The  tew  contests  that 
followed  were  merely  tlie  last  struggles  of  an  expiring  op- 
position, and  were  mostly  terminated  by  Mohammed's  gen- 
erals while  the  prophet  himself  was  employed  in  destroy- 
ing the  idols  enshrined  in  tlie  Caaba,  and  in  conseerating 
the  temple  to  the  worship  of  the  sole  God.  The  year  fol- 
lowing is  known  in  Mussulman  history  as  tlie  "year  of  em- 
bassies ;"  because  missions  were  sent  to  the  prophet  from  a 
majority  of  the  Arabian  tribes,  give  g  in  their  adhesion  to 
his  creed,  and  recognising  his  authority,  both  sacred  and 
civil. 

But  while  his  religion  was  thus  triumphant,  and  was  des- 
tined still  farther  to  spread,  and  to  remain,  the  prophet's 
own  days  were  drawing  to  a  close.  About  three  years  be- 
fore his  death  his  health  had  been  declining, in  consequence 
of  poison  that  had  been  administered  to  him  by  a  Jewess  of 
Chaibor,  hi  order  to  test  the  validity  of  his  Divine  knowl- 
edge. But  his  death  was  occasioned  by  a  fever  of  fourteen 
days,  on  the  6th  of  June,  63J,  in  the  16th  Hegira,  in  the  63u 
year  of  his  age.  His  remains  were  buried  in  Medina,  in  the 
very  room  in  which  he  breathed  his  last :  and  though  the 
house  itself  has  long  since  disappeared,  a  simple  unadorned 
monument  marks  the  spot  where  his  body  reposes.  The 
pilgrim,  on  his  way  to  Mecca,  increases  the  worth  of  his  pil- 
grimage if  he  turn  aside  to  visit  also  the  city  which  contains 
the  ashes  oi  Mohammed. 

During  the  life  of  Khadijab.  Mohammed  did  not  avail 
himself  of  the  right  of  polygamy:  after  her  death,  however, 
the  restraints  which  poliC]  or  conjugal  affection  had  impo- 
sed on  him  were  laid  aside,  and  the  utmost  license!  marked 
his  subsequent  career.  While  be  limited  the  number  of 
wives  to  four  in  the  case  of  others,  he  claimed  an  exemp- 
tion to  himself  on  Divine  authority,  and  married  no  fewer 
than  seventeen  according  to  some  authorities,  and  nine  ac- 
cording to  others:  strangely  enough,  all  widows  except  one, 
he  daughter  of  Abu  Beker.  By  Khadijah  he  had 
four  sons  and  as  many  daughters,  and  b]  an  Egyptian  con- 
cubine a  fifth  son  :  but  his  sons  all  died  in  infancy  ;  and  of 
ten  daughters  none  survived  him  except  Fatima,  who  was 
married  to  her  cousin  Ali.  From  this  marriage  sprang  an 
illustrious  ofispring,  the  ancestors  of  the  numerous  existing. 
scherifs,  or  sons  of  tiie  prophet. 

The  religion  of  the  supposititious  prophet  is  contained  in 
the  h'rr.in  i.  , ..  book),  tin-  coiitenis  of  which,  according  to 
Mohammedan  belief,  are  uncreated  and  eternal,  subsisting 
B  'In-  c  ssi  I     ity.  and  inscribed  wftfa  a  pen  of  light 

on  the  table  of  ihe  everlasting  decrees,  and  communicated 
at  different  limes  to  Mohammed  b\  the  angel  Gabriel.  The 
Koran,  Which  k>  written  iD  the  purest  Arabic,  is,  with  some 


MOHAMMEDANISM. 

exceptions,  a  work  characterized  by  great  richness  and  sub- 
limity. To  the  beauty  of  its  style,  indeed,  its  author  appeals 
as  a  proof  of  its  inspiration  ;  but  Gibbon  has  remarked,  that 
"  his  loftiest  strains  must  yield  to  the  sublime  simplicity  of 
the  book  of  Job"  (chap.  iv.).  Its  boldest  nights,  and  its 
general  scope,  are  borrowed  from  the  sacred  volume.  In- 
deed, the  object  of  Mohammed  seems  to  have  been  to  recall 
the  inhabitants  of  the  populous  country  of  Arabia  to  the 
worship  of  the  only  God,  and  to  unite  idolaters,  Jews,  and 
Christians  in  the  same  creed.  He  taught  that  the  chain  of 
inspiration  was  prolonged  from  Adam  to  the  promulgation 
of  the  Koran ;  that  Christ  did  not  die  on  the  cross,  but  that 
a  phantom,  or  a  criminal,  was  substituted  in  his  place,  and 
that  he  was  translated  to  the  seventh  heaven ;  that  Christ 
rejoiced  in  the  assurance  of  a  future  prophet  more  illustri- 
ous than  himself;  and  that  the  promise  of  the  Paraclete,  or 
Holy  Ghost,  was  prefigured  in  the  name,  and  accomplished 
in  the  person,  of  Mohammed,  the  last  and  greatest  of  the 
prophets.  He  taught  the  existence  of  angels,  good  and  bad, 
and  of  the  Devil  or  Eblis ;  describing  the  latter  as  having 
been  expelled  from  heaven,  without  hope  of  recovery,  for 
refusing  to  pay  homage  to  Adam  at  the  divine  command. 
As  to  the  inspired  writings,  he  acknowledged  the  Penta- 
teuch, the  Psalms,  and  the  Gospel.  The  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection  and  the  day  of  judgment  formed  part  of  his 
faith.  He  taught  that  every  man  shall  be  judged  according 
to  his  works ;  but  that  the  believers  in  Islamism  shall  not 
be  subjected  (like  the  wicked  idolaters  or  infidels)  to  eternal 
condemnation,  but  that,  after  undergoing  a  purifying  punish- 
ment, they  shall  be  translated  into  the  regions  of  bliss.  He 
inculcated  the  absolute  and  unalterable  predestination  of  all 
things.  He  called  prayer  "  the  pillar  of  religion"  and  "the 
key  of  Paradise  ;"  and  he  prescribed  five  different  stated 
periods  of  prayer  daily,  accompanied  with  as  many  ablu- 
tions or  purifications  of  the  body.  During  prayer  he  first  in- 
sisted that  the  face  should  be  turned  to  Jerusalem,  in  com- 
pliment to  the  Jews ;  but  afterward  bestowed  that  honour 
Mecca.  Alms,  fasting,  and  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  are  the 
remaining  duties  of  practical  religion  enjoined  on  all  good 
Mussulmans.  Of  the  last  the  most  holy  was  that  of  Rama- 
dan, instituted  in  honour  of  the  month  in  which  Gabriel  ap- 
peared to  him  in  Mecca.  Friday  was  ordained  as  the  Mos- 
lem sabbath,  because  it  was  on  that  day  he  made  his  flight 
to  Medina.  He  continued  the  rite  of  circumcision  in  com- 
pliment to  the  prejudices  of  his  countrymen.  He  condemn- 
ed usury,  and  forbade  the  drinking  of  wine. 

The  grossly  sensual  character  of  Mohammed's  paradise 
constitutes,  perhaps,  the  greatest  blemish  in  his  religious 
system,  and  has  exerted  a  debasing  influence  over  all  the 
countries  where  it  has  acquired  an  ascendency. 

To  the  history  of  Islamism  after  the  death  of  its  illustri- 
ous founder  we  canno*  do  more  than  allude.  The  rival 
pretensions  of  Abu  Beker  and  Ali,  the  latter  of  whom  called 
himself  "  the  first  believer,"  to  succeed  Mohammed  in  the 
empire  he  had  founded,  both  gave  a  temporary  check  to  the 
progress  of  the  religion,  and  produced  a  schism  which  ex- 
ists till  the  present  day.    See  Sonnites,  Schiites. 

Notwithstanding  the  high  pretensions  of  his  competitor, 
Abu  Beker  was  elected  to  the  office  of  supreme  head  of  the 
Mussulman  religion  and  power,  under  the  title  of  "  Caliph," 
or  "Khaltf;"  i.  e.,  successor  to  the  prophet.  Under  his 
sway,  and  that  of  his  two  immediate  successors,  the  most 
brilliant  success  attended  the  Arab  amis.  Indeed,  by  the 
20th  Hegira,  or  within  ten  years  of  the  death  of  the  prophet, 
Syria,  Persia,  and  Egypt,  being  conquered,  adopted  the  new 
faith.  Ali  was  chosen  the  fourth  khalif,  but  achieved  no- 
thing very  memorable.  At  his  death,  which  took  place  by 
the  hands  of  an  assassin,  the  throne  was  usurped  by  a  son 
of  Abu  Sophian,  whose  descendants  are  called  the  Omay- 
zade  race  of  khalif s.  They  held  the  sovereignty  for  nearly 
100  years,  during  which  time  the  whole  of  Africa  was  over- 
run, and  so  far  colonized  by  tribes  of  Bedouins  that  it  has 
since  remained,  as  to  language,  manners,  and  religion,  an 
Arab  country.  The  Islam  faith  prospered  nearly  as  rapidly 
in  the  East ;  at  least,  within  80  years  from  Mohammed's 
death  it  embraced  all  the  countries  between  the  Indus  and 
the  Atlantic,  and  from  the  Indian  Ocean  to  the  steppes  of 
Central  Asia.  It  has  since  penetrated  even  into  China,  and 
found  its  way  into  many  of  the  islands  in  the  Indian  Archi- 
pelago. Spain  was  taken  in  711.  The  Arabs  were,  for  a 
short  time,  masters  of  the  south  of  France,  but  were  finally 
driven  across  the  Pyrenees  in  732.  The  Omayzade  khalifs 
were,  in  the  133d  Hegira  (A.D.  750),  superseded  by  the  de- 
scendants of  Abbas,  one  of  the  uncles  of  Mohammed.  This 
last  dynasty  is  known  in  history  as  that  of  the  Abbasside 
khalifs. 

Meanwhile  the  seat  of  the  khalifat  was  removed  from 
Medina  to  Damascus,  and  latterly  to  Bagdad.  Nor  was  the 
khalifate  itself  of  very  long  standing.  It  had  been  tottering 
for  years  ;  but  it  fell  in  the  656lh  Hegira  (A.D.  1258)  ;  a  Tar- 
tar army  having  taken  Bagdad,  and  put  an  end  to  the  nom- 
inal, sacerdotal,  and  regal  power  of  the  khalifs,  the  real 


MOLE. 

power  having  for  a  long  time  resided  in  the  Turkish  sultans 
of  Asia  Minor.  The  title  of  khalif  is  now  recognised  as  one 
of  the  attributes  of  the  grand  signior  as  successor  of  Mo- 
hammed, and  of  the  sophi  of  Persia  as  successor  of  Ali ;  but 
it  no  longer  implies  the  discharge  of  any  religious  functions. 
But  neither  the  foreign  conquests  of  the  Mussulmans,  nor 
the  downfall  of  the  khalifat,  made  any  essential  change  in 
the  political  state  of  Arabia.  The  people  adhere  to  Mo- 
hammedanism as  the  true  faith,  but  otherwise  are  divided 
into  petty  tribes  and  communities,  as  before  the  birth  of  the 
pretended  prophet.  Of  two  attempts  made  in  Arabia  to 
reform  the  Moslem  faith,  all  traces  of  the  first  (A.D.  890), 
the  object  of  which  was  to  rescind  the  prohibition  of  wine, 
and  to  prevent  the  pilgrimages  to  the  holy  ashes,  have  dis- 
appeared. The  other  took  place  in  more  recent  times, 
namely,  in  the  beginning  of  the  last  century.  It  was  made 
by  Addul  Waheb,  who  proclaimed  himself  a  prophet  sent 
by  God  to  reform  the  abuses  which  gradually  had  been  in- 
grafted on  the  religion  of  Mohammed.  The  chief  of  the 
Wahabee  doctrines,  so  called  from  their  author,  was,  that 
God  was  to  be  worshipped  in  the  strictest  unity ;  and  that 
no  adoration  should  be  paid  to  Mohammed,  or  any  created 
being.  (See  Wahabeeism.)  But  while  these  doctrines 
were  rapidly  spreading,  and  while  the  cities  of  Mecca  and 
Medina  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  new  sect,  Mehemet 
Ali,  in  the  name  of  the  sultan,  gave  an  effectual  check  (1813) 
to  their  farther  progress,  and  restored  the  holy  cities  to  the 
nominal  authority  of  the  Porte.  The  Wahabee  tenets  have 
since  been  at  a  stand,  or  are  on  the  decline,  even  in  Nedsjed, 
the  native  province  of  the  founder.  (See  Abulfeda,  in  vita 
Mohammed  ;  Prideaux'  Life  of  Mohammed,  8vo,  1710 ;  Ad- 
am's  Religious  World  Displayed ;  D'Herbelot,  Bibliotheque 
Orient. ;  Green's  Life  of  Mahomet ;  the  Travels  of  Nie- 
buhr  and  others  ;  Burckhardfs  Notes  on  Bedouins  and  TVa- 
habees ;  Rycaufs  Present  State  of  the  Ottoman  Empire; 
Lives  of  Mohammed  by  Boulainvillier  and  Gagnicr  ;  Mill's 
Hist,  of  Moham. ;  Forster's  Moham.  Unveiled;  and  espe- 
cially M'Culloch's  Geog.  Diet.,  art.  "Arabia.") 
MOIDORE.  A  Portuguese  gold  coin,  value  27s.  sterling. 
MOI'NEAU.  (Fr.)  A  small  flat  bastion,  raised  in  front 
of  an  intended  fortification  to  defend  it  from  approaches  by 
means  of  small  arms. 

MOIRE'E  METALLIQUE,  called  in  this  country  crys- 
tallized tin-plate,  is  a  variegated  primrose  appearance,  pro- 
duced upon  the  surface  of  tin-plate  by  applying  to  it  in  a 
heated  state  some  dilute  nitro-muriatic  acid  for  a  few  sec- 
onds, then  washing  it  with  water,  drying,  and  coating  it 
with  lacquer.  The  figures  are  more  or  less  beautiful  and 
diversified,  according  to  the  degree  of  heat  and  relative  dilu- 
tion of  the  acid.  This  mode  of  ornamenting  tin-plate  is  much 
less  in  vogue  now  than  it  was  a  few  years  ago.  (Tire's 
Diet,  of  Arts,  ire.) 

MO'LARS,  Molares.  (Lat.  mola,  a  mill.)  Teeth  gen- 
erally having  a  flattened  triturating  surface,  and  situated  be- 
hind the  incisors,  and  laniaries  when  these  are  also  present. 
In  some  Mammals,  as  the  Cape  ant-eater,  all  the  teeth  are 
molars.  They  are  generally  of  two  kinds ;  viz.,  those  which 
are  liable  to  be  displaced  and  succeeded  by  others  in  the 
vertical  direction,  and  those  which  are  succeeded,  and  some- 
times, as  in  the  elephant  and  kangaroo,  displaced  by  others1 
developed  at  the  back  of  the  mouth,  and  advancing  forwards 
horizontally :  the  first  are  termed  false  molars,  the  second 
kind  true  molars. 

MOLA'SSE.  A  provincial  name  used  in  Switzerland  for 
a  soft,  green  standstone  belonging  to  the  Miocene  tertiary 
period.     See  Geology. 

MOLA'SSES.  (Port,  melasses.)  A  brown,  viscid,  un- 
crystallizable  sugar.  (See  Sugar.)  It  is  sometimes  used  in 
England  in  preparing  the  coarser  sort  of  preserves,  and  on 
the  Continent  extensively  in  the  manufacture  of  tobacco.  It 
has  a  burned  but  not  a  disagreeable  taste. 

MOLE.  A  species  of  the  genus  Talpa  (which  see),  com- 
mon in  this  country  and  other  parts  of  Europe.  This  quad- 
ruped exhibits  in  perfection  that  modification  of  structure  by 
which  the  Mammiferous  animal  is  adapted  to  a  subterranean 
life.  Its  head  is  long,  conical,  and  tapering  to  the  snout, 
which  is  strengthened  by  a  bone,  and  by  strong  gristles 
worked  by  powerful  muscles.  The  body  is  almost  cylindrical, 
thickest  behind  the  head,  and  gradually  diminishes  to  the 
tail.  There  is  no  outward  indication  of  a  neck,  that  part 
being  enlarged  to  the  size  of  the  chest  by  the  massive  mus- 
cles which  act  upon  the  head  and  fore  legs.  These,  which 
are  the  principal  instruments  by  which  the  mole  excavates 
its  long  and  intricate  burrows,  are  the  shortest,  broadest,  and 
strongest,  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  animal,  which  are 
to  be  met  with  in  the  Mammiferous  class.  The  rapidity 
with  which  the  mole  can  make  its  way  through  a  favour- 
able soil  is  such,  that  it  may  be  said  to  swim  m  the  earth  ; 
and,  since  it  must  displace  matter  so  much  denser  than 
water,  so  do  its  fore-limbs  display  a  mechanism  correspond- 
in"lv  superior  in  strength  to  the  analogous  extremities  or 
pertoral  fins  of  the  dolphin.    The  food  of  the  mole  consists 


MOLECULE. 

of  worms  and  insects:  its  voracity  is  great,  and  it  soon  per- 
ishes if  food  be  scarce  or  wanting.  The  ardour  of  the  sex- 
ual appetite  is  not  less  Intense  and  characteristic  of  this 
curious  quadruped.  The  sense  of  sight  is  very  feeble,  the 
eyes  being  minute  and  rudimental;  but  the  other  faculties 
of  smell  ami  hearing,  as  being  more  serviceable  in  its  dark 
retreat,  are  extremely  acute. 

The  female  prepares  a  nest  of  dry  herbage,  roots,  and 
leaves,  in  a  chamber  commonly  formed  by  excavating  and 
enlarging  the  point  of  intersection  of  three  or  four  passages. 
The  young  are  brought  forth  to  the  number  of  four  or  five  in 
April,  and  sometimes  later. 

The  farmer  views  the  operations  of  the  mole  as  destruc- 
tive to  his  crops  by  exposing  and  destroying  their  roots,  or 
by  overthrowing  the  plants  in  the  construction  of  the  mole- 
hills; his  borrows,  moreover,  become  the  haunts  and  hiding- 
places  of  the  field-mouse  and  other  noxious  animals.  The 
moli>  is  also  accused  of  carrying  off  quantities  of  young  corn 
to  form  its  nest.  Hence  every  means  are  devised  to  capture 
and  destroy  it,  and  men  gain  a  livelihood  exclusively  by  this 
occupation.  Some  naturalists,  however,  plead  that  the  in- 
jury which  it  perpetrates  is  slight,  and  that  it  is  more  than 
counterbalanced  by  the  benefit  which  it  produces  by  turning 
up  and  lightening  the  soil,  and  especially  by  its  immense  de- 
struction of  earth  worms,  and  many  other  noxious  animals 
which  inhabit  the  superficial  layer  of  the  ground,  and  oc- 
casion great  injury  to  the  roots  of  grass,  corn,  and  many 
other  plants.  The  soundest  practical  conclusion  lies  proba- 
bly in  the  mean  of  these  opinions ;  and  the  enlightened  agri- 
culturist, while  he  takes  prompt  measures  to  prevent  the 
undue  increase  of  the  mole,  would  do  well  to  reflect  on  the 
disadvantages  which  might  follow  its  total  extermination. 

Mole.  In  Engineering,  a  massive  work  formed  of  large 
stones  placed  in  the  sea  by  means  of  cotfer-dams,  extended 
either  in  a  right  line  or  an  arch  of  a  circle  before  a  port, 
which  it  serves  to  close,  and  to  defend  the  vessels  in  it  from 
the  impetuosity  of  the  waves,  &.C.  It  is  sometimes  used 
synonymously  with  harbour. 

MOLECULE.  (Lat.  molecula.)  A  corpuscle  or  atom, 
single  or  compound.  Molecules  are  the  elementary  particles 
Into  which  all  bodies  are  supposed  to  be  resolvable. 

MO'LLNISM.  In  Roman  Catholic  Theology,  a  system 
of  opinions  on  the  subjects  of  grace  and  predestination  some- 
what resembling  that  advocated  by  the  Arminian  party 
among  Protestants.  It  derived  its  name  from  the  Jesuit 
Louis  Molina,  professor  of  theology  in  the  university  of 
Evora  in  Portugal,  who  laid  down  a  series  of  propositions 
on  these  debated  questions  in  his  work,  entitled  Liberi  arbi- 
trii  cum  gratia  donis,  eW\,  concordia,  which  appeared  in 
1588.  He  was  attacked  by  the  Dominicans  on  the  charge 
of  having  advocated  in  it  Pelagian  or  Semi-Pelagian  senti- 
ments, and  accused  before  the  Inquisition :  he  appealed  to 
Rome,  and  the  cause  was  debated  for  twenty  years  in  the 
congregations,  and  left  at  last  undecided  by  a  decree  of  Paul 
V.  in  1687.  Since  that  period  Molinism  has  been  taught  as 
an  opinion  which  believers  are  free  to  embrace  in  Roman 
Catholic  schools,  and  generally  supported  by  the  Jesuit  and 
attacked  by  the  Jansenist  party.  It  must  not  be  confounded 
with  Molinosism  :  a  name  which  the  doctrine  of  the  Quiet- 
ists  has  received  from  the  work  of  a  Spanish  enthusiast 
(Molinosi  on  Mystical  Life,  condemned  in  1687  by  Innocent 
XI.  The  French  fluietiets  professed  to  abjure  and  oppose 
the  errors  of  Molinos.  (Mosheim,  17th  Cent.,  14,  2,  part  i.) 
St  e  Q.1  iktists. 

Mi  IXISITE.  A  mineralogical  name  of  the  crystallized 
thaniate  of  iron  of  Dauphiny. 

MO'LLAH.  The  title  of  the  higher  order  of  judges  in 
the  Turkish  empire.  After  the  three  first  magistrates  of  the 
empire  [the  two  cadil-askers  of  Roumi  and  Anatolia,  and 
the  istambol-cadissy,  or  chief  ordinary  judge  of  the  capital) 
follow  fourteen  mollahs,  who  preside  over  the  fourteen 
principal  seats  of  justice  in  the  empire;  among  these,  the 
mollahs  of  Mecca  and  .Medina  have  the  highest  rank.  The 
place  Of  mollah,  like  all  others  in  the  Turkish  empire,  is 
held  only  at  the  will  of  the  sovereign,  and  is  now  granted 
annually  (see  D'Ohsson,  Tableau  de  l' Empire  Ottoman,  vol. 
iv.) ;  bat  displaced  moll  ahs  preserve  their  rank  in  the  Qlema 
above  their  successors.  The  Turkish  mollah  must  not  be 
confounded  with  the  Tartar  mulla,  which  see. 

Ml  i  I.I.I'..  (Ital.)  In  Music,  a  sound  that  is  flat  as  com- 
pared to  another  half  a  tone  higher,  thence  called  sharp. 

Mi  >LLUSKS,  Mallusca.  (I. at.  mollis,  toft.)  The  name 
applied  by  Cuvier  to  the  great  primary  division  of  the  ani- 
mal kingdom  which  includes  all  those  species  having  a  gan- 
gliateil  nervous  system,  with  the  ganglions  or  medullary 
masses  dispersed  more  or  less  irregularl]  in  different  parts  of 
the  body,  winch  is  soft  and  inarticulate.  The  pulmonarj  or 
branchial  circulation  Is  separate  and  distinct,  but  Is  aided  by 
the  direct  propulsion  of  a  heart  In  one  class  only.  There  is 
always  a  heart  tor  the  systematic  circulation,  and  it  mostly 

Consists  of  one  ventricle  and  one  auricle.    Some  of  the  oioi 
tusks  breathe  air.  but  the  greater  part  respire  through  the 
764 


MOMENT. 

medium  of  salt  or  fresh  water.  The  blood  of  the  molltisfcg 
Is  white  or  bluish.  In  one  class  only  is  there  a  rudiment 
Of  an  internal  skeleton  giving  attachment  to  a  part  of  the 
muscular  system  ;  in  the  rest  it  is  absent,  and  the  muscles 
are  attached  to  various  points  of  the  skin.  Their  contrac- 
tions produce  inflections  and  extensions  of  'heir  different 
parts,  and,  alternating  with  relaxations,  enable  the  species 
to  creep,  climb,  swim,  burrow,  and  seize  upon  various  ob- 
jects, according  as  the  form  of  these  parts  may  permit ;  but 
as  the  locomotive  organs  are  not  supported  by  articulated 
and  solid  levers,  the  niollusks  cannot  leap  or  advance  rapid- 
ly on  dry  land.  Many  of  the  aquatic  species  are  encumbered 
with  a  heavy  shell.  Nearly  all  tire  niollusks  have  an  ex- 
tensive fold  of  the  skin  reflected  over  their  body,  which  it 
covers  like  a  mantle ;  it  is  sometimes  produced  into  a  breath- 
ing-pipe, or  extended  and  divided  in  the  form  of  fins.  When 
the  mantle  is  simply  membranous  or  fleshy,  or  when  a  horny 
or  testaceous  rudiment  of  a  shell  is  developed,  but  remains 
concealed  in  the  substance  of  the  mantle,  the  moUusk  is  said 
to  be  naked.  When  the  shell  is  so  much  enlarged  that  the 
contracted  animal  finds  shelter  beneath  or  within  it,  the 
species  is  said  to  be  testaceous.  (SeeCoNcuoLOOY.)  The  mas- 
ticatory or  oral  organs  present  all  the  various  modifications 
for  predatory,  omnivorous,  or  herbivorous  habits  ;  and  the 
stomach  may  be  simple,  multiple,  or  complicated  with  a 
peculiar  armature.  Some  of  the  niollusks  are  unisexual, 
others  androgynous,  a  few  dicecious. 

With  few  exceptions,  their  habits  and  economy  present 
comparatively  little  variety  or  interest,  and  they  are  only 
preserved  by  their  fecundity  and  vital  tenacity.  See  Mala- 
cology. 

MO'LOCH.  The  name  of  the  chief  god  of  the  Phoeni- 
cians, frequently  mentioned  in  Scripture  as  the  God  of  the 
Ammonites,  and  probably  the  same  as  the  Saturn  of  the 
Syrians  and  Carthaginians.  Human  sacrifices  were  offered 
at  the  shrine  of  this  divinity  ;  and  it  was  chiefly  in  the  valley 
of  Tophet,  to  the  east  of  Jerusalem,  that  this  "brutal  idolatry 
was  perpetrated.  Solomon  built  a  temple  to  Moloch  upon 
the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  Manasseh  long  after  imitated  his 
impiety  by  making  his  son  pass  through  the  fire  kindled  in 
honour  of  this  horrid  king. 

Milton  has  described  the  character  of  Moloch  in  the  fol- 
lowing well-known  lines: 

First  Moloch,  horrid  king,  besmear'd  with  blood 

Of  human  sacrifice  and  parents'  tears: 

Though  for  the  noise  of  drums  and  timbrels  loud 

Their  children's  cries  unheard,  that  passed  through  fire 

To  his  grim  idol.     Him  the  Ammonite 

Worshipped  in  Rabba  and  her  water}-  plain, 

In  Argnb  and  in  Basan,  to  the  stream 

Of  utmost  Arnon.     Nor  content  with  such 

Audacious  neighbourhood,  the  wisest  heart 

Of  Solomon  he  led  bv  fraud  to  build 

His  temple  right  against  the  temple  of  God, 

On  that  opprobrious  hill  ;  and  made  his  grove 

The  pleasant  valley  of  Hinnom,  Tophet  thence 

And  black  Gehenna  call'd,  the  type  of  Hell. 

MOLO'SSUS.  In  Greek  and  Latin  poetry,  a  foot  consist- 
ing of  three  long  syllables,  as  xaiptfi'rnt,  regnabant.  It  is 
said  to  derive  its  name  either  from  a  favourite  dance  of  the 
Molossi,  a  people  of  Epirus,  or  from  Jupiter  Molossus,  in 
whose  honour  odes  were  composed  in  which  this  foot  had  a 
great  share. 

MOLYBDE'NUM.  (Gr.  /(oXi'Scoc,  lead.)  This  name  was 
originally  applied  to  the  native  sulphuret  of  molybdenum, 
which  was  considered  to  be  an  ore  of  lead;  it  was  after- 
wards shown  to  be  the  ore  of  a  peculiar  metal,  to  which  the 
name  molybdenum  was  given.  It  is  white,  brittle,  very  In- 
fusible, and  of  a  specific  gravity  about  8'6.  It  forms  two  ox- 
ides and  an  acid.  The  equivalent  of  the  metal  is  about  48 ; 
and  the  molybdic  acid  consists  of  1  atom  of  molybdenum  and 
3  of  oxygen,  and  is  represented  by  the  equivalent  72.  The 
Compounds  of  this  acid  are  called  molybdatcs.  The  molyb- 
date  of  lead  has  been  found  native. 

MOMENT,  (l.at.  inovere,  to  move.)  A  small  but  in- 
definite period  of  time.  Sometimes  the  word  instant  is  used 
synonymously  with  moment. 

Moment,  Momentum.  These  terms  have  been  used  by 
writers  on  mechanics  in  various  senses.  Galileo,  in  his 
Dialogues,  uses  the  phrase  momentum  of  a  power,  or  of  a 
weight,  applied  to  a  machine,  to  denote  the  action,  energy, 
or  impetus  of  the  power  to  move  the  machine;  so  that  an 
equilibrium  subsists  between  two  powers  when  their  mo- 
ments to  move  the  machine  in  opposite  directions  are  equal : 
and  he  shows  that  the  momentum  is  proportional  to  the 
power  multiplied  into  the  virtual  velocity.  This  notion  of 
momentum  was  also  adopted  by  Wallls,  in  his  Mechanics, 
published  in  lli(ii) ;  and  when  the  term  is  used  with  respect 
to  a  weight,  it  is  synonymous  with  the  phrase  quantity  of 

mnl ni ii,  that  is,  the  product  of  the  mass  bj   the  velocity. 

The  product  of  tin.  mass  by  the  square  of  the  velocity,  or 
the  living  force  {see  Force),  Is  sometimes  called  the  mom  ni 
of  the  moving  force,  or  the  moment  of  activity  ;  and  the  pro- 
duct of  the  hklss  by  the  velocity  and  by  a  line  (or,  which  is 


MOMIERS. 

the  same,  by  the  square  of  the  velocity  and  by  a  time)  is 
called  the  moment  of  the  quantity  of  motion,  or  quantity  of 
action.    (Cainot,  Principes  de  V Equilibre  et  du  Mouvement.) 

Modern  writers  use  the  phrase  moment  of  a  force  with  re- 
spect to  a  point,  to  denote  the  product  of  the  force  into  the 
perpendicular  let  fall  from  the  point  upon  the  line  of  its  di- 
rection; and  moment  of  a  force  with  respect  to  a  plane,  to 
denote  the  product  of  the  force  into  the  perpendicular  drawn 
from  its  point  of  application  to  the  plane.  These  two  mo- 
ments are  entirely  distinct.  The  first  depends  upon  the  di- 
rection of  the  force,  and  is  independent  of  its  point  of  appli- 
cation; the  latter  depends  upon  the  point  of  application,  and 
is  independent  of  the  direction.  (See  Poisson,  Traite  de 
JUecanique.) 

Moment  of  Inertia,  in  Dynamics,  denotes  the  sum  of  the 
products  of  all  the  material  elements  of  a  revolving  body, 
each  multiplied  into  the  square  of  its  distance  from  the  axis 
of  rotation.  It  is  the  integral  of  the  expression  frf  d  m  ;  in 
which  d  m  is  the  element  of  the  mass,  and  r  its  distance  from 
the  axis.     See  Rotation. 

MO'MIERS.  (From  the  Fr.  momerie,  Ang.  mummery.) 
The  name  by  which  certain  religionists  of  the  so-called 
Evangelical  party  have  been  designated  in  Switzerland,  and 
some  parts  of  France  and  Germany,  since  1818.  They  ap- 
pear originally  to  have  borne  a  considerable  resemblance  to 
the  Methodists  of  our  own  country ;  for,  like  the  latter,  they 
at  first  embraced  no  tenets  distinct  from  those  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church,  and  were  only  distinguished  from  its  members 
by  a  more  habitual  indulgence  in  devotional  contemplation 
and  religious  exercises.  But  they  did  not  long  continue  to 
harmonize  with  the  preachers  of  the  establishment.  One 
of  the  most  vehement  of  the  party,  in  a  pamphlet  published 
in  1818,  accused  the  latter  of  denying  the  divinity  of  our  Sa- 
viour, and  of  a  thorough  backsliding  from  the  doctrines  of 
Calvinism  ;  and  the  Geneva  clergy  (la  venerable  compagnie) 
having,  in  the  view  of  allaying  asperities,  passed  a  resolution 
prohibiting  any  theories  of  the  doctrinal  points  of  religion 
from  being  propounded  in  the  pulpit,  and  having  counselled 
the  clergy  to  avoid  disputed  points  as  much  as  possible  in 
their  discourses,  the  smouldering  embers  of  their  hostility 
to  the  Established  Church  burst  into  a  flame.  They  now  be- 
gan to  attack  the  clergy  in  the  pulpit  and  in  pamphlets,  ac- 
cusing them  of  having  abandoned  all  gospel  truth,  and  deny- 
ing their  right  to  be  regarded  as  ministers  of  the  establish- 
ment. But  all  their  efforts  to  bring  the  latter  into  contempt 
were  unsuccessful :  the  Genevese  remained  faithful  to  their 
pastors ;  and  in  the  year  1835  the  Momiers  possessed  only 
about  200  adherents. 

In  other  parts  of  Switzerland,  however,  and  more  espe- 
cially in  the  canton  de  Vaud,  the  zeal  of  these  sectaries  was 
attended  with  more  success.  After  a  few  years'  toleration  of 
their  preaching  and  proselytizing,  during  which  it  was  al- 
leged the  Momiers  had  sown  the  greatest  discord  and  dis- 
content among  the  inhabitants  of  the  canton,  the  government 
at  last  saw  the  necessity  of  interference,  and  in  the  year 
1824  promulgated  some  vigorous  ordinances  to  put  them 
down.  These  enactments,  as  might  have  been  expected, 
failed  of  their  effect.  The  enthusiasm  of  the  Momiers  was 
redoubled :  they  were  now  surrounded  with  the  glory  of 
martyrdom ;  and  many  who  before  had  viewed  their  zeal 
■with  indifference  or  contempt,  now  deeply  sympathized  in 
what  they  could  not  but  regard  as  an  undisguised  attack 
upon  the  liberty  of  conscience.  In  consequence  of  the  gen- 
eral disgust  that  ensued  on  their  promulgation,  these  ordi- 
nances were  at  first  gradually  relaxed,  then  suffered  to  lie 
dormant,  and  at  last  repealed  in  1831.  Since  that  period  the 
number  of  the  Momiers  has  gradually  diminished ;  and  in 
1839,  the  clergy  of  this  canton  resolved  by  a  large  majority 
to  revert  to  the  ancient  regime  of  the  church.  (See  the 
Conversations  Lexicon  der  Gegenwart.  See  also  the  Edin. 
Review,  vol.  xlii.,  which  contains  an  interesting  account  of 
the  rigorous  enactments  passed  against  this  sect,  with  some 
severe  remarks  on  their  violence  and  absurdity.) 

MO'MUS.  (Gr.  fi&iioi,  derision.)  The  god  of  raillery 
and  ridicule,  and  said  by  Hesiod  to  have  been  the  progeny 
of  light. 

MO'NACHISM,  MONK,  MONASTERY.  (All  derived 
from  the  Gr.  ^oVoc,  alone.)  Words  indicative  of  certain  im- 
portant features  in  ecclesiastical  history.  Monachus,  or 
monk,  properly  signifies  one  who  lives  a  solitary  life,  and 
was  applied  in  the  first  instance  to  the  numerous  individuals 
who  began  in  the  second  and  third  centuries  to  retire  from 
the  occupations  of  the  world,  and  devote  themselves  in  the 
deserts  of  Egypt  and  Syria  to  a  contemplative  and  religious 
life.  It  was  not  till  the  middle  of  the  third  century  that  the 
monkish  system,  properly  so  called,  was  established,  by 
which  many  persons  were  congregated  together,  and  bound 
by  vows  to  the  performance  of  various  religious  duties  and 
abstinence  from  worldly  enjoyments.  These  monks  are  dis- 
tinguished by  the  appellation  of  Crenobites,  or  Associates, 
from  the  ascetics,  anchorites,  and  hermits,  who  lived  apart, 
not  from  the  world  only,  but  from  each  other.    The  monk- 


MONEY. 

ish  system  originated  in  Egypt,  where  St.  Anthony  founded 
several  associations  of  this  kind.  The  inmates  of  the  primi- 
tive monasteries  were  bound  by  the  profession  of  four  ob- 
jects :  solitude,  labour,  fasting,  and  prayers.  They  renounced 
all  temporal  possessions,  and  supported  themselves  entirely 
with  their  own  hands.  Fasting  was  practised  in  moderation 
only ;  nor  do  the  early  monks  appear  to  have  affected  piety 
or  regularity  by  the  extravagant  austerities  of  later  times. 
For  a  useful  list  of  books  on  the  subject,  see  this  article  in 
the  Penny  Cyclopedia. 

For  an  account  of  the  progress  of  this  practice,  and  the 
rules  to  which  the  professors  of  Monachism  were  subjected 
in  later  times,  see  Orders  (Religious). 

MO'NAD.  (Gr.  jiovac,  a  unit.)  In  Metaphysics,  this 
word  has  been  used  by  Leibnitz  and  his  followers,  partisans 
of  what  has  been  called  the  Monadic  Theory.  "  After  stud- 
ying," says  Stewart,  "with  all  possible  diligence  what  Leib- 
nitz has  said  of  his  monads  in  different  parts  of  his  works,  I 
find  myself  quite  incompetent  to  annex  any  precise  idea  to 
the  word  as  he  employed  it."  He  then  quotes  the  follow- 
ing as  "  some  of  his  most  intelligible  attempts  to  explain  his 
meaning*'  "A  simple  substance  has  no  parts:  a  compound 
substance  is  an  aggregate  of  simple  substances,  or  of  mon- 
ads." "  Monads,  having  no  parts,  are  neither  extended,  fig- 
ured, nor  divisible.  They  are  the  real  atoms  of  nature  ;  in 
other  words,  the  elements  of  things."  "  Every  monad  is  a 
living  mirror,  representing  the  universe,  according  to  its  par- 
ticular point  of  view,  and  subject  to  no  regular  laws,  as  the 
universe  itself."  "  Every  monad  with  a  particular  body 
makes  a  living  substance."  (Enc.  Brit.,  Preliminary  Dis- 
sertation, note  c.  c.)  The  groundwork  of  the  monadic  the- 
ory is  to  be  found  in  the  different  philosophical  systems  of 
Zeno,  Leucippus,  Democritus,  and  Epicurus  :  but  Leibnitz 
was  the  first  who  reduced  it  to  a  system,  and  its  chief  sup- 
porters since  his  death  have  been  M.  Wolf  and  Madame 
Duchatelet. 

MONADE'LPHONS.  (Gr.  novoc,  and  aSe^(a,  a  frater- 
nity.) A  botanical  term  applied  to  stamens,  the  filaments 
of  which  are  combined  into  a  single  mass,  as  in  the  common 
mallow.  It  is  the  name  of  some  of  the  classes  in  the  Lin- 
n«an  svstem. 

MONA'NDROUS  (Gr.  novoc,  and  avnp,  a  man),  is  a  flow- 
er having  but  one  stamen.  It  is  the  name  of  the  first  class 
in  the  Linnsan  system. 

MO'NARCHY.  (Gr.  uovapxia  ;  derived  from  n6voc,  sin- 
gle, and  up%tiv,  t0  rule.)  The  government  of  a  single  per- 
son. Monarch  and  monarchy  are  equivalent  in  common 
speech  to  king  and  kingdom ;  so  that  we  often  read  of  the 
Spartan  monarchs,  &c,  although  the  government  of  Sparta 
was  under  a  double  race  of  kings  reigning  at  the  same  time. 
Monarchies  are  usually  said  to  be  of  four  kinds — absolute, 
limited,  hereditary,  and  elective,  which  are  self-explanatory 
terms.  The  only  elective  monarchy  in  Europe  was  that  of 
Poland.  All  absolute  and  limited  monarchies  have  adopted 
the  hereditary  principle. 

MO'NAS.  (Gr.  uovac.)  A  genus  of  extremely  minute 
polvsastric  Infusores. 

MO'NASTERY.  (Gr.  povic.)  The  general  name  for 
those  religious  houses  appropriated  to  the  reception  and 
maintenance  of  monks  and  nuns,  but  especially  of  the  for- 
mer. (See  Nunnery.)  For  an  account  of  the  origin  and 
object  of  monasteries,  see  Monachism,  and  the  authorities 
there  referred  to  ;  and  for  the  habits,  rules,  and  peculiarities 
of  the  different  orders  of  monks  and  nuns,  see  the  respective 
articles,  but  more  especially  Orders  (Religious).  The 
English  term  monastery  was  variously  rendered  by  the 
Greek  fathers ;  thus  we  find  it  expressed  not  only  by  novaa- 
rnpiov  and  uovn,  but  by  cinvtwv,  a  holy  place,  (iavlpn,  an  en- 
closure, (ppovTiarnpiov,  a  place  of  meditation,  &c.  The  sup- 
pression of  monasteries  was  one  of  the  first  consequences 
of  the  Reformation  in  all  the  countries  that  abandoned  the 
Popish  faith.  But  even  in  Roman  Catholic  states,  with  the 
exception  of  Italy,  they  have  long  been  on  the  decline ;  and 
though,  since  the  relaxation  of  the  penal  laws,  several  nun- 
neries have  been  established  in  various  parts  of  Great  Brit- 
ain, there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  these  establishments 
will  ever  attain  even  an  approximation  to  their  pristine  vig- 
our. 

MO'NDAY.  The  second  day  of  the  week  is  so  called, 
and  means,  literally,  the  day  of  the  moon.  Its  equivalents 
in  Fr.  and  Germ,  are  respectively  Lundi  and  Montag,  signi- 
fying also  day  of  the  moon. 

MO  NEY.*  In  Political  Economy,  the  name  given  to  the 
commodity  adopted  to  serve  as  the  marchandise  bannale,  or 
universal  equivalent  of  all  other  commodities,  and  for  which 
individuals  readily  exchange  their  surplus  products  or  servi- 
ces. 


*  Etvmologists  differ  respecting  the  derivation  of  the  word  money.  Some 
contend  that  it  conies  from  monere  (to  admonish,  to  inform),  because  the 
stamp  impressed  on  coins  indicates  their  weight  and  fineness.  Others  con- 
tend that  it  originates  in  the  circumstance  of  silver  being  originally  coined  at 
Rome,  iii  the  temple  of  admonishing  Juno,  or  Juno  Montta. 

765 


MONEY. 


Without  the  use  of  money  of  some  sort  or  other,  exchan- 
gee must  have  been  greatly  embarrassed,  and  the  division 

of  employments  never  could  have  been  carried  to  any  con- 
siderable extent.  Innumerable  difficulties  would  occur  in 
attempting  to  carry  on  trade  by  barter.    A.,  fot  example,  has 

a  quantity  <'f  corn  which  he  wishes  to  exchange  lor  cloth 
belonging  to  B. ;  but  the  latter  being  already  sufficiently  sup- 
plied  with  com,  no  exchange  can  take  place  between  them. 
A.  must  therefore,  if  he  continue  anxious  to  get  possession 
of  the  cloth,  learn  what  commodity  B.  will  accept  in  ex- 
change for  it ;  and  having  learned  this,  he  must  seek  out 
siime  third  person  willing  to  part  with  the  equivalent  de- 
manded by  B.  in  exchange  for  corn.  It  might  not,  perhaps, 
be  possible  for  A.  to  get  his  purpose  effected  so  easily  as  has 
here  been  supposed,  or  without  negotiating  several  subsidia- 
ry exchanges  ;  but  what  has  now  been  stated  is  sufficient  to 
evince  the  extreme  difficulty  of  carrying  on  commerce  in 
this  way. 

Individuals  so  placed  would  naturally  endeavour,  in  seek- 
ing their  own  advantage,  to  obviate,  in  as  far  as  practicable, 
such  inconveniences ;  and  it  would  require  but  little  sagacity 
to  perceive  that  the  best  way  of  accomplishing  this  would 
be  to  acquire  some  portion  of  that  article,  whatever  it  might 
be,  which  was  observed  to  be  most  in  demand,  or  which 
passed  most  readily  from  hand  to  hand  in  exchange  for  oth- 
ers ;  because,  when  possessed  of  it,  one  would  be  able,  with 
comparatively  little  difficulty,  to  get  whatever  else  he  want- 
ed. Now,  this  generally  desirable  article,  whether  it  be 
corn,  salt,  cowries,  hides,  or  whatever  else,  is,  in  fact,  mon- 
ey. But,  though  this  grand  instrument  of  exchange  may  be 
one  thing  in  one  country  and  one  state  of  society,  and  an- 
other thing  in  another  country  and  another  state  of  society, 
it  is  never  the  result  of  invention  or  contrivance.  It  origi- 
nates in  the  circumstances  natural  to  society,  and  is  chan- 
ged, improved,  and  perfected,  according  as  experience  serves 
to  make  individuals  better  acquainted  with  its  nature  and 
functions. 

An  article  that  has  been  adopted  from  a  sense  of  its  suit- 
ableness to  serve  as  the  ordinary  equivalent  for  other  things, 
or  as  the  common  medium  of  exchange,  comes,  in  the 
course  of  time,  to  be  used  also  as  a  measure  of  value,  or  as 
a  standard  by  which  to  compare  and  estimate  the  values  of 
other  things.  Thus,  instead  of  saying  that  an  individual  is 
worth  1000  sheep,  1000  quarters  of  wheat,  or  1000  acres  of 
land,  these  are  rated  or  estimated  at  their  value  in  money  ; 
and  it  is  said  that  their  owners  are  worth  certain  amounts 
of  the  latter.  Not  only,  therefore,  does  the  introduction  of 
money  contribute  in  the  most  effectual  manner  to  the  facili- 
tating of  exchanges,  but  it  also  gives  precision  to  statements 
as  to  values  that  would  otherwise  be  all  but  unintelligible. 
The  statement,  for  example,  that  an  individual  was  worth 
1000  head  of  cattle,  or  1000  packs  of  wool,  would  convey  no 
clear  idea  even  to  dealers  in  these  articles,  as  their  qualities 
differ  so  very'  widely ;  and  supposing  these  to  be  ascertained, 
there  are  very  few  individuals  who  know  anything  of  the 
value  either  of  cattle  or  wool.  But  by  rating  them  in  mon- 
ey, all  these  difficulties  and  ambiguities  vanish  in  an  in- 
stant ;  reference  is  then  made  to  a  measure  with  which 
everybody  is  familiar,  and  every  one  has  a  distinct  idea  and 
full  knowledge  of  the  value  of  the  articles,  or  wealth  of  the 
parties  referred  to. 

Qualities  required  in  a  Commodity  fitted  to  serve  as  Mon- 
ey.— An  immense  variety  of  commodities  have  been  adopted 
to  serve  as  money  in  different  countries  and  states  of  socie- 
ty ;  but,  in  the  course  of  no  very  long  period,  it  is  ascertain- 
ed that  no  commodity  can  be  advantageously  employed  as 
money  unless  it  possess  certain  properties.  First,  it  should 
be  easj  of  transportation,  and,  therefore,  should  possess 
great  value  in  small  hulk  :  2d,  it  should  admit  of  being  rub- 
bed and  carried  about  without  losiiiL'  much  from  the  wear, 
and  it  should  admit  of  being  hoarded  or  kept  for  an  indefi- 
nite  period  without  loss:  3d,  as  the  products  to  be  exchan- 
ged for  money  are  of  very  different  value,  it  should  also 
admit  of  being  divided  into  the  smallest  portions  without  in- 
jury :  4th.  the  commodity  used  as  money  should  be  perfectly 
homogenous  ;  that  i-.  a  riven  quantity  of  money  in  London 
should  be  precisel)  identical  with  the  same  quantity  in  Ed- 
inburgh, Dublin,  ami  everywhere  else:  and,  5th,  the  value 
of  money,  or  its  power  of  exchanging  for  or  buying  other 
things,  should  be  as  invariable  as  possible,  or  should  Change 

only  by  slow  degrees.  Tins,,  seem  to  in-  the  qualities  mosl 
essential  to  any  commodity  adopted  to  serve  as  money;  and 
the  money  of  any  country  may  he  said  to  he  good  or  had  ac- 
cording to  the  degree  in  which  it  possesses  or  wants  these 
qualities. 

Now  it  will  be  found  that  the  precious  metals  possess  all 
the  qualities  enumerated  above  in  a  far  higher  degree  than 
any  other  products  with  which  we  are  acquainted,  ami  this 
has  doubtless  formed  the  irresistible  reason  that  ha-  Led  all 

civilized  communities  to  adopt  them  as  money.    The  cost 

of  their  production,  especially  of  gold,  is  so  very  considers 
ble,  that  they  possess  great  value  in  small  bulk;  their  lirm 
70G 


and  compact  texture  makes  them  difficult  to  wear,  and  they 
may  be  kept  for  any  length  of  time  without  deteriorating  ; 
they  are  divisible  into  any  number  of  parts,  and  have  the 
valuable  property  of  being  easily  reunited  by  means  of  fu- 
sion without  loss;  they  are  perfectly  identical,  the  physical 
qualities  of  an  ounce  of  pure  gold  or  silver  taken  from  the 
mines  in  any  part  of  the  world  being  precisely  the  same 
with  those  of  an  ounce  taken  from  the  mines  in  any  other 
quarter;  and  though  their  value  be  not  invariable,  it  chan- 
ges, speaking  generally,  only  by  slow  degrees,  and  is  less 
susceptible  of  fluctuation  than  that  of  most  oilier  articles. 
No  wonder,  therefore,  when  almost  all  the  qualities  neces- 
sary to  constitute  money  are  possessed  in  so  eminent  a  de- 
gree by  the  precious  metals,  that  they  have  been  used  as 
such  in  civilized  societies  from  a  very  remote  a-ra.  They 
became  universally  money,  to  use  the  words  of  Mr.  Tn  I  l'i  >t, 
"not  in  consequence  of  any  arbitrary  agreement  among 
men,  or  of  the  intervention  of  any  law,  but  by  the  nature 
and  force  of  tilings." 

Introduction  of  Coined  Money. — When  first  brought  to 
market,  gold  and  silver,  like  copper,  iron,  or  any  other  met- 
al, were  in  the  shape  of  bars  or  ingots,  and  were  exchanged 
or  bartered  for  other  commodities  exactly  as  these  would 
have  been  bartered  for  anything  else.  The  parties  having 
agreed  upon  the  quantity  of  the  precious  metals  to  be  given 
for  certain  goods,  the  quantity  was  next  delivered  by  weight. 
Nor  is  this  a  mere  conjectural  statement,  advanced  in  a  later 
age  to  explain  appearances,  and  resting  on  probability  only. 
Aristotle  (Polit.,  lib.  i.,  cap.  9)  and  Pliny  (Hist,  /fat.,  lib. 
xxxiii.,  cap.  3)  tell  us  that  such  was.  in  fact,  the  method  by 
which  the  precious  metals  were  originally  exchanged  for 
other  things  in  Greece  and  Italy;  and  the  sacred  writings 
furnish  a  striking  example  of  the  prevalence  of  the  same 
primitive  practice  in  the  East.  It  is  there  stated  that  Abra- 
ham weighed  400  shekels  of  silver,  and  gave  them  in  ex- 
change for  a  piece  of  ground  he  had  purchased  from  the 
sons  of  Heth.  (Genesis,  xxiii.,  16.)  It  is  also  mentioned 
that  this  silver  was  "  current  money  with  the  merchant,"  an 
expression  which  evidently  refers  to  its  quality  only  ;  for, 
had  the  silver  been  coined,  it  would  have  been  unnecessary 
to  have  weighed  it.  But  the  weighing  of  gold  and  silver 
whenever  they  happened  to  be  exchanged  for  commodities, 
and  their  adjustment  to  the  agreed  on  weight,  must  have 
been  a  very  difficult  and  troublesome  process.  There  can, 
however,  be  no  doubt  that  the  greatest  obstacle  to  the  use 
of  the  precious  metals  as  money  would  at  first  be  found  in 
the  difficulty  of  determining  their  purity  or  fineness  with 
sufficient  facility  and  accuracy.  It  is,  indeed,  most  probable, 
that  when  they  originally  began  to  be  used  as  money,  their 
quality  would  be  inferred  from  their  weight  and  colour.  But 
the  extreme  inexactness  of  the  conclusions  derived  from  such 
loose  and  unsatisfactory  data  would  soon  become  obvious  ; 
and  the  devising  of  some  method  by  which  the  weighing  of 
the  metals  in  exchanges  might  be  dispensed  with,  and  their 
quality  be  easily  and  accurately  determined,  would  be  seen 
to  be  indispensable  to  their  general  use  as  money.  Luckily, 
such  a  method  was  not  long  a  desideratum.  It  was  early 
discovered  that  to  ascertain  its  purity,  and  to  obviate  the 
trouble  and  expense  of  weighing  the  metal,  all  that  was  ne- 
cessary was  to  form  it  into  coins  ;  that  is,  to  mark  each  piece 
with  a  public  stamp  or  authoritative  impress  declaring  its 
weight  and  fineness.  Such  appear  to  have  been  the  steps 
that  led  to  the  formation  and  introduction  of  gold  and  silver 
coins  (Ooguet,  De  VOrigine  des  Loix.  i.,  209,  4to  ed.)  ;  the 
employment  of  which  has  been  of  the  very  greatest  utility, 
and  has,  perhaps,  contributed  more  than  anything  else  to  fa- 
cilitate commerce,  and  to  accelerate  the  progress  of  civiliza- 
tion and  the  arts.* 

"  Without  some  article  of  known  exchangeable  value, 
such  as  coin,  readily  received  as  an  equivalent  for  other 
things,  the  interchange  of  commodities  must  have  bean  wry 
limited,  and  consequently  the  divisions  of  labour  very  im- 
perfectly established.  Now  money  obviates  these  e\  ils,  ami 
by  a  twofold  operation  augments  production.  In  the  first 
place,  it  saves  all  that  time  and  labour  which,  while  the  in- 
tercourse  between  man  ami  man  is  carried  on  by  barter, 
must  frequently  Intervene  before  a  person  can  be  supplied 
w  it  ii  the  quantity  of  the  commodity  which  be  wants  ■  in  the 
second  place,  and  in  consequence  of  its  savins  the  time  and 
labour  which  must  otherwise  be  spent  in  etlecting  exchanges, 
it  multiplies  the  transactions  of  mercantile  Industry,  and  thus 
allows  the  divisions  of  employment  to  be  more  thoroughly 

*  'I'll.'  Roman  Jnristl  luvc  iriven  a  clear  and  conci*e  account  of  the  cir- 
v.and  of  its  Function!  I  "Of 
.   ■  pennatationibufl  crcpit :   Ohm  enim  nun  ita  erat  nun  nm-  ; 
ml  pretium  vocabatur  ;  sed  unusqnisque  secundum  ne- 
ar rerum,  utilibus  inutilia  pennntabat,  quando  plerum- 
■  quod  ilterl  roperasl  altei  I 
cite  concambat,  uf  rum  lu  habere*  quod  epo  desiderarem,  invicem  lot.  rem 
quod  h]  accipere  vtlles.  electa  materia  est,  cujus  publica  ac  perpetua  xstima- 
'io  difficullalibu*  permutationum  .rqualitate  quantitatis  subvenirel  *   eaque 
materia  forma  publica  percuasa,  uaum  dominiumque.  non  tarn  ea 
prybet  quam  ex  quantiiate  ;  nee  ultra  men  utrumque,  sed  alterum  pretium. 
vocatur."    (Dij-al,  lib.  iviii.,  tit  i.,  de  Coutr.  Einpt.) 


MONEY. 


established.  By  the  first  operation  it  disengages  a  very  con- 
siderable portion  of  labour  from  an  unproductive  occupation, 
and  enables  it  to  receive  a  more  useful  direction  ;  by  the 
second  it  increases  in  a  very  high  degree  the  productive 
powers  of  the  labour  already  usefully  employed.  It  assists 
every  man  in  availing  himself  of  the  skill  and  dexterity 
which  he  may  have  acquired  in  any  particular  calling,  and 
promotes  cultivation  in  a  manner  suitable  to  the  climate  and 
soil  of  different  districts  and  different  countries.  And  by 
both  these  operations  coins  increase  to  an  extent,  not  easy  to 
be  calculated,  the  wealth  of  civilized  communities."  (Tor- 
Tens  on  the  Production  of  Wealth,  p.  305.) 

But,  however  great  and  obvious  the  advantages  attending 
the  use  of  the  precious  metals  in  the  shape  of  coin,  it  is  ne- 
cessary to  bear  in  mind  that  the  nature  of  exchanges,  and 
the  principle  on  which  they  are  made,  are  not  thereby  at  all 
affected.  Equivalents  are  still  given  for  equivalents.  The 
exchange  of  a  quarter  of  corn  for  an  ounce  of  pure,  unfash- 
ioned  gold  bullion,  is  as  much  a  barter  as  if  it  were  exchan- 
ged for  an  ox  or  a  barrel  of  beer;  and,  supposing  the  metal 
to  be  formed  into  a  coin,  or  marked  with  a  stamp  declaring 
its  weight  and  fineness,  that  circumstance  could,  it  is  obvi- 
ous, make  no  change  in  the  terms  of  the  barter.  The  coin- 
age would  save  the  trouble  of  weighing  and  assaying  the 
bullion,  but  it  would  do  nothing  more.  A  coin  is  merely  a 
piece  of  metal  of  a  known  weight  and  fineness,  and  the 
commodities  exchanged  for  it  are  uniformly  held  by  the 
parties  to  be  of  equal  value ;  and  yet  these  obvious  consid- 
erations have  been  very  generally  overlooked.  The  notion 
was  long  entertained  that  coins  were  merely  the  signs  of 
values  !  But  it  is  clear  that  they  have  no  more  claim  to 
this  designation  than  bars  of  iron  or  copper,  sacks  of  wheat, 
or  any  other  article.  Coins  exchange  for  other  things  be- 
cause they  are  desirable  articles,  which,  having  been  produ- 
ced by  an  expenditure  of  capital  and  labour,  possess  real  in- 
trinsic worth.  A  draught,  check,  or  bill  may  not  improperly, 
perhaps,  be  regarded  as  the  sign  of  the  money  or  coin  to  be 
given  for  it ;  but  that  coin  is  itself  a  valuable  commodity. 
A  sovereign  is  not  a  sign  ;  it  is  the  thing  signified. 

Privilege  of  Coin  ing.  Legal  Tender. — In  order  to  obviate 
the  endless  confusion  and  inconvenience  that  could  not  fail 
to  arise  were  individuals  permitted  to  coin  money,  from  the 
circulation  of  coins  of  all  weights  and  degrees  of  purity,  the 
government  of  every  civilized  country  has  prohibited  the 
issue  of  coins  by  private  parties,  and  ha"s  itself  supplied  those 
in  circulation.  Generally,  also,  very  severe  penalties  have 
been  inflicted  on  the  forgers  of  coin,  or  on  those  who  fabri- 
cate counterfeit  coins,  or  coins  of  less  weight  than  the  stand- 
ard, or  made  up  in  whole  or  in  part  of  some  baser  or  less 
valuable  metal.  It  is  obvious,  indeed,  that  the  extensive 
practice  of  this  offence,  by  necessarily  generating  a  feeling 
of  insecurity  and  suspicion,  would  check  the  circulation 
even  of  genuine  coins,  and  would  consequently  in  so  far  de- 
prive society  of  the  advantages  resulting  from  their  employ- 
ment. It  is  found,  however,  that  the  improvement  of  the 
fabric  of  the  coins,  by  the  perfecting  of  the  dies  and  other- 
wise, is  a  more  effectual  means  than  even  the  utmost  sever- 
ity of  punishment  for  the  prevention  of  forgery ;  though 
some  very  considerable  degree  of  the  latter  is,  of  course,  al- 
ways indispensable. 

Where  the  use  of  coins  has  once  been  adopted,  all  values 
in  contracts  and  other  engagements  are  rated  or  estimated  in 
money ;  and  it  is  usual  in  almost  all  countries  to  enact  that 
coins  of  the  legal  or  standard  weight  and  puritv  shall  be  le- 
gal tender,  and  to  declare  that  no  legal  proceedings  of  any 
kind  shall  be  instituted  on  account  of  any  debt  or  pecuniary 
obligation  against  any  individual  who  has  offered  to  liqui- 
date the  same  by  payment  of  an  equivalent  amount  of  the 
recognised  coin  of  the  country.  A  pound  troy,  or  12  oz.  of 
the  metal  of  which  English  silver  coins  are  made,  contains 
11  oz.  2  dwts.  pure  silver,  and  18  dwts.  alloy.  This  pound 
is  coined  into  CO  shillings;  so  that  each  shilling  contains 
80- 727  grains  fine  silver,  and  8727  grains  standard  silver; 
and  the  money  pound,  consisting  of  20  shillings,  contains 
1614-545  grains  pure  silver,  and  1745-454  grains  standard  sil- 
ver. From  1000  down  to  1816,  the  pound  weight  of  stand- 
ard silver  bullion  was  coined  into  62  shillings.  All  the 
English  silver  coins  have  been  coined  out  of  silver  of  11  oz. 
2  dwts.  fine,  from  the  Conquest  to  this  moment,  except  for 
the  short  period  of  sixteen  years  from  the  34th  Henrv  VIII 
to  the  2d  Elizabeth.  J 

The  fineness  of  gold  is  estimated  by  carat  grains  equiva- 
lent to  2i  dwts.  troy  ;  gold  of  the  highest  degree  of  fineness 
or  pure,  being  said  to  be  24  carats  fine.  The  puritv  of  our 
present  gold  coins  is  11  parts  fine  gold  and  one  part  allov 
The  sovereign,  or  twenty-shilling  piece,  contains  113-001 
grains  fine  gold,  and  123-274  grains  standard  gold.  The 
pound  troy  of  standard  gold  is  coined  into  46  sovereigns  and 
^^ths  of  a  sovereign,  or  into  £46  14s.  6rf.  The  mint  or 
standard  price  of  gold  is  therefore  said  to  be  £46  14s  6d 
per  pound  troy,  or  £3  17s.  10W.  an  ounce.    The  alloy  in 


coins  is  reckoned  of  no  value  ;  it  is  allowed  in  order  to  save 
the  trouble  and  expense  that  would  be  incurred  in  refining 
the  metals  to  their  highest  degree  of  puritv,  and  because, 
when  its  quantity  is  small,  it  renders  the  coins  harder,  and 
less  liable  to  be  worn  or  rubbed.  Were  the  quantitv  of  alloy 
considerable,  it  would  lessen  the  splendour  and  ductility  of 
the  metals,  and  would  add  too  much  to  the  weight  of  the 
coins. 

Before  the  art  of  metallurgy  was  well  understood,  the  ba- 
ser metals  were  frequently  used  as  money.  Iron  was  the 
primitive  money  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  and  copper  of  the 
Romans.  But  both  iron  and  copper  deteriorate  by  being  kept ; 
and,  besides  this  defect,  the  rapid  improvement  of  the  arts, 
by  lowering  their  price,  rendered  their  bulk  too  great  in  pro- 
portion to  their  value  to  permit  of  their  continuing  to  be 
used  as  money.  Copper,  indeed,  is  still  used  in  the  form  of 
tokens,  convertible  into  silver  in  very  small  payments.  In 
this  country,  copper  pence  and  halfpence  are  rated  at  about 
72  per  cent,  above  their  real  value  ;  but  as  their  issue  is  ex- 
clusively in  the  hands  of  government,  and  as  they  are  only 
legal  tender  to  the  extent  of  one  shilling  in  any  one  pay- 
ment, this  overvaluation  is  not  productive  of  any  bad  effect. 
The  use  of  copper  in  other  countries  is  limited  in  much  the 
same  way,  gold  and  silver  being  everywhere  the  only  met- 
als made  use  of  in  the  manufacture  of  the  coins  used  in 
considerable  payments. 

Variations  of  the  Standard. — The  value  of  all  sorts  of 
property  being  estimated,  and  the  stipulations  in  almost  all 
contracts  for  its  purchase,  sale,  or  hire  being  made  in  mon- 
ey or  coins,  it  is  plain  that  no  change  can  take  place  in  the 
value  of  such  money  or  coins  without  virtually  subverting 
these  estimates  and  contracts,  and  enriching  the  debtor  por- 
tion of  society  at  the  expense  of  the  creditor  portion,  or 
vice  versa.  As  the  cost  of  producing  all  commodities  is  lia- 
ble to  vary  from  improvements  in  the  arts,  the  exhaustion 
of  the  present  or  the  discovery  of  new  sources  of  supply, 
none  can  be  selected  to  serve  as  money  or  coin  that  may 
not  vary  in  its  cost  or  real  value.  It  is'  believed,  however, 
that  the  precious  metals  vary  less  than  any  material  that 
could  be  suggested  ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  extraor- 
dinary fall  in  their  value  caused  by  the  discovery  of  the 
American  mines,  it  seems  to  have  been  remarkably  con- 
stant at  other  periods. 

But,  in  addition  to  the  fluctuations  naturally  inherent  in 
the  value  of  coins,  arising  from  variations  in  the  cost  of  the 
metal  of  which  they  are  made,  their  standard  has  been  re- 
peatedly changed.  Notwithstanding  that  money  or  coin, 
from  its  being  universally  used  as  a  scale  by  which  to  com- 
pute the  value  of  all  commodities,  and  as  the  equivalent  for 
i  which  they  are  commonly  exchanged,  is  by  far  the  most 
important  of  all  the  measures  used  in  society,  and  should, 
consequently,  be  preserved  as  invariable  as  "possible,  there 
is  none  that  has  been  so  frequently  altered.  The  necessi- 
ties or  extravagance  of  governments  have  forced  them  to 
borrow  ;  and,  to  relieve  themselves  of  the  encumbrances 
thus  contracted,  they  have  almost  universally  had  recourse 
to  the  disgraceful  expedient  of  degrading  the  coin  ;  that  is, 
of  cheating  those  who  lent  thern  money  to  the  extent  of  the 
degradation,  and  of  enabling  every  other  debtor  in  their  do- 
minions to  do  the  same. 

The  ignorance  of  the  public  in  remote  ages  facilitated  this 
species  of  fraud.  Had  the  names  of  the  coins  been  changed 
when  the  quantity  of  metal  contained  in  them  was  dimin- 
ished, there  would  have  been  no  room  for  misapprehension. 
But,  although  the  weight  of  the  coins  was  undergoing  per- 
petual, and  their  purity  occasional  reductions,  their  ancient 
denominations  were  almost  uniformly  preserved ;  and  the 
people  who  saw  the  same  names  still  remaining  after  the 
substance  was  diminished  — who  saw  coins  of  a  certain 
weight  and  fineness  circulate  under  the  names  of  florins, 
livres,  dollars,  and  pounds— and  who  saw  them  continue  to 
circulate  as  such  after  both  their  weight  and  the  degree  of 
their  fineness  had  been  lessened,  began  to  think  that  they 
derived  their  value  more  from  the  stamp  affixed  to  them  by 
authority  of  government  than  from  the  quantity  of  the  pre- 
cious metals  they  contained.  This  was  long  a  very  preva- 
lent opinion  ;  but  the  rise  of  prices  which  invariablv  follow- 
ed every  reduction  of  the  standard,  and  the  derangement 
that  was  thereby  occasioned  in  every  pecuniary  transaction, 
undeceived  the  public,  and  taught  them  and  their  rulers  the 
expediency  of  preserving  the  standard  of  money  inviolate. 

The  standard  may  be  reduced  by  simply  raising  the  de- 
nomination of  the  coin ;  by  ordering,  for  example,  that  a 
half  sovereign  should  pass  for  a  sovereign,  and  the  latter 
for  a  double  sovereign,  &c.  If  injustice  be  resolved  upon, 
this  is  the  least  mischievous  way  in  which  it  can  be  perpe- 
trated, inasmuch  as  it  saves  all  the  trouble  and  expense  of  a 
recoinage.  But  as  it  renders  the  fraud  obvious  and  glaring, 
it  has  rarely  been  resorted  to ;  and  most  reductions  have 
been  effected  either  by  diminishing  the  weight  of  the  coins, 
or  by  increasing  the  proportion  of  alloy  in  the  metal  of 
which  they  are  made,  or  both. 

767 


money. 


Ori-nnally  the  coins  of  ail  countries  seem  to  have  had  the 
same  "denominations  as  the  weights  commonly  used  in 
them,  and  contained  the  exact  quantity  of  the  precious 
metals  indicated  bv  their  name.  Thus,  the  talent  was  a 
wweht  used  in  the  earliest  period  by  the  Greeks,  the  as  or 
pond*  bv  the  Romans,  the  Hers  by  the  French,  and  the 
pound  bv  the  English  and  Scotch ;  and  the  coins  originally 
in  use  hi  Greece,  Italy,  France,  and  England  bore  the  same 
nanus,  and  weighed  precisely  a  talent,  a  pondo,  a  hvre, 
and  a  pound.  The  standard  has  not,  however,  been  pre- 
served inviolate,  either  in  modern  or  ancient  times.  It  has 
been  less  degraded  in  England  than  anywhere  else ;  but 
even  here  the  quantity  of  silver  in  a  pound  sterling  is  less 
than  the  third  part  of  a  pound  weight,  the  quantity  it  con- 
tained in  1300.  In  France,  the  livre  current  mliW  con- 
tained less  than  one  sirtn-siith  part  of  the  silver  implied  in 
its  name,  and  which  it  had  actually  contained  previously  to 
1103.  In  Spain  and  some  other  countries,  the  degradation 
has  been  carried  still  farther.  .  ..  . 
From  1296  to  1355  the  coins  of  England  and  Scotland 
were  of  the  same  weieht  and  purity ;  but  at  the  last-men- 
tioned epoch  the  standard  of  Scotch  money  was,  tor  the 
first  time,  sunk  below  that  of  England;  and  by  successive 
degradations,  the  value  of  Scotch  money,  at  the  union  ol  the 
crowns  in  1600,  was  only  a  twelfth  part  of  the  value  of  the 
English  money  of  the  same  denomination.  It  remained  at 
this  point  till  the  union  of  the  kingdoms  cancelled  the  sep- 
arate coinage  of  Scotland.  

The  gold  and  silver  coins  of  Ireland  have  been  for  a  con- 
siderable period  the  same  as  those  of  Great  Britain;  out 
until  1825  they  were  nominally  rated  8£  per  cent,  higher. 
This  difference  of  valuation,  which  was  attended  with  con- 
siderable inconveniences,  was  put  an  end  to  by  the  act  b 
Geo.  4,  c.  79,  which  assimilated  the  currency  throughout 
the  empire.  _  ..       ,  _.,       „  . 

Mint  or  Government  Valuation  of  Gold  and  Silver  Coins. 
—If  both  gold  and  silver  coins  be  made  legal  tender,  it  is 
obviously  indispensable  that  their  value  with  respect  to 
each  other  should  be  fixed  by  authority,  or  that  it  should 
be  declared  that  individuals  shall  be  entitled  to  discharge 
the  claims  upon  them  by  payments  either  of  gold  or  silver 
coins,  according  to  some  regulated  proportion— a  practice 
which  was  long  adopted  in  England.  ,.,-,,    ,„ 

But  the  value  of  each  of  the  precious  metals  is  liable  to 
perpetual  changes:  and  hence,  how  accurately  soever  their 
proportional  value,  as  fixed  by  the  mint  regulations,  may 
correspond  with  the  proportion  which  they  actually  bear  to 
each  other  in  the  market  when  the  regulation  is  made,  the 
chances  are  ten  to  one  that  it  will  speedily  cease  to  express 
their  relation  to  each  other.  The  moment,  however,  that 
such  a  change  takes  place,  it  becomes  the  obvious  interest 
of  even'  one  who  has  a  payment  to  make,  to  make  it  in  the 
overvalued  metal ;  which,  consequently,  becomes  the  sole, 
or  nearly  the  sole,  currency  of  the  country.  Hence  the  rea- 
son why  the  coins  of  some  countries  are  almost  wholly  ot 
silver,  and  others  almost  wholly  of  gold.  It  is  estimated, 
for  example,  that  when  it  was  fixed,  in  1717,  that  the  guinea 
should  exchange  for  21  shillings,  gold  was  overvalued  as 
compared  with  silver  to  the  extent  of  lif-  per  cent.  (Liv- 
erpool on  Coins,  p.  85) ;  and  as  the  real  value  of  silver  with 
respect  to  gold  continued  to  increase  during  the  greater  part 
of  last  century,  the  advantage  of  paying  in  gold  in  prefer- 
ence to  silver  became  more  decided,  and  ultimately  led  to 
the  universal  use  of  gold  in  all  large  payments,  and  to  the 
fusion  or  exportation  of  all  silver  coins  of  full  weight. 
(Liverpool,  loco  cit.) 

In  France  a  different  valuation  of  the  metals  has  had  a 
different  effect.  Previously  to  the  recoinage  in  1785,  the 
Louis  d'or  was  rated  in  the  mint  proportion  at  only  24 
livres,  when  it  was  really  worth  25  livres  10  sols.  Those, 
therefore,  who  should  have  discharged  the  obligations  they 
had  contracted  by  payments  of  gold  coin  instead  of  silver, 
would  plainly  have  lost  1  livre  10  sols  on  every  sum  of  24 
iivres.  In  consequence,  very  few  such  payments  were 
made ;  gold  was  almost  entirely  banished  from  circulation, 
and  silver  became  almost  the  only  species  of  metallic  mon- 
ey used  in  France.  (Say,  Traite  d'Economie  Politique,  torn, 
i.,  p.  393.,  . 

In  1816  a  new  system  was  adopted  in  this  country,  it  be- 
ing then  enacted  (56  Geo.  3,  c.  68)  that  gold  coins  only 
should  be  legal  tender  in  all  payments  of  more  than  40  shil- 
lings- The  pound  of  silver  bullion  that  had  previously  been 
coined  into  82  shillings  was  then  also  coined  into  «>«>  shil- 
lings, the  additional  four  shillings  being  retained  by  govern- 
ment as  a  seignorage  or  duty  (amounting  to  6^-  per  cent.) 
upon  the  coinage.  To  prevent  the  silver  coins  from  be 
coming  redundant,  government  has  retained  the  power  to 
Issue  them  in  its  own  hands.  Under  these  regulations,  sil- 
ver has  reased  to  be  a  standard  of  value,  and  forms  merely 
a  subordinate  or  subsidiary  species  of  currency,  or  change, 
occupying  the  same  place  in  relation  to  gold  that  copper  oc- 
768 


cupies  in  relation  to  itself.    This  system  has  been  found  10 
answer  exceedingly  well. 

A  good  deal  of  difference  of  opinion  has  existed  as  to 
whether  gold  or  silver  coins  are  best  fitted  for  being  made  a 
legal  tender.  It  does  not  seem  that  the  one  possesses  any 
very  striking  advantage  over  the  other ;  none,  certainly, 
that  would  justify  a  change,  after  a  selection  has  been 
made  and  acted  upon  for  any  considerable  period. 

Down  to  1626,  a  seignorage  or  duty  upon  the  coinage  was 
usually  charged  upon  the  gold  and  silver  coins  issued  by 
the  mint ;  and  it  may  be  easily  shown  that  the  imposition 
of  such  a  duty,  when  It  is  not  carried  to  an  undue  height,  is 
advantageous.  A  coin  is  more  useful  than  a  piece  of  un- 
coined bullion  of  the  same  weight  and  purity  ;  the  coinage 
nttin°  it  for  being  used  as  money,  while  it  does  not  unfit  it 
for  being  used  for  any  other  purpose.  When,  therefore,  a 
duty  or  seignorage  is  laid  upon  coin  equal  to  the  expense  of 
coinage  it  circulates  at  its  real  value  ;  but  when  this  charge 
is  defrayed  by  the  public,  it  circulates  at  less  than  its  real 
value  and  is  consequently  either  melted  down  or  exported 
whenever  there  is  anv  demand  for  bullion  in  the  arts,  or 
any  fall  in  the  exchange.  It  is,  indeed,  true,  that  were  a 
seignorage  to  be  laid  on  gold  coins,  it  would  be  necessary,  to 
prevent  an  enhancement  of  the  value  of  the  currency,  that 
their  weight  should  be  proportionally  reduced  ;  and  it  is  on 
this  account  better,  perhaps,  to  let  them  remain  on  the  pres- 
ent footing.  But  when  a  seignorage  was  laid  on  the  silver 
coins  in  1816,  it  was  not  necessary  to  take  the  circumstance 
now  alluded  to  into  consideration  ;  for  as  they  were  made 
subordinate  to  gold,  and  were  intended  to  serve  as  change 
merely,  its  imposition  had  no  tendency  to  raise  the  value  of 
the  currency,  at  the  same  time  that  it  was  calculated  effect- 
ually to  prevent  the  fusion  of  the  coins,  and  to  yield  a  small 
revenue  to  government. 

The  exportation  and  importation  of  gold  and  silver  coins 
was  formerly  prohibited,  but  in  1819  it  was  enacted  (59 
Geo  3,  c.  49)  that  they  might  be  freely  exported  and  im- 
ported, without  being  liable  to  any  charge  or  duty  what- 
ever ;  and  they  may  be  imported  without  being  either  re- 
ported or  entered  at  the  custom-house.  This  regulation  has 
rendered  it  next  to  impossible  to  ascertain  the  value  of  the 
bullion  imported. 

Paper  Money.— But,  how  great  soever  the  advantages  re- 
sulting from  the  employment  of  gold  and  silver  as  money, 
we  are  not  to  suppose  that  these  are  obtained  gratuitously. 
The  use  of  a  metallic  currency  is  accompanied  by  a  heavy 
expense  ;  and  there  is  a  much  greater  difficulty  in  effecting 
payments  by  the  agency  of  coins  than  one  might,  at  first  be 
disposed  to  believe.    If  the  currency  of  the  United  Kingdom 
consisted  wholly  of  gold,  it  would  certainly  amount  to  at 
least  60  millions  sterling ;  the  expense  of  which,  allowing 
ith  per  cent,  for  the  wear  and  tear,  and  loss  of  coins,  could 
hardly  be  estimated  at  less  than  three  millions  a  year.    But 
this  heavy  expense  is  really  a  far  less  serious  obstacle  to 
the  exclusive  use  of  the  precious  metals  as  money  than 
their  weight,  and  the  trouble  and  expense  attending  the 
carrying  them  about.    The  weight  of  1000  sovereigns  ex- 
ceeds 21  lbs.  troy,  so  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  employ 
a  wagon  to  make  a  large  payment  even  in  gold     It  is  also 
very  difficult  to  employ  it  in  the  making  of  ana  1  Payments, 
provided  thev  have  to  be  made  at  any  considerable  distance, 
Inasmuch  as'the  expense  of  sending  gold  by  post,  and  the 
premium  to  guarantee  it  against  loss,  amount  to  a  consider- 
able "urn.    Hence  it  is  that  all  commercial  nations  endeav- 
our to  fabricate  a  portion  of  their  money  of  some  less  valu- 
able and  more  portable  material  than  bul  ion  ;  and  hence, 
also,  the  origin  of  bills  of  exchange,  checks,  and  other  de- 
vices for  economizing  the  use  of  money.  !»«,_-*  „e 
Of  the  substitutes  that  have  been  resorted  to  instead of 
gold  and  silver  coins,  paper  notes,  payable  on  demand,  have 
been  by  far  the  most  generally  adopted,  and  are  in  all  re- 
',,  "ts  the  most  eligible.     Intrinsically  they  are  almost  des- 
i    ,  e o fva  ue,  so  that  their  employment  and  the,r  loss  costs 
ext  to  nothing;*  and  thev  may  be  carried  about  or  trans- 
it,  ,    bv  p'ir  with  the  utmost  facility.     But  though    m 
lese  respects,  the  employment  of  pieces  of  paper  instead  of 
(„i„s  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired,  it  is  plain  that,  having  no 
value  in  themselves,  their  value  must  depend  entirely  on 
artificial  means  or  regulations.    They  are  commonly  issued 
as  a  substitute  for  or  representative  of  coin,  the  issuer  being 
bound  to  pay  their  value,  or  the  sums  they  profess  to  repre- 
sent, in  .('in  of  the  standard  weight  and  purity,  the  moment 
it  is  demanded  ;  and  so  long  as  this  regulation  is  really  and 
bond  fide  complied  with,  no  inconvenience  can  result  from 
their  employment.    Practically,  however  it  is  found  no  easy 
matter  to  carry  these  regulations  into  effect;  and  this  and 
indeed   every  country   in  which   paper  money  has  been 
slued,  has  repeatedly  sustained  the  greatest  injury  from  its 


rtolo-ofanot,  i«ao*^t«w^l^^^>*|^"«^-»5 

an  eouivalent  amount  of  coin ;  but  as  (he  issuer  of  the  note  is  benented  ny 
"STtoTtaSne  extent  .hi.  .he  holder  ,.  injured,  the  society  ,.  ptaialy 
neither  tbe  better  nor  the  worse  for  the  occurrenoi 


MONEY. 


being  issued  in  excess  or  on  unsound  principles.  Paper 
money,  in  fact,  can  never  be  either  securely  or  beneficially 
employed,  unless  the  quantity  of  it  in  circulation  vary  ex- 
actly as  the  quantify  of  gold  or  silver  coins  to  be  substituted 
in  its  stead  would  do  were  it  withdrawn.    But  having  else- 


where inquired  into  the  means  by  which  this  identity  be- 
tween the  value  of  coins  and  paper  notes  may  be '  best 
maintained,  we  beg  to  refer  the  reader  to  the  article  Banks 
in  this  Dictionary  for  a  farther  discussion  of  this  important 
branch  of  the  subject. 


f.  English  Coins. — Account  of  the  English  Silver  and  Gold  Coins  ;  showing  their  Value,  the  Seignora»e  or  Profit 
upon  the  Coinage,  and  the  Price  of  the  Pound  Troy  of  Standard  Gold  and  Silver  from' the  Conquest^to  the  pre- 
sent Time, 


Silver. 

Gold. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

_ 

Equal  to  the 
Mint  Price 

Equal   to   the 

Fineness  of 

Pound 

. 

Profii 

for  Standard 

Fineness  of 

Pounc 

AD. 

Anno  Regni. 

the  Silver 

Weight  or 

iguo 

rage 

Silver  of 

the  Gold  in 

Weizht  of 

Gold  of  22 

in  the  Coins. 

such  Si 

ver 

DD 

the  Coin- 

11 or.  2dwts. 

the  Coins. 

such  Gold 

coined  into 

age. 

fine,  Troy 

coined  i 

QtO 

Troy 

Weitht. 

Weight. 

Oz. 

diets. 

£.  s. 

ti. 

£ 

s 

d. 

£.  5.  d. 

Crte. 

grs. 

£.  s. 

d 

£.  s. 

ri 

£.    S.   d. 

1066 

Conquest  .    .    , 

11 

<at 

1    0 

0 

1280 

8  Edward  I.     . 





1    0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

1    0    3i 

1300 

28 .     . 





1    0 

3 

0 

1 

2i 

1344 

18  Edward  III. . 

— 

— 

1    0 

3 

0 

1 

3 

1    0    3i 

23 

3* 

13    3 

4 

0    8 

4 

12  10    8 

1349 

23 . 

— 

— 

1    2 

6 

0 

1 

3 

12    8 



— 

14    0 

0 

0  11 

8 

13    3    9 

1356 

30 . 

— 

— 

1    5 

0 

0 

0 

10 

1    5    9j 





15    0 

0 

0    6 

H 

14    8    4 

1394 

18  Richard  II.    . 

— 

— 

1    5 

0 

0 

0  10 

1    5    9i 





15    0 

0 

0    5 

0 

14    9  11 

1401 

3  Henry  IV.     . 

— 

— 

1    5 

0 

0 

0  10 

1    5    9} 





15    0 

0 

0    5 

ii 

14     9  11 

1421 

9  Henry  V.  .    . 

— 

— 

1  10 

0 

0 

1 

0 

i  io  m 





16  13 

4 

0    5 

0 

16    2    9 

1425 

4  Henry  VI.     . 

— 

— 

1  10 

0 

0 

1 

0 

1  10  Hi 





16  13 

4 

0    5 

1(1 

16    1  11 

1464 

4  Edward  IV.  . 

— 

— 

1  17 

6 

0 

4 

6 

1  15    2i 

— 

— 

20  16 

fi 

2  10 

0 

18    0    5 

1465 

5 . 

— 

— 

1  17 

6 

0 

4 

6 

1  15    2i 

— 

— 

22  10 

0 

1    0 

HI 

21     1  10 

1470 

49  Henry  VI.     . 

— 

— 

1  17 

6 

0 

iJ 

0 

1  17  10£ 





22  10 

0 

0  13 

0 

21     9    7 

1482 

22  Edward  IV.  . 

— 

— 

1  17 

6 

0 

1 

6 

1  18    4J 





22  10 

n 

0    7 

ft 

21  15    0 

1483 

1  Richard  III.  . 

— 

1  17 

6 

0 

1 

6 

1  18    4J 

— 



22  10 

0 

0    7 

fi 

21  15    0 

1435 

1  Henry  VH.    . 

— 

— 

1  17 

« 

0 

1 

6 

1  18    1% 





22  10 

n 

0    7 

ft 

21  15    0 

1509 

1  Henry  VIII.  . 

— 

— 

1  17 

ft 

0 

1 

0 

1  18  Hi 

— 

— 

22  10 

n 

0    2 

ft 

22    0    0 

*1527 

18  . 

— 

— 

2    0 
2    5 

0 
0 

0 
0 

1 

1 

F 

1  18  Hi 

2  4    0 

— 

— 

24    0 

0 

0    2 

^ 

22    0    0 

" 

n~5 

27    0 

0 

0    2 

9 

0    ( 

25    2 

r> 

0    3 

I) 

24  19    6 

1543 

34 . 

10 

0 

2    8 

0 

0 

8 

0 

2    4    4J 

23 

0 

28  16 

0 

1    4 

n 

26    8    0 

1545 

36 . 

<> 

0 

2    8 

0 

2 

0 

0 

2  11    9i 

oo 

0 

30    0 

0 

2  10 

n 

27  10    0 

LJUi 

37 . 

4 

0 

2    8 

0 

4 

4 

II 

2  15    6 

20 

0 

30    0 

0 

5    0 

0 

27  10    0 

1547 

1  Edward  VI.  . 

4 

0 

2    8 

0 

4 

4 

0 

2  15    6 

20 

0 

30    0 

n 

1  10 

0 

31     7    0 

1549 

3  — ■ . 

6 

0 

3  12 

0 

4 

0 

0 

2  19    2£ 

22 

0 

34    0 

0 

1    0 

0 

33    0    0 

1551 

5  — ■ 

3 

0 

3  12 

0 



11 

0 

3    0 

0 

• 

23 
22 

o  ) 

36    0 
33    0 

0 

1552 

6 

11 

1 

3    0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

2  19    3i 

23 

3£) 
0    f 

36    0 
33    0 

0 

0 

0    2 

9 

32  17    8 

1553 

IMary    .     .     • 

11 

0 

3    0 

0 

0 

J 

0 

2  19    6J 

23 

:u 

36    0 

0 

6    3 

0 

33    0    8 

1560 

2  Elizabeth      • 

11 

o 

3    0 

0 

0 

1 

6 

2  18    6 

23 

3i) 
0") 

36    0 
33    0 

0 
0 

0    5 

0 

II 

32  16    0 

1600 

43 .    • 

— 

— 

3    2 

0 

0 

2 

0 

3    0    0 

23 

22 

?i 

36  10 
33  10 

0 

0 

0  10 
0  10 

0 

1604 

2  James  I.   .    , 

— 

— 

3    2 

0 

0 

2 

ft 

2  19    6 

22 

0 

37    4 

0 

1  10 

0 

35  14    0 

1626 

2  Charles  I.      . 

— 

— 

3    2 

0 

0 

4} 

0 

3    0    0 

— 

— 

41    0 

0 

1    1 

5 

39  18    7 

ri666 

18  Charles  II.    . 

— 

— 

3    2 

0 

0 

II 

0 

3    2    0 

— 

— 

44  10 

n 

44  10    0 

1717 

3  George  I.  .    . 

— 

— 

3    2 

0 

0 

0 

0 

3    2    0 

— 

— 

40  14 

ft 

46  14    6 

1816 

56  George  III.    . 

— 

— 

3    6 

0 

1) 

1 

0 

— 

— 

46  14 

G 

46  14     6  J 

II.  Account  of  the  Contents  or  Weight,  and  of  the  Value 
in  Sterling,  of  the  principal  Gold  Coins  of  different 
Countries. 


Austrian  Dominions. 

Sonverain    . 

Double  ducat 
Bavaria. 

Max  d'or,  or  Maximilian 

Ducat  .... 
Cologne. 


Ducat  . 


Denmark. 

Christian  d'or      . 
England, 

Sovereign    .... 

Half  sovereign    . 
France. 

Louis,  or  piece  of  20  francs 
Hamburgh. 

Ducat  (double  in  proportion) 
Hanover. 

George  d'or 

Ducat 

Holland. 

. 
Malta. 

Louis 


78-6 
1064 


52-8 

52-6 

933 

1131 
56'  55 

69-7 

52-9 


Value  in 
Sterling. 


s.    d. 
13  1092 
18    997 


9    3-70 
16    6-14 


15  10-5 
9    435 


9    413 
19    1-37 


GOLD  COINS—  Continued. 


Coins. 


Milan. 

Sequin 

Doppia  or  pis'ole 

40  Lire  piece  of  1S0S 

Naples. 

Six  ducat  piece  of  17S3       .... 

Three  ducat  piece,  or  oncetta,  of  1818 
Netherlands. 

Gold  lion,  or  14  florin  piece 

Ten  florin  piece  (1S20)      .... 
Portugal. 

Dnbraon  of  24,000  rees       .... 

Dobia  of  12,SO0  rees 

Moidore  or  Lisbonnine  (1,  &c,  in  proportion) 
Prussia. 

Frederic  (double)  of  1800  .... 

Frederic  (single)  of  1800    .... 
Rome. 

Scudo         

Russia. 

Ducat 

Imperial 

Sardinia. 

Carlino  (J  in  proportiou) 

Saxony. 

Ducat        ...  . 


Content 
in  pure 
Gold. 


Sterling. 


9  4  9S 
15  7-74 
13    9-64 


134  3-96 
71  0-70 
26  11-24 


53-2 
181-9 

9 

3J 

4-99 
2-31 

219-8 

30 

810 

529 

9 

A  34 

*  1527— Henry  VIII.]  The  Saxon  or  Tower  pound  was  used  at  the  mint  up  to  this  time,  when  the  pound  trov  was  substituted  in  its  stead.  The 
Tower  pound  was  but  It  oz.  Sdwts.,  troy  ;  so  that,  from  the  Conquest  to  the  2S  Edward  I.,  20  shilling  in  tale  were  exactly  a  pound  in  weight. 

t  1666—13  Charles  II.]  The  seignr.rage  on  the  coinage  was  at  tbis  time  given  up,  and  the  gold  bullion  brought  to  the  mint  has  ever  since  beeD  coined 
free  of  expense.    A  sei^iorage  of  6  —  per  cent,  was  imposed  on  the  coinage  of  silver  by  56  Geo.  3. 

65  3  B  "69 


MONEY. 


GOLD  COINS-Cmirmutti. 


Spain. 

Pistols 

Sweden. 

Ducat         

Switzerland. 

Pistole 

Tuscany. 

Zecchino  or  sequin 

United  Stales. 

*  Eagle  (J  and  4;  in  proportion) 
Venice. 

Zecchino  or  sequin  (J  and  J  in  proportion) 
East  Indies. 

Mohur  of  1770 

Mohur,  half  (1787),  $  in  proportion  . 

Mohur  Sicca  of  Bengal       .... 

Rupee,  Bombay  (1818)        .... 

Rupee  of  Madras  (ISIS)      .... 

Pagoda  star 


51-9 
105-9 

536 
246-1 

53-6 

186-8 
94- 


Sterling. 


9  222 

18  8-91 

9  SS3 

43  6-66 

9  5S3 

33  072 

16  7-64 

30  1-04 

29  1-78 

29  2-42 

7  4-77 


III.  Account  of  the  Contents  or  Weight,  and  of  the  \alue 
in  British  Standard  Silver  at  5s.  id.  an  ounce,  of  the 
principal  Silver  Coins  of  different  Countries. 


Coins. 


Justna. 

Rixdollar,  or  florin,  Convention 
Copftsuck,  or  20  creutzer  piece  .... 
Halbe  copf,  or  10  creutzer  piece 
Baden. 

Rixdollar 

Bavaria. 

Rixdollar  of  1S00(»  in  proportion)   . 

Copftsuck 

Brunswick. 

Rixdollar,  Convention 

Half  rixdollar 

Denmark. 

Rvksdaler 

Half  ryksdaler 

Mark,' specie,  or  k  ryksdaler     .        .        .        . 
England. 

Crown  (old) 

Halfcrown 

Shilling 

Sixpence   

Crown  (new) 

Half  crown 

Shilling 

Sixpence    

France. 

Franc 

Demi  franc 

Genoa. 

Scudo,  of  8  lire 

Hamburgh. 

Rixdollar,  specie i . 

Double  mark,  or  32  schilling  piece  (single  in 

proportion) 

Piece  of  8  schillings 

Hanover. 

Rixdollar,  Constitution 

Florin,  or  piece  of  2,  fine  .        .        •        . 
Holland. 

Florin  or  guilder  (i  in  proportion)    . 

12  Stiver  piece 

Florin  of  Batavia 

Lulxc. 

Rixdollar,  specie 

Mark 

Lucca. 

Scudo        

Malta. 

Ounce  of  30  tari  of  Emmanuel  Pinto 

2  Tari  piece 

Milan. 

Scudo  of  6  lire  (A  in  proportion) 

Lira  ...        

Modena* 

Scudo        

Naples. 

Ducat,  new  (Jin  proportion)    .        .        .        . 

Piece  of  lOCarlim 

Netherlands. 

Florin 

Half  florin  (with  divisions  in  proportion)  . 
Poland. 

Florin,  or  gulden 

Portugal. 

New  crusado  (1809) 

Seis  vintems,  or  piece  of  120  rees 

Testoon 

Tres  vintems,  or  piece  of  60  rees  (1802)     - 

Half  ti-stoon  (1802) 

Portuguese  Colonies. 

Piece  of  8  macules,  of  Portuguese  Africa  . 

Ditto  of  4  ditto 

Prussia. 

Rixdollar,  Conucnd'on 

Florin,  or  piece  of  j 

Rome. 

Scndo,  or  crown 

Mezzo  scudo,  or  half  crown 

Paolo 


Contentsl   Va,ue  ia 


grains. 
179-6 
59-4 


429-7 
214-S 
85-9 
42-9 
403-6 
201-8 
80-7 
40  3 


34-7 
457-4 
397-5 


1468 
92-4 
141-6 


84- 

198-2 
46-6 
42-5 
233 
20-4 


371-5 
185-7 
37-2 


6-23 
3-11 
7-59 


2  4-18 
0  11-27 
0    5-63 


5    3-87 
4    7-49 


0  11-72 

2  4-67 

0  6-50 

0  5-93 

0  3-25 

0  284 


4  387 
2  1-93 
0     519 


*  This  value  of  the  American  eagle  is  taken  from  average  assays  of  the 
coins  of  twelve  years. 
770 


SILVER  COINS-Confi'nwa*. 


Coins. 


Russia. 

Rouble 

Rouble  of  Alexander  (1S05)         .        .        .        . 

20  Copeck  piece  (1767) 

5  Copeck  piece 

Sardinia. 

Scudo,  or  crown  (i  and  +.  in  proportion)  . 
Saxony. 

Rixdollar,  Convention  (%  and  4  in  proportion) 
Sicily. 

Scudo        

Spain. 

*  Dollar,  of  late  coinage 

Half  dollar,  ditto 

Sweden. 

Rixdollar 

Switzerland 

Eucu  of  4  franken 

Turkey. 

Piastre  (1818) 

Tusrany. 


United  States. 

Dollar 

JVirtemberg 

Rixdollar,  specie 

Copftsuck  * 

East  Indies. 

Rupee  Sicca,  coined  by  the  East  India  Company 

at  Calcutta 

Calcutta  (ISIS) 

Bombav,  new,  or  Surat  (ISIS) 

Company's  rup.  (1S35) 

Fanam,  Cananore 

Bombay,  old 

Pondicherry 

Ditto,  double 

Gulden  of  the  Dutch  E.  I.  Company  (1820) 


grams, 

312  I 

278- 1 

626 

15-3 

324-7 

358-2 

348-2 

370-9 
185-4 

3S8-5 

407-6 

67-7 

53  4 

3701 


3  7-58 

3  2S3 

0  S-74 

0  2-13 

3  9-34 

4  2  01 

4  062 

4  3-79 

2  I  *s 

4  6-28 

4  918 

0  9-45 

0  7-45 

4  3-68 


2  0-54 

2  0  5b 

1  11-01 

1  11 

0  4-5 

0  48S 

0  3-IS 

0  5-44 

1  872 


Ancient  Coins. — We  subjoin,  for  the  convenience  of  such 
of  our  readers  as  may  have  occasion  to  consult  works  in 
which  reference  is  made  to  ancient  coins,  the  following  ta- 
bles of  those  that  were  principally  current  among  the  Jews, 
Greeks,  and  Romans.  They  were  calculated  by  Dr.  Ar- 
buthnot  (Tables  of  Ancient  Coins,  Weights,  &c,  4to  ed., 
Lond.,  1754),  and  do  not  differ  materially  from  the  tables 
of  Paucton,  whose  Jtfetrologie  (4to,  Paris,  1780)  is  the  most 
complete  and  elaborate  work  that  has  ever  been  published 
with  respect  to  ancient  moneys,  weights,  and  measures.  At 
the  same  time,  we  confess  we  should  not  be  disposed  to  place 
much  reliance  on  these  tables,  and  we  have  elsewhere  sta- 
ted our  reasons  for  holding  this  opinion. — (Art.  "  Money," 
New  Edit.  Encyc.  Britannica.) 


Jewish  Coins. 


Names  and  Proportions. 
Gerah        .... 
Bekah      . 

Shekel 


1200 


120 


50 


60,000        6000        3000     60      Talent 


Maneh  } 

Mina  Hebraica  ) 


Value  in  Sterling. 
L.  s.  d. 

0  °  'feir 
o  i  ij| 

0    2    3f 
5  14    0$ 


Solidus  aureus,  or  sextula,  worth 0  12  Oi 

Siclus  aureus,  worth 116  6 

A  talent  of  gold,  worth 6475    0  0 

Grecian  Coins. 

*.    d.  qrs. 

LeP>°» °    °  °35V 

Chalcus 0    0  03  1 


Dichalcus     . 

Hemiobolum 
Obolus 


96  48 
112  96 
384    120 


24  |   12       6 

30  I   15  I  7* 


Drachma     : 
Didrachma 


u  v  '24" 

0  0  2JL 

0  1  \i 

0  2  2J 

0  5  0§ 

0  7  3 

1  3  2 


2    Tetradrachma  2    7    0 


Of  these,  the  drachma  and  didrachma  were  of  silver ;  the 
rest,  for  the  most  part,  of  brass. 
The  drachma  is  here,  with  the  generality  of  authors,  sup- 


*  Thi>  is  the  coin  which  is  universally  circulated  under  the  name  of  the 
Spanish  dollar. 


MONEYERS,  COMPANY  OF. 

posed  equal  to  the  denarius,  though  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  the  drachma  was  somewhat  the  weightier. 

Value  in  Sterling. 
I.  t.  d. 
The  Grecian  gold  coin  was  the  stater  aureus,  weighing  2  At- 
tic drachmas,  or  half  of  the  stater  argenteus ;  aud  exchan 
lly  for  25  Attic  drachmas  of  silver 


gingi 


0  16    \% 
But  according  to  our  proportion  of  gold  to  silver  it  was        ^    g 

worth ,       •        •        • .      'c     a. 

There  were  likewise  the  stater  Cyzicenus,  exchanging  tor  *• 

Attic  drachmas,  or      .        .        ■'••.>        "        "f«,l 
The  stater  Philippicus  and  stater  Alexandrmus  were  of  the 

Stater  Daricus',  according  to  Josephus,  worth  50  Attic  drach- 

mas,  or 

Stater  Croesius  of  the  same  value. 

Value  and  Proportion  of  the  Roman  Coins. 

Sterling. 
«.  d.  qr'- 

n    0    0—1 ^ 
U    "     U 1  0  0  0 

0    0    1 M 


Teruncius 

Sembetla 


Libella  { 
As         i 


10 


"Too" 
0    0    3-1 


1  0 


0  1  3} 

la"us    > 0  3  3i 

nnatus  \ 

Denarius 0  7  3 


L.  s.  d. 
The  Roman  gold  coin,  or  aureus,  weighed  generally  double 

thedenarius;  its  value,  according  to  the  proportion  of  gold 

to  silver  mentioned  by  Pliny,  was 14    3^ 

According  to  the  proportion  that  now  obtains  among  us        .10    9 
According  to  the  decuple  proportion  mentioned  by  Livy  and 

Julius  Pollux 0  12  11 

According  to  the  proportion  mentioned  by  Tacitus,  by  which 

the  aureus  exchanged  for  25  denarii,  its  value    .        .        .0)6    1^ 

MO'NEYERS,  COMPANY  OF.  This  company,  which 
is  of  very  ancient  origin,  are  officers  of  the  Royal  Mint,  un- 
der whose  superintendence  and  responsibility  the  various 
moneys  of  the  realm  are  manufactured.  They  receive  the 
bars  of  standard  metal  from  the  melter,  and  under  their  di- 
rection these  are  rolled  down,  cut  into  blanks,  and  coined: 
these  processes  are  described  under  the  word  Coinage. 
The  connexion  of  the  Company  of  Moneyers  with  the  other 
officers  of  the  mint  will  be  evident  from  the  duties  of  the 
other  officers,  which  are  stated  under  the  word  Mint.  (See 
also  Mr.  Atkinson's  account  of  the  origin  and  constitution 
of  the  Company  of  Moneyers,  in  the  Parliamentary  Report 
of  the  Select  Committee  on  the  Royal  Mint,  1837,  p.  119.) 

MONOCA'RPONS  (Gr.  uovoi,  single,  and  Kapnos,  fruit), 
is  a  term  invented  by  De  Candolle  to  designate  what  gar- 
deners call  annual  plants,  and  a  few  others  which,  like  the 
American  aloe,  although  they  may  live  for  many  years,  yet 
perish  as  soon  as  they  have  once  borne  fruit. 

MO'NOCHORD.  (Gr.  jiovo$,  and  %opir],  string.)  In 
Music,  an  instrument  consisting  of  a  single  string  stretched 
between  two  bridges  standing  on  a  graduated  rule,  for  the 
purpose  of  measuring  the  variety  and  proportion  of  musical 
sounds.  The  monochord  is  called  the  harmonical  canon,  or 
the  canonical  rule. 

MONOCHROMATIC  LAMP.  When  a  solution  of  com- 
mon salt  is  added  to  spirit  of  wine,  the  mixture  burns  with 
a  flame  in  which  yellow  predominates  almost  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  the  other  coloured  rays ;  the  consequence  is,  that 
objects  viewed  by  this  light  are  all  either  yellow  or  black, 
and  deficient  in  the  tints  which  they  exhibit  when  seen  by 
solar  light,  or  by  that  of  our  ordinary  combustibles.  (See 
Sir  David  Brewster,  in  the  volume  of  the  Family  Library 
on  "Natural  Magic")  The  term  Monochromatic  is  of  the 
same  origin  as 

MO'NOCHROME.  (Gr.  uovos,  and  %puu.a,  colour.)  A 
painting  executed  in  a  single  colour.     See  Painting. 

MO'NOCOTYLE'DONS.  (Gr.  povos,  and  KarvXySuyv,  a 
lobe.)  A  class  of  plants  having  but  one  cotyledon  or  seed- 
lobe  in  the  embryo.  They  are  now  more  generally  called 
Endogens,  which  see. 

MO'NODELPHS,  Monodelphi.  (Gr.  powfi  and  St>(pvc,  a 
womb.)  A  name  given  by  De  Blainville  to  the  first  sub-class 
in  his  binary  division  of  Mammalia,  comprehending  those 
which  have  no  supplementary  external  pouch  or  marsupium, 
but  which  bring  forth  the  young  in  a  state  sufficiently  ma- 
ture not  to  require  such  additional  protection.  It  is  anti- 
thetical to  Didelphs. 

MO'NODON.  (Gr.  povoc,  and  or5ouc,  a  tooth.)  The  gen- 
eric name  of  the  narwhal,  signifying  its  supposed  peculiarity 
of  having  but  one  tooth,  which  projects  like  a  horn  from  the 
forepart  of  the  head  :  a  second  tooth,  however,  is  always  to 
be  found  concealed  in  the  adjoining  jaw,  where  it  remains 
in  a  rudimental  state.  In  the  female  both  tusks  are  rudi- 
mental. 

MO'NODY.  (Gr.  pdiw,  and  Mn,  a  song.)  A  species  of 
poem  of  a  mournful  character,  in  which  a  single  mourner 


MONOMANIA. 

is  supposed  to  bewail  himself:  thus  distinguished  from  those 
pastoral  elegies  (like  the  Daphnis  of  Virgil)  which  are  in 
the  form  of  dialogues. 

MONCE'CIA.  (Gr.  novo;,  and  ot/roc,  a  house.)  In  Bota- 
ny, the  twenty-first  class  in  the  system  of  Linmeus,  com- 
prising the  Androgynous  plants,  or  those  whose  structure  is 
both  male  and  female. 

MO'NOGRAM.  (Gr.  povog,  and  ypdppa,  letter,  or  wri- 
ting.) An  abbreviation  of  a  name  by  means  of  a  cipher 
composed  of  two  or  more  letters  intertwined  with  each  oth- 
er. Monograms  were  used  on  coins  in  very  ancient  times, 
being  found  on  Greek  medals  of  the  age  of  Philip  and  Alex- 
ander of  Macedon.  The  Greek  monogram  of  the  name  of 
Christ,  which  resembles  P  placed  perpendicularly  in  the 

middle  of  an  X,  thus  "Sp.  's  found  on  coins  of  the  age  of 

Constantine.  By  far  the  greater  number  of  the  ancient 
monograms  are  still  unintelligible,  though  the  labour  and 
research  which  have  been  expended  in  endeavouring  to  de- 
cipher their  meaning  have  in  many  instances  been  rewarded 
with  success.  Among  others  whose  researches  on  the  an- 
cient monograms  may  be  consulted  with  advantage,  are, 
Montfaucon,  Paloeographia  Grteca  ;  Froelich,  Annal.  Reg. 
Syr. ;  Combe,  Museum  Hunterianum ;  Torremuzza,  De- 
scription des  Monnaies  de  Sidle;  Pellerin,  Recueil  des  Vil- 
les,  des  Peuples,  et  des  Rois  ;  Mionnet,  Traite  de  la  Numis- 
matique.  Monograms  are  frequently  found  on  coins  and 
maps  of  the  middle  ages,  and  they  are  also  to  be  met  with 
as  a  substitute  for  the  signature  of  the  princes  of  that  period. 
This  class  of  monograms  is  of  great  importance  in  illustra- 
ting the  monuments  of  antiquity,  and  their  investigation  con- 
stitutes a  distinct  and  peculiar  branch  of  diplomatics.  In 
later  times,  monograms  were  frequently  employed  by  print- 
ers and  engravers  to  record  their  names  at  the  end  or  on  the 
title-page  of  a  book,  or  in  some  portion  of  an  engraving.  A 
great  deal  of  attention  has  likewise  been  bestowed  upon  this 
branch  of  monogrammatic  writing,  and  with  considerably 
more  success.  The  Abbe  de  Marolles,  in  1667,  was  the  first 
who  directed  attention  to  this  subject ;  and  to  him  succeeded 
Florent  Lecomte  (Cabinet  des  Singularity  d' Architecture, 
&c.)  ;  Orlandi  (Abecedario  Pittorico) ;  Fr.  Chriit  (Anzeige 
und  Auslegung  der  Monogrammatum) ;  De  Virloy  (Diction- 
naire  d' Architecture) ;  and  Bartsch  (Peintregraveur,  a  work 
of  great  accuracy  and  research).  But  the  most  complete 
and  accurate  information  on  this  class  of  monograms  is  to 
be  found  in  the  editio  optima  of  Brulliot  (Dictionnaire  des 
Monogrammes,  &c,  avec  lesquels  les  Peintres,  &c,  ont  de- 
signe  leurs  JVoms,  2  torn.,  4to,  Munich,  1832  ;  a  work  which 
is  founded  on  the  principle  of  considering  the  first  letter  of 
the  monogram  as  the  key  to  its  explanation. 

A  monogram  is  said  to  be  perfect  when  it  contains  all  the 
letters  of  the  word  it  is  intended  to  represent.  (Diet,  de  la 
Conversation,  Src.) 

MO'NOGR  APH  (Gr.  povos,  and  y/>«'0u>  /  write.)  A  trea- 
tise or  memoir  on  a  single  subject  of  a  limited  description. 
Such,  for  example,  are  the  greater  part  of  the  memoirs  which 
are  read  before  learned  societies. 

MONOGY'NIA.  (Gr.  povog,  and  yvvn,  a  female.)  In 
Botany,  the  name  given  by  Linnreus  in  his  system  to  the  first 
order  or  subdivision  in  each  of  the  first  thirteen  classes  of 
plants,  comprising  such  as  have  one  pistil  or  stigma  only  in 
a  flower. 

MO'NOLITH.  (Fr.  monolithe ;  from  Gr.  povog,  and  AitJoc, 
a  stone.)  A  term  recently  introduced  into  England,  to  sig- 
nify a  pillar  or  other  large  substance  consisting  of  a  single 
stone.  Herodotus  speaks  of  a  huge  rock  of  this  sort  in  front 
of  the  temple  of  Minerva  at  Sais,  which  was  scooped  out, 
and  contained  an  apartment  18  cubits  in  length,  12  in  breadth, 
and  5  in  height.  It  was  said  to  have  been  transported  from 
the  town  of  Elephantine  by  order  of  King  Amasis,  and  to 
have  occupied  3000  men  for  three  years  in  conveying  it. 
Some  remarkable  monoliths  have  been  found  in  Egypt ;  of 
these,  the  zodiac  of  Denderah,  and  the  obelisk  of  the  Luxor, 
both  of  which  have  been  removed  to  Paris,  are  well-known 
examples.  ,.  , 

MO'NOLOGUE  (Gr.  povog,  and  Xoyoc,  a  discourse),  or 
SOLILOQUY  (Lat.  solus,  alone,  and  loquor,  I  speak),  is,  as 
its  name  imports,  a  speech  uttered  by  one  of  the  dramatis 
persona;  of  a  play  when  alone,  or,  as  it  is  vulgarly  termed, 
speaking  to  himself.  The  introduction  of  the  soliloquy  is 
obviouslv  a  very  unnatural  contrivance  in  the  dramatic  art, 
yet  its  obvious  necessity  reconciles  the  spectator  to  it.  Jn 
the  drama  of  ancient  Greece  soliloquies  are  rare;  for  the 
passages  at  the  commencement,  or  "prologues  of  plays, 
where  the  first  actor  comes  forward  and  explains  his  own 
character  and  something  of  the  subject  of  the  piece  to  the 
audience,  can  hardly  be  termed  soliloquies.  The  speech  of 
Aiax  before  his  death  is  a  celebrated  exception. 

MO'NOMA'NIA.  (Gr.  povog,  and  paivopm,  I  rage.)  In- 
sanity upon  one  particular  subject,  the  mind  being  in  a  sound 
state' in  reference  to  other  matters. 


MONOME. 

MO'NOHE,  or  MONOMIAL.  (Gr.  uovos,  and  vojiij,  a 
part.)  In  Algebra,  an  expression  composed  1  f  a  single  term, 
or  a  series  <>t  factors,  all  which  axe  single  terms. 

MONOME'RANS,  Monomera.  {Gt.  novo;,  and  fi>;/5os,  a 
limb.)  A  section  of  Coleopterous  insects,  including  those  in 
which  the  tarsi  were  supposed  to  be  formed  ofo  single  joint 

M< '  Ni  >M  V  ARIES,  Motwmyaria.  (Gr.  ;<oio.„  and  ftviav, 
muscle.)  All  those  bivalves  or  conchifers  which  have  only 
one  adductor  muscle,  and  consequently  but  one  muscular 
impression  on  each  valve. 

MONO.Vl'.r  it.WS,  Jifononev.ro.  (Gr.  novos ;  vevpov, 
nerve.)  A  term  applied  by  Budolphi  to  the  series  or  primary 
division  comprehending  the  animals  which  he  believed  to 
have  only  the  ganglionic  system  of  nerves,  as  the  Mollusks 
and  Insects. 

Mi  i.VOl'E'TALOUS  (Gr.  uovos,  and  irera^oi:  a  petal),  in 
Botany,  is  applied  to  a  corolla,  the  petals  of  which  cohere 
by  their  contiguous  margins,  so  as  to  form  a  tube. 

MOXOPHY'LLUS  (Gr.  ^0105,  and  <pv\Xov,  a  leaf),  in 
Botany,  is  applied  to  a  calyx,  the  petals  of  which  cohere  by 
their  contiguous  edges  into  a  kind  of  tube  or  cup. 

MONO'PHYSITES.  (Gr.  novo;,  and  <pvci;,  nature.)  A 
name  given  in  the  5th  century  to  certain  heretics  who,  in 
the  language  of  the  Athanasian  Creed,  "  confounded  the  sub- 
stance," that  is,  the  divine  and  human  substance,  which  are 
united  in  Christ,  but  neither  absorbed  into  the  other.  Sec 
Incarnation,  Edtychians,  Nsstorians.  (Mosheim,  Eccl. 
Mist.,  vol.  ii.) 

Mn  XOPLEU'ROBRA'XCHIAXS.  (Gr.  uoi'oy,  and 
irXcvpa,  a  side,  jlpayxia,  gills.)  A  name  given  by  De  Blain- 
ville  to  an  order  of  his  class  Paraccphalopkora,  comprehend- 
ing those  species  which  leave  the  branchiae  more  or  less 
completely  covered  by  a  part  of  the  mantle,  and  situated  on 
the  right  side  of  the  body. 

MONO'POLY  (Gi.  novo;,  and  ttwXcui,  I  sell),  in  Law,  is 
defined  by  Sir  E.  Coke  (3  Inst.,  181,  c.  5)  "  an  institution  or 
allowance  by  the  king,  by  his  grant,  commission,  or  other- 
w  ise,  to  any  person  or  persons,  bodies  politic  and  corporate, 
of  or  for  the  sole  buying,  selling,  making,  working,  or  using 
of  anything,  whereby  any  person  or  persons,  bodies  politic 
or  corporate,  are  sought  to  be  restrained  of  any  freedom  or 
liberty  that  they  had  before,  or  hindered  in  their  lawful 
trade."  The  practice  of  granting  monopolies,  giving  to  one 
or  a  few  individuals  the  sole  privilege  of  producing,  import- 
ing, or  dealing  in  certain  articles,  has  been  acted  on  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent  in  all  countries,  and  was  carried  to  an 
oppressive  and  ruinous  extent  in  England  in  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth  and  the  earlier  part  of  that  of  James  I.  At  length 
the  grievance  became  quite  insupportable;  and  notwith- 
standing the  strenuous  opposition  of  the  crown,  it  was  final- 
ly abolished  by  the  famous  statute  of  the  21  Jas.  1,  cap.  3. 
Its  provisions  did  not  extend  to  patents  for  new  inventions, 
nor  to  grants  by  act  of  parliament  to  corporations,  &c,  but 
it  suppressed  all  private  monopolies;  and  by  giving  full 
freedom  to  industry  and  invention,  contributed  more,  per- 
haps, to  accelerate  the  progress  of  improvement  than  any 
other  act  in  the  statute  book. 

MOXOPO'LYLOGUE.  (Gr.  novo?,  t:o\v;,  many,  and 
Xo)  of,  a  discourse.)  A  term  recently  invented  to  designate 
an  entertainment  in  which  a  single  actor  sustains  many 
characters. 

MOXO'PTERAL.  (Gr.  novo?,  and  wrtpov,  a  wing.)  In 
Architecture,  a  temple  or  circular  enclosure  of  columns  with- 
out a  cell. 

MO'NORHYME.  (Gr.  novo;,  and  pvOno;,  measure.)  A 
composition  in  verse,  in  which  all  the  lines  end  with  the 
6ame  rhyme.  This  species  of  composition  is  said  to  owe  its 
invention  to  Benin,  who  wrote  in  Latin,  and  dedicated  his 
monorhymee  to  Pope  Alexander  III. 

MONCSTOMA.  (Gr.  pun  <k,  and  otouo,  a  mouth.)  The 
name  of  a  genus  of  Trematode  Entozoa,  including  those 
Which  have  only  a  single  pore,  serving  at  once  for  nutrition 
and  adhi 

MONOTH  \  I.  \M  INS.  fc,T.  novo;,  and  SaXaj/oc,  a  cham- 
ber.) This  term  is  applied  to  those  univalve  shells  which 
have  only  one  chamber. 

MO'NOTHEISM.  (Gr.  novo;,  and  $to;,  a  god.)  The 
doctrine  of,  or  the  belief  in,  the  existence  of  one  (oid;  in 
contradistinction  to  Polytheism,  tie-  belief  in  a  plurality  of 
Gods.  The  Jewish,  Christian,  ami  Mohammedan  systems 
of  religion  are  the  only  pun-  specimens  of  Monotheism  in  ex- 
istence, it  has  often  been  supposed  that  the  Jews  alone,  of 
all  the  nations  of  antiquity,  had  conceived  the  truth  of  there 
being  only  one  (; ml ;  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  there 
are  no  well-founded  reasons  for  this  opinion.  In  the  arcane 
theology  of  Egypt t  only  was  tin-  unity  of  the  Deity  ac- 
knowledged, hut  be  was  even  ailoreil.  not  as  the  God  Of  any 
particular  religion,  but  as  the  eternal  and  omnipotent  Gov- 
ernor of  the  universe.  In  support  of  this  assertion  the  tea 
timony  of  various  heathen  writers  mi<_'lit  he  cited;  but  tile 

I  lllOWing  passage  from  .Inblonski  may  supersede  the  nice-, 
sity  of  adducing  any  other  authority     "Those  men,"  he  ob- 
772 


MONSTER. 

serve?,  "  who  were  most  distinguished  for  wisdom  among 
the  Egyptians,  acknowledged  God  to  be  a  certain  unbegotten 
Eternal  Spirit,  prior  to  all  things  which  exist;  who  ere 
preserves,  contains,  pervades,  and  vivifies  everything;  who 
is  the  Spirit  of  the  Universe,  but  the  Guardian  and  Protector 

1  it"  111.  11."  That  many  of  the  priests,  and  poets,  ami  philoso- 
phers of  Greece  were  not  ignorant  of  the  same  truth,  is  not 
less  evident.  In  one  of  the  Orphic  Eragnu  nts,  pit  servi  d  by 
Proclus,  we  find  it  expressly  declared  that  "there  is  One 
Power,  One  Deity,  the  greal  Governor  of  all  things."  The 
verses  which,  according  to  Bishop  Warburton.  were  sung  in 
the  Eleusinian  Mysteries,  contained  the  following  passage: 
"Pursue  thy  path  rightly,  and  contemplate  the  King  of  the 
world:  He  is  One,  and  of  himself  alone,  and  to  that  Due  all 
tilings  have  owed  their  being.  He  encompasses  them.  No 
mortal  hath  beheld  him;  but  he  sees  everything."  In  Mime 
verses  which  have  been  often  cited  by  the  fathers  from  a 
tragedy  now  lost,  Sophocles  has  said,  "There  is,  in  reality, 
only  one  God,  who  made  the  heavens  and  the  remote  earth, 
the  blue  waves  of  the  ocean  and  the  strength  of  the  winds." 
That  Pythagoras  admitted  the  unity  of  the  Deity  must  be 
evident  to  all  who  have  considered  his  philosophy;  and  his 
monotheism  is  farther  attested  not  only  by  the  eclectic  phi- 
losophy, but  in  distinct  terms  by  St.  Justin  and  St.  Cyril. 
Euclid  of  Megara  and  Socrates  were  both  Monotheists  : 
Plato  was  in  all  probability  one  likewise.  His  Trinity,  like 
that  of  the  Magi  and  the  Egyptians,  was  not  a  trinity  of  be- 
ings, but  of  modes  of  being  in  the  Divine  Nature.  "  When," 
says  he,  "I  speak  fairly  in  my  epistles,  I  commence  with 
God ;  when  I  do  not,  my  letters  begin  with  gods."  But  if 
any  farther  proof  were  wanting  in  support  of  this  opinion, 
the  following  passage  from  Origen  must  be  held  to  be  con- 
clusive: "Many  of  the  old  philosophers  have  said  that  there 
is  one  God,  who  created  all  things ;  and  in  this  they  agree 
with  the  law :  but  some  say,  in  addition,  that  God  hath  made 
and  governs  all  tilings  by  his  Word,  and  that  it  is  the  Won! 
of  God  by  which  all  tilings  are  regulated.  In  this  they  write 
consonantly  not  only  with  the  law,  but  with  the  Gospel." 
(Edin.  Review,  vol.'vii.,  p.  97,  98.) 

MOXO'THELITES.  (Gr.  .novo;,  and  StXw,  /  will.)  A 
sect  of  heretics,  who,  while  they  avoided  the  error  of  the 
Eutychians,  and  allowed  the  two  natures  of  Christ  to  co- 
exist distinctly  in  the  unity  of  the  person,  conceived  the  in- 
fluence of  the  divine  will  so  to  predominate  over  the  human 
substance  as  to  leave  to  the  latter  no  action  or  efficiency  of 
its  own. 

The  origin  of  this  doctrine  is  ascribed  to  the  Emperor  He- 
raclius,  who,  in  the  year  630,  attempted  to  reconcile  the 
Eutychians  or  Monophysites  to  the  Catholic  Church  by  a 
middle  course  of  this  nature,  and  published  an  edict  inn],  1 
the  advice  of  some  theologians  of  the  day  in  assertion  of  it. 
This  opinion  was  condemned  by  some  provincial  and  one 
general  council ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  was  maintained  by 
the  edict  of  several  succeeding  emperors.  Nor  was  the 
question  finally  settled,  though  silence  was  frequently  com- 
manded upon  it,  until  it  was  forgotten  in  the  louder  disputes 
of  the  Iconoclasts  and  their  opponents.  (Combefils,  JUuno- 
iheiit.  Hist..  -J  torn.,  1648.) 

MOXO'TOXY.  (Gr.  novo;,  and  twos,  a  sound.)  An  irk- 
some sameness  either  in  speaking  or  composition. 

MOXOTRE  MES,  Jilonotrema.  (Gr.  novo;,  and  rprjna,  a 
hole.)  A  tribe  of  ovo-viviparous  Mammalia,  of  which  only 
two  genera  are  known  to  exist;  viz.,  the  Platypus  or  Orni- 
thorhynchus.  and  the  Echidna,  both  peculiar  to  Australia. 
The  term  is  indicative  of  the  common  cloacal  outlet  for  the 
excremental  and  generative  products. 

MO'XOTRI'GEYPH.  (Gr.  novo;,  and  T/XyXiraroc,  thrice 
cut.)  Li  Architecture,  such  an  intercolumniation  in  the 
Doric  order  as  brings  only  one  triglyph  over  it. 

MONSEIG'NEUR.  A  title  of  courtesy  in  France,  which 
was  prefixed  to  the  titles  of  dukes  and  peers,  archbishops, 
bishops,  and  some  other  exalted  personages,  and  used  in  ad- 
dressing them.  Monsriirneur  simply  was,  before  the  Revo- 
lution, the  title  given  to  the  dauphin.  Monsieur  is  now  the 
common  title  of  courtesy  and  respect  in  France;  and  pre- 
viously to  the  revolution  in  183(1,  Monsieur  simply  was  the 
title  of  the  eldest  brother  of  the  king. 

MOXSOO'XS.  From  a  Malayan  word  signifying  sea- 
sons.) In  Physical  Geography,  thi'  name  given  to  a  certain 
mollification  or  disturbance  of  the  regular  course  of  the  trade 
winds  which  take  place  in  the  Arabian  and  Indian  seas. 
Between  the  parallels  of  10°  and  30°  south  latitude  the 
eastern  trade  wind  blows  regularly;  but  from  the  former 
parallel  northwards  the  course  is  reversed  for  half  the  year, 
and  from  April  to  October  the  wind  blows  constantly  from 
the  south  west,  hilling  the  other  six  months  of  the  year 
the  regular  northeast  trade  wind  prevails.  The  south- 
west monsoon  is  supposed  to  he  occasioned  by  the  great 
rarefaction  of  the  atmosphere  over  the  extensive  regions  of 
Eastern    Asia   during   the   summer   months.      See   Trade 

\\    I  NO-. 

MCNSTER.     (Lat.  monstrum.)     Anything  out  of  the 


MONSTERS. 

common  order  of  nature  is  occasionally  designated  by  this 
term ;  but  it  is  physiologically  employed  under  a  more  limit- 
ed acceptation,  and  applied  to  animals  in  which  one  or  more 
parts  of  the  body  present  some  congenital  malformation. 
This  is  sometimes  apparent  externally,  and  then  must  amount 
to  something  exceeding  any  ordinary  deformity ;  or  it  may  be 
confined  to  internal  organs."  Buffon,  Bluinenbach,  and  Meckle 
have  treated  on  monstrosity,  classifying  its  modifications  un- 
der three  heads ;  the  first  including  cases  in  which  parts  of  the 
body  are  increased  in  number ;  the  second  those  where  certain 
organs  are  deficient;  and  the  third  including  cases  in  which 
size,  situation,  and  structure  are  concerned.  Other  writers, 
such  as  Geoffrey  St.  Hilaire  (Histoire  des  Anomalies),  have 
adopted  more  comprehensive  arrangements;  arising,  how- 
ever, out  of  the  general  subdivision  of  monsters  into  simple 
and  compound:  the  former  including  all  cases  in  which  the 
elements  of  a  single  individual  only  are  concerned ;  the  lat- 
ter those  in  which  the  constituent  parts  of  two  or  more  in- 
dividuals are  united.  Simple  monsters  have  again  been  dis- 
tributed into  three  classes.  The  first  including  such  varie- 
ties of  malformation  as  chiefly  affect  one  organ  or  system 
of  organs,  without  materially  interfering  with  any  vital  func- 
tion: these  anomalies  are  extremely  numerous,  and  have 
been  farther  subdivided  into  cases  where  size,  form,  or  struc- 
ture is  affected,  and  those  in  which  the  malformation  affects 
the  arrangement,  connexion,  or  number  of  parts.  The  sec- 
ond class  in  this  arrangement  includes  cases  of  extensive 
malformation,  attended  by  great  deformity  and  by  disturb- 
ance of  vital  functions.  The  third  class  is  limited  to  mal- 
formations of  the  organs  of  generation,  including  among 
others  the  various  cases  miscalled  hermaphrodites.  The 
history  of  individual  cases  of  monstrosity  would  be  here 
misplaced ;  several  of  the  most  remarkable  are  detailed  in 
various  volumes  of  the  Philosophical  Transactions  ;  in  the 
Transactions  of  the  Medico- Chirurgical  Society  ;  and  in  the 
Penny  Cyclopedia,  art.  "  Monster." 

MO'NSTERS,  or  CHIMERICAL  FIGURES.  In  Herald- 
ry, a  species  of  bearings,  of  which  some  are  very  common  in 
English  coats  of  arms,  and  others  common  in  foreign,  al- 
though not  often  used  in  our  own.  The  sagittary  or  centaur, 
man-tiger,  sphinx,  harpy,  triton,  and  mermaid,  are  monsters 
compounded  of  the  human  and  bestial  shape.  Of  monstrous 
beasts,  the  most  common  in  armorial  bearings  are  the  dragon, 
the  griffin  (a  compound  of  the  eagle  and  the  lion),  the  wyvem 
(a  two-legged  dragon) :  besides  these,  there  are  the  unicorn, 
the  heraldic  antelope,  tiger,  and  ibex  (which  are  chimerical 
figures,  but  representing  the  natural  beast),  the  musimon  (an 
animal  between  the  goat  and  the  sheep),  and  the  salamander. 
Monstrous  birds  are  the  phoenix,  cannet,  martlet,  allerion, 
cockatrice,  &c. 

MONTA'NISTS.  Heretics  of  the  second  century,  who 
derive  their  name  from  their  founder  Montanus,  a  Phrygian, 
who  pretended  to  inspiration,  and  declared  himself  to  be  a 
prophet  sent  from  God  to  complete  the  Christian  scheme, 
and  advance  it  to  its  highest  state  of  perfection.  He  affirm- 
ed himself  to  be  the  Paraclete  or  Comforter,  whose  mission 
was  supposed  by  various  sectarians  of  the  early  centuries  to 
be  distinct  from  that  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  was  promised 
to  the  apostles,  and  was  expected  to  put  the  finishing  stroke 
to  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  characteristics  of  this 
sect  were  similar  to  those  which  are  known  by  the  general 
name  of  Gnostic,  and  consisted  principally  in  great  austerity 
of  manners,  and  a  belief  in  the  possibility  of  an  advance  from 
the  obvious  and  literal  interpretation  of  the  word  of  God  to 
a  state  of  interior  and  spiritual  knowledge  coincident  with  a 
participation  in  the  divine  nature  itself. 

MO'NTANT.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture,  any  upright  piece 
in  a  system  of  framing. 

MONT  DE  PIETE.  (Ital.  Monte  di  Pieta.)  Thename 
given  on  some  parts  of  the  Continent  to  certain  benevolent 
institutions,  established  for  the  purpose  of  lending  money  to 
the  poor  at  a  moderate  rate  of  interest.  They  originated 
under  the  papal  government  in  the  loth  century,  and  were 
intended  to  countervail  the  exorbitant  usurious  practices  of 
the  Jews,  who  formed  at  that  period  the  great  money-lenders 
of  Europe.  These  institutions  were  afterwards  introduced 
into  many  of  the  Continental  states ;  and  similar  establish- 
ments existed,  and  in  some  cases  still  exist,  at  Paris,  Madrid, 
Brussels,  Ghent,  Antwerp,  &c.  Monti  frumcntarii  are  pub- 
lic granaries,  from  which  corn  is  sold  to  the  necessitous 
Italians  on  a  principle  somewhat  analogous  to  that  on 
which  sums  are  lent  by  the  Mont  de  Piete. 

MO'NTEM.  The  name  given  to  an  ancient  custom  still 
prevalent  among  the  scholars  of  Eton,  which  consists  in 
their  proceeding  every  third  year  on  Whit  Tuesday  to  a 
tumulus  (Lat.  ad  montem,  whence  the  name),  near  the  Bath 
road,  and  exacting  money  for  salt,  as  it  is  called,  from  all 
persons  present  or  passers-by.  The  sum  so  collected  is  given 
to  the  captain,  or  senior  scholar  of  the  school,  and  is  intend- 
ed to  assist  in  defraying  the  expenses  of  his  residence  at  the 
university,  to  which  he  is  about  to  proceed.  The  origin  of 
this  ceremony  dates  from  the  establishment  of  the  founda- 


MOON. 

tion  of  Eton  College ;  but  it  was  at  first  held  on  the  6th  of 
December,  the  festival  of  St.  Nicholas,  the  patron  of  children ; 
and  it  is  only  since  1759  that  the  present  was  substituted  for 
the  original  period  of  its  celebration.  It  has  been  the  almost 
invariable  practice  of  the  sovereign,  the  court,  and  a  large 
portion  of  the  nobility,  to  honour  this  festivity  with  their 
presence ;  and  so  liberal  have  been  their  contributions,  that 
the  salt  money  has  been  known  to  approach  nearly  j£1000. 
(See  HuggetVs  MS.  Collections  for  a  history  of  Windsor 
and  Eton  colleges,  in  the  British  Museum ;  and  Brand's 
Popular  Antiquities.) 

MONTH.  (Germ,  monat.)  The  twelfth  part  of  our  cal- 
endar year.  It  is  so  called  from  its  being  the  period  of  the 
moon's  revolution  round  the  earth.     See  Calendar. 

MO'NUMENT.  (Lat.)  A  memorial  for  perpetuating  the 
remembrance  of  an  event ;  also  a  cenotaph  in  memory  of 
the  dead.  The  productions  of  architecture  and  sculpture  in- 
tended to  transmit  to  posterity  the  memory  of  individuals 
and  events  are  most  generally  called  monuments.  Among 
those  in  honour  of  individuals  are  tombs  and  sepulchral 
edifices  or  columns.  The  most  ancient  are  the  obelisks  and 
pyramids  of  Egypt ;  and  perhaps,  contemporary  with  these, 
the  tombs  of  the  Persian  kings,  still  visible  in  the  ruins  of 
Persepolis.  Greece  abounded  with  monuments  of  this  na- 
ture. Buildings  in  that  country  were  frequently  raised  in 
commemoration  of  distinguished  persons  or  events ;  and  of 
this  class  were  the  Choragic  monuments,  in  honour  of  those 
who  had  received  the  prize  as  choragi  in  the  theatrical  and 
musical  games.  Of  these  the  most  splendid  is  the  choragic 
monument  of  Lysicrates,  vulgarly  called  the  Lantern  of  De- 
mosthenes. Among  the  monuments  of  this  class  of  the  Ro- 
mans, the  triumphal  arches  are  in  the  first  rank.  The  column 
called  the  Monument  of  London,  and  the  Duke  of  York's 
monument,  illustrate  respectively  the  definition  above  given. 

MOOD.  (Lat.  modus.)  In  Grammar,  the  designation  by 
the  form  of  the  verb  of  the  manner  of  our  conception  of  an 
event,  or  fact ;  whether  as  certain,  contingent,  possible,  de- 
sirable, or  the  like.     See  Grammar. 

MOOD  OF  A  CATEGORICAL  SYLLOGISM,  in  Logic, 
is  the  designation  of  its  three  propositions  in  the  order  in 
which  they  stand,  according  to  their  quantity  and  quality. 

MOON.  (Gr.  ixrjvr),  Germ,  mond.)  The  satellite  of  the 
earth.  The  moon,  after  the  sun,  is  not  only  the  most  con- 
spicuous, but,  in  an  astronomical  point  of  view,  the  most  in- 
teresting of  the  celestial  bodies.  The  variety  of  her  phases, 
her  eclipses,  and  the  rapidity  with  which  she  changes  her 
place  among  the  fixed  stars,  drew  the  attention  of  the  earliest 
observers  of  the  heavens ;  and  in  modern  times,  the  impor- 
tant application  of  the  theory  of  her  motions  to  navigation 
and  the  determination  of  terrestrial  longitudes  has  given  the 
Lunar  Theory  the  first  rank  among  the  objects  of  astro- 
nomical science. 

Phases  of  the  Moon.— The  different  phases  of  the  moon 
were  probably  the  first  celestial  phenomena  that  received  a 
correct  explanation.  By  observing  them  attentively  during 
the  course  of  a  single  revolution,  it  would  be  inferred  that 
they  are  occasioned  by  the  reflection  of  the  sun's  light  from 
the  spherical  surface  of  the  moon ;  and  accordingly  the  fact 
had  been  recognised  by  the  earliest  astronomers.  Let  T  be 
the  place  of  the  earth,  and  ABC  ,, 

DEFGH  successive  portions  of 
the  moon  in  her  orbit,  the  sun  be- 
ing supposed  to  be  situated  in  the 
straight  line  T  A,  and  at  so  great 
a  distance  that  lines  drawn  from 
it  to  every  part  of  the  moon's  or- 
bit may  be  regarded  as  parallel. 
When  the  moon  is  at  A,  she  is  in 
conjunction  with  the  sun,  and 
passes  the  meridian  at  the  same 
time;  and  her  illuminated  hemi- 
sphere being  then  turned  directly  away  frora  the  earth,  no 
portion  of  her  disk  is  visible.  A  few  days  after  the  conjunc- 
tion the  moon  begins  to  appear  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  sun 
at  B,  having  the  form  of  a  crescent,  the  horns  of  which  are 
turned  away  from  the  sun.  When  she  arrives  at  C,  or  90° 
from  her  conjunction,  the  earth  is  in  the  plane  of  the  great 
circle  of  her  orb,  which  forms  the  boundary  between  her 
dark  and  illuminated  hemispheres,  and  consequently  half 
the  disk  is  visible.  The  moon  is  then  in  her  first  quarter. 
At  D  more  of  the  illuminated  hemisphere  is  turned  towards 
the  earth,  and  she  appears  gibbous.  At  E  she  is  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  sun ;  the  illuminated  side  is  turned  directly  to  the 
earth,  and  the  disk  appears  round  or  full.  After  passing  E 
the  disk  begins  to  wane,  and  from  E  to  G  appears  gibbous. 
When  at  G,  or  270°  from  the  conjunction,  she  is  in  the  third 
quarter.  From  this  point  to  the  conjunction  the  moon  again 
appears  as  a  crescent,  becoming  narrower  as  she  approaches 
to  A  ;  but  the  horns  of  the  erescent  are  now  turned  west- 
ward, that  is,  away  from  the  sun.  The  straight  line  which 
joins  A  and  E  is  called  the  line  of  the  syzygics ;  that  which 
joins  C  G  is  the  line  of  quadratures ;  and  the  points  B  D  F 

773 


MOON. 


II.  situated  at  equal  distances  from  those  lines,  are  called 
the  octants.  The  magnitude  of  the  illuminated  portion  of 
;  sk  is  thus  seen  to  depend  on  the  position  of  the  moon 
relatively  to  the  run  and  the  earth,  and  is  easily  determined 
by  a  geometrical  construction.     The  mean  period  of  time  in 

which  a  revolution  of  the  phases  is  completed,  or  in  which 
she  passes  from  our  conjunction  to  the  following,  i-  29  davs, 
IS  h..  44  m.,  2-8  see. 

Distanci  and  Magnitude  of  the  Moon. — The  moon's  dis- 
tance from  the  eartli  is  found  from  her  horizontal  parallax, 
Which  may  he  determined  either  by  simultaneous  observa- 
tions at  stations  very  distant  from  each  other,  or  by  means 
of  the  occupations  of  fixed  stars  by  the  moon.  From  such 
Observations  it  is  found  that  the  amount  of  the  parallax  varies 
considerably  at  different  times.  Its  mean  value  gives  the 
average  distance  of  the  moon  from  the  eartli.  equal  to  59-9 
of  the  earth's  equatorial  semidiameters,  or  about  -J:<7,oii0 
miles,  which  is  upwards  of  400  rimes  less  than  the  distance 
of  the  sun.  Combining  this  result  with  the  apparent  magni- 
tude (31'  -26")  of  the  moon's  diameter,  when  at  her  mean 
distance,  it  results  that  the  diameter  of  the  moon  is  to  that 
of  the  earth  in  the  proportion  nearly  of  3  to  11 :  whence  the 
volume  of  the  moon  is  only  about  l-49th  of  the  volume  of 
the  earth. 

Inclination  and  .Voiles  of  the  Lunar  Orbit. — The  moon's 
orbit  is  inclined  to  the  ecliptic  under  an  angle  of  5°  8'  47-9"  ; 
hut  the  line  in  which  it  intersects  the  ecliptic,  or  the  line  of 
the  nodes,  does  not  maintain  a  fixed  position  on  the  plane  of 
the  ecliptic.  It  is  observed  that  the  moon  passes  from  one 
of  the  nodes  to  the  opposite  one  in  less  time  than  is  required 
to  pass  through  180°  of  longitude ;  hence  the  line  of  the 
nodes  has  a  retrograde  motion  on  the  ecliptic ;  and  its  mo- 
tion is  so  considerable  that  it  completes  a  revolution,  or  re- 
turns to  its  former  position,  in  a  period  of  6798-28  days,  or 
about  18-6  years.  This  period  is  remarkable,  as  being  that 
after  which  the  eclipses  of  the  sun  and  moon  again  return 
nearly  in  the  same  order.  The  cause  of  the  regression  of 
the  line  of  the  nodes  is  the  attractive  power  of  the  sun, 
which  is  always  tending  to  draw  the  moon  into  the  plane  of 
the  ecliptic,  and  which  would  at  length  cause  her  orbit  to 
coincide  with  that  plane,  were  the  tendency  not  counteract- 
ed by  the  angular  motion  of  the  moon  round  the  earth.  By 
reason  of  the  angular  motion  the  mean  inclination  remain's 
the  same,  and  the  resulting  effect  is  the  retrograde  motion 
of  the  nodes.  But  as  the  sun's  distance  from  the  earth 
is  a  variable  quantity,  the  effect  of  the  solar  action  in  dis- 
placing the  moon's  orbit  is  also  variable.  Hence,  and  also 
on  various  other  accounts,  the  motion  of  the  nodes,  and 
the  inclination  of  the  lunar  orbit  to  the  ecliptic,  are  subject 
to  certain  periodical  changes,  all  which  must  be  accurately 
appreciated  and  computed  in  the  formation  of  the  lunar  ta- 
bles.    See  Fertl ikbaitohs. 

Eccentricity  of  the  Lunar  Orbit. — The  eeneral  orbit  of 
the  moon  is  an  ellipse,  having  the  earth  at  one  of  its  foci ;  but 
oc  account  of  the  disturbing  force  of  the  sun,  and  the  differ- 
ence of  the  intensities  of  this  force  when  the  moon  is  differ- 
ently situated  relatively  to  the  earth  and  sun,  the  ellipse  is 
constantly  changing  its  form  and  position  on  the  plane  of 
the  orbit,  and  hence  the  numerical  values  assigned  to  all 
its  elements  are  to  be  considered  only  as  average  or  mean 
values.  The  distance  of  the  moon  from  the  earth  when  in 
apogee,  or  at  her  greatest  distance,  is  03842  semidiameters 
of  the  earth  :  and  when  in  perigee,  or  at  her  least  distance, 
55-916  semidiameters;  whence  the  eccentricity,  or  distance 
of  the  focus  from  the  centre,  is  about  0.066.  half  the  major 
avis  rx  m»  taken  as  unity.  According  to  the  best  tables,  it  is 
0-0548442.  On  comparing  the  positions  of  the  major  axis, 
which  is  called  the  line  of  the  apsides,  at  different  times,  in 
respect  of  the  fixed  stars,  it  is  found  to  have  a  rapid  motion 
eastward,  completing  a  whole  circuit  in  323257  mean  solar 
days,  or  nearly  nine  years.  But  this  mean  motion  is  subject 
to  inequalities  of  considerable  magnitude.  The  different 
situations  of  the  line  of  the  apsides  with  respect  to  the  line 
of  the  syzygies  gives  rise  to  the  inequality  of  the  lunar  mo- 
tion, called  the  erection.     See  Evm  HON. 

Different  Species  of  Lunar  Months.— As  the  principal 
points  of  the  lunar  orbit— the  syzygies,  the  nodes,  the  apsides 
— are  in  a  state  of  rotation  with  different  velocities,  and  in 
different  directions,  it  follows,  that  the  period  of  time  in 
which  the  moon  completes  a  revolution  with  respect  to  any 
of  these  points,  or  to  the  fixed  stars,  n  ill  be  different  in  each 
case.  These  periods,  which  are  called  lunar  months,  may 
be  explained  as  follows:  Let  E  be  the 
centre  of  the  earth,  a  s  b  t  the  orbit 
of  the  moon,  a  b  the  transverse  axis 
or  line  of  the  apsides,  .«  r  the  line  of 
the  syzygies,  ?i  m  the  line  of  the  nodes, 
■'■<.  and  A  SUN  the  great  circle  of  the 
\/S  \,  /  sphere  in  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic. 
Also,  let  P  be  a  fixed  point  on  this 
circle;  and  suppose  the  moon  to  be  at 
l>,  or  seen  in  the  direction  E  F.    The 


time  which  elapses  while  the  moon  passes  from  p,  and  fe 
turns  to  the  same  point  of  the  ecliptic,  is  called  the  (/>/'"  o 
revolution,  and  differs  only  about  seven  seconds  from  the 
time  in  which  the  moon  returns  to  the  same  fixed  star,  or 
performs  a  sidereal  revolution.  Suppose  now  the  moon  to 
be  ■<;  ■.-.  in  the  line  of  the  syzygies;  when  the  moon  advan- 
cing from  s,  in  the  direction  m  b  n.  has  again  come  round  to 
the  same  point  of  the  ecliptic,  she  will  not  now  be  in  con- 
junction; for.  in  the  interval,  the  sun  has  advanced  from  9 
to  S'  (nearly  a  twelfth  of  the  circumference),  and  conse- 
quently the  moon  must  goon  to  s',  till  she  overtakes  the  sun, 
before  she  returns  to  her  conjunction.  The  interval  from  a  in- 
junction to  conjunction  is  the  synodic  period,  and  exceeds  the 
tropical  period  by  two  days  and  about  five  hours.  Next,  sup- 
pose the  moon  to  be  at  her  perigee  a.  or  seen  in  the  direction 
E  A  :  while  the  moon,  after  leaving  a.  is  describing  her  orbit, 
the  line  of  the  apsides  E  A  revolves  through  the  angle  A  E 
A',  and  consequently  the  moon,  after  coming  into  the  line  E 
A,  must  continue  to  advance  till  she  comes  to  a'  before  she 
arrives  again  at  her  perigee.  The  interval  from  perigee  to 
perigee  is  called  the  anomalistic  period ;  and  it  is  also  longer 
than  the  tropical  period,  though  much  shorter  than  the 
synodic,  inasmuch  as  the  line  of  the  apsides  requires  about 
nine  years  to  complete  its  revolution,  while  that  of  the  syzy- 
gies is  completed  in  one  year.  Lastly,  suppose  the  moon  at 
n  in  the  line  of  the  nodes.  While  the  moon  is  advancing 
round  her  orbit,  the  line  of  the  nodes,  E  X,  moves  backward 
into  the  direction  E  X' ;  consequently,  the  moon  will  have 
come  up  to  her  node  at  n'  before  she  has  completed  a  revo- 
lution on  the  ecliptic.  The  interval  from  node  to  node  is 
called  the  nodical  period,  and  is  shorter  than  any  of  the 
other  periods.  The  following  table  exhibits,  in  mean  solar 
days,  the  mean  lengths  of  the  different  lunar  periods  or 
months : 

*  Dava. 

Synodic  revolution    ....    2953059 

Sidereal 27-32166 

Tropical 27-32158 

Anomalistic 27-55460 

Xodical 27-21222 

.Acceleration  of  the  Moon's  mean  Motion. — On  comparing 
observations  of  the  moon  made  at  distant  times,  it  has  been 
discovered  that  her  mean  motion  has  been  undergoing  a  con- 
stant acceleration  since  the  earliest  times.  This  acceleration 
is,  however,  extremely  small,  amounting  only  to  10"  in  a  cen- 
tury, and  therefore  is  insensible  for  any  moderate  interval  of 
time,  though  it  becomes  discernible  after  a  few  centuries.  Be- 
ing measured  by  centuries,  it  is  called  the  secular  acceleration 
of  the  mean  motion.  Its  physical  cause  was  found  by  L;i]>- 
lace  to  be  a  diminution  of  the  eccentricity  of  the  earth's  orbit. 
F.c'ipses  of  the  Moon. — The  diameter  of  the  sun  being 
much  greater  than  that  of  the  earth,  the  earth  must  project 
behind  it  in  space  a  conical  shadow,  the  axis  of  v\  hirh  is  in 
the  plane  of  the  ecliptic,  and  in  the  straight  line  joining  the 
earth  and  sun.  On  computing  from  the  relative  magnitudes 
of  the  earth  and  sun  and  the  distance  of  the  two  bodies  the 
length  of  this  shadow,  it  is  found  that  it  reaches  to  about 
216  times  the  radius  of  the  earth,  and  consequently  far  be- 
yond the  orbit  of  the  moon.  It  is  found  also  that  the  ap- 
parent diameter  of  the  conical  shadow,  at  the  mean  distance 
of  the  moon,  is  about  1°  23'.  But  the  greatest  apparent  di- 
ameter of  the  moon  being  only  33'  31",  or  about  a  third  of 
this  distance,  it  follows  that  if  the  moon  happens  to  be  sit- 
uated in  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic  when  she  is  full,  or  in  op- 
position with  the  sun,  the  whole  lunar  disk  will  be  enveloped 
in  the  earth's  shadow;  and  as  the  moon  requires  about  an 
hour  to  pass  over  a  space  equal  to  her  own  breadth,  the 
whole  disk  may  be  involved  in  the  shadow,  and  the  moon 
remain  invisible  during  a  space  of  about  two  hours.  This 
phenomenon  is  a  total  eclipse  of  the  moon  ;  and  it  is  evident 
that  if  the  moon's  orbit  coincided  With  the  ecliptic,  a  total 
eclipse  would  take  place  every  lunation.  In  consequei  i •>•. 
however,  of  the  inclination  of  the  orbit  to  the  ecliptic,  the 
moon,  at  the  time  of  her  opposition,  is  in  general  so  far  from 
the  ecliptic  that  her  disk  does  not  come  into  contact  with  the 
earth's  shadow,  and  consequently  no  eclipse  takes  place. 
The  occurrence  of  the  eclipse,  therefore,  depends  on  the  dis- 
tance of  the  moon  from  her  node  at  the  time  of  the  .,; 
tion;  and  it  results,  from  the  computation  of  the  different 
circumstances  influencing  the  phenomenon,  that  the  eclipse 
man  take  place  if  the  moan  is  within  about  12°  of  her  node, 
and  must  take  if  the  distance  from  the  node  is  not  greater 
than  7°. 

Eclipses  of  the  Sun  by  the  Moon. — A  solar  eclipse  is  OC- 

casioned  by  the  moon's  body  coming  between  the  spectator 

and  the  sun.  and  thereby  intercepting  the  rays  cominL'  from 
the  whole  or  a  part  of  his  visible  disk.  This  phenomenon, 
like  an  eclipse  of  the  moon,  can  only  happen  when  the 
moon  is  near  one  of  her  nodes;  but  a  total  obscuration 
not  necessarily  take  place,  even  when  the  moon  is  in  the 
ecliptic  at  the  time  of  her  conjunction;  for  the  magnitude 
and  distance  of  the  moon  are  so  related  that  the  apex  of  her 


MOON. 

Conical  shadow  sometimes  falls  short  of  the  earth's  surface, 
though  at  other  times  it  would  reach  as  far  as  the  earth's 
centre.  When  the  umbra  extends  beyond  the  earth's  sur- 
face, its  intersection  with  the  surface  marks  out  a  circular 
spot,  within  which  no  part  of  the  sun's  disk  is  visible,  and 
there  is  a  total  eclipse.  For  some  distance  around  this  spot, 
that  is  to  say,  within  the  penumbra,  a  part  only  of  the  sun 
Will  be  visible,  or  there  will  be  a  partial  eclipse.  When  the 
apex  of  the  shadow  does  not  extend  to  the  earth,  there  will 
be  no  total  eclipse  at  any  part  of  the  earth  ;  but  a  spectator  sit- 
uated in  or  nearly  in  the  prolongation  of  the  axis  of  the  cone, 
will  see  the  whole  of  the  moon  on  the  sun,  though  not  large 
enough  to  cover  it ;  that  is  to  say,  he  will  witness  an  annular 
eclipse.  For  the  method  of  calculating  eclipses  of  the  sun 
and  moon,  see  Eclipse. 

Rotation  and  Libration  of  the  Moon. — From  the  observa- 
tion of  the  lunar  spots,  it  is  ascertained  that  the  moon  has 
a  motion  of  rotation  about  an  axis  nearly  perpendicular  to 
the  plane  of  her  orbit;  and,  what  is  very  remarkable,  the 
period  of  rotation  is  ezactly  equal  to  that  of  her  sidereal  rev- 
olution about  the  earth.  Hence  the  same  hemisphere  of 
the  moon  is  always  turned  towards  the  earth ;  but  as  the 
rotation  is  uniform,  while  the  motion  of  revolution  about 
the  earth  is  sometimes  faster  and  sometimes  slower  than  the 
mean,  the  line  which  joins  the  centres  of  the  earth  and  moon 
does  not  intersect  the  lunar  surface  always  at  the  same  point, 
but  fluctuates  a  little  to  the  eastward  and  westward  of  its 
mean  place,  whence  the  spots  near  the  eastern  and  western 
borders  of  the  disk  alternately  disappear  and  are  brought 
into  view.  This  phenomena  is  called  the  libration  in  longi- 
tude.  Moreover,  as  the  moon's  orbit  is  inclined  to  the  eclip- 
tic in  an  angle  of  5°  8'  47-9",  while  the  plane  of  her  equator 
makes  with  the  ecliptic  an  angle  of  only  1°  30',  the  axis  of 
rotation  is  not  exactly  perpendicular  to  the  plane  of  the  or- 
bit, whence  her  poles  come  alternately  into  view  for  a  small 
space  round  the  northern  and  southern  borders  of  the  disk. 
This  is  the  libration  in  latitude.  There  is  also  a  diurnal  li- 
bration, occasioned  by  the  moon's  being  seen  from  the  sur- 
face instead  of  the  centre  of  the  earth.    See  Libration. 

Appearance  and  Physical  Constitution  of  the  jMoon. — On 
looking  at  the  moon  with  the  naked  eye,  her  disk  appears 
diversified  by  dark  and  bright  patches,  which,  on  being  ex- 
amined with  a  good  telescope,  are  discovered  to  be  moun- 
tains and  valleys.  That  the  whole  surface  of  the  moon  is 
covered  by  such  inequalities  is  evident  from  the  circumstance 
that  the  line  of  separation  between  the  illuminated  and  dark 
hemispheres,  which,  if  the  surface  were  even,  would  be  a 
sharply-defined  ellipse,  is  at  all  times  extremely  ragged,  and 
indented  with  deep  recesses  and  prominent  points.  The 
mountains  near  this  line  cast  behind  them  long  black  shad- 
ows (like  mountains  on  the  earth  when  the  sun  is  in  the 
horizon),  from  the  micrometrical  measurement  of  which  the 
height  of  the  mountains  may  be  calculated.  According  to 
Sir  J.  Herschel,  some  of  the  highest  of  them  exceed  1 J  Eng- 
lish miles  in  perpendicular  altitude.  Tycho,  the  bright 
spot  in  the  south-east  quarter  from  which  the  rays  seem  to 
run,  is  apparently  a  volcanic  crater,  50  miles  in  diameter  and 
16,000  feet  deep,  surrounded  by  broad  terraces  within,  and 
with  a  central  mountain  about  5000  feet  high.  Schroeter 
has  estimated  the  average  height  of  the  lunar  mountains  to 
be  upwards  of  5  English  miles ;  but  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the 
measurement  is  not  susceptible  of  much  accuracy. 

"The  generality  of  the  lunar  mountains,"  says  Sir  J.  Her- 
schel, "  present  a  striking  uniformity  and  singularity  of  as- 
pect. They  are  wonderfully  numerous,  occupying  by  far 
the  larger  portion  of  the  surface,  and  almost  universally  of 
an  exactly  circular  or  cup-shaped  form,  fore-shortened,  how- 
ever, into  ellipses  towards  the  limb ;  but  the  larger  have  for 
the  most  part  flat  bottoms  within,  from  which  rises  central- 
ly a  small,  steep  conical  hill.  They  offer,  in  short,  in  its 
highest  perfection,  the  true  volcanic  character,  as  it  may  be 
seen  in  the  crater  of  Vesuvius  ;  and,  in  some  of  the  princi- 
pal ones,  decisive  marks  of  volcanic  stratification,  arising 
from  successive  deposits  of  ejected  matter,  may  be  clearly 
traced  with  powerful  telescopes.  What  is,  moreover,  ex- 
tremely singular  in  the  geology  of  the  moon  is,  that  although 
nothing  having  the  character  of  seas  can  be  traced  (for  the 
dusky  spots  which  are  commonly  called  seas,  when  closely 
examined,  present  appearances  incompatible  with  the  sup- 
position of  deep  water),  yet  there  are  large  regions  perfect- 
ly level,  and  apparently  of  a  decided  alluvial  character." 
("  Astronomy,"  Cabinet  Cyclopaedia,  p.  229.) 

The  moon  has  no  atmosphere,  or  at  least  none  of  suffi- 
cient density  to  refract  the  rays  of  light  in  their  passage 
through  it.  There  is  consequently  no  water  on  her  surface ; 
and  no  animal  similarly  constituted  to  those  which  inhabit 
the  earth  could  subsist  there.  Her  surface  presents  no  ap- 
pearance of  vegetation,  or  of  variation  which  can  be  ascribed 
to  a  change  of  seasons.  Everything  appears  solid,  desolate, 
and  unfit  for  the  support  of  animal  or  vegetable  life.  Wheth- 
er the  materials  of  which  the  lunar  substance  is  composed 
are  of  the  same  nature  as  those  which  compose  the  earth, 


MORDELLA. 

there  are  no  means  of  knowing.  From  the  effect  of  the 
moon's  gravitation  in  producing  the  nutation  of  the  earth's 
axis,  the  mass  of  the  moon  is  determined  to  be  very  nearly 
l-80th  of  the  mass  of  the  earth  ;  whence,  as  her  volume  is 
only  l-49th  of  the  earth's  volume,  it  results  that  her  density, 
as  compared  with  the  mean  density  of  the  earth,  is  -615,  or  a 
little  more  than  one  half. 

MOO'NSTONE.  A  variety  of  adularia,  or  resplendent 
felspar ;  it  occurs  massive  and  crystallized.  Select  speci- 
mens are  sometimes  cut  into  ring  and  brooch  stones. 

MOOR.  An  uncultivated  surface  without  trees,  and  with 
few  grasses  or  other  herbage  fit  for  pasture,  and  generally 
containing  scattered  plants  of  heath,  with  a  dark  peaty  soil. 
Moor  lands  are  generally  the  least  fitted  for  culture  of  any 
description  of  surface  not  rocky  or  mountainous.  Moors  are 
covered  with  a  very  thin  layer  of  soft,  black,  sterile  soil ;  and 
the  subsoil  is  generally  gravel,  or  retentive  ferruginous  clay. 
By  the  destruction  of  the  heath  or  other  bad  herbage,  and 
by  sowing  down  with  grass  seeds,  they  may  be  improved. 
In  many  cases,  also,  trees  will  grow  on  drained  moors ;  in 
which  case  the  soil  ultimately  becomes  ameliorated  by  the 
fall  and  decay  of  the  leaves. 

Moor,  in  Navigation,  signifies  generally  to  fix  a  vessel  by 
two  anchors  in  nearly  opposite  directions,  so  that  she  rides 
by  either  in  certain  winds,  or  partly  by  both  in  other  winds. 
Also  to  secure  a  vessel  to  weights  or  chains  sunk  in  har- 
bours for  the  purpose.  These  weights  are  called  mooring 
blocks,  and  the  whole  apparatus  moorings. 

MOO'RISH  ARCHITECTURE.     See  Architecture. 

MO'PLAHS.  The  Mohammedan  inhabitants  of  Malabar, 
descended  from  Moors  and  Arabians  who  have  settled  on 
that  coast  and  married  Malabar  women.  They  are  said  to 
form  a  fourth  of  the  population.  They  are  commercial  and 
industrious  on  the  coast,  but  a  furious  race  in  the  interior. 
(Forbes,  Oriental  Meinoirs,  p.  258.) 

MORAI'N'E.  The  name  given  in  Switzerland  and  Savoy 
to  the  longitudinal  deposits  of  stony  detritus  which  are  found 
at  the  bases  and  along  the  edges  of  all  the  great  glaciers. 
The  formation  of  these  deposits  are  explained  by  Professor 
Agassiz  as  follows:  The  glaciers,  it  is  well  known,  are  con- 
tinually moving  downward,  in  consequence,  probably,  of  the 
introduction  of  water  into  their  fissures,  which,  in  freezing, 
expands  the  mass ;  and  the  ice  being  thus  loosened  or  de- 
tached from  the  rocks  below,  is  continually  pressed  forward 
by  its  own  weight.  In  consequence  of  this  motion,  the  gravel 
and  fragments  of  rocks  which  fall  upon  the  glaciers  from 
the  sides  of  the  adjacent  mountains  are  accumulated  in  lon- 
gitudinal ridges,  or  moraines.  From  the  existence  of  such 
deposits  in  many  places  where  there  are  now  no  glaciers, 
combined  with  the  polished  appearance  of  the  surfaces  of 
the  rocks  on  the  sides  of  valleys,  supposed  to  have  been  pro- 
duced by  the  friction  of  moving  glaciers,  Professor  Agassiz 
infers  that  the  extent  of  glaciers  was  formerly  much  greater 
than  it  now  is,  and  that  they  covered  the  great  valley  of 
Switzerland,  with  the  whole  chain  of  the  Jura.  (Agassiz, 
Etudes  snr  les  Glaciers  de  la  Suisse  ;  Reports  of  the  British 
Association  for  1840.) 

MORALS.     See  Ethics. 

MORA'NA.  The  old  Bohemian  goddess  of  winter  and 
of  death :  the  Maryana  of  Scandinavia.  A  grand  yearly 
festival  was  celebrated  in  honour  of  this  goddess  in  the 
month  of  March.  Her  image  was  conveyed  solemnly  to  the 
nearest  brook  or  rivulet,  and  thrown  into  it  amid  the  rejoi- 
cings of  the  people.  This  festival  was  called  "  Das  Joden- 
Austreiben,  das  Sommer  gewinnen  ;"  and,  as  the  words  im- 
ply, was  intended  to  be  symbolical  of  the  end  of  winter  and 
the  return  of  spring.  (See  Grimm's  Deutsche  Mythologie, 
p.  446.) 

MORA'SS.  Moor  lands  saturated  with  water  to  such  an 
extent  as  not  to  bear  the  tread  of  cattle.  A  morass  is  to  a 
moor  what  a  marsh  is  to  a  meadow.  It  is  evident  that  the 
drainage  of  morasses  and  moors,  by  lessening  the  evapora- 
tion of  water  from  their  surfaces,  must  tend  to  improve  the 
local  climate. 

MORAVIAN  BROTHERS.     See  HERRNHfT. 

MORBIDE'ZZA.  (Ital.)  In  Painting,  a  softness  and 
delicacy  of  style.  Its  opposite  is  a  style  whose  lines  are 
harsh  and  angular. 

MO'RDANT.  A  substance  used  to  fix  colouring  matters 
upon  different  stuff's.  (See  Dyeing.)  Alumina  and  oxWe 
of  iron  are  the  most  important  mordants. 

MORDE'LLA.  (Lat.  mordeo,  I  bite.)  A  Linnsan  genus 
of  Coleopterous  insects,  the  type  of  a  family  (jMordellidie) 
of  Latreille's  Heteromerans,  "distinguished  by  the  general 
form  of  the  body,  which  is  elevated  and  arched ;  with  the 
head  low  ;  the  thorax  trapezoid  or  semicircular  ;  the  elytra 
very  short,  or  narrow  and  pointed  at  the  tips,  as  well  as  the 
abdomen.  They  are  distinguished  from  their  nearest  con- 
geners, as  the  Pyrochroida.  by  their  extreme  agility,  the  firm 
texture  of  their  integuments,  and  their  tenacious  and  pain- 
ful bite.  The  sub-genera  of  the  Mordellida  are  Ripiphorus, 
Myodites,  Peheotoma,  Anaspis,  and  Mordclla  proper:  to  the 

775 


MORDENTE. 

last  sub-genus  arc  now  restricted  the  species  of  the  present 
family,  which  have  the  antenna;  of  equal  thickness  through- 
out, niul  slightly  seriated  in  the  males;  the  eyes  not  emar- 
ginate.  ami  the  abdomen  terminated  by  a  long  point. 

MOEDE'NTE.  (ltal.)  [a  Music,  a  grace  in  use  by  the 
Italian  school,  which  is  effected  by  turning  upon  a  note 
without  using  the  note  below. 

MO'REL.  ~  (Germ,  morchel.)  The  Morchella  esculnita 
is  one  of  the  few  fungi  found  in  this  country  which  may  be 
used  as  food  with  safety.  It  occasionally  occurs  in  woods 
ami  orchards,  whence  it  rinds  its  way  to  the  markets;  but  it 
is  of  comparatively  rare  occurrence.  It  has  a  hollow  stalk 
an  inch  or  two  high,  and  a  yellowish  or  grayish  ribbed  head 
two  or  three  inches  deep. 

MORE'SOUE.  (Fr.)  In  Painting,  a  species  of  orna- 
mental painting,  in  which  foliage,  fruits,  flowers,  &c.  are 
combined,  by  springing  out  of  each  other,  without  the  intro- 
duction of  the  human  figure,  or  that  of  any  animals;  and 
receiving  its  name  from  having  been  much  used  by  the 
Moors,  who.  however,  were  not  the  inventors  of  it. 

MORGANATIC  MARRIAGE,  or  LEFT-HANDED 
MARRIAGE.  (Said  to  be  derived  from  the  Gothic  word 
morgjan,  to  shorten.)  A  marriage  between  a  man  of  supe- 
rior and  a  woman  of  inferior  rank,  in  which  it  is  stipulated 
that  the  latter  and  her  children  shall  not  enjoy  the  rank  or 
inherit  the  possessions  of  her  husband.  Such  marriages  are 
not  uncommon  in  the  families  of  sovereign  princes,  and  of 
the  higher  nobility  in  Germany;  but  they  are  restricted  to 
personages  of  these  exalted  classes. 

MORGUE.  (Fr.)  The  name  given  to  a  place  in  many 
French  towns  where  the  bodies  of  persons  found  dead  are 
exposed  in  order  to  be  recognised  and  owned  by  their  friends. 
The  clothes  in  which  they  were  found  are  placed  near  the 
bodies,  for  their  better  identification.  The  Parisian  morgue 
is  built  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Seine,  in  one  of  the  most 
populous  neighbourhoods  of  the  city,  and  presents  one  of 
the  most  disgusting  spectacles  than  can  be  witnessed  any- 
where. 

MO'RMON.  (Gr.  popixuv,  a  mask.)  The  generic  name 
for  the  short-winged,  web-footed  birds  usually  called  Puf- 
fins, the  singular  beak  of  which  gives  the  head  the  appear- 
ance of  a  grotesque  mask.  The  depth  of  the  base  of  the  bill 
equals  that  of  the  entire  head,  and  frequently  the  length  of 
the  bill  itself:  the  mandibles  are  compressed,  arched,  ob- 
liquely channelled,  and  notched  towards  the  tip.  The  eggs 
and  young  birds  are  sought  after  and  taken  in  great  numbers 
in  the  I  irkneys  and  Faroe  Isles. 

MORMY'RlJS.  (Gr.  pdpitvpoc,  a  name  given  by  the 
Greeks  to  a  shore-frequenting  fish  of  a  variegated  colour, 
probably  the  Sparus  mormyrus  of  Linnams.)  The  name 
was  applied  by  Linmeus  to  a  genus  of  abdominal  fishes 
placed  in  the  Malacopterygian  order,  between  the  Lucioid 
and  Siluroid  families  in  the  system  of  Cuvier.  The  Mor- 
myri  differ  from  the  pikes  in  little  else  save  in  the  small  size 
of  their  mouth,  of  which  the  angles  are  formed  by  the  max- 
illary bones;  and  a  corresponding  modification  of  the  ali- 
mentary canal,  the  intestines  being  longer,  and  complicated 
by  two  ca;ca.  The  Mormyri  are  confined  to  the  rivers  of 
Africa,  and  are  reckoned  the  best-flavoured  fishes  that  are 
caught  in  the  Nile. 

MORO'CCO.  (Fr.  maroquin.)  A  species  of  goatskin 
leather,  originally  imported  from  the  Levant  and  Barbary 
states.  It  is  extensively  used  in  the  binding  of  books.  See 
Leather. 

MO'EOXITE.  (Lat.  moras,  the  mulberry  tree.)  A  min- 
eralogical  name  applied  to  one  of  the  varieties  of  native 
phosphate  of  lime  of  a  mulberry  colour. 

Mi  >li(  i.\  VLIC  ACID.  An  acid  discovered  by  Klaproth, 
combined  with  lime,  in  the  bark  of  the  Jllorus  alba,  or  white 
mulberry  tree. 

Mi )'  ItPHEUS.  In  Ancient  Mythology,  the  god  of  dreams  ; 
the  son  of  'Y-n-voi;  or  Somnus,  who  presided  over  sleep,  with 
whom  In  is  frequently  confounded.  The  chief  distinction 
in  tween  them  appears  to  be  this:  Morpheus  had  the  power 
of  assuming  only  the  human  shape,  while  the  transforma- 
tions of  Somnus  were  unlimited.  He  is  generally  repre- 
sented as  a  beautiful  youth,  with  a  hunch  of  poppies  in  his 
hand. 

MO'RPHIA.  (Lat  Morpheus,  the  s<»\  of  dreams.)  The 
narcotic  principle  of  opium.  It  may  be  separated  from  opi 
urn  in  the  form  of  white  prismatic  crystals  almost  insoluble 
in  water,  but  soluble  in  boiling  alcohol  ;  it  combines  with 
the  acids  and  forms  salts,  all  of  which  are  powerful  seda- 
tives, and  have  proved  of  great  value  as  medicines,  (if 
these  the  muriate  of  morphia  is  perhaps  the  best.  It  is  com- 
posed of  about  '2.-W  morphia  (which  is  its  equivalent)  and  37 
muriatic  acid.  One  of  the  most  characteristic  chemical 
properties  of  morphia  and  its  salts  is,  that  they  decompose 
[Qdic  acid,  and  consequently  immediately  discolour  it-  aque 
ons  solution.  The  ultimate  elements  of  morphia  are  carbon, 
oxygen,  hydrogen,  and  nitrogen. 

MO'RI'FIXUS.  (Gr.  ixo'ptivos,  a  name  applied  by  Aristotle 
776 


MORTALITY,  LAW  OP. 

to  the  osprey.)  This  term  is  restricted  by  Cuvier  to  a  genus 
of  Jlccipitres  called  eagle-hawks,  having  wings  shorter  than 
the  tail,  but  with  long  and  slender  tarsi,  and  comparatively 
feeble  toes.  Some  species  have  the  tarsi  naked  and  scutella- 
ted,  as  the  JUorphmu  gvitmsneis. 

MORPHO'LOGY.  (Gr.  poptpi),  form,  and  Xojoj,  descrip- 
tion.) That  department  or  division  of  the  science  of  botany 
which  treats  of  the  metamorphosis  of  organs.  It  appears, 
from  the  comparison  of  one  kind  of  organ  with  another,  that 
notwithstanding  the  differences  between  them,  there  are  so 
many  close  analogies,  and  so  much  identity  of  structure,  as 
to  render  it  probable  that  they  are  all  formed  upon  one  com- 
mon plan,  modified  according  to  the  purposes  for  which 
they  are  severally  destined.  The  leaf,  which  is  the  most 
universal  of  the  external  organs,  is  taken  as  the  best  repre- 
sentation of  this  type ;  and  with  the  more  reason,  because 
all  the  other  parts  are  found  to  have  a  tendency  to  assume 
the  organization  of  a  leaf  when  any  disturbing  cause  inter- 
feres with  their  development.  According  to  morphological 
writers,  the  scale  of  a  leaf-bud  is  a  rudimentary  leaf;  the 
petal  is  a  leaf  reduced  in  size,  and  thinned  or  coloured,  or 
both ;  the  stamen  is  a  leaf,  whose  petiole  is  represented  by 
the  filament,  while  the  two  lobes  of  the  anther  are  the  two 
sides  of  its  lamina ;  and  the  pollen  is  the  disintegrated  meso- 
phyll,  and  so  on.  These  conclusions  were  for  a  long  time 
ridiculed  by  many  writers ;  but  they  gradually  gained  ground 
with  philosophical  botanists,  and  are  now  the  foundation  of 
comparative  anatomy  in  plants.  At  the  present  day  the 
question  is  indeed  no  longer  speculative,  but  is  decided  by 
the  evidence  of  our  eyes ;  for  all  those  transformations,  the 
necessity  of  which  morphologists  assumed  by  mere  force  of 
reasoning,  have  now  been  witnessed  by  Schleiden  and  many 
others,  who  have  traced  the  development  of  the  organs  of 
plants  from  their  earliest  condition,  through  all  their  modifi- 
cations, up  to  the  period  of  complete  development,  and  have 
found  that  they  are  all  deviations  from  a  common  type  sub- 
sequent to  the  first  stage  of  their  growth. 

MO'RRIS  DANCE.  A  peculiar  kind  of  dance  practised 
in  the  middle  ages.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been  first  intro- 
duced into  England  from  Spain  by  Edward  III.,  when  John 
of  Gaunt  returned  from  that  country ;  but  few  traces  of  it 
are  found  earlier  than  the  times  of  Henry  VIII. ;  and  it  is 
more  probable  that  it  was  borrowed  either  from  the  French 
or  the  Flemings.  In  the  morris  dance  bells  were  fixed  to 
the  feet  of  the  performer,  and  the  great  art  consisted  ir 
moving  the  feet  as  to  produce  something  like  concord 
the  various  bells. 

MORS.    In  Ancient  Mythology,  the  daughter  of 
without  a  father,  and  goddess  of  death.    The  most  s' 
representation  of  death  personified  is  to  be  found  in  t! 
dise  Lost. 

MORTA'LITY,  BILLS  OF.    Bills  of  Mortal 
tracts  from  parish  registers,  showing  the  numbers 
died  in  some  fixed  period  of  time,  as  a  year,  a  m 
week ;  and  hence  they  are  called  yearly,  monthly,  or  vcti..- 
ly  bills.    In  general,  they  also  contain  the  number  of  bap- 
tisms, and  sometimes  the  number  of  marriages. 

The  keeping  of  parish  registers  was  begun  in  England  in 
the  year  1538,  in  consequence  of  an  injunction  issued  by 
Lord  Cromwell,  the  king's  vicegerent  in  ecclesiastical  af- 
fairs, after  the  abolition  of  the  papal  authority  in  the  king- 
dom. In  Germany  they  appear  to  have  been  introduced  at 
a  somewhat  earlier  period,  for  Sussmilch  has  given  extracts 
from  the  Augsburg  bills  which  go  back  to  the  year  1501 ; 
and  they  were  established  in  most  countries  of  Europe  about 
the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

The  London  bills,  containing  the  records  of  the  baptisms 
and  deaths,  were  begun  in  the  year  15lJiJ,  but  were  not  kept 
regularly  till  after  the  plague  which  prevailed  in  1603;  since 
which  time  they  have  continued  weekly,  and  an  annual 
bill  lias  been  also  regularly  published.  Their  value,  how- 
ever, was  very  little  understood  ;  nor  do  they  seem  to  have 
attracted  much  notice  until  JGti-2,  when  Graunt  published 
Ins  .Yntural  and  Political  Observations  mi  the  Hills  of  Mor- 
tality, a  work  of  great  merit,  considering  the  time  at  which 
it  was  written.  The  ages  at  which  the  deaths  took  place 
were  not  inserted  in  the  bills  till  17.18.  Throughout  the 
country  the  registers  were  kept,  generally  speaking,  with 
very  little  care ;  but  the  recent  act  for  the  registration  of 
births,  marriage^,  and  deaths,  which  came  into  operation  in 
1836,  has  introduced  an  Incomparably  better  system  ;  and,  as 
the  sex,  ages,  and  causes  of  death  tire  now  recorded,  the  public 
Will  soon  be  in  possession  of  far  more  authentic  information 
than  has  yet  existed  on  some  of  the  most  interesting  ques- 
tions of  social  statistics.  (See  article  "Mortality,"  in  the 
I  n,  in-.  V.rii. ;  Preface  to  the  Population  Returns  fur  1831 ; 
.  Innual  Reports  if  the  Registrar  Qeneralof  Births,  Deaths, 
ami  Marriages  in  England,  1830,  ct  seq.) 

AH  HI T.Y'I.ITY,  LAW  OF.  By  this  term  is  usually  un- 
derstood a  mathematical  relation  subsisting  among  the  num- 
bers ii\'  persons  living  at  the  different  ages  of  life  ;  such  that, 
having  given  the  number  of  persons  living  at  any  assigned 


MORTALITY,  LAW  OF. 


age,  the  number  of  them  who  remain  alive  at  every  subse- 
quent age,  and  consequently  the  mortality  which  takes 
place  in  the  interval,  will  be  expressible  by  that  relation. 
It  must  be  obvious  that,  in  speaking  of  a  law  of  this  kind, 
we  can  only  have  regard  to  the  averages  of  large  numbers. 
In  respect  of  a  single  individual,  or  a  small  number  of  per- 
sons, the  uncertainty  of  the  duration  of  life  is  proverbial ; 
but  the  case  is  entirely  changed  when  multitudes  are  con- 
cerned ;  and  there  are  few  classes  of  contingent  events  of 
which  the  results  can  be  predicted  with  so  little  risk  of  de- 
parture from  the  truth  as  the  average  age  to  which  the  lives 
of  a  considerable  number  of  persons  will  be  prolonged. 

Tile  circumstances  which  affect  the  mean  duration  of 
human  life  depend  upon  a  great  number  of  different  causes ; 
as  climate,  the  facility  of  obtaining  subsistence,  the  state  of 
civilization,  the  manner  of  living:,  progress  of  medical  sci- 
ence, &c,  all  of  which  vary  in  different  countries  and  at  dif- 
ferent times.  The  law  of  mortality,  therefore,  must  vary 
with  these  circumstances ;  and  consequently,  if  expressible 
by  any  mathematical  function,  it  must  be  one  affected  by 
numarical  coefficients  depending  on  the  particular  circum- 
stances, and  of  which  the  values  can  only  be  determined  by 
observation.  The  simplest  expression  which  has  been  pro- 
posed for  representing  the  course  of  mortality  is  that  which 
is  derived  from  the  celebrated  hypothesis  of  Demoivre ; 
namely,  that,  if  a  number  of  individuals  be  taken  in  any 
given  year  of  age,  the  number  of  deaths  which  take  place 
among  them  will  be  the  same  every  year  until  the  whole 
are  extinct.  In  this  hypothesis  only  one  numerical  quantity 
requires  to  be  determined,  which  is  the  average  extreme  age. 
Demoivre  adopted  86;  and  his  hypothesis  may  therefore  be 
simply  enunciated  as  follows :  Out  of  86  infants  born,  85  will 
be  alive  at  the  end  of  the  first  year,  84  at  the  end  of  the 
second,  and  so  on  to  the  extremity  of  life,  the  decrement 
being  one  In  each  year.  For  a  considerable  number  of 
years,  about  the  middle  ages  of  life,  this  hypothesis  of  equal 
decrements  represents  the  observed  facts  with  tolerable  ac- 
curacy ;  and,  as  it  affords  considerable  facilities  in  various 
calculations,  it  was  formerly  much  used  in  the  computation 
of  life  contingencies. 

If  we  suppose  a  straight  line  to  be  divided  into  a  number 
of  equal  parts,  representing  the  ages  of  human  life,  and  per- 
pendiculars to  be  drawn  through  the  points  of  division  pro- 
portional to  the  number  of  survivers  at  each  age  out  of  a 
given  number  taken  at  a  previous  age,  a  curve  line  drawn 
through  the  extremities  of  all  those  perpendiculars  will  rep- 
resent the  law  of  mortality  as  indicated  by  the  observations, 
and  the  equation  of  the  curve  will  be  the  relation  between 
the  age  and  the  mortality.  Now  it  is  possible  to  draw  an 
algebraic  curve  through  any  number  of  points ,  but,  in  the 
present  case,  this  method  of  proceeding  is  attended  with  no 
advantage ;  for  if  the  number  of  points  be  great,  as  it  ne- 
cessarily must,  the  equation  is  of  a  high  order,  and  its  nu- 
merical computation  impracticable.  Lambert,  of  Berlin, 
who  appears  to  have  been  the  first  who  exhibited  the  law 
of  mortality  by  a  curve  line,  constructed  a  somewhat  com- 
plicated empirical  formula,  which  represented  the  mortality 
observed  in  London  during  some  part  of  the  last  century 
with  considerable  accuracy,  and  which  may  be  adapted  to 
any  other  set  of  observations  by  giving  suitable  values  to  its 
numerical  coefficients.  But  the  most  ingenious  attempt 
which  has  been  made  to  deduce  a  formula  from  a  priori 
considerations  is  contained  in  a  paper  by  Mr.  Benjamin 
Gompertz,  published  in  the  Pkilosophical  Transactions  for 
1825.  Mr.  Gompertz  assumes  as  a  principle  that  there  is  a 
power  in  human  life  to  resist  the  effects  of  disease,  or  op- 
pose destruction,  which  loses  equal  proportions  of  its  in- 
tensity in  successive  equal  small  intervals  of  time ;  and  from 
this  he  derives  an  expression  which  gives  the  number  of 
survivers  (y)  of  any  number  of  individuals,  taken  at  any  given 
age,  at  the  end  of  any  number  of  years  (i)  counted  from 
that  age,  in  terms  of  three  constants,  which  may  be  de- 
termined from  observations.  The  formula  may  be  given 
under  this  form : 

log.  #  =  log.  I  ^No.  whose  log.  is  (log.  p  +  x  log.  g), 

/,  p.  and  q  being  the  constants  to  be  determined.  On  assu- 
ming three  ages,  and  taking  the  corresponding  values  of  x  and 
ij  from  the  Carlisle  table,  and  determining  the  constants  by 
means  of  the  three  equations  so  formed,  the  formula  is 
found  to  agree  with  the  table  through  all  the  ages,  within 
limits  which  may  be  fairly  supposed  not  to  exceed  the  errors 
of  the  observations. 

On  account  of  the  multitude  of  causes  which  influence 
the  rate  of  mortality  among  the  inhabitants  of  a  country,  it 
is  plain  that  any  formula  deduced  from  a  priori  considera- 
tions can  only  be  trusted  so  far  as  it  is  found  to  agree  with 
experience ;  and  therefore,  for  all  practical  purposes,  re- 
course is  had  to  a  table  showing  for  each  year  of  asze  the 
number  of  deaths  which  are  observed  to  take  place  out  of  a 
large  number  of  persons  who  enter  upon  that  age.  The 
ratio  of  those  two  numbers  is  the  measure  of  the  probability 


that  an  individual  entering  upon  that  age  will  not  survive 
the  year,  and  may  be  assumed  as  the  law  of  mortality  in 
respect  of  that  age.  The  table  may  be  exhibited  under  dif- 
ferent forms :  the  most  usual  is  a  table  of  decrements,  which 
is  constructed  by  supposing  a  large  number  of  persons,  as 
10,00(1,  for  example,  to  start  together  in  the  same  year  of 
age  (the  year  of  birth  is  usually  assumed),  and  to  write 
down  in  the  same  column  the  number  of  them  who  remain 
alive  at  the  end  of  each  successive  year.  From  this  the 
number  who  die  in  each  year,  and  the  chances  of  sur- 
viving a  year,  or  any  number  of  years,  are  easily  found. 
For  some  purposes,  a  table  of  the  probabilities  of  living  over 
a  year  at  each  age,  or  of  dying  in  the  course  of  the  year,  is 
more  convenient ;  but  either  form  can  be  readily  reduced  to 
the  other. 

The  oldest  table  of  mortality  we  possess  is  published  in 
the  Philosophical  Transactions  for  1693,  and  was  construct- 
ed by  Halley  from  the  mortuary  registers  of  the  town  of 
Breslaw,  in  Silesia.  This  town  was  selected,  because  the 
number  of  births  having  been  nearly  equal  to  the  number 
of  deaths  for  some  years,  it  might  be  assumed  that  the  popu- 
lation had  remained  in  a  nearly  stationary  state  during  that 
time  :  an  assumption  which  affords  the  means  of  determin- 
ing the  ratio  of  the  number  who  die  at  each  age  to  the  num- 
ber who  entered  upon  that  age ;  for  it  is  evident  that  in  a  place 
so  circumstanced,  and  supposing  also  there  is  no  migration, 
the  number  who  survive  or  complete  any  year  of  age  within 
a  given  period  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  deaths  at  all  the 
greater  ages  during  the  same  period.  For  the  sake  of  facili- 
tating calculations  from  the  table,  he  reduced  the  numbers 
proportionally  to  1000,  by  which  number  he  represented  the 
infants  of  one  year  of  age. 

This  method  of  determining  the  mortality  from  the  mor- 
tuary registers,  or  bills  of  mortality,  has  been  frequently 
adopted,  particularly  by  Dr.  Smart,  in  the  formation  of  a 
table  showing  the  mortality  in  the  city  of  London  about  the 
middle  of  the  last  century  ;  by  St.  Maur,  in  respect  of  Paris ; 
and  by  Dr.  Price,  for  the  celebrated  Northampton  table, 
presently  to  be  described.  But  it  is  evident  that  as  the  popu- 
lation of  a  large  town  or  district  of  country  can  never  be  ab- 
solutely stationary,  and  as  migration  must  be  constantly 
taking  pluce  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  the  method  is  not 
absolutely  correct ;  and,  in  fact,  the  results  to  which  it  leads 
must  be  attended  with  great  uncertainty.  In  order  to  ob- 
tain accurate  results,  it  is  necessary  to  know  the  numbers 
who  actually  enter  upon  each  year  of  age,  as  well  as  the 
numbers  who  die  in  that  age,  during  the  period  included  in 
the  observation ;  and  hence,  in  addition  to  the  mortuary  re- 
gister, an  enumeration  in  each  year,  or  at  short  intervals, 
of  the  community  in  the  several  ages  of  life,  is  requisite  for 
the  accurate  solution  of  the  problem.  But,  although  great 
attention  has  been  given  of  late  years  to  the  statistics  of  life 
in  various  countries  of  Europe,  it  is  only  in  a  very  few  in- 
stances that  sufficiently  accurate  data  for  the  construction 
of  a  mortality  table  have  been  obtained  from  observations 
embracing  indiscriminately  all  the  different  classes  of  the 
inhabitants.  Of  these  few,  the  principal  (if  not  the  only) 
instances  are  the  observations  made  in  Sweden  and  Nor- 
way ;  those  of  Dr.  Heysham,  at  Carlisle ;  and  more  recently 
by  Dr.  Cleland,  at  Glasgow. 

In  consequence  of  the  migration  which  is  constantly  go- 
ing on  among  the  inhabitants,  it  is  very  difficult  to  obtain 
with  certainty  the  data  necessary  for  determining  the  mor- 
tality of  any  town  or  district,  even  where  the  registers  of 
births  and  deaths  are  accurately  kept ;  but  there  are  various 
associations  of  individuals  with  respect  to  which  precise 
data  exist.  Such,  for  example,  are  the  religious  houses  in 
Catholic  countries  ;  the  tontines  which  were  established  in 
different  countries  of  Europe  during  the  last  century ,  the 
annuitants  of  the  British  government ;  and  especially  the 
assurance  companies,  which  are  now  become  so  numerous. 
In  all  such  associations,  the  numbers  who  enter  upon  and 
die  in  each  year  of  age  can  be  ascertained  with  precision 
from  the  records  of  the  association,  which,  therefore,  afford 
the  data  requisite  for  determining  the  rate  of  mortality  at 
the  different  ages,  without  hypothesis  of  any  kind.  Tables 
were  thus  constructed  by  Kersseboom,  from  Dutch  registers 
of  annuitants  ;  by  De  Parcieux,  from  the  lists  of  the  nomi- 
nees in  the  French  tontines,  chiefly  of  1689  and  1696,  and 
from  the  mortuary  registers  of  the  Benedictines,  and  of  the 
nuns  in  several  convents  in  Paris  ;  and  by  Mr.  Finlaison, 
from  six  different  classes  of  annuitants  in  English  and  Irish 
tontines.  Of  the  assurance  offices,  the  Equitable  Society  is 
the  only  one  which  has  as  yet  published  its  experience ; 
but  there  is  little  doubt  that  several  of  the  others  have  ac- 
cumulated valuable  masses  of  observations. 

We  shall  now  give  a  comparative  view  of  the  mean  du- 
ration of  life  at  the  different  ages,  computed  from  some  of 
the  best-known  tables,  premising  a  short  account  of  each 
table.  For  the  method  of  making  the  computation,  see  Ex- 
pectation of  Life. 

1.  Northampton  Table. — This  table,  which,  perhaps,  ia 

777 


MORTALITY,  LAW  OF. 

better  known  in  this  country  than  any  other,  on  account  of 
its  having  been  adopted  by  the  greater  number  of  the  as- 
surance offices  as  the  basis  of  their  tables  of  premiums,  was 
constructed  by  Dr.  Price,  from  the  bills  of  mortality  from 
1735  to  1780  of  the  parish  of  All  Saints,  in  the  city  of  North- 
ampton. It  cannot  be  considered  as  possessing  much  au- 
thority, either  on  account  of  the  accuracy  of  the  data,  or 
the  number  of  lives  of  which  it  embraces  the  history  ;  and 
the  hypotheses  made  use  of  in  its  formation — namely,  that 
the  number  of  the  inhabitants,  and  the  number  of  annual 
deaths,  remained  the  same  during  the  forty-six  years  inclu- 
ded in  the  observations,  and  also  that  the  migrations  all 
took  place  at  the  age  of  twenty  years — tend  farther  to  ren- 
der it  of  doubtful  value.  It  differs  from  the  other  tables  in 
giving  a  much  lower  expectation  of  life  at  the  younger  and 
middle  ages;  and  although  this  may  be  in  part  owing  to 
an  increase  in  the  average  duration  of  life  since  the  middle 
of  the  last  century,  it  is  probably  owing,  in  a  much  greater 
degree,  to  the  inaccuracy  of  the  observations.  For  the  his- 
tory of  this  table,  see  Price  on  Reversionary  Payments,  4th 
ed.,  1783. 

2.  Carlisle  Table.— This  was  constructed  by  Mr.  Milne, 
from  registers  kept  by  Dr.  Heysham  of  the  births  and  deaths 
which  took  place  in  the  city  of  Carlisle  and  its  environs  in 
the  nine  years  from  1779  to  1787,  the  number  of  inhabitants 
having  been  determined  by  two  enumerations  which  were 
made  during  that  interval.  On  account  of  the  accuracy  of 
the  data,  and  the  skilful  manner  in  which  they  were  made 
use  of,  this  table  is  of  great  value,  and  probably  gives  the 
most  correct  view  of  the  mortality  among  the  inhabitants  of 
England  generally  which  has  yet  been  obtained.  (JHilne's 
Treatise  on  Annuities,  $-<;.,  1815.) 

3.  Gorernmrnt  Tables. — These  tables,  as  already  men- 
tioned, were  computed  by  Mr.  Finlaison,  from  observations  of 
the  mortality  among  the  nominees  of  life  annuities  granted 
by  the  British  government.  Mr.  Finlaison  has  given  twenty- 
one  tables  of  the  probabilities  of  life  ;  but  the  recorded  facts 
are  contained  in  only  six  of  them,  the  others  being  formed 
by  combinations  of  these  six.  The  two  columns  in  the  sub- 
joined table,  for  males  and  females  respectively,  are  dedu- 
ced from  the  rate  of  mortality  adopted  by  the  government 
for  determining  the  values  of  life  annuities.  (Finlaison's 
Report  to  the  Lords  of  the  Treasury,  published  by  order  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  1829.) 

4.  Equitable  Society's  Table. — This  table,  which  was  pre- 
pared by  Mr.  Arthur  Morgan,  and  published  in  1834,  e.vhil>- 
its  the  mortality  which  took  place  in  the  society  from  its  es- 
tablishment in  1760  to  the  end  of  the  year  1829.  By  reason 
of  the  great  number  of  lives  contained  in  it,  and  the  certainty 
of  the  data,  this  is  a  document  of  great  importance.  It  will 
be  seen  from  the  subjoined  table  that,  for  ages  under  fifty,  it 
gives  a  rather  more  favourable  expectation  of  life  than  the 
government  table  for  males,  and  agrees  nearly  with  the 
Carlisle  table  ;  but  for  ages  above  fifty  it  gives  a  less  favour- 
able expectation  than  either  of  those  tables.  The  observa- 
tions commence  at  the  age  of  ten. 

5.  The  Friendly  Society's  Table. — This  table  was  prepa- 
red by  Mr.  Ansell,  from  materials  collected  by  the  Society 
for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge.  It  may  be  consid- 
ered as  representing  the  mortality  of  the  labouring  classes 
in  England.  The  observations  were  from  1823  to  1828. 
(jinsell's  Treatise  on  Friendly  Societies,  1835.) 

For  the  sake  of  avoiding  decimal  points,  the  numbers  in 
the  subjoined  table  show  the  mean  duration  of  life  for  ten 
individuals,  or  the  number  of  years  enjoyed  by  ten  individu- 
als collectively.  In  respect  of  a  single  individual,  the  mean 
duration  of  life  is  the  tenth  part  of  the  number  given  in  the 
table. 


a 

6 

J 

a 
O 

1  t 

|| 

a 

252 

.1-7 

502 

555 

s 

403 

513 

ia 

542 

111 

393 

4" 

456 

511 

483 

15 

36', 

450 

418 

(8 

450 

413 

M 

334 

415 

3-1 

440 

417 

376 

25 

309 

379 

359 

403 

3-1 

342 

30 

2*3 

313 

332 

376 

3-1.5 

309 

85 

257 

310 

302 

343 

309 

276 

231 

276 

270 

311 

r  i 

246 

4, 

205 

245 

238 

27s 

239 

216 

90 

180 

211 

KM 

244 

J"4 

1S7 

.-. 

156 

176 

172 

20S 

170 

159 

ty. 

132 

143 

144 

173 

130 

133 

'.-, 

109 

lis 

116 

110 

III 

1H9 

.' 

92 

92 

no 

-" 

86 

65 

70 

71 

85 

66 

65 

HI 

48 

55 

49 

66 

48 

48 

-'. 

34 

41 

31 

48 

34 

34 

a 

24 

33 

20 

28 

26 

% 

8 

35 

12 

16 

11 

S 

There  are  many  questions  of  great  interest  respecting  the 
778 


MORTGAGE. 

law  of  mortality  which  cannot  yet  be  satisfactorily  answer- 
ed, from  the  want  of  sufficient  data.  The  Carlisle  table 
gives  only  an  indication  of  local  mortality  ;  but  it  may  be 
asked,  whether  the  mortality  is  the  same  in  different  parts 
even  of  the  same  country,  or  the  same  in  cities  as  in  rural 
districts  1  Now,  the  government  annuitants  resided  in  all 
different  parts  of  the  kingdom  ;  and  the  same  may  be  said 
of  the  members  of  the  Equitable  Society,  though  perhaps  a 
majority  of  the  latter  were  resident  in  London.  But  the 
three  tables — namely,  the  Carlisle  table,  the  table  computed 
from  the  government  male  annuitants,  and  the  Equitable 
Society's  table — present  a  remarkable  agreement ;  and,  so 
far  as  their  evidence  goes,  we  cannot  draw  any  positive  con- 
clusion, either  in  favour  of  a  particular  district  or  a  select 
class  of  individuals. 

It  seems  to  be  established  beyond  doubt  that  the  rate  of 
mortality,  at  least  in  England,  has  undergone  a  very  sensible 
diminution  within  a  contury,  especially  in  respect  of  children 
and  aged  people.  This  may  be  ascribed,  in  some  degree,  to 
the  discovery  of  vaccination,  but  more  especially  to  the  gen- 
eral diffusion  of  comfort,  and  the  improved  mode  of  living, 
among  the  labouring  classes  of  the  community. 

Another  question  of  great  importance  is,  whether  the  law 
of  mortality  is  the  same  for  both  sexes  1  In  the  above  table 
it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  a  remarkable  disparity  between 
the  male  and  female  annuitants  in  favour  of  the  latter. 
This  indication  of  the  greater  longevity  of  females  is  con- 
tinued by  the  observations  of  De  Parcieux  on  the  monks 
and  nuns  in  the  French  convents  ;  of  Kerssebooni,  on  the 
Dutch  annuitants ;  of  Dr.  Price,  on  the  mortality  of  Chester ; 
and  also  by  the  tables  constructed  from  the  mortality  in 
Sweden,  at  Montpellier  in  France,  and  in  the  cities  of  Am- 
sterdam and  Brussels.  It  is  still,  however,  open  to  doubt, 
whether  the  superiority  shown  in  the  above  instances  holds 
generally  true.  Over  the  whole  population  of  Belgium,  the 
greater  part  consisting  of  peasantry  and  labourers,  it  is  found 
that  the  lives  of  females  are  shorter  than  those  of  males, 
while  in  the  towns  the  advantage  is  on  the  side  of  the  fe- 
males. We  believe  the  experience  of  some  of  the  assu- 
rance offices  shows  no  superiority  in  the  duration  of  female 
life. 

The  following  table,  showing  the  proportion  of  deaths  to 
the  population  in  the  principal  states  of  Europe,  according  to 
the  latest  observations,  is  extracted  from  a  paper  in  the  Re- 
vue Encyclopediquc  for  July  and  August,  1833.  We  can- 
not vouch  for  its  accuracy,  but  it  is  probably  not  far  from 
the  truth. 


Countries. 

Periods  or 
Epochs. 

Ratio  of  Mortality] 
to  Population. 

Sweden  and  Norway 

1*21—1825 

1    in    47 

Denmark        .        • 

1819 

European  Russia    .        ■ 

1626 

t           44 

Kingdom  of  Poland 

1S29 

British  Islands 

1818— 1521 

1          66 

1-J7-1-J- 

1          33 

Germany  Proper    . 

1825—  1523 

1          45 

Austrian  Empire   . 

182S 

1          40 

1-25— 1527 

Switzerland    . 

1827—1888 

1          40 

Portugal 

1515—1819 

1           40 

1801—1526 

1          40 

Ialy       . 

1-22-1S2S 

1          30 

Greece    .... 

1823 

1           30 

Turkey  in  Europe 
Northern  Europe  . 

1S2S 

1          30 

1           44 

Southern  Europe    . 
The  whole  of  Europe      . 

1          36 

1            40 

For  an  accurate  description  of  the  various  mortality  tables 
which  have  hitherto  been  published,  the  reader  is  referred 
to  the  excellent  article  on  the  subject,  by  Mr.  Milne,  in  the 
F.nni.  Rmtannica. 

MO'RTAE.  (Dut.  mortar.)  In  Architecture,  a  cement 
for  the  junction  of  stones  and  bricks,  made  of  lime,  sand, 
and  water.  In  the  composition  of  it  stone  lime  is  prefer- 
able to  that  bumed  from  chalk,  and  river  to  pit  or  road 
sand. 

Mortar.  A  short,  wide  piece  of  ordnance  for  throwing 
shells,  bombs,  grape-shot,  &c.  It  is  the  most  ancient  kind 
of  cannon. 

Mortar.  In  Pharmacy,  a  vessel  made  either  of  iron, 
■tone ■«  are,  or  class,  &.C.,  according  to  the  use  to  which  il  is 
applied,  in  which  substances  are  either  pulverized  or  dis- 
solved by  means  of  a  pestle.    In  fine  chemical  processes 

r< urse  is  often  had  to  mortars  made  of  agate,  flint,  or 

porphyry. 

MO'RTGAGE.  In  Law,  n  mortcace-dred  is  in  effect  a 
Conveyance,  by  which  a  party  grants  his  interest  or  a  por- 
liun  of  it  t"  another,  with  a  condition  that  if  a  sum  of  mon- 

ej  is  paid  bj  a  stipulated  day  the  grant  shall  be  void.  Thus 
the  grantee  has  a  conditional  estate,  whether  of  tee  simple 
or  otherwise,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  conveyance. 

During  the  continuance  of  this  estate,  the  mortgagor,  though 


MORTIER. 

in  possession,  is,  in  contemplation  of  law,  only  tenant-at- 
vvill  to  the  mortgagee ;  and,  on  failure  of  payment,  the  es- 
tate of  the  mortgagee  would  become  absolute  at  law.  But 
in  equity,  the  mortgagee's  estate  is  subject  to  an  equity  of 
redemption,  or  right  to  redeem  on  the  part  of  the  mortgagor  ; 
and  a  mortgage  is  thus  redeemable  so  long  as  the  relation 
of  debtor  or  creditor  appears  to  subsist  between  the  parties, 
and  for  twenty  years  after  the  last  acknowledgment  of 
that  relation  by  the  mortgagee,  unless,  upon  his  application, 
the  right  be  previously  foreclosed  by  a  decree  of  the  court. 

MORTIER.  (Fr.)  The  name  given  to  a  cap  of  state  of 
great  antiquity,  worn  by  the  first  kings  of  France,  and  the 
form  of  which  is  still  preserved  in  the  cap  worn  by  the  pres- 
ident de  la  cour  of  Paris. 

MORTIFICA'TION.  (Lat.  mors,  death,  and  facio,  / 
cause.)  Local  death,  gangrene.  When  any  portion  of  the 
body  loses  its  vitality,  a  process  of  separation  takes  place 
between  it  and  the  living  parts  that  surround  it;  and  when 
this  happens  in  certain  parts  or  organs,  it  is  necessarily  fatal. 
The  symptoms  that  attend  mortification  of  the  viscera  are 
generally  loss  of  pain,  diminution  of  fever,  small,  sinking 
pulse,  hiccough,  delirium,  cold  sweat,  and  fainting,  which 
precedes  death. 

Mortification,  in  Scottish  Law,  is  nearly  synonymous 
with  mortmain  in  English.  By  an  act  of  1587,  land  vested 
in  the  church  was  declared  to  be  given  for  superstitious 
purposes,  and  to  belong  to  the  crown  ;  and  thus  the  spolia- 
tion of  the  richly-endowed  ch  urch  of  that  country,  prior  to 
the  Reformation,  was  finally  legalized. 

MO'RTISE  (Fr.  mortaise),  in  Architecture,  is  the  junc- 
tion of  two  pieces  of  wood  or  other  material,  the  cavity  cut 
in  one  piece  being  the  receiving  correspondent  portion  of  the 
wood  of  the  other,  which  is  called  a  tenon. 

MO'RTMAIN.  In  Law,  an  alienation  of  lands,  tene- 
ments, or  hereditaments,  to  any  corporation,  sole  or  aggre- 
gate, guild,  or  fraternity.  The  foundation  of  the  statutes  of 
mortmain  is  Magna  Charta ;  by  which  it  was  rendered  un- 
lawful for  any  one  to  give  his  lands  to  a  religious  house,  &c. 
in  order  to  take  them  back  again  to  hold  of  the  same  house ; 
which  was  extended,  by  interpretation,  so  as  to  annul  gifts 
of  lands  which  religious  houses  did  not  give  back  to  the 
donor  to  his  own  use,  but  kept  in  their  own  hands  after  ta- 
king. A  great  number  of  statutes  were  afterwards  passed  in 
order  to  restrict  alienations  to  religious  persons  and  houses, 
and  various  devices  formed  for  the  purpose  of  eluding  them ; 
of  which  the  system  of  uses,  which  has  become,  in  some 
sort,  the  foundation  of  our  law  of  real  property,  was  one. 
(See  Real  Property,  Trust.)  But  during  the  whole  of 
this  time  the  king  had  the  power  of  dispensing  with  the 
statutes  of  mortmain  by  granting  licenses  of  alienation  ;  and 
this  power  was  confirmed  to  the  crown  by  stat.  7  &  8  W.  3, 
c.  37.  Alienation  to  charitable  uses  are  exempted  from  the 
statutes  of  mortmain ;  but  they  are  subjected  to  particular 
forms  and  solemnities  by  the  last  mortmain  act,  9  G.  2,  c. 
36.  The  term  mortmain  is  derived  from  the  Latin  words 
mortua  manus  (dead  hand),  because  the  lands  so  alienated 
are  said  to  fall  into  a  dead  hand,  i.  e.,  one  incapable  of  per- 
forming the  usual  services  required  of  tenants. 

MO'RTUARY.  In  Law,  a  fee  paid  to  the  incumbent  of 
a  parish,  by  custom  peculiar  to  some  places,  on  the  death  of 
a  parishioner.  It  appears  to  have  been  a  very  ancient  usage 
to  present  the  priest,  on  the  solemnization  of  a  funeral,  with 
some  personal  chattel  of  the  deceased,  or  a  sum  of  money 
in  lieu  of  it :  under  the  various  titles  of  pecunia  sepulchra- 
lis,  sedatium ;  in  Saxon,  soul-shot,  &c.  It  had  become  a  le- 
gal custom  as  early  as  the  reign  of  Henry  III.,  when  the 
reservation  of  a  mortuary  appears  to  have  been  essential  to 
the  validity  of  a  testament  of  chattels.  The  amount  was 
fixed  by  21  H.  8,  c.  6,  according  to  an  ad  valorem  taxation  of 
the  goods  of  the  deceased.  Mortuaries  (where  due  by  cus- 
tom) are  recoverable  in  the  ecclesiastical  courts ;  and  it 
should  appear,  since  the  statute,  at  common  law,  although 
such  actions  have  not  hitherto  been  brought. 

MO'RUS  (Lat.  the  mulberry  tree  ;  Celtic,  mor,  black),  is  a 
small  genus  of  plants,  containing  some  species  valuable  for 
their  foliage,  and  others  for  their  fruit.  The  latter  is  our 
mulberry  tree,  Morus  nigra,  whose  well-known  black,  juicy 
berries  are  a  favourite  autumn  production ;  the  former  are 
J\I.  alba,  philippensis,  and  others,  which  constitute  the  best 
of  all  food  for  silk-worms.  The  latter  are  found  occasion- 
ally in  plantations ;  but  they  are  too  tender  to  bear  our  cli- 
mate well,  and  cannot  be  usefully  cultivated  even  in  the 
midland  country  of  England. 

MOSAIC,  or  MUSAlC.  (Gr.  fiovaaiKov,  polished,  ele- 
gant ;  from  fiovaa,  as  being  fine  or  ingenious  ?)  In  Paint- 
ing, a  species  of  representation  of  objects  by  means  of  very 
minute  pieces  of  stones  or  pebbles  of  different  colours,  care- 
fully inlaid  upon  a  ground  generally  of  metal.  In  St. 
Peter's  at  Rome  are  to  be  seen  some  works  of  this  sort  on  a 
magnificent  scale.  This  art  was  practised  at  a  very  early 
period,  and  was  re-introduced  to  Italy  by  the  Byzantine 
Greeks. 


MOTHER  OP  PEARL. 

MOSA'IC  GOLD.  Bisulphuret  of  tin  ;  a  yellow,  flaky 
substance,  sometimes  employed  in  ornamental  japan  work. 
This  term  has  lately  been  applied  to  a  superior  kind  of  brass, 
and  to  a  yellow  alloy  of  copper,  zinc,  and  gold. 

MOSA  IC  WORK.  In  Architecture,  the  inlaying  pave- 
ments, walls,  &c.  with  small  dies  of  different  coloured 
stones  or  glass,  in  regular  figures,  or  to  represent  historical 
or  other  subjects. 

MOSLEM.     See  Mussulman. 

MOSOUE.  (Arab,  medsched.)  A  Mohammedan  place 
of  religious  worship.  The  principal  interior  decoration  of 
mosques  consists  in  the  lamps,  which  are  numerous,  and 
singularly  disposed  ;  the  floor  is  covered  with  carpets :  the 
direction  of  Mecca  is  denoted  by  a  niche,  or  by  a  tablet  in- 
scribed with  verses  of  the  Koran,  called  the  Kebla.  The 
principal  Arabian  and  Syrian  mosques  are  most  remarkable 
for  their  vast  quadrangles,  surrounded  with  numerous  col- 
umns ;  those  of  the  Turks  for  the  elegance  of  their  cupolas. 
The  original  places  of  worship  of  the  Arabians  were  the 
temples  dedicated  to  the  religion  of  the  different  nations 
whom  they  subdued  :  such,  for  instance,  as  the  temple  of 
Jerusalem,  the  temple  of  Minerva  at  Athens,  and  innumer- 
able others  in  Spain,  Asia  and  Egypt.  It  was  not  until  they 
had  consolidated  their  power  that  the  Arabians  devoted 
themselves  to  the  cultivation  of  the  arts,  and  gave  any  indi- 
cation of  that  original  architectural  genius  which  afterwards 
displayed  itself  in  the  structure  of  mosques.  At  the  en- 
trance of  almost  every  mosque  there  is  a  large  court  plant- 
ed with  bushy  trees,  in  the  centre  of  which,  or  under  a  ves- 
tibule paved  with  marble,  are  fountains  for  the  prescribed 
ablutions  of  the  Mussulmans ;  and  to  these  courts  is  usually 
attached  a  small  gallery,  on  which  the  apartments  of  the 
ministers  of  religion,  &c.  abut.  But  besides  mosques  for 
public  worship,  there  are  others  set  apart  for  the  instruction 
of  young  men  in  the  science  of  legislation  and  the  doctrines 
of  the  Koran  ;  and  to  this  class  belong  the  so-called  royal 
mosques,  or  jamis,  of  Constantinople.  Most  of  these 
mosques  have  hospitals  for  the  poor,  sick,  or  deranged  per- 
sons attached  to  them.  Their  revenues  are  often  consider- 
able, and  are  derived  chiefly  from  endowments  in  landed 
property.  The  term  mosque  is  found,  with  slight  variation, 
in  all  European  languages.  The  Turkish  equivalent  is 
meschil,  which  is  supposed  to  be  derived  from  the  Arabic 
mesgiad,  a  place  of  adoration ;  and  from  this  are  derived 
respectively  the  Fr.  mosquee,  the  Germ,  moschee,  the  Span, 
mequita,  the  Ital.  mascheta,  and  the  Eng.  mosque.  See 
Minaret. 

MO'SSES,  in  common  language,  are  any  minute,  small- 
leaved  Cryptogamic  plants.  Thus  club  moss  is  a  lycopo- 
dium  ;  Iceland  and  reindeer  mosses  are  lichens ;  and  the 
numerous  species  of  Jungermannia  are  all  comprehended 
under  the  same  term.  But  in  systematical  botany  no  plants 
are  considered  mosses  except  such  as  belong  to  the  natural 
order  Bryacem  or  Musci.  Such  plants  are  simple-leaved  ; 
without  spiral  vessels  or  stomates;  with  a  distinct  axis  of 
growth ;  and  with  the  spores  or  reproductive  matter  enclo- 
sed in  cases,  called  sporangia  or  thecae,  covered  by  a  cup  or 
calyptra.  The  structure  of  the  sporangia  is  as  complex  as 
that  of  the  stems  and  leaves  is  simple.  Each  sporangium  is 
closed  by  a  lid  or  operculum  ;  below  which  is  a  transverse 
membrane,  closing  up  the  urn  left  after  the  fall  of  the  oper- 
culum. The  edge  of  the  urn  is  furnished  with  one  or  more 
rows  of  teeth,  in  all  cases  some  multiple  of  4  ;  in  the  centre 
is  a  columella  or  column,  and  between  the  latter  and  the 
sides  of  the  urn  are  the  spores.  It  is  not  a  little  singular 
that  such  plants  should  have  cases  called  staminidia,  con- 
taining powdery  matter ;  among  which  are  found  animal- 
cules, not  distinguishable  from  such  as  are  called  spermatic, 
and  which  swim  about  freely  in  water.  None  of  the  moss- 
es are  of  any  known  use. 

MOSS  LAND.  Land  abounding  in  peat  moss,  but  not 
so  much  saturated  with  water  as  to  become  peat  bog,  or 
morass. 

MOSS-TROOPERS.  In  English  and  Scottish  History, 
those  inhabitants  of  the  borders  of  the  respective  countries 
who  were  banded  together  in  clans,  and  lived  by  rapine,  re- 
ceived this  denomination,  from  the  character  of  the  country 
over  which  they  "  trooped"  in  their  excursions.  These  ban- 
ditti were  little  heard  of  after  the  union  of  the  two  crowns, 
but  not  absolutely  suppressed  until  the  union  of  the  king- 
doms a  century  afterwards. 

MOTES,  among  the  Anglo-Saxons,  were  public  courts  or 
conventions  of  the  people  assembled  for  municipal  or  legis- 
lative purposes.  They  were  of  various  kinds;  asWittenage- 
mote,  Folkmote,  Burgemote,  &c.  (See  these  separate  arti- 
cles.) Moteer  was  a  customary  service  or  payment  at  the 
mote  or  court  of  the  lord,  from  which  certain  persons  alone 
were  exempted  by  charter  or  other  privilege. 

MOTE'T.  (Ital.  motetto.)  In  Music,  a  composition  con- 
sisting of  from  one  to  eight  parts,  of  a  sacred  character. 

MO'THER  OF  PEARL  (Fr.  nacre  de  perles;  Germ. 
perlen-mutter),  is  the  hard,  silvery,  brilliant  internal  layer 

779 


MOTHER  WATER. 

of  ecvcr.il  kinds  of  shells,  particularly  oysters,  which  is  often 
variegated  with  changing  purple  and  azure  colours.  The 
large  oysters  of  the  Indian  seas  alone  secrete  this  coat  of 
sufficient  thickness  to  render  their  shells  available  to  the 
purposes  of  manufactures.  The  genus  of  shellfish  called 
Pentadinm  furnishes  the  finest  pearls,  as  well  as  mother  of 
pearl ;  it  is  found  in  greater  inflection  round  the  coast  of 
Ceylon,  near  Ormus  in  the  Persian  Gulf,  at  Cape  Comorin, 
and  among  some  of  the  Australian  seas.  The  brilliant  hues 
of  mother  of  pearl  do  not  depend  upon  the  nature  of  the 
substance,  but  upon  its  structure.  The  microscopic  wrinkles 
or  furrows  which  run  across  the  surface  of  every  slice  act 
upon  the  reflected  light  in  such  a  way  as  to  produce  the 
chromatic  effect ;  for  Sir  David  Brewster  has  shown,  thnt  if 
we  take,  with  very  fine  black  wax.  or  with  the  fusible  alloy 
of  D'Arcet,  an  impression  of  mother  of  pearl,  it  will  possess 
the  iridescent  appearance.  Mother  of  pearl  is  very  delicate 
to  work;  but  it  may  be  fashioned  by  saws,  files,  and  drills, 
with  the  aid  sometimes  of  a  corrosive  acid,  such  as  the  dilute 
sulphuric  or  muriatic ;  and  it  is  polished  by  colcothar  of 
vitriol.     (  Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts,  <$-c.) 

MO'THER  WATER.  A  term  applied  by  chemists  to 
saline  solutions  from  which  crystals  have  been  deposited, 
and  which,  when  poured  off  and  re-evaporated,  furnish  a 
second  crop. 

MOTION.  (Lat.  motio.)  In  Mechanical  Philosophy, 
motion  is  the  change  of  place  ;  that  is,  of  the  part  of  space 
which  the  body  occupies,  or  in  which  it  is  extended.  Motion 
is  real  or  absolute  when  the  moving  body  changes  its  place 
in  absolute  space  ;  it  is  relative  when  the  body  changes  its 
place  only  with  relation  to  surrounding  bodies  ;  and  it  is  ap- 
parent when  the  body  changes  its  situation  with  respect  to 
other  bodies  that  appear  to  us  to  be  at  rest.  All  the  phe- 
nomena of  motion  are  derived  by  mathematical  deductions 
from  the  three  following  laws  of  motion  of  Newton : 

1.  A  body  must  continue  forever  in  a  state  of  rest,  or  of 
uniform  motion  in  a  straight  line,  if  it  be  not  disturbed  by 
the  action  of  an  external  cause. 

2.  Every  change  of  motion  produced  by  any  external  force 
is  proportional  to  the  force  impressed,  and  in  the  direction 
of  the  straight  line  in  which  the  force  acts. 

3.  Action  and  reaction  are  equal  and  in  contrary  direc- 
tions; that  is,  equal  and  contrary  changes  of  motion  are 
produced  on  bodies  which  mutually  act  on  each  other. 

For  the  formulae  which  express  the  relations  between  the 
moving  force,  the  spaces  passed  over,  and  the  times  when 
bodies  move  in  straight  lines  or  curves,  with  uniform  or  ac- 
celerated velocities,  see  Force  and  Velocity.  For  element- 
ary illustrations  of  the  above  three  laws,  we  refer  to  Mac- 
laurin's  Account  of  JVeicton's  Principia. 

Motion.  (Lat.  motio.)  In  Painting  and  Sculpture,  the 
change  of  place  or  position  which  from  certain  attitudes  a 
figure  seems  to  be  making  in  its  representation  in  a  picture. 
It  can  be  only  implied  from  the  attitude  which  prepares  the 
animal  for  the  given  change,  and  differs  from  action,  which 
see.  Upon  motion,  in  art,  depends  that  life  which  seems  to 
pervade  a  picture  when  executed  by  a  master. 

Motion.  In  Music,  the  manner  of  beating  the  measure 
so  as  to  hasten  or  retard  the  pronunciation  of  the  words  or 
notes. 

.Mi  >'TK)N  IN  COURT.  In  Law,  an  occasional  applica- 
tion to  the  court,  by  the  parties  or  their  counsel,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  obtaining  some  rule  or  order  of  court  which  becomes 
necessary  in  the  progress  of  a  cause.  Motions  are  either  of 
a  criminal  nature,  as  motions  for  an  attachment  for  a  mis- 
behaviour; or  of  a  civil  nature.  A  motion  in  the  courts  of 
common  law  is  either  for  a  rule  absolute,  i.  e.,  to  take  effect 
immediately  ;  or  it  is  for  what  is  termed  a  rule  nisi,  or  a  rule 
to  show  cause — i.  e.,  a  rule  to  take  effect,  unless  cause  be 
shown  against  it  by  a  certain  day,  when,  if  no  cause  be 
shown,  the  rule  is  made  absolute  on  a  second  morion.  Mo- 
tions are  accompanied  by  affidavits  statin;;  the  facts  on  which 
tin  y  are  grounded,  and  generally  preceded  by  a  notice  to  the 
opposite  party. 

MOTIO.V'urAXTITY  OF.  This  term  is  used  by  wri- 
ters on  mechanics  to  denote  the  product  of  the  mass  or  mo- 
ving hody  by  the  velocitv.     Sec  Mo.menti  m. 

MOTIVE  FORCE.  The  force  which  tends  to  produce 
motion.     It  is  the  same  with  momentum. 

MO'TOR,  MOVER.  A  term  applied  by  anatomists  to 
certain  muscles,  &c. 

MO'TTO  (Ital.),  is  used  to  signify  a  word  or  sentence  ad- 
ded to  a  device;  and  when  put  upon  a  scroll,  it  is  commonly 
employed  as  an  external  ornament  of  coat  armour.  The 
use  of  mottoes  for  this  purpose  is  very  ancient.  The  term 
motto  is  also  applied  as  a  sentence  or  quotation  prefixed  to 
any  writing  or  publication. 

MOULD.  Soil  composed  of  decayed  vegetable  matter  in 
a  state  of  minute  division,  more  or  less  mixed  with  garden 
earth.  The  kinds  of  mould  most  in  use  in  horticulture  are 
leaf-mould,  formed  from  the  decayed  leaves  of  tries,  rich 
mould,  formed  of  thoroughly  decayed  stable  dung ;  heulh- 
780 


MOUNTAIN. 

mould,  found  on  the  surface  of  heath  lands ;  and  pent  -mould, 
formed  of  thoroughly  decomposed  peat.     In  general,  moulds 

are  distinguished  from  smis  by  containing  a  much  greater 
portion  of  vegetable  matters  than  of  earths. 

Mm  i.D.  (Span,  molde.)  In  Sculpture,  the  matrix  or  hol- 
lowed wrought  form  into  which  the  liquid  or  plaster,  wax 
or  metal,  is  run  in  casting  works  of  art. 

MOU'LDING.  (Fr.  moule.)  In  Architecture,  the  mem- 
bers of  an  order,  which  are  shaped  into  various  curved  or 
flat  forms,  of  which  there  are  eight  sorts.  The  fillet,  which 
is  square  in  profile  (1) ;  the  astragal  (2) ;  the  torus  (3),  being 


_J 


J 


r 


3L 


T 


larger  than  the  astragal ;  the  scotia  (4)  ;  the  echinus  (5),  or 
quarter  round ;  the  inverted  cyma,  talon,  or  ogee  (6) ;  the 
cymn,  cyma  recta,  or  cymatium  (7) ;  and  the  cavetto  or 
hollow  (8.) 

MOULD  LOFT.  A  large  room  in  a  dockyard  in  which 
the  several  parts  of  the  ship  are  drawn  out  in  their  proper 
dimensions. 

MOULTING.  The  fall  of  the  plumage  of  birds.  It  may 
be  either  partial  or  total  :  the  complete  moult  generally 
takes  place  annually ;  the  partial  moult  occurs  at  the  change 
of  plumage  to  which  some  species  of  birds  are  subject  at 
the  breeding  season.  The  moult  is  always  accompanied  by 
the  development  of  a  new  plumage,  which  may  be  of  a 
different  colour  from  that  which  is  lost.    See  Indumentum. 

MOU'NTAIN  LIMESTONE.  A  series  of  limestone 
strata,  the  geological  position  of  which  is  immediately  below 
the  coal  measures,  with  which  they  also  sometimes  alter- 
nate.    See  Geology. 

MOU'NTAIN  MILK.  A  very  soft,  spongy  variety  of 
carbonate  of  lime. 

MOUNTAIN.  (Lat.  mons.)  In  Geography,  the  term 
applied  to  designate  the  principal  elevations  on  the  earth's 
surface.  Mountains  and  hills,  says  Bakewell,  are  relative 
terms  with  respect  to  each  other,  the  highest  elevations  be- 
ing denominated  mountains,  and  the  lower  hills.  In  the 
vicinity  of  Mont  Blanc  and  Mont  Rosa,  which  are  more  than 
.r>(l(MI  yards  high,  the  mountains  in  Cumberland  and  North 
Wales  would  be  called  hills,  though  Bnowdon  rises  more 
than  1100  yards,  and  Skiddaw  and  Hclvellyn  more  than  1000 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  In  England,  if  hills  rise  abrupt- 
ly, and  are  more  than  400  yards  above  the  surrounding 
country,  they  are  generally  called  mountains.  See  Geology. 

Arrangement  of  Mountains. — Mountains  are  seldom  found 
insulated  or  detached:  sometimes,  though  rarely,  they  exist 
in  aggregate  groups,  branching  from  a  common  ccntro,  and 
not  externally  connected  ;  but  most  commonly  they  are  ex- 
tended in  ranges  or  mountain  chains,  traversing  extensive 
regions.  A  single  continuous  chain  is  of  rare  occurrence : 
in  general,  a  number  of  chains  is  associated ;  though  there 
does  not,  seem  to  be  any  predominating  form  of  aggregation 
or  direction,  at  least  with  reference  to  the  whole  surface  of 
the  globe.  In  some  instances  there  is  a  principal  or  central 
chain,  with  secondary  groups  branching  off  from  it :  in  others, 
several  chains  are  associated,  to  no  one  of  which  the  rest 
can  be  said  to  be  subordinate ;  and  in  others  again,  as  the 
Cordilleras,  a  series  of  chains  succeed  each  other,  all  run- 
ning in  one  constant  direction.  It  has  been  surmised  that 
the  direction  of  the  principal  mountain  chains  is  that  of  the 
line  of  greatest  length  of  the  continent  or  region  to  which 
they  belong ;  but  this  idea,  though  rendered  plausible  by 
some  remarkable  instances,  can  scarcely  be  said  to  be  borne 
out  by  the  facts.  In  a  very  general  view,  it  may  be  stated 
that  the  predominating  direction  of  the  great  mountain  chains 
of  the  old  world  is  from  west  to  east,  while  those  of  Ameri- 
ca range  from  north  to  south.     See  Geography. 

Another  generalization,  which  seems  to  be  liable  to  fewer 
exceptions,  is,  that  mountain  chains  or  ranges  present  the 
steepest  acclivities  on  the  sides  nearest  the  sea.  This  ar- 
rangement is  particularly  observable  on  the  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean :  the  mountains  of  Armenia  present  their 
precipitous  sides  to  the  Euxine,  and  those  of  Caucasus  and 
Mn/.anderan  to  the  Caspian.  The  western  Ghauts  face  the 
Indian  Ocean  ;  and  the  whole  range  of  the  Cordilleras,  with 
I li<  ir  prolongation  to  the  Arctic  Ocean,  presents  its  escarp- 
ments to  the  great  Pacific.  On  the  hypothesis  that  the  con- 
tinents and  mountain  masses  have  been  upheaved  by  a 
force  acting  in  the  inferior  of  the  earth,  these  peculiarities 
of  configuration  afford  scope  for  curious  speculation  respect- 
ing the  prodigious  efficacy  of  the  subterranean  agencies 
through  which  the  crust  of  the  earth  has  assumed  its  actual 
form. 

.l/titude  of  Mountains. — On  taking  a  general  view  of  the 
surface  of  the  earth,  the  elevation  of  the  loftiest  mountain 
chains,  enormous  as  it  appears  to  be,  is  insignificant  in  com- 
paiison  of  the  dimensions  of  the  globe.  The  radius  of  the 
earth  is  nearly  4000  miles;  while  the  height  of  the  highest 


MOURNING. 

peaks  above  the  mean  level  scarcely  exceeds  five  miles :  the 
ratio  is  accordingly  1  to  800  ;  so  that  on  a  16-inch  globe  the 
corresponding  inequality  would  only  amount  to  the  hun- 
dredth part  of  an  inch.  Mountains,  however,  exercise  a 
very  great  influence  on  the  climate  of  a  country,  and  hence 
it  is  of  great  importance  in  geography  to  ascertain  their  alti- 
tude and  configuration.  The  methods  by  which  the  meas- 
urement is  effected  have  been  explained  under  the  term 
Heights,  Measurement  of. 

The  following  are  the  altitudes  of  a  few  of  the  most  ele- 
vated peaks  in  the  four  quarters  of  the  world.  The  most 
extensive  list  which  we  have  seen  is  given  in  Gehler's  Physi- 
calisches  Lexicon,  art.  "  Hohenpunckte,"  where  the  authori- 
ties for  the  different  measures  are  also  stated. 

Europe.— Mont  Blanc,  Alps,  15,781  ft.  ;  Mont  Rosa,  15,555 
ft. ;  Ortler  Spitze,  Tyrol,  15,430  ft. ;  Jungfrauhom,  13,720 
ft. ;  St.  Gothard  Pass,  9975  ft. ;  Hospice,  Great  St.  Bernard, 
8040ft.;  Mont  Perdu,  Pyrenees,  11,283  ft.;  Le  Pic  Blanc, 
do.,  10,205  ft. ;  Monte  Corno,  Appenines,  9523  ft. ;  Lomnitz, 
Peak  of  Carpathians,  8640  ft. ;  Parnassus,  8000  ft. ;  Mula- 
uacen,  Sierra  Nevada,  Spain,  11,673  ft. ;  iEtna,  Sicily,  10,963 
ft.;  Sneehattan,  Norway,  8115  ft.;  Snaefell,  Iceland,  6860 
ft.;  Helvellyn,  England,  3055  ft.;  Ben  Macdui,  Scotland, 
4418  ft. ;  Macgillicuddy's  Reeks,  Ireland,  3410  ft. 

Asia. — Dhawala-giri,  Himalaya,  26,862  ft. :  Jamautri,  do., 
25,500  ft. ;  Elburz,  Caucasus,  18,500  ft. ;  Mouna  Kaah,  Sand- 
wich Islands,  18,400  ft.;  Demavend,  Mazanderan,  14,700ft. ; 
Soomoonang,  Thibet,  14,500  ft. ;  Ophir,  Sumatra,  13,842  ft. ; 
Italitzkoi,  Altai,  10,735  ft. ;  Ararat,  Armenia,  9500  ft. ;  Leb- 
anon, 9520  ft. ;  Sinai,  5000  ft. ;  Tangai,  Ural,  4912  ft. 

Africa.— Mountains  of  Geesh,  15,000  ft. ;  Peak  of  Tene- 
rifte,  12,236  ft. ;  Atlas,  11,400  ft. ;  Niewveldt,  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  10,000  ft. ;  Gros  Nome,  Isle  of  Bourbon,  9600  ft. ;  Tri- 
go,  Canaries,  7400  ft. ;  Tuivo,  Madeira,  5162  ft. 

America. — Sorata,  Bolivia,  25,000  ft. ;  Illimani,  Peru, 
24,450  ft.;  Chimborazo,  Andes,  21,440  ft.;  Antisana,  19,150 
ft. ;  Catopaxi,  18,890  ft. ;  Volcan  de  Popocateptl,  Mexico, 
17,716  ft. ;  Potosi,  16,000  ft. ;  Nevado  de  Mexico,  15,700  ft. ; 
Lake  of  Titicaca,  12,000  ft. ;  City  of  Rio  Bamba,  10,800  ft. ; 
White  Mountains,  New-Hampshire,  6230  ft. 

MOU'RNING,  may  be  denned  generally  as  an  external 
indication  or  manifestation  of  grief  for  the  death  of  a  friend 
or  relative.  Certain  usages  in  regard  to  mourning  have  been 
in  force  among  all  nations,  barbarous  and  civilized,  from  the 
earliest  ages;  but  except  in  the  grief  of  which  they  are  in- 
tended to  be  the  symbol,  no  customs  exhibit  fewer  marks  of 
uniformity.  Tims,  the  Chinese  mourn  in  white  ;  the  Turks 
in  blue  or  in  violet ;  the  Egyptians  in  yellow  ;  the  Ethiopians 
in  gray.  In  ancient  Rome  and  Laceda:mon  the  ladies  mourn- 
ed in  white.  In  Eastern  countries  it  was  regarded  as  a  pe- 
culiar mark  of  affliction  to  cut  the  hair;  and  at  Rome,  on 
the  contrary,  to  let  it  grow.  The  Greeks  adopted  the  East- 
ern practice,  and  bestrewed  the  tombs  of  those  for  whom 
they  mourned  with  their  hair.  The  peculiarities  of  the  an- 
cient Jews  in  time  of  mourning  are  well  known ;  and  the 
various  customs,  of  which  so  minute  an  account  is  contained 
in  the  Pentateuch,  are  still  maintained  on  these  occasions  by 
their  descendants.  From  the  commencement  of  the  Christian 
era,  the  general  colour  adopted  for  mourning  throughout  Eu- 
rope has  been,  with  very  few  exceptions,  black.  The  kings 
of  France  mourn  in  violet.  The  duration  of  the  period  of 
mourning  differs  in  different  countries,  but  in  all  is  usually 
regulated  by  the  nearness  of  relationship  between  the  survi- 
vers  and  the  deceased.  Thus,  in  France,  the  period  pre- 
scribed by  usage  is,  for  a  husband,  one  year  and  six  weeks ; 
for  a  father,  mother,  wife,  or  child,  six  months ;  for  a  grand- 
child, four  months  and  a  half;  for  a  brother  or  sister,  two 
months;  for  an  uncle  or  aunt,  three  weeks;  for  a  cousin- 
german,  fifteen  days,  &c.  The  rules  lhat  determine  the  forms 
and  duration  of  court  mourning  emanate  from  the  sovereign, 
but  these  do  not  extend  beyond  the  CQurt ;  and  though,  on  the 
demise  of  the  crown  or  a  relation,  it  is  expected,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Gazette,  that  the  people  "put  themselves  into 
decent  mourning,"  this  is  seldom  generally  complied  with, 
except  when  the  character  of  the  deceased  has  been  such 
88  to  secure  wide  popularity.  (The  art.  "Deuil,"  in  the 
Encyclopedic  des  Gens  du  Monde,  gives  a  very  complete 
view  of  the  chief  modes  of  mourning  in  use  in  ancient  and 
modern  times.)     See  Sepulture,  Rites  of. 

MOUSE.  (Lat.  mus ;  probably  from  the  Gr.  pvciv.  to  hide.) 
The  pretty  but  annoying  little  Rodent  quadruped  which  in- 
fests human  dwellings  and  granaries  is  usually  understood 
by  this  word ;  the  other  small  species  of  the  genus  Mus  be- 
ing distinguished  by  some  prefix,  as  harvest-mouse,  field- 
mouse;  and  the  larger  species  of  the  same  genus  being 
termed  "  rats."  (For  the  generic  character  of  the  mouse,  see 
Mus.)  The  common  mouse,  like  the  rest  of  the  genus,  and 
indeed  the  whole  of  its  order,  is  remarkable  for  its  fecundi- 
ty ;  it  produces  ordinarily  five  or  six  young  ones  at  a  birth, 
and  this  several  times  in  the  course  of  the  year.  In  a  fort- 
night the  young  are  able  to  leave  the  mother  and  assume  an 
independent  existence,  and  these  are  soon  again  able  to  re- 
66 


MUCUS. 

produce.  The  harvest-mouse  ( Mus  messorius)  is  the  small- 
est of  known  mammals  ;  the  length  of  the  head  and  body  i9 
two  inches  and  a  half.  Its  nest  is  beautifully  and  elaborate- 
ly constructed  of  the  panicles  and  leaves  of  three  stems  of 
the  common  reed  interwoven  together,  and  forming  a  round- 
ish ball,  suspended  on  the  living  plants  at  a  height  of  about 
five  inches  from  the  ground.  The  field-mouse  is  about  the 
size  of  the  house-mouse,  but  is  distinguished  by  its  larger 
eyes  and  ears.  Many  small  mouse-like  quadrupeds  are 
commonly  termed  "mice"  which  really  belong  to  a  different 
genus,  or  even  order,  as  the  dormouse,  the  field  vole,  the 
shrew,  &c. 

Mouse.  In  Naval  Affairs,  a  hump  or  knot  worked  on  a 
rope,  to  prevent  a  noose  from  slipping. 

MOUTH.  (Sax.  mudt.)  In  Architecture,  the  salne  as 
cavetto,  which  see. 

MO'VABLE  FEASTS.  Certain  festivals  held  in  com- 
memoration of  differents  events  recorded  in  the  Gospels  and 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  connected  with  the  personal 
circumstances  of  Christ  during  the  last  year  of  his  earthly 
life,  and  after  his  death.  As  they  are  reckoned  backward 
and  forward  from  his  resurrection,  and  as  the  celebration 
of  that  day  depends  on  the  time  of  new  moon,  which  varies 
at  different  times  through  the  space  of  a  month,  these  de- 
pendant festivals  also  vary  in  the  same  way.  Easter  is 
always  the  first  Sunday  after  the  first  new  moon  after  the 
21st  of  March  ;  and  from  this  all  the  others  are  reckoned  for 
each  year. 

MOVEMENT.  The  train  of  wheel-work  of  a  clock  or 
watch.     See  Horology. 

Movement.  In  Politics,  an  expression  that  has  been 
adopted  of  late  years  into  the  political  vocabulary  of  most 
European  nations,  signifying  that  party  in  a  state  whose 
principles  consist  in  a  restless  endeavour  to  obtain  such  con- 
cessions in  favour  of  popular  rights  as  will  ultimately  place 
the  chief  functions  of  government  in  the  hands  of  the  peo- 
ple. It  is  opposed  to  the  Conservative  party,  or  the  parti  de 
resistance. 

MOW.  A  mass  of  com  in  the  sheaf,  built  up  in  one  end 
of  the  barn  preparatory  to  being  threshed. 

MOWING.  The  act  of  cutting  down  grass,  herbage, 
or  corn  with  a  scythe.  Mown  grass,  or  herbage,  is  either 
given  to  horses  and  cattle  in  a  green  state,  or  dried  and 
stacked  for  winter  use.  When  corn  or  pulse  are  mown, 
they  are  dried  and  stacked  till  a  convenient  season  occurs 
for  separating  the  corn  or  pulse  from  the  straw  or  haum  by 
threshing. 

MO'XA.  A  soft  woolly  substance,  made  in  Japan  from 
the  leaves  of  the  Artemisia  Chinensis,  or  Chinese  magworts. 
It  is  used  as  an  actual  cautery,  by  placing  a  small  cone  of  it 
upon  the  skin  and  setting  fire  to  it,  when  it  burns  down  to 
the  part  and  makes  a  sore,  which  is  kept  open  if  requisite. 

MOYA.     Mud  poured  out  from  volcanoes. 

MUCI'VORA.  (Lat.  mucus,  slime,  voro,  /  devour.)  A 
name  applied  to  a  family  of  Dipterous  insects,  comprehend- 
ing those  which  feed  on  the  mucus  or  other  juices  of  plants, 
or  of  decomposinc  animal  bodies. 

MUCK,  RUNNING  A.  A  phrase  which  has  been  adopt- 
ed into  the  English  language  to  signify  an  indiscriminate 
attack  upon  friends  and  enemies ;  as  in  the  well-known 
verse, 

"Who  runs  a  rnuck,  and  tilts  at  all  be  meets. 
This  expression  is  derived  from  the  Javan  word  amok, 
which  means  to  kill ;  the  inhabitants  of  Java,  and  many 
other  of  the  Asiatic  islands,  being  remarkable  for  an  irre- 
sistible phrensy  resulting  from  a  desire  of  vengeance,  which 
leads  them  to  aim  at  indiscriminate  destruction,  and  thus  to 
subject  themselves  to  be  treated  like  wild  beasts  which  it  is 
impossible  to  take  alive.  These  fits  of  desperation  were  long 
considered  peculiar  to  the  class  of  slaves  in  the  islands  above 
mentioned  ;  but  there  are  many  instances  on  record  where 
whole  villages,  and  even  armies,  have,  under  the  influence 
of  a  mok,  devoted  themselves  to  inevitable  destruction  to 
avenge  an  injury  or  an  insult.  The  accounts  of  the  wars 
of  the  Javans,  says  Raffles,  in  his  History  of  Java,  as  well 
as  of  the  Malayus,  abound  with  instances  of  warriors  run- 
ning amok ;  of  combatants,  giving  up  all  idea  of  preserving 
their  own  lives,  rushing  on  the  enemy,  committing  indis- 
criminate slaughter,  and  never  surrendering  themselves 
alive.  The  cause  of  these  fits  of  desperation  has  been  at- 
tributed to  an  intemperate  indulgence  in  opium-eating. 

MU'COUS  MEMBRANE.  The  membranous  lining  of 
the  canals  and  cavities  of  the  body  which  are  exposed  to 
the  contact  of  air  or  other  inorganic  substances.  The  basis 
of  this  membrane  is  compact  cellular  tissue,  not  gelatinous 
or  adipose,  and  having  a  peculiar  cuticular  covering,  beset 
in  some  cases  with  abundant  nervous  papilla;,  in  others  with 
the  orifices  of  secretory  glands. 

MU'CUS.  (Lat.)  The  secretion  of  the  mucous  mem- 
branes, the  most  characteristic  of  which  is  that  from  the 
nasal  membrane.  Mucus  is  viscid,  and  acquires  apparent 
fluidity  in  water  without  being  actually  dissolved,  but  gives 


MUDAR. 

a  ropbiess  to  it  when  present  to  a  less  amount  than  1  per 
cent.  With  pure  water  of  the  temperature  of  95°,  this  ap- 
pearance ensues  in  a  few  hours;  but  if  the  apparent  solu- 
tion be  filtered,  the  mucus  remains  upon  the  paper  anil 
gradually  thickens.  It  may  be  repeatedly  dried  and  moist- 
ened without  material  change  of  properties ;  it,  however, 
becomes  less  transparent,  yellow,  and  at  length  has  a  puru- 
lent appearance.  When  boiled  in  water,  it  does  not  harden 
and  shrink,  but  becomes  tough,  and  on  cooling  is  found  to 
retain  its  former  characters.  When  dried  it  is  yellow  and 
translucent ;  and  subjected  to  distillation,  it  yields  carbonate 
of  ammonia  and  empyreumatic  oil,  and  phosphate  and  car- 
honate  of  lime,  and  carbonate  of  soda  are  found  In  the  ash. 
It  is  soluble  in  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  and  blackened  by  the 
concentrated  acid  ;  it  is  not  soluble  in  acetic  acid,  but  yields 
but  a  trace  of  albumen.  According  to  Henlc,  mucus  con- 
sists of  the  scales  of  the  epithelium  which  covers  the  open 
cavities  of  the  body.  This  epithelium  or  cuticle  consists  of 
minute  cells  of  various  forms,  which  are  continually  wear- 
ing oil" and  being  renovated  ;  it  thus  yields  scales  which  mix 
with  the  watery'  secretion,  and  constitute  mucus. 

MU'DAR.  The  Indian  name  of  Caiotropis  gigantea,  a 
plant  of  the  Asclepiadaceous  order  ;  a  substance  used  medi- 
cinally in  that  country,  with  great  etfect  in  scrofulous  cases, 
but  not  admitted  into  the  Materia  Medica  of  Europe.  It 
gives  its  name  to  mudarine,  a  peculiar  chemical  principle, 
having  the  singular  property  of  softening  by  cold  and  hard- 
ening by  heat. 

MUE'ZZIN,  in  Mohammedan  countries,  is  the  general 
appellation  of  those  officers,  or  clerks  of  the  mosques,  whose 
duty  it  is  to  proclaim  the  ezam  or  summons  to  prayers  at  the 
five  canonical  hours,  viz.,  at  dawn,  noon,  4  o'clock  P.M., 
sunset,  and  nightfall. 

MUFFLE.  An  arched  vessel  with  a  flat  bottom,  in  which 
substances  may  be  exposed  to  a  red  heat  without  coming 
into  contact  with  the  fuel.     See  Assaying. 

MU'FTI.  The  Turkish  title  of  a  doctor  of  the  law  of  the 
Koran  ;  derived  from  fetvas,  a  rescript  or  answer  to  a  ques- 
tion of  law  addressed  to  the  competent  authority ;  which 
fetvas  it  is  the  province  of  the  mufti  to  issue.  The  mufti  of 
Constantinople,  or  Sheikh-ul-Islam,  is  the  chief  functionary 
of  the  Turkish  church,  and  represents  the  sultan  in  spiritual 
matters,  as  the  grand  vizier  does  in  temporal. 

MUGGLETO'NIANS.  A  sect  of  Christians  who  sprung 
tip  in  England  in  1561,  and  derived  their  name  from  one 
Muggleton,  a  tailor,  who,  together  with  an  associate  called 
Reeves,  gave  themselves  out  for  the  two  last  and  greatest 
prophets  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  asserted  that  they  had  power 
to  save  or  to  ruin  in  a  future  state  whomsoever  they  pleased. 
Notwithstanding  the  absurdity  of  their  pretensions,  they  ob- 
tained many  adherents  ;  and  the  belief  in  their  inspiration 
has  been  maintained,  though  by  a  comparatively  insignifi- 
cant number,  from  the  period  of  their  first  promulgating 
their  opinions  down  to  the  present  time.  A  collection  of 
the  writings  of  Muggleton  and  Reeves,  together  with  other 
Muggletonian  tracts,  was  published  in  3  vols.  4to  in  1832,  in 
which  the  reader  will  find  the  singular  doctrines  of  this  sect 
fully,  but,  as  appears  to  us,  not  very  intelligibly  set  forth. 
In  the  religious  controversy  to  which  the  promulgation  of 
their  doctrines  gave  rise,  their  chief  opponents  were  the 
Quakers,  and  among  these  were  George  Fox  and  William 
Penn. 

MU'GILOIDS.  (Lat.  mugil,  a  mullet.)  A  family  of 
Acanthopterygian  fishes  in  the  system  of  Cuvier,  character- 
ized by  having  an  almost  cylindrical  body  covered  with 
large  scales,  and  furnished  with  two  separate  dorsals,  the 
first  of  which  has  but  four  spinous  rays.  The  mouth  is  ei- 
ther edentulous,  or  is  provided  with  teeth  of  extremely 
minute  size.  This  family  includes  the  genera  Mugil,  Tc- 
tragonurus,  and  Mherina :  it  is  included  in  the  Cycloid 
order  in  the  system  of  Agassiz. 

MULATTO.  A  term  in  general  use  in  American  coun- 
tries, in  which  there  exists  a  mixed  population  of  different 
races  and  colours,  for  the  offspring  of  a  union  between  a 
white  and  a  negro. 

In  our  West  Indian  possessions  the  offspring  of  a  white 
and  mulatto  is  called  a  quadroon,  or  one  quarter  black ;  of  a 
white  and  quadroon,  a  muster,  or  one  eighth  black;  of  a 
white  and  muster, a mustafina,  or  one  sixteenth  black;  after 
which  they  are  said  to  be  whitewashed,  ami  are  considered 
as  Europeans.  On  the  other  hand,  the  offspring  of  a  mu- 
latto and  a  negro  is  called  a  cabre  ;  of  a  cabre  and  negro,  a 
griffe ;  and,  generally  speaking,  after  Ibis  there  is  no  dis 
tinctive  appellation  but  negro.  All  this  is  sufficiently  sim- 
ple; but  in  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  colonial  possessions, 
the  intermixture  of  Europeans  with  negroes,  mulattoes,  fee., 
and  these,  again,  with  other  classes,  has  given  rise  to  a  mul- 
tiplicity of  denominations  sufficiently  vague  and  Indefinite 
even  in  these  languages,  but  wholly  untranslatable  into 
English.  It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  great  ingenuity 
has  been  displayed  in  tracing  the  amount  of  European  and 
negro  blood  that  (lows  in  the  veins  of  the  mixed  races,  as 
782 


MULTINOMIAL. 

the  following  list  of  terms  (which  might  be  considerably 
augmented)  will  prove:  Zambi,  quatralvi,  tresalvi,  salta 
tras,  coyote,  zambaigi,  cambusos,  giveros,  puchuelas,  alba- 
rassados,  barrinos,  &c.  All  these,  again,  may  be  multiplied 
in  arithmetical  progression,  thus  forming  a  host  of  mollifica- 
tions, each,  however,  retaining  more  or  less  his  original 
characteristics,  in  proportion  to  the  relation  in  which  he 
stands  lo  his  original  Stock. 

In  Spain,  the  term  Mulatto  has  been  employed  to  desig- 
nate  persons  having  a  tincture  of  Moorish  blood. 

MCLBERRY.  The  so-called  paper  mulberry  is  the 
Broussonetia  papyrifera,  and  not  a  morus  ;  its  tenacious, 
pliable  inner  bark  furnishing  a  valuable  material  for  the 
dress  of  the  South  Sea  Islanders  and  Chinese.  The  yellow 
dyewood  called  fustic  is  the  produce  of  another  species  of 
this  genus,  the  Broussonetia  tinctoria.     See  Mouus. 

MI'LBERRY  CA'LCULUS.  A  urinary  concretion, 
consisting  chiefly  or  entirely  of  oxalate  of  lime.  Many  of 
these  calculi,  in  form  and  colour,  somewhat  resemble  the 
fruit  of  the  mulberry. 

MULCH.  Straw  or  litter  half  rotten.  In  Horticulture, 
when  this  material  is  applied  round  the  roots  or  stems  of 
plants  to  protect  them  from  the  drought  or  from  frost,  they 
are  said  to  be  mulched. 

MULL.  A  term  used  in  Scotland  almost  synonymously 
with  Cape,  which  see  ;  and  applied  to  various  projecting 
portions  of  the  island,  as  the  Mull  of  Galloway,  of  Cautyre, 
&c. 

MULL  AS.  The  priests  of  Tartary  are  so  called.  They 
form  one  of  the  three  grand  classes  into  which  the  Tartars 
are  divided  ;  the  other  two  being  the  munas  or  nobility,  and 
the  peasantry.  Their  chief  duty  consists  in  reading  the  Ko- 
ran ;  but  their  stock  of  knowledge  is  generally  so  scanty, 
that  they  are  seldom  able  to  interpret  the  Arabic  in  which 
the  office  of  the  mosque  is  performed.  The  village  mullas 
are  generally  decently-behaved  and  respectable  men;  "a 
little  too  much  given  to  sell  charms  for  the  ague,  but  living, 
for  the  most  part,  among  their  neighbours  a  quiet  and  chari- 
table life,  the  arbitrators  as  well  as  curates  of  their  seques- 
tered valleys ;  and  frequently  possessing,  in  addition  to  these 
weighty  charges,  the  sinecure  office  of  parish  schoolmaster." 
(Quart.  Rev.,  vol.  xxix.,  p.  129.)  The  Tartar  mulla  and  the 
Persian  mollak  (which  see)  have  evidently  a  common  ori- 
gin, but  their  rank  and  offices  are  wholly  distinct. 

MU'LLET,  in  Heraldry,  represents  the  rowel  of  a  spur. 
In  English  blazonry  it  is  depicted  of  five  points,  in  French 
of  six.  It  is  used  as  the  filial  distinction  of  the  third  son. 
See  Difference. 

Mullet.  The  name  of  the  fishes  of  the  genus  Mugil, 
which,  in  addition  to  the  family  characters  of  the  ofugiloids, 
have  the  middle  of  the  under  jaw  produced  into  an  elevated 
angular  point,  adapted,  when  the  mouth  is  closed,  to  a  cor- 
responding groove  in  the  upper  jaw  ;  the  number  of  the 
branchiostegous  rays  is  six.  Of  this  genus  there  are  three 
British  species,  viz.,  the  gray  mullet  (Mugil  capito,  Cuv.) ; 
the  thick-lipped  mullet  (Mugil  chelo,  Cuv.) ;  and  the  short 
mullet  (Mugil  curtus,  Yarrell) :  of  these  the  first  species  is 
the  least  rare.  The  red  mullets  (Mullus  surmulctus,  Cuv., 
and  Mullus  barbatus,  Linn.)  belong  to  a  different  family  of 
fishes :  the  former  of  these  species  was  the  fish  so  greatly 
esteemed  by  the  ancient  Romans,  and  for  which  such  ex- 
travagant prices  were  given  when  it  had  attained  an  unu- 
sually large  size. 

MU'LLION,  or  MANNON.  In  Architecture,  the  upright 
post  or  bar  dividing  two  lights  in  a  window. 

MULTA'NGULAR  FIGURES,  MULTILATERAL 
FIGURES,  or  POLYGONS.  Rectilineal  figures  of  more 
than  four  sides,  and  each  specially  denoted  by  the  number 
of  its  angular  points  ;  as  a  pentagon,  hexagon,  decagon,  <Stc, 
which  have  five,  six,  ten  sides  or  angles  respectively. 

MU'LTIARTTCULATE  (Lat  multus  ;  articulus,  a 
joint),  in  Zoology,  is  applied  to  the  antenna;  of  insects,  and 
to  the  legs  of  Crustaceans  and  Cirripeds,  when  they  are 
composed  of  a  great  number  of  joints;  also  to  bivalve  shells 
which  have  numerous  teeth  in  the  hinge. 

MULTICARI'NATE  (Lat.  mullus,  carina,  <i  keel),  in 
Conchology,  is  applied  to  a  shell  which  is  traversed  by 
many  keel  like  riil^-s  ;  as  the  h'usus  multicarinatus,  Tcre- 
bratula  multicarinata. 

MULTIDE'NTATE.  (Lot  multus ;  dens,  a  tooth.)  In 
Zoology,  "lien  a  part  is  armed  with  many  teeth  or  tooth- 
like  processes.  A  family  of  Nereids  is  hence  termed  Multi- 
dentata  by  De  Illainville,  on  account  of  the  structure  of 
their  bomy  jaws. 

MDliTUiO'CULAE.  (Lat.  multus;  loculus,  a  lodge.) 
In  Conchology,  this  term  is  applied  to  those  shells  which, 
like  the  nautilus,  have  their  cavity  divided  into  many  cham- 
bers. 

MlLTIXii'MIAL.  (Lat.  multus;  nomen,  name.)  In 
Algebra,  an  expression  consisting  of  several  terms  (more 
than  two  ,  u  bich  are  connected  by  the  signs  of  addition  or 
subtraction,  +  or  — .    Sometimes  it  is  called  a  polynomial ; 


MULTINOMIAL  THEOREM. 

and  in  modern  works,  after  the  French  writers,  a  poly- 
nome. 

MULTINOMIAL  THEOREM.  A  theorem  discovered 
by  Demoivre  for  forming  the  numeral  coefficients  which 
arise  in  raising  any  multinomial  to  any  given  power  without 
the  trouble  of  actual  involution.  The  binomial  theorem  of 
Newton  is  a  particular  case  of  this,  viz.,  that  in  which  the 
number  of  terms  is  only  two. 

MULTIPLE.  (Lat.  multiplex.)  Any  quantity  which 
contains  another  an  exact  number  of  times  without  a  re- 
mainder is  a  multiple  of  the  latter,  and  the  latter  is  a  sub- 
multiple  or  part  of  the  former. 

MULTIPLE  POINTS.  In  Analytical  Geometry,  when 
two  or  more  branches  of  a  curve  pass  through  the  same 
point,  it  Is  called  a  multiple  point. 

MULTIPLE  VALUES,  in  Algebra,  signify  symbols 
which  fulfil  the  algebraical  conditions  of  a  problem  when 
several  different  values  are  given  them  ;  as  the  roots  of  an 
equation,  certain  functions  of  an  arc  or  angle,  &.c. 

MULTIPLICAND,  in  Multiplication,  is  the  number  or 
quantity  that  is  to  be  repeated  the  number  of  times  denoted 
by  the  multiplier. 

MULTIPLICATION.  In  Arithmetic,  an  abbreviated 
process  by  which,  when  a  number  is  to  be  repeated  several 
times,  a  result  equal  to  the  sum  arising  from  all  the  repeti- 
tions is  obtained.  (See  Arithmetic,  and  Fractions.)  A 
considerable  abbreviation  of  this  is  effected  by  the  use  of 
logarithms  (see  Logarithms)  ;  and  other  methods  of  short- 
ening the  work  or  lessening  the  degree  of  attention  requisite 
in  performing  it  have  at  different  times  been  devised,  as 
Napier's  rods,  and  the  logarithmic  slide  rule  of  Gunter.  See 
Napier's  Rods. 

MULTISPI'RAL.  (Lat.  multus;  spira,  a  spiral  turn.) 
In  Conchology,  this  tenn  is  applied  to  those  opercula  of  uni 
valve  shells  which  exhibit  very  numerous  and  narrow  spiral 
coils  round  a  submedian  centre. 

MULTISTRl'ATE.  (Lat.  multus ;  stria,  a  streak.)  In 
Zoology,  when  an  animal  or  part  is  marked  with  many 
streaks. 

MULTIVA'LVE.  (Lat.  multus;  valva,  a  valve.)  In 
Conchology,  when  a  shell  consists  of  several  calcareous 
pieces,  as  that  of  the  chiton  or  barnacle. 

MULTO'CA.  The  name  given  to  the  code  of  laws  by 
which  the  Turkish  empire  is  governed,  consisting  of  the 
precepts  contained  in  the  Koran,  the  oral  injunctions  of  Mo- 
hammed, and  the  decisions  of  the  early  caliphs  and  doctors. 
It  relates  to  every  subject  of  life,  and  comprises  various  mat- 
ters appertaining  to  government,  the  sultan  being  the  sole 
judge  of  its  application  to  particular  cases.  (See  Sultan, 
Vizir.     See  also  Edinb.  Review,  vol.  x.,  p.  259.) 

MULTU'NGULATE.  (Lat.  multus;  ungula,  a  hoof.) 
In  Mammalogy,  when  a  quadruped  has  the  hoof  divided 
into  more  than  two  parts,  corresponding  with  three  or  more 
digits,  as  the  elephant,  rhinoceros,  &c.  Ray  so  denomina- 
ted a  family  of  hoofed  quadrupeds  corresponding  with  the 
PolyschiiLtz  of  Aristotle. 

MU'MMIFORM.  (Lat.  mumia,  a  mummy  ;  forma,  form.) 
In  Entomology,  the  nymphs  of  certain  Lepidoptera  are  so 
called  which  resemble  an  Egyptian  mummy. 

MU'MMY.  (Arab,  mumia  ;  from  mum,  wax.)  The  name 
given  to  the  dead  bodies  of  men  or  animals  which  are  by 
any  means  preserved  in  a  dry  state  from  the  process  of  pu- 
trefaction. Mummies  have  usually  been  divided  into  two 
classes,  natural  and  artificial  ;  the  former  arising  from  pe- 
culiar conditions  of  soil  and  atmosphere,  which  permit  the 
drying  of  the  animal  tissues  to  be  effected  with  such  rapidity 
that  the  body  is  preserved  ;  the  latter  embracing  the  various 
means  that  have  been  employed  from  the  earliest  ages  to 
preserve  dead  bodies  from  corruption.  Of  the  former,  or 
natural  class  of  mummies,  some  well-known  instances  are 
to  be  found  in  the  vaults  of  several  Continental  churches, 
particularly  at  Strasburg,  Toulouse,  and  Bordeaux. 

The  art  of  embalming  owes  its  origin  to  the  extreme  ven- 
eration with  which  the  ancient  Egyptians  regarded  the 
corpses  of  their  relatives,  and  was  practised  with  such  suc- 
cess that,  at  the  lapse  of  3000  years,  the  mummies  found  in 
the  numerous  catacombs  of  Egypt  are  still  objects  of  admi- 
ration. But  it  was  not  to  the  dead  bodies  of  the  human 
species  alone  that  the  ancient  Egyptians  restricted  their  rev- 
erence ;  they  practised  embalming  also  on  all  the  animals 
which  their  religion  held  sacred,  and  of  these  upwards  of 
fifty  different  species  have  been  found  embalmed. 

The  art  of  embalming  was  practised  also,  to  a  considera- 
ble extent,  by  the  ancient  Jews,  Greeks,  and  Romans,  thoush 
it  never  attained  such  celebrity  or  perfection  among  them  as 
among  the  people  from  whom  it  was  borrowed.  It  was  also 
adopted  as  a  national  custom  by  the  Guanches,  the  ancient 
inhabitants  of  the  Canary  Islands,  a  full  account  of  which 
is  to  be  found  in  the  Essai  sur  les  Isles  Fortuities,  by  M. 
Bory  de  St.  Vincent. 

The  account  which  Herodotus  has  left  us  of  the  Egyptian 
process  of  embalming  is  so  minute,  and  has,  besides,  been  so 


MUMMY. 

amply  confirmed  in  the  most  essential  particulars,  not  only 
by  the  subsequent  writers  of  antiquity,  but  in  still  more  re- 
cent times  (see  the  Memoir  of  M.  de  Rouyer),  that  we  can- 
not refrain  from  imbodying  it  in  our  pages.  There  are,  says 
he,  persons  resident  in  Egypt  who  make  this  art  their  pro- 
fession. When  a  dead  body  is  brought  to  them,  they  show 
the  bearers  three  wooden  models  of  mummies  imitated  in 
painting,  the  most  elaborate  of  which  are  said  to  be  of  him 
(Osiris)  whose  name  I  do  not  think  it  right  to  mention  on 
this  occasion.  The  second  which  they  show  is  simpler  and 
less  expensive  ;  and  the  third  is  the  cheapest  of  all.  They 
then  demand  of  the  bearers  which  model  they  wish  to  be 
adopted  ;  and  the  latter  having  decided  upon  the  price,  de- 
part. The  most  expensive  preparation  is  as  follows  :  First, 
they  extract  the  brain  through  the  nostrils  by  means  of  a 
hooked  iron  instrument,  partly  by  pulling  it  out,  and  partly 
by  the  infusion  of  drugs.  They  then,  with  a  sharp  ^Ethio- 
pian stone,  make  an  incision  in  the  side  in  order  to  extract 
all  the  viscera,  which  they  wash  with  palm  wine  and  purify 
with  pulverized  perfumes.  Having  next  filled  the  belly  with 
pure  ground  myrrh,  cassia,  and  all  other  odoriferous  herbs 
except  frankincense,  they  sow  it  up,  and,  rubbing  the  whole 
corpse  with  natron,  bury  it  for  70  days — a  longer  period  not 
being  admissible.  At  the  expiration  of  the  70  days  they 
wrap  the  whole  corpse  in  bandages  of  fine  linen,  and  smear 
it  all  over  with  gum,  which  the  Egyptians  are  in  the  habit 
of  using  instead  of  glue.  The  friends  of  the  deceased,  on 
again  receiving  the  body,  have  a  wooden  case  made  in  the 
form  of  a  human  figure,  in  which  they  place  it ;  and  having 
shut  it  up,  deposite  it  in  a  sepulchral  building,  setting  it  up- 
right against  the  wall. 

For  those  again  who,  on  account  of  the  great  expense  of 
this  mode  of  embalming,  adopt  the  middle  course,  the  bodies 
are  thus  prepared :  They  fill  all  the  intestines  with  cedar 
oil,  without  either  cutting  into  the  body  or  extracting  the 
viscera  ;  and,  taking  means  to  prevent  the  egress  of  the  in- 
jected liquid,  they  salt  the  body  for  the  prescribed  number 
of  days.  The  cedar  oil  is  then  taken  out ;  and  such  is  the 
power  with  which  it  operates,  that  it  brings  with  it  the  bow- 
els and  all  the  viscera  in  a  state  of  dissolution.  The  natron 
also  destroys  the  flesh  of  the  body,  leaving  only  the  skin  and 
the  bones.    The  body  is  then  returned. 

The  third  mode  of  embalming  is  that  practised  on  the 
poor.  In  this  case  they  inject  into  the  body  a  mixture  of 
salt  and  water,  wrap  it  up  in  natron  for  70  days,  and  then 
deliver  it  to  the  relatives.     (Herod.,  b.  2,  c.  186.) 

It  was  long  a  matter  of  uncertainty  what  became  of  the 
intestines  after  they  had  been  removed  from  the  body  of 
those  embalmed  according  to  the  first  process.  Porphyry 
and  Plutarch  have  both  asserted  that  they  were  thrown  into 
the  Nile  ;  but  modern  discoveries  in  the  tombs  leave  no 
doubt  of  the  fact  that  they  were  embalmed  separately,  and 
deposited  in  four  vases  in  the  coffin.  (See  Sir  G.  Wilkin- 
son's Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians,  vol. 
ii.,  p.  467,  2d  series.) 

Diodorus  mentions  three  different  classes  of  persons  who 
assisted  in  preparing  the  body  for  the  funeral :  the  scribe, 
who  regulated  the  incision  in  the  side;  the  paraschistes,* 
or  cutter ;  and  the  embalmers.  To  these  may  be  added  the 
undertakers,  who  wrapped  the  body  in  bandages,  and  who 
had  workmen  in  their  employment  to  make  the  cases  in 
which  it  was  deposited.  Many  different  trades  and  branches 
of  art  were  constantly  called  upon  to  supply  the  undertakers 
with  those  things  required  for  funereal  purposes :  as  the 
painters  of  mummy  cases ;  those  who  made  images  of  stone, 
porcelain,  wood,  and  other  materials;  the  manufacturers  of 
alabaster,  earthenware,  and  bronze  vases ;  those  who  worked 
in  ivory ;  the  leather  cutters,  and  many  others. 

With  regard  to  the  question,  when  the  custom  of  em- 
balming the  body  ceased  in  Egypt,  some  are  of  opinion  that 
it  ceased  at  an  early  time,  when  Egypt  became  a  Roman 
province.  But  this  lias  been  fully  disproved  by  modern  dis- 
coveries ;  and  it  not  only  appears  that  the  early  Christians 
embalmed  their  dead,  biit,  according  to  St.  Augustine,  mum- 
mies were  made  in  his  time,  at  the  end  of  the  5th  century. 
The  origin  of  this  opinion  is  perhaps  to  be  sought  for  in  the 
circumstance  that  at  the  period  of  the  Roman  invasion  of 
Eevpt  the  custom  may  not  have  been  universal ;  and  Sir  G. 
Wilkinson  maintains  that  it  in  all  probability  gradually  fell 
into  disuse,  rather  than  that  it  was  suddenly  abandoned  from 
any  accidental  cause  connected  with  change  of  custom  or 
from  religious  scruple. 

Since  the  commencement  of  the  present  century,  the  at- 
tention of  the  learned  in  the  chief  countries  of  Europe  has 


#  The  office  otparaschista,  or  dissector,  was  held  in  infamy.  "As  soon," 
savs  Diodorus.  "as  the  paraschistes  has  made  his  incision,  he  runs  away, 
being  pursued  by  those  who  are  present,  who  throw  s'ones  at  him  amid  bit- 
ter execrations,  as  if  to  cist  upon  him  all  the  odium  of  this  necessary  act.'1 
For  the  Egyptians  look  upon  even-  one  who  has  offered  violence  to,  or  in* 
flicted  a  wound  or  any  other  injury  upon  a  human  body,  to  be  hateful ;  but 
the  embalmers,  on  the  contrary,  are  held  in  the  CTealest  consideration  and 
respect,  beini  the  associates  of  the  priests,  and  permitted  free  access  to  the 
temples  as  sacred  persons. 

v  783 


MUMPS. 

been  particularly  directed  to  the  subject  of  embalming  the 
dead  :  and  the  researches  of  numerous  travellers,  from  Bcl- 
Bonl  downwards  to  Bit  G.  Wilkinson,  aided  by  the  scientific 
manipulations  of  I'cttigrexx  and  others  have  cleared  up 
many  points  that  were  formerly  obscure  id  reference  to  this 
art.  which  was  so  general  in  ancient,  though  wholly  un- 
known in  modern  Egypt.  The  following  observations,  bor- 
rowed from  Dr.  JfuttaH's  Classical  and  JlrtkmologiccH  Dic- 
tionary. &-c,  will  at  once  exhibit  briefly  the  slate  in  which 
the  mummies  are  found  at  the  present  day.  and  serve  as  an 
appropriate  commentary  on  the  description  of  the  process 
Of  embalming,  as  detailed  above.  The  practice  of  embalm- 
ing upon  the  immense  scale  of  the  population  of  a  country 
such  as  Egypt  involves  a  problem  of  the  highest  interest 
If  to  those  numberless  pits  and  catacombs  of  human  corpses 
are  also  conjoined  the  mummies  of  the  ibis,  dog.  ape,  cat, 
and  crocodile;  the  bull  Mnevis,  Apis,  and  Isis;  the  ram,  the 
fox,  and  homed  asp ;  in  short,  of  every  reptile  of  the  land — 
we  are  lost  in  surprise  and  amazement  how  such  a  process 
could  be  established  ;  and  it'  by  resins,  drugs,  or  spices,  from 
whence  such  profuse  quantities  could  be  procured  and  sup- 
plied. These  bodies,  also,  are  often  enveloped  in  silks  and 
bandages  of  stained  linen  of  surprising  brightness  (and  some- 
times measuring  1000  yards  in  length — Sir  G.  Wilkinson)  ; 
they  are  ornamented  with  gilding  as  fresh  as  when  first  laid 
on  :  with  pieces  of  coloured  glass  imitative  of  the  finest  gems, 
evidencing  their  knowledge  of  staining  and  cutting  them  in 
a  manner  which  merits  notice,  as  well  as  their  enamels 
also.  All  these  ornaments  found  around  the  mummies  are 
highly  preserved,  and,  as  well  as  the  sycamore  chests,  resist 
all  the  injuries  of  time,  and  subsist  fresh  and  perfect  for  the 
examination  of  the  curious.  They  usually  have  the  Nubian 
cast  of  countenance ;  the  outline  figure  traced  in  black ;  and 
the  colours,  four  in  number — blue,  red,  yellow,  and  green — 
laid  on  without  any  mixture  of  shading,  but  altogether  form- 
ing a  composition  of  very  considerable  interest.  These 
chests  usually  have  within  them  small  scarabsi,  or  the  idols 
of  Isis  and  other  deities,  in  clay,  and  coloured  glass,  and 
beautiful  enamels.  One  scarabeus,  mentioned  in  Greaves's 
Pyramidographia,  was  of  magnet,  which,  although  3000 
years  since  it  was  taken  from  the  rock,  its  natural  bed,  still 
retained  its  attractive  magnetic  virtue.  The  recent  discov- 
eries of  M.  Belzoni  add  also  to  our  stock  of  information 
upon  the  articles  of  the  wrappers,  and  prove  in  this,  also,  the 
science  and  the  labour  of  their  embalming,  by  evincing  that 
there  were  distinct  modes  of  preservation  and  of  envelopes 
for  every  caste — that  of  the  priesthood  particularly,  with  a 
scrupulosity  of  minute  detail  that  astonishes  and  marks  their 
high  privileges.  Upon  examining  mummies  that  have  been 
brought  to  Europe,  a  decided  similarity  of  ornament  is  ob- 
servable: the  better-conditioned  being  covered  with  glass 
ornaments,  cut  as  precious  stones,  and  disposed  with  the 
same  arrangement  of  colours,  and  offering  the  same  con- 
struction as  the  other  mummies  that  are  painted  ;  testifying 
that  the  ornaments  which  were  costly  were  preserved  for 
principal  personages,  while  the  inferior  classes  contented 
themselves  with  tracing  the  decorations  in  paintings. 

It  has  frequently  been  maintained  that  the  doctrine  of 
metempsychosis  formed  part  of  the  ancient  Egyptian  creed  ; 
but  it  would  seem  that  the  practice  of  embalming  the  dead 
is  wholly  irreconcilable  with  such  a  doctrine.  Others  have 
explained  this  Egyptian  usage  as  if  it  proceeded  from  a  be- 
lief in  materialism;  but  it  can  surely  never  be  argued  that 
unbelievers  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul  would  be  most 
anxious  to  guard  against  the  dissoluion  of  the  body.  On  the 
contrary,  as  Schlegel  has  well  observed,  this  usage  seems 
rather  to  set  forth  an  indistinct  feeling  that  this  apparently 
dead  matter  is  still  important — some  mistaken  and  imper- 
fect presentiment  that  the  bond  between  the  soul  and  matter 
is  not  altogether  dissolved,  and  shall  yet  one  day  be  restored 
—and  that  even  this  matter  shall  have  its  portion  in  Immor- 
tality, .'mil  It  again  animated  and  awakened. 

HUMPS.  This  term  is  generally  applied  to  inflammation 
Of  the  parotid  glands.  It  is  seldom  attended  by  fever  or 
constitutional  symptoms,  but  is  occasionallv  translated  to 
other  glandular  parts.  A  gentle  dose  of  physic,  and  the  ap- 
plication of  a  piece  of  flannel  dipped  in  warm  salt  water,  or 
in  solution  of  acetate  of  ammonia,  is  generally  all  the  treat- 
ment required.  From  the  way  in  which  ibis  complaint 
sometimes  .spreads  in  families  or  schools,  there  is  some  rea- 
son to  believe  it  to  be  contagious  or  infectious. 

MU'NDIC.     A  Cornish  name  tor  iron  pyrites. 

MUNDI'FICANT.  'Lit.  mandare,  to  cleanse.)  A  term 
applied  In  old  pharmacy  to  certain  healing  and  cleansing 
Ointments  and  plasters. 

MUNI'CIPAJL,  MUNICIPALITY.   The  word  ,„„„>.,,,.■. 

in  the  language  of  early  Koman  jurisprudence,  sil'm ili.-l  a 
person  capable  of  holding  an  office  or  dignity  (from  mnnns 
or  ronnlnm,  an  office,  and  capio,  /  take).  It  was  appropii 
Bted  in  its  more  particular  meaning  to  those  who,  by  the 
constitution  of  Rome,  were  admissible  to  certain  privileges 
and  honours,  but  not  to  the  right  of  suffrage  or  magistracy, 


MURAL  CIRCLE. 

in  consequence  of  not  being  full  citizens.  These  were  the 
strangers  who  in  various  ways  became  incorporated  with 
the  Roman  people  without  acquiring  the  right  of  citizenship. 
The  jurisconsult  Paulus  (as  cited  by  Festus)  notices  three 
sorts  of  niunicipes:  1.  Free  strangers  settled  in  Home;  2. 
Citizens  of  commonwealths  which  became  absorbed  in  that 
of  Rome  by  conquest  or  submission  (quarum  civitas  universal 
in  civitatem  Koiuanam  venit)  :  such  were  Alicia.  Cere, 
Anngnia  ;  3.  Citizens  of  allied  commonwealths,  who  retained 
their  citizenship  at  home  while  at  the  same  time  they  be- 
came municipes  of  Rome:  such  were  Tibur,  Pisa,  Arpinum. 
It  is  plain  that  this  last  is  the  sense  in  which  the  citizen  of 
one  state  was  said  to  lie  niunicipes  of  another.  Towns  of 
the  last  two  descriptions  (if  the  passage  of  Paulus  is  cor- 
rectly understood)  were  probably  comprehended  by  the 
Romans  under  the  title  of  municipia;  i.  e.,  towns  which 
possessed  their  own  rights,  and  the  burgesses  of  which  were 
also  niunicipes  of  Rome.  Such  burgesses  often  acquired 
full  Roman  citizenship  and  even  dignity,  but  seem  to  have 
been  always  (in  the  republican  times)  regarded  as  of  recent 
and  comparatively  ignoble  franchise:  as  in  the  passage  of 
Juvenal  respecting  Cicero  (ignobilis  et  modo  Roma;  muni- 
cipalis  eques),  a.  e.,  one  coming  from  the  inunicipium  of 
Arpinum.  By  later  writers,  municipia  are  sometimes  con- 
founded with  colonies.  The  word  municipal  and  its  de- 
rivatives have  passed  into  modern  usage  in  two  different 
senses:  1.  The  local  government  of  a  small  district,  espe- 
cially of  a  town,  and  particularly  if  elective,  is  termed  a 
municipality:  such  are  municipal  corporations  in  England; 
'2.  Every  Latin  inunicipium  had  its  own  customary  law 
(jus  municipale).  Hence  with  later  jurists  municipal  law 
came  to  signify  the  law  of  particular  towns,  districts,  and 
provinces.  In  this  latter  sense  the  customs  of  the  French 
cities  and  provinces  were  called  municipal  laws ;  and 
among  modern  publicists  the  word  has  received  a  still 
greater  extension,  the  positive  law  of  a  country  (in  opposi- 
tion both  to  natural  or  moral  law  and  to  the  law  of  nations) 
being  often  called  its  municipal  law.  The  same  term  is  also 
sometimes  used  rather  vaguely  in  contradistinction  to  the 
constitutional  or  political  law  of  a  state,  as  where  crimes 
are  divided  into  offences  against  the  state  and  municipal 
offences. 

MUNIMENTS.  A  common  name,  in  legal  phraseology, 
for  deeds,  charters,  &c,  chiefly  those  belonging  to  public 
bodies:  great  ecclesiastical  corporations  have  generally  a 
"muniment-room"  in  which  these  are  kept.  Derived  from 
Lai  munio,  I  defend ;  because,  as  it  is  said,  these  evidences 
serve  to  defend  the  title. 

MURiE'NOIDS.  (Lat.  mura?na,  a  species  of  eel.)  The 
name  of  a  family  of  Apodal  fishes,  including  the  true  eels 
{rfnguilla),  and  the  eels  without  pectoral  fins  (j1/i;r<rna). 
The  fishes  of  the  latter  genus  are  more  voracious,  and  have 
their  jaws  armed  with  more  formidable  teeth  than  the  .in- 
guilla).  One  species  (jMurwna  Helena)  was  much  esteemed 
by  the  ancients,  who  fattened  it  in  ponds  expressly  con- 
structed for  the  purpose.  The  history  of  Vaedius  Pollio, 
who  caused  his  transgressing  slaves  to  be  flung  into  these 
ponds  as  food  for  the  Mur&na,  is  well  known. 

MU'RAL  ARC,  or  ARCH  (Lat.  murus,  a  wall),  is  a  seg- 
ment of  a  large  circle  fixed  in  the  meridian  against  the  wall 
of  an  observatory,  for  the  measurement  of  the  meridian  alti- 
tudes or  zenith  distances  of  the  heavenlv  bodies. 

MU'RAL  CIRCLE,  MURAL  QUADRANT,  in  Astron- 
omy, is  an  instrument,  generally  of  large  size,  attached  to  a 
stone  wall  or  pier  of  solid  masonry,  and  fixed  in  the  merid- 
ian for  the  purpose  of  measuring  the  distances  of  stars  from 
the  pole  or  the  zenith.  The  first  mural  quadrant,  or  rather 
arch,  used  at  Greenwich,  was  erected  by  Flamsteed  in  1689, 
and  divided  by  Abraham  Sharp.  There  are  still  two  quad- 
rants in  the  observatory,  each  about  eight  feet  radius :  one 
of  them  was  erected  by  Graham  in  !7i5,  for  the  observations 
of  Halley,  and  was  redivided  by  Bird  in  1753;  the  other  was 
constructed  by  Bird  in  1750,  and  is  the  instrument  with 
which  Bradley  and  Maskelyne  made  their  most  important 
observations.  Experience  having  shown  that  entire  circles 
are  susceptible  of  much  more  accurate  division,  and  much 
less  liable  to  derangement  than  quadrants,  a  mural  circle 
was  Constructed  by  Troughton,  and  placed  in  the  observa- 
tory iii  1812.  Since  that  time  the  advantages  of  this  con- 
struction have  been  fully  appreciated,  and  a  mural  circle  is 
now  regarded  as  the  principal  fixed  instrument  in  all  the 
great  public  observatories. 

Troughton's  mural  circle  is  six  feet  in  diameter.  It  isi 
formed  of  hrass.  ami  lived  by  means  of  sixteen  conical  radii. 
concentric  to  and  at  right  angles  with  a  conical  axis  nearly 
four  feet  lon».  seven  inches  in  diameter  at  the  extremity  at 
which  the  circle  is  fixed,  but  only  half  as  much  at  the  other 
extremity.  The  axis  rests  and  turns  in  two  collars,  one 
towards  each  end  of  the  cone,  fixed  at  the  front  and  back 
of  a   stone   pier  about  four  feet  in  depth.     The  degrees  are 

cut  into  fne  spaces,  on  a  narrow  ring  of  white  metal  com- 
posed of  gold  and  palladium.    The  divisions  are  read  by 


MURCHISONITE. 

six  micrometers,  placed  at  equal  distances  round  the  circle, 
and  securely  fixed  to  the  stone  pier.  The  telescope  is  fixed 
at  right  angles  to  the  axis  which  works  within  the  conical 
axis  of  the  circle.  It  consequently  moves  in  the  plane  of 
the  circle,  and  can  be  clamped  in  any  position,  so  that  the 
readings  may  be  made  on  different  parts  of  the  circle.  In 
order  that  the  circle  may  move  easily  round  its  axis,  and 
that  the  lower  side  of  the  front  socket  may  be  relieved  from 
the  load  of  the  instrument,  two  large  friction  wheels  are 
suspended  in  front  of  the  pier  from  the  arms  of  two  levers, 
which,  by  means  of  counterpoises,  may  be  made  to  support 
the  whole  or  any  part  of  the  weight.  The  details  of  con- 
struction, however,  admit  of  being  varied  in  many  different 
ways. 

The  use  of  the  mural  circle  is  to  measure  angular  dis- 
tances in  the  meridian.  The  axis  must  therefore  be  placed 
exactly  horizontal,  and  the  plane  of  the  circle  vertical  and 
in  the  meridian,  and  the  line  of  sight  at  right  angles  to  the 
axis,  and  parallel  to  the  plane  of  the  circle.  Small  errors, 
however,  in  the  adjustments,  scarcely  affect  the  results. 
The  advantages  of  the  mural  above  all  other  astronomical 
circles  consist  in  the  permanence  of  the  microscopes,  and 
the  facilities  for  observing  stars  by  reflection.  (For  a  de- 
tailed description  of  this  instrument,  see  Pearson's  Practical 
Astronomy ;  also  Dr.  Robinson's  Description  of  the  Mural 
Gircle  of  the  Armagh  Observatory,  in  vol.  ix.  of  the  Memoirs 
of  the  Royal  Astron.  Society.) 

MU'RCHISONITE.  A  variety  of  crystallized  felspar 
found  in  the  new  red  sandstone  near  Exeter:  its  component 
parts  are  silica  686;  potash  148;  alumina  166:  so  called 
from  its  discoverer,  Mr.  Murchison. 

MURDER,  in  the  English  law,  is  defined  to  be  the  killing 
any  person  under  the  king's  peace,  with  malice  prepense  or 
aforethought,  either  express  or  implied  by  law.  The  word 
is  of  the  same  origin  with  the  German  mord,  Fr.  meurtre ;  in 
law  Latin,  murdrare — to  which  word,  in  an  indictment,  an 
exception  was  taken  by  a  prisoner  in  the  reign  of  W.  3,  as 
not  being  of  good  Latinity,  which  was  overruled  with  con- 
tempt. The  malice  prepense  is  the  chief  characteristic 
which  distinguishes  murder  from  other  species  of  homicide ; 
and  it  is  the  great  office  of  the  jury  to  determine  whether  or 
not  such  malice  has  been  shown :  either  express,  as  evinced 
by  outward  circumstances,  or  implied,  as  where  one  delib- 
erately kills  another  without  provocation,  the  law  implies 
malice.  Malice  is  also  implied  where  persons  having  au- 
thority to  arrest  or  imprison,  using  the  proper  means  for  that 
purpose,  are  resisted  in  so  doing,  and  killed,  which  offence 
is  murder.  Killing  in  the  prosecution  of  an  unlawful  act, 
when  that  act  is  done  deliberately  and  with  intention  of 
mischief,  either  indiscriminately  or  to  particular  individuals, 
is  likewise  murder,  whether  or  not  there  was  a  premeditated 
design  of  killing  the  individual  slain.  So  where  particular 
malice  against  an  individual  is  wreaked,  by  mistake,  against 
another.  Whenever,  also,  death  ensues  on  an  unlawful  act 
done  in  prosecution  of  a  felonious  intention,  it  is  murder;  as 
where  a  man  is  killed  by  a  shot  discharged  at  an  animal 
with  intent  to  kill  and  steal  it,  or  where  the  intent  is  only 
to  do  some  great  bodily  harm,  and  death  ensues.  When 
several  assemble  to  commit  a  breach  of  the  peace  forcefully, 
and  happen  to  kill  a  man  in  the  prosecution  of  such  inten- 
tion, they  are  all  guilty  of  murder.  In  some  cases,  also, 
murder  may  be  the  consequence  of  a  lawful  act  criminally 
or  improperly  performed,  as  by  duress  in  a  jail. 

The  execution  in  cases  of  murder,  by  25  G.  2,  c.  37,  was 
to  take  place  the  next  day  but  one  after  sentence,  unless 
stayed  by  the  discretion  of  the  judge ;  with  an  exception  for 
Sunday,  by  9  G.  4,  c.  31 :  and  it  was  usual  to  sentence  on 
Friday,  in  order  that  the  Siuiday  might  intervene  before 
execution.  But  by  6  &.  7  W.  4,  c.  30,  the  time  before  exe- 
cution was  made  the  same  as  in  other  capital  offences.  It 
happened,  at  a  trial  for  murder  at  the  Devonshire  assizes, 
only  a  few  days  after  the  passing  of  this  act,  when  two  men 
were  convicted,  that  during  the  interval  which  elapsed  suffi- 
cient doubt  was  raised  as  to  the  identity  of  one  of  the  pris- 
oners to  prevent  the  execution. 

By  the  French  code  penal  of  1810,  the  several  kinds  of 
homicide  are  accurately  defined;  and  the  crimes  of  "assas- 
sinat,  parricide,  infanticide,  and  empoisonnement"  are  cap- 
ital. But  the  power  given  to  the  jury  by  the  code  of  1808, 
of  pronouncing  under  what  circumstances  a  criminal  act  has 
been  committed,  materially  modifies  the  severity  of  the  law. 
If  extenuating  circumstances  are  found  by  the  jury,  the  pun- 
ishment is  diminished. 

MU'REX.  (Lat.  murex,  a  shell-fish.)  A  name  applied 
by  Linnsus  to  a  genus  of  the  Vermes  Testacea  having  a 
univalve  spiral  shell,  with  an  oval  aperture  ending  in  an 
entire,  straight,  or  slightly  ascending  canal.  The  Mollusks 
thus  characterized  form  a  family  {Muricidm,  or  rock-shells) 
in  the  Buccinoid  tribe  of  Pectinibranchiate  Gastropods  of 
the  system  of  Cuvier,  and  include  the  following  genera: 
Murex  proper,  Brontis,  Montf. ;  Typhis,  Montf. ;  Chicoracea, 
Montf. ;  Aquilla,    Montf. ;   Lotorium,   Mart. ;    Tritonium, 


MURRAIN. 

Montf. ;  Trophona,  Montf. ;  Ranclla,  Lam. ;  Jlpolles,  Montf.  ', 
Fusus,  Lam. ;  Lathira,  Mart. ;  Utruthiolaria,  Lam. ;  Pleu- 
rotoma,  Lam.;  Clavatula,  Lam.;  Pyrula,  Lam.;  Fulgur, 
Montf. ;  Fasciolaria,  Lam. ;   Turbinella,  Lam. 

MU'RIACITE.  An  anhydrous  sulphate  of  lime,  contain- 
ing a  little  common  salt. 

MURIA'TIC  ACID,  or  HYDROCHLORIC  ACID.  This 
acid  was  originally  discovered  by  Glauber,  and  called  by 
him  spirit  of  salt.  In  its  pure  or  gaseous  form  it  was  first 
obtained  by  Priestley  in  1744;  and  its  true  composition  was 
shown  by  Davy  in  1809,  who  proved  it  to  be  a  compound 
of  hydrogen  and  chlorine  ;  hence  it  has  been  termed  hydro- 
chloric acid.  Muriatic  acid  gas  is  procured  by  acting  upon 
common  salt  (which  is  a  chloride  of  sodium)  by  concen- 
trated sulphuric  acid :  the  water  of  the  acid  is  decomposed, 
and  its  hydrogen  combines  with  the  chlorine  of  the  salt  to 
form  muriatic  acid;  while  the  oxygen  is  transferred  to  the 
sodium,  which  is  thus  converted  into  soda,  and  this  unites 
to  the  sulphuric  acid  to  form  sulphate  of  soda.  60  parts  of 
common  salt,  and  49  parts  of  concentrated  sulphuric  acid, 
afford,  by  this  mutual  action,  37  parts  of  muriatic  acid,  and 
72  of  sulphate  of  soda.  Muriatic  acid  gas  may  also  be  formed 
bypassing  an  electric  spark  through  a  mixture  of  equal  vol- 
umes of  chlorine  and  hydrogen ;  or  by  exposing  such  mix- 
ture to  the  sun's  rays,  or  inflaming  them  by  a  taper,  they 
burn  with  explosion,  and  form  a  volume  of  muriatic  acid 
equal  to  the  united  volumes  of  the  gases.  As  the  specific 
gravity  of  hydrogen  is  to  that  of  chlorine  as  1  to  36,  the  spe- 
cific gravity  of  the  resulting  muriatic  acid  gas  compared 
with  hydrogen  will  be  185,  and  100  cubic  inches  of  it  will 
weigh  393  grains.  Muriatic  acid  gas  is  rendered  liquid  un- 
der a  pressure  of  40  atmospheres  of  the  temperature  of  50° ; 
it  extinguishes  flame,  and  is  intensely  sour,  powerfully  red- 
dening vegetable  blues.  Water  absorbs  it  with  much  vio- 
lence, taking  up  about  480  times  its  volume.  This  is  the 
state  in  which  muriatic  acid  is  generally  used.  Its  specific 
gravity  is  about  119,  and  it  is  commonly  obtained  by  distil- 
ling a  mixture  of  equal  weights  of  salt,  sulphuric  acid,  and 
water.  When  muriatic  acid  acts  upon  metallic  oxides,  it 
generally  happens  that  a  mutual  decomposition  of  the  oxide 
and  acid  ensues ;  the  oxygen  of  the  oxide  unites  to  the  hy- 
drogen of  the  acid  to  form  water,  and  the  metal  to  the  chlo- 
rine to  form  a  metallic  chloride.  Thus  it  is  that  soda  and 
muriatic  acid  form  a  chloride  of  sodium  or  common  salt. 
The  most  effective  test  of  the  presence  of  muriatic  acid  is 
nitrate  of  silver,  which  forms  an  insoluble  chloride  of  silver 
in  all  solutions  containing  muriatic  acid  or  muriates. 

MU'RICATE.  (Lat.  muricatus,  thorny.)  In  Zoology, 
where  a  surface  is  armed  with  short,  but  not  close-set  cones, 
having  a  sharp  apex. 

MURl'D^E.  (Lat.  mus,  a  mouse.)  The  family  of  Ro- 
dents of  which  the  genus  Mus  is  the  type :  by  some  natural- 
ists it  is  restricted  to  the  genera  Mus,  Hesperomys,  Den- 
dromys,  Gerbillus,  Hydromys,  Hapalotis,  and  Pseudomys ; 
by  other  naturalists  it  is  extended  to  include  the  Jerboida, 
Myoxidce,  and  Castorida. 

MU'RINES.  (Lat.  mus,  a  mouse.)  The  name  of  a  tribe 
of  Rodent  quadrupeds,  of  which  the  genus  Mus  is  the  type : 
it  includes  the  families  Muridce,  Aroicolidw,  and  Sciuridm, 
and  is  the  most  widely  distributed  of  all  the  Rodent  tribes. 

MURRA'IN  (Fr.),  is  the  popular  term  of  a  malignant 
epizootic  influenza  to  which  cattle  are  subject,  and  which 
has  at  various  times  made  terrible  havoc  among  them.  It 
appears  to  have  been  long  known;  and,  from  the  accounts 
handed  down,  does  not  seem  to  have  changed  its  characters 
materially. 

This  disease  extensively  raged  on  the  Continent  from  1710 
to  1746  (Lancisi,  Disputatio  Historica  de  Bovilla  Peste), 
and  serious  visitations  of  the  malady  were  also  witnessed 
during  the  years  1730  and  1731,  and  from  1744  to  1746:  at 
that  time  many  written  descriptions  were  produced  of  this 
pest,  among  which  the  work  of  Sauvages,  the  celebrated 
professor  of  medicine  at  Montpellier,  stands  pre-eminent.  It 
produced,  in  1757,  an  extreme  fatality  among  the  cattle  of 
this  country,  an  account  of  which  was  published  in  an  ex- 
cellent work  by  Dr.  Layard,  a  physician  of  London. 

This  disease,  as  it  is  met  with  in  England,  may  be  char- 
acterized as  an  extremely  malignant  inflammatory  oedema, 
attacking,  and,  indeed,  confining  itself,  for  the  most  part,  to 
one  of  the  hind  quarters  of  the  animal.  It  is  most  common 
in  the  seasons  of  spring  and  autumn,  and  affects  principally 
young  cows.  The  most  prominent  features  are  tumefaction 
and  a  discolouring  of  the  side  affected,  with  consequent 
lameness  and  inability  to  move ;  a  peculiar  emphysema  of 
different  parts  of  the  body,  but  particularly  over  the  region 
of  the  spine;  and  all  the  symptoms  of  putrid  fever  present 
in  diseases  of  a  typhoid  character.  It  speedily  runs  on  to 
gangrene,  and  few  animals  survive  an  attack  of  this  kind 
more  than  ten  or  a  dozen  hours. 

Although  the  English  murrain  is  somewhat  modified  in  its 
virulence  by  season,  locality,  and  the  condition  of  the  suf- 
ferer, it  is,  nevertheless,  generally  looked  upon  as  incurable. 
3C  "»5 


MURRHINE. 

When,  however,  remedial  measures  are  had  recourse  to, 
extensive  scarification,  or,  rattier,  incisions  of  the  affected 
side,  fomentations,  and  purgatives  are  most  likely  to  etfect 
the  desired  object 

It  may  he  necessary  also  to  remark,  that  this  malady  is 
known  to  fanners  and  others  in  the  different  counties  of 
England  by  a  variety  of  terms,  none  of  which  are  either 
elegant  or  expressive ;  and.  on  the  other  hand,  that  diseases 
different  altogether  from  the  one  under  consideration  have 
received  the  same  name:  indeed,  the  word  murrain  is  often 
used  to  denote  any  epizootic  affection  in  cattle.  The  one 
just  described  may,  however,  be  looked  upon  as  the  true 
murrain  of  this  country. 

The  murrain  which  broke  out  in  England  about  two  years 
ago,  and  has  ever  since  committed  such  havoc  among  the 
cattle,  is  travelling  steadily  northwards ;  but  the  disease  has 
lost  much  of  its  original  virulence,  as  almost  always  hap- 
pens in  the  case  of  epidemics  travelling  from  one  country  to 
another.  Accidental  circumstances  aggravate  the  com- 
plaint, but  in  a  general  way  it  runs  its  course  now  in  a  few 
days ;  and  to  all  appearance,  condition  lessened,  or  "  taking- 
on"  stayed,  exceeds  not  from  a  fortnight  to  three  weeks. 
Much  depends  upon  the  condition  of  the  animal,  and  in  nu- 
merous instances  the  distemper  touches  rather  than  skaithes. 
The  doctoring  process  has  been  generally  discontinued ;  and 
the  best  of  all  recipes  is  the  warmth  communicated  by  shel- 
tered fields  or  sheds,  rest,  and  the  absence  of  disturbing  in- 
fluences. 

The  prevention  of  this  disease  is  even  perhaps  more  im- 
portant than  the  medical  treatment,  and  consists  in  allowing 
a  free  access  of  air  to  all  the  buildings,  stalls,  &c.,  with  daily 
fumigation  of  them  by  chlorine  or  chloride  of  lime.  Care 
should  be  taken  to  examine  three  or  four  times  a  day  the 
cattle  on  every  farm,  so  as  to  remove  as  speedily  as  possible 
the  healthy  ones  from  those  that  are  affected. 

MU'RRHINE.  (Lat.  mm-rhinavasa.Gr.  u.oppivoc.)  Mur- 
riiine  vases  were  a  species  of  ware  often  mentioned  by  writers 
of  the  Roman  empire,  the  material  of  which  has  been  much 
disputed  by  modern  antiquaries.  They  came  from  the  East, 
and,  according  to  Pliny,  were  made  of  some  precious  stone 
found  chiefly  in  Partiiia ;  but  some  have  conjectured  that 
this  was  an  erroneous  opinion  prevalent  among  the  Romans, 
and  that  they  were  in  reality  of  porcelain,  of  which  the  man- 
ufacture was  unknown  to  the  western  nations.  (See  Plin., 
Hist.  Nat.,  lib.  37 ;  and  a  memoir  in  the  43d  vol.  of  the  Mem. 
de  VAc.  des  lnscr.;  and  Maurice's  Indian  Antiquities,  vol. 
vii.) 

MU'RRY,  or  SANGUINE.  In  Heraldry,  a  dark  red; 
ene  of  the  colours  or  tinctures  employed  in  blazonry.  It  is 
expressed  in  engraving  by  opposite  diagonal  lines  crossing 
each  other :  reckoned  a  dishonourable  colour ;  rarely  to  be 
met  with  in  English  coats  of  arms. 

MUTtZAS.  The  name  given  to  the  hereditary  nobility 
of  the  Tartars,  or,  more  strictly,  perhaps,  to  the  second  class 
of  their  nobility,  the  first  or  principal  class  being  designated 
beys.  This  titular  appellation  is  also  sometimes  conferred 
on  the  descendants  of  public  officers ;  but  the  latter  are  look- 
ed upon  as  upstarts  by  the  older  nobility,  and  regarded  as  an 
inferior  race.  The  Murzas  have  from  the  earliest  ages  been 
distinguished  for  their  bold  and  refractory  character,  and 
the  peculiar  privileges  they  formerly  possessed  supplied  them 
with  the  means  of  giving  effect  to  their  turbulent  disposi- 
tions. Since  the  conquest  of  Tartary  they  have  sunk  into 
comparative  insignificance,  though  many  of  them  retain  a 
large  share  of  their  former  property,  and  have  considerable 
influence  among  their  own  countrvmen.  (See  Quart.  Rev., 
TOl.  xxix..  p.  128.)  The  Tartar  murza  is  evidently  of  the 
some  origin  with  the  Persian  mirza  ;  with  which,  however, 
it  must  not  be  confounded.     See  Mirza. 

MUS  A'CEiE  (Musa,  one  of  the  genera),  constitute  a  small 
but  very  important  natural  order  of  plants,  related  to  the  or- 
ders \\>  Ming  ginger,  arrow-root,  and  similar  substances,  hut 
differing  in  having  several  stamens  instead  of  one  only.  The 
plantain  (Musa  snpicntum),  the  most  valuable  product  of 
the  vegetable  kingdom  in  hot  countries,  in  consequence  of 
the  abundance  of  nutritious  food  yielded  by  its  fruit,  anil  the 
application  of  its  leaves  to  the  purposes  of  thatching,  and  of 
thread  obtained  from  its  petioles  in  the  manufacture  of  the 
finest  muslins,  is  the  representative  of  the  order.  Another 
species  is  the  Musa  paradisiaea,  or  banana ,  and  the  singu- 
lar plants  called  Strelitzias,  with  their  orange  ami  blue 
flowers,  are  also  members  of  Musacrw. 

MU'SCA.  (Lat.  a  fly.)  A  Linna-an  genus  of  Dipterous 
insects,  now  expanded  into  a  family  (Muscidir)  of  the  fifth 
tribe  (Athericera),  of  the  order  Viptera  in  Latrcille's  system. 
It  i»  distinguished  by  a  proboscis  always  very  apparent,  mem- 
branous, and  bilabiate,  generally  bearing  two  palpi,  and  ca- 
pable of  being  entirely  withdrawn  into  the  oral  cavity  :  and 
a  sucker  of  two  pieces.  The  antennae  always  terminate  In 
a  plate  with  a  lateral  seta;.  The  Muscida  are  divided  into 
the  subfamilies  Creopliiltr,  which  includes  the  meat-fly 
{Musca  vomituria),  and  the  common  house  fly  (Musca  dv- 
786 


MUSES. 

mestica)  ;  the  Anthorny-tr,  the  Hudrornyza,  the  Scalornyzcf, 
the  Volieliocera.  the  J., jitopuditw,  the  Cajirorny-.u',  the  (iym- 
nor/iimr.  and  the  Hypocera. 

MU'SCHEL  KAL.K  (German),  signifies  shell  limestone. 
This  name  is  applied  by  some  English  geologists  to  a  lime- 
stone formation  belonging  to  the  red  saudstone  group  :  it  has 
not  yet  been  found  in  England. 

MUSCI.     See  Mosses. 

MUSCI'CAPA.  (Lat.  musca,  a  fly ;  capio,  I  take.)  A 
genus  of  Dentirostral  Passerine  birds,  characterized  by  a  de- 
pressed beak,  furnished  with  hairs  at  its  base,  and  with  the 
point  more  or  less  hooked  and  cmarginate.  The  genus  is 
now  split  into  various  subgenera  ;  as  Tyrannus,  Gymnoce- 
phalus,  Muscipeta,  and  Muscicapa  proper,  fee.,  included  in 
the  family  name  of  Muscicapidw.  Their  general  habits  are 
cruel  and  predatory,  like  those  of  the  shrikes  ;  and,  accord- 
ing to  their  size  and  strength,  they  live  on  small  birds  or  in- 
sects. The  smallest  and  weakest  of  the  MuscicapiiUe  grad- 
ually approach  the  form  of  the  wagtails. 

MUSCTDvE.  The  family  of  Dipterous  insects,  of  which 
the  fly  (Musca)  is  the  type. 

MUSCIlt )'RMES.  (Eat.  musca,  a  fly ;  forma,  form.) 
The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Tipulida,  or  crane-flies,  comprehend- 
ing those  which  have  a  stout  body  and  short  legs,  resembling 
the  common  flies. 

MU'SCLE  BAND.  In  Coal-mines,  the  black  shale  con- 
taining imbedded  muscle  shells. 

MU'SCLE.  (Lat.  musculus,  diminutive  of  mas,  a  mouse, 
from  its  resemblance  to  a  flayed  mouse.)  Fleshy  fibres  sus- 
ceptible of  contractions  and  relaxations.  Some  of  the  mus- 
cles are  obedient  to  the  will,  and  therefore  called  volun- 
tary ;  others,  such  as  the  heart  are  independent  of  the  will, 
or  involuntary  ;  and  others,  as  the  diaphragm  and  muscles 
of  respiration  generally,  have  a  viiied  action,  being  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  only  dependant  upon  the  will.  Muscles  are  ag- 
gregates of  minute  muscular  fibres,  which  appear  to  be  com- 
posed of  small  globules ;  but  we  are,  in  fact,  ignorant  of  the 
ultimate  structure  of  the  muscles,  and  of  the  causes  on 
which  their  wonderful  powers  depend.  They  are  envel- 
oped in  and  penetrated  by  cellular  membrane,  and  abun- 
dantly supplied  by  nerves,  bloodvessels,  and  lymphatics. 

Their  principal  constituent  or  proximate  elementary  struc- 
ture consists  of  albumen,  besides  which  gelatin  and  fat  are 
derived  from  their  cellular  membrane  ;  and  hsmatosin,  os- 
niazonie,  and  other  constituents  of  the  blood  are  also  found 
in  them:  they  therefore  constitute  the  mist  nutritious  spe- 
cies of  animal  food.     .See  Aibimen  and  C*:LATtN. 

AH  the  muscles  are  under  the  immediate  influence  of  the 
brain  and  nerves  ;  and  consequently,,  when  this  influence  ia 
abstracted,  as  by  the  division  of  the  nervous  trunks  by  which 
they  are  supplied,  the  powers  and  functions  of  the  muscles, 
whether  voluntary  or  involuntary,  are  in  the  first  instance 
disturbed,  and  afterwards  cease  altogether.  Electricity  is  ca- 
pable, to  a  certain  extent  of  recalling  the  action  of  the  mus- 
cles, provided  it  be  applied  before  rigidity  ensues ;  hence  the 
supposed  identity  of  that  power  of  matter  and  certain  prop- 
erties of  the  nerves.  The  arrangement  of  the  fibres  of  mus- 
cles is  infinitely  various,  and  adapted  to  the  particular  pur- 
poses which  each  has  to  fulfil.  In  the  voluntary  muscled 
the  fibres  are  generally  parallel,  or  nearly  so,  but  in  the  in- 
voluntary muscles  they  are  more  or  less  interwoven  and  in- 
terlaced. When  muscles  contract  they  become  shorter, 
harder,  and  thicker,  and  their  bundles  of  fibres  are  thrown 
into  undulated  lines,  with  a  tremulous  or  vibratory  motion, 
most  rapid  where  the  contraction  is  most  powerful,  and  pro- 
ducing a  distinct  sound,  which  may  be  most  easily  heard 
when  the  tip  of  the  finger  is  put  into  the  ear  ;  it  occasions  a 
noise  like  that  of  carriages  rumbling  over  a  distant  pave 
ment.  (Wollaston,  PhUor.  Trans.,  1809.)  The  number  of 
these  vibrations  amount  to  between  twenty  or  thirty  in  a 
second:  these  muscular  sounds  tire  Importantly  concerned 
in  the  diagnosis  of  certain  diseases  through  the  medium  of 
the  st.  thoscope. 

MUSCO  VA'DO.  The  name  given  to  unrefined  or  moist 
sugar. 

MU'SEB.  (Gr.  Moecrat,  Lat.  Muss.)  In  the  Greek  and 
Roman  Mythology,  nymphs  or  interior  divinities,  distinguish- 
ed as  the  peculiar  protectresses  of  poetry,  painting,  rhetoric, 
music,  and  generally  of  the  belles  lettres  and  liberal  arts, 
with  which,  indeed,  they  are  sometimes  identified  :  Qui*  est 
omnium,  qui  modo  cum  Musis,  id  est  cum  humanitatc  et  cum 
doctrina.  habrat  nliqund  eommcrcium.  qui,  &c.  (Cicero,  Tus- 
culan.,  lib.  v.,  cap.  23.)  Helicon  and  the  region  round  Par- 
nassus was  the  favourite  seat  of  the  Muses,  v\  here  they  were 
supposed,  under  the  presidency  of  Apollo,  to  be  perpetually 
engaged  in  song  ana  dance,  and  in  elevating  the  Style  and 
conceptions  of  their  favoured  votaries.  It  appears  probable 
that  the  early  Grecian  poets,  struck  with  the  beauty  and 
sublimity  of  ihe  scenery  in  this  part  of  Greece,  ascribed  the 
humanizing  influence  it  was  so  well  fitted  to  exercise  over 
the  mind  to  the  agency  of  the  nymphs  and  other  tutelary 
deities  of  the  place,  to  whom  they  gave  the  name  of  51  uses. 


MUSETTE. 

Originally  there  appear  to  have  been  only  three  of  these 
divinities  r*  and  their  names — Mneme.  Melete,  and  Aa.de,  or 
Memory,  Reflection,  and  Song — sufficiently  show  the  nature 
of  the  faculties  over  which  they  were  supposed  to  preside. 
According  as  the  fine  and  liberal  arts  were  cultivated  and 
expanded,  the  province  of  each  muse  seems  to  have  been 
more  restricted ;  and  additions  were  made  to  their  number, 
which  ultimately  was  fixed  at  nine.  Their  names  and  func- 
tions are  succinctly  stated  in  the  following  verses  of  Auso- 
nius: 

Clio  gesta  canens,  transacts  tempora  reddit. 
Melpomene  tragico  proclamat  mcesta  boatu. 
Comica  lascivo  gaudet  sermone  Thalia. 
Dulciloquos  calamos  Euterpe  flatibus  urget. 
Terpsichore  affectus  cithans  movet,  imperat,  auget. 
Plectra  gereDs  Erato,  saltat  pede,  carmine,  vultu. 
Carmina  Calliope  libris  heroica  mandat. 
Urania  cceli  niolus  scrutatur,  et  astra. 
Signat  cuncta  manu.  loquitur  Polyhymnia  gestu. 
Mentis  Apol!me.e  vis  bas  niovet  undique  Musas. 
Id  medio  resideus  complectilur  omnia  Phcebus. 

Edyll.  20. 

MUSE'TTE.  A  name  sometimes  given  by  the  Continent- 
al nations  to  the  bagpipe.  The  itinerant  performers  on  the 
musette,  who  were  formerly  very  numerous  in  many  Euro- 
pean countries,  were  called  musars. 

MUSE'UM.  (Gr.  nouatov ;  from  jxovoa,  a  muse.)  A  col- 
lection of  curious  objects  in  nature  and  art,  but,  in  most  in- 
stances, the  former.  The  name  denotes  a  temple  or  place 
sacred  to  the  Muses,  and  is  said  to  have  been  first  given  by 
Ptolemy  Philadelphus  to  that  part  of  the  royal  palace  at 
Alexandria  in  which  he  placed  the  famous  library.  In  Eng- 
land, the  museum  at  Oxford  is  the  most  ancient  institution 
bearing  the  name.  It  was  founded  in  1679,  and  enriched, 
in  the  first  instance,  chiefly  by  the  contributions  of  Elias 
Ashmole ;  but  want  of  room  and  of  funds  has  prevented  it 
from  affording  an  adequate  exhibition  of  the  various  classes 
of  objects  for  which  it  was  originally  destined,  and  which 
modern  discoveries  have  so  greatly  augmented.  The  foun- 
dation of  the  British  Museum,  in  London,  was  laid  by  Sir 
Richard  Cotton's  presenting  to  it  his  collection  of  manu- 
scripts. Since  that  period  the  library  has  been  increased  by 
the  addition  of  the  Harleian,  Lansdowne,  Egerton,  and  sev- 
eral other  collections  of  MSS. ;  by  extensive  purchases  out 
of  funds  afforded  by  government ;  by  the  deposit  of  copies 
of  newly  published  works,  according  to  the  legal  right  con- 
ferred on  this  institution ;  and  by  the  donations  of  George 
III.  and  IV.,  the  latter  of  whom  presented  to  it  his  father's 
library.  In  sculpture,  the  British  Museum  possesses  the  col- 
lection of  marbles  brought  by  Lord  Elgin  from  Greece,  to- 
gether with  that  called  the  Townley  marbles,  and  a  fine  as- 
semblage of  Egyptian  works  of  art.  It  contains  also  the 
Hamilton  vases,  and  the  famous  Barberini  or  Portland  vase. 
In  several  departments  of  natural  history,  especially  in  min- 
eralogy, it  is  extremely  rich.  It  was  founded  by  Sir  Hans 
Sloane  in  1733,  and  fills  the  mansion  known  by  the  name 
of  Montague  House,  together  with  adjoining  buildings  more 
recently  erected.  The  most  celebrated  museum  in  Italy  is 
the  Vatican,  at  Rome ;  next  to  it,  that  of  Florence ;  and  the 
Museo  Borbonico,  at  Naples.  In  France,  as  well  as  in  Italy, 
galleries  of  pictures  are  considered  as  within  the  meaning 
of  the  general  term  "  musee ;"  and  the  museum  of  the  Lou- 
vre is  chiefly  remarkable  for  its  contents  of  this  description. 
MU'SHROOM  (Fr.  mousseron,  a  kind  of  agaric  used  in 
sauces),  is,  properly  speaking,  the  Jigaricus  compositis,  or 
eatable  agaric :  a  species  common  in  pastures,  and  well 
known  for  its  excellence  as  an  ingredient  in  sauces ;  but  the 
term  is  generally  used  in  a  more  extended  sense,  and  applied 
indiscriminately  to  all  firm,  fleshy  species  of  the  genus  Jiga- 
ricus, whether  eatable  or  not. 

MUSIC.  (Gr.  ixovatKn.)  The  art  of  combining  sounds 
agreeable  to  the  ear.  This  art  becomes  a  profound  science 
when  we  investigate  the  principles  on  which  its  combina- 
tions are  founded,  and  the  causes  of  the  emotions  it  produces. 
Hebrew  Music. — Notwithstanding  the  great  labours  of  the 
early  fathers  of  the  church,  and  of  many  other  learned  men, 
there  are  few  materials,  even  in  the  Scriptures  themselves, 
for  a  very  satisfactory  account  of  the  music  of  the  Jewish 
nation,  whose  restricted  intercourse  with  other  nations  pre- 
vents our  receiving  any  illustration  of  it  from  contemporary 
writers.  All  that  can  be  done  is  to  cite  a  few  passages  from 
holy  writ  relative  to  the  first  ages  of  the  world,  from  which 
it  will  be  seen  that,  from  a  very  early  period,  the  art  con- 
stantly ministered  to  the  religious  ceremonies  of  the  He- 
brews. Moses  ( Gen.,  iv.,  21)  tells  us  that  Jubal,  sixth  in  de- 
scent from  Cain,  was  "  the  father  of  all  such  as  handle  the 
harp  and  organ."  The  organ  here  mentioned,  according  to 
the  commentators,  was  the  syrinx,  or  a  species  of  Pan's 
pipes.  This  must  have  been  but  a  short  period  after  the 
deluge.  Six  hundred  years  after  this  period  Laban  re- 
proaches Jacob  thus:  "Wherefore  didst  thou  flee  away  se- 
cretly, and  steal  away  from  me  1  and  didst  not  tell  me,  that 


*  Cicero  says  four  (De  Nat.  Deorum,  iii.,  cap.  21)  ;  but  in  this  he  is  at 
variance  with  the  Greek  authorities.    (Pausanias,  lib.  ix.) 


MUSIC. 

I  might  have  sent  thee  away  with  mirth  and  with  song, 
with  tabret  and  with  harp  1"  So  that  at  this  time  vocal  and 
instrumental  music  was  not  unusual.  For  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years  after  this  period  nothing  occurs  relative  to  music, 
when  we  find  Moses,  after  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea,  sing- 
ing with  the  Israelites  on  the  occasion.  Miriam,  Aaron's 
sister,  "  took  a  timbrel  in  her  hand  ;  and  all  the  women  went 
out  after  her  with  timbrels  and  with  dances."  There  seems 
ground  for  conjecturing  that  Miriam,  by  birth  Egyptian,  and 
educated  in  Egypt,  might  have  learned  the  use  of  the  tim- 
brel and  the  dance  in  that  country.  The  instruments  men- 
tioned during  the  administration  of  Moses  appear  to  have 
been  confined  to  the  trumpet  and  tambourine.  After  the 
siege  of  Jericho,  where  the  rams'  horns  that  were  blown 
were  rather  military  signals  than  instruments  of  music,  wre 
have  no  record  of  music  till  the  appearance  of  the  canticle 
of  Barak  and  Deborah,  which  seems  to  have  been  sung  in 
dialogue  without  instruments,  excepting  the  timbrel  and  the 
trumpet  before  mentioned.  From  several  passages  music 
appears  to  have  been  united  with  prophecy.  Samuel  (b.  1, 
en.  x.,  v.  5)  says  to  Saul,  "Thou  shalt  meet  a  company  of 
prophets  coming  down  from  the  high  place,  with  a  psaltery, 
and  a  tabret,  and  a  pipe,  and  a  harp  before  them."  These 
prophets  were  doubtless  poets  or  psalmodists,  improvisators 
of  verses  which  they  sung  to  the  accompaniment  of  an  in- 
strument ;  and  many  of  the  fathers  have  supposed  that  the 
Jews  had  a  college  or  school  of  prophets,  which  was  also  a 
school  of  music,  for  they  almost  universally  accompanied 
themselves,  or  were  accompanied  by  others,  with  musical 
instruments.  David,  who  had  cultivated  music  from  his  in- 
fancy, seems  to  have  been  destined  by  his  family  to  the  pro- 
fession of  a  prophet ;  and  Saint  Ambrose  says  that  he  waa 
chosen  by  God,  above  all  the  other  prophets,  to  compose  the 
Psalms.  The  power  that  the  harp  of  David  had  upon  Saul, 
when  he  was  tormented  with  the  evil  spirit,  is  an  example, 
among  many  others,  of  the  influence  of  music  on  the  mala- 
dies of  the  mind,  and  especially  in  cases  of  melancholy. 
Under  the  reign  of  David  music  was  much  esteemed.  He 
appointed  a  great  corps  of  musicians  for  the  celebration  of 
the  religious  ceremonies,  and  his  patronage  necessarily  ex- 
tended its  influence.  David,  on  all  occasions,  seems  to  have 
been  interested  in  the  solemnities  of  his  time :  we  find  him 
continually  dancing  and  playing  before  the  Lord,  with  songs, 
harps,  psalteries,  timbrels,  cymbals,  cornets,  and  trumpets. 
As  in  Egypt,  the  musicians  were  confined  to  one  family, 
that  of  Levi,  which  was  exclusively  consecrated  to  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Lord  and  the  cultivation  of  music.  When  Solo- 
mon was  made  king,  four  thousand  were  the  number  "  which 
praised  the  Lord  with  instruments."  Dr.  Burney  calls  the 
reign  of  Solomon  the  Augustan  age  of  the  Jews ;  and  though 
Solomon,  unlike  his  father,  was  not  himself  a  performer,  and 
ranked  "  men-singers  and  women-singers,  and  the  delights  of 
the  sons  of  men,  such  as  musical  instruments,"  among  the 
vanities  of  the  world,  yet  he  continued  the  priests  and  Levites 
in  his  employ.  In  the  reign  of  Jehoshaphat,  the  Levites 
were  useful  in  the  field  of  battle,  and  were,  by  their  songs,  the 
cause  of  the  victory  that  was  gained ;  and,  indeed,  this  waa 
not  the  only  instance  in  which  they  were  similarly  service- 
able. Some  time  before  the  destruction  of  the  temple  and 
the  first  Babylonish  captivity,  music  and  the  sacred  rites  had 
met  with  interruption,  both  on  account  of  war,  and  by  their 
intercourse  with  foreign  nations.  The  captivity  was  a  mor- 
tal blow  to  the  endeavours  they  had  made  to  recover  their 
music ;  and  sixty-six  years,  the  period  of  its  duration,  waa 
sufficient  to  efface  all  from  their  remembrance.  This  ob- 
livion is  feelingly  deplored  in  the  137th  Psalm:  "How  shall 
we  sing  the  Lord's  song  in  a  strange  land  ?'  Re-establish- 
ed, but  soon  afterwards  captives  a  second  time ;  again  de- 
livered, and  then  conquered  by  the  Egyptians,  Persians,  and 
Romans  successively,  the  unfortunate  Jews  had  no  leisure 
to  cultivate  the  arts  ;  and  it  appears  probable  that  their  mu- 
sic, which  scarcely  deserved  the  name  till  the  reign  of  David, 
even  at  its  best  epoch,  depended  for  effect  more  upon  the 
number  of  the  performers  than  upon  any  refined  knowledge 
of  the  art. 

Among  the  modern  Jews,  instrumental  as  well  as  vocal 
music  was  excluded  from  the  synagogue  from  the  time  of 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  The  singing  they  allow  at 
the  present  day  is  a  modern  innovation  ;  for,  according  to  a 
passage  of  their  prophets,  the  Jews  consider  it  contrary  to 
their  law,  or  at  least  improper,  to  sing  or  rejoice  until  the 
coming  of  the  Messiah.  The  German  are  the  only  Jews  in 
the  present  day  who  have  a  regular  musical  establishment 
in  their  synagogues.  They  sing  in  parts,  and  have  preserved 
traditional  melodies,  which  are  considered  very  ancient. 
At  Prague  an  organ  is  used  to  accompany  the  singing. 

Egyptian  Music— The  opinion  of  the  ancients  was  pretty 
genera]  that  Pythagoras  was  indebted  to  the  lessons  of  the 
Egyptian  priests  for  nearly  all  the  science  he  possessed,  and 
especially  that  of  music.  Though  Diodorus  Siculus  assures 
us  that  the  Egyptians  were  not  allowed  to  cultivate  music, 
and  that  they  considered  it  useless  and  even  injurious  to  so- 

787 


MUSIC. 


siety,  and  the  cause  of  effeminacy ;  vet  Tlnto,  who  had 
Visited  Bgypt,  observes,  in  one  of  ids  Dialogues,  that  none 
but  excellent  music  was  allowed  where  the  youth  were  as- 
sembled. Though  he  admits  others  of  theijr  habits  were 
bad,  be  excepts  tin;  music.  Strabo  tells  us  that  the  youth 
were  instructed  at  the  earliest  age  in  music,  that  the  songs 
Were  fixed  by  law,  and  that  the  sort  of  music  used  was 
established  by  the  government  exclusive  of  every  other  sort. 
The  Greeks  even  attributed  the  invention  of  some  of  their 
musical  instruments  to  the  Egyptians;  such  as  the  tri- 
angular lyre,  the  single  flute,  the  drum,  and  the  systrum. 
Herodotus  says  the  Dorians  were  of  Egyptian  extraction ; 
and  as  the  three  most  ancient  modes  of  Grecian  music  were 
the  Dorian,  the  Phrygian,  and  the  Lydian,  it  is  probable 
that  the  Egyptian  colony  that  peopled  that  province  carried 
thither  the  music  and  instruments  of  their  country.  Like  all 
other  professions  in  Egypt,  that  of  music  was  hereditary. 
A  similar  custom,  as  we  have  above  stated,  prevailed  among 
the  Jews ;  and  Herodotus  tells  us  that  the  inhabitants  of 
Laceda'inonia,  who  were  Dorians,  resembled  their  ancestors, 
the  Egyptians,  in  this,  that  their  musicians  were  all  of  the 
same  family ;  and  that  their  priests,  like  those  of  Egypt,  were 
taught  medicine,  and  the  art  of  playing  upon  stringed  instru- 
ments, when  they  were  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  reli- 
gion. The  same  author  mentions  that  in  the  processions  of 
Osiris,  the  Egyptians  carried  statues  of  the  god,  singing  his 
praises,  and  were  preceded  by  a  flute.  There  is  a  singular 
proof  of  the  antiquity  of  this  art  to  be  met  with  at  Rome,  on 
the  Guglia  Rotta,  which  Augustus  brought  to  Rome,  being 
one  of  the  largest  obelisks  that  was  removed  from  Egypt, 
and  which  was  thrown  down  and  broken  at  the  sacking  of 
the  city  in  1527,  by  the  Constable  of  Bourbon.  It  is,  among 
other  hieroglyphics,  the  representation  of  an  instrument,  as 
here  given,  very  like  the  colacsione  (a  species  of  guitar)  still 

Oin  use  in  Naples.  From  the  pegs 
it  is  evident  two  strings  were  em- 
ployed ;  and  the  length  of  the  lin- 
ger board,  if  the  strings  were  tuned 
at  a  great  interval  from  each  other, 
would  afford  a  very  considerable  scale  of  notes.  This  instru- 
ment alone  proves  to  what  extent  music  was  cultivated  in 
Egypt,  and  that  its  inhabitants  were  acquainted  with  the 
method  of  repeating  the  scale.  Hermes,  Toth,  or  the  an- 
cient Mercury  Trismegistus,  to  whom  is  ascribed  the  inven- 
tion of  writing,  astronomy,  religious  rites  and  ceremonies, 
has  the  credit  also  of  having  invented  the  lyre  with  three 
strings,  which,  it  is  pleasantly  said,  were  types  of  the  three 
seasons  of  the  year,  there  being  a  fourth  season  neither  in 
Egypt  nor  among  the  ancient  Greeks.  The  lowest  chord, 
say  they,  was  the  type  of  winter,  the  middle  one  of  spring, 
and  the  highest  of  summer.  The  following,  according  to 
Apollodorus,  was  the  origin  of  the  invention:  The  Nile, 
after  its  inundation  on  one  occasion,  left,  on  retiring,  a  quan- 
tity of  dead  animals,  and  among  the  rest  a  tortoise.  The 
flesh  soon  perished  and  dried  up,  from  the  heat  of  the  sun  ; 
nothing  but  the  shell  and  the  cartilages  were  left,  and  from 
their  contraction  they  had  become  sonorous.  Mercury, 
strolling  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  struck  his  foot  against 
this  tortoise-shell,  and  was  agreeably  surprised  by  the  sound 
it  produced ;  and  this  furnished  him  with  the  first  idea  of  a 
lyre.  He  gave  his  instrument  the  general  form  of  the  shell, 
and  strune  it  with  the  dried  tendons  of  animals,  resembling 
the  gut-strings  of  the  present  day.  The  single  flute,  how- 
ever, monauloa,  also  invented  in  Egypt,  seems  to  have 
greater  claims  to  antiquity  than  the  lyre  itself.  It  was  called 
photinx,  or  curved  flute,  by  the  Egyptians,  its  form  being 
something  like  that  of  a  bullock's  horn. 

Apuleius,  describing  the  mysteriesof  Isis,  tells  us  the  form 
of  this  instrument,  as  well  as  the  manner  in  which  it  was 
held;  and  all  the  representations  of  it  show  that  it  resem- 
bled the  bullock's  horn.  Indeed,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that, 
in  the  remotest  period,  the  horns  themselves  were  made  use 
of.  But  it  is  certain  that  the  Egyptians  had  instruments 
much  more  susceptible  of  inflection  than  those  whereof  we 
have  been  speaking;  for  on  the  ceilings  and  walls  of  the 
chambers  of  the  tomb  of  ( >symandvns,  at  Thebes,  Which  are 
described  very  circumstantial- 
ly by  Diodorus,  are,  among 
other  decorations,  several  rep- 
resentations of  musical  instru- 
ments: one  of  which,  from 
Denon,  we  hero  subjoin,  for 
the  purpose  of  showing  the 
reader  thai  the  harp  of  the 
present  day  is  in  general  form 
not  very  dissimilar  to  thai  then 
in  Egyptian  use,  and  that  per- 
formance upon  it  must  have 
required  considerable  skill. 
Other  representations  of  harps 
occur;  one  has  been  given  by 
Dr.  Butney.    There  is  one  ut 


rtolemais,  a  city  built  by  Ptolemy  Plilladelpinis,  with  fifteen 
strings,  or  two  complete  octaves:  this,  however,  is  more 
triangular  in  shape,  and  much  more  similar  to  the  modern 
harp.  The  instruments  in  Abyssinia  were  found  by  Mr. 
Bruce  to  have  a  close  resemblance  to  those  of  Egypt  The 
arts  which  flourished  in  this  nation  at  so  early  a  period 
would  doubtless  have  continued  to  do  so  under  their  own 
kings;  but  after  the  subjugation  of  the  nation  by  CambyseS, 
525  years  before  Christ,  the  arts  and  sciences  under  a  foreign 
yoke  disappeared,  or,  rather,  ceased  to  be  indigenous  in 
Egypt.  The  Ptolemies,  indeed,  encouraged  them  :  but  un- 
der their  reigns  the  professors  of  the  arts  were  chiefly  Gre- 
cian. The  Egyptians  had  degenerated  from  the  knowledge 
of  their  ancestors,  whose  hieroglyphics  they  themselves  no 
longer  understood.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  music  was 
cultivated  under  these  princes ;  for  at  a  least  of  Bacchus, 
given  by  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  Athenams  says  thai  the 
choir  was  composed  of  six  hundred  musicians,  and  of  that 
number  one  half  were  performers  on  the  cithara.  Accord- 
ing to  the  same  author,  under  the  seventh  Ptolemy,  Egypt 
abounded  with  musicians;  and  at  this  period  the  practice 
of  music  was  so  common  in  the  country,  that  there  was  not 
a  peasant  or  labourer  in  the  vicinity  of  Alexandria  that  was 
unable  to  play  on  the  lyre  and  flule.  The  father  of  Cleo- 
patra, who  was  the  last  of  the  Ptolemies,  from  his  skill  on 
the  flute  took  the  title  of  Auletes,  that  is,  player  upon  the 
flute.  Strabo  says,  that  notwithstanding  the  debauched  life 
he  led,  he  found  time  to  apply  himself  particularly  to  the 
practice  of  this  instrument.  He  thought  so  highly  of  his 
talent  in  this  respect,  that  he  established  musical  competi- 
tions in  his  palace,  and  himself  disputed  the  prize  with  the 
first  musicians  of  the  day.  Such  was  the  flourishing  state 
of  the  art  in  Egypt  up  to  the  time  of  Cleopatra's  misfor- 
tunes— an  event  which  ends  the  history  of  the  empire,  and 
that  of  the  Egyptians.  Among  the  modern  Egyptians  no 
remains  or  traces  of  the  ancient  state  of  the  art  are  now  to 
be  found.  Still,  they  are  passionately  fond  of  music;  and 
there  are,  according  to  Savary,  to  be  found  among  them  both 
male  and  female  musicians  who  sing  and  accompany  them- 
selves. This  author  describes  them  as  most  successful  in 
their  plaintive  music;  to  which,  he  says,  even  the  Turks 
themselves,  the  enemies  of  art,  will  pass  whole  nights  in 
listening. 

Grecian  Music. — The  fables  of  mythology  are  so  mixed 
up  with  the  ancient  history  of  all  the  arts,  that  it  is  difficult 
to  separate  fact  from  fiction.  Hence  the  most  celebrated 
authors  of  the  history  of  music,  after  delivering  faithfully 
what  the  ancients  have  recorded  on  the  subject,  have  left 
the  reader  to  shift  for  himself  in  analyzing  the  mass.  Bur- 
ney,  of  whose  history  in  the  two  previous  articles  we  have 
largely  availed  ourselves,  we  propose  to  follow  in  the  follow- 
ing short  account  of  Grecian  music.  The  Phoenicians  came 
into  Greece  with  Cadmus,  the  son  of  Agenor:  among  them 
were  a  class  of  men  well  versed  in  the  arts  and  sciences  of 
their  country,  who  were  called  Curetes.  These  established 
themselves  in  Phrygia,  where  they  were  called  Corybantes; 
in  Crete,  where  they  received  the  name  of  Dactyli :  they 
spread  also  into  Rhodes,  Samothracia,  and  other  places.  In 
these  places,  writing  and  music  were  the  arts  principally 
taught  by  them.  Cadmus,  in  Samothracia,  took  to  wife 
Harmonia  (sister  of  Jasius  and  Dardanus),  who  was  so 
skilled  in  music  that  the  Greeks  gave  her  name  to  the  art. 
Diodorus,  in  describing  the  marriage  feast  of  the  parties, 
makes  the  gods  themselves  guests.  Mercury  came  with  his 
lyre,  Apollo  brought  a  similar  instrument,  Minerva  assisted 
with  a  flute,  and  the  Muses  also  brought  their  flutes;  Elec- 
tra,  the  mother  of  the  bride,  celebrated  the  mysteries  of 
Cybele  with  dancing,  tambourines,  and  cymbals.  How 
Diodorus  was  informed  of  these  particulars  he  does  not  con- 
descend to  tell  his  readers;  but  it  seems  probable  that  the 
story  was  founded  on  ceremonies  which  the  priests,  at  cer- 
tain festivals,  performed  in  honour  of  Harmonia  and  Cad- 
mus. Jupiter,  they  say,  was  bom  at  the  epoch  of  the  arrival 
of  the  Phoenicians  ;  and  the  Curetes,  it  appears,  brought  him 
up.  At  that  time  they  were  not  acquainted  with  any  musi- 
cal instruments  save  those  of  percussion:  they  could  not, 
therefore,  have  taught  the  Greeks  more  than  the  use  of 
these,  and  they  could  convey  no  musical  notions  except 
(hose  Of  rhythm.  The  inferior  divinities — Minerva,  Mer- 
cury, Apollo,  and  the  Muses — afterwards  became  the  pro- 
tectors of  the  art,  and  invented  wind  and  stringed  instru- 
ments. 

These  two  circumstances  are,  as  the  reader  will  perceive, 
irreconcilable;  and  Diodorus  committed  an  anachronism, 
which  may  he  accounted  for  If  bis  description  was  taken 
from  some  religious  spectacle.  The  flule  with  boles,  by 
Stopping  Which  many  mites  were  produced,  was  certainly  a 
more  Ingenious  instrument  than  the  pipes  of  Pan.    This  was 

the  Invention  of  Minerva,  who  performed  upon  ii  until  she 
was  derided  by  Juno  and  Venus  for  the  grimace  and  wry 
faces  consequent  on  playing  it,  when  she  renounced  it  in 
favour  of  the  lyre.    The  employments  assigned  to  Mercury 


MUSIC. 


by  the  Greeks  may  be  learned  from  the  pleasantry  of  Lu- 
cian.  The  same  personage  as  the  Hermes  of  the  Egyptians, 
he  had  the  credit  of  having  invented  music,  and  in  those 
days  its  principal  instrument,  the  lyre.  In  Greece,  the  lyre 
he  invented  had  seven  strings,  whereas  that  which  he  gave 
the  Egyptians  had  three  only.  Apollo  was  another  of  the 
Grecian  deities  whose  origin  was  in  Egypt.  He  was  a  per- 
former on  the  lyre ;  and  there  is  no  necessity  to  repeat  in 
this  place  the  contest  with  Pan,  and  the  decision  of  Midas, 
under  whose  form  the  silly  king  of  Phrygia  was  represented 
by  some  neglected  poet.  Marsyas  was  another  of  Apollo's 
unfortunate  victims ;  upon  him  he  wreaked  his  vengeance 
with  such  cruelty  that  he  himself  was  afterwards  ashamed 
of  his  conduct,  and  actually  threw  aside  his  lyre  for  a  con- 
siderable period,  which,  it  is  said,  retarded  the  progress  and 
perfection  of  that  instrument.  Fortunio  Liceti,  a  modem 
writer,  thus  explains  the  story  of  the  flaying  Marsyas  alive 
by  Apollo.  Before  the  invention  of  the  lyre,  the  flute  was 
considered  the  most  important  instrument,  and  its  practice 
enriched  the  performers  on  it.  As  soon  as  the  lyre  was 
heard,  it  was  so  captivating  that  nobody  listened  to  flute- 
players,  and  they  fell  into  discredit  and  were  ruined.  Now 
the  money  of  those  days,  being  made  from  leather  hides, 
gave  rise  to  the  story  that  Apollo  had  stripped  Marsyas  of 
his  hide.  The  priestess  of  Apollo  at  Delphi  delivered,  says 
Plutarch,  her  oracles  to  the  sound  of  the  flute.  Afterwards, 
when  her  oracle  was  in  the  greatest  renown,  there  were  at- 
tendant choirs  and  instruments,  and  dancing  and  singing. 
At  first  the  Muses  were  nothing  more  than  a  band  of  sing- 
ers and  musicians  in  the  service  of  Osiris,  or  the  Egyptian 
Bacchus,  under  the  superintendence  of  his  son  Osiris.  The 
Greeks  made  them  the  daughters  of  Mnemosyne  by  Jupiter. 
Those  who  make  them  the  daughters  of  Pierus,  king  of 
Thrace,  do  not  alter  the  first  account ;  for  the  female  musi- 
cians of  Osiris,  before  they  were  taken  into  his  service,  had 
been  celebrated  in  Thrace  under  the  name  of  Muses,  and 
the  daughters  of  that  Pierus  who  initiated  them  became  cele- 
brated under  the  same  name.  Bacchus  has  been  so  cele- 
brated in  the  musical  world  that  we  cannot  leave  him  out. 
Diodorus  makes  him  the  inventor  of  theatrical  representa- 
tions and  schools  of  music,  in  which  those  who  excelled 
were  exempt  from  military  service.  Hence  the  author  says 
that  musical  societies  have  since  enjoyed  many  privileges. 
Certain  it  is  that  the  Dithyrambi,  who  originated  dramatic 
representations,  were  as  ancient  as  the  worship  of  Bacchus. 
In  Athens  and  in  Rome,  all  persons  who  appeared  on  the 
stage,  singing,  dancing,  or  reciting  verses  for  the  amusement 
of  the  people,  were  called  servants  of  Bacchus ;  and  at  all 
the  processions,  triumphs,  and  ceremonies  instituted  by  the 
ancients  in  honour  of  the  god,  music  entered  largely  into  the 
programme.  This  is  constantly  seen  in  the  bas-reliefs  that 
have  come  down  to  us ;  for  wherever  there  are  fauns,  satyrs, 
and  bacchanals,  we  always  find  a  certain  set  of  musicians 
of  some  sort  in  attendance. 

Pan  seems  to  enjoy  the  first  rank  in  the  second  class  of 
divinities  who  patronised  music.  The  Egyptians,  however, 
ranked  him  higher  than  did  the  Greeks.  Pan,  say  some, 
was  the  inventor  of  the  flute  called  the  syrinx.  The  fable 
is  pretty  which  gave  rise  to  the  invention.  Syrinx,  a  nymph, 
being  pursued  by  Pan,  flies  to  the  banks  of  a  river,  whose 
nymphs  she  implores  to  save  her.  Pan  thinks  to  catch  her, 
but  embraces  only  the  reeds.  Under  this  new  form,  Syrinx, 
shaken  by  the  winds,  emits  certain  melodious  tones.  The 
god,  pleased  with  the  sound,  makes  an  instrument  from  the 
reeds,  to  which  he  gives  the  name  of  Syrinx.  Pan  is  the 
companion  and  counsellor  of  Bacchus.  Shepherd,  musician, 
dancer,  hunter,  and  warrior,  he  directs  the  movements  of 
the  bacchanals  ;  but  the  perfection  with  which  he  plays  the 
flute  is  such  that  Bacchus  is  never  happy  without  him.  The 
satyrs  follow  in  Pan's  train.  Silenus  was  the  inventor  of 
several  instruments.  Like  Marsyas,  he  was  bold  enough  to 
challenge  Apollo;  with  better  fortune,  however,  as  regards 
the  result. 

Such  was  the  state  of  music  in  Greece  under  the  gods  and 
demi-gods  ;  that  is  to  say,  in  those  primitive  times  when 
every  one  who  had  signalized  himself  by  a  useful  invention 
was  deified  after  his  death,  and  considered  the  protector  of 
the  art  he  had  invented.  The  heroic  age  followed  this; 
and,  divesting  the  subject  of  fable  as  much  as  possible,  we 
shall  now  proceed  to  the  music  of  that  period.  Amphion, 
Chiron,  Orpheus,  Linus,  were  at  once  the  first  poets  and  the 
first  civilizers  of  Greece.  Amphion  is  the  first  Theban  mu- 
sician mentioned  in  the  history  of  the  art.  Homer,  how- 
ever, is  silent  on  his  wonderful  skill  in  music,  and  of  his 
having  erected  the  walls  of  Thebes  by  the  aid  of  the  lyre. 
Pausanias  thinks  his  musical  reputation  was  acquired  by 
his  alliance  with  Niobe,  and  Pliny  is  of  the  same  opinion. 
Both  of  them  allege  that  Amphion  learned  the  art  in  Lydia, 
and  that,  having  brought  it  into  Greece,  he  was  thence  ac- 
counted the  inventor  of  the  Lydian  mode.  Chiron,  whom 
Plutarch  calls  the  wise  centaur,  accounted  the  son  of  Saturn 
and  Philyra,  was  born  among  the  centaurs  in  Thessaly ; 


that  is,  among  the  people  of  Greece  who  first  trained  and 
rode  the  horse.  With  the  reputation  of  inventor  of  medicine, 
botany,  and  surgery,  he  lived  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Pelion,  in 
a  cavern,  which  his  science  made  the  principal  and  most 
frequented  school  of  Greece.  Plutarch  makes  him  the  in- 
structer  of  Hercules  in  music,  medicine,  and  law,  though 
Diodorus  says  that  Linus  was  his  master :  and  here  let  it 
be  observed,  that  ancient  authors  always  considered  music 
among  the  indispensable  accomplishments  of  their  heroes. 
"Nee  fides  didicit  nee  natare"  was  anciently  a  reproach  to 
any  one  above  the  commonest  class.  Achilles  was  the  most 
renowned  pupil  of  Chiron,  who  bestowed  much  of  his  time 
to  instruct  him  in  this  art,  as  the  means  of  not  only  softening 
the  impetuosity  of  his  character,  but  of  exciting  him  to  he- 
roic actions.  One  of  the  most  beautiful  paintings  of  Hercu- 
laneum  represents  Chiron  teaching  the  young  Achilles  to 
play  upon  the  lyre.  After  Chiron,  Linus  and  Orpheus  ap- 
pear to  have  been  the  first  poets  and  musicians  of  Greece, 
but  it  is  difficult  to  decide  which  was  the  pupil  of  the  other. 
Diodorus  says  that  Linus  has  the  priority,  and  that  he  added 
the  chord  lichanos  to  the  lyre  of  Mercury,  and  invented 
rhythm  and  melody.  The  majority  of  the  ancients  make 
him  the  instructer  of  Hercules,  whom,  say  they,  he  found  so 
stupid  and  obstinate,  that  having  on  one  occasion  given  him 
a  blow,  the  young  hero  seized  his  preceptor's  instrument 
and  beat  his  brains  out  with  it.  Orpheus,  however,  whether 
before  or  after  Linus,  acquired  the  greatest  name  in  Greece. 
His  reputation  was  fully  established  at  the  time  of  the  Ar- 
gonautic  expedition,  in  which  he  was  one  of  the  adventurers. 
Apollonius  Rhodius  observes,  that  he  not  only  excited  his 
comrades  by  the  sound  of  his  lyre,  but  that  he  also  silenced 
the  syrens  by  the  superiority  of  his  singing.  The  fables  uni- 
versally say  that  Orpheus  travelled  in  Egypt,  where  he  was 
instructed  in  the  mysteries  of  religion,  theology,  and  poetry, 
and  that  he  was  the  first  who  transplanted  them  to  the  Gre- 
cian shores.  According  to  the  custom  of  the  time,  he  united 
with  the  knowledge  of  music  that  of  the  sublime  sciences. 
Preferring  the  lyre  to  all  other  instruments,  of  which,  before 
him,  the  flute  seems  to  have  been  the  principal,  those  who 
followed  were  content  to  be  his  imitators.  We  pass  over  the 
story  of  his  losing  Eurydice,  his  wife,  the  effect  his  lyre  had 
upon  Cerberus  and  the  god  of  the  infernal  regions,  as  known 
to  every  reader.  The  instrument  that  produced  these  effects 
was  but  a  seven-stringed  lyre ;  two  strings  having  been  add- 
ed by  himself,  by  which  addition  the  second  tetrachord  was 
completed. 

Obloquitur  cumero  septem  discrimina  vocum. — Virg. 
From  the -little  power  which  such  an  instrument  possessed, 
compared  with  those  of  modem  times,  we  may  infer  that 
it  must  have  been  the  novelty  of  the  art  or  the  beauty  of 
the  poetry  which  produced  such  extraordinary  impressions, 
or  perhaps  both  acted  upon  a  very  susceptible  race  of  people. 
The  mastery  which  Orpheus  possessed  over  the  Thracians 
made  the  women  of  that  country  jealous  of  him ;  and  by 
them,  history  relates,  he  was  massacred.  In  the  time  of 
Plutarch,  the  females  of  Thrace  continued  to  be  reproached 
with  this  barbarity.  The  fable  says  that  his  lyre,  at  the 
time  of  his  murder,  fell  into  the  river  Hebrus,  down  which 
it  floated  to  Lesbos,  where  it  was  deposited  in  the  temple  of 
Apollo.  Neanthus,  who  afterwards  purchased  it  of  the 
priests  of  the  temple,  thought,  like  the  nobleman  who 
bought  Punchinello,  that  the  possession  of  it  would  inspire 
him :  no  sooner  had  he  begun  to  use  it  than  the  dogs  of  his 
neighbourhood  tore  him  to  pieces.  After  the  Argonautic 
expedition,  the  most  important  event  in  Grecian  history  is 
that  of  the  siege  of  Troy.  Homer,  who  sang  three  centuries 
after  this  period,  is  the  only  historian  from  whom  we  can 
extract  knowledge  respecting  the  art.  He  has  preserved 
the  names  of  several  musicians,  and  these  are  the  only 
ones  known  from  the  time  of  Orpheus  up  to  the  time  of 
celebrating  the  Olympic  games. 

The  instruments  mentioned  by  Homer,  in  the  Iliad  and 
Odyssey,  are  the  lyre,  the  flute,  the  syrinx,  or  Pan's  pipes. 
The  lyre  is  by  him  called  tpopnf,  I,  K&apa,  and  x^i'f  !  Aris- 
tophanes being  the  first  Greek  poet  who  calls  it  ^vpa. 
Though  Homer  speaks  of  the  trumpet,  it  is  thought  that  this 
instrument,  though  common  in  his  time,  was  unknown  to 
the  Greeks  at  the  siege  of  Troy.  With  Homer  music  and 
poetry  are  inseparable:  aoifos,  a  singer,  is  the  word  used 
by  him  to  express  a  poet.  By  him  Achilles  and  Paris  are 
both  exhibited  as  playing  the  lyre ;  but  the  former  does  it  to 
console  himself  for  the  insult  that  had  been  offered  to  him, 
whilst  the  latter  exercises  his  skill  to  forget  the  disgrace  of 
having  sought  safety  in  flight.  Achilles  sings  the  deeds  of 
heroes.  The  song  of  Paris  was  more  "  to  the  lascivious  pleas- 
ing of  the  lute,"  in  recounting  tales  of  love.  The  earliest 
poet  who  united  music  with  his  art  was  Tiresias:  he  was 
also  gifted  with  prophecy,  and  was  a  priest.  Thamyris  re- 
ceives from  Homer  the  appellation  KiO.iptorn;.  one  who  sang 
to  the  lyre.  Plutarch,  in  his  Dialogue  on  Music,  says  that 
he  was  born  in  Thrace,  the  country  of  Orpheus ;  that  bis 

789 


MUSIC. 


voice,  though  loud,  possessed  the  quality  of  softness,  but 
that  he  was  punished  with  blindness  for  daring  to  contend 
With  ilie  Muses  in  poetry  and  singing  ;  and  that  to  this  pun- 
ishment was  also  added  the  loss  of  voice,  and  the  talent  of 
touching  the  lyre.  This  circumstance  is  mentioned  in  the 
catalogue  of  the  ships.  (Lib.  ii.,  v.  594.)  According  to  Di- 
odorus,  Thann  ris  was  of  the  school  of  Linus,  and  Suidas 
places  him  eighth  of  the  epic  poets  who  preceded  Homer. 
Clemens  of  Alexandria  says  he  was  the  inventor  of  the  Do- 
rian mode  ;  but  he  is  probably  Wrong,  Inasmuch  as  this  had, 
before  his  time,  been  imported  into  Greece  by  the  Eg}  ptians, 
Who  Invaded  that  part  of  Greece  which  bore  the  name  of 
Doria.  In  the  eighth  book  of  the  Odyssey,  Homer  gives  an 
eminent  place  to  Demodocus,  whom  he  describes  in  his  char- 
acter of  poet  and  singer  as  the  glory  of  the  human  race. 
Some  have  thought  that  under  this  name  the  poet  was 
painting  his  own  portrait.  He  places  him  on  a  throne,  a 
herald  announces  him,  and  he  has  a  private  table,  and  in 
every  circustance  speaks  of  the  honours  that  were  paid  to 
him.  Like  Tiresias  and  Thamyris  he  paints  him  blind, 
which  it  will  be  recollected  was  his  own  case.  The  blind- 
ness of  these  great  poets  did  not  escape  Milton,  who  likens 
himself  to  them  in  this  respect,  and  the  coincidence  is  cer- 
tainly very  singular.  The  last  musician  celebrated  by  Ho- 
mer is  Phemius,  who,  according  to  Eustathius,  had  been 
his  master.  He  is  immortalized  in  the  Odyssey.  The  po- 
ets and  musicians  of  Greece  appear  to  have  much  resem- 
bled the  Celtic  bards.  They  wandered  about,  singing  their 
works  in  great  cities,  and  usually  found  admission  to  the 
palaces  of  princes,  where  they  were  treated  as  though  en- 
dued with  inspiration.  Hyagnis  and  Olympus  were  also 
celebrated,  before  the  time  of  Homer,  for  their  musical  tal- 
ents: the  first,  according  to  the  Arundelian  marbles,  flour- 
ished 1506  years  B.C.  He  was  the  inventor  of  the  Phrygi- 
an flute,  and  the  airs  or  nomes  that  were  sung  to  the  mother 
of  tile  gods,  to  Pan,  Bacchus,  and  other  divinities  of  the 
country.  The  second  is  honourably  mentioned  by  the  Greek 
writers.  Two  musicians  of  antiquity  bore  the  name  of 
Olympus.  The  most  ancient  was  the  most  celebrated.  He 
was  a  native  of  Mysia,  and  the  disciple  of  Marsyas.  Bur- 
ner, in  speaking  of  him,  remarks  that  religion  only  can  im- 
part permanence  to  any  system  of  music ;  and  he  conjec- 
tures that  the  airs  which  were  sung  in  the  temples  in  the 
time  of  Plutarch  were  then  of  the  same  relative  antiquity  as 
to  us  is  the  plain  chant  of  the  beautiful  hymns  of  the  Catho- 
lic Church.  Plato,  Porphyry,  Athenams,  and  the  scholiast 
of  Pindar,  speak  highly  of  the  talents  of  Thaletas  of  Crete, 
the  next  poet  and  musician  after  Hesiod  and  Homer.  There 
were  two  of  this  name,  of  the  same  country  too.  If  we 
are  to  credit  Plutarch,  Archilochus  contributed  more  than 
any  other  to  the  advancement  of  poetry  and  music.  Herod- 
otus makes  him  the  cotemporary  of  Candaules,  and  of  Gy- 
ges,  king  of  Lydia,  724  years  before  Christ;  but  modem 
chronologists  place  him  much  later.  He  was  a  native  of 
Paros. 

Without  entering  into  particulars,  it  is  sufficient  to  men- 
tion that  at  this  period  melody  was  strictly  confined  by  the 
measure  of  the  verse.  A  different  set  of  feet  in  a  verse 
necessarily  required  new  airs  in  the  music.  Hexameter 
was  the  most  ancient  species  of  measure,  and  so  continued 
till  the  introduction  of  lyric  poetry.  If  Archilochus  was 
the  inventor  of  music  different  to  that  which  suited  the  hex- 
ameter verse,  he  was  indeed  the  inventor  of  lyric  poetry, 
Which  after  his  time  became  a  species  of  versification  totally 
distinct  from  that  of  the  heroic.  Archilochus  is  generally 
allowed  to  have  been  one  of  the  first  conquerors  at  the 
Pythian  games.  Tvrtn-us,  who  was  a  soldier  as  well  as 
musician,  was  particularly  celebrated  for  his  military  songs 
or  airs.  The  scholiast  of  Horace  makes  the  Lacedaemoni- 
ans indebted  to  him  for  a  victory  gained  by  them,  in  which 
he  led  them  on  to  the  sound  of  the  military  flute,  for  which 
they  rewarded  him  with  the  rights  of  citizenship.  The  au- 
thors who  have  written  on  the  progressive  state  of  the  Gre- 
cian music  unanimously  celebrate  the  talents  of  Terpander; 

but  neither  the  evict  time  of  his  appearance,  nor  the  place 
of  his  birth,  can  be  ascertained.  According  to  the  Arunde- 
lian marbles,  the  former  was  671  years  before  Christ.  Many 
have  given  him  the  credit  of  having  added  the  three  -irniL's 
to  the  lyre:  it,  however,  appears  clear  that  lie  was  the  first 

who  used  the  seven-stringed  lyre  among  the  Lacedaunoni 
ana,  by  which  in-  gave  great  offence  to  the  people.  The 
Spartans  disliked  innovation,  and  Plutarch  relates  that  the 
Ephori  fined  him  for  his  invention.  The  Arundelian  mar- 
bles state  that  he  obtained  the  first  prize  in  music  at  the 
game-  instituted  at  Sparta  to  avert  the  anger  of  Apollo  for 
the  murder  of  one  of  his  priests  by  tin  Dorians.  Plutarch 
says  that  no  other  proof  of  his  skill  could  he  wanting,  seeing 

that  his  name  appears  four  ti <nn  the  register  Of  the  Pj  th 

ian  games,  where  he  carried  nil'  successively  four  of  the 
prizes,  It  the  Grecian  games  music  formed  a  principal  pan 
of  the  ceremony:  the  combats  were  to  the  sound  of  music. 
In  tlte  dramatic  representations,  the  declamation  wasaecom- 
790 


panied  by  an  orchestra,  and  there  were,  moreover,  particular 
prizes   allotted   to   the  profess, ,rs  of  the  art.     The  Olympic 

games  were  established  in  honour  of  Jupiter  Olyrnpi  us,  from 

which,  or  from  their  being  celebrated  near  the  temple  of 
Olympia,  they  took  their  name.  They  were  not  at  first  cele- 
brated at  stated  intervals,  but,  after  the  year  77ti  B.C.,  on  the 
second  month  after  the  expiration  of  every  fourth  year.  At 
first  music  had  but  little  share  in  them,  hut  at  a  later  period 
prizes  were  given  to  successful  competitors  in  this  art.  It  is 
well  authenticated  that,  at  a  comparatively  late  period,  Nero 
appeared  at  them,  and  of  course  carried  off  the  prize.  The 
Pythian  games,  founded  for  preserving  the  remembrance  of 
Apollo's  victory  over  the  serpent  Python,  were  at  first  con- 
fined to  poetical  and  lyrical  contests;  but  in  these  music 
was  afterwards  admitted  to  her  share  of  the  prizes  ;  and,  in 
the  year  559  before  Christ,  a  crown  was  decreed  to  the  best 
performer  on  the  lyre,  or,  rather,  on  an  instrument  with 
strings.  The  prize  was  nothing  more  than  a  laurel  crown, 
in  memory  of  the  love  of  Apollo  for  Daphne;  though  after- 
wards the  apple,  a  fruit  consecrated  to  Apollo,  was  added. 
At  these  games  a  peculiar  musical  composition  was  per- 
formed, of  considerable  length,  in  allusion  to  the  contest  of 
the  god  with  the  serpent:  it  was  composed  by  Sacadas,  and 
sung  for  the  first  time  by  him  at  Delphi.  The  other  mu- 
sicians and  poets  who  distinguished  themselves  at  these 
games  were  Alcman  of  Sardis;  Alceus  of  Mitylene,  the 
cotemporary  of  Sappho  (to  the  latter  of  whom  Aristoxenus 
and  Plutarch  attribute  the  invention  of  the  Mixolydian 
mode,  of  which  Plato,  the  advocate  of  simplicity  in  music, 
much  complains);  Mimnermus,  famous  for  his  perform- 
ances on  the  flute,  in  the  6th  century  before  the  Christian 
era ;  Hesichorus  (a  sobriquet),  whose  right  name  was  Tisias ; 
Simonides,  born  at  Ceos  538  B.C.,  the  master  of  Pindar ; 
Pindar  himself,  born  at  Thebes,  in  Bceotia,  about  520  years 
before  our  era ;  Myitis,  and  Astinous.  The  Pythian  games 
were  held  at  Miletus,  Magnesia,  and  other  places,  as  well 
as  at  Delphi,  and  music  and  poetry  were  the  chief  subjects 
of  contest  in  them.  The  Nema;an  games,  which  took  their 
name  from  Nemasa,  a  village  in  Arcadia,  were  of  such 
high  antiquity-  that  their  true  origin  was  unknown  even  to 
the  ancients.  The  contests  were  somewhat  similar  to  those 
at  the  Olympic  games,  and  it  is  known  that  those  in  music 
formed  a  portion.  It  was  at  these  games  that  the  musician 
Pylades,  of  Megalopolis,  sang,  accompanied  by  the  lyre,  an 
air  composed  by  Timotheus,  in  which  the  words  were  so 
suited  to  the  circumstances  of  the  battle  of  Mantinea,  that 
the  audience  immediately  turned  their  eyes  to  Philopcemen, 
who  was  present,  and  interrupted  the  singer  by  shouts  and 
acclamations  of  applnuse.  Timotheus,  born  at  Miletus  1 46 
B.C.,  was  one  of  the  most  celebrated  poets  and  musicians 
of  antiquity.  Pausanius  tells  us  that  to  the  seven  strings 
of  the  lyre  he  added  four  more  ;  though  Suidas  saya  that  he 
added  but  two,  the  tenth  and  the  eleventh :  the  consequence 
whereof  was,  that  for  the  innovation  he  was  banished  from 
Sparta,  and  ordered  to  cut  off  the  additional  strings,  that  he 
might  not  corrupt  the  ears  of  the  youth  with  too  great  a  va- 
riety of  notes.  We  have  above  stated  that  the  Spartans 
behaved  in  an  equally  barbarous  manner  to  Terpander. 
This  Timotheus,  who  died  two  years  before  the  birth  of 
Alexander,  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  celebrated 
flute-player  who  was  so  great  a  favourite  with  that  prince, 
and  whose  tones  animated  him  to  arms.  The  Isthmian 
did  not  differ  from  the  games  already  described :  they  receiv- 
ed their  name  from  being  celebrated  on  the  Isthmus  of  Co- 
rinth. Other  games  existed  in  different  cities,  as.  for  instance, 
the  Panathenaic  at  Athens.  Music  was  cultivated  at  all, 
and  held  in  much  esteem. 

At  Athens,  in  the  time  of  Pericles,  music  was  considered 
so  necessary  a  part  of  education,  that  not  to  understand  it 
nor  play  any  instrument  was  considered  a  disgrace.  Peri- 
cles was  especially  zealous  in  his  patronage  of  music.  Be- 
sides regulating  the  form  and  Increasing  the  Dumber  of  mu- 
sical competitions  at  the  Panathenaic  festivals,  he  built  an 
edifice  called  the  Odeum,  for  the  express  purpose  of  re- 
hearsals previous  to  performance  in  the  theatre.  It  was 
during  his  era  that  Antitronides  and  Dorion,  the  two  most 
eminent  flute  players,  flourished.  So  great  appears  to  have 
been  the  passion  for  flute-playing,  that  as  much  as  three 
talents  (upwards  of  £600)  were  given  for  a  single  flute; 
fortunes  were  realized  in  manufacturing  them  ;  and  the  per- 
formers lived  in  a  splendid  and  magnificent  style.  Even 
the  women  were  performers  on  the  flute.  Of  these  the 
most  renowned  was  Lamia,  to  whom,  for  the  benefits  she 
had  prevailed  on  Demetrius  to  confer  upon  the  city,  the 
Athenians  rendered  divine  honours,  and  dedicated  a  temple 

to  her  undet  the  i  ame  of  Venus  Lamia.  It  seems  that  ex- 
ecution on  this  instrument  was  carried  to  a  [.'real  extent ;  for 
Irlstotle  cries  out  against  the  difficult  passages  that  used  to 

he  practised,  and  even  against  music  generally.  The  people, 
how  ever,  who.  as  a  mass,  are  never  disposed  to  give  up  the 
pleasures  of  sense  for  those  of  the  mind,  continued  to  en- 
courage- these  novelties  and  their  authors ;  and,  from  being 


MUSIC. 


the  handmaid,  music  became  the  mistress  of  poetry.  The 
justice  of  the  complaints  of  Plato  and  Aristotle  on  this  point 
is  confirmed  by  Aristoxenus,  himself  well  skilled  in  the  art ; 
and  Plutarch  frequently  laments  that  the  theatre  had  ruined 
music:  though  what  the  latter  says  must  be  taken  with 
some  allowance,  seeing  that  he  was  a  priest  of  Apollo,  and 
anxious,  doubtless,  to  confine  music  to  the  service  of  religion. 
After  the  complete  subjugation  of  the  Greeks,  like  the  rest 
of  the  arts,  music  fell  to  decay.  They  continued,  indeed,  to 
cultivate  music  under  the  Roman  emperors,  and  under  their 
own :  even  afterwards,  under  the  Turks,  it  was  one  of  their 
amusements;  but  so  barbarous  is  it  in  the  present  day,  that 
it  is  dilhcu'.t  to  conceive  that  the  same  nation  ever  possessed 
a  music  which  drew  down  the  admiring  plaudits  of  thou- 
sands. To  form  any  idea  of  the  ancient  Greek  music  is 
now  past  all  hope  :  materials  upon  which  we  could  judge 
have  long  since  passed  away;  but  we  will  add,  in  conclu- 
sion to  this  section,  the  opinion  of  M.  Ginguene  on  the  sub- 
ject. "  We  see  in  the  poetical  works  of  the  Greeks  the  va- 
riety and  liveliness  of  their  passions,  and  these  same  pas- 
sions could  not  be  expressed  in  music  without  an  equal  va- 
riety of  air  and  modulation.  I  do  not  mean  by  that  to  say 
that  Greek  music  was  entirely  similar  to  our  own :  to  decide 
that  point  it  would  be  necessary  to  hear  and  compare  the 
one  with  the  other.  I  maintain  only  that  Greek  music  was 
full  of  harmony ;  that  it  admitted  that  variety  of  modula- 
tion which  alone  can  give  pleasure  to  cultivated  minds ;  and 
that  to  suppose  that  the  Greeks  were  pleased  with  a  music 
that  comprehended  but  four  notes  is  one  of  the  greatest  fol- 
lies that  can  be  imagined." 

Roman  Music. — It  is  scarcely  possible  for  any  nation  to 
exist  without  some  sort  of  music;  and  it  appears  that,  at  a 
very  remote  period,  such  was  not  the  case  with  the  Ro- 
mans. At  its  commencement  rude  and  barbarous,  their  in- 
tercourse with  the  Etruscans,  who  wrere  much  farther  ad- 
vanced in  the  arts  than  themselves,  would  soon  have  had 
effect  upon  it.  Strabo  and  Livy  affirm  that  public  music, 
as  used  at  sacrifices,  was  especially  learnt  by  this  nation  of 
the  Etruscans.  Servius  Tullius,  600  years  before  Christ,  in 
his  division  of  the  people  into  classes  or  centuries,  directed 
that  two  entire  centuries  should  consist  of  trumpeters,  horn- 
players,  and  those  who  sounded  the  charge,  which  proves 
at  least  the  number  of  military  musicians.  One  hundred 
and  fifty  years  afterwards,  the  marshal  at  funerals  was,  by 
the  laws  of  the  twelve  tables,  directed  to  provide  six  flute- 
players.  Among  the  Romans,  as  was  also  the  case  with  the 
Greek  music  (see  above),  music  and  the  drama  were  insep- 
arable. In  the  end  these  exhibitions  became  offensive ;  but 
the  further  notice  of  these  is  unnecessary  in  this  place. 
Music,  however,  was  for  a  long  period  confined  to  sacred 
uses;  and  it  was  only  after  the  defeat  of  Antiochus  the 
Great  that  the  Asiatic  custom  was  introduced  of  having  fe- 
male musicians — psaltriaz — to  play  at  festivals  and  private 
banquets.  The  Etruscan  music,  which  we  have  already 
slightly  mentioned,  was  cultivated  with  success;  for  all  the 
instruments  of  the  Greeks,  which  are  known  to  us  from  their 
bass-reliefs,  are  to  be  found  in  paintings  on  Etruscan  vases ; 
so  that  it  may  be  safely  assumed  that  the  Romans  were  ac- 
customed to  the  best  music  that  the  age  afforded.  Under 
Augustus,  who  was  not  a  great  patron  of  the  art,  music  was 
not  much  esteeemed :  it  is  possible  he  might  not  have  had 
much  taste  for  it;  and  yet,  when  he  was  getting  into  years, 
he  engaged  a  musician  to  regulate  the  intonation  of  his 
voice.  Tiberias  banished  musicians  from  the  city,  which 
under  him  became  as  sad  as  in  the  days  of  Augustus  it  had 
been  lively.  Caligula,  however,  recalled  them.  Claudius, 
though  he  patronized  gladiatorial  fights  in  preference  to 
music,  still  encouraged  the  art;  but  under  Nero  it  shone  in 
all  its  ancient  splendour.  Such  was  this  emperor's  delight 
in  it,  that  he  passed  a  great  portion  of  his  time  in  taking 
lessons  of  Torpus,  the  most  skilful  harpist  and  lyrist  of  his 
day.  We  have  before  stated  his  ardour  in  the  pursuit  of  the 
art  to  have  been  so  great  that  he  contended  at  the  Grecian 
games.  Nero's  successors  were  patrons  of  the  public  games, 
and  of  dramatic  and  musical  exhibitions  throughout  the  em- 
pire. Adrian  had  always  been  attached  to  the  arts  of 
Greece.  He  instituted  new  games,  which  his  successor 
Antonine  continued.  Commodus,  whose  disposition  was 
similar  to  Nero's  in  cruelty,  resembled  him  also  in  an  in- 
tense passion  for  the  stage,  on  which  he  delighted  to  appear 
as  a  singer  and  dancer.  The  fall  of  the  empire  necessarily 
induced  the  fall  of  the  arts,  and  music,  of  course,  anions 
the  rest:  in  short,  it  disappeared  with  them— with  them  to 
spring  into  new  life  and  surpass  all  its  former  glory,  after 
centuries  had  passed  away,  and  all  art  seemed  to  have  been 
lost  forever. 

Italian  Music— Italy  has  been  to  the  rest  of  Europe  in 
modern  times  what  ancient  Greece  was  to  Rome.  Though 
we  cannot  so  well  trace  the  art  of  music  in  its  early  resto- 
ration as  we  can  the  arts  of  design,  we  know  that  to  the  re- 
ligion and  church  which  brought  them  forward  we  are  in- 
debted for  the  foundation  of  all  that  is  good  in  the  musical 


art.  The  plain  chant  of  the  Catholic  Church,  the  founda- 
tion to  which  we  allude,  is  said  to  owe  its  origin  to  Ambro- 
sius,  archbishop  of  Milan,  in  the  fourth  century.  He,  it  i9 
generally  understood,  brought  it  into  form  and  based  it  up- 
on rules.  Two  centuries  afterwards  Pope  Gregory  carried 
it  to  such  perfection  that,  up  to  the  present  hour,  it  has 
needed  no  improvement,  indeed  seems  incapable  of  im- 
provement, and  remains  one  of  the  noblest  monuments  that 
the  art  has  produced.  The  music  of  Italy,  aided  by  a  lan- 
guage which  Metastasio  called  musica  stessa,  notwithstand- 
ing the  revolutions  it  at  first  underwent,  at  length  became 
the  guide  for  the  rest  of  Europe.  Even  out  of  the  church, 
as  early  as  the  13th  century,  music  was  cultivated ;  for 
Prince  Conrad,  in  1-268,  went  out  against  Charles  I.  of  Sicily 
with  a  female  choir  singing,  accompanied  by  cymbals,  drums, 
flutes,  violins,  and  other  instruments;  and  it  is  known  that 
all  the  courts  of  Italy  were  filled  wiih  musicians,  for  the 
amusement  of  their  sovereigns.  At  Florence  is  still  in  ex- 
istence a  manuscript  collection  of  sacred  songs,  entitled  Law- 
di  Hpirituali,  in  honour  of  God,  the  Virgin,  saints,  and  mar- 
tyrs, which,  as  early  as  1310,  used  to  be  sung  by  a  society 
called  the  Laudisti.  A  society  of  this  sort  existed  when 
Dr.  Burney  was  at  Florence  in  1770 ;  and  he  states  that  he 
often  heard  them  singing  about  the  streets  in  three  parts, 
accompanied  by  a  portable  organ.  When  Petrarch  was 
crowned  with  laurel  at  Rome,  in  1341,  music  was  intro- 
duced to  grace  the  ceremony :  and  from  the  account  of  that 
ceremony,  printed  at  Padua  in  1549,  it  appears  that  it  con- 
sisted of  instrumental  as  well  as  vocal  music.  To  return 
back  a  little,  it  appears  that,  in  102-2,  Guido,  a  Benedictine 
monk  of  Arezzo,  was  the  first. who  imagined  the  scheme  of 
designating  by  points,  distributed  upon  lines  and  spaces,  the 
different  sounds  of  the  octave.  The  French  have  claimed 
for  Hubald  and  Odo  the  credit  of  this  invention,  a  century 
before  the  time  of  Guido,  but  we  do  not  think  the  claim 
established. 

Guido  gave  to  the  notes  the  names  ut,  re,  mi,  fa,  sol,  la, 
taking  them  from  the  first  syllables  of  the  hymn  of  St.  John 
the  Baptist,  in  which  they  are  certainly  found : 

Ut  queant  Iaxis  resonare  fibris, 
JVftra  gestorum  /amuli  tuoruia, 
Solve  palluti  Zabii  reatum. 

The  syllable  si  was  afterwards  added  by  a  musician  called 
lie  Maire.  From  a  manuscript  in  the  Vatican  dedicated  to 
Charles,  king  of  Sicily,  above  mentioned,  it  appears  that 
Marchetto  of  Padua  had  improved  the  art ;  for  the  MS. 
proves  that  he  was  acquainted  with  dissonances  and  chro- 
matic counterpoint.  That  the  science  was  making  vast 
strides  from  the  old  plain  chant,  is  clear  from  the  bull  of 
Pope  John  XXII.,  in  the  early  part  of  the  14th  century, 
wherein  complaint  is  made  of  what  he  is  pleased  to  call  the 
abuse  of  descant,  whereby  the  principles  of  the  antiphonal 
and  gradual  had  fallen  into  such  contempt  that  the  singers 
could  no  longer  recognise  the  foundations  upon  which  mel- 
odies were  established,  and  that  it  exceeded  the  bounds 
which  the  ecclesiastical  tones  prescribed.  Without  particu- 
larizing the  steps  by  which  it  continued  to  advance,  the  Ars 
contrapuncti  of  John  de  Muris,  in  1330,  laid  down  laws  of 
harmony,  some  of  which  are  observed  in  composition  at  the 
present  hour.  He  says  that,  in  the  scale  of  the  octave, 
tiiere  are  six  species  of  consonances — three  perfect  and  three 
imperfect.  Of  the  first  sort  are  the  unison,  the  octave,  and 
the  fifth  ;  of  the  second  sort,  the  two-thirds,  major  and  mi- 
nor, and  the  sixth  major.  It  is  curious  that  he  did  not  place 
the  minor  sixth  among  the  number  of  consonances,  since  it 
is  but  an  inversion  of  the  major  third,  which  he  admits  to 
be  a  consonance.  Prosdoscimus,  in  1412,  speaks  of  the 
fourth  of  which  no  mention  is  made  by  De  Muris,  and  treats 
it  as  a  dissonance ;  though,  he  says,  it  is  less  so  than  the 
second  and  the  seventh,  and  that  it  may  be  placed  in  a  mid- 
dle class,  between  consonances  and  dissonances.  Advanced, 
however,  as  the  science  became  at  this  period,  it  was  not 
until  the  middle  of  the  15th  century  that  the  laws  of  har- 
mony were  fixed  on  that  foundation  that  still  bears  the  su- 
perstructure of  the  refined  combinations  of  even  modern 
music.  The  first  treatise  on  music  that  was  printed  in  Italy 
was  towards  the  end  of  the  15th  century,  by  John  Tine- 
tor;  but  that  published  a  few  years  afterwards,  by  Franchi- 
no  Gafforio  (printed  in  1496  at  Milan),  excelled  its  precur- 
sor. The  claim  of  the  Italians  to  the  invention  of  counter- 
point has  been  disputed  in  favour  of  the  Flemings,  and  also 
of  the  English.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  former  contrib- 
uted much  to  its  advancement  and  perfection ;  but  the  works 
that  are  extant,  if  we  are  to  judge  from  them,  satisfy  us  that 
the  claim  cannot  be  maintained.  In  the  compositions  of 
this  period  there  is  a  want  of  melody  which  all  the  display 
of  science  and  curious  combinations  they  contain  could  not 
atone  for ;  but  in  the  16th  century  melody  and  counterpoint 
were  united  by  the  splended  genius  of  Palestrina,  and  some 
of  his  cotemporaries  and  disciples;  and  the  art  was  en- 
riched by  the  treatises  of  Peter  Aaron,  Zarlino,  Artusi  of 
Bolo"na,  the  Venetian  Zacconi,  and  many  others,  which 

791 


music. 


Epiead  throughout  Europe,  and  left  scarcely  more  to  be  de- 
sired on  the  first  principles  of  music  as  a  science.  Pales- 
brina,  the  principal  cause  of  this  revolution,  began  his  ca- 
reer by  a  diligent  study  of  the  masters  who  had  preceded 
him,  making  himself  familiar  with  their  difficulties  and 
with  their  styles.  Applying  himself  to  the  simplification 
and  purification  of  harmony,  and  to  the  discovery  of  more 
flowing  and  natural  melodies,  he  nevertheless  paid  a  de- 
gree of  homage  to  the  preceding  school,  whose  pedantry 
and  obscurity  he  knew  how  to  correct. 

The  Gothic  style  of  composing  masses  and  motetts  on  a 
canto  fermo,  which  he  practised  in  his  earlv  compositions, 
he  entirely  abandoned  after  1570.  His  style,  upon  which 
he  was  continually  refining,  became  at  last  the  model  of  the 
age;  and  after  his  time,  for  a  considerable  period,  the  bed 
ecclesiastical  compositions  were  honoured  by  being  i 
alia  Pale/'rina.  Xanino.  his  fellow  student  and  intimate 
friend,  Cifra,  his  disciple,  Luca  Marenzio,  and  many  other 
masters  of  the  Roman  school,  gloried  to  tread  in  his"  steps: 
while  Zarlino  at  Venice,  Coslanzo  Porta  at  Padua.  Orazio 
Vecchi  and  Monteverde  at  Mantua,  Bottrigari  and  Orturi  at 
Bologna,  endeavoured,  and  with  considerable  success,  to 
build  their  counterpoint  with  the  clearness,  purity,  and  ele- 
gance of  the  great  master  of  modem  music.  Among  these. 
Monteverde  is  particularly  to  be  noticed,  for  his  passing  be- 
yond the  master  whom  he  followed.  He  was  the  first  who 
used  double  discords,  such  as  the  ninth  and  fourth,  the 
seventh  and  ninth,  and  the  seventh  and  second ;  as  also  the 
unprepared  false  fifth  and  seventh.  This  at  the  time  cre- 
ated great  disputes  in  the  republic  of  music.  Monteverde, 
in  prefaces  and  letters,  defended  his  practice ;  but  his  best 
defence  was  to  be  found  in  the  progress  he  made.  The  li- 
cences he  took,  far  from  being  offensive  to  the  ear,  were 
soon  adopted  by  others  who  had  abused  them.  The  passion 
for  fugues,  canons,  and  other  difficult  compositions  of  that 
nature,  requiring  the  highest  degree  of  science,  continued  in 
the  17th  century,  which  produced  many  learned  physicians. 
One  of  the  most  extraordinary'  of  these  was  Francesco  Sori- 
ano, who  published  110  canons  upon  the  hymn  Are  Maria 
Stella,  for  four,  five,  six,  seven,  and  eight  voices:  but  Pietro 
Valentini  went  far  beyond  him,  and  has  left,  it  is  to  be  ap- 
prehended, all  future  canonists  in  a  hopeless  condition.  He 
wrote  one  to  the  words  lllos  tuos  miscricordt.-;  ocu/us,  &c. 
resolved  in  more  than  two  hundred  different  ways,  for  two, 
three,  four,  and  five  voices;  another  for  ninety-six  voices ;  a 
third  for  twenty  voices  only,  but  with  four  different  subjects 
going  at  the  same  time.  Other  masters  employed  themselves 
in  a  similar  manner.  Of  the  Roman  school,  "also,  Luca  Ma- 
renzio merits  special  mention  here:  though  great  in  church 
music,  he  is  best  known  and  admired  in  the  exquisite  madri- 
gals he  composed,  which  still  continue  to  be  performed  in 
this  country.  Marenzio  died  at  Rome  in  1599.  At  the  head 
of  the  Venetian  school,  the  Italians  themselves  place  Adri- 
an U'illacrt.  a  Fleming.  To  him  Zarlino  attributes  the  in- 
vention of  composition  for  more  than  one  choir.  He  was 
maestro  di  capella  of  the  church  of  St.  Mark  at  Venice.  The 
works  he  left  are  voluminous :  his  disciples  were  Cipriano 
Rore,  Zarlino,  and  Costanzo  Porta.  The  Neapolitan  school 
was  one  of  the  most  celebrated  in  Italy,  and  was  established 
in  the  15th  century,  under  the  reign  of  Ferdinand  of  Arragon, 
a  great  patron  of  all  the  arts.  It  was  at  Naples  that  Gaff  ,rio 
and  Tinctor,  whom  we  have  before  alluded  to,  Guarnerio. 
and  many  others,  distinguished  themselves.  Church  and 
madrigal  music  there  flourished.  In  the  latter  branch,  Carlo 
Gesualdo,  Prince  of  Venosa,  showed  in  an  eminent  degree 
the  powers  of  that  style  of  writing.  The  Lombard  school 
registers  the  names  of  Costanzo  Porta,  its  head :  Gastoldi, 
Guiseppe  Biffi.  and  Paola  Citna,  of  Milan;  Pietro  Ponzio  of 
Parma;  Orazk)  Vecchi  of  Modena;  and  Claudia  Monte- 
verde, before  alluded  to.  The  most  celebrated  disciples  of 
Porta  were  Balbi  and  Piccioli.  Orazio  Vecchi  was  anion" 
the  first  composers  of  dramatic  music,  and  for  a  considerable 
lime  maestro  di  capella  at  Mantua.  The  Bolognese  school 
comprises  few  writers  in  the  Ifith  century,  though  in  that 
following,  its  professors  equalled  those  of  the  first  rank 
throughout  Europe.  Andrea  Rota  maybe  considered  the 
head  of  it.  Florence,  in  music,  seems  to  take  no  distinguish- 
ed place:  we  know  of  Alessandro  Btriggio  and  Francisco 
Cortuccia  only  who  enjoyed  much  reputation. 

Dramatic  music  appeared  in  Italy  in  the  15th  century,  a 
musical  tragedy  having  been  acted  at  Rome  in  1480;  but 
the  real  epoch  of  the  music  of  the  drama  can  scarcely  be 
dated  before  1597,  and  its  first  appearance  was  at  Florence. 
Ottavio  Binucdni  is  recorded  as  the  poet,  and  Peri  as  the 
musician,  both  Florentines,  and  the  name  of  tin 
Tiaphne.    This  priority  is,  however,  disputed  in  favour  of 

Vincenzo  Galil the  father  of  the  celebrated  astronomer, 

who,  desirous  of  recovering  the  musical  declamation  of  tin- 
Greeks,  imagined  a  recitative  applied  to  the  episode  of  CJgo 
lino  in  Dante.  I'p  to  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century 
the  drama  was  principally  recitative,  when,  in  1648,  Cavalli 
began  to  introduce  more  airs  than  had  hitherto  been  used, 
792  ' 


which  practice  was  farther  extended  in  the  Doria  of  I 
composed  in  ltit;:t:  after  which,  for  some  time,  it  degener- 
ated so  much  into  spectacle,  that,  in  the  works  represented 
about  the  end  of  the  17th  century,  neither  poet,  composer, 
nor  singers  are  recorded,  but  the  machinist  and  decorator 
only.  Among  the  composers  were,  however,  men  of  great 
knowledge  and  genius,  such  as  Gasparini,  Perti.  Colonna, 

Lottl,  and  Alexander  Scarlatti,  who  is  said  to  have  been  the 
inventor  of  the  obligato  recitative.  Great  improvements 
were  introduced  in  the  beginning  of  the  \t"M  century  by  the 
pupils  of  Scarlatti:  viz.  Leo.  Vinci.  Sarro.  Basse,  Corpora, 
Feo,  Abos,  and  particularly  Pergolese.  About  the  middle 
of  the  century  appeared  Jomelli,  Piccini,  Sacchini,  Gugliel- 
mi,  Traetta,  Anfossi,  and  others,  whose  names  are  not  less 
celebrated  than  their  predecessors,  and  the  century  closes 
with  Paisiello  and  Cimarosa.  It  remained,  however,  for  a 
Bohemian,  Gluck,  to  accomplish  the  revolution  which  has 
brought  the  opera  to  its  present  state  in  Europe.  The  great 
improvement  in  instrumental  music  towards  the  end  of  the 
last  century  induced  operatic  accompaniments  with  all  the 
richness  of  the  symphony,  which,  under  Haydn,  Mozart, 
Cherubini,  Spohr.  Weber,  and  many  others,  seems  to  have 
reached  almost  the  height  of  power  and  effect  that  music 
can  give. 

Europe  is  as  much  indebted  to  Italy  for  the  introduction 
of  instrumental  as  for  that  of  vocal  music  :  the  Italians  have 
been  the  instructors  in  both.  Violin  music  was  cultivated 
by  Corelli  and  Tartini.  and  their  pupils,  before  other  nations 
had  thought  of  it;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  harpsi- 
chord, from  Frescobaldi  to  Clementi.  So,  in  concerted  pie- 
ces. Boceherini  introduced  the  quintett ;  and,  indeed,  short 
of  the  symphony,  which  we  owe  to  the  Germans,  their  early 
superiority  cannot  be  disputed.  In  our  time  a  sensible  decay- 
is  visible  in  Italian  music ;  the  art  seems  to  have  left  its  an- 
cient seat  to  abide  in  Germany,  where  it  has  been  cultivated 
with  an  ardour  and  success  perfectly  astonishing. 

German  Music. — Like  all  other  nations,  the  Germans  owe 
their  music  to  the  Italians.  They  received  the  Gregorian 
chant  from  Italy ;  and.  though  they  may  not  have  equalled 
their  masters  in  vocal  melody,  they  have  greatly  surpassed 
them  in  instrumental  music.  It  is  certain  that,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  17th  century,  the  music  of  Germany  was 
greatly  inferior  to  that  of  Italy  ;  and  it  was  not  till  the  end 
of  this  century  that  the  Germans  began  to  evince  high  and 
successful  talent  for  the  art.  We  are  not  acquainted  with 
any  of  the  earlier  music  of  the  German  Church — similar  in 
character,  we  mean,  to  that  produced  by  the  school  of  Pal- 
estrina  in  Italy:  but  in  later  times  the  writings  for  that 
church,  by  Graun.  Haydn,  and  Mozart,  have  never  been  sur- 
passed nor  equalled  :  and  though  these  very  much  partake 
of  the  symphony  and  drama,  there  is  a  pathos  of  sublimity 
about  them  calculated  in  the  highest  degree  to  inspire  devo- 
tion. In  the  madrigal  style  we  believe  they  exhibit  no  spe- 
cimens, which  is  the  more  remarkable,  from  the  circum- 
stance of  the  German  school  having  been  considered  by 
some  to  have  been  of  as  early  an  origin  as  the  Flemish. 
Their  oratorios  possess  the  greatest  beauties  :  we  need  only 
name  the  Ascension  and  the  Israelites,  by  Bach  ;  the  Death 
of  Jesus,  by  Graun  ;  and  the  Messiah,  by  Handel.  Though 
not  so  old  as  that  of  Italy,  the  German  theatre  is  neverthe- 
less of  early  origin ;  but  until  Keyser  appeared  to  compose 
for  the  theatre  at  Hamburg,  about  the  end  of  the  17th  cen- 
tury, it  was  without  celebrity.  During  the  whole  of  the 
last  century,  the  German  composers  bred  in  the  Neapolitan 
school  carried  their  Style  into  Germany,  where  it  became 
predominant,  and  the  model  of  the  country.  John  Adol- 
phus  Hasse  had  the  principal  share  in  the  transference  of 
this  style,  which,  improved  by  Graun.  Neumann,  Gluck, 
and  carried  still  farther  by  Haydn  and  Mozart,  has  travelled 
back  to  Italy,  to  shine  second-hand  in  Rossini  and  others, 
but  without  the  lustre  of  the  Germans.  Gluck,  of  whom 
we  have  spoken  above,  though  by  birth  a  German,  belongs 
properly  to  France  ;  for,  strange  to  sa\ .  he  was  not  properly 
appreciated  by  bis  own  countrymen,  though  in  later  years 
they  found  out  their  error,  and  acknowledge  it  still  by  the 
rapture  with  which  his  works  are  now  received.  Germany 
derives  its  greatest  reputation  from  the  success  with  which 
it  has  cultivated  instrumental  music.  In  harpsichord  and 
pianoforte  music,  it  may  be  safely  said  they  have  surpassed 
all  other  nations  ;  for  it  would  he  difficult  to  place  names  in 
that  respect  of  equal  reputation  by  those  of  J.  S.  Bach  and 
his  children,  of  Haydn,  Kolebech,  Mozart,  Dussek,  Cramer, 
and  a  host  of  Others.  The  music  of  wind  instruments  seems 
to  belong  now  almost  exclusively  to  Germany:  their  organ- 
ists are  excellent,  and  their  orchestras  well  regulated.  In 
musical  literature  they  are  superior  to  every  other  nation: 
witness  the  works  of  Fux,  Mattheson,  Marpurg.  Kirberger, 
E.  Bach,  Albrechtsberger,  Forkel,  Koch,  and  a  host  of 
others,  most  of  them  of  the  18th  century.  In  the  present 
day.  it  is  by  no  means  surprising  that  the  success  of  the 
Germans  should  be  so  extraordinary,  seeing  that  there  is  no 
school  for  the  education  of  youth  in  the  country  at  which 


MUSIC. 


BltlsiC  is  not  tatight  and  cultivated,  even  down  to  those 
where  children  receive  gratuitous  instruction. 

Flemish  Music. — The  Flemish  have  been  frequently  con- 
founded with  French  musicians;  so  that  it  is  rather  difficult 
to  separate,  at  times,  the  one  from  the  other.  Louis  Guic- 
ciardini  {Descrhione  di  tutti  i  paesi  bas.si,  published  1556) 
gives  a  list  of  all  the  musicians  born  in  the  Low  Countries, 
who  were  then  dispersed  in  different  parts  of  Europe,  which 
robs  the  French  catalogue  of  some  of  its  most  distinguished 
names.  From  the  15th  century  Flanders,  from  its  com- 
merce, and  wealth,  and  superfluous  riches,  was  enabled  to 
patronise  the  fine  arts  ;  and  most  especially  was  that  the  case 
in  the  times  of  Charles  V.  and  Francis  I.  Upon  these  mon- 
archs,  who  lived  less  in  their  own  capitals  than  elsewhere, 
the  arts  seem  everywhere  to  have  been  attendant ;  and 
when  we  recollect  their  frequent  sojourn  at  Brussels,  An- 
twerp, and  other  cities  of  Flanders,  we  are  not  surprised  at 
the  number  of  excellent  musicians  that  Flanders  produced. 
The  John  Tinctor,  of  whom  we  have  heretofore  spoken, 
flourished  about  1474:  he  was  a  native  of  Flanders,  and 
maestro  di  capelli  to  Ferdinand  of  Arragon,  King  of  Sicily 
and  Naples.  He  is  the  earliest  theoretician  whose  name 
has  reached  us.  Soon  after,  or  contemporary  with  him, 
was  John  Okenheim,  the  first  composer  of  music  in  parts. 
From  the  fragments  which  have  been  preserved  by  Glarea- 
nus,  he  appears  to  have  been  a  learned  writer,  whose  works 
seem  more  calculated  to  please  the  eye  than  the  ear;  and 
from  the  authors  of  the  following  century  who  notice  him, 
we  learn  that  he  was  the  writer  of  a  motett  in  36  parts. 
Josquin,  or  as  the  Italians  call  him,  Josquino  del  Prato,  was 
Okenheim's  most  celebrated  scholar.  The  laws  and  diffi- 
culties of  canon,  fugue,  augmentation,  diminution,  inversion, 
and  other  practices  of  church  music,  were  by  him  observed 
and  overcome  in  the  most  felicitous  manner;  and  he  has  by 
some  been  dignified  with  the  title  of  father  of  modern  har- 
mony, inasmuch  as  his  era  is  nearly  a  century  before  that 
of  Palestrina,  Orlando  di  Lasso,  &c.  It  is  proper  to  state 
that  Guicciardini  claims  Josquin  as  an  Italian  ;  and,  at  least, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  he  was  educated  in  Italy,  inasmuch 
as  he  was  a  singer  in  the  chapel  of  Sextus  IV.  His  compo- 
sitions were  extremely  numerous,  and  as  often  executed  in 
the  beginning  of  the  16th  century  as  those  of  Handel  were 
in  England  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago.  His  death  took  place  at 
Brussels ;  and  his  monument  is  still  to  be  seen  in  the  church 
of  St.  Gudula.  Hobrect,  or  Obrect,  was  a  good  composer  of 
this  period,  and  adds  to  his  talent  the  honour  of  having  been 
selected  by  Erasmus  to  instruct  him  in  the  principles  of  his 
art.  We  must  pass  shortly  over  the  names  of  Pierre  de  la 
Rue,  or  Petrus  Platensis,  as  he  was  sometimes  called,  Jean 
Mouton,  Verdelot,  Nicolas  Gambert,  maestro  di  capella  of 
Charles  V.,  Jacques  de  Wert,  Pevernage,  Lupi,  Waelrent 
or  Wraelrent,  Verdonk,  Arkadelt,  and  others,  many  of 
whom  are  still  known  to  the  musical  antiquary  by  their 
madrigal  compositions,  though  they  were  called  only  songs 
for  parts  in  Flanders.  Between  1544  and  1555  there  were 
more  than  twenty  collections  of  these  chansons  or  madrigals 
published  at  Antwerp  and  Louvain,  by  Tylman,  Susaro, 
and  Pierre  Phalaise,  who  were  themselves  good  composers  ; 
as  were,  in  the  same  century,  the  publishers  Rhau  at  Wit- 
tenberg, Gardano  and  Scotto  at  Venice,  Ballard  in  France, 
and  Tallis  and  Bird  in  England.  After  Clemens  (non 
papa),  an  elegant  and  exquisite,  though  not  voluminous 
writer,  and  Cypriano  Rore,  a  pupil  of  Adrian  Willaert, 
must  be  recorded  the  name  of  Orlando  di  Lasso,  one  of  the 
most  diligent  and  celebrated  writers  of  the  16th  century. 
He  was  born  at  Mons  in  1520,  and  died  at  Munich  in  1593. 
Living  to  a  great  age,  the  number  of  his  works  exceed  those 
even  of  Palestrina.  Fifty  collections  of  his  different  works 
are  still  extant,  consisting  of  masses,  motetts,  passions, 
psalms,  and  songs  of  madrigals,  printed  in  Italy,  Germany, 
France,  and  the  Low  Countries.  Such  was  his  reputation, 
that  the  following  verse  was  written  for  his  epitaph  : 
Hie  ille  Orlandus  Lassum,  qui  recreat  orbem. 

M.  Ginguene,  to  whom  we  are  much  indebted  for  the  ac- 
count of  the  restoration  of  music,  speaking  of  Cipriano 
Rore  and  Orlando  di  Lasso,  says,  "These  two  Flemings, 
having  passed  the  greater  portion  of  their  lives  in  the  courts 
of  princes,  had  acquired  a  lighter  style,  and  a  species  of 
melody  more  appropriate  to  secular  music,  than  that  of 
"Palestrina,  who,  residing  at  Rome,  and  writing  principally 
for  the  church,  exhibits  in  all  his  productions  a  gravity  be- 
longing to  the  species."  And  again,  "They  were  two  mas- 
ters of  harmony ;  and,  the  church  excepted,  they  prepared 
the  colours  and  set  the  palettes  of  musicians  with  many 
new  tints  of  harmony  and  modulation,  which  were  exceed- 
ingly serviceable  to  those  who  came  after  them."  These 
were  the  two  first  masters  who  ventured  upon  chromatic 
passages,  and  upon  accidental  flats  and  sharps.  From  the 
epoch  of  these  men  Flanders  ceased  to  have  a  school  of 
music  especially  belonging  to  itself. 
'French  Music— We  have  stated,  in  another  place,  that 
67 


Hubald  de  St.  Amand  and  Eudes  de  Cluni  have  been  named 
by  the  French  writers  as  having  preceded  Guido  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  scale;  but,  as  we  are  not  in  a  condition  to 
decide  between  the  claimants,  we  shall  content  ourselves 
with  the  declaration  of  our  conviction,  from  all  that  we 
have  read,  that  France,  as  respects  the  art  and  science  of 
music,  was  much  advanced  at  a  very  early  period,  and  that 
the  country  certainly  boasted  of  many  church  musicians  be- 
tween the  8th  and  11th  centuries;  for,  besides  the  two  we 
have  named,  we  have  Remi,  a  monk  of  St.  Germain  d'Aux- 
erre,  Gerbert  le  Scholastique,  and  others  whose  knowledge 
is  well  authenticated.  In  the  14th  century  Philippe  de 
Vitry,  archbishop  of  Meaux,  applied  himself  to  music  and 
poetry  with  considerable  success.  A  manuscript  preserved 
in  the  Vatican  proves  him  to  have  been  well  informed  upon 
counterpoint,  as  far  as  it  was  then  known  and  practised  :  he 
not  only  applied  himself  to  church  music,  but  wrote  mo- 
tetts ;  but  these  are  lost,  and  perhaps  would,  if  we  had  them, 
be  now  difficult  to  decipher.  Belonging  to  this  century, 
also,  we  have,  by  the  assiduity  of  the  Abbe  le  Bceuf,  the  ac- 
count of  a  manuscript  by  Guillaume  de  Machau.  This  MS. 
consists  of  two  volumes  of  French  and  Latin  poems,  and  a 
great  number  of  lays,  virelays,  ballades,  and  rondeauz,  all 
set  to  music ;  some  for  a  single  voice,  others  in  three  and 
four  parts — triplum,  tenor,  contra-tenor,  and  a  part  without 
title.  In  the  second  volume  is  an  entire  mass,  including  the 
Credo,  in  four  parts,  which  it  is  believed  was  sung  at  the 
coronation  of  Charles  V.  in  1364. 

During  the  15th  and  16th  centuries,  the  art  made  but  little 
progress  in  France.  Under  Francis  the  First  not  near  so 
many  musicians  were  to  be  found  in  France  as  in  Italy, 
Germany,  England,  and  the  Low  Countries.  The  works  of 
Claude  de  Jeune,  who  probably  ought  to  be  placed  with  the 
Flemish  school,  and  of  Orlando  di  Lasso,  seem  to  have  been 
admired  and  performed  at  this  period  in  the  country  in 
which  Josquin  was  also  a  favourite.  The  dearth  of  writers 
on  the  science  at  this  period,  by  Clement  Jaunequin,  entitled 
La  Bataille  ou  Defaite  des  Suisses  a  la  Journee  de  Marig- 
nan,  in  which  imitations  of  the  sounds  of  battle  occur.  He 
published  a  collection  in  1544,  called  Inventions  Musicales 
a  quartre  et  cinq  Parties.  The  masters  about  this  period 
were  Didier  Lupi,  Guillaume  Belleu,  Philibert  Jambe-de-fer, 
Sauterne,  and  Noe  Faignent.  It  is  extraordinary  that  some 
of  the  bloodiest  tyrants  have  been  great  patrons  of  music 
and  its  professors :  to  Nero  and  our  Henry  VIII.  may  be 
added,  for  France,  Charles  EX.,  about  whom  were  constant- 
ly good  musicians.  Of  them,  Claude  Gondimel  did  not  es- 
cape in  the  massacre  of  the  Protestants  at  Lyons  in  1572. 
At  the  end  of  the  16th  century  were  some  minor  artists,  such 
as  Jean  de  Castra,  Louis  Bisson,  Nicholas  Duchemin,  Fran- 
cois Roussel,  Jean  Peroin,  and  others,  by  whom  are  collec- 
tions of  madrigals.  Francois  Eustache  de  Caurroy,  born  in 
1549,  called,  by  his  contemporaries,  "  le  prince  des  profes- 
seurs  de  musique,"  was  maestro  di  capella  to  Charles  IX., 
Henry  III.,  and  Henry  IV.,  and  enjoyed  considerable  reputa- 
tion ;  his  works,  however,  are  but  little  above  mediocrity. 
Jacques  Mauduit  was  a  similar  instance  of  mediocrity  rising 
into  celebrity.  He  composed  the  requiem  for  the  funeral 
of  the  celebrated  Ronsard,  which  was  afterwards  performed 
at  that  of  Henry  IV.,  whose  reign  was  too  short  to  allow 
the  arts  of  peace  to  make  much  progress  in  France.  Hia 
son,  who  came  to  the  throne  at  the  early  age  of  six  years, 
was  a  great  friend  to  music,  and  appears  to  have  kept 
up  what  might  be  called  a  considerable  band  for  that  pe- 
riod. During  the  reign  of  Louis  XIII.,  Jean  Baptiste  Boes- 
set  wrote  several  part  songs,  as  they  were  called.  About 
the  middle  of  the  17th  century  Michael  Lambert,  who  died 
in  1696,  appears  to  have  attracted  many  scholars  by  his  skill 
in  composition.  Dramatic  music  was  introduced  into  France 
about  1645.  In  1660,  at  the  celebration  of  the  marriage  of 
Louis  XIV.,  the  opera  of  Ercole  Amanti  was  produced,  and 
the  foundation  of  the  French  opera  was  thus  laid.  At  this 
period  Lulli,  of  Florentine  birth,  had  been  patronised  by  the 
Chevalier  de  Guise,  through  whose  offices  he  was  put  under 
the  best  masters  of  the  time.  Till  the  year  1686,  in  which 
his  last  opera  was  brought  out,  he  seems  to  have  been  the 
idol  of  the  court,  and  to  have  been  considered  in  France  the 
ne  plus  ultra  of  composers.  Compared,  however,  with  the 
Italian  opera  of  the  same  epoch,  his  compositions  are  not  far 
behind,  though  it  was  a  misfortune  for  the  country  that,  for 
so  long  a  period,  everything  which  was  not  an  imitation  of 
the  style  of  Lulli  was  considered  an  inferior  production.  In- 
strumental music  made  but  little  progress  in  the  17th  cen- 
tury. The  most  distinguished  organists  were  the  three 
Bournonvilles,  and  the  three  Couperins ;  Charbonieres,  who 
died  in  1670 ;  Dumont,  a  good  composer  of  church  music, 
who  first  introduced  violin  accompaniments  into  France; 
the  Abbe  de  la  Barre;  and,  lastly,  Lalande,  the  most  cele- 
brated French  composer  of  ecclesiastical  music,  at  the  end 
of  the  17th  and  beginning  of  the  18th  century.  Rameau, 
born  at  Dijon  in  1683,  was  destined  to  rouse  the  French  na- 
tion, which  seemed  to  have  slept  since  their  loss  of  Lulli. 
3C*  793 


MUSIC. 


In  the  space  of  twenty-seven  years  after  1733  he  produced 
29  operas,  and  became  so  great  a  favourite  with  the  people 
that  it  was  dangerous  to  criticise  hi?  works.  The  time  has, 
however,  passed  in  which  his  operas  would  be  listened  to; 
and  but  for  his  theoretical  works,  the  only  solid  base  of  his 
glory,  he  would  long  since  have  been  forgotten.  Rameau 
died  in  1767.  His  school  lasted  till  about  1775.  though  since 
1750  the  comic  opera  has  been  on  the  Italian  model.  Under 
this,  with  Dauvergne,  le  Borde,  Floquet,  J.  J.  Rousseau, 
Duni,  and  Philidor,  French  melody  has  regenerated  :  and 
Monsigny,  Gossec,  and  Gretry  completed  its  improvements. 
The  reform  thus  effected  prepared  the  French  for  the  recep- 
tion of  the  Iphivenie  of  Gluck,  in  1774.  at  which  time  lie 
had  Piccini  and  Lucchini  for  rivals.  These  musicians  bare 
been  succeeded  by  a  school  which  comprises  the  names  of 
Berton,  Mehul.  Boildieu,  Kreutzer,  and  others ;  and  among 
the  Italians  who  joined  their  ranks  are  found  those  of  Che- 
rubini,  Spontini.  and  Winter.  In  instrumental  composition 
the  French  have  not  been  so  original,  though  latterly  they 
have  considerably  advanced.  France  is  considered  deficient 
in  musical  literature,  and  does  not  attend  to  its  cultivation 
with  that  ardour  that  is  so  manifest  in  Italy  and  Germa- 
ny. Their  conservator}',  however,  is  an  establishment  like- 
ly to  do  honour  to  the"  nation ;  and  the  work  of  Choron — 
entitled  Principcs  de  Composition  des  Ecoles  d' Italie,  adoptes 
par  le  Gouvernement  Fran^ais.  pour  serrir  a  ['Instruction 
des  E'cvcs  des  Maltrises  de  Cathedrales.  Ouvrage  clas- 
sique,  forme  de  la  Reunion  des  Modeles  les  plus  parfaites 
en  tout  genre,  in  3  vols,  fol.,  is  alone  sufficient  to  redeem  the 
French  from  the  accusation  of  wanting  musical  literature. 

English  .Music. — We  are  not  acquainted  with  writers  in 
this  country  of  earlier  date  than  those  of  Italy ;  but,  for  the 
honour  of  this  country*,  however  much  we  may  have  been 
behind  Italy  in  the  restoration  of  other  arts,  in  that  of  mu- 
sic we  were  formerly  quite  on  a  par  with  the  Continent : 
and  it  is  singular  that  in  later  years  we  should  have  lost 
our  character,  and,  we  fear,  deservedly,  among  other  na- 
tions. It  is  certain  that  England  can  boast  masses  in  four, 
live,  and  six  parts,  written  by  natives,  as  ancient  as  those  of 
the  Italians  themselves;  we  have  also  secular  music  in  two 
and  three  parts,  and  in  good  counterpoint,  in  the  latter  end 
of  the  15th  and  beginning  of  the  16th  century,  about  which 
period,  to  the  English  musician,  the  names  of  William  of 
Newark,  Sheiyngham,  Turges,  Tudor,  Banester,  Browne, 
and  others,  are  familiar.  The  first  named  was  one  of  the 
musicians  of  Henry  VI. ;  and  the  compositions  of  Tudor  are 
known  from  Prince  Henry's  (Hen.  VIII.)  music-book.  Hen- 
ry VIII.  is  known  as  a  composer  from  a  beautiful  anthem  in 
Hoyce's  collection  of  cathedral  music;  and  his  patronage  of 
Christopher  Tye,  the  composer  of  Laudate  JVomen  Domini, 
a  motett  frequently  sung  at  madrigal  meetings  in  the  present 
day,  shows  that  good  music  was  then  first  esteemed  as  it 
ought  to  be.  Marbeck,  in  1550,  published  the  whole  of  the 
reformed  cathedral  service  to  musical  notes,  and  for  his  ex- 
ertions as  a  reformer  he  had  nearly  been  brought  to  the 
stake.  During  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  the  talents  displayed 
by  our  countrymen  appear  to  ha%'e  been  surpassed  in  no 
other  country,  and  music  here  was  then  indeed  in  its  palmy 
state.  Tallis,  Bird,  Morley,  Dowland,  and  Bull  were  the 
principal  composers  of  the  reign  :  Elizabeth  herself  could 
have  been  no  mean  performer,  if  she  was  able  to  play  the 
pieces  in  her  virginal  book.  Though  it  does  not  appear  that 
James  I.  took  much  delight  in  music,  it  nevertheless  con- 
tinued to  prosper  during  his  sway ;  indeed,  the  compositions 
of  Gibbons  were,  as  pieces  of  church  music,  perhaps  never 
surpassed  in  any  age  or  nation :  neither  are  his  secular 
pieces  of  inferior  character.  This  reign  as  well  as  the  pre- 
ceding was  fruitfid  in  madrigal  writers  as  well  as  compo- 
sers for  the  church  ;  among  the  former  of  whom  were 
Michael  and  Thomas  Este,  Bateson.  Ward,  Litchfield,  l'il- 
kmgton,  Wilbye,  Bennett,  Farmer,  Ford,  and  others;  ami 
among  the  last  Tomkins,  Elway  Bevin,  and  Dr.  Nathaniel 
Gyles.  In  the  time  of  Charles  I.  instrumental  music  was 
coming  into  vogue ;  the  monarch  was  a  pupil  of  Cooper 
(who  was  wont  to  be  called  Coperario  ,  and  used  to  practise 
the  viol-di-gamba.  He  had  a  band  of  performers,  eighteen 
of  whom  are  known.  Including  Nicholas  Laniere,  v.  b 
the  master  of  it.  The  most  celebrated  men  of  this  reign 
were  Dr.  Wilson,  William  and  Henry  Lawes,  and  Dr.  Child, 
who  died  in  1697,  aged  90,  after  having  been  organist  of  St. 
George's  chapel,  Windsor,  diirins  the  extraordinary  period 
of  sixty-five  years.  So  intent  was  Charles  upon  advancing 
music,  that  he  granted  a  charter  to  the  most  eminent  musl 
rians  of  that  day,  with  many  great  privileges.  The  an  bad 
been  sinking  for  some  years,  but  its  fall  was  accelerated  by 
the  suppression  of  the  cathedral  service  in  1643;  and  the 
only  persons  of  whom  we  hear  during  the  time  of  I 
well  were  William  and  Henry  Lawes.  Though  these  men 
794 


were  favourites  of  Milton,  and  the  subject  of  some  of  his 
verses,  they  were  sadly  inferior  to  Tallis,  Bird,  and  Gib- 
bons. During  the  interregnum  the  musical  flame  was 
chiefly  fed  at  Oxford  ;  but  even  there,  from  the  vear  1646,  in 
which  the  king  was  forced  to  leave  the  city,  after  the  battle 
of  Naseby,  until  1656,  it  was  nearlv  extinguished.  At  the 
Restoration  it  appeared  again  to  flourish  :  Child.  Christo- 
pher Gibbons,  Rogers,  and  Wilson,  were  made  doctors  of 
Oxford;  the  choirs  again  obtained  good  masters;  and  the 
organs,  which  had  been  destroyed  by  the  fiend-like  rage  of 
the  Puritans,  were  again  set  up.  though  with  difficulty,  from 
the  scanty  supply  of  organ  builders.  Among  the  musicians 
who  were  attached  to  the  court  of  Charles  II.  was  Henry 
Purcell,  of  whom  Dr.  Burney  says,  that  he,  "  during  a  short 
life,  and  in  an  age  almost  barbarous  for  every  species  of 
music  but  that  of  the  church,  manifested  more  original 
genius  than  any  musician  under  similar  circumstances,  that 
any  inquiries  into  the  history  of  the  art  have  yet  discovered 
in  any  part  of  Europe."  This  truly  great  man  died  Nov. 
21,  1695,  in  the  thirty-seventh  year  of  his  age  ;  his  principal 
contemporaries  were  Dr.  Blow,  his  master,  Pelham  Humph- 
reys, and  John  Weldon.  After  Purcell's  death  some  skilful 
men  appeared  as  amateurs  in  the  service  of  the  church  ; 
namely.  Doctors  Holder,  Aldrich,  and  Creyghton :  among 
the  professors  were  Jeremiah  Clarke,  Goldwin,  and  Doctors 
Croft,  Green,  Boyce,  and  N' ares.  Croft  of  all  these  was  un- 
doubtedly the  greatest ;  he,  like  Purcell,  was  a  disciple  of 
Blow  :  always  elegant  and  simple  in  his  strains,  frequently 
grand  and  masterly,  he  has  not  left  a  composition  that  does 
not  exhibit  great  learning.  His  death  occurred  in  17-27.  in 
the  fiftieth  year  of  his  age.  Dr.  Boyce  occupied  the  void 
which  Croft's  death  had  created  ;  he  was  a  good  musician, 
always  pleasing,  but  rarely  grand  in  his  compositions.  His 
contemporary,  Jonathan  Battishill,  wrote  some  fine  compo- 
sitions for  the  church,  and  prepared  the  way  in  glee  writing 
for  a  race  of  English  musicians  who  are  an  honour  to  their 
country.  The  reader  will  recognise  the  truth  of  this  asser- 
tion when  he  glances  at  the  names  of  Alcock,  Arne,  Att- 
wood,  W.  Beale,  Callcott,  Dr.  Cooke,  Robert  Cooke,  Crotch, 
Danby,  James  Elliott,  Harington,  Horslev,  Thomas  Linley, 
the  Earl  of  Mornington,  Shield,  Stafford  Smith,  Spofforth, 
the  Wesleys,  &c.  In  dramatic  and  symphony  writing,  we 
regret  to  say,  England  is  still  in  her  infancy. 

Chinese  Music. — The  Chinese  have  had  a  system  of  mu- 
sic from  a  most  remote  period,  and  in  its  scale  it  seems  to 
have  more  resemblance  to  the  Grecian  than  any  other  to 
which  it  could  be  compared.  From  the  time  of  Yao  and 
Chun,  which  their  chronology  would  carryback  two-and- 
twenty  centuries  before  Christ,  they  have  had  what  they 
call  eight  species  of  sounds :  1st.  The  sound  of  dried  skins, 
such  as  drums  ;  2d.  The  sound  emanating  from  stone,  called 
king;  3d.  That  of  metal,  as  bells;  4th.  That  of  baked 
earth,  called  hiven  ;  5th.  That  from  silk,  called  kin  and 
che ;  6th.  That  from  wood,  called  ya  and  tihov  ;  7th.  That 
from  bamboo,  such  as  flutes,  called  koan  ;  8th.  That  from 
the  gourd,  called  cheng.  Their  scale  consists  of  14  notes,  of 
which  the  seven  middle  notes  correspond  to  our  gamut  from 
/  upwards.  They  seem  unacquainted  with  harmony,  and 
we  ought,  perhaps,  to  apologize  for  saying  so  much  of  it. 

Hungarian  Music. — About  the  9th  century  the  Hungari- 
ans left  Asia  to  settle  in  Europe,  when  they  conquered  the 
country  that  bears  their  name.  Like  all  the  Asiatics,  they 
were  attached  to  music,  and  at  first,  doubtless,  used  only 
Asiatic  instruments ;  these  were  nearly  all  wind  instru- 
ments, and  consisted  of  the  trumpet,  the  flute,  Ihe  cymbal, 
and  several  others.  Till  the  time  of  Mathias  Corvin  it  was 
in  a  state  of  mediocrity  ;  he  incited  the  Hungarians  to  vie 
with  other  nations  in  sciences  and  arts,  of  which  he  himself 
was  particularly  fond.  Under  Ladislas  and  Louis  II.  mu- 
sic was  cultivated  with  great  can-  ;  their  national  songs 
were,  however,  the  only  vocal  music  thoy  possessed  till  the 
time  of  Stephen,  king  of  Hungary,  when  the  ecclesiastical 
chant  appears  to  have  been  introduced.  In  a  diploma  of 
Bela  III..  A. It.  1193,  it  appears  that  prince  sent  an  envoy  to 
Paris  to  be  instructed  in  melody  ;  perhaps  induced  to  do  so 
hv  bis  second  wife  Margaret,  who  was  daughter  of  Louis 
VII.  .it"  Trance. 

All  musical  ideas  are  expressed  by  means  of  notes  on  a 
staff;  that  is,  five  equidistant  horizontal  lines,  on  or  be- 
tween which  the  notes  are  placed.  The  gamut  is  a  table 
whereon  these  notes  are  placed;  and  their  relative  situa- 
tions as  to  acuteness  or  gravity  of  tone  is  ascertained  by 
clefs.  The  n aim  a  of  the  notes,  which  are  six  in  number, 
are  nt,  re,  mi.  fa,  snl,  In,  the  lowest  of  these  being  the  gam- 
ma of  thescaie.  Modern  musicians  have  used  as  equiva- 
lents the  first  -even  letters  of  the  alphabet.  The  arranger 
men!  In  question  is  exhibited  in  the  diagram  following,  a  note 
having  been  added  by  the  modems  to  complete  the  octave. 


MUSIC. 


la 
sol 
fa 

la 
sol 
fa 
fcjmi 

la 

mi 

re 

sol 

re 

ut 

la 

la 

sol 

fa 

re 

ut 

sol 

fa 

ut 

•  or  < 

la 

sul 

fa 
re 

fcjmi 

re 

Ul 

fa 

ut 

la 

b|mi 

fol 
fa 
mi 
re 

re 
ut 

1 


Hr-o-^5^- 


(Gamma.) 


From  this  diagram  it  will  be  seen  that  the  bass  clef,  also 
called  the  F  fa  ut  clef,  on  whatever  lines  placed,  makes  the 
notes  on  the  line  between  the  dots  ;o  F  or  fa  ut,  whence 
reckoning  is  made  upwards  or  downwards ;  that  the  tenor, 
or  C  sol  fa  ut,  clef  makes  all  the  notes  on  the  line  between 
the  cross  or  horizontal  bars  -£-©-  or  sol  fa  ut ;  and  that 
the  treble  or  G  sol  re  ut  clef  makes  all  the  notes  on  the  line 

round  which  the  character  turns  -jfo-o  ■  G  sol  re  ut ;  and  it 

is  to  be  observed  that  these  several  clefs  may  be  put  on  any 
lines  of  the  staff  notes,  which  then  take  the  names,  F,  C,  or 
G,  as  the  case  may  be.    Thus, 


One  of  the  most  important  ends  gained  by  the  use  of  these 
clefs  is  the  avoidance  of  notes  running  off  the  staff,  which 
they  otherwise  would  do,  and  what  are  called  ledger  lines 


G    A      B     C     D    E      F 

■     B.    *X     ff     S     B     5 


m 


G    A      * 


ZZ^ 


would   be  wanted ;   thus, 


where 


the  ledger  lines  are  those  upon  which  the  notes  out  of  the 
staff  are  placed.  The  lines  of  a  staff  are  reckoned  upwards; 
thus  the  lowest  line  is  called  the  first,  the  lowest  but  one 
the  second,  and  so  on.  When  the  F  clef  is  placed  on  the 
third  line,  it  is  called  the  barytone  clef;  when  on  the  fourth, 
the  bass  clef.  When  the  C  clef  is  placed  on  the  first  line, 
it  takes  the  name  of  the  soprano  clef ;  when  on  the  second, 
the  mezzo  soprano  ;  when  on  the  third,  the  alto  or  counter- 
tenor clef;  and  when  on  the  fourth,  the  tenor  clef.  The  G 
clef  is  rarely  or  never  now  placed  on  any  but  the  second 
line,  and  is  then  called  the  treble  clef.  It  may  be  some- 
times seen  in  old  books  placed  on  the  first  line ;  when  so 
found,  it  is  called  the  high  treble  clef.  In  keyed  instru- 
ments, the  C  nearest  the  middle  of  the  instrument  is  the 
note  of  the  tenor  or  C  clef;  the  G  above  it  to  the  right  is 
the  treble  or  G  clef;  and  the  F  below  to  the  left  is  the  F  or 
bass  clef  note.  When  to  the  seven  primary  notes  (see  dia- 
gram) another  is  added  above,  the  arrangement  is  called  an 


octave ;  thus, 


^ 


After  which, 


cdefgabc 

if  more  be  added,  either  upwards  or  downwards,  it  will  be 
but  a  return  to  similar  notes  either  more  acute  or  more  grave 
in  pitch  ;  that  is,  an  octave  above  or  below  them  respect- 
ively. This,  which  is  called  the  scale,  has  between  its  notes 
seven  intervals,  of  which  those  between  c  and  d,  d  and  e,  / 
and  g,  g  and  a,  and  a  and  b  are  equal,  and  are  called  tones 
or  whole  tones  ;  while  those  between  e  and  /,  and  b  and  c 
are  semitones.  To  inquire  how  nature  has  implanted  on 
the  ear  dissatisfaction  from  any  other  position  of  these 
semitones  in  the  scale  of  the  octave,  is  not  the  object  of  this 
treatise.  That  it  i3  so  is  certain,  and  the  most  uneducated 
whistler  could  not  avoid  it  without  exertion.  The  scale  is 
also  divided  into  two  tetrachords,  from  c  to/  and  from  a  to 
c  :  each  of  these  consists  of  two  tones  and  a  semitone. 
There  is  not  a  strict  mathematical  equality  between  these 
fourths,  but  for  our  purpose  here — and  the  difference,  in- 
deed, is  imperceptible,  except  to  the  finest  ear — that  equality 
may  be  assumed.  As  all  melody  or  air,  which  is  an  artful 
succession  of  tones,  depends  on  a  right  perception  of  the 


c     D    E     F 

M        B  g. 


places  of  the  semitones,  the  above  preliminaries  must  be 
well  understood  by  the  student. 

By  the  particular  form  of  a  note,  its  duration,  or  length  of 
time  it  is  to  be  held  on,  is  known.  There  are  nine  of  these 
forms,  which  are  exhibited  in  the  subjoined  table,  in  which 
the  first  two  are  now  rarely  used,  though  in  old  ecclesiasti- 
cal music  they  are  constantly  met  with. 

The  large  .        .        .    |.       |  equal  to  two  longs 


The  long 

The  breve 

The  semibreve 

The  minim 

The  crotchet  . 

The  quaver     . 

The  semiquaver 

The  demisemiquaver 

The  notes  with  hooks  appended  to  their  tails  are  fre- 
quently grouped  together ;  this  does  not  alter  their  value, 
but  it  assists  the  eye  in  reading  off  the  proportions  of  the 

notes.      Thus, 


1=1  _ 

1=1  ~ 

O  - 

°[  ~ 

P  - 

t  - 

I  - 


two  breves 
two  semibreves 
two  minims  . 
two  crotchets  . 
two  quavers  . 
two  semiquavers 
two  demisemiquavers  j 


Detached.  Grouped.  Detached.  Grouped. 
If  a  dot  be  added  to  the  right  hand  of  any  note,  thus  <\  •,  it 
increases  its  duration  exactly  one  half.  The  duration  of 
a  note  is  measured  by  the  musician  from  habit,  and  is 
regulated  by  beating  time ;  that  is,  by  the  elevation  and 
depression  of  the  hand  or  foot  quicker  or  slower  ac- 
cording to  the  nature  of  the  music  performed.  A  mu- 
sical piece  is  divided  into  measures,  which  are  equal 
portions  of  time  ;  and  the  vertical  lines  which  so  divide  it 
are  called  bars,  single  lines  taking  merely  that  name ; 
and  the  two  thick  ones  at  the  end  of  a  strain  double  bars. 

Every  measure  must  contain 

a  certain  number  of  notes  according  to  the  time  marked  at 
the  beginning  of  the  movement ;  and  that  time  is  of  two 
sorts — common  time  and  triple  time — in  which  two  all  others 
originate.  The  first  is  of  two  sorts  :  1st,  that  in  which  each 
bar  is  equal  to  a  semibreve  in  duration  ;  2d,  that  in  which  a 
minim  in  duration  is  equal  to  a  bar.  Those  common  times 
in  which  a  semibreve  is  the  measure  are  marked  by  a  C  af- 


1 



— 

ter  the  clef  at  the  beginning  of  the  staff;  thus,  -/SE^EEEE. 


When  the  C  has  a  bar  through  it,  thus  7S 


; ,  it  denotes 


a  quicker  measure,  thus 


w 


£=^=h3m 


and  is  called  alia  breve,  but  it  is  now  usually  written  by  di- 
viding the  breve  into  halves.  There  is  another  sort  of 
movement  now  very  rarely  used  ;  it  is  very  quick,  and  it  is 


thus  marked,  ~ 


The  other  characters  of  common 

;  signifying  that  there  are  two  crotch- 
795 


MUSIC. 


ets  in  the  bar,  of  which  (the  denominator)  four  make  a  semi- 
breve.  Triple  time  is  so  celled  from  the  ban  being  divisible 
into  three  parts:  it  is  beat  with  the  hand  down  at  the  begin 
ning  of  the  bar,  raised  a  little  in  the  middle,  and  quite  up  at 
the  close  of  it.  In  this  time  the  denominator  of  the  figures 
placed  at  the  beginning  of  the  staff  is  a  measure  of  a  seini- 
breve:  thus,  if  2  lie  the  denominator,  the  measure  is  a  min- 
im, because  two  minims  make  a  semibreve :  if  4,  the  meas- 


ure is  a  crotchet ;  and  so  on.    Hence 
=2fc 


signifies  three 


-  three  crotchets;   ~~B~  three  qua- 


minlms  in  a  bar ; 
vers.     So  again  with  multiples  of  3  for  the  numerator: 
three  crotchets :  ^W^  sL\  quavers ;  ;jv^ 


nine  quavers ; 


nine  semiquavers ; 


twelve 


quavers.  Others  sorts  of  triple  time  are  used  ;  but  if  the 
reader  keep  in  mind  that  the  denominator  always  expresses 
the  division  of  the  semibreve,  and  the  numerator  the  num- 
ber of  those  divisions  in  each  bar,  no  mistake  can  ever  arise. 
There  is  a  certain  stress  laid  on  some  part  or  parts  of  ev- 
ery bar,  which  is  called  accent ;  hence  each  bar  or  measure 
is  divided  into  accented  and  unaccented  parts  :  the  accented 
are  the  principal,  and  those  on  which  the  pathos  and  spirit 
mainly  depend.  The  beginning  and  the  middle,  or  the  be- 
ginning of  the  first  half  of  the  bar  and  the  beginning  of  the 
latter  half,  in  common  time,  and  the  beginning  or  first  of 
three  notes  in  triple  time,  are  universally  accented  parts  of 
the  measure ;  so  the  first  and  third  crotchet  of  the  bar  are 
on  the  accented  part  of  the  measure  in  common  time.  In 
triple  time,  where  the  notes,  as  we  have  explained,  go  by 
threes,  the  note  in  the  middle  is  unaccented,  and  the  first 
and  last  accented  ;  the  accent,  however,  on  the  first  is  so 
preponderant,  that  the  last  is  almost  accounted  as  though  it 
had  none.  It  is  on  account  of  accent  that  it  is  frequently 
necessary  to  begin  a  movement  with  only  part  of  a  measure. 
Thus,  in  the  Welsh  tune  Griffith  ap  Cwnan, 
(As  wntten.) 


W0^ 


if  will  immediately  be  seen  that  the  alteration  of  the  accent 
entirely  changes 

(As  changed  in  accent.) 


ppgSHIi 


the  character  of  the  air.  When  the  last  note  of  a  bar  (as 
in  the  last  bar  of  the  lower  example)  is  connected  with  the 
first  of  the  following  bar,  so  as  to  make  only  one  note  of 
both,  it  is  called  syncopation.  This  is  also  sometimes  used 
in  the  middle  of  a  measure;  also  when  a  note  of  one  pnrt 
ends  in  the  middle  of  a  note  of  the  other:  the  latter,  how- 
ever, is  called  binding  or  legature. 

A  rest  is  a  pause  or  interval  inserted  when  silence  is  re- 
quired in  the  part  to  which  it  is  written,  which  silence  is  to 
be  preserved  during  the  time  denoted  by  the  species  of  rest 
used.    The  following  are  the  rests  that  are  used  : 


m 


i 


-3— I 1 


Crotchet.        Quaver.         Semiquaver.  Demisemiquaver. 

It  has  been  already  noticed  that  in  the  ascent  of  a  note  to 
an  octave  there  are,  between  the  third  and  the  fourth  note, 
and  between  the  seventh  and  the  octave,  semitones  instead 
of  whole  tones  ;  and  this  is  what  is  called  the  ilintonic  scale. 
It  must,  therefore,  he  evident  from  this  inequality  that,  sup- 
posing it  were  necessary,  for  the  sake  of  the  voice's  compass 
or  any  other  cause,  to  commence  a  piece  of  music  higher  or 
lower  than  it  was  originally  written,  the  mere  shifting  the 
notes  higher  or  lower  on  the  lines  and  spaces   would   not 

represent  the  same  relative  proportions  in  all  the  intervals ; 
because  the  places  of  the  semitones  would  remain  the  Bame 
on  the  staff  while  their  position  with  respect  to  the  notes 
would  be  altered.  An  expedient  is.  therefore,  wanted  by 
which  tin-  places  of  the  notes  may  be  raised  or  depressed 
the  value  of  a  semitone.    The  former,  thai  is  raising  them, 

is  effected  by  placing  sharps  before  them,  thus,  jJ  ;  and  the 

latter  b]  means  of  flats,  thus,  [>.    If  we  want  to  restore  an) 

note  that  has  been  thus  treated  to  its  original  place,  it  i-  ef 
fected  by  means  of  B  natural,  thus,  ;  .  Two  other  charac 
ten  are  also  used  :  the  double  sharp,  thus,  "><,  which  raises 
a  note  two  semitones,  and  the  double  Hat  \)  b,  which  equal 
7% 


ly  depresses  it.  Upon  keyed  instruments,  such  as  the  piano- 
forte and  organ,  these  sharps  and  thus  are  represented  by 
short  black  keys,  and  there  is  no  distinction  between  D# 
and  Kb,  and  such  want  of  distinction  is  an  imperfection  in 
the  instrument;  for, as  we  have  before  hinted,  there  is  not  a 
strict  mathematical  equality  between  the  semitones  of  the 
diatonic  scale.  The  number  of  these  fiats  and  sharps  at  the 
beginning  of  a  staff  affect  all  the  notes  of  the  line  or  space 
on  which  they  are  placed,  and  are  termed  the  signature. 
If,  in  addition  to  these,  in  the  course  of  a  movement  any 
other  occur,  they  are  termed  accidental,  and  only  affect  the 
notes  which  they  immediately  precede,  and  those  also  in  the 
same  bar;  hut  if  in  the  same  bar  any  note,  after  having  been 
accidentally  raised,  on  being  repeated,  is  preceded  by  a  nat- 
ural, such  natural  restores  it  to  its  original  place. 

The  ornaments  of  musical  melody  are  called  graces ;  the 
principal  of  which  are  the  appoggiatura,  the  shake,  the 
turn,  and  the  beat  ;  with  the  mordente,  beat,  slide,  and 
spring  peculiar  to  the  Germans :  those  of  musical  harmo- 
ny are  the  arpeggio,  the  tremando,  &c.  The  appoggia- 
tura, which  always  occurs  on  the  accented  part  of  the 
measure,  is  a  small  note  placed  before  a  large  one  of  longer 
duration,  which  it  usually  deprives  of  half  its  value ;  thus, 


^Q4-^[^  =ft±£=%: ' wherein  *** 


small  notes 


are  appoggiaturas.  Occasionally,  the  appoggiatura  is  only 
one  quarter  of  the  note  it  precedes.  The  shake  is  a  quick  al- 
ternate repetition  of  a  note  with  the  note  above  it,  the  mark 
tir  being  placed  on  the  lower,  and  the  upper  one  not  express- 
/r> 


ed ;  thus 


ilil- 


performed 


When  there  are  a  series  of  ascending  or  descending  shakes, 
the  Italians  call  it  una  catena  di  trilli.  What  the  Ger- 
mans call  the  passing  shake  is  thus  marked  ^5?  over  the 


note  where  it  is   intended,  thus 


performed 


H  •    The  mordente  of  the  Italian  school 

mii    h   Ir 

is    used    similarly  ;     thus      T  -1  -f-  f    f  f-^ ,     performed 
The  turn  employs  the  note  aoove 
and  that  below  in  the  following  way,  r^y^Z  l^^pj-  ; 


performed 


The  inverted  turn,  thus 


marked  i-<,  turns  from  the  note  below  that  marked  instead 
of  above  it.     Turns  on  dotted  notes  are  very  frequently 


used ;   they  are  written  as  follows  TSSrjBHzErE 


performed  qj 


id.    The  beat 


is  the  reverse  of  the  shake  Without  the  turn,  and  is  generally 
made  at  the  distance  of  the  semitone  below ;  hence  all  the 
natural  notes,  except  C  and  F,  require  the  note  below  them  to 

.     W    vV 
be  accidentally  sharpened  for  the  beat;  thus  ^ 


N  ]]-,;}} -^^'r'-ff^E  ■     The  half-beat  is   most 

frequently  used  in  the  bass,  and  is  very  similar  to  the  aeci- 
acatura  of  the  Italians.  The  inferior  note  is  struck  only 
once,  and  at  the  same  time  with  the  principal  note,  but  is 

immediately  quitted,  as  EaJ_|i— $]•    The  Italians   use 


the  degree  above.     The  German  mordent.'  is  a  heat  com- 
menoing  with  the  note  itself,  and  is  either  long  or  short; 

This  differs  from  the 

(Ions)  (short) 

mordente  wc  have  already  described  by  being  made  with 


MUSIC. 


the  next  degree  below.  The  Italians  use  the  degree  above. 
The  German  beat  consists  of  two  small  notes,  forming  a  skip, 
descending  one  degree  upon  the  principal  note;  written  thus, 


apfe^p 


performed   3 


Naumberger  calls  this  grace  a  double  appoggiatura.    The 
German  slide  consists  of  two  small  notes,  which  move  by 


degrees;  written  thus 
formed 


per- 


_.    The  German  spring,  like 


the  Italian  mordente,  consists  of  two  small  notes,  sound- 
i  i     i 


ed   distinctly ;    thus,    z 


performed 


It  is  the  practice  of  the  compo- 


ser to  mark,  where  necessary,  the  occasional  alteration  of 
these  graces  by  sharps,  flats,  or  naturals.  The  graces  that 
belong  to  harmony  are,  the  tremolo,  or  reiteration  of  one  of 
a  chord;  the  tremando,  or  general  trembling  of  the  whole 
chord  ;  and  the  arpeggio,  which  is  an  imitation  of  the  harp, 
the  notes  of  the  chord  being  struck  in  quick  and  repeated 
succession.  The  following  characters  are  also  used  in  .Mu- 
sic: the  pause  ^T\  which,  placed  over  a  note,  signifies  that 
a  long  continuance  of  the  sound  is  to  be  made  on  that  part 
of  the  measure,  and  is  equally  effective  when  placed  over  a 

rest;  the  repeat  :Sy,  which  is  a  sign  placed  to  show  where 

the  performer  must  return  to  repeat  the  passage :  the  Italians 
call  it  il  segno  ;  the  direct  w,  always  placed  at  the  end  of 
the  staff  on  the  line  or  space  which  the  following  note  occu- 
pies. The  dots  which  are  found  in  the  inner  side  of  bars 
show  that  the  measures  or  bars  included  by  them  are  to  be 

repeated ;  thus,  F^ 


^km 


,  shows  that  these  two  bars 

are  to  be  played  twice  over,  the  same  object  being  some- 
times effected  by  writing  the  word  bis  over  them. 

We  have  already  mentioned  the  single  and  double  bar; 
all  that  we  have  to  add  on  them  here  is,  that,  as  every  bar 
or  measure  contains  a  certain  number  of  notes,  so  every 
strain  consists  of  a  certain  number  of  measures,  which  are 
terminated  by  the  double  bar. 

Expression,  in  music,  is  indicated  by  the  following  marks : 
The  tye,  which  is  a  convex  line  over  ~~~  or  a  concave  line 
under  *_,  two  notes  on  the  same  line  or  space,  uniting  them 
into  one.  It  is  also  used  to  express  syncopated  notes  where 
the  bar  divides  them.  The  slur  is  a  similar  line,  used  over 
notes  not  on  the  same  lines  or  spaces,  showing  that  such 
notes  are  to  be  played  smoothly ;  and  in  vocal  music  it  also 
means  that  all  the  notes  connected  by  it  are  to  be  sung  to  the 
same  syllable.  The  dash  is  a  small  vertical  stroke  |  placed 
over  notes  that  are  to  be  distinctly  marked.  Sometimes,  in- 
stead of  this,  the  point  is  used,  though  it  is  mostly  employed 
to  distinguish  those  notes  from  which  an  intermediate  effect 
between  the  slur  and  dash  is  wanted,  yet  uniting  the  one 


and  the  other ;  thus, 


The  other  marks  of 


expression  are  the  crescendo  <[,  by  which  the  sound  is  to  be 
increased  from  soft  to  loud ;  the  diminuendo  >,  which  is 
exactly  the  converse  of  the  last,  the  union  of  these  two<> 
indicating  that  the  first  part  is  gradually  increased  from  soft 
to  loud  in  the  middle,  and  then  to  soft  again ;  and  the  rin- 
forzando,  for  which  smaller  marks  of  the  same  sort  are 
used  >  <,  which  increase  or  diminish  the  sound  so  mark- 
ed. In  order  to  save  time  in  writing  and  copying  music, 
the  following  abbreviations  are  used  :  A  single  stroke  placed 
over  or  under  a  semibreve,  or  through  the  stem  of  a  minim 
or  crotchet,  divides  it  into  quavers,  a  double  stroke  into  semi- 
quavers, and  a  triple  stroke  into  demisemiquavers ;  thus, 

The  other  kind  of  abbreviation    is 
much  used  in  modern  music,  and  is  effected  by  grouping  the 

stems  of  minims  like  those  of  quavers  ;  thus  zzEzzS,  per- 


formed —Fez 


^m- 


Melody,  which  will  be  perhaps  better  understood  hy  the 
term  a  tune,  is  a  particular  succession  of  sounds  in  a  single 


part,  and  is  produced  by  the  voice  or  an  instrument.  The 
artful  manner  of  introducing  the  notes  of  different  lengths, 
and  succeeding  one  another  at  intervals  pleasing  to  the  ear, 
is  one  of  the  desiderata  of  the  musician  ;  the  other  being 
the  successful  accompaniment  of  these  single  sounds  by 
others,  according  to  the  laws  of  harmony.  As  respects 
tune  or  air,  melody  has  two  motions,  either  by  degrees  or 
by  skips  :  by  the  former  when  it  moves  to  the  line  or  space 
immediately  above  or  below  it,  and  by  skips  when  one  or 
more  degrees  are  omitted  between  the  preceding  and  fol- 
lowing note.    The  following  example  shows  each  motion 


JftEjplh^:  Jtffi  -^pEp^:  :    The  distance    be- 


tween any  two  notes  is  called  an  interval,  and  it  is  cus- 
tomary to  measure  it  from  the  lower  of  the  two  notes, 
which  by  their  names  indicate  the  number  of  degrees 
whereof  the  interval  consists,  remembering  that  in  the  di- 
atonic scale  whole  tones  are  divisible  into  semitones.  It 
may  be  as  well  to  explain  here  the  term  diatonic.  It  is  de- 
rived from  two  Greek  words,  Sia,  through,  and  tovos,  a  tone  ; 
because,  through  the  majority  of  notes  in  this  scale,  it  pro- 
ceeds by  whole  tones,  five  out  of  the  seven  being  of  that 
description,  and  the  other  two  being  semitones.  And  again, 
that  the  notion  of  an  interval  between  sounds  may  be  prop- 
erly acquired  and  felt,  we  would  hint  that  it  may  be  com- 
prehended by  stretching  a  string  between  two  fixed  points, 
so  that  upon  being  struck  its  vibrations  are  free  and  will 
yield  a  sound.  Now  a  string  half  the  length  similarly 
stretched  will  yield  a  sound  exactly  one  octave  higher ; 
the  intermediate  lengths,  therefore,  between  1,  which  we 
will  assume  the  first  string  to  have  been,  and  £,  the  length 
of  the  second  at  a  certain  place,  according  to  a  certain  ra- 
tio, will  yield  the  different  sounds  of  the  octave  :  thus  we 
may  acquire  a  distinct  notion  of  intervals  of  sound  by  ab- 
solute intervals  of  length.  To  return,  then,  to  different  in- 
tervals in  the  octave.  If  we  count  from  the  lower  note  to 
its  octave,  there  will  be  found  the  following  intervals  : 
First,  the  unison,  which  in  harmony  is  accounted  an  inter- 
val, though  it  be  the  same  identical  sound.  Second,  the 
minor  second,  sometimes  called  the  flat  second,  is  the  inter- 
val formed  by  two  sounds  at  the  distance  of  a  diatonic 
semitone  from  each  other.  Third,  the  major  second,  con- 
sisting of  a  whole  tone.  Fourth,  the  minor  third,  contain- 
ing a  whole  tone  and  a  diatonic  semitone.  Fifth,  the  ma- 
jor third,  consisting  of  two  whole  tones.  Sixth,  the  per- 
fect fourth,  containing  two  tones  and  a  diatonic  semitone. 
Seventh,  the  sharp  fourth,  containing  three  whole  tones, 
and  called  thence  by  the  ancients  the  tritonus.  Eighth, 
the  flat  fifth,  containing  two  tones  and  two  semitones  ; 
which,  however,  are  not  equal  to  three  whole  tones,  but 
rather  to  two  minor  thirds.  Ninth,  the  perfect  fifth,  con- 
taining three  tones  and  one  semitone,  equal  to  a  major  and 
a  minor  third.  Tenth,  the  minor  sixth,  consisting  of  three 
tones  and  two  semitones.  Eleventh,  the  major  sixth, 
which  consists  of  four  tones  and  one  semitone.  Twelfth, 
the  minor  seventh,  containing  four  tones  and  two  semi- 
tones, or  ten  semitones.  Thirteenth,  the  major  or  sharp 
seventh,  composed  of  five  tones  and  one  semitone,  or  eleven 
semitones.  Fourteenth  and  last,  the  octave,  consisting  of 
eight  degrees.  The  above  fourteen  intervals  are  given  in 
the  following  synopsis  : 


-c — ©- 


Unisons.    Minor  2d.    Major  2d     Minor  3  L     Major  3d. 


^zzzz=^zzzzztzzzzz=[zzzzz^z^ 


Perfect  4th.    Sharp  4th,    Flat  5th.    Perfect  5th. 
[or  Tritonus.] 


u , 

fl — 

— Q- 

| G — , 

r*t 

tv 

-&- 

^~a ' 

'-» 

Major  6th.  Minor  7th.  Major  7th.  Octave. 
By  inserting  the  semitones  between  these  intervals,  the 
number  which  we  have  above  stated  in  each  will  be  easily 
discovered.  When  the  lower  note  of  any  interval  is  placed 
an  octave  higher,  or  the  liigher  note  an  octave  lower,  it  is 
called  inversion.    Thus 


a  2d 

a  3d 

1 ^ — 

o 

a  4th 

c— 

is  converted  into  a  7th 
a  6th 
a  5th 


797 


MUSIC. 


By  this  operation  major  are  converted  into  minor  Inter- 
vals, and  the  converse ;  for  instance,  the  sharp  tomtit  be 
cmii.'s  a  Mat  tit'th.  ami  the  unison  becomes  an  octave.  We 
will  here  mention  an  ancient  division  of  melodies,  which  at 

least  ought  to  he  understood  hy  a  Student,  namely,  into  that 
of  auttitntir  and  plaglU  melodies.  The  former  are  those 
whose  principal  notes  are  between  the  key  note  and  its  oc- 
tave, Of  which  the  following  is  the  example  given  by  Cai- 
cott,  in  his  Grammar,  from  Handel's  Aphtha, 


(Waft  her,  angels.) 

The  latter,  on  the  contrary,  have  their  principal  notes  con- 
tained between  the  fifth  of  the  key  and  its  octave,  or  tweltth ; 


mmmmm 


(Streams  of  pleasure.) 
from  Handel's  Tlieodora. 

There  are  three  scales  occasionally  used  in  music ;  the 
diatonic,  which  lias  already  been  explained  ;  the  chromatic  ; 
and  the  enharmonic.  The  chromatic,  which,  according  to 
some,  takes  its  name  from  the  Greek  word  xP"Va'  colour, 
because  they  suppose  the  Greeks  distinguished  it  by  differ- 
ent-coloured characters  ;  according  to  others,  because,  hold- 
ing the  mean  place  between  the  diatonic  and  enharmonic 
system,  it  was  like  colour  between  black  and  white;  or,  as 
others  say,  because,  like  colours  in  painting,  it  embellishes 
the  diatonic  by  its  semitones — usually  ascends  by  sharps  and 
descends  by  fiats,  as  follows : 


iipaa^ 


^^gjiiii 


From  this  it  appears  that  the  chromatic  scale  consists  of 
thirteen  tones,  w  ith  twelve  intervals  between  them,  where- 
of we  have  already,  among  the  diatonic  intervals,  described 
seven ;  the  other  five  form  a  distinct  species  of  intervals 
called  chromatic.  First,  the  chromatic  semitone  is  the  inter- 
val between  any  note  and  the  same  depressed  hy  a  flat  or 
raised  by  a  sharp.  Second,  the  extreme  sharp  second,  which 
consists  of  a  tone  and  a  chromatic  semitone,  being  composed 
of  two  degrees.  Third,  the  extreme  flat  third,  which  con- 
tains two  diatonic  semitones,  consisting  of  three  degrees;  or 
it  is  the  minor  third  diminished  by  a  chromatic  semitone. 
Fourth,  the  extreme  flat  fourth,  containing  a  tone  and  two 
diatonic  semitones,  and  consisting  of  four  degrees ;  or  it  is 
the  perfect  fourth  diminished  by  the  chromatic  semitone. 
Fifth,  the  extreme  sharp  fifth,  which  is  the  perfect  rillh  in- 
creased by  the  chromatic  semitone.  Sixth,  the  extreme 
sharp  sixth,  or  the  major  sixth  increased  by  the  chromatic 
semitone,  consisting  of  five  degrees ;  it  is  divisible  into  a 
major  third  and  a  sharp  fourth.  Seventh,  the  extreme  flat 
seventh,  or  the  minor  seventh  diminished  by  a  chromatic 
semitone ;  it  is  composed  of  four  tones  and  two  diatonic 
semitones,  and  is  divisible  into  three  minor  thirds.  Eighth, 
the  extreme  flat  eighth,  or  octave  diminished  by  the  chro- 
matic semitone.  This  is  never  used  in  melody.  The  above 
intervals  are  exhibited  in  the  subjoined  synopsis. 


T 


J£=z± 


-ryA-Cr- 


t 


te 


drzzz 


C/irw..  f&naLXSO&  2W''  1  JExhvme  \)  :irdE~xc'b -I™ 


3BEE]E^E 


Hj«  \f^ 


EZt.lcS'*"  JZjcI.#6'M  JSxl.bt"*-  JEXI.\>8IA 
The  enharmonic  scale,  so  called  from  the  augment  a>,  and 
signifying  extremely  harmonious,  or  well  knit  together,  is  a 
series  formed  by  uniting  the  ascending  and  descending  scale 
of  the  chromatic  genus.  It  contains  Intervals  smaller  than 
the  semitone:  not,  indeed,  exactly  half  the  semitone;  but, 
from  their  near  approximation  to  it,  called  the  diesis,  a  Greek 
word  signifying  a  dirision.  We  have  before  hinted  that 
there  is  not  a  strict  mathematical  equality  between  the  tones 
in  an  octave,  Our  limits  do  not  permit  to  pursue  that 
•piestion  farther  than  to  say,  that  that  tone  which  is  be- 
tween the  fourth  and  fifth  of  the  scale  i9  divided  into  nine 
small  parts,  called  commas;  while  that  between  the  fifth 
and  sixth  of  the  major  scale  contains  only  eight  commas. 
The  diatonic  semitone  contains  five  commas ;  and  the  chro- 
matic semitone  three  nr  lour,  according  to  the  magnitude  of 
the  lone.  Now  the  enharmonic  scale  divides  each  tune  [ntO 
riaiii-  semitones  and  a  quarter  tone ;  but  we  subjoin 
a  diagram  of  it 
796 


h^^y^^p^\m^E^rS^o^k-  S '-" 


^^^Jt-e-MyaJL^ 


In  this  scale  we  have  inserted  the  intervals  E£>  and  E#; 
alsoCfr  and  II  js;  but  they  do  not  properly  belong  to  the 
scale,  :is  their  distance  is  less  than  a  quarter  tone.  We 
have  omitted  above  to  state  that  there  is  another  interval, 
which,  by  calculation,  is  found  to  be  a  comma  and  a  half, 
and  is  called  hypcroche,  or  an  excess. 

As  in  oratory  there  is  a  principal  subject  whereon  the 
speaker  constantly  dwells,  and  to  which,  after  diverging 
from  it,  he  always  returns;  so  in  music  there  is  one  Bound 
in  which  the  peice  begins  and  ends,  w  Inch  regulates  the  rest, 
and  to  which  regard  must  be  had  in  all  the  other  sounds  of 
the  piece ;  and  this  sound  is  called  the  key,  and  the  princi- 
pal note  the  key  vote,  or  tonic.  From  the  diatonic  scale  we 
have  seen  that  the  semitones  lie  between  E  and  F,  and  B 
and  C  ;  the  key  note  being  C.  Now  if  we  wish  to  make  G  the 
key  note,  it  is  clear  that  without  some  contrivance  the  wri- 
ting the  notes  from  G  to  its  octave  will  throw  one  of  the 
semitones  out  of  its  place  ;  namely,  that  betn  een  E  and  F, 
which,  instead  of  being,  as  it  ought  to  be,  between  the 
seventh  and  the  octave,  is  between  the  sixth  and  the  seventh. 
It  is  obvious,  then,  if  we  raise  the  natural  F  a  semitone  by 
means  of  a  #,  we  shall  restore  the  semitone  to  a  situation 
similar  to  that  which  it  held  in  the  key  of  C.  By  comparing 
the  subjoined  scales,  this  will  be  more  distinctly  seen. 

Key  of  C  Z 


Key  of  G 


SevUlbM  Semitone 
Now  if  D  be  taken  as  the  key  note,  we  shall  find  it  will 
be  necessary  to  sharpen  the  C  as  well  as  the  F,  in  order  to 
bring  the  semitones  into  the  places  they  ought  to  occupy  in 
the  octave ;  and  we  shall  have  two  sharps.  In  order  to 
save  the  constant  repetition  of  these  sharps,  it  is  usual  to 
put  them  at  the  beginning  of  the  staff,  where  they  are  called 
signatures ;  thus, 


r^K^H^H^^ 


In  the  same  way  the  keys  bearing  flats  are  marked,  saving 
that  the  seventh  of  the  original  key  bears  the  first  flat,  as 
follows : 


Besides  these  scales,  which  are  all  constructed  with  the 
major  third,  and  are  therefore  called  major  keys,  there  is  a 
scale  constructed  from  the  natural  notes  whose  third  ia 
minor  ;  thus, 


Ess) 


-C--g; 


In  which  it  must  be  observed,  first,  that  the  places  of  the 
semitones  are  different ;  and,  second,  that  the  ascending 
scale  always  requires  the  seventh  to  be  sharpened,  though 
it  is  not  sharpened  in  the  descending  scale.  The  sharp  in 
question  is,  however,  always  omitted  in  the  signature,  and 
marked  accidentally  where  the  melon'  requires  it.  It  must 
be  here  noted,  that  between  the  F  5  and  V,-z  a  harsh  chro- 
matic interval,  called  an  extreme  sharp  second,  occurs;  to 
avoid  which  the  sixth  is  sharpened,  by  which  the  scale  of 
the  minor  mode  has  two  notes  different  from  the  signature; 
but  in  the  descending  scale  no  accidentals  are  required. 
The  minor  modes,  whether  proceeding  by  sharps  or  flats, 
have  exactly  the  same  signatures  as  the  major  mode.  Thus 
by  sharps  we  have 


^H^^S^^t^feN^ 


and  bv  flats 


0 


b   '■ 


%EE3k 


^S^T 


Major  and  minor  scales  which  have  the  same  signatures  ar. 
denominated  relative.    Thus  die  relative  minor  keys  of  A  i> 

B£  ;  in  which  1  ase  the  tonic  or  key  note  of  the  minor  ie 

is  found  to  be  the  sixth  note  ascending  of  the  major  scale 
bearing  the  signature  ;  and  the  ionics  are  always  one  degn  1 
below  the  last  sharp  of  the  signature,  DU1  in  flat  signature* 
always  the  third  degree  above  the  last  flat. 


MUSIC. 


The  change  of  a  melody  from  its  original  to  a  higher  or  | 
lower  pitch  is  called  transposition,  and  this  may  be  effected 
by  altering  the  signature  according  to  the  pitch  of  the  new 
tonic  or  key  note.  This  alteration  may  be  also  accomplish- 
ed in  everv  minor  melody.  If  a  melody  is  performed  in  the 
relative  or"  tonic  minor,  being  originally  major,  the  change  is 
not  called  transposition,  but  variation.  Modulation  is  the 
motion  of  the  melody  on  the  key  in  which  it  has  commen- 
ced, and  the  alteration  by  new  flats  and  sharps  of  the  orig- 
inal scale.  Modulation  comprehends  the  regular  progression 
of  several  parts  through  the  sounds  that  are  in  the  harmony 
of  any  particular  kev,  as  well  as  the  proceeding  naturally 
and  regularly  from  one  key  to  another.  Every  scale  is  im- 
mediately connected  with  two  others ;  one  on  the  fitth 
above,  which  adds  a  sharp  to  the  signature  ;  the  other  on 
the  fifth  below  or  fourth  above,  by  which  a  new  flat  is  added 
to  the  signature.  These  were  called  by  Dr.  Boyce  attendant 
keys.  Minor  scales  have,  in  like  manner,  their  attendant 
keys. 

We  here  subjoin,  from  the  late  Dr.  Calcott's  excellent 
Musical  Grammar,  the  names  given  to  certain  notes  in  the 
scale  as  peculiarly  marking  their  character,  though  we  do 
not  intend  to  use  them  in  the  following  part  of  this  short 
essay.  1st.  The  tonic,  or  key  note,  is  the  chief  sound  upon 
which  all  regular  melodies  depend,  and  with  which  they  all 
terminate.  All  its  octaves,  above  and  below,  are  called  by 
the  same  name.  2d.  The  dominant,  or  fifth  above  the  key 
note,  is  that  sound  which,  from  its  immediate  connexion 
with  the  tonic,  is  said  to  govern  it ;  that  is,  to  require  the 
tonic  to  be  heard  after  it,  at  the  final  cadence  in  the  bass. 
3d.  The  sub- dominant,  or  fifth  below  the  key  note,  is  also  a 
species  of  governing  note,  as  it  requires  the  tonic  to  be  heard 
after  it  in  the  plagal  cadence.  It  is  the  fourth  in  the  regular 
ascending  scale  of  seven  notes,  and  is  a  tone  below  the 
dominant ;  but  the  term  arises  from  its  relation  to  the  tonic, 
as  the  fifth  below.  These  three  principal  sounds  are  the 
radical  parts  of  every  scale,  of  the  minor  as  well  as  the 
major ;  and  all  melodies  are  derived  from  them.  4th.  The 
leading  note,  or  sharp  seventh  of  the  scale,  is,  in  Germany, 
called  *«  subsemitone  of  the  mode  ;  it  is  always  the  major 
third  above  the  dominant,  and  therefore  in  the  minor  scales 
requires  an  accidental  sharp  or  natural  whenever  it  occurs. 
5th.  The  mediant,  or  middle  note  between  the  tonic  and  the 
dominant  ascending,  varies  according  to  the  mode ;  being  the 
greater  third  in  the  major  scale,  and  the  lesser  third  in  the 
minor  scale.  6th.  The  submediant,  or  middle  note  between 
the  tonic  and  subdominant  descending,  varies  also  according 
to  the  mode ;  being  the  greater  sixth  in  the  major  scale,  and 
the  lesser  sixth  in  the  minor  scale.  7th.  The  supertonic,  or 
second  above  the  key  note,  has  seldom  been  distinguished  in 
England  by  this  or  any  other  appellation.  In  theory  it  is  con- 
sidered as  a  variable  sound,  being  a  comma  higher  in  the 
major  scale  than  when  the  mode  changes  to  the  relative 
minor. 

Harmony  consists  in  the  combination  of  two  or  more 
sounds  or  melodies  heard  at  the  same  momeut,  the  intervals 
between  such  sounds  having  been  already  defined.  A  con- 
cord is  an  agreeable  relation  of  two  sounds  as  respects  the 
ear,  such  sounds  which  are  agreeable  compounds  singly 
being  agreeable  also  in  succession,  subject  to  certain  laws. 
Concord  is,  therefore,  included  under  the  term  harmony, 
though  more  properly  applied  to  the  agreeable  effect  of  two 
sounds  in  consonance ;  whereas  harmony  involves  the  agree- 
ment of  a  greater  number  of  sounds  than  two.  When  two 
sounds  either  in  consonance  or  succession  are  disagreeable  to 
the  ear,  the  relation  between  them  is  called  a  discord.  The 
concord  then  may  be  called  a  harmonical  interval,  and  the 
discord  an  inharmonical  one ;  yet  by  the  proper  interposi- 
tion of  discords  the  harmonies  of  a  passage  receive  a  lustre 
and  value  from  the  contrast.  They  must,  however,  as  we 
shall  presently  show,  be  properly  prepared  and  resolved,  as 
it  is  technically  called.  The  union  of  any  sound  with  its 
third  (major  or  minor)  and  its  perfect  fifth  is  called  a  com- 
mon chord  ;  to  which,  if  the  octave  to  the  sound  be  added, 
we  have  a  combination  of  four  sounds  in  the  harmony ; 
thus, 


Major.  Minor. 

So  long  as  in  these  chords  the  C  or  the  A  remain  the  lower 
note,  the  chord  is  called  the  common  chord  of  C  or  A  re- 
spectively ;  but  the  moment  the  position  of  the  lower  note 
is  changed,  the  name  of  the  chord  also  changes.  Thus  if  E 
of  the  common  chord  of  C  be  used  as  the  lowest  or  bass 


because  the  key  note  is  then  the  interval  of  a  sixth  upwards 
from  the  bass  note,  and  that  sixth  has  for  its  accompaniment 
a  minor  third  from  E  to  G. 
If  G  be  now  placed  at  the  bottom  and  used  as  the  bass 


the  key  note  is  an  interval 


of  a  fourth  above  the  bass,  and  the  chord  is  called  a.  fourth 
and,  as  the  example  shows,  is  accompanied  by  a  sixth.  Frora 
this  it  is  manifest  that  the  sixth  and  fourth  are  no  more  than 
inversions  of  the  common  chord,  having  the  same  note  C 
for  their  expressed  or  understood  bass,  which  is  called  the 
fundamental  bass,  because  it  is  that  on  which  they  are 
founded ;  and  the  same  arrangement  equally  exists  in  the 
common  chord  with  a  minor  third.    The  common  chord  is 

35        8 
expressed  shortly  thus,  5  8,  or  3 :  but  they  are  frequently 

83        5 
omitted.    The  second  example,  or  chord  of  the  sixth,  is 
merely  figured  with  a  sixth  ;  and  the  third  example,  where 

G  is  the  lowest  note,  is  denoted  by  the  figures  .. 

Of  discords,  the  most  simple  is  the  minor  seventh,  or,  as- 
some  call  it,  the  dominant  seventh  ;  because  it  occurs  only 
on  the  fifth  or  dominant  of  the  key,  and  requires  that  part  in 
which  it  occurs  always  to  descend  one  degree.   We  here  give 

its  full  accompaniment  of  four  real  parts  jtjrjf 

As  in  the  common  chord  either  of  these  four  sounds  may  he 
placed  as  the  bass  or  lower  note  of  the  chord,  yet  as 
with  C  in  the  common  chord  the  fundamental  note  of  it 
will  be  G;  B  being  a  third,  D  a  perfect  fifth,  and  F  a  minor 


note,  thus 


the  chord  is  called  a  sixth  ; 


seventh ;  thus, 


;  in  each  of  which 


cases  it  would  carry  the  figure  7  below  it.   Sometimes,  how- 
;)  7 :» :i 

E  CO  *f 

ever,  it  is  figured  below,  -375!  suca  positions  containing 

8 
the  tenth,  twelfth,  and  fourteenth  of  the  root,  when  the 
octave  is  removed.    When  B  becomes  the  bass  note,  as 


the  chord  by  inversion  consists  of  a  minor 


6 
5 

third,  an  imperfect  flat  or  false  fifth,  and  a  minor  sixth,  and 

is,  as  in  the  example,  figured  -.    If  D  be  next  taken  as  the 


bass  note,  thus 


the  chord  consists  of  a  minor 


third,  perfect  fourth,  and  major  sixth,  and  is,  as  in  the  ex- 
ample, figured  thereunder  3.    If  F  be  used  for  the  lower  or 

„,  the  chord  is  composed  of  3 


major  second,  sharp  fourth,  and  major  sixth,  and  is  fig- 

4 
ured  0. 

From  these  observations  it  appears,  therefore,  that  the 
three  last  chords  are  properly  called  derivatives  nt  the  minor 
seventh  when  accompanied  with  a  major  third  and  perfect 
fifth  Bv  some  authors  these  three  chords  are  called  the 
svneopated  fifth,  the  syncopated  third,  and  the  syncopated 
second  respectively.  Besides  the  chords  within  the  com- 
pass of  the  octave,  there  is  the  ninth,  which  is  usually  ac- 


MUSIC. 


Companied  with  a  third  and  fifth  ;  thus,  5ay-X— '!•  When 

used  in  a  composition  of  four  parts,  and  marked  by  a  single 
9,  it  has  the  accompaniment  of  a  third  and  fifth ;   thus, 


Eli 


fe 


n 


.    Frequently,  however,  it  is  acccom- 


6      9      8 

panted  by  a  fourth  and  fifth,  and  then  is  marked  with  a 


double  row  of  figures;  thus, 


£h! 


6     9     8 
5     4     3 

the  composition  is  in  only  three  parts,  the  fifth  is  not  used. 
With  the  third  and  fifth  as  an  accompaniment,  the  ninth  be- 
comes then  an  appoggiatura,  continued  in  the  place  of  the 
eighth.  The  ninth  has  two  inversions:  one  of  them  figured 
with  a  seventh  on  the  third  of  the  fundamental  note ;  the 
other  figured  with  a  fifth  and  a  sixth  on  the  fifth  of  the  fun- 
damental note. 

When  the  figures  4  and  6  are  dashed,  thus1*  "6-,  it  indicates 
that  they  represent  a  sharp  fourth  and  a  sharp  sixth.  It 
will  perhaps  be  useful,  in  this  place,  to  place  before  the 
reader  a  synopsis  of  all  the  discords  :  from  the  seventh  up- 
wards they  are  all  inversions  of  the  seventh  sharp  or  fiat, 
with  major  or  minor  thirds. 

(I.)  (II.)  (m.)  (IV.) 


#7      #7        7        7  7  7 

44556622 
2         2        4        4  4  4 

2       2  2  2 

In  the  above  table,  I.  is  the  second,  and  it  is  the  lower 
note  which  is  the  discord ;  II.  contains  four  real  parts  with- 

6      fi 
out  octaves  or  unisons,  and  its  use  is  to  retard  the  4  or  ? ; 

3  s 
IV.  is  also  with  four  real  parts,  three  of  which  form  a  com- 
mon chord  above  the  bass,  which  note  is  the  discord ;  VI. 
is  the  imperfect  common  chord,  with  a  whole  tone  added 
below  ;  VII.  is  the  major  second,  perfect  fourth,  and  minor 
seventh,  and  is  used  to  retard  the  common  chord  by  an  ap- 
poggiatura In  the  ban;  X.  is  called  the  chord  of  the  eleventh, 
of  whi<  li  the  figure  4  is  the  representation,  sometimes  called 
the  sharp  seventh  ;  XI.  is  the  chord  of  the  thirteenth — the 
sixth  may  be  either  major  or  minor;  in  XII.  the  fifth  must 
be  perfect,  the  second  either  major  or  minor,  and  cither  the 
one  or  the  other  may  be  doubled.  The  above  is  a  concise 
view  of  the  figured  or  thorough  bass ;  called  by  the  Italians 
basso  continuo  ;  and  the  reader  will  recollect  that  all  chords 
may  be  reduced  to  the  fundamental  bass  by  bringing  them 
to  the  form  of  the  perfect  chord,  or  to  that  of  the  seventh. 
Chords  are  called  rclative,or  irrelative,  according  as  a  boui  d 

is  or  is  not  common  to  both.    Thus  in 

these  two  chords,  which  are  irrelative,  it  will  be  seen  that 
there  is  no  sound  in  cither  that  is  common  to  both  ;  in  the 


chords 


the  G  being  found  in  both  chords, 


they  arc  relative.    If,  in  proceeding  from  one  chord  to  an- 
800 


other,  any  note  of  the  previous  chord  is  kept  in  that  which 
follows,  the  process  will  produce  correct  harmony.  The 
discords,  where  they  appear,  must,  of  course,  be  prepared 
and  reso/red,  whereof  we  shall  hereafter  speak  ;  and  care 
must  be  taken  to  avoid  progressions  of  fifths  and  octaves  be- 
tween the  extreme  parts  when  both  move  the  same  way. 
Before  leaving  this  part  of  the  subject,  we  subjoin,  as  proper- 
ly belonging  to  it,  what  is  called  the  harmony  of  th 
that  is.  the  accompaniment  which  it  carries  in  ascending  and 
descending : 


JEfFS^^EgEkg 


^2cd 


m 


m 


6      #6         8         6  6  6 

53454  3  45 

3  5         3         2  3         3 

Composition  is  the  art  of  joining  and  combining  concords 
and  discords  in  such  a  manner  that  their  succession  and 
progression  may  be  agreeable  to  the  ear.  It  may  be  here 
mentioned,  that  melody  being  chiefly  the  business  of  the 
imagination,  its  rules  serve  only  to  prescribe  limits  to  it ;  be- 
yond which  the  imagination  in  searching  out  the  variety  and 
beauty  of  the  airs  ought  not  to  go.  But  harmony  is  the  work 
of  the  judgment ;  and  its  rules  are  more  certain  and  exten- 
sive, and  more  difficult  in  practice.  A  person,  indeed,  un- 
skilled in  music  may  by  chance  make  a  piece  of  good  melody  ; 
but  a  person  of  judgment  does  it  with  certainty.  In  harmony, 
the  invention  has  not  so  much  to  do  ;  for  the  composition  is 
conducted  from  a  nice  observation  of  its  rules,  assisted  also 
by  the  imagination.  It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  in  the  com- 
pass of  this  article  space  can  be  afforded  for  a  complete 
treatise  on  this  part  of  the  subject ;  all  that  we  propose  is  to 
present  to  the  reader  some  of  the  leading  rules  of  the  science. 

The  different  motions  of  the  parts  which  constitute  har- 
mony are  direct  and  contrary.  In  the  former  the  parts  move 
the  same  way,  ascending  or  descending.  There  is  also  a 
third  motion,  according  to  some,  called  the  oblique  motion; 
but  that  may  be  classed  under  contrary  motion.  In  direct  mo- 
tion, the  parts  move  the  same  way,  ascending  or  descending. 


-f-Ei-H1- 


In  contrary  motion,  one  of  the 


parts  rises  while  the  other  falls, 


T~rf  r? 


The 


use  of  these  motions  enables  the  composer  to  avoid  harmoni- 
cal  irregularities  in  the  use  of  octaves  and  ril'ths,  and  in 
other  points.  The  following  are  the  leading  rules  of  har- 
mony, as  regards  the  motions  and  successions  of  concords : 
First,  octaves  and  fifths  must  not  be  consecutive  in  direct 


motion.    For  instance, 


where  tho 


motion  is  direct,  may  be  avoided  by  giving  the  passage  con- 
trary  motion ;  thus,    }|f^  q     \    r^_q_^_zj .    Second,  un- 


necessary and  distant  skips  must  be  avoided  as  much  as  pos- 
sible, and  the  chords  should  be  kept  as  close  and  as  much 
connected  as  may  be.  Third,  false  relations,  such  as  the 
extreme  sharp  second,  must  be  avoided,  unless  the  same  be 
required  for  the  purpose  of  expressing  some  particular  effect. 
Fourth,  the  regular  motion  ot  the  different  parts  in  harmony 
must  be  observed  :  sharp  intervals  should  ascend  after  the 
sharp,  while  minor  or  flat  intervals  hum  descend  alter  tin: 
flat  In  observing  this  rule,  however,  that  of  avoiding  con- 
secutive octaves  and  fifths  must,  nevertheless,  be  i 
neither  is  to  be  strictly  observed  where  certain  effects  are  re- 
quired. It  Is  customary  for  compositions  to  begin  with  one 
of  the  perfect  concords  of  its  key  note,  namely  the  octave  or 
fifth;  and  it  should  end  in  the  key  note  with  its  common 
chord  for  the  harmony.  It  should  not  begin  or  end  with  a 
sixth,  tlioiiL'li  it  sometimes  may  with  a  third.  To  these  we 
may  add,  that  you  must  not  go  from  an  imperfect  concord  to 
a  perfect  concord  by  similar  motion ;  such  passages  being 


MUSIC. 


gaifl  to  contain  hidden  octaves  or  fifths,  which  will  be  seen 
by  filling  up  the  diatonic  degrees  through  which  one  of  the 
parts  is  conceived  to  pass.  With  these  prefatory  remarks, 
we  shall  now  proceed  to  some  few  details  ot  the  laws  ot 
harmony.  In  proceeding  from  the  unison,  when  both  parts 
move,  it  is  better  to  go  from  it  to  the  third  minor  than  the 
third  major.    We  may  go  to  the  minor  either  by  oblique  or 


contrary  motion, 


;  but  to  the  major  it 


must  be  by  oblique  or  by  similar  motion,  the  first  being  the 


best, 


fc=?M.    A  fifth  after  a  unison 


by  similar  motion  must  be  avoided  :  it  is  good  in  oblique  mo- 
tion, and  is  allowed  in  contrary  motion,  one  part  moving  a  sin- 

S 


gle  degree, 


From  the  unison  we  may  go 


to  die  sixth  minor  by  contrary  motion 


it  is  not  good  by  the  other  motions,  because  of  the  large  leap. 
But  from  the  unison  to  the  sixth  major  is  forbidden.  An 
octave  after  a  unison,  except  by  oblique  motion,  must  be 
avoided,  inasmuch  as  in  two  unisions  or  two  octaves  it  is 
but  the  division  of  a  large  note  into  smaller. 

In  the  second,  the  lowest  note  is  the  discord.  It  may 
be  prepared  in  any  concord,  and  resolved  in  any  but  the 
eighth  ;  it  must  therefore  descend  to  the  resolution, 


"Vl?r5r    4  3 

The  preparation  of  a  discord  is  effected  by  taking  care  that 
the  note  which  is  the  discord  is  heard  in  the  preceding  har- 
mony, its  resolution  being  its  descent  either  a  tone  or  a  semi- 
tone, according  to  the  mode,  after  it  has  been  struck.  Those 
seconds  are  called  transient  which  are  introduced  with- 
out preparation  on  the  accented  part  of  the  bar,   thus 

fe^  ;  and  if  these  transient  seconds  be  re- 

1.2     I 

moved  to  the  accented  part  of  the  bar,  they  then  become  ap- 
poggiaturas.    When  the  second  is  attended  by  a  fifth  and 

6  f- 

third,  it  becomes  a  chord  of  4  or  the  - ;  and  if  the  third  be 

3 
sharp,  the  minor  mode  is  indicated, 


385  34 

2  23 

A  chord  is  saiu  to  have  four  real  parts,  when  it  contains  four 
sounds  without  octaves  or  unisons  :  a  concord  can  only  have 
three  real  parts.  When  the  second  is  attended  by  the  fourth 
and  fifth,  either  the  fifth  or  the  fourth  must  be  prepared ; 
and  it  becomes  the  chord  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  at  the  resolu- 
tion of  the  second  by  the  bass. 
4- 


pp^Ipipl 


^m&£m&££&Emi 


6 

4    5 
2 


The  second,  accompanied  with  the  sixth  and  fourth,  is  a 
chord  of  four  real  parts,  three  of  them  forming  a  common 
chord  above  the  bass,  which,  being  the  discord,  must  be  re- 
solved by  a  descent  to  the  next  degree:  the  sharp  fourth 
usually    ascends,    but   it    sometimes    remains   stationary, 


"•      i     T     .    This  chord,  with  the  minor  second,  per- 
6 
4 
2 
feet  fourth,  and  minor  sixth,  is  produced  by  adding  a  minor 


semitone  below  any  common  chord  with  a  major  third ;  and 
also  by  placing  a  note  one  tone  below  the  imperfect  common 
chord*  a  major  second,  perfect  fourth,  and  minor  sixth  ;  but 
in  all  these  the  second  is  resolved  by  descent.  The  extreme 
sharp  second  with  the  sharp  fourth  and  major  sixth  is  a  tone 
and  major  semitone  below  the  imperfect  common  chord. 
The  second  major  with  a  perfect  fourth  and  minor  seventh 
retards  the  common  chord  with  a  major  third  by  an  appog- 


giatura  in  the  bass;  thus, 


The  minor 


second,  perfect  fourth,  and  minor  seventh  retard  the  com- 
mon   chord   with   a   minor   third   in    a   similar    manner, 


.    The  second  is  also  accompanied  with 


the  fourth  and  sharp  seventh,  which,  when  introduced  upon 
a  resting  bass,  allow  all  the  intervals  when  struck  to  ascend, 


=ttt 


mM 


When,  however,  the  bass  moves,  it  is 


3    4      3 


usual  to  prepare  the  upper  parts,  t — {—*— sT%  •     The 

fourth  mav,  indeed,  be  used  without  preparation,  but  it  falls 
to  the  reso'lution.  Both  the  major  and  minor  sixth  are  used 
in  the  chord  with  or  without  preparation  ;  but  they  fall  to 
the  fifth,  by  which  the  common  chord  preserves  its  fulness, 


The  second  may,  or  may  not  fill 


up  the  chord.  If  the  fifth  is  taken  in  the  chord  for  the  fifth 
part,  it  is  suspended,  and  may  or  may  not  be  in  the  prece- 
ding chord.  You  obtain  the  last  sixth  perfect  by  it,  and  retain 
four  single  parts  in  the  places  where  the  second  is  omitted, 


The  second,  accompanied  with  the 


fourth,  fifth,  and  seventh, I 


: ,  by  some  is  called  the 


chord  of  the  eleventh,  the  fourth  being  the  representative 
of  that  interval,  which  is  always  perfect,  as  well  as  the 
fifth  ;  but  the  second  and  seventh  are  major.  Accompanied 
by  the  seventh,  sixth,  and  fourth,  the  second  is  called  the 
chord  of  the  thirteenth,  in  which  the  thirteenth  is  figured 

"9"E|E 

by  the  sixth,  which  may  be  either  major  or  minor,  _—  . 

-©- 

When  the  second  is  accompanied  by  the  fifth,  — ^^— ^o — , 


the  latter  must  be  always  perfect ;  but  the  second  may  be 
either  major  or  minor. 

The  third  major  or  minor  ffiy"1^  "jh=: ,  is  an  agree- 
able concord ;  of  which  it  is  to  be  noted  that  two  minor 
thirds  in  succession  are  better  than  two  majors,  but  mixed 
thirds  in  succession  are  most  pleasant  to  the  ear ;  indeed  an 
octave  of  major  thirds  is  extremely  unpleasant.  It  is  best 
to  begin  a  regular  ascent  with  a  major  third,  and  a  descent 


with  a  minor, 


;  and  in  two  parts 


it  is  not  well  to  end  in  a  third  above  the  key  note.  The 
third  is  accompanied  by  a  fourth  and  sixth,  E("D±=g'±r  >  and 

is  generally  called  the  small  sixth.  That  species  of  it 
wherein  the  third  is  minor,  the  fourth  perfect,  and  the  sixth 
major,  is  elegant  in  effect,  as  the  seventh,  from  which  it  is 
derived.     The  following  is  an  example: 

3D  801 


MUSIC. 


The  tliird  is  also  accompanied  by  the  fourth  and  sev- 
enth ;  but  when  the  tliird  or  the  tenth  is  at  the  top  of  the 

9 
chord,  it  is  generally  followed  by  the  ",  which  fourth,  sev- 
enth, and  ninth  ought  all  to  descend  to   the  resolution  ; 


thus, 


The  third  accompanied  by  the 


10        10  9  8 
8  7  7  6 

5  4  4  3 

sixth  and  seventh  is  generally  followed  by  the  chord  of  the 
seventh ;  hence  the  sixth  is  the  only  interval  wanting  prep- 
aration. 


The  fourth  should  not  be  used  alone :  it  should  be  asso- 


ciated with  the  sixth  and  octave ;  thus, 


Accompanied  by  the  fifth,  the  fourth  is  a  discord  much 
used.  When  introduced  on  a  resting  bass,  it  resolves  into 
the  third;  and  its  effect  is  so  similar  to  that  of  the  ninth, 
that  they  are  frequently  introduced  alternately. 


4  3 


9  3    4  3    9  8   4T3    6^7 ' 
4    3 


The  chord  of  the  fourth  accompanied  by  the  sixth  is  of 
great  use  in  harmonical  progressions;  and  when  preceded 
by  the  common  chords  to  the  key  note  and  fourth  of  the 
key,  and  succeeded  by  the  common  chords  to  the  fifth  of 
the  key  and  the  key  note,  forms  one  of  the  terminations  to 
a  musical  period  called  the  fourth  and  sixth  cadence ;  thus, 


„    5 

4   3  4        8 

When  the  seventh  accompanies  the  fourth,  and  that  is  fol- 
lowed by  the  chord  of  the  third,  fifth,  and  seventh,  either 
the  fourth  or  seventh,  or  both,  should  be  in  some  part  of  the 
chord  preceding  it.  In  the  follow  ing  example  both  the  fourth 
and  seventh  are  prepared  and  resolved: 


When,  however,   the 


chord  of  the  fourth  and  seventh  is  followed  by  the  fourth 
sixth,  and  eighth,  it  is  frequently  used  without  preparation 
In  either  of  the  positions.  The  fourth  and  seventh  descend 
to  the  resolution,  and  generally  resolve  after  each  other. 

The  interval  of  the  sharp  fourth,  which  has  been  before 

mentioned,    is   a    minor   semitone   more   than    the    perfect 

fourth,  and  a  major  semitone  less  than  the  perfect  fifth. 

Its  natural  resolution  is  that  the  base  shall  fall  a  degree, 

802 


and  the  upper  part  rise  one,  by  which  the  two  parts  meet 
in  a  minor  sixth.  It  is  of  very  great  use  in  modulation, 
as  you  can,  by  introducing  it  upon  the  key  note,  always 
change  the  mode  you  are  in,  as  in  the  follow  ing  examples; 


In  four  parts  the  sixth 


and  second  are  taken  with  it. 

The  interval  of  the  imperfect  fifth  is  a  minor  semitone 
less  than  the  imperfect  fifth,  and  a  major  semitone  more 
than  the  perfect  fourth.  In  using  this  chord  the  highest 
note  falls  and  the  lowest  one  rises,  so  that  they  meet  in 


a  major  tliird ;   thus, 


*^^- 


In  four  parts  it  is 


accompanied  by  a  third  and  sixth, 


The  fifth  is  the  next  interval  which  we  have  to  consider; 
of  this  we  have  already  said  that  two  fifths  cannot  follow 
each  other,  except  by  contrary  motion.  From  the  fifth  to 
the  unison  is  good  by  oblique  motion,  and  also  by  contrary 
motion,  one  part  moving  a  single  degree ;  but  by  similar 
motion  it  is  bad.  From  a  fifth  to  either  of  the  thirds  is  al- 
lowed by  all  the  motions,  but  it  is  best  by  the  oblique ;  next 
to  the  oblique,  the  best  way  to  the  third  minor  is  by  con- 
trary motion,  and  to  the  third  major  by  similar  motion  and 
both  by  single  degrees.  A  false  fifth  may  succeed  a  perfect 
fifth,  provided  it  be  also  immediately  succeeded  by  a  third 


and  by  contrary  motion 


From  the  fifth  to 


either  sixth  it  is  best  by  oblique  motion ;  but  it  is  allowed  by 
similar  motion  if  one  part  move  a  single  degree:  it  is  also 
allowed  ascending,  but  not  descending,  to  go  by  leap  from 
the  fifth  to  the  sixth  minor,  but  not  to  the  major. 


In  passing  from  the  fith  to  the  octave  through  a  sixth, 
the  sixth  must  be  major,  never  minor ;  and  it  must  be  by 


contrary  motion, 


An  octave 


after  a  fifth  by  leap  in  similar  motion  must  be  avoided.  By 
oblique  and  contrary  motion,  it  is  good  and  allowable  by 
similar  motion,  one  part  moving  a  single  degree,  as  follows: 


#£n#^igifeii 


When  a  third  or  a  sixth  moves  to  a  fifth  in  similar  motion, 
there  is  said  to  be  a  hidden  fifth  in  the  passage.  The  reader 
will,  in  the  following  example,  see  bv  the  dots  where  these  lie. 


Tn  a  rccular  ascent,  it  is  common  for  a  fifth  to  be  succeeded 
by  a  sixth,  as  in  a  descent  it  is  for  the  seventh  to  be  suc- 
ceeded by  a  sixth.  Of  both  these,  which  are  termed  se- 
quences, the  following  are  examples : 


iSgi^ 


g^g 


T  -i  i  PT  i 


06  7676  76~T§~1'6 


MUSIC. 


The  chord  of  the  extreme  sharp  fifth,  which  consists  of  two 
major  thirds  placed  above  each  other,  is  generally  preceded 
and  succeeded  by  a  common  chord,  or  that  of  the  sixth,  as 
in  the  following  examples : 


SSSS' 


3  #  «  * 

It  is  here  seen  that  the  extreme  sharp  fifth  to  the  bass, 
whether  it  be  in  the  middle  or  at  the  top  of  the  chord, 
always  rises  to  the  resolution.  It  is  called  a  transient 
chord. 

The  sixth,  by  inversion,  becomes  a  third ;  and  it  often 
happens  that  the  bass  which  accompanies  sixths  will  har- 
monize equally  well  with  thirds.  When  accompanied  with 
the  fifth,  the  fifth  is  treated  as  a  discord ;  which  we  will 
illustrate  by  two  or  three  instances. 


Some  have fffven  the  name  of  the  great  sixth  to  this  chord 
when  the  sixth  is  major  and  the  fifth  perfect.  If  the  fifth 
is  imperfect  and  the  sixth  minor,  it  is  called  the  chord  of 
the  false  fifth.  It  will  be  seen  above  that  the  chord  of  the 
great  sixth  is  used  on  bass  notes  which  ascend  a  tone  to 
the  perfect  chord,  and  that  of  the  false  fifth  to  those  which 


ascend  a  semitone, 


The  species  of  this 


chord  chiefly  used  in  minor  keys  consists  of  a  perfect  fifth, 
an  extreme  sharp  sixth,  and  major  third ;  and  the  base  of 


it  generally  descends, 


The  minor  sev- 


enth accompanied  with  a  third  major  and  perfect  fifth  is 
one  of  the  most  agreeable  of  the  discords ;  it  should  be 
heard  in  the  chord  which  precedes  it  when  used  with 


ffc* 


a  minor  third  and  perfect  fifth, 


psgi 


By  raising  the  lower  note  of  a  minor  seventh  a  minor  semi 
tone,  the  chord  of  the  diminished  or  extreme  flat  seventh, 


also  called  the  equiv 


;ocal  chord,  is  produced,/^—  ^—  r^^5 

Minor  7th.  Diminished  7th' 
This  is  called  the  equivocal  chord,  from  the  uncertainty 
of  the  key  note  into  which  it  may  lead.  The  preparation 
of  a  major  seventh  is  a  third,  a  fifth,  a  sixth,  or  an  eighth  ; 
its  resolution  is  a  third,  a  sixth,  and  a  fifth  from  the  con- 
cords in  which  it  is  prepared.  The  ninth  major  consists 
of  a  whole  tone,  and  the  minor  ninth  a  semitone  major 
above  the  octave.  The  major  ninth  is  prepared  by  a  third, 
a  fifth,  and  occasionally  by  a  sixth,  never  by  an  eighth  ; 
and  is  resolved  by  a  third,  a  sixth,  or  an  eighth  from  each 
of  the  concords  in  which  it  is  prepared.  When  the  ninth 
is  used  in  four  parts,  the  third  and  fifth  must  be  taken  with 
it.  Besides  the  above  resolutions  of  the  ninth,  it  may  be 
resolved  by  the  fifth  if  the  base  rise  a  fourth  or  fall  a  fifth 
when  the  tipper  part  falls  one  degree  for  its  resolution.  It 
must  be  accompanied  at  the  resolution  by  an  eighth,  if  the 
piece  be  in  four  parts.    We  subjoin  a  few  examples : 


^li^l^^l 


gill 


3EB 


6      98 
43 


*  g*  *  y% 


^^tt^ 


=3=t=^iEasi=p^ 


ti 

£  & 

tf 

9  * 

7 

9 

H 

s 

c  a 

.? 

7  6 

7 

5 

4  9 

4 

b 

a 

The  minor  ninth  is  prepared  in  the  third  only,  and  resolved 
in  the  eighth  if  the  bass  hold  on  till  the  resolution  is 
made ;  but  it  is  resolved  in  the  third  if  the  bass  descend  a 


third  on  the  resolution, 


1TH 


The  ninth  may  have  other  discords  mixed  with  it,  as  the 
fourth ;  in  which  case  the  fourth  must  be  prepared  and 
resolved  as  a  discord.  The  seventh  may  be  also  mixed 
with  it ;  in  which  case  the  seventh  must  be  also  separately 
prepared  and  resolved. 

We  have  before  defined  the  word  modulation  :  our  inten- 
tion here  is  to  add  a  few  observations  on  the  mode  in  which 
it  is  accomplished,  premising  that  the  laws  of  modulation 
are  dependent  on  those  of  harmony.  If  you  desire  to  keep 
in  the  key,  you  are  to  use  all  the  sounds  of  the  scale  as  much 
as  possible,  uniting  them  in  good  melody,  and  dwelling 
chiefly  on  those  which  carry  the  essential  chords;  that  is, 
the  chords  of  the  seventh  and  key  notes  will  be  frequently 
wanted,  varied  so  as  to  avoid  monotomy.  You  must  take 
cadences  or  pauses  on  these  two  chords  only,  or  at  farthest 
on  that  of  the  fourth  of  the  key.  You  are  never  to  alter  the 
scale,  because  the  introduction  of  a  flat  or  a  sharp  not  be- 
longing to  it  indicates  that  the  key  is  abandoned.  To  modu- 
late into  other  keys  formal  cadences  are  not  required ;  if 
they  are,  they  are  usually  made  at  the  end  or  in  the  middle 
of  a  piece.  We  subjoin  the  methods  for  passing  from  one 
key  to  another,  which  are  five  in  number  for  the  major  and 
four  for  the  minor  keys ;  and  these  alone  can  be  considered 
legitimate,  unless  through  the  medium  of  enharmonic  modu- 
lation :  leaving  the  major  key  of  C, 


leaving  the  minor  key  of  A, 


slgi      h    17  w 


Our  limits  prevent  extending  this  part  of  the  subject  to  greater 
length :  those  who  would  learn  more  on  this  point  are  re- 
commended to  Frike's  Guide  to  Harmony,  Lond.,  1793. 

A  fugue  consists  in  the  repetition  of  a  melody  in  the  dif- 
ferent parts  at  different  intervals  of  time,  each  repeating,  ac- 
cording to  certain  rules,  what  the  preceding  one  has  per- 
formed; the  part  which  leads  being  called  the  guide,  and 
that  which  repeats  the  answer.  The  answer  is  conducted 
by  the  same  intervals  as  the  guide. 

Imitation  differs  from  fugue,  says  Brossard,  because  in 
the  former  the  repetition  must  be  a  second,  third,  sixth, 
seventh,  or  ninth,  or,  indeed,  any  interval  above  or  below 
the  first  voice  or  guide ;  whereas  in  fugue  the  repetition 
must  be  in  the  unison,  fourth,  fifth,  or  octave : 


&tea 


The  principal  rules  in  writing  fugues  are— First,  to  prefer 
the  key  note  and  its  fifth  before  any  other  for  the  first  and 
last  no'tes  of  the  fugue ;  in  which  case  the  melody  is  to  be 
contained  within  the  octave  to  the  key.  Second,  if  one  part 
begin  or  end  with  the  key  note,  the  other  begins  and  ends 
with  the  fifth,  taking  care  that  the  different  relative  inter 
vals  between  the  notes  be  regularly  preserved.    Thirdly,  as 

803 


MUSIC. 

In  diatonic  progression  either  ascending  or  descending  from 
ti,o  key  note  to  its  fifth,  and  the  converse,  there  is  one  note 
difference,  you  are  at  liberty  to  make  one  ol  those  two  notes 
in  conjoint  degree  of  that  progression  that  contains  the  mater 
number  to  agree  with  the  progression  which  is  oraradaUy 
used,  wherein  there  is  one  note  loss,  and  hat  in  tin -ii.ul.lk 
of  the  melody.    These  are  the  leading  rules  ot  the  fugue. 

The  canon  is  a  species  of  fugue,  which  may  be  m  tniu  > 
repeated  ■  it  is  taken  up  at  the  fifth,  and  at  the  lourth. 
When  this  is  done,  the  whole  of  the  melody  must  he  ar- 
ranged, and  accidental  sharps  and  flats  added  to  those  notes 
whlre  the  use  of  the  natural  degrees  would  prevent  the; air 
from  being  exactly  similar ;  whence  its  difficulty.  1  he  Well' 
known  canon  of  JV<»  Nobis  Domine  is  a  fine  specimen  ot 

canon  composition.  , 

Rhythm,  in  music,  is  the  accommodation  of  the  long  anil 
short  notes  to  the  syllables  to  which  the  music  is  set  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  separate  the  words  properly,  and  to  make 
the  accented  syllables  of  each  word  so  conspicuous  that 
what  is  sung  may  be  clearly  comprehended.     In  lnstiti- 
mental  music,  it  is  the  adaptation  of  the  expresdon  to  the 
sentiment.    It  is  mostly  used  to  signify  the  duration  ot  sev- 
eral sounds  heard  in  succession,  whether  musical  by  voices 
and  instruments,  or  without  inflexion  ol  tone,  as  by  the  heat- 
ing of  a  drum,  &c.    Here  we  have  only  to  speak  ot  that 
which  is  connected  with  musical  melody.    Rhythm  depends 
on  accent  principally,  the  musical  phrase,  section,  and  period. 
Of  accent  we  have  before  spoken  at  nearly  the  beginning  of 
this  article,  and  we  do  not  think  it  necessary  to  add  to  it  in 
this  place,  farther  than  to  state  that  in  the  heating  ot  time 
by  the  hand  or  foot,  as  there  mentioned,  the  elevation  of  the 
hand  is  called  by  the  technical  name  arsis  a  Greek  word 
sienifying  a  lifting  up ;  and  the  depression  of  it  by  the  name 
thesis,  signifying  the  action  of  laying  down  expressions- 
which  are  also  applicable  in  another  sense,  as  for  instance, 
when  a  point  or  passage  is  inverted  or  mined,  that  is,  rises 
in  one  part  and  falls  in  another,  or  the  converse,  it  is  said  to 
move  per  arsin  ct  thcsin.     Emphasis  is  frequently  obtained 
for  particular  expressions  by  throwing  the  accent  on  the 
weak  part  of  the  measure,  or  by  the  different  grouping  of  the 
quavers,  semiquavers,  &c,  and  also  by  the  mark  of  em- 
phasis, RF  (signifying  rinforzando),  placed  over  a  note  where 
lie  composer  is  desirous  of  marking  the  weak  parted  a  meas- 
ure with  more  than  its  share  of  importance.    Of  this  the  fol- 
lowing passage  from  a  favourite  symphony  of  Haydn  is  an 
example 


MusauiTo. 


S^f^^g^^^ 


(Emphasis.) 

on  the  note  marked  with  a  dash  over  it.  Dr.  Calcott  thus 
distinguishes  between  accent  and  emphasis:  'Accent  al- 
ways requires  pressure  (on  a  pianoforte)  immediately  atter 
the"  note  is  struck,  and  emphasis  requires  force  at  the  very- 
time  of  striking  the  note."  A  phrase  is  a  short  melody, 
usually  formed' of  two  measures  in  simple  time |,  though 
with  the  ancient  writers  it  is  often  contained  within  the 
bar.    Of  the  common  phrase  the  following  is  an  example : 


Andante.  Phrase.  rhrase. 

Phrases  in  melody  are  formed  by  air  ■  in  harmony  they  are 
formed  by  sequences  of  chords  and  discords  terminating 
with  a  cadence,  which  is  more  or  less  perfect  as  the  pas- 
E  tse  Is  more  or  less  finished.  The  well  weaving  together 
of  the  phrases  whereof  a  strain  is  composed,  so  that  their 
proportions  may  be  symmetrical  and  form  a  beautiful  whole, 
is  our  of  the  tests  of  a  fine  composer.  Though  musical 
punctuation,  unlike  that  in  writing,  is  without  visible  char- 
acters m  mark  the  ends  Of  phrases,  and  the  periods  whereof 
phrases  are  composed,  yet  such  division  does  actually  ex- 
tot;  and  as  an  example  of  punctuation  will  better  than 

Words  assist  the  reader  in  understanding  it.  we  present  to 
his  notice  the  following  well-known  passage  from  the  opera 
of  Don  Giovanni,  by  Mozart  ■ 


^^^f@p 


In  the  four  distinct  parts  into  which  this  melody  is  divided 
three  of  them  belong  to  the  chord  of  the  dominant  or  tilth 
of  the  key  ;  and  the  other,  which  is  the  last,  to  the  tonic 
804 


01  key  note.  The  seventh  of  the  dominant  is  upon  the 
three  first  parts  ;  but  to  avoid  monotony,  and  yet  to  punctu- 
ate the  first  part,  he  has  only  got  the  A  in  the  bass  at  the 
end  of  the  second  part.  In  the  other  two  he  has  a  pedal 
point  (or  holding  en  of  the  bass)  of  the  key  note,  on  which 
the  chord  of  the  seventh  of  the  dominant  is  struck.  A  pas 
sage  consisting  oftwo  regular  phrases,  the  last  ending  with  a 
cadence,  is  called  a  section;  and  one  or  more  of  these  sec- 
tions constitutes  a  period.  When  a  period  or  more  than 
one  is  terminated  by  a  double  bar,  the  whole  is  called  a 
strain.  We  close  this  article  with  a  synoptical  view  {see 
opposite  page)  of  the  different  pitches  of  the  instruments  of 
an  orchestra,  and  of  the  human  voice,  from  Choron's  cele- 
brated work,  to  which  our  acknowledgments  are  due;  as 
well  as  to  Calcott's  Musical  Grammar;  the  admirable  art. 
"Music,"  by  Momigny,  in  the  Encyc.  Mcthodique;  and  to 
Shield's  Introduction  to  Harmony. 

Mi'SK'AL  GLASSES.  A  musical  Instrument  consist- 
ing of  a  number  of  glass  goblets,  resembling  finger  glasses, 
which  are  tuned  by  filling  them  more  or  less  with  water, 
and  played  upon  with  the  end  of  a  finger  damped.  There 
are  few"  persons  at  a  dinner  table  who  have  not  tried  their 
skill  in  producing  the  sound  which  the  vibration  of  a  finger 
glass  will  yield  in  the  way  above  described.  The  less  the 
quantity  of  water  in  glasses  of  similar  forms  and  equal  ca- 
pacity the  lower  will  be  the  tone  of  the  scale ;  hence  the 
facility  of  forming  a  complete  scale  by  the  quantity  of  wa- 
ter contained  in  each. 

The  skill,  or  rather  knack,  of  operating  upon  the  sets  ot 
glasses  for  the  production  of  melodies  and  harmonies,  is 
that  of  procuring  instantly  the  required  vibration  by  a  gen- 
tle and  rapid  action  of  the  finger  upon  their  adges,  and  so 
quickly  from  one  to  another  as  to  be  able  to  inTroduce  har- 
monies to  the  sounds  of  the  air  or  melody  before  the  vibra- 
tions of  its  glasses  have  ceased.  A  touch  ot  the  finger  on 
the  edge  of  a  glass  puts  of  course  a  stop  to  its  vibration,  and 
thus  prevents  confusion. 

MUSK.  A  peculiar  concrete  substance,  the  produce  of 
the  Moschus  moschiferus,  or  musk  deer,  an  animal  which 
inhabits  the  mountains  of  eastern  Asia.  Behind  the  naval 
is  a  bag,  which  in  the  adult  animal  is  filled  with  musk- 
These  bags  are  imported  from  China,  Bengal,  and  Russia. 
Musk  is  originally  a  viscid  fluid,  but  dries  into  a  brown 
pulverulent  substance,  of  a  strong,  peculiar,  and  highly  dif- 
fusible odour.  Its  chief  use  is  as  a  perfume :  it  has  been 
employed  in  medicine  as  a  stimulant  antispasmodic  but 
much 'difference  of  opinion  exists  as  to  its  efficacy,  and  its 
high  price  and  extreme  liability  to  adulteration  are  circum- 
stances against  its  use. 

MUSKAT.  A  rich  sweet  wine  made  in  the  south  ot 
France  of  over-ripe  muscadine  grapes. 

MUSK  DEER.  (Moschus  moschiferus,  Linn.)  1  he  type 
of  a  distinct  genus  of  Ruminants,  with  canine  teeth  and 
without  horns.  This  species  is  especially  remarkable  for 
the  large  preputial  glandular  pouch  which  secretes  the 
well-known  substance  called  musk. 

MUSKET  (Fr.  mousquet.)  The  fire-arm  used  by  the 
regiments  of  the  line.  (See  Gun.)  A  great  number  of  very 
curious  ones,  of  various  dates  and  countries,  from  the  ear- 
liest period  of  their  use,  may  be  seen  in  the  repository  of 
the  Royal  Artillery  at  Woolwich. 

MU'SKETOON.  A  species  of  musket,  shorter,  but  thick- 
er and  wider  in  the  bore,  than  the  ordinary  musket.  '1  he 
musketoon,  or  mousquetoon,  was  of  French  invention,  and  is 
described  by  De  Gaya,  in  1G88  (Traite  des  Jlrmcs). ,  as  dif- 
fering from  the  carabine  in  being  furnished  with  a  nre-IocK 
instead  of  a  wheel-lock.  .  ,       , 

MU'SLIN.  A  fine  thin  kind  of  cotton  cloth  with  a  downy 
nap  on  the  surface.  The  name  is  derived  from  the  town 
M.  sul,  in  Asia,  where  it  was  originally  manufactured.  1  he 
fist  muslin  was  imported  from  India  into  England  in  16,0; 
and  twenty  years  afterwards  it  was  manufactured  in  con- 
ierable  quantities  both  in  France  and  England.  Muslins 
are  now  manufactured  in  immense  quantities  at  Manchester 
and  Giaseow,  '»  Fiance,  Germany,  and  Switzerland,  ol  a 
fineness  and  durability  that  rival  those  of  India,  at  the  same 
time  that  they  are  considerably  cheaper.  The  fineness  of 
some  Indian  'muslins  is  such  that  when  laid  on  the  grass 
upon  which  a  little  dew  has  fallen,  they  are  scarcely  visible. 
See  Cotton.  ,  .  -  .- 

MUSO'PHAGA.  (Gr.  piovaa,  the  generic  name  of  the 
banana,  and  Aavui,  /  eat.)  A  genus  of  Scansonal  birds, 
characterized  by  the  base  of  the  beak  forming  n  disk  which 
partly  covers  the  forehead.  The  species  of  this  genus  are 
called  "plantain  eaters,"  because  their  principal  food  is  the 
fruit  of  the  banana.  .  ,         - 

MUSQUTTO.  The  American  name  for  the  species  01 
mat  (Oult  '■)■  They  abound  in  damp  situations,  both  in  the 
warmer  climates  and  during  the  summer  months  in  high 
northern  latitudes.  They  pierce  the  skin  with  a  lancetted 
nroboscis,  and  discharge  a  venomous Ilquortoto the wouno, 
hey  can  only  be  guarded  ngainst  at  night  by  enclosing  the 


MUSSEL.  MUSTER-ROLL. 

Synoptical  View  of  the  different  Pitches  of  the  Instruments  of  an  Orchestra,  and  of  the  Human  Voice. 


Diatonic  Scale  through 
eight  octaves. 


s 


Trombone,  Alto - 

Tenor 

Bass 

Serpent....  ....... . 

Trumpet 

Horns  in  E. .  - 

in  D 

iaC.»w 

Clarionet , 

Bassoon 

Oboe 

Flageolet 

Octave  flute....... 

Flute 

Violin 

Tenor  violin  — 

Violoncello.. ... ................. 

Double  bass 

First  treble 

Second  treble. ........ ........... 

Counter  tenor 

Tenor 

Barytone 

Bass 

Guitar 

Pianoforte 

Harp 

Organ  pipe 


:=^» 


32/eef, 
I. 


S**  1 ! 


-i — $< 


u. 


-«•!•: 


++-H€- 


■*6-t- 


&*^ 


-Hticl  j'l  ■; 


;~-H-o^Jj. 


Kr-4- 


III. 


„*tr 


IV. 


2  feet 
V. 


H  j  i 


SM-H 


VI. 


VII. 


VIH. 


bed  with  a  musquito  curtain.  The  Laplanders  drive  them 
away  by  fire,  and  by  coating  the  naked  parts  of  the  body 
with  grease. 

MUSSEL.     See  Mytilus. 

MU'SSITE.  A  pale  green  mineral  from  Mussa  in  Pied- 
mont ;  it  is  a  variety  of  augite. 

MU'SSULMAN.  The  general  appellation  for  all  who  em- 
brace the  faith  of  Mohammed.  The  term  signifies  "re- 
signed to  God ;"  and  is  the  dual  number  of  the  singular 
moslem,  of  which  muslimim  is  the  plural.  The  appellation 
is  said  to  have  been  first  given  to  the  Saracens. 

MUST.  The  expressed  juice  of  the  grape  before  its  con- 
version into  wine  by  the  process  of  fermentation. 

MU'STARD.  (Fr.  moutarde.)  The  seed  of  the  Sinapis 
alba  and  nigra,  ground  into  powder,  and  freed  from  the 
husks :  it  is  the  well-known  condiment  of  the  shops,  or  at 
least  a  part  of  it ;  for,  in  order  to  reduce  the  strength  of  the 
pure  mustard,  there  is  generally  a  considerable  quantity  of 
wheaten  flour  added.  Brown  mustard  should  be  the  flour 
of  Sinapis  nigra  exclusively,  which  is  much  more  pungent 
than  the  other.    A  desert  spoonful  of  coarsely  powdered 


mustard-seed,  taken  in  a  glass  of  water,  generally  operates 
as  an  emetic ;  it  is  also  aperient.  A  mustard  poultice,  or 
sinapism,  is  sometimes  a  useful  stimulant. 

MUSTE'LA.  (Lat.  mustela,  a  weasel.)  The  generic 
name  under  which  Linnaeus  comprehended  the  Vermine 
or  Vermiform  quadrupeds  of  Ray,  or  the  carnivorous  Mam- 
malia, which  are  distinguished  by  the  length  and  slender- 
ness  of  their  bodies,  and  are  thus  enabled  to  wind,  like 
worms,  into  very  small  crevices  and  openings,  whither  they 
easily  follow  the  little  animals  that  serve  them  for  food. 
The  otters,  skunks,  polecats,  and  weasels  were  included 
in  this  genus,  and  still  constitute  the  natural  family  Musle- 
lidce  ;  and  the  genus  Mustela  is  now  restricted  to  the  true 
weasels,  which  differ  from  the  polecats  in  having  an  ad- 
ditional false  molar  above  and  below,  and  in  the  existence 
of  a  small  internal  tubercle  on  the  lower  "  carnassial"  or 
sectorial  tooth;  two  characters  which,  Cuvier  observes, 
somewhat  diminish  the  cruelty  of  their  nature. 

MUSTER-ROLL.  A  specific  list  of  the  officers  and  men 
in  every  regiment,  troop,  or  company,  made  out  by  the 
adjutant,  and  delivered  to  the  inspecting  field-officer  or  pay- 

803 


MUTE. 

master.  &c,  by  which  they  are  paid,  and  their  strength  and 
condition  known. 

MUTE.  In  Grammar,  a  vowel  (or  consonant)  is  said  to 
be  mute  when  written  but  not  pronounced;  as  the  vowel 
e  at  the  end  of  many  English  words,  in  some  of  which  it 
effects  a  change  in  the  pronunciation  of  the  preceding 
vowel,  as  in  icifc,  lift:,  place,  &c,  rendering  it  long;  in 
others  it  has  no  effect,  as  after  a  diphthong — house,  pro- 
nounce. In  old  English,  the  mute  e  was  very  generally 
added  at  the  end  of  words,  especially  nouns;  and  in  ver- 
sification the  e  often  ceased  to  be  inute,  as  is  constantly  the 
case  in  the  poems  of  Chaucer. 

Mute,  in  Law,  is  said  of  a  person  who  refuses  to  plead 
to  an  indictment  for  felony,  &c.  By  stat.  IS  Geo.  3,  c.  20, 
such  a  person  is  to  be  considered  as  pleading  guilty,  and  to 
be  punished  as  upon  conviction ;  but  formerly  a  plea  was 
extorted  from  him  by  the  inhuman  and  disgusting  process 
peine  forte  et  dure,  which  see. 

Mute.  A  dumb  officer  of  the  Seraglio,  whose  duty  it  is 
to  act  as  executioner  of  persons  of  exalted  rank  who  have 
incurred  the  grand  seignior's  displeasure.  The  term  mute 
is  also  applied  to  persons  employed  by  undertakers  to  stand 
before  the  door  of  a  house  in  which  there  is  a  corpse,  for  a 
short  time  previously  to  the  funeral. 

MUTI'CA.  (Lat.  muticus,  maimed.)  A  name  applied 
by  Linnasus  to  the  third  of  his  primary  divisions  of  Mam- 
malia, including  the  whale  tribe,  as  being  maimed,  or  de- 
prived of  the  hinder  pair  of  extremities ;  also  given  by 
Storr  to  an  order  of  quadrupeds  comprehending  those 
which  want  either  a  certain  kind  of  teeth,  or  are  wholly 
edentulous. 

MU  TINY,  in  Law,  is  the  offence,  in  a  person  under 
military  or  naval  authority,  of  resisting  or  refusing  obedi- 
ence to  that  authority.  The  Mutiny  Act  is  a  statute  annu- 
ally passed  since  the  reign  of  William  and  Mary  (April, 
1689),  by  which  the  crown  is  vested  with  power  to  form 
articles  of  war,  and  to  constitute  military  courts  martial. 
See  Courts  Martial. 

MUTULE.     See  Modillion. 

MU'ZARAB.  Christians  living  under  the  government 
of  the  Moors  in  Spain  ;  so  called,  it  is  said,  from  an  Arabic 
word  signifying  imitators  or  followers  of  the  Arabs.  The 
denomination  is  now  chiefly  remembered  in  consequence 
of  the  celebrated  disputes  between  the  supporters  of  the 
Muzarabic  liturgy,  which  was  preserved  by  the  Christians 
of  Spain  during  their  subjection  to  the  Mohammedans,  and 
those  of  the  Roman,  introduced  by  the  see  of  Rome  about 
the  10th  century.  During  the  following  age  this  dispute 
was  warmly  carried  on,  and  well-known  legendary  tales 
of  miracles  operated  in  favour  of  the  ancient  ritual  were 
k>ng  current  in  Spain.  It  was,  however,  gradually  super- 
seded by  the  Catholics.  It  is  said  that  mass  is  still  cele- 
brated according  to  the  Muzarabic  ritual  in  one  chapel  at 
Toledo.  A  brief  but  excellent  account  of  the  different 
phases  of  the  Muzarabic  controversy  is  to  be  found  in  the 
Diet,  de  la  Conversation.  See  also  the  Penny  Cyclopaedia, 
and  the  authorities  there  referred  to. 

MU'ZZLE  LASHING.  The  lashing  by  which  the  muzzle 
of  a  gun  in  a  ship  is  secured  to  the  upper  part  of  the  port. 

MY'A.  (Gr.  nvmv,  a  muscle.)  A  name  applied  by  Lin- 
nseus  to  a  genus  of  the  Vermes  tcstacea,  including  those 
having  a  bivalve  shell,  characterized  by  a  hinge  with  broad, 
thick,  and  strong  teeth,  seldom  more  than  one,  and  not  in- 
serted into  the  opposite  valve ;  shell  generally  gaping  at 
one  end.  The  Mollusks  thus  characterized  form  the  first 
family  (JWyacea)  of  the  tribe  Inclusa,  among  the  Acepha- 
lous Testacea  of  Cuvier.  They  have  been  subdivided  into 
the  genera  Mya  proper,  Lutraria,  Lam.,  Jlnatina,  Lam., 
Solemya,  Lam.,  Olydmeris,  Lam.,  Panopasa,  Lam.,  Pando- 
ra, Lam.  The  true  Mya;  include  that  species  of  the  genus 
Vnio,  llru^.,  which  is  celebrated  by  Tacitus  for  producing 
pearls,  and  which  is  indigenous  in  some  of  the  rivers  of 
Scotland  and  England. 

MYCE'LIA.  {V.r.  hvkiis,  afunipis.)  The  young  floccu- 
lent  filaments  of  fungi. 

MYDRIASIS.  (Gr.)  A  paralytic  affection  of  the  iris 
of  the  eye. 

MY'ELENCE'PHALA.  (Gr.  twc\6s,  marrow,  and  cy*c- 
f*>n\ov,  brain.)  The  name  indicative  of  the  condition  of 
the  nervous  system  of  the  primary  division  of"  animals, 
comprehending  those  which  have  a  brain  and  spinal  chord  ; 
it  is  synonymous  with  Vertebrata. 

MY  KLONEU'RA.  (Gr.  pucXd;,  marroie,  anil  vcvpov, 
nerve.)  A  name  given  by  Rudolphi  to  a  group  of  animals 
corresponding  to  the  Artirulata  of  Cuvier,  viz.  Crustacea, 
Insects,  and  Anellides,  which  have  a  gangliated  nervous 
system,  forming  a  chord  considered  to  be  analagous  to  the 
*pin»l  marrow  of  Vertebrates. 

MY'LO.  (Gr.  ptJXij,  a  grinder  tooth.)  Names  compound 
ed  of  this  word  are  applied  to  certain  muscles  attached 
near  the  grinder  teeth,  as  mytuhyjidcus,  mylopharyngc- 
*s,  &c. 

806 


MYRTACE.E. 

MYO'LOGY.  (Gr.  nvwv,  a  muscle ;  \oyoe,  a  discoursed 
The  doctrine  of  the  muscles.  In  the  Fine  Arts,  the  term 
is  applied  to  a  description  of  the  muscles  of  animals. 

MY'OPS.  (Gr.  [tvwip;  from  fivw,  J  wink,  and  u\p,  the 
eye.)  A  person  who  is  purblind  or  near-sighted.  This  de- 
fect usually  arises  from  too  great  convexity  of  the  cornea, 
causing  the  rays  to  come  to  a  focus  before  they  arrive  at 
the  retina.  It  is  corrected  by  the  use  of  glasses  which  in- 
crease the  divergency  of  the  rays  before  they  enter  the 
comea,  and  thereby  throw  their  focus  farther  back,  so  as 
to  fall  on  the  retina. 

MY'RIAD.  (Gr.  /xvpiag.)  Ten  thousand.  Often  used 
as  expressive  of  an  indefinite  multitude. 

MYRIAME'TRE.  A  French  measure  equal  to  ten  thou- 
sand meters  ;  it  is  the  equivalent  of  two  leagues  of  the  old 
measure.     See  Measures. 

MY'RIAPODS,  Jilyriapoda.  (Gr.  pvpiac,  ten  thousand, 
and  ttovc,  foot.)  The  name  of  a  class  of  Articulate  ani- 
mals, including  those  which  have  an  indeterminate  num- 
ber of  jointed  feet,  equalling  that  of  the  articulations  of  the 
body. 

MYRI'CIN.  That  portion  of  was  which  is  insoluble  in 
alcohol.     The  wax  of  the  Myrica  cerifera  affords  it. 

MYRIOLI'TRE.  A  French  measure  of  capacity  equal 
to  ten  thousand  litres,  or  610,280  cubic  inches. 

MYRISTICA'CE^E.  (M}Tistica,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  arborescent  Exogens  inhabiting  the  trop- 
ics. This  has  been  placed,  on  account  of  its  apetalous 
flowers,  in  Lauracete ;  from  which  it  is  distinguished  by 
the  structure  of  the  calyx,  anthers,  and  fruit.  Brown  places 
it  betweenProteacfa;  and  Lauracecc ;  but  the  order  appears 
rather  to  be  an  apetalous  form  of  Annonacea:,  with  which 
the  trimerous  flowers,  arillate  seed,  runcinated  albumen, 
minute  embryo,  and  peculiar  properties  almost  identify  it. 
The  bark  generally  abounds  in  an  acrid  juice,  which  is 
viscid  and  stains  red.  The  rind  of  the  fruit  is  caustic ;  the 
aril  and  albumen  of  Myristica  moschata,  the  former  known 
under  the  name  of  mace  and  the  latter  of  nutmeg,  are  im- 
portant aromatics,  abounding  in  a  fixed  oil  of  a  consistence 
analogous  to  fat,  which,  in  a  species  called  Virola  sebifera, 
is  so  copious  as  to  be  extracted  easily  by  immersing  the 
seeds  in  hot  water. 

MYRMECO'BIUS.  (Gr.  uvpunl  ant;  /3<Aj,  life.)  A 
gens  of  Marsupial  quadrupeds  which  feed  on  ants.  The 
only  known  species,  Myrmccobius  fasciatus,  is  a  native  of 
Australia. 

MYRMECO'PHAGA.  (Gr.  uvpuvl,  and  d>ayu>,  I  eat.) 
The  name  of  a  genus  of  Edentate  quadrupeds  which  feed 
on  ants,  and  are  called  ant-eaters.  They  are  peculiar  to 
the  continent  of  South  America. 

MYRMELEO'NIDES.  (Gr.  pvpuvl.  &nd  *£<•»',  tan.) 
The  family  of  insects  commonly  called  ant-lions,  having 
the  genus  Myrmeleon  as  the  type. 

MY'RMIDONS.  In  Classical  Mythology,  a  people  on 
the  southern  borders  of  Thesealy,  who  accompanied  Achil- 
les to  the  Trojan  war.  Their  name  is  derived  by  the  my- 
cologists from  fivpii>il,  an  ant ;  and  they  were  said  to  have 
arisen  from  ants,  or  pismires,  in  answer  to  a  prayer  of 
CEacus,  king  of  the  country,  to  Jupiter,  after  his  kingdom 
had  been  depopulated  by  a  pestilence. 

MYRMILLO'NES.  In  Roman  Antiquity,  a  species  of 
gladiators,  who  fought  completely  armed  against  the  Ecti- 
arii.  Their  arms  consisted  of  a  sword,  headpiece,  and 
shield.  On  the  top  of  the  headpiece  they  wore  a  fish  em- 
bossed, called  fiipfivpoc,  whence,  in  all  probability,  their 
name  is  derived.  The  Myrmillones  were  also  termed 
Galli,  from  their  wearing  Gallic  armour ;  and  Scutatorcs, 
from  the  shield  by  which  they  were  defended. 

MYRO'BALANS.  (Gr.  /ivpoc,  an  ointment,  and  0a\avoc, 
a  nut;  because  formerly  used  in  the  preparation  of  un- 
guents.) A  bitterish  austere  fruit,  brought  from  India,  the 
produce  of  several  species  of  JMyrobalanus.  Myrobalans 
are  used  by  the  Hindoos  in  calico  printing  and  medicine ; 
they  were  also  formerly  employed  in  Europe  (though  to  a 
comparatively  trifling  extent)  in  the  arts  and  pharmacy. 

MYRRH.  This  gum  resin  is  imported  from  Turkey:  it 
is  in  regular  tears  and  lumps,  of  a  reddish  brown  colour,  a 
fragrant  odour,  and  a  warm  but  bitter  taste.  It  is  probably 
the  produce  of  a  species  of  Jlmyris,  said  to  be  a  native  of 
Abyssinia  and  Arabia  Felix.  It  is  a  good  stimulating  tonic 
medicine,  and  is  given  in  doses  of  from  five  to  twenty 
L'niiiis. 

M  Y  HTA'CE./E  (Lat.  myrtus),  are  an  important  natural 
order  of  Polypetalous  Exogenous  plants,  of  a  woody  tex- 
ture, and  frequently  forming  small  trees,  found  in  all  tropi- 
cal and  temperate  countries,  where  they  are  often  culti- 
vated  for  the  sake  of  their  valuable  aromatic  properties. 
The  spices  cloves  and  pimento  are  produced  by  some  spe- 
cies;  the  agreeable  fruits  called  guava,  jamrosaiie,  and  rose- 
apples  are  yielded  by  others;  while  the  enormous  gum- 
trees,  or  Eucalypti,  of  New  Holland,  and  the  Mclmuca, 
w  bJch  furnishes  the  siLmulalijig  green  oil  of  cajeput,  also 


MYRTLE. 

belong  to  the  order.  Myrtacem  are  nearly  related  to  the 
Onagraceous  order,  from  which  they  differ  in  having  an 
indefinite  number  of  stamens ;  and  to  Melastomacea,  which 
have  rostrate  inflected  anthers  and  ribbed  leaves.  Their 
most  essential  characters  are  to  have  polypetalous,  calyci- 
floral  flowers,  indefinite  stamens,  round  erect  anthers,  in- 
ferior fruit,  and  dotted  leaves  with  an  intra-marginal  vein. 

MYRTLE.  (Mart,  the  Persian  name,  whence  fivproi.) 
An  evergreen  fragrant  bush,  inhabiting  all  the  warmer 
parts  of  the  basin  of  the  Mediterranean  and  of  the  west  of 
Asia.  It  was  considered  sacred  to  Venus,  and  is  at  this 
day  regarded  with  superstitious  reverence  by  the  Persian 
peasant.  In  the  latitude  of  London  the  myrtle  will  en- 
dure the  climate  only  in  the  warmest  and  most  sheltered 
spots. 

MYSTACI'NEjE.  (Gr.  ftvaral,  moustache.)  The  name 
of  a  family  of  Infusories  of  the  tribe  Trichoda,  including 
those  which  have  superficial  cilia,  or  fine,  hair-like  pro- 
cesses, disposed  in  groups.  Many  species  of  animals  de- 
rive their  trivial  name  from  the  same  root,  as  the  Vesper- 
tilio  mystacinus,  or  whiskered  bat ;  the  Caprimulgus  mys- 
ticalis,  or  bearded  goat-sucker ;  the  Cypselus  mystaceus,  or 
bearded  swift,  &c. 

MYSTERIES,  SACRED.  (The  word  mystery  has  been 
by  some  traced  to  the  Hebrew  *ir\Di  t0  hide,  whence  mys- 
tar,  a  thing  concealed ;  formed  from  which  is  the  Gr. 
pvarnpiov,  old  French  mestiei — English  mystery,  and  old 
English  mistar,  a  trade  or  craft,  the  learning  of  which  was 
something  occult  and  mysterious ;  but  the  more  direct  deri- 
vation appears  to  be  from  the  Gr.  fivcw.)  The  word  mystery 
is  primarily  used  in  speaking  of  certain  truths  set  forth  in 
the  Old  and  New  Testament,  to  the  full  understanding  of 
which  human  reason  cannot  attain.  Thus  all  the  Old 
Testament  figures  and  prophecies  were  mysteries  to  the 
greater  part  of  the  Jews,  until  they  received  their  accom- 
plishment in  Christ.  Among  the  mysteries  set  forth  in  the 
New  Testament  the  most  prominent  are,  the  doctrine  of 
the  satisfaction  of  Christ,  the  forgiveness  of  sins  for  the 
sake  of  his  sufferings,  and  eternal  life  in  a  future  world ; 
the  spiritual  union  between  Christ  and  his  church;  the 
grace  of  Jesus  Christ  in  its  operation  on  our  hearts ;  and 
the  resurrection  from  the  dead. 

But  the  greatest  of  sacred  or  scripture  mysteries  is,  doubt- 
less, the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God :  the  advent  of 
Christ  in  the  fulness  of  time,  of  the  seed  of  Israel,  and  his 
participation  in  our  nature,  according  to  the  flesh ;  "  being 
in  the  likeness  of  man,"  and  "found  in  fashion  as  a  man," 
but  "  very  God  of  very  God,"  "  God  over  all,  blessed  for- 
ever." "The  Word  was  with  God  and  teas  God-,"  says 
John ;  "  and  the  Word  was  made  flesh."  This  is  the 
mystery,  and,  "  without  controversy,  great  is  the  mystery 
of  godliness"  (or  God-likeness),  God,  manifest  in  the  flesh," 
or  "  God  was  manifest  in  the  flesh,"  as  the  most  correct 
reading  is  held  to  be — Otoe  ctpavepMtx  cv  caput. 

These  are  some  of  the  numerous  mysteries  scattered 
throughout  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  which  right- 
ly come  under  the  denomination  of  sacred  mysteries.  For 
an  account  of  profane  mysteries,  see  infra. 

MYS'TERIES,  PROFANE.  In  the  religions  of  Pagan 
antiquity,  the  secret  rites  and  ceremonies  performed  by  a 
select  few  in  honour  of  some  divinity  were  so  called. 
"  Each  of  the  Pagan  gods,"  says  Bishop  Warburton,  "  had, 
besides  the  public  and  open,  a  secret  worship  paid  them, 
into  which  none  were  admitted  but  those  who  had  been 
selected  by  preparatory  ceremonies,  called  initiation ;  and 
this  secret  worship  was  termed  the  mysteries."  The  first 
mysteries  of  which  we  have  any  account  were  those  of 
Isis  and  Osiris  in  Egypt ;  whence  they  were  introduced 
into  Greece  and  Italy,  and  in  process  of  time  disseminated 
through  the  northern  and  western  nations  of  Europe. 

A  very  clear  and  concise  account  of  the  Egyptian  myste- 
ries has  been  given  by  Sir  G.  Wilkinson,  in  his  Manners 
and  Customs  of  the  Jincient  Egyptians,  of  which  the  fol- 
lowing abstract  will  convey  their  peculiarities  and  import- 
ance :  "  The  Egyptian  mysteries  consisted  of  two  degrees, 
denominated  greater  and  less ;  and  to  become  qualified  for 
admission  into  the  higher  class  the  aspirant  must  have 
passed  through  those  of  the  inferior  degree.  The  priests 
alone  could  arrive  at  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  greater 
mysteries ;  but  so  sacred  were  these  secrets  held  that  many 
members  of  the  sacerdotal  order  were  not  admitted  to  a 
participation  in  them  at  all,  and  those  alone  were  selected 
for  initiation  who  had  proved  themselves  virtuous  and  de- 
serving of  the  honour."  "  The  Egyptians,"  says  Clement  of 
Alexandria,  "  neither  intrusted  their  mysteries  to  every 
one,  nor  degraded  the  secrets  of  divine  matters  by  disclo- 
sinc  them  to  the  profane,  reserving  them  for  the  heir-ap- 
parent* of  the  throne,  and  for  such  of  the  priests  as  excel- 

*  The  kings  of  Egypt  were  the  hi»h  priests  of  the  nation,  and  by  virtue  of 
this  office  were  partakers  of  these  secrets  ;  but  if  previously  to  ascending  the 
throne  they  bad  been,  which  was  frequently  the  case,  members  of  the  mili- 


MYSTERIES,  PROFANE. 

led  in  virtue  and  wisdom."  But  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  at  a  later  period  the  same  liberality  as  to  the  admis- 
sion of  the  laity  which  characterized  the  Eleusinian  and 
other  mysteries  prevailed  in  Egypt,  and  that  many  laymen, 
and  even  some  foreigners,  were  admitted  to  the  lesser  mys- 
teries. 

Of  the  origin  of  the  Orphean  and  Eleusinian  mysteries 
we  have  already  spoken  briefly,  under  their  respective 
heads ;  but  it  has  occmred  to  us  that  a  more  detailed  ac- 
count of  the  nature  and  ceremonies  of  the  latter,  more  es- 
pecially as  with  a  few  modifications,  arising  from  the  dif- 
ferent habits  of  different  nations,  they  constitute  the  great 
models  on  which  all  succeeding  mysteries  were  formed, 
might  not  be  considered  out  of  place.  These  festivals 
were  instituted  at  Eleusis,  in  honour  of  Ceres  and  Proser- 
pine ;  the  former  of  whom  was  believed  to  have  taught 
the  inhabitants  the  art  of  agriculture  and  the  holy  doctrine 
—a  doctrine  which  was  said  not  only  to  purify  the  heart 
from  sin,  and  expel  ignorance  from  the  mind,  but  to  insure 
also  the  favour  of  the  gods,  and  to  open  the  gates  of  im- 
mortal felicity  to  the  initiated.  The  mysteries,  like  those 
of  Egypt,  were  of  two  kinds— the  less  and  the  greater — 
held  at  two  different  periods  of  the  year,  and  at  two  dif- 
ferent places :  the  lesser,  which  were  introductory  to  the 
greater,  being  celebrated  at  Agra,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Ilyssus ;  the  greater  at  Eleusis.  The  celebration  of  the 
greater  mysteries  occupied  nine  days,  chiefly  devoted  to 
sacrifices,  processions,  and  other  acts  of  worship;  and 
during  this  period  the  judicial  tribunals  were  closed ;  an 
armistice  was  proclaimed ;  private  enmities  were  hushed ; 
and  death  was  decreed  by  the  Athenian  senate  against  any 
one,  how  high  soever  in  rank,  who  should  disturb  the 
sanctity  of  the  rites.  The  ceremonies  of  initiation  into 
both  the  lesser  and  greater  mysteries  were  conducted  by 
four  priests  of  the  most  illustrious  families  of  Greece, 
called  Hierophant,  Dadouchos,  Hierokeryx,  and  Epidomias  : 
and  these  again  were  assisted  by  numerous  inferior  function- 
aries, to  whom  various  appellations  were  given  indicative 
of  their  several  duties.  The  examination  of  those  who  had 
been  purified  by  the  lesser  mysteries,  and  who  were  pre- 
paring for  the  greater,  was  apparently  rigorous.  All  foreign- 
ers, all  who  had  even  involuntarily  committed  homicide, 
who  had  been  declared  infamous  by  the  laws,  or  had  been 
guilty  of  a  notorious  crime,  were  excluded ;  but  these  regu- 
lations were  not  immutable  ;  for  various  instances  might 
be  produced  to  show  that  homicides  and  robbers  were 
sometimes  initiated.*  Women  and  children  were  admissi- 
ble ;  and  a  child,  styled  the  child  of  holiness,  whose  inno- 
cence, it  was  believed,  of  itself  endowed  him  with  capaci- 
ty to  fulfil  the  requirements  of  the  mysteries,  was  selected 
to  conciliate  the  deity  in  the  name  of  the  initiated. 

Of  the  ceremonies  which  attended  the  initiation  we 
know  little  ;  since  every  postulant  was  required,  under  the 
most  dreadful  oaths,  to  conceal  whatever  he  saw  or  heard 
within  the  hallowed  precincts ;  and  he  who  violated  the 
oaths  was  not  only  put  to  death,  but  devoted  to  the  exe- 
cration of  all  posterity.  Yet  the  priests  of  ancient,  like 
the  Freemasons  of  modern  times,  could  not  prevent  the  dis- 
closure of  some  facts.  Crowned  with  myrtle,  and  enveloped 
in  robes,  which  from  this  day  were  preserved  as  sacred 
relics,  the  novices  were  conducted  beyond  the  boundary 
impassable  to  the  rest  of  men.  The  hierophant,  with  his 
symbols  of  supreme  deity,  and  his  three  assistants,  repre- 
senting the  three  other  gods,  were  carefully  visible.  Lest 
any  should  have  been  introduced  not  sufficiently  prepared  for 
the  rites,  the  herald  exclaimed,  "  Far  from  hence  the  pro- 
fane, the  impious,  all  who  are  polluted  by  sin !"  If  any 
such  were  present,  and  did  not  instantly  depart,  death  was 
the  never-failing  doom.  The  skins  of  new-slain  victims 
were  now  placed  under  the  feet  of  the  novices,  the  ritual 
of  initiation  wras  read,  and  hymns  were  chanted  in  honour 
of  Ceres.  The  novices  moved  on,  while  a  deep  sound 
rose  from  beneath  as  if  the  earth  itself  were  complaining ; 
the  thunder  pealed ;  the  lightning  flashed ;  and  spectres 
glided  through  the  vast  obscurity,  moaning,  sighing,  and 
groaning.  Mysterious  shades,  the  messengers  of  the  in- 
fernal deities — Anguish,  Madness,  Famine,  Disease,  and 
Death — flitted  around ;  and  the  explanations  of  the  hiero- 
phant, delivered  in  a  solemn  voice,  added  to  the  horrors  of 
the  scene.  This  was  intended  as  a  representation  of  the 
infernal  regions,  where  misery  had  its  seat.  As  they  ad- 
vanced, amidst  the  groans  which  issued  from  the  darkness 
were  distinguished  those  of  the  suicides — thus  punished  for 


tary  class  (one  of  the  four  great  castes  into  which  the  Egyptians,  like  the 
Hindoos,  were  divided),  they  were  required  by  the  law  to  be  admitted  into  the 
sacerdotal  order,  and  instructed  in  all  the  secret  learning  of  the  priests,  pre- 
viously to  exercising  their  priestly  office. 

*  It  has  been  said  that  the  division  of  the  Elusinlan  Mysteries  into  the  lesser 
and  great  arose  from  the  expiatory  ablutions  and  other  ceremonies  which 
were  imposed  upon  Hercules,  when  he  asrjired  to  initiation  after  killing  the 
centaurs;  but  it  is  more  probable  that  this  division,  which,  as  we  have  re- 
marked above,  was  common  with  them  to  the  Egyptian  mysteries,  was  coe- 
val with  their  introduction  into  Greece. 

807 


MYSTERIES,  PROFANE. 

cowardly  deserting  the  post  which  the  gods  had  assigned 
them  in  this  world.  But  the  scenes  which  the  novices  had 
hitherto  beheld  seemed  to  be  a  sort  of  purgatory,  where 
penal  fires  and  dire  anguish,  and  the  unutterable  horrors 
of  darkness,  were  believed,  after  countless  ages  of  sutler- 
ing,  tu  purity  from  the  guilt  acquired  in  this  mortal  life. 
Suddenly  the  bursting  open  of  two  vast  gates,  with  a  ter- 
rific sound,  dimly  displayed  to  their  sight,  and  faintly  bore 
to  their  ears,  the  torments  of  those  whose  state  was  ever- 
lasting— who  had  passed  the  bounds  beyond  which  there  is 
no  hope.  On  the  horrors  of  this  abode  of  anguish  and 
despair  a  curtain  may  be  dropped ;  the  subject  is  unuttera- 
ble. Onwards  proceeded  the  novices,  and  were  soon  con- 
ducted into  another  region  ;  that  of  everlasting  bliss,  the 
sojourn  of  the  just — of  those  whose  hearts  had  been  puri- 
fied and  whose  minds  had  been  enlightened  by  "  the  holy 
doctrine."  This  was  Elysium — the  joys  of  which  were 
equally  unutterable,  equally  incomprehensible,  to  mortals 
not  admitted  into  these  mysteries.  Here  a  veil  was  in 
like  manner  thrown  over  this  scene.  (Cabinet  Cyclopedia, 
vol.61. 

Like  most  other  questions  of  this  nature,  the  origin  and 
purpose  of  these  religious  institutions  are  involved  in  the 
deepest  obscurity;  and  all  the  efforts  of  the  learned  that 
have  been  directed  to  the  elucidation  of  this  question  in  all 
ages,  but  more  particularly  in  modern  times,  have  ended 
only  in  unprofitable  conjecture.  Referring  to  the  disserta- 
tions of  Bishop  Warburton  and  Dr.  Leland  for  the  chief 
views  that  have  been  entertained  respecting  them,  we  may 
here  briefly  observe,  that  though  the  mysteries  seem  to  have 
been  instituted  for  the  purpose  of  enlightening  the  initiated 
as  to  the  hidden  meaning  of  religious  doctrines  and  usages 
of  which  the  great  mass  of  the  people  were  kept  in  igno- 
rance, there  are  no  means  of  approximating  even  to  a  con- 
jecture as  to  the  real  nature  of  the  doctrine  taught  in  the 
mysteries,  or  the  advantages  of  initiation.  Were  this  the 
place  for  such  discussions,  we  think  it  might  be  satisfactorily 
proved  that  mysteries  must  form  an  indispensable  part  in 
the  religious  ceremonies  of  every  people  who  have  attained 
to  a  certain  degree  of  civilization.  The  mythological  sys- 
tems of  antiquity  were  too  gross,  and  the  fables  of  which 
they  were  composed  too  senseless,  to  be  believed  by  any  one 
into  whose  mind  the  light  of  philosophy  had  dawned  ;  and 
accordingly  we  find  that  many  of  the  most  distinguished 
persons  embraced  and  inculcated  in  private  (see  Mono- 
theism) the  most  heterodoxical  opinions  respecting  the  na- 
tional faith.  These  opinions  were  well  known  to  the  priests, 
many  of  whom  were  too  enlightened  to  credit  the  delusions 
of  which  they  were  the  ministers,  and  who  might  well 
tremble  for  the  farther  spread  of  doctrines  which  must 
inevitably  prove  fatal  to  their  influence.  It  became,  there- 
fore, a  matter  of  state  policy  to  divert  into  nnother  channel 
those  feelings  of  religious  infidelity  which,  if  communicated 
to  the  vulgar,  might  have  ended  in  popular  disturbances ; 
and  hence,  in  all  probability,  mysteries  were  instituted, 
which,  while  they  ministered  to  the  pride  and  vanity  of 
human  reason  by  elevating  the  initiated  above  the  preju- 
dices of  ordinary  persons,  and  gave  as  it  were  the  sanction 
of  the  state  to  the  entertainment  of  heterodoxical  opinions, 
no  less  gratified  the  vulgar  by  the  splendid  shows  and  cere- 
monies of  which  they  were  the  vehicle,  at  the  same  time 
that  they  held  out  the  prospect  of  initiation  to  all  who  might 
be  deemed  worthy  of  the  honour.  (In  addition  to  the  works 
already  quoted,  see  Sir  G.  Wilkinson's  Ancient  Egyptians, 
vol.  ii.  p.  322-332.,  2d  Series;  and  the  authorities  there 
referred  to.) 

My'steries.  In  Modern  Literature,  a  species  of  dramatic 
composition,  with  characters  and  events  drawn  from  sacred 
history.  Saint  Gregory  Nazianzen  composed  the  earliest 
sacred  dramas  extant,  on  the  model  of  the  Greek  tragedies, 
but  with  Christian  hymns  substituted  for  the  ancient  chorus. 
The  mysteries  of  the  middle  ages  are  thought  by  some  to 
have  been  first  introduced  by  pilgrims  returning  from  the 
Holy  Land.  Tiny  originated  among,  and  were  probably 
first  performed  by,  ecclesiastics.  However  serious  and 
solemn  the  events  which  were  represented  in  these  sin- 
gular compositions,  there  were  invariably,  in  the  later  mys- 
teries, two  characters  introduced  to  make  sport  tor  tin  mul- 
titude: namely,  the  Devil  and  the  Vice — a  personage  ac- 
coutred in  a  long  jerkin,  a  cap  with  ass's  ears,  anil  a 
dagger  of  lath.  He  is  now  best  remembered  by  the  allu- 
sions to  his  character  and  ollice  in  the  plays  of  Shaks 
peare.  Miracles,  or  miracle-plays,  were  a  species  of  mys 
tery:  they  are  usually  said  to  have  represented  the  martyr- 
dom of  saints.  In  the  16th  century,  the  mysteries  were 
succeeded  by  moralities;  which  were  much  in  vogue 
about  the  time  when  the  Reformation  made  its  chief  pro- 
gross  in  England.  The  characters  in  moralities  were 
allegorical  personages.  Several  of  these  performances, 
some  by  no  me;ins  destitute  of  poetical  merit,  remain  t" 
us.  They  may  be  considered  as  the  last  step  in  the  pro- 
gress made  by  the  dramatic  art  in  modern  Europe,  before 
808 


NABULUM. 

it  reached  the  station  and  character  which  it  has  ever 
since  retained. 

MYSTICISM.  In  Religion,  a  word  of  verv  %-ague  sig- 
nification, applied,  for  the  most  part,  indiscriminately  to  all 
those  views  or  tendencies  in  religion  which  aspire  towards 
a  more  direct  communication  between  man  and  God,  not 
through  the  medium  of  the  senses,  but  tlrrough  the  in- 
ward perception  of  the  mind,  than  that  which  is  afforded 
us  through  revelation.  Thus,  the  Pantheism  of  the  an- 
cient philosophers  and  many  modern  religionists,  which 
supposed  a  God  existing  in  all  space  and  matter,  and  re- 
vealed to  us  in  the  outward  manifestations  of  things ;  the 
Quietism  of  Madame  Guyon,  Fenelon,  &c,  who  sought 
for  direct  revelation  from  the  Divinity  to  the  believer  in  a 
species  of  ecstasy  ;  the  Pietism  of  Molinos,  &c. ;  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Illuminati  in  Germany;  the  visions  of  Swe- 
denborg;  and  some  of  the  notions  prevalent  among  the 
Methodists  and  other  sects  among  ourselves — all  approx- 
imate to  mysticism.  See,  as  to  the  early  Christian  mys- 
tics of  the  East,  the  first  volume  of  Mosheim  ;  as  to  those 
of  the  West,  the  third  (transl.)  ed.,  1790,  p.  352. 

MYTHO'LOGY.  (Gr.  uvt)oi,  fable,  and  \6yo;,  discourse.) 
By  the  mythology  of  a  people,  we  understand  the  collect- 
ive body  of  its  traditions  respecting  its  gods  and  other 
fabulous  preternatural  beings.  The  classical  mythology, 
i.e.,  that  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome,  being  the  best 
known,  is  most  frequently  intended,  when  the  word  is 
used  without  a  distinctive  addition ;  but  the  mythologies 
of  the  ancient  Egyptians,  of  the  Hindoos,  and  of  the  north- 
ern nations  of  Europe,  have  also  been  sedulously  examined. 
by  modern  scholars,  and  reduced  into  systems  pretty  gener- 
ally known.  The  learned  although  singular  work  of 
Bryant,  Analysis  of  Ancient  Mythology,  is  a  rich  repertory 
of  traditions  aud  doctrines,  though  arranged  with  a  view 
to  the  author's  own  far-fetched  theory.  Keightley's  My- 
thology of  Ancient  Greece  and  Italy  is,  perhaps,  the  most 
useful  manual  of  those  subjects.  The  work  of  Creuzer, 
Symbolik  der  Allen  Vblker,  besonders  der  Griechen,  may  be 
considered  among  the  most  erudite  and  valuable  of  all  the 
books  on  classical  antiquities.  An  outline  of  the  chief 
mythological  systems  of  antiquity  will  be  found  under  the 
article  Polytheism,  to  which  we  beg  to  refer ;  and  the 
chief  mythological  personages  are  noticed  under  their 
particular  heads. 

MYTILA'CEANS,  Mytilacca.  (Gr.  hvti\o$,  a  mussel.) 
The  name  of  the  family  of  Lamellibranchiate  Mollusks, 
having  the  genus  Mytilus,  or  common  mussel,  for  its  type, 
and  characterized  by  the  mantle  being  open  anteriorly,  and 
by  having  a  foot  either  sufficiently  developed  for  the  office 
of  progressive  motion,  or  serving  to  draw  out,  direct,  and 
fix  the  byssns. 

MY'TILUS.  (Gr.  ixvtiXoc,  a  mussel.)  A  name  applied 
by  Linn:eus  to  all  those  testaceous  Vermes  having  a  bivalve 
shell,  rough,  and  generally  affixed  by  a  byssus,  with  a  hinge, 
mostly  without  teeth,  generally  with  a  subulate,  excavated, 
longitudinal  line.  The  species  comprehended  under  the 
above  phrase  are  placed  by  Cuvier  in  the  Testaceous 
order  of  Acephalous  Mollusks,  and  have  been  subdivided 
into  the  genus  Mytilus  proper,  of  which  the  common 
edible  mussel  (Mytilus  edulis)  is  an  example ;  Modiolus, 
Lam. ;  Lithodoinus,  Cuv. ;  Anodonta,  Brug. ;  Avicula,  Brug. ; 
Meleagrina,  Lam.,  which  produces  the  most  precious 
pearls.  Extensive  establishments  are  maintained  at  Cey- 
lon, and  other  places,  for  the  express  purpose  of  collecting 
the  Meleagrina  margaritifera,  or  pearl  oyster. 

MY'XINE.  (Gr.  iivi,a,  mucus.)  The  name  of  a  genus 
of  Cyclostomous  fishes,  remarkable  for  their  mucous  slip- 
pery integument :  the  species  called  glutinous  hag  (Myxine 
glutinosa)  is  a  native  of  the  British  seas.  Its  habits  are 
parasitic,  and  it  is  most  commonly  met  with  in  the  interior 
of  a  cod  upon  whose  flesh  it  has  been  preying. 


N. 


N.  One  of  the  liquid  series  of  letters.  It  is  common 
to  all  known  languages,  and  is  interchangeable,  more  par- 
ticularly in  the  Latin  and  (ireck  languages  and  those  de- 
rived from  them,  with  a  variety  of  letters.  As  an  abbre- 
viation X  is  used  tor  mirth,  niimrro.  &c. ;  N.  B.  for  vota 
bene;  N.  L.  for  non  liquet,  (i.  c.,  the  cause  is  not  clear 
enough  to  pass  sentence  on)  ;  N.  P.  for  notarius  publicus, 
&c. 

NA'BLUM.  One  of  the  most  famous  musical  instru- 
ments among  the  lb-brews;  but  one  whose  form  and  na- 
ture ;irc  so  little  known  that  Cilmet  thinks  it  was  a  harp, 
Kircher  a  psaltery  or  stringed  instrument  of  percussion 
played  on  by  sticks,  and  Harmer  (Observations  on  Scrip- 
ture) hints  at  its  being  a  bagpipe.  By  timer  (I.yra)  says 
the  in  In  I  03^  was  like  a  leathern  bottle,  explaining  his 
meaning  to  be  that  it  bore  a  resemblance  to  the  ancient 


NABOB. 

Greek  and  Roman  lyre,  whose  body  was  made  of  the  shell 
of  the  tortoise.  The  authority  of  Josephus  (.int.  Jiid., 
lib.  vii.,  c.  12),  if  to  be  relied  upon,  distinctly  shows  it 
with  the  fingers :  his  words  are,  "Hee  vaSXa  faScica  <p6oy- 
povi  exovaa,  raiq  &aK.7v\oit;  Kfoverai.  Its  having  twelve 
sounds,  without  telling  how  those  sounds  were  produced, 
whether  by  strings  or  wind,  leaves  the  matter  so  doubtful 
that  the  reader  must  decide  for  himself. 

NABO'B.  (A  corruption  of  nawab,  from  naib,  a  deputy.) 
The  title  of  the  governor  of  a  province  or  commander  of 
an  army,  in  India,  under  the  domination  of  the  Moguls. 
The  nabob  was,  properly  speaking,  a  subordinate  provin- 
cial governor  under  the  subahdar ;  i.  e.,  governor  of  a 
subah,  or  larger  province.  In  the  decay  of  the  Mogul 
empire,  many  of  the  nabobs  became  virtually  independent, 
until  their  dominions  were  reduced  by  the  English.  The 
term  nabob  is  vulgarly  applied  to  those  Europeans  who 
have  amassed  a  large  fortune  in  the  East  Indies,  and  live 
in  eastern  splendour. 

NA'CARAT.  (Span,  nacar,  mother  of  pearl.)  A  term 
applied  to  a  pale  red  colour  with  an  orange  cast.  The 
■nacarat  of  Portugal  is  a  crape  of  fine  linen  fabric,  dyed 
fugitively  of  this  tint,  which  is  used  by  ladies  to  give  their 
countenances  a  roseate  hue.  The  brightest  red  crapes 
of  this  kind  are  manufactured  by  the  Turks  of  Constan- 
tinople.    (Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts.)     See  Rouge. 

NA'CREOUS.  (Fr.  nacre,  pearl.)  In  Zoology,  when 
the  surface  of  a  shell  or  other  part  reflects  iridescent  light 

NA'CRITE.  (Fr.  nacre.)  A  mineral  of  a  pearly  lustre, 
found  crystallized  in  granite.  It  is  a  silicate  of  alumina 
and  potassa. 

NA'DIR.  (Arab,  nazeer,  opposite.)  In  Astronomy  and 
Geography,  the  point  of  the  heavens  diametrically  oppo- 
site to  the  zenith.  The  zenith  and  nadir  are  the  two 
poles  of  the  horizon. 

NjE'NIA.  In  Roman  Antiquities,  a  funeral  dirge  sung 
to  the  music  of  flutes.  It  is  also  the  name  of  the  Roman 
goddess  who  presided  over  lamentations. 

N.-E'VL'S.  A  natural  spot  or  mark  upon  the  skin  of 
children  at  birth. 

NAI'ADS.  (Gr.  vaiw,  I  inhabit,  or  raw,  I  flow.)  In  the 
ancient  Roman  and  Greek  Mythology,  female  deities  who 
presided  over  fountains,  rivers,  brooks,  &.C.  The  number 
of  these  goddesses  was  indefinite.  In  his  Georgics  (book 
iv.)  Virgil  enumerates  16 ;  and  Ovid,  in  his  Elegies  (book 
iii.,  64)  speaks  of  at  least  100  in  the  river  Anio.  The  most 
beautiful  of  the  Naiads  is  said  to  have  been  Aigle  ( Virg., 
Ec.  6).  Many  of  the  Homeric  heroes  are  represented  to 
have  been  the  offspring  of  these  deities. 

NAILS.  (Germ,  nagel.)  This  term  is  given  to  the 
terminal  horny  appendages  of  the  fingers  and  toes  when 
they  are  in  the  form  of  flattened. or  depressed  plates, 
serving  to  support  a  broad  tactile  surface,  as  in  the  human 
fingers.  When  these  appendages  are  compressed,  curved, 
pointed,  and  extended  beyond  the  digit,  they  are  called 
"talons,"  or  "claws;"  when  they  encase  the  extremity 
of  a  digit  like  a  box,  they  are  called  "  hoofs." 

NA'IS.  (Gr.  vaias,  a  naiad.)  The  name  of  a  genus  of 
minute  Abranchiate  Anellides,  or  red-blooded  worms, 
remarkable  for  their  powers  of  reproducing  parts  of  the 
body  when  mutilated ;  and  for  procreating  their  kind  by 
spontaneous  separation  of  the  hinder  segments  of  the  trunk. 

NAl'VETE  (Fr.),  is  applied  to  a  certain  indescribable 
grace  in  the  female  character,  resulting  from  a  union  of 
great  natural  shrewdness,  unaffected  simplicity,  and,  to  a 
certain  extent,  a  disregard  of  the  conventional  forms  and 
usages  of  societv. 

NA'KED  FLOORING.  In  Architecture,  the  timber  work 
of  a  floor,  which  supports  the  boarding  or  ceiling,  or  both. 

NAME.  (Lat.  nomen  ;  Germ,  nome  ;  Fr.  nom.)  The 
designation  by  which  any  individual  is  known.  The  cus- 
tom adopted  in  personal  nomenclature  has  been  based  on 
some  uniform  principle  since  the  earliest  ages  ;  modified, 
however,  by  the  varying  circumstances  of  different  coun- 
tries, and  according  to  the  more  or  less  advanced  state  of 
civilization  of  every  people.  Thus,  in  the  early  state  of 
society  of  the  Jews,  Egyptians,  Persians,  Greeks,  Romans, 
Germans,  Gauls,  Britons,  and  indeed  of  every  nation,  no 
individual  had  more  than  one  name  ;  but  in  a  more  ad- 
vanced or  refined  period,  one  or  more  additional  names 
were  given,  in  order  to  mark  the  different  families  to 
which  individuals  belonged,  as  well  as  to  distinguish 
members  of  the  same  family  from  each  other.  To  effect 
these  objects  the  ancient  Romans,  at  least  those  of  good 
family,  generally  used  three  names— the  pranomen,  the 
■nomen,  and  the  cognomen ;  the  first,  which  was  given  on 
the  assumption  of  the  toga  r  iritis,  marked  the  individual, 
like  our  Christian  name;  the  second  distinguished  the 
gens  (which  see;,  and  the  third  the  familia  (which  see), 
to  which  he  belonged.  To  these,  however,  was  some- 
times added  a  fourth  name,  called  the  agnomen,  which 
was  derived  from  some  distinguishing  peculiarities  in  each 


NAPIER'S  RODS. 

individual's  character  or  condition  ;  thus  Publius  Cornelius 
Scipio  was  named  .Ifricanus  from  his  exploits  in  Africa. 
The  mode  of  designation  adopted  in  all  the  countries  of 
modern  Europe  is  founded  on  a  principle  somewhat  ana- 
logous to  that  of  ancient  Rome;  with  this  prominent  dif- 
ference, that  in  the  former  no  nomen  or  clan  appellation 
intervenes  between  the  prunomen  (or  Christian  name)  and 
the  cognomen  (or  surname).  It  would  be  difficult  to  give 
any  satisfactory  reasons  for  the  adoption  of  the  Christian 
and  surnames  most  commonly  met  with  among  ourselves. 
Those  who  are  inclined  to  prosecute  inquiry  into  this  com- 
paratively untouched  subject,  will  find  some  ingenious 
hints  for  their  guidance  in  the  Penny  Cyclopaedia  (art 
"  Names,  Proper"),  to  which  we  beg  to  refer.  See  Sur- 
name. 

NA'NDU.  The  name  of  the  American  ostrich  (Rhea 
Americana.)     See  Rhea. 

NANKEE'N.  A  yellowish  or  buff-coloured  cotton  cloth, 
largely  manufactured  at  Nankin,  in  China.  Its  colour  is 
that  of  the  cotton  wool  of  which  it  is  manufactured.  They 
are  sometimes  bleached,  and  then  they  are  called  white 
nankeens.  Imitation  nankeens  are  manufactured  at  Man- 
chester ;  but  it  is  admitted  these  are  of  an  inferior  quality 
to  the  Chinese,  neither  lasting  so  long,  nor  holding  their 
colour  so  well. 

NANTES,  EDICT  OF.     See  Edict. 

NA'OS,  or  NAVE.  (Gr.  vads,  a  temple,  or  vav;,  a  vessel.) 
In  Architecture,  that  part  of  a  temple  enclosed  by  the 
walls.  The  part  in  front  of  it  was  called  pronaos,  and 
that  in  the  rear  posticum.  In  modern  architecture,  it  is 
the  middle  part  or  alley  of  a  church,  between  the  aisles  or 
wings. 

NA'PHTHA.  A  limpid  bitumen,  which  exudes  from 
the  earth  upon  the  shores  of  the  Caspian  and  some  other 
eastern  countries.  Near  the  village  of  Amiano,  in  the 
state  of  Parma,  there  exists  a  spring  which  yields  this 
substance  in  sufficient  quantity  to  illuminate  the  city  of 
Genoa,  for  which  purpose  it  is  employed.  It  has  a  peculiar 
odour,  and  generally  a  yellow  colour,  but  may  be  rendered 
colourless  by  distillation.  Its  specific  gravity  is  about  0.75. 
It  boils  at  about  160°.  It  is  highly  inflammable,  burning 
with  a  white  smoky  flame.  It  appears  to  be  a  compound 
of  36  of  carbon  with  5  of  hydrogen,  and  is  therefore  a  pure 
hydro-carbon.  A  liquid  very  similar  to  mineral  naphtha 
is*  obtained  by  the  distillation  of  coal  tar.  It  has  sometimes 
been  used  in  lamps,  but  is  apt  to  smoke.  This  variety  of 
naphtha  is  in  great  request  as  a  solvent  for  caoutchouc. 

NA'PHTHA'LAMIDE.  A  compound  obtained  by  dis- 
tilling napthalate  of  ammonia. 

NAPHTHA'LIC  ACID.  A  crystalline  product,  resem- 
bling in  appearance  benzoic  acid,  obtained  by  Laurent  from 
naphthaline. 

NATHTHALIXE.  A  substance  formed  during  the  de- 
structive distillation  of  pit-coal  for  the  production  of  gas. 
It  is  obtained  by  re-distilling  the  coal  tar.  It  is  a  white 
crystalline  substance,  heavier  than  water,  and  of  a  peculiar 
aromatic  odour.  It  is  extremely  volatile,  fusing  at  180°,  and 
its  vapour  condenses  in  large  white  flaky  crystals.  It  burns 
with  much  smoke,  and  dissolves  in  alchohol  and  ether.  It 
consists  of  60  carbon,  4  hydrogen,  and  is  therefore  a  hydro- 
carbon. It  combines  with  sulphuric  acid  to  form  the  svi- 
pho-naphthalic  acid. 

NAPIER'S  RODS,  or  BONES.  An  instrument  contrived 
by  the  celebrated  Lord  Napier,  the  inventor  of  the  loga- 
rithms, for  the  purpose  of  performing  mechanically  the  arith- 
metical operations  of  multiplication  and  division.  Napier's 
rods  consist  of  small  squared  pieces  of  bone  or  ivory,  box 
or  silver,  about  3  inches  long,  and  3-10ths  of  an  inch  in 
breadth,  the  faces  of  which  are  divided  into  nine  little 
squares  or  cells,  each  of  which  is  parted  by  a  diagonal  into 
two  triangles.    Thus : 


NAPLES  YELLOW. 

On  these  cells  are  engraved  the  successive  columns  of 
the  common  multiplication  table,  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
units,  or  right-hand  figures,  are  found  in  the  right-hand  tri- 
angle, and  the  tens,  or  left-hand  figmes,  in  the  left-hand  tri- 
angle. 
As  an  example  of  the  manner  in  which  the  rods  are  used, 
let  it  he  required  to  multiply  the 
5  numbers  of  6195  by  4676.  Select 
the  rods  which  have  the  figures 
of  the  multiplicand  inscribed  at 
9_  the  top,  and  place  them  in  their 
order,  with  the  index  rod  before 
them,  when  they  will  stand  as  in 
the  table  annexed.  Then,  oppo- 
site to  the  several  figures  of  the 
multiplier,  4876,  on  the  index,  but 
proceeding  backwards,  take  the 
numbers  in  each  horizontal  co- 
lumn ;  add  the  pair  of  digits  in 
each  rhombus  formed  by  the  ad- 
jacent triangles  of  two  contiguous 
cells ;  and  finally,  collect  into  one 
sum  the  rows  of  the  products  cor- 
responding to  each  digit  of  the 
multiplier,  transcribed  and  pro- 
perly disposed,  as  under  : — 


40770 
475G5 
54360 
27180 


331324-20 

Here,  opposite  to  6,  the  last  digit  of  the  multiplier,  and 
proceeding  from  the  right  along  the  horizontal  column,  there 
occur  the  figures — first,  0,  then  3  and  4,  or  7 ;  5  and  2,  or  7 ; 
4  and  6,  or  10;  and  lastly,  writing  down  the  cipher,  and 
carrying  1  to  3,  we  get  4.  These  collected  together  give 
40 i/O  for  the  product  of  6795  by  6.  In  the  same  manner 
the  other  rows  are  formed,  which,  being  added  in  the  usual 
manner,  the  product  of  the  two  given  numbers  is  obtained. 
It  is  obvious  that  this  method  of  calculation  is  much  too 
tedious  to  be  of  any  real  use. 

NA'PLES  YELLOW.  A  celebrated  yellow  pigment, 
formerly  made  by  a  secret  process  at  Naples,  and  used  not 
only  in  oil  painting,  but  as  an  enamel  colour;  it  is  said  to 
be  a  mixture  of  the  oxides  of  antimony,  lead,  and  zinc. 

NAPOLEON,  CODE  OF.  It  was  in  1802,  during  the 
temporary  calm  of  the  peace  of  Amiens,  that  Napoleon, 
then  First  Consul,  undertook  the  great  task  of  forming  a 
civil  code.  It  was  entrusted  to  a  commission  of  the  coun- 
sel of  state  ;  of  which  Tronchet,  Rcederer,  Portalis,  Thibau- 
deau,  Cambaceres,  Lebnin,  were  the  leading  members. 
"Tronchet"  (said  Napoleon  himself  to  Las  Casas)  "was 
the  soul  of  the  code."  (Memoirs,  part  3,  234.)  And  Por- 
talis has  also  the  credit  of  a  very  important  share  in  its 
composition.  But  Napoleon  himself  took  a  great  interest  in 
the  subject,  and  mingled  eagerly  in  the  discussions  of  the 
commission,  as  appears  by  the  proces-verbal  of  these  dis- 
cussions. After  all  allowances  made  for  the  unparalleled 
flatteries  of  the  Napoleonists,  his  observations  are  said  to 
show  great  intuitive  sagacity,  much  readiness,  and  a  pecu- 
liarly inquiring  disposition,  which  often  led  him  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  things,  while  men  of  less  natural  power  and  trained 
in  a  different  school  were  busying  themselves  unprofitably 
with  the  matters  on  the  surface.  "  I  had  at  first  fancied," 
he  says,  "  it  would  be  possible  to  reduce  all  laws  to  simple 
geometrical  demonstrations,  so  that  every  man  who  could 
read  and  conned  his  ideas  together  would  be  able  to  decide 
for  himself;  but  1  became  convinced  almost  immediately 
after  that  this  idea  was  absurd."  (Las  Casas.  Mem.,  part 
6,  263.)  Still,  according  to  himself,  he  continued  to  cherish 
the  scarcely  less  absurd  idea,  that  no  other  laws  might  be 
necessary  than  those  inserted  in  the  code.  The  second 
volume  of  the  work  of  Thibaudeau  (Sur  le  Consulat  et  I' 
Empire)  is,  perhaps,  the  most  useful  to  consult  for  the  his- 
tory of  these  discussions.  According  to  him,  the  secretary 
Locre  did  not  in  any  degree  Improve  the  speeches  of  the 
First  Consul  in  bis  re|Hjrt.    Although  the  ideas  of  Napoleon 

himself  are  said  to  have  entered  hugely  into  the  < i] w.si - 

tion  of  the  code,  it  dors  not  appear  clearly  in  what  Impor- 
tant particulars  this  was  the  case,  except  in  one  singular 
instance,  that  of  the  law  of  divorce  (book  1,  title  6),  the  li- 
berty of  which  he  is  said  to  have  greatly  promoted.  The 
Code  Civil  is  composed  of  a  great  number  ot  laws,  dated 
from  the  "14Ventose,  anil"  (March,  1803),  to  -I  Ventose, 
an  12  (March,  1804),  in  which  latter  month  they  were  unit- 
ed in  a  sintrle  code  ;  and  which  was  republished  under  the 
empire  in  1807.    The  "  Code  de  Procedure  Civile"  was  put 

in  force  on  the  1st  January,  1807;  the  Code  of  (' i<  rce 

dates  from  the  same  year ;  the  "  Code  d'Instructlor  Crimi- 
nelle"   from   November,   1808:   the   'Code  Penal"   from 
810 


NASAL. 

February,  1310 ;  which  last  is  a  revision  of  the  "Code  Pe- 
nal" and  "Code  des  Dl  lits  et  des  Peines"  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. But  the  "Code  Civil"  is  that  to  which  the  term 
'•  Code  Napoleon"  is  in  common  language  particularly  ap- 
plied. It  consists  of  three  books:  the  first  ot'  "persona," 
subdivided  under  eleven  titles  ;  the  second  "  of  goods  (biens) 
and  the  different  modifications  of  property,"  comprising  four 
titles ;  the  third  "  of  the  different  manners  in  which  property 
is  acquired,"  with  twenty  titles.  These  last  are  again  sub- 
divided into  chapters  and  sections ;  and  the  whole  code 
consists  of  articles  numbered  in  arithmetical  order  through 
the  whole,  in  all  2281.  The  most  important  provisions  of 
the  code  as  to  the  civil  state  of  persons  are  those  relating  to 
marriage  and  divorce.  With  regard  to  property,  its  funda- 
mental law  is  that  of  equal  succession  by  heir,  the  abolition 
of  most  distinctions  between  landed  and  moveable  projierty, 
and  the  restraint  imposed  by  it  on  the  testamentary  power  : 
making  in  all  a  system  "  fundamentally  at  variance  with  that 
of  all  the  other  states  of  Europe,  and  of  which  the  ultimate 
consequences  are  destined  to  be  more  important  than  any 
of  the  other  changes  brought  about  by  the  Revolution." 
Ui/lison's  History  of  the  French  Revolution,  vol.  vi.)  But 
in  this  respect  the  Code  Napoleon  merely  consolidated  the 
revolutionary  laws  already  existing.     Sec  Code. 

NA'POLITE.    A  blue  mineral  from  Vesuvius. 

NARCE'IA.  (Gr.  vapxrj,  torpor.)  A  vegeto-alkaline 
base  contained  in  opium,  and  discovered  by  Pelletier  in 
1832.  Its  salts  have  the  peculiarity  of  being  blue  in  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  concentration,  and  on  adding  successive  quan- 
tities of  water  to  them  the  colour  changes  to  violet  and  red, 
and  lastly  disappears.  By  this  character,  and  by  its  easy 
fusibility  (at  198°),  it  is  distinguished  from  the  other  prin- 
ciples with  which  it  is  associated.  Its  medical  virtues  have 
not  been  ascertained,  nor  has  its  equivalent  number  beeu 
determined. 

NARCISSI'S.  In  Mythology,  the  beautiful  son  of  Cephe- 
sus  and  the  nymph  Liriope,  whose  history  formed  one  of  the 
most  favourite  topics  with  the  poets  of  classical  antiquity. 
Though  beloved  by  all  the  Grecian  nymphs,  he  treated 
them  with  contemptuous  indifference ;  but  having  acciden- 
tally seen  his  own  image  reflected  in  a  fountain,  he  became 
so  enamoured  of  it  that  he  languished  till  he  died,  and  thus 
realized  the  prophecy  of  Tiresias,  that  he  should  live  until 
he  saw  himself.  After  his  death  the  gods,  moved  with 
compassion  for  his  fate,  changed  him  into  the  flower  which 
bears  his  name. 

Narcissus.  In  Botany,  a  genus  of  Endogens,  belonging 
to  the  natural  order  of  Jlmarylliilacea,  "among  which  it  is 
known  by  its  flowers  growing  upon  a  scape,  and  having  a 
cup  at  their  mouth,"  the  stamens  opposite  the  sepals  being 
longer  than  the  others.  The  species  are  very  numerous ; 
and  from  their  delicate  shape,  soft  and  various  colour,  and 
sweet  scent,  have  long  been  favourite  objects  of  cultivation, 
especially  the  daffodils,  jonquils,  and  tazzettas.  Some  of 
the  more  hardy  species  grow  wild  in  our  woods  and  under 
our  hedges  ;  but  the  finer  sorts  are  natives  of  more  southern 
latitudes. 

NARCOTICS.  (Gr.  vapxn,  torpor.)  Medicines  which 
produce  drowsiness,  sleep,  and  stupor.  They  appear,  in  the 
first  instance,  to  act  as  stimulants,  quickening  the  pulse,  and 
rousing  the  energy  of  the  nervous  system,  and,  in  very  small 
doses,  this  is  their  most  obvious  operation.  In  larger  doses 
these  effects  are  followed  by  a  tranquil  state  of  mind,  tor- 
por, and  even  coma.  Considerable  skill  and  experience  are 
required  in  the  successful  administration  of  these  medi- 
cines, both  as  regards  the  cases  in  which  they  are  to  be 
prescribed,  the  doses  in  which  they  are  to  be  given,  and  the 
peculiarities  of  habit  which  often  interfere  with  and  modify 
their  usual  effects.  They  are  to  be  distinguished  from  sc- 
datives,  which  do  not  produce  preliminary  excitement.  Opi- 
um is  a  narcotic,  henbane  a  sedative. 

NARCO'TINE.  (Gr.  vapxn.)  A  crystallized  substance, 
obtained  by  digesting  the  aqueous  extract  of  opium  in  ether, 
and  evaporating  the  ethereal  solution.  It  was  discovered  in 
1803  by  Derosne,  and  supposed  to  be  the  narcotic  principle 
of  opium  ;  but  this  has  since  been  shown  to  reside  more 
exclusively  in  morphia,  and  narcotine  is  possessed  rather  of 
stimulant  qualities,  and  is  the  cause,  perhaps,  of  the  excite- 
ment which  opiui sessions.    It  consists  of  65  carbon,  5'50 

hydrogen,  55*50  nitrogen,  and  27  oxygen. 

NARRATION.  (Lat.  narro,  /  tell.)  In  Rhetoric,  the 
term  usually  applied  to  the  second  division  of  on  oratorical 
discourse,  in  which  the  tacts  of  the  case  are  set  forth  from 
which  the  orator  intends  to  draw  his  conclusions.  This  part 
of  a  discourse  should  be  characterized  by  the  greatest  sim- 
plicity of  style,  as  well  as  by  absence  of  all  rhetorical  orna- 
ments. 

NARWHAL.  The  common  name  of  the  species  of  Ce- 
tacean v.  huh  has  a  single  long  protruded  tusk.  See  Mono- 
DOK. 

\  \ rS  \  1..  (Lat.  nasus,  nose.)  A  nasal  pronunciation  is 
given  in  some  languages  to  particular  letters,  as  in  French 


NASALIS. 

to  the  letters  n  and  m  in  certain  positions.  The  only  sound 
approaching  to  nasal  in  English  is  that  of  the  double  con- 
sonant n g ;  as  in  thing,  ring,  &lc. 

NASALIS.     See  Semnopitherus. 

NA'SCENT  STATE.  Chemists  generally  apply  this 
term  to  gaseous  bodies  at  the  moment  of  their  evolution,  as 
it  were,  from  liquids  or  solids,  and  before  they  have  assumed 
the  aeriform  state.  There  are  numerous  cases  in  which 
bodies  having  no  tendency  to  combine  under  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances readily  unite  when  presented  to  each  other  in 
their  nascent  states.  Hydrogen  and  nitrogen  gases,  for  in- 
stance, when  mixed  together,  show  no  disposition  to  com- 
bine ;  but  when  certain  organic  bodies  containing  those  ele- 
ments are  heated,  they  are  evolved  in  their  nascent  states, 
and  combine  so  as  to  form  ammonia ;  it  is  in  this  way  that 
ammonia  is  abundantly  produced  during  the  destructive  dis- 
tillation of  many  kinds  of  animal  matter,  and  of  pit  coal. 

NESI'LUM  (Lat.),  among  the  ancient  Romans  signified 
freight,  whence  it  was  used  for  a  piece  of  money  put  into 
the  mouths  of  deceased  persons  to  enable  them  to  pay 
Charon  for  ferrying  them  over  the  Styx.  A  similar  custom 
prevailed  among  the  Greeks. 

NA'SUA.  (Lat.  nasus,  a  nose.)  A  genus  of  Plantigrade 
Mammalia,  so  called  from  the  remarkable  elongation  and 
upward  curve  of  the  nose.  The  species  of  this  genus,  JV. 
rufa,  or  red  coati,  and  N.fusca,  or  brown  coati,  are  both  na- 
tives of  South  America.  They  climb  trees  in  pursuit  of 
birds,  and  to  rob  their  nests  ;  they  burrow  for  shelter  at  the 
foot  of  large  trees,  and  often  undermine  them  to  such  an 
extent  that  they  are  liable  to  be  overturned  even  by  a  slight 
wind. 

N  A'SUTA.  (Lat.  nasus.)  A  term  in  Zoology,  signifying 
the  prolongation  of  the  muzzle  into  the  form  of  a  nose,  as 
in  the  Perameles  nasuta,  Pleuronectes  nasutus,  Truxalis 
nasulus ;  or  the  developemeni  of  the  integument  of  the 
face  above  the  muzzle,  forming  a  true  nose,  as  in  the  pro- 
boscis monkey,  Simla  nasuta.  Illiger  called  a  family  of 
Multungulate  quadrupeds  with  the  nose  prolonged  beyond 
the  jaws,  and  moveable,  as  in  the  tapir,  Nasuta. 

NATA'LIS  DIES,  Birthday.  A  day  celebrated  with 
much  ceremony  by  the  ancients.  Of  these  there  were  four, 
which  all  Roman  citizens  were  bound  to  observe ;  viz. 
those  of  the  gods,  of  their  emperors,  of  distinguished  per- 
sons, and  their  own.  On  such  occasions  every  Roman  was 
arrayed  in  white,  and  in  all  his  ornaments  ;  among  which 
a  ring,  called  by  way  of  eminence  the  annulus  natalis,  was 
conspicuous.  Sacrifices  were  offered  to  the  genius  (which 
see)  of  the  person ;  and  the  day  concluded  with  a  sumptu- 
ous entertainment,  to  which  friends  and  kindred  were  in- 
vited. 

NATATO'RES.  (Lat.  nato,  I  swim.)  Swimming  birds. 
The  name  of  the  order  of  birds  including  those  in  which 
the  toes  are  united  by  a  membrane,  whence  the  order  is 
also  termed  Palmipedes.  The  legs  are  placed  behind  the 
equilibrium,  and  the  body  is  covered  with  a  thick  coat  of 
down  beneath  the  feathers. 

NA'TATORY.  (Lat.  nato.)  In  Zoology  when  a  loco- 
motive extremity,  or  other  part,  is  provided  with  a  mem- 
brane, or  with  close-set  hairs,  by  which  it  is  adapted  for 
displacing  water. 

NA'TION.  (Lat.)  A  collective  appellation  for  a  people 
inhabiting  a  certain  extent  of  territory  under  the  same  go- 
vernment. The  word  is  also  used  in  some  universities  by 
way  of  distinguishing  students  of  different  districts  or  coun- 
tries, as  the  case  may  be.  This  latter  meaning  is  borrowed 
from  the  custom  that  was  adopted  in  the  University  of  Pa- 
ris previously  to  the  institution  of  faculties,  when  those  who 
resorted  to  it  from  different  countries  lived  under  the  same 
institutions  and  masters,  a  common  country,  however,  being 
the  only  bond  of  union. 

NATIONAL  DEBT.  In  Political  Economy  and  Finance, 
the  amount  of  the  sums  or  obligations  owing  by  a  nation  or 
state. 

In  modern  times,  it  has  been  customary,  in  most  countries, 
on  the  occurrence  of  any  circumstances  that  occasioned  any 
considerable  increase  of  expense,  to  borrow  either  the  whole 
or  some  portion  thereof,  paying  a  certain  stipulated  interest 
for  the  same.  In  this  country,  the  practice  of  borrowing 
money,  in  order  to  defray  part  of  the  war  expenditure,  was 
introduced  in  the  reign  of  William  III.  And  how  much 
soever  opinions  may  differ  as  to  the  policy  of  borrowing  or 
funding  in  ordinary  times,  it  could  not,  at  its  introduction 
into  Great  Britain,  be  dispensed  with.  The  Revolution  in- 
volved us  in  a  bloody  and  expensive  contest  with  Louis 
XIV.,  then  in  the  zenith  of  his  power,  who  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  exiled  family  of  Stuart.  But,  though  great  and 
imminent,  the  danger  from  without  was  inferior  to  that  from 
within.  A  numerous  and  powerful  party  were  favorable  to 
the  views  of  the  Pretender ;  and  the  imposition  of  such  ad- 
ditional taxes  as  would  have  been  required  to  defray  the 
heavy  cost  of  the  contest  we  were  forced  to  wage  for  our 
liberties  and  religion,  would  have  given  a  violent  shock  to 


NATIONAL  DEBT. 

industry,  and  afforded  the  Jacobites  the  means  of  traducing 
the  new  government,  fomenting  popular  discontent,  and 
most  probably  of  overturning  the  revolutionary  establish- 
ment. Under  such  circumstances,  the  contraction  of  a  debt 
was  not  really  a  matter  of  choice,  but  of  necessity.  The 
error,  if  there  have  been  any,  consisted  in  continuing  the 
system  of  loans  after  the  new  government  was  firmly  es- 
tablished, and  when  either  the  whole  or  a  larger  portion  of 
the  war  expenditure  might  have  been  defrayed  by  taxes 
raised  within  the  year. 

In  the  infancy  of  the  funding  system,  it  was  customary  to 
borrow  upon  the  security  of  some  tax,  or  portion  of  a  tax, 
set  apart  as  a  fund  for  discharging  the  principal  and  interest 
of  the  sum  borrowed.  This  discharge  was,  however,  very 
rarely  effected.  The  public  exigencies  still  continuing,  the 
loans  were,  in  most  cases,  either  continued,  or  the  taxes 
were  again  mortgaged  for  fresh  ones.  At  length  the  prac- 
tice of  borrowing  for  a  fixed  period,  or,  as  it  is  commonly 
called,  upon  terminable  annuities,  was  almost  entirely  aban- 
doned, and  most  loans  were  made  upon  interminable  annui- 
ties ;  that  is,  government  undertake  to  pay  the  lenders  of 
any  given  sum  a  certain  annuity  in  all  time  to  come,  or  till 
they  find  it  convenient  to  pay  off  the  principal ;  but  the  lend- 
ers have  no  right  or  title  to  demand  payment  of  the  latter, 
that  being  a  matter  entirely  at  the  option  of  government, 
who  may  either  pay  it  or  not,  as  they  think  fit. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  funding  system,  the  term  fund 
meant  the  taxes  or  funds  appropriated  to  the  discharge  of 
the  principal  and  interest  of  loans ;  those  who  held  govern- 
ment securities,  and  sold  them  to  others,  selling,  of  course, 
a  corresponding  claim  upon  some  special  fund.  But  after  the 
debt  began  to  grow  large,  and  the  practice  of  borrowing  up- 
on interminable  annuities  had  been  introduced,  the  meaning 
attached  to  the  term  fund  was  gradually  changed  ;  and  in- 
stead of  signifying  the  security  upon  which  loans  were  ad- 
vanced, it  has  for  a  long  time  signified  the  principal  of  the 
loans  themselves. 

During  the  reigns  of  William  HI.  and  Anne,  the  interest 
stipulated  for  loans  was  very  various.  But  in  the  reign 
of  George  II.  a  different  practice  was  adopted.  Instead 
of  varying  the  interest  upon  the  loan  according  to  the  state 
of  the  money  market  at  the  time,  the  rate  of  interest  was 
generally  fixed  at  3  or  3<'  per  cent.;  the  necessary  variation 
being  made  in  the  principal  funded.  Thus,  suppose  the  go- 
vernment were  anxious  to  borrow,  that  they  preferred  bor- 
rowing in  a  3  per  cent,  stock,  and  that  they  could  not  nego- 
tiate a  loan  for  less  than  4J  per  cent.,  they  effected  their 
object  by  giving  the  lender  in  return  for  every £100  advanced, 
.£150  of  £3  per  cent,  stock  ;  that  is,  they  bound  the  country 
to  pay  him  or  his  assignees  £4  10s.  a  year  in  all  time  to 
come,  or  otherwise  to  extinguish  the  debt  by  a  payment  of 
£150.  In  consequence  of  the  prevalence  of  this  practice,  the 
principal  of  the  debt  now  existing  amounts  to  nearly  2-5ths 
more  than  the  sum  actually  advanced  by  the  lenders. 

This  system  of  funding  has  been  in  the  last  degree  in- 
jurious, though  some  advantages  are  either  derivable  or 
supposed  to  be  derivable  from  it.  No  doubt  it  renders  the 
management  of  debt,  and  its  transfer,  more  simple  and 
commodious  than  it  would  be,  did  it  consist  of  a  number 
of  funds  bearing  different  rates  of  interest ;  and  it  is  con- 
tended that  the'  greater  field  for  speculation  afforded  to  the 
dealers  in  stocks  bearing  a  low  rate  of  interest  has  enabled 
government  to  borrow,  by  funding  additional  capitals,  for  a 
considerably  less  payment  on  account  of  interest,  than 
would  have  been  necessary  had  such  increase  of  eapital 
not  been  made. 

In  point  of  fact,  however,  these  advantages  are  incon- 
siderable, while  the  disadvantages  inseparable  from  the 
practice  of  funding  a  large  amount  of  stock  at  a  low  rate 
of  interest  are  great  and  signal.  During  war,  especially  if 
any  considerable  portion  of  its  expenditure  be  defrayed  by 
means  of  loans,  the  rate  of  interest  uniformly  rises,  and  is 
usually  much  higher  than  during  peace.  If,  therefore, 
loans  were  funded  in  stocks  bearing  a  rate  of  interest 
equivalent  to  the  market  rate  when  they  were  contracted 
for,  the  charge  on  their  account  might  be  reduced  soon 
after  the  return  of  peace,  according  to  the  fall  in  the  rate 
of  interest ;  whereas,  when  loans  are  funded  in  stocks 
bearing  a  low  rate  of  interest,  with  a  corresponding  in- 
crease of  capital,  it  becomes  impossible  to  take  advantage 
of  the  fall  of  interest  at  the  return  of  peace,  and  the  coun- 
try is  burdened  with  the  war  interest  in  all  time  to  come ! 
It  is  not  easy  to  exaggerate  the  injury  we  have  sustained 
by  overlooking  this  plain  principle.  In  1815,  to  specify 
only  one  of  many  similar  instances,  government  bargained 
for  a  loan  of  £27,000,000,  it  being  stipulated  that  every 
subscriber  of  £100  should  be  entitled  to  £174  3  per  cent, 
stock,  and  £10  4  per  cent,  stock,  making  the  interest  paid 
on  the  loan  £5  12*.  id.  per  cent.  The  great  improvidence 
of  this  transaction  is  obvious.  Had  from  £5  15s.  to  £6  per 
cent,  of  interest  been  paid  for  the  loan,  it  might  have  been 
obtained  without  funding  any  additional  capital ;  and  had 

811 


NATIONAL  DEBT. 


that  been  done,  we  should  have  been  able,  within  two  or 
three  years,  in  consequence  of  the  fall  of  interest  after  the 
peace,  to  reduce  the  charge  on  account  of  the  loan  to  3  or 
3J  per  cent. ;  but.  owing  to  the  way  in  which  the  contract 
was  made,  we  have  not  had,  and  will  not  have,  any  means 
of  reducing  the  exorbitant  charge  on  account  of  this  loan, 
so  long  as  the  market  rate  of  interest  is  above  3  per  cent., 
except  by  paying  XI 74  for  every  £100  originally  received, 
exclusive  of  the  £10  of  4  per  cent,  stock  !  But  this, 
as  already  stated,  is  only  one  instance  out  of  many  of  the 
same  sort.  We  believe,  indeed,  that  we  are  within  the 
mark,  when  we  affirm  that,  owing  to  this  erroneous  method 
of  funding,  the  country  is  at  present  paying  from  £6,000,000 
to  £7,000.000  a  year  on  account  of  the  public  debt  more 
than  it  would  have  had  to  pay  had  the  same  sums  been 
borrowed  and  funded  without  any  increase  of  capital. 

We  have  said  that  an  interest  of  from  £5  15s.  to  £6  per 
cent.,  instead  of  the  stipulated  interest  of  £5  12s.  Ad.  per 
cent.,  would  have  enabled  the  loan  of  1815  to  be  funded 
without  any  increase  of  capital.  Now,  this  is  not  a  hypo- 
thetical statement.  In  the  year  in  question,  £11,000,000 
of  exchequer  bills  were  funded  in  a  5  per  cent,  stock,  at 
the  rate  of  £117  stock  for  every  £100  exchequer  bills. 
This  was  equivalent  to  an  interest  of  £5  17s.  per  cent., 
being  only  4s.  8d.  more  than  the  interest  paid  on  the  loan, 
though  the  subscribers  to  the  latter  had  £84  of  artificial 
capital  created  for  every  £100  advanced,  and  the  holders 
of  the  bills  only  £17  of  artificial  capital.  But,  in  point  of 
fact,  the  differences  in  the  rates  of  interest,  after  allowing 
for  certain  circumstances  connected  with  the  loans, 
amounted  to  only  2s.  2d.  per  cent.  This  shows  how  little 
the  saving  in  the  charge  on  account  of  interest,  by  funding 
increased  capitals,  deserves  to  be  considered  as  at  all  de- 
tracting from  the  great  public  loss  occasioned  by  indulging 
In  so  wasteful  a  practice.  (For  a  farther  and  full  dis- 
cussion of  this  subject,  see  the  Edinburgh  Review,  No.  93, 
art.  iii.) 

That  this  improvident  system  should  have  been  so  ex- 
tensively acted  upon  by  our  finance  ministers  during  the 
American  and  French  war  is  the  more  surprising,  seeing 
that  experience  had  already  demonstrated  the  advantages 
of  funding  limited  capitals  at  a  comparatively  high  rate  of 
interest.  Owing  partly  to  the  scarcity  of  capital,  but  much 
more  to  the  supposed  instability  of  the  revolutionary  es- 
tablishment, the  loans  during  the  reigns  of  William  III. 
and  Anne  were  mostly  contracted  at  a  very  high  rate  of 
Interest.  The  stock  created  was  the  exact  amount  of  the 
loans,  the  interest  on  it  being  increased  according  to  the 
supposed  insecurity  of  the  government,  the  scarcity  of 
floating  capital,  &c.  Now,  mark  the  consequences  of  this : 
so  early  as  1716,  Sir  Robert  Walpole,  availing  himself  of 
the  greater  facility  with  which  money  was  procured  after 
the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  and  of  the  greater  stability  of  the 
government,  was  able,  by  offering  to  pay  off  the  creditors, 
to  reduce  the  charge  on  account  of  the  debt  from  £1,598,602 
to  £1,274,146,  being  a  saving  of  £324,456,  or  about  one 
fifth  part  of  the  entire  charge.  And  in  1749,  during  the 
administration  of  Mr.  Pelham,  the  interest  was  again  re- 
duced from  4  to  3  per  cent. ;  a  measure  which  produced  a 
fresh  saving  of  £565,000  a  year. 

Happily  the  practice  of  funding  in  a  5  per  cent,  stock 
was  not  entirely  abandoned  during  the  late  war.  In  1822, 
the  total  British  and  Irish  5  per  cent,  stock  amounted  to 
about  £150,000,000  ;  and,  by  offering  to  pay  it  off,  a  reduc- 
tion of  interest  was  then  effected  to  the  extent  of  about 
£1,200,000  a  year.  And  since  that  period,  farther  savings 
have  been  effected  by  the  reduction  of  the  interest  on  the 
4  and  Ah  per  cent,  stock.  But,  unfortunately,  the  far  great- 
est proportion  of  the  debt  created  during  the  late  war,  and 
that  with  the  American  colonies,  was  funded  in  the  3  per 
cents. ;  and,  as  already  stated,  the  charge  on  that  portion 
has,  in  consequence,  been  hitherto,  and  will  most  probably 
continue  to  be,  unsusceptible  of  diminution. 

Payment  of  National  Debt.  Sinking  Fund.— The  pay- 
ment of  the  national  debt  can  be  effected  only  by  applying 
to  that  purpose  such  surplus  revenues  as  the  treasury  may 
have  to  dispose  of.  But  it  was  contended  by  the  founders 
of  the  sinking  fund,  established  In  17I0.  and  still  more 
strongly  by  Dr.  Price  and  Mr.  Pitt,  the  founders  of  the 
sinking  fund  of  1786,  that  if  a  sinking  fund  were  formed, 
by  applying  a  certain  amount  of  revenue  to  buy  up  stock, 

and  if  the  dividends  on  the  stock  so  bought  up  were  after- 
wards uniformly  applied  to  the  same  object  such  sinking 
fund  would  Increase  at  compound  interest,  so  that  the  lar- 
gest amount  of  debt  might  be  defrayed  almost  without  an 
effort.  Dr.  Price  illustrated  the  operation  of  this  principle 
by  calculating  the  number  of  globes  of  gold  to  which  a 

penny,  laid  out  at  coin] nd  interest  at  the  birth  Of  JestlS 

Christ,  would  now  SO Qtto!     But  though  a  calculation 

of  this  sort  be  theoretically  true,  it  is  practically  false  and 
absurd.     The  truth  is.  that  no  sinking  fund,  even  though  it 
consisted  of  a  clear  surplus  revenue,  ever  really  operates 
812 


at  compound  interest.  It  is  true  that,  by  constantly  apply- 
ing the  same  original  amount  of  free  revenue  and  the  div- 
idends accruing  on  the  stock  purchased  by  it  to  buy  up 
fresh  stock,  the  reduction  of  the  debt  is  effected  in  the 
same  icay  as  if  the  free  surplus  revenue  had  been  increas- 
ing, by  an  inherent  energy  of  its  own,  at  compound  inter- 
est ;  but  it  is  essential  to  know  that  though  the  modus  op- 
erandi be  the  same,  the  means  are  radically  and  totally 
different.  The  debt  is  reduced  because  a  portion  of  the 
produce  of  the  taxes  is  systematically  applied  to  pay  it  off, 
and  it  can  never  be  reduced  by  any  other  means.  To 
make  capital  increase  at  compound  interest,  it  must  be 
employed  in  some  sort  of  productive  industry ;  and  the 
profits,  instead  of  being  consumed  as  income,  must  be  reg- 
ularly added  to  the  principal,  to  form  a  new:  capital.  It  is 
unnecessary  to  say  that  no  such  sinking  fund  has  ever  ex- 
isted. Those  that  have  been  set  on  foot  in  this  and  other 
countries  have  all  been  supported  either  by  loans  or  by  the 
produce  of  taxes,  and  have  never  paid  off  a  single  farthing 
of  debt  by  their  own  agency. 

It  is  clear,  from  this  statement,  that  when  there  is  no 
surplus  revenue,  there  can  be  no  sinking  fund.  Dr.  Price, 
however,  did  not  scruple  to  lay  it  down  broadly,  that  to 
suspend  the  sinking  fund  during  war,  though  the  expendi- 
ture might  then  greatly  exceed  the  income,  would  be  the 
greatest  imaginable  folly.  (Appeal  to  the  Public  on  the 
Subject  of  the  National  Debt,  p.  17,  ed.  1774.)  And  incon- 
ceivable as  it  may  now  appear,  all  parties  in  parliament 
concurred  in  the  soundness  of  this  opinion,  and  approved 
the  policy  of  keeping  up  the  sinking  fund  machinery  du- 
ring the  whole  of  last  war.  Hence  the  loans  for  the  ser- 
vice of  the  year  had  to  be  increased  by  the  entire  amount 
of  the  sums  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  sinking  fund 
commissioners ;  so  that  for  every  shilling's  worth  of  stock 
transferred  to  them  by  this  futile  proceeding,  an  equal 
amount  of  new  debt  had  to  be  contracted,  exclusive  of  the 
loss  incurred  through  the  expense  of  management,  &c. 

For  upwards  of  twenty  years  this  contemptible  juggle 
was  kept  up ;  parliament  and  the  nation  believing,  not- 
withstanding the  most  decisive  experience  to  the  contrary, 
that  it  was  rapidly  diminishing  the  public  debt.  Dr.  Ham- 
ilton, of  Aberdeen,  has  the  merit  of  having  dissipated  this 
delusion,  the  grossest,  certainly,  that  ever  imposed  on  any 
people.  He  showed,  in  his  work  on  the  National  Debt, 
published  in  1813,  that  the  sinking  fund,  instead  of  dimm- 
ing, had  really  added  to  the  debt ;  and  he  proved  to  dem- 
onstration that  the  excess  of  revenue  above  expenditure  is 
the  only  sinking  fund  by  which  any  part  of  the  national 
debt  can  be  discharged.  "The  increase  of  revenue,"  he 
observes,  "  or  the  diminution  of  expense,  are  the  only 
means  by  which  the  sinking  fund  cau  be  enlarged,  and  its 
operations  rendered  more  effectual ;  and  all  the  schemes 
for  discharging  the  national  debt,  by  sinking  funds  opera- 
ting at  compound  interest,  or  in  any  other  manner,  unless 
in  so  far  as  they  are  founded  upon  this  principle,  are  com- 
pletely illusory." 

The  entire  amount  of  the  debt  contracted  from  1792  to 
1816,  both  inclusive,  amounted  to  £584,874,557 ;  but  of  this 
no  less  than  £188,522,350  was  made  over  to  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  sinking  fund  to  be  laid  out  in  the  paying  off 
debt.  But  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  influence  of 
the  sinking  fund  was  negative  merely,  or  that  it  was  con- 
fined to  the  futile  operation  of  making  money  be  borrowed 
with  the  one  hand  that  it  might  be  paid  off  with  the  other. 
It  is  clear  that  a  process  of  this  sort  could  not  take  an  atom 
from  the  public  debt ;  but,  in  point  of  fact,  it  added  consid- 
erably to  its  amount.  Had  the  sinking  fund  not  existed, 
the  amount  of  the  loans  contracted  during  the  wrar  would 
have  been  fully  a  third  less  than  they  really  were ;  and, 
as  the  rate  of  interest  is  always  greater  on  large  than  ou 
smaller  loans,  it  follows,  had  this  miserable  juggle  not  been 
kept  up,  that  the  money  borrowed  from  1792  to  1816  would 
have  been  obtained  at  a  reduced  charge,  at  the  same  time 
that  the  expenses  of  its  management  would  have  been 
saved.  The  sinking  fund  has,  therefore,  been  a  costly  as 
well  as  a  delusive  piece  of  quackery.  The  loss  it  entailed 
on  the  country  during  the  war  has  been  estimated,  appa- 
rently on  reasonable  grounds,  at  above  £600,000. 

At  length  the  folly  of  contracting  debt,  for  no  other  pur- 
pose but  to  pay  it  off,  became  Obvious  to  everyone;  and 
the  nominal  amount  of  the  sinking  fund  began  to  be  di- 
minished after  the  close  of  the  war.  In  1819,  it  was  at- 
tempted to  form  a  real  sinking  fund  of  £5,000,000  ;  that  is, 
to  maintain  a  real  surplus  revenue  of  that  extent.  But  as 
this  could  not  always  be  done,  after  various  modifications 
an  end  was  put  to  the  entire  system  in  1829;  the  act  10 
Geo.  4,  c.  27,  having  enacted  that  the  sum  applicable  in 
future  to  the  reduction  of  the  national  debt  should  be  the 
surplus.  If  any,  of  the  total  revenue  beyond  the  total  ex- 
penditure of  the  kingdom. 

Distribution  of  the  Dividends,  or  Interest  on  the  National 
Ddt.—ll  appears  from  the  subjoined  account  of  the  nuui- 


NATIONAL  DEBT. 


ber  of  dividend  warrants  issued  during  the  half  year  ending 
the  5th  of  Januarv,  1833,  that  they  amounted  in  all  to 
about  230,000,  and  'the  number  has  not  materially  varied  in 
the  interval.  The  large  number  (87,176)  of  holders  of 
stock  not  producing  above  £o  of  half  yearly  dividend  is 
principally,  we  believe,  ascribable  to  the  circumstance  of 
the  Bank  of  England  and  the  London  private  banks  not  al- 
lowing interest  on  deposits. 

We  may  observe,  by  the  way,  that  the  number  of  per- 
sons having  a  direct  interest  in  the  funds  is  much  greater 
than  it  would  appear  to  be  from  this  account.  The  divi- 
dends upon  the  funded  property  belonging  to  the  Bank  of 
England  and  other  banks,  to  the  Equitable  and  other  in- 
surance companies,  &c,  are  paid  upon  single  warrants,  as 
if  they  were  due  to  so  many  private  individuals,  whereas 


they  are  really  paid  to  these  individuals  only  because  they 
act  as  factors  or  trustees  for  a  vast  number  more.  It  is, 
consequently,  quite  absurd  to  pretend,  as  is  sometimes 
done,  that  any  interference  with  funded  property  would 
atl'ect  only  281,000  individuals  out  of  a  population  of 
25,000,000.  Any  attack  upon  the  dividends  would  really 
be  destructive,  not  merely  of  the  interests  of  those  to 
whom  dividend  warrants  are  issued,  but  of  all  who  depend 
on  them :  it  would  destroy  our  whole  system  of  banking 
and  insurance,  and  overspread  the  country  with  bank- 
ruptcy and  ruin.  Not  only,  therefore,  is  every  proposal  for 
an  invasion  of  the  property  of  the  fundholders  bottomed  on 
injustice  and  robbery,  but  it  would,  were  it  acted  upon,  be 
little  less  ruinous  to  the  community  than  to  the  peculiar 
class  intended  to  be  plundered. 


I.  State  of  the  Public  Funded  and  Unfunded  Debt  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  the  Charge  thereon, 

on  the  5th  January,  1841. 


Great  Britain. 
Debt  due  to  the  South  Sea 

Company,  at  3  per  cent. 
Old  South  Sea  Annuities,  at  3 

per  cent. 
New  South  Sea  Annuities,  at 

3  per  cent. 
South  Sea  Annuities,  1751,  at 

3  per  cent. 
Debt  due  to  the  Bank  of  Eng- 
land, at  3  per  cent.  . 
Bank  Annuities   created    in 

1726         .... 
Consolidated  Annuities,  at  3 

per  cent. 
Reduced  Annuities,  at  3  per 

cent 

Total  at  3  per  cent.      . 

Annuities   at   3j    per  cent. 
anno  18IS 

Reduced  3J  per  cent.  Annu- 
ities        .... 

New  3^  per  cent.  Annuities, 

New  5  per  cent.  Annuities, 
Total,  Great  Britain 
In  Ireland. 

Irish  Consolidated  Annuities, 
at  3  per  cent.  . 

Irish  Reduced  Annuities,  at 
3  per  cent. 

£.  3.^  per  ct.  Debentures  and 
Stock       .... 

Reduced  31  per  cent.  Annu- 

New  3^  per  cent.  Annuities, 
Debt  due  to  the  Bank  of  Ire- 
land, at  4  per  cent. 
New  5  per  cent.  Annuities, 
Debt  due  to  the  Bank  of  Ire- 
land, at  5  per  cent.  . 

Total,  Ireland 
Total,  United  Kingdom  . 
Exchequer  Bills  outstanding 

5th  Jan.,  1841 
Total  funded  and  Unfund- 
-ed  Debt,    5th    January 
1841      . 


nd-1 


3,662,784  8 

3,497,870  2 

2,460,830  2 

523,100  0 

11,015,100  0 

825,251  19 

362,542,977  8 

125,861,030  7  J 


il0,3SS,944    S 


10,159,721  17  1 

66.256,849  12  9 

145.225.S65  13  2 

428,076  15  4 


r32,462,45S     7     l| 


3,272,607    7    1 

115,197  10  10 

1 4,567, 562    7    2 

926.633    7    3 
12,390,823  18  10 

1,615,384  12    4 
5,672  19    0 

1.015.384  12    4 


33,909,266  14  10 


'66,371,725    1 
22.076375    1 


"3 


rSS,447,900    3    3«> 


ANNUAL  CHARGE. 


Due  to  the  Public  Creditor. 
Annual  Interest  on  Unredeemed  Cap- 
ital         


Long  Annuities,  expire  1860     . 

Annuities  per  4  Geo.  4,  c  22,  expire 
1867 

Annuities  for  a  limited  term  of  years, 
per  59  Geo.  3,  c.  34,  10  Geo.  4,  c. 
24,  and  3  Will.  4,  c.  14,  which  ex- 
pire at  various  periods,  viz., 

Granted  up  to  5th 
Jan.,  1811        .    £.1,607,829  IS    6 

Deduct,  expired  and 
unclaimed  up  to 
ditto,  including 
106,1001.,  Water- 
loo Annuities,  59 
Geo.  3,  c.  34 


In  Great  Britain. 


23,090,662    9    41 
1,294,140  16    2 

585,740    0    0 


292.901  19    3 


Payable  at  the  National  Debt 

Office. 

Life  Annuities,  per  48  Geo.  3,  c.  142, 

10  Geo.  4,  c  24,  and  3  Will.  4,  c. 

14,  viz., 
Granted    up  to  5th 

Jan.,  1841        .    £.1,631,709    3    ( 
Deduct,  expired  and 

unclaimed   up  to 

ditto        .  .        823,852    8    ( 


Tontine  and  other  Life 
Annuities,  per  various 
Acts 


■ife{"Fn^sh 
™$  Irish  . 


Management    .... 

Annual  Charge  on  account  of  Public 
Funded  Debt 

Interest  on  Exeheq.  Bills,  (1840)      . 

Total  Annual  Charge,  exclusive  of 'i 
48,364/.  Hj.  lid,  the  Annual  ■ 
Charge  on  Capitals  and  Long 
Annuities  standiug  in  the  Names 
of  the  Commissioners  on  ac- 
count of  Stock  unclaimed  10 
years  or  upwards,  and  of  un- 
claimed Dividends,  and  also  on 
account  of  Donations  and  Be- 
quests        


1,314,927  19    3 


657,856  15 
19.969  14 
31,230    S 


1,193,278    1  11$ 
332    2  10 


6,823    7    3 


1,200,433  12     L>1 


r.355,891 
642,?97 


7    0       1,200,433  12    01 

1      Q  "> 


Total    Annual 

Charge. 


27,998,888  14    9 


1 ,200,433  12    0? 


19,199,322    6  91 


II.  Account  of  the  Principal  and  Annual  Charge  of  the  Public  Debt  at  different  Periods  since  the  Revolution.* 

Principal, 
Funded  and 
Unfunded. 

Interest  and 
Management. 

£ 

664.263 
15,730.439 

£ 

39.855 
1,271,087 

16.394,702 
37,750,661 

1.310,942 
2,040.416 

54.145.363 
2.053.125 

3.351. 358 
1,133,'07 

52,092,233 
86.773.192 

2,217,551 
2.634.500 

Debt  enntraded  from  the  accession  of  Georze  n.  till  the  peace  of  Paris  in  1763,  three  Years  after  the  accession 

138.865,430 
10.2S1.795 

4.852.051 
380.480 

Debt  at  the  commencement  of  the  American  war,  in  1775 

128,583.635 
121.267.9f3 

4.471.571 

4.98'.2'.'l 

Debt  at  the  conclusion  of  the  American  war,  in  17S4          .                         

Debt  at  the  commencement  of  the  French  war,  in  1792 

249.851.62j 
10,501.380 

9.451.7-2 
243.277 

239.350.148 
601,500.343 

9.20S.495 
22.829,679 

Total  funded  and  unfunded  debt  on  the  1st  of  Febraary,  1S17,  when  the  EDglish  and  Irish  exchequers  were 

840.350.491 

32.038.174 

52,402,591 

2.-38.852 

788.447.900 

29,199.322 

*  This  account  has  been  made  op  partly  from  the  table  in  Dr.  Hamilton's  work  on  the  National  Debt  (3d  ed.,  p.  100) ;  partly  from  the  Pari.  Paper,  No. 
165,  Sess.  1S34;  and  partly  from  the  Annual  Finance  Booh  for  the  year  ending  5th  of  Januarys  1841,  p.  105,  &c. 

813 


NATIONS,  LAW  OF. 


NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE. 


HI.  Ax  Account  of  the  Tot.il  Number  of  Person*  to  whom  a  Half  Year's  Dividend  was  due  at  the  last  Half-yearly 
Payment  thereof)  on  each  Description  of  Public  Stock,  and  on  each  Description  of  Terminable  Annuities ;  distinguish- 
in':  the  number  respectively  of  those  whose  Dividends  for  the  Half  Year  did  not  exceed  £5,  £10  £50  £100  £-'00 
£300,  £500,  £1000,  £2000,  £3000,  £4000,  £5000,   and  the  Number  of  those  whose  Dividends  exceed  £5000:  alstta- 

guishing  also,  in  those  above  £1000,  the  Dividends  due  to  anv  Public  Company,  or  to  more  than  a  single  Name 

(Pari.  Paper,  No.  202,  Sess.  1833.) 


Number  to  whom  dividends  were  payable 

Not  exceeding 

~~ ii 

3 

nil 

ml 

2 

21 

ail 

9 

nil 

B 

60 

Total. 

5L 

101. 

SOI. 

1001. 

200/. 

300Z. 

5001. 

lOOOf. 

3 
4 
4 
4 

153 

nil 
28 
1 
1 

Is 
-;  : 

-< 

21 

21 

3 

1 

1 

nil 

16 

ail 

20 

nil 

nil 

161 

9 
5 

nil 
2 
1 
2 

In 

nil 

4 
oil 

1 
40 1 

£  = 

-i. 

6 
4 

nil 
1 
1 

nil 
20 

nil 
1 

nil 
3 

35 

0 

5 

nil 
nil 
nil 

nil 

7 
uil 

2 
nil 

■i  ; 

3 

1 

nil 

nil 

13 
nil 

4 
nil 

24 

On  31.  per  cent,  reduced  annuities    .         .  "\ 
On  31.  10s.  per  cent,  reduced  annuities     . 
On  3(.  10*.  per  cent,  annuities,  IS18          .  1 
On  4f.  per  cent,  annuities,  1S2S         .        .  | 

On  annuities  for  terms  of  years         .        .  J 
On  3/.  per  cent,  consolidated  annuities      .  "| 
On  31.  per  cent,  annuities,  1726 
On  new  31.  10*.  per  cent,  annuities  .        .  > 
On  new  51.  per  cent  annuities  .        •        ,1 
On  annuities  for  terms  of  years         .        .  J 

10,347 

7. HI9 

*    I9S 

1,601 

9.07S 

1,519 

28,721 

1     120 

26,  SSI 

35 

1.6SG 

S7.I76 

4,745 

4  .»  J 

162 

993 
4,212 

787 
13,749 
74 
14,6'HS 
31 
£33 

11,681 

10,173 

399 

2,1141 

8,361 

1,632 

32,61  >l 

180 

29,370 

107 

1.757 

9S,3"5 

3,473 
2,909 

211 

512 
1,516 

351 

9,612 

40 

6,648 

36 

333 

2,175 

1,561 
127 
312 
725 
178 

6.2S6 
27 

3,129 
20 
161 

742 

411 

57 

92 

187 

56 

2,141 

4 

765 

3 

37 

453 

251 

3S 

69 

99 

32 

1,424 

2 

431 

4 

34 

231 

112 

30 

15 

34 

20 

709 

nil 

204 

nil 

12 

33.95- 

1,232 
5.630 
24.221 
4.5-3 
95,555 
447 
82,194 
237 
4.S39 

Totals 

44.64S 

25,641 

14,701 

4.495 

2,s27 

1.367 

2-;k. 

279.571 

*  Dividends  payable  10th  of  October, 

NATIONS,  LAW  OF.    See  Law. 

NATI'VITV.  A  word  used,  by  way  of  eminence,  to  sig- 
nify the  birthday  of  our  Saviour,  and  of  saints  and  other 
canonized  persons.  In  Astrology,  the  word  nativity  is  sy- 
nonymous with  horoscope,  which  see. 

NA'TRIX.  The  subgenus  of  the  Linnsan  Colubri,  of 
which  our  common  harmless  snake,  Coluber  natrix,  Linn., 
is  the  type. 

N  ATROLITE.  A  mineral  which  occurs  in  small  round- 
ed fibrous  masses  of  a  yellowish  colour  ;  it  is  by  some  call- 
ed prismatic  zeolite.  It  is  chiefly  found  in  Suabia  in  amyg- 
daloidal  basalt.  It  is  a  hydrated  silicate  of  soda  and  alu- 
mina. 

NA'TRON.  The  German  name  applied  to  soda ;  hence, 
also,  the  German  chemists  call  sodium  natrium.  It  is  prob- 
ably from  the  ancient  term  virpav,  nitron,  or  fossil  alkali ; 
hence  nitre.  It  is  found  in  sandy  soils  of  various  coun- 
tries, but  more  especially  in  Egypt,  where  it  was  anciently 
employed,  to  a  great  extent,  in  the  art  of  embalming.  See 
Mummy. 

NATTRAL.  In  Music,  a  character  marked  thus  fc), 
whose  office  is  to  contradict  the  flats  or  sharps  placed  at 
the  beginning  of  a  stave  or  elsewhere,  and  by  the  use  of 
which  the  note  to  which  it  is  prefixed  returns  to  the  diato- 
nic scale. 

NATURALIZATION.  In  Law,  the  process  by  which 
an  alien  is  placed  in  the  same  civil  condition  as  if  he  had 
been  born  under  the  dominion  of  the  state.  In  England, 
this  can  only  take  place  by  act  of  parliament ;  and  it  is 
provided  by  stat.  1  G.  1,  c.  4,  that  no  bill  for  naturalization 
can  be  received  without  certain  clauses  incapacitating  the 
party  from  sitting  in  parliament,  or  being  a  member  of  the 
privy  council,  &c.     See  Alien. 

NATURAL  HISTORY,  may  be  defined  to  be  the  history 
and  description  of  the  natural  products  of  the  earth,  wheth- 
er minerals,  vegetables,  or  animals,  together  with  a  scien- 
tific development  of  their  causes  and  effects.  The  reader 
will  find  all  the  branches  of  this  wide  and  interesting  sub- 
ject treated  at  considerable  length  under  their  respective 
heads. 

NATURAL  ORDERS  OF  PLANTS,  are  groups  of  gen- 
era which  are  supposed  to  bear  a  greater  resemblance  to 
each  other  than  to  anything  else.  They  may  be  said  to  be 
coeval  with  our  knowledge  of  plants  ;  for  the  old  ideas  of 
grasses,  trees,  herbs,  corn,  and  fruit-trees  indicate  a  natural 
perception  of  the  existence  of  some  such  groups.  When 
systematical  botany  first  assumed  the  semblance  of  sci- 
ence, we  find  the  Umbelliferous,  Leguminous,  Liliaceous, 
Labiate,  and  Composite  orders,  more  or  less  distinctly  de- 
fined. It  is.  however,  chiefly  by  the  labours  of  botanists 
posterior  to  the  days  of  Linnaeus,  especially  to  .lussieu  and 
his  followers,  that  the  present  improved  limitation  of  nat- 
ural orders  is  owing.  It  must,  however,  be  confessed  that 
they  are  still  in  great  need  of  regulation,  which  can  scarce- 
ly, however,  be  anticipated  until  something  precise  shall 
have  been  settled  concerning  the  relative  value  of  differ- 
ences in  organization.  The  most  complete  account  of  them 
in  English  is  that  in  IAndley's  JVatural  System  of  Botany, 
ed.  2,  in  which  289  natural  orders  are  enumerated. 

N  i/TURAL  PHILOSO'PHY,  or  PHYSICS,  is  the  sci- 
ence which  treats  of  the  properties  of  natural  bodies,  and 
tin  ir  anions  on  each  other.    See  Physics. 

NATCRE,  LAW  OF.    See  Law. 

NAU'CA.  In  Botany,  a  seed  in  which  the  scar  of  the 
helum  occupies  one  third  part  of  the  external  surface,  as 
in  the  hone  chestnut 

NAU.MA'CIIIA.  (Gr.  vavs,  a  ship,  and  paxi,  a  fght.) 
814 


t  Dividends  payable  on  5th  of  January. 

Among  the  Romans,  a  representation  of  a  naval  engage- 
ment, which  took  place  most  usually  in  theatres  (called, 
also,  naumachia;)  made  especially  for  the  purpose.  These 
exhibitions  were  originally  instituted  for  purposes  of  naval 
discipline  ;  but,  in  process  of  time,  only  malefactors  or  cap- 
tives whose  lives  had  been  forfeited  participated  in  them. 
They  appear  to  have  been  conducted  on  a  scale  of  such 
magnificence  as  almost  to  exceed  belief.  Within  the  pla- 
ces set  apart  for  them  whole  fleets  went  through  their  evo- 
lutions without  inconvenience  or  confusion,  and  all  the 
appliances  of  human  ingenuity  were  put  in  play  to  give  an 
air  of  reality  to  the  representation.  We  are  told  by  Sueto- 
nius that  in  an  exhibition  of  this  sort,  given  by  Nero,  sea- 
monsters  were  seen  swimming  about  in  the  artificial  lake  ; 
and  in  the  sea-fight  on  the  lake  Fucinus,  given  by  Claudius, 
there  are  said  to  have  been  no  fewer  than  19,000  combat- 
ants. Julius  Ctesar  appears  to  have  first  given  a  naumachia 
on  an  extensive  scale  :  his  example  was  followed  by  many 
of  his  successors  on  the  imperial  throne  ;  and  at  last  they 
were  frequently  exhibited  at  the  expense  of  private  individ- 
uals, as  a  means  of  increasing  their  popularity.  The  seats 
for  the  convenience  of  spectators  were  arranged  in  a  man- 
ner somewhat  similar  to  those  in  the  amphitheatres.  See 
Amphitheatre. 

NAU'SEA.  (Gr.  vavs,  a  ship.)  A  sensation  of  sickness, 
similar  to  that  produced  by  the  motion  of  a  ship  at  sea.  An 
inclination  to  vomit. 

NAUTILI'D/E.  (Gr.  vavnAos,  the  name  of  the  argonaut 
in  Aristotle.)  The  family  of  Cephalopods  with  siphonifer- 
ous  shells,  of  which  the  nautilus  is  the  type. 

NAUTILUS.  (Gr.  yntmXo?.)  The  name  of  a  genus 
of  Tetrabranchiate  Cephalopods,  including  those  which 
have  a  chambered  shell  with  simple  septa,  perforated  in 
the  centre,  concave  towards  the  outlet  of  the  shell,  and 
with  the  last  chamber  the  largest,  and  containing  the  body 
of  the  animal. 

NA'VAL  ARCHITECTURE.  In  the  small  space  we 
can  assign  to  this  subject  we  shall  merely  endeavour  to 
convey  a  general  notion  of  the  principles  and  process  of 
construction. 

Ships  are  built  in  different  forms,  according  to  the  service 
they  are  intended  for  and  the  burdens  they  have  to  carry. 
It  is  men-of-war,  which,  besides  possessing  in  an  eminent 
degree  the  general  qualities  of  a  ship,  have  to  support  a 
heavy  armament  of  cannon,  and  which  are  destined  to  se- 
vere and  long-continued  service,  that  the  principles  of  con- 
struction have  been  carried  to  the  greatest  perfection.  The 
form  of  the  ship,  her  strength,  or  the  scantling  necessary 
for  the  services  required  of  her.  are,  from  our  imperfect 
knowledge  of  hydrodynamics,  the  results  of  experience 
alone. 

When  a  ship  is  to  be  built,  her  form  is  projected  in  three 
different  plane*  perpendicular  to  each  other. 

1st.  The  sheer  draught,  which  is  the  side  view,  or  pro- 
jection on  the  plane  of  the  keel.  On  this  are  laid  off  the 
length,  the  heights  of  all  the  parts  from  the  keel,  the  posi- 
tion and  rake  of  the  stem  and  sternpost,  the  principal 
frames  or  timbers  of  the  sides,  the  parts,  decks,  channels, 
place  of  the  greatest  breadth  or  midship  frame,  stations  or 
the  masts,  tec. 

The  frames  before  the  midship  frame  arc  distinguished 
by  letters  ;  abaft  it,  by  numliers. 

The  midship  frame  is  not  exactly  in  the  middle  of  the 
length,  but  rather  before  it. 

2d.  The  body  plan,  or  end  view.  This  shows  the  con- 
tour of  the  sides  of  the  ship  at  certain  points  of  her  length  ; 
and  since  the  two  sides  are  exactly  alike,  the  left  half  rep- 


NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE. 


resents  the  vertical  sections  in  the  after  part  of  the  body, 
and  the  right-hand  half  those  in  the  fore  part.  The  base  of 
the  projection  is  the  midship,  or  largest  section,  called  also 
the  dead  flat,  within  which  the  other  sections  are  delinea- 
ted.   On  this  are  exhibited  also  the  beams  of  the  decks. 

3d.  The  horizontal  or  floor  plane,  called  also  the  half 
breadth  plan.  The  base  of  this  is  the  section  made  by  the 
horizontal  surface  of  the  water  and  the  outside  surface  of 
the  ship,  and  is  called  the  upper  water  line,  or  load  water 
line.  If  the  ship  now  be  supposed  to  be  lightened  uni- 
formly, she  will  exhibit  another  water  line,  and  thus  any 
number  of  like  parallel  sections  at  equal  distances  down  to 
the  keel. 

On  this  projection  the  water  lines  appear  as  curves,  on 
the  sheer  draught  as  straight  lines  parallel  to  the  keel. 

These  three  sections  correspond  to  each  other  upon  the 
same  scale,  and  any  point  in  one  is  immediately  referable 
to  the  other  two  projections. 

The  several  parts  are  drawn  from  these  plans  in  their 
full  size  on  the  floor  of  the  mould-loft,  and  worked  from 
the  moulds  or  model  so  taken. 

The  place  in  which  the  ship  is  built  is  called  a  slip.  In 
the  middle,  and  leading  to  the  water,  is  a  row  of  piles  of 
stout  pieces  of  wood  called  the  blocks,  having  a  declivity 
tow  arils  the  water  of  about  one  inch  in  one  foot.  On  these 
the  keel,  which  is  of  elm,  is  laid,  and  its  component  lengths 
scarfed  together.  Under  the  keel  is  placed  the  false  keel 
for  defence.  At  the  end  farthest  from  the  water  is  raised 
the  stem,  which  is,  in  fact,  the  keel  continued  upwards. 
Inside  the  stem,  and  just  above  the  keel,  is  the  apron,  a 
curved  timber  connecting  both.  On  each  side  of  the  upper 
part  of  the  stem  is  fixed  an  upright  timber ;  these  are  called 
the  knight  heads,  and  the  bowsprit  lies  between  them.  At 
the  other  end  of  the  keel  is  the  sternpost,  at  which  the 
planking  finishes  abaft,  and  on  which  the  rudder  is  hung. 
Inside  (or  before  this)  are  the  inner  post  and  other  pieces 
for  strength.  Upon  the  keel  is  fixed  a  layer  of  timber  of 
the  same  breadth,  and  rising  forward  and  aft,  called  the 
dead  wood;  on  this  are  placed  the  floor  timbers  :  these  con- 
sist of  one  which  crosses  the  keel  to  which  it  is  coaked, 
and  the  two  parts  of  a  like  timber  firmly  joining  it,  and 
projecting  beyond  its  ends.  The  several  pieces  are  got 
into  their  places  by  shifting  shears. 

The  frames  consist  of  pairs  of  timbers  composed  of  pieces 
of  different  lengths,  joining  the  floor  timbers,  and  carried 
upwards.  The  length  joining  the  floors  is  called  the  first 
futtock,  the  next  the  second  futtock,  and  so  on,  ending  in 
the  top  timbers.  The  pairs  are  bolted  by  iron  bolts,  and  of 
late  adjacent  pairs  have  been  thus  connected.  The  frames 
are  supported  temporarily  by  being  fixed  to  the  cross  spalls, 
long  fir  planks  laid  horizontally  about  the  height  of  the 
gun  deck. 

Those  frames  whose  planes  are  perpendicular  to  the  keel 
are  called  square  frames ;  at  the  head  and  stern  these 
planes  incline  towards  the  extremities,  and  are  called  cant 
frames.  These  divisions  of  the  ship  are  called,  according- 
ly, square  and  cant  bodies. 

When  the  framing  has  assumed  its  form  the  ribands  are 
fixed  ;  these  are  thick,  narrow  planks  at  wide  intervals,  ex- 
tending the  length  of  the  vessel,  marking  the  direction  of 
the  planks  ;  they  are  firmly  shored,  and  removed  when  the 
planking  comes  on.  The  riband  lines  appear  on  the  half 
breadth  plan  as  diagonal  lines. 

Upon  the  keel,  and  over  the  floor  timbers,  to  which  it  is 
scored,  is  laid  the  kelson,  which  is,  in  fact,  a  second  keel 
over  the  first. 

The  stern  of  square-sterned  ships  is  formed  upon  the 
wing  transom,  the  uppermost  of  the  horizontal  pieces  of 
timber,  called  transoms,  crossing  the  sternpost  inside. 

The  wing  transom  is  securedlto  the  timbers  of  the  side 
by  a  strong  horizontal  knee. 

When  the  framing  is  complete,  the  outside  planking  is 
laid  on.  The  wales,  thick  planks  above  the  water,  are  first 
secured  to  the  ribs.  The  clamps  are  thick  planks  inside,  to 
support  the  ends  of  the  beams  of  the  decks. 

The  beams  support  the  decks,  rest  on  the  clamps,  and  are 
secured  to  the  side  by  knees. 

The  breast  hooks  are  strong  curved  pieces  of  timber  cross- 
ing the  stem,  and  joining  the  bows.  The  deck  hooks  are 
the  same,  being  at  the  decks.  The  crutches  answer  a  like 
purpose  below  in  the  after  part. 

The  port  sills  are  the  upper  and  lower  edges  of  the  ports. 

The  spirketting  is  the  plank  of  the  side  between  the 
water  way  and  the  port  sill. 

The  chain  wales  are  thick  planks  of  the  outside  to  re- 
ceive the  chains  and  preventer-bolts  for  the  support  of  the 
rigging. 

The  foot  waling,  or  ceiling,  is  the  plank  lining  the  inside 
of  the  ship  below. 

The  limber  boards  are  short,  thick  pieces  of  wood  restin" 
against  the  kelson  for  the  convenience  of  keepin"  a  clear 
passage  to  the  well. 


;  and  „\V     vf\ 
isaf-     \\       \\\ 


The  knee  of  the  head,  also  called  the  cutwater,  is  the  pro- 
jecting part  of  the  head  ;  it  is  secured  to  the  bows  by  knees 
called  cheeks. 

In  order  to  bend  wood  into  the  necessary  curvature,  it  is 
steamed  in  places  for  the  purpose.  When  the  planking  is 
all  complete,  the  ship  is  caulked  and  painted. 

The  fastenings  of  timber  are  effected  by  bolts,  treenails, 
or  coaks.  The  present  method  of  framing  ships-of-war  is 
chiefly  due  to  Sir  Robert  Seppings.  We  shall  describe  it 
here  generally  :  for  particulars,  see  the  Phil.  Trans.,  1814, 
and  the  published  reports  on  the  subject. 

As  the  timbers  or  ribs  cannot  be  procured  entire,  or  of 
the  proper  curvature,  various  methods  have 
been  used  for  joining  the  several  pieces  to- 
gether.   A  method  used  till  lately  consist- 
ed of  an  angular  chock  C,  fastened  by  tree- 
nails to  the  ends  A  B  of  the  timbers.    By 
this  plan  all  stress  upon  the  joint,  in  what- 
ever direction,  falls  on  the  treenails ; 
when  the  chock  decays,  no  support 
forded  in  any  sense  whatever. 

At  present  the  square  ends,  A'  B',  are  brought  together, 
w7hile  a  coak  C,  or  small  oak  cylinder,  is  let  into  each. 

By  this  plan  the  two  faces  resist  any  effort  by  pressure 
from  without  to  close  the  timbers,  and  the  coak  itself  re- 
sists the  effort  (perpendicular  to  this  last)  to  make  one 
timber  slide  past  the  other  by  the  whole  force  necessary 
to  cut  it  off  flush  with  the  section.  In  the  single  case  of 
lifting  one  face  exactly  perpendicularly  off  the  other,  the 
coak  offers  no  resistance ;  this  effort,  which  is  that  pro- 
duced by  the  strain  of  the  rigging  on  the  sides,  is  opposed 
by  other  numerous  connections.  The  method  is  very  an- 
cient, being  used  in  the  construction  of  the  pillars  in  the 
temple  at  Balbec ;  the  advantages  of  its  application  to  ship 
building  is  seen  in  the  frames,  which  undergo  no  change 
of  form  while  hoisting  into  their  places.  The  efficiency  of 
the  plan,  however,  does  not  appear  in  a  single  length,  but 
in  the  system  of  frames,  each  joining  of  which  is  placed 
near  the  middle  of  the  next  piece. 

A  shelf  piece,  coaked  and  bolted  to  the  timbers  or  ribs, 
and  resting  on  short  vertical  pieces  of  timber  ■ 
called  chocks,  and  sometimes  scored  to  the  /  J 
ribs,  is  carried  like  a  hoop  entirely  round  the  !  ' 
ship.  On  this  the  beam  ends  are  coaked ;  and 
over  these  again  is  laid  a  strong  water  way- 
scored  to  the  beams,  and  coaked.  Besides 
these  the  beam  end  is  clasped  by  two  arms  of 
an  iron  knee,  of  which  the  third,  which  is  vertical,  is 
bolted  to  the  chock. 

The  shelf  binds  firmly  the  ends  and  sides  of  the  ship 
together,  and  resists  like  an  arch  all  external  pressure. 

The  spaces  between  the  timbers  below  are  filled  up  by 
dry  wood  driven  in  tight,  and  caulked,  thus  rendering  the 
bottom  solid  and  water-tight,  independently  of  the  planking. 

One  of  the  most  important  improvements  is  the  diagonal 
framework  below.  Instead  of  the  former  planking  in  the 
hold  are  placed  braces,  crossing  the  ribs,  to  which  they  are 
coaked,  at  an  angle  of  45° ;  those  in  the  fore  body  incline 
(or  rake)  aft,  and  those  in  the  after  body  forward.  They 
butt  against  the  kelson,  and  extend  nearly  to  the  water ; 
they  are  in  general  placed  under  every  other  beam,  but 
closer  at  the  extremities. 

Longitudinal  pieces  of  timbers  are  laid  nearly  parallel  to 
the  keel  over  the  heads  or  joinings  of  the  timbers,  and 
bolted  through ;  these,  crossing  the  diagonals,  form  a  series 
of  rhomboidal  figures,  across  which,  inside,  are  firmly  driven 
trusses,  lying  the  opposite  way  from  the  diagonals  :  these 
are  bolted  through,  and,  when  necessary,  are  further  tight- 
ened by  driving  in  thin  iron  plates  at  the  ends.  The  diag- 
onals act  by  the  tension  of  the  fibres,  the  trusses  by  the 
thrust,  and  the  whole  thus  resists  every  effort  to  change 
the  figure  of  the  ship. 

The  system  was  first  put  into  complete  practice  in  the 
Tremendous,  74,  in  1810 ;  which  ship  evinced,  in  several 
severe  trials,  a  firmness  and  dryness  not  known  before. 

M.  C.  Dupin  has  shown  (Phil.  Trans.,  1817)  that  the 
principal  of  diagonal  framing  had  suggested  itself,  and  been 
tried  by  several  French  engineers,  but  as  often  abandoned. 
The  merit,  therefore,  of  Sir  R.  Seppings,  in  reducing  to 
practice  a  system  which  to  others  had  been  attended  with 
insuperable"  difficulties,  more  than  compensates  the  want 
of  novelty  in  the  idea  itself. 

The  ancient  square,  massive,  but  weak  sterns,  have  been 
replaced  bv  Sir  R.  Seppings  by  round  sterns,  corresponding 
in  construction,  and  therefore  in  strength,  to  the  bow. 
These  have  again  undergone  various  alterations,  tending 
to  combine  the  strength  of  the  new  with  the  imposing  ap- 
pearance of  the  former  stern. 

It  is  only  now  by  contrasting  the  solid  and  immovable 
frame  with  the  former  weak  and  unconnected  structure, 
that  we  can  fully  perceive  the  inefficiency  of  the  ancient 
construction.    The  timbers,  instead  of  forming  an  inde- 

815 


NAVAL  CROWN. 

pendent  system,  were  often  supported  in  part  by  the  plank- 
ing itself,  as  is  the  case  in  boats.  The  masts,  resting  only 
upon  their  steps,  instead  of  strong  platforms  which  diffuse 
the  pressure  on  all  sides,  and  pressed  downwards  by  their 
weight,  and  by  the  enormous  strain  of  the  rigging,  arising 
from  the  wind  on  the  sails,  forced  the  keel  down,  and 
made  the  ship  leaky.  The  timbers  and  framework,  being 
at  right  angles,  without  mutual  support,  the  whole  stress 
of  the  ship  came  on  the  fastenings;  and,  lastly,  the  safety 
of  the  ship  depended  entirely  upon  that  of  the  outside 
plank,  the  part  most  exposed  to  injury. 

The  planks  of  the  decks  have  also  sometimes  been  placed 
diagonally ;  and  lately  iron  diagonal  straps  have  been  added 
to  the  upper  works  inside. 

The  extremities  being  unsupported  below  by  the  water 
droop,  or  the  ship  hogs,  a  three-decker  formerly  drooped 
at  once,  on  being  launched,  9  inches  at  each  end,  which 
increased  with  her  length  of  service ;  at  present,  such  a 
ship  droops  only  3J  inches,  which,  when  the  materials  are 
set,  suffers  little  or  no  increase. 

Within  the  last  few  years  considerable  changes  have 
been  made  by  Sir  W.  Symonds  in  increasing  the  beam  of 
the  ships,  and  therefore  their  stability,  and  otherwise  in 
the  forms.  Several  improvements  have  also  been  intro- 
duced by  Sir  O.  Lang. 

Exposure  to  moisture  being  a  cause  of  the  decay  of  tim- 
ber, building  under  cover  has  long  been  practised.  This 
also  protects  the  men  from  the  weather. 

The  wood  usually  employed  in  ship-building  is  oak. 
Elm,  which  does  not  split  readily,  is  employed  for  the  keel, 
and  for  the  caps.  East  India  teak,  a  very  heavy  durable 
wood,  which  does  not  shrink,  nor  is  liable  to  splinter  from 
shot,  is  now  very  much  used.  African  teak  is  also  much 
used.    Fir  is  used  for  light  works,  masts,  &c. 

The  bottoms  of  ships  are  liable  to  become  covered  with 
weeds  and  shells,  and  to  be  eaten  through  by  worms.  To 
prevent  these  evils,  the  bottoms  were  formerly  covered 
with  a  thin  sheathing  of  wood,  which  was  replaced  when 
worn.  Lead  has  also  been  used.  Ships  are  now  sheathed 
almost  universally  with  thin  sheets  of  copper. 

For  further  information  on  this  subject,  reference  may 
be  made  to  the  following  works :  Bouguer,  Traiti  du  JVa- 
vire;  Clairbois,  Traite  Eiementaire,&-c. ;  Chapman's  Naval 
Archit.,  with  Notes  by  Dr.  Inman ;  Steel's  Elements,  with 
an  Appendix  by  J.  Knowles,  F.  R.  S. ;  Fincham's  Outlines 
of  Ship-building ;  the  article  "  Ship-building"  in  the  new 
edition  of  the  Ency.  Britannica. 

NAVAL  CROWN.    Among  the  Romans,  a  crown  of 
gold  or  silver,  resembling  the  prow  of  a  ship,  awarded  to 
him  who  first  boarded  a  hostile  vessel.    See  Crown. 
NAVE.     See  Naos. 

Nave.  In  Mechanics,  the  middle  part  of  the  wheel, 
from  which  the  spokes  radiate. 

NAVIGA'TION.  (Lat,  navis,  a  ship),  is  that  branch  of 
science  by  which  the  mariner  is  taught  to  conduct  his  ship 
from  one  part  or  place  to  another. 

To  understand  the  principles  of  navigation,  and  their 
practical  application,  it  is  necessary  that  the  mariner  should 
be  acquainted  with  the  form  and  magnitude  of  the  earth, 
the  relative  situations  of  the  lines  conceived  to  be  drawn 
on  its  surface,  and  have  charts  of  the  coasts  and  maps  of 
the  harbours  which  he  may  have  occasion  to  visit.  He 
must  also  understand  the  use  of  the  instruments  by  which 
the  direction  in  which  a  ship  is  steered  and  the  distance 
which  she  sails  are  ascertained ;  and  be  able  to  deduce 
from  the  data  supplied  by  such  instruments  the  situation 
of  his  ship  at  any  time,  and  to  find  the  direction  and  dis- 
tance of  any  place  to  which  it  may  be  required  that  the 
ship  should  be  taken. 

A  curve  passing  through  any  two  places  on  the  earth, 
and  cutting  every  intervening  meridian  at  the  same  angle, 
is  called  a  rhumb  line ;  the  angle  which  such  a  curve 
makes  with  each  meridian  is  called  the  course  between 
any  two  places  through  which  the  curve  passes ;  and  the 
arc  of  that  curve  Intercepted  between  any  two  places  is 
called  their  nautical  distance.  This  distance  is  more  than 
that  measured  on  the  arc  of  a  great  circle  passing  through 
the  two  places,  unless  both  places  are  on  the  same  merid- 
ian, or  both  on  the  equator,  when  the  rhumb  line  and  great 
circle  coincide. 

The  difference  nf  latitude  between  anv  two  places  is  an 
arc  of  a  meridian  intercepted  between  the  parallels  of  lati- 
tude on  which  the  places  are  situated  ■  and  the  difference 
of  longitude  is  the  arc  of  the  equator,  or  the  angle  at  the 
pole  included  between  the  meridians  of  the  places.  Hence, 
when  the  latitudes  or  the  longitudes  of  two  places  are  of 
the  same  denomination  with  respect  to  north  or  south,  tail 
or  west,  the  difference  is  found  by  subtracting  the  less  from 
the  greater;  but  when  of  different  denominations,  what  is 
called  their  difference  is  found  by  taking  their  sum.  See 
Latitude,  Longitude. 
When  a  ship  has  sailed  on  a  rhumb  line  from  one  merid- 


f& 


NAVIGATION. 

ian  to  another,  the  arc  of  the  pairallel  at  which  the  ship 
has  arrived,  intercepted  between  the  two  meridians,  is 
called  the  meridian  distance  which  the  ship  has  made; 
and  the  sum  of  all  the  intermediate  meridian  distances, 
computed  on  the  supposition  that  the  distance  sailed  on 
the  rhumb  line  is  divided  indefinitely  into  small  equal  parts, 
is  called  the  departure. 

In  the  annexed  diagram,  let  P  represent  the  north  pole  ; 
D  E  an  arc  of  the  equator ;  P  D,  P  F,  P  G, 
and  P  E  meridians,  and  A  B  a  rhumb  line 
passing  through  A  and  B ;  A  S,  K  H,  L  I, 
and  B  C,  arcs  of  parallels  of  latitude  at  the 
points  A,  II,  I,  and  B  respectively  ;  and  let 
A  H,  H  I,  I  B,  &c,  be  so  small  and  so  nu- 
merous that  neither  they  nor  A  K,  K  H,  H 
O,  I  O,  &c,  may  differ  sensibly  from  straight 
lines.  Then  if  a  ship  sail  from  A  to  B,  B  C  is  called  the 
meridian  distance ;  if  from  B  to  A,  A  S  is  called  the  me- 
ridian distance  ;  and  in  either  case  the  sum  of  K  H,  O  I,  N 
B,  is  called  the  departure ;  and  AK  +  OH  +  IN,  &c, 
which  is  always  equal  to  A  C  or  B  S,  is  the  difference  of 
latitude. 

Now,  A  K  II,  O  II  I,  N  I  B,  sec.,  may  be  considered  as 
identical  right-angled  plane  triangles;  and  if  in  the  an- 
nexed plane  triangle,  right-angled  at  C,  A'  B'  be  taken 
equal  to  A  B  in  the  preceding  figure,  A'  C 
to  A  C,  or  to  its  equal  AK  +  HO  +  IN, 
and  the  angle  B'  A'  C'toBA  C,  or  O  H  I, 
or  N  I  B,  then  C  B'  in  this  figure  would  ac- 
curately represent  KH  +  OI  +  NB,  &c, 
in  the  preceding  one.  That  is,  in  the  plane 
triangle  A'  B'  C,  right-angled  at  C,  if  A' 
represent  the  course  from  one  place  to  another,  A'  B'  the 
distance  of  the  two  places  measured  on  the  rhumb  line 
passing  through  them ;  then  A'  C  will  be  their  difference 
of  latitude,  and  C  B'  the  departure  made  in  sailing  from 
the  one  to  the  other. 

On  these  principles  depend  what  is  called  plane  sailing ; 
and  it  is  evident  that  if  any  two  of  the  four  elements, 
course,  distance,  difference  of  latitude,  and  departure,  be 
given,  the  others  may  be  found  by  the  resolution  of  a  right- 
angled  plane  triangle.    The  formulae  are, 

dep.  =  dist.  X  sin.  course, 

diff.  lat.  =  dist.  X  cos.  course, 

dist.  =  dep.  X  cosec.  course, 

dist.  =  diff.  lat.  X  sec.  course, 
dep. 


tan.  course  = 


diff.  lat. 


When  a  ship  sails  on  a  meridian,  the  diff.  lat.  is  the 
same  as  the  nautical  distance,  and  the  latitude  only,  not 
the  longitude,  is  changed ;  and  when  a  ship  sails  on  a  par- 
allel of  latitude,  the  departure  is  the  same  as  the  nautical 
distance,  and  the  longitude  only,  not  the  latitude,  is 
changed :  but  in  sailing  in  any  other  direction,  both  the 
latitude  and  longitude  are  changed. 

For  finding  the  change  of  latitude  corresponding  to  any 
course  and  distance,  the  principles  of  plane  sailing,  already 
explained,  are  sufficient ;  but  to  find  the  change  of  longi- 
tude corresponding  to  any  given  change  of  place  requires 
considerations  of  a  different  kind. 

Let  a  ship  sail  on  a  parallel  of  latitude,  as  from  C  to  D, 
and  let  P  C  A,  P  D  B,  be  two  meridians  pass-  p 

ing  through  C  and  D,  and  meeting  the  equator 
in  A  and  B ;  then  A  B,  or  the  angle  A  P  B,  is 
the  difference  of  longitude,  corresponding  to 
the  distance  C  D  sailed  on  the  parallel  in  the 
latitude  A  C  or  D  B.  And  if  F  be  the  centre 
of  the  sphere,  A  F  B,  C  E  D,  portions  of  the 
planes  of  the  equator  and  parallel  respect- 
ively, we  have,  by  similar  sectors,  CD:AB::DE:B 
F  : :  cos.  lat.  :  rad. : :  1  :  secant  of  lat. ;  therefore  A  B  =  C 
D  sec.  lat. 

Hence,  again,  if  in  the  annexed  plane  triangle 
M  N  O,  right-angled  at  N,  the  angle  M  be 
made  equal  to  the  number  of  degrees  and  min- 
utes of  the  latitude  of  the  parallel  on  which 
the  ship  is  sailing,  and  M  N  be  equal  to  C  D, 
M  O  in  this  figure  will  be  equal  to  the  arc  A  B  u 
in  the  preceding  one,  and  will  consequently  represent  the 
difference  of  longitude  ;  for 

MO  =  MN  sec.  M  =  C  D  sec.  lat. 

Therefore,  in  sailing  on  a  parallel,  the  properties  which 
connect  the  latitude  of  the  parallel,  the  distance  sailed 
upon  it,  and  the  corresponding  diff.  long,  are  all  found  in 
a  right-angled  plane  triangle;  the  base  representing  the 
distance  sailed  on  the  parallel,  the  hypotenuse  the  diff. 
lonjj;,  and  the  included  angle  the  latitude  of  the  parallel. 

When  a  ship  sails  on  an  oblique  rhumb,  two  methods 
have  been  proposed  for  connecting  the  other  elements 
with  the  diff.  long. :  one  called  the  middle  latitude  method ; 


NAVIGATION. 


and  the  other,  from  the  name  of  its  inventor,  Mercator's 
sailing. 

Middle  latitude  sailing  is  a  compound  of  plane  and  par- 
allel sailing.  Referring  to  the  first  figure  in  this  article,  it 
is  evident  that  K  H  is  greater  than  C  M,  but  less  than  A 
Q ;  that  O  I  is  greater  than  M  N,  but  less  than  Q,  R ;  and 
that  KH  +  OI  +  NB  will  not  differ  greatly  from  the  me- 
ridian distance  midway  between  the  parallels  C  B  and  A  S. 

The  departure  corresponding  to  course  c,  and  distance  d, 
being  therefore  found  from  dep.  =  d  sin.  c,  and  this  being 
taken  as  a  meridian  distance  in  the  latitude  £  (I  +  0>  tne 
middle  latitude  between  the  latitude  I  sailed  from  and  that 
I  arrived  at,  the  diff.  long,  is  found  approximately  from  the 
principles  of  parallel  sailing,  from  the  formula, 
diff.  long.  =  dep.  sec.  h  (I  +  V). 

From  this,  and  from  the  first  and  last  of  the  formula; 
(A.),  we  immediately  deduce  the  following  for  middle  lati- 
tude sailing,  viz. : 

_  dist.  X  sin,  course 

rr\a     mid     laf 


diff.  long.  X  cos.  mid.  lat 

tan.  course  = -,.„■,  .' 

diff.  lat. 


(B.) 


dep.  =  diff.  long.  X  cos.  mid.  lat. 
In  Mercator's  sailing  the  globe  is  conceived  to  be  ex- 
tended from  the  equator  towards  the  poles,  so  as  to  form  a 
cylinder  whose  diameter  is  that  of  the  equator ;  the  cor- 
responding elementary  parts  of  the  meridians  and  parallels, 
as  projected  on  the  cylindric  surface,  bearing  the  same  pro- 
portion to  each  other  as  the  like  corresponding  parts  do  on 
the  spherical  surface ;  the  projected  rhumb  lines  being 
straight  lines,  and  the  poles  vanishing  in  infinite  distance. 
Such  a  cylinder,  unrolled  on  a  plane,  is  called  a  Mercator's 
chart.  Now,  considering  the  earth  as  a  sphere,  the  merid- 
ians and  the  equator  are  equal  great  circles,  and  therefore 
any  small  portion  of  a  parallel  is  to  a  like  portion  of  the 
meridian  in  the  same  proportion  as  the  radius  of  the  paral- 
lel to  the  radius  of  the  equator ;  that  is,  as  the  cosine  of 
the  latitude  to  the  radius  of  the  tables,  or  as  radius  to  the 
secant  of  the  latitude.  If,  therefore,  m  represent  the  length 
of  an  elementary  portion  of  the  meridian  at  latitude  I,  and 
m'  be  the  projection  of  m  on  Mercator's  chart ;  then,  gen- 
erally, in'  =  m  sec.  /. 

It  follows  from  this  that  in  Mercator's  projection  the 
degrees  of  latitude,  which  at  the  equator  are  equal  to  those 
of  longitude,  increase  with  the  distance  of  the  parallel  from 
the  equator  proportionally  to  the  secants  of  the  latitudes. 
The  parts  of  the  meridian  thus  increased  are  called  merid- 
ional parts  ;  and  it  is  a  property  of  the  projection  that  the 
meridional  parts  of  any  given  latitude  are  equal  to  the  sum 
of  the  secants  of  the  minutes  in  that  latitude.  (See  Mer- 
cator's Chart.)  The  sum  of  the  secants  being  computed 
for  every  minute  up  to  any  latitude  Z,  and  tabulated,  forms 
what  is  called  a  table  of  meridional  parts  ;  and  the  differ- 
ence, or  the  sum  of  the  meridional  parts  corresponding  to 
the  latitudes  of  any  two  places,  is  called  the  meridional  diff. 
lat.  of  those  places,  the  difference  being  taken  when  the 
latitudes  are  of  the  same,  and  the  sum  when  of  different 
denominations. 

It  is  likewise  a  remarkable  property  of  Mercator's  pro- 
jection, that  any  small  triangle  on  the  sphere  is  represented 
on  the  chart  by  a  similar  triangle,  the  angles  of  the  original 
triangle  and  its  representation  being  equal.  Hence  the 
ship's  path  on  the  sphere  and  its  projection  on  the  chart 
cut  the  meridians  under  the  same  angle.  If,  therefore,  A 
B  C  be  a  triangle  on  the  sphere,  A  C  being  a  portion  of  the 
meridian,  and  A  B'  C  its  projection,  then  A  B'  and  A  C 
will  be  in  the  same  direction  with  A  B  and  A  C,  and  B'  C 
will  be  parallel  to  B  C.  In  these  triangles, 
therefore,  the  course  A  is  an  angle  common  to 
both ;  A  C  is  the  diff.  lat.,  A  C  the  meridional 
diff.  lat.,  C  B  the  departure,  C  B'  the  diff.  long., 
A  B  the  distance  run,  and  A  B'  the  distance  as 
projected  on  the  chart,  the  same  scale  being 
used  for  measuring  all  the  lines  in  the  diagram. 
Hence  from  such  parts  of  these  triangles  as  may 
be  determined  by  observation,  or  taken  from  tables,  the 
others  may  be  computed. 

The  following  formula?  are  obvious  consequences  of  this 
construction : 

dep.  X  mer.  diff.  lat. 

"  diff.  lat. 
_    diff.  long.  (C.) 

mer.  diff.  lat. 
distance  =  diff.  lat.  X  sec.  course. 
The  course  of  a  ship  at  sea  is  determined  by  the  compass 
(for  the  description  of  which  see  Compass).  The  needle 
generally  rests  in  a  position  pointing  northerly  and  south- 
erly; and  the  angle  which  its  direction  makes  with  the 
true  north  and  south  line  is  called  the  variation  of  the  com- 
pass, the  variation  being  denominated  easterly  or  westerly, 


diff.  long.  =  • 


tan.  course : 


according  as  the  north  end  of  the  needle  is  to  the  east  or 
west  of  the  true  north.  The  amount  of  this  deviation 
differs  greatly  in  different  situations ;  and  it  is  by  no  means 
a  constant  quantity  even  at  the  same  place.  There  are, 
however,  simple  astronomical  means  of  finding  it  at  any 
place ;  so  that,  by  applying  a  correction  for  the  variation, 
either  the  true  course  may  be  gained  from  an  observed 
compass  one,  or  the  compass  course  from  a  computed  true 
one. 

Besides  the  general  variation  to  which  we  have  here 
adverted,  it  is  found  that  in  ships  which  have  large  masses 
of  iron  on  board,  the  compass  is  sensibly  attracted,  and  the 
effect  varies  with  the  direction  of  the  ship's  head.  Mr. 
Barlow  has  devised  a  remedy  for  this  cause  of  derange- 
ment, which  consists  in  placing  a  small  disk  of  iron  in  such 
a  situation  behind  the  compass  that  its  single  effect  exactly 
counterbalances  the  combined  force  of  the  more  distant 
masses.     See  Magnetic  Compensator. 

The  velocity  of  the  ship,  or  the  rate  of  sailing,  is  deter- 
mined experimentally,  at  the  end  of  every  hour,  by  heaving 
the  log.  (Seehoa.)  For  changes  of  velocity  between  the 
times  of  heaving  the  log,  the  officer  on  duty  makes  the  best 
estimate  he  can. 

When  the  wind  is  adverse  or  changeable,  it  is  often 
requisite  to  sail  on  different  courses ;  and  the  crooked  line 
which  the  ship  then  describes  is  called  a  traverse;  and 
the  method  of  finding  a  single  course  and  distance  equiva- 
lent to  such  a  compound  one  is  called  resolving  a  traverse. 
This  may  be  done  by  a  geometrical  projection,  but  it  is 
generally  effected  in  practice  by  the  aid  of  the  traverse  ta- 
ble. From  this  table  the  diff.  lat.  and  dep.  corresponding  to 
each  course  and  distance  is  taken,  and  entered  in  an  appro- 
priate table,  having  columns  headed  N.  S.  E.  W. ;  namely, 
N.  and  S.  for  diff.  lat.,  and  E.  W.  for  departure.  The  dif- 
ference between  the  sums  under  N.  and  S.  shows  the  diff. 
lat.,  as  does  the  difference  between  the  sums  under  E.  and 
W.  the  departure ;  and  in  either  case  the  difference  is  of 
the  same  denomination  as  the  larger  sum.  The  course  and 
distance  required  are  then  either  found  by  inspection  in  a 
traverse  table,  or  by  the  formulae  (A.). 

When  a  ship  makes  considerable  way  through  the  wa- 
ter, and  the  wind  is  on  the  beam,  abaft  it,  or  even  a  little 
before  it,  she  generally  moves  forward  in  the  direction  of 
the  fore  and  aft  line  ;  "but  in  rough  weather,  with  the  wind 
forward,  she  will  generally  be  driven  more  or  less  to  lee- 
ward, as  will  be  shown  by  the  direction  of  the  wake,  or  the 
ripple  formed  by  the  waves  closing  behind  her.  The  an- 
gle which  this  ripple  makes  with  the  direction  of  the  keel 
is  called  the  leeway ;  and  it  must  be  applied  as  a  correc- 
tion to  the  course  shown  by  the  compass,  and  always  al- 
lowed from  the  wind— that  is,  to  the  left,  if  the  wind  is  on 
the  right-hand  side  of  the  ship,  and  to  the  right,  if  on  the 
left.     See  Leeway. 

All  matters  relating  to  the  navigation  of  a  ship  are  en- 
tered in  a  systematically  ruled  book,  called  the  log-book ; 
and  what,  day  after  day,  is  so  recorded  is  called  the  ship's 
journal.  The  principal  columns  in  the  log-book  are  for  the 
hour  of  the  day,  the  course,  rate  of  sailing,  leeway,  and 
winds ;  one  for  general  remark,  and  for  entering  the  par- 
ticulars and  results  of  celestial  observations,  for  notes  on 
the  weather,  and  memoranda  as  to  all  important  points  of 
duty  in  the  ship,  the  sails  set,  and  the  manner  in  which 
the  crew  are  employed.  To  this  is  daily  appended  the  lati- 
tude and  longitude  of  the  ship  at  noon,  both  as  deduced 
from  celestial  observations,  and  as  computed  from  the 
course  and  distance  since  the  time  when  the  place  was  last 
ascertained.  The  place  determined  from  the  course  and 
distance  is  called  the  place  by  dead  reckoning.  The  bear- 
ing and  distance  of  the  land  first  expected  to  be  seen,  and 
the  course  and  distance  made  on  the  whole,  during  the  day, 
are  also  added. 

If  the  course  and  distance  could  always  be  accurately  de- 
termined, the  place  of  the  ship  could  be  computed  with 
corresponding  exactness  from  the  principles  of  which  we 
have  above  given  a  concise  account.  But  these  data  can 
only  be  obtained  in  a  roughly  approximative  form.  The  ef- 
fect of  unknown  currents,  unavoidable  imperfections  in 
steering,  and  numberless  other  sources  of  error,  render  the 
place  of  the  ship,  as  estimated  from  the  reckoning,  very 
doubtful ;  and,  in  fact,  when  the  mariner  is  obliged  to  rely 
for  several  days  on  these  data  only,  he  often  finds  that  his 
expected  and  his  true  place  are  considerably  distant  from 
each  other.  ,       .  • 

In  the  modern  practice  of  navigation,  therefore,  the  course 
and  distance  are  only  used  to  enable  the  seamen  to  assign 
approximately  the  place  of  his  ship  between  the  times  at 
which  it  is  determined,  independently,  by  celestial  observa- 

This  branch  of  nautical  knowledge,  which  is  generally 
and  properly  included  in  every  system  of  navigation,  is  call- 
ed nautical  astronomy ;  and  the  improvements  which  have 
been  introduced  in  its  modern  application  constitute  the 
3£  817 


NAVIGATION. 

chief  difference  between  navigation  as  practised  in  our  own 
and  former  times. 

For  a  minute  explanation  of  the  processes  by  which  the 
place  of  a  ship  on  the  wide  ocean  may  be  determined,  from 
the  observed  situation  of  celestial  objects  with  respect  to 
each  other  and  to  the  horizon,  we  must  refer  to  works  ex- 
pressly devoted  to  the  subject.  But  we  shall  jive  B  short  ac- 
count of  the  most  useful  practical  methods  of  finding  the  lat- 
itude, the  longitude,  and  the  variation  of  the  compass,  which 
are  the  three  principal  problems  in  nautical  astronomy. 

Reduction  of  Altitudes. — Before  the  altitudes  of  celestial 
objects  as  observed  at  sea  can  be  employed  in  the  solution 
of  astronomical  problems,  they  must  be  corrected  for  the 
effects  of  dip  and  parallax ;  and  for  semidiameter,  when  the 
altitude  of  the  upper  or  lower  border,  instead  of  that  of  the 
central,  has  been  observed,  as  in  the  case  of  the  sun  or  moon. 
If  A  =:  the  altitude  of  the  upper  or  lower  border,  s  =  the 
semidiameter,  d  the  dip  of  the  horizon  (that  is,  the  angle 
through  which  the  sea  horizon  appears  depressed  in  con- 
sequence of  the  elevation  of  the  observer),  r  the  refraction 
corresponding  to  the  alt.  A,  and  p  the  horizontal  parallax 
taken  from  the  Nautical  Almanac  for  the  time  of  observa- 
tion, and  A'  =  the  true  altitude  :  then 

A'  =  A  —  d^f  s  +  p  cos.  (A  —  d  ^  s)  —  r. 
In  practice,  the  corrections  to  be  applied  to  A  to  obtain 
A'  are  taken  from  tables,  and  the  process  of  reduction  is 
short  and  simple. 

To  find  the  latitude  from  the  observed  meridian  altitude  of 
a  known  celestial  object : 

Let  z  be  the  complement  of  the  true  altitude,  as  deduced 
from  the  observed  one,  D  the  object's  declination,  and  L 
the  latitude ;  and  call  2  north  when  the  zenith  is  north, 
and  south  when  it  is  south  of  the  object :  then  L  =  z  ^ 
D ;  a  formula  in  which  D  is  +  when  2  and  D  are  of  the 
same,  and  —  when  of  different  denominations,  and  L  is  of 
the  same  denomination  as  the  greater  of  2  and  D. 

To  find  the  latitude  from  two  observed  altitudes  of  the  sun, 
with  the  time  elapsed  between  the  observations  : 

Let  t  =  the  half  elapsed  time  in  degrees,  p  the  sun's 
polar  distance  at  the  middle  instant  between  the  observa- 
tions, s  =  half  the  sun,  and  d  =  half  the  difference  of  the 
two  corrected  altitudes ;  then  compute  the  angles  A,  B,  C, 
D,  and  E,  in  succession,  from  the  following  formula : 
sin.  A  =  sin.  t  •  sin.  p. 
cos.  B  =  sec.  A  ■  cos.  p. 
sin.  C  =  cosec.  A  ■  cos.  5  ■  sin.  d. 
cos  D  =  sin.  A  •  sin.  s  •  cos.  d  •  sec.  C. 
E  =  B-fD. 
And  the  expression  for  the  latitude  is, 
sin.  lat.  =  cos.  D  ■  cos.  E. 
There  are  many  other  methods  by  which  the  latitude 
may  be  found,  but  the  two  which  we  have  given  are  those 
most  generally  used  by  seamen. 

We  pass  on  to  a  consideration  of  the  principles  on  which 
the  methods  of  finding  the  longitude  astronomically  at  sea 
are  founded. 

The  longitude  is  found  by  comparing  the  time  at  the  first 
meridian  with  the  time  of  the  same  denomination  at  the 
place  of  observation,  allowing  15°  of  longitude  for  every 
hour  in  the  difference  of  the  times. 
In  the  annexed  diagram,  let  P  A  represent  the  meridian 
passing  over  the  first  point  of  Jiries,  P 
S  that  passing  over  the  true  and  P  M 
that  passing  over  the  mean  place  of 
the  sun,  and  P  X  that  passing  over 
any  other  celestial  object  X.  Let 
also  P  G  be  the  meridian  of  Green- 
wich, P  N  a  meridian  in  west  longi- 
tude, and  P  O  a  meridian  in  east  longi- 
tude. 

Then,  for  that  instant  of  absolute  time,  A  P  G  represents 
the  sidereal,  SPG  the  apparent,  and  M  P  G  the  mean  time 
at  Greenwich  ;  twenty-four  hours  of  time  being  represent- 
ed by  four  right  angles.  A  P  N,  S  P  N,  and  INI  P  N,  are  the 
sidereal,  apparent,  and  mean  time  at  the  meridian  P  N ;  and 
A  P  O,  S  P  O,  and  M  P  O,  the  like  times  at  the  meridian 
PO. 

NowN  P  G,  the  longitude  of  the  meridian  P  X,  =  A  P  G 
—  A  P  N  =  S  P  G  —  S  P  N  =  M  P  G  —  M  1'  \  :  and  G  I> 
O,  the  longitude  ofPO,  =  APO,  —  APG  =  SPO  —  S 
P  G  =  M  P  O  —  M  P  G. 

Therefore,  the  longitude  of  any  place  represented  in  time 
is  equal  to  the  difference  of  the  relative  times  at  the  first 
meridian  and  the  meridian  of  the  place;  the  times  being 
lx)th  sidereal,  both  apparent,  or  both  mean  time,  and  both 
reckoned  from  the  same  noon — west  when  the  Greenwich 
time  is  greater,  and  east  when  it  is  less  than  the  time  at 
the  place  of  observation. 

The  angle  X  P  G,  reckoned  westerly  from  P  6,  is  called 
the  meridian  dimmer  of  the  object  X  from  the  meridian  p 
G,  and  X  P  N  its  meridian  distance  from  the  meridian  P  N. 
818 


NAVIGATION  ACTS. 

A  P  X  is  its  right  ascension,  APS  the  right  ascension  of 
the  sun,  and  SPM  the  equation  of  time,  or  the  difference 
between  mean  and  apparent  time. 

Now,  If  a  be  the  altitude  of  an  object  X.  as  observed  in  a 
given  latitude  /,  say  on  the  meridian  1"  \,  and  p  —  P  X, 
its  polar  distance  ;  then,  if  we  put  8  r£  A  (a  -f-  /  -)-  P)<  'he 
angle  X  P  N  may  be  determined  from"  this  expression, 
sin.  2  i  (X  P  N)  = ,/  [sin.  (s  —  a)  •  cos.  s  •  sec.  /  •  cosec.  »]. 
And  X  P  N  +  A  P  X  —  A  P  S  ±  S  P  M  —  M  P  N,  the 
mean  time  at  the  meridian  P  N. 

P  X,  A  P  X,  A  P  S,  and  S  P  M,  are  furnished  by  the 
Nautical  Almanac ;  and  it  is  evident,  therefore,  that  from 
an  observed  altitude  of  a  celestial  object,  with  the  data  >u\>- 
plicd  by  the  Nautical  Almanac,  the  mean  time  at  the  place 
of  observation  may  be  found. 

With  respect  to  the  corresponding  Greenwich  time,  it 
may  be  found  by  means  of  a  chronometer,  whose  error  and 
rate  are  ascertained  before  it  is  taken  to  sea.  For  example, 
if  on  May  4th  the  chronometer  be  4  m.  fast  for  Greenwich 
time,  and  on  May  14th  4  m.  50  s.  fast  for  Greenwich  time  ; 
then,  if  on  May  30th,  at  sea,  an  altitude  be  observed  to  de- 
termine time  at  the  place  of  observation,  when  this  chron- 
ometer shows  5  h.  40  m.  12  s.,  then  the  true  mean  time  at 
Greenwich  is  5  h.  40  in.  2  s. ;  and  if  the  mean  time  at  the 
place  deduced  from  the  observation  be  3  h.  57  m.  48  s.  the 
longitude  of  the  place  will  be  5  h.  40  m.  2  s.  —  3  h.  57  m. 
48  s.  =  1  h.  42  m.  14  s.  =  25°  33'  30"  west. 

The  Greenwich  time  may  also  be  found  by  considering 
the  moon  in  the  heavens  as  the  pointer  of  a  Greenwich 
clock,  and  her  distances  from  the  sun  and  certain  stars  as 
indicating  the  Greenwich  times  to  which  they  correspond. 
These  distances  are  computed,  and  published  beforehand 
in  the  Nautical  Almanac,  for  every  third  hour  of  Green- 
wich time  ;  so  that  if  at  any  moment  we  ascertain  the 
moon's  distance  from  some  such  celestial  object,  the  Green- 
wich time  may  be  found  by  comparing  that  distance  with 
those  in  the  Nautical  Almanac. 

The  distances  there  given,  however,  are  the  distances  of 
the  objects  as  seen  from  the  centre  of  the  earth  ;  and,  there- 
fore, before  a  distance  observed  on  the  surface  can  be  made 
available  for  finding  the  Greenwich  time,  it  must  be  re- 
duced to  what  it  would  have  been  if  the  observation  had 
been  made  at  the  centre.  Many  formuhe  have  been  de- 
vised, and  numerous  and  extensive  collections  of  tables 
have  been  formed,  to  assist  in  making  this  reduction  ;  but 
perhaps  the  following  is  as  convenient  as  any  other  that 
has  been  proposed. 

Let  m  be  the  moon's  app.  zenith  dist.,  .9  the  sun's  ;  M  the 
moon's  true  zenith  dist.,  S  the  sun's  ;  d  the  app.  dist.  of  the 
centres  of  the  objects,  and  D  the  required  or  the  true  dis- 
tance, and  put 

A  J  (M  +  S),  B  =  J  (m  +  s  +  d)  —  d, 

sin.  X  =  v'  (cosec.  s  ■  cosec.  m  •  sin.M  ■  sin.  S  ■  sin.  A  •  sin.  B) 

then  sin.  *D  =  y/  [sin.  (A  +  X)  sin.  (A  —  X)]. 

To  compute  the  bearing  of  the  sun,  the  altitude,  polar  dis- 
tance, and  latitude  being  known  : 

Let  a  =  the  altitude,  ^  =  the  latitude,  p  =  the  polar  dis- 
tance, S  =  4  (<i  +  I  +  p),  and  B  the  required  bearing,  or 
azimuth  —  estimated  from  the  south  when  the  latitude  is 
north,  and  from  the  north  when  the  latitude  is  south ;  to- 
wards the  east  when  the  altitude  is  increasing,  and  towards 
the  west  when  it  is  decreasing,  then 

sin.  A  B  =  -v/  [sec.  a  ■  sec.  I  •  cos.  S  •  cos.  (S  — p)]. 

If  the  compass  bearing  of  the  object  be  observed  when 
the  altitude  is  taken,  the  variation  of  the  compass  may 
hence  be  found;  for  let  B'  =  the  compass  bearing;  then 
the  variation  is  B  +  B'  or  B  —  B',  the  sign  +  being  used 
when  one  bearing  is  eastward  and  the  other  westward,  and 
—  when  both  are  on  the  same  side  of  the  meridian;  and 
the  variation  is  west  when  B  is  to  the  left,  and  eastward 
when  it  is  to  the  right  of  B\ 

For  an  account  of  the  history  of  navigation,  the  reader 
is  referred  to  the  Introduction  to  Robertson's  Elements  of 
Navigation.  Of  modern  works  on  this  subject  in  general 
use  among  British  seamen,  we  may  notice  those  by  Hr.  In- 
man  ;  and  particularly  those  of  Mr.  Riddle  and  of  Lieut. 
Baper,  treating  both  of  the  theory  and  practice.  The  Epit- 
omes of  Moore,  Uackay,  and  Norie  are  also  very  useful 
compilations,  and  have  long  had  an  extensive  circulation. 

NAVIGATION  ACTS.  Several  statutes  of  our  early 
kiriL's  were  passed  with  a  view  to  confine  particular  branches 
of  the  English  carrying  trade  to  English  merchants  :  but  as 
they  were  generally  enacted  merely  for  some  temporary  ob- 
ject, they  produced  little  effect.  In  1050  the  tir^t  naviga- 
tion act  was  framed  under  the  republican  government  ; 
partly  with  a  view  to  punish  the  inhabitants  of  ibe  sugar 
islands,  who  were  chiefly  loyalists,  partly  in  hostility  to  the 
Dutch.  It  prohibited  foreign  vessels  from  trading  to  the 
English  colonies  (a  prohibition  extended,  in  1651,  to  the 
mother  country),  without  a  licence  from  the  council  of 
state.    In  10CO  the  government  of  Charles  11.  re-enacted 


NAVIRE. 

these  prohibitions  on  a  more  extended  scale.  The  chief 
articles  of  the  act  12  Car.  2,  c.  18,  are,  that  no  goods  be  car- 
ried to  or  from  any  English  colonies  but  in  vessels  built 
within  the  English  dominions,  or  really  the  property  of 
Englishmen,  and  whose  masters,  and  at  least  three  fourths 
of  the  crew,  are  English;  that  no  goods  of  foreign  growth 
or  manufacture  (with  specified  exceptions),  be  imported  in 
English  vessels,  except  from  the  country  where  they  are 
grown  and  manufactured;  that  sugar,  tobacco,  and  other 
colonial  commodities  (thence  called  in  trade  enumerated), 
be  imported  into  no  part  of  Europe  but  England  and  her 
dominions.  The  history  of  these  acts,  so  much  extolled  by 
British  politicians,  and  termed  by  some  the  charta  maritima 
of  England,  and  of  the  modifications  which  their  provisions 
have  since  undergone,  especially  by  Mr.  Huskisson's  act,  6 
Geo.  4,  c.  109,  is  succinctly  traced  in  note  xi.  of  M'Culloch's 
edition  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations. 

NAVI'RE.  (F.)  An  order  of  knighthood  instituted  by 
St.  Louis,  king  of  France,  in  1269,  to  encourage  the  lords  of 
France  to  undertake  the  expedition  to  the  Holy  Land.  Af- 
ter having  fallen  into  desuetude,  it  was  again  revived,  with 
renewed  lustre,  in  1448,  under  the  name  of  the  order  of  the 
crescent.  This  order  derived  its  name  either  from  the  cir- 
cumstance that  the  collars  of  the  knights  belonging  to  it 
had  a  ship  pendent  from  them,  or  because  the  knights  were 
allowed  to  bear  in  their  arms  a  ship  argent  in  chief. 

NA'VY  (Lat.  navis,  a  ship),  in  its  most  extended  signifi- 
cation is  applied  both  to  the  mercantile  and  military  marine 
of  a  nation ;  but  it  is  more  commonly  restricted  to  vessels 
of  war  only,  all  others  being  said  to  belong  to  the  merchant 
service.  In  treating  of  the  navy,  it  is  usual  to  consider  it 
under  two  distinct  heads,  the  materiel  and  personnel :  the 
former  comprising  all  that  relates  to  the  construction,  arma- 
ment, and  equipment  of  ships ;  the  latter  including  all  who 
receive  rank,  pay,  or  emolument  in  the  service  of  the  navy, 
and  whatever  concerns  the  appointment,  station,  and  du- 
ties of  officers,  sailors,  and  marines.  Under  the  different 
heads  the  reader  will  find  a  notice  of  the  chief  subjects  in- 
cluded in  the  materiel  of  the  navy ;  and  we  shall  in  the 
present  article  restrict  ourselves  to  some  general  remarks 
respecting  its  history,  management,  and  present  state,  which 
may  serve  to  give  a  coup  d'ceil  of  the  whole  subject,  and 
which  could  not  well  be  comprised  under  separate  heads. 

The  naval  history  of  England  is  usually  divided  into 
three  eras ;  the  first  comprising  all  the  period  that  preceded 
the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. ;  the  second  ending  with  the  res- 
toration of  Charless  II. ;  and  the  third  from  the  Restoration 
down  to  the  present  time.  Omitting  all  that  period  of  Eng- 
lish naval  history  that  intervened  between  the  Conquest 
and  the  reign  of  Henry  VIH.  as  too  unimportant  to  be  dwelt 
upon  in  a  sketch  of  this  nature,  we  may  state,  before  pass- 
ing to  the  second  period,  that  the  first  ship,  properly  so  call- 
ed, of  the  British  navy,  was  built  by  Henry  VII.  in  the  third 
year  of  his  reign.  She  was  called  "  The  Great  Harry,"  had 
three  masts,*  carried  80  guns,  measured  138  feet  in  length, 
and  36  feet  in  breadth  from  outside  to  outside,  and  cost  up- 
wards of  .£14.000.  This  ship  constituted  the  most  noble 
monument  of  Henry  VII.'s  regard  for  the  navy ;  but  his  de- 
signs were  matured  and  perfected  by  his  son  Henry  VIII., 
in  whose  reign  England  may  be  said  to  have  first  possessed 
a  permanent  navy.  Previously  to  his  reign  our  sovereigns 
had  but  few  ships  ;  when  they  wished  to  transport  an  army 
to  France,  or  to  undertake  any  considerable  naval  enter- 
prise, it  was  usually  effected  by  requisitions  of  ships  and 
seamen  from  the  different  seaport  towns  of  the  kingdom,  or 
by  hiring  them  from  the  merchants  of  Hamburgh,  Lubeck, 
Genoa,  &.c. ;  which  were  dismissed  as  soon  as  the  occasion 
for  their  service  was  over.  But  Henry,  whose  naval  force, 
as  in  the  preceding  reigns,  was  chiefly  dependent  on  foreign 
auxiliaries,  caused  several  "shippes  royall"  to  be  construct- 
ed for  the  service  of  the  state  ;  one  of  which,  the  "  Regent," 
measured  1000  tons  burthen,  and  another,  the  "  Maria 
Rose,"  measured  500  tons  burthen,  and  carried  700  men. 
At  the  conclusion  of  his  reign  in  Jan.  1547,  the  verified  list 
of  the  navy  amounted  to  seventy-one  ships  and  vessels  of 
all  sorts,  measuring  11,268  tons.  During  the  succeeding 
reigns  of  Edward  VI.  and  Mary,  the  naval  force  of  England 
diminished  considerably,  and  at  the  demise  of  the  latter  in 
1558  amounted  only  to  twenty-six  vessels,  measuring  7,110 
tons  burthen.  During  the  long  and  prosperous  reign  of 
Elizabeth  which  ensued,  the  navy  was  greatly  encouraged. 
The  naval  force  collected  to  oppose  the  Armada,  which 
consisted  of  150  ships  with  nearly  30,000  men,  amounted  to 
176  sail  equipped  with  about  15,000  men  ;  of  these  34  ships 
with  6,225  men,  a  larger  royal  armament  than  had  ever  be- 
fore assembled  together,  belonged  to  the  crown,  the  re- 
mainder being  made  up  from  London,  Bristol,  Yarmouth, 
the  Cinque  Ports,  &c.  During  the  last  twenty-five  years 
of  Elizabeth's  reign  the  navy  almost  doubled  its  number ; 


*  Down  to  the  year  1545,  the  "Great  Harry"  was  the  only  ship  of  that  de- 
scription in  the  British  fleet.  She  was  accidentally  burned  at  Woolwich  in 
ber  sixty-fifth  yea/. 


NAVY. 

and  at  her  death,  in  1603,  it  amounted  to  forty-two  ships, 
measuring  17,055  tons,  and  carrying  8,346  seamen.  The 
reign  of  James  I.  was  remarkable  for  the  first  able  and 
scientific  naval  architect,  Phineas  Pett,  to  whom  the  art  of 
shipbuilding  was  indebted  for  many  improvements.  "In 
my  own  time,"  says  Raleigh,  "  the  shape  of  our  English 
ships  hath  been  greatly  bettered  ;  in  extremity  we  carry  our 
ordnance  better  than  we  were  wont ;  we  have  added  crosse- 
pillars  in  our  royall  shippes  to  strengthen  them  ;  we  have 
given  longer  floares  to  our  shippes  than  in  olden  times,  and 
better  bearing  under  water."  The  striking  of  topmasts 
was  also  invented  in  this  reign  ;  and  besides  the  improved 
shape  of  the  vessels,  Raleigh  mentions  various  minor  im- 
provements, adding,  "  to  the  courses  we  have  devised  stud- 
dingsails,  spritsails,  and  topsails ;  the  weighing  of  the 
capstan  is  also  new,  and  the  chain-pump  and  bonnet;  we 
have  fallen  into  consideration  of  the  length  of  cables,  and 
by  it  we  resist  the  malice  of  the  greatest  winds  that  can 
blow."  At  the  death  of  James  I.  in  1625,  the  royal  navy 
consisted  of  thirty-three  ships,  measuring  19,400  tons.  The 
navy  was  first  divided  into  rates  and  classes  under  Charles 
I.,  vvho  built  several  new  ships  in  the  beginning  of  his  reign, 
and  among  others  the  "Sovereign  of  the  Seas,"  a  larger 
ship  than  had  ever  been  built  in  England,  carrying  100  guns, 
and  measuring  1683  tons.  But  in  1648  Prince  Rupert  car- 
ried oft'  twenty-five  ships,  none  of  which  ever  returned  to 
England ;  and  so  reduced  was  the  navy  at  the  commence- 
ment of  Cromwell's  government,  that  he  could  muster  only 
fourteen  men-of-war,  some  of  them  carrying  only  forty  guns. 
But  his  vigorous  administration  speedily  raised  the  navy  to 
a  magnitude  and  power  formerly  unknown  ;  and  under  the 
command  of  Blake,  it  became  not  merely  equal  but  superior 
to  that  of  the  Dutch,  then  the  greatest  maritime  power  of 
Europe.  It  was  during  the  Protectorate  that  the  classes 
into  which  Charles  I.  had  first  divided  the  navy  were  clear- 
ly denned,  and  a  regular  system  established,  which  has, 
with  little  alteration,  remained  in  force  down  to  the  present 
time.  At  the  death  of  Cromwell  in  1658,  the  navy  amount- 
ed to  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven  ships,  measuring  21,910 
tons,  and  earning  50,000  men. 

At  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  in  1660  (from  which  ia 
dated  the  third  period  of  English  naval  history)  the  whole 
fleet  amounted  to  only  sixty-five  ships ;  but  under  the  able 
administration  of  the  Duke  of  York,  the  royal  fleet  soon 
augmented  to  a  fine  armament ;  and  though  the  retirement 
of  the  latter,  in  consequence  of  his  inability  to  take  the  Test 
Act,  and  the  subsequent  extravagance  of  the  king,  caused 
the  navy  to  decay ;  yet  such  prompt  and  effective  measures 
were  afterwards  taken  by  the  Duke,  on  his  recall  to  office, 
for  its  restoration,  that  at  the  demise  of  Charles  II.  the  na- 
vy amounted  to  179  vessels,  measuring  103,558  tons.  During 
the  foregoing  reign,  a  remarkable  change  had  taken  place 
in  scientific  and  mechanical  operations,  and  the  art  of  ship- 
building, so  long  practised  on  vague  and  imperfect  principles, 
began  to  be  more  highly  and  extensively  developed  ;  for  not 
only  were  the  proportions  and  qualities  of  vessels  improved, 
but  the  mind  of  the  designer  was  directed  to  theoretical  in- 
vestigation ;  and  thus,  coeval  with  the  third  period  of  naval 
history',  may  be  justly  reckoned  the  full  development  of  the 
science  of  naval  architecture.  On  his  accession  to  the  throne 
James  II.  continued  to  evince  the  same  warm  interest  which, 
as  lord  high  admiral,  he  had  always  manifested  for  the 
welfare  of  the  navy.  He  suspended  the  navy  board,  and 
appointed  a  new  commission,  with  which  he  joined  Sir  An- 
thony Deane,  the  best  naval  architect  of  the  time ;  four 
hundred  thousand  pounds  were  annually  set  apart  for  na- 
val purposes ;  and  so  diligent  were  the  commissioners  in 
the  discharge  of  their  duty,  that  on  the  abdication  of 
James,  in  1688,  the  navy  amounted  to  173  sail,  measuring 
101,892  tons,  and  carrying  6930  guns  and  42,003  men.  Un- 
der the  administration  of  William  and  Mary,  vvho  made 
little  alteration  in  the  system  adopted  by  their  predecessor, 
99  new  ships  were  added  to  the  fleet ;  and  the  eelebrated 
engagement  off  Cape  la  Hogue,  in  1692,  gave  the  British 
navy  an  ascendency  over  that  of  France,  which  it  has 
ever  since  preserved.  Queen  Anne  at  her  accession  found 
the  navy  to  consist  of  272  vessels,  measuring  159.020  tons ; 
but  in  the  third  year  of  her  reign  a  most  destructive  storm 
visited  this  country  and  the  adjacent  coasts,  by  vv  hich  the 
navy  sustained  great  damage  and  loss.  No  fewer  than  ten 
men-of-war  were  totally  lost,  and  many  more  were  driven 
on  shore  and  damaged.  All  measures  adding  to  the 
strength  and  efficiency  of  the  navy  were  exceedingly  popu- 
lar during  this  reign,  and  everv  plan  compatible  with  finan- 
cial economy  was  adopted  for  its  benefit ;  so  that  though 
the  number  of  ships  was  less  at  the  end  of  Anne  s  reign, 
1714  than  at  its  commencement,  the  tonnage  had  increased 
8199  tons  During  the  first  four  years  of  George  L,  large 
sums  were  voted  for  the  extraordinary  repairs  which  were 
required  after  the  long  war.  A  general  survey  was  made 
of  the  dockyards  and  sea-stores  ;  new  dimensions  for  sev- 
eral classes  of  ships  were  established ;  and  at  the  death 


NAVY. 


of  (his  monarch,  in  1727,  the  navy  consisted  of  233  sin;*, 
measuring  170,803  tons.  The  navy  remained  stationarj  for 
the  first  twelve  years  of  the  reign  of  George  11.:  baton 
hostilities  breaking  out  with  Spain,  in  173U,  the  navj  was 
considerably  augmented,  and  a  scale  of  increased  dimen- 
sions WBS  established  in  1742.  In  the  wars  of  1744  and 
1755,  our  naval  enterprises  were  crowned  with  the  most 
Bignal  success;  and  at  the  demise  of  George  II.,  in  1760, 
the  navy  consisted  of  412  ships,  measuring  321,104  tons, 
the  vote  fir  the  naval  service  of  that  J  ear  being  X'.i.iil  1 ,508, 
51,645  seamen,  and  18,355  marines.  '  The  unprecedented 
progress  of  the  navy  during  the  long  reign  of  George  III. 

is  familiar  to  all.  It  may  be  sufficient,  therefore,  to  ob- 
serve, that  though  the  combined  fleets  Of  frame  ami  Spain 
appeared  to  have  an  ascendency  during  the  American  war, 
the  victories  of  Rodney  restored  our  previous  superiority. 
The  nature  of  the  struggle  with  revolutionary  France,  trie 
bitterness  with  which  it  was  carried  mi.  and  the  fleets  re- 
quired not  merely  for  the  protection  of  our  own  shores, 
hut  for  that  of  our  mercantile  shipping  and  of  our  numer- 
ous colonies  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  led  to  an  immense 
increase  of  our  naval  force ;  and  while  our  navy  was  thus 
progressively  augmented,  the  decisive  victory  of  the  first  of 
June,  1794,  followed  by  those  of  St.  Vincent,  Camperdown, 
the  Nile,  Copenhagen,  and  Trafalgar,  almost  destroyed 
every  fleet  that  could  be  opposed  to  it,  leaving  us  the  un- 
disputed masters  of  the  ocean. 

From  the  commencement  of  hostilities  in  1793  to  the 
peace  of  Amiens,  the  following  table  will  show  the  losses 
sustained  both  by  the  English  and  their  enemies,  includ- 
ing the  ships  surrendered  to  be  held  in  trust : 


Loss  sustained  by  the  English. 
Ships  of  the  line        .        .        .5 

Frigates 13 

Sloops  and  smaller  vessels         .  41 


Captured  from  the  Enemy. 
Ships  of  the  line      ...    86 
Frigates  .         .        .        .209 

Sloops  and  smaller  vessels       .  275 


Total 


59 


Total 


57U 


From  the  declaration  of  war  in  Mav,  IS03,  to  the  general 
p  ace  concluded  in  1815,  the  number  of  ships  and  vessels 
ol  war  captured  and  destroyed  by  the  British,  with  the 
amount  of  loss  sustained  by  our  fleets  during  the  same  pe- 
riod, will  be  found  in  the  following  abstract : 

Captured.    Destroyed. 
French,      Dutch,      Spanish,  S  ships  of  the  line    .    .     65  14 

Turkish,  Danish,  American  (  frigates 79  23 


Total       .        .    80  17 

In  the  last  seven  years  of  the  war  the  British  naval 
force  averaged  one  hundred  and  forty  ships  of  the  line  in 
Commission,  and  five  hundred  and  eighty  frigates,  sloops, 
and  smaller  vessels  ;  those  in  harbour,  ordinary,  and  build- 
ing, being  estimated  at  three  hundred  during  the  same  pe- 
riod. Since  the  peace  of  1815  great  improvements  have 
taken  place  in  every  department  of  naval  architecture  ; 
masts,  rigging,  sails,  ordnance,  implements,  and  instru- 
ments, have  all  undergone  revision  ;  alterations,  not  only 
in  the  form  and  magnitude  of  British  ships,  but  even  in  the 
arrangement  of  the  materials  composing  them,  have  been 
effected  ;  and  it  is  perhaps  not  going  too  far  to  assert,  that 
never  at  any  former  period  was  our  navy  in  a  condition 
better  calculated  to  maintain  its  long  undisputed  sover- 
eignty of  the  ocean. 

The  following  table  will  show  the  force  of  the  British 
Navy  at  five  distinct  periods :  viz.  the  year  after  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  French  revolutionary  war ;  in  1830,  five  years 
subsequently  to  the  peace ;  in  1830,  on  the  accession  of 
William  IV. ;  on  the  accession  of  her  present  Majesty,  in 
1837 ;  and  in  1840,  the  date  of  the  last  official  list : 


1798. 

1820. 

1830. 

1837. 

1840. 

,5 

£ 

• 

• 

z 

Ships,  &c. 

I 
I 

= 

JE 

u 

E 

Tons. 

S 

£. 

I 

fS 

Tons. 

a 

a 

I 

£ 

Tons. 

§ 

7 

|r 

3 

H 

Tons. 

j 
E 
5 

J 

I 

fS 

Tons. 

u 

u 

O 

0 

O 

O 

O 

Of  the  Line 

26 

B4 

12 

122 

14 

113 

22 

1-1" 

14 

75 

1- 

107 

.M 

60 

14 

H 

n 

51 

.'.! 

105 

Under      \ 

small    5 

108 

62 

8 

ISA 

its 

255 

D5 

464 

148 

202 

H 

469 

UjR 

m 

13 

436 

L4S 

220 

:ll 

4--. 

vessels  ) 

Steamers  . 

7 

4    1 

12 

4: 

11 

1 

:>4 

65 

15 

7 

87 

Grand  total 

135 

166 

2:i 

331 

402,555 

127 

368 

117 

BIS 

605.527 

164 

341 183 

588 

544,416 

229 

289 

i8 

57'. 

467.765 

21: 

989 

w 

m 

50(1,232 

To  be  employed 
in  the  fleet 


The   parliamentary  vote   for  the   service  of  the  navy 
1841-42,  is  as  follow-s  : 

Seamen  (including  officers)    .  30,500 

Marines  (ditto)        .        .        .  6,500 

.  Boys 2,000 

In     service     on  )  M    .  .  „„„ 

shore       .         ,     "«W             ....  4,000 

Half  pay  and  re-  )  Naval  officers           .        .        .  4,845 

tired        .        .  )  Marine  officers         ...  470 

Grand  total        .        .  48,315 


For  the  effective  service        .... 
For  the  non-effective  service        . 
For  freight  on  account  of  the  army  and  ord- 
nance departments 


£4,931,005 
1,415,002 

.  267,249 
Total  .  £6,614,156 
Classes  n)ii7  Rates. — It  is  of  great  importance,  in  order  to 
insure  union  in  the  movements  of  a  fleet,  and  to  facilitate 
the  fittin"  out  and  repair  of  ships,  that  those  of  the  same 
rate  or  class  should  not  differ  materially  in  size  or  build 
from  each  other.  Until  the  Restoration  vessels  appear  to 
have  been  "rated"  from  the  complement  assigned  to  each, 
without  any  reference  to  the  ordnance  they  carried  :  but  mi 
the  recommendation  of  a  committee  appointed  in  1745  this 
method  was  superseded  by  classification  according  to  nuns. 
In  1793  our  ships,  which,  in  consequence  of  the  previous 
wars,  had  outgrown  their  establishments  of  ordnance, 
were  rated  anew  at  so  many  nuns  ami  upwards;  but  the 
latitude  of  the  term  "and  upwards"  giving  rise  in  ureat  ir- 
regularities, an  investigation  took  pin  e  in  1816,  when  by 
an  order  in  council  the  rule  which  existed  previously  tn 
1793  was  revived,  ami  ships  were  ordered  to  be  rated 
thenceforth  from  the  number  of  guns  and  carronadei  acta* 
ally  carried,  and  not  n<  icordlng  to  the  erroneous  denomina- 
tions Which  had  latterly  grown  into  use.  His  late  Majesty 
William  IV.  made  some  alteration  in  this  mode  of  rating 
ships,  but  not  sin  h  as  material!}  to  interfere  with  the  ar- 
rangement introduced  by  liis  predecessor.    The  royal  navy, 


as  at  present  constituted,  comprises  three  principal  classes : 
1.  Rated  ships  and  yachts,  including  razees,  frigates,  and 
corvettes.  2.  Ships  and  bomb  vessels,  including  vessels 
corvette-built  or  otherwise.  3.  AH  smaller  vessels,  includ- 
ing brigs,  ketches,  brigantines,  schooners,  cutters,  tenders, 
&c.  Ships  of  the  first  class  are  commanded  by  captains  ; 
of  the  second  class,  by  commanders;  of  the  third  class,  by 
lieutenants  and  subordinate  officers. 

By  the  regulations  of  1833,  the  following  rates  were  es- 
tablished :  First  rate :  all  three-decked  ships.  Second  rate  : 
one  of  her  Majesty's  yachts,  and  all  two-decked  ships 
whose  war  complements  consist  of  700  men  and  upwards. 
Third  rale:  the  other  royal  yachts,  and  all  yachts  bearing 
the  flag  or  pendant  of  an  admiral  or  captain  superintend- 
ent of  a  dock-yard;  and  all  ships  whose  complements  are 
under  700  and  not  less  than  600.  Fourth  rate  :  ships  whose 
complements  are  under  600  and  not  less  than  400.  Fifth 
rate :  ships  whose  complements  are  under  400  and  not 
less  than  250.  Sixth  rate :  ships  whose  complements  are 
under  250. 

Steam  vessels  are  assigned  a  rate  at  the  discretion  of 
the  lords  of  the  admiralty.  Ships  or  vessels  fitted  as 
troopships,  surveying  ships,  tire  ships,  store  ships,  or  ves- 
sels used  on  any  temporary  service,  are  also  given  a  rate 
not  above  the  fourth.  Ships  of  the  1st  rate  carry  100  guns 
anil   upwards;    those  of  the  2d  rate  ,-tl  and   upwards;  the 

:fil  rata  6 Til  to  B0;   the  4th  rate  from  50  to  70  ;   the  5th 

rate  from  38  to  50;  and  the  6th  rate  from  M  to  36.  (For 
the  chief  of  these  details  we  are  indebted  to  an  able  and 
beautiful  little  work  recently  published,  entitled  an  F.pit- 
ihr  Royal  Naval  Sandet  «f  England,  by  .Mr.  .Miles.) 
Qovernment  of  the  Navy. — The  general  direction  and 
control  of  all  altairs  connected  with  the  navy  is  intrusted, 
under  her  [Majesty,  to  the  lord  hiL'li  admiral,  or  to  the  com- 
missioners for  discharging  the  functions  of  that  ollicer. 
The  duties  of  the  lord  high  admiral  were  formerly  judicial 
as  well  as  administrative;  he  havinc  not  merely  to  govern 
the  navy,  but  to  pres'nle  over  a  court  for  adjudging  all  nau- 
tical cases,  and  for  taking  cognizance  of  all  offences  com- 


NAVY. 

mitted  on  the  high  seas.  But  the  judicial  are  now  sepa- 
rated from  the  other  duties  of  this  high  functionary,  being 
devolved  upon  the  judge  of  the  Admiralty  Court.  See  Ad- 
miralty, Court  of. 

From  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne  down  to  the  present  time, 
with  the  exception  of  the  short  period  during  which  Wil- 
liam IV.,  when  Duke  of  Clarence,  held  the  office,  the  du- 
ties of  the  lord  high  admiral  have  been  discharged  by  com- 
missioners. These  have  consisted  generally  of  a  first  lord, 
and  of  four  or  six  junior  lords.  Civilians  may  be  appoint- 
ed to  these  offices ;  but  at  least  two  of  the  lords  are  al- 
ways professional  men.  But,  though  assisted  by  junior 
lords  practically,  all  the  power  and  authority  of  the  board 
is  vested  in  the  first  lord.  The  powers  exercised  by  the 
Board  of  Admiralty  are  very  extensive  and  important.  By 
their  orders  ships  are  built,  repaired,  fitted  for  sea,  or  laid 
up  in  ordinary,  broken  up,  or  sold ;  put  in  commission,  or 
out  of  commission ;  armed,  stored,  and  provisioned ;  em- 
ployed on  the  home  or  on  foreign  stations.  All  appoint- 
ments or  removals  of  commission  and  warrant  officers  are 
made  by  them,  and  all  instructions  issued  for  the  guidance 
of  their  commanders  ;  all  promotions  in  the  several  ranks 
emanate  from  them  ;  all  honours  bestowed  for  and  without 
services,  and  all  pensions,  gratuities,  and  superannuations 
for  wounds,  infirmities,  and  long  services,  are  granted  on 
their  recommendation.  All  returns  from  the  fleet  are  sent 
to  the  Board  of  Admiralty,  and  every  thing  that  relates  to 
the  discipline  and  good  order  of  every  ship.  All  orders  for 
the  payment  of  naval  moneys  are  issued  by  the  lords  com- 
missioners of  the  admiralty ;  and  the  annual  estimate  of 
the  expenses  of  the  navy,  prepared  by  them,  is  laid  before 
parliament  for  its  sanction.  All  new  inventions  and  ex- 
periments are  submitted  to  them  before  being  introduced 
into  the  service  :  all  draughts  of  ships  must  have  their  ap- 
proval ;  all  repairs,  alterations,  and  improvements  in  the 
dock-yards,  and  all  new  buildings,  of  every  description, 
must  be  decided  upon  by  them  before  they  are  undertaken. 
(Sup.  to  Encyc.  Britan.,  art.  "Navy.") 

Under  the  superintendence  of  the  lords  commissioners, 
the  civil  departments  of  the  admiralty  are  directed  by  a 
surveyor  of  the  navy,  an  accountant-general,  a  store-keep- 
er-general, a  comptroller  of  victualling,  and  a  physician- 
general. 

There  are  three  gradations  of  admirals,  viz.,  admirals, 
vice-admirals,  and  rear  admirals ;  and  each  of  these  dig- 
nities consists  of  three  divisions,  distinguished  by  the  col- 
our of  their  flags.  Thus,  there  are  admirals  of  the  red, 
the  white,  and  the  blue  squadrons,  bearing  their  respective 
flags  at  the  main-top-gallant-mast  head ;  vice-admirals  of 
the  red,  the  white,  and  the  blue  squadrons,  bearing  their 
respective  flags  at  the  fore-top-gallant-mast  head ;  and 
rear-admirals  of  the  red,  the  white,  and  the  blue  squad- 
rons, bearing  their  respective  flags  at  the  mizzen-top-gal- 
lant-mast  head.  All  admirals,  whatever  be  their  rank, 
take  the  common  title  of  flag  officers. 

Admirals  rank  with  generals  in  the  army,  vice-admirals 
with  lieutenant-generals,  and  rear-admirals  with  major- 
generals.  The  command  of  each  ship  is  entrusted  to  a 
captain,  or  to  a  commander,  who  has  under  him  a  certain 
number  of  lieutenants,  according  to  the  size  of  the  ship, 
with  a  master,  purser,  midshipmen,  gunners,  &c.  A  cap- 
tain of  three  years'  standing  ranks  with  a  colonel  in  the 
army,  and  a  captain  of  less  than  three  years'  standing  with 
a  lieutenant-colonel ;  a  commander  ranks  with  a  major, 
and  a  lieutenant  with  a  captain.  The  captain  is  responsi- 
ble for  the  discipline  and  efficiency  of  the  crew,  and  the 
good  order  of  the  ship.  Notwithstanding  he  is  furnished 
with  minute  instructions  for  his  guidance  in  every  particu- 
lar, much  must  always  necessarily  depend  on  his  conduct 
and  character.  He  has  power  to  order  punishment  to  be 
inflicted ;  but  it  must  be  done  in  the  presence  of  all  the 
officers  and  ship's  company.  An  account,  stating  all  the 
circumstances,  must  also  be  entered  in  the  ship's  log,  an 
abstract  of  which  is  forwarded  each  quarter  to  the  admi- 
ralty. This  regulation  has  tended  to  repress  hasty  and  in- 
considerate punishment ;  and  has  done  much  to  improve 
the  conduct  of  the  officers,  as  well  as  to  promote  the  proper 
discipline  of  the  navy. 

Composition  of  the  Navy. — The  navy  is  composed  of 
two  bodies  of  men — seamen  and  marines  (see  Marines!  ; 
and  the  officers  under  whose  command  it  is  placed  are  di- 
vided into  three  classes,  viz.,  commissioned,  warrant,  and 
petty  officers.  Commissioned  officers  comprise  flag  officers 
(see  supra),  commodores,  captains,  commanders,  and  lieu- 
tenants, appointed  by  commission  from  the  lords  commis- 
sioners of  the  admiralty,  or  by  a  commander-in-chief  hav- 
ing authority  in  cases  of  vacancies  by  death  or  the  decis- 
ions of  courts  martial  abroad  to  make  such  appointments. 
Warrant  officers  are  those  who  hold  their  appointment  by 
warrant  from  the  lords  commissioners  of  the  admiralty ; 
to  this  class  belong  masters,  secretaries,  physicians,  sur- 
geons, &c.     Petty  officers  are  divided  into  two  classes, 


NEAP  TIDES. 

quarter-deck  and  working ;  the  former,  comprising  mid- 
shipmen, master's  assistants,  volunteers,  &x.,  are  entered 
by  order  of  the  lords  commissioners,  or  by  a  commander- 
in-chief  abroad  ;  the  latter,  including  captains  of  the  main- 
top, foretop,  &c.  &c,  are  appointed  by  the  captain  or  com- 
mander of  the  ship  or  vessel  to  which  they  belong. 

Any  person  may  enter  the  navy  as  a  common  seamen, 
on  application  to  .the  commanding  officer  of  any  of  her 
majesty's  ships  in  commission,  provided  he  be  approved  by 
the  examining  surgeon,  and  have  not  previously  been  "  dis- 
charged from  the  service  with  disgrace.  Persons  who 
have  never  been  at  sea  are  rated  as  landsmen,  and  sea- 
faring men  are  rated  as  "  ordinary"  or  "  able"  seamen,  be- 
sides numerous  gradations  of  petty  officers,  to  which  they 
are  rated  at  the  discretion  of  the  commanding  officer.  Sea- 
men are  also  obtained  for  the  navy,  at  the  breaking  out  of 
a  war  or  any  other  emergency,  by  the  practice  of  impress- 
ment. The  antiquity  and  legality  of  this  practice  cannot 
be  questioned  ;  but  very  great  and  serious  doubts  have  been 
and  may  be  entertained  as  to  its  expediency.  Foreigners  are 
the  only  persons  exempted  at  common  law  from  impress- 
ment ;  but  exemptions  have  been  created  by  acts  of  parlia- 
ment in  favour  of  various  classes,  as  landsmen,  apprentices, 
seamen  employed  in  the  fisheries,  watermen  in  the  ser- 
vice of  fire  insurance  companies,  &c.     See  Impressment. 

Young  gentlemen  enter  the  service  as  volunteers  of  the 
first  class ;  and  every  officer  commissioning  a  ship  is  al- 
lowed to  make  one  fresh  entry.  A  volunteer  must  remain 
two  complete  years  in  that  capacity,  and  attain  the  age  of 
fourteen,  before  he  can  be  rated  a  midshipman ;  when  he 
has  completed  six  years'  service,  and  attained  the  age  of 
nineteen  he  may  be  examined  in  seamanship,  and  also  in 
navigation,  for  the  rank  of  lieutenant ;  and  should  he  pass 
such  examinations,  he  is  eligible  to  hold  a  warrant  as  mate, 
if  his  conduct  be  satisfactory  to  his  captain. 

No  person  can  receive  a  commission  as  lieutenant  un- 
less he  have  passed  both  the  above  examinations  ;  but  hav- 
ing done  so,  he  is  eligible  for  promotion  to  that  rank.  A 
lieutenant  is  not  eligible  for  a  commander's  commission, 
till  he  have  served  two  years  at  sea  in  a  ship  of  war  as 
lieutenant ;  nor  is  a  commander  eligible  for  a  captain's 
commission  till  he  have  served  one  complete  year  at  sea 
in  a  ship  of  war  as  commander. 

In  1830  a  temporary  restriction  was  placed  on  promo- 
tions by  a  minute  of  the  Admiralty  Board.  This  limited 
the  promotion  of  officers  to  the  rank  of  captain,  and  all 
below  that  rank  to  filling  up  one  in  three  vacancies  on 
the  list,  with  the  exception,  viz.,  1st,  of  death  vacancies 
on  foreign  stations,  which  the  commanders-in-chief  have 
authority  to  fill  up ;  2d,  the  reservation  to  the  admiralty 
of  power  to  promote  for  special  or  brilliant  services  ;  3d, 
of  the  occasion  of  a  commander-in-chief  striking  his  flag ; 
and  4th,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  Board  of  Customs 
for  services  in  the  coast  guard. 

Captains  and   admirals   are   promoted  by  seniority,   on 
what  is  termed  a  "  flag  promotion"  taking  place  ;  but  a 
captain  must  have   served   as   under,  in  command  of  a 
rated  ship,  before  he  can  obtain  his  flag ;  viz. 

In  war       ------    4  years. 

In  war  and  peace  combined     -        -    5     — 
In  peace    -        -        -        -'-        -6     — 

All  other  classes  of  officers,  as  was  remarked  above,  are 
promoted  at  the  discretion  of  the  Board  of  Admiralty.  For 
the  various  important  subjects  connected  with  the  pay, 
pension,  discipline,  &c.  of  the  navy,  see  the  Navy  List. 
See,  also,  Statistics  of  the  British  Empire ;  and  the  valu- 
able little  work  above  referred  to,  Epitome  of  the  Royal 
Naval  Service  of  England,  London,  1841.  For  other  par- 
ticulars relating  to  the  navy,  see  Naval  Architecture, 
Ship,  and  other  naval  articles,  which  will  be  found  under 
their  respective  heads  in  this  work. 

NA'ZARITE.  (Heb.  nazar,  to  separate),  signified,  ia 
the  Jewish  dispensation,  one  separated  to  the  Lord  by  a 
vow.  (Numbers,  chap,  vi.)  The  chief  observances  of  the 
Nazarites  were,  to  refrain  from  drinking  wine,  to  suffer 
the  hair  to  grow,  and  to  avoid  coming  in  contact  with  a 
corpse.  This  word  must  be  distinguished  from  Nazarene, 
which  signified  a  native  of  Nazareth,  and  was  applied  in 
contempt  to  the  early  Christians,  inasmuch  as  they  were 
followers  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

In  some  Eastern  countries,  some  Christian  communities 
are  still  to  be  met  with  which  have  retained  the  appella- 
tion of  Nazarenes.  The  sect  of  Nazarenes,  which  sprung 
up  in  Palestine  in  the  second  century,  endeavoured  to  en- 
graft the  rites  and  observances  of  the  Jews  on  the  religion 
of  Jesus  Christ ;  in  this  respect  they  bore  a  considerable 
resemblance  to  the  Ebionites,  whose  contemporaries  they 
were,  but  with  whom  they  must  not  be  confounded.  No 
traces  of  them  existed  in  the  5th  century. 

NEAP,  or  NEEP  TIDES,  are  the  lowest  tides,  being 
those  which  are  produced  when  the  attractions  of  the  sun 
and  moon  on  the  waters  of  the  ocean  are  eserted  in  direc- 

821 


NEAT. 

tions  perpendicular  to  each  other.  When  the  two  forces 
act  in  the  same  <>r  exactly  opposite  directions,  the  spring 

or  highest  tiiles  are  produced.  The  neap  tides  take  place 
about  four  or  five  days  before  the  new  and  full  moons. 
See  TlSE8< 

NEAT.  A  term  applied  to  cattle :  neat's  foot  oil  is  the 
fat  obtained  by  boiling  calves'  feet. 

NE'BUL.E.  (Lat.  nebula,  a  cloud.)  In  Astronomy,  the 
name  given,  on  account  of  their  general  cloudy  appearance, 
to  a  very  numerous  class  of  celestial  objects,  being,  how- 
ever, for  by  far  the  greater  part,  telescopic,  and  only  visible 
in  telescopes  of  considerable  power. 

It  is  to  :~ir  William  Herschel  that  astronomy  is  indebted 
for  the  first  examination  and  analysis  of  these  remarkable 
objects.  A  few  of  them  have  indeed  been  known  since 
the  discovery  of  the  telescope,  and  one  or  two  of  them  are 
visible  to  the  naked  eye  ;  but  his  powerful  telescopes  first 
disclosed  the  fact  of  their  existence  in  immense  numbers, 
and  in  all  quarters  of  the  heavens,  not  indeed  distributed 
uniformly,  but,  generally  speaking,  with  a  marked  pre- 
ference to  a  broad  zone,  crossing  the  milky-way  nearly  at 
right  angles,  and  whose  general  direction  is  not  very  re- 
mote from  that  of  the  hour  circle  of  Oh  and  12h. 

Nebula;  are  divided  by  sir  W.  Herschel  into  the  follow- 
ing classes  : — 1st,  Clusters  of  stars,  in  which  the  stars  are 
clearly  distinguishable  ;  2d,  Resolvable  nebula?,  or  such  as 
excite  a  suspicion  that  they  consist  of  stars,  and  which 
any  increase  of  the  optical  power  of  the  telescope  might 
be  expected  to  resolve  into  distinct  stars ;  3d,  Nebula;,  pro- 
perly so  called,  in  which  there  is  no  appearance  whatever 
of  stars  ;  4th,  Planetary  nebula; ;  5th,  Stellar  nebula; ;  and, 
6th,  Nebulous  stars. 

Clusters  of  Stars. — These  are  either  globular  or  of  an 
irregular  figure,  forming  bright  isolated  patches,  which 
attract  attention,  as  if  they  were  brought  together  by  some 
general  cause.  The  Pleiades  is  a  cluster  of  this  sort ;  the 
naked  eye  can  distinctly  perceive  six  or  seven  stars  in  it, 
and  may  catch  occasional  glimpses  of  a  great  many  more  ; 
but  the  telescope  shows  fifty  or  sixty  crowded  together,  in 
a  very  moderate  space,  and  insulated  from  the  rest  of  the 
heavens.  A  luminous  spot,  called  Pr&sepc,  or  the  Beehive, 
in  the  constellation  Cancer,  is  resolved  entirely  into  stars 
by  an  ordinary  telescope.  In  the  sword-handle  of  Perseus 
is  another  such  spot,  crowded  with  stars,  but  not  so  easily 
resolved.  There  are  a  great  number  of  less  distinct  nebu- 
lous specks  of  the  same  kind,  which  in  ordinary  telescopes 
have  much  the  appearance  of  comets  without  toils,  and 
have  frequently  been  mistaken  for  such ;  when,  however, 
they  are  examined  with  instruments  of  great  power,  such 
as  reflectors  of  J8  inches,  two  feet,  or  more  in  aperture, 
any  such  idea  is  completely  destroyed.  They  are  then, 
for  the  most  part,  perceived  to  consist  entirely  of  stars, 
crowded  together  so  as  to  occupy  almost  a  definite  outline, 
and  to  run  up  to  a  blaze  oflight  in  the  centre,  where  their 
condensation  is  usually  the  greatest.  Many  of  them  are  of 
an  exactly  round  figure.  Others,  again,  are  of  an  irregular 
form,  and  less  definite  in  their  outline,  so  that  it  is  not  easy 
to  say  where  they  terminate.  In  some  of  them  the  stars 
are  nearly  all  of  a  size,  in  others  extremely  different;  and 
it  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  find  a  very  red  star,  much 
brighter  than  the  rest,  occupying  a  conspicuous  situation  in 
the  group.  Sir  W.  Herschel  regards  these  as  globular 
clusters  in  a  less  advanced  state  of  condensation  ;  conceiv- 
ing all  such  groups  as  approaching,  by  their  mutual  attrac- 
tion, to  the  globular  figure,  and  assembling  themselves  to- 
gether from  all  the  surrounding  region. 

Resolrablr  nebula:  are  considered  as  objects  of  the  same 
nature  as  the  preceding  ;  but  as  being  either  too  remote,  or 
consistiiiL'  of  stars  too  taint,  to  affect  us  by  their  individual 
light.  They  are  universally  round  or  oval ;  their  irregu- 
larities of  form  being  extinguished  by  the  distance,  and  only 
the  genera!  figure  of  the  condensed  parts  being  discernible. 
In  telescopes  Of  insufficient  optical  power,  all  the  great 
globular  clusters  exhibit  themselves  under  this  appearance. 

fifebvia,  properly  so  called,  present  a  great  variety  of  ap- 
pearances. One  of  the  most  remarkable  is  in  the  constella- 
tion Orion  :  and  its  appearance  is  very  different  from  what 
might  be  supposed  to  arise  from  the  aggregation  Of  an  im- 
mense collection  of  small  stars.  It  is  formed  of  little  tlocky 
masses,  like  wisps  of  cloud  ;  and  such  u  laps  seem  to  adhere 
to  many  small  stars  at  its  outskirts,  ami  especial];  to  one 
considerable  star,  which  it  envelopes  with  a  nebulous  at- 
mosphere of  considerable  extent  and  singular  figure.  This 
nebula  was  discovered  by  Huygens  in  1('>.">I>,  who  gave 
figures  representing  |IS  appearance  in  ins  telescope.  On 
comparing  these  with  its  present  oppeeranoe,  several  astro- 
nomers have  concluded  that  it  has  undergone  a  perceptible 
change  ;  but  the  evidence  of  such  change  is  by  no  means  to 
be  relied  on.  There  is  a  nebula  in  the  constellation  of 
Andromeda  Visible  to  the  naked  eve.  and  often  mistaken 
for  a  comet.  Its  appearance  is  described  by  Simon  Marius 
a.  that  of  a  candle  sliining  through  horn.  Its  form  is  a 
822 


NECESSITY,  DOCTRINE  OF. 

pretty  long  oval,  increasing  by  insensible  gradations  of 
brightness,  at  first  very  gradually,  but  at  last  more  rapidly, 
up  to  a  central  point,  which,  though  very  much  brighter 
than  the  rest,  is  yet  evidently  not  stellar,  but  only  nebulous 
matter  in  a  high  state  of  condensation.  It  has  in  it  a  few 
small  stars;  but  they  are  obviously  casual ;  and  the  nebula 
itself  offers  not  the  slightest  appearance  to  give  ground  for 
a  suspicion  of  its  consisting  of  stars.  It  is  nearly  half  a 
degree  long,  and  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  broad.  Like 
that  last  described,  a  very  numerous  class  of  nebula;  are  of 
a  round  or  oval  figure,  increasing  more  or  less  in  density 
towards  the  central  point.  In  this  respect,  however,  they 
differ  extremely ;  in  some  the  condensation  being  slight  and 
gradual,  in  others  great  ami  sudden.  They  also  present 
great  diversity  of  appearance,  in  respect  of  deviation  from 
the  spherical  form.  Some  are  only  slightly  elliptic,  others 
much  extended  in  length  ;  and  in  some  the  extension  is  so 
great  as  to  give  the  nebula  the  character  of  a  long,  narrow, 
spindle-shaped  ray,  tapering  away  at  both  ends  to  points. 
Some  nebula;  are  annular ;  but  these  are  among  the  rarest 
objects  in  the  heavens.  The  most  conspicuous  is  situated 
half  way  between  the  stars  j3  and  y  Lyra;,  and  may  be  seen 
with  a  telescope  of  moderate  power.  It  is  small,  and  par- 
ticularly well  defined,  so  as  to  have,  in  fact,  much  more  the 
appearance  of  a  flat  oval  solid  ring  than  of  a  nebula. 

Planetary  nebula:  have  exactly  the  appearance  of  planets 
— round  or  slightly  oval  disks,  in  some  instances  quite  sharply 
terminated,  in  others  a  little  hazy  at  the  borders,  and  of  a 
light  exactly  equable,  or  only  a  little  mottled,  which,  in 
some  of  them,  approaches  in  vividness  to  that  of  actual 
planets.  Whatever  the  nature  of  these  objects  may  be, 
they  must  be  of  enormous  magnitude.  One  in  Aquarius 
presents  a  diameter  of  20"  ;  another  in  Andromeda,  has  a 
visible  disk  of  12",  perfectly  defined  and  round.  Granting 
them  to  be  equally  distant  from  us  with  the  stars,  their 
real  dimensions  must  be  such  as  would  fill,  on  the  lowest 
computation,  the  whole  orbit  of  Uranus.  Their  intrinsic 
splendour  must  also  be  immeasurably  inferior  to  that  of  the 
sun's;  for  a  circular  portion  of  the  sun's  disk,  subtending 
an  angle  of  20",  would  give  a  light  equal  to  100  full  moons, 
whereas  the  nebula;  in  question  are  hardly  discernible  with 
the  naked  eye. 

Stellar  nebula  are  those  in  which  the  condensation  of 
the  nebulous  matter  towards  the  centre  is  great  and  sud- 
den ;  so  sudden,  indeed,  as  to  present  the  appearance  of  a 
dull  and  blotted  star,  or  a  star  with  a  slight  burr  round  it. 
The  nebulous  stars  present  the  beautiful  and  striking  phe- 
nomenon of  a  sharp  and  brilliant  star,  surrounded  by  a  per- 
fectly circular  disk  or  atmosphere  of  faint  light:  in  some 
cases  dying  away  on  all  sides  by  insensible  gradations,  in 
others  almost  suddenly  terminated.  A  very  fine  example 
of  such  a  star  is  55  Andromeda',  K.  A.  lh  43m,  N.  P.  D. 
50°  7'. 

"The  nebulae,"  says  Sir  J.  Herschel,  "furnish,  in  every 
point  of  view,  an  inexhaustible  field  of  speculation  and  con- 
jecture. That  by  far  the  largest  of  them  consist  of  stars 
there  can  be  little  doubt;  and  in  the  interminable  range  of 
system  upon  system,  and  firmament  upon  firmament,  which 
we  thus  catch  a  glimpse  of,  the  imagination  is  bewildered 
and  lost.  On  the  other  hand,  if  it  be  true,  as,  to  say  the 
least,  it  seems  extremely  probable,  that  a  phosphorescent  or 
self-luminous  matter  also  exists,  disseminated  through  ex- 
tensive regions  of  space,  in  the  manner  of  a  cloud  or  fog, 
now  assuming  capricious  shapes,  like  actual  clouds  drifted 
by  the  wind,  and  now  concentrating  itself  like  a  cometic 
atmosphere  around  particular  stars,  what,  we  naturally 
ask,  is  the  nature  and  distinction  of  this  nebulous  matter  T 
Is  it  absorbed  by  the  stars  in  whose  neighbourhood  it  is 
found,  to  furnish,  by  its  condensation,  their  supply  of  light 
and  heat  1  or  is  it  progressively  concentrating  itself,  by  the 
effect  of  its  own  gravity,  into  masses,  and  so  laying  the 
inundations  of  new  sidereal  systems,  or  insulated  stars  ?  It 
is  easier  to  propound  such  questions  than  to  offer  any  pro- 
bable reply  to  them."  (See  Hcrschel's  Treatise  on  Astro- 
nomy, Cabinet  Cyclopedia,  from  which  the  preceding  de- 
scription is  abridged. 

NECF/SSrn  .  lit  ICTRINE  OF.  That  scheme  which 
represents  all  human  actions  and  feelings  as  links  in  a 
chain  of  causation,  determined  by  laws  in  every  respect 
analogous  to  those  by  which  the  physical  universe  is  gov- 
erned. This  doctrine  has  been  attacked  and  defended  with 
great  zeal,  in  almost  every  period  of  speculative  Enquiry 
since  the  Reformation.  The  inductive  method  of  research, 
applied  by  liacon  and  his  contemporaries  to  the  phenomena 
of  mature,  led  very  soon  to  the  adoption  of  a  similar  method 
in  reference  to  the  phenomena  of  mind.  The  discovery,  or 
rather  the  lii-imc  t  re-assertion  of  the  law  of  association,  by 
Ilohbps,  and  the  ready  solution  which  it  appeared  to  furnish 
of  states  of  consciousness,  which,  without  it,  would  have 
I  l  mod  capricious  and  unaccountable,  encouraged  many 
philosophers  to  attempt  its  application  to  every  province  of 
the  human  mind.     It  is  only  in  connection  with  this  fact 


NECK  OP  A  CAPITAL. 

that  the  prevalence  of  necessarian  views  in  modern  times 
can  be  adequately  explained.  Without  venturing  an  opin- 
ion on  the  merits  of  the  question  at  issue,  between  the  ad- 
vocates of  free  will  and  of  necessity,  we  are  sufficiently 
assured  of  the  historical  fact,  that  the  distinction  between 
man  and  nature,  between  the  actions  of  a  self-conscious 
agent  and  the  workings  of  blind  unintelligent  powers,  was 
considered  by  the  great  philosophers  of  antiquity  as  the 
groundwork  of  their  systems  of  morality,  and  as  involved  in 
Uie  very  conception  of  moral  science.  It  was  natural  that 
this  distinction  should  be  felt  to  be  a  barrier  to  the  progress 
of  the  exclusively  empirical  psychology  to  which  we  have 
alluded.  To  the  historians  of  man's  nature,  the  necessity 
of  his  actions  appeared  in  the  light  of  an  hypothesis  which 
lay  at  the  very  foundation  of  their  inquiries,  precisely  as 
the  natural  philosopher  is  compelled  to  assume  the  regular 
recurrence  of  the  same  outward  phenomena  under  the  same 
circumstances.  The  psychologist  considers  the  states  of 
which  he  is  conscious,  merely  as  they  are  related  to  each 
other  in  time ;  and,  thus  considered,  it  seems  to  him  a  mere 
identical  proposition  to  assert  that  all  that  can  be  known  of 
them  is  the  order  of  their  succession.  If  their  succession 
were  arbitary  or  uncertain,  nothing  could  be  known  of  it, 
and  the  science  which  he  professes  could  no  longer  have  an 
existence.  It  is  in  this  consideration,  rather  than  in  the 
dialectic  subtleties  by  which  the  doctrine  has  been  some- 
times defended,  that  the  real  strength  of  the  necessarian 
lies.  So  long  as  he  can  maintain  the  merely  phenomenal 
character  of  human  knowledge,  he  can  reduce  his  oppo- 
nents to  the  dilemma  of  either  denying  the  possibility  of 
mental  science  altogether,  or  of  admitting  the  existence  of 
those  uniform  laws  which  are  its  only  object.  In  its  rela- 
tion to  morality,  the  doctrine  of  necessity  has  been  naturally 
considered  to  involve  dangerous  consequences.  Attempts 
have  been  made  by  modern  necessarians  to  rescue  it  from 
this  imputation.  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  in  particular,  has 
devoted  some  portion  of  his  Dissertation  to  the  explanation 
of  the  principal  ethical  terms,  on  the  necessarian  hypo- 
thesis. (General  Remarks,  sec.  vii.  p.  393.  of  the  reprint.) 
Notwithstanding  the  ingenuity  of  this  effort,  the  stu- 
dent will  probably  find,  on  careful  examination,  that  the 
great  question  at  issue  is  left  much  in  the  same  state  as 
before. 

NECK  OP  A  CAPITAL.  In  Architecture,  the  space 
above  the  shaft  of  a  column,  between  the  annulet  of  lhe 
capital  above  and  the  astragal  at  the  top  of  the  shaft  be- 
low. 

NECRO'LOGY.  (Gr.  viKpos,  dead,  and  \Syog,  discourse.) 
A  collection  of  biographical  notices  of  deceased  persons, 
published  shortly  after  their  death,  is  commonly  called 
a  necrology.  The  list  of  deceased  benefactors  to  a  mon- 
astery, cathedral,  &c,  was  also  termed  its  necrology. 

NE'CROMANCY.  (Gr.  vUpog,  and  n&vTtia,  prophecy.) 
Divination  by  consulting  the  spirits  of  the  dead.  Necro- 
mancy is  prohibited  in  Deuteronomy  ;  and  the  passage  in 
the  first  book  of  Samuel  respecting  the  witch  of  Endor — 
whether  it  be  understood  of  an  actual  evocation,  or  of  a 
deception  practised  by  a  soothsayer — shows  that  necro- 
mancy, real  or  pretended,  was  among  the  usages  of  very 
distant  times.  In  Homer,  the  portion  of  the  Odyssey  termed 
the  Necyomanteia  exhibits  the  superstition  in  a  very  pecu- 
liar form.  Ulysses  performs  a  sacrifice  with  peculiar  so- 
lemnities, and  pours  the  sacrificial  blood  into  a  ditch :  the 
spectres  of  the  dead  rush  wildly  from  the  infernal  regions 
to  taste  the  blood ;  and,  discovering  that  of  Tiresias,  of 
which  he  was  in  search,  he  compels  it  to  answer  his  ques- 
tions. The  rest  of  the  book,  in  which  Ulysses  appears 
actually  to  descend  to  the  shades,  and  to  see  the  punish- 
ments of  celebrated  criminals,  is  suspected  by  some  com- 
mentators to  have  been  an  interpolation  of  later  times. 
Similar  customs,  in  practising  the  art  of  necromancy,  seem 
to  have  been  followed  for  a  long  period  in  Greece  and  Italy. 
Horace  mentions  the  pouring  of  the  blood  of  a  sacrificed 
sheep  into  a  ditch,  in  order  to  attract  the  manes  from  be- 
neath. But  in  Thessaly,  the  most  celebrated  of  classical 
regions  for  its  proficiency  in  the  art  of  magic,  peculiar  hor- 
rors seem  to  have  attended  the  exercise  of  necromancy. 
Erichtho,  Lucan's  Thessalian  witch,  reanimates  the  corpse 
of  a  soldier  slain  in  battle,  and  compels  him  to  answer  her 
questions  respecting  futurity.  But  the  tpvxaywyoi,  or  pro- 
fessed evokers  of  spirits,  in  Thessaly,  seem  to  have  per- 
formed their  rites,  whether  as  impostors  or  as  fanatics,  with 
the  sacrifices  of  human  beings,  and  various  other  enormi- 
ties. Modern  necromancy,  like  most  branches  of  divina- 
tion in  modern  superstition,  has  been  chiefly  accomplished 
by  the  agency  of  devils,  who,  either  voluntarily  or  by  com- 
pulsion, act  at  the  behest  of  the  magician.  See  Magic, 
Witch. 

NE'CROLITE.  (Gr.  vcicpog,  and  \,6og,  a  stone.)  A 
mineral  which  is  found  in  small  nodules  in  the  limestone 
of  Baltimore,  and  which  when  struck  exhales  a  fetid  odour 
resembling  that  of  putrid  flesh. 


NEGATIVE  SIGN. 

NECRO'PHAGANS,  JYccrophaga.  (Gr.  vacpog,  and 
(payw,  I  eat.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Clavicorn  beetles, 
comprehending  those  which  feed  on  dead  and  decomposing 
animal  substances. 

NECRO'SIS.  (Gr.  vcupociv,  to  destroy.)  This  term  is 
applied  in  surgery  to  the  mortification  of  parts  of  bones. 

Necrosis,  or  Spotting.  In  Botany,  a  disease  of  plants, 
chiefly  found  upon  the  leaves  and  soft  parenchymatous- 
parts  of  vegetables.  It  consists  of  small  black  spots,  below 
which  the  substance  of  the  plant  decays. 

NE'CTAR,  in  the  Mythology  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 
was  the  supposed  drink  of  the  immortal  gods  (ambrosia 
being  their  food),  and  was  fabled  to  contribute  largely  to 
their  immortality.  If  we  believe  the  accounts  of  the  poets, 
the  qualities  of  this  liquor  must  have  been  of  a  most  deli- 
cious character.  It  imparted  youth,  bloom,  and  vigour  to 
the  body,  and  possessed  the  power  of  repairing  all  the  de- 
fects and  injuries  of  the  mental  constitution. 

NECTA'RIUM.  (Lat.  nectar,  honey.)  Any  part  of  a 
flower  that  secretes  a  honey-like  substance.  It  is  variously 
applied  to  modifications  of  the  petals,  stamens,  and  disk, 
and  is  now  not  much  employed. 

NEE'DLE,  MAGNETICAL.  A  slender  magnetized  bar 
of  steel,  which,  when  suspended  freely  on  a  pivot  or  centre, 
arranges  itself  in  the  direction  of  the  magnetic  force  of  the 
earth.     See  Compass,  Magnetism,  Variation. 

NEEDLE  ORE.  (From  the  acicular  form  of  its  crystals.) 
A  native  sulphuret  of  bismuth,  copper,  and  lead :  it  occurs 
in  the  gold  mine  of  Schlangenberg,  in  Siberia. 

NEEDLE  STONE.  A  species  of  acicular  zeolite  found 
in  Iceland. 

NE  EXEAT  REGNO.  In  Law,  a  writ  to  detain  a  per- 
son from  going  out  of  the  kingdom  without  the  king's 
license,  directed  to  the  sheriff",  or  to  the  party  himself.  The 
use  of  the  writ  is  to  prevent  a  party  from  withdrawing  his 
person  and  property  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  in 
England ;  but  this  purpose  was  served  at  common  law,  be- 
fore the  late  Insolvent  Act,  by  arrest  and  bail  obtained. 
This  writ  lies,  therefore,  where  there  is  a  suit  in  equity  for 
a  demand  for  which  the  plaintiff  could  not  arrest  at  law ; 
and  is  always  granted  upon  a  bill  just  filed  in  equity. 

NE'GATiVE,  in  Logic,  denotes  the  quality  of  a  propo- 
sition which  denies  the  agreement  between  the  subject  and 
predicate. 

NE'GATIVE  SIGN.  In  Algebra,  the  sign  of  subtract- 
ion, — .  Any  quantity  to  which  this  sign  is  prefixed  is 
called  a  negative  quantity. 

The  doctrine  of  negative  quantities  is  attended  with  con- 
siderable difficulties,  and  has  given  rise  to  much  discussion. 
When  a  negative  quantity  is  preceded  by  a  positive  quan- 
tity greater  than  itself,  nothing  is  simpler  than  the  accu- 
rate notion  of  its  signification.  For  instance,  in  the  ex- 
pression a — *,  where  a  is  greater  than  b,  no  difficulty  can 
arise  about  the  nature  of  the  operation  which  is  indicated. 
But  in  algebra  quantities  are  constantly  occurring  of  the 
form  a —  b,  where  b  is  greater  than  a ;  or  of  the  form  —  o, 
where  the  negative  quantity  stands  by  itself;  and  it  is  often 
no  easy  matter,  if,  indeed,  it  be  possible,  to  discover  any 
exact  principle  by  which  such  expressions  are  to  be  inter- 
preted. 

The  definitions  usually  given  by  writers  on  algebra  of 
isolated  negative  quantities  are  reducible  to  two :  1st,  that 
negative  quantities  are  less  than  nothing ;  and,  2d,  that 
they  are  of  the  same  nature  as  positive  quantities,  but 
taken  in  a  contrary  sense,  or  opposite  direction.  The  first 
of  these  de#nitions,  which,  indeed,  presents  itself  the  most 
naturally,  was  adopted  by  Newton  in  the  Jlrithmetica  Uni- 
versalis, and  also  by  Euler,  in  his  Introductio  in  Analysin 
Jvfinitorum.  The  second  definition  has  been  generally 
adopted  by  writers  on  the  application  of  algebra  to  geom- 
etry and  mechanics.  But  it  has  been  shown  by  D'Alem- 
bert,  and  more  particularly  by  Carnot,  in  his  Geometrie 
de  Position,  that  both  definitions  lead  to  inaccurate  no- 
tions. 

With  regard  to  the  first  definition,  D'Alembert  reasons  in 
this  manner :  Let  there  be  the  proportion  1 :  —  1  : :  — 1:1, 
which  is  true,  because  the  product  of  the  extremes  is  equal 
to  the  product  of  the  means.  Now,  if  —  1  be  less  than  no- 
thing, much  more  will  it  be  less  than  1  ;  therefore,  the 
second  term  is  less  than  the  first ;  consequently  the  fourth 
must  be  less  than  the  third  :  that  is  to  say,  1  must  be  less 
than  — 1 ;  therefore  —1  is  both  less  than  1  and  greater 
than  1,  which  is  absurd.  Carnot  farther  remarks,  that  a 
multitude  of  paradoxes,  or,  rather,  absurdities,  arise  from 
the  notion  that  negative  quantities  are  less  than  0 ;  for  ex- 
ample, —  3  must  be  less  than  2,  yet  (—3)2  would  be  greater 
than  22,  because  (—  3)2  is  9,  and  22  is  4 ;  that  is  to  say,  of 
two  unequal  quantities,  2  and  —  3,  the  square  of  the  greater 
would  be  less  than  the  square  of  the  smaller,  which  is  con- 
trary to  any  clear  and  distinct  notions  that  can  be  formed 
of  the  nature  of  quantity. 

The  principle  that  negative  quantities  are  quantities 

823 


NEGLIGENCE. 

taken  in  a  different  sense,  or  opposite  di- 
rection to  positive  quantities,  is  shown 
by  Carnot  to  lead  to  error  by  the  fol- 
lowing example :  Let  A  C  B  D  be  a 
B  circle,  of  which  O  is  the  centre,  and  A 
B  a  diameter:  we  have  then  A  B  =  A 
O  +  O  B.  Through  the  centre  O  draw 
C  D  perpendicular  to  A  B,  and  through 
any  point  in  the  circle  E  draw  the 
chord  E  F  parallel  to  C  D,  meeting  A  B  in  G.  Let  A  be 
the  origin  of  the  abscissa  ;  and  make  AG  =  i,  and  GE  =  j; 
then,  putting  a—  the  radius  of  the  circle,  we  have  the 
equation  y2  =  2  a  x  —  x2.  The  solution  of  this  quadratic 
gives  y  =  I  *J  2  a  x  —  x*,  which,  according  to  the  theory 
under  consideration,  shows  that  y  has  two  values  equal  and 
directly  opposite  to  each  other;  namely,  G  E  represented 
by  the  positive  root,  and  the  other,  G  F,  represented  by  the 


D 


negative  root ;  that  is  to  say,  we  have  GE^+v/im-ii, 
and  G  F  =  —  ,/  2  a  j:  —  *->,  equations  which  ought  to  be 
true,  whatever  he  the  value  of  A  G  or  x.  Let  us,  there- 
fore, suppose  AG  =  AO  =  fGE  will  then  become  O  C, 
and  G  F  will  become  O  D ;  therefore,  the  two  equations 
will  become  G  E  =  -f-  a,  and  G  F  =  —  a,  and,  consequently, 
G  E  +  G  F  =  0 ;  that  is,  A  B  =  0,  which  is  absurd,  although 
rigorously  deduced  from  the  theory.  The  theory,  there- 
fore, is  false.  It  may  be  possible,  Carnot  remarks,  to  op- 
pose metaphysical  subtleties  to  this  conclusion;  but  he 
thinks  that  no  clear  and  satisfactory  answer  can  be  given 
to  the  argument. 

Without  entering  into  metaphysical  subtleties,  we  may 
remark  that  there  is  an  evident  fallacy  sn  the  above  con- 
clusion, which  arises  from  first  assuming  the  signs  +  and 
—  to  be  symbols  of  interpretation,  and  then  considering 
them  as  symbols  of  operation,  without  regard  to  their  di- 
rective signification.  On  making  z  =  a,  the  two  roots  of  the 
above  quadratic  are  +  a  and  —  a,  and  the  signs  are  by  the 
theory  assumed  to  signify  opposition  or  contrariety  of  direc- 
tion. But  in  the  equation  -f-  x  —  a  =  o  (from  which  GE-j- 
GF  =  o  is  derived),  the  directive  signification  is  entirely 
lost  sight  of;  the  signs  are  regarded  as  merely  symbols  of 
operation  ;  and  the  equation  being  interpreted  in  the  usual 
way,  simply  affirms  that  the  difference  between  the  two 
roots,  in  respect  of  absolute  magnitude,  is  nothing. 

Having  shown  that  the  usually  received  notions  respect- 
ing negative  quantities  are  obscure  and  inaccurate,  Carnot 
proceeds  to  establish  the  true  principles  of  their  theory. 
He  concludes,  1st,  That  an  isolated  negative  quantity  is  a 
mere  creation  of  the  mind,  and  that  those  which  result 
from  the  operations  of  the  calculus  are  nothing  more  than 
simple  algebraic  forms,  incapable  of  representing  any  real 
and  effective  quantity  whatever.  2d,  That  each  of  these 
forms,  taken  without  reference  to  its  sign,  is  nothing  more 
than  the  difference  of  two  other  absolute  quantities,  of 
which  the  one  that  was  the  greater  in  the  case  on  which 
the  reasoning  was  founded,  becomes  the  less  in  the  case 
to  which  the  results  of  the  calculus  producing  that  form  is 
applicable. 

According  to  this  theory,  the  true  meaning  to  be  attached 
to  the  expression  negative  quantity  is  this:  An  absolute 
quantity,  which  does  not  belong  to  the  system  on  which 
the  reasoning  has  been  established,  but  to  another  system 
related  to  the  former  in  such  a  manner  that  in  order  to 
render  the  formula;  for  the  first  system  applicable  to  it,  the 
sisrn  which  precedes  it  must  be  changed  from  -f-  to  — ,  or 
lrom  —  to  -(-.  For  example,  if  y  represent  th#  difference 
between  the  two  quantities  a  and  z,  it  does  not  follow  that, 
by  substituting  —  y  for  +y,  the  quantity  represented  by  y 
becomes  negative  ;  but  merely  that,  of  the  two  quantities 
a  and  2,  the  one  which  was  the  greater  in  the  case  in 
which  y  has  the  sign  +  becomes  the  smaller  when  the 
sign  of  y  is  changed  into  — .  The  preceding  remarks  will 
suffice  to  give  a  notion  of  the  nature  of  the  difficulties 
which  attend  the  rigorous  interpretation  of  the  negative 
sign  in  symbolical  algebra,  For  full  information  on  this  ab- 
struse subject,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  following  u  orks  ; 
Carnot,  Geometrie  de  Position ;  Maseres  on  the  Use  of  the 
Negative  Sif.ni  ;  II  arren  on  the  Geometrical  Representation 
of  the  Square  Roots  of  Negative  Quantities,  1828;  Peacock's 
Algebra  ;  Id.,  Report  of  the  British  Association  for  1834  ; 
J  a  Morgan's  Trigonometry;  Young's  Mathematical  Sis- 
Bertations  ;  and  the  articles  connected  with  the  subject  in 
the  Penny  Cyclopaedia. 

NE'GLIGENCE.  (Lat.  negUgo,  to  neglect.)  In  the  Fine 
Arts,  a  want  of  observance  of  admitted  rules  and  principles 
In  the  several  parls  of  the  work;  such  as  in  costume,  in 
the  disposition  of  the  light  and  shade,  &c. 

NE'GKOES.    The  Ethiopian  or  fourth  variety  of  the 

human  rare,  accordim.'  to  the  division  of  Ithiinenbacb  and 
his  followers,  widely  spread  over  the  surface  of  the  earth; 
Occupying  almost  the  whole  of  Africa  south  of  that  great 
belt  of  desert  which  extends,  in  the  latitude  of  the  tropic 
824 


NEGROES. 

of  Cancer,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Red  Sea.  The  distinc- 
tions of  this  race  are  marked  and  peculiar;  but  they  are 
not  universal,  or  everywhere  the  same.  Thus,  the  colour 
varies,  although  less  so,  perhaps,  than  that  of  anv  other 
of  the  great  varieties  of  mankind  ;  the  Hottentots,  and 
various  southern  tribes  belonging  to  the  Ethiopian  race,  are 
in  this  and  other  respects  widely  different  from  their 
brethren.  The  woolly  hair,  dark  j^'t  colour,  and  some  ex- 
ternal peculiarities  of  conformation,  seem  chiefly  to  belong 
to  those  numerous  tribes  which  inhabit  the  west  coast  of 
Africa,  between  the  equator  and  the  tropic  of  Cancer.  But, 
even  within  that  region,  some  tribes  are  to  be  found  whose 
physiognomy  is  very  different  from  that  which  we  are  ac- 
customed to  regard  as  representing  the  Negro  type.  South 
of  the  equator  many  of  the  tribes  are  inferior  in  strength 
and  stature,  and  very  different  in  appearance  :  from  this  re- 
gion many  of  the  Brazilian  negroes  are  imported.  In  New 
Guinea,  off  the  south-eastern  extremity  of  Asia,  a  native 
population  is  found  with  most  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
African  negro. 

The  Negro  race  appears  to  have  been  subjected  to  the 
tribute  of  furnishing  slaves  to  its  more  powerful  and  intelli- 
gent neighbours  from  a  very  remote  period  of  antiquity. 
Many  ages  before  the  first  European  slave  ship  had  visited 
the  coasts  of  Africa,  the  Arabs  bore  off  slaves  in  their  cara- 
vans, across  the  Sahara,  to  the  northern  coasts  of  the  con- 
tinent ;  and  even  in  classical  writers  (Terence,  for  exam- 
ple), we  find  mention  made  of  black  or  Ethiopian  slaves. 
See  Slave  Trade. 

By  the  mixture  of  the  Negro  and  white  races  the  mulatto 
is  produced ;  the  Sambo  is  the  offspring  of  a  Negro  and  an 
American  Indian.  The  numerous  varieties  of  these  mixed 
races,  according  to  the  proportion  of  Negro,  European,  or 
Indian  blood  in  each,  are  classed  and  denohiinated  accu- 
rately in  the  West  Indies.  It  may,  probably,  be  estimated 
that  there  are  now  on  the  continent  and  islands  of  Ameri- 
ca, including  Negroes,  Mulattoes,  but  excluding  those  mixed 
races  which  have  a  larger  proportion  of  European  blood, 
about  ten  million  individuals  of  African  descent;  viz., 

In  the  United  States       ....    3,500,000 

British  colonies 900,000 

Hayti 700,000 

Spanish,  French,  &c,  West  Indies       .    1,200,000 

Brazil 2,500,000 

The  free  states  of  continental  America,  )  ,  nnf>  ftnn 
formerly  Spanish  colonies  .        .        .  \  i'uu"'uuu 

9,800,000 

Of  whom  five  or  six  millions  are  now  in  a  state  of  slavery ; 
the  remainder,  except  in  Hayti.  forming  an  inferior  and 
generally  an  oppressed  class  of  free  Inhabitants.  The  ulti- 
mate destiny  of  this  multitude  of  human  beings  is  a  matter 
of  very  anxious  speculation.  Hayti,  peopled  by  the  slaves 
of  the  French  colony  of  St.  Domingo,  who  threw  off  the 
yoke  at  the  period  of  the  French  revolution,  is  the  only  re- 
gion in  which  they  have  as  yet  established  an  independent 
community;  and  the  progress  of  that  community  in  civiliz- 
ation is  not  such  as  to  encourage  the  sanguine  hopes  of  the 
philanthropist. 

It  has  long  been  a  favourite  theory  of  many  philosophers 
that  the  negro  races  are  naturally  inferior  in  point  of  in- 
tellect, and  do  not  possess  the  same  capacity  for  improve- 
ment as  the  Europeans,  or  people  of  the  Caucasian  variety. 
This  supposition  has,  however,  been  vehemently  denied ; 
and  it  has  been  contended,  over  and  over  again,  that  the 
peculiar  circumstances  under  which  they  have  been  placed 
sufficiently  account  for  the  condition  of  the  Africans — for 
their  want  of  a  literature  and  their  low  civilization.  That 
great  weight  should  be  attached  to  the  considerations  now 
mentioned  is  trvie  ;  but  still  we  do  not  think  that  they  are 
sufficient  wholly  to  account  for  the  existing  state  of  things. 
Egypt  was,  at  a  very  remote  period,  the  principal  seat  of 
science  and  of  art;  and  various  nations  of  Africa  were  in 
contact  with,  and  had  a  pretty  extensive  intercourse  with, 
the  Egyptians,  and  also  with  the  Phoenicians,  and  after- 
wards the  Romans,  lint  they  seem  to  have  profited  little 
or  nothing  by  this  association.  And  while  the  people  of 
Greece,  Asia  Minor,  and  Magna  Grecia  raised  themselves 
in  a  comparatively  brief  period  to  the  highest  pitch  of 
civilization  and  refinement,  the  nations  of  Africa  continue, 
without  a  solitary  exception,  down  even  to  the  present  day, 
immersed  in  the  grossest  barbarism.  Surely,  however, 
during  the  space  of  30IMI  or  4000  5  ears,  opportunities  must 
have  been  allorded  to  some  of  them  to  make  some  ad- 
vances. But  if  so,  not  one  has  had  sagacity  to  profit  by 
them.  Africa,  in  fact,  does  not  seem  to  have  produced  a 
single  great  man.  She  has  had  no  Hercules,  no  Minos,  no 
Theseus,  no  Confucius,  no  Manco  Capac.  Among  all  the 
varieties  of  superstition  that  exist  in  it.  we  look  in  vain  for 

hero  worship  -fol  the  divine  honours  paid  in  rude  hut  Im- 
proving nations  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  by  the  public 


NEHALLENIA. 

gratitude  to  departed  heroes,  legislators,  and  authors  of  im- 
portant discoveries  in  the  arts. 

With  the  exception  of  that  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  and 
Ethiopians,  whose  descent  is  involved  In  the  greatest  un- 
certainty, almost  all  the  civilization  that  exists  in  Africa 
seems  to  be  of  foreign  origin.  The  introduction  of  Moham- 
medanism, though  in  a  debased  form,  has  gone  far  to  ban- 
ish cannibalism  from  many  countries ;  and  some  of  them 
have  also  adopted  the  letters  and  literature  of  Arabia.  But 
the  progress  they  have  hitherto  made  is  not  such  as  to  lead 
to  any  very  sanguine  anticipations  as  to  their  future  ad- 
vancement ;  and  it  would  not,  indeed,  be  very  philosophical 
to  suppose  that  those  who  have  been  wholly  unable  to 
produce  anything  original  should  attain  to  much  eminence 
in  the  practice  of  foreign  arts  and  sciences. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  enter  into  any  examination  of  the 
vexata  questio  whether  the  varieties  of  the  human  race  in 
Africa  originally  sprung  from  different  sources,  or  whether 
they  all  belong  to  the  same  stock,  but  changed  to  the  state 
in  which  we  find  them  by  the  influence  of  circumstances 
in  the  lapse  of  ages.  Whatever  conclusion  may  be  come 
to  on  tiiis  point  cannot  m  anywise  affect  the  question  as  to 
the  comparative  intelligence  of  the  African  people.  The 
same  circumstances  that  are  supposed  by  those  who  con- 
tend for  the  original  identity  of  the  races  to  have  so  greatly 
affected  their  appearance  and  physical  capacities,  could 
hardly  fail  to  have  an  equally  powerful  influence  over  their 
mental  faculties.  This,  in  fact,  is  substantially  admitted  by 
Dr.  Pritchard,  who  has  ably  contended  for  their  common 
origin,  and  the  equality  of  their  intellect  with  that  of  the 
other  races.  "  The  tribes,"  says  he,  "  in  whose  prevalent 
conformation  the  negro  type  is  discernible  in  an  exaggerated 
degree,  are  uniformly  in  the  lowest  stage  of  human  society ; 
they  are  either  ferocious  savages,  or  stupid,  sensual,  and 
indolent.  Such  are  the  Papals,  Bulloms,  and  other  rude 
hordes  on  the  coast  of  Western  Guinea,  and  many  tribes 
near  the  Slave  coast,  and  in  the  Bight  of  Benin ;  countries 
where  the  slave  trade  has  been  carried  on  to  the  greatest 
extent,  and  has  exercised  its  usually  baneful  influence. 
On  the  other  hand,  wherever  we  hear  of  a  Negro  state,  the 
inhabitants  of  which  have  attained  any  considerable  de- 
gree of  improvement  in  their  social  condition,  we  constant- 
ly find  that  their  physical  characters  deviate  considerably 
from  the  strongly  marked  or  exaggerated  type  of  the  Negro. 
The  Ashantee,  the  Sulema,  the  Dahomans,  are  exemplifi- 
cations of  this  remark.  The  Negroes  of  Guber  and  Hausa, 
where  a  considerable  degree  of  civilization  has  long  ex- 
isted, are,  perhaps,  the  finest  race  of  genuine  Negroes  in 
the  whole  continent,  unless  the  Jolofs  are  to  be  excepted. 
The  Jolofs  have  been  a  comparatively  civilized  people  from 
the  sera  of  their  first  discovery  by  the  Portuguese."  {Re- 
searches into  the  History  of  Man,  ii.,  338,  3d  ed.) 

Here  we  have  it  distinctly  laid  down  that  the  existence 
of  the  distinguishing  features  of  the  Negro  race  in  a  strong- 
ly marked  degree  is  uniformly  associated  with  the  lowest 
state  of  barbarism ;  and  that  as  they  recede  from  this 
strongly  marked  type,  we  find  a  greater  degree  of  civiliza- 
tion and  improvement.  The  inevitable  conclusion  is,  that 
every  variety  of  the  Negro  type,  which  comprises  the  in- 
habitants of  almost  all  central  Africa,  is  indicative  of  men- 
tal inferiority  ;  and  that  ferocity  and  stupidity  are  the  char- 
acteristics of  those  tribes  in  which  the  peculiar  Negro  fea- 
tures are  found  most  developed.  We  believe  that  this  is  a 
perfectly  correct  statement ;  and  we  do  not  know  that  any- 
thing that  can  be  said  could  show  more  conclusively  the 
radical  inferiority  of  the  great  bulk  of  the  African  people. 
But  we  do  not  form  our  opinion  as  to  their  inferiority  on 
their  configuration  and  appearance,  but  on  the  fact,  that 
while  numberless  European  and  Asiatic  nations  have  at- 
tained to  a  high  state  of  civilization,  they  continue,  with 
few  exceptions,  in  nearly  primeval  barbarism.  It  is  in  vain 
to  pretend  that  this  is  the  result  of  the  unfavourable  cir- 
cumstances under  which  they  have  been  placed.  An  in- 
telligent, enterprising  people  contend  against  unfavourable 
circumstances,  and  make  them  become  favourable  ;  but  the 
Africans,  with  the  questionable  exception  of  the  ancient 
inhabitants  of  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  have  never  discovered 
any  considerable  degree  of  enterprise  or  invention,  or  any 
wish  to  distinguish  themselves  either  in  arts  or  arms. 
From  the  remotest  antiquity  down  to  the  present  day  they 
have  been  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  for  others, 
and  have  made  little  or  no  progress ;  and  the  only  legiti- 
mate inference  from  this  lengthened  induction  seems  to  be, 
that  they  are  incapable  of  making  it ;  that  civilization  will 
not  spring  up  spontaneously  among  them ;  and  that  if  it 
ever  grow  up  it  must  be  introduced  from  abroad  and  foster- 
ed and  matured  under  foreign  auspices.  (For  full  informa- 
tion on  this  subject,  see  the  elaborate  article  on  Africa  in 
the  Geographical  Dictionary.) 

NEHALLE'NIA.  The  name  of  an  ancient  Dutch  and 
Flemish  divinity  who  presided  over  commerce  and  naviga- 
tion.   Her  origin  and  general  character  are  unknown,  and 


NEOMENIA. 

even  her  name  suggests  only  forced  and  unsatisfactory  as- 
sociations ;  but  the  sixteen  altars  whereon  her  image  and 
name  were  represented,  which  were  found  in  the  island 
Walcheren  in  1647,  leave  no  doubt  of  her  former  influence. 
(See  Grimm's  Deutsche  Mythologie,  and  the  authorities 
there  cited.) 

NEITH.  One  of  the  most  ancient  Egyptian  deities,  sup- 
posed to  be  identified  with  the  Grecian  Minerva  or  Rhea. 
Her  name,  according  to  Jablonski,  indicates  old  or  harmoni- 
ous. She  was  regarded  as  an  incarnation  of  nature,  and  as 
the  patroness  of  all  the  arts.  Her  most  celebrated  temple 
was  at  Sais,  where  she  was  worshipped  with  peculiar 
veneration,  and  where  stood  the  veiled  image  so  famous  in 
the  mythology  of  Egypt,  the  rash  inspection  of  which  cost 
the  adventurer  either  his  life  or  his  reason.  (See  Schiller's 
poem,  "  Das  vcrschleierte  Bild  zu  Sais.") 

NEMATOI'DEANS,  JYematoidea.  (Gr.  vti/ia,  a  filament, 
and  ciSos,  form.)  The  name  of  an  order  of  Cwlelmintha,  or 
cavitary  intestinal  worms,  comprehending  those  which  are 
diaxious,  and  have  a  round,  filiform,  elongated  body. 

NE'MATONEU'RA.  (Gr.  vrnia,  and  vtvpov,  nerve.)  A 
name  proposed  for  that  division  of  the  Radiata  of  Cuvier, 
including  animals  in  which  nervous  filaments  are  distinctly 
traceable,  and  the  alimentary  canal  floats  loosely  in  a  dis- 
tinct abdominal  cavity. 

NEM.  CON.  A  contraction  for  nemine  contradicente, 
signifying  no  one  contradicting :  nem.  diss.,  contracted  for 
(Lat.)  nemine  dissentiente,  signifies  no  one  dissenting. 

NE'MEAN  GAMES.  One  of  the  four  great  national 
festivals  of  Greece,  in  which  all  the  states  participated. 
(See  Games.)  They  were  celebrated  at  Nemaea  (whence 
their  name),  a  village  in  the  north-eastern  part  of  Argolis. 
By  some  they  are  said  to  have  been  established  by  the 
Epigoni,  children  of  the  warriors  who  besieged  Thebes,  in 
memory  of  Ophaltes ;  but  others  relate  that  they  were  first 
instituted  by  Hercules,  in  honour  of  Jupiter,  after  his  vic- 
tory over  the  Nemean  lion.  They  were  held  every  third 
year,  under  the  presidency  of  citizens  chosen  by  lot  from 
the  states  of  Argos,  Corinth,  and  Cleona;.  The  games  were 
the  same  as  those  of  Olympia.  The  victorious  combatants 
were  crowned  with  parsley.  See  especially  Wachsmuth's 
Historical  Antiquities  of  Greece,  Oxf.  translation,  vol.  ii., 
162;  and  a  memoir  by  Villoison,  in  the  38th  volume  of  the 
Memoires  de  I'Ac.  des  Inscriptions. 

NE'MESIS.  A  Greek  divinity,  worshipped  as  the  god- 
dess of  vengeance.  According  to  Hesiod,  she  was  the 
daughter  of  Night,  and  was  represented  as  pursuing  with 
inflexible  hatred  the  proud  and  insolent.  The  reluctance 
of  the  Greeks  to  speak  boastfully  of  their  good  fortune, 
lest  they  should  incur  a  reverse,  is  well  known ;  and  from 
various  passages  in  the  Anthologia,  and  other  ancient 
writings,  it  is  clear  that  this  feeling  originated  in  a  desire 
to  propitiate  this  divinity.  The  worship  of  this  goddess 
was  very  extensive.  Temples  were  erected  to  her  honour, 
not  only  in  Greece,  but  throughout  the  Roman  empire. 
Nowhere,  however,  was  her  worship  so  pompously  cele- 
brated as  at  Rhamnus,  a  town  of  Attica,  where  she  had  a 
statue  10  cubits  high  of  a  single  stone,  and  so  exquisitely 
beautiful  as  to  equal  even  the  finest  productions  of  Phidias. 
A  fragment,  supposed  to  be  the  head  of  this  statue,  was 
presented  to  the  British  Museum  in  1820,  where  it  may 
still  be  seen. 

NEMO'CERA.  (Gr.  vripia,  a  thread,  and  Kcpa;,  horn.) 
The  name  of  a  family  of  Dipterous  insects,  including  those 
which  have  long  filiform  antennae. 

NEMOGLOSSA'TA.  (Gr.  v^a,  and  y\waoa,  a  tongue.) 
The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Hymenopterous  insects,  including 
those  which  have  a  long  filiform  tongue,  as  the  bee  tribe. 

NEO'CORUS.  (Gr.  vews,  temple,  and  Koptu),  I  take  care 
of.)  In  Grecian  antiquities,  the  title  of  officers  employed  as 
guardians  of  temples  and  their  treasures.  (See  Mem.  de  l' 
Ac.  des  laser.,  vol.  xviii.,  140.) 

NE'OLOGISM,  NE'OLOGY.  (Gr.  veoc,  new,  and  Xoyof, 
word.)  A  new  phrase  or  word  introduced  into  a  language, 
or  any  innovation  on  ordinary  modes  of  expression.  Most 
European  tongues  have  their  classical  diction  fixed  by  pre- 
cedent and  authority ;  and  words  introduced  by  bold  or  care- 
less writers,  since  this  standard  was  established,  go  by  the 
name  of  neologisms  until  usage  has  added  them  at  last  to  the 
received  national  vocabulary.  Neologij,  in  the  last  century, 
was  the  name  given  by  orthodox  divines  in  Germany  to  the 
novel  system  of  interpretation  which  then  began  to  be  ap- 
plied by  many  to  the  records  of  revealed  religion.  See  Ra- 
tionalist. 

NEOME'NIA.  (Gr.  veo;,  new,  and  ur)v,  a  month.)  A 
festival  observed  by  the  Greeks  at  the  beginning  of  every 
lunar  month  in  honour  of  all  the  gods,  but  more  especially 
of  Apollo,  thence  called  TScon>p>os,  as  being  the  author  of  all 
light,  and  the  grand  luminary  from  which  all  time  receives 
its  distinctions  and  divisions.  At  these  solemnities  the  Atheni- 
ans offered  up  prayers  and  sacrifices,  in  the  temple  of  Erech- 
theus,  for  the  prosperity  of  their  city  during  the  month  that 
3E*  825 


NEOPHYTE. 

had  commenced.  Games  were  also  instituted  doling  their 
celebration,  and  grand  entertainments  given  by  the  richer  to 
the  poorer  citizens. 

NE'OPHYTE.  (Gr.  vcos,  young;  <pvroc,  planted.)  In  the 
primitive  church  newly  converted  Christians  were  so  termed; 
and  the  same  appellation  is  still  given,  in  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic church,  to  converts  made  by  missionaries  among  the  hea- 
then, to  any  person  entering  on  the  priestly  office,  and  to 
those  persons  newly  received  into  the  communion  of  the 
church. 

.\E OPLATONI'CIANS,  or  NEOPLATONISTS.  In 
Ancient  Literature,  the  mystical  philosophers  of  the  Bchool 
of  Ammonius  Saccas  and  Plotinus  are  commonly  so  called, 
who  mixed  some  tenets  of  ancient  Platonism  with  others  de- 
rived from  a  variety  of  sources,  and  particularly  from  the 
demonology  of  the  East.  They  flourished  in  the  4th  and 
5th  centuries  of  the  Christian  era.  Some,  however,  have 
contended  that  this  title  is  more  properly  applicable  to  the 
eclectic  Platonists,  or  school  of  Antiochus  and  Philo.  (See 
Platonists,  Eclectics.)  For  a  singular  view  of  the  doc- 
trines and  tendency  of  the  Neoplatonists,  the  reader  may 
consult  the  Quart.  Jit  v.  July,  1840. 

NEPENTHE.  (Gr.  vn,  priv.,  and  rnOos,  sorrow.)  A 
species  of  magic  potion,  mentioned  by  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans, which  was  supposed  to  have  the  power  of  oblitera- 
ting all  pain  and  sorrow  from  the  memory  of  those  who  par- 
took of  it.  It  is  now  used  figuratively  to  express  any  efficient 
remedy  in  giving  rest  and  consolation  to  an  afflicted  mind. 

NEPHA'LIA.  (Gr.  vnQaXios,  sober.)  Grecian  festivals 
or  sacrifices  instituted  in  honour  of  various  deities,  as  Au- 
rora, Venus,  &.c.  They  were  so  called  because  no  wine 
was  offered  during  their  celebration.  It  was  chiefly  at  Athens 
that  these  festivals  were  observed. 

NE'PHELINE.  (Gr.  vc<pi\v,  a-  cloud.)  A  mineral  from 
Somma,  near  Vesuvius,  and  Capo  di  Bovo,  near  Rome;  in 
nitric  acid  its  transparent  fragments  become  cloudy.  It  is  a 
double  silicate  of  alumina  and  soda.  It  is  also  known  by 
the  name  of  sommite. 

NE'PHRITE.  A  hard  tough  mineral  composed  chiefly 
of  silica,  with  lime,  soda,  and  potash.  It  is  difficult  to  break, 
cut,  or  polish ;  it  is  slightly  translucent,  and  usually  of  a 
greenish  colour.  It  is  occasionally  manufactured  into  sword 
end  knife  handles,  and  has  even  been  cut  into  the  form  of  a 
chain,  which,  from  its  extreme  toughness,  is  not  easily  bro- 
ken. Little  plates  of  it  were  formerly  suspended  from  the 
neck  for  the  cure  of  nephritic  complaints,  whence  its  name. 
The  Chinese  are  celebrated  for  articles  composed  of  it.  Its 
essential  components  are  silica,  alumina,  and  magnesia. 

NEPHRITIS.  (Gr.  ve<pl>os,  a  kidney.)  Inflammation  of 
the  kidney.  This  disease  is  attended  by  pain  in  the  affec- 
ted part,  extending  along  the  ureter,  and  increased  on  walk- 
ing, or  in  the  upright  posture ;  nausea  and  vomiting  are 
common  attendants,  and  the  appearance  of  the  urine  is  gen- 
erally far  from  healthy.  Bleeding,  warm  baths,  sudorifics, 
and  aperients,  with  opiates  and  diluents,  are  the  principal 
remedies  resorted  to. 

NEPHROTOMY.  (Gr.  vt^/Jo;,  and  rtixvto,  I  cut.)  The 
operation  of  extracting  a  stone  from  the  kidney. 

NE'POTISM.  A  word  invented  to  express  a  peculiar 
characteristic  of  many  high  ecclesiastics  in  Roman  Catho- 
lic countries,  and  more  particularly  of  popes :  a  propensity, 
namely,  to  ag«randize  their  family  by  exorbitant  grants  and 
favours  conferred  on  members  of  it ;  literally,  on  nephews 
(nepotes).  Many  of  the  highest  and  wealthiest  families  of 
the  Roman  nobility  owe  their  elevation  entirely  to  this  spe- 
cies of  patronage. 

NE'PTUNE.  The  Italian  name  of  the  deity  called  by  the 
Greeks  Poseidon  {lloaaowv).  He  was  brother  of  Jupiter, 
and,  in  the  partition  of  empire  after  the  death  of  Saturn,  the 
sea  fell  to  his  share,  hut  in  subservience  to  the  former  His 
queen  was  Amphitrite,  and  his  paramours  nearly  as  nume- 
rous as  those  of  his  brother;  but  their  progeny  was  not  so 
celebrated,  with  the  exception  of  the  hero  Pelops. 

Hi-  most  famous  temples  were  at  the  Corinthian  isthmus, 
Helice,  Tnezen,  and  the  promontories  of  Sunium  and  Tama- 
rus;  to  which  may  be  added  the  magnificent  temple  of 
Pa>stnm,  in  Italy,  still  in  existence.  -Neptune  was  -aid  to 
preside  over  horses  and  tin-  manger.  He  is  represented  sim- 
ilar in  appearance  to  Jupiter,  but  his  symbols  are  a  trident 
and  the  dolphin.  Jfcptunalia  were  festivals  celebrated  by 
the  Romans  during  the  months  of  July,  in  honour  of  Nep- 
tune. There  were  other  festivals  in  honour  of  Neptune  in 
his  capacity  of  presiding  over  horses,  called  consualia  ;  hut 
the  former  were  instituted  to  him  in  his  character  of  god  of 
the  sea.  During  the  solemnity  It  was  customary  to  live  in 
booths  erected  on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber, 

NEPTU'NIAN  THEORY.  The  geological  theory  of 
Werner,  which  refers  the  formation  of  all  rocks  and  strata 
to  an  aqueous  origin. 

NI'.KI'.riii:  \.\S.  JVereidea.  The  name  of  the  family  of 
Doratbranchiate  Annellidans  of  which  the  genus  JVV  reu  is 
the  type.   The  characters  are,  an  even  number  of  tentacula 


NERVOUS  SYSTEM. 

attached  to  the  sides  of  the  base  of  the  head,  and  a  little 
farther  forwards,  two  others  which  are  biarticulate,  between 
which  are  two  simple  ones.  Their  branchiie  consist  of 
small  lamina-,  between  which  is  spread  a  net-work  of  ves- 
sels;  each  foot  is  also  furnished  with  two  tubercles,  two 
packets  of  bristles,  one  cirrus  above  and  another  beneath. 

NEREIDES.  (Gr.  N>ipciSes.)  The  daughters  of  Nereus 
and  nymphs  of  the  sea.  I'hey  were  originally  conceived  to 
be  of  a  beautiful  form,  but  later  fictions  degraded  them  to 
the  idea  of  a  mermaid.  The  nereids  are  said  by  most  an- 
cient writers  to  have  been  fifty  in  number,  but  Propertius 
makes  them  a  hundred.  Among  the  most  famous  of  these 
goddesses  were  Amphitrite,  Galateae,  Dido,  Thetis,  &c. 
Their  worship  was  almost  invariably  connected  with  that 
of  Neptune. 

NE'REUS.  (Gr.  ISnpevs.)  A  marine  Grecian  deity,  son 
of  Ocean  and  Earth.  He  possessed  the  gift  of  prophecy,  and 
was  distinguished  for  his  knowledge  and  love  of  truth  and 
justice. 

NERI'TA.  (Lat.  Jferita,  the  name  of  a  shell -fish  in 
Pliny.)  This  term  was  applied  by  Linnams  to  a  genus  of 
his  Vermes  Testacea,  characterized  by  having  a  shell  with 
the  columella  in  a  straight  line,  which  renders  the  aperture 
of  a  semicircular  form:  this  aperture  is  always  closed  by  an 
operculum.  The  genus  is  ranked  by  Cuvier  among  his 
Pectinibranchiate  Gastropods,  and  is  subdivided  into  the 
subgenera  JVatica,  Lam.,  JVerita,  Voluta,  and  JYcritina,  Lam- 
JVerita  proper  is  a  marine  shell,  while  ~Ytritina  is  an  inhabi- 
tant of  fresh  waters.  Examples  of  both  genera  are  found 
fossil  in  the  strata  of  the  Paris  basin. 

NE'ROLI.  The  name  given  by  perfumers  to  the  essen- 
tial oil  of  orange  flowers.  It  is  procured  by  distillation  with 
water  in  the  same  way  as  the  other  volatile  oils. 

XE'RVIXE.  A  medicine  resorted  to  in  nervous  affec- 
tions. 

NE'RVOUS  FEVER.  A  low  fever  in  which  nervous 
symptoms,  or  sensorial  debility,  are  especially  prevalent :  the 
treatment  consists  in  allaying  nervous  irritation  and  support- 
ing the  strength. 

NERVOUS  SYSTEM.  In  Physiology.  The  nerves  are 
fibrous  chords  io  direct  or  indirect  connexion  with  the  brain, 
and  extending  their  ramifications  into  every  part  of  the  bo- 
dy:  their  ultimate  structure  is  filamentous,  and  they  consist 
of  a  peculiar  grey  substance,  their  size  depending  upon  the 
number  of  filaments  enclosed  in  the  common  sheath.  They 
are  often  so  interwoven  as  to  form  a  kind  of  network  or 
plexus  ;  and  some  of  them  have  what  are  termed  ganglia, 
or  rounded  masses  of  nervous  matter,  not  fibrous,  but  appa- 
rently composed  of  globules  disseminated  through  a  vascu- 
lar network. 

There  are  two  distinct  systems  of  nerves ;  one  of  which  is 
connected  with  the  brain  and  with  the  spinal  chord,  and  are 
media  of  sensation  and  of  voluntary  motion :  they  are  termed 
the  nerves  of  animal  life,  or  the  cerebrospinal  nerves.  The 
other  system  is  only  in  communication  with  the  brain  and 
spinal  chord,  or  with  the  cerebrospinal  nerves,  by  very  small 
filaments,  and  they  have  numerous  ganglions  throughout 
their  course  ;  they  preside  over  the  nutritive  functions,  upon 
which  the  mind  has  no  direct  influence :  these  are  the  nerves 
of  organic  life,  or  ganglionic  or  great  sympathetic  nerves. 

The  cerebro-spinal  nerves  convey  impressions  from  their 
extremities  to  the  brain,  and  they  also  convey  the  influence 
of  the  will  from  the  brain  to  the  voluntary  muscles ;  these 
passing  and  repassing,  or  receptive  and  emissive  influences, 
are  conveyed  by  distinct  sets  of  nervous  filaments,  which, 
however,  are  generally  enclosed  in  the  same  sheath,  and 
therefore  appear  toformasingle  nerve:  the  terms  centripetal 
and  centrifugal  filaments  have  been  distinctively  applied  to 
them. 

The  history  of  the  nervous  system  in  nil  its  details  forms 
an  extended  and  complicated,  but  a  highly  important  part  of 
anatomy  and  physiology,  the  investigations  connected  with 
which  have  led  to  many  useful  practical  results,  which, 
however,  have  thrown  but  little  light  upon  the  cause  of  the 
phenomena, or  the  ultimate  nature  of  the  nervous  influence. 
The  works  of  Sir  Charles  Dell,  Dr.  Marshall  Hall,  and  Dr. 
Wilson  Philip  must  be  consulted  in  reference  to  the  func- 
tions of  the  different  classes  of  norves;  there  is  a  good  gen- 
eral account  of  the  subject  in  Baly's  translation  of  .Mullcr's 
Physiologic. 

NERVOUS  System.  In  Comp.  Anat.  In  some  of  the 
lowest  organized  animals  tin'  nervous  system  has  been  de- 
tected in  the  form  of  simple  filaments  ;  these  are  afterwards 
found  connected  with  a  nervous  ring  surrounding  the  ceso- 

phagus.     \s  organization  advances,  nervous  matter  begins 

to  be  acciimulati  d  upon  the  ring,  forming  a  brain  ]  and  upon 

different  parts  of  the  radiating  filaments,  forming  ganglions. 

When  the  principal  gangUated  filaments  are  not  parallel, 
or  not  symmetrical  in  their  course,  they  are  associated  with 
the  type  of  organization  which  characterizes  the  molluscous 
or  HetCTOgangliaU  division  of  animals.  When  the  sangli- 
atcd  filaments  are  two  in  number,  symmetrical,  and  run 


NERVURES. 

parallel  with  each  other  along  the  ventral  aspect  of  the  body, 
they  are  associated  with,  and  bespeak  the  type  of  organiza- 
tion characteristic  of  the  articulate  or  homogangliate  division. 
When  the  brain  ceases  to  present  the  form  of  a  ring,  and 
sends  down  the  back  a  prolongation  of  its  substance,  called 
the  spinal  marrow,  the  rest  of  the  organization  is  that  which 
characterizes  the  vertebrate  or  myelencephalous  sub-kingdom, 
or  primary  division  of  animals.  In  the  vertebrate  and  arti- 
culate animals  the  superficial  tract  of  the  spinal  or  ventral 
chords  is  "sensitive,"  the  deeper  seated  tract  "  motive." 

NERVU'RES,  in  Entomology,  are  corneous  tubes  for  ex- 
panding the  wing  and  keeping  it  tense,  and  to  afford  protec- 
tion to  the  air  vessels:  they  are  termed  costal,  post-costal, 
mediastinal,  externo-median,  interno-median,  anal,  axillary, 
&c.,  according  to  their  relative  positions.  In  Botany  ner- 
vures  are  the  veins  of  leaves. 

NESS.  The  termination  of  several  names  of  places  in 
Great  Britain  where  there  is  a  headland  or  promontory,  as 
Inverness,  Sheerness.  The  word  is  probably  derived  from 
the  Fr.  nez,  or  the  Germ,  nase,  nose. 

NESTO'RIANS.  The  followers  of  Nestorius,  patriarch 
of  Constantinople,  in  the  first  half  of  the  fifth  century.  This 
prelate  agitated  the  Christian  world,  after  the  Arian  contro- 
versy had  been  quietly  settled,  by  the  introduction  of  certain 
subtle  disputations  concerning  the  incarnation  of  our  Lord, 
from  whence  debates  and  contentions  arose  which  harassed 
the  church  for  the  space  of  more  than  two  centuries.  He 
affected  to  distinguish  with  peculiar  precision  between  the 
divine  and  human  natures  united  in  Christ ;  and,  in  guard- 
ing over  carefully  against  the  propensity  which  he  discov- 
ered in  the  Christians  of  his  own  day  to  confuse  the  two, 
and  look  upon  them  as  absorbed  into  one  compound  sub- 
stance, he  forbade  men  to  entertain  any  combined  notion  at 
all,  and  kept  constantly  before  their  eyes  both  the  god  and 
the  man.  He  insisted,  for  instance,  that  the  Virgin  should 
not  be  entitled  Mother  of  God,  but  Mother  of  Christ,  or  of 
Man,  the  human  nature  being  essentially  distinct  from,  and 
only  inhabited  by,  the  divine,  as  a  temple  by  its  divinity. 
The  opinions  of  the  Nestorians  were,  indeed,  little  more 
than  subtle  logical  refinements  upon  mysteries  which  will 
not  bear  the  application  of  such  tests ;  and  it  was  the  habit 
of  mind  which  they  engendered  that  chiefly  rendered  them 
pernicious,  and  the  fierce  passions  with  which  they  were 
combined  that  gave  them  their  celebrity  and  widely  extend- 
ed influence.  Nestorius  himself  was  condemned  by  the 
third  general  council  held  at  Ephesus,  in  the  year  431 :  his 
principal  adversary  being  the  president  of  the  assembly, 
Cyril,  the  learned  patriarch  of  Alexandria.  The  heretical 
prelate  was  deposed,  and  banished  by  the  emperor  to  an 
oasis  in  Upper  Egypt,  where  he  died.  His  opinions,  how- 
ever, spread  throughout  Asia,  and  appear  to  have  been  car- 
ried along  with  the  advancing  stream  of  Christianity,  to  the 
furthest  parts  of  India  and  China.  In  more  central  regions, 
they  were  soon  afterwards  counteracted  by  the  spread  of 
the  opposite  heresy  of  Eutyches.  For  notices  of  the  opin- 
ions which  sprang  out  of  these  rival  dogmatists,  see  Incar- 
nation, Eutychians,  Monophysites,  Monothelites.  Be- 
sides the  well-known  authorities,  the  reader  may  consult 
Doucin,  Hist,  du  Nestorianisme,  1698  ;  Jlssemanri's  Biblioth. 
Orientalis ;  and  Grant's  residence  among  the  Nestorian 
Christians,  8vo,  1841. 

NESTS,  ESCULENT.  A  species  of  nests  built  by  swal- 
lows peculiar  to  the  Indian  islands,  and  very  much  esteemed 
in  China  and  other  parts  of  the  world.  These  nests  resemble 
in  form  those  of  other  swallows ;  they  are  formed  of  a  vis- 
cid substance,  and  in  external  appearance  as  well  as  consis- 
tence are  not  unlike  fibrate  ill-concocted  isinglass.  Esculent 
nests  are  principally  found  in  Java,  in  caverns  usually  sit- 
uated on  the  sea-coast.  Nothing  satisfactory  is  known  as 
to  the  substance  of  which  these  nests  are  composed.  (See 
the  Commercial  Diet.,  art.  "Birds'  Nests.") 

NET,  or  NEAT.  In  Commerce,  something  pure  and  un- 
adulterated with  any  foreign  mixture.  Thus,  wines  are 
said  to  be  net  when  not  falsified ;  and  coffee,  rice,  &c,  to  be 
so,  when  the  filth  and  ordures  are  separated  from  them.  The 
word  net  is  also  used  for  what  remains  after  the  tare  has 
been  taken  out  of  any  merchandise ;  i.  e..  when  it  is  weighed 
clear  of  all  package.  (.See  Tare.)  Net  Produce  (Ital.  netto 
proceduto)  is  used  in  mercantile  language  to  express  what 
any  commodity  has  yielded,  after  all  tare  and  charges  have 
been  deducted. 

NET  (Germ,  netz),  is  a  textile  fabric  of  knotted  meshes 
for  catching  fish,  and  other  purposes.  Each  mesh  should  be 
so  secured  as  to  be  incapable  of  enlargement  or  diminution. 
The  French  government  offered  in  1802  a  prize  of  10,000 
francs  to  the  person  who  should  invent  a  machine  for  mak- 
ing nets  upon  automatic  principles,  and  adjudged  it  to  M. 
Buron,  who  presented  his  mechanical  invention  to  the  Con- 
servatoire des  Arts  et  Metiers.  It  does  not  appear,  however, 
that  this  machine  has  accomplished  the  object  in  view ;  for 
no  establishment  was  ever  mounted  to  carry  it  into  execu- 
tion. Nets  are  usually  made  by  the  fishermen  and  their  fam- 


NEW  CONNEXION  METHODISTS. 

ilies  during  periods  of  leisure.  The  formation  of  a  mesh 
is  too  simple  a  matter  to  require  description  in  this  dic- 
tionarv. 

NE'THINIMS.  Among  the  Jews,  the  servants  of  the 
priests  and  Levites,  employed  in  the  lowest  and  meanest 
offices  about  the  temple.  They  were,  as  the  Scripture  ex- 
presses it,  "  the  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  for  the 
house  of  God."  To  this  office  the  descendants  of  the  Gibe- 
onites  were  originally  condemned  by  Joshua ;  but  at  a  later 
period  the  same  duties  were  assigned  to  the  Canaanites,  who 
had  surrendered  themselves  and  were  spared. 

NE'TTINGS.  Nets  of  small  rope  placed  in  a  ship  for 
various  purposes,  as  stowage,  or  defence  against  accidents ; 
also  against  boarding. 

NE'TTLERASH.  An  eruption  upon  the  skin  much  re- 
sembling the  sting  of  a  nettle.  It  usually  lasts  for  a  few 
hours,  and  then  disappears  or  changes  its  place ;  it  is  relieved 
by  bathing  the  affected  part  with  a  mixture  of  one  part  of 
vinegar  and  eight  or  ten  of  water,  and  by  mild  aperient  me- 
dicines. 

NEURA'LGIA.  (Gr.  vevpov,  a  nerve,  and  aXyof,  pain.) 
An  acute  painful  affection  in  the  course  of  the  nerves,  gene- 
rally subject  to  intermission.  One  of  the  most  distressing 
forms  of  this  disease  is  the  tic  douleureux. 

NEURO'LOGY.  (Gr.  vevpov,  and  \oyos,  a  description.) 
The  doctrine  of  the  nerves.     .See  Nervous  System. 

NEURO'MA.  (Gr.  vevpov.)  A  tumour  formed  in  or  upon 
a  nervous  trunk. 

NEURO'PTERANS,  Ncuroptera.  (Gr.  vevpov,  a  nerve, 
■mipov,  a  wing.)  The  order  of  Tetrapterous  Mandibulate 
insects,  including  those  in  which  the  nervures  of  the  wings 
are  so  disposed  as  to  form  a  more  or  less  regular  network. 
They  are  distinguished  from  the  Coleopterous,  Orthopterous, 
and  Hemipterous  orders  of  four-winged  insects,  by  the  first 
or  anterior  pair  of  wings  being  membranous,  diaphanous,  and 
resembling  the  second  pair  in  texture  and  properties.  The 
abdomen  is  unprovided  with  a  sting.  The  antenna?  are  us- 
ually setaceous.  Some  neuropterans  merely  pass  through  a 
semi-metamorphosis,  the  rest  a  complete  one ;  the  larvs  have 
always  six  hooked  feet.  Many  of  these  insects  are  carnivo- 
rous in  their  first  state  and  their  last.  The  dragon-fly  may 
be  regarded  as  the  type  of  this  order. 

NEUROTOMY.  (Gr.  vevpov,  and  reuvo),  I  cut.)  The 
cutting  of  a  nerve. 

NEU'TER  (Lat.  neither),  in  Grammar,  signifies  that  gen- 
der which  nouns  possess  that  are  neither  masculine  nor  fem- 
inine. Neuter  or  intransitive  verbs  are  those  which  repre- 
sent the  properties  of  a  state  or  process,  as  /  rest,  I  fall,  I 
grow,  &c.     .Sec  Grammar. 

Neuter  was  the  first  name  given  to  the  "labourers"  of  the 
hive-bee  before  it  was  discovered  that  they  were  essentially 
females,  though  infertile. 

NEUTRA'LITY.  In  International  Law,  the  condition 
of  a  state  which  does  not  take  part  in  a  war  between  other 
states.  A  neutral  nation  has  the  right  of  furnishing  to  either 
of  the  contending  parties  all  supplies  which  do  not  fall  with- 
in the  description  of  contraband  of  war  (see  Contraband  or 
War),  and  to  conclude  treaties  with  either  unconnected 
with  the  subject  of  the  war.  It  appears  to  have  been  the 
old  principle  with  regard  to  the  maritime  trade  of  a  neutral 
nation,  that  the  property  of  an  owner  belonging  to  the  hos- 
tile country  might  be  seized  by  a  belligerent  on  board  a  neu- 
tral power's  vessel :  but  the  general  rule  now  asserted  is 
that  the  flag  covers  the  cargo ;  by  which  means  the  right  of 
search,  except  for  specific  purposes,  is  rendered  unnecessary. 
But  this  rule  is  in  effect  set  aside,  according  to  the  will 
or  necessities  of  the  most  powerful  belligerent,  as  it  was 
during  the  late  wars  between  England  and  the  Continental 
powers. 

NEUTRALIZATION.  (Latin  neuter,  neither.)  In 
Chemistry,  the  combination  of  an  acid  and  alkali  in  such 
proportions  that  the  peculiar  properties  of  each  are  render- 
ed inert. 

NEU'TRAL  SALTS.  Combinations  of  acids  and  bases 
which  are  neither  acid  nor  alkaline,  but  in  which  the  acid 
is  exactlv  neutralized  by  the  base. 

NEUVAI'NES.  (Fr.  neuf,  nine.)  In  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church,  prayers  offered  up  for  nine  successive  days,  in 
order  to  obtain  the  favour  of  Heaven.  (See  the  Diet,  de  la 
Conversation.)  „„„.,» 

NEW  CONNEXION  METHODISTS,  or  KILHAM- 
ITES  ;  so  called  from  Mr.  Alexander  Kilham,  who  was 
the  immediate  means  of  their  separation  from  the  Wesley- 
ans,  and  withdrew  from  this  body  on  the  ground  of  the  al- 
most irresponsible  power  exercised  by  the  Conference. 
Having  petitioned  this  convocation  that  the  people  might 
have  a  voice  in  the  formation  of  the  laws  by  which  they 
were  to  be  regulated,  the  choice  of  their  own  pastors  and 
other  officers,  and  the  disposal  of  their  own  property,  and 
those  demands  having  been  refused,  the  petitioners  re- 
ceded and  formed  (1793)  a  distinct  party,  on  a  more  liberal 
basis.'  The  members  of  this  body  do  not  exceed  13,000. 

827 


NEWEL. 

(Life  ofKUham,  by  Thorn  and  Grundel ;  General  Rules  of 
the  JVotD  Connexion  Jlethodists.) 

NE'WEL.  (Pr.  noyau.)  In  Architecture,  the  space, 
either  solid  or  open,  round  which  the  steps  of  a  staircase 
are  turned  about. 

NEW  RED  SANDSTONE.  The  sandstone  immedi- 
ately above  the  coal  measures.     See  Geology. 

NEWS.  (Germ,  neues,  Lat.  novus.  (Jr.  vsoc.)  Literally 
fresh  information.  This  word  has  been  fancifully  derived 
from  the  initial  letters  of  the  four  cardinal  points  of  the 
compass,  north,  east,  (rest,  and  south. 

NEWSPAPERS.  Publications  in  numbers,  consisting 
commonly  of  single  sheets,  and  published  at  short  and  sui- 
ted intervals,  conveying  intelligence  of  passing  events,  in 
Rome,  under  the  government  of  the  emperors,  periodical 
notices  of  passing  events  (diurna,  acta  diurna)  were  com- 
piled and  distributed  for  general  reading ;  but  our  accounts 
of  these  ancient  newspapers,  derived  from  classical  sources, 
are  somewhat  obscure  and  uncertain.  In  modern  Europe, 
the  earliest  occasional  sheets  of  daily  intelligence  seem  to 
have  appeared  at  Venice,  during  the  war  of  1563  against 
the  Turks  {see  Gazette)  ;  and  the  earliest  regular  paper 
to  have  been  a  monthly  one.  published  in  the  same  city  by 
the  state  :  but  these  were  distributed  in  manuscript,  and, 
owing  to  the  jealousy  of  the  government,  continued  to  be 
so  down  to  very  late  times.  Extraordinary  gazettes  are 
said  to  have  been  published  in  England  by  authority,  du- 
ring the  time  when  the  arrival  of  the  Spanish  Armada 
was  apprehended ;  but  the  specimens  preserved  in  the 
British  Museum,  and  so  long  regarded  as  authentic,  seem 
now  to  be  demonstrated  forgeries.  The  Mercuries,  Intel- 
ligencers, &c.  of  the  civil  wars,  seem  to  have  been  the 
first  English  papers  which  appeared  regularly.  The  Ga- 
zette de  France  appeared  regularly  from  1631  to  1792,  form- 
ing a  collection  of  163  volumes ;  it  was  continued,  also, 
but  with  some  interruptions,  through  the  period  of  the 
Revolution  ;  and  the  name  still  exists,  the  journal  so  called 
being  at  present  one  of  the  organs  of  the  Carlist  party. 
From  their  first  imperfect  beginning,  newspapers  have 
gradually  increased  in  number,  matter,  and  consequence, 
until  they  form,  in  many  European  countries,  one  of  the 
most  important  features  in  the  social  economy  of  the  peo- 
ple ;  exercising  a  marked  influence  on  domestic  manners, 
literature,  and  usages,  but  more  especially  powerful  as  a 
great  political  instrument.  In  France,  newspapers  are 
generally  undertaken  in  shares.  The  editors  and  principal 
writers  are  more  responsible  and  more  generally  known 
than  in  England  :  this  is  either  a  cause  or  an  effect  of  the 
general  prejudice  in  that  country  against  anonymous  wri- 
ting, which  is  by  no  means  so  common  as  among  our- 
selves ;  but,  perhaps,  one  of  its  consequences  is,  that 
newspapers  are  more  notoriously  under  the  control  of  par- 
ticular sections  of  the  political  world,  or  of  powerful  indi- 
viduals. Political  newspapers  have  their  subsidiary  arti- 
cles on  subjects  of  theatrical  or  literary  criticism  added  in 
the  shape  technically  termed  feuilleton,  a  subdivision  of 
the  page.  This  custom  was  introduced  about  1800  in  the 
most  influential  paper  of  that  period,  and  has  since  been 
generally  followed.  The  periodical  press  of  France  was 
under  strict  control  during  the  empire  :  the  censorship  was 
continued  until  1819,  and  re-established  in  1820,  but  again 
abolished  in  1881.  At  that  period  a  law  was  passed  com- 
pelling the  proprietors  to  give  security  for  the  good  conduct 
of  their  journals,  under  a  penalty  of  10,000  francs  in  Paris, 
and  various  lesser  sums  in  the  departments.  The  censor- 
ship was,  however,  again  instituted,  and  again  abolished 
in  1827.  By  the  famous  ordinances  of  1830  the  liberty  of 
the  periodical  press  was  suspended.  Since  the  revolution 
of  that  year  there  has  been  no  attempt  at  re-establishing 
the  censorship,  although,  in  1835,  laws  of  a  very  severe 
character  were  passed,  to  subject  the  proprietors  of  journals 
to  easier  conviction,  and  heavier  punishment,  in  case  of 
transgressing  the  existing  laws  of  libel  against  government 
nr  individuals,  and  extending  and  multiplying  the  provis- 
ions  of  that  law.  There  were  published  in  Paris,  in  1839, 
309  journals  of  all  sorts,  political,  literary,  scientific,  &c. 

In  Great  Britain,  newspapers  are  subjected  to  several 
statutory  enactments.  By  38  G.  3,  c.  78,  no  person  can 
print  or  publish  any  newspaper  until  an  affidavit  has  been 
delivered  at  the  stamp  office,  stating  the  name  and  places 
of  abode  of  the  printer,  publisher,  and  proprietor;  specify- 
ing the  amount  of  shares  in  the  undertaking,  the  title  of 
the  paper,  and  description  of  the  building  in  which  it  is  in- 
tended that  the  paper  shall  be  printed.  A  copy  of  even 
newspaper  is  to  be  delivered,  within  six  days  after  publi- 
cation, to  the  commissioners  of  stamps,  under  a  penalty  of 
£100.  Persons  publishing  newspapers  without  the  name 
and  place  of  abode  of  the  printer  affixed  may  be  appre- 
hended and  carried  before  a  magistrate ;  and  peace- officers, 
by  virtue  of  a  warrant  from  a  justice  of  the  peace,  inav 
enter  any  place  to  make  search,  &c.  By  60  G.  3,  c.  9, 
every  periodical  pamphlet  or  paper,  published  at  intervals 
828 


NEWSPAPER  REPORTING. 

not  exceeding  26  days,  containing  public  news  or  intelli- 
gence, or  any  remarks  thereon,  or  on  any  matter  in  church 
or  state,  not  containing  more  than  two  sheets,  or  published 

at  a  less  price  than  sixpence,  shall  be  deemed  new  spapers, 

and  subject  to  the  same  regulations  and  stamp  duties.  By 
1  W.  4,  c.  73,  securities  may  be  demanded,  to  the  amount 
at £486  or  £300,  from  both  principal  and  sureties,  when  it 
is  intended  to  publish  a  newspaper  or  pamphlet  of  the  de- 
scription mentioned  in  60  G.  3,  c.  9.  These  securities  are 
intended  to  secure  payment  of  damages  or  costs  which 
may  be  incurred  in  an  action  for  libel  against  the  conduct- 
or of  the  paper.  The  laws  respecting  the  stamp  duties  on 
newspapers  have  been  recently  placed  on  a  new  footing 
(in  1836).  The  effect  of  these  restrictive  provisions,  and 
of  the  heavy  rate  of  duty  imposed  on  newspapers  in  Eng- 
land, is  to  create,  especially  in  London,  great  monopolies, 
and  to  diminish  the  number  of  periodical  papers,  at  the 
same  time  that  their  importance,  and,  according  to  the  de- 
fenders of  the  system,  their  respectability  and  usefulness, 
is  increased.  There  have  rarely  been  more  than  five  or  six 
daily  morning  papers  iii  London,  and  about  as  many  evening. 
Of  one  of  the  former  (The  Times)  the  net  profits  have  been 
estimated,  in  some  years,  at  X24,000.  A  morning  paper  in 
considerable  circulation  generally  employs  an  editor,  a  sub- 
editor, from  ten  to  fourteen  regular  reporters  (see  Newspa- 
per Reporting),  from  thirty  to  thirty-five  compositors, 
&c. ;  while  the  power  and  rapidity  of  the  machinery  which 
produces  these  huge  sheets  has  been  greatly  increased  of 
late  years  by  the  application  of  the  steam  engine.  The 
evening  newspapers,  the  apparatus  of  which  is  in  other 
respects  less  costly,  go  to  an  enormous  expense  in  procur- 
ing rapid  intelligence  from  distant  quarters.  The  irregular 
or  occasional  reporters  are  a  numerous  class  :  they  multi- 
ply copies  of  the  pieces  of  intelligence  which  they  collect 
by  means  of  polygraphs,  and  send  them  round  to  different 
newspapers  to  take  the  chance  of  their  insertion. 

The  following  calculation  was  formed,  in  1827,  of  the 
number  of  periodical  papers  appearing  in  various  countries, 
since  which  period  it  is  probable  that  there  has  been  a 
considerable  increase — Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  483; 
France,  490;  Russia,  288;  Netherlands  (Holland  and  Bel- 
gium), 160  :  German  Confederation,  excluding  Austria  and 
Prussia,  305 ;  Sweden,  82 ;  Denmark,  80 ;  States  of  the 
Church,  6  only.  It  is  obvious  that  without  an  approxima- 
tion to  the  amount  of  copies  of  each  newspaper,  this  calcu- 
lation furnishes  no  grounds  whatever  for  speculating  on 
the  proportion  between  the  demand  and  supply  of  news- 
papers and  the  population  in  these  respective  countries  ; 
and  wherever  (as  in  England)  newspapers  are  subjected  to 
a  heavy  duty,  each  individual  paper  must  necessarily  sell 
a  greater  number  of  copies  than  elsewhere,  in  order  to  af- 
ford a  profit ;  but  the  circulation  of  some  French  newspa- 
pers is  said  to  exceed  that  of  any  among  ourselves.  The 
United  States,  at  the  same  time,  had  800  newspapers,  and 
have  at  present  upwards  of  1000:  about  fifty  of  these  ai>- 
pear  daily.  (See,  among  other  antiquarian  authorities  as 
to  early  newspapers,  D' Israeli's  Curiosities  of  Literature, 
vol.  i. ;  Chalmers's  Life  of  Ruddiman  :  and  the  Conv.  Lex- 
icon, art.  "  Zeitung."     See  also  the  Commercial  Dictionary.) 

NEWSPAPER  REPORTING.  The  name  given  to  that 
system  whereby  the  parliamentary  debates  and  speeches 
delivered  at  public  meetings,  &c.  are  promulgated  through- 
out the  country.  As  it  is  contrary  to  the  rules  of  both 
Houses  that  any  stranger  should  be  present,  the  publica- 
tion of  the  debates  is  held  to  be  a  breach  of  privilege  ;  but 
this  regulation  has  always  been  defeated,  either,  asMn  for- 
mer times,  by  the  moans  adopted  by  Dr.  Johnson  and  oth- 
ers of  publishing  the  speeches  of  the  different  members 
under  fictitious  names,  or,  as  at  present,  by  the  Houses 
themselves  tacitly  giving  their  sanction  to  the  practice. 
The  foundation  of  the  present  system  of  parliamentary  re- 
porting may  be  fairly  ascribed  to  the  late  Mr.  William 
woodfltll,  whose  retentive  memory  enabled  him,  after 
having  listened  to  the  debates,  daily  to  communicate  to 
the  public,  in  what  he  called  .'I  hasty  Sketch  of  the  Pro- 
ceedings in  Parliament  Inst  Jfight,  a  full  and  most  accurate 
account  of  the  different  speeches.  Secret  deliberations, 
however,  have  been  so  long  renounced,  that  the  right  of 
the  public  to  be  present,  through  their  agents,  the  report- 
ers, is  as  clearly  established  now  as  if  no  theoretical  pri- 
vacy had  ever  existed  ;  but  if  any  member  were  repeatedly 
to  insist  upon  the  exclusion  of  "  straneers,"  as  all  are  call- 
ed who  neither  are  members  nor  officers  of  the  house, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  abuse  of  the  privilege  must 
lead  to  such  a  modification  of  the  standing  order  as  would 
deprive  individual  members  of  any  control  over  a  matter 
so  interesting  to  the  nation.  The  process  of  parliamentary 
reporting,   and   the   qualifications  of  those    by   whom   the 

task  is  performed,  cannot  be  adequately  described  within 

the  narrow  limits  (if  this  article  j  but  it  is  hoped  that  the 
reader  may  be  enabled  to  form  some  idea  of  both  from  the 
following  brief  outline.     Every   publication   not  copying 


NEW  STYLE. 

ttom,  or  abridging  any  other,  but  giving  original  reports, 
keeps  one  of  a  series  of  reporters  constantly  in  the  gallery 
of  the  Lords,  and  another  in  the  Commons.  These,  like 
sentinels,  are  at  slated  periods  relieved  by  their  colleagues, 
when  they  take  advantage  of  the  interval  to  transcribe 
their  notes,  in  order  to  be  ready  again  to  resume  the  duty 
of  note-taking,  and  afterwards  that  of  transcription  for  the 
press.  A  succession  of  reporters  for  each  establishment  is 
thus  maintained,  and  the  process  of  writing  from  their 
notes  never  interrupted  till  an  account  of  the  whole  de- 
bates of  the  evening  has  been  committed  to  the  hands  of 
the  printer.  There  are  only  seven  publications  for  which 
a  reporter  is  constantly  in  attendance ;  and  these  include 
the  London  morning  newspapers,  from  which  all  others 
that  give  debates  are  under  the  necessity  of  copying  or 
abridging  them.  The  number  of  reporters  maintained  by 
each  varies  from  ten  or  eleven  to  seventeen  or  eighteen. 
They  are,  for  the  most  part,  gentlemen  of  liberal  educa- 
tion— many  having  graduated  at  the  Universities  of  Oxford, 
Cambridge,  Edinburgh,  Glasgow,  or  Dublin  ;  and  they  must 
all  possess  a  competent  knowledge  of  the  multifarious  sub- 
jects which  come  under  the  consideration  of  parliament. 
The  expedition  and  ability  with  which  their  duties  are  per- 
formed must  be  admitted  by  every  one  who  attends  a  de- 
bate and  afterwards  reads  a  newspaper,  while  the  correct- 
ness and  rapidity  with  which  their  manuscript  is  put  in 
type  and  printed  has  long  been  a  subject  of  surprise  and 
admiration.  (See  the  Parliamentary  Companion,  a  valua- 
ble brochure.) 

NEW  STYLE.    In  Chronology.     See  Style. 

NEW  TESTAMENT.  The  name  given  to  that  portion 
of  the  Bible  which  comprises  the  writings  of  the  apostles 
and  their  immediate  disciples.  It  consists  of  five  historical 
books,  viz.,  the  respective  Gospels  of  Matthew,  Mark, 
Luke,  and  John,  and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  (attributed 
to  Luke  ;  of  twenty-one  apostolical  epistles,  of  which  the 
early  fathers  have  unanimously  ascribed  fourteen  to  St. 
Paul,  three  to  St.  John,  two  to  St.  Peter,  one  to  St.  James, 
and  one  to  St.  Jude  ;  and  of  the  book  known  by  the  name 
of  the  Apocalypse  or  the  Revelation  of  St.  John.  See  Bi- 
ble, Epistle,  Evangelists. 

NEWTO'NIAN  PHILOSOPHY.  This  term  is  used  in 
various  senses.  Sometimes  it  is  used  to  denote  the  doc- 
trine of  the  universe  as  delivered  by  Sir  Isaac  Newton  in 
the  Principia  :  sometimes  the  corpuscular,  or  modern,  or 
experimental  philosophy,  as  opposed  to  the  theories  of 
Descartes  and  others  ;  but  most  frequently,  perhaps,  the 
mathematical  theory  of  universal  gravitation.  See  Gravi- 
tation, Physics. 

NEW  YEAR'S  DAY.  The  celebration  of  the  com- 
mencement of  the  new  year  dates  from  high  antiquity. 
The  Jews  regarded  it  as  the  anniversary  of  Adam's  birth- 
day, and  celebrated  it  with  splendid  entertainments — a 
practice  which  they  have  continued  down  to  the  present 
time.  The  Romans  also  made  this  a  holyday,  and  dedi- 
cated it  to  Janus  with  rich  and  numerous  sacrifices  ;  the 
newly-elected  magistracy  entered  upon  their  duties  on  this 
day ;  all  undertakings  then  commenced  were  considered 
sure  to  terminate  favourably  ;  the  people  made  each  other 
presents  of  gilt  dates,  figs,  and  plums  ;  and  even  the  em- 
perors received  from  their  subjects  new  year's  gifts,  which 
at  a  later  period  it  became  compulsory  to  bestow.  From 
the  Romans  the  custom  of  making  presents  on  New  Year's 
Day  was  borrowed  by  the  Christians,  by  whom  it  was  long 
retained  ;  but  even  in  those  countries  where  it  lingered 
longest,  in  France  and  Scotland  for  instance,  it  is  falling 
rapidly  into  desuetude,  and  congratulatory  wishes  are  now 
almost  universally  substituted  for  the  more  substantial 
presents  that  were  formerly  conferred,  on  this  day,  as  marks 
of  affection  and  esteem. 

NEX'I.  (Lat.  necto,  I  bind.)  In  Roman  Antiquities,  per- 
sons freebom,  who,  for  debt,  were  delivered  bound  to  a 
creditor,  and  obliged  to  serve  him  until  they  could  dis- 
charge it. 

NIBELUNGEN,  LAY  OF  THE.  The  name  given  to 
the  most  ancient  existing  monument  of  German  epic  poetry. 
The  origin  of  this  poem  is  veiled  in  great  obscurity ;  it  is 
supposed  to  have  existed,  in  substance  at  least,  two  centu- 
ries before  the  reign  of  Charlemagne,  and,  like  the  early 
compositions  of  poets  in  all  ages,  to  have  consisted  origi- 
nally of  detached  ballads  and  poems,  which  were  after- 
wards gradually  collected,  and  at  length  moulded  into  the 
complete  form  in  which  they  at  present  exist.  The  last  of 
the  modifications  which  it  underwent  took  place  towards 
the  end  of  the  12th  century,  and  is  attributed  to  the  Min- 
nesaenger  Henrich  von  Ofterdingen.  The  story  turns  upon 
the  adventures  of  Chrimhold  of  Burgundy,  who  is  first  won 
by  the  valiant  Siegfried,  and  after  he  is  treacherously  mur- 
dered gives  her  hand  to  Attila,  king  of  the  Huns,  chiefly  in 
the  hope  that  through  his  power  and  influence  she  may  be 
revenged  on  the  murderers  of  her  former  lord.  The  assas- 
sins, accordingly,  and  all  their  kin,  are  induced  to  visit  At- 
70 


NICE,  COUNCIL  OP. 

tila,  when,  by  the  instigation  of  the  queen,  a  deadly  feud 
arises,  in  the  course  of  which  almost  the  whole  army  on 
both  sides  is  cruelly  slaughtered.  By  the  powerful  but  re- 
luctant aid  of  Diederich  of  Bern,  however,  the  murderer  of 
Siegfried  is  at  last  vanquished  and  brought  bound  to  the 
feet  of  the  queen,  who  relentlessly  raises  the  sword  of  the 
departed  hero,  and  with  her  own  hand  strikes  off"  the  head 
of  his  enemy.  The  famous  Hildebrand,  whose  exploits 
are  depicted  on  the  Heldcn-Buch,  instantly  avenged  the 
atrocious  and  inhospitable  act  by  stabbing  the  queen,  who 
falls  exulting  on  the  body  of  her  hated  victim.  The  work 
is  divided  into  thirty-eight  books.  The  Nibelungcn  Lied 
formed  for  many  centuries  the  chief  traditionary  record  of 
the  romantic  deeds  and  sentiments  of  the  German  nation, 
but  at  the  era  of  the  Reformation  it  sank  wholly  into  obliv- 
ion ;  from  which,  however,  it  has  within  the  last  thirty 
years  been  rescued,  and  permanently  placed  by  the  labours 
and  commentaries  of  Hagen,  Zeune,  Simrock,  and  Schlegel, 
among  the  most  conspicuous  monuments  of  human  genius. 
All  the  questions  relating  to  its  origin,  nature,  and  charac- 
teristics are  discussed  with  great  interest  by  the  German 
literati,  to  many  of  whom,  indeed,  it  forms  a  distinct  branch 
of  study  ;  and  we  cannot  refrain  from  inserting  in  our  pages 
Schlegel's  notice  of  this  poem  which,  whatever  interest  it 
has  excited  in  Germany,  is  still  comparatively  unknown  in 
England. 

Among  the  heroic  poems  of  those  nations  which,  in  con- 
tradistinction to  those  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  whose 
skilful  unfolding  of  incidents  and  dramatic  vividness  of 
representation  were  peculiar  and  unrivalled,  have  remain- 
ed satisfied  with  a  more  simple  mode  of  poetry,  the  Nibel- 
ungen  Lied  claims  a  very  high  place — perhaps  among  all 
the  heroic  chivalrous  poems  of  modern  Europe,  it  is  enti- 
tled to  the  first.  It  is  peculiarly  distinguished  by  its  unity 
of  plan  ;  or  rather  it  is  a  series  of  pictures,  each  naturally 
following  the  other,  and  all  delineated  with  great  boldness 
and  simplicity  and  a  total  disregard  of  all  superfluities. 
The  German  language  appears  in  this  work  in  a  state  of 
perfection  to  which,  in  the  subsequent  periods  of  its  early 
history,  it  had  no  pretensions.  In  addition  to  all  its  natu- 
ral liveliness  and  strength,  it  seems  at  that  time  to  have 
possessed  great  flexibility,  which  soon  afterwards  gave 
place  to  a  style  of  affectation,  roughness,  and  indistinctness. 
The  heroic  legends  of  all  nations  have  a  great  deal  in  com- 
mon, so  far  as  their  essence  and  purpose  are  concerned ; 
their  variety  is  only  produced  by  their  being  imbued  with 
the  peculiar  feelings  and  composed  in  the  peculiar  meas- 
ures of  different  nations.  In  the  Nibelungen  Lied,  in  the 
same  manner  as  in  the  legends  of  Troy  and  of  Iceland,  the 
interest  turns  on  the  fate  of  a  youthful  hero,  who  is  repre- 
sented as  invested  with  all  the  attributes  of  beauty,  mag- 
nanimity, and  triumph,  but  dearly  purchasing  all  these 
perishable  glories  by  the  certainty  of  an  early  and  predict- 
ed death.  In  his  person,  as  is  usual,  we  have  a  living  type 
both  of  the  splendour  and  the  decline  of  the  heroic  world. 
The  poem  closes  with  the  description  of  a  great  catastro- 
phe borrowed  from  a  half-historical  incident  in  the  early 
traditions  of  the  north.  In  this  respect  also,  as  in  many 
others,  we  cannot  fail  to  perceive  a  resemblance  to  the 
Iliad.  If  the  last  catastrophe  of  the  German  poem  be  one 
more  tragical,  bloody,  and  litanic  than  anything  in  Homer, 
the  death  of  the  German  hero,  on  the  other  hand,  has  in  it 
more  solemnity  and  stillness,  and  is  withal  depicted  with 
more  exquisite  touches  of  tenderness  than  any  similar 
scene  in  any  heroic  poem  with  which  we  are  acquainted. 
The  Nibelungen  Lied  is,  moreover,  a  poem  abounding  in 
variety ;  in  it,  both  sides  of  human  life,  the  joyful  as  well 
as  the  sorrowful,  are  depicted  in  all  their  reality.  The 
promise  of  the  opening  stanza  is  fulfilled : 

Von  Freuden  und  Festes  Zeileo,  von  Weinen  und  von  Klagen, 
Von  kuhner  Helden  Streiten,  mogt  Ihr  nun  Wunder  horen  sagen. 

(Schlegel's  History  of  Literature,  Edin.,  1818,  vol.  i.,  p.  270, 
272.)  See,  for  farther  information,  the  Conversations-Lexi- 
con, and  the  works  there  referred  to. 

NICARA'GUA  WOOD.  The  wood  of  the  Cmsalpina 
echinata,  a  tree  growing  in  Nicaragua ;  it  is  a  species  of 
Brazil  wood.  It  is  used  with  solution  of  tin  as  a  mordant 
to  dye  a  bright  but  fugitive  red.  Nicaragua  woods  differ 
greatly  in  their  quality  as  well  as  price ;  one  sort  being  so 
deficient  in  colouring  matter  that  six  pounds  of  it  will  only 
dye  as  much  wool  or  cloth  as  one  pound  of  Brazil  wood, 
while  another  variety  of  it  will  produce  nearly  half  the  ef- 
fect of  an  equal  quantity  of  Brazil  wood,  and  will  sell  pro- 
portionally dear.     (Bancroft  on  Colours,  vol.  ii.,  p.  332.) 

NICE,  COUNCIL  OF.  The  first,  and,  according  to  most 
writers,  the  most  important,  oecumenical  council  held  in 
the  Christian  Church.  It  was  convened,  A.D.  325,  at  Ni- 
csa,  by  the  emperor  Constantine,  in  order  to  settle  the  dif- 
ferences that  had  arisen  in  the  Christian  Church  in  respect 
to  the  doctrines  of  Arius.  This  council  was  attended  by 
upwards  of  250  bishops,  of  whom  a  great  majority  came 

829 


NICENE  CREED. 

from  the  East,  by  presbyters,  deacons,  and  others  from  all 
parts  of  the  Christian  world.  The  chief  question,  as  was 
remarked  above,  was  the  Arian  heresy ;  and  the  council 
issued  in  the  excommunication  of  Arius.  (NYr  Arians.)  The 
decision  of  this  council  had  not  the  effect  of  restoring  tran- 
quillity to  the  Eastern  Church,  for  the  Arian  controversy 
was  still  warmly  carried  on;  but  it  has  supplied  that  mode 
of  Stating  the  doctrine  of  the  Divinity  (as  tar  as  relates  to 
the  Father  and  Bon]  in  which  it  has  ever  since  been  re- 
ceived by  the  orthodox.     .See  NlCIM  Crecd.  Corse  tl» 

NICE'XE  CREED.  The  confession  of  faith  in  which 
the  consnbstantjality  of  the  Father  and  Son  is  asserted 
against  the  Arians.  (See  art.  Arians.)  This  creed  was 
commenced  by  the  council  of  Nice,  A.D.  3-i>,  and  completed 
by  the  second  general  council  of  Constantinople,  A.D.  381. 
But  the  words  "and  the  Son,"  alter  those  "  who  proceed- 
ed! from  the  Father,"  were  added  by  the  Latin  Church  (cer- 
tainly before  A.D.  411),  expressing  a  point  of  doctrine  in 
which  it  differs  from  the  Greek.  The  Nicene  creed  was 
generally  used  by  the  Eastern  churches  in  the  administra- 
tion of  baptism  ;  but  was  not  inserted  in  their  daily  service 
till  the  fifth  century.  In  the  service  of  the  Church  of  Rome 
it  was  inscribed  A.D.  1014. 

NICHE.  (Fr.  niche.)  In  Architecture,  a  square  or  cy- 
lindrical recess  in  a  wall,  usually  made  for  the  reception  of 
a  statue. 

NICKEL.  A  white  metal,  ductile,  malleable,  attracted 
by  the  magnet,  and  which,  like  iron,  may  be  rendered  mag- 
netic. Its  specific  gravity  when  hammered  is  about  9.  It 
is  rather  more  fusible  than  pure  iron ;  is  not  altered  by  ex- 
posure to  air  and  moisture  at  common  temperatures,  hut  is 
slowly  oxidized  at  a  red  heat.  It  is  found  in  all  meteoric 
iron  ;  but  its  principal  ore  is  a  copper-coloured  mineral  found 
in  Westphalia,  and  called  kupfemickel,  nickel  being  a  term 
of  detraction  used  by  the  German  miners,  who  expected 
from  the  colour  of  the  ore  to  find  that  it  contained  copper. 
The  salifiable  oxide  of  nickel  consists  of  30  nickel +  8  oxy- 
gen. Its  salts  are  mostly  of  a  grass-green  colour,  and  the 
ammoniacal  solution  of  its  oxide  is  deep  blue,  like  that  of 
copper.  Ferrocyanate  of  potassa  precipitates  it  of  a  white 
or  very  pale  green  colour. 

Since  the  manufacture  of  German  silver,  or  argentane, 
became  an  object  of  commercial  importance,  the  extraction 
of  nickel  has  been  undertaken  upon  a  considerable  scale. 
The  cobalt  ores  are  its  most  fruitful  sources,  and  they  are 
now  treated  by  the  method  of  Wohler  to  effect  the  separa- 
tion of  the  two  metals.  The  arsenic  is  expelled  by  roast- 
ing the  powdered  speise  first  by  itself,  next  with  the  addition 
of  charcoal  powder,  till  the  garlic  smell  be  no  longer  per- 
ceived. The  residuum  is  to  be  mixed  with  three  parts  of 
sulphur  and  one  of  potash,  melted  in  a  crucible  with  a  gen- 
tle heat,  and  the  product  being  edulcorated  with  water 
leaves  a  powder  of  metallic  lu-tre.  which  is  a  sulphuret  of 
nickel  free  from  arsenic  ;  while  the  arsenic  associated  with 
the  sulphur,  and  combined  with  the  resulting  sulphuret  of 
potassium,  remains  dissolved.  Should  any  arsenic  still  be 
found  in  the  sulphuret,  as  may  happen  if  the  first  roasting 
heat  was  too  great,  the  above  process  must  be  repeated. 
The  sulphuret  must  be  finally  washed,  dissolved  in  concen- 
trated sulphuric  acid,  with  the  addition  of  a  little  nitric  ;  the 
metal  must  be  precipitated  by  a  carbonated  alkali,  and  the 
carbonate  reduced  with  charcoal. 

In  operating  upon  kupfemickel,  or  speise,  in  which  nick- 
el predominates,  after  the  arsenic,  iron,  and  copper  have 
been  separated,  ammonia  is  to  be  digested  upon  the  mixed 
oxides  of  cobalt  and  nickel,  which  will  dissolve  them  into 
.a  blue  liquor.  This  being  diluted  with  distilled  water  de- 
prived of  its  air  by  boiling,  is  to  be  decomposed  by  caustic 
potash  till  the  blue  colour  disappears,  when  the  whole  is  to 
be  put  into  a  bottle  tightly  stoppered,  and  set  aside  to  settle. 
The  green  precipitate  of  oxide  of  nickel,  which  slowly 
forms,  being  freed  by  decantation  from  the  supernatant  red 
solution  of  oxide  of  cobalt,  is  to  be  edulcorated  and  reduced 
to  the  metallic  state  in  a  crucible  containing  crown  glass. 
Pure  nickel  in  the  form  of  a  metallic  powder  is  readil]  ob 
tained  by  exposing  its  oxalate  to  moderate  ignition.  (Ure's 
Diet,  of  Arts,  <$-c.) 

NICOLAI'TANS.  One  of  the  earliest  Christian  sects, 
mentioned  in  the  Revelations  of  St.  John,  where  the  angel 
of  God  reproaches  the  church  of  Pergamoa  u  itli  harbouring 
persons  of  this  denomination.  They  are  there  characterized 
as  inclining  to  the  licentious  and  pagan  practices  of  the  Gen- 
tiles; but  the  fathers  have  also  accused  them  of  partaking 
in  a  great  measure  of  the  Gnostic  opinions.  It  is  doubtful, 
however,  whether  on  this  point  there  be  not  some  confu- 
sion between  the  Nicolaitans  of  the  first  and  the  followers 
of  Nicolaus  of  the  second  century.  (See  Mosheim  (transl. 
1790),  i.,  143.     (Itisclcr's  Text  Book  (transl.),  i.,  89. 

Xl<  i  ill  \  \.    A  poisonous  alkaline  base,  extracted  from 
the  leaves  and  seed  of  the  Nicotiana  taliacum.  or  common 
tobacco.     It  derives  its  name  from  Nieot,  a  Frenchman, 
who,  about  1560.  first  sent  tobacco  into  France. 
830 


NIGRINE. 

NICTITATION.  (Lat.  nicto,  I  wink.)  Winking  of  the 
eyes.  This  is  generally  a  nervous  affection,  and  very  fre- 
quently becomes  a  trick  or  habit.  Where  it  arises  from  any 
local  irritating  cause,  bathing  the  eyes  with  warm  water 
affords  relief. 

NIDDUI.  A  sort  of  minor  excommunication  among  the 
Hebrews,  which  continued  usually  about  a  month,  u  not 
removed  within  that  period,  it  was  prolonged  tor  sixty  or 
even  ninety  days.  If  during  this  term  satisfaction  was  not 
made,  the  excommunicated  person  fell  into  the  cherem, 
which  was  the  second  species  of  excommunication ;  and 
afierwards  into  the  scammatha,  which  was  the  most  dread- 
ful of  all. 

NID1FICATIOX.  (Lat.  nidus,  a  nest ;  facio,  /  make.) 
The  process  by  which  birds  construct  their  nests. 

NIELLO.  (Ital.)  A  method  of  engraving  on  plate.  See 
art.  Engraving,  where  the  process  is  described. 

NIGHT.  (Lat.  nox,  Ger.  nacht.)  The  part  of  the  natu- 
ral day  during  which  the  sun  is  below  the  horizon. 

NIGHT  HERON.     See  Ardka. 

NIGHTINGALE.  A  migratory  species  of  Passerines, 
and  the  sweetest  of  song-birds  ;  the  type  of  the  subgenus 
J.urima.  which  is  more  closely  allied,  according  to  Mr. 
Blythe,  to  the  thrush  family,  than  to  the  fauveltes  (Curru- 
cidte),  among  which  it  is  placed  by  Cuvier.  The  males  of 
the  nightingale  reach  the  southern  counties  of  England 
sometimes  in  April,  but  more  commonly  not  till  the  begin- 
ning of  May:  the  females  do  not  arrive  till  a  week  or  ten 
days  after  the  males.  Migrating  from  the  south,  they  visit 
this  country  for  the  purpose  of  breeding,  and  the  famed 
song  of  the  male  is  his  "  love  chant,"  and  ceases  when  his 
mate  has  hatched  her  brood.  "  Vigilance,  anxiety,  and  cau- 
tion now  succeed  to  harmony ;  and  his  croak  is  the  hush, 
the  warning  of  danger,  and  suspicion,  to  the  infant  charge 
and  the  mother  bird."  If  by  accident  his  mate  be  killed, 
the  male  resumes  his  song ;  and  will  continue  to  chant  very 
late  in  summer  unless  he  can  attract,  as  he  commonly  soon 
does,  another  female.  The  nightingale  feeds  chiefly  on  the 
larvte  of  insects,  which  abound  at  the  season  of  its  arrival  in 
this  country.  The  nest  is  built  near  the  ground ;  the  eggs 
are  four  or  five  in  number,  of  a  uniform  dark  brown  colour : 
the  young  are  excluded  in  the  month  of  June,  and  are  ready 
to  accompany  the  parents  in  their  southward  migration  in 
the  month  of  August. 

NIGHT-JAB.  The  name  of  a  remarkable  British  bird, 
the  type  of  the  genus  Caprimvigus,  distinguished  by  the 
wide  gape  of  its  beak,  whence  perhaps  has  arisen  the  popu- 
lar idea  of  its  sucking  the  teats  of  cattle,  and  its  other  com- 
mon name  "goat-sucker,"  the  equivalent  of  which  it  has 
received  in  most  European  languages,  and  which  Linnaeus 
has  continued  in  its  generic  designation.  It  is  scarcely  ne- 
cessary to  observe  that  the  structure  of  the  bill  renders  the 
act  of  sucking  impracticable  in  the  night  jar  or  any  other 
bird.  The  genus  Caprimulgus  is  characterized  by  a  \\  uie 
and  deeply-cleft  beak,  armed  with  strong  bristles,  and  capa- 
ble of  engulphing  the  larger  insects ;  the  nostrils  placed  at 
its  base  are  like  small  tubes;  the  wings  are  lengthened; 
the  feet  short,  feathered  to  the  toes,  which  are  connected 
together  by  a  membrane  at  their  base ;  the  claw  of  the  mid- 
dle toe  is  commonly  pectinated  at  the  base.  The  night-jars 
are  most  active  and  hunt  their  prey  in  the  dusk  ;  they  have 
the  same  light  and  soft  plumage  as  other  nocturnal  birds. 
( >ur  common  species  (Capr.  Europaus)  is  remarkable  for 
the  loud  sound  it  emits,  like  the  burr  or  jarring  of  a  spin- 
ning-wheel. 

NIGHTMARE.  An  oppressive  sensation  anil  struggle 
during  sleep,  otherwise  called  incubus  (which  see) ;  pro- 
duced usually  by  indigestion. 

Nl  GHTSHADE.     See  Dulcamara  and  Belladonna 

NIGHT  WATCH.  A  period  ofth?  night  as  distinguish- 
ed by  a  change  of  the  watch.  Among  the  Romans  the 
night  was  divided  into  tour  watches,  each  of  three  hours' 
duration,  and  styled  first,  second,  third,  and  fourth  watches, 
according  to  the  military  usage,  by  which  the  guard  u  as  re- 
lieved tour  times  dnrini;  the  night.  The  first  watch  began 
at  six  in  the  evening  and  lasted  till  nine,  according  to  our 
mode  of  computing  time;  the  second  lasted  from  nine  till 
twelve  or  midnight ;  the  third  from  midnight  till  three  in 
the  morning  (called  cock-crowing)  ;  and  the  fourth  com- 
menced at  three  and  ended  at  six,  thus  completing  the 
twelve  hours.  The  Jews  originally  divided  the  night  into 
three  watches;  bul  a!  a  later  period,  and  previously  to  the 

appearance  of  our  Saviour,  they  adopted  the  Roman  divis 
ion  of  the  night,  which  is  frequently  alluded  to  in  the  New 
Testament  In  the  Roman  mythology,  .Nox  was  the  god- 
dess who  presided  over  the  night.     She  is  represented 

Clothed  with  a  tunic  thickly  set  with  stars;  and  in  her  hon- 
our the  Romans  sacrificed  a  cock  during  the  night. 
Noc'e  de»  Nocti  cristalus  caedttur  ales. 
Quod  tepidum  vigili  provocet  ore  diem.  Ovid. 

NI'GRINE.  (Lat.  niger,  black.)  Silico-calcnreous  ox- 
ide of  titanium.    It  occurs  in  Ceylon  and  Transylvania. 


NIMBUS. 

NI'MBUS.  (Lat.)  In  Painting  and  Sculpture,  a  cir- 
cular disk  round  the  heads  of  divinities,  and  sovereigns  and 
saints. 

NIMBUS  CLOUD.    In  Meteorology.    See  Cloud. 

NI  XSIN  ROOT.  A  bitter  root,  possessed  of  the  me- 
dicinal qualities  of  ginseng.  It  is  the  root  of  the  Stum 
ninii. 

NfNTH.  In  Music,  one  of  the  dissonant  intervals  in  mu- 
sic, being,  properlv,  the  second  double. 

NI'OBE.  In  Classical  Mythology,  daughter  of  Tantalus, 
and  one  of  the  Pleiades,  married  to  Ampbjon,  king  of  The- 
bes. Proud  of  her  numerous  and  flourishing  offspring,  she 
provoked  the  anger  of  Apollo  and  Diana,  who  slew  them 
all:  she  was  herself  changed  by  Jupiter,  in  Phrygia,  into  a 
rock,  from  which  a  rivulet,  fed  by  her  tears,  continually 
pours.  The  subject  of  Xiobe  and  her  children  was  a  great 
favourite  with  the  poets  of  antiquity.  Besides  the  beautiful 
story  in  Ovid  {Met.  vi.,  146),  there  are  numerous  epigrams 
in  the  Greek  Anthology,  which  appear  to  be  descriptive 
either  of  the  group  of  figures  to  which  we  refer  below,  or 
to  some  similar  group.  See  more  especially  that  begin- 
ning, 

TavraXt  km  Nio/Jo  kAu'  epav  (pariv  ayyc\ov  arac. 

This  fable  has  also  afforded  a  subject  for  art,  and  particu- 
larly for  the  sculptor  of  the  beautiful  group  in  the  tribune  at 
Florence,  known  by  the  name  of  Xiobe  and  her  Children. 
Some  antiquaries  attribute  it  to  Scopas:  Winkelman  in- 
clines to  believe  it  the  workmanship  of  Praxiteles.  It  is 
beautifully  characterized  by  Hazlitt,  in  his  "Treatise  on 
Art,"  in  the  Ency.  Britannica. 

NTPPERS.  In  Sea  language,  small  ropes  or  selvages  for 
attaching  the  messenger  to  the  cable. 

NI'SI  PRIUS.  In  Law,  a  term  originating  in  a  legal 
fiction,  when  the  pleadings  in  a  cause  in  one  of  the  superior 
courts  of  common  law  (see  Pleading)  are  concluded,  and 
an  issue  of  fact  is  raised  between  the  parties.  The  issue 
is  appointed,  by  the  entry  on  the  record,  or  written  proceed- 
ings, to  be  tried  by  a  jury  from  the  county,  of  which  the 
proceedings  are  dated,  at  Westminster,  unless  before  the  day 
appointed  (nisi  prius)  the  judges  shall  have  come  to  the 
county  in  question.  The  judges  of  assize,  by  virtue  of  their 
commission  of  nisi  prius,  try  the  causes  thus  appointed  on 
their  several  circuits,  unless  they  are  dated  of  London  or 
Middlesex ;  in  which  case  they  are  tried  in  London  or  West- 
minster, at  the  sittings  during  or  after  term.  See  Courts, 
Superior;  and  Term. 

NITRATES.  Salts  of  the  nitric  acid;  thus  nitrate  of 
potassa  is  a  compound  of  one  atom  of  nitric  acid  and  one 
atom  of  potassa.     See  Nitre. 

Nl'TRE,  Nitrate  of  Potassa,  Saltpetre.  This  salt  con- 
sists of  54  nitric  acid  +  48  potassa  ;  its  equivalent,  therefore, 
is  102.  It  is  spontaneously  generated  in  the  soil,  and  crys- 
tallizes upon  its  surface  in  several  parts  of  the  world,  espe- 
cially in  India,  whence  nearly  the  whole  of  the  nitre  used 
in  Britain  is  derived.  It  has  occasionally  been  produced 
artificially  in  nitre  beds,  formed  of  a  mixture  of  calcareous 
soil  with  animal  matter ;  in  these  nitrate  of  lime  is  slowly 
formed,  which  is  extracted  by  lixiviation,  and  carbonate  of 
potash  added  to  the  solution,  which,  by  double  decompo- 
sition, gives  rise  to  the  formation  of  nitrate  of  potash  and 
carbonate  of  lime:  the  latter  is  precipitated;  the  former  re- 
mains in  solution,  and  is  obtained  in  crystals  by  evaporation. 
Nitre  crystallizes  in  six-sided  prisms,  soluble  in  seven  parts 
of  cold  water,  and  in  less  than  its  weight  of  boiling  water. 
It  has  a  cooling  saline  taste,  and  is  anhydrous.  At  616°  it 
fuses,  and  at  a  red  heat  is  decomposed.  Its  great  use  is  in  the 
manufacture  of  gunpowder,  and  in  the  production  of  nitric 
acid.    It  is  also  employed  in  the  preservation  of  meat. 

Nitrate  of  soda  crystallizes  in  rhombic  crystals ;  hence 
termed  cubic  nitre.  It  is  found  plentifully  in  Peru,  and 
is  imported  into  England  from  America.  It  is  used  as  a 
manure  and  as  a  source  of  nitric  acid,  but,  being  slightly  de- 
liquescent, it  cannot  be  employed  in  the  manufacture  of 
gunpowder. 

Nitre  has  sometimes  been  mistaken  for  Glauber's  salt, 
and,  when  taken  in  the  quantity  of  half  an  ounce  or  an 
ounce,  it  acts  as  a  powerful  poison.  In  such  cases  the  stom- 
ach should  be  evacuated  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  the 
symptoms  of  spasm  relieved  by  opiates.  In  doses  of  5  to  15 
grains  it  is  diuretic  and  diaphoretic. 

NITRIC  ACID.  This  acid  is  a  compound  of  1  atom  or 
equivalent  of  nitrogen  =  14,  and  5  of  oxygen  (8  X  5)  =  40; 
hence  its  equivalent  in  the  dry  or  anhydrous  state,  as  it  ex- 
ists, for  instance,  in  nitre,  is  14  +  40  =  54.  As  it  usually 
occurs  in  the  liquid  state,  it  is  a  compound  of  1  equivalent 
of  dry  acid,  54,  and  2  of  water  (9  X  2),  18 ;  hence  the  equiv- 
alent of  the  liquid  acid  is  72.  It  is  commonly  known  in 
commerce  under  the  name  of  aqua  fortis,  and  is  prepared 
by  distilling  a  mixture  of  sulphuric  acid  and  nitre.  It  is 
commonly  yellow,  or  even  deep  oramre  coloured  ;  but  it  may 
be  deprived  of  nitric  oxide,  which  occasions  this  colour,  by 


NIZAM. 

heat,  and  is  then  colourless.  It  is  intensely  corrosive  and 
sour,  fumes  when  exposed  to  air,  and  has  a  specific  gravity 
of  1*50  when  in  its  utmost  state  of  concentration.  It  boils 
at  248°,  and  freezes  at  — 50°.  It  is  a  most  powerfully  ox- 
idizing agents  and  is  decomposed  with  more  or  less  rapidity 
by  almost  all  the  metals. 

The  salts  which  it  forms  are  called  nitrates  ;  they  are  all 
soluble  in  water;  they  are  decomposed  by  heat,  and,  when 
mixed  and  gently  heated  with  sulphuric  acid,  they  evolve 
nitric  or  nitrous  acid. 

NI'TRIC  OXIDE,  or  NITROUS  GAS.  This  gas  was 
discovered  by  Hales,  and  more  accurately  studied  by  Priest- 
ley. It  is  obtained  during  the  action  of  nitric  acid  diluted 
with  about  two  parts  of  water  upon  metallic  copper;  it  is 
copiously  evolved,  and  may  be  collected  over  water.  100 
cubical  inches  of  this  gas  weigh  between  32  and  33  grains ; 
its  density,  therefore,  compared  with  air,  is  1037.  It  is  at 
once  easily  recognised  by  forming  orange-coloured  fumes 
whenever  it  escapes  into  the  air  or  comes  into  contact  with 
oxygen,  so  that  this  gas  and  oxygen  are  excellent  tests  of 
each  other's  presence.  It  consists  of  equal  volumes  of  ni- 
trogen and  oxygen,  or  of  1  equivalent  of  nitrogen  and  2  of 
oxygen  ;  hence  it  is  termed  a  binoxide  or  deutoxide  of  nitro- 
gen. The  respective  weight  of  its  components,  therefore, 
are  14  nitrogen  +  16  oxvgen,  and  the  equivalent  of  the  gas 
is  30. 

NITRITES.  Salts  of  the  nitrous  acid;  thus  nitrite  of 
potassa  is  a  compound  of  1  atom  of  nitrous  acid  and  1  atom 
of  potassa,  &c. 

XITROGEX.  (Gr.  virpov,  and  ycvvasiv,  to  produce.)  A 
simple  gaseous  body  which  forms  a  constituent  part  of  ni- 
tric acid,  and  which,  being  unrespirable,  has  also  been  term- 
ed azote  :  from  a,  privative,  and  iojf/,  life.  It  was  identified 
as  a  peculiar  gas  by  Dr.  Rutherford  in  1774,  and  shown  to 
be  one  of  the  components  of  atmospheric  air  by  Lavoisier 
in  1774.  It  is  generally  obtained  by  burning  a  piece  of  phos- 
phorus in  n  jar  full  of  air  inverted  over  water.  The  phos- 
phorus during  its  combustion  combines  with  the  oxygen  of 
the  air  to  form  phosphoric  acid,  which  is  dissolved  by  the 
water,  and  the  remaining  element  of  the  air,  namely,  the 
nitrogen,  remains.  Nitrogen  is  a  colourless,  inodorous,  and 
tasteless  gas,  not  absorbed  by  water,  and  having  no  action 
on  vegetable  colours.  It  extinguishes  all  burning  bodies,  and 
is  itself  uninflammable.  It  is  a  little  lighter  than  atmospheric 
air,  100  cubic  inches  weighing  3016  grains.  Its  equivalent 
is  14,  and  it  combines  with  oxygen  in  5  proportions,  giving 
rise  to  the  following  compounds : 

By  volume.       By  weight  Equiv.  Symbols. 
N.  O.  N.        O. 

1.  Nitrous  oxide  100  +  50  =14+  8  =  22  =  w  +    o. 

2.  Nitrous  oxide  100  +  100=14  +  16  =  30  =  7i  +  2o. 

3.  Hvponitrous  acid        100  +  150  =  14  +  24  =  38=  n  +  3o. 

4.  Nitrous  acid  100  +  200  =  14  + 32  =  46  =  h  +  4o. 

5.  Nitric  acid  100  +  250  =  14  +  40  =  54  =  n  +  5  o. 
NITROMURIATIC  ACID.    Xitrohydrochloric  acid  of 

modern  nomenclature.  The  mixture  of  nitric  and  of  muri- 
atic (or  hydrochloric)  acid ;  formerly  called  aqua  regia, 
from  its  solvent  power  over  gold,  the  king  of  the  metals. 

XITROXA'PTHALASE.  A  compound  resulting  from 
the  action  of  nitric  acid  on  napthalin:  a  modification  of  it 
has  been  termed  nitronapthalese. 

NITROSA'CCHARIC  ACID.  By  the  action  of  sulphu- 
ric acid  on  gelatine  a  peculiar  saccharine  matter  is  formed, 
which  combines  with  nitric  acid,  and  forms  a  crystallized 
acid  designated  as  above. 

NITROSULPHU'RIC  ACID.  An  acid  resulting  from 
the  mixture  of  one  part  of  nitre  with  eight  or  ten  parts  of 
sulphuric  acid.  It  was  originally  proposed  by  Mr.  Keir  as 
a  useful  agent  for  separating  the  silver  from  the  copper  of 
old  plated  goods.  At  the  temperature  of  about  200°  it  dis- 
solves silver,  while  it  scarcely  acts  upon  copper  or  lead, 
unless  diluted,  or  at  higher  temperatures. 

NITROUS  ACID.  When  two  volumes  of  nitric  oxide 
and  one  of  oxvgen  are  mingled  in  an  exhausted  glass  globe 
they  form  a  dense  orange-coloured  vapour,  which  may  be 
liquefied  by  cold,  and  which  is  nitrous  acid.  Its  elements 
are  so  condensed  that  1  volume  of  nitrogen  and  2  of  oxygen 
form  1  volume  of  nitrous  acid  vapour,  the  specific  gravity 
of  which  is  3-17.  The  presence  of  this  vapour  renders  nitric 
acid  red  and  fuming,  in  which  state  it  is  commonly  termed 
nitrous  acid. 

NITROUS  OXIDE.  Protoxide  of  nitrogen ;  a  gas  ob- 
tained by  heating  nitrate  of  ammonia,  which  salt  is  thus 
resolved  "into  nitrous  oxide  gas  and  water.  When  nitrous 
oxide  is  respired,  it  produces  effects  somewhat  similar  to 
those  of  intoxication  ;  hence  it  has  been  called  laughing  gas. 

N I Z  \  M.  The  title  of  one  of  the  native  sovereigns  of 
India,  between  whom  and  the  East  India  Company  many 
subsidiary  treaties  exist.  This  title  is  derived  from  Xizam- 
ul-Mulk,  who,  in  the  beginning  of  last  century,  obtained  pos- 
session of  the  Mohammedan  conquests  in  the  Deccan  ;  his 
successors  in  the  sovereignty  having  assumed  his  name. 

831 


NOBILISSIMUS. 

as  their  title  of  dignity,  which  they  have  retained  to  this 
day. 

NOBILISSIMUS,  was  a  title  of  dignity  given  to  the 
princes  of  the  imperial  family  of  Rome.  It  is  said  by  Don 
cine  to  have  originated  with  Justin,  but  others  hold  it  to  be 
of  much  more  ancient  date. 

NOBI'LITV.  The  general  appellation  for  a  distinguished 
Bidet  of  society  which  exists  in  every  civilized  country, 
with  the  exception  of  the  United  Stales  and  Norway.  (See 
Peerage.)  In  Roman  antiquity  persons  were  not  noble  by 
birtli.  but  in  consequence  of  the  public  offices  held  by  their 
ancestors,  who  had  the  sole  right  to  bequeath  their  images 
to  their  descendants  (Jus  imaginum).  (See  Heraldry.) 
Originally  the  patricians  were  the  only  nobles,  they  alone 
being  eligible  to  the  magistracy  :  but  when  the  equites,  and 
even  the  plcbs  were  admissible,  the  great  body  of  the  nobles 
hegantobe  formed.  The  first  in  any  family  who  was  raised  to 
a  curule  dignity  was  styled  narus  homo.    See  Novi  Homines. 

NO'BLE,  an  English  coin  of  the  middle  ages,  value  6s. 
8d.,  current  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  According  to  Knigh- 
ton, the  rose  noble  was  a  gold  coin  in  use  about  the  year  1344. 

NOCTHORA.     .See  Saoouin. 

NOCTILU'CA.  A  term  applied  by  Boyle  and  some  of 
the  older  chemical  philosophers  to  phosphorus. 

NOCTU'RN.  (Lat.  nox,  night.)  An  office  consisting  of 
psalms  and  prayers,  celebrated  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  at  midnight,  after  the  example  of  David  (Ps.  118). 
It  was  said  to  have  been  introduced  into  the  West  by  St. 
Ambrose.     It  now  forms  part  of  the  service  of  matins. 

NOCTU'RNALS.  Nocturna.  (Lat.  nox,  night.)  A  tribe 
of  Raptorial  birds,  including  those  which  fly  by  night,  and 
have  the  eyes  directed  forwards ;  also  a  family  of  Lepidop- 
terous  insects,  which,  in  like  manner,  are  active  chiefly  in 
the  night  season. 

NODE,  in  Surgery,  is  a  hard  tumour  upon  a  bone,  which 
creates  considerable  pain,  and  often  is  attended  by  caries  or 
necrosis.  They  are  most  common  upon  the  tibia  and  bones 
of  the  head  and  fore-arm,  where  they  are  thinly  covered 
by  flesh. 

NODES,  in  Astronomy,  are  the  two  points  in  which  the 
orbit  of  a  planet  intersects  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic.  The 
point  in  which  the  centre  of  a  planet  passes  from  the  south 
to  the  north  side  of  the  ecliptic  is  called  the  ascending  node, 
and  in  astronomical  computations  is  usually  indicated  by 
the  symbol  il ;  the  opposite  point,  or  that  in  which  the 
planet  passes  to  the  south  side  of  the  ecliptic,  is  called  the 
descending  node,  and  is  indicated  by  7J.  The  straight  line 
which  joins  these  two  points,  formed  by  the  intersection  of 
the  plane  of  the  planet's  orbit  with  the  plane  of  the  eclip- 
tic, is  called  the  line  of  the  nodes.  The  nodes  of  the  lunar 
orbit  were  anciently  called  the  head  and  tail  of  the  dragon. 

The  position  of  the  nodes  on  the  ecliptic  is  one  of  the 
elements  by  which  the  situation  of  the  plane  of  an  orbit  in 
space  is  defined  :  in  fact,  it  is  easy  to  see  that,  if  the  position 
of  the  line  of  the  nodes,  and  also  the  inclination  of  the  orbit 
to  the  ecliptic,  be  known,  the  position  of  the  plane  of  the 
orbit  is  entirely  determined.  The  two  nodes  being  distant 
180°,  it  is  only  necessary  to  indicate  the  position  of  one  of 
them  :  the  longitude  of  the  ascending  node,  or  its  distance 
from  the  first  point  of  Aries,  is  the  element  used  by  astron- 
omers. In  all  the  planetary  orbits  the  line  of  the  nodes  is 
variable,  having  a  retrograde  motion  from  east  to  west  in 
respect  of  the  fixed  stars,  but  so  slow  that  it  amounts  only 
to  a  few  seconds  in  a  year.  The  regression  of  the  moon's 
nodes  is  very  considerable,  as  it  completes  a  revolution  in 
about  lit  years.  (Sec  Moon.)  The  retrograde  motion  of 
the  nodes  of  all  the  planets  is  a  necessary  consequence  of 
their  mutual  attractions.  For  the  positions  and  variations 
of  the  nodes  of  the  different  planets,  see  Planet. 

NODULE.  (Eat.  nodus,  a  knot.)  Rounded  irregular 
lumps  or  masses. 

NO'DUS.  In  Botany,  a  point  situated  upon  the  axis  of  a 
plant,  whence  a  Leaf  or  leaf-bad  originates. 

NOEL.  The  French  name  of  Christmas  Day,  derived 
either  from  dies  natalia  (I. at.  birthday), OS  from  an  abbrevi- 
ation of  the  word  Emmanuel. 

NOETIANS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  sect  so  called 
from  Noetus,  an  Ephesian,  the  master  of  Sabellius.   They 

acknowledged  only  our  person  in  the  divinity;  and,  COnse 

quently,  were  accused  of  maintaining  that  God  the  Father 
had  suffered  on  the  cross.     See  Patkii'assians. 

NO'GGIN'G.  In  Architecture,  brickwork  carried  up  be- 
tween  upright  pieces  or  quarters. 

NO'CGING  PIECES.  In  Architecture,  the  horizontal 
pieces  of  timber  fitting  in  between  the  quarters,  to  which 
they  are  nailed  in  a  brick-nogged  partition,  which  the} 
serve  to  steady  and  strengthen. 

NO  i.l  ME  TA'NGERE,  in  Surgery,  is  a  disease  of  the 
skin,  commencing  with  small  ulcerations  which  destroy 
tin'  part.  They  sometimes  afTect  the  cartilage  of  the  nose, 
which  is  destroyed  by  their  progress;  almost  all  appllca 
tions  rather  increase  the  progress  than  allay  it. 
832 


NOMOCA.NON. 

NOLLE  PRO'SEQUl.     In  Law,  an  acknowledgment 

or  agreement  by  the  plaintiff  in  a  suit  that  he  will  not  far- 
ther prosecute  it,  either  as  to  the  whole  or  a  part  of  the 
cause  of  action  (as,  for  instance,  where,  on  the  defendant's 
demurring  to  one  count  in  a  declaration,  the  plaintiff  enters 
a  nolle  prosequi  as  to  that  count,  and  proceeds  to  trial  on 
the  other  counts) ;  or  as  to  one  or  more  out  of  several  de- 
fendants. 

NO'MADES.  (Gr.  vonaSes  ;  from  vojioc,  pasture.)  Tribes 
of  men  without  fixed  habitation.  The  nomades  of  classi- 
cal times  were  generally  tribes  devoted  to  pastoral  pursuits  ; 
for  the  ancients  knew  of  no  races  of  savages  subsisting 
wholly  by  the  chase.  The  principal  nomadic  tribes  of  an- 
tiquity were  those  of  southern  Russia  and  the  interior  of 
Asia,  from  whom  sprung,  in  the  decline  of  the  Roman  em- 
pire, many  of  the  tribes  which  overran  western  Europe ; 
and,  at  a  later  era,  those  which  conquered  empires  in  wes- 
tern and  southern  Asia. 

NOME.  (Gr.  vofioi ;  from  vtfiw,  I  divide.)  The  Greek 
names  for  the  provinces  into  which  Egypt  was  divided  from 
the  most  remote  antiquity.  According  to  Diodorus  Siculus, 
the  division  into  nomes  was  performed  by  Sesostris,  whom 
some  modem  writers  consider  as  identical  with  the  Remeses 
II.  of  the  monuments  ;  but  it  is  supposed  to  have  subsisted 
from  the  time  of  the  earliest  Pharaohs.  There  were  36 
nomes,  which,  in  the  time  of  Strabo,  were  thus  divided : 
10  in  the  Thebaid,  16  in  the  Heptanomis,  or  intermediate 
district  (which,  according  to  its  name,  probably  consisted  in 
earlier  times  of  7  only),  10  in  the  Delta.  This  division 
was  not  materially  altered  until  the  latest  age  of  the  Ro- 
man government.  (See  D'Anville,  JUemoires  sur  V Egypt  ; 
Wilkinson' s  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient  Egyp- 
tians, vol.  ii.) 

NO'MENCLA'TOR.  An  officer  employed  by  the  candi- 
dates for  the  great  state  offices  of  Rome,  to  accompany 
them  through  the  streets  and  whisper  them  the  names  of 
such  citizens  as  they  might  meet,  in  order  that  they  might 
then  address  them  by  name,  and  canvass  their  votes.  It  is 
derived  from  Lat.  nomen,  and  the  old  word  calo,  J  call. 

NO'MENCLA'TURE,  was  originally  applied  to  a  cata- 
logue of  the  most  ordinary  words  in  any  language,  with 
their  significations,  tec,  drawn  up  for  the  purpose  of  facili- 
tating their  use  and  retention  to  those  who  are  endeavour- 
ing to  acquire  a  language.  But,  in  a  more  general  sense, 
this  term  is  employed  to  denote  the  language  peculiar  to 
any  science  or  art:  thus  we  speak  of  the  nomenclature  of 
chemistry,  botany,  &.c. 

NO'MINALISTS.  A  term  originally  applied  to  a  scho- 
lastic sect  which  arose  in  the  11th  century.  Its  founder 
was  John  Roscelin,  a  churchman  of  Compiegne,  who  as- 
serted that  general  terms  have  no  corresponding  reality 
either  in  or  out  of  our  minds,  being,  in  truth,  words,  and) 
nothing  more  (flatus  vocis).  This  doctrine  naturally  ex- 
cited great  consternation  among  the  schoolmen,  with 
whom,  hitherto,  all  that  was  real  in  nature  was  conceived 
to  depend  on  these  general  notions  or  essences.  Its  promul- 
gator underwent  much  persecution  for  his  opinions,  and 
was  ultimately  compelled  to  retract  them,  as  inconsistent 
with  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  as  it  was  then  stated.  He 
found,  however,  an  able  successor  in  the  person  of  Peter 
Abelard,  who  attracted  numerous  disciples  by  his  dialecti- 
cal skill  and  eloquence,  and,  with  his  followers,  W  horn  he 
led  in  a  body  to  Paris,  was  the  occasion  of  founding  the 
celebrated  university  of  that  city.  After  his  death,  the  an- 
cient realism  was  restored  to  its  supremacy;  nor  do  we 
meet  with  a  nominalist  until  the  13th  century,  when  Wil- 
liam of  Occam  revived  his  doctrines  under  some  modifica- 
tions. The  last-mentioned  philosopher  may,  in  fact,  with 
greater  justice,  be  styled  a  coneeptualist ;  as  lie  distinctly 
stated  the  formation  of  general  te-uis  to  depend  on  the 
conditions  of  thought,  and  hence  to  possess  a  species  of  sub- 
jective reality,  as  the  sign  or  indication  of  an  actual  process 
of  thought,  though  not  either  distinct  objects  of  conscious- 
ness or  realities  in  nature.  Those  who  hold  either  of  the 
latter  theories  arc  realists.  The  controversy  is  one  which 
has  excited  great  attention  among  modern  philosophers, 
among  whom  llohhes  and  I  herald  Stewart  may  be  considered 
strict  nominalists,  while  Locke  and  Dr.  Thomas  Brown  style 
themselves  conceptUOllStS.  There  are,  however,  expressions 
in  Locke's  Writings  which  would  rather  stamp  him  as  a  real- 
ist, under  the  former  of  the  tuo  modifications  which  we 
have  given  above.  (See  articles  Scholastic:  Philosophy, 
Thomists,  Scotists.)  There  are  very  profound  observa- 
tions on  the  subject  of  this  controversy  in  the  first  volume 
of  Hnlliun'.i  Literature  of  the  Miildle  Ages.  See  also 
Brucker's  Histqria  Critica  PhiloBophia. 

No'Mi.wriVi:  case,  in  Grammar,  that  form  of  a 
noun  which  names  or  designates  a  substance  absolutely,  or 
without  relation  to  any  other  substance. 

NOMO'CANON.  (Gr.  vonoc.  law  ;  Kavwv,  canon  or  rule.) 
In  Ecclesiastical  Law,  a  work  in  which  canons  of  the 
Church,  and  imperial  laws  touching  the  same  subject,  are 


NOMOPHYLACES. 

collected  and  compared.  The  first  was  made  by  Joannes 
Scliolasticus  (A.D.  551).  The  most  celebrated  was  that  of 
Photius,  patriarch  of  Constantinople. 

NO'MOPHY'LACES.  (Gr.  vou.o;,  the  law,  and  <pv\aices, 
guardians.)  Among  the  Athenians,  magistrates  or  legal 
officers,  whose  business  it  was  to  see  that  neither  the  privi- 
leged citizens  nor  the  lower  classes  made  any  innovation 
upon  the  laws.  They  held  seats  in  all  the  public  assem- 
blies, and  during  the  public  games  and  festivals  had  chairs 
erected  for  them  opposite  to  those  of  the  arcbons.  This  was 
also  the  appellation  of  those  officers  appointed  to  communi- 
cate to  the  combatants  the  laws  of  the  Olympic  games. 

NOMO'THET^E.  (Gr.  vouos,  law,  and  ridriui,  J  lay 
down.)  A  body  of  citizens  at  Athens,  chosen  by  lot  out  of 
such  as  had  been  judges  in  the  court  Helia;a,  to  the  number 
of  a  thousand.  Their  office  seems  to  have  been  a  sort  of  in- 
spectorship of  existing  laws,  with  the  duty  of  proposing 
amendments. 

NO'N^E  ET  DECIM.E.  In  Ecclesiastical  Law,  the  con- 
tributions of  tenants  of  the  Church  were  anciently  so  called : 
the  nonae,  or  ninth  part,  standing  for  a  species  of  rent,  the 
J. 'nihil'  for  the  tithe  due  to  the  Church. 

NO'NAGE.    In  Law.     See  Infant,  Minority. 

NONAGE'SIMAL  (Lat.  nonagesiraus,  the  ninetieth), 
jn  Astronomy,  is  the  ninetieth  degree  of  the  ecliptic,  reckon- 
ed from  either  of  the  points  in  which  it  is  intersected  by  the 
.horizon.  It  is  therefore  the  highest  point  of  the  ecliptic  at 
any  instant,  and  its  altitude  is  equal  to  the  distance  of  the 
pole  from  the  zenith.  The  nonagesimal  is  used  in  calcu- 
lating the  parallaxes  of  the  moon. 

NO'NAGON.  (Lat.  novem,  and  ywvia,  angle.)  In 
Geometry,  a  plane  figure  having  nine  angles,  and,  conse- 
quently, nine  sides.  The  area  of  a  regular  nonagon  is  = 
|  tan.  70°  =  6-1818242,  the  side  being  L 

NON  COMPOS  MENTIS.  (Lat.)  In  Law,  a  general 
term  for  those  afflieted  with  mental  incapacity.  See  Luna- 
cy, Idiot. 

NQ'NCONDUCTOR.  This  term  is  generally  limited  to 
certain  phenomena  connected  with  the  transfer  of  heat  and 
electricity  through  bodies  ;  those  substances  which  resist  the 
direct  passage  of  those  influences  (and  occasionally  also  of 
sound)  are  called  nonconductors. 

NONCONFORMISTS.  A  genera!  term  under  which  all 
the  religious  communities  which  do  not  conform  to  the 
liturgy  of  the  church  established  in  England  may  be  com- 
prehended. It  belongs  more  properly  to  the  large  body  of 
clergy  who,  at  the  Restoration,  refused  to  subscribe  to  the 
Act  of  Uniformity,  and  were,  in  consequence,  ejected  from 
their  benefices  on  St.  Bartholomew's  day,  16G2.  This  act 
was  first  promulgated  by  Elizabeth,  and  required  all  the 
clergy  to  use  the  Book  of  Gemmen  Prayer,  and  inflicted  se- 
vere penalties  upon  any  one  who  should  be  convicted  of 
speaking  or  preaching  against  it.  The  act  of  Charles  II.  con- 
tained still  stricter  provisions,  enjoining  every  beneficed  per- 
son not  only  to  use  the  book,  but  to  declare  his  assent  and 
consent  to  every  part  of  it:  and  enacting  that,  unless  this 
was  done  on  a  certain  day,  he  should  be,  ipso  facto,  ejected. 
Other  declarations  were  also  to  be  subscribed,  as,  "That  it 
is  unlawful  to  take  arms  against  the  king  on  any  pretence 
whatsoever ;"  "  That  no  obligation  from  the  covenant  lies 
upon  himself  or  any  other  person."  It  is  said  that  two 
thousand  persons  resigned  their  preferments  in  consequence ; 
and  even  after  this  their  party  was  subjected  to  the  farther 
infliction  of  the  conventicle  acts,  which  forbade  more  than 
five  persons  besides  the  family  to  assemble  together  in  any 
house  for  religious  worship;  and  the  five  mile  act,  which 
subjected  to  penalties  and  imprisonment  any  nonconformist 
clergyman  who  should  take  up  his  residence  within  five 
miles  of  any  corporate  town,  or  other  place  where  he  had 
been  minister.     See  Dissenters. 

NONES.  (Lat.  novem,  nine.)  In  the  Calendar,  one  of 
the  three  divisions  of  the  Roman  month,  and  so  called  be- 
cause they  fell  on  the  ninth  day,  reckoned  inclusively,  be- 
fore the  ides.  In  the  months  of  March,  May,  July,  and  Oc- 
tober, the  ides  fell  on  the  15th  day  of  the  month,  and  the 
nones,  consequently,  on  the  7th.  In  the  other  months,  the 
ides  were  on  the  13th  day,  and  the  nones  on  the  5th.  See 
■Calendar,  Calends,  Ides. 

NON  EST  INVENTUS.  (He  is  not  found.)  In  Law, 
the  formal  Latin  words  anciently  used  in  the  sheriff's  re- 
turn to  a  writ  of  eapias,  that  the  defendant  was  not  to  be 
found  within  kis  bailiwick. 

NO'NIdS.  A  name  frequently  given  to  that  useful  con- 
trivance, the  vernier,  for  subdividing  the  divisions  of  gradu- 
ated arcs  or  scales  into  minute  parts,  from  its  invention  hav- 
ing been  erroneously  ascribed  to  Pedro  Nunez,  or  Nonius,  a 
Portuguese,  who  lived  in  the  early  part  of  the  16th  century. 
The  contrivance  employed  by  Nonius  was  widely  different 
from  the  vernier  now  universally  used.  It  consisted  in  de- 
scribing within  the  same  quadrant  45  concentric  arcs,  di- 
viding the  outermost  into  90  equal  parts,  the  next  into  89,  the 


NON-RESISTANCE,  DOCTRINE  OF. 

next  into  88,  and  so  on,  the  innermost  being  consequently 
divided  into  46  only.  With  this  instrument  the  observed  al- 
titude of  an  object  could  be  read  off  on  the  outermost  arc 
only  to  degrees,  but  the  fractions  were  obtained  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner:  The  plumb-line,  or  movable  index,  must 
intersect  one  of  the  concentric  arcs  at,  or  very  near  a  point 
of  division.  Now,  it  is  evident  that  the  number  of  parts 
read  off  at  this  point  must  be  in  the  same  proportion  to  the 
degrees  and  fractions  of  a  degree  intercepted  on  the  outer- 
most arc,  as  the  number  of  parts  into  which  the  arc  con- 
taining the  point  is  divided,  is  to  90°.  The  division  read  off 
being  therefore  multiplied  by  90,  and  divided  by  the  number 
of  parts  in  the  arc,  gives  the  observed  altitude  to  fractions 
of  a  degree.  Thus,  if  the  plumb-line  intercept  25  parts  ex- 
actly on  the  arc  in  which  the  number  of  parts  is  78,  the  an- 
gle measured  will  be  28846°:  the  fraction  is  easily  con- 
verted into  minutes  and  seconds.  Nonius  supposed  that 
this  artifice  was  known  to  Ptolemy.  It  was  adopted  by 
Tycho  Brahe,  but  soon  abandoned  by  him  for  the  method 
of  diagonal  divisions,  in  consequence  of  the  difficulty  of  di- 
viding accurately  the  different  arcs.  (Robin's  Mathemati- 
cal Tracts,  vol.  ii.)     See  Vernier. 

NON-JU'RORS.  In  English  History,  that  party  among 
the  clergy  of  the  national  church  who  refused  to  take  the 
oath  of  allegiance  to  the  new  government  after  the  Revolu- 
tion. As  many  of  these  clergy,  at  the  same  time  that  they 
opposed  a  conscientious  resistance  to  the  usurpations  of 
James  II.,  had,  nevertheless,  continued  to  preach  submission 
to  his  authority,  on  the  principle  of  his  divine  right  by  here- 
ditary succession  to  the  obedience  of  his  subjects,  it  became 
impossible  for  them  with  consistency  to  submit  to  a  mon- 
arch crowned  only  by  authority  of  parliament.  It  was 
therefore  much  desired  by  many  friends  of  the  new  govern- 
ment to  make  some  exception  in  their  favour,  and  relieve 
them  from  the  necessity  of  taking  the  oaths :  but  an  amend- 
ment made  by  the  House  of  Lords  in  the  act  requiring  this 
oath,  which  purposed  to  excuse  the  clergy  from  taking  it 
unless  called  on  by  the  privy  council,  was  rejected  by  the 
Commons.  Eight  bishops,  including  the  primate  Sancroft, 
with  about  four  hundred  clergy,  were,  in  consequence,  ex- 
cluded from  their  sees  and  benefices.  The  original  non- 
jurors were  peaceable  and  honest  men  for  the  most  part ; 
but  many  of  them  soon  became  implicated  in  all  the  vio- 
lence of  the  Jacobite  faction.    See  Jacobites,  Pretender. 

NON-NA'TURALS.  A  term  applied  by  the  old  physi- 
cians to  certain  matters  which  are  necessary  to  life,  but  do 
not  form  a  part  of  the  living  body  ;  such  as  air,  food,  excre- 
tions, sleep,  &c. 

NONPARE'IL.     See  Printing. 

NON-RESISTANCE,  THE  DOCTRINE  OF,  in  Politics, 
is  that  which  inculcates  the  unlawfulness,  on  religious 
grounds,  of  resistance  by  force  to  the  commands  of  a  prince 
or  magistrate.  This  is  strongly  laid  down  by  the  inspired 
writers,  and  especially  by  St.  Paul,  in  the  13th  chapter  of  his 
Epistle  to  the  Romans.  In  the  ordinary  acceptation  of  the 
doctrine,  it  is  taken  to  enforce  the  duty  of  obedience  to  the 
lawful  commands  of  magistrates.  But,  in  that  peculiar 
sense  which  is  attached  to  it  in  English  constitutional  his- 
tory, it  means  unqualified  obedience  to  every  command, 
especially  of  the  prince  or  supreme  magistrate,  whether  law- 
ful or  not ;  and,  consequently,  condemns  all  forcible  opposi- 
tion even  to  tyranny  or  usurpation.  But  the  advocates  of 
non-resistance,  in  this  extended  sense,  do  not  appear  to 
have  ever  contended  that  it  applied  to  commands  of  inferior 
magistrates  in  the  same  sense  and  degree  as  to  those  of  the 
highest:  they  therefore  supposed  a  peculiar  sanctity  in  the 
person  and  office  of  the  ruler  which  no  other  officer  possess- 
ed ;  and  thus  combined  the  doctrine  of  divine  right  with 
that  of  passive  obedience  or  non-resistance.  These  doc- 
trines are  plainly  laid  down  in  the  homilies  of  the  Church 
of  England;  in  which,  in  the  phrase  of  Bolingbroke  (State 
of  Parties),  they  skulked  until  the  reign  of  James  I.  (See 
especially  that  On  Wilful  Disobedience  and  Rebellion.)  But 
in  that  reign  they  were  more  generally  avowed  by  the 
learned  and  loyal;  and,  in  1622,  the  University  of  Oxford 
sanciioned  them  by  a  solemn  decree.  The  events  which  led 
to  and  followed  the  great  rebellion,  naturally  led  men's 
minds  to  pay  greater  attention  to  the  speculative  part  of 
politics ;  and,  while  Hobbes  was  framing  a  theory  of  abso- 
lute monarchy  on  the  principle  of  the  social  contract,  a 
different  class  of  reasoners  arrived  at  the  same  result 
through  a  peculiar  interpretation  of  Scripture.  Sir  Robert 
Filmer  (especially  in  his  Patriarcha),  Bishop  Sanderson, 
and  others,  made  the  regal  power  originate  in  the  patriar- 
chal ;  and  endeavoured  to  prove  that  all  other  forms  of  gov- 
ernment, being  unrecognised  by  Scripture,  were  usurpations. 
Dean  Sherlock,  the  ablest  writer  of  the  school  of  divine 
ri»ht  (see  his  Case  of  Resistance  to  Supreme  Powers,  1684) 
endeavoured  to  prove  the  absurdity  of"  the  theory  of  the  social 
contract,  and  to  show  from  Scripture  the  unlawfulness  of  re- 
sisting any  command,  even  of  a  usurping  power.  It  is  in  an- 
swer to  these  reasoners  that  Locke's  Essay  on  Government 
3F  833 


NONSUIT. 

was  written.  In  it  he  confutes  the  arguments  for  unqualified 
non-resistance,  by  showing  that  Scripture  and  reason  make 
no  distinction  between  inferior  and  superior  magistrates, 
and  reducing  his  opponents  to  the  absurdity  of  affirming 
that  any  command,  however  extravagant,  of  the  lowest 
magistrate,  must  be  obeyed.  In  1683,  the  University  of  Ox- 
ford pronounced  its  second  decree  in  favour  of  the  tenets  of 
divine  right  and  non-resistance.  But  the  current  of  court 
opinion  changed  at  the  Revolution.  The  doctrine  of  non- 
resistanre  was  almost  proscribed ;  but  maintained  by  the 
non-jurors,  who  professed  to  obey  the  usurping  government, 
while  they  refused  to  recog-nise  it.  In  1709  it  was  preached 
by  Sacheverell,  with  the  apparently  inconsistent  result  of  a 
riot.  His  sermon,  together  with  the  Oxford  decree,  were 
burned  by  order  of  the  House  of  Lords.  But  the  doctrine  is 
at  this  day  frequently  asserted  by  the  high  church  party. 
(See  Dr.  Pusey's  Sermon  on  the  ath  of  November,  1838.) 

NO'NSUIT,  in  Law.  is  the  renunciation  of  a  suit  by  the 
plaintiff.  It  is  either  adjudged,  in  consequence  of  certain 
neglects  or  delays  in  the  prosecution  of  the  suit,  or  it  is 
voluntarily  elected  by  the  plaintiff.  It  is  usual  to  call  on 
the  plaintiff,  when  he  is  unable  to  make  out  a  case  to  sup- 
port his  pleadings  for  default  of  the  necessary  evidence, 
and  the  jury  are  about  to  give  their  verdict,  to  elect,  if  he 
pleases,  to  abandon  his  prosecution  and  submit  to  a  nonsuit, 
upon  payment  of  costs.  The  effect  of  which  is,  that  as  a 
nonsuit  is  not,  except  in  certain  cases,  a  peremptory  bar,  he  is 
able  to  bring  another  action  afterwards  for  the  same  cause. 

Judgment  as  in  case  of  a  nonsuit,  arises  from  the  stat- 
ute 14  G.  2,  c.  17,  which  enacts  that  where  any  issue  is 
joined  in  an  action  in  the  courts  of  record  at  Westminster, 
and  the  plaintiff  has  neglected  to  bring  the  issue  to  be 
tried,  the  court  may,  unless  it  sees  reason  for  allowing  the 
plaintiff  farther  time,  give  judgment  for  the  defendant  as 
in  case  of  a  nonsuit,  which  has  the  same  force  as  a  non- 
suit, both  as  to  costs  and  as  to  its  effects  on  the  action. 

NOOTH'S  APPARATUS.  A  series  of  three  glass  ves- 
sels, placed  vertically,  for  the  purpose  of  impregnating  wa- 
ter with  carbonic  acid  gas.  The  lower  vessel  contains  the 
marble  and  muriatic  acid  for  the  evolution  of  the  gas  ;  the 
central  vessel  holds  the  water  through  which  it  is  made 
to  pass,  under  the  pressure  of  the  column  of  water  in  the 
third  or  upper  vessel,  which  is  closed  by  a  conical  stopper, 
which  serves  as  a  safety  valve. 

No'PAL.  The  Cactus  opuntia.  The  plant  upon  which 
the  cochineal  insect  chiefly  breeds. 

NORFOLK  CRAG.  A' tertiary  formation  which  rests 
on  London  clay  or  chalk,  and  includes  marine  shells.  A 
line  drawn  from  Cromer  on  the  northern  coast  of  Norfolk 
to  Waybum,  about  six  miles  west,  and  thence  extending 
southerly  about  eighteen  miles  towards  Norwich,  includes 
all  the  regular  beds  of  this  rock.     See  Geology. 

NORMAL.  (Lat.  norma,  a  rule.)  An  adjective  signify- 
ing that  the  ordinary  structure  peculiar  to  a  family,  a  ge- 
nus, or  a  species,  is  in  no  wise  departed  from. 

Normal.  A  term  sometimes  used  for  perpendicular.  In 
the  geometry  of  curve  lines,  the  normal  to  a  curve  at  any 
point  is  a  straight  line  perpendicular  to  the  tangent  at  that 
point,  and  included  between  the  curve  and  the  axis  of  the 
abscissa. 

NORMAN  ARCHITECTURE.  See  Architecture, 
and  English  Architecture. 

NORNS.  In  Scandinavian  Mythology,  the  three  fates, 
equivalent  to  the  Moirai  of  the  Greeks.  Their  names  were 
Urd,  Worand,  and  Sculd ;  or  Past,  Present,  and  Future. 
They  were  represented  as  endowed  with  great  beauty, 
but  of  a  melancholy  and  sombre  disposition;  thev  were 
consulted  even  by  the  gods,  and  their  decrees  were  sure 
and  irrevocable. 

NO'RROY.     SeeKnra  at  Arms,  Herald. 

NORTH.  (Germ,  nord.)  In  Geography,  one  of  the  four 
cardinal  points  of  the  horizon  ;  that  which  in  European  lat- 
itudes is  opposite  the  sun  at  mid-day. 

N<  (RTHERN  LIGHTS.  The  name  popularly  given  to 
the  aurora  borealis. 

NORTHING,  in  Navigation,  is  the  difference  of  lati- 
tude made  by  a  ship  in  sailing  northwards. 

NOSING  OF  A  STEP.  In  Architecture,  the  projecting 
rounded  edges  of  tin-  tread  of  a  sup. 

NOSOLOGY.  (Gr.  vooo?,  a  disease,  and  Aoyo?,  a  dis- 
course.) The  doctrine  of  diseases.  The  term  is  generally 
applied  to  the  classification  and  nomenclature  of  diseases, 
and  to  their  general  methodical  arrangement.    See  Disease. 

NOSTA'LGIA.  (Gr.  vootcui,  I  return,  and  oAyo?,  grief. 
A  species  of  melancholy,  resulting  from  absence  from 
home  and  country. 

NOSTRUM.  (Lat.)  Literally,  our  own;  applied  to 
quack  medicines  retained  for  profit  in  the  hands  of  tin  in 
ventor  or  discoverer,  or  of  his  assignee. 

NO'TABLES.     In  French  history,  the  deputies  of  the 
states  under  the  old  regime,  appointed  and  convoked  on 
curtain  occasions  by  the  king.    In  17B0'  this  assembly  was 
834 


NOTATION. 

i  summoned,  1G0  years  after  its  last  meeting,  and  proposed 
various  reforms  in  different  branches  of  the  government: 
it  again  met,  for  the  last  time,  in  1788. 

NO TACA'NTHA.  (Gr.  vuroi,  the  back,  and  aicavOa,  a 
spine.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Dipterous  insects,  com- 
prehending those  in  which  the  upper  part  of  the  thorax  or 
scutellum  is  armed  with  teeth  or  spines. 

NOTARIES,  APOSTOLICAL  AM)  IMPERIAL.  Pub- 
lic Notaries  appointed  by  the  popes  and  emperors,  in  virtue 
of  their  supposed  jurisdiction  over  other  powers,  to  exer- 
cise their  functions  in  foreign  states.  Edward  II.  forbade 
the  imperial  notaries  to  practise  in  England.  Charles  VI II. 
of  France,  in  1490,  abolished  both  these  classes  of  notaries, 
and  forbade  his  lay  subjects  to  employ  them. 

NOTARY,  or  NOTARY  PUBLIC.  In  English  Law,  one 
who  publicly  attests  documents  or  writings,  chiefly  in  mer- 
cantile matters,  to  make  them  authentic  in  a  foreign  country ; 
protests  foreign  bills  of  exchange,  and  the  like.  The  stat- 
utes 41  G.  3,  c.  79,  and  3  &  4  W.  4,  c.  70,  regulate  the  admis- 
sion of  notaries  in  England.  In  London,  they  must  have  been 
apprenticed  seven  years  to  a  notary  before  such  admission. 

The  name  notary,  among  the  Romans,  appears  to  have 
signified  a  short-hand  writer,  and  to  have  denoted  origi- 
nally the  persons  who  acted  in  that  capacity,  especially  at 
meetings  of  the  senate.  Afterwards  the  notarii  were  sec- 
retaries to  courts,  officers,  &c.  In  modern  Europe  the  no- 
tary is  an  officer  whose  attestation  is  necessary  to  the  va- 
lidity of  certain  instruments,  and  his  duties  are  more  or 
less  important  in  different  countries.  In  France  the  no- 
tary is  the  necessary  maker  of  all  contracts,  &.c,  where 
the  subject  matter  exceeds  150  francs ;  and  his  instru- 
ments, which  are  preserved  and  registered  by  himself,  are 
the  originals,  the  parties  retaining  only  copies.  The  pres- 
ence and  administration  of  a  notary  is  also  essential  to  the 
division  of  lands  or  goods  of  inheritance. 

NOTATION  (Lat.  notatio),  is  defined  by  Dr.  Johnson 
to  be  "  the  act  or  practice  of  recording  any  thing  by  marks, 
as  by  figures  or  letters." 

Mathematical  notation  embraces  two  distinct  subjects ; 
namely,  symbols  of  number  and  quantity,  and  symbols  of 
operation.  The  system  of  numerical  notation  adopted  in 
all  European  countries  depends  on  the  very  refined  idea 
of  giving  to  each  symbol  a  local  as  well  as  an  absolute 
value.  A  refinement  of  this  sort  could  only  have  been 
adopted  by  a  people  considerably  advanced  in  the  arts  of 
civilization ;  but  though  the  present  system  has  been 
traced  to  the  Hindus,  among  whom  it  appears  to  have  Ijcen 
in  use  two  thousand  years  ago,  the  epoch  and  country  of 
its  origin  are  entirely  unknown.  It  is  probable  that  the 
first  numeral  characters  consisted  simply  of  strokes  or 
straight  lines,  which  could  be  easily  cut  in  wood  or  stone, 
and  would  be  alike  intelligible  to  all  nations.  Such  charac- 
ters are,  in  fact,  preserved  in  the  Roman  notation  with 
very  little  change.  Thus,  assuming  a  perpendicular  line  | 
to  signify  one,  two  lines  j  |  would  express  turo,  the  addi- 
tion of  a  third  |  |  |  three,  and  so  on  till  the  reckoner  had 
reached  ten,  which  completed  the  first  series  of  the  numeri- 
cal scale.  He  might  then  be  supposed  to  throw  a  dash 
across  the  last  stroke  or  unit  to  mark  the  completion  of 
the  series  ;  and  thus  X  would  come  to  signify  ten.  The  con- 
tinued repetition  of  this  mark  would  denote  twenty,  thirty, 
and  so  forth,  till  he  arrived  at  a  hundred,  or  ten  tens,  which 
completes  the  second  series,  and  might  be  denoted  by  add- 
ing another  dash  to  the  mark  for  ten,  or  by  merely  connect- 
ing three  strokes,  thus  |~.  The  repetition  of  this  symbol 
would  in  like  manner  indicate  the  successive  hundreds, 
the  tenth  of  which  would  be  marked  by  the  addition  of 
another  stroke,  so  that  four  combined  strokes  /\A  would 
express  a  thousand.  Such  were  the  symbols  originally 
employed  in  the  Roman  notation  ;  in  process  of  time  it 
would  be  perceived  that  the  inconvenience  in  writing,  aris- 
ing from  so  many  repetitions  of  the  same  character,  might 
be  avoided,  by  adopting  symbols  for  the  intermediate  num- 
bers ;  and  those  were  furnished  by  the  division  of  the  sym- 
bols already  in  use.  Thus,  having  parted  in  the  middle 
the  two  strokes  X,  either  the  under  half  /\,  or  the  upper 
half  V-  was  employed  to  signify  five.    Next,  the  mark  |~ 

for  a  hundred  was  divided  into  f  or  L.  either  of  which 
represented  fifty.  Again,  the  four  combined  strokes  having 
come,  in  the  progress  of  the  arts,  to  assume  a  round  shape 
PO,  was  frequently  expressed  thus  (  |  )  ;  and  this  last  form, 
by  partition,  gave  the  two  portions  (  |  ,  or  |  ),to  represent 
fire  humirrd.    (Leslie's  Philosophy  of  Arithmetic,  Introd.) 

The  numeral  notation  of  the  Greeks,  though  far  less 
convenient  than  that  now  in  use,  was  formed  on  a  per- 
fectly regular  and  scientific  plan,  and  could  l>e  used  with 
tolerable  effect  as  an  instrument  of  calculation,  to  which 
the  Roman  system  was  totally  inapplicable.  They  divided 
the  twenty  four  letters  of  their  alphabet  into  three  clashes, 
and,  by  adding  another  symbol  to  each  class,  they  had 
character]  to  represent  the  units,  tens,  and  hundreds. 

Thus,  instead  of  the  digits  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6.  7,  8,  9,  they  rep- 


NOTATION. 

resented  the  units  by  the  letters  a,  /J,  y,  i,  t,  j,  Z,,  >?,  &'■  the 
tens  were  denoted  by  t,  k,  A,  n,  v,  \,  o,  n,  $  ;  and  the  hun- 
dreds by  p,  a,  r,  v,  p,  x*  '/'i  w,  ^. 

To  represent  the  thousands  they  employed  the  first  se- 
ries with  the  iota  subscribed,  a,  /3,  v,  <5,  t,  j,  C,  n,  8.    With 

these  symbols  they  could  express  any  number  under  10,000 ; 
thus  6  J)  $9,  denoted  9999;  v\y,  denoted  8033;  ia,  4001, 

and  so  with  the  others.  To  denote  the  myriads  they  made 
use  of  the  initial  letter  M,  writing  the  number  over  it. 

a    0     Y 
Thus,  M,  M,  M,  &c,  corresponded  respectively  to  10,000, 

An 

30,000,  30,000,  &c.     M  expressed  thirty-eight  myriads,  or 

Sto0 
380,000 ; '  M  was  equal  to  43,720,000 ;  so  that  the  letter  M 
placed  under  any  number  produced  the  same  effect  as  is 
produced  in  our  system  by  writing  four  ciphers  to  the  right 
of  the  number.  Diophantus  and  Pappus  expressed  the 
myriads  more  simply  by  a  point  after  the  number:  thus, 
iTofrijKt  denoted  43,728,025  ;  and  in  this  manner  they  pro- 
ceeded to  9999-9999,  or  to  any  number  under  100,000,000, 
which  was  the  extent  of  their  notation  before  the  time  of 
Archimedes,  who  showed  how  it  might  be  extended  indef- 
initely. By  assuming  100,000,000,  or  the  square  of  the 
myriad,  as  a  new  unit,  and  taking  this  any  number  of 
times  capable  of  being  expressed  by  the  previous  notation, 
he  could  represent  any  number  which  is  expressed  in  the 
modern  notation  by  sixteen  digits.  Assuming,  again,  the 
number  which  in  our  system  is  denoteed  by  1  with  sixteen 
zeroes  as  a  second  new  unit,  he  was  enabled  to  express 
any  number  consisting  of  twenty-four  digits.  This  method 
can  obviously  be  continued  to  any  length.  A  great  improve- 
ment was  afterwards  introduced  by  Apollonius,  who  pro- 
posed the  simple  myriad,  instead  of  its  square,  for  the  root 
of  the  system;  and  thus  any  large  number  was  constituted 
of  periods  of  four  characters,  the  first  of  which,  on  the  right 
hand,  represented  units,  the  next,  towards  the  left,  the  num- 
ber of  myriads,  the  third  the  square  of  the  myriads,  and  so 
on  to  infinity.  The  different  periods  were  distinguished  by 
breaks  or  blanks.  In  this  manner  a  local  value  was  given 
to  the  symbols,  and  a  single  step  only  was  wanting  to  as- 
similate this  notation  entirely  to  our  own.  It  only  required 
that  to  be  done  for  the  simple  tens  which  had  been  done 
for  the  myriads  or  tens  of  thousands.  (For  an  account  of 
the  Greek  notation  and  arithmetic,  see  Delambre,  Astron- 
omic Ancienne,  tome  ii.) 

From  an  inspection  of  the  manuscripts  preserved  in  pub- 
lic libraries,  it  appears  that  the  Arabians  had  not  generally 
adopted  the  denary  numerals  before  the  beginning  of  the 
13th  century  of  our  era.  For  several  ages  after  the  forma- 
tion of  their  empire,  they  hired  Christian  scribes  to  keep 
their  accounts ;  and  though,  like  most  other  oriental  na- 
tions, they  wrote  from  right  to  left,  yet  they  implicitly  fol- 
lowed the  Greek  mode  of  ranging  the  numerals  and  per- 
forming the  calculations.  It  is  probable  that  they  derived 
their  knowledge  of  the  Indian  digits  through  the  medium 
of  the  Persians,  but  the  subject  is  involved  in  much  obscu- 
rity. The  epoch  at  which  the  denary  numerals  were  in- 
troduced into  Europe  is  also  uncertain ;  but  it  appears  to 
have  followed,  at  no  great  interval,  the  Saracen  conquests 
in  Spain.  Vossius  places  this  epoch  about  the  year  1250 ; 
Du  Cange  thinks  they  were  unknown  before  the  14th  cen- 
tury ;  and  they  are  very  rarely  to  be  found  in  the  dates  of 
any  writings  before  the  year  i400.  They  appear  to  have 
been  first  used  by  astronomers,  and  afterwards  circulated 
over  Europe  in  the  almanacs. 

Symbols  of  quantity  are  entirely  arbitrary ;  but  the  letters 
of  the  alphabet  may  be  said  to  be  exclusively  adopted  by 
mathematicians.  When  the  quantities  belonging  to  any 
investigation  are  numerous,  it  may  be  necessary  to  have 
recourse  to  different  alphabets ;  and  it  is  always  of  very 
great  importance  to  select  such  symbols  as  will  most  read- 
ily suggest  the  thing  signified,  as  the  initial  letter  of  a 
word,  or  letters  which  have  acquired  a  sort  of  conventional 
right  to  be  applied  to  particular  purposes.  It  is  unfortunate 
that  so  little  attention  has  been  paid  to  this  subject,  and 
that  some  general  principles  have  not  been  adopted  by 
mathematicians  to  regulate  the  choice  of  symbols,  inas- 
much as  the  diversity  of  notation  renders  it  often  a  trouble- 
some task  to  compare  with  one  another  different  investiga- 
tions of  the  same  problem,  or  the  results  of  different  meth- 
ods of  analysis.  There  are,  however,  a  few  rules,  which, 
though  altogether  arbitrary,  seem  to  be  recognised  by  all 
modern  writers  of  any  authority.  Thus,  in  algebra,  the 
letters  at  the  beginning  of  the  alphabet  are  the  symbols  of 
quantities  supposed  to  be  known,  and  those  at  the  end  of 
the  quantities  sought.    In  analytical  geometry  and  mechan- 


NOTTURNO. 

lcs,  x,  y,  and  2  are  always  used  to  denote  the  rectangular 
co-ordinates  of  a  point  in  space.  In  trigonometry,  the  sides 
of  a  triangle  are  usually  denoted  by  a,  b,  and  c,  and  the  an- 
gles opposite  by  A,  B,  and  C  respectively.  In  astronomy, 
the  Greek  letters  are  most  frequently  used  to  represent  an- 
gles. Indices  are  usually  employed  when  it  is  desirable 
to  retain  the  same  letters  for  the  same  class  of  quantities. 

Sy?nbols  of  operation  are  equally  arbitrary  with  those  of 
quantity,  but  there  is  much  less  diversity  in  the  manner  of 
employing  them.  The  signs  +  and  — ,  universally  used  to 
signify  addition  and  subtraction,  seem  to  have  been  intro- 
duced by  Stifelius,  a  German,  as  the  oldest  work  in  which 
they  are  found  is  his  Arithmetica  Integra,  published  at  Nu- 
remberg in  1544.  Stifelius  also  introduced  the  character  */, 
originally  r,  the  initial  letter  of  radix  (root),  to  denote  the 
root  of  a  quantity.  The  sign  of  equality  ==  was  intro- 
duced by  Robert  Recorde,  and  he  gives  as  a  reason  that 
"noe  2  thynges  can  be  moare  equalle,"  namely  than  the 
two  parallel  lines.  In  the  modern  calculus  the  letters  of 
the  alphabet  are  used  as  symbols  of  operation  ;  thus,  d  for 
the  differential  and  /  for  the  integral  of  a  quantity.  Finite 
differences  and  sums  are  denoted  by  the  corresponding 
Greek  letters  A  and  S.  The  fluxional  notation  introduced 
by  Newton,  and  which  continued  to  be  used  in  this  country 
till  foreign  books  began  to  be  more  freely  imported,  after 
the  last  war,  has  at  length  been  entirely  abandoned  for  the 
differential  notation  of  Leibnitz  and  the  Bernoullis.  The 
former  is,  in  fact,  utterly  incapable  of  representing  the  ex- 
tremely general  processes  of  modern  analysis.  (See  notes 
to  the  English  translation  of  Eacroiz's  Elem.  Treatise  on 
the  Diff.  and  Integral  Calculus  ;  Lubbock  on  Notation,  in 
the  Memoirs  Roy.  Astr.  Soc,  vol  iv. ;  art.  "  Notation,"  Ed- 
inburgh Encyclopedia.) 

NOTCHBOARD.  (It.  nocchia.)  In  Architecture,  the 
board  which  receives  the  ends  of  the  steps  in  a  staircase ; 
so  called  because  it  is  notched  out  to  receive  the  ends  of 
the  steps. 

NOTE.  (Lat.  nota.)  In  Music,  a  character  by  which 
the  elevations  and  depressions  of  sound  are  marked,  as  well 
as  the  swiftness  or  slowness  of  their  motions. 

NOTES  (Lat.  notre),  in  Literature,  were  originally 
marks  affixed  by  the  critics,  who  reviewed  the  works  of  an 
author,  to  those  places  which  they  considered  to  be  spurious 
or  faulty,  or  which  on  any  other  account  were  worthy  of  re- 
mark. In  modern  times  the  meaning  of  the  term  has  been 
enlarged,  being  now  used  as  synonymous  with  annotation 
or  commentary.  Among  the  Romans  praiseworthy  pas- 
sages were  usually  marked  with  LL.  (»'.  e.,  laudabiles  loci) ; 
and  faulty  passages  indicated  by  6,  a  contraction,  or,  more 
properly,  a  symbol  for  adcrriocv.  (Per.,  Sat.  iv.,  12.) 
Among  the  Greeks,  good  passages  with  the  letter  X,  signi- 
nifying  xpnarov,  excellent,  and  against  those  which  were 
condemned  the  word  axpnarov,  was  written,  which  Gelli- 
us  calls  ad  notamentum  culpa. 

Notes,  in  printing,  are — shoulder  notes :  these  are  at 
the  top  of  the  page  in  the  outer  margin,  and  contain  the 
book,  chapter,  or  date,  or  both  of  them ;  side  notes  or  mar- 
ginal notes,  which  give  an  abstract  of  the  text,  as  \u  acts 
of  parliament ;  or  parallel  passages,  and  different  readings,- 
as  in  the  Bible ;  and  bottom  notes,  or  foot  notes,  which  are 
placed  at  the  bottom  of  the  page,  and  generally  contain 
commentaries  and  explanatory  annotations. 

NOTHING.  (JVo  thing,  the  negation  of  being.)  In 
Mathematical  language,  the  term  nothing  is  of  frequent  oc- 
currence, and  denotes  either  the  absence  of  magnitude  in 
circumstances  in  which  magnitude  might  have  existed,  as 
when  equals  are  taken  from  equals,  or  it  denotes  the  limit 
to  which  a  variable  magnitude  approaches  by  continual 
diminution ;  as  when  it  is  said  that  a  magnitude  is  suscep- 
tible of  all  values  between  nothing  and  infinity. 

NOTICE,  in  Law,  is  that  by  which  a  party  is  supposed 
to  communicate,  or  to  receive,  that  presumed  or  real  knowl- 
edge which  is  necessary  to  affect  the  receiver  with  legal 
liabilities.  For  instance,  when  a  party  proceeds  to  recover 
premises  by  ejectment,  notice  must  be  served  by  him,  ac- 
cording to  certain  prescribed  formalities,  on  the  tenant  in 
possession,  in  order  to  compel  him  to  come  in  and  defend 
the  action.  This  is  an  instance  of  actual  notice.  Con- 
structive notice  is  that  which  is  presumed  to  arise  from 
certain  facts:  as,  for  instance,  in  equity,  a  purchaser  is 
presumed  to  have  notice  of  a  suit  pending  which  may  af- 
fect the  subject  matter  of  the  sale,  except  where,  by  a  late 
enactment  (2  Vict.,  c.  11),  express  notice  was  rendered 
necessary. 

NOTODO'NTA.  (Gr.  vutroc,  back;  ddovc,  tooth.)  The 
name  of  a  genus  of  Lepidopterous  insects. 

NO'TONECTIDjE.  (Gr.  vwro?;  vcktui,  I  sicim.)  The 
family  of  Hemipterous  insects  of  which  the  water- boatman 
(JVotonecta)  is  the  type. 

NOTTU'RNO.  In  Music,  originally  synonymous  with 
serenade  (which  see) ;  but  applied  at  present  to  a  piece  of 
music  in  which  the  emotions  chiefly  of  love  and  tenderness 

835 


NOUN. 

are  developed.    Of  modern  composers  Chopin,  Field,  and 
Herg  are  the  most  distinguished  in  this  department. 

Ni  MX.  !  Lat.  nomen,  a  name.)  In  Grammar,  that  part 
of  speech  which  denotes  a  conception  ;  in  contradistinction 
to  an  affirmation  or  judgment,  which  is  expressed  by  a  prrb. 
Nouns  are  divided  into  substantives  and  adjectives  ;  the 
first  denoting  real  or  supposed  substance*,  the  second  quali- 
ties or  properties  conceived  as  belonging  to  substances.  See 
Grammar. 

NOVA'CULITE.  (Lat.  novacula,  a  razor.)  The  stone 
of  w  Inch  hones  are  made  for  sharpening  razors.  It  is  of  B 
slaty  structure,  and  owes  its  quality  of  giving  an  edge  to  the 
metal  to  the  tine  silicious  particles  which  it  contains. 

N<  >V  A'TIANS.  The  followers  of  Novation,  a  presbyter 
of  Rome,  who  was  stigmatized  as  a  schismatic  and  heretic, 
and  founded  a  sect  of  this  name  in  the  3d  century,  which 
continued  to  flourish  to  the  end  of  the  5th.  The  aim  of 
Novatian  was  to  deny  readmission  into  the  church  to  all 
persons  who,  in  time  of  persecution,  or  on  other  accounts, 
had  once  lapsed  from  the  faith.  In  this  extreme  severity  of 
sentiment  he  was  opposed  by  the  greater  number  of  the 
clergy  of  Rome,  and  especially  by  one  Cornelius,  upon 
whose  election  to  the  see,  Novatian,  who  was  a  disappoint- 
ed candidate,  withdrew  from  the  communion  of  the  majori- 
ty, and  established  a  society  of  which  he  became  himself 
the  first  bishop.  This  sect  was  also  known  by  the  title  of 
Cathari,  or  Puritans,  which  they  assumed  to  express  the 
high  sense  they  entertained  of  the  excellence  attainable  by, 
ajid  necessary  to,  all  professors  of  Christianity. 

NO'VEL.  (From  the  Italian  novella,  derived  ftom  the 
Latin  novus,  new.)    A  species  of  prose  fictitious  composition. 

The  Italian  novella,  of  which  the  best  and  earliest  speci- 
mens are  those  contained  in  the  Decameron  of  Boccaccio, 
was  rather  a  short  tale,  turning  on  an  event,  or  on  a  series 
of  adventures  of  humour,  pathos,  or  intrigue,  than  a  novel 
in  the  modern  acceptation  of  the  term.  In  its  present  sig- 
nification in  the  English  language  it  seems  to  express  a  spe- 
cies of  fictitious  narrative  somewhat  different  from  a  ro- 
mance ;  yet  it  would  be  difficult  to  assign  the  exact  distinc- 
tion, and,  in  the  French  language,  the  same  name  (roman) 
is  used  for  both ;  while  it  differs  from  a  tale  merely  in  the 
circumstance  that  a  certain  degree  of  length  is  necessary  to 
constitute  a  novel. 

Although,  in  fact,  the  terms  novel  and  romance  are  often 
used  indifferently,  yet  they  have  also  often  been  treated  as 
distinct  classes  of  composition  in  English  literature.  Per- 
haps, if  we  seek  to  draw  the  distinction  with  as  much  of 
accuracy  as  the  subject  will  admit,  we  may  say  that  the 
proper  object  of  a  novel  is  the  delineation  of  social  manners, 
or  the  development  of  a  story  founded  on  the  incidents  of 
ordinary  life,  or  both  together.  Thus  will  be  excluded  from 
the  class  of  novels,  on  the  one  hand,  tales  of  which  the  in- 
cidents are  not  merely  improbable  (for  this  may  be  the  case 
in  a  novel),  but  occurring  out  of  the  common  course  of  life, 
and  such  as  are  founded  on  imaginary  times  and  imaginary 
manners,  tales  of  supernatural  incidents,  chivalrous  ro- 
mances, pastoral  romances,  &c. ;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
we  must  exclude  from  the  same  class  fictitious  narratives,  in 
which  the  author's  principal  object  is  neither  the  story  nor 
the  costume,  but  which  are  obviously  written  with  an  ul- 
terior view,  although  their  incidents  and  character  may 
perhaps,  in  other  respects,  fall  under  the  definition  suggested 
above.  Thus,  political,  philosophical,  and  satirical  fictions 
are  clearly  not  to  be  ranked  as  novels.  But  it  is  obvious  that 
no  definition  can  be  drawn  which  shall,  on  this  subject,  en- 
tirely satisfy  the  caprices  of  popular  language. 

Of  the  novel,  in  this  confined  sense,  the  works  of  Richard- 
son, and  those  of  Fielding  and  Smollet,  afforded,  perhaps, 
the  first  examples  in  English  literature.  The  first  of  these 
authors  gave  birth  to  the  sentimental  novel,  the  latter  two 
to  the  comic  or  humorous.  Marivaux,  Prevost,  fee.,  spread 
the  former  style  of  composition  in  France;  where,  as  well 
as  on  the  Continent  generally,  it  attained  a  high  degree  of 
vogue.  The  novel  of  manners,  whether  comic  or  serious, 
has,  perhaps,  been  always  a  more  popular  species  of  fiction 
in  England.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  the  historical  fic- 
tion, to  which  Sir  Walter  Scott  has  given  such  universal 
popularity,  belongs  strictly  to  the  class  of  novel  or  romance. 
By  aiming  at  the  delineation  of  real,  although  past  manners, 
and  by  the  general  turn  of  the  story,  it  seems  to  resemble  the 
former;  while  the  romantic  character  of  many  of  its  inci- 
dents seems  to  assimulate  it  to  the  latter. 

For  the  general  history  of  prose  fictitious  composition,  see 
Romam  K. 

NO'VELS.  (Lat.  novella;  constitutiones,  new  eotutitu 
tions.)  In  the  Roman  Law,  supplementary  constitutions  of 
some  emperors,  so  called  because  they  appeared  after  Ihe 
authentic  publications  of  law  made  by  them.  Those  of 
Justinian  are  the  best  known,  and  arc  commonly  Understood 
when  the  general  term  is  used.  The  Novels,  together  with 
the  (  •»/'  and  Digest,  form  the  whole  body  of  law  which 
passes  under  the  name  of  that  emperor. 
836 


NUMBER. 

NOVE'MBER.  (Lnt.  novem,  nine.)  The  eleventh 
month  of  the  Julian  year ;  but  the  ninth  month  in  the  old 
Roman  year,  which  began  with  March.  See  Calendar, 
Year. 

NOVEMSILES.  The  name  given  by  Romulus  to  the 
gods  of  the  Sabines,  whom  he  adopted  after  the  conquest  of 
that  people.  The  term  was  afterwards  applied  to  those 
heroes  or  demigods  who,  in  consequence  of  their  power  or 
virtues,  were  deified  after  death. 

NO VENNALIA  (Lat.  novem,  nine,  and  annus,  a  year), 
among  the  Romans,  signified,  as  the  derivation  of  the  term 
implies,  festivals  held  in  honour  of  the  dead  every  nine 
years. 

NO' VICE.  (Lat.  novitius.)  A  person  admitted  into  a  re- 
ligious community  as  an  inmate,  for  the  purpose  of  prepara- 
tion for  becoming  a  member.  The  state  of  preparation  is 
termed  novitiate.  The  custom  of  giving  novices  the  religious 
dress  did  not  begin  until  the  12th  century.  The  age  of  pro- 
fession is  fixed  by  the  Council  of  Trent  at  sixteen  years. 
During  the  period  of  the  novitiate  the  novice  is  still  at  liber- 
ty to  relinquish  his  intention.  The  term  novice  was  applied 
to  recruits  in  the  ancient  Roman  soldiery  ;  from  which  cir- 
cumstance it  appears  to  have  been  borrowed  in  ecclesiastical 
usage. 

NOVI  HOMINES,  among  the  Romans,  were  such  per- 
sons as,  by  their  own  personal  merit,  had  raised  themselves 
to  curule  dignities  without  the  aid  of  family  connexionst 
This  reproach,  as  is  well  known,  was  addressed  by  Catiline 
to  Cicero. 

NOX.  (Lat.)  In  Mythology,  the  goddess  of  night.  In 
the  Grecian  mythology,  she  was  the  daughter  of  Chaos,  the 
sister  of  El  pen  and  Erebus,  and  the  mother  of  iEther,  He- 
mera,  Manatas,  Momus,  the  Fates,  fee.,  fee.;  which  were 
all  personifications  of  the  natural  phenomena  life,  sleep, 
death,  &c. 

NOYADES.  (Fr.  noyer.)  The  name  given  to  a  peculiar 
punishment  resorted  to  in  the  first  French  revolution.  The 
noyades  were  effected  by  drawing  out  a  plug  inserted  in  the 
bottom  of  a  boat  in  which  the  wretched  victims  were  launch- 
ed. The  genius  of  iniquity,  says  a  writer  in  the  Edin.  Re- 
vino,  often  displays  itself  in  the  same  invention.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  when  Nero  was  desirous  of  despatching 
his  mother,  and  found  himself  at  a  loss  for  an  expedient, 
Anicatus  proposed  to  him  "the  model  of  a  ship  upon  a  new 
construction,  framed  in  such  a  manner  that  a  part  might  be 
withdrawn,  and  the  unsuspecting  passenger  committed  to 
the  waves."     (Tac.  Jinn.,  lib.  xiv.,  ar.  3.) 

NOYAU.  (Fr.)  A  delightful  liqueur;  it  is  flavoured 
with  bitter  almonds,  or  the  kernels  of  peach  stones,  and  con- 
tains prussic  acid. 

NU'CLEUS.  (Lat.)  Literally,  anything  round  which 
matter  has  accumulated,  or  to  which  it  is  affixed.  In  Bot- 
any, it  is  used  in  various  significations :  1.  The  central  fleshy 
pulpy  mass  of  an  ovule.  2.  That  part  of  a  seed  contained 
within  the  testa,  and  consisting  of  either  the  embryo  and  albu- 
men, or  of  the  embryo  only.  3.  In  lichens,  the  disk  of  the 
shield,  which  contains  the  sporules  and  their  cases.  4.  In  the 
language  of  the  older  botanists  what  is  now  termed  by  garden- 
ers a  clove  ;  that  is,  the  secondary  bulb  of  a  bulbous  plant. 

Nucleus.  In  Astronomy,  the  solid  part  or  body  of  a 
comet,  as  distinguished  from  its  nebulosity.     .Sec  Comet. 

NU'CULA.  (Lat.  nux,  a  nut.)  Either  the  fruit,  called 
otherwise  a  gland  or  acorn,  or  any  small,  hard,  one-seeded 
pericarp;  or  the  female  organ  of  the  plant  Chara. 

NU'DIBRA'NCHIANS,  Jfudibranehiata.  -(Lat.  nudus, 
naked;  branchia,  gills.)  The  name  of  an  order  of  herma- 
phodite  Gastropodous  Mollusks  which  have  the  branchise 
exposed  on  some  part  of  the  back. 

NU'DIPEDA'LIA.  (Lnt.  nudus,  naked,  and  pes,  a  foot.) 
A  religious  ceremony  among  the  Greeks  Romans,  and  other 
nations,  observed  on  account  of  some  public  calamity,  as 
famine,  drought,  pestilence;  in  the  celebration  of  which  (as 
the  word  imports)  the  votaries  appeared  with  the  feet  un- 
covered. In  various  other  religions  observances  this  prac- 
tice was  adopted  ;  thus,  the  Roman  matrons,  when  they  of- 
fered ii|>  supplications  to  the  goddess  Vesta,  always  walked 
to  her  temple  barefooted : 

Hue  pedo  matrunam  nudo  descendcre  vidi. — Ovid. 

A  similar  ceremony  existed  among  the  Jews. 

Nl  "D1T1ES.  (Lat.  nuditas,  nakedness.)  In  the  Fine 
Arts,  figures  entirely  divested  of  drapery. 

NU'ISANCES,  in  Law,  are  of  two  kinds:  public  or  com- 
mon, which  annoy  the  king's  subjects  in  general  ;  and  pri- 
y.ile,  which  are  defined  "anything  done  to  the  hurt  or  an- 
noyance of  the  lands,  tenements,  or  hereditaments  of  an- 
other." The  general  remedy  for  public  nuisances,  by  action 
on  the  case  tor  damages. 

NU'LLIPORES,  Nullipara.  (Lat.  nullus,  no,  poms,  a 
pore.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Lithopbv  tons  Polypes,  the 
axis  of  which  presents  no  visible  pores  on  its  surface. 

NU'MBER  (Lat.  numerus),  is  defined  by  Euclid  to  be  an 


NUMBERS,  BOOK  OP. 

assemblage  or  collection  of  units  or  things  of  the  same  spe- 
cies. This  definition  excludes  the  unit  itself,  or  1.  Newton 
defines  number  as  the  abstract  ratio  of  one  quantity  to  an- 
other quantity  of  the  same  species;  and  hence  there  are 
three  kinds  of  numbers,  namely,  integers,  fractions,  and 
surds.  Number,  abstractedly  considered,  conveys  merely 
the  notion  of  times  or  repetitions. 

Mathematicians  consider  numbers,  under  different  points 
Of  view,  or  with  relation  to  different  properties ;  and  hence 
arise  the  various  distinctions  which  have  been  introduced, 
as  even  or  odd,  whole  or  fractional,  rational  or  irrational, 
perfect  or  imperfect,  prime  or  composite,  abundant  or  de- 
fective. &c.  Numbers  also  acquire  various  denominations 
from  the  manner  in  which  they  are  composed ;  as  triangular 
numbers,  pyramidal  numbers,  polygonal  numbers,  &c.  (See 
the  respective  adjectives.) 

The  theory  of  numbers  forms  one  of  the  most  subtle  parts 
of  the  algebraic  analysis.  Judging  from  the  fragments  which 
have  been  preserved,  the  ancient  mathematicians  had  push- 
ed their  researches  into  the  properties  of  numbers  to  a  con- 
siderable extent;  but  until  the  invention  of  algebra,  and  the 
introduction  of  a  more  convenient  notation,  the  difficulties 
of  the  subject  could  only  be  partially  overcome.  The  most 
ancient  existing  work  on  algebra  is  that  of  Diophantus,  and 
it  is  devoted  entirely  to  numbers.  From  the  time  of  Dio- 
phantus, who  lived  in  the  3d  century,  to  that  of  Vieta,  Ba- 
chet,  and  Fermat,  who  flourished  in  the  16th,  no  advance- 
ment was  made  in  the  theory  ;  but  the  discoveries  of  these 
illustrious  mathematicians  carried  it  far  beyond  its  ancient 
limits.  Euler  was  the  next  from  whom  it  received  any  con- 
siderable extension :  he  was  followed  by  Lagrange,  who 
added  many  important  theories ;  and  it  has  received  its  latest 
perfection  from  the  hands  of  Gauss  and  Legendre.  The 
theory  of  numbers  may  be  studied  in  the  following  works : 
the  Arithmetic  of  Diophantus,  with  a  Commentary  by  Ba- 
chet,  and  notes  by  Fermat,  Toulouse,  1670;  Waring' s  Med- 
itationes  Algeb. ;  Euler,  Introd.  in  Anal.  Infinitorum,  Opus- 
cula  Analytica,  and  various  papers  in  the  Petersburg  Me- 
moirs ;  Lagrange,  in  the  Berlin  Memoirs  ;  Gauss  TJisqttis i- 
tiones  Arithmetical  or  the  French  translation :  Leeendre, 
Essai  stir  la  Theorie  des  .Vontbres,  2d  edit.,  1808.  For  the 
mystical  properties  of  numbers  the  curious  reader  may  con- 
sult D.  S.  Boetii  Arithmetica,  Parisiis,  1521  ;  P.  Bungi  JVu- 
merorum  Mysteria,  1591 ;  Taylor's  Theoretic  Arithmetic, 
1816. 
NUMBERS,  BOOK  OF.  See  Pentateuch. 
NUME'NIA.  (Gr.  veoc,  new,  and  fii/v,  a  month.)  Grecian 
festivals  celebrated  at  the  commencement  of  every  lunar 
month,  in  honour  of  all  the  gods,  demigods,  and  heroes  of 
antiquity.  They  were  observed  with  games  and  public  en- 
tertainments, the  expense  of  which  was  defrayed  by  the 
wealthy  citizens.     See  Neomenia. 

N I )  M  ETJTUS.  The  name  under  which  Cuvier  separated 
the  curlews,  as  a  distinct  genus,  from  the  other  Scolopaces 
of  LinnEeus.  They  have  a  beak  arcuated  like  that  of  the 
ibis,  but  it  is  more  slender,  and  is  cylindrical  throughout; 
the  tip  of  the  upper  mandible  extends  beyond  the  end  of  the 
lower  one,  and  projects  a  little  downward  in  front  of  it. 
The  toes  are  palmated  at  the  base. 

NUMERALS.  The  symbols  or  characters  by  which 
numbers  are  expressed.     .See  Notation. 

NUMERATION,  is  the  art  of  classing  and  expressing 
numbers.  Though  the  mode  of  reckoning  numbers  by  tens 
or  decads  has  prevailed  among  all  civilized  nations,  and  has 
become  incorporated  with  the  very  structure  of  language, 
there  is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  the  subject  which  rendered 
its  adoption  a  matter  of  necessity.  Any  other  number  might 
have  been  chosen  for  the  root  of  the  numerical  scale;  and, 
in  fact,  if  a  scale  were  now  to  be  selected  by  mathemati- 
cians familiar  with  the  properties  of  numbers,  there  are  sev- 
eral considerations  which  would  lead  them  to  adopt  twelve, 
in  preference  to  ten.  The  selection  often,  therefore,  which 
has  been  almost  universal,  implies  the  influence  of  some 
common  determining  principle  ;  and  it  is  easy  to  see  that  it 
arose  from  the  practice,  so  familiar  in  the  early  stages  of 
society,  of  counting  by  the  fingers  on  both  hands.  In  various 
languages,  however,  traces  are  found  of  an  earlier  and  sim- 
pler mode  of  reckoning.  We  may  suppose  the  earliest  of 
all  to  be  that  of  combining  units  in  pairs.  It  is  still  familiar 
among  sportsmen,  who  reckon  by  braces  or  couples.  To 
count  by  threes  was  another  step,  and  has  been  preserved 
by  the  same  class  of  men  under  the  term  leash,  meaning  the 
strings  by  which  three  dogs,  and  no  more,  can  be  held  at 
once  in  the  hand.  The  numbering  by  fours  has  had  a  more 
extensive  application:  it  was  evidently  suggested  by  the 
custom  of  taking,  in  the  rapid  tale  of  objects,  a  pair  in  each 
hand.  Our  fishermen,  who  generally  count  in  this  way,  call 
every  double  pair  (of  herrings,  for  instance)  a  throw  or  cast ; 
and  the  term  warp  which  has  exactly  the  same  import,  is 
employed  to  denote  four,  in  various  articles  of  trade.  It  is 
alleged  that  the  Gnaranis  and  Lulos,  two  of  the  lowest  races 
of  savages  inhabiting  the  forests  of  South  America,  count 


NUMISMATICS. 

only  by  fours ;  at  least  they  express  the  number. five  by  four 
and  one,  sii  by  four  and  two,  and  so  forth.  The  quinary 
system,  which  reckons  by  fives  or  pentads,  has  its  founda- 
tion in  nature,  being  evidently  derived  from  the  practice  of 
counting  over  the  fingers  of  one  hand.  It  appears,  from  the 
relations  of  travellers,  to  have  been  adopted  by  various  sav- 
age nations  of  America;  and  we  learn  from  Mungo  Park 
that  it  is  practised  by  the  Yolofs  and  Foulahs  of  Africa,  who 
designate  10  by  two  hands,  15  by  three  hands,  and  so  pro- 
gressively. It  is  even  partially  used  in  this  country  among 
wholesale  traders.  In  reckoning  articles  delivered  at  the 
warehouse  the  person  who  takes  charge  of  the  tale,  having 
traced  a  long  horizontal  line,  continues  to  draw,  alternately 
above  and  below  it,  a  warp,  or  four  vertical  strokes,  each  set 
of  which  he  crosses  by  an  oblique  score,  and  calls  out  tally 
as  often  as  the  number  five  is  completed.  (Leslie's  Philoso- 
phy of  Arithmetic.) 

The  mode  of  reckoning  by  twelves  or  dozens  may  be  sup- 
posed to  have  had  its  origin  in  the  observation  of  the  celes- 
tial phenomena ;  there  being  twelve  months  or  lunations 
commonly  reckoned  in  a  solar  year.  It  appears  in  the  sub- 
division of  weights  and  measures,  as  twelve  ounces  to  a 
pound,  twelve  inches  to  a  foot ;  and  is  still  very  generally 
employed  in  wholesale  business,  extending  to  the  second 
and  even  the  third  term  of  the  progression.  Thus  twelve 
dozen,  or  144,  make  the  long  hundred  of  the  northern  na- 
tions, or  the  gross  of  traders,  and  twelve  times  this  again,  or 
1728,  make  the  double  gross.  Traces  of  reckoning  by  twen- 
ties or  scores  remain  in  our  own  and  other  European  idioms. 
The  expression  threescore  and  ten  is  familiar.  The  French 
language  has  no  terms  for  the  numbers  in  the  second  series 
of  the  denary  scale  above  soizante,  or  sixty.  Eighty  is  ex- 
pressed by  quatre-vingts  and  ninety  by  quatre-vingts  et  dix, 
four  twenties  and  ten.  The  inhabitants  of  Biscay  are  said 
still  to  reckon  by  the  powers  of  twenty,  or  the  terms  of 
progressive  scores;  and,  according  to  Humboldt,  the  same 
mode  of  numeration  was  employed  by  the  Mexicans.  See 
Arithmetic,  Binary,  Duodecimals,  Sexagesimals. 

The  primary  object  of  numeration  is  to  find  names  for  the 
different  numbers  ;  and,  as  there  are  an  infinity  of  numbers, 
while  the  number  of  words  is  limited,  it  became  necessary 
to  devise  some  systematic  method  of  combining  a  few  words, 
so  as  to  express  by  means  of  them  any  number  whatever. 
It  is  obvious  that  when  large  numbers  are  to  be  expressed, 
the  lower  scales,  as  the  binary,  ternary,  &c,  would  be  ex- 
ceedingly inconvenient,  on  account  of  the  multitude  of  words 
that  would  be  required.  On  the  other  hand,  as  a  name  is 
required  for  at  least  every  unit  in  the  scale,  a  very  high 
scale  would  be  no  less  inconvenient.  In  the  denary  scale, 
the  nomenclature  is  sufficiently  convenient,  and  in  our  lan- 
guage almost  perfectly  regular.  A  name  is  given  to  the  9 
units  of  the  first  order;  the  unit  of  the  second  order  is  ten  ; 
and,  by  the  different  combinations  of  this  word,  all  numbers 
are  named  to  99:  eleven  and  twelve  are  only  apparent  ex- 
ceptions. A  new  appellation  is  wanted  for  the  unit  of  the 
third  order,  or  hundred.  This  suffices  till  we  reach  the 
fourth  order,  or  thousands ;  and  might  even  have  sufficed 
to  a  hundred  hundreds,  or  ten  thousand.  A  thousand  thou- 
sands is  called  a  million,  and  a  million  millions  a  billion; 
farther  continuation  is  useless. 

The  second  object  of  numeration  is  to  express  the  nomen- 
clature thus  formed  by  the  combinations  of  a  small  number 
of  written  symbols.  This  is  most  conveniently  effected  by 
the  very  refined  artifice  of  giving  to  each  symbol  a  local  as 
well  as  an  absolute  value.  So  that  the  same  symbol,  3  for 
example,  is  made  to  express  not  only  3  units,  but  3  tens,  3 
hundreds,  3  thousands,  &c. ;  or  3  tenth  parts,  3  hundredth 
parts,  &c.,  according  to  its  distance  towards  the  left  or  right 
from  the  unit's  place  in  any  combination  of  symbols.  See 
Notation. 

NUMERATOR,  in  Arithmetic,  is  that  part  of  the  nu- 
merical expression  of  a  fraction  which  indie  js  how  many 
of  those  parts  into  which  the  unit  is  supposeu  to  be  divided 
are  expressed.  Thus,  in  the  fraction  ~,  the  lower  number 
12  is  the  denominator,  and  shows  thatthe  unit  is  divided 
into  12  parts ;  7  is  the  numerator,  and  shows  how  many  of 
those  parts  are  to  he  taken. 

NUMISMA'TICS.  (From  the  Greek  xiawua,  Latin 
nummus,  a  coin.)  The  science  of  coins  and  medals.  The 
distinction  between  these  classes  of  objects  is,  in  modem 
times,  that  the  coin  is  struck  for  the  purpose  of  circulation  as 
money ;  the  medal  not  as  a  piece  of  money,  but  as  a  token 
commemorative  of  some  person  or  event.  But  ancient  coins 
are  often  termed,  in  common  language,  medals.  The  parts 
of  a  coin  or  medal  are.  the  obverse  or  face,  containing  gen- 
erally' the  head,  bust,  or  figure  of  the  sovereign  or  person  in 
whose  honour  the  medal  was  struck,  or  some  emblematic 
figure  in  the  coins  of  commonwealths  :  and  the  reverse,  con- 
taining various  figures  or  words.  The  words  around  the 
border  of  the  coin  form  what  is  termed  the  legend,  those  in 
the  middle  the  inscription  ;  when  occupying  the  lower  ex- 

837 


NUMISMATICS. 

tremity  of  the  pieces,  and  separated  from  the  rest  by  a  hori- 
zontal line,  they  are  termed  the  exergue. 

The  earliest  Grecian  coins  which  we  possess  appear  to 
have  been  nearly  of  a  spherical  shape:  they  contain,  on 
the  obverse,  some  emblems  of  the  particular  cities  which 
struck  them ;  and  on  the  reverse,  deep  indentations  made 
by  the  puncheon  in  which  the  metal  was  held  while  the 
obverse  was  struck.  These  marks,  or  the  die,  wen'  soon 
brought  into  a  more  regular  shape,  sometimes  fanning  a 
neat  square,  sometimes  a  circle.  Types  were  afterwards 
introduced  on  both  surfaces  of  the  coin  by  inserting  same 
small  object  in  one  compartment  of  the  die.  Ancient  coins 
have  been  divided  into  various  historical  series,  as  exhibit- 
ed in  the  following  table  : 


'1.  Consular. 


C  Of  Grapcia  Propria  and  the  Islands. 
] .  Civic.  <  Of  Greek  colonies. 

(  Of  Gra-co-Asiatic  cities. 

f  Kings  of  Macedon. 
Kings  of  states  formed  out  of  the 
Macedonian  conquesta:  Syria, 
Egypt,  &c,  &c,  and  the  inde- 
pendent princes  of  Epirus  and 
Syracuse. 
\  Roman  asses. 
)  Coins  of  the  families. 
C  Roman. 
Roman.  <  2.  Imperial.     <  Grecian  :    Provinces,    Colonies, 
(     and  Municipia. 

13.  Medallions.)^- 

i  1.  European  ;  of  Thrace,  &c. 
Barbarian.  <  2.  Asiatic;  of  Persia,  &c. 
f  3.  African. 

The  objects  on  Grecian  civic  coins  are  either,  1,  the  em- 
blems of  the  cities ;  2,  figures  of  deities,  and  their  attri- 
butes ;  3,  miscellaneous  or  general  symbols,  usurped  by 
many  states  and  cities,  usually  consisting  of  warlike  ob- 
jects. The  legends  on  Greek  republican  coins  are  either 
the  name  of  the  city  or  its  initial  letters ;  or  monograms, 
i.  «.,  figures  forming  a  portion  of  the  name,  in  which  the 
characters  are  so  interlaced  that  a  limb  of  one  applies  to 
many. 

The  earliest  coins  which  bore  the  heads  of  princes  were 
those  of  Macedon,  commencing  with  Alexander  the  Great, 
and  closing  with  the  extinction  of  the  dynasty  of  the  Lagi- 
da°  in  the  Augustan  age.  Four  principal  series  of  Grecian 
monarchical  coins  (either  of  Greek  states,  or  such  as  adopt- 
ed the  Greek  language  and  customs)  have  been  formed :  1. 
Of  Macedon;  2.  Of  Sicily,  Carta,  Cyprus,  Heraclea,  Pontus  ; 
3.  Of  Egypt,  Syria,  the  Cimmerian  Bosphorus,  Thrace,  &c, 
&c,  from  the  era  of  Alexander  the  Great  down  to  that  of 
Christ;  4.  Of  dynasties  which  flourished  subsequently  to 
the  latter  era  ;  including  some  kings  of  Thrace,  Bosphorus, 
and  Parthia,  with  those  of  Comagene,  Edessa,  and  Juda>a; 
to  which  may  be  added  some  lines  of  Romanized  monarchs] 
as  those  of  Mauritania.  The  most  beautiful  monarchic  se- 
ries are  those  of  the  Seleucidte  in  Syria,  and  Ptolemies  in 
Egypt  The  unit  of  the  Grecian  silver  coinage,  in  point  of 
value,  may  be  considered  as  the  drachma,  which  is  of  a 
size  between  our  sixpence  and  shilling;  the  smallest  silver 
coin  is  the  dichalcos,  only  i-th  of  the  drachma ;  the  largest, 
the  tetradrachma,  containing  four  drachmae.  The  common- 
est gold  coin  is  the  didrachma,  weighing  two  silver  drach- 
ma?, and  in  value  20,  or  15s.  sterling.  Grecian  copper  coins 
are  generally  small. 

The  Roman  coinage  differs  from  the  Grecian  in  many  re- 
spects ;  the  greater  size  of  the  copper  coins  in  earlv  times 
and  their  superior  workmanship  in  later,  the  prevailing 
simplicity  of  devices,  &c,  form  characteristic  marks  of  dif- 
ference. In  the  first  period  of  the  republic  they  were  cast. 
The  consular  copper  coins  have  separate  symbols  for  the 
pieces,  according  to  their  respective  value  ;  as  the  head  of 
Janus  for  the  as,  Jupiter  for  the  semis,  &c.  The  as  also 
bore  the  impress  1,  to  denote  its  quality  of  unity  as  a  meas- 
ure of  value.  The  name  family  coins,  applied  to  many 
coins  of  the  republic,  arose  from  the  custom  of  inserting 
the  name  of  some  distinguished  family  in  the  field  of  the 
coins.  A  silver  coinage  was  first  introduced  into  Rome  206 
B.C.  The  oldest  coin  was  the  denarius,  equivalent  to  ten 
asses:  the  earliest  of  these  have  the  head  of  Janus,  lor 
Which  that  of  Koine  was  afterwards  substituted  on  the  Ob- 
verse, With  a  variety  of  symbols  09  the  reverse.  Tin  coin- 
age of  gold  was  introduced  into  Rome  sixty  years  after  that 
Of  silver:  the  pieces  were,  the  scrupiilum."  one  third  of  the 
denarius  in  weight;  a  coin  weighing  two  thirds,  and  an- 
other weighing  a  whole  denarius.  Afterwards  the  chief 
gold  coin  was  the  aureus  (twice  the  weisht  of  the  denari- 
us), and  its  parts.  The  imperial  Roman  coins  form  by  far 
the  most  complete  and  varied  series  which  we  |»>ssess  of 
ancient  or  modern  times.  The  symbols  on  the  reverse 
have  been  arranged  under  four  heads  :  as  relating  to  reli- 
838 


NURSERY. 

pinn.  war.  games,  and  the  embellishments  of  the  city,  un- 
der the  numerous  subdivisions  of  these  subjects.  The  ob- 
verses contain  the  portraits  of  emperors  and  empresses. 
The  characters  on  the  reverses  of  the  coins  are,  generally 
speaking,  explanatory  of  the  type;  expressing,  in  a  few 
brief  words,  the  history  of  some  occurrence  Immediately 
after  which  the  coin  was  struck,  &.c.  The  legends  on  the 
obverse  mostly  contain  titles  annexed  to  the  imperial  dig- 
nity, often  expressed  in  abbreviations  productive  of  not  a 
little  obscurity. 

Not  less  than  three  hundred  portraits  are  preserved  in 
the  series  of  Roman  imperial  coins.  The  term  medallion 
is  applied  to  those  productions  of  the  Roman  or  provincial 
mints  which,  in  gold,  exceed  the  size  of  the  aureus  ;  in  sil- 
ver, of  the  denarius ;  in  copper,  of  the  largest  copper  coin 
of  ascertained  value.  It  is  doubtful  whether  they  were  in- 
tended for  circulation  as  coins,  or  struck,  like  medals  among 
ourselves,  as  commemorative  tokens. 

Modern  coins  present  so  wide  a  variety  as  to  render  It 
impossible  to  include  any  classification  of  them  within  the 
limits  of  the  present  notice.  In  England,  Roman  coins 
were  current  until  the  arrival  of  the  Saxons:  we  have  the 
coins  of  five  out  of  the  seven  kingdoms  of  the  heptarchy ; 
among  them  some  small  copper  coins,  the  only  specimens 
of  that  metal  coined  before  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  Coins 
struck  prior  to  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  had  their  devices 
impressed  by  the  blows  of  a  hammer.  The  system  of  let- 
tering on  the  edges,  which  was  succeeded  by  graining,  was 
invented  in  order  to  obviate  the  fraudulent  practice  of  clip- 
ping and  filing  the  current  coin. 

NCMMULI'TES.  (Lat.  nummus,  money,  and  Gr.  hOoc, 
a  stone.)  An  extinct  genus  of  the  order  of  Molluscous  ani- 
mals called  Cephalopoda,  of  a  thin  lenticular  shape,  divided 
internally  into  small  chambers.  These  occur  so  abundantly 
in  some  parts  of  the  chalk  formation,  that  the  name  of  nuin- 
mulite  limestone  is  given  to  the  strata  so  characterized. 

NUNCIO.  An  envoy  of  the  pope  to  the  court  of  an  em- 
peror or  king  to  negotiate  ecclesiastical  affairs.  (See  Leo- 
ate.)  Previously  to  the  council  of  Trent  the  papal  nuncios 
acted  as  judges,  in  the  first  instance,  of  matters  which  lay 
within  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  ;  but  since  that  time  they 
have  formed  a  kind  of  court  of  appeal  from  the  decisions 
of  the  respective  bishops.  This  jurisdiction,  however,  holds 
good  only  in  those  countries  which  still  hold  themselves 
subject  to  the  decretals  and  discipline  of  the  council  of 
Trent ;  for  in  other  kingdoms  and  states,  such  as  France, 
Austria,  Tuscany,  &c,  which,  though  Roman  Catholic,  hold 
themselves  independent  of  the  Roman  pontiff  in  matters  of 
discipline,  the  papal  nuncio  has  no  jurisdiction  whatever, 
and  is  invested  merely  with  a  diplomatic  character,  like  the 
ambassadors  of  any  secular  power.  The  term  nuncio  is  the 
Italian  form  of  the  Lat.  nuntius. 

NUNCUPATIVE  WILL.  (Lat.  nuncupo,  I  name.)  In 
Law,  a  will  orally  delivered  by  the  testator.     See  Will. 

NU'NDIN^E.  (Lat.  nonus,  ninth,  and  dies,  a  day.)  The 
market-days  or  fairs  at  Rome  were  so  called,  because  they 
recurred  every  ninth  day.  On  this  day  the  people  from  the 
country  and  neighbouring  towns  flocked  to  Rome  with  the 
produce  of  their  farms  or  industry.  On  that  day,  also,  all 
public  proclamations  were  made,  causes  heard,  witnesses 
cited,  and  judgments  given.  The  nundinar  were  originally 
considered  as  dies  nefasti,  on  which  no  other  business  could 
be  done ;  but,  for  the  convenience  of  the  country  people, 
this  prohibition  was  removed  by  the  J.n  Hortensia. 

NUNS.  Female  devotees  among  the  Roman  Catholics, 
who.  like  the  monks  of  the  other  sex,  seclude  themselves 
in  religious  communities,  and  make  profession  of  perpetual 
chastity.     SceMoNAcinsM. 

The  origin  of  this  institution  is  commonly  ascribed  to  St 
Syncletica,  the  contemporary  of  St.  Anthony.  Among  nuns, 
as  among  monks,  there  are  various  orders  :  some  abandon- 
ing themselves  entirely  to  contemplation  and  spiritual  ex- 
ercises, but  many  others  to  the  more  active  duties  of  private 
and  public  charity. 

NU'RSI'.RV.  In  Gardening,  a  plot  of  ground,  or  an  en- 
tire garden,  set  apart  for  the  propagation  of  plants,  more 
particularly  trees  and  shrubs.  The  situation  ought  to  be 
open  and  airy,  and  the  soil  of  an  average  quality,  neither 
too  heavy  nor  too  light,  so  as  to  be  adapted  to  the  majority 
of  plants  ;  but  in  a  complete  nursery  there  ought  also  to  be 
shady  borders  for  plants  requiring  shade,  and  beds  or  com- 
partments of  peat  soil,  or  other  peculiar  soils,  for  such  plants 
as  are  not  readily  propagated  and  grown  in  ordinary  soils. 
Where  tender  plants  are  propagated, or  where  hardy  plants 
are  to  be  raised  from  seeds  or  struck  from  cuttings  which 
are  not  easily  germinated  or  rooted  in  the  open  ground  and 
in  the  ordinary  manner,  hotbeds,  frames,  and  hand-glasses 
are  also  requisite.  Every  private  garden  of  any  evtent  re- 
quires a  nursery  to  hum'  and  brii.2  forward  young  plants  as 
a  reserve  for  supplying  failures  by  disease  or  accident  in 
the  general  garden  ;  and  in  every  country  where  private 
gardens  or  plantations  of  trees  are  frequent,  public  or  com- 


NUTATION. 

mercial  nurseries  are  formed  by  persons  who  adopt  nursery 
gardening  as  a  business. 

NUTA'TION.  In  Astronomy,  the  name  given  to  a  small 
gyratory  movement  of  the  earth's  axis,  in  virtue  of  which, 
if  it  subsisted  alone,  without  the  precession  of  the  equinox- 
es, the  pole  of  the  equator  would  describe  among  the  stars, 
in  a  period  of  about  nineteen  years,  a  small  ellipse,  having 
its  longer  axis  equal  to  18-5",  and  its  shorter  to  13-74"  ;  the 
longer  being  directed  to  the  pole  of  the  ecliptic,  and  the 
shorter,  of  course,  at  right  angles  to  the  longer. 

In  order  to  understand  the  nature  of  this  phenomenon,  it 
is  necessary  to  consider  it  in  connexion  with  that  of  pre- 
cession, both  depending  on  the  same  physical  cause,  and 
forming,  in  fact,  essential  constituent  parts  of  one  and  the 
same  great  phenomenon.  The  action  of  the  sun  and  moon 
on  the  protuberant  mass  about  the  earth's  equator  tends 
constantly  to  draw  the  plane  of  the  equator  towards  that 
of  the  ecliptic,  or  to  diminish  the  angle  between  them.  In 
consequence  of  the  earth's  rapid  rotation  about  its  axis,  the 
inclination  of  the  two  planes  is  not  permanently  altered, 
but  a  motion  is  communicated  to  the  plane  of  the  equator, 
of  such  a  kind  that  its  axis  revolves  with  a  slow  conical 
motion  about  the  axis  of  the  ecliptic ;  or,  which  is  the  same 
thing,  the  pole  of  the  equator  describes  a  circle  in  the  heav- 
ens about  the  pole  of  the  ecliptic  as  a  centre,  keeping  con- 
stantly at  the  same  mean  distance  of  about  23°  28'  from  it. 
The  direction  of  this  motion  is  from  east  to  west,  and  its 
velocity  amounts  only  to  50-1"  annually,  so  that  the  whole 
circle  requires  for  its  description  a  period  of  25,868  years. 

Let  us  now  consider  what  would  be  the  effect  of  the 
moon's  action  independently  of  that  of  the  sun.  The  lunar 
orbit  does  not  coincide  with  the  ecliptic  ;  it  is  inclined  to  it 
in  an  angle  of  about  5°  9" ;  and  the  position  of  the  line  in 
which  the  two  planes  intersect,  that  is,  the  line  of  the 
nodes,  goes  back  on  the  ecliptic  with  a  motion  which  car- 
ries it  through  a  complete  revolution  in  about  eighteen 
years  and  seven  months.  The  axis  of  the  lunar  orbit, 
therefore,  also  describes  a  conical  motion  about  that  of  the 
ecliptic,  or  its  pole  describes  a  small  circle  in  the  heavens 
about  the  pole  of  the  ecliptic,  at  the  distance  of  5°  9',  and 
in  the  same  period  of  about  eighteen  years  and  seven 
months.  Now,  the  effect  of  the  moon's  attraction  on  the 
parts  of  the  terrestrial  spheroid  exterior  to  the  inscribed 
sphere  is  to  produce  a  slow  conical  motion  of  the  earth's 
axis,  not  about  the  pole  of  the  ecliptic,  but  about  the  pole 
of  the  lunar  orbit,  which  is  itself  in  a  state  of  comparatively 
rapid  motion  about  the  pole  of  the  ecliptic.  The  point, 
therefore,  in  the  sphere  of  the  heavens  round  which  the 
pole  of  the  earth's  equator  revolves,  being  in  a  state  of  con- 
tinual circulation  round  the  pole  of  the  ecliptic,  the  path 
which  the  pole  of  the  equator  describes  is  not  a  circle,  but 
a  sort  of  epicycloidal  curve,  or  gently  undulated  ring.  This 
will  be  rendered  evident  by  the  annexed  figure.  Let  P  be 
the  pole  of  the  ecliptic,  which  is  supposed  to  be  fixed ;  A 
the  pole  of  the  moon's  orbit,  moving 
round  the  small  circle  A  B  C  D  in  the 
space  of  nearly  nineteen  years ;  a  the 
pole  of  the  earth's  equator,  which  at 
each  moment  moves  in  a  direction 
perpendicular  to  the  varying  position 
of  the  line  A  a,  and  with  a  velocity 
varying  with  the  intensity  of  the  act- 
ing forces  during  the  revolution  of  the 
moon's  nodes,  but,  on  the  whole,  so 
*■  >>  <•  slow  as   to   carry  it  round  only  in 

25,868  years.  When,  therefore,  A  arrives  successively  at 
B,  C,  D,  and  E,  the  line  A  a  will  take  the  positions  B  b,  C  c, 
D  d,  E  e:  the  earth's  pole  will  thus,  in  one  tropical  revolu- 
tion of  A,  have  arrived  at  e ;  and  its  direction  having  been 
always  perpendicular  to  B  b,  C  c,  &c,  the  path  which  it 
will  have  described  will  be  of  the  form  abode.  The  same 
thing  will  be  repeated  at  each  succeeding  revolution  of  the 
moon's  node;  and  it  is  this  alternate  increase  and  diminu- 
tion of  the  distances  P  a,  P  c,  and  P  e  which  constitute  the 
phenomenon  of  the  nutation. 

As  the  effect  of  the  sun  or  moon  in  giving  the  earth  a 
motion  about  its  centre  of  gravity  varies  with  the  distance 
of  the  attracting  body  from  the  plane  of  the  equator,  it  is 
evident  that  the  effect  of  the  sun  is  greatest  at  the  solstices, 
and  is  reduced  to  nothing  at  the  equinoxes.  On  this  ac- 
count, the  obliquity  of  the  ecliptic  is  subject  to  a  small 
semi-annual  variation,  depending  on  the  sun  alone.  This 
is  called  the  solar  nutation.  Its  existence  is,  however,  only 
a  deduction  from  the  theory  of  attraction ;  for  its  amount, 
which  is  less  than  half  a  second,  is  too  small  to  be  sensible 
to  observation.  The  result  produced  by  the  combined  ac- 
tion of  the  sun  and  moon  is  called  the  luni-solar  nutation  ; 
though  the  sensible  part  of  it  is  produced  only  by  the  moon, 
and  follows  exactly  the  period  of  the  moon's  nodes. 

The  uranographical  effect  of  the  nutation  is  to  produce  a 
periodical  fluctuation  of  the  apparent  obliquity  of  the  eclip- 
tic, and  of  the  velocity  of  the  regression  of  the  equinoctial 


NUTRIA. 

points.  Hence  arises  the  distinction  between  apparent  and 
mean  right  ascension  and  declination  ;  the  former  being 
given  by  direct  observation,  and  the  latter  being  the  results 
obtained  when  the  observed  places  of  objects  have  been 
cleared  of  the  periodical  fluctuations  arising  from  nutation. 
Formula?  and  tables,  for  the  reduction  of  observations  to  a 
common  epoch,  are  given  in  all  works  on  practical  astron- 
omy. 

The  discovery  of  the  nutation  of  the  terrestrial  axis  be- 
longs to  Bradley,  and  was  a  consequence  of  his  other  great 
discovery,  the  aberration  of  light.  In  prosecuting  his  ob- 
servations with  a  zenith  sector,  with  a  view  to  establish  his 
theory  of  the  aberration,  he  found  a  greater  apparent  change 
in  the  declinations  of  stars  near  the  equinoctial  colure  than 
could  arise  from  a  precession  of  50"  in  a  year,  and  at  the 
same  time  exactly  the  reverse  effect  in  the  case  of  stars 
near  the  solstitial  colure.  In  the  course  of  five  years,  the 
changes  in  question  amounted,  in  some  instances,  to  9"  or 
10"  ;  and  as  it  was  evident  that  they  could  not  be  explained 
by  any  alteration  of  the  quantity  of  precession,  Bradley  re- 
verted to  an  idea  which  had  previously  occurred  to  him  in 
attempting  to  account  for  the  phenomenon  of  aberration. 
"I  suspected,"  says  he,  "that  the  moon's  action  upon  the 
equatorial  parts  of  the  earth  might  produce  these  effects. 
For  if  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes  be,  according  to  Sir 
Isaac  Newton's  principles,  caused  by  the  action  of  the  sun 
and  moon  upon  those  parts,  the  plane  of  the  moon's  orbit 
being  at  one  time  nbove  ten  degrees  more  inclined  to  the 
equator  than  at  another,  it  was  reasonable  to  conclude  that 
the  part  of  the  whole  annual  precession  which  arises  from 
her  action  would,  in  different  years,  be  varied  in  its  quan- 
tity ;  whereas  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic  wherein  the  sun  ap- 
pears keeping  nearly  always  the  same  inclination  to  the 
equator,  that  part  of  the  precession  which  is  owing  to  the 
sun's  action  may  be  the  same  every  year ;  and  from  hence 
it  would  follow  that  although  the  mean  annual  precession 
proceeding  from  the  joint  actions  of  the  sun  and  moon  were 
50",  yet  the  apparent  annual  precession  might  sometimes 
exceed  and  sometimes  fall  short  of  that  mean  quantity,  ac- 
cording to  the  various  situations  of  the  nodes  of  the  moon's 
orbit." 

A  long  series  of  observations  on  stars  situated  in  different 
parts  of  the  heavens  proved  the  correctness  of  this  theory  ; 
and  it  was  found  that  all  the  phenomena  were  capable  of 
being  explained  on  the  hypothesis  that  the  pole  of  the  equa- 
tor describes  a  small  circle  about  its  mean  place,  contrary 
to  the  order  of  the  signs,  and  in  the  same  period  as  that  of 
the  revolution  of  the  moon's  nodes.  Bradley  himself  after- 
wards remarked  that  they  would  be  still  more  accurately 
represented  by  supposing  the  curve  described  by  the  pole 
about  its  mean  place  to  be  an  ellipse  instead  of  a  circle. 
This  is  confirmed  by  accurately  calculating,  from  theory, 
the  amount  of  all  the  forces  which  tend  to  displace  the  ter- 
restrial equator.  The  result  shows  the  path  of  the  pole  to 
be  an  ellipse,  and  gives  nearly  the  same  values  of  its  semi- 
transverse  and  conjugate  axes  as  are  given  by  observation. 
These  values  were  found  by  Von  Lindenau  from  a  series  of 
810  observations,  embracing  three  complete  revolutions  of 
the  moon's  nodes,  to  be  80-977"  and  6682"  respee lively. 
The  value  of  the  semiaxis  major  of  the  small  ellipse  ima- 
gined by  Bradley  is  called  the  constant  of  nutation,  and  en- 
ters as  an  element  into  all  reductions  of  astronomical  ob- 
servations. Von  Lindenau's  determination,  above  stated,  is 
adopted  by  the  German  astronomers.  The  value  generally 
used  by  British  astronomers  is  9-25",  which  was  deduced 
by  Dr.  Brinkley,  bishop  of  Cloyne,  from  his  own  observa- 
tions with  the  Dublin  circle.  Very  recently,  this  important 
astronomical  element  has  been  investigated  by  Dr.  Robin- 
son, of  Armagh,  from  the  Greenwich  observations  with  the 
mural  circle  from  1812  to  1835,  and  the  result  at  which  he 
arrives  is  9-23913".  (Memoirs  Roy.  Ast.  Soc,  vol.  xi.,  1840 ; 
Airy's  Math.  Tracts ;  HerscheVs  Astronomy.)  See  Pre- 
cession. 

NU'THATCH.  The  name  of  a  shy  and  solitary  bird  of 
the  genus  Sitta  (S.  Europ&a).  It  frequents  woods,  and  feeds 
on  insects  chiefly ;  but  also  eats  the  kernel  of  the  hazelnut, 
which  it  cracks  by  fixing  it  in  a  chink,  and  striking  it  from 
above  with  all  its  force.  The  nuthatch  lays  her  eggs  in 
holes  of  trees,  and  hisses  like  a  snake  when  disturbed. 

NUT  OF  A  SCREW.  In  Architecture,  a  piece  of  wood, 
iron,  or  other  metal,  pierced  cylindrically,  wherein  is  cut  a 
spiral  groove,  adapted  to  an  external  cylindrical  spiral  cut 
on  a  bolt.  Its  use  is  to  screw  two  bodies  together,  a  head 
being  placed  on  one  end  of  the  bolt  to  counteract  the  action 
of  the  nut.  Two  bodies  are  thus  held  together  by  com- 
pression, the  bolt  between  the  head  and  the  nut  being  a  tie. 

NUTRIA,  or  NEUTRIA.  The  commercial  name  for 
the  skins  of  Mtjopotamus  Bonariensis  (Commerson),  the 
Coypou  of  Molina,  and  the  Quoiija  of  D'Azara.  In  France 
the  skins  were,  and  perhaps  still  are,  sold  under  the  name 
of  racoonda ;  but  in  England  they  are  imported  as  nutria 
skins—deriving  their  appellation,  most  probably,  from  some 

"839 


NUTRITION. 

supposed  similarity  of  the  animal  which  produces  them,  in 
appearance  and  habits,  to  the  otter,  the  Spanish  name  for 
which  is  nutria.  Indeed,  Molina  speaks  of  the  coypou  as  a 
species  of  water-rat  of  the  size  and  colour  of  the  otter. 

.Nutria  fur  is  largely  used  in  the  hat  manufacture;  and 
has  become,  W  ithin  the  last  15  or  20  years,  an  article  of  very 
considerable  commercial  importance.  The  Imports  fluctu- 
ate considerably.  In  1823,  they  amounted  to  1,570,103 
6kins;  but  they  have  not,  in  any  other  year,  been  much 
more  than  half  that  number.  In  1826,  they  were  only 
60,871.  In  1837  and  1838,  the  imports  were,  at  an  average, 
358,280  skins  a  year.  Those  entered  for  home  consumption 
pay  a  duty  of  lid.  a  skin.  They  are  principally  brought 
from  the  Rio  de  la  Plata.  Nutria  skins  are  very  extensively 
used  on  the  continent.  Geoffrey  mentions*  that,  in  certain 
years,  a  single  French  furrier  (M.  Bechem)  has  received 
from  15,000  to  20,000  skins. 

Like  the  beaver,  the  coypou  is  furnished  with  two  kinds 
of  fur;  viz.  the  long  ruddy  hair,  which  gives  the  tone  of 
colour,  and  the  brownish  ash-coloured  fur  at  its  base,  which, 
like  the  down  of  the  beaver,  is  of  much  importance  in  hat 
making,  and  the  cause  of  the  animal's  commercial  value. 

The  habits  of  the  coypou  are  much  like  those  of  most  of 
the  other  aquatic  Rodent  animals.  Its  principal  food,  in  a 
state  of  nature,  is  vegetable.  It  affects  the  neighbourhood 
of  water,  swims  perfectly  well,  and  burrows  in  the  ground. 
The  female  brings  forth  from  five  to  seven  at  a  time;  and 
the  young  always  accompany  her. 

The  coypou  is  easily  domesticated,  and  its  manners  in 
captivity  are  very  mild.  (See  Martin  in  the  Proceedings 
of  the  Zoological  Society,  1835). 

NU  TRITION.     See  Food,  Digestion. 

NUTMEG.  The  fruit  of  the  Myristica  moschata,  a  beau- 
tiful tree  of  the  family  of  the  Laurineoz  of  Jussieu,  which 
grows  in  the  Molucca  islands.  All  the  parts  of  this  tree 
are  very  aromatic ;  but  only  those  portions  of  the  fruit  call- 
ed mace  and  nutmeg  are  sent  into  the  market.  The  entire 
fruit  is  a  species  of  drupa,  of  an  ovoid  form,  of  the  size  of  a 
peach,  and  furrowed  longitudinally.  The  nutmeg  is  the 
innermost  kernel  or  seed,  contained  in  a  thin  shell,  which  is 
surrounded  by  the  mace ;  and  this  again  is  inclosed  in  a 
tough  fleshy  skin,  which,  opening  at  the  tip,  separates  into 
two  valves.  The  nutmeg-tree  yields  three  crops  annually ; 
one  in  April,  which  is  the  best ;  one  in  August ;  and  one  in 
December. 

Good  nutmegs  should  be  dense,  and  feel  heavy  in  the 
hand.  When  they  have  been  perforated  by  worms,  they 
feel  light;  and  though  the  holes  have  been  fraudulently 
stopped,  the  unsound  ones  may  be  easily  detected  by  this 
criterion. 

Nutmegs  afford  two  oily  products.  1.  Butter  of  nutmeg, 
vulgarly  called  oil  of  mace,  is  obtained  in  the  Moluccas, 
by  expression,  from  the  fresh  nutmegs,  to  the  amount  of 
50  per  cent,  of  their  weight.  It  is  a  reddish-yellow  butter- 
like substance,  interspersed  with  light  and  dark  streaks, 
and  possesses  the  agreeable  smell  and  taste  of  the  nutmeg, 
from  the  presence  of  a  volatile  oil.  It  consists  of  two  fats  ; 
one  reddish  and  soft,  soluble  in  cold  alcohol ;  another 
white  and  solid,  soluble  in  hot  alcohol.  2.  The  volatile  oil 
is  solid,  or  a  stereoptene,  and  has  been  styled  myristicine. 
(Ure's  Diet,  of  Arts,  be.) 

NUTS.  (Lat.  nux.)  The  fruit  of  different  species  of 
Coryli  or  hazels.  The  kernels  have  a  mild  farinaceous 
oily  taste,  agreeable  to  most  palates ;  a  kind  of  chocolate 
has  been  prepared  from  them,  and  they  have  sometimes 
been  made  into  bread.  The  expressed  oil  of  hazel  nuts  is 
little  inferior  to  that  of  almonds.  Besides  those  raised  at 
home,  nuts  are  imported  from  different  parts  of  France, 
Portugal,  and  Spain,  but  chiefly  from  the  latter.  The 
Spanish  nuts  in  highest  estimation,  though  sold  by  the 
name  of  Barcelona  nuts,  are  not  shipi>ed  from  thence,  but 
from  Tarragona,  whence  the  average  annual  export  is  esti- 
mated at  from  25,000  to  30,000  bags,  four  to  the  ton.  The 
annual  entries  of  nuts  for  home  consumption  amount  to 
from  100,00(1  to  125,000  bushel's;  the  duty  of  2s.  a  bushel 
yielding  from  £10,000  to  £12,000  nett.     (Commercial  Diet). 

NTJ  TTALITE.  A  mineral  associated  with  calcspar, 
from  Bolton,  in  Massachusetts:  it  occurs  in  prismatic 
Crystals,  and  appears,  from  Dr.  Thomson's  analysis,  to  be 
an  alumino-silicate  of  lime,  potash,  and  iron. 

NUX.  A  kind  of  fruit,  hard,  dry,  not  splitting,  and  con- 
taining only  one  seed ;  it  is  also  extended  by  some  writers 
to  any  similar  fruit,  whether  it  contains  one  cell  or  more 
than  one.     See  Nuts. 

NUX  VOMICA.  (Lat.)  The  fruit  of  a  species  of 
strychnos  growing  in  the  East  Indies.  It  produces  the 
alkaloid  salts,  strychnia,  and  bruchia,  and  is  a  very  viru- 
lent poison. 

.NYVTALOPS.     (Gr.  vn$,  night,  and  onropat,  I  see.) 

*  Annate*  du  Mwttum,  vol.  vi.,  p.  S2.     The  figure  given  is.   generally 
speaking,  good ;  but  the  tail  is  too  hairy,  and  contradicts  the  description. 
840 


OAK. 

One  who  only  sees  distinctly  in  twilight,  or  the  dusk  of 
evening. 

NYMPH,  Xympha.  (Gr.  vvp<j>n,  a  nymph.)  The  Me- 
tabolian  insects  are  so  called  when  in  the  second  stage 
of  their  metamorphosis,  especially  when  they  possess  the 
power  of  locomotion.     See  Pcpa. 

NYMPH^E'A,  was  the  name  given  to  some  public,  baths 
at  Rome  consecrated  to  the  nymphs,  with  whose  statues 
they  were  adorned. 

NYMPHA'CEA.  In  Zoology,  a  name  given  by  Lamarck 
to  a  family  of  Bivalves. 

NYMPIIiEA'CE^E.  (Nymphea,  one  of  the  genera.)  In 
Botany,  a  natural  order  of  plants,  containing  the  water- 
lilies  of  various  parts  of  the  world  ;  they  are  Polypetalous 
Polyandrous  Exogens,  with  the  sides  of  the  cells  of  the 
fruit  covered  with  numerous  seeds.  Their  stems  burrow 
among  the  mud  of  the  places  where  they  grow,  and  have 
slightly  astringent  narcotic  properties.  The  species  are 
most  valued  for  the  beauty  of  their  flowers,  which  in  Vic- 
toria regia,  are  the  largest  in  nature,  measuring  as  much 
as  four  feet  in  circumference. 

NYMPHA'LIS.  A  genus  of  diurnal  Lepidopterous  in- 
sects, now  the  type  of  a  family. 

NYMPHI'PARA.  (Gr.  vvu<t>n,  a  nymph;  pario,  I  pro- 
duce.) A  hybrid  name  applied  by  Reaumur  to  a  family  of 
Dipterous  insects,  and  changed  by  Latreille  into  Pupipara. 
See  that  word. 

NYMPHS.  (Gr.  vv/Kpai.)  Female  beings,  in  Grecian 
Mythology,  partaking  of  the  nature  of  gods  and  men.  They 
peopled  all  the  regions  of  earth  and  water,  and  were  va- 
riously designated,  according  to  the  places  of  their  abode. 
Thus,  the  Naiades  inhabited  the  streams,  the  Oreiades  the 
mountains,  the  Dryades  the  woods,  the  Hamadryades  trees, 
with  which  they  were  born  and  died.  They  tire  represent- 
ed as  very  beautiful ;  they  constituted  the  attendants  of 
various  of  the  higher  female  divinities,  especially  Diana, 
and  were  also  considered  as  having  been  the  nurses  of  many 
of  the  gods,  as  Jupiter  and  Pan.     See  Naiads,  Nereids. 

NYSTA'GMUS.  (Gr.  vvaraypoc.)  A  winking  of  the 
eyes,  as  observed  in  a  drowsy  person. 


o. 


O.  A  letter  of  the  vowel  series,  which,  if  arranged  ac- 
cording to  the  nature  of  the  sound,  occupies  a  position 
between  a  and  u.  It  is  susceptible  of  numerous  inter- 
changes, for  which  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  Penny 
Cyclopedia.  The  Greeks  had  two  forms  of  this  letter,  o 
(outKOov,  or  little  0),  and  u>  (opcya,  or  large  o)  ;  the  former 
of  which  was  equivalent  to  the  short,  and  the  hitter  to 
the  long  pronunciation  of  this  letter  in  other  countries. 
Among  the  Irish,  the  letter  O  prefixed  to  a  name  was 
originally  considered  as  a  mark  of  family  dignity ;  it  is 
now,  however,  we  believe,  considered  to  be  merely  equiva- 
lent to  Fiti  in  England  and  Mac  in  Scotland,  indicating  son. 

O.  In  Music,  the  O,  circle,  or  double  C,  or  semicircle,  is 
a  note  which  we  call  a  semibreve,  and  the  Italians  circolo  ; 
used  by  them  to  mark  what  they  call  tempo  perfctto,  and 
what  we  call  triple  time. 

OAK.  (Genu,  eiche.)  The  general  name  of  a  well- 
known  hard-wooded  forest  tree,  much  cultivated  for  the 
purposes  of  timber,  particularly  in  shipbuilding,  and  in 
other  cases  when  much  exposure  to  the  weather  is  required. 
There  are  several  varieties  of  this  valuable  tree;  but  the 
common  English  oak  (Quercus  robur)  claims  precedence 
of  every  other.  The  oak  timber  imported  from  America  is 
very  inferior  to  that  of  this  country:  the  oak  from  the 
central  parts  of  Europe  is  also  inferior,  especially  in  com- 
pactness and  resistance  of  cleavage.  The  knotty  oak  of 
England,  the  "  unwedgeable  and  gnarled  oak,"  as  Shak- 
speare  called  it,  when  cut  down  at  a  proper  age  (from  50  to 
70  years),  is  the  best  timber  known.  Some  timber  is  harder, 
some  more  difficult  to  rend,  and  some  less  capable  of  being 
broken  across  ;  but  none  contains  all  the  three  qualities  in 
so  great  and  equal  proportions;  and  thus,  for  at  once  sup- 
porting a  weight,  resisting  a  strain,  and  not  splintering  by  a 
cannon  shot,  the  timber  of  the  oak  is  superior  to  every 
other. 

A  fine  oak  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque  of  trees :  it  con- 
veys to  the  mind  associations  of  strength  and  duration 
which  are  very  impressive.  The  oak  stands  up  against  the 
blast,  and  does  not  take,  like  other  trees,  a  twisted  form 
from  the  action  of  the  winds.  Except  the  cedar  of  Lebanon, 
no  tree  is  so  remarkable  for  the  stoutness  of  its  limbs  ;  they 
do  not  exactly  spring  from  the  trunk,  but  divide  from  it; 
and  thus  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  know  which  is  stem 
and  which  is  branch.  The  twisted  branches  of  the  0:1k, 
too,  add  greatly  to  its  beauty:  and  the  horizontal  direction 
of  its  boughs,  spreading  over  a  large  surface,  completes  the 
idea  of  its  sovereignty  over  all  the  trees  of  the  forest. 


OAKUM. 

The  oak  is  raised  from  acorns,  sown  either  where  the 
oak  is  to  stand,  or  in  a  nursery  whence  the  young  trees  are 
transplanted. 

The  colour  of  oak  wood  is  a  fine  brown,  and  is  familiar 
to  every  one:  it  is  of  ditferent  shades;  that  inclined  to  red 
is  the  most  inferior  kind  of  wood.  The  larger  transverse 
septa  are  in  general  very  distinct,  producing  beautiful  flowers 
when  cut  obliquely.  Where  the  septa  are  small,  and  not 
very  distinct,  the  wood  is  much  the  strongest.  The  texture 
is  alternately  compact  and  porous ;  the  compact  part  of  the 
annual  ring  being  of  the  darkest  colour,  and  in  irregular 
dots,  surrounded  by  open  pores,  producing  beautiful  dark 
veins  in  some  kinds,  particularly  pollard  oaks.  Oak  timber 
has  a  particular  smell,  and  the  taste  is  slightly  astringent. 
It  contains  gallic  acid,  and  is  blackened  by  contact  with 
iron  when  it  is  damp.  The  young  wood  of  English  oak  is 
very  tough,  often  cross-grained,  and  difficult  to  work.  Fo- 
reign wood,  and  that  of  old  trees,  is  more  brittle  and  work- 
able. Oak  warps  and  twists  much  in  drying ;  and,  in  sea- 
soning, shrinks  about  ^Ld  of  its  width. 

Oak  of  a  good  quality  is  more  durable  than  any  other 
wood  that  attains  a  like  size.  Vitruvius  says  it  is  of  eternal 
duration  when  driven  into  the  earth  :  it  is  extremely  durable 
in  water ;  and  in  a  dry  state  it  has  been  known  to  last  near- 
ly 1000  years.  The  more  compact  it  is,  and  the  smaller  the 
pores  are,  the  longer  it  will  last ;  but  the  open,  porous,  and 
foxy-coloured  oak,  which  grows  in  Lincolnshire  and  some 
other  places,  is  not  near  so  durable. 

Besides  the  common  British  oak  (Quercus  robur),  the 
sessile-fruited  bay  oak  (Quercus  sessilifiora)  is  pretty 
abundant  in  several  parts  of  England,  particularly  in  the 
north.  The  wood  of  this  species  is  said  by  Tredgold  to  be 
darker,  heavier,  harder,  and  more  elastic  than  the  common 
oak;  tough,  and  difficult  to  work;  and  very  subject  to  warp 
and  split  in  seasoning.  Mr.  Tredgold  seems  disposed  to  re- 
gard this  species  as  superior  to  the  common  oak  for  ship- 
building.  But  other,  and  also  very  high  authorities,  are 
opposed  to  him  on  this  point;  and,  on  the  whole,  we  should 
think  that  it  is  sufficiently  well  established  that  for  all  the 
great  practical  purposes  to  which  oak  timber  is  applied,  and 
especially  for  ship-building,  the  wood  of  the  common  oak 
deserves  to  be  preferred  to  every  other  species.  A  well- 
informed  writer  in  the  Quarterly  Review,  has  the  following 
remarks  on  the  point  in  question : 

"  We  may  here  notice  a  fact  long  known  to  botanists, 
but  of  which  our  planters  and  purveyors  of  timber  appear 
to  have  had  no  suspicion,  that  there  are  two  distinct  species 
of  oak  in  England — the  Quercus  robur,  and  the  Quercus 
sessilifiora ;  the  former  of  which  affords  a  close  grained, 
firm,  solid  timber,  rarely  subject  to  rot;  the  other  more 
loose  and  sappy,  very  liable  to  rot,  and  not  half  so  durable. 
This  difference  was  noted  so  early  as  the  time  of  Ray ;  and 
Martyn  in  his  Flora  Rustica,  and  Sir  James  Smith  in  his 
Flora  Britannica,  have  added  their  testimonies  to  the  fact. 
The  second  species  is  supposed  to  have  been  introduced 
some  two  or  three  years  ago  from  the  continent,  where  the 
oaks  are  chiefly  of  this  latter  species,  especially  in  the  Ger- 
man forests,  the  timber  of  which  is  known  to  be  very 
worthless.  But  what  is  of  more  importance  to  us  is,  that 
de  facto  the  imposture  abounds,  and  is  propagated  vigor- 
ously in  the  New  Forest  and  other  parts  of  Hampshire,  in 
Norfolk  and  the  northern  counties,  and  about  London;  and 
there  is  but  too  much  reason  to  believe  that  the  numerous 
complaints  that  were  heard  about  our  ships  being  infected 
with  what  was  called,  improperly  enough,  dry  rot,  were 
owing  to  the  introduction  of  this  species  of  oak  into  the 
naval  dock-yards,  where,  we  understand,  the  distinction 
was  not  even  suspected.  It  may  thus  be  discriminated 
from  the  true  old  English  oak :  The  acorn  stalks  of  the 
robur  are  long,  and  its  leaves  short ;  whereas  the  sessili- 
fiora has  the  acorn  stalks  short,  and  the  leaves  long :  the 
acorns  of  the  former  grow  singly,  or  seldom  two  on  the 
same  footstalk ;  those  of  the  latter  in  clusters  of  two  or 
three  close  to  the  stem  of  the  branch.  We  believe  the 
Russian  ships  of  the  Baltic  that  are  not  of  larch  or  fir  are 
built  of  this  species  of  oak ;  but  if  this  were  not  the  case, 
their  exposure  on  the  stocks,  without  cover,  to  the  heat  of 
summer,  which,  though  short,  is  excessive,  and  the  rifts 
and  chinks  which  fill  up  with  ice  and  snow  in  the  long 
winter,  are  enough  to  destroy  the  stoutest  oak,  and  quite 
sufficient  to  account  for  their  short-lived  duration. 

OA'KUM.  The  yarns  of  which  rope  is  composed  when 
twisted  into  fibre.  When  mingled  with  pitch  it  is  used  for 
stopping  leaks. 

OA'NNES.  In  ancient  Mythology,  the  most  celebrated 
divinity  of  the  Babylonians.  He  was  represented  as  a 
sea-monster,  with  human  feet  and  hands ;  and  was  said 
to  dwell  in  the  abysses  of  the  Red  Sea,  whence  he  was  in 
the  habit  of  issuing  daily,  and  proceeding  to  Babylon,  where 
he  communicated  instruction  on  religion,  the  science  of 
government,  and  the  useful  arts.  It  has  been  generally 
supposed  that  Oannes  was  identical  with  the  god  Dagon, 


OATH. 

Sea  monster,  upward  man, 
And  downward  flsh  j 

and  it  is  certain  that  the  worship  of  marine  animals  con- 
stituted a  leading  feature  in  the  religious  observances  of 
the  Syrians  and  the  adjacent  nations.     See  Dagon. 

OAR.  In  .Nautical  Affairs,  a  long  piece  of  timber,  flat  at 
one  end,  and  round  or  square  at  the  other,  by  which  a  boat, 
barge,  or  galley,  &c.  is  propelled  through  the  water.  The 
flat  part  dipped  into  the  water  is  called  the  blade;  the  other 
other  end  is  the  loom,  which  terminates  in  the  handle.  The 
fulcrum  of  the  oar  is  the  hole  in  the  gunwale  called  the 
rowlock,  or  between  two  pins  called  thole  pins,  or  one  thole 
pin  with  a  loose  strap  for  confining  the  oar.  There  are 
various  nautical  phrases  contingent  upon  this  term,  a  few 
of  which  may  not,  perhaps,  be  out  of  place  here.  To  boat 
the  oars,  signifies  to  lay  them  in  from  rowing ;  to  feather  the 
oar,  to  hold  the  blade  horizontally,  so  as  not  to  catch  wind ; 
to  lie  on  the  oars,  to  suspend  rowing  for  any  interval  ;  this 
is  also  the  salute  given  to  persons  of  distinction  in  passing ; 
to  ship  and  unship  the  oars,  respectively  to  fix  them  and 
throw  them  out  of  the  rowlocks. 

OA'SIS.  (Derived  from  the  Coptic  ouah,  Arab,  wah.) 
The  name  given  to  those  fertile  spots,  watered  by  springs 
and  covered  with  verdure,  which  are  scattered  about  the 
great  sandy  deserts  of  Africa.  The  most  noted  are  situated 
in  the  Lybian  desert.  The  oases  of  Egypt  are  nothing  more 
than  valleys  or  depressions  of  the  lofty  plain  which  forms 
the  extensive  table-land  of  eastern  Africa.  They  bear,  in 
many  respects,  a  similarity  to  a  portion  of  the  valley  of 
Egypt,  being  surrounded  by  steep  cliffs  of  limestone  at  some 
distance  from  the  cultivated  land,  which  vary  in  height  in 
the  different  oases,  those  rising  from  the  southern  oases 
being  the  highest ;  neither  do  they  present  a  continuation 
of  cultivable  soil,  all  of  them  being  intersected  by  patches 
of  desert.  They  no  doubt  owe  their  origin  to  the  springs 
with  which  they  abound,  the  decay  of  the  vegetation  thence 
arising  having  produced  the  soil  with  which  they  are  now 
covered.  Their  fertility  has  been  deservedly  celebrated; 
but  the  glowing  eulogiums  of  travellers  on  their  surpassing 
beauty  are  probably,  in  a  great  measure,  to  be  ascribed  to 
the  striking  contrast  they  present  to  the  deserts  of  burning 
sand  with  which  they  are  surrounded.  It  may  appear  con- 
tradictory, considering  the  high  opinion  the  ancients  enter- 
tained of  the  fertility  and  beauty  of  the  oases,  that  they 
should  have  selected  them  for  places  of  banishment ;  but 
that  such  was  the  case,  at  least  under  the  Romans,  is  cer- 
tain. A  law  of  the  Digest,  lib.  48,  tit.  22,  refers  to  this 
practice;  and  it  has  been  supposed  that  the  poet  Juvenal 
was  one  of  those  who  suffered  a  temporary  banishment 
(relegatio)  to  the  oases,  though  the  evidence  of  this  is  by 
no  means  clear.  (Biographie  Universelle,  art.  Juvenal.) 
But  the  fact  of  their  being  selected  as  places  of  banishment 
is  not  in  anywise  inconsistent  with  the  received  opinions  as 
to  their  salubrity  and  fertility.  They  were  selected,  not  be- 
cause of  their  being  naturally  noxious  or  disagreeable,  but 
because  of  their  being,  as  it  were,  out  of  the  world,  and 
from  the  extreme  difficulty  of  escaping  from  them.  The 
larger  oases  have  some  fine  remnants  of  antiquity;  the 
most  celebrated  of  which  is  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Amnion, 
at  Siwah.  (See  the  Geo.  Diet.,  art.  "Egypt,"  and  the  au- 
thorities there  referred  to.)     See  Desert. 

OAST.  The  term  applied  to  a  kiln  for  drying  hops,  and 
which  differs  from  a  kiln  for  drying  corn  chiefly  in  being 
heated  by  a  stove  with  flues,  instead  of  an  open  fire,  the 
smoke  and  heat  of  which  passes  up  through  the  corn. 

OAT  FIELD.     See  Open  Field  Land. 

OAT  GALLS.     See  Gall  Ntjts. 

OATH,  is  defined  by  Paley  "  the  calling  on  God  to  wit- 
ness, i.  e.,  take  notice  of  what  we  say ;  and  invoking  his 
vengeance,  or  renouncing  his  favour,  if  what  we  say  be 
false,  or  if  what  we  promise  be  not  performed."  By  the 
jurisprudence  of  nearly  all  known  nations  it  has  been  ad- 
mitted, in  one  form  or  another,  as  the  solemn  test  of  truth 
in  judicial  proceedings.  Thus,  as  a  general  rule,  all  evi- 
dence in  such  proceedings  must  be  given  on  oath  by  English 
law ;  and  the  having  taken  such  oath  subjects  the  witness 
to  the  penalties  of  perjury  if  his  testimony  be  false.  The 
only  exceptions  are,  1.  In  favour  of  Quakers,  Moravians, 
and  Separatists,  whose  "  affirmation"  is  now  admissible  in 
all  judicial  proceedings,  whether  civil  or  criminal.  The 
1  &  2  Vic,  c.  77,  extends  this  privilege  to  persons  who  have 
been  Quakers  or  Moravians,  but  have  left  those  commu- 
nities, retaining  their  objections.  2.  Persons  entitled  to 
privilege  of  peerage  give  in  their  answers,  in  chancery, 
'•  upon  their  honour,"  instead  of  an  oath  ;  and  corporations 
put  in  answers  under  the  great  seal.  Oaths  are  administer- 
ed publicly  in  court,  where  the  witness  is  about  to  give  his 
evidence  viva  voce ;  and,  by  competent  authority,  where 
the  evidence  is  reduced  into  writing,  the  attestation  of  the 
witness  being  termed  his  "  affidavit." 

Any  believer  in  a  definite  form  of  religion  can  be  a  wit- 
ness, and  the  oath  may  be  administered  "  according  to  such 
3F*  841 


OATS. 

form-;  and  ceremonies  as  he  may  declare  to  be  binding." 
(1  &.  -  Vic,  c  108.)  Hut  persons  who  cannot  take  an  oath 
are  incapable  of  being  witnesses  ;  such,  therefore,  as  will 
not  declare  their  belief  in  God.  in  a  future  state  of  rewards 
and  punishments,  and  that  perjury  will  be  punished  by  the 
Deity,  are  excluded ;  as  well  as  those  who,  from  their 
years  or  ignorance,  are  incapable  of  comprehending  the  na- 
ture of  an  oath. 

Oaths  are  still  required  by  law  on  many  occasions  be- 
sides the  giving  evidence  in  judicial  proceedings,  and  were 
formerly  in  a  still  greater  number,  until  the  5  &  6  VV.  4,  c 
62,  which  substituted  declarations  in  a  great  variety  of  ca- 
ses, especially  relating  to  the  customs,  excises,  and  post- 
office.  Besides  the  Quakers  and  Moravians,  several  small 
sects  of  Christians  profess  conscientious  objections  to  oaths, 
grounded  on  the  express  language  of  the  scriptures.  The 
Church  of  England,  in  common  with  the  Catholic  Church 
in  all  ages,  and  with  most  varieties  of  Christians,  considers 
judicial  oaths  lawful,  and  declares  them  so  by  her  39th  ar- 
ticle. They  have  also  been  held  mischievous  or  unneces- 
sary by  some  philosophical  writers,  especially  Bentham,  in 
his  Rationale  of  Evidence.  The  only  answer  to  his  rea- 
soning appears  to  be  that,  however  unreasonable  the  be- 
lief that  the  duty  of  truth  is  rendered  more  imperative  by 
the  formality  of  an  oath,  still,  while  such  belief  is  a  preva- 
lent one,  or  while  the  imagination  of  witnesses  in  general 
is  impressed  by  its  solemnity,  the  convenience  of  retaining 
the  practice  overbalances  the  disadvantages. 

OATS.     See  Avena. 

OBE'DIENCE,  PASSIVE,  in  Politics,  signifies  the  un- 
qualified obedience  which,  according  to  some  political  phi- 
losophers, is  due  from  subjects  to  the  supreme  power  in  the 
state ;  insomuch  that  not  only  its  lawful,  but  its  unlawful 
commands,  may  not  be  forcibly  resisted  without  sin.  The 
doctrine  of  passive  obedience  or  non-resistance  was  strong- 
ly professed  by  the  church  of  England  in  the  time  of  King 
James  I. ;  much  commented  on  by  writers,  both  for  and 
against  it,  under  Charles  and  James  II. ;  and  condemned 
at  the  Revolution.  See  Non-resistance  and  Divine 
Rioht. 

O'BELISK.  (Gr.  oPi\wkoc,  dim.  from  o/JrAo<,  Lat.  obe- 
lus, a  needle,  or  dart.)  A  lofty  quadrangular  monolithic 
column,  "diminishing  upwards,  with  the  sides  gently  in- 
clined, but  not  so  as  to  terminate  in  an  apex  at  the  top ; 
neither  is  it  truncated  or  cut  orl'at  the  summit,  but  the  sides 
are  sloped  otf  so  as  to  form  a  Saltish  pyramidal  figure,  by 
which  the  whole  is  suitably  finished  off  and  brought  to  a 
point,  without  the  upper  part  being  so  contracted  as  to  ap- 
pear insignificant."  Egypt  was,  properly  speaking,  the 
land  of  obelisks  ;  and  they  are  unquestionably  to  be  reck- 
oned among  the  most  ancient  monuments  of  that  extraor- 
dinary people.  Much  learning  and  ingenuity  has  been  ex- 
pended in  endeavouring  to  ascertain  their  origin,  and  the 
purposes  for  which  they  were  erected  ;  but  it  does  not  ap- 
pear that  any  satisfactory  solution  of  the  problem  has  hith- 
erto been  given.  It  has  been  frequently  asserted  that  obe- 
lisks were  originally  erected  in  honour  of  the  sun,  of  which 
they  were  said  to  be  symbolical,  and  that  they  served  the 
purposes  of  a  gnome  or  sun-dial ;  but  this  opinion  is  now 
almost  totally  rejected,  and  it  is  generally  believed  that 
obelisks  were  nothing  more  than  monumental  structures, 
serving  as  ornaments  to  the  open  squares  in  which  they 
were  generally  built,  or  intended  to  celebrate  some  impor- 
tant  event  and  to  perpetuate  its  remembrance.  They  were 
usually  adorned  with  hieroglyphics  ;  and  we  learn  from 
the  testimony  of  Diodorus  and  Strabo  that  the  inscriptions 
with  which  they  were  charged  declared  the  amount  of 
gold  and  silver,  the  number  of  troops,  and  the  quantity  of 
ivory,  perfumes,  and  corn  which  all  the  countries  subject  to 
Egypt  were  required  to  furnish.  The  two  largest  obelisks 
were  erected  by  Sesostris  in  Heliopolis.  They  were  form- 
ed of  a  single  block  of  granite,  and  measured  180  feet  in 
height.    When  Egj  pt  became  a  Roman  province,  Augustus 

re veil  these  obelisks  to  his  own  capital;  anil  this  prac- 
tice found  numerous  imitators  both  in  some  of  his  succes- 
sors to  the  Imperial  throne,  and,  at  a  much  later  |>eriod.  in 
many  of  the  Roman  pontiffs,  from  the  Kith  century  down 
to  the  present  times.  Of  these  obelisks  that  of  the  Late- 
ran,  which  is  the  largest  now  known,  being  lOo  feet  in 
height  exclusive  of  the  pedestal,  and  weighing  110  tons, 
was  brought  by  <  'onstantine  from  Heliopolis  to  Alexandria, 
and  thence  by  Constantius  his  son  to  Rome,  where  it  was 
erected  in  the  Circus  Maximus.  The  obelisk  next  in  size 
to  that  of  the  Lateral]  was  placed  originally  in  the  Vatican 
cirrus  by  Caligula,  but  it  now  stands   in  the    piazza   of  St. 

Peter's;  its  entire  height  is  132 feet,  Including  tin'  pedestal, 
&c.  The  obelisks  most  generally  known,  at  least  in  Dame, 
are  the  Luxor,  which  was  removed  to  Paris  in  1833;  and 
the  two  monoliths  called  Cleopatra's  Needles,  of  which 

one  is  standing,  and  the  other  on  the  ground  ;  but  these  are 
smaller  than   those  we  have  adverted   to,  the  LuiOI   being 
76  feet  in  height,  and  the  Needle  of  Cleopatra,  which  still 
842 


OBJECT-GLASS. 

stands,  being  about  63  feet  in  height,  exclusive  of  the  ped- 
estal, &c.  A  full  consideration  of  the  Egyptian  obelisks) 
would  involve  us  in  the  discussion  of  several  most  impor- 
tant questions,  on  which  our  limits  preclude  us  from  enter- 
ing. Of  these,  perhaps  the  most  extraordinary  is  the  won- 
derful knowledge  of  mechanical  power  which  the  Egyp- 
tians evinced  in  erecting  and  removing  such  gigantic  struc- 
tures— a  feat  which  it  would  require  the  greatest  skill  and 
ingenuity  of  modern  engineers,  even  in  the  present  com- 
paratively perfect  state  of  mechanical  science,  to  accom- 
plish. (See  the  learned  treatise  of  Zoega  on  Obelisks  ;  see 
also  Sir  O.  Wilkinson's  Egyptians,  vol.  111., passim,  which 
contains  some  excellent  illustrations  of  the  ditierent  meth- 
ods adopted  by  that  people  for  removing  their  huge  struc- 
tures from  place  to  place.) 

O'BELUS.  In  Diplomatics,  a  mark  so  called  from  its  re- 
semblance to  a  needle  (Gr.  oStXos) ;  usually  thus — or  thus 
-f-  in  ancient  MSS.  It  was  used  by  Origen,  in  his  Hezapla, 
to  mark  the  passages  where  something  is  found  in  the  Sep- 
tuagint  which  is  not  in  the  Hebrew.  The  common  use  of 
the  line  —  in  modern  writing  is  to  mark  the  place  of  a 
break  in  the  sense,  where  it  is  suspended,  or  where  there  is 
an  ungrammatical  transition ;  but  a  paragraph  introduced 
where  the  sense  is  suspended,  is  more  properly  marked  by 
the  sign  of  a  parenthesis. 

O'BERON.  In  Mediaeval  Mythology,  the  King  of  the 
Fairies.  Wieland's  beautiful  poem,  and  Weber's  romantic 
opera  of  this  name,  the  Midsummer  Night's  Dream,  and 
innumerable  other  poems  and  tales  of  which  he  is  the  hero, 
have  made  the  name  of  Oberon  so  familiar,  that  it  will  be 
unnecessary  to  do  more  in  this  place  than  to  state  the  origin 
of  the  fable.  The  name  Oberon  first  appears  in  the  old 
French  fabliaux  of  Huon  of  Bordeaux ;  it  is  identical  with 
Auberon,  or  Alberon,  the  first  syllable  of  which  is  nothing 
more  than  the  old  German  word  Alb,  elf  or  fairy,  which,  in 
the  Helden-Buch  and  other  old  German  poems,  is  expressed 
variously  by  Alberich  or  Alban.  (.See  Grimm's  Deutsche 
Mythologie,  p.  256-)  He  was  represented  as  endowed  with 
magic  powers,  and  with  the  qualities  of  a  good  and  upright 
monarch,  rewarding  those  who  practised  truth  and  honesty, 
and  punishing  those  who  acted  otherwise.  His  wife's  name 
was  Titania,  or  Mab,  whose  powers  have  been  so  beautiful- 
ly depicted  in  Romeo  and  Juliet. 

OBE'SITY.  (Lat.  obesus,  fat.)  Unhealthy  fatness. 
The  tendency  to  the  formation  of  fat  is  often  so  excessive  as 
to  constitute  a  disease,  and  it  occasionally  prevails  in  par- 
ticular habits,  so  as  to  cause  a  most  unsightly  bulk  of  body, 
and  to  be  independent  of  diet.  The  celebrated  Lambert, 
who  exhibited  himself  some  years  ago,  was  a  remarkable 
specimen  of  this  disease.  He  died  in  the  fortieth  year  of 
his  age,  and  weighed,  a  little  before  his  death,  739  pounds. 
There  is  an  account,  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  for 
1813,  of  a  girl,  only  four  years  old,  who  weighed  256  pounds 
from  accumulation  of  fat. 

When  obesity  is  limited  to  the  abdomen,  arising  from  ex- 
cessive deposition  of  fat  in  the  omentum,  and  producing 
what  is  called  a  pot-belly,  or  where  it  is  the  result  of  indo- 
lence and  indulgence  in  luxurious  diet,  a  slow  and  prudent 
change  from  a  full  to  a  spare  diet,  and  the  judicious  use  of 
purgatives  and  of  appropriate  modes  of  exercise,  have  oc- 
casionally effected  remarkable  cures. 

O'BIT.  (Lat.  obitus,  death.)  In  the  Roman  Catholic 
liturgy,  a  service  performed  for  the  repose  of  a  departed 
soul. 

OBI'TUARY.  (Lat.  ohitarium.)  A  register  in  which 
are  enrolled  the  names  of  deceased  persons  for  whom  obits 
are  to  be  performed,  and  the  days  of  their  funeral.  It  is 
also  used  for  the  book  containing  the  foundation  or  institu- 
tion of  the  several  obits  in  a  church  or  monastery.  In  the 
former  sense  it  is  synonymous  with  necrology,  in  the  later 
with  martyr ology. 

OBJECT-GLASS  (of  a  refracting  telescope  or  micro- 
scope). The  lens  which  first  receives  the  ravs  of  light 
coming  directly  from  the  object,  and  collects  them  into  a 
focus,  where  they  form  un  image  which  is  viewed  through 
the  eye-glass. 

Tin-  excellence  of  an  object  glass  depends  on  the  distinct- 
ness of  the  image  which  it  forms.  On  account  of  the  un- 
equal  refrangibllity  of  the  rays  of  light,  it  is  necessary,  in 

order  to  procure  n  distinct  image,  to  employ  an  aehr alic 

combination  of  lenses,  formed  of  substances  having  ditierent 
dispersive  powers,  and  of  such  figures  that  the  aberration  of 
the  one  may  be  corrected  by  that  of  the  other.  The  sub- 
stances chiefly  used  are  crown-glass  and  dint-glass ;  the 
dispersive  powers  of  which  are  respectively  as  3  to  5.  By 
combining  a  convex  lens  of  crown-glass  with  a  conenve  lens 
Of  flint  glass,  having  their  focal  distances  in  that  proportion, 
an  image  would  be  formed  lice  from  colour,  but  it  would 
not  be  free  from  aberration.  The  determination  of  the 
form  of  the  compound  lens  which  shall  give  the  least  possi- 
ble aberration  for  parallel  ravs  is  a  problem  which  admits 
of  exact  calculation.    The  following   are  the  dimensions 


OBJECT,  OBJECTIVE. 

found  by  Sir  John  Herschel  for  an  object-glass  of  thirty 
inches  focal  length,  of  the  form  shown  in  the  annexed  fig- 
ure, where  A  B  is  the  convex  lens  of  crown-glass  on  the 
outside  towards  the  object,  and  0  D  the  concave 
lens  of  flint-glass  placed  on  the  inside  towards  the 
eye  :  radius  of  the  exterior  surface  o  of  the  crown 
lens,  200364  inches ;  radius  of  the  exterior  sur- 
face b  of  the  flint  lens,  4I/1687  inches ;  radii  of  the 
interior  surfaces  c,  101604  and  10-1613  inches. 
(Encyc.  Metr.,  art.  "Light,"  £  471.)  When  the 
lenses  have  the  forms  here  indicated,  the  focal 
lengths  of  each,  separately,  are  in  the  direct  ratio 
of  their  dispersive  powers;  and  the  two  inside  surfaces 
have  so  nearly  the  same  curvature  that  they  may  be  ground 
on  the  same  tool,  and  united  by  a  cement  to  prevent  the 
loss  of  light  at  the  two  surfaces. 

Such  are  the  forms  indicated  by  theory ;  but  the  practical 
difficulties  of  forming  a  good  achromatic  object-glass,  for  a 
telescope  of  large  size,  are  so  great  that  it  often  costs  more 
than  all  the  rest  of  the  instrument.  This,  however,  princi- 
pally arises  from  the  extreme  difficulty  of  procuring  disks  of 
flint-glass,  above  a  certain  size,  sufficiently  free  from  veins 
and  imperfections  as  to  be  fit  for  the  purpose.  No  object- 
glasses  of  a  larger  size  than  seven  inches  diameter  have 
been  made  of  glass  manufactured  in  this  country ;  and,  not- 
withstanding the  success  of  Fraunhofer  at  Munich,  and  of 
Guinand  in  Switzerland,  the  procuring  of  flint-glass  fit  for 
object-lenses  of  a  larger  size  seems  to  be  still,  in  a  consider- 
able degree,  a  matter  of  accident.  Fraunhofer  executed  a 
telescope  for  the  Russian  observatory  at  Dorpat,  having  an 
object  glass  of  9  inches  diameter.  Another  was  prepared 
by  him  for  the  King  of  Bavaria,  of  12  inches  diameter. 
The  object-glass  of  Sir  James  South's  large  telescope  at  the 
Campden  Hill  observatory  is  nearly  13  inches  in  diameter, 
and  was  executed  in  Paris  of  glass  manufactured  by  Gui- 
nand. 

In  the  fine  telescopes  formerly  constructed  by  DoIIond,  the 
object-glasses  were  composed  of  three  lenses,  the  two  ex- 
J.-PC    terior  ones,  A  B  and  C  D,  being  of  crown-glass, 
"/r — T\     and  convex,  and  the  interior,  E  F,  of  flint,   and 
l\l\    concave.    This  combination  gives  a  more  perfect 
J    correction  of  the  spherical  aberration  ;  but  the  ad- 
I  I  1  I    vantage  is  more  than  balanced  by  the  greater  com- 
y  U    plexity  of  their  construction,  the  risk  of  imperfect 
Bfd   centering,  and  the  loss  of  light  at  the  six  surfaces. 
They  have  accordingly  been  disused. 
Various  attempts  have  been  made  to  dispense  with  the 
concave  flint  lens,  by  the  substitution  of  some  other  refract- 
ive substance.    Dr.   Blair  found   that    the    dispersion    of 
crown-glass  was  corrected  by  a  fluid  lens,  composed  of  a 
mixture  of  solutions  of  ammoniacal  and  mercurial  salts. 
He  succeeded  in  making  object-glasses  in  his  manner,  which 
at  first  gave  promise  of  answering  well ;  but  it  soon  appear- 
ed that  they  were  not  durable,  the  fluid  undergoing  some 
chemical  change  which  entirely  destroyed  its  virtue.    Pro- 
fessor Barlow,  of  Woolwich,  has  also  made  numerous  ex- 
periments on  this  subject.    His  correcting  lens  is  formed  of 
the  liquid  sulphuret  of  carbon,  inclosed  between  two  disks 
of  glass,  and  a  ring  of  the  same  material,  the  fluid  being  in- 
troduced at  a  high  temperature.    A  telescope  which  he 
made  on  this  principle  had  a  single  object-lens  of  7-8  inch- 
es, and  the  fluid  lens  was  placed  at  the  distance  of  40  inches 
behind  it.    The  performance  of  this  telescope  was,  however, 
far  inferior  to  an  ordinary  one  of  the  same  dimensions,  with 
the  common   double   achromatic  object-glass.     See  Ach- 
romatism, Lens,  Telescope. 

O'BJECT,  OBJECTIVE.  In  Philosophy,  opposed  to 
subjective.     See  Subject,  Subjective. 

O'BLATE.  (Lat.  oblatus,  offered.)  In  Ecclesiastical 
Antiquities,  1.  A  person  who,  on  embracing  the  monastic 
state,  had  made  a  donation  of  all  his  goods  to  the  commu- 
nity. 2.  One  dedicated  to  a  religious  order  by  his  parents 
from  an  early  period  of  his  life.  3.  A  layman  residing  as 
an  inmate  in  a  regular  community  to  which  he  had  assign- 
ed his  property  either  in  perpetuity  or  for  the  period  of  his 
residence.  4.  A  layman  who  had  made  donation,  not  only 
of  his  property,  but  his  person,  as  bondsman  to  a  monastic 
community.  In  France  the  king  possessed,  in  ancient 
times,  a  privilege  of  recommending  a  certain  number  of  ob- 
lati,  chiefly  invalided  soldiers,  to  monasteries,  whom  they 
were  bound  to  maintain. 

Oblate,  in  Geometry,  signifies  flattened  at  the  poles. 
Thus,  an  oblate  spheriod  is  a  spheriod  of  the  same  form  as 
that  which  is  produced  by  the  revolution  of  an  ellipse  about 
its  shorter  axis.  Such  is  the  figure  of  the  earth.  See  De- 
gree, Earth. 

OBLA'TION  (Lat.  oblatio,  an  offering),  means,  properly, 
an  offering  presented  to  the  church.  This  practice  com- 
menced at  an  early  period  in  the  history  of  the  church,  for 
originally  the  Christian  priesthood  had  no  other  mainte- 
nance or  allowance  than  the  free  gifts  or  oblations  of  the 
people.    In  the  middle  ages,  oblations  were  of  various 


OBSERVATORY. 

kinds,  and  were  known  by  different  names,  according  to  the 
purposes  for  which  they  were  presented.  (See  Palmer, 
Orig.  Liturg.,  ii.,  67.) 

OBLIGATION.  (Lat.  obligo,  I  bind.)  In  the  most  gen- 
eral sense,  a  duty  imposed  by  law,  to  the  fulfilment  of  which 
one  party  is  bound  towards  another.  Obligations,  according 
to  the  civil  law,  are  said  to  arise  in  four  ways  ;  out  of  con- 
tracts, quasi-contracts,  delicts,  or  quasi-delicts.  A  principal 
obligation  is  that  by  which  a  debtor  is  bound  to  his  creditor ; 
an  accessory  obligation,  that  by  which  one  is  bound  to 
another  to  satisfy  the  contract  of  a  third  party.  The  Ro- 
man jurisconsults  divided  obligations  into  natural,  civil,  and 
mixed,  and  also  into  civil  and  praetorian.  An  obligation,  by 
the  law  of  England,  is  a  bond  with  penalty  and  condition  ; 
it  may  also  be  by  statute  or  recognisance.  He  who  enters 
into  an  obligation  is  styled  obligor  ;  he  towards  whom  it  is 
entered  into,  obligee. 

OBLIGA'TO.  (Ital.)  In  Music,  a  term  applied  to  a 
movement  or  composition  written  for  a  particular  instru- 
ment. It  sometimes  means  that  a  movement  is  restrained 
by  certain  rules,  to  give  particular  expression  to  a  passage, 
action.  &c. 

OBLI'OUE.  (Lat.  obliquus.)  Not  direct,  deviating  from 
the  perpendicular.  Thus,  oblique  angle,  in  Geometry,  is  an 
angle  greater  or  less  than  a  right  angle.  Oblique  circle,  in 
the  Stereographic  Projection,  is  any  circle  oblique  to  the 
line  of  projection.  Oblique  planes,  in  Dialling,  are  such  as 
recline  from  the  zenith.  Oblique  projection,  in  Mechanics, 
is  where  a  body  is  projected  in  a  line,  making  an  oblique 
angle  with  the  horizontal  line.  Oblique  sailing,  in  Navi- 
gation, is  that  which  includes  the  calculation  of  oblique- 
angled  triangles.  Oblique  sphere,  in  Geography,  is  that  in 
which  the  axis  of  the  world  is  inclined  to  the  horizon  of  the 
place. 

OBLIOUE  MOTION.  In  Music,  that  wherein  one  of 
the  parts  holds  on  a  sound,  while  the  other  rises  or  falls  on 
anv  note  whatsoever. 

OBLI'QUITY  OF  THE  ECLIPTIC.  In  Astronomy, 
the  inclination  of  the  plane  of  the  earth's  equator  to  the 
plane  of  the  ecliptic,  or  the  angle  formed  by  those  two 
planes,  on  which  the  phenomena  of  the  seasons  depend. 
See  Ecliptic. 

O'BLONG.  In  Elementary  Geometry,  a  rectangle,  or 
right-angled  parallelogram,  whose  length  is  greater  than  its 
breadth.  An  oblong  spheriod  is  generated  by  the  revolution 
of  an  ellipse  about  its  longer  axis,  and  therefore  elongated 
at  the  poles  ;  hence  the  term  is  used  in  contradistinction  to 
oblate  spheroid,  which  denotes  a  spheroid  flattened  at  the 
poles.  The  oblong  spheroid  is  otherwise  called  the  prolate 
spheroid. 

O'BOE.  (Ital.)  A  musical  wind  instrument,  sounded 
through  a  reed.  It  is  shaped  somewhat  like  a  clarionet, 
being  slender  in  the  upper  part,  but  spreading  out  conically 
at  the  bottom,  and  consists  of  three  joints  or  pieces,  besides 
the  reed.  Its  compass  is  generally  two  octaves  and  a  fifth, 
from  C,  below  the  treble  clef,  to  G,  the  fourth  line  above 
the  staff.  The  ancient  name  of  oboe  was  wayght,  which  is 
still  visible  in  the  modern  word  wait  (see  Waits)  ;  and  in 
this  form  the  oboe  was  in  use  as  far  back  as  the  reign  of 
Edward  III.  It  is  only  since  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century  that  the  Italian  form  of  this  word  came  into  gener- 
al use  ;  previously  to  that  period  the  French  name,  hautbois, 
was  universally  current. 

O'BOLUS.  (Gr.  i/3oXo?.)  An  Athenian  silver  coin  of 
very  small  dimensions  ;  being  only  equal  in  value  to  about 
Hd.  of  our  money,  or  less,  nccording  to  some  computations. 
Seven  of  them  were  equal  to  an  Attic  drachma. 

OBRI'NE.  The  name  of  a  military  order,  instituted  in 
the  13th  century  by  Conrad,  duke  of  Mazovia,  in  Poland  ; 
styled  also  the  order  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  was  instituted  to 
levy  war  aeainst  the  Russians. 

OBSCU  RANTS,  OBSCURA'NTISM.  A  kind  of  phil- 
osophical nickname,  commonly  applied,  in  Germany,  to 
those  who  endeavoured  in  their  writings  to  oppose  the  prog- 
ress of  modern  enlightenment  (Aufklarung)  and  their  doc- 
trines.    (See  Conv.  Lex.) 

O'BSEQUIES  (Lat.  obsequium,  complaisance),  were  so- 
lemnities performed  at  the  burials  of  eminent  persons.  The 
term  is  now  used  for  the  funeral  itself. 

OBSE'RVANTS,  otherwise  RECOLLECTS.  A  branch 
of  the  Franciscan  order.     See  Recollects. 

OBSE'RVATORY.  A  place  or  building  destined  for  the 
purpose  of  making  astronomical  or  physical  observations, 
and  furnished  with  appropriate  instruments. 

Astronomical  observatories  appear  to  have  been  erected 
in  very  early  times,  the  tower  of  Babel  being  supposed  to 
have  been  an  edifice  of  this  kind  ;  and  the  tomb  of  Osman- 
dias  is  celebrated  in  the  history  of  ancient  Egypt  as  having 
had  a  similar  destination.  The  Indians  and  Chinese  have 
also  traditions  of  observatories  which  existed  in  the  remo- 
test ages  of  their  histories.  In  fact,  as  the  observation  of 
the  relative  positions  of  the  celestial  bodies  requires  instru- 

843 


OBSERVATORY. 

mcnts  of  some  son,  and  as  instruments  must  have  a  locali- 
ty, the  existence  of  observatories  must  have  been  coeval 
Willi  the  first  progress  made  in  practical  astronomy.  (See 
Bailly,  HwtHra  rfe  /'Astronomic  Ancirnne.) 

According  to  Weidler,  the  first  regular  observatory  in  Eu- 
rope was  erected  at  Cassel,  in  1561,  by  William,  landgrave 
of  Hesse.  That  of  Tycho  Brahe,  in  the  island  of  Huen,  was 
founded  in  1576.  From  this  time  private  observatories  began 
to  be  multiplied;  and  some  ot'  them,  as  that  of  Hcvelius  at 
Jlantzic,  produced  results  which  materially  contributed  to 
the  progress  of  astronomy  ;  but  it  was  only  In  the  following 
century  that  they  came  to  be  regarded,  in  the  principal  coun- 
tries of  Europe,  as  important  and  necessary  public  estab- 
lishments. The  royal  observatory  of  Paris  was  built  in  1667, 
that  of  Greenwich  in  1675 ;  the  latter  being  professedly  for 
the  benefit  of  navigation. 

The  principal  use  of  astronomical  observatories  is  to  con- 
tain the  instruments  by  which  the  observations  are  made 
that  are  requisite  tor  forming  catalogues  of  the  stars,  and  ta- 
bles of  the  sun,  moon,  and  planets.  These  observations 
requiring  great  precision  can  only  be  made  with  instruments 
of  considerable  size,  firmly  supported,  and  capable  of  being 
accurately  placed  and  maintained  in  certain  determinate 
positions.  In  the  present  state  of  astronomy,  no  observation 
can  be  regarded  as  useful  for  the  purposes  just  named  unless 
made  with  an  instrument  fixed  in  the  meridian.  The  in- 
struments, therefore,  which  must  be  considered  as  essen- 
tially necessary  to  an  observatory  are  a  transit  instrument 
and  sidereal  clock,  for  the  purpose  of  observing  right  as- 
censions; a  circle,  for  observing  polar  distances;  and  a  ba- 
rometer and  thermometer,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
the  state  of  the  atmosphere,  in  order  to  determine  the  cor- 
rections to  be  applied  for  refraction.  Furnished  with  this 
apparatus,  the  astronomer  is  in  a  condition  to  obtain  all  the 
data  requisite  for  the  formation  of  catalogues  and  tables,  and 
for  establishing  or  perfecting  the  theories  of  the  celestial 
motions  and  physical  astronomy.  Another  instrument, 
though  of  secondary  importance,  is  also  wanted  for  the  ob- 
servation of  phenomenon  out  of  the  meridian,  as  eclipses, 
occupations,  comets,  &c.  The  most  convenient  instrument 
for  this  purpose  is  the  equatorial  (see  the  term)  ;  and  if  the 
astronomer  carries  his  views  to  the  exploring  of  the  sidereal 
spaces,  to  observe  the  forms  of  nebula;,  ami  watch  the 
motions  of  double  and  multiple  stars,  the  equatorial  must  be 
furnished  with  a  telescope  of  the  largest  kind  ;  or  a  powerful 
reflecting  telescope,  suspended  so  as  to  have  a  free  motion  in 
azimuth,  may  be  employed  instead  of  it.  In  this  depart- 
ment of  astronomy  all  depends  on  the  goodness  of  the  teles- 
cope, the  objects  to  be  examined  being,  in  fact,  only  limited 
by  the  power  of  seeing  them.  But  as  these  researches  have 
DO  immediate  practical  application,  they  are  not  considered  as 
included  among  the  purposes  for  which  public  observatories 
are  established,  and  are  therefore  left  to  the  zeal  of  individ- 
uals. 

Public  observatories  are  now  established  and  maintained 
by  the  governments  of  almost  every  civilized  country,  and 
the  means  provided  of  publishing  the  observations,  and  ren- 
dering their  results  immediately  available  to  the  progress  of 
astronomical  science.  The  number  of  private  observatories, 
particularly  in  this  country,  is  very  considerable,  and  several 
of  them,  in  regard  to  the  the  sumptuousness  of  their  instru- 
ments vie  with,  and  even  excel,  the  first  and  best  appointed 
public  institutions.  The  following  is  a  list  of  the  principal 
public  observatories,  with  their  latitudes  and  longitudes  (in 
time)  from  that  of  Greenwich,  as  given  in  the  Nautical  Al- 
manac for  1843 : 


Alio  (Finland) 
Allnna  . 
Armagh 
Berlin  . 
Bremen 
Cambridge  . 

*  .'««1  Hope 
Copenhagen 
IWpat  (Russia)   . 
Dublin 
E  Imburgh  . 





Konigsberg  (Prussia) 


Mi 


ill.-s 


Munich  .... 
Oiford  .... 
Palermo        .... 

Paramatta  (New  Sonlh  Wales) 

Pan. 

Pe'ersburg    .... 


51   Fernando  (near  Cadiz) 


Latilude. 


60  2S  57     N. 

53  32  45     N. 

54  21  12-7  N. 

52  31  13-5  N. 

53  4  36  N. 
52  12  51  8  N. 
33  W  3  s 
5'.  40  63     N. 


53  23  13  N. 
55  57  23  2  V 
46  II  59  4  N. 
5!  31  48 

51  28  39     N. 

54  42  60  N. 
13  4  9-2  N. 
43  17  60-1  N. 
4S  8  46  N. 
51  45  40  N. 
3*  6  44  N. 
33  43  49-8  S. 
48  50  13  N. 
59  56  31  N. 
41  53  52  N. 
36  27  45  N. 
45  4  6  N. 
48  12  35  N. 


Longitude 


h.  m  sec. 

1  29  8-8  E. 

0  39  46  fi  E. 

0  26  35-5  VV. 

0  53  35-5  E. 

0  35  15  fl  E. 

0  0  23  5  E. 

1  13  55     E. 

0  60  10  s  E, 

1  46  55  E. 
0  25  22  W. 
0  12  436  W. 
I)  21  37  5  E. 
0  39  465  E. 

0  0  0 

1  22  0-5  E. 
5  21  3-8  E. 
0  21  29  E. 
0  46  26-5  E. 


4  H-  !5  E 

9  21-1  E. 

i  Iim: 

49  54-7  E. 

2i  491 W. 

30  48  4  E, 


Ml 


OCCULTATIONS. 

OBSE'SSION.  (Lat.  obsideo,  /  besiege.)  The  state  ctf 
a  person  vexed  or  besieged  by  an  evil  spirit.  In  the  language 
of  exorcists,  demoniacal  obsession  dirtered  from  demoniacal 
possession :  in  the  latter,  the  demon  had  possession  of  the 
patient  internally;  in  the  former,  he  attacks  him  from  with- 
out. Thus,  the  state  of  Sara,  the  bride  of  Tobias,  whose 
bridegrooms  were  killed  by  an  evil  spirit  haunting  her  (Tob. 
iii.  8),  was  one  of  obsession.  Well-known  marks  of  obses- 
sion were  the  being  miraculously  hoisted  or  elevated  in  the 
air,  speaking  languages  of  which  the  patient  had  no  know- 
ledge, aversion  to  the  offices  of  religion,  and  so  forth.  See 
Possession,  Demoniac  ;  Exorcism. 

OBSI'DIAN.  So  named,  according  to  Pliny,  from  Obsi- 
dius.  who  first  found  it  In  Ethiopia.  A  glassy  lava.  Vol- 
canic glass.  It  is  of  various  colours,  but  usually  black,  and 
nearly  opaque.  In  Mexico  and  Peru  it  is  occasionally  man- 
ufactured into  cutting  instruments,  or  cut  into  ringstones.  It 
consists  of  silica  and  alumina,  with  a  little  potash  and  oxide 
of  iron. 

OBSI'DIONAL  CROWN.  (Lat.  obsideo,  /  besiege.)  In 
Roman  Antiquities,  a  crown  granted  by  the  state  to  Sie  gen- 
eral who  raised  the  siege  of  a  beleaguered  place.  It  was 
formed  of  grass  growing  on  the  rampart.  Obsidional  coins, 
in  Numismatics,  are  pieces  struck  in  besieged  places  to  sup- 
ply the  place  of  current  money.  They  are  of  various  base 
metals,  and  of  different  shapes.  Some  of  the  oldest  known 
are  those  which  were  struck  at  the  siege  of  Pavia,  under 
Francis  I. 

O'BSOLETE.  (Lat.  obsoletus.)  In  Zoology,  the  term 
implies  that  a  part,  or  a  spot,  or  other  character,  is  scarcely 
discoverable. 

OBSTE'TRICS.  (Lat.  ars  obstetricia,  from  obstare,  U> 
stand  so  as  to  give  assistance.)  The  name  frequently  given 
to  the  science  of  midwifery. 

OBTE'MPER.  (Lat.  obtempero,  I  obey.)  In  Scotch  Law, 
to  obey  or  complv  with  a  judgment  of  a  court. 

OBTU'NDENTS.  (Lat.  obtundo.)  Mucilaginous,  oily, 
and  other  bland  medicines,  supposed  to  sheathe  parts  from 
acrimonv,  and  to  blunt  that  of  certain  morbid  secretions. 

OBTURA'TOE  MUSCLES.  (Lat.  obturare,  to  close  up.) 
Certain  muscles  which  fill  up  openings  in  bones. 

O'B VERSE,  or  FACE.  In  Numismatics,  the  side  of  the 
coin  which  contains  the  principal  symbol  :  usually,  in  the 
coins  of  monarchical  states,  ancient  and  modern,  the  face  in 
profile  of  the  sovereign  ;  in  some  instances,  the  full  or  half 
length  figure.     See Numismatics. 

OCCASIONALISM,  or  the  System  of  Occasional  Causes. 
In  Metaphysics,  a  name  which  has  been  given  to  certain 
theories  of  the  Cartesian  school  of  philosophers,  especially 
Arnold  Geulinx,  of  Antwerp,  by  which  they  accounted  for  the 
apparent  action  of  the  soul  on  the  body  ;  e.g.  in  the  phenome- 
na of  voluntary  motion.  According  to  these  theories  (which 
were  more  or  less  clearly  developed  by  different  writers), 
the  will  was  not  the  cause  of  the  action  of  the  body ;  but 
whenever  the  will  required  a  motion,  God  caused  the  body 
to  move  in  the  required  direction.  See  Harmony,  Pre-es- 
tablished. 

OCCIDE'NTAL.  (Lat.  occidens,  setting.)  In  Gem 
Sculpture,  a  term  applied  to  those  precious  stones  which 
possess  an  inferior  degree  of  hardness  and  beauty. 

OCCIPITAL  BONE.  (Lat  occiput,  the  hindhead.)  The 
irregularly  shaped  bone  which  forms  the  posterior  and  in- 
terior part  of  the  scull. 

OCCULTA  TIONS.  (Lat.  occulto,  I  conceal),  sometimes 
called  Lunar  Occultations,  or  Occultations  of  Stars  by  the 
Moon,  are  those  phenomena  in  which  a  star  or  planet  be- 
comes hidden  from  our  view  by  the  intervening  passage  of 
the  moon.  By  analogy,  a  total  eclipse  of  the  tun  might  be 
called  an  occultation  of  the  sun  by  the  moon. 

As  the  motion  of  the  moon  in  her  orbit  is  from  west  to 
east,  it  is  obvious  that,  when  she  is  about  to  pass  over  a 
star,  the  first  contact,  or  the  immersion,  musl  occur  on  her 
eastern  limb;  and  the  emersion,  or  reappearance  of  the 
star,  must  take  place  on  her  western  limb.  It  should,  how- 
ever, be  observed,  that  some  slight  exceptions  to  this  rule 
may  be  found,  where  the  moon  has  considerable  motion  ill 
declination,  and  where  the  star  is  only  grazed  over  by  a 
small  portion  of  the  northern  or  southern  limb.  In  these 
low  exceptional  cases,  the  disappearance  and  re-appearance 
of  the  star  may  both  occur  either  on  the  eastern  or  the  west- 
ern side  of  the  limb. 

An  occultation,  like  a  solar  eclipse,  is  presented  only  to  a 
portion  of  the  terrestrial  globe.  For  suppose  an  observer  to 
be  stationed  at  the  star,  with  the  moon  between  him  ami 
the  earth:  that  he  could  perceive  the  moon's  disk  projected 
on  that  of  the  earth  ;  then  he  would  observe  that  the  moon, 
in  her  passage  ovei  the  earth,  only  covered  a  portion  of  the 

terrestrial  disk,  and  it  is  evident  that  the  phenomenon  of  (he 
occultation  of  the  star  could  only  be  presented  to  a  portion 
oi  our  globe. 

The  principles  which  enter  into  the  calculation  of  occul- 
tations are  just  the  same  as  for  eclipses  of  the  sun ;  the  only 


OCCULT  SCIENCES. 

difference  consists  in  the  star  having  neither  motion,  paral- 
lax, nor  semidiameter,  so  that  the  moon's  motion  and  paral- 
lax are  to  be  employed  in  place  of  the  relative  motion  and 
the  relative  parallax.  For  the  mode  of  conducting  the 
calculation,  it  will  therefore  be  sufficient  to  refer  to  the 
article  Eclipses,  page  381 ;  and  to  observe  that  the  consid- 
eration may  perhaps  be  simplified  by  giving  to  the  star  a 
motion  contrary  and  equal  to  that  of  the  moon,  and  then 
supposing  the  moon  herself  to  be  stationary. 

In  the  case  of  a  planet,  it  may  be  necessary  to  take  into 
account  its  motion  and  parallax,  and  perhaps  its  semidiame- 
ter, if  greater  nicety  is  to  be  observed. 

For  minute  details,  in  reference  to  the  calculation  of  eclip- 
ses and  occultations  in  all  their  varieties,  the  reader  will  do 
well  to  consult  the  Appendix  to  the  Nautical  Almanac  for 
the  vear  1836. 

OCCU'LT  SCIENCES.  (Lat.  occultus,  hid.)  A  term 
applied  to  the  imaginary  sciences  of  the  middle  ages — ma- 
gic, alchymy,  astrology,  especially  the  former. 

O'CCUPANCY.  In  Law,  the  taking  possession  by  any 
one  of  a  thing  of  which  there  is  no  owner,  and  the  right  ac- 
quired by  such  taking  possession.  Anciently,  when  a  man 
held  land  pur  auter  vie  (for  the  life  of  another),  and  died 
before  that  other,  as  this  estate  could  not  descend  to  his 
heir,  nor  revert  to  the  donor  until  the  determination  of  the 
life  upon  it,  it  was  considered  to  belong  of  right  to  the  first 
who  took  possession  of  it,  for  the  remainder  of  the  life, 
which  was  termed  general  occupancy.  And,  when  the  gift 
was  to  one  and  his  heirs  for  the  life  of  another,  the  heir  was 
said  to  take  as  special  occupant.  By  the  Stat,  of  Frauds 
(29  C.  2,  c.  3,  sec.  12)  a  man  is  enabled  to  devise  lands  held 
by  him  pur  auter  vie  ;  and  if  no  such  devise  be  made,  and 
there  be  no  special  occupant,  it  goes  to  his  executors  and 
administrators. 

O'CEAN.  (Gr.  (oiccavos.)  In  Geography,  the  vast  body 
of  water  which  surrounds  the  continents,  and  is  the  recep- 
tacle of  all  their  running  waters.  It  is  divided  by  geogra- 
phers into  five  great  basins,  viz.,  the  Pacific  Ocean  (so  called 
by  reason  of  its  comparative  stillness),  which  separates  Asia 
from  America,  and  is  the  largest  of  all  the  basins ;  2,  the  At- 
lantic Ocean,  which  has  Europe  and  Africa  on  its  eastern 
shore,  and  America  on  its  western;  3,  the  Indian  Ocean, 
which  washes  the  south  of  Asia,  and  the  south-eastern 
coast  of  Africa;  4th,  the  Arctic  Ocean,  which  surrounds 
the  north  pole ;  and  5,  the  Antarctic,  which  surrounds  the 
south  pole.  Other  smaller  portions  of  the  great  connected 
body  of  water  are  called  seas,  of  which  the  Mediterranean, 
the  German,  the  Baltic,  and  Black  seas,  are  the  most  con- 
siderable. The  superficial  extent  of  the  several  great  basins 
is  not  known  with  any  certainty,  nor,  indeed,  can  their  lim- 
its be  exactly  defined.  From  the  nearest  estimation  that 
can  be  made  of  the  extent  of  the  continents  and  principal 
islands,  it  is  supposed  that  nearly  three  fourths  of  the  whole 
surface  of  the  globe  are  covered  by  water.  The  Pacific 
Ocean  alone  exceeds  the  whole  surface  of  the  dry  land. 

Depth  of  the  Ocean. — If  the  superficial  extent  of  the  ocean 
cannot  be  easily  ascertained,  it  will  readily  be  supposed 
that  its  depth  is  a  problem  of  much  greater  difficulty.  The 
bottom  appears,  wherever  it  has  been  reached  by  the  sound- 
ing line,  to  have  similar  inequalities  to  those  of  the  surface 
of  the  land :  hence  the  depth  must  be  extremely  various  ; 
and  it  might  be  supposed  from  analogy  that  the  greatest 
depth  of  the  ocean  is  at  least  equal  to  the  height  of  the 
highest  mountains  above  its  surface.  Lord  Mulgrave  found 
no  bottom  in  the  North  Atlantic  Ocean  with  a  sounding  line 
of  4G80  feet ;  and  Mr.  Scoresby  sounded  to  the  depth  of  7200 
feet,  without  the  lead  touching  the  ground.  These  experi- 
ments are  not  altogether  to  be  depended  on  for  the  determi- 
nation of  such  great  depths ;  for,  the  pressure  becoming  very 
great,  the  lead  may  be  drawn  out  of  the  perpendicular  di- 
rection by  currents,  of  which  it  may  encounter  more  than 
one,  flowing  in  different  directions.  Over  a  great,  portion  of 
the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans  no  bottom  has  been  found. 
The  depth  of  the  ocean,  in  general,  and  the  form  of  the  bed 
on  which  it  rolls,  cannot,  therefore,  be  determined  by  ex- 
periment. The  mathematical  theory  of  the  oscillations  of 
fluids  has,  however,  thrown  some  light  on  the  subject.  La- 
place demonstrated  that  the  difference  which  is  indicated 
by  observation  between  the  height  of  two  consecutive  tides 
depends  on  the  law  of  the  depth  of  the  sea,  and  that,  but  for 
the  influence  of  accessory  circumstances,  it  would  disappear 
altogether  if  the  depth  were  constant.  It  follows,  therefore, 
that,  since  the  difference  between  the  consecutive  tides  is 
extremely  small,  the  depth  of  the  sea,  taking  in  a  large  ex- 
tent of  ocean,  must  be  nearly  uniform ;  that  is  to  say,  there 
must  be  a  certain  mean  depth  from  which  the  variations 
are  not  considerable.     ( Mec.  Celeste,  book  xiii.) 

Level  of  the  Ocean. — Were  it  not  for  the  disturbing  ac- 
tions of  the  sun  and  moon,  and  of  the  winds,  the  level  of 
the  ocean  would  be  everywhere  the  same,  and  its  surface 
would  have  the  form  determined  by  the  attraction  of  the 
whole  mass  of  the  earth,  combined  with  the  centrifugal 


OCEANUS. 

force  belonging  to  its  velocity  of  rotation  ;  that  is  to  say,  the 
surface  would  be  that  of  an  oblate  spheroid  of  revolution. 
This  uniformity,  however,  can  never  be  established.  The 
tide  at  every  instant  is  at  different  heights  in  different  parts 
of  the  ocean  ;  and  therefore  the  form  of  the  surface,  within 
the  limits  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  tides,  is  variable.  But 
even  if  we  neglect  the  alternate  rise  and  fall  of  the  water 
which  constitutes  the  tides,  and  take  the  surface  of  the 
ocean  at  its  mean  height,  it  is  found  by  accurate  levelling 
that  all  its  parts  do  not  coincide  with  the  surface  of  the 
same  spheroid.  Gulfs  and  inland  seas,  which  communicate 
with  the  ocean  by  narrow  openings,  are  affected  according 
to  their  position  with  regard  to  the  prevailing  winds.  The 
level  of  the  Red  Sea  was  found,  by  the  French  engineers  in 
Egypt,  to  be  32A  feet  higher  than  that  of  the  Mediterranean, 
which  is  supposed  to  be  a  little  lower  than  the  ocean.  Hum- 
boldt concluded,  from  observations  made  on  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama,  that  the  waters  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  are  about  2 
feet  higher  than  those  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  Baltic 
and  Black  seas  rise  in  spring  from  the  great  quantity  of  river 
water  poured  into  them,  and  are  lowered  in  summer  by  the 
joint  effects  of  a  small  supply  and  increased  evaporation. 

Colour  of  the  Ocean. — The  usual  colour  of  the  ocean  is  a 
bluish-green,  of  a  dnrker  tint  at  a  distance  from  land,  and 
clearer  towards  the  shores.  According  to  Mr.  Scoresby,  the 
hue  of  the  Greenland  sea  varies  from  ultramarine  blue  to 
olive  green,  and  from  the  purest  transparency  to  great  opa- 
city. The  surface  of  the  Mediterranean,  in  its  upper  part, 
is  said  to  have  at  times  a  purple  tint.  In  the  Gulf  of  Guinea 
the  sea  sometimes  appears  white ;  about  the  Maldive  Islands 
black  ;  and  near  California  it  has  a  reddish  appearance. 
Various  causes  co-operate  to  produce  this  diversity  of  tint. 
The  prevailing  blue  colour  may  be  ascribed  to  the  greater 
refrangibility  of  the  blue  rays  of  light,  which,  by  reason  of 
that  property,  pass  in  greatest  abundance  through  the  wa- 
ter. The  other  colours  are  ascribed  to  the  existence  of  vast 
numbers  of  minute  animalcula; ;  to  marine  vegetables  at  or 
near  the  surface  ;  to  the  colour  of  the  soil,  the  infusion  of 
earthy  substances ;  and  very  frequently  the  tint  is  modified 
by  the  aspect  of  the  sky.  The  phosphorescent  or  shining 
appearance  of  the  ocean,  which  is  a  common  phenomenon, 
is  also  ascribed  to  animalcule,  and  to  semiputrescent  mat- 
ter diffused  through  the  water. 

Temperature  of  the  Ocean. — Water  being  a  slow  conduct- 
or of  heat,  the  temperature  of  the  ocean  is  much  more  uni- 
form than  that  of  the  atmosphere.  At  a  certain  distance 
from  the  equator,  it  follows,  though  not  very  closely,  the 
mean  temperature  of  the  corresponding  latitudes,  the  solar 
action  being  greatly  modified  by  the  existence  of  currents 
which  convey  the  temperature  of  one  region  to  another;  so 
that  at  any  place  the  temperature  of  the  water  depends,  in 
some  measure,  on  the  direction  of  the  currents.  Within 
the  tropics  the  mean  temperature  at  the  surface  is  about 
80°  of  Fahrenheit,  and  generally  ranges  between  77°  and 
84°.  At  great  depths  the  temperature  is  probably  nearly 
the  same  under  every  latitude.  In  the  torrid  zone  it  is 
found  to  diminish  with  the  depth ;  in  the  polar  seas  it  in- 
creases with  the  depth ;  and  about  the  latitude  of  70°  it  is 
nearly  constant  at  all  depths.  But  the  small  number  of 
observations  which  have  yet  been  made  on  this  subject  do 
not  indicate  any  uniform  law,  according  to  which  the  vari- 
ations of  temperature  at  different  depths  is  regulated. 

Saltness  of  the  Ocean. — The  ocean  holds  in  solution  a  va- 
riety of  saline  matters,  of  which  by  far  the  most  abundant 
is  common  salt,  constituting,  in  general,  about  two  thirds  of 
the  whole.  The  saltness  of  sea-water  at  particular  places 
is  influenced  by  temporary  causes — storms,  for  example  ;  as 
well  as  by  the  neighbourhood  of  large  rivers,  and  perma- 
nent accumulations  of  ice.  A  series  of  experiments  on  this 
subject  were  made  some  years  ago  by  the  late  Dr.  Marcet, 
and  the  following  are  the  general  conclusions  which  he 
deduced  from  them:  1.  That  the  Southern  Ocean  contains 
more  salt  than  the  Northern  Ocean,  in  the  ratio  of  1-02919 
to  1-02757.  2.  That  the  mean  specific  gravity  of  sea-water 
near  the  equator  is  1-02777.  3.  That  there  is  no  notable 
difference  between  sea-water  under  different  meridians.  4. 
That  there  is  no  satisfactory  evidence  that  the  sea  at  great 
depths  is  more  salt  than  at  the  surface.  5.  That  the  sea,  in 
general,  contains  more  salt  where  it  is  deepest,  and  that  its 
saltness  is  always  diminished  in  the  vicinity  of  large  masses 
of  ice.  6.  That  small  inland  seas,  though  communicating 
with  the  ocean,  are  much  less  salt  than  the  ocean.  7.  That 
the  Mediterranean  contains  rather  larger  proportions  of  salt 
than  the  ocean.  (Phil.  Trans.,  1819 ;  Prout's  Bridgewater 
Treatise.) 

The  peculiar  bitter  taste  of  sea-water  does  not  appear  to 
belong  to  it  beyond  a  certain  depth,  and  is  ascribed  to  the 
vegetable  and  animal  matter  held  in  a  state  of  decomposi- 
tion near  the  surface.     See  Tides. 

OCE'ANUS.  In  Greek  Mythology,  the  oldest  of  the  Ti- 
tans :  according  to  some,  the  son  of  Ouranos  and  Gaia.  Hla 
consort  was  Tethys,  his  daughters  the  Oceanides.    In  Ho- 

845 


OCHLOCRACY. 

mer,  the  word  ocean  merely  designates  the  "river,"  or 
stream,  which,  according  to  his  notion,  encompassed  the 
earth. 

OCHLO'CRACY.  (Gr.  o"xAo{,  a  crowd,  and  Kpare'tv,  to 
govern.)  A  word  coined  to  express  the  condition  of  a  state 
in  which  the  populace  have  acquired  an  immediate  illegal 
control  over  the  government ;  and,  by  a  figure  commonly 
used  in  the  exaggeration  of  political  speakers  and  writers,  a 
government  in  which  the  power  of  the  lower  classes  pre- 
dominates, either  for  a  time  or  permanently. 

O'CHRE.  (Gr.  u\p,i.)  In  Painting,  a  colour  prepared 
from  a  species  of  earth.  It  is  of  various  hues,  as  yellow, 
red,  green,  blue,  and  black.  The  colouring  matter  of  ochre 
is  almost  always  oxide  of  iron. 

O'CHREA.  (Lat.  a  boot.)  A  name  applied  to  stipules 
that  are  membranous,  and  surround  the  stem  like  a  vagina 
or  sheath,  cohering  by  their  anterior  margins,  as  in  Polygo- 
num. 

OCHRE  OF  IRON.    A  hydrated  oxide  of  iron. 

O'CHROITE.  A  name  given  by  Klaproth  to  an  earth 
supposed  to  exist  in  the  mineral  since  called  cerite. 

O'CRE^E  (Lat.),  in  Roman  Antiquities,  were  a  sort  of 
military  boots  made  of  tin,  and  ornamented  with  gold  and 
silver.  They  were  equivalent  to  the  Kin/plies  of  the  Greeks, 
and  the  greaves  of  the  English.     See  Greaves. 

OCTAE'DRITE.     See  Octoedrite. 

OCTAETE'RIS.  (Gr.  oktui,  eight,  and  croc,  a  year.)  A 
cycle  or  period  of  eight  years,  at  the  lapse  of  which  three 
lunar  months  were  added.  This  cycle  was  in  use  till  Me- 
lon's invention  of  the  golden  number,  or  cycle  of  nineteen 
years. 

O'CTAGON.  (Gr.  oktu,,  and  yuivia,  angle.)  In  Geome- 
try, a  plane  figure  contained  by  eight  sides,  and  consequent- 
ly having  eight  angles.  When  the  sides  and  angles  are 
equal,  it  is  a  regular  octagon.  If  a  denote  the  side  of  a 
regular  octagon,  the  area  is  a2X~  tan.  672°  =  a2  X  4828427. 

Octagon.  In  Fortification,  a  place  which  has  eight  sides 
or  bastions. 

OCTA'NDRIA.  (Gr.  oktu,,  and  avvP,  a  male.)  In  Bota- 
ny, that  class  of  plants  which  has  eight  stamens. 

OCTANS.  In  Astronomy,  Octans  Hadlcianus  (Hadley's 
Octant)  one  of  the  constellations  formed  by  Lacaille  in  the 
southern  hemisphere.     See  Constellation. 

O'CTANT.  In  Geometry,  the  eighth  part  of  a  circle.  In 
astronomy,  octant  denotes  a  position  or  aspect ;  thus  the 
moon  is  in  her  octants  when  she  is  in  the  positions  inter- 
mediate between  Iter  syzygies  and  quarters,  or  at  45°,  135°, 
225°,  and  315°  from  her  conjunction. 

OCTA'NUS.    A  fever  which  returns  every  eighth  day. 

OCTASTY'LOS.  (Gr.  oktui,  eight,  and  otuAoj,  a  column.) 
In  Architecture,  a  temple  or  other  building  having  eight 
columns  in  front. 

O'CTAVE.  (Lat.  octavus.)  In  Music,  an  harmonical  in- 
terval, containing  five  tones  and  two  semitones,  called,  by 
the  ancient  authors,  diapason. 

Octave,  in  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities,  signified  the  eighth 
day  after  a  feast,  the  feast  day  itself  included.  Thus,  the 
first  Sunday  after  Easter  is  the  octave  of  Easter,  styled  oc- 
tava  infantium,  and  by  other  names.  The  Circumcision 
(Jan.  1)  is  the  octave  natalis  domini,  the  octave  of  Christ- 
mas. The  introduction  of  octaves  is  said  to  have  been 
founded  on  and  borrowed  from  the  Jewish  ritual.  The  oc- 
tave of  a  feast  is  sometimes  called  the  Vtas,  or  "the  Utas- 
day :"  thus,  "  Wrytyn  at  Norwich  on  the  Utas-day  of  Peter 
and  Powll."     (Paston  Letters,  vol.  iii.,  p.  189.) 

OCTA'VO.  (Lat.)  Usually  contracted  8vo ;  that  which, 
by  a  peculiar  folding,  has  eight  leaves  to  a  sheet. 

OCTO  BER.  (Lat.  octo.)  The  eighth  month  of  the  old 
Roman  year,  which  began  with  March.  The  commence- 
ment of  the  year  was  transferred  by  Numa  Pompilius  to  the 
lat  Of  January,  bat  the  months  retained  their  names.  Octo- 
ber is  now  the  tenth  month.     See  Calendar. 

OCTOE'DUITE.  A  mineralogical  name  applied  to  the 
(k  tin  ilral  oxide  of  titanium. 

OCTOIIE'DRnX.     (Gr. oktu, eight,  amWpov,side.)    In 
Geometry,  one  of  the  five  regular  Bolids,  or  1'latonic.  bodies, 
contained  under  eight  equal  and  equilateral  triangles.    Let 
A  =  the  linear  edge  or  side, 
B  =  the  whole  surface, 
C  =  the  solid  content, 
R=  radius  of  circumscribed  sphere, 
r  =  radius  of  inscribed  sphere ; 
then 

A  =  V6  =  RV2  =  v/(i  8^/3)  =  V2  <V2), 

B  =  12rV3  =  4R  V3  =  2A  V3, 

C  =  41-3^3  =  «  R3  =  i  A3,/2, 

R  =  r,/3  =  \  A  v/2  =  k  VB  J\  =  yj  C, 

r  =  i  Ry3  =  |  A^e  =  I  v/(  B ^3) . 

O'CTOPODS,  Octopoda.    (Gr.  oktu,,  eight ;  rove,  afoot.) 
The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Dibranchialu  Cephalopods,  including 
846 


ODORIN. 

those  which  have  only  eight  feet  or  cephalic  tentacular  «,*►• 
pendages;  also  of  a  sub-order  of  Apterous  insects,  Including 
those  which  have  eight  feet,  as  the  Tracheary  Arachnidana, 

OCY'THOE.  (Gr.  uikvc,  swift,  and  ££u>,  /  run.)  The 
name  applied  by  Rafinesque  to  a  naked  Cephalopod,  supposed 
to  be  that  which  inhabits  and  constructs  the  argonaut  shell. 

O'DALISQUES,  properly  ODALIKS.  (Turkish,  oda,  a 
chamber.)  Female  slaves  employed  in  domestic  service 
about  the  persons  of  the  wives,  female  relatives,  &c,  of  the 
sultan. 

ODD  NUMBER.  In  Arithmetic,  any  number  not  divisi- 
ble by  2  without  remainder  ;  the  series  of  odd  numbers  is  1, 
3,  5,  7,  9,  &c,  and  the  algebraic  form  by  which  they  are  ex- 
pressed is  2/t-f-l.  Every  prime  number,  excepting  2,  is  an 
odd  number.  The  differences  of  the  successive  terms  of  the 
series  of  square  numbers  produce  the  odd  numbers. 

ODE  (Gr.  uiin,  a  song),  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 
was  a  short  lyric  composition,  usually  intended  to  be  sung, 
and  accompanied  by  some  musical  instrument,  generally 
the  lyre ;  hence  the  expression  lyric  verse.  In  the  modern 
sense  of  the  word,  the  ode  appears  to  be  distinguished  from 
the  song  by  greater  length  and  variety,  and  by  not  being  ne- 
cessarily adapted  to  music.  It  is  distinguished  also  from 
the  ballad,  and  other  species  of  lyric  poetry,  by  its  being 
confined  to  the  expression  of  sentiment,  or  of  imaginative 
thought,  on  a  given  subject,  not  admitting  of  narrative,  ex- 
cept incidentally.  The  odes  of  Pindar,  Anacreon,  and  Hor- 
ace, .ire,  in  fact,  the  models  on  which  the  modern  notion  of 
the  ode  is  formed,  and  which  have  been  imitated  in  similar 
compositions  In  modern  times.  Until  the  science  of  Greek 
metres  was  so  accurately  explored  as  it  has  recently  been, 
the  Pindaric  ode  was  supposed  to  admit  of  an  excessive  ir- 
regularity in  the  length  and  measure  of  lines ;  and  hence 
the  Pindaric  odes  of  the  last  and  preceding  century  are  con- 
structed on  a  system  of  absolute  license  in  this  respect.  In 
point  of  fact,  however,  a  scheme  of  perfect  metrical  regu- 
larity pervaded  the  Greek  ode,  both  in  Pindar  and  in  the 
dramatic  choruses,  in  which  a  strophe,  or  succession  of  lines 
in  varied  metre,  is  exactly  answered  in  the  antistrophe  or 
corresponding  series.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Anacreontic 
ode  consists  of  a  number  of  lines  of  the  same  metrical  length 
and  arrangement.  The  Horatian  ode,  again,  is  generally 
constructed  on  a  different  system,  of  which  we  have  only  a 
few  instances  in  Greek,  in  the  Fragments  of  Alca'us  and 
Sappho:  it  consists  of  an  indefinite  number  of  stanzas,  pre- 
cisely similar  to  each  other,  each  forming  a  complete  metri- 
cal whole.  (See  Metre.)  The  Dithyranibic  ode  (quod 
vide)  was  a  bacchanalian  song ;  and  as,  from  the  attributes 
of  the  divinity  to  which  it  was  dedicated,  it  admitted  great 
irregularity  and  license:  the  name  has  been  transferred  in 
modern  times  to  all  odes  partaking  of  a  wild  and  impetuous 
character. 

O'DERITE.    A  variety  of  black  mica  from  Sweden  is  so 

ODE'UM,  or  ODEON.  (Gr.  uSrj,  a  song.)  In  ancient 
Architecture,  a  building  wherein  the  poets  and  musicians 
contended  for  the  prizes,  both  in  vocal  and  instrumental  mu- 
sic. Pericles,  who  was  the  first  person  to  erect  one  of  these 
buildings  at  Athens,  instituted  it  for  the  choragi  of  the  dif- 
ferent tribes  to  rehearse  their  performances ;  but  these  build- 
ings in  the  end  were  used  for  far  different  purposes  from 
those  for  which  they  were  originally  destined.  An  odeum 
was  to  be  found  in  all  the  principal  cities  of  antiquity.  The 
word  odeon  lias  been  preserved  in  most  modern  languages: 
thus,  there  is  an  odeon  in  Paris,  appropriated  to  theatrical 
and  other  similar  purposes;  and  in  Munich  there  is  a  con- 
cert-room with  this  name. 

O'DIN.  A  Scandinavian  deity,  who  seems,  like  the  Ju- 
piter of  the  Greeks,  to  have  formed  the  connecting  link  be- 
tween the  ancient  and  more  recent  systems  of  their  mythol- 
ogy. The  conqueror  Odin  appears  to  have  been  a  chieftain 
who  led  the  Asi  (the  Goths)  from  the  confines  of  Asia  to 
northern  Europe.  But,  when  deified  by  public  adoration, 
the  attributes  of  an  earlier  deity  seem  to  have  been  transfer- 
red to  him.  Odin  is  the  chief  of  the  gods ;  by  his  wife  Freya 
he  has  two  Chief  sons,  Thor  and  Balder:  the  death  of  the 
latter  (for  the  Scandinavian  gods  are  not  all  immortal)  fur- 
nishes many  legends  to  the  northern  mythology,  and  is 
known  to  English  readers  by  Gray's  translation,  The  Descent 
of  (iilin.  (See  this  article  in  the  Conv.  Lex.,  and  in  the  En- 
cyel.  of  Ersch  and  Grnber.)  The  more  ancient  Odin,  among 
the  Romans,  was  regarded  as  the  representative  of  their  god 
Mercury.    See  \\'i  otan. 

ODOMLTER.  (Gr.  Woe,  a  road,  and  ueTpov,  measure.) 
An  instrument  attached  to  the  wheel  of  a  carriage  by  which 

the  distance  passed  mer  Is  measured.    See  Peraubtjlatok. 

ODONTA'LGIA.  (Gr.  o6ovs,  a  tooth,  and  a\yo$,  pain.) 
The  toothai  he. 

ODONTO' l.nr.Y  (Gr.  ofovc,  and  Aoyoc,  a  discourse.) 
The  branch  of  anatomical  science  which  treats  of  the  teeth. 
See  Dintzs. 

O'DORIN.    One  of  the  products  of  tho  redistillation  of 


ODYSSEY. 

the  volatile  oil  obtained  by  distilling  bone ;  it  has  a  very 
concentrated  and  diffusible  empyreumatic  odour,  and  is  re- 
garded by  Unverdorben  as  a  peculiar  salifiable  base. 

O'DYSSEY.  (Gr.  OSvaacia.)  An  epic  poem,  attributed, 
in  general,  to  Homer,  but,  according  to  some  modern  hypoth- 
eses, not  by  the  hand  of  the  author  of  the  Iliad.  The  sub- 
ject of  the  poem  is  the  return  of  Ulysses  (Oovaaeus)  from 
Troy  to  his  native  island,  Ithaca. 

CECO'XOM  Y.  (Gr.  oikos,  a  house,  and  vipu,  I  distribute.) 
In  Architecture,  the  harmonious  and  skilful  combination  of 
the  parts  of  a  building,  which  renders  them  suitable  to  their 
several  purposes,  and  tends  to  connect  them  conveniently 
With  each  other. 

CECUME'XICAL.  (Gr.  6iKovuevrj,  scil.  y>h  the  inhabited 
earth  :  used  in  the  New  Testament.)  In  the  Greek  lan- 
guage applied  to  ecclesiastical  matters  in  the  sense  of  uni- 
versal. Several  patriarchs  of  Constantinople  and  Rome  as- 
sumed the  title  of  oecumenical  (particularly  John,  A.D.  590, 
and  Cyril,  his  successor),  apparently  in  opposition  to  the 
pretensions  of  the  bishop  of  Rome.  Oecumenical  councils 
are  those  to  which  prelates  resorted  from  every  part  of 
Christendom  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Roman  empire. 
(Palmer,  Church  of  Christ,  vol.  ii.,  p.  150.)     See  Council. 

CE  CUS.  (Lat.)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  an  apartment 
adjoining  a  dining-room. 

CEDE'MA.  (Gr.  odaio,  I  swell.)  A  puffiness  or  swelling 
of  parts,  arising  from  water  collecting  in  the  cellular  mem- 
branes. 

CE'DIPUS.  A  personage  renowned  in  the  early  or  myth- 
ological stage  of  Grecian  history,  the  son  of  Laius  and  Jo- 
casta.  An  oracle  had  warned  Laius  that  he  should  be  kill- 
ed by  his  son  ;  in  consequence  of  which  he  caused  the  child 
to  be  exposed,  with  one  of  its  feet  pierced  and  fastened  with 
a  thong  (his  name  was  accordingly  derived  from  the  swell- 
ing of  the  foot).  The  slave  intrusted  with  him  carried  the 
child  to  Polybus,  king  of  Corinth,  and  deceived  Laius  with 
a  false  report.  CEdipus,  when  grown  up,  slew,  in  ignorance, 
his  father  Laius ;  acquired  the  sovereignty  of  Thebes,  after 
conquering  the  Sphynx,  and  married  his  mother  Jocasta. 
On  becoming  acquainted  with  their  fatal  destiny,  Jocasta 
killed  herself,  and  QSdipus  deprived  himself  of  sight.  Such 
is  the  outline  of  the  story  familiar  to  us  by  the  noblest  ef- 
forts of  the  Greek  tragedians.  The  tale  of"03dipus  himself 
affords  the  subject  of  two  tragedies  of  Sophocles :  the  first 
(CEdipus  Tyrannus),  the  most  perfect  example  of  dramatic 
skill  which  antiquity  has  left  us;  the  second  (CEdipus  at 
Colonus),  perhaps  the  most  beautiful  of  ancient  dramatic 
poems.  The  fate  of  his  offspring  is  portrayed  in  several  of 
the  remaining  dramas  of  the  three  great  tragedians.  The 
miseries  inflicted  on  QDdipus  seem  to  us  to  be  wholly  unde- 
served, and  of  a  kind  that  it  is  impossible  to  approve.  He 
was  a  mere  passive  instrument  in  the  hands  of  Fate  or  Des- 
tiny, and  was  not  morally  culpable  for  the  death  of  his  fa- 
ther or  the  marriage  of  his  mother.  The  acts,  in  fact,  were 
the  acts  of  the  gods,  and  not  of  OEdipus.  In  themselves 
they  were  bad;  but,  as  he  was  totally  ignorant  of,  and  did 
not  intend  them,  he  is  no  more  to  be  blamed  than  a  dasrger 
in  the  hand  of  an  assassin  is  to  be  blamed  for  the  murder. 
And  hence  there  can  be  no  real  sympathy  with  the  miseries 
inflicted  on  OZdipus,  and  still  less  with  those  entailed  on  his 
offspring,  who  are  made  to  suffer  without  cause  or  reason  of 
any  kind. 

CEXA'XTHE  CROCA'TA.  In  Botany,  the  name  given 
to  the  hemlock  dropwort,  a  poisonous  plant,  growing  in 
Pembrokeshire.  It  is  called  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  coun- 
try fine-fingered  root,  and  has  some  reputation  as  a  remedy 
in  diseases  of  the  skin. 

CE'NOMANCY.  (Gr.  otvoc,  wine,  and  uavTiia,  prophecy .) 
A  mode  of  divination  among  the  Greeks,  from  the  colour, 
sound,  &c,  of  wine  poured  out  in  libations. 

OSXOTHIO'XIC  ACID.  (Gr.  otvoc,  and  $uov,  sulphur.) 
The  acid  which  is  formed  during  the  action  of  sulphuric 
acid  upon  alcohol.  Sertuerner  gave  it  the  above  name:  it 
is  the  sulphovinic  acid  of  Vogcl  and  other  chemical  writers. 
OISO'PHAGUS.  (Obs.  Gr.  otav,  to  carry,  and  (payw,  1 
eat.)  The  tube  by  which  food  is  conveyed  from  the  poste- 
rior part  of  the  mouth,  or  pharynx,  to  the  stomach.  The 
gullet. 

03'STRUS.  (Gr.  oicrpac.  a  gad-fly.)  The  name  of  a  ge- 
nus of  Dipterous  insects,  some  of  which  lay  their  eggs  in  the 
skin  of  quadrupeds,  which  they  pierce  for  that  purpose ; 
others  near  the  nose,  up  which  the  larvae  creep  to  the  front- 
al sinuses.  The  flies  of  an  allied  genus  (Oastcrophilus)  at- 
tach their  eggs  to  the  hairs  in  situations  where  they  can  be 
licked  off  and  swallowed;  when,  their  vitality  protecting 
them  from  the  action  of  the  gastric  juice,  they  are  hatched 
in  the  stomach,  and  the  larvae  attach  themselves  to  the  inner 
membrane,  forming  what  are  called  "  bots"  in  the  horse. 

O'FFERIXGS.  Literally,  gifts  presented  at  the  altar  in 
token  of  acknowledgment  of  the  Divine  goodness.  Offer- 
ings constituted  a  large  portion  of  the  Jewish  worship.  They 
consisted  chiefly  of  bread  salt,  fruits,  wine,  and  oil,  and  hail 


OIL  GAS. 

different  names  according  to  the  purposes  for  which  they 
w<jre  employed.  A  distinction  has  often  been  made  between 
offerings  and  sacrifices  (see  Sacrifice)  ;  the  former  being 
said  to  refer  only  to  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  the  latter  to  ani- 
mals ;  but  this  can  scarcely  have  been  the  case,  for  both  the 
burnt  and  the  sin  offering  required  animals  to  be  sacrificed. 
Among  the  Greeks,  Romans,  and  other  nations,  the  same 
practice  prevailed  of  offering  at  their  altars  wheat,  flour,  and 
bread.  In  a  modern  sense,  the  term  offering  is  applied  to 
certain  dues  payable  by  custom  to  the  Church,  as  the  Easter 
offerings,  &c.  This  latter  custom  has  obtained  from  the 
first  period  of  Christianity,  when  those  who  officiated  at  the 
altar  had  no  other  maintenance  or  allowance  than  the  free 
gifts  or  offerings  (ublationes)  of  the  people. 

O'FFERTORY.  The  first  part  of  the  Mass,  in  which 
the  priest  prepares  the  elements  for  consecration.  In  the 
English  communion  service,  it  denotes  the  sentences  which 
are  delivered  by  the  officiating  priest  while  the  people  are 
making  their  oblations  or  offerings.  (See  Palmer,  Orig. 
Liturgical.) 

OFFICE  FOUND.  In  English  Law,  an  inquiry  execu- 
ted by  some  officers  of  the  crown,  when  certain  events  have 
occurred  in  consequence  of  which  the  crown  becomes  enti- 
tled to  take  possession  of  real  or  personal  property.  Such 
are  the  finding  of  treasure  under  certain  circumstances,  the 
intestacy  of  a  bastard,  &c.  The  verdict  of  a  coroner's  jury 
of  "  felo  de  se"  is  an  instance  of  office  found,  on  which  the 
crown  is  entitled  to  take  possession  of  the  effects  of  the  de- 
ceased. 

O'FFICER,  is  used  generally  to  signify  any  person  in  the 
enjoyment  of  a  post  or  office,  whether  civil  or  military,  un- 
der the  crown.  Under  their  different  heads  will  be  found  a 
notice  of  the  chief  civil  and  military  officers;  to  these  the 
reader  is  referred. 

OFFI'CIAL.  In  the  Canon  Law,  the  deputy  or  lieuten- 
ant of  a  bishop,  abbot,  &c,  or  an  ecclesiastical  judge  ap- 
pointed by  them.  The  principal  official  of  the  bishop  is  his 
chancellor,  whose  jurisdiction  is  coextensive  with  the  dio- 
cese. An  officialis  foraneus  (styled  in  English  law  commis- 
sary") is  appointed  to  part  of  a  diocess  when  large.  The 
court  of  the  official  is  styled  in  the  canon  law  his  officiality. 

O'FFICI'NAL.  In  Pharmacy,  such  medicines  as  are  di- 
rected by  the  Pharmacopaeia  to  be  kept  ready  for  use  in  the 
apothecaries'  shops. 

O'FFIXG.  A  Nautical  term,  denoting  a  part  of  the  sea 
at  a  considerable  distance  from  the  shore  where  there  is 
deep  water. 

O'FFSET.  In  Architecture,  the  superior  surface  left  un- 
covered by  the  continuation  upwards  of  a  wall  where  the 
thickness  diminishes,  forming  a  ledge. 

O'FFSETS,  in  Surveying,  are  short  distances  from  the 
chain-line,  usually  measured  with  a  rod,  called  an  offset- 
staff"  the  most  convenient  length  for  which  is  6  feet  7-2 
inches,  being  equal  to  10  links  of  the  surveying  chain.  See 
Surveying. 

Offsets.  In  Gardening,  young  radical  bulbs,  when  sep- 
arated or  taken  off  from  the  parent  roots,  are  so  called.  One 
of  the  chief  methods  of  propagating  plants  is  by  offsets.  See 
Propagation  of  Plants. 

O'GEE.  In  Architecture,  the  same  as  cyma  reversa:  see 
that  art.,  and  Moulding. 

O'GHAMS.  A  peculiar  kind  of  short-hand  writing  in  use 
among  the  ancient  Irish.  It  consisted  of  certain  lines  and 
marks  which  derived  their  power  from  their  situation  and 
position  as  they  stood  in  relation  to  one  horizontal  principal 
line,  over  or  under  which  they  were  placed,  or  through 
which  they  were  drawn  ;  the  characters  or  marks,  accord- 
ing to  their  position,  standing  in  the  place  of  vowels,  conso- 
nants, diphthongs,  &c.  (See  the  elaborate  article  in  Hees's 
Cyclopedia.) 

OGIVE.  (Etym.  uncertain.)  In  Architecture,  the  term 
used  by  the  French  for  the  pointed  arch. 

O'GRES.  (Fr.)  The  well-known  name  of  those  imagi- 
nary monsters  with  which  the  nursery  tales  of  England 
abound.  They  are  usually  represented  as  cannibals  of  ma- 
lignant dispositions,  and  as  endowed  with  gigantic  height 
and  power.  It  is  difficult  to  speak  with  certainty  of  the  ori- 
gin of  these  fabulous  creations ;  but  it  is  probable  that  the 
term  ogre  is  derived  from  Oegir,  one  of  the  giants  in  the 
Scandinavian  mythology  (see  Grimm's  Deutsche  Mytholo- 
gie,  p.  146) ;  though  it  has  been  alleged,  with  perhaps  more 
probability,  that  it  has  been  borrowed  from  the  Ogurs,  or 
Onogurs,  "a  desperate  and  savage  Asiatic  horde,  which  over- 
ran part  of  Europe  about  the  middle  of  the  5th  century. 

OGY'GIAN  DELUGE.  The  name  given  to  a  great  in- 
undation mentioned  in  fabulous  history,  supposed  to  have 
taken  place  in  the  reign  of  Ogyges  in  Attica,  whose  death  is 
fixed,  in  Blair's  Clironological  Tables,  in  the  year  1764  be- 
fore Christ.     See  Deluge. 

OIL  GAS.  The  inflammable  gases  and  vapours  (chiefly 
hydrocarbons)  which  are  obtained  by  passing  fixed  oils 
through  red-hot  tubes,  and  which  may  be  used  as  coal  gas, 

&47 


OIL  OF  BRICKS. 

for  the  purposes  of  illumination ;  it  yields  a  more  brilliant 
lisht  than  the  latter,  but  is  too  expensive  to  be  general!) 
adopted,  The  apparatus  tor  the  production  of  oil  gas  is  de- 
scribed in  the  Quarterly  Journal,  vol.  viii.  A  gallon  of  com- 
mon u  hale  oil  J  ields  from  90  to  100  cubical  feet  of  gas  ;  and 
an  Argand  burner,  giving  the  light  of  six  or  seven  wax  can- 
9Umes  from  Ik  to  2  cubical  feet  per  hour;  whereas, 
to  produce  the  same  light,  from  5  to  0  cubic  feet  of  coal  gas 
are  required. 

OIL  OF  BRICKS.  A  term  applied  by  the  old  chemists 
to  the  cmpyreuinatic  oil  obtained  by  subjecting  a  brick  Which 
has  been  soaked  in  oil  to  the  process  of  distillation  at  a  high 
temperature.  The  oil  is  used  by  lapidaries  as  a  vehicle  for 
the  emery  bv  which  stones  and  gems  are  sawn  or  cut. 

OIL  OF  VlTKloL.    See  Sulphuric  Acid. 

OIL-PAINTING.  Pointing  In  which  the  medium  for 
using  the  colours  is  oil.  It  is  said  to  have  been  unknown  to 
the  ancients,  and  not  used  earlier  than  the  14th  century  ;  its 
invention  being  attributed  to  John  Van  Eyck.  sometimes 
called  John  of  Bruges.  By  him  it  was  supposed  to  have 
been  imparted  to  one  Antonio  do  Messina,  who  first  brought 
it  to  Venice.  Giovanni  Bellini,  by  a  stratagem,  got  posses- 
sion of  the  secret  from  him,  and  then  made  it  publicly  known. 
Oil-painting,  has  the  advantages,  above  all  other  modes,  of 
affording  great  delicacy  of  execution,  a  union  and  insensible 
blending  of  the  colours,  and,  above  all,  that  of  imparting 
great  force  to  its  effects.  The  various  colours  chiefly  used 
in  oil-painting  are,  white  lead,  Creninitz  white,  chrome, 
king's  yellow,  Naples  and  patent  yellow,  the  ochres,  Dutch 
pink,  terra  da  Sienna,  yellow  lake,  Vermillion,  red  lead,  In- 
dian and  Venetian  red,  the  several  sorts  of  lake,  brown  pink, 
Vandyke  brown,  burned  and  unburned  umber,  ultramarine, 
Prussian  and  Antwerp  blue,  ivory  black,  blue  black,  asphal- 
tum.  The  principal  oils  are  those  extracted  from  the  poppy, 
nut,  and  Unseed.     With  the  latter  driers  are  introduced. 

OILS.  (Germ,  oehle.)  The  term  oil  is  applied  to  two 
dissimilar  and  distinct  organic  products,  which  are  usually 
called  fiied  oils  and  volatile  oils.  The  fixed  or  fat  oils  are 
either  of  vegetable  or  animal  origin  ;  they  are  compounds  of 
carbon,  hydrogen,  and  oxygen  ;  the  relative  proportions  vary 
but  little  in  the  several  species.  The  following  analyses  of 
olive  and  spermaceti  oil  may  be  assumed  as  types  of  the 
rest : 

Olive  Oil.    Spermaceti  Oil. 

Carbon 772  7S0 

Hvdrogen 133  118 

Oxygen (J5  _102 

1000  1000 

The  fixed  oils  abound  in  the  fruit  and  seed  of  certain 
plants ;  they  are  lighter  than  water,  unctuous,  and  insipid, 
or  nearly  so ;  some  of  these  require  a  low  temperature  for 
their  congelation,  such  as  linseed  oil ;  others,  such  as  olive 
oil,  concrete  at  a  temperature  higher  than  the  freezing  point 
of  water ;  some  are  solid  at  common  temperatures,  such  as 
cocoa-nut  oil.  Some  of  these  oils  when  exposed  to  air  ab- 
sorb oxygen,  and  gradually  harden,  forming  a  kind  of  var- 
nish ;  tiiese  are  called  drying  oils,  and  are  the  basis  of 
paints,  such  as  linseed  oil  ;  others  become  rancid,  as  almond 
oil.  All  these  oils,  like  the  different  kinds  of  fat,  consist  of 
two  proximate  principles,  called  stearine  and  elaine  :  the 
former  is  the  fatty  portion,  which  first  concretes  on  cooling 
the  oil,  and  from  which  the  elaine,  or  oily  portion,  may  be 
separated  by  pressure.  These  oils  cannot  be  volatilized 
without  decomposition.  At  a  red  heat  they  are  resolved  into 
volatile  and  gaseous  products,  among  which  carburetted  hy- 
drogen, in  several  of  its  forms,  predominates;  hence  the  use 
of  these  oils,  when  volatilized  and  burned  by  the  aid  of  a 
wick,  as  sources  of  artificial  light.  The  action  of  the  alkali 
an  the  fat  oils  is  highly  important,  as  forming  soap. 

The  tolatilt  oils  are  generaU]  obtained  by  distilling  the 
vegetable.-,  which  afford  them,  with  water  :  they  fluctuate  in 
density  a  little  on  either  side  of  water:  they  are  sparingly 
soluble  in  water,  forming  the  perfumed  or  medicated  u  ateife, 
such  as  rose  and  peppermint  water ;  they  are  mostly  soluble 
in  alcohol,  forming  essences.  A  few  of  them,  such  as  oil  of 
turpentine,  of  lemon  peel,  of  copi\  i  balsam,  fcc.,  are  hydro- 
carbons, til  at  is,  consist  of  carbon  and  hydrogen  only;  the 
greater  number,  however,  contain  oxygen  as  one  of  their  ul- 
timate elements.  They  are  chiefly  used  in  medicine  and  in 
perfumery,  and  a  few  of  them  are  extensively  employed  in 
the  arts  as  vehicles  for  colours,  and  in  the  manufacture  of 
varnishes:  this  is  especially  the  case  with  oil  of  turpentine. 
OrSANITE.  An  ore  of  titanium,  from  the  department 
of  Otoe. 

OLD  MAN  OF  T1IK  MOUNTAIN     The  chii  f  of  the 
band  Assassins*  who  established  themselves  in  the  moun- 


OLIVA. 

tainous  district  of  Kohistan  in  Persia,  in  the  lltli  century, 
W8S  BO  called.     See  Assassins. 

OLD  RED  BANDST4  >NE.  A  series  of  rocks  interposed 
between  the  mountain  limestone  and  slates.   [Set  Geology.) 

It  is  included  in  J)Iurchison's  Devonian  System  of  Hocks. 

OLD  TL'STA.MENT.  The  name  given  to  thai  part  of 
Scripture  which  contains  the  collected  works  of  the  inspired 
Writers  pre\  iously  to  the  advent  of  our  Saviour.  The  period 
of  their  being  collected  is  unknown.  Some  of  them  were  in 
existence  before  the  Babylonish  captivity  (600  years  B.C.) ; 
others  were  collected  at  a  later  period ;  and  the  collection, 
as  it  at  present  stands,  was  completed  in  the  second  century 
before  Christ.  The  Jews  divided  the  Old  Testament  into 
the  Law.  the  Prophets,  and  other  writings  known  by  the 
name  Ilagiographa,  of  which  the  Psalms  were  at  tile  head. 
The  contents  of  the  Old  Testament  may  be  conveniently  di- 
vided into  the  Historical  Books,  of  which  there  are  17;  the 
Poetical,  of  which  there  are  5;  and  the  Prophetical,  of  which 
there  are  l(i,  distinguished  into  the  books  of  4  greater  and  12 
minor  prophets.  The  Historical  Books  include  the  Penta- 
teuch, the  Book  of  Joshua,  Judges,  Ruth,  2  Books  of  Samuel, 
2  Books  of  Kings.  2  Books  of  Chronicles,  the  Book  of  Ezra, 
of  Nehemiah,  and  of  Esther;  the  Poetical  Books  include  the 
Book  of  Job,  the  Psalms,  the  Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes,  and  the 
Song  of  Solomon  :  and  the  Prophetical  comprise  (of  the 
greater)  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel,  and  Daniel,  and  (of  the 
minor)  Hosea,  Joel,  Amos,  Obadiah,  Jonah.  Mieah.  Nahum, 
Habakkuk,  Zephaniah,  Haggai,  Zechariah,  and  Maiachi. 
See  Bible,  Testament,  Prophets,  Psalms,  &C 

OLEA'CE^E.  (Olea,  one  of  the  genera.)  The  natural 
order  of  plants  which  contains  the  olive  tree  and  the  ash  ; 
it  consists  of  trees  or  shrubs  inhabiting  the  temperate  parts 
of  the  world,  and  distinguished  from  others  by  their  flowers 
being  monopetalous  and  diandrous  with  a  valvate  activation. 
See  Olive. 

OLECRA'NON.  (Gr.  o)\evy,  the  ■ulna,  and  Kpavav,  the 
head.)  The  head  of  the  ulna.  The  process  of  the  ulna 
which  forms  the  elbow. 

OLE'FIANT  GAS.  This  variety  of  carburetted  hydro- 
gen is  obtained  by  heating  a  mixture  of  two  measures  of  sul- 
phuric acid  and  one  of  alcohol.  It  is  of  somewhat  less 
specific  gravity  than  atmospheric  air,  100 cubic  inches  weigh- 
ing 30-o  grains.  It  burns  with  a  bright  white  flame,  and  pro- 
duces during  combustion  such  proportions  of  carbonic  acid 
and  water  as  show  that  1  volume  of  the  gas  is  constituted 
of  2  atoms  or  volumes  of  hydrogen  and  2  atoms  of  carbon; 
hence  the  equivalent  of  defiant  gas  is  (2  h  -+- 12  car.)  =  14. 
When  two  volumes  of  chlorine  are  mixed  with  1  of  olefiant 
sas,  and  inflamed,  hydrocholoric  acid  is  formed,  and  the 
charcoal  of  the  gas  makes  its  appearance  in  the  form  of 
dense  black  soot.  If  the  mixture,  instead  of  being  kindled, 
be  left  standing  over  water,  it  soon  condenses  into  a  liquid 
looking  like  oil  (hence  the  term  oltfiant  gas),  which  is  a  hy- 
drochloride of  carbon.  It  has  an  aromatic  odour,  not  un- 
like that  of  oil  of  carawa\  S. 

O'LEIC  ACID.    The  product  resulting  from  the  action 
of  alkalies  upon  the  elaine,  or  liquid  part  of  oils  and  fata, 
O'LEIN.     See  Elain. 

O'LEON.  A  peculiar  liquid  obtained  by  the  distillation 
of  a  mixture  of  oleic  acid  and  lime. 
O'LERON.  LAWS  OF.  See  Maritime  Law. 
OLFA'CTi  >KY  NERVES.  [Lat  oleo,  I  smell,  and  facio, 
I  cause.)  The  nerves  of  smell.  The  first  pair  of  nerves. 
They  arise  from  the  part  of  the  brain  called  the  corpora 
striata,  and,  perforating  the  ethmoid  bone,  are  distributed 
over  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  nose. 

OLI'BANLTM.  A  gam  re>iu.  Imported  from  the  Levant, 
in  yellowish-white  and  nearly  opaque  drops  or  tears  ;  it  has 
a  bitterish  flavour,  and  has  been  used  in  medicine.  When 
burned  it  exhales  rather  an  agreeable  odour,  and  is  some- 
times called  frankincense.  It  is  either  the  produce  of  the 
Juniperus  lycia,  or  of  the  Bosvellia  sirrata. 

OLIGARCHY.  (Gr.  SXiyot,  few,  and  Spxeiv,  to  govern.) 
A  state  in  which  the  sovereign  power  is  lodged  in  the  hands 
of  a  small,  exclusive  class,  is  so  called.  It  differs  from  aris- 
tocracy,  in  that  the  latter  term  appears  to  designate  a  govern- 
ment in  which  the  whole  of  a  particular  class  or  interest,  e.g., 
(he  noble,  the  wealthy,  &.c  share  directly  or  indirectly  m 
the  management  of  public  affairs;  while,  in  an  oligarchy,  it 
is  a  party  or  section  formed  out  of  one  of  these  classes  which 
enjoys  the  advantages  of  government 

OLPVA.  I. at.  oliva,  on  olive.)  A  genus  of  Pectinf- 
branchiate  Gastropods,  dismembered  from  the  Volutes  of 
Linneus,  and  so  called  on  account  of  the  long  and  elliptical 
shape  of  the  shell.  The  aperture  is  narrow,  long,  and  notch- 
ed o|,|«...ite  to  the  spire,  which  is  short:  the  folds  of  the 
columella  are  numerous,  and  resemble  stria-.    The  animal 


*  There  are  few  words  whose  etymology  has  exercised,  and  at  the  nine 
time  batflrd  Ihe  ingenuity  of  the  learned,  more  than  this.  Perhaps  the 
following  may  not  be  very  remote  from  the  truth.  Throughout  all  the  East 
•n  of  hemp  is  universally  used  to  exhilarate  the  spirits  by  a  luxu* 
xious  species  of  intoxication.  This  is  known  to  the  Orientals  by  the  name  of 
laJcAun,  and  those  wbo  are  addicted  to  it  are  called  haKhu'chxn  and  hat- 
040. 


duuehin  :  two  expressions,  as  Dr.  Sacv  remarks,  which  explain  why  the  Is- 
roaelians  have  been  called  by  the  hixonansof  the  crusades  at  one  time  At- 
tiumi.  and  at  another  .iitaitini.  So  tha',  instead  of  "a  secret  murderer," 
asxusin  implies,  in  point  of  fact,  "a  habitual  drunkard."  (Quart.  Rev. 
vol.  24.) 


OLIVE. 

has  a  large  foot,  the  anterior  portion  of  which  is  marked  off 
by  an  incision  on  each  side.  The  horns  or  tentacula  are 
slender,  and  the  eyes  are  on  the  middle  of  their  outer  side. 
The  proboscis  and  the  breathing  tube  are  tolerably  long ; 
there  is  no  operculum.  The  species  of  Oliva  rival  the  cow- 
ries in  beauty. 

G'LIVE.  {Lat.  olea.)  A  genus  of  trees  belonging  to  the 
Diandria  Monagynia  class  of  plants.  The  Olea  Europwa 
has  an  upright  stem,  with  numerous  branches,  grows  to  the 
height  of  twenty  or  thirty  feet,  and  differs  from  most  trees  in 
yielding  a  fixed  oil  from  the  pericarp  instead  of  from  the 
seed.  The  olive  tree  has  in  all  ages  been  held  in  peculiar 
estimation ;  and  some  authors  have  styled  it  a  "  mine  upon 
earth."  It  was  sacred  to  Minerva.  Olive  wreaths  were 
used  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans  to  crown  the  brows  of  vic- 
tors; and  it  is  still  universally  regarded  as  emblematic  of 
peace.  The  olive  flourishes  only  in  warm  and  comparative- 
ly dry  parts  of  the  world,  as  the  south  of  France  and  Spain ; 
in  Italy,  Syria,  and  the  north  of  Africa ;  and  though  it  has 
been  raised  in  the  open  air  in  this  country,  its  fruit  did  not 
ripen.  The  fruit  is  a  smooth  oval  plum,  about  three  quar- 
ters of  an  inch  in  length,  and  half  an  inch  in  diameter  ;  of  a 
deep  violet  colour  when  ripe ;  whitish  and  fleshy  within ; 
bitter  and  nauseous,  but  replete  with  a  bland  oil.  Olives  in- 
tended for  preservation  are  gathered  before  they  are  ripe. 
In  pickling,  the  object  is  to  remove  and  to  preserve  them 
green  by  impregnating  them  with  a  brine  of  aromatized  sea 
salt;  and  for  this  purpose  various  methods  are  employed. 
But  it  is  chiefly  for  the  sake  of  its  oil  that  the  olive  tree  is 
cultivated.  Olive  oil  is  pale  yellow;  its  density  is  -910. 
When  fresh,  and  of  fine  quality,  it  is  almost  tasteless,  having 
only  a  very  slight  and  agreeable  nutty  flavour.  It  is  less  apt 
than  most  other  fixed  oils  to  become  viscid  by  exposure,  and 
hence  is  preferred  for  greasing  clock  and  watch-work.  It  is 
largely  used  as  an  article  of  food.  It  is  the  principal  article 
of  export  from  the  kingdom  of  Naples.  Of  2,791,057  gallons 
imported  in  1330,  2,034,237  were  from  Italy,  639,468  from 
Spain,  52,004  from  Malta,  21.467  from  Turkey,  11,300  from 
the  Ionian  Islands,  and  about  30,000  (at  second-hand)  from 
Germany  and  the  Netherlands.  There  is  a  duty  of  eight 
guineas  a  ton  on  olive  oil.     (See  Diet,  of  Commerce,  <$-«.) 

O'LIVILE.  A  peculiar  anylnceous  or  crystalline  sub- 
stance, obtained  from  the  gum  of  the  olive  tree. 

O'LIVINE.  A  variety  of  chrysolite  containing  oxide  of 
iron,  of  an  olive  green  colour.  It  is  sometimes  found  associ- 
ated with  meteoric  iron. 

O'LLA  PODRI'DA.  (Span,  putrid  mixture.)  The  name 
given  to  a  favourite  dish  of  all  classes  in  Spain ;  consisting 
of  a  mixture  of  all  kinds  of  meat  cut  into  small  pieces,  and 
stewed  with  various  kinds  of  vegetables.  The  epithet 
podrida  is  applied  to  this  dish,  in  consequence  of  the  poorer 
classes  being  obliged  to  serve  it  up  so  often  that  the  odour 
arising  from  long  keeping  is  far  from  agreeable.  The  phrase 
olia  podrida  is  often  used  metaphorically  in  England  for  any 
incongruous  melange. 

OLY'MPIAD.  (Gr.  oXvitvtac.)  In  Chronology,  a  Grecian 
epoch  of  four  years,  being  the  interval  between  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  Olympic  games. 

The  Olympic  games,  so  famous  in  Grecian  history,  were 
said  to  have  been  instituted  about  1354  years  before  the 
Christian  era ;  but,  having  fallen  into  disuse,  they  were  re- 
vived by  lpbitus,  king  of  Elis,  844  years,  B.C.  About  a 
hundred  years  later,  the  practice  was  introduced  of  desig- 
nating the  Olympic  period  by  the  name  of  the  victor.  The 
first  who  received  the  honour  was  Coreebus,  and  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Olympiad  of  Conebus  forms  the  principal 
era  of  Grecian  chronology.  The  games  in  which  he  was 
victor  were  celebrated  about  the  time  of  the  summer  solstice, 
776  years  before  the  era  of  the  incarnation,  in  the  3938th  of 
the  Julian  period,  and  23  years,  according  to  the  reckoning 
of  Varro,  before  the  foundation  of  Rome.  Before  the  intro- 
duction of  the  Metonic  cycle,  the  Olympic  year  began  some- 
times with  the  full  moon  which  followed,  sometimes  with 
that  which  preceded  the  summer  solstice.  Subsequent  to 
the  introduction  of  that  cycle,  the  year  always  commenced 
with  the  eleventh  day  of  the  moon  which  followed  the  sol- 
stice, and  it  is  usually  regarded  as  beginning  on  the  first  day 
of  July.  It  is  necessary  to  observe,  in  the  comparison  of 
dates,  that  as  the  Olympiads  begin  about  the  1st  of  July,  the 
first  six  months  of  a  year  of  our  era  correspond  to  one  Olym- 
pic year,  and  the  second  to  another.  The  first  year  of  the 
first  Olympiad  began  776  years  and  six  months  before  our 
era ;  hence,  in  order  to  reduce  the  date  by  Olympiads  to  our 
era,  the  rule  is  this :  Multiply  the  number  of  the  past  Olym- 
piad by  four,  and  add  the  odd  years ;  subtract  the  sum  from 
777,  if  before  Christ,  or  subtract  776  from  the  sum,  if  after 
Christ :  the  remainder  will  lie  the  year  before  Christ  or  after 
Christ,  if  the  event  happened  in  the  first  six  months  of  the 
Olympic  year,  that  is,  between  July  and  January  ;  but  if  the 
event  happened  in  the  last  six  months  of  the  Oiympic  year, 
or  between  January  and  July,  the  remainder,  in  either  case, 
niust  be  diminished  by  one.    For  example,  the  foundation 


OMENTUM. 

of  Rome  (according  to  Varro)  was  laid  in  the  3d  year  of  the 
6th  Olympiad,  and  10th  month  of  that  year;  required  the 
date?  Here  5  complete  periods  are  elapsed;  therefore,  5-f- 
4  +  3=23;  and  777  —  23=754,  which,  being  diminished  by 
one,  gives  753  B.C.  for  the  date.  The  month  corresponds  to 
April. 

The  method  of  computing  time  by  Olympiads  did  not  come 
into  use  till  after  the  death  of  Alexander,  and  first  appears 
in  the  Parian  Chronicle,  which  was  engraved  about  sixty 
years  after  that  event.  The  first  historian  who  used  it  was 
Timaeus  Siculus,  who  wrote  a  few  years  later.  About  200 
years  B.C.,  Eratosthenes  of  Alexandria  digested  a  chrono- 
logical table  of  the  Olympiads. 

OLY'MPIC  GAMES.  The  greatest  of  the  national  festi- 
vals of  Greece,  celebrated  once  every  four  years  at  Olympia, 
or  Pisa,  in  Elis,  in  honour  of  Olympian  Jupiter.  Their  in- 
stitution is  variously  attributed  to  Jupiter,  Pelops,  and  Hercu- 
les; but  it  appears  that  they  had  fallen  into  disuse  for  some 
time,  till  they  were  revived  by  Iphitus,  776  B.C.  From  this 
period  it  is  that  the  Olympiads  are  reckoned.  Like  the  other 
public  festivals,  the  Olympian  games  might  be  attended  by 
all  who  bore  the  Hellenic  name ;  and  such  was  their  uni- 
versal celebrity,  that  spectators  quatemially  crowded  to  wit- 
ness them,  not  only  from  all  parts  of  Greece  itself,  but  from 
every  Grecian  colony  in  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa.  In  these 
games,  none  were  allowed  to  contend  but  those  who  could 
prove  that  they  were  freemen  of  genuine  Hellenic  origin, 
and  unstained  by  crime  or  immorality.  The  superintendence 
of  these  games  belonged  sometimes  to  the  Pisans,  but  for 
the  most  part  to  the  Eleans,  by  whom  the  Pisans  were  de- 
stroyed. On  one  occasion,  in  the  104th  Olympiad,  the  man- 
agement was  forcibly  seized  on  by  the  Arcadians.  The  con- 
tests at  these  games  consisted  in  the  athletic  exercises,  and 
also  in  those  of  music  and  poetry.  The  orators  were 
crowned  with  garlands  of  wild  olive.  (See  West's  Pindar ; 
ThirlwalVs  Greece,  vol.  i.,  384 ;  and  the  other  authorities.) 
The  place  where  these  renowned  games  were  celebrated  is 
a  plain,  now  called  Anti-Lalla,  opposite  the  little  town  of 
Lalla.  They  commenced  a  little  after  the  summer  solstice, 
on  the  14th  of  the  Attic  month  Hecatombseon. 

O'MBRIA.  (Gr.  oufipos,  rain.)  A  name  formerly  applied 
to  certain  fossil  Echini,  under  the  supposition  of  their  hav- 
ing fallen  from  the  clouds. 

OMBRO'METER.  (Gr.  ou6pos,  rain,  and  /xtrpov,  meas- 
ure.) A  name  sometimes  given  to  the  rain-gauge.  See 
Rain-gauge. 

O'MELET.  A  pancake  or  fritter  made  of  eggs,  common 
in  Spain,  France,  and  Germany. 

O'MENS.  Casual  indications,  from  which  men  believe 
themselves  enabled  to  conjecture  or  foretel  future  events. 
The  essential  characteristic  of  all  omens  is  their  happening 
by  accident ;  and  it  is  this  which  distinguishes  them  from  all 
other  modes  of  divination.  This  branch  of  superstition 
seems  nearly  as  ancient  as  the  world  itself;  and  in  none  do 
we  find  such  remarkable  indications  of  sameness  of  origin. 
Many  external  circumstances  appear  to  be  received  in  almost 
all  countries  as  ominous.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  in- 
stances of  this  coincidence  is  mentioned  in  a  recent  number 
of  the  Edinburgh  Review.  The  omens  in  which  the  Thugs, 
or  secret  murderers  of  India,  believe  with  peculiar  devotion, 
are  almost  the  very  same  which  an  ancient  Roman  would 
have  observed  with  equal  attention ;  especially  the  appear- 
ance of  animals  on  the  right  or  left  hand.  In  classical  an- 
tiquity, however,  omens  appear  to  have  multiplied,  and  to 
have  been  the  subjects  of  more  curious  superstition  in  later 
than  in  earlier  ages.  There  are  numberless  omens  in  Homer ; 
but  they  are  generally  of  the  simplest  description — thunder 
and  lightning ;  the  appearance  of  some  sacred  birds,  espe- 
cially, as  some  critics  have  observed,  those  which  have  the 
highest  flight,  and  might  be  supposed  to  have  arrived  imme- 
diately from  the  throne  of  Jove  himself.  Omens,  among  the 
Greeks  (and,  we  may  add,  among  almost  all  nations  in  peri- 
ods of  ignorance,  and  among  the  vulgar  of  the  present  day), 
may  be  divided  into  three  classes :  those  derived  from  natural 
occurrences,  relating  to  inanimate  objects,  lightning,  earth- 
quakes, phosphoric  appearances,  &c. ;  those  derived  from 
animals,  especially  birds,  the  region  of  their  appearance, 
their  voices,  &c. ;  and  those  which  the  individual  drew  from 
sudden  sensations  of  his  own.  Sneezing,  in  most  times  and 
countries,  has  been  a  peculiarly  ominous  occurrence.  The 
Romans,  as  is  well  known,  carried  the  science  of  omens  to 
a  very  profound  depth  :  the  flight  of  birds  was  the  main  ele- 
ment in  augury  ;  the  omens  afforded  by  the  entrails  of  sacri- 
ficed animals,  in  the  learning  uf  eMispicium.  One  remark- 
able variety  between  Greek  and  Roman  divination  has  often 
been  noticed :  the  right  hand  in  the  former  generally  denoted 
good  luck,  and  the  left  the  contrary.  Among  the  Romans 
this  rule  was  reversed,  although  their  writers  in  later  times 
often  adopt  the  Greek  mode  of  expression.     See  Augurs. 

OME'NTUM.     (So  called  from  Lat.  omen,  because  the 
soothsayers  prophesied  from  its  ins|)ection.)   The  membrane 
is  formed  of  a  duplicature  of  the  peritoneum,  and  encloses 
3G  849 


OMNIBUS. 

more  or  less  fat.    It  is  attached  to  the  stomach,  and  lies  on 
the  anterior  surface  of  the  intestines. 

« i  M.N  IBIS.  ( Lai.  far  all.)  The  name  given  to  a  pecu- 
liar kind  of  public  carriage,  too  well  known  to  require  to  be 
described,  which  takes  a  number  of  passengers  at  a  cheap 
common  rate.  They  were  first  introduced  into  Paris  in  18-25, 
whence  ihev  were  introduced  into  London  in  18SS  ;  and 
they  are  now  to  be  met  with  iu  almost  every  large  town  both 
of  this  country  and  the  Continent. 

OMNIUM.  In  Finance,  a  term  used  at  the  Stock  Ex- 
change to  express  the  aggregate  value  of  the  different  stocks 
in  which  a  loan  is  now  usually  funded.  (See  Dictionary 
of  Commerce.) 

O MN1YORES.  (Lat.  omnia,  all,  and  voro,  I  eat.)  The 
name  given  by  Temminck  to  an  order  of  birds,  including 
those  Insessoral  species  which  feed  on  both  animal  and 
vegetable  substances;  as  the  starling. 

oMoHYOl'DEUS.  A  muscle  which  pulls  the  oshyoides 
obliquely  downward:  it  is  sometimes  called  the  coracohy- 
oideus :  it  arises  from  the  superior  costa  of  the  scapula,  and 
is  inserted  into  the  base  of  the  os  hyoides. 

OMPHALO'DIl'M.  (Gr.  ouQaboc,  the  navel.)  The  cen- 
tre of  the  liilum  of  a  seed,  through  which  the  nourishing 
vessels  pass  from  the  placenta  into  tile  seminal  integuments. 

OMPHALOTOMY.  (Gr.  ou<pa\o$,  and  renvoi,  I  cut.) 
The  division  of  the  navel  string. 

ONAGRA'CEjE.  (Onagra,  an  old  name  for  the  genus 
JEnothera.)  An  extensive  natural  order  of  Polypetalous 
Exogenous  plants,  very  common  in  gardens,  where  they  are 
much  valued  for  the  beauty  of  their  flowers.  They  are 
known  bv  all  the  parts  of  their  flowers  being  arranged  in 
fours.  The  genera  Fuchsia,  LEnothera,  and  Epilobium  are 
common  illustrations  of  the  order. 

ONE'IROCRITICS,  or  ONEIROCRITICAL  SCIENCE. 
(Gr.  ovupoi,  and  k/><vu>,  J  judge.)  The  science  of  interpreting 
dreams:  treated  of  by  Artemidorus,  Macrobius,  and  other 
classical  writers ;  by  Thomas  Aquinas,  and  others  of  the 
schoolmen  ;  and,  among  many  other  moderns,  by  Cardanus, 
and  Maio.  a  Neapolitan  philosopher.  According  to  all  these 
writers,  the  secret  of  oneirocritical  science  consists  in  the  re- 
lation supposed  to  exist  between  the  dream  and  the  thing 
signified ;  but  they  are  far  from  keeping  to  the  relations  of 
agreement  and  similitude,  and  they  frequently  have  recourse 
to  others  of  dissimilitude  and  contrariety. 

ONEIRODYNIA.  (Gr.  ovctpos,  and  ocvvn,  pain.)  Dis- 
turbed dreams,  including  the  nightmare  and  somnambulism. 

ONISCI'DjE.  The  name  of  a  family  of  Isopodous  Crus- 
taceans, of  which  the  wood-louse  '  timsrus)  is  the  type. 

O'NOMANCY,  or  ONO'MOMA'NCY.  (Gr.  ovoua,  a 
name,  and  uavrua,  prophecy.  A  species  of  divination  from 
the  letters  of  a  person's  name.  Many  fancies  of  this  sort 
were  current  among  the  ancients  ;  such  as  that  names  in 
which  the  numeral  letters  amounted  to  the  highest  sum 
were  most  luckv. 

ONOMA'STICON.  (Gr.  ovoua.)  A  work  containing 
words  or  names,  with  their  explanation,  arranged  in  alpha- 
betical or  other  order ;  a  dictionary,  commonplace  book,  &c. 
The  best  known  work  under  tbis  title  is  the  Onom.  of  Julius 
Pollux,  in  ten  books,  a  valuable  repertory  of  ancient  philo- 
logical learning. 

ONOMATOPOZ'IA.  (Gr.  6voua,  name  ;  rouai,  /  make.) 
Literally,  the  making  or  manufacture  of  names ;  a  word  ex- 
pressing by  its  sound  the  thing  represented.  In  most  lan- 
guages the  cries  of  animals  are  thus  expressed  ;  and  the  line 
of  Aristophanes, 

'O  i  r/\<0ioj  wvrrcp  xpoflarov  flr)  (3f)  \£ywv  fia&Kfi, 
shows  that  the  modem  Greeks  have  not  correctly  retained 
the  sound  of  the  eta  (which  they  pronounce  like  our  e),  as 
the  sound  imitated  from  nature  would  not  be  thus  represent- 
ed. Ennius  imitated  the  sound  of  a  trumpet  by  the  word 
taratantara ;  and,  to  represent  the  croaking  of  frogs,  Aris- 
tophanes used  l3pcKCKCKtl,  noal  Koal-  (Frogs,  i.,  209.)  Greek 
and  German  arc  peculiarly  rich  in  words  of  this  description. 
M.  Charles  Nodier  has  published  a  dictionary  of  those  in 
French.     (Dictionaire  des  Onomatopees  Franfaises.) 

ONTO'LOGY.  (Gr.  t6  ov,  being,  and  Ao')'o$,  discourse.) 
The  science  of  being  in  Itself,  or  its  ultimate  grounds  and 
conditions.     Sec  Metaphysics. 

ONYCHIA.     (Gr.  owl  the  nail.)     A  whitlow. 

ONT'CHOTEUTHIS.  (Gr.  m[,  a  claw  ;  revdoc,  a  cola- 
mary.)  The  name  of  the  genus  of  Calamaries,  in  which 
the  suckers  of  the  cephalic  appendages  are  armed  with  a 
hook. 

<•  'NYX.  A  regularly  banded  agate,  much  prized  for 
cameos,  especially  where  the  colours  are  very  distinct  and 
opposed.  Any  stone  exhibiting  layers  of  two  or  more  colours 
strongly  contrasted  is  called  an  onyx. 

O'syv.  In  Surgery,  an  abscess  of  the  cornea  of  the  eye; 
so  called  from  its  resemblance  to  the  stone  termed  an  onyx. 

O'OLITE.      (Gr.  isov,  an  egg,  and  AiOoj,  a  stone.)     A 
granular  variety  of  carbonate  ot  lime,  frequently  called  roe- 
850 


OPERA. 

stone.  The  frequency  of  the  occurrence  of  this  particular 
form  of  limestone  in  a  great  series  of  deposits,  lying  between 
the  subcretaceous  formations  and  the  new  red  sandstone, 
h;is  caused  English  geologists  to  give  the  whole  series  the 
name  of  oolitic.  It  is  largely  developed  in  England  and 
France.     See  Geology. 

OOZO'A.  (Gr.  uov,  an  egg,  ^mov,  animal.)  A  name  ap- 
plied by  Ficinus  and  Carus  to  a  primary  division  of  the  ani- 
mal kingdom,  including  those  in  which  the  nervous  and 
sanguiferous  systems  are  incompletely  developed,  and  in 
which  the  organization  resembles  the  simple  condition  of  the 
ovum  of  the  higher  classes.  This  division  corresponds  to 
the  dcrita. 

OPA'CITY.  (Lat.  opacus,  dark.)  In  Optics,  that  quality 
of  bodies  which  renders  them  opaque,  or  incapable  of  trans 
mining  light.  According  to  the  Newtonian  theory  of  light, 
opacity  in  natural  bodies  arises  from  the  multitude  of  rerlec 
tions  caused  in  their  internal  parts.  Newton  thought  it 
probable  that  the  molecules  of  opaque  and  coloured  bodies 
are  separated  by  minute  pores,  either  entirely  void,  or  filled 
with  some  subtle  matter  of  a  different  density  from  the  body. 
If  light  enters  such  a  body,  and  experience  proves  that  it  does 
penetrate  the  surfaces  of  opaque  bodies,  it  will  be  reflected  on 
encountering  a  molecule ;  and,  if  the  molecules  are  extreme- 
ly minute  (in  comparison  of  those  of  transparent  bodies),  the 
number  of  reflections  may  become  so  great  that  no  part  of 
the  light  will  again  escajie  from  the  surface.  On  this  hy- 
pothesis, Sir  J.  Herschel  remarks,  that  unless  we  admit  a 
cause  of  opacity  in  Stoma  different  from  that  which  causes 
it  in  their  aggregates,  the  atoms  cannot  be  otherwise  than 
absolutely  pellucid,  since  no  reflections  can  take  place  where 
there  are  no  intervals,  and  no  change  of  medium.  Of  the 
sufficiency  of  this  cause,  either  in  natural  bodies  or  atoms, 
there  does  appear,  he  adds,  some  room  for  doubt,  as  it  seems 
difficult  so  to  conceive  their  internal  reflections  that  the  rays 
subjected  to  them  shall  be  all  and  forever  retained,  entangled, 
as  it  were,  and  running  their  rounds  from  atom  to  atom,  with- 
out a  possibility  of  reaching  the  surface  and  escaping ;  which, 
were  they  to  do,  it  is  evident  that  every  body  so  constituted 
receiving  a  beam  of  light  would  in  fact  only  disperse  it  in  all 
directions  in  the  manner  of  a  self-luminous  one.  {Ency. 
JUetr.,  art.  "  Light.") 

O'PAL.  A  beautiful  mineral  characterized  by  its  irides- 
cent reflection  of  light :  it  is  very  brittle.  It  consists  of  silica, 
with  about  10  per  cent,  of  water.  Common  opal  in  some  of 
its  characters  resembles  the  preceding ;  but  it  has  no  play 
of  colours,  and  is  abundant,  the  former  beim;  a  very  rare 
mineral.  Opal  is  found  in  different  parts  of  Europe,  but 
particularly  in  Hungary  :  in  the  East  Indies.  &.c.  |  For  some 
curious  details  as  to  this  stone,  see  Plin.  Hist.  Nat.,  lib.  37, 
c.  6.) 

OPALI'ZED  WOOD.  Wood  petrified  by  silica  and  ac- 
quiring a  structure  resembling  common  opal. 

O'PEN  FIELD  LAND.  Arable  lands  unenclosed  by 
hedges  or  other  fences,  and  in  the  occupation  of  different  in- 
dividuals, or  under  different  crops.  In  former  times,  only 
those  parts  of  a  farm  which  lay  around  the  farmyard  were 
enclosed,  while  the  more  distant  parts  were  open,  and  called 
open  fields,  or  out  fields. 

O'PENINGS.  In  Architecture,  the  piercings  or  unfilled 
parts  in  a  wall,  left  for  the  purpose  of  admitting  light,  air.  &c. 
O'PERA.  (Ital.  work.)  A  musical  drama,  in  which  the 
music  forms  an  essential  part,  and  not  merely  an  accompani- 
ment. The  whole  dramatic  art  of  the  ancients  possessed 
much  of  an  operatic  character.  The  choric  parts  were 
sung;  and  if  the  dialogue  was  not  carried  on  in  the  musical 
tone  termed  recitative  in  modern  times,  it  was  certainly  de- 
livered in  an  artificially  raised  and  sustained  key,  very  dif- 
ferent from  the  ordinary  or  oratorical  speech.  The  first 
operas  in  modern  times  were  performed  in  Italy,  aboat  the 
end  of  the  15th  century.  The  Orpkeo  of  PoMriano  has  been 
cited  as  the  first  complete  piece  of  this  sort.  Jean  Antoine 
Baif  introduced  the  o|>era  into  France,  where  the  earliest 
representation  of  this  kind  is  said  to  have  taken  place  at  the 
marriage  of  the  Due  de  Joyeuse,  in  1582.  In  1707,  the  opera 
of  .Irsinue.  consistine  of  English  words  adapted  to  Italian 
airs,  was  performed  at  Drury  Lane,  and  a  succession  of  en- 
tertainments of  this  kind  terminated  in  the  Italian  opera. 
The  first  attempt  at  a  wholly  Knglisb  opera  was  made  by 
Sir  William  D'Avenant,  in  1056.  The  opera  was  divided 
into  seria  and  buffa,  according  to  the  subjects  and  the  char- 
acter  1 4  the  music ;  and  between  the  limits  of  both  there  la  a 
third  BpeClea,  or  wr::»  ttUo,  not  very  accurately  definable. 
The  opera,  property  speaking,  admits  only  of  singing  and  ro- 
eitatkm,  although,  in  some  of  the  German  operas.  ili.-iL ><ruo 
i-  also  introduced.  The  romantic  opera,  which  is  consider- 
ed as  a  German  invention,  is  a  compound  between  the  two 
Italian  s|>ecies.  Metn.st.isio  in  Italy,  and  Goethe  in  Germany, 
hare  both  written  for  the  opera ;  but  these  are  splendid  ex- 
ceptions, and  the  poetry  lias,  m  most  instances,  been  held 
entirely  subservient  to  the  music.  At  the  beginning  of  last 
century  the  opera,  on  its  more  general   introduction  into 


OPERA-GLASS. 

France  and  England,  was  attacked  as  an  absurdity  by  al- 
most all  the  wits  and  critics  of  the  day.  There  were  not, 
however,  wanting  defenders  of  this  favourite  child  of  the 
pay  and  fashionable  world  ;  and  foremost  among  them  was 
Voltaire,  to  whose  apology  for  the  opera,  in  the  preface  to 
his  tragedy  of  (Edipe,  we  take  leave  to  refer  the  reader. 

OPERA-GLASS.  A  small  telescope  used  in  theatres, 
whence  it  has  its  name. 

The  common  opera-glass  is  nothing  else  than  the  Galilean 
telescope,  invented  by  Galileo  in  1609,  which  was  the  first 
ever  employed  for  the  purpose  of  exploring  the  heavens.  A 
section  of  the  instrument  is  represented  in  the  annexed  fig- 
ure. It  consists  of 
an  object  glass  A  B, 
the  focal  length  of 
which  is  usually 
from  4  to  8  inches. 
The  eye-glass,  C  D, 
is  a  double  concave 
or  plano-concave 
lens,  from  half  an  inch  to  2  inches  focus ;  the  distance  be- 
tween the  two  lenses  is  equal  to  the  difference  of  their  focal 
lengths;  and  the  magnifying  power  is  in  the  ratio  of  those 
lengths.  Rays  of  light,  R  R,  falling  on  the  object  glass,  are 
refracted  towards  the  axis  X  Y,  and  proceed  to  meet  in  the 
focus  of  the  lens  at  F.  But  before  they  reach  that  point 
they  are  intercepted  by  the  concave  lens  C  D,  the  focus  of 
which  is  also  at  F,  and  by  which  they  are  restored  to  their 
parallelism.  The  rays,  therefore,  proceeding  from  the  ob- 
ject enter  the  eye,  which  is  applied  to  the  luns  C  D,  with- 
out crossing  each  other,  or  forming  an  image ;  and  hence 
the  distinctness  of  the  Galilean  exceeds  that  of  all  other 
telescopes ;  hence,  also,  there  is  no  inversion  of  the  image, 
and,  as  there  are  only  two  glasses,  the  loss  of  light  is  incon- 
siderable. 

The  lens  A  B  may  be  either  single  or  compound.  If  a 
single  lens  of  plate-glass  is  used,  it  should  be  nearly  con- 
vexo-plane;  if  a  convex  of  plate  and  a  concave  of  flint  be 
combined  to  form  the  compound  lens,  the  former  should  be 
nearly  convexo-plane,  and  the  latter  concavo- plane.  As  to 
the  eye  glass,  it  is  always  single ;  and  the  plano-concave 
form  is  perhaps  better  than  the  double  concave,  the  eye  be- 
ing, in  fact,  never  placed  in  actual  contact  with  it.  For  any 
magnifying  power  above  3  or  4,  it  ought  to  be  limited  to  an 
aperture  rather  less  than  that  of  the  pupil  of  the  eye ;  and 
where  distinct  vision  is  desired,  the  eye  should  be  placed  as 
accurately  as  possible  on  the  axis  of  the  instrument.  (Cod- 
dington,s  Optics.) 

The  area  or  field  of  view  of  this  instrument  is  very  limit- 
ed, and  for  this  reason  it  cannot  be  used  with  any  high  mag- 
nifying power.     See  Telescope. 

OPE'RCULUM.  (Lat.  operio,  I  cover.)  The  lid  of  any- 
thing: applied  by  botanists  to  the  cap  of  the  pitcher  of  Ne- 
penthes, to  the  loose  apex  of  such  fruits  as  that  of  Lccythis, 
to  the  conical  limb  of  the  calyx  of  Eucalyptus,  and  to  the 
body  which  closes  up  the  theca  of  a  moss. 

Operculum.  In  Zoology,  this  term  is  applied  to  the  ap- 
paratus supported  by  four  bones  which  protects  the  gills  of 
fishes ;  also  to  the  horny  or  calcareous  plate  which  closes 
the  aperture  of  univalve  shells ;  and  to  the  four  calcareous 
pieces  which  defend  the  entrance  to  the  tube  of  Balanites 
or  bell-barnacles. 

OPHICLEI'DE.  (Gr.  o<Ji;,  a  serpent,  and  k\uc,  a  key.) 
The  largest  brass  wind  instrument  used  in  the  orchestra  of 
the  trumpet  species,  and  forming  the  bass  to  that  class  of 
instruments :  its  compass  is  from  double  B  b  to  A  b  above  the 
line,  in  the  bass  clef,  being  three  octaves. 

OPHI'DIANS,  Ophidia.  (Gr.  o0i?,  and  uSoi,  form.)  The 
name  of  the  order  of  reptiles  which  includes  all  the  serpenti- 
form  species  of  that  class,  corresponding  to  the  Amphibia 
serpentes  of  Linnaeus. 

O'PHIOMANCY.     (Gr.   o$i?,   and   uavraa,  prophecy.) 

The  art  of  divination  from  serpents.    Thus,  the  seven  coils 

of  the  serpent  seen  on  the  tomb  of  Anchises  were  held  to 

indicate  the  number  of  years  of  ^Eneas's  future  wanderings : 

Septem  etenim  gyros,  septena  volumina  traxit. 

O'PIIITES.  (Gr.  o0<?.)  The  name  of  an  early  sect  of 
Christian  heretics,  who  emanated  from  the  Gnostics,  so  call- 
ed from  their  worshipping  the  serpent  that  tempted  Eve. 
They  considered  the  serpent  as  the  father  of  all  the  sciences, 
which,  but  for  the  temptation  of  our  first  parents,  would 
never  have  been  known.     (Mosheim,  Keel.  Hist.,  vol.  i.) 

OPIIIU'CHUS,  or  OPHIU'CUS  ;  also  called  Serpentarius. 
One  of  the  constellations  of  the  northern  hemisphere 

OPHTHA'LMIA,  or  OPHTHALMI'TIS.  (Gr.  o0OaX/<o?, 
the  eye.)  Inflammation  of  the  eye.  This  term  is  applied  to 
diseased  action  of  various  parts  of  the  eye.  In  common  cases 
its  seat  is  the  conjunctiva  membrane,  and  1t  is  relieved  by 
fomentations  of  warm  water  or  of  decoction  of  poppy-heads, 
by  leeches,  cupping,  purging;  and,  in  violent  cases,  these 
depletive  measures  must  sometimes  be  carried  to  a  consider- 


OPIUM. 

able  extent,  and  aided  by  blisters  to  the  temple  or  nape  of 
the  neck.  Emetics  have  sometimes  been  of  service.  When 
all  inflammatory  symptoms  have  subsided,  local  astringents, 
and  mild  strengthening  eye-waters,  may  be  resorted  to ;  but 
so  long  as  any  inflammation  remains  they  should  be  most 
cautiously  applied.  Sometimes  the  iris  is  the  seat  of  in- 
flammation. This  is  attended  with  fever,  great  intolerance 
of  light,  and  pain,  and  requires  the  same  treatment.  It 
sometimes  terminates  in  a  small  abscess,  which  discharges 
its  contents  into  the  interior  chamber  of  the  eye,  and  the 
sight  is  destroyed  by  the  permanent  damage  done  to  the 
part. 

There  is  another  form  of  ophthalmia  in  which  the  con- 
junctiva and  inner  membrane  of  the  eyelids  becomes  in- 
flamed and  purulent,  as  in  the  Egyptian  ophthalmia,  which 
form  of  the  disease  is  highly  contagious.  The  swelling  and 
purulent  inflammation  of  the  eyelids  is  so  great  as  to  close 
or  distort  them,  and  the  ulceration  sometimes  extends  over 
the  cornea;  the  humours  escape,  the  whole  organ  is  fright-' 
fully  disorganized,  and  the  agony  that  attends  the  whole 
progress  of  the  worst  form  of  the  malady  is  indescribable. 
The  treatment  originally  resorted  to  consisted  in  bleeding 
and  purging:  the  plan  afterwards  adopted  was  to  give  nau- 
seating doses  of  tartar  emetic,  to  remove  the  granulations  by 
the  scissors  or  knife,  and  afterwards  to  apply  solutions  of 
nitrate  of  silver  or  alum  to  prevent  their  reproduction. 

There  is  a  variety  of  ophthalmia  called  metastatic,  caused 
by  the  translation  of  some  other  disease,  such  as  gout,  or  by 
the  application  of  some  morbid  poison  to  the  part.  Its  treat- 
ment depends  upon  its  origin. 

The  purulent  opthalmia  of  new-born  infants  generally 
yields  to  the  skilful  application  of  mild  astringent  eye-wa- 
ters, and  to  gentle  aperients. 

After  the  smallpox  and  measles,  and  some  fevers,  espe- 
cially in  scrofulous  habits,  the  glands  of  the  eyelids  form 
a  morbid  secretion,  which  irritates  and  glues  together  the 
parts.  This  disease  has  been  termed  psorophthalmia ;  it 
frequently  yields  to  fomentation  with  warm  water,  to  a  drop 
of  vinous  tincture  of  opium  into  the  eye  at  bedtime,  and  to 
the  application  of  the  ointment  of  nitrate  of  mercury  or  red 
precipitate. 

O'PIATE.  (Gr.  oiros,  juice.)  A  medicine  producing 
sleep.     See  Anodyne. 

OPISTHO'GRAPHUM.  (Gr.  oviaOtv,  behind,  and  ypaQa, 
I  write.)  In  Classical  Antiquity,  a  set  of  tickets,  or  roll  of 
parchment  or  paper,  answering  the  purpose  of  a  memoran- 
dum book,  or  commonplace  book,  to  enter  notes  and  other 
extemporary  matters  to  be  revised  afterwards;  so  called 
from  being  written  over  both  on  the  front  and  back.  Any 
ordinary  MS.  in  which  the  transcriber  had  employed  both 
the  front  and  back  of  the  papyrus  was  indeed  an  opistho- 
graph,  strictly  so  called;  a  practice  to  which  allusion  is 
made  in  the  well-known  verse  of  Juvenal : 

Scriptus  et  in  tergo,  nee  dum  finitus  Orestes. 

OPISTHOTONOS.  (Gr.  omo-dev,  backwards,  and  reiva, 
I  draw.)  A  spasmodic  action  of  the  muscles,  by  which  the 
body  is  bent  backwards. 

O'PIUM.  (Gr.  oiro;,  juice.)  The  inspissated  juice  of  the 
poppy,  obtained  by  wounding  the  unripe  seed  capsules  of 
the  Papaver  somniferum,  collecting  the  milky  juice  which 
exudes  and  dries  in  the  sun,  and  kneading  it  into  cakes. 
The  cakes  of  the  best  opium  are  covered  externally  with 
pieces  of  dried  leaves  and  the  seed  capsules  of  some  species 
of  Rumex.  It  should  be  of  a  rich  brown  colour,  tough  con- 
sistency, and  smooth  uniform  texture ;  its  peculiar  narcotic 
smell  should  be  strong  and  fresh ;  its  taste  bitter,  warm,  and 
somewhat  acrid.  The  chemical  analysis  of  opium  has  ren- 
dered it  probable  that  its  activity  as  a  medicine  depends 
upon  the  presence  of  a  peculiar  alkaline  base  called  morphia, 
in  combination  with  an  acid  which  has  been  termed  meconic 
acid.  Opium  also  contains  narcotine,  narceine,  codein,  gum 
resin,  extractive  matter,  and  small  portions  of  other  proxi- 
mate principles. 

The  chief  countries  in  which  opium  is  prepared  are  India, 
Egypt,  Turkey,  and  other  parts  of  Asia ;  it  is  even  cultivated 
in  Italy,  France,  and  England,  but  the  climate  of  Europe 
seems  to  be  too  uncertain  to  allow  of  its  regular  production. 
Opium  is  pretty  extensively  used,  both  as  a  masticatory  and 
m  smoking,  in  Turkey  and  India;  but  its  great  consumption 
is  in  China  and  the  surrounding  countries,  where  the  habit 
of  smoking  it  has  become  all  but  universal.  The  supplies 
for  the  Chinese  market  are  derived  from  India  and  Turkey, 
but  chiefly  from  the  former.  Indian  opium  is  distinguished 
into  three  kinds :  the  Patna  or  that  grown  in  the  province  of 
Bahar,  the  Bernares,  and  the  Malwa;  of  which  the  first  is 
in  the  highest  repute.  The  cultivation  of  opium  in  India  is 
a  strict  government  monopoly.  Every  one  who  chooses 
may,  within  the  prescribed  regulations,  engage  in  the  opium 
cultivation  ;  but  the  drug,  when  prepared,  must  all  be  sold 
to  the  government  at  a  fixed  price,  which  is  said  to  be  so  far 
from  remunerating  the  growers  that,  were  it  not  for  the 

851 


OPOBALSAM. 

advances  which  government  are  obliged  to  make  to  ena-  | 
ble  them  to  carry  on  the  business,  the  cultivation  of  opi- 
um would  be  discontinued  in  the  greater  portion  of  India. 
This  monopoly  bas  sometimes  yielded  a  nett  revenue  of 
.£1,000,000  a  year.  This  revenue  has,  however,  of  late 
years  materially  decreased,  owing  to  the  introduction  into 
China  of  large  supplies  of  opium  from  Turkey,  into  which 
it  is  found  impossible  to  extend  the  monopoly.  The  East 
India  opium  is  exported  in  chests  of  159$  lbs.  each.  The  in- 
troduction of  opium  into  China  was  a  legitimate  branch  of 
traffic  down  to  the  close  of  the  last  century.  Ever  since 
that  period,  however,  the  trade  has  been  contraband ;  but 
though  the  Chinese  government  has  issued  edict  upon  edict 
prohibiting  the  importation  of  the  drug,  the  consumption  of 
Indian  opium  in  China  has,  in  little  more  than  forty  yean, 
risen  from  1000  to  about  27,000  chests  per  annum.  Such  an 
extraordinary  increase  in  a  trade  prohibited  by  law  is  at- 
tributable only  to  the  corruption  of  the  Chinese  authorities. 
At  first  the  trade  was  carried  on  at  Whampoa,  fifteen  miles 
below  Canton ;  and  next  at  Macao,  whence  it  was  driven 
by  the  exactions  of  the  Portuguese ;  and  the  principal  en- 
trepflt  was,  till  the  recent  outbreak  of  hostilities  between  the 
British  and  Chinese,  in  the  bay  of  Lintin.  The  opium  is 
kept  on  board  ships,  commonly  called  receiving  ships,  of 
which  there  are  often  ten  or  twelve  lying  together  at  anchor. 
The  sales  are  mostly  effected  by  the  English  and  American 
agents  in  Canton,  who  give  orders  for  the  delivery  of  the 
opium ;  which,  on  the  order  being  produced,  is  handed  over 
to  the  Chinese  smuggler,  who  comes  alongside  at  night  to 
receive  it.  Frequently,  however,  the  smuggler  purchases 
the  opium  on  his  own  account,  paying  for  it  on  the  spot 
in  silver,  it  being  a  rule  of  the  trade  never  violated  that  the 
money  must  be  paid  before  the  opium  is  delivered.  When 
the  drug  is  landed,  the  laws  are  equally  set  at  defiance  in 
its  progress  through  the  country,  smoking  houses  being,  it  is 
said,  everywhere  established.  During  the  first  ten  years  of 
the  present  century,  the  exports  from  India  to  China  were 
about  2500  chests.'  In  1821-1822,  after  the  introduction  of 
Malwa  opium  into  the  markets  of  Bombay  and  Calcutta,  the 
exports  increased  to  4028  chests  ;  and  owing  no  doubt  to  the 
greatly  increased  supply  and  lower  price  of  the  article,  the 
exports  in  1831-1832  exceeded  20,000  chests,  worth  more  than 
13,000,000  dollars  ;  and  in  1837-1838  exceeded  30,000  chests, 
worth  20,000,000  dollars.  In  the  beginning  of  1839  the 
Chinese  authorities  resorted  to  decided  measures  to  put  a 
stop  to  opium  smuggling  ;  but  the  hostilities  that  consequent- 
ly ensued  between  the  two  nations  not  having  yet  been  com- 
posed, we  shall  not  venture  to  enter  upon  so  intricate  a  ques- 
tion, but  shall  merely  observe,  that  whatever  may  be  the  re- 
sult of  the  negotiations  now  pending,  no  system  of  restriction, 
how  rigorous  soever,  will,  in  all  probability,  ever  be  able  to 
check  the  smuggling  of  opium  into  China,  where  the  popular 
tastes  and  habits  are  so  decidedly  in  its  favour.  The  opium 
consumed  in  England  is  derived  chiefly  from  Turkey  ;  but 
the  supply  is  liable  to  great  fluctuations.  Thus,  in  1830,  the 
quantity  imported  from  Turkey  amounted  to  192,136  lbs. ; 
in  the  following  year,  to  8,184  lbs. ;  in  1833,  to  72,020  lbs. ; 
and  in  1834,  to  12,438  lbs.  This  remark  is  applicable  to  all 
the  other  places  whence  opium  is  imported  into  England,  as 
well  as  to  the  quantity  annually  re-exported  from  England. 
Previously  to  1828,  the  duty  upon  opium  was  9s.  per  lb. ; 
but  in  that  year  it  was  reduced  to  4s. ;  and  again  in  1836  to 
1«.,  where  it  has  since  remained. 

O'POBA'l.SA.M.  (Gr.  or.oc,  juice,  and  ($a\aauov,  bal- 
sam.) Balsam  or  balm  of  Gilead.  A  compound  of  resin 
and  essential  oil  of  a  peculiar  fragrancy.  It  exudes  from  a 
species  of  .Imyris. 

OPODE'LDOC.  A  term  invented  and  formerly  applied 
by  Paracelsus  to  a  plaster  for  all  external  injuries ;  but  in 
modern  usage  it  signifies  a  liniment  made  by  dissolving  soap 
in  alcohol,  with  the  addition  of  camphor  and  volatile  oils. 

OPO  POXAX.  A  gum  resin,  having  a  peculiar  and 
rather  disagreeable  odour,  formerly  used  in  medicine.  It  is 
the  produce  of  the  Pastinaea  opoponar. 

OPO'SSUM.  The  common  name  of  the  Marsupial  quad- 
rupeds of  the  genus  Didelphis,  characterized  by  three  kinds 
of  teeth,  viz.  incisors,  canines,  and  molars ;  by  hinder  hands, 
and  a  prehensile  tail.  With  this  organization  the  opossums, 
as  might  be  expected,  arc  arboreal  in  their  habits;  .and  feed 
on  a  mixed  diet,  in  which  animal  food  preponderates.  The 
larger  specie!  have  a  well-developed  nbdominal  pouch,  in 
which  the  young  are  received  at  a  singularly  early  stnee  of 
development.  In  some  of  the  smaller  opossums  the  cha- 
racteristic pouch  is  nearly  rudimentary,  and  the  young  are 
carried  by  the  parent  on  the  back,  where  they  cling  to  the 
fur,  and  likewise  hold  on  by  entwining  their  little  prehensile 
tails  round  that  of  the  mother:  the  name  Didelphis  iorsi- 
gera  is  on  this  account  given  to  one  of  the  species.  The 
true  opossums  are  now  limited  to  the  American  continent; 
but  during  the  Eocene  period,  there  were  species  of  Vidil- 
phi<  in  both  France  and  England. 

OrPO.-MTIoX.    ;Lat.  oppositio.)    In  a  general  sense, 
652 


OPTICS. 

the  fact  of  being  in  a  state  of  contrary  action  or  dwarree- 
m.  ut.  In  Politics,  the  name  given  in  Great  Britain  to  the 
party  in  parliament  opposed  to  the  administration  for  the 
time  being,  and  which  would  most  likely  succeed  to  powef 
were  it  displaced.  A  party  in  parliament  which,  though 
opposed  to  government  has  no  chance  of  succeeding  to 
power  were  ministers  dismissed,  is  not  usually  characterized 
by  the  term  Opposition. 

Opposition,  in  Astronomy,  denotes  the  aspect  of  two 
bodies  when  diametrically  opposite  to  each  other.  Thus, 
the  moon,  or  a  planet,  is  said  to  be  in  opposition  with  the 
sun  when  it  passes  the  meridian  at  midnight. 
Opposition.  In  the  Fine  Arts,  contrast ;  which  see. 
OPS.  In  Mythology,  the  Latin  appellation  of  the  Grecian 
goddess  Rhea  or  Cybele;  which  see. 

OPSIO'METER".  (Gr.  6\pts,  sight,  and  ucrpov,  measure.) 
An  instrument  for  measuring  the  extent  of  the  limits  of  dis- 
tinct vision  in  different  individuals,  and  consequently  for 
determining  the  focal  length  of  lenses  necessary  to  correct 
imperfections  of  the  eye.  A  contrivance  for  this  purpose, 
by  M.  Lehot,  is  described  in  the  Annates  des  Sciences  d'  Ob- 
servation for  June  1829,  and  in  the  X'otes  by  M.  Quetelet  to 
the  French  translation  of  Uerschel's  Treatise  on  Light. 
Its  principle  depends  on  the  appearance  presented  by  a 
straight  line  placed  very  near  the  eye,  in  the  direction  of 
its  axis  ;  and  the  principle  is  carried  into  practice  by  placing 
a  thread  of  white  silk  on  a  narrow  rule  covered  with  black 
velvet,  and  furnished  with  a  suitable  apparatus  for  marking 
the  exact  points  at  which  the  thread  begins  and  ceases  to 
be  distinctly  seen,  when  held  in  a  certain  position  with 
respect  to  the  eye.  An  instrument  for  the  same  purpose,  on 
a  different  principle,  had  formerly  been  suggested  by  Dr. 
Young. 
OPTATIVE  MOOD.  See  Grammar. 
OPTIC  XERYES.  The  second  pair  of  nerves.  They 
arise  from  the  tha/ami  nervorum  opticorum,  and,  perforating 
the  bulb  of  the  eye,  form  the  retina. 

O'PTICS.  (Gr.  o-nTouai,  I  see.)  That  branch  of  physical 
science  which  treats  of  light  and  vision. 

The  theory  of  light  and  the  different  hypotheses  respect- 
ing its  propagation,  having  been  explained  under  the  term 
Light,  and  its  most  remarkable  properties  being  described 
under  their  respective  heads  (Chromatics.  Diffraction, 
Interference,  Polarization,  Reflexion,  Refraction, 
&c),  we  shall  here  confine  ourselves  to  the  explanation  of 
the  phenomena  and  laws  of  vision,  and  the  formation  of 
images;  and  this,  in  fact,  comprehends  all  that  is  meant  by 
Optics,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word. 

Description  of  the  Eye. — The  human  eye  is  of  a  spherical 
form,  having  a  slight  projection  in  front. 
The  annexed  figure  represents  a  hori- 
zontal section  of  it  through  its  axis.  It 
consists  of  three  principal  chambers, 
filled  with  different  humours,  or  trans- 
parent media  of  different  refractive  pow- 
ers. The  first  of  these  media,  occupy- 
ing the  anterior  chamber  A,  is  called 
the  aqueous  humour,  and  consists  al- 
most entirely  of  pure  water.  The  cell 
in  which  the  aqueous  humour  is  contained  is  bounded  on 
its  anterior  side  by  a  strong  horny  transparent  substance, 
called  the  cornea,  the  figure  of  which  is  an  ellipsis  of  revo- 
lution about  its  major  axis.  The  posterior  side  of  the  cell  ia 
formed  by  the  iris,  a  kind  of  circular,  opaque  screen,  con- 
sisting of  muscular  fibres  by  the  contraction  or  expansion  of 
which  an  aperture  in  its  centre,  called  the  pupil,  is  increased 
or  diminished  according  to  the  illumination,  in  order  to  pro- 
tect the  eye  and  preserve  its  sensibility  by  equalizing  the 
quantity  of  light  admitted  into  it.  The  second  biunour, 
called  the  crystalline  lens,  B,  enclosed  in  its  capsule,  lies 
immediately  behind  the  pupil.  Its  figure  is  a  solid  of  revo- 
lution, having  its  anterior  surface  much  less  curved  than 
the  posterior;  and  both  surfaces  are  ellipsoids  of  revolu- 
tion about  their  lesser  axes.  The  crystalline  is  somewhat 
denser  towards  the  centre  than  at  the  outside;  the  increase 
Of  density  serving  to  correct  the  aberration,  by  shortening 
the  focus  of  the  rays  near  the  centre.  The  third  or  vitreous 
humour,  C,  fills  the  posterior  chamber  of  the  eye.  This 
fluid  scarcely  differs  from  the  aqueous  humour,  either  in 
specific  gravity,  or  chemical  composition,  or  refractive 
power. 

The  following  are  the  refractive  powers  of  the  different 
humours  of  the  eye,  according  to  Sir  David  Brewster,  the 
ray  of  light  being  incident  on  them  from  air: — 

Vi'reouj 
Ituniour. 

1-3394 


Aqueoul 
Humour. 
1-336 


Crystalline  Lens. 
Surface.       Centre.        Mean. 

1-3767    1-3990    13879 


Rut  as  the  rays  refracted  by  the  aqueous  humour  pass  into 
the  crystalline,  and  from  the  crystalline  into  the  vitreous 
humour,  the  indices  of  refraction  "of  the  separating  surfaces 
of  these  humours  will  bo — 


OPTICS. 


Prom  aqueous  humour  to  outer  coat  of  crystalline  -  V0466 
From  ditto  to  crystalline,  using  the  mean  index  -  T0353 
From  viterous  to  crystalline  outer  coat     -  ru445 

From  ditto  to  ditto,  using  the  mean  index  -  -  L0332 
("  Optics,"  Cab.  Cyclopedia.) 

The  posterior  surface  of  the  cell  of  the  vitreous  humour 
Is  covered  by  the  retina,  d,  a  network  of  inconceivably  deli- 
cate nerves,  all  branching  from  tile  optic  nerve,  O,  which 
enters  the  eye  obliquely  at  the  inner  side  of  the  orbit,  next 
the  nose.  The  retina  lines  the  whole  of  the  cavity  C  from 
r  to  r,  at  which  points  the  capsule  of  the  crystalline  com- 
mences. Its  nerves  are  immersed  in  the pigmentum  nigrum, 
a  very  black  velvety  matter  which  covers  the  choroid  mem- 
brane, and  the  use  of  whicli  is  to  absorb  and  stifle  all  the 
light  which  enters  the  eye  as  soon  as  it  has  done  its  office 
of  exciting  the  retina;  thus  preventing  internal  reflections, 
and  consequent  confusion  of  vision.  The  whole  of  these 
humours  and  membranes  are  contained  in  a  thick  tough 
coat,  called  the  sclerotica,  which  unites  with  the  cornea, 
and  forms  what  is  commonly  called  the  white  of  the  eye. 
The  spot  at  which  the  optic  nerve,  O,  enters  the  eye  is 
totally  insensible  to  the  stimulus  of  light,  and  is  therefore 
called  the  punctum  cecum.  (Herschel  on  Light,  Ency. 
Metr.) 

From  this  description  of  the  eye  it  is  evident  that  light, 
in  passing  through  it,  must  undergo  a  series  of  refractions, 
in  the  same  manner  as  in  passing  through  a  system  of 
lenses.  When  a  pencil  of  luminous  rays,  proceeding  from 
an  exterior  point,  passes  through  the  transparent  cornea, 
and  penetrates  the  aqueous  humour,  the  divergence  of  the 
rays  is  diminished  by  this  first  refraction.  The  rays  which 
pass  through  the  pupil  undergo  a  second  refraction  at  the 
anterior  surface  of  the  crystalline,  which  renders  them  fur- 
ther convergent ;  and,  on  leaving  the  crystalline  and  pass- 
ing into  the  vitreous  humour,  they  acquire  their  final  degree 
of  convergence,  and  proceed  to  form  an  image  at  a  focus  on 
the  retina,  or  very  near  that  membrane.  Experience  and 
calculation  prove  that  when  vision  takes  place  with  the 
least  effort,  the  luminous  point  (or  any  very  small  object  on 
which  the  eye  is  fixed)  is  at  such  a  distance  from  the  eye 
that  the  rays  enter  the  eye  with  precisely  that  degree  of 
divergence  which  is  required,  in  order  that  after  suffering 
the  several  refractions  they  may  be  brought  to  meet  in  a 
point  on  the  retina  itself.  Hence  it  has  been  concluded  that 
the  sensation  of  sight  is  caused  by  the  impression  made  by 
light  on  the  retina,  when  it  is  concentrated  on  it  in  a  single 
point  or  within  a  very  small  space. 
The  image  of  an  object  on  the  retina  is  evidently  inverted 
with  respect  to  the  position  of 
the  object  itself;  for  the  ray  pro- 
ceeding from  the  upper  extre- 
mity of  an  object,  a,  falls  on  the 
lower  extremity  a'  of  the  image 
on  the  retina.  Writers  on  optics 
have  often  puzzled  themselves 
■with  attempts  to  explain  the  cause  of  erect  vision  from  an 
inverted  image ;  the  subject,  however,  is  not  worth  the  dis- 
cussion which  has  been  expended  on  it.  "Erect,"  says  Sir 
J.  Herschel,  "means  nothing  more  than  having  the  head 
farther  from  the  ground,  and  the  feet  nearer  than  any  other 
part.  Now  the  earth,  and  the  objects  which  stand  on  it, 
preserve  the  same  relative  situation  in  the  picture  on  the 
retina  that  they  do  in  nature.  In  that  picture,  it  is  true, 
men  stand  with  their  heads  downwards,  but  then,  at  the 
same  time,  heavy  bodies  fall  upwards;  and  the  mind,  or 
its  deputy  the  nerve,  which  is  present  in  every  part  of  the 
picture,  judges  only  of  the  relations  of  its  parts  to  one  an- 
other. How  these  parts  are  related  to  external  objects  is 
known  only  by  experience,  and  judged  of  at  the  instant  only 
by  habit." 

Another  circumstance,  the  cause  of  which  has  also  been 
much  discussed,  is,  that  although  an  image  of  each  object 
at  which  we  look  is  formed  on  the  retina  of  both  eyes,  the 
object  appears  single.  Single  vision  with  two  eyes  is  at- 
tributed, by  Dr.  Smith,  to  the  habit  of  referring  the  two  im- 
pressions made  on  corresponding  points  of  the  two  retinas 
to  the  same  object ;  and,  in  fact,  if  we  press  slightly  on  the 
cornea  of  one  eye,  so  as  to  derange  its  optical  axis,  the  two 
images,  being  no  longer  on  parts  of  the  retina  which  habit- 
ually correspond,  will  appear  double.  Those  who  have 
had  one  eye  distorted  by  a  blow,  see  double  till  habit  has 
taught  them  anew  to  see  single,  though  the  distortion  re- 
mains. (For  a  review  of  the  various  theories  that  have 
been  proposed  to  account  for  this  phenomenon,  the  reader 
may  be  referred  to  a  paper  on  the  Physiology  of  Vision,  by 
Professor  Wheatstone,  in  the  Phil.  Trans,  for  1838). 

Straight  lines  drawn  from  the  extremities  of  an  object  a  J 
meet  in  a  point  c,  nearly  in  the  centre  of  the  pupil,  in  the 
plane  of  the  iris,  which  point  is  called  the  optical  centre  of 
the  eye,  and  form  the  angle  act,  which  is  called  the  visual 
angle.  On  leaving  the  crystalline  and  entering  the  vitreous 
humour,  the  rays  are  slightly  refracted,  and  form  another 
72 


angle,  a'cb',  the  base  of  which  is  the  magnitude  of  the 
image  on  the  retina.  These  two  angles  are  not  perfectly 
equal ;  so  that  a'  b',  the  magnitude  of  the  image  on  the 
retina,  or  the  apparent  magnitude,  is  not  exactly  propor- 
tional to  the  real  magnitude,  ab,  for  a  given  distance.  But 
the  difference  is  so  small  that  it  may  in  general  be  neglected, 
and  then  the  visual  angle  becomes  the  measure  of  the  ap- 
parent magnitude ;  or  the  apparent  magnitude  of  an  object 
is  proportional  to  its  linear  magnitude  divided  by  its  distance 
from  the  eye. 

As  the  judgment  which  we  form  of  the  real  magnitude 
of  a  distant  object  depends  not  only  on  the  apparent  magni- 
tude, but  also  on  our  estimation  of  its  distance,  an  erroneous 
estimate  of  the  distance  will  necessarily  produce  an  illusion 
with  respect  to  the  magnitude.  Such  illusions  are  frequent 
in  the  night  time,  when  the  darkness  prevents  us  from 
distinguishing  the  real  places  of  objects  and  their  rela- 
tive positions.  An  unusual  increase  or  deficiency  of  the 
transparency  of  the  atmosphere  produces  the  same  effect ; 
and  at  sea,  where  little  assistance  can  be  derived  from  the 
appearance  of  intervening  objects,  it  requires  a  particular 
training  of  the  eye  to  judge  correctly  of  distances. 

The  effect  of  light  on  the  eye  has  a  sensible  duration  after 
the  eye  is  shut,  or  the  luminous  object  removed.  Dunng 
the  twinkling  of  the  eye,  we  never  lose  sight  of  the  object 
on  which  we  are  looking;  and  if  a  burning  stick  be  attach- 
ed to  the  extremity  of  a  string,  and  whirled  rapidly  round, 
a  complete  circle  of  light  appears.  This  persistence  of  light 
on  the  retina  gives  rise  to  a  great  number  of  illusions ;  such 
as  the  apparent  augmentation  of  volume  of  a  musical  chord 
when  in  rapid  vibration,  the  train  of  light  which  appears 
to  accompany  falling  meteors,  &c.  It  was  estimated  by 
D'Arcy  that  the  light  of  a  live  coal,  whirled  round  at  the 
distance  of  165  feet,  maintained  its  impression  during  the 
seventh  part  of  a  second.  Experiments,  however,  of  a 
more  accurate  kind,  have  shown  that  this  time  is  not  con- 
stant, but  is  influenced  by  several  circumstances.  Light 
must  act  on  the  eye  for  some  continuance  of  time  in  order 
to  produce  a  complete  impression  ;  and  it  is  found  that  the 
time  during  which  the  impression  that  has  been  produced 
can  preserve  an  equal  intensity  after  the  action  of  light  has 
ceased,  is  greater  in  proportion  as  the  impression  is  less 
intense.  On  the  contrary,  the  whole  duration  of  the  im- 
pression is  greater  as  the  light  is  more  intense.  If  the  im- 
pression has  been  made  by  a  strongly  illuminated  object,  as 
the  setting  sun,  it  often  passes  through  a  series  of  different 
colours ;  in  other  circumstances,  it  disappears,  and  is  renew- 
ed after  some  seconds ;  disappears  again,  and  so  on  several 
times  in  succession. 

The  eye  possesses  considerable  power  of  adjusting  its 
parts  so  as  to  give  distinct  vision  for  all  distances  within 
certain  limits.  The  first  of  these  limits  is  the  least  distance 
from  the  eye  at  which  small  objects,  as  the  print  of  a  book, 
can  be  seen  without  effort ;  and  the  second,  the  distance  at 
which  the  image  of  the  object  becomes  confused.  The 
space  between  these  limits  is  the  field  of  vision ;  but  both 
its  extent  and  distance  from  the  eye  vary  considerably  with 
respect  to  different  individuals,  and  sometimes  even  with 
respect  to  the  two  eyes  of  the  same  individual.  From  the 
known  dimensions  of  the  eye,  and  the  refractive  powers  of 
its  different  substances,  it  is  found  by  calculation  that  the 
focal  distances  of  two  luminous  points,  situated  at  the  two 
limits  of  the  field  of  vision,  differ  by  about  one  sixth  part  of 
the  diameter  of  the  eye. 

All  the  refractions  which  take  place  in  the  interior  of  the 
eye  are  in  the  same  direction ;  consequently  the  eye,  regard- 
ed as  an  optical  instrument,  is  not  achromatic.  The  ab- 
sence of  colour  about  the  images  formed  on  the  retina,  ex- 
cepting in  very  particular  cases,  is  to  be  ascribed  in  part  to 
the  small  breadth  of  the  pencil  of  luminous  rays  which 
passes  through  the  pupil,  but  principally  to  the  small  focal 
distance  of  the  eye;  in  consequence  of  which  the  unequally 
refrangible  rays  can  never  be  much  separated  from  each 
other.  It  has  also  been  surmised  (Coddington's  Optics)  that 
a  compensation  takes  place  between  the  refractions  at  the 
cornea  and  the  crystalline,  a  ray  which  is  less  refracted  by 
the  former  being  more  refracted  by  the  latter,  in  conse- 
quence of  its  passing  through  it  at  a  greater  distance  from 
the  axis. 

Distinct  vision  depending  on  the  convergence  of  the  lu- 
minous rays  which  proceed  from  an  object  to  a  focus  on 
the  retina,  it  follows  that  if,  from  any  defect  in  the  original 
structure  of  the  eye,  or  any  deterioration  of  its  form  or 
powers,  the  rays  which  enter  the  pupil  are  not  rendered 
sufficiently  convergent  to  meet  at  the  retinn,  or  are  rendered 
too  much  so,  and  thereby  brought  to  a  focus  before  they 
reach  the  retina,  an  imperfect  and  indistinct  image  will  be 
produced.  It  happens  with  most  persons,  between  the  ages 
of  thirty  and  fifty,  that  the  crystalline  lens  begins  to  undergo 
a  change,  by  which  not  only  its  form,  but  also  its  density 
and  refractive  power,  are  altered  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
leave  it  capable  of  affording  distinct  vision  only  of  very 

853 


OPTIMATES. 

remote  objects.  This  defect  is  remedied  by  a  convex  lens, 
which  makes  up  for  the  flatness  of  the  crystalline,  anil  ren- 
ders parallel  rays  slightly  convergent  before  entering  the 
eye.  Let  a  b  be  an  object,  c  the  lens,  and  e  the  centre  of  the 
eye,  and  suppose  the  object  to  be  placed  at  the  focal  distance 
of  the  lens.  Since  the  object  is  at  the  focus,  the  rays  of  a 
pencil  diverging  from  any  point  a  in  it  will  emerge  parallel 
to  each  other  and  tone;  they  will  therefore,  after  refraction 
in  the  eye,  he  brought 
to  converge  on  the  re- 
tina at  a  point  a',  such 
that  en'  is  parallel  to 
ac.  Similarly,  rays 
from  b,  after  refrac- 
tion through  the  lens 
and  the  eye,  will  con- 
verge to  the  point  b',  such  that  e b'  Is  parallel  to  be.  Thus, 
a  distinct  image  a'  b'  will  be  formed  on  the  retina,  and  the 
apparent  angular  magnitude  of  the  object  seen  through  the 
lens  will  be  the  angle  a'  e  b',  which  is  equal  to  a  c  b,  the  angle 
subtended  by  the  object  at  the  centre  of  the  lens,  and  there- 
fore greater  than  the  angle  subtended  by  the  object  at  e, 
the  centre  of  the  eye.  Hence  the  image  appears  enlarged; 
but  the  nearer  the  lens  is  to  the  eye,  the  less  will  be  the 
difference  between  the  apparent  magnitudes  of  the  image 
as  seen  with  and  without  the  lens.  When  such  lenses  are 
employed  in  the  form  of  spectacles,  the  enlargement  of  the 
Image  (which  in  this  case  is  not  intended)  is  hardly  sen- 
sible, because  the  lens  is  commonly  of  low  power,  and  be- 
cause the  person  who  must  use  it,  to  see  distinctly,  cannot 
easily  make  a  comparison  between  the  appearance  of  an 
object  seen  with  or  without  the  lens.  The  lenses  of  spec- 
tacles ought  to  be  of  the  meniscus  form  (see  Lens),  in  order 
to  refract,  without  much  indistinctness,  pencils  coming  to 
the  eye  with  any  degree  of  obliquity.  Such  spectacles  are 
called  prriscopic,  and  their  advantage  was  first  pointed  out 
by  Dr.  Wollaston. 

Sometimes  the  eye  is  so  formed  that  its  power  of  giving 
convergence  is  too  great,  and  the  rays  are  brought  to  a 
focus  before  they  reach  the  retina.  Persons  having  this 
defect  are  called  shortsighted,  from  their  inability  to  see 
distant  objects  distinctly.  It  arises  from  an  increase  of 
density  in  the  central  part  of  the  crystalline ;  and  its  incon- 
venience is  obviated  by  a  concave  lens,  which  increases 
the  divergence  of  the  rays  before  they  enter  the  eye.  For 
the  same  reason  as  mentioned  above,  the  lens  should  be  of 
the  convexo-concave  form,  that  is,  convex  on  the  outer 
side,  and  concave  on  the  inner  side,  the  curvature  of  the 
latter  being  greater  than  that  of  the  former.  This  lens 
diminishes  the  apparent  magnitude  of  objects,  but  the  effect 
is  scarcely  sensible.  (Smith's  Optics;  HerschePs  Treatise 
on  Light,  Ency.  Mctropolitana  ;  Brewster's  Optics,  Cabinet 
Cyclo. ;  Coddington's  Optics  ;  Lame,  Course  dc  Physique.) 
For  optical  instruments,  see  Lens,  Microscope,  Tele- 
scope, &.C. 

V  OPTIMATES.  (Lat.)  A  word  sometimes  used  to  de- 
note the  Roman  nobility,  in  contradistinction  to  the  ple- 
beians, or  populares. 

O'PTIMISM.  In  Moral  Philosophy  and  Theology,  the 
system  which  regards  physical  and  moral  evil  as  elements 
of  the  universal  order  of  things ;  so  that  everything  is  good, 
viewed  in  relation  to  the  whole ;  or,  in  the  ordinary  phrase, 
in  which  the  doctrine  is  expressed,  "all  is  for  the  best." 
This  system  was  justified,  with  philosophical  inductions,  by 
Leibnitz,  in  his  Theodiceai  (which  see),  and  is  popularly 
illustrated  by  Pope,  in  his  Essay  on  Man;  but  it  is  best 
known  (as  far  as  the  name  is  concerned)  by  the  irony  of 
Voltaire,  in  his  celebrated  romance  of  Candide.  The  opti- 
mism of  Leibnitz  was  based  on  the  following  trilemma : 
If  this  world  be  not  the  best  possible,  God  must  either — 1,  not 
have  known  how  to  make  a  better;  Q,  not  have  been  able; 
3,  not  have  chosen.  The  first  position  contradicts  his  om- 
niscience, the  second  bis  omnipotence,  the  third  his  benevo- 
lence. (See  Creuier ;  Leibnitui  Uoctrina  de  Mundo  Opti- 
mo. Lips.  I7'.l.r).j 

O'PTIMUS  MAXIMUS.  Epithets  assigned  to  Jupiter  by 
the  ancient  Romans  to  indicate  his  superlative  greatness  and 

go  ullir-s. 

O'PTION.  (Lat.  opto,  /  icish,  or  r hoose.)  In  Ecclesias- 
tical Law,  a  prerogative  of  the  archbishops  of  the  church 
of  England.  Every  bishop  is  bound,  immediately  after  bis 
confirmation,  to  make  a  legal  conveyance  to  the  archbishop 
of  the  next  avoidance  of  any  one  benefice  or  dignity  belong 
Ing  to  his  sec  which  the  archbishop  may  choose  (whence 
the  name).  If  the  archbishop  die  before  the  avoidance  hap- 
pens, the  right  of  filling  it  up  passes  to  his  executors  or  ad- 
ministrators. 

Option,  at  the  Stock  Exchange,  signifies  a  per  centage 
given  for  "the  option"  of  putting  or  calling,  «'.  e., selling  or 
buying,  shirk  in  time  bargain*  at  a  certain  price. 

OPU'NTIA.  In  Botany,  the  name  given  to  those  Cacta- 
ceous plants  commonly  called  Indian  figs.  Their  stems 
854 


ORACLES. 

consist  of  flat  joints,  broader  at  the  upper  than  at  the  lower 
end,  becoming,  however,  eventually  both  continuous  and 
cylindrical.  Their  native  country  is  South  America  ;  hut  in 
some  places  the  lava  of  Mount  Etna  is  covered  wiih  them, 
and  the  large  purple  juicy  fruits  which  they  yield  find  con- 
siderable sale  in  the  Sicilian  markets.  The  cochineal  in- 
sect (Opuntia  cochenillifcra)  is  fed  on  one  of  the  varieties 
of  Opuntia. 

OR.  (Fr.  gold.)  In  Heraldry,  one  of  the  metals  employ- 
ed in  blazonry.  It  is  equivalent  to  topaz  among  precious 
stones,  and  Sol  among  planets.  In  engraving,  it  is  represent- 
ed by  a  surface  sprinkled  with  equidistant  dots. 

ORA.  An  old  Saxon  coin,  valued  at  sixteen  pence,  and 
sometimes,  according  to  variation  of  the  standard,  at  twenty 
pence.  The  word  is  of  frequent  occurrence  in  Domesday 
Booh,  and  in  the  old  records  of  the  kingdom. 

O'RACLE.  (Lat.  oraculum;  from  os,  a  mouth.)  The 
name  primarily  given  to  the  response  delivered  by  the  an- 
cient heathen  divinities  to  those  who  consulted  them  re- 
specting the  future,  but  afterwards  npplied  both  to  the  place 
where  responses  were  given  as  well  as  to  the  divinities  from 
whom  the  responses  were  supposed  to  proceed.  To  the  de- 
sire so  natural  to  man  to  obtain  a  glimpse  into  futurity, 
coupled  with  the  ennobling  belief  that  his  destiny  was  pre- 
determined in  a  higher  sphere,  is  doubtless  to  be  traced  the 
origin  of  the  art  of  divination,  which  has  in  all,  but  more 
especially  in  the  earlier  stages  of  society,  exercised  so  pow- 
erful an  influence  over  the  human  mind.  But,  of  all  the 
modes  of  divination,  that  by  consulting  the  oracle  was  the 
most  popular.  In  other  cases,  as  the  interpretation  of  events 
depended  on  man  alone,  there  might  be  mistake  or  decep- 
tion ;  but  in  the  oracle,  when  the  deity  was  believed  to  pro- 
nounce either  in  his  own  voice  or  in  that  of  a  consecrated 
agent,  it  was  supposed  there  could  be  none.  Hence  oracles 
obtained  such  credit  and  celebrity  in  antiquity,  but  more  es- 
pecially among  the  Greeks,  that  they  were  resorted  to  on 
every  occasion  of  doubt  and  emergency,  both  by  princes  and 
states,  as  well  as  by  private  individuals. 

The  general  characteristics  of  oracles  were  ambiguity, 
obscurity,  and  convertibility ;  so  that  one  answer  would 
agree  with  several  various  and  sometimes  directly  opposite 
events.  Thus,  when  Crcesus  was  on  the  point  of  invading 
the  Medes,  he  consulted  the  oracle  of  Delphi  as  to  the  suc- 
cess of  the  enterprise,  and  received  for  answer*,  that  by 
passing  the  river  Halys  he  would  ruin  a  great  empire.  But 
whether  it  was  his  own  empire  or  that  of  his  enemies  that 
was  destined  to  be  ruined  was  not  intimated  ;  and,  in  either 
case,  the  oracle  could  not  fail  to  be  right.  The  answer  of 
tile  oracle  to  Pyrrhus  is  another  well-known  instance  of 
this  sort  of  ambiguity, 

Aio,  te,  JEacida,  Romanes  vincere  posse, 

as  it  might  either  be  interpreted  in  favour  of  or  against 
Pyrrhus.  This  ambiguity  and  equivocation  was  not,  how- 
ever, the  worst  feature  that  characterized  the  oracles  of  an- 
tiquity. They  were  at  once  ambiguous  and  venal.  A  rich 
or  a  powerful  individual  seldom  found  much  difficulty  in  ob- 
taining a  response  favourable  to  his  projects,  how  unjust  or 
objectionable  soever.  Such,  for  instance,  were  unquestion- 
ably the  motives  that  dictated  the  favourable  responses  of 
the  Pythia  at  Delphi  to  Philip  of  Macedon,  which  drew  from 
Demosthenes  the  famous  declaration,  that  the  goddess  Pkil- 
ippiscd.  But  such  and  so  powerful  is  the  influence  of  su- 
perstition, that  this  system  of  fraud  and  imposture  maintain- 
ed a  lengthened  ascendency,  and  the  interested  responses  i  if 
the  oracles  frequently  sufficed  to  excite  bloody  wars,  and  to 
spread  desolation  through  extensive  states. 

The  first  oracles  had  their  origin  in  the  East,  at  a  period 
to  which  the  monuments  of  profane  history  do  not  ascend. 
The  most  ancient  oracle  is  supposed  to  be  that  of  Meroe  ;  to 
which  were  afterwards  added  those  of  Thebes  and  Amnion, 
in  all  of  which  places  the  worship  of  Jupiter  Amnion  pre- 
vailed. From  the  Egyptians  the  use  of  oracles,  along  with 
a  knowledge  of  many  arts  and  sciences,  passed  to  the  Greeks, 
who  soon  surpassed  every  other  nation  both  in  the  number 
and  celebrity  of  their  oracles.  It  has  been  affirmed  that  no 
fewer  than  three  hundred  oracles  were  established  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  Greece;  but  of  those  the  oracles  of  Jupiter  at 
Dodona,  of  Apollo  at  Delphi,  and  of  Trophonius  near  Leba- 
deia  (see  these  articles),  may  be  mentioned  as  having  en- 
joyed the  highest  reputation. f  The  oracles  of  antiquity  had 
many  leading  features  in  common ;  but  there  were  also  sev- 
eral peculiarities  about  them,  of  which  the  variety  of  modes 


*  The  Greek  Terse  is, 

Kpotooc  AXvv  iiafiac  pcyaXriv  apxw  Kara^vcci. 
Thus  renden d  it  Latin, 

Croesus  Halyn  superans  ma^narum  evertet  opum  vim. 
t  It  does  not  appear  th»t  the  Romans  »»cr  had  regularly  established  orv 
rtrs  anion*  themselves  j  but  on  various  inipnriint  niu-rseneies  they  had  re- 
course  to  those  of  Greece,  and  cspecia'  y  to  that  of  Delphi.     (Liv.  v., 
13,  lie.) 


ORAL. 

in  which  the  oracular  responses  were  delivered  is  one  of  the 
most  striking.  At  Delphi  responses  were  delivered  by  the 
Pythia,  at  Amnion  by  the  priests,  and  at  Dodona  they  issued 
from  the  hollow  of  an  oak.  Sometimes  the  response  was 
communicated  by  letter,  sometimes  the  desired  information 
could  only  be  obtained  by  casting  lots ;  and  sometimes  the 
divinities  chose  to  announce  their  will  by  dreams,  visions, 
and  preternatural  voices. 

Among  the  Jews  there  were  several  sorts  of  oracles :  of 
these  the  Urim  and  Thummim  (which  see)  bore  a  striking 
analogy  to  the  heathen  oracles;  and  the  oracle  of  Bath-Kol, 
or  Daughter  of  the  Voice  (mentioned  in  the  Talmud,  and 
other  Jewish  works),  which  originated  after  the  time  of 
Malachi,  may  be  regarded  as  completely  identical  with  them. 
The  Old  Testament  teems  with  instances  of  the  other  spe- 
cies of  oracles,  in  which  supernatural  revelations  were  made 
by  means  of  dreams  and  visions ;  but  every  rational  mind, 
even  apart  from  scriptural  authority,  can  at  once  perceive 
the  wide  distinction  between  the  divine  revelations  vouch- 
safed in  this  manner  to  the  Jews  in  ancient  times,  and  the 
jugglery  practised  on  the  Gentile  nations  by  the  avarice  and 
cunning  of  the  priests.  There  are  two  points  respecting  ora- 
cles which  have  given  rise  to  much  controversy :  viz. 
wrhether  oracular  responses  ought  to  be  ascribed  to  mere 
human  ingenuity  or  to  diabolical  agency ;  and  at  what  time 
responses  ceased  altogether  to  be  given.  With  regard  to  the 
first  point,  most  of  the  Christian  fathers  were  of  opinion  that 
they  ought  to  be  attributed  to  diabolical  machinations;  but 
those  who  wish  to  see  these  arguments  satisfactorily  disposed 
of  may  consult,  among  others,  the  treatises  of  Ant.  Van 
Dale,  De  Oraculis  Ethnicorum,  1683,  and  of  Fontenelle, 
Histoire  des  Oracles,  1669.  With  regard  to  the  other  ques- 
tion, at  what  time  the  oracles  ceased  to  give  responses,  it 
has  been  frequently  asserted  that  they  became  silent  ever 
after  the  birth  of  Christ.  Eusebius  was  the  first  who  main- 
tained this  opinion  ;  and  many  writers  of  great  celebrity, 
anxious  to  do  homage  to  the  great  Author  of  Christianity, 
have  supported  his  views.  In  the  Hymn  of  the  Nativity,  the 
most  beautiful  of  his  minor  poems,  Milton,  in  allusion  to  this 
theory,  says, 

The  oracles  are  dumb, 


No  i 


■  hide 


ugh  the  arched  roof  in  words  deceiving. 
Apollo  from  his  shrine 
Can  no  more  divine, 

With  hollow  shriek  the  steep  of  Delphos  leaviDg. 
No  nightly  trance  or  breathed  spell 
Inspires  the  pale-eyed  priest  from  the  prophetic  cell. 

It  appears,  however,  from  the  edicts  of  the  emperors 
Theodosius,  Gratian,  and  Valentinian,  that  oracles  existed, 
and  were  occasionally  at  least  consulted,  down  to  A.D.  328. 
For  several  centuries  previously  they  had  been  gradually 
sinking  in  public  esteem,  but  at  that  period  they  entirely 
ceased  ;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  this  desirable  con- 
summation was  mainly  effected  by  the  enlightening  power 
of  Christianity,  and  by  the  influence  which  even  at  so  early 
a  period  it  had  acquired  over  a  large  portion  of  the  then 
civilized  world.  (In  addition  to  the  works  already  quoted, 
see  MCulloch's  Geo.  Diet.,  art.  "Delphi;"  Clavier,  Mem. 
sur  les  Oracles  des  Jlnciens,  1819,  &c.) 

O'RAL,  Oralis.  (Lat.  os,  a  mouth.)  This  term  is  applied 
to  the  various  parts  which  form  or  relate  to  the  mouth  of 
animals. 

ORA'NG,  in  the  Malay  language,  signifies  man ;  orang- 
utan is  the  man  of  the  woods.  It  is  by  this  term  that  we 
commonly  designate  the  Indian  or  red  orang.  (Simia  saty- 
rus,  Linn.)  This  species  inhabits  the  great  islands  of  Bor- 
neo and  Sumatra,  and  attains  the  height  of  from  four  to  five 
feet,  measured  in  a  straight  line  from  the  vertex  to  the  heel. 
It  has  neither  tail,  cheek-pouches,  nor  ischial  callosites; 
but  has  an  appendix  to  the  ccecum  coli,  as  in  man.  It  wants 
the  ligament  of  the  hip  joint,  and  acquires  an  enormous 
laryngeal  pouch  when  full  grown.     See  Chimpanzee. 

O'RANGE.  The  well-known  fruit  of  the  orange  tree,  the 
Citrus  aurnntium  of  botanists.  India  and  China  are  the 
native  countries  of  the  orange ;  and  the  Portuguese  are  en- 
titled to  the  honour  of  having  transferred  the  plant  to  other 
countries.  The  principal  varieties  of  the  orange  tree  are  the 
orange,  the  lime,  the  lemon,  and  the  citron,  fruits  which 
have  now  become  so  common  as  to  give  a  tropical  charac- 
ter to  the  dessert.  The  orange  is  not  considered  to  have 
been  grown  in  Europe  till  the  14th  century;  and  in  England 
they  have  been  cultivated  in  conservatories  since  1492. 
They  are  propagated  either  by  seeds,  by  cuttings,  bv  layers, 
by  grafting,  or  by  inoculation ;  but  the  plants  grown  from 
seeds  require  so  long  to  come  to  perfection  that  they  are 
seldom  so  propagated  in  England.  Oranges  are  imported 
into  this  country  in  chests  and  boxes  packed  separately  in 
paper.  The  best  are  brought  from  the  Azores  and  Spain  ;'but 
very  good  ones  also  come  from  Portugal,  Italy,  Malta,  and 
other  places.  The  orange  trade  carried  on  by  this  country 
is  of  considerable  value  and  importance.  Not  only  is  the 
fruit  held  in  high  estimation,  but,  from  the  extreme  pro- 


ORATORIO. 

i  ductiveness  of  the  tree,  it  is  sold  at  a  price  little  more,  and 
sometimes  even  less,  expensive  than  our  ordinary  domestic 
fruits.  The  entries  for  home  consumption  at  an  average  of 
the  three  years  ending  1838,  amounted  to  about  260,000 
boxes  ;  each  box  containing  about  700  lemons  and  oranges  ; 
the  duty  amounted  to  about  £60,000  a  year.  The  peel  of 
the  orange  when  preserved  is  a  well-known  article  of  con- 
fectionary ;  its  flowers  yield  an  essential  oil  scarcely  less  es- 
teemed as  a  perfume  than  the  celebrated  ottar  of  roses  ; 
while,  as  if  nature  had  intended  every  part  of  it  for  the  use 
of  man,  the  wood  of  the  tree  is  susceptible  of  the  highest 
polish,  and  is  extensively  employed  in  the  arts. 

O'RANGEMEN.  The  name  given  to  the  society  insti- 
tuted in  Ireland  in  1795  to  uphold  the  Protestant  religion  and 
ascendancy,  and  for  the  discouragement  of  Catholicism.  It 
had  office-bearers,  a  secret  organization,  distinctive  or  orange 
colours,  and  occasional  processions.  It  was  at  length  sup- 
pressed by  act  of  parliament  in  1836. 

ORANGERY.  A  kind  of  gallery,  in  a  garden  or  parterre, 
to  preserve  orange  trees  in  during  the  winter  season.  For 
trees  in  large  boxes  a  proportionably  large  and  lofty  house 
is  requisite ;  it  may  be  opaque  on  the  north  side,  with  a 
glass  roof,  front,  and  ends,  of  any  convenient  or  desired 
length,  width,  and  height.  For  one  of  moderate  size,  the 
height  at  the  back  wall  may  be  fifteen  feet,  at  front  ten  feet, 
and  the  width  of  the  house  fifteen  feet.  The  floor  may  be 
either  perfectly  level,  and  the  boxes  placed  on  it,  the  largest 
behind,  so  as  their  tops  may  form  a  slope  to  the  front  glass, 
as  in  the  conservatory  of  Prince  Borghese  at  Rome ;  or  if 
the  trees  are  young,  a  stage  may  be  erected  for  a  few  years, 
in  order  to  raise  the  plants  to  the  light:  but  if  the  trees  are 
of  a  considerable  size,  the  best  way  is  to  have  square  pits  in 
the  floor  at  regular  distances,  somewhat  larger  than  each 
box,  and  in  these  to  sink  the  boxes,  covering  them  with 
mould,  sand,  or  moss,  nearly  to  the  level  of  the  pavement, 
so  that  each  tree  so  placed  and  dressed  will  appear  as  if 
placed  in  a  small  compartment  of  earth.  Such  is  the  plan 
of  the  large  conservatory  in  the  royal  gardens  at  Monza. 
The  walk,  unless  where  a  stage  is  adopted,  should  be  in  the 
middle  of  the  house,  with  corresponding  doors  in  each  end  ; 
but  where  the  trees  are  young,  and  placed  on  a  stage,  like 
greenhouse  plants,  the  walk  should  be  in  front,  as  in  no 
other  situation  could  the  eye  of  the  spectator  meet  the  foli- 
age of  the  plants.  Where  the  walk  is  in  the  middle,  and  a 
double  row  of  trees  on  each  side,  as  at  Monza,  the  effect  in 
winter  is  truly  magnificent  and  gratifying. 

Where  the  trees  are  to  be  planted  as  standards  in  the  bor- 
ders or  floor  of  the  house,  it  is  essentially  requisite  to  the 
health  and  beauty  of  the  plants  that  the  building  be  glazed 
on  all  sides.  Showers  might  be  supplied  in  Loddiges's  man- 
ner ;  heat  by  steam,  hot  water,  or  flues ;  and  in  winter  the 
beds  might  be  covered  with  turf,  strowed  with  daisies,  vio- 
lets, and  primroses:  these  would  come  early  into  flower; 
and  if  the  turf  were  kept  very  short  about  the  roots  of  the 
flowering  plants,  and  the  trees  in  excellent  condition,  only 
those  who  have  seen  the  first-rate  regularly  planted  stand- 
ard orange  groves  of  Nervi  could  form  an  idea  of  the  enect, 
which,  by  contrast  with  the  external  winter,  would  be  felt  as 
luxurious,  and  as  anticipating  real  spring.  An  orangery  is 
distinguished  from  a  conservatory  by  its  having  an  opaque 
roof,  while  that  of  the  latter  is  glazed.  The  orangery  at 
Versailles  is  the  most  magnificent  that  ever  was  built. 

ORATO'RIO.  (Ital.,  from  Lat.  oratorium,  a  small  chapel; 
which  again  is  derived  from  orare,  to  pray.)  A  sacred  mu- 
sical composition,  consisting  of  airs,  recitatives,  duets,  trios, 
choruses,  &c,  the  subject  of  which  is  generally  taken  from 
scripture.  The  text  is  usually  in  a  dramatic  form,  as  in 
Handel's  Samson ;  but  it  sometimes  takes  the  form  of  a 
narrative,  as  in  Israel  in  Egypt;  occasionally  it  is  of  a 
mixed  character,  as  in  Haydn's  Creation ;  and  sometimes  it 
consists  merely  of  detached  passages  from  scripture,  as  in 
the  Messiah.  The  origin  of  oratorios  has  been  variously  as- 
scribed  ;  but  the  most  prevalent  opinion  regards  them  as 
originally  founded  upon  the  spiritual  songs  and  dialogues 
which  were  sung  or  recited  by  the  priests  of  the  oratory. 
(See  Oratory.)  The  more  recent  introduction  of  this  spe- 
cies of  musical  drama  is  on  all  sides  attributed  to  St.  Phi- 
lippo  Neri,  about  the  middle  of  the  16th  century;  but  ora- 
torios, properly  so  called,  were  not  produced  till  about  a 
century  afterwards.  At  first  the  persons  introduced  were 
sometimes  ideal,  sometimes  parabolical,  and  sometimes,  as 
in  the  latter  oratorios,  taken  from  sacred  history ;  but  this 
species  of  drama  soon  assumed  a  more  regular  form,  and 
oratorios  became  great  favourites  in  Italy,  where  they  were 
constantly  performed  during  the  Carnival ;  and  they  have 
since  given  birth  to  some  of  the  noblest  and  most  elaborate 
compositions  of  the  great  masters  both  of  that  and  other 
countries.  Oratorios  were  first  introduced  into  England  by 
the  great  Handel  in  1720,  though  they  were  not  publicly 
performed  till  1732  ;  and  such  was  their  success  that  in  1737 
they  began  to  be  performed  twice  a  week  during  the  season 
of  Lent;  a  custom  which,  under  the  able  management  of 

855 


ORATORY. 

T.  C.  Smith.  Linley,  and  Arnold,  &c,  successively,  was 
regularly  continued  down  to  a  very  recent  period,  when,  in 
consequence  of  the  introduction  of  profane  music  and  other 
irregularities  during  the  management  of  Mr.  Ashley,  they 
began  to  degenerate,  and  were  at  length  discontinued'. 

Within  the  last  two  or  three  years  similar  performances, 
though  not  entitled  oratorios,  have  been  again  revived  al 
Exeter  Hall  by  the  Sacred  Harmonic  Society,  on  a  scale  of 
magnificence  previously  unknown. 

O'RATORY,  signifies,  commonly,  a  room  in  a  private 
house  set  apart  for  prayer.  It  differs  from  a  chapel,  inas- 
much as  it  does  not  contain  an  altar,  nor  may  mass  be  cele- 
brated in  it. 

O'ratort.     See  Eloquence,  Rhetoric. 

O'RATORY,  PRIESTS  OF  THE.  Various  congrega- 
tions of  ecclesiastical  persons  living  in  community,  without 
being  bound  by  any  special  vow,  have  assumed  this  title. 
The  first  congregation  of  the  Oratory  was  founded  by  St. 
Philippo  Neri,  at  Rome,  in  the  beginning  of  the  16th'cen- 
tury.  Similar  societies  were  soon  formed  in  Italy  and  the 
Low  Countries,  hut  without  any  mutual  connexion.  The 
congregation  of  the  oratory  at  Paris  was  founded  by  the 
cardinal  Pierre  de  Berulle  in  1611,  and  had  several  houses 
in  different  parts  of  the  country.  It  produced  many  men 
of  celebrity ;  among  others,  Malebranche  and  Massillon. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  its  chief  object  was  to  counter- 
balance the  increasing  influence  of  the  Jesuits.  (See  JUo- 
shcim's  F.ccl.  Hist.,  vol.  iv.) 

ORB  (Lat.  orbis),  in  the  language  of  the  old  astrono- 
mers, usually  signifies  a  hollow  sphere;  and  they  supposed 
the  heavens  to  consist  of  such  orbs  or  spheres,  enclosing  one 
another,  and  carrying  with  them  in  their  revolutions  the 
different  planets.  The  orbis  maximus,  or  great  orb,  was 
that  in  which  the  sun  is  placed.  As  the  orbs  were  concen- 
tric, and  their  number  equal  to  that  of  the  known  planets, 
with  one  for  the  moon  and  another  for  the  fixed  stars,  it  was 
necessary  to  suppose  them  to  be  transparent  or  crystalline. 
Orb  also  denotes  any  round  or  circular  body,  and  sometimes 
it  is  used  svnonvmouslv  with  orbit. 

ORBI'CrLATES,  Orbiculata.  A  tribe  of  Brachyurous 
Crustaceans,  including  those  which  have  an  oblong  ovoid 
carapace. 

ORBI'CULUS.  In  Botany,  the  whole  mass  of  that  part 
of  a  flower  called  the  corona  in  the  genus  Stapelia;  also,  a 
round  flat  hymenium  contained  within  the  peridium  of  some 
genera  of  fungi. 

ORBIT.  (Lat.  orbis,  a  circle.)  In  Astronomv,  the  path 
which  any  celestial  body  describes  by  its  proper  motion. 
The  orbits  of  all  the  planets  and  satellites  are  ellipses  ;  and 
recent  discoveries  seem  to  show  that  the  orbits  of  double 
stars,  which  revolve  about  each  other,  are  curves  of  the 
same  kind.  Some  comets  have  been  supposed  to  move  in 
hyperbolic  orbits.  For  the  magnitudes  and  eccentricities  of 
the  planetary  orbits,  See  Planets.  See  also  Moon,  Satel- 
lite, Star. 

Orbit.  In  Ornithology,  the  term  is  applied  to  the  skin 
which  surrounds  the  eye :  this  is  generally  the  base  of  feath- 
ers, for  the  facility  of  its  movements,  but  especially  so  in 
the  parrot  tribe  and  the  heron. 

Orbit.  In  Osteology,  the  bony  cavitv  in  which  the  eve- 
ball  is  imbeded.  Each  orbit  is  formed  bv  seven  bones— the 
frontal,  maxillary,  jngal,  lachrymal,  ethmoid,  palatine,  and 
sphenoid. 

O'RCHARD.  (Gr.  opxaroq.)  An  enclosure  devoted  to 
the  culture  of  fruit  trees.  The  most  productive  orchards 
are  generally  such  as  are  situated  on  declivities  open  to  the 
south  or  south-east,  and  sheltered  from  the  north,  north-east, 
and  west.  The  most  suitable  soil  is  a  calcareous  loam  with 
a  dry  subsoil.  The  climate  of  orchards  so  situated  is  al- 
ways wann.r  than  any  other  kind  of  situation  which  this 
Country  affords,  and  the  subsoil  is  more  certain  of  being  dry. 
The  surface  of  the  soil,  in  the  case  of  orchards  so  situated, 
is  generally  kept  under  pasture ;  which,  while  it  prevents 
the  earth  from  being  wasted  away  by  rains,  is  favorable  to 
the  running  of  the  roots  immediately  under  the  surface,  bv 
which  they  are  sooner  called  into  action  by  heat  in  spring, 
and  sooner  thrown  into  a  torpid  state  by  cold  in  autumn. 
The  principal  fruits  grown  in  orchards  of  this  description  in 
Great  Britain  are  the  apple,  the  pear,  the  plum,  and  the 
cherry:  and.  wherever  wheat  ran  he  ripened  ii:  the  plains, 
these  fruits  will  arrive  at  perfection  on  declivities  such  as 
we  have  mentioned. 

i  I '111  IIESTRA.  (Gr.  bfixnorpa,  Uomdpxi'ioOm,  to  dance.) 
In  Architecture,  that  part  in  the  interior  of  a  theatre  situate 
immediately  between  the  stage  and  the  place  assigned  to 
the  audience.    In  the  Creek  and  Roman  theatres  it  n  as  the 

part  appropriated  to  the  chorus  and  its  evolutions,  and  was 
almost  level  with  the  stage.  In  the  theatres  of  the  moderns. 
it  is  the  place  appropriated  to  the  musicians.  The  word 
is  also  applied  to  any  erection  for  the  performers  in  a  concert 

ORCHIDA'CEjE.     'Orchis,  one  of  their. ra.       \  aatu 

ral  order  of  Herbaceous  Endogcns,  Inhabiting  all  parts  of 
&56 


ORDEAL. 

the  world  excepting  those  climates  situated  upon  the  verge 
of  the  frozen  zone,  or  remarkable  for  their  exceeding  dry- 
ness. They  are  well  known  for  the  singular  form  of  their 
flowers.  Some  of  them  grow  in  the  earth,  other-  inhabit 
rocks  and  the  branches  of  trees,  and  a  few  appear  to  he  true 
parasites.  They  all  belong  to  the  class  Oynandria  o{ Linnffi- 
us ;  are  often  very  agreeably  scented  ;  and  sometimes  produce 
an  aromatic  fleshy  fruit,  as  in  the  case  of  vanilla,  which 
contains  a  large  quantity  of  benzoic  acid.  The  nutritious 
substance  called  salep  is  prepared  from  the  amylaceous 
roots  of  several  terrestrial  species. 

ORCHIL.     See  Archil. 

O'BCIN.  A  erystallizable  colouring  matter  or  principle, 
obtained  from  a  species  of  lichen  {Variolaria  orcina). 

O'RDEAL.  (In  modern  Latin,  ordalium ;  from  the  Ger- 
man urtheil,  judgment.)  The  practice  of  referring  litigated 
questions,  and  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  parties  under  accu- 
sation to  the  judgment  of  God  (testified,  in  popular  belief, 
either  by  the  event  of  lots,  or  by  the  success  or  failure  of 
certain  experiments),  is  of  very  ancient  date ;  and  was  trans- 
ferred, with  other  relics  of  their  Pagan  institutions,  by  the 
Teutonic  nations,  when  settled  in  the  provinces  of  ancient 
Rome,  to  their  new  bodies  of  jurisprudence.  The  ordeal 
was  awarded  in  various  cases ;  either  arbitrarily  by  the 
court,  or  at  the  request  of  a  party  accused,  who  was  anxii  ills 
to  clear  himself;  either  as  an  alternative  for  trial  by  compur- 
gation or  by  battle,  or  as  the  regular  mode  of  deciding  an  is- 
sue. In  the  earlier  ages  of  modern  European  history,  the 
ordeal  was  under  the  peculiar  protection  of  the  clergy,  who 
afterwards  discountenanced  it;  and  its  gradual  suppression 
must  be  mainly  attributed  to  the  decrees  of  popes  and  coun- 
cils, of  which  several  were  pronounced  against  it  in  the 
course  of  the  thirteenth  century,  beginning  with  the  decree 
of  the  fourth  Lateran  council  tn  1215.  Among  the  various 
forms  of  ordeal  in  use  among  different  nations,  the  following 
are  some  of  the  most  remarkable.  The  trial  of  the  eucha- 
rist  was  used  chiefly  among  the  clergy ;  the  accused  party 
took  the  sacrament  in  attestation  of  his  innocence,  and  it  was 
believed  that  if  he  were  guilty  he  would  be  immediately 
visited  with  punishment  for  the  sacrilege.  Of  the  same  de- 
scription was  the  corsnedd,  or  trial  by  the  consecrated  piece 
of  bread  or  cheese,  so  much  in  use  among  the  Anglo-Saxons. 
The  trial  of  the  cross  was  used,  both  in  civil  and  criminal 
questions,  in  many  European  countries.  See  the  supple- 
mentary formulae  to  those  of  Marculfus,  cited  by  Meyer,  In- 
stitutions Judiciaires,  liv.  ii.,  c.  6.  It  appears  that  the  liti- 
gants, or  the  accuser  and  accused,  were  to  stand  upright  be- 
fore a  cross,  and  that  he  who  fell  or  changed  his  position 
first  was  cast  or  condemned.  This  popular  mode  of  ordeal 
was  abolished  by  the  capitulary  of  816,  in  the  reign  of  Louis 
le  Debonnaire,  as  irreverent  towards  the  mystery  of  the 
cross;  but  the  abolition  seems  only  to  have  been  carried  in- 
to effect  in  Italy  and  the  provinces  adjoining  the  seat  of  em- 
pire. The  ordeal  of  hot  water,  in  which  the  accused  party 
plunged  his  hand  into  a  vessel  of  boiling  water,  was  used 
by  the  Salian  Franks,  when  pagans,  as  early  as  the  fifth 
century.  It  was  afterwards  extensively  practised.  In  what 
was  called  the  expurgatio  simplex,  the  accused  party  plunged 
his  arm  to  the  wrist;  in  the  triple  ordeal,  to  the  elbow. 
Trials  by  burning  iron  were  of  various  sorts  :  carrying  a  red- 
hot  bar  in  the  hand,  and  walking  barefoot  over  heated 
ploughshares,  mentioned  in  the  imperial  capitulary  of  803, 
and  adopted  in  England,  as  is  well  known  from  the  cele- 
brated example  of  Queen  Emma.  Among  the  Saxons,  the 
iron  was  awarded  to  freemen,  the  water  to  those  of  inferior 
conditions.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  in  these  severer 
forms  of  ordeal,  some  precaution  was  occasionally  used  by 
the  clergy,  under  whose  inspection  and  management  the 
trial  took  place,  to  preserve  parties  whom  it  was  wished  to 
clear  from  suspicion  from  the  ordinary  consequences  of  such 
exposure.  There  were  also  ordeals  by  lot,  as  by  the  casual 
choice  between  a  pair  of  dice,  one  marked  with  a  cross  and 
the  other  blank,  mentioned  in  the  laws  of  the  Prisons.  The 
famous  trial  of  the  bier,  in  which  the  supposed  perpetrator 
was  required  to  touch  the  body  of  a  murdered  |mtsou,  and 
was  pronounced  guilty  if  the  blood  Bowed,  may  be  regarded 
asa  specie*  of  ordeal,  although  founded  more  on  usage  than 
legal  enactment ;  list  this  form  of  superstition  did  not  become 
prevalent  until  later  times,  when  ordeals  were  no  longer  a 
recognised  part  of  the  law.  To  the  same  head  may  he  re- 
ferred the  various  absurd  and  cruel  methods  u  Inch  were 
adopted  in  different  countries  to  try  suspected  witches.  One 
of  the  most  remarkable  instances  of  the  solemn  application 
of  the  ordeal  In  later  times  took  place  in  1498,  when  the 
truth  of  the  doctrines  preached  by  Savonarola,  a  celebrated 
monk  at  Florence,  was  put  to  the  test  by  a  challenge  be- 
tween one  of  liis  disciples  and  a  Franciscan  friar  to  walk 
through  a  burning  pile.  This,  however,  may  be  rather  re- 
garded as  the  appeal  of  an  enthusiast  to  the  divine  judg- 
ment than  as  an  example  of  a  recognised  usage.  Ordeals 
are  of  common  use  in  the  judicial  practice  of  various 
heathen  nation-,  especially  of  the  Hindoos. 


ORDER. 


By  the  Anglo-Saxon  laws,  an  option  was  given  to  the  cul- 
prit, in  ordinary  cases,  when  presented  of  a  crime  by  the 
neighbourhood,  or  appealed  against  by  the  injured  party,  of 
defending  himself  by  compurgation,  or  by  the  ordeal  (of 
hot  water  or  hot  iron).  If,  being  a  villain,  he  could  procure 
the  testimony  of  his  lord  in  favour  of  his  character,  the  or- 
deal was  simple;  if  otherwise,  threefold.  In  the  laws  of 
William  the  Conqueror,  we  find  that  accusations  between 
an  Englishman  and  a  Frenchman  were  decided,  either  by 
the  Roman  mode  of  trial  by  inquest,  by  battle,  or  by  the  or- 
deal. In  general,  it  may  be  considered,  as  Sir  F.  Palgrave 
remarks,  rather  as  having  afforded  a  last  chance  of  escape 
to  the  accused  party,  than  as  an  ordinary  mode  of  deciding 
on  guilt  or  innocence ;  since  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
resorted  to  in  general,  unless  where  the  accused  failed  in 
clearing  himself  by  the  testimony  of  the  neighbourhood  to 
his  character,  or  to  the  fact.  Thus  it  stood  in  the  same 
place  as  torture  in  the  civil  law,  which,  according  to  prin- 
ciple, was  only  applied  where  the  evidence  was  sufficient  to 
warrant  a  conviction,  and  the  defendant  refused  to  confess, 
when,  however,  the  old  form  of  trial  by  compurgation  was 
abolished  in  England  by  the  assizes  of  Hen.  II.,  the  trial  by 
ordeal  became  more  important  than  before.  It  appears  that, 
in  presentment  by  the  inquest  (whence  originated  the  grand 
jury),  the  culprit  was  immediately  adjudged,  without  option, 
to  clear  himself  by  ordeal ;  that,  if  he  escaped  this  test,  he 
was  still  condemned  to  abjure  the  country ;  so  that  the  pre- 
sentment became  in  some  sort  equivalent  to  a  final  trial. 
The  second  inquest  or  jury  trial,  at  this  period,  is  thought  to 
have  been  only  awarded  as  a  matter  of  special  favour.  But 
when  ordeal  had  been  forbidden  by  the  18th  canon  of  the 
fourth  Lateran  council,  in  1215,  as  before  mentioned,  it  was 
immediately  disused  in  England;  and  hence,  after  a  con- 
siderable interval,  during  which  the  practice  of  criminal 
law  seems  to  have  remained  in  a  very  uncertain  state,  the 
practice  of  trial  by  the  second  inquest,  or  petty  jury,  from 
being  the  exception  gradually  became  the  general  rule.  (See 
as  to  the  early  ordeals,  Mem.  de  VAc.  des  Jnscr.,  vol.  xv.) 

O'RDER.  (Lat.  ordo.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  the  regular 
disposition  of  the  parts  of  a  work,  so  that  neither  confusion 
nor  jarring  effects  may  prevail. 

Order.  In  Architecture,  a  system  or  assemblage  of  parts 
subject  to  certain  uniform  established  proportions,  regulated 
by  the  office  each  part  has  to  perform.  An  order  may  be 
said  to  be  the  genus,  whereof  the  species  are  Tuscan,  Do- 
ric, Ionic,  Corinthian,  and  Composite ;  and  consists  of  two 
n\  essential  parts — a  column,  A  (see  fig.  1),  and 

an  entablature,  B.  These  are  subdivided : 
the  first  into  three  parts,  namely,  the  base  C, 
the  shaft  D,  and  the  capital  E  ;  the  second 
also  into  three  parts — namely,  the  archi- 
trave, or  chief  beam,  F,  which  stands  imme- 
diately on  the  column ;  the  frieze  G,  which 
lies  on  the  architrave ;  and  the  cornice  H, 
which  is  the  crowning  or  uppermost  mem- 
ber of  an  order.  In  the  subdivisions  certain 
horizontal  members  are  used,  which,  from 
the  curved  form  of  their  edges,  are  called 
mouldings.  These  are  the  ovolo,  the  talon, 
the  cyma,  the  cavetto,  the  torus,  the  astra- 
gal, the  scotia,  and  the  fillet,  which  are  defined  under  their 
several  names  in  this  work.  The  character  of  an  order  is 
displayed,  not  only  in  its  column,  but  in  its  general  forms 
and  detail,  whereof  the  column  is,  as  it  were,  the  regulator ; 
the  expression  being  of  strength,  grace,  elegance,  lightness, 
or  richness.  Though  a  building  be  without  columns,  it  is, 
nevertheless,  said  to  be  of  an  order,  if  its  details  be  regu- 
lated according  to  the  method  prescribed  for  such  order. 

In  setting  up,  or,  as  it  is  more  technically  expressed,  in 
profiling  an  order,  it  is  usual  to  make  the  entablature  of  the 
height  of  one  fifth  of  the  entire  order.  The  height  of  the 
column  is  measured  in  terms  of  its  lower  diameter,  which  is 
divided  into  sixty  parts,  called  minutes,  used  as  a  scale  for 
the  different  subdivisions.  In  the  Doric  order  the  semidi- 
ameter  of  the  column  is  called  a  module :  it  is,  however, 
divided  into  thirty  parts;  so  that  there  is,  in  fact,  no  essen- 
tial difference  between  the  scale  of  this  and  the  other  or- 
ders. The  columns  vary  from  seven  to  ten  diameters  in 
height  in  the  different  orders.  The  height  of  the  entabla- 
ture is  usually  divided  into  ten  parts,  whereof  three  are  as- 
signed to  the  architrave,  three  to  the  frieze,  and  four  to  the 
cornice ;  except  in  the  Doric  order,  in  which  the  height  is 
divided  into  eight  parts,  whereof  the  architrave  has  only 
two,  the  frieze  and  cornice  each  three. 

The  rule  above  given  for  regulating  the  relative  heights 
of  the  column  and  entablature  is  founded  upon  the  practice 
of  the  ancients,  who  rarely  exceeded  or  fell  short  of  the 
proportion  it  establishes.  Whether  this  practice;  of  assign- 
ing one  fifth  of  the  height  of  the  whole  order  to  its  entabla- 
ture was  arbitrary  or  empirical  is  worth  an  inquiry,  which, 
we  are  inclined  to  think,  has  not  been  bestowed  upon  it  in 
any  architectural  work,  at  least  not  in  any  one  which  has 


m 


fallen  under  our  notice :  though  the  principles  devoloped  in 
a  work  by  Le  Brun,  entitled,  Theorie  de  V Architecture 
Orecque  et  Romaine,  deduites  de  V Analyse  des  Monument 
Antiques  (fol.,  Paris,  1807),  if  carried  through  correctly, 
seems  to  point  to  the  reason  of  the  practice.  One  of  the 
most  obvious  principles  of  proportion  in  respect  of  loads  and 
supports,  and  one  apparently  founded  on  nature  herself,  is, 
that  a  support  should  not  be  loaded  with  a  greater  mass  than 
itself;  or,  in  other  words,  that  there  should  be  an  equality 
between  the  weights  and  supports  ;  that  is,  in  this  case  be- 
tween the  entablature  and  column.  In  respect  of  the  voids 
left  between  the  columns  or  supports  below  the  entablature, 
there  seems  to  have  been  a  great  diversity  of  practice ;  for  we 
find  them  varying  from  1-03  to  218,  unity  being  the  measure 
of  the  supports.  Le  Brun  makes  the  areas  of  the  supports, 
weights,  and  voids  equal  to  one  another ;  and  in  the  monu- 
mental specimens  of  the  Doric  order,  such  as  the  Parthenon, 
&c,  he  seems  borne  out  in  the  law  he  endeavours  to  estab- 
lish: but  in  lighter  specimens,  such  as  the  temple  of  Bac- 
chus, at  Teos,  where  the  supports  are  to  the  voids,  as  1  to 
205,  and  in  the  temple  of  Minerva  Polias,  where  the  ratio 
is  1 :  2-18,  he  can  hardly  be  considered  correct.  Indeed, 
there  scarcely  seems  a  necessity  for  such  a  limitation  of  the 
voids  as  he  prescribes,  seeing  that,  without  relation  sepa- 
rately to  the  weight  and  support,  stability  would  be  obtained 
so  long  as  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the  load  fell  within  the 
external  face  of  the  support.  If,  then,  it  be  admitted  that, 
as  in  the  two  examples  above  mentioned,  the  voids  should 
be  equal  to  the  weights  and  supports  jointly,  we  have  the 
key  to  the  rule ;  and,  instead  of  being  surprised  at  the  appar- 
ently strange  law  of  making  the  entablature  one  fourth  of 
the  height  of  the  column,  we  shall  find  that  none  but  the 
result  assumed  can  flow  from  the  investigation. 


(2.) 
6  Diam. 


(3.) 

8  Diam. 


^* 


(4.) 
10  Diam. 

\m 


In  the  fig.  2,  let  A  B  he  the  height  of  the  column,  and  let 
the  distance  between  the  columns  be  one  third  of  the  height 
of  the  column  =  C  D.  Now,  if  A  B  be  subdivided  into  four 
equal  parts,  at  a,  b,  and  c,  and  the  horizontal  lines  ad,  be, 
cf,  be  drawn;  also,  if  CD  be  divided  horizontally  into  four 
equal  parts,  and  lines  be  drawn  perpendicularly  upwards, 
intersecting  the  former  ones ;  the  void  will  be  divided  into 
16  equal  parallelograms,  one  half  whereof  are  to  be  the 
measure  of  the  two  semi-supports.  B  C  and  D  E  being 
made  equal  then  to  one  fourth  of  C  D,  it  will  be  manifest, 
from  inspection,  that  the  two  semi-supports  will  jointly  be 
equal  to  8  of  the  parallelograms  above  mentioned,  or  one 
half  of  the  void.  We  have  now  to  place  the  weight  or  en- 
tablature, AG  H  I,  upon  the  supports  or  columns  and  equal 
to  them  in  mass.  Set  up  from  A  to  F  another  row  of  paral- 
lelograms, each  equal  to  those  above  mentioned,  A  F  K  I. 
These  will  not  be  equal  to  the  supports  by  two  whole  par- 
allelograms, being  in  number  6  only  instead  of  8:  dividing, 
therefore,  8,  the  number  in  the  support,  by. 6,  the  number 
already  obtained,  we  have  1-333,  &c,  which  is  the  height 
A  G  must  be  that  the  weights  may  equal  the  supports,  ex- 
ceeding one  quarter  the  height  of  the  column  by  only  —^ 
of  such  quarter,  a  coincidence  singularly  corroborative  of 
the  rule  laid  down.  From  inspection  of  figures  2,  3,  and  4, 
it  is  evident,  that,  when  the  void  is  ^d  of  the  height  of  the 
columns  in  width,  the  columns  will  be  6  diameters  in 
height;  when  $th  of  their  height,  they  will  be  8  diameters 
high  ;  and  when  $th  of  their  height,  (5.) 

they  will  be  10  diameters  high ;  al-  ^. 

so,  that  the  intercolumniation  call- 

ed  systylos,  or  of  two  diameters,  is   $•■ 

constant  by  the  arrangement.  Let  fljfl 
us  now  try  the  principle  in  another 
way :  Fig.  5  is  the  general  form  of 
a  tetrastyle  temple,  wherein  the  col- 
umns are  assumed  at  pleasure  eight  w 
diameters  high :  then  4  X  8  =:  32, 
the  area  of  the  supports ;  and  as,  to 
fulfil  the  conditions,  the  three  voids  X- 


are  to  equal  twice  that  area,  or  04,  they  must,  in  all,  be 
3  G  *  857 


ORDER. 

equal  to  8  diameters,  for  \*  =  8;  and  the  whole  extent, 
therefore  will  be  IS  diameters  of  a  column.  To  obtain  the 
height  of  the  entablature,  so  that  its  mass  may  equal  that 
of  tin-  supports,  as  the  measures  are  in  diameters,  we  have 
onlv  to  divide  38,  the  columns,  by  12,  the  whole  extent  of 
the  facade,  and  we  bave  two  diameters  and  two  thirds  of  a 
diameter  for  the  height  of  the  entablature ;  making  it  a  little 
more  than  one  quarter  the  height  of  the  column,  and  again 
agreeing  in  terms  of  the  diameter  with  many  of  tin-  finest 
examples  of  antiquity,  or  very  nearly  so.  If  the  pediment 
be  employed,  it  is  evident,  the  dotted  lines  A  C,  C  B,  being 
bisected  in  a  and  b  respectively,  that  the  triangles  A  E  a, 
b  B  F,  are  equal  to  a  D  C  and 
D  C  b,  and  the  loading  or 
Weight  will  not  be  changed. 
Similar  results  are  obtained 
in  tig.  6,  where  the  height  is 
10  diameters,  the  number  of 
columns  6;  the  whole,  there- 
fore, 180,  the  supports  being 
60.  Here  y|  =  3£  diameters 
will  he  the  height  of  the  en- 
tablature 

We  cannot  leave  the  subject  without  adverting  to  the 
rules  given  by  Vitruvius  (chap,  ii.,  book  iii.)— rules  which 
were  not  his  own  only,  but  the  result  of  the  practice  of  the 
time  in  which  he  lived,  and  which,  within  small  fractions,  are 
most  singularly  corroborative  of  the  assumed  hypothesis  of 
making  the  voids  equal  to  twice  the  supports.  Speaking  of 
the  five  species  of  temples,  after  naming  the  different  inter- 
colunmiations,  and  recommending  the  eustylos  as  the  most 
beautiful,  he  thus  directs  the  formation  of  temples  with  that 
interval  between  the  columns.  The  rule  for  designing  them 
is  as  follows  :  "  The  extent  of  the  front  being  given,  it  is,  it 
tetrastylos,  to  be  divided  into  eleven  parts  and  a  half,  not  in- 
cluding the  projections  of  the  base  and  plinth  at  each  end  ; 
if  hexastylos,  into  eighteen  parts  ;  if  octastylos,  into  twenty- 
four  parts  and  a  half.  One  of  either  of  these  parts,  ac- 
cording to  the  case,  whether  tetrastylos,  hexastylos,  or  oc- 
tastylos, will  be  a  measure  equal  to  the  diameter  of  one  of 
the  columns.  The  heights  of  the  columns  will  be  eight 
parts  and  a  half.  Thus,  the  intercolumniations  and  the 
heights  of  the  columns  will  have  proper  proportions."  Far- 
ther on  in  the  same  chapter  he  gives  directions  on  arrco- 
style,  diastyle,  and  systile  temples,  on  which  it  is  unneces- 
sary here  farther  to  enlarge.  Let  the  above  rules  be  exam- 
ined. The  tetrastylos  is  1 1 . V  parts  wide,  and  8A  high:  the 
area,  therefore,  of  its  whole  front,  will  be  11*  X  8A  =  97$. 
The  four  columns  will  be  4  X  8£  =  34,  or  a  very  little  more 
than  one  third  of  the  whole  area  ;  the  remaining  two  thirds, 
speaking  in  round  numbers,  being  given  to  the  intercolumns 
or  voids.  The  hexastylos,  is  eighteen  parts  long,  and  eight 
and  a  half  high  :  the  whole  area,  therefore,  is  18  +  8*  = 
153.  The  six  columns  will  be  6  X  8£  =  51,  or  exactly  one 
third  of  the  whole  area ;  the  voids  or  intercolumns  occupy- 
ing the  remaining  two  thirds.  The  octastylos  is  24A  parts  in 
extent,  and  8J  in  height :  24.V  X  8J  =  208$.  The  eight  col- 
umns will  be"  8  X  8A  =  68,  or  very  little  less  than  one  third 
of  the  area,  and  the  voids  or  intercolumns  about  double,  be- 
ing the  remaining  two  thirds. 
The  average  of  the  intercolumniations  in  the  first  case 

1U  — 4 
3 

18-6 

~T~ — f- 

In  the  third  case      — ^ =  2T365oV 

As,  in  our  opinion,  a  discrepance  between  practice  and 
theory  will  not  shake  the  principle,  we  are  not  fearful  of 
candidly  submitting  a  sj  aoptical  view  of  some  of  the  most 
celebrated  examples  of  antiquity  in  which  a  comparison  is 
exhibited  between  the  voids  and  supports,  as  follows: 


will  be 


In  the  second  case 


:  2A  diameters. 


-   i 

» 

■H 

O 

X  - 

1  00 

1 

> 

Temple  of  Jupner  Ncmatus 

Doric 

6 

0  79 

103 

Par  henon            .... 

— 

8 

too 

107 

1-04 

Temple  at  Bas*ae 

— 

a 

1  ell 

114 

lie 

of  Mm,  rva.  at  Sunium  ■ 

100 

1-40 

1.17 

r>f  Tli'vus.  at  A'luns     . 

— 

u 

too 

113 

1  -21 

of  Jupiter  I  .iiilii-ll,  [nil-, 

— 

6 

too 

1-45 

1-36 

Temple  of  Erecthem 

Ionic 

6 

1  00 

ora 

1  24 

of  Furtuna  Virilis 

4 

1  00 

115 

1-71 

on  the  II  v. mis 

— 

4 

10(1 

096 

172 

of  Bacchus,  at  Tcos 

— 

8 

Mill 

1-35 

2-05 

of  Minerva  Poliu 

— 

1 

1  00 

1-01 

2-IS 

Portico  of  Septimiua  Severus 

Corinth. 

6 

too 

0-93 

1-37 

D  C.aiTee     .... 

— 

6 

l-lfl 

0  93 

1-59 

Temple  a!  Jackly 

— 

1    6 

too 

0  90 

1  1,2 

ri 

— 

1  t.oo 

1   1  43 

I'M 

0127 
0118 
0100 
0129 


858 


ORDERS,  RELIGIOUS. 

certain  it  is,  that  in  every  case  the  former  exceed  the  latter, 
and  that,  in  the  early  Dorics,  the  ratio  between  them  near- 
ly approached  equality.  In  comparing,  however,  the  sup- 
ports with  the  weights,  there  is  every  appearance  of  that 
portion  of  the  theory  being  strictly  true  ;  for,  in  taking  a  mean 
of  the  six  examples  of  the  Doric  order,  the  supports  are  to 
the  weights  as  1  :  I'M;  in  the  five  of  the  Ionic  order,  as  1  : 
105;  and  in  the  four  of  the  Corinthian  order,  as  1  :  1'04  ;  a 
coincidence  so  remarkable  that  it  must  be  attributed  to  some- 
thing more  than  accident,  and  deserving  much  more  extend- 
ed consideration  than  our  limits  here  admit. 

We  close  this  short  inquiry  by  adverting  to  a  curious 
fact  connected  with  it ;  viz.,  the  area  of  the  points  of  sup- 
port for  the  edifice  which  such  an  arrangement  affords.  In 
fig.  7,  the  hatched  squares  represent  the  quarter  piers  or 
columns  in  a  series  of  intercolumniations 
every  way,  such  intercolumniations  being 
2  diameters,  or  4  semidiameters ;  these, 
added  to  the  2  quarter  piers,  will  make  6, 
whose  square,  36,  therefore,  is  the  area 
to  be  covered  with  the  weight ;  the  4  quar- 
ter piers  or  columns  =  4 ;  hence  the  points 
of  support  are  j4g-  of  the  area  =  0'lll. 
Now,  in  twenty-five  of  the  principal 
buildings  in  Europe  (see  Points  of  Sip- 
port),  the  ratio  will  be  seen  to  be  0-168  on  the  mean,  differ- 
ing only  0.057  from  the  result  here  given  ;  but  if  we  take  the 
subjoined  buildings,  the  mean  will  be  found  to  differ  much 
less,  viz : 

Temple  of  Peace 

S.  Paolo  fuori  le  Mura 

St.  Sabino  .... 

S.  Felippo  Neri 

ORDER  OF  SUPERPOSITION.  A  Geological  term, 
implying  the  regular  succession  of  arrangements  which  the 
strata  forming  the  exterior  crust  of  our  globe  invariably  fol- 
low. (See  Geology.)  Although  certain  strata  or  forma- 
tions are  occasionally  wanting,  they  never  depart  from  a 
constant  order  of  superposition. 

ORDER  OF  THE  DAY.  In  Parliamentary  usage,  one 
method  of  superseding  a  question  already  proposed  to  the 
House  is  by  moving  "  for  the  order  of  the  day  to  be  read." 
This  motion,  to  entitle  it  to  precedence,  must  be  for  the  or- 
der generally,  and  not  for  any  particular  order  :  and,  if  this 
is  carried,  the  orders  must  be  read  and  proceeded  on  in  the 
course  in  which  they  stand.  But  it  can  be  in  its  turn  super- 
seded by  a  motion  "  lo  adjourn."  See  HatselVs  Free.  Pari., 
vol.  ii.,  who  says  that  the  first  instance  he  has  met  with  of 
this  proceeding  was  on  the  first  of  April,  1747. 

OR'DERS,  HOLY.  A  term,  properly  speaking,  applied 
to  the  different  ranks  of  ecclesiastical  persons  ;  but,  in  ordi- 
nary language,  used  to  indicate  the  character  of  such  per- 
sons. The  Roman  Catholic  Church  admits  of  seven  or- 
ders: four  minor,  secular,  or  petty,  of  doorkeeper,  exorcist, 
reader,  and  acolyth :  three  major,  of  deacon,  priest,  and 
bishop.  The  first  are  mere  formalities,  and  generally  con- 
ferred on  the  same  day;  the  admission  to  the  latter  consti- 
tutes the  sixth  sacrament  of  Romanism :  the  Reformed 
churches  acknowledge  only  the  three  latter  orders.  (See 
Episcopacy).  The  Greek  church  rejects  the  four  minor, 
but  has  the  additional  one  of  sub-deacon.  Sec  Ordina- 
tion. 

OR'DEBS,  RELIGIOUS,  are  of  three  kinds;  I.  Monas- 
tic: II.  Military;  III.  Mendicant. 

I.  The  monastic  orders  were  distinguished  by  the  rules  to 
which  they  were  subjected  by  their  respective  founders. 
Of  these  the  principal  are  the  Basilian,  the  Benedictine,  ami 
the  Augustinian. 

1.  The  earliest  comprehension  of  a  number  of  conventual 
societies  under  one  rule  was  effected  by  St.  Basil,  archbishop 
of  Ca:sarea,  in  Asia  Minor,  who  united  the  hermits  and  cen- 
oiiites  already  established  in  his  diocess,  and  prescribed  a 
uniform  constitution  for  them,  in  which  he  strongly  recom- 
mended the  obligation  of  a  TOW  upon  admission.  This  rec- 
ommendation was  a  novelty  in  the  monastic  system,  which 
had  existed  up  to  that  time  (A.D.  :i70)  without  an]  such 
imposition.  This  institution  prevailed  throughout  tin  east- 
ern districts  of  Christendom,  and  has  subsisted  in  the  Greek 
church  up  to  the  present  tune  with  little  variation. 

2.  In  the  West,  the  first  order  of  monks  was  founded  by 
Benedict  of  Nursta  (A.D.  529).  He  conceived  that  the 
ends  of  monastic  Seclusion  might  be  better  attained  by  a 
milder  discipline,  uniformly  imposed,  than  by  the  fanatical 
and  arbitrary  austerities  of  many  of  the  European  communi- 
ties.    While  other  reformers  of  the  monkish  system   have 

aimed  at  repairing  its  laxity  and  degeneracy  by  the  infusion 
of  greater  strictness  and  severity,  he  alone  seems  to  have 
adopted  a  contrary  course,  and  to  have  provided  for  the  at- 
tainment of  more  real  excellence  by  the  imposition  ut  milder 

Obligations,  lie  insisted,  moreover,  very  strongly,  upon  the 
duties  of  manual  labour  and  reading,  as  well  as  of  prayer ; 


ORDINAL. 

tmd  gnve,  as  was  the  custom  with  other  founders,  minute  di- 
rections for  the  employment  of  the  day.  This  rule  was  re- 
vised three  centuries  later  by  another  Benedict,  a  native  of 
Ariane,  in  the  south  of  France. 

From  this  remodelled  system,  which  was  more  severe 
than  its  predecessor,  and  was  soon  adopted  throughout  the 
Benedictine  monasteries,  already  exceedingly  numerous, 
arose  various  branches,  all  more  or  less  famous  in  ecclesias- 
tical history.  The  order  of  Cluni,  the  Cistercians,  the  Char- 
treux,  the  Cnmaldulenses,  Pnemonstratenses,  &c,  are  dis- 
tinct offshoots  from  this  main  trunk,  and  for  many  centu- 
ries have  covered  the  face  of  Catholic  Europe. 

3.  The  original  inhabitants  of  the  monasteries  were  lay- 
men ;  the  spiritual  duties  of  the  institution  being  performed 
by  the  pastor  of  a  neighbouring  Village,  or  by  one  or  two 
resident  ecclesisastics.  St.  Augustin  set  the  example  of  a 
clerical  society,  by  living,  in  common  with  his  inferior  cler- 
gy, under  certain  instructions  which  he  drew  up  for  their 
direction.  His  authority  was  widely  followed  in  later  times ; 
and  the  order  of  Augustinian  canons,  consisting  expressly 
of  persons  ordained  or  destined  to  the  sacred  profession, 
claims  a  place  among  the  three  principal  monastic  institu- 
tions. These  canons  were  afterward  divided  into  the  regu- 
lar and  secular,  according  as  they  observed  what  tradition 
affirmed  to  be  rule  prescribed  by  the  founder  himself,  or 
those  of  certain  bishops,  who,  in  later  times,  had  reorgan- 
ized the  system. 

II.  1.  The  Military  orders  form  also  an  important  feature 
in  ecclesiastical  and  political  history.  The  necessity  which 
the  monks  were  under,  in  unsettled  times,  of  assuming 
arms  themselves  to  defend  the  possessions  which  they  had 
accumulated,  may  have  suggested  the  first  idea  of  uniting 
the  military  with  the  religious  profession. 

The  earliest  order,  however,  of  this  kind — that  of  St. 
John  of  Jerusalem,  or  the  Knights  of  the  Hospital — arose, 
in  the  11  tli  century,  out  of  a  religious  community,  to  which 
the  care  of  a  hospital  in  Jerusalem  had  been  consigned. 
The  Hospitallers  were  afterwards  better  known  under  the 
titles  of  Knights  of  Rhodes,  and,  still  later,  of  Malta. 

2.  The  Knights  Templars  also  received  their  appellation 
from  Jerusalem,  the  place  of  their  origin  and  early  abode. 
They  were  founded  in  1118;  and  to  them  certain  military 
duties  were  from  the  first  prescribed,  as  the  defence  of  Pal- 
estine, and  the  protection  of  pilgrims  in  the  Holy  Land. 
After  the  expulsion  of  the  Christian  arms  from  that  region, 
they  spread  over  Europe,  and  became  a  very  numerous  and 
powerful  body  ;  until,  having  excited  the  fears  or  avarice  of 
popes  and  princes,  they  were  condemned  by  a  council  as- 
sembled at  Vienna,  and  exterminated  by  a  vigorous  and 
cruel  persecution. 

3.  The  third  Military  order  is  the  Teutonic.  This  insti- 
tution, again,  was  an  offspring  of  the  crusades,  and  a  native 
of  Palestine  ;  originating  in  the  officer  of  a  hospital  at  the 
siege  of  Acre.  On  the  termination  of  the  holy  wars,  these 
knights  became  established  in  Germany,  and  distinguished 
themselves  by  the  conquest  and  conversion  of  Prussia  and 
Pomerania.  Their  order  only  ceased  to  exist  when,  at  the 
Reformation,  its  members  abandoned  the  cause  of  the  papa- 
cy, and  embraced  the  prevalent  opinions  of  the  north  of 
Germany.  To  these  may  be  added  various  inferior  military 
orders,  especially  those  of  Spain  and  Portugal.  See  Cala- 
trava  and  Alcantara,  Orders  of. 

III.  1.  The  Mendicant  orders  were  the  creation  of  the  pa- 
pacy, for  the  advancement  of  its  own  political  purposes.  It 
was  in  the  12th  century  that  the  apprehensions  of  the  holy- 
see  were  first  excited  by  the  rise  and  spread  of  heretical 
opinions  ;  nor,  at  that  period,  were  either  the  secular  or  the 
regular  clergy  disposed  to  rouse  themselves  from  their  in- 
dolence and  vice  to  combat  with  these  active  assailants. 
The  counteracting  force,  also,  which  the  monks  had  sup- 
plied, in  earlier  ages,  to  the  independent  spirit  of  the  sec- 
ular priesthood,  had  lost  much  of  its  efficacy,  and,  in  some 
measure,  been  turned  against  the  central  authority  of  Rome. 
A  new  ally  was  required,  and  was  furnished  in  the  order  of 
St.  Dominic,  which,  after  completins  its  first  mission  in  the 
extinction  of  the  heresy  of  the  Albigenses,  was  placed  upon 
a  permanent  footing  by  a  bull  of  Honorius  III. 

2.  The  Franciscan  friars  were  of  eotemporary  institution, 
and  avowed  the  same  principles  of  poverty  and  mendicity. 
Our  limits  allow  us  merely  to  mention — "3.  The  Carmel- 
ites (who  derived  their  name  from  Mount  Carmel,  in  Syria, 
where  the  order  originated) :  4.  The  Augustinian*.  who 
complete  the  number  of  the  Mendicant  orders  ;  and  5.  The 
Jesuits.     .See  Jesuits. 

O'RDINAL,  or  ORDER.  The  name  given  in  England  to 
an  old  work  containing  the  ritual  or  religious  ceremonies  ne- 
cessary to  be  performed  before  the  ordination  of  a  priest.  It 
was  composed  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.,  and  revised  by 
the  English  clenry  in  1552. 

O'RDINANCE.  An  obsolete  word,  signifying  a  decree  or 
enactment.  After  the  time  of  Philip  le  Bel  (1227),  the  laws 
made  by  French  kings  were  generally  termed  ordinances 


ORDINATION. 

(ordonnance) ;  a  term  which,  in  its  most  comprehensive 
sense,  included  also  their  edicts,  declarations,  and  letters 
patent.  The  right  to  issue  ordinances  for  the  execution  of 
the  laws  (equivalent  to  proclamations  and  orders  in  council) 
is  conferred  on  the  monarch  by  the  French  charters ;  and  it 
was  on  an  ambiguity  of  language  in  the  clause  conferring 
this  right  in  that  of  1814,  that  a  defence  was  attempted  for 
the  illegal  proceedings  of  the  ministers  of  Charles  X.  in  1830. 
The  best  collection  of  the  Ordonnances  des  Rois  de  France 
is  that  begun  by  order  of  Louis  XIV.,  of  which  the  first 
volume  appeared  in  1723:  it  extends  to  12  vols.,  folio. 

The  Self-denying  Ordinance,  in  English  History,  was  a 
resolution  of  the  Long  Parliament,  in  1644,  by  which  its 
members  bound  themselves  not  to  take  certain  executive  of- 
fices, particularly  commands  in  the  army ;  the  effect  of 
which,  as  is  well  known,  was  the  transference  of  power, 
first  in  the  army,  and  then  in  the  state,  from  the  Presbyterian 
to  the  Independent  party. 

O'RDINAND.  (Lat.  ordinandus.)  In  Ecclesiastical  An- 
tiquities, one  about  to  receive  orders. — Ordinant,  a  prelate 
conferring  orders. 

O  RDINARY.  A  term  of  the  Civil  Law  for  any  judge 
who  has  authority  to  take  cognizance  of  causes  in  his  own 
right,  and  not  by  delegation  ;  used,  in  Englsh  law,  with  ref- 
erence to  ecclesiastical  judges  only.  Thus,  a  bishop  is  ordi- 
nary in  his  own  diocess;  an  archbishop,  for  the  purpose  of 
appeals,  in  his  province. 

Ordinary.  In  the  Court  of  Session  in  Scotland,  a  single 
judge  (by  courtesy  styled  lord),  who  decides  with  or  with- 
out a  jury,  as  the  case  may  be.  There  are  five  such  judges : 
their  decisions  may  be  brought  by  appeal  under  review  of 
the  divisions  of  the  court  to  which  they  respectively  belong. 
See  Session,  Court  or. 

Ordinary.  In  the  Navy,  the  establishment  of  the  ship- 
pins  not  in  actual  service. 

Ordinary,  in  Heraldry,  is  a  portion  of  the  escutcheon 
comprised  between  straight  or  other  lines.  It  is  the  simplest 
species  of  charge :  and  many  of  the  most  ancient  escutch- 
eons known  contain  no  other  bearing,  although  in  others, 
also  of  great  antiquity,  the  ordinary'  itself  is  charged  with 
other  bearings.  An  ordinary  should,  it  is  said,  comprise 
the  fifth  of  the  shield.  The  number  of  ordinaries  in  com- 
mon use  is  considerable  ;  among  the  chief  are  the  pale,  fess, 
bend,  bar,  saltier,  chevron,  cross  (which  see).  Each  of 
these  is  usually  bounded  by  straight  lines;  hut  the  lines  may 
be  also  diversified  in  various  manners.  Thus,  an  ordinary 
bounded  by  serrated  lines  is  said  to  be  indented;  bounded 
by  undulating  lines,  wavy ;  and  there  are  many  other  devia- 
tions from  the  straight  iine,  as  irrrrailed,  inverted,  nebuly, 
ragnly,  rayonny,  danretty,  embattled  or  crenelly,  battled  em- 
battled, pa/issy,  angled,  levelled,  escartely,  nowy,  dovetail,  po- 
tency. When  an  ordinary  has  two  sides,  and  is  only  varied 
on  the  upper,  it  is  said  to  be  snperin<rrailed,  superinvccted, 
&c ;  if  only  on  the  lower,  subingrailed,  &c. 

Ordinary,  of  Newgate.  The  clergyman  who  officiates 
in  this  prison  is  so  called,  whose  duties  consist  in  preaching 
and  reading  prayers  to  the  prisoners,  preparing  condemned 
criminals  to  meet  their  fate,  and  in  accompanying  such  to 
the  place  of  execution. 

O'RDINATE.  (Lat.  ordir.o,  /  arrange.)  In  Geometry, 
a  straight  line  drawn  from  any  point  in  a  curve  perpendicu- 
larly to  another  straisht  line,  which  is  called  the  absciss. 
(See  Absciss.)  The  absciss  and  ordinate  together  are  called 
the  co-ordinates  of  the  point.  The  situation  of  a  point  in  a 
plane  is  determined  when  its  distances  from  two  straight 
lines  in  the  same  plane  are  known  ;  and,  when  a  series  of 
points  are  so  situated  in  respect  of  each  other  that  the  co- 
ordinates of  each  have  the  same  mathematical  relation, 
these  points  form  a  curve,  the  nature  of  which  is  expressed 
by  the  relation  of  the  co-ordinates.     See  Co-ordinates. 

ORDINA'TION.  The  ceremony  of  conferring  orders  in 
the  church,  which  is  derived,  by  all  communities  that  ad- 
mit a  regular  commission  and  succession  in  the  ministry 
from  the  time  of  the  apostles,  from  the  authority  of  Jesus 
Christ;  of  whom  it  is  said,  in  St.  John's  Gospel  (xx.,  21), 
that,  after  his  resurrection,  he  said,  "  As  my  father  has  sent 
me,  even  so  send  I  vou:"  and  then  he  breathed  upon  them, 
and  said  to  them,  "Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost :  whose  so- 
ever sins  ye  remit  they  are  remitted  unto  them,  and  whose- 
soever sins  ve  retain  they  are  retained."  Prayer  and  the 
imposition  of  hands  are  also  mentioned  as  forming  part  of 
the  ceremony  of  ordination  of  deacons  in  the  Acts ;  and  or- 
dination is  even  now  conferred  under  similar  forms  in  most 
Christian  churches. 

The  Romish  Church  holds  ordination  to  he  the  sixth  of 
its  seven  sacraments,  as  hein»  an  institution  of  Christ  con- 
ferring a  special  grace.  The  Protestants  show  that  it  differs 
from  a  sacrament,  according  to  the  received  definition  of 
such,  as  containing  no  matter,  like  the  water  in  baptism,  or 
the  elements  in  the  eucharist.  They  deny  that  the  vessels 
which  are  delivered  to  the  newly-ordained  person  according 
to  the  Romish  rite,  can  be  taken  as  the  matter  of  a  Eacra- 

859 


ORDNANCE. 

ment,  not  being  recommended  by  any  Scripture  authority, 
nor,  indeed,  known  in  the  church  till  the  tenth  or  eleventh 
century.     (Sec  Hooker's  Eccl.  Pol.,  books  vii.  and  viii.) 

In  the  Presbyterian  church  the  term  ordination  has  a 
meaning  wholly  distinct  from  that  in  which  it  is  received  by 
other  Christian  churches;  being  applied  exclusively  to  that 
solemn  act  l>y  u  huh  a  licensed  preacher  or  probationer  is  in- 
ducted into  the  charge  of  a  particular  parish  or  congrega- 
tion, and  not,  as  is  sometimes  erroneously  asserted,  to  the 
act  by  which  he  is  entitled  to  preach  the  Gospel,  or,  in  oth- 
er word*,  to  tin'  ceremony  by  Which  "  orders"  are  conferred 
in  the  English  Church.  In  the  English  Church  a  clergyman 
can  be  ordained  but  once  ;  in  the  Scotch  Church  he  is  said 
to  be  ordained  as  often  as  he  leaves  one  parish  to  be  induct- 
ed into  the  charge  of  another. 

0'RDNA>;CE.  A  Military  term,  applied  generally  to  all 
Borts  of  great  guns  used  in  war,  as  cannons,  mortars,  howit- 
zer-, carronadea,  &c.    See  the  respective  terms. 

ORDNANCE,  BOARD  OF.  The  name  given  to  the 
board  which  provides  the  troops  of  the  line,  the  regiments 
of  artillery  and  engineers,  the  militia,  volunteers,  and  the 
navy,  with  guns,  ammunition,  and  arms  of  every  descrip- 
tion. The  Board  of  Ordnance  also  superintends  the  affairs 
of  the  regiments  of  artillery  and  engineers,  the  provision  of 
forage  for  the  whole  of  the  troops  at  home,  and  the  erection 
of  fortifications  and  military  works  at  home  and  abroad,  &c. 
At  the  head  of  this  board  is  placed  an  officer,  called  the 
Blaster-general  of  the  ordnance,  who  has  the  military  com- 
mand of  the  artillery,  and  of  the  corps  of  royal  engineers 
and  sappers  and  miners.  Besides  the  Master-general,  the 
other  chief  officers  connected  with  the  ordnance  are  the 
Surveyor-general,  the  Clerk  of  the  ordnance,  and  the  Store- 
keeper of  the  ordnance,  which  are  self-explanatory  terms. 

O'RDONNANCE.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture,  the  right  as- 
signment, for  convenience  and  propriety,  of  the  measure  of 
the  several  apartments,  that  they  be  neither  too  large  nor  too 
small  for  the  purposes  of  the  building,  and  that  they  be 
conveniently  distributed  and  lighted. 

O'READS.  (Gr.  tipos,  mountain.)  In  Greek  Mythology, 
nymphs  of  the  mountains,  companions  of  Diana,  and  usually 
invoked  along  with  that  goddess. 

ORES.  (Germ,  erze.)  The  mineral  bodies  from  which 
metals  are  extracted.  Metals  exist  in  the  ores  in  one  or  the 
other  of  the  four  following  states:  1.  In  a  metallic  state, 
and  either  solitary  or  combined  with  each  other;  in  the 
latter  case  forming  alloys.  2.  Combined  with  sulphur, 
forming  sulphurets.  3.  Combined  with  oxygen,  forming 
oxides.  4.  Combined  with  acids,  forming  carbonates,  phos- 
phates, &c,  which  generally  go  by  the  name  of  metallic 
salts. 

Certain  ores  which  contain  the  metals  most  indispensable 
to  human  necessities  have  been  treasured  up  by  the  Creator 
in  very  bountiful  deposits,  constituting  either  great  masses 
in  rocks  of  different  kinds,  or  distributed  in  lodes,  veins, 
nests,  concretions,  or  beds  with  stony  and  earthy  admixtures  ; 
the  whole  of  which  become  the  objects  of  mineral  explora- 
tion. These  precious  stores  occur  in  different  stages  of  the 
geological  formations;  but  their  main  portion,  after  having 
existed  abundantly  in  the  several  orders  of  the  primary 
strata,  suddenly  cease  to  be  found  towards  the  middle  of 
the  secondary.  Iron  ores  are  the  only  ones  which  continue 
among  the  more  modern  deposits,  even  so  high  as  the  beds 
immediately  beneath  the  chalk,  when  they  also  disappear, 
or  exist  merely  as  colouring  matters  of  the  tertiary  earthy 
beds. 

The  strata  of  gneiss  and  mica-slate  constitute  in  Europe 
the  grand  metallic  domain.  There  is  hardly  any  kind  of 
ore  which  does  not  occur  there  in  sufficient  abundance  to 
become  the  object  of  mining  operations,  and  many  are  found 
nowhere  else.  The  transition  rocks,  and  the  lower  part  of 
the  secondary  ones,  are  not  so  rich,  neither  do  they  contain 
the  same  variety  of  ores.  lint  this  order  of  things,  which  is 
presented  bj  Great  Britain,  Germany,  France,  Sweden,  and 
Norway,  is  far  from  forming  a  general  law;  since  in 
equinoctial  America  the  gneiss  is  but  little  metalliferous; 
while  the  superior  strata,  such  as  the  clay-schists  the 
Bienihc  porphyries,  tin-  limestones,  which  complete  the 
transition  series,  as  also  several  secondary  deposits,  include 
the  greater  portion  of  the  immense  mineral  wealth  of  that 
legion  of  the  "lobe. 

All  the  substances  of  which  the  ordinary  metals  form  the 
basis,  are  not  equally  abundant  in  nature;  a  great  propor- 
tion of  the  numerous  mineral  species  which  (inure  in  our 
Classifications  are  mere   varieties  scattered   up  and  down  in 

the  cavities  of  the  great  masses  or  lodes.  The  workable 
ores  are  few  in  number,  being  mostly  sulphurets,  some 
oxides,  and  carbonates.  These  occasionally  form  of  them 
selves  very  large  masses,  but  more  frequently  they  are 
blended  with  lumps  of  cptarlz,  felspar,  and  carbonate  of 
lime,  which  I'onii  the  main  hod)  of  the  deposit ;  as  happens 
always  In  proper  lodes.  The  Ores  In  that  case  are  arranged 
In  layers  parallel  to  the  strata  of  the  formation,  or  in  veins 
800 


ORES. 

Which  traverse  the  rock  in  all  directions,  or  in  nests  or  eon- 
cretions  stationed  irregularly,  or  finally  disseminated  in 
hardly  visible  particles.  These  deposits  sometimes  contain 
apparently  only  one  species  of  ore,  sometimes  several,. 
which  must  be  mined  together,  as  they  seem  to  be  of  con- 
temporaneous formation  ;  whilst,  In  other  cases,  they  are 
separable,  having  been  probably  formed  at  different  epochsu 
Under  the  particular  metals  will  be  found  an  account  of  the 
localities  of  ores,  tec. ;  but  the  following  general  observations 
may  prove  useful  in  presenting  a  condensed  res'  nit  of  the 
whole  subject. 

1.  Tin  exists  principally  in  primitive  rocks,  appearing 
either  in  interlaced  masses  in  beds,  or  as  a  constituent  part 
of  the  rock  itself,  and  more  rarely  in  distinct  veins.  Tin 
ore  is  found  indeed  sometimes  in  alluvial  land,  filling  up 
low  situations  between  lofty  mountains. 

2.  Oold  occurs  either  in  beds  or  in  veins,  frequently  in 
primitive  rocks;  though  it  is  also  found  in  other  formations, 
and  particularly  in  alluvial  earth.  When  this  metal  exists 
In  the  bosom  of  primitive  rocks,  it  is  particularly  in  schists 
it  is  not  found  in  serpentine,  but  it  is  met  with  in  greywacke 
in  Transylvania.  The  gold  of  alluvial  districts,  called  gold 
of  washing  or  transport,  occurs,  as  well  as  alluvial  tin, 
among  the  debris  of  the  more  ancient  rocks. 

3.  Silver  is  found,  particularly  in  veins  and  beds,  in 
primitive  and  transition  formations  ;  though  some  veins  of 
this  metal  occur  in  secondary  strata.  The  rocks  richest  in 
it  are  gneiss,  mica-slate,  clay-slate,  greywacke,  and  old 
alpine  limestone.  Localities  of  silver-ore  its-elf  are  not 
numerous,  at  least  in  Europe,  among  secondary  formations ; 
but  it  occurs  in  combination  with  the  ores  of  copper  or  of 
lead. 

4.  Copper  exists  in  the  three  mineral  epochas:  1.  In 
primitive  rocks,  principally  in  the  state  of  pyritous  copper, 
in  beds,  in  masses,  or  in  veins ;  2.  In  transition  districts, 
sometimes  in  masses,  sometimes  in  veins  of  copper  pyrites  ; 
3.  In  secondary  strata,  especially  in  beds  of  cupreous  schist. 

5.  Lead  occurs  also  in  each  of  the  three  mineral  epochas  ; 
ahounding  particularly  in  primitive  and  transition  grounds, 
where  it  usually  constitutes  veins,  and  occasionally  beds  of 
sulphuretted  lead  (galena).  The  same  ore  is  found  in  strata 
or  in  veins  among  secondary  rocks,  associated  now  and  then 
with  ochreous  iron-oxide  and  calamine  (carbonate  of  zinc)  ; 
and  it  is  sometimes  disseminated  in  grains  through  more 
recent  strata. 

6.  Iron  is  met  with  in  four  different  mineral  eras,  but  in 
different  ores.  Among  primitive  rocks  magnetic  iron  ore 
and  specular  iron  ore  occur  chiefly  in  beds,  sometimes  of 
enormous  size:  the  ores  of  red  or  brown  oxide  of  iron 
(haematite)  are  found  generally  in  veins,  or  occasionally  in 
masses  with  sparry  iron,  both  in  primitive  and  transition 
rocks ;  as  also  sometimes  in  secondary  strata ;  but  more 
frequently  in  the  coal-measure  strata,  as  beds  of  clay- 
ironstone,  of  globular  iron  oxide,  and  carbonate  of  iron.  In 
alluvial  districts,  we  find  ores  of  clay-ironstone,  granular 
iron-ore,  bog- ore,  swamp-ore,  and  meadow-ore.  The  iron 
ores  which  belong  to  the  primitive  period  have  almost  always 
the  metallic  aspect,  with  a  richness  amounting  even  to  80 
per  cent,  of  iron,  while  the  ores  in  the  posterior  formations 
become,  in  general,  more  and  more  earth)',  down  to  those  in 
alluvial  soils,  some  of  which  present  the  appearance  of  a 
common  stone,  and  afford  not  more  than  20  per  cent,  of 
metal,  though  its  quality  is  often  excellent. 

7.  Mercury,  as  a  sulphuret,  occurs  principally  among 
secondary  strata  in  disseminated  masses,  along  with  com- 
bustible substances  ;  though  the  metal  is  met  with  occa- 
sionally in  primitive  countries. 

8.  Cobalt  belongs  to  the  three  mineral  epochas  ;  its  most 
abundant  deposits  are  veins  in  primitive  rocks  ;  small  veins 
containing  this  metal  are  found,  however,  in  secondary 
strata. 

9.  Jlntimovy  occurs  in  veins  or  beds  among  primitive  and 
transition  rocks. 

10.  11.  Bismuth  and  nickel  do  not  appear  to  constitute 
the  predominating  substance  of  any  mineral  deposits  ;  but 
they  often  accompany  cobalt 

12.  Zinc  occurs  in  the  three  several  formations ;  namely, 
as  sulphuret,  or  blende,  particularly  in  primitive  and  tran- 
sition rocks;  as  calamine,  in  secondary  strata,  usually 
along  with  oxide  of  iron,  and  sometimes  with  sulphuret  of 
lead. 

In  the  analysis  of  ores,  it  is  impossible  to  lay  down  any 
general  rule,  so  numerous  are  the  ores  themselves,  and  so 
diversified  the  means  necessary  to  be  adopted  in  the  various 
analytic  processes.  Under  each  particular  metal  will  be 
found  an  account  of  its  most  important  ores,  and  we  shall 
here  restrict  ourselves  to  a  few  general  remarks  on  the 
theory  of  smelting  ores. 

It  is  probable  that  the  coaly  matter  employed  in  that  pro- 
cess is  not  the  immediate,  agent  of  their  reduction  ;  but  the 
charcoal  seems  first  of  all  to  be  transformed  by  the  atmo- 
spherical oxygen  into  the  oxide  of  carbon  which  gaseous 


OREXIS. 

product  then  surrounds  and  penetrates  the  interior  substance 
of  the  oxides,  with  the  effect  of  decomposing  them,  and 
carrying  off  their  oxygen.  That  this  is  the  true  mode  of 
action,  is  evident  from  the  well-known  facts  that  bars  of 
iron,  stratified  with  pounded  charcoal,  in  the  steel-cementa- 
tion chest,  most  readily  absorb  the  carbonaceous  principle 
to  their  innermost  centre,  while  their  surfaces  get  blistered 
by  the  expansion  of  carburetted  gases  formed  within  ;  and 
that  an  yitermixture  of  ores  and  charcoal  is  not  always 
necessary  to  reduction,  but  merely  an  interstratification  of 
the  two,  without  intimate  contact  of  the  panicles.  In  this 
case,  the  carbonic  acid  which  is  generated  at  the  lower 
surfaces  of  contact  of  the  strata,  rising  up  through  the  first 
bed  of  ignited  charcoal,  becomes  converted  into  carbonic 
oxide  ;  and  this  gaseous  matter,  passing  up  through  the  next 
layer  of  ore,  seizes  its  oxygen,  reduces  it  to  metal,  and  is 
itself  thereby  transformed  once  more  into  carbonic  acid ; 
and  so  on  in  continual  alternation.  It  may  be  laid  down, 
however,  as  a  general  rule,  that  the  reduction  is  the  more 
rapid  and  complete  the  more  intimate  the  mixture  of  the 
charcoal  and  the  metallic  oxide  has  been,  because  the  for- 
mation of  both  the  carbonic  acid  and  carbonic  oxide  becomes 
thereby  more  easy  and  direct.  Indeed  the  cementation  of 
iron  bars  into  steel  will  not  succeed,  unless  the  charcoal  be 
so  porous  as  to  contain,  interspersed,  enough  of  air  to  favour 
the  commencement  of  its  conversion  into  the  gaseous  oxide ; 
thus  acting  like  a  ferment  in  brewing.  Hence,  also,  finely 
pulverized  charcoal  does  not  answer  well,  unless  a  quantity 
of  ground  iron  cinder  or  oxide  of  manganese  be  blended 
with  it,  to  afford  enough  of  oxygen  to  begin  the  generation 
of  carbonic  oxide  gas  ;  whereby  the  successive  transforma- 
tions into  acid  and  oxide  are  put  in  train.  (For  these  obser- 
vations we  are  indebted  chiefly  to  Ure's  Diet,  of  Arts,  8rc, 
arts.  "Mine"  and  "  Ores.")  See  also  the  art.  Geology  in 
this  work. 

ORE'XIS.  (Gr.  op cyo^ai,  I  labour.)  A  term  applied  hi 
medicine  to  the  appetite,  or  a  sense  of  hunger. 

O'RFRAIES.  (Fr.  orfrois,  broad  welts  of  gold.)  A  species 
of  embroidered  cloth  of  gold,  worn  anciently  by  the  kings 
and  nobles  of  England.  The  name  was  also  given  to  the 
clothes  worn  by  the  king's  guards,  which  were  also  em- 
broidered with  gold. 

O'RGAN.  (Gr.  opyavov,  an  instrument.)  In  Music,  a 
wind  instrument ;  so  called  by  way  of  eminence,  being  in- 
deed perhaps  less  an  instrument  than  a  machine  containing 
a  collection  of  instruments,  or,  in  other  words,  a  mechanical 
orchestra,  under  the  command  of  a  single  performer's  fin- 
gers on  the  keyboard.  This  instrument  was  invented  at  an 
early  period,  though  until  the  eighth  century  it  was  proba- 
bly but  little  used.  The  Greeks  appear  to  have  been  ac- 
quainted with  it;  and,  in  the  tenth  book  of  his  Architecture, 
Vitruvius  describes  an  hydraulic  organ  which  was  played, 
or  rather  blown,  by  the  fall  of  water,  but  in  what  precise 
manner  is  not  now  known.  The  emperor  Julian  eulogises 
this  instrument  in  an  epigram  ;  and  St.  Jerome  speaks  of 
one,  with  twelve  pair  of  bellows,  which  might  be  heard  at 
the  distance  of  a  thousand  paces ;  and  of  another,  at 
Jerusalem,  which  might  be  heard  at  the  Mount  of  Olives. 
Its  invention  is  attributed  to  Ctesibius,  a  barber  of  Alexandria. 

The  size  of  an  organ  is  usually  expressed  by  the  length  of 
its  largest  pipes;  thus  an  organ  of  32  feet,  of  16  feet,  &c,  is 
one  whose  lowest  bass  pipes  are  of  those  respective  lengths. 
Church  organs  consist  of  two  parts ;  viz.  the  great  organ, 
which  comprises  the  main  body ;  and  the  chair,  or  choir 
organ,  a  smaller  one,  commonly  placed  before  the  other. 
The  organ  is  provided  with  at  least  one  set  of  keys ;  and 
when  it  has  a  chair  organ  and  a  swell  organ,  with  two, 
three,  or  even  more.  Besides  these  there  are  pedals  for  the 
lowest  pipes,  and  composition  pedals,  which  change  the 
stops  as  required  at  one  pressure ;  both  of  these  are  acted 
upon  by  the  feet.  There  is  another  pedal  to  open  the  swell 
organ  with  the  right  foot.  The  key  boards  of  organs  vary 
in  extent :  the  York  has  6  octaves  from  C  C  C  (16  feet)  to 
C  in  alt ;  the  Birmingham  5i  octaves  ;  but  the  compass 
now  in  general  use,  here  and  on  the  Continent,  is  from  C  C 
(8  feet)  to  F  in  alt,  4£  octaves ;  the  lower  notes  from  C  C 
to  C  C  C  (16  feet)  being  placed  on  the  pedal  organ.  The 
G  G  compass  is  gradually  falling  into  disuse,  a  compass 
which  never  prevailed  on  the  Continent.  Each  key,  being 
pressed  down  with  the  finger,  opens  a  valve  or  plug,  cor: 
responding  lengthwise  with  as  many  holes  as  there  are  rows 
of  pipes  on  the  sound  board ;  and" the  holes  of  each  row 
are  opened  and  shut  by  a  register  or  ruler  pierced  with  holes 
equal  in  number  to  the  keys.  By  drawing  the  register  the 
holes  of  one  row  are  opened,  because  they  correspond  with 
those  of  the  sound  board ;  so  that,  by  opening  a  valve,  the 
wind  brought  to  the  sound  board  by  means  of  bellows  finds 
its  passage  into  the  pipes  which  correspond  to  the  open  holes 
of  the  sound  board.  By  pushing  the  register  or  stop,  the 
holes  therein  not  answering  to  any  of  those  of  the  sound 
board,  the  row  of  pipes  answering  to  the  register  so  pushed 
is  shut.  It  is  obvious,  therefore,  by  drawing  several  of  these 
73 


ORGAN. 

registers  or  stops,  correspondent  rows  of  pipes  are  opened  : 
hence  the  rows  of  pipes  become  simple  or  compound  ;  the 
former  when  only  one  row  answers  to  one  register,  the  lat- 
ter when  several  do  so.  Organists  call  a  row  compound 
when  several  pipes  play  upon  pressing  one  stop. 

Organ  pipes  are  of  two  sorts,  mouth  pipes  and  reed  pipes, 
of  each  of  which  there  are  several  species.  The  first,  called 
pipes  of  mutation,  consist,  first,  of  a  foot,  which  is  a  hollow 
cone,  and  receives  the  wind  that  sounds  the  pipe  ;  second, 
the  body  of  the  pipe,  which  is  fastened  to  the  foot.  Between 
the  foot  and  the  body  of  the  pipe  is  a  diaphragm  or  partition, 
having  a  little  long  narrow  aperture  to  let  out  the  wind ; 
over  this  aperture  is  the  mouth,  whose  upper  lip,  being 
horizontal,  cuts  the  wind  as  it  escapes  through  the  aperture. 
The  pipes  are  made  either  of  pewter,  of  lead  mixed  with  a 
certain  portion  of  tin,  or  of  wood.  The  tin  pipes  are  always 
open  at  their  extremities,  are  of  very  small  diameter,  and 
clear  and  shrill  in  their  sound.  Those  of  lead  and  tin  mixed 
are  larger,  the  shortest  open,  and  the  longest  quite  stopped  ; 
the  medium  ones  are  partly  stopped,  and  have  besides  a 
little  ear  on  each  side  of  the  mouth,  drawn  close  or  set 
farther  apart,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  or  lowering  the 
sound.  The  wooden  pipes  are  made  square  on  the  plane, 
and  their  extremities  are  stopped  with  a  valve  or  tompoin 
covered  with  leather,  so  as  to  be  air-tight.  The  sound  of 
these  is  very  soft.  The  large  pipes  stopped  are  usually  of 
wood,  the  small  ones  of  lead.  Of  course  the  longest  yield 
the  gravest,  the  shortest  the  most  acute  sounds.  Their 
lengths  and  widths  are  in  the  reciprocal  ratio  of  their 
sounds  ;  and  the  divisions  regulated  by  their  rule,  which  is 
called  the  diapason.  The  pipes,  however,  which  are  shut 
have  the  same  length  as  those  that  are  open,  which  give 
the  same  sound. 

The  reed  pipes  consist  of  a  foot  to  carry  the  wind  into  the 
shallot  or  reed,  a  hollow  half  cylinder,  whose  extremity  is 
fitted  into  a  kind  of  mould  by  a  wooden  tompion.  Its  other 
extremity  is  at  liberty  ;  so  that  the  wind,  entering  the  shal- 
lot, causes  it  to  vibrate  or  shake  against  the  reed  ;  and  the 
longer  that  part  of  the  tongue  which  is  at  liberty  is  made, 
the  deeper  the  sound.  The  mould  serving  to  fix  the  shallot 
or  reed,  the  tongue,  tompion,  &c.  serves  also  to  stop  the  foot 
of  the  pipe,  and  to  compel  the  wind  to  escape  wholly  at  the 
reed.  In  the  mould,  the  part  called  the  tube  is  soldered, 
the  inward  opening  whereof  is  a  continuation  of  the  reed. 
The  form  of  the  tube  varies  in  different  ranks  of  pipes. 
The  acuteness  and  gravity  of  a  reed  pipe  depends  on  the 
length  of  the  tongue,  and  of  that  of  the  pipe,  taken  from 
the  extremity  of  the  shallot  to  the  extremity  of  the  tube. 
The  quality  of  the  sound  depends  on  the  width  of  the  reed, 
the  tongue,  and  the  tube  ;  and  also  on  the  thickness  of  the 
tongue,  the  figure  of  the  tube,  and  the  quantity  of  wind.  To 
vary  the  character  of  the  sound  of  the  pipes  a  valve  or 
portvent  is  added,  which  introduces  the  wind  by  fits  and 
shakes. 

At  Ulm,  there  is  an  organ  in  the  cathedral  93  feet  high 
and  28  broad  ;  its  largest  pipe  is  13  inches  in  diameter,  and 
it  is  supplied  with  sixteen  pair  of  bellows.  This  organ, 
however,  is  surpassed  by  the  famous  one  at  Haarlem,  wliich 
is  103  feet  high  and  50  feet  broad,  and  was  made  in  1738 
by  Christian  Muller.  The  great  organ,  or  manual  contains 
sixteen  stops  or  voices  ;  the  upper  manual  fifteen  stops ;  the 
chair  organ  fourteen  stops  ;  and  to  the  pedals,  of  which  the 
deepest  pipe  is  38  feet  long,  and  15  inches  in  diameter,  there 
are  fifteen  stops ;  being,  in  all,  sixty  voices  or  stops,  two 
tremblans,  two  accouplemens,  and  nearly  five  thousand 
pipes.  The  bellows  are  each  9  feet  long  and  5  feet  broad. 
The  organ  at  Rotterdam  is  also  on  a  very  large  scale,  and 
not  greatly  inferior  to  that  just  described  ;  its  reed  stops,  ia- 
deed,  are  allowed  to  be  superior. 

At  the  period  of  the  restoration  of  Charles  n.  the  organs 
of  this  country  had  fallen  much  into  decay,  and  the  art  of 
building  them  was  then  renewed  here  by  the  celebrated 
Bernard  Schmidt,  who,  to  distinguish  him  from  his  nephews, 
Gerard  and  Bernard,  by  whom  he  was  accompanied,  ob- 
tained the  name  of  Father  Smith  ;  and  by  Harris,  from 
France.  The  celebrated  organ  at  the  Temple  church  was 
built  by  the  first-named  person. 

The  science  of  organ-building  has  of  late  years  again  re- 
vived in  this  country,  and  indeed  in  other  parts  of  Europe. 
The  three  largest  organs  in  England  are  in  York  Minster, 
the  Town  Hall,  Birmingham,  and  Christ  Church,  London. 
The  first-named,  by  Messrs.  Elliot  and  Hill,  has  a  compass 
from  C  C  C  to  C  in  alt,  that  is,  6  octaves.  The  great  organ 
has  24  stops,  4  open  diapasons  16  feet,  four  16  feet  reeds. 
The  choir  has  10  stops,  from  C  C  C  to  C  in  alt.  The  com- 
pass of  the  swell  is  from  C  C  lo  C  in  alt,  and  it  contains  12 
stops.  The  pedal  organ  has  10  stops  compass;  2  octaves 
32  feet  to  8  feet,  32  feet  open  diapason  metal,  do.  wood,  and 
do.  trumpet;  three  16  feet  reed  stops,  four  16  feet  diapasons 
to  4  feet.  There  are  in  all  56  stops,  6  couples,  and  7  com- 
position pedals  to  shift  the  stops.  There  are  4089  pipes  in 
50  ranks. 

861 


ORGAN  POINT. 

The  nr2in  at  the  Town  Hall  in  Birmingham,  which  was 
built  by  Sir.  Hill,  has  a  compass  from  C  C  C  to  F  in  alt. 
There  "are  4  rows  of  keys,  and  2  octaves  of  keys,  to  play  the 
double  pedal-pipes  With  the  Sogers,  on  the  bass  side  of  the 
movements.  The  great  organ  contains  the  following  stops : 
3  open  diapasons  to  16  feet  C,  double  diapason,  and  stopped 
diapason  ;  -  principals  of  metal,  and  2  of  wood  ;  a  twelfth 
and  2  fifteenths  of  metal,  1  of  wood;  a  reed  fifteenth  4  feet, 
posaune  on  a  large  scale  (10  feet),  trumpet  10  feet,  clarion 
8  feet,  sesquialtra  4  ranks,  mixture  3  ranks  ;  two  octaves  of 
German  pedals ;  thirty-two  feet  metal  open  diapason  to  8 
feet  C;  thirty-two  feet  wood  open  diapason  to  8  feet  C; 
two  octaves  of  pedal  trumpets  16  feet  to  8  feet  C.  The 
3-  feet  pipe  with  the  remainder  of  the  2  octaves  of  dou- 
ble pedal  pipes  are  in  front.  The  choir  organ  from  C  C  C 
(16  feet)  to  F  in  alt,  has  open  and  stopped  diapasons,  princi- 
pal, harmonia,  llute,  fifteenths,  Cremona,  and  bassoon,  open 
diapason  wood,  and  dulciana.  SweJl  descends  to  C  C,  and 
has  open,  double,  and  stopped  diapason,  principal,  fifteenth, 
harmonica,  horn,  trumpet,  hautboy,  and  clarion. 

The  ophicleide,  or  tuba  mirabilis,  on  the  swell  manual 
from  C  C  to  F,  the  same  compass  as  the  swell,  but  separate 
from  it,  forms  its  prominent  feature,  having  power  equal  to 
the  whole  of  tbe  great  organ,  with  a  full,  line,  and  smooth 
tone.  This  magnificent  reed  is  unparalleled  in  Europe  ; 
and  the  Birmingham  and  Liverpool  organs  are  the  only  in- 
struments which  can  boast  of  its  powers. 

The  first  clavier  is  the  choir,  the  second  the  great  organ, 
the  third  the  swell ;  the  fourth  clavier  takes  any  single 
stop,  or  all  of  them,  in  either  choir  or  swell,  without  affect- 
ing either,  or,  in  other  words,  the  performer  may  play  the 
choir  and  swell  in  the  usual  manner,  without  at  all  affect- 
ing the  fourth  clavier.  To  accomplish  the  mechanical 
movement  requires  more  draw  stops  than  real  stops  of 
pipes,  although  the  same  object  is  gained  by  the  fourth 
clavier  as  by  a  fourth  separate  organ.  The  collected 
lengths  of  the  trackers,  or  wood  rods,  which  communicate 
from  the  keys  to  the  sound  boards,  would  extend  four  miles 
and  a  half.  The  32  feet  C  is  1  foot  8A  inches  in  diameter : 
the  same  note,  in  wood,  3  feet  by  2  feet  6  inches,  arid  would 
hold  12  pipes  and  13  gallons  of  wine.  There  are  two  oc- 
taves and  a  half  of  bells.  The  pedal  pipes  are  played  with 
the  fingers,  as  easily  as  the  great  organ,  by  a  newly-invent- 
ed valve*  which  resists  the  pressure  of  wind.  There  are 
at  present  63  draw  stops  in  this  organ,  including  the  tuba 
mirabilis,  recently  inserted,  and  including  coupler  stops. 
The  choir  and  swell  have  2  draw  stops  to  each  row  of 
pipes,  as  the  fourth  clavier  may  require. 

The  Christ  Church  organ,  "in  Newgate-street,  London, 
which  is  yet  in  progress,  will  be  the  largest  manual  organ 
in  Europe,  containing  71  stops  ;  24  in  the  great  organ,  17  in 
the  choir,  11  in  the  swell,  10  in  the  pedal  organ,  and  8  cop- 
ulas. This  was  commenced  by  Mr.  Hill  in  1840.  The  two 
largest  swell  organs  in  Europe  have  been  erected  by  Mr. 
Hill  during  the  present  year.  The  one  is  in  St.  Peter's 
Church,  Cornhill,  and  contains  19  stops  ;  the  other  is  in  the 
new  Independent  Chapel,  Liverpool,  and  contains  20  stops. 
These  swell  organs  are  about  double  the  size  of  those  in 
the  York  and  Birmingham  organs,  and  contain  many  new 
stops ;  such  as  the  wold  flute,  suabe  flute,  oboe  flute,  echo 
dulciana  cornet,  piccolo,  and  other  qualities  of  tone  hitherto 
unknown  in  this  country. 

ORGAN  POINT.  In  Music,  a  succession  of  chords,  in 
some  of  which  the  harmony  of  the  fifth  is  taken  unpre- 
pared on  the  bass  as  a  holding  note,  whether  preceded  by 
the  tonic  or  by  the  harmony  of  the  fourth  of  the  key. 

ORGA'NICAL  DESCRIPTION  OF  CURVES,  in  Ge- 
ometry, signifies  the  description  of  curves  on  a  plane  by 
means  of  instruments  ;  as  the  circle  is  described  by  a  pair 
of  compasses,  the  ellipse  by  means  of  a  thread  passing 
round  two  pins  in  the  foci,  the  epicycloids  by  the  revolution 
of  circles  on  the  circumferences  of  other  circles,  the  con- 
choid by  means  of  the  trammel,  the  cissoid  by  the  motion  of 
a  rectangular  ruler,  &c.  See  Schootcn's  Ezercitationcs 
Mathematics1 ;  JVcicton's  Arith.  Universalis  ;  jMacluurin's 
Gcomctria  Organica,  &c. 

ORGANIC  DISEASE.  A  disease  in  which  the  struc- 
ture of  an  organ  is  morbidly  altered  ;  opposed  to  functional 
disease,  in  which  the  secretions  or  functions  only  are  deran- 
ged, Without  any  apparent  change  of  organization.  Tuber- 
cul.ited  induration  of  the  liver  is  an  organic  or  structural 
disease  of  that  visens:  the  secretion  of  viscid,  unhealthy 
bilo  is  a  functional  derangement  of  it. 

ORGA'NIC  LAWS.  In  Modern  Political  Phraseology, 
the  name  given  to  laws  directly  concerning  the  fundamen- 
tal parts  of  the  constitution  of  a  state.  According  to  the 
distinction  taken  by  some  French  writers,  fundamental  laws 
nre  merely  declaratory,  containing  the  principles  or  theory 
of  government.    Organic  laws  arc  those  which  apply  those 


*  For  thit  vilve  Mr.  Hill  had  Ihe  tilvcr  mid.il  awarded  to  him  by  Uic 
£ocje!y  for  Promoting  Art!  ind  Commerce.  May  31it.  lui. 
8C2 


ORIFLAMME, 

principles  to  the  actual  condition  of  society  by  positive  en- 
actment, and  add  the  sanction  of  punishment. 

t  iRG.VNlC  REMAINS.  The  organized  bodies,  whether 
of  animals  or  vegetables,  found  in  a  fossil  state,  are  so  call- 
ed.    See  Geolooy. 

ORGANISTS.  The  old  name  given  in  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church  to  those  priests  who  organized  or  sang  in  pans. 
The  name  organists  of  the  hallelujah  was  applied  in  the 
13th  century  to  certain  priests  who  assisted  in  the  perform- 
ance of  the  mass.  They  were  generally  four  in  number, 
and  derived  their  name  from  singing  in  parts,  or  organizing 
the  melody  appropriated  to  the  word  hallelujah. 

ORGANIZATION.  (Lat.)  The  processes  by  which 
an  organized  body  is  formed  :  also  the  totality  of  the  parts 
which  constitute,  and  of  the  laws  which  regulate,  an  or- 
ganized body. 

olIGANO'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  opyavov,  a  tool  or  instrument, 
and  ypaipm,  I  describe.)  A  term  usually  applied  to  an  ac- 
count of  the  structure  of  plants.  It  comprises  all  that  re- 
lates to  the  various  forms  of  tissue  of  which  plants  are  an- 
atomically constructed  ;  explains  the  exact  organization  of 
all  those  parts  through  which  the  vital  functions  are  per- 
formed ;  and  teaches  the  relation  which  one  part  bears  to 
another,  with  the  dependance  of  the  whole  upon  the  com- 
mon system.     See  Botany. 

O'RGANON.  (Gr.  opyavov.)  In  Philosophical  language, 
nearly  synonymous  with  method,  and  implying  a  body  of 
rules  and  canons  for  the  direction  of  the  scientific  faculty, 
either  generally  or  in  reference  to  some  particular  depart- 
ment. For  an  account  of  the  Organon  of  Aristotle  and 
that  of  Bacon,  see  articles  Aristotelian  and  Baconian 
Philosophy  respectively. 

O'RGIES.  (Gr.  dpyia.)  In  Mythology,  the  mysteries  of 
Bacchus,  as  solemnized  among  the  Greeks  and  Thracians. 
Writers  derive  the  name  from  the  word  opy>/,  anger,  from 
the  fury  and  excitement  of  the  Bacchanals,  or  from  the 
wrath  of  Ceres  against  Jupiter.  (Clem.  Mez.)  But  these 
fanciful  etymologies,  after  the  manner  of  the  Greeks,  seem 
to  show  that  the  word  was  really  of  foreign  origin,  and 
adopted  by  them  together  with  the  thing  itself.  The  author 
of  the  article  "  Mysteries"  in  the  Encijc.  Brit,  would  derive 
it  from  Hebr.  argoz,  a  chest,  from  the  casket  containing  tho 
secret  symbols  of  the  god.  According  to  his  view,  the  or- 
gies were  the  mysteries  of  Osiris,  the  Egyptian  Bacchus, 
and  from  Egypt  transplanted  to  Greece,  where  (hey  became 
mingled  with  the  gross  corruptions  peculiar  to  the  worship 
of  the  Bacchus  of  Thebes.  Others  imagine  their  origin  to 
have  been  in  Thrace.  The  frantic  solemnities  of  theso 
rites  are  most  poetically  described  in  the  Bacchee  of  Euripi- 
des. The  mysteries  which  they  enveloped  are  extremely 
obscure. 

ORGUES.  In  Fortification,  long  and  thick  pieces  of 
wood  shod  with  iron,  and  suspended  each  by  a  separato 
rope  over  a  gate  so  as  to  be  ready  to  be  let  fall  and  stop  it 
up  upon  the  approach  of  an  enemy.  The  term  also  denotes 
a  machine  composed  of  arquebuses,  or  musket-barrels,  link- 
ed together  so  that  they  may  be  discharged  all  at  once,  and 
used  to  defend  breaches. 

ORGY'IA.  (Gr.  opeyui,  I  stretch  out,  and  yyiov,  a  limb.)  A 
name  applied  by  Ochsenheimer  to  a  genus  of  Lepidopterans. 

ORICHA'LCUM.  (Gr.  opo;,  a  mountain,  and  xa^K°St 
brass.)  Literally,  mountain  brass.  This  was  the  name 
given  to  a  peculiar  kind  of  mixed  metal  in  general  use 
among  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans.  It  is  proved  to 
have  been  made  on  much  the  same  basis  as  brass ;  but 
various  opinions  have  been  entertained  respectine  the  pre- 
cise nature  of  the  ingredients  employed  in  its  composition, 
and  no  definite  conclusion  has  been  arrived  at  on  the  subject. 

O'RIEL.  (Etym.  uncertain.)  In  Gothic  Architecture,  a 
bay  window.  According  to  some  passages  in  earl}'  writers, 
it  seems  also  to  signify  a  recess ;  but  the  former  is  the  sig- 
Blficatiorj  now  usually  attached  to  it. 

O'KIENT.  (Lat.  orior,  /  rise.)  The  east,  or  eastern 
part  of  the  horizon.  In  Surveying,  to  orient  a  plan  signifies 
to  mark  its  situation  or  bearing  with  respect  to  the  four 
cardinal  points. 

O'RIFLA.MME.  The  ancient  royal  standard  of  France. 
It  was  the  banner  of  the  abbey  of  St.  Dennis,  which  was 
presented  by  the  abbot  to  the  lord-protector  of  the  convent, 
whenever  engaged  in  the  field  on  its  behalf.  This  protect- 
orship was  attached  to  the  countship  of  Vexin  ;  and  when 
that  county  was  added  to  the  possessions  of  the  crown  by 
Philip  I.,  this  banner,  which  he  bore  in  consequence,  be- 
came, in  time,  the  great  standard  of  the  monarchy.  By 
some  it  is  said  to  have  been  lost  at  Agincoiirt.  but,  accord- 
ing to  others,  its  last  display  in  the  field  was  in  the  reign  of 
Charles  VII.  Its  derivation  is  uncertain:  according  to 
some,  "quasi  nuri  flamrna."  According  to  Count  de  Gebe- 
lin,  the  last  syllable  is  the  same  with  "  fanon"  (Germ, 
fahnc).  Felibien  says  it  was  still  to  be  seen,  in  1535,  in  an 
abbey,  almost  devoured  by  moths.  (Sec  Mem.  de  I'.ic.  da 
Inter.,  vol.  xiii.) 


ORIGANUM,  OIL  OF. 

ORI'GANUM,  OIL  OF.  The  distilled  or  volatile  oil  of 
the  wild  marjoram.  It  is  imported  from  the  south  of  Eu- 
rope, and  used  in  liniments  and  embrocations  as  a  stim- 
ulant. 

ORIGENISTS.  An  earl}'  Christian  sect,  who  pretended 
to  draw  their  opinions  from  the  writings  of  the  celebrated 
Origen.  They  maintained  that  Christ  was  the  Son  of  God 
only  by  adoption  ;  and  denied  eternity  of  punishments. 
They  existed  in  considerable  numbers  In  the  fourth,  fifth, 
and  sixth  centuries,  and  their  tenets  spread  among  the 
monks  of  Egypt.  This  sect  of  Christians  must  by  no  means 
be  confounded  with  the  Origenarians,  who  sprang  up  at  a 
somewhat  later  period  than  the  former,  and  whose  tenets 
surpassed  in  abomination  even  those  of  the  Gnostics.  (See 
Moshcim,  transl.,  ed.  1790,  i.,  392.) 

ORI'GINAL.  (Lat.  originalis.)  In  Law,  where  the  sev- 
eral pans  of  an  indenture  are  interchangeably  executed  be- 
tween the  parties,  that  part  which  is  executed  by  the 
grantor  is  commonly  called  the  original,  the  others  counter- 
parts. (See  Indenture,  Counterpart.)  But,  when  all 
the  parties  execute  every  part,  all  are  originals.  The  ori- 
ginal of  any  deed  or  document  is  the  best  evidence  ;  and 
a  copy  not  admitted  until  reasonable  proof  has  been  given 
that  the  former  is  destroyed,  lost,  &c,  or  that  it  is  in  the 
possession  of  the  adverse  party,  who  has  been  duly  warned 
to  produce  it.  (See  Evidence.)  The  writ  which  a  plain- 
tiff sued  out  of  chancery,  in  order  to  commence  a  suit,  was 
formerly  called  an  "  original  writ ;"  the  use  of  it  is  abolish- 
ed, in  personal  actions,  by  2  W.  4.,  c.  39.     See  Pleading. 

Original.  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a  work  not  copied  from 
another,  but  the  work  of  the  artist  himself.  When  an  art- 
ist copies  his  own  work,  it  is  called  a  duplicate.  A  certain 
freedom  and  ease  are  always  discernible  in  an  original, 
which  in  a  copy  are  looked  for  in  vain ;  though  copies  have 
sometimes  been  executed  which  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
detect,  and  which  have  deceived  even  excellent  judges. 

ORI'GINAL  SIN,  in  Theology,  to  use  the  language  of 
the  English  church  in  her  ninth  article,  "  standeth  not  in 
the  following  of  Adam  .  .  .  but  is  the  fault  and  corruption  of 
the  nature  of  every  man  that  naturally  is  engendered  of  the 
offspring  of  Adam ;  whereby  man  is  very  far  gone  from 
original  righteousness,  and  is  of  his  own  nature  inclined  to 
evil,"  and  it  "deserveth  God's  wrath  and  damnation."  By 
the  following  of  Adam  is  here  meant  the  imitation  of  Adam ; 
the  Pelagians,  against  whom  this  article  is  directed,  having 
held  that  the  words  of  Scripture,  "  in  Adam  have  all  sin- 
ned," related  not  to  any  inherent  vice  in  the  race  of 
Adam,  but  to  the  propensity  of  mankind  to  imitate  his  trans- 
gression. (August.,  De  JVat.  ct  Gratia.)  With  this  excep- 
tion, the  original  depravity  of  man's  nature,  and  the  conse- 
quent necessity  of  "  a  new  birth  unto  righteousness,"  have 
been  commonly  held  by  all  sects  of  Christians.  But  a  great 
and  important  difference  has  prevailed  as  to  the  character 
and  cause  of  that  depravity.  The  belief  of  St.  Augustine  is 
thus  expressed  by  Bishop  Burnet :  "  That  a  covenant  was 
made  with  all  mankind  in  Adam  as  their  first  parent ;  that 
he  was  a  person  constituted  by  God  to  represent  them  all  ; 
and  that  the  covenant  was  made  by  him  so,  that  if  he  had 
obeyed,  all  his  posterity  would  have  been  happy  through 
his  obedience  ;  but  by  his  disobedience  they  were  all  to  be 
esteemed  to  have  sinned  in  him,  his  acts  being  imputed  and 
transferred  to  them  all."  This  doctrine  of  imputed  guilt 
has  been  held  by  many  of  the  stricter  sects  and  varieties  of 
Christians,  both  in  and  out  of  the  Church  of  Rome;  it  is 
said  by  some  to  be  the  most  consonant  to  the  words  of  our 
article,  as  no  doubt  it  is  to  the  views  of  the  framers  of  it, 
whose  sentiments  were  deeply  tinctured  with  Calvinism. 
But  it  may  be  questioned  whether  those  words  are  not  as 
easily  applicable  to  what  is,  undoubtedly,  the  more  common 
opinion  among  Protestant  Christians — that  original  sin  is 
not  the  sin  of  Adam  imputed  to  his  descendants,  but  is  that 
actual  depravity  and  tendency  to  evil  which  philosophy,  no 
less  than  religion,  recognises  as  existing  in  the  human 
mind,  and  developed  with  its  growth  in  each  individual 
subject ;  the  source  of  which,  or  its  permission  by  the  Di- 
vine Author  of  Good,  is  involved  in  the  inevitable  obscurity 
which  surrounds  the  great  question  of  the  origin  of  evil. 

ORI'LLON.  In  Fortification,  a  mass  of  earth  lined  with 
a  wall,  raised  on  the  shoulder  of  a  bastion  for  the  purpose 
of  covering  the  retired  flank. 

ORI'ON.  One  of  the  forty-eight  ancient  constellation* 
formed  by  Ptolemy.  It  is  situated  in  the  southern  hemi- 
sphere with  respect  to  the  ecliptic,  but  the  equinoctial  passes 
nearly  across  its  middle.  Orion  is  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able constellations  in  the  heavens.  It  contains  seven  stars, 
which  are  very  conspicuous  to  the  naked  eye  ;  four  of  them 
form  a  square,  and  the  three  others  are  situated  in  the  mid- 
dle of  it  in  a  straight  line.  Two  of  the  four  are  stars  of  the 
first  magnitude ;  namely,  Rigel  in  the  left  foot,  and  Betel- 
guese  in  the  right  shoulder.  The  three  stars  in  the  middle 
of  the  square  are  of  the  second  magnitude,  and  form  what 
is  called  the  belt  of  Orion.    They  are  also  popularly  called 


ORNITHOLOGY. 

Jacob's  staff,  and  the  Yard-wand.  This  constellation  is 
represented  by  the  figure  of  a  man  with  a  sword  by  his 
side.  The  name  Orion  is  of  great  antiquity,  and  occurs  in 
the  books  of  Job,  Amos,  and  Isaiah.  Orion  contains  a  re- 
markable nebula,  and  thousands  of  small  stars  which  are 
only  visible  in  powerful  telescopes. 

Orion.  In  Greek  Mythology,  the  son  of  Hyrieus  ;  ac- 
cording to  Homer,  a  youth  slain  by  Diana,  on  account  of 
the  love  borne  to  him  by  Aurora ;  but  according  to  others,  a 
king  and  a  mighty  hunter.  Antiquity  is  full  of  contradic- 
tions respecting  the  origin,  character,  and  fate  of  this  myth- 
ological personage,  and  the  only  point  in  which  it  agrees 
respecting  him  is  his  elevation  to  the  stars  after  his  death. 
Those  who  wish  to  see  all  the  circumstances  of  his  history 
philosophically  investigated  should  consult  the  dissertation 
of  the  late  Prof.  Muller  of  Gottingen,  Ubcr  Orion,  which 
appeared  in  the  Rhein,  Jtfus.  Phi/ol.,  ii.,  12. 

ORISMO'LOGY.  (Gr.  opiano;,  a  term,  and  \oyo{,  a  dis- 
course.) That  branch  of  natural  history  which  relates  to 
the  explanation  of  the  technical  terms  of  the  science.  It  is 
also  called  Glossology  and  Terminology. 

O'RLO.  (Ital.  a  hem  or  edge.)  In  Architecture,  the 
plinth  to  the  base  of  a  column  or  a  pedestal. 

O'RLOP  DECK.  The  lowest  deck,  or,  rather,  partial 
deck  of  a  ship,  below  the  water,  on  wliich  the  cables  are 
coiled,  the  sails,  &c,  stowed. 

ORMOLU.  (Fr.)  Bronze  or  copper,  gilt,  usually  goes 
under  this  name.  The  French  are  celebrated  in  this  branch 
of  manufacture. 

O'RNAMENT.  (Lat.  ornamentum.)  In  the  Fine  Arts. 
See  Decoration. 

ORNITHI'CNITES.  (Gr.  opvic,  a  bird,  txvoc,  a  trace.) 
The  footmarks  of  birds  which  occur  in  different  strata. 
Some  of  these  are  very  remarkable,  as  proving  the  existence 
of  birds  at  very  remote  periods ;  for  instance,  at  the  early 
epoch  of  the  new  red  sandstone  formation.  An  account  of 
these,  as  occurring  in  the  red  sandstone  of  Connecticut,  is 
given  by  Professor  Hitchcock  in  the  American  Journal  of 
Science  ami  the  Arts. 

ORNI'THOLITES.  (Gr.  opvic,  and  \i6oc,  a  stone.)  The 
name  given  to  fossil  birds. 

ORNITHO'LOGY.  (Gr.  opvic,  a  bird,  and  Xoyoc,  a  de- 
scription.) The  science  which  teaches  the  natural  history 
and  arrangement  of  birds.  (See  Aves  for  the  general  or- 
ganical  characters  of  the  class,  and  the  modifications  of  the 
feet  by  which  the  five  orders  of  the  Quinary  arrangement 
are  characterized.) 

The  subdivision  of  the  class  of  birds  is  by  no  means  so 
clearly  indicated  by  either  external  or  anatomical  charac- 
ters as  that  of  Mammals,  and  the  systems  of  Ornithology 
present,  in  consequence,  greater  discrepancy  than  the  Mam- 
malogical  ones.  It  is  not  without  interest  to  observe  that, 
if  conditions  of  the  procreative  function  be  taken  as  guides 
to  the  primary  division  of  the  class,  such  division  will  pre- 
sent the  binary  character,  as  in  the  class  of  Mammals  and  of 
Reptiles  ;  for  example,  birds  may  be  divided  into  two  great 
groups,  in  one  of  which  the  young  are  able  to  run  about  or 
swim  and  provide  food  for  themselves  the  moment  they 
quit  the  shell ;  while  in  the  other,  the  young  are  excluded 
feeble,  naked,  blind,  and  dependant  on  their  parents  for 
support.  The  species  comprised  in  the  first  of  these  groups 
have  been  termed  Aves  prcecoccs,  those  of  the  second  Aves 
Altrices. 

Professor  Nitzsch  divided  the  feathered  tribes  into  three 
grand  primary  groups,  corresponding  with  the  three  great 
divisions  of  the  matter  of  our  planet,  as  air,  earth,  and  wa- 
ter, which  constitute  respectively  the  principal  theatres  of 
their  vital  actions. 

This  first  order  consists  of  the  Raptorial  and  Passerine 
birds,  the  birds  of  flight  par  excellence,  which  he  accordingly 
terms  "  Luft-vbgeln,"  or  Aves  aerem.  The  second  order 
embraces  the  birds  of  the  earth,  "  Erd-vtigeln,"  Aves  terres- 
tres,  represented  by  the  ostrich  and  common  fowl.  The 
third  great  division  includes  the  birds  which  frequent  the 
waters,  Aves  aquaticm  (Wasser-vogeln),  typified  by  the 
heron  and  the  gull. 

Sandewall's  ornithological  system  has  four  primary 
groups  or  cohorts. 

In  the  Quinary  arrangement  of  birds  proposed  by  Mr. 
Vigors,  there  may  be  traced  a  similar  principle  to  that 
which  guided  Nitzsch  in  his  ternary  classification.  Thus, 
the  first  order  (Raptores,  Virg.)  includes  the  birds  which 
soar  in  the  upper  regions  of  the  air,  which  build  their  nests 
and  rear  their  young  on  the  highest  rocks  and  loftiest  trees. 
The  second  order  (Insessores)  includes  the  birds  which  af- 
fect the  lower  regions  of  the  air,  and  which  are  peculiarly 
arboreal  in  their  habits  ;  whence  the  name  of  Perchers. 
The  third  order  corresponds  with  Nitzsch's  Aves  terrestres 
and  is  termed,  as  in  the  system  of  Illiger,  Rasores.  If  the 
aquatic  birds  of  Nitzsch  be  divided  into  those  which  fre- 
quent the  fresh  waters,  and  are  restricted  to  wading  into 
rivers,  lakes,  &c,  in  search  of  their  food,  and  those  which 

863 


ORNITHOLOGY. 

have  the  power  of  swimming  or  diving,  and  for  the  most 
part  frequent  the  great  ocean,  we  shall  then  have  the  two 
remaining  orders  of  the  Quinary  arrangement,  viz.,  Gral- 
latorcs  and  Natatorcs.  The  chief  merit  of  this  arrange- 
ment is  its  aim  to  express  the  natural  affinities,  and  their 
circular  progression  in  the  whole  and  in  the  several  parts. 

Linnams  and  Cuvier  have  six  orders  of  birds,  which  are 
characterized  as  follows  by  the  latter  naturalist : 

"  Of  all  classes  of  animals,  that  of  birds  is  the  most 
strongly  characterized — that  in  which  the  species  bear  the 
greatest  mutual  resemblance,  and  which  is  separated  from 
all  others  by  the  widest  interval.  Their  systematic  ar- 
rangement is  based,  as  in  the  Mammalia,  on  the  organs  of 
manducation,  or  the  beak,  and  in  those  of  prehension,  which 
are  again  the  beak,  and  more  particularly  the  feet. 

"  One  is  first  struck  by  the  character  of  webbed  feet,  or 
those  wherein  the  toes  are  connected  by  membranes  that 
distinguish  all  swimming  birds.  The  backward  position  of 
their  feet,  the  elongation  of  the  sternum,  the  neck,  often 
longer  than  the  legs,  to  enable  them  to  reach  below  them, 
the  close,  glossy  plumage  impervious  to  water,  altogether 
concur  with  the  feet  to  make  good  navigators  of  the  Pal- 
mipedes. 

"  In  other  birds,  which  have  also  most  frequently  some 
small  web  to  their  feet,  at  least  between  the  two  external 
toes,  we  observe  elevated  tarsi ;  legs  denuded  of  feathers 
above  the  heel-joint;  a  slender  shape;  in  fine,  all  the 
requisites  for  wading  in  shallow  waters  in  search  of 
nourishment.  Such,  in  fact,  is  the  source  of  food  of  the 
greater  number;  and  although  some  of  them  resort  exclu- 
sively to  dry  places,  they  are  nevertheless  termed  'shore- 
birds'  or  'waders'  {Grallai). 

"Among  the  true  land  birds,  the  Gallinacea  have,  like 
our  domestic  cock,  a  heavy  carriage,  a  short  flight,  the  beak 
moderate,  its  upper  mandible  vaulted,  the  nostrils  partly 
covered  by  a  soft  and  tumid  scale,  and  always  the  edges  of 
the  toes  indented,  with  short  membranes  between  the  bases 
of  those  in  front.    They  subsist  chiefly  on  grain. 

"Birds  of  prey  (Accipitres)  have  a  crooked  beak,  with 
its  point  sharp  and  curving  downward,  and  the  nostrils 
pierced  in  a  membrane  that  invests  its  base:  their  feet  are 
tinned  with  strong  talons.  They  live  on  flesh  and  pursue 
other  birds;  their  flight  accordingly  is  mostly  powerful. 
The  greater  number  still  retain  a  slight  web  betwixt  their 
external  toes. 

"  The  Passerine  birds  (Passeres)  comprise  many  more 
species  than  all  the  other  families;  but  their  organization 
presents  so  many  analogies  that  they  cannot  be  separated, 
although  they  vary  much  in  size  and  strength. 

"Finally,  the  name  of  Climbers  (Scansores)  is  applied  to 
those  birds  in  which  the  external  toe  is  directed  backwards 
like  the  thumb,  because  the  greater  number  of  them  avail 
themselves  of  a  conformation  so  favourable  for  a  vertical 
position  to  climb  the  trunks  of  trees." 

Anterior  to  Cuvier,  but  subsequently  in  the  order  of  pub- 
lication, is  Pallas's  modification  of  the  ornithological  system 
of  Linnaus.  It  is  contained  in  his  great  posthumous  work, 
entitled  Zoographia  Rosso-Asiatica.  lie  also  divides  the 
class  of  birds  into  six  orders : 

1.  Prespetes,  having  the  characters  of  the  Accipitres,  with 

which  it  is  synonymous. 

2.  Oscincs,  including  the  genus  Columba,  with  the  Piece  and 

certain  Passeres  of  Linnants. 

3.  Fringi/la>,  corresponding  with  the   Crassirostres,  Gra- 

nivoriB,  Enucleatrices  of  Ray. 

4.  Pulvi  ratriees,  having  the  characters  of  the  Qallinm. 

5.  Grallce.    This  order  commences  with  the  genus    Otis, 

and  includes,  as  in  the  system  of  Cuvier,  the  Struthi- 
ous  birds  with  the  true  waders. 
C.  Jlydrophiles.    The  characters  of  this  order  corresponds 
With  that  of  the  Palmipedes,  with  which  it  is  equiva- 
lent   As  an  example   of  the  views  entertained  and 
expressed  by  Pallas  of  relations  of  analogy,  the  follow- 
ing passage  may  be  taken  from  his  exposition  of  the 
nature  of  his  Hydrophila:  "  Rostra  in  hoc  ordine  ad- 
modum  variant,  at  Dallas  ordinis  character  inde  desumi 
possit,  et  quasi  reliquos  ordines  amulari  videntur  ut 
Diomedca  et  Catarracta,  Bapaces,  Lari,  xirrrxr,  Alecs, 
Cepphi  et  Colymbi,  Oscines  ;    Dries,  Pulveratriees,  /.nu- 
des, Passeres,  et  tandem  Serratirostria  genera  Phoeni- 
copterum  et  Plataleam  inter  Grallas  referant." 
The  primary  division  of  the  class  of  birds  adopted  by  the 
author  of  the  article  "  Aves,"  in  the  Cyclopedia  of  Anatomy 
and  Physiology,  includes  seven  orders  ;  the  Struthlous  birds, 
by  virtue  of  their  remarkable  anatomical  peculiarities,  be- 
inu'   separated   from  the   Grallie  of  Linnoms  and  Cuvier. 
The  following  are  the  orders  : 

3.  Raptorks,  Accipitres,  Linn.  Cuv.    Birds  of  prey. 
'J    1ns!:ssores,  Passeres,  Cuv.     Perchers. 

3.  Scansores,  Cuv.    Climbers. 

4.  Kasorks,  Gultina.    Linn.  Cuv.    Scratchers. 

804 


ORRERY. 

5.  CfRsoREs,  III ig.    Coursers. 
0.  Grallatores,  Grallis,  Linn.     Waders. 
7.  Natatores,  Palmipedes,  Cuv.;  Anseres,  Linn.    Swim- 
mers. 

Scopoli  and  Latham  have  divided  birds  into  nine  orders  ; 
Temminck  has  sixteen  orders  ;  Brisson  has  twenty-eight, 
and  Lacepede  has  thirty-eight  orders ;  but  the  principles 
and  the  characters  on  which  a  classification  of  birds  is  most 
philosophically  founded,  appear  to  be  sufficiently  illustrated 
in  the  systems  that  have  been  already  explained. 

ORNl'THOMAiNCY.  (Gr.  opvis,  u<nrua,  divination.) 
Divination  by  the  flight  of  birds.  The  Etruscans  were  the 
most  celebrated  practisers  of  it.     See  Augurs. 

ORNI'THORHY'NCHUS.  (Gr.  opvis,  j>vy%oc,  a  beak.) 
The  name  of  the  genus  of  Monotrematous  Mammals,  cha- 
racterized by  the  form  of  the  mouth,  which  resembles  the 
bill  of  a  duck.  It  is  peculiar  to  the  fresh-water  rivers  and 
lakes  of  Australia  and  Van  Dicmen's  Land. 

OROMA'SDES.  In  Persian  Mythology,  the  principle  of 
Good,  created  by  the  will  of  the  great  eternal  spirit  Ze- 
ruane  Akherene,  simultaneously  with  Ahriman,  the  princi- 
ple of  Evil,  with  whom  he  is  in  perpetual  conflict.  Oro- 
masdes  is  the  creator  of  the  earth,  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  to 
which  he  originally  assigned  each  its  proper  place,  and 
whose  various  movements  he  continues  to  regulate.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Persian  myths,  the  world  which  is  to  last 
152,000  years,  during  which  the  war  between  the  Good  and 
Evil  Principle  is  to  go  on  increasing,  is  at  length  to  be  con- 
sumed, the  Evil  Principle  exterminated,  and  a  new  world 
created  in  its  room,  over  which  Oromasdes  is  to  reign  as  the 
sole  and  supreme  monarch.  The  great  apostle  of  the 
Persians,  Zoroaster,  was  the  prophet  of  Oromasdes ;  and 
there  is  an  old  prophecy  extant  that  after  the  lapse  of  ages 
a  descendant  of  Zoroaster  shall  be  sent  by  Oromasdes  to 
redeem  the  world.  Here  we  cannot  fail  to  perceive  how 
striking  a  resemblance  exists  between  the  old  Persian  myth 
and  that  grand  scheme  of  redemption  communicated  by  the 
Almighty  to  the  Jews,  and  which  was  consummated  by 
the  advent  of  Jesus  Christ..     See  Ahriman,  Polytheism. 

O'RPHEAN  MYSTERIES.  The  mysteries  of  which 
Orpheus  was  the  founder  were  so  called.  These  myste- 
ries were  at  a  remote  period  in  the  highest  estimation,  and 
exercised  an  important  influence  over  the  intellectual  de- 
velopment of  mankind.  Orpheus  is  said  to  have  been 
taught  his  mysteries  by  the  Ida>an  Dactyli;  and  to  have  in- 
troduced them  into  Thrace,  whence  they  were  gradually 
propagated  throughout  all  Greece  by  his  initiated  followers. 
The  nature  of  these  mysteries  is  involved  in  an  impenetra- 
ble veil  of  obscurity  ;  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they 
partook  of  the  general  character  of  all  mysteries,  inculca- 
ting a  purer  knowledge  of  religion  than  was  compatible 
with  the  superstitious  observances  then  prevalent.  On  the 
union  of  these  mysteries  with  the  Bacchanalian  orgies 
they  fell  into  merited  contempt,  and  were  at  length  gradu- 
ally disused.  (Sec  Mysteries.)  The  initiated  in  these 
mysteries,  as  well  as  the  persons  employed  to  initiate  can- 
didates in  them,  were  called,  in  some  cases,  Orphrote/estie. 

O'RPHEIJS.  A  mythological  personage ;  according  to 
the  common  story,  a  son  of  the  Thracian  river  .Eagrus  and 
the  muse  Calliope.  His  power  of  moving  inanimate  things 
by  music,  the  share  he  bore  in  the  Argonautic  expedition, 
his  descent  into  the  Shades  to  recover  bis  wife  Eurydice, 
and  his  death  by  the  violence  of  the  Thracian  women,  are 
well-known  circumstances  in  ancient  romantic  fable.  Mo- 
derns have  imagined  that  his  name  is  a  general  mythic 
designation  for  the  earliest  bards,  who  came  with  their  art 
from  Thrace  to  Greece.  Whether  any  fragments  of  poetry, 
either  of  the  real  Orpheus  or  of  this  supposed  school,  ex- 
isted in  Grecian  classical  ages,  has  been  doubted.  What 
passed  as  the  poetry  of  Orpheus  in  the  time  of  Aristotle 
seems  to  have  been  decidedly  supposititious,  as  much  so  as 
the  poems  which  we  possess  under  the  same  name,  some 
of  which  are  thought  to  be  as  recent  as  the  4th  century 
after  Christ.  According  to  modern  theories,  the  Orphic 
poetry  of  ancient  times  contained  the  whole  body  of  Gre- 
cian esoterical  religion  and  import  of  the  Mysteries.  (See 
Lobeck's  Aglaophamus  ;  Bode's  Orpheus;  Tiedemann,  Ini- 
tia  Philosophies  Grata  :  the  History  of  the  Literature  of 
Greece,  Lib.  I1.  K.  p. '2:11  :  .Mem.  de  V.  Icad.des  Sci.,  vol.  xii.) 

O'RPIMENT.  (Lat.  auripii'inentum.)  Yellow  stilphu- 
*rct  of  arsenic;  it  forms  the  basis  of  the  yellow  paint, 
called  king's  yellow.  The  solution  oforplment  in  ammonia 
ha-  been  used  as  a  yellow  dye. 

O'RPIN.  (Pr.)  In  Painting,  a  yellow  colour  of  various 
degrees  of  intensity,  approaching  also  to  red. 

O'BPINE.  The  English  name  for  the  succulent  herba- 
ceous plant  called  by  botanists  Sedum  telephium,  which  see. 

O'BBEBY.  A  machine  for  representing  to  children  the 
motions  anil  relate  S  magnitudes  and  distance-  of  the  bodies 
COmposinL'  the  -olar  system.  As  these  machines  are  often 
procured  by  Well-meaning  but  ignorant  people  at  considera- 
ble expense,  it  may  be  useful  to  quote  un  authority  that 


ORRIS  ROOT. 

will  not  be  called  in  question.  "  As  to  getting  correct  no- 
tions on  this  subject"  (the  magnitudes  and  distances  of  the 
planets),  says  Sir  John  Herschel,  "  by  drawing  circles  on 
paper,  or,  still  worse,  from  those  very  childish  toys  called 
orreries,  it  is  out  of  the  question."  {Astronomy,  Cab.  Cyc, 
p.  287.  For  the  description  of  an  orrery,  see  Ferguson's 
Astronomy,  by  Brewster.) 

O'RRIS  ROOT.  The  root  of  the  Iris  Florentine  It 
has  an  agreeable  odour,  much  like  violets,  and  is  sometimes 
used  in  perfumed  powders  ;  it  is  also  turned  into  little  balls 
for  issues,  called  orris  peas. 

O'RTHITE.  (Gr.  opdos,  straight.)  A  mineral  which 
occurs  in  straight  rays  or  layers  in  Scandinavian  granite. 
It  contains  cerium  and  yttria. 

ORTHO'CERATES,  Orthocerata.  (Gr.  opOos,  and  Kcpas, 
a  horn.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Cephalopods  with 
chambered  siphoniferous  shells,  which  are  straight,  or  are 
continued  straight  after  commencing  with  a  greater  or  less 
curvature,  thus  resembling  a  horn. 

O'RTHODOX,  or  ORTHODOXY.  (Gr.  opQos,  and  So^a, 
opinion.)  These  terms  are  restricted  in  application  to  right 
judgments  in  matters  of  religious  faith  ;  and  although  every 
sect  maintains  of  course  the  exclusive  correctness  of  its 
own  views,  yet  the  title  of  orthodoxy  is  appropriated  by 
ecclesiastical  historians  to  the  standard  maintained  by  the 
Catholic  or  universal  church.  The  term  orthodox  is  gene- 
rally restricted  also  to  those  principal  tenets  which  have 
been  always  held  by  the  great  mass  of  professing  Chris- 
tians: large  bodies  of  dissenters  in  England  are  allowed  by 
the  church  to  be  orthodox,  inasmuch  as  they  hold  the  three 
creeds,  and  therefore  profess  the  principal  articles  of  the 
Christian  faith  in  common  with  those  who  differ  from  them 
in  matters  of  church  authority  and  discipline. 

ORTHODROMICS  (Gr.  opQos,  and  ipouos,  course),  in 
Navigation,  is  sailing  on  a  right  course,  or  on  the  arc  of  a 
great  circle,  which  is  the  shortest  distance  between  two 
points  on  the  sphere. 

O'RTHOEPY.  (Gr.  op9os,  and  ciroc,  a  word),  in  Gram- 
mar, signifies,  literally,  the  right  use  of  words;  but  it  is 
applied,  at  least  by  modern  writers,  to  signify  that  part  of 
prosody  which  treats  of  the  manner  of  uttering  words,  or 
of  pronunciation  in  its  limited  sense.  See  Pronunciation. 
ORTHO'GONAL.  (Gr.  opOos,  and  yuvia,  angle.)  In 
Geometry,  the  same  as  rectangular  or  right-angled. 

ORTHOGRA'PHIC  PROJECTION.  The  projection  of 
points  on  a  plane  by  straight  lines  at  right  angles  to  the 
plane.     See  Projection. 

ORTHO'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  opOog,  and  ypcKpu,  I  write.) 
That  part  of  grammar  which  relates  to  the  method  of  de- 
noting sounds  by  visible  signs,  to  the  different  kinds  of 
letters,  and  their  combination  into  syllables  and  words. 

Orthography.  In  Architecture,  a  geometrical  repre- 
sentation of  an  elevation  or  section  of  a  building. 

O'RTHOPNCG'A.  (Gr.  opOo?,  and  -vorj,  breathing.)  A 
difficulty  of  breathing,  which  is  increased  by  any  deviation 
from  the  erect  posture. 

ORTHO'PTERANS,  Orthoptera.  (Gr.  op8os,  and  -nrcpov, 
a  wing.)  An  order  of  insects,  including  all  those  species 
which  have  the  wings  disposed  when  at  rest  in  straight 
longitudinal  folds.  Latreille  characterizes  the  insects  of 
this  order  as  having  the  body  generally  less  firm  in  texture 
than  in  the  Coleoptera,  and  covered  by  soft  semi-membra- 
nous elytra  furnished  with  nervures,  which,  in  the  greater 
Eumber,  do  not  join  at  the  suture  in  a  straight  line.  Their 
wings  are  folded  longitudinally,  most  frequently  in  the 
manner  of  a  fan,  and  divided  by  membranous  nervures 
tunning  in  the  same  direction.  The  maxillae  are  always 
terminated  by  a  dentated  and  horny  piece  covered  with  a 
galea,  an  appendage  corresponding  to  the  exterior  division 
of  the  maxilla;  of  the  Coleoptera.  They  have  also  a  sort 
©f  tongue. 

The  Ortkoptera  undergo  a  semi-metamorphosis,  of  which 
all  the  mutations  are  reduced  to  the  growth  and  develop- 
ment of  the  elytra  and  wings,  that  are  always  visible  in  a 
rudimental  state  in  the  nymph.  As  both  this  nymph,  or 
semi-nymph,  and  the  larva  are  otherwise  similar  to  the 
perfect  insect,  they  walk  and  feed  in  the  same  way. 

The  mouth  of  the  Orthoptera  consists  of  a  labium,  two 
mandibles,  as  many  maxilla?,  and  four  palpi :  those  of  the 
jaws  always  have  five  joints ;  whilst  the  labial  palpi,  as 
in  the  Coleoptera,  present  but  three.  The  mandibles  are 
always  very  strong  and  corneous,  and  the  ligula  is  constantly 
divided  into  two  or  four  thongs.  The  form  of  the  antennas 
varies  less  than  in  the  Coleoptera,  but  they  are  usually 
composed  of  a  greater  number  of  joints.  Several,  besides 
their  reticulated  eyes,  have  two  or  three  ocelli.  The  infe- 
rior surface  of  the  first  joints  of  the  tarsi  is  frequently 
fleshy  or  membranous.  Many  females  are  furnished  with  a 
true  perforater  formed  of  two  blades,  frequently  enclosed  in 
a  common  envelop,  by  means  of  which  they  deposit  their 
eggs.  The  posterior  extremity  of  the  body,  in  most  of  them, 
is  provided  with  appendages. 
73 


ORYZA. 

All  the  known  Orthoptera,  without  exception,  are  terres- 
trial, even  in  their  two  first  states  of  existence.  Some  are 
carnivorous,  or  omnivorous,  but  the  greater  number  feed  on 
living  plants. 

O'RTIVE.  (Lat.  ortus,  a  rising.)  In  astronomy,  hav- 
ing reference  to  the  rising  of  a  star  or  planet;  thus,  ortive 
amplitude,  or  eastern  amplitude,  is  the  arc  of  the  horizon 
intercepted  between  the  point  where  a  star  rises  and  the 
east  point. 

O'RTOLAN.  The  name  given  in  France  and  England 
to  a  species  of  Frangillidm  greatly  esteemed  for  the  delicacy 
of  its  flesh  when  in  season.  It  is  the  ortolano  of  the  Ital- 
ians, and  the  fettammer  of  the  Germans.  The  ortolan  is  a 
native  of  northern  Africa ;  but  in  the  summer  and  autumnal 
months  it  resorts  to  southern  Europe,  and  frequently  mi- 
grates to  the  central  and  even  the  northern  parts.  There 
are  large  establishments  in  Italy  and  in  the  south  of  France 
for  feeding  these  birds,  the  flesh  of  which  is  styled  by 
Prince  Musignano  came  squisita. 

O'RUS,  or  HORUS.  An  Egyptian  god,  son  of  Isis  and 
Osiris,  according  to  Herodotus  (ii.  144) ;  answering  to  the 
Greek  Apollo.  He  frequently  appears  in  Egyptian  paintings 
sitting  on  the  lap  of  Isis.  (See  Egyptian  Antiquities,  Lon- 
don, 1836,  vol.  ii.) 

ORVl'ETAN.  An  antidote  to  poison,  said  to  have  been 
invented  by  a  mountebank  of  Orvieta  in  Italy. 

ORY'CTEROPE.  (Gr.  opvaau,  I  dig,  and  nov;,  a  foot.) 
A  genus  of  Edentate  Mammals  peculiar  to  the  African 
continent,  and  provided  with  feet  and  claws  well  adapted 
for  digging;  from  which  circumstance,  and  the  heavy 
shapeless  form  of  the  only  known  species  of  this  genus,  it 
is  commonly  called  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  the  ground- 
hog. The  principal  food  of  the  orycterope  is  the  termite 
and  other  species  of  ants,  which  it  dislodges  by  its  strong 
and  sharp  claws,  and  entraps  by  means  of  a  long  extensi- 
ble and  glutinous  tongue.  It  differs  from  the  true  ant-eat- 
ers principally  in  having  molar  teeth.  The  orycterope  is 
about  the  size  of  a  hog,  stands  low,  has  short  hair,  and  is  of 
grayish-brown  colour.  It  has  four  toes  before  and  five  be- 
hind, and  inhabits  burrows.    Its  flesh  is  eaten. 

ORYCTO'GNO'SY,  or  ORYCTO'LOGY.  (Gr.  opvtcroc, 
fossil,  and  \oyos,  a  discourse.)  The  branch  of  zoological 
science  which  treats  of  fossil  organic  remains.  These 
terms  are  sometimes  used  to  denote  those  parts  of  mineral- 
ogy which  have  for  their  object  the  classification  of  mine- 
rals, their  description,  nomenclature,  and  arrangement. 

ORY'ZA.  (Arab,  aruz.)  The  name  by  which  rice  was 
known  to  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  which  has 
been  adopted  by  modern  botanists  as  the  generic  name  of 
the  plant  yielding  that  invaluable  grain.  The  genus  Oryza 
belongs  to  the  class  Hezandria,  order  Dygynia ;  and  has 
ten  glumes  to  a  single  flower,  and  two  halea,  nearly  equal, 
adhering  to  the  seed.  It  affords  many  varieties,  of  which 
the  most  common  is  the  Oryza  sativa,  or  the  English  rice. 
This  plant  is  raised  in  immense  quantities  in  India,  China, 
and  most  eastern  countries;  in  the  West  Indies,  Central 
America,  and  the  United  States;  and  in  some  of  the  south- 
ern countries  of  Europe.  It,  in  fact,  occupies  the  same 
place  in  most  intertropical  regions  as  wheat  in  the  warmer 
parts  of  Europe,  and  oats  and  rye  in  those  more  to  the 
north.  Forming,  as  it  does,  the  principal  part  of  the  food 
of  the  most  civilized  and  populous  eastern  nations,  it  is 
more  extensively  consumed  than  any  other  species  of  grain. 
It  is  light  and  wholesome,  but  it  is  said  to  contain  less  of  the 
nutritive  principle  than  wheat.  When  rough,  or  in  its  na- 
tural state  in  the  husk,  it  is  called  paddy.  There  is  an 
immense  variety  in  the  qualities  of  rice.  That  which  is 
principally  exported  from  Bengal  has  received  the  name  of 
cargo  rice.  It  is  of  a  coarse  reddish  cast,  but  is  sweet  and 
large-grained,  and  is  preferred  by  the  natives  to  every  other 
sort.  It  is  not  kiln-dried,  but  is  parboiled  in  earthen  pots  or 
caldrons,  partly  to  destroy  the  vegetative  principle,  so  that 
it  may  keep  better,  and  partly  to  facilitate  the  process  of 
husking.  Patna  rice  is  more  esteemed  in  Europe  than  any 
other  sort  of  rice  imported  from  the  East.  It  is  small- 
grained,  rather  long  and  wiry,  and  remarkably  white.  But 
the  rice  raised  on  the  low  marshy  grounds  of  Carolina  is 
unquestionably  very  superior  to  any  brought  from  any  part 
of  India. 

The  produce  of  lands  naturally  or  artificially  irrigated  is, 
as  far  as  rice  is  concerned,  from  5  to  10  times  greater  than 
that  of  dry  land  having  no  command  of  water  ;  and  hence 
the  vast  importance  of  irrigation  in  all  countries  where  this 
grain  is  cultivated.  But  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  owing 
to  the  not  unfrequent  occurrence  of  severe  droughts,  there 
is  a  greater  variation  in  the  crops  of  rice  than  in  those  of 
any  other  species  of  grain.  Those  who,  like  the  Hindoos, 
depend  almost  entirely  on  it  for  subsistence,  are  conse- 
quently placed  in  a  very  precarious  situation.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  famines  are  at  once  more  frequent  and  se- 
vere in  Hindostan  than  in  any  other  quarter. 
A  few  vears  ago,  England  was  principally  supplied  with 
3H  805 


OSCHOPHORIA. 

cleaned  rice  from  Carolina.  Latterly,  however,  the  imports 
of  Carolina  rice  have  been  much  reduced.  An  improved 
method  of  separating  the  husk,  which  throws  out  the  grain 
dean  and  unbroken,  has  recently  been  practised  in  this 
country ;  and  as  the  grain  when  in  the  husk  is  found  to  pre- 
serve its  flavour  and  sweetness  better  during  a  long  voyage 
than  u  lien  shelled,  large  quantities  are  now  imported  rough 
from  Bengal  ami  the  united  states.  Unquestionably,  how- 
ever, the  oppressive  discriminating  duty  of  145.  a  cwt.  on 
American  and  other  foreign  cleaned  rice  has  done  more 
than  anything  else  to  increase  the  imports  of  rough  grain  ; 
and  the  fact  of  the  duty  on  paddy  from  Bengal  being  only 
id.  per  quarter,  while  that  on  paddy  from  Carolina  is  2s. 
{>,/.  a  bushel,  sufficiently  accounts  for  the  increased  imports 
from  the  former.     (See  Com.  Diet.,  art.  "Rice.") 

OSCHOPHO'RIA.  A  celebrated  festival  observed  by 
the  Athenians;  for  full  information  respecting  which  the 
reader  is  referred  to  Plutarch's  Life  of  Theseus,  by  whom 
it  was  instituted.  The  name  is  derived  from  a-o  tov  (pepcif 
rac  oo\ac,  from  carrying  o<7,\"<>  '■  e->  boughs  hung  up  with 
grapes. 

OSCrLLA'TION.  (Lat.  oscillatio.)  In  Mechanics,  the 
vibration  or  alternate  ascent  and  descent  of  a  pendulous 
liody.  (See  Pendulum.)  The  centre  of  oscillation  is  a 
point  in  the  oscillating  body,  such  that  if  all  the  matter  of 
the  body  were  there  collected  the  oscillations  would  be 
performed  in  the  same  time.  (See  Centre  of  Oscilla- 
tion.) The  axis  of  oscillation  is  a  straight  line  passing 
through  the  point  of  suspension  parallel  to  the  horizon,  or 
perpendicular  to  the  plane  in  which  the  oscillation  is  made. 
Oscillations  in  small  arcs  of  a  circle,  or  in  cycloidal  arcs  of 
any  length,  are  isochronal,  or  performed  in  equal  times.  Sec 
Cycloid. 

OSCILLATO'RIA.  Minute  filamentous  organized  beings, 
which  have  the  faculty  of  exercising  oscillatory  movements. 
OSCULATING  CIRCLE.  See  Osculation. 
OSCULATION.  (Lat.  osculare,  to  embrace.)  In  Geo- 
metry, one  curve  is  said  to  osculate  another  when  the  two 
curves  are  in  contact  in  such  a  manner  that  the  number  of 
points  common  to  both  is  the  greatest  possible.  Let  A  B 
be  a  curve,  of  which  A  C  is  the  cvolute ;  from  P  any  part 
in  A  B  draw  P  C,  to  touch  AC  in  C. 
With  C  as  a  centre,  and  a  radius  C  P, 
describe  a  circle  mn;  then  the  circle 
mn  osculates  the  curve  AB  at  the 
point  P.  From  the  theory  of  the  evo- 
lution of  curve  lines,  the  curvature  of 
A  B  at  the  point  P  is  equal  to  that 
of  the  circle ;  in  fact,  it  is  obvious 
from  the  development  that  the  curva- 
ture of  the  involute  at  any  point  be- 
tween A  and  P  is  greater  than  that 
of  the  circle,  and  at  any  point  beyond  P  it  is  less  than  that 
of  the  circle,  consequently  at  P  it  is  exactly  the  same  as 
that  of  the  circle  described  with  the  radius  CP.  The  circle 
mn  lias,  therefore,  a  more  intimate  contact  witli  A  B  than 
any  other  circle  which  passes  through  P. 

The  theory  of  osculating  curves  in  general  is  most  easily 
explained  by  the  methods  of  the  differential  calculus.  Let 
y=fz  and  y  =  Fx  be  the  equations  of  two  curves;  sup- 
pose x  to  become  i-f-A,  and  let  the  functions  /(x-f-A), 
F(z  +  A),  be  developed  by  Taylor's  theorem;  then,  if  all 
the  terms  of  the  first  development  are  respectively  equal  to 
the  corresponding  terms  of  the  second,  the  curves  are  the 
same  in  every  respect,  or  coincide.  If  the  first  terms  only 
are  equal,  the  two  curves  have  only  one  common  point ; 
if  the  two  first  terms  of  the  one  development  are  respect- 
ively equal  to  the  two  first  of  the  other,  then  two  contiguous 
points  coincide,  or  are  common  to  both  curves  ;  if  the  three 
first  terms  in  each  are  respectively  equal,  the  curves  have 
three  common  points,  and  so  on.  Now  the  number  of 
terms  «f  the  first  development  which  can  be  made  equal  to 
the  corresponding  terms  of  the  second  depends  on  the  num- 
ber of  constants  in  the  function  f  z.  (supposing  F  x  to  contain 
more  constants  than  fx).  The  equations  of  a  straight  line 
being  y=.ax-\- b,  contains  two  constants;  the  straight  line 
can  thus  be  made  to  coincide  with  two  contiguous  points 
of  a  curve:  it  then  becomes  a  tangent,  and  the  contact  is 
said  to  be  of  the  first  order.  The  general  equation  of  the 
circle  is  (y —  ft)2-4-(z —  a)2  =  r2,  and  contains  three  con- 
stants; a  circle  can  therefore  be  determined  which  shall 
have  three  common  points  with  n  curve:  it  then  osculates 
the  curve,  and  the  contact  is  said  to  be  of  the  second  order. 
In  general,  if  the  equation  of  the  osculating  curve,  is  of  the 
order  »,  it  may  have  a  contact  of  the  same  order  with  the 
curve  which  it  osculates  ;  and  it  is  a  consequence  of  this 
theory  that  no  osculating  curve  of  an  inferior  order  can  he 
made  to  pass  between  (WO  curves  having  a  contact  of  a 
hiylier  order:  for  example,  no  straight  line  can  be  drawn 
through  P  between  the  curve  AP  and  its  osculating  circle 
mPn.  (Lagrange,  Theorie  ihs  Functions  Analytiquie; 
Lacroix,  Traiti  du.  Calcul  JJiffircntitl  U  Integral.) 


OSSEOUS  BRECCIA. 

OSIA'NDRIANS.  In  Ecclesiastical  Historv,  a  sect 
among  the  Lutherans;  so  called  from  their  founder  Osi- 
ander.  a  celebrated  divine.  They  differed  from  the  fol- 
lowers of  Luther  and  Calvin  as  "to  the  efficient  cause  of 
justification. 

O'SIER.  The  name  given  to  various  species  of  willow 
or  salix,  chiefly  employed  in  basket-making  on  account  of 
their  tough  flexible  shoots.  (See  Loudon's  Jlrbi/retum 
Britannicum,  p.  1490,  which  contains  full  information  on 
all  the  points  relative  to  osiers.) 

OSI'RIS.  In  Mythology,  one  of  the  chief  Egyptian  di- 
vinities, the  brother  and  husband  of  Isis.  and,  together  with 
her,  the  greatest  benefactor  of  Egypt,  into  which  he  intro- 
duced a  knowledge  of  religion,  laws,  and  the  arts  and 
sciences.  After  having  accomplished  great  reformations  at 
home,  he  visited  the  greater  part  of  Europe  and  Asia,  where 
he  enlightened  the  minds  of  men  by  teaching  them  the 
worship  of  the  gods  and  the  arts  of  civilization  ;  but,  on  his 
return,  he  found  his  own  subjects  excited  to  rebellion  by 
his  brother  Typhon,  by  whose  hand  he  was  ultimately 
assassinated.  Both  ancient  and  modern  writers  have  dif- 
fered considerably  respecting  the  powers  and  attributes  of 
Osiris.*  His  principal  office,  as  an  Egyptian  deity,  was  to 
judge  the  dead,  and  to  rule  over  that  kingdom  into  which 
the  souls  of  the  good  were  admitted  to  eternal  felicity.  The 
characters  of  Osiris,  like  those  of  Isis,  who  was  thence 
called  Myrionymus,  or  "  with  10,000  names,"  were  numer- 
ous. He  was  that  attribute  of  the  deity  which  signified  the 
divine  goodness;  and  in  his  most  mysterious  and  sacred 
office,  as  an  avatar,  or  manifestation  of  the  divinity  on 
earth,  he  was  superior  to  any  even  of  the  Egyptian  gods; 
for,  as  Herodotus  observes,  though  all  the  Egyptians  did  not 
worship  the  same  gods  with  equal  reverence,  the  adoration 
paid  to  Osiris  and  Isis  was  universal.  He  was  styled  "  the 
Manifester  of  Good ;"  and  to  this  title  he  had  an  undisputed 
right,  for  he  appeared  on  earth  to  benefit  mankind ;  and 
after  having  performed  the  duties  he  had  come  to  fulfil, 
and  fallen  a  sacrifice  to  Typhon  the  evil  principle  (which 
was  at  length  overcome  by  his  influence  after  his  leaving 
the  world),  he  "  rose  again  to  a  new  life,"  and  became  the 
"judge  of  mankind  in  a  future  state."  Other  titles  of  Osiris 
were,  "President  of  the  West,"  "Lord  of  the  East,"  "Lord 
of  Lords,"  "Eternal  Ruler,"  "King  of  the  Gods,"  &c.  These, 
with  many  others,  are  commonly  found  in  the  hieroglyphic 
legends  accompanying  his  figure  ;  and  the  Papyri  frequently 
present  a  list  of  49  names  of  Osiris  in  the  funeral  rituals. 
Osiris  has  been  identified  with  many  of  the  Grecian  divini- 
ties; but  more  especially  with  Jupiter,  Pluto,  and  with 
Bacchus,  on  account  of  his  reputed  conquest  of  India. 
Osiris  was  particularly  worshipped  at  Philae  and  Abvdus: 
so  sacred  was  the  former  that  no  one  was  permitted  to  visit 
it  without  express  permission  ;  and  the  latter  was  regarded 
with  such  veneration  that  persons  living  at  a  distance  from 
it  sought,  and  with  difficulty  obtained,  permission  to  possess 
a  sepulchre  within  its  necropolis.  The  worship  of  Osiris 
was  at  a  later  period  introduced  into  Rome ;  but  the  prurient 
imagination  of  the  Romans  soon  converted  the  rites  and 
mysteries  of  this  deity  into  a  means  for  practising  the  most 
unbounded  licentiousness,  which  at  length  reached  such  a 
height  that  his  worship  was  prohibited  by  law.  Osiris  was 
venerated  under  the  form  of  the  sacred  bulls  Apis  and 
Mnevis;  or  as  a  human  figure  with  a  bull's  head,  distin- 
guished by  the  name  Apis-Osiris.  He  is  usually  represented 
as  clad  in  pure  white;  and  his  usual  attributes  are  the  bigh 
cap  of  Upper  Egypt,  a  crosier,  a  flageilum,  and  sometimes  a 
spotted  skin,  an  emblem  supposed  to  connect  him  with  the 
Grecian  Bacchus.  (For  full  particulars  respecting  the  sup- 
posed history  of  Osiris,  together  with  explanations  thereof, 
we  beg  to  refer  to  Plutarch's  Treatise  on  Isis  and  Osiris  ; 
and  for  a  resume  of  the  whole  subject  illustrated  with 
ingenious  observations,  the  reader  may  consult  Sir  O. 
U  ilkinson's  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Jlncient  Egyjt- 
tians.)     See  Isis. 

O'SMAZOME.  (Gr.  ov/in,  odour,  and  rui^oe,  broth.) 
The  extractive  matter  of  muscular  fibre,  which  gives  the 
peculiar  smell  to  boiled  meat,  and  flavour  to  broth  and 
soup. 

O'SMIUM.  A  metallic  substance  found  associated  with 
the  ore  of  platinum;  its  peroxide  is  extremely  volatile,  nnd 
has  a  peculiar  pungent  odour,  which  suggested  the  name 
of  the  metal  :  from  00707,  odour.  Neither  osmium  nor  its 
compounds  have  been  applied  to  any  use,  and  it  is  a  rare 
substance. 

O'SSEANS,  OSSEI,  or  PISCES  OSSEL  In  Ichthy- 
ology, a  primary  division  of  the  class  of  fishes,  including 
all  those  Which  have  a  true  bony  skeleton. 

OSSEOUS  BRECCIA.  The  cemented  mass  of  bone 
found  in  certain  caverns  and  fissures  of  rocks. 


*  So  cautious  were  those  initiated  into  the  wnr-hip  of  Oailit.  tint  they 
made  a  scruple  even  of  mentioning  him;  ami  cjerodotus,  wherever  he 
reli'es  anylhmg  concerning  Ibis  deity,  excuses  himself  from  altering  his 
name. 


OSSIAN'S  POEMS. 

O' SSI  AX'S  POEMS.  The  name  given  to  a  colleciinn 
of  poems,  alleged  to  have  been  the  production  of  Ossian, 
the  son  of  Fingal,  a  Scottish  bard,  who  lived  in  the  third 
century.  They  were  first  given  to  the  world  in  an  English 
version  t>y  James  M'Pherson,  Esq.,  in  1760,  with  the  assur- 
ance that  they  were  translations  made  by  himself  from 
ancient  Erse  manuscripts  which  he  had  collected  in  the 
Highlands  of  Scotland;  and  such  was  the  enthusiasm 
which  their  appearance  excited,  that  they  may  be  almost 
said  to  have  given  a  new  tone  to  poetry  throughout  all 
Europe.  There  were  not,  however,  wanting  many  dis- 
tinguished persons  who,  from  the  first,  denied  their  authen- 
ticity; foremost  among  whom  was  Dr.  Johnson,  who  boldly 
pronounced  the  whole  of  the  poems  ascribed  to  Ossian  to 
be  forgeries;  and  his  opinion  was  corroborated  by  Hume, 
Gibbon,  and  many  others,  who  defied  M'Pherson  to  pro- 
duce a  manuscript  of  any  Erse  poem  of  earlier  date  than 
the  sixteenth  century.  On  the  other  hand,  M'Pherson's 
assertions  as  to  the  genuineness  of  the  poems  found  warm 
supporters  in  Dr.  Blair  (see  his  Critical  Dissertation  on  the 
Poems  of  Ossian),  Dr.  Henry,  Lord  Kaimes,  and  many  other 
distinguished  names,  and  almost  to  a  man  in  the  whole  body 
of  the  Highlanders.  In  this  unsettled  state  the  controversy 
remained  till  the  year  1800,  when  Malcolm  Laing,  so  well 
known  for  his  historical  labours,  in  a  Dissertation  ap- 
pended to  the  second  volume  of  his  History  of  Scotland, 
endeavoured  to  establish,  from  historical  and  internal  evi- 
dence, that  the  so  called  poems  of  Ossian  are  absolutely 
and  totally  spurious.  The  sensation  created  by  this  Disser- 
tation was  unprecedented.  Many  converts  were  made  to 
the  opinions  therein  set  forth ;  but  the  general  disbelief  in 
the  authenticity  of  the  poems  was  not  complete  till  1805, 
when  a  committee  of  the  Highland  Society  of  Edinburgh, 
which  had  been  appointed  in  1797  to  inquire  into  their 
nature  and  authenticity,  reported  to  the  effect  "that  they 
had  not  been  able  to  obtain  any  one  poem  the  same  in  title 
and  tenor  with  the  poems  of  Ossian."  Since  that  period 
the  controversy,  so  far  as  it  regards  their  translation  from 
Erse  manuscripts,  may  be  said  to  be  terminated.  But  al- 
though these  poems  had  never  been  committed  to  writing, 
or  rather  have  not  been  handed  down  in  writing,  there  can 
be,  we  believe,  but  little  doubt  that  many  of  them  still 
exist  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  in  a  dress  not  very  dif- 
ferent from  that  in  which  they  were  rendered  by  M'Pherson 
Into  English,  having  been  committed  to  memory,  and  trans- 
mitted from  one  bard  or  storyteller  to  another  in  regular 
succession;  and  consequently  their  pretensions  to  be  re- 
garded as  historical  authority  on  many  points  can  scarcely 
be  denied.  Their  scene  is  sometimes  laid  in  Scotland,  but 
more  frequently  in  Ireland ;  and  they  may  be  justly  con- 
sidered the  Iliad  and  Odyssey  of  the  Celtic  race  of  the  two 
islands,  handed  down  by  tradition  only — what  the  poems 
of  Homer  were,  in  all  likelihood,  to  the  Greeks  themselves 
before  they  were  acquainted  with  the  art  of  writing.  "  The 
value  of  Ossian,"  says  Mr.  Skene,  "as  an  historical  poet, 
must  stand  in  the  highest  rank;  while,  whether  the  chief 
part  of  these  poems  are  of  ancient  or  of  modern  composi- 
tion, there  can  remain  little  doubt  that  in  him  we  possess 
the  oldest  record  of  the  history  of  a  very  remote  age." 
(The  Highlanders  of  Scotland,  their  Origin,  History,  and 
Antiquities,  vol.  i.,  p.  215.)  Those  who  wish  to  see  this 
subject  exhibited  in  all  its  bearings,  though,  perhaps,  with  a 
slight  prejudice  against  M'Pherson,  may  consult  the  elabo- 
rate article  in  the  Edin.  Review,  vol.  vi. 

O'SSIFIC  ATION.  The  formation  of  bone.  The  change 
of  any  soft  solid  of  the  body  into  bone. 

OSTA'RA.  An  ancient  German  and  Celtic  divinity, 
worshipped  with  peculiar  veneration  by  the  Anglo-Saxons. 
Many  writers  regard  her  as  identical  with  the  Phoenician 
goddess  Astarte ;  but,  be  this  as  it  may,  she  was  regarded 
as  the  queen  of  spring  and  of  the  morning  ;  and  from  her 
name  is  derived  the  German  Ostern,  (Angiice,  Easter), 
which  period  of  the  year  the  ancient  Germans  were  in  the 
habit  of  celebrating  with  fires  and  festivals,  in  gratitude 
for  the  advent  of  spring.  '(See  Grimm's  Deutsche  Mytho- 
logie,  p.  181.)  The  town  Osterode  on  the  Hartz  is  said  to 
have  been  named  from  this  goddess. 

OS'TEOCO'LLA.  (Gr.  omtov,  a  bone,  and  KoWa,  glue.) 
An  old  mineralogical  term  for  encrusting  carbonate  of  lime, 
to  which  the  property  of  uniting  a  fractured  bone  has  been 
attributed. 

OSTEO'GEXY.  (Gr.  ocrtov,  a  bone,  and  yevvau),  I  gene- 
rate.)   The  formation  or  growth  of  bone. 

OSTEO'LOGY.  (Gr.  oareov,  a  bone,  and  \oyoc,  a  dis- 
course.) The  doctrine  or  history  of  the  bones.  See  Ana- 
tomy, Bone. 

Osteology.  In  Painting  and  Sculpture,  a  description 
of  the  bones  of  animals. 

OSTRA'CEANS,  Ostracea.  The  family  of  Bivalves 
of  which  the  oyster  (Ostrea)  is  the  type;  and  which  is 
characterized  by  the  mantle  being  widely  open,  without 
special  orifices. 


OTTAVA  RIMA. 

OSTRA'CIOX.  (Gr.  ocrpaKov,  a  shell.)  A  genus  of 
fishes  of  the  order  Scleroderma  or  rough-skinned,  in  the 
system  of  Cuvier.  It  is  characterized  by  the  armour  of 
regular  bony  plates  soldered  together,  with  which  the 
body  is  invested;  the  only  movable  parts  being  the  tail, 
fins,  mouth,  and  a  small  gill-flap,  which  pass,  as  it  were, 
through  holes  in  the  coat  of  mail.  The  body  generally 
presents  a  quadrangular  form,  whence  the  name  of  trunk- 
fish,  commonly  given  to  the  species  of  this  genus. 

O'STRACISM.  (Gr.  oaipaKiapos.)  A  form  of  condem- 
nation at  Athens,  by  which  persons  who,  from  their  wealth 
or  influence,  were  considered  dangerous  to  the  state  were 
banished  for  ten  years,  with  leave  to  enjoy  their  estates  and 
return  after  that  period.  It  was  not  inflicted  as  a  punish- 
ment, but  merely  as  a  precautionary  measure  to  preserve 
the  democracy.  The  process  in  this  condemnation  was 
as  follows :  The  people  being  assembled,  each  man  wrote 
the  name  of  the  person  he  wished  to  banish  on  a  shell 
(bcTfaKov,  whence  the  name  darpaKianoc),  and  delivered  it 
to  the  archons,  who  counted  the  numbers.  Only  one  indi- 
vidual could  be  subjected  to  the  ostracism  at  the  same 
meeting,  and  6000  hostile  votes  were  necessary  to  the  in- 
fliction of  this  condemnation.  Hence  if  6000  votes  and  up- 
wards were  recorded  against  one  or  more  individuals,  the 
one  was  banished  against  whom  the  greatest  number  of 
votes  had  been  given.  (See  Mem.  de  VJlcad.  des  Inscr., 
vol.  xvi.) 

O'STRACODES,  Ostracoda.  (Gr.  ocTpawv,  a  shell, 
etlog,  form.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Entomostracans. 
comprehending  those  which  have  the  shell  folded  in  two, 
so  as  to  resemble  the  shell  of  a  bivalve  mollusk. 

O'STRICH.  The  largest  known  bird,  and  the  type  of 
the  Cursorial  or  Struthious  order.  It  is  distinguished  not 
only  from  its  immediate  congeners  the  Cassowaries  and 
Apteryz,  but  from  all  other  birds,  by  having  only  two  toes, 
which  correspond  with  the  two  outermost  toes  in  the  rest 
of  the  class.  The  wings  are  furnished  with  loose  and 
flexible  plumes,  but  are  long  enough  to  increase  its  speed  in 
running.  The  elegance  of  these  feathers,  arising  from  their 
slender  stems  and  the  disunited  barbs,  has  occasioned  them 
to  be  prized  in  all  ages,  and  they  still  constitute  a  valuable 
article  of  commerce.  The  beak  of  the  ostrich  is  depressed, 
of  a  moderate  length,  and  blunt  at  the  end ;  the  tongue  is 
extremely  short ;  the  eye  is  large,  and  the  lid  fringed  with 
short  simple  feathers  like  eyelashes.  The  legs  are  of  pro- 
digious strength,  and  the  tarsi  very  long.  The  ostrich  has 
a  capacious  crop ;  a  strong  gizzard;  voluminous  intestines, 
with  two  long  caeca,  complicated  each  with  a  spiral  valve, 
and  succeeded  by  a  very  long  intestinum  rectum,  with  in- 
ternal connivent  valves,  which  latter  structure  is  unique  in 
the  class  of  birds.  It  is  likewise  remarkable  in  this  class 
for  its  large  urinary  receptacle.  The  ostrich  abounds  in  the 
sandy  deserts  of  Arabia  and  Africa.  It  attains  the  height 
of  seven  or  eight  feet ;  is  gregarious  in  favourable  locali- 
ties ;  lays  eggs  of  three  pounds  weight,  which  are  incubated 
by  the  male  principally,  and  defended  courageously.  The 
ostrich  feeds  on  grain,  grass,  &c,  to  aid  in  digesting  which 
many  pebbles  are  taken  into  the  gizzard ;  so  obtuse  is  its 
taste  that  it  will  swallow  pieces  of  metal,  wood,  &c.  When 
pursued,  it  dashes  stones  behind  it  with  great  violence,  and 
exceeds  in  swiftness  all  other  terrestrial  animals ;  it  is  only 
the  comparatively  limited  power  of  sustaining  its  course, 
that  enables  the  mounted  Arab  to  run  it  down. 

OTA'LGIA.  (Gr.  ovc,  the  ear,  and  aXyoi,  pain.)  The 
ear-ache. 

OTA'RIA.  (Gr.  ovc.)  The  name  of  the  genus  of  seals 
characterized  by  having  projecting  external  ears,  and  by  the 
double  cutting  edge  of  the  four  middle  upper  incisors,  a 
structure  unknown  in  other  animals :  the  molar  teeth  are 
simply  conical,  and  with  a  single  fang.  These  seals  are 
principally  confined  to  the  southern  hemisphere. 

OTI'TIS.  (Gr.  ovc.)  Inflammation  of  any  part  of  the 
organ  of  hearing. 

O'TTAR,  or  OTTAR  OF  ROSES.  The  volatile  or 
odorous  oil  of  the  rose  ;  it  is  of  a  soft,  buttery  consistence, 
and  deposits,  when  fluid,  a  crystallizable  portion,  which  is 
sparingly  soluble  in  alcohol :  it  is  much  used  as  a  perfume- 
The  finest  ottar  of  roses  is  prepared  at  Ghazedpore  in  India. 

OTTA'VA  RI'MA.  (Eighth  or  octuple  rhyme.)  An 
Italian  form  of  versification,  consisting  of  stanzas  of  two 
alternate  triplets  and  a  couplet  at  the  end  ;  the  verses  being, 
in  the  proper  Italian  metre,  the  heroic  of  eleven  syllables. 
It  is  the  form  peculiarly  adopted  and  embellished  by  the 
poets  termed  Romanzieri,  from  Pulci  to  Forliguerra.  {See 
Romanzieri.)  It  is  a  happy  metre,  in  the  hands  of  an  able 
versifier,  for  the  expression  of  feelings  varying  from  the  sub- 
lime and  pathetic  to  the  humorous :  although  rather  defi- 
cient in  variety,  and  possessing  too  little  repose  and  solem- 
nity for  the  sustained  majesty  of  epic  poetry.  It  has  been 
adopted  by  the  Germans,  who  have  given  to  it  something 
of  an  elegiac  turn;  and,  of  late,  by  English  poets,  of  whom 
the  most  distinguished  is  Lord  Byron,  who  has  employed  it 

867 


OTTER. 

in  his  Beppo  and  Don  Juan,  works  belonging  to  a  mixed 
ass  of  poetry,  between  the  serious  and  the  burlesque. 
OTTER.  A  quadruped  adapted  to  amphibious  habits 
by  its  short,  strong,  flexible,  palmated  feet,  which  serve  as 
oars  to  propel  it  through  the  water,  and  by  its  long  and 
strong  tail,  which  acts  as  a  powerful  rudder,  and  enables 
the  animal  to  change  its  course  with  great  ease  and  rapidity. 
The  teeth,  which  consist,  in  each  jaw,  of  six  pointed  in- 
cisors, two  strong  and  sharp  canines,  and  ten  trenchant  and 
cuspidated  molars,  determine  the  piscivorous  diet  and  pre- 
datory habits  of  the  species.  The  otter  used  to  be  met  with 
in  most  of  the  British  rivers  and  lakes  ;  but  the  increase  of 
population,  and  the  unintermitting  hostility  which  its  de- 
struction of  the  valuable  fish  of  its  native  streams  have 
called  down  upon  it,  have  greatly  thinned  its  numbers,  and 
have  exterminated  it  from  many  of  the  localities  where  it 
was  formerly  common ;  so  that  the  otter,  as  a  captive  in  our 
menageries,  is  now  regarded  with  almost  the  same  interest 
which  an  exotic  species  usually  excites. 

The  otter  selects  for  its  retreat  some  convenient  excava- 
tion concealed  by  the  overhanging  roots  of  the  trees  which 
grow  from  the  banks  of  rivers,  or  other  natural  screen.  The 
female  goes  with  yoimg  nine  weeks,  and  produces  from 
three  to  rive  cubs  iii  March  or  April.  The  usual  weight  of 
a  full-grown  male  is  from  twenty  to  twenty-four  pounds. 
The  fur  of  the  otter  is  remarkably  fine  and  close.  It  con- 
sists of  two  kinds  of  hair ;  the  longer  and  stifler  shining 
hairs,  which  are  greyish  at  the  base  and  a  rich  brown  at  the 
point,  concealing  an  extremely  fine  and  soft  fur  of  a  whitish 
gray  colour,  brown  at  the  tip.  The  hair  and  fur  of  the 
under  part  of  the  body,  the  cheeks,  and  the  inner  parts  of 
the  legs,  is  of  a  brownish  gray  throughout. 

The  otter  is  hunted  in  many  parts  of  England,  and  espe- 
cially in  Wales,  with  dogs  especially  trained  for  this  kind 
of  sport,  with  all  the  form  and  circumstance  of  the  chase. 
"When  the  otter  is  found,"  says  Mr.  Bell,  "the  scene  be- 
comes exceedingly  animated.  He  instantly  takes  the  water 
and  dives,  remaining  a  long  time  underneath  it,  and  rising  at 
a  considerable  distance  from  the  place  at  which  he  dived. 
Then  the  anxious  watch  that  is  kept  of  his  rising  to  'vent,' 
the  steady  purpose  with  which  the  dogs  follow  and  bait  him 
as  he  swims,  the  attempts  of  the  cunning  beast  to  drown  his 
assailants  by  diving  while  they  have  fastened  on  him,  the 
baying  of  the  hounds,  the  cries  of  the  hunters,  and  the  fierce 
and  dogged  resolution  with  which  the  poor,  hopeless  quarry 
holds  his  pursuers  at  bay,  inflicting  severe,  sometimes  fatal 
■wounds,  and  holding  on  with  unflinching  pertinacity  even  to 
the  last,  must  altogether  form  a  scene  as  animated  and  ex- 
citing as  the  veriest  epicure  in  hunting  could  desire."  {Brit- 
ish Quadrupeds,  p.  133.) 

The  few  species  of  otter  which  have  been  recognised  in 
distant  parts  of  the  world  do  not  greatly  differ  from  the  Lutra 
vulgaris  of  Europe.  The  sea-otter  is  an  animal  of  larger 
size,  and  presents  such  modfications  of  its  palmated  feet,  and 
of  its  teeth,  as  to  form  the  type  of  a  distinct  subgenus  {En- 
hydras),  which  connects  the  otter  with  the  seal. 

O'TTOMAN.  An  epithet  given  to  the  Turkish  empire, 
from  Othman  I.,  who  ascended  the  throne  in  the  14th  cen- 
tury. It  is  also  applied  to  a  peculiar  kind  of  sofa  much  in 
use  in  Turkey,  and  which  has  been  imitated  both  here  and 
on  the  Continent. 

OUNCE.  (Lat.  uncia.)  A  denomination  of  weight.  In 
troy  weight  the  ounce  is  the  12th  part  of  the  pound,  and 
weighs  480  grains.  In  avoirdupois  weight  the  ounce  is  the 
lfith  part  of  the  pound,  and  equal  to  437£  grains  troy.  See 
Wkioht. 

OURANO'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  ovpavo<,  heaven,  and  ypaipw, 
I  describe.)  A  term  frequently  used  to  signify  a  description 
of  the  heavens  and  the  heavenly  bodies. 

OURO'LOGY,  or  OURO'SCOPY.  (Gr.  ovOov,  \cyo>,  I 
speak,  and  okotcuo,  I  view.)  The  judgment  of  diseases  from 
an  examination  of  the  urine. 

OU'TCROP.  A  Geological  term,  implying  the  exposure 
of  a  stratum  at  the  earth's  surface. 

OU'TLA  WRY,  in  Criminal  Law,  is  a  punishment  inflicted 
for  a  contempt  in  refusing  to  be  amenable  to  the  jurisdiction 
of  a  competent  court.  The  act  2  W.  4,  c.  39,  gives  a  pro- 
vision for  more  expeditious  and  less  expensive  proceeding  to 
outlawry  in  civil  cases  on  mesne  process  than  had  previous- 
ly prevailed.  It  is  issued  against  a  defendant  after  he  has 
been  five  times  proclaimed  at  a  county  court ;  but  if  the  de- 
fendant has  previously  left  the  kingdom,  he  can  set  it  aside 
by  writ  of  error,  or  even  on  motion.  The  effect  of  out- 
lawry in  civil  cases  is  a  forfeiture  of  personal  goods  and 
chattels  immediately  upon  the  outlawry,  and  his  chattels 
real  and  the  profits  of  his  lands  when  found  on  inquisition. 

OUTLIER.    In  Geology,  a  portion  of  a  rock  or  stratum 
detached  and  at  some  distance  from  the  principal  mass. 
OUTLINE.     In  the  Fine  Arte.     See  CONTOUR. 
OUTPOSTS.    In  a  Military  sense,  a  body  of  men  posted 
beyond  the  main  guard ;  so  called  as  being  the  bounds  or 
limits  of  the  camp. 
80S 


OVERT  ACT. 

OUTRE.  (Fr.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  anything  exaggerated 
or  overstrained. 

OU'TKIGGER.  The  Sea  term  for  any  projecting  spar  or 
piece  of  timber  for  extending  ropes,  sails,  or  other  temporary 
purposes. 

OUTWORKS.  In  Fortification,  works  raised  on  the  out- 
side of  the  ditch  of  a  fortified  place,  for  the  purpose  of  cov- 
ering the  place,  or  keeping  the  besiegers  at  a  distance.  Set 
Fortification. 

O'VAL.  (Lat.  ovum,  an  egg.)  A  popular  name  for  any 
curve  figure  resembling  an  ellipse,  or  the  transverse  section 
of  an  egg.  The  carpenter's  oval  is  made  up  of  four  circular 
arcs,  joined  so  as  to  leave  no  angular  appearance,  or  present 
any  rapid  change  of  curvature.  It  may  be  described  as  fol- 
lows :  Let  A  B  and  C  D  be  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
proposed  oval,  and  let  these  lines 
be  placed  at  right  angles,  and  bi- 
secting each  other  at  E.  With  C 
as  a  centre,  and  a  radius  equal  to 
A  E,  describe  an  arc  intersecting 
A  B  in  F  and  G  ;  with  F  and  G 
as  centres,  and  a  radius  equal  to 
A  F  or  B  G,  describe  the  small  " 

arcs  m  A  m'  and  n  B  n'  for  the  ends  of  the  oval ;  and  with 
C  and  D  as  centres  (or  centres  near  those  points),  and  C  D 
as  a  radius,  describe  the  arcs  to  C  n  and  m'  D  n'.  It  may  be 
remarked,  that  the  construction  will  fail  when  the  breadth  C 
D  is  not  greater  than  half  the  length  A  B  ;  but  in  this  case 
C  D  may  be  produced,  and  points  found  in  it  by  trial  for  the 
centres  of  the  required  arcs. 

The  Ovals  of  Descartes  are  a  species  of  geometrical 
curves,  proposed  by  that  philosopher  as  the  figures  which 
give,  by  their  revolution  about  an  axis,  the  true  surfaces 
which  should  separate  two  media  of  different  densities,  in 
order  that  all  the  rays  which  proceed  from  the  same  point, 
or  converge  towards  one,  may  be  refracted  towards  another 
point,  or  rendered  parallel  or  divergent.  They  may  be  de- 
fined as  the  locus  of  the  vertex  of  a  triangle  on  a  given  base, 
one  of  whose  sides  has  a  given  ratio  to  the  sum  or  difference 
of  a  given  line  and  the  other  side.  Their  generation  has 
thus  some  resemblance  to  that  of  the  ellipse  and  hyperbola, 
which  are  the  loci  of  a  triangle  on  a  given  base  whose  sides 
in  the  case  of  the  ellipse  have  a  given  sum,  and  in  the  case 
of  the  hyperbola  a  given  difference.  (See  the  Second  Book 
of  Descartes'  Geometry.) 

Ovals  are  also  produced  by  the  construction  of  many  equa- 
tions of  the  higher  orders,  particularly  those  in  which  the 
dimensions  are  even,  as  the  fourth,  sixth,  &c. 

OVALBU'MEN.  The  albumen  or  white  of  egg  ;  a  term 
adopted  in  order  to  distinguish  it  from  the  albumen  of  the 
serum  of  the  blood,  which  may  be  called  seralbumen. 

OVA'RIA.  The  two  organs  which  contain  the  female 
ova. 

OVA'RIUM.  In  Plants,  a  hollow  case,  enclosing  ovules 
or  young  seeds,  containing  one  or  more  cells,  and  ultimately 
becoming  the  fruit ;  it  is  always  situated  in  the  centre  of  the 
flower,  and,  together  with  the  style  and  stigma,  constitute 
the  female  system  of  the  vegetable  kingdom.  When  it  is 
united  to  the  calyx,  it  is  called  inferior ;  when  separate  from 
it,  it  is  termed  superior. 

OVATION.  An  inferior  kind  of  triumph,  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  ancient  Roman  custom,  was  granted  to  distin- 
guished military  leaders.  The  name  is  said  to  be  derived 
either  from  ovare  {to  cry  O!),  the  cry  of  the  soldiers;  or 
from  ovis,  a  sheep,  the  animal  sacrificed  on  such  occasions 
instead  of  bullocks.  According  to  Dionysius  of  Halicarnas- 
sus,  the  first  ovation  was  celebrated  by  P.  Posthumius  Tu- 
berfus  (A.C.  503),  some  years  after  the  expuision  of  the 
kings.  Some  antiquaries  imagine  the  distinction  between  the 
triumph  and  the  ovation  to  have  originally  consisted,  no.t  in 
the  greater  or  less  degree  of  honour,  but  in  the  latter  being 
strictly  appropriated  to  successes  by  which  peace  was  ob- 
tained, or  to  distinguish  brilliant  achievements  in  time  of 
peace.  Thus  we  find  that  ovations  were  permitted,  though 
triumphs  were  not,  in  civil  wars.  An  ovation  was  celebrated 
by  Mark  Antony  and  Octavius  to  solemnize  their  reconcilia- 
tion. 

OVERHANG.     In  Architecture.     See  Batter. 

O'VERSEERS  OF  THE  POOR.  Officers  annually  ap- 
pointed in  every  parish,  under  the  hand  and  seal  of  two  jus- 
tices, under  the  statute  of  43  Eliz.  Their  number,  by  that 
statute,  is  four,  three,  or  two,  for  each  parish.  By  subse- 
quent statutes  any  place  maintaining  its  own  poor,  whether 
a  parish  or  not.  has  overseers.  Assistant  overseers,  with  a 
salary,  may  be  elected  by  the  inhabitants  of  parishes,  under 
58  G.  3.     See  Poor  Laws. 

OVERSHOT  WHEEL.  In  Mechanics,  a  water-wheel 
to  which  the  water  is  conveyed  over  the  top  of  the  u  heel 
and  applied  above  the  axle.  In  this  case,  the  water  arts 
nen  l\  l.\  its  weight,  and  not  by  the  impulse  of  the  stream. 

n  VKUT  ACT.  (Fr.  ouvert,  open.)  In  Law,  an  open  01 
manifest  act  from  whence  criminality  is  implied.    No  in- 


OVERTURE. 

dlctment  for  high  treason  is  good  unless  some  overt  act  is  al- 
leged in  it. 

O'VERTURE.  (Fr.  ouverture.)  The  introductory  piece 
of  music  prefixed  to  an  opera  or  oratorio.  Its  movements  in 
works  of  the  modern  school  generally  contain  snatches  of 
the  more  prominent  and  leading  airs  in  the  opera,  and  intro- 
duce the  audience  to  a  general  notion  of  the  emotions  which 
it  is  the  desire  of  the  author  to  excite. 

The  word  overture  also  signifies  a  proposal;  in  which 
sense  it  is  always  used  in  the  Presbyterian  church  to  indi- 
cate those  resolutions  proposed  by  presbyteries  and  synods, 
and  afterwards  laid  before  the  General  Assembly,  either  for 
Its  sanction  or  rejection* 

O'VIDUCT,  Ociductus.  (Lat.  ovum,  an  egg;  duco,  I 
conduct.)  The  tube  which  conducts  the  ovum  from  the 
ovary  either  to  the  uterus  or  to  an  external  outlet.  In  Mam- 
mals this  part  is  termed  the  Fallopian  tube,  from  the  cir- 
cumstance of  its  having  been  first  described  by  Fallopius, 
about  the  year  1560,  in  the  human  subject,  in  which  this 
tube  or  canal  passes  from  each  side  of  the  fundus  of  the 
Uterus  to  the  ovarium.     See  Fallopian  Tube. 

OVI'FEROUS  and  OVTGEROUS.  (Lat.  ovum,  fero 
and  gero,  /  bear.)  In  Zoology,  certain  receptacles,  in  which 
the  eggs  are  received  after  having  been  excluded  from  the 
ordinary  formative  organs  of  the  ovum,  are  so  called,  its  the 
long  pouches  appended  to  the  hinder  part  of  the  body  in 
many  of  the  Entomostracous  and  Parasitic  Crustaceans. 
Likewise  the  ciliated  plates  (beneath  the  tail  of  the  higher 
Crustaceans,  as  the  crab  and  lobster),  to  which  the  eggs  are 
attached  after  having  quitted  the  oviducts,  are  called 
ovigerous. 

dVI'PAROUS.  (Lat.  ovum,  and  pario,  I  produce.)  The 
mode  of  generation  by  the  exclusion  of  the  germ  in  the  form 
and  condition  of  an  egg,  the  development  of  which  takes 
place  out  of  the  body  either  with  or  without  incubation. 
Fishes,  reptiles,  and  birds  are  called  Oviparous  Vertebrata, 
although  some  of  both  the  former  classes  hatch  the  egg 
within  the  body  and  bring  forth  their  young  alive,  as  the 
viper  and  dog-fish. 

O'VIS.  (Lat.  a  sheep.)  The  name  by  which  Linnaeus 
and  Cuvier  distinguish  the  sheep  as  a  genus  from  the  goats 
and  antelopes.  The  character  assigned  by  Cuvier  to  the 
genus  Ovis  is  as  follows:  "Horns  directed  backwards,  and 
then  inclining  spirally  more  or  less  forwards;  the  profile  or 
chaufrein  more  or  less  convex,  and  no  beard  :"  to  this  may 
be  added  an  interdigital  sebaceous  sac  on  the  fore  part  of 
each  foot.  The  Mouflons  or  Musmons  of  Africa  and  Sar- 
dinia, from  which  it  is  generally  believed  our  domestic  races 
of  sheep  are  derived,  form  the  species  Ovis  ammon  of  Lin- 
naeus, and  Ovis  musimon  of  Schreber.  The  coat  of  these 
wild  sheep  consists  of  coarse,  stiff,  long,  and  nearly  straight 
hairs ;  but  they  possess  the  same  character,  that  of  an  im- 
bricated surface,  which  gives  to  the  shorter  and  finer  wool 
of  the  domestic  races  the  felting  property  on  which  its  pecu- 
liar utility  depends.     See  Hair. 

Of  the  domestic  animals  belonging  to  Great  Britain  sheep 
are,  with  the  exception  perhaps  of  horses  and  cattle,  by  far 
the  most  important.  They  can  be  reared  in  situations  and 
upon  soils  where  other  animals  would  not  live.  They  afford 
a  large  supply  of  food,  and  one  of  the  principal  materials  of 
clothing.  Wool  has  long  been  a  staple  commodity  of  this 
country,  and  its  manufacture  employs  an  immense  number 
of  people.  "The  skin,  dressed,  forms  different  parts  of  our 
apparel,  and  is  used  for  covers  of  books.  The  entrails, 
properly  prepared  and  twisted,  serve  for  strings  for  various 
musical  instruments.  The  bones,  calcined  (like  other  bones 
in  general),  form  materials  for  tests  for  the  refiner.  The 
milk  is  thicker  than  that  of  cows,  and,  consequently,  yields 
a  greater  quantity  of  butter  and  cheese  :  and,  in  some  places, 
is  so  rich  that  it  will  not  produce  the  cheese  without  a  mix- 
ture of  water  to  make  it  part  from  the  whey.  The  dung  is 
a  remarkably  rich  manure,  insomuch  that  the  folding  of 
sheep  is  become  too  useful  a  branch  of  husbandry  for  the 
farmer  to  neglect.  To  conclude,  whether  we  consider  the 
advantages  that  result  from  this  animal  to  individuals  in 
particular,  or  to  these  kingdoms  in  general,  we  may,  with 
Columella,  consider  this,  in  one  sense,  as  the  first  of  the  do- 
mestic quadrupeds.  '  Post  majores  quadrupedes  ovillipccoris 
secunda  ratio  est;  qua  prima  sit  si  ad  utilitatis  magnitudi- 
nem  referas.  Jx'arn  id  prtecipue  contra  frigoris  violent iarn 
protegit,  corporibusque  nostris  liberaliora  prmbet  velamina; 
ct  etiam  elegantium  mensas  jucundis  et  numerosis  dapibus 
exornat.'  "  (De  Re  Rustica,  lib.  vii.,  cap.  2.)  And,  in  ad- 
dition to  what  Mr.  Pennant  has  so  forcibly  stated,  sheep  are 
particularly  deserving  the  attention  of  the  agriculturist,  both 
from  the  influence  of  improvements  on  the  breed,  and  from 
their  generally  affording  larger  profits  than  can  be  obtained 
from  the  rearing  and  feeding  of  cattle.  {Statistics  of  the 
Brit.  Empire,  vol.  i.,  p.  492.) 

The  principal  varieties  of  the  English  sheep  are  the  large 
Lincolnshire,  the  Dorset  breed,  the  South-down,  and  the 
Cheviot. 


OVIPOSITOR. 

The  Lincolnshire  sheep  are  of  a  large  size,  big-boned,  and 
afford  a  great  quantity  of  wool,  owing  to  the  rich  marshes 
on  which  they  feed;  but  their  flesh  is  coarser,  leaner,  and 
less  finely  flavoured  than  that  of  the  smaller  breeds. 

The  Dorset  sheep  are  mostly  white-faced  ;  their  horns  are 
finely  curved,  their  fleece  clear  and  white ;  but  many  of 
them  are  without  wool  upon  their  bellies ;  their  legs  are  long 
and  small,  and  their  general  form  handsome  and  well-pro- 
portioned. This  breed  is  prolific,  and  is  principally  esteemed 
for  producing  lambs  at  an  earlier  period  than  other  varieties. 
"  Great  numbers  of  these  premature  victims  to  luxury  are 
yearly  sent  to  the  London  markets,  where  they  fetch  the 
price  of  10s.  6d.  to  15*.  per  quarter.  The  manner  of  rearing 
the  lambs  is  curious :  they  are  imprisoned  in  little  dark 
cabins ;  the  ewes  are  fed  on  oil-cakes,  hay,  com,  turnips,  or 
cabbages,  which  are  given  them  in  a  field  contiguous  to  the 
apartments  where  the  lambs  are  kept;  and  at  proper  inter- 
vals the  nurses  are  brought  in  to  give  suck  to  their  young 
ones,  while  the  attendants  at  the  same  time  make  their  lodg- 
ings perfectly  clean,  and  litter  them  with  fresh  straw. 
Great  attention  is  paid  to  this,  as  much  of  the  success  of  rear- 
ing these  unseasonable  productions  depends  upon  warmth 
and  cleanliness." 

The  South-down  sheep  have  dun  or  black  faces,  and  are 
of  the  same  hardy  nature  as  the  Cheviot  breed,  being  able 
to  live  and  thrive  on  the  barest  chalk  hills.  Their  wool  is 
fine  and  their  mutton  well-flavoured.  They  have  of  late 
years,  in  consequence  of  these  valuable  qualities,  extended 
to  most  parts  of  England,  and  have  been  introduced  into  De- 
land.  The  Cheviot  breed  have  no  horns,  and  are  mostly 
white-faced  and  white-legged ;  the  body  is  long,  with  fine, 
clean,  small-boned  legs  :  the  mutton  is  highly  esteemed  for 
its  flavour.  They  are  valuable  as  mountain  sheep,  on  ac- 
count of  their  hardiness  and  the  superior  value  of  their 
wool.  There  is  a  singular  variety  of  sheep  in  the  northern 
climates  of  Europe,  in  which  the  monstrosity  of  super- 
numerary horns  has  become  hereditary :  these  are  called 
many-homed  sheep,  and  have  from  four  to  eight  horns 
growing  irregularly  from  the  head. 

It  is  not  possible  to  form  any  accurate  estimate  either  of 
the  number  of  sheep  or  of  the  quantity  of  wool  annually 
produced  in  this  country.  With  the  exception  of  Mr.  Luc- 
cock's,  most  of  the  statements  put  forth  with  respect  to  both 
these  points  seem  xery  much  exaggerated.  But  Mr.  L.'s 
estimate,  which  is  considerably  under  any  that  had  previous- 
ly appeared,  was  drawn  up  with  great  care,  and  is  supposed 
to  approach  nearer  to  accuracy. 

According  to  Mr.  Luccock,  the 
Xumber   of  long-woolled   sheep  in  i 

England  and  Wales,  in  1800,  was    | 
Of  short-woolled,  ditto,     . 

Total  number  shorn 
Slaughter  of  short-woolled  sheep  per  | 

annum | 

Carrion  of  ditto         .... 
Slaughter  of  long-woolled  ditto 
Carrion  of  ditto  .... 

Slaughter  of  lambs  .... 
Carrion  of  ditto        .... 


4,153,308 
14,854,299 


19,007,607 


4,221,748 

211,087 

1,180,413 

59,020 

1,400,560 

70,028 


Total  number  of  sheep  and  lambs  .  26,148,463 

In  some  parts  of  England  there  has  been  an  increase  in 
the  number  of  sheep  since  1800  ;  but  in  others  there  has 
been  a  decrease.  But  we  have  been  assured  by  competent 
judges  that,  on  the  whole,  the  number  has  not  sensibly 
varied  in  the  interval. 

In  the  General  Report  of  Scotland  (vol.  Hi.,  Appendix,  p. 
6)  the  number  of  sheep  is  estimated  at  2,850,000;  and.  al- 
lowing for  the  increase  that  has  taken  place  since  1814, 
they  may  now  be  estimated  at  about  3,500,000.  Hence  the 
total  number  of  sheep  in  Great  Britain  will  be  39.648,000.  It 
is  not  supposed  that  there  are  2.000,000  of  sheep  in  Deland. 
(Statistics  of  the  British  Empire,  vol.  i.,  p.  496.) 

The  foreign  breeds  of  sheep  are  exceedingly  numerous; 
but  of  these,  perhaps,  the  Asiatic  variety  is  the  most  singular. 
In  India,  the  sheep  is  long-tailed ;  and  in  Persia.  Tartary, 
and  China,  &c,  the  tail  is  not  only  elongated,  but  loaded 
with  a  mass  of  fat,  in  some  instances  weighing  ten  pounds. 
The  power  which  this  animal  possesses  to  accommodate  it- 
self to  different  climates  seems  almost  unlimited  :  in  the  hot 
plains  of  Asia  its  covering  becomes  coarse  and  scanty,  while 
in  the  frozen  regions  of  Thibet  its  thick  wool  has  an  under 
lining  of  the  finest  kind,  forming  an  important  article  in 
manufactures  and  commerce.  (See  the  Geo.  Diet.,  art. 
"  Asia,"  and  the  authorites  there  cited.) 

O'VISAC,  Ovisaccus.  (Lat.  ovum,  an  egg,  and  saccus,  a 
sack.)  The  cavity  in  the  ovary  which  immediately  con- 
tains the  ovum.  In  Mammals,  it  forms,  after  the  ovum  is 
expelled,  the  corpus  luteum. 

OVIPO'SITOR  (Lat.  ovum,  and  pono,  /  place),  in  En- 
tomology, is  the  instrument  by  which  an  insect  conducts  its 

869 


OVOLO. 

cess  to  their  appropriate  nidus,  and  often  bores  a  way  to  it; 
the  same  instrument  is,  in  some  eenera,  used  as  a  weapon 
of  offence,  when  it  is  called  the  "  aculeus." 

O'YOLO.  (Ital.)  In  Architecture,  a  moulding  whose 
profile  13  the  quadrant  of  a  circle ;  though  in  Grecian  archi- 
tecture there  is  a  deviation  from  that  exact  form,  which  is 
most  apparent  at  the  upper  portion,  where  it  resembles  the 
form  of  an  ess.  whence  this  moulding  derives  its  name. 

OVOVIYITAROUS.  (Lat.  ovum,  an  egg ;  vivo,  /lire; 
and  pario,  /produce.)  The  mode  of  generation  by  the  ex- 
clusion of  a  living  fuetus  more  or  less  extricated  from  the 
egg-coverings,  which  has  been  developed  within  the  body 
ot  the  parent  without  any  vascular  or  placental  adhesions 
between  the  ovum  and  the  womb.  The  marsupial  animals 
among  the  Mammalia,  the  viper  and  salamander  among 
Reptiles,  the  blenny  and  dog-fish  among  fishes,  the  Paludina 
viripara  ami  many  bivalves  among  Mollusks,  the  scorpion 
and  flesh-fly  among  insects,  the  earth-worm,  and  many  of 
the  intestinal  worms,  are  examples  of  ovoviviparous  animals. 

O'VULUM.  (Lat.  ovum,  an  egg.)  The  name  of  a  genus 
of  Pectinibranchiate  Gastropods,  characterized  by  having  a 
shell  of  an  oval  form,  and  with  a  long  and  narrow  aperture, 
without  furrows  or  teeth,  on  the  side  of  the  columella;  the 
spire  is  concealed,  and  the  two  extremities  of  the  aperture 
are  equally  prolonged  into  a  canal. 

This  diminutive  is  also  applied  to  the  Ovum  of  the  Mam- 
malia on  account  of  its  relatively  minute  size  :  it  is,  how- 
ever, a  true  ovum,  having  all  the  essential  parts,  as  the 
germinal  spot,  germinal  membrane,  vitellus,  vitelline  mem- 
brane, and  Chorion.     See  Ovum. 

Ovilum.  In  Botany,  a  small  pellucid  pulpy  body,  borne 
by  the  placenta  of  a  plant,  and  gradually  changing  into  a 
seed:  it  consists  of  a  central  nucleus,  enclosed  within  a 
definite  number  of  coats,  varying  from  one  to  two,  and  fur- 
nished with  an  aperture  or  foramen,  through  which  im- 
pregnation takes  place. 

<>VUM.  (Lat.  an  egg.)  In  Anatomy,  the  body  formed 
by  the  female  in  which,  after  impregnation,  the  develop- 
ment of  the  foetus  takes  place.  It  is  generally  formed  in  a 
Bpecial  organ,  called  the  ovarium  :  but  in  some  of  the  sim- 
plest animals,  as  the  Polypes,  the  common  cellular  paren- 
chynie  of  the  body  seems  to  have  the  unlimited  faculty  of 
producing  the  ova.  The  essential,  and,  apparently,  first- 
formed,  part  of  an  ovum,  is  a  minute  pellucid  cell,  called  the 
"germinal  vesicle,"  which  is  characterized  by  an  opaque 
speck  or  nucleus  called  the  "  germinal  spot."  The  vesicle 
is  immediately  surrounded  by  a  stratum  of  granules  or  nu- 
cleated cells,  which  form  the  "germinal  disk."  These 
parts  float  in  a  greater  or  less  quantity  of  fluid  and  granules, 
called  the  yolk,  which  is  generally  of  some  well-marked 
colour,  as  yellow,  green,  violet,  red,  through  the  presence 
of  a  minutely  diffused  oil.  The  yolk  is  inclosed  in  a  thin, 
delicate,  structureless  coat,  called  the  "  vitelline  mem- 
brane," and  this  is  finally  surrounded  by  an  outer  tunic, 
called  the  "  chorion."  Between  the  chorion  and  vitelline 
membrane  there  is  commonly  a  greater  or  less  quantity  of 
albumen.  In  the  birds,  this  fluid,  which  is  called  the 
"  white,"  and  the  "yolk,"  is  in  great  quantity  ;  the  chorion 
is  laminated,  and  the  outer  layer  is  combined  with  earthy 
salts  to  give  due  firmness,  and  preserve  the  shape  of  the 
eg2  while  subject  to  the  weight  of  the  parent  during  incu- 
bation. Two  twisted  strings  of  firm  albumen  called  "cha- 
laza;,"  are  continued  from  each  end  of  the  yolk,  a  little 
below  the  poles,  and  serve  to  keep  uppermost  the  "  cicatric- 
ula"  or  "tread,"  formed  by  the  impregnated  germinal  ves- 
icle and  disk.  A  space  intercepted  between  two  of  the  lay- 
ers of  the  chorion,  or  "  membrana  putaminis,"  at  the  great 
end  of  the  egg,  contains  a  small  quantity  of  gas,  containing 
more  oxygen  than  atmospheric  air :  this  space  is  called  the 
"  vesica  aerea."  For  the  chemical  properties  of  ovum,  see 
Eoo.) 

( rvimc.    In  Architecture,  the  same  as  Ovolo  ;  which  see. 

OWL.     .SV«  No<  tirnai.s  and  Strix. 

OW'LIXG.  In  Law,  so  called  from  its  being  generally 
committed  during  the  night.  An  offence  consisting  in  con- 
veying  sheep  or  wool  to  the  sea  side  in  order  to  export 
them.  This  offence  was  formerly  capital,  particularly  if 
the  offenders  neglected  to  surrender  after  proclamation 
made  for  that  purpose  :  it  is  now  punishable  with  seven 
years'  banishment. 

OWL,  THE.  Among  the  ancients,  generally  was  con- 
sidered as  an  omen  of  misfortune  or  death.  As,  however, 
according  to  Philostratus.  the  Egyptians  represented  Miner 
va  under  the  form  of  an  owl,  the  Athenians,  so  peculiarly 
under  the  care  of  this  goddess,  looked  u|x>n  the  appearance 
of  this  bird  as  a  favourable  omen.  From  this  circumstance 
it  formed,  apon  ancient  coins,  the  symbol  of  Athens  and 
her  foreign  possessions. 

OX.  Synonymous  with  the  generic  name  Bos,  which 
see  ;  in  a  more  restricted  sense  it  signifies  the  castrated 
male  of  the  domestic  variety. 

OXALA.MIDE.    Sec  Oxamide. 
870 


OXYGEN. 

O'XALATES.    Salts  of  the  oxalic  acid. 

OXA'LIC  ACID.  A  vegetable  acid,  first  discovered  in 
the  juice  of  the  Oxa/is  acetosella  ;  it  was  afterwards  as- 
certained that  the  same  acid  might  be  produced  artificially 
by  the  action  of  the  nitric  acid  upon  sugar :  this  process 
yields  it  in  slender  prismatic  crystals,  intensely  sour,  and 
soluble  in  about  ten  parts  of  cold  water.  These  crystals 
consist  of  1  atom  of  real  acid  and  3  of  water:  the  equiva- 
lent of  the  acid  is  36 ;  and  in  its  anhydrous  state,  as  it  exists 
in  the  dry  oxalates,  it  is  constituted  of  2  atoms  of  carbon 
(6X2)  =  12,  and  3  of  oxygen  (8  X  3)  =  24  :  so  that  it  may 
be  represented  by  an  atom  of  carbonic  acid  and  one  of  car- 
bonic oxide.  Solutions  of  oxalic  acid,  or  of  soluble  oxa- 
lates, yield  an  insoluble  precipitate  in  solutions  containing 
lime  and  its  salts:  hence  its  use  in  the  laboratory  as  a  test 
of  the  presence  of  that  earth.  The  solution  of  oxalate  of 
ammonia  is  generally  used  for  the  purpose.  Oxalic  acid  is 
a  powerful  poison,  and,  from  its  resemblance  to  Epsom  salt, 
it  has  sometimes  been  sold  and  mistaken  for  that  harmless 
aperient.  In  such  cases,  the  best  antidote  is  a  mixture  of 
chalk  and  water,  and  where  it  is  immediately  administered 
it  generally  prevents  the  accession  of  fatal  symptoms ;  it 
forms  an  insoluble  oxalate  of  lime,  which  is  inert. 

OXALIDA'CE^E.  (Oxalis,  one  of  the  genera.)  A  nat- 
ural order  of  herbaceous  or  shrubby  Exogens,  inhabiting  the 
hotter  and  temperate  parts  of  the  world.  Their  foliage  is 
generally  acid,  and  fit  to  supply  the  place  of  sorrel.  Oxalig 
acetosella  contains  pure  oxalic  acid,  and  many  are  used  in 
Brazil  against  malignant  fevers. 

O'XAMIDE.  A  white  substance  produced  during  the 
destructive  distillation  of  oxalate  of  ammonia :  hence  its 
name,  compounded  ofozalis  and  ammonia.  It  is  a  compound 
of  nitrogen,  hydrogen,  oxygen,  and  carbon,  in  such  propor- 
tions as  to  form  oxalate  of  ammonia  by  the  addition  of  one 
atom  of  water.  (See  Dumas,  Thcorie  des  Amides,  Chim, 
App.  auz  Arts,  v.  84.) 

OX'GAXG  (Germ,  ochs,  an  ox,  and  gang,  a  walk),  in 
English  Antiquities,  was  used  to  signify  as  much  land  as  a 
single  ox  could  ear  or  plough  in  a  season.  The  oxgang  was 
contracted  or  expanded  according  to  the  quality  of  the  land  ; 
forty  acres  constituting  the  maximum  and  six  the  minimum 
of  the  measure. 

OXIDATION  or  OXIDIZEMENT.  The  act  of  combi- 
nation with  oxygen. 

O'XIDE.  (Gr.  o\v;,  acid,  and  eic"oj,  form.)  Compounds 
containing  oxygen,  but  which  are  not  acid,  have  been  term- 
ed oxides.  The  metallic  oxides  are  a  most  important  class 
of  bodies.  To  designate  the  different  oxides  of  one  base  we 
generally  use  the  first  syllable  of  the  Greek  ordinal  numer- 
als, designating  the  first,  second,  third,  &c,  oxides  by  the 
terms  protoxide,  deutoxide,  tritoxide,  &.C.  ;  and  when  the 
base  is  saturated  with  oxygen  (still  not  acid)  it  is  termed  a 
peroxide.  Compounds  of  bases  with  one  atom  and  a  half 
oxygen,  or  of  two  base  and  three  oxygen,  are  now  general- 
ly distinguished  by  the  term  sesquioxides. 

O'XYGEN.  (Gr.  o^vs,  and  yeuvaetr,  to  generate.)  This 
important  element  was  discovered  in  1774,  by  Dr.  Priestley. 
It  has  been  termed  dcphlogisticatcd  air,  vital  air,  and  empy- 
real air.  As  it  forms  a  component  part  of  many  of  the 
acids,  it  was  termed,  at  the  framing  of  the  new  nomencla- 
ture, oxygen  gas.  There  are  several  compounds  of  oxygen 
which,  when  exposed  to  heat,  are  decomposed,  and  yield 
the  gas  in  a  state  of  purity :  of  these  the  best  is  chlorate  of 
potash;  but  as  that  salt  is  expensive,  we  generally  resort 
to  black  oxide  of  manganese,  which,  at  a  dull-red  heat, 
gives  out  a  considerable  quantity  of  tolerably  pure  oxygen 
gas. 

Oxygen  gas  is  colourless,  tasteless,  and  inodorous ;  it  is 
electro-negative,  and  therefore,  when  compounds  containing 
it  are  electrically  decomposed,  it  always  appears  at  the  pos- 
itive surface.  It  is  a  little  heavier  than  atmospheric  air,  in 
the  proportion,  that  is,  of  11  to  10  ;  100  cubical  inches 
weighing  340  grains.  It  is  not  absorbed  by  water,  and  is 
neither  acid  nor  alkaline.  It  has  a  powerful  attraction  for 
most  of  the  simple  substances,  especially  for  the  electro- 
positive bodies  :  the  act  of  combining  with  it  is  called  oxida- 
tion. The  compounds  thus  formed  are  divided  into  acids 
and  oxides  :  among  the  latter  are  the  alkalis,  and  almost  all 
salifiable  bases.  Oxidation  is  often  attended  with  the  ev- 
olution of  heat  and  light,  as  in  all  processes  of  combustion 
in  atmospheric  air:  sometimes  it  is  slow,  and  unattended 
with  such  phenomena,  as  in  the  gradual  rusting  of  metals. 
Oxygen  is  a  most  powerful  supporter  of  combustion  :  it  con- 
stitutes one  fifth  of  the  bulk  of  the  atmosphere,  and  is  the 
principle  which  enables  combustible  bodies  to  burn  in  it. 
The  product  of  combustion,  that  is,  the  oxide  or  acid,  is 
sometimes  itself  gaseous,  as  when  charcoal,  by  burning,  is 
converted  into  carbonic  acid  ;  or  it  is  Liquid,  as  hydrogen,  by 
combustion,  produces  water;  or  it  is  solid,  as  when  iron,  by 
burning,  produces  oxide  of  iron.  Oxygen  gas  is  nl.-o  essen- 
tial to  respiration ;  that  is,  to  the  evolution  of  carbonic  acid 
from  the  blood. 


OXYGONE. 

OXY'GOXE.  (Gr.  oi-iis,  and  yuria,  angle.)  In  Geom- 
etry, a  term  applied  to  figures  in  which  all  the  angles  are 

OXYHY'DROGEN  BLOWPIPE.  When  a  mixture  of 
one  volume  of  oxygen  and  two  of  hydrogen  are  burned 
while  issuing  from  a  small  aperture,  they  produce  intense 
heat;  and  instruments  under  the  above  name  have  been 
contrived  for  their  safe  combustion,  so  as  to  avoid  the  risk 
of  explosion. 

O'XYMEL.  (Gr.  o\vs,  and  ue\i,  honey).  A  mixture  of 
honey  and  vinegar.  It  is  sometimes  made  the  vehicle  of 
medicines,  as  oxymel  of  squills,  &c. 

OXYMU'RIATE  OF  LIME.  The  valuable  bleaching 
compound  obtained  by  exposing  siaked  quicklime  to  the  ac- 
tion of  chlorine  is  commonly  so  termed ;  it  is,  however,  a 
chloride  of  lime. 

O'XVMURIA'TIC  ACID.  This  name  was  originally 
applied  to  chlorine,  under  the  idea  that  it  consisted  of  mu- 
riatic acid  and  oxygen.  The  fallacy  of  that  opinion  was 
first  demonstrated  by  Davy,  who  showed  that,  in  all  the  ap- 
parent cases  of  the  evolution  of  oxygen  from  chlorine,  its 
source  was  referable  to  the  presence  of  water  or  of  an  ox- 
ide. Chlorine  possesses  a  stronger  attraction  for  bases 
than  oxygen ;  so  that,  when  metallic  oxides  are  exposed  to 
Its  action,  the  chlorine  combines  with  the  metal  to  form  a 
chloride  (formerly  called  a  muriate),  and  the  oxygen  is 
evolved. 

OXYO'PIA.  (Gr.  o\vs,  and  u^,  the  eye.)  Preternatural- 
ly  acute  vision. 

OXYU'RES,  Oxyuri.  (Gr.  o^uj,  and  ovpa,  a  tail.)  The 
name  of  a  family  of  pupivorous  Hymenopterans,  compre- 
hending those  which  have  a  sort  of  tail,  or  terminal  ap- 
pendage, produced  by  an  external  ovipositor  or  borer.  A 
genus  of  intestinal  worms  (Calelininthans)  is  also  called 
Oxyurus. 

OYER.  From  the  Norman  French  oyer,  to  hear.)  In 
Law,  when  an  action  is  brought  on  a  bond  or  other  spe- 
cialty the  defendant,  previously  to  pleading  in  bar,  may 
crave  oyer  of  the  instrument  on  which  the  action  is 
brought^  that  is,  to  have  it  read  to  him  ;  which  prayer  in- 
cludes that  of  a  copy  also.  Whenever  offer  of  a  deed  is 
necessarily  made  by  the  party  relying  on  it  (by  what  is 
termed  a  profert  in  curia),  the  other  party  may  crave  oyer. 
Oyer,  is  not,  in  strictness,  demandable  of  a  record,  or  of  an 
act  of  Parliament. 

OYER  AND  TERMINER.  (Fr.  to  hear  and  determine.) 
In  Law,  a  commission  directed  to  the  judges,  and  other 
gentlemen  of  the  courts  to  which  it  is  issued,  by  virtue  of 
which  they  have  power,  as  the  terms  imply,  to  hear  and  de- 
termine certain  specified  offences. 

OYEZ.     (Plur.  imperative  of  the  same  verb.)     "  Hear 
ye."    The  cry  of  ushers  in  Norman  courts  of  justice,  met- 
amorphosed into  the  English  "  O  yes." 
OYSANITE.     See  Oisamte. 

OYSTER.  (Lat.  ostrea,  an  oyster.)  This  name  is  gen- 
erally understood  to  signify  the  species  of  Ostracean  bivalve 
called  Ostrea  edulis,  which  is  one  of  a  numerous  genus, 
characterized  by  an  inequivalve  shell,  composed  of  two  ir- 
regular lamellated  valves,  of  which  the  convex  or  under 
one  adheres  to  rocks,  piles,  or  to  the  shell  of  another  indi- 
vidual. The  animal  is  unprovided  with  either  a  byssus  or 
a  foot ;  it  is  the  best  flavoured  of  its  class,  and  has,  con- 
sequently, been  always  much  esteemed.  Vast  beds  of  oys- 
ers  are  artificially  formed,  and  attended  to  with  great  care, 
at  the  estuary  of  the  Thames  and  many  other  localities, 
where  the  temperature  of  the  water  is  somewhat  raised  by 
a  mixture  of  salt  and  fresh  water,  in  which  they  best  thrive. 
Certain  restrictions  and  regulations  are  enforced  in  refer- 
ence to  the  sale  of  oysters  in  the  metropolis,  in  order  to  fa- 
vour the  multiplication  and  rearing  of  this  valuable  bivalve. 
They  are  permitted  to  be  sold  from  August  to  May,  the 
close  months  being  May,  June,  and  July.  They  cast  their 
spat  or  spawn  in  May,  when  they  are  said  to  be  sick ;  but 
begin  to  recover  in  June  and  July,  and  in  August  they  are 
perfectly  well.  Oysters  differ  in  quality,  according  to  the 
different  nature  of  the  soil  or  bed.  Trie  best  British  ovs- 
ters  are  found  at  Purfleet ;  the  worst  near  Liverpool.  The 
nursing  and  feeding  of  oysters  is  almost  exclusively  carried 
on  at  Colchester,  and  other  places  in  Essex.  The  oysters 
are  brought  from  the  coast  of  Hampshire,  Dorset,  and  oth- 
er maritime  counties,  even  as  far  as  Scotland,  and  laid  on 
beds  or  layings  in  creeks  along  the  shore,  where  they 
grow,  in  two  or  three  years,  to  a  considerable  size,  anil 
have  their  flavour  improved.  There  are  said  to  be  about 
200  vessels,  from  12  to  40  or  50  tons  burden,  immediately 
employed  in  dredging  for  oysters,  having  from  400  to  500 
men  and  boys  attached  to  them.  The  quantity  of  oysters 
bred  and  taken  in  Essex,  and  consumed  mostly  in  London, 
is  supposed  to  amount  to  14,000  or  15,000  bushels  a  year. 
Supp.  to  Ency.  Brit.,  art.  "  Fisheries.")  Oysters  formed  a 
great  luxury  among  the  Romans,  and,  as  in  France,  were 
served  at  the  commencement  of  a  repast.    The  largest  and 


PACKET. 

best  of  Italy  were  caught  on  the  shores  of  the  Lucrine  ; 
but  the  Romans  used  to  send  vessels  even  to  the  coast  of 
Britain  in  quest  of  this  luxury,  the  British  oysters  being 
then,  as  now,  in  the  highest  estimation. 

OZi£'NA.  (Gr.  oyi),  /  smell.)  An  ulcer  in  the  nose, 
which  discharges  a  foetid  purulent  matter,  and  is  some- 
times symptomatic  of  caries  of  the  bones. 


P. 


P.  A  consonant  of  the  labial  series.  As  was  to  be  ex- 
pected from  the  approximation  of  this  letter  in  sound  to 
b.  it  is  susceptible  of  interchange  with  the  latter  in  nearly 
all  the  languages  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge,  but 
more  especially  in  the  German.  Both  in  this  country 
and  on  the  Continent  there  are  whole  districts  in  which 
not  only  is  the  ear  of  the  natives  insensible  to  the  differ- 
ence between  the  sound  of  the  letters,  but,  %vith  a  tenden- 
cy to  error  of  which  it  would  be  vain  to  investigate  the 
cause,  they  are  almost  invariably  confounded  in  pronuncia- 
tion. Of  this  peculiarity  several  counties  of  Wales  among 
ourselves,  and  the  whole  of  Lower  Saxony  in  Germany, 
present  noted  examples.  For  the  most  usual  abbreviations 
of  this  letter,  see  Abbreviation. 

P.  In  Music,  an  abbreviation  of  the  Italian  word  piano, 
soft,  denoting  that  the  force  of  the  voice  or  instrument  is  to 
be  diminished.  P.P.  means  piu  piano,  or  more  soft ;  and 
P.P.P.  pianissimo,  as  soft  as  possible. 

PACE.  (Fr.  pas.)  A  denomination  of  linear  measure, 
of  uncertain  extent ;  assumed  by  some  to  be  5  feet,  by  oth- 
ers 4-4.  It  is  the  quantity  supposed  to  be  measured  by  the 
foot  from  the  place  where  it  is  taken  up  to  that  where  it  is 
set  down.  The  ancient  Roman  pace,  considered  as  the 
thousandth  part  of  a  mile,  was  five  Roman  feet,  and  each 
foot  contained  between  11-60  and  1164  modern  English 
inches  ;  hence  the  pace  was  about  58-l  English  inches,  and 
the  Roman  mile,  the  millepassus,  equal  to  1614  yards.  See 
Mile. 

PA'CHA.  (Pronounced  pasha ;  contracted  from  the  Per- 
sian padi  shah,  foot  of  the  shah.)  A  title  of  honour,  given, 
in  the  origin  of  the  Turkish  empire,  to  the  ministers  and 
chief  assistants  of  the  sultan,  whether  military  or  learned. 
(See  Von  Homer's  History  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  vol.  i., 
p.  137.)  In  process  of  time  attributed  particularly  to  the 
governors  of  provinces,  styled  pacha'iks.  The  well-known 
distinction  of  ranks  between  the  two  classes  of  pachas  con- 
sists in  the  number  of  horse-tails  which  are  carried  before 
them  as  standards,  the  higher  having  three  and  the  lower 
two.  There  were  until  recently  25  pachaliks,  subdivided 
into  sangiacates,  besides  various  independent  jurisdictions 
scattered  over  the  empire. 

PA'CHACA'MAC.  The  name  given  by  the  idolaters  of 
Peru  to  the  being  whom  they  worshipped  as  the  creator  of 
the  universe;  this  divinity  was  held  in  the  highest  venera- 
tion. In  the  fruitful  valley  of  Pachacama  (whence  the 
name)  the  incas  dedicated  to  his  honour  a  temple  of  such 
splendour  and  wealth,  that  notwithstanding  the  rapacity  of 
the  Spanish  soldiers,  by  whom  it  was  plundered  previously 
to  the  arrival  of  Pizarro,  that  general  is  said  to  have  drawn 
from  it  treasures  to  the  amount  of  900,000  ducats.  The 
ruins  of  this  temple  which  still  remain,  furnish  a  high  no- 
tion of  its  former  maenificence. 

PA'CHYDE'RMATA.  (Gr.  va%v?,  thick,  and  Itp/ia, 
skin.)  An  order  of  quadrupeds,  including  the  elephant, 
horse,  pig,  &c,  distinguished  by  the  thickness  of  their  hides. 

PACHYGLOSSATES,  Pachyglossi.  (Gr.  xaXvs,  and 
yXwcaa,  a  tongue.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  parrots 
(Psittacini),  comprehending  those  which  have  a  thick  pro- 
tractile tongue. 

PACHYO'TES,  Pachyoti.  (Gr.  ra^w?,  and  cuf,  an  ear.) 
The  name  of  a  family  of  bats  ( Cheiroptera),  including  those 
which  have  thick  external  ears. 

PACI'FIC.  The  name  given  by  Magalhaens,  the  first 
European  who  traversed  it,  to  the  ocean  which  extends 
between  America  on  the  east  and  Asia  and  Australia  on 
the  west,  in  consequence  of  his  enjoying  fair  weather  on 
entering  it,  after  having  previously  experienced  a  track  of 
bad  weather  and  tempestuous  gales  in  the  straits  which 
bear  his  name.  The  Pacific  is  the  greatest  expanse  of  wa- 
ter on  the  globe. 

PACIFICA'TION,  EDICTS  OF.  The  term  usually  ap- 
plied to  the  edicts  issued  by  the  French  monarchs  in  favour 
of  their  Protestant  subjects,  in  the  view  of  allaying  the 
commotions  occasioned  by  their  previous  persecutions.  The 
first  edict  of  this  nature  was  promulgated  by  Charles  IX. 
in  1562 ;  but  the  most  celebrated  was  the  edict  of  Nantes 
(which' see),  issued  by  Henry  IV.  in  1598,  and  revoked  by 
Louis  XIV.  in  1685. 

PA'CKET,  in  Navigation,  meant  originally  a  vessel  ap- 
pointed by  government  to  carry  the  mails  between  the 

671 


PACKFONG. 

mother  country  and  foreign  countries  or  her  own  dependen- 
cies. It  is  now  used  as  nearly  synonymous  with  an  ordi- 
nary vessel,  chiefly  of  small  burden,  that  freights  goods  or 
passengers. 

PA'CKFONG.  The  Chinese  name  of  the  alloy  of  nick- 
el and  copper  commonly  called  German  silver.  It  is  an  al- 
loy of  7  parts  of  zinc,  '.'-5  copper,  and  6'5  nickel. 

PACK'HORSE.  A  horse  employed  to  carry  goods  on  its 
back  in  bundles,  called  packages  or  packs.  In  countries 
not  yet  intersected  by  regular  roads  this  is  the  only  mode 
of  transporting  goods  from  one  part  to  another.  In  Britain, 
horses  were  formerly  employed  for  this  purpose,  but  for 
these,  carts  and  wagons  are  now  substituted.  In  Spain, 
mules  and  asses  are  still  so  employed,  and  in  Asia  and  Afri- 
ca, camels  and  dromedaries. 

P  A'COS.  The  Peruvian  name  of  an  earthy-looking  ore, 
which  consists  of  brown  oxide  of  iron,  with  imperceptible 
particles  of  native  silver  disseminated  through  it.  (See 
Ure's  Dictionary  of  *1rts,  <$-e.) 

PA'DDING,  in  Calico-printing,  is  the  impregnation  of  the 
cloth  with  a  mordant. 

PA'DDLE.  A  kind  of  oar  used  by  savage  nations  in  nav- 
igating their  canoes.  The  paddle  is  broader  at  the  end  than 
the  common  oar;  and  being  employed  at  the  stern  of  the 
canoe,  not  only  impels  her  forwards,  but  regulates  her  course 
exactly  like  a  rudder.     See  Sculling. 

PADDLES.     See  Steam  Navigation. 

PA'DDOCK.  This  term  was  formerly  applied  to  a  strip 
of  ground  in  a  park,  paled  round,  for  hounds  to  run  matches 
in ;  but  at  present  it  is  chiefly  used  to  denote  a  small  en- 
closure under  pasture,  immediately  adjoining  the  stables  of 
a  domain,  for  turning  in  a  sick  horse,  a  mare  and  foal,  or 
any  similar  purpose. 

PADI'SHA.  (From  pad,  protector  or  throne,  and  shah, 
prince.)  A  title  of  the  Turkish  sultan  and  Persian  shah. 
Formerly  the  Turkish  emperor  conferred  this  title  upon  the 
kings  of  France  alone  among  the  European  sovereigns,  but 
we  believe  that  the  honour  is  now  likewise  shared  by  the 
emperors  of  Austria  and  Russia.     See  Pacha. 

PA'DUAN  COINS.  In  the  Fine  Arts,  coins  forged  by 
the  celebrated  Paduans,  Cavino  and  Bassiano;  who  were 
also  the  artists  employed  on  the  pope's  medals,  from  Julius 
III.  to  Gregory  XI II.  ( 1571 ) .  These  coins  hold  the  first  rank 
in  imitations  of  ancient  medals  for  their  masterly  execution. 
M.  Beauvais  says  of  them,  "that  they  are  seldom  thinner 
than  the  ancient  coins  themselves;  that  they  seldom  appear 
as  worn  or  damaged,  while  others  very  frequently  do,  espe- 
cially in  the  reverse,  which  sometimes,  as  in  many  Othos, 
appear  half  consumed  by  time ;  and  while  (he  observes) 
counterfeit  medals  are  very  commonly  of  as  irregular  a  form 
as  the  real,  those  of  the  Paduan  masters  are  generally  cir- 
cular." Still  more  modern  forgers,  who  were  without  the 
talents  which  these  Paduans  possessed  to  engrave  dies,  have 
been  content  to  mould  them  from  their  productions ;  but 
these  are  cast  coins,  which  it  requires  no  very  extraordinary 
knowledge  to  detect.  The  marks  of  the  file  upon  their  edges 
are  mostly  a  sure  sign  of  the  imposition ;  those,  however, 
who  collect  these  objects  of  art  should  be  constantly  on  their 
guard. 

PjE'AN.  (Gr.  Ilaia't'O  Among  the  Greeks,  properly  a 
hymn  in  honour  of  Apollo,  who  was  also  called  Paean.  Also 
a  war  song  before  or  after  battle :  in  the  first  case  in  honour 
of  Mars,  in  the  second  as  a  thanksgiving  to  Apollo. 

P.ean.  In  Ancient  Poetry,  a  foot  consisting  of  four  sylla- 
bles, of  which  there  are  four  kinds ;  the  Paean  primus,  se- 
cundus.  &c.     See  Foot. 

PjE'DOBA'PTISTS.  (Gr.  irate,  a  child,  and  /Jairrtfw,  I 
baptize.)  Those  who  hold  that  baptism  should  be  admin- 
istered during  infancy.  The  great  majority  of  Christian 
churches  which  allow  the  baptism  of  infants  are  thus  de- 
nominated from  that  circumstance,  and  are  thereby  distin- 
guished from  the  Antiptedobaptists,  i.  e.,  those  who  deny  the 
validity  of  infant  baptism.     See  Baptists. 

PA'GAN  (LaL  paganus;  from  pagtis,  a  village),  among 
the  Romans,  was,  as  the  term  imports,  applied  to  all  who 
lived  in  villages,  in  contradistinction  to  the  inhabitants  of 
cities.  In  its  present  signification  it  is  the  opposite  of  Chris- 
tian, being  synonymous  with  heathen,  gentile,  and  idolater; 
and  was  originally  so  applied  because  the  inhabitants  of 
villages  continued  to  adhere  to  their  idolatrous  practices 
after  Christianity  had  been  introduced  into  towns  and  nties-. 
The  precise  period  when  the  term  pagan  was  first  used 
in  its  present  acceptation  has  not  been  ascertained.  See 
Heathen. 

PAGANA'LIA.  (Eat.)  Festivals  held  in  each  Roman 
village  in  honour  of  the  local  tutelary  divinities.  They  were 
Instituted  by  Senilis  Tulllus,  who  commanded  every  In- 
habitant of  each  pagus,  or  village,  to  assemble  annually  on 
B  Certain  day.  and  Ofler  public  sacrifices.  In  instituting  tiiese 
festivals  Servius  bad  both  a  political  and  religious  object  in 
view;  for,  as  every  inhabitant  was  compelled  to  bring  a 
small  coin,  varying  with  the  age  and  sex  of  the  bearer,  he 
872 


PAGANISM. 

was  annually  acquainted  with  the  strength  of  each  district, 
and  consequently  with  that  of  the  kingdom. 

PA GANISM.  A  general  appellation  for  the  religious 
worship  of  the  whole  human  race,  except  of  that  portion 
which  has  embraced  Christianity,  Judaism,  or  Mohamme- 
danism, Under  the  head  Polytheism,  we  have  given  a 
brief  outline  of  the  different  kinds  of  pagan  worship,  and  we 
shall  in  this  place  confine  our  remarks  to  the  origin  of  the 
system. 

That  in  the  most  ancient  times  one  God,  sole,  eternal,  in- 
divisible, the  creator  of  the  universe,  was  acknowledged  and 
worshipped,  has  been  proved  by  the  most  profound  investi- 
gators of  antiquity.  The  existence  of  this  belief  may  not 
only  be  traced  in  the  tradition  of  all  people,  but  is  expressly 
affirmed  by  some  of  the  greatest  philosophers  of  the  heathen 
world.  Nothing,  indeed,  could  exceed  the  contempt  with 
which  some  of  them  regarded  the  gods  of  the  vulgar,  though 
fear  of  danger  or  some  other  cause  often  taught  them  to  con- 
ceal the  sentiment. 

The  causes  of  idolatry  were  manifold,  and  were  mostly 
of  oriental  growth.  A  great  king  regarded  it  as  below  his 
dignity  to  enter  into  the  minute  details  of  administration :  he 
placed  vicars  or  ministers  over  provinces  and  cities,  over  the 
great  departments  of  national  polity.  If  the  onerous  charge 
was  inapplicable  to  an  earthly,  it  was  still  more  so  to  the 
celestial  Sovereign :  hence  the  subordinate  deities  which 
we  perceive  in  the  religious  systems  of  all  nations — tile  pre- 
siding genii  of  the  Chaldaeans,  the  numerous  gods  of  Greece 
and  Rome.  The  worship  due  to  the  Supreme  alone  was 
soon  transferred  to  those  imaginary  entities,  which,  from 
functionaries,  were  transferred  into  so  many  independent 
chiefs,  until  the  simple  primeval  notion  of  the  divine  unity 
was  lost.  The  other  causes  of  idolatry  are  foreign  to  our 
purpose:  the  one  already  assigned,  which  is  Indisputably 
the  most  ancient  and  the  most  obvious,  is  of  itself  sufficient 
to  account  for  the  fact. 

In  its  origin  paganism,  as  a  system,  was  simple.  A  few 
great  divinities  were  placed  in  heaven  to  guide  the  affairs  of 
the  visible  and  invisible  worlds.  By  degrees  each  great 
planet,  each  law  of  nature,  each  region  and  city,  nay  each 
river,  fountain,  wood,  tree,  mineral,  had  its  tutelary  divinity. 
The  laws  of  nature  were  often  inexplicable ;  what  more  ob- 
vious than  to  infer  that  each  was  subject  to  a  superior  pow- 
er 1  As  the  ideas  of  men  became  more  precise  and  refined, 
gods  were  placed  over  human  faculties  and  passions :  thus 
the  understanding  and  the  will,  love  and  revenge,  were  the 
offspring  of  certain  deities.  Mere  abstractions  were  similar- 
ly personified  ;  until  the  empire  of  reason,  of  sentiment,  and 
of  morals,  was  as  much  pervaded  as  earth,  air,  and  ocean 
with  these  visionary  beings.  But  might  not  men  themselves 
attain  to  that  mysterious  dignity  ?  might  they  not  become  at 
least  a  sort  of  demigods — a  distinction  earned  by  some  un- 
common merit  1  In  all  countries  we  find  instances  of  deifi- 
cation. Nor  need  this  surprise.  The  human  mind  is  na- 
turally prone  to  exaggeration — the  human  heart  to  be  led 
astray  by  the  intensity  of  its  own  feelings.  Thus  he  who, 
during  life,  proved  himself  a  benefactor  to  his  countrymen, 
who  taught  them  useful  arts,  or  freed  them  from  some  im- 
pending evil,  would  be  regarded  with  affectionate  admira- 
tion by  his  contemporaries ;  and  time,  which  so  constantly 
increases  every  object,  would  convert  a  great  exploit,  a 
shining  virtue,  into  a  divine  effort.  But  it  not  unfrequently 
happened  that  men  were  often  deified  for  brute  strength,  un- 
accompanied by  those  elevated  mental  qualities  which  form 
the  noblest  distinction  of  the  hero.  It  may,  however,  be  ob- 
served, that  in  such  cases  men  were  always  reverenced  for 
the  quality  most  wanted  in  a  state.  If  a  district  were  infest- 
ed by  wild  beasts,  or  by  predatory  savages,  a  Hercules  arose 
to  free  it.  If  a  country  required  laws,  a  Minos  established 
them.  If  the  culture  of  the  grape  was  unknown,  a  Bacchus 
appeared  to  teach  it.  Such  benefactors,  it  was  believed,  de- 
served, as  they  certainly  obtained,  the  peculiar  favour  of 
heaven — rewards  which  far  transcended  those  bestowed  on 
other  men.  In  most  cases,  however,  each  was  held  to  be  a 
divinity,  or  at  least  the  offspring  of  one.  As  the  generation 
of  the  gods  was  a  received  tenet,  and  their  union  with  mor- 
tals of  constant  occurrence,  imagination  had  little  difficulty 
in  the  filiation  of  a  benefactor.  Must  nations  were  eager  to 
proclaim  a  god  as  their  founder;  and  when  one  laid  claim 
to  the  honour,  the  example  was  speedily  followed  by  others 
with  equal  appearance  of  justice.  Hence  the  prodigious 
number  of  divinities;  heaven  and  hell,  the  earth  and  the 
planets,  air  ami  ocean,  the  whole  frame  of  nature,  every 
part  of  the  universe,  visible  and  invisible,  even  the  realms 
of  imagination,  being  pervaded  by  them  j  and  hence  idolatry 
became  a  complicated  system,  endless  in  its  forms  of  worship 
us  in  its  objects. 

It  lias  indeed  been  contended  that  even  in  the  most  unen- 
lightened times,  men — except,  perhaps,  the  grossest  in  com- 
prehension— were  never  so  absurd  as  to  receive  this  almost 
Infinite  plurality  of  deities;  that  each  derived  it^  name  from 
its  being  a  distinct  manifestation  of  the  divine  energy ;  that 


PAGE. 

the  Neptune  of  the  sea,  the  Apollo  of  the  sun,  the  Minerva 
of  the  understanding,  the  Jove  of  the  thunder,  were  mere 
denominations,  founded  on  the  distinct  modes  in  which  the 
Supreme  manifests  himself  to  the  world :  in  short,  that  those 
denominations  were  but  so  many  imaginative  terms  for  the 
emanations  of  the  all-pervading  Deity  ;  and  that  under  each 
distinct  emanation  this  deity  might  be  worshipped  without 
the  charge  of  idolatry.  But  this  hypothesis  is  too  refined  to 
be  just,  and  is  contrary  to  experience.  The  known  progress 
of  the  human  mind  is  from  sensual  to  ideal,  not  from  the 
ideal  to  the  sensual ;  philosophy  is  the  end,  not  the  begin- 
ning of  knowledge.  If  that  great  patriarchal  truth,  the  uni- 
ty of  the  Godhead,  was  obscured  by  successive  ages  of  ig- 
norance, it  could  be  regained  only  by  an  opposite  and  equal- 
ly laborious  process  of  the  intellect ;  and  even  when  thus 
recovered,  it  could  not  be  communicated  without  danger  to 
the  multitude.  (Cab.  Cyc. ;  Arts,  <S-c,  of  the  Greeks  and 
Romans,  vol.  ii.)     See  Monotheism. 

PAGE.     (Modern  Latin  pagius,  of  uncertain  derivation ; 
according  to  some,  from  pagus,  village.)     In  high  life,  a 
youth  attached  to  the  service  of  a  royal  or  noble  personage. 
In  the  ancient  Persian  court  (which  has  been  not  ill  termed 
the  archetype  of  all  courts),  we  find  the  usage  of  employing 
a  number  of  youths  of  the  noblest  families  of  the  empire  in 
personal  attendance  on  the  sovereign.    Among  the  Greeks 
and  Romans  (to  whom  monarchical  institutions,  strictly  so 
called,  were  unknown),  no  analogous  custom  appears  to  have 
prevailed.    Among  the  northern  nations,  on  the  other  hand, 
personal  service  of  this  sort  was  common.    The  name  pages, 
however,  appears  confined  to  slaves  and  attendants  of  an  in- 
ferior description,  in  modern  Europe,  until  the  reigns  of 
Charles  VI.  and  VII.  of  France.      (Fauchet's  Origine  des 
Chevaliers.)     As  chivalric  institutions  prevailed,  the  office, 
by  whatever  name  called,  became  of  importance ;  courts 
and  castles  were  the  schools  in  which  the  young  noble  pass- 
ed through  the  degree  of  page,  in  order  to  reach  the  farther 
steps  of  esquire  and  knight,  when  he  became  "  hors  de 
page."    In  the  16th  century  the  chivalrous  character  had 
become  much  adulterated ;  but  the  custom  of  bringing  up 
sons  as  pages  at  courts  continued  until  the  disorder  and 
licence  of  the  age  rendered  the  service  so  dangerous  that  it 
was  no  longer  sought  by  the  better  classes  as  a  mode  of  edu- 
cation for  their  children.    Pages  then  became,  as  they  are 
now,  mere  relics  of  feudal  custom:  from  some  courts  (the 
Prussian,  for  instance)  they  have  entirely  disappeared  ;  and 
the  young  noblemen  of  the  cadet  school  perform  the  office 
of  pages  on  solemn  occasions.     (See  Sainte  Palaye,  Me- 
moires  sur  la  Chevalrie ;  Mem.  de  VAc.  des  Inscr.,  vol.  xx.) 
Page.    In  Printing,  one  side  of  the  leaf  of  a  book.    A  folio 
volume  contains  4  pages  in  every  sheet;  a  quarto  8,  an  oc- 
tavo 16,  a  duodecimo  24,  and  an  octodecimo  (18mo.)  36  pages. 
PA'GEANT,  in  its  general  sense,  a  public  representation 
or  exhibition  of  a  showy  and  splendid  character.    It  was  a 
very  early  custom  in  the  middle  ages,  both  in  England  and 
on  the  Continent,  to  celebrate  festive  occasions  of  a  public 
nature,  as  royal  visits,  marriages,  &c,  by  some  ornamental 
show  in  the  public  streets  of  cities.    During  the  period  of 
chivalry  these  shows  began  to  be  exhibited  with  the  addi- 
tion of  masked  figures,  representing  allegorical  personages, 
with  appropriate  scenery ;  and  as,  in  process  of  time,  speeches 
in  verse  or  prose  were  put  into  the  mouths  of  these  figures, 
and  sometimes  a  kind  of  dramatic  entertainment  performed 
between  them,  the  pageant  consequently  holds  a  place  in 
our  early  literature.    The  earliest  speaking  pageant  of  which 
we  have  any  account  was  presented  on  the  triumphal  entry 
of  Henry  VI.  into  London,  in  1432;  and  the  poetical  part  of 
it  is  conjectured  to  have  been  supplied  by  Lydgate.    The 
reign  of  Henry  VIII.  was  fertile  in  pageants  of  an  extraor- 
dinary magnificence  and  splendour;  but  in  that  of  queen 
Elizabeth  they  assumed  a  different  form,  and  were  both  de- 
vised and  enacted,  with  much  more  elegance :  partly  from 
the  tincture  of  romantic  gallantry  which  distinguished  the 
court  of  the  maiden  queen,  and  was  perceptible  in  all  the 
homage  rendered  to  her  by  her  subjects,  and  partly  from  the 
sudden  developement  of  the  poetical  genius  of  the  nation. 
The  pageants  gradually  became  more  dramatic,  and  thus 
approximated  more  nearly  to  the  more  elegant  character  of 
the  masque  (see  Masque),  which,  under  her  successor,  be- 
came the  fashionable  court  entertainment.     Pageants,  how- 
ever, were  still  presented  by  the  city  of  London,  which  re- 
tained a  poet  laureat  of  its  own  for  the  purpose  of  inditing 
the  spoken  part  of  them,  down  to  the  year  1700,  or  there- 
abouts; and  the  lord  mayor's  procession  still  retains  some 
characteristics  of  these  ancient  entertainments.    The  deriva- 
tion of  this  word  is  wholly  unknown,  and  has  afforded  much 
scope  to  the  fancy  of  etymologists. 
PA'GINA.     (Lat.)     In  Botany,  the  surface  of  a  leaf. 
PAGO'DA.     (Pers.  poutghad,  a  house  of  an  idol.)     In  Ar- 
chitecture, the  East  Indian  name  for  a  temple  containing  an 
idol.     Sometimes  it  signifies  the  idol  itself.     The  pagoda  is 
generally  of  three  subdivisions.    First,  an  apartment  whose 
ceiling  is  a  dome  resting  on  columns  of  stone  or  marble ;  this 


PAINTING. 

part  is  open  to  all  persons.  Second,  an  apartment  forbidden 
to  all  but  Brahmins.  Third  and  last,  the  cell  which  contains 
the  statue  of  the  deity,  enclosed  with  a  massy  gate. 

Pagoda,  is  also  the  name  of  a  gold  coin,  value  from  8a.  to 
9s.  current  in  several  parts  of  India.  It  is  also  the  name  of 
a  silver  coin  of  the  same  value,  on  which  are  stamped  im- 
ages of  the  Hindoo  gods. 

PA'GODITE.  A  species  of  steatite  or  serpentine,  which 
the  Chinese  carve  into  figures. 

PAGU'RIANS,  Paguridm.  (Lat.  pagurus,  hermit-crabs.) 
The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Macrurous  Decapod  Crustaceans,  of 
which  the  genus  Pagurus  is  the  type.  Most  of  the  species 
of  this  family  inhabit,  parasitically,  the  deserted  shells  of 
univalves. 

PAI'NIM.  A  poetical  expression  used  by  English  writers 
for  pagan. 

PAINS  AND  PENALTIES,  BILL  OF.  A  species  of 
process  employed  to  inflict  punishment  on  state  offenders 
out  of  the  ordinary  course  of  justice.  Every  bill  brought 
into  parliament  for  the  purpose  of  inflicting  such  punishment 
is  a  bill  of  pains  and  penalties,  of  which  bills  of  attainder 
(see  Attainder)  are,  properly  speaking,  a  species;  but  the 
term  is  more  commonly  confined  to  bills  introduced  to  in- 
flict specified  penalties  for  particular  acts.  The  latest  in- 
stance of  this  extraordinary  proceeding  was  the  bill  of  pains 
and  penalties  against  0_ueen  Caroline  (1820),  introduced  into 
the  House  of  Lords,  and  passed  by  them,  but  which  was  not 
carried  into  the  Commons. 

PAINTER.  In  Naval  language,  a  rope  used  to  fasten  a 
boat  either  alongside  of  the  ship  to  which  it  belongs,  or  to 
some  wharf,  quay,  &c,  as  occasion  requires. 

PAI'NTERS'  COLIC.  The  peculiar  disease,  which 
usually  terminates  in  palsy  and  mental  imbecility,  to  which 
painters  and  others  subject  to  lead  poisons  are  subject.  It  is 
also  called  colic  of  Poitou  and  Devonshire  colic ;  the  miners 
employed  in  lead-works  being  also  liable  to  its  attacks.  See 
Colic. 

PAI'NTING  (Fr.  peinture,  Lat.  pictura),  strictly  defined, 
is  an  art  which,  by  means  of  lines  and  eolours,  represents  on 
a  plane  surface  all  objects  presented  to  the  eye  or  to  the  im- 
agination. The  etymology  of  the  word  (ypatyuv)  used  to  ex- 
press painting  among  the  Greeks,  being  the  same  as  that 
employed  for  writing,  seems  to  identify  the  tools  with  which 
it  was  performed  among  that  people :  viz.,  a  style  or  pen  of 
wood,  used  on  a  levigated  plane  of  wood,  metal,  or  some 
other  prepared  ground';  the  mode,  letters  or  lines.  Until  its 
operations  became  founded  on  the  faithful  representations 
of  visible  objects  of  nature,  undisfigured  by  mannerism  and 
modification  from  the  fashion  and  habits  of  a  country,  such, 
for  instance,  as  we  meet  with  in  the  Indian,  Egyptian,  and 
Chinese  representations  of  the  human  form,  it  is  scarcely 
entitled  to  the  appellation  of  art;  hence  we  shall,  in  this 
article,  dismiss,  with  very  few  remarks,  its  appearance  in 
those  countries  where  traces  of  it  in  that  condition  are  to  be 
found,  reserving  the  principal  part  of  this  article  for  that  de- 
velopment, simplicity  of  end,  and  uniformity  of  pursuits, 
which  enabled  the  Greeks,  the  great  arbiters  of  form,  to 
carry  it  to  a  degree  of  excellence  which  no  subsequent  age 
or  nation  has  been  able  to  reach,  or  even  rival. 

It  seems  probable  that  drawing  and  recorded  language 
were  coeval  in  invention.  In  Greek  we  have  mentioned 
that  the  same  word  (ypafetv)  expressed  the  act  of  perform- 
ing one  as  well  as  the  other.  Goguet,  in  his  Origine  des 
Loiz,  says  that  the  first  essay  of  the  art  of  writing,  using  the 
expression  in  its  most  general  sense,  was  by  means  of  the 
representation  of  corporeal  objects.  Its  invention  would 
thus  be  carried  hack  to  a  period  almost  as  remote  as  that 
of  the  existence  itself  of  the  human  race.  The  earliest  peo- 
ple, he  says,  naturally  used  this  method  for  exhibiting  their 
thoughts,  and  commenced  by  representing  to  the  eye  the  ob- 
jects they  wished  to  impress  on  the  mind.  The  origin,  how- 
ever, of  painting,  properly  so  called,  involved  as  it  is  in  the 
greatest  obscurity,  presents  one  of  the  most  difficult  ques- 
tions in  the  history  of  the  arts ;  and  opinions  are  very  much 
divided  as  to  the  country  that  gave  birth  to  it.  Some  au- 
thors have  assigned  its  invention  to  a  period  antecedent  to 
the  siege  of  Troy.  (Plin.,  1.  vii.)  Others,  to  one  long  after. 
(Plin.,  1.  xxxv.)  Pliny  says,  that  the  Egyptians  boasted  of 
being  acquainted  with  the  art  six  thousand  years  before  the 
Grecians;  but  his  words  are,  "Affirmant,  vana  praedica- 
tione,  ut  palum  est."  Profane  no  less  than  sacred  history 
rejects  such  a  chimsra.  But,  though  such  a  period  of  an- 
tiquity be  fabulous,  it  is  quite  certain  that  painting  was  much 
used  by  them  at  a  very  early  period.  It  is  argued  by  Goguet 
that,  as  much  as  it  was  in  his  power,  Cambyses  destroyed 
the  monuments  of  art  he  found  in  Egypt.  Hence  may  be 
considered  as  posterior  to  his  invasion  such  of  the  monu- 
ments as  display  specimens  of  the  art.  The  epoch  whereof 
we  are  speaking  is  52o  B.C.  This,  however,  is  an  argument 
far  from  satisfactory,  where  all  is  conjecture.  The  speci- 
mens of  Egyptian  paintings  now  extant  exhibit  a  collection 
of  representations  of  human  and  other  figures  which  indi- 
3H*  873 


PAINTING. 


cate  extremely  slender  advances  in  the  art.  They  arc  all 
rudely  and  falsely  drawn:  no  notion  of  grouping,  as  we  un- 
derstand it,  nor  sentiment,  appears  in  any  of  their  produc- 
tions. As  the  Phoenicians  were  an  early  cultivated  people, 
and  have  the  credit  of  the  invention  of  letters,  they  may, 
perhaps,  have  a  claim  to  the  invention  equal  to  that  of  any 
other  nation.  In  the  time  of  Solomon,  992  B.C.,  they  were 
so  well  skilled  in  the  arts  that  that  king  employed  thetu  in 

building  the  temple.  The  Scriptures  record  the  magnificence 

and  splendour  of  their  buildings,  abounding  with  decorated 
apartments  and  sculptured  ornaments;  and  we  know,  from 
the  coins  of  the  Phoenicians  that  have  reached  us,  that  in 
the  design  and  execution  of  their  coinage  they  were  not  far 
behind  the  Greeks. 

"Thou,  also,  son  of  man,  take  thee  a  tile,  and  lay  it  be- 
fore thee,  and  portray  upon  it  the  city,  even  Jerusalem," 
are  the  words  with  which  the  fourth  chapter  of  Ezekiel 
commences  ;  the  words  in  the  Septuagint  being  iiaypA^lUi 
z-'  uvriji  ndAlv  t>)i'  'lipovtra'Siift.  This  is  about  590  !!.('.,  and 
would  tend  to  show  that  the  art  was  practised  by  the  Jews 
so  early  as  that  period.  The  commandment,  "Thou  shalt 
not  make  to  thyself  any  graven  image,"  which  some  sects, 
even  in  the  present  day,  construe  into  a  prohibition  against 
all  art,  was  merely  a  prohibition  of  the  worship  of  idols;  for 
we  find  Moses  himself,  by  the  command  of  God,  employing 
sculpture  for  the  sanctuary.  The  employment  of  art  of  this 
nature  is  found,  also,  in  many  other  passages  of  Scripture, 
which  will  doubtless  occur  to  the  reader. 

The  Persians,  the  Arabians,  and  the  Parthians,  from  the 
peculiar  opinions  they  entertained,  could  have  no  claims 
either  to  the  origin  or  improvement  of  the  art  of  painting. 
With  them  the  representation  of  the  human  figure  in  a  state 
of  nudity  was  considered  almost  as  indecorous  as  the  ap- 
pearance before  them  of  a  naked  man  himself.  Their  fig- 
ures are  clothed  almost  invariably  with  drapery,  falling  in 
clumsy  folds  profusely  plaited.  Worshippers  of  fire,  they 
used  no  representations  of  the  Deity ;  and  it  is  curious  that, 
in  their  successful  invasion  of  Egypt,  they  imbibed  no  taste 
for  the  arts  and  religion  of  that  polytheistic  country — not 
that  they  had,  perhaps,  in  the  former,  much  to  acquire. 

The  art  of  painting  in  China,  if  we  may  judge  of  it  from 
the  time  it  first  became  known  in  this  country,  has  remain- 
ed the  same  time  immemorial.  It  has  never  exceeded  the 
hounds  of  imitation,  and  even  in  that  respect  it  is  devoid  of 
taste  and  truth.  The  human  figure  with  the  Chinese  is  a 
distorted  misrepresentation,  and  their  perspective  is  attained 
by  piling  one  object  on  the  top  of  another  till  the  picture  is 
all  earth  and  no  sky.  Invention  and  imagination  were  nev- 
er known  among  them ;  and  though  in  many  respects  inge- 
nious in  manipulation,  their  dexterity  is  exhausted  in  paint- 
ing the  fins  of  a  fish,  or  the  petals  of  a  plant.  In  such  a 
country  it  would  be  vain  to  look  for  the  origin  or  progress 
of  the  art. 

Etruscan  art  is  known  to  almost  every  person  by  the 
vases  that  bear  that  name.  In  the  article  Architecture 
we  have  touched  upon  the  perfection,  at  a  remote  period  of 
time,  of  the  arts  of  Etruria ;  a  country  which,  in  its  ancient 
state,  was  the  most  powerful  and  civilized  in  Italy.  Diodo- 
rus  speaks  of  the  rich  and  powerful  cities  in  their  territo- 
ries, and  of  the  uncontrolled  sway  which  their  fleets  exer- 
cised on  the  seas  encircling  the  peninsula.  Though  the 
history  of  this  nation  is  involved  in  obscurity,  though  the 
Romans  strove  to  remove  all  the  memorials  of  their  ancient 
fam  .  sufficient  information  has  reached  us  to  demonstrate 
the  height  of  perfection  to  which  they  carried  the  fine  arts. 
About  twelve  miles  from  the  town  of  Civita  Vecchia  stood 
the  ancient  Etruscan  city  of  Tarquinia,  near  which  are 
found  a  considerable  number  of  sepulchral  grottos,  whereof 
some  are  decorated  with  paintings  and  figures  much  in  the 
style  of  those  on  the  Etruscan  vases.  These  antiquities 
have  been  published,  with  a  detailed  description  and  plates, 
by  the  late  Mr.  Bj  res.  Some  of  the  pictures  represent  com 
bats,  and  in  others  the  subjects  are  dances  of  females,  all 
executed  with  considerable  spirit.  The  pottery,  however, 
which  we  have  above  noticed,  appears  to  afford  the  greatest 

n lier  of  their  specimens  of  the  arts  of  design:  the  forms 

displayed  in  the  contours  of  the  vases,  no  less  than  the  paint- 
ings with  which  they  are  decorated,  evince  a  wonderful  at- 
tainment of  elegance  In  design,  purity  of  form,  and  ingenui- 
ty in  its  delineation.  The  power  over  line,  and  the  facility 
Of  execution  they  reached,  maybe  easily  conceived  from  the 
i  nature' of  the  material  upon  which  they  wrought. 
No  retouching  was  possible;  but  the  whole  must  have  been 
completely  arranged  in  the  mind  before  it  coidd  be  struck 
Off  by  the  artist.  Pliny  states  that,  in  his  day,  the  town  of 
Ardea,  an  ancient  city  of  Etruria,  contains  some  paintings 
which  be  ascribes  to  a  period  anterior  to  the  foundation  of 
Rome,  and  mentions  with  surprise  their  then  perfect  state  of 
preservation.  At  Lacnvium,  also,  he  describes  some  pic- 
tures of  At alanta  and  Helen,  which  were  simply  painted  on 
the  wall,  and  exhibited  great  merit  in  e.xecuiion.  These 
Caligula,  after  a  fruitless  attempt,  failed  in  removing.  Cere, 
874 


another  Etruscan  city,  boasted  some  paintings  of  an  early 
date.  All  these  specimens  are  doubtless  of  a  remote  epoch  ; 
but  attempts  to  fix  it  with  precision  would  not  be  likely  to 
bdng  us  to  the  exact  or  even  proximate  period  of  their  exe- 
cution. The  history  of  painting,  however,  can  only  be  told 
under  the  head  of  Grecian  art,  to  which  we  shall  now  pro- 
ceed, premising  that  in  our  account  we  shall  use  most  freely 
the  Lectures  on  Painting- of  the  late  Henry  Euseli,  professor 
of  painting  of  the  Royal  Academy,  who,  whatever  may  be 
thought  of  his  pictures,  was  an  enthusiastic  lover  of  his  art, 
a  scholar,  and  a  critic  of  the  highest  order. 

The  vocabulary  Of  the  technical  expressions,  nature,  beau- 
ty, grace,  taste,  copy,  imitation,  genius,  and  talent,  is  ex- 
plained as  follows:  By  nature  is  meant  the  general  and  per- 
manent principles  of  visible  objects,  neither  disfigured  by 
accident  nor  distempered  by  disease,  neither  modified  by 
fashion  nor  local  habits.  Beauty  is  that  harmonious  whole 
of  the  human  frame,  that  unison  of  parts  to  one  end,  which 
enchants  us.  It  is  the  result  of  the  standard  set  by  the  great 
masters  of  the  art,  the  ancients,  and  confirmed  by  modern 
imitation.  Grace  is  an  artless  balance  of  motion  and  re- 
pose, springing  from  character,  founded  on  propriety,  and 
neither  falling  short  of  the  demands  nor  overleaping  the 
modesty  of  nature.  Applied  to  execution,  it  is  that  dexter- 
ous power  which  hides  the  means  by  which  it  is  attained. 
By  taste  is  meant  not  crudely  the  knowledge  of  what  is 
right  in  art,  but  an  estimation  of  the  degrees  of  excellence 
by  comparison,  proceeding  from  justice  to  refinement.  Copy, 
though  generally  confounded  with  imitation,  is  essentially 
different  in  operation  and  meaning.  Precision  of  eye  and 
obedience  of  hand  are  the  requisites  of  the  former,  without 
pretence  to  choice  or  selection  ;  whereas  choice,  directed  by 
judgment  or  taste,  is  the  essence  of  imitation.  "  Of  genius 
I  shall  speak  with  reserve,"  says  the  professor;  "for  no 
word  has  been  more  indiscriminately  confounded :"  by  ge- 
nius is  meant  the  power  which  enlarges  the  circle  of  human 
knowledge,  which  discovers  new  materials  of  nature,  or 
combines  the  known  with  novelty ;  whilst  talent  arranges, 
cultivates,  and  polishes  the  discoveries  of  genius. 

Religion  was  the  motive  of  Greek  art ;  it  was  therefore 
natural  that  they  should  endeavour  to  invest  their  own  au- 
thors, for  they  considered  themselves  of  divine  origin,  with 
the  most  perfect  form ;  and  as  man  possessed  that  exclu- 
sively, they  completely  and  intellectually  studied  his  ele- 
ments and  constitution.  The  climate  that  was  favourable 
to  the  development  of  that  form,  the  establishment  of  exer- 
cises by  their  civil  and  political  institutions,  created  models 
in  nature  which  raised  Greek  art  to  the  highest  excellence. 

Skiagrams,  or  simple  shaded  outlines,  similar  to  those 
known  under  the  name  of  silhouettes,  were  the  first  essays 
of  the  art.  They  had  no  addition  of  character  or  feature 
but  what  the  profile  of  the  object  thus  delineated  could  af- 
ford. "Greek  art  had  her  infancy;  but  the  Graces  rocked 
the  cradle,  and  Love  taught  her  to  speak.  If  ever  legend 
deserved  our  belief,  the  amorous  tale  of  the  Corinthian 
maid,  who  traced  the  shade  of  her  departing  lover  by  the 
secret  lamp,  appeals  to  our  sympathy  to  grant  it." 

The  next  step  of  the  art  was  the  monogram,  which  is  the 
outline  of  figures  without  light  or  shade,  with  the  addition, 
however,  of  parts  within  the  outline.  From  this  to  the  mo- 
nochrom,  or  painting  of  a  single  colour  on  a  tablet  primed 
with  white,  then  covered  with  what  was  called  punic  wax, 
first  amalgamated  with  a  resinous  pigment,  generally  of  a 
red,  sometimes  of  a  dark  brown  or  black  colour,  was  the 
next  advance.  Through  this  inky  ground  the  outlines  were 
traced  with  a  firm  though  pliant  style,  called  a  ccstrum  : 
the  line  could  be  altered  with  the  finger  or  a  sponge,  and 
easily  replaced  by  a  fresh  one.  When  the  whole  was  set- 
tled it  was  suffered  to  dry,  and  covered  with  a  brown  en- 
caustic varnish  ;  the  lights  were  worked  over  again,  and 
rendered  more  brilliant  with  a  more  delicate  point,  accord- 
ing to  the  gradual  advance  from  mere  outlines  to  some  indi- 
cation, and  at  last  to  masses  of  light  and  shade:  thence  to 
the  superinduction  of  different  colours,  or  the  invention  of 
the  polychrom,  which,  by  the  addition  of  the  pencil  to  the 
style,  raised  the  stained  drawing  to  a  legitimate  picture,  and 
at  length  produced  that  vaunted  harmony,  the  magic  scale 
of  Grecian  colour.  If  these  conjectures  be  founded  in  fact, 
tin-  supposed  momentaneous  productions  on  the  Etruscan 
vases,  which  we  have  above  noticed,  would  be  no  longer 
matter  of  iistoiiishmnt ;  and,  indeed,  it  appears  much  more 
likely  that  such  should  have  been  the  case,  than  that  the 
figures  so  drawn  should  have  been  "the  magic  produce  of 
a  winded  pencil,"  rather  than  "the  result  of  gradual  im- 
provement by  exquisitely  finished  monoehroms." 

The  period  at  which  the  pencil  supplanted  the  cestrum 
cannot  be  ascertained.  Apollodorus.  in  the  93d  Olympiad, 
and  Zenxis,  m  the  B4tb,  are  said  to  have  used  it  with  free- 
dom and  power;  I'arrhasius  painted  the  battle  of  the  La- 
pithie  and  Centaurs  on  the  shield  of  the  Minerva  of  Phidias, 
to  enable  Mys  to  chase  it ;  but  this  was  most  probably  a  mc- 
nochrom,  designed  with  the  cestrum  for  greater  accuracy. 


PAINTING. 

It  was  nearly  a  century  after  this  that  Apelles  and  Proto-  I  Timanthes  was  the  immolation  of  Iphigenia.     Iphigenia 

genes  had  a  competition  in  drawing  lines  with  the  pencil,  in  was  the  principal  figure  ;  and  her  form,  her  resignation,  or 

which  delicacy  and  evanescent  subtlety  being  the  charac-  her  anguish,  was  the  painter's  principal  task:  the  figure  of 

teristic,  some  notion  of  their  mechanical  skill  may  be  form-  Agamemnon,  however  important,  is  merely  accessory,  and 

ed.    Of  the  encaustic  method  used  by  the  ancients  no  ac-  no  more  necessary  to  make  the  subject  a  completely  tragic 

count  can  be  given  on  which  reliance  may  be  placed.  "  The  one  than  that  of  Clytemnestra,  the  mother ;  no  more  than 

most  probable  account,"  says  Fuseli,  "is,  that  it  bore  some  that  of  Priam,  to  impress  us  with  sympathy  at  the  death 

resemblance  to  our  oil  painting;  and  that  the  name  was  of  Polyxena."    Again,  "They  ascribe  to  impotence  what 

adopted  to  denote  the  use  of  the  materials  inflammable  or  was  the  forbearance  of  judgment.    Timanthes  felt  like  a 

prepared  by  tire,  the  supposed  durability  of  which,  whether  father;  he  did  not  hide  the  face  of  Agamemnon  because  it 


applied  hot  or  cold,  authorized  the  terms  ive/cavcc  and 
inussit." 

Polygnotus  is  the  first  great  name  that  appears  on  record 
at  a  period  when  some  satisfactory  history  of  the  art  might 
be  commenced.  He  flourished  about  400  years  B.C.  So 
great  was  his  success  in  the  Precile  at  Athens,  and  the 
Lesche  or  public  hall  at  Delphi,  that,  in  a  general  council 
of  the  Amphictyons,  it  was  solemnly  decreed  that  his  ex- 
penses, whenever  he  travelled  in  Greece,  should  be  borne  at 
the  public  charge.  From  the  description  of  his  pictures  by 
Pausanias,  it  would  seem  that  composition  in  painting,  as 
we  now  understand  that  term,  was  not  at  all  understood, 
inasmuch  as  that  author  begins  his  description  at  one  end 
of  the  picture  and  finishes  at  the  opposite  extremity,  which 
indicates  pretty  plainly  that  there  could  be  no  central  group 
or  figure  to  which  the  rest  were  subordinate.  Aristotle  says 
that  Polygnotus  improved  his  model ;  and  it  would  be  un- 
just to  pronounce,  considering  the  variety  of  powers  by  which 
the  parts  of  his  pictures  were  distinguished,  that  the  primi- 
tive arrangement  we  have  just  mentioned  arose  from  want 
of  comprehension  in  the  artist. 

After  Aglaophon,  Phidias,  Pananus,  Colotes  and  Evenor, 
the  father  of  Parrhasius,  came  Apollodorus,  the  Athenian. 
"This  painter  applied  the  essential  principles  of  Polygnotus 
to  the  delineation  of  the  species,  by  investigating  the  leading 
forms  that  discriminate  the  various  classes  of  human  quali- 
ties and  passions.  The  acuteness  of  his  taste  led  him  to 
discover  that  as  all  men  were  connected  by  one  general 
form,  so  they  were  separated  each  by  some  predominant 
power  which  fixed  character  and  bound  them  to  a  class." 
Pliny  and  Plutarch  considered  Apollodorus  as  the  first 
colourist  of  his  age.  It  is  probable  from  their  descriptions 
that  he  was  the  inventor  of  local  colour  and  tone,  which 
received  from  the  former  the  term  splendour.  Zeuxis  suc- 
ceeded to  Apollodorus,  and,  by  uniting  in  one  figure  the 
most  perfect  parts  of  many  models,  produced  an  ideal  form, 
which,  in  his  opinion,  constituted  the  supreme  degree  of 
human  beauty.  Lucian  describes  a  picture  he  exhibited 
at  the  Olympic  games  as  remarkable  for  its  invention.  It 
was  the  representation  of  a  female  Centaur  suckling  her 
young,  and  the  account  is  to  be  found  in  the  memoir  in- 
scribed with  the  name  of  Zeuxis.  This  artist  used  but  few 
colours ;  but  he  seems  to  have  understood  the  extension 
of  light  to  masses,  from  the  circumstance  of  his  painting 
monochroms  on  a  black  ground,  adding  the  lights  in  white. 
"Pinxit  et  monochromata  ex  albo,"  says  Pliny. 

Parrhasius,  a  native  of  Ephesus,  but  a  citizen  of  Athens, 
was  the  son  and  disciple  of  Evenor,  and  cotemporary  of 
Zeuxis.  By  his  subtle  examination  of  outline,  he  "estab- 
lished that  standard  of  divine  and  heroic  form  which 
raised  him  to  the  authority  of  a  legislator  from  whose  de- 
cisions there  was  no  appeal.  That  he  was  a  thorough 
master  of  allegory  is  evident  from  his  embodying  by  signs, 
universally  understood,  the  Athenian  people  (AHMOX),  in 
which  he  expressed  at  once  its  contradictory  qualities. 
"  Perhaps,"  observes  Fuseli,  "  he  traced  the  jarring  branch- 
es to  their  source,  the  aboriginal  moral  principle  of  the 
Athenian  character,  which  he  made  intuitive.  This  sup- 
position alone  can  shed  a  dawn  of  possibility  on  what  else 
appears  impossible."  In  his  competition  with  Timanthes 
the  Cythnian,  or,  as  some  say,  of  Sicyon,  he  had  the  mor- 
tification to  have  been  declared  by  a  majority  of  votes  in- 
ferior to  him.  The  subject  of  the  competition  in  which  he 
was  thus  defeated  was  the  contest  of  Ajax  and  Ulysses  for 
the  arms  of  Achilles. 

No  picture  of  antiquity  has  acquired  so  much  celebrity 
as  the  sacrifice  of  Iphigenia  in  Aulis  by  Timanthes.  Q.uin- 
tilian  informs  us  that  it  was  painted  in  contest  with  Colo- 
tes of  Teos,  an  artist  from  the  school  of  Phidias,  and  crown- 
ed with  victory  at  its  rival  exhibition.  This  picture,  which 
has  been  the  subject  of  the  unlimited  praise  of  critics  of  an- 
tiquity, has,  in  modern  times,  been  the  subject  of  criticism, 
from  the  circumstance  of  Timanthes  hiding  the  face  of  the 
father  (Agamemnon)  of  the  victim  to  be  immolated  in  his 
mantle,  unable  by  his  art  to  express  the  intensity  and  agony 
of  his  grief.  Upon  this  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  observes,  in  his 
Eighth  Discourse,  "If  difficulties  overcome  make  a  great 
part  of  the  merit  of  art,  difficulties  evaded  can  deserve  but 
little  commendation."  The  French  critic,  Falconet,  has 
not  been  less  unsparing  than  the  president  in  his  condem- 
nation of  the  artifice.  The  answer  of  Fuseli  to  these  crit- 
ics appears  to  us  satisfactory.    He  says,  "The  subject  of 


was  beyond  the  power  of  his  art — not  because  it  was  be- 
yond the  possibility,  but  because  it  was  beyond  the  dignity 
of  expression  ;  because  the  inspiring  feature  of  paternal  af- 
fection at  that  moment,  and  the  action  which  of  necessity 
must  have  accompanied  it,  would  either  have  destroyed 
the  grandeur  of  the  character  and  the  solemnity  of  the 
scene,  or  subject  the  painter  with  the  majority  of  his 
judges  to  the  imputation  of  insensibility."  The  same  ex- 
pedient to  express  grief  was  adopted  by  Michael  Angelo  in 
the  figure  of  Abijam,  and  by  Raphael  in  the  Expulsion 
from  Paradise,  borrowed  from  Masaccio.  These  were  the 
artists  who  formed  the  second  school  of  art,  and  establish- 
ed its  end  and  limits.  On  it  was  founded  the  third  period 
of  style,  in  which  refinement  induced  a  grace  and  beauty 
to  forms  not  to  be  surpassed.  The  masters  of  this  period 
were  Apelles,  Protogenes,  Aristides,  Euphranor,  Pausias, 
and  the  pupils  of  Pamphilus  and  his  master  Eupompus. 
This  last-named  artist  was  of  Sicyon ;  and  his  authority 
was  so  great  that  out  of  the  Asiatic  and  Grecian  schools  of 
painting  he  formed  a  third,  by  dividing  the  last  into  the 
Attic  and  the  Sicyonian.  When  consulted  by  Lysippus 
(Pliny,  1.  xxxv.)  on  a  standard  of  imitation  in  art,  he  point- 
ed to  the  crowd  passing  by ;  observing,  that  nature,  not  an 
artist,  should  be  the  object  of  imitation.  Pamphilus,  a 
Macedonian,  the  master  of  Apelles,  and  the  most  scientific 
artist  of  his  day,  adopted  the  doctrines  of  Eupompus.  To 
the  art  of  painting  he  joined  the  study  of  mathematics,  and 
held  the  opinion  that  without  the  aid  of  geometry  no  painter 
could  ever  arrive  at  perfection-  In  Apelles  of  Cos,  or,  accord- 
ing to  Lucian,  of  Ephesus,  we  are  told  by  Pliny  unrivalled 
excellence  was  found.  Grace  was  his  powerful  and  pecu- 
liar faculty,  in  which,  and  in  knowing  where  to  stop,  he 
surpassed  all  that  preceded  him,  and  left  not  his  equal  in 
the  world.  The  story  of  the  lines  which  were  drawn  by 
himself  and  Protogenes  in  competition  with  each  other  is 
not  a  legendary  tale,  but  a  well-attested  fact:  into  the  na- 
ture of  them,  however,  it  would  be  now  useless  and  una- 
vailing to  inquire.  Aristides  of  Thebes,  and  cotemporary 
of  Apelles,  was  the  first  who,  by  the  rules  of  art,  attained 
a  perfect  knowledge  of  expressing  the  passions  and  affec- 
tions of  the  mind.  The  history  we  have  of  the  picture 
which  Alexander,  at  the  sacking  of  Thebes,  sent  to  Pella, 
proves  his  power  of  infusing  the  passions  into  his  works. 
In  it  were  expressed  the  anguish  of  maternal  affection  and 
the  pangs  of  death.  Euphranor,  the  Isthmian  and  pupil 
of  Aristides,  is  said  to  have  carried  still  farther  the  refine- 
ments of  that  expression  so  powerful  in  the  hands  of  his 
master.  Skilled  in  sculpture  as  well  as  painting,  his  con- 
ceptions were  noble  and  elevated,  his  style  masculine  and 
bold ;  and  he  was  the  first  who  distinguished  himself  by 
imparting  majesty  to  his  heroes. 

Asclepiodorus,  the  Athenian  sculptor  as  well  as  painter, 
was,  as  the  latter,  celebrated  for  the  beauties  of  a  correct 
style  and  the  truth  of  his  proportions.  Apelles  allowed 
himself  to  be,  in  these  respects,  as  much  inferior  to  this  ar- 
tist, as  he  was  to  Amphion  in  the  good  ordering  and  dispo- 
sition of  his  figures.  About  this  period  appeared  Xichoma- 
chus,  Nicophanes,  Pyreicus,  and  others.  Nicias,  an  Athe- 
nian, 322  B.C.,  was  in  great  repute  for  the  great  variety  and 
noble  choice  of  his  subjects,  for  the  mode  of  distributing  his 
lights  and  shadows,  and  for  consummate  skill  in  the  repre- 
sentation of  quadrupeds.  In  Rome,  about  301  B.C.,  Fabius, 
a  noble  Roman,  painted  the  Temple  of  Health,  and  gloried 
so  much  in  the  art  that  he  assumed  the  surname  of  Pictor. 
Without  a  farther  enumeration  of  masters  we  may  add, 
that  for  a  long  period  after  the  reigns  of  Vespasian  and  his 
son  Titus,  painting  as  well  as  sculpture  continued  to  flourish 
in  Italy.  Even  under  their  successors,  Domitian,  Nerva, 
and  Trajan,  they  met  with  as  much  encouragement  as  in 
the  most  palmy  state  of  the  arts  in  Greece.  Under  Adrian, 
Antonine,  Alexander  Severus,  Constantine,  and  Valentini- 
an,  the  art  of  painting  continued  to  be  an  object  of  interest ; 
but  at  length,  in  the  reign  of  Phocus,  with  the  fall  of  the 
empire,  with  the  rest  of  the  noble  arts  and  sciences,  it  was 
involved  in  the  common  heap  of  ruins. 

Painting  in  Italy  owes  the  dawn  of  its  restoration  to  the  fee- 
ble rays  that  emanated  from  the  pencil  of  Giovanni  Cimabue, 
who  was  nobly  descended,  and  born  at  Florence  in  the  middle 
of  the  thirteenth  century.  He  was  the  disciple  of  some  in- 
different painters,  who  had  been  brought  from  Greece  by 
the  government  of  Florence :  these  he  soon  surpassed  both 
in  drawing  and  colouring.    Without  the  art  of  managing 

875 


PAINTING. 


his  lights  and  shadows,  and  but  slenderly  acquainted  with 
the  rules  of  perspective,  he  nevertheless  laid  so  firm  a 
foundation  for  the  future  Improvement  of  the  art,  as  to  en- 
title him  to  the  name  of  the  father  of  the  first  age  of  modern 
painting.  His  death  took  place  in  the  year  1300  at  Florence, 
where,  and  at  Pisa,  some  of  his  productions  are  still  to  be 
seen.  Giotto,  his  pupil,  also  a  Florentine,  was  a  more  able 
painter,  than  his  master.  He  divested  Himself"  of  the 
shackles  in  which  the  system  of  the  Greek  art  of  that  age 
had  bound  his  master,  adding  somewhat  of  grace  to  his 
figures  and  nature  to  his  colouring.  Of  a  picture  which  he 
painted  in  the  Church  D'Ogni  Santi  at  Florence,  represent- 
ing the  death  of  the  Virgin  with  the  Apostles  about  her, 
Vasari  related  that  M.  Angelo  da  Buonaroti  vised  to  say  that 
the  truth  could  not  be  nearer  approached  than  in  it,  "  Non 
potere  essere  piu  simile  al  vero  di  quello,  ch'  era."  He  was 
the  friend  of  Dante  and  Petrarch,  and  painted  the  portrait 
of  the  former.  On  his  decease,  in  1336,  the  city  of  Florence 
erected  his  statue  in  marble  over  his  tomb. 

In  the  year  1410,  thirty  years  before  the  invention  of 
printing  by  Gutemburg,  John  Van  Eyck,  born  in  the  Low 
Countries  in  1370,  is  understood  to  have  invented  the  art  of 
painting  in  oil,  which  he  taught  to  Antonello  of  Messina, 
who  visited  Flanders  to  become  acquainted  with  the  se- 
cret; he  it  was  who  first  practised  and  taught  it  in  Italy. 
The  principal  masters  who  flourished  in  this  first  period  of 
the  resuscitation  of  the  arts  were  Andrea  Orgagna,  so  cele- 
brated for  his  Loggia  in  the  great  square  at  Florence,  Pie- 
tro,    Cavallino,   Stefano,   Bonamico,   BufFalmacco,   Pietro, 
Laurati,  Lippo,  Spinello,  Casentino,  Pisano,  &c.    The  art 
did  advance,  though  but  slowly,  gathering  little  strength 
till  the  appearance  of  Masaccio.     "  Sculpture  had  already 
produced  respectable  specimens  of  its  reviving  powers  in 
the  bassi-relievi  of  Lorenzo  Ghiberti,  some  works  of  Dona- 
to,  and  the  Christ  of  Phillippo  Brunelleschi,  when  the  first 
symptoms  of  imitation  appeared  in  the  frescos  of  Tommaso 
da  San  Giovanni,  commonly  called  Masaccio,  from  the  total 
neglect  of  his  appearance  and  person.    Masaccio  first  con- 
ceived that  parts  are  to  constitute  a  whole ;  that  compo- 
sition oueht  to  have  a  centre,  expression  truth,  and  execu- 
tion unity  :  his  line  deserves  attention,  though  his  subjects 
led  him  not  to  investigation  of  form ;  and  the  shortness  of 
his  life  forbade  his  extendinn  those  elements  which  Ra- 
phael, nearly  a  century  afterwards,  carried  to  perfection." 
Masaccio,  who  was  born  in  Tuscany  in  1417,  is  considered 
the  father  of  the  second  or  middle  age  of  painting.     His 
death,  caused,  it  is  supposed,  by  poison,  occurred  in  1443. 
Andrea  Montegna,  born  at  Padua  in  1431,  was  a  disciple 
of  Jacopo  Squarcione.     Though   correct   in  his  drawing, 
well  versed  in  perspective,  and  apparently  acquainted  with 
the  antique,  albeit  the  best  antique  statues  had  not  then 
come  to  light,  his  neglect  of  nature  induced  a  crudeness  of 
taste  and  grotesqneness  of  fancy.    He  died  in  1517,  having 
been  the  first  who  practised  the  art  of  engraving  in  Italy. 
In  this  place  we  must  not  forget  the  master  of  so  great  a 
man  as  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  Andrea  Verocchio,  a  Floren- 
tine, born  in  143-2.     He  was  well  skilled  in  geometry,  op- 
tics, music,  architecture,  sculpture,  and  painting;  the  last 
whereof  he  is  said  to  have  abandoned,  because,  in  a  pic- 
ture whereon  he  was  engaged  of  the  baptism  of  our  Sa- 
viour, his  pupil,  Leonardo,  had,  under  his  order,  painted  in 
an  angel,  holding  up  some  part  of  our  Saviour's  garment,  so 
far  excelling  Andrea's  own  figures  that,  enraged  at  being 
outdone  by  a  youth,  he  resolved  never  again  to  wield  the 
pencil.    It  was  said  he  was  the  first  who  preserved  indi- 
vidual likeness  by  moulding  the  face  in  plaster  of  Paris. 
Leonardo  da  Vinci,  of  noble  descent,  and  born  about  1445 
in  a  castle  so  named,  near  Florence,  surpassed  all  his  pre- 
decessors.    His  powers  seem  to  have  been  unlimited:  he 
was  an  admirable  sculptor  and  architect,  a  skilful  musician, 
an  excellent  poet,  expert  in  anatomy  and  chemistry,  and 
well  versed  in  all  parts  of  the  mathematics.     Itubens  had 
a  very  high  opinion  of  his  works,  and  especially  of  his  Ce- 
nacolo,  in  the  refectory  of  the  Dominicans  at  Milan,  which 
"he  abandoned  without  finishing  the  head  of  Christ,  ex- 
hausted by  a  wild  chase  after  models  for  the  heads  anil 
hand<  of  the  apostles:   had   he  been  able   to  conceive  the 
centre,  the  radii  would  have  followed  of  course."     He  was 
many  yean  director  of  the  academy  of  painting  at  Milan, 
which  city  he   much   benefitted   by  bis  contrivance  of  the 
canal   that   supplies   it  with  water  from   the   river    Adda. 
He  had  the  honour  of  expiring  in  the  arms  of  Francis  I. — 
an  honour  by  which  destiny  atoned  to  that  monarch  for 
Ills  future   disaster  at    Paviu,  when   be   became   a   captive. 
His  death  took  place  in  1520.     The  last  master  of  tbis   pe- 
riod was  Bartolomeo  della  Porta.    Though  not  endowed 

with  the  comprehension  of  Leonardo,  he  First  gave  grade 

tion  to  colour,  form  and  masses  to  drapery,  and  dignity  to 
execution.  Fra  Bartolomeo,  us  he  was  called,  being  a 
member  of  a  religious  order.  Has  a  native  of  SaviiMiano.  a 
village  about  ten  miles  from  Florence,  and  was  born  in 
1460.  Nudities  were  scarcely  ever  represented  bv  him, 
876 


though  he  was  a  perfect  master  of  drawing  the  human 
figure.     Fuseli  says  of  him,  "  He  was  the  true  master  of 
Raphael,  whom  his  tuition  weaned  from  the  meanness  of 
Pietro  Perugino,  and   prepared   for   the   mighty  style  of 
Michael  Angelo  Buonaroti."     Of  this  master,  the  greatest 
beyond  comparison  that  ever  appeared,  we  cannot  refrain 
from  again  quoting  the  same  author  at  considerable  length, 
to  which,  if  necessary,  might  be  added  the  testimony  of 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  whose  parting  wish,  when  he  took 
leave  of  the  Royal  Academy,  was,  that  the  last  words  he 
might  pronounce  within  its  walls  might  be  the  name  of  this 
wonder  of  mankind.     "Sublimity  of  conception,  grandeur 
of  form,   and   breadth   of  manner,  are   the   elements   of 
Michael  Angelo's  style.     By  these  principles,  he  selected 
or  rejected  the  objects  of  imitation.     As  painter,  as  sculp- 
tor, as  architect,  he  attempted,  and,  above  any  other  man, 
succeeded,  to  unite  magnificence  of  plan,  and  endless  va- 
riety of  subordinate  parts,  with  the  utmost  simplicity  and 
breadth.     His  line  is  uniformly  grand  ;  character  and  beau- 
ty were  admitted  only  as  far  as  they  could  be  made  sub- 
servient to  grandeur.    The  child,  the  female,  meanness, 
deformity,   were  by  him  indiscriminately   stamped   with 
grandeur.    A  beggar  rose  from  his  hand  the  patriarch  of 
poverty  ;  the  hump  of  his  dwarf  is  impressed  with  dignity ; 
his  women  are  moulds  of  generation  ;  his  infants  teem 
with  the  man ;  his  men  are  a  race  of  giants."    Again, 
"He  is  the  inventor  of  epic  painting,  in  that  sublime  circle 
of  the  Sistine  Chapel,  which  exhibits  the  origin,  the  pro- 
gress, and  the  final  dispensations  of  theocracy."     Michael 
Angelo  was  of  noble  family,  and  born  at  Castel  Caprese, 
near  Florence,  in  1474.     His  master  was  Domenico  Ghir- 
landaio.    He  died  in  great  wealth,  at  Rome,  in  1564 ;  from 
thence  his  remains  were  removed  to  Florence,  and  there 
honourably  interred.    His  principal  disciples  were  Marcello 
Venusti,  II  Rosso,  Giorgio  Vasari,  and  Fra  Bastiano.     Ra- 
phael Sanzio  d'Urbino  was  born  on  Good  Friday  in  the 
year  1483,  and  died  on  Good  Friday  in  the  year  1520.    The 
grace  and  mild  genius  of  Raphael  were,  perhaps,  much 
more  capable  of  exciting  our  sympathies  than  the  burst  of 
inspiration  which  the  works  of  the  last-named  master  uni- 
versally exliibited.     As  Michael  Angelo  was  the  father  of 
epic  painting,  so  was  Raphael  that  of  dramatic  painting. 
"  If,  separately  taken,  the  line  of  Raphael  has  been  ex- 
celled in  corrections,  elegance,  and  energy,  his  colour  far 
surpassed  in  tone,  and  truth,  and  harmony  :  his  masses  in 
roundness,  and  his  chiaro-oscuro  in  effect:  considered  as 
instruments  of  pathos,  his  pictures  have  never  been  equal- 
led ;  and  in  composition,  invention,  expression,  and  the 
power  of  telling  a  story,  he  has  never  been  approached." 
Gitilio  Romano  was  his  greatest  pupil.    His  conceptions 
were  more  extraordinary,  more  profound,  and  more  elevated 
than  even  those  of  the  master  himself.     His   style   was 
drier  and  harder  than  any  of  Raphael's  school,  and  he  was 
frequently  harsh  and  ungraceful.    He  died  at  the  age  of 
fifty-four,  in  the  year  1546. 

Giorgio  del  Castel  Franco,  called,  because  of  his  size  and 
beauty,  Giorgione,  andTiziano  Vecelli,  combined  to  form  the 
alluring  and  fascinating  charm  of  colour.  Born  in  the  Vene- 
tian States,  and  in  the  same  year,  1477,  they  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  the  Venetian  school.  Of  the  latter,  our  professor 
says,  "  he  penetrated  the  essence  and  the  general  principle  of 
the  substances  before  him,  and  on  these  established  his  the- 
ory of  colour.  He  invented  that  breadth  of  local  tint  which 
no  imitation  has  attained ;  and  first  expressed  the  negative 
nature  of  shade:  his  are  the  charms  of  glazing,  and  the 
mystery  of  reflexes,  by  which  he  detached,  rounded,  con- 
nected, or  enriched  his  objects.  His  harmony  is  less  indebted 
to  the  force  of  light  and  shade,  or  the  artifices  of  contrast, 
than  to  aduc  balance  of  colour,  equally  remote  from  mono- 
tony and  spots.  His  backgrounds  seem  to  be  dictated  by  na- 
ture. Landscape,  whether  it  be  considered  as  tbe  transcript 
of  a  spot,  or  the  rich  combination  of  congenial  objects,  or  as 
the  scene  of  a  phenomenon,  dates  its  origin  from  him  :  he  is 
the  father  of  portrait  painting,  of  resemblance  with  form, 

character  with  dignity,  and  costume  with  subordination." 
Antonio  Lati,  or  Allegri,  called  <  iorreggio,  from  the  place  of 
his  birth,  in  the  duchy  of  Modeiia,  Completed  the  charms  of 
colouring  and  chiaro-oscuro.  Giulio  Romano,  when  he  saw 
the  l.eila  and  Venus  he  had  painted  for  Frederic  duke  of 
Minima,  declared  he  thought  it  impossible  for  colouring  to 
be  carried  farther.  His  chief  works  are  tit  Modena  and  Par- 
ma ;  at  which  last  place  he  passed  the  greater  portion  of  his 
life,  and  died  at  the  age  of  forty,  in  the  year  1534.  Though 
the  power  of  Correggio'a  colouring  was  great,  still  greater 
was  that  of  his  chiaro-oscuro.    "The  bland  centra]  light  of 

a  globe,  imperceptibly  gliding  through  lucid  demi  tints  into 

rich  reflected  shades,  composes  the  speii  of  Correggio,  and 
affects  us  with  the  soft  emotions  of  a  delicious  dream."  The 
merits  of  Raphael  are  pathos  and  character;  the  power  of 
Titian  was  his  colour,  and  of  Correggio  his  harmony.  We 
have  not  space  to  dwell  on  the  lively  genius  of  Pordinone, 
who  disputed  the  superiority  of  Titian,  the  meagre  style  of 


PAINTING. 


Andrea  Vannuchi,  surnamed  del  Sarto,  nor  the  extraordin- 
ary vigour  and  puerile  imbecility  of  conception  of  Pellegrino 
Tibaldi ;  but  we  must  not  pass  without  notice  the  name  of 
Sebastiano  del  Piombo,  a  Venetian,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
62,  in  1547.     His  name,  Del  Piombo,  is  derived  from  an  of- 
fice he  held  in  the  management  of  the  lead  mines,  given  him 
by  pope  Clement  VII.     For  some  time  he  practised   the 
science  of  music,  to  which  he  was  bred;  but  the  fascina- 
tions of  painting  drew  him  aside  from  his  original  pursuit, 
and  he  became  a  disciple  of  old  Gio-Balino,  continued  his 
studies  under  Giorgione,  and  having  attained  considerable 
perfection  in  colouring,  went  to  Home.    Here  he  so  ingra- 
tiated himself  with  Michael  Angelo,  by  joining  the  party 
against  Raphael,  that  he  was  assisted  in  his  designs  by  that 
great  master,  and  especially  in  that  wonderful  picture,  now 
in  the  National  Gallery  here,  of  the  Raising  of  Lazarus, 
which  gained  the  universal  applause  of  Rome,  and  was 
even  put  on  a  par  with  the  celebrated  picture  of  the  Trans- 
figuration, by  Raphael.    Equally  favoured  by  Michael  An- 
gelo was  Daniel  Ricciarelli  of  Volterra,  in  whose  picture  of 
Christ  and  the  Women,  in  the  Descent  from  the  Cross,  as 
well  as  in  that  of  Sebastian's  just  mentioned,  the  master  hand 
that  directed  them  is  manifest.  The  depravation  of  the  style 
of  Michael  Angelo  is  sufficiently  visible  in   the  works  of 
Giorgio  Vasari,  born  at  Arezzo  in  1514,  to  whom  the  world 
is  more  indebted  for  the  labours  of  his  pen,  in  the  History  of 
the  Lives  of  the  most  celebrated  Painters,  Sculptors,  and 
Architects,  first  published  at  Florence,  in  1550,  than  those 
of  his  pencil :  him  Fuseli  describes  as  the  most  superficial 
artist,  and  the  most  abandoned  mannerist  of  his  time.    "  He 
overwhelmed  the  palaces  of  the  Medici  and  of  the  popes, 
the  convents  and  churches  of  Italy,  with  a  deluge  of  medio- 
crity, commended  by  rapidity  and  shameless  bravura  of  hand : 
he  alone  did  more  work  than  all  the  artists  of  Tuscany  to- 
gether; and  to  him  may  be  truly  applied,  what  he  had  the 
insolence  to  say  of  Tintoretto,  that  he  turned  the  art  into  a 
boy's  toy."     Felibien  has  taxed  him  with  the  flattery  of  the 
masters  of  his  time,  and  partiality  to  those  of  his  own  coun- 
try ;  but  his  work  is,  nevertheless,  a  valuable  record  of  the 
lives  of  men  to  whom  the  world  is  much  beholden ;  and 
contains  many  interesting  anecdotes,  which,  but  for  him, 
would  have  been  lost  forever.     His  death  happened  in  1578. 
Primaticcio,  the  scholar  of  Giulio  Romano,  made  abbe  of 
St.  Martin  de  Troyes  by  Francis  the  First,  studied   and 
spread  the  style  of  his  master  in  France,  where  he  decorat- 
ed the  palaces  of  that  king  with  mythology  and  allegory,  in 
which  he  was  assisted  by  his  pupil,  Nicolo  del  l'Abbate,  an 
excellent  artist.    Primaticcio  continued  in  France  from  the 
period  of  his  first  establishment  there ;  lived  in  great  pomp 
and  state,  more  like  a  nobleman  than  a  painter,  through  four 
several  reigns,  and  died  at  the  age  of  80,  in  the  year  1570. 
After  Polidoro  da  Caravaggio,  whose  abilities  were  wasted 
on  the  representations  of  Roman  military  basso-relievos,  the 
Roman  school  scarcely  deserves  notice  till  the  appearance 
of  Nicolas  Poussin  of  Andilly,  a  town  in  Normandy,  who 
was  born  in  1594.    He  was  descended  of  a  noble  family  of 
Picardy  ;  but  that  his  productions  have  shed  a  ray  of  lustre 
on  the  family  which  no  nobility  of  blood  could  have  effect- 
ed, his  designation  by  the  name  of  the  French  Raphael  suf- 
ficiently testifies.    Nicolas  was  the  disciple  of  Simon  Varin, 
a  French  painter  of  mediocrity,  and  afterwards  studied  in 
the  academy  of  Domenichino,  and  also  in  company  with  the 
famous  sculptor  Francesco  Fiammingo,  who  was  born  in  the 
same  year,  and  bred  in  the  same  house  with  him.  After  a  stay 
of  more  than  16  years  in  Rome,  he  was  invited,  by  a  letter  un- 
der the  hand  of  Louis  XIII.  himself,  to  return  to  his  native 
country,  where  he  was  received  with  every  honour,  and  de- 
clared first  painter  to  the  king,  and  had  a  considerable  pen- 
sion conferred  upon  him.    Upon  the  death  of  this  king,  and 
that  of  the  cardinal  Richelieu,  he  returned  to  Italy,  to  settle 
his  atfairs  and  return  with  his  family ;  but  on  his  arrival  in 
Rome,  he  entirely  laid  aside  his  intention  of  returning,  and 
ended  his  days  in  Rome,  at  the  age  of  71  years.     "Such 
was  his  attachment  to  the  ancients,  that  it  may  be  said  he 
less  imitated  their  spirit  than  copied  their  relics  and  painted 
sculpture.    The  costume,  the  mythology,  the  rites  of  anti- 
quity, were  his  element ;  his  scenery,  his  landscape,  are  pure 
classic  ground.    His  eye,  though  impressed  with  the  tint, 
and  breadth,  and  imitation  of  Tiziano,  seldom  inspired  him 
to  charm  with  colour ;  crudity  and  patches  frequently  de- 
form his  effects."   The  mantle  of  Correggio  seemed  to  have 
fallen  on  Parmegiano,  though  he  possessed  not  the  mode  of 
expressing  that  expanse  of  harmony  which  no  other  eye 
than  that  of  Correggio  has  conceived.    Francesco  Mazzuoli, 
called  from  Parma,  the  place  of  his  birth,  Parmegiano,  was 
born  in  1504,  and  died  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-six.    "That 
disengaged  play  of  delicate  forms,  the  '  Sveltezza'  of  the 
Italians,  is  the  prerogative  of  Parmegiano,  though  nearly 
always  obtained  at  the  expense  of  proportion.   His  grandeur, 
as  conscious  as  his  grace,  sacrifices  the  motive  to  the  mode, 
simplicity  to  contrast.    His  St.  John  loses  the  fervour  of  the 
apostle  in  the  orator ;  his  Moses  the  dignity  of  the  lawgiver 
74 


in  the  savage.  With  incredible  force  of  chiaro-oscuro,  he 
united  bland  effects  and  fascinating  hues  ;  but  their  frequent 
ruins  teach  the  important  lesson,  that  the  mixtures  which 
anticipate  the  beauties  of  time,  are  big  with  the  seeds  of 
premature  decay. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  Lodovico  Car- 
acci,  with  his  cousins  Annibale  and  Agostino,  founded  a 
school  at  Bologna,  in  which  it  was  proposed  to  select  the 
beauties,  correct  the  faults,  supply  the  defects,  and  avoid  the 
extremes  of  the  different  styles,  and  so  attempt  to  form  a. 
perfect  system.    The  recipe  of  ingredients  for  the  formation 
of  a  perfect  painter  are  contained  in  a  sonnet  by  Agostino, 
well  known  to  artists  ;  they  are  as  follows: — Roman  design, 
Venetian  motion  and  shade,  Lombardy's  dignified  tone  of 
colour,  the  fierce  style  of  Michael  Angelo,  Raphael's  sym- 
metry, Titian's  truth  to  nature,  and  CorTeggio's  sovereign 
purity :  add  to  these  the  decorum  and  solidity  of  Tibaldi,  the 
learned  invention  of  Primaticcio,  and  a  little  of  Parmegiano's 
grace ;  or,  to  save  all  this  trouble,  imitate  the  works  of  our 
dear  Nicolo.    This  was  empiricism  unworthy  of  such  men 
as  the  Caracci,  whose  talents  were  splendid,  and  of  a  very 
high  order.     Lodovico  was  "  the  sworn  pupil  of  nature." 
"Agostino,  with  a  singular  modesty,  which  prompted  him 
rather  to  propagate  the  fame  of  others  by  his  graver,  than  by 
steady  exertion  to  rely  on  his  own  power  for  perpetuity  of 
name,  combined  with  some  learning  a  cultivated  taste,  cor- 
rectness, though  not  elegance  of  form,  and  a  Corieggiesque 
colour."     Annibal,  whose  taste  was   unequal   to  both  of 
these,  though  his  power  of  execution  was  far  superior,  was 
born  at  Bologna,  in  1560,  and  was  the  disciple  of  his  cousin 
Lodovico.     His  great  work  was   the  Farnese  Palace,  in 
which,  whilst  we  admire  the  vigour  of  the  execution,  we 
cannot  help  lamenting  the  choice  of  subject,  which  is  "a 
chaotic  series  of  trite  fable  and  bacchanalian  revelry,  with- 
out allegory,  void  of  illusion,  merely  to  gratify  the  puerile 
ostentation  of  dauntless  execution  and  academic  vigour." 
Such  was  the  veneration  of  Annibal  Caracci  for  the  genius 
of  Raphael,  that  his  deathbed  request  was  to  be  buried  in 
the  same  tomb  with  him,  which  request  was   complied 
with,  in  the  Pantheon  at  Rome,  1609.    This  eclectic  Bolog- 
nese  school  did  not  last  long;  its  scholars  soon  followed 
each  his  own  peculiar  taste.     Its   principal  eleves  were 
Schidone,  Guido,  Lanfranco,  Albani,  Zampieri,  called  Do- 
menichino, and  Francesco  Barbieri,  called  Guercino.    The 
merits  of  these  are  summed  up  as  follows,  by  the  admirable 
critic  we  have  so  often  quoted  in  this  article : — "  Schidone, 
whose  mind  was  in  his  eye,  embraced  and  often  applied  the 
harmony  and  colour  of  Correggio ;  whilst  Lanfranco  strove 
without  success  to  follow  him  through  the  expanse  of  his 
creation  and  masses.    Grace  attracted  Guido,  but  it  was  the 
studied  grace  of  theatres ;  his  female  forms  are  abstracts  of 
antique  beauty,  attended  by  languishing  attitudes,  and  ar- 
rayed by  voluptuous  fashions.    His  male  forms,  transcripts 
of  models  found  in  a  genial  climate,  are  sometimes  charac- 
teristic of  dignified  manhood,  or  apostolic  fervour,  some- 
times stately,  courteous,  insipid."     "  His  Aurora  deserved 
to  precede  a  more  majestic  Sun,  and  Hours  less  clumsy." 
His  colour  is  occasionally  bland  and  harmonious,  some- 
times vigorous,  and  sometimes  insipid.    Albani  formed  Ne- 
reids  on   plump  Venetian   models,  and   contrasted   their 
pearly  hues  with  the  rosy  tints  of  Loves,  the  juicy  brown 
of  fauns  and  satyrs  of  rich  marine  or  sylvan  scenery.    Do- 
menichino aimed  at  the  beauty  of  the  antique,  the  expres- 
sion of  Raphael,  the  vigour  of  Annibal  Caracci,  the  colour 
of  Lodovico  ;  and,  mixing  something  of  each,  fell  short  of 
all ;  whilst  Guercino  broke  through  all  academic  rules,  sac- 
rificing mind,  form,  and  costume  to  effects  of  colour,  fierce- 
ness of  chiaro-oscuro,  and  intrepidity  of  hand.    From  this 
period  the  art  declined  rapidly  in  Italy ;  it  was,  indeed,  held 
up  for  a  short  period  by  the  exertions  of  Nicolas  Poussin, 
of  whom  we  have  already  spoken.    Pietro  da  Cortona  and 
Luca  Giordano   possessed  very  considerable  talents ;   but 
they  were  much  abused  in  their  exercise  by  the  implicit 
obedience  to  the  tasteless  commissions  of  their  employers. 
Germany,  though  without  much  apparent  intercourse  at 
the  time  with  Italy,  had  profited  by  the  progress  of  the 
arts  ;  therefore,  towards  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
we  find  the  works  of  Albert  Durer  had  succeeded  the  rude 
and  uncouth  productions  of  Schon,  Wolgemuth,  and  Altor- 
fer.    Albert  Durer  was  born  at  Nuremberg  on  Good  Friday, 
1471.   Notwithstanding  his  style  was  crude  and  ungraceful, 
his  prints  were  esteemed  throughout  Italy,  copied  at  Ve- 
nice by  the  celebrated  Marc  Antonio,  and  so  much  admired 
by  even  Raphael  himself  that  he  decorated  his  own  cham- 
ber with  them,  and  often  lamented  that  such  a  man  had 
been   educated  in  a  country  where   the  want  of  models 
and  works  of  art  must  have  so  retarded  his  progress. 
His  principal  works  were  painted  at  Prague,  for  the  Em- 
peror Maximilian  I.    He  died  in  1528.    Fuseli  says  of  him, 
"  Albert  Durer  was,  in  my  opinion,  a  man  of  great  ingenu- 
ity, without  being  a  genius.    He  studied,  and  as  far  as  his 
penetration  reached,  established  certain  proportions  of  the 

877 


PAINTING. 


human  frame,  but  he  did  not  invent  a  style  :  every  work  of 
his  is  ;i  proof  that  he  wanted  the  power  of  invention,  of 
concluding  from  what  he  saw  to  what  he  did  not  see  ;  that 
he  copied  rather  than  selected  the  forms  that  surrounded 
him,  and.  s;uis  remorse,  tacked  deformity  and  meagreness 
to  fulness,  and  sometimes  to  beauty."  Lucas  of  Leyden 
was  but  a  clumsy  imitator  of  Albert.  Aldegraver,  Beheim, 
and  George  Pentz,  from  the  study  of  Raphael,  known  to 
them  through  the  medium  of  Marc  Antonio's  prints,  and 
from  the  style  of  Michael  Angelo,  distilled  through  prints 
from  Tibaldi's  pictures,  seem  to  have  made  some  advances 
in  the  art.  The  knowledge,  however,  of  its  state  in  Italy, 
attracted  hosts  of  German,  Dutch,  and  Flemish  students, 
who,  "  though  content  to  feed  on  the  husks  of  Tuscan  de- 
sign, imbibed  the  colour  of  Venice,  and  spread  the  elements 
of  that  excellence  which  distinguished  the  succeeding 
schools  of  Flanders  and  of  Holland." 

Peter  Paul  Rubens,  born  in  Cologne  in  1578,  and  Rem- 
brandt Van  Rhyn,  born  near  Leyden  in  1606,  by  their  extra- 
ordinary powers  showed  that  Italy  was  not  the  only  spot 
in  which  the  art  could  take  root,  but  that  Flanders  and  Hol- 
land afforded  a  soil  in  which  it  could  flourish.  The  former 
of  these,  bred  at  Antwerp  under  the  instructions  of  Otho 
Van  Veen,  had,  previous  to  his  journey  to  Italy,  acquired 
an  unbounded  power  over  the  instruments  of  his  art,  and 
on  his  arrival  was  the  successful  competitor  for  fame  with 
those  masters  whom  he  selected  as  objects  of  emulation. 
Venice  was  the  centre  of  attraction  for  him ;  and  there, 
from  the  splendour  of  Paulo  Veronese,  and  the  glow  of  Tin- 
toretto, he  compounded  "  that  florid  system  of  mannered 
magnificence  which  is  the  element  of  his  art,  and  the  prin- 
ciple of  his  school."  His  scholars  saw  through  the  eye  of 
their  master  instead  of  seeing  though  that  of  nature ;  but 
from  this  censure  must  be  excluded  the  illustrious  name  of 
Vandyck,  and  that  of  Abraham  Diepenbeck.  Of  the  por- 
traits of  Vandyck  no  mention  is  here  necessary  to  enhance 
the  esteem  in  which  they  are  held.  "  The  fancy  of  Diepen- 
beck, though  not  so  exuberant,  excelled  in  sublimity  the 
imagination  of  Rubens  ;  his  Bellerophon,  Hippolitus,  Ixion, 
Sisyphus,  fear  no  competitor  among  the  productions  of  his 
master."  Rembrandt,  except  in  what  relates  to  form,  was 
a  genius  of  the  highest  order.  "  In  spite  of  the  most  por- 
tentous deformity,  and  without  considering  the  spell  of  his 
chiaro-oscuro,  such  were  his  powers  of  nature,  such  the 
grandeur,  pathos,  or  simplicity  of  his  composition,  from  the 
most  elevated  or  extensive  arrangement  to  the  meanest  and 
most  homely,  that  the  best  cultivated  eye,  the  purest  sensi- 
bility, and  the  most  refined  taste  dwell  on  them  equally  en- 
thralled. His  followers,  if  such  they  deserve  to  be  called, 
were  a  race  of  "colourists,  content  to  tip  the  cottage,  the 
hamlet,  the  boor,  the  ale-pot,  the  shambles,  and  the  haze  of 
winter  with  orient  hues  or  the  glow  of  setting  summer  suns. 

Switzerland  rests  its  title  to  distinction  on  the  names  of 
Hans  Holhein  and  Francesco  Mola  ;  the  former  of  Basil, 
born  in  1498,  died  in  London  at  the  age  of  46 ;  the  latter, 
the  scholar  of  Giuseppe  d'Artino  and  Francesco  Albani, 
was  born  at  the  village  of  Coldre  in  16-21,  and  died  in  Rome 
in  1666.  The  Swiss  school  exhibited  a  style  poised  between 
the  emaciated  dryness  of  Albert  Durer  and  the  bloated  cor- 
pulence of  Goltzius. 

The  school  of  the  Caracci  seems  to  have  taken  its  deepest 
root  in  France,  which,  with  few  exceptions,  has  not  pro- 
duced artists  greatly  above  mediocrity.  The  exceptions, 
however,  which  are  to  be  named  are,  Nicolas  Poussin,  who 
has  already  been  mentioned  :  to  this  must  be  added  those 
of  Eustache  Le  Sueur,  Charles  Le  Brun,  Sebastian  Bour- 
don, and  Pierre  Mignard.  "The  Seven  Works  of  Charity, 
by  S.  Bourdon,  teem  with  surprisingly  pathetic  and  always 
novel  images  ;  and  in  the  Plague  of  David,  by  Pierre  Mignard, 
our  sympathy  is  roused  by  energies  of  terror  and  combina- 
tions of  woe  which  escaped  Poussin  and  Raphael  himself." 

From  what  cause  may  be  difficult  to  say,  but  the  labours 
of  the  Spanish  school  were  confined  almost  within  the  nar- 
row limits  of  indi vifffal  imitation.  The  degree  of  perfection 
Id  this  respect  was,  indeed,  great,  though  the  means  pursued 
were  very  different;  and  the  works  of  Diego  Velauquez, 
Joseph  Ribcra,  and  Murillo,  though  never  approaching  the 
great  style  of  art,  impress  us  with  respect  lor  their  powers, 
and  deservedly  received  the  homage  of  the  Spanish  nation. 

In  this  country,  Henry  VIII.  was  the  first  monarch  who 
seems  to  have  taken  any  interest  in  the  art.  He  invited 
Titian  to  England,  and  patronised  Holbein  and  Torregiano. 
But  thi^  patronage,  very  unlike  that  bestowed  by  Francis  I. 
on  Andrea  del  Sarto,  Primaticcin,  Nicola,  Cellini,  and  others, 
was  so  restricted  in  the  choice  of  subjects,  that  neither 
Henry  nor  his  daughter  Elizabeth  deserve  our  veneration 
for  the  assistance  they  rendered  to  the  arts  of  the  country. 
In  the  court  of  Henry's  father  n  profligate  Flemish  painter, 
of  the  name  of  Malaise,  had  indeed  been  employed  ;  but  it 
is  not  known  whether  he  came  here  at  that  kind's  solicita- 
tion or  driven  by  his  own  distresses.  The  pencil  of  Holbein 
among  its  other  employments,  was  of  course  employed  to 
ti7H 


portray  the  beauties  of  Henry's  wives,  or  of  those  he  fft- 
tended  to  make  so  ;  sometimes,  indeed,  to  obtain  a  just  report 
of  the  latter  he  was  despatched  io  the  Continent ;  and  in 
the  case  of  Anne  of  Cleves,  through  his  faithless  pencil 
Cromwell,  the  minister,  lost  his  head.  If  painting  was  at 
this  period  likely  to  have  taken  root  and  flourished  here, 
the  Reformation,  and  the  worse  than  absurd  edicts  passed 
by  Edward  VI.  and  Elizabeth,  forbidding  statues  and  pic- 
tures in  churches,  were  nipping  frosts  that  destroyed  its 
growth.  Charles  was  the  first  real  patron  of  the  arts  that 
governed  this  country.  By  him  was  Rubens  Invited  to  the 
country  ;  but  the  unfortunate  fate  of  the  monarch  inter- 
cepted the  progress  that  art  then  seemed  likely  to  make. 
"  His  son,  in  possession  of  the  cartoons  of  Raphael,  and 
with  the  magnificence  of  Whitehall  before  his  eyes,  suffered 
Verrio  to  contaminate  the  walls  of  his  palaces,  or  degraded 
Lely  to  paint  the  Cymons  and  Iphigenias  of  his  court ; 
whilst  the  manner  of  Kneller  swept  away  completely  what 
yet  might  be  left  of  taste  under  his  successors."  The  slate 
of  art  continued  extremely  low  in  this  country  till  the  ap- 
pearance of  Reynolds.  Walpole  says,  that  in  the  commence- 
ment of  the  reign  of  George  I.  the  arts  of  England  were 
sunk  almost  to  the  lowest  ebb.  The  names  of  Reynolds, 
Hogarth,  Gainsborough,  and  Wilson,  in  their  lime,  entitled 
this  nation  to  some  rank  in  the  art ;  though  we  have  as  yet 
had  no  indication  of  that  great  style  of  art  whose  history 
has  occupied  a  considerable  portion  of  the  preceding  pages. 
The  names  we  have  mentioned  have  been  succeeded  by 
others,  and  some  now  living,  which  have,  perhaps,  not  only 
prevented  the  accusation  of  a  retrograde  movement,  but 
liave  raised  the  art  generally  in  the  country  higher  than  it 
was  ever  known  in  a  preceding  period — yet  much  remains 
to  be  done.  The  genius  of  the  nation  seems  bound  up  in 
commerce  and  politics;  total  ignorance  of  the  first  principles 
of  art  seems  still  to  pervade  those  who  only  are  capable  of 
affording  patronage  ;  and  many  a  collector,  on  whose  walls 
hang  the  most  splendid  specimens  of  the  Roman  and 
Florentine  schools,  must,  if  he  will  speak  the  truth,  admit 
that  his  admiration  of  the  tobacco  pipes,  pewter  pots,  and 
vulgar  boors  of  the  Dutch  school,  a  school  of  low  ideas  and 
good  painting,  is  more  profound  than  of  the  sublime  concep- 
tions of  Raphael  and  Michael  Angelo. 

Practice  of  Painting: — The  nature  of  this  work  precludes 
a  very  enlarged  notice  of  the  theory  and  practice  of  painting : 
we  shall,  however,  subjoin  a  few  leading  observations  on 
the  subject.  One  of  the  principal  requisites  for  its  success- 
ful practice  is  anatomy.  It  is  obvious  that  to  represent  suc- 
cessfully the  human  form,  its  construction  in  the  skeleton, 
and  the  tendons  and  muscles  by  which  the  bones  of  the 
skeleton  are  connected  and  move,  is  knowledge  that  must 
be  acquired,  inasmuch  as  they  appear  more  or  less  through 
the  integuments  with  which  they  are  covered.  Without 
this  knowledge  the  living  model  becomes  useless  to  him ; 
for  that,  after  a  very  short  period  of  standing,  sinks  into 
languor,  which  an  acquaintance  with  the  origin  and  insertion 
of  muscles  enables  the  painter  to  correct,  and  thus  animate 
the  work.  It  was  the  constant  observation  of  the  youth  in 
their  gymnastic  games  that  enabled  the  Grecians  so  success- 
fully to  display  and  develop  the  muscular  system  in  their 
sculpture;  these  afforded  models  of  the  most  perfect  nature. 
Comparative  anatomy  is  another  of  the  requisites  to  he  ac- 
quired by  the  artist;  since  the  painting  of  animals  must 
necessarily  involve  a  want  of  the  same  information  as  is 
requisite  for  the  human  figure.  Symmetry,  which  results 
from  the  relative  proportion  of  the  parts  to  each  other,  fol- 
lows from  the  knowledge  of  anatomy.  It  is  by  the  knowl- 
edge of  this  that  the  length  of  a  linger  may  be  made  to 
measure  the  height  of  a  figure.  Without  the  most  thorough 
acquaintance  of  the  rules  of  perspective,  no  objects  can  be 
placed  properly  in  a  picture.  Some  have  said  that  though 
it  is  a  science  of  the  first  importance  to  a  painter,  yet  he  is 
not  to  be  too  strictly  confined  to  its  rules,  but  to  endeavour 
to  render  them  subservient  to  his  own  purposes.  We  con- 
fess that  such  is  not  our  opinion  ;  nor  can  we  conceive  how 
any  violation  of  truth,  which  any  infraction  of  the  rules  of 
perspective  would  be,  can  be  made  agreeable  in  a  picture. 
The  rules,  too,  of  perspective  are  so  simple,  and  their  piac- 
tice  so  easily  acquired,  that  no  excuse  can  be  admitted  tor 
the  neglect  of  so  indispensable  an  accomplishment  The 
science  of  optics  is  so  far  necessary  as  to  enable  the  artist  to 
determine  how  the  reflexes  against  the  sides  of  surfaces  In 
shade  would  affect  the  intensity  of  them.  This  is  called 
chiaro-oscuro.  The  determination  of  shadows,  and  the 
direction  in  which  they  would  fall,  depends  upon  the  science 
of  optics  combined  with  that  of  perspective.  As  perfect 
form  is  produced  by  leaving  out  peculiarities,  and  retaining 
only  general  ideas,  so  this  principle,  extended  in  the  other 
branches  of  the  art,  gives  what  is  called  the  grand  style  to 
invention,  to  composition,  to  expression,  and  even  to  colour- 
ing and  drapery.  Invention  in  painting  is  not  the  same  as 
in  poetry,  inasmuch  as  that  the  subject  is  supplied  by  the 
poet  or  historian.    The  subject  should  be  general,  and  kept 


PAIRING. 

free  from  all  that  might  tend  to  embarrass  or  divide  the  at- 
tention of  the  spectator.  "  Whenever,"  observes  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds,  in  his  Fourth  Discourse,  "a  story  is  related,  every 
man  forms  a  picture  in  his  mind  of  the  action  and  expression 
of  the  persons  employed.  The  power  of  representing  this 
mental  picture  on  canvass  is  what  we  call  invention  in  a 
painter ;  and  as  in  the  conception  of  this  ideal  picture  the 
mind  does  not  enter  into  the  minute  particularities  of  the 
dress,  furniture,  or  scene  of  action,  so,  when  the  painter 
comes  to  represent  it,  he  contrives  those  little  necessary 
concomitant  circumstances  in  such  a  manner  that  they  shall 
strike  the  spectator  no  more  than  they  did  himself  in  his 
first  conception  of  the  story."  The  painter  may  deviate 
from  strict  historical  truth  in  pursuing  the  grandeur  of  his 
design,  such  being  but  poetical  licence.  "  A  painter  of  por- 
traits retains  the  individual  likeness;  a  painter  of  history 
6hows  the  man  by  showing  his  actions.  He  has  but  one 
sentence  to  utter,  but  one  moment  to  exhibit."  Expression, 
which  in  painting  signifies  the  representation  of  the  emotions 
and  passions  of  the  mind,  must,  like  invention,  not  descend 
to  peculiarities.  Thus  Bernini,  in  representing  David  casting 
the  stone  from  his  sling,  mistook  accident  for  generality 
when  he  made  him  bite  his  under  lip.  Colouring,  also,  has 
its  laws,  and  in  this  the  same  general  principle  must  be  at- 
tended to.  "All  trifling  or  artful  play  of  little  lights,  or  an 
attention  to  a  variety  of  tints,  is  to  be  avoided  ;  a  quietness 
and  simplicity  must  reign  over  the  whole  work,  to  which  a 
breadth  of  uniform  and  simple  colour  will  very  much  con- 
tribute. Grandeur  of  effect  is  produced  by  two  different 
ways,  which  seem  entirely  opposed  to  each  other.  One  is 
by  reducing  the  colours  to  little  more  than  chiaro-oscuro, 
which  wras  often  the  practice  of  the  Bolognese  schools;  and 
the  other  by  making  the  colours  very  distinct  and  forcible, 
such  as  we  see  in  those  of  Rome  and  Florence;  but  still 
the  presiding  principle  of  both  those  manners  is  simplicity." 
Drapery,  again,  is  managed  by  the  same  general  laws : 
minute  attention  to  the  minor  details  of  drapery  injure  the 
general  effect ;  the  folds  should  communicate  easily,  and  be 
so  cast  as  to  have  the  appearance  of  accident ;  they  must 
also  be  so  contrived  as  to  give  the  greatest  effect  to  the  figure. 
Artifice  is  as  much  as  possible  to  be  avoided. 

Annibal  Caracci  considered  twelve  figures  sufficient  for 
any  story  ;  more  than  that,  he  thought,  could  only  be  em- 
ployed to  fill  up  space,  or,  as  he  expressed  himself,  they 
would  be  figures  to  be  let. 

Painting  is  divided  into  twelve  branches,  which  their 
names  sufficiently  explain  ;  viz.  history,  which  comprises 
mystery  and  allegory  ;  grotesque,  such  as  the  celebrated 
Loggia  at  the  Vatican :  portrait,  fancy,  animals,  fruits  and 
flowers,  battle  pieces,  landscape,  sea  views ;  still  life,  which 
comprises  all  inanimate  objects,  but  is  chiefly  applied  to 
household  furniture,  and  instruments  and  architecture. 

PAI'RING.  In  Parliamentary  language,  that  practice  by 
■which  two  members  of  the  House  of  Commons,  of  opposite 
political  opinions,  agree  to  absent  themselves  from  divisions 
of  the  house  during  a  stated  period.     See  Parliament. 

PA'LACE.  (Lat.  palatium,  whose  etymology  is  not  pre- 
cisely ascertained.)  In  Architecture,  a  word  generally  used 
to  denote  the  residence  of  kings  and  princes.  On  the  Conti- 
nent, however,  the  term  is  used  with  a  much  more  extended 
signification  :  and  even  in  this  country  the  residences  of 
bishops,  and  of  some  noblemen,  are  so  called. 

PA'LACE  COURT.  A  court  of  justice  erected  by 
Charles  I.,  and  made  a  court  of  record,  with  power  to  try- 
personal  actions  between  party  and  party  within  a  liberty 
extending  to  the  distance  of  twelve  miles  round  Whitehall. 
The  judges  are,  the  steward  of  the  king's  household  and 
knight-marshal  for  the  time  being,  and  the  steward  of  the 
court  or  his  deputy. 

PA'LADIN.  In  the  Romances  of  the  Middle  Ages,  a 
term  derived  from  the  Roman  Palatinus  (from  palatium,  a 
palace),  having  its  origin  in  the  customs  of  the  Byzantine 
court,  by  which  the  officers  of  the  palace  (palatini,  comites 
palatii)  were  regarded  as  the  highest  dignitaries  of  the  coun- 
try ;  hence  palasin,  or  paladin,  in  the  early  French  romances, 
for  a  lord  or  chieftain  ;  and  the  name  was  thence  appro- 
priated by  the  Italian  romantic  poets  to  the  heroes  of  their 
legends,  the  warriors  of  Charlemagne. 

PAL^EO'GRAPHY.     (Gr.  TtaXaios,  ancient,  and  ypa(pu>, 
I  write.)     The  science  or  art  of  deciphering  ancient  inscrip- 
tions, including  the  knowledge  of  the  various  characters 
used  at  different  periods  by  the  writers  and  sculptors  of  i 
different  nations  and  languages,  their  usual  abbreviations, 
initials,  &c.    The  science  termed  diplomatics  is,  in  effect,  a 
branch  of  palaeography.    (See  Diplomatics.)    Among  many 
other  modern  authorities  on  this  subject,  the  reader  may  be 
referred  to  Mr.  Ottley's  remarkable  paper  in  the  Archieologia, 
vol.  xxvi.,  on   an   ancient   MS.  of  Aratus  ;   Champollion,  1 
Traite  d '  Jircheologie  ;   the  publications  of  the  Ecole   des  I 
Chartes,   under  the  directions  of  M.  Champollion.  at  the  [ 
Royal  Library  at  Paris ;  Kopp,  Bilder  und  Schrifte.n  der  i 
Vorieit,  1819  ;    Paleeo-Critica,  1817.     The  most  valuable  I 


PALE,  WITHIN  THE. 

compilation  of  palneographical  knowledge  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Traite  de  Diplomatique  of  the  Benedictines  of  St.  Maur, 
6  vols.,  4to,  1748.  See  also  Maffei,  Istoria  Diplomatica, 
1727  ;  Trombelli,  Arte  di  Conoscere  r  Eta  de'  Codici,  1778. 
But,  as  Mr.  Oltley  truly  observes,  "nothing  is  more  fallacious 
than  the  idea  of  being  able  to  determine  the  ages  of  ancient 
inscriptions  from  the  particular  forms  of  their  characters; 
and  it  is  mere  folly  upon  such  grounds  to  attempt  to  build 
any  solid  argument." 

PAL^EONTO'LOGY.  (Gr.  na\aioc  ;  ov,  being  ;  Uyoc, 
a  discourse.)  The  branch  of  zoological  science  which 
treats  of  fossil  organic  remains. 

PAL^EOTHE'RIUM.  (Gr.  iraXaws,  and  $npiov,  beast.) 
The  name  of  a  genus  of  extinct  Pachyderms.  It  was 
characterized  by  having  twenty -eight  complex  molar  teeth, 
four  canines,  and  twelve  incisors,  four  in  each  jaw.  Cuvier 
concludes  that  the  pala;otheres,  like  the  tapirs,  had  also  a 
short  fleshy  proboscis.  Their  remains  characterize  the 
gypsum  quarries  belonging  to  the  eocene  tertiary  formations 
near  Paris.  They  have  also  been  found  in  the  corresponding 
strata  of  the  Isle  of  Wight.  About  twelve  species  of  this 
extinct  genus  are  already  known. 

PALvE'STRA.  (Gr.  rraXaiarpa.)  Properly,  a  wrestling 
place  or  school  (iraXtj,  wrestling)  ;  and  hence  the  place 
where  public  games  of  strength  were  performed,  and,  by 
metaphor,  such  games  themselves  (studium  palmstree, 
Horace).  In  Architecture,  the  palastra  was  a  part  of  the 
gymnasium  (see  Pausan.,  vi.  21,  2,  and  23,  4),  especially 
appropriated  to  the  athletes.  The  art  of  wrestling  was 
termed  pala;strice  (KuXaioTpucn). 

PALANO.UFN.  A  sort  of  chair  or  chaise  used  by  the 
Chinese,  and  in  most  parts  of  the  East,  as  a  vehicle  of  con- 
veyance from  one  place  to  another.  They  are  furnished 
with  cushions  and  curtains ;  many  of  them  are  fitted  up  in 
the  most  costly  style,  and  are  usually  borne  by  eight  men, 
who  relieve  each  other  at  intervals. 

PA'LATALS.  (Lat.  palatum,  the  palate.)  The  letters 
d,  g,  soft  and  hard,,;',  k,  I,  n,  and  q,  are  so  called,  from  the 
organ  chiefly  employed  in  their  pronunciation. 

PA'LATE.  (Lat.  palatum.)  In  Anatomy,  the  roof  of 
the  mouth.  That  part  which  is  formed  by  the  lower  por- 
tions of  the  superior  maxillary  and  palatine  bones  is  called 
the  "hard  palate  ;"  that  which  is  due  to  the  extension  of 
membranous  and  muscular  substance  unsupported  by  bone 
is  termed  the  "soft  palate."  In  Zoology,  the  modifications 
of  the  bony  palate,  and  the  "palatal  ridges,"  and  other 
inequalities  of  the  soft  parts,  are  of  use  in  the  discrimination 
of  the  species  of  Mammalia. 

Palate,  in  a  flower,  is  the  convex  base  of  the  lower  lip 
of  a  personate  corolla. 

PALA'TINATE.  The  name  formerly  given  to  two 
states  of  Germany,  which  were  designated,  by  way  of  dis- 
tinction, the  Upper  and  Lower  Palatinate,  and,  though  not 
contiguous,  were  under  the  control  of  the  same  sovereign 
till  1620.  At  that  period  they  underwent  great  changes, 
which  it  would  be  out  of  place  here  to  indicate  ;  but  since 
the  wars  of  the  first  French  revolution,  which  contributed 
more  than  any  event  on  record  to  unsettle  the  ancient  land- 
marks, they  have  been  divided  among  different  German 
sovereigns,  and  their  very  name  has  disappeared  from  the 
maps  of  Germany.  The  word  Palatinate  is  of  feudal  origin, 
and  signifies,  in  a  more  restricted  sense,  the  province  or 
seigniory  of  a  palatine  ;  i.  e.,  of  a  high  dignitary  during  the 
middle  ages,  who  originally  held  office  in  the  court  of  the 
sovereign,  and  was  designated  the  comes  palatii,  but  who 
afterwards  obtained  the  privilege  of  exercising  the  same 
power,  rank,  and  jurisdiction,  within  his  own  province  or 
district,  as  the  comes  palatii  exercised  in  the  palace. 

PALATINE,  COUNTY.     See  County. 

PALATO-PHARYNGEUS.  A  muscle  which  arises  at 
the  root  of  the  uvula  and  soft  palate,  and  is  inserted  into 
the  upper  and  back  part  of  the  thyroid  cartilage  ;  it  draws 
the  uvula  and  soft  palate  downwards  and  backwards,  and 
pulls  the  thyroid  cartilage  and  pharynx  upwards. 

PALE.  (Lat.  palus,  a  stake.)  In  Heraldry,  the  first  and 
simplest  kind  of  ordinary.  It  is  bounded  by  two  vertical 
lines,  at  equal  distances  from  the  sides  of  the  escutcheon, 
of  which  it  encloses  one  third.  It  seldom  contains  more 
than  three  charges.  The  pallet,  when  bome  by  itself,  is 
one  half  of  the  pale  ;  but  sometimes  as  many  as  three  pal- 
lets are  borne  together.  A  coat  bisected  by  a  vertical  line, 
with  a  different  field  on  each  side  of  it,  is  said  to  be  party 
(or  divided)  per  pale.  The  pale  is  a  very  ancient  and  hon- 
ourable bearing. 

PALE,  WITHIN  THE.  An  expression  well  known  in 
Irish  history,  applied  to  that  portion  of  Ireland  to  which  for 
some  centuries  after  its  invasion  by  the  English,  under 
Henry  II.  in  1172,  the  dominion  of  the  latter  was  confined. 
The  Limits  of  the  pale  seldom  extended  beyond  the  modern 
province  of  Leinster,  and  were  frequently  much  less 
considerable.  (Statistics  of  the  British.  Empire,  vol.  i.,  p. 
429.) 

879 


PALEiE. 

PA'LEjE.  (Lat.  palea,  chaff.)  A  name  given  to  the 
bracts  that  are  stationed  upon  the  receptacle  of  Composite 
between  the  florets,  and  having  generally  a  membranous 
texture  and  no  colour ;  also  the  interior  bracts  of  the 
flowers  of  grasses. 

PA'LES.  The  Italian  goddess  presiding  over  cattle, 
who  was  worshipped  with  great  solemnity.  Her  festivals, 
called  Palilia,  were  celebrated  on  the  21st  of  April,  the 
day  upon  which,  according  to  tradition,  the  foundations  of 
Rome  were  laid  by  Romulus — the  dies  natalis  urbis  Roma; 
— as  a  great  rustic  holiday.  On  this  day  the  shepherds 
purified  their  flocks  by  making  them  pass  round  a  great  fire 
made  of  laurel,  pine,  and  olive  branches,  sprinkled  with 
sulphur.  An  offering  of  wine,  milk,  and  millet  was  then 
placed  on  the  altar  of  the  goddess,  who  was  entreated  to 
bless  the  earth  and  the  flocks  with  fecundity,  and  to  avert 
injury  from  them  both.  The  term  palilia  is  frequently 
written  parilia  in  the  ancient  MSS. ;  but  no  doubt  can  be 
entertained  as  to  the  correctness  of  the  former. 

PALE'TTE.  (Fr.)  In  Painting,  the  light  board  held 
by  a  painter  while  at  work,  on  which  the  colours  are  ar- 
ranged in  their  various  tints. 

PA'LFREY.  A  word  seldom  used,  except  in  novels 
and  romances  to  signify  a  small  or  gentle  horse,  such  as  is 
fit  for  a  lady's  use.  It  is  also  used  by  the  old  poetical 
writers  for  a  horse  used  by  kings  or  noblemen,  or  on  state 
occasions. 

PALI'CI.  In  Grecian  Mythology,  twin  divinities,  wor- 
shipped in  Sicily,  and  especially  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Etna ;  sons,  according  to  some,  of  Jupiter  and  Thalia,  the 
daughter  of  Vulcan  ;  according  to  others,  of  Vulcan  and 
jEtna,  daughter  of  Ocean.  Their  heads  appear  on  coins 
of  Catania.  Their  name  is  said  to  be  derived  from  return- 
ing (jraAiv  iKco-Oat)  out  of  the  earth,  under  which  their 
mother  had  borne  them.  (JEschyl.  JEtna,  apud  Macrob. 
Saturn,  v.  J9.)  Their  celebrated  Sicilian  temple  is  men- 
tioned by  Virgil : — 

Pinguis  ubi  et  placabilis  ira  Palici.— JEn.,  ix.,  5S5. 

PALI'LLOGY,  or  PALILOGY.  (Gr.  na\iv,  again,  and 
Xtyco,  /  speak.)  In  Rhetoric,  the  repetition  of  a  word,  or 
fragment  of  a  sentence,  for  the  sake  of  greater  energy :  also, 
epanalepsis  and  epizeuxis.  Thus,  Cicero  (pro  Cac,  ix.,  24), 
"  Ferro,  inquit,  ferro,  te  rejeci ;"  "  The  living,  the  living, 
shall  praise  thee"  (Psalms).  A  peculiar  species  of  palilogy, 
also  called  deutcrologia,  or  anadiplosis,  is  where  the  last 
word  of  a  verse,  or  of  a  paragraph  in  prose,  is  repeated  at 
the  beginning  of  the  next : 

Supervenit  £!gle— 
jEgle  naiadum  puicnerrima.— Virg.  Edog.,  vi.,  20. 

The  innocent  sleep — 
Sleep  that  knits  up  the  ravell'd  brow  of  care.— MacUtK 

PA'LIMPSEST.  (Gr.  iraAiv,  again,  and  i^oid,  /  rub  or 
efface.)  The  name  given  to  a  sort  of  parchment,  from  which 
whatever  was  written  thereon  might  be  erased,  so  as  to  ad- 
mit of  its  being  written  on  anew.  The  term  means  literally 
twice-rubbed  (membrana  iterum  abrasa,  charta  deletilis),  not 
as  the  glossary  of  Ducange  would  seem  to  denote,  because 
the  parchment  had  twice  undergone  erasure,  or  the  writing 
been  twice  obliterated ;  but  because  it  had  been  twice  pre- 
pared for  writing,  which  was  principally  effected  by  rubbing 
it  with  pumice,  first  in  the  course  of  manufacture  after  the 
skin  had  been  cured,  and  again  by  the  same  process  after 
the  original  writing  had  been  taken  away  by  washing  or  in 
any  other  manner.  The  strict  and  precise  sense  of  palimp- 
sest is,  therefore,  "  twice  prepared  for  writing ;"  the  repeti- 
tion of  such  preparation  being  the  prevailing  idea  in  the 
etymology,  and  not  erasure,  as  some  have  erroneously  sup- 
posed. The  great  antiquity  of  the  practice  of  making  pa- 
limpsests may  lie  gathered  from  an  extract  from  a  letter  from 
Cicero  to  Trebatius :  "TJt  ad  epistolaa  tuns  redeam,  cetera 
belle,  &c;  nam  quod  in  palimpsesto,  laudo  equidem  parsi- 
moniam  ;  sed  mirror  quid  in  ilia  cbartula  fuerit,  quod  delere 
malueris  quam  ha>c  non  scribere ;  ni-i  forte  tuas  formulas. 
Non  enim  puto  te  meas  epistolaa  delere,  lit  reponas  tuas. 
An  hoc  significas,  nihil  fieri  7  Frigere  te?  Ne  chartam 
quidem  tibi  suppeditare  ?"  (Cic.  ad  Fam.,  1.  7,  c.  18.)  But 
while  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  antiquity  of  this  prac- 
tice, the  attention  of  the  learned  was  first  directed  to  the 
subject  in  modern  times  by  Montfaucon,  in  a  curious  essay 
entitled  Dissertation  sur  la  Plante  appellee  Papi/rus,  &c, 
which  appeared  in  the  Mem.  de  I'Jlcad.  Fran.,  vol.  vi.,  and 
in  which  the  origin  of  the  Palimpsest  MSS.  is  briefly  and 
plainly  described  in  the  following  words  : 

"  Cela  (le  papier  bombycin)  vint  fort  a  propos  dans  un 
temps,  ou  il  paroit  qu'il  y  avoit  grande  disette  de  parche- 
min  ;  ce  qui  nous  a  fait  perdre  plusieurs  nncicns  auteurs : 
voicy  comment.  Depuis  le  12e  siecle,  les  Grecs,  plongez 
dans  l'ignorance,  s'aviserent  de  racier  les  ecritures  del  an 
ciens  MSS.  en  pnrcheinin, et  d'en  6ter,nutant  quilt  pouvol 
ent,  toutes  les  traces,  pour  y  emre  des  livres  d'EgUse  ce 
fut  ainsi  qii'au  grand  prejudice  de  la  republiquc  des  lettrcs, 
880 


PALLADIUM. 

les  Polybes,  les  Dions,  les  Diodores  de  Sicile,  et  d'antres 
auteurs  que  nous  n'avons  plus,  furenl  metamorphosez  en 
Triodions,  en  Pentecostaires,  en  Homelies,  et  en  d'autres 
livres  d'Eglise.  Apres  une  exacte  recherche,  je  puis  assu- 
rer que  des  livres  ecrits  sur  du  parchemin  depuis  le  12e  sie- 
cle,  j'en  ay  plus  trouve  dont  on  avoit  racle  l'ancienne  ecri- 
ture,  que  d'autres.  Mais  comme  tons  les  copietes  n'estoient 
pas  egalement  habiles  a  effacer  ainsi  ces  premiers  auteurs, 
il  s'en  trouve  quelques-uns  ou  Ton  peut  lire  au  moins  une 
partie  de  ce  qu'on  avoit  voulu  raturer." 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  practice  of  which  Mont- 
faucon speaks  had  a  much  more  ancient  date  than  that 
which  he  assigned  to  it ;  although  it  was  in  all  probability 
most  frequent  during  the  middle  ages,  when,  in  consequence 
of  the  scarcity  and  expense  of  parchment,  and  the  growing 
demand  for  the  writings  of  the  fathers  and  of  books  of  de- 
votion, the  monks  were  induced  to  efface  the  writings  of  the 
ancient  authors  to  make  room  for  their  own.  Our  limits 
preclude  us  from  entering  at  length  into  the  means  adopted 
by  the  monks  of  effacing  the  original  writing,  or  of  that  still 
more  interesting  process  by  which  in  recent  times  the  ori- 
ginal writing  has  been  again  brought  to  light,  and  which  has 
thus  put  us  in  possession  of  some  most  valuable  works  and 
fragments  of  the  classic  authors  which  had  been  given  up 
as  lost.  On  these  points  we  beg  to  refer  the  reader  to  an 
able  article  in  the  Edin.  Rev.,  vol.  xlviii.,  in  which  all  that 
has  been  done  in  the  restoration  of  ancient  MSS.  is  set  forth 
with  great  clearness  and  brevity,  and  shall  content  ourselves 
with  observing  that  the  most  important  of  these  discoveries 
are  the  treatise  of  Cicero,  De  Hepublica,  which  was  found 
in  the  Vatican  library  at  Rome,  in  a  MS.  which  had  been 
rewritten,  with  a  Commentary  of  St.  Augustin  on  the 
Psalms ;  and  the  Institutions  of  Oaius,  found  also  in  the 
same  place.  For  the  restitution  of  the  former  the  learn- 
ed world  is  indebted  to  Angelo  Maio,  the  principal  libra- 
rian of  the  Vatican  library  at  Rome,  who  may,  indeed,  be 
regarded  as  the  hero  of  palimpsests  ;  and  for  the  latter  to 
the  labours  of  Bluhm  and  Goeschen,  who  were  sent  to 
Rome  for  the  purpose  of  examining  MSS.  by  the  Royal 
Academy  of  Sciences  at  Berlin. 

PALI'NDROMUS.  (Gr.  jraAii-,  and  tpopoc,  a  course.) 
A  verse  or  line  which  was  the  same  when  read  backwards 
or  forwards.  The  well-known  verse  which  has  been  put 
into  the  mouth  of  the  devil  may  serve  for  an  example  : 

Signa  te,  iigna,  temere  me  tangis  et  angis. 

PALINGENE'SIA.  (Gr.  irftXiV,  and  ytvcoic,  birth.)  In 
Philosophy,  a  new  or  second  birth — regeneration.  The  doc- 
trine of  the  destruction  and  reproduction  of  worlds  and  liv- 
ing beings  is  Oriental ;  but  the  word  in  question  appears  to 
be  of  Stoical  origin.  (Diog.  Laert.,  vii.,  72.)  The  Stoics 
are  said  to  have  held  that  the  demiurgus,  or  Creator,  had 
absorbed  all  being  in  himself,  and  reproduced  it  out  of  him- 
self. In  the  language  of  the  New  Testament,  it  is  used  for 
moral  regeneration.     (Titus,  Hi.,  5.) 

PA  LINODE.  (Gr.  iraXiv,  again,  and  <5<fy,  song.)  In 
Poetry,  a  recantation  :  properly,  a  piece  in  which  the  poet 
retracts  the  invectives  contained  in  a  former  satire.  (See 
Mem.  dc  I'Jlcad.  des  Inscr.,  vol.  xii.) 

PALINU'RUS.  The  steersman  of  the  vessel  of  .lEneas, 
drowned,  according  to  Virgil,  oft  the  coast  of  Italy  (JEn.,  v.), 
and  afterwards  met  with  by  the  Trojan  hero  in  the  shades. 
A  promontory  on  the  coast  received  his  name. 

PA'LISADES,  or  PALISADOS.  In  Fortification,  stakes 
driven  into  the  ground,  and  sharpened  at  the  top,  for  the 
purpose  of  defence  against  the  surprise  of  an  enemy.  They 
are  usually  9  or  10  feet  long,  and  planted  so  as  to  make  an 
angle  inclining  outwards  from  the  work. 

PA'LLA.  In  Latin,  the  long  outer  garment  appropriate 
to  Roman  females  of  respectable  rank.  A  part  of  it  was 
thrown  over  the  left  shoulder,  and  hung  down  from  the 
arm.  It  is  particularly  described  by  Apuleius  (Met.,  xi.). 
The  palla  was  not  worn  by  men,  except  some  effeminate 
persons :  although  the  long  robes  of  barbarians  are  some- 
times called  by  its  name  by  Latin  writers.  There  seems 
to  have  been  a  shorter  palla.     (Martial,  i.,  93.) 

PALLA'DIUM.  (fir.  IldWdStov.)  A  wooden  statue  of 
Minerva  or  Pallas,  which  was  said  to  have  fallen  from  the 
skies  as  a  sign  to  Ilus,  the  founder  of  Troy,  to  convince  him 
he  was  under  the  guidance  of  Jupiter.  On  its  preservation 
depended  the  safety  of  Troy  ;  and,  accordingly,  Ulysses  and 
Diomed  were  commissioned  to  steal  it,  and  performed  the 
enterprise.  According  to  other  accounts,  the  palladium  was 
conveyed  from  Troy  to  Italy  by  .(Eneas,  and  was  afterwards 
preserved  With  great  care  in  the  temple  of  Vesta  at  Rome. 
The  word  palladium  passed  into  European  languages,  in 
which  it  signifies  that  particular  law  or  privilege  which  is 
regarded  as  the  safeguard  of  the  people's  liberties.  The 
trial  by  jury  and  the  freedom  of  the  press  are  each  called 
the  palladium  of  the  British  constitution. 

Palladium.  A  metal  discovered  in  180.1  by  Wollaston, 
associated  with  the  ore  of  platinum.    It  resembles  platinum 


PALLAS. 

In  colour  and  lustre,  and  it  is  ductile  and  malleable,  but  very 
hard.  Its  specific  gravity  is  11-8.  Its  fusibility  is  interme- 
diate between  gold  and  platinum  ;  it  is  oxidized  and  dissolv- 
ed by  nitric  acid  :  its  oxide  forms  red  salts. 

PA'LLAS,  or,  more  properly,  PALLAS  ATHE  NE.  In 
Mythology,  the  Grecian  goddess  of  wisdom,  identified  at  a 
later  period  with  the  Roman  Minerva,  to  whom  were  as- 
signed ail  the  attributes  of  her  Grecian  sister.  The  term  is 
probably  derived  from  the  Gr.  TruAAeiv,  to  brandish  a  spear. 
See  Minerva. 

Pallas.  One  of  the  four  small  planets  which  revolve 
between  the  orbits  of  Mars  and  Jupiter,  discovered  by  Dr. 
Olbers,  of  Bremen,  on  the  28th  of  March,  1802.  Its  symbol 
is  a  lance  &.  On  account  of  the  minuteness  of  this  planet, 
and  the  nebulous  appearance  by  which  it  is  surrounded,  it 
is  extremely  difficult  to  arrive  at  any  certain  conclusion  re- 
specting its  real  magnitude.  Sir  W.  Herschel  estimated  its 
diameter  at  eighty  miles,  and  Schroeter  at  2099  miles,  or 
nearly  the  size  of  Mercury ;  but  astronomers  prefer  the  for- 
mer measure.  The  light  of  the  planet  undergoes  consider- 
able variations,  the  cause  of  which  is  unknown.  The  fol- 
lowing are  the  elements  of  the  orbit  given  by  Encke,  in  the 
Berlin  Astronomisches  Jahrbuch  for  1831 : 

Semi-axis  majors  2-77263, 

Eccentricity  =  0-24199, 

Period  of  revolutions  1686-25  days, 

Inclinations 34°  35'  49-1", 

Longitude  of  ascending  node  =  172°  381  29-8", 

Longitude  of  perihelion  =  121°  5'  0-5". 

The  motion  of  the  planet  in  its  orbit  is  greatly  disturbed 
by  the  powerful  attraction  of  Jupiter.     See  Planet. 

PA'LLETS,  in  Clock  and  Watch-work,  are  the  pieces 
connected  with  the  pendulum  or  balance  which  receive 
trie  immediate  impulse  of  the  swing-wheel,  or  balance- 
wheel.  They  are  of  various  forms  and  constructions,  ac- 
cording to  the  kind  of  escapement  employed. 

PALLIOBRA'NCHIATES,  Palliobranchiata.)  Lat.  pal- 
lium, a  mantle,  and  branchia,  gills.)  The  name  of  an  order 
of  Acephalous  Mollusks,  including  those  in  which  the  gills 
are  situated  on  the  internal  surface  of  the  lobes  of  the  man- 
tle. 

PA'LLIUM.  (Lat.  a  cloak.)  A  vestment  which,  by  an- 
cient usage,  is  sent  from  Rome  to  all  archbishops  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  to  the  four  Latin  patriarchs 
of  the  East,  on  their  accession.  The  history  of  this  usage, 
and  the  gradual  submission  of  the  Western  patriarchs  to  it, 
thereby  acknowledging  in  the  end  the  complete  authority 
of  the  see  of  Rome,  is  carefully  traced  by  M.  Rheinwald,  in 
the  new  Encyclopedia  of  Ersch  and  Gruber,  art.  "  Pallium." 
It  is  now  a  short  white  cloak,  with  a  red  cross,  encircling 
the  neck  and  shoulders,  and  falling  on  the  back.  It  was 
the  custom,  at  the  period  of  the  greatest  power  of  the  Ro- 
man see  (introduced  by  Gregory  VII.  himself),  for  the 
archbishops  to  come  to  Rome  for  the  purpose  of  receiving 
It :  it  is  now  delivered  as  a  mandatory,  or  merely  by  a  dele- 
gate from  Rome.  Some  simple  bishops  receive  the  pallium 
as  a  mark  of  honour.  The  cloth  of  which  the  pallium  is 
made  is  woven  from  the  wool  of  ten  white  lambs,  blessed 
at  Rome  on  the  festival  of  St.  Agnes,  and  deposited  on  the 
tomb  of  St.  Peter  during  the  eve  of  his  festival. 

PALM.  (Lat.  palma,  the  hand.)  An  ancient  measure 
of  length  taken  from  the  extent  of  the  hand.  There  were 
two  different  palms ;  one  corresponding  to  the  length  of  the 
hand,  and  the  other  to  the  breadth.  The  Roman  palm  was 
about  8J  English  inches.  The  English  palm  is  understood 
to  be  3  inches. 

PALMA' RES.  (Lat.  palma,  the  hand.)  Muscles  be- 
longing to  the  hand.  The  palmaris  brevis  is  situate  be- 
tween the  wrist  and  little  finger,  and  assists  in  contracting 
the  palm  of  the  hand ;  the  palmaris  longus  is  situate  on 
the  forearm,  and  bends  the  hand. 

PA'LMER.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  name  popularly 
given  to  crusaders  returned  from  the  holy  war,  or  pilgrims 
from  Palestine,  from  the  branch  of  palm-tree  which  they 
were  wont  to  carry  with  them  as  a  staff  in  commemoration 
of  their  journey. 

PA'LMIPEDS,  Palmipedes.  (Lat.  palma,  a  palm,  and 
pes,  a  foot.)  The  name  given  by  Cuvier  and  Temminck 
to  an  order  of  birds  corresponding  to  the  Anseres  of  Lin- 
naeus, and  the  Natatores,  or  swimming-birds,  of  Illiger. 

PA'LMISTRY.  (Lat.  palma,  the  hand.)  A  species  of 
divination,  which  foretold  future  events  from  the  inspec- 
tion of  the  lines  and  marks  on  the  hands  and  fingers.  See 
Chiromancy. 

PALM  OIL.  An  article  imported  from  the  west  coast 
of  Africa :  it  is  solid,  and  of  a  reddish-yellow  colour.  It  is 
used  in  the  manufacture  of  soap  :  candles  have  been  made 
of  its  stearine,  and  it  is  sometimes  burned  in  lamps,  and 
made  into  ointments.  It  is  chiefly  the  produce  of  the  Ela- 
ine Ouinmnsis. 
PALM,  ORDER   OF  THE    FRUITFUL.     A   society 


PAN. 

formed  in  1617  In  Germany,  and  connected  by  a  species  of 
chivalrous  institution,  for  the  preservation  and  culture  of 
the  German  language.  Lewis,  prince  of  Anhalt,  was  the 
first  head  of  the  order.  This  body  is  said  to  have  done 
much  for  the  German  language,  but  to  have  ended  by  at 
tempting  too  much  in  the  way  of  refinement  and  innova- 
tion. It  was  dissolved  in  1680.  (Ersch  and  Oruber's  En- 
cyclopaedia.) 

PALMS,  called  by  Linnaeus,  from  their  noble  and  stately 
appearance,  the  princes  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  are  a 
natural  order  of  Arborescent  Endogens,  chiefly  inhabiting 
the  tropics,  distinguished  by  their  fleshy,  colourless,  six- 
parted  flowers,  enclosed  within  spathes  ;  their  minute  em- 
bryo, lying  in  the  midst  of  albumen,  and  remote  from  the 
hilum  ;  and  rigid,  plaited  or  pinnated  inarticulated  leaves, 
sometimes  called  fronds.  Wine,  oil,  flax,  flour,  sugar,  and 
salt,  says  Humboldt,  are  the  produce  of  this  tribe ;  to  which 
Von  Martius  adds  thread,  utensils,  weapons,  food,  and  hab- 
itations. The  most  common  species  is  the  cocoa-nut.  Their 
wounded  stems,  or  spathes,  yield  in  abundance  a  saccha- 
rine fluid,  known  in  India  by  the  name  of  toddy.  The  suc- 
culent rind  of  the  date  is  a  most  nutritious  as  well  as  agree- 
able fruit.  Sago  is  yielded  by  the  interior  of  the  trunks  of 
nearly  all,  except  Areca  catechu,  the  well-known  pisang,  or 
betel-nut :  the  fruit  of  the  latter  species  is  remarkable  for 
its  narcotic  or  intoxicating  power.  The  common  canes  or 
rattans  of  the  shops  are  the  flexible  stems  of  species  of  the 
genus  Calamvs. 

PALM-SUNDAY  (Dominica  Palmarum,  Pascha  Flori- 
dum),  the  Sunday  before  Easter,  is  the  day  of  celebration 
of  the  triumphal  entry  of  Christ  into  Jerusalem.  But  the 
custom  of  carrying  palm  branches  on  particular  days  of  fes- 
tivity (|3i<io0o/na)  was  an  older  Jewish  observance.  The 
feast  of  Palm-Sunday  appears  to  have  been  observed  all 
along  in  the  Eastern  Church,  but  is  said  to  have  been  revi- 
ved in  the  West  by  Gregory  the  Great.  The  earliest  known 
Latin  homily  for  the  day  is  by  the  Venerable  Bede. 

PALP.  (Lat.  palpus,  a  feeler.)  A  jointed  sensiferous 
organ,  attached  in  pairs  to  the  labium  and  maxilla  of  in- 
sects, and  termed  respectively  "labial"  and  "maxillary" 
palpi,  or  feelers. 

PALPA'TORS,  Palpatores.    The  name  of  a  family  of 
Clavicorn  beetles,  including  those  which  have  very  long 
maxillarv  feelers,  or  palps. 
PALSY.     See  Paralysis. 

PALU'DAME'NTUM.  The  peculiar  military  dress  of  a 
Roman  general  (imperator),  in  the  times  of  the  republic 
(Apul.  Apologia),  afterwards  adopted  by  the  emperors.  It 
was  worn  only  in  the  campaign,  and  exchanged  for  the  toga 
in  Rome.  Vitellius,  according  to  Tacitus,  was  advised  not 
to  enter  the  city  in  it,  as  it  would  be  making  it  look  like  a 
city  taken  by  storm.  (Hist.,  ii.,  89.  See  Mem.  de  VAcad. 
des  Inscr.,  vol.  xxi.) 

PALUDI'NA.  (Lat.  palus,  a  marsh.)  A  genus  of  fresh- 
water or  marsh  snails ;  so  called  from  their  location  in 
marshes,  ditches,  and  slow  streams.  Many  species  are 
common  in  Great  Britain;  a  beautiful  example,  called  the 
agate  marsh-shell  (Paludina  achatina,  Lam.),  may  be  found 
in  the  smaller  tributaries  of  the  Thames. 

PA'MPAS.  The  name  given  to  one  of  the  great  systems 
of  South  American  plains,  which  can  scarcely,  with  pro- 
priety, be  called  deserts,  inasmuch  as  they  are  covered  with 
luxuriant  herbage,  and  inhabited  by  vast  herds  of  wild  cat- 
tle and  droves  of  horses.  The  region  of  the  Pampas  forms 
the  basins  of  the  Paraguay  and  La  Plata,  and  includes  the 
vast  plains  of  Buenos  Ayres,  extending  from  the  foot  of  the 
eastern  ridge  of  the  Andes  to  the  "  sea-like  Plata,"  and 
stretching  southward  into  the  deserts  of  Patagonia. 
( Traill's  Physical  Geography.) 

PA'MPHLET.  A  word  for  which  various  etymologies 
have  been  suggested  ;  as,  for  instance,  pagina  filata,  a 
threaded  page,  i.  e.,  leaves  stitched  together  with  a  thread ; 
while  others  consider  it  to  be  derived  simply  from  pampier, 
or  papier,  paper.  It  signifies  a  short  treatise  or  essay,  gen- 
erally speaking  on  some  subjects  of  temporary  interest, 
which  excites  public  attention  at  the  time  of  its  appear- 
ance. We  commonly  understand  by  the  word  pamphlet  a 
production  of  the  above  character  when  it  comes  from  the 
publishers  merely  stitched  together  in  sheets,  and  not 
bound.  The  word  is  of  considerable  antiquity,  being  used 
by  Chaucer.  Pamphlets  became  of  common  use  in  politi- 
cal and  religious  controversy  about  the  middle  of  the  16th 
century;  in  England,  under  the  reign  of  Elizabeth;  in 
France,  during  the  wars  of  religion. 

PA'MPRE.  (Fr. ;  from  Lat.  pampinus,  a  cluster.)  In 
Sculpture,  ornaments  consisting  of  vine  leaves  and  grapes. 
PAN.  (Gr.  nrfv.)  The  chief  rural  divinity  of  the 
Greeks,  who  presided  over  flocks  and  herds.  He  was  said 
by  some  to  be  the  son  of  Mercury ;  and  his  birthplace  was 
Arcadia,  to  which  province  his  worship  seems  to  have  been 
confined  in  early  times.  The  introduction  of  his  worship 
into  the  other  Grecian  states  is  thus  accounted  for.  When 
3  1  881 


PANACEA. 

Philippides,  an  Athenian  courtier,  was  traversing  Mount 
Parthenius,  above  Tegea,  a  short  time  before  the  battle  of 
Marathon,  he  was  encountered  by  Pan,  who  commanded 
him  to  ask  the  Athenians  why  they  paid  no  respect  to  a 
divinity  who  had  ever  been  friendly  to  them,  and  was  still 
ready  to  promote  their  welfare ;  and  in  consequence  of  this 
remonstance,  the  Athenians,  after  the  defeat  of  the  Per- 
si  ins,  dedicated  a  temple  to  this  divinity  beneath  the 
Acropolis,  and  propitiated  his  favour  by  annual  sacrifices 
and  torch  races.  He  was  represented  with  the  head  and 
breast  of  an  elderly  man,  while  his  lower  parts  were  like 
the  hind  quarters  of  a  goat,  whose  horns  he  likewise  bore 
on  his  forehead.  His  emblems  were  the  shepherd's  crook 
and  pipe  of  seven  reeds,  his  own  invention.  The  name 
Pan  is  derived  probably  from  the  Gr.  rtaav,  to  tend  flocks, 
which,  as  being  the  most  general  mode  of  life  in  primitive 
times,  has  led  to  the  belief  that  this  god  was  a  symbol  of 
Universal  Nature,  an  idea  to  which  Milton  alludes  in  the 
beautiful  lines, 

While  Universal  Pan, 

Knit  with  the  Graces  and  the  Hours  in  dance, 

Led  on  the  eternal  spring. 

PANACE'A  (Gr.  nav,  all,  and  axcouai,  I  cure)  signifies 
a  remedy  which  professes  the  power  of  curing  all  sorts  of 
diseases.  The  word  is  said  to  be  derived  from  Panacea,  a 
daughter  of  Esculapius,  the  goddess  of  health,  to  whom,  in 
conjunction  with  her  better  known  sister,  Hygeia,  the  pow- 
er of  healing  all  diseases  was  ascribed. 

PA'NATHENiE'A.  (Gr.  lluva0ijva«a  ;  from  irav,  all, 
and  KQrjvaioi,  Athenian.)  The  great  national  festival  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Attica,  celebrated  in  honour  of  Minerva. 
There  were  two  solemnities  of  this  name,  the  great  and  lit- 
tle. The  former  were  celebrated  once  in  every  five  years; 
the  latter  in  every  third  year,  or,  as  some  think,  every 
year.  The  exhibitions  at  these  festivals  were  torch  races, 
gymnastic,  and  musical,  and  poetical  contests,  with  sacrifi- 
ces and  feasts  ;  and,  at  the  great  Panathenrea,  the  sacred 
stole  (ttinXoi),  decorated  by  the  hands  of  chosen  virgins 
with  embroidery  representing  the  deeds  of  heroes  and  pa- 
triots, was  hung  like  a  sail  on  a  machine  in  the  form  of  a 
ship,  and  thus  conveyed  up  to  the  Acropolis  in  a  procession, 
and  placed  on  the  statue  of  Minerva. 

PANCA'RTES,  or  PANCHARTjE.  In  Diplomatics, 
royal  charters,  in  which  the  enjoyment  of  all  his  posses- 
sions (enumerated  in  the  instrument)  is  confirmed  to  a 
subject.  The  word,  however,  is  used  in  other  and  looser 
significations. 

PANCRATIUM.  (Gr.  mtvKpariov ;  from  irav,  all,  and 
ttparetv,  to  subdue.)  A  kind  of  athletic  contest  practised 
by  the  Greeks,  which  combined  wrestling  and  boxing  to- 
gether. 

PA'NCREAS.  (Gr.  irav,  and  icptas,  flesh,  from  its  fleshy- 
consistence.)  A  glandular  viscus  of  the  abdomen,  situated 
under  and  behind  the  stomach ;  its  duct  enters  the  duo- 
denum, into  which  it  conveys  a  fluid  very  like  the  saliva. 
It  use  appears  to  dilute  the  bile,  and  render  il  more  mis- 
cible  with  the  food.  It  is  commonly  called  the  sweetbread 
in  animals. 

PAND^EMO'NIUM.  (Gr.  jrav,  and  Saiuav,  a  demon.) 
The  general  appellation  bestowed  by  Milton  on 

The  hi»h  capital         ■ 
Of  Satan  and  his  peers. — Par.  Lost,  i.  81. 

PANDANA'CE^E.  (Pandanus,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  Arborescent  Endogens  inhabiting  the 
Indian  Archipelago,  and  most  of  the  tropical  islands  of  the 
old  world.  They  have  the  aspect  of  gigantic  pine-apples, 
bearing  the  flowers  of  a  sparganium  ;  and  are  remarkable 
among  arborescent  Monocotyledons  for  their  constant  ten- 
dency to  branch,  which  is  always  effected  in  a  dichotomous 
manner ;  and  also  for  their  leaves  being  arranged  so  dis- 
tinctly in  a  spiral  manner  that  they  have  acquired  the 
common  name  of  screw  pines.  The  seeds  of  Pandanus  are 
eatable. 

PA'NDECTS,  or  DIGEST.  (Gr.  navoacra ;  from  irav, 
everything;  and  Stxouai,  I  receive.)  The  great  compila- 
tion of  the  Roman  law  published  by  the  Emperor  Justinian. 
See  Digest. 

PANDO'RA.  (Gr.  irav,  and  Supav,  a  gift.)  Literally 
the  all-gifted.  In  Grecian  Mythology,  the  name  given  to 
the  first  mortal  female,  according  to  Hesiod,  that  ever 
lived.  She  was  formed  of  clay  by  Vulcan,  at  the  request 
of  Jupiter,  and  was  created  for  the  purpose  of  punishing 
Prometheus  (see Prometheus)  for  his  numerous  impieties. 
All  the  gods  vied  in  making  her  presents:  thus,  from 
Venus  she  received  beauty,  from  the  Graces  the  power 
of  captivating;  Mercury  taught  her  eloquence,  and  Mi- 
nerva wisdom  ;  but  Jupiter  gave  her  a  box  filled  with  in- 
numerable evils,  which  she  was  desired  to  give  to  the  man 
who  married  her.  She  was  then  conducted  to  Prometheus, 
who,  sensible  of  the  deceit,  would  not  accept  of  the  pre- 
sent ;  but  his  brother  Epimetheus.  not  gifted  with  the 
same  prudence,  fell  a  victim  to  Pandora's  charms,  accept- 


PANORAMA. 

ed  the  box,  from  which,  on  its  being  opened,  there  issned 
all  the  ills  and  diseases  which  have  since  continued  10 
afflict  the  human  race.  Hope  alone  remained  at  the 
bottom  of  the  box,  as  the  only  consolation  of  the  troubles 
of  mankind. 

PANDOU'RS.  A  kind  of  light  infantry,  formerly  or- 
ganized as  separate  corps  in  the  Austrian  service ;  raised 
from  the  Servian  and  Rascian  inhabitants  of  the  Turkish 
frontier,  and  originally  undet  leaders  of  their  own,  styled 
Harumbachas.  Since  1755,  they  have  been  included  in 
the  regular  army. 

PANDURIFORM.  Literally,  fiddle-shaped;  applied  by 
botanists  to  the  leaves  of  some  plants. 

PANEGY'RIC.  (Gr.  Xoyos  iravnyvpiicos,  a  speech  ad- 
dressed to  a  general  assembly,  and  iravnyvpis,  panegyric.) 
In  Oratory,  an  eulogy  or  harangue,  written  or  sponen,  in 
praise  of  an  individual  or  body  of  men.  Among  the  an- 
cients, orations  were  recited  in  praise  of  the  departed  on 
various  occasions,  before  solemn  assemblies:  hence  the 
name.  Among  the  later  Romans,  the  baser  practice  pre- 
vailed of  reciting  panegyrical  orations  on  distinguished 
living  persons  in  their  presence.  Among  the  moderns, 
panegyrical  oratory  has  been  chiefly  confined  to  funeral 
discourses  from  the  pulpit.  In  France,  however,  the  eloges 
or  orations,  pronounced  in  some  literary  and  scientific  so- 
cieties on  the  decease  of  a  member,  bear  something  of  the 
character  of  classical  panegyrics. 

PA'NEL.  In  Law,  said  by  Sir  H.  Spelman  to  mean 
"schedula,"  or  "pagina,"  as  a  panel  of  parchment,  &c. 
It  commonly  designates  the  roll  containing  the  names  of 
jurors  whom  the  sheriff"  returns  to  pass  on  a  trial.  In 
Scottish  law,  the  accused  person  in  a  criminal  action,  from 
the  time  of  his  appearance,  is  styled  the  "  pannel." 

PA'NIC  (Lat.  Pan),  is  usually  applied  to  a  sudden  and 
groundless  alarm.  The  word  originated  in  the  stratagem 
which  Pan  had  recourse  to,  during  the  Indian  expedition 
of  Bacchus,  on  being  surrounded  by  a  numerous  army  ;  viz. 
ordering  his  men  suddenly  to  raise  a  simultaneous  shout, 
which,  favoured  by  the  echoes  of  a  rocky  valley,  had  the 
appearance  of  so  augmenting  their  numbers  that  the  enemy 
were  inspired  by  terror,  and  instantly  took  to  flight. 

PA'NICLE.  A  form  of  inflorescence  in  which  the 
primary  axis  develops  secondary  axes,  which  themselves 
produce  tertiary ;  or,  in  other  words,  a  raceme  bearing 
branches  of  flowers  in  place  of  simple  ones. 

PA'NNEL,  or  PANEL.  (Fr.  panneau.)  In  Architec- 
ture, an  area  sunk  from  the  general  face  of  the  surrounding 
work.  In  Joinery,  it  is  a  tympanum,  or  thin  piece  of  wood, 
framed  or  received  in  a  grove  by  two  mounters  or  upright 
pieces,  and  two  traverses  or  cross  pieces. 

PA'NOPLY.  (Gr.  irav,  and  birSov,  armour.)  Literally 
all  the  armour  that  can  be  worn  for  defence :  complete 
armour. 

PANO'PTICON.  (Gr.  irav,  and  orrrouai,  I  see.)  A  term 
coined  by  Jeremy  Bentham  to  denote  the  plan  of  the  prison 
which  he  designed  and  recommended  for  adoption  in  his 
Theory  of  Punishments.  This  building  was  distinguished 
by  three  leading  properties,  for  an  account  of  which  the 
reader  is  referred  to  vol.  xxii.  of  the  Edin.  Review,  p.  19, 
20  ;  but  its  greatest  peculiarity  consisted  in  its  form,  and  in 
the  disposition  of  its  cells,  which  were  so  constructed  that 
the  inspector  could  see  each  prisoner,  at  all  limes,  without 
himself  being  seen;  and  hence  the  origin  of  the  term. 

PANORA'MA.  (Gr.  -rrav,  all,  and  bow,  I  see.)  A  pic- 
ture in  which  all  the  objects  of  nature  that  are  visible  from 
a  single  point  are  represented  on  the  interior  surface  of  a 
round  or  cylindrical  wall,  the  point  of  view  being  in  the 
axis  of  the  cylinder.  The  rules  according  to  which  the 
different  objects  are  represented  in  perspective  are  easily 
deduced  from  the  consideration  that  thn  lines  on  the  pano- 
rama are  the  intersections  of  the  cylindrical  surface  of  the 
picture,  with  one  or  more  conical  surfaces  having  their 
summits  at  the  point  of  view,  and  of  which  the  bases  are 
the  lines  of  nature  which  the  artist  proposes  to  represent. 
In  executing  this  kind  of  perspective,  the  artist  divides  the 
horizon  Into  a  considerable  number  of  parts,  twenty,  for 
example,  and  draws,  in  the  ordinary  way,  on  a  plane  sur- 
face, a  perspective  view  of  all  the  objects  comprised  in  each 
of  these  portions  of  the  horizon.  He  then  paints  on  a  can- 
vass, representing  the  development  of  the  cylindrical  sur- 
face, the  twenty  drawings,  in  as  many  vertical  and  parallel 
stripes  ;  and  the  picture  is  completed  by  stretching  the  can- 
vass on  the  cylindrical  wall  of  the  rotunda  which  is  to  con- 
tain the  panorama.  When  a  painting  of  this  kind  is  well 
executed,  its  truth  is  such  as  to  produce  a  complete  Illusion, 
No  other  method  of  representing  objects  is  so  well  calcu- 
lated to  give  an  exact  idea  of  the  general  aspect  and  appear- 
ance of  a  country  as  seen  all  round  from  a  given  point. 

The  first  panorama  exhibited  in  London  was  painted  by 
Barker  in  1793;  it  represented  the  objects  about  Portsmouth 
and  the  Isle  of  Wight.  A  panorama  of  London  was  the 
first  that  was  introduced  into  Germany,  in  1800.    Since 


PANSTEREORAMA. 

ttat  time  they  have  become  common  in  all  the  principal 
cities  of  Europe. 

PANSTE'REORA'MA.  (Gr.  nav;  arcptoi,  solid,  and 
bpdu,  I  see.)  In  Relievo,  a  model  of  a  town  or  country  in 
cork,  wood,  pasteboard,  or  other  substances. 

PA'NSY.  (Fr.  pensee,  a  thought.)  A  term  applied 
chiefly  to  the  garden  varieties  of  Viola  tricolor,  and  others 
which  are  usually  cultivated  under  the  name  of  heart's 
ease.     See  Viola. 

PA'NTAGRAPH.  (Gr.  nav,  and  ypatpa,  /  write.)  Fre- 
quently, but  improperly,  written  Pentagraph.  An  instru- 
ment for  copying,  reducing,  or  enlarging  plans.  It  consists 
of  a  jointed  rhombus,  A  B  C  D,  made  of  wood  or  brass,  and 
having  the  two  sides  B  A  and  B  C 
extended  to  double  their  length. 
The  side  A  D  and  branch  A  E  are 
graduated  from  A,  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  if  O  and  T  be  correspond- 
ing divisions,  A  O  is  to  B  O  in  the 
same  ratio  as  A  T  to  B  E  or  B  F. 
Small  sliding  boxes  for  holding  a 
pencil  or  tracing  point,  are  brought 
to  the  corresponding  graduations, 
and  fixed  in  their  positions  by 
screws,  and  a  third  is  fixed  at  the 
point  F.  Now,  since  in  every  po- 
sition of  the  instrument  the  two 
sides  A  D  and  B  F  are  parallel,  and  the  points  O  and  T  are 
so  taken  that  O  A  :  A  T  : :  O  B  :  B  F,  the  three  points  O,  T, 
and  F,  must  necessarily  range  in  a  straight  line;  conse- 
quently, if  any  one  of  these  three  points  be  taken  as  the 
centre  of  motion,  and  another  of  them  be  carried  along  the 
boundaries  of  any  figure,  the  third  will  trace  out  a  similar 
figure,  reduced  or  enlarged  according  as  it  is  nearer  to  or 
farther  from  the  centre  of  motion  than  the  point  which  is 
carried  along  the  figure  to  be  copied.  Suppose  the  point  O 
to  be  made  the  centre  of  motion,  the  tracer  to  be  fixed  at 
F,  and  the  crayon  or  drawing  point  at  T,  the  division  of 
A  D  corresponding  to  O ;  then,  while  F  is  carried  along  any 
figure,  T  will  describe  a  similar  figure  reduced  in  the  pro- 
portion of  O  T  to  O  F,  or  of  O  A  to  O  B.  But  if  the  tracer 
be  fixed  at  T,  and  the  drawing  point  at  F,  the  copy  will  be 
enlarged  in  the  proportion  of  O  B  to  O  A  ;  or,  if  the  fulcrum 
be  placed  at  T,  the  tracer  at  O,  and  the  crayon  at  F,  the 
figure  delineated  will  be  enlarged  in  the  proportion  of  OT 
to  TF.  If  the  points  O  and  T  be  brought  to  coincide  with 
E  and  D,  and  the  fulcrum  be  placed  at  D  ;  then,  the  dis- 
tance E  D  and  D  F  being  equal,  the  original  figure  will  be 
transferred  into  a  copy  of  exactly  the  same  dimensions. 
The  pantagraph  was  invented  by  the  Jesuit  Christopher 
Scheiner  in  1G03,  and  is  described  by  him  in  a  tract  entitled 
Pantographice  sive  Ars  Delineandi,  be.,  published  at  Rome 
in  1623.  A  more  perfect  instrument  for  accomplishing  the 
same  objects  has  recently  been  invented  by  Professor  Wal- 
lace, of  Edinburgh,  who  has  given  it  the  name  of  Eido 
graph  :  for  a  description  of  which,  see  the  Transactions  of 
the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh,  vol.  xiii.  ;  or  Wallace's 
Geometrical  Theorems  and  -Analytical  Formula,  1839.  Both 
instruments  may  be  so  modified  as  to  produce  a  reversed 
representation  of  the  figure  to  be  copied ;  an  application 
which  is  extremely  useful  for  the  purposes  of  copper-plate 
engraving  and  lithography. 

PA'NTALOON.  One  of  the  chief  characters  in  all 
pantomimic  representations.  He  was  originally  dressed 
in  a  manner  similar  to  that  from  which  a  well-known 
article  of  modern  dress  has  derived  its  name.  His  name 
is  said  by  antiquarians  to  be  derived  from  the  Italian 
words  "  Pianta-leone,"  as  it  were  the  "  lion-planter,"  in 
allusion  to  the  boastful  language  of  the  Venetians.  (See 
Ixird  Byron's  Childc  Harold,  canto  iv.)  The  pantaloon  of 
the  original  Italian  pantomime  was  a  Venetian  burgher. 

PANTE'CHNICON.  (Gr.  nav,  and  rtxvi,  art),  signifies 
a  place  in  which,  as  the  term  imports,  every  species  of 
workmanship  is  collected  and  exposed  for  sale.  The  large 
building  near  Belgrave-square  is  an  excellent  specimen  of 
this  modern  invention. 

PA'NTHEISM.  (Gr.  Tlav,  and  Geo?,  God.)  In  Meta- 
physical Theology,  the  theory  which  identifies  nature,  or 
the  to  Tray,  the  universe  in  its  totality,  with  God.  This 
doctrine  differs  from  atheism  in  the  greater  distinctness 
with  which  it  asserts  the  unity  and  essential  vitality  of 
nature,  parts  of  which  all  animated  beings  are.  The 
most  ancient  Greek  philosophers  were  pantheists  in  this 
sense,  Anaxagoras  being  the  first  who  distinctly  stated 
the  coexistence  with  nature  of  a  reasonable  creator—"  a 
mind,  the  principle  of  all  things."  In  this  sense,  too, 
Spinoza  may  be  called  a  pantheist.  The  pantheism  of 
Schelling,  and  many  modern  German  philosophers,  is  of 
a  different  stamp.  According  to  these  thinkers,  God  is 
conceived  as  the  absolute  and  original  Being,  revealing 
himself  variously  in  outward  nature,  and  in  human  intelli- 
gence and  freedom.    It  is  not  easy  to  see  how  pantheism 


PAPACY. 

in  this  sense  differs  from  the  Christian  view  of  Go-1,  as  ex- 
pressed in  the  sublime  language  of  St.  Paul,  "  In  whom  we 
live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being."  The  world  is,  indeed, 
conceived  to  be  animated  by  the  presence  and  agency  of 
the  Deity  ;  but  his  distinctness  and  independent  subsistence 
are  definitely  laid  down  as  the  condition  and  ground  of  all 
phenomenal  existence,  and  of  reason  itself.  God  may  exist 
without  the  world,  but  the  world  is  inconceivable  without 
God.  (See  this  article  in  Ersch  and  Gruber's  Encyclo- 
pedia.) It  must,  however,  be  remarked,  that  many  pseudo- 
philosophers  of  modern  times  assume  the  name  of  Pan- 
theists as  a  convenient  medium  for  the  dissemination  of 
atheistical  opinions,  which  they  have  not  the  courage  boldly 
to  avow. 

PANTHEI'STIC.  (Gr.  nav,  and  Otoe,  God.)  In  Sculp- 
ture, a  term  applied  to  statues  and  figures  which  bear  the 
symbols  of  several  deities  together,  the  meaning  of  which 
has  been  a  subject  of  much  dispute  among  antiquaries. 

PANTHE'ON.  (Gr.  ndvdeov  ;  from  nav,  all,  and  &coc,  a 
god.)  A  temple  dedicated  to  all  the  gods.  Two  magni- 
ficent structures  of  this  kind  existed  in  antiquity  ;  one  at 
Athens,  the  other  at  Rome.  The  latter,  which  still  exists, 
though  comparatively  in  ruins,  is  one  of  the  most  splendid 
remains  of  the  ancients.  The  foundation  of  this  building 
is  generally  ascribed  to  Agrippa,  the  son- in-law  of  Augustus. 
It  now  forms  a  Christian  church,  dedicated  to  the  Virgin 
Mary  and  All  Saints,  and  generally  called  the  Rotunda. 
The  form  is  circular,  and  its  roof  a  hemispherical  dome 
144  feet  diameter,  its  height  being  the  same  from  the  pave- 
ment to  the  top  of  the  dome.  It  has  a  noble  Corinthian 
portico,  consisting  of  sixteen  granite  columns  of  the  Co- 
rinthian order,  of  which  eight  stand  in  front.  Pliny  ranked 
this  edifice  as  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world.  Since  its 
erection  it  has  been  grievously  spoiled  of  its  ornaments. 
The  term  pantheon  has  been  applied  to  places  of  public 
exhibition  in  which  every  variety  of  amusement  is  found. 
It  is  also  used  for  a  work  containing  a  view  of  the  mytho- 
logy, or  all  the  gods  of  the  ancients  (as  the  term  imports) ; 
as  in  Tooke's  Pantheon. 

PANTOCHRONO'METER.  (Gr.  Trav,  xpovos,  time,  and 
ucrpov,  a  measure.)  A  term  recently  invented  and  applied 
to  an  instrument  which  is  a  combination  of  the  compass, 
the  sun-dial,  and  the  universal  time-dial,  and  performing 
the  offices  of  all  three. 

PANTOLO'GIA.  (Gr.  nav,  and  boyoc.)  A  work  of 
universal  instruction  or  science ;  equivalent  to  dictionary 
or  encyclopaedia,  which  see. 

PA'NTOMIME.  (Gr.  nav,  and  ntuew,  I  imitate.)  A 
species  of  theatrical  entertainment,  in  which,  according  to 
the  derivation  of  the  word,  the  whole  action  of  the  piece 
should  be  represented  by  gesticulation,  without  the  use  of 
words:  also,  a  theatrical  performer  skilled  in  mimicry. 
The  English  pantomime  is  an  amusement  peculiar  to  our 
theatre.  A  class  of  actors  in  vogue  at  Rome,  who  per- 
formed pieces  in  dumb  show,  expressing  everything  by 
their  dancing  and  gestures,  were  also  called  pantomimes, 
and  were,  in  all  probability,  the  archetypes  of  this  species 
of  amusement  among  ourselves.  (See  the  Conversations- 
Lexicon;  and  as  to  ancient  pantomimes,  Mem.  de  VAc. 
des  [user.,  vol.  xxiii.)     See  Mimes. 

PA'PACY.  The  office  of  pope,  or,  historically,  the  suc- 
cession of  popes  in  the  see  of  Rome.  The  origin  of  the 
term  is  oriental.  The  word  papas  was  used"  in  lower 
Greek,  with  the  signification  of  father,  and  is  still  applied 
by  the  Greek  Church  to  the  priests  of  that  communion. 
In  the  Western  Church,  the  title  was  not  uncommonly 
given  to  bishops  in  general,  and  was  not  confined  to  the 
Roman  pontiff  for  several  centuries.  In  this  article  it  will 
be  our  endeavour  to  trace,  with  the  conciseness  which  our 
limits  demand,  the  steps  by  which  the  bishops  of  Rome 
attained  to  the  vast  religious  and  political  importance 
which  they  once  possessed,  and  of  which  they  still  retain 
the  shadow. 

1.  It  is  generally  agreed  that  a  certain  degree  of  defer- 
ence was  paid  to  the  church  of  Rome  by  the  Christian 
societies  dispersed  throughout  the  empire  in  the  primitive 
age.  As  St.  Peter  appears  to  have  held  a  certain  pro- 
minency among  the  apostles,  so  was  his  see  looked  up  to, 
and  its  advice  occasionally  resorted  to,  by  the  other  metro- 
politan churches,  which,  though  its  equal  in  rank,  might 
allow  to  it  some  moral  superiority.  But,  as  the  other 
apostles  did  not  hesitate  to  rebuke  St.  Peter,  when  his  con- 
duct appeared  to  their  judgment  to  deserve  it,  nor  to  take 
the  lead  and  initiative  when  he  paused  in  the  career  which 
the  Holy  Spirit  pointed  out,  so  we  find  Irenams  of  Lyons 
interfering  to  check  the  dogmatism  of  Victor  of  Rome,  and 
Cyprian  maintaining  the  validity  of  heretical  baptism,  in 
concert  with  the  Asiatic  church,  and  in  opposition  to  the 
Roman.  ■ 

2.  It  is  in  the  fourth  century  that  the  first  dawn  of  sub- 
stantial power  appears  in  the  Roman  see.  Upon  the  recog- 
nition of  Christianity  by  the  civil  government,  the  bishop 

983 


PAPACY. 

of  Rome  is  found  in  the  enjoyment  of  precedence  among 
the  prelates  of  the  empire.  The  patriarch  of  Constan- 
tinople is  expressly  exalted  hy  Theodosius  (A.  D.  381)  to 
the  second  rank.  The  canons  of  the  council  of  Sardis,  347 
(the  genuineness,  however,  of  which  is  suspected),  allow 
bishops  in  certain  cases  an  appeal  to  the  Roman  pontiff. 
Even  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  government  to  Constan- 
tinople, although  the  very  fact  of  its  residence  at  Rome  had 
undoubtedly  contributed  to  the  pre-eminence  of  its  bishop 
in  earlier  times,  seems  to  have  favoured  the  pretensions 
which  the  popes  began  now  openly  to  maintain.  Rome 
was  no  longer  under  the  immediate  eye  of  the  emperor. 
The  patriarch  of  Constantinople,  although  he  enjoyed  the 
imperial  favour  up  to  a  certain  point,  was  not  allowed  to 
outstep  it,  and  was  subject  to  be  deposed  if  he  forgot  for  a 
moment  the  relative  position  in  which  he  stood.  The  em- 
perors of  the  West,  on  the  other  hand,  took  up  their  abode 
at  Milan,  or  Ravenna  ;  and  when  they  had  been  overturned, 
and  the  barbarians  began  to  found  new  dynasties  upon  the 
ruins  of  the  Italian  provinces,  the  popes  were  among  their 
most  useful  instruments  in  civilizing  and  consolidating  the 
fragments  of  their  power. 

Again,  the  nearer  contact  which  thus  took  place  between 
the  Italian  clergy  and  the  children  of  the  pagans  of  the 
north,  afforded  the  popes  an  opportunity  of  diffusing  the 
idea  of  their  own  supremacy,  at  the  same  time  that  they 
extended  the  limits  of  Christianity;  and  while  Antioch 
and  Alexandria  were  trembling  before  the  birth  of  Moham- 
medanism, and  Constantinople  was  losing,  one  by  one,  its 
fairest  provinces  and  strongest  partisans,  the  dominion  of 
the  Western  primacy  was  acquiring  daily  a  wider  basis 
and  a  more  devoted  people. 

3.  With  Gregory  I.,  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  century,  com- 
menced one  of  the  most  important  epochs  in  the  papal 
history.  The  system  of  aggrandizement,  of  which  he  laid 
the  foundations,  consisted  in  the  conversion  of  the  heathen, 
upon  the  principle  above  mentioned,  and  the  connexion  of 
the  monastic  orders  with  the  Roman  see,  by  releasing  them 
from  the  immediate  jurisdiction  of  their  own  diocesans. 

4.  The  next  important  step  in  our  history  is  the  famous 
donation  of  Pepin,  by  which  the  Italian  provinces  which 
the  French  king  had  conquered  from  the  Lombards,  were 
transferred  by  him,  not  to  his  own  dominions,  nor  to  the 
Greek  emperor,  who  had  the  ancient  hereditary  claim,  but 
in  temporal  sovereignty  to  the  pope.  But  even  this  political 
power,  thus  acquired,  was  not  in  itself  pregnant  with  such 
important  consequences,  as  the  principle  which  was  sanc- 
tioned by  the  immediate  occasion  of  the  donation ;  for 
Pepin  had  taken  counsel  with  pope  Zachary,  whether  he 
should  be  justified  in  overturning  the  throne  of  the  im- 
becile prince  whose  servant  he  was,  and  had  been  formally 
authorized  so  to  do.  However,  the  possessions  which  thus 
came  into  the  hands  of  the  Roman  bishops,  confirmed  and 
enlarged  by  the  addition  of  the  territory  of  Rome  itself,  by 
Charlemagne,  at  the  close  of  the  eighth  century,  have  con- 
tinued up  to  this  day,  with  little  extension  or  diminution, 
to  form  the  temporal  patrimony  of  St.  Peter.  It  is  to  be 
observed,  that  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  power  accorded 
to  the  popes  by  Charlemagne,  has  given  rise  to  much  dis- 
pute ;  and  the  partisans  of  the  Roman  see  have  been 
charged  with  giving  to  it  a  false  and  exaggerated  colouring. 
"The  most  probable  account  of  the  matter,"  says  Mosheim, 
"  seems  to  "be  this,  that  the  Roman  pontiff  possessed  the 
city  of  Rome  and  its  territory,  by  the  same  right  that  he 
held  the  exarchate  of  Ravenna,  and  the  other  lands  which 
he  received  from  Charlemagne ;  that  is  to  say,  that  he 
possessed  Rome  as  a  feudal  tenure,  though  charged  with 
less  marks  of  dependence  than  other  fiefs  generally  are, 
on  account  of  the  lustre  and  dignity  of  the  city,  which  had 
so  long  been  the  capital  of  the  empire."  (Cent.  FIJI.,  pt.  2, 
cap.  2.  note.) 

5.  The  dissensions  which  took  place  among  the  succes- 
sors of  Charlemagne  in  the  Oth  century  afforded  a  tempting 
opportunity  for  political  encroachment  on  the  part  of  the 
Roman  bishops.  In  879,  Charles  the  Bald  was  proclaimed 
emperor  by  Pope  John  VIII.,  and  his  immediate  successors 
received  their  nomination  nlso  from  the  same  source.  It 
was  in  the  same  century  that  the  forgery  of  the  decretal 
epistles  gave  a  colour  and  authority  to  many  temporal 
claims  of  the  Roman  see. 

fi.  It  was  not,  however,  till  the  pontificate  of  Gregory 
VII.  (1073-1086),  that  the  principle  of  temporal  aggrandize- 
ment, which  we  have  been  tracing,  received  a  systematic 
development.  The  grand  project  which  that  prelate  enter- 
tained was,  to  reduce  the  whole  territory  of  Christendom  to 
a  feudal  subjection  to  the  holy  see.  He  assumed  the  right 
of  appointment  to  all  the  crowns  of  Europe  ;  and  with  such 
success  that  when  his  principal  opponent,  Henry  IV.  of 
Germany,  had  succeeded  in  dispossessing  him  of  his  pontifi- 
cal chair,  and  placing  therein  the  nntipope,  Clement  III., 
the  victorious  monarch  continued  to  recognise,  in  the  crea- 
ture whom  he  had  thus  installed  in  the  papal  prerogatives, 


PAPER. 

the  very  same  authority  which  Gregory  had  claimed  over 
him,  and  received  from  his  hands  his  own  imperial  crown. 
A  main  feature  in  this  political  scheme  was  the  reduction 
of  the  whole  body  of  the  clergy  into  immediate  dependants 
upon  the  papal  throne.  In  order  to  effect  this,  the  law  of 
celibacy  was  strictly  enforced  ;  the  elections  of  bishops  by 
their  diocesan  clergy  discouraged  and  almost  abolished  ; 
and  their  investiture  by  their  national  sovereigns,  in  itself  a 
monarchical  usurpation,  became  the  great  subject  of  conten- 
tion between  the  pope  and  the  emperor  ;  in  which,  though 
the  former  was  finally  unsuccessful,  yet  principles  were 
advanced  during  its  progress,  and  claims  bequeathed  to  pos- 
terity, which  smoothed  the  way  for  the  more  fortunate  ag- 
gressions of  later  pontiffs,  and  exalted  the  power  of  the  pa- 
pacy to  its  greatest  height  under  Innocent  III.,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  13th  century. 

7.  The  power  of  excommunication  had  long  been  exer- 
cised and  wantonly  abused  before  the  time  of  Gregory  ;  the 
interdict,  by  which  a  whole  state  was  laid  under  a  spir- 
itual ban,  was  not  adopted  till  about  that  period.  This 
weapon  was  unsparingly  wielded  by  Innocent  III. ;  and 
the  degradation  to  which  John  of  England  was  sub- 
jected by  him  through  these  means  is  one  of  the  strongest 
instances  of  the  extent  to  which  the  papal  power  was  ad- 
vanced. But  Innocent,  although  his  clergy  were  better 
disciplined  subjects,  and  his  pretensions  invested  with 
the  superior  efficacy  of  prescription,  had  new  and  greater 
difficulties  to  contend  with  than  his  famous  predecessors. 
At  this  time  the  tide  of  human  opinion  was  already  on  the 
turn.  Numerous  reforming  sects  arose  and  threatened  to 
undermine  the  fidelity  of  the  lower  classes  ;  the  princes 
were  more  conscious  of  the  yoke  which  had  been  imposed 
upon  them,  and  more  anxious  to  avail  themselves  of  an  op- 
portunity to  cast  it  off":  the  clergy  also,  the  main  stay  of  the 
papal  cause,  were  beginning  to  excite  general  murmurs  by 
their  corruption  of  manners.  It  is  between  Gregory  and 
Innocent,  therefore,  that  the  period  of  the  substantial  great- 
ness of  the  Roman  see  must  be  placed  by  the  historian  who 
contemplates  both  eras  from  a  distance,  and  observes  the 
seeds  of  decay  which  began  to  manifest  themselves  in  the 
latter.  The  violence,  however,  and  assumption  of  power, 
which  had  increased  up  to  this  time,  continued  to  grow  un- 
der the  successors  of  Innocent,  who  appear  not  to  have  felt, 
even  up  to  the  Reformation  itself,  that  the  foundations  of 
their  authority  were  slipping  rapidly  from  under  them.  But 
the  same  causes  which  we  have  enumerated  as  counteract- 
ing the  apparent  glory  of  Innocent's  pontificate  continued  to 
work  steadily  against  his  successors ;  and  at  length  when 
Luther  arose  to  combine  the  force  resulting  from  the  three, 
the  papacy,  though  relaxing  nothing  from  its  extravagant 
pretensions,  found  itself  suddenly  shorn  of  one  third  of  its 
subjects  entirely,  and  deprived  of  a  great  proportion  of  its 
authority  over  the  rest.  From  that  time  to  the  present,  the 
power  of  the  papacy  has  continued  to  retrograde,  even  in 
spiritual  matters.  It  has  been  forced  to  concede  a  certain 
degree  of  independence  to  the  clergy  of  France,  and  to  enter 
into  disadvantageous  concordats  with  Napoleon  and  some 
of  the  German  princes.  It  has  even  encouraged  its  writers 
in  disclaiming  the  schemes  of  its  earlier  pontiffs,  and  allows1 
them  to  assert  the  interference  of  the  church  between  the 
prince  and  the  subject  to  be  tyrannical  and  unchristian. 
Its  spiritual  influence,  however,  although  harassed  on  all 
sides  by  the  free  and  discursive  opinions  of  the  day,  con- 
tinues still,  from  its  combined  pressure  and  elasticity,  to 
be  the  most  remarkable  feature  of  modem  history  ;  its 
share  in  the  recent  political  events  of  Europe  has  been  very 
great,  while  the  number  of  its  subjects  is  probably  at  this 
moment  much  greater  than  at  the  times  of  Gregory  or  In- 
nocent. 

PAPA'VERA'CEjE.  (Papaver,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  narcotic  plants,  belonging  to  the  Polypcta- 
lous  division  of  the  Exogenous  class,  and  nearly  related  to 
Ranunculatetr,  with  which  it  corresponds  in  habit  and  the 
structure  of  the  seeds,  but  differs  in  having  parietal  pla- 
centa" and  a  calyx  of  only  two  pieces.  The  common  poppy, 
the  horned  poppy,  arpemone,  and  some  other  genera,  are 
well-known  species,  either  cultivated  for  the  sake  of  their 
flowers,  or  destroyed  as  showy  but  troublesome  weeds. 
Opium  is  the  inspissated  juice  of  Papaver  somnifcrvm. 

PA'PER.  (Gr.  Trd-ri'poi  ;  Fr.  papier.)  A  thin  and  flexi- 
ble substance  of  various  colours,  but  most  commonly  white, 
used  for  writing  and  printing  on,  and  for  various  other  pur- 
poses. It  is  manufactured  of  vegetable  matter,  reduced  to 
a  pulp  by  means  of  water  and  grinding  ;  and  is  made  up 
into  sheet.*,  quires,  and  reams,  each  quire  consisting  of 
twenty-four  sheets,  and  each  ream  of  twenty  quires. 

For  the  chief  purposes  to  which  paper  is  applied  in  mod- 
em times  the  ancients  had  recourse  to  a  variety  of  materi- 
als ;  stone,  tnblets  of  wood,  plates  of  lead,  skins,  parch- 
ment linen,  layers  of  wax,  tablets  of  ivory,  and,  above  all, 
the  papyrus.  The  ability  to  write,  created  a  necessity  for 
some  material  on  which  to  inscribe ;  and  ail  these  various 


PAPER. 


materials  were  resorted  to  in  succession,  as  the  ineligibility 
of  each  induced  a  fresh  endeavour  to  discover  some  more 
desirable  substitute. 

As  our  present  object  is  to  trace  the  process  of  paper,  rath- 
er than  to  enter  into  a  minute  account  of  those  materials 
which  were  employed  antecedent  to  its  manufacture,  it 
will  not  be  necessary  to  dwell  upon  the  other  substances, 
which  are  as  diversified  as  human  ingenuity  could  devise  ; 
but  pass  on  to  the  papyrus,  the  immediate  precursor  of  pa- 
per, and  the  article  from  which  it  was  first  manufactured. 
Egypt  has  the  honour  of  the  invention  ;  and  Isidore  even 
fixes  the  locality  at  Memphis ;  the  date  remains  in  some 
obscurity,  although  it  has  been  warmly  disputed.  Varro 
the  Roman,  ascribes  it  to  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great, 
after  the  founding  of  Alexandria ;  but  we  find  in  Pliny  the 
recital  of  a  passage,  extracted  from  the  writings  of  Cassius 
Hemina,  an  ancient  annalist,  in  which  he  speaks  of  some 
books,  found  in  the  tomb  of  Numa  when  it  was  opened, 
535  years  after  his  decease,  and  asserts  that  these  books 
were  of  paper,  and  had  been  interred  with  him.  As  Numa 
preceded  Alexander  300  years,  this  circumstance,  if  ad- 
mitted, would  carry  back  the  date  of  the  invention  anterior 
to  that  time.  However,  the  antiquity  of  such  a  date  is 
much  doubted ;  but  as  Pliny  gives  an  account  of  the  man- 
ner of  making  the  papyrus  paper,  and  it  seems  to  have 
been  in  high  reputation  in  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great, 
it  is  probable  that  such  improvements  were  made  during 
his  reign  as  to  enhance  the  value  and  increase  the  manu- 
facture. 

It  is  true  that  papyrus  continued  in  use  long  after  the  in- 
vention of  paper ;  and  this  is  the  argument  by  which  it  is 
contended  that  the  manufacture  was  of  more  modern  date, 
although  the  only  fair  inference  seems  to  be  that  it  was  only 
rare  or  expensive.  It  appears,  however,  that  after  this  time 
papyrus  paper  was  chiefly  manufactured  at  Alexandria,  and 
continued  a  source  of  profit  to  that  city  up  to  the  fifth  cen- 
tury, to  the  close  of  which  it  remained  in  general  use 
throughout  Europe ;  Italy  retained  it  to  the  eleventh,  and 
France  even  so  late  as  the  twelfth  century. 

We  have  thought  it  but  right  thus  briefly  to  narrate  the 
differences  of  opinion  which  have  prevailed  respecting  the 
origin  of  paper.  Our  own  belief  is,  that  the  transition  of 
the  use  of  the  papyrus  in  its  natural  state  to  that  in  its 
manufactured  was  so  gradual,  that  it  does  not  leave  room 
to  fix  on  any  precise  point  at  which  to  say  that  the  papyrus 
became  paper.  Probably  the  first  step  arose  from  the  per- 
ception that  the  leaf  was  not  strong  enough  for  its  purpo- 
ses ;  and  then  how  simply  came  the  remedy  of  placing  the 
leaves  together,  the  waters  of  the  Nile,  amid  which  the 
plants  grew,  serving  to  cement  them  ;  afterwards  came  a 
pressure  to  flatten  the  transverse  leaves  ;  and  this  simple 
process  seems  to  give  the  origin  of  paper.  We  believe  that 
many  an  invention  for  which  the  learned  have  contended, 
has  advanced  by  steps  as  simple  and  as  gradual,  leaving  it 
impossible  to  decide  at  what  point  invention  began,  since  it 
was  only  improvement  that  was  taking  place. 

The  next  improvement  in  paper  was  its  manufacture 
from  cotton.  It  is  supposed  that  the  Chinese  and  Persians 
were  acquainted  with  this  material  for  its  production,  and 
that  the  Arabians  learned  it  from  their  conquest  in  Tartary. 
The  ancient  paper  bears  no  marks  of  the  wire  through 
which  the  water  is  drained  in  modern  paper-making ;  and 
it  is  therefore  inferred  that  a  different  process  was  employ- 
ed. Paper  made  from  cotton  was  in  use  earlier  with  the 
Greeks  than  with  the  Romans.  The  manufacture  of  paper 
from  cotton  cannot  be  traced  farther  back  than  to  the  tenth 
century ;  and  the  oldest  manuscript  document  written  on 
this  cotton  paper  is  dated  1050. 

When  or  by  whom  linen  paper  was  invented  seems  un- 
certain :  some  give  the  credit  to  Germany,  some  to  Italy, 
some  to  Greece ;  but  the  Chinese  appear  to  have  the  best 
pretensions.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Dibdin,  in  his  Typographical 
Antiquities,  says  that  "  the  art  of  paper-making  with  linen 
rags  is  supposed  to  have  been  discovered  in  the  eleventh 
century ;  though  Father  Mabillon  thinks  it  was  in  the 
twelfth.  Montfaucon  acknowledges  that  he  has  not  been 
able  to  meet  with  a  single  leaf  of  paper  with  a  date  an- 
terior to  the  death  of  St.  Louis  in  1270."  Its  introduction 
into  England  took  place  about  the  year  1342,  in  the  re'gn  of 
Edward  III.,  although  some  have  supposed  it  as  early  as 
1320.  France  had  it  in  1314,  and  Italy  in  1367.  The  Ger- 
mans possess  a  specimen  bearing  the  date  of  1308,  although 
it  has  been  surmised  that  this  single  instance  may  have 
been  a  mixture  of  linen  with  cotton. 

In  the  Preface  to  the  Kalendars  of  the  Exchequer,  pub- 
lished by  the  Record  Commission,  it  is  stated  that  "  some  of 
the  letters  addressed  to  Hugh  le  Despencer.  from  Gascony 
(at  various  periods  in  the  reign  of  Edward  II.),  are  written 
on  very  stout  and  beautiful  vellum ;  others  on  paper,  of  a 
sound  and  strong  fabric,  well-sized,  and  such  as  may  alto- 
gether be  called  a  good  article.  And  although,  in  the  Tow- 
er, there  are  a  few  letters  upon  cotton  paper,  yet  parch- 


ment or  vellum  was  generally  used  ;  and  these  are  among 
the  earliest  examples  of  any  continued  correspondence  upon 
the  more  commodious  material,  which  in  England  was 
very  rarely  employed.  It  is  highly  probable  that,  in  the 
south  of  France,  the  supply  was  received  from  the  Moorish 
merchants  or  manufacturers  of  Spain."  "  The  original  re- 
gister of  the  privy  seal  of  Edward  the  Black  Prince,  from 
July,  20  Edw.  HI.,  to  January,  21  Edw.  HI.,  forming  one 
volume,  is  on  paper. 

It  is  a  commonly  received  opinion  that  the  first  paper- 
mill  was  erected  in  England  during  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  ; 
though  it  has  been  asserted  that  the  first  mill  was  set  up 
in  Charles  the  First's  reign,  by  a  German  of  the  name  of 
John  Spilman,  or  Spielman  ;  that  the  king  granted  him  a 
patent,  and  a  salary  of  £200  a  year.  Both  these  opinions 
are  proved  to  be  erroneous  by  an  entry  in  the  privy-purse 
expenses  of  Henry  VII.,  dated  May  25th,  1498,  published  in 
the  Ezcerpta  Historica.  "  For  a  re%varde  yeven  at  the  pa- 
per mylne,  16.?.  8d.,"  which  establishes  with  certainty  an 
anterior  date  of  full  fifty  years.  Dr.  Dibdin  gives  this  ac- 
count of  Spilman,  on  the  authority  of  Dr.  Harris  ;  but  the 
statement  is  invalidated  by  Mr.  Nicholls,  in  his  Progresses 
of  Queen  Elizabeth,  who  has  reprinted  in  that  work  a  poem 
of  the  date  1588,  of  which  the  following  is  the  title:  A  De- 
scription and  playne  Discourse  of  Paper,  and  the  whole 
Bencfttts  that  Paper  brings,  with  Rehearsal!,  and  setting 
foorth  in  Verse  a  Paper-myll  built  near  Darthford,  by  an 
high  Germaine,  called  Master  Spilman,  Jeweller  to  the 
Queene's  Majestic.  1588.  Perhaps  no  other  manufacture 
ever  remained  so  long  nearly  stationary  ;  though  within  the 
last  fifty  years  such  great  and  ropid  improvements  have 
been  made  in  it,  as  to  equal,  if  not  to  surpass,  any  other 
branch  of  manufacturing  industry. 

The  application  of  paper  to  the  purposes  of  writing  and 
printing,  and  the  fact  of  its  being  indispensable  to  the  prose- 
cution of  the  latter,  render  its  manufacture  of  the  highest 
utility  and  importance.  But,  even  in  a  commercial  point  of 
view,  its  value  is  very  considerable.  France,  Holland,  and 
Genoa  had,  for  a  lengthened  period,  a  decided  superiority 
in  this  department.  The  finest  and  best  paper  being  made 
of  linen  rags,  its  quality  may  be  supposed  to  depend,  in  a 
considerable  degree,  on  the  sort  of  linen  usually  worn  in 
the  country  where  it  is  manufactured  ;  and  this  circum- 
stance is  said  to  account  for  the  greater  whiteness  of  the 
Dutch  and  Belgian  papers  as  compared  with  those  of  the 
French  and  Italians,  and,  still  more,  of  the  Germans.  The 
rags  used  in  the  manufacture  of  writing-paper  in  Great 
Britain,  are  collected  at  home  ;  but  those  used  in  the  manu- 
facture of  the  best  printing-paper  are  imported  principally 
from  Italy,  Hamburgh,  and  the  Austrian  states,  by  way  of 
Trieste. 

We  believe,  however,  that  it  was  owing  rather  to  the 
want  of  skill  than,  as  has  sometimes  been  supposed,  to  the 
inferior  quality  of  the  linen  of  this  country,  that  the  manu- 
facture of  paper  was  not  carried  on  with  much  success  in 
England  till  a  comparatively  recent  period.  During  the  17lh 
century,  most  part  of  our  supply  was  imported  from  the 
Continent,  especially  from  France.  The  manufacture  is 
said  to  have  been  considerably  improved  by  the  French  ref- 
ugees who  fled  to  this  country  in  1685.  But  it  is  distinctly 
stated  in  the  British  Merchant  (vol.  ii.,  p.  266),  that  hardly 
any  sort  of  paper,  except  brown,  was  made  here  previously 
to  the  Revolution.  In  1690,  however,  the  manufacture  of 
white  paper  was  attempted  ;  and,  within  a  few  years,  most 
branches  were  much  improved.  In  1721  it  is  supposed  that 
there  were  about  300.000  reams  of  paper  annually  produced 
in  Great  Britain,  which  was  equal  to  about  two  thirds  of 
the  whole  consumption.  In  1783  the  value  of  the  paper 
annually  manufactured  was  estimated  at  £780.000.  At 
present,  besides  making  a  sufficient  quantity  of  most  sorts 
of  paper  for  our  own  use,  we  annually  export  about  £100,000 
worth  of  books.  We  still,  however,  continue  to  import  cer- 
tain descriptions  of  paper  for  engravings  from  France,  and 
a  small  supply  of  paper-hangings.  The  duty  on  both 
amounts  to  about  £2800  a  year. 

In  1813,  Dr.  Colquhoun  estimated  the  value  of  paper  an- 
nually produced  in  Great  Britain  at  £2,000.000;  but  Mr. 
Stevenson,  an  incomparably  better  authority  upon  such 
subjects,  estimated  it  at  only  half  this  sum.  From  informa- 
tion obtained  from  those  engaged  in  the  trade,  we  incline  to 
think  that  the  total  annual  value  of  the  paper  manufacture 
in  the  United  Kingdom,  exclusive  of  the  Arty,  mav  at 
present  amount  to  about  £1,200,000  or  £1.300,000.  There 
are  about  700  paper-mills  in  England,  and  from  70  to  80  in 
Scotland.  The  number  in  Ireland  is  but  inconsiderable. 
About  27.000  individuals  are  supposed  to  be  directly  en- 
gaged in  the  trade  ;  and,  besides  the  workmen  employed  in 
the  mills,  the  paper  manufacture  creates  a  considerable 
demand  for  the  labour  of  millwrights,  machinists,  smiths, 
carpenters,  iron  and  brass-founders,  wire-workers,  woollen 
manufacturers,  and  others  in  the  machinery  and  apparatus 
of  the  mills.    Some  parts  of  these  are  very  powerful,  and 

885 


PAPER. 


Subject  to  severe  strain  ;  and  other  parts  are  complicated 
and  delicate,  and  require  continual  renovation.  Owing  to 
this,  the  manufacture  is  of  much  greater  importance,  as  a 
source  of  employment,  than  might  at  first  be  supposed,  or 
than  it  would  seem  to  be  considered  by  government,  who 
have  loaded  it  with  an  excise  duty  amounting  to  more  than 
three  times  as  much  as  the  total  wages  of  the  work-people 
employed  ! 

We  pass  on  from  this  brief  account  of  the  history  and 
statistics  of  paper  to  the  mechanical  process  of  its  pro- 
duction ;  only  remarking,  that  many  articles  have  been 
resorted  to  in  its  manufacture — the  tendrils  of  the  vine,  the 
stalks  of  the  nettle,  the  thistle,  and  mallow  ;*  the  bark  of 
the  willow,  the  hawthorn,  the  beech,  the  aspen,  and  the 
lime.  Some  patents  have  been  obtained  for  making  it  of 
straw ;  and  the  bine  of  the  hop,  it  is  presumed,  might  fur- 
nish material  for  the  supply  of  paper  to  all  England;  but, 
leaving  these  inferior  substitutes,  vre  shall  confine  our- 
selves to  the  description  of  paper  made  from  linen  rags, 
that  being  the  staple  of  the  manufacture. 

The  rags  in  the  London  market  are  sold  to  the  manu- 
facturers according  to  their  respective  quality,  under  the 
terms  fine,  '2d,  3d  English  rags  ;  and  SPFF,  SPF,  FF,  &c. 
foreign  rags :  fine,  being  wholly  linen,  and  of  the  best 
quality,  is  used  for  the  finest  writing-paper,  and  so  in  their 
gradation  down  to  the  commonest,  which  is  coarse,  often 
canvass,  and  can  only  be  made  into  an  inferior  printing- 
paper  when  it  has  been  thoroughly  bleached.  In  these 
inferior  papers  some  cotton  is  mixed.  There  are  also  the 
strong,  coarse  bags  in  which  the  rags  are  packed,  and  the 
coloured  rags,  only  fit  for  the  most  common  papers  ;  though 
out  of  these  the  blue  are  usually  sorted  for  the  purpose  of 
making  blue  paper.  It  is  necessary  that  these  rags  should 
be  dusted  ;  and,  to  accomplish  this,  they  are  either  placed 
in  a  cylinder  formed  of  wire  net,  turning  on  pivots  at  each 
end,  and  enclosed  in  a  box  which  receives  the  dust  as  it 
falls  through  the  net-work,  or  else  their  sorting  takes  place 
over  a  table  frame  covered  with  wire  net,  through  which 
the  dust  falls  into  a  box  beneath  as  the  workwoman  pro- 
ceeds in  her  labours.  The  first  of  these  modes,  however. 
is  a  great  preservation  of  the  health  of  those  employed  in 
the  work.  The  rags  are  then  cut  into  pieces  not  exceeding 
three  or  four  inches  square,  the  parts  that  have  seams  be- 
ing thrown  into  a  separate  heap,  or  the  sewing-thread  might 
make  filaments  in  the  paper.  In  this  process  the  rags  are 
scrupulously  sorted  according  to  their  texture  and  degree 
of  strength,  not  according  to  their  colour ;  for,  were  they 
not  carefully  arranged  by  this  rule,  the  fine  in  texture 
would  be  reduced  to  a  pulp  long  before  the  coarse,  and  be 
lost  in  the  preparation  ;  or,  if  preserved,  when  reduced  to 
pulp,  would  not  be  found  of  the  same  consistency  as  the 
coarser  sorts,  and  the  paper,  when  manufactured,  would 
necessarily  be  clouded  and  inferior.  It  is  for  these  reasons 
that  this  part  of  the  process  is  important.  When  carefully 
sorted,  and  the  different  degrees  of  texture  having,  by  a 
longer  or  shorter  process,  been  reduced  to  a  pulp  of  similar 
consistency,  they  may  then  be  mixed  together  ;  but  this 
cannot  be  previously  done.  While  in  this  state  the  rags 
often  appear  so  dirty  and  discoloured  as  to  preclude  all 
hope,  to  an  inexperienced  eye,  that  they  can  ever  assume 
the  purity  of  that  beautiful  fabric  so  valuable  to  the  artist 
and  the  scribe.  This  purification  used  formerly  to  be  ef- 
fected by  water  running  through  a  receptacle  filled  with 
the  rags,  which  in  its  passage  eventually  carried  off  their 
soil  ;  but  the  present  more  expeditious  process  is  that  of 
boiling  them,  mixed  up  with  lime,  in  a  species  of  chest,  so 
perforated  as  to  allow  the  admission  of  steam  ;  and  by  this 
means  they  are  partially  bleached.  It  is  but  due  to  the 
superior  cleanliness  of  our  own  country  to  state,  that  the 
rags  collected  in  England  require  little  bleaching;  but,  as 
these  form  a  small  proportion  of  the  quantity  used  in  our 
extensive  manufactories,  bleaching  takes  an  important 
place  in  the  process.  The  superfluous  moisture  is  squeezed 
from  the  rags,  and  they  are  placed  in  a  sort  of  chamber  or 
receiver,  which  is  air-tight,  and  pipes  are  conducted  into  it 
from  a  retort,  which  convey  chlorine,  formed,  by  the  ap- 
plication of  heat,  from  manganese,  common  salt,  and  sul- 
phuric acid.  This  part  requires  much  care  ;  for  if  carried 
beyond  its  due  point,  it  proves  most  injurious  to  the  dura- 
bility of  the  fabric.  The  rags  when  taken  from  this  cham- 
ber are  strongly  imbued  with  a  most  nauseous  smell,  and 


*  The  work*  of  the  Marquis  de  Villette,  puhlished  in  London.  1766,  in 
S4mo,  are  printed  nn  paper  made  of  marehniatlow  ;  and  at  the  end  are  spe- 
cimens, in  single  leaves,  of  paper  mads  of  the  nettle,  hops,  moss,  reed,  three 
of  three  species  of  conferva,  couch  crass,  spindle  trees,  wayfaring  tree,  elm, 
lime  tree,  yellow  willow,  sallow  willow,  poplar,  oak,  two  of  burdock,  colts- 
toot,  and  thistle. 
_  The  Chinese  make  their  paper  in  large  sheets  of  ths  raw  vegetable  male- 
rial  ;  it  has  all  the  appearance  of  the  pulp  having  been  laid  on  a  smooth,  flat 
surface  w,ih  a  Lru.h,  «im:lar  to  painting,  having  one  side  smooth,  and  the 
:  -he  marks  of  i he  brush  nn  it.  It  is  unequalled  in  its  quality  of 
receiving  a  fine  and  delicate  impression  of  engravings,  either  from  copper  or 
wood. 


require  profuse  and  frequent  washings.  After  this  pro- 
cess they  are  put  into  the  beating  engines,  and  pass 
through  a  sort  of  trituration,  which  reduces  them  to  a 
coarse  and  imperfect  pulp,  which  is  called  half  stuff  or  first 
stuff,  and  this  is  again  levigated  until  it  assumes  the  ap- 
pearance of  cream. 

The  state  and  quality  of  this  pulp  is  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance to  the  final  perfection  of  the  paper.  If,  in  the  levi- 
gation,  the  fibre  should  have  been  so  entirely  destroyed  as 
to  reduce  it  to  jelly,  the  paper  will  inevitably  prove  liable 
to  break,  moulder  away,  and  be  rotten  ;  and  this  must  re- 
sult whatever  the  previous  excellence  of  the  material.  A 
fibre  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  production  of  a  service- 
able paper.  Mr.  Murray,  in  a  little  work  on  the  subject  full 
of  practical  science,  recommends  that  a  small  proportion 
of  unbleached  flax  should  be  added  to  the  half  staff— an 
expedient  that  would  doubtless  much  increase  the  strength 
and  durability  of  our  manufacture.  But,  unfortunately,  so 
far  from  means  being  taken  to  improve  its  consistency, 
others  are  resorted  to,  for  the  sake  of  an  increased  profit, 
which  deteriorate  almost  to  destruction :  we  mean  the  in- 
troduction of  plaster  of  Paris,  or  other  earthy  substances, 
into  the  pulp  ;  and  this  can  never  be  done  without  ensuring 
brittleness  and  want  of  cohesion  as  the  result.  While  the 
pulp  is  in  this  state,  the  size,  made  from  sheep-skins  and 
other  animal  substances,  together  with  a  solution  of  alum, 
is  introduced,  excepting  only  in  the  manufacture  of  writing 
paper,  and  then  the  sheets  are  most  generally  sized  after 
their  formation. 

Having  described  the  preparation  of  the  material,  we 
shall  pass  on  to  its  formation  into  paper. 

The  fine  pulp,  or  stuff,  as  it  is  technically  called,  is 
transferred  into  a  chest  or  large  tub  with  a  revolving  agi- 
tator ;  from  thence  into  a  vat,  usually  about  5  feet  in 
diameter,  and  2J  feet  in  depth,  and  sustained  at  a  proper 
temperature  by  means  of  a  fire  ;  and  it  is  generally  arranged 
for  this  vat  to  be  placed  against  a  wall  of  the  room,  that 
the  fuel  to  the  fire  may  be  supplied  at  an  aperture  external- 
ly, to  prevent  any  injury  from  smoke.  During  the  whole 
of  the  subsequent  process  it  is  requisite  that  the  pulp  in 
the  vat  should  be  stirred  up  at  short  intervals,  to  keep  it 
of  an  equal  consistency.  There  are  three  workmen  em- 
ployed in  this  stage  of  the  operation,  called  the  dipper,  the 
eoucher,  and  the  lifter.  The  dipper  is  provided  with  a 
mould,  formed  of  well-seasoned  mahogany,  across  which 
parallel  wires  are  stretched  close  together,  a  few  other 
stronger  ones  being  also  placed  at  right  angles  with  them, 
and  at  some  distance  from  each  other.  The  lines  formed 
in  the  paper  by  these  wires  are  called  water-marks ;  but, 
in  the  modern  improvement  of  wove  paper,  these  are 
avoided  by  using  wire  cloth  woven  in  a  loom,  which,  being 
tightly  stretched  over  the  frame,  produces  no  water-mark. 
This  mould  is  provided  with  another  frame,  called  a 
deckle,  which  fits  it  exactly,  and  forms  a  boundary  line  to 
the  sheet  of  paper,  which  would  otherwise  have  a  rough 
and  jagged  edge.  This  contrivance,  by  supplying  an  edge 
to  the  mould,  gives  it  the  character  of  a  sieve,  which  en- 
ables the  dipper,  after  he  has  dipped  the  mould  into  the 
vat,  and  taken  in  a  sufficient  quantity  of  the  pulp,  and 
given  it  a  gentle  motion  to  equalize  its  thickness,  to  drain 
the  water  away ;  he  then  removes  the  deckle,  replaces  it 
on  another  mould,  and  proceeds  as  before  ;  while  the  sec- 
ond workman,  the  eoucher,  removes  the  sheet  of  paper 
thus  made  on  to  a  felt,  being  a  piece  of  woollen  cloth,  and 
then  returns  the  mould  to  the  dipper,  who,  in  the  mean- 
time, has  been  operating  with  another  mould,  and  forming 
another  sheet ;  they  thus  exchange  the  moulds,  the  one 
dipping,  and  the  other  couching,  until  they  have  completed 
six  quires  of  paper,  which  is  called  a  post.  When  this 
quantity  is  completed,  the  heap  is  conveyed  to  the  vat 
press,  and  subjected  to  heavy  pressure.  These  six  quires 
remain  in  the  vat  press  until  the  dipper  and  the  eoucher 
have  perfected  another  post,  when  they  are  removed  to 
give  place  to  it ;  and  then  the  office  of  the  third  workman, 
the  lifter,  commences.  He  separates  the  sheets  of  paper 
from  the  felts,  and  forms  them  into  a  pile,  which  is  again 
subjected  to  a  second  press,  which  detaches  from  them  a 
great  quantity  of  moisture.  Here  it  remains  until  the 
workmen  are  prepared  to  replace  it  with  a  similar  quantity, 
when  it  is  taken  to  the  drying  rooms,  and  hung  upon  lines 
to  dry-  These  lines  are  carefully  covered  with  wax,  both 
to  prevent  adhesion  and  contraction;  and  the  opening  of 
the  windows  should  be  strictly  attended  to,  that  the  drying 
may  not  proceed  too  rapidly.  This  being  accomplished,  it 
is  taken  down,  shaken,  to  make  the  dust  fall  out,  ;ind  to 
separate  the  sheets  from  each  other,  and  laid  up  in  heaps, 
ready  to  be  sized.  The  size  is  prepared  of  a  due  consistence, 
twice  altered,  and  S  |>ortion  of  alum  added.  The  workman 
dips  a  handful  of  the  sheets,  holding  them  open  at  the 
edges,  that  they  may  more  equally  imbibe  the  moisture,  and 
after  this  process  they  are  again  subjected  to  the  press. 
They  are  afterwards  dried,  sorted,  brought  under  repeated 


PAPER. 

and  excessive  pressure,  and,  finally,  made  up  Into  quires 
and  reams. 

But  as  the  process  of  paper-making  must  necessarily  be 
comparatively  slow  when  practised  by  hand,  machinery 
has  been  resorted  to,  which  has  nearly  supplanted  the  old 
method.  We  believe  France  has  the  honour  of  the  inven- 
tion, although  it  has  been  greatly  improved  in  England  by 
Messrs.  Donkin  and  Co.  That  in  most  general  use  here  is 
after  Fourdrinier,  who  invented  the  endless  web  of  wire. 
One  of  these  machines  can  produce  25  superficial  feet  of 
paper  per  minute  ;  and  it  is  this  which  enables  us  to  enter 
into  competition  with  the  foreign  market,  which  we  could 
not  otherwise  do,  on  account  of  the  difference  in  the  value 
of  manual  labour.  In  the  old  method,  it  took  three  months 
after  receiving  the  rags  into  ths  mill  to  complete  the  paper : 
by  the  machine,  they  can  receive  the  rags  on  one  day,  and 
deliver  the  paper  made  from  them  on  the  next. 

The  stuff,  having  been  prepared  and  bleached  in  an  ex- 
peditious manner  by  machinery,  is  emptied  into  the  chest 
or  tub,  as  before,  and  from  thence  is  delivered  gradually 
into  the  vat,  where  it  is  kept  in  continual  motion  by  means 
of  revolving  fans,  called  hogs.  Nearly  at  the  top  of  the  vat 
there  is  a  gate,  which  can  be  raised  or  lowered  at  pleasure, 
by  means  of  which  the  flow  of  stuff  is  regulated  on  to  the 
lip  or  trough,  from  which  it  falls  upon  the  endless  web  of 
fine  wire,  which  is  kept  continually  moving  in  a  horizontal 
direction  over  a  series  of  revolving  rollers,  and  is  placed 
immediately  under  the  hanging  lip  of  the  trough,  so  that 
the  pulp  may  have  the  shortest  distance  possible  to  fall. 
These  revolving  rollers  prevent  the  wire  web  from  falling 
in  or  bagging,  and  keep  it  level ;  and  as  it  is  preserved  at  a 
due  tension  from  side  to  side,  it  has  all  the  appearance  of 
a  table.  A  leather  strap,  or  ledge  of  wood,  on  each  side, 
forms  the  boundary  line  of  the  paper,  answering  the  pur- 
pose of  the  deckle  in  the  hand-making  process ;  these  are 
movable,  according  to  the  intended  width  of  the  paper. 
The  long  cascade  or  continuous  stream  of  pulp,  regulated 
with  reference  to  the  proposed  thickness  of  the  paper  to  be 
made,  thus  gently  descends  on  this  moving  wire  plane, 
which  is  perpetually  travelling  onward  and  onward ;  and, 
for  its  more  perfect  equalization,  a  second  movement  is  re- 
sorted to,  by  means  of  a  sort  of  crank,  which  gives  the  web 
a  jerking  motion  at  short  intervals,  and  diffuses  the  liquid 
pulp  unvaryingly  over  the  surface.  At  the  end  nearest  to 
the  trough  the  pulp  is,  of  course,  perfectly  fluid  ;  but,  as  the 
web  travels  on,  the  moisture  partially  sinks  through  the 
fine  apertures  of  the  webbing,  and  the  material  coagulates. 
There  has  been  a  fashion  prevalent  of  late  years  of  having 
paper  barred  or  ribbed:  this  appearance  is  given  at  this 
juncture.  While  yet  moist,  just  before  passing  from  the 
wire  webbing,  it  is  subjected  to  the  pressure  of  a  wire  roller, 
which  gives  the  indentations  of  the  stripes  or  lines;  this 
cylinder  is  called  a  dandy ;  from  this  it  travels  to  a  web  of 
cloth  or  felt,  during  which  advance  it  is  subjected  to  heavy 
pressures,  from  passing  between  rollers  covered  with  felt, 
and  called  the  pressing  rollers.  This  process  answers  to 
the  wet  press  in  the  hand-made  paper ;  and  formerly  this 
was  the  termination  of  the  labours  of  the  machines,  the  re- 
maining work  of  drying,  &c,  being  accomplished  by  hand. 
But  an  incalculable  improvement  took  place  in  the  addition 
of  the  drying  rollers.  These  are  three  cylinders  of  polished 
metal,  which  effect  in  a  few  moments  the  perfect  drying  of 
the  paper :  while  yet  moist  it  passes  over  the  first  moderate- 
ly warm  ;  again  over  the  second,  of  larger  diameter,  of 
greater  warmth ;  and  again  over  the  third  with  an  aug- 
mented heat.  The  paper  is  now  perfectly  dry,  and  any 
casual  inequalities  are  removed  from  its  surface.  The  final 
action  of  this  wonderful  machine  is  to  wind  the  paper 
round  a  last  roller  or  reel,  which,  when  full,  is  exchanged 
for  another,  and  so  on  successively. 

Here  the  work  of  the  machine  is  finished  ;  and  the  paper, 
being  in  long  webs  of  many  yards,  requires  to  be  cut  into 
sheets.  After  different  methods  had  been  tried,  a  supple- 
mentary machine  has  been  invented,  which  receives  the 
web  from  off  the  reel  on  to  a  drum,  cuts  it  into  sheets  of 
proper  length  with  a  circular  knife,  continually  revolving, 
while  the  divided  web  proceeds ;  and  these  sheets  are  re- 
ceived and  placed  in  regular  heaps  by  children. 

Mr.  Dickinson  has  recently  made  great  improvements  in 
the  machine,  which  has  consequently  been  followed  by  a 
corresponding  improvement  in  the  paper  manufactured  by 
the  house  of  Messrs.  John  Dickinson  &  Co.,  which  has  long 
been  celebrated  for  producing  paper  of  a  superior  quality. 

The  manufacture  of  the  paper  being  thus  completed,  the 
sheets  are  separately  examined,  and  every  knot  or  blemish 
carefully  removed,  the  torn  or  damaged  ones  being  laid 
apart.  In  this  state  they  are  subjected  to  the  action  of  a 
powerful  press,  in  the  full  and  open  size  of  the  sheet:  fhey 
are  afterwards  cut  round  the  edge,  and  then  counted  into 
quires  of  twenty-four  sheets,  which  are  folded  in  the  mid- 
dle, and  put  into  reams,  each  ream  containing  twenty 
quires,  of  which  the  two  on  the  outside  are  made  up  of 


PAPIER-MACHE. 

twenty  sheets  each  from  the  damaged  sheets  that  were 
thrown  out.  In  this  state  they  are  again  pressed,  and  finally 
tied  up  in  wrappers.  These  wrappers  are  stamped  by  the 
exciseman ;  and  by  the  act  6  &.  7  Will.  4,  c.  52,  the  paper 
is  charged  with  an  excise  duty  of  three  halfpence  a  pound. 
When  the  duty  on  paper  was  charged  according  to  the 
size,  the  makers  were  obliged  to  be  particular  in  the  dimen- 
sions. The  following  table  shows  the  exact  size  of  the  dif- 
ferent writing,  drawing,  and  printing  papers,  as  enforced  by 
the  excise  under  the  powers  vested  in  them  by  act  of  par- 
liament. 


Double  Atlas  . 
Grind  Eagle,  or  Dou- 
ble Elephant      . 
Double  Demy 
Columbier 
Alia 


small    .        • 
Imperial  .        . 

Double  Crown         . 
Elephant 

Super  Royal    ,        . 
Long  Royal     . 
Royal      . 
Ditto 

Double  Pott    . 
Large  Fan 
Small  Fan 
Medium 

Extra  Large  Post     . 
Thick  and  Thin  Post 
Small  Post 
Demy,  single 
Ditto 

Demy      .       . 
Short  Demy     .        . 
Copy,  or  Bastard 


Single  Crown 
Foolscap 
Lil'riss  Foolscap 
Pott 


First  Table.        Sicend  Table.        Third  Table. 

Printing. 
Inches. 


30$  by  22 ' 

Z7j    '    194: 
24       '    194. 


22| 
19-i 


15A 


16$        13J 
iij    '    I2J 


55    by    31  i 


34£  23-V 

34  26$ 

31  25* 

30i  22 


27* 


194 


23i    '    20| 
22|        13| 


20i 

on** 


16  % 

\1i 


■si 


3S£  by  26 


24i 
254 


v.d 


19$ 


It  will  be  seen,  by  the  preceding  table,  that  the  largest 
sheet  of  hand-made  paper  is  4  feet  7  inches  in  length  by  2 
feet  7  inches  and  a  half  in  breadth  ;  while  machine-made 
paper  is  of  the  width  of  5  feet,  and  appears  to  be  unlimited 
as  to  its  length. 

PAPER  HANGINGS.  This  important  and  elegant  sub- 
stitute for  the  ancient  "  hangings"  of  tapestry  or  cloth  came 
into  use  about  200  years  ago:  the  manufacture  has  under- 
gone a  gradual  succession  of  improvements,  and  has  now 
reached  a  high  state  of  beauty  and  perfection.  The  patterns 
on  these  papers  are  sometimes  produced  by  stencil  plates, 
but  more  commonly  by  blocks,  each  colour  being  laid  on  by 
a  separate  block  cut  in  wood  or  metal  upon  a  plain  or  tinted 
ground.  The  patterns  are  sometimes  printed  in  varnish  or 
size,  and  gilt  or  copper  leaf  applied  ;  or  bisulphurate  of  tin 
{aurum  musinum)  is  dusted  over  so  as  to  adhere  to  the  pat- 
tern ;  and  in  what  are  calledjlock  papers,  dyed  wools  minced 
into  powder  are  similarly  applied.  Powdered  steatite,  or 
French  chalk,  is  used  to  produce  the  peculiar  gloss  known 
under  the  name  of  satin.  Striped  papers  are  sometimes 
made  by  passing  the  paper  rapidly  under  a  trough,  which 
has  parallel  slits  in  its  bottom  through  which  the  colour  is 
delivered ;  and  a  number  of  other  very  ingenious  and  beau- 
tiful contrivances  have  lately  been  applied  in  this  important 
branch  of  art.  The  invention  of  the  paper  machine,  by 
which  any  length  of  paper  may  be  obtained,  effected  a 
great  change  in  paper  hangings,  which  could  formerly  only 
be  printed  upon  separate  sheets,  and  were  much  more  in- 
convenient to  print  as  well  as  to  apply  to  the  walls.  A 
plausible  suggestion  upon  the  subject  of  "  intellectual  paper 
hangings,"  will  be  found  in  No.  504  of  the  Penny  Maga- 
zine. The  reduction  of  the  duty  on  paper,  and  the  repeal 
of  that  on  paper  hangings,  not  only  create  a  greater  demand 
for,  but  are  likely  to  lead  to  farther  improvements  in  this 
manufacture. 

PAPER  MONEY.     See  Banks. 

PAPER  SAILOR,  or  PAPER  NAUTILUS.  See  Ar- 
gonaut. 

PAPIER-MACHE.  A  name  given  to  articles  manufac- 
tured of  the  pulp  of  paper,  or  of  old  paper  ground  up  into  a 
pulp,  bleached,  if  necessary,  and  moulded  into  various 
forms.  This  article  has  lately  been  used  upon  an  exten- 
sive scale  for  the  manufacture  of  mouldings,  rosettes,  and 
other  architectural  ornaments  ;  pilasters,  capitals,  and 
even  figures  as  large  as  life,  have  also  been  made  of  it.  It 
is  lighter,  more  durable,  and  less  brittle  and  liable  to  dam- 
age than  plaster,  and  admits  of  being  coloured,  gilt,  or 
otherwise  ornamented.  Another  article  sometimes  goes 
under  the  same  name  which  is  more  like  pasteboard,  con- 
sisting of  sheets  of  paper  pasted  or  glued  and  powerfully 
pressed  together,  so  as  to  acquire,  when  dry,  the  hardness 

887 


PAPILIONACEiE. 

of  board,  and  yet  to  admit,  while  moist,  of  curvature  and 
flexure  :  tea-trays,  waiters,  snuff-boxes,  and  similar  articles 
are  thus  prepared,  and  afterwards  carefully  covered  by 
japan  or  other  varnishes,  and  often  beautifully  ornamented 
b\  figures  or  landscapes  and  other  devices,  &c,  occasion- 
ally inlaid  with  mother  of  pearl.  A  mixture  of  sulphate 
of  iron,  quicklime,  and  glue,  or  white  of  egg,  with  the  pulp 
for  papier-mache,  renders  it  to  a  greater  extent  water- 
proof; and  the  farther  addition  of  borax  and  phosphate  of 
soda  contributes  to  make  it  almost  fire-proof.  The  chief 
papier-mache  manufactory  in  England  is  that  of  Bielefeld, 
in  Wellington  street,  Strand,  who  has  recently  published 
a  concise  history  of  the  manufacture,  embellished  with 
numerous  illustrations. 
PAPILIONACEvE.  See  Leocminace*. 
PAPILION'A'CEOUS.  A  name  given  to  the  corolla  of 
leguminous  plants,  from  its  fancied  resemblance  to  the  fig- 
ure of  a  butterfly :  it  is  that  of  the  garden  pea  and  bean, 
and  consists  of  a  large  upper  petal  or  vexillum,  two  lateral 
petals  called  als,  and  two  intermediate  petals  forming  a 
carina. 

PAPILIO'NITLE.  (Lat.  papilio,  a  butterfly.)  The  name 
of  a  family  of  Lepidopterous  insects,  of  which  the  genus 
Papilio  is  the  type.     See  Diurnals. 

PAPIST.  (Lat.  papa,  the  pope.)  A  word  in  common 
use  to  designate  a  member  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 
It  has  a  shade  of  meaning  somewhat  different  from  Roman- 
ist, being  employed  generally  with  a  certain  degree  of 
prejudice  and  obloquy  attached  to  it. 

PA'PPUS.  A  name  given  to  the  calyx  of  Composite, 
which  exists  in  the  rudimentary  condition  of  a  cap  or  mem- 
branous coronet,  or  of  slender  hairs,  or  in  some  other  simi- 
lar condition. 

PAPY'RI.  The  name  given  to  the  written  scrolls,  made 
of  the  papyrus,  which  have  been  found  in  various  places, 
but  more  especially  in  Egypt  and  Herculaneum.  The  pro- 
cess of  making  papyri  was  as  follows  :  The  interior  of  the 
stalks  of  the  plant,  after  the  rind  had  been  removed,  was 
cut  into  thin  slices  in  the  direction  of  their  length ;  these 
being  laid  on  a  flat  board  in  succession,  similar  slices  were 
placed  over  them  at  right  angles ;  and  their  surfaces  being 
cemented  together  by  a  sort  of  glue,  and  subjected  to  a 
proper  degree  of  pressure,  and  well  dried,  the  papyrus  was 
completed.  The  length  of  the  slices  depended,  of  course, 
on  the  breadth  of  the  intended  sheet,  as  that  of  the  sheet 
on  the  number  of  slices  placed  in  succession  beside  each 
other ;  so  that  though  the  breadth  was  limited,  the  papyrus 
might  be  extended  to  an  indefinite  length.  Many  of  the 
papyri  which  have  been  preserved,  vary  greatly  in  their 
texture  and  appearance  :  they  are  generally  fragile  and 
difficult  to  unrol  until  rendered  pliable  by  gradual  exposure 
to  steam  or  the  damp  of  an  English  climate  ;  and  some  are 
so  brittle  that  they  appear  to  have  been  dried  by  artificial 
means.  (Sir  G.  fVilkinson's  Manners  and  Customs  of  the 
Ancient  Egyptians,  vol.  iii.,  p.  147-8.)  Much  interest  was 
excited  by  the  discovery  of  the  papyri  rolls  at  Herculaneum, 
and  great  expectations  were  entertained  by  archaeologists 
that  many  of  the  valuable  remains  of  antiquity  would  be 
restored  to  the  world ;  but  "  after  all  the  trouble  that  has 
been  taken,  and  all  the  ingenuity  that  has  been  displayed 
in  unrolling  and  deciphering  many  of  them,  little  or  nothing 
has  been  found  worthy  of  the  pains.  They  consist  chiefly 
of  Greek  sophists  and  rhetoricians ;  works  on  music,  medi- 
cine, and  the  arts ;  and  some  on  natural  and  moral  philos- 
ophy," &c.  All  the  deciphered  papyri  are  contained  in  the 
work  Hcrculaniensium  Voluminum  qua  supersunt,  publish- 
ed at  Naples,  1827. 

PAPY'RUS.  In  Botany,  a  Cyperaceous  plant  found  in  the 
districts  of  many  tropical  countries,  but  especially  in  the 
valley  of  the  Nile,  and  whose  soft  cellular  flower-stein  af- 
forded the  most  ancient  material  from  which  paper  was 
made.  Among  the  ancients  the  term  papyrus  formed  the 
general  appellation  for  all  the  different  plants  of  the  genus 
Cyperus,  which  was  extensively  used  for  making  mats, 
baskets,  boats,  and  many  other  purposes;  the  species  con- 
fined to  the  manufacture  of  paper  being  usually  designated 
Cyperus  papyrus,  or  Byblos.  The  latter  was  particularly 
cultivated  in  the  Sebennytic  nome ;  though  other  parts  of 
the  Delta  also  produced  it,  and  probably  even  some  districts 
in  Upper  Egypt.  The  paper  made  from  it  differed  in  qual- 
ity, being  dependant  upon  the  growth  of  the  plant  and  the 
part  of  the  stalk  whence  it  was  taken.  The  process  of  the 
manufacture  is  minutely  described  by  Pliny  in  his  Hist. 
Jfat.  xiii.,  11,  12.  The  period  at  which  paper  began  to  be 
manufactured  from  the  papyrus  Is  involved  in  great  obscu- 
rity ;  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  Pliny  was  greatly  in 
error  when  he  assigned  it  a  date  posterior  to  the  reign  of 
Alexander  the  Great;  fur  we  meet  with  papyri  (see  above) 
of  the  most  remote  Pharaonic  i>eriods,  the  same  mode  of 
writing  on  which  is  shown  from  the  sculptures  to  have  been 
common  in  the  age  of  Supliis  or  Cheops,  the  builder  of  the 
great  pyramid,  more  than  2000  years  before  the  Christian 


"X 


PARABOLA. 

era.  The  manufacture  of  paper  from  the  papyrus  contin- 
ued in  general  use  down  to  the  end  of  the  Till  century, 
when  it  WM  superseded  by  parchment  (which  see). 

PAR  OF  EXCHANGE.     See  Exchange. 

PA'RABLE.  (Gr.  napa66Xn;  from  vupa6a\\<o,  I  com- 
pare.) In  Rhetoric,  in  the  original  sense,  a  comparison  ; 
hut  the  word  has  become,  in  modern  language,  appropriate 
in  a  particular  meaning.  The  parables  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment are  illustrations,  in  the  form  of  short  titles,  after  the 
oriental  manner,  in  each  of  which  not  only  a  moral  or  reli- 
gious truth  is  conveyed,  but  the  objects  contained  in  the 
hidden  sense  are  distinctly  represented  by  parallel  object* 
or  types  in  the  external  narrative. 

PARA'BOLA.  In  Geometry,  one  of  the  conic  sections ; 
formed  by  the  intersection  of  the  cone  with  a  plane  parallel 
to  one  of  its  sides.  Considered  as  a  plane  curve,  the  para- 
bola may  be  defined  as  follows :  A  point  F,  and  a  Straight 
line  B  B',  being  given  by  position  in  a  plane,  let  another 
point  D  be  supposed  to  move  in  such  a  manner  that  its  dis- 
tance D  F  from  the  given  point 
is  always  equal  to  its  distance 
D  H  from  the  given  straight  line ; 
the  point  D  will  trace  out  the 
parabola. 

The  given  line  B  B'  is  called 
the  directrix  of  the  parabola ; 
the  given  point  F  is  the  focus ; 
the  straight    line   F  C,   drawn 

through  F  perpendicular  to  the  directrix,  is  the  axis  ;  any 
straight  line  parallel  to  C  F  is  a  diameter;  the  point  in 
which  the  diameter  meets  the  curve  is  the  vertex  of  the 
diameter;  and  a  straight  line,  quadruple  the  distance  be- 
tween the  vertex  of  any  diameter  and  the  directrix,  is  called 
the  latus  rectum  or  parameter  of  that  diameter. 

From  the  preceding  definition  of  the  curve  its  algebraic 
equation  is  easily  found.  Let  A  be  the  origin  of  the  rect- 
angular co-ordinates,  A  K  =  x,  K  D  =  v,  and  AF  =  AC 
=  a;  we  have  D  K2  or  y2  =  DF2  —  F  K2  ;  but  D  F  =  D  H 
=  CK  =  i  +  a, and  F  K  =  A K  —  AF  =  i- a  ;  therefore 
y2  =  (r  +  a)2—  (i  —  a)2,  whence  y2  =  4az  ;  or,  if  we  as- 
sumep  =  4a  (=  the  parameter  of  the  axis),  the  equation 
becomes  y2  =  p  i ;  that  is,  the  square  of  the  ordinate  is 
equal  to  the  rectangle  under  the  absciss  and  the  parame- 
ter. This  property  holds  true  of  every  other  diameter  as 
well  as  of  the  axis,  the  ordinate  being  taken  parallel  to  the 
tangent  at  the  vertex  of  the  diameter.  It  was  on  account 
of  this  property  that  the  curve  received  its  name. 

Let  F  D  =  r,  and  the  angle  A  F  D  —  (p  ;  then  F  K  = 
—  r  cos.  6,  and  consequently  C  K  =  2  a  —  r  cos.  0.  But 
by   the  definition   of  the  curve,  CK  =  FD  =  r;  there- 


fore r  =  2  o  —  r  cos.  <t>,  whence  r  =  ^ — j -.    This 

r  1  -J-  cos.  <p 

is  the  polar  equation  of  the  parabola. 

Let  T  t  be  a  tangent  to  the  parabola  through  D  ;  it  is  a 
property  of  the  curve  that  the  angle  H  D  T,  and  conse- 
quently the  vertical  angle  A  D  t,  is  equal  to  F  D  T.  A  ray 
of  light,  therefore,  falling  on  the  curve  in  the  direction  h 
D,  and  being  reflected  by  it,  would  pass  through  the  point 
F  ;  and  as  this  takes  place  with  regard  to  every  ray  parallel 
to  the  axis,  it  follows  that  the  concave  surface  formed  by 
the  revolution  of  a  parabola  about  its  axis  is  that  by  which 
all  the  parallel  rays  of  light  are  collected  into  a  single 
point.  Hence  the  point  F  is  called  the  focus,  or  burning 
point. 

Another  remarkable  property  of  the  parabola  is  the  fol- 
lowing :  Let  P  A  be  a  tangent  to  the  curve  at  P,  and  from 
A  and  B,  points  in  the  tangent,  let 
A  C  and  B  D  be  drawn  parallel  to 
the  diameter  P  M  N ;  then  A  C  : 
BD::PA2:PBi.  For,  making  C 
M  and  D  N  parallel  to  P  B,  and  as- . 
suming  p  =  the  parameter  of  the 
diameter  P  N,  we  have,  from  a 
property  already  mentioned,  M  C2  =  ;>-  P  M,  and  N  D2  =  p* 
?  N  ;  therefore  M  C2  :  N  D2  : :  P  M  :  P  N,  or  P  A2  :  P  B* : . 
A  C:  B  D.  Hence  the  parabola  is  the  curve  described  by  a 
projectile  in  a  vacuum  ;  for  a  body  projected  from  P  in  the 
direction  P  A.  and  not  resisted,  would  pass  over  spaces  in 
that  direction  proportional  to  the  times;  and",  in  conse- 
quence of  the  accelerating  force  of  gravity,  it  falls  through 
spaces  A  C  and  B  I)  in  the  perpendicular  direction  propor- 
tional to  the  squares  of  the  times,  or  proportional  to  the 
squares  of  P  A  and  P  B.     See  Ginnery,  Projectile. 

The  parabola  is  remarkable,  as  being  the  first  curve  of 
which  the  indefinite  quadrature  was  found.  Let  P  N  be  a 
diameter,  and  P  B  a  tangent  at  its  vertex,  and  B  D  and  D  N 
respectively  parallel  to  P  N  und  P  B  ;  it  was  demonstrated 
by  Archimedes  that  the  area  contained  by  P  N,  N  I),  and 
the  parabolic  arc  P  C  D,  is  equal  to  two  thirds  of  the  par- 
allelogram P  B  I)  N. 

The  curve  which  has  now  been  described  is  called  the 
conical  or  Apollonian  parabola;  but  the  term  parabola  is 


PARABOLIC  CONOID. 

also  applied  to  all  algebraic  curves  of  a  higher  order  de- 
termined by  an  equation  of  the  form  ym  +  n  —  amxa.  The 
curve  whose  equation  is  y3  =s  a2  x  is  called  the  cubical  par- 
abola ;  and  that  which  has  for  its  equation  y3  =  a  x2,  the 
Bcmicubical  parabola.  This  latter  curve  is  celebrated  in 
the  history  of  the  algebraic  analysis  as  being  the  first  curve 
that  was  rectified,  or  found  equal  in  length  to  an  assignable 
straight  line  ;  and  the  honour  of  the  discovery  belongs  to  an 
Englishman,  William  Neil,  who  died  in  1670  at  the  early 
age  of  thirty-three.  The  same  discovery  was  made  nearly 
at  the  same  time  by  Van  Heuraet  in  Holland :  till  then  it 
had  been  supposed  by  geometers  impossible  to  assign  a 
straight  line  equal  to  the  arc  of  any  algebraic  curve  (the 
rectification  of  the  cycloid  had  been  found  by  Sir  Christo- 
pher Wren)  ;  but  the  discovery  of  the  method  of  fluxions 
soon  showed  that  there  are  innumerable  classes  of  curves 
susceptible  of  indefinite  rectification.  In  fact,  all  parabolas 
of  this  form  y2n  +  '  =  a  z2",  where  n  is  any  number  what- 
ever, may  be  rectified.  (Montucla,  Histoire  dcs  Mathema- 
tiqucs,  torn,  ii.,  p.  151.)     See  Conic  Sections. 

PARABO'LIC  CONOID.  The  solid  generated  by  the 
rotation  of  a  parabola  about  its  axis.  It  is  equal  in  content 
to  J  the  circumscribed  cylinder,  and  to  ^  of  the  cone  having 
the  same  base  and  altitude. 

PARABO'LIC  CURVE.  A  curve  of  which  the  equa- 
tion is  of  the  form  y  =  a-\-b  x  +  c  z2  +  d  x3  -f-  &c.  Curves 
of  this  kind  are  frequently  employed  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
presenting a  number  of  observations,  or  for  approximating 
to  the  areas  of  other  curves ;  for  it  is  always  possible  to 
cause  a  parabolic  curve  to  pass  through  any  number  of 
points  in  a  given  curve,  by  making  as  many  of  the  coef- 
ficients, a,  b,  c,  &c.  indeterminate,  as  there  are  points  given  ; 
and  the  curve  thus  described  will  differ  less  from  the  given 
curve  according  as  the  number  of  points  is  greater.  But 
the  area  of  the  parabolic  curve  can  always  be  determined ; 
therefore  that  of  the  other  curve  may  be  found  to  any  re- 
quired degree  of  approximation. 

PARABO'LIC  SPINDLE.  The  solid  conceived  to  be 
formed  by  the  rotation  of  a  parabola  about  its  base,  or 
double  ordinate. 

PARABO'LOID,  is  sometimes  used  to  denote  the  para- 
bolas of  the  higher  orders  ;  and  sometimes  the  solid  formed 
by  the  rotation  of  a  parabola  about  its  axis,  or  the  parabo- 
lic conoid. 

PARACE'LSISTS.  Followers  of  the  school  of  Para- 
celsus in  medicine,  physics,  and  mystical  science.  The 
founder  of  this  school  may  perhaps  be  called  with  justice 
the  most  distinguished  quack  who  ever  made  a  figure  in 
the  world.  He  practised  medicine  "  with  the  boldness  of  a 
wandering  empiric,"  and  established  a  successful  opposi- 
tion to  the  traditionary  doctrines  of  the  so-called  schools 
of  Hippocrates  and  Aristotle.  He  mingled  his  medical  and 
chemical  knowledge  with  the  speculations  of  the  Cabbala, 
and  with  a  theosophy  of  his  own.  He  died  in  1541.  His 
followers  continued  to  influence  the  schools  of  Germany 
for  more  than  a  century.  (See  Hallam's  Introduction  to 
the  Literature  of  the  Middle  Jiges,  i.,  541,639  ;  ii.,  70,  &c. ; 
and  Mosheim,  vol.  iv.) 

PARACENTESIS.  (Gr.  napKcvrtu,  1  perforate.)  The 
operation  of  tapping  any  of  the  cavities  of  the  body  for 
the  purpose  of  withdrawing  a  contained  fluid. 

PARACE'NTRIC.  (Gr.  napa,  and  Ktvrpov,  centre.)  In 
the  higher  Geometry,  the  name  given  to  a  curve  line  hav- 
ing this  property,  that  a  heavy  body  descending  along  it 
by  the  force  of  gravity  will  approach  to,  or  recede  from  a 
centre  or  fixed  point,  by  equal  distances  in  equal  times. 

PARACENTRIC  MOTION,  in  Astronomy,  denotes  the 
rate  at  which  a  planet  approaches  nearer  to,  or  recedes 
farther  from  the  sun  or  centre  of  attraction,  in  a  given 
interval. 

PARACE'PHALOPHO'RES.  (Gr.  vapa,  beside  Kt<Pa\n, 
head,  and  0/ pw,  I  carry.)  A  name  given  by  M.  De  Blain- 
ville  to  a  class  of  Mollusks,  comprehending  those  in  which 
the  head  is  but  little  distinct  from  the  body,  but  always 
provided  with  some  of  the  organs  of  sense, 

PARACHU'TE.  (Fr.  parer,  to  ward  off,  and  chute,  fall ; 
a  guard  against  falling.)  An  apparatus  resembling  the 
common  umbrella,  but  of  far  greater  extent,  intended  to 
enable  an  aeronaut,  in  case  of  alarm,  to  drop  from  his  bal- 
loon to  the  ground  without  sustaining  injury.  This  is  ef- 
fected by  means  of  the  resistance  of  the  atmosphere. 
When  the  parachute  is  detached  from  the  balloon,  and 
abandoned  with  its  load  in  the  air,  it  must  proceed  at  first, 
from  the  continued  action  of  gravity,  with  an  accelerated 
motion,  until  the  increased  velocity  produces  a  resistance 
equal  to  the  force  of  attraction,  or  the  weight  of  the  appa- 
ratus with  its  load.  After  this  equilibrium  has  been  at- 
tained, the  parachute  will  descend  with  a  nearly  uniform 
velocity.  According  to  theory,  this  terminal  velocity,  sup- 
posing the  surface  of  the  parachute  to  be  flat,  is  equal 
to  that  which  a  heavy  body  would  acquire  in  falling  through 


PARADISE. 

the  altitude  of  a  column  of  air  incumbent  on  that  surface, 
and  having  the  same  Weight  as  the  whole  apparatus.  A 
circular  parachute  having  a  diameter  of  30  feet,  and  weigh- 
ing with  its  load  225  pounds,  Would  acquire  a  terminal  ve- 
locity of  about  13  feet  per  second  ;  and  a  person  descending 
with  it  at  this  rate  would  receive  the  same  shock  on  reach- 
ing the  ground  as  if  he  dropped  freely  from  a  height  of  2| 
feet.  (For  the  method  of  solving  this  problem,  see  Hut- 
ton's  Mathematical  Tracts,  vol.  iii.,  p.  316.)  The  actual  re- 
sistance of  the  air  is,  however,  greater  than  is  given  by 
theory,  and  is,  besides,  augmented  by  the  concavity  of  the 
parachute,  which  occasions  an  accumulation  of  the  fluid ; 
but,  on  account  of  the  action  of  the  wind,  the  axis  of  the 
parachute  will  probably  become  inclined  to  the  vertical,  in 
which  case  the  resistance  will  suffer  a  diminution. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  instances  of  descent  from 
a  great  height  with  a  parachute  is  that  of  Garnerin,  a 
Frenchman,  who  ascended  in  a  balloon  from  an  enclosure, 
near  North  Audley  Street,  in  London,  on  the  2d  of  Sep- 
tember, 1802.  After  hovering  seven  or  eight  minutes  in 
the  atmosphere,  he  cut  the  cord  by  which  his  parachute 
was  attached  to  the  balloon.  It  instantly  expanded,  and 
for  some  seconds  descended  with  an  accelerating  velocity, 
till  it  became  tossed  extremely,  and  took  such  wide  oscilla- 
tions that  the  basket  or  car  was  at  times  thrown  almost 
into  a  horizontal  position.  The  intrepid  aeronaut  narrowly 
escaped  destruction  by  being  precipitated  on  the  houses  in 
St.  Pancras,  and  at  last  fortunately  came  to  the  ground  in 
a  neighbouring  field.  He  seemed  to  be  much  agitated,  and 
trembled  exceedingly  at  the  moment  he  was  released  from 
the  car.     (Ency.  Brit.,  u  Aeronautics.") 

A  recent  experiment  of  this  kind,  made  by  Mr.  Cocking, 
was  attended  with  fatal  consequences.  Having  conceived 
a  notion  that  the  vibration  might  be  avoided  by  giving  the 
machine  a  different  form,  this  projector  constructed  one  in 
the  form  of  an  inverted  umbrella,  that  is,  having  the  con- 
cave side  uppermost,  and  bound  to  a  strong  wooden  hoop 
to  prevent  its  collapse  in  the  descent.  The  diameter  of  the 
hoop  was  34  feet ;  and  there  was  also  a  hole  of  6  feet  in 
diameter  in  the  middle  of  the  parachute,  which,  it  was 
supposed,  would  also  contribute  to  give  greater  steadiness. 
Having  attached  himself  to  thi9  machine,  he  ascended 
from  Vauxhall  Gardens  on  the  24th  of  July,  1837.  On 
being  cut  away  from  the  balloon  the  parachute  descended 
rapidly,  and  with  violent  oscillations  :  the  hoop  broke,  and 
the  unfortunate  projector  fell,  dreadfully  mangled,  at  Lee, 
near  Blackheath.  The  persons  in  the  car  of  the  balloon 
were  also  placed  in  great  danger,  having  narrowly  escaped 
suffocation  from  the  quantity  of  gas  expelled  in  conse- 
quence of  the  great  velocity  with  which  the  balloon  darted 
upwards  immediately  on  being  liberated  from  the  para- 
chute. They  suffered  extreme  pain,  and  for  a  time  were 
deprived  of  sight ;  but  fortunately  they  had  carried  up  with 
them  a  large  bag  filled  with  atmospheric  air,  by  means  of 
which  they  were  enabled  to  breathe.  Without  this,  they 
would  probablv  have  perished. 

PA'RACLETE.  (Gr.  TrupaKXnTos,  advocate.)  A  name 
attached  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  an  advocate,  intercessor,  or 
comforter  of  mankind  ;  such  as  he  is  represented,  John, 
xiv.,  16,  26;  Rom.  viii.,  26.  It  was  not  an  uncommon  opin- 
ion of  the  early  heretics,  that  the  Paraclete,  whose  mission 
was  promised  by  Christ,  was  to  appear  corporeally  upon 
the  earth,  and  complete  the  dispensation  announced  by  our 
Lord  and  the  apostles ;  and  they  drew  a  distinction  between 
the  person  of  the  Comforter  and  the  effusion  of  his  grace 
upon  the  disciples  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  Accordingly, 
several  of  them,  Simon  Magus,  Manes,  and  others,  gave 
themselves  out  as  this  expected  Paraclete  ;  and  Teitullian 
himself  was  at  one  period  infatuated  by  the  claims  ad- 
vanced by  Montanus  to  this  personification. 

PARACRO'STIC.  A  poetical  composition  in  which  the 
first  verse  contains,  in  order,  all  the  letters  which  commence 
the  remaining  verses  of  the  poem  or  division.  According  to 
Cicero  {De  Divinatione,  ii.,  54),  the  original  Sibylline  verses 
were  paracrostics.     See  Acrostic. 

PARACY  A'NOGEN.  When  cyanuret  of  mercury  is  de- 
composed by  heat,  a  brown  solid  matter  remains,  having  the 
same  composition  as  cyanogen,  hence  designated  as  above. 
PARA'DE.  (Fr.)  The  place  where  troops  draw  up  to 
do  duty,  mount  guard,  &c.  The  original  meaning  of  the 
word  is  show  or  ostentation ;  and  it  is  used  as  above,  be- 
cause, on  these  occasions,  officers  and  men  are  expected  to 
be  in  full  uniform,  or  completely  equipped. 

PA'RADIGM.  (Gr.  KaPaSuypa,  am  example.)  In  Rheto- 
ric, a  general  term,  used  by  Greek  writers  in  the  sense  of 
"  example,"  or  "  illustration,"  of  which  "  parable"  and  "  fa- 
ble" are  species.  (Quintilian,v.2.)  Hence,  in  early  the- 
ology, those  writers  who  narrated  the  lives  of  religious 
persons,  by  way  of  examples  of  Christian  holiness,  were 
styled  Paradigmatics. 

PA'RADISE.     (Gr.  -xapaSaooc  :  said  to  be  derived  from 
a  Persian  or  Chaldaic  word,  or  from  the  Arabic  firdauz,  a 
3  l  *  889 


PARADOX. 

fruitful  ratify.)  This  name,  of  oriental  origin,  was  used 
by  the  Greek  historians  to  denote  the  extensive  parks  or 
pleasure  grounds  of  the  Persian  monarchs.  (Xenophon, 
Cyrop.  and  (Eeonom.  ;  Dwd.  sic.  xvi.,  41;  xviiu  36;  de- 
Bcribed  by  Quinttu  Curtius.  viii.,  1,  who  does  not  use  the 
word.  Bee  also  .lulus  (tellius,  ii.,  30.)  The  Septoaginta 
have  employed  the  word  in  their  translation  of  Genesis,  ii., 
8,  to  signify  the  abode  in  which  Adam  and  Eve  were 
placed  by  their  Creator.  It  also  occurs  in  other  pans  of 
their  translation.  (Numbers,  xxiv.,  6;  Genesis,  xiii.,  10; 
Ez.,  xxviii.,  13;  xxxi.,  8.)  It  is  used  in  the  N.  T..  in  the  me- 
morable passage,  Luke,  xxiii.,  43.  The  speculations  into 
which  thi<  mysterious  passage  has  led  learned  and  pious 
men,  in  all  ages  of  the  church,  form  too  extensive  a  subject 
to  be  entered  upon  here.  The  mythologies  of  many  nations 
contain  similar  ideas,  whether  derived  from  the  ancient 
tradition  of  a  paradise,  or  formed  out  of  the  inherent  sense 
of  man  of  his  own  imperfection  and  longing  after  a  better 
state,  from  which  he  imagines  himself  to  have  fallen. 
(See,  especially,  the  first  part  of  Buttmann's  Mythologus, 
and  Bryant's  Mythology.)  The  rabbis  have  formed,  as 
usual,  a  strange  collection  of  legendary  tales  out  of  the 
simple  narrative  of  Scripture.  According  to  them,  there  is 
an  upper  or  heavenly,  and  a  lower  or  earthly  paradise. 
The  lower  is  situated  somewhere  under  the  terrestrial  equa- 
tor. Each  is  divided  into  seven  dwellings,  and  each  of 
these  is  twelve  times  10.000  miles  in  length  and  breadth. 
A  column  ascends  from  the  lower  to  the  upper  heaven,  by 
which  the  souls  of  the  blessed  mount  after  a  temporary 
sojourn  in  the  former.  A  wall  of  partition  divides  paradise 
from  hell ;  and  this  will  fall  when  the  Redeemer  comes, 
and  all  Israel  be  gathered  together  in  blessedness. 

The  celestial  paradise  is  generally  referred  to  as  identical 
with  heaven,  or  the  place  of  bliss  hereafter.  Some  critics, 
who  weigh  very  nicely  our  Lord's  expression  in  addressing 
the  penitent  thief,  "To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  para- 
dise," have  imagined  the  existence  of  a  distinct  abode  for 
the  souls  of  the  just  before  the  final  judgment.  When  we 
consider,  however,  that,  upon  the  authority  of  another  pas- 
sage in  Scripture,  we  affirm  that  our  Saviour  went  down 
into  hell  between  his  death  and  resurrection,  it  will  be  bet- 
ter, perhaps,  not  to  affix  too  definite  a  meaning  either  to  the 
one  expression  or  the  other. 

The  local  situation  of  the  terrestrial  paradise  has  been  a 
favourite  subject  of  speculation,  both  with  the  fathers  of 
the  church  and  with  later  inquirers.  The  reader  may  con- 
sult, if  he  will,  the  first  volume  of  the  compilation  called 
the  .Indent  Universal  History,  where  the  matter  is  seri- 
ously discussed  at  great  length  ;  he  will  also  find  it  treated 
in  an  entertaining  article  of  the  F.nc.  Metropolitana.  (See 
also  Schulthess,  Das  Paradise,  Zurich,  1810.)  The  most 
ordinary  opinion  has  placed  it  on  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris. 
Josephus  regards  the  Pison  mentioned  in  Genesis  as  the 
Ganges,  the  Gihon  as  the  Nile.  Hardouin  places  his  in 
Palestine.  Huet  (De  la  Situatioii  du  Paradis  Tcrrestre, 
1601)  enumerates  a  variety  of  these  theories.  The  para- 
dise of  the  Moslems  is  termed  in  the  Koran  Gannath,  or 
the  Happy  Gardens ;  and  its  description  is  evidently  bor- 
rowed from  the  notions  of  the  rabbis  and  oriental  Chris- 
tians. See,  chiefly,  chapters  lv.,  lvi.  ;  but  these  passages, 
although  flowery  enough,  contain  a  very  small  part  of  the 
extravagances,  chiefly  drawn  from  tradition,  which  make 
up  the  vulgar  Mohammedan  notion  of  paradise.  (See,  in 
addition  to  the  authorities  already  cited,  a  learned  article 
in  the  unfinished  Encyclopedia  of  Ersch  and  Gruber.) 

PA'RADOX.  (Or.  nnpaioifli,  contrary  to  received  opin- 
ion.) A  term  applied  to  any  proposition  which  seems  to 
be  absurd,  or  at  variance  with  common  sense,  or  to  contra- 
dict some  previously  ascertained  truth  ;  though,  when  prop- 
erly investigated,  it  may  be  found  to  be  perfectly  well 
founded.  The  reader  will  find  in  Bishop  Horsley's  19th 
sermon  the  nature  of  a  paradox,  and  the  points  wherein  it 
differs  from  a  contradiction,  clearly  illustrated. 

PARADOXUS.  [Gt.  impaSoios,  wonderful.)  A  name 
devised  to  express  the  obscure  nature  of  a  genus  of  Trilo- 
bites  (fossil  Crustaceans),  to  which  it  is  attached,  and 
which  is  characterized  by  the  absence  or  indistinct  nature 
of  the  prominent,  even-formed  eyes  which  are  borne  on 
the  shield  of  all  other  Trilobites.  The  segments  extend 
beyond  the  sides  of  the  body,  and  are  free  al  their  lateral 
extremity.  It  serves  also  as  a  specific  name  for  obscure 
and  anomalous  animals;  as  the  Ornithorhynchus  paradox- 
us. I.epidiisirrn  paradnra.  Sre. 

PA'RAFINE.  A  substance  contained  in  the  products 
of  the  distillation  of  the  tar  of  beech  wood.  It  is  , 
less  inodorous  fatty  matter,  fusible  at  113°,  and  resists  |he 
action  of  acids  and  alkalis.  It  appears  to  be  a  hydro  rar- 
bon.  Its  name  is  compounded  of  parum,  little,  and  atTinis. 
akin,  to  denote  the  remarkable  chemical  Indifference  which 
is  its  characteristic  feature.  A  similar  substance  has  been 
obtained  by  Dr.  ChrisfJson  from  the  petroleum  of  Rangoon. 
PARA'GIUM.  (Lai.  par,  equal.)  In  Feudal  Jurispru- 
890 


PARALLAX. 

dence.  the  hody  of  nobles  (peerage)  was  so  termed ;  the 
word  likewise  expressed  equality  Of  condition  in  various 
legal  relations,  as,  for  example,  between  the  lords  in  part- 
nership of  a  fief.  Parage  was  also  a  custom  by  which  the 
elder  of  several  coheirs  of  a  fief  rendered  homage  for  the 
whole,  and  thereby  guaranteed  the  enjoyment  of  it  to  his 
coheirs  as  well  as  himself;  in  the  same  manner,  one  of  sev- 
eral copurchasers  might  be  admitted  to  a  similar  privilege. 

PARAGO'GE.  (Gr.  T<:pa,  by  the  side  of.  and  d)  w,  /  bring.) 
In  Grammar,  a  figure  by  which  one  or  more  letters  are 
added  at  the  end  of  a  word ;  e.  g.,  in  the  ordinary  forma- 
tion of  diminutives  in  most  languages.     See  Mktaplasm. 

PARAGO'GIC  LETTERS.  (Gr.  napaywyn,  an  addi- 
tion.) In  the  Semitic  languages,  letters  which,  by  their 
addition  to  the  ordinary  form  of  the  word,  import  additional 
emphasis,  or  some  peculiar  inflexion  into  the  sense.  Their 
real  meaning  and  authority  have  been  much  debated  among 
Hebrew  scholars. 

PARAGRAPH  (Gr.  TapaypaQos),  ordinarily  signifies  a 
small  subdivision  of  a  connected  discourse,  and  is  indicated 
by  the  sign  1f  in  modern  orthography. 

Paragraphs  as  used  by  Greek  rhetorical  writers,  is  n  po- 
etical figure  employed  when  the  writer  sums  up  in  a  few 
words  the  substance  of  a  previous  passage,  by  way  of  tran- 
sition to  a  new  one.  It  was  probably  so  called  by  analogy. 
(Kustathius  on  Horn.  II.,  i.,  304.) 

PARALEl'PSIS.  (Gr-TO/JuAnro),  Iomit)  In  Rhetoric, 
the  artificially  exhibited  omission  or  slight  mention  of  some 
important  point,  in  order  to  impress  the  hearers  with  indig- 
nation, pity,  &c,  called  by  the  Latins  praueritio,  omissio, 
&c. ;  as  in  the  famous  lines — 

Occidat  ilia  dies  aevo,  nee  postera  credant 
Saecuta  :  nos  eerie,  taceamus,  et  obrula  multa 
Nocte  tegi  nostras  patiamur  crimina  geotis. 

The  passage,  Hebr.,  xii.,  33,  may  be  given  as  another  In- 
stance ;  or  the  following  from  Cicero :  "  Pra:tereo  ilium  ne- 
farium  conatum  tuum,"  &c.     (Cone.  c.  .intonium.) 

PARALIPO'MENA.  (Gr.  r.„pi\entoptva,  things  left  out 
or  aside.)  A  term  applied,  in  Bibliography,  to  works  of  a 
supplementary  character.  The  two  books  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, called  by  us,  after  St.  Jerome,  the  Chronicles,  are 
also  termed  Paralipomena. 

PARALLACTIC  INSTRUMENT.  An  astronomical 
instrument  for  determining  the  moon's  parallax,  described 
by  Ptolemy  in  his  .ilmagest,  and  usually  called  Ptolemy's 
Rules.  The  term  parallactic  is  sometimes  applied  to  the 
equatorial  ;  but  in  this  sense  the  proper  word  would  seem 
to  be  parallactic,  as  derived  not  from  parallax,  but  from 
parallel,  the  instrument  being  constructed  for  the  purpose 
of  following  the  stars  in  their  diurnal  parallels,  I, alai.de, 
.istronomie,  §3378.) 

PARALLAX.  (Gr.  ■znpa'Malic,  change.)  A  change  of 
place  or  of  aspect.  The  term  is  used  in  astronomy  to  de- 
note the  difference  between  the  apparent  place  of  a  celes- 
tial object  and  its  true  place,  or  that  in  which  it  would  be 
seen  if  the  observer  were  placed  at  the  centre  to  which  the 
motion  is  referred.  When  the  point  of  reference  is  the 
centre  of  the  earth,  the  change  or  aspect  is  called  the  diur- 
nal parallax ;  when  it  is  the  centre  of  the  earth's  orbit, 
the  change  is  called  the  annual  parallax. 

Diurnal  parallax.— Let  C  be  the  centre  of  the  earth,  A 
the  place  of  the  observer,  Z  his 
zenith,  and  S  a  celestial  body. 
On  observing  the  body  from  A, 
it  will  be  seen  in  the  direction  A 
S,  making  the  angle  Z  A  S  with 
the  zenith.  Hut  if  tin-  observer 
could  be  placed  at  O,  he  would 
see  the  body  in  the  direction  C  S, 
making  the  angle  Z  ('  S  with  the 
zenith.  The  difference  between 
these  two  angles  Z  A  S  and  Z  C 
S  is  the  parallax  of  S,  which, 
therefore,  is  equal  to  the  angle  A  S  C.  Hence  it  appears 
that  the  parallax  of  a  celestial  body  is  the  angle  comprised 
between  two  lines  drawn  from  the  body,  the  one  to  the 
centre  of  the  earth,  and  the  other  to  a  point  on  its  surface. 
On  account  of  the  immense  distance  of  the  fixed  stars,  the 
diurnal    parallax    is   altogether   insensible   Willi    regard    to 

them.  It  may  amount  to  a  degree  in  respect  of  the  moon; 
but  the  greatest  parallax  of  the  nearest  planet  does  not  ex- 
reed  30". 

It  is  evident,  from  the  inspection  of  the  fisrure.  that  although 
the  distance  of  the  object  S  remain  the  same,  the  angle 
j  A  S  C  is  not  a  constant  quantity,  but  is  greatest  when  S  is 
seen  in  the  direction  of  the  horizon  A  H,  and  diminishes  as 
the  altitude  of  S  increases,  until  it  vanishes  altogether  at 
the  zenith,  where  the  two  lines  A  S  and  C  S  merge  into 
the  line  ('  Z.  In  order  to  discover  the  law  of  this  varia- 
tion, let  n  CA,  the  somidiametcr  of  the  earth  ;  </=  OS, 
the  distance  of  the  observed  object  from  the  centre  ;  Z  = 
Z  A  S,  the  apparent  zenith  distance ;  and  P  =  A  S  C,  the 


PARALLAX. 

parallax.  Now,  the  sides  of  a  triangle  being  in  the  same 
proportion  as  the  sines  of  their  opposite  angles,  we  have 

d  :  a  : :  sin.  Z  :  sin.  P,  Whence  sin.  P  =s  %  sin.  Z.     But  as  P 

a 
Is  always  a  very  small  angle,  the  arc  may  be  substituted 
for  the  sine  without  sensible  error,  and  the  formula  becomes 

P  =  -  sin.  Z  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  parallax  is  proportional  to  the 

a 
sine  of  the  zenith  distance.    At  the  horizon  Z  is  a  right  an- 
gle, and  sin.  Z^l:  In  this  case,  therefore,  the  expression 

for  the  parallax  becomes  P  =  ^ .  This  is  called  the  hori- 
zontal parallax;  and  when  its  amount  has  been  determined 
by  any  means  with  respect  to  a  celestial  body,  the  parallax 
of  the  body  at  any  altitude  is  found  by  multiplying  the  hori- 
zontal parallax  by  the  cosine  of  the  altitude,  or  sine  of  the 
zenith  distance. 

Since  the  parallax  of  a  body  is  given  in  terms  of  its  dis- 
tance and  the  earth's  semidiameter,  it  follows,  reciprocally, 
that  the  distance  of  the  body  is  given  in  terms  of  its  paral- 
lax. The  determination  of  the  parallaxes  of  the  different 
bodies  of  the  solar  system  is  therefore  a  problem  of  great 
importance  in  astronomy  ;  but  it  is  attended  with  considera- 
ble difficulty  in  practice,  although  the  principle  on  which  it 
depends  is  extremely  simple.  It  may  be  described  as  fol 
lows :  Let  two  observers  be  station- 
ed at  the  points  O  and  O',  of  which 
the  latitudes  are  supposed  to  be 
known,  and  which  are  both  situa- 
ted on  the  same  meridian,  and  let 
them  simultaneously  observe  the 
zenith  distances  of  the  body  M 
(suppose  the  moon).  These  obser- 
vations will  give  the  angles  Z  O  M 
and  Z'  O'  M,  and,  consequentlv,  M 
OCandMO'C.  The  angle  O  C  O' 
is  also  known,  being  the  difference 
or  the  sum  of  their  latitudes,  according  as  they  are  on  the  same 
or  opposite  sides  of  the  equator.  But  the  two  sides  C  O  and 
C  O  of  the  quadrilateral  M  O  C  O',  being  radii  of  the  earth, 
are  also  supposed  to  be  known ;  hence  the  quadrilateral  is 
determined,  and  its  diagonal  C  M  may  easily  be  computed 
by  the  rules  of  plane  trigonometry.  But  when  C  M  is  found, 
the  horizontal  parallax  is  also  determined,  being  equal,  by 
what  has  been  already  shown,  to  the  quotient  obtained  by 
dividing  the  radius  C  O  by  the  distance  C  M.  In  this  man- 
ner the  horizontal  parallax  of  the  moon  was  determined  by 
Lacaille  and  Lalande  ;  the  former  observing  at  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  and  the  latter  simultaneously  at  Berlin.  There 
are  methods,  however,  by  which  the  lunar  parallax  may  be 
determined  by  observations  made  at  a  single  place. 

The  moon's  mean  horizontal  parallax  amounts  to  57' 
4-17",  or  -95116  of  a  degree.  In  respect  of  all  the  other 
bodies  of  the  solar  system  the  parallax  is  an  extremely 
small  quantity,  and,  excepting  perhaps  in  the  case  of  Mars, 
cannot  be  determined  by  the  method  now  described  with 
sufficient  precision  and  certainty.  That  of  the  sun,  the 
most  important  of  all,  is  most  accurately  found  by  observa- 
tions of  the  transits  of  Venus  over  his  disk,  as  was  first 
suggested  by  James  Gregory,  in  his  Optica  Promota.  It 
amounts  only  to  8.6" ;  whence  we  infer  that  the  mean  dis- 
tance of  the  sun  from  the  earth  is  '23984  times  the  length 
of  the  earth's  radius,  or  about  95,000,000  miles.  (See  Sun.) 
This  determination  suffices  for  finding  the  parallaxes  and 
distances  of  all  the  planets  in  the  system ;  for  in  conse- 
quence of  the  relation  established  by  Kepler's  third  law  be- 
tween the  distances  and  periodic  times,  when  the  distance 
of  any  one  planet  from  the  sun  is  known,  that  of  even'  other 
can  be  deduced  from  the  times  of  revolution.  (See  Kep- 
ler's Laws.) 

When  the  parallax  of  a  celestial  body  has  been  deter- 
mined, we  can  find  not  only  the  distance  of  the  body,  but 
also  its  diameter  and  real  magnitude.  For  the  apparent  di- 
ameter being  found  by  observation,  the  true  magnitude  is 
given  by  this  proportion  :  The  horizontal  parallax  is  to  the 
apparent  radius,  as  the  radius  of  the  earth  to  the  true  radi- 
us of  the  body. 

The  effect  of  parallax  is  to  depress  the  observed  bodv  in 
the  verticle  circle,  or  to  increase  its  zenith  distance.  If  the 
body  at  the  time  of  the  observation  is  on  the  meridian,  the 
parallax  only  affects  its  declination  ;  but  if  it  is  not  on  the 
meridian,  the  observed  risht  ascension  and  declination  are 
both  altered,  and  the  effect  on  each  of  these  co-ordinates 
must  be  computed  from  the  previously  known  horizontal 
parallax  by  the  rules  of  spherical  trigonometry.  The  com- 
putation, in  the  case  of  the  moon,  is  considerably  compli- 
cated by  the  earth's  ellipticity. 

Annual  Parallax.— In  what  has  yet  been  said  the  centre 
of  the  earth  has  been  taken  as  the  point  of  reference,  and 
therefore  regard  has  only  been  had  to  the  difference  of  ap- 


PARALLEL  LINES. 

parent  situation  occasioned  by  the  eccentric  position  of  the 
observer  at  the  surface  of  the  earth.  But  the  sun,  and  not 
the  earth,  may  be  regarded  as  the  centre  to  which  the  mo- 
tion is  referred ;  and  the  position  of  any  celestial  body  of 
which  the  distance  from  the  sun  is  not  bo  great  as  to  be  in- 
comparable with  thesemidiame  er  of  the  earth's  orbit,  would 
be  different  if  viewed  from  the  sun  from  what  it  is  when 
viewed  from  the  earth.  This  difference  is  called  the  annual 
parallax,  or  parallax  of  the  great  orb.  It  is  the  angle  under 
which  the  semidiameter  of  the  earth's  orbit  would  be  seen 
from  a  superior  planet,  or  from  a  fixed  star.  Such,  how- 
ever, is  the  enormous  distance  even  of  the  nearest  fixed 
stars,  that  excepting  two  or  three  instances,  which  perhaps 
may  be  still  regarded  as  doubtful,  not  one  of  them  has  yet 
been  discovered  to  be  sensibly  affected  by  annual  parallax ; 
though  observations  have  been  carried  to  such  nicety  that 
did  the  quantity  in  question  amount  to  a  single  second,  it 
could  not  possibly  have  escaped  detection. 

From  observations  of  right  ascension  and  declination,  Pi- 
azzi  deduced  a  parallax  of  4"  for  Sirius,  and  of  5-7"  forPro- 
cyon,  and  Calandrelli  one  of  4"  for  a  Lyra ;  but  these  de- 
terminations have  been  proved  to  be  erroneous.  Dr.  Brink- 
ley  conceived  that  his  observations  with  the  Dublin  circle 
indicated  a  sensible  parallax  in  the  three  stars,  a  Lyra?,  a 
Cygni,  and  a  Aquilffi;  but  Mr.  Pond  showed  that  no  sensi- 
ble parallax  in  any  of  these  stars  could  be  deduced  from 
the  Greenwich  observations,  and  Mr.  Airy  has  confirmed 
this  conclusion  in  respect  of  a  Lyra?.  Mr.  Henderson,  how- 
ever, has  found  a  probable  parallax  in  the  star  a  Centauri 
from  his  observations  made  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Sir 
William  Herschel  first  pointed  out  the  micrometrical  meas- 
urements of  the  distances  of  two  stars  very  close  to  each 
other,  or  nearly  in  the  same  line  of  vision,  as  a  likely  meth- 
od of  detecting  parallax ;  for  the  apparent  distance  between 
two  such  stars,  if  either  has  a  sensible  parallax,  must  vary 
at  different  times  of  the  year;  and  this  method  has  very 
recently  been  applied  by  Struve,  at  Dorpat  to  a  Lyra,  and 
bv  Bessel,  at  Konigsberg,  to  the  double  star  61  Cygni.  The 
results  obtained  by  the  latter  are  the  most  unequivocal  By 
a  series  of  observations  with  the  heliometer,  continued  from 
August,  1838,  to  March,  1840,  Bessel  obtained  the  value  of 
the  parallax  =  0348",  a  little  more  than  the  third  of  a  sec- 
ond of  space.  Assuming  this  determination,  and  astrono- 
mers seem  to  regard  it  as  established  within  certain  small 
limits,  the  distance  of  the  star  from  the  earth  must  be  519,200 
times  the  sun's  distance — a  distance  so  enormous  that  light, 
which  travels  at  the  rate  of  192.000  miles  in  a  second,  would 
require  9J  years  to  pass  through  it.  (Monthly  Notices  of 
the  R.  Astr.  Soc.  for  May,  1840.  For  the  history  of  re- 
searches on  the  subject  of  the  annual  parallax,  see  Mem. 
R.  Astr.  Soc.  vol.  xii.)     See  Star. 

PARALLE'LEPIPED  (GLTapaWnX-tm-ndov),  frequent- 
ly, but  incorrectlv,  written  Parallelopiped.  A  solid  con- 
tained by  six  planes,  three  of  which  are  parallel  to  the 
other  three.  The  content  of  this  solid  is  found  by  multiply- 
ing the  area  of  one  of  its  faces  by  its  distance  from  the  op- 
posite face.  Consequently,  parallelepipeds  on  equal  bases, 
and  of  the  same  height,  are  equal. 

PA'RALLEL  LINES,  in  Geometry,  are  defined  by  Eu- 
clid to  be  "straight  lines  which  are  in  the  same  plane,  and 
being  produced  ever  so  far  both  ways,  do  not  meet." 

The  subject  of  parallel  lines  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  in 
the  elements  of  geometry,  and  has  accordingly  given  rise  to 
much  learned  discussion.  The  difficulty  consists  in  demon- 
strating that  two  parallel  lines,  when  they  meet  a  third 
line,  are  equally  inclined  to  it,  or  make  the  alternate  angles 
with  it  equal.  In  order  to  demonstrate  this  proposition, 
Euclid  assumes  as  an  axiom  that  "If  a  straight  line  meet 
two  straight  lines,  so  as  to  make  the  interior  angles  on  the 
same  side  of  it  less  than  two  right  angles,  these  straight 
lines,  being  continually  produced,  will  at  length  meet  on 
the  side  on  which  the  aneles  are  which  are  less  than  two 
rieht  angles."  But  this  is  not  a  self-evident  truth  :  it  is,  in 
fact,  a  proposition  which  requires  to  be  demonstrated ;  and 
the  converse  of  it  namely,  that  two  straight  lines  which 
meet  one  another  make  with  any  third  line  the  interior  an- 
gles less  than  two  right  ancles,  forms  the  17ih  proposition 
of  Euclid's  first  book.  Geometers  have  attempted  in  many 
different  ways,  but  without  complete  success,  to  remove 
this  blemish  from  the  Elements.  The  methods  which  they 
have  employed  for  this  purpose  are  of  three  kinds:  1.  By 
adopting  a  new  definition  of  parallel  lines;  2.  By  introdu- 
cing a  new  axiom ;  3.  Bv  reasoning  merely  from  the  defini- 
tion of  parallel  lines  and  the  properties  of  lines  already 
demonstrated. 

Some  geometers,  among  whom  are  Wolfius,  Boscovich, 
and  Thomas  Simpson,  have  adopted  the  following  as  the 
definition  of  parallel  lines;  namely,  that  "straight  lines  are 
parallel  which  preserve  always  the  same  distance  from 
each  other;"  but  this,  like  Euclid's  definition,  as  remarked 
by  D'Alembert,  is  begging  the  question.  The  correct  defi- 
nition would  be,  that  "two  straight  lines  are  parallel  when 

891 


PARALLELOGRAM. 

there  are  two  points  in  the  one  from  which  the  perpendicu- 
lars drawn  to  the  other,  and  on  the  same  side  of  it,  are 
equal."  The  difficulty  then  consists  in  demonstrating  that 
all  the  perpendiculars  drawn  from  the  one  of  these  lines  to 
the  other  are  equal.  Another  definition,  which  has  been 
adopted  by  Varignon,  Bezout,  and  others,  is,  that  "parallel 
lines  are  those  which  make  equal  angles  with  a  third  line 
towards  the  same  parts,  or  make  the  exterior  angle  equal 
to  the  interior  and  opposite."  When  this  definition  is 
adopted,  the  difficulty  consists  in  proving  that  straight  lines 
Which  are  equally  inclined  to  one  given  straight  line  must 
be  equally  inclined  to  all  the  other  straight  lines  which  fall 
upon  them. 

Of  the  new  axioms  which  have  been  substituted  in  place 
of  Euclid's,  we  shall  merely  notice  that  given  by  Thomas 
Simpson,  in  the  second  edition  of  Elements  ;  namely,  that 
"  If  two  points  in  a  straight  line  are  posited  at  unequal  dis- 
tances from  another  straight  line  in  the  same  plane,  those 
two  lines,  being  indefinitely  produced  on  the  side  of  the 
least  distance,  will  meet  one  another."  By  help  of  this 
axiom  he  proves  that  if  two  straight  lines  are  parallel,  the 
perpendiculars  to  the  one  terminated  by  the  other  are  equal, 
and  also  perpendicular  to  the  other  parallel;  and  thence 
the  proposition  from  which  all  the  rest  follows,  namely, 
that  if  a  straight  line  fall  on  two  parallel  lines,  it  makes  the 
alternate  angles  equal.  Playfair  remarks  on  this  method, 
that  it  is  extremely  plain  and  concise,  and  perhaps  as  good 
as  any  that  can  be  followed  when  a  new  axiom,  is  assumed. 

Legendre,  in  his  Elements  of  Geometry,  has  attempted  to 
overcome  the  difficulty  of  parallel  lines  by  previously  dem- 
onstrating that  all  the  angles  of  a  triangle  are  equal  to  two 
right  angles,  from  which  proposition  it  is  easy  to  prove  every 
thing  with  respect  to  parallels.  His  demonstration  how- 
ever, is  of  too  refined  and  subtle  a  kind  to  be  admissible 
into  the  Elements.  (See  the  Notes  to  Playfair's  Euclid, 
Legendre's  Geometry,  and  Leslie's  Geometry.  But  the 
reader  who  wishes  to  have  a  complete  view  of  what  has 
been  written  on  this  subject  should  consult  a  learned  excur- 
sus to  the  first  book  of  Camerer's  Euclid,  Berlin,  1825;  and 
also  Colonel  P.  Thomson's  Geometry  without  Jlzioms.) 

It  may  be  remarked  that  the  whole  of  the  difficulty  which 
exists  with  respect  to  the  doctrine  of  parallel  lines  is  of  a 
metaphysical  rather  than  a  mathematical  kind ;  and  the 
learner  need  not  perplex  himself  about  subtleties  which  can 
hardly  be  considered  as  affecting  the  rigour  of  geometrical 
truth. 

PARALLE'LOGRAM.  (Gr.  ira  pallor  pauixa.)  A 
plane  four-sided  figure,  of  which  the  opposite  sides  are  pa- 
rallel. The  area  of  a  parallelogram  is  found  by  multiply- 
ing the  length  of  one  of  its  sides  by  that  of  the  perpendicular 
let  fall  upon  it  from  the  opposite  side.  Hence  parallelograms 
on  equal  bases,  and  of  the  same  altitudes,  are  equal. 

PARALLEL  PLANES,  are  such  as  never  meet,  though 
Indefinitely  produced. 

PARALLEL  RULER.  A  mathematical  instrument, 
formed  of  two  equal  rulers  connected  by  two  cross  bars  or 
blades  moveable  about  joints,  so  that,  while  the  distance 
between  the  two  rulers  is  increased  or  diminished,  their 
edges  always  remain  parallel ;  and  consequently  if  the  edge 
of  one  of  the  rulers  be  applied  to  a  straight  line,  a  parallel 
straight  line  may  be  drawn  along  the  edge  of  the  other 
ruler. 

PARALLEL  SAILING,  in  Navigation,  is  sailing  on  a 
parallel  of  latitude,  or  circle  parallel  to  the  equator.  See 
Navigation. 

PARALLELS  OF  ALTITUDE,  in  Geography,  are 
email  circles  of  the  sphere  parallel  to  the  horizon ;  also  cal- 
led almaeantara. 

PARALLELS  OF  DECLINATION.  In  Astronomy, 
small  circles  of  the  sphere  parallel  to  the  equator. 

PARALLELS  OF  LATITUDE,  on  the  Terrestrial 
Sphere,  are  small  circles  parallel  to  the  equator ;  but  in  the 
Celestial  Sphere,  they  are  parallel  to  the  ecliptic. 

PARALLEL  SPHERE,  in  Geography,  is  that  position  of 
the  sphere  in  which  the  equator  coincides  with  the  hori- 
zon, and  the  poles  are  in  the  zenith  and  nadir.  This  is  the 
appearance  which  the  sphere  would  have  to  a  spectator 
placed  at  the  pole.  The  stars  neither  rise  nor  set,  but  move 
constantly  in  circles  parallel  to  the  horizon;  and  the  sun 
rises  and  sets  only  once  a  year. 

PARA'LOCISM.  (Gr.  napa,  beside,  and  \6yo$,  reason.) 
In  Logic  and  Rhetoric,  a  reasoning  which  is  false  in  point 
of  form  ;  ;'.  e.,  in  which  a  conclusion  is  drawn  from  premises 
which  do  not  logically  warrant  it.  It  is  the  opposite  to  a 
Syllogism  or  correct  logical  deduction.     See  Syllogism. 

PAKA'LYSIS.  (Gr.  n>pi\vu>,  1  weaken.)  Palsy.  A  di- 
minution or  loss  of  power  of  any  part  of  the  body.  In  gene 
ral  one  side  only  is  affected,  or  the  upper  or  lower  extremi- 
ties. Whatever  debilitates  the  system  may  produce  palsy  ; 
it  is  also  produced  by  pressure  upon  certain  parts  of  the 
brain  and  spinal  marrow,  and  occasionally  by  poisons,  by 
local  injuries,  and  by  the  sudden  suppression  of  certain 
892 


PARASITE. 

evacuations.  It  frequently  produces  a  distortion  of  fha 
mouth  or  eye,  the  speech  becoming  indistinct,  and  the 
judgment  often  impaired.  The  treatment  of  palsy  depends 
upon  a  careful  consideration  of  its  cause  ;  more  or  less  de- 
pletion is  generally  required,  together  with  purges  and  ner- 
vine stimulants,  such  as  ammonia,  &c,  and  blisters  to  the 
head  and  neck. 

PARA'METER.  In  Geometry,  a  constant  straight  line, 
belonging  to  each  of  the  three  conic  sections  :  otherwise 
called  the  latus  rectum.  In  the  parabola,  the  parameter  is 
a  third  proportional  to  the  absciss  and  its  corresponding  or- 
dinate ;  in  the  ellipse  and  hyperbola,  the  parameter  of  a 
diameter  is  a  third  proportional  to  that  diameter  and  its 
conjugate.  The  term  is  also  used  in  a  general  sense,  to 
denote  the  constant  quantity  which  enters  into  the  equa- 
tion of  a  curve. 

PARA'MO.  (Sometimes  rendered,  though  incorrectly, 
by  desert  or  heath.)  The  name  given  in  South  America  to 
a  mountainous  district  covered  with  stunted  trees,  exposed 
to  the  winds,  and  in  which  a  damp  cold  perpetually  pre- 
vails. Under  the  torrid  zone,  the  Paramos  are  generally 
from  10,000  to  12,000  feet  in  height.  Snow  often  falls  on 
them,  but  remains  only  a  few  hours  ;  in  which  respect  they 
are  distinguished  from  the  JVevadvs,  which  enter  the  limits 
of  perpetual  snow.  The  Paramos  are  almost  constanly  en- 
veloped in  a  cold  thick  fog ;  so  that  when  a  thick  small  rain 
falls,  accompanied  with  a  depression  of  the  temperature, 
they  say  at  Bogota,  or  at  Mexico,  cae  un  paramito.  Hence 
has  been  formed  the  provincial  word  emparamarse — to  be 
as  cold  as  if  one  were  on  a  paramo.  (Humb.  Pers.  JVor.,  ii., 
p.  252.) 

PA'RANA'PHTHALINE.  A  substance  so  termed  from 
Gr.  napa,  near  to,  because  it  closely  resembles  naphthaline. 
It  appears  to  be  a  mixture  of  paraffine  and  naphthaline. 

PARA'NTHINE.  A  rare  mineral,  so  named  by  Haiiy; 
the  same  as  Scapolite. 

PA'RANYMPH.  (Gr.  napavvu<poc.)  A  bridesman.  It 
is  translated  in  our  version  of  the  Scriptures  by  "  master  of 
the  feast." 

PA'RAPET,  or  BREAST-WORK.  (Ital.  parapetto, 
breast-work.)  In  Fortification,  a  wall  or  screen  raised  on 
the  extreme  edge  of  a  rampart  or  other  work,  through 
which  embrasures  or  openings  are  cut  for  the  canons  to  fire 
through.  The  solid  parts  of  the  parapet,  between  the  em- 
brasures, are  called  the  merlons.  In  common  language,  a 
parapet  is  a  breast-wall,  raised  on  the  edges  of  bridges, 
quays,  &c.  to  prevent  people  from  falling  over. 

PA'RAPH.  (Gr.  -napa,  and  anrui,  I  touch.)  In  Diploma- 
tics, the  figure  formed  by  a  flourish  of  the  pen  at  the  con- 
clusion of  a  signature.  This  formed,  in  the  middle  ages, 
a  sort  of  rude  provision  against  forgery,  like  the  flourishes 
in  the  plates  of  bank  notes.  In  some  countries  (as  in 
Spain),  the  paraph  is  still  a  usual  addition  to  a  signature. 

PA'RAPHERNA'LIA.  (Gr.  <t>epvn<  a  dowry.)  In  the 
Civil  Law,  the  apparel,  jewels,  &.c.  of  a  wife,  which  are 
held  to  belong  to  her  as  a  species  of  separate  property.  The 
husband  may  dispose  of  them  in  her  lifetime,  but  cannot 
bequeath  them  away  from  her;  and  if  he  have  not  parted 
with  them  before  his  death,  she  may  retain  them  against 
his  executors  and  all  other  persons,  except  his  creditors, 
where  his  other  funds  are  not  sufficient  to  satisfy  their 
claims. 

PARAPHO'NIA.  (Gr.  -napa,  and  <pwv>],  voice.)  Altera- 
tion of  voice. 

PA'RAPHRASE.  (Gr.  nap  a,  beside,  and  <ppa\b>,  I  speak.) 
In  Rhetoric,  the  rendering  of  a  passage  or  portion  of  writ- 
ing in  other  phraseology,  more  distinct  and  easier  of  explan- 
ation, and  therefore  usually  at  greater  length.  A  loose 
translation,  or  one  in  which  a  new  series  of  ideas  and  illus- 
trations conveying  the  same  general  meaning  with  those 
of  the  original  is  substituted  for  them,  is  also  termed  a  pa- 
raphrase, although  not  with  strict  propriety. 

PARAPHY'SES.  (Gr.  napa,  and  <pvitf,  nature.)  A 
term  used  in  describing  mosses,  to  denote  the  sessile  ovate 
abortive  bodies  placed  below  the  theca. 

PARAPLE'GIA.  (Gr.  napan^navti),  I  strike  inharmoni- 
oxialy.)  Palsy  of  the  upper  or  of  the  lower  half  of  the 
body. 

PA'RASANG.  (Gr.)  A  Persian  measure  of  length ;  ac- 
cording to  Herodotus,  equal  to  30  stadia,  and  (reckoning  8 
stadia  to  the  English  mile)  equal  to  3$  English  miles.  The 
length  of  the  parasang  was  reckoned  differently  by  different 
authors;  and  such  are  the  discrepant  estimates  of  the  an- 
cients that  some  have  assigned  it  the  length  of  00  stadia. 
The  word  is  supposed  to  be  derived  from  the  Persian  seng, 
signifying  a  stone. 

PARASCE'NIUM.  (Gr.  ifapa,  and  own,  a  scene.)  In 
Antiquities,  called  also  postscenium,  the  back  part  of  a 
theatre  beyond  the  stage,  or  the  room  to  which  actors 
withdrew  on  quitting  the  stage.  It  was  equivalent  to  the  mo- 
dern green  room. 

PA'RASITE.  (Gr.  napa,  at  hand,  and  airos,food.)  Origi- 


PARASITES. 

fcally,  according  to  Crates  in  Athenteus,  a  term  of  honour, 
being  the  appellation  of  certain  ministers  at  sacrifices, 
whose  office  is  not  distinctly  ascertained.  (See  Mem.  de 
I'Acad.  dcs  Jnscr.,  vol.  xxxi.)  The  habits  of  a  luxurious  age 
produced  the  race  of  poor  companions,  ready  guests  at  the 
table  of  a  patron,  who  formed  a  standing  character  in  the 
later  Greek  comedy.  Some  attribute  the  first  conception  of 
the  dramatic  personage  to  Araros,  the  son  of  Aristophanes. 
Diphilus,  according  to  Athenteus,  gave  the  most  complete 
portrait  of  it  in  his  comedy  of  Tclesias.  Our  notions  of  the 
ancient  parasite  are  now  derived  chiefly  from  the  Latin 
comic  poets.  Ingenious  writers  have  divided  parasites  into 
four  classes:  l.'The  poor  confidential  friend,  whose  ser- 
vices to  his  patron  are  sometimes  rendered  with  a  mixture 
of  real  attachment,  as  in  the  character  of  Ergasilus  in  the 
Captives  of  Plautus.  2.  The  guest  who  is  invited  with  a 
view  to  make  him  pay  for  his  reception  by  the  exertion  of 
his  powers  of  entertainment  (Anglice  diner-out),  the  "ri- 
diculi"  and  "derisores"  of  Plautus,  and  who  alone  are  de- 
scribed under  the  name  of  parasites  by  Julius  Pollux :  Vibi- 
dius  and  Balatro,  the  two  umbra  of  Maecenas  at  the  supper 
of  Nasidienus,  seem  to  have  partaken  of  this  quality. 
These  degenerated,  thirdly,  into  the  class  of  mere  buftbons. 
who  were  invited  to  play  tricks  and  undergo  practical  jokes, 
under  pain,  as  Ergasilus  complains,  in  the  play  already 
cited,  if  they  refused  to  lend  themselves  to  the  manual 
pleasantries  of  their  guests,  of  "  taking  up  their  beggar's 
wallet  and  marching."  The  fourth  and  worst  class,  koXokis, 
were  the  attendant  flatterers  of  their  patron.  Such  is  Ar- 
totrogus,  or  Loaf-eater,  the  humble  companion  of  Pyrgo- 
Polinices  in  the  Miles  Gloriosus  of  Plautus  ;  and  the  best 
known  of  all  parasites,  Gnatho,  in  the  Eunuch  of  Ter- 
rence. 

PA'RASITES.  In  Zoology,  this  term,  as  designative  of 
a  group  of  animals,  is  variously  applied  by  different  natural- 
ists. Lamarck  includes  under  it  a  family  of  antennated 
Arachnidans ;  Cuvier,  Latreille,  and  Kirby  apply  the  term 
to  an  order  of  Apterous  insects  ;  Straus  to  a  tribe  of  Crus- 
taceans :  but  all  the  sections  include  animals  of  parasitic 
habits. 

PARASITl'CAL  PLANTS,  are  those  which  grow  into 
the  tissue  of  other  species,  and  feed  upon  their  juices.  Of 
this  kind  are  themisletoe,  the  broom  rape  (Orobanc/ie),  the 
JLathrea ;  and  among  exotics,  the  monstrous  Rafflesia. 
Such  species  have  no  proper  roots.  The  term  parasitical 
is,  however,  often  applied  to  mosses,  Orchidaceous  plants, 
Tillandsias,  and  the  like,  which  are  mostly  Epiphytes, 
growing  upon  the  bark  of  trees,  but  deriving  their  food  from 
the  air  bv  means  of  their  own  roots. 

PARA'STAT^E.  (Gr.  rapu,  from,  and  iVriiiii,  T stand.) 
In  Architecture,  pilasters,  or  rather  square  pillars,  which 
stand  insulated.     See  Anta. 

PA'RATA'XIS.  (Gr.  -rrnparacati),  I  arrange  side  by  side.) 
In  Grammar,  opposed  to  Syntax.  The  mere  ranging  of  pro- 
positions one  after  another,  as  the  corresponding  judgments 
present  themselves  to  our  mind,  without  marking  their 
dependence  on  each  other  by  way  of  consequence  or  the 
like. 

PA'RBUCKLE.  In  Naval  language,  to  roll  a  cask  or 
any  cylindrical  body  by  pulling  upon  ropes  fastened  to- 
wards the  place  where  the  cask  is  to  go,  and  laid  along  the 
ground  or  an  inclined  plane,  and  then  over  the  ends  or 
quarters. 

PA'RCiE.  The  Latin  name  of  the  Fates.  According  to 
Klausen  (art.  "Pares,"  in  the  Encyclopedia  of  Ersch  and 
Gruber),  the  original  Roman  Parca  (the  harsh  or  avaricious 
goddess)  was  equivalent  to  Mors,  the  goddess  of  death,  the 
third  of  the  Fates.  It  was  not  until  the  Augustan  age, 
when  the  Greek  and  Roman  mythology  became  mingled, 
that  the  Pares  became  plural,  (Virg.,  Ec.  iv.,  47),  and  ac- 
quired their  similarity  to  the  Greek  Moirai,  Clotho,  Lache- 
sis,  and  Atropos. 

PARCEL  A  ROPE.  In  Naval  language,  to  cover  it 
smoothly  with  tarred  canvass,  which  is  then  bound  over 
with  spun-yarn. 
PARCENERS.  In  Law.  See  Coparceners. 
PA'RCIIMENT.  (Fr.  parchemin.)  A  material  formed 
of  the  prepared  skins  chiefly  of  sheep  and  goats,  when  in- 
tended to  be  written  upon.  A  similar  preparation  of  calves', 
kids',  and  lambs'  skins  is  called  vellum.  The  skins  are  first 
prepared  as  for  tanning  ;  then  shaved  down  and  pumiced  ; 
and  lastly  stretched  and  carefully  dried.  The  parchment  of 
drums  is  made  of  the  skins  of  asses,  calves,  and  wolves;  ass 
skin  is  used  for  battledores ;  and  goat  skin  is  preferred  for 
sieves.  For  some  kinds  of  bookbinding,  parchment  is  dyed 
green  by  verdigrease.     (See  lire's  Dictionary  of  Jlrts.) 

Parchment  was  known  at  a  very  early  period.  It  was 
used  for  writing  as  early  as  the  year  250  before  the  Chris- 
tian era,  by  Eumenes,  king  of  Pergamus ;  who,  desirous  of 
collecting  a  library  which  should  vie  with  that  of  Alexan- 
dria, but  prevented  by  the  jealousy  of  the  Ptolomies  from 
obtaining  a  sufficient  quantity  of  papyrus,  had  recourse  to 


PARHELION. 

this  substitute;  and  its  invention  at  Pergamus  claimed  and 
secured  to  it  the  lasting  name  of  Pergamena :  whence 
parchment.  (Sir  O.  Wilkinson's  Manners  and  Customs  of 
the  Ancient  Egyptians,  iii.,  151.)  In  the  beginning  of  the 
eighth  century,  the  use  of  papyrus  was  almost  entirely  su- 
perseded by  parchment,  on  which  we  find  that  all  the  pub- 
lic documents  under  Charlemagne  and  his  dynasty  were 
written.  When  the  different  kinds  of  parchment  came  into 
use  for  the  purposes  of  writing,  they  were  rolled  up  before 
they  could  be  sealed :  hence  the  word  volumen,  from  Lat. 
volvere,  to  roll.  And  as  parties  wrote  to  the  very  bottom  of 
the  parchment,  i.  e.,  to  the  place  where  the  cord  used  for  the 
folding  was  fastened,  we  may  account  for  the  well-known 
expression,  opus  ad  umbilicum  perductum. 

PA'RDON.  In  Law,  it  is  a  part  of  the  prerogative  of  the 
crown  to  pardon  all  offences  merely  against  the  crown  or 
the  public,  excepting  the  offence  of  committing  any  person 
to  prison  out  of  the  realm,  which,  by  the  Habeas  Corpus 
Act,  is  made  a  prsmunire,  unpardonable  even  by  the  king : 
and  excepting  those  offences  in  the  prosecution  of  which 
private  justice  is  in  some  measure  concerned,  as  nuisances 
and  offences  against  a  popular  or  penal  statute,  after  infor- 
mation ;  for  thereupon  the  informer  has  a  private  property 
in  his  part  of  the  penalty.  Pardon  is  granted  under  the 
great  seal,  or  by  warrant  under  the  sign  manual,  counter- 
signed by  one  of  the  principal  secretaries  of  state ;  or  by  act 
of  parliament.  Its  effect  is,  in  almost  all  cases,  to  make  the 
offender  a  new  man,  and  to  discharge  him  from  all  the  pe- 
nal consequences  attached  to  his  offence. 

PARE'CBASIS.  (Gr.  xupa,  and  t/cSwvw,  T go  out  of.) 
The  word  used  by  Greek  authors  to  signify  what  by  the 
Latins  is  called  digression  ;  by  Qitintilian  (iv.  14,)  termed 
"  aliens  ret,  sed  ad  utilitatem  causs  pertinentis,  extra  ordi- 
nem  occurrens  tractatio." 

PAREGO'RIC.  (Gr.  napnyopco),  I  assuage.)  That 
which  allays  pain.  Paregoric  elixir  is  a  camphorated  tinc- 
ture of  opium  flavoured  by  oil  of  aniseed. 

PAREI'RA  BRA'VA.  The  root  of  the  Cissampelos  pa- 
reira,  brought  from  South  America.  It  has  a  sweetish  and 
a  bitter  flavour,  and  has  been  used  in  nephritic  complaints 
and  some  affections  of  the  bladder. 

PARE'LLA.  In  Botany,  a  kind  of  lichen;  the  Lecanora 
paralla,  found  on  rocks  in  mountainous  countries,  especially 
in  the  north  of  Europe.  It  is  the  Perelle  of  Auvergne,  where 
it  is  extensively  used  by  the  dyer,  and  is  found  equal  to  or- 
chil (Rocalla  tinctoria). 

PARE'MBOLE.  (Gr.  izapa,  and  t/<SaAAw,  /  throw  in.) 
In  Rhetorick,  a  figure  by  which  a  paragraph  is  inserted  in 
the  middle  of  a  sentence  with  which  it  does  not  grammati- 
cally cohere,  by  way  of  explaining  something.  It  is  also 
called  paremptosis,  and  is  a  species  of  parenthesis. 

PARENCHY'MA.  (Gr.  iraptyxveiv,  to  strain  through.) 
The  spongy  and  cellular  tissue  of  animals  and  vegetables. 
The  old  physiologists  supposed  that  the  crude  juices  under- 
went a  kind  of  filtration  in  the  cellular  substance. 

PARENCHYMATOUS  ENTOZOONS,  Parenchyma- 
tosa.  (Gr.  irapeyxvui-)  An  order  of  Entozoa,  including 
those  which  have  their  nutrient  canals  simply  excavated  in 
the  parenchymatous  tissue  of  which  their  entire  body  is 
composed.     See  Sterelmintha. 

PARE'NTHESIS.  (Gr.  irapa  and  iv,  and  the  verb  ridnfit, 
I  place.)  In  Rhetoric,  a  figure  by  which  a  series  of  words 
is  inserted  in  a  sentence,  having  no  grammatical  connexion 
with  those  which  precede  or  follow,  with  the  object  of  ex- 
plaining some  detached  portion  of  the  sentence.  In  ancient 
authors,  a  parenthetical  form  of  writing  is  even  more  com- 
mon than  among  moderns ;  because  much  which  a  Greek 
or  Roman  author  would  have  conveyed  by  way  of  parenthe- 
sis is  now  inserted  in  separate  explanatory  notes. 

PA'RGASITE.  A  variety  of  actinolite,  from  Pargas,  in 
Finland. 

PA'RGET.  (Etymology  uncertain.)  In  Architecture, 
the  plaster  formed  of  lime,  hair,  and  cow-dung,  used  for 
coating  the  flue  of  a  chrmnev. 

PARHE'LION,  or  MOCK  SUN.  (Gr.  r.apa,  and  f,\ioc, 
the  sun.)  A  meteor  which  consists  in  the  simultaneous  ap- 
pearance of  several  suns,  "  fantastic  images  of  the  true  one." 
These  images  appear  at  the  same  height  above  the  horizon 
as  the  true  sun,  and  they  are  always  connected  with  one 
another  by  a  white  horizontal  circle  or  halo,  of  which  the 
pole  is  at  the  zenith,  and  the  apparent  semidiameter  equal 
to  the  sun's  distance  from  the  zenith.  The  images  or  mock 
suns,  which  appear  on  the  same  side  of  this  circle  with 
the  true  sun,  are  tinted  with  the  prismatic  colours,  and 
sometimes  a  part  of  the  circle  itself  contiguous  to  them  ap- 
pears coloured.  But  those  which  appear  on  the  circumfer- 
ence opposite  to  the  sun  are  always  without  colour ;  whence 
it  may  be  conjectured  that  those  (as  well  as  the  lumin- 
ous ring  itself)  are  produced  by  reflection,  and  the  others 
by  refraction.  In  general  when  these  phenomena  are  pro- 
duced, the  sun  is  surrounded  by  one  or  more  concentric 
circular  coronte  which  exhibit  the  colours  of  the  rainbow; 

893 


PARIAN  CHRONICLE. 

and  sometimes  arcs  of  circles,  or  even  entire  circles,  appear 
touching  the  corona".  These  also  are  coloured,  and  contain 
Other  parhelia.  The  phenomenon  has  been  described  by 
Aristotle,  Pliny,  Schemer,  Descartes,  and  many  others;  but 
the  most  perfect  apparition  yet  recorded  is  that  which  was 
observed  by  Heveiius  at  Dantzic,  ou  the  20th  of  February, 
1661.  It  is  represented  in  the  annexed  figure.  Parhelia 
have  continued  visible  for  two,  three,  or 
four  hours.  In  general  two,  but  some- 
times four,  and  even  six  or  seven  are  visi- 
ble together. 

No  very  satisfactory  explanation  of  the 
cause  of  these  curious  but  rare  phenome- 
na has  yet  been  given.  Huygens  supposed 
them  to  be  produced  partly  by  the  reflec- 
tion and  partly  by  the  refraction  of  the 
sun's  rays,  falling  on  an  infinite  number  of  small  cylinders 
of  ice  suspended  vertically  in  the  atmosphere,  and  having 
certain  determinate  positions  relative  to  the  sun  and  the  ob- 
server. This  theory  is  explained  at  length  in  the  second 
volume  of  his  Opera  Posthuma.  (See  also  Smith's  Optics  ; 
Priestley  on  Light  ;   Blot,  Traite  de  Physique,  torn,  iii.) 

Fraunhofer,  in  a  memoir  on  halos  and  parhelia,  published 
in  Schiunacher's  Astronomische  Abhand/uiigen,  p.  iii.,  has 
attempted  to  explain  these  phenomena  on  a  different  prin- 
ciple. On  looking  at  the  sun  through  a  horizontal  grating 
of  very  fine  wires,  two  images  of  the  sun  appear,  one  above 
and  the  other  below  the  true  sun  ;  and,  if  there  is  some  in- 
equality in  the  distances  between  the  wires,  the  images  ap- 
pear slightly  coloured,  and  a  vertical  streak  of  light  is  seen. 
Fraunhofer  thinks  that  this  affords  a  clue  fo  the  theory  of 
the  parhelia;  for  if  the  small  spherules  of  moisture  floating 
in  the  atmosphere  are  disposed  in  horizontal  parallel  lines 
with  tolerable  regularity,  two  vertical  parhelia  (but  this  is 
a  very  rare  phenomenon)  will  be  seen  ;  and  if  they  are  dis- 
posed in  vertical  lines,  the  more  common  phenomena  of 
horizontal  parhelia  with  the  luminous  circles  may  be  pro- 
duced. It  must  be  confessed,  however,  that  even  when 
this  arrangement  of  the  particles  of  vapour  in  parallel  lines 
is  admitted,  several  circumstances  attending  the  phenomena 
will  still  remain  unexplained. 

Paraselene,  or  images  of  the  moon,  are  also  seen  under 
similar  circumstances  as  parhelia :  the  same  theory  will  of 
course  applv  to  both. 

PA'RIAN  CHRONICLE.  (So  called  from  the  island  of 
Paros,  where  it  was  originally  found.)  The  name  given  to 
one  of  the  celebrated  marbles  imported  into  England  with 
the  rest  of  the  collection  known  by  the  name  of  the  Arun- 
delian.  In  its  perfect  state  it  contained  a  chronological  re- 
gister of  the  principal  events  in  the  history  of  ancient 
Greece  during  a  series  of  1318  years,  beginning  with  the 
reign  of  Cecrops,  the  first  king  of  Athens,  B.C.  IMS,  and 
ending  with  the  archonship  of  Diognetus ;  but  the  last 
ninety  years  are  nearly  obliterated  by  the  injuries  of  time, 
so  that  the  part  which  now  remains  ends  at  the  archonship 
of  Diotimus,  B.C.  354. 

The  marble  on  which  the  chronicle  is  engraved  is  5  inches 
in  thickness,  and  measured,  when  Selden  viewed  it,  3  feet 
7  inches  by  2  feet  7 ;  but  one  corner  had  been  broken  off. 
It  contained  originally  about  100  lines,  each  consisting  on 
an  average  of  16  words,  or  130  letters  ;  so  that  the  whole 
might  have  been  comprised  in  six  octavo  pages. 

This  venerable  monument  was  purchased  at  Smyrna, 
with  many  others,  by  Mr.  W.  Petty,  who  was  employed  by 
the  Earl  of  Arundel,  in  the  year  1624,  for  the  purpose  of 
collecting  marbles,  books,  statues,  and  other  curiosities  in 
Italy,  Greece,  and  Asia  Minor.  When  brought  to  England, 
in  1627,  it  was  placed  in  the  gardens  belonging  to  Arundel 
House,  the  site  of  which  is  now  occupied  by  Arundel, 
Norfolk,  Surrey,  and  Howard  streets,  in  the  Strand ;  and 
early  on  the  following  day  it  was  examined,  with  eager 
curiosity,  by  some  of  the  most  distinguished  literati  of 
that  time  ;  among  whom  were  Sir  R.  Cotton,  Seidell,  Pat- 
rick Young,  and  Richard  James.  After  much  labour  it 
was  deciphered,  and  a  copy  of  it  published  by  Selden  in  the 
year  1628,  accompanied  with  a  Latin  translation  and  com- 
mentary. 

During  the  civil  wars,  and  the  subsequent  usurpation  of 
Cromwell,  the  Parian  Chronicle,  was  unfortunately  broken 
into  smaller  fragments,  and  almost  entirely  defaced.  The 
upper  part,  containing  nearly  half  the  original  tablet,  is 
said  to  have  been  used  in  repairing  a  chimneypiece  or 
hearth  in  Arundel  House;  but  luckily  the  inscription,  or 
at  least  as  much  of  as  it  could  be  made  out,  was  pre 
served  in  the  copy  which  Selden  had  previously  taken  and 
published.  In  the  year  1667  the  remaining  fragments  were 
presented  by  the  Hon.  Henry  Howard,  grandson  of  the  first 
collector,  to  the  University  of  Oxford,  where  they  arc  now 
deposited. 

The  genuineness  of  this  valuable  relic  of  antiquity  was 
universally  acknowledged  throughout  Europe  as  soon  as  its 
contents  were  made  known.    Its  authority  was  considered 
894 


PARING  AND  BURNING. 

as  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  any  other  ;  writers  of  the  first 
eminence  derived  the  greatest  advantage  from  it  in  their 
historical  and  chronological  researches  ;  and  it  was  not  till 
the  year  1788,  when  the  Rev.  John  Robertson,  a  gentleman 
of  considerable  learning  and  industry,  published  an  elabor- 
ate volume  called  A  Dissertation  on  the  Authenticity  of  the 
Parian  Chronicle,  in  which  he  maintained  it  to  be  a  fabrica- 
tion of  modern  times,  that  its  authenticity  was  impeached. 
The  doubts  and  objections  of  Mr.  R.  were  founded  on  the 
following  considerations: 

1.  The  characters  have  no  certain  or  unequivocal  marks 
of  antiquity.  2.  It  is  not  probable  that  the  chronicle  was 
engraved  for  private  use.  3.  It  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  engraved  by  public  authority.  4.  The  Greek  and  Ro- 
man writers,  for  a  long  time  after  the  date  of  this  work, 
complain  that  they  had  no  chronological  account  of  the  af- 
fairs of  ancient  Greece.  5.  This  chronicle  is  not  once  men- 
tioned by  any  writer  of  antiquity.  6.  Some  of  the  facts 
seem  to  have  been  taken  from  authors  of  a  later  date.  7. 
Parachronisms  appear  in  some  of  the  epochas,  which  we 
can  scarcely  suppose  a  Greek  chronologer,  in  the  129th 
Olympiad,  would  be  liable  to  commit.  8.  The  history  of 
the  discovery  of  the  marbles  is  obscure  and  unsatisfactory  ; 
and,  9.  The  literary  world  has  been  frequently  imposed  upon 
by  spurious  books  and  inscriptions,  and  therefore  we  should 
be  extremely  cautious  with  regard  to  what  we  receive  un- 
der the  venerable  name  of  antiquity. 

These  observations  were  made  the  subject  of  separate 
chapters  and  disquisitions,  and  were  illustrated  with  such 
candour  and  extensive  erudition  that  for  a  short  time  the 
credit  of  the  Parian  Chronicle  was  shaken  in  the  public 
opinion.  Early,  however,  in  the  following  year,  the  objec- 
tions of  Mr.  Robertson  were  replied  to  by  Mr.  Hewlett,  in  a 
pamphlet  entitled  A  Vindication  of  the  Authenticity  of  the 
Parian  Chronicle,  Lond.,  1789;  by  Mr.  Gough,  in  the  ninth 
vol.  of  the  Archaiologia ;  and  by  Porson,  in  the  Monthly  Re- 
view;  and  the  result  of  their  inquiries,  coupled  with  the 
defence  of  Wagner  (Giitt.,  1790),  and  the  more  recent  in- 
vestigations of  Hales  in  his  Chronology,  and  of  Boeckh  in 
the  second  volume  of  his  Corpus  Inscriptionum,  leave  no 
doubt  respecting  the  authenticity  and  antiquity  of  the  Parian 
Chronicle.  It  is  impossible  within  our  limits  to  give  a  de- 
tailed account  of  the  manner  in  which  these  different 
writers  have  disposed  of  the  arguments  of  Mr.  Robertson  ; 
suffice  it  to  say,  that  they  have  established  satisfactorily 
that  the  Parian  Chronicle  is  written  in  pure  and  classical 
Greek  ;  that  the  characters  bear  several  marks  of  antiquity  ; 
that  the  events  it  recounts  are  infinitely  too  minute  and  de- 
tailed to  have  been  forged ;  and  lastly,  that  the  silence  of 
classical  writers  respecting  it  (which  is  perhaps  the  strong- 
est argument  against  its  antiquity)  may  be  easily  accounted 
for  from  the  retired  and  insular  situation  of  Paros.  (The 
reader  will  find  in  vol.  i.  of  Hale's  Analysis  of  Chronology, 
an  examination  of  the  dates  assigned  to  the  different  events 
recorded  in  the  Parian  Chronicle.  See  also  the  Penny 
Cyclop.) 

PARIAN  MARBLE.     See  Marble. 

PA'RIAS.  The  lowest  class  of  the  inhabitants  of  some 
parts  of  Hindostan,  who  have,  properly  speaking,  no  caste, 
and  are  supposed  to  be  descended  from  original  races  of  oc- 
cupiers long  since  conquered  by  foreign  invaders.  In  the 
widest  sense,  the  term  appears  to  comprehend  all  the  differ- 
ent classes  of  distinct  non-Hindoo  tribes,  and  degraded  or 
foreign  races,  not  comprised  in  the  four  Hindoo  castes; 
forming,  probably,  nine  tenths  of  the  whole  population,  ex- 
clusively of  the  Mussulmans. 

PAKI'ETAIi.  (Lat.  paries,  a  wal'.)  In  Botany,  any 
organ  which  grows  from  the  sides  of  another.  Those 
ovaries  are  parietal  which  grow  from  the  sides  of  a  calyx  ; 
and  placenta;  or  ovules  have  this  name  when  they  proceed 
from  the  sides  of  the  ovary. 

PARIETAL  BONES.  Two  arched  and  irregularly 
square  bones,  one  on  each  side  of  the  superior  part  of  the 
skull.  So  called  from  paries,  a  wall,  because  they  protect 
the  brain  like  walls. 

PAB  I.MPAI!.  Among  the  Romans,  the  game  of  even  or 
odd.  The  game  was  played  exactly  as  it  is  at  present  among 
the  children  of  our  own  country. 

PA'RING  AND  BURNINH.  The  operation  of  paring 
off  the  surface  of  worn-out  grass  land,  or  lands  covered  with 
coarse  herbage,  and  burning  it  for  the  sake  of  the  ashes,  and 
("or  the  destruction  of  weeds,  seeds,  insects,  &c.  Agricul- 
turists differ  as  to  the  value  of  this  mode  of  improving  land ; 
the  greater  number  preferring  a  naked  fallow  even  for  one 
or  two  years,  alleging  that  more  injury  is  done  by  the  vege- 
table matter  lost  in  burning,  than  benefit  obtained  by  the 
ashes  produced.  Where  the  object  is  to  bring  land  abound- 
ing in  coarse  herbage  immediately  into  a  state  of  good  cul- 
ture, paring  and  burning  is  evidently  the  most  rapid  mode 
that  can  be  employed;  and  if  the  soil  contains  calcareous 
matter,  burning  will  have  nearly  the  same  effect  on  it  as 
if  a  dressing  of  quicklime  had  been  applied.    Much,  how- 


PARISH. 

ever,  depends  on  the  mode  in  which  the  land  is  treated  af- 
terwards. 

PA'RISH.  (Or.  irapoiKta,  a  neighbourhood.)  Properly, 
an  ecclesiastical  division  of  a  town  or  district  subject  to  the 
ministry  of  one  pastor.  In  the  earliest  ages  of  the  church, 
the  parochia  was  the  district  placed  under  the  superintend- 
ence of  the  bishop,  and  was  equivalent  to  the  diocess.  It 
denoted,  says  Bingham,  not  only  what  we  now  call  a  parish 
church,  but  a  city  with  its  adjacent  towns  or  country  re- 
gions. It  was  not  until  the  Christians  became  sufficiently 
numerous  to  present  distinct  congregations  in  the  smaller 
towns  and  villages  that  the  bishop  appointed  his  presbyters 
to  reside  among  them,  and  thus  subdivided  his  diocess  into 
several  parishes.  This  constitution  is  recognised  in  sev- 
eral councils  and  other  monuments  of  the  fifth  century.  It 
is,  indeed,  probable  that  in  many  cities  there  existed  more 
than  one  church  and  congregation  even  in  the  time  of  the 
apostles ;  but  it  does  not  appear  whether  these  deserved 
the  name  of  parishes,  as  being  each  under  the  distinct 
superintendence  of  its  respective  pastor.  But  although 
parishes  were  originally  ecclesiastical  divisions,  they  may 
now  be  more  properly  considered  as  coming  under  the  class 
of  civil  divisions;  and  consequently  claim  our  attention  un- 
der this  head.  It  is  not  easy  to  determine  the  era  of  the 
division  of  England  into  parishes;  they  are  mentioned  in 
the  laws  of  King  Edgar  so  early  as  970,  when  the  whole 
kingdom  seems  to  have  been  divided  into  parishes ;  but  it 
is  probable  that  the  division  was  not  made  at  once,  but  by 
degrees.  It  is,  according  to  Blackstone,  pretty  clear  and 
certain  that  the  boundaries  of  parishes  were  originally  as- 
certained by  those  of  manors;  for  it  very  seldom  happens 
that  a  manor  extends  itself  over  more  parishes  than  one, 
though  there  are  often  many  manors  in  one  parish.  The 
parochial  division  of  England  was  nearly  the  same  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  I.  (1-27-2-1307)  as  at  present. 

Parishes  are  frequently  intermixed  with  one  another. 
This  seems  to  have  arisen  from  the  lord  of  the  manor  hav- 
ing had  a  parcel  of  land  detached  from  the  main  part  of  his 
estate,  but  not  sufficient  to  form  a  parish  of  itself.  It  was 
natural  for  him  to  endow  the  church  which  he  had  erected 
upon  his  principal  estate  with  the  tithes  of  these  disjointed 
lands;  especially  if  it  happened  that  there  was  no  church 
in  any  lordship  adjoining  to  them. 

The  boundaries  of  parishes  depend  on  immemorial  cus- 
tom; but  it  is  probable  that  they  were  not  settled  with 
very  minute  precision  till  the  introduction  of  the  poor  laws, 
when,  in  consequence  of  the  claim  for  relief  upon  their 
particular  parishes  given  to  the  poor,  it  became  a  mat- 
ter of  consequence  to  define  exactly  the  limits  of  each 
parish.  They  cannot  now  be  altered  but  by  legislative  en- 
actment. 

In  the  northern  counties,  where  the  parishes  sometimes 
embrace  thirty  or  forty  square  miles,  the  ponr  laws,  the  due 
administration  of  which  must  always  depend  on  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  situation  and  character  of  every  one  ap- 
plying for  relief,  could  not  be  properly  carried  into  effect. 
To  remedy  this  inconvenience,  an  act  was  passed  in  the 
13th  of  Charles  II.  permitting  townships  and  villages, 
though  not  entire  parishes,  severally  and  distinctly  to  main- 
tain their  own  poor.  Hence  townships  in  the  north  of  Eng- 
land may  be  regarded  as  divisions  subordinate  to  parishes; 
and  are,  in  practice,  as  distinctly  limited  as  if  they  were 
separate  parishes. 

Towns  originally  contained  but  one  parish  ;  but,  from  the 
increase  of  inhabitants,  many  of  them  are  now  divided  into 
several  parishes. 

Besides  parishes,  or  townships,  there  are  places  which 
are  deemed  extra-parochial,  or  not  within  the  limits  of  any 
parish.  These  were  formerly  the  site  of  religious  houses, 
or  of  castles,  the  owners  of  which  would  not  permit  any  in- 
terference with  their  rights.  At  present  they  enjoy  some 
most  valuable  privileges  ;  among  others,  a  virtual  exemp- 
tion from  the  poor's  rate,  because  there  is  no  overseer  on 
whom  the  order  of  a  magistrate  may  be  served — from  the 
militia  laws,  because  there  is  no  constable  to  make  the  re- 
turn— and  from  repairing  the  highways,  because  there  is  no 
surveyor.  Their  tithes  are,  by  immemorial  custom,  paya- 
ble to  the  king  instead  of  the  bishop.  The  number  of  such 
places  is  not  inconsiderable,  amounting  to  more  than  200. 
It  seems  highly  inexpedient  that  any  part  of  the  country' 
should  enjoy  such  an  exemption  from  burdens  imposed  for 
the  benefit  of  the  community.  Extra-parochial  wastes  and 
marsh  lands,  when  improved  and  drained,  are  assessed  to 
all  parochial  rates  in  the  parish  next  adjoining.  In  some 
counties,  liberties  interrupt  the  general  course  of  law  as  af- 
fecting hundreds,  in  the  same  manner  as  extra-parochial 
places  do  with  regard  to  parishes.  This  inconvenience  is 
particularly  felt  in  Dorsetshire.  The  number  of  parishes 
and  parochial  chapelries  in  England  and  Wales  is  not  ex- 
actly ascertained ;  but  there  are  not  many  doubtful  cases, 
and  for  any  general  purpose  they  may  safely  be  taken  at 
10,700.    About  550  parishes  extend  into  two  counties,  or 


PARLIAMENT. 

into  more  than  one  hundred  or  other  divisions.  (Black- 
stoiie's  Commentaries,  Introd.,  §  4;  and  Preliminary  Re- 
marks to  Census  of  1831,  p.  14-18.) 

The  parishes  of  Scotland  are  purely  ecclesiastical :  for  an 
account  of  the  system  on  which  they  are  divided,  we  must 
refer  the  reader  to  the  article  Presbytery. 

PARISH  CLERK.  The  name  of  one  of  the  lowest  func- 
tionaries of  the  English  Church.  Parish  clerks  are  regard- 
ed by  the  common  law  as  persons  having  freeholds  in  their 
office ;  and  consequently,  though  they  may  be  punished, 
they  cannot  be  deprived,  by  ecclesiastical  censures.  In 
former  times  parish  clerks  were  frequently  in  orders,  and 
even  at  present  this  is  sometimes  the  case.  They  are  gen- 
erally appointed  by  the  incumbent,  but  by  custom  may  be 
chosen  by  the  inhabitants. 

PARK.  A  considerable  extent  of  pasture  and  wood  land 
surrounding  or  adjoining  the  country  residence  of  a  man  of 
wealth,  devoted  to  purposes  of  recreation  or  enjoyment,  but 
chiefly  to  the  support  of  a  herd  of  deer,  though  sometimes 
to  cattle  and  sheep.  Parks  were  originally  nothing  more 
than  portions  of  forest  scenery  appropriated  by  the  lord  of 
the  soil  for  the  exclusive  use  of  animals  of  the  chase ;  but 
this  is  now  become  in  many  cases  a  secondary  considera- 
tion, and  the  chief  uses  of  a  park  are  as  indications  of 
wealth  and  extent  of  territory,  and  as  grazing  ground  for 
domesticated  animals. 

PARK  OF  ARTILLERY.  An  assemblage  of  the  heavy 
ordnance  belonging  to  an  army,  with  its  carriages,  ammuni- 
tion wagons,  and  stores,  on  ground  contiguous  to  that  oc- 
cupied by  the  troops  when  encamped.  See  Artillery 
Park. 

PA'RLIAMENT.  (In  modern  Latin  parliamentum,  in 
French  parlement  ;  from  the  Fr.  parler,  to  speak.)  The  su- 
preme legislative  assembly  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

Origin  of  Parliament. — By  the  principles  of  the  feudal 
system,  every  sovereign  and  every  great  feudatory  had  his 
council,  composed  of  his  greater  and  lesser  vassals,  which 
occasionally  assembled  to  assist  him  both  in  judicial  and 
legislative  matters ;  and  which  was  held  in  theory  to  be 
permanent,  so  that  its  assent  was  necessary  to  the  validity 
of  his  acts.  And  it  was  also  an  ancient  custom,  in  several 
of  the  western  kingdoms  of  Europe,  for  such  potentates  to 
hold  assemblies  of  their  barons  at  the  great  festivals  of  the 
year,  termed  cours  plenieres  and  parlemens ;  principally, 
however,  if  not  entirely,  for  the  mere  purpose  of  show  and 
magnificence.  But  occasionally  such  special  assemblies 
were  summoned  for  more  important  purposes  ;  and  the 
meeting  in  1146,  at  which  the  crusade  of  Saint  Louis  was 
undertaken,  is  said  to  furnish  the  first  occasion  in  which 
the  word  parliament  is  used  for  a  deliberative  assembly. 
In  France,  however,  the  word  was  afterwards  transfer- 
red to  signify  the  principal  judicial  courts  of  that  county. 
(See  Parliament.)  The  only  realms  in  which  it  ap- 
pears to  have  become  appropriated  to  the  great  legisla- 
tive assemblies  are  England,  Scotland,  and  the  Norman 
kingdom  of  Sicily.  The  parliament  of  the  latter  country 
consisted,  in  the  13th  century,  of  spiritual  and  temporal 
barons,  summoned  by  the  king's  writ ;  and  occasionally, 
but  not  uniformly,  of  deputies  from  the  towns  similarly 
summoned. 

All  the  extensive  and  laborious  researches  which  have 
been  made,  of  late  years,  towards  dispelling  the  obscurity 
which  rests  over  the  commencement  and  early  constitution 
of  our  parliaments,  have  only  shown  that  little  new  infor- 
mation is  attainable  on  the  subject.  We  can,  indeed,  con- 
jecture pretty  accurately  the  process  by  which  meetings  of 
delegates  for  the  purpose  of  apportioning  taxation  became 
gradually  assemblies,  granting  or  refusing  supplies  with  ab- 
solute authority ;  and  that  by  which  a  convention  sum- 
moned for  the  object  of  representing  grievances  to  the  sov- 
ereign, and  giving  their  approbation  to  his  acts,  became  a 
sovereign  legislative  body.  But  to  investigate  the  internal 
changes  in  the  assembly  itself,  the  mode  by  which  it  be- 
came divided  into  distinct  chambers,  the  manner  in  which 
the  peerage  was  formed  as  a  distinct  body  out  of  the  free 
baronage  of  the  country,  and  that  in  which  the  lower  house 
acquired  the  features  of  a  regular  representative  body, 
may  be  safely  pronounced,  with  our  present  knowledge, 
impossible. 

The  Norman  and  Plantagenet  kings  had  two  councils— 
the  great  council  of  the  kingdom,  and  the  lesser  or  privy 
council ;  and  it  may  be  freely  stated,  after  making  all  de- 
ductions from  the  principle  on  the  score  of  arbitrary  powers 
occasionally  exercised  by  the  sovereign,  that,  ever  since  the 
Norman  conquest,  the  supreme  legislative  power  in  Eng- 
land has  been  placed  in  the  king  and  great  council  conjoint- 
ly. It  was,  moreover,  in  early  times,  a  court  of  criminal 
judicature  also,  and  aided  the  sovereign  in  all  the  more  im- 
portant transactions  of  his  government.  It  interfered  even 
in  matters  of  ecclesiastical  discipline  ;  in  questions  of  peace 
and  war.  of  grace  and  justice ;  and,  by  war  of  advice,  in 
the  appointment  to  vacant  offices,  civil  om  ecclesiastical. 

895 


PARLIAMENT. 


The  meetings  of  the  great  council  were  at  stated  festivals 
under  the  Norman  kings;  but  alter  the  civil  wars  in  the 
reign  of  Stephen  they  were  summoned  at  irregular  periods. 
The  inferior  or  privy  council,  which,  as  well  as  the  great 
council,  is  indifferently  termed  curia  regis  in  early  writers, 
w  as  composed  of  members  named  by  the  king,  and  con- 
stantly attended  <>n  his  person  ;  and  this  inferior  body  usurp- 
ed, during  the  decadence  of  the  great  council,  and  before 
the  full  establishment  of  parliament,  many  of  the  legisla- 
tive functions  of  the  former:  but  by  Magna  Charta  all  aids 
and  scutages  were  to  be  assessed  by  the  great  council ; 
which  thus,  in  principle  at  least,  possessed  a  control  over 
the  extraordinary  revenues  of  the  crown.  Any  meeting  of 
the  great  council,  or  of  a  portion  of  it,  went  by  the  ordinary 
name  of  a  "  parliament,"  or  colloquy. 

But  of  the  constituent  parts  of  this  assembly,  and  the 
changes  which  took  place  in  it,  no  writers  give  a  satis- 
factory account.  All  we  know  is,  that  it  was  supposed 
to  consist  of  all  the  tenants  in  chief  of  the  crown ;  but, 
by  the  charter  of  King  John,  the  archbishops,  bishops, 
abbots,  earls,  and  greater  barons,  were  to  be  summoned 
personally ;  the  other  tenants  in  chief  by  the  sheriffs  and 
bailiffs.  From  this  distinction  is  supposed  to  have  arisen 
the  institution  of  the  peerage  as  a  separate  body  from  the 
lesser  nobility,  which  so  peculiarly  distinguishes  the  con- 
stitution of  England  from  those  of  all  other  feudal  mon- 
archies. 

From  these  mixed  assemblies  to  a  representative  body  the 
change  proceeded  by  steps,  which  it  is  impossible  wholly 
to  trace.  The  first  vestiges,  perhaps,  of  representation,  ap- 
pear in  the  15th  year  of  King  John,  when,  for  a  particular 
purpose,  writs  were  issued  to  the  sheriffs,  commanding  them 
to  return  four  knights  for  each  county,  "  ad  loquendum  cum 
rege  de  negotio  regni,"  at  Oxford.  But  the  better  known 
and  more  distinct  evidence  of  the  beginning  of  the  system 
is  found  in  the  Earl  of  Leicester's  parliament  after  the  bat- 
tle of  Lewes,  in  48  Hen.  3,  when  four  knights  for  every 
county  (except  nine)  were  summoned  to  attend  with  the 
barons,  probably  as  representatives  of  the  inferior  nobility 
or  lesser  barons ;  and  in  the  following  years  were  issued 
the  earliest  writs  of  summons  to  parliament.  These  were 
to  archbishops,  bishops,  and  abbots ;  to  certain  earls  and 
barons  of  the  party  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester;  and  to  the 
sheriffs  of  counties  and  boroughs,  to  return  two  knights  and 
burgesses,  besides  four  from  each  of  the  Cinque  Ports.  And 
although  no  subsequent  writs  directed  to  the  sheriffs  for  the 
purpose  of  county  elections  are  in  existence  earlier  than  18 
Edw.  I.,  nor  of  borough  elections  earlier  than  the  23d  of  the 
same  reign,  yet  it  is  at  least  highly  probable  that  the  exam- 
ple set  by  the  rebellious  Earl  of  Leicester  was  ever  after 
substantially  followed,  and  that  the  representatives  of  coun- 
ties and  towns  were  occasionally  summoned  to  parliament, 
as  well  for  the  purpose  of  assessing  tallage  and  other  aids 
demanded,  as  tor  that  of  giving  their  counsel  respecting 
oilier  affairs  of  the  government.  Edw.  I.  usually  held  four 
parliaments  in  a  year;  nor  does  it  appear  that  these  were 
legislative  assemblies :  they  were  rather  supreme  courts  of 
justice,  chiefly  attended  by  the  ordinary  or  privy  council- 
lors of  the  king;  while  the  legislative  assembly,  certainly 
composed,  after  the  23d  of  this  reign,  of  lords  spiritual  anil 
temporal  and  representatives  of  the  commons,  was  sum 
moned  to  meet  the  king  occasionally  during  one  of  these 
parliaments. 

The  constitutional  law  of  the  country,  whatever  it  may- 
have  been  in  practice,  was  first  declared  by  the  statute  15 
Edw.  2,  which  annulled  the  award  against  the  king's  fa- 
vourites, the  Despencers.  In  tins  net  the  legislative  au- 
thority was  declared  to  reside  in  the  king,  with  tin'  assent 
of  the  prelates,  earls,  barons,  and  commons,  assembled  in 
parliament;  and  from  that  time  the  real  existence  of  that 
body,  and  of  the  form  of  government  which  has  ever  since 
subsisted,  has  been  uninterrupted,  except  only  during  the 
period  of  the  Commonwealth. 

The  division  of  parliament  into  two  houses  took  place  at 
a  period  which  it  is  not  possible  to  ascertain  :  but  it  is  prob- 
able that  the  three  orders  met  in  separate  conventions  for 
the  purpose  of  assessing  taxation,  and  that  the  representar 
lives  of  the  commons  were  at  no  period  admitted  to  sit  in 

the  same  chamber  with  the  earls  and  barons  at'ter  these 
were  expressly  summoned  by  the  kins.  Although  the 
numbers  of  both  houses  have  varied  materially,  no  funda- 
mental alteration  in  their  constitution  took  place  from  this 
time  until  the  union  with  Scotland.  (See  the  Report  of 
the  Lords'  Committee  on  the  Dignity  of  a  Peer;  Hallam's 
Ctmstitt  '.ional  History  of  England.) 

Hoi  bi  01  I. onus. — 1.  Temporal  Peers. — The  origin  of 
the  F.ngltan  peerage  is  involved  in  the  same  obscurity  which 
rests  on  other  parts  of  our  early  constitutional  history. 
The  greater  barons,  as  before  stated,  appear  under  the  tir-t 
Plantagenet  kings  to  have  been  those  who  were  personally 
summoned  to  (he  council,  while  inferior  tenants  in  capita 
were  summoned  together  by  a  general  comnellnMnn    hnt  at 


what  period  their  dignity  became  strictly  hereditary  is  rai- 
knon  n. 

Baronies  are  either  by  tenure,  by  writ,  or  by  patent 
The  first  were  the  original  feudal  titles,  in  which  dignity 
was  invariably  attached  to  the  possession  of  laud.  The 
greater  barons,  who  sat  of  right  in  the  great  council,  are 
supposed,  up  to  the  reign  of  Henry  III.,  to  have  been  those 
who  were  in  the  possession  of  entire  baronies.  But  from 
the  date  of  22  Edw.  1,  it  appears  that  the  possessors  of  en 
tire  baronies  ceased,  of  right,  to  be  summoned  to  parlia- 
ment ;  and  it  is  therefore  generally  held  that  no  barony  by 
tenure  subsists  at  the  present  day,  although  some  recent  ef- 
forts have  been  made  to  establish  a  title  to  this  peculiar  dig- 
nity ;  the  latest  claim  having  been  made  on  the  barony  of 
Berkeley,  by  virtue  of  possession  of  the  castle  oPthat  name. 
Baronies  by  writ  were  created  by  writ  of  summons  to  par- 
liament, which  constituted  an  individual  so  addressed  by 
name,  baron  of  the  realm,  and,  it  is  supposed,  also  made 
that  dignity  hereditary.  The  earliest  writ  of  this  descrip- 
tion was  issued  49  Hen.  3 ;  and  two  now  existing  baronies 
(Despencer  and  Roos)  are  considered  to  have  been  created 
by  it.  In  the  case  of  a  barony  by  writ,  the  dignity  is  not 
conferred  until  the  person  so  summoned  has  actually  sat 
in  parliament.  Baronies  by  writ  descend  in  fee  to  all  the 
heirs  of  the  body  of  the  person  first  created.  If  there  be 
no  son,  and  more  daughters  than  one,  the  title  falls  into 
abeyance  until  only  one  daughter,  or  the  sole  heir  of  only 
one  daughter,  survives. 

Baronies  by  patent  are  created  by  letters  patent,  under 
the  great  seal,  conferring  the  dignity  on  the  donee ;  in 
which  are  inserted  words  of  limitation.  These  are  usually 
to  the  heirs  male  of  the  body  of  the  donee  ;  and  where 
there  are  no  words  of  limitation  in  letters  patent,  it  is  held 
that  the  dignity  will  pass  in  the  same  course.  Otherwise, 
the  limitation  is  to  other  classes  of  heirs,  or  to  specified 
persons,  and  their  heirs  by  way  of  remainder.  See  Re- 
mainder. 

yiscountcies  are  always  created  by  letters  patent.  This 
is  the  most  modern  of  English  titles  of  peerage  ;  and  was 
first  conferred  on  John  Viscount  Beaumont,  18  Hen.  6.  The 
title  vice-comes,  or  vice-earl,  had  been  long  employed  to 
denote  the  sheriff  of  a  county. 

Earldoms  were  introduced  into  England  by  the  Xormans 
at  the  Conquest.  The  dignity  of  an  earl  seems  to  have 
been  originally  attached  to  the  possession  of  a  particular 
tract  of  land  ;  but  in  the  reign  of  Edward  IU.  it  began  to  be 
conferred  by  charters  or  letters  patent,  with  an  express  lim- 
itation either  to  heirs  general  or  heirs  male  of  the  body  of 
the  grantee.  The  word  earl  is  of  Saxon  origin  ;  but  an- 
swers in  dignity  to  the  count  (comes),  in  languages  of  Latin 
descent. 

Of  Marquisates,  the  first  was  that  of  Dublin,  conferred 
on  Robert  De  Vere,  Earl  of  Oxford,  for  life,  by  Richard 
II.  The  term  marquis  is  derived  from  the  Latin  marchio, 
signifying  a  military  officer,  governor  of  the  mark  or  fron- 
tier. This  dignity  has  been  always  conferred  by  letters 
patent. 

Dukedoms  are  the  highest  titles  of  the  English  peerage. 
The  first  was  created  2  Edw.  3,  when  Edward  the  Black 
Prince  was  made  Duke  of  Cornwall.  It  has  been  a  ques- 
tion whether  the  duchies  of  Cornwall  and  Lancaster  wire 
not  duchies  by  tenure ;  but  every  other  dukedom  is  a  mere 
personal  honour,  and  conferred  by  charter  or  letters  patent. 
The  term  duke  is  derived  from  the  Latin  dux,  Irathr  of  an 
army;  answering  to  the  German  herzog,  which  has  the 
same  signification. 

All  peerages  are  forfeited  by  attainder  for  high  treason  ; 
and  attainder  is  consequent  either  on  judgment  or  on  out- 
lawry, upon  an  Indictment  for  that  offence.  Nothing  but  a 
reversal  of  such  act  of  attainder  by  parliament  can  restore 
an  attainted  person,  or  his  posterity,  to  the  lost  dignity. 
Hut  where  a  peerage  is  vested  in  a  person  in  tail  male,  with 
remainder  over  to  another  in  tail  male,  if  the  first  be  at- 
tainted the  peerage  is  forfeited  as  to  him  and  I; 
male;  but,  failing  such  issue  male,  the  dignity  becomes 
vested  in  the  remainderman,  or  his  descendant 

Peerages  by  writ  are  also  forfeited  by  attainder  for  fel- 
ony ;  but  not  peerages  by  charter  or  letters  patent. 

By  the  twenty-second  and  twenty-third  articles  of  the 
Union  between  England  and  Scotland,  sixteen  re| 
atives  are  elected  by  the  Scots  peers  to  serve  in  every  par- 
liament of  the  United  Kingdom.  The  eldest  sons  of  Scot- 
tish peers  were  rendered,  by  a  decision  of  the  House  of 
Commons  shortly  after  the  union,  incapable  of  sitting  in 
parliami  nt,  It  was  held  for  a  long  time  that  a  Scottish 
]>ccr  could  not  sit  in  the  House  of  Lords  if  he  became  a 
peer  of  Great  Britain  ;  but  the  point  was  decided  the  other 
way  in  17-0. 

By  tin'  Act  of  Union  between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 
(39  it  40  G.  3,  c  liT  .  twenty  eight  lords  temporal  are  elect- 
ed for  life  bj  the  peers  of  Ireland.  Peers  of  Ireland,  who 
:• re  members  of  'he  House  of  Commons,  are  not  pH«*Mb  *a 


PARLIAMENT, 


serve  as  peers  while  they  continue  members  of  the  former 
house. 

2.  Lords  Spiritual— -The  right  of  the  two  archbishops 
and  twenty-four  bishops  of  England  and  Wales  to  sit  and 
vote  in  parliament  as  members  of  the  House  of  Lords,  is 
generally  said  to  belong  to  them  as  barons  of  the  realm. 
It  is  undoubtedly  probable  that  at  the  period  of  the  Con- 
quest a  change  took  place  in  the  tenure  of  the  lands  which 
were  held  bv  bishops  and  the  high  regular  clergy ;  and 
that  the  Norman  tenure  by  barony,  tlren  introduced  for 
the  first  time,  was  made  to  comprehend  both  spiritual  and 
temporal  possessions,  which  under  the  Saxon  kings  had 
been  regarded  in  a  different  light.  But  it  is  most  probable 
that  the  dignitaries  of  the  church  were  constituent  mem- 
bers of  the  great  council  of  the  realm,  by  the  English  as 
well  as  all  other  feudal  constitutions,  independent  of  their 
quality  as  barons  (see  Hallam,  Middle  ~1ges,  c.  viii-,  part3) ; 
but  that  the  place  which  was  assigned  them  in  the  House 
of  Lords,  when  the  two  houses  became  separate,  was  in 
virtue  of  their  baronial  character.  Under  the  Plantagenet 
kings  theclergy  were  summoned  to  meet  by  their  represent- 
atives, as  well  as  the  laity,  when  subsidies  were  required; 
and  under  Edward  I.  (see  Ltiders  on  Parliaments,  chap, 
iii.)  attempts  were  made  to  unite  them  and  the  laity  togeth- 
er in  Parliament:  but  they  were  always  resisted  by  the 
clergy,  and  at  last  they  ceased  altogether  to  attend  in  any 
capacity,  retaining  their  own  assemblies.  (See  Convoca- 
tion.) At  the  period  of  the  dissolution  of  monasteries  by 
Henry  YIH.,  the  spiritual  lords  consisted  of  the  then  arch- 
bishops and  bishops,  and  of  twenty-six  mitred  abbots,  and 
two  priors,  all  of  whom  were  then  removed  on  the  dissolu- 
tion of  their  houses.  The  present  spiritual  lords  have  the 
same  rights  and  privileges  in  every  respect  as  the  temporal, 
except  that  it  is  still  a  disputed  point  in  constitutional  law 
whether  they  have  a  right,  on  charge  of  treason  and  felony, 
to  a  trial  by  the  peers ;  and  it  is  also  doubted  whether  they 
have  judicial  power,  as  peers,  in  capital  cases. 

By  the  Act  of  Union  between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
four  lords  spiritual  from  among  the  archbishops  and  bish- 
ops of  that  country  sit  in  the  House  of  Lords  by  rotation  of 
session. 

House  of  Commons. — I.  Persons  qualified  to  serve  in  it. 
— Persons  incompetent  to  sit  as  members  of  parliament 
are,  first,  those  labouring  under  the  incapacities  of  alien- 
■ship,  attaint,  outlawry  in  criminal  proceedings,  minority, 
lunacy,  &c;  next,  those  who  are  disqualified  by  the  pos- 
session of  certain  offices,  or  by  certain  other  temporary 
causes.  Clergymen,  peers,  Scotch  peers,  Irish  peers  for 
places  in  Ireland,  the  eldest  sons  of  Scotch  peers  for  places 
in  Scotland,  the  fifteen  judges  of  England,  the  Scotch  judg- 
es and  barons  of  the  Scotch  exchequer,  are  ineligible. 
Where  the  influence  of  government  is  supposed  to  have  a 
direct  control  over  the  party,  a  disqualification  has  been 
created  by  various  statutes.  Persons  concerned  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  revenues,  with  some  few  exceptions,  are 
ineligible.  So  are  persons  holding  new  offices  under  the 
crown  created  since  1705,  together  with  other  persons  men- 
tioned in  6  Anne,  c.  7.  So  pensioners  during  pleasure  or 
for  a  term  years,  police  magistrates,  government  contractors, 
and  placemen  in  public  offices,  specified  in  15  G.  2,  c.  22. 
There  are  also  offices  connected  with  the  excise  and  cus- 
toms which  only  disqualify  the  holder  from  sitting  and  vo- 
ting, but  not  from  being  elected.  Persons  returned  on  a 
■double  return  are  not  competent  to  sit  until  the  return  is  de- 
cided by  a  committee. 

The  acceptance  of  any  office  of  profit  from  the  crown  by 
a  member  vacates  his  seat,  by  6  Anne,  c.  7.  And  there  are 
two  places  of  no  profit,  the  acceptance  of  which  is  consid- 
ered to  vacate  a  seat:  viz.,  the  stewardship  of  the  Chiltern 
Hundreds,  and  the  stewardship  of  the  manor  of  East  Hun- 
dred. Officers  of  the  army  and  navy  receiving  new  com- 
missions are  excepted  from  this  statute  :  so  are  those  who 
accept  a  foreign  employment,  as  ambassadors. 

A  member  becoming  a  bankrupt  is  incapable  of  sitting  and 
voting  for  a  year,  unless  within  that  time  the  commission 
is  superseded,  or  the  creditors  paid ;  if  this  be  not  done 
within  the  year,  the  seat  of  the  member  is  vacated. 

Whether  a  resolution  of  the  house  can  render  a  person 
ineligible,  may  still  be  considered  an  undecided  question. 

II.  Electoral  Franchise. — Since  the  Acts  of  Union  with 
Scotland  and  Ireland,  and  the  changes  introduced  by  the 
Reform  Act,  the  House  of  Commons  consists  of  658  mem- 
bers—500  English  and  Welsh ;  53  Scotch ;  105  Irish— divi- 
ded as  follows: 

English  and  Welsh.  Scotch.           Iri«h. 

Counties         ....  159  30               64 

Boroughs                                .  337  23               39 

Universities — Oxford     .        .      2  Dublin    2 

Cambridge      .      2 

500  53  ""l05 

AH  persons  are  competent  to  vote  in  the  election  of  mem- 


bers of  parliament,  except  infants,  women.,  aliens  (unless 
made  denizens  by  letters  patent  or  naturalized  by  act  of  par- 
liament), persons  convicted  of  felony  and  certain  other  in- 
famous crimes,  peers ;  Irish  peers,  unless  themselves  mem- 
bers of  the  House  of  Commons  ;  and  persons  holding  va- 
rious employments  under  government  not  freehold  offices. 
There  are  also  some  temporary  disqualifications,  arising 
out  of  employment  in  particular  characters  at  elections, 
and  the  receipt  of  public  alms.  They  must,  however, 
possess  a  certain  qualification,  which  (except  in  the  uni- 
versities, in  which  the  right  of  voting  belongs  to  all  such 
as  have  attained  certain  academical  degrees)  is  one  of 
property. 

1.  In  English  and  Welsh  counties,  the  right  of  voting  be- 
longs to  all  such  as  possess  a  freehold  estate  in  lands, 
tenements,  or  hereditaments,  of  the  value  of  40s.  per  an- 
num above  reprises;  or  who  are  seised  of  lands  or  ten- 
ements in  copyhold,  or  any  other  non-freehold  tenure  for 
life,  or  for  a  larger  estate  of  the  value  of  10/.  per  annum ; 
or  entitled  as  lessee  or  assignee  to  lands  or  tenements  for  the 
unexpired  residue  of  a  term  of  not  less  than  sixty  years  of 
the  same  value,  or  of  a  term  of  not  less  than  twenty  years 
of  the  value  of  50/.  per  annum ;  and  occupiers  of  lands  and 
tenements  at  a  bond  fide  rent  of  501.  or  more  per  annum. 
But  freehold  tenements  for  life,  if  under  the  value  of  KM. 
per  annum,  do  not  confer  a  vote,  unless  the  party  is  in  the  ac- 
tual occupation  of  them,  or  unless  they  have  come  to  him  by 
devise,  marriage,  &c  and  not  by  gift  or  sale.  And  in  the  case 
of  freeholds  and  copyholds,  possession  for  six  months  before 
the  last  day  of  July  in  the  year  in  which  the  voter  is  regis- 
tered is  a  necessary  condition ;  in  that  of  leaseholds,  &c, 
twelve  months. 

2.  The  qualifications  of  voters  in  cities  and  boroughs,  in 
England,  were,  under  the  law  as  it  stood  before  the  Reform 
Act,  extremely  various,  and  depending  more  on  the  local 
law  of  every  place  than  on  the  general  custom  of  the  coun- 
try. The  principal  franchises  were — 1.  In  respect  of  prop- 
erty;  thus  freeholders  to  the  amount  of  40s.  voted  in  many 
towns  and  cities  which  were  counties  of  themselves  ;  lease- 
holders, copyholders,  &c,  in  other  places ;  and  burgage, 
tenants.  The  franchise  of  burgage  tenure,  which  existed  in 
some  towns,  depended  on  the  possession  of  certain  ancient 
tenements,  which  conferred  a  right  to  vote.  2.  In  respect  of 
corporate  privileges.  Freemen  or  burgesses,  and  in  London 
liverymen  (see  Corporation),  enjoyed,  by  virtue  of  their 
privilege,  a  right  of  voting  in  corporate  towns.  3.  In  re- 
spect of  inhabitancy.  Voters  in  this  respect  were  of  four 
sorts :  inhabitants  paying  scot  and  lot ;  inhabitants  house- 
holders, housekeepers,  pot-wallers  (i.  e.,  pot  boilers),  legally 
settled ;  inhabitants  householders  resiant ;  inhabitants  gen- 
erally. In  many  towns,  several  of  these  qualifications 
were  recognised  at  the  same  time  as  conferring  a  right  to 
vote. 

The  alterations  introduced  into  the  system  of  borough 
qualifications  by  the  English  Reform  Act  were  twofold.  In 
the  first  place,  a  new  franchise  is  created  which  is  every- 
where the  same.  Even*  capable  person  who  occupies  with- 
in the  limits  of  a  borough  any  house  or  building  falling 
within  the  specifications  of  the  act,  which  is  either  separ- 
ately or  jointly  with  land  held  within  the  same  borough  as 
owner,  or  of  the  same  landlord,  of  the  clear  yearly  value 
of  10/..  is  entitled  to  vote  ;  provided  he  has  occupied  such 
premises  for  twelve  months  previous  to  the  last  day  of  July 
in  the  year  in  which  he  is  registered ;  and  provided  he  has 
been  rated,  and  paid  all  rates  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  due  up 
to  the  6th  of  April  next  preceding,  and  also  all  assessed  tax- 
es. In  the  next  place,  former  franchises  are  modified  as  fol- 
lows :  Freemen,  and,  in  cities  being  counties  of  them- 
selves, freeholders  and  burgage  tenants,  are  to  retain  their 
qualification.  But  no  one  can  claim  to  be  registered  as  a 
burgess  or  freeman  who  was  admitted  since  the  1st  of 
March,  1831,  except  he  derive  his  title  through  birth  or  ser- 
vitude ;  or  for  a  freehold  or  burgage  tenement  for  an  estate 
acquired  since  that  day.  All  other  borough  franchises  are 
abolished,  saving  their  rights  to  individuals  possessed  of 
them  at  the  passing  of  the  Reform  Act. 

Finally,  the  act  requires  that  every  person,  in  order  to  be 
registered  as  a  voter  for  a  city  or  borough,  must  have  resi- 
ded for  six  calendar  months  next  previously  to  the  last  day 
of  Julv  in  that  year  within  such  city  or  borough,  or  within 
seven  "miles  of  it.  And  it  is  also  provided,  that  no  tenement 
situate  within  a  borough,  and  capable  of  conferring  a  qual- 
ification on  its  occupier  to  vote  within  the  borough,  shall 
give  a  vote  for  the  county. 

Several  boroughs  in  Wales,  as  well  as  in  Scotland,  are 
contributory ;  several  towns  being  joined  in  one  for  the  pur- 
pose of  returning  members  to  Parliament. 

The  system  of  registration  of  voters,  in  England  and 
Wales,  w'as  framed  by  the  Reform  Act.  In  counties,  the  re- 
gister is  formed  by  the  overseers  of  the  poor  in  every  parish 
or  township  making  the  list  by  inserting  all  persons  who 
have  delivered  to  them,  before  the  20th  of  July  in  each  year, 
3K  S97 


PARLIAMENT. 


a  claim  to  vote  in  respect  of  property  situate  within  their 
district.  The  lists  thus  drawn  up  by  the  overseers,  accord- 
ing to  a  form  specified  in  the  act,  are  delivered  to  the  high 
constable,  and  by  him  to  the  clerk  of  the  peace  for  the  coun- 
ty. The  overseers  are  empowered  to  object  to  any  person 
on  their  list  whom  they  conceive  not  entitled  to  vote.  They 
are  also  to  receive  written  notices  of  objection  by  third  par- 
ties, who  are  themselves  voters  or  claimants,  duly  delivered 
to  them,  and  to  mark  the  names  of  all  parties  so  objected  to 
on  the  list.  The  lists  thus  formed  are  revised  by  the  bar- 
rister or  barristers  appointed  for  that  purpose.  These  offi- 
cers are  nominated  by  the  senior  judge  of  assize  travelling 
the  summer  circuit  within  his  district;  and  by  the  chief  jus- 
tice of  the  King's  Bench  in  the  metropolitan  county  and 
boroughs.  Their  courts,  for  the  purpose  of  revising  the 
lists  and  deciding  on  claims  and  objections,  must  be  held 
between  the  15th  September  and  25th  October  in  every 
year.  The  lists  revised  by  then)  form  the  register  for  the 
county,  which  is  the  authentic  list  of  voters  until  the  next 
registration.  Any  person  having  his  name  and  qualification 
once  inserted  in  the  register  is  not  bound  to  make  a  claim 
another  year. 

In  cities  and  boroughs  the  course  is  somewhat  different. 
On  or  before  the  last  day  of  July  in  every  year  the  over- 
seers are  to  make  out  an  alphabetical  list  of  persons  entitled 
to  vote  under  this  act ;  and  another  of  persons  entitled  to 
vote  in  respect  of  ancient  rights  (except  freemen,  the  list 
of  whom  is  to  be  made  by  the  town  clerk,  and  in  London 
by  the  clerks  of  the  several  companies).  Any  person 
whose  name  has  been  omitted  in  either  of  these  lists  is  to 
give  notice  of  a  claim,  in  writing,  to  the  overseer  or  town 
clerk.  Objections  are  to  be  made,  in  boroughs,  only  by  par- 
ties whose  names  are  inserted  in  the  list.  The  lists  are  re- 
vised by  the  barristers  in  the  same  manner  as  those  for  the 
counties,  and  delivered  to  the  returning  officer. 

3.  In  Scotland,  the  right  of  voting  in  counties  is  declared 
by  the  Scotch  Reform  Act,  2  &  3  W.  4,  c.  65,  to  be  in  the 
owners  of  ancient  rights  (termed  superiorities)  not  acquired 
since  1831 :  in  such  persons  as  have  been  owners  for  six 
months  previous  to  the  last  day  of  July  of  "  any  lands,  feu 
duties,  or  other  heritable  subjects,"  of  the  annual  value  of 
10/.  after  deductions.  Where  two  or  more  parties  are  in- 
terested in  any  subject  to  which  a  right  of  voting  is  for  the 
first  time  attached  by  the  act,  as  life-renter  and  as  fiar,  the 
right  shall  be  in  the  former.  The  right  is  also  extended  to 
tenants  for  life,  or  on  lease  of  fifty-seven  years  or  more, 
at  £10  per  annum  ;  tenants  on  lease  of  nineteen  years  or 
more,  or  occupants  at  £50  per  annum ;  and  tenants  who 
have  paid  for  their  interest  a  price  of  .£300. 

4.  In  Scottish  boroughs,  the  right  of  voting  is  in  occupiers 
of  houses,  &c.  (as  in  the  English  Reform  Act)  of  the  year- 
ly value  of  £10.  Claims  by  qualified  persons  to  vote  for 
counties  are  to  be  lodged  with  the  schoolmaster,  and  he  is 
to  make  out  the  lists  of  claimants  and  objections.  Claims 
for  votes  in  boroughs  are  given  in  to  the  town  clerk,  and  the 
lists  made  out  by  him.  The  sheriff  holds  courts  to  decide 
on  questions  relative  to  the  registration :  his  powers  and  du- 
ties are  analagous  to  those  of  the  revising  barrister  in  Eng- 
land. 

5.  In  Ireland,  the  right  of  voting  in  counties  is  in  free- 
holders at  £10  per  annum  (by  the  act  10  G.  4,  c.  8,  which 
abolished  the  old  40s.  qualification) ;  and  by  2  &  3  W.  4,  c. 
88,  in  leaseholders  for  sixty  years  at  £10  per  annum,  for 
fourteen  years  at  £20 ;  and  in  copyholders  at  £10  per  annum. 

6.  In  counties  of  cities  and  counties  of  towns  in  Ireland, 
the  franchise  is  in  £10  freeholders,  £20  leaseholders,  £10 
householders,  and  in  the  40s-.  freeholders  entitled  under  4 
G.  4,  c.  55  ;  but  not  in  any  persons  acquiring  such  freeholds 
since  1H31,  except  by  descent,  marriage,  &c. ;  and  in  £10 
occupiers  who  have  occupied  for  six  months :  in  all  other 
boroughs,  in  £10  occupiers  (the  franchise  being  the  same  as 
in  England,  with  the  exception  that  the  words  "  or  other 
building"  are  omitted)  who  have  occupied  for  six  months. 
The  existing  rights  of  freemen,  &c,  are  saved.  Registra- 
tion in  Ireland  takes  place  at  a  special  session,  before  the 
assistant  barrister  or  chairman  of  each  county  ;  parties 
desirous  to  be  put  on  the  register,  whether  for  counties 
or  boroughs,  having  previously  given  notice  to  the  clerk 
of  the  peace,  his  deputy,  or  the  high  constable.  Persons 
declared  by  the  assistant  barrister  to  be  entitled,  verify 
their  title  by  affidavit,  which  is  filed  of  record.  An  appeal 
is  given  to  the  judges  of  assize.  A  certificate  of  registry 
is  given  to  each  registered  voter.  Freeholders  at  £50  per 
annum  may  be  registered  at  assizes,  or  before  a  judge  in 
Dublin. 

III.  Mode  of  F.lection. — 1.  In  England  and  Wales,  when 
the  sheriff"  receives  the  writ  commanding  him  to  return  a 
knight  or  knight  of  the  shire,  or  division  of  the  shire,  he 
makes  proclamation,  within  two  days  after  rereh  inu'  the 
writ,  at  the  place  where  the  election  is  to  be  holden  :  that 
is,  the  principal  |>olling  place.  Counties  and  divisions  are 
subdivided  into  convenient  districts,  with  a  polling  place 


in  each.  On  the  day  fixed,  after  the  Bribery  Act  has  been 
read,  the  candidates  are  proposed  ;  and  the  election  pro- 
ceeds. In  boroughs,  the  sheriff  (or  other  officer  to  whom 
the  writ  is  directed)  sends  his  precept  to  the  returning 
officer,  who  acts  in  the  same  manner  as  the  sheriff  in  the 
county  ;  and  boroughs  are  similarly  divided  into  polling 
districts. 

When  a  candidate  is  proposed,  he  may  be  called  on  by 
any  other  candidate,  or  any  two  of  the  electors,  to  swear 
to  his  qualification.  The  qualification  required  by  9  Anne, 
c.  5,  is,  for  a  knight  of  the  shire  £600  per  annum  in  lands 
and  tenements,  freehold  or  copyhold,  for  his  own  life,  or  a 
greater  estate;  for  burgesses,  £300  per  annum  of  similar 
property.  Eldest  sons  of  peers,  or  of  persons  qualified  to 
sit  as  knights  of  the  shire,  are  themselves  qualified.  Mem- 
bers for  the  universities  are  not  required  to  possess  any 
qualification. 

It  is  still  questionable  whether  the  returning  officer  can 
refuse  to  return  a  candidate  who  refuses  to  take  the  quali- 
fication oath  before  the  poll.  After  the  election,  and 
before  he  takes  his  seat,  each  member  must  deliver  to  the 
clerk  of  the  house  a  paper  signed  by  himself  containing  a 
description  of  his  estate  of  qualification,  and  is  sworn  to  its 
value  at  the  same  time  at  which  he  takes  the  other  oaths. 
His  qualification  may  then  be  questioned  in  a  petition 
against  his  election. 

When  more  candidates  are  proposed  than  the  number  to 
be  returned,  the  election  is  decided  by  the  sheriffs  de- 
claring the  majority  on  view  (by  calling  on  them  to  hold 
up  their  hands).  But  a  poll  may  be  demanded  by  a  candi- 
date or  elector,  either  before  or  after  such  declaration  by 
the  sherirf. 

The  poll  must  commence  on  the  day  on  which  it  is  de- 
manded, or  on  the  day  after.  By  the  Reform  Act  (s.  58), 
three  questions  only  can  be  asked  of  any  person  offering  to 
vote  as  to  his  right — whether  he  is  the  same  person  whose 
name  appears  on  the  register,  whether  he  has  already  voted, 
whether  he  has  the  same  qualification  for  which  his  name 
was  inserted  on  the  register ;  and  he  may  be  required  to 
take  the  oath  specified  in  the  act  as  to  his  person  and  quali- 
fication. Besides  this,  the  oaths  of  allegiance,  and  supre- 
macy, and  abjuration,  may  be  put  to  an  elector  at  the 
request  of  any  candidate,  unless  the  elector  be  a  Roman 
Catholic,  in  which  case  he  may  be  required  to  take  the 
oath  specified  in  10  G.  4,  c.  7 :  all  the  foregoing  oaths  are 
to  be  taken  before  commissioners.  The  briber)-  oath  may 
also  be  administered  at  the  poll  by  the  returning  officer. 
There  are  also  certain  local  oaths,  required  by  act  of  par- 
liament to  be  taken  at  the  election  for  particular  bo- 
roughs. 

By  the  Reform  Act  the  poll  was  limited,  in  England  and 
Wales,  to  two  days'  duration,  both  in  counties  and  bo- 
roughs. And  now,  by  a  recent  enactment,  the  poll  is  de- 
clared, in  counties,  the  day  next  but  one  after  its  close  ;  in 
boroughs,  the  day  after  its  close.  By  5  &  6  W.  4,  c.  1,  the 
duration  of  the  poll  in  boroughs  was  further  limited  to  a 
single  day.  The  return  is  made,  in  counties,  by  tacking 
the  names  of  the  persons  chosen  to  the  writ ;  in  boroughs, 
by  tacking  them  to  the  precepts  and  returning  them  to  the 
sheriff,  who  then  tacks  them  to  the  writ,  and  forwards  the 
whole  together  to  the  clerk  of  the  crown  in  chancery. 
Where  the  votes  are  equal,  it  is  the  practice  to  make  double 
returns. 

2.  In  Scotland,  the  sheriff  fixes  the  day  for  a  county 
election  at  not  less  than  ten  or  more  than  sixteen  days 
after  the  writ  is  received  :  the  counties  are  divided  into 
polling  districts,  not  exceeding  fifteen  in  number :  and  the 
poll  lasts  two  days.  In  boroughs  similar  regulations  are 
adopted  to  those  in  England  ;  but  the  sheriff,  or  his  substi- 
tute, superintends  the  poll,  which  may  last  three  days. 
The  sheriff  is  the  returning  officer. 

3.  In  Ireland,  the  sheriff  proclaims  the  time  and  place 
of  a  county  election  five  days  after  receiving  the  writ ;  and 
from  ten  to  sixteen  days  after  such  proclamation  the  election 
is  held.  In  boroughs,  the  sheriff  of  a  county  of  a  city  or 
town,  the  mayor,  sovereign,  or  other  returning  officer,  holds 
the  election,  not  later  than  eight  days  after  receipt  of  the 
precept  from  the  sheriff.  The  poll  shall  commence  on  the 
day  on  which  it  is  demanded,  and  continue  five  days,  but 
may  be  closed  on  any  day  on  which  not  more  than  twenty 
persons  have  polled. 

IV.  Flection  Committees. — In  the  first  parliament  of 
James  I.  a  committee  of  privileges  and  returns  was  ap- 
pointed, to  which  the  trial  of  every  petition  against  an 
election  was  referred  which  was  not  heard  before  the 
House  of  Commons.  A  similar  committee  was  appointed 
at  the  commencement  of  every  session,  until  the  present 
practice  of  trying  such  petitions  before  select  committees 
began.  This  practice  is  founded  on  a  variety  of  statutes, 
beginning  with  HI  G.  3,  c.  16,  commonly  called  the  Gren- 
ville  Act,  consolidated  by  9  G.  4,  c.  22. 

There  are  six  sorts  of  petitions  referred  to  a  select  com- 


PARLIAMENT. 


miltee :  1.  Complaining  of  undue  election.  2.  Of  undue 
return.  3.  That  no  return  has  been  made  to  the  writ  in 
due  time,  &c.  4.  That  ttie  return  is  not  according  to  the 
requisition  of  the  writ ;  or  complaining  of  special  matters 
contained  in  it  (as  double  returns  or  special  returns).  5. 
To  oppose  the  right  of  election,  or  of  appointing  returning 
officers,  determined  by  a  select  committee,  and  repeated  to 
the  house.  0.  To  defend  such  right.  The  four  first  may 
be  subscribed  by  any  candidate  or  person  claiming  a  right 
to  vote ;  the  two  last  by  a*  persons.  A  petition  to  be  ad- 
mitted as  a  party  to  defend  such  return,  or  oppose  the 
prayer  of  such  petition,  is  addressed  to  the  house,  and  not 
referred  to  a  committee.  An  election  petition  is  presented 
to  the  house  by  a  member  within  a  certain  time  limited  by 
the  house.  No  proceedings  will  be  had  on  petitions  com- 
plaining of  an  undue  election  or  return,  &c,  unless  the 
subscriber,  within  fourteen  days  after  its  presentation,  or 
farther  time  limited  by  the  house,  enter  into  certain  recog- 
nizances for  the  payment  of  costs  and  compliance  with 
other  conditions. 

When  such  a  petition  is  presented,  a  day  and  hour  are 
appointed  by  the  house  for  taking  it  into  consideration.  At 
that  time,  under  the  Grenville  Act,  if  100  members  were 
present,  the  parties  and  agents  nttending,  thirty-three  were 
selected  by  ballot;  which  number,  on  each  party  striking 
off  one  alternately,  was  reduced  to  eleven.  If  more  than 
one  petition  is  to  be  taken  into  consideration  on  the  same 
day,  successive  lists  of  thirty-three  were  formed,  two,  three, 
or  more,  according  to  the  number  of  members  present  in 
the  house.  Voters,  petitioners,  members  against  whom 
petitions  are  presented,  and  those  whose  return  has  not 
been  brought  in,  were  disqualified  from  serving,  and  their 
names,  if  drawn,  were  set  aside.  If  no  party  appeared  to 
oppose  the  petition,  the  clerk  of  the  house  and  the  peti- 
tioner reduced  the  list  to  eleven.  This  system  was  con- 
siderably altered  by  the  provisions  of  2  &  3  Vict.,  c.  38, 
an  act  introduced  by  Sir  Robert  Peel.  Under  it  a  gener- 
al committee  of  elections  is  appointed  by  the  speaker  at 
the  beginning  of  every  session.  This  general  committee 
chooses  six  members  and  a  chairman  to  form  a  select  com- 
mittee to  try  an  election  petition,  out  of  the  whole  list  of 
members,  divided  and  corrected  in  the  manner  therein  spe- 
cified. 

The  same  nicety,  it  is  said,  is  not  required  in  election 
petitions,  as  to  their  form,  as  in  pleadings  at  law;  but  it  is 
now  decided,  by  a  series  of  precedents,  that  it  is  necessary 
that  the  matter  intended  to  be  proved  should  be  sufficiently 
set  forth  in  the  allegations  of  the  petition ;  and  that,  on 
the  hearing  of  the  petition,  it  will  not  be  competent  to  the 
party  to  go  into  evidence  in  proof  of  facts  not  distinctly 
alleged  therein.  But  there  is  considerable  variety  in  the 
decisions  as  to  what  is  sufficiency  of  allegation.  An 
election  petition,  when  once  presented,  can  only  be  with- 
drawn by  permission  of  the  house :  to  which  jurisdiction 
in  this  respect  is  still  left  by  the  Grenville  Act.  The 
house  will  therefore  require  to  be  satisfied  that  there  is  no 
fraud  or  conceit  in  the  withdrawal.  Supplemental  election 
petitions  may  be  presented,  on  the  discovery  of  new  mat- 
ter after  the  presentation  of  the  first  petition. 

In  petitions  of  the  first  four  classes,  parties  (if  the  elec- 
tion is  defended)  are  required  to  send  in  to  the  clerk  of  the 
House  of  Commons  lists  of  the  votes  to  which  they  intend 
to  object. 

Select  committees  sit  every  day  ;  but  with  power  to  ad- 
journ for  twenty-four  hours  on  their  own  authority,  and 
for  a  longer  period  on  leave  obtained  from  the  house  on 
motion.  Members  may  only  absent  themselves  by  leave, 
or  on  excuse  to  be  allowed  by  the  house :  if  any  are  absent 
otherwise,  the  committee  cannot  sit.  Committees  are  not 
dissolved  by  prorogation  of  parliament,  but  adjourned  to 
the  next  time  of  meeting. 

In  the  first  four  classes  of  petitions,  the  committee  have 
to  try  the  merits  of  the  election  ;  and  to  determine,  by 
their  votes,  whether  the  petitioners,  or  the  sitting  mem- 
bers, or  either  of  them,  were  duly  returned ;  or  whether 
the  election  is  void,  and  a  new  writ  ought  to  issue.  The 
fifth  class  raises  the  question  as  to  the  right  of  election, 
or  of  nominating  returning  officers,  &c.  The  determina- 
tion of  the  committee  is  in  each  case  final  and  conclusive; 
and  is  embodied  in  its  report  to  the  house  at  the  conclu- 
sion of  its  sittings.  A  committee  has  also  the  power,  if  it 
pleases,  of  making  a  special  report,  instead  of  deciding 
generally  on  the  merits  ;  in  which  case  the  house  makes 
such  order  on  the  report  as  may  seem  proper.  An  exami- 
nation into  the  bad  votes  given  on  each  side  is  termed  a 
scrutiny  ;  and  the  effect  of  it  is,  that  if  on  balancing  the 
number  of  good  votes  retained  after  such  examination  the 
petitioner  has  the  majority,  it  is  reported  that  he  ought  to 
have  been  returned.  Where  an  incapacitated  person  has 
been  elected,  the  principle  of  parliamentary  law  is,  that  if 
his  disqualification  was  sufficiently  known  to  the  electors 
at  the  time  they  returned  him,  their  votes  are  considered 


as  lost ;  and  it  is  reported  that  the  next  on  the  poll  ought 
to  have  been  returned.  If  the  fact  of  his  disqualification 
was  not  known,  the  election  is  simply  void.  It  appears, 
however,  not  to  be  absolutely  decided  whether  the  incapa- 
city which  renders  the  votes  thrown  away  must  be  an  in- 
herent or  contingent  incapacity  ;  as,  for  example,  where  it 
was  publicly  known  that  a  candidate  was  disqualified  by 
reason  of  having  been  guilty  of  acts  of  bribery  with  refer- 
ence to  the  election.  In  this  case  it  has  been  argued  that 
the  election  is  not  void,  but  that  the  votes  given  for  the 
person  so  disqualified  are  thrown  away.  In  other  cases, 
bribery,  treating,  undue  interference,  &.c,  have  the  effect 
of  avoiding  elections ;  and  the  report  is,  that  a  new  writ 
ought  to  issue. 

Finally,  an  election  committee  has  the  power  of  de- 
claring either  the  petition,  or  the  opposition  to  it,  "  frivo- 
lous and  vexatious"  in  its  report ;  the  effect  of  which  is  to 
fix  the  party  against  whom  such  declaration  is  made  with 
the  payment  of  costs.  These  costs  are  ascertained  by 
application  to  the  speaker,  who  directs  two  persons  to  tax 
them,  and  then  grants  a  certificate  ;  on  production  of 
which  in  a  superior  court  judgment  may  be  entered  up  for 
the  amount. 

V.  Mode  of  Assembling  Parliament. — Parliament  can 
only  be  convened  by  the  authority  of  the  king ;  and,  by  6 
W.  &  M.,  c.  2,  must  be  held  at  least  once  every  threa 
years  ;  but,  in  point  of  fact,  as  the  Mutiny  Act,  Land  Tax, 
and  Malt  Act  are  only  passed  for  a  single  year,  the  sittings 
of  parliament  are  of  necessity  annual.  The  same  order  by 
the  king  in  council  which  commands  the  lord  chancellor 
to  cause  the  great  seal  to  be  affixed  to  a  proclamation  for 
dissolving  parliament,  is  accompanied  with  a  warrant  to 
issue  writs  for  a  new  one.  Writs  for  the  return  of  mem- 
bers of  the  House  of  Commons  are  directed  to  the  sheriffs 
of  counties,  with  certain  exceptions :  viz.  the  returning 
officers  of  places  counties  in  themselves,  the  Bishop  of 
Durham,  the  Chancellor  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster,  the 
Chamberlain  of  the  County  Palatine  of  Chester,  the 
Constable  of  Dover,  and  the  Warden  of  the  Cinque  Ports. 
On  a  vacancy  during  the  sitting  of  parliament,  the  writ 
issues  under  warrant  of  the  speaker  by  the  authority  of 
the  house  itself.  • 

VI.  Meeting  of  Parliament.  Preliminary  Proceedings. — 
The  new  parliament  meets  on  the  return  day  of  the  writ, 
unless  prorogued  by  writ  of  prorogation  ;  but  when  it  is 
intended  that  it  should  meet  for  the  actual  despatch  of 
business  on  the  day  to  which  it  is  prorogued,  notice  to  that 
effect  is  given  by  proclamation  forty  days  before  ;  and  the 
parliament  begins  only  on  the  day  to  which  it  is  prorogued. 
The  acts  of  meeting  and  passing  a  statute  constitute  to- 
gether a  session.  Upon  the  assembling  of  parliament  the 
king  meets  it  in  person,  or  by  representation,  and  explains 
in  his  speech  the  reasons  of  convening  it.  In  modern 
times,  the  speech  is  not  delivered  until  the  commons  have 
chosen  a  speaker,  which  they  receive  a  command  from  the 
king  to  do. 

The  first  occasion  on  which  this  important  officer  is  ex- 
pressly named  occurs  in  the  parliament  51  Edw.  3.  His 
duties  are — to  act  entirely  as  the  servant  of  the  house 
which  appoints  him.  He  takes  the  chair,  which  he  can- 
not do  unless  forty  members  are  present ;  maintains  order, 
by  naming  (if  necessary)  members  who  are  disorderly ; 
explains  and  informs  on  questions  of  order  or  practice,  if 
he  is  referred  to.  He  can  neither  speak  nor  vote  unless  in 
case  of  equality  of  votes ;  or  in  committees  of  the  whole 
house,  where,  as  soon  as  the  chair  is  taken,  he  is  reduced 
to  the  footing  of  an  ordinary  member. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  meeting  of  every  new  parliament 
certain  oaths  are  administered  to  the  members  by  the 
Lord  Steward  of  the  King's  Household :  these  are  the 
oaths  of  allegiance,  supremacy,  and  abjuration  ;  but,  by 
the  Roman  Catholic  Relief  Act,  members  professing  that 
religion  take,  instead  of  these  oaths,  a  declaration  substi- 
tuted for  them.  By  33  G.  2,  c.  20,  they  are  also  required 
to  make  oath  that  they  are  qualified,  and  deliver  in  their 
qualification  at  the  table.  But,  previous  to  being  sworn, 
every  person  returned  is  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a 
member  of  the  house,  except  as  to  the  right  of  voting  only. 
Before  the  king's  speech  is  taken  into  consideration,  it  is 
usual  to  read  a  bill  as  a  matter  of  form.  The  king's  speech 
being  then  reported  to  the  house,  an  address  of  thanks,  as 
moved  or  as  amended,  is  returned.  The  usual  committees 
are  then  appointed :  of  these  the  committee  of  privilege  is 
the  only  one  of  which  the  duties  are  at  present  of  a  prac- 
tical kind. 

The  method  of  proceeding  in  making  laws  is,  for  the 
most  part,  similar  in  the  two  houses  ;  but  different  in  pub- 
lic and  private  bills. 

VII.  Method  of  Proceeding  on  Bills  in  general. — Statutes 
are  divided  into  public  and  private  ;  and  the  distinction,  in 
a  parliamentary  sense,  is  merely  derived  from  the  payment 
of  fees,  which  are  due  on  private  and  not  on  public  acts. 

899 


PARLIAMENT. 


Constitutionally,  public  acts  arc,  in  general,  such  as  relate 
to  the  kingdom  at  large ;  private  acts,  to  Individuals  and 
classes.  Many  acts,  however,  which  immediately  concern 
classes  only  are  within  the  category  of  public  acts;  as,  for 
instance,  acts  concerning  all  spiritual  persons,  or  all  lords 
of  manors.  Judicially  the  distinction  between  the  classes 
is,  that  the  courts  of  justice  are  officially  bound  to  notice 
public  acts  :  but  private  acts  must  be  formally  shown  or 
pleaded.  This  rule,  however,  admits  of  certain  technical 
exceptions. 

All  private  bills  affecting  the  peerage  must  begin  with 
the  lords;  all  bills  which,  directly  or  Indirectly,  impose  a 
charge  on  the  people  must  begin  with  the  commons.  This 
class,  therefore,  includes  all  bills  under  which  tolls  may 
be  levied  for  private  benefit ;  such  as  bills  for  making 
roads,  canals,  railways,  bridges,  inclosure  bills,  and  bills 
containing  clauses  inflicting  pecuniary  penalties  for  offences 
against  private  property,  &c. 

All  other  private  bills  may  begin  with  either  house  in- 
differently ;  but,  in  practice,  one  large  class  of  private 
enactments — viz.  estate  bills,  which  enlarge  or  alter  the 
power  of  individuals  in  disposing  of  their  proprerty ;  divorce 
bills  ;  bills  to  enable  parties,  under  statutable  restrictions, 
to  alienate,  &c,  begin  in  the  lords  ;  that  house,  from  its 
judicial  character,  being  best  fitted  for  the  discussion  of 
similar  subjects.  On  the  other  hand,  bills  concerning  the 
parliamentary  rights,  &c.  of  particular  places,  usually  com- 
mence, by  custom,  in  the  commons.  There  is  one  instance 
of  a  bill  which  begins  with  neither  house,  but  with  the 
crown ;  viz.  a  bill  for  a  general  pardon.  Bills  are  always 
read  in  each  house,  after  leave  has  been  given  to  bring 
them  in,  three  times  before  they  are  passed  (with  the  ex- 
ception of  bills  of  grace,  such  as  for  a  general  pardon,  which 
are  passed  on  the  first  reading).  General  petitions  against 
a  bill  are  usually  ordered  to  lie  on  the  table  until  the  second 
reading ;  on  which  occasion  counsel  are  heard  against  a  bill, 
whenever  leave  is  given  for  their  introduction.  The  second 
reading  affords  the  legitimate  period  for  discussion  on  the 
principle  of  the  bill ;  and  the  bill  is  then  (as  indeed  it  is, 
on  principle,  in  every  stage)  open  to  the  proposal  of  amend- 
ments. If  a  bill  be  rejected,  either  on  the  first  or  second 
reading,  it  cannot  be  again  proposed  that  session.  After 
the  second  reading,  the  bill  is  committed  ;  i.  e.,  referred 
either  to  a  select  committee,  or,  if  the  bill  be  of  importance, 
to  a  committee  of  the  whole  house.  Such  a  committee 
requires,  in  the  commons,  the  presence  only  of  forty  mem- 
bers ;  in  the  lords,  of  all  members  in  attendance.  In  com- 
mittee the  bill  is  debated  clause  by  clause,  with  the  advan- 
tage that  members  are  not  restricted,  as  in  a  debate  of  the 
house,  to  speaking  once.  The  proper  province  of  the  com- 
mittee is  to  consider  the  bill  in  its  details.  When  the  bill 
has  gone  through  the  committee,  the  chairman  reports  it  to 
the  house,  with  such  amendments  as  the  committee  may 
have  made.  The  house  can  then  agree  or  disagree  with 
the  amendments  of  the  committee.  (See  Amendment.) 
The  bill  is  then  engrossed,  and  afterwards  read  a  third  time. 
In  the  commons,  it  is  usual  to  read  a  bill  which  originates 
with  the  lords  the  third  time  on  the  same  day  on  which  it 
is  reported.  A  new  clause  added  to  a  bill  on  the  third 
reading  is  termed  a  rider.  A  bill  thrice  read,  and  passed, 
admits  of  no  farther  alteration,  except  for  clerical  errors. 
A  bill  sent  from  the  commons  to  the  lords  is  usually  read 
the  first  time  in  the  latter  house  on  the  day  on  which  it  is 
brought;  and,  when  It  has  passed  through  the  different 
stages,  is  sent  back  to  the  commons,  with  the  amendments, 
if  any  have  been  made,  with  which  the  commons  then 
agree  or  disagree  ;  the  same  process,  substantially,  being 
followed,  vice  versa,  where  the  bill  originates  with  the 
lords.  The  amendments  returned  with  a  bill  from  one 
house  to  another  are  token  into  separate  consideration  ;  and 
the  amendments,  if  agreed  to,  are  always  considered  as 
proceeding  from  that  house  in  which  the  bill  first  originated. 
If  one  house  cannot  agree  to  the  amendments  proposed  by 
the  other,  a  conference  is  usually  held  between  membere 
deputed  by  each  bouse,  who  can  only  make  use  of  the  in- 
structions delivered  by  the  house  in  their  arguments,  the 
conference  being  desired  by  that  house  which  disagrees 
with  the  amendments  in  question.  If  the  house  which 
amends  is  not  satisfied  at  the  first  conference  with  the 
reasons  alleged  fur  its  disagreement  by  the  other,  it  desires 
another  conference  ;  if  this  too  is  unsuccessful,  what  is 
termed  a  free  conference  may  be  demanded,  in  which  the 
managers  of  the  conference  are  not  under  the  same  re- 
strictions as  to  instructions,  but  may  urge  their  own  argu- 
ments. If  one  or  more  free  conferences  fail  of  producing 
unanimity,  the  bill  is  dropped.  It  is  necessary  to  observe, 
that  in  bills  of  supply  (which  originate  in  the  commons) 
the  lords  cannot  make  any  except  verbal  amendments  ; 
they  must  either  admit  or  reject  altogether.  When  a  bill 
has  passed  both  houses,  it  is  deposited  in  the  House  of 
I.nnjs,  to  wait  fur  the  royal  assent  icxcept  in  the  cam  at  a 
bill  of  supply,  which,  is  presented  by  the  speaker  to  the 
900 


throne).  The  royal  assent  is  given  either  in  person,  or  by 
letter  patent  under  the  great  seal,  notified  by  commission. 
The  bill  then  becomes  a  statute,  is  transcribed  into  a  roll 
by  the  clerk  of  the  parliament,  delivered  into  chancery, 
and  by  usage,  although  not  necessarily,  printed  at  the  king's 
press. 

VIII.  Method  of  Proceeding-  on  Private  Bills. — Petitions 
for  private  bills  must  be  presented  in  the  Commons  within 
fourteen  days  after  the  first  Friday  in  the  session ;  and,  on 
being  presented  by  a  member,  are  referred  to  a  committee, 
which  is  then  named,  consisting  of  five  members  selected 
by  the  committee  clerk.  The  committee  on  the  petition 
ascertains  whether  or  not  the  standing  orders  applicable  to 
the  case  have  been  complied  with,  in  which  case  they 
make  their  report,  accordingly,  to  the  house  :  leave  is  then 
given  to  bring  in  a  bill,  unless,  as  in  some  cases,  it  is  expe- 
dient first  to  re-commit  the  report.  The  bill  having  been 
read  a  first  time,  after  an  interval,  which  is  varied  in  prac- 
tice according  to  the  nature  of  its  subject,  the  House  pro- 
ceeds to  the  second  reading  ;  on  which  occasion  objections 
to  the  principle  of  the  bill  are  usually  made,  specific  objec- 
tions to  its  provisions  being  more  properly  reserved  to  a  la- 
ter stage.  A  member  may,  individually,  oppose  a  private 
bill  in  any  stage,  or  he  may  present  a  petition  against  it. 
On  the  bill  being  read  a  second  time,  it  is  referred  to  a 
committee,  which  is  formed  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
first  committee  on  the  petition.  In  the  committee  on  the 
bill  all  the  blanks  left  on  its  first  introduction  are  filled  up, 
and  amendments  introduced,  and,  if  unopposed,  the  bill  is 
reported.  Opposition  to  a  private  bill,  in  a  committee  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  is  conducted  as  follows :  The  petition 
against  the  bill,  having  been  referred  to  the  committee,  is 
read  there  ;  if  the  parties  supporting  it  appear,  the  promo- 
ters of  the  bill  first  state  their  case,  and  produce  and  sum 
up  their  evidence  in  support  of  its  preamble  ;  the  opponents 
next  state  their  case,  and  produce  and  sum  up  their  evi- 
dence against  it ;  the  promoters  then  reply,  and  the  com- 
mittee vote.  If  the  committee  resolve  that  the  preamble 
is  proved,  the  clauses  are  read,  and  the  opponents  are  at 
liberty  to  make  objections  to  each  successively,  the  promo- 
ters not  being  called  upon  otherwise  to  offer  evidence  in 
support  of  them.  The  presence  of  five  members  of  the 
committee  is  necessary  to  any  proceeding.  A  committee 
cannot  dissolve  itself,  and  consequently  its  existence  con- 
tinues until  it  has  reported  to  the  House ;  although  by  ad- 
journing indefinitely,  or  by  voting  the  chairman  out  of  the 
chair,  they  might  in  effect  entirely  release  themselves  from 
the  duty  imposed  on  them  ;  but  the  House,  in  similar  cases, 
has  exereised  the  power  of  ordering  the  committee  to  pro- 
ceed forthwith. 

When  the  report  is  brought  up  and  read,  as  in  the  case 
of  other  bills,  it  is  ordered  to  lie  on  the  table.  After  seven 
days,  the  amendments  having  been  read  and  agreed  to,  it 
is  ordered  to  be  engrossed;  after  which  it  is  competent  to 
any  member  to  move  the  third  reading  of  it.  Additional 
clauses  added  at  this  time  are  termed  riders.  When  pass- 
ed, the  member  who  presented  the  petition,  with  seven 
others,  takes  it  to  the  House  of  Lords,  and  delivers  it  to  the 
lord-chancellor.  If  the  lords  make  amendments,  the  con- 
currence of  the  Commons  to  these  amendments  is  moved 
by  the  same  member.  Should  the  lord's  amendments  not 
be  agreed  to  (a  rare  occurrence  in  private  bills),  a  confer- 
ence is  held  by  a  deputation  from  both  Houses  ;  and,  should 
the  disagreement  continue,  the  bill  is  finally  withdrawn,  or, 
rather,  dropped. 

IX.  Standing  Orders  of  the  House  of  Commons. — These 
are  a  series  of  regulations,  adopted  by  way  of  resolutions  of 
the  House  at  various  periods,  from  1685  to  the  present  time, 
relating  partly  to  the  internal  order,  &c,  of  the  House, 
partly  to  certain  preliminaries  and  forms  required  on  the 
introduction  of  particular  bills,  both  public  and  private,  and 
to  the  promulgation  of  statutes.  The  most  numerous  of 
these  relate  to  private  bills,  and  specify  the  mode  of  sign- 
ing and  presenting,  the  time  for  delivering  notices  and  their 
necessary  contents,  the  formalities  to  be  required  respect- 
ing instruments,  and  a  variety  of  other  particulars.  When 
a  resolution  is  made  which  is  intended  to  he  permanent,  it 
is  usual  to  add  the  form,  "  Ordered  that  the  said  resolutions 
be  standing  orders  of  the  House."  Standing  orders  on  pri- 
vate bills  are  sometimes  (but  only  on  special  application) 
dispensed  with  by  the  House,  or  farther  time,  &c,  given 
for  complying  with  them. 

X.  Rules  of  Business  in  the  two  Houses. — In  the  Com- 
mons, a  house  for  the  transaction  of  business  consists  of 
forty  members,  by  an  order  of  the  year  1(>40  ;  and,  if  a  less 
number  he  present,  the  speaker  will  not  take  the  chair. 
This  rule  extends  to  committees  of  the  whole  House.  Tho 
s|waker  of  the  Mouse  of  Commons  cannot  speak  in  the 
Mouse  ;  the  speaker  of  the  Mouse  of  Lords  may.  A  call  of 
the  House  of  Commons  is  an  expedient  to  secure  attendance 
for  an  important  occasion  :  when  it  is  made,  members  ab- 
sent without  leave  may  be  ordered  to  be  taken  into  custody. 


PARLIAMENT. 


No  member  can  be  present  on  the  debate  of  a  bill  or  other 
business  concerning  himself.  The  order  "  for  the  sergeant- 
at-arms  to  take  into  custody  strangers  that  are  in  the  gallery 
of  the  house"  is  repeated  every  year,  the  first  instance  hav- 
ing been  in  1705  ;  so  that  the  House  of  Commons  is  suppo- 
sed to  sit  with  closed  doors,  although  the  order  is  partly 
permitted  to  be  infringed.  When  the  speaker's  mace  lies 
upon  the  table  of  the  House  of  Commons,  it  is  a  house  ; 
when  under,  a  committee  ;  when  out  of  the  house,  no  busi- 
ness can  be  done  ;  when  in  the  hands  of  the  sergeant  at  the 
bar,  no  motion  can  be  made. 

With  regard  to  the  manner  of  speaking  and  voting  in  the 
Commons,  motions  are  made,  and  petitions  presented,  by  a 
member  in  his  place ;  the  readings  of  bills,  &c,  are  moved 
at  the  table.  The  member  who  moves  a  motion  puts  it  in 
writing,  and  delivers  it  to  the  speaker,  who,  when  it  has 
been  seconded,  puts  it  to  the  house  ;  it  cannot  then  be 
Withdrawn  except  by  leave  of  the  house.  The  motion  to 
adjourn  is  put  in  order  to  supersede  a  motion  of  which  the 
house  is  already  in  possession.  The  motion  for  reading 
the  order  of  the  day  has  equally  the  effect  of  superseding 
the  existing  question.  The  motion  for  the  previous  question 
has  been  commonly  but  mistakenly  attributed  to  Sir  Harry 
Vane,  as  its  inventor.  It  can  take  place  only  in  a  house, 
and  not  in  a  committee  ;  in  which  latter  the  equivalent 
motion  is,  that  the  chairman  do  now  leave  the  chair.  The 
speaker  names  the  member  whom  he  first  perceives  to  rise 
in  order  to  speak,  but  the  house  is  not  bound  by  the  speak- 
er's decision.  It  is  understood  to  be  the  rule  that  a  member 
may  speak  even  after  the  question  put,  if  the  affirmative 
voice  only  has  been  given,  and  the  negative  not  yet  given. 
The  effect  of  the  speaker's  "  naming  a  member,"  on  the 
occasion  of  disorder  in  the  house,  is  that  such  member,  af- 
ter being  heard,  if  he  pleases,  is  directed  to  withdraw,  and 
the  house  then  considers  what  penalty  to  inflict.  In  the 
commons,  votes  are  given  by  aye  and  no ;  if  a  division  is 
demanded,  the  speaker  (by  a  resolution  of  1603)  appoints 
two  tellers  on  each  side  to  count.  Strangers  are  directed 
to  withdraw,  and  the  doors  closed  before  the  question  is 
put.  On  a  division  one  party  leaves  the  body  of  the 
house,  the  other  remains ;  and  the  general  rule  is,  that 
the  side  which  is  for  the  innovation  goes  out;  thus,  on  the 
question  on  a  bill,  the  affirmative  voices  go  out :  but  this 
rule  is  governed  in  its  application  by  various  special 
usages.  On  a  division  in  a  committee  of  the  whole  house, 
the  ayes  go  on  one  side,  and  the  noes  on  the  other.  The 
speaker  has  the  casting  vote  in  a  house,  the  chairman  in  a 
committee. 

In  the  House  of  Lords. — The  general  rules  of  proceeding 
in  the  House  of  Lords  vary  little  in  material  points  from 
those  adopted  by  the  commons.  The  speaker  can  debate 
as  well  as  vote.  Votes  are  given  seriatim,  the  youngest 
baron  voting  first.  The  privilege  of  the  lords  to  vote  by 
proxy  is  only  by  license  from  the  king.  Proxies  from  spirit- 
ual lords  are  only  to  spiritual ;  proxies  from  temporal  only 
to  temporal.  No  lord  can  hold  more  than  two  proxies. 
The  lord-chancellor  is  ex  officio  speaker  of  the  House  of 
Lords  ;  and,  as  he  is  able  to  speak  and  vote,  he  has  no 
casting  vote  :  the  rule,  therefore,  in  case  of  equality  of 
voices,  always  is  that  the  presumption  is  in  favour  of  the 
negative  side. 

With  regard  to  messages  between  the  two  houses,  those 
from  the  commons  to  the  lords  are  sent  by  one  member, 
but  will  not  be  received  unless  eight,  at  least,  attend  in  all. 
Messages  from  lords  to  commons  are  sent  by  two  masters 
in  chancery ;  or,  on  special  occasions,  by  two  judges.  Mes- 
sages from  the  king  are  of  various  sorts :  those  to  the  com- 
mons, to  desire  any  proceeding  on  their  part,  are  usually 
written  in  the  king's  own  hand  ;  those  which  are  sent 
when  a  member  of  the  house  is  put  under  arrest  on  ac- 
count of  the  public  service,  are  verbal,  and  delivered  by  a 
minister  of  the  department  of  service  concerned.  (See 
HatselVs  Precedents  in  Parliament.) 

XI.  Jurisdiction  of  Parliament  as  a  Court  of  Justice. — 1. 
For  the  trial  of  a  peer,  indicted  for  treason  or  felony,  or  for 
misprision  of  either,  the  lords  spiritual  and  temporal  sit  as 
the  court  of  the  lord  high  steward  of  England,  an  office 
which  is,  in  general,  created  pro  hdc  vice  by  a  commission 
under  the  great  seal.  But,  if  the  trial  should  occur  during 
the  sitting  of  Parliament,  it  is  said  to  be  before  the  same 
court  "  of  our  lord  the  king  in  Parliament ;"  in  which  case 
the  high-steward  is  only,  as  it  were,  pro  tempore  speaker 
of  the  house,  and  has  a  vote  with  the  other  peers ;  where- 
as in  his  own  courts,  held  in  the  recess  of  parliament,  he  is 
judge  of  the  court,  and,  like  any  other  judge,  sole  arbiter  on 
the  question  of  law. 

2.  The  House  of  Lords  has  also  a  twofold  jurisdiction  : 
first,  in  criminal  cases ;  second,  in  civil  cases.  1.  The  first 
is  for  the  trial  of  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors  by  the 
method  of  parliamentary  impeachment  by  the  House  of 
Commons.  (Sec  Impeachment.)  The  proceeding  on  a  bill 
of  attainder,  or  of  pains  and  penalties,  is,  in  fact,  a  legisla- 
76 


tive  act,  and  not  a  judicial  one.  (See  Attainder,  Pains 
and  Penalties,  Bill  of.)  2.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  House 
of  Lords,  in  civil  cases,  is  divided  by  Lord  Hale  into  their 
jurisdiction  in  the  first  instance,  and  in  the  second  instance 
as  a  court  of  appeal ;  but  the  former,  which  consisted  in 
special  powers  of  interference,  occasionally  exercised  for 
particular  purposes,  is  now  obsolete.  In  the  last  instance, 
the  House  of  Lords  is  the  supreme  court  of  judicature  in  the 
kingdom.  Appeal  lies  to  it,  by  writ  of  error,  from  the  Court 
of  King's  Bench,  and  from  the  subordinate  court  of  appeal 
of  the  Exchequer  Chamber;  and  appeal  from  the  High 
Court  of  Chancery  also,  not  only  in  order  to  obtain  the  re- 
versal of  a  decree,  but  also  on  any  interlocutory  matter. 
On  writs  of  error,  the  House  of  Lords  pronounces  the  judg- 
ment ;  on  appeals,  it  gives  directions  to  the  court  below  to 
rectify  its  own  decree. 

XU.  Privilege  of  Parliament,  in  the  ordinary  sense  of 
the  words,  denotes  the  privileges  of  individual  members  of 
either  house,  enjoyed  by  virtue  of  their  seats.  These  pri- 
vileges are  partly  limited  by  known  precedent,  or  by  statute ; 
but  they  are  to  a  great  extent  customary,  and  the  houses 
themselves  constitute  the  only  tribunals  before  which  the 
inquiry  whether  their  privileges  have  been  violated  or  not 
can  be  instituted. 

The  first  privilege  is  freedom  of  speech  in  debates :  this 
claim  is  sanctioned  by  the  statute  2  W.  &  M.  2,  which  de- 
clares the  liberties  of  the  people.  This  privilege  does  not 
extend  to  the  publication  of  what  is  spoken  :  if  a  member 
publish  his  speech  without  the  authority  of  the  house,  he 
is  liable  to  the  common  legal  tribunals  for  its  contents.  An 
exception  to  the  privilege  also  is  to  be  found  in  the  juris- 
diction of  the  house  itself;  which  has  the  power  of  com- 
mitting, expelling,  or  fining  (the  latter  not  exercised  since 
the  reign  of  Elizabeth)  a  member  for  a  libel  or  contempt 
against  the  dignity  of  the  house. 

The  next  privilege,  of  freedom  from  arrest  in  civil  suits, 
is  probably  as  old  as  parliament  itself.  Privilege  of  parlia- 
ment was  formerly  supposed  to  exempt  peers  and  members 
of  the  House  of  Commons  from  civil  actions  as  well  as  ar- 
rests ;  but  this  was  finally  abolished  by  10  G.  3.  This  is 
the  privilege  of  peerage,  not  of  parliament ;  consequently  it 
extends  to  Scotch  and  Irish  peers.  The  exemption  does  not 
extend  to  criminal  cases,  or  breaches  of  the  peace ;  or  to 
attachments  in  case  of  contempt  by  the  superior  court. 
And,  by  a  peculiar  process  enacted  by  10  G.  3,  a  member 
of  parliament  may  be  made  a  bankrupt.  Unless  the  com- 
mission is  superseded  within  twelve  months  from  its  being 
issued,  he  vacates  his  seat.  The  liberation  of  parties  im- 
properly arrested  is  effected  either  by  the  authority  of  the 
houses  themselves,  or,  when  parliament  is  not  sitting,  or  (in 
the  case  of  peers)  when  it  is  dissolved,  by  writ  of  privilege, 
or  on  motion  in  the  superior  courts.  The  duration  of  the 
privilege,  in  the  case  of  members  of  the  lower  house,  is  not 
exactly  defined.  It  is  the  general  opinion  that  it  extends 
forty  days  after  every  prorogation,  and  forty  days  before  the 
next  appointed  meeting.  Members  of  parliament  are  not 
liable  to  be  called  on  to  serve  as  jurors  during  sitting  or  ad- 
journment. 

The  old  privilege  of  franking  was  fixed,  by  4  G.  3,  c.  24, 
to  continue  during  the  same  period  which  is  mentioned  as 
that  of  freedom  from  arrest.  By  35  G.  3,  c.  53,  it  was  re- 
strained to  letters  within  an  ounce  in  weight,  and  the  num- 
ber to  ten  sent  and  fifteen  received.  It  is  now  altogether 
abolished. 

The  general  or  "  ancient  and  just"  privileges  of  the  houses 
are,  as  has  been  said,  undefined.  "  The  law  of  parliament," 
says  Hallam,  "  as  determined  by  regular  custom,  is  incorpo- 
rated into  our  constitution  ;  but  not  so  as  to  warrant  an  in- 
definite uncontrollable  assumption  of  power  in  any  case, 
least  of  all  in  judicial  proceedings,  where  the  form  and  es- 
sence of  justice  are  inseparable  from  each  other." 

Besides  the  general  privilege  of  parliament,  we  may  here 
briefly  notice  the  privileges  claimed  by  the  two  houses,  or 
by  members  of  them,  with  respect  to  the  conduct  of  their 
legislative  proceedings. 

Two  privileges  peculiar  to  the  House  of  Lords  are,  1. 
That  possessed  by  every  peer  of  giving  his  vote  by  proxy. 
(See  ante,  Rules  of  business  in  the  two  Houses.)  2.  That 
which  he  possesses  of  entering  on  the  journals  of  the  house 
his  dissent  from  a  vote  of  the  house,  together  with  his  rea- 
sons for  it,  which  is  styled  his  protest.  The  first  protests, 
with  reasons  annexed,  are  said  by  Lord  Clarendon  to  have 
been  made  in  1641. 

Of  the  peculiar  privileges  of  the  House  of  Commons,  the 
most  important  is  that  of  originating  all  money  bills;  and 
this,  in  principle,  is  a  very  ancient  part  of  the  constitution. 
But  it  was  not  before  1690  that  it  was  fully  established  that 
the  lords  could  not  alter,  any  more  than  originate,  any  rate 
or  tax  granted  by  the  commons.  This  privilege  is  now  un- 
derstood under  the  following  limitations :  In  bills  of  aid 
and  supply,  the  lords  can  neither  originate  them  nor  make 
any  alterations  beyond  verbal  amendments.    In  bills  which 

901 


PARLIAMENT. 

impose  pecuniary  burdens  ns  a  collateral  object — such,  for 
example,  as  bills  for  turnpike  roads  and  canals,  or  for  the 
management  of  the  poor — the  lords  may  make  amend- 
ments, but  not  such  as  affect  the  quantity,  disposition,  or 
collection  of  the  rate.  No  amendments  may  be  made  by 
the  lords  which  appear  likely,  in  their  consequences,  to 
bring  a  charge  on  the  people ;  nor  can  they  insert  or  alter 
pecuniary  penalties  and  forfeitures  in  a  bill. 

By  a  resolution  bearing  date  1667,  and  now  strictly  ad- 
hered to,  any  proposition  for  taxing  the  subject  must  be  first 
examined  by  a  committee  of  the  whole  house,  and  their 
opinion  reported.  The  effect  of  this  rule  is,  that  subjects 
on  which  frequent  speaking  by  the  same  member,  and  other 
departures  from  regular  proceedings  are  desirable,  are  dis- 
cussed in  a  meeting  unfettered  by  some  of  the  special  rules 
of  the  house. 

When  a  bill  of  supply  has  received  the  concurrence  of 
the  lords,  it  is  returned  to  the  commons,  and  by  them  pre- 
sented to  the  throne. 

XIII.  Adjournment. — An  adjournment  is  a  continuance 
of  the  session  from  one  day  to  another.  This  is  done  by 
each  house  for  itself,  either  from  day  to  day,  or  over  a  re- 
cess, as  at  Christmas  and  Easter.  In  neither  house  can  the 
speaker  adjourn  unless  upon  motion  of  the  house.  The 
king  can  signify  his  desire  of  an  adjournment ;  but  has  no 
further  power. 

XIV.  Prorogation  of  Parliament. — A  prorogation  is  the 
continuance  of  parliament  from  one  session  to  another: 
and  is  made  by  the  royal  authority,  either  expressed  by  the 
lord  chancellor  in  the  king's  presence,  or  by  writ  under  the 
great  seal,  or  by  commission.  In  the  proclamation  for  pro- 
rogation, if  it  is  intended  that  parliament,  when  next  it 
meets,  shall  proceed  to  the  despatch  of  business,  notice  is 
given  of  that  purpose ;  and  such  notice  bears  date  usually 
forty  days  at  least  before  the  day  appointed  for  meeting ; 
but,  in  time  of  rebellion  or  danger  of  invasion,  the  king  is 
empowered  to  call  together  parliament  with  fourteen  days 
notice  only. 

XV.  Dissolution  of  Parliament  is  effected  either,  1.  By 
the  king's  will,  which  is  the  exercise  of  one  of  his  highest 
prerogatives :  this  is  usually  done  by  proclamation  after 
parliament  has  been  prorogued.  2.  By  the  demise  of  the 
crown  ;  but,  by  7  &  8  W.  3,  the  existing  parliament  con- 
tinues six  months  after  that  event;  assembles  immediately, 
if  under  prorogation  or  adjournment ;  and  if  there  be  no 
parliament  at  the  time,  the  members  of  the  last  parliament 
are  empowered  to  reassemble  themselves.  3.  By  efflux  of 
time  ;  viz :  at  the  end  of  every  seventh  year,  if  not  sooner 
dissolved  by  the  Septennial  Act,  1  G.  1,  s.  2,  c.  38.  The 
seven  years  are  counted  from  the  day  on  which  parliament 
was  appointed  to  meet  in  the  writ  of  summons. 

Pa'rliament,  or  Parlement.  (Fr.  parlement.)  The 
title  of  certain  high  courts  of  justice  under  the  old  French 
monarchy.  The  French  parliament,  like  those  of  England 
nnd  Naples,  was,  in  its  origin,  a  convocation  of  the  great 
vassals  of  the  crown,  who  treated  of  judicial  as  well  as 
political  matters  in  their  assemblies.  Saint  Louis  was  the 
king  who  first  introduced  into  this  body  counsellors  of  In- 
ferior rank,  chiefly  ecclesiastics,  as  legal  assistants ;  and 
the  earliest  registers  of  the  proceedings  of  the  parliament, 
which  afterwards  became  fixed  at  Paris,  are  of  the  date  of 
1254.  The  important  step  of  rendering  that  court  perma- 
nent, and  fixing  its  seat  in  the  capital  city,  is  generally  at- 
tributed to  Philip  the  Fair  (1304) :  from  that  time  the  great 
barons  gradually  discontinued  their  attendance,  and  the 
lawyers  occupied  the  higher  places  and  more  important 
functions  of  the  court.  The  twelve  peers  of  France,  how- 
ever, remained  constant  members  of  the  parliament,  after 
the  other  great  vassals  had,  by  disuse,  ceased  to  be  consid- 
ered as  members  of  it  (although  they,  likewise,  in  process 
of  time,  ceased  to  take  part  in  its  judicial  business).  The 
parliament  of  Paris  henceforward  remained  the  chief  tri- 
bunal of  the  country  until  the  revolution,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  short  period  of  its  suppression  by  Louis  XV.,  in 
1771 ;  but  as  the  great  fiefs  of  the  French  monarchy  were 
successively  united  to  the  crown,  the  supreme  feudal  court 
of  each  was  invested  with  the  title  and  attributes  of  a  par- 
liament. These  were  fixed  at  Toulouse,  Grenoble,  Bor- 
deaux, Dijon,  Besancon,  Kouen,  Aix,  Pau,  Rennes,  Metz, 
Pouay,  Nancy.  The  most  remarkable  prerogative  exercised 
by  the  parliaments  is  one  of  which  the  origin  lias  not  been 
satisfactorily  accounted  for;  that  of  registering  theedictsof 
the  sovereign,  and  thereby  giving  them  the  force  of  law. 
M.  Meyer  (institutions  Jiidiciaira,  liv.  iv.,  ch.  9,)  supposes 
that  it  arose  from  the  character  of  the  parliament!  as  the 
court  of  the  feudal  lord  of  each  province :  thus,  the  edict 
of  the  king  of  France  was  referred  to  the  parliament  of 
Bordeaux,  to  examine  whether  it  interfered  with  the  special 
rights  and  duties  of  the  same  sovereign  as  duke  of  Guienne, 
&c.  It  appears,  however,  to  have  been  the  received  doc- 
trine, by  the  end  of  the  14th  century,  that  this  formality  of 
registration  was  essential  to  the  validity  of  an  edict  in  every 
003 


PARR. 

province.  Hence  the  important  part  which  the  parliament*, 
and  especially  that  of  Paris,  so  often  enacted  in  French 
history,  in  modifying  the  otherwise  absolute  power  of  the 
inonarchs.  (See  Bed  of  Jubtice.)  It  was  usual  for  the 
parliament  of  Paris,  and  undoubtedly  legal,  although  not 
customary,  for  the  other  parliaments,  to  convey  remon- 
strances to  the  king  on  the  subject  of  his  edicts.  But 
Louis  XIV.,  ordained  that  these  remonstrances  should 
always  be  presented  after  they  had  testified  their  obedience 
by  registering  them.  The  parliaments  had  also  a  power  of 
a  legislative  character,  that  of  pronouncing  arrets  tie  regle- 
ment,  by  which  they  gave  authoritative  decisions  on  legal 
questions,  not  only  binding  on  present  but  in  future  cases. 
The  counsellors  of  parliament  were,  by  a  law  of  Louis  XL, 
immoveable  except  in  case  of  legal  forfeiture  ;  but  the  place 
of  counsellors  and  presidents  early  became  purchasable, 
and  afterwards  transmissible  by  hereditary  descent.  Hence, 
in  part,  the  powerful  esprit  de  corps  which  distinguished 
those  bodies.  As  a  high  court  of  appeal,  the  parliament  of 
Paris  was  divided  into  five  chambers  ;  one  termed  the  great 
chamber,  three  des  enquetes,  one  des  requites.  Besides 
these,  the  chambre  de  la  tournel'e,  in  which  criminal  cases 
were  tried,  was  a  fluctuating  court,  in  which  members  of 
all  the  regular  chambers  sat  in  turn. 

PA'RLOUR  (Fr.  parler,  to  speak),  signified,  originally, 
the  little  room  in  which,  in  former  times,  the  nuns  and 
monks  used  to  give  interviews  to  their  visiters;  or  in  which 
the  novices  used  to  converse  together  at  the  hours  of  re- 
creation. 

PARME'NIANISTS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  name 
given  to  the  Donatists  (see  that  article),  from  Parmenianus, 
Bishop  of  Carthage,  one  of  their  chief  leaders,  and  an 
antagonist  of  Augustine. 

PARNA'SSUS.  In  Mythology,  a  celebrated  mountain 
in  ancient  Greece,  sacred  to  Apollo  and  the  Muses,  and, 
from  the  numerous  objects  of  classical  interest  of  which  it 
formed  the  theatre,  considered  "holy"  by  the  Greeks.  On 
its  side  stood  the  city  of  Delphi,  near  which  flowed  the 
Castalian  spring,  the  grand  source  of  ancient  inspiration ; 
and  from  this  circumstance,  in  metaphorical  language,  the 
word  Parnassus  has  come  to  signify  poetry  itself.  A  good 
collection  of  the  Italian  poets,  printed  at  Milan,  bears  the 
title  //  Parnasso  Ilaliano. 

PA'RODY.  (Gr.  uapa,  and  u>Srj,  "■  song.)  A  species  of 
composition  in  which  the  form  and  expressions  of  portions 
or  passages  of  grave  or  serious  writings  are  closely  imi- 
tated in  similar  passages  of  a  ridiculous  character.  Parody 
is  a  species  of  burlesque  (see  Burlesque)  ;  but  the  imita- 
tion is  more  close  and  exact  than  in  ordinary  burlesque 
composition.  Antiquity  has  left  us  no  complete  works  of 
this  species,  although  some  fragments  are  preserved  by 
Athena?us  and  other  writers.  The  Batrachomyomachia, 
the  authorship  of  which  is  attributed  to  Homer,  though  a 
very  ingenious  specimen  of  the  burlesque,  is  not,  in  the 
modern  sense  of  the  word,  a  parody.  The  French  critics 
do  not  seem  to  draw  an  adequate  distinction  between  the 
nature  of  a  parody  and  a  travestie. 

PAR'O'L.  (Fr.  parole.)  In  Law,  word  of  mouth.  Thus, 
a  parol  agreement  is  contrasted  with  one  in  writing,  parol 
with  written  evidence,  &c.  For  the  legal  principles  bear- 
ing on  this  distinction  in  different  cases,  see  Agreement, 
Contract,  Evidence. 

PARO'LE.  In  Military  matters,  the  allowing  of  prisoners 
to  enjoy  certain  indulgences,  on  their  giving  their  word  of 
honour  (parole,  d'honneur)  that  they  will  not  serve,  during 
the  continuance  of  the  war,  against  the  country  by  which 
they  are  liberated,  or  upon  their  pledging  their  word  to 
abide  by  such  other  conditions  as  may  be  stipulated. 

PA'RONOMA'SIA.  (Gr.  mipa,  and  ovo/mi,  a  name.)  In 
Rhetoric,  a  figure  by  which  the  same  word  is  used  in  dif- 
ferent senses,  or  words  similar  in  sound  are  set  in  opposition 
to  each  other ;  so  as  to  give  a  kind  of  antithetical  force  to 
the  expression. 

PARONY'CHIA.  (Gr.  jrapa,  and  ovv\,  the  nail.)  A 
whitlow. 

PARO'NYMOUS.  (Gr.  ovoua,  name.)  In  Grammar, 
words  of  similar  derivation,  or  principal  words  with  their 
derivation:  e.g.,  equus,  eques,  equito ;  man,  manhood,  man- 
kind. 

PARO'TID  GLAND.  (Gr.  vapa,  and  ovc,  the  ear.)  A 
large  gland  situated  under  the  ear,  between  the  maxillary 
process  of  the  temple-bone  and  the  angle  of  the  lower  jaw. 
It  secretes  saliva,  which  is  carried  into  the  mouth  by  the 
Stcnonian  duct. 

PA  ROTI'TIS.  Inflammation  of  the  parotid  gland.  The 
mumps. 

PA'ROXYSM.  (Gr.  itnpa,  and  o\v<;,  sharp.)  In  Medi- 
cine, the  periodical  exacerbation  of  a  disease. 

PARK.  This  name  is  applied  in  most  parts  of  England 
and  Scotland  to  the  young  of  the  salmon  (Salmo  salar, 
Linn.)  up  to  near  the  end  of  their  second  year,  when  they 
lose  their  dark  lateral  bars  by  the  superaddition  of  a  silvery 


PARREL. 

pigment,  and  congregate  together  for  their  seaward  migra- 
tion. From  the  circumstance  of  the  milt  and  roe  being 
developed  at  this  immature  period,  a  precocious  condition 
by  no  means  uncommon  in  the  cold-blooded  tribes,  the  parr 
has  been  regarded  by  some  ichthyologists  as  a  distinct 
species,  and  was  described  as  such  by  Willoughby  and  Ray, 
under  the  name  of  Salmo  salmuiu-s.     See  Salmon. 

PA'RREL.  In  Naval  language,  the  collar  of  greased 
rope,  or  trucks,  by  which  the  yard  is  confined  to  the  mast, 
while  it  slides  up  and  down  it. 

PA'RRICIDE.  (Lat.  pater,  a  father,  and  csdo,  /  kill), 
implies,  properly,  the  murder  or  murderer  of  a  father.  But 
the  term  is  also  extended  to  the  murder  of  any  near  rela- 
tive, as  a  husband,  wife,  mother,  &c. ;  and  even  to  that 
of  distinguished  or  sacred  persons,  as  a  king,  archbishop, 
&c.  The  Athenians  had  no  law  against  parricides,  from 
an  opinion  that  human  atrocity  could  never  reach  to 
the  guilt  of  parricide.  This  was  also  originally  the  case 
at  Rome  ;  but  at  a  later  period  parricide  was  punished  by 
the  Roman  law  with  greater  severity  than  any  other  kind 
of  homicide.  The  delinquent,  after  being  scourged,  was 
sewn  up  in  a  leathern  sack,  with  a  live  dog,  a  cock,  a 
viper,  and  an  ape,  and  so  cast  into  the  Tiber.  The  Eng- 
lish laws  treat  this  crime  only  as  simple  murder ;  but  in 
some  of  the  German  states  the  criminal  convicted  of  par- 
ricide is  put  to  death  with  exquisite  torture,  the  penalty  be- 
ing that  such  persons  shall  be  beaten  to  death  with  iron 
clubs,  beginning  with  the  feet,  and  gradually  ascending  to 
the  head. 

PA'RSEE.  (Pers.  parsi.)  The  name  given  by  English 
writers  to  the  Persian  refugees,  driven  from  their  country 
by  the  persecutions  of  the  Mussulmans,  who  now  inhabit 
various  parts  of  India.  Their  principal  emigration  to 
Baroach,  Surat,  and  the  neighbouring  coast,  is  supposed 
to  have  taken  place  about  the  end  of  the  eighth  century. 
The  sacred  fire,  the  emblem  of  their  religion  (seeGuEBREs), 
called  behrem,  is  believed  by  them  to  have  been  brought  by 
the  first  emigrants  from  Persia,  and,  after  many  changes 
of  place,  is  now  preserved  at  Odisari  and  Nausari,  near 
Surat,  and  at  Bombay.  In  this  latter  city,  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  British  government,  they  have  grown  into  a 
colony  of  considerable  numbers  and  of  great  opulence. 
They  have  become  particularly  distinguished  in  the  art 
of  shipbuilding,  and  the  dock-yard  of  Bombay  is  now  al- 
most exclusively  in  their  hands.  Their  character  is  vari- 
ously estimated  by  different  observers ;  but  all  agree  in 
attributing  to  them  industry  and  economy,  and  attachment 
to  their  religion,  and  to  those  of  the  higher  class  strong 
sentiments  of  honour  and  honesty.  Their  number  is  said 
to  equal  700,000 ;  and  at  Bombay,  according  to  late  calcula- 
tions, at  least  20,000. 

PA'RSING.  The  art  of  resolving  a  sentence  into  its 
grammatical  elements  or  parts. 

PA'RSON.  (Lat.  persona  ecclesia?.)  In  Law,  one  that 
has  full  possession  of  all  the  rights  of  a  parochial  church. 
His  title  is  derived  from  the  Latin  persona,  because  in  his 
person  the  church  itself  which  he  occupies  is  represented  ; 
and  he  is  a  corporation  sole.  A  parson,  or  rector,  has  the 
freehold  of  the  parsonage-house,  the  glebe,  the  tithes,  and 
other  dues,  during  his  life.  Four  requisites  are  necessary 
to  constitute  a  parson  :  holy  orders,  presentation,  institu- 
tion, and  induction.  See  these  terms.  In  common  lan- 
guage, parson  is  a  vulgar  term  for  a  clergyman  of  any 
kind. 

PART.  (Lat.  pars.)  In  Music,  a  single  piece  of  the 
score  or  partition,  being  one  set  of  the  successions  of  sounds 
which  constitute  the  harmony. 

PARTE'RRE.  (Fr.)  A  system  of  beds  of  different 
shapes  and  sizes  in  which  flowers  are  cultivated,  connected 
together,  with  intervening  spaces  of  gravel  or  turf,  for 
walking  on.  The  form  of  the  beds  may  vary  according  to 
the  taste  of  the  designer;  but  their  breadth  should  never 
be  greater  than  will  admit  of  the  spectator  who  wishes  to 
gather  flowers,  or  the  gardener  who  is  to  cultivate  them, 
reaching  the  middle.  Where  the  object  is  chiefly  to  pro- 
duce a  display  of  flowers,  the  beds  should  be  of  simple 
shapes,  with  few  acute  angles,  as  these  can  never  be  com- 
pletely covered  with  plants  ;  but  where  the  object  is  to  dis- 
play a  curious  figure,  to  be  seen  from  a  point  considerably 
above  the  level  of  the  parterre,  the  beds  may  be  formed  of 
arabesque  shapes,  or  like  the  figures  used  in  embroidery 
and  lace-work.  Figures  of  this  description  are  generally 
planted  with  dwarf  box,  kept  low  by  clipping,  with  only 
here  and  there  a  flowering  plant,  or  a  small  shrub,  placed 
in  the  broadest  parts  of  the  beds  or  scroll-work.  Parterres 
of  this  description  were  in  use  during  the  time  of  the  Ro- 
mans, as  appears  by  the  description  of  Pliny's  own  garden, 
by  himself,  in  which  the  letters  composing  his  name  were 
planted  of  box,  kept  regularly  dipt,  a  practice  not  uncom- 
mon in  Rome  and  its  neighbourhood  at  the  present  day. 
Embroidered  parterres,  however,  were  brought  to  the  high- 
est degree  of  perfection  in  the  time  of  Louis  XIV.,  when 


PARTIDAS,  LAS  SIETE. 

the  arabesque  style  of  ornament  was  introduced  into  every 
thing.  The  flowers  and  flowering  shrubs  in  culture  in  those 
days  were  comparatively  few ;  and  hence  the  leading  fea- 
tures of  the  parterre  were  beds  of  turf,  always  an  object 
of  luxury,  and  requiring  to  be  kept  up  at  considerable  ex- 
pense of  watering  in  the  climate  of  France,  and  scroll-work 
of  box.  This  description  of  parterre  was  imitated  in  Eng- 
land ;  but  smooth  green  turf  not  being  here  an  object  of 
luxury,  beds  of  flowers  became  more  frequently  substituted 
in  its  stead ;  and,  as  the  number  of  foreign  flowers  intro- 
duced increased,  the  number  of  turf  beds  and  scroll-work 
diminished,  till,  at  the  present  time,  the  latter  is  rarely  to 
be  met  with.  In  this  manner  has  gradually  arisen  the  mo- 
dern English  flower-garden,  which  consists  of  small  beds, 
more  or  less  orbiculate,  and  scattered  over  a  surface  of 
smooth  turf,  so  as  to  combine  into  groups,  which  are  plant- 
ed with  flowers,  or  low  flowering  shrubs  :  sometimes  in 
masses  of  only  one  kind  in  a  bed,  and  at  other  times  of 
several  kinds  mixed  together. 

Parterre.     In  French,  the  pit  of  a  theatre. 

PA'RTHENON.  (Tlupdcvwv.)  The  magnificent  temple 
of  Minerva  in  the  Acropolis  of  Athens,  so  called  in  honour 
of  the  virginity  of  that  goddess  (from  -napQivos,  a  virgin.) 
It  was  a  peripteral  octostyle  of  the  Doric  order,  with  seven- 
teen columns  on  the  sides,  each  6ft.  2 in.  in  diameter  at 
the  base,  and  34  ft.  in  height,  elevated  on  three  steps.  Its 
height,  from  the  base  of  the  pediments,  was  65  ft.,  and  the 
dimensions  of  the  area  233  ft.  by  102  ft.  The  eastern  pedi- 
ment was  adorned  with  two  groups  of  statues,  one  of  which 
represented  the  birth  of  Minerva,  the  other  the  contest  of 
Minerva  with  Neptune  for  the  government  of  Athens.  On 
the  metopes  was  sculptured  the  battle  of  the  Centaurs  with 
the  Lapithae ;  and  the  frieze  contained  a  representation  of 
the  Panalhenaic  festivals.  Ictinus,  Callicrates,  and  Car- 
pion  were  the  architects  of  this  temple ;  Phidias  was  the 
artist;  and  its  entire  cost  has  been  estimated  at  li  million 
sterling.  Of  this  building,  eight  columns  of  the  eastern 
front,  and  several  of  the  lateral  colonnades  are  still  stand- 
ing. Of  the  frontispiece,  which  represented  the  contest  of 
Neptune  and  Minerva,  nothing  remains  but  the  head  of  a 
sea-horse,  and  the  figures  of  two  women  without  heads. 
The  combafof  the  Centaurs  and  the  Lapitha;  is  in  better 
preservation  ;  but  of  the  numerous  statues  with  which  this 
temple  was  enriched,  that  of  Adrian  alone  remains.  The 
Parthenon,  however,  dilapidated  as  it  is,  still  retains  an 
air  of  inexpressible  grandeur  and  sublimity ;  and  it  forms 
at  once  the  highest  point  in  Athens,  and  the  centre  of  the 
Acropolis.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  inform  the  render  that 
the  chief  portion  of  the  sculpture  of  the  Parthenon  is  now 
placed  in  the  British  Museum,  where  it  forms,  with  some 
additions,  the  collection  of  the  Elgin  Marbles.  See  Elgin 
Marbles. 

PARTICIPANTS.  A  semi-religious  order  of  knight- 
hood, founded  by  Pope  Sextus  V.,  in  1586,  in  honour  of 
Our  Lady  of  Loretto.  The  members  of  this  order  were 
allowed  to  marry.  The  order  was  soon  extinguished;  and 
the  title  of  Knights  of  Loretto  is  now  conferred  on  some 
civil  servants  of  the  pope. 

PA'RTICIPLES.  (Lat.  parricipium.)  A  part  of  speech 
which  partakes  of  the  properties  both  of  a  verb  and  an  ad- 
jective. It  may  be  described  either  as  a  verb  without 
affirmation,  or  as  an  adjective  with  the  addition  of  the 
notion  of  time.     (See  Grammar.) 

PA'RTICLE.  (Lat.  particula,  little  part.)  In  Grammar, 
a  general  term  to  express  the  subordinate  or  secondary 
parts  of  speech — the  adverb,  the  preposition,  and  the  con- 
junction. But  it  is  more  in  accordance  with  grammatical 
precision  to  apply  this  term  to  those  minor  words  to  be  met 
with  in  all  languages,  which  serve  apparently  to  give  clear- 
ness and  precision  to  a  sentence,  but  respecting  whose 
exact  use  Grammarians  are  not  agreed.  To  this  class  be- 
long the  Gr.  yt,  apa,  rot,  in,  &-C. ;  the  Germ,  ja,  wohl,  &c.  ; 
and  the  English  now,  then,  truly,  &c  The  term  particle  is 
also  applied  by  grammarians  to  those  words  or  enclitics  (as 
they  are  called,  from  Gr.  ev  and  k>ii/u>,  /  lean)  which  can- 
not be  used  separately,  but  must  form  part  of  the  preceding 
word,  as  in  virumque. 

Particle,  in  Physics,  denotes  the  minutest  parts  into 
which  a  body  can  be  mechanically  divided.  It  is,  in  general, 
used  synonymously  with  molecule,  corpuscle,  atom ;  but 
sometimes  these  terms  are  distinguished. 

PARTI'CULARISTS.  In  Theology-,  those  among  the 
Reformed  who  have  held  the  doctrine  of  God's  particular 
decrees  of  salvation  and  reprobation.  As  a  party  name,  it 
seems  to  date  from  the  Synod  of  Dort.  That  branch  of  the 
Baptists  attached  to  high  Calvinistic  opinions  is  still  called 
the  church  of  the  Particular  Baptists. 

PARTI'DAS,  LAS  SIETE.  (Span,  the  seven  parts.) 
A  celebrated  ancient  Spanish  code  of  laws,  drawn  up  in 
the  reign  of  Alphonso  X.  of  Castile  (about  1260),  so  call- 
ed from  the  number  of  principal  parts  into  which  it  is 
divided.    This  famous  collection  did  not  acquire  the  obli- 

903 


PARTITION. 

gatory  virtue  of  a  code  until  1338,  when  sanctioned  by 
Alphonso  XI. 

PARTITION.  (Lat.  partitio.)  In  Music,  the  arrange- 
ment  of  the  several  parts  of  a  composition  on  the  same 
page  or  pases,  ranged  methodically  above  and  under  each 
other,  so  that  they  may  be  all  under  the  eye  of  the  per- 
former or  conductor,  and  sung  or  played  jointly  or  sepa- 
rately as  the  composer  intended.  It  is  commonly  called  a 
score. 

Partition.  In  Architecture,  the  vertical  assemblage 
of  materials  which  divides  one  apartment  from  another. 
It  is  usually,  however,  employed  to  denote  such  division 
when  constructed  of  vertical  pieces  of  timber  called  quar- 
ter*. 

Partition.  In  Politics,  the  division  of  the  states  of  a 
sovereign  or  prince,  after  his  decease,  among  his  heirs,  as 
was  the  custom  in  some  of  the  princely  families  in  the 
ancient  German  empire;  or  among  other  powers,  such  as 
that  of  the  states  of  the  king  of  Spain,  which  was  in 
contemplation  (against  all  justice)  between  William  III., 
Louis  XIV.,  and  the  Dutch,  by  the  treaties  of  1698  and 
1609,  when  Charles  IT.,  the  reigning  monarch,  was  with- 
out near  heirs.  But  the  most  celebrated  partitions  in  his- 
tory, to  which  the  name  has  become  almost  exclusively 
attached,  were  those  of  Poland,  by  Russia,  Prussia,  and 
Austria.  The  first  of  these  took  place  in  1772,  when  vari- 
ous provinces  were  wrested  from  the  republic  in  pretended 
satisfaction  of  ancient  claims,  and  the  old  and  vicious  con- 
stitution guaranteed  by  the  three  powers.  The  second  was 
submitted  to  by  Stanislas  in  1793,  when  Russia  obtained 
the  remainder  of  Lithuania,  and  Prussia  Dantzic,  Thorn, 
and  an  extensive  district.  This  partition  was  followed  by 
the  insurrection  under  Kosciusko,  which  brought  about  the 
third  and  last  partition  in  1795,  when  the  remnant  of  the 
country  was  dismembered.  It  was  organized  in  1807,  alter- 
ed in  1815 ;  but  the  conditions  under  which  Poland  was 
then  annexed  to  Russia,  as  a  separate  kingdom,  were  en- 
tirely set  aside  after  the  Polish  insurrection  of  1830,  and  it  is 
now  substantially  and  in  fact  a  province  of  Russia.  These 
partitions  overturned  the  ancient  balance  of  power  in  Eu- 
rope, and  prepared  the  way  for  the  violent  changes  which 
followed  the  French  revolution.  (See  Koch,  Revolutions 
de  V Europe ;  Rulhieres,  Histoire  de  V Anarchic  de  Pologne ; 
Ferrand,  Histoire,  des  Trois  Demembremens  de  Pologne, 
3  vols.,  Paris,  18-20  ;  Ed.  Rev.,  vol.  xxxvii.,  p.  462.) 

PARTNERSHIP.  A  relation  established  between  two 
or  more  persons,  by  an  agreement  to  combine  property  or 
labour  in  furtherance  of  a  common  undertaking,  and  for  the 
acquisition  of  a  common  profit.  A  community  of  profit  be- 
tween the  parties  is  the  true  criterion  of  a  partnership ; 
for  one  partner  may  stipulate  to  be  free  from  loss,  and  this 
stipulation  would  be  effectual  as  between  himself  and  his 
partners,  though  he  would  be  liable  equally  with  them  to 
the  world  at  large.  A  dormant  partner,  that  is,  one  who 
in  point  of  fact  participates  in  the  profits  of  a  firm,  but  is 
not  held  out  as  a  member  of  it,  will  nevertheless  be  liable 
for  its  engagements,  because  he  takes  part  of  that  fund 
which  is  a  security  to  creditors  for  payment  of  their  debts. 
There  is  no  particular  form  necessary  to  the  constitution 
of  a  partnership,  nor  is  it  necessary  that  the  contract  should 
be  in  writing.  It  may  be  dissolved  at  the  individual  plea- 
sure of  any  one  partner,  if  no  stated  period  has  been  fixed 
for  its  continuance ;  and,  even  if  such  a  period  has  been 
fixed,  it  will  be  dissolved,  in  the  absence  of  any  proviso  to 
the  contrary,  by  his  bankruptcy,  attainder,  or  death,  or  by 
marriage,  in  the  case  of  a  female.  Courts  of  equity,  also, 
will  put  an  end  to  it  by  decree,  on  proof  of  lunacy  or  gross 
misconduct.  A  partnership  is  by  any  of  the  above  matters 
terminated  as  between  the  partners  themselves  ;  but,  to 
prevent  a  continuing  liability  to  strangers,  public  notice  of 
the  dissolution  is  necessary.  One  partner  cannot  sue  an- 
other at  law  in  respect  of  the  partnership  account,  unless 
a  balance  has  been  struck,  the  remedy  being  in  equity, 
which  affords  a  machinery  better  adapted  to  the  investiga- 
tion of  accounts.  As  regards  the  rights  of  third  persons 
against  the  partnership,  it  is  a  general  rule  that  it  will  be 
bound  by  the  engagements  of  any  one  partner  acting  with 
reference  to  the  joint  business,  either  by  his  simple  con- 
tracts on  the  purchase  and  sale  of  goods,  or  by  negotiable 
instruments  circulated  on  its  behalf. 

PA'ftTNERS  I  H'  THE  M  U3T8.  The  woodwork  round 
the  mast  at  the  deck,  to  strengthen  and  support  the  deck 
against  the  pressure  of  the  mast.  The  term  is  also  ap- 
plied to  the  similar  supports  round  the  capstan  and  pumps. 

PA'RTRIDGE  Wool).  A  variegated  wood  imported 
from  Martinique  :  it  is  said  to  be  the  produce  of  the  Hcis- 
teria  eoi  ■ 

PA'RTY.  In  Politics,  a  body  of  men  united  under  dif- 
ferent leaders  for  promoting,  liy  their  joint  endeavours,  the 
national  interest,  upon  some  particular  principle  in  which 
they  are  all  agreed.  The  origin  of  party  may  be  traced  to 
that  law  of  the  human  mind  which  is  founded  in  our 
904 


PASQUINADE. 

natural  desire  nf  sympathy,  and  our  disposition  to  afford  it 
From  the  earliest  ages  down  to  the  present  time,  the  prin- 
ciple of  mutual  co-operation  has  been  adopted  with  suc- 
cess in  executing  favourite  designs,  and  in  aiming  at  the 
accomplishment  of  certain  ends.  Among  the  ancient  Ro- 
mans, for  example,  "  idem  sentire  dc  republica"  formed  a 
principal  ground  of  friendship  and  attachment ;  and  the 
same  feeling,  modified  by  different  forms  of  government 
and  other  circumstances,  is  at  present  in  full  operation  in 
all  the  civilized  states  of  Europe  and  America.  The  bene- 
fits of  party  may  be  briefly  stated  to  be,  increased  energy 
in  pursuit  of  a  common  object,  regular  co-operation,  mutual 
control  and  regulation,  and  an  advantageous  division  of 
labour.  But,  though  party  or  combination  may  in  this 
manner  be  productive  of  good  results,  like  every  other 
principle  and  feeling  in  our  nature,  it  is  liable  to  be  abused, 
and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  is  frequently  attended 
with  such  evil  consequences  as  greatly  to  countervail  its 
admitted  benefits.  It  involves  a  frequent  sacrifice  of  in- 
dividual notions  of  what  is  just  and  proper,  and  tempts 
bodies  of  men  to  act  in  a  way  that  would  often  be  deemed 
discreditable  in  individuals.  Perhaps  the  worst  effect  of 
party  is  its  tendency  to  generate  narrow,  false,  and  illiberal 
prejudices,  by  teaching  the  adherents  of  one  party  to  regard 
those  that  belong  to  an  opposing  party  as  unworthy  of  con- 
fidence ;  and  in  making  them  oppose  good  measures  be- 
cause they  happen  to  be  proposed  by  a  different  party,  and 
support  bad  measures,  because  they  are  pioposed  or  sup- 
ported by  their  own  party.  A  thorough-going  party  ad- 
herent is,  in  fact,  a  political  slave  ;  a  person  who  allows 
others  on  all  occasions  to  think  for  him ;  who,  as  far  as 
politics  is  concerned,  has  no  principle  or  rule  of  action,  save 
that  of  slavish  adherence  and  blind  obedience  to  the  dicta- 
tion of  the  leader  of  his  party.  (The  uses  and  abuses  of 
Party  are  discussed  with  great  ability  in  vol.  xxx.  of  the 
Edin.  Review).  The  different  parties,  both  of  England 
and  other  countries,  will  be  found  under  their  respective 
heads. 

Party.  In  Heraldry — as  party  per  pale,  fess,  &c. ;  terms 
used  to  signify  the  division  of  a  shield  by  a  line  running  in 
the  direction  of  either  of  these  ordinaries. 

PARTY  WALL.  In  Architecture,  the  wall  separating 
two  buildings  belonging  to  different  owners  or  occupiers. 
The  regulations  relative  to  the  thickness  of  party  walls  in  the 
metropolis  have  been  the  subject  of  several  statutes,  begin- 
ning with  one  passed  19  Car.  2,  and  ending  with  the  14  Geo. 
3,  better  known  by  the  name  of  the  Building  Act.  This  last 
governs  the  thickness  of  all  party  and  external  walls  to  be 
built  after  24th  day  of  June,  1774. 

PARULIS.    (Gr.  irapa,  and  ov\ov,  the  gum.)    A  gumboil. 

PA'RUS.  (Lat.  parus,  a  titmouse.)  A  genus  of  Coniros- 
tral  Passerine  birds  allied  to  the  crows,  characterized  by 
having  the  conical  beak  straight  and  rather  slender,  with 
few  hairs  at  its  base ;  nostrils  round,  and  covered  by  reflected 
bristly  feathers ;  the  hind  toe  is  strong,  and  armed  with  a 
long  hooked  claw.  To  this  genus  belong  the  native  birds 
commonly  called  tits  or  titmice,  of  which  the  tomtit  (Parus 
cceruleus,  Ray)  is  the  best  known  species.  The  great  tit 
(Parus  major),  the  marsh  tit  (Parus palustris),  the  cole  tit 
(Parus  ater),  and  the  crested  tit  (Parus  cristatus),  have  the 
bill  longer  and  more  pointed ;  the  last-named  species  is  rare 
in  this  country.  They  are  active  little  birds,  continually 
flitting  from  spray  to  spray,  and  suspending  themselves  in 
all  kinds  of  attitudes,  rending  apart  the  seeds  on  which  they 
feed,  devouring  insects,  and  not  even  sparing  small  birds 
when  they  happen  to  find  them  sick  and  are  able  to  destroy 
them.  They  store  up  provisions  of  grain,  build  their  nests 
in  the  holes  of  trees,  and  produce  more  eggs  than  is  usual 
among  the  Passerine  birds. 

PA'SCH  AL  CYCLE.  The  name  given  to  the  cycle  which 
serves  to  ascertain  when  Easter  occurs.  It  is  formed  by 
multiplying  by  each  other  the  cycle  of  the  sun,  which  con- 
sists of  28,  and  the  cycle  of  the  moon,  which  consists  of  19 
years.     See  Passover. 

PA'SCHAL  FLOWER.  The  Anemone  Pulsatilla;  so 
called  from  it-s  flowering  about  Easter. 

PASI'GRAPHY.  In  Literature.  (Gr.  was,  universal, 
and  ■}  pa<ptjj,  I  write.)  The  imaginary  universal  language, 
to  be  spoken  and  written  by  all  nations,  the  invention  of 
which  has  exercised  the  ingenuity  of  so  many  learned  men, 
has  been  denoted  by  this  word.  Leibnitz  seems  to  have 
been  one  of  the  first  who  conceived  this  to  be  possible. 
Many  writers  in  Germany  (where  the  name  was  invented) 
have  followed  him  in  the  endeavour  to  devise  schemes  for 
this  fanciful  object.  In  England,  Bishop  Wilkins,  in  the 
reign  of  Charles  II.,  invented  a  scheme  for  a  universal  lan- 
guage, grammar,  and  character. 

I'ASwriWDE.  (Ital.  pasquinata.)  A  satirical  writing 
directed  against  one  or  more  individuals.  A  mutilated  an- 
cient statue  of  a  gladiator  dug  up  at  Rome  about  300  years 
ago,  which  now  lies  in  the  court  of  the  Capitol,  was  popular- 
ly termed,  by  the  Romans,  "Pasquino,"  from  the  name,  it  is 


PASS. 

Ba!d,  of  a  barber  of  eccentric  and  well-known  character,  op- 
posite to  whose  house  it  was  originally  set  up.  This  statue, 
and  another,  called  by  the  populace  Marforio,  which  was 
situated  near  it,  were  used  for  the  purpose  of  bearing  satiri- 
cal placards,  often  reflecting  on  the  court  and  Church  of 
Rome,  which  were  affixed  to  them  at  night,  not  unfrequent- 
Iy  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue  between  the  two  statues.  80 
annoying  did  Pasquin  often  become  to  the  government,  that 
on  one  occasion  a  serious  design  was  entertained  of  throw- 
ing him  into  the  river  ;  but  the  ministers  of  the  reigning  pon- 
tiff are  said  to  have  dissuaded  him  from  it,  representing  that 
if  this  were  done  "  the  frogs  in  the  Tiber  would  croak  louder 
than  ever  Pasquin  had  spoken."  He  has,  however,  lost  his 
public  spirit,  and  rarely  or  never  ventures  to  attack  the 
powers  that  be.  But  his  statue  is  still  the  occasional  recep- 
tacle of  jocose  comments  on  private  matters.  M.  Matthews 
(Diary  of  an  Invalid)  mentions  an  instance  which  occurred 
during  his  stay  at  Rome.  A  man  of  the  name  of  Caesar 
(common  among  the  townsfolk  there)  had  married  a  girl  of 
the  name  of  Roma.  Pasquin  was  placarded  with  "  Cave, 
Caesar,  ne  tua  Roma  respublica  fiat."  The  man  replied  by 
Marforio,  "  Caesar  imperat."  To  which  the  retort  was  "  Ergo 
coronabitur."  Hence  Pnsquinata  and  Pasquilles  became,  in 
Italy,  conventional  words  to  signify  writings  of  that  descrip- 
tion, and  have  been  naturalized  in  other  languages.  In 
French  and  German  they  have  been  used  in  the  legal 
vocabulary  for  libel. 

PASS,  in  a  military  sense,  signifies  a  strait  or  narrow  de- 
file which  shuts  up  the  entrance  into  a  country. 

PASSAGE.  (Lat.  passus,  a  step.)  In  Architecture,  the 
part  of  a  building  allotted  for  giving  access  to  the  different 
apartments. 

Passage.  In  Music,  a  portion  of  an  air  or  tune  consisting 
of  one,  two,  or  three  measures. 

PASSAGE,  BIRDS  OF.     See  Migration. 

PASSANT.  In  Heraldry,  a  term  used  to  describe  a  beast 
when  represented  in  a  walking  position.  Passant  guardant, 
Walking  with  the  full  face  turned  towards  the  spectator. 

PASSEPARTOU'T.  In  Engraving,  a  plate  or  wood 
block,  whose  centre  part  is  entirely  cut  out  round  the  outer 
part,  whereof  a  border  or  ornamental  design  is  engraved, 
serving  as  a  frame  to  what  may  be  placed  in  the  centre. 

PA'SSERINES,  Passcres,  or  Passerinw.  (Lat.  passer,  a 
sparrow.)  The  name  given  by  Linnaeus  and  Cuvier  to  the 
typical  order  of  birds,  including  those  which  neither  mani- 
fest the  violence  of  birds  of  prey,  nor  have  the  fixed  regimen 
of  the  terrestrial  birds,  but  which  feed  on  insects,  fruit,  or 
grain,  according  to  the  slenderness  or  strength  of  their  beak ; 
some,  with  sharp  and  toothed  mandibles,  pursue  and  feed  on 
small  birds.  All  the  Passerines  have  short  and  slender  legs, 
with  three  toes  before  and  one  behind ;  the  two  external  toes 
being  united  by  a  very  short  membrane.  They  form  the 
most  extensive  and  varied  order  of  birds,  and  are  the  least 
readily  recognisable  by  distinctive  characters  common  to  the 
whole  group.  Their  feet,  being  more  especially  adapted  to 
the  delicate  labours  of  nidification,  have  neither  the  webbed 
structure  of  those  of  the  swimmers,  nor  the  robust  strength 
and  destructive  talons  which  characterize  the  feet  of  the 
bird  of  rapine,  nor  yet  the  extended  toes  which  enable  the 
wader  to  walk  safely  over  marshy  soils,  and  tread  lightly  on 
the  floating  leaves  of  aquatic  plants;  but  the  toes  are  slen- 
der, flexible,  and  moderately  elongated,  with  long,  pointed, 
and  slightly  curved  claws. 

The  Passerines  in  general  have  the  females  smaller  and 
less  brilliant  in  their  plumage  than  the  males ;  they  always 
live  in  pairs,  build  in  trees,  and  display  the  greatest  art  in 
the  construction  of  their  nests.  The  young  are  excluded  in 
a  blind  and  naked  state,  and  wholly  depend  for  subsistence, 
during  a  certain  period,  on  parental  care.  The  brain  arrives 
in  this  order  at  its  greatest  proportional  size ;  the  organ  of 
voice  here  attains  its  utmost  complexity ;  and  all  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  bird,  as  power  of  flight,  melody  of  voice,  and 
beauty  of  plumage,  are  enjoyed  in  the  highest  perfection 
by  one  or  other  of  the  groups  of  this  extensive  and  varied 
order. 

The  beak  of  the  Passerines  varies  in  form  according  to 
the  nature  of  their  food,  which  may  be  small  or  young  birds, 
carrion,  insects,  fruit,  seeds,  vegetable  juices,  or  of  a  mixed 
kind.  The  modifications  of  the  rostrum  have  therefore 
afforded  convenient  characters  for  the  tribes  or  subdivisions 
of  the  order :  these  are  termed,  1.  Dentirostres  ;  2.  Coniros- 
tres  ;  3.  Tenuirostres ;  4.  Fissirostres.    See  those  words. 

PASSIFLORA'CE^E.  (Passiflora,  or  Flos  passionis,  one 
of  the  genera.)  A  natural  order  of  twining  plants  with  very 
showy  flowers,  furnished  with  numerous  rays  of  brilliant 
colours  between  the  corolla  and  the  stamens.  They  chiefly 
inhabit  the  hotter  parts  of  the  world,  and  bear  a  fruit  not 
unlike  that  of  the  gourd,  to  which  natural  order  they  are  re- 
lated. Inde]>endently  of  the  beauty  of  their  flowers,  some 
yield  fruits,  eaten  under  the  name  of  granadilla  and  water 
lemon;  and  others  have  a  hard,  black  wood,  not  unlike 
ebony. 


PASSPORT. 

PASSING  NOTES.  In  Music,  graces  wherein  two  notes 
are  connected  by  smaller  intervening  notes. 

PA'SSION.  (Lat.  patior,  I  suffer.)  The  sufferings  of  our 
Lord,  which  is  described  as  having  endured  between  the 
Last  Supper  and  the  moment  of  his  death.  Passion-week  is 
that  in  the  course  of  which  these  sufferings  took  place  ; 
namely,  that  ipimediately  preceding  Easter.  (See  as  to  its 
solemn  ceremonial  in  the  Romish  Church,  this  article  in  the 
Encyclopedia  of  Ersch  and  Gruber.)  It  was  variously  called 
Hebdomada  luctuosa,  inofficiosa,  panosa,  indulgentice,  nigra, 
sancta,  ultima. 

PA'SSIONS.  The  name  popularly  given  to  the  different 
emotions  of  the  mind,  as  love,  anger,  &c.  Various  ingenious 
speculations  have  been  instituted  to  ascertain  whether  the 
precise  situation  of  the  impetus  of  the  passions  be  in  the 
spiritual  or  material  part  of  man.  Some  philosophers,  and 
among  these  Des  Cartes,  consider  them  wholly  seated  in  the 
corporeal  system.  Mallebranche  regards  them  as  those 
agitations  of  the  soul  which  proceed  from  uncommon  influ- 
ence and  motion  in  the  blood  and  animal  spirits.  "  Though 
the  passions,"  says  Burton,  in  his  Anatomy  of  Melancholy, 
"  dwell  between  the  confines  of  sense  and  reason,  yet  they 
rather  follow  sense  than  reason,  because  they  are  drowned 
in  corporeal  organs  of  sense.  They  are  commonly  reduced 
into  two  inclinations,  irascible  and  concnpiscible.  The 
Thomists  subdivide  them  into  eleven,  six  in  the  coveting-  and 
five  in  the  invading.  Aristotle  reduceth  all  to  pleasure  and 
pain.  Plato  to  love  and  hatred.  Vives  to  good  and  bad. 
If  good,  it  is  present,  and  then  we  absolutely  joy  and  love; 
or  to  come,  and  then  we  desire  and  hope  for  it ;  if  evil,  we 
absolutely  hate  it ;  if  present,  it  is  sorrow ;  if  to  come,  fear. 
. . .  All  other  passions  are  subordinate  unto  these  four,  or  six, 
as  some  will — love,  joy,  desire,  hatred,  sorrow,  fear.  The  rest, 
as  anger,  envy,  emulation,  pride,  jealousie,  anxiety,  miserie, 
shame,  discontent,  despair,  ambition,  avarice,  &c,  are  re- 
ducible unto  the  first"  (i.  e.,  the  irascible).  With  several 
writers  it  has  been  a  question  whether  the  passions  be  each 
a  distinct  innate  disposition,  or  merely  modifications  of  those 
dispositions  which  are  common  to  ail  mankind.  The  theo- 
ries and  conjectures  of  philosophers  upon  this  subject  are  al- 
most boundless ;  but  to  pursue  them  would  be  of  little  ad- 
vantage, even  if  our  limits  permitted,  and  we  shall  merely 
refer  the  reader  for  ample  particulars  to  the  works  of  Hume, 
Reid,  Hartley,  Locke,  Lord  Karnes.  &c.  (See  also  Maass's 
Versuch  Uber  die  Leidenschnften,  2  thle.     Halle,  1805.) 

Passions.  In  Painting  and  Sculpture,  the  representation 
in  the  countenance  and  other  parts,  of  the  violent  emotions 
of  the  mind,  produced  by  anger,  fear,  grief,  &c.  The  ex- 
pression of  the  passions  is  a  language  without  which  the 
painter  can  never  hope  for  success ;  it  is  in  this  that  he  has 
the  means  of  appealing  to  the  sympathy  of  the  spectator. 
The  close  observation  of  nature  under  similar  circumstances 
is  the  onlv  mode  by  which  his  aim  can  be  accomplished. 

PA'SSOVER,  or  PASCHA.  A  festival  among  the  Jews, 
which  derives  its  English  name  from  God's  passing  over  the 
houses  of  the  Israelites,  and  sparing  their  first  born,  when 
those  of  the  Egyptians  were  put  to  death.  The  name  of 
passover  or  paschal  lamb  was  likewise  given  to  the  lamb 
slain  in  memory  of  that  deliverance.  The  festival  lasted 
seven  days,  beginning  on  the  evening  of  the  14th  of  the 
month  Nisan,  and  commenced  with  killing  the  lamb.  The 
regulations  appointed  for  this  festival  are  detailed  in  Exod. 
xii. 

That  the  passover  had  a  typical  reference  to  our  Saviour 
has  been  the  universal  belief  of  the  Christian  world  in  all 
ages,  and  is  mainly  grounded  on  passages  in  St.  John  and 
St.  Paul.  (John,  xix.,  36 ;  1  Cor.,  v.,  7.)  Christ  is  said  to  be 
our  passover;  his  blood  being  shed  to  protect  mankind  from 
the  divine  justice,  as  the  blood  of  the  paschal  lamb,  which 
was  sprinkled  upon  the  door-posts  of  the  Israelites'  houses, 
preserved  them  from  the  visitation  of  the  angel  of  the  Lord. 

PA'SSPORT.  A  warrant  of  protection  and  authority  to 
travel,  granted  to  persons  moving  from  place  to  place  by  the 
competent  officer.  The  word  appears  to  be  derived  from 
the  maritime  usage  of  some  continental  countries,  of  giving 
similar  authorities  from  the  admiral  of  a  naval  station  to 
vessels  leaving  harbours  within  his  jurisdiction.  As  pass- 
ports are  not  required  in  our  own  country,  the  only  species 
known  to  British  travellers  is  that  of  foreign  passports,  which, 
for  an  Englishman  travelling  on  the  continent  of  Europe, 
are  usually  made  out  by  the  resident  minister  or  consul  of 
the  country  he  intends  first  to  visit,  in  London,  or  at  one  of 
the  ports.  They  are  also  granted  by  the  Foreign  Office  on 
payment  of  fees,  which  now  (1841)  amount  in  all  to  j£2  7s. 
They  are  subject  to  visa  or  inspection  by  the  proper  au- 
thorities at  the  place  where  the  traveller  disembarks,  and 
also  at  other  places  where  he  may  reach,  according  to  the 
police  regulations  of  each  particular  country,  and  on  passing 
the  frontiers  of  states.  Austria  is,  we  believe,  the  only  Eu- 
ropean state  which  at  this  time  requires  absolutely  the  visa 
of  an  ambassador  or  minister  of  her  own  for  travellers  en- 
tering her  domains  by  land.  In  France,  and  in  mnny  conti- 
3  K  *  905 


PASTE. 

nentnl  countries,  home  passports  are  necessary  for  the  native 
traveller.  According  to  the  letter  of  the  French  law  (since 
ITilGj,  a  Frenchman  cannot  pa.-,*  the  limits  of  the  canton  in 
which  he  is  domiciled  without  a  passport;  but  in  practice  it 
is  not  required  within  the  extent  of  the  department.  Legal- 
ly speaking,  the  strict  formalities  of  an  internal  passport,  in 
France,  require  the  direction  of  a  journey  to  be  specified,  and 
its  exact  execution  attested  by  the  visas  and  signatures  of 
the  police  authorities  at  every  place  mentioned  in  it;  and 
these  laws  are,  from  their  severity,  so  incapable  of  complete 
execution,  that  it  is  a  common  saying,  that  no  man  but  a 
rogue  is  ever  entirely  en  regie  with  respect  to  his  passport, 
suspicious  characters  being  usually  the  most  particular  in 
their  attention  to  formalities,  for  fear  of  detention.  A  French- 
man travelling  without  a  properly  authenticated  passport  is 
liable  to  arrest  and  detention  for  a  period  not  exceeding  a 
month.  The  fees  fixed  in  France  are  two  francs  for  a  pass- 
port to  travel  at  home,  and  ten  to  go  abroad. 

PASTE.  (Fr.  pale.)  In  Gem  Sculpture  a  preparation 
of  glass,  calcined  crystal,  lead,  and  other  ingredients,  for  imi- 
tating gems.  This  art  was  well  known  to  the  ancients,  and, 
after  being  long  lost,  was  restored,  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  by  a  .Milanese  painter. 

Some  modern  artists  have  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  com- 
position possessing  a  hard,  fine,  and  brilliant  lustre  or  ap- 
pearance ;  but  pastes,  or  mock  diamonds,  as  they  are  called, 
depend  most  for  brilliancy  on  the  art  displayed  in  setting  the 
foil  or  tinsel  behind  them.  Several  recipes  have  been  given 
by  M.  Fontanien  ;  but  the  most  useful,  and  that  generally 
employed  for  the  production  of  artificial  diamonds,  is  the 
following:  Take  of  litharge  20  parts,  of  silex  12,  of  nitre  4, 
of  borax  4,  and  of  white  arsenic  2  parts.  These  ingredients 
are  to  be  well  mixed  together  in  a  crucible  and  melted  ;  the 
fused  metal  is  thrown  into  water ;  and  should  any  of  the 
lead  employed  be  reduced  to  the  metallic  state,  it  becomes 
separated  by  this  process,  and  the  glass  is  remelted  for  use. 
For  the  finer  kinds  rock  crystal  is  used  instead  of  flint  or 
sand,  as  it  occurs  in  a  much  purer  state  ;  i.  e.,  more  free 
from  the  admixture  of  metallic  oxides,  which  give  to  vitre- 
ous compounds  their  different  colours.  In  place  of  the  above, 
Loysel  recommends  the  following  ingredients  to  form  a  a  im- 
pound, having  the  same  specific  gravity  as  the  oriental  dia- 
mond, and  on  this  account  considered  superior,  as  it  more 
nearly  approaches  the  gem  with  regard  to  its  refractive  and 
dispersive  powers  ;  but,  like  the  former,  it  requires  to  be  kept 
for  some  two  or  three  days  in  a  fused  state,  in  order  to  expel 
the  superabundant  alkali  and  to  perfect  the  refining.  A 
moderate  degree  of  heat  fuses  it.  The  following  is  its  com- 
position :  Take  of  white  sand  purified  by  being  washed,  first 
in  muriatic  acid  and  afterwards  in  pure  water,  until  all 
traces  of  acid  are  removed,  100  parts ;  red  oxide  of  lead 
(minium)  150  parts  ;  calcined  potash  30  to  35  parts  ;  calcined 
borax  10;  and  oxide  of  arsenic  1  part.  (See  the  Polytechnic 
Journal  for  July,  1841.) 

The  term  paste  is  also  applied  to  the  earthy  mixture  for 
pottery  and  porcelain ;  also  to  dough,  and  to  the  solution  of 
starch  or  wheat  flour,  made  by  first  mixing  it  with  a  proper 
portion  of  cold  water,  and  then  adding  boiling  water  under 
constant  stirring,  so  as  to  form  an  even  solution.  Alum  is 
often  added  to  paste  to  strengthen  it. 

PA'STEL.  (LaX.  pastillus.)  In  Painting,  a  crayon  formed 
with  any  colour  and  gum  water,  for  painting  on  paper  or 
parchment.  The  great  defect  of  this  mode  of  painting  is  its 
want  of  durability.    See  ("rayon. 

1'  A  STERN.  The  part  of  the  horse's  foot  under  the  fet- 
lock to  the  heel. 

PASTICCIO.  (It.)  In  Painting,  a  picture  painted  by  a 
ma-ter  In  a  style  dissimilar  to  that  in  which  he  generally 
painted.  David  Teniers  could,  for  instance,  imitate,  with 
surprising  exactness,  the  styles  of  many  of  the  first  masters 
of  Italy  and  Flanders.  The  same  may  be  affirmed  of  Luca 
Giordano,  a  Neapolitan  artist. 

PASTl'L.  In  Pharmacy,  a  kind  of  lozenge.  Acompound 
of  charcoal  with  odoriferous  substances,  which  diffuses  an 
agreeable  perfume  during  its  slow  combustion. 
PA'STORAL.  See  EcLootTB,  Bucolic,  Idyl. 
PA'STOUREAUX.  (Old Fr. shepherds.)  Insurgent  pea- 
sants, who  took  up  arms  in  France  during  the  absence  of 
King  Louis  IX.  on  his  crusade.  The)  were  led  by  an  apos- 
tate Cistercian  monk,  who  took  the  name  of  "Jacob,  Master 
of  Hungary,"  who  seduced  them  to  follow  him  in  various 
fanatical  extravagances.  They  committed  various  excesses, 
from  the  frontier  of  Flanders,  on  which  they  first  assembled, 
to  Bourses,  where  their  leader  was  killed  in  a  tumult,  and 
his  horde  dispersed. 

PASTURE.  Land  under  a  particular  description  of 
grasses  and  herbage,  which  is  eaten  on  the  spot  by  horses, 
cattle,  &c.  Hill  pasture  is  a  term  applied  to  hilly  and 
mountainous  lands,  which  are  kept  perpetually  under  the 
natural  grasses  and  herbage  which  spring  upon  them  ;  while 
artificial  pastures  are  such  as  are  sown  by  art  on  lands  which 
are  occasionally  subjected  to  the  plough.  In  all  artificial 
SOS 


PATHETIC  NERVES. 

pastures  the  principal  grass  is  rye  grass,  and  the  principal 
herbage  plant  the  white  clover.  Perpetual  pastures  are 
such  as  are  never  subjected  to  the  plough,  and  never  receive 
any  other  manure  than  what  is  left  on  them  by  the  pasturing 
animals;  but  artificial  pastures  are  occasionally  mown,  and 
sometimes  receive  a  top  dressing  of  dung,  or  some  mixture 
of  dung  and  earth,  lime,  &.c. 

rATAVI'NITY.  A  term  in  use  among  critics  to  denote 
a  provincial  idiom  in  speech;  so  named  after  that  of  I, ivy, 
the  historian,  from  his  being  born  at  Padavium,  a  provincial 
town  of  the  Roman  empire.  Wherein  the  alleged  defect  of 
Livy's  writings  consists  has  never  been  distinctly  pointed 
out  by  any  critic,  ancient  or  modern. 

PATE.  In  Fortification,  a  kind  of  platform  encompassed 
with  a  parapet,  and  having  nothing  to  flank  it. 

PATEE,  or  PATTEE.  (Fr.)  In  Heraldry,  a  sort  of  cross, 
small  at  the  centre  and  widening  towards  the  ends,  which 
are  very  broad. 

PATE'LLA.  The  small,  flat,  and  somewhat  heart- 
shaped  bone,  which  is  placed  at  the  fore  part  of  the  knee 
joint,  and  commonly  called  the  kneepan. 

PATELLOI'DS,  Patelloidca.  The  name  of  a  family  of 
Cyclobranchiate  Gastropods,  having  the  limpet  (Patella)  as 
the  type. 

PATEN.  (Lat.  patina.)  In  Ecclesiastical  usage,  the 
stand  or  saucer  on  which  the  chalice  rests.  It  was  fre- 
quently highly  ornamented  by  artists  in  the  15th  and  16th 
centuries.  In  the  administration  of  the  Eucharist  in 
England,  the  paten  is  the  vessel  on  which  the  bread  is 
placed. 

PA'TENT,  in  Commercial  Law,  is  defined  a  privilege 
from  the  crown  granted  by  letters  patent,  conveying  to  the 
persons  specified  therein  the  sole  right  to  make,  use,  or  dis- 
pose of  some  new  invention  or  discovery,  for  a  limited  pe- 
riod. This  power  is  said  to  be  inherent  in  the  crown ;  but 
was  first  defined  by  stat.  21  J.  1,  c.  3,  which  gives  the  term 
of  fourteen  years  or  under,  "  so  they  be  not  contrary  to  the 
law,  nor  mischievous  to  the  state,  by  raising  prices  of  com- 
modities at  home,  or  hurt  of  trade,  or  generally  inconve- 
nient." Ever  since  the  reign  of  Anne  it  has  been  a  con- 
dition in  patents,  that  the  inventor  should,  by  an  instru- 
ment technically  called  a  "specification,"  particularly  de- 
scribe and  ascertain  the  nature  of  his  invention  ;  on  failure 
of  which  the  patent  becomes  void.  These  letters  are  ob- 
tained on  petition  to  the  crown,  and  are  granted  on  the 
recommendation  of  the  attorney  qr  solicitor  general.  An 
injunction  may  be  obtained,  or  an  action  brought,  for 
the  infringement  of  a  patent;  but  it  is  necessary  to  show 
the  novelty  and  utility  of  the  invention,  and  that  it  is  of 
something  capable  of  being  turned  immediately  to  account 
in  commerce ;  no  patent  will  be  good  for  a  mere  philo- 
sophical principle  neither  organized  nor  capable  of  being 
so.  It  is  now  held  that  a  new  process  or  method,  as  well 
as  an  article,  may  be  the  subject  of  a  patent.  A  party  who 
believes  himself  to  have  discovered  an  invention,  but  has 
not  yet  been  able  to  reduce  it  to  practice,  may  enter  a 
caveat;  that  is,  an  instrument  by  which  notice  is  desired 
to  be  given  by  any  one  who  may  seek  a  patent  for  a  simi- 
lar invention.  The  law  of  patents  has  been  recently 
amended  by  5  &  6  W.  4,  c.  77,  and  some  difficulties  under 
which  inventors  were  placed,  particularly  as  to  the  strict- 
ness of  the  specification,  removed ;  but  the  policy  of  some 
of  the  clauses  is  questioned. 

The  phrase  letters  patent  is  also  frequently  applied  to  the 
state  documents  or  ordinances  of  the  German  sovereigns: 
in  which  sense  it  is  equivalent  to  the  bulls  of  the  pope,  or 
the  ukases  of  the  czar. 

PATENT  YELLOW*.  A  pigment  obtained  by  fusing  a 
mixture  of  oxide  and  chloride  of  lead. 

PATERA.  (Lat.  patere,  to  be  open.)  In  Roman  Anti- 
quities, a  large  open  goblet  or  cup  of  gold,  silver,  marble, 
or  earth,  &C,  used  in  offering  libations  to  the  gods. 

Patera.  In  Architecture,  the  representation  of  a  cup, 
usually  in  bas  relief,  and  employed  to  decorate  friezes,  fas- 
cise,  ini|>o*t<,  &c. 

PATEUl'NI.  One  of  the  names  by  which  the  Pauli- 
cians,  a  sect  which  appeared  in  Italy  in  the  11th  century, 
were  eery  commonly  known.  The  origin  of  the  term  is 
obscure,  as  is  also  the  connexion  of  the  sect  with  the 
Manicheans  of  the  Last.  (See  Fabcr  on  the  Church  of  the 
Waldeitset  and  Jllbigenses.) 

PATERNOSTER.  The  Latin  expression  for  Our  Fa- 
ther, signihing  the  Lord's  Prayer.     See  Rosary. 

PATER  PATRATUS.  In  Roman  Classical  Antiqui- 
ties, the  chief  of  the  fecials  or  herals  ;  specially  named  for 
the  performance  of  certain  solemn  acts,  such  as  declara- 
tions of  war. 

PATHE'TIC.    (Gr.  TnOcTiKor,  from  xdoxo,  I  suffer.)   In 
Tainting  and  Sculpture,  the  expression  of  the  softer  or  more 
sorrowful   passions.     Its   tendency  is  to  depress  and  com- 
pose the  feelings  of  the  spectator. 
PATHETIC  NERVES.    A  pair  of  small  nerves,  which 


PATHOGNOMONIC. 

Influence  the  expression  of  the  face.  They  rise  in  the 
brain,  and  supply  the  trochear  muscle  of  the  eye. 

PATHOGNOMONIC.  (Gr.  TraOos,  a  disease,  and  yvio/jLt], 
opinion.)  Symptoms  which  are  peculiar  to  particular  dis- 
eases, and  by  which  they  are  recognised,  are  termed  par- 
thognomonic  symptoms. 

PATHO'LOGY.  (Gr.  mOos,  and  Aoyoj,  a  discourse.) 
Literally,  the  doctrine  of  disease.  As  physiology  teaches 
the  nature  of  the  functions  of  the  body  in  a  state  of  health, 
so  pathology  relates  to  the  various  derangements  of  these 
functions  which  constitute  disease.  Its  objects,  therefore, 
are  to  ascertain  the  various  symptoms  which  characterize 
the  disorders  of  each  organ  of  the  body,  and  especially  the 
diagnostic  and  pathognomic  symptoms,  which  afford  the 
means  of  discrimination  between  diseases  that  resemble 
one  another;  to  determine  the  causes,  both  predisposing 
and  exciting,  by  which  diseases  are  induced ;  to  point  out 
the  tendency  and  probable  issue  of  each  disease  from  the 
varying  appearance  of  the  symptoms ;  and  finally  to  ex- 
plain the  symptoms  of  recovery,  and  the  nature  and  opera- 
tion of  the  remedies  adapted  to  the  various  circumstances 
and  periods  of  diseases.     (Conversations  Lexicon.) 

PA'THOS  (Gr.  iru8os,  suffering-),  is  applied  in  literary 
language  to  any  composition  calculated  to  excite  all,  but 
chietiy  the  tender,  emotions  of  the  mind.  In  France,  this 
term  is  generally  used  in  a  somewhat  disparaging  sense, 
being  applied  to  that  species  of  composition  which  indulges 
in  strained  and  unnatural  declamation. 

PA'TINA.  (Gr.  iraTavn,  a  disk.)  In  Numismatics,  the 
fine  rust  with  which  coins  become  covered  by  lying  in  pe- 
culiar soils,  which,  like  varnish,  is  at  once  preservative 
and  ornamental.  It  is,  says  Mr.  Pinkerton,  a  natural  var- 
nish, not  imitable  by  any  effort  of  human  art ;  sometimes 
of  delicate  blue,  like  that  of  a  turquoise ;  sometimes  of  a 
bronze  brown,  equal  to  that  observable  in  ancient  statues 
of  bronze  ;  sometimes  of  an  exquisite  green,  a  little  on  the 
azure  hue,  which  last  is  the  most  beautiful  of  all.  It  is 
also  found  of  a  fine  purple,  of  olive,  and  of  a  cream  colour, 
or  pale  yellow,  which  last  is  exquisite.  The  Neapolitan 
patina  is  of  a  light  green ;  and,  when  free  from  excrescence 
or  blemish,  is  very  beautiful.  Sometimes  the  purple  pati- 
na gleams  through  an  upper  coat  of  another  colour,  with 
as  fine  effect  as  a  variegated  silk  or  gem.  In  a  few  in- 
stances a  rust  of  deeper  green  is  found,  and  it  is  sometimes 
spotted  with  the  red  or  bronze  shade,  which  gives  it  the 
appearance  of  the  East  Indian  stone  called  bloodstone. 
These  rusts  are  all,  when  the  real  product  of  time,  as  hard 
as  the  metal  itself,  and  preserve  it  much  better  than  any 
artificial  varnish  could  have  done  ;  concealing,  at  the  same 
time,  not  the  most  minute  particle  of  the  impression  of  the 
coin.  Gold  admits  no  rust  but  iron-mould,  when  lying  in  a 
soil  impregnated  with  iron.  Silver  takes  many  kinds,  but 
chiefly  green  and  red,  which  yield  to  vinegar ;  for  in  this 
metal  the  rust  is  prejudicial. 

PATOIS.  (Supposed  to  be  derived  from  Lat.  pater,  a 
father.)  A  word  in  general  use  in  most  European  coun- 
tries, signifying  the  dialect  peculiar  to  the  lower  classes. 

PATRES  CONSCRIPTI.     See  Conscript  Fathers. 

PA'TRIARCH.  (A  compound  of  rrarrip,  father,  and 
ap%ti>,  I  govern.)  The  title  given  by  the  sacred  writers  to 
the  earliest  heads  of  families  recorded  in  Scripture,  from 
Adam  to  Jacob  and  his  sons.  This  title  was  assumed  also 
in  the  early  ages  of  the  church  by  the  bishops  of  the  prin- 
cipal cities  of  the  empire,  as  Rome,  Constantinople,  Anti- 
och,  &c.  The  name  was  adopted  from  the  practice  of  the 
Jews ;  who,  after  the  dispersion,  subjected  themselves  to 
the  spiritual  superintendence  of  the  patriarchs  resident  at 
Tiberias  and  Babylon.  The  first  mention  of  a  Christian 
patriarch  occurs  about  440.  They  were,  for  the  most  part, 
superior  to  archbishops  or  metropolitans,  being  set  over 
several  provinces.  This,  however,  was  not  always  the 
case.  The  patriarchs  of  Ephesus  and  Cajsarea,  for  in- 
stance, were  subject  to  the  bishop  of  Constantinople,  and 
were  only  on  a  par  with  diocesan  prelates.  (See  Hooker, 
Eccles.  Polity,  6,  7;  Mosheim,  vol.  i.,  pp.  179,  349,  trans., 
1790.) 

PATRI'CIANS.  (Lat.  ]ntres,  fathers.)  The  first  order 
or  nobility  of  the  Roman  people.  When  the  constitution 
of  Rome  was  monarchial,  they  elected  the  king;  and  after 
the  expulsion  of  theTarquins  all  the  great  officers  of  state, 
as  consuls,  praters,  &c,  were  chosen  from  their  body  for 
many  generations.  Of  the  patricians,  also,  the  senate  was 
composed;  but,  in  after  times,  both  this  and  the  great 
magistracies  were  thrown  open  to  the  plebeians.  The  sub- 
divisions of  this  order  were  as  follow :  First,  they  were 
classed  into  three  tribes,  called  Ramnenses,  Titienses,  and 
Luceres ;  of  which  the  first  contained  the  original  patri- 
cians of  Romulus,  the  two  latter  being  probably  admitted  to 
their  privilege  at  different  subsequent  times.  Each  of  these 
tribes  again  was  divided  into  ten  curies,  and  each  curia 
again  contained  ten  clans,  or  gentes.  The  general  assem- 
bly of  the  patrician  houses,  who  constituted  the  populus, 


PAULICIANS. 

in  contradistinction  to  the  plebs,  or  plebeian  citizens,  was 
Called  comitia  curiata,  because  they  voted  therein  by  cu- 
ries ;  and  this,  in  the  earliest  times,  was  the  Roman  popu- 
lar assembly,  to  which  plebeians  were  not  admitted. 

PA'TRICK,  SAINT,  ORDER  OF.  An  Irish  order  of 
knighthood,  instituted  by  George  III.  in  1783,  composed  of 
the  sovereign,  a  prince  of  the  blood  royal,  a  grand  master, 
and  fifteen  knights ;  the  lord-lieutenant  of  Ireland  for  the 
time  being  is  grand  master. 

PATRIPA'SSIANS.  (Lat.  pater,  father,  and  passio, 
suffering),  are  persons  who,  by  overlooking  the  distinction 
between  the  persons  of  the  Trinity,  are  reduced  to  allow 
that  the  Father  himself  suffered  on  the  cross.  This  argu- 
ment has  been  advanced  against  heretics  of  various  de- 
nominations, and  the  title  has,  in  consequence,  been  ap- 
plied to  many  such.  It  is  the  Sabellians,  however,  who 
considered  the  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit  as  three  modes  or 
representations  of  the  one  God,  that  are  generally  oppro- 
briouslv  designated  by  this  term.  See  Sabellians.  (See 
also  Mosheim,  vol.  i.,  cent.  4.) 

PATRI'STIC.  (Lat.  pater,  father.)  In  Theology,  of  or 
belonging  to  the  fathers  of  the  church  ;  as  patristic  theolo- 
gv,  literature,  study. 

"  PATRO'LE.  (Fr.  patrouille.)  In  Military  language,  >. 
detachment,  ordinarily  of  from  tour  to  eight  men,  under  j. 
corporal,  charged  to  march  in  a  given  circuit,  through  the 
streets  of  a  garrison  town,  in  order  to  repress  disorder. 
The  patroles  are  drawn  from  the  posts  of  the  city,  and 
set  out  at  an  hour  fixed  by  the  commandant.  They  are 
usually  accompanied,  in  Continental  towns,  by  an  officer 
of  police. 

PA'TRON.  (Lat.  patronus ;  from  pater,  father.)  The 
relation  of  patron  and  client,  in  Ancient  Rome,  has  been 
explained  under  the  head  Client.  After  the  extinction 
of  republican  sentiments  and  usages,  the  term  patron  was 
still  applied  to  advocates  who  defended  causes  for  hire. 
But  the  right  of  patronage,  analagous  to  that  which  had 
subsisted  under  the  commonwealth,  may  be  said  only  to 
have  existed  in  the  relation  between  masters  and  freed- 
men,  the  latter  of  whom  were  placed  under  various  obliga- 
tions to  their  former  owners.  In  the  usage  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  church,  a  patron  saint  is  the  peculiar  protector  of 
each  country,  community,  profession,  &c,  or  of  individuals. 
The  prime  minister  of  the  pope  is  termed  the  cardinal- 
patron.  (As  to  the  Roman  patrons,  see  Mem.  de  VAcad. 
des  Inscr.,  vol.  xii.) 

PA'TRONAGE.  In  the  Church  of  Scotland,  the  right 
of  presentation  to  livings  in  lay  patrons  was  recognised  by 
the  old  practice  of  the  church,  with  the  exception  of  the 
period  from  1690  to  1712  ;  during  which  lay  patronage  was 
abolished,  and  the  right  of  presentation  lodged  in  the  heri- 
tors (land  owners)  and  members  of  the  kirk  session.  In 
1712,  lay  patronage  was  restored ;  but  still  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  parishioners,  whose  call  (as  it  was  termed)  was 
necessary  to  ratify  the  presentation.  But  the  call  gradu- 
ally became  a  mere  nominal  ceremony;  and  disregard  to 
the  expressed  wishes  of  the  parishioners  in  one  or  two  in- 
stances was  the  cause  of  the  great  secession  from  the  Scot- 
tish kirk.  (See  Burghers.)  In  1834,  by  an  act  of  Assem- 
bly (see  Veto  Act),  the  right  of  the  parishioners  was  fully 
revived  ;  it  being  expressly  enacted  that  the  disapproval  of 
a  majority  should  invalidate  the  presentation.  This  act  of 
the  General  Assembly,  however,  is  found  by  the  courts  of 
law  not  to  be  efficient.  The  abolition  of  patronage  is  de- 
sired by  a  large  portion  of  the  Scottish  public ;  and  it  is 
highly  probable,  unless  some  legislative  arrangement  be 
come  to  on  the  subject,  that  the  present  disputes  in  the 
Scotch  church  will  terminate  in  a  new  secession. 

PATRONY'MIC.  (Gr.  itarnp,  and  ovoua,  a  name.)  A 
name  which  designates  a  person  by  alluding  to  some  of  his 
ancestors,  either  immediate  or  remote ;  as  Pelides,  i.  e., 
Achilles,  the  son  of  Peleus ;  jEacides,  i.  e.,  Achilles,  the 
grandson  of  jEacus.  Patronymics  were  chiefly  employed 
by  the  classical  poets  of  antiquity. 

PA'ULIANISTS.  A  sect  of  heretics  who  embraced  the 
Sabellian  doctrines  of  Paulus  of  Samosata,  a  bishop  of  An- 
tioch  in  the  third  century,  from  whom  they  derived  their 
name.     See  Sabellians,  Patripassians. 

PAULI'CIANS.  A  sect  of  heretics,  whose  history  is  in- 
terwoven with  that  of  the  Greek  church  in  the  9th  and 
10th  centuries,  who  appear  to  have  arisen  in  considerable 
numbers  in  Armenia,  and  to  have  adopted  the  name  by 
which  they  are  distinguished,  from  Paulus,  one  of  their 
leaders,  in  order  to  avoid  the  imputation  of  connexion  with 
the  Manicheans,  with  which  they  were  generally  charged. 
Their  opinions  are  to  be  collected  only  from  the  allegations 
of  their  enemies,  who  accused  them  of  holding  the  doctrine 
of  the  two  principles,  and  denying  the  inspiration  of  the 
Old  Testament  to  have  proceeded  from  the  Supreme  God. 
At  the  same  time,  the  charges  which  were  brought  against 
them,  alleging  their  contempt  for  the  worship  of  the  Virgin 
and  of  the  cross,  seem  to  point  them  out  as  in  some  respects 

907 


PAUPER. 

genuine  reformers  in  doctrinal  points,  and  to  have  led  their 
bigotted  enemies  to  invent  other  and  more  scandalous  Im- 
putations against  tin  m,  liir  the  sake  of  more  effectually 
blackening  tlieir  character.  In  the  Bast,  they  underwent  a 
series  of  persecutions  for  two  centuries:  a  remnant,  how- 
ever, survived  in  the  country  of  their  birth.  A  colony  of 
Paulicians  was  transplanted  to  Bulgaria  and  Thrace,  from 
whence,  in  the  11th  century,  they  spread  themselves  over 
the  West,  Where  they  were  known  under  the  names  of 
Calhari.  Patcrini,  fcc,  and  have  been  supposed  to  have 
been  connected  with  the  Albigenses  of  the  south  of  France. 
(See  Jloshtim,  vol.  ii.;  Fabcr  on  the  Churches  of  the  IVai- 
d'  n  J<  .-•  and  .  llbigi  mat  s,  1838.) 

PAUPER.     See  Poor  Laws. 

PAUSE,  (Gr.  iruvu),  I  stop.)  In  Music,  a  character  de- 
noting silence  in  a  part  for  a  certain  time,  according  to  the 
sort  of  pause  marked. 

PAVAX.  (I. at.  pavo,  a  peacock.)  A  slow  and  stately 
dance,  formerly  practised  in  England,  but  now  confined  to 
the  Spaniards.  It  derived  its  name  from  the  peculiarity 
of  the  dresses  of  those  who  engaged  in  it,  the  motion  of 
which  produced  a  fancied  resemblance  to  the  peacock's 
tail. 

PAVEMENT.  (Lat.  pavimentum.)  In  Architecture,  a 
causeway  or  floor  paved  with  stone,  brick,  or  other  hard 
material,  for  greater  convenience  of  walking.     See  Roads. 

P A  VESE.  orPAVOIS.  A  large  shield,  used  in  the  war- 
fare of  the  middle  ages  to  cover  assailants  advancing  to  the 
walls  of  a  fortress. 

PAVI'LIOX.  (Fr.  pavilion.)  In  Architecture,  a  project- 
ing apartment  on  the  flank  of  a  building,  usually  higher  than 
the  rest  of  it.  Summer  houses  in  gardens  are  sometimes 
called  by  this  name,  but  improperly.  The  term  pavilion  is 
also  used  to  signify  a  military  tent. 

PA'VO.  (Lat.  a  pea-fowl.)  The  name  given  by  Linnae- 
us to  the  genus  of  Gallinaceous  birds,  of  which  the  splendid 
Lidian  peacock  (Pavo  indicus,  Linn.)  is  the  type.  Thev 
are  characterized  by  a  crest  of  peculiar  form,  and  by  the 
tail  coverts  of  the  male  extending  far  beyond  the  quills,  and 
being  capable  of  erection  into  a  broad  and  gorgeous  disk. 
The  shining,  lax,  and  silky  barbs  of  these  feathers,  and  the 
eye-like  spots  which  decorate  their  extremities,  are  known 
to  every  one.  The  Indian  pea-fowl  exist  wild  in  the  north 
of  India,  whence  they  were  introduced  into  Europe  by  Alex- 
ander the  Great.  A  distinct  species  of  pea-fowl  exists  in 
the  Isle  of  Java. 

PAWNBROKER.  A  species  of  banker,  who  advances 
money  at  a  certain  rate  of  interest  upon  the  security  of 
goods  deposited  in  his  hands ;  having  power  to  sell  the  goods 
if  the  principal  sum,  and  the  interest  thereon,  be  not  paid 
within  a  specified  time.  The  practice  of  advancing  money 
to  the  poor,  either  with  or  without  interest,  seems  to  have 
been  occasionally  adopted  in  ancient  times ;  but  the  first 
public  establishments  of  this  kind  were  founded  in  Italy, 
under  the  name  of  Monti  di  Fieta,  in  the  14th  and  15th  cen- 
turies, and  were  intended  to  countervail  the  exorbitant  usu- 
rious practices  of  the  Jews,  who  formed  at  that  period  the 
great  money  lenders  of  Europe.  From  Italy  these  establish- 
ments gradually  spread  over  the  Continent,  in  manv  parts 
of  which  they  still  exist.  [See  Mont  de  Piete.)  For  a 
view  of  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  pawnbroking, 
and  the  law  as  to  pawnbrokers,  &c,  see  the  Commercial 

JJirt. 

PAX.  An  allegorical  divinity  anions  the  ancients,  wor- 
shipped as  the  goddess  of  peace.  She  had  a  celebrated  tem- 
ple at  Home,  which  was  built  hv  Vespasian,  and  was  con- 
sumed by  fire  in  the  reign  of  Commodus.  This  term  is 
sometimes  applied  to  a  small  image  of  Christ,  because,  in 
former  times.  me  kjgg  which  the  people  gave  it  before  leav- 
ing church  was  called  the  kiss  of  peace.  But  the  common 
pax,  or  oeculalorium,  was  a  metallic  plate  with  a  crucifix 
engraved  on  it.  It  is  now  disused,  (See  Ducange.  Oscular 
torium  ;  Milner.  in  the  Jlrchaolagia,  vol.  xx..  p.  534.1 

PATMASTER-GENERAL  OF  THE  FORCES.  This 
office  was  formerly  extremely  lucrative,  from  the  interest  on 
the  large  sum  of  money  which  remained  for  a  long  time  im 
I  --ion  of  the  paymaster,  la  1782  it  was  deprived 
of  these  extraordinary  emoluments,  and  the  salary  fixed  at 
X4IHH)  a  year.  The  paymaster  is  constituted  by  letters 
patent  under  the  great  seal  ;  he  is,  ex  officio,  of  the  privy 
council,  sometimes  of  the  cabinet.  In  the  Pay  I  tffice  there 
are  under  him  a  deputy  paymaster,  accountant-general, 
cashier,  and  various  assistants. 

PAYMASTER  OF  THE  imisEHOLD.  An  officer  in 
the  lord  steward's  department.  This  office  has  superseded 
that  of  the  ancient  cofferers.  It  has  a  salary  of  £450  per 
annum. 

PEACE,  JUSTICES  OF.     See  Justices. 

PEAK.  In  Naval  language,  the  name  given  to  the  upper 
comer  of  those  sails  which  are  extended  by  a  gatf,  or  by  a 
yard  crossing  the  mast  obliquely ;  as  the  tuizzen  yard  of  a 
ship,  &.c. 

908 


PEAT. 

PEARLASII.  Impure  carbonate  of  potash.  See  Pot- 
ash. 

PEARLS.  These  arc  substances  formed  by  certain  bi- 
valve Mollusks.  consisting  of  concentric  lave'rs  of  a  tine 
compact  nacre,  or  substance  identical  with  that  which  lines 
the  inside  of  the  shell ;  they  are  sometimes  found  free  and 
detached  within  the  lobes  of  the  mantle,  but  most  common- 
ly adherent  to  the  nacrous  coat  of  the  shell,  which  on  that 
account  is  termed  "mother  of  pearl."  The  species  of  bi- 
valve which  produces  the  most  valuable  pearls  is  the  pearl 
oyster  of  Ceylon,  Mcleagrina  margarittfera,  Lam.  A  pore 
pearl  is  generally  spherical,  and  has  a  white,  or  bluish,  or 
yellowish  white  colour,  with  a  peculiar  lustre  and  irides- 
cence, and  consists  of  alternating  concentric  layers  of  mem- 
brane and  carbonate  of  lime.  When  steeped  in  dilute  mu- 
riatic acid,  the  carbonate  is  decomposed  with  effervescence, 
and  films  of  membrane  remain  undissolved. 

Pearls  were  In  the  highest  possible  estimation  in  ancient 
Rome,  and  bore  an  enormous  price.  Principium  culmenque 
omnium  rerum  pretii,  marirarita:  tcnent.  (Plin.  Hist.  Nat., 
lib.  ix.,  c.  35.)  Their  price  in  modern  times  has  very  much 
declined  ;  partly,  no  doubt,  from  changes  of  manners  and 
fashions,  but  more,  probably,  from  the  admirable  imitations 
of  pearls  that  may  be  obtained  at  a  very  low  price.  Ac- 
cording to  Mr.  Milburn,  a  handsome  necklace  of  Ceylon 
pearls,  smaller  than  a  large  pea,  cost  from  .£170  to  £300 ; 
but  one  of  pearls  about  the  size  of  peppercorns  may  be  had 
for  £15:  the  pearls  in  the  former  sell  at  a  guinea  each,  and 
those  in  the  latter  at  about  Is.  6d.  When  the  pearls  dwin- 
dle to  the  size  of  a  small  shot,  they  are  denominated  seed 
pearls,  and  are  of  little  value.  They  are  mostly  sent  to 
China.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  pearls  of  which  we 
have  any  authentic  account  was  bought  by  Tavernier,  at 
Catifa,  in  Arabia,  a  fishery  famous  in  the  days  of  Pliny,  for 
the  enormous  sum  of  £10,000 !  It  is  pear-shaped,  regular, 
and  without  blemish.  The  diameter  is  -63  inch  at  the  larg- 
est part,  and  the  length  from  2  to  3  inches.  It  is  in  the  posr 
session  of  the  shah  of  Persia. 

The  pearl  oyster  is  fished  in  various  parts  of  the  world, 
particularly  on  the  west  coast  of  Ceylon  ;  at  Tuticoreen, 
in  the  province  of  Tinnevelley,  on  the  coast  of  Coroman- 
del ;  at  the  Bahrein  Islands,  in  the  Gulf  of  Persia  ;  at  the 
Sooloo  Islands  ;  off  the  coast  of  Algiers  ;  off  St.  Margarita, 
or  Pearl  Islands,  in  the  West  Indies,  and  other  places  on 
the  coast  of  Colombia  ;  and  in  the  Bay  of  Panama,  in  the 
South  Sea.  Pearls  have  sometimes  been  found  on  the 
Scotch  coast,  and  in  various  other  places. 

The  pearl  fishery  of  Tuticoreen  is  monopolized  by  the 
East  India  Company,  and  that  of  Ceylon  by  government. 
But  these  monopolies  are  of  no  value  ;  as  in  neither  case 
does  the  sum  for  which  the  fishery  is  let  equal  the  ex- 
penses incurred  in  guarding,  surveying,  and  managing  the 
banks.  It  is  therefore  sufficiently  obvious  that  this  system 
ought  to  be  abolished,  and  every  one  allowed  to  fish  on 
paying  a  moderate  licence  duty.  The  fear  of  exhausting 
the  hanks  is  quite  ludicrous.  The  fishery  would  be  aban- 
doned as  unprofitable  long  before  the  breed  of  oysters  had 
been  injuriously  diminished,  and  in  a  few  years  it  would 
be  as  productive  as  ever.  Besides  giving  fresh  life  to  the 
fishery,  the  abolition  of  the  monopoly  would  put  an  end  to 
some  very  oppressive  regulations  enacted  by  the  Dutch 
more  than  a  century  ago.  (For  full  details  respecting  the 
pearl  fishery,  see  the  Commercial  Diet.) 

PEARLSINTER.  In  Mineralogy,  a  siliceous  mineral 
found  in  volcanic  tufa  :  it  is  also  called  ./lon'fc. 

PEARLSTOXE.  A  variety  of  obsidian,  a  volcanic  pro- 
duct of  a  pearly  lustre  :  it  is  a  silicate  of  alumina. 

PEASTONE,  or  PISOLPTE.  A  variety  of  limestone 
composed  of  globular  concretions  of  the  size  of  a  pea. 

PEAT.  The  natural  accumulation  of  vegetable  matter 
on  the  surface  of  lands  not  in  a  state  of  cultivation  ;  al- 
ways more  or  less  saturated  with  water,  and  generally 
abounding  in  modifications  of  extractive  matter,  varying 
with  the  nature  of  the  plants  of  which  the  peat  is  com- 
posed. 

Peat  is  generally  of  a  black  or  dark  brown  colour,  or, 
when  recently  formed,  of  a  yellowish  brown  :  it  is  soft, 
and  of  a  viscid  consistence  ;  but  it  becomes  hard  and  dark- 
er by  exposure  to  the  air.  It  is  generally  more  or  less 
mixed  with  earthy  substances.  When  steeped  in  water  it 
gives  out  a  brown  liquor,  more  or  less  dark.  When  thor- 
oughly dried  it  may  be  set  fire  to,  and  burns  slowly,  giving 
out  a  gentle  heat  without  much  smoke.  This  smoke  com- 
municates a  peculiar  flavour  to  all  the  articles  with  which 
it  comes  in  contact ;  and  this  flavour  is  considered  a  char- 
acteristic of  spirits  which  have  been  distilled  in  \e--els 
heated  by  this  kind  of  fuel,  and  also  of  malt.  corn,  and  fish 
which  have  been  dried  by  it.  Peat  abounds  in  every  part 
of  the  world,  but  more  especially  in  the  cold  moist  climates 
of  temperate  regions.  It  covers  many  thousand 
Ireland,  and  in  the  Highlands  and  western  counties  of  the 
Lowlands  of  Scotland,  and  In  the  western  counties  of 


PEATS. 

England  ;  but  all  these  bogs  are  rapidly  disappearing,  in 
consequence  of  being  drained,  and  having  their  surfaces 
slightly  covered  with  earth,  and  stirred  and  sown  with 
grass  seeds. 

When  peaty  matter  accumulates  on  the  sides  of  declivi- 
ties it  is  generally  comparatively  dry,  and  is  then  called 
hill-peat ,  but  when  peat  accumulates  on  hollow  places,  or 
on  flat  surfaces,  it  is  generally  thoroughly  saturated  with 
water,  and  is  then  called  peat-bog.  In  most  cases  the  prin- 
cipal plant  which  forms  the  peatty  matter  is  the  Spkag- 
num  palustre  of  Linnsus  ;  a  moss  which  is  common  on  all 
moist,  peaty  surfaces  throughout  Europe,  and  is  frequent 
in  many  parts  of  North  America.  This  moss  continues 
growing  upwards  from  the  points  of  the  shoots,  while  de- 
cay is  advancing  in  a  similar  manner  from  their  lower  ex- 
tremities ;  thus  forming  a  thick,  close  mass  of  vegetable 
matter,  which  rots  below  as  it  increases  in  height.  The 
rotten  part  is  frequently  dug  out  and  dried,  to  be  used  as 
fuel,  or  to  be  mixed  with  dung  or  lime  and  rotted  into 
manure. 

When  peaty  matter  accumulates  on  a  surface  which 
abounds  in  springs,  the  water  sometimes  oozes  out  beneath 
the  peat,  and  between  it  and  the  natural  soil,  in  such 
quantities  as  to  raise  up  the  layer  of  peat,  and  float  it  off  to 
a  distance;  sometimes  carrying  everything  before  it,  and 
ending  by  burying  under  it  lands  in  a  state  of  culture. 
About  the  middle  of  the  18th  century,  a  remarkable  irrup- 
tion of  this  kind  took  place  near  Annan  in  Dumfries-shire  ; 
and  such  irruptions  are  frequent  in  Ireland.  The  circum- 
stances favourable  to  the  growth  of  peat  are  a  soil  abound- 
ing in  springs,  a  flat  surface  or  hollow  surrounded  by  hills, 
and  a  moist  climate.  Hence  peat-bogs  are  more  abundant 
in  Ireland,  and  in  the  western  counties  of  Scotland,  than 
in  any  other  part  of  the  British  empire. 

When  an  accumulation  of  peat  has  taken  place  in  a 
level  situation,  or  on  a  declivity  not  abounding  in  springs, 
the  matter  accumulated  is  comparatively  dry,  and  is  then 
called  peat  moss.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  peat  moss- 
es in  Britain  is  the  Flanders  Moss,  in  Stirlingshire.  It 
rests  on  a  flat  surface  of  excellent  alluvial  soil,  of  which  it 
covers  about  4000  acres.  Great  part  of  this  peat  moss,  be- 
ing quite  light,  has  been  cut  into  small  pieces,  and  floated 
off,  by  means  of  a  stream  of  water,  to  the  sea  ;  thus  expo- 
sin™  the  natural  soil,  and  rendering  it  fit  for  culture.  This 
operation  was  commenced  at  Blair  Drummond,  towards 
the  end  of  the  last  century,  by  the  celebrated  Lord  Karnes, 
and  is  still  continued  by  his  son,  Mr.  Drummond. 

PEATS.  Peat  bo;*  cut  out  in  small  square  or  rectangu- 
lar pieces,  and  dried  for  being  used  as  fuel.  These  pieces 
are  cut  out  with  light  spades  in  the  summer  season,  spread 
abroad  to  dry,  and  afterwards  carted  home  and  put  up  in 
stacks  or  heaps,  which  are  thatched  to  exclude  the  rain. 
These  peats  are  afterwards  used  as  fuel,  not  only  for  do- 
mestic purposes,  but  for  burning  lime,  and  for  heating  kilns 
for  drying  corn,  &c.  To  facilitate  the  drying  of  peat,  the 
water  is  sometimes  pressed  out  of  the  square  pieces  after 
they  are  cut,  and  thrown  out  of  the  bog,  by  a  compressing 
machine,  which  also  renders  the  material  more  compact 
and  durable  in  the  fire.  Peats  are  also  sometimes  charred 
by  a  smothered  combustion,  so  as  to  be  rendered  better 
adapted  to  serve  as  a  substitute  for  pit-coal,  coke,  or  char- 
coal, in  smelting  iron  or  other  metals,  in  generating  steam, 
&c.  Attempts  have  been  made  to  separate  astringent  mat- 
ter from  peat,  and  to  use  it  in  tanning  leather. 

PEAT  SOIL.  Peat  in  a  state  of  decomposition,  on  which 
corn  or  other  agricultural  crops  may  be  grown.  The  pro- 
cess of  turning  living  peat  into  peat  soil  is  greatly  facilita- 
ted by  draining,  and  by  laying  earth  or  lime  on  its  surface, 
and  afterwards  mixing  the  earthy  matter  with  the  peat 
by  ploughing  or  digging.  In  this  manner  every  kind  of 
peaty  surface  may  be  rendered  available  for  agricultural 
purposes;  and  accordingly,  in  Ireland,  in  Lancashire,  and 
in  Ayrshire,  good  crops  of  corn,  potatoes,  and  artificial 
grasses  are  produced  on  the  surface  of  peat  lands,  which 
consist  of  a  layer  of  peat  from  five  to  twenty  feet  in  depth. 
The  plants  which  thrive  best  on  the  surface  of  beds  of 
peat  of  this  description  are  those  which  extend  their  roots 
immediately  under  the  surface.  Hence  few  trees  will 
thrive  in  such  soils,  with  the  exception  of  the  spruce  fir, 
the  silver  fir,  the  birch,  and  two  or  three  kinds  of  willows. 
Peaty  soil  is  extensively  used  in  gardening,  in  the  culture 
of  plants  which  are  found  growing  on  this  soil  in  a  wild 
state. 

Peat  from  wood,  or  woody  peat,  is  a  composition  of  the 
branches,  trunks,  and  roots  of  trees,  with  their  leaves,  and 
the  shrubs  and  plants  which  have  grown  up  among  them, 
which  have  lain  so  long  in  water  as  to  have  decayed  into 
a  mass  soft  enough  to  be  cut  with  a  spade.  The  colour  is 
a  blackish  brown,  like  that  of  mossy  peat ;  and  it  may  be 
used  as  manure,  for  fuel,  and  for  the  growth  of  plants. 
Peat  of  this  description  is  found  in  some  parts  of  Holland, 
and  also  in  the  Vale  of  Kennett,  in  Berkshire  ;  but  is  most 
75 


PECTINIBRANCHIATES. 

abundant  in  North  America,  where  it  forms  the  soil  in 
which  many  of  the  plants  and  trees  of  that  country  thrive 
with  the  greatest  vigour.  Wherever  it  can  be  found,  it  is 
the  most  suitable  of  all  kinds  of  peat  for  garden  purposes. 
This  kind  of  peat  is  frequently  burned  for  its  ashes,  both 
in  Britain  and  Holland ;  and  these,  from  the  alkali  they 
contain,  are  found  an  excellent  manure. 

Peat,  sandy,  or  sandy  peat,  is  mossy  peat  in  a  state  of  de- 
cay or  mould,  naturally  mixed  with  sand  brought  over  it, 
from  soil  lying  above  its  level,  or  by  the  overflowings  of 
rivers.  It  is  used  in  gardening  for  the  same  purposes  as 
heath  soil. 

PE'BBLES.  A  term  applied  to  rounded  nodules,  espe- 
cially of  siliceous  minerals,  such  as  rock-crystal,  agates, 
&c.  Among  opticians  the  term  pebble  generally  means  the 
transparent  and  colourless  rock-crystal  or  quartz  (pure 
silica),  which  is  used  as  a  substitute  for  glass  in  spectacles : 
its  extreme  hardness  renders  it  more  durable,  and  little  apt 
to  be  scratched. 

PE'CC  ARI.  A  Pachydermatous  quadruped  allied  to  the 
hog ;  but  generally  distinguished  by  the  absence  of  the 
outer  toe  of  the  hind  foot,  and  the  presence  of  a  peculiar 
gland,  which  exudes  its  secretion  by  an  orifice  situated  on 
the  back ;  whence  Cuvier  devised  the  name  Dicotyles 
(two  navels)  for  the  genus.  The  incisor  and  molar  teeth 
resemble  those  of  the  hog,  but  the  canines  do  not  project 
from  the  mouth.  The  metacarpal  and  metatarsal  bones  of 
their  two  middle  and  largest  toes  are  confluent,  as  in  the 
Ruminants ;  with  which  their  stomach  also,  divided  into 
three  compartments  with  ca?cal  appendages,  presents  a 
marked  analogy.  Two  species  of  peccari  are  known,  both 
natives  of  South  America ;  viz.,  the  collared  peccari 
{Dicotyles  torquatus),  and  the  white-lipped  peccari  (Die. 
labialus,  Cuv.). 

PECHBLEND,  or  PITCHBLENDE.  An  ore  of  ura- 
nium. 

PECK.  A  measure  of  capacity  containing  two  gallons, 
or  the  fourth  part  of  a  bushel.  The  imperial  peck  con- 
tains 55455  cubic  inches.     See  Measure. 

PE'CORA.  (Lat.  pecus,  a  sheep.)  The  name  given  by 
Linnteus  to  an  order  of  Mammals  corresponding  with  the 
Ruminantia  of  Cuvier. 

P'ECTEN  (Lat.  a  comb),  in  Comparative  Anatomy,  is 
the  vascular  membrane,  in  structure  resembling  the  cho- 
roid, plicated  with  parallel  folds  like  the  teeth  of  a  comb, 
and  extending,  in  the  eyes  of  birds,  from  the  back  of  the 
retina  through  the  vitreous  humour  to,  or  near  to,  the  crys- 
talline lens,  where  it  mostly  terminates  in  a  point.  This 
organ  resembles  a  flattened  conical  bag,  whence  it  is  also 
termed  "  marsupium." 

In  Zoology,  the  name  is  applied  to  the  genus  of  bivalve 
shells  commonly  called  "  clams."  They  have  a  hinge  like 
that  of  the  oyster  ;  but  have  been  removed  on  account  of 
their  shell  being  inequivalve,  semicircular,  always  regu- 
larly marked  with  ribs,  which  radiate  from  the  summit  of 
each  valve  to  the  circumference,  and  furnished  with  two 
angular  productions,  called  "  ears,"  which  widen  the  sides 
of  the  hinge. 

The  animal  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  the  little  dark 
green  metallic  globule  which  terminates  most  of  the  ten- 
tacles of  the  exterior  row  of  those  at  the  circumference  of 
the  mantle.  These  specks  are  conjectured  to  be  rudimen- 
tal  organs  of  vision,  whence  Poli  was  induced  to  call  the 
soft  parts  of  the  pecten  "argus." 

PE'CTIN.  (Gr.  TrnKTos,  coagulated.)  Also  termed  Pec- 
tic  Acid.  The  gelatinizing  principle  of  certain  vegetables, 
such  as  currants,  apples,  &c.  It  may  be  abundantly  ob- 
tained from  some  of  the  esculent  roots,  especially  carrots, 
whence  their  excellence  as  an  ingredient  in  soup.  To  ob- 
tain it  from  this  source  the  carrots  are  rasped,  and  the 
pulp  strongly  pressed,  so  as  to  render  it  as  dry  as  possible  ; 
in  this  state  it  is  washed  in  repeated  portions  of  cold  soft 
water,  till  all  soluble  matters  are  removed  from  it.  The 
pulp  thus  prepared  is  then  boiled  with  5  parts  of  bicarbon- 
ate of  potash  to  every  100  of  the  washed  pulp  ;  the  decoc- 
tion is  filtered,  and  chloride  of  calcium  added  to  it,  which 
forms  a  bulky  precipitate  of  pectate  of  lime;  this  is  well- 
washed,  and  the  lime  removed  by  very  weak  muriatic 
acid.  Pectin,  or  pectic  acid,  thus  obtained,  is  in  the  form 
of  a  jelly,  which  forms  insoluble  compounds  with  the 
earths  and  several  of  the  other  metallic  oxides.  It  seems 
doubtful  whether  this  jelly  is  not  a  product,  resulting  from 
the  action  of  the  alkaline  carbonate  of  the  lignin  of  the 
carrot.  It  must,  however,  be  easily  formed ;  for  when 
carrots  are  stewed  or  boiled  for  a  length  of  time,  they  be- 
come very  gelatinous.  When  pectic  acid  is  boiled  in  a 
stron"  solution  of  potassa,  oxalate  of  potassa  is  produced. 

PEC'TINA'TUM  TECTUM.  (Lat.  pecten,  a  comb.)  In 
Architecture,  a  roof  which  has  obtained  this  name  from 
its  shape  resembling  that  of  a  comb,  and  contrived  to 
throw  oft' the  rain  water  in  two  ways. 

PECTINIBRANCHIATES,  Pectinibranchiata.    (Latin, 

909 


PECTORALS. 

pecten,  and  bronchia,  gills.)  The  name  given  by  Cuvic r 
to  his  sixth  order  of  Gastropods.  It  is  the  most  extensive 
division  of  that  class,  since  it  includes  almost  all  the  spiral 
Univalve  shells,  as  well  as  several  which  are  merely  coni- 
cal. The  order  is  thus  characterized  by  Cuvier:  "The 
branchiae,  composed  of  numerous  leaflets  or  fringes,  rnnged 
parallel  like  the  teeth  of  a  comb,  are  affixed  in  two  or 
three  lines  (according  to  the  genera)  to  the  floor  of  the 
respiratory  cavity  which  occupies  the  last  whorl  of  the 
shell,  and  which  communicates  outwards  by  a  wide  aper- 
ture between  the  margin  of  the  cloak  and  the  body.  Two 
genera  only — Cijc/ustoma  and  Helicina — have,  instead  of 
branchia'.  a  vascular  network  clothing  the  ceiling  of  the 
cavity,  in  all  respects  the  same  as  that  of  the  order  ;  and 
they  are  the  only  ones  which  respire  the  atmosphere,  wa- 
ter being  the  medium  of  respiration  to  all  the  rest." 

All  the  Pectinibranchiates  have  two  tentacula  and  two 
eyes,  raised  sometimes  on  pedicles  ;  a  mouth  in  the  form 
of  a  proboscis,  more  or  less  lengthened  ;  and  separate  sex- 
es. The  penis  of  the  male,  attached  to  the  right  side  of 
the  neck,  cannot,  in  general,  be  drawn  within  the  body,  but 
is  reflected  into  the  branchial  cavity  ;  it  is  sometimes  very 
large.  The  Paludina  alone  has  the  organ  concealed,  and 
it  comes  out  through  a  hole  pierced  in  the  right  tentacu- 
lum  ;  the  rectum  and  the  oviduct  of  the  female  also  creep 
along  the  right  side  of  the  branchial  cavity  ;  and  there  is 
between  them  and  the  branchia:  a  peculiar  organ,  com- 
posed of  cells  filled  with  a  very  viscous  fluid,  the  use  of 
which  is  to  form  a  common  envelop  for  the  enclosure  of 
the  eggs,  and  which  the  animal  deposits  within  them. 
The  form  of  that  envelop  is  often  very  complicated  and 
very  remarkable. 

The  tongue  is  armed  with  little  hooks  (or  curved  spi- 
nules),  and  wears  down  the  hardest  botUes  by  slow  and  oft- 
repeated  frictions. 

The  grand  difference  between  these  animals  lies  in  the 
presence  or  absence  of  the  canal  formed  by  the  prolonga- 
tion of  the  margin  of  the  branchial  cavity  on  the  left  side, 
and  which  passes  along  a  similar  canal  or  sinus  in  the 
shell,  to  enable  the  animal  to  breathe  without  leaving  its 
shell.  There  is  also  this  distinction  between  the  genera, 
that  some  want  the  operculum;  and  the  species  vary  in 
the  filaments,  fringes,  and  other  ornaments  that  deck  the 
head,  the  foot,  or  the  cloak. 

PE'CTORALS,  or  PECTORAL  FINS.  (Lat.  pectus, 
the  breast.)  The  anterior  and  lateral  pair  of  fins,  which 
represent,  in  fishes,  the  fore  legs  or  anterior  members  of 
Other  vertebrate  animals. 

PECULA'TION.  (Lat.  peculium.)  A  term  of  the  Ro- 
man law,  rendered  in  that  of  France  by  concussion.  The 
embezzlement  by  a  public  officer  of  public  money.  Pecu- 
lation, in  the  Roman  law,  also  comprehended  offences  re- 
lating to  the  coin. 

PECU'LIAR.  In  Ecclesiastical  Law,  an  exempt  juris- 
diction, which  is  not  under  the  ordinary  of  the  dioccss, 
but  has  one  of  its  own.  They  are — royal,  of  which  the 
king  is  ordinary  ;  peculiars  of  archbishops,  bishops,  deans, 
chapters,  prebendaries,  and  the  like  ;  to  which  were  for- 
merly added  peculiars  of  monasteries,  the  jurisdiction  over 
which,  by  31  H.  8,  c.  13,  was  granted  to  the  ordinary 
within  whose  diocess  they  were  situate,  or  to  such  per- 
sons as  the  king  should  appoint. 

PE'CULIUM.  (Lat.)  In  the  Roman  Law,  the  proper- 
ty which  a  slave  might  acquire  independent  of  the  con- 
trol of  his  master.  This  property  was  frequently  permit- 
ted to  accumulate,  so  as  to  enable  the  slave  to  purchase 
his  freedom.  The  son  being,  on  the  principles  of  the  Ro- 
man law,  unemancipated  during  the  lifetime  of  his  father, 
whatever  property  he  might  acquire  appertained  in  strict- 
ness to  the  latter ;  but,  by  degrees,  certain  species  of  prop- 
erty acquired  by  the  child  obtained  the  title  and  character 
of  peculia.  Of  these,  however,  the  only  one  which  was 
absolutely  the  child's  was  that  which  the  son  acquired  in 
military  service  (peculium  castrense),  or  in  public  service 
of  any  kind,  which,  by  a  legal  fiction,  was  regarded  as 
equivalent  to  military. 

PE'DAGOGUE.  "(Gr.  naiSayuiyos;  from  vaic,  Joy,  and 
ayiayoc,  leader.)  Among  the  ancient  Greeks,  a  slave 
charged  with  the  personal  care  of  a  boy  from  the  earliest 
age  after  infancy  (from  the  milk,  in  the  loose  phrase  of 
Plutarch  ;  from  about  the  age  of  seven,  as  it  is  more  ac- 
curately stated  by  yEschines)  until  he  became  a  youth 
(uupaKiov),  i.  e.,  until  the  seventeenth  or  twentieth  year. 
The  pedagogue's  duty  was  to  attend  his  charge  on  all  oc- 
casions when  he  left  his  father's  house;  to  the  lecture- 
rooms  of  masters,  the  theatre,  &c.  (See  especially  Plato, 
Sympot.)  He  was  also  entrusted  with  the  duty  of  in- 
structing and  disciplining  the  child  in  inferior  branches  of 
education  and  ordinary  manners.  He  was,  consequently, 
of  a  very  superior  order  of  common  slaves,  and  must  be  un- 
derstood as  excepted  when  Aristotle  recommends  that  a 
■child  should  be  left  to  converse  as  little  as  possible  with 
910 


PEER. 

persons  of  the  servile  class.  (Politic.,  vii.,  156.)  The  cus- 
tom of  entrusting  children  to  slaves  in  this  manner  was 
common  in  other  Grecian  states  ;  the  Romans  also  em- 
ployed a  slave  for  similar  purposes,  with  the  title  of  ctte- 
tos  or  magister. 

In  modern  times,  and  especially  in  Germany,  the  word 
pedagogic  is  used  to  signify  the  science  or  art  of  education. 

PEDAL  HARMONIES.  In  Music,  the  same  as  Organ 
Point,  which  see. 

PEDALMA  SCHI.  A  Turkish  officer,  whose  duty  con- 
sists in  looking  after  the  interests  of  the  Sultan  in  cases  of 
legacies.  The  Ottoman  treasury  receives  through  this 
officer  a  tithe  of  all  bequests  made  to  heirs  male. 

PE'DALS  (Lat.  pes,  afoot),  in  such  musical  instruments 
as  the  organ,  harp,  and  pianoforte,  are  either  keys  acted 
on  by  the  feet  of  the  performer  (whence  the  name),  to 
modify  the  tone  of  these  respective  instruments,  or  levers 
acting  on  the  swell  of  the  organ,  and  on  the  stops.  The 
invention  of  the  pedals  or  foot-keys  of  the  organ  is  attribu- 
ted to  a  German  named  Dernhard,  who  lived  in  the  15th 
century.  It  was  long,  however,  before  their  utility  and 
importance  were  acknowledged  by  other  nations  ;  and  it 
is  a  singular  fact  that  though  England  was  the  first  to  in- 
troduce the  organ  generally  into  the  church,  she  was  the 
last  to  adopt  this  invention.  Within  the  last  twenty  years 
many  improvements  have  been  made  in  the  construction 
of  pedals,  and  few  organs,  except  those  of  small  dimen- 
sions, are  now  built  without  them.     See  Oroan. 

PE'DATE.  In  Botany,  a  palmate  leaf  with  the  two 
lateral  lobes  themselves  divided  into  smaller  segments,  the 
midribs  of  which  do  not  run  directly  into  the  common  cen- 
tral point;  as  in  the  leaf  of  Jirum  dracunculus. 

PE'DESTAL.  (Lat.  pes,  a  foot.)  In  Architecture,  the 
substruction  to  a  column  or  wall.  The  component  parts 
of  a  pedestal  are  three  ;  the  base,  the  die,  and  the  cornice. 
The  whole  height  of  a  pedestal  is  from  one  quarter  to  one 
third  of  the  height  of  the  column,  with  its  entablature. 

PE'DICEL.  (Lat.  pes.)  One  of  the  ramifications  of 
that  part  of  a  flower  called  the  peduncle. 

PEDICE'LLATES,  Pedicellata.  (Lat.  pes.)  The  name 
of  an  order  of  Echinoderms,  comprehending  those  which 
have  the  vesicular  pedicellate  organs,  which  are  termed 
feet  in  this  class,  but  which  project  from  various  parts  of 
the  surface  of  the  body. 

PE'DIMANES,  Pedimani.  (Lat.  pes,  and  manus,  a  hand.) 
The  name  of  a  family  of  Marsupial  animals,  of  which  the 
opossum  (Didelphis)  is  the  type;  they  are  distinguished  by 
the  opposable  property  of  the  hinder  thumb,  or  hallux,  the 
fore  feet  being  organized  like  those  of  ordinary  Unguiculate 
quadrupeds. 

PE'DIMENT.  (Lat.  pes.)  In  Architecture,  the  low 
triangular  mass  representing  the  gable  of  a  roof  over  the 
front  of  a  building,  portico,  door,  window,  &c. ;  though 
sometimes  these  ornaments  are  terminated  upwards  by  seg- 
ments of  circles.  A  pediment  is  frequently  ornamented 
with  sculpture.  The  heights  of  pediments  are  seldom  more 
than  two  nitlths  of  their  width. 

PE'DIPALPS,  Pcdipalpi.  (Lat.  pes;  and  palpo,  I  feel.) 
A  name  given  to  a  tribe  of  pulmonary  Arachnidans,  com- 
prehending those  which  have  the  feelers  in  the  form  of 
pincers,  or  armed  with  a  didactyle  claw ;  as  the  scorpions. 

PEDLAR.     See  Hawker. 

PEDO'METER,  or  PODOMETER.  (Gr.  mvc,  the  foot, 
and  fitTpui',  measure.)  An  instrument  for  the  purpose  of 
registering  the  number  of  paces  taken  by  a  man  in  travel- 
ling or  walking,  whence  the  distance  is  ascertained.  It  is 
usually  in  the  form  of  a  watch,  and  receives  its  movement 
from  the  motion  of  the  body,  so  that  it  advances  one  divi- 
sion at  each  step.  The  number  of  divisions  may  be  noted 
by  an  index  or  hand,  In  the  same  manner  as  the  number  of 
vibrations  of  a  watch-balance.  The  best  construction,  or 
rather  the  only  one  now  used  in  this  country,  is  that  of  Mr. 
Payne,  watchmaker,  of  Bond  Street.     See  I'krambulator. 

PEDU'NCULATES,  Pedunculate.  The  name  of  an  order 
of  Cirripeds,  comprehending  those  which  have  the  body 
supported  by  a  flexible  tubular  stem. 

PEDTJ'NCULUS.  (Lat.  pes,  afoot.)  That  part  of  a 
branch  or  stem  that  immediately  bears  the  flowers. 

I'KLP  <>'  DAY  HOYS.  The  well-known  appellation  of 
certain  insurgents  who  appeared  In  Ireland  in  1784.  They 
Obtained  this  name  from  visiting  the  houses  of  their  antag- 
onists, called  defenders,  at  break  of  day  in  search  of  arms. 

PEER.  (From  the  Latin  par,  French  pair.)  Equal, 
which  meaning  it  still  retains  in  the  language  of  the  com- 
mon law,  as  trial  by  jury  is  said  to  be  by  the  peers,  or 
equals,  of  the  defendant  In  this  sense,  the  name  remains 
as  a  relic  of  feudal  institutions,  according  to  which  every 
rank  of  society  formed  an  association  for  tile  purpose  of 
mutual  defence  and  the  derision  of  disputes  ;  as  the  tenants 
of  a  lord  paramount  or  inferior,  who  met  as  equals  ("pares 
curitc)  in  the  court  over  which  he  presided.  Hence,  in  the 
French  monarchy,  the  highest  vassals  of  the  crown  formed 


PEGASUS. 

a  rank  apart,  and  were  called  pares  or  peers  with  reference 
to  each  other ;  and  the  designation  became  a  title  of  honour. 
The  peers  of  France  differed  in  number  at  different  periods 
of  the  early  French  monarchy,  as  their  domains  became 
United  to  the  crown  ;  but,  according  to  heraldic  theory,  there 
are  six  temporal — the  Dukes  of  Burgundy,  Aquitaine,  and 
Normandy,  and  Counts  of  Flanders,  Toulouse,  and  Cham- 
pagne; and  six  spiritual— the  Archbishop  of  Itheims,  and 
the  Bishops  of  Laon,  Beauvais,  Noyon,  Chalons,  and  Lan- 
gres.  In  later  times  new  peerages  were  created,  as  the 
duchy  of  Britany  and  counties  of  Artois  and  Anjou.  At 
last  the  title  remained  as  a  simple  dignity ;  and  Louis  XIV. 
increased  the  number  of  dukes  and  peers  (dues  et  pairs) 
until  at  last  they  amounted  to  thirty-seven.  They  had  no 
privileges  except  precedence,  and  a  seat  in  the  parliaments. 
On  the  restoration  of  Louis  XVIII.,  hereditary  peerage  was 
established  in  France  on  the  model  of  that  of  England,  but 
was  abolished  in  1831 ;  and  the  members  of  the  present 
chamber  of  peers  are  nominated  for  life  by  the  people.  For 
the  history  and  privileges  of  the  English  peerage,  see  Par- 
liament. There  is  a  curious  analysis  of  the  English  peer- 
age in  the  Quart.  Review,  vol.  41. 

PE'GASUS.  In  Greek  mythology,  a  winged  horse,  pro- 
duced by  Neptune ;  or,  according  to  some  authors,  which 
sprung  from  the  blood  of  Medusa  when  Perseus  cut  off  her 
head.     See  Bellerophon. 

Pegasus.  This  name  is  applied,  in  Zoology,  to  a  genus 
of  Lophobranchiate  fishes  with  large  pectoral  fins,  by  means 
of  which  they  are  enabled  to  take  short  saltatory  flights 
through  the  air. 

Pegasus.  One  of  the  48  ancient  constellations  of  Ptol- 
emy, situated  in  the  northern  hemisphere. 

PELA'GIANISM.  The  religious  system  promulgated  by 
Pelagius,  a  British  monk  of  the  fifth  century,  who,  after 
attaining  to  considerable  notoriety  in  his  own  day  by  first 
eliciting  the  discussion  of  the  great  questions  respecting 
grace  and  predestination,  has  succeeded  in  bequeathing  his 
name  as  a  designation  in  all  after  ages  for  those  who  have 
held  the  extreme  opinions  by  which  he  was  distinguished. 
His  tenets  are  thus  clearly  stated  by  a  modern  writer: — "  1. 
That  the  sins  of  our  first  parents  are  imputed  to  themselves 
alone,  and  not  to  their  posterity  ;  that  we  derive  no  corrup- 
tion from  their  fate  ;  that  we  inherit  no  depravity  from  our 
origin,  but  enter  into  the  world  as  pure  and  unspotted  as 
Adam  at  his  creation.  It  was  a  necessary  inference  from 
this  doctrine  that  infant  baptism  is  not  a  sign  or  seal  of  the 
remission  of  sins,  but  only  a  mark  of  admission  into  the 
kingdom  of  Christ.  2.  That  our  own  powers  are  sufficient 
for  our  own  justification;  that  as  by  our  own  free  will  we 
run  into  sin,  so  by  the  same  voluntary  exercise  of  our  facul- 
ties we  are  able  to  repent  and  reform,  and  raise  ourselves  to 
the  highest  degree  of  virtue  and  piety ;  that  we  are  indeed 
assisted  by  that  external  grace  of  God  which  has  taught  us 
the  truths  of  revelation,  which  opens  to  us  our  prospects, 
and  enlightens  our  understanding,  and  animates  our  exer- 
tions after  holiness;  that  the  internal  or  immediate  opera- 
tion of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  not  necessary  either  to  awaken  us 
to  religious  feeling,  or  to  further  us  in  our  progress  towards 
holiness ;  in  short,  that  man,  by  the  unassisted  agency  of 
his  natural  perfections,  under  the  guidance  of  his  own  free 
will,  is  enabled  to  work  out  his  own  salvation."  (Wad- 
dington's  Hist,  of  the  church.)  These  opinions  were  for- 
mally condemned  by  a  decree  of  Pope  Zosimus,  about  418, 
and  again  by  the  council  of  Ephesus,  in  431.  Their  prin- 
cipal opponent  was  the  famous  Augustin,  who,  in  the 
course  of  his  arguments  against  them,  advanced  an  expla- 
nation of  the  questions  involved  in  the  discussion,  which 
has  been  stigmatized  as  leading  directly  to  the  opposite  ex- 
treme of  fatalism.  (See  Mosheim,  vol.  ii.,  cent.  5.)  The 
Pelagian  opinions  respecting  original  sin  are  condemned  in 
the  9th  article  of  the  English  church. 

PELECA'XHLE.  The  name  of  a  family  of  swimming 
birds,  of  which  the  pelican  (Pelicanus)  is  the  type. 

PELLA'GRA.  (Lat.  pellis,  the  skin,  and  seger,  sick.)  A 
disease  of  the  skin  somewhat  resembling  elephantiasis,  and 
occasionally  producing  great  constitutional  derangement. 
It  is  endemic  in  certain  districts  of  Italy,  especially  in  the 
Milanese. 

PE'LLICLE.  (Lat.  pellis.)  A  thin  membrane.  In 
Chemistry,  the  term  is  applied  to  the  film  of  salt  or  other 
substances  which  forms  upon  the  surface  of  solutions  dur- 
ing evaporation. 

PE'LLITORY  OF  SPAIN.  The  root  of  the  Jlnthemis 
pyrethrum.  It  has  a  pungent  flavour,  and  when  chewed 
promotes  the  flow  of  saliva,  and  is  often  useful  in  toothache. 

PE'LTA.  (Lat.  a  shield.)  In  Botany,  a  term  used  in 
describing  lichens  to  denote  a  flat  shield  without  any  elevated 
rim,  as  in  the  genus  Peltidea. 

PELTA'STJ3.  Light-armed  infantry  were  so  named 
among  the  Greeks,  from  carrying  the  pelta  or  target.  (See 
Mem.  de  VAc.  des  laser.,  vol.  xxxii.) 

PE  LTATE.    (Lat.  pelta,  a  shield.)    A  leaf  or  any  other 


PENDULUM. 

organ  which  is  fixed  to  the  stalk  by  the  centre,  or  by  some 
point  distinctly  within  the  margin,  as  in  the  Tropceolum. 

PE'LTRY.  (Germ,  peltz,  from  Lat.  pellis,  a  skin.)  The 
name  given  to  the  skins  of  different  kinds  of  wild  animals 
found  in  high  northern  latitudes,  particularly  in  America; 
such  as  the  beaver,  sable,  wolf,  bear,  &c.  When  the  skins 
of  such  animals  have  received  no  preparation,  they  are 
termed  peltry;  but  when  the  inner  side  has  been  tanned 
by  an  aluminous  process,  they  are  denominated  furs. 

PE'LVIS.  (Gr.  juAu?,  a  basin.)  The  inferior  part  of  the 
abdomen,  the  bony  circumference  of  which  is  formed  by  the 
two  ossa  innominati,  the  sacrum,  and  the  os  coccygis.  It 
contains  the  rectum,  the  urinary  bladder,  and  internal  or- 
gans of  generation. 

PE'MPHIGUS.  (Gr.  izix<pil,  a  vesicle.)  A  fever  attended 
by  almond-shaped  vesicular  eruptions. 

PE'NALTY.  (Lat.  poena,  punishment),  is  of  three  kinds, 
says  Lord  Coke  ;  pxna  pecuniaria,  pmna  corporalis,  and 
pmna  exilii.  Where  anything  is  prohibited  by  statute  under 
a  penalty,  if  the  penalty,  or  part  of  it,  be  not  appointed  by 
the  statute  to  the  informer,  it  goes  to  the  crown.  Penal 
statutes  are  to  be  construed  strictly.    See  Statute. 

PE'NANCE.     See  Penitence. 

PENA'TES.  The  household  gods  of  the  ancient  Ital- 
ians, who  presided  over  families,  and  were  worshipped  in 
the  interior  of  each  dwelling.  The  term  is  derived  from 
penitus,  within.  Penates  is,  in  fact,  a  generic  term,  compri- 
sing in  its  strict  sense  all  the  gods  worshipped  in  the  interior 
of  the  house,  and  consequently  including  the  Lares,  with 
whom  they  are  continually  mentioned  in  conjunction.  The 
number  and  names  of  the  Penates  were  indeterminate.  As 
there  were  public  as  well  as  domestic  Lares,  so  there  were 
public  Penates,  who  exercised  a  general  influence  over  the 
destinies  of  the  whole  Roman  people.  Thus  Tacitus  re- 
lates, that  "  delubrum  Vests  cum  Penatibus  populi  Romani" 
was  consumed,  along  with  other  very  ancient  temples,  in 
the  great  fire  during  the  reign  of  Nero.  But  the  term  may, 
perhaps,  be  considered  as  belonging  to  the  rhetorical  style 
of  that  author,  and  to  signify  merely  the  tutelary  god  of  the 
republic. 

The  subject  of  the  domestic  deities  of  the  Romans,  the 
Lares  and  Penates,  is  involved  in  great  obscurity,  from  the 
conflicting  statements  of  the  classic  authors  respecting  them. 
Those  who  wish  to  see  the  question  investigated  in  all  its 
bearings  may  consult  Mutter's  Etruscans,  vol.  ii.,  p.  00,  &c. ; 
Jaekel,  De  Diis  Domesticis ;  Hartung,  Religion  der  Rbmer, 
&c.  (See  also  the  notes  by  Prof.  Ramsay,  of  Glasgow,  ap- 
pended to  his  valuable  little  work  entitled  Elegiac  Extracts 
from  Tibul'us  and  Ovid,  with  English  Introductions  and 
Motes,  12mo,  1840.) 

PE'NCIL.  (Lat.  penicillum.)  In  Painting,  Drawing, 
&c,  the  instrument  wherewith  the  colours  are  applied. 
Pencils  are  of  various  sorts,  sizes,  and  materials,  suited  to 
the  nature  of  the  work.  The  black  lead  pencil  is  made  of 
long  slips  of  black  lead  (plumbago  or  graphite),  inclosed  in 
cylindrical  pieces  of  cedar,  and  is  too  well  known  to  need 
farther  description. 

PEXCIL  OF  LIGHT,  in  Optics,  is  a  collection  of  the 
rays  or  evanescent  streams  of  light  converging  to  a  point, 
as  the  focus  of  a  lens  or  mirror. 

PE'NDANT.  (Lat.  pendo,  /  hang.)  In  Gothic  Archi- 
tecture, an  ornamented  polygonal  piece  of  stone  or  timber 
hanging  down  from  the  vault  or  roof  of  a  building.  Of  stone 
pendants  some  exquisite  examples  may  be  seen  in  Henry 
VII.'s  Chapel  at  Westminster.  In  ancient  writers  the 
springers  of  arches,  which  rest  on  shafts  or  corbels,  are 
called  pendants. 

Pendants  of  a  Ship,  are  those  streamers  or  long  colours 
which  are  split  or  divided  into  two  parts  ending  in  points, 
and  hang  at  the  mast-head  or  at  the  yard-arm  ends. 

Pe'ndant.  In  Painting,  &c,  a  picture  or  print  which, 
from  uniformity  of  size  and  subject,  seems  to  hang  up  as  a 
companion  to  another.  The  term  may  also  be  applied  to 
bassi  rilievi  of  similar  sizes. 

Pendant  is  also  the  general  term  for  all  kinds  of  orna- 
ments worn  in  the  ears  by  both  sexes  in  savage,  and  by  fe- 
males, chiefly,  in  civilized  countries  ;  usually  termed  ear- 
rings, which  see. 

PENDE'NTIVE.  (Lat.  pendo,  /  hang.)  In  Architec- 
ture, the  portion  of  a  vault  between 
the  arches  under  a  dome,  called  by 
the  French  fourche,  or  panache,  let- 
tered a  in  the  diagram,  by  which  it 
will  be  seen  that  it  falls  at  its  supe- 
rior part  into  a  circle  inscribed  in  the  square  formed  on  the 
plan  of  the  four  arches.  Hence  it  is  obvious  that  a  dome 
may  be  formed  by  means  of  pendentives  over  any  regular 
polygon. 

PE'NDULUM.  (Lat.  pendulus  ;  from  pendo,  /  hang.) 
If  any  heavy  body,  suspended  by  an  inflexible  rod  from  a 
fixed  point,  be  drawn  aside  from  the  vertical  position,  and 
then  let  fall,  it  will  descend  in  the  arc  of  a  circle  of  which 

911 


PENDULUM. 


the  point  of  suspension  is  the  centre.  On  reaching  the  ver- 
tical position  it  will  have  acquired  a  velocity  equal  to  that 
which  it  would  have  acquired  by  falling  vertically  through 
the  versed  sine  of  the  arc  it  has  described,  in  consequence 
of  which  it  will  continue  to  move  in  the  same  arc  until  the 
whole  velocity  is  destroyed;  and,  if  no  other  force  than 
gravity  acted,  this  would  take  place  when  the  body  reach- 
ed a  height  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  vertical  equal  to  the 
height  from  which  it  fell.  Having  reached  this  height  it 
would  again  descend,  and  so  continue  to  vibrate  forever; 
but  in  consequence  of  the  friction  of  the  axis,  and  the  re- 
sistance of  the  air,  each  successive  excursion  will  be  dimin- 
ished, and  the  body  soon  be  brought  to  rest  in  the  vertical 
position.  A  body  thus  suspended,  and  caused  to  vibrate,  is 
called  a  pendulum  ;  and  the  passage  from  the  greatest  dis- 
tance from  the  vertical  on  the  one  side  to  the  greatest  dis- 
tance on  the  other  is  called  an  oscillation. 

In  order  to  investigate  the  circumstances  of  the  motion, 
the  body  must  be  regarded  as  a  gravitating  point,  and  the 
indexible  rod  as  devoid  of  weight.    This  is  denominated  the 
simple  pendulum,  and  the  problem  to  be  resolved  is  to  deter- 
mine the  motion  of  a  point  constrained  to  move  in  a  cir- 
cular arc  in  virtue  of  the  accelerating  force  of  terrestrial 
gravity. 
Let  C  be  the  fixed  point,  A  D  B  the  arc  described  by  the 
pendulum,  C  D  the  vertical,  and  P  the  place 
of  the  pendulum  at  a  given  instant.     Draw 
P  E  perpendicular  to  C  D,  and  put  D  E  =  z, 
E  F  —  y,  the  arc  D  P  =  s,  D  H  (the  versed 
sine  of  the  arc  D  A)  =A,  and  the  radius  C  D 
=  I ;  also,  let  v  =  the  velocity  at  P,  and  t  := 
D            the  time  of  descent  through  A  P. 
The  equation  of  the  circle  being  y~  =  2/x  —  x3,  we  have 
Idx 
the   differential  equation  ds  =  /;i>     2.  ;   and,  by  the 

doctrine  of  falling  bodies,  the  velocity  at  P  is  that  which  a 
body  would  acquire  in  falling  through  H  E,  or  equal  to 
y/2gHE  (g  being  the  accelerating  force  of  gravity)  :  there- 

: ds 

fore  »  =  v/2n\A — x).  But  </r=  — :  therefore,  on  substitu- 
ting the  values  of  ds  and  v  above  given,  we  get  the  equation 

,  _    ±  dx 

~" y/~S  '  V[(h— x)(2/x— i2)]' 
This  equation,  being  developed  and  integrated,  gives  the 
time  of  descent  from  A  to  D,  or  the  time  of  a  semi-oscilla- 
tion, as  follows  (77  being  the  ratio  of  the  circumference  to 
the  diameter,  or  =  3-14159)  : 

H[i+Q)XS)"(r+,*.] 

When  the  arc  of  vibration  is  small,  it  is  only  necessary 
to  take  account  of  the  first  two  terms  of  the  series  ;  whence 
the  time  of  a  whole  oscillation  from  A  to  B,  which  we  shall 
denote  by  T,  is  given  by  the  formula, 

T=ffy£x(1+*). 

and  if  the  arc  is  so  small  that  A  (its  versed  sine)  becomes 

/  I 
evanescent  in  comparison  of  8',  we  have  simply  T  =  rr  v  ~~  ■ 

g 
Whence  it  appears  that  the  time  of  an  oscillation  in  an  in- 
finitely small  arc  is  directly  as  the  square  root  of  the  length 
of  the  pendulum,  and  inversely  as  the  square  root  of  the 
accelerating  force  of  gravity. 

Suppose  gravity  to  be  0  constant  force  (as  it  is  at  any  giv- 
en place  on  the  earth's  surface),  the  time  of  oscillation  is 
proportional  to  the  square  root  of  the  length  of  the  pendu- 
lum;  consequently,  if  'I"  denote  the  time  of  oscillation  of  a 
seconds  pendulum,  and  V  its  length,  we  have  T  :  T'  :  :  y/l : 
y/l'.  Now,  let  N  be  the  number  of  oscillations  the  first  pen- 
dulum makes  in  a  given  time,  and  N'  the  number  the  sec- 
ond makes  in  the  sa time  ;  then,  the  number  of  oscilla- 
tions being  evidently  in  the  Inverse  ratio  of  the  tunes,  we 
have  N  :  N' :  :  T'  :  T  ;  or  N  :  N'  :  :  JV  :  J  I,  whence  I  — 
N'2 
j^-l' ;  so  that,  if  the  length  of  one  pendulum  be  known,  we 

can  compute  the  length  of  another  pendulum  by  observing 
the  number  of  oscillations  that  each  makes  in  any  given 
time  :  for  example,  an  hour. 

In  like  manner,  if  we  suppose  the  same  pendulum  to  In- 
transported  to  different  parts  of  the  earth  (in  which  ease  / 
is  constant  and  g  variable),  and  assume  that  the  values  of 
JN'  and  g  at  the  first  station  become  respectively  V  and  g' 

at  the  second,  we  shall  have  T :  T' : :    .—  :.—.:  whence  g' 

•Jg  vV 

=  tvS5'''  or  s'  =  tf»  g-  So  that  the  force  of  gravih  at 
different  places  ma}  be  compared  by  observing  the  number 
of  oscillations  \\  bleb  a  pendulum  makes  at  each  place  in  a 
given  time.  Or,  if  we  suppose  the  times  of  oscillation  con- 
912 


stant  (that  is,  if  we  suppose  two  pendulums  so  adjusted  as 
to  beat  seconds  at  two  different  stations),  and  /  and  g  varia- 
ble ;  then,  since  T^wv/-,  and  T'  =  ir\/— ,  we  shall 
g  S 

11'  g 

have  —  =  — „or/  — /— ;   whence  the  length  of  the  scc- 

g      g  g 

onds'  pendulum  at  any  place  is  directly  proportional  to  the 
intensity  of  gravity  at  that  place. 

According  to  the  theory  of  falling  bodies  (see  Gravity), 
the  time  t  in  which  a  body  falls  through  the  space  a,  by  the 
accelerating  force  of  gravity,  is  given  by  the  equation  t  = 

,2s  /  / 

V  —  •    Let  2s  — I;  then  t  =  V  ~ •    But  the  time  T,  of  the 
g  g 

oscillation  of  a  pendulum  whose  length  is  I,  is  T=  7r  v/  — I 

g 
therefore  T  :  t I : :  it  :  1 ;  consequently  the  time  of  the  oscilla- 
tion of  a  pendulum  is  to  the  time  that  a  heavy  body  would 
fall  freely  by  the  force  of  gravity  through  half  its  length,  as 
the  circumference  of  a  circle  to  its  diameter. 

If  we  suppose  the  time  to  be  expressed  in  seconds,  and 
make  T  =  l,  we  shall  haveg=ir*l.  Now,  Captain  Kilter 
found  the  length  of  the  simple  pendulum  at  London  to  bo 
39-13929  inches,  and  we  know  that  7r2  =  9-8696;  therefore 
^  =  9-8696  x  39-139  =  38629  inches,  or^  =  322  feet.  It 
follows,  therefore,  that  the  space  through  which  a  body 
falls  freely  at  London  in  a  second  of  time  is  16'1  feet. 

Compound  Pendulum. — The  simple  pendulum,  as  above 
defined,  is  only  a  theoretical  abstraction ;  for  the  oscillating 
body  can  neither  be  so  small  that  it  may  be  regarded  as  a 
mathematical  point,  nor  can  the  rod  be  entirely  devoid  of 
weight.  When  the  body  has  a  sensible  magnitude,  and  tiie 
suspending-rod  a  sensible  magnitude  and  weight  as  they 
must  have  in  all  actual  constructions,  the  apparatus  is 
called  a  compound  pendulum  ;  and  instead  of  being  support- 
ed by  a  single  point  it  is  supported  by  an  axis,  or  by  a  scries 
of  points  situated  in  the  same  straight  line.  According  to 
this  definition,  any  heavy  body  oscillating  about  an  axis  of 
suspension  is  a  compound  pendulum. 

In  every  compound  pendulum  there  is  necessarily  a  cer- 
tain point  at  which  if  all  the  matter  of  the  pendulum  were 
collected  the  oscillations  would  be  performed  in  exactly  the 
same  time.  This  point  is  the  centre  of  oscillation.  (See 
Centre  of  Oscillation.)  It  is  situated  in  the  vertical 
plane  passing  through  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the  pendu- 
lum, and  at  a  distance  from  the  axis  of  suspension  (the  axis 
being  always  supposed  horizontal),  which  is  determined  by 
the  following  formula  :  Let  d  m  be  tbe  element  of  the  mass 
of  the  compound  pendulum,  r  its  distance  from  the  axis  of 
rotation,  and  x  the  distance  of  the  centre  of  oscillation  from 
the  same  axis ;  then 

z=-jr2dm-T-lrdm; 

that  is,  the  distance  of  the  centre  of  oscillation  from  the 
axis  of  suspension  is  equal  to  the  moment  of  inertia  of  the 
oscillating  body  divided  by  its  moment  of  rotation.  This 
value  of  x  is  the  length  of  the  isochronous  simple  pendu- 
lum, and  is  what  is  always  to  be  understood  by  the  term 
length  of  a  pendulum. 

The  centre  of  oscillation  possesses  a  very  remarkable 
property,  which  was  discovered  by  Huygens;  namely,  that 
if  the  body  be  suspended  from  this  point,  or  a  horizontal 
axis  passing  through  it  parallel  to  the  former  axis  of  suspen- 
sion, its  oscillations  will  be  performed  in  the  same  time  as 
before;  in  other  words,  the  axis  of  suspension  and  oscilla- 
tion are  Interchangeable.  Tliis  property  furnishes  an  easy 
practical  method  of  determining  the  centre  of  oscillation, 
and  thence  the  length  of  a  compound  pendulum. 

Applications  of  the  Pendulum. — The  most  important  ap- 
plication that  has  been  made  of  the  pendulum  is  to  the 
measurement  of  time.  It  is  said  that  Galileo,  while  a 
young  man,  having  had  his  attention  drawn  to  the  oscilla- 
tions of  a  lamp  suspended  from  the  roof  of  a  church  in  Pisa, 
perceived  that,  although  their  extent  was  gradually  dimin- 
ished, they  continued  to  be  made  in  equal  times,  and  thence 
conceived  the  idea  of  employing  a  pendulum  as  a  means  of 

measuring  small  intervals  of  time  in  astronomical  observa- 
tions. But  though  a  pendulous  body,  by  the  isochronism 
of  its  oscillations,  furnishes  a  means  of  dividing  time  into 
equal  portions,  it  could  obviousl]  be  of  no  great  use  until  a 

method  was  devised  of  continuing  the  motion,  and  register- 
ing the  number  Of  oscUlations.  The  application  of  clock- 
work to  tins  purpose  has  been  claimed  for  carious  individ- 
uals. Imt  is  generally  and  deservedly  ascribed  to  Huygens; 
and  the  invention,  one  of  the  1110-t  important  that  ever  was 
made  in  reference  to  practical  astronomy,  dates  from  the 
j  car  1656. 

Huygens'  researches  on  the  subject  of  the  oscillations  of 
the  pendulum  are  contained  in  his  admirable  work  entitled 
'inn  Oscillatorivm.    He  soon  found  that  the  oscilla- 
tions in  Circular  arcs  of  different  amplitudes  are  not  equal, 
the  wider  requiring  rather  a  longer  time  than  the  narrow- 


PENDULUM. 


er;  and,  with  a  view  to  remedy  this  defect,  he  undertook  to 
Investigate  the  nature  of  the  curve  in  which  the  oscillations 
would  be  performed  in  equal  times,  whatever  might  be  the 
extent  of  the  arc  described.  The  curve  possessing  this  re- 
markable property  was  found  to  be  the  cycloid.  (See  Cy- 
cloid.) The  next  object  was  to  devise  a  means  of  causing 
a  pendulum  to  vibrate  in  such  a  manner  that  its  centre  of 
oscillation  shall  describe  the  arc  of  a  cycloid.  This  was 
also  effected  by  Huygens  by  the  following  construction, 
which  depends  on  another  property  of  the  cycloid,  namely, 
that  its  evolute  is  a  similar  curve  :  If  A  C 
and  B  C  be  two  semicycloids,  or  semicy- 
cloidal  cheeks,  each  equal  to  the  half  of 
7B  A  V  B,  touching  A  B  in  A  and  B,  and 
/  meeting  one  another  in  C  ;  and  if  there  be 
fixed  at  C  a  pendulum  P,  hanging  by  a 
thread  P  C,  equal  in  length  to  the  semi- 
cycloid ;  then  P,  in  its  oscillations,  will  describe  the  cy- 
cloidal  arc  A  V  B.  Nothing  more  simple  or  beautiful  in 
point  of  theory  could  be  conceived  than  this  construction ; 
but,  on  attempting  to  reduce  it  to  practice,  it  was  soon 
found  to  possess  no  advantage,  in  consequence  of  the  me- 
chanical difficulty  of  making  the  cycloidal  cheeks  with  the 
requisite  accuracy,  and  the  impossibility  of  obtaining  a 
flexible  string  of  invariable  length.  Huygens  himself  show- 
ed that  the  error  of  a  hundredth  of  an  inch  in  the  form  of 
the  curve  would  cause  a  greater  irregularity  than  a  circular 
vibration  of  10  or  12  degrees.  Accordingly,  the  use  of  cy- 
cloidal cheeks  was  abandoned,  and  the  attention  of  artists 
directed  to  the  means  whereby  the  oscillations  might  be 
confined  within  very  small  circular  arcs,  in  which  case  any 
inequality  in  the  lengths  of  the  arcs  becomes  insensible. 
In  clocks  of  the  best  construction  the  arc  of  vibration  is 
very  small;  and  the  pendulum  is  made  very  heavy,  in  or- 
der that,  by  possessing  a  great  momentum,  it  may  be  less 
affected  by  the  imperfections  of  the  machinery. 

Compensation  Pendulum. — The  value  of  the  pendulum  as 
a  regulator  of  timepieces  depends  on  the  isochronism  of  its 
oscillations;  which,  in  its  turn,  depends  on  the  invariability 
of  the  distance  between  the  points  of  suspension  and  oscil- 
lation. But,  as  every  known  substance  expands  with  heat 
and  contracts  with  cold,  the  length  of  the  pendulum  will 
vary  with  every  alteration  of  temperature,  and  the  rate  of 
the  clock  consequently  undergo  a  corresponding  change.  To 
counteract  this  variation,  numerous  contrivances  have  been 
employed.  The  principle  is,  however,  the  same  in  all ; 
and  consists  in  combining  two  substances,  whose  rates  of 
expansion  are  unequal,  in  such  a  manner  that  the  expan- 
sion of  the  one  counteracts  that  of  the  other,  and  keeps  the 
centre  of  oscillation  of  the  compound  body  always  at  the 
same  distance  from  the  axis  of  suspension.  A  brief  descrip- 
tion of  the  two  compensation  pendulums  in  most  common 
Use — the  Mercurial  Pendulum  and  the  Gridiron  Pendulum 
— Will  sufficiently  explain  the  means  by  which  compensa- 
tion is  obtained. 

Mercurial  Pendulum. — This  was  the  invention  of  Mr. 
George  Graham,  a  celebrated  watchmaker,  who  subjected 
it  to  the  test  of  experiment  in  the  year  1721.  The  rod  of 
the  pendulum  is  made  of  steel,  and  may  be  either  a  flat  bar 
or  a  cylinder.  The  bob  or  weight  is  formed  by  a  cylindrical 
glass  vessel,  about  8  inches  in  length  and  2  inches  in  di- 
ameter, which  is  filled  with  mercury  to  the  depth  of  about 
6J  inches.  The  cylinder  is  supported  and  embraced  by  a 
stirrup,  formed  also  of  steel,  through  the  top  of  which  the 
lower  extremity  of  the  rod  passes,  and  to  which  it  is  firmly 
fixed  by  a  not  and  screw  on  the  end  of  the  rod.  Now  the 
effect  of  an  increase  of  temperature  on  this  apparatus  is 
evidently  as  follows  :  In  the  first  place,  the  rod  expands, 
and  the  distance  between  the  axis  of  suspension  and  the 
bottom  of  the  stirrup  is  increased.  In  the  second  place,  by 
the  expansion  of  the  mercury  in  the  cylinder,  its  column  is 
lengthened,  and  the  distance  of  its  centre  of  gravity  from 
the  bottom  of  the  stirrup  consequently  increased.  But,  as 
the  expansion  of  mercury  is  about  sixteen  times  greater  than 
that  of  steel,  the  height  of  the  mercurial  column  may  be  so 
adjusted  by  trial  that  the  expansion  of  the  rod  and  stirrup 
shall  be  exactly  compensated  by  that  of  the  mercury,  and 
the  centre  of  oscillation  of  the  whole  suffer  no  change. 
This  pendulum  is,  perhaps,  the  most  perfect  of  all  compen- 
sators; Jmt,  as  its  adjustments  are  attended  with  consider- 
able difficulty,  it  is  seldom  used  excepting  in  astronomical 
observatories. 

Gridiron  Pendulum.— This  was  contrived  by  Mr.  Har- 
rison, the  inventor  of  the  chronometer.  It  consists  of  a 
frame  of  nine  parallel  bars  of  steel  and  brass,  arranged  and 
connected  as  in  the  annexed  figure.  The  liars  marked  5  are 
of  steel;  the  four  marked  b  are  of  brass;  the  centre  rod  of 
steel,  is  fixed  at  top  to  the  cross  bar  connecting  the  two 
middle  brass  rods,  but  slides  freely  through  the  two  lower 
bars,  and  bears  the  bob  B.  The  remaining  rods  are  fastened 
to  the  cross  pieces  at  both  ends,  and  the  uppermost  cross 
piece  is  attached  to  the  axis  of  suspension.    It  is  easy  to 


see,  from  the  mere  inspection  of  the  figure,  that 
the  expansion  of  the  steel  rods  tends  to~lengthen 
the  pendulum,  while  that  of  the  brass  rods'tends 
to  shorten  it;  consequently,  if  the  two  expan- 
sions exactly  counteract  each  other,  the  length 
of  the  pendulum  will  remain  unchanged.  The 
relative  lengths  of  the  brass  and  steel  bars  are 
determined  by  the  expansions  of  the  two  met- 
als, which  are  found  by  experiment  to  be,  in 
general,  nearly  as  100  to  61.  If,  then,  the 
lengths  of  all  the  five  steel  bars  added  to- 
gether be  100  inches,  the  sum  of  the  lengths 
of  the  four  brass  bars  ought  to  be  61  inches. 
When  the  compensation  is  found  on  trial  not  to 
be  perfect,  an  adjustment  is  made  by  shifting 
one  or  more  of  the  cross  pieces  higher  on  the 
bars. 

Harrison's  pendulum  has  been  greatly  im- 
proved by  Troughton,  who  substituted  for  the  two  pair  of 
brass  rods  two  cylinders  of  brass,  sliding  the  one  within  the 
other,  to  which  the  steel  rods  are  attached.  For  a  descrip- 
tion of  this,  and  various  other  modes  of  compensation,  we 
refer  the  reader  to  an  excellent  chapter  on  the  subject  by 
the  late  Captain  Kater,  in  the  volume  of  Mechanics  in  the 
Cabinet  Cyclopaedia. 

Application  of  the  Pendulum  to  the  Determination  of  the 
relative  Force  of  Gravity  at  different  Places. — There  are 
two  methods  of  determining  the  relative  intensity  of  gravity 
by  means  of  the  pendulum.  According  to  the  first,  the  ab- 
solute length  of  the  simple  pendulum  which  makes  a  cer- 
tain number  of  oscillations  in  a  given  time  is  accurately  as- 
certained at  each  of  the  places,  and  the  comparative  force 

of  gravity  is  then  given  by  the  formula  g'  =  —  g.  Accord- 
ing to  the  other  method,  an  invariable  pendulum  is  swung 
at  the  different  places,  and  the  number  of  its  oscillations 
noted  at  each,  when  the  relative  gravity  is  given  by  the  for- 

mula  g  =  rrj-  g.  Each  of  these  methods  has  been  follow- 
ed in  the  delicate  experiments  which  have  been  made  for 
the  purpose  of  determining  the  figure  of  the  earth ;  but 
though  the  results  of  both  appear  to  be  nearly  equal  in  point 
of  accuracy,  the  latter  method,  on  account  of  its  affording 
greater  facilities  in  practice,  is  now  generally  adopted. 

It  will  readily  be  conceived  that  a  pendulum  would  be 
altogether  unfit  for  the  purpose  of  determining  the  minute 
variations  of  gravity  if  it  were  attached  to  a  clock,  or  any 
machinery  by  which  its  motions  could  be  influenced.  It 
must  be  suspended  from  a  very  firm  support,  to  which  it  can 
communicate  no  vibratory  motion;  and  the  most  delicate 
precautions  are  necessary  to  avoid  the  effects  of  friction,  and 
other  disturbing  causes,  by  which  the  experiment  may  be 
influenced.  The  method  followed  by  the  French  astrono- 
mers, in  their  operations  connected  with  the  measurement 
of  the  meridian,  was  this:  The  pendulum  was  composed  of 
a  sphere  of  platinum,  suspended  by  a  slender  iron  wire  from 
a  knife  edge  of  hardened  steel  resting  on  plane  surfaces  of 
polished  agate.  It  was  placed  in  front  of  a  well-regulated 
astronomical  clock,  with  which  its  oscillations  were  com- 
pared, and  the  distance  between  its  centres  of  suspension 
and  oscillation  determined  by  calculation  from  the  length 
of  the  wire  and  the  diameter  of  the  sphere,  ascertained  by 
actual  measurement.  A  different,  and  in  many  respects 
preferable  mode  of  measuring  the  lengths  of  the  seconds' 
pendulum,  was  adopted  by  Captain  Kater,  grounded  on  the 
property  of  oscillating  bodies  discovered  by  Huygens  ;  name- 
ly, that  the  centres  of  suspension  and  oscillation  are  con- 
vertible. From  this  property  it  follows  that  if  two  knife 
edges,  turned  in  opposite  directions,  are  inserted  in  the  same 
pendulum,  and  the  mass  be  so  adjusted,  by  means  of  a 
movable  weight  sliding  on  the  rod,  that  the  oscillations  are 
performed  in  exactly  equal  times  when  the  pendulum  is 
suspended  from  either  knife  edge,  then  the  distance  between 
the  knife  edges  is  the  true  length  of  the  isochronous  simple 
pendulum.  In  this  manner  the  measurement  is  effected 
more  directly,  and  no  calculation  is  required  for  finding  the 
centre  of  oscillation.  A  third  method,  lately  put  in  practice 
by  the  celebrated  astronomer  Bessel,  consists  in  suspending 
a  ball  and  wire  first  from  the  upper  end  and  then  from  the 
lower  end  of  a  rod  of  a  given  length,  the  ball  being  in  both 
cases  at  the  same  distance  below  the  rod.  From  the  differ- 
ence of  the  times  of  oscillation  of  the  two  pendulums  thus 
formed,  the  length  of  the  simple  pendulum  can  be  computed 
in  terms  of  the  rod,  which  is  the  difference  of  their  lengths. 
The  French  method  is  described,  with  all  the  requisite  de- 
tails, in  the  third  volume  of  Base  Metrique,  in  Delambre's 
Astronomic,  tome  iii. ;  and  in  the  Recucil  a" Observations 
Geodesiques,  <S-c,  by  Biot  and  Arago,  Paris,  1821.  Captain 
Kater's  pendulum  is  described  in  the  Phil.  Trans,  for  1818  ; 
and  Bessel's  in  his  Untrrsuchungrn  uber  die  Lange  des  ein- 
facken  Sccundenpendels,  Berlin,  1828. 

3L  913 


PENDULUM. 

Captain  Rater's  pendulum  was  formed  of  a  very  thin  bar 
of  plute  brass,  with  a  heavy  bob  and  moveable  weight,  by 
means  of  which  the  isochronism  was  obtained  when  the 
suspension  was  made  from  the  opposite  knife  edges.     But  a 
much  simpler  modification  Ins  been  adopted  in  the  recent 
experiments.    The  experimental  pendulums  of  the 
J       Royal   Astronomical   Society   consist    merely   of  a 
5-^   plain  straight  bar  of  iron  or  copper,  2  inches  wide, 
half  an  inch  thick,  and  about  62*  inches  long.     At 
the  distance  of  5  inches  from  one  end  of  the  bar  is 
placed  the  apex  of  one  of  the  knife  edges,  A ;  and  at 
the  distance  of  39-4  inches  therefrom  the  apex  of  the 
other  knife  edge,  B  ;  and  the  required  adjustment  to 
synchronism  is  produced  by  filing  away  one  of  the 
ends  of  the  pendulum  until  the  vibrations  are  found 
by  trial  to  be  equal  in  both  positions  of  the  pendulum. 
It  is  obvious  that,  for  the  purpose  of  merely  ascer- 
taining the  variations  of  gravity,  a  bar  of  this  form 
with  a  single  knife  edge  would  equally  answer  the 
purpose ;  but  the  advantage  of  the  double  suspension 
is  this,  that  besides  having  two  distinct  and  indepen- 
dent pendulums,  each  of  which  is  a  check  upon  the 
other,  it  furnishes  the  means  of  ascertaining  whether 
the  pendulum  has  sustained  any  accidental  injury,  which 
would  be  immediately  discoverable  from  the  inequality  of 
the  number  of  vibrations  between  the  two  knife  edges. 

Corrections. — In  order  that  the  results  of  different  sets  of 
experiments  may  be  exactly  comparable  with  each  other, 
several  corrections  must  be  applied.  The  first  of  these  is  on 
account  of  the  length  of  the  arc  of  vibration,  which,  being 
of  a  finite  and  variable  extent,  the  duration  of  the  oscilla- 
tions is  consequently  unequal,  but  always  greater  than  in 
the  case  of  an  infinitely  small  arc.  The  number  of  oscilla- 
tions is  reduced  to  the  case  of  an  infinitely  small  arc  by  the 
formula. 


NX 


M  sin.  (A  +  o)  sin.  (A  —  a) 


32  (log.  sin.  A  —  log.  sin.  a) 

where  N  is  the  number  observed,  M  the  logarithmic  modu- 
lus =  -4312945,  A  the  initial,  and  a  the  final  arc  of  vibration  ; 
and  as  the  arcs  are  always  small,  the  computation  may  be 
shortened  by  using  the  arcs  instead  of  the  sines. 

In  the  second  place,  all  the  experiments  must  be  reduced 
to  a  common  standard  of  temperature,  which,  in  this  coun- 
try, is  assumed  at  62°  of  Fahrenheit.  Let  e  denote  the  rate 
of  expansion  of  the  metal,  t  the  mean  height  of  the  ther- 
mometer at  the  time  of  the  experiment ;  then  the  correction 
of  the  number  of  vibrations  on  account  of  the  temperature 
isN  X  Je(t  — 62°). 

A  third  correction  is  required  on  account  of  the  atmo- 
spheric pressure.  The  effect  of  the  pressure  of  the  atmo- 
spere  on  the  pendulum  is  to  diminish  the  force  of  gravity  in 
the  ratio  of  the  specific  gravity  of  the  pendulum  to  that  of 
the  air ;  and  on  this  principle  the  correction  was  formerly 
applied,  regard  being  had  to  the  height  of  the  barometer. 
But  it  was  recently  remarked  by  Bessel  that  the  pendulum 
drags  with  it  a  certain  portion  of  air,  the  amount  of  which 
depends  on  the  form  of  the  pendulum ;  and,  consequently, 
the  specific  gravity  of  the  actually  moving  mass  cannot  be 
previously  computed,  but  must  be  ascertained  for  each  pen- 
dulum by  actual  experiments  in  air  and  in  a  vacuum.  See 
a  paper  on  this  subject  by  Mr.  Baily,  in  the  Phil.  Trans. 
for  1832.     Also  Memoirs  of  the  Royal  Jlstr.  Soc,  vol.  vii. 

Application  of  the  Pendulum  to  the  Determination  of  the 
Figure  of  the  Earth. — The  ellipticity  of  the  earth  is  deduced 
from  the  observed  number  of  oscillations  made  by  an  in- 
variable pendulum  at  different  latitudes,  by  means  of  the 
following  theorem:  Let  N  =  the  number  of  oscillations 
made  by  a  pendulum  at  the  equator  in  a  mean  solar  day, 
N'  =  the  number  of  oscillations  made  by  the  same  pendu- 
lum at  the  latitude  Z,  G  =  the  furce  of  gravity  at  the  equa- 
tor, and  g  =  the  same  force  at  the  latitude  /;  then,  sup- 
posing the  figure  of  the  earth  to  be  that  of  an  oblate  spheroid 
of  revolution,  we  have  g  =  G  (1  +  n  sin.  2/).  But,  by  the 
property  of  the  pendulum,  g :  G  :  :  N'2 :  N* ;  therefore, 
N'2  =.  NT2  (1  -f-  n  sin.  11).  In  this  equation  the  quantity  n 
depends  upon  the  centrifugal  force  of  rotation  at  the  equa- 
tor, and  the  ellipticity  ;  and,  according  to  a  theorem  discov- 

5 
ered  by  Clairaut,  its  value  is  -  m  —  e,  m  being  the  ratio  of 

the  centrifugal  force  to  gravity,  and  e  the  ellipticity.    Newton 

1  5 

showed  that  m  =  — ,  whence  n  =s  0  —  e ;  therefore, 

as  N'2  is  given  by  observation,  the  only  unknown  quantities 
in  the  equation  N'2  =  N2  (1  -j-  n  sm-  2')  are  N2  and  n  :  so 
that,  by  combining  the  results  at  two  different  latitudes,  we 
can  determine  these  quantities,  and,  consequently,  e.  The 
length  of  the  seconds'  pendulum  being  also  proportional  to 
the  intensity  of  gravity,  it  is  obvious  that  the  lengths  might 
be  substituted  in  the  above  equation  for  N'2  and  N2. 
The  seventh  volume  of  the  Memoirs  of  the  Royal  Jlstr. 
914 


PENITENCE. 

Society  contains  the  results  of  experiments  made  with  the 
Invariable  pendulum  at  79  different  latitudes.  The  values 
of  JS'2  and  n,  deduced  from  the  whole  of  these  results,  axe, 
respectively, 

N2  =  7441625711,  n  =  -00514491 ; 

whence  the  ellipticity  deduced  from  the  whole  is      .      • 

It  is  remarkable  that  all  the  pendulum  experiments  agree 
in  giving  a  greater  ellipticity  to  the  earth  than  is  found  by 
the  comparison  of  measured  arcs  of  meridian. 

As  the  force  of  gravity  varies  inversely  as  the  square  of 
the  distance  from  the  centre  of  the  earth,  a  correction  is  ob- 
viously required  for  the  differences  of  altitude  of  the  sta- 
tions where  the  observations  are  made.  Accordingly,  the 
results  at  every  station  are  reduced  to  what  they  would  have 
been  if  the  observations  had  been  made  at  the  level  of  the 
sea.  Let  h  =  the  height  of  the  station  above  that  level, 
and  R  =  the  radius  of  the  earth ;  g  =  the  force  of  gravity 
at  the  station,  and  g'  the  same  force  of  the  level  of  the  sea ; 
then  g  :  /  :  :  R2  :  (R  -f  A)2 ;  whence,  expanding  the  quan- 
tity (R-4-A)2,  and  leaving  out  ^  as  insensible,  we  have 

g*  =g  ( 1  +  s-  )  i  in  which  we  may  substitute  for  g1  and  g 

either  the  lengths  of  the  seconds'  pendulum,  or  the  square 
of  the  number  of  its  oscillations  at  the  station  and  the  level 
of  the  sea.  The  result,  however,  is  modified  by  the  local 
attraction  of  the  mass  of  ground  surrounding  the  station,  and 
Dr.  Young  assumes  that  the  formula  should  be  multiplied 
by  the  fraction  -6. 

The  following  table,  from  Mr.  Airy's  treatise  on  the  Fig- 
ure of  the  Earth  (Ency.  Metrop.),  shows  the  length  of  the 
seconds'  pendulum  in  English  inches  at  a  few  of  the  sta- 
tions, where  it  has  been  actually  determined.  It  is  to  be 
remarked,  however,  that  some  degree  of  uncertainty  attends 
all  the  results,  on  account  of  the  error  in  the  correction  for 
the  density  of  the  air,  which  may  amount  to  about  -0018  for 
each. 


Station. 

Latitude. 

Length  of 
Pendulum. 

Observers. 

o      ' 

Inchet. 

Spitzbergen 
Unst       . 

79   50  N. 

39-21469 

Sabine. 

60   45 

39-17162 

Biot  and  Kater. 

Leith  Fort     . 

55   59 

39- 15546 

Biot  and  Kaler. 

London 

51    31 

39- 13929 

Kater. 

Pari!      . 

46   50 

3912R51 

)  Borda  Biot,  and 
t       Sabine  (mean). 

Bordeaux 

44  50 

3911296 

Biot. 

New  York     . 

40  43 

39-10120 

Sabine. 

Formentera  . 

33  40 

3909510 

Biot  (twice). 

Sandwich  Isles 

20  52 

39-04690 

Freycinet. 

Trinidad 

10   39 

3901*88 

Sabine. 

St.  Thomas    . 

0   25 

39-02074 

Sabine. 

Bahia    . 

12   59  S. 

39  02433 

Sabine. 

Isle  of  France 

20    10 

3904684 

Freycinet  &  Duperry. 

Cape  of  Good  Hope 

35  55 

39-07S00 

Freycinet  Sl  Fallows. 

PENICI'LLATE.  (Lat.  penicillum,  a  pencil.)  In  Zoolo- 
gy, when  a  part  supports  one  or  more  small  bundles  of  di- 
verging hairs. 

PENI'NSULA.  (Lat.  pene,  almost,  and  insula,  an  isl- 
and.) A  portion  of  land,  as  the  term  implies,  nearly 
surrounded  by  water ;  as  Africa,  the  Morea,  California.  In 
common  parlance,  the  term  Peninsula  is  usually  applied  to 
Spain  and  Portugal  ;  and  the  struggle  so  long  maintained 
between  these  countries,  aided  by  the  British,  and  the 
French,  at  the  commencement  of  the  present  century,  is 
called  the  Peninsular  war. 

PENITENCE,  or  PENANCE,  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  is  one  of  the  seven  sacraments.  Priestly  orders 
give  the  power  to  confer  this  sacrament;  but,  as  a  matter 
of  discipline,  their  power  is  not  exercised  without  authority 
from  the  Ordinary,  either  general  or  special,  except  in  cases 
of  necessity.  The  terms  penitence  and  penance  are  like- 
wise used  for  the  good  works  commanded  by  a  priest  to  a 
penitent,  to  be  performed  in  satisfaction  of  the  sins  of  which 
he  absolves  him.  Public  penance,  in  the  earlier  times  of 
the  church,  was  imposed  for  great  offences  committed  after 
baptism.  It  consisted  in  exclusion  from  the  church,  solitude, 
prayer,  and  fasting,  and  the  readmission  was  only  gradual  ; 
the  penitent  being  first  allowed  to  approach  the  doors  of 
the  church  ;  then  to  attend  at  sermons  and  readings,  but 
not  at  prayers;  then  to  pray,  kneeling,  &c.  The  time  of 
penance  varied  according  to  different  usages :  St.  Basil 
mentions  two  years  for  theft,  seven  for  sensuality,  fifteen 
for  adultery,  twenty  for  homicide,  and  the  whole  life  for 
apOStacy.  Public  penance  for  secret  sins  was  generally 
remitted  about  the  7th  century  ;  and  its  commutation  for 
the  repetition  of  prayers  and  bestowing  of  alms  began  in  the 
next.  These  alms  were  frequently  applied  by  the  penitent 
Co  the  purchase  of  masses  for  himself  or  others.  Afterwards 
the  usage  of  pilgrimage  as  a  mode  of  penance  became 
general  ;  and,  finally,  indulgences  began  to  be  sold  in  the 
12th  century. 


PENITENTIARY. 

PENITE'NTIARY,  A  prison  in  which  convicted  of- 
fenders are  placed  and  subjected  to  a  course  of  instruction 
and  discipline,  with  a  view  to  their  reformation.  Imprison- 
ment after  conviction  is  of  two  kinds :  the  simply  repressive 
and  penal,  and  that  which  is  at  the  same  time  reformatory. 
But  it  is  obvious  that  there  is  no  advantage  in  attempting 
to  produce  the  latter  effect  in  those  short  imprisonments  ot 
a  year  or  a  few  months,  which  form  the  ordinary  punish- 
ments of  our  law  for  smaller  offences.  Crimes  of  a  higher 
order  are  with  us  usually  punished  by  transportation  ;  and 
hence  there  is  less  room  for  the  development  of  the  peni- 
tentiary system  among  ourselves  than  in  other  European 
countries,  and  in  the  United  States  of  America.  At  Genoa, 
the  convict  is  only  subjected  to  the  penitentiary  system  at 
the  end  of  the  first  year  of  his  imprisonment ;  some  writers 
on  the  subject  recommend  two  years  as  a  more  appropriate 
limit  for  the  commencement  of  this  species  of  discipline. 
In  England,  the  first  act  for  the  establishment  of  peniten- 
tiaries was  passed  in  1776,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  philan- 
thropist Howard  and  judge  Blackstone  ;  and  attempts  were 
made  in  consequence,  at  Gloucester  and  other  places,  with 
little  success.  In  1812  the  act  was  passed  under  which  the 
Milbank  prison  was  erected  as  a  general  penitentiary  for 
England  and  Wales.  It  is  now  adapted  to  contain  800 
male  and  400  female  prisoners.  The  chief  object  in  peni- 
tentiaries, besides  conferring  moral  and  religious  instruction 
on  the  prisoners,  is  to  employ  them  in  some  useful  labour ; 
but  tbere  is  always  considerable  difficulty  in  carrying  into 
effect  this  part  of  the  system,  especially  so  as  to  reconcile 
it  with  the  necessity  of  keeping  prisoners  separate  as  far  as 
possible.  At  Milbank,  tailoring  forms  the  principal  occu- 
pation of  a  large  proportion  of  the  inmates.     See  Prisons. 

PENITE'NTIARY,  GRAND.  An  officer  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  church,  usually  a  cardinal,  appointed  by  the  pope 
to  grant  absolution  in  cases  reserved  for  the  papal  authority, 
dispensations  for  marriage,  &c.  In  like  manner,  bishops 
appoint  penitentiaries  to  perform  the  like  office  in  such 
cases  as  are  reserved  for  espiscopal  absolution.  Briefs 
granted  by  the  grand  penitentiary  are  at  the  present  time 
entirely  gratuitous,  and  headed  with  the  words  "  pro  Deo." 
PE'NlTENTS.  A  name  given  in  Roman  Catholic  coun- 
tries to  certain  religious  fraternities,  distinguished  by  their 
particoloured  garments.  Of  these  there  were  a  great 
variety  in  France,  Spain,  and  Portugal,  &c. ;  but  the  most 
extraordinary  were  the  White  Penitents,  a  body  of  fanatics, 
who  appeared  in  the  north  of  Italy  in  1399,  clothed  in 
white,  and  bearing  crucifixes,  under  the  guidance  of  a 
priest,  whose  real  history  seems  unknown,  but  concerning 
whom  many  strange  stories  were  told  ;  among  others,  that 
he  professed  to  be  the  prophet  Elias,  and  that  his  mission 
was  to  announce  the  immediate  destruction  of  the  world. 
The  contagion  of  this  outburst  of  religious  feeling  extended 
to  Tuscany,  and  thence  over  the  whole  of  Italy  ;  and  was 
accompanied  by  a  general  cessation  of  violence  and  private 
war.  But  it  lasted  only  a  few  months.  (Waddington, 
Hist,  of  the  Church.,  p.  546,  and  the  authors  there  referred 
to.) 

PENNATULA'RLE.  (Lat.  penna,  a  feather.)  The 
name  of  a  family  of  Polypes,  of  which  the  sea-pen  (Pen- 
natula)  is  the  type. 

PE'NNON.  A  term  sometimes  poetically  used  for  a 
streamer  or  banner ;  but  restricted  in  the  middle  ages  to  the 
banner  of  a  knight,  baronet,  or  esquire. 

PENNY.  The  twelfth  part  of  a  shilling.  The  penny 
was  formerly  a  silver  coin,  first  struck  in  England  by  the 
Saxons.  It  contained  the  240th  part  of  their  pound,  and  its 
weight  was  about  22A  grains.  Till  the  time  of  Edward  the 
First  the  English  penny  was  struck  with  a  cross  so  deeply 
sunk  in  it  that  it  might,  on  occasion,  be  easily  broken  and 
parted  into  halves,  thence  called  halfpenny ;  or  in  four 
parts,  thence  called  fourthings,  or  farthings.  Edward  the 
First  also  reduced  the  weight  of  the  penny  to  a  standard  ; 
ordering  that  it  should  weigh  the  20th  part  of  an  ounce. 
It  afterwards  suffered  successive  diminutions,  till,  in  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth,  its  value  was  reduced  to  the  62d  part  of 
an  ounce  of  silver.    This  proportion  is  still  observed. 

PENNYWEIGHT.  A  weight  equal  to  twenty-four 
grains,  or  the  20th  part  of  an  ounce  trov.  This  was  the 
weight  of  the  silver  penny  in  the  time  of  Edward  the  First. 
See  Pen\y. 

PENS.  (Lat.  penna,  a  feather.)  Well-known  instru- 
ments for  writing,  usually  formed  of  the  quills  of  the  goose, 
swan,  or  some  other  bird.  Metallic  pens  have  been  occa- 
sionally employed  for  a  lengthened  period ;  but  it  is  only 
within  these  few  years  that  they  have  been  extensively 
introduced.  They  first  began  to  be  largely  manufactured 
by  Mr.  John  Perry,  of  London.  Mr.  P.  having  succeeded 
in  giving  to  his  pens  a  greater  degree  of  softness  and  elasti- 
city than  was  possessed  by  any  metallic  pens  previously  in 
use,  they  speedily  obtained  a  very  extensive  sale.  This 
success  brought  crowds  of  rivals  into  the  field  ;  so  that 
metallic  pens  are   now  manufactured  in  vast  quantities, 


PENTAMETER. 

and  of  an  immense  variety  of  forms.  But  though  they  have 
superseded  to  a  very  considerable  extent  the  use  of  quills, 
and  have  some  peculiar  advantages,  it  does  not  appear 
possible  to  give  them  the  elasticity  of  the  quill,  nor  fit  tliem 
so  well  for  quick  and  easy  writing.  In  the  manufacture  of 
steel  pens  the  best  metal,  made  from  Dannemora  or  hoop  (l) 
iron,  is  employed.  It  is  laminated  into  slips  about  3  feet 
long  and  4  inches  broad,  of  a  thickness  corresponding  to  the 
desired  stiffness  and  flexibility  of  the  pens.  These  slips  are 
subjected  to  the  action  of  a  stamping-press,  somewhat  similar 
to  that  for  making  buttons.  The  point  destined  for  the  nib 
is  next  introduced  into  an  appropriate  gauged  hole  of  a  little 
machine,  and  pressed  into  the  semicylindrical  shape  ;  where 
it  is  also  pierced  with  the  middle  slit,  and  the  lateral  ones, 
provided  the  latter  are  to  be  given.  The  pens  are  now 
cleaned,  by  being  tossed  about  among  each  other,  in  a  tin 
cylinder  about  3  feet  long,  and  9  inches  in  diameter  ;  which 
is  suspended  at  each  end  upon  joints  to  two  cranks,  formed 
one  on  each  of  two  shafts.  The  cylinder,  by  the  rotation 
of  a  fly-wheel  acting  upon  the  crank-shafts,  is  made  to  de- 
scribe such  revolutions  as  agitate  the  pens  in  all  directions, 
and  polish  them  by  mutual  attrition.  In  the  course  of  four 
hours  several  thousand  pens  may  be  finished  upon  this 
machine.  (See  Commercial  Diet.,  and  Ure's  Diet,  of  Arts, 
Src.) 

PE'NSIONARY,  THE  GRAND,  of  Holland,  was  the 
prime  minister  of  the  states  of  the  province  of  Holland.  He 
proposed  the  measures  to  be  discussed  in  the  assembly  of 
the  states.  He  also  transacted  business  with  foreign  minis- 
ters, and  fulfilled  other  important  functions.  His  term  of 
service  was  five  years,  and  he  was  capable  of  re-election. 

PENSIONER.  Literally,  one  who  receives  a  pension  or 
allowance.  At  the  universities  of  Cambridge,  however, 
and  Dublin,  this  term  has  a  peculiar  meaning,  being  applied 
to  those  students  who  live  at  their  own  expense,  i.  e.,  without 
any  support  from  the  beneficent  foundations  of  the  re- 
spective colleges.  In  this  sense  it  is  synonymous  with  com- 
moner, at  Oxford. 

PENTA'CRINITES.  (Gr.  TtcvTi,five,  and  xpivov,  lily.) 
The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Echinoderms,  comprehending  those 
in  which  the  animal  consists  of  an  angular,  jointed,  flexible 
column,  fixed  at  the  base,  and  supporting  on  its  free  ex- 
tremity a  concave  disc  or  body,  terminating  in  five  dichoto- 
mizing, jointed,  semicylindrical  arms.  Most  of  the  species 
and  genera  of  this  tribe  are  extinct. 

PENTADO'RON.  (Gr.  ttcvtc,  and  iuipov,  a  palm.)  In 
Ancient  Architecture,  a  brick  of  five  palms  in  length,  used 
by  the  Greeks  in  the  construction  of  their  public  edifices. 

PE'NTAGON.  (Gr.  -Kevre,  and  ymvta,  angle.)  In 
Geometry,  a  plane  figure,  having  five  angles,  or  contained 
by  five  sides.  It  is  a  regular  pentagon  when  the  sides  and 
angles  are  equal,  and  is  consequently  inscribable  in  a  circle. 
The  length  of  the  side  of  a  regular  pentagon  is  equal  to 
twice  the  sine  of  36°,  radius  being  unit ;  and  its  area  =  5 
sin.  36°  X  cos.  36° ;  or,  making  the  side  =  s,  the  area  =  J 
si  X  tan.  54°.  It  is  a  remarkable  property  of  the  regular 
pentagon,  that  the  square  of  its  side  is  equal  to  the  sum  of 
the  squares  of  the  sides  of  the  hexagon  and  decagon  in- 
scribed in  the  same  circle. 
PENTAGRAPH.  See  Pantagraph. 
PENTAME'RANS,  Pentamera.  (Gr.  jrevre,  and  uvpos, 
a  joint.)  The  name  of  a  section  of  Coleopterous  insects, 
including  those  which  have  five  joints  on  the  tarsus  of  each 
leg. 

PENTA'METER.  (Gr.  veins,  and  ucrpov,  measure.)  A 
species  of  verse  consist'ng  of  five  feet  or  measures  (whence 
the  name),  and  which  when  subjoined  to  a  hexameter  verse 
constituted  what  is  denominated  elegiac.  The  scheme  of 
the  pentameter  is  as  follows : 

Or  more  properly  thus, 

It  must  be  observed,  that  the  caesural  pause  at  the  third 
foot  must  always  terminate  a  word  ;  and,  as  a  general  rule, 
the  last  word  of  the  verse  must  consist  of  two  syllables, 
although  a  quadrisyllable,  especially  in  proper  names,  is 
sometimes  admitted. 

The  first  Greek  elegiac  writers  were  Callinus  and  Tyrtseus, 
who  were  followed  by  Mimnermus,  Theognis,  and  Solon, 
in  their  own  country  ;  and  by  Catullus,  Propertius,  Tibullus, 
and  Ovid,  in  Rome.  The  variety  of  themes  sung  by  these 
different  writers  proves  the  capacity  of  this  measure  for 
adaptation  to  every  subject,  whether  mournful,  as  the  term 
elegiac  would  imply ;  or  political  and  warlike,  like  the 
strains  of  Tyrtreus  and  Callinus ;  or  erotic,  like  those  of 
Propertius,  Tibullus,  and  Ovid ;  or  historical  and  mythologi- 
cal, like  the  Fasti  of  the  last.  The  pentameter  has  not 
been  generally  introduced  into  any  modern  language  with 
which  we  are  acquainted :  though  Goethe  and  Schiller 
have  left  us  some  excellent  specimens  of  the  facility  with 
which  it  might  be  engrafted  on  the  German  language.    The 

915 


PENTAPOLIS. 

hexameter  ami  pentameter  distich  is  beautifully  described 
in  tbe  following  lines  of  Schiller  : 

Im  Hexameter  sieijt  des  SpriDgquells  flussige  Saule; 
Iin  Pentameter  drauf  fallt  sie  melodisch  herab. 

Thus  admirably  rendered  by  Coleridge,  who  was  long  con- 
sidered as  the  original  author: 

In  'he  hextmeler  rises  the  fountain's  silvery  column: 
In  the  pen  ameter  aye  falling  in  melody  back. 

Every  page  of  Ovid's  Heroides,  or  Tristia,  illustrates  the 
manner  in  which  the  hexameter  breaks,  ns  it  were,  and 
falls  back  in  the  pentameter,  thereby  adding  a  most  exquisite 
grace  to  the  rhythm  :  indeed  the  secret  genius  of  the  metre 
appears  to  consist  in  this  play.  The  following  instant  es, 
taken  from  Penelope's  letter  to  Ulysses,  will  illustrate  the 
truth  of  this  observation  : 


Again, 


7Yo;ajacet  certe.  D.inais  invisa  puellis: 
Vn  I  riunu  tanli  totaque  Troja  fuit. 


Sive  quis  Jntilochum  narrabat  ab  Hectore  viclum  : 
Jlntilochus  nostri  causa  tmioris  erat. 


Besides  this  peculiarity  in  the  pentameter,  grammarians 
have  pointed  out  several  others,  an  observance  of  which  is 
necessary  to  constitute  a  perfect  pentameter.  Of  these  per- 
haps the  most  important  is  the  avium,  that  although  either 
a  spondee  or  a  dactyl  may  be  used  at  pleasure  in  the  first 
two  feet  of  the  verse,  a  dactyl  should  be  preferred  to  a 
spondee  whenever  practicable  ;  and  a  comparison  of  the 
ancient  authors  will  show,  that  on  the  frequent  use  of  the 
former  much  of  the  beauty  of  this  elegant  measure  depends. 
See  Hexameter. 

PENTA'POLIS.  (Gr.  TTtvTt,  and  tto\is,  a  city.)  A  name 
given  by  the  ancient  Greeks  to  certain  countries  which  were 
remarkable  for  having  five  distinguished  cities  :  tints  there 
was  the  Pentapolis  of  Lybia,  Italy,  and  Asia  Minor:  but 
the  most  celebrated  was  the  Pentapolis  Cyrenaica  (or  of 
Egypt),  whose  five  cities  were  Berenice,  Arsinoe,  Ptolemais, 
Cvrene,  and  Apollonia. 

PE'NTASTYLE.  (Gr.  itcvtc,  and  tmiXoc,  a  column.) 
In  Architecture,  a  building  having  five  columns  in  front. 

PENTATEUCH.  (Gr.  -n-„m'\ov;  from  rort,  and 
tcvxov,  an  instrument),  signifies  the  five  volumes  of  the 
books  of  Moses  ;  viz.  Genesis,  Exodus,  Leviticus,  Numbers, 
and  Deuteronomy. 

1.  The  book  of  Genesis  (as  the  term  implies)  gives  an 
account  of  the  creation  of  the  world  and  of  man  ;  the  fall 
of  man;  the  flood;  and  the  history  of  the  Jewish  patriarchs, 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  down  to  Joseph  (1750  B.C.). 
This  book  was  looked  upon  with  great  veneration  by  the 
Jews,  as  comprising  the  history  of  their  venerable  founder 
Abraham,  and  his  nearest  descendants,  around  whom  many 
of  their  peculiar  customs  and  laws  were  intertwined  ;  but 
it  is  no  less  valuable  to  the  Christian  world,  both  from  its 
venerable  antiquity,  and  from  its  furnishing  rich  materials 
for  historical,  geographical,  and  antiquarian  investigations. 
It  contains,  besides,  numerous  subjects  for  moral  and  reli- 
gious reflections,  which  are  referred  to  in  manv  other  later 
portions  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament.  2.  The  book  of 
F.mdus  (Gr.  t\,  and  Woe,  a  way),  narrates  the  fortunes  of 
the  descendants  of  Abraham  after  their  migration  to  Egypt ; 
the  birth  of  Moses,  and  his  endeavours  to  emancipate  the 
Jewish  nation  from  Egyptian  bondage;  their  escape  from 
Egypt ;  their  journey  through  the  wilderness  ;  and  the  de- 
liver)' of  the  law  to  Moses.  This  book,  besides  being  pecu- 
liarly valuable  in  a  religious  point  of  view,  possesses  also 
great  interest  from  marking  the  transition  of  the  Jewish 

people  ft the  pastoral  or  nomadic  to  the  agricultural  or 

fixed  mode  of  life.  3.  The  book  of  Leviticus  (so  called 
from  Levi,  a  priest),  consists  chiefly  of  the  law  and  ordi- 
nances of  the  Jewish  priesthood,  or  regulations  as  to  the 
different  kinds  of  sacrifices  to  be  offered  up;  the  duties  of 
masters  towards  their  slaves;  regulations  as  to  marriage, 
&c.  It  is  replete  with  interesting  antiquarian  matter.  4. 
The  book  of  Numbers  (so  called  from  its  giving  an  account 
of  the  numbering  of  the  people),  contains  besides  an  enu- 
meration of  many  civil  and  ceremonial  ordinances;  and 
embraces  an  historical  period  of  118  years,  chiefly  relating  to 

the  captivity  and  the  wilderness.    5.  The  book  of  Dealer 

onomy  (Gr.  erurrpoc,  second,  and  roping,  law),  contains  chiefly 
(as  the  origin  of  the  term  implies)  a  condensed  summary  of 
the  laws  and  ordinances  delivered  in  the  three  preceding 
books. 

There  are  two  ancient  and  authentic  copies  of  the  Penta- 
teuch :  the  otic  written  in  Samaritan  or  Phoenician  charac- 
ters; the  other  in  Chaldean,  which  was  adopted  by  tin' 
Jews,  in  preference  to  the  former,  after  their  return  from 
Babylon.    The  differences  between  tin-  two  are  represented 

as  not  material  ;  but  it  is  imagined  that  some  alterations  and 

additions  have  been  made  in  the  Samaritan  text,  in  order  to 

favour  the  peculiar  prejudices  and  claims  of  thai  people. 

The  Pentateuch  was, down  to  a  recent  period, universally 

attributed  to  Moses ;  but  some  German  theologians  hu\e  at- 
91G 


PERAMBULATOR. 

tempted  to  prove,  in  our  opinion  with  but  little  success,  that 
Moses  was  not  the  author.  There  are  no  doubt  several 
passages,  especially  in  Deuteronomy,  which  could  not  possi 
lily  have  been  written  by  Moses; 'but  these  can  easily  be 
accounted  for  as  interpolations  of  a  copyist,  and  do  not 
affect  the  authenticity  of  the  whole  Pentateuch.  Tbe  chief 
arguments  for  the  genuineness  of  the  Pentateuch  are  ably 
given  in  the  Penny  Cyclopedia,  to  which  we  beg  to  refer 
the  reader. 

PENTATHLTCM.  (Gr.  Trjvrr.and  a0\o;,  a  contest )  A 
general  appellation  given  by  the  Greeks  to  their  five  chief 
bodily  exercises  ;  viz.  running,  leaping,  throwing  the  quoit 
or  discus,  hurling  the  javelin,  and  wrestling.  These  five 
exercises  were  termed  Quinquectium  by  the  Romans. 

PE'NTECOST.  (Gr.  7T£vn;Koa,oc,  fiftieth.)  A  Jewish 
festival  ;  so  called  because  it  was  observed  on  the  fiftieth 
day  after  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread  ;  i.  e.,  the  fifteenth  of 
the  month  Nisan,  and  next  day  after  the  Feast  of  the  Pass- 
over. Being  celebrated  seven  weeks  after  this  latter,  it 
also  obtained  the  name  of  the  Feast  of  Weeks.  It  occurred 
about  the  beginning  of  the  harvest,  and  seems  to  have  been 
instituted  as  an  acknowledgment  of  the  goodness  of  God  in 
giving  the  fruits  of  the  earth.  It  also  commemorated  the 
giving  of  the  law  on  Mount  ^inat  upon  that  day.  The  dif- 
fusion of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  apostles  upon  the  same 
day,  as  recorded  in  Acts  ii.,  has  occasioned  its  observance 
to  be  continued  among  Christians.  In  England  it  is  known 
by  the  name  of  Whit  Sunday  ;  and  in  Germany  by  that  of 
Pfina-sten. 

PENTELA'SMIDjE.  (Gr.  -tvrc,  and  t\aciia,  a  layer.) 
The  family  of  Pedunculate  Cirripeds,  of  which  the  common 
barnacle  (Pentelasmis  crocea)  is  the  type.  The  principal 
organs  of  the  body  are  protected  bv  five  shelly  plates. 

PENTE'LICAN  MARBLE.     Sec  Marble. 

PE'NULT,  or  PENU'LTIMA.  (Lat.  pene  ultima,  almost 
last.)  hi  Grammar  and  Prosody,  the  last  syllable  of  a  word 
but  one. 

PENU'MBRA.  (Lat.  pene,  almost,  and  vmbra.  shadow.) 
Xjvjmperfect  shadow.  The  penumbra  of  the  earth  is 
occasioned  by  the  apparent  magnitude  of  the  sun's  disk, 
and  is  that  portion  of  space  behind  the  earth  within  which 
a  body  will  be  illuminated  by  a  part  only,  and  not  by  the 
whole  of  the  disk.  It  is  thus  distinguished  from  the  umbra, 
or  perfect  shadow,  which  is  the  conical  space  within  which 
no  part  of  the  disk  is  visible.  Let  S  be  the  sun,  E  the  earth, 
A  D  the  orbit  of  the  moon  ;  and  let  a  A,  a  C,  d  B,  d  D,  be 
tangents  to  S  and  E.  As  soon  as  the  moon  passes  the  point 
A,  a  portion  of  the  sun's  disk  at  a  will  be  intercepted,  and 
the  visible  portion  will  become  f/y 
less  and  less  until  the  moon 
reaches  B,  where  total  darkness 
begins.  From  A  to  B,  therefore, 
the  moon  is  in  the  penumbra. 
The  umbra  extends  from  B  to  C. 
When  the  moon  passes  C,  it  will  again  receive  the  light 
from  the  border  of  the  solar  disk  at  a,  and  will  be  in  the  pe- 
numbra from  C  to  D.  The  whole  penumbra  thus  forms  a 
cone,  of  which  the  apex  is  at  O,  and  the  angle  at  the  apex 
equal  to  A  O  D.  As  the  obscurity  evidently  becomes 
greater  in  proportion  as  more  of  the  solar  disk  is  concealed, 
and  insensibly  merges  into  total  shade,  it  is  extremely  diffi- 
cult in  eclipses  of  the  moon  to  determine  by  observation 
the  exact  time  at  which  the  moon's  limb  passes  the  point  B 
or  C,  and  the  eclipse  begins  or  ends. 

In  solar  eclipses  those  parts  of  the  earth  which  are  cover- 
ed by  the  penumbra  of  the  moon  are  only  partially  deprived 
of  the  sun's  light.  Let  E  be  the  moon,  and  A  I)  part  of  the 
earth's  orbit.  To  a  spectator  on  the  earth,  placed  between 
A  and  B,  a  part  of  the  sun's  disk  is  concealed,  and  the  sun 
is  partially  eclipsed.  The  limits  are  calculated  from  the 
known  magnitudes  and  positions  of  the  sun  and  moon,  and 
their  respective  distances  from  the  earth.     See  El  i.ipse. 

Pemmbra.  In  Painting,  &.C..  the  boundary  of  shade  and 
light  where  the  one  blends  with  Lite  other,  the  gradation 
beinsr  almost  Imperceptible. 

PEPERI'NO.  An  Italian  name  for  a  particular  kind  of 
volcanic  rock,  formed  by  the  cementing  together  of  sand, 
cinders,  &r. 

PE'PLUM.     An  upper  garment  anciently  worn  by  the 

ian,  and  especially  by  the  Athenian  females:  it  was 

without   sleeves,   and   fastened    by  n   clasp  on  the  arm  or 

shoulder.     The  celebrated  peplum  of  Minerva  was  carried 

every  year,  in  the  Panathenaic  processions  of  Minerva,  from 

the  CeramiCUS  to  the  temple  of  Ceres,  and  thence  to  the 
Parthenon,  where  it  was  offered  to  the  goddess.  The  an- 
tiquity of  this  kind  of  ceremony  is  evinced  by  the  passage 
in  the  Iliad  (book  v.)  where  the  Trojan  women  offer  a  simi- 
lar robe. 

PEPPER.     See  Pipbsacex,  Pimento. 

PE'PTIC,  relate]"  to  digestion.     See  Dyspepsia. 

PERAMBULATOR,  (Lat.  arnbulo,  I  walk.)  A  ma- 
chine for  measuring  distances  on  roads;  also  called  odome- 


PERCEPTION. 

Itr  and  surveying  wheel.  Various  sorts  of  machines  have 
been  constructed  for  this  purpose,  both  in  ancient  and  mod- 
ern times.  One  is  described  by  Vitruvius  in  his  work  De 
Architecture  lib.  x.,  c.  14.  The  machine  commonly  em- 
ployed consists  of  a  wheel,  to  which  a  sort  of  double  pole  is 
attached,  carrying  an  apparatus  of  clock-work,  which  is  set 
in  motion  by  the  revolution  of  the  wheel,  and  shows  the 
number  of  miles,  furlongs,  &c,  passed  over  by  an  index  and 
dial.  The  apparatus  may  be  drawn  along  by  a  person  on 
foot,  or  by  a  carriage,  to  which  it  is  more  usually  attached. 
For  the  sake  of  facility  in  reckoning,  the  circumference  of 
the  measuring  wheel  is  made  equal  to  an  aliquot  part  of  a 
mile ;  usually  half  a  pole  or  99  inches.  (See  the  Repository 
of  Arts,  vi.,  249.) 

PERUE'PTION.  (Lat.)  In  Mental  Philosophy,  that 
power,  act,  or  state  of  the  mind,  which  has  a  conscious 
reference  to  external  objects.  Various  theories  of  percep- 
tion have  arisen  among  philosophers,  differing  as  this  refer- 
ence is  supposed  to  be  more  or  less  immediate,  or  as  the  ob- 
jects to  which  it  refers  are  conceived  to  possess  an  independ- 
ent reality  or  not.  These  theories  are  designated  by  the 
terms  idealism  and  realism  ;  which  latter  is  subdivided  into 
natural  or  positive,  and  relative  or  negative  realism.  The 
best  known  system  of  idealism  is  that  of  Bishop  Berkeley. 
See  Idealism. 

According  to  the  scheme  of  negative  or  relative  realism, 
all  that  we  can  know  of  an  object  is  the  feeling  which  it 
excites  in  our  minds.  The  cause  of  this*feeling  we  neces- 
sarily judge  to  be  something  external  to  ourselves ;  but 
what  it  is  in  itself  we  have  no  means  of  knowing.  This  is 
the  view  adopted  by  the  great  majority  of  philosophers,  from 
Plato  and  Aristotle  down  to  Kant  and  Brown. 

The  theory  of  natural  realism  is  the  one  supported  by  Dr. 
Eeid  under  the  name  of  the  common-sense  system.  This 
philosopher  conceives  the  object  in  perception  to  be  in  some 
way  immediately  present  to  our  consciousness;  its  qualities 
are  not  merely  felt  by  us,  but  discovered  in  it.  We  derive 
a  certain  sensation  from  the  whiteness  or  roundness  of  «n 
object;  but  it  is  the  object  itself  and  not  our  minds  that  are 
white  or  round.  This  doctrine,  which  was  also  that  of  the 
ancient  Stoics,  and  expressed  by  them  in  nearly  the  same 
words  as  those  used  by  Reid  (see  Cicero,  Acad.  Quast.),  is 
in  fact  rather  a  statement  than  an  explanation  of  the  prob- 
lem. It  has  been  recently  supported  with  great  acuteness 
by  a  learned  writer  in  the  Edin.  Review,  No.  113,  to  which 
we  refer  our  readers  for  a  full  account  of  all  possible  theo- 
ries of  perception. 

PERCH,  in  Land  Measure,  is  the  fortieth  part  of  a  rood, 
or  equal  to  30^  square  yards.  Perch  is  also  sometimes 
used  as  a  denomination  of  long  measure,  when  it  signi- 
fies the  same  thing  as  a  rod  or  pole,  being  5£  yards,  or  16£ 
feet. 

PERCHERS.  The  name  of  an  order  of  birds  including 
the  Scansores  and  Passeres  of  Cuvier.     See  Insessores. 

PERCHLO'RIC  ACID.  When  sulphuric  acid  is  poured 
upon  chlorate  of  potash,  gaseous  oxide  of  chlorine  is  evolv- 
ed, and  the  saline  matter  which  remains  is  a  mixture  of  bi- 
sulphate  of  potash  and  perchlorate  of  potash  ;  by  washing 
it  with  cold  water  the  former  salt  is  dissolved,  but  the  latter 
remains  in  the  form  of  a  white  powder.  When  this  is  mixed 
with  half  its  weight  of  sulphuric  acid,  diluted  with  one  third 
of  water,  and  heat  applied,  white  vapours  rise,  which  con- 
dense as  a  colourless  liquid  in  the  receiver.  This  is  a  solu- 
tion of  perchloric  acid,  which  consists  of  one  equivalent 
of  chlorine  =  36,  and  7  equivalents  of  oxygen  (8  X  7)  =  56 ; 
the  equivalent  of  the  perchloric  acid,  therefore,  is  (36  +  56) 
=  92.  Perchlorate  of  potash  requires  65  parts  of  water  at 
60=  for  solution. 

PE'RCOIDS,  Percoida.  (Lat.  perca,  a  perch.)  The  name 
of  the  tribe  of  Acanthopterygian  fishes  of  which  the  genus 
Perca  is  the  tvpe. 

PERCU'SSION.  (Lat.)  In  Mechanics,  the  striking  of 
one  body  against  another,  or  the  shock  arising  from  the  col- 
lision of  two  bodies.     See  Collision. 

PERCUSSION  CAPS.     See  Gun. 

PERCUSSION,  CENTRE  OF.  That  point  in  a  solid 
body  revolving  on  an  axis  at  which,  if  an  obstacle  were  there 
applied  sufficient  to  resist  the  rotation  of  the  system,  no  mo- 
tion would  be  communicated  to  the  axis;  or,  which  is  the 
same  thing,  if  the  axis  were  not  fixed  the  system  would  ac- 
quire no  tendency  to  revolve  through  the  shock  applied  at 
that  point.  The  centre  of  percussion  is  in  the  straight  line 
passing  through  the  centre  of  gravity  perpendicular  to  the 
axis;  and  its  distance  from  the  axis  is  expressed  by  the  for- 
mula /  r^dm-i-  f  rdm,  where  d  m  is  the  element  of  the 
mass,  and  r  the  distance  of  dm  from  the  axis.     See  Cen- 

PERCUSSiON  OF  FLUIDS.     See  Hydrodynamics. 

PEREDI'OLA.  (Gr.  irtpihtuj,  I  bind  round.)  The  mem- 
brane by  which  the  sporules  of  Algaceous  plants  are  im- 
mediately covered. 


PERIBOLOS. 

PER'ENNIALS.  (Lat.  perennis,  lasting  throughout  the 
year.)  In  Botany,  those  plants  whose  roots  remain  alive 
more  years  than  two,  but  whose  steins  flower  and  perish 
annually.  Gardeners  generally  call  them  herbaceous  plants. 
They  differ  from  annuals  and  biennials  not  only  in  the  lime 
of  their  duration  ;  but  also  in  this,  that  the  two  former  per- 
ish as  soon  as  they  have  flowered,  the  act  of  reproduction 
exhausting  their  vital  energies.  Notwithstanding  this  dis- 
tinction, it  is  not  at  all  times  easy  to  say  whether  a  plant  is 
a  perennial  one  or  not ;  as,  for  instance,  in  the  Agave  Ameri- 
cana, commonly  called  the  American  aloe.  This  plant  is  her- 
baceous, and  lives  for  many  years ;  but  when  it  flowers  it 
dies:  so  that  in  one  respect  it  is  annual,  its  whole  life  being 
regarded  as  only  one  season  of  growth;  in  another  respect 
it  is  truly  perennial.  Such  perennials  are  called  by  De  Can- 
doll  e  monocarpic. 

PERE'NNIBRANCHIATES.  Perennibranchiata.  (Lat. 
perennis ;  branchia,  gills.)  The  name  of  that  division  of 
Batrachian  reptiles  including  the  species  which  preserve 
the  external  branchia;,  or  branchial  apertures,  throughout 
life ;  as  the  Siren,  Proteus,  and  Menopome. 

PE'RFECT  CADENCE.    In  Music.     See  Cadence. 

PERFECTIBI'LITV.  The  capability  of  arriving  at  per- 
fection. This  word,  which  is  entirely  modern,  and  scarcely 
as  yet  admitted  in  our  language  on  classical  English  au- 
thority, is  commonly  used  in  reasoning  on  the  social  con- 
dition of  mankind.  The  theory  of  the  indefinite  perfecti- 
bility of  the  human  faculties,  which  constitutes  the  basis 
of  many  modern  systems,  is  perhaps  nowhere  so  plainly  de- 
veloped as  in  the  Preface  to  the  Tableau  Historiquc  de  I'En- 
tendement  Humain  of  Condorcet. 

PE'RFECT  NUMBER.  In  Arithmetic,  a  number  equal 
to  the  sum  of  all  its  divisors.  Thus  6  is  a  perfect  number, 
for  its  divisors  are  1,  2,  and  3  ;  and  1  +2  +  3  =  6.  In  like 
manner,  28  is  a  perfect  number,  for  its  divisors  are  1,  2,  4, 
7,  14 ;  the  sum  of  which  =  28. 

In  general,  every  number  of  the  form  2n—1  (2n  —  1),  the 
latter  factor  being  a  prime,  is  a  perfect  number,  the  sum  of 
its  divisors  being  equal  to  the  number  itself.  The  difficulty, 
therefore,  of  finding  perfect  numbers  arises  from  that  of 
finding  primes  of  the  form  2n  —  1,  which  is  very  laborious. 
The  only  values  of  n  yet  discovered  which  make  2n  —  la 
prime  number  are  2,  3,  5,  7,  13,  17,  19,  and  31.  Substituting 
these  values  of  n  successively  in  the  formula  of  the  perfect 
number,  we  shall  obtain  the  following  results: 

If  n  —  2,  then  2     (22  —  1)  =  6 
ra  =  3,  22   (23  — 1)  =  28 

7i  =  5,  21   (25  — 1)=496 

n  =  7,  26   (27  — 1)=8128 

n  =  13,         2'2  (213  —  1)  —  33550336 
n  =  17,         2'6  (217  —  1)  —  8589869056 
ji=19,         218(219  —  1)  =  137438691338 
n  =  31,         23D  (231  —  l)  =  2305843008139952128 
all  which  are  perfect  numbers. 

PE'RFECT  TENSE.  That  form  of  the  verb  denoted 
in  English  by  the  auxiliary  have,  which  designates  an  ac- 
tion finished  at  the  time  when  we  speak  of  it.  Also  termed 
the  preterite  tense,  from  Lat.  pneteritum,  past. 

PERFU'ME.  (Fr.  parfum.)  A  term  used  to  denote  the 
volatile  effluvia  from  any  body  affecting  the  organ  of  smel- 
ling, or  the  substance  emitting  those  effluvia.  Perfumes 
were  in  general  use  among  the  ancients  (see  the  Quart. 
Rev.,  vol.  xxiii.) ;  and  in  France,  Germany,  Spain,  and  Por- 
tugal, and  even,  though  not  to  so  considerable  an  extent,  in 
England,  they  are  regarded  almost  as  necessaries.  In  gen- 
eral they  are  made  of  musk,  ambergris,  civet,  rose,  and  cedar 
woods,  orange  flowers,  jessamines,  jonquils,  tuberoses,  and 
other  odoriferous  flowers.  Aromatic  drugs,  such  as  storax, 
frankincense,  benzoin,  cloves,  &c.  &c,  enter  into  the  com- 
position of  a  perfume ;  and  many  perfumes  are  composed  of 
aromatic  herbs  or  leaves,  as  lavender,  marjoram,  sage, 
thyme,  &c.  &c.  (See  the  article  "Perfumery"  in  Ure's 
Diet,  of  Arts,  frc.) 

PERGAME'NEOUS.  (Lat.  pergamena,  parchment.)  In 
Entomology,  when  a  part  consists  of  a  thin,  tough,  semi- 
transparent  substance,  somewhat  resembling  parchment. 

PE'RGULA.  (Lat.)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  a  sort  of 
gallery  in  a  house.  It  is  used  by  Plautus  to  signify  a  bal- 
cony, in  which  the  courtezans  placed  themselves  to  catch 
the  attention  of  passengers.  By  Winckelman  it  is  thought 
to  be  an  arbour  in  a  garden,  or  a  terrace  overhanging  one. 

PERIA'NTHIUM.  (Gr.  vepi,  around,  and  avtioc,  a  flow- 
er.) A  calyx  and  corolla,  the  limits  of  which  are  undefined, 
so  that  they  cannot  be  satisfactorily  distinguished  from  each 
other;  as  in  many  Monocotyledonous  plants. 

PERI'BOLOS.  (Gr.  ncpi,  and  /^<AAw,  /  cast.)  In  Ar- 
chitecture, a  court  or  enclosure  entirely  round  a  temple, 
surrounded  by  a  wall.  One  of  the  most  extraordinary  ex- 
amples of  a  peribolos  is  at  Palmyra,  where  the  great  temple 
is  surrounded  by  a  wall  with  two  rows  of  interior  columns, 
each  side  whereof  is  from  700  to  800  feet  long. 

917 


PERICARDITIS. 

PERICARDITIS.  Inflammation  of  the  pericardium.  It 
is  of  the  same  origin  as 

PERICA'KDIUM.  (Gr.  rcpi,  about;  icapdia,  the  heart.) 
The  membranous  sac  which  surrounds  the  heart. 

PERICA'RPIUM.  (Gr.  zept,  and  xapiroi,  fruit.)  Every 
part  of  a  ripe  fruit  on  the  outer  side  of  the  placenta. 

PERIC1KETIAL.  (Gr.  *c/>(,  and  x<«™7.  a  bristle.)  The 
leaves  situated  at  the  base  of  the  sets  of  mosses. 

PERI'COI'E.  (Gr.  Kepi,  and  ko-tw,  J  cut ;  something 
cut  out,  an  extract.)  A  word  used  by  theologians  to  signify 
a  passage  of  the  Bible  extracted  for  the  purpose  of  reading 
in  the  communion  service  and  other  portions  of  the  ritual ; 
or  as  a  text  tor  a  sermon  or  homily. 

PEERKA  Ml  .M.  (Gr.  -tpi,  and  xpaviov,  the  skull.) 
The  membrane  of  the  bones  of  the  skull. 

PERIDOT.     In  Mineralogy,  the  prismatic  chrysolite. 

PE'RIDROME.  (Gr.  Ktpt,  and  ipouoc,  a  course.)  In 
Ancient  Architecture,  the  space  in  a  peripteral  temple  be- 
tween the  walls  of  the  cell  and  the  columns.  It  is  a  term 
that  may  be  applied  to  any  gallery  of  communication  round 
an  edifice. 

PE'RIGEE.  (Gr.  repi,  and  yn,  the  earth.)  In  Astrono- 
my, that  point  of  the  moon's  orbit  which  is  nearest  to  the 
earth.  Anciently  the  term  perigee  was  applied  to  the  or- 
bits of  the  sun  and  planets,  as  well  as  the  moon,  because 
they  were  supposed  to  circulate  round  the  earth.  Since 
the  true  centre  of  motion  has  been  discovered,  the  term  peri- 
helion is  used  to  denote  the  corresponding  points. 

PERIGO'NIUM.  (Gr.  ntpi,  and  yetvonai,  1  grow.)  A 
svnonvm  of  the  word  perianth. 

PERIGYNIUM.  (Gr.  TTtpi,  and  yinr},  a  female.)  The 
Urceolate  body  formed  in  the  genus  Carez  by  two  bracteae, 
which  become  confluent  at  their  edges,  and  enclose  the  pis- 
tillum,  leaving  a  passage  for  the  stigmata  at  their  apex. 
Also  used  occasionally  to  denote  that  organ  commonly 
called  the  disk. 

PERI'GYNOUS.  A  term  applied  to  stamens  which 
originate  from  the  sides  of  a  calyx. 

PERIHELION.  (Gr.  mpi,  and  frios,  the  sun.)  In  As- 
tronomy, the  point  in  the  orbit  of  a  planet  or  comet  which 
is  nearest  the  sun.  It  is  the  extremity  of  the  major  axis  of 
the  orbit  nearest  to  that  focus  in  which  the  sun  is  placed ; 
and  its  position,  or  longitude,  is  one  of  the  elements  by  which 
the  orbit  is  determined.     See  Planet. 

PERI'METER.  (Gr.  Kepi,  and  ucrpov,  measure.)  In 
Geometry,  the  circuit  or  boundary  of  any  plane  figure.  In 
round  figures  it  is  the  equivalent  to  circumference,  or  peri- 
phery; but  the  term  is  more  frequently  applied  to  figures 
bounded  by  straight  lines. 

PE  RIOD  (Gr.  irtpioios),  in  Astronomy  and  Chronology, 
denotes  at  interval  of  time  at  the  end  of  which  the  same 
phenomenon  again  takes  place.  The  period  of  a  planet  is 
the  time  in  which  it  performs  a  revolution  in  its  orbit.  For 
chronological  periods,  see  Cycle.  The  term  is  also  used 
in  arithmetic,  to  denote  the  recurrence  of  a  series  of  digits 
or  numbers  in  the  same  order,  as  in  circulating  decimal 
fractions. 

Period,  or  Sentence,  in  Rhetoric,  has  been  defined  "a 
passage,  i.  e.,  series  of  words,  developed  in  properly  connect- 
ed parts."  In  a  stricter  sense,  a  period  is  a  sentence  so 
framed  that  the  grammatical  construction  will  not  admit  a 
close,  and  the  meaning  remains  suspended  until  the  end  of 
it.  A  sentence  in  which  the  sense  would  permit  of  a  stop 
before  its  completion  is,  in  this  sense,  not  a  period.  The 
Greek  and  Latin  languages  were  much  more  periodic  than 
most  modern  tongues;  that  is,  they  admitted  of  the  con- 
struction of  sentences  so  that  a  single  grammatical  connex- 
ion should  run  through  a  great  series  of  words,  while  a 
similar  series,  in  a  modern  languge,  would  be  so  arranged 
as  to  form  several  distinct  grammatical  wholes. 

Period,  the  Julian.  In  Chronology.  See  Julian  Pe- 
riod. 

PERIO'DIC  ACLD.  An  acid  analogous  in  composition 
to  the  perchloric,  consisting  of  1  equivalent  of  iodine  +7 
equivalents  of  oxygen. 

PERIO'DICALS.  In  Literature,  strictly  publications 
continued  in  numbers,  appearing  at  regular  intervals.  But 
papers  of  the  same  description  appearing  at  uncertain  in- 
tervals (especially  in  Germany),  are  often  comprehended 
under  this  general  name.  The  first  periodical  in  the  char- 
acter of  a  review  was  the  Journal  des  Savans,  begun  in  1063. 

PERICE'CI,  or  PERICECIANS.  (Gr.  nipt,  about,  and 
oiKtio,  I  diccll),  in  Geography,  is  used  to  denote  those  in- 
habitants of  the  globe  who  live  under  the  same  parallel  of 
latitude,  but  on  opposite  meridians;  that  is,  in  pi  ires  u  hlch 
have  the  same  latitude,  but  differ  in  longitude  bj  180  . 
They  have  their  sprimr,  summer,  winter,  and  autumn  in 
the  same  months  of  the  year ;  but  when  it  is  noon  with  the 
one  it  is  midnistht  with  the  other. 

PEBJO'STEUM.     (Gr.  «/>«,  and  oortov,  a  bone.)     The 
membrane  which  invests  the  bones.    It  is  of  a  fibrous  tex- 
ture, and  vascular. 
918 


PERISTALTIC. 

PERIO'STRACUM.  (Gr.  sepi,  and  oorpaxov,  a  ghell) 
The  layer  of  animal  substance,  or  cuticle,  wim  -h  covers  the 
outer  surface  of  shells,  and  which  the  French  concholo- 
gists  term  drop  marin. 

PERIPATETICS.  That  school  of  ancient  philosophers 
which  derived  its  origin  from  Aristotle.  The  name  was 
given  from  the  Gr.  Trepixaroi  or  walks  in  the  Lyceum,  the 
scene  of  Aristotle's  instruction.  (For  the  doctrines  of  the 
Peripatetics,  see  Aristotelian  Philosophy.)  The  imme- 
diate successors  of  Aristotle  in  the  peripatetic  doctrine  were 
Theophrastus,  Eudemus  the  Rhodian  (from  whom  is  de- 
rived the  title  of  the  Eudemian  Ethics),  Dica;archus  of 
Messana,  Aristoxenus  of  Tarentum,  and  Strato  of  Lampsa- 
cus;  among  the  later  Peripatetics  are  preserved  the  names 
of  Glycon  of  Troas,  Hieronymus  of  Rhodes,  &c.  It  would 
be  unreasonable  to  expect  that  so  elaborate  a  system  as 
that  of  Aristotle  should  have  received  any  important  ad- 
dition to  its  leading  doctrines  at  the  hands  of  his  followers. 
They  contented  themselves  either  with  defending  and  in- 
terpreting their  master's  doctrines,  or  with  applying  his 
method  to  the  explanation  of  natural  philosophy.  Under 
their  hands  his  system  seems  to  have  degenerated  into  a 
species  of  empirical  materialism,  a  scheme  as  widely  at 
variance  with  his  genuine  doctrines,  as  was  the  dry  scho- 
lastic formalism  which  in  the  dark  ages  passed  for  the  phi- 
losophy of  Aristotle.  (For  notices  of  the  later  Peripatetics, 
see  Cicero,  Acad.  Quest.,  and  De  Finibus,  c.  5;  Lactnnt. 
He  Ira  Dei,  c.  10 ;  Plutarch,  De  Solertid,  &c.)  The  Peri- 
patetic school  produced  no  men  of  note  after  its  great  found- 
er, which  is  attributable  to  the  current  of  free  speculation 
being  shackled  by  the  authority  of  Aristotle,  whose  dogmas 
it  was  content  to  illustrate  without  daring  ever  to  impugn  ; 
and  in  this  respect  its  spirit  was  remarkably  contrasted  with 
the  scepticism  of  the  new  Academy.  (See  Hitter's  Hist. 
of  .inc.  Philosophy,  book  ix.,  ch.  i.) 

PERLPETEI'A,  or  REVOLUTION.  (Gr.  rcpiirhtia.) 
According  to  Aristotle,  in  his  Art  of  Poetry,  a  necessary 
condition  or  circumstance  of  the  drama ;  being  a  change  of 
fortune  from  happiness  to  misery,  or  the  reverse,  which 
takes  place  in  the  situation  of  the  principal  personage.  See 
Catastrophe,  Drama. 

PERI'PHERY.  (Gr.  Trtpt,  and  <bepw,  I  carry.)  In  Ge- 
ometry, the  circumference  of  a  circle  or  ellipse,  or  of  any 
other  curvilinear  figure. 

PERI'PHRASIS,  or  CIRCUMLOCUTION.  (Gr.  irtpi, 
and  ippd^ui,  I  speak.)  In  Rhetoric,  the  use  of  several  words 
to  express  the  sense  of  one,  or  of  a  more  involved  and  pro- 
lix form  of  expression  to  convey  a  meaning  which  might 
be  adequately  denoted  by  a  shorter  phrase. 

PE'RIPLUS.  (Gr.  irtpi,  and  n\ovs,  sailing.)  A  circum- 
navigation. The  word  is  only  used  as  the  title  of  some 
fragments  which  remain  to  us  of  narratives  of  voyages  of 
the  classical  ancients.  The  Periplus  of  Hanno  is  a  Greek 
translation  (real  or  supposititious)  of  an  inscription  said  to 
have  been  erected  at  Carthage  in  memory  of  a  voyage 
along  the  western  coast  of  Africa,  respecting  which  much 
discussion  has  arisen  among  modern  geographers.  The 
date  of  this  voyage  is  uncertain,  but  generally  fixed  by  con- 
jecture at  400  or  500  years  before  Christ.  The  Periplus  of 
Scylax,  which  is  supposed  to  belong  to  the  age  of  Augus- 
tus, contains  a  succinct  account  of  some  journeys  along  the 
coasts  of  Europe  and  Asia.  Two  works  bearing  the  same 
title  pass  under  the  name  of  Arrian,  who  wrote  in  the  sec- 
ond century  after  Christ;  the  first  contains  a  description  of 
the  Euxine,  the  second  of  the  Erythraean  Sea  (Persian 
Gulf). 

PERIPNEU'MON  Y.  (Gr.  Tttpi,  and  rveo),  I  breathe.)  In- 
flammation of  the  lungs.     See  Pneumonia. 

PERI'PTERY,  Peripteral.  (Gr.  7rr/>i,  and  irrepov,  a 
wing.)  In  Architecture,  a  building  surrounded  with  a 
wing,  aisle,  or  passage.  The  word  peripteral  characterizes 
one  of  the  species  of  Greek  temples,  in  which  the  cell  is 
surrounded  by  a  single  row  of  columns,  to  distinguish  it 
frotn  the  word  dipteral,  which  designates  a  temple  with 
twoTanks  of  columns. 

PE'RIS,  in  the  Persian  Mythology,  are  a  class  of  imagi- 
nary beings  closely  allied  to  the  elves  or  fairies  of  more 
northern  latitudes,  supposed  to  be  the  descendants  of  the 
fallen  angels,  and  excluded  from  Paradise  till  they  have 
made  atonement  for  their  sins.  (See  Moore's  beautiful 
poem,  "  Paradise  and  the  Peri,"  in  Lalla  Rookh.) 

PERI'SCII.  (Gr.  TTcpi,  and  oKia,  shadow.)  A  name  ap- 
plied by  the  ancient  geographers  to  the  inhabitants  within 
the  arctic  and  antarctic  circles,  because,  as  the  sun  at  cer- 
tain times  of  the  year  does  not  set  to  them  in  the  course  of 
his  diurnal  revolution,  their  shadows  describe  an  entire 
circumference. 

PE'RISPERM.  (Gr.  wcpi,  and  airtpua,  a  seed.)  A  term 
used  by  some  to  denote  the  testa,  and  by  others  the  albu- 
men of  a  seed. 

PERISTA'LTIC.  (Gr.  ircpiare\>u),  /contract.)  A  term 
applied  to  the  peculiar  motion  of  the  intestines,  by  which 


PERISTOMES. 


their  contents  are  gradually  propelled  from  one  end  of  the 
canal  to  the  other. 

PERISTOMES,  Peristomidw.  (Gr.  ntpt,  and  awpia,  a 
mouth.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Pectinibranchiate  Gas- 
tropods, including  those  species  in  which  the  shells  have 
the  margin  of  the  aperture  or  mouth  unbroken  and  con- 
tinuous. 

PE'RISTYLIUM.  (Gr.  -rrtpi,  and  orvXoc,  a  column.)  In 
Architecture,  a  court,  square,  or  cloister,  with  columns  on 
three  sides  :  hence  improperly  so  called.  In  peristylia  with 
columns  on  each  of  the  four  sides,  that  towards  the  south 
was  frequently  higher  than  the  rest.  This  species  was 
called  a  Rhodian  peristylium. 

PERITHE'RIDES.     (Gr.)     In  Architecture.     See  An- 

OONES. 

PERITONEUM.  (Gr.  irtptruvia,  T  extend  round.)  The 
membrane  which  envelops  the  abdominal  viscera,  and  lines 
the  cavity  of  the  abdomen.  Hence  also  peritonitis,  or  in- 
flammation of  the  peritoneal  membrane. 

PERITRO'CHIUM.  (Gr.  nepirpoxeu),  I  run  about.)  In 
Mechanics,  a  wheel  or  circular  frame  of  wood  fixed  upon 
a  cylinder  or  axle,  round  which  a  rope  is  wound ;  and  the 
wheel  and  cylinder  being  moveable  about  a  common  axis 
a  power  applied  to  the  wheel  will  raise  a  weight  attached 
to  the  rope  with  so  much  the  greater  advantage  as  the  cir- 
cumference of  the  wheel  is  greater  than  that  of  the  cylin- 
der. This  mechanical  power  is  called  the  axis  in  peritro- 
chio ;  the  windlass  and  capstan  are  constructed  on  the  same 
principle. 

PERJURY  (Lat  pejero),  in  Law,  is  a  wilful  false  oath 
taken  in  a  court  ot  justice,  by  a  witness  lawfully  required 
to  depose  the  truth  in  a  matter  of  some  consequence  to 
the  point  in  question.  A  false  oath,  therefore,  taken  be- 
fore no  court,  or  before  a  court  incompetent  to  try  the  issue 
in  question,  does  not  constitute  the  offence  of  perjury  Per- 
jury is  a  misdemeanor  at  common  law,  and  bv  several  stat- 
utes punishable  by  fine  and  imprisonment,  and  by  transpor- 
tation for  a  term  not  exceeding  seven  years. 

PERKUNOS.  One  of  the  chief  divinities  of  ancient 
Prussia,  who  together  with  R.kollos  and  Potrimpos,  formed 
the  sacred  Trinity  of  the  Slavonic  and  the  adjoining  na- 
tions. He  was  regarded  as  the  god  of  the  elements  f  and 
his  worship  extended  even  to  Russia,  Poland,  and  Bohemia 
where  there  were  numerous  temples  erected  to  his  honour' 
(See  Grimm's  Deutsche  Mythologie.) 

-  J>*VI^IIT'  .An  ordel or  writt^n  Permission  from  an  offi- 
cer of  the  customs,  authorizing  the  removal  of  goods  sub- 
ject to  excise  duties  from  one  place  to  another 

PERMUTATION,  in  Algebra,  denotes  the  arrangement 
of  any  determinate  number  of  things  or  letters  in  all  possi- 
ble orders  one  after  the  other.  For  example,  two  letters 
a  ft,  give  the  two  permutations  aft  and  ft  a;  and  three  let- 
*  ■?  /'  fVe  ^  8iX  Perm,'tati°rw  a  be,  aeb.  bac,  be  a, 
c  a  A,  and  eft  a.  Permutation  is  effected  by  placing  the  let- 
!e/,Vn  all,l,ossi,ble  orders-  so  that  all  the  letters  enter  into 
each  result,  and  each  enters  into  it  only  once  ;  and  is,  there- 
fore, distinguished  from  combination,  which  implies  that  the 
arrangements  are  so  made  that  any  two  of  them  differ  in 
respect  of  one  at  least  of  the  letters  which  enter  into  tie 
results  without  regard  to  the  order  of  the  arrangement 

To  find  the  number  of  permutations  that  can  be  made 
upon  any  number  of  letters  n,  taken  together,  we  may  rea 
son  in  this  way  :  Suppose  the  total  number  of  permutations 
&*?  Hehmne  °r  U~l  'etters  tobe  known,  and  let  it  be 
f  h f  U-e. f  Sjft  Let  US.  CT ider  one  of  ,he  Wen  letters, 
If  In  s"PPose  it  to  be  placed  on  the  right  of  each 

t ,i  ™ a  e"n,ltatl0ns  ?ive"  ^  the  other  n-1  letters  ;  there 
will  result  O  permutations  of™  letters,  each  ending  with/. 
But  as  each  of  the  „  letters  may  be  considered  separately 
in  the  same  manner  as/,  it  follows  that  the  total  number 
of  permutations  of  the  „  letters  is  equal  to  QX„.  Let™  = 
2,  Q  then  denotes  the  number  of  permutations  of  one  let- 
ter ;  whence  Q  =  1,  and  dX n  =  1 X2.  Let  n  =  3 ;  Q  then 
denotes  the  number  of  permutations  of  two  letters  which 
is  just  found  equal  to  1X2.     Therefore,  Qx»  =  lx  "x3 

thUZy'  a  ,hien  denotes  the  number  of  permutations 
that  can  be  made  on  three  letters,  or  1x2-  X3  There- 
fore, QXn  =  1X2X3X4.  mere 
In  general,  the  number  of  permutations  that  can  be  made 
SSVid'SS""'  tak6n  t0gether'  "  -P-ssedabyCtliebecontt- 

1X2X3X  . . . .  (n— l)x?i 
For  example,  the  number  of  changes  that  Vor,  t,„  . 

Sbf*  is  ^^^^BwTSSE 

PERNIO.     See  Chilblain. 

PERORATION.  (Lat.  per,  and  os,  mouth  )  The  con 
eluding  part  of  an  oration,  in  which  e  the "the  areuments 
and  representations  of  the  speech  are  briefly  ™itutated 
or  a  short  and  comprehensive  conclusion  delude 1  from 
2fS  0audaieb^ceef.aPPea,  *»**  '°  the  -^-ntstpassiZs 


PERPETUITY. 


PERO'XIDE.  The  highest  degree  of  oxidizement  of 
which  a  metal  or  other  substance  is  susceptible  without 
becoming  an  acid. 

PERPENDI'CULAR.  In  Geometry,  a  straight  line  is 
said  to  be  perpendicular  to  another  straight  line  when  the 
adjacent  angles  formed  by  their  intersection  are  equal  and 
consequently,  each  is  a  right  angle.  A  straight  line  is  per- 
pendicular to  a  curve  at  a  given  point  when  it  is  perpen- 
dicular to  the  tangent  to  the  curve  at  that  point.  In  this 
case  the  perpendicular  is  usually  called  a  normal  to  the 
curve.  (Dee  Normal.)  A  straight  line  is  perpendicular  to 
a  plane  when  it  is  at  right  angles  with  every  straight  line 
m  the  plane  passing  through  the  point  of  intersection.  A 
plane  is  perpendicular  to  a  plane  when  any  straight  line  in 
the  first  which  is  perpendicular  to  the  common  intersec- 
tion of  the  two  planes  is  also  perpendicular  to  the  second 
plane.  • 

PERPETUAL  MOTION.  In  Mechanics,  a  machine 
which,  when  set  in  motion,  would  continue  to  move  for- 
ever, or,  at  least,  until  destroyed  by  the  friction  of  its  parts 
without  the  aid  of  any  exterior  cause.  The  discovery  of 
the  perpetual  motion  has  always  been  a  celebrated  problem 
in  mechanics,  on  which  many  ingenious,  though  in  gen- 
eral ill-instructed,  persons  have  consumed  their  time;  but 
all  the  labour  bestowed  on  it  has  proved  abortive  In  fact 
the  impossibility  of  its  existence  has  been  so  fully  demon- 
strated from  the  known  laws  of  matter,  that  it  is  rather  an 
insult  than  a  praise  to  say  of  any  one  that  he  has  occupied 
himself  with  the  research.  Nevertheless,  the  pursuit  of  the 
chimera  has  been  the  cause  of  many  useful  inventions. 

In  speaking  of"  the  perpetual  motion,  it  is  to  be  under- 
stood that  from  among  the  forces  by  which  motion  may  be 
produced  we  are  to  exclude  not  only  air  and  water  but 
other  natural  agents,  as  heat,  atmospheric  changes,'  &c. 
The  only  admissible  agents  are  the  inertia  of  matter  and 
its  attractive  forces,  which  may  all  be  considered  of  the 
same  kind  as  gravitation. 

It  is  an  admitted  principle  in  philosophy  that  action  and 
reaction  are  equal,  and  that,  when  motion  is  communicated 
from  one  body  to  another,  the  first  loses  just  as  much  as  is 
gained  by  the  second.  But  every  moving  body  is  contin- 
ually retarded  by  two  passive  forces,  the  resistance  of  the 
air  and  friction.  In  order,  therefore,  that  motion  may  be 
continued  without  diminution,  one  of  two  things  is  neces- 
sary—either that  it  be  maintained  by  an  exterior  force  (in 
which  case  it  would  cease  to  be  what  we  understand  by  a 
perpetual  motion),  or  that  the  resistance  of  the  air  and  fric- 
tion be  annihilated,  which  is  physically  impossible.  The 
motion  cannot  be  perpetuated  till  these  retarding  forces  are 
compensated,  and  they  can  only  be  compensated  by  an  ex- 
terior force  ;  for  the  force  communicated  to  any  body  cannot 
be  greater  than  the  generating  force,  and  this  is  only  suffi- 
cient to  continue  the  same  quantity  of  morion  when  there  is 
no  resistance.  To  find  the  perpetual  motion  is,  therefore  a 
proposition  equivalent  to  this— to  find  a  force  (either  an  at- 
tractive force  like  that  of  gravitation  or  magnetism,  or  an 
elastic  force,  that  of  a  spring,  for  example)  greater  than  it- 
self. 

But  it  may  he  argued  that,  by  some  arrangement  or  com- 
bination of  mechanical  powers,  a  force  may  be  gained  equal 
to  that  which  is  lost  in  overcoming  friction  and  atmospheric 
resistance.  This  motion  at  first  mention  appears  plausible, 
and  is,  in  fact,  that  by  which  most  spectators  have  been  led 
astray.  It  is,  however,  entirely  erroneous  ;  for  by  no  mul- 
tiplication of  forces  or  powers  by  mechanical  agents  can  the 
quantity  of  motion  be  increased.  Whatever  is  gained  in 
power  is  lost  in  lime  ;  the  quantity  of  motion  transmitted  by 
the  machine  remains  unaltered. 

Although  the  perpetual  motion  has  been  demonstrated 
again  and  again  to  be  impossible  on  any  known  principle 
ot  mechanics,  projectors  have  not  thereby  been  deterred 
from  the  pursuit.  In  1795  the  Academy  of  Sciences  at 
Paris  resolved  not  to  consider  or  admit  into  their  Memoirs 
any  future  proposal  for  the  discovery  of  the  perpetual  mo- 
tion;  yet  such  appears  to  be  the  seductive  nature  of  the 
subject,  that  innumerable  schemes,  designs,  and  projects 
for  accomplishing  it  have  since  been,  and  even  to  the  pres- 
ent time  continue  to  be,  put  forward ;  and  there  are  very 
recent  instances  of  men  of  no  common  attainments  and  rep- 
utation, and  well  versed,  moreover,  in  the  principles  of  me- 
chanical science,  who  have  been  deceived  by  the  ingenious 
frauds  of  charlatans  and  impostors  into  a  belief  of  its  actual 
discovery.  (Montucla,  Hist,  des  Math.,  tome  iii.,  p.  813 ; 
Repertory  of  .Arts,  vols,  vii.,  and  xiv. ;  London  Journal  of 
Arts,  May,  1827;  Airy,  Trans,  of  the  Cambridge  Phil.  Soc, 
vol.  iii.,  part  2;  Poppe,  IVunder  der  Mcchanik,  1832;  and 
various  papers  in  the  earlier  volumes  of  the  Memoires  de 
I'Acad.  des  Sciences,  and  the  Philosophical  Transactions.) 

PERPETUITY,  in  the  doctrine  of  Annuities,  is  the  sum 
of  money  which  will  purchase  a  certain  annuity  to  continue 
forever.  This  is  equal  to  the  product  of  the  annuity  into 
the  number  of  years  in  which  the  simple  interest  of  any 

919 


PERRY. 

ram  will  equal  the  principal.  For  example,  if  the  rate  of 
interest  be  4  per  cent.,  the  simple  interest  of  any  sum  will 
amount  to  a  sum  equal  to  the  principal  in  twenty-rive  years. 
The  value,  therefore,  of  the  perpetuity  of  XI 00  per  annum 
is  £2500.  The  number  of  years  is  equal  to  unit  divided  by 
tile  rate  of  interest,  or  100  divided  by  the  rate  per  cent. 

PE'RRY.  (Lat.  pirum,  a  pear.)  A  fermented  liquor 
made  from  pears,  in  the  same  manner  as  cider  from  apples. 
The  pears  best  fitted  for  producing  perry  are  exceedingly 
harsh  and  tart ;  but  it  is  itself  pleasant  and  wholesome. 

PERSECUTIONS.  The  name  by  which  several  periods 
in  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church  are  historically  dis- 
tinguished. Of  these  by  far  the  most  sanguinary  occurred 
in  the  tirst  centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  and  originated  in 
the  desire  of  the  Gentile  nations  to  extirpate  the  followers 
of  the  Christian  faith.  On  the  accession  of  Constantine  to 
the  throne  of  the  Western  world,  these  Gentile  persecutions 
ceased  ;  and  the  subsequent  history  of  the  Church  is  disfig- 
ured by  persecutions  raised  by  the  more  powerful  against 
the  weaker  of  the  Christian  sects. 

PERSEUS.  Son  of  Jupiter  and  Danae,  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  heroes  of  the  Grecian  mythology.  His  history 
is  too  well  known  to  be  recapitulated  here.  His  chief  ex- 
ploit was  the  conquest  of  Medusa  (which  see). 

Perseus.  One  of  the  forty-eight  ancient  constellations, 
situated  in  the  northern  hemisphere. 

PERSEVE'RANCE.or  FINAL  PERSEVERANCE.  In 
Theology,  the  continuance  of  the  elect  in  a  state  of  grace  to 
the  end  of  their  lives,  which,  according  to  some  theologians, 
must  always  be  the  case  with  him  who  has  once  been  truly 
called  into  such  a  state.  Since  God  is  represented  as  the 
image  of  perfection  and  immutability  in  himself,  so,  it  is  ar- 
gued, having  once  begun  the  preparation  of  a  human  being 
for  a  blessed  eternity,  he  will  not  leave  his  work  unfinish- 
ed ;  but  the  person  concerned  must  necessarily  persevere  to 
the  end  in  a  state  of  acceptance,  under  the  absolute  decree 
of  which  he  was  originally  elected  unto  life. 

PE'RSIAN  WHEEL.  In  Mechanics,  a  contrivance  for 
raising  water  to  some  height  above  the  level  of  a  stream. 
In  the  rim  of  a  wheel  turned  by  the  stream  a  number  of 
strong  pins  are  fixed,  from  which  buckets  are  suspended. 
As  the  wheel  turns,  the  buckets  on  one  side  go  down  into 
the  stream,  where  they  are  filled,  and  return  up  full  on  the 
other  side  till  they  reach  the  top.  Here  an  obstacle  is  pla- 
ced in  such  a  position  that  the  buckets  successively  strike 
against  it  and  are  overset,  and  the  water  emptied  into  a 
trough.  As  the  water  can  never  be  raised  by  this  means 
higher  than  the  diameter  of  the  wheel,  it  is  obvious  that 
this  rude  machine  is  capable  of  only  a  very  limited  applica- 
tion. Sometimes  the  wheel  is  made  to  raise  the  water  only 
to  the  height  of  the  axis.  In  this  case,  instead  of  buckets, 
the  spokes  are  made  hollow,  and  bent  into  such  a  form  that 
when  they  dip  into  the  water  it  runs  into  them,  and  is  thus 
conveyed  to  a  box  on  the  axle,  whence  it  is  emptied  into  a 
cistern.  Such  wheels  are  in  common  use  on  the  banks  of 
the  Nile,  and  elsewhere. 

I'Ut.-^lSTENCE  (Lat.  per,  through;  sisto,  /  remain),  in 
Optics,  signifies  the  duration  of  the  impression  of  light  on 
the  retina  after  the  luminous  object  has  disappeared.  Thus, 
if  a  lighted  torch  is  whirled  round  rapidly,  a  continuous  cir- 
cle of  light  is  seen.  A  great  number  of  illusions  of  the  same 
kind,  as  the  augmentation  of  the  apparent  volume  of  a  mu- 
sical chord  when  in  vibration,  the  luminous  train  accompa- 
nying a  falling  meteor,  &c,  are  explained  by  this  property 
of  vision  ;  and  it  has  been  ingeniously  applied  by  Professor 
Wheatstone  to  measure  the  velocity  of  electric  light. 

PERSON.    See  Grammar. 

PE'RSONAL  PROPERTY,  according  to  the  division 
recognised  by  our  law,  is  best  defined  negatively,  as  inclu- 
ding everything  which  may  be  made  the  subject  of  proper- 
ty, and  which  is  not  legally  considered  as  appertaining  to 
land.  The  original  distinction  was  undoubtedly  between 
things  moveable  and  immoveable.  But,  on  the  one  hand,  a 
personal  interest  may  be  acquired  in  things  immoveable, 
i.  e.,  in  land  by  lease  for  years  (chatlels  real)  ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  some  things  not  affixed  to  the  soil,  and  gome 
bare  rights  and  privileges  are  considered  as  fieehold.  The 
distinction,  therefore,  is  scarcely  maintained  with  philo- 
sophical accuracy,  although  we  may  still  consider  that  ev- 
er) thing  which  is  of  a  freehold  nature  Is  either  obviously  or 
constructively  connected  with  the  enjoyment  of  land,  or,  in 
technical  language,  savours  of  the  realty;  while  everything 

wholly  unconnected  with  land  falls  under  the  denomina- 
tion of  chattels  personal.  The  term  chattel  is  derived  from 
the  barbarous  Latin  word  eatallum. 

Besides  chattels  real,  already  adverted  to,  personal  prop- 
erty is  said  to  be  cither  fa  possession  or  in  action.  The 
fir-t  class  of  objects  includes  everything  comprehended  un- 
der  goods  and  chattels,  ready  money  and  stock,  or  such  ani- 
mals as  arc  tin-  subjects  of  property:  the  second  class  are 
legally  termed  chases  <>r  tilings  jn  action,  and  are  defined  to 
be  things  to  which  a  man  has  a  bare  right  without  any  oc- 
830 


PERSPECTIVE. 

cupation,  the  possession  whereof  may  be  recovered  by  a 
suit  or  action  at  law.  Of  this  class,  therefore,  are  all  debts, 
and  the  securities  for  them,  unless  these  securities  attach 
on  land.  Sums  of  money  due  on  bond,  on  bills  ot  exchange, 
and  promissory  notes,  property  in  the  funds,  nil  fall  within 
this  comprehensive  class,  which,  originally  so  trifling  as  to 
lie  hardly  noticed  in  early  jurisprudence,  now  comprehends 
by  far  the  greater  part  in  value  of  the  moveable  property  of 
our  commercial  community. 

PERSONIFICATION,  or  PROSOPOPOEIA.  In  Rheto- 
ric and  Composition,  a  figure  of  speech,  being  a  species  of 
metaphor  (see  Metaphor),  by  which  inanimate  objects,  or 
abstract  notions,  are  represented  as  endued  with  life  and 
action:  sometimes  by  being  addressed  as  living  agents  (see 
Apostrophe)  :  at  other  times,  by  being  coupled  with  attri- 
butes which  belong  only  to  living  agents. 

PERSPECTIVE.  (Lat.  perspicio,  /  look  through.)  In 
the  Fine  Arts,  the  art  of  delineating  on  a  given  transparent 
plane  or  superficies  objects  as  they  appear  to  an  eye  placed 
at  a  given  height  and  distance.  From  the  definition,  it  is 
evident  that,  to  delineate  the  true  appearance  of  an  object 
on  a  plane  surface,  it  becomes  necessary  to  know  the  laws 
according  to  which  the  apparent  linear  dimensions  of  an  ob- 
ject increase  or  decrease;  and  they  are  these  generally  :  1. 
The  visual  angle,  or  the  apparent  magnitude  of  a  line,  will 
be  less  the  greater  the  distance,  and  the  converse  ;  2.  It  will 
be  less  the  more  obliquely  a  line  is  viewed  ;  3.  The  law  of 
diminution  will  be  nearly  in  proportion  to  the  obliquity  and 
distance  conjointly.    In  the  following  diagram,  let  the  eye 


of  the  spectator  be  at  I,  and  let  E  F  G  H  be  the  plane  on 
which  the  appearance  of  objects  is  observed.  This  is  called 
the  perspective  plane,  or  plane  of  the  picture.  Now  the  ap- 
pearance of  every  object  to  be  delineated  will  vary  accord- 
ing to  the  plane  in  which  it  stands,  considered  with  respect 
to  the  perspective  plane ;  hence  the  particular  situations  of 
object-planes  are  the  main  points  for  consideration.  It  is 
manifest  that  any  plane  passing  through  the  eye  can  only 
be  seen  on  the  perspective  plane  as  a  line  :  for  the  eye,  hav- 
ing neither  elevation  above  nor  depression  below  such  plane, 
can  see  no  part  of  its  surface,  its  edge  being  all  that  is  visi- 
ble to  the  eye.  Of  such  planes  two  are  of  primary  impor- 
tance in  perspective,  viz.,  the  horizontal  plane,  O  K  L  M, 
parallel  to  the  horizon ;  and  the  vertical  plane,  ftPRN, 
perpendicular  to  the  last.  The  first  intersects  the  perspect- 
ive plane  in  the  line  L  K,  called  the  horizontal  line  ;  and  the 
last  in  the  line  Q,  P,  called  the  vertical  line.  Planes  not 
passing  through  the  eye  must  have  a  direct  or  an  oblique 
situation  relative  thereto.  If  the  former,  it  must  be  paral- 
lel to  the  perspective  plane,  which  is  supposed  to  be  placed 
directly  before  the  eye  ;  thus,  the  plane  A  B  C  D  is  a  direct 
one,  and  parallel  to  the  perspective  plane  G  E.  Of  the 
planes  situated  obliquely  to  the  eye,  the  most  considerable 
is  A  E  H  D,  which  is  called  the  ground  plane,  and  is  paral- 
lel to  that  of  the  horizon.  From  the  foregoing  observations, 
then,  it  appears  that  objects  in  the  surfaces  of  the  horizon- 
tal and  vertical  planes  cannot  be  seen  by  the  eye  at  I,  and 
therefore  cannot  be  represented  on  the  perspective  plane. 
If  O  B  be  an  object  in  the  direct  plane,  and  from  the  ex- 
treme points  O  and  B  the  visual  rays  O  1,  It  I  be  drawn  to 
the  eye  at  I,  they  will  pass  through  the  perspective  plane  in 
the  points  o  and  b,  .and  by  joining  them  the  right  line  o  b 
will  be  the  representation  of  the  line  or  object  O  B  on  the 
perspective  plane.  In  like  manner,  the  representation  of 
O  A  is  o  a,  and  b  r  and  a  n  will  be  the  representation  of  B 
R  and  A  N,  ami  consequently  r  b  an  of  R  B  A  N,  &c.,  &c. 
So  all  lines  parallel  to  A  B  or  C  D  in  the  object-plane  will 
have  their  perspective  lines  parallel   to  a  4  and  c  d  in  the 

picture  on  the  perspective  plane;  and,  however  the  object- 
plane  A  C  may  be  divided,  their  representations  on  the  per- 
spective plane  or  planes  of  the  picture  will  divide  that  in  a 
similar  manner.  Any  point  B  in  a  direct  plane  has  the 
same  ratio  of  distance  from  the  horizontal  and  vertical 
planes  as  its  perspective  has  from  the  horizontal  and  verti- 
cal planes,  viz.,  that  of  the  distances  of  the  planes  from  the 
eye,  from  the  nature  of  similar  triangles:  hence  the  forms 
of  objects  on  the  perspective  plane,  when  tiny  are  present- 
ed in  a  direct  view,  may  be  drawn  with  facility.  The  last 
species  of  plane  whereon  it  ij  supposed  we  may  mow  the 

natural  object  is  that  of  the  ground  itself,  as  A  1)  II  E,  above 
which  the  eye  has  more  or  less  an  elevation ;  as  i  P,  equal 


PERSPECTIVE. 


to  I  Y.  This  is  hence  called  the  ground  plane,  and  its  in- 
tersection, H  E,  with  the  perspective  plane  is  called  the 
ground  line.  It  is  more  important  than  all  others,  as  being 
the  common  table,  as  it  were,  on  which  everything  is  pla- 
ced. In  respect  to  this  horizontal  plane,  we  have  seen  that 
the  two  remote  angles  thereof,  A  and  D,  are  represented  by 
by  a  and  d  in  the  perspective  plane ;  the  other  two  angles, 
E  and  H,  are  in  the  same  plane  also,  as  being  common  to 
both ;  therefore,  by  drawing  the  lines  a  E  and  d  H,  there 
will  be  formed  the  figure  E  and  H  on  the  perspective  plane, 
which  will  be  the  correct  perspective  appearance  of  the 
ground  plane  A  D  H  E.  Thus,  a  E  is  the  perspective  of 
A  E,  »  P  of  N  P,  and  d  H  of  D  H ;  and  lines  that  are  paral- 
lel in  the  ground  plane  and  perpendicular  to  the  perspect- 
ive plane  are  not  so  in  their  perspective  picture,  but  con- 
verge to  a  point  i,  called  the  point  of  sight,  in  the  perspect- 
ive plane,  because  exactly  opposite  to  the  eye,  or  the  point 
in  which  a  perpendicular  from  the  eye  falls  on  the  plane. 
In  the  ground  plane  draw  V  W  parallel  to  A  D;  its  per- 
spective v  w  will  be  parallel  to  a  d  in  the  picture,  and  ad  wv 
will  be  the  perspective  of  the  part  A  D  W  V  in  the  original 
plane.  We  shall  now  proceed  to  a  demonstration  of  what 
relates  to  forming  the  perspective  appearance  or  picture  of 
the  ground  plane  and  objects  upon  it.  Let  A  B  C  D,  in  the 
following  diagram,  be  a  right-lined  figure  on  the  ground 


|  '0 


^£ 


plane  V  G  K  C,  contiguous  to,  and  at  right  angles  with,  the 
perspective  plane  YZ9R.  F  H  is  the  distance  of  the  plane, 
and  H  I  the  height  of  the  eye  at  I.  H  E  is  parallel  to  G  B 
or  C  K,  and  bisects  A  D  and  B  C  in  the  points  F  and  E.  On 
the  point  E  raise  the  perpendicular  E  M,  equal  to  II  I,  and 
draw  the  lines  B  M,  C  M,  G  I,  and  K  I.  Draw  the  visual 
lines  I  A,  I  B,  and  I  M,  which  is  called  the  principal  ray, 
and  is  perpendicular  to  the  perspective  plane  in  the  point  i. 
Now  it  is  evident  that  the  plane  I  G  B  M  intersects  the 
perspective  plane  in  the  line  A  i,  and  the  ray  B  I,  being  in 
the  said  plane  G  M,  must  intersect  the  line  A  i  in  some 
point  b,  which  is,  therefore,  the  perspective  of  the  point  B  : 
hence  A  b  is  the  perspective  of  the  line  A  B.  Also,  as  the 
plane  I  K  C  M  intersects  the  perspective  plane  K  Z  in  the 
line  D  i,  and  the  ray  I C  is  in  that  plane,  and  intersects  the 
line  i  D  in  the  point  c,  that  point  will  be  the  perspective  of 
the  point  C,  and  D  c  that  of  the  line  D  C.  Joining  the 
points  b  c,  the  line  b  c  will  be  the  perspective  of  the  line  B  C 
in  the  ground  plane.  Let  A  B  equal  D  C,  then  B  C  will  be 
parallel  to  AD;  and  as  in  this  case  A  b  is  equal  to  D  c,  b  c 
will  be  parallel  to  A  D  also.  From  this  it  is  manifest  that 
all  right  lines,  as  B  C  in  the  ground  plane,  which  are  paral- 
lel to  the  ground  line  A  D,  will  also  be  parallel  to  the  same 
in  their  representations  on  the  perspective  plane.  It  is,  more- 
over, evident  that  the  representations  A  b,  F  e,  D  c,  of  all 
lines  A  B,  F  E,  D  C,  perpendicular  to  the  ground  line  A  D, 
converge  or  tend  to  the  point  of  sight  i  in  the  perspective 
plane.  If  the  line  A  B  be  carried  out  infinitely  in  the  direc- 
tion of  V,  then,  supposing  the  point  B  to  move  along  that 
line  continually,  the  visual  ray  B  I  will  keep  rising  on  the 
plane  I  G  B  M  towards  I  M,  making  the  angle  B  I  M  less 
and  less,  till  the  point  B  being  at  an  infinite  distance  the  ray 
I  B  will  coincide  with  I  M,  and  consequently  the  line  A  i 
will  be  the  perspective  of  A  B  continued  infinitely.  So  Di 
will  be  the  representation  of  the  line  D  C  continued  infi- 
nitely. Hence  the  triangle  A  i'D  will,  on  the  perspective 
plane,  be  the  true  representation  of  the  plane  A  B  C  D  car- 
ried out  infinitely  on  the  plane  of  the  horizon.  Hence,  also, 
the  line  Y  i  Z  is  the  perspective  of  the  horizon  or  boundary 
of  the  sight  at  an  infinite  distance  ;  and  therefore  all  ob- 
jects on  the  plane  of  the  horizon  will,  in  their  representa- 
tions, be  seen  to  rise  from  the  ground  line  towards  the  point 
of  sight,  and  lessen  in  appearance  as  thev  grow  more  dis- 
tant, till  at  last  they  vanish  in  the  horizontal  line  Y  Z.  We 
now  come  to  lines  which  lie  oblique  to,  or  make  an  angle 
with,  the  ground  line  A  D,  or  any  other  parallel  to  it.  Make 
A  L  equal  to  A  G  or  I  i,  and  draw  A  p  to  make  any  angle 
p  A  R  or  p  A  D  with  the  base  A  D,  acute  or  obtuse.  Then 
in  the  horizontal  line  Y  Z  take  i  X,  equal  to  Lp,  and  draw 
p  X  and  ('  X  ;  the  plane  I  X  p  A  will  intersect  the  perspect- 
ive plane  in  the  line  A  X.  Draw  the  visual  ray  lp,  which, 
being  in  the  plane  I  X/>  A,  must  go  through  the  perspective 
plane  somewhere  in  the  line  A  X,  which  suppose  at  r. 
Then  is  the  point  r  the  perspective  of  p ;  and,  since  the 
point  p  is  supposed  to  pass  from  A  to  p,  in  describing  the 


line  A  p  its  perspective  r  will  move  in  the  plane  A  Z  from 
A  to  r,  and  describe  the  line  A  r,  which,  therefore,  will  be 
the  representation  of  the  line  A  p.  If  A  p  be  carried  out 
infinitely,  and  the  point  p  supposed  to  move  constantly 
therein,  its  representation  r  will  appear  to  move  towards 
X,  till  at  length  the  point  p  being  at  an  infinite  distance,  r 
arrives  at  and  coincides  with  X  in  the  horizontal  line.  A  X 
is,  therefore,  the  representation  of  the  line  A  p  infinitely 
continued;  and  X  is  called  the  accidental  point,  to  which 
the  representations  of  all  lines  parallel  to  A?  tend.  Let 
L  P  be  taken  equal  to  A  L,  and  i  Z  equal  to  i  I ;  then,  join- 
ing A  P  and  i  Z,  the  triangles  A  P  L  and  :ZI  are  equal. 
Then  will  the  plane  i  A  P  Z  intersect  the  perspective  plane 
in  the  line  A  Z,  which  will  be  the  representation  of  the  line 
A  P  carried  to  an  infinite  distance.  But,  since  A  L  is  equal 
to  L  P,  and  L  P  is  parallel  to  A  D,  therefore  A  P  is  the  diag- 
onal of  a  square,  and  contains  an  angle  D  A  P  of  forty-five 
degrees  with  the  ground  line  A  D ;  hence  the  point  of  dis- 
tance Z  is  that  to  which  all  rays  parallel  to  A  P  tend  in 
the  perspective  plane.  Let  A  B  equal  A  D ;  then  is  A  B  C  D 
a  geometrical  square,  and  its  diagonal  A  C,  whereof  the 
representation  is  A  c;  and  the  point  c  is,  therefore,  that  in 
which  the  perspective  diagonal  A  Z  intersects  the  ray  or 
radial  line  i  D.  Make  i  Y  equal  i  Z,  or  i  I,  and  join  D  Y, 
and  it  will  be  the  perspective  diagonal  of  D  B  (the  other 
diagonal  of  the  square  A  C)  infinitely  continued,  and  D  b 
the  representation  of  the  diagonal  D  B,  determined  by  the 
intersection  of  the  lines  D  Y  and  A  i,  as  before.  Thus  it  is 
demonstrated  that  A  b  c  D  on  the  perspective  plane  A  S  Z  Y 
is  the  true  picture  or  perspective  representation  of  the  ori- 
ginal square  A  B  C  D  on  the  ground  plane,  as  required. 

From  the  above  principles  are  deduced  the  common 
rules  of  perspective,  of  which  we  shall  give  two  or  three 
examples.  A  B  C  D  is  a  ground  plane,  whereon  are  seated 
the  objects  O  and  O'.  The  line  A  B  is  the  plan  of  the 
plane  of  the  picture,  or  its  intersection  with  the  ground 
plane ;  and  C  D  Y  Z  is  the  plane  of  the  picture,  or  the 
perspective  plane,  as  we  have  before  called  it.  It  will  be 
observed,  that  one  of  the  objects,  O,  lies  obliquely  towards 
the  perspective  plane,  and  the  other  is  parallel  to  it  or 
direct.  We  will  first  deal  with  the  former.  From  the 
sration  of  the  eye,  £,  parallel  to  ae  and  eb,  two  of  the 
sides  of  the  object,  draw  the  lines  E  A  and  E  B,  cutting 
the  plane  of  the  picture  in  A  and  B.  Then  will  A  be  the 
vanishing  point  of  all  lines  parallel  to  a  c,  as  will  be  B  of 
all  lines  parallel  to  eb.  E'  is  the  place  of  the  eye  at  the 
intersection  of  the  ground  plane  with  the  picture,  being  a 
perpendicular  from  A  B  to  E'.  If  H  H'  be  the  horizontal 
line,  then  H  E",  equal  to  A  E',  is  the  place  of  the  eye  on 
the  perspective  plane.  From  the  different  points  of  the 
object  a  e  b  draw  towards  E,  as  a  centre,  the  visual  rays 
ac,  ed,  bf,  intersecting  A  B  in  c,  d,  and  /;  and  from  them 
continue  upwards  indefinitely  the  verticals  c  c',  d  d',  ff, 

li" 


Which  will  be  the  boundaries  of  the  sides  ae  and  eb  re- 
spectively. On  the  plan  continue  one  of  the  sides  ae  till 
it  intersects  the  picture  in  h.  and  make  C  h'  on  the  perspec- 
tive plane  equal  to  A  A  on  the  plan ;  and  draw  the  vertical 
A' A",  which  will  be  the  line  of  heights  on  which  they  are 
to  be  set  out.  Then,  if  h' p  be  the  height  of  the  object  O, 
lines  drawn  from  A'  and  p  to  the  vanishing  point  H  will 
intersect  the  verticals  in  q  and  r  and  s'  and  t' .  In  like 
manner,  lines  drawn  from  t!  and  r'  towards  the  vanishing 
point  H  will  give  the  representation  of  the  other  side. 
Lines  drawn  in  opposite  directions  at  the  top  of  the  fisure 
(dotted  in  the  diagram),  will  enable  the  draftsman  to  draw 
diagonals  from  whose  intersection  a  vertical  uiev  be  raised 
3  L  *  921 


PERSPECTIVE. 

for  crowning  the  object  with  a  pyramid  or  other  figure.  In 
respect  of  the  object  O',  which  on  the  plan  is  a  square 
circumscribing  a  circle,  the  object  being  direct  or  parallel 
to  the  picture,  all  those  lines  parallel  to  it  will  be  hori- 
zontal, and  the  vanishing  point  of  the  returning  sides  p  i, 
qy  will  be  found  in  E'  (or  E"  in  the  picture),  which,  as  in 
the  former  case,  is  found  by  a  line  from  E  parallel  to  those 
sides  intersecting  the  picture.  Similarly,  a  line  from  E 
parallel  to  xq.  intersecting  the  picture  in  6,  will  be  the 
vanishing  point  of  all  diagonals  of  a  square  in  that  direc- 
tion. The  visual  rays  tending  to  E,  shown  at  gkl,  &c, 
are  to  be  transferred  to  the  picture  by  verticals  as  before. 
In  this  object,  hh'h"  will  be  seen  to  be  the  line  of  heights, 
on  which  all  heights  are  to  be  set  out.  The  perspective 
extent  of  a  circle  is  easily  obtained  by  lines  bounding  its 
convexity,  transferred  by  the  visual  rays  s  ft  rn  to  the  pic- 
ture, which,  aided  by  the  diameters,  will  give  the  form 
required.  To  give  the  reader  a  general  notion  of  the  com- 
mon mode  of  proceeding  in  perspective  representations  of 
buildings,  we  present  the  following  diagrams.  B  is  the 
plan  of  a  building  to  be  thrown  into  perspective,  inclined 


to  the  plane  of  the  picture  at  any  angle  v  h  a.  The  vanish- 
ing points  of  all  lines  parallel  to  a  A  are  found  by  a  line 
from  the  eye  parallel  to  a  b,  cutting  the  picture  in  V.  Si- 
milarly, V  is  found  to  be  the  vanishing  point  of  all  lines 
parallel  to  cd.  If  ni  be  continued  to  h,  it  gives  the  place 
of  the  line  II II',  whereon  the  heights  of  the  different  parts 
of  the  elevation  A  may  be  set  according  to  their  several  al- 
titudes. The  place  of  the  horizontal  line  is  chosen  so  as 
to  afford  the  most  agreeable  representation  of  the  object ;  its 
height  depending,  of  course,  on  that  at  which  the  eye 
would  most  probably  be  placed,  or  might  be  supposed  to 
be.  The  visual  rays  to  the  eyes  are  shown  by  the  dotted 
lines.  Having  thus  prepared  the  geometrical  plan  and 
elevation  of  the  object,  the  plane  of  the  picture  is  set  out 
as  under;  and  tin;  reader  must  observe  that  the  whole  ex- 
tent of  it  horizontally  must  not  take  in  an  angle  of  more 


than  sixty  decrees,  that  being  as  great  as  the  eye  can  take 
in  without  turning  the  head,  though,  in  internal  views, 
a  greater  extent  is  generally  tolerated.  It  is  to  be  Observed, 
that  in  this  diagram  the  representation,  for  the  sake  of 
greater  distinctness,  |g  doubled  in  dimensions  from  the  plan. 
The  place  of  H  H'  is  transferred  to  the  picture  and  the 
height  carried  down  from  it  to  the  vertical  lines,  whose 
places  have  been  found  by  the  visual  rays  above  men 

tioned.     The  vanishing  points  V  and  V  are  transferred   to 
the  horizontal  line  V  V".  and  the  horlzonal  lines  in  (he  sides 
tend  thereto.    It  is  obvious  that  a  similar  process  enables 
9-22 


PERTURBATION. 

the  draftsman  to  make  internal  representations,  the  prin- 
ciples whereon  they  are  conducted  being  precisely  the 
same.  It  is  needless  to  expatiate  on  the  importance  of 
perspective  to  the  painter;  and,  though  Fresnoy  has  ad- 
vised that  "  the  com  passes  should  be  rather  in  his  eyes  than 
in  his  hands,"  it  is  clear  that  without  a  knowledge  of  its 
laws  he  can  never  hope  to  succeed. 

That  perspective  was  unknown  to  the  ancients,  as  some 
have  supposed,  is  a  mistake.  What  has  led  to  such  an 
error  has  been,  perhaps,  the  violation  of  its  rules  in  basso 
relievo,  and  particularly  in  those  on  the  Trajan  column, 
where  attention  to  them  would  have  been  impossible,  if  not 
improper.  Another  ground  for  the  supposition  is  the  igno- 
rance of  perspective  displayed  in  the  paintings  of  Hercu- 
laneum  and  Pompeii.  But  such  examples  are  no  proof. 
How  many  painters  of  our  own  days,  some  of  them  even 
possessing  a  certain  sort  of  reputation,  are  sadly  ignorant 
upon  the  subject.  The  truth  is,  that  the  ancients  were  not 
only  eminent  for  their  success  in  painting  walls  with  archi- 
tectural subjects,  but  they  were  also  known  to  have  re- 
quired the  practice  of  this  branch  of  the  arts  in  the  decora- 
tions of  their  theatres.  To  such  a  point  of  perfection  was  it 
carried,  if  we  may  rely  on  Pliny,  that  in  the  decorations  of 
the  theatre  of  Claudius  Pulcher  the  imitations  were  so 
striking  that  the  birds  attempted  to  alight  on  the  tiles  of  the 
roofs.  This  probably,  however,  is  but  a  figurative  descrip- 
tion of  the  work,  and  that  it  was  so  intended ;  for  otherwise 
it  would  be  drawing  rather  too  largely  on  our  credulity. 
Vitruvius  tells  us,  in  the  Preface  to  his  seventh  Book,  that 
perspective  was  well  understood  at  a  very  early  period. 
His  words  are,  "  Agathasius,  at  the  time  when  ^Eschylus 
taught  at  Athens  the  rules  of  tragic  poetry,  was  the  first  who 
contrived  scenery,  upon  which  subject  he  left  a  treatise. 
This  led  Democritus  and  Anaxagoras,  who  wrote  thereon, 
to  explain  how  the  points  of  sight  and  distance  ought  to 
guide  the  lines,  as  in  nature,  to  a  centre ;  so  that,  by  means 
of  pictorial  deception,  the  real  appearances  of  buildings  ap1 
pear  on  the  scene,  which,  painted  on  a  flat  vertical  surface, 
seem  nevertheless  to  advance  and  recede."  Neither  was 
the  practice  of  perspective  confined  to  the  representations 
just  mentioned.  Its  knowledge  was  considered  equally 
necessary  in  pictures.  The  painter  Pamphilus,  whose  cele- 
brated school  of  design  was  at  Sicyon,  taught  perspective 
publicly,  and  carried  his  opinions  on  this  head  to  such  an 
extent  that  he  considered  no  perfect  painting  could  be  exe- 
cuted without  a  knowledge  of  geometry.  "  Omnibus  letteris 
eruditus  precipue  arithmetical  et  geometria?,  sine  quibus 
negabat  artem  perfici  posse." 

The  earliest  authors  on  the  subject,  whose  works  have 
reached  us,  are  Bartolomeo  Bramantino  of  Milan,  whose 
work,  Regole  di  Prospettiva  e  JWsttre  delle  Jlntichitit  di 
Lombardia,  appeared  in  1440  ;  and  Pietro  del  Borgo,  who, 
as  he  died  in  1443,  probably  wrote  earlier.  Baltazzare 
Peru/.zi,  improving  on  the  methods  of  Pietro,  whom  he  had 
carefully  studied,  very  considerably  advanced  the  science. 
Guido  fjbaldi  followed  him  ;  and,  publishing  his  work  at 
Pesaro,  in  1600,  established  its  principles  on  a  basis  which 
left  little  to  be  done  by  our  countryman  Dr.  Brook  Taylor, 
the  first  Englishman  who  wrote  scientifically  on  the  subject. 
The  works  on  the  subject  are  in  every  language  very 
abundant;  but,  in  our  own,  the  work  of  Thomas  Malton, 
published  in  folio,  London,  1776,  entitled,  A  complete  Treat- 
ise on  Perspective,  in  Theory  and  Practice,  on  the  Principles 
of  Dr.  Brook  Taylor,  is  the  most  valuable  to  the  student, 
and  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  one  who  has  a  desire 
to  be  thoroughlv  acquainted  with  the  subject. 

PERSPECTIVE  AERIAL.     See  Aerial. 

PERSPIRATION.  (Lat.  perspiratio.;  The  vapour  se- 
creted by  the  ramification  of  the  cuticular  arteries  over  the 
surface  of  the  body.  In  the  healthy  state  it  is  slightly  acid 
ami  saline.  According  to  Lavoisier  and  Seguin,  the  great- 
est amount  of  perspiration  exceeds  six  pounds  in  the  twenty- 
four  hours,  and  the  smallest  two  pounds  ;  it  is  at  its  maxi- 
mum immediately  after  taking  food,  and  decreases  during 
digestion.  Whatever  quantity  of  food  is  taken,  or  whatever 
are  the  variations  of  the  atmosphere,  the  same  person,  after 
having  increased  in  weight  by  all  the  food  he  has  taken,  re- 
turns in  twenty  four  hours  nearly  to  the  same  weight  he  was 
tho  day  before,  provided  lie  is  not  growing  and  has  not  in- 
dulged in  any  excess. 

The  substances  perspired  are  water,  carbonic  acid,  saline 
substances,  lactic  acid,  and  some  organic  matter.  In  cer- 
tain cases  of  disease,  the  perspiration  is  not  only  greatly 
modified  ns  to  quantity,  but  often  as  to  quality. 

PERTURBATION.  In  Astronomy,  the  deviation  of  a 
celestial  body  from  the  elliptic  orbit  which  it  would  describe 
if  acted  upon  by  no  other  attractive  force  than  that  of  the 
-mi.  or  i  entral  body  about  which  it  revolves.  If  the  planets 
exercised  no  attraction  on  each  other,  the  orbit  described  by 
each  of  them  would  be  accurately  an  ellipse,  having  the 
sun  in  one  of  its  foci  ;  and  the  law  of  the  motion  such  that 
the  area  described  by  a  straight  line  joining  the  centre  of 


PERTURBATION. 


the  sun  and  the  planet  would  describe  equal  areas  in  equal 
times.  But  in  consequence  of  the  universal  gravitation  of 
matter,  every  body  in  the  system  is  more  or  less  affected  by 
the  attractive  influence  of  all  the  others,  and  is,  consequent- 
ly, forced  to  deviate  from  the  path  it  would  describe  in  vir- 
tue of  the  central  force  acting  alone.  The  forces  which 
cause  these  deviations  are  called  the  perturbing  forces  ;  and 
the  determination  of  their  effect  on  each  orbit  is  the  great 
problem  of  physical  astronomy. 

The  simplest  case  of  the  problem  is  a  system  in  which 
there  are  only  three  bodies— a  central  body  and  two  revolv- 
ing bodies,  disturbing  the  motions  of  each  other.  Such,  for 
example,  would  be  the  case  of  the  sun,  the  earth,  and  the 
moon,  if  all  the  other  planets  were  conceived  to  be  annihi- 
lated, or  at  so  great  a  distance  that  their  disturbing  force 
was  rendered  insensible.  For  the  sake  of  perspicuity,  let 
one  of  the  revolving  bodies  be  called  the  disturbed,  and  the 
other  the  disturbing  body.  Now  it  is  by  no  means  difficult 
to  obtain  a  general  idea  of  the  effects  that  must  be  produced 
by  the  disturbing  force.  It  is  easy  to  see,  for  example,  that 
in  certain  positions  of  its  orbit  the  motion  of  the  disturbed 
body  must  be  accelerated,  and  in  others  retarded ;  that  in 
one  case  it  may  be  drawn  above,  and  in  another  depressed 
below  the  plane  of  the  orbit  it  would  describe  about  the 
central  body.  But  a  far  more  difficult  problem  remains — 
namely,  that  of  determining  the  ultimate  effect  of  the  re- 
ciprocal action  of  the  revolving  bodies  after  an  infinite  num- 
ber of  revolutions.  When  the  masses  and  distances  of  the 
bodies  are  supposed  to  be  given,  this  is  a  problem  of  pure 
mathematics  ;  but  such  is  its  difficulty,  that  even  when  re- 
stricted to  three  bodies,  its  general  solution  transcends  the 
power  of  analysis ;  and  it  is  only  in  a  particular  case  'that, 
however,  which  is  presented  by  nature),  namely,  when  the 
mass  of  the  disturbing  body  is  very  small  in  comparison  of 
the  central  one,  that  mathematicians  have  succeeded  in  in- 
tegrating the  equations  of  motion,  and  determining  the  final 
results. 

It  is  easy  to  conceive  that  if  the  problem  presents  great 
difficulties  when  only  three  bodies  are  taken  into  considera- 
tion, these  difficulties  must  be  infinitely  increased  when  it 
is  attempted  to  investigate  the  reciprocal  actions  of  all  the 
individuals  composing  the  solar  system.  To  determine  the 
circumstances  of  the  motions  of  about  ihirty  bodies  projected 
in  space  and  abandoned  to  their  mutual  attractions,  is  a 
problem,  indeed,  which  far  transcends  the  power  of  any 
known  calculus.  Nevertheless,  there  are  circumstances  in 
the  peculiar  constitution  of  the  solar  system  which  enable 
us  not  only  to  foresee  the  general  effect,  but  to  determine 
the  form,  and  dimensions,  and  position  of  an  orbit,  and  the 
place  of  the  body  in  it,  at  any  given  time,  past  or  future,  with 
all  the  precision  which  astronomical  observations  admit  of. 
These  circumstances  are  the  following:  In  the  first  place, 
by  reason  of  the  immensely  preponderating  attraction  of  the 
sun,  the  force  by  which  any  planet  is  attracted  by  another 
is  extremely  feeble  in  comparison  of  that  by  which  it  is  re- 
tained in  the  orbit  it  would  describe  if  there  was  no  other 
body  than  itself  and  the  sun.  Hence  the  deviations  from 
that  orbit  are  small,  and  the  disturbing  action  of  each  planet 
admits  of  being  computed  independently  of  the  others.  In 
the  second  place,  all  the  large  planets  are  confined. to  a 
zone  of  a  few  degrees  in  breadth,  and  therefore  can  exert 
only  a  comparatively  feeble  influence  in  drawing  one  an- 
other from  the  planes  of  their  orbits.  In  the  third  place, 
the  system  is  broken  up  into  subordinate  and  partial  sys- 
tems, which  are  almost  independent  of  one  another.  Thus, 
for  example,  the  Sun,  Jupiter,  and  Saturn  form  a  system,  in 
which  the  two  planets  exert  a  very  sensible  action  on  each 
other,  but  are  very  little  affected  by  the  influence  of  any 
other  body  ;  and  the  same  is  the  case,  though  in  a  less  de- 
gree, with  Venus  and  the  Earth.  By  reason  of  these  cir- 
cumstances, mathematicians  have  been  enabled  to  accom- 
plish what  would  otherwise  have  been  impossible,  and  to 
express  the  disturbing  forces  of  the  several  bodies  of  the 
system  by  algebraic  equations,  from  which  the  positions  of 
all  the  planets  and  the  principal  satellites  are  computed  for 
several  years  to  come,  and  reduced  into  tables  for  the  pur- 
poses of  navigation. 

The  inequalities  produced  in  the  motions  of  the  planets 
by  their  reciprocal  actions  are  divided  into  two  kinds.  The 
first  depend  on  the  configurations  of  the  planets,  that  is,  the 
relative  positions  they  have  with  regard  to  each  other ;  and, 
as  the  inequalities  depending  on  this  cause  increase,  dimin- 
ish, and  disappear  after  certain  intervals  of  time,  they  are 
called  periodic  inequalities.  Those  of  the  second  kind  are 
independent  of  the  relative  positions  of  the  planets:  they 
are  also  periodic,  but  their  periods  are  incomparably  longer 
than  those  of  the  first  kind ;  hence  they  are  called  secular 
inequalities,  as  if  their  periods  were  not  to  be  reckoned  by 
years,  but  by  centuries.  It  is  by  the  discovery  of  the  peri- 
odic* nature  and  ultimate  compensation  of  all  the  inequali- 
ties of  tioth  kinds,  occasioned  by  the  perturbing  forces,  that 
the  permanent  stability  of  the  system  is  demonstrated. 


In  order  to  assure  the  stability  of  the  planetary  orbits, 
three  elements  must  remain  constant,' or  be  subject  only  to 
small  periodic  fluctuations.  These  are,  1.  The  major  axis 
of  the  orbit,  or  the  planet's  mean  distance  from  the  sun  ;  2. 
The  inclination  of  its  orbit  to  a  fixed  plane  ;  and,  3.  The  ec- 
centricity of  the  orbit.  Now,  with  respect  to  the  major  ax- 
es, it  has  been  demonstrated  by  Lagrange  that  they  are 
exempted  altogether  from  secular  inequalities,  and  are  sub- 
ject only  to  periodical  changes  depending  on  the  configura- 
tions of  the  planets.  They  are  therefore  restored  to  their 
former  values  when  the  planets  resume  the  same  relative 
positions ;  and  their  mean  values,  and,  consequently,  the 
mean  motions  which  depend  upon  them,  remain  unalter- 
ably the  same.  With  regard  to  the  inclinations  and  eccen- 
tricities, they  are  affected  both  by  periodic  and  secular  in- 
equalities;  but  their  secular  changes  are  confined  within 
very  small  limits,  and  ultimately  work  out  a.  compensation. 
Besides,  the  inclinations  and  eccentricities  of  the  different 
orbits  are  connected  with  each  other  in  such  a  manner,  that 
whatever  any  one  orbit  gains  in  either  of  these  respects  is 
lost  among  the  others.  These  relations  are  defined  by  the 
two  following  theorems  discovered  by  Lagrange,  than  which 
analysis  has  furnished  no  more  remarkable  or  beautiful  re- 
sults : 

1.  If  the  mass  of  every  planet  be  multiplied  by  the  square 
root  of  the  major  axis  of  its  orbit,  and  the  product  by  the 
square  of  the  tangent  of  its  inclination  to  a  fixed  plane, 
the  sum  of  all  these  products  will  be  constantly  the  same 
under  the  influence  of  their  mutual  attraction. 

2.  If  the  mass  of  each  planet  be  multiplied  by  the  square 
root  of  the  axis  of  its  orbit,  and  the  product  by  the  square 
of  the  eccentricity,  the  sum  of  all  such  products  throughout 
the  system  is  invariable. 

From  the  periodic  nature  of  the  changes  produced  in  the 
three  elements  mentioned  above,  it  follows  that  the  whole 
effect  of  the  perturbing  forces  is  to  cause  the  system  to 
oscillate  about  a  mean  state,  and  that  the  inequalities  of  the 
planetary  motions  are  all  compensated  in  the  long  run  ; 
and  that,  consequently,  the  system  contains  within  itself  no 
element  of  destruction,  but  is  calculated  to  endure  forever, 
unless  an  external  force  be  introduced.  These  results  of 
theory  are,  in  a  speculative  point  of  view,  by  far  the  most 
interesting  in  the  whole  range  of  astronomical  discovery. 
They  are  not  deduced,  however,  from  the  solution  of  the 
general  problem  of  the  motion  of  bodies  mutually  attracting 
each  other,  but  are  founded  on  certain  conditions  which  be- 
long to  the  individual  system  ;  viz.,  1.  That  the  eccentrici- 
ties of  the  orbits  are  inconsiderable ;  2.  That  the  inclina- 
tions to  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic  are  small ;  and,  3.  That  all 
the  planets,  primary  and  secondary,  move  in  the  same  di- 
rection. Now  these  conditions  are  not  necessary  conse- 
quences of  gravitation.  For  anything  that  has  been  proved 
to  the  contrary,  a  system  might  exist  under  the  Newtonian 
law  of  gravitation  in  which  not  one  of  them  would  be  satis- 
fied. Of  their  final  causes,  however,  we  are,  and  may  ever 
remain,  entirely  ignorant ;  but  the  fact  of  their  existence 
(for  the  chances  are  almost  as  infinity  to  one  that  they  are 
not  accidental)  proves  clearly  enough  that  the  primitive  im- 
pulse which  determined  the  directions  of  the  different  mo- 
tions must  have  been  communicated  to  all  the  planets  and 
satellites  by  the  same  mechanical  cause. 

The  history  of  the  problem  of  the  perturbations  datea 
from  the  discovery  of  universal  gravitation.  Newton  him- 
self pointed  out  the  general  effects  whicli  the  mutual  attrac- 
tions of  the  planets  must  have  in  disturbing  the  motions  of 
each  other,  and  applied  his  theory  to  the  investigation  of  the 
precession  of  the  equinoxes,  and  the  inequalities  of  the 
moon.  The  problem  of  three  bodies  was  solved  by  Clairaut, 
D'Alembert,  and  Euler,  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century. 
Euler  first  pointed  out  the  periodic  nature  of  the  variations 
of  the  orbits  of  Jupiter  and  Saturn  occasioned  by  their  mutual 
perturbations.  Laplace  remarked,  that  on  taking  account 
of  some  of  the  first  terms  of  the  analytical  development  of 
the  expressions  of  the  perturbed  orbits,  those  on  which  the 
secular  inequalities  depend  are  capable  of  increase  only 
within  certain  limits ;  and  Lagrange  demonstrated  generally, 
that  no  secular  inequality,  or  term  proportional  to  the  time, 
can  possibly  enter  into  the  expression  of  the  greater  axis  of 
the  orbit,  or  the  mean  motion  which  depends  on  it.  It  may 
be  said  that  the  discoveries  of  these  two  great  mathemati- 
cians completed  the  theory  of  gravitation,  inasmuch  as  every 
inequality  in  the  system  not  previously  accounted  for  was 
by  them  referred  to  its  proximate  cause,  and  its  analytical 
expression  assigned.  The  labours  of  all  succeeding  mathe- 
maticians in  the  department  of  physical  astronomy  have 
been  confined  to  the  extension  and  simplification  of  their 
theories. 

For  a  popular  account  of  this  subject,  the  reader  may  con- 
sult Laplace's  Systeme  du  Monde ;  Sir  J.  HersrhcVs  Trea- 
tise on  Astronomy;  &n&Jiirifs  Gravitation.  The  mathe- 
matical theory  is  contained  in  the  Mecanique  Celeste,  and 
other  works  on  physical  astronomy.     (See,  also,  Playfair's 

923 


PERTUSSIS. 


PEUTINGERIAN  MAP. 


Outlines  of  JVot.  Phil.;    WoodhouseS  Astronomy,  Vol.  U.  | 

fficomant   TheorU  Analytic  dnSyst 

Gautier.  Rss  u  Hist  rnque  sur  It  Problem*  des  Trots  Corps.) 

PERTU'SSIS.    The  whooping  cough. 

PERU'VI  YX  B  ^LS  VM.  The  produce  of  the  Jtyroxy- 
tonPeruvianum  :  a  tree  which  crows  in  the  warmest  parts 
of  Sout  An.,-ric,.  It  is  obtained  by  boiling  the  twigs  to 
water  It  is  a  thick  brown  liquid,  of  a  fragrant  odour,  and 
a  pungent  anil  bitterish  flavour. 

PERCVl  YX  BARK.  See  Cinchona.. 
PERVIGILIUM.  (Lat  from  vigil,  watchful;  a  watch 
lasting  through  the  night)  The  nocturnal  festivals  to  some 
lei'  e"  were' so  styled  bv  the  Romans.  The  Perv,g,l,um 
™e«erts,a  beautiful  reli"c  of  Latin  poetry,  is  attributed  by 
some  critics  to  Catullus.  ,  .   . 

PESTILENCE,  [hat.  pestia.)  Any  contagious  or  infec- 
tious disease  which  is  endemic  or  epidemic,  and  mortal. 
The  term  is  also  used  in  a  moral  sense.     See  Plagie. 

PE'tTlISM.  (Or.  «r«Xov,  a  leaf.)  In  Antiquity,  a 
form  of  condemnation  practised  at  Syracuse,  by  which  per- 
sons who.  from  their  wealth  or  influence,  were  considered 
dan4r  us  to  the  state,  were  banished  for  five  years,  with 
le™vc  to  onjnv  their  estates  and  to  return  after  that  period 
It  was.  in  f.ui.  only  another  form  oi  the  Athenian  ostra c  m 
(see  Ostracism)  with  this  difference,  that  in  the  latter 
Se  condemnation  was  written  on  shells  and  lasted  for  ten 
years,  whereas  in  petalism  leaves  were  made  use  of,  and 
the  condemnation  lasted  only  five  years.  r   ,,., 

PE'T  ALITE  A  Swedish  mineral  of  a  gray  or  reddish 
colour  and  a  foliated  texture.  It  is  a  silicate  of  alumina  and 
lithia,  and  contains  between  five  and  six  per  cent,  ot  the 
latter  alkali.  \    .   _  ;„„<•• 

PET  YLO'CERAXS,  Petalocera.  (Gr.  ttctoXov,  a  lea} , 
Was,  a  horn.)  A  tribe  of  Coleopterous  insects,  including 
those  which  have  antenna;  terminated  by  a  foliated  mass. 

PETALOI'DEUS.  (Gr.  iztraXov.  and  eiios,  like.)  A 
term  applied  by  botanists  to  any  organ  the  texture  and  col- 
our of  which  resemble  a  petal.  . 
PETALS.  (Gr.  vcraUv.)  In  Botany,  the  divisions  of 
the  corolla  of  a  plant.  .  i___»i, 
PET  Y'RD.  (Fr.)  In  Artillery,  an  engine  formerly  much 
used  for  breaking  down  gates,  barricades,  fee.  The  petard 
had  some  resemblance  to  a  high-crowned  hat.  It  was 
formed  of  gun  metal,  was  about  seven  inches  deep,  and 
five  inches' in  diameter  at  the  mouth,  and  held  from  nine 
to  twenty  pounds  of  gunpowder.  When  about  to  be  rod 
it  was  screwed  to  a  thick  plank,  and  suspended  before  the 
gate  to  be  burst  open.  Petards  were  first  used  by  the 
French  Hugonots  at  the  siege  of  Cahors  in  1579.  Their 
use  is  now  discontinued;  and  it  has  been  discovered  that 
gunpowder  in  loose  bags  is  equally  efficacious. 

PET  YSUS  Gr  )  A  broad-brimmed  hat  used  on  jour- 
neys by  the  classical  ancients  ;  hence  a  petasus  with  wings 
attached  to  it  is  the  emblem  of  the  celestial  traveller  Mer- 

CUPET  \URIST,  Petaurus.  (Gr.  -craw,  I  expand,  and  qvpa, 
a  tail )  The  name  of  a  genus  of  Marsupial  animals  which 
have  the  power  of  taking  extensive  leaps  through  the  air, 
like  the  flying  squirrel,  bv  means  of  outstretched  tegumen- 
tary  folds  between  the  fore  and  hind  extremities,  aided  by 
an  expanded  tail.  ,        , 

PETE'CHI.E.  (Ital.  petichia.)  Small  red  spots  produced 
by  the  effusion  of  drops  of  blood  in  the  skin,  immediately 
under  the  cuticle.  They  resemble  flea-bites,  and  usually 
indicate  an  altered  and  impure  state  of  the  blood. 

PETER-PENCE.  The  popular  name  of  an  impost, 
otherwise  termed  "  the  fee  of  Rome,"  or,  in  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  "Romescot:"  originally  a  voluntary  offering  by  the 
faithful  to  the  see  of  Rome  ;  afterwards  a  due  levied  in 
various  amounts  froifi  every  house  or  family  in  a  country. 
Peter-pence  were  paid  in  Trance.  Poland,  and  other  realms. 
In  England  this  tax  is  recognised  by  the  .Norman  laws  oi 
Wuliamthi  Edward  in.  discontinued  the  pay- 

ment when  the  pope,  resided  at  Avignon  :  but  it  was  after- 
wards revived,  and  finallj  ce  wed  in  the  reign  oi  Henry  \  111. 
PETIOLE.    That  portion  of  a  leal  that  connects  the 
lamina  with  the  -tern  of  a  plant;  the  footstalk. 

PETITION  (Lat  peto,  J  ask),  signifies  generally  a  sup- 
plication preferred  by  one  person  to  another,  who  is  sup- 
posed to  be  capable  of  granting  the  request  T  he  right  oi 
the  British  subject  to  petition  either  house  ol  parliament, 
or  the  kin,,  is  tounded  on  the  Uil..,!-  K,,.,t.  .■««--< 
is  not  considered  as  having  repealed  13 C-fcrtat^ I.e.: 5,  by 

which  it  is  criminal  to  solicit  or  procure  the  putting  tin 
hands  of  more  than  twenty  persons  to  a  petition  tor  altera- 
tions in  church  or  slate,  unless  by  consent  ol  three  or  more 

justices,  or  a  majority  of  the  grand  jury  at  assizes  or  sessions, 

fee.-  and  repairing*)  the  kin"  or  parliament  to  dehver  such 

petition  with  above  the  number  of  ten  persons  Is  also  ren- 
dered criminal.  .        ..         ,  ,„„„  j 

PETITION.      In  Law.  an  application  hi  Writing,  ^dressed 

to  the  Lord  Chancellor,  the  Master  of  the  Rolls,  or  to  trie 
09 1 


equitv  side  of  the  Court  of  Exchequer,  in  which  certain 
facts  "are  set  forth  as  the  ground  on  which  the  petitioner 
rests  his  prayer  for  the  order  and  direction  ol  these  respect- 
ive courts.  Petitions  are  of  two  kinds— cause  petitions,  and 
export* petitions.  The  former  are  those  in  regard  to  mat- 
ters of  which  the  court  is  already  in  possession,  by  virtue 
of  there  being  a  suit  concerning  their  substance  (the  peti- 
tioner in  this  case  being  either  generally  a  party  to  such 
suit  or  in  some  way  or  other  possessing  an  interest  therein) ; 
the  latter  (rrparte  petitions)  are  so  called  when  there  is  no 
suit  existing  about  the  matter  of  the  petition.  Both  these 
kinds  of  petitions  are  susceptible  of  numerous  subdivisions. 
PETITIO  PRIXCI'PII.  (Lat.  a  dema  mi  uj  the  principle.) 
In  Logic,  a  popular  designation  for  a  species  of  vicious  rea- 
soning which  consists  in  tacitly  assuming  the  proposition 
to  be  proved  as  a  premise  of  the  syllogism  by  which  it  is  to 
be  proved;  vulgo,  begging  the  question. 

PETOXG.  The  Chinese  white  copper ;  it  is  an  alloy  ol 
copper  and  nickel.  See  Pakfong. 
PETRELS.  In  Ornithology.  See  Procellari*. 
PETRIF  VCTIOXS.  (Lat.  petra,  a  stone,  and  facio,  I 
make.)  A  general  term  bv  which  naturalists  designate  the 
conversion  of  vegetable  or  animal  materials  into  a  stony 
substance.  The  word  is  equivalent  with  such  expressions 
as  "organized  fossils,  organic  remains,"  &.C.  ;  which,  how- 
ever, are  all  liable  to  exception  on  the  ground  ot  not  dis- 
tinctly explaining  what  they  are  meant  to  define;  and 
though  the  term  petrifaction  is  itself  open  to  censure  on  the 
same  score,  it  does  not  seem  that  any  other  word  more  ac- 
ceptable to  the  naturalist  has  hitherto  been  found  to  super- 
sede it  The  branch  of  science  which  treats  more  peculiar- 
ly of  substances  in  a  petrified  state  is  usually  denominated 
bmctolosit,  which  see. 

PETR'  >BRC  S1ANS.  The  followers  of  Peter  de  Bruys 
a  aeretic  or  reformer  of  the  12th  century,  who  declaimed 
with  great  success  against  the  vices  of  the  clergy,  and 
fathered  around  him  considerable  numbers  ot  adherents  in 
the  south  of  France.  The  exact  opinions  which  he  ad- 
vinced  are  onlv  to  be  collected  from  the  assertions  of  his 
e,h  ersaries,  who,  at  a  time  when  the  lower  classes  through- 
out Europe  were  listening  eagerly  to  violent  and,  perhaps 
fanatical  oppungers  of  the  dominant  church,  did  not  tail  to 
exaggerate  and  discolour  their  doctrines  to  suit  their  own 
purposes.  Besides  the  vague  charge  ot  Manicheism  which 
made  against  most  of  these  sectarians,  the  imputations 
cast  upon  them  chiefly  refer  to  their  contempt  for  he  ordi- 
nances of  the  church  ;  in  which  it  is  very  probable  that, 
I  ,*  with  the  real  abuses  of  the  day,  the  cruc.hxe^  i.na- 
^  ami  relics,  the  ignorant  multitude  may  have  included 
The  sacraments  and  other  purer  ceremonies  in  one :  indis- 
criminate abhorrence.  A  treatise  was  composed  against 
them  by  St.  Bernard.  (See  Faber's  Mbigenscs  and  Wai- 
ZZs:   Haddington's  History  of  the  Church,  ch.  xym.) 

PFTIK  CLEUM.  A  brown  liquid  bitumen,  found  in  sev- 
eral parts  of  Europe,  in  Persia,  and  in  the  West  Indies. 
It  is  often  termed  Barbadocs  tar. 

PE'TROLLNE.  A  substance  obtained  by  distilling  me 
netrolenm  of  Rangoon  ;  analogous  to  paraffine. 

PETROSI'LEX.  A  variety  of  flint  or  hornstone.  xlie 
term  is  sometimes  applied  to  compact  felspar. 

PETU'NTZE.  -Chinese.)  A  decomposing  variety  of 
felspar,  used  in  China  in  the  manufacture  ol  porcelain. 

PETW<  >RTB  .MARBLE,  called  also  Sussex  Marble.  It 
is  a  variously  coloured  limestone,  occurring  '^weald- 
clay,  and  composed  of  the  remains  ot  fjesh-water  shells. 

SPEUTWGE'RI  YX  MAP  or  TABLE.    (Oerm.Peutinger 

Tate!  ;  socalled  from  Conrad  Peutinger,  a  native lOi  Aag£ 

hWh  who  was  the  first  to  make  it  generally  known)    1  he 

nam   '"We     W  a  map  of  the  roads  of  the  ancient  Roman 

worUl.=wr,t,en  on   pa'rchment.  and  supposed  to  have  been 

constxTicted about  the  time  ol  Alexandei  Severus,  A.n.    ,«. 

T    e     r '  mal,  which  is  21  feet  in  length,  and  only  1  loot  m 

Width,  is  deposited  in  the  imperial   library  at  \  lenna  ;  but 

'  of  it  are  to  be  found  in  the  Ptolemy  of  Bertius;  in 

Horne  Orbis  Delineate  .  to  Bergier,  Historians  desGrands 

Chemins  2    Empir,   Remain;   and  part  ot   it   >n  Murray  s 

Encyclopied.a  7oeography.     Combined  With  « he  celebra- 

which  it  serves  admirably  to  illus- 

Sb  it  differs  from  the  latter  in  several  eseentwJ 

m  rtinttors.  the  IVuUngerian  Table  may  be  justly  regarded 

atoneofth )st  valuable  bequests  of  ancien    l 

,  modern  tunes.     In  .his  table  the  high  road  which  traver- 
se,    he  i: „,  empire  in  the  general  direct,,,,,  ol  eatf  ami 

W^t  is  made  the  first  meridian,  and  to  this  every  part  s 
s nbiece.l  The  objects  along  this  line  are  iii.iiutcl)  and 
fa'thfullv  exhibited;  but  of  those  lying  to  the  north  and 
BOUth  of  it  onlv  some  general  not.on  can  be  conveyed.    1  rem 

SeWe  and  peculiar  construction  of  the  table,  even  "'•- 
c   ,s  of  cur-!,  enormously  extended  in  lengih  and I  reduced 
G  breadth.     (See  Manners  Introduetum  to  Ins  new  edi- 
tion of  the  Pcutingcrian  Table,  Lcipsic,  lc-1.; 


PEWTER. 

PEWTER.  An  alloy  of  tin  with  lead  and  antimony 
frequently  bears  this  name;  but  the  best  pewter  was  for- 
merly made  of  12  parts  of  tin  with  1  of  antimony,  and  a 
very  small  addition  of  copper.  A  fine  pewter  is  made,  ac- 
cording to  Aiken,  by  fusing  together  100  parts  of  tin,  8  of 
antimony,  1  of  bismuth,  and  4  of  copper.  The  use  of  these 
additions  to  tin  is  to  harden  it  and  preserve  its  colour ;  and 
a  good  pewter,  when  clean  and  polished,  has  a  silvery  lus- 
tre, and  does  not  readily  tarnish.  Common  pewter,  of  which 
measures  and  pewter  pots  are  made,  is  an  alloy  of  lead  and 
tin. 

PHAETON.  (Gr.  (patduv,  shining.)  In  Mythology,  the 
son  of  Apollo  and  Clymenes,  one  of  the  Oceanides,  accord- 
ing to  most  writers.  The  fable  of  his  adventures  is  well 
known.  Taunted  with  his  doubtful  origin,  he  asked  his 
father  to  lend  him  the  chariot  of  the  sun  for  a  day,  as  a 
proof  of  his  filial  rights.  Unable  to  guide  the  fiery  steeds, 
he  was  dashed  to  the  ground  by  Jupiter  with  a  thunder- 
bolt, to  prevent  his  consuming  the  heavens  and  earth.  The 
best  known  narrative  is  that  in  Ovid's  Metamorphoses. 

PHAGEDENIC.  (Gr.  (payctv,  to  eat.)  A  term  applied  to 
ulcers  which  rapidly  corrode  and  destroy  the  parts  which 
they  attack. 

PHALA'NGER,  Phalangista.  (Gr.  0nXay£,  a  phalanx.) 
The  name  of  a  genus  of  Marsupial  animals,  including  those 
in  which  the  second  and  third  toes  of  each  hind  foot  are 
united  together  as  far  as  the  last  phalanx  in  a  common  cu- 
taneous sheath,  and  which  have  a  hinder  thumb,  but  no 
lateral  cutaneous  parachute. 

PHALA'NGES.  In  Anatomy,  the  small  bones  of  the 
fingers  and  toes. 

PHALA'NGIUM,  or  Shepherd  Spider.  The  name  of  a 
genus  of  Arachnidans,  including  those  in  which  all  the  legs 
are  very  long  and  slender ;  the  tarsi  sometimes  consisting  of 
more  than  fifty  joints. 

PHA'LANX.  (Gr.  <pa\ay\.)  The  close  order  of  battle, 
in  which  the  heavy  armed  troops  of  a  Grecian  army  were 
usually  drawn  up.  There  were  several  different  arrange- 
ments of  the  phalanx  peculiar  to  different  states ;  but  the 
most  celebrated  was  that  invented  by  Philip  of  Macedon. 
The  men  stood  close  together,  sometimes  with  their  shields 
locked,  in  ranks  of  several  men  in  depth,  displaying  in 
front  a  row  of  long-extended  spears.  The  phalanx,  whose 
charge  was  irresistible  in  a  smooth  plain  by  a  lighter  body, 
was  found  to  be  overmatched  by  the  combined  strength  and 
activity  of  the  Roman  legion,  which  was  able  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  any  inequality  of  ground,  and  charge  in  flank 
and  rear ;  and  when  once  an  accident  offered  an  opening  in 
tie  unwieldy  mass  of  the  enemy,  their  confusion  was  inevi- 
table, and  rally  hopeless.  The  phalanx  is  described  in  most 
works  on  Grecian  antiquities ;  but  see  especially  the  Mem. 
de  V Ac.  des  Inscr.,  vol.  xxiv.,  xxv.,  and  the  Essay  in  vol.  xli. 
by  M.  de  Maignal. 

PHA'LERA.  In  Roman  Military  Antiquities,  various 
kinds  of  ornaments  were  so  called,  chiefly,  but  not  exclusive- 
ly, appropriated  to  the  equipment  of  horse  soldiers  ;  it  was 
also  applied  to  the  frontlets  of  the  horses  themselves.  It  is 
evidently,  however,  as  the  ornament  of  the  man,  and  not 
the  horse,  that  Virgil  uses  the  word  in  the  lines — 

Euryalus  phaleras  Ramnetis  et  aurea  bulHs 
Cin^ula  .  .  .  humeris  nequicquam  fortibus  aptat. 

(See  the  3d  and  22d  Memoirs  of  M.  le  Beau  on  the  Roman 
Legion,  in  Mem.  de  I'.icad.  des  Inscr., vols,  xxviii.  and  xxxix.) 

PHA'LEROPE,  Phaieropus.  (Gr.  <pa\cpoc,  scolloped,  and 
rouf,  a  foot.)  The  name  of  a  wading  bird,  with  the  toes 
provided  with  scolloped  membranes. 

PHA'NERONEURANS,  Phaneroneura.  (Gr.  <f>avepoc, 
and  vevpov,  a  nerve.)  A  name  applied  by  Rudolphi  to  all 
those  animals  in  which  the  nerves  are  distinctly  eliminated. 

PHATA'SMAGO'RIA.  (Gr.  tpavTaiyyui,  appearance,  spec- 
tre, and  ayop'iofiai,  I  collect.)  An  optical  apparatus,  by 
means  of  which  the  images  of  objects  can  be  magnified  or 
diminished  at  pleasure,  and  motion  given  to  them  whereby 
a  strong  illusion  is  produced.  The  apparatus  is,  in  fact, 
nothing  more  than  a  magic  lantern,  in  which  the  images  are 
received  on  a  transparent  screen,  and  the  sliders  on  which 
the  figures  are  drawn  rendered  perfectly  opake,  excepting 
in  the  figures  themselves  ;  so  that  all  light  is  excluded,  ex- 
cepting that  which  is  transmitted*throu2h  the  image.  The 
lantern,  mounted  on  wheels,  is  made  to  recede  from  or  ap- 
proach to  the  screen,  by  which  the  enlargement  or  diminu- 
tion of  the  image  is  effected;  and  in  order  to  preserve  dis- 
tinctness in  the  picture,  the  tube  in  the  side  of  the  lantern 
which  carries  the  lens  is,  by  a  particular  mechanism,  drawn 
out  or  pushed  in,  so  as  to  increase  or  diminish  the  distance 
between  the  lens  and  the  slider,  according  as  the  lantern 
approaches  to  or  recedes  from  the  screen.  The  phantasma- 
goria affords  a  very  popular  exhibition  in  lecture  rooms. 
(See  Hutton's  Dictionary  ;  Young's  Natural  Philosophy  ; 
Halle's  JVatiirl.  Magie.) 

PHARISEES.  A  sect  among  the  Jews,  whose  name  is 
derived  from  Pharas,  a  Hebrew  word  signifying  separated 
76 


PHASIANIOE. 

or  set  apart ;  because  they  separated  themselves  from  the 
rest  of  the  nation,  and  pretended  to  the  distinction  of  pecu- 
liar holiness.  The  time  of  their  origin  is  not  accurately  de- 
termined ;  but  they  are  referred  to  by  Josephus  as  a  consi- 
derable sect,  B.C.  110.  In  the  time  of  our  Saviour  they 
constituted  the  most  influential  party  among  the  Jews. 
Though  their  rivals  the  Sadducees  numbered  among  them- 
selves some  individuals  of  the  highest  rank,  and  those  who 
affected  to  be  conversant  with  the  manners  and  philosophy 
of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  the  Pharisees  embraced  a  greater 
proportion  of  the  upper  classes,  and  were  supported  by  the 
admiration  of  the  people,  and  the  national  feeling  in  favour 
of  the  opinions  and  habits  of  their  ancestors.  Besides  being 
strict  interpreters  of  the  written  law,  their  sect  superinduced 
upon  it  what  they  called  the  traditions  of  the  elders,  and 
asserted  that  Moses  delivered  an  oral  law  as  a  supplement 
to  that  of  the  Scriptures.  They  are  frequently  reproached 
by  our  Saviour  with  explaining  the  latter  by  the  former,  so 
as  in  effect  frequently  to  destroy  the  validity  of  the  written 
law.  They  also  attached  a  mistaken  importance  to  many 
outward  ceremonies  of  human  invention,  which  they  ob- 
served with  a  studied  ostentation  which  gained  for  them 
the  esteem  and  veneration  of  the  multitude.  They  main- 
tained, in  opposition  to  the  Sadducees,  the  popular  doctrine 
of  the  resurrection  ;  which,  however,  they  appear  to  have 
corrupted  with  some  vague  notions  touching  the  transmi- 
gration of  souls. 

PHARMACOLOGY.  (Gr.  (papuaKov,  a  medicine,  and 
\oyoc.)    The  historv  of  the  properties  and  uses  of  drugs. 

PHARMACOPOEIA.  (Gr.  Qapnanov,  and  ttvuiv,  to 
make.)  A  book  containing  directions  for  the  preparation 
of  medicines. 

PHA'RMACY.  (Gr.  Qapnatcov.)  The  branch  of  know- 
ledge which  relates  to  .the  medical  and  chemical  history  of 
the  different  articles  of  the  Materia  Medica ;  to  the  mode 
of  prescribing  them,  their  effects,  and  composition. 

PHARMA  KOLITE.  In  Mineralogy,  a  term  applied  to 
the  native  arseniate  of  lime. 

PH  A'ROS.  Properly  the  name  of  an  island  at  the  mouth 
of  the  harbour  of  Alexandria,  on  which  a  lighthouse  was 
erected ;  whence  it  came  to  be  applied  as  a  common  name 
for  all  lighthouses.     See  Lighthouse. 

PHARYNGO'TOMY.  (Gr.  <papvyl,  and  Tcpvu,  I  cut.) 
The  operation  of  making  an  external  opening  into  the  wind- 
pipe, necessary  in  certain  cases  of  suffocation. 

PHA'RYNX.  (Gr.  Qepeiv,  to  convey;  because  the  food 
is  conveyed  by  it  into  the  oesophagus  and  stomach.)  The 
back  part  of  the  mouth :  it  is  somewhat  funnel-shaped,  at- 
tached to  the  fauces  behind  the  larynx,  and  terminating  in 
the  oesophagus. 

PHASCOLA'RCTOS.  (Gr.  <t>a<r>co)\o<;.  a  pouch,  and 
apxToc,  a  bear.)  The  name  of  a  genus  of  Marsupial  ani- 
mals, of  which  the  koala  is  the  type :  its  dentition  is  like 
that  of  the  kangaroo  rats;  but  it  has  no  tail,  and  has  short 
hind  legs. 

PHA'SCOLOME,  Phascolomys.  (Gr.  ^ao-KwXoj,  and  nvs, 
a  mouse,)  The  name  of  a  Marsupial  quadruped,  commonly 
called  the  wombat,  which  has  the  teeth  of  a  Rodent  ani- 
mal, with  the  exception  of  an  additional  true  molar  on  each 
side  of  both  jaws. 

PHASE  (Gr.  (pact;,  appearance),  in  Astronomy,  denotes  the 
different  appearances  of  the  moon  or  inferior  planets,  accord- 
ing as  a  greater  or  smaller  portion  of  the  hemisphere  il- 
luminated by  the  sun  is  visible  to  the  observer.  The  phases 
of  the  moon  sometimes  denote  in  particular  the  new  moons, 
the  full  moons,  and  the  quarters,  these  being  the  principal 
phases. 

Phase,  in  Natural  Philosophy,  denotes  the  particular 
state,  at  any  given  instant,  of  a  phenomenon  which  under- 
goes a  periodic-change,  or  increases  to  a  given  point,  and 
then  diminishes  in  a  regular  gradation.  Thus  we  speak  of 
the  phase  of  a  tide,  the  phase  of  an  eclipse,  &c. 

PHASIA'NIDiE.  (Gr.  (baoiavoc,  a  pheasant.)  The  name 
of  a  family  of  Gallinaceous  birds  of  which  the  genus  Pha- 
sianus  is  the  type.  The  pheasant  is  a  native  of  warmer 
and  drier  climates  than  England,  as  the  Linna?an  specific 
name  (Phasianus  colchicus)  implies.  Cuvier  states  that  it 
was  brousht  from  the  banks  of  the  Phasis  by  the  Argo- 
nauts, and  subsequently  became  diffused  over  all  temperate 
Europe.  It  is  consequently  a  matter  of  difficulty  to  pre- 
serve the  species  in  this  country  ;  and  were  it  not  for  the 
assistance  which  the  common  fowl  affords  in  hatching  the 
eggs  of  the  pheasant,  the  breed  would  probably  soon  be- 
come extinct ;  for  although  the  female  produces  a  great 
many  eggs  in  the  artificial  preserves  of  the  wealthy  sports- 
man, yet  she  soon  forsakes  the  task  of  incubation,  when 
disturbed,  as  is  too  often  the  case,  by  the  male. 

When  roused  the  pheasant  will  not  unfrequently  perch 
upon  the  first  tree ;  and  seems  more  intent  upon  the  dogs 
than  the  approach  of  the  sportsman  ;  they  betray  them- 
selves likewise  by  the  habit  which  they  have  of  crowing 
or  making  a  chuckling  noise  at  the  time  when  they  peich 

935 


PHENECIN. 

Foxes  destroy  many  pheasants ;  and  as  these  are  commonly 
females  engaged  in  Incubation,  the  tendency  to  diminution 
of  the  race  from  this  cause  is  increased.  Bat  the  chief 
loss  of  the  pheasant-breeder  is  caused  by  the  mortality  of 
the  young  birds,  about  the  time  of  changing  their  nestling 
feathers,  produced  by  the  development  of  great  numbers 
of  a  peculiar  species  of  Entozoon  (Si/ngamus  traehcalis) 
in  the  windpipe.  This  accumulation  occasions  a  difficulty 
of  breathing;  and  the  convulsive  attempt  to  gasp  the  air, 
or  expel  the  worms,  has  occasioned  the  name  of  "  the 
gapes"  to  be  given  to  this  disease. 

The  best  remedy  is  a  preventive  treatment,  by  due  atten- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  keepers  to  the  young  pheasants  in 
keeping  them  clean,  and  administering  plenty  and  variety 
of  rood.  When  the  disease  is  far  advanced,  obliging  the 
birds  to  breathe  air  strongly  Impregnated  with  fumes  of  to- 
bacco, carefully  watching  its  effects,  is  the  best  remedy. 

The  male  pheasant  is  distinguished,  like  most  Gallinacea, 
by  its  superiority  in  size  and  brilliancy  of  plumage  from  the 
female ;  and  the  dependency  of  this  difference  on  the  gene- 
rative function  is  proved  by  the  remarkable  instances  of  as- 
sumption on  the  part  of  the  female  of  more  or  less  of  the 
male  livery,  consequent  upon  the  abrogation  of  that  func- 
tion in  her  either  by  age,  or  by  injury  or  disease  of  the  fe- 
male organs.  The  food  of  the  pheasant  varies  according  to 
the  season :  in  winter  it  consists  chiefly  of  grain  and  seeds  ; 
in  spring  and  summer  of  insects  and  nutritive  bulbous  roots, 
as  that  of  the  "crow-foot"  (Ranunculus  bulbosus). 

The  pure  breed  of  Phasianus  colckicus  is  distinguished 
by  the  absence  of  the  white  ring  round  the  neck,  and  the 
reddish  copper  tint  of  the  croup.  Another  species,  from 
China,  with  a  white  ring  round  the  neck,  and  a  greener 
cast  of  colour,  especially  upon  the  croup,  has  also  been  im- 
ported, and  turned  wild.  It  seems  to  have  produced  a  pro- 
lific race  of  hybrids  with  the  common  pheasant. 

China  produces  several  other  species,  which  are  re- 
markable for  their  superb  and  brilliant  plumage ;  as  the 
golden  pheasant  (Ph.  pictus),  Amherst's  pheasant  (Ph. 
Jlmhcrstii)  ;  both  of  which  have  a  gorgeous  ruff  round  the 
neck,  and  the  latter  is  remarkable  for  its  exceedingly  long 
tail.  A  like  appendage  characterizes  the  magnificent 
Reeve's  pheasant  (Ph.  Reevesii).  The  silver  pheasant 
(Ph.  mucthemcrus)  from  China,  anil  the  Phasianus  lincatus 
from  the  mountains  of  Thibet,  approach  nearer  in  their 
carriage  to  the  common  fowl. 

PHE'NECIN,  (Gr.  Qoivtl,  purple.)  The  purple  powder 
which  is  precipitated  when  sulphuric  solution  of  indigo  is 
diluted  with  water.  It  appears  to  be  a  hydrate  of  indigo. 
PHENGI'TES  MARBLE.  See  Marble. 
PHENOMENON;  plural,  Phenomena.  (Gr.  0<i<vw,  / 
shine.)  In  Natural  Philosophy,  this  tennis  usually  applied 
to  those  appearances  of  nature  of  which  the  cause  is  not 
immediately  obvious :  such  as  the  phenomena  of  light,  of 
the  magnet,  of  electricity,  &c,  produced  by  physical  experi- 
ments ;  or  unusual  natural  appearances,  as  meteors,  co- 
mets, earthquakes,  &c,  which  occur  without  the  interven- 
tion of  human  agency. 

PHIGA'LIAN  MARBLES  (so  called  from  having  been 
discovered  near  the  site  of  Phigalia,  a  town  of  Arcadia), 
the  name  given  to  a  series  of  sculptures  in  alto  relievo,  now 
deposited  in  the  British  Museum,  where  they  form  part  of 
the  collection  known  by  the  name  of  the  Elgin  Marbles. 
They  originally  formed  ihe  fringe  round  the  interior  of  the 
eella  of  the  temple  dedicated  to  Apollo  the  Deliverer;  a 
title  conferred  on  him  by  the  Phigalians  in  gratitude  for  his 
having  delivered  them  "from  a  pestilence.  They  represent 
the  combat  of  the  Centaurs  and  the  Lapithae,  and  that  of  the 
Greeks  and  Amazons.  The  similarity,  both  in  design  and 
execution,  which  they  bear  to  the  decorations  on  the  Par- 
thenon leavs  no  doubt  that  they  arc  the  workmanship  of 
the  same  master  minds  which  designed,  constructed,  and 
adorned  that  splendid  monument  of  the  golden  age  of  art. 
S««  Parthenon,  Elgin  Marbles. 

PHLLADE'LPHES.  '<;r.  </><Xfw,  / love,  dfe~S<po<:.  brother.) 
A  secret  society,  said  to  have  existed  in  France  during  the 
government  of  Napoleon,  and  to  have  produced  the  conspi- 
racy of  Colonel  Malet  in  1812.  An  account  of  it  is  given, 
but  we  do  not  know  how  far  it  is  to  In'  understood  as  nar- 
rating matters  of  feet,  in  the  Histoirc  des  Societes  Secretes 
de  VJlrmee,  published  in  1814. 

PllII.AVrilROTINISM.  A  name  given  in  Germ,  in  to 
the  system  of  education  on  natural  principles  as  it  is 
termed,  which  was  promoted  by  Basedow  and  his  friends 
in  the  last  century,  and  mainly  founded  on  the  notions  ol 
Locke  and  Rousseau.  An  institution  for  the  purposes  of 
education,  founded  under  the  protection  of  the  Duke  "i 
Dessau,  in  1774,  was  the  first  so  called  "  Philnnthropin."  It 
was  dissolved  in  17(C) ;  and  of  the  similar  institutions  alter 
wards  founded,  only  one,  it  is  said,  has  continued  to  main- 
tain itself.  Hut  the  influence  of  the  labours  of  the  PMlah- 
thropinlsls  has  undoubtedly  entered  largely  into  the  modern 
system  of  education.  (Conv.  Lex.) 
926 


PHILOLOGY. 

PHILANTHROPY.  (Gr.  0(Atu>,  I  love,  and  av8pujToc,  a 
man.)  A  general  term  for  a  benevolent  feeling  towards  the 
whole  human  race.     I!  is  opposed  to  misanthropy . 

PHILIBEG,  or  FILIBEG.     Sec  Kilt. 

PHILI'PPIC.  The  title  of  several  orations  of  Demosthe- 
nes against  Philip  king  of  Macedon,  the  spirit  and  animo- 
sity of  which  has  caused  the  name  to  be  transferred  to 
similar  compositions.  Thus  Cicero  gave  this  name  to  the 
orations  Which  drove  Mark  Antony  from  Rome,  and  impel- 
led the  senate  to  prosecute  the  war  against  him  utter  the 
murder  of  Julius  Casar. 

1*111  LOCTE'TES.  In  Mythology,  the  son  of  Pa-an  ;  ac- 
cording to  some  authors,  one  of  the  Argonauts.  The  friend 
and  companion  of  Hercules,  and  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
heroes  of  the  siege  of  Troy,  though  but  little  referred  to  in 
the  Iliad.  His  adventures,  too  long  to  be  here  recounted, 
form  the  subject  of  one  of  the  tragedies  of  Sophocles. 

PHILO'LOGY.  (Gr.  <j>i\c<i>,  I  love,  and  Xoyoc,  speech, 
discourse.)  This  word  appears  to  have  been  used  by  the 
classical  ancients  to  designate  the  whole  circle  of  belles-let- 
tres, and  even  of  the  sciences :  cultivated  as  they  then  were 
very  imperfectly,  and  more  in  a  theoretical  than  an  induc- 
tive shape  ;  considered  not  with  respect  to  their  respective 
subject  matters,  but  to  the  language  in  which  they  were 
conveyed.  A  philologist  was  one  who  studied  or  taught 
the  elegance  of  diction,  as  applicable  to  every  branch  of  hu- 
man learning;  nor  can  the  meaning  of  the  designation  be 
very  accurately  distinguished  from  that  of  the  ypa/iiiaTiKOc, 
or  grammarian :  while  sometimes  the  term  philology  was 
usurped  in  a  wider  sense,  so  as  to  comprehend  learning  in 
general.  After  the  revival  of  letters,  the  word  was  intro- 
duced into  modern  European  languages,  but  in  a  much 
more  restricted  signification.  It  then  comprehended  gram- 
matical criticism  and  etymology,  and  some  branches  of  ar- 
cha'ology ;  and  as  these  studies  were  almost  confined  to  the 
ancient  languages,  and  other  relics  of  classical  antiquity, 
which  alone  were  then  studied  in  a  scientific  manner,  the 
only  philologists  were  the  learned  investigators  of  the  Greek 
and  Latin  idioms  and  literature.  Commentaries  on  ancient 
authors,  etymological  works,  and  glossaries  of  their  lan- 
guage, grammars,  &c,  were  then  the  class  of  writings  usu- 
ally denominated  philological ;  and  although  the  field  of 
philology,  considered  in  this  sense,  is  now  more  extensive, 
as  the  modern  European  and  non-European  languages  have 
also  become  the  subjects  of  accurate  investigation,  it  is  with 
the  same  general  meaning  that  the  word  is  chiefly  used,  at 
least  among  English  Writers,  at  the  present  day.  It  is  de- 
fined by  Johnson  "criticism,  grammatical  learning."  In 
this  popular  sense  philology  may  be  said  to  embrace,  1.  Ety- 
mology, or  the  science  of  the  origin  of  words;  2.  Grammar, 
or  the  science  of  the  construction  of  language  in  general,  and 
of  individual  languages;  3.  Literary  criticism,  or  the  inves- 
tigation of  merits  and  demerits  in  style  and  diction. 

Of  late  years,  however,  a  new  and  very  extensive  prov- 
ince has  been  added  to  the  dominion  of  philology  ;  namely, 
the  science  of  language  in  a  more  general  sense,  consider- 
ed philosophically  with  respect  to  the  light  it  throws  on  the 
nature  of  the  human  intellect  and  progress  of  human  knowl- 
edge ;  and  historically,  with  reference  to  the  connexion  be- 
tween different  tongues,  and  the  connexion  thus  indicated 
Detween  different  nations  and  races.  Some  attempts  have 
recently  been  made  to  confine  the  use  of  the  word  philolo- 
gy to  this  particular  branch  of  learning.  It  comprehends, 
1.  Phonology,  or  the  knowledge  of  the  sounds  of  the  human 
voice;  which  appears  to  include  orthography,  or  the  sys- 
tem to  be  adopted  when  we  endeavour  to  render,  by  our 
own  alphabet,  the  sounds  of  a  foreign  language;  -■  Ety- 
mology; I!.  Ideology,  OX  the  science  of  the  modification  of 
language  by  grammatical  forms,  according  to  the  various 
points  of  view  from  which  men  contemplate  the  ideas 
which  words  are  meant  to  express. 

Classical  Philology. — By  German  writers  the  use  of  the 
word  philology  is  siill  not  uncommonly  restricted  to  this 
branch  of  study.  The  earliest  commentators,  lexicograph- 
ers, and  grammarians,  whose  works  we  possess,  nourished 
in  Greece  and  Rome  at  various  periods  between  the  Chris- 
tian era  and  the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire.  During  the 
middle  ages  the  knowledge  of  the  classical  languages,  or  of 
the  works  written  iu  them,  ceased  to  be  cultivated  as  a  sci- 
ence. Philology  was  revived  about  the  end  of  the  14th  and 
beginning  of  the  15th  century,  and  chiefly  by  the  labours  of 
various  learned  Creeks  expelled  from  their  own  country  by 
the  encroachments  of  the  Romans.  In  the  15th  century, 
Italy  was  peculiarly  animated  with  a  zeal  for  classical  lit- 
erature, which,  in  tact,  essentially  injured,  during  the  whole 
of  that  period,  the  cultivation  of  the  native  language  of  the 
country.  In  the  following  age,  the  cultivation  of  this  study 
passed  chiefly  into  the  hands  of  the  French,  Dutch,  and 
Germans  ;  nor  was  it  long  retained  in  any  perfection  among 

the  Students  of  the  tir-t  of  these  nations.  In  the  hands  of 
the  industrious  writers  of  Holland  and  Germany  classical 
philology  assumed  a  new  form.    Less  elegant,  and  pursued 


PHILOLOGY. 

in  a  less  poetical  mind  than  it  had  been  among  the  Italians, 
it  became  a  vast  and  laborious  science,  exacting  the  seve- 
rest industry,  and  no  common  ingenuity.  During  the  16th 
and  17th  centuries,  philologists  may  be  said  to  have  been 
chiefly  occupied  in  collecting  the  materials  of  knowledge : 
the  task  of  criticism,  and  of  separating  the  true  from  the 
false  in  classical  idiom  and  diction,  began  with  the  17th  ; 
and  the  earliest  name  in  this  department  of  study  is,  per- 
haps, still  the  most  illustrious;  that,  namely,  of  Richard 
Bentley.  Since  his  time,  we  have  had  many  distinguished 
classical  scholars  in  our  own  country,  especially  in  the  pres- 
ent day,  which  has  produced  Parr,  Porson,  and  Elmsley ; 
hut  Germany  still  remains  the  true  nursery  of  classical  re- 
search; and  the  school  of  Wolf,  Heyne,  and  Hermann,  in 
that  country,  has  laid  down  canons  of  inquiry,  as  to  the 
genuineness  and  authority  of  some  of  the  earliest  works  in 
the  ancient  languages,  which  have  imparted  a  new  charac- 
ter to  classical  criticism  in  general.  See  Language,  Clas- 
sics. 

Philology,  Sacred.  The  art  of  criticising  the  langua- 
ges and  dialects  of  the  Hebrew  and  Hebrao-Greek  writers 
in  order  to  elucidate  the  meaning  of  the  sacred  Scriptures. 
The  Hebrew  language,  consisting  principally  of  the  old 
Phoenician,  with  admixtures  of  the  Aranuean  from  Meso- 
potamia, introduced  by  Abraham  and  his  horde,  received 
also  a  iew  modifications,  owing  to  the  long  servitude  of  the 
Israelites  in  Egypt.  How  old  the  book  of  Job  may  be,  is 
still  a  vexato  gaestio  among  critics,  some  of  whom  suppose 
that  it  was  originally  written  in  Jlralric  and  afterwards 
translated,  while  others  trace  it  to  a  remote  period  of  He- 
brew literature;  but  whether  it  be  older  or  not  than  the 
works  of  Moses,  the  Pentateuch  must  ever  be  considered 
the  basis  of  the  Hebrew  as  a  fixed  written  language.  The 
institution  of  the  schools  of  the  prophets  under  the  Judges 
no  doubt  tended  to  give  that  polish  and  poetic  character 
seen  in  the  writings  of  David  and  Solomon  ;  but  the  He- 
brew language  remained  essentially  the  same  down  to  the 
conquest  of  Palestine,  first  by  Shalmaneser  (who  introdu- 
ced an  Araimean  population  in  lieu  of  the  expelled  ten 
tribes) :  and,  secondly,  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  (B.C.  588) 
took  the  holy  city,  and  captured  the  two  remaining  tribes, 
transporting  them  also,  according  to  a  still  prevalent  eastern 
custom,  into  his  own  territories.  The  Jews,  however,  du- 
ring their  captivity  at  Babylon,  not  only  acquired  new  hab- 
its, but  received  many  additions  to  their  language,  both  of 
words  and  idioms  ;  and  henceforward  they  spoke  a  dialect 
usually  known  as  the  Hebrao-Aramaic,  bearing  nearly  the 
same  analogy  to  the  Hebrew  that  the  modern  Italian  bears 
to  the  Latin.  In  the  later  historical  writers  traces  may  be 
discovered  of  this  corruption.  The  prophecies  of  Haggai, 
Zechariah,  and  Malachi,  also,  though  very  pure,  present  a 
few  instances  of  Chaldeism  ;  but  the  new  dialect  is  most  of 
all  perceptible  in  the  Targums  and  other  uninspired  com- 
mentaries by  which  alone  the  Scriptures  could  be  made  in- 
telligible to  the  common  people.  Schultens,  Rosenmuller, 
the  elder  Michaelis,  Bishops  Louth  and  Horsley,  Gesenius, 
Ewald,  and  Prof.  Lee  have  successfully  laboured  in  eluci- 
dating the  history  of  the  Hebrew  language  ;  and  the  best 
editions  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  are  by  Kennicott  and  De 
Rossi.  After  the  cessation  of  Hebrew  prophecy  on  the 
death  of  Malachi,  about  400  years  B.C.,  the  Aramaean  dia- 
lect prevailed  more  or  less,  owing  to  the  adherence  of  the 
Jews  to  their  national  language,  down  to  the  capture  of 
Jerusalem  by  Titus.  The  conquests  of  Alexander,  how- 
ever, had  an  undoubted  influence  over  the  learned  castes, 
who  gradually  became  acquainted  with  the  Greek  lan- 
guage ;  and  accordingly  (B.C.  280),  Ptolemy  Philadelphus 
invited  five  Jewish  scribes  to  Alexandria  for  the  purpose  of 
translating  into  Greek  the  Pentateuch,  that  part  of  the 
Jewish  history  relating  to  the  Egyptians.  Some  years  af- 
terwards the  other  books  of  the  Old  Testament  were  trans- 
lated by  different  hands  ;  but  the  name  Septuagint  (see 
Septuagint)  is  a  misnomer;  and  the  story  connected  with 
it  (resting  wholly  on  the  very  questionable  authority  of 
Plutarch  and  DiodorusSiculus)  is  quite  unworthy  of  credit. 
The  work,  however,  is  written  in  good  Macedonian  Greek 
(.Koivri  SioXcktos),  with  a  few  Hebrew  admixtures;  and 
hence  the  Septuagint  should  be  studied  in  connexion  with 
the  New  Testament,  which  presents  similar  features.  In 
the  time  of  Christ  the  Aramaic  (as  the  Gospels  furnish 
abundant  proof)  was  the  vulgar  language  of  Palestine  ;  and 
even  Galilee  had  a  separate  though  cognate  dialect.  (Luke, 
xxii.,  59 ;  Acts,  ii.,  7.)  After  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spir- 
it, the  followers  of  Christ  became  gifted  with  that  power  of 
expression  necessary  to  carry  the  tidings  of  the  Gospel  into 
distant  countries  ;  and  the  Greek  language,  so  far  as  the 
regions  west  of  Palestine  were  concerned,  was  the  great 
medium  of  communication.  Hence  the  Evangelists  and 
Apostles  wrote  in  this  language.  But  though  their  ideas 
were  inspired,  their  words  were  of  their  own  creation  ;  and 
hence  arose  those  peculiarities  of  diction,  Hebrew  expres- 
sions, &c,  the  understanding  of  which  is  absolutely  neces- 


PHCENIX. 

sary  to  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  inspired  writers 
of  Christianity.  This,  indeed,  constitutes  the  science  of 
sacred  philology  ;  and  in  this  work  the  labours  of  Wet- 
stein,  Mill,  Griesbach,  and  Scliolz  have  been  employed  in 
producing  a  pure  Greek  text  from  the  examination  of  the 
best  MSS. ;  while  the  most  celebrated  critics  of  the  New 
Testament,  Bengel,  the  younger  Michaelis,  Kuinoel,  De 
Wette,  Bp.  Marsh,  Stuart,  Ernesti,  Winer,  and  Robinson 
have  spent  their  best  days  in  elucidating  the  meaning  of 
the  Evangelists  and  Apostles— the  great  pillars  of  the 
church,  of  which  Christ  is  the  head  corner-stone. 

PHILO'SOl'HEirS-STONE.     See  Alchemy. 

PHILO'SOPHY  (Gr.  (piAcu,  I  love,  and  ooipia,  wisdom), 
in  common  acceptation,  is  a  general  term,  signifying  the 
sum  total  of  systematic  human  knowledge.  It  is  commonly 
divided  into  three  grand  departments  ;  metaphysics,  physics, 
and  ethics.  If  we  include  in  the  first  logic,  this  may  be  re- 
garded as  a  complete  distribution  of  science,  properly  so 
called.  The  first  has  for  its  object  those  truths  which  go 
beyond  mere  experience ;  as  the  nature  of  being,  of  God, 
of  the  soul,  &c,  as  they  are  in  themselves,  or  as  they  are 
apprehended  by  us.  (Sec  Metaphysics.)  The  second  re- 
lates "to  objects  as  they  are  in  nature,  as  subject  to  the  rela- 
tion of  cause  and  effect.  The  third  contemplates  human 
actions  as  they  ought  to  be,  not  merely  as  they  are  ;  and 
takes  account  of  the  ideas  of  duty,  freedom,  responsibility, 
and  the  like — of  all,  in  short,  which  constitutes  the  distinc- 
tion between  an  action  and  an  event. 

This  word  was  first  used  by  the  Pythagoreans,  and  adopt- 
ed from  them  by  Socrates,  who  considered  himself  a  lover 
or  seeker  of  wisdom  only  ;  in  distinction  from  a  sophist,  or 
one  who  conceives  himself  to  be  in  the  possession  or  exer- 
cise of  wisdom. 

Many  valuable  histories  of  philosophy  have  appeared  of 
late  years,  especially  in  Germany.  The  most  celebrated 
are  those  of  Brucker,  Tennemann,  and  Ritter.  A  sketch 
of  the  history  of  philosophy  written  by  the  late  Mr.  Dugald 
Stewart,  originally  prefixed  to  the  Encyclopedia  Britanni- 
ca,  is  now  printed  in  a  separate  volume. 

PHI'LTER.  (Gr.  <pi\c.u>,  I  love.)  A  drug  or  preparation 
supposed  by  the  ancients  to  have  the  power  of  exciting 
love.  Nothing  certain  is  known  respecting  the  composi- 
tion of  these  celebrated  potions ;  but  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  recourse  was  frequently  had  to  them  by  the  ancients, 
and  that  their  operation  was  so  violent  that  many  persons 
lost  their  lives  and  their  reason  by  their  means.  The 
Thessalian  philters  were  in  the  highest  celebrity.  (See 
Juv.,  vi.,  610.) 

PHI'LYRA.  In  Mythology,  one  of  the  Oceanides,  and 
mother  of  the  centaur  Chiron  by  Saturn,  who  visited  her 
in  the  shape  of  a  horse.  Alarmed  at  the  monstrosity  of 
her  offspring,  she  implored  Saturn  to  change  her  nature  ; 
when  the  god  granted  her  request,  and  changed  her  into  a 
linden  tree,  which  is  still  called  in  Greek  by  her  name. 
Her  son  received  the  gift  of  immortality. 

PHLEBO'TOMY.  (Gr.  (pAeip,  a  vein,  and  t£//vw,  /  cut.) 
The  operation  of  opening  a  vein  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
away  blood. 

PHLEGE'THON.  (Gr.  ciXtyiQwv,  burning.)  The  mass 
of  fire  which,  according  to  the  poets  of  Rome  and  Greece, 
washed  the  shores  of  the  infernal  regions.  It  is  also  the 
name  of  one  of  the  rivers  of  the  infernal  regions.  See 
Cocytus. 

PHLOGI'STON.  (Gr.  <p\oyilu>,  I  burn.)  An  imaginary 
principle,  by  which  Stahl  and  the  chemists  of  his  school 
accounted  for  the  phenomena  of  combustion  ;  the  matter 
of  fire  fixed  in  combustible  bodies. 

PHLYCTiE'NA.  (Gr.  qjXvKTaiva.)  A  small  vesicle 
which  contains  a  serous  fluid. 

PHLYZA'CIUM.  (Gr.  0Aus«i/,  to  be  hot.)  A  pustule 
upon  the  skin. 

PHOCA'CEANS,  Phocacea,  or  Seal  Tribe.  The  name 
of  the  family  of  carnivorous  and  amphibious  Mammals  of 
which  the  seal  (Phoca)  is  the  type.     See  Seals. 

PHOCjE'NA.  (Gr.  (ftwKaiva,  a  porpoise.)  A  subgenus 
of  dolphins,  distinguished  by  the  absence  of  the  beak-like 
prolongation  of  the  jaws. 

PHOCE'NIN.  A  peculiar  fatty  matter  contained  in  the 
oil  of  the  porpoise  (Delphinum).  When  saponified  it  yields 
a  volatile  odorous  acid,  called  phocenic  acid. 

PHCE'BUS.  (Gr.  (pot(Jos,  brilliant.)  A  name  of  Apollo, 
often  used  in  the  same  sense  as  Sol. 

PHCENICO'PTERUS.  (Gr.  (poivil,  red,  and  -nrtpnv,  a 
wing.)  The  generic  name  of  the  flamingo  :  also  a  term  ap- 
plied to  other  animals  which  have  red  wings,  as  the  Bom- 
by  cilia  phcenicoptcra. 

PHCE'NIX.  In  Mythology,  a  bird  of  great  celebrity 
among  the  ancients;  and,  from  the  peculiar  circumstances 
connected  with  its  origin,  longevity,  and  death,  regarded  as 
the  emblem  of  immortality.  She  was  described  as  of  the 
size  of  an  eagle,  her  head  finely  crested,  her  body  covered 
with  a  beautiful  plumage,  and  her  eyes  sparkling  like  stars. 

927 


PHOLADEANS. 

She  was  said  to  live  500  or  600  years  in  the  wilderness, 
when  she  built  for  herself  a  funeral  pile  of  wood  and  aro- 
matic gums,  which  she  lighted  with  the  fanning  of  her 
wines,  and  thus  apparently  consumed  herself,  but  not  real- 
ly ;  this  being  merely  the  process  by  which  she  endowed 
herself  with  new  vitality  :  she  then 

Mounts  from  her  funeral  pvre  on  wings  of  flame, 
And  soars  and  shines,  another  and  the  same  ! 
Four  periods  of  history  are  mentioned  by  ancient  writers 
as  having  been  graced  by  the  appearance  of  the  phoenix. 
The  first  was  in  the  reign  of  Sesostris  ;  the  second  in  that 
of  Amasis  ;  the  third  in  that  of  Ptolemy  III.,  king  of  Egypt ; 
and  the  fourth  in  that  of  Tiberius.  There  is,  however,  a 
great  discrepancy  of  opinion  on  this  point,  as  well  as  on 
every  other  relating  to  the  phoenix.  The  history  and  ima- 
ginary attributes  of  the  phoenix  have  formed  a  theme  to 
poets  in  every  age  ;  and  in  most  languages  its  name  has 
passed  into  a  proverb.  By  the  fathers  of  the  church  it  was 
frequently  brought  forward  as  an  illustration  of  the  doc- 
trine of  the  resurrection  (see  Spanheim,  De  Usu  et  Ptcbs- 
tantia  Xumismatum,  diss.  v..  c.  13,  and  the  authorities  ci- 
ted in  that  learned  work)  ;  and  it  appears  on  the  coins  of 
several  Roman  emperors,  sometimes  as  a  symbol  of  their 
own  apotheosis,  sometimes  as  an  emblem  of  the  renovation 
of  the  world  and  the  revival  of  the  golden  age  under  their 
beneficent  rule.  The  chief  ancient  authorities  with  regard 
to  the  phoenix  are  Herodotus,  b.  ii.,  c.  73 ;  Ovid,  Met.,  xv., 
381 ;  Pliny,  Hist.  JVafc,  x.,  2 :  and  Tacitus.  Annal.,  vi.,  18. 
Besides  these,  the  reader  may  consult,  in  the  third  volume 
of  Wernsdorf,  Poetm  Minores  (to  which  the  editor  has  pre- 
fixed a  learned  introduction),  the  poem  De  Phanice,  which 
is  usually  attributed  to  Lactantius,  and  in  which  every  cir- 
cumstance on  record  with  regard  to  the  phoenix  has  been 
chronicled  with  the  most  laborious  precision.  The  reader 
will  also  find  in  MetraPs  work,  I,e  Phaniz,ou  I'Oiseau  du 
Soleil  (Paris,  1824),  a  resume  of  all  that  has  been  written, 
both  in  ancient  and  modern  tunes,  respecting  the  history 
and  peculiarities  of  the  phoenix. 

Phoenix.  One  of  the  modern  constellations  in  the  south- 
ern hemisphere. 

PHOLA'DEANS,  Pholadra.  (Or.  <p^\toc,  a  lurking- 
place.  The  family  of  Lamellibranchiate  Bivalves  of  which 
the  genus  Pholas  is  the  type  :  they  are  remarkable  for  the 
hiding-places  which  they  excavate  for  themselves  in  rocks 
and  clay, 

PHONETIC  WRITING.  (Gr.  <pu>vV,  sound.)  That 
writing  in  which  the  signs  used  represent  sounds;  in  op- 
position to  ideographic,  in  which  they  represent  objects,  or 
symbolically  denote  abstract  ideas,  as  in  the  figurative  part 
of  the  Egyptian  hieroglyphics.  The  signs  representing 
sounds  ate  usually  arbitrary,  or  at  least  have  become  so  in 
process  of  time ;  as  in  the  ancient  Roman  alphabet,  of 
which  the  letters  are  for  the  most  part  derived  from  the 
Hebrew  or  Phoenician,  in  which  languages  they  may  have 
originally  partaken  of  a  symbolical  character.  But,  in  a 
species  of  phonetic  writing  which  is  intermixed  with  the 
figurative  hieroglyphics  in  Egyptian  inscriptions,  every  let- 
ter is  denoted  by  a  figure  representing  some  object,  the 
name  of  which  begins  with  that  letter.  .Sec  Hieroglyphics. 
PHO'NICS.  (Gr.  fuvr).)  The  doctrine  of  sound :  the 
same  as  acoustics.  (See  Sound.)  As  sound,  like  light,  is 
subject  to  certain  laws  of  reflection  and  refraction,  the  sci- 
ence, like  that  of  light,  may  be  treated  under  three  heads ; 
namely,  direct,  reflected,  and  refracted  sound.  In  allusion 
to  the  corresponding  branches  of  optics,  these  have  been 
denominated  phonics,  cataphonics,  and  diaphonics. 

PHO'NOLITE.  (Gr.  <punV.  and  A«ft>s,  a  stone.)  A  spe- 
cies of  compact  basalt ;  sonorous  when  struck. 

PHO'RCI'S.  In  Mythology,  a  marine  deity,  son  of  Pon- 
tus  and  Terra  ;  father  of  the  Gorgons,  the"  dragon  that 
guarded  the  apples  of  the  Hesperides,  and  otlier  fabulous 
monsters. 

PlloRONO'MIA,  or  PHOEONO'MICS.  (Gr.  <btpu>,  J 
bear  or  carry.)  A  term  sometimes  used  to  denote  the  sci- 
ence of  motion.  In  this  sense  it  was  employed  by  Her- 
mann, a  mathematician  who  flourished  in  the  beginning  of 
the  18th  century,  in  a  work  entitled  Phoronomia,  sen  de 
Viribas  et  Jtfotibus  Gorporum  Bolidorvm  et  Liquidorum 
(Amstel.,  1710),  and  of  great  merit  for  the  time  in  which 
it  appeared.  The  term  mechanics  being  now  employed 
generally  to  signify  the  doctrine  of  moving  bodies,  phoro- 
nomia, or  phoronomics,  seldom  occurs  in  works  of  modern 
science. 

PHO'SGENE  GAS.  (Gr.  (hue,  light,  and  yiyvouai,  / 
produce.)  A  compound  of  chlorine  and  carbonic  oxide, 
made  by  exposing  equal  measures  of  those  gases  to  the 
sunshine,  or  to  bright  daylight.  They  will  not  unite  in  the 
dark. 

I'llt  fBPHATES.     Salts  containing  phosphoric  acid. 
PI  l(  ISPHTTES.    Salts  containing  phosphorous  acid. 
PIN  tSPIIORE'SCENCE.    The  emission  of  light  by  sub- 
stances at  common  temperatures,  or  below  a  red  heat. 
928 


PHOTOGENIC  DRAWING. 

PHOSPHORESCENT  ANIMALS.  Those  species  are 
so  called  which  have  the  faculty  of  emitting  a  luminous 
fluid.  They  are  much  more  numerous  than  the  electric 
animals ;  belonging  to  most  of  the  Invertebrate  classes, 
and  frequently  rendering  vast  tracts  of  the  ocean  luminous 
by  their  prodigious  numbers.  The  glow-worm  (Lampyris), 
the  phosphorescent  sea-pen  (Pennatula  phosphorea),  and 
the  brilliant  pyrosome  (Pyrosoma  Atlantic  urn),  are  among 
the  most  remarkable  of  these  animals. 

PHO'SPHORITE.    Native  phosphate  of  lime. 

PHO'SPHORUS.  (Gr.  0ws,  light,  and  <ptpu,  I  carry.) 
So  called  from  its  property  of  shining  in  the  dark.  It  was 
discovered  in  1668  by  Brandt,  an  alchemist  of  Hamburgh, 
and  was  originally  obtained  by  distilling  urine ;  but  it  is 
now  always  extracted  from  bone  earth,  by  a  process  contri- 
ved by  Scheele.  The  bones  are  calcined,  so  as  to  destroy 
the  animal  matter,  and,  being  powdered,  are  mixed  with 
water,  to  which  half  their  weight  of  sulphuric  acid  is  add- 
ed. The  bone  earth,  consisting  chiefly  of  phosphate  of 
lime,  is  thus  decomposed,  sulphate  of  lime  is  formed,  and 
phosphoric  acid  is  evolved ;  or,  rather,  superphosphate  of 
lime,  which,  being  much  more  soluble  than  the  sulphate,  re- 
mains in  the  liquid,  and  may  be  obtained  by  its  evapora- 
tion ;  it  is  mixed  with  about  half  its  weight  of  charcoal, 
and  put  into  a  well-luted  earthen  retort,  the  beak  of  which 
dips  into  water.  At  a  bright  red  heat,  the  phosphorus 
distils  over  into  the  water.  It  is  purified  by  carefully  melt- 
ing it  under  water,  and  straining  it  through  a  piece  of  cha- 
mois leather. 

Pure  phosphorus  is  almost  colourless,  and  semitranspa- 
rent ;  it  may  be  cut  with  a  knife,  and  its  surface  has  a  waxy 
lustre.  It  fuses  at  108°,  boils  at  550°,  and  is  converted  into 
vapour,  having,  according  to  Dumas,  a  density  =  4-35.  It  is 
sparingly  soluble  in  fixed  and  volatile  oils,  and  in  ether  and 
alcohol ;  but  insoluble  in  water.  It  shines  in  the  dark, 
and  emits  a  luminous  vapour,  undergoing  a  slow  combus- 
tion, and  exhaling  a  peculiar  smell  like  garlic.  When 
rubbed,  or  heated  to  a  temperature  of  about  110°,  it  takes 
fire  and  burns  with  great  rapidity,  with  a  white  flame, 
emitting  abundance  of  acid  fumes ;  in  oxygen  gas  its  com- 
bustion is  so  intensely  brilliant  that  the  eye  can  scarcely 
bear  the  light. 

The  product  of  the  perfect  combustion  of  phosphorus  is 
phosphoric  acid,  a  fusible  substance,  very  soluble  in  water, 
and  intensely  sour.  It  appears  to  consist  of  1  equivalent  of 
phosphorus  =  16,  and  2£  of  oxygen  =  20  ;  its  equivalent 
being  36. 

There  are  two  other  acids  of  phosphorus  :  namely,  the 
phosphorous  acid,  consisting  of  16  phosphorus  -4- 12  oxygen  ; 
and  the  hypophosphorous  acid,  which  appears  to  be  a  com- 
pound of  2  equivalents  of  phosphorus  (16X2)  =32,  and  1  of 
oxygen  =  8.  When  phosphorus  is  boiled  in  a  solution  of 
caustic  potash  a  gas  is  evolved,  which  is  remarkably  dis- 
tinguished by  its  spontaneous  inflammability  ;  each  bubble, 
as  it  rises  through  the  water,  taking  fire  upon  the  surface, 
and  producing  a  beautiful  ring  of  smoke  :  this  gas  is  com- 
monly called  phosphurctted  hydrogen.  Phosphorus  may  be 
made  to  combine  with  the  greater  number  of  the  metals, 
forming  compounds  called  phosphurets. 

PHOTOGENIC  DRAWING.  (Gr.  <po)c,  and  yiyvouai, 
I  generate.)  When  the  article  Dagvkrrotype.  was  writ- 
ten, under  which  we  have  adverted  to  the  extraordinary 
results  obtained  by  Daguerre,  the  mode  by  which  they 
were  produced  had  not  been  made  public  ;  since  that  time, 
however,  all  the  details  of  the  manipulation  have  been 
fully  disclosed,  and  they  are  extremely  interesting  and  cu- 
rious, though  the  explanation  or  theory  of  the  process  is 
still  somewhat  obscure.  The  whole  subject  has  lately  ac- 
quired much  additional  importance  from  its  extended  ap- 
plications ;  namely,  from  architectural  objects,  sculpture, 
and  interiors  of  rooms,  to  portrait*,  and  more  lately  to 
groups,  and  even  whole-lengths  ;  and  it  is  undergoing  al- 
mosl  daily  extension  and  improvement. 

The  outline  of  the  process  is  as  follows  : — A  piece  of  cop- 
per is  plated  in  the  usual  way  with  silver  by  passing  the 
metals  together  through  a  rolling  mill,  and  is  then  rut  into 
pieces  of  a  proper  size.  The  silver  surface  is  carefully  pol- 
ished, and  cleansed  by  wiping  it  over  with  a  piece  of  cotton 
dipped  in  dilute  nitric  add,  washing,  and  drying.  When 
thus  duly  prepared — and  much  depends  upon  the  manner 
in  which  these  preliminary  operations  are  performed  and 
the  materials  used— the  plate  is  subjected  to  the  diffused 
vapour  of  iodine,  which  forms  a  slightly  brown  or  yellow 
film  upon  the  silver;  it  is  then  ready  to  be  subjected  to  the 
action  of  the  image  to  be  represented,  which  is  thrown 
upon  it,  rare  being  taken  to  exclude  all  other  light,  by  an 
Instrument  upon  the  principle  of  the  camera  obscure.  In 
the  course  of  a  few  seconds  or  minutes,  the  requisite  time 
depending  upon  the  intensity  of  the  light,  the  plate  is  re- 
moved; and  though  nothing  is  as  yet  visible  upon  it.  it  has 
received  the  image,  which  is  brought  out  and  rendered  evi- 


PHOTOGRAPHY. 

dent  by  subjecting  it,  inclined  at  an  angle  or  about  45°,  to 
the  vapour  of  mercury.  This  operation  is  performed  in  a 
box  with  a  glass  side,  at  the  bottom  of  which  is  a  basin  of 
mercury  heated  to  about  170°,  so  that  the  operator  may  see 
the  progress  of  the  appearance  of  the  image,  and  remove 
the  plate  when  it  is  perfect ;  but  light  must  be  as  far  as  pos- 
sible excluded,  and  more  especially  daylight.  The  plate  is 
then  washed  by  cautious  immersion  in  a  solution  of  hypo- 
sulphite of  soda,  and  lastly  with  boiling  distilled  water,  and 
allowed  to  dry :  it  is  now  perfect,  may  be  exposed  to  light 
without  injury;  but  must  be  carefully  protected  from  all 
friction  by  covering  it  with  a  glass.  The  action  of  the  va- 
rious shades  of  light  upon  the  film  of  iodine,  and  the  subse- 
quent influence  of  the  mercurial  vapour,  upon  which  the 
visibility  of  the  picture  depends,  have  not  been  satisfactorily 
explained,  and  require  further  experimental  elucidation. 
The  perfection  of  the  drawing,  and  the  extraordinary  man- 
ner in  which  the  minutest  details  are  represented,  we  have 
noticed  in  our  former  article ;  they  must,  however,  be  seen 
to  lie  accurately  judged  of  and  duly  appreciated. 

The  term  "Photogenic  Drawing"  has  usually  been  applied 
to  a  process  very  different  from  the  preceding ;  namely,  to 
representations  of  various  objects  upon  paper  imbued  with 
some  of  the  salts  of  silver.  If  a  piece  of  paper  be  dipped 
into  a  weak  solution  of  nitrate  of  silver,  carefully  dried, 
and  preserved  out  of  the  contact  of  light,  it  remains  white  ; 
but  if  exposed  to  light  it  gradually  becomes  discoloured, 
acquiring  a  brownish  or  gray  tint,  and  ultimately  blackens, 
the  depth  of  colour  depending  upon  the  intensity  of  the 
light  and  duration  of  exposure.  If  any  opaque  or  translu- 
cent object  be  laid  upon  a  sheet  of  paper  so  prepared,  so  as 
wholly  or  partially  to  intercept  the  incident  light,  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  object  is  obtained  upon  the  paper.  Where 
the  light  has  been  wholly  intercepted,  it  remains  white ; 
where  partially  so,  various  shades  are  produced;  and  wher- 
ever the  light  has  fallen  without  interruption,  the  utmost 
blackness  is  obtained.  If,  for  instance,  a  portrait  painted  in 
transparent  colours  upon  a  plate  of  glass  be  laid  upon  a 
piece  of  the  prepared  paper,  and  exposed  to  the  solar  light, 
a  copy  is  obtained  in  which  the  lights  of  the  original  are 
shades,  and  the  shades  lights  in  proportion  to  their  intensity  ; 
but  if  such  a  picture  be  taken  upon  a  very  thin  piece  of 
paper,  this  may  be  again  copied  by  a  repetition  of  the  pro- 
cess, and  then  the  lights  and  shades  will  be  as  in  the  origi- 
nal. It  is,  however,  obvious  that  such  a  photograph  will 
only  be  durable  whilst  kept  in  the  dark,  and  that  exposure 
to  light  will  gradually  obliterate  the  whole ;  to  fix  it,  the 
paper  must  be  washed  in  a  solution  of  hyposulphite  of  lime 
or  of  soda,  which  removes  all  remaining  and  unaltered  salt 
of  silver,  but  leaves  the  image  untouched.  In  this  process 
the  paper,  after  having  been  impregnated  with  nitrate  of 
silver,  or  with  ammonia-nitrate  of  silver,  is  generally  dipped 
in  a  solution  of  common  salt,  by  which  chloride  of  silver  is 
formed,  and  this  is  more  susceptible  of  the  iufluence  of  light 
than  the  mere  nitrate. 

In  this  article  we  have  merely  given  an  outline  of  the 
theory  of  the  process  of  photogenic  drawing ;  the  use  of 
nitrate  of  silver  for  this  purpose,  and  the  mode  of  copying 
paintings  on  glass,  was  originally  suggested  about  forty  years 
ago  by  Mr.  Wedgwood  and  Sir  H.  Davy.  The  interest  ex- 
cited by  Daguerre's  discoveries  induced  various  experiment- 
alists to  resume  the  inquiry;  and  many  new  and  important 
facts  connected  with  it  have  accordingly  been  brought  to 
Sight,  especial  ly  by  Mr.  Fox  Talbot  and  Sir  J.  F.  W.  Herschel, 
whose  communications  are  published  in  the  Philosophical 
Transactions ;  and  by  Mr.  A.  Taylor,  who  has  written  a 
small  tract  upon  the  subject. 
PHOTOGRAPHY.  See  Photogenic  Drawing. 
PHOTO'METER.  (Gr.  0ws,  light,  and  ncrpov,  measure.) 
An  instrument  for  measuring  the  intensity  of  light,  or  of 
illumination. 

The  most  elegant  instrument  which  goes  under  this  name 
is  the  photometer  invented  by  the  late  Sir  John  Leslie.    It 
(1.)  12.)    *s  raerely  the  differential  thermometer  of 

the  same  ingenious  philosopher,  having 
one  of  its  balls  diaphanous,  and  the  other 
coated  with  China  ink,  or  blown  of  deep 
black  enamel;  and  the  whole  covered 
by  a  case  of  thin  transparent  glass,  to  de- 
fend the  balls  from  the  disturbing  influence 
of  currents  of  air.  The  photometer  has 
two  general  forms ;  the  one  portable  (fig. 
1.)  in  which  the  black  ball  is  about  an 
inch  higher  than  the  other,  and  bent  forward  to  the  same 
vertical  line,  or  the  axis  of  the  translucent  cylindrical  case  ; 
and  the  other  stationary  (fig.  2,)  having  both  its  balls  of  the 
same  height,  and  reclining  in  opposite  ways;  the  case  being 
composed  of  a  wide  cylinder  surmounted  by  the  larger  seg- 
ment of  a  hollow  glass  sphere.  The  latter  form  of  the  in- 
strument, though  less  commodious,  is  better  adapted  for  nice 
observations;  since,  besides  receiving  the  light  more  regu- 
larly, its  balls,  from  being  on  the  same  level,  are  not  liable 


PHOTOMETRY. 

to  be  any  how  disturbed  in  their  indications  by  different 
strata  of  unequally  heated  air. 

The  theory  of  this  photometer  depends  on  the  assumed 
principle  that  the  intensity  of  light  is  proportional  to  the 
heat  excited  by  its  incidence  on  the  black  ball.  When  the 
instrument  is  exposed  to  light,  the  rays  which  fall  on  the 
clear  ball  pass  through  it,  without  suffering  obstruction  ;  but 
those  which  strike  the  dark  ball  are  stopped  and  absorbed  at 
its  surface,  where,  assuming  a  latent  form,  they  act  as  heat, 
which,  by  expanding  the  air  within  the  ball,  causes  the 
liquid  in  the  stem  to  descend.  This  heat  will  continue  to 
accumulate  till  its  farther  increase  comes  to  be  counteracted 
by  an  opposite  dispersion,  caused  by  the  nse  of  temperature 
which  the  ball  has  acquired.  But,  in  still  air,  the  rate  of 
cooling  is,  within  moderate  limits,  proportional  to  the  ex- 
cess of  the  temperature  of  a  given  surface  above  that  of 
the  surrounding  medium.  Hence  the  space  through  which 
the  coloured  liquid  sinks  in  the  stem  will  measure  the  mo- 
mentary impressions  of  light,  or  its  actual  intensity.  (Les- 
lie on  the  Relations  of  Air  to  Heat  and.  Moisture.) 

The  graduation  is  entirely  arbitrary,  and  may  be  regulated 
according  to  fancy  or  convenience.  Leslie  adopted  the  same 
scale  of  divisions  as  in  the  differential  thermometer,  ten 
degrees  of  which  correspond  to  one  of  the  centigrade  ther- 
mometer. When  the  temperature  of  both  balls  is  exactly 
the  same,  that  is,  when  the  instrument  is  excluded  from 
light,  the  liquid  in  the  stem  next  the  coloured  ball  stands  at 
zero.  In  this  country  the  direct  impression  of  the  sun  at 
noon,  about  the  summer  solstice,  forces  the  liquid  down  to 
90°  or  100°.  The  greatest  force  of  the  solar  beams,  in  the 
depth  of  winter,  measures  only  about  25°.  At  the  altitude 
of  3°  above  the  horizon,  the  whole  effect  of  the  sun's  rays 
does  not  exceed  one  degree.  The  indirect  light  from  the 
sky  at  noon  in  summer  is  from  30°  to  40° ;  in  winter  from 
10°  to  15°.  Comparing  the  illuminating  power  of  the  solar 
rays  with  that  of  artificial  lights,  Leslie  found  the  light 
emitted  by  the  sun  12,000  times  more  powerful  than  that  of 
a  wax  candle ;  that  is  to  say,  if  a  portion  of  the  luminous 
solar  matter,  rather  less  than  half  an  inch  in  diameter,  were 
transmitted  to  our  planet,  it  would  throw  forth  a  light  equal 
to  the  effect  of  12,000  candles. 

It  has  been  objected  that  the  instrument  now  described  is 
only  a  species  of  thermometer,  and  not  strictly  a  photome- 
ter ;  since  it  measures  heat,  and  not  light.  To  this  objec- 
tion Sir  J.  Leslie  replies  by  asking,  "  What  does  the  ther- 
mometer itself  indicate  except  expansion  ?  As  heat  is 
measured  by  the  expansion  it  occasions,  so  light  is  deter- 
mined by  the  intensity  of  the  heat  which  in  every  supposi- 
tion invariably  accompanies  it.  What  other  mode,  after 
all,  could  be  imagined  for  detecting  the  presence  of  light  t 
How  can  an  unknown  quantity  be  expounded  but  in  terms 
of  one  already  known  1"     {Ency.  Brit.,  art.  "Climate.") 

It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  the  same  quantity  of 
light  emitted  by  terrestrial  bodies  of  different  kinds  is  not 
always  accompanied  with  the  same  degree  of  heat.  Thus, 
phosphorus  burns  in  oxygen  gas  with  intense  splendour, 
and  yet  gives  out  far  less"  heat  than  the  comparatively  dull 
combustion  of  hydrogen  in  the  same  gas  ;  and  the  photome- 
ter is  more  affected  by  a  fire  so  dull  that  not  a  single  letter 
could  be  discerned  in  a  well-printed  page,  than  by  the  de- 
gree of  daylight  by  which  the  same  page  could  be  read 
with  pleasure  and  facility.  For  a  particular  description  of 
the  photometer,  and  an  account  of  its  numerous  applica- 
tions, see  Leslie's  Experimental  Inquiry  into  the  Nature 
and  Propagation  of  Heat,  1804. 

PHOTOTMETRY.  (Gr.  0u)?,  and  nerpov,  measure.)  The 
science  which  treats  of  the  measurement  of  light.  At- 
tempts to  determine  the  relative  intensities  of  different 
lights  were  made  at  an  early  period  in  the  history  of  ex- 
perimental science.  For  the  purpose  of  comparing  the  light 
of  Sirius  with  that  of  the  sun,  the  celebrated  Huygens  em- 
ployed a  tube  having  a  very  small  aperture  at  one  end,  into 
which  was  inserted  a  minute  globular  lens,  which  allowed 
only  the  27664th  part  of  the  solar  disk  to  be  seen,  and  this 
small  portion  afforded  a  light  which  appeared  equally  bright 
with  Sirius;  whence  he  concluded  the  distance  of  Sirius  to 
be  27664  times  greater  than  that  of  the  sun.  (Huygenii 
Cosmothcoros.)  Celsius  appears  to  have  been  the  first  who 
proposed  to  measure  light  directly  by  means  of  what  he 
called  a  lucimcter.  His  method,  however,  which  was  an 
extremely  imperfect  one,  consisted  simply  in  observing  the 
greatest  distance  from  the  eye  at  which  small  circles  painted 
on  paper  were  distinctly  visible  in  different  lights.  It  was 
reserved  for  Bouguer  to  establish  photometry  on  true  prin- 
ciples. Having  been  induced  by  Mairan's  remarks  on  the 
relative  proportion  of  the  sun's  light  at  the  summer  and 
winter  solstice  to  investigate  the  subject,  he  undertook  a 
series  of  experiments,  of  which  the  results  were  first  pub- 
lished in  his  Essai  d'Optique,  1729;  and  afterwards  in  his 
Traiti  d'Optiqvc  sur  la  Gradation  de  la  Lumiire,  which 
appeared  in  1760,  two  years  after  his  death.  In  the  same 
vear  appeared  the  Photometria  of  Lambert ;  in  which  the 
y         3  M  929 


PHOTOPHOBIA. 

subject  was  treated  more  generally,  and  with  {Treat  mathe- 
matical elegance.  The  principle  adopted  by  Bouguer  and 
Lambert  is  extremely  simple.  Though  the  eye  cannot 
judge  of  the  proportional  force  of  different  lights,  it  can  dis- 
tinguish in  many  cases  with  great  precision  when  two  sim 
ilar  surfaces  presented  together  are  equally  illuminated,  or 
when  the  shadows  of  an  opaque  object  thrown  upon  them 
by  different  lights  are  equally  dark.  But,  as  the  particles 
of  light  proceed  in  straight  lines,  they  must  spread  uni- 
formly, and  hence  their  density  will  diminish  in  the  dupli- 
cate ratio  of  their  distances.  From  the  respective  situa- 
tions, therefore,  of  the  centres  of  divergency  when  the 
contrasted  surfaces  become  equally  bright,  we  may  easily 
compute  their  relative  degrees  of  illumination.  The  objec- 
tion to  this  method  is,  that  the  apparatus  admits  of  no 
certain  standard  of  comparison.  Even  the  light  of  the  sun 
itself,  at  the  same  altitude,  and  in  the  same  climate,  is  sub- 
ject to  considerable  variation  ;  much  more  so  any  artificial 
light,  the  force  of  which  must  always  be  influenced  by  a 
number  of  undefinable  circumstances.  In  this  respect, 
therefore,  the  photometer  described  in  the  preceding  article 
has  a  great  and  decided  advantage. 

A  simple  and  elegant  application  of  the  principle  of  Bou- 
guer was  made  by  the  late  Dr.  Ritchie.  His  apparatus 
consists  of  a  rectangular  box,  about  an  inch  and  a  half  or 
two  inches  square,  open  at  both  ends  and  blackened  within, 
to  absorb  extraneous  light.  Within,  inclined  at  angles  of 
45°  to  its  axis,  are  placed  two  rectangular  plates  of  plane 
looking-glass,  cut  from  one  and  the  same  strip,  to  ensure 
equality  of  their  reflecting  powers,  and  fastened  so  as  to 
meet  at  the  top,  in  the  middle  of  a  narrow  slit  about  an 
inch  long,  and  an  eighth  of  an  inch  broad,  which  is  covered 
with  a  slip  of  fine  tissue  or  oiled  paper.  In  comparing,  by 
means  of  this  instrument,  the  illuminating  powers  of  two 
different  sources  of  light,  they  must  be  placed  at  such  a 
distance  from  each  other,  and  from  the  instrument  between 
them,  that  the  light  from  every  part  of  each  shall  fall  on  the 
reflector  next  it,  and  be  reflected  to  the  corresponding  por- 
tion of  the  oiled  paper.  The  instrument  is  then  moved 
nearer  the  one  or  the  other,  rill  the  two  portions  of  the  paper 
corresponding  to  the  respective  mirrors  are  equally  illumin- 
ated, of  which  the  eye  can  judge  with  considerable  certainty. 

The  modification  of  this  method,  which  consists  in  con- 
trasting the  shadows  of  an  opaque  object  formed  by  different 
lights,  is  usually  ascribed  to  Count  Rumford,  by  whom  it 
was  proposed  in  the  Phil.  Trans.,  vol.  lxxxiv.,  but  was  long 
before  used  by  Lambert.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  the 
equality  of  two  shadows  can  be  appreciated  with  more 
certainty  than  that  of  two  lights  ;  but,  when  the  lights  are 
of  different  colours,  their  estimation  by  either  method  ad- 
mits of  little  precision. 

M.  Arago  has  proposed  a  method  of  determining  the  rel- 
ative intensities  of  different  lights  entirely  different  in  prin- 
ciple from  any  of  the  preceding,  and  probably  susceptible 
of  much  greater  accuracy.  It  is  founded  on  the  properties 
of  polarized  light.  When  two  lights  are  to  be  compared, 
the  rays  from  each  are  polarized  by  causing  them  to  pass 
through  a  plate  of  tourmaline  cut  parallel  to  the  axis,  or  by 
reflecting  them  from  a  plate  of  glass,  on  which  they  fall  at 
the  polarizing  angle.  They  are  then  received  on  a  plate  of 
rock  crystal,  cut  perpendicularly  to  the  axis,  and  observed 
through  a  doubly  refracting  prism.  Each  light  will  thus 
give  two  images  tinged  with  the  complementary  colours. 
The  images  are  then  brought  into  such  a  position  that  the 
red  of  the  one  falls  over  the  green  of  the  other.  If  the 
two  lights  arc  equal  in  intensity,  this  superposition  will 
produce  a  white  image;  if  unequal,  the  image  will  be 
slightly  coloured  with  red  or  green,  according  as  the  one  or 
the  other  predominates.  The  apparatus  which  this  method 
requires  is  somewhat  complicated,  and  its  manipulation 
must  be  attended  with  considerable  trouble.  (See  the 
Notes  to  the  French  translation  of  Sir  J.  Herschel's  Trea- 
tise on  Light,  Paris,  1833.) 

PHOTOPIIO'BIA.  (Gr.  <p,o<,  light,  and  0r>/3cw,  T terrify.) 
An  intolerance  or  dread  of  light ;  it  is  a  symptom  of  inter- 
nal ophthalmia. 

PHRASE.  (Gr.  (ppaots,  speech  or  expression.)  In  Music, 
a  short  melody  in  which  a  perfect  musical  idea  is  not  en- 
tirely developed. 

PllRASEO'LOGY.  (Gr.  (fpairic,  and  Xoyoc,  science), 
properly  the  science  or  knowledge  of  style  ;  hut  used  in 
common  language  to  signify  the  peculiarities  of  diction  of 
a  writer,  school,  &c. 

PHRA'TRY.  (it.  dip, it  pin.)  A  subdivision  of  Athenian 
citizens,  analogous  to  the  Spartan  ohe  and  Human  curia, 
distinguished  by  particular  rites  and  ceremonies  that  bound 
iU  members  together.  Bach  of  the  four  ancient  tribes  was 
divided  into  three  phratries,  and  each  phratry  into  thirty 

sections  or  clans,  which  bore  a  name  exactly  answering  to 

tin-  Roman  gsns  {yivot);  and  this  division  remained  subse 

quently  to  and  independent  of  the  ten  tribes  of  Cleisthenes. 
The  free  Athenians  registered  their  own  or  their  adopted 
930 


PHRENOLOGY. 

children  in  the  phratries  to  which  they  themselves  be- 
longed, at  the  festival  of  the  Apaturia;  but  what  the  age 
of  registry  was  is  uncertain. 

PHRE'NIC.  (Gr.  (ppeves  (plural  of  <ponv,  the  mind),  the 
diaphragm.)     Relating  to  the  diaphragm. 

PHRENI'TIS.  (Gr.  <pptjv,  the  mind.)  Inflammation  of 
the  brain  or  its  membranes. 

PHRENOLOGY.  (,Gr.  <ppnv,  the  mind,  and  \oyoc,  dis- 
course), ought,  according  to  its  etymology,  to  signify  mental 
philosophy.  The  word  has,  however,  been  appropriated  by 
craniologists,  on  account  of  the  light  which  their  observa- 
tions of  the  convolutions  of  the  brain,  and  corresponding 
elevations  on  the  skull,  are  supposed  to  throw  on  the  na- 
ture and  province  of  our  different  faculties.  Those  who 
wish  to  judge  how  far  this  pretension  is  justifiable  may  con- 
sult the  works  of  Dr.  Spurzheim  and  of  Mr.  Combe  on  the 
subject.  These  gentlemen  divide  our  faculties  into  three 
classes:  the  intellectual  or  perceptive,  the  sentiments  or 
emotions,  and  the  animal  propensities.  To  the  first  of  these 
is  assigned  the  anterior  portion  of  the  head ;  the  second 
occupies  the  middle  and  upper;  while  the  posterior  region 
and  the  cerebellum  are  allowed  to  the  third  and  most  in- 
glorious division.  That  this  distribution,  in  its  general  out- 
line, is  borne  out  by  facts,  observation  is  sufficient  to  con- 
vince us;  but  whether  the  subdivision  of  those  regions  into 
minute  special  organs  corresponding  to  distinct  faculties  is 
equally  well  supported,  and  whether  the  mental  analysis 
implied  in  it  can  be  considered  sound  and  accurate,  are 
questions  which  our  limits  forbid  us  to  discuss.  We  sub- 
join, however,  for  the  reader's  convenience  in  consultation, 
the  following  outline  of  the  different  faculties,  with  their 
uses  and  abuses,  which  we  have  borrowed  from  the  Intro- 
duction to  Mr.  G.  Combe's  Notes  on  the  United  States  of 
America,  during  a  Phrenological  Visit  in  1838-9-40,  as 
probably  containing  the  most  recent  as  well  as  the  most 
authentic  account  of  the  present  state  of  this  much  can- 
vassed science.  The  subjoined  figure  will  be  of  use  in 
illustrating  the  observations. 

This  figure  shows  the  three  great  phrenological  divisions 
of  the  brain.  The  line  B  runs  through  the  centre  of  ossi- 
fication of  the  parietal  bone 
(the  organ  of  Cautiousness, 
No.  12),  and  terminates  in  the 
centre  of  ossification  of  the 
frontal  bone  situated  at  the 
point  where  it  touches  the 
line  A  A  (the  organ  of  Cau- 
sality, No.  35.)  The  portion 
above  the  line  B  is  named 
the  coronal  region,  and  serves 
to  manifest  chiefly  the  moral 
sentiments.  The  line  A  cor- 
responds to  the  posterior  lat- 
eral edge  of  the  superorbiter 
plate,  on  which  the  anterior 
lobe  of  the  brain  rests.  The 
space  before  the  line  A  A  indicates  the  size  of  the  anterior 
lobe,  the  region  devoted  to  the  manifestation  of  the  intel- 
lectual faculties.  If  the  space  before  the  lower  A  be  long, 
the  organs  of  the  observing  faculties  are  large ;  and  if  the 
space  forward  from  the  point  where  the  line  B  meets  the 
line  A  A  be  long,  the  reflecting  organs  are  large.  The  space 
below  B  and  behind  A  A  manifests  the  propensities  com- 
mon to  man  with  the  lower  animals.  We  may  remark  that 
in  the  above  figure  the  coronal  region  would  be  said  to  be 
large,  indicating  powerful  moral  sentiments;  the  Intellect- 
ual region  about  an  average,  and  that  of  the  so  called  ani- 
mal propensities  moderate. 

The  faculties  generally  recognised  by  phrenologists  are 
the  following.* 


>Th«  organs  are  double,  each  faculty  having  tw 
lilmtions  of  the  hemispheres  of  the  bntirt  ;  except 


individuality,  eventuality,  benevolence,  <4>c..  represented  in  the  tig.  by  22, 
3U,  13,  tic,  which  occupy  the  ceutr.il  part  of  the  scull. 


PHRENOLOGY. 


Order  I.    Feelings. 

Genus  I.     Propensities — Common  to  Man  with  the  Lower 

Animals. 

i  The  Love  of  Life. 

*<  Appetite    for   Food. —  Uses:   Nutrition. — Muses: 

I     Gluttony  and  drunkenness. 

1.  Amativeness — Produces  sexual  love. 

2.  Philoprogenitiveness. —  Uses:  Affection  for  young 
and  tender  beings. — Muses :  Pampering  and  spoiling  chil- 
dren. 

3.  Concentrativeness. —  Uses:  It  renders  permanent 
emotions  and  ideas  in  the  mind. — Muses  :  Morbid  dwelling 
on  the  internal  emotions  and  ideas,  to  the  neglect  of  exter- 
nal impressions. 

3.  a.  Inhabitiveness. —  Uses:  It  produces  the  desire  of 
permanence  in  place. — Muses  :  Aversion  to  move  abroad. 

4.  Adhesiveness. —  Uses:  Attachment,  friendship,  and 
society  result  from  it. — Abuses  :  Clanship  for  improper  ob- 
jects, attachment  to  worthless  individuals. 

5.  Combativeness. —  Uses:  Courage  to  meet  danger  and 
overcome  difficulties,  tendency  to  oppose  and  attack  what- 
ever requires  opposition,  and  to  resist  unjust  encroachments. 
— Abuses :  Love  of  contention,  and  tendency  to  provoke 
and  assault.  This  feeling  obviously  adapts  man  to  a  world 
in  which  danger  and  difficulty  abound. 

6.  Dkstructiveness. —  Uses:  Desire  to  destroy  noxious 
objects  and  to  kill  for  food.  It  is  very  discernible  in  car- 
nivorous animals. — Abuses  :  Cruelty,  murder,  desire  to  tor- 
ment; tendency  to  passion,  rage,  and  harshness  and  severity 
in  speech  and  writing.  This  feeling  places  man  in  harmo- 
ny with  death  and  destruction,  which  are  woven  into  the 
system  of  sublunary  creation. 

7.  Secretiveness. —  Uses:  Tendency  to  restrain  within 
the  mind  the  various  emotions  and  ideas  that  involuntarily 
present  themselves  until  the  judgment  has  approved  of 
giving  them  utterance  ;  it  is  simply  the  propensity  to  conceal, 
and  is  an  ingredient  in  prudence. — Abuses :  Cunning,  de- 
ceit, duplicity  and  lying. 

8.  Acquisitiveness. —  Uses  :  Desire  to  possess,  and  ten- 
dency to  accumulate  articles  of  utility  to  provide  against 
want. — Abuses :  Inordinate  desire  of  property,  selfishness, 
avarice,  theft. 

9.  Constructiveness. —  Uses  :  Desire  to  build  and  con- 
struct works  of  art. — Abuses  :  Construction  of  engines  to  in- 
jure or  destroy,  and  fabrication  of  objects  to  deceive  man- 
kind. 

Genus  II.    Sentiments. 
I.  Sentiments  common  to  Man  with  the  Lower  Animals. 

10.  Self-esteem. —  Uses:  Self-respect, self-interest, love 
of  independence,  personal  dignity. — Abuses  :  Pride,  disdain, 
overweening  conceit,  excessive  selfishness,  love  of  domin- 
ion. 

11.  Love  of  Approbation. —  Uses:  Desire  of  the  es- 
leem  of  others,  love  of  praise,  desire  of  fame  or  glory. — 

Abuses:  vanity,  ambition,  thirst  for  praise  independently  of 
prai  se  worthiness. 

12.  Cautiousness. —  Uses:  It  gives  origin  to  the  senti- 
ment of  fear,  the  desire  to  shun  danger,  and  circumspection  ; 
and  it  is  an  ingredient  in  prudence. — Abuses :  Excessive 
timidity,  poltroonry,  unfounded  apprehensions,  despondency, 
melancholy. 

13.  Benevolence. —  Uses  :  Desire  of  the  happiness  of 
others,  universal  charity,  mildness  of  disposition,  and  a 
lively  sympathy  with  the  enjoyment  of  all  animated  beings. 
— Abuses  :  Profusion,  injurious  indulgence  of  the  appetites 
and  fancies  of  others,  prodigality,  facility  of  temper. 

IT.    Sentiments  proper  to  Man. 

14.  Veneration. —  Uses:  Tendency  to  venerjte  or  res- 


*  These  organs  are  not  fully  ascertained,  but  some  fads  indicate  that  they 
lie  in  the  base  of  the  brain.  The  first  ib  not  marked  on  the  bust,  but  the 
second  is  indicated  by  6  a.  on  Fig.  1. 


Feeling  or  Touch. 

Taste. 

Smell. 

Hearing. 

Sight. 


pect  whatever  is  great  and  good ;  gives  origin  to  religious 
adoration. — Abuses  :  Senseless  respect  for  unworthy  objects 
consecrated  by  time  or  situation,  love  of  antiquated  customs, 
abject  subserviency  to  persons  in  authority,  superstitious 
awe. 

15.  Firmness. —  Uses;  Determination,  perseverance, 
steadiness  of  purpose. — Abuses  :  Stubbornness,  infatuation, 
tenacity  in  evil. 

16.  Conscientiousness. —  Uses:  It  gives  origin  to  the 
sentiment  of  justice,  or  respect  for  the  rights  of  others,  open- 
ness to  conviction,  the  love  of  truth. — Abuses  :  Scrupulous 
adherence  to  noxious  principles  when  ignorantly  embraced, 
excessive  refinement  in  the  views  of  duty  and  obligation, 
excess  in  remorse  or  self-condemnation. 

17.  Hope. —  Uses;  Tendency  to  expect  future  good;  it 
cherishes  faith. — Abuses  :  Credulity  with  respect  to  the  at- 
tainment of  what  is  desired,  absurd  expectations  of  felicity 
not  founded  on  reason. 

18.  Wonder. —  Uses:  The  desire  of  novelty ;  admiration 
of  the  new,  the  unexpected,  the  grand,  the  wonderful,  and 
extraordinary. — Abuses  :  Love  of  the  marvellous  and  occult; 
senseless  astonishment;  belief  in  prodigies,  magic,  ghosts, 
and  other  supernatural  absurdities. 

19.  Ideality. —  Uses:  Love  of  the  beautiful  and  splen- 
did, desire  of  excellence,  poetic  feeling. — Abuses  :  Extrava- 
gance and  absurd  enthusiasm,  preference  of  the  showy  and 
glaring  to  the  solid  and  useful,  a  tendency  to  dwell  in  the 
regions  of  fancy  and  to  neglect  the  duties  of  life. 

19.  a.  The  organ  of  Sublimity ;  but  not  sufficiently  ascer- 
tained. 

20.  Wit. — Gives  the  feeling  of  the  ludicrous,  and  disposes 
to  mirth. 

21.  Imitation — Copies  the  manners,  gestures  and  ac- 
tions of  others,  and  appearances  in  nature  generally. 

Order  II.   Intellectual  Faculties. 
Genus  I.   External  Senses. 

Uses :  To  bring  man  into  com- 
munication with  external  objects, 
and  to  enable  him  to  enjoy  them. 
— Abuses  :  Excessive  indulgence 
in  the  pleasures  arising  from  the 
senses,  to  the  extent  of  impairing 
bodily  health  and  debilitating  or 
deteriorating  the  mind. 

Genus  n.   Knowing   Faculties,  which   perceive   the 
Existence  and  Qualities  of  External  Objects. 

22.  Individuality — Takes  cognizance  of  existence  and 
simple  facts. 

23.  Form — Renders  man  observant  of  form. 

24.  Size — Gives  the  idea  of  space,  and  enables  him  to  ap- 
preciate dimension  and  distance. 

25.  Weight — Communicates  the  perception  of  momen- 
tum, weight,  and  resistance,  and  aids  equilibrium. 

26.  Colouring — Gives  perception  of  colours  and  their 
harmonies. 

Genus  III.  Knowing   Faculties,  which  perceive  the 
Relations  of  External  Objects. 

27.  Locality — Gives  the  idea  of  relative  position. 

28.  Number — Gives  the  talent  for  calculation. 

29.  Order — Communicates  the  love  of  physical  arrange- 
ment. 

30.  Eventuality — Takes  cognizance  of  occurrences  or 
events. 

31.  Time — Gives  rise  to  the  perception  of  duration. 

32.  Tune. — The  sense  of  Melody  and  Harmony  arises 
from  it. 

33.  Language — Gives  facility  in  acquiring  a  knowledge 
of  arbitrary  signs  to  express  thoughts,  readiness  in  the  use 
of  them,  and  the  power  of  inventing  and  recollecting  them. 

Genus  IV.    Reflecting  Faculties,  which   compare, 
judge,  and  discriminate. 

34.  Comparison — Gives  the  power  of  discovering  analo- 
gies, resemblances,  and  differences. 

35.  Causality — Traces  the  dependences  of  phenomena, 
and  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect. 

The  most  accredited  works  in  favour  of  phrenology  are 
Mr.  Combe's  writings,  and  the  Phrenological  Journal,  which 
is  ably  conducted.  The  most  hostile  inquiry  into  the  pre- 
tensions of  phrenology  to  be  regarded  as  a  science  appeared 
in  1826,  in  the  Edinburgh  Review.  In  that  article,  which 
was  well  known  to  have  emanated  from  the  |>en  of  Mr. 
(now  Lord)  Jeffrey,  the  views  of  the  phrenologists  are 
treated  with  ridicule,  and  their  weak  side  subjected  to  one 
of  the  most  vigorous  attacks  ever  made  in  literary  criti- 
cism. 

PHRYGA'NIDiE.  Case-worm  flies.  The  family  of  Tri- 
chopterous  insects  of  which  the  genus  Phrygania  is  the 
type.    See  Trichopterans. 

931 


PHRYGIAN  MARBLE. 

PHRYGIAN  MARBLE.    See  Marble. 

PHRYGIANS.  An  early  sect  of  heretics ;  so  called  from 
Phrygia,  the  country  where  they  abounded.  They  regard- 
ed Moutanus,  the  founder  of  the  Montanists,  (which  see), 
as  their  prophet ;  and  their  distinguishing  characteristic  was 
the  spirit  of  prophecy  to  which  they  laid  claim. 

PHTHIRI'ASIS.  (Gr.(pOetp,alouse.)  A  disease  in  which 
the  body  is  overrun  with  lice. 

PHTHISIS.  (Gr.  <pOtvui,  I  consume.")  Consumption, 
which  see. 

PHYCOMA'TER.  (Gr.  (bvKoc,  sea-weed,  and  unrnp, 
mother.)  The  gelatine  hi  which  the  sporulcs  of  Algaceous 
plants  first  vegetate. 

PH  YLA'CTERY.  (Gr.  (pv\aKTripiov,  a  protection  or  pres- 
ervation.) An  amulet  or  preservative  against  infection. 
The  phylacteries  of  the  Jews  were  derived  from  the  in- 
junction contained  in  Exodus,  xiii.,  9;  and  consisted  of  slips 
of  parchment  inscribed  with  verses  of  the  law,  enclosed  in 
cases  and  worn  during  prayer  on  the  arm  and  between  the 
eyes. 

PHY'LiE.  (Gr.  <pv\n,  a  tribe.)  The  tribes  into  which 
the  whole  of  Attica  was  divided  in  antiquity.  Originally 
there  were  but  four  phyla;,  which  were  frequently  remodel- 
led, but  remained  the  same  in  number  till  soon  after  the 
expulsion  of  the  Pisistratidre,  when  Cleisthenes  caused 
their  number  to  be  increased  to  ten.  What  the  precise  na- 
ture of  the  change  effected  on  this  occasion  was  is  not 
known,  but  it  is  probable  that  the  new  tribes  embraced  a 
large  number  of  citizens  that  had  been  excluded  from  the 
former.  The  phyla?  were  afterwards  increased  to  twelve, 
by  the  addition  of  two  in  honour  of  Antigonous  and  his  son 
Demetrius.  The  Athenian  senate  was  composed  of  fifty 
delegates  from  each  of  these  tribes. 

PHY'LARCH.  (Gr.  <pv>.npxos,  ruler  of  a  phyle.)  An 
Athenian  officer  appointed  for  each  phyle  or  tribe,  to  super- 
intend the  registering  of  its  members  and  other  common  du- 
ties. The  title  answers  to  that  of  the  Roman  tribune,  but 
its  functions  never  reached  the  same  importance. 

PHYLLO'DIA.  (Gr.  <pv\\ov,  a  leaf.)  A  term  applied 
to  the  petioles  of  certain  leafless  plants  which  become  so 
much  developed  as  to  assume  the  appearance  of  leaves,  all 
the  functions  of  which  they  perform. 

PHYLLONY'CTERANS.  (Gr.  a)y\\ov  and  wxrcpic,  a 
bat.)  The  name  of  a  primary  division  of  the  order  Chei- 
roptera, including  the  "  foliated  bats,"  or  those  species  which 
have  the  ears  and  nose  complicated  by  grotesque  and  vari- 
ously-figured membranous  foliations,  serving  the  purpose  of 
antennae,  and  augmenting  the  sense  of  touch  in  these  night- 
flying  and  short-sighted  species.  The  tribe  is  also  charac- 
terized by  having  a  single  finger,  the  innermost  armed  with 
a  hooked-shaped  claw,  and  the  molar  teeth  beset  with 
sharp-pointed  tubercles  adapted  for  crushing  insects. 

PHYLLO'PHAGANS,  Phyllophaga.  (Gr.  tbyXXov,  and 
Qaytii,  I  eat.)  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Marsupials,  includ- 
ing the  Phalangers,  Petaurists,  and  Koala ;  also  of  a  tribe 
of  beetles,  including  those  which  live  by  suction  of  the 
tender  parts  of  vegetables,  as  the  leaves  and  succulent 
sprouts. 

PHY'LLOPODS,  Phyllopoda.  (Gr.  0uAW,  and  ttovs, 
a  foot.)  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Crustaceans,  compre- 
hending those  in  which  the  feet  are  of  a  flattened  leaf-like 
form. 

PHY'LLOSTOMES,  Phyllostomata.  (Gr.  QuWov,  and 
trroixa,  a  mouth.)  A  family  of  bats,  including  those  in  which 
Uie  nose  supports  a  simple  leaf-shaped  appendage. 

PHYSA.  (Gr.  <puaa,  a  bubble.)  A  genus  of  fresh-water 
snails ;  so  called  from  the  thinness  and  inflated  appearance 
of  the  shell.  Several  species  of  bubble-shell  are  found  in 
England;  as  Physa  fontinalis,  in  the  Thames  ;  Physa  alba, 
in  North  Wales;  Physa  hypnorum,  common  in  ponds  and 
glow  streams. 

PHY'SALIS,  or  PIIYSA'LIA.  (Gr.  <j>voa.)  The  name 
of  a  hydrostatic  Acalephan,  commonly  called  the  Portu- 
guese man-of-war,  remarkable  for  its  size,  the  brilliancy 
of  its  hues,  and  the  severe  burning  pain  produced  by  its 
contact. 

PHY'SALITE.    In  Mineralogy,  a  species  of  topaz. 

PHYSCO'NIA.  (Gr.  (pvanuv,  a  big-bellied  fellow.)  This 
term  is  applied  to  various  enlargements  of  the  abdomen  un- 
connected with  dropsy  or  with  accumulations  of  air,  such  as 
morbid  states  of  the  liver  or  of  the  spleen. 

PHY'SICS.  (Gr.  0ii(T(5,  nature.)  The  science  of  nature. 
In  modern  language,  however,  the  term  has  a  less  general 
signification  than  its  derivation  implies.  Nature  signifying 
the  assemblage  of  all  the  bodies  of  the  universe,  the  science 
of  nature  comprehends  every  species  of  knowledge  which 
regards  the  external  world.  But  bodies  maybe  studied  un- 
der three  different  points  of  view  ;  they  may  be  examined 
with  relation  to  their  different  properties,  with  relation  to 
their  constituent  parts,  and  with  relation  to  their  appear- 
ances and  exterior  qualities.  These  three  distinct  views 
give  rise  to  the  three  great  divisions  of  natural  science ; 
932 


PHYSIOLOGY. 

namely,  Physics,  Chemistry,  and  Natural  History.  Phys- 
ics has  for  its  object  the  properties  of  bodies,  chemistry 
studies  their  elementary  principles,  and  natural  history  ob- 
serves their  physiognomy  or  external  appearance. 

PHYSIO'GNOMY.  (Gr.  Qvois,  nature,  and  yt&ptav,  a 
rule  or  measure.)  The  art  of  interpreting  the  indications 
of  the  inward  disposition  supposed  to  be  afforded  by  the  out- 
ward appearance,  especially  the  features  of  the  face.  (See 
Liavater's  Physiognomy.) 

PHYSIOL'OGY.  (Gr.  <pvm$,  and  \oyos,  a  discourse.) 
The  science  of  things  generated  or  alive ;  but  usually  re- 
garded as  the  doctrine  of  vital  phenomena.  This  science  i9 
divided,  according  to  the  two  great  classes  of  generated  be- 
ings, into  animal  and  vegetable  physiology.  Some  philoso- 
phers have  proposed  to  change  the  term  for  "  biology  ;"  but 
the  restricted  application  of  bios  to  the  life  of  an  individual 
in  other  English  compound  words,  as  "  biography,"  would 
be  an  objection  to  this  change,  even  if  the  word  physiology 
were  less  appropriate  than  it  is,  or  if  its  use  in  the  sense 
above  defined  had  not  been  sanctioned  by  philosophers  of 
other  nations. 

The  chief  object  of  the  physiologist  is  to  ascertain  the 
precise  mode  in  which  each  part  or  organ  of  a  living  being 
reacts  when  stimulated.  When  the  precise  conditions  and 
mode  of  the  reaction  of  the  circulating  fluid  upon  the  solids, 
and  reciprocally,  are  understood,  a  true  and  intelligible  defi- 
nition of  life  may,  perhaps,  be  given. 

In  animal  physiology,  the  simplest  condition  under  which 
life  can  be  contemplated  is  that  which  it  presents  in  the 
torpid  hybernater. 

During  this  state  a  dark  nutrient  fluid,  the  venous  blood, 
(see  Blood),  is  propelled,  by  the  contractions  of  a  hollow 
muscle  (see  Heart),  along  the  arteries  to  every  part  of  the 
body,  whence  it  is  again  returned  to  the  heart  by  the  veins. 
With  respect  to  this  chief  manifestation  of  life  in  the  torpid 
animal  it  may  be  asked,  What  is  the  cause  or  condition  of 
the  reaction  of  the  fibres  of  the  hollow  muscle  upon  the 
stimulating  fluid  1  How  does  each  tissue  of  the  body  select 
from  the  currents  flowing  through  the  terminal  capillaries 
the  appropriate  particles  for  its  growth  or  reparation,  and, 
in  return,  add  to  the  blood,  either  directly  or  through  the 
medium  of  lymphatic  vessels,  its  effete  particles  ?  These 
are  questions  which  physiology  has  yet  to  resolve  :  the  elec- 
tric conditions  of  the  parts  concerned  have  not  been  ascer- 
tained. The  blood  is  maintained  in  a  fit  state  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  tissues  of  the  torpid  animal  by  slowly  part- 
ing with  some  noxious  or  useles  principles,  through  the  ex- 
cretion of  the  kidneys,  and  of  the  different  mucous  and  se- 
rous surfaces.  The  reaction  of  the  circulating  fluids  upon  the 
solids  supersedes  the  ordinary  chemical  reaction,  by  which 
they  would  be  decomposed  and  destroyed,  and  thus  the  tor- 
pid animal  is  kept  alive ;  but  it  is  the  life  of  the  plant  or 
of  the  ovum.  The  functions  of  circulation,  nutrition,  exe- 
cration, are  manifested  when  life  is  thus  reduced,  as  in  the 
plant,  to  its  simplest  condition ;  and  these  must,  therefore, 
be  its  most  essential  actions.  In  the  torpid  animal,  the  phe- 
nomena of  irritability  and  contractility  of  muscular  fibre  are 
superadded,  as  in  the  action  of  the  heart ;  and  this  is  de- 
pendent on  the  connexion  of  the  muscular  fibre  with  a 
nerve.  The  power  of  the  external  decomposing  forces  is 
increased  by  elevation  of  temperature ;  and  the  stimulus  of 
heat  produces  in  the  torpid  animal,  in  a  manner  not  under- 
stood, a  reaction  of  the  mucous  surface  of  the  lungs:  this 
reaction  influences,  through  the  nerves,  the  muscles  of  res- 
piration, and  atmospheric  air  is  inspired  and  brought  into 
contact  with  the  thin  membrane  over  which  the  pulmonary 
capillaries  are  richly  spread.  The  result  of  this  contact  is 
the  immediate  elimination  of  the  carbon  from  the  blood, 
which  changes  its  dark  for  a  florid  red  colour ;  or  converts- 
it  from  venous  to  arterial  blood. 

The  blood,  so  changed,  stimulates  in  a  different  and  more 
potent  manner  the  parts  over  which  it  is  distributed  ;  the 
heart  contracts  more  vigorously  and  frequently  ;  the  brain 
and  nervous  system  now  receiving  more  blond,  and  that  of 
a  different  kind,  begin  to  react  on  the  application  of  stimuli 
to  which  they  were  before  insensible. 

First,  self-consciousness ;  then  sensation  of  external  im- 
pressions ;  lastly,  the  propagation  of  a  stimulus  to  the 
muscular  system  generally,  which  produces  the  reaction 
of  vibratile  contraction  of  its  fibre,  and  by  which  the  ani- 
mal   ves  its  parts  upon  each  other,  or  its  entire  body  upon 

external  matter,  are  successively  manifested;  and  to  circu- 
lation, nutrition,  excretion,  and  respiration,  are  now  added 
the  functions  of  sensation  and  voluntary  motion.  But  with 
this  greatly  increased  activity  of  the  whole  organic  ma- 
chinery, there  is  a  proportional  increase  of  vital  decompo- 
sition; l. «.,  of  abstraction  by  the  tissues  of  assimilating 
particles  from  the  capillary  blood,  and  of  addition  to  the 
same  of  effete  particles;  and  those  actions  demand  not 
only  increased  activity  in  the  organs  which  eliminate  the 
waste  and  noxious  particles  from  the  blood,  and  expel  them 
from  the  body,  but  also  a  means  of  supplying  new  blood. 


PHYSIOLOGY. 

This  is  effected  by  digestion,  chylification,  and  lacteal 
absorption. 

It  is  the  consciousness  of  this  want  that  impels  the  newly 
roused  hybernating  animal  to  seek  for  its  appropriate  food: 
the  first  use  to  which  the  machine  is  put  is  to  supply  itself 
with  the  means  for  its  continued  activity ;  and  this  com- 
pletes the  circle  of  the  functions  by  which  animal  life  is 
maintained,  as  respects  the  individual  being. 

It  is  a  law,  that  the  renovation  of  the  parts  of  a  living 
body  should  not  be  uniform  :  at  first  the  power  is  in  excess, 
and  the  body  grows ;  afterwards  it  is  unequal  to  the  waste, 
and  the  body  shrinks ;  it  is  at  no  period,  perhaps,  quite 
perfect;  the  machinery  of  renovation  thus,  in  time,  be- 
comes unequal  to  its  office,  and  the  ordinary"  chemical  de- 
compositions and  recompositions  take  the  place  of  those 
in  which  life  had  before  essentially  consisted. 

A  given  term  of  life  characterizes  each  species  of  ani- 
mal ;  but  that  the  species  should  continue,  it  is  necessary 
that  the  death  of  the  individual  be  compensated  for.  This 
is  effected  by  the  power  which  living  beings  possess  of 
detaching  a  portion  of  themselves ;  which  portion  contains 
in  itself,  potentially,  all  the  faculties  or  functions  of  life ; 
develops  their  organs  progressively,  and  according  to  the 
pattern  of  the  parent  from  which  it  was  derived ;  and 
when  arrived  at  maturity,  in  like  manner  generates  or 
separates  another  portion  of  itself,  with  similar  powers  of 
development  and  growth ;  then  decays  and  dies.  Thus 
the  species  of  living  beings  are  maintained  by  the  function 
of  generation  through  a  long,  but  apparently  not  an  indefi- 
nite period  of  time ;  for  the  history  of  the  changes  of  the 
earth's  surface  teaches  us  that  the  duration  of  the  exist- 
ence of  species,  as  well  as  of  the  individual,  is  limited,  and 
that  many  species  have  become  extinct.  So  far,  however, 
as  observation  has  been  able  to  reach,  the  death  of  a  species 
seems  to  have  been  rather  a  violent  than  a  natural  one. 
We  have,  as  yet,  had  no  experience  of  the  extinction  of  a 
species  by  a  gradual  abrogation  of  the  procreative  powers 
in  the  individuals  of  successive  generations.  Of  the  intro- 
duction of  new  species  we  know  of  no  natural  cause,  nor 
can  hardly  form  a  conception  of  such. 

The  science  of  physiology  is  that  of  the  different  func- 
tions of  which  life  is  the  manifestation:  that  is  to  say, 
of  circulation,  nutrition,  excretion,  respiration,  sensation, 
muscular  contraction,  digestion,  absorption,  generation ; 
with  other  subordinate  faculties,  as  the  maintenance  of 
equable  temperature,  the  production  of  vocal  sounds,  the 
mental  phenomena.  To  explain  these  functions,  we  must 
first  know  the  instruments  by  which  they  are  performed ; 
secondly,  the  matters  which  they  attract,  those  which 
they  reject,  and  the  nature  of  that  which  remains  ;  thirdly, 
by  what  forces  these  matters  are  transported,  attracted, 
retained,  and  rejected ;  and  finally,  the  nature  of  the 
stimuli  appropriate  to  each  part,  and  the  mode  in  which 
such  part  reacts  when  stimulated.  Physiology  has  thus 
many  departments,  and  each  department  has  its  anato- 
mical, chemical,  dynamical,  and  what  may  be  termed  its 
purely  phvsiological  line  of  research. 

PHYSIOLOGY,  VEGETABLE.     See  Botany. 

PHY'SOGRADES,  Physograda.  (Gr.  (pvois,  air,  and 
gradior,  I  proceed.  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Acalepha?.  com- 
prehending those  which  swim  by  means  of  air-bladders. 

PHYTI'PHAGAXS,  Phytiphaga.  (Gr.  Qvtov,  a  plant, 
and  <payu>.  I  eat.)  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Cetaceous  Mam- 
mals, synonymous  with  Herbivora.  Also,  applied  by  La- 
marck to  a  section  of  his  order  of  Trachelipod  Mollusks. 

PHYTO'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  (porov,  a  plant,  and  yp,i<pui,  I 
describe.)  That  branch  of  science  which  concerns  itself 
with  the  rules  to  be  observed  in  describing  and  naming 
plants.     See  Botany. 

PHYTO'LOGY.  (Gr.  dvrov,  and  \oyoc,  a  discourse.) 
A  book  containing  herbs  and  plants. 

PHYTO'PHAGOUS.  (Gr.  Qvtov,  a  plant,  and  0ayw, 
/  eat.)     Plant-eating. 

PHYTO'ZOOXS,  Phytozoa.  (Gr.  Qvtov,  a  plant,  and 
5(1)01/,  an  animal.)  This  term  is  applied  by  various  na- 
turalists to  different  sections  of  the  sub-kingdom  Zoopkyta 
of  Cuvier. 

PLY  MATER.  A  thin  vascular  membrane  covering  the 
convolutions  of  the  brain  and  the  spinal  marrow. 

PIANO.     In  Music.     See  P.,  &c. 

PIA'XO-FORTE.  (It.)  A  musical  stringed  instrument 
of  the  keyed  species.  Its  name,  compounded  of  two  Italian 
words,  signifying  soft  and  loud,  was  probably  given  to  it 
to  distinguish  it  from  the  harpsichord  and  spinet,  in  which 
no  lightness  of  touch  could  lessen  the  strength  of  the 
sound  produced  from  the  quills  always  striking  the  strings 
with  equal  force  ;  whereas,  in  the  piano-forte'  the  strings 
are  put  in  vibration  by  means  of  small  hammers,  connect- 
ed by  levers  with  the  key  or  finger  board,  which  hammers 
quit  the  string  the  moment  it  is  struck,  a  damper  falling 
down  upon  it  the  moment  the  finger  quits  the  key.  The 
invention  of  the  piano-forte  is  ascribed  to  a  German  named 


PICTURESaUE. 

Schroeder,  who  lived  at  the  beginning  of  last  century ;  but 
it  was  first  introduced  into  England  in  1766,  by  Zumpe, 
by  whom  it  was  greatly  improved.  Within  the  present 
century  this  instrument  has  received  many  useful  and 
valuable  improvements,  from  the  hands  both  of  English- 
men and  foreigners ;  so  that  it  may  be  now  fairly  regarded 
as,  next  to  the  organ,  the  noblest  and  most  elegant  instru- 
ment in  the  whole  compass  of  musical  practice.  Many 
distinguished  musicians  have  devoted  themselves  to  the 
composition  of  pieces  for  this  instrument ;  and  several  of 
the  most  distinguished  composers  in  modern  times,  among 
whom  we  may  mention  Hummel,  Czerny,  Herz,  Kalk- 
brenner,  Cramer,  Moscheles,  Chopin,  Thalberg,  Liszt,  &c, 
have  made  the  instrument  itself  almost  their  exclusive 
study.  There  is  an  excellent  article  on  the  piano-forte  in 
the  British  and  Foreign  Review  for  1839. 

PI'ARISTS.  (Patres  Scholarum  Piarum.)  Members  of 
a  religious  order  founded  at  Rome  by  Cazalanza,  a  Spanish 
nobleman,  early  in  the  seventeenth  century.  They  were 
bound  by  a  special  vow  to  devote  themselves  to  the  pur- 
pose of  education.  They  still  continue  to  superintend  a 
great  number  of  schools  in  Hungary,  Poland,  Bohemia,  &c. 

PIA'STRE.  A  silver  coin  used  in  Spain.  Italy,  Turkey, 
South  America,  the  East  Indies,  &c,  varying  in  value  in 
every  country.     See  Money. 

PIA'ZZA.  (Ital.)  In  Architecture,  a  square  open  space 
surrounded  by  buildings.  Improperly  used  in  England  to 
denote  a  walk  under  an  arcade. 

PI'BROCH.  Martial  music  produced  by  the  bag-pipe  of 
the  Highlanders.  It  is  said  to  signify  also  the  instrument 
itself;  but  the  former  meaning,  if,  indeed,  there  are  any  in- 
stances of  the  latter  to  be  found  in  any  classical  writer, 
has  received  the  sanction  of  the  two  most  celebrated  poets 
of  their  time,  Lord  Byron  and  Sir  Walter  Scott.  The  con- 
noisseurs, says  the  latter  writer,  in  pipe-music,  affect  to 
discover,  in  a  well-composed  pibroch,  the  imitative  sounds 
of  march,  conflict,  flight,  pursuit,  and  all  the  "  current  of  a 
heady  fight."  (See  a  note  in  Bcattie's  Essay  on  Laughter 
and  Ludicrous  Composition,  chap,  iii.,  for  a  description  of 
the  nature  of  the  pibroch.)  The  17th  stanza  of  the  2d 
canto  of  the  Lady  of  the  Lake,  in  which  the  effects  of  this 
martial  music  are  so  admirably  depicted,  must  be  familiar 
to  every  reader. 

PI'CA.  In  Printing,  a  type  of  a  moderate  size ;  so  called 
because  it  was  used  in  printing  the  Pic,  the  service-book 
of  old  Catholic  times,  which  again  is  supposed  to  derive 
its  appellation  from  the  piecolour  of  the  text  and  rubric. 

PI'CAMAR.  The  bitter  principle  of  tar;  whence  it 
derives  its  name  (in  pice  amarum). 

PICA'RDS.  The  name  of  a  fanatical  and  immoral  sect 
of  Christians,  who  sprang  up  in  Bohemia  in  the  fifteenth 
century.  They  derived  their  name  from  Picard,  a  native 
of  Flanders,  who  styled  himself  the  New  Adam,  and  at- 
tempted to  revive  the  absurdities  of  the  Adamites  of  the 
second  century  in  imitating  the  state  of  primeval  inno- 
cence. They  were  completely  annihilated  by  Zisca,  the 
great  general  of  the  Hussites,  who,  struck  with  their 
abominable  practices,  had  marched  against  them. 

PI'CHURIM  BEAX.  An  oblong  heavy  seed  brought 
from  Brazil,  and  used  medicinally  in  the  cure  of  colic. 
It  has  a  musky  odour,  and  is  supposed  to  be  the  produce 
of  a  species  of  Laurus. 

PICI.  (Lat.  picus,  a  woodpecker.)  The  name  given  by 
Linnseus  to  a  group  of  birds,  corresponding  to  the  Scansores 
and  part  of  the  Passeres  of  Cuvier. 

PICIILE.  Woodpeckers.  The  family  of  birds  of  which 
the  genus  Picus  is  the  type. 

PI'CKET.  In  Fortification,  a  stake  used  in  laving  out 
ground  to  mark  the  bounds  and  angles.  Pickets  are  of 
various  lengths,  according  to  the  purpose  they  are  to  serve. 
One  end  is  sharp  and  shod  with  iron,  and  the  other  some- 
times carries  a  small  flag,  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  it 
visible  at  a  distance. 

PI'CROMEL.  (Gr.  mKpoc,  bitter,  and  ue>,i,  honey.)  A 
peculiar  substance,  of  a  sweetish  bitter  taste,  which  exists 
in  bile. 

PICROTO'XIA.  (Gr.  ri/epo?,  bitter,  and  toIikov,  a  poi- 
son.) A  poisonous  bitter  principle  which  exists  in  the 
Cocculus  indicus. 

PICTS  WALL.  One  of  the  barriers  erected  by  the 
Romans  across  the  northern  part  of  our  island  to  restrain 
the  incursions  of  the  Scots. 

PICTURE'SQUE.  (Equivalent  to  the  Ital.  pittoresco, 
and  the  Germ,  malerisch.)  In  the  strict  sense  of  the 
word,  all  objects  which  afford  fit  combinations  of  form  and 
colour  for  the  imitation  of  the  painter.  In  literary  compo- 
sition, a  style  which  represents  objects  and  events  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  call  up  vivid  impressions,  as  it  were,  of 
visible  reality,  is  termed  picturesque. 

A  great  diversity  of  opinion  prevails  as  to  the  precise 
nature  of  that  quality  which  peculiarly  recommends  ob- 
jects for  pictorial  representation ;  but  it  would  be  impossible 


PIEDROIT. 

in  this  place  to  lay  down  any  general  rules  on  the  subject, 
that  would  be  of  any  use  for  the  guidance  of  the  student. 
Meanwhile,  however,  it  may  be  necessary  to  notice  the 
fact,  that  the  term  picturesque  is  used  in  a  totally  different 
sense  from  that  above  adverted  to,  being  applied  by  many 
writers  to  such  natural  objects  as  have  a  somewhat  cogged 
appearance,  in  contradistinction  to  those  objects  which 
have  a  sublime  or  beautiful  character.  Thus,  in  water, 
that  of  which  the  surface  is  broken,  and  the  motion  abrupt 
and  irregular;  and.  anions  trees,  "not  the  smooth  young 
beech,  nor  the  fresh  and  tender  ash,  but  the  rugged  oak, 
or  knotty  wieh  elm,  is  picturesque.  Nor  is  it  necessary 
they  should  be  of  great  bulk ;  it  is  sufficient  if  they  are 
rough  and  mossy,  with  a  character  of  age,  and  with  sudden 
variations  of  their  forms.  Among  animals,  the  ass  is  ge- 
nerally thought  to  be  more  picturesque  than  the  horse ; 
and  among  horses,  it  is  the  wild  and  rough  forester,  or 
the  worn-out  cart-horse,  to  which  that  title  is  applied. 
In  our  own  species,  objects  merely  picturesque  are  to  be 
found  among  the  wandering  tribes  of  gipsies  and  beggars, 
who,  in  all  the  qualities  that  give  them  that  character, 
bear  a  close  analogy  to  the  wild  forester  and  the  worn- 
out  cart-house ;  and  again  to  old  mills,  hovels,  and  other 
inanimate  objects  of  that  kind."  Such  objects,  it  is  argued, 
are  neither  beautiful  nor  sublime ;  and  though  far  less 
universally  pleasing  and  alluring  than  those  which  possess 
the  qualities  of  beauty  or  sublimity,  are  nevertheless  en- 
dowed with  qualities  of  their  own,  which  are  not  only 
highly  suited  to  the  painter  and  his  art,  but  attractive  also 
to  the  rest  of  mankind  whose  minds  have  been  at  all  cul- 
tivated or  improved  ;  and  to  such  objects  the  term  pictur- 
esque ought  to  be  exclusively  applied.  It  is  impossible,  we 
believe,  to  invalidate  this  argument,  for  the  circumstances 
are  sufficiently  striking  and  general  to  admit  of  a  satis- 
factory solution ;  though  it  must  be  conceded  that  great 
caution  is  necessary  before  joining  a  third  and  distinct 
character  to  the  two  graces  which  it  is  universally  ad- 
mitted embellish  natural  forms — the  sublime  and  beauti- 
ful. But  on  this  question  our  limits  preclude  us  from 
entering;  and  we  must  refer  the  reader  to  Price's  elabo- 
rate work  on  the  Picturesque  for  full  information.  (See 
also  the  Quart.  Rev.  vol.  iv.) 

PIEDROIT.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture,  a  pier  or  square 
pillar  partly  hid  within  a  wall.  It  is  without  base  or 
capital,  therein  differing  from  a  pilaster. 

PIE'NO.  (It.)  In  Music,  a  term  denoting  that  the  com- 
position where  the  word  is  appended  is  full,  that  is,  for  all 
the  performers. 

PIE  POUDRE  COURT.  In  English  Law,  a  court 
established  to  decide  on  the  spot  disputes  arising  at  fairs 
or  markets.  It  was  styled  in  Lat.  curia  pedis  pulverhati, 
and  derived  its  name  from  the  itinerant  "  dusty-footed" 
dealers  (in  old  Fr.  pied  pouldreuz),  for  whose  convenience 
it  was  principally  instituted. 

PIER.  In  Architecture,  the  solid  between  the  openings 
of  a  building,  or  that  from  which  an  arch  springs.  An 
abutment  pier,  in  a  bridge,  is  that  next  the  shore.  For  the 
mode  of  building  the  piers  of  a  bridge,  see  Bridge. 

Pier.  In  Engineering,  identical  with  mote,  and  is  used 
to  designate  the  masses  of  building  erected  to  form  har- 
bour-, landing-places,  &c. 

PIERCED.  In  Heraldry,  a  term  used  when  a  charge 
is  represented  as  perforated,  so  as  to  show  the  field  un- 
der it. 

1'IE'RIDES.  A  name  of  the  Muses,  who  were  so  called 
from  Pieria,  a  district  of  Thrace.  This  was  also  the  name 
of  the  nine  daughters  of  Pierus,  the  king  of  Emathia, 
whose  profound  acquaintance  with  the  fine  arts  tempted 
them  to  challenge  the  Muses  to  a  contest  of  musical  skill; 
but,  being  worsted,  were  changed  by  the  latter  into  mag- 
pies. In  memory  of  their  victory  over  the  Pierides,  the 
Muses  are  considered,  by  some  authors,  to  have  adopted 
the  name. 

PIETISTS.  The  name  given  to  certain  reformers  of 
the  doctrines  and  practice  of  the  Lutheran  church,  that 
arose  in  Germany  towards  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  censed  gn:it  dissensions  in  that  body.  The 
Pietists  may  be  divided  into  two  classes,  of  which  the  one 
proposed  to  effect  merely  an  amendment  of  life  anil  man- 
ners, and  to  promote  a  more  evangelical  spirit  and  con- 
ception of  gospel  truth  than  was  cherished  by  the  reformed 
churches,  which,  at  the  period  in  question,  had  degene- 
rated into  great  coldness  and  formality.  Hut  of  the  dis- 
cussions which  this  agitation  excited  there  arose,  how- 
ever, a  more  violent  and  fanatical  sect,  who  accompanied 
the  assaults  they  made  on  the  doctrine  nnd  discipline  of 
the  church,  by  the  assertion  of  various  mystical  extra- 
vagances. Arnold.  DtppeUtU,  and  Petersen  were  their  most 
distinguished  leaders.  The  same  school  of  theologians 
gave  birth  to  the  celebrated  enthusiast  Jacob  Itehmen.  (See 
Mosheim.  vol.  v..  |p.  312.  trans.  1790.)  The  term  Pittui 
is  at  present  applied,  in  Germany,  much  in  the  same  sense 
934 


PILE. 

of  disparagement  as  the  word  Methodist  is  vulgarly  used 
among  ourselves,  to  those  persons  who  make  a  display  of 
strong  religious  feelings. 

PIEZOMETER.  (Gr.  vitXp,  T  press,  and  pnf>o\>.  mea- 
sure.) An  instrument  for  ascertaining  the  compressibility 
of  liquids. 

PI'GMENT.  (Lat.  pigmentum.)  A  term  applied  by 
anatomists  to  the  mucous  secretion  which  covers  the  irisj 
of  the  eye.  and  gives  it  its  various  colours;  and  to  the  dark 
matter  which  covers  the  anterior  surface  of  the  choroid 
membrane,  and  the  interior  surface  of  the  ciliary  processes.  . 

Pigment.  In  Painting,  a  general  term  denoting  auy 
colour  used  bv  artists. 

PI'GMY,  or  PYGMY.  Gr.  manioc,  sc.  avrjp,  from 
TrvYfirji  i  cubit ;  a  diminutive  man.)  By  ancient  authors  on 
natural  history,  this  name  was  applied  to  a  fabulous  race  of 
dwarfish  and  deformed  human  beings;  it  is  now  restricted 
to  a  species  of  ape,  the  Simia  troglodytes  of  Blumenbach, 
or  the  Chimpanzee.  (See  Tyson's  Anatomy  of  a  Pygmie, 
with  an  Essay  concerning  the  Pygmies  of  the  Ancients, 
fol  1699.)  Ancient  fable  (as  ancient  as  Homer,  //.,  b.  3), 
described  a  nation  of  pygmies  dwelling  somewhere  near 
the  shores  of  the  ocean,  and  maintaining  perpetual  wars 
with  the  cranes ;  of  which  Athenteus  gives  the  mytholo- 
gical origin.  Ctesias  the  Greek  historian,  as  quoted  by 
Photius,  represented  a  nation  of  them  as  inhabiting  India, 
and  attending  its  king  on  his  military  expeditions.  Other 
ancients  believed  them  to  inhabit  the  Indian  islands ;  and 
Aristotle  places  them  in  Ethiopia,  Pliny  in  Transgangetic 
India.  Some  modern  lovers  of  the  marvellous  have  con- 
structed these  stories  from  the  legends  of  pigmy  nations 
inhabiting  the  northernmost  part  of  the  earth.  These  nu- 
merous fables  appear  to  originate  partly,  as  Strabo  long  ago 
observed,  in  the  stunted  growth  of  particular  races,  under 
the  sufferings  of  a  severe  climate  or  great  privations;  thus, 
the  Esquimaux,  or  Laplanders,  furnish  the  ancient  North- 
men with  their  legendary  "  Dwergar,"  or  nations  of  mali- 
cious dwarfs.  Some  of  the  low-caste  races,  which  inhabit 
the  forests  of  interior  Hindostan,  are  feeble  and  puny  enough 
to  have  given  origin  to  the  account  of  Ctesias ;  while  the 
pygmies  of  the  Malay  Archipelago,  and  the  interior  of 
Africa,  were  probably  apes.  (See  the  Encyc.  Metropo- 
litans.) 

PIG  NUT.  The  bulbous  root  of  the  Bunium  bulbocas- 
tanum ;  so  called  because  pigs  are  fond  of  and  dig  for 
them. 

PIKE.  In  Ichthyology,  the  English  term  for  a  fish  be- 
longing to  the  order  jValacopterygii,  section  .ibdominalcs, 
family  Esocidae,  and  genus  Esoz.  See  Malacoptery- 
gians. 

Pike.  In  Military  affairs,  an  offensive  weapon  used  in 
antiquity  and  modern  times,  down  to  the  invention  of  the 
bayonet,  by  which  it  has  been  universally  superseded,  con- 
sisting of  a  shaft  of  wood  of  12  or  14  feet  in  length,  sur- 
mounted with  a  flat  pointed  steel,  commonly  called  the 
spear.    It  was  chiefly  used  by  the  infantry. 

PILA'STER.  (Ital.  pilastro.)  In  Architecture,  a  square 
pillar  engaged  in  a  wall,  usually  projecting  not  more  than 
one  fifth  or  one  sixth  of  its  width.  Pilasters  are  subject  to 
the  same  rules  of  proportion  as  columns. 

PI'LCHARD.  In  Ichthyology,  the  common  name  for  a 
fish  closely  resembling  the  common  herring;  but  smaller, 
and  at  the  same  time  thicker  and  rounder.  They  are  found 
chiefly  on  the  coasts  of  Devon  and  Cornwall,  particularly 
the  latter,  where  they  are  taken  in  great  numbers  from  July 
to  September.  It  is  a  saying  of  the  Cornwall  fishermen, 
that  the  pilchard  is  the  least  fish  in  size,  but  greatest 
in  number  and  for  gain,  taken  from  the  sea.  For  some 
curious  details  on  the  pilchard  fishery,  see  the  Commercial 
Diet. 

PILE.  In  Heraldry,  an  ordinary  which  is  represented  of 
a  wedge-shape,  tapering  from  the  chief  down  wards  towards 
the  point;  said  to  represent  the  piles  on  which  bridges  and 
other  erections  are  founded. 

Pile.  In  Artillery,  a  heap  of  shot  or  shells,  piled  up  by 
horizontal  courses  in  a  pyramidal  or  welge  like  form.  The 
form  of  the  pile  is  determined  by  that  of  the  base,  which 
may  be  a  triangle,  a  square,  or  a  rectangle.  In  a  triangular 
pile  the  base  is  an  equilateral  triangle,  and  there  is  one  shot 
at  the  vertex.  The  number  in  the  successive  horizontal 
Courses,  reckoned  from  the  top  downwards,  are  represented 
by  the  triangular  numbers  1,  3.  6,  10  .  .  .  .  A  n  (n-\-  1),  the 
sum  of  which  is  }  n  (n-f- 1)  (n  +  2)  ;  which,  therefore,  is 
the  number  of  shot  in  a  pile  of  n  courses.  See  Figuratc 
N'imbers. 

If  the  base  is  a  square,  the  number  in  the  successive 
courses  is  represented  by  the  series  of  squares,  1,  4,  9,  16, 
&c. ;  and  the  number  in  the  pile  of  n  courses  is  J  n  (n  -f- 1) 
C2n-f-l). 

If  the  base  is  a  rectangle,  n  the  number  of  shot  in  the 
Shortest  side  Cor  the  number  of  courses),  and  n  +  d  the 
number  in  the  longest  side,  then  the  number  in  the  pile  con- 


PILE  DRIVER. 

tinued  until  there  is  a  single  row  of  d  +  1  shot  at  the  top  is 
£n(n  +  l)(2«  +  l  +  3d). 

PILE  DRIVER.  An  engine  for  driving  down  piles.  It 
consists  of  a  large  ram  or  block  of  iron,  which  slides  be- 
tween two  guide  posts.  Being  drawn  up  to  the  top,  and 
then  let  fall  from  a  considerable  height,  it  comes  down  on 
the  head  of  the  pile  with  a  violent  blow.  It  may  be  worked 
by  men  or  horses,  or  a  steam  engine. 

PILES,  in  Building,  are  timbers  driven  into  the  ground 
or  bed  of  a  river,  for  supporting  the  foundations  of  an  ed- 
ifice, or  the  piers  of  a  bridge.  They  may  be  round  or 
square,  and  formed  of  any  wood  which  does  not  rot  under 
water:  oak,  elm,  and  chiefly  fir,  are  employed.  The  end 
of  the  pile  which  penetrates  the  ground  is  pointed  and 
shod  with  iron,  and  the  top  is  bound  with  a  strong  iron  band 
or  hoop,  to  prevent  the  piles  from  being  split  by  the  violent 
strokes  of  the  ram  by  which  they  are  driven  down. 

Piles.  A  disease  originating  in  the  morbid  dilatation  of 
the  veins  of  the  lower  part  of  the  rectum,  and  upon  the 
verge  of  the  anus,  and  frequently  caused  by  costiveness 
and  irregularity  of  alvine  evacuation  ;  the  contents  of  the 
rectum  pressing  upon  the  veins,  and  preventing  the  return 
of  their  blood,  so  that  they  become  turgid  and  varicose, 
often  forming  bleeding  or  ulcerated  enlargements  and  tu- 
mours. Mild  aperients,  especially  sulphur  and  castor  oil, 
are  necessary  in  the  relief  of  the  early  stage  of  piles : 
when  there  is  much  inflammation,  cold  and  astringent  lo- 
tions may  be  used,  and  the  pain  is  often  relieved  by  fomen- 
tation with  decoction  of  poppies.  When  the  tumours  are 
large  and  flaccid,  an  ointment  of  powdered  galls,  with  a 
little  opium  and  acetate  of  lead,  often  affords  relief;  and, 
in  old  relaxed  piles,  the  internal  use  and  local  application 
of  copaiba  balsam,  and  even  Ward's  paste,  which  contains 
black  pepper,  do  good.  In  many  cases  of  protrusions  of 
the  tumours,  they  require  removal  by  ligature  or  by  the 
knife. 

PI'LGRIMAGE.  A  journey  undertaken  for  devotional 
purposes  to  some  spot  hallowed  by  religious  associations. 

The  custom  of  making  these  pilgrimages  has  long  been 
recommended  and  enjoined  by  the  Roman  Church,  and  they 
are  frequently  imposed  by  way  of  penance  ;  the  remission 
of  sins,  and  various  spiritual  advantages,  being  promised  as 
the  reward  of  the  faithful  and  pious  pilgrim.  There  exist 
traces  in  the  history  of  the  early  church  of  such  journeys 
being  occasionally  undertaken  from  the  natural  motives, 
we  may  suppose,  of  curiosity,  or  of  a  deeper  interest;  in 
process  of  time  the  custom  of  celebrating  festivals  in  hon- 
our of  martyrs  at  the  place  of  their  sepulture  drew  larger 
numbers  together  from  a  distance,  who,  doubtless,  soon  be- 
gan to  look  with  some  complacency  upon  their  own  merits 
in  doing  honour  to  the  saints  at  the  expense  of  fatigue  or 
danger  to  themselves.  But  the  systematic  establishment 
of  pilgrimage  as  a  meritorious  work  seems  to  be  of  much 
later  date.  That  which  was  undertaken  to  the  tomb  of 
St.  Martin  of  Tours  is  among  the  earliest  canonically  en- 
joined. Such  places  of  devotion  became  gradually  very 
numerous ;  of  which,  however,  Jerusalem  was  held  nat- 
urally in  the  highest  estimation.  The  difficulties  which 
presented  themselves  to  the  pilgrims  who  attempted  to  ac- 
complish this  journey,  when  Palestine  had  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  the  Saracens,  were  the  proximate  cause  of  the 
excitement  which  armed  Europe  to  the  rescue  of  the  Holy 
Land.  The  cupidity  of  the  persons  in  whose  custody  these 
shrines  were,  and  the  immorality  which  ensued  from  the 
desultory  habits  which  the  pilgrims  acquired,  called  forth 
the  earliest  animadversion  of  the  church,  at  the  council  of 
Chalons  in  the  9th  century ;  but  the  evil  seems  to  have 
continued  steadily  on  the  increase,  until,  at  the  time  of  the 
Reformation,  we  find  what  was  originally  a  harmless,  and 
even  a  pious  practice,  degenerated  into  one  of  the  most 
crying  abuses  of  the  ecclesiastical  system.  The  earliest 
pilgrimage  on  record  is,  perhaps,  that  of  Helena,  the  wife  of 
Constantine,  to  the  Holy  Land.  (See  Schroeck's  Kirchen 
Geschichte,  part  5,  8,  19,  23,  25). 

But  pilgrimages  are  not  confined  to  Christian  nations. 
According  to  a  command  in  the  Koran,  every  good  Mussul- 
man is  enjoined  once  in  his  lifetime  to  repair  to  Mecca; 
and  there  are  many  other  places,  especially  in  Persia,  en- 
dowed with  sufficient  sanctity  to  attract  multitudes  of  pil- 
grims. The  Hindoos  have  also  their  pilgrimages,  the  most 
celebrated  of  which  is  to  the  city  of  Juggernaut,  where 
stands  the  temple  erected  in  honour  of  the  deity  of  the 
same  name ;  a  full  account  of  which  will  be  found  in  the 
Geo.  Diet.,  art.,  "Juggernaut."  Among  existing  Christian 
pilgrimages,  the  most  celebrated  is  that  of  Marianzell,  in 
Austria. 

PILI'DIUM.  The  orbicular  hemispherical  shield  or  apo- 
thecium  of  a  lichen,  the  outside  of  which  changes  to  pow- 
der, as  in  Calycium. 

PILLAR.    In  Architecture.     See  Column. 

PI'LLORY.  (Fr.  pilori ;  supposed  from  pilier,  a  pillar.) 
A  wooden  engine  on  which  offenders  were  formerly  ex- 


PIONEERS. 

posed  to  public  view,  and  generally  to  public  insult.  It 
was  a  common  punishment  in  England,  and  by  the  "  stat- 
ute of  the  pillory,"  51  Hen.  3,  c.  6,  appointed  for  forestal- 
led, users  of  deceitful  weights,  perjury,  forgery,  &c.  By 
56  G.  3,  c.  138,  it  was  abolished  in  all  cases  except  perjury  ; 
and,  as  it  was  discretionary  in  that  instance,  it  had  been 
long  wholly  disused.  It  was  finally  abolished  in  1837  by 
the  statute  1  Vict.,  c.  23.  The  French  punishment  of  the 
same  description  is  now  termed  the  "  carcan,"  from  the  iron 
collar  by  which  the  neck  of  the  criminal  is  fixed  to  a  post ; 
anciently,  "pilori."  It  is  not  now  specifically  appropriated 
to  particular  crimes,  but  in  heavy  cases  accompanies  the 
sentence  of  imprisonment  or  forced  labour. 

PILOSE.  (Lat.  pilus,  a  hair.)  In  Zoology,  when  an  an- 
imal or  part  is  covered  with  hair. 

PI'LOT.  A  person  qualified  and  appointed  by  proper 
authority  to  conduct  ships  in  and  out  of  particular  harbours, 
or  along  certain  coasts,  at  a  certain  fixed  rate,  depending  on 
the  draught  of  water.  The  pilot  has  the  charge  of  the 
vessel  while  in  pilot  water,  and  the  captain  or  master  ne- 
glects or  opposes  the  pilot's  advice  on  his  own  responsibil- 
ity.    (See  M'Culloch's  Commercial  Diet.) 

PI'MELITE.  (Gr.  -nificXn,  fatness.)  A  green  hydrated 
silico-aluminous  mineral,  containing  oxide  of  nickel,  of  a 
greasy  feel. 

PIME'NTO.  The  berry  of  the  Myrtus  pimenta ;  all- 
spice, or  Jamaica  pepper.     See  Piperace^:. 

PIN.  A  small  bit  of  wire,  usually  brass,  with  a  point  at 
one  end  a  spherical  head  at  the  other.  No  fewer  than 
fourteen  distinct  operations  are  necessary  in  making  this  lit- 
tle article  ;  for  an  account  of  which  see  Ure' s  Diet,  of  Arts, 
&rc.  There  is  a  good  account  of  this  manufacture  in  Bab- 
bage's  Economy  of  Manufactures.  See  also  Wealth  of  Na- 
tions, p.  3 ;  where  the  pin  is  cited  as  an  admirable  in- 
stance of  the  good  effects  of  a  division  of  labour. 

Pin.  A  term  of  Chinese  diplomacy,  signifying  a  petition 
or  address  from  foreigners  to  the  emperor  of  China  or  any 
of  his  viceroys  or  deputies. 

PINACOTHE'CA.  (Gr.  irival,  a  picture,  and  TtOritu,  I 
place.)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  the  apartment  in  a  house 
for  the  reception  of  paintings. 

PI'NCHBECK.  An  alloy  of  copper  of  zinc  ;  a  species 
of  brass  much  resembling  what  is  now  termed  Mosaic 
gold.  It  was  brought  into  notice  by  a  person  of  the  above 
name. 

PI'NEAL  GLAND.  A  small  heart-shaped  protuberance 
of  the  brain,  hanging  by  two  peduncles  from  the  beds  of  the 
optic  nerves  immediately  over  the  corpora  quadrigemina. 
Some  fanciful  physiologists  have  asserted  that  it  is  the  seat 
of  the  soul. 

PINE.     See  Abies. 

PI'NION.  In  Mechanics,  a  small  wheel  which  plays  in 
the  teeth  of  a  larger,  or  sometimes  only  an  arbor  or  spin- 
dle, having  notches  or  leaves,  which  are  caught  success- 
ively by  the  teeth  of  the  wheel,  and  the  motion  thereby 
communicated. 

PI'NITE.  (From  the  mine  Pini,  at  Schneeberg  in  Saxo- 
ny.) A  soft  crystallized  mineral,  composed  of  alumine,  si- 
lex,  and  oxide  of  iron. 

PINK,  DUTCH.    In  Painting,  a  colour  of  a  reddish  hue. 

PI'NNA.  (Lat.  pinna,  a  Jin.)  The  name  of  a  genus  of 
Ostracean  Acephalous  Mollusks,  commonly  called  "wing- 
shells,"  remarkable  for  the  size  of  the  byssus,  by  which 
they  adhere  to  rocks,  and  which  the  natives  of  Sicily  man- 
ufacture into  gloves,  socks,  and  other  articles  of  sale. 

PI'NNACE.  A  small  light  vessel  with  sails  and  oars: 
it  is  at  present  generally  understood  as  one  of  the  boats 
belonging  to  a  ship  of  war. 

PI'NNACLE.  (Lat.  pinna.)  In  Architecture,  a  small 
square  or  polygonal  pillar,  generally,  though  not  necessari- 
ly, applied  at  the  angles  of  a  building,  terminating  upwards 
pyramidally,  and  embellished  with  foliage  at  the  angles  of 
the  pyramidal  part. 

PI'NNATES.  A  term  applied  by  Linnaeus  to  the  feet  of 
those  birds  which  have  the  toes  bordered  by  a  scalloped 
membrane,  as  the  coots. 

PINNA'TIPEDS,  Pinnatipedia.  (Lat.  pinna,  a  fin,  and 
pes,  afoot.)  A  term  applied  by  Temminck  to  an  order  of 
birds  comprehending  those  which  have  the  digits  bordered 
by  membranes. 

PI'NNIPEDS,  Pinnipedes.  The  name  of  a  section  of 
crabs  (Brachyurous  Decapod  Crustaceans),  in  which  are 
comprehended  those  that  have  the  last  pair  of  feet,  if  not 
more,  terminated  bv  a  flattened  joint  fitted  for  swimming. 

PI'NNOTHERES.  (Gr.  mvvoOnpnt,  from  Lat.  pinna, 
and  Gr.  6>)ftao),  I  pursue.)  A  small  parasitic  species  of  crab, 
which  takes  up  its  abode  in  the  shell  of  the  pinna  and  oth- 
er bivnlves. 

PINT.  A  measure  of  capacity,  being  the  eighth  part  of  a 
gallon.     See  Measures. 

PIO'NEERS,  in  the  Military  Art,  are  certain  soldiers,  in 
all  infantry  and  cavalry  regiments,  whose  business  it  is  to 

935 


PIPE. 

clear  the  road  before  an  army,  to  sink  mines,  and  throw 
up  works  and  fortifications.  Pioneers  are  provided  on  a 
march  with  hatchets,  axes,  spades,  pickaxes,  and  all  other 
necessary  implements. 

PIPE.  A  wine  measure,  usually  containing  105  (very 
nearly)  imperial,  or  1-20  wine  gallons.  Two  pipes,  or  210 
imperial  gallons,  make  a  tun.  But,  in  practice,  the  size  of 
the  pipe  varies  according  to  the  description  of  wine  it  con- 
tains. Tims,  B  pipe  of  port  contains  138  wine  gallons,  of 
sherry  130,  of  Lisbon  and  Bucellas  140,  of  Madeira  110,  and 
of  Vidonia  120.  The  pipe  of  port,  it  is  to  be  observed,  is 
seldom  accurately  138  gallons,  and  it  is  usual  to  charge 
what  the  vessel  actually  contains. 

PIPE  CLAY.  A  species  of  clay,  abounding  in  Devon- 
shire and  other  parts  of  England,  employed  in  the  manu- 
facture of  various  sorts  of  earthenware. 

PIPERA'CE^E.  (Piper  one  of  the  genera.)  A  natural 
order  of  shrubby  or  herbaceous  Exogens,  inhabiting  the 
hotter  parts  of  the  world.  According  to  Blume  and  Rich- 
ard they  are  monocotyledonous ;  but  that  they  are  really 
dicotyledonous  is  proved  by  their  medullary  rays,  articulated 
leaves,  and  two-lobed  embryo.  They  are  closely  related  to 
Polygonacew,  Saururacea,  and  Urticacea,  from  all  of 
which  they  are  distinguished  by  obvious  characters.  Com- 
mon pepper  represents  the  ordinary  property  of  this  order. 
The  cubebs  of  the  shops  is  the  produce  of  the  Piper  cubeba 
and  caninum  ;  betel,  an  acrid,  stimulating  substance,  much 
used  for  chewing  by  the  Malays,  is  obtained  from  Piper  be- 
tel and  siriboa.  Black  pepper  is  the  unprepared  fruit  of 
Piper  nigrum,  and  white  pepper  is  the  same  deprived  of  its 
pulpy  covering.  Long  pepper  consists  of  the  half-ripe 
flower-heads  of  Piper  longum  and  ehaba. 

PI'PERIN.  A  white  crystallizable  substance  extracted 
from  black  pepper.  It  is  tasteless,  and  free  from  pungency, 
the  acrimony  of  pepper  residing  in  a  peculiar  fixed  oil. 

Pl'RACY.  (Gr.  miparesi  from  trtipa,  an  attempt.)  In 
Law,  an  offence  which  consists  in  the  commission  of  those 
acts  of  robbery  and  depredation  upon  the  high  seas  which, 
if  committed  on  land,  would  have  amounted  to  felony  there. 
By  the  statutes  11  &  12  W.  3,  c.  7,  and  6  G.  1,  c.  19,  piracies 
committed  on  the  sea  or  in  haven,  &c,  where  the  admiral 
has  jurisdiction,  may  be  tried  at  sea  or  on  land,  in  his  ma- 
jesty's islands,  &c,  by  commissioners  under  the  great  seal 
appointed  for  that  purpose,  who  may  commit  the  offenders, 
and  call  a  court  of  admiralty  for  the  purpose  of  the  trial. 
By  the  same  statutes  various  acts  are  enumerated  as  amount- 
ing to  piracy,  and  aiders  and  abettors  of  pirates  are  declared 
accessories,  punishable  as  principals.  By  subsequent  enact- 
ments, acts  of  trading  with  pirates,  arid  acts  of  hostility 
committed  by  natural-born  subjects  against  his  majesty's 
subjects  under  colour  of  a  foreign  commission,  are  declared 
piracy.  In  the  realm  of  England,  felonies,  robberies,  and 
murders,  committed  by  pirates,  are  triable  under  28  H.  8,  c. 
15,  by  the  king's  commission  of  oyer  and  terminer,  as  if  the 
offences  had  been  committed  on  land.  (See  as  to  the  pi- 
rates of  antiquity,  the  Mem.  de  VAc.  des  Inscr.,  vol.  xii.) 

Piracy  is  also  frequently  used  to  signify  any  infringement 
on  the  law  of  copyright.  It  is  extremely  difficult  to  lay 
down  any  general  principle  on  which  to  decide  as  to  what 
is  and  what  is  not  piracy.  Generally  it  is  held,  that  one 
writer  may  borrow  the  ideas  or  theories  of  another;  but 
that  he  must  dress  them  up  and  explain  them  in  a  different 
way,  and  in  his  own  lnnguage.  This,  however,  is  often 
done  so  as  merely  to  evade  the  law ;  and  it  were  well,  in  or- 
der to  make  greater  attention  be  paid  to  originality,  were  the 
law  as  to  piracy  less  lax  than  it  is  at  present.  (See  as  to 
the  existing  law  of  piracy  the  art.  "  Copyright— Books"  in 
Com.  Diet.) 

PISALPIIA'LTUM.  Mineral  pitch;  an  indurated  bitu- 
men. 

PI'SCES.  (Lat.  pisces,  a  fish.)  The  name  of  the  fourth 
great  subdivision  of  Vertebrate  animals,  or  the  class  of  fish 
es  characterized  by  a  branchial  respiration,  a  bilocular  heart, 
and  a  covering  of  scales.  The  nasal  cavities  do  not  com- 
municate with  the  mouth,  but  have  only  external  apertures. 
See  Ichthyology. 

Pi'stes.  (The  Fishes.)  One  of  the  twelve  zodiacal  con- 
stellations, the  twelfth  in  order  from  Aries.  See  Constel- 
lation, Zodiac. 

PISCIS  AUSTRALIS.  (The  Southern  Fish.)  One  of 
Ptolemy's  48  constellations,  in  the  southern  hemisphere. 
The  brilliant  star  Fomalhaut,  of  the  first  magnitude,  be- 
longs to  ibis  constellation. 

I'isi  'is  v<  i|.  \.\'S.  A  small  modern  constellation  of  the 
southern  hemisphere,  formed  by  Bayer.  It  is  situated  on 
tin'  antartic  circle. 

PISE.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture,  a  species  of  wall  con- 
structed of  stiff  earth  or  clay,  carried  up  in  moulds,  and 
rammed  down  as  the  work  is  carried  up. 

PISI'DTDM.    (Lat.  plaum,  a  pea.)    A  genus  of  fresh  wa- 
ter Gastropods  ;   so  named  on  account  of  the  resemblance  of 
the  Bhell  to  a  small  pea.    Many  of  the  species  are  British  ; 
930 


PITYRIASIS. 

as  risidium  obtusale,  which  may  be  found  in  the  New  Riv- 
er;  P.pusillum,  P.  nitidum,  P.  pulchellum,  ice. 

PI'SOLITE.  (Gr.  mow,  and  XiOos,  peastone.)  A  concre- 
tional  carbonate  of  lime.  The  concretions  generally  con- 
tain a  central  grain  of  sand. 

PISTA'CHIA  or  PISTA'CHIO  NUTS.  (Ger.  pistachen  ; 
Du.  pistasjes;  Fr.  pistaches ;  It.  pistacchi,  fastucchi ;  Sp. 
alfocigos  ;  Lat.  pistacia.)  The  fruit  of  the  Pistachia  vera, 
a  kind  of  turpentine  tree.  It  grows  naturally  in  Arabia, 
Persia,  and  Syria ;  also  in  Sicily,  whence  the  nuts  are  an- 
nually brought  to  us.  They  are  oblong  and  pointed,  about 
the  size  and  shape  of  a  filbert,  including  a  kernel  of  a  pale 
greenish  colour,  covered  with  a  yellowish  or  reddish  skin. 
They  have  a  pleasant,  sweetish,  or  unctuous  taste,  resem- 
bling that  of  sweet  almonds  ;  their  principal  difference  from 
which  consists  in  their  having  a  greater  degree  of  sweet- 
ness, accompanied  with  a  light  grateful  flavour,  and  in  be- 
ing more  oily.  Pistachias  imported  from  the  East  are  supe- 
rior to  those  raised  in  Europe. 

PISTI'LLUM.  The  organ  which  occupies  the  centre  of 
a  flower,  within  the  stamens  and  disk  (if  the  latter  be  pres- 
ent). It  is  distinguished  into  three  parts :  an  upper  or  stig- 
ma, a  lower  or  ovarium,  and  a  central  part  or  style.  It  is 
the  female  organ  of  the  flower,  and  contains  the  ovules  or 
young  seeds  within  the  ovary. 

PISTOLE.  A  gold  coin  common  in  many  parts  of  Ger- 
many, equivalent  to  about  8s.  <Sd.  sterling. 

PI'STON.  In  Machinery,  a  short  cylinder  of  wood  or 
metal,  which  fits  exactly  the  cavity  of  a  pump  or  barrel, 
and  works  up  and  down  in  it  alternately.  Two  sorts  of  pis- 
tons are  used  in  pumps;  one  hollow,  with  a  valve,  used  in 
the  sucking  pump  :  and  the  other  solid,  which  is  employed  in 
the  forcing  pump.  See  Pump. 
PIT.     See  Shaft. 

PITCH.  (Fr.  picts.)  In  Music,  the  degree  of  acuteness 
or  graveness  of  a  note. 

Pitch.  (Germ,  pech.)  The  same  as  Asphalt  and  Bi- 
tumen, which  see. 

Pitch.  The  residuum  which  remains  after  boiling  tar  in 
an  open  iron  pot,  or  in  a  still,  till  the  volatile  matter  be  driv- 
en off.    It  is  most  extensively  used  in  ship  building. 

PITCHBLENDE.  A  mineral  found  in  Saxony  ;  it  is  a 
compound  of  the  oxides  of  uranium  and  iron. 

PITCH  OF  A  ROOF.  In  Architecture,  the  inclination 
of  the  sloping  sides  to  the  horizon.  It  is  usually  designated 
by  the  ratio  of  its  height  to  its  space. 

PI'TCHSTONE.  A  silicious  mineral,  the  fracture  of 
which  resembles  that  of  pitch  or  resin.  It  is  of  various 
colours. 
PITCOAL.  See  Coal  and  Geologt. 
PITH.  A  cylindrical  or  angular  column  of  cellular  tis- 
sue, arising  at  the  neck  of  the  stem  of  a  Dicotyledonous 
plant,  and  terminating  at  the  leaf-buds,  with  all  of  which, 
whether  they  are  lateral  or  terminal,  it  is  in  direct  commu- 
nication. It  forms  the  centre  of  a  stem,  and  is  covered  over 
by  the  wood.  Its  use  is  to  act  as  a  reservoir  of  nutritious 
matter  for  the  young  leaves  when  first  developing. 

PITHE'CUS.  (Gr.  mBnicoc,  an  ape.)  The  subgeneric 
name  of  the  orang-utan  ;  Pithicvs  satyrus,  Geoff. 

PITOT'S  TUBE.  In  Hydraulics,  an  apparatus,  so  called 
from  the  name  of  its  inventor,  for  measuring  the  velocity  of 
a  stream,  or  of  a  body  moved  through  stagnant  water.  A 
tube  open  at  both  ends  is  bent  into  two  unequal  branches  at 
right  angles  to  each  other.  It  is  then  placed  in  the  stream, 
the  longer  branch  in  a  vertical  position,  and  the  shorter 
turned  round  so  that  the  water  enters  directly  into  the  orifice, 
which  should  be  somewhat  contracted.  When  thus  placed, 
the  water  enters  the  tube  with  the  velocity  of  the  stream, 
and  the  pressure  causes  it  to  rise  in  the  upright  branch  of 
the  tube  to  the  height  from  which  it  must  have  fallen  in  or- 
cer  to  acquire  this  velocity.  The  height  to  which  the  wa- 
ter rises  in  the  tube  is  measured  by  placing  a  graduated  rod 
in  the  tube  of  such  specific  gravity  as  to  float  on  the  water  ; 
or  if  the  tube  is  of  glass,  the  height  may  be  measured  ex- 
ternally. The  corresponding  velocity  is  obtained  from  the 
formula  v  —  y/Cigh)  ;  where  v  denotes  the  Velocity,  g  the 
accelerating  force  of  gravity,  and  h  the  height  to  which  the 
water  rises  in  the  tube,  all  expressed  in  units  of  the  same 
denomination.  The  result  is  tolerably  accurate,  except 
when  the  velocity  is  small  ;  but  the  effect  is  somewhat  di- 
miiii-Oied  by  the  friction  on  the  tube. 

PI'TTACAL.  (Gr.  nr™,  pitch,  and  ioiXXoc,  ornament.) 
A  fine  blue  substance,  obtained  by  the  action  of  a  solution 
of  baryta  upon  the  heavy  oil  of  tar." 

PITUITARY  GLAND.  A  gland  situated  within  the 
cranium,  between  a  fold  of  the  dura  mater,  in  the  sella  tur- 
cica of  the  sphenoid  bone. 

PITUITARY  MEMBRANE.  The  mucous  membrane 
Of  the  nose. 

PITYRTASIS.  (Gr.  mrvpnv,  bran.)  A  cutaneous  dis- 
ease consisting  of  irregular  scaly  patches,  unattended  by 
inflainmation.    When  it  affects  infants,  it  is  called  dandriff. 


PITT. 

A  similar  exfoliation  of  the  cuticle  in  reddi3h  patches  is 
not  uncommon  in  adults.  Soap  and  water,  and  mild  cool- 
ing lotions,  or  very  weak  nitro-muriatic  lotion,  are  the  best 
applications. 

PIU.  (Ital.)  In  Music,  a  word  frequently  prefixed  to 
another  to  increase  the  strength  of  its  meaning;  as  piu  alle- 
gro, a  little  quicker. 

PX'VOT.  (Fr.)  In  Military  language,  that  officer  or  sol- 
dier upon  whom  the  different  wheelings  are  made  in  the 
various  evolutions  of  the  drill,  &c. 

Pivot.  In  Mechanics,  the  extremity  of  the  axle  about 
which  a  body  revolves. 

PLACA  RD.  (Said  to  be  from  the  Greek  ttXoJ,  a  tablet.) 
A  writing  affixed  to  a  wall,  post,  &c,  in  a  public  place,  is 
commonly  so  called ;  and  as  this  was  in  ancient  times  the 
common  mode  of  publishing  proclamations  and  edicts,  and 
also  of  giving  notoriety  to  libels  and  seditious  advertisements, 
the  word  is  not  uncommonly  used  in  early  modern  writers 
in  both  these  senses. 

PLACENTA.  (Gr.  irXaKovc,  a  cake.)  The  after-birth. 
In  the  human  subject  it  is  a  single  subcircular,  flattened,  and 
lobulated  organ,  composed  of  the  capillary  extremities  of  the 
foetal  hypogastric  arteries  and  umbilical  vein,  and  of  a  fine 
cellular  structure,  which  receives  the  maternal  blood  from 
the  tortuous  uterine  or  decidual  arteries. 

The  placenta  forms  a  single  lobe  in  the  New  World  mon- 
keys, the  bats,  the  Insectivora,  and  the  Rodentia.  It  sur- 
rounds the  foetus  like  a  broad  hoop  in  the  Carnivora.  It  is 
bilobed  in  the  Old  World  monkeys ;  and  subdivided  into 
many  separate  lobes,  called  cotyledons,  in  the  true  Rumi- 
nantia.  The  placenta  is  replaced  by  a  diffused  vascular 
villosity  of  the  chorion  in  the  Camellidts,  the  ordinary  Pa- 
chyderms, and  the  Cetacea.  The  placenta  is  absent  and 
the  chorion  ceases  to  be  vascular  in  the  Marsupialia. 

Place'nta.  In  Botany,  a  copious  development  of  cellu- 
lar tissue,  formed  at  some  point  of  the  inside  of  a  carpellum, 
and  out  of  which  the  ovules  or  young  seeds  arise. 

PLACENTA'LIA.  The  name  of  that  primary  division 
of  the  class  Mammalia  which  includes  the  orders  that  have 
either  a  placenta  or  a  vascular  chorion,  by  which  the  foetus 
is  attached  to  the  parietes  of  the  uterus. 

PLA'CITA  (Lat.),  in  the  Middle  Ages,  were  public 
courts  or  assemblies,  in  which  the  sovereign  presided  when 
a  consultation  was  held  upon  the  affairs  of  the  state.  They 
were  termed  "  Generalia  Placita,"  because  "  generalitas  uni- 
versorum  majorum  tarn  clericorum  quam  laicorum  ibidem 
conveniebat."  The  same  custom  appears  to  have  existed 
in  France,  with  a  slight  modification.  According  to  the 
Black  Book  in  the  Exchequer,  lib.  ii.,  let.  13,  this  term  was 
also  applied  to  penalties  or  fines. 

PLA'GAL  MELODIES.  (Gr.  TrXayio?,  oblique.)  In  Mu- 
sic, such  as  have  their  principal  notes  lying  between  the  fifth 
of  the  key  and  its  octave  or  twelfth. 

PLA'GIARISM.  (From  the  Latin  legal  term  plagium, 
which  signified  the  offence  of  stealing  a  slave,  or  kidnapping 
a  free  person  into  slavery.)  A  plagiary,  in  the  modern  sense 
of  the  word,  is  one  who  borrows  without  acknowledgment, 
in  literary  composition,  the  thoughts  or  words  of  another ; 
and  the  theft  itself  is  styled  plagiarism. 

PLA'GIOSTOMES,  Plagiostoma.  (Gr.  irAnyiOf,  trans- 
verse, and  oto\i<x,  a  mouth.)  A  tribe  of  Cartilaginous  fishes, 
comprehending  all  those  which  have  the  mouth  situated 
transversely  beneath  the  snout.  Also  the  name  of  a  genus 
of  Univalve  Mollusks. 

PLAGUE.  "A  typhus  fever  eminently  contagious,  and 
attended  by  excessive  debility:  at  an  uncertain  period  of 
the  disease  carbuncles  or  buboes  ensue."  This  is  Cullen's 
brief  but  correct  definition  of  this  horrible  disease.  The  best 
account  of  the  plague,  and  of  its  ravages,  is  to  be  found  in 
Heberden's  work  on  the  Rise  and  Decline  of  Disease.  See 
also  the  article  Cholera  in  this  work. 

PLAID.  A  striped  or  variegated  cloth  much  worn  by  the 
Highlanders  of  Scotland,  forming  a  prominent  part  of  the 
national  costume,  and  indicating,  by  the  variety  of  its  pat- 
terns, the  different  Scottish  clans. 

PLAIN  CHANT.  In  Music,  a  term  in  ancient  ecclesias- 
tical music  to  signify  the  chief  melody,  which  was  confined 
within  the  natural  sounds  of  the  scale. 

PLAINS.  In  Geography,  the  general  term  for  all  those 
parts  of  the  dry  land  which  cannot  properly  be  called  moun- 
tainous, and  which  compose  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the 
earth's  surface.  Plains  have  different  physical  appearances 
according  to  their  geographical  position,  and  the  peculiar 
characteristics  of  each  have  procured  for  them  different 
names ;  thus  we  have  the  steppes  of  Asia,  the  deserts  of 
Africa,  the  pampas  of  South  America,  and  the  prairies  or 
savannahs  of  North  America.    See  these  different  terms. 

PLAN.  (Lat.  planus.)  A  drawing  of  something  on  a 
plane. 

Plan.  In  Architecture,  an  horizontal  section  of  the  walls, 
partitions,  staircases,  &c,  of  a  building,  showing  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  ground  plot. 

79 


PLANET. 

PLANA'RIA.  (Lat.  planus,  flat.)  Thenameofaeenus 
of  Sterelmintha,  or  Parenchymatous  Intestinalia  of  Cuvier, 
which  do  not  inhabit  the  interior  of  animal  bodies,  but  close- 
ly resemble,  in  their  organization,  the  parasitic  species  of 
Trematode  Entozoa.  They  lead  from  this  order  to  the 
Suctorious  Anellides  or  leeches. 

PLANE,  in  Geometry,  is  a  surface  without  curvature ;  or 
it  is  a  surface  such  that  if  any  two  points  whatever  in  it  be 
joined  by  a  straight  line,  the  whole  of  the  straight  line,  will 
be  in  the  surface. 

PLANE  PROBLEM,  in  Geometry,  is  a  problem  which 
can  be  solved  by  the  intersections  of  straight  lines  and  cir- 
cles, without  the  aid  of  the  conic  sections  or  any  of  the 
higher  curves.  Such  problems  as  require  the  construction 
of  the  conic  sections  were  called,  by  the  ancient  geometers, 
solid  problems. 

PLANE  SAILING,  in  Navigation,  is  the  art  of  determin- 
ing the  ship's  place,  on  the  supposition  that  she  is  moving 
on  a  plane,  or  that  the  surface  of  the  ocean  is  plane  instead 
of  being  spherical.  On  account  of  the  magnitude  of  the  ter- 
restrial radius,  this  supposition  may  be  adopted  for  short  dis- 
tances without  leading  to  great  errors  ;  and  it  affords  great 
facilities  in  calculation,  for  the  place  of  the  ship  is  found  by 
the  solution  of  a  right-angled  plane  triangle.  The  part  of 
the  meridian  between  the  ship  and  the  parallel  of  latitude 
of  the  place  whence  she  departed  forms  the  perpendicular 
of  the  triangle ;  the  distance  on  the  parallel  between  the 
place  of  departure  and  the  foot  of  the  perpendicular  is  the 
base  of  the  triangle  (technically  called  the  departure) ;  and 
the  distance  sailed  is  the  hypothenuse.  The  angle  at  the 
ship  is  called  the  course,  and  the  other  acute  angle  the 
complement  of  the  course.  Now,  of  these  four  things,  the 
perpendicular,  the  departure,  the  distance  sailed,  and  the 
course,  any  two  being  given,  the  triangle  can  be  laid  down 
on  the  chart,  and  all  the  other  parts  of  it  found.  See  Navi- 
gation. 

PLA'NET.  (Gr.  a$np  tt'XavriT-nq,  wandering  star.)  The 
name  given  by  the  ancient  Greeks  to  a  few  bright  and  con- 
spicuous stars  which  are  constantly  changing  their  apparent 
situations  in  the  celestial  sphere,  and  thus  appear  to  wander 
among  the  constellations.  The  modern  discovery  of  satel- 
lites and  periodic  comets  has  rendered  it  necessary  to  adopt 
a  more  precise  definition,  in  order  to  individualize  the  class 
of  objects  to  which  the  term  is  applied ;  and  accordingly 
modern  astronomers  understand  by  the  term  planet,  a  body 
which,  in  a  telescope  of  sufficient  power,  exhibits  a  round 
and  well-defined  disk,  and  which  revolves  about  the  sun  in 
an  elliptic  orbit,  not  differing  very  greatly  from  a  circle. 

The  number  of  planets,  including  the  earth,  at  present 
known  to  belong  to  the  solar  system,  is  eleven.  Five  of 
them — namely,  Mercury,  Venus,  Mars,  Jupiter,  and  Saturn 
— have  been  known  from  the  earliest  ages  of  astronomy ; 
Uranus  was  discovered  by  Sir  William  Herschel  in  1781 ; 
Ceres  by  Piazzi,  at  Palermo,  on  the  first  day  of  the  present 
century ;  and  the  discovery  was  soon  followed  by  that  of 
Juno,  Pallas,  and  Vesta.  The  last  four  are  never  visible  to 
the  naked  eye ;  under  favourable  circumstances  Uranus 
may  be  discerned  without  a  telescope ;  and  Mercury, 
though  it  appears  as  a  large  star,  is  seldom  to  be  seen  (in 
our  climates  at  least),  in  consequence  of  its  proximity  to  the 
sun. 

Of  the  apparent  Motions  of  the  Planets. — On  watching 
the  motions  of  any  of  the  conspicuous  planets  for  a  few 
days  or  weeks,  their  change  of  position  among  the  fixed  stars 
becomes  sufficiently  apparent,  even  without  the  aid  of  an 
instrument  to  measure  their  relative  distances.  Their  paths 
deviate  little  from  that  followed  by  the  sun  in  his  apparent 
annual  revolution  through  the  heavens  ;  but  their  motions 
are  exceedingly  irregular.  Sometimes  they  advance  rapid- 
ly, then  relax  in  their  speed,  come  to  a  stop,  and  then  move 
for  a  while  in  an  opposite  direction.  Through  the  most  con- 
siderable part  of  their  orbits  they  move  like  the  sun  from 
west  to  east,  in  opposition  to  the  apparent  diurnal  motion ; 
their  course  is  then  said  to  be  direct.  When  it  lies  in  the 
opposite  direction,  their  motion  is  retrograde  ;  and  between 
each  change  from  the  one  direction  to  the  other,  they  re- 
main for  a  few  days  stationary.  On  the  whole,  however, 
the  direct  motion  prevails,  and  the  planets  make  the  entire 
circuit  of  the  heavens.  These  phenomena,  which  are  call- 
ed the  stations  and  retrogradations  of  the  planets,  may  be 
exhibited  in  the  following  manner :  Let  E  C  represent  the 
ecliptic  developed  on  a 
plane  surface :  the  path 
of  a  planet,  found  by  lay- 
ing down  its  observed  po- 
sitions with  reference  to 
the  ecliptic  from  day  to 
day,  will  present  the  appearance  of  the  ziszag  line  P  Q.  R  S. 
From  P  to  Q.  the  motion  is  direct,  but  becomes  slower  as 
the  planet  approaches  to  Q..  At  Q.  it  is  stationary  ;  from 
<i  to  R  retrograde  ;  at  R  again  stationary  ;  from  R  to  S  di- 
rect, and  so  on.  Such  is  the  general  character  of  the  ap- 
3M*  937 


PLANET. 


parent  motion ;  but  the  arcs  and  times  of  retrogradation 
differ  great);  in  respect  of  the  different  planets. 

Mercury  and  Venus  exhibit  phenomena  peculiar  to  them- 
selves, inasmuch  as  they  never  appear  in  the  opposite 
quarter  af  the  heavens  to  the  sun,  but  oscillate  about  the 
sun  from  side  to  m<I<- ;  the  oscillations  of  tbe  former  being 
much  quicker,  ami  performed  in  a  much  smaller  arc  than 
those  of*  fie  latter.  The  distance  of  Venus  from  the  sun 
never  exceeds  an  arc  of  about  47°;  and  at  its  greatest  dis- 
tance the  planet  does  not  continue  above  the  horizon  more 
than  about  'i  hours  alter  sunset.  Its  brilliancy,  however, 
is  such,  that  it  may  frequently  be  seen  in  the  morning  sev- 
eral hours  after  tbe  sun  has  risen.  Mercury  never  recedes 
farther  from  the  sun  than  28°  20',  and  does  not  appear 
above  tbe  horizon  more  than  1  h.  40  m.  after  sunset,  or  be- 
fore sunrise.  For  these  reasons,  Mercury  and  Venus  were 
regarded  by  some  of  the  ancient  astronomers  as  satellites 
of  the  sun,  and  supposed  to  describe  orbits  round  that  lumi- 
nary. The  other  planets,  Mars,  Jupiter,  and  Saturn,  be- 
ing frequently  seen  in  opposition  to  the  sun,  and  at  all  dif- 
ferent distances  from  it,  were  supposed  to  have  independent 
motions. 

In  order  to  explain  and  represent  the  apparent  motions  of 
the  planets,  the  ancient  astronomers  had  imagined  various 
hypotheses,  of  which  the  most  celebrated  is  that  of  epicycles 
and  deferents,  invented  by  the  geometer  Apollonius ;  and 
adopted  by  Ptolemy,  after  whom  it  was  called  the  Ptolemaic 
system  of  the  universe,  and  implicitly  believed  in  during 
many  centuries.  According  to  this  hypothesis,  each  planet 
moves  uniformly  in  a  small  circle,  called  the  epicycle,  the 
centre  of  which  is  earned  along,  with  a  uniform  motion,  in 
the  circumference  of  another  large  circle,  called  the  deferent, 
which  has  the  earth  at  its  centre.  {See  Epicycle.)  By 
supposing  the  velocity  of  the  planet  in  its  epicycle  to  be 
greater  than  that  with  which  the  centre  of  the  epicycle  is 
carried  along  the  deferent,  and  by  assigning  proper  relations 
between  the  lengths  of  the  radii  of  the  epicycles  and  defer- 
ent circles  (their  absolute  lengths  are  immaterial),  the  ap- 
parent geocentric  motions  may  be  represented  with  all  the 
exactness  of  which  the  ancient  observations  admitted. 
Ptolemy  placed  the  earth  at  the  centre  of  the  universe,  and 
nearest  to  it  the  moon.  Next  to  the  moon  was  Mercury, 
then  Venus,  then  the  sun ;  after  which  followed  in  order 
Mars,  Jupiter,  and  Saturn;  the  distances  of  the  three  last 
being  arranged  according  to  their  respective  periods  of  revo- 
lution ;  it  being  natural  to  suppose  that  those  which  required 
the  longest  time  to  complete  their  periods  must  revolve  in 
the  widest  circles.  At  the  present  day,  and  familiar  as  we 
now  are  with  the  true  nature  of  the  celestial  motions,  this 
complicated  system  appears  abundantly  absurd ;  but  it 
should  be  recollected  that  Ptolemy  possessed  no  means  of 
forming  any  accurate  notions  of  the  distances  of  the  planets: 
he  was  unacquainted  with  the  alternate  increase  and  dim- 
inution of  their  apparent  diameters,  with  the  phases  of 
Venus,  and  all  the  other  information  afforded  by  the  tele- 
scope ;  in  short,  he  knew  of  no  phenomenon  which  could 
not  be  reconciled  to  his  theory  ;  and  he  does  not  appear  to 
have  ever  regarded  his  system  of  epicycles  and  deferents 
in  any  other  light  than  a  mere  hypothesis,  by  means  of 
which  the  celestial  motions  could  be  reduced  to  calculation. 
All  the  apparent  irregularities  of  the  planetary  move- 
ments are  got  rid  of  at  once  by  referring  them  to  the  sun 
as  a  centre,  instead  of  the  earth.  This  great  step  in  theo- 
retical astronomy  was  made  by  Copernicus,  who  fust  dem- 
onstrated that  all  the  phenomena  were  explicable  in  the  sim- 
plest manner  by  supposing  the  sun  to  be  placed  at  the  com- 
mon centre  of  the  planetary  motions,  and  ascribing  to  the 
earth  a  double  motion  :  namely,  a  diurnal  rotation  about  its 
axis,  and  an  annual  revolution  about  the  sun.  On  this  hy- 
pothesis, the  truth  Of  Which  has  been  established  by  a  mul- 
titude of  different  considerations,  the  stations  and  retrogra- 
dations  of  the  planets,  anil  all  the  geocentric  appearances 
which  so  much  perplexed  the  ancient  astronomers,  become 
simple  consequences  of  relative  motion.  In  order  to  illus 
trate  this,  let  us  consider  the  appearances  which  must  re- 
sult from  tin-  combined  motions  of  the  earth  and  an  inferior 
planet;  that  is,  a  planet  nearer  to  the  sun  than  the 'earth 
is.  Let  S  be  the  sun,  A  II  C  D  the 
orbit  of  the  earth,  and  abed  that  of 
MerCUiy,  both  moving  in  the  same 
direction,  or  in  the  order  of  the  let- 
Ab  ters.  Suppose  A  to  lie  (he  position 
of  the  earth,  and  a  that  of  Mercury 

at  its  greatest  eastern  elongation ;  the 
lim  \ „  u  ill  be  a  tangent  to  the  orbit 
at  a.  As  the  earth  advances  from  A 
towards  It.  and  the  planet  from  a  to- 
ward h,  the  angle  of  elongation  8  A  n  will  continue  to  di- 
minl  li  till  the  e  tlth  arrives  at  B  certain  point  I!,  when  the 
planet  is  at  //  In  the  same  straight  line  with  the  earth  and 

the  sun,  the  angles  A  S  B  and  a  S  b  described  by  the  earth 
and  the  planet  being  proportional  to  the  respective  mean 
DM 


angular  motions.  In  this  situation  the  planet  is  said  to  be 
at  iis  inferior  conjunction.  When  the  earth  has  passed  li- 
the planet,  advancing  with  a  more  rapid  angular  motion, 
will  begin  to  appear  on  the  western  side  of  the  sun,  and  the 
angle  of  elongation  continue  to  increase,  till  the  planet  ar- 
rives at  c,  and  the  earth  at  O,  where  the  visual  line  is  again 
a  tangent  to  the  orbit.  The  angle  of  elongation  has  now 
attained  a  second  time  its  maximum  value,  and  from  this 
point  will  continue  to  decrease,  till  it  vanishes  altogether 
when  the  earth  arrives  at  D  and  the  planet  tit  </,  the  three 
points  D  S  and  d  being  in  the  same  straight  line.  The 
plenet  is  now  at  its  superior  conjunction,  and  beyond  the 
sun.  Soon  after  this  the  planet  reappears  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  sun;  and  the  angle  of  elongation  continues  to 
increase  till  the  planet  comes  round  to  e,  and  the  earth  ar- 
rives at  E,  where  the  line  E  e  is  again  a  tangent  to  the  or- 
bit. The  earth,  the  planet,  and  the  sun  have  now  precise- 
ly the  same  relative  situations  in  respect  to  each  other  as 
they  had  when  the  earth  was  at  A  and  the  planet  at  a,  so 
that  the  series  of  changes  will  here  recommence  and  pro- 
ceed in  the  same  order  as  before.  The  intervals  after  which 
these  phenomena  occur  may  be  easily  computed  from  a 
knowledge  of  the  periods  of  revolution  of  the  earth  and 
planet,  and  of  the  proportion  of  the  radii  of  their  respective 
orbits,  which  is,  moreover,  known  immediately  from  the 
observed  angle  of  greatest  elongation,  S  A  a;  for,  since  S 
a  A  is  a  right  angle,  we  have  S  A  to  S  a  as  radius  to  the 
cosine  of  S  A  a  :  that  is,  the  radius  of  the  planet's  orbit  is 
equal  to  the  radius  of  earth's  orbit  multiplied  by  the  cosine 
angle  of  greatest  elongation. 

From  the  preceding  figure,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  the  phe- 
nomena of  the  stations  and  retrogradations  must  arise.  At 
the  point  b,  where  the  planet  is  at  its  inferior  conjunction, 
the  earth  and  planet  are  both  moving  in  the  same  direction  ; 
but,  as  the  planet  is  moving  faster,  it  will  leave  the  earth 
behind  it ;  and  the  apparent  motion,  as  seen  from  the  earth, 
will  be  the  same  as  if  the  planet  stood  still,  and  the  earth 
moved  in  a  contrary  direction,  with  a  velocity  equal  to  the 
difference  of  their  relative  motions.  The  apparent  motion 
of  the  planet  is,  therefore,  contrary  to  the  apparent  motion 
of  the  sun,  and  consequently  retrograde.  At  the  superior 
conjunction  d,  the  planet  and  earth  are  moving  in  opposite 
directions  in  respect  of  the  line  D  d ;  the  relative  motion  is 
therefore  the  same  as  if  the  planet  stood  still,  and  the  earth 
was  moving  in  its  proper  direction  with  a  velocity  equal  to 
their  united  motions:  the  apparent  motion  of  the  planet  in 
this  situation  is  therefore  direct.  At  the  points  of  greatest 
elongation,  a  and  c,  the  planet  is  moving  in  the  direction  of 
the  line  of  vision,  A  a  or  C  c,  and  the  earth  perpendicular 
(nearly)  to  that  line;  the  apparent  motion  of  the  planet  at 
those  points  is  therefore  direct.  But  since  it  is  direct  at  a 
and  c,  and  retrograde  at  b,  there  must  be  a  point  between  a 
and  b,  and  another  between  b  and  c,  where  the  apparent 
motion  is  neither  direct  nor  retrograde,  that  is,  where  the 
planet  appears  stationary.  The  problem  of  determining  the 
stationary  points  is  one  of  pure  geometry,  and  very  easily 
resolved  when  the  orbits  are  supposed  to  be  circular,  and 
the  motion  uniform;  hut,  in  the  case  of  elliptic  orbits  and 
unequable  motion,  it  is  considerably  more  complicated. 
The  stationary  points  of  Mercury  are  variable  from  15°  to 
20°  of  elongation  from  the  sun  ;  those  of  Venus  are  about 
29°.  Mercury  continues  to  retrograde  about  twenty-two 
days,  Venus  about  forty-two. 

The  apparent  motions  of  the  superior  planets,  or  those 
which  are  at  a  greater  distance  from  the  sun  than  the  earth 
is,  are  explained  with  equal  facility.  As  their  orbits  em- 
brace that  of  the  earth,  they  are  not  confined  to  certain 
limits  of  elongation  from  the  sun,  but  appear  at  all  distances 
from  it,  even  in  the  directly  opposite  quarter  of  the  heavens. 
When  they  are  in  conjunction,  they  air  situated  beyond  the 
sun,  in  the  same  straight  line  with  the  suti  and  earth;  and 
when  the  earth  comes  between  them  and  the  sun,  they  are 
said  to  be  iii  opposition.  All  the  superior  planets,  when  in 
opposition,  and  for  some  time  before  and  alter,  appear  to 
have  a  retrograde  motion  ;  but  the  extent  of  the  arc  of  retro- 
gradation,  tbe  time  during  which  the  motion  is  retrograde, 
ami  Hie  velocity,  are  \  erj  different  in  respect  of  the  different 
planets.  Mars  continues  to  retrograde  about  73 days,  Jupiter 
131,  and  Saturn  [38. 

Phases  of  the  Planets. — It  is  a  necessary  consequence  of 
the  Copemican  theory,  that  the  planets,  supposing  them  to 

be,  like  the  earth,  round  opake  bodies  illuminated  by  the 

sun,  must  evblliit  phases  like  the  moon,  according  to  the 
angles  under  which  the  illuminated   half  Of  their  surfaces 

is  seen  from  the  earth.  When  viewed  though  the  telescope, 
this  is  found  to  be  the  case  with  Mercury  and  Venus,  and 
to  a  certain  extent  ai-o  with  Mars ;  and  the  appearance  of 
the  phase  is.  in  every  case,  exactly  such  as  is  determined  a 

priori,  on  the  supposition  that  the  planet  is  seen  by  the  re- 
flected light  of  the  sun.     Let  S  be  the  sun.  K  the  earth,  and  V 

Venus,  in  different  positions  of  her  orbit.  When  the  planet 
is  at  Its  superior  conjunction  a,  the  whole  of  its  illuminated 


PLANET, 


.  rafface  is  seen  from  the  earth,  and  it  consequently  exhibits 
a  round  disk.  At  the  points  of  greatest  elongation,  b  and  *, 
one  half  only  of  the  illuminated  hemisphere  is  visible,  and 
it  therefore  appears  half-mooned  at  these  points.  At  c,  the 
inferior  conjunction,  the 
dark  side  is  turned  direct- 
ly to  the  earth,  and  it  is  con- 
sequently invisible.  Be- 
tween  a  and  b,  the  planet 
will  therefore  appear  gib- 
bous (e.  e.,  more  than  the 
half  full);  and  between  * 
and  c  it  will  appear  in  the 
form  of  a  crescent,  like  the  moon  in  its  first  or  last  quarter. 
The  phases  of  Mercury  are  precisely  similar.  With  respect 
to  the  superior  planets,  the  absence  of  phases  is  a  necessary 
consequence  of  their  great  distances,  from  the  sun  in  com- 
parison of  the  earth's  distance.  Let  S  be  the  sun,  E  the 
earth,  and  M  Mars.  It  is  evident  that,  as 
the  earth  goes  round  its  orbit,  the  smallest 
portion  of  the  enlightened  hemisphere,  m  z  n, 
will  be  visible  when  the  earth  is  at  E,  or  in 
such  a  position  that  the  angle  S  E  M  is  a 
right  angle.  Suppose  a  line,  therefore,  to  be 
drawn  from  the  centre  of  the  planet  perpen- 
dicular to  E  M,  and  intersecting  the  surface 
in  x,  the  visible  surface  will  be  contained  be- 
tween x  and  n,  so  that  the  disk  will  appear 
to  be  gibbous,  but  can  never  appear  as  a 
crescent.  These  phenomena  prove  in  the 
most  convincing  manner  that  the  planets  are 
opake  spherical  bodies,  deriving  their  light 
from  the  sun. 

Distances  and  Periodic  Twines  of  the  Planets. — Practical 
astronomy  furnishes  various  methods  of  determining  the 
distances  of  the  planets  from  the  sun  in  terms  of  the  earth's 
distance,  and  the  times  in  which  they  complete  their  revo- 
lutions. It  has  already  been  stated,  that  the  distances  of 
Mercury  and  Venus  may  be  compared  with  that  of  the  earth 
by  observing  the  angle  of  greatest  elongation.  In  the  case 
of  a  superior  planet,  an  approximation  to  the  relative  length 
of  the  radius  vector  (the  line  which  joins  the  planet  with 
the  sun)  may  be  obtained  by  observing  the  angular  velocity 
of  its  apparent  retrogradation  about  the  tune  when  it  is  in 
opposition.  Thus,  conceive  E  e  to  be  a  small  portion  of  the 
earth's  orbit  described  in  a  given 
interval  of  time,  a  day,  for  example, 
and   M  m  to  be  the  corresponding 

17JJ  portion  of  the  orbit  of  Mars  described 

~pT~  J  in  the  same  interval,  the  planet 
being  near  the  opposition.  Join  c 
m,  and  draw  e  n  parallel  to  S  M.  As  seen  from  e,  Mars 
will  appear  to  have  retrograded  from  n  to  m;  therefore  the 
angle  semis  given  by  observation,  and  consequently  its 
complement  m  e  E  becomes  known  (for  the  arc  E  e,  being 
very  small,  may  be  regarded  as  a  straight  line).  Now,  in 
the  triangle  e  S  E,  right-angled  at  E,  the  angle  at  S  is  given, 
being  the  angle  described  by  the  radius  vector  of  the  earth 
in  the  given  interval ;  consequently  the  angle  S  eE  becomes 
known,  and  hence  also  S  e  m.  Supposing,  therefore,  the 
periodic  time  of  Mars  to  be  known,  the  arc  M  m,  or  the 
angle  M  S  m,  will  be  given ;  and  therefore  ra  S  e,  which  is 
its  difference  from  E  S  e,  becomes  known.  In  the  triangle 
Sera,  we  have  therefore  given  the  two  angles  S  e  m,  and 
e  S  nt,  and  consequently  also  the  third  angle  e  m  S,  whence 
the  triangle  is  given  in  species,  and  the  ratio  of  S  e  to  S  ra  is 
determined.  But  S  m  is  the  distance  of  Mars  from  the  sun, 
which,  therefore,  is  determined  in  terms  of  the  radius  vec- 
tor of  the  earth. 

The  method  of  finding  the  planet's  distance,  which  has 
just  been  described,  requires  that  the  periodic  time  be  pre- 
viously known.  There  are  various  methods  of  determining 
the  periodic  time,  independently  of  a  knowledge  of  the  dis- 
tance of  the  planet  from  the  earth.  One  is  to  observe  the 
times  at  which  the  planet  is  in  either  of  its  nodes,  i.  e.,  when 
it  passes  through  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic.  As  the  orbits 
are  all  inclined  to  the  ecliptic,  and  have  the  sun  nearly  at 
their  centres,  they  are  intersected  by  the  plane  of  the  eclip- 
tic in  two  opposite  points,  which  are  called  the  nodes.  Now 
it  is  easy  to  ascertain  by  observation  when  a  planet  is  in  its 
node  ;  for,  as  it  then  passes  from  the  one  side  of  the  ecliptic 
to  the  other,  from  the  north  to  the  south  side,  for  example, 
we  have  only  to  convert  the  observed  right  ascensions  and 
declinations  into  longitudes  and  latitudes,  and  the  change 
from  north  to  south  latitude  between  two  successive  obser- 
vations will  indicate  that  the  planet  has  passed  its  node  in 
the  interval ;  while  a  simple  proportion,  grounded  on  the 
quantity  of  its  motion  in  latitude,  will  fix  the  precise  hour 
and  minute  at  which  it  was  in  the  ecliptic.  The  interval 
between  two  successive  passages  of  the  planet  through  the 
same  node  differs  from  the  sidereal  period,  or  the  interval 
which  the  planet  occupies  in  returning  to  the  same  point  of 


the  heavens,  or  the  same  star,  as  seen  from  the  centre  of 
the  sun,  by  a  very  small  quantity,  depending  on  a  minute 
motion  of  the  node,  and  which  in  a  general  view  of  the 
subject  may  be  disregarded. 

Another  and  more  convenient  method  of  finding  the 
period  of  a  superior  planet  consists  in  determining,  from  the 
observations  of  a  few  consecutive  days,  the  exact  time  at 
which  it  is  in  opposition  to  the  sun.  At  this  instant  the 
longitude  of  the  planet  is  180°,  and  on  the  day  of  the  oppo- 
sition it  passes  the  meridian  twelve  hours  after  the  sun. 
The  interval  between  two  successive  returns  to  the  opposi- 
tion is  the  synodic  period  of  the  planet ;  this  differs  very 
considerably  from  the  sidereal  period,  but  the  latter  is  easily 
deduced  from  it.  Let  E  and  J  be  the  positions  of  the  earth 
and  Jupiter,  when  Jupiter  is  in  opposi- 
tion. The  next  opposition  will  take 
place  after  the  earth  has  made  a  com- 
plete revolution,  together  with  a  certain 
arc  \i  e,  which  we  shall  call  x,  corre- 
sponding to  Jupiter's  angular  motion  in 
the  interval.  Now  the  number  of  days 
between  the  two  oppositions,  or  the  sy- 
nodic period,  is  known  :  call  this  305  + 
t ;  then  the  time  in  which  the  arc  E  e 
or  x  has  been  described  becomes  t  days. 
We  have  therefore  365 :  t : :  360°  :  x  ;  whence  z,  or  the 
angle  J  Sj,  is  known.    But,  ii'  p  denote  the  sidereal  period, 

we  shall  have  x  :  360°  ::t:p,  and  therefore  v  —  — — .    On 

x 
account  of  the  orbits  not  being  exactly  circular,  these  inter- 
vals are  not  quite  equal ;  but  by  taking  the  average  of  a 
considerable  number  of  observed  oppositions,  the  inequalities 
disappear,  and  the  mean  synodic  periods  (and  consequently 
the  sidereal  periods)  are  obtained  with  the  utmost  accuracy. 
The  following  table  exhibits  the  mean  sidereal  periods  of 
the  planets,  and  their  mean  distances  from  the  sun,  in 
terms  of  the  mean  distance  of  the  earth  from  the  sun  being 
supposed  equal  to  unity.     {Baily's  Astronomical  Tables.) 


Planet. 

Mean  Sidereal  Pe- 
riod. 

Mean  Distance  from 

the  Sun. 

Mercury 

Days. 

S7-96i<258 

0-387098 

Venus    .... 

224  7007S7 

0-723332 

The  Earth     . 

365-2'6361 

l-ooooto 

Mars      .... 

6!-6  979646 

1  523692 

Vesta     .... 

1325  743100 

2  3t>7S:0 

Juno      .... 

1592-660800 

2-669009 

Ceres     .... 

1681393100 

2  767245 

Pallas     .... 

1686  538800 

2-772tSi6 

Jupiter  .... 

4332-5I-4--'! 

5  202776 

Saturn    .... 

10759  219-17 

9-533786 

Uranus  .... 

306S6-820830 

191S2390 

Relations  between  the  Periods  and  Distances. — On  com- 
paring the  columns  of  the  above  table,  the  idea  of  a  certain 
relation  between  the  periods  and  distances  cannot  fail  to 
suggest  itself,  as  they  both  increase  in  a  tolerably  regular 
progression  (the  four  small  planets  between  Mars  and 
Jupiter  being  accounted  as  one),  though  the  periods  in- 
crease in  a  much  more  rapid  proportion  than  the  distances. 
Jupiter,  for  example,  is  five  times  more  distant  from  the 
sun  than  the  earth  is,  but  his  period  is  nearly  twelve  times 
that  of  the  earth.  Kepler,  the  great  founder  of  physical 
astronomy,  undertook  to  investigate  the  analogy ;  and, 
after  a  most  laborious  comparison  of  the  numbers  (and 
their  various  powers)  representing  the  periodic  times  and 
the  mean  distances  of  the  six  planets  known  in  his  age, 
discovered  this  most  remarkable  law:  "That  the  squares 
of  the  periodic  times  of  any  two  planets  are  to  each  other 
in  the  same  proportion  as  the  cubes  of  their  mean  distances 
from  the  sun."  (See  Kepler's  Laws.)  Taking,  for  ex- 
ample, the  earth  and  Mars,  whose  periods  are  respectively 
305-256  and  686-979  days,  and  distances  in  the  proportion 
of  1  and  1-5237,  it  will  be  found  that  (365-256)2  :  (686-9792 : : 
1 :  (1-5237)3,  very  nearly.  Nor  is  this  merely  an  empirical 
relation,  tleduced  from  observed  facts,  but  not  referable  to 
any  known  cause  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  a  necessary  result 
of  the  law  of  gravitation,  and  pregnant  with  important  con- 
sequences. From  its  being  observed  in  the  planetary  sys- 
tem, it  follows  that  all  the  planets  are  bodies  of  the  same 
kind  as  the  earth,  and  that  they  are  all  ncted  upon  in  the 
same  manner  by  the  solar  attraction  (modified  only  by  the 
distance),  which  alone  determines  their  periods,  and  retains 
them  in  their  orbits. 

A  curious  relation  of  the  numbers  which  express  the 
relative  distances  of  the  planets  from  the  sun  was  dis- 
covered by  M.  Bode,  an  astronomer  of  Berlin.  Let  the 
number  10  be  assumed  to  represent  Ihe  distance  of  the  earth 
from  the  sun  ;  then  the  distances  of  the  other  planets  may 
be  expressed  in  round  numbers  as  follows  : 
Mercury         .        .        .        .        4=4 

Venus 7=4  +  3-20 

The  Earth      ....      10=4  +  3-21 

939 


PLANET. 


Mars 16  =  4  +  3-22 

The  four  New  Planets  .        .       28  =  4  +  323 

Jupiter 52=4  +  3-1 

Saturn 100=4  +  325 

Urunus 196  =  4  +  326 

It  had  been  conjectured  by  Kepler  that  an  unknown  planet 
must  exist  circulating  between  the  orbits  of  Mars  and  Jupi- 
ter, a  conjecture  which  was  strangely  verified  by  the  dis- 
covery of  four  planets  circulating  in  that  region,  nearly  in 
equal  periods,  and  at  equal  distances  from  the  sun,  and 
exactly  in  the  place  where  a  planet  was  wanting  to  fill  up 
the  above  progression.  The  progression  is,  however,  purely 
empirical,  and  not  even  very  accurate  ;  yet  it  agrees  so 
well,  on  the  whole,  with  the  actual  distances  of  the  planets, 
that  one  can  scarcely  help  thinking  it  must  be  connected 
in  some  manner  with  the  essential  constitution  of  the 
planetary  system. 

Real  Dimensions  of  the  Planetary  Orbits. — Hitherto  we 
have  spoken  of  the  distances  of  the  planets  from  the  sun 
only  in  relation  to  the  sun's  distance  from  the  earth ;  but 
it  is  interesting  to  determine  what  these  distances  actually 
are  in  terms  of  some  measure  with  which  we  are  familiarly 
acquainted.  In  consequence  of  Kepler's  law  of  the  rela- 
tion between  the  periods  and  distances,  if  the  real  dimen- 
sions of  any  one  orbit  have  been  ascertained,  those  of  all 
the  other  orbits  will  be  found  immediately  when  the 
periodic  times  of  the  planets  are  respectively  known.  In 
fact,  the  dimensions  of  the  orbits  having  been  already  stated 
in  terms  of  that  of  the  earth,  it  is  only  necessary  to  find  the 
earth's  distance  from  the  sun,  in  order  to  find  the  respective 
distances  of  all  of  them.  Now,  to  find  the  earth's  distance 
from  the  sun  is  the  same  thing  as  to  find  the  sun's  hori- 
zontal parallax,  that  is,  the  angle  which  the  radius  of  the 
earth  would  subtend  if  seen  from  the  sun  ;  for  the  determi- 
nation of  that  angle  gives  the  relation  between  the  earth's 
distance  and  its  semidiameter,  which  is  known  from  the 
actual  measurement  of  degrees  of  the  terrestrial  meridian. 
Of  the  various  methods  which  astronomers  possess  of  de- 
termining the  sun's  horizontal  parallax,  the  most  accurate 
is  that  which  depends  on  observations  of  the  transits  of 
Venus  over  the  sun's  disk  ;  a  phenomenon,  however,  of 
very  rare  occurrence,  so  that  the  method  can  very  seldom 
be  practised. 

When  Venus  is  at  her  inferior  conjunction,  and  at  the 
same  time  very  near  one  of  her  nodes,  the  planet  will  be 
projected  on  the  disk  of  the  sun  ;  and  through  the  effect  of 
her  proper  motion,  combined  with  that  of  the  earth,  will 
be  seen  as  a  black  spot  to  pass  over,  or  transit,  the  solar 
disk,  describing  a  chord  which  will  be  referred  to  different 
positions  on  the  disk  by  observers  stationed  at  different 
points  on  the  earth's  surface.    Let  E  be  the  earth,  V  Venus, 

S  the  sun,  and  C 
D  a  portion  of 
Venus's  orbit,  de- 
scribed while  she 
is  transiting  the 
sun's  disk.  Sup- 
pose A  and  B  to 
be  the  two  opposite  extremities  of  the  earth's  diameter 
which  is  perpendicular  to  the  ecliptic :  a  spectator  at  A 
would  sec  the  centre  of  Venus  projected  on  the  sun's  disk 
at  a,  and  describing  in  her  successive  positions  the  chord  a' 
a  a"  ;  while  a  spectator  placed  at  B  would,  at  the  same 
instant,  see  her  projected  on  the  disk  at  ft,  and  describing 
the  chord  V  ft  b" .  Now  it  is  evident  that  if  there  be  any 
means  of  measuring  the  distance  between  the  two  chords 
a'  a"  and  b'  4",  or  the  line  a  ft,  that  distance  will  give  the 
Bun's  horizontal  parallax;  for  the  two  triangles  A  V  B  and 
a  V  b  being  similar,  a  b  is  to  A  B  as  a  V  to  A  V,  or  as  the 
distance  of  Venus  from  the  sun  is  to  the  distance  of  Venus 
from  the  earth.  But  the  relative  distances  of  the  earth 
and  Venus  from  the  sun  are  known ;  therefore  the  ratio  of 
a  V  to  A  V  is  known,  and  consequently  that  of  a  b  to  A  B. 
This  ratio  is  that  of  (iri  to  27,  or  2J  to  1  (very  nearly)  ; 
therefore  the  distance  a  b  as  seen  from  the  earth  Ifi  2.t 
times  greater  than  A  B  as  seen  from  the  sun,  or,  which  is 
the  same  thing,  equal  to  5  times  the  sou's  horizontal  paral- 
lax. The  whole  difficulty  of  the  problem,  therefore,  con- 
sists in  determining  the  distance  of  the  two  chords  a'  a" 
and  V  b",  or  their  relative  positions  on  the  sun's  disk,  from 
which  their  distance  can  be  deduced.  One  of  the  beat  u  ays 
of  accomplishing  this  is  to  note,  with  great  accuracy,  the 
instants  at  which  Venus  enters  and  emerges  from  the  solar 
disk,  so  as  to  obtain  the  exact  time  occupied  in  the  transit ; 
for,  the  relative  motion  of  Venus  being  accurately  known, 
the  time  occupied  In  the  transit  gives  the  length  of  the  chord 
described ;  and  the  sun's  apparent  diameter  being  also 
known,  the  arcs  cat  off  by  a'  a"  and  ft'  b"  are  thus  found, 
and  the  difference  between  the  versed  sines  of  those  arcs  is 
evidently  the  distance  between  the  chords,  or  the  line  a  ft. 
The  problem,  however, is  rendered  much  more  complicated 
by  the  earth's  rotation,  and  other  circumstances  here  neg- 
940 


lected,  of  which  It  is  unnecessary  to  take  account  in  3 
general  explanation. 

The  last  transit  of  Venus  took  place  in  1769,  and  was  the 
occasion  of  the  first  of  the  celebrated  voyages  of  Captain 
Cook  to  Otaheite.  It  was  observed  at  Otaheitc.  at  Wardhus 
in  Norway,  at  Cajaneburg,  and  Kola  in  Lapland ;  at  Peters- 
burg, Paris,  California,  Hudson's  Bay,  &c.  The  general 
result  of  nil  the  observations  gave  the  sun's  horizontal 
parallax  equal  to  8-5776".  Hence  the  sun's  distance  is  given 
in  terms  of  the  earth's  radius  by  the  proportion 

sin.  8-5776"  :  radius  :  :  radius  of  earth  i  sun's  distance  ; 

whence,  on  reducing  the  radius  of  a  circle  to  seconds,  we 

,    .,,  360  X  60  X  60 

have  the  sun 's  distance  =     —  — — =  24047 

8-5776  X  2  X  314159 
terrestrial  radii.     Assuming  the  earth's  semidiameter  (see 
Earth)  to  be  4000  miles  in  round  numbers,  the  sun's  dis- 
tance from  the  earth  will   therefore  be  24047  x  4000  = 
96,188,000,  or  about  90  millions  of  English  miles. 

This  application  of  the  transits  of  the  inferior  planets  to 
the  important  purpose  of  determining  the  sun's  distance  from 
the  earth  was  first  pointed  out  by  James  Gregory,  in  his 
Optica  Promota,  published  in  1663.  Those  of  Venus  recur 
after  intervals  of  113  years;  but  as  Venus  returns  to  her 
conjunction  at  nearly  the  same  point  of  her  orbit  in  about 
eight  years,  and  the  difference  of  her  latitude  at  two  succes- 
sive conjunctions  amounts  only  to  20'  or  24',  which  is  less 
than  the  Bun's  diameter,  it  will  generally  happen  that  two 
transits  take  place  within  eight  years ;  the  first  before  the 
planet  has  passed  the  node,  and  the  second  after  the  passage 
of  the  node.  But  three  transits  cannot  take  place  within  16 
years  ;  hence,  after  two  transits  have  occurred  within  8 
years,  another  cannot  be  expected  before  105,  that  is,  113  — 
8  years,  and  may  not  happen  until  after  121  years.  The 
two  last  transits  took  place  in  1761  and  1769;  the  two  next 
will  take  place  in  1874  and  1882;  after  which  there  will 
not  be  another  till  2004.  By  reason  of  the  small  distance 
of  Mercury  from  the  sun,  the  difference  between  his  hori- 
zontal parallax  and  that  of  the  sun  cannot  be  so  accurately 
ascertained  :  and  hence  the  transits  of  that  planet,  though 
of  more  frequent  occurrence  than  those  of  Venus,  cannot 
be  employed  with  such  certainty  in  determining  the  sun's 
parallax. 

Having  found  the  mean  distance  of  the  earth  from  the 
sun  in  terms  of  a  known  unit,  the  mean  distances  of  all 
the  other  planets  from  the  sun,  the  ratios  of  which  to  that 
of  the  earth  were  given  above,  may  be  expressed  in  the 
same  terms.    They  are,  in  round  numbers,  as  follows  : 

Miles. 

Mercury  ....  37,000,000 

Venus 68,000,000 

The  Earth      ....  90,000,000 

Mara 142,000,000 

Ceres 262,000,000 

Jupiter 485,000,000 

Saturn    .        .        .      ■ .        .  890,000,000 

Uranus 1,800,000,000 

Inclination  and  Nodes  of  the  Planetary  Orbits. — The 
planes  of  the  planetary  orbits  are  inclined  to  each  other 
under  different  angles,  and.  in  determining  the  circumstances 
of  a  planet's  motion,  one  of  the  first  steps  to  be  taken  is  to 
fix  the  situation  in  space  of  the  plane  in  which  it  moves. 
For  this  purpose  it  is  necessary  to  refer  it  to  some  other 
plane  whose  situation  is  assumed  to  be  known.  The  plane 
of  the  ecliptic  is  that  to  which  we  naturally  refer  the  bodies 
of  the  solar  system,  and  the  line  of  the  equinoxes  is  taken 
as  the  origin  (if  angular  reckoning  in  that  plane.  Hence,  to 
determine  the  position  in  space  of  the  plane  of  a  planet's 
orbit,  we  must  determine  its  inclination  to  the  ecliptic,  and 
the  position  of  the  line  in  which  it  Intersects  the  ecliptic 
with  respect  to  the  line  of  the  equinoxes.  Let  S  be  the  sun, 
P  N  II  the  orbit  of  a  planet,  and  p  N  Q, 
the  projection  of  that  orbit  on  the  plane 
of  the  ecliptic,  intersecting  the  line  of 
the  equinoxes  S  U  in  (1  ;  then  tl  is  the 
point  from  which  the  longitudes  are 
reckoned,  N  is  the  node,  S  N  the  line  of 
the  nodes,  or  line  in  which  the  plane  of  jyC 
the  orbit  intersects  the  ecliptic,  the  angle 
Q,  S  N  the  longitude  of  the  node  as  seen 
from  the  sun,  and  P  N  p  the  inclination  of  the  orbit.  If  R 
be  supposed  to  he  on  the  south  side  of  the  ecliptic,  and  P 
on  the  north  side,  and  the  planet's  motion  to  be  in  the  di- 
rection K  P,  then  N  is  the  ascending-  node.  The  place  of 
the  node  is  determined  by  observing  the  planet  when  its 
latitude  Is  very  nearly  equal  to  nothing:  and  the  equinoctial 
point  U  being  known,  the  geocentric,  longitude  of  the  node 
(the  angle  formed  by  drawing  Straight  lines  from  U  and  N 
to  the  earth)  is  determined  by  observation  ;  whence  there 
are  Sufficient  data  for  computing,  by  a  trigonometrical  pro- 
cess, the  heliocentric  longitude  U  S  N,  and  also  the  incline 
tion  PNj.    The  places  of  the  nodes  are  not  absolutely 


PLANET. 


fixed.  In  consequence  of  the  mutual  attractions  of  the 
planets  to  each  other,  they  have  a  slow  retrograde  motion 
in  respect  of  the  fixed  stars.  The  inclinations  are  also 
subject  to  a  slight  variation,  but  so  small  as  to  amount  at 
most  to  a  few  seconds  in  a  century.  Hence,  in  mentioning 
the  longitudes  of  the  nodes,  and  the  inclinations  of  the  orbits, 
it  is  necessary  to  state  the  epoch  to  which  the  values  refer. 
In  the  following  table  the  values  correspond  to  the  1st  Jan- 
uary, 1801  ;  excepting  those  for  Vesta,  Juno,  Ceres,  and 
Pallas,  which  are  referred  to  January  1,  1820 : 


Planet. 

Inclination. 

Longitude  of 
ascending  node. 

0      '       " 

O      '        " 

Mercury 

7      0      91 

45    57    30-9 

3    23    28-5 

74    54     12-9 

I    51      6-2 

48      0      3-5 

Vesta 

7      8      9-0 

103     13     18-2 

13      4      9-7 

17!      7    40-4 

10    37    26-2 

80    41     24  0 

Pi)  las 

34    34    55-0 

172    39    26-8 

Jupiter       .       .       . 

1     18    51-3 

98    28    18-9 

2    29    35-7 

111     56    37-4 

Uranus 

0    46    28-4 

72    59    35-3 

The  ancients  gave  the  name  of  zodiac  to  that  zone  of  the 
heavens  within  which  the  planets  were  observed  to  move, 
and  which,  consequently,  had  a  breadth  of  14°,  or  twice  the 
inclination  of  the  orbit  of  Mercury.  Tile  inclinations  of  the 
four  recently  discovered  planets  being  greater  than  that  of 
Mercury,  they  go  beyond  the  zodiac,  and  hence  have  been 
named  the  eztra-zodiacal  planets. 

Figures  of  the  Planetary  Orbits. — When  the  inclination 
of  a  planet's  orbit  and  the  situation  of  the  line  of  the  nodes 
have  been  determined,  the  radius  vector  of  the  planet,  at 
any  instant,  may  be  computed  in  terms  of  the  sun's  distance 
from  the  earth,  from  the  planet's  latitude  and  longitude 
found  by  a  single  observation.  By  computing,  therefore,  the 
values  of  its  radius  vector  at  a  great  many  different  points 
of  the  orbit,  and  laying  down  each  on  paper  at  the  proper 
angle  of  elongation  round  the  sun,  the  form  of  the  orbit 
which  the  planet  describes  will  be  ascertained.  A  few  ob- 
servations of  this  sort  will  show  that  the  radius  vector  va- 
ries in  length,  and,  consequently,  that  the  orbit  is  eccentric. 
This  fact  was  known  from  the  time  of  Hipparchus ;  but  the 
true  form  of  the  planetary  orbits  was  not  discovered  till 
Kepler  found,  by  a  laborious  computation  of  the  distances 
of  Mars  at  its  oppositions,  from  the  observations  of  Tyclio 
Brahe,  that  the  orbit  of  that  planet  is  an  ellipse.  He  subse- 
quently found  the  same  thing  to  be  true  of  the  orbit  of  the 
earth,  and  of  the  other  planets  then  known  ;  and  hence  es- 
tablished the  first  of  those  important  laws  respecting  the 
planetary  motions  which  still  go  by  his  name,  viz.  that  the 
orbits  of  all  the  planets  are  ellipses,  of  which  the  sun  occu- 
pies one  of  the  foci.     See  Kepler's  Laws. 

The  same  observations  which  show  the  orbit  to  be  an  el- 
lipse will  also  serve  for  the  determination  of  its  eccentrici- 
ty, which  is  half  the  difference  between  its  greatest  and 
least  distances.  The  only  element  which  then  requires  to 
be  known,  in  order  to  fix  the  path  described  by  the  planet 
in  space,  is  the  position  of  the  orbit  on  its  plane,  or  the 
situation  of  its  transverse  axis  with  respect  to  the  line  of  the 
f,  equinoxes.    Let  A  B  P  be  the  projec- 

tion of  an  orbit  on  the  plane  of  the 
ecliptic,  A  B  its  transverse  axis,  and 
S  Q.  the  line  of  the  equinoxes,  S  being 
the  focus  occupied  by  the  sun.  The 
point  A  is  the  perihelion  of  the  orbit, 

7 Q  and  B  the  aphelion  ;  the  line  A  B  is  the 

X. S  line  of  the  apsides  ;  and  the  position  of 

A  B  with  respect  to  S  Q,  will  be  known 
hy  means  of  one  of  the  angles  Q.  S  A  or  Q  S  B,  which  are 
respectively  the  longitudes  of  these  points.  In  modem  ta- 
bles, the  angle  Q.  S  A,  or  longitude,  of  the  perihelion,  is  that 
whose  value  is  given.  The  following  table  shows  the  ec- 
centricities and  longitudes  of  the  perihelia  of  the  different 
planets ;  the  epoch,  as  before,  being  January  1, 1801,  for  the 
old  planets,  and  1820  for  the  four  new  ones : 


Planet. 

Eccentricity. 

Longitude  of  Peri* 
helion. 

Mercury     . 

0-20i515 

O      '       " 

74    21     47 

Venus 

0-006S61 

123    43    53 

The  Earth 

0-016784 

99    30      5 

Mars           .        . 

0-093307 

332    23    67 

Vesta           t  '    . 

0-089130 

249    33    24 

Juno           .    *    . 

0-257848 

53    33    46 

Cerrs 

0-078439 

147      7    31 

Pallas 

0-24 I64S 

121      7      4 

Jupiter 

0048162 

11      8    35 

Saturn         ,        .        . 

0-0i61-1t 

89      9    30 

Uranus 

0046679 

167    31     16 

a  state  of  continual  but  slow  revolution,  so  that  the  peri- 
helia are  gradually  shifting  their  places  on  the  planes  of  the 
orbits.  In  the  case  of  all  the  planets  excepting  Venus  the 
motion  of  the  line  of  the  apsides  is  direct ;  that  is  to  say, 
it  is  in  the  same  direction  as  the  motion  of  the  planet  in  its 
orbit  The  perihelion  of  Venus,  referred  to  the  fixed  6tars, 
moves  in  a  contrary  direction. 

Motion  of  the  Planets  in  their  Orbits. — When  the  six 
elements  of  which  numerical  values  have  now  been  given, 
viz.  the  mean  distance  and  periodic  time,  the  inclination 
of  the  orbit  and  longitude  of  the  node,  the  eccentricity  and 
longitude  of  the  perihelion,  have  been  determined  for  each 
planet,  it  will  be  possible  to  compute  the  position  of  a  planet 
in  its  orbit,  provided  we  know  the  law  according  to  which 
the  planet  moves  at  every  point  of  the  orbit,  and  also  the 
instant  of  time  at  which  it  occupied  any  given  point.  The 
motion  in  the  orbit  is  given  by  the  second  of  Kepler's  laws ; 
viz.  "The  areas  described  by  the  radius  vector  are  propor- 
tional to  the  times  employed  in  describing  them."  Thus, 
if  the  planet  has  moved  from  A  to  P  (see  the  preceding 
figure),  or  the  radius  vector  S  P  has  described  the  area 
A  S  P  in  the  time  t,  and  the  area  A  Sp  in  the  time  t' ;  then 
f.t'::  sector  PSA:  sector  p  S  A.  The  problem  which 
proposes  to  find  the  point  P,  or  the  angle  ASP  (which  is 
called  the  true  anomaly),  from  the  condition  that  the  area 
ASP  shall  be  to  the  whole  ellipse  as  the  given  time  in 
which  A  P  is  described  is  to  the  time  of  a  whole  revolution, 
is  important  in  practical  astronomy,  and  known  by  the  name 
of  Kepler's  problem.     See  Kepler's  Problem. 

Magnitude  and  Rotation  of  the  Planets. — When  the  plan- 
ets are  examined  through  powerful  telescopes,  they  are 
seen  to  be  round  bodies,  having  measurable,  and  even  con- 
siderable, apparent  diameters.  The  distance  of  a  planet 
being  known,  if  the  visual  angle  subtended  by  its  diameter 
be  measured  by  the  micrometer,  the  real  magnitude  of  its 
diameter  will  be  discovered.  In  this  manner  it  is  found 
that  all  the  planets  are  incomparably  smaller  than  the  sun, 
though  some  of  them  are  vastly  larger  than  the  earth.  The 
diameter  of  Jupiter  is  eleven  times  greater  than  that  of  the 
earth,  whence  his  volume  is  about  1280  times  greater  than 
the  earth.  That  of  Saturn  is  little  less  considerable.  The 
surfaces  of  the  larger  planets  are  also  seen  to  be  diversified 
by  dark  patches  or  spots,  from  the  attentive  observation  of 
which  it  is  found  that  they  resemble  the  earth  in  having  a 
rotation  about  their  own  axes.  Mercury,  Venus,  and  Mars 
revolve  about  their  axes  in  nearly  the  same  time  as  the 
earth  ;  Jupiter  and  Saturn  in  less  than  half  that  time.  The 
four  new  planets,  Vesta,  Juno,  Ceres,  and  Pallas,  are  so 
small  and  indistinctly  seen  that  their  diameters  cannot  be 
accurately  measured,  and  their  periods  of  rotation  are  un- 
known. Pallas,  considered  to  be  the  largest  of  them,  was 
supposed  by  Sir  William  Herschel  to  have  a  diameter  of 
only  80  English  miles.  In  the  following  table  the  true  di- 
ameters and  the  volumes  are  given  in  terms  of  the  diame- 
ter and  volume  of  the  earth,  supposed  to  be  unit: 


Planet. 

Diameter. 

Volume. 

Sidereal  Rota- 
tion. 

hrs.    m.  set. 

Mercury 

0-398 

0-063 

24      5    28 

Venus 

0-975 

0927 

23    21      7 

The  Earth 

1000 

1000 

24      0      0 

Mars           .        .         . 

0-517 

0-139 

24    39    21 

Jupiter 

10-860 

1280-900 

9     55    50 

Sa'urn 

9-982 

995-000 

10    29     17 

Uranus 

4-332 

80-490 

unknown. 

The  eccentricities  of  all  the  planets  are  subject  to  a  very 
small  secular  variation ;  the  line  of  the  apsides  is  also  in 

77 


(For  other  particulars  respecting  the  appearances  and  phys- 
ical condition  of  the  several  planets,  their  masses,  densities, 
&c,  see  the  respective  terms.) 

The  force  which  retains  the  planets  in  their  orbits  is  the 
attraction  of  the  sun ;  and,  if  they  were  acted  upon  by  no 
other  force,  the  laws  of  Kepler  would  be  accurately  observ- 
ed, and  the  elements  of  their  orbits  would  remain  invaria- 
ble. But  each  planet  exercises  an  attracting  force  on  every 
other,  in  consequence  of  which  their  motions,  though  prin- 
cipally obedient  to  the  predominating  influence  of  the  sun, 
are  affected  by  a  number  of  forces  of  which  the  intensities 
and  directions  are  perpetually  changing.  Hence  all  the 
elements  of  the  orbits,  their  magnitudes  and  forms,  their 
inclinations  to  the  ecliptic,  and  their  positions  on  their 
planes,  are  in  a  state  of  constant  oscillation  ;  fluctuating, 
however,  between  certain  mean  values  from  which  they 
never  greatly  depart.     See  Gravitation,  Perturbatioh. 

Hypothesis  of  Laplace,  respecting  the  Formation  of  the 
Planetary  System.— The  motion  of  the  planets  in  elliptic 
orbits,  and  the  relation  between  their  periods  and  distances, 
are  necessary  consequences  of  the  law  of  graritation  which 
prevails  throughout  the  universe  ;  but  the  solar  system 
presents  several  remarkable  phenomena  of  which  gravita- 
tion fails  to  give  any  account,  which  cannot  be  supposed  to 
be  the  effect  of  accident,  and  which  lead  almost  irresistibly 
to  the  conclusion  that  all  the  bodies  which  belong  to  it  have 
had  a  common  origin,  and  been  formed  under  the  agency 

941 


PLANE  TABLE. 

of  the  same  mechanical  laws.  All  the  planets,  as  well  as 
satellites,  move  in  the  same  direction,  from  west  to  east. 
The  orbits  of  all  the  large  planets  are  situated  very  nearly 
in  the  plane  of  the  elliptic  ;  and,  so  far  as  has  been  discov- 
ered, they  all  revolve  about  their  axes  in  the  same  direc- 
tion, also  from  west  to  east.  To  account  for  these  phe- 
nomena, Laplace  has  hazarded  the  speculation  that  all  the 
planets  and  satellites  have  had  their  origin  in  the  solar  at- 
mosphere, which  lie  supposes  to  have  extended  beyond  the 
orbits  of  the  most  distant  planets,  and  to  have  undergone  a 
progressive  contraction  by  the  radiation  of  heat  into  the 
stellar  spaces.  Now,  as  the  solar  atmosphere  partakes  of 
the  sun's  rotation  about  its  axis,  and  in  fact  may  be  regard- 
ed as  part  of  his  mass,  in  proportion  as  its  limits  are  con- 
tracted by  cooling  the  rotatory  motion  most  increase,  ac- 
cording to  a  well-known  principle  of  mechanics ;  and  the 
centrifugal  force  thus  becoming  greater,  the  point  or  limit 
at  which  it  is  balanced  by  gravity  approaches  nearer  the 
centre.  Supposing,  therefore,  the  atmosphere  to  have  ex- 
tended this  limit  at  any  epoch,  it  must,  in  cooling,  have 
abandoned  the  molecules  situated  there  and  at  the  different 
limits  successively  produced  by  the  increased  velocity  of  the 
sun's  rotation.  This  effect,  however,  would  only  take  place 
at  the  equator;  for  on  the  parallels  of  latitude  the  centrifu- 
gal would  not  equal  the  attractive  force.  Thus,  zones  of 
vapours  would  continue  to  be  abandoned  at  the  equator ; 
and  if  the  condensation  of  the  molecules  of  these  zones  con- 
tinued without  any  disunion  taking  place,  the  matter  would, 
in  the  long  run,  form  a  solid  or  liquid  ring,  circulating  about 
the  sun  in  the  plane  of  his  equator.  But  the  uniformity 
which  would  be  necessary  for  the  production  of  this  effect, 
both  in  all  the  parts  of  the  zone  and  in  the  cooling,  must 
render  such  a  phenomenon  extremely  rare.  In  fact,  the 
ring  of  Saturn  is  the  only  instance  of  it  in  the  planetary 
system.  In  almost  every  case  each  zone  of  vapours  must 
have  been  broken  up  into  numerous  masses,  which,  mov- 
ing with  nearly  the  same  velocities,  would  continue  to  cir- 
culate about  the  sun,  nearly  at  the  same  distances.  These 
separate  masses  would  assume  the  spheroidal  form,  with  a 
motion  of  rotation  in  the  same  direction  as  their  revolving 
motion ;  in  short,  they  would  become  so  many  planets  in 
the  state  of  vapour.  But  if  any  one  of  them  was  considera- 
bly larger  than  the  rest,  it  would  finally,  by  its  attraction, 
'tnite  all  the  others  about  its  centre  ;  and  thus  the  zone  origi- 
nally abandoned  would  be  transformed  into  a  single  sphe- 
roidal mass  of  vapours,  circulating  about  the  sun.  This 
latter  case  must  have  been  the  most  common.  An  instance, 
however,  of  permanent  separation  occurs  in  the  four  small 
planets  between  Mars  and  Jupiter. 

Conceiving  the  planet  to  have  been  detached  from  the 
solar  atmosphere  in  the  manner  now  described,  the  fur- 
ther cooling  would  occasion  a  nucleus  to  be  formed  at  its 
centre,  which  would  progressively  increase  by  the  conden- 
sation of  the  vapours  surrounding  it.  The  condition  of  the 
planet  would  now  perfectly  resemble  that  of  the  sun,  and 
consequently  similar  results  would  follow  from  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  condensation.  Hence  the  formation  of  the 
satellites  from  the  atmospheres  of  the  planets,  as  the  planets 
are  formed  from  that  of  the  sun. 

This  hypothesis  of  Laplace  does  not  explain  the  origin  of 
the  comets,  which  may  be  regarded  as  small  nebulosities 
wandering  from  one  solar  system  to  another,  and  formed  by 
the  condensation  of  nebulous  matter,  which  appears  to  be 
scattered  through  the  universe  in  great  profusion.  What- 
ever may  be  the  fate  of  the  hypothesis,  it  must  be  allowed 
the  merit  of  assigning  a  mechanical  cause  for  some  of  the 
most  remarkable  phenomena  of  the  universe,  without  In- 
voking the  aid  of  any  other  force  than  that  of  gravity— a 
property  which  belongs  to  matter  in  every  form.  See  As- 
tronomy, Satellite,  Star,  Sun. 

PLANE  TABLE.  An  instrument  employed  in  land-sur- 
veying, by  means  of  which  a  plan  is  made  on  the  spot, 
without  any  protraction  or  measurement  of  angles.  It  con- 
sists of  a  plane  rectangular  board,  about  sixteen  inches 
square,  to  the  under  side  of  which  a  centre  is  attached  with 
a  ball  and  socket,  or  parallel  plate  screws,  by  which  it  can 
be  fixed  upon  a  Stan-head  or  three  legged  stand,  and  set 
horizontal  by  means  of  a  circular  spirit  level.  A  boxwood 
frame  is  accurately  fitted  round  the  edges  of  the  board,  for 
the  purpose  of  stretching  and  retaining  the  drawing  paper. 
It  is  usual  to  divide  one  face  of  the  frame  into  HliO°  from  a 
centre  in  the  middle  of  the  board;  but  this  graduation  is 
scarcely  of  any  use,  and  may  be  dispensed  with.  The  re 
verse  i:n  e  of  tin-  frame  is  ilh  ided  into  equal  parts,  as  inches 
and  tenths,  for  the  convenience  of  ruling  parallel  lines  anil 
squares,  and  for  shilling  the  paper.  A  compass  boi  with  a 
magnetic  needle  is  screwed  into  one  side  of  the  table,  to  in- 
dicate  the  hearings,  and  to  enable  the  surveyor  to  set  up  the 
Instrument  at  a  new  station  parallel  to  the  position  it  had 
at  a  former  one.  A  brass  rule  or  index,  with  a  doping  edge, 
ami  having  perpendicular  sight-vanes  erected  at  each  ex- 
tremity, completes  the  apparatus. 
942 


PLASHING. 

The  plane  table  is  used  as  follows:  Two  stations  are  se- 
lected as  the  extremities  of  a  base  line,  the  distance  be- 
tween Which  is  accurately  measured,  and  a  line  drawn  on 
the  paper,  representing  that  distance  according  to  the  as- 
sumed scale.  The  instrument  is  then  set  up  at  one  of  the 
stations,  and  a  fine  needle  or  pin  being  stuck  into  the  table, 
at  one  extremity  of  the  line  drawn  on  the  paper,  the  edge 
of  the  index  is  brought  to  press  gently  on  the  pin  and  coin- 
cide with  the  line,  and  the  table  turned  round  till  the  object 
at  the  second  station  is  bisected  through  the  sight  vanes; 
the  table  is  then  clamped,  and  the  direction  of  the  magnetic 
meridian  marked.  The  fiducial  edge  of  the  index,  still  in 
contact  with  the  upright  pin,  which  serves  as  a  centre,  is 
then  directed  successively  to  all  the  different  objects  which 
have  been  selected  as  stations,  and  lines  drawn  on  the  pa- 
per in  the  direction  of  each.  This  being  done,  the  table  is 
removed  to  the  second  station,  and  the  pin  placed  at  the 
corresponding  point  on  the  paper,  which  forms  a  second 
centre.  The  edge  of  the  ruler  is  then  directed,  as  before, 
to  each  of  the  objects  which  were  observed  from  the  first 
station,  and  lines  drawn  in  those  different  directions.  The 
intersections  of  the  lines  drawn  from  the  second  centre 
with  those  drawn  from  the  first,  marks  on  the  paper  the  po- 
sition of  each  of  the  observed  objects. 

The  plane-table  is  not  susceptible  of  great  accuracy,  but 
it  is  extremely  useful  in  forming  a  sketch-map,  or  filling  up 
the  details  of  a  survey,  where  the  principal  points  have 
been  fixed  by  the  theodolite,  or  some  equivalent  instrument. 
See  Surveying. 

PLANET A'RIUM.  A  machine  for  exhibiting  the  rela- 
tive motions  of  the  planets,  and  their  positions  in  respect  of 
the  sun.    See  Orrery. 

PLA'NIPENNATES,  Planipennes.  (Lat.  planus,  flat; 
penna,  a  feather.)  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Neuropterous  in- 
sects, comprehending  those  which  have  flat  wings,  of  which 
the  inferior  pair  almost  equal  the  superior  ones,  and  are 
simply  folded  underneath  at  their  anterior  margin.  The 
antenna;  are  multiarticulate,  much  longer  than  the  head, 
Without  being  subulate  or  styliform.  The  maxillary  palps 
are  usually  filiform  or  somewhat  thicker  at  the  extremity, 
shorter  than  the  head,  and  composed  of  from  four  to  five 
joints.  The  ant-lions  (Myrmeleon)  and  termites  are  exam- 
ples of  this  tribe. 

PLA'NISPHERE.  A  projection  of  the  sphere  and  its 
various  circles  on  a  plane.     See  Projection. 

PLANK.  (Fr.  planche.)  In  Architecture,  a  board  that 
exceeds  nine  inches  in  width. 

PLANO-CONCAVE.  In  Optics,  a  lens  which  is  plane 
on  one  side  and  concave  on  the  other.  Plano-convei  is  a 
lens  plane  on  one  side  and  convex  on  the  other.  See  Lens. 
PLANO'RBIS.  (Lat.  planus,  and  orbis,  an  orb.)  A  ge- 
nus of  marsh  snails,  so  called  from  the  form  of  the  shell, 
which  is  that  of  a  flattened  orb,  arising  from  the  volutions 
being  coiled  on  the  same  plane.  Many  species  of  this  ge- 
nus are  common  in  Britain. 
PLANT.  In  Natural  History.  See  Botany. 
PLANT A'GENET.  The  surname  of  the  royal  family 
of  England  from  Henry  II.  to  Richard  III.  inclusive.  The 
origin  of  the  name  is  involved  in  deep  obscurity.  The  best 
antiquaries  derive  it  from  the  well  known  story  of  the  Earl 
of  Anjou,  the  ancestor  of  the  royal  race,  who  having  made 
a  pilgrimage  to  Rome,  where  he  was  scourged  with  broom 
twigs,  assumed  the  name  of  Plantagenista  (literally,  a 
broom  twig),  Which  his  descendants  retained.  The  name 
Plantagenet  belongs  to  the  noble  house  of  Buckingham. 

PLANTATB  >.\.  A  piece  of  ground  planted  with  trees, 
for  the  purpose  of  producing  timber  or  coppice  wood.  In 
new  countries  not  generally  cultivated,  and  more  especially 
in  warm  climates,  the  term  plantation  is  applied  to  land 
employed  in  the  culture  of  the  more  important  crops ;  such 
as  the  sugarcane,  collie,  pepper,  cotton,  &c.  In  Britain 
it  is  exclusively  applied  to  lauds  planted  with  trees  or 
shrubs. 

PLA'NTIGRADES,  Plantirrrada.  (Lat.  planta,  the  sole 
of  the  fiwt  :  gradlor,  I  march.)  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Car- 
nivorous Mammals,  comprehending  those  which  apply  the 
whole  or  a  great  part  of  the  sole  to  the  ground  in  progressive 
motion. 

PLA'NTINO.  The  art  of  forming  plantations  of  trees. 
Also  the  art  of  inserting  plants  in  the  soil  by  the  spade, 
dibble,  trowel,  or  by  other  means  in  use  in  agriculture  and 
gardening.     See  ARBORICULTURE. 

PLA'oHING.  A  mode  of  repairing  or  modifying  a  hedge 
by  bending  down  a  portion  of  the  shoots,  rutting  them  half 
through  near  the  ground,  to  render  them  more  pliable,  and 
tw IsttDg  them  among  the  upright  stems,  so  as  to  render  the 
whole  effective  as  a  fence,  and  at  the  same  time  preserve 
all  the  branches  alive.  For  this  purpose  the  branches  to 
be  plashed,  or  bent  down,  must  not  he  <ut  more  than  half 
through,  in  order  that  a  Sufficient  porlion  of  sap  may  rise  up 
from  the  root  to  keep  alive  the  upper  part  of  the  branches. 
Where  hedges  are  properly  formed  and  kept,  they  can  very 


PLASTER. 

seldom  require  to  be  plashed  ;  but  this  mode  of  treating  a 
hedge  is  most  valuable  in  the  case  of  hedges  abounding 
with  hedge  row  trees,  when  from  neglect,  or  from  any  other 
cause,  the  hedge  has  become  of  irregular  growth. 

PLA'STER.  In  Architecture,  the  material  of  which  or- 
naments are  cast,  and  also  that  with  which  the  fine  stuff" 
or  gauge  for  mouldings  and  other  parts  is  mixed,  when 
quick  setting  is  required. 

Plaster.  In  Pharmacy,  a  compound,  generally  of  oxide 
of  lead  and  olive  oil,  for  external  applications. 

PLASTER  OF  PARIS.  Gypsum,  or  sulphate  of  lime, 
commonly  termed  plaster  stone,  and  found  abundantly  near 
Paris. 

PLA'STIC.  (Gr.  TiXaaaui,  I  form.)  In  Sculpture,  that 
which  can  be  modelled,  as  clay,  &c.  In  the  arts  it  has  a 
more  extended  signification,  and  signifies  those  materials  and 
circumstances  which  are  susceptible  of  being  formed  and 
fashioned  to  the  purpose  wanted. 

PLASTIC  CLAY.  A  clay  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
pottery.    See  also  Geology. 

PLATAN  1ST,  Platanista.  A  name  applied  by  Pliny  to 
a  fish  in  the  river  Ganges,  having  a  snout  and  a  tail  like  a 
dolphin,  but  much  larger.  In  modern  Zoology,  it  is  the 
generic  appellation  of  the  Gangetic  dolphin  (Delpkhius 
gangeticus,  Cuv.). 

PLATBAND.  (Fr.  plate  and  bande.)  In  Architec- 
ture, a  square  moulding  projecting  less  than  its  height  or 
breadth.  The  fillets  between  the  flutes  of  columns  are 
sometimes  called,  but  improperly,  by  this  name.  It  is  also 
sometimes  used  to  denote  the  lintel  of  a  door. 

PLATE.  (Fr.  platte.)  In  Architeclure,  a  piece  of  tim- 
ber lying  horizontally  on  a  wall  for  the  reception  of  the  ends 
of  girders,  joints,  rafters,  &c. 

Plate.  The  name  usually  given  to  gold  and  silver 
wrought  into  articles  of  household  furniture.  For  the  regu- 
lations under  which  the  manufacture  of  plate  is  carried  on, 
see  the  Com.  Diet. 

PLATFORM.  (Fr.  plateforme.)  In  Architecture,  a 
plane  surface,  lying  level,  of  any  materials  used  in  a  founda- 
tion or  elsewhere,  for  the  reception  of  the  foundations  of  a 
building,  or  for  the  piers  of  a  bridge:  also  a  level  scaffold, 
raised  above  the  ground  for  a  temporarary  purpose. 

Platform.  In  Artillery,  an  elevated  floor  on  which  guns 
are  placed. 

PLATING.  The  art  of  covering  copper  and  other  metals 
with  silver  or  gold:  it  is  effected  in  various  ways.  Some- 
times the  silver  is  attached  to  and  rolled  out  of  the  copper 
by  pressure  ;  sometimes  the  one  metal  is  precipitated  from 
its  solutions  upon  the  other;  and,  of  late,  manufacturers 
have  availed  themselves  of  electro-chemical  decomposition 
for  the  purpose.     See  Voltatvpe. 

PLATINUM.  (So  called  from  the  Spanish  word  plata, 
silver,  on  account  of  its  colour.)  A  metal  of  a  white  colour, 
exceedingly  ductile,  malleable,  and  difficult  of  fusion.  It  is 
the  heaviest  substance  known,  its  specific  gravity  being  21 '5. 
It  undergoes  no  change  from  air  or  moisture,  and  is  not  at- 
tacked by  any  of  the  pure  acids;  it  is  dissolved  by  chlorine 
and  nitromuriatic  acid,  and  is  oxidized  at  high  temperatures 
by  pure  potassa  and  lithia.  It  is  only  found  in  South 
America  and  in  the  Uralian  Mountains :  it  is  usually  in 
small  grains  of  a  metallic  lustre,  associated  or  combined 
with  palladium,  rhodium,  iridium,  and  osmium  ;  and  with 
copper,  iron,  lead,  titanium,  chromium,  gold  and  silver ;  it 
is  also  usually  mixed  with  alluvial  sand.  The  particles  are 
seldom  so  large  as  a  small  pea,  but  sometimes  lumps  have 
been  found  of  the  size  of  a  hazel  nut  to  that  of  a  pigeon's 
egg.  In  1826,  it  was  first  discovered  in  a  vein  associated 
with  gold  by  Boussingault,  in  the  province  of  Antioquin,  in 
South  America.  When  a  perfectly  clean  surface  of  platinum 
is  presented  to  a  mixture  of  hydrogen  and  oxygen  gas,  it  has 
the  extraordinary  property  of  causing  them  to  combine  so  as 
to  form  water,  and  often  with  such  rapidity  as  to  render  the 
metal  red  hot:  spongy  platinum,  as  it  is  usually  called,  ob- 
tained by  heating  the  ammonio-muriate  of  platinum,  is  most 
effective  in  producing  this  extraordinary  result ;  and  a  jet  of 
hydrogen  directed  upon  it  may  be  inflamed  by  the  metal 
thus  ignited,  a  property  which  has  been  applied  to  the  con- 
struction of  convenient  instruments  for  procuring  a  light. 
The  equivalent  of  platinum  is  about  98.  It  is  precipitated 
from  its  nitromuriatic  solution  by  sal  ammoniac,  which 
throws  it  down  in  the  form  of  a  yellow  powder,  composed 
of  bichloride  of  platinum  and  sal  ammoniac. 

PLATO'NIC  BODIES.  The  five  regular  geometrical 
solids,  so  called  because  they  were  treated  of  or  described 
by  Plato.  They  are  the  tetraedron,  the  hexaedron,  the  oc- 
taedron,  the  dodecaedron,  and  the  icosaedron.  Besides  these 
five,  there  can  be  no  other  solids  bounded  by  like,  equal,  and 
regular  plane  figures,  and  whose  solid  angles  are  all  equal. 
PLATONISM.  The  philosophy  of  Plato.  To  give  a 
satisfactory  account  of  the  system  of  this  great  thinker, 
within  the  limits  which  the  nature  of  the  present  work 
necessarily  impose  upon  us,  would  be  an  undertaking  of  no 


PLATONISM. 

common  difficulty.  Those  of  our  readers  who  are  adequate- 
by  conversant  with  the  original  writings  of  Plato  must  be 
well  aware  that  the  views  entertained  in  our  own  country 
of  his  philosophical  character  and  merits  are,  to  say  the 
least,  partial  and  incomplete  ;  while  those  who  add  to  this 
knowledge  an  acquaintance  with  the  researches  of  our 
German  contemporaries  on  this  subject  will  admit  the  possi- 
bility, at  the  same  time  that  they  appreciate  the  difficulty, 
of  attaining  a  fuller  and  more  adequate  comprehension. 
The  leading  characteristic  of  the  mind  of  Plato  is  its  com- 
prehensiveness. This  quality  discovers  itself  equally  in  the 
form  in  which  his  philosophy  is  communicated,  and  in  that 
philosophy  itself.  The  form  to  which  we  allude  is,  it  is 
well  known,  that  of  the  dialogue.  The  Dialogues  of  Plato 
are  at  once  vivid  representations  of  Athenian  life  and  char- 
acter, and  constituent  parts  of  a  system  of  universal  philos- 
ophy ;  the  harmonious  productions  of  a  genius  which  com- 
bined the  dramatic  imagination  with  the  scientific  intellect 
in  a  degree  which  has  never  before  nor  since  been  equalled. 
It  is  in  this  circumstance  that  we  must  seek  alike  for  the 
influence  which  Plato's  writings  have  exerted,  and  for  the 
difficulty  of  rightly  apprehending  their  meaning.  What  has 
been  said  of  history  in  general  may  with  equal  truth  be  ap- 
plied to  the  Platonic  dialogues — that  they  are  "  philosophy 
teaching  by  examples."  In  place  of  a  formal  refutation  of 
sophistry,  we  are  introduced  to  living  sophists;  in  the  room 
of  an  elaborate  system  of  philosophy,  we  meet  the  greatest 
philosophers  of  his  day,  reasoning  and  conversing  with  dis- 
ciples eager  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge — with  Athenians 
full  of  natural  prejudices,  with  men  abounding  with  indivi- 
dual peculiarities. 

Under  no  other  or  less  complex  form  of  composition  could 
Plato  have  accomplished  the  manifold  purposes  which  he 
had  in  view  ;  purposes  not  of  the  philosopher  only,  but  of 
the  reformer  and  educator  of  the  moral  and  intellectual  na- 
ture of  his  countrymen.  In  most  of  his  dialogues,  one  or 
other  of  these  intentions  is  the  prominent  one  ;  in  some  the ' 
refutation  of  false  philosophy,  in  others  the  establishment 
of  his  own  ;  while  others  again  seem  chiefly  designed  as 
exemplifications  of  scientific  method  generally  ;  though  we 
agree  with  Schleiermacher  in  thinking,  that  there  are  none 
which  do  not  contribute  to  the  gradual  development  of  hi3 
own  system. 

But  it  is  not  merely  in  the  form  in  which  his  doctrines 
are  clothed  that  we  discern  the  comprehensiveness  of 
Plato's  genius.  The  same  quality  is,  as  we  have  said, 
equally  apparent  in  the  philosophy  of  which  his  dialogues 
are  the  vehicle.  By  referring  to  the  articles  Eleatic,  Ionic, 
and  Pythagorean  Philosophy,  the  reader  will  be  able  to 
form  some  conception  of  the  systems  which  preceded  that 
of  Plato.  In  each  of  these  some  leading  idea  is  taken  up, 
and  traced,  generally  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others,  through 
all  its  possible  consequences.  These  three  schools  may, 
indeed,  be  severally  taken  as  the  representatives  of  the 
three  constituent  portions  of  universal  philosophy :  the 
Eleatics  of  the  logical  or  dialectic  ;  the  lonians  of  the  physi- 
cal ;  and  the  Pythagoreans,  though  in  a  less  exclusive  de- 
gree, of  the  ethical  element.  It  was  in  Plato  that  these 
different  tendencies  first  converged.  Each  viewed  by  itself 
was  essentially  partial  and  one-sided,  and,  with  whatever 
of  truth  it  might  contain,  must  necessarily,  by  its  very  ex- 
clusiveness,  combine  much  of  error.  Of  this  circumstance 
the  sophists  had  taken  advantage,  and,  by  setting  the  doc- 
trines of  one  system  in  contradiction  to  those  of  another, 
had  succeeded  in  the  introduction  of  a  universal  skepticism. 
Plato  was  thus  led  clearly  to  discern  the  necessity  of  lay- 
ing the  foundations  of  science  deeper  than  they  had  been 
laid  by  his  predecessors.  The  ultimate  unity  of  all  knowl- 
edge, properly  so  called,  and  the  mutual  dependence  of  all 
its  parts  ou  each  other,  is  the  fundamental  intention  of  his 
philosophy.  How  this  first  principle  was  to  be  attained, 
whether,  indeed,  it  were  attainable  or  not,  could  only  be 
ascertained  by  a  previous  inquiry  into  the  nature,  not  of 
being,  but  of  knowledge.  This  is  one  mark  which  distin- 
guishes Plato  from  earlier  speculators ;  and  it  is  important 
to  bear  it  in  mind,  if  we  would  form  a  correct  estimate  of  the 
services  rendered  by  him  to  the  progress  of  philosophy. 
The  hint  was  unquestionably  given  by  Socrates,  but  Plato 
was  the  only  one  among  his  immediate  disciples  who  ap- 
pears to  have  followed  it  up.  He  may,  in  truth,  be  styled 
the  founder  of  the  ancient  psychology ;  and  the  dialogue 
entitled  T/iea-tetus  may  be  considered  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant contributions  to  the  most  important  branch  of  that 
science,  the  theory  of  perception  and  judgment,  which  an- 
tiquity affords.  It  is  in  this  dialogue  that  the  negative  side 
of  the  inquiry  into  knowiege,  which  we  have  alluded  to,  is 
contained.  Knowledge,  it  is  there  shown,  is  not  to  be  con- 
founded either  with  the  impressions  on  the  senses,  or  with 
the  judgments  (r^ns)  founded  upon  them.  Sensation,  by 
its  very  nature,  is  relative  only  :  it  is  the  joint  effect  of  the 
conditions  of,  our  internal  constitution  and  a  motion,  or 
change,  communicated  from  without.    Judgment,  in  so  far 

943 


PLATOON. 

as  it  is  founded  on  a  prior  impression,  can  have  no  validity, 
save  in  reference  to  that  Impression.  Pure  knowledge, 
therefore,  if  it  exist  at  all,  must  be  found  in  some  other  di- 
rection. It  is  here  that  the  celebrated  doctrine  of  ideas 
finds  its  place.  Without  entering  into  the  question  more 
deeply  than  our  limits  allow,  it  is  sufficiently  clear  that  no 
other  word,  such  as  conception,  notion,  or  the  like,  is  ade- 
quate to  convey  all  that  Plato  meant  by  an  idea.  Having 
tailed  in  finding  alike  knowledge  in  the  senses  and  perma- 
nent being,  its  object  in  nature,  he  was  driven,  in  order  to 
avoid  the  sophistic  doctrine  of  the  relative  nature  of  all 
knowledge,  to  seek  for  the  true  objects  of  reason  in  some- 
thing distinct  from  the  material  universe.  In  place  of  the 
doctrine  of  Protagoras,  "  Man  is  the  measure  of  all  things,*' 
he  substituted,  "God  is  the  measure  of  all  things  ;"  mean- 
ing by  this,  as  he  elsewhere  explains  himself,  that  in  the 
divine  nature  reason  and  being  are  one.  From  this  original 
unity,  which  is  denominated  by  Plato  the  good,  or  the  su- 
preme good,  proceed,  on  the  one  hand,  human  reason ;  on 
the  other,  those  ideas  which  constitute  all  in  nature  that  is 
real ;  all,  that  is,  which  the  reason  can  apprehend.  We 
might  hence  be  led  to  suppose  that  the  modern  term  "  law," 
may  be  correctly  used  in  place  of  the  Platonic  "  idea." 
But,  when  we  examine  the  matter  more  narrowly,  we  shall 
find  an  essential  difference  between  the  two  words,  not 
merely  in  the  ontological  or  theological  considerations  just 
alluded  to,  but  also  in  the  habit,  which  Plato  inherited  from 
his  master  Socrates,  of  referring  the  laws  of  the  universe 
to  a  moral  or  teleological  standard.  The  three  great  ideas 
of  truth,  beauty,  and  order  or  fitness,  are  the  ultimate  uni- 
ties to  which  he  conceives  it  to  be  the  business  of  the  rea- 
son to  refer  all  its  conceptions.  These  ideas  are  them- 
selves included  in  the  highest  unity,  or  God,  from  whom  it 
is  that  they  derive  their  reality.  "But  the  supreme  nature 
is  to  us  incomprehensible  ;  it  is  in  the  consciousness  of  our 
separation  from  the  great  source  of  being  that  philosophy 
takes  its  rise.  The  senses  it  is  which  first  suggest  to  us 
this  want :  we  strive  to  bring  their  phenomena  under  gen- 
eral conceptions ;  and  every  attempt  to  understand  the  sen- 
sible is  a  self  recognition  of  the  reason,  and  a  step  towards 
divinity.  Theology  is,  therefore,  the  ultimate  science  in 
■which  all  the  other  sciences  converge :  dialectics,  as  the 
science  of  the  true;  ethics,  as  the  science  of  the  morally 
beautiful ;  and  physics,  as  that  which  discerns  the  order 
and  fitness  of  outward  things.  Such  is  a  very  imperfect 
sketch  of  the  Platonic  idea  of  science  in  its  three  constitu- 
ent parts.  The  threefold  division  above  given  we  nowhere 
find  expressly  laid  down  in  the  written  works  of  Plato  ;  but, 
besides  that  it  is  throughout  implied,  the  fact  that  it  is 
taken  for  granted  by  his  immediate  successors,  Xenocrates 
and  Aristotle,  justifies  us  in  supposing  that  it  formed  part 
of  Plato's  oral  communications.  But,  besides  this  compre- 
hensive view  of  universal  science,  we  are  indebted  to  Plato 
lor  many  valuable  discoveries,  and  many  more  most  preg- 
nant hints,  in  subordinate  branches  of  inquiry.  Among 
these  may  be  enumerated  the  discussion  of  the  theory  of 
pleasure  and  pain,  and  their  relation  to  desire  and  emotion, 
in  the  Philebus ;  of  the  first  principles  of  the  science  of 
grammar  in  the  Cratylus  and  Sophist ;  of  the  nature  of 
mathematical  science,  and  its  place  in  general  philosophy, 
Rep.  vi.,  &c.  The  ethics  of  Plato,  though,  in  many  im- 
portant respects,  they  must  be  allowed  to  be  greatly  defec- 
tive, as,  in  particular,  in  the  omission  of  the  notions  of  duty 
and  responsibility,  are  yet  far  from  deserving  the  contemptu- 
ous treatment  they  have  met  with  from  certain  writers 
among  ourselves.  In  the  Republic,  which  contains  the 
substance  of  his  moral  doctrines,  the  intention  of  Plato 
manifestly  was  to  develop  the  idea  of  perfect  humanity, 
alike  in  the  individual,  and  in  what  be  regarded  as  an  en- 
larged transcript  of  the  individual,  the  state.  (See  Ethics.) 
The  most  important  contribution  to  the  Study  and  right  un- 
derstanding (if  the  Platonic  philosophy,  with  which  modern 
times  have  furnished  us,  is  to  be  found  in  the  arrangement 
of  his  Dialogues,  and  the  introduction  prefixed  to  each,  by 
the  celebrated  Schleiermacher,  a  work  which  has  recently 
been  translated  into  English.  See  also  Hitter,  Gesch.  tier 
Philosophic,  b.  v:ii. ;  and,  for  some  abstruse  portions  of  Pla- 
to's doctrine,  Trendelenburg's  Idea  Plat. ex  Jlristot.  Must. 

The  best  editions  of  Plato's  works  are  those  of  Hekker 
and  llallbaum.  For  an  account  of  his  life,  see  Jlsfs  Leben 
■uvtl  Seh rif ten  Pln'na. 

PL  \ TOO'N.  In  the  art  Military,  a  small,  square  body 
of  musketeers,  drawn  out  from  the  main  body  to  strengthen 
the  angle  of  a  larger  square,  or  to  do  duty  in  ambuscades 
iii  defiles,  tec,  when  there  is  not  room  for  whole  regiments 
or  battalions  to  act. 

PLA'TYRIIINES.  Platyrhinai.  (Gr.  TrXnrus,  wide,  and 
pti;  a  nose.)  The  name  of  a  section  of  the  Linna;an  genus 
Siiiun.  including  those  species  which  have  the  nostrils  sep- 
arated  by  a  wide  interspace.  These  monkeys  are  peculiar 
to  the  New  World.  • 

PLA'TYSOMES.  Platysoma,  (Gr.  irXarvs,  and  aoipa, 
«U4 


PLEADING. 

body.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Coleopterous  insects,  com- 
prehending species  with  a  wide  and  much  depressed  body. 
These  insects  are  found  under  the  bark  of  trees,  and  form 
the  genus  Cuciijus  of  Fabricus,' now  subdivided. 

PLEA'DING.  (Lat.  placitum,  Norman  French  plaid,  to- 
gether with  the  verb  placitare,  to  plead;  derived  from  placi- 
tum, the  decree  or  sentence  of  a  judicial  or  legislative  au- 
thority.) Pleadings,  in  English  law,  are  the  preparatory  al- 
legations in  writing  which  intervene  between  the  com- 
mencement of  a  cause  and  its  trial. 

The  first  object  in  deciding  a  dispute  between  two  litigant 
parties  is  always  to  ascertain  the  subject  for  decision.  This 
must  be  accomplished  by  disengaging  the  point  in  debate 
from  all  the  extraneous  matter  in  which  the  complaints  and 
answers  of  the  respective  parties  have  involved  it.  This  is 
the  principle  from  which  all  the  subtleties  of  the  system  of 
pleading,  commonly  called  special  pleading;  are  derived; 
and,  in  so  far  as  it  has  departed  from  this  object,  it  has 
wandered  from  its  original  purpose. 

Pleadings  were  conducted  orally  in  the  first  times  of  our 
jurisprudence  ;  the  parties,  or  their  advocates,  exposing  the 
state  of  facts  on  which  they  relied  successively  before  the 
judge,  who  moderated  between  them,  and  answering  each 
other  until  the  judge  was  able  to  fix  upon  the  point  at  issue, 
as  it  was  called;  that  is,  the  question,  whether  of  factor 
law,  on  which  the  judge,  or  the  jury,  was  eventually  to  de- 
cide. Hence  issues  are  said  to  be  in  fact  or  in  law.  The 
same  principle  governs  the  course  of  written  pleadings  now 
adopted. 

The  plaintiff,  or  complaining  party,  having  summoned  the 
defendant  into  court,  by  a  writ  stating  the  nature  of  his 
complaint,  makes  his  first  statement,  which  is  termed  a 
declaration.  The  defendant  may  now  answer  him,  either 
by  denying  that  there  is  any  ground  in  law  for  the  action, 
either  because  there  is  defect  in  substance  in  the  plaintiff's 
alleged  right,  or  defect  in  form  in  his  proceedings ;  or  by 
controverting  the  facts  which  he  alleges,  or  alleging  new 
facts  in  answer  to  them.  In  the  former  case  the  defendant 
demurs  to  the  declaration ;  in  the  latter  case  he  answers  by 
one  or  more  pleas. 

A  demurrer  may  take  place  either  at  this  or  at  any  sub- 
sequent stage  of  the  proceedings ;  and  may  be  made  either 
by  plaintiff  or  defendant.  And  it  is  either  general  to  sub- 
stance, or  special  to  form.  (But,  by  the  increased  liberality 
of  the  courts,  many  errors  in  form  may  now  be  amended, 
on  application,  which  formerly  were  fatal.)  If  the  demurrer 
comes  to  be  argued  (which  is  done  in  term  time,  or  in  bench, 
before  all  the  judges  of  the  court  in  which  the  action  is 
brought),  the  court  will  examine  the  whole  pleadings  on 
both  sides  ;  and  their  decision  on  the  point  of  law  is  final  as 
to  the  action. 

The  defendant  may  answer  or  traverse  the  facts;  1.  By 
pleading  what  is  termed  the  general  issue  ;  a  form  which, 
in  its  original  signification,  implied  an  absolute  denial  of  the 
facts  on  which  the  plaintiff  founded  his  complaint;  and 
concludes  with  the  words,  "and  of  this  the  said  defendant 
puts  himself  on  the  country,"  that  is,  offers  to  have  the 
issue  tried  by  a  jury.  But,  by  the  refinements  introduced 
into  pleading,  the  general  issue  was  gradually  admitted,  in 
each  of  the  several  forms  of  action  to  which  we  shall 
presently  refer,  not  only  to  deny  the  plaintiff's  facts,  but  to 
allow  the  defendant  to  bring  forward  other  facts  in  answer; 
although  these  more  properly  form  the  subject,  2,  at  special 
pleas.  When  the  defendant  admits  all  or  a  part  of  the 
plaintiff's  facts,  but  relies  on  certain  other  facts  as  exon- 
erating him  from  the  liability  asserted  by  the  plaintiff,  he 
ought  to  state  these  facts  in  answer;  for  instance,  in  order 
to  answer  the  claim  of  a  debt,  that  it  is  barred  by  length  of 
time,  or  that  the  defendant  has  a  set-off  to  allege  against 
if.  this  is  termed  a  plea  by  Way  of  confession  ami  avoid- 
ance. The  plea  stating  such  new  facts  concludes  with  the 
assertion;  "  and  this  the  said  defendant  is  ready  to  verify." 
To  this  the  plaintiff  may  reply  in  his  second  statement, 
called  a  replication,  either  by  denying  the  defendant's  facts, 
that  is,  a  replication  by  way  of  traverse,  or  by  alleging  fresh 
ones ;  the  defendant  may  deny  these,  or  again  allege  fresh 
ones,  in  his  rejoinder  ;  sometimes  a  surrejoinder,  a  rebutter, 
and  a  surrebutter  may  be  added  ;  and  the  edifice  of  plead- 
ing is  raised  by  stories  gradually  narrowing,  by  the  exclu- 
sion of  superfluous  facts,  until  it  reaches  its  summit  in  the 
production  of  one  or  more  issues,  either  in  law  or  fact,  the 
decision  of  which  finally  arranges  the  dispute;  and,  by 
what  are  called  the  new  rules  of  pleading,  framed  in  1834, 
many  defences  which  might  formerly  have  heen  given  un- 
der the  general  issue  must  be  pleaded  specially. 

Thus,  in  an  action  of  debt,  the  defendant  pleads  specially 
the  statute  of  limitations,  that  is,  that  more  than  six  years 
have  passed  since  the  cause  of  action  accrued  ;  the  plaintitf 
replies,  admitting  the  length  of  time,  but  alleging  t tint  the 
defendant  has  since  promised  to  pay  the  debt  ;  this  the  de- 
fendant denies  in  bis  rejoinder;  anil  hereupon,  i.  e.,  on  the 
fact  of  Uie  promise,  issue  is  joined. 


PLEASURE-GROUND. 

A  plaintiff  complains  of  breach  of  covenant  by  his  lessee, 
in  not  repairing  premises.  The  defendant  pleads,  admitting 
the  lease  and  the  want  of  repair;  but  alleges  that  he  had 
received  from  the  plaintiff  a  release  from  all  his  liability. 
The  plaintiff  replies,  admitting  the  release,  but  asserting 
that  it  was  obtained  from  him  by  force  or  duress.  The  de- 
fendant may,  perhaps,  deny  the  legal  sufficiency  of  this 
ground,  or  demur  to  the  replication;  or  he  may  traverse  it 
in  his  rejoinder,  denying  the  force  or  duress.  In  the  former 
case,  an  issue  of  law  is  raised  for  the  court;  in  the  latter, 
an  issue  of  fact  for  the  jury. 

The  attorneys  for  the  p'arties  deliver  in  their  respective 
pleadings  on  paper  to  the  officers  of  the  court.  When  issue 
is  joined,  these  pleadings  are  entered  on  a  parchment  roll, 
and  the  issue  is  likewise  entered;  in  the  form  of  appoint  1112 
a  day  for  the  trial  of  the  demurrer,  if  the  issue  be  in  law  ; 
or  in  the  form  of  a  precept  to  the  sheriff  of  the  county 
named  in  the  pleadings,  to  summon  twelve  good  and  lawful 
men  for  the  trial  of  the  issue  in  fact.  This  roll  is  called  the 
record,  and  is  preserved  as  an  authentic  memorial  of  the 
proceedings  in  the  case ;  the  verdict  and  the  judgment  being 
entered  on  it. 

Such  is  a  brief  outline  of  the  forms  of  pleading  as  appli- 
cable to  every  injury  of  which  complaint  can  be  made  in 
the  courts  of  common  law.  But.  according  to  the  nature  of 
the  injury  complained  of,  his  action  will  assume  a  particu- 
lar form,  allotted  by  law  to  enable  him  to  recover  the  par- 
ticular remedy  he  seeks.  See  Action,  and  the  Forms  of 
Action,  under  their  several  heads. 

PLEASURE-GROUND.  That  portion  of  ground  adjoin- 
ing a  dwelling  in  the  country  which  is  exclusively  devoted 
to  ornamental  and  recreative  purposes.  In  the  ancient  style 
of  gardening,  the  pleasure-ground  was  laid  out  in  straight 
■walks,  and  regular  or  symmetrical  forms,  commonly  bor- 
rowed from  architecture ;  but,  in  the  modern  style,  it  is  laid 
out  in  winding  walks,  and  in  forms  borrowed  direct  from 
nature.  A  portion  of  lawn  or  smooth  grassy  surface  may 
be  considered  as  essential  to  the  pleasure-ground  under  both 
stvles. 

"PLEBE'IAXS.  The  free  citizens  of  Rome  who  did  not 
come  under  the  class  of  the  patricians  or  client*.  Though 
always  personally  independent,  they  had  in  early  times  no 
political  power,  the  government  being  entirely  in  the  hands 
of  the  patricians,  who,  with  their  clients  and  the  king. 
formed  the  original  people.  The  class  of  plebeians  was  of 
after-growth,  and  probably  drew  its  numbers  from  various 
sources,  as  from  clients  whose  obligations  were  dissolved 
by  the  decay  of  the  houses  of  their  patrons,  and  the  inhabi- 
tants of  conquered  states  who  were  admitted  to  rights  of  cit- 
izenship. The  plebeian  families  with  patrician  names  are 
supposed  to  have  arisen  from  marriages  of  disparagement 
contracted  between  the  higher  and  lower  classes. 

As  this  body,  from  its  constitution,  naturally  grew  in  vigour 
while  the  patricians  became  weaker,  it  soon  formed  the 
main  strength  of  the  Roman  armies,  and  became  desirous 
of  sharing  in  the  advantages  of  the  conquests  made  by  its 
prowess ;  while  the  patricians,  on  their  part,  tenaciously 
clung  to  all  their  privileges,  and,  far  from  yielding  to  the 
demands  of  the  other  party,  exercised  the  severe  rights 
which  as  creditors  they  possessed  over  the  liberties  of  many 
of  its  members.  This  state  of  things  produced  a  continued 
series  of  collisions  between  the  two  orders,  in  which  the 
latter  gradually  gained  ground,  till,  in  the  last  ages  of  the 
republic,  it  was  admitted  to  a  full  share  of  all  the  powers 
and  privileges  before  confined  to  one  order. 

PLEBISCl  TUM.  (Lat.  a  decree  of  the  people.)  In  Ro- 
man History,  a  law  enacted  by  the  common  people,  under 
the  superintendence  of  the  tribune  or  some  subordinate  ple- 
beian magistrate,  without  the  intervention  of  the  senate. 
The  term,  however,  is  used  in  a  more  peculiar  sense,  being 
applied  chiefly  to  the  law  made  when,  upon  a  misunder- 
standing with  the  senate,  thev  retired  to  Mount  Aventine. 

PLETJTOGNATHES,  Ple'ctognathi.  (Gr.  irX&a,  /  con- 
nect, and  j  ia9oc,  ajatt.)  The  name  of  an  order  of  fishes, 
including  those  which  have  the  maxillary  hones  anchylo- 
sed  to  the  sides  of  the  intermaxillaries,  which  alone  form 
the  jaws. 

PLEXTROPO'MA.  (Gr.  xAqirrpov,  a  spur,  and  ™m,  a 
lid.)  A  name  applied  by  Cuvier  to  a  genus  of  Percoid  fish- 
es, characterized  by  having  the  angle  of  the  preoperculum 
produced,  or  divided  into  a  series  of  spines,  like  those  which 
arm  the  rowel  of  a  spur.  All  the  species  are  exotic,  and 
belong  to  warm  climates. 

PLE'CTRUM.  (Gr.  -Interpol* ;  from  -Xijo-o-w,  /  strike.) 
The  small  ivory  instrument  with  which  the  ancients  struck 
the  lyre. 

PLEIADES.  In  Mythology,  the  seven  daughters  of  At- 
las and  Pleione  were  so  called,  whose  names  were  Alcyone. 
Maia,  Electra,  Merope,  Calano,  Sterope,  and  Taygeta. 
They  were  loved  for  seven  years  by  Orion,  from  whose  so- 
licitations they  were  at  length  released  by  the  interposition 
of  Jupiter,  who  transformed  them  to  the  stars,  where  they 


PLOTTING-SCALE. 

now  form  a  cluster  in  the  neck  of  the  constellation  Taurus. 
Only  six  of  these  stars  are  visible  to  the  naked  eye  ;  and  the 
ancients  supposed  that  the  seventh  concealed  herself,  out  of 
shame  for  having  bestowed  her  love  on  a  mere  mortal, 
Sisyphus,  while  her  sisters  were  the  favourites  of  divine 
personages. 

PLE'XARTY.  (Lat.  plenus,  full.)  In  Law,  the  state 
of  a  benefice,  office,  &c,  when  full :  in  opposition  to  va- 
cancv. 

PLEXE  ADMIXISTRA'VIT.  (Lat.)  In  Law,  a  plea 
pleaded  by  an  executor  or  administrator  to  an  action  on  a 
liability  of  the  deceased,  that  he  has  fully  administered  his 
goods. 

PLE'XICORXS,  Plenicornia.  (Lat.  plenus,  full,  and 
cornu.  a  horn.)  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Ruminants,  inclu- 
ding those  which  have  horns  composed  of  an  uniform  solid 
osseous  substance,  as  the  antlers  of  deer.     See  Cornxa. 

PLENIPOTENTIARY.     See  Ambassador. 

PLEONASM.  (Gr.  i:\eov,  more.)  In  Rhetoric,  a  re- 
dundant phrase  or  expression,  sometimes  introduced  to  give 
additional  enerev,  at  other  times  needless  and  ungraceful. 

PLE'SIOMO'RPHISM.  (Gr.  -\notoS,  near,  and  uopfn, 
form.)  A  term  applied  to  crystallized  substances  the  forms 
of  which  closely  resemble  each  other,  but  are  not  absolutely 
identical.  The  primary  form  of  sulphate  of  strontia  is  a 
rhombic  prism  very  similar  to  that  of  sulphate  of  baryta ; 
but,  on  measuring  the  inclination  of  corresponding  sides  on 
each  prism,  the  difference  exceeds  2°.  Similar  differences 
are  observable  in  the  rhomboedrons  of  carbonate  of  lime 
and  carbonate  of  iron.  Such  substances,  therefore,  are 
plesiomnrphous . 

PLE'SIOSAUR,  Plesiosaurus.  (Gr.  t\t]<jwc,  and  aavpoc,  a, 
lizard.)  The  name  of  a  genus  of  extinct  marine  saurians, 
chiefly  remarkable  for  their  length  of  neck.  The  head  is 
small,  but  like  that  of  a  crocodile ;  the  vertebra?  are  articu- 
lated generally  by  nearly  plane  surfaces ;  the  cervical  ver- 
tebra have  an  articular  surface,  divided  by  a  longitudinal 
impression,  for  a  rudimental  rib  on  each  side,  and  two  vas- 
cular foramina  beneath  the  digital  bones  of  both  the  hind 
and  fore  extremities  are  flattened,  and  are  enveloped  in  a 
sheath  of  skin  like  the  paddles  of  the  Cetacea.  The  re- 
mains of  the  Plesiosauri  occur  in  the  formations  from  the 
muschel-chalk  to  the  chalk  inclusive;  but  are  most  com- 
mon in  the  lias  and  kimmeridge  clav  beds. 

PLE'THORA.  (Gr.  nXnQu,  /  fill.)  A  redundant  ful- 
ness of  the  blood-vessels.  It  results  from  various  causes, 
generally  referred  to  sanguine  plethora,  to  which  the  robust 
and  athletic  are  most  subject ;  and  to  serous  plethora, 
which  attacks  debilitated  constitutions. 

PLEU  RA.  (Lat.)  The  membrane  which  covers  the 
inner  surface  of  the  thorax  and  its  viscera.  It  forms  two 
distinct  portions,  or  bags,  which,  being  applied  laterally  to 
each  other,  form  the  partition  called  the  mediastinum. 

PLEURI'TIS,  Pleurisy.  Inflammation  of  the  pleura. 
This  disease  begins  with  fever,  cough,  pain  in  the  side,  a 
peculiar  hard  and  strong  pulse  :  the  symptoms  often  run  on 
with  great  rapidity,  attended  by  very  painful  respiration  and 
other  alarming  symptoms.  (See  Pneumonia.)  The  treat- 
ment must  be  prompt  and  decided :  it  consists  in  bleeding, 
blisters,  and  purging :  and  in  the  after  treatment,  great  care 
must  be  taken  against  an  insidious  and  local  form  of  the 
disease,  which  often  extends  to  the  lungs. 

PLEU'RONECTID^E.  (Gr.  vXevpa,  a  side,  and  vcktVc, 
a  swimmer.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Jugular  fishes 
which  swim  on  their  side,  and  of  which  the  genus  Pleu- 
ra nertes.  or  sole,  is  the  type;  they  are  commonly  called 
flat-fishes. 

PLI'CA.  (Lat.  plico.  /  entangle.)  A  disease  said  to  be 
peculiar  to  Poland,  Lithuania,  and  Tartary.  in  which  the 
hair  becomes  matted  and  inextricably  entangled.  It  is  often 
called  Plica  Polonica. 

PLI'CIPENNATES.  Plicipennes.  (Lat.  plico,  /  fold, 
and  penna.  a  feather.)  .The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Neuropte- 
rous  insects,  comprehending  those  which  have  the  inferior 
wings  wider  than  the  others,  and  folded  longitudinally. 
The  mandibles  are  wanting  in  this  tribe,  which  is  repre- 
sented bv  the  genus  Pkri/rranea,  or  caddis-flies. 

PLINTH.  (Gr.  yrXivdoc,  a  brick.)  In  Architecture,  the 
lowest  member  of  the  base  of  a  column,  bearing,  as  its 
name  indicates,  the  form  of  a  square  brick  or  tile.  (See 
Base.)  Sometimes  the  abacus  of  the  Tuscan  capital  is 
called  the  plinth  of  the  capital. 

PLI'OCENE.  (Gr.  -Ariwr,  greater,  and  Kaivoc,  recent.) 
A  geological  term  applied  to  the  most  modern  of  the  divis- 
ions of  the  tertiary  epoch,  because  the  major  part  of  its  fos- 
sil testacea  are  referable  to  recent  species.     See  Geology. 

PLO'TTING,  in  Surveying,  signifies  describing  or  laying 
down  on  paper  the  several  angles  and  lines  of  a  tract  of 
land  which  has  been  sun-eyed  and  measured.  It  is  usually 
performed  by  means  of  a  protractor  (see  the  term)  ;  some- 
times by  the  plotting  scale. 

PLO'TTING  SCALE.    A  mathematical  instrument  used 
3N  945 


PLOTUS. 

in  plotting,  or  setting  off  the  lengths  of  lines  in  surveying. 
It  consists  of  two  graduated  Ivory  scales,  one  of  which  is 
perforated  nearly  its  whole  length  hy  a  dovetail-shaped 
groove,  for  the  reception  of  a  sliding  piece  to  which  the 
second  scale  is  attached,  and  with  which  it  moves,  the 
edge  of  the  second  being  always  at  right  angles  to  the  edge 
of  the  first.  By  this  means  the  rectangular  co-ordinates  of 
a  point  are  measured  at  once  on  the  scales ;  or  the  position 
of  the  point  laid  down  on  the  plan. 

PLOTUS.  A  genus  of  web-footed  birds  of  the  family 
Pclicanida>,  and  nearly  allied  to  the  cormorants.  They  are 
generally  known  by  the  name  of  Jlnhinga,  or  "darters," 
from  the  rapidity  with  which  they  shoot  down  into  the  wa- 
ter in  the  capture  of  fish.  The  white-billed  anbinga  (Plo- 
tus  mclanogastrr)  is  the  most  common  and  best-known  spe- 
cies :  it  is  a  native  of  the  tropical  regions  of  both  North  and 
South  America. 

PLOUGH.  (Germ,  pflug.)  An  implement  drawn  by 
horses  and  guided  by  a  driver,  by  which  the  surface  of  the 
soil  is  cut  into  longitudinal  slices,  and  successively  raised 
up  and  turned  over.  The  object  of  the  operation  is  to  ex- 
pose a  new  surface  to  the  action  of  the  air,  and  to  render  it 
fit  for  receiving  the  seed,  or  for  harrowing,  or  for  other  op- 
erations of  agriculture.  Ploughs  are  of  two  kinds :  those 
without  wheels,  commonly  called  swing-ploughs ;  and 
those  with  one  or  more  wheels,  called  wheel-ploughs. 
The  essential  parts  which  compose  both  kinds  of  ploughs, 
are,  the  beam  by  which  it  is  drawn  ;  the  stilts  or  handles 
by  which  the  ploughman  guides  it,  being  two  levers  con- 
nected with  the  beam  ;  the  coulter  fixed  into  the  beam,  by 
which  the  furrow-slice  is  cut ;  the  share,  also  attached  to 
the  beam,  by  which  the  slice  is  raised  up ;  and,  finally, 
the  mould-board,  by  which  the  slice  is  turned  over.  The 
most  improved  form  of  the  swing-plough  is  that  in  general 
use  in  Scotland  and  the  North  of  England,  which  is  known 
as  a  modification  of  what  is  called  Small's  improved  swing- 
plough.  The  most  improved  wheel-plough  is  the  same 
implement,  with  a  wheel  attached  to  the  beam,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  keeping  the  share  at  a  uniform  distance  beneath  the 
surface.  The  subsoil  plough,  the  invention  of  Mr.  Smith, 
of  Deanston,  in  Stirlingshire,  is  the  swing-plough,  of  a 
somewhat  stronger  construction  than  that  in  common  use, 
but  without  the  coulter  and  the  mould  board.  The  use  of 
this  implement  is  to  follow  the  common  plough,  and  loosen 
the  subsoil  at  the  bottom  of  the  furrow  without  raising  it 
to  the  surface.  The  most  improved  form  of  this  implement 
contains  a  muzzle  (the  instrument  by  which  it  is  drawn,) 
so  contrived  as  that  the  horses  may  walk  on  the  firm  soil. 
The  use  of  the  subsoil -plough  is  one  of  the  greatest  mod- 
ern improvements  that  has  been  introduced  into  the  cul- 
ture of  arable  land.  Draining-ploughs  are  of  different 
kinds.  The  mole-plough,  instead  of  a  share  and  mould- 
board,  has  a  small  iron  cylinder  attached  to  the  lower  ex- 
tremity of  the  coulter,  and  which,  being  drawn  through 
grass  iand,  leaves  in  its  track  a  small  opening,  which  has 
been  compared  to  the  underground  track  of  a  mole,  and 
into  which  the  water  percolates  from  the  surface  through 
the  narrow  slit  formed  by  the  upper  part  of  the  coulter,  and 
is  thus  carried  off  to  an  open  drain.  The  other  kinds  of 
draining  ploughs  cut  out  the  soil,  raise  it  to  the  surface, 
and  turn  it  over  in  the  manner  of  the  common  plough,  thus 
leaving  a  deep  furrow,  which  is  commonly  farther  deepen- 
ed and  modified  hy  the  spade,  and  afterwards  partially 
filled  with  stones,  draining  tiles,  or  other  materials  through 
which  water  may  find  its  way,  and  finally,  covered  with 
the  surface  soil.  Draining-ploughs,  though,  in  theory, 
promising  a  saving  of  manflal  labour,  yet,  in  practice,  are 
found  inconvenient,  from  the  number  of  horses  required  to 
work  them.  Their  use  is,  therefore,  generally  confined  to 
free,  deep,  loamy  soils,  with  an  even  surface. 

PLOUGHING.  The  act  of  turning  over  the  soil  by 
means  of  the  plough.  Trench  ploughing  is  effected  by  the 
plough  passing  twice  along  the  same  furrow  ;  the  first  time 
for  the  purpose  of  throwing  the  surface  soil  into  the  bottom 
of  the  furrow;  and  Hie  second  time  for  raising  a  furrow- 
slice  from  under  that  which  had  been  already  turned  over, 
and  raising  it  up,  &.C.,  turning  it  upon  the  first  furrow-slice, 
by  means  of  which  the  surface  soil  is  entirely  buried,  anil  a 
stratum  of  subsoil  laid  over  it:  thus  effecting  in  the  field 
what  trenching  with  the  spade  dors  in  the  garden.  Trench 
ploughing  can  only  be  employed  with  advantage  where  the 
subsoil  is  naturally  dry  and  of  good  quality,  or  where  it  has 
l>een  rendered  so  by  draining  and  subsoil  ploughing  ;  for 
bad  subsoil  brought  to  the  surface  would  be  unfit  for  re- 
ceiving seeds  or  plants.     See  Plocoh. 

PLUG.  In  Architecture,  a  piece  of  wood  driven  hori- 
zontally into  a  wall,  its  end  being  then  sawn  away  flush 
with  the  wall,  to  afford  a  hold  for  the  nailing  up  dress- 
ings, &.C. 

PLUMBA'GIN.    A   crystnllizable  substance,  extracted 
from  the  root  of  the  Vluribago  Europoa. 
PLUMBAGO,  Graphite,  Black  Lead.    This  useful  sub- 
946 


PNEUMATICS. 

stance  is  a  compound  of  carbon,  generally  with  a  minute 
quantity  of  iron  ;  there  is,  however,  some  doubt  as  to  the 
nature  of  the  combination.  The  finest  plumbago  is  from 
Borrodale  in  Cumberland. 

PLUMB-LINE,  PLUMMET.  (Lnt.  plumbum,  lead.)  A 
heavy  body  (usually  a  piece  of  lead,  whence  the  name) 
suspended  by  a  flexible  thread  for  the  purpose  of  indicating 
the  perpendicular  to  the  horizon,  or  the  direction  of  terres- 
trial gravity.  In  former  times,  the  plumb-line  constituted 
an  essential  part  of  the  apparatus  employed  for  adjusting 
astronomical  instruments  ;  but  it  is  seldom  used  in  modern 
observations,  excepting  those  made  with  the  zenith  sector, 
its  place  being  either  more  conveniently  supplied  by  the 
spirit  level,  or  the  method  of  determining  the  zenith  point 
by  combining  direct  and  reflected  observations  rendering  it 
unnecessary.  For  the  common  artificer's  plummet,  see 
Level. 

PLU'MULA.  (Lat.  pluma,  a  feather.)  The  growing 
point  of  the  embryo,  situated  at  the  apex  of  the  radicle  and 
at  the  base  of  the  cotyledons,  by  which  it  is  protected 
when  young.  It  is  the  rudiment  of  the  future  stem  of  a 
plant. 

PLUPE'RFECT  TENSE.  (Lat.  plus  quam  perfectum, 
more  than  perfect.)  In  Grammar,  the  tense  which  denotes 
that  an  action  was  finished  at  a  certain  period  to  which  the 
speaker  refers. 

PLURAL.     See  Grammar. 

PLURA'LITY.  In  Ecclesiastical  Law,  the  holding  of 
more  than  one  benefice.  It  was  ordained  in  the  council  of 
Lateran,  A.D.  1215,  that  whosoever  should  take  any  bene- 
fice with  cure  of  souls,  if  he  should  before  have  attained  a 
like  benefice,  should,  ipso  facto,  be  deprived  of  the  latter. 
Exceptions  were  made  to  this  rule  in  certain  cases  of  in 
commendam,  by  a  constitution  published  in  the  council  of 
Lyons  ;  but  it  could  always  be  evaded  by  dispensation  from 
the  pope.  Since  the  Reformation,  dispensations  in  Eng- 
land are  granted  by  archbishops.  The  first  English  enact- 
ment on  the  subject  was  that  of  21  H.  8,  c.  13,  and  render- 
ed the  former  benefice  void  if  of  the  value  of  £8  or  above. 
A  benefice,  therefore,  with  which  another  may  be  held, 
must  be  below  that  value  in  "  the  king's  books."  By  the 
4th  canon,  41,  no  license  or  dispensation  for  the  holding  of 
more  benefices  than  one  can  be  granted  to  any  one,  unless 
a  graduate  as  A.M.  in  one  of  the  universities  ;  and  be  must 
reside  a  reasonable  time  on  each  benefice,  and  licensed  as  a 
preacher;  nor  may  they  be  more  than  thirty  miles  asunder; 
and  he  must  have  under  him  a  preacher  properly  licensed 
in  that  where  he  resides  least.  Formerly,  dispensations 
even  from  the  injunctions  of  this  canon  were  obtained  from 
the  crown  ;  but  none,  it  is  said,  since  the  Revolution.  The 
practice  was  very  common  in  this  country  in  Roman  Cath- 
olic times ;  and  though,  as  we  have  already  observed,  re- 
strained bv  various  statutes,  still  subsists  to  a  considerable 
extent.  Until  every'  benefice  is  made  capable  of  supporting 
an  incumbent,  it  is  manifestly  impossible  to  abolish  it  en- 
tirely ;  and,  in  the  case  of  an  individual  holding  one  rich 
and  one  poor  living  together,  the  arrangement  may  fre- 
quently be  practically  advantageous.  Under  the  existing 
laws  (i836),  dispensations  for  holding  two  benefices  may  be 
obtained  on  various  pleas  ;  but  measures  of  farther  restraint 
are  understood  to  be  in  contemplation. 

PLUS.  In  Algebra,  the  additive  or  positive  sign  +, 
which,  being  placed  between  two  quantities,  signifies  that 
they  are  to  be  taken  collectively,  or  added  together.  Ac- 
cording to  Dr.  Hutton,  this  character  was  first  used  hy  Sti- 
felius,  as  a  contraction  of  the  letter  p,  the  initial  of  plus. 

PLUTO.  (Gr.  mjvriav.)  Called  also  Hades  (AirV). 
Aidoneus  (AirWrA)  by  the  Greeks,  or  Orcus  by  the  Ro- 
mans, was  the  brother  of  Jupiter  and  Neptune,  and  lord  of 
the  infernal  regions.  He  is  not,  like  his  brothers,  celebra- 
ted for  amours,  but  remained  faithful  to  Proserpine,  whom 
he  carried  away  from  the  plains  of  Sicily,  and  made  his 
queen. 

Pluto  is  represented  as  an  old  man  with  a  dignified  but 
severe  countenance,  holding  in  his  hand  a  two-pronged 
fork. 

PLUTO'NIC  ROCKS.  Unstratifled  crystalline  rocks, 
probably  formed  at  great  depths  benealh  the  surface  by 
igneous  fusion.  The  term  is  opposed  to  volcanic  rocks,  also 
formed  by  fire,  but  having  cooled  near  the  surface.  See 
Geoi.ooy. 

PLUTTTS.  (Gr.  TrXorroc,  ircalth.)  The  god  of  riches, 
said  to  have  been  the  son  of  .Tasius  and  Demeter  or  Ceres. 
There  are  no  particulars  known  as  to  his  worship;  but  he 
is  introduced  as  an  actor  in  the  play  of  Aristophanes  which 
bears  his  name,  and  he  bears  a  part  also  in  the  Timon  of 
Lillian. 

PL.UVIAMETER.  (Lat.  pluvius,  rain.)  See  Rain- 
Gaiioe. 

PNEUMATICS.  (Gr.  nriiua,  air  or  breath.)  The  sci- 
ence which  treats  of  the  mechanical  properties  of  elastic 
fluids,  and  particularly  of  atmospheric  air. 


PNEUMATICS. 


Elastic  fluids  are  divided  into  two  classes— permanent 
gases,  and  vapours.  The  gases  cannot  be  converted  into 
the  liquid  state  by  any  known  process  of  art ;  whereas  the 
vapours  are  readily  reduced  to  the  liquid  form  by  pressure, 
or  diminution  of  temperature.  In  respect  of  their  mechani- 
cal properties  there  is,  however,  no  essential  difference 
between  the  two  classes. 

Elastic  fluids,  in  a  state  of  equilibrium,  are  subject  to  the 
action  of  two  forces;  namely,  gravity,  and  a  molecular 
force  acting  from  particle  to  particle.  Gravity  acts  on  the 
gases  in  the  same  manner  as  on  all  other  material  substan- 
ces ;  but  the  action  of  the  molecular  forces  is  altogether  dif- 
ferent from  that  which  takes  place  among  the  elementary 
particles  of  solids  and  liquids ;  for,  in  the  case  of  solid  bod- 
ies, the  molecules  strongly  attract  each  other  (whence  re- 
sults their  cohesion),  and,  in  the  case  of  liquids,  exert  a 
feeble  or  evanescent  attraction,  so  as  to  be  indifferent  to  in- 
ternal motion  ;  but,  in  the  case  of  the  gases,  the  molecular 
forces  are  repulsive,  and  the  molecules,  yielding  to  the  ac- 
tion of  these  forces,  tend  incessantly  to  recede  from  each 
other,  and,  in  fact,  do  recede,  until  their  farther  separation 
is  prevented  by  an  exterior  obstacle.  Thus,  air  confined 
within  a  close  vessel  exerts  a  constant  pressure  against  the 
interior  surface,  which  is  not  sensible,  only  because  it  is 
balanced  by  the  equal  pressure  of  the  atmosphere  on  the 
exterior  surface.  This  pressure  exerted  by  the  air  against 
the  sides  of  a  vessel  within  which  it  is  confined  is  called  its 
elasticity,  or  elastic  force,  or  tension. 

Conditions  of  Equilibrium. — In  order  that  all  the  parts 
of  an  elastic  fluid  may  be  in  equilibrium,  one  condition  only 
is  necessary;  namely,  that  the  elastic  force  be  the  same  at 
every  point  situated  in  the  same  horizontal  plane.  This 
condition  is  likewise  necessary  to  the  equilibrium  of  liquids, 
and  the  same  circumstances  give  rise  to  it  in  both  cases; 
namely,  the  mobility  of  the  particles,  and  the  action  of 
gravity  upon  them.  Conceive  a  close  vessel  to  be  filled 
with  air,  or  a  gas ;  and  let  a  and  b  be  two  molecules  situated 
in  the  same  horizontal  plane.  It  is  evident  that  if  the  two 
molecules  are  in  a  state  of  equilibrium,  the  force  with 
which  a  repels  b  must  be  exactly  counteracted  by  that  with 
which  b  repels  a,  for  otherwise  motion  would  take  place. 
The  same  thing  takes  place  in  respect  of  every  horizontal 
section  of  the  gas ;  but  the  pressure  on  each  section  varies 
with  its  altitude.  Suppose  c  and  d  to  be  two  molecules 
situated  in  a  horizontal  section,  lower  than  that  in  which 
are  a  and  6.  It  is  evident  that  the  molecules  c  and  d  sus- 
tain a  greater  pressure  than  a  and  b;  for,  in  the  first  place, 
the  whole  of  the  pressure  on  a  and  b  is  transmitted  to  them 
by  the  principle  of  the  equality  of  pressure  in  all  directions  ; 
and,  in  the  second  place,  they  sustain  a  new  pressure, 
arising  from  the  weight  or  gravity  of  all  the  molecules 
situated  between  the  two  horizontal  planes  a  b  and  c  d. 

The  principle  which  has  just  been  explained  is  proved 
experimentally  by  the  diminution  of  the  pressure  of  the 
atmosphere  at  greater  altitudes.  A  column  of  air  reaching 
from  the  ground  to  the  top  of  the  atmosphere  exerts  a  pres- 
sure equal  to  the  weight  of  a  column  of  mercury  of  the 
same  diameter,  and  whose  height  is  equal  to  that  in  the 
barometric  tube.  Now,  on  carrying  the  barometer  to  the 
top  of  a  mountain,  for  example,  the  mercurial  column  is 
observed  gradually  to  become  shorter  as  we  ascend ;  and 
the  diminution  of  the  column,  and  consequently  of  atmo- 
spheric pressure,  is  connected  with  the  increase  of  altitude 
by  a  certain  constant  law,  which  enables  us  to  deduce  the 
one  from  the  other,  and  to  apply  the  barometer  to  the  very 
important  purpose  of  determining  the  relative  altitudes  of 
places  on  the  surface  of  the  earth.  See  Heights,  Mea- 
surement of. 

Law  of  Jlariotte. — In  order  to  determine  the  relation  be- 
tween the  density  and  pressure  of  the  elastic  fluids  in  the 
state  of  equilibrium,  let  A  C  B  be  a  graduated  bent  tube 
(like  a  siphon  barometer),  having  two  unequal 
branches,  of  which  the  shorter  is  hermetically 
sealed  at  B,  and  the  longer  open  at  A.  Let  a 
small  quantity  of  mercury  be  poured  into  the 
tube,  just  enough  to  fill  the  bend,  and  intercept 
the  communication  between  the  air  in  C  B  and 
the  external  atmosphere,  and  let  the  level  E  F 
be  marked  at  which  it  stands  in  the  two  branches 
of  the  tube.  It  is  evident  that  in  this  state  the 
pressure  of  the  air  imprisoned  between  E  and  B 
is  exactly  equal  to  that  of  the  atmosphere.  Now, 
let  mercury  be  poured  into  the  tube  at  A  ;  it  will 
rise  slowly  in  the  branch  E  B,  and  much  more 
rapidly  in  the  open  branch  FA.  Let  mercury 
then  be  continued  to  be  poured  in  until  it  stands 
at  two  points,  D  and  E',  so  situated  that  the  alti- 
tude of  D  above  E',  or  DF',  is  just  equal  to  the  height  of 
the  column  in  the  barometer,  or  about  30  inches.  In  this 
state,  the  elasticity  of  the  air  in  the  space  E'  B  is  in  equi- 
librium with  the  pressure  arising  from  the  weight  of  the 
mercurial  column  F'  D,  and  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere 


exerted  on  D.  But  the  weight  of  the  mercurial  column 
F'D  is  just  equal  to  the  atmospheric  pressure,  consequently 
the  air  in  E'  B  is  compressed  by  a  force  equal  to  twice  the 
atmospheric  pressure.  Now,  on  observing  the  length  of  the 
column  E' B,  it  will  be  found  exactly  one  half  of  EB,  or 
the  air  has  been  reduced  to  half  its  former  volume.  On  in- 
creasing the  length  of  the  open  branch  of  the  siphon,  and 
pouring  in  a  proper  quantity  of  mercury,  it  is  found  that  a 
pressure  of  three  atmospheres  reduces  the  volume  of  air  at 
B  to  one  third,  and  of  four  atmospheres  to  a  fourth  of  its 
first  volume ;  whence  it  is  inferred,  generally,  that  the 
volumes  of  gases  are  inversely  as  the  pressures  which  they 
support.  This  fundamental  property  of  elastic  fluids  is 
called  the  Law  of  Jlariotte,  from  its  having  been  discovered 
by  that  philosopher  in  France.  It  has  been  verified  in 
several  ways,  on  all  the  known  gases;  and,  in  the  case  of 
dry  air,  its  verification  has  been  pushed,  by  MM.  Dulong 
and  Arago,  to  pressures  equivalent  to  twenty-seven  atmo- 
spheres. (Lame  Cours  de  Physique.)  It  also  holds  true  in 
respect  of  vapours  or  steam,  subjected  to  a  smaller  degree 
of  pressure  than  that  which  is  necessary  to  reduce  them  to 
the  liquid  state ;  and  even  for  mixtures  of  different  gases. 
It  is  important,  however,  to  observe,  that  it  is  supposed  no 
variation  of  temperature  has  taken  place  during  the  experi- 
ment. The  apparatus  above  described  is  called  a  mane- 
meter. 

The  density  of  bodies  being  inversely  as  their  volumes, 
the  law  of  Mariotte  may  be  otherwise  expressed,  by  saying, 
the  density  of  an  elastic  fluid  is  directly  proportional  to  the 
pressure  it  sustains.  Under  the  pressure  of  a  single  atmo- 
sphere, the  density  of  air  is  about  the  770th  part  of  that  of 
water ;  whence  it  follows  that,  under  the  pressure  of  770 
atmospheres,  air  is  as  dense  as  water.  Thus,  the  average 
atmospheric  pressure  being  equal  to  that  of  a  column  of 
water  of  about  32  feet  in  altitude,  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea, 
at  a  depth  of  24640  (=  770  X  32)  feet,  or  4§  miles,  air  would 
be  heavier  than  water;  and  though  it  should  still  remain 
in  a  gaseous  state,  it  would  be  incapable  of  rising  to  the 
surface. 

Effects  of  Heat  on  the  Elasticity  of  the  Gases. — The  re- 
pulsive energy  of  the  molcules  of  the  elastic  fluids  is  greatly 
augmented  by  an  increase  of  temperature ;  and  it  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  in  many  physical  inquiries  to  ascertain 
the  relation  between  the  temperature  and  the  elastic  force. 
If  the  air  and  several  other  gases,  sustaining  the  same  con- 
stant pressure,  are  exposed  to  an  increase  of  temperature 
which  affects  all  of  them  equally,  it  is  proved,  by  observa- 
tion, that  they  all  undergo  an  equal  expansion  ;  that  is  to 
say,  the  increase  of  volume  of  all  the  gases  is  the  same  for 
equal  augmentations  of  temperature,  and  proportional  to 
these  augmentations.  Experience  also  shows  that,  within  a 
considerable  range  of  temperature,  the  indications  of  the 
air  thermometer  differ  very  little  from  those  of  the  mer- 
curial thermometer ;  so  that,  within  this  range,  the  ex- 
pansion of  any  gas  whatever  is  proportional  to  the  increase 
of  temperature  indicated  by  the  degrees  of  the  ordinary 
thermometer.  From  the  temperature  of  melting  ice  to  that 
of  boiling  water,  or  from  zero  to  100°  of  the  centigrade  ther- 
mometer, Gay-Lussac  found  the  expansion  of  air  subjected 
to  a  constant  pressure,  to  be  in  the  ratio  of  unity  to  1-375 ; 
which  gives  an  expansion  of  000375  for  each  centigrade 
degree.  This  being  assumed,  let  V  be  the  volume  of  any 
gas  at  the  zero  temperature,  P  its  elastic  force,  or  the 
pressure  it  sustains,  and  D  its  density.  Let  a  =  '00375,  and 
suppose  the  values  of  V  and  D  to  become  V  and  D'  when 
the  temperature  is  increased  t  degrees ;  then  the  pressure  P 
being  supposed  constant,  we  have  evidently 

V'  =  V(l  +  at); 
and'  the  density  being  inversely  as  the  volume,  we  have, 
also, 

1+at 
Now,   suppose  the  pressure  to  be  varied  without   any 
change  of  the  temperature,    and   let  p  denote  the  new 
pressure,   and  d  the  corresponding  density  :   the  law  of 
Mariotte  gives 

Pa" 


and,  on  substituting  for  D'  its  value  given  by  the  preceding 

p 
formula,  and  making  —  =  k,  we  obtain 

p=kd(l  +  at) 
for  the  expression  of  the  elastic  force  of  any  gas  in   a 
function  of  its  density  and  temperature. 

The  coefficient  k  is  constant  for  the  same  gas,  but  has  a 
different  value  for  different  gases,  depending  on  their  densi- 
ties or  specific  gravities.  With  respect  to  atmospheric  air, 
its  value  may  be  found  thus':  The  density  of  air,  compared 
with  water,  is  0-0013,  and  that  of  mercury  13-59;   there- 

947 


PNEUMATICS. 

fore,  supposing  the  height  of  the  barometer  to  be  30  inches, 
the  value  of  k,  or  the  height  of  a  column  of  air  of  uniform 
density,  exerting  on  its  base  a  pressure  equal  to  that  of 

13'59 
the  atmosphere,  is  30  in.  X =  313860  inches,  or  26155 

feet  (about  five  miles),  the  temperature  being  that  of  freez- 
water. 

Of  the  Motion  of  the  Gases. — Elastic  fluids,  in  escaping 
from  a  vessel  by  a  small  orifice,  or  lube,  into  a  vacuum, 
observe,  like  Liquids,  a  law  first  discovered  by  Torricelli ; 
namely,  that  the  velocity  of  the  molecules,  when  they 
escape  from  the  orifice,  is  equal  to  that  which  they  would 
have  acquired  by  falling  through  a  height  equal  to  the 
height  of  a  vertical  column  of  uniform  density,  producing 
the  same  pressure  as  is  exerted  by  the  gas  at  the  level  of 
the  orifice.  Thus,  it  has  just  been  shown  that  the  pressure 
of  the  atmosphere,  when  the  barometer  stands  at  30  inches, 
and  the  temperature  is  that  of  freezing,  is  equal  to  that 
which  would  be  produced  by  a  column  of  air  of  uniform 
density  extending  to  an  altitude  of  26155  feet.  Now,  putting 
g—lhe  accelerating  force  of  gravity  =  32  feet  per  second, 
the  velocity  which  a  heavy  body  would  acquire  by  falling 
in  a  vacuum  from  a  height  of  26155  feet,  is  vA-<?'  X  20155;= 
8-^26155  =  100,4  feet  m  a  second;  which,  therefore,  is  the 
velocity  with  which  air  rushes  into  a  vacuum.  If  the  tem- 
perature varies,  the  velocity  will  vary  aiso,  and  will  become 
1294  y/(l  +  a  t).  For  example,  if  the  temperature  were  16° 
centigrade  (about  61°  of  Fahrenheit),  the  velocity  would  be 
1332  feet  per  second. 

Since  the  densities  of  the  gases  are  proportional  to  the 
pressures  they  support,  air  will  always  rush  into  a  vacuum 
with  the  same  velocity,  whatever  its  density  may  be  in  the 
vessel  from  which  it  escapes ;  for  the  homogeneous  column 
of  the  same  density,  and  exercising  the  same  pressure  as  the 
air  in  the  vessel,  must,  in  all  cnses,  have  the  same  alfitude. 

The  velocities  with  which  the  different  gases  enter  a 
vacuum  are  inversely  as  the  square  roots  of  their  densities ; 
for  they  are  proportional  to  the  square  roots  of  the  altitudes 
from  which  the  molecules  are  supposed  to  fall,  and  these 
altitudes  are  inversely  as  the  densities.  Thus,  hydrogen 
gas,  the  lightest  of  all  the  gases,  and  whose  density  is  only 
0-0688  of  that  of  air,  would  enter  a  vacuum  with  a  velocity 
of  4933  (=1294  divided  by  the  square  root  of  0-0688)  feet  in 
a  second.  It  is  to  be  remarked,  however,  that  all  those  laws 
relative  to  the  flow  of  gases,  are  rather  inferences  from 
theory  than  truths  demonstrated  by  direct  experiment. 

In  the  case  of  air  or  any  gas  flowing  into  a  space  con- 
taining a  gas  of  an  inferior  density,  the  velocity  will  be  the 
same  as  that  of  an  incompressible  liquid,  of  similar  density 
with  the  effluent  gas,  and  capable  of  exercising  a  pressure 
equal  to  the  difference  between  the  pressures  of  the  two 
gases.  Taking,  for  example,  the  case  of  a  gas  flowing  from 
a  gasometer  into  the  atmosphere :  let  A  denote  the  height 
of  the  barometer,  and  A  +  H  that  of  the  column  of  mercury 
exercising  a  pressure  equal  to  the  elasticity  of  the  effluent 
gas,  so  that  H  is  the  difference  of  the  two  pressures.  Also, 
let  A  denote  the  density  of  mercury,  d  that  of  the  gas  in  the 
gasometer  corresponding  to  the  pressure  A  +  H,  and  v  the 
velocity  per  second  ;  then 

Now  if,  in  the  formula  p  —  kd  (1  +  <zr),  we  substitute 
the  pressure  in  the  gasometer  (A  +  H)  A  for  p,  and  also 
for  k  its  value  as  above  determined  in  feet,  this  expression 
will  become 

where  v  is  expressed  in  feet.  If,  therefore,  A  denote  the 
area  of  the  orifice  in  feet,  the  volume  or  number  of  cubic 
feet  discharged  in  a  second  will  be  v  A.  It  is  to  be  observed, 
that  the  volume  thus  determined  is  the  volume  of  a  gas  of 
the  same  density  as  in  the  gasometer ;  if  it  were  required 
to  find  the  Dumber  of  cubic  feet,  at  a  different  density,  cor- 
responding to  the  pressure  of  a  mercurial  column  whose 
height  =A',  it  would  be  necessary  to  multiply  the  above 
expression  b]  the  ratio  (A  +  H)-^A\ 

From  the  experiments  of  D'Aubuisson,  it  has  been  ascer- 
tained that  air,  in  passing  through  an  orifice  pierced  in  B 
thin  plate,  forms  a  vma  contractu,  whose  area,  as  in  the 
case  of  a  liquid,  is  005  of  the  area  of  the  orifice.  The  ap- 
plication of  cylindric  adjutages  increases  the  quantity  i88u 
ing  through  the  orifice  to  0-93,  and  a  conical  tube  to  095. 
The  length  of  the  adjutage  may  be  20  or  30  times  the 
diameter  of  the  orifice  before  the  discharge  begins  to  be 
diminished  by  friction.  If,  therefore,  we  suppose  the  gas 
to  flow  through  a  cyltndrtc  tube,  and  assume  the  multi- 
plier 093  :  and  also  express  the  area  of  the  orifice  in  terms 
of  the  diameter  of  the  tube,  which  we  (hall  suppose  =m 
feet;  then,  observing  that  4  A  =  3-14159  m-'.  the  formula 
for  the  number  of  cubic  feet  discharged  in  a  second  the 
948 


PNEUMOBRANCHIATES. 

density  being  measured  by  A  +  H,  will  become 

945m-V,Ai?H(1  +  at)S  • 

The  principle  of  the  lateral  communication  of  motion 
holds  good  with  respect  to  the  gases  as  well  as  the  liquids. 
Ob  tins  principle  we  may  explain  a  curious  fact,  observed 
in  the  efflux  of  air  from  a  blowing  machine,  and  in  the 
escape  of  steam  from  the  valves  of  boilers.  If  a  circular 
disk  of  four  or  five  limes  the  diameter  of  the  orifice  be 
placed  close  to  it,  not  only  will  it  not  be  forced  away  by  the 
current  of  the  elastic  fluid,  but  it  will  be  retained  by  a  con- 
siderable force;  insomuch  that  if  the  orifice  be  directed 
downwards,  the  disk,  though  formed  of  a  dense  metallic 
substance,  will  be  supported  in  opposition  to  its  gravity. 
Let  air.  issuing  with  considerable  force  through  the  aper- 
ture A  B,  have  its  course  interrupted  by  the  fc  . 
metallic  plate  C  D  ;  the  current  will  assume  N>xr  D/y 
the  form  of  a  conoid  E  A  B  F,  containing 
the  cavity  E  G  F.  At  first,  the  space  C  G  D 
will  be  filled  with  the  effluent  air  ;  but  if  a 
lateral  communication  of  motion  takes  place,  the  air  in  this 
conoid  will  join  itself  to  that  which  escapes  by  the  edges  of 
the  plate,  and  a  vacuum  be  formed  in  the  space  C  t;  1),  and 
the  plate  C  D  be  forced  towards  the  aperture  by  the  pressure 
of  the  atmosphere  on  the  opposite  side.  But  as  it  ap- 
proaches the  orifice,  the  action  of  the  effluent  air  will  be- 
come more  intense,  and  the  dimensions  of  the  void  space 
be  diminished,  so  that  the  plate  will  assume  a  position  in 
which  the  forces  tending  to  move  it  m  opposite  directions 
will  be  balanced. 

It  has  been  demonstrated  by  Newton,  in  the  second  book 
of  the  Principia,  that  the  velocity  with  which  sound  is 
propagated  through  the  air  is  the  same  as  that  which  a 
heavy  body  would  acquire  by  falling  through  half  the 
height  of  the  homogeneous  atmosphere,  and,  consequently, 
equal  to  8-^13078,  or,  about  915  feet  per  second.  But  this 
theoretical  determination  is  found  to  differ  considerably 
from  experiment,  which  gives  a  velocity  of  1125  feet  per 
second,  when  the  temperature  of  the  air  is  at  62°  of  Fahren- 
heit's thermometer.  Laplace  suggested  a  very  probable 
explanation  of  this  discrepancy :  namely,  that  the  con- 
densation caused  by  the  vibrations  produced  a  degree  of 
sensible  heat  by  which  the  elasticity  of  the  air  is  increased, 
or,  rather,  the  density  diminished,  while  the  elastic  force 
remains  the  same.  In  consequence  of  this  extrication  of 
heat,  the  number  given  by  the  formula  of  Newton  must  be 
multiplied  by  the  square  root  of  the  number  which  ex- 
presses the  ratio  of  the  specific  heat  of  the  air  under  a  con- 
stant pressure  to  its  specific  heat  under  a  constant  volume. 
This  number  is  found  by  experiment  to  be  1-375,  the  square 
root  of  which  is  1-173 ;  and,  on  applying  litis  correction, 
with  the  proper  corrections  for  temperature,  the  theoretical 
determination  does  not  differ  very  widely  from  the  experi- 
mental result.     See  Sound. 

Pneumatics  forms  a  branch  of  physical  science  which  has 
been  entirely  created  by  modern  discoveries.  Galileo  first 
demonstrated  that  air  possesses  weight.  His  pupil,  Torri- 
celli, invented  the  barometer;  and  Pascal,  by  observing  the 
difference  of  the  altitudes  of  the  mercurial  column  at  the 
top  and  the  foot  of  the  Puy  de  Dome,  proved  that  the  sus- 
pension of  the  mercury  is  caused  by  the  pressure  of  the 
atmosphere.  Otto  Guericke,  a  citizen  of  Magdeburg,  in- 
vented the  air-pump  about  the  year  1654;  and  Boyle  and 
Mariotte,  soon  afterwards  detected,  by  its  means.the  principal 
mechanical  properties  of  atmospheric  air.  Analogous  pro- 
perties have  been  proved  to  belong  to  all  the  other  aeriform 
fluids.  The  problem  of  determining  the  velocity  of  their 
vibrations  was  solved  by  Newton  and  Euler,  but  more  com- 
pletely by  Lagrange.  The  theoretical  principles  relative  to 
the  pressure  and  motion  of  elastic  fluids,  from  which  the 
practical  formula;  are  deduced,  were  established  by  Daniel 
Bernoulli,  in  his  Ilydrodynamica,  (1738);  but  have  been 
rendered  more  general  by  Navier  (.Mem.  de  I'Acad.  1830). 
The  experiments  of  D'Aubuisson,  above  referred  to,  are 
given  in  different  volumes  of  the  .Innalfs  de  Chimie  (1826, 
1828, 1829).     Set  Gas,  Rkbistami  k,  Vapoir. 

PNEUMATIC  RAILWAY.     Sec  Railroad. 

PNEUMATCMACH1      <;r.  nvtvpa,  spirit,  and  payr,, 
In   Ecclesiastical   History,   a  name  of  reproach, 
given  by  the  orthodox   to  those  various  classes  of  heretics 
who,  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  impugned  the  di- 
vinity of  the  Hoi  j  Ghost.    See  Macedonians. 

PNEUMATOSIS.  (Gr.  mci-parou,,  I  inflate.)  Fmphv- 
sema.  .\  collection  of  air  in  the  cellular  membrane,  ren- 
dering the  pan  tumid, elastic  and  crepitating  when  pressed. 
It  rarely  arises  spontaneously,  but  generally  from  some 

wound    which    afiectS    the    lungs,    and    by    which    the    air 

spreads  through   the  cellular  membrane.    In  some  rare 

an  i  ni-ct  of  certain  poisons. 

PNEUMOBB  IN'CHIATES,    Tneumobramchiata.     (Gr. 

irvtvpa,  air,  ^pay\ia,  gills.)     A  name  applied  by  Hunter  to 


PNEUMONIA. 

the  Perennibranchiate  reptiles  of  recent  zoologists ;  and  by 
Lamarck  to  an  order  of  Gastropodous  mollusks. 

PNEUMO'NIA,  or  PNEUMONITIS.  An  inflammation 
of  the  lungs.  This  disease  generally  attacks  those  of  robust 
habit  after  exposure  to  the  cold  or  wet,  and  suppressed 
perspiration ;  it  is  sometimes  produced  by  any  inordinate 
exertion  of  the  lungs.  Fever,  cough,  difficult  breathing,  a 
strong,  hard,  and  quick  pulse,  usher  in  the  disease,  which, 
if  neglected,  sometimes  proceeds  so  rapidly  as  to  end  in 
suffocation  ;  it  may  also  prove  fatal  by  terminating  in  sup- 
puration and  gangrene.  A  free  and  abundant  expectoration, 
perspiration,  or  diarrhoea,  are  favourable  symptoms  of  its 
termination  in  resolution.  Large  bleeding  at  the  outset,  re- 
peated, however,  with  much  circumspection,  local  bleed- 
ing, purges,  and  diaphoretics  of  calomel  and  antimony,  and 
afterwards  small  doses  of  opium,  hemlock,  and  such  reme- 
dies as  quiet  the  cough,  and  procure  sleep,  constitute  the 
leading  principles  of  treatment. 

PNEU'MOTHO'RAX.  (Gr.  nvtvp.ee,  and  $topal,  chest.) 
An  accumulation  of  air  in  the  sac  of  the  pleura. 

POA.  (Gr.  -rrori,  grass.)  A  name  given  by  botanists  to  a 
genus  of  grasses  of  considerable  extent,  and  very  abundant 
in  the  pasturages  of  Europe.  One  of  the  commonest  of  all 
weeds  is  the  Pao  annua.  Poa  trivialis  and  pratensis  are 
other  species,  sown  extensively  as  a  part  of  the  artificial 
pastures  and  lawns,  which  are  now  commonly  made  with 
picked  grasses  instead  of  "hay  seeds."  In  general,  they 
appear  to  be  nutritious  and  agreeable  to  cattle. 

POACHERS.     See  Game  Laws. 

POCO.  (Ital.)  In  Music,  a  word  frequently  prefixed  to 
another  to  lessen  the  strength  of  its  signification;  as poco 
largo,  a  little  slow. 

PO'DAGRA.  (Gr.  -novs,  the  foot,  and  aypa,  a  seizure.) 
See.  Gout. 

PODESTA.  One  of  the  chief  magistrates  of  Genoa  and 
Venice  is  so  called. 

PODE'TIA.  (Gr.  novc,  a  foot.)  The  stalk-like  elonga- 
tions of  the  thallus,  which,  in  certain  lichens,  support  the 
fructification,  as  in  Cenomyce. 

PO'DICEPS.  (Gr.  divided  foot.)  A  genus  of  birds,  com- 
monly called  Grebes,  placed  in  the  order  of  Palmipeds  by 
Cuvier,  but  forming  the  transition  from  the  waders  to  the 
swimmers  by  having  the  webs  of  the  toes  incomplete,  and 
formed  by  a  scalloped  membrane,  as  in  the  coot.  The  legs 
are,  however,  placed  far  back,  so  as  to  render  them  efficient 
organs  of  swimming,  while  their  use  in  walking  on  dry  land 
is  proportionally  deteriorated;  the  feet  are  admirably  or- 
ganized for  propelling  the  body  through  the  water ;  and  the 
grebe,  which  dives  more  than  it  swims,  assists  the  feet  with 
a  simultaneous  action  of  its  wings ;  but  these,  like  the  pec- 
toral fins  of  fishes,  serve  mainly  to  direct  and  vary  the 
course  of  the  bird. 

PO'DIUM.  (Lat.)  In  Architecture,  the  part  in  an  am- 
phitheatre projecting  over  the  arena,  above  which  it  was 
raised  about  12  or  15  feet :  in  this  part  sat  the  persona- 
ges of  distinction.  The  word  is  also  used  to  signify  a  bal- 
cony. 

PtE'CILE.  (Gr.)  A  celebrated  portico  or  gallery  at 
Athens,  where  Zeno  inculcated  his  doctrines.  The  Pcecile 
was  adorned  with  the  statues  of  gods  and  benefactors;  and 
the  picture  of  Polygnotus,  so  well  known  to  the  classical 
reader,  which  represented  Miltiades  at  the  head  of  the  1000 
Greeks  at  the  battle  of  Marathon,  was  here  suspended  for 
ages. 

POZ'CILOPODS,  Pmcilopoda.  (Gr.  ttoikiAo;,  varied,  and 
ttous,  a  foot.)  The  name  of  an  order  of  Entomostracous 
Crustaceans,  including  those  which  have  feet  of  different 
forms  and  uses,  the  anterior  ones  being  ambulatory  or  pre- 
hensile, the  posterior  branchial  and  natatory. 

POETRY.  (Gr.  rrottjcrig,  a  poem,  and  TroirjTiKri  rtxi'1-  the 
art  of  poetry  ;  from  tiouh),  I  make,  according  to  Aristotle, 
because  the  writers  of  each  different  class  of  poems,  epic, 
elegiac,  &c,  were  said,  in  common  language,  to  "  make" 
them ;  and  called  ciro-noiot,  tXtyuoitotot,  epic-makers,  and 
elegy-makers.  De  Poet.,  sec.  iii.)  To  produce  a  complete 
and  satisfactory  definition  of  poetry  has  been,  hitherto,  un- 
successfully attempted  by  writers  on  taste,  and  by  poets 
themselves.  A  popular  one,  sufficiently  adapted  to  general 
notions,  is  furnished  by  the  doyen  of  living  critics,  Lord  Jef- 
frey :  "  The  end  of  poetry  is  to  please ;  and  the  name,  we 
think,  is  strictly  applicable  to  every  metrical  composition 
from  which  we  derive  pleasure  without  any  laborious  ex- 
ercise of  the  understanding."  (Ed.  Rev.,  xi.,  p.  216.)  But, 
in  the  first  place,  it  has  been  truly  observed  that  "verse  is 
the  limit  by  which  poetry  is  bounded :  it  is  the  adjunct  of 
poetry,  but  not  its  living  principle."  "  Poetry,"  says  Cole- 
ridge, "  is  not  the  proper  antithesis  to  prose,  but  to  science. 
Poetry  is  opposed  to  science,  and  prose  to  metre."  "  The 
proper  and  immediate  object  of  science  is  the  acquirement 
or  communication  of  truth  ;  the  proper  and  immediate  ob- 
ject of  poetry  is  the  communication  of  immediate  pleasure." 
In  the  next  place,  Lord  Jeffrey's  definition  would  clearly  In- 
78 


POETRY. 

elude  burlesque  composition.  Is  this  strictly  poetry  ?  It 
was  included,  certainly,  in  their  rather  artificial  analysis  of 
poetry  by  ancient  critics :  in  the  Poetics  of  Aristotle  the  rules 
of  comic  composition  are  as  elaborately  laid  down  as  those 
of  any  other  species.  Yet  the  excitement  of  the  ridicidoua 
is  altogether  of  a  different  nature  from  that  produced  by  po- 
etry in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word  ;  which  is  necessarily 
either  elevating,  imaginative,  or  tender.  And  this  it  does, 
as  Coleridge,  with  a  true  poetical  feeling,  has  described  it, 
by  communicating  to  the  reader  "that  pleasurable  emotion, 
that  peculiar  state  and  degree  of  excitement  which  arises  in 
the  poet  himself  in  the  act  of  composition.  (Literary  Re- 
mains.) The  end  of  poetry,  then,  appears  to  be  to  produce 
intellectual  pleasure  by  exciting  emotions  either  of  the  ele- 
vated or  pathetic  order.  But  in  what  mode  does  poetry  ef- 
fect this  1  The  sight  of  a  distressed  object  raises  tender 
feelings;  a  tale  of  distress  does  the  same  :  to  be  witness  of 
some  stupendous  event,  or  great  natural  phenomenon,  ele- 
vates them ;  and  so  does  the  description  of  such.  Yet  this 
tale  or  description  is  not  poetry.  Some  dramas,  almost  ut- 
terly destitute  of  poetical  merit,  retain  a  hold  on  theatrical 
audiences  merely  because  they  are  transcripts  of  painful 
scenes  actually  occurring  in  domestic  life.  But  these  are 
not  poetry,  although  constantly  mistaken  for  it.  So,  again, 
the  mere  narration  of  a  grand  and  surprising  circumstance 
is  not  poetry,  however  akin  to  poetical  the  emotion  it  in- 
spires. Few  passages  in  poetry  retain  a  greater  hold  on  the 
imagination  than  the  well-known  accounts  of  Napoleon 
amid  the  fires  of  Moscow,  or  the  sack  of  Rome  by  Bourbon, 
or  the  execution  of  Charles  the  First,  or  mere  descriptions 
of  the  Alps  or  Niagara  :  the  most  prosaic  writer  who  treats 
these  subjects,  if  he  only  adhere  to  truth  and  bring  out  its 
striking  particulars,  cannot  fail  of  producing  an  effect  which 
may  be  termed,  as  regards  the  reader,  poetical ;  but  not  by 
the  employment  of  poetry.  This  consideration  leads  us  to 
its  great  characteristic.  It  is  essentially  a  creative  art :  its  op- 
eration is  "making,"  not  transcribing.  "Imitation"  it  is,  as 
Aristotle  defines  it ;  not  because  it  copies,  but  because  it  has 
its  model  in  nature,  and  can  never  depart  far  from  it  with- 
out losing  its  character.  Lord  Bacon  explains  this  by  say- 
ing, that  poetry  "  doth  raise  and  erect  the  mind,  by  submit- 
ting the  shows  of  things  to  the  desire  of  the  mind."  The 
imagination  alters  these  "shows  of  things"  by  adding  or 
subtracting  qualities,  and  poetry  produces  to  view  the  forms 
which  result  from  the  operation. 

But  Lord  Jeffrey  goes  on,  in  the  passage  which  has  been 
already  quoted,  to  give  an  analysis  of  the  elements  of  poeti- 
cal pleasure,  which  appears  to  us  singularly  clear  and  ac- 
curate. "  This  pleasure  may,  in  general,  be  analyzed  into 
three  parts :  that  which  we  receive  from  the  excitement  of 
passion  or  emotion ;  that  which  is  derived  from  the  play  of 
imagination,  or  the  easy  exercise  of  reason  ;  and  that  which 
depends  on  the  character  and  qualities  of  the  diction."  The 
two  first  are  the  vital  and  primary  species  of  poetical  de- 
light. And  this  analysis  may  lead  us  to  consider  the  facul- 
ties by  the  exercise  of  which  these  several  pleasures  are 
produced — faculties  widely  different,  yet  all  poetical;  some 
of  them  more  and  some  less  essential  to  the  production  of 
poetical  pleasure  ;  some  less  and  some  more  conspicuous  in 
different  poets;  all  united  in  hardly  any. 

I.  Imagination  is,  emphatically,  the  great  poetical  facul- 
ty. It  is  "  the  first  moving  or  creative  principle  of  the  mind, 
which  fashions  out  of  materials  previously  existing,  new  ma- 
terials and  original  truths."  It  is  "a  complex  power,  in- 
cluding those  faculties  which  are  called  by  metaphysicians 
conception,  abstraction,  and  judgment :"  the  first  enabling 
us  to  form  a  notion  of  objects  of  perception  and  knowledge; 
the  second  "separating  the  selected  materials  from  the 
qualities  and  circumstances  which  are  connected  with  them 
in  nature ;"  the  third  selecting  the  materials.  (Stewart : 
see  the  article  "Poetry"  in  the  Encycl.  Britannica.)  Its 
operations  are  most  various,  and  it  exhibits  itself  in  poetry 
in  very  different  degrees  and  forms.  It  may  shine  here  and 
there,  chiefly  in  comparison,  or  in  bold  and  pleasing  meta- 
phor, breaking  the  chain  of  a  narrative,  as  in  Homer  and 
the  earlier  poetry  of  most  nations;  it  may  hurry  image  on 
image,  connected  only  by  those  exquisite  links  of  thought 
which  are  present  in  the  mind  of  the  poet,  in  daring,  com- 
pressed, rapid  language,  as  if  language  were  inadequate  to 
its  expression,  as  in  the  inspired  prophets,  in  ^Eschylus,  and 
often  in  Shakspeare  ;  it  may  predominate  in  entire  sustained 
conceptions,  grasping  at  general  features,  as  in  Milton ;  it 
may  cling  more  closely  to  the  "shows  of  things,"  dwelling 
in  particulars,  reproducing  with  startling  vividness  images 
little  altered,  graphic  and  minute,  as  in  Dante ;  and  here  it 
often  approaches  to  fancy.  Imagination,  combined  in  a 
Cieater  or  less  degree  with  thought  or  reflection,  but  with 
little  of  the  other  poetical  qualities,  produces  a  kind  of  po- 
etry which  suits  the  taste  of  a  refined  and  thoughtful  class, 
but  has  little  hold  on  the  general  mind  ;  departing  too  wide- 
ly from  Milton's  rule  in  being,  if  simple,  neither  "  sensuou9 
nor  passionate,"  of  which  striking  examples  may  be  found 


949 


e lound 


POETRY. 

In  Wordsworth,  and  sometimes  in  Goethe,  a  writer  of  a  very 
different  cast. 

-.  No  distinction  has  given  critics  more  trouble,  in  the 
way  of  definition,  than  that  between  imagination  and  fancy. 
"Fancy,"  it  has  been  said,  "is  given  to  beguile  and  quicken 
the  temporal  part  of  our  nature;  imagination  to  incite  and 
support  the  eternal."  "The  distinction  between  fancy  and 
Imagination,"  says  another,  "is  simply  that  the  former  alto- 
gether changes  and  remodels  the  original  idea,  impregna- 
ting it  with  something  extraneous;  the  latter  leaves  it  un- 
disturbed, but  associates  it  with  things  to  which  in  some 
view  or  other  it  bears  a  resemblance."  Now  the  latter  is 
an  operation  of  thought,  wit,  or  judgment ;  and  this,  per- 
haps, will  lead  us  to  a  right  conclusion.  The  poetry  of  true 
fancy  is  merely  that  of  imagination  "at  a  Inner  "point  of 
excitement,"  or  employed  on  less  elevated  subject  matter. 
The  poetry  of  the  Midsummer  Night's  Dream,  for  instance, 
may  be  termed  either  imaginative  or  fanciful  with  equal 
correctness.  But  there  is  also  a  spurious  fancy,  the  off- 
spring of  a  quick  wit,  adopting  poetical  diction:  are  we 
wrong  in  calling  this  the  real  quality  of  one  of  the  most 
charming  of  modern  poets,  whose  wit  is  very  nearly  allied 
to  imagination,  yet  not  the  same — Thomas  Moore  1 

3.  Lord  Jeffrey,  as  we  have  seen,  associates  with  the 
pleasure  of  imagination  that  derived  from  "  the  easy  exer- 
cise of  reason."  This  is  produced  chiefly  by  the  facilities 
of  thought,  wit.  and  reflection.  It  may,  indeed,  be  doubted 
whether  the  expression  of  thought,  however  energetic  and 
acute,  clad  in  current  poetical  diction,  is  really  poetry.  Cer- 
tainly it  is  so,  if  at  all,  in  a  very  inferior  degree  to  that  of 
the  imagination.  And  yet  when  we  reflect  how  much  of 
the  pleasure  which  we  derive  from  verse  is  of  this  kind, 
how  many  of  the  greatest  names  in  the  history  of  poetry 
are  distinguished  for  this  alone,  and  that  one  great  literary 
nation  (the  French)  seems  to  have  placed  its  idea  of  poetry 
entirely  in  the  expression  of  thought  and  feeling,  and  chiefly 
the  former,  we  can  scarcely  refuse  it  an  important  place. 
It  also  takes  many  shapes,  "it  appears  in  the  form  of  witty 
or  acute  conceits,  as  in  Donne  and  Cowley,  and  many 
French  and  Italian  poets,  nearly  allied  to  that  spurious 
fancy  of  which  we  have  spoken.  It  lightens  in  flashes  of 
high-minded  indignation  or  keen  sarcasm  in  Juvenal ;  as- 
sumes a  still  loftier  moral  tone  in  Persius,  and  often  in  Dry- 
den,  mixed  with  grave,  energetic,  powerful  reflection.  It 
takes  the  easier  tone  of  acute  knowledge  of  the  ways  of 
man,  and  light  satire,  in  the  pages  of  Horace,  and  enlivens 
the  charming  narrative  of  Ariosto.  It  often  assumes  a 
rhetorical  character,  as  in  Corneille  and  Lucan.  There  is 
a  trivial  experiment  by  which  the  difference  between  this 
and  imaginative  poetry  may  be  tested.  Turn  both  into 
prose  ;  the  latter  re:ains  its  poetical  character;  the  former 
seems  to  lose  it. 

4.  The  expression  of  passion,  sentiment,  or  pathos,  is  the 
most  common  and  universal  of  all  sources  of  poetical  pleas- 
ure. It  is  the  very  soul  of  all  early  and  simple  poetry ;  it 
pervades  no  less  that  of  the  most  civilized  communities. 
Yet  this  class  of  poetry  is  less  truly  and  emphatically  poeti- 
cal than  the  imaginative,  although  more  popular.  The 
pleasure  occasioned  by  it  is  of  a  mixed  nature :  it  arises 
from  the  excitement  of  peculiar  sympathies,  not  produced, 
hut  heightened  only,  by  the  form  in  which  that  excitement 
is  conveyed.  This  is  the  reason  whv  mere  popularity  is  not 
a  test  of  the  excellence  of  poetry.  'The  uncritical'reader 
calls  that  the  best  poetry  by  which  he  is  best  pleased.  De- 
votional poetry,  for  instance,  appeals  to  an  elevated  and 
universal  class  of  sympathies;  and  on  this  account  often 
passes  for  worth  more  than,  as  poetry,  it  really  is.  The 
highest  attribute  of  a  poet,  in  this  branch  of  the  poetical 
faculty,  is  a  sensibility  to  all  the  springs  of  our  passions, 
joined  with  the  art  of  expressing  it;  these,  when  united 
with  that  power  of  personification  which  is  more  peculiarly 
the  dramatic  faculty,  produce  the  drama  in  its  highest  and 
noblest  shape,  such  as  it  is  exhibited  by  Bhakspeare,  and 
by  him  alone.  But  the  power  of  giving  language  to  the 
sentiments  of  any  common  and  elevated  passion  is  by  itself 
a  u'reiit  poetical  merit.  The  passion  of  love  N  the  staple  of 
numberless  bards.  The  passion  for  \v;ir  or  conflict,  unhap- 
pily natural  to  man.  is  a  source  of  [ try  :  it  is  Impossible 

not  to  perceive  in  Homer  and  Scott,  independently  of  their 
art  of  narration  and  energy  of  description,  an  exultation   in 

the  animal  excitement  of  the  imaginary  battle,  the  a  n  mi 

nis  gaudia  of  the  savage  Atlila,  peculiarly  and  intensely 
poetical.  The  sentiment  of  self-love,  the  natural  propensity 
to  exhibit  self  to  self  in  a  romantic  or  elevated  point  of  view, 
forms  a  great  part  of  the  charm  of  such  a  muse  as  that  of 
Byron.  Again,  independently  of  the  direct  expression  of 
feeling,  there  is  \n  some  poets  a  general  colouring  derived 
from  it.  thrown  as  a  liu'ht  veil  over  all  the  objects  present- 
ed, which  is  a  singularly  attractive  attribute.  Such  is  the 
tince  of  grave  and  serious  tenderness  which  shades  the  po- 
mry  of  Sophocles  and  Virgil,  and  assumes,  perhaps,  a  more 
feminine  character  in  that  of  Tasso. 
-       950 


POINTS  OF  SUPPORT. 

These  are  the  more  strictly  subjective  qualities  of  tme 
poetry.  There  are  others,  of  a  more  objective  character, 
which  can  scarcely  be  said  to  belong  to  it  strictly  as  po- 
etry, and  yet  can  scarcely  be  excluded  from  a  general  re- 
view. 

5.  The  dramatic  faculty,  of  which  we  have  already  spo- 
ken, seems  to  consist  in  acute  powers  of  observation  of  the 
varieties  of  human  character,  together  with  the  rarer  power 
of  delineating  it  with  such  force  as  to  bring  the  imaginary 
person  distinctly  before  the  reader.  It  is  the  wonderful 
and  unique  characteristic  of  Shakspeare,  in  whom  all  indi- 
viduality, as  has  been  often  observed, seems  absolutely  lost 
If  we  are  to  look  for  a  second  to  Shakspeare  in  this  high 
faculty,  we  shall  find  him,  among  poets,  only  in  Scott.  But 
it  is  a  power  often  much  developed  in  writers  who  are  not 
poets  in  any  sense,  such  as  Le  Sage  and  De  Foe. 

6.  The  descriptive  faculty  is  of  the  same  kind;  that  of 
bringing  the  objects  of  external  nature,  or  passing  scenes  of 
whatever  sort  vividly  before  the  reader's  fancy.  When 
the  objects  or  scenes  so  represented  are  such  as  the  painter 
might  choose  with  advantage  for  the  exercise  of  his  art,  the 
faculty  is  properly  termed  picturesque,  though  that  word  is 
often  of  a  looser  acceptation.  It  is  obvious  that  this  also  is 
a  faculty  common  to  poets,  with  many  others  who  are  not 
so;  but  sustained  energy  of  description,  as  in  Homer,  forms 
a  magnificent  groundwork  for  strictly  poetical  ornament. 
In  the  poetry  of  modern  times,  especially  in  this  country, 
and  in  Germany,  the  description  of  external  nature  has  been 
made  subservient  to  the  purposes  of  imagination  and  reflec- 
tion by  writers  of  high  genius  ;  and  this  combination  pecu- 
liarly characterizes  the  taste  of  the  age. 

7.  Lord  Jeffrey  ranks  last  the  pleasure  derived  from  dic- 
tion as  of  a  secondary  order,  which  it  undoubtedly  is,  and 
jet  almost  essential.  The  highest  poetry,  without  beauty 
of  style,  is  rarely  or  never  popular.  We  have  no  space  to 
characterize  minutely  this  poetical  quality ;  but,  by  way  of 
example,  it  may  suffice  to  observe,  that  Virgil  is,  perhaps, 
of  all  poets,  he  of  whose  charm  the  greatest  proportion  is 
derived  from  simple  beauty  and  felicity  of  diction  ;  through 
a  whole  range  of  ill-chosen  subjects,  always  graceful,  al- 
ways equable,  and  as  nearly  approaching  to  faultlessness  as 
human  skill  can  construct. 

8.  Lastly,  we  must  not  omit  the  pleasure  of  melody :  not 
essential  to  poetry,  since  there  may  be  poetry  without 
verse;  not  always  a  merit  of  the  poet's  own,  since  much 
depends  on  the  language ;  and  a  Greek  or  Italian  poet,  ce- 
teris paribus,  will  ever  be  preferable  to  an  English  or  Ger- 
man one,  on  this  account  alone;  but  a  grace  which  height- 
ens the  charm  of  the  noblest  poetry,  and  sometimes  capti- 
vates the  sense  even  in  the  most  indifferent. 

POIKILl'TIC  FORMATION'.  (Gr.  rotKiXof,  variega- 
ted.) In  Geology,  a  term  applied  to  the  new  red  sandstone 
formation,  in  consequence  of  the  varieties  of  colours  which 
it  exhibits. 

POI'NDING.  In  Scottish  Law,  a  species  of  diligence 
(i.  «.,  process),  whereby  the  property  of  the  debtor's  move- 
ables is  transferred  to  the  creditor.  Poindings  are  either 
real  or  personal ;  the  former  affecting  the  debtor's  move- 
ables on  the  lands  to  which  the  debt  attaches,  the  other  his 
moveables  generally.  The  effect  of  real  poinding  is  to  give 
the  user  of  it  right  to  the  rents. 

POINT.  A  steel  instrument  used  by  engravers  for  tra- 
cing the  work  on  a  copper-plate. 

Point.  In  Heraldry,  an  ordinary  somewhat  resembling 
the  pile  (see  Pile),  but  issuing  from  the  base  of  the  escutch- 
eon instead  of  the  chief:  seldom  used  in  English,  but  fre- 
quently in  foreign  armories. 

Point.  In  Music,  a  character  used  by  many  instead  of 
the  dash,  its  chief  use  being  to  distinguish  those  notes  from 
which  an  intermediate  effect  is  required  dissimilar  to  the 
dash. 

POINT  BLANK,  in  Gunnery,  denotes  the  position  of  the 
gun  when  pointed  so  that  its  axis  is  parallel  to  the  horizon. 
Point-blank  range  is  the  distance  to  which  a  shot  fired  in 
the  point-blank  or  horizontal  direction  is  carried. 

POI'NTING,  in  Artillery,  denotes  placing  the  gun  so  as 
tn  give  the  shot  a  particular  direction.  This  is  usually 
done  by  help  of  the  gunner's  quadrant  or  level.  Sec  Le- 
vel. 

POINTS.  Small  flat  pieces  of  cordage  put  throuch  the 
saiN  in  horizontal  rows,  for  the  purpose  of  reefing  them. 

POINTS  OF  SUPPORT,  in  Architecture,  are  the  col- 
lected areas  on  the  plan  of  the  piers,  walls,  columns.  &c„ 
upon  which  an  edifice  rests,  or  by  which  it  is  supported.  It 
is  evident  that  the  smaller  their  total  are:i,  compared  with 
the  superficies  of  the  whole  building,  the  greater  is  the  skill 
exhibited  by  the  architect;  and  this  for  many  reasons,  not 
the  least  whereof  is  the  greater  resultant  economy.  We 
subjoin  a  table  of  some  few  buildings  in  Europe,  examined 
in  this  respect.  They  are  arranged  in  the  order  of  the  ratio 
of  their  points  of  support,  whose  area,  :is  well  as  their  total 
superficies,  are  added  in  separate  columns. 


POINTS  OF  THE  COMPASS. 


Points  of 
Support. 

0056 


0  127 
0-129 
0:139 
0-140 
0146 
0  151 
0154 


0157 
0-163 
0167 

0169 
0-170 
0  172 
0176 

0194 

0-201 
0-217 

0  232 
0  235 
0-261 
0-26S 


Rome,  now 


(de- 


Temple  of  Claudius  il 
Church  of  St.  Stetano 
Church  of  St.  Sabino   in  Rom 

stroved) 

Church  of  St.  Paul  in  Rome,  without 

the  walls  of  the  city 
Temple  of  Peace  in  Rome  . 
Church  of  St.  Filippo  Neri,  Naples    . 
Church  of  St.  Giuseppe,  Palermo 
Church  of  Notre  Dame,  Paris     . 
Church  of  St.  Dominion,  Palermo 
Church  of  St.  Sulpice,  Paris 
Pantheon,  or  Church  of  SL  Genevieve, 

Paris 

Church  of  St.  Peter,  ad  Vincula,  Rome 
Church  of  S'.  Vital,  Ravenna      . 
Temple  of  Juno  Lucina,  Sicily   . 
Central  building  of  Baths  of  Diocle- 

sian,  Rome 

Cathedral,  Milan         . 

St.  Paul's,  London       .... 

Great  Temple  at  Psstum    . 

Central  building  of  Baths  of  Caracalll, 

Rome      .        .        .        .        ; 
Temple  of  Concord,  Girgenti,  Sicily  . 
Caihedral  Sta.  M.  del  Fiore,  Florence 
Mosque  of  Sta.  Sophia,  Constantino- 
ple •        • 

Pantheon  at  Rome       .        .        .        . 
Ancient  Temple  Galuzzo,  Rome 
St.  Peter's,  Rome        .        .         .        . 
Hotel  deslnvalides,  Paris  . 


Total  Area 

in  English 

Feet. 


15,139 

106,513 
67,123 
22.S26 
26,046 
67,343 
34,144 
60,760 

60.2S7 
21.520 
7,276 
6,821 

351,636 
125,853 

84,025 
15,353 

275,503 
6,849 

84,802 

103,200 
34,238 
9,21)6 

227,0b9 
29,003 


Area  of 
Points  of 
Support. 


2,051 

1,543 

12,655 
8,571 
2.944 
3,611 
8,784 
4.9SS 
9,127 

9,269 
3,353 
1,142 
1,110 

5S,797 
21.365 
14,311 
2,619 

43,911 
1 ,330 
17,030 

22,567 
7,954 
2,167 

59,30.3 
7,790 


POINTS  OF  THE  COMPASS.  In  Geography  and  Nav- 
igation, the  points  of  division  of  the  circle  representing  the 
horizon,  or  of  the  compass  card  over  which  the  magnetic 
needle  is  suspended.  A  diameter  of  the  circle  being  drawn 
to  represent  the  meridian,  or  north  and  south  directions, 
and  another  at  right  angles  to  it  to  represent  the  directions 
east  and  west,  the  circle  is  thus  divided  into  four  quarters, 
each  of  which  is  subdivided  into  eight  equal  parts,  so  that 
the  whole  circle  is  divided  into  thirty-two  equal  parts ;  and 
the  points  of  division  are  termed  the  points  of  the  compass. 
Each  has  a  particular  name,  indicating  its  place  with  refer- 
ence to  the  four  principal  or  cardinal  points,  namely,  the 
north,  south,  east,  and  west  points.     See  Compass. 

POINTS  OF  THE  ESCUTCHEON,  in  Heraldry,  are 
nine.  These  are  marked  by  letters  in  the  cut  attached  to 
the  article  Heraldry,  which  is  copied  from  those  in  the 
ordinary  English  works  on  the  elements  of  the  science. 
They  are — A,  dexter  chief;  B,  middle  chief;  C,  sinister 
chief  (Fr.  chef,  head)  ;  D,  honour  point ;  E,  fess  point, 
which  is  the  centre  of  the  shield  (fascia,  belt,  or  sash,  from 
the  belt  encircling  the  middle  of  a  man)  ;  F,  nombril  point 
(navel);  G,  dexter  base;  H,  middle  base;  and  I,  sinister 
base.  It  will  be  observed,  that  the  greater  part  of  these 
names  are  taken  from  those  parts  of  the  human  body  which 
the  shield  was  taken  figuratively  to  represent. 

POI'SON.  (Fr.  poison.)  A  substance  which  disturbs, 
suspends,  or  destroys  one  or  more  of  the  vital  functions. 
Poisons  are  classified  by  Orfila  under  the  four  heads  of  Irri- 
tants, Narcotics,  Narcofico-acrids,  and  Putrefiants  or  Septics. 
See  Toxicology. 

POISON-FANG.  The  superior  maxillary  teeth  of  cer- 
tain species  of  serpents  are  so  called  ;  which,  besides  the 
cavity  for  the  pulp,  appear  to  be  perforated  by  a  second 
longitudinal  canal,  which  is  open  at  both  ends,  and  receives 
at  that  next  the  base  of  the  fang  the  termination  of  the  duct 
of  the  poison  gland.  The  tooth  essentially  consists  of  a 
narrow  and  thin  plate,  bent  upon  itself  lengthwise,  and  with 
the  approximated  margins  adherent  together.  In  some 
poison-fangs  the  line  of  adhesion  is  visible  along  the  convex 
aide  of  the  tooth. 

There  is  generally  but  one  poison-fang  on  each  maxillary 
bone,  as  in  the  viper  and  naia ;  but  sometimes  there  are  a 
few  additional  teeth  behind  the  principal  fang.  The  fang 
ordinarily  lies  recumbent :  but  when  the  serpent  designs  to 
strike  with  this  weapon,  it  is  erected  by  a  rotatory  movement 
of  the  jaw,  and  the  poison-gland  is  at  the  same  time  coin- 
pressed  and  emptied  of  its  secretion,  which  is  injected 
through  the  hollow  fang  into  the  wound. 

POISON-GLAND.  Those  glands  which  secrete  an  acrid 
or  venomous  liquor,  which  is  conveyed  along  an  instrument 
capable  of  inflicting  a  wound,  are  so  termed.  The  glands 
at  the  sides  of  the  head  of  poisonous  serpents,  those  at  the 
base  of  the  hollow  jaws  of  the  centipede,  at  the  aculeated 
tail  of  the  scorpion,  communicating  with  the  sting  of  the 
bee  or  the  spur  of  the  omithorhynchus,  are  examples. 

POLA'CCA.  A  peculiar  vessel  with  three  masts,  navigated 
Chiefly  in  the  Levant  and  other  parts  of  the  Mediterranean. 
POLAI'RE.  A  peculiar  rig  of  a  vessel,  having  pole 
masts,  no  tops,  and  sometimes  no  crosstrees,  whereby  the 
yard  and  sail  are  lowered  almost  close  down  to  the  yard 
next  below. 


POLARIZATION  OF  LIGHT. 

POLAR.  Having  reference  to  poles ;  as  polar  circles, 
polar  regions,  polar  projection,  &c. 

POLA'RITY.  In  Physics,  that  property  of  bodies  in 
consequence  of  which,  when  at  liberty  to  move  freely,  they 
arrange  themselves  in  certain  determinate  directions,  or 
point,  as  it  were,  to  given  poles.  Thus,  an  iion  bar  acquires 
polarity  by  magnetism,  and,  when  suspended  from  a  single 
point,  arranges  itself  in  the  direction  of  the  magnetic  meri- 
dian, or  points  to  the  magnetic  poles  of  the  earth.  When 
light  is  supposed  to  consist  of  material  particles  emitted  from 
the  sun,  it  is  necessary,  in  order  to  explain  certuin  phe- 
nomena of  optics,  to  assume  that  the  particles  are  endowed 
with  polarity,  which  merely  signifies  that  the  opposite  sides 
of  a  panicle  have  different  physical  properties.  See  Polari- 
zation. 

PO'LARIZA'TION  OF  LIGHT.  Light  which  has  un- 
dergone certain  reflections  or  refractions,  or  been  subjected 
to  the  action  of  material  bodies  in  any  one  of  a  great  num- 
ber of  ways,  acquires  a  certain  modification,  in  consequence 
of  which  it  no  longer  presents  the  same  phenomena  of 
reflection  and  transmission  as  light  which  has  not  been 
subjected  to  such  action.  This  modification  is  termed  the 
polarization  of  light ;  its  rays  being  supposed,  according  to 
particular  theoretical  views,  to  have  acquired  poles  (like 
the  magnet),  or  sides  with  opposite  properties. 

The  polarization  of  light  may  be  effected  in  various  ways, 
but  chiefly  in  the  following :  1.  By  reflection  at  a  proper 
angle  from  the  surfaces  of  transparent  media,  as  glass, 
water,  &c.  2.  By  transmission  through  crystals  possessing 
the  property  of  double  refraction.  3.  By  transmission 
through  a  sufficient  number  of  transparent  uncrystallized 
plates  placed  at  proper  angles.  4.  By  transmission  through 
a  number  of  other  bodies  imperfectly  crystallized,  as  agate, 
mother  of  pearl,  &c.  The  following  experiment  will  serve 
to  illustrate  the  first  of  these  modes,  and  also  give  a  clear 
idea  of  the  difference  between  common  and  polarized  light. 
Let  A  and  B  be  two  metallic  or  pasteboard  tubes,  open  at 
both  ends,  and  fitting  into  each 
so  as  to  turn  stiffly.  Into  each 
of  these  let  a  piece  of  polished  k^ 
glass,  M,  N,  having  one  of  its  £££ 
sides  roughened,  and  blackened 
with  melted  pitch  or  black  var- 


nish so  as  to  destroy  its  internal  reflection,  be  fixed  in  such 
a  position  that  its  surface  makes  an  angle  ot  33  degrees 
with  the  axis  of  the  tubes.  Let  the  tubes  now  be  placed 
so  that  the  light  from  the  sun,  or  any  luminary,  ia  ling  on 
the  plate  M,  shall  be  reflected  along  the  axis  ;  and  let  the 
tube  A  be  fixed  in  that  position.  The  light  which  traverses 
the  axis  of  the  tube  will  fall  on  the  plate  N,  from  which 
it  will  be  again  reflected,  and  may  be  received  by  the  eye, 
or  on  a  screen.  The  apparatus  being  thus  arranged,  let 
the  tube  B  be  turned  round  within  A,  carrying  with  it  the 
reflector  N,  which  in  its  revolution  will  always  preserve 
the  same  inclination  to  the  axis  of  the  tube  ;  and  the  ray 
of  light  reflected  from  N  will  describe  a  conical  surtace. 
Now,  on  attending  to  the  ray  reflected  from  N,  it  will  be 
observed  in  the  course  of  the  revolution  constantly  to  vary 
in  intensity  :  at  two  opposite  points  it  will  acquire  a  maxi- 
mum of  intensity  ;  and  at  other  two  opposite  points,  inter- 
mediate between  these,  it  will  entirely  disappear.  On 
comparing  the  positions  of  the  reflecting  planes  at  the 
occurrence  of  these  phases,  it  will  be  found  that  the  inten- 
sity of  the  light  is  greatest  when  the  plane  N  is  parallel 
to  M,  and  that  there  is  no  reflection  from  N  when  the  two 
planes  are  at  right  angles.  It  thus  appears  that  a  ray  of 
light  reflected  from  the  surface  of  glass  at  this  particular 
angle  of  33°  is  incapable  of  being  reflected  a  second  time 
from  a  similar  surface,  perpendicular  to  the  former,  at  an 
equal  angle  of  incidence.  This  property  is  expressed  by 
saving  that  the  light  reflected  from  M  is  polarized  in  the 
plane  of  reflection.  It  has,  in  fact,  acquired  some  property 
or  modification,  in  virtue  of  which,  while  it  preserves  the 
power  of  being  again  reflected  in  the  same  plane,  it  ceases 
to  be  subject  to  the  ordinary  law  of  reflection  in  a  perpen- 
dicular plane.  .    „  ,    .  .      . 

If  the  ray  reflected  from  M,  instead  of  being  received  on 
a  second  reflecting  surface  N,  be  thrown  upon  a  crystal  of 
Iceland  spar,  or  any  doubly  refracting  crystal  so  placed 
that  its  principal  plane  (.».  e.,  the  plane  passmg  through  the 
direction  of  the  ray  and  the  shorter  diagonal  ot  the  rhom- 
bus) is  parallel  to  the  plane  of  reflection  M,  then  there 
will  only  be  a  single  refraction  ;  the  extraordinary  ray 
will  disappear,  and  the  ordinary  ray  alone  be  produced 
But  if  the  face  of  the  crystal  be  turned  round  90°,  the 
phenomena  are  reversed  ;  the  extraordinary  ray  alone  is 
produced,  and  the  ordinary  one  disappears.  The  light, 
therefore  in  consequence  of  its  reflection  from  the  surtace 
M,  ceases  to  obey  the  same  laws  of  double  refraction  as 
ordinary  light. 

When  the-  ray  reflected  from  M  is  received  perpendicu- 
larly on  a  tourmaline  plate,  it  will  present  different  phe- 

951 


POLARIZATION. 

nomena  of  transmission  according  to  the  position  of  the 
axis  of  the  plate,  that  is,  the  axis  of  the  crystal  from  which 
the  plate  was  cut  If  the  axis  is  parallel" to  the  reflecting 
plane,  the  whole  of  the  light  will  be  transmitted  through 
the  plate  ;  but  if  the  plate  lie  turned  round  in  its  own 
plane  until  the  axis  becomes  perpendicular  to  the  reflecting 
plane,  no  portion  of  the  light  will  be  transmitted. 

From  these  experiments  it  appears  that  light  polarized 
by  reflection  possesses  the  following  characters,  which  are 
invariably  found  to  belong  to  all  polarized  light,  in  what- 
ever way  the  polarization  may  have  been  produced  :  1.  It 
is  incapable  of  being  reflected  by  polished  transparent 
bodies  at  certain  angles  of  incidence,  and  in  certain  posi- 
tions of  the  plane  of  incidence.  2.  It  is  incapable  of  under- 
going division  into  two  equal  pencils  by  double  refraction, 
in  positions  of  the  doubly  refracting  bodies  in  which  a  ray 
of  ordinary  light  would  be  so  divided.  3.  It  is  incapable  of 
being  transmitted  by  a  plate  of  tourmaline  when  incident 
perpendicularly  upon  it,  in  certain  positions  of  the  plate; 
and  is  readily  transmitted  by  it  in  certain  other  positions,  at 
right  angles  to  the  former. 

The  polarization  of  light  by  reflection  is  only  effected 
completely  when  the  light  falls  on  the  reflecting  surface  at 
a  particular  angle ;  and  it  has  been  mentioned  that,  in  the 
case  of  glass,  the  angle  which  the  direction  of  the  ray  must 
make  with  the  surface  is  about  33°,  or  the  angle  of  incidence 
(the  complement  of  the  former)  must  be  57°,  in  round  num- 
bers. This  angle  is  called  the  polarizing  angle.  It  is  dif- 
ferent for  different  substances  ;  but  from  an  extensive  series 
of  experiments  with  a  great  number  of  different  bodies,  Sir 
David  Brewster  found  the  following  remarkably  simple  and 
beautiful  relation  to  subsist  in  all  cases  between  the  polari- 
zing angle  and  the  refractive  power  of  the  medium,  viz. 
The  tangent  of  the  polarizing  angle  for  any  medium  is  the 
index  of  refraction  belonging  to  that  medium. 

All  reflecting  substances  are  capable  of  polarizing  light  if 
incident  at  proper  angles;  but  metallic  bodies,  and  bodies 
of  very  high  n 'tractive  power,  like  the  diamond,  appear  to 
do  so  only  imperfectly,  the  reflected  ray  not  entirely  disap- 
pearing in  circumstances  when  a  perfectly  polarized  ray 
would  be  completely  extinguished. 

When  light  is  reflected  at  an  angle  greater  or  less  than 
the  polarizing  angle,  it  is  partially  polarized.  A  second 
reflection  in  the  same  plane  renders  the  polarization  more 
complete ;  and,  by  repeating  the  reflections  a  sufficient 
number  of  times,  it  may  be  polarized  at  any  angle  of  inci- 
dence. 

The  second  method  of  effecting  the  polarization  of  light 
above  mentioned,  is  by  transmission  through  doubly  refrac- 
ting crystals.  When  a  ray  of  common  light  is  separated 
into  two  by  double  refraction,  both  the  pencils,  at  their 
emergence  from  the  crystal,  are  found  to  be  completely 
polarized  ;  but  in  different  planes,  at  right  angles  to  each 
other.  This  may  be  proved  by  receiving  them  on  a  reflect- 
ing surface  at  the  polarizing  angle,  or  by  examining  them 
through  a  plate  of  tourmaline,  or  by  interposing  a  second 
crystal  also  having  the  power  of  double  refraction  ;  and  in 
all  cases  each  pencil  will  exhibit  the  same  phenomena  as 
light  polarized  by  reflection.  Let  a  ray  of  light  fall  on  a 
rhomboid  of  Iceland  spar,  it  will  be  separated  into  two,  of 
which  call  O  the  ordinary  ray  and  E  the  extraordinary  ray. 
Let  both  pencils  be  received  on  a  second  rhomboid,  aiid  the 
following  phenomena  will  be  observed.  When  the  rhom- 
boids are  in  similar  positions,  or  have  their  homologous 
faces  parallel,  neither  of  the  pencils  will  be  separated  by 
the  second  crystal ;  but  O  will  produce  only  an  ordinary 
ray,  and  E  only  an  extraordinary  ray.  On  turning  the 
second  crystal  round  through  an  angle  of  90°,  O  produces 
only  an  extraordinary  ray,  and  E  only  an  ordinary  ray.  In 
intermediate  positions,  each  pencil  is  separated  by  the  second 
crystal  into  two,  in  the  same  manner  as  ordinary  light. 
This  experiment,  which  was  first  made  by  Huygens,  and 
accurately  described  by  him,  may  be  made  as  follows: 
Take  two  pretty  thick  rhomboids  of  Iceland  spar,  and  lay 
them  down  (the  one  over  the  other)  on  a  sheet  of  white 
paper,  having  a  small  and  well-defined  black  spot  on  it. 
When  the  rhomboids  are  so  placed  that  their  homologous 
sides  are  parallel,  the  spot  will  be  seen  double  through  the 
combined  crystals,  as  if  they  formed  one  piece  ;  both  images 
will  be  equally  bright,  and  the  line  which  joins  them  will 
be  parallel  to  the  principal  sections  of  the  crystals.  This  is 
shown  at  A  in  the  figure  below.  If  we  now  turn  round 
the  upper  crystal  in  the  horizontal  plane  from  left  to  right, 
two  new  faint  images  will  make  their  appearance,  ;is  :it  B. 
Continuing  to  turn,  the  four  images  will  be  all  equally 
luminous,  as  at  C,  where  the  crystal  has  been  turned  4.rA 
As  the  rotation  proceeds,  the  two  original  images  become 
extremely  faint,  as  at  I).  When  the  crystal  has  been  turned 
90°,  there  will  again  be  only  two  images,  ns  at  E  :  two  new 
faint  images  will  again  appear  at  F.  At  G,  where  the  angle 
of  rotation  is  three  quadrants,  the  four  will  be  niton  equally 
bright  ;  farther  on  at  H  they  will  become  unequal  ;  and  at 
952 


POLEMOSCOPE. 


I,  when  the  revolution  is  pre- 
cisely 180°,  they  will  all  co- 
alesce  into  one   bright  spot. 
From  all  these  appearances   abcdefoh    i 
it  follows  that  the  ordinary  ray  is  polarized  in  the  principal 
plane  of  the  crystal,  and  the  extraordinary  ray  in  a  plane 
perpendicular  to  the  principal  plane. 

The  phenomena  produced  by  the  polarization  of  light  are 
among  the  most  splendid  and  singular  in  the  whole  range 
of  physical  science.  They  lay  open  many  new  viewB  of 
the  constitution  of  natural  bodies,  and  their  explanation 
constitutes  the  principal  part  of  the  theory  of  light.  The 
general  explanation,  according  to  the  Newtonian  theory  of 
emission,  is  this  :  The  molecular  forces  of  the  crystal,  acting 
on  the  particles  of  light,  give  them  a  rotatory  motion  round 
their  centres  of  gravity,  till  their  axis  assume  certain  deter- 
minate positions,  after  which  they  remain  at  rest.  There 
are,  however,  cases  in  which  the  luminous  particles,  in 
traversing  the  crystal,  assume  no  fixed  position,  but  oscillate 
about  their  centres  of  gravity  in  regular  periods,  termed  by 
Newton  fits ;  and  there  are  even  cases  in  which  it  is  neces- 
sary to  suppose  that  they  are  endowed  with  a  continuous 
rotation.  In  giving  a  rational  account  of  these  complicated 
phenomena,  and  reducing  them  to  calculation,  the  followers 
of  the  undulatory  theory  have  been  more  successful,  and 
the  whole  are  connected  and  explained  by  a  simple  hy- 
pothesis, which  may  be  enunciated  as  follows: 

"Common  light  consists  of  undulations  in  which  the  vi- 
brations of  each  particle  are  in  the  plane  perpendicular  to 
the  wave's  motion.  The  polarization  of  light  is  the  reso- 
lution of  each  vibration  into  two,  one  parallel  to  a  given 
plane  passing  through  the  direction  of  the  wave's  motion, 
and  the  other  perpendicular  to  that  plane,  which  become 
in  certain  cases  the  origin  of  waves  that  travel  in  different 
directions.  When  we  are  able  to  separate  one  of  these 
from  the  other,  we  say  that  the  light  of  each  is  polarized. 
When  the  resolved  vibration  parallel  to  the  plane  is  pre- 
served unaltered,  and  that  perpendicular  to  the  plane  is 
diminished  in  a  given  ratio  (or  vice  versa),  and  not  sepa- 
rated from  it,  we  sav  that  the  light  is  partially  polarized." 
(Airy's  Mathematical  Tracts,  p.  339.) 

The  polarization  of  light  by  reflection  was  accidentally 
discovered  by  Malus,  a  French  engineer  officer,  in  the  year 
1810  ;  and  the  phenomena,  which  appeared  the  most  re- 
markable of  any  that  had  yet  been  observed,  both  on  account 
of  their  splendour  and  their  intimate  relations  with  the 
more  interesting  parts  of  physical  optics  and  the  theory  of 
light,  soon  began  to  be  studied  with  great  care,  and  to  be 
varied  in  every  possible  way,  by  Malus  himself,  by  Biot, 
Arago,  Dr.  Young,  Seebeck,  Sir  David  Brewster,  Sir  John 
Herschel,  and  many  others.  But  the  individual  who  beyond 
all  doubt  contributed  most  to  connect  them  with  theory, 
and  to  show  their  mutual  relations  and  dependences,  was 
Fresnel,  whose  success  in  deriving  them,  by  a  priori  reason- 
ing, from  the  principles  of  the  undulatory  hypothesis  of 
light,  was  so  complete  as  to  place  the  evidence  of  the  truth 
of  that  theory  on  almost  the  same  footing  of  credibility  as 
that  of  gravitation  itself.  Analogous  phenomena  to  those 
of  the  polarization  of  light  have  been  found  to  belong  also 
to  radiant  heat.  Professor  Forbes  of  Edinburgh,  who  has 
been  the  most  successful  investigator  in  this  interesting  de- 
partment of  physics,  has  shown  that  heat  is  polarized  both 
by  reflection  and  refraction.  He  has  also  succeeded  in 
depolarizing  heat,  and  thereby  proved  that  heat  possesses  the 
property  of  double  refraction. 

See  Malus,  Theorie  de  la  Double  Refraction  ;  Fresnel, 
Memoircs  deVIvstitut,\z>24,  1820,  1827;  Herschel's  Treatise 
on  Light,  F.ncy.  Metr. ;  Brewster's  "Optics,"  Cabinet  Cyclo- 
pedia ;  various  papers  in  the  Phil.  Trans,  from  1813  to 
1819 ;  Airy's  Math.  Tracts,  2d  ed.  1831  ;  und  the  various 
scientific  journals. 

POLE.  In  Surveying,  a  measure  of  length,  containing 
16j  feet  or  5£  yards  ;  it  is  the  same  as  rod.  Sometimes  the 
term  is  used  as  a  superficial  measure;  a  square  pole  de- 
noting 5.1  X  5A  yards,  or  30.)  square  yards. 

POLE'MIOS,  or  POLEMICAL  THEOLOGY.  (Gr. 
TTuXeiws,  war.)  The  same  as  controversial.  The  term  is 
not  necessarily  applicable  to  theology  only,  but  it  is  gene- 
rally so  applied  ;  and  it  reflects  little  credit  on  human 
nature  that  such  a  subject  should  have  been  treated  in 
■UCh  a  manner  ns  the  appellation  indicates. 

POXEMOSCOPE.  (Gr.  TroXtf/of,  war,  and  pkottcu),  I 
view.)  An  instrument  imagined  by  Hevelius,  for  seeing 
objects  which  cannot  be  seen  by  direct  vision.  It  consists 
of  n  mirror  placed  obliquely  in  a  tube  or  box,  having  an 
Opening  in  tin-  side  opposite  the  mirror,  so  that  rays  from 
any  obj  Ct  filling  on  the  mirror  are  reflected  to  the  eye  of 
the  spectator.  Hevelius  chose  the  name  of  polemoscope 
because  he  thought  the  instrument  might  be  applied)  in 
lime  of  war,  !■>  discover  what  was  going  on  in  the  camp  of 
the  enemy,  while  Hie  spectator  remained  concealed  behind 
a  wall  or  other  defence,  and  therefore  could  not  employ  a 


POLES. 

telescope.  Opera  glasses  are  sometimes  constructed  on 
this  principle,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  a  person  to  see 
others  on  the  right  or  left,  while  he  appears  to  look  straight 
forward. 

POLES.  (Gr.  tnSXo;.)  In  Geometry  and  Astronomy, 
the  extremities  of  an  axis  of  rotation  of  a  sphere  or 
spheroids.  In  spherics,  the  poles  of  a  great  circle  are  the 
extremities  of  the  straight  line  perpendicular  to  the  plane 
of  the  circle,  and  passing  through  its  centre.  The  poles  of 
the  ecliptic  are  the  points  about  which  the  stars  are  carried 
by  the  slow  motion  of  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes  ; 
the  poles  of  the  equator,  or  poles  of  the  world,  are  the  two 
points  about  which  the  stars  perform  their  diurnal  rotation ; 
the  poles  of  the  horizon  are  the  zenith  and  nadir ;  the  poles 
of  the  meridian  are  the  points  of  the  horizon  due  east  and 
west. 

Poles,  in  Physics,  are  the  points  of  a  body  in  which  its 
attractive  or  repulsive  energy  appears  to  be  concentrated. 
Thus,  the  poles  of  a  magnet  are  the  opposite  points  in  which 
the  magnetic  force  is  collected. 

POLICE,  is  a  term  employed  to  designate  those  regula- 
tions which  have  for  their  object  to  secure  the  maintenance 
of  good  order,  cleanliness,  health,  &c.  in  cities  and  country 
districts ;  and  it  is  also  used  to  designate  the  description  of 
force  by  which  these  objects  are  effected.  This  force  dif- 
fers from  military  in  its  being  commanded  by  civil  officers, 
and  not  being  under  military  law  ;  but  it  is  generally  drilled 
and  armed  in  a  half  military  manner,  and  has  a  distinctive 
uniform.  The  police  force  is  employed  alike  to  prevent 
and  detect  offences ;  and  may  be  either  open  or  secret. 
By  an  open  police  is  meant  officers  dressed  in  their  accus- 
tomed uniform,  and  known  to  every  body  ;  while,  by  a 
secret  police  is  meant  officers  whom  it  may  be  difficult  or 
impossible  to  distinguish  from  certain  classes  of  citizens, 
whose  dress  and  manners  they  may  think  it  expedient  to 
assume.  The  latter  are  employed  that  they  may,  without 
exciting  the  suspicion  of  guilty  parties,  or  of  those  who  are 
projecting  some  outrage,  acquire  their  confidence,  and,  by 
making  themselves  masters  of  their  secrets,  secure  their 
apprehension  or  prevent  the  outrage.  It  is  needless  to  say 
that  the  employment  of  a  police  force  of  this  description  is 
attended  with  many  inconveniences ;  and  sometimes  it  is 
believed  the  officers  have  stimulated  to  the  commission  of 
the  very  offences  they  were  employed  to  detect  and  prevent. 
Still,  however,  it  does  not  seem  that  it  should  be  altogether 
dispensed  with  ;  and  under  proper  regulations,  it  affords  not 
only  the  best  means  of  detecting  crimes,  but  also  of  prevent- 
ing the  commission  of  such  as  require  any  previous  combi- 
nation or  arrangement. 

The  organization  and  efficiency  of  the  police  differ  in  dif- 
ferent places.  Its  expenses  are  usually  defrayed  by  a  rate 
laid  on  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  or  place  where  it  is  es- 
tablished. The  metropolitan  police  was  newly  organized  a 
few  years  ago,  and  is  now  a  most  effective  force.  The  city 
of  London  is  not  under  the  charge  of  the  metropolitan  po- 
lice, but  is  protected  by  a  body  of  men,  organized  on  the 
plan  and  in  imitation  of  that  body,  but  placed  under  the 
city  authorities.  The  metropolitan  police  amounts  in  all  to 
nearly  4000  men. 

The  police  or  constabulary  force  of  Ireland  is  armed,  and 
has  more  of  a  military*than  of  a  civil  character.  Accord- 
ing to  recent  arrangements,  a  lord-lieutenant  is  appointed  to 
each  Irish  county,  through  whom  all  communications  to  the 
Irish  government  are  made.  The  lords-lieutenant  are  as- 
sisted in  the  discharge  of  their  duties  by  an  indefinite  num- 
ber of  deputy  lieutenants.  All  these  officers  act  gratuitous- 
ly, and  are  removeable  at  pleasure. 

The  constabulary  force  of  Ireland  amounted,  in  1840,  to 
about  7650  men,  exclusive  of  a  temporary  police  force  of 
about  650  men. 
POLICY.     See  Assurance. 

POLISH,  Polishing.  (Lat.  polio,  to  make  smooth.)  In 
Sculpture,  the  operation  of  giving  a  smoothness  and  gloss 
to  any  surface.  The  polishing  of  marble  is  effected  by  first 
rubbing  the  surface  with  freestone ;  after  which  it  is  wrought 
upon  with  pumicestone ;  and  lastly  with  the  finest  emery 
powder,  from  which  the  glossv  surface  is  obtained. 
POLITICAL  ARITHMETIC.  See  Statistics. 
POLITICAL  ECONOMY.*  Political  science  is  com- 
monly divided  into  two  great  departments.  One  of  these 
has  for  its  object  to  ascertain  and  establish  the  principles 
according  to  which  the  governments  of  states  may  be  best 
organized  ;  to  discriminate  between  the  legislative,  judicial, 
and  executive  departments,  and  to  assign  to  each  its  proper 
functions,  limits,  and  duties;  to  determine  to  what  hands, 
and  under  what  conditions  and  limitations,  the  supreme 
power  may  be  most  advantageously  committed,  and  how 
its  various  subordinate  officers  should  be  selected  and  con- 
trolled ;  to  decide,  in  fine,  how  the  government,  under  any 

*  Economy,  from  OIKOC,  a  house  or  family.  I  ouo$,  a  law.  Hence,  po- 
litical economy  may  be  said  to  be  to  the  state  what  private  economy  is  to  a 
single  family. 


POLITICAL  ECONOMY. 

given  set  of  circumstances,  should  be  framed,  so  that  it 
may  be  most  likely  to  promote  the  well  being  of  those  sub' 
jected  to  its  authority.  This  is  what  is  commonly  called 
pure  politics.  The  other  department  of  political  science 
has  a  different,  more  practical,  and  not  less  important  object 
in  view.  Those  engaged  in  its  study  do  not  inquire  into  the 
best  methods  of  distributing  political  power,  or  of  constitu- 
ting the  governing  body  ;  but,  taking  them  as  they  exist, 
they  endeavour  to  ascertain  the  rules  and  principles — the 
leges  legum,  as  they  were  termed  by  Bacon — according  to 
which  all  governments,  however  formed,  should  act  so  ad 
to  procure  for  their  subjects  the  greatest  amount  of  wealth, 
civilization,  and  happiness.  This  department  of  the  science 
has  received  the  name  of  political  economy  ;  and  we  shall 
endeavour,  in  this  article,  to  give  a  brief  exposition  of  its 
objects  and  principles.  To  enlarge  on  its  importance  would 
be  superfluous.  The  history  of  the  human  race  proves  that 
national  prosperity,  or  the  well-being  of  the  bulk  of  the  peo- 
ple, is  not  the  exclusive  attribute  of  any  particular  spe- 
cies or  form  of  government.  It  has  been  and  may  be  en- 
joyed by  all  countries,  how  different  soever  their  political  or- 
ganization, provided  that  they  adopt  a  sound  system  of  po- 
litical economy  ;  and  it  can  be  enjoyed  by  none  who  do  not. 
Without,  therefore,  undervaluing  the  other  great  branch  of 
the  political  sciences,  or  that  which  treats  of  the  constitu- 
tion of  governments,  this  seems  to  possess  at  least  equal 
claims  on  the  public  attention.  Its  leading  principles  and 
rules  are  applicable  at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstan- 
ces ;  they  are  equally  suitable  to  despotic  monarchies  and 
to  republics,  and  cannot  be  neglected  or  contemned  by 
either  without  the  most  injurious  consequences. 

It  is  in  general  said  of  political  economy  that  its  object  is 
to  ascertain  the  circumstances  most  favourable  for  the  pro- 
duction of  wealth,  and  the  laws  which  determine  its  dis- 
tribution among  the  different  ranks  and  orders  into  which 
society  is  divided  ;  and  this  definition  seems  quite  unexcep- 
tionable, provided  it  be  clearly  understood  that  by  wealth, 
in  this  science,  is  meant  only  those  articles  or  products 
which  require  some  portion  of  human  industry  for  their 
production,  acquisition,  or  preservation,  and  which,  conse- 
quently, possess  exchangeable  value.  A  commodity  or 
product  is  not  valuable  merely  because  it  is  useful  or  desi- 
rable ;  but  it  is  valuable  when,  in  addition  to  these  qual- 
ities, it  can  only  be  procured  or  enjoyed  through  the  inter- 
vention of  labour.  It  cannot  justly  be  said  that  food  or 
clothes  are  more  useful  than  atmospheric  air ;  and  yet  they 
are  possessed  of  that  value  in  exchange  of  which  the  latter 
is  wholly  destitute.  The  reason  is,  that  food  and  clothes, 
are  not,  like  air,  gratuitous  products ;  they  cannot  be  had  at 
all  times,  in  any  quantity,  and  enjoyed  without  any  volun- 
tary exertion.  On  the  contrary,  labour  is  always  required 
for  their  production  or  appropriation,  or  both ;  and  as  no  one 
will  voluntarily  sacrifice  the  fruits  of  his  industry  without 
receiving  an  equivalent,  they  are  truly  said  to  possess  ex- 
changeable value. 

The  production  and  distribution  of  such  articles  as  exist, 
and  may  be  obtained  in  unlimited  quantities  independently 
of  voluntary  human  agency,  form  no  part  of  the  investiga- 
tions of  the  political  economist.  The  results  of  the  industry 
of  man  comprise  the  only  subjects  that  come  within  the 
scope  of  his  inquiries.  This  may,  indeed,  be  said  to  be  the 
science  of  values,  or  of  the  circumstances  which  determine 
the  production  and  distribution  of  products  possessed  of  ex- 
changeable value,  or  which  will  be  received  as  an  equiv- 
alent for  something  else  which  it  has  taken  some  labour  to 
produce  or  obtain. 

The  word  value  is  very  frequently  employed  to  express, 
not  only  the  exchangeable  worth  of  a  commodity,  or  its  ca- 
pacity of  exchanging  for  other  commodities,  but  also  its  util- 
ity, or  capacity  of  satisfying  our  wants,  or  of  contributing 
to  our  comforts  and  enjoyments.  But  it  is  obvious  that  the 
utility  of  commodities— that  the  capacity  of  bread,  for  ex- 
ample, to  appease  hunger,  and  of  water  to  quench  thirst — 
is  a  totally  different  and  distinct  quality  from  the  capacity 
of  exchanging  for  other  commodities.  I)r.  Smith  perceived 
this  difference,  and  showed  the  importance  of  carefully  dis- 
tinguishing between  utility,  or,  as  he  expressed  it,  "value  in 
use,"  and  value  in  exchange.  But  he  did  not  always  keep 
this  distinction  in  view,  and  it  has  been  very  often  lost  sight  of 
by  subsequent  writers.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  indeed,  that 
the  confounding  of  these  opposite  qualities  has  been  one  of 
the  principal  causes  of  the  confusion  and  obscurity  in  which 
many  of  the  branches  of  the  science,  not  in  themselves  dif- 
ficult, have  been  involved.  When,  for  example,  it  is  said 
that  water  is  highly  valuable,  a  very  different  meaning  is 
attached  to  the  phrase  from  what  is  attached  to  it  when  it  is 
said  that  gold  is  valuable.  Water  is  indispensable  to  ex- 
istence, and  has,  therefore,  a  high  degree  of  utility,  or  of 
"  value  in  use  ;"  but  as  it  can  generally  be  obtained  in  large 
quantities,  without  much  labour  or  exertion,  it  has,  in  most 
places,  but  a  very  low  value  in  exchange.  Gold,  on  the 
contrary,  is  of  comparatively  little  utility ;  but  as  it  exists 
3N*  953 


POLITICAL  ECONOMY. 


only  in  limited  quantities,  nnd  requires  a  great  ileal  of  labour 
on  it*  production,  it  has  a  comparatively  high  exchangeable 
value)  and  may  be  exchanged  or  bartered  tor  a  proportion- 
ally large  quantity  of  most  other  things.  Those  who  con- 
found qualities  bo  different  must  obviously  arrive  at  the  most 
erroneous  conclusions.  And  therefore,  toobviate  all  chance 
of  error  from  mistaking  the  sense  of  so  important  a  word 
as  value,  it  is  better  not  to  use  it  except  to  signify  exchange- 
able worth,  or  value  in  exchange,  and  to  employ  the  word 
utility  to  express  the  power  or  capacity  of  an  article  to  sat- 
isfy our  wants  or  gratify  our  desires. 

Capacity  of  appropriation  is  indispensibly  necessary  to 
make  anything  wealth.  A  man  is  not  said  to  be  wealthy 
because  he  has  an  indefinite  command  over  atmospheric 
air,  the  rays  of  the  sun,  or  the  articles  with  which,  in  com- 
ninri  with  others,  he  is  gratuitously  furnished  by  nature; 
for  this  being  a  privilege  which  he  enjoys  in  common  with 
every  one  else,  can  form  no  ground  of  distinction  :  but  he  is 
said  to  be  wealthy  according  to  the  degree  in  which  he  can 
afford  to  command  those  necessaries,  conveniences,  nnd 
luxuries  that  are  not  the  gifts  of  nature,  but  the  products  of 
human  industry. 

The  proper  meaning  to  be  attached  to  the  term  wealth 
being  thus  ascertained,  we  shall  now  proceed  to  show  that 
labour  is  the  only  source  of  wealth;  and  having  done  this, 
we  shall  next  inquire  into  the  means  by  which  labour  may 
be  rendered  most  efficient,  that  is,  into  the  means  by  which 
the  greatest  amount  of  wealth  may  be  obtained  with  the 
least  expenditure  of  labour:  when  this  inquiry  is  com- 
pleted, we  shall  have  exhausted  that  great  department  of 
the  science  which  treats  of  the  production  of  wealth. 

I.  Production  of  Wealth. 
1.  Labour  the  only  Source  of  Wealth. — It  may  be  neces- 
sarv.  perhaps,  to  observe  at  the  outset,  that  by  production, 
in  this  science,  is  not  meant  the  production  of  matter,  that 
being  the  exclusive  attribute  of  Omnipotence  ;  but  the  pro- 
duction of  utility,  and  consequently  of  value,  by  appropri- 
ating and  modifying  matter  already  in  existence,  so  as  to  tit 
it  to  satisfy  our  wants  and  contribute  to  our  enjoyments. 
Nature  spontaneously  furnishes  the  matter  of  which  all 
commodities  are  made ;  but  until  the  labour  has  been  ap- 
plied to  appropriate  tbat  matter,  or  to  adapt  it  to  our  use,  it 
is  wholly  destitute  of  value,  and  is  not,  nor  ever  has  been 
considered  as  forming  wealth.  Were  we  placed  on  the 
banks  of  a  river,  or  in  an  orchard,  we  should  infallibly  per- 
ish of  thirst  or  hunger,  unless  by  an  effort  of  industry  we 
raised  the  water  to  our  lips,  or  plucked  the  fruit  from  its 
parent  tree.  It  is  seldom,  however,  that  the  mere  appro- 
priation of  matter  is  sufficient.  In  the  vast  majority  of  ca- 
ses, labour  is  required  not  only  to  appropriate  it,  but  to  con- 
vey it  from  place  to  place,  and  to  give  it  that  peculiar  shape 
without  which  it  may  be  totally  useless,  and  incapable  of 
administering  either  to  our  necessities  or  our  comforts. 
The  coal  used  in  our  fires  is  buried  deep  in  the  bowels  of 
the  earth,  and  is  absolutely  worthless  until,  by  the  labour 
of  the  miner,  it  has  been  extracted  from  the  mine,  and 
brought  into  a  situation  where  it  may  be  made  use  of. 
The  stones  and  mort:ir  used  in  building  our  houses,  and  the 

rugged  and  shapeless  materials  that  have  been  fashioned 

into  the  virions  articles  of  convenience  and  ornament 
with  which  they  are  furnished,  were,  in  their  original 
state,  destitute  alike  of  value  and  utility.  And  of  the  in- 
numerable variety  of  animal,  vegetable,  and  mineral  prod- 
ucts which  form  the  materials  of  our  food  and  clothes. 
Bene  were  originally  serviceable,  while  many  were  cx- 
tremely  noxious  to  nun.  The  labour  that  has  subdued 
their  bad  qualities,  that  has  given  them  utility,  and  fitted 
them  to  satisfy  our  wants,  and  to  minister  to  our  comforts 
and  enjoyments,  is  plainly,  therefore,  the  only  source  of 
wealth.  "Labour,"  to  use  the  words  of  Idam  Smith, 
'•  wis  the  first  price,  the  original  purchise-monov.  that  was 
paid  for  all  thinirs.  It  was  not  by  gold  or  by  silver,  but  by 
labour,  that  all  the  wealth  of  the  world  'was  originallj 
I  of  Nations,  p.  14.) 
Those  who  observe  the  progress  and  trace  the  history  of 
the  human  nccin  different  countries  and  states  of  society, 
will  find  that  their  comfort  and  happiness  have  in  all  ca- 
ses been  principally  dependent  on  their  ability  to  appro- 
priate the  raw  products  of  nature,  and  to  adapt  them  to 
their  use.  The  g  ivage  whose  labour  is  confined,  like  that 
of  the  Australian,  to  the  gathering  of  wild  fruits,  or  of 
shell-fish  on  the  sea  const,  is  placed  at  the  very  bottom  "I 

the  scale  of  civilization,  and  is,  in  point  of  comfort,  deci- 
dedly inferior  to  many  of  the   lower  animals.     The  first 

step  in  the  progress  of  society  is  made  when  man  learns  to 

hunt  wild  animals,  to  feed  himself  with  their  flesh.  :,nd 
clothe  himself  with  their  skins.  Hut  labour,  when  con- 
fined to  tin'  chase,  is  extremely  barren  ami  unproductive. 

Tribes  of  hunters,  like  heists  of  prey,  whom  they  closely 
resemble  in  their  habits  and  modes  of  subsistence.  :ire  but 
thinly  scattered  over  the  countries  which  they  occupy  ; 


and  notwithstanding  the  fewness  of  their  numbers,  anv  un- 
usual deficiency  in  the  supply  of  game  never  fails  to  re- 
duce them  to  the  extremity  of  want.  The  second  step  in 
the  progress  of  society  is  made  when  the  tribes  of  hunters 
and  fishers  devote  themselves,  like  the  ancient  Scvthians 
and  modern  Tartars,  to  the  domestication  of  wild  animals 
and  the  rearing  of  flocks.  The  subsistence  of  herdsmen 
and  shepherds  is  much  less  precarious  than  that  of  hunt- 
ers ;  hut  they  are  almost  entirely  destitute  of  the  various 
comforts  and  elegances  that  give  to  civilized  life  its  chief 
value.  The  third  and  most  decisive  step  in  the  progress  of 
civilization,  in  the  great  art  of  producing  the  nee 
and  conveniences  of  life,  is  made  when  the  wandering 
tribes  of  hunters  and  shepherds  renounce  their  migratory 
habits,  and  become  agriculturists  and  manufacturers.  It  is 
then  that  man  begins  fully  to  avail  himself  of  his  product- 
ive powers.  He  then  becomes  laborious,  and,  by  a  neces- 
sary consequence,  his  wants  are  then,  for  the  first  time,  ful- 
ly supplied,  and  he  acquires  an  extensive  command  over 
the  articles  necessary  for  his  comfort  as  well  as  his  sub- 
sistence. 

The  importance  of  labour  in  the  production  of  wealth 
was  very-  clearly  perceived  by  Locke.  In  his  Essay  on 
Civil  Government,  published  in  1689,  he  has  entered  into  a 
lengthened,  discriminating,  and  able  analysis,  to  show  that 
it  is  from  labour  that  the  products  of  the  earth  derive  al- 
most all  their  value.  "  Let  any  one  consider,"  says  he, 
"  what  the  difference  is  between  an  acre  of  land  planted 
with  tobacco  or  sugar,  sown  with  wheat  or  barley,  and  an 
acre  of  the  same  land  lying  in  common,  without  any  hus- 
bandry upon  it,  and  he  will  find  that  the  improvement 
of  labour  makes  the  far  greater  part  of  the  value.  I  think 
it  will  be  but  a  very  modest  computation  to  say,  that  of 
the  products  of  earth  useful  to  the  life  of  man.  nine  ttnths 
are  the  effects  of  labour;  nay,  if  we  will  rightly  estimate 
things  as  they  come  to  our  use,  and  cast  up  the  several 
expenses  about  them,  what  in  them  is  purely  owing  to  na- 
ture, and  what  to  labour,  we  shall  find  that  in  most  of 
them  ninety-nine  hundredths  are  wholly  to  be  put  on  the 
account  of  labour. 

"  There  cannot  be  a  clearer  demonstration  of  anything 
than  several  nations  of  the  Americans  are  of  this,  who 
are  rich  in  land,  and  poor  in  all  the  comforts  of  life  ;  whom 
nature  having  furnished  as  liberally  as  any  other  people 
with  the  materials  of  plenty,  i.  c,  a  fruitful  soil  apt  to  pro- 
duce in  abundance  what  might  serve  for  food,  raiment, 
and  delight  ;  yet.  for  want  of  improving  it  by  labour,  have 
not  one  hundredth  part  of  the  conveniences  we  enjoy ; 
and  the  king  of  a  large  and  fruitful  territory  there  feeds, 
lodses,  and  is  clad  worse  than  a  day  labourer  in  England. 

"To  make  this  a  little  clearer,  let  us  but  trace  some  of 
the  ordinary  provisions  of  life  through  their  several  prog- 
resses before  they  come  to  our  use,  and  see  how  much 
they  receive  of  their  value  from  human  industry.  Bread, 
wine,  and  cloth  are  things  of  daily  use  and  great  plenty  ; 
yet,  notwithstanding,  acorns,  water,  and  leaves  or  skins 
must  be  our  bread,  drink,  and  clothins.  did  not  labour  fur- 
nish us  with  these  more  useful  commodities  :  for  whatever 
bread  is  more  worth  than  acorns,  wine  than  water,  and  cloth 
or  silk  than  leaves,  skins,  or  moss,  tfcat  is  solely  owing  to  la- 
bour and  industry  :  the  one  of  these  being  the  food  and  rai- 
ment which  unassisted  nature  furnishes  us  with  :  the  oth- 
er, provisions  which  our  industry  and  pains  prepare  for  us; 
which  how  much  they  exceed  the  other  in  value  when  any 
one  hath  computed,  he  will  then  see  how  much  labour 
makes  the  far  greatest  part  of  the  value  of  things  we  enjoy 
in  this  world.  And  the  ground  which  produces  the  mate- 
rials is  scarce  to  be  reckoned  in  as  any,  or,  at  most,  hut  a 
very  small  part  of  it;  so  little,  tint  even  among  us.  |;md 
that  is  wholly  left  to  nature,  that  hath  no  Improvement  of 
pasturage,  tillage,  or  planting,  is  called,  as  indeed  it  is, 
waste  :  and  we  shall  find  the  benefit  of  it  amount  to  little 
more  than  nothing. 

"An  acre  of  Land  that  hears  here  twenty  bushels  of 
wheat,  and  another  in  America  which,  with  the  same 
husbandry,  would  do  the  like,  are,  without  doubt,  of  the 
same  natural  intrinsic  value  (utility).  But  yet  the  benefit 
mankind  receives  from  the  one  in  a  year  is  worth  five 
pounds,  and  from  the  other  possibly  not  worth  a  penny,  if 
all  the  profit  an  Indian  received  from  it  were  to  he  valued 
and  sold  here  ;  at  least.  I  may  truly  say.  not  one  thousandth. 
It  is  labour,  then,  which  puts  the  greatest  part  of  value 
upon  land,  without  which  it  would  scarcely  be  worth  any- 
thing. It  is  to  that  we  owe  the  greatest  part  of  all  its  use- 
ful products;  for  all  that  the  straw,  bran,  bread,  of  that  acre 
of  wheat,  is  more  worth  than  the  product  of  an  acre  of 
as  good  hmd  which  lies  waste,  is  all  the  effect  of  labour. 
For  it  is  not  barely  the  ploughman's  pains,  the  reaper's  and 
thrasher's  toil,  and  the  baker's  sweat  is  to  he  accounted  Into 
the  bread  we  eat  ;  the  labour  of  those  who  broke  the  oxen, 
who  digged  anil  wrought  the  iron  and  stones,  who  felled  and 
framed  the  timber  employed  about  the  plough,  mill,  oven,  or 


POLITICAL  ECONOMY. 


any  other  utensils,  which  are  a  vast  number,  requisite  to 
this  corn  ;  from  its  being  seed  to  be  sown  to  its  being  made 
bread,  must  all  be  charged  on  the  account  of  labour,  and  re- 
ceived as  an  effect  of  that ;  nature  and  the  earth  furnished 
only  the  almost  worthless  materials  as  in  themselves.  It 
would  be  a  strange  catalogue  of  things  that  industry  provi- 
ded and  made  use  of  about  every  loaf  of  bread  before  it 
came  to  our  use,  if  we  could  trace  them ;  iron,  wood,  leath- 
er, bark,  timber,  stone,  bricks,  coals,  lime,  cloth,  dyeing 
drugs,  pitch,  tar,  masts,  ropes,  and  all  the  materials  made 
use  of  in  the  ships  that  brought  away  the  commodities 
made  use  of  by  any  of  the  workmen  to  any  part  of  the  work  ; 
all  which  it  would  be  almost  impossible,  at  least  too  long, 
to  reckon  up." 

Mr.  Locke  has  here  all  but  established  the  fundamental 
principle  upon  which  this  science  rests.  Had  he  carried 
his  analysis  a  little  further,  he  could  not  have  failed  to  per- 
ceive that  neither  water,  leaves,  skins,  nor  any  one  of  the 
spontaneous  products  of  nature,  has  any  value,  except  what 
it  owes  to  the  labour  required  for  its  appropriation.  The 
utility  of  such  products  makes  them  be  demanded,  but  it 
does  not  give  them  value ;  this  is  a  quality  which  can  be 
communicated  only  through  the  agency  of  voluntary  labour 
of  some  sort  or  other.  An  object  which  it  does  not  require 
any  portion  of  labour  to  appropriate,  or  to  adopt  to  our  use, 
may,  like  atmospherical  air,  be  of  the  very  highest  utility  ; 
but  as  it  is  the  free  gift  of  nature,  it  is  quite  impossible  it 
should  have  the  smallest  value. 

That  commodities  could  not  be  produced  without  the  co- 
operation of  the  powers  of  nature,  is  most  certain.  We  are 
very  far,  indeed,  from  wishing  to  depreciate  the  obligations 
we  are  under  to  our  common  mother,  or  to  exalt  the  benefits 
man  owes  to  his  own  exertions  by  concealing  or  underra- 
ting those  which  he  enjoys  through  the  bounty  of  nature. 
But  it  is  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  the  services 
rendered  by  the  latter  that  they  are  gratuitous.  They  are 
infinitely  useful,  and  they  are,  at  the  same  time,  infinitely 
cheap.  They  are  not,  like  human  services,  sold  for  a  price  ; 
they  are  merely  appropriated.  When  a  fish  is  caught,  or 
a  tree  is  felled,  do  the  Nereids,  or  wood  nymphs,  make 
their  appearance,  and  stipulate  that  the  labour  of  nature 
in  producing  it  should  be  paid  for,  before  it  be  carried 
off  and  made  use  of  by  man  t  When  the  miner  has  dug 
his  way  down  to  the  ore,  does  Plutus  interpose  to  prevent 
its  appropriation  7  Nature  is  not,  as  so  many  would  have 
us  to  suppose,  frugal  and  grudging.  Her  rude  products,  and 
her  capacities  and  powers,  are  all  offered  freely  to  man. 
She  neither  demands  nor  receives  a  return  for  her  favours. 
Her  services  are  of  inestimable  utility  ;  but  being  granted 
freely  and  unconditionally,  they  are  wholly  destitute  of 
value,  and  are,  consequently,  without  the  power  of  commu- 
nicating that  quality  to  anything. 

The  utility  of  water,  or  its  capacity  to  slake  thirst,  is  equal 
at  all  times  and  places ;  but  as  this  quality  is  communi- 
cated to  it  by  nature,  it  adds  nothing  to  its  value,  which  is, 
in  all  cases,  measured  by  the  labour  required  for  its  appro- 
priation. A  very  small  expenditure  of  labour  being  required 
to  raise  water  from  a  river  to  the  lips  of  an  individual  on  its 
banks,  its  value,  under  such  circumstances,  is  very  trifling 
indeed.  But  when,  instead  of  being  upon  its  banks,  the 
consumers  of  the  water  are  five,  ten,  or  twenty  miles  dis- 
tant, its  value,  being  increased  proportionally  to  the  greater 
expenditure  of  labour  upon  its  conveyance,  may  become 
very  considerable.  This  principle  holds  universally.  The 
utility  of  coal,  or  its  capacity  of  furnishing  heat  and  light, 
makes  it  an  object  of  demand ;  but  this  utility,  being  a  free 
gift  of  nature,  has  no  influence  over  its  value  or  price:  this 
depends  entirely  on  the  labour  required  to  extract  the  coal 
from  the  mine,  and  to  convey  it  to  the  consumers. 

"Si  je  retranche,"  to  use  a  striking  illustration  of  this 
doctrine  given  by  M.  Canard,  "  de  ma  montre,  par  la 
pensee,  tous  les  travaux  qui  lui  ont  ete  successivement  ap- 
pliques, il  ne  restera  que  quelques  grains  de  mineral  places 
dans  rinterieur  de  la  terre,  d'oii  on  les  a  tires,  et  oii  ils  n'ont 
aucune  valeur.  De  meme,  si  je  decompose  le  pain  que  je 
mange,  et  que  j'en  retranche  successivement  tous  les  tra- 
vaux successifs  qu'il  a  recus,  il  ne  restera  que  quelques  tiges 
d'herbes  graminees,  eparses  dans  des  deserts  incultes,  et 
sans  aucune  valeur." 

It  is  true  that  natural  powers  and  products  may  sometimes 
be  appropriated  or  engrossed  by  one  or  more  individuals  to 
the  exclusion  of  others,  and  those  by  whom  they  are  so  en- 
grossed may  exact  a  price  for  them  ;  but  does  that  show  that 
they  cost  the  engrossers  any  thing  ?  If  A.  have  a  waterfall 
on  his  estate,  he  may,  probably,  get  a  rent  for  it.  It  is  plain, 
however,  that  the  work  performed  by  the  waterfall  is  as 
completely  gratuitous  as  that  which  is  performed  by  the 
wind  that  acts  on  a  windmill.  The  only  difference  between 
them  originates  in  this, — that  all  individuals  having  it  in 
their  power  to  avail  themselves  of  the  services  of  the  wind, 
no  one  can  intercept  the  bounty  of  nature,  and  exact  a 
price  for  that  which  she  freely  bestows;  whereas  A.,  by 


appropriating  the  waterfall,  and  consequently  acquiring  a 
command  over  it,  has  it  in  his  power  to  prevent  its  being 
used  at  all,  or  to  sell  its  services.  He  can  oblige  B.,  C,  and 
D.  to  pay  for  liberty  to  use  it ;  but  as  they  pay  for  that  which 
costs  him  nothing,  he  gains  the  whole  that  they  lose ;  so 
that  the  services  rendered  by  the  waterfall  are  still  so  much 
clear  gain — so  much  work  performed  gratuitously  for  so- 
ciety. 

Had  Mr.  Senior  attended  to  this  principle,  he  would  not 
have  made  the  strange  supposition,  that  if  aerolites  con- 
sisted wholly  of  gold,  they  would,  according  to  the  princi- 
ples now  explained,  be  destitute  of  value.  *  If,  indeed,  they 
were  so  very  abundant  as  to  supply  every  one  with  as  much 
gold  as  he  desired,  they  would  have  no  value  whatever,  other 
than  what  they  might  derive  from  the  trouble  of  gathering 
them  ;  but,  if  they  existed  only  in  limited  quantities,  and 
were  quite  incapable  of  supplying  the  demand  for  gold,  the 
fortunate  finder  of  one  of  them  would  be  able  to  sell  it,  or 
exchange  it,  for  the  same  quantity  of  produce  it  would 
have  commanded  had  it  been  produced,  like  other  gold,  by 
the  labour  of  the  miner,  smelter,  &x.  But  it  is  obvious 
that  its  value  is,  in  this  case,  derived  from  circumstances 
which,  though  extrinsic  to  itself,  depend  wholly  on  the  ex- 
penditure of  labour ;  and  that,  in  fact,  it  is  measured  or  de- 
termined by  the  labour  required  to  produce  gold  under  ordi- 
nary circumstances,  precisely  in  the  same  way  that  the 
value  of  the  waterfall  is  determined  by  the  quantity  of  la- 
bour it  will  save  to  the  party  by  whom  it  is  bought  or 
rented. 

Labour,  therefore,  is  the  sole  source  of  exchangeable 
value,  and,  consequently,  of  wealth.  It  is  the  talisman 
that  has  raised  man  from  the  condition  of  the  savage — that 
has  changed  the  desert  and  the  forest  into  cultivated  fields  ; 
that  has  covered  the  earth  with  cities,  and  the  ocean  with 
ships ;  that  has  given  us  abundance,  comfort,  and  elegance, 
instead  of  want,  misery,  and  barbarism : — 

"  All  is  the  gift  of  Industry  ;  whate'er 
Exal's,  embellishes,  and  renders  life 
Delightful." 

The  fundamental  principle,  that  it  is  only  through  the 
agency  of  labour  that  the  various  articles  and  conveniences 
required  for  the  use  and  accommodation  of  man  can  be  ob- 
tained, being  thus  established,  it  necessarily  follows,  that 
the  great  practical  problem  involved  in  that  part  of  the 
science  which  treats  of  the  production  of  wealth  must  re- 
solve itself  into  a  discussion  of  the  means  by  which  labour 
may  be  rendered  most  efficient.  Every  measure  that  haa 
any  tendency  to  add  to  the  power  of  labour,  or,  which  is  the 
same  thing,  to  reduce  the  cost  of  commodities,  must  add 
proportionally  to  the  means  of  obtaining  wealth  and  riches; 
while  every  measure  or  regulation  that  has  any  tendency  to 
waste  labour,  or  to  raise  the  cost  of  commodities,  must 
equally  lessen  these  means.  This,  then,  is  the  simple  and 
decisive  test  by  which  to  judge  of  the  expediency  of  all 
measures  affecting  the  wealth  of  a  country,  and  of  the 
value  of  all  inventions.  If  they  render  labour  more  pro- 
ductive— if,  by  reducing  the  value  of  commodities,  they 
render  them  more  easily  obtainable,  and  bring  them  within 
the  command  of  a  greater  portion  of  society,  they  must  be 
advantageous;  and  conversely.  Considered  in  this  point  of 
view,  that  great  branch  of  the  science  which  treats  of  the 
production  of  wealth  will  be  found  to  be  abundantly  sim- 
ple, and  easily  understood. 

Labour,  according  as  it  is  applied  to  the  raising  of  raw 
produce,  to  the  fashioning  of  that  raw  produce  when  raised 
into  articles  of  utility,  convenience,  or  ornament,  or  to  the 
conveyance  of  raw  and  wrought  produce  from  one  country 
or  place  to  another,  is  said  to  be  agricultural,  manufactur- 
ing, or  commercial.  An  acquaintance  with  the  particular 
processes,  and  most  advantageous  methods  of  applying  la- 
bour in  each  of  these  grand  departments  of  industry,  forms 
the  peculiar  and  appropriate  study  of  agriculturists,  manu- 
facturers, and  merchants.  It  is  not  consistent  with  the  ob- 
jects of  the  political  economist  to  enter  into  the  details  of 
particular  businesses  and  professions.  He  confines  himself 
to  an  investigation  of  the  means  by  which  labour  in  general 
may  be  rendered  most  productive,  and  how  its  powers  may 
be  increased  in  all  the  departments  of  industry. 

In  thus  endeavouring  to  exhibit  the  importance  of  labour, 
and  the  advantages  which  its  successful  prosecution  confers 
on  man,  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  reference  is  made  to 
the  labour  of  the  hand  only.  This  species,  indeed,  comes 
most  under  our  observation :  it  is  that,  too,  without  which 
we  could  not  exist,  and  which  principally  determines  the 
value  of  commodities.  It  is  questionable,  however,  whether 
it  be  really  more  productive  than  the  labour  of  the  mind. 
The  hand  is  not  more  necessary  to  execute  than  the  head 
to  contrive.  Some  very  valuable  discoveries  have  no  doubt 
been  the  result  of  accident;  while  others  have  naturally 
grown  out  of  the  progress  of  society,  without  being  materi- 


f  Ait.  "  Political  Economy,"  Encvclopxdia  Metropolitana. 
955 


POLITICAL  ECONOMY. 


ally  advanced  by  thf  effort?  of  any  single  individual.  These, 
however,  have  not  been  their  only,  nor.  perhaps,  their  most 
copious  sources;  and  every  one,  how  little  soever  he  may 
be  acquainted  with  the  history  of  his  species,  is  aware  that 
we  are  indebted  to  the  labour  of  the  mind,  to  patient  study 
and  long-continued  research,  for  numberless  Inventions, 
some  of  which  have  made  almost  Incalculable  additions  to 
our  powers,  and  changed,  indeed,  the  whole  aspect  and  con- 
dition of  society. 

2.  Means  by  which  Labour  may  be  facilitated.— -Having 
thus  endeavoured  to  show  that  man  is  indebted  to  labour  or 
industry  for  all  those  articles  or  products  which  constitute 
wealth,  or  which  are  not  freely  bestowed  by  nature,  we 
have  next  to  inquire  into  the  means  by  which  labour  may 
be  rendered  most  productive,  or  by  .which  the  greatest 
amount  of  wealth  may  be  obtained  with  the  least  labour, 
or  at  the  least  expense. 

It  may  seem  on  a  cursory  view  as  if  an  inquiry  of  this 
sort  would  necessarily  branch  out  into  an  infinity  of  details. 
But,  in  so  far  as  this  science,  which  deals  only  with  the 
general  principles  applicable  to  all  departments  of  industry, 
is  concerned,  such  is  not  the  case.  On  the  contrary,  it  will 
be  found,  supposing  the  security  of  property,  without  which 
there  ca'n  be  neither  industry  nor  accumulation,  to  be  estab- 
lished, that  all  the  means  by  which  labour  may  be  facilitated 
and  wealth  increased  resolve  themselves,  1st,  into  the  bet- 
ter division  and  combination  of  employments  among  indi- 
viduals and  nations  ;  and,  '2d,  into  the  more  extensive  or 
more  judicious  application  of  capital  or  stock  in  industrious 
undertakings.  All  the  improvements  that  ever  have  been 
or  ever  will  be  made  in  the  great  art  of  producing  the  vari- 
ous necessaries,  conveniences,  and  enjoyments  of  human 
life  may  be  classed  under  one  or  other  of  these  heads;  that 
is,  they  will  be  found  to  consist  either  in  the  better  distribu- 
tion of  employments,  or  in  the  greater  command  and  better 
application  of  capital.  Without  availing  themselves  of  these 
means  no  people  can  make  any  advance  in  civilization. 
And,  supposing  property  to  be  equally  well  protected,  it  will, 
generally  speaking;  he  (bund  that  those  nations  have  been 
the  wealthiest,  most  cultivated,  and  refined,  in  which  the 
division  of  labour  has  been  carried  to  the  farthest  extent, 
and  capital  been  most  abundant  and  most  judiciously  ap- 
plied. 

Division  of  Employments. — The  division  of  employments 
can  only  be  imperfectly  established  in  rude  societies  and 
thinly-peopled  countries;  but  in  every  state  of  society — in 
the  rudest  as  well  as  the  most  improved — we  may  trace  its 
operation  and  effects.  The  various  physical  powers,  tal- 
ents, and  propensities,  with  which  men  are  endowed,  fit 
them  for  different  occupations;  and  a  regard  to  mutual  in- 
terest and  convenience  naturally  leads  them,  at  a  very  early 
period,  to  establish  a  system  of  barter  and  a  division  of  em- 
ployments. It  was  speedily  seen  that  by  separating  and 
combining  their  efforts  so  as  to  bring  about  some  desirable 
end,  tbej  might,  with  ease,  accomplish  tasks  that  could  not 
otherwise  be  attempted.  Even  in  the  simplest  businesses 
this  co-operation  is  required:  neither  hunting  nor  fishing, 
any  more  than  agriculture  or  manufactures,  can  be  advan- 
tageously carried  on  by  solitary  individuals.  Man  is  the 
creature  of  society  ;  and  is  compelled,  in  every  stage  of  his 
progress,  to  depend  for  help  on  his  fellows: — Qud  alio 
fortes  siiiiiiis  i/u  tin  quid  miituis  juvamur  officiis  1  Instead 
of  trusting  to  his  own  unaided  efforts  for  a  provision  of  the 
various  articles  required  for  his  subsistence,  comfort,  and 
security,  he  instinctively  associates  himself  with  others,  and 
finds  in  this  association  the  principal  source  of  his  superior 
power.     Perceiving   that   he   can  obtain  an  incomparably 

freater  command  of  all  that  he  deems  useful  or  desirable 
y  applying  himself  in  preference  to  some  one  department 
of  industry,  he  limits  his  attention  to  it  only.  As  society 
advances,  this  dtt  ision  extends  itself  on  all  sides:  one  man 
becomes  a  tanner  or  dresser  of  .-kins;  another  a  shoemaker; 
a  third  a  weaver;  a  fourth  a  house  -carpenter ;  a  fifth  a 
smith,  and  so  on  ;  one  undertakes  the  defence  of  the  society, 
and  one  the  distribution  of  justice;  and  each  endeavours 
to  cultivate  and  bring  to  perfection  whatever  talent  or  ge- 
nius he  may  possess  for  the  particular  Calling  in  which  he 
is  engaged.  The  wealth  and  comforts  of  all  classes  are,  in 
consequence,  prodigiously  augmented.  In  countries  where 
the  division  of  labour  Is  carried  to  a  considerable  extent, 
agriculturists  are  not  obliged  to  spend  their  time  in  clumsy 
attempts  to  manufacture  their  own  produce,  and  manufac- 
turers cease  to  interest  themselves  about  the  raising  of  corn, 

and  the  fattening  of  cattle.  The  facility  of  exchanging  Is 
the  vivifying  principle  of  industry;  it  stimulates  agricuitu 
rist-  to  adopt  the  best  system  of  cultivation,  ami  to  raise  the 
largest  crops,  because  it  enables  them  to  exchange  «  natever 
portion  of  the  produce  of  their  lands  exceeds  their  own 
wants  for  other  commodities  contributing  to  their  comforts 

and  enjoyments;  and  it  stimulates  manufacturers  and  met 
chants  to  increase  and  improve  the-  quantity,  variety,  and 
quality  of  their  goods,  that  they  may  thereby  obtain  greater 


supplies  of  raw  produce.  A  spirit  of  industry  is  thus  uni- 
versally diffused  ;  and  that  apathy  and  languor  which  cha- 
racterize a  rude  state  of  society  entirely  disappear. 

But  the  facility  of  exchanging,  or  the  circumstance  of  be- 
ing able  readily  to  barter  the  surplus  produce  of  our  own 
labour  for  such  parts  of  the  surplus  produce  of  other  peo- 
ple's labour  as  we  may  desire  to  obtain  and  they  may  choose 
to  part  with,  is  not  the  only  advantage  of  the  separation  of 
employments.  Besides  enabling  each  individual  to  addict 
himself  in  preference  to  those  departments  which  suit  his 
taste  and  disposition,  it  adds  very  largely  to  the  efficacy  of 
his  powers,  and  enables  him  to  produce  a  much  greater 
quantity  of  useful  and  desirable  articles  than  he  could  do 
were  he  to  engage  indiscriminately  in  different  businesses. 
Dr.  Smith,  who  has  treated  this  subject  in  the  most  mas- 
terly manner,  has  classed  the  circumstances  which  conspire 
to  Increase  the  productive  powers  of  industry,  when  labour 
is  divided,  under  the  following  heads  : — First,  the  increased 
skill  and  dexterity  of  the  workmen ;  second,  the  saving  of 
time  which  is  commonly  lost  in  passing  from  one  employ- 
ment to  another ;  and,  third,  the  circumstance  of  the  divi- 
sion of  employments  having  a  tendency  to  facilitate  the  in- 
vention of  machines  and  processes  for  abridging  and  saving 
labour.  A  few  observations  on  each  of  these  heads  are 
subjoined. 

1st.  tilth  respect  to  the  improvement  of  the  skill  and  dex- 
terity of  the  labourer. — It  is  sufficiently  plain  that  when  a 
person's  whole  attention  is  devoted  to  one  branch  of  busi- 
ness, when  all  the  energies  of  his  mind  and  powers  of  his 
body  are  made  to  converge,  as  it  were,  to  a  single  point,  he 
must  attain  to  a  degree  of  proficiency  in  that  particular 
branch,  to  which  no  individual  engaged  In  a  variety  of  oc- 
cupations can  be  expected  to  reach.  A  peculiar  play  of  the 
muscles,  or  sleight  of  hand,  is  necessary  to  perforin  the 
simplest  operation  in  the  best  and  most  expeditious  manner, 
and  this  can  only  be  acquired  by  habitual  and  constant 
practice.  Smith  has  given  a  striking  example,  in  the  case 
of  the  nail-manufacturer,  of  the  extreme  difference  between 
training  a  workman  to  the  precise  occupation  in  which  he 
is  to  be  employed,  and  training  him  to  a  similar  and  closely 
allied  occupation.  "  A  common  smith,"  says  he,  "  who, 
though  accustomed  to  handle  the  hammer,  has  never  been 
used  to  make  nails,  if,  upon  some  particular  occasion,  he  is 
obliged  to  attempt  it,  will  scarce,  I  am  assured,  be  able  to 
make  above  two  or  three  hundred  nails  in  a  day,  and  those, 
too,  very  bad  ones.  A  smith  who  has  been  accustomed  to 
make  nails,  but  whose  sole  or  principal  business  has  not 
been  that  of  a  nailer,  can  seldom,  with  his  utmost  diligence, 
make  more  than  eight  hundred  or  a  thousand  nails  in  a  day. 
But  I  have  seen  several  boys,  under  twenty  years  of  age, 
who  had  never  exercised  any  other  trade  but  that  of  mak- 
ing nails,  and  who,  when  they  exerted  themselves,  could 
make,  each  of  them,  upwards  of  two  thousand  three  hun- 
dred nails  in  a  day,  or  nearly  three  times  the  number  of  the 
smith  who  had  been  accustomed  to  make  them,  but  who 
was  not  entirely  devoted  to  that  particular  business." 
(  Wealth  of  Nations,  p.  4.) 

2d.  The  influence  of  the  division  of  labour  in  preventing 
that  waste  of  time  in  moving  from  one  employment  to  ano- 
ther, which  must  always  take  place  when  an  individual  en- 
gages in  different  occupations,  is  even  more  obvious  than 
its  influence  in  improving  his  skill  and  dexterity.  When  the 
same  person  carries  on  different  employments,  in  different 
and  perhaps  distant  places,  and  with  different  sets  of  tools, 
he  must  plainly  lose  a  considerable  portion  of  time  in  pass- 
ing between  them.  If  the  different  employments  in  which 
he  is  to  he  engaged  could  be  carried  on  in  the  same  work- 
shop, the  loss  of  lime  would  be  less;  but  even  in  that  case 
it  would  be  considerable.  "A  man,"  as  Dr.  Smith  has 
justly  observed,  "commonly  saunters  a  little  in  turning  his 
hand  from  one  sort  of  employment  to  another.  When  he 
first  begins  the  new  work,  he  is  seldom  very  keen  and 
hearty;  his  mind,  as  they  say,  does  not  go  along  with  it, 
and  for  some  time  he  ralher  trifles  than  applies  to  good  pur- 
pose. The  habit  of  sauntering  and  of  indolent  careless  ap- 
plication, which  is  naturally,  or  ralher  necessarily,  acquired 
by  every  country  workman,  who  is  obliged  to  change  his 
work  and  his  tools  every  half  hour,  anil  to  apply  his  hand 
in  twenty  different  ways  almost  even  day  of  his  life,  ren- 
ders him  almost  always  slothful  and  iazy,  and  incapable  of 
any  vigorous  application,  even  on  the  most  pressing  occa- 
sions, independent,  therefore,  of  his  deficiency  in  point  of 
dexterity,  llns  cause  alone  must  always  reduce  considera- 
bly the  quantity  of  work  which  he  is  capable  of  perform- 
ing."   (  Wealth  of  .Yiitimis,  p.  5.) 

3d.  With  regard  to  the  influence  of  the  division  of  employ- 
ment  in  facilitating  the  invention  of  machines,  and  pro- 

eissis  for  abridging  and  snrinir  labour. — It  is  obvious  that 
those  engaged  in  any  branch  of  industry  will  be  more  likely 
to  discover  easier  anil  readier  methods  of  carrying  it  on 
w  lien  the  Whole  a  1  tent  ion  of  their  minds  is  devoted  exclu- 
sively to  it,  than  if  it  were  dissipated  among  a  variety  of 


POLITICAL   ECONOMY. 


objects.  But  it  is  a  mistake  to  suppose,  as  has  been  some- 
times done,  that  the  inventive  genius  of  workmen  and  arti- 
ficers is  alone  whetted  and  improved  by  the  division  of  la- 
bour. As  society  advances,  the  study  of  particular  branches 
of  science  and  philosophy  becomes  the  principal  or  sole  oc- 
cupation of  the  most  ingenious  men.  Chemistry  becomes  a 
distinct  science  from  natural  philosophy  ;  the  physical  as- 
tronomer separates  himself  from  the  astronomical  observer; 
the  political  economist  from  the  politician ;  and  each,  medi- 
tating exclusively  or  principally  on  his  peculiar  deportment 
of  science,  attains  to  a  degree  of  proficiency  and  expertness 
in  it  which  the  general  scholar  seldom  or  never  reaches. 
And  hence,  in  labouring  to  promote  our  own  ends,  we  all 
necessarily  adopt  that  precise  course  which  is  most  advan- 
tageous for  all.  Like  the  different  parts  of  a  well-constructed 
engine,  the  inhabitants  of  a  civilized  country  are  all^mutu- 
ally  dependent  on  and  connected  with  each  other.  Without 
any  previous  consent,  and  obeying  only  the  powerful  and 
steady  impulse  of  self-interest,  they  universally  conspire  to 
the  same  great  end;  and  contribute,  each  in  his  respective 
sphere,  to  furnish  the  greatest  supply  of  necessaries,  lux- 
uries, conveniences,  and  enjoyments. 

Probably,  however,  the  most  advantageous  result  of  the 
division  of  labour  may  be  found  in  the  circumstance  of  its 
enabling  manufactures  or  others  engaged  in  any  complicated 
business,  or  department  of  industry,  to  employ  work-people 
of  very  various  degrees  of  skill  and  force.  In  the  cotton 
manufacture,  for  example,  some  processes  that  are  indis- 
pensable may  be  quite  as  well  performed  by  children  and 
women  as  by  the  most  expert  and  powerful  workmen.  It 
is  clear,  however,  that  but  for  the  distribution  of  the 
labour  required  to  bring  about  any  result  among  different 
individuals  possessing  the  degree  of  skill  and  strength  ne- 
cessary in  each  particular  part  of  the  process,  none  could 
be  employed  but  those  who  possessed  the  skill  and  strength 
required  in  the  most  difficult  and  laborious;  and,  conse- 
quently, workmen  at  30s.  or  40s.  a  week  would  have  to  en- 
gage in  tasks  that  might  be  as  well  or  better  performed  by 
girls  at  5s.  or  6s.  a  week.  In  all  the  great  departments  of 
industry  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  separate  the  pro- 
cesses requiring  peculiar  skill,  dexterity,  and  force  from  the 
others,  and  to  appropriate  them  exclusively  to  certain  classes 
of  individuals  ;  and  to  perform  the  operations  requiring  less 
skill,  or  less  strength,  by  sets  of  inferior  labourers.  The 
success  of  most  industrious  undertakings  depends,  in  fact, 
principally  on  the  sagacity  with  which  this  distribution  of 
employments  is  made,  or  with  which  the  skill  and  power 
of  the  work-people  are  proportioned  to  the  results  to  be 
produced.  (Tor  further  illustrations  of  this  principle  see 
Babbage's  Economy  of  Manufactures,  p.  172,  &.C.) 

It  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  advantages  derived 
from  the  division  of  labour,  though  they  may  be,  and  in  fact 
are,  partially  enjoyed  in  every  country  and  state  of  society, 
can  only  be  carried  to  their  full  extent  where  there  is  a  great 
power  of  exchanging,  or  an  extensive  market.  There  are  an 
infinite  variety  of  employments  which  cannot  be  separately 
carried  on  without  the  precincts  of  a  large  city ;  and  in  ail 
cases  the  division  becomes  more  perfect,  according  as  the 
demand  for  the  produce  is  extended.  It  is  stated  by  Dr. 
Smith  that  ten  labourers,  employed  in  different  departments 
in  a  pin  manufactory,  can  produce  48,000  pins  a  day,  and 
since  his  time  the  quantity  has  been  more  than  doubled ; 
but  it  is  evident  that  if  the  demand  were  not  sufficient  to 
take  off  this  quantity,  ten  persons  could  not  be  constantly 
employed  in  the  business  ;  and  the  division  of  employments 
in  it  not  beinsr  carried  so  far,  the  labour  would  be  less  eco- 
nomically and  efficiently  applied,  and  the  cost  of  the  pins 
proportionally  increased.  The  same  principle  holds  uni- 
versally. A  cotton  mill  could  not  be  constructed  in  a  small 
country  having  no  intercourse  with  its  neighbours.  The 
demand  and  competition  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  America  have 
been  necessany  to  carry  the  manufactures  of  Glasgow, 
Manchester,  and  Birmingham  to  their  present  state  of  im- 
provement. 

Territorial  Division  of  Labour,  or  Commerce. — Besides 
that  sort  of  division  of  labour  which  enables  each  individ- 
ual in  a  limited  society  to  confine  himself  to  a  particular 
employment,  there  is  another  and  most  important  branch 
of  the  division  of  labour,  which  not  only  enables  particular 
individuals,  but  the  inhabitants  of  entire  districts,  and  even 
nations,  to  addict  themselves  in  preference  to  certain  bran- 
ches of  industry.  It  is  on  this  territorial  division  of  labour, 
as  it  has  been  appropriately  termed,  that  the  commerce 
carried  on  between  different  districts  of  the  same  country, 
and  between  differrnt  countries,  is  founded.  The  variations 
in  the  situation,  soil,  climate,  mineral  products,  &c,  of  the 
different  districts  of  an  extensive  country,  render  them  more 
suitable  for  some  than  for  other  species  of  industry.  A 
district  where  coal  is  abundant,  which  has  an  easy  access 
to  the  ocean,  and  a  considerable  command  of  internal  navi- 
gation, is  the  natural  seat  of  manufactures.  Wheat  and 
other  species  of  grain  are  the  proper  products  of  rich  arable 
78 


soils ;  and  cattle,  after  being  reared  in  mountainous  dis- 
tricts, are  most  advantageously  fattened  in  meadows  and 
low  grounds.  Nothing  can  be  more  obvious  than  that  the 
inhabitants  of  these  different  districts  will  be  able,  by  con- 
fining themselves  to  those  employments  for  the  prosecution 
of  which  they  have  some  peculiar  capability,  to  produce  a 
much  greater  quantity  of  useful  and  desirable  articles  than 
they  could  do  were  they  to  engage  indiscriminately  in 
every  possible  employment.  Can  it  be  doubted  that  a  vastly 
greater  supply  of  manufactured  goods,  corn,  and  cattle  is 
produced  by  the  inhabitants  of  Glasgow,  the  Carse  of  Gow- 
rie,  and  Argyleshire  respectively  confining  themselves  to 
manufactures,  agriculture,  and  the  rearing  of  cattle,  than 
if  each  endeavoured  directly  to  raise  these  various  pro- 
ducts ■? 

But  it  is  easy  to  see  that  foreign  trade,  or  the  territorial 
division  of  labour  between  different  and  independent  coun- 
tries, contributes  to  increase  the  wealth  of  each  in  precisely 
the  same  manner  that  the  trade  between  different  provin- 
ces of  the  same  kingdom  contributes  to  increase  their 
wealth.  There  is  a  still  greater  difference  between  the 
productive  powers  with  which  Providence  has  endowed 
different  and  distant  countries,  than  there  is  between  the 
productive  powers  of  the  provinces  of  the  same  country ; 
and  consequently  the  establishment  of  a  free  intercourse  be- 
tween them  must  be  proportionally  more  advantageous.  In- 
deed, there  are  a  great  many  products,  and  some  of  them 
of  the  very  greatest  utility,  that  cannot  be  raised  except  in 
particular  situations.  Were  it  not  for  commercial  inter- 
course, we  should  not  be  able  to  obtain  the  smallest  supply  of 
tea,  spices,  raw  cotton,  raw  silk,  gold  and  silver,  and  a  thous- 
and other  equally  useful  and  desirable  commodities.  Pro- 
vidence, by  giving  different  soils,  climates,  and  natural  pro- 
ductions to  different  countries,  has  evidently  provided  for 
their  mutual  intercourse  and  civilization.  By  permitting  the 
people  of  each  to  employ  their  capital  and  labour  in  those 
departments  in  which  their  geographical  situation,  the  phy- 
sical capacities  of  their  soil,  their  national  character  and 
habits  fit  them  to  excel,  foreign  commerce,  or  the  territorial 
division  of  labour,  has  a  wonderful  influence  in  multiplying 
the  products  of  arts  and  industry.  Where  the  freedom  of 
commerce  is  not  interfered  with,  each  country  necessarily 
devotes  itself  to  such  employments  as  are  most  beneficial 
for  itself.  And  this  pursuit  of  individual  advantage  is 
in  the  highest  degree  conducive  to  the  good  of  the  whole. 
By  stimulating  industry,  by  rewarding  ingenuity,  and  by 
using  most  efficaciously  the  particular  powers  bestowed  by 
nature,  commerce  distributes  labour  most  effectively  and 
economically ;  while,  by  increasing  the  mass  of  necessary 
and  useful  products  it  diffuses  opulence,  and  binds  together 
the  universal  society  of  nations  by  the  common  and  power- 
ful ties  of  mutual  interest  and  reciprocal  obligation.  Com- 
merce enables  each  particular  state  to  profit  by  the  inven- 
tions and  discoveries  of  every  other  state.  It  creates  new 
tastes  and  new  appetites,  and  it  also  gives  the  means  and 
the  desire  of  gratifying  them.  The  progress  of  domestic  in- 
dustry is  accelerated  by  the  competition  of  foreigners.  Com- 
merce has  either  entirely  removed  or  greatly  weakened  a 
host  of  unworthy  prejudices.  It  has  shown  that  nothing 
can  be  more  illiberal  and  absurd  than  that  once  prevalent 
dread  of  the  progress  of  others  in  wealth  and  civilization  ; 
and  that  the  true  glory  and  real  interest  of  each  particular 
people  will  be  more  certainly  advanced  by  endeavouring  to 
emulate  and  outstrip  its  neighbours  in  the  career  of  science 
and  civilization,  than  by  labouring  to  attain  a  barren  pre- 
eminence in  the  bloody  and  destructive  though  necessary 
art  of  war.  " 

The  influence  of  commerce  in  giving  increased  efficacy 
to  labour,  and  augmenting  national  wealth,  may  be  easily 
illustrated.  Thus  in  the  case  of  the  intercourse  or  territo- 
rial division  of  labouf  carried  on  between  England  and  Por- 
tugal, our  superior  wool,  and  our  command  of  coal,  of  skil- 
ful workmen,  of  improved  machinery,  in  short,  of  all  the 
instruments  of  manufacturing  industry,  enable  us  to  produce 
cloth  at  a  much  cheaper  rate  than  the  Portuguese  ;  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  soil  and  climate  of  Portugal  being  pe- 
culiarly favourable  for  the  cultivation  and  growth  of  the 
grape,  she  is  able  to  produce  wine  at  an  infinitely  less  cost 
than  it  can  be  fftoduced  here.  And  hence  it  is  obvious  that 
England,  by  confining  herself  to  the  manufacture  of  cloth, 
in  which  she  has  a  natural  advantage,  and  exchanging  it 
with  the  Portuguese  for  wine,  will  obtain  a  vastly  larger 
supply  of  that  commodity  than  if  she  attempted  to  cultivate 
the  grape  at  home  ;  and  Portugal,  by  exchanging  her  wine 
for  the  cloth  of  England,  will  obtain  a  much  greater  quan- 
tity of  cloth  than  if  she  attempted  to  counteract  the  inten- 
tion of  nature  by  converting  a  portion  of  her  capital  and  in- 
dustry from  the  raising  of  wine,  in  which  she  has  an  ad- 
vantage, to  the  manufacture  of  cloth,  in  which  the  advan- 
tage is  on  the  side  of  another. 

What  has  been  already  stated  is  sufficient  to  expose  the 
sophism  of  the  French  economists,  who  contended,  that  as. 

957 


POLITICAL  ECONOMY- 


an  equivalent  must  be  always  given  for  commodities  brought 
from  abroad,  it  is  Impossible  foreign  commerce  should  be  a 
means  of  increasing  wealth.  "How,"  they  asked,  "can  tin- 
wealth  of  a  country  be  increased  by  giving  equal  values  for 
equal  valued I"  They  admitted  that  commerce  might  be 
the  means  of  making  a  better  distribution  of  tile  wealth  of 
the  world  ;  but  a8  it  did  nothing  more  llian  exchange  one 
sort  of  wealth  for  another,  they  denied  that  it  could  make 
any  addition  to  its  amount.  At  first  sights  this  sophistical 
and  delusive  statement  appears  sutricienth  conclusive  ;  but 
a  very  few  words  will  he  sufficient  to  demonstrate  its  fal- 
lacy.   The  advantage  of  commerce  does  hot  consist  in  its 

enabling  others  of  the  parties  who  carry  it  On  to  obtain  ar- 

in  lea  ol  greater  value  than  those  they  give  in  exchange.   It 

may  have  COS)  as  much  to  produce  the  cloth  with  which  the 
English  merchant  purchases  the  wine  of  Portugal  as  it  did 
to  produce  the  latter,  or  it  may  have  cost  more.  But  then 
it  must  be  observed,  that  in  mating  the  exchange  the  value 
Of  the  wine  is  estimated  by  what  it  takes  to  produce  it  in 
Portugal,  which  has  peculiar  capabilities  for  that  species  of 
industry,  and  not  by  what  it  would  take  to  produce  it  in 
England  were  the  trade  put  an  end  to;  and  in  like  manner, 
the  value  of  the  cloth  is  estimated  by  what  it  takes  to  pro- 
duce it  in  England,  and  not  by  what  it  would  take  to  pro- 
duce it  in  Portugal.  The  advantage  of  the  intercourse  con- 
sols in  this,  that  it  enables  each  country  to  obtain  commo- 
dities for  the  production  of  which  it  has  no  natural  capabil- 
ity, and  which  it  would  therefore  cost  vastly  more  to  pro- 
duce directly  at  home,  at  the  price  required  to  produce  them 
under  the  most  favourable  circumstances,  and  with  the  least 
possible  expense.  The  gain  of  the  one  party  is  not  the  loss 
of  the  other.  Both  benefit  by  the  intercourse,  for  it  enables 
both  to  save  labour  and  expense  in  the  production  of  com- 
modities ;  so  that  the  wealth  of  the  two  countries  is  not  only 
better  distributed,  hut  is  also  greatly  increased,  by  the  ter- 
ritorial division  of  labour  established  between  them. 

"  The  commerce  of  one  country  with  another  is  merely 
an  extension  Of  that  division  of  labour  by  which  so  many 
benefits  are  conferred  on  the  human  race.  As  the  same 
country  is  rendered  richer  by  the  trade  of  one  province  with 
another;  as  its  labour  becomes  thus  infinitely  more  divided 
and  more  productive  than  it  could  otherwise  have  been;  and 
as  the  mutual  interchange  of  all  those  commodities  which 
one  province  has,  and  another  wants,  multiplies  the  accom- 
modations anil  comforts  of  the  whole,  and  the  country  be- 
comes thus  in  a  wonderful  degree  more  opulent  and  happy  ; 
so  the  same  beautiful  train  of  consequences  is  observable  in 
the  world  at  large — that  vast  empire,  of  which  the  different 
kingdoms  may  be  regarded  as  the  provinces.  In  this  magni- 
ficent empire,  one  province  is  favourable  to  the  production 
of  one  species  of  produce,  and  another  province  to  another. 
By  their  mutual  intercourse,  mankind  are  enabled  to  distri- 
bute their  labour  as  best  fits  the  genius  of  each  particular 
country  and  people.  The  industry  of  the  whole  is  thus  ren- 
dered incomparably  more  productive  ;  and  every  species  of 
necessary,  useful,  and  agreeable  accommodation  is  obtained 
in  much  greater  abundance,  and  with  infinitely  less  ex- 
pense."    (.Mill's  Commerce  Defended,  p.  38.) 

The  supply  of  a  great  city  with  its  various  articles  of  pro- 
vision and  consumption,  affords,  as  has  been  justly  observed, 
one  of  the  most  striking  instances  of  the  benefits  resulting 
from  the  division  and  combination  of  employments  on  the 
most  extensive  scale.  In  illustration  of  this,  it  may  be 
stated,  that  at  this  moment  (1841),  there  are  not  less  than 
two  millions  of  inhabitants  congregated  within  ten  miles 
round  St.  Paul's,  comprising  a  large  proportion  of  the  weal 
thiest  individuals  in  the  kingdom.  The  production  of  the 
provisions  and  other  accommodations  required  by  this  vast 
population  employs  not  only  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 
people  of  the  United  Kingdom,  but  also,an  immense  number 
of  labourers  in  the  most  distant, countries.  The  Chinese 
furnish  the  tea;  the  planters  of  Jamaica  and  Demerara  the 
sugar  and  collie;  Ceylon  and  the  Eastern  Archipelago  the 
spices;  the  Portuguese  and  French  the  wines;  the  people 
of  Cashmere  in  Central  Asia  the  shawls;  the  Australians 
and  Germans  the  wool;  the  Americans  the  cotton;  the 
Italians  and  Chinese  the  silk;  the  Norwegians  the  lobsters  ; 
the  Spaniards  and  the  people  of  the  Azores  the  Oranges, 
and  so  forth,  required  for  the  supplj  of  London.  And  yet, 
notwithstanding  the  extreme  diversity  of  the  sources  whence 
they  are  brought,  and  of  the  conditions  under  which  they 
are  produced,  every  article  is  supplied  to  the  exact  extent 
to  which  it  is  wanted;  and  every  individual  in  this  im- 
mense city  may  get,  on  the  shortest  notice,  any  quantit]  of 
any  article,  bow  great  or  how  small  soever,  that  he  requires. 
Then  is  no  excess  at  one  time,  or  scarcity  at  another.  The 
stftmly  of  every  article  is  adjusted  to  the  demand  with  a 
precision  that  any  one  not  acquainted  with  the  circiimMan 

crvWmid  d priori,  have  pronounced  Impossible. 

And  how,  it  may  be  inquired,  are  these  astonishing  results, 
tflrWcVirWiniit  ami  equable  supply  of  infinitely  varied  wants, 
l/rodgm  rtwwt  ?    Had  government  undertaken  such  n  task, 


it  certainly  would  have  exhibited,  even  with  (he  assisianCff 
of  a  whole  army  of  officers  and  purveyors,  a  signal  and  tip 
tal  failure  ;  but  it  is  now  effected  with  the  Utmost  facility 
by  the  efforts  of  individuals,  who,  in  the  prosecution  of 
their  own  interests,  confer  inestimable  advantages  on  this 
great  city,  and,  indeed,  enable  it  to  subsist.  Every  retail 
dealer  is  aware  of  the  ordinary  or  average  demand  of  his 
Customers  for  the  article  or  articles  in  which  he  deals  ;  and 
in  like  manner  the  wholesale  dealers,  who  commission  ar- 
ticles of  the  producers,  are  each  and  all  aware  of  the  quan- 
tity that  will  he  taken  off  by  the  retailers,  whose  agents  they 
are,  and  of  the  periods  when  they  will  have  to  be  supplied. 
In  this  way  the  aggregate  and  individual  wants  of  any  pop- 
ulation, how  great  soever,  come  to  be  accurately  known  ; 
and  the  quantity  of  labour  required  to  supply  the  different 
articles  of  which  they  stand  in  need,  and  no  more,  is  put  in 
motion. 

It  would  be  unnecessary,  in  a  work  of  this  kind,  to  dwell 
on  the  advantages  resulting  to  society  from  the  formation 
of  improved  roads,  canals,  and  other  easy  means  of  com- 
munication. At  bottom,  however,  the  principal  advantage 
of  these  consists  in  the  facility  which  they  atl'ord  for  ena- 
bling products  to  be  conveyed  from  one  place  to  another; 
that  is,  for  enabling  the  division  of  labour  between  dill'er- 
ent  parts  of  the  country  to  be  carried  to  the  greatest 
extent.  And  the  same  principle  that  teaches  us  that  it 
is  for  the  public  advantage  to  construct  new  and  improved 
roads,  and  to  promote  to  the  utmost  the  facilities  of  inter- 
course between  the  different  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom, 
should  teach  us  to  abolish,  in  as  far  as  practicable,  all  re- 
strictions on  the  intercourse  with  foreign  countries,  and  to 
give  full  scope  to  the  territorial  division  of  labour  between 
our  people  and  those  of  other  nations.  All  the  arguments 
that  can  be  used  for  the  opening  of  new  roads,  the  throwing 
of  bridges  over  ravines  and  rivers,  and  otherwise  improving 
the  means  of  internal  intercourse,  apply  with  but  little 
variation,  and  with  equal  force,  to  the  abolition  of  restric- 
tions on  the  exportation  of  native  and  the  importation  of 
foreign  produce ;  the  object  of  the  one  class  of  measures  as 
of  the  other  is  to  facilitate  the  interchange  of  the  various 
products  of  art  and  industry,  and  consequently  to  enablo 
capital  and  labour  to  be  employed  in  the  channels  in  which 
they  are  sure  to  be  most  productive.  (See  the  art.  Com- 
merce in  this  Diet.,  and  the  authorities  therein  referred 
to.) 

The  various  provisions  made  by  society  for  its  protection, 
and  for  securing  and  preserving  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
individuals,  owe  their  origin  to  this  principle.  Government 
itself  is  wholly  founded  on  a  sense  of  the  advantages  re- 
sulting from  the  division  of  employments.  "  In  the  rudest 
state  of  society  each  man  relies  principally  on  himself  for  the 
protection  both  of  his  person  and  of  his  property.  For  these 
purposes  he  must  be  always  armed,  and  always  watchful; 
What  little  property  he  has  must  be  moveable,  so  as  never 
to  be  fat  distant  from  its  owner.  Defence  or  escape  occupy 
almost  all  his  thoughts,  and  almost  all  his  time  ;  and  after 
all  these  sacrifices,  they  are  very  imperfectly  effected.  'If 
ever  you  see  an  old  man  here,'  said  an  inhabitant  of  the 
confines  of  Abyssinia  to  Bruce,  'heia  a  stranger;  the  na- 
tives all  die  young  by  the  lance.' 

"But  the  labour  which  every  individual  who  relies  on 
himself  for  protection  must  himself  undergo  is  more  than 
sufficient  to  enable  a  few  individuals  to  protect  themselves, 
and  also  the  whole  of  a  numerous  community.  To  this 
may  be  traced  the  origin  of  governments.  The  nucleus  of 
every  government  must  have  been  some  person  who  offered 
protection  in  exchange  for  submission.  On  the  governor 
and  those  with  whom  he  is  associated,  or  Whom  he  ap- 
points, is  devolved  the  care  of  defending  the  community 
from  violence  and  fraud;  and  so  far  as  internal  violence  is 
concerned,  and  that  is  the  evil  most  dreaded  in  civilized  so- 
society,  it  is  wonderful  how  small  a  number  of  persons  can 
provide  for  the  security  of  multitudes.  About  fifteen  thou- 
sand soldiers,  and  not  fifteen  thousand  policemen,  watch- 
men, and  officers  of  justice,  protect  the  persons  and  property 
of  the  seventeen  millions  ol'  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain. 
There  is  scarcely  a  trade  that  does  not  engross  the  labour  of 

a  greater  number  of  persons  than  are  employed  to  perform 
this  the  most  important  of  all  services."  (Senior  on  Politi- 
cal Economy.) 

Definition  and  Employment  of  Capital. — The  capital  of 
a  country  consists  of  those  portions  of  the  produce  01  indus- 
try exiting  in  it  that  may  be  made  directly  available,  either 
for  the  support  of  human  beings,  or  the  facilitating  of  pro- 
duction. It  consequently  comprises  all  those  articles  that 
may  be  emploj  ed  for  the  subsistence,  clothing,  and  lodging 
of  the  labourers  engaged  in  industrious  undertakings;  and 
the  various  animals,  tools,  and  machines  of  which  they  may 
avail  themselves  in  performing  their  tasks.  It  is  usual  to 
call  the  former,  or  the  food,  clothes,  &C.,  required  for  tha 
subsistence  of  the  labourer,  the  corn  used  as  seed  and  ill 
the  feuding  of  horses,  coal,  &c,  circulating  capital ;  wliile 


POLITICAL  ECONOMY. 


those  articles  that  are  more  slowly  consumed,  as  the  lower 
animals,  the  houses,  and  the  various  instruments  and  ma- 
chines that  either  are  or  may  he  employed  in  industrious 
undertakings,  are  called_/u;e<2  capital.  But  though  this  dis- 
tinction be  convenient  for  some  purposes,  no  distinct  line  of 
demarcation  can  be  drawn  between  the  different  varieties 
of  capital,  and  they  are  alike  indispensable  to  the  success- 
ful prosecution  of  most  branches  of  industry.  Without  a 
supply  of  the  first,  or  circulating  capital,  that  is,  without  a 
supply  of  food,  clothes,  &c,  it  would  plainly  be  impassible 
to  engage  in  any  sort  of  undertaking  where  the  return  was 
at  all  distant;  and  without  the  second,  or  fixed  capital,  that 
is,  without  the  aid  of  tools  and  machines  (which  aie  merely 
a  more  complex  species  of  tools),  there  are  but  few  sorts  of 
labour  that  could  be  carried  on  at  all,  or  with  any  advan- 
tage. But  the  progressive  nature  of  man,  his  foresight  and 
inventive  faculty,  lead  him,  even  in  the  earliest  ages,  and  in 
the  rudest  states  of  society,  to  provide  a  reserve  of  food,  and 
to  contrive  tools  and  instruments  to  assist  him  in  his  opera- 
tions. The  American  hunters  make  use  of  clubs  and  slings 
to  abridge  their  labour  and  facilitate  the  acquisition  of 
game ;  and  the  same  principle  which  prompts  them  to  con- 
struct and  avail  themselves  of  those  rude  instruments  never 
ceases  to  operate:  it  is  always  producing  some  new  im- 
provement, and  in  an  advanced  and  refined  period  substitutes 
ships  for  canoes,  muskets  for  slings,  steam-engines  for  clubs, 
and  cotton-mills  for  distaffs. 

Hence  it  is  only  by  the  employment  and  co-operation  of 
both  descriptions  of  capital  that  wealth  can  be  largely  pro- 
duced, and  universally  diffused.  An  agriculturist  might 
have  an  ample  supply  of  carts  and  ploughs,  of  oxen  and 
horses,  and,  generally,  of  all  the  instruments  and  animals 
used  in  his  department  of  industry ;  but  were  he  destitute 
of  circulating  capital,  or  food  and  clothes,  he  would  be  un- 
able to  avail  himself  of  their  assistance  ;  and  instead  of  till- 
ing the  ground,  would  have  to  resort  to  some  species  of  ap- 
propriative  industry :  and,  on  the  other  hand,  supposing  he 
were  abundantly  supplied  with  provisions,  what  could  he 
do  without  the  assistance  of  a  fixed  capital  or  tools'?  What 
could  the  most  skilful  husbandman  perform  without  his 
spade  and  plough  1  a  weaver  without  his  loom  1  a  carpen- 
ter without  his  saw,  his  hatchet,  and  his  planes. 

The  division  of  labour  cannot  be  carried  to  any  consid- 
erable extent  without  the  previous  accumulation  of  capital. 
Before  labour  can  be  divided,  "  a  stock  of  goods  of  different 
kinds  must  be  stored  up  somewhere,  sufficient  to  maintain 
the  labourer,  and  to  supply  him  with  materials  and  tools. 
A  weaver  cannot  apply  himself  entirely  to  his  peculiar 
business,  unless  there  is  beforehand  stored  up  somewhere, 
either  in  his  own  possession  or  in  that  of  some  other  per- 
son, a  stock  sufficient  to  maintain  him,  and  to  supply  him 
with  the  materials  and  tools  of  his  works,  till  he  has  not 
only  completed  but  sold  his  web.  This  accumulation  must, 
evidently,  be  previous  to  his  applying  himself  for  so  long  a 
time  to  such  a  peculiar  business.    (  Wealth  of  Nations,  119.) 

As  the  accumulation  of  capital  must  have  preceded  the 
extensive  division  of  labour,  so  its  subsequent  division  can 
only  be  perfected  as  capital  is  more  and  more  accumulated. 
Accumulation  and  division  act  and  react  on  each  other. 
The  quantity  of  work  which  the  same  number  of  people  can 
perform  increases  in  a  great  proportion  with  every  fresh 
subdivision  of  labour ;  and  according  as  the  operations  of 
each  workman  are  reduced  to  a  greater  degree  of  identity 
and  simplicity,  he  has,  as  already  explained,  a  greater  chance 
of  discovering  machines  and  processes  for  facilitating  his 
separate  task.  The  quantity  of  industry,  therefore,  not  only 
increases  in  every  country  with  the  increase  of  the  stock  or 
capital  which  sets  it  in  motion  ;  but,  In  consequence  of  this 
increase,  the  division  of  labour  is  extended,  new  and  more 
powerful  implements  and  machines  are  invented,  and  the 
same  quantity  of  labour  is  made  to  produce  an  infinitely 
greater  quantity  of  commodities. 

Besides  enabling  labour  to  be  divided,  capital  contributes 
to  facilitate  labour  and  produce  wealth  in  the  three  follow- 
ing ways : 

First. — It  enables  work  to  be  executed  that  could  not  be 
executed,  or  commodities  to  be  produced  that  could  not  be 
produced,  without  it. 

Second. — It  saves  labour  in  the  production  of  almost  every 
species  of  commodities. 

Third— H  enables  work  to  be  executed  better,  as  well  as 
more  expeditiously. 

With  regard  to  the  first  advantage  derived  from  the  em- 
ployment of  capital,  or  the  circumstance  of  its  enabling 
commodities  to  be  produced  that  could  not  be  produced 
without  it,  it  is  plain,  as  already  observed,  that  the  produc- 
tion of  such  commodities  as  require  a  considerable  period 
for  their  completion  could  not  be  attempted  unless  a  stock 
of  circulating  capital,  or  of  food  and  clothes  sufficient  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  labourer  while  employed  on  them,  was 
previously  provided.  But  the  possession  of  fixed  capital,  or 
of  tools  and  machines,  is  frequently  as  necessary  to  the  pro- 


duction of  commodities  as  the  possession  of  circulating  capi- 
tal. It  would,  for  example,  be  quite  impossible  to  produce 
a  pair  of  stockings  without  the  aid  of  wires  ;  and  although 
the  ground  might  be  cultivated  without  the  aid  of  a  plough, 
it  could  not  be  cultivated  without  the  aid  of  a  spade  or  a 
hoe.  If  we  run  over  the  vast  catalogue  of  the  arts  practised 
in  a  civilized  country,  it  will  be  found  that  extremely  few 
can  be  carried  on  by  the  mere  employment  of  the  fingers, 
or  rude  tools  with  which  man  is  furnished  by  nature.  It  is 
almost  always  necessary  to  provide  ourselves  with  the  re- 
sult of  previous  industry  and  invention,  and  to  strengthen 
our  feeble  hands  by  arming  them,  if  we  may  so  speak,  "  with 
the  force  of  all  the  elements." 

In  the  second  place,  besides  supplying  many  species  of 
commodities  that  could  not  be  produced  without  its  co-oper- 
ation, the  employment  of  capital  occasions  a  saving  of  la- 
bour in  the  production  of  many  others ;  and,  by  lowering 
their  cost,  brings  them  within  the  reach  of  a  far  greater 
number  of  consumers.  We  have  been  so  long  accustomed 
to  profit  by  the  services  of  the  most  commodious  and  pow- 
erful machines,  that  it  requires  a  considerable  effort  of  ab- 
straction to  become  fully  aware  of  the  advantages  we  owe 
to  them.  But  if  we  compare  the  arts  practised  alike  by 
highly  civilized  societies  and  those  in  a  less  advanced  state, 
we  can  hardly  fail  of  being  convinced  that  we  are  indebted 
to  the  employment  of  machinery  for  a  very  large  propor- 
tion of  our  superior  comforts  and  enjoyments.  Suppose, 
that,  like  the  Peruvians,  and  many  other  people  of  the  New 
as  well  as  the  Old  World,  we  were  destitute  of  iron,  and 
unacquainted  with  the  method  of  domesticating  and  em- 
ploying oxen  and  horses,  how  prodigious  a  change  for  the 
worse  would  be  made  in  our  condition  I  It  was  customary, 
in  some  countries,  to  make  cloth  by  taking  up  thread  after 
thread  of  the  warp,  and  passing  the  woof  between  them  by 
the  unassisted  agency  of  the  hand  ;  so  that  years  were  con- 
sumed in  the  manufacture  of  a  piece  which,  with  the  aid 
of  the  loom,  may  be  produced  in  as  many  days.  Nothing, 
perhaps,  has  contributed  so  much  to  accelerate  the  progress 
and  diffuse  the  blessings  of  civilization,  as  the  establishment 
of  a  commercial  intercourse  between  different  and  distant 
nations.  But  how  could  this  be  effected  without  the  con- 
struction of  vessels,  and  the  discovery  of  the  art  of  naviga- 
tion ?  And  if  we  compare  the  early  navigators,  creeping 
timidly  along  the  shore  in  canoes  formed  out  of  trees  partly 
hollowed  by  fire,  and  partly  by  the  aid  of  a  stone  hatchet 
or  the  bone  of  some  animal,  with  those  who  now  boldly 
traverse  the  trackless  ocean  in  noble  ships,  laden  with  the 
produce  of  every  climate,  we  shall  have  a  faint  idea  of  the 
advance  of  the  arts,  and  what  we  owe  to  machinery  and 
science.  Those  who  have  distinguished  themselves  in  this 
career,  though  they  have  rarely  met  with  that  gratitude 
and  applause  from  their  fellow-citizens  to  which  they  had 
so  just  a  claim,  hive  been  the  great  benefactors  of  the  hu- 
man race.  By  pressing  the  powers  of  nature  into  our  ser- 
vice, and  subjecting  them  to  our  control,  they  have  given 
man  almost  omnipotent  power,  and  rendered  him  equal  to 
the  most  gigantic  undertakings.  Without  their  assistance 
we  should  be  poor  indeed !  Such  as  the  naked  and  half- 
famished  savage  of  New  Holland  is  at  this  day,  such  would 
the  Athenian,  the  Roman,  and  the  Englishman  have  been, 
but  for  the  invention  of  tools  and  machines,  and  the  em- 
ployment of  tire  natural  agents  in  the  great  work  of  pro- 
duction. 

The  third  advantage  derived  from  the  employment  of 
capital  consists  in  its  enabling  work  to  be  done  better,  as 
well  as  more  expeditiously.  Cotton,  for  example,  might  be 
spun  by  the  hand  ;  but  the  admirable  machines  invented  by 
Hargreaves,  Arkwright,  and  others,  enable  a  hundred  or  a 
thousand  times  as  much  yarn  to  be  spun  as  could  be  effect- 
ed by  means  of  a  common  spindle,  at  the  same  time  that 
they  have  improved  its  quality  and  given  it  a  degree  of  fine- 
ness and  of  evenness,  or  equality  in  its  parts,  which  was 
never  previously  attained.  A  painter  would  occupy  months, 
or  it  might  be  years,  in  painting  with  a  brush  the  cottons, 
or  printed  cloths,  used  in  the  hanging  of  a  single  room  ;  and 
it  would  be  very  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  for  the  best  artist 
to  give  that  perfect  identity  to  his  figures  which  is  given  to 
them  by  the  machinery  now  made  use  of  for  that  purpose. 
Not  to  mention  the  other  and  more  important  advantages 
resulting  from  the  invention  of  moveable  types  and  print- 
ing, it  is  certain  that  the  most  perfect  manuscript,  one  on 
which  years  of  patient  and  irksome  labour  have  been  ex- 
pended, is  unable,  in  point  of  delicacy  and  correctness,  to 
match  a  well-printed  work,  executed  in  the  hundredth  part 
of  the  time,  and  at  a  hundredth  part  of  the  expense.  The 
great  foreign  demind  for  English  manufactured  goods  re- 
sults no  less  from  the  superiority  of  their  manufacture  than 
from  their  greater  cheapness ;  and  for  both  these  advan- 
tages we  are  principally  indebted  to  the  excellence  of  our 
machinery. 

There  are  other  considerations  which  equally  illustrate 
the  extreme  importance  of  the  accumulation  and  employ- 

959 


POLITICAL  ECONOMY. 


mcnt  of  capital.  The  food  and  other  accommodations  en- 
joyed by  a  aatioo  cannot  be  Increased  except  by  an  increase 
in  the  number  of  it*  labourers,  or  in  their  productive  powers; 
but,  without  an  increase  of  capital,  it  is  in  most  cases  Im- 
possible i"  employ  more  workmen  with  advantage.  If  the 
articles  applicable  to  the  support  of  the  labourers,  and  the 
tools  ami  machines  with  which  they  are  to  operate,  be  re- 
quired for  the  maintenance  and  efficient  employment  of 
those  already  in  existence,  there  can  be  no  additional  de- 
demand  ler  others.  Under  such  circumstances  the  rate  of 
wages  cannot  rise  ;  and  If  the  number  of  inhabitants  be  in- 
creased  they  mast  be  worse  provided  for.  Neither  is  it  at 
all  probable  that  the  powers  of  the  labourer  should  be  aug- 
mented, except  capital  be  previously  increased.  Without 
the  better  education  tind  training  of  workmen,  the  greater 
subdivision  of  their  employments,  or  the  improvement  of 
machinery,  their  productive  energies  can  never  be  material 
ly  increased  ;  and  in  almost  all  these  cases  additional  capital 
is  required.  It  is  seldom,  unless  by  its  means,  that  work- 
men can  be  better  trained,  or  that  the  undertaker  of  any 
work  can  either  provide  them  with  better  machinery,  or 
make  a  proper  distribution  of  labour  among  them.  Should 
the  work  to  be  done  consist  of  a  number  of  parts,  to  keep  a 
workman  constantly  employed  in  one  only  requires  a  much 
larger  stock  than  when  he  is  occasionally  employed  is  every 
different  part.  "  When,"  says  Dr.  Smith,  "  we  compare  the 
state  of  a  nation  at  two  different  periods,  and  find  that  the 
annual  produce  of  its  land  and  labour  Is  evidently  greater  at 
the  latter  than  at  the  former,  that  its  lands  are  better  culti- 
vated, its  manufactures  more  numerous  and  more  flourish- 
ing, and  its  trade  more  extensive,  we  may  be  assured  that 
its  capital  must  have  increased  during  the  interval  between 
these  two  periods,  and  that  more  must  have  been  added  to 
it,  by  the  good  conduct  of  some,  than  had  been  taken  from 
it,  cither  by  the  private  misconduct  of  others,  or  by  the  pub- 
lic extravagance  of  government."  ( IVealth  of  Nations, 
152.)  It  is  therefore  apparent  that  no  country  can  ever  reach 
the  stationary  state,  so  long  as  she  continues  to  accumu- 
late additional  capital.  While  she  does  this  she  will  have 
an  increased  demand  for  labour,  and  will  be  uniformly  aug- 
menting the  mass  of  necessaries,  luxuries,  and  conveniences, 
and  consequently,  also,  the  numbers  of  her  people.  But 
with  every  diminution  of  the  rate  at  which  capital  has  been 
accumulating,  the  demand  for  labour  will  decline.  When 
no  additions  are  made  to  capital,  no  more  labour  will  be,  or, 
at  least,  can  be  advantageously  employed.  And  should  the 
natural  capital  diminish,  the  condition  of  the  great  body  of 
the  people  will  deteriorate;  the  wages  of  labour  will  be  re- 
duced ;  and  pauperism,  with  its  attendant  train  of  vice, 
misery,  and  crime,  will  spread  its  ravages  throughout  society. 
Objections  to  .Machinery  unfounded. — But,  admitting  what 
has  been  stated,  still  it  may  be,  and,  indeed,  has  been  con- 
tended, that  how  advantageous  soever  to  the  country,  ma- 
chines, on  their  first  introduction,  frequently  injure  the  la- 
bouring  class,  by  lessening  the  demand  for  labour  and  the 
rate  of  wages.  In  point  of  fact,  however,  it  admits  of  de- 
monstration that  every  introduction  of  improved  machinery 
is  sure  to  increase  the  aggregate  demand  for  labour;  at  the 
same  time  that,  by  reducing  the  cost  of  commodities,  it  en- 
ables the  labouring  class,  in  common  with  the  rest  of  so- 
ciety, to  obtain  a  greater  command  over  necessaries  and 
conveniences.  It  sometimes,  indeed,  happens  that  the  in 
troducti  ii  of  machinery  is  injurious  to  the  labourers  em- 
ployed in  a  particular  department ;  but  if  it  displace  them, 
it  cannot  tail  to  occasion  a  more  than  equivalent  demand 
for  their  services  in  other  departments.  The  introduction 
Of  moveable  t\  pes  and  printing  threw  out  of  employment  all 

those  who  had  been  previously  engaged  in  the  copying  of 

manuscripts;  but,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  certain  that  this 
invention,  by  cheapening  and  multiplying  books,  has  made 
at  least  from  a  hundred  to  live  hundred  persons  be  employ- 
ed In  the  book  trade  for  one  that  was  employed  in  it  when 
it  began  to  be  introduced,  or  that  would  have  been  employ- 
ed in  it  at  this  moment  had  it  not  been  discovered. 

Precisely  similar  results  follow  in  all  eases  In  which  any 
peculiar  description  of  hand  labour  is  superseded  by  ma- 
chine r\ .  At  this  ii  ion  lent  we  have  an  example  of  the  prin- 
ciple before  us  in  the  business  of  hand  loom  weaving,  which 
is  in  the  course  of  being  superseded  by  the  introduction  of 
power-looms,  the  hand-loom  weavers  being,  like  the  copy- 
ing clerks  in  the  15th  and  llith  centuries,  Involved  in  the 
greatest  difficulties.  But  these,  how  severe  soever  in  the 
meantime,  will  be  but  at  temporary  duration,  and  society 
will  be  perpetual  gainers  by  the  change.  Power-looms  are 
introduced  only  because  they  do  their  work  cheaper  than 

it  Can  be  done  by  the  hand.  But  the  wealth  of  those  w  ho 
buy  the  products  of  the   power-looms  is  not  affected  by  the 

change;  and  whatever  they  may  save  through  the  reduc 

lion  of  their  price  will  be  laid  out  on  other  things,  the  pro- 
duction  Of  Which  Will,  in  the  end,  fully  absorb  the  unem- 
ployed hand  loom  weavers,  at  the  same  tune  that  the  cheap- 
ened products  will  be  brought  within  the  command  of  new 
o*io 


classes  of  purchasers,  and  that  the  demand  for  them  will 
be  proportionally  increased  ;  and  this,  it  is  plain,  will  Open 
a  new  field  for  the  employment  of  many  additional  bands  in 
the  construction  of  machinery,  and  iii  the  various  subor- 
dinate departments  connected'  with  the  manufacture.  To 
suppose,  indeed,  that  the  introduction  of  improved  machinery 
should,  under  any  circumstances,  entail  a  real  injury  on  so- 
ciety, is  to  suppose  what  is  contradictory  and  absurd  ;  it  is 
equivalent  to  supposing  that  society  might  be  Injured  by  an 
increased  productiveness  of  soil,  and  an  increased  salubrity 
of  climate;  it  is  to  suppose  that  wealth  may  be  too  much 
increased,  and  that  the  necessaries  and  conveniences  of 
life  may  he  too  widely  diffused. 

Circumstances  most  favourable  for  the  Accumulation  of 
Capital. — Having  thus  endeavoured  to  point  out  the  vast 
importance  of  the  employment  of  capital,  and  the  manner  in 
which  it  co-operates  in  facilitating  production,  we  proceed 
to  explain  the  circumstances  most  favourable  for  its  accu- 
mulation. Now,  as  capital  is  nothing  but  the  accumulated 
produce  of  previous  industry,  it  is  evident  that  its  increase 
will  be  most  likely  to  be  most  rapid  where  industry  is  most 
productive;  or,  in  other  words,  where  the  profits  of  stock 
are  highest.  The  man  who  can  produce  a  bushel  of  wheat 
in  three  days  may  accumulate  twice  as  fast  as  the  man 
who,  either  from  a  deficiency  of  skill,  or  from  having  to  cul- 
tivate a  bad  soil,  is  forced  to  labour  six  days  to  produce  the 
same  quantity;  and  the  capitalist  who  can  invest  stock  so 
as  to  yield  him  a  profit  of  ten  per  cent.,  has  it  equally  in  his 
power  to  accumulate  twice  as  fast  as  he  who  can  only  ob- 
tain five  per  cent,  for  his  capital.  Experience,  too,  shows, 
that  while  high  profits  afford  greater  means  of  saving,  they 
act  as  incentives  to  accumulation.  Hence  it  is  found  that 
in  those  countries  most  rapidly  increasing  in  wealth  and 
population,  the  rate  of  profit  is  always  comparatively  high. 
Thus  in  the  United  States,  the  rate  of  profit  is  usually  twice 
as  high  as  in  Great  Britain  or  France;  and  it  is  to  this  that 
the  more  rapid  advancement  of  the  former  in  wealth  and 
population  is  entirely  to  be  ascribed.  We  do  not  mean  to 
say  that  high  profits  are  necessarily,  and  in  every  instance, 
accompanied  by  a  great  degree  of  prosperity.  Countries 
with  every  other  advantage  for  the  profitable  employment 
of  industry  and  stock  may  be  subjected  to  a  despotical  gov- 
ernment, which  does  not  respect  the  right  of  property ;  and 
the  want  of  adequate  security  thence  resulting  may  be  suf- 
ficient to  paralyse  all  the  exertions  of  those  who  are  other- 
wise plared  in  the  most  favourable  situation  for  the  accu- 
mulation of  capital.  But  we  have  no  hesitation  in  laying  it 
down  as  a  principle  which  holds  in  every  case,  and  from 
which  there  is  really  no  exception,  that  if  the  governments 
of  any  two  or  more  countries  he  about  equally  liberal,  and 
property  in  each  be  about  equally  well  secured,  their  com- 
parative prosperity  will  depend  on  the  rate  of  profit :  wher- 
ever profits  are  high,  there  is  a  great  demand  for  labour, 
and  the  society  rapidly  augments  both  in  population  and 
riches.  On  the  other  hand,  wherever  they  are  low,  the  de- 
mand for  labour  is  proportionally  reduced,  and  the  progress 
Ofsocietj  rendered  so  miiih  the  slower.  l!ut  however  high 
the  rale  of  profit,  had  men  always  lived  up  to  their  incomes, 
that  is,  had  they  always  Consumed  tin'  whole  produce  of 
their  industry  in  the  gratification  of  their  immediate  wur.ts 
and  desires,  it  is  obvious  there  could  have  been  no  such 
thing  as  capital  in  the  world.  High  profits  are  advanta- 
geous, because  they  afford  the  means  of  amassing  capital ; 
but  something  more  is  necessary  to  make  us  use  these  means, 
and  this  is  the  accumulating  principle.  The  desire  implant- 
ed in  the  breast  of  every  individual  of  rising  in  the  world, 
and  improving  his  condition,  has  prompted  mankind  to  save 
a  portion  of  their  income,  or  of  the  produce  of  their  industry, 

from  immediate  consumption,  and  to  Bel  it  apart  as  a  fund, 

or  capital,  to  assist  them  in  their  future  undertakings.  It  is 
to  this  principle,  therefore,  or  rather  to  its  effect,  parsimony, 
that  we  owe  our  capital ;  and  it  is  to  capital  that  we  owe 
almost  all  our  comforts  and  enjoyments.  Without  its  as- 
sistance and  co-operation,  labour  could  not  have  been  di- 
vided;  arts  could  not  have  made  any  progress ;  and  man- 
kind must  have  continued  to  shelter  themselves,  as  in  the 
earliest  ages,  in  caves  and  forests,  ;lnd  to  clothe  themselves 
with  the  skins  ol'  wild  animals.  All  the  accumulated 
riches  of  the  world,  the  cities  which  cover  its  surface,  the 
ships  which  traverse  its  seas,  and  the  innumerable  variety 
of  Improvements,  owe  their  origin  to  Ibis  principle — to  the 
desire  to  rise  in  the  world,  anil  consequently  to  save  and 
amass. 

It  has  been  wisely  ordered  that  this  principle  should  he 
as  powerful  as  il  is  advantageous.  "With  regard  to  pro- 
fusion." says  Smith,  "the  principle  which  prompts  to  ex- 
pen  e  is  the  passion  for  present  enjoyment;  which,  though 

sometimes  violent,  and   very  difficult  to  be  restrained  is,  in 

general,  onlj  m intary  and  occasional.    But  the  principle 

Which  prompts  lo  save  is  the  desire  of  bettering  our  condi- 
tion ;  a  desire  which,  though  generally  calm  and  dispas- 
sionate, comes  with  us  from  the  womb,  and  never  leaves  us 


POLITICAL  ECONOMY. 

till  we  go  into  the  grave.  In  the  whole  interval  which  sep- 
arates the  two  moments,  there  is  scarce,  perhaps,  a  single 
instance  in  which  any  man  is  so  perfectly  and  completely 
satisfied  with  his  situation  as  to  be  without  any  wish  of  al- 
teration or  improvement  of  any  kind.  An  augmentation  of 
fortune  is  the  means  by  which  the  greater  part  of  men  pro- 
pose and  wish  to  better  their  condition.  It  is  the  means  the 
most  vulgar  and  the  most  obvious  ;  and  the  most  likely  way 
of  augmenting  their  fortune  is  to  save  and  accumulate  some 
part  of  what  they  acquire,  either  regularly  and  annually,  or 
upon  some  extraordinary  occasion.  Though  the  principle 
of  expense,  therefore,  prevails  in  almost  all  men  upon  some 
occasions,  and  in  some  men  upon  almost  all  occasions,  yet 
in  the  greater  part  of  men,  taking  the  whole  course  of  their 
life  at  an  average,  the  principle  of  frugality  seems  not  only 
to  predominate,  but  to  predominate  very  greatly."  ( Wealth 
qf  Nations,  151.) 

It  is  this  principle  which  carries  society  forward.  The 
spirit  of  parsimony,  and  the  efforts  which  the  frugal  and  in- 
dustrious classes  make  to  improve  their  condition,  in  most 
instances  balance  not  only  the  profusion  of  individuals,  but 
also  the  more  wasteful  profusion  and  extravagance  of  gov- 
ernment. The  spirit  of  economy  has  been  happily  com- 
pared by  Smith  to  the  unknown  principle  of  animal  life,  the 
vis  ntcdicatrijc  natu.ro:,  which  frequently  restores  health 
and  vigour  to  the  constitution,  in  spite  both  of  disease,  and 
of  the  absurd  prescriptions  of  the  physician. 

But  however  great  the  capacity  of  the  principle  of  accu- 
mulation to  repair  the  waste  of  capital,  we  must  take  care 
not  to  fall  into  the  error  of  supposing,  as  very  many  have 
done,  that  its  operations  are  in  all  cases  promoted  by  a  large 
public  expenditure.  To  a  certain  extent  this  is  indeed  true. 
A  moderate  increase  of  taxation  has  the  same  effects  on  the 
habits  and  industry  of  a  nation  that  an  increase  of  his  family, 
or  of  his  necessary  and  unavoidable  expenses,  has  upon  a 
private  individual.  Man  is  not  influenced  solely  by  hope — 
he  is  also  powerfully  operated  upon  by  fear ;  taxation  brings 
the  latter  principle  into  the  field.  To  the  desire  of  rising  in 
the  world  inherent  in  the  breast  of  every  individual,  an  in- 
crease of  taxation  superadds  the  fear  of  being  cast  down  to  a 
lower  station — of  being  deprived  of  conveniences  and  grati- 
fications which  habit  has  rendered  almost  indispensable ; 
and  the  combined  influence  of  the  two  principles  produces 
efforts  that  could  not  be  produced  by  the  unassisted  agency 
of  either.  They  stimulate  individuals  to  endeavour,  by  in- 
creased efforts  of  industry  and  economy,  to  repair  the  breach 
taxation  has  made  in  their  fortunes ;  and  it  not  unfrequent- 
ly  happens  that  their  efforts  do  more  than  this,  and  that, 
consequently,  the  national  wealth  is  increased  through  the 
increase  of  taxation.  But  we  must  be  on  our  guard  against 
the  abuse  of  this  doctrine.  To  render  an  increase  of  taxa- 
tion a  cause  of  greater  exertion,  economy,  and  invention,  its 
increase  should  be  slow  and  gradual;  and  it  should  never 
be  carried  to  such  a  height  as  to  incapacitate  individuals 
from  meeting  the  sacrifices  it  imposes  on  them  by  such  a 
moderate  degree  of  increased  exertion  and  economy  as  it 
may  be  in  their  power  to  make,  without  requiring  any  very 
violent  change  in  their  habits.  The  increase  of  taxation 
must  not  be  such  as  to  render  it  impracticable  to  overcome 
its  influence,  or  to  induce  the  belief  that  it  is  impracticable. 
Difficulties  that  seem  to  be  surmountable  sharpen  the  in- 
ventive powers,  and  are  readily  grappled  with ;  but  an  ap- 
parently insurmountable  difficulty,  or  such  an  excessive 
weight  of  taxation  as  it  was  deemed  impossible  to  meet, 
would  not  stimulate,  but  destroy  exertion.  Instead  of  pro- 
ducing new  efforts  of  ingenuity  and  economy,  it  would  pro- 
duce only  despair.  Whenever  taxation  becomes  so  heavy 
that  the  produce  it  takes  from  individuals  can  no  longer  be 
replaced  by  fresh  efforts,  these  efforts  uniformly  cease  to  be 
made ;  the  population  becomes  dispirited,  industry  is  par- 
alysed, and  the  country  rapidly  declines. 

Ambition  to  rise  is  the  animating  principle  of  society. 
Instead  of  remaining  satisfied  with  the  condition  of  their 
fathers,  the  great  object  of  mankind  in  every  age  has  been 
to  rise  above  it — to  elevate  themselves  in  the  scale  of  wealth  ; 
to  continue  stationary,  or  to  retrograde,  is  not  natural  to  so- 
ciety. Man  from  youth  grows  to  manhood,  then  decays  and 
dies ;  but  such  is  not  the  destiny  of  nations.  The  arts,  sci- 
ences, and  capital  of  one  generation  become  the  patrimony 
of  that  which  succeeds  them,  and  in  their  hands  are  aug- 
mented and  rendered  more  efficient;  so  that,  if  not  counter- 
acted by  the  want  of  security,  or  by  other  adventitious 
causes,  the  principle  of  improvement  would  always  operate, 
and  would  secure  the  constant  advancement  of  nations  in 
wealth  and  population. 

Such  is  a  short  outline  of  the  circumstances  on  which  the 
production  of  wealth  depends.  It  is  difficult  in  separately 
considering  the  influence  of  the  combination  and  division  of 
employments,  and  of  the  introduction  and  improvement  of 
machinery,  to  avoid  ascribing  an  undue  degree  of  import- 
ance to  the  one  immediately  under  consideration.  But 
neither  is  entitled  to  any  pre-eminence  over  the  other 
81 


POLITICS. 

They  are  alike  important;  or  rather,  we  should  say,  they 
are  alike  indispensable  to  the  production  of  wealth.  It 
would,  indeed,  be  quite  as  profitable  to  inquire  whether  the 
heart  or  the  lungs  be  most  essential  to  animal  existence,  as 
it  is  to  inquire  whether  the  division  and  combination  of  em- 
ployments, or  the  command  of  capital,  including  tools  and 
machines,  be  most  essential  to  the  growth  of  opulence  and 
civilization.  Without  their  combined  and  powerful  aid, 
man  must  have  continued  sunk  in  primeval  barbarism  and 
ignorance.  Take  away  the  division  and  combination  of 
employments,  and  the  isolated  efforts  of  individuals  will  be 
wholly  unable  to  produce  any  considerable  result ;  and  take 
away  capital,  or  the  aid  derived  from  previous  savings,  and 
from  tools  and  machinery,  and  we  shall  immediately  sink 
to  the  level  of  the  Australian  savages. 

It  would  be  inconsistent  with  the  objects  and  limits  of  this 
work  to  enter  farther  into  details.  The  sketch  now  given 
comprises,  we  believe,  an  accurate  statement  of  the  great 
principles  that  lie  at  the  bottom  of  the  science,  and  by  the 
application  of  which  a  correct  judgment  may  be  formed  of 
most  practical  measures  affecting  the  production  of  wealth. 
But  those  who  wish  for  more  detailed  statements,  and  ex- 
positions of  difficulties,  must  resort  to  works  especially  ap- 
propriated to  such  investigations. 

The  second  great  division  of  Political  Economy  has  for 
its  object  to  inquire  into  the  laws  which  regulate  the  distri- 
bution of  wealth  among  the  various  ranks  and  orders  of  the 
community. 

II.  Distribution  of  Wealth. 

The  inhabitants  of  such  countries  as  have  made  any  con- 
siderable progress  in  civilization  may  be  divided  into  the 
three  great  classes  of  labourers,  landlords,  and  capitalists; 
that  is,  into  those  who  employ  themselves  for  hire  in  any 
undertaking,  those  to  whom  the  lands  belong,  and  those 
who  are  the  owners  of  capital.  An  individual  may  combine 
in  his  own  person  each  of  these  separate  characters ;  but 
they  are,  notwithstanding,  sufficiently  well  marked  to  ad- 
mit of  their  classification  and  separate  consideration  in  the 
case  of  all  individuals.  And  whatever  be  the  condition  of 
any  country  or  society,  whether  it  be  rude  or  refined,  rich 
or  poor,  every  person  belonging  to  it,  who  is  not  a  pauper,  or 
who  does  not  subsist  on  the  bounty  of  others,  may  be 
reckoned  in  one  or  other  of  these  classes.  They  divide 
among  them  all  the  wealth  of  the  community.  Public 
functionaries  of  all  sorts,  and  the  various  individuals  en- 
gaged in  what  are  called  liberal  or  learned  professions,  ex- 
change their  services  for  valuable  considerations.  The 
whole  subsistence  of  such  persons,  in  so  far  as  they  depend 
upon  their  employments,  is  derived  from  wages;  and  they 
are  as  evidently  labourers  as  if  they  handled  a  spade  or  a 
plough.  "  Every  man,"  says  Dr.  Paley,  "  has  his  work. 
The  kind  of  work  varies,  and  that  is  all  the  difference  there 
is.  A  great  deal  of  labour  exists  besides  that  of  the  hands : 
many  species  of  industry  besides  bodily  operation  ;  equally 
necessary,  requiring  equal  assiduity,  more  attention,  more 
anxiety.  It  is  not  true,  therefore,  that  men  of  elevated  sta- 
tions are  exempted  from  work ;  it  is  only  true  that  there  is 
assigned  to  them  work  of  a  different  kind :  whether  more 
easy  or  more  pleasant  may  be  questioned ;  but  certainly  not 
less  wanted,  nor  less  essential  to  the  common  good."  (As- 
size Sermon,  29th  July,  1795.)  Hence  it  is  that  the  inquiry 
into  the  distribution  of  wealth  among  the  different  orders  of 
the  society,  resolves  itself  into  an  investigation  of  the  laws 
which  regulate  wages,  rent,  and  profit,  and  of  the  best 
methods  of  providing  for  the  exigencies  of  the  poor,  or 
of  those  who  are  unable  to  provide  for  themselves.  We 
believe,  however,  that  it  will  be  the  preferable  plan  to 
refer  the  consideration  of  these  topics  to  the  heads  now 
mentioned,  which  will,  consequently,  comprise  all  that 
is  essential  to  a  general  view  of  this  department  of  the  sci- 
ence. 

Among  the  many  works  that  have  been  written  on  this 
science,  the  first  place  is  due  to  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  by 
Adam  Smith :  an  edition  of  this  work  was  published  in  1838, 
in  one  volume,  8vo.,  with  notes  and  illustrations  by  the  au- 
thor of  this  article.  See  also  Ricardo's  Principles  of  Politi- 
cal Economy  and  Taxation  ;  Torrens  on  the  Production  of 
Wealth ;  Senior's  art.  on  Political  Economy  in  the  Encyclo- 
pedia Metropolitana  ;  M'Cul  loch's  Principles  of  Political 
Economy  ;  Say,  Traite  d' Economie  Politique,  &c. 

PO'LITICS  (Gr.  iroXic,  a  city),  may  be  considered  either 
as  a  science  or  an  art,  according  to  the  manner  in  which  it 
is  treated.  Political  science  is  that  which  treats  of  the  theo- 
ry and  practice  of  government,  and  the  subjects  which  it 
comprises  have  been  arranged  under  the  following  heads : 
1.  Natural  law ;  2.  Abstract  politics,  i.  e.,  the  object  of  a 
state,  and  the  relations  between  it  and  individual  citizens ; 
3.  Political  economy;  4.  The  science  of  police,  or  municipal 
regulation  ;  5.  Practical  politics,  or  the  conduct  of  the  im- 
mediate public  affairs  of  a  state;  6.  History  of  politics;  7. 
Historv  of  the  European  system  of  states,  being  the  only  sys- 
30  961 


POLL. 

tern  in  which  the  modern  art  of  politics  has  received  a  prac- 
tical development;  8.  Statistics ;  '.'.  Positive  law  relating 
to  state  affaire,  commonly  called  constitutional  law  ;  10. 
Practical  law  of  nations;  11.  Diplomacy;  12.  The  technical 
science  of  politics,  an  acquaintance  with  the  forms  ami  style 
of  public  business  in  different  countries.  The  ancient  Greek 
writers  treated  the  science  of  polities  uniformly  with  refer- 
ence to  an  imaginary  perfect  state  ;  the  constitution  of  which 
each  propounded  according  to  his  own  speculative  views, 
and  then  proceeded  to  show  in  what  respects  existing  gov- 
ernments differed  from  this  ideal  standard,  the  cause  of 
these  variations,  &c. 

POLL.     In  Politics.     See  Parliament. 

POLLARD.  A  tree  with  the  head  cut  off  at  the  height 
of  10  or  IS  feet  from  the  ground,  for  the  purpose  of  inducing 
it  to  throw  out  branches  all  round  the  section  where  ampu- 
tation has  taken  place  ;  which  branches  are  cut  off  peri- 
odically, when  they  attain  the  length  of  8  or  10  feet,  to  be 
used  as  fuel,  fence  wood,  or  for  other  rustic  purposes.  Pol- 
lard trees  are  for  the  most  part  found  in  hedgerows,  which 
they  greatly  injure  by  the  dense  shade  produced  by  their 
branches  on  the  plants  below  ;  and  excepting  when  the 
round  formal  heads  of  the  pollards  enter  into  combination 
with  overgrown  hedge  plants,  or  with  large  trees  which 
have  not  been  pollarded,  they  disfigure  the  landscape,  from 
the  sajneness  of  their  appearance,  and  their  expression  of 
meanness,  as  compared  with  that  of  trees  undecapitated  and 
left  in  all  their  native  luxuriance.  In  the  time  of  Evelyn 
tlie  term  pollard  appears  to  have  been  chiefly  applied  to 
trees  which  were  lopped  or  deprived  of  their  side  branches, 
excepting  a  few  at  top,  leaving  the  tree  standing  like  a 
naked  pole.  Examples  of  this  kind  of  pollard  are  frequent 
among  the  hedgerow  e'ms  in  the  neighbourhood  of  London. 
The  decapitated  tree,  now  called  a  pollard,  was  in  Evelyn's 
time  called  a  dottard. 

POLLEN.  In  Botany,  the  pulverulent  substance  which 
fills  the  cells  of  the  anthers  of  a  plant,  consisting  of  a  mul- 
titude of  little  hollow  cases  filled  with  a  fluid  holding  very 
minute  molecular  matter  in  suspension.  The  latter  is 
eventually  discharged  by  the  grains  of  pollen  through  their 
hollow  tubes,  and  is  supposed  to  be  the  spermatic  fluid  of  a 
plant. 

POLLEN"  TUHEs5,  are  the  tubular  processes  emitted 
by  the  pollen  when  it  comes  in  contact  with  the  stigma  of 
a  plant,  and  which  are  supposed  to  conduct  the  impreg- 
nating matter  down  the  style  into  the  ovules  through  the 
foramen. 

POLL  TAX.  A  tax  still  levied  in  many  of  the  Conti- 
nental states,  and  formerly  also  in  England,  in  proportion 
to  the  rank  or  fortune  of  the  individual.  In  England  this 
species  of  tax  was  first  levied  in  1378;  and,  as  is  well 
known,  it  was  from  the  brutality  with  which  the  levying 
of  it  was  accompanied,  that  the  rebellion  of  Wat  Tyler 
took  its  rise  in  1381.  Various  poll  taxes  were  levied  at  dif- 
ferent periods  in  the  subsequent  history  of  England ;  but 
they  were  finally  abolished  in  the  reign  of  William  HI.  See 
Taxation. 

PO'LLUX.  In  Astronomy,  one  of  the  twins  forming  the 
constellation  Gemini.  (See  Castor.)  Pollux  is  also  the 
name  of  a  star  of  the  second  magnitude  in  the  same  con- 
stellation. 

PO'LYARCHY.  (Gr.  nvXvc,  many,  and  apxctv,  to  gov- 
ern.) A  word  sometimes  used  by  political  writers  in  a 
sense  opposed  to  monarchy :  the  government  of  many, 
whether  a  privileged  class  (aristocracy),  or  the  people  at 
large  (democracy). 

POLYCHRO'ITE.  (Gr.  raXvc,  and  xP»a,  colour.)  A 
term  applied  to  the  colouring  matter  of  saffron,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  variety  of  colours  which  it  exhibits  when 
acted  upon  by  various  re-agents. 

PCLYCHREST.  Or.  uoAus,  Md  \pnaroc,  useful.)  A 
term  applied  by  the  old  chemists  to  certain  preparations 
which  they  regarded  .'is  possessed  of  multifarious  virtues. 
Polychrc.<t  sail  was  the  sulphate  of  potash. 

POLYG  \l.  K'CEJE.    (Polygala,  one  of  the  genera.)    A 

natural  order  of  irregular  Polypetalous  1'. 
tonic,  astringent,  and  nephritic  properties.     The  species  an- 
also  sometimes  cultivated  for  the  sake  of  their  beautiful 

flowers;  they  usually  inhabit  temperate  Climates,  and  are 
J>articularly  common  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Khntnny 
root,  a  powerful  astringent,  belongs  to  Kramcria,  a  genus 
of  this  order. 

POLY'GAMOUS  (Gr.  iroXuc,  and  ya/jo>,  man 

-igintics  when  one  of  the  two  flowerets  of  which  B 

spikelet  consists  is  unisexual,  the  other  hermaphrodite,  as 
in  Spodiopogou,  &.C. :  in  other  plants  it  expresses  the  pres- 
ence in  the  same-  individual  of  male,  female,  and  hermaph- 
rodite flowers, 

POLY'GAMY.  [Gr.  xo>uc,  and  yapos,  marriage.)  The 
custom  of  hat  Ing  several  w  Ivei :  a  custom  apparently  com 

■DOB  In  all  nations  in  remote  antiquity,  and   common  now  to 
most  of  those  iu  which  the  tie  of  marriage  is  recognised, 
9U2 


POLYGASTRIA. 

nnd  to  which  Christianity  has  not  extended.  It  was  ad- 
mitted among  the  Patriarchs,  and  under  the  Mosaic  dispen- 
sation (Exod.,  xxi.,  10;  Deut.,  xxi.,  15) ;  and  Selden  (  Uxor 
Hebraica)  has  shown  its  prevalence  among  the  Jews,  with- 
out mentioning  the  extraordinary  instances  of  sovereigns, 
such  as  David  and  Solomon,  recounted  in  Scripture.  It  may 
be  questioned,  however,  whether  it  continued  at  the  period 
of  our  Saviour's  preaching.  Certainly  his  injunctions  in  re- 
gard to  marriage  seem  rather  to  be  founded  on  the  suppo- 
sition of  monogamy  ;  and  the  absence  of  positive  injunctions 
against  polygamy  has  been  relied  on  by  some  modern  dis- 
putants, with  very  little  reason,  as  an  authority  that  the  li- 
cence assumed  by  the  holy  men  of  the  Old  Testament  is 
not  revoked.  The  severer  manners,  of  Western  nations 
seems  to  have  repudiated  it.  It  was  no  part  of  Grecian 
manners:  the  notion  that  the  Athenian  laws  allowed  of 
two  wives  (founded  in  part  on  a  passage  in  Jlthentcus,  1. 
xiii.,  eh.  1),  seems  a  mistake;  but  it  appears  to  have  been 
allowed  to  a  citizen,  in  addition  to  his  lawful  wife,  herself 
a  citizen,  to  live  in  a  kind  of  legitimate  concubinage  with  a 
female  not  belonging  to  that  class.  Thus  (if  there  is  any 
truth  in  the  story  of  Socrates'  two  wives)  his  plague,  Xan- 
tippe.  was  the  wife  by  night,  while  the  softer  Myrto  was 
only  a  wife  by  courtesy.  In  republican  Rome  no  such  li- 
cence was  known  ;  but  under  the  emperors  the  practice  of 
polygamy  seems  to  have  crept  in,  though  repudiated  both 
by  the  moral  sense  and  civil  usages  of  the  people.  Valen- 
tinian  I.  legalized  it  by  an  edict.  But  the  Christian  ecclesi- 
astics of  the  empire  strenuously  opposed  it;  and  it  disap- 
peared altogether,  we  believe,  from  Christendom  with  the 
fall  of  the  Roman  empire.  In  the  East  it  has  continued  to 
prevail. 

A  few  bold  writers  in  modem  times  have  raised  the  de- 
fence of  polygamy,  grounded  on  the  supposed  absence  of  its 
express  prohibition.  Bernardus  Achinus,  a  well-known  and 
able,  but  unsteady  theologian  of  the  loth  century,  who  be- 
longed by  turns  to  the  Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant  com- 
munions, is  among  the  most  remarkable.  Lyserus  Petfgar 
tnia  Triumphratrif)  adopted  a  still  more  decided  view. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Madon,  in  his  Thelyphlhora  (a  work  which 
excited  an  extraordinary  and  very  unfavourable  sensation 
on  its  appearance),  limited  the  privilege  of  polygamy  to 
men;  and  asserted  that  the  injunction  of  St.  Paul,  that  a 
bishop  "should  he  the  husband  of  one  wife,"  plainly  dem- 
onstrated its  lawfulness  in  others;  meaning  one  wife  at  a 
time:  a  supposition  which  is  not  improbable,  although  it 
will  scarcely  support  his  conclusions.  But  a  greater  num- 
ber of  philosophical  writers  have  sought  for  a  justification 

of  the  practice  in  the  East.  Voltaire,  Montesquieu,  and 
others,  defend  it  on  the  ground  of  the  rapid  decay  of  6  male 
beauty  in  those  regions.  Montesquieu  also  relies  on  the 
strange  notion,  that  the  number  of  females  in  eastern  coun- 
tries is  much  greater  than  that  of  males:  which  the  trav- 
eller Bruce  asserts  on  the  authority  of  his  own  observa- 
tions. But  the  supposed  fact  on  which  these  reasonings 
rest  seems  to  be  altogether  imaginary.  At  all  events,  the 
practice  of  polygamy  in  the  East  is  confined  to  so  few  that 
it  can  have  little  direct  effect  on  manners,  and  none  en 
population.  Mr.  L'rquhart,  who  endeavours  to  place  Turk- 
ish usages  in  a  favourable  contrast  with  those  of  the  West, 
after  to  a  certain  extent  defending  polygamy,  says  rather 
inconsistently,  "While  the  law  of  nature  renders  this  prac- 
tice an  impossibility  as  regards  the  community,  it  is  here 
still  farther  restrained,  among  the  few  who  have  the  means 
of  indulging  in  it.  both  by  the  domestic  unquiet  that  results 
from  it,  and  by  the  public  censure  and  reprobation  of  which 
it  is  the  object."  [Spirit  of  the  Kast.)  He  adds,  that  in  his 
time  "a  case  of  polygamy  was  unknown  in  Candia,  among 
a  population  of  4u,iKii)  Mussulmen."  And  Niebubr  aaya, 
that  in  Arabia  the  conduct  of  those  who  take  more  than 
one  wife  "is  blamed  by  all  other  men."  But  it  seems 
scarcely  to  have  occurred  to  mo-;  r.  asoners  that  while  po- 
lygamy is  rare,  its  recognition  is  almost  always  accompa- 
nied with  the  toleration  of  concubinage  by  public  morality. 
The  man  who  is  not  rich  enough  to  take  two  wives,  or  who 
does  not  choose  to  encounter  the  household  disturbances 
which  follow  such  an  arrangement,  tiills  entirely  in  with 
the  public  opinion  "f  his  class,  in  taking  into  his  family  a 
recognised  concubine  to  dwell  with  his  lawful  spouse.  I  >ur 
Western  manners  divide  the  female  part  of  the  community 

into  two  classes :  ;i  gri  ater  number,  treated  with  the  high- 
est respect,  and  in  whom  perfect  purity  is  presumed;  a 
smaller  number,  abandoned  to  utter  degradation,  Where 
polygamy  am!  concubinage  are  recognised,  there  is  probably 
much  less  gross  prostitution  i  but  the  general  character  of 
-lands  on  a  lower  basis. 
POLYGA'STRIA.  (Gr.  iroXvs,  and  yiuTrp.  a  stomach.) 
The  name  of  tin-  most  minute  and  simple  class  of  [nfnso- 

ries,  anil   of  the  whole  animal    kingdom.      The   Polygastri- 

ans  are  characterized  by  Ehrenberg  as  animalcule-  devoid 
of  spina]  marrow,  and  of  vascular  and  respiratory  organs, 
with  many  stomachs,  of  an  indefinite  form,  and  androgy- 


POLYGLOT. 

aotts,  With  spurious  locomotive  organs  of  various  nature. 
They  are  all  endowed  with  an  organization  characteristic  of 
the  animal  kingdom;  and  manifest  such  modifications  of 
internal  structure  and  external  form  that  they  can  he  di- 
vided into  twenty-two  families,  of  which  eleven  are  naked 
and  eleven  clothed  in  a  siliceous  case.  Forty-eight  species, 
referable  to  twenty-one  distinct  genera,  are  provided  with 
eyes  or  coloured  eye-specks ;  and,  among  these,  nervous 
ganglia  have  been  detected  beneath  the  eye  in  Amblyophis 
and  Euglcna.  They  occur  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  and 
differ  according  to  diversity  of  climate,  region,  kind  of  wa- 
ter, &c.  They  are  invisible  to  the  naked  eye ;  but,  by  their 
immense  numbers,  can  impart  a  distinct  colour  to  the  water 
in  which  they  swarm :  they  are  one  of  the  causes  of  the 
phosphorescence  of  the  sea.  They  enjoy  the  most  exten- 
sive powers  of  reproduction  ;  and  through  their  faculty  of 
spontaneous  Ji-ssien,  the  individual  becomes  constant,  and, 
as  it  were,  perpetually  renews  its  youth.  By  virtue  of  the 
imperishability  of  their  external  cases  the  Folygastria  have 
formed  vast  masses  of  rock,  as  at  Bilin  in  Bohemia,  where 
a  single  stratum,  extending  over  a  wide  area,  is  no  less 
than  14  feet  thick  ;  and  this  consists  exclusively  of  the 
cases  of  Bacillaria,  Gaillonella,  &c,  united  together  with- 
out any  visible  cement.  They  sometimes  so  choke  up  wa- 
ter by  their  vast  numbers  as  to  cause  the  death  of  fishes 
contained  therein.  They  appear  never  to  sleep :  they  are 
very  tenacious  of  life,  and  fall  into  a  kind  of  torpidity  by 
excess  of  dryness,  heat,  or  cold.  The  more  minute  species 
are  probably  often  suspended  in  the  air.  They  act  accord- 
ing to  external  circumstances,  as  the  higher  organized  ani- 
mals do.  They  are  injuriously  affected  or  killed  by  strong 
poisons;  but  can  sometimes  support  great  degrees  of  warmth 
and  cold,  and  can  live  with  or  without  light;  their  motions 
are  slow.  Ehrenberg  calculates  that  the  Monas  punctum, 
if  it  were  to  continue  its  ordinary  rate  of  motion  in  a  straight 
line,  would  traverse  one  mile  of  space  in  five  years;  while 
the  Navicula  grandis  would  require  forty  years  to  travel 
over  the  same  distance.  But  their  movements  manifest  the 
phenomena  of  consciousness  and  choice,  and  their  muscu- 
lar power  is  indicated  by  the  strong  maxillary  apparatus 
with  which  many  are  provided. 

POLYGLOT.  (Gr.  ttoXvs,  and  yXurra,  language.)  A 
word  generally  applied  to  such  Bibles  as  have  been  printed 
with  the  text  represented  in  various  languages.  The  most 
ancient  instance  of  this  parallel  representation  of  various 
texts  is  the  work  of  Origen,  known  by  the  name  of  the 
Hezapla,  in  imitation  of  which  several  similar  editions  of 
the  Scriptures  have  been  published  since  the  invention  of 
printing;  of  which  the  most  important  are,  1.  The  Complu- 
tensian,  or  edition  of  Cardinal  Ximenes,  printed  at  Alcala 
in  Spain,  1515,  in  four  languages,  comprehended  in  six  vols., 
folio.  2.  The  Plantin,  Antwerp,  1572.  3.  The  Polyglot, 
of  De  Sacy,  Paris,  1645.  4.  The  English,  or  Walton's' Poly- 
glot, London,  1657.  These  contain  among  them  the  He- 
brew, Chaldee,  Syriac,  and  Samaritan  texts,  with  Latin 
versions  of  each ;  the  Septuagint,  the  Greek  of  the  New 
Testament,  the  Italic  and  the  Vulgate ;  with  some  of  the 
Hebrew  and  Chaldee  paraphrases,  and  copious  indexes  and 
grammatical  illustrations.  5.  Hatter's  Polyglot,  Nurem- 
berg, 1599,  contains  twelve  languages ;  the  Hebrew,  Syri- 
ac, Greek,  Latin,  German,  Bohemian,  Italian,  Spanish, 
French,  English,  Danish,  and  Polish. 

PO'LYGON  (Gr.  iroXvs,  and  yuivta,  angle),  according  to 
Euclid,  is  any  plane  rectilinear  figure  having  more  than  four 
sides  or  four  angles;  but,  in  treating  of  polygons  generally, 
geometers  also  include  the  triangle  and  the  quadrangle. 
If  the  sides  of  the  polygon  are  all  equal,  it  is  said  to  be  a 
regular  polygon;  otherwise  it  is  irregular.  Every  regular 
polygon  can  be  circumscribed  by  a  circle,  or  have  a  circle 
inscribed  in  it;  but  of  irregular  polygons,  excepting  trian- 
gles, there  is  only  one  case  in  which  a  circle  will  pass 
through  all  their  angular  points  ;  namely,  when  the  poly- 
gon has  an  equal  number  of  sides,  one  half  of  which  are 
equal  to  one  another,  and  the  other  half  also  equal  to  one 
another,  but  different  from  the  former,  and  the  equal  and 
unequal  sides  are  placed  alternately.  It  is  obvious  that 
all  the  angles  of  such  a  figure  are  equal. 

Euclid  has  shown  in  the  Elements  how  to  inscribe  a  tri- 
angle, a  square,  and  a  pentagon  in  a  given  circle ;  and  as 
any  arc  of  a  circle  may  be  bisected  geometricallv,  and  the 
halves  again  bisected  continually,  it  follows  that  any  regu- 
lar polygon,  of  which  the  number  of  sides  is  2"  (n  being 
any  number  whatever),  or  3  x  2n,  or  5  X  2»,  may  be  in- 
scribed in  a  circle  by  elementary  geometry.  Until  a  re- 
cent discovery  respecting  the  division  of  angles  was  made 
by  Gauss,  it  was  supposed  that  if  the  number  of  sides  of 
a  polygon  was  any  other  prime  number  than  3  or  5,  the 
figure  could  not  be  inscribed  in  a  circle  ;  but  this  geometer, 
in  his  Disquisitiones  Arithmetics,  has  demonstated  that 
every  polygon,  the  number  of  whose  sides  is  a  prime  num- 
ber of  the  form  2n-f  1,  may  be  geometrically  inscribed  in  a 
circle.    When  n  —  1,  this  form  gives  3,  or  the  triangle ; 


POLYGONAL  NUMBERS. 

when  n  —  2,  it  gives  5,  or  the  pentagon ;  when  n  —  3,  it 
gives  9,  which  is  not  a  prime ;  when  n  =  4,  it  gives  17, 
whence  a  seve.nteen-sided  figure  may  be  inscribed  in  a  cir- 
cle geometrically.  The  next  prime  is  found  by  making 
n  =  8,  when  the  form  gives  257. 

In  order  to  investigate  the  general  properties  of  polygons, 
it  is  necessary  to  divide  them  into  two  classes,  convex  and 
concave;  the  first  comprehending  those  of  which  all  the 
interior  angles  are  less   than  1  2 

two  right  angles  (fig.  1),  and 
the  second  those  which  have 
one  or  more  re-entering  angles, 
as  C  (fig,  2).  If  we  call  those 
the  interior  angles  of  the  poly-  E- 
gon  which  belong  to  the  inte- 
rior of  the  figure  (whether  less  or  greater  than  two  right 
angles),  and  those  exterior  angles  which  are  obtained  by 
subtracting  each  interior  angle  from  four  right  angles,  the 
two  follow  ing  theorems  will  be  true  of  the  polygons  of 
both  classes : 

1.  The  sum  of  the  interior  angles  of  a  polygon  is  equal 
to  as  many  times  two  right  angles  as  there  are  sides  minus 
two.  Thus,  let  S  denote  the  sum  of  the  interior  angles,  R 
a  right  angle,  and  n  the  number  of  sides  of  the  polygon ; 
thenS  =  2(»  —  2)  R. 

2.  The  sum  of  the  exterior  angles  of  a  polygon  is  equal 
to  as  many  times  two  right  angles  as  there  are  sides  plus 
two.  Let  S'  be  the  sum  of  the  exterior  angles,  as  above 
defined  ;  then  S'  =  2  (n  +  2)  R. 

Any  polygon  may  be  decomposed  into  triangles  by  draw- 
ing straight  lines  from  one  of  its  angular  points  to  each  of 
the  opposite  angles,  and  the  area  of  the  polygon  is  the  sum 
of  the  areas  of  all  the  component  triangles.  But  a  beauti- 
ful theorem  was  found  by  L'Huilier  of  Geneva,  by  means 
of  which,  when  the  sides  and  angles  of  a  polygon  are 
known,  the  area  is  found  without  decomposing  it  into  tri- 
angles, which,  when  the  number  of  sides  is  considerable, 
leads  to  laborious  calculations.  The  theorem  is  this:  The 
double  of  the  surface  of  any  rectilinear  figure  is  equal  to  the 
sum  of  the  rectangles  of  its  sides,  taken  two  and  two,  ex- 
cepting one,  multiplied  by  the  sine  of  the  sum  of  the  sup- 
plements of  the  interior  angles  contained  between  each 
pair  of  sides.  Thus,  in  the  preceding  figure  (fig.  1),  let  A, 
B,  C,  D,  E  be  the  supplements  of  the  ulterior  angles  at 
those  points ;  then 

2area  =  ABxBCsin.  B 

+  ABXCDsin.  (B  +  C) 
-f-ABxDEsin.  (B  +  C  +  D) 
+  BCXCD  sin.  C 
-f  B  C  X  D  E  sin.  (C  +  D) 
-f  C  D  X  D  E  sin.  D. 
This  formula  also  gives  the  area  of  the  polygons  of  the 
second  class  (fig.  2) ;  only  the  supplement  of  the  re-enter- 
ing angle  C  must  be  taken  with  the  negative  sign.     (See 
L'  HuMer's  Po/ygonometrie,  Geneve,  1789.) 

Polygon,  in  Fortification,  is  either  exterior  or  interior. 
The  exterior  polygon  is  the  figure  formed  by  lines  connect- 
ing the  angles  of  the  bastions  with  one  another  all  round 
the  work ;  the  interior  polygon  by  lines  connecting  the 
centres  of  the  bastions  all  round. 

POLYGONA'CE^E.  (Polygonum,  one  of  the  genera.) 
A  natural  order  of  herbaceous,  rarely  shrubby,  apetalous 
Exogens,  inhabiting  the  whole  world  ;  distinguished  from 
most  other  plants  by  the  cohesion  of  the  scarious  stipules 
into  a  sheath,  technically  called  an  ochrea  or  boot,  and  by 
their  triangular  fruit.  Sorrel  on  the  one  hand,  and  rhu- 
barb on  the  other,  represent  the  general  qualities  of  this 
order.  While  the  leaves  and  young  shoots  are  acid  and 
agreeable,  the  roots  are  universally  nauseous  and  purga- 
tive. Rumex  acetosa  contains  pure  oxalic  acid,  and  many 
species  of  Polygonum  are  used  in  dyeing.  The  Rheum  or 
rhubarb,  and  Rumex  or  dock,  are  well-known  plants  of 
this  order;  which  is  also  sometimes  remarkably  astrin- 
gent, as  in  the  case  of  the  Coccoloba  uvifera,  or  sea-side 
grape  of  the  West  Indies,  an  extract  of  whose  bark  forms 
a  kind  of  kino. 

POLYGONAL  NUMBERS,  in  Arithmetic,  are  the  suc- 
cessive sums  of  a  series  of  numbers  in  arithmetical  pro- 
gression. When  the  common  difference  of  the  series  in 
arithmetical  progression  is  1,  then  the  sums  of  the  terms 
give  the  triangular  numbers;  when  the  common  differ- 
ence of  the  terms  of  the  arithmetical  series  is  2,  the  sums 
of  the  terms  are  the  square  numbers  ;  when  the  difference 
is  3,  the  sums  are  the  pentagonal  numbers;  and  so  on. 
Thus: 

(  Common  difference  =  1 ;  1,  2,    3,    4,    5,    6,  &c. 

)  Triangular  numbers  1,  3,    6,  10,  15.  21,  &c. 

(  Common  difference  =  2;  1,  3,    5,    7,    9,  11,  &x. 

)  Square  numbers  1,  4,    9,  16,  25,  36,  &c. 

(  Common  difference  =  3;  1,  4,    7,  10,  13,  16,  &c. 

t  Pentagonal  numbers  1,  5,  12,  22,  35,  51.  &c. 

963 


POLYGON  OF  FORCES. 

and  so  on.    These  numbers  are  called,  in  general,  polygo- 

m  n.i/,  fmm  possessing  this  property,  that  the 

.*      (  .    Bame  nnjrjber  of  points  may  be  arraflged  in  the 

/.   .    .  •'     form  of  that  polygonal  figure  to  which  it  be- 

•  •         •  r''  longs.    For  example,  the  pentagonal  numbers 

\  '.j*  /  »    .r>.  1-.  22,  :(5.  51,  fcc,  may  be  severally  arranged 

...  -i,     In  a  pentagonal  form.    Thus,  in  the  annexed 

'  m    figure.  .")  points  form  the  pentagon  a  be  de;  \2 

the  pentagon  afgk  i.  with  the  former  enclosed;  22  the 

pentagon  a  *  /  m  «,  with  the  two  former  enclosed. 

A  very  general  and  remarkable  property  of  polygonal 
numbers  was  discovered  by  Format,  though  it  has  yet 
been  demonstrated  only  in  respect  of  the  triangular  and 
square  numbers.  It  is  this:  Every  number  whatever,  is 
the  sum  of  one,  two,  or  three  triangular  numbers  ;  the  sum 
of  one,  two,  three,  or  four  squares ;  the  sum  of  one,  two, 
three,  four,  or  five  pentagonal  numbers ;   and  so  on.     See 

FlGURATI    Nf.MBERS. 

POLYGON  OP  FORCES.  In  Mechanics,  the  name 
given  to  a  theorem,  the  discovery  of  which  is  attributed  to 
Leibnitz.  The  theorem  is  this  :  If  any  number  of  forces 
act  upon  a  point,  and  a  polygon  be  taken,  one  of  the  sides 
of  which  is  formed  by  the  line  representing  one  of  the 
forces,  and  the  following  sides  in  succession  by  lines  rep- 
resenting the  other  forces  in  magnitude,  and  parallel  to 
their  directions,  then  the  line  which  completes  the  poly- 
gon will  represent  the  resultant  of  all  the  forces. 

PO'LYGONOMETRY.  The  doctrine  of  polygons,  as 
trigonometry  is  the  doctrine  of  triangles.  The  properties 
of  polygons  are  usually  investigated  by  resolving  them  into 
triangles  ;  their  areas,  however,  may  be  found,  when  so 
many  of  their  sides  and  angles  as  suffice  to  determine  them 
are  known.     See  Polygon. 

PO'LYGRAM.  (Gr.  -oAvc,  many,  and  ypa/i/ta,  a  line.) 
A  figure  consisting  of  many  lines. 

PO'LYGRAPH.  (Gr.  noAus.  and  ypa'ato,  /  irnfc)  In 
Bibliography,  a  name  invented  to  designate  a  collection  of 
different  works  either  by  one  or  several  authors. 

POLY'HALITE.  (Gr.  ireAvj,  and  &\c,  salt.)  A  mineral 
found  at  Ischel,  in  Upper  Austria,  composed  of  muriate  of 
soda,  and  of  the  sulphates  of  magnesia,  lime,  and  potash. 

POLYHE'DRON.  (Gr.  rroAus,  and  iSpa,  seat.)  In  Ge- 
ometry, a  solid  body  bounded  by  many  fares  or  planes. 
When  all  the  faces  are  regular  polygons*  similar  and  equal 
to  each  other,  the  solid  becomes  a  regular  body.  It  may 
be  demonstrated  that  only  five  regular  solids  Can  exist; 
namely  the  tetraedron,  the  Hexaedron,  the  octaedron,  the 
dodecaedron,  and  the  icosaedron.  See  the  terms  ;  see  also 
Platonic  Bodies. 

Polyhedron.     In  Optics.     See  Polyscope. 

POLYHYMNIA,  the  muse  who  presided  over  lyric 
poetry: 

Nee  Polyhymnia 
Lestram  refugil  tendere  barbital).  Bam.  Od.,  i.,  I. 

PO'LYMI'GNTTE.    (Gr.  iroAes,  and  piyvopu,  I  mix.)    A 

mineral  which  occurs  in  small  prismatic  crystals  of  a 
metallic  lustre;  its  constituents  are  titanic  acid,  zirconia, 
lime,  yttria,  oxides  of  iron,  cerium  and  manganese,  mag- 
nesia, potassa,  silica,  and  oxide  of  tin.  It  is  found  in  Nor- 
wav. 

POLYNOMIAL,  or  MULTINOMIAL,  in  Algebra,  de- 
notes a  quantity  having  many  terms.  Such,  for  example, 
is  the  expression  a  +  26  +  3c  +  nri,  &.c. 

POLYO'PTRoN.  'Gr.  jtoAbs,  and  o-nrpov,  a  looking- 
glass.  In  Optics,  a  glass  through  which  objects  appear 
multiplied,  but  diminished.  It  consists  of  a  lens  one  side 
of  which  is  plane,  but  in  the  other  are  ground  several 
spherical  concavities.  Bach  of  these  concavities  becomes 
a  plano-concave  lens,  through  which  an  object  appears 
diminished;  and  whin  there  area  numher  of  them  to- 
gether, the  object  will  be  seen  through  each,  and  thus 
multiplied. 

POXYPBB,  Polypi.  (Gr.  jtoAuc,  and  xovs,  a  foot.)  The 
name  of  an  extensive  group  of  radiated  animals  in  the  sys- 
tem of  Cuvter,  associated  together  by  the  common  charac- 
ter of  a  fleshy  body,  of  a  conical  or  cylindrical  form,  com- 
monly fixed  by  one  extremity,  and  with  the  month  situated 
at  the  Opposite  end  and  surrounded  by  more  nr  less  nu- 
merous arms  or  tentacles.  Under  this  external  form  is 
masked  various  grades  of  organization,  of  which  three  at 
least  have  been  well  defined  by  recent  and  minute  anatom- 
ical researches. 

The  lowest  grade  of  organization  is  manifested  hy  the 
fresh  water   polype   (Ifijdra),  and   the   compound    marine 
corallines  [Sertviaria,   Tubulari<r,  ire.).    The  bo 
consists  of  a  granular  parenchyma,  having  a  contractile 

power  In  every  part,  not  requiring  a  distinct  allocation  and 
arrangement  of  muscular  fibres.  When  it  is  defended,  aa 
in  the  Corallines,  by  a  polypary,  it  can  be  retracted  Into  its 
cell  without  being  folded  upon  Itself.  The  oral  tentacles 
are  not  provided  with  vihratilo  cilia;  the  stomach  Is  not 
distinct  from  the  parietes  of  the  body.  The  polypes  thus 
964 


POLYTHEISM. 

organized  have  been  termed  Dimorphea  bv  Ehrenberg; 
and  .Yudibrarhiati,  or  llydriforni  Polypes,  by  Dr.  Farre. 
In  the  second  group  of  Polypes  the  body  is  distinctly  mem- 
branous and  fibrous,  and  the  stomal  b  parate 
pouch  suspended  in  its  centre.  The  stomach  has  but  one 
external  orifice,  which  serves  for  mouth  and  vent:  hut 
posteriorly  it  communicates  with  the  main  cavity  of  the 
body.  This  is  divided  into  several  i  its  by  Ver- 
tical partitions  passing  from  the  walls  Of  the  I  avitv  to  those 
of  the  stomach;  and  with  the  chambers  thus  formed  the 
tubular  arms  surrounding  the  mouth  communicate:  these 
arms  are  not  ciliated  externally.  This  group  of  Polj  pes  has 
been  termed  ArUhozoa  by  Ehrenberg:  it  includes  (he  Sea- 
anemonies,  Madrepores,  Coral-polypes,  &c.  In  the  third 
and  highest  group  of  Polypes  the  parietes  of  the  stomach 
are  not  only  distinct  from  those  of  the  body,  but  are  con- 
tinued into  an  intestinal  tube,  which  is  reflected  forward, 
and  terminates  in  a  distinct  anal  aperture  near  the  mouth: 
the  tentacula  are  provided  with  vibratile  cilia.  The  Po- 
lypes of  this  division  are  aggregated  or  compound,  and  pro- 
vided with  flexible  or  calcareous  cells :  they  have  been 
termed  Bryozoa  by  Ehrenberg,  and  Ci/iobmcltiata  by  Dr. 
Farre.  All  the  groups  of  Polypes  propagate  by  gemmation, 
and  likewise  by  ova,  which  are  first  developed  into  ciliated 
and  locomotive  gemmules.  In  the  Ciliobrachiata  the  sexes 
are  distinct. 

POLYPHEMUS.     See  Cyclops. 

POLYPUS.  In  Surgery,  a  fleshy  tumour,  which  is  oc- 
casionally formed  in  the  nostrils  :  the  same  term  is  also  ap- 
plied to  a  fleshy  tumour  of  the  uterus. 

POLYSA'RCIA.  (Gr.  ttoAvs,  and  capl,  flesh.)  Corpu- 
lency. 

PO'LYSCOPE.  (Gr.  roAvc,  and  oKorrtu,  /  view.)  In 
Optics,  a  lens  plane  on  one  side  and  convex  on  the  other; 
but  of  which  the  convex  side  is  formed  of  several  plane 
surfaces,  or  facettes,  so  that  an  object  seen  through  it  ap- 
pears multiplied.  The  reason  of  the  multiplication  of  the 
image  is  this  :  When  the  opposite  sides  of  a  thick  piece  of 
glass  are  not  parallel,  an  object  seen  through  it  appears 
out  of  its  true  place  on  account  of  the  refraction ;  conse- 
quently, if  a  lens  is  ground  so  that  portions  of  its  convex 
surface  are  differently  inclined  to  its  plane  side,  the  object 
will  appear  in  different  places  at  the  same  time.  The  po- 
lyscope  may  be  used  to  collect  the  images  of  several  dis- 
persed objects  into  a  single  point,  or  to  colli  cl  parts  of  the 
same  object  represented  in  different  places,  s,,  :,s  to  form  a 
single  image.  The  instrument  is  a  mere  toy,  and  only 
used  for  the  purpose  of  amusement. 

POLYSPA'STON.  A  term  used  by  some  of  the  old 
writers  on  mechanics  to  denote  an  assemblage  of  pulleys 
for  raising  heavy  weights. 

PO'LYSTYLE.  (Gr.  tto\v?.  and  otvAoc,  a  column.)  In 
Architecture,  an  edifice  in  which  there  are  a  great  number 
of  columns. 

POLYTE'CHNIC  SCHOOL.  (Gr.  iroAur,  and  tiXvti, 
art.)  This  establishment  was  founded  in  IT'.M,  at  Paris,  by 
a  decree  of  the  National  Convention.  Its  object  is  to  in- 
struct youth  in  the  mathematical,  physical,  and  chemical 
sciences.  Napoleon,  who  introduced  various  modifications 
into  its  constitution,  gave  a  military  turn  to  its  discipline. 
It  prepares  pupils  for  the  artillery  service,  and  civil  and 
military  engineering.  The  numher  is  limited  to  300. 
Youths  are  admitted  between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and 
twenty,  and  the  course  of  study  lasts  two  years.  In  the 
lists  of  its  professors  have  been  included  the  illustrious 
names  of  Lagrange,  La  Place,  Mbnge,  BerthoIIet,  &c. ; 
and  from  the  ranks  of  its  pupils  have  proceeded,  almost 
without  exception,  all  the  mathematicians  and  philoso- 
phers of  France  who  have  attained  to  eminence  during  the 
last  half  century. 

POLYTHALAM A'CEANS.  Pohjthalamnrea.  (Gr.  tto- 
Auc,  many,  and  ^uAofioe,  a  chamber.)  A  name  applied  hy 
De  P.lainville  to  an  order  of  Cepha bipods,  including  those 
which  have  many-chambered  shells.  Like  all  divisions 
founded  merely  on  external  or  dermal  characters,  it  con- 
tains animals  of  dillirent  degrees  of  organization,  and 
which  cannot  be  grouped  together  in  the  same  order  in  a 
natural  system.    Set  Tctrabranchiatis. 

POLYTHEISM.  Gr.  m\vc,  and  e»r,  Ood.)  The  doc- 
trine of  a  plurality  of  Gods.  Babianism  'or  planet  wor- 
ship), Zendlsm, demon  worship,  hero  worship,  and  animal 
worship,  together  with  the  fiticism  of  some  .Negro  tribes, 
may  all  be  considered  as  varieties  of  Polytheism.  That 
the  first  deviation  from  pure  Theism,  such  as  we  behove 

10  have  been  at  the  outset  revealed  to  man.  was  into  the 
worship  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  (the  hot  of  heaven  ; 

Hehr.  Tsaha,  a  hast:  whence  Tsabianiem,  or  Babianism, 
which  see),  is  sufficiently  probable.  The  origin  of  the 
worship  of  the  good  and  evil  principle  as  distinct  deities, 

which   characterized  the  religion  of  some  oriental  nations, 

la  not  so  easily  explicable.    Some  have  attributed  it  to  the 

recognition  of  the  opposites  to  those  phenomena,  which 


POLYZONAL  LENS. 

had  been  deified  in  the  Sabian  notions ;  e.  g.,  darkness  as 
contrary  to  light,  night  to  day,  &c. ;  some  to  traditionary 
belief  in  the  existence  of  evil  or  reprobate  spirits;  some  to 
a  mere  philosophical  theory  adapted  by  priests  to  popular 
comprehension.  Daemon  worship,  or  the  worship  of  inter- 
mediate intelligences,  appropriated  to  external  objects,  and 
subordinate  to  the  highest  God,  was  a  natural  effect  of  Sa- 
bianism.  The  worship  of  heroes,  or  deified  mortals,  arose 
again  from  it  in  a  later  stage  of  society ;  and  the  most 
probable  theory  of  the  greatest  systems  of  Polytheism 
which  have  been  recognised  by  divisions  of  the  human 
race,  viz.,  the  Egyptian,  Greek,  Indian,  and  Scandinavian, 
seems  to  be  this,  that  hero  worship,  the  most  congenial  of 
all  to  the  vulgar  imagination,  superseded  former  modes  of 
belief;  that  the  gods  were  actually  heroes,  who  had  grad- 
ually absorbed  to  themselves  the  honours  formerly  paid  to 
daemons  and  intelligences,  and  to  the  host  of  heaven,  so 
that  their  attributes,  in  later  mythology,  present  a  vague 
mixture  of  the  characters  of  all.  If,  however,  this  be  the 
case,  it  remains  to  be  explained  how,  after  the  gods  of 
Olympus  had  acquired  their  station  and  attributes  in  the 
Grecian  religion,  a  secondary  race  of  heroes,  the  ijptoes, 
properly  so  called  (whose  worship  is  quite  of  recent  ori- 
gin, and  certainly  posterior  to  Homer),  should  have  found  a 
place  in  the  same  mythology.  The  strange  system  of  ani- 
mal worship  seems  peculiar  to  ancient  Egypt,  and  has  been 
derived  by  some  from  the  natural  circumstances  of  the 
country ;  the  scarcity  of  domesticated  animals  having  given 
them  an  importance^  which  the  priests  made  use  of,  and 
connected  with  superstition.  As  to  the  theory  and  general 
history  of  Polytheism,  the  following  among  many  other 
books  may  be  mentioned :  Stillingfleet's  Origines  Sacra; : 
Karnes's  Sketches  of  the  History  of  Man ;  Court  de  Gebelin 
Monde  Primitif;  Bryant's  Mythology;  the  Works  of  Her- 
der; IVarburton's  Divine  Legation;  Cudworth's  Intellec- 
tual System;  Vossius,  De  Origine  Idololatria  ;  Mem.  de 
i'Acad.  des  Inscr.,  vol.  xxxviii. 
POLYZO'NAL  LENS.  (Gr.  iro\vg,  and  Zpw,  zone.) 
I  The  name  given  by  Sir  David  Brewster 

to  a  burning  lens  constructed  of  several 
zones  or  rings,  each  of  which  may  be 
again  composed  of  separate  segments. 
In  the  annexed  figure,  A  B  C  D  is  a  cen- 
tral lens  formed  of  one  piece  of  glass ; 
E  F  G  II  is  a  middle  ring,  or  zone,  com- 
1  posed  of  four  separate  pieces  ;  I  K  L  M 

is  another  ring  composed  of  eight  segments,  and  surround- 
ing the  former.  The  number  of  zones,  and  of  parts  in  each, 
may  be  as  great  or  as  small  as  we  please. 

This  method  of  forming  lenses  is  attended  with  several 
important  advantages.  The  difficulty  of  procuring  flint 
glass  of  sufficient  purity  to  render  it  fit  for  the  construction 
of  a  solid  lens  of  large  dimensions  is  removed,  and  the  ex- 
pense greatly  diminished.  If  impurity  exist  in  any  of  the 
spherical  segments,  or  if  an  accident  happen  to  any  of 
them,  it  can  easily  be  replaced.  Another  advantage  attend- 
ing the  construction  is,  that  it  enables  us  to  correct,  very 
nearly,  the  spherical  aberration,  by  making  the  foci  of  each 
zone  coincide.  Lenses  of  this  kind  have  been  made  in 
France  of  crown  glass,  and  have  been  introduced  into  the 
principal  French  light-houses.  One  was  constructed,  un- 
der the  directions  of  Sir  David  Brewster,  for  the  Commis- 
sioners of  the  northern  light-houses.  It  was  made  of  pure 
flint  glass,  was  three  feet  in  diameter,  and  consisted  of  nu- 
merous zones  and  segments.  (See  Brewster's  Treatise  on 
New  Philosophical  Instruments ;  and  "  Optics"  in  JLard- 
ner's  Cabinet  Ci/clopadia.)  » 

POLY'ZOONS.  Polyzoa.  (Gr.  ttoXuj,  and  fyov,  ani- 
mal.) A  class  of  compound  animals  resembling  in  their 
organs  of  support  the  Sertularians,  but  in  their  internal  or- 
ganization approaching  nearly  to  the  compound  Ascidians. 
POMA'CE^E.  (Lat.  pomum,  an  apple.)  That  division 
of  the  natural  order  Rosacea  to  which  the  apple,  pear, 
quince,  and  medlar  belong.  It  differs  from  Rosacea:  proper 
in  having  an  inferior  ovary. 

POMEGRANATE.  The  fruit  of  the  Punica  granatum. 
The  pulp  is  acid,  and  the  rind  highly  astringent.  The  dried 
flowers,  which  are  also  astringent,  were  formerly  used  in 
medicine,  under  the  name  of  Balaustine  flowers. 

POMCE'RIUM.  (Lat.  post,  behind,  and  mums,  a  wall.) 
In  Roman  Antiquities,  a  space  of  ground,  both  within  and 
without  the  walls  of  a  city,  kept  free  from  buildings  {Livy, 
xiii.),  and  consecrated  by  a  religious  ceremony  derived  from 
the  Etruscans.  (See  a  memoir  of  D'Anville  on  the  extent 
of  ancient  Rome,  Mem.  de  I'Acad.  des  Inscr.,  vol.  xxi.,  p. 
206.)  When  it  was  found  necessary  to  extend  the  limits  of 
any  city,  a  new  pomveium  was  formed,  and  the  former  one 
desecrated. 

POMO'NA.  The  Italian  goddess  of  fruit-trees.  Her 
worship  was  assiduously  cultivated  at  Rome,  where  there 
was  a  flamen  pomonalis,  who  sacrificed  to  her  every  year 
for  the  preservation  of  the  fruit.    The  story  of  Pomona  and 


POOR,  THE. 

Vertumnus  is  well  known.  (See  Ovid.  Met.,  xiv.,  623.) 
The  name  is  derived  from  poma,  fruit. 

PO'MPHOLIX.  (Gr.  ro/^o?,  a  bubble.)  An  alchemical 
term  for  oxide  of  zinc. 

Po'mpholix.  In  Medicine,  a  vesicular  eruption  upon  the 
skin. 

PO'MUM  ADA'MI.  Adam's  apple.  The  protuberance 
in  front  of  the  neck  formed  by  the  thyroid  gland.  It  has 
been  fancifully  supposed  to  represent  the  forbidden  apple 
eaten  by  Adam. 

POND.  An  artificial  excavation  in  the  soil,  or  a  natural 
hollow  dammed  up  for  the  purpose  of  detaining  water,  gen- 
erally made  in  fields  in  order  to  supply  drink  to  pasturing 
animals.  The  essential  difference  between  a  pond  and  a 
lake  is,  that  the  former  is  formed  by  art,  the  water  being 
often  ponded,  or  impounded,  by  a  bank  of  earth  thrown 
across  a  natural  gutter,  hollow,  or  bourne  containing  a 
stream.  In  Gloucestershire,  Kent,  and  other  counties 
where  the  soil  does  not  abound  in  springs,  the  formation  of 
ponds  in  the  fields  is  as  essential  to  the  business  of  farming 
as  the  building  of  farm  offices.  A  pond  in  a  garden,  when 
of  a  round  form,  is  termed  a  basin ;  and  when  of  some 
length,  with  parallel  sides,  a  canal. 

PO'NE.  (Lat.)  In  Law,  a  writ  which  lies  to  remove 
actions  of  debt,  detinue,  writs  of  right,  nuisances,  &c,  out 
of  the  county  or  other  inferior  court  into  the  Common  Pleas, 
and  sometimes  into  the  Queen's  Bench. 

PONS  VARO'LII.  The  bridge  of  Varolius.  An  arched 
eminence  of  the  medulla  oblongata,  formed  by  the  two  exte- 
rior crura  of  the  cerebellum  becoming  flattened,  and  passing 
over  the  crura  of  the  cerebrum. 

PO'NTEE.  In  Glass  Manufacture,  an  iron  instrument 
by  which  the  hot  glass  is  taken  out  of  the  glass-pot. 

PO'NTIA.  (Gr.  Iloinia,  one  of  the  names  of  the  goddess 
of  love.)  A  genus  of  butterflies,  of  which  the  common  white 
or  cabbage  butterfly  (Pontia  brassicie)  is  a  well-known  na- 
tive species. 

PO'NTIFEX.  (Lat.)  The  highest  Roman  sacerdotal 
title.  Numa  instituted  four  pontifices,  chosen  from  the  pa- 
tricians; to  which  were  added,  long  subsequently,  four  ple- 
beians. Sylla  increased  their  number  to  fifteen.  The  col- 
lege was  divided  into  two  classes,  distinguished  by  the  epi- 
thets majores  and  minores ;  but  it  is  not  certain  whether 
this  difference  of  title  marked  out  the  patricians  from  the 
plebeians,  or  the  more  ancient  members  from  the  seven 
added  by  Sylla.  The  pontifices  judged  in  all  causes  rela- 
ting to  sacred  things,  and  inspected  the  conduct  of  the  infe- 
rior priests.  They  were  a  self-elected  body  down  to  the 
latter  ages  of  the  republic,  when  the  power  of  election  was 
sometimes  held  by  the  people.  It  was  finally  vested  in  the 
emperors,  who  added  as  many  to  their  numbers  as  they 
thought  fit.  The  chief  of  the  pontifices  was  called  the  pon- 
tifex  maximus,  and  was  always  created  by  the  people,  being 
generally  chosen  from  those  who  had  borne  the  first  offices 
in  the  state.  His  station  was  one  of  great  dignity  and  pow- 
er, as  he  not  only  had  supreme  authority  in  religious  mat- 
ters, but,  in  consequence  of  the  close  connexion  between 
the  civil  government  and  religion  of  Rome,  he  had  also 
considerable  political  influence.  The  title  of  pontifex  max- 
imus being  for  life,  Augustus  never  assumed  it  till  the  death 
of  Lepidus,  after  which  it  was  always  held  by  himself  and 
his  successors  to  the  time  of  Theodosius.  The  insignia 
consisted  of  the  toga  pratexta,  and  a  conical  woollen  cap 
with  a  tassel  (galerus).  (See  the  Mem.  de  V Ac.  des  Inscr., 
vols,  xii.,  xv.,  xxiv.,  xxxvii.)  From  this  word  the  well- 
known  title  of  Pontiff  in  modern  Europe  is  derived.  "  Su- 
preme Pontiff"  is  a  common  style  of  the  pope. 

PONTOO'N.  A  Military  term,  denoting  a  kind  of  flat- 
bottomed  boat,  generally  lined  within  and  without  with  tin. 
Our  pontoons  are  about  21  feet  long,  five  feet  broad,  and  two 
feet  deep.  They  are  carried  along  with  an  army  for  the 
purpose  of  making  temporary  bridges,  called  pontoon  bridges, 
by  which  an  army  is  pursued  over  rivers. 

POOP.  A  partial  deck  extending  close  aft,  above  the 
complete  deck  of  the  vessel.  A  sea  coming  over  the  stern 
is  said  to  poop  the  vessel. 

POOR,  THE.  (Lat.  pauperes.)  In  Political  Economy, 
the  term  employed  to  designate  those  persons,  or  that  por- 
tion of  the  population  of  any  county,  who,  being  destitute 
of  wealth,  are,  through  age,  bodily  or  mental  infirmity,  want 
of  employment,  or  other  cause,  unable  to  support  them- 
selves, and  have  to  depend  for  support  on  the  contributions 
of  others. 

The  first  notice  of  the  poor  by  the  legislature  of  England 
appears  to  have  occurred  in  1376  ;  and  there  does  not  seem 
to  be  any  good  grounds  for  thinking  that  any  portion  of  the 
people  were  known  by  this  designation  previously  to  the 
14th  century.  The  truth  is,  how  paradoxical  soever  the 
statement  may  at  first  appear,  that  the  poor,  as  a  class,  owe 
their  existence  to  the  abolition  of  villenage  and  the  progress 
of  civilization.  Previously  to  this  abolition,  the  great  bulk 
of  the  people  were  in  a  state  of  predial  slavery,  or  in  a  con- 

965 


POOR,  THE. 


dition  closely  resembling  that  of  the  Spartan  helots.  But 
in  such  B  slate  of  society  the  class  of  persons  now  known 
.-is  tin-  destitute  poor  could  not  exist.  It  is  essential  to  the 
idea  of  slavery,  whether  predial  or  absolute,  that  the  mas- 
ters should  provide  their  bondsmen  or  slaves  with  at  least 
the  necessaries  of  life  ;  and,  in  the  event  of  their  neglecting 
to  do  so.  the  law,  if  it  interfere,  merely  directs  that  they 
shall  fulfil  this  natural  obligation,  or  that  otherwise  they 
shall  sill  or  assign  their  slaves  to  those  by  whom  it  will  be 
fulfilled.  Bui  alter  the  establishment  of  corporate  bodies 
in  the  towns  and  cities,  and  the  growth  of  manufactures 
and  commerce  had  given  birth  to  a  class  of  free  labourers, 
the  poor  began  to  make  their  appearance,  and  to  attract  the 
notice  of  the  legislature.  Free  labourers  owe  no  compul- 
sory sefvice  f>  any  one.  They  are  their  own  masters,  and 
may  employ  themselves  in  any  way  not  injurious  to  others 
they  think  tit.  But  it  is  plain  that  such  persons  cannot,  in 
the  event  of  their  becoming  infirm  or  destitute,  claim  to  be 
supported  by  any  particular  individual  or  class  of  individ- 
uals. They  are  not  bound  to  serve  any  one  when  in  health, 
and,  consequently,  no  one  can  be  bound  to  provide  for  them 
when  in  want.  1'nder  such  circumstances,  they  have  no- 
thing to  look  to  hut  the  compassionate  chanty  of  individ- 
uals or  the  public.  But  as  the  conduct  of  Individuals  must, 
in  such  matters,  be  left  to  be  determined  by  their  own  sense 
of  what  is  right  and  proper,  we  shall  now,  without  alluding 
farther  to  them,  briefly  inquire  what,  in  this  respect,  is  the 
duty  of  the  public,  or  whether,  and  to  what  extent,  it  should 
interfere  to  relieve  the  destitute. 

The  poor  and  destitute  may  be  divided  into  two  great 
classes :  the  first  consisting  of  maimed  and  impotent  per- 
sons, or  of  those  whom  natural  or  accidental  infirmities  dis- 
able from  working:  and  the  second,  of  those  who,  though 
able  and  willing  to  work,  are  unable  to  find  employment,  or 
do  not  receive  wages  adequate  for  their  support  and  that  of 
their  families.  There  is  a  very  wide  difference  in  the  situ- 
ation of  these  classes ;  and  the  same  means  of  relief  that 
may  be  advantageously  atrorded  to  the  one  may  not,  in  va- 
rious respects,  he  suitable  for  the  other. 

I.  With  respect,  however,  to  the  first  class,  or  the  impo- 
tent poor,  there  does  not  seem  to  be  much  room  for  doubt 
as  to  the  policy,  as  well  as  humanity,  of  giving  them  a  legal 
claim  to  relief.  It  has  sometimes,  indeed,  been  contended, 
that,  by  affording  relief  to  those  who  are  unable,  from  age 
or  the  gradual  decay  of  their  bodily  powers,  to  provide  for 
themselves,  the  motives  that  induce  individuals,  while  in 
health,  to  make  a  provision  against  future  contingences  arc 
weakened  ;  sn  that.  In  attempting  to  protect  a  few  from  the 
effects  of  their  own  improvidence,  an  injury  is  done  to  the 
whole  community.  This  statement  is,  probably,  true  to  a 
certain  extent ;  though  it  be  difficult  to  imagine  that  any 
considerable  portion  of  a  moderately  intelligent  population 
Will  ever  be  tempted  to  relax  in  their  efforts  to  save  and 
accumulate,  when  they  have  the  means  of  doing  so,  from  a 
knowledge  that  the  workhouse  will  receive  them  in  old 
age  !  But  whatever  may  have  been  the  faults  of  individ- 
uals, it  would  be  abhorrent  to  all  the  feelings  of  humanity 
to  allow  them  to  suffer  the  extremity  of  want.  An  indi- 
vidual  is  unfortunate  perhaps,  or  he  may  not  have  been  as 
thrifty  or  as  prudent  as  he  ought ;  hut  is  he,  therefore,  to  he 
allowed  to  die  in  the  street-s  1  It  is  proper,  certainly,  to  do 
nothing  that  can  really  weaken  the  spirit  of  industry;  but 
if,  in  order  to  strengthen  it,  all  relief  were  refused  to  the 
maimed  and  impotent  poor,  the  habits  and  feelings  of  the 
people  would  be  degraded  and  brutalized  by  familiarity 
With  the  most  abject  wretchedness  ;  at  the  same  time,  that, 
by  driving  the  victims  of  poverty  to  despair,  a  foundation 
would  be  laid  for  the  most  dreadful  crimes,  and  such  a 
(-hock  given  to  the  security  of  property  as  would  very  much 
overbalance  whatever  additional  spur  the  refusal  "of  sup- 
port might  give  to  Lndustrj  and  economy.  It  does,  there- 
rots,  appear  sufficiently  clear  that  this  class  of  poor  should 
besup|Kirted  in  one  way  or  Other;  and  that,  when  the  par- 
ties are  either  Without  relations  ur  friends,  or  when  these 
do  not  come  voluntarily  forward  to  discharge  this  indispen- 
sable duty,  the  necessary  funds  should  he  provided  by  a  tax 
or  rate,  made  equally  to  affect  all  classes  :  for,  If  they  be  not 
sn  raised,  the  poor  will  either  not  be  provided  for  at  all,  or 
the  burden  of  providing  for  them  will  fall  wholly  on  the 
benevolent,  who  should  not,  in  such  a  case,  be  called  upon 
to  contribute  more  than  their  fair  share. 

II.  The  only  question,  then,  about  which  there  seems  to 
he  any  real  ground  for  doubt  or  difference  of  opinion  is, 
whether  any  Legal  claim  tor  rebel'  should  be  given  to  the 
bodied  poor,  or  to  those  who  are  able  and  ready  to 
work,  but  Who  cannot  find  employment, Of  cannot  earn  wa- 
ges adequate  for  their  support  ?  Now  this,  it  must  be  con- 
fessed, is  rather  a  difficult  question,  and  one  which  does 
not,  perhaps,  admit  of  any  very  satisfactory  solution.  On 
the  whole,  however,  it  appears,  for  the  reasons  we  shall 
now  shortly  state,  that  it  should,  under  certain  restrictions, 
DC  decided  in  the  affirmative. 
Uliti 


In  the  first  place,  it  may  be  observed,  that,  owing  to  cfttm- 
ges  Of  fashion,  to  the  miscalculation  of  producers  and  mer- 
chants, and  to  political  events,  those  engaged  In  manufac- 
turing employments  are  necessarily  exposed  to  many  vicis- 
situdes ;  and  when  their  number  is  so  very  great  as  in  this 
country,  it  is  quite  essential  that  a  resource  should  lie  pro- 
vided fol  their  support  in  periods  Of  adversity.  In  the  event 
of  no  such  provision  being  made,  and  of  the  distress  being 
at  the  same  time  extensive  and  severe,  the  public  tranquil- 
lity would  most  likely  be  seriously  endangered.  Lord  lia- 
con  has  observed,  that  "of  all  rebellious,  those  of  the  belly 
are  the  worst."  It  would  be  visionary,  indeed,  to  imagine 
that  those  who  have  nothing  should  quietly  submit  to  suffer 
the  extremity  of  want  without  attacking  the  property  of 
others;  and  hence,  if  we  would  preserve  unimpaired  the 
peace,  and,  consequently,  the  prosperity,  of  the  country,  we 
must  beware  of  allowing  any  considerable  portion  of  the 
population  to  fill  into  a  state  of  destitution.  But  without 
the  establishment  of  a  compulsory  provision  for  the  support 
of  the  unemployed  poor,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  they  could 
avoid  occasionally  falling  into  this  state.  Through  its  in- 
strumentality, however,  they  are  sustained  in  periods  of  ad- 
versity without  being  driven  by  necessity  to  ( unit  crimes. 

It  must,  indeed,  be  admitted  that  a  provision  of  this  sort  is 
very  liable  to  abuse.  Means  have,  however,  been  devised 
for  checking  this  tendency  :  and.  whatever  imperfections 
may,  after  all,  attach  to  it,  it  has  not  yet  been  shown  how 
security  and  good  order  could  be  maintained  in  periods 
when  either  employment  or  food  was  deficient,  were  it 
abolished. 

In  the  second  place,  supposing  it  were  possible  to  main- 
tain tranquillity  without  making  a  legal  provision  for  the 
support  of  the  unemployed  poor,  the  privations  to  which, 
under  such  circumstances,  they  would  be  forced  to  submit, 
would,  in  all  probability,  lower  their  notions  as  to  what  was 
necessary  for  their  comfortable  subsistence,  and  exert  a 
most  pernicious  influence  over  their  conduct  and  character. 
It  is,  perhaps,  unnecessary  to  enter  into  any  statements  to 
show  the  importance  of  endeavouring  to  guard  against  any 
such  obviously  mischievous  results.  But  Mr.  Barton  has 
made  some  observations  on  this  point,  which  are  so  striking 
and  conclusive  that  we  cannot  forbear  laying  them  before 
the  reader.  "  It  is  to  be  remembered,"  says  he.  "  that  even 
those  who  most  strongly  assert  the  impolicy  and  injurious 
tendency  of  our  poor  laws  admit  that  causes  wholly  uncon- 
nected with  these  laws  do,  at  times,  depress  the  condition 
of  the  labourer.  Poor  families  are  often  thrown  into  a  state 
of  severe  necessity  by  long-continued  illness  or  unavoidable 
misfortunes,  from  which  it  would  he  impossible  for  them  to 
return  to  the  enjoyment  of  decent  competence  if  not  sup- 
ported by  extraneous  means.  It  is  well  known,  too,  that  a 
general  rise  in  the  price  of  commodities  is  seldom  immedi- 
ately followed  by  a  rise  in  the  wages  of  country  labour.  In 
the  mean  time,  great  suffering  must  be  endured  by  the  whole 
class  of  peasantry,  if  no  legislative  provision  existed  for  their 
relief;  and  when  such  a  rise  of  prices  goes  on  gradually  in- 
creasing for  a  series  of  years,  as  sometimes  happens,  the 
sufferings  resulting  from  it  must  be  proportionally  prolonged. 
The  question  at  issue  is  simply  this,  whether  that  suffering 
be  calculated  to  cherish  habits  of  sober  and  self-denying 
prudence,  or  to  generate  a  spirit  of  careless  desperation  ? 

"During  these  periods  of  extraordinary  privation  the  la- 
bourer, if  not  effectually  relieved,  would  imperceptibly  lose 
that  taste  for  order,  decency,  and  cleanliness  which  had 
been  gradually  formed  and  accumulated  in  better  times  by 
the  insensible  operation  of  habit  and  example;  and  no 
strength  of  argument,  no  force  of  authority,  could  again  in- 
stil into  the  minds  of  a  new  generation,  growing  up  under 
more  prosperous  circumstances,  the  sentiments  and  tastes 
thus  blighted  and  destroyed  by  the  cold  breath  of  penury. 
Every  return  of  temporary  distress  would,  therefore,  vitiate 
the  feelings  and  lower  the  sensibilities  of  the  labouring 
classes.  The  little  progress  of  improvement  made  in  hap- 
pier times  would  be  lost  and  forgotten.  If  we  ward  off  a 
few  of  the  bitterest  blasts  of  calamity,  the  sacred  flame  may 
be  kept  alive  till  the  tempest  be  past ;  but  If  once  extin- 
guished, how  hard  is  tin-  task  of  rekindling  it  in  minds  long 
inured  to  degradation  and  wretchedness  I"  (Inquiry  into 
tht  Depreciation  of  .Agricultural  Labour,  p.  32.) 

In  the  third  place,  it  will,  we  suppose,  be  admitted  that, 
when  a  considerable  number  of  destitute  poor  persons  are 
thrown  out  of  employment,  a  provision  Of  some  sort  or  other 

should  be  made  lor  their  support    Suppose  now  that  it  is 

made,  not  by  a  compulsory  rate,  but  by  the  charitable  con- 
tributions of  the  benevolent;  it  is  contended  that  such  a 
mode  of  relieving  their  distress  tends  to  nourish  the  better 
feelings  of  the  poor,  and  that  many  would  rather  choose  to 
undergo  the  greatest  privations  than  submit  to  solicit  a 
share  of  this  charitable  contribution,  who  yet  would  make 
DO  scruple  of  claiming  it  had  the  state  given   them  a  legal 

right  to  look  to  it  far  Bupport  But,  admitting  the  truth  of 
this  statement,  it  has  been  already  seen  that  it  is  not  for 


POOR,  THE. 

the  advantage  of  society  that  the  poor  should  be  forced  to 
submit  to  such  extraordinary  privations.  It  is,  besides, 
abundantly  certain  that  many  would  not  be  influenced  by 
the  motives  alluded  to ;  and  in  the  event  of  the  distress 
being  either  very  severe,  or  long-continued,  even  those 
most  disinclined  to  become  a  burden  on  others  might  be 
forced  to  beg  a  pittance.  And  it  is  pretty  obvious,  notwith- 
standing all  that  has  been  said  to  the  contrary,  that  the 
necessary  result  of  such  a  state  of  things  would  be  far 
more  prejudicial  to  the  character  of  the  poor— that  it  would 
do  more  to  prostrate  their  pride  and  independence,  and  to 
sink  them  in  their  own  estimation,  than  the  acceptance  of 
relief  from  a  poor's  rate.  It  is  idle,  indeed,  to  talk  about 
the  independence  of  a  man  who  is  receiving  charity  ;  but 
an  individual  supported  by  a  poor's  rate  cannot  fairly  be 
garded  in  such  a  point  of  view.  He  is  merely  sharing  in  a 
public  provision  made  by  the  state ;  and,  as  all  property 
has  been  acquired  with  the  knowledge  that  it  was  respon- 
sible to  this  claim  on  the  part  of  the  poor,  it  cannot  justly 
be  considered  as  entailing  any  burden  on  any  particular 
individual.  It  may,  therefore,  one  should  think,  be  fairly 
presumed  that  the  pride  and  independence  of  tbe  poor  will 
be  more  likely  to  be  supported  under  a  system  of  this  sort 
than  if  they  were  obliged  to  depend,  in  periods  of  distress, 
on  the  bounty  of  others.  Wherever  the  poor  have  not  ei- 
ther dejure  or  de  facto  a  claim  for  support,  they  must  una- 
voidably, in  such  periods,  be  allowed  to  beg.  But  of  all 
the  scourges  that  afflict  and  disgrace  humanity,  there  is, 
perhaps,  none  more  destructive  than  the  prevalence  of 
mendicity.  A  common  beggar  is  the  most  degraded  of  be- 
ings ;  and  the  experience  of  Ireland,  down  to  a  very  late 
date,  as  well  as  of  France,  Italy,  Spain,  and,  in  short,  of 
every  country  where  there  is  no  established  provision  for 
the  support  of  the  poor,  shows  that  wherever  they  are  com- 
pelled to  depend  on  so  precarious  a  resource  as  charity,  we 
look  in  vain  for  that  manliness  and  independence  of  char- 
acter among  the  labouring  classes  which  distinguish  those 
of  England,  and  find  in  their  stead  all  those  degrading  vices 
which  a  sense  of  insecurity,  and  the  prevalence  of  beggary, 
are  sure  to  produce. 

The  people  and  legislature  of  England  have  acquiesced 
in  the  justice  and  expediency  of  the  principles  now  laid 
down.  A  compulsory  provision  for  the  support  of  the  poor 
has,  in  fact,  existed  in  England  for  a  lengthened  period.  It 
grew  out  of  the  impotent  attempts  made  in  the  reigns  of 
Henry  VIII.,  Edward  VI.,  and  the  earlier  part  of  that  of 
Elizabeth,  to  suppress  mendicancy,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
to  provide  for  the  poor  by  voluntary  contributions.  At 
length  the  earlier  statutes  on  the  subject  were  consolida- 
ted, and  the  principle  of  compulsory  provision  carried  to 
the  fullest  extent  by  the  famous  statute  of  the  43  Eliz.,  c.2, 
which  enacted  that  all  maimed  and  impotent  persons  should 
be  provided  for  at  the  expense  of  their  respective  parishes, 
and  that  employment  should  be  found  for  the  unemployed 
able-bodied  poor.  From  this  remote  period,  the  law  of 
England  has  regarded  every  parish  in  the  light  of  a  family, 
the  richer  members  of  which  were  bound  to  provide  for 
those  who,  through  inability,  misfortune,  or  want  of  work, 
could  not  provide  for  themselves.  This,  also,  is  the  princi- 
ple imbodied  in  the  law  of  Scotland  with  respect  to  the 
poor;  and,  provided  the  means  for  carrying  it  into  effect  be 
so  contrived  that  indigence  and  suffering  may  be  relieved, 
without  at  the  same  time  encouraging  indolence  and  vice, 
the  system  would  seem  to  be  quite  unexceptionable.  Prac- 
tically, however,  this  has  been  found  to  be  a  problem  of 
exceedingly  difficult  solution ;  and  this  difficulty  has  made 
not  a  few  conclude  that,  however  administered,  all  sys- 
tematic attempts  to  relieve  the  poor  are  necessarily,  in  the 
end,  productive  of  increased  want  and  misery. 

The  poor,  no  doubt,  are  naturally  anxious  that  the  com- 
pulsory provision  for  their  support  should  be  raised  to  the 
highest  limit ;  and  that  their  necessities  should  not  only  be 
relieved,  but  that  they  should  be  able,  without  molestation, 
to  eat  the  bread  of  idleness.  But  wherever  the  assessment 
and  administration  of  the  provision  for  their  support  is  left 
to  the  care  of  those  on  whom  the  burden  of  its  payment 
really  falls,  this  tendency  to  abuse  is  not  long  in  being  ef- 
fectually provided  against;  and  the  sustaining  and  benefi- 
cial influence  of  the  system  alone  remains.  The  complica- 
ted code  of  laws  respecting  settlements,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  workhouses,  owes  its  origin  to  this  principle— to 
the  wish  of  the  legislature  to  relieve  the  poor,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  to  prevent  the  abuse  of  the  rates  ;  and  there  is 
unquestionable  evidence  to  show  that,  from  the  establish- 
ment of  the  system  in  1003  down  to  about  1780,  the  devices 
in  question  were  effectual  for  their  object ;  and  that  while 
poverty  was  relieved,  no  encouragement  was  given  to  sloth, 
or  to  early  and  improvident  unions.  But  soon  after  this 
period  various  innovations  were  made  on  the  old  law, 
which  broke  down  most  of  the  securities  against  the  abuse 
of  the  rates  ;  and  in  1795  the  pernicious  principle  was 
adopted  of  mixing  together  wages  and  poor  rates,  and  of 


POPULATION. 

eking  out  what  was  supposed  to  be  a  deficiency  in  the  for- 
mer by  payments  from  the  latter!  In  consequence  of  this 
subversion  of  the  principle  on  which  the  poor  rates  had 
been  previously  administered,  they  began  rapidly  to  in- 
crease, and  threatened  to  swallow  up  the  whole,  or,  at 
least,  a  very  large  part  of  the  surplus  produce  of  the  land. 
Various  devices  were  resorted  to,  in  the  view  of  checking 
the  evil ;  but,  unaccountable  as  it  may  appear,  not  one  of 
them  had  for  its  object  to  revert  to  those  practices  and 
mode  of  administering  the  law  which  the  experience  of 
more  than  250  years  had  shown  were  fully  effectual  for  the 
prevention  of  abuse.  At  length  the  Poor  Law  Amendment 
Act  was  passed  in  1834,  which  introduced  a  totally  new 
system  for  the  administration  of  the  poor  laws.  Under 
this  act  the  country  has  been  divided  into  unions  of  more 
or  fewer  parishes,  according  to  circumstances,  the  adminis- 
tration of  all  matters  relating  to  the  poor  in  these  unions 
being  intrusted  to  a  board  of  guardians  elected  by  the  rate- 
payers. But  these  guardians  are  themselves  controlled  by, 
and,  in  fact,  are  merely  the  executive  officers  of,  a  central 
board  of  three  commissioners  established  in  London,  who 
have  power  to  issue  rules  and  regulations  as  to  the  man- 
agement of  the  poor,  which  all  guardians,  and  other  infe- 
rior officers,  are  bound  to  obey.  The  central  board  is  as- 
sisted by  deputy  commissioners,  who  attend  at  meetings  of 
guardians,  explain  the  law,  and  adjudicate  or  report  upon 
extraordinary  cases,  and  see  that  the  rules  laid  down  by 
the  central  board  are  complied  with.  The  whole  that  can 
be  said  in  favour  of  this  law  is,  that  the  poor  rates  have 
been  materially  reduced  since  its  introduction  ;  but  we  in- 
cline to  think  that  the  reduction  would  have  been  about  as 
great  had  the  system  for  the  regulation  of  the  compulsory 
provision  that  prevailed  in  the  reign  of  George  II.  been  re- 
vived, with  a  few  alterations ;  while  many  pernicious  con- 
sequences, inseparable  from  the  existing  system,  would 
have  been  avoided.  (See  Wealth  of  Nations,  M'Culloch's 
ed.,  note  xxii.) 

We  subjoin  a  table  of  the  sums  expended  for  the  relief 
and  maintenance  of  the  poor  of  England  and  Wales  at  dif- 
ferent periods  since  1748,  with  an  estimate  of  the  population 
at  these  periods : 


Years. 

Sums  expended  on 
Poor. 

Population. 

Aucrasze. 

£ 

1743,  1749,  1750 

689,971 

6,000,000 

1775,  1776 

1,530.800 

7,00u,000 

1783,  1784,  1785 

2,00+,239 

8,000,000 

1801 

4,017,871 

8,872,000 

1813 

6,6.6,100 

10,1611,000 

1821 

6,9'.9,249 

11,978,000 

1831 

6,798,888 

13,897,000 

1835 

5,526,418 

14,7^0,000 

1839 

4.406,907 

15,577,000 

POPE.  A  title  derived  from  an  oriental  word  signifying 
father,  and  in  earlier  times  applied  indiscriminately  to  all 
bishops,  and  in  the  East  even  to  ministers ;  but  for  many 
centuries  the  term  has  been  confined  to  the  bishop  of  Rome, 
who  is  also  designated  by  Roman  Catholics  as  the  Holy 
Father.     See  Papacy. 

POPERY.     See  Papacy. 

POPLI'TEAL.  (Lat.  poples,  the  ham.)  Relating  to  the 
posterior  part  of  the  knee-joint  or  ham. 

POPULATION.  (Lat.  populus,  people.)  The  inhab- 
itants or  people  of  any  particular  territory  or  district. 

POPULATION,  LAW  OR  PRINCIPLE  OF,  in  Politi- 
cal Economy,  means  the  law  according  to  which  the  popu- 
lation of  any  country  would  increase,  independently  of 
immigration  or  emigration,  under  any  assumed  set  of  cir- 
cumstances. 

The  law  of  population,  or  of  the  increase  of  the  human 
species,  has  not,  till  a  comparatively  recent  period,  attract- 
ed that  attention  to  which  it  is  eminently  entitled.  It  was 
formerly  taken  for  granted  that  every  increase  of  popula- 
tion was  an  advantage,  and  it  was  usual  for  legislators  to 
encourage  early  marriages,  and  to  bestow  rewards  on  those 
who  brought  up  the  greatest  number  of  children.  But  the 
researches  of  Mr.  Malthus  *  have  shown  the  mischievous 
nature  of  such  interferences :  they  have  shown  that  every 
increase  in  the  numbers  of  a  people,  occasioned  by  arti- 
ficial expedients,  and  which  is  not  either  accompanied  or 
preceded  by  a  corresponding  increase  of  the  means  of  sub- 
sistence, can  be  productive  only  of  misery  or  of  increased 
mortality ;  that  the  difficulty  never  is  to  bring  human  be- 
ings into  the  world,  but  to  feed,  clothe,  and  educate  them 
when  there  ;  that  mankind  do  everywhere  increase  their 
numbers,  till  their  farther  multiplication  is  restrained  by 
the  difficulty  of  providing  subsistence,  and  the  poverty  of 
some  part  of  the  society ;  and  that,  consequently,  instead 
of  attempting  to  strengthen  the  principle  of  increase,  we 
should  rather  endeavour  to  strengthen  the  principles  by 
which  it  is  controlled  and  regulated. 

*  Essay  nn  ihe  Principle  of  Population,  passim.  The  first  edition  of  this 
work  was  published  in  1798. 

967 


POPULATION. 


In  order  briefly  to  show  the  principle  on  which  the  in- 
ereaae  of  population  depends,  we  may  state  that  the  sexual 
passion  or  Instinct  has  appeared  in  all  ages  and  countries 
s.i  nearly  tin-  same,  that  it  may,  in  the  language  of  geome- 
ters, be  called  a  constant  quantity.  Now,  it  has  been 
shown  by  tin-  experience  of  America,  and  of  other  coun- 
tries under  nearly  similar  circumstances,  or  where  there 
has  been  a  nearly  equal  command  over  the  means  of  sub- 
sistence, that  population  has  gone  on,  for  a  lengthened  pe- 
riod, doubling  in  every  twenty  or  five  and  twenty  years. 
But  the  same  principle  or  instinct  that  doubles  the  popula- 
tion of  any  particular  country  in  this  short  period  is  every- 
where in  existence,  and  is  everywhere  about  equally 
powerful.  And,  such  being  the  case,  it  may  be  asked,  Why 
does  not  population  everywhere  increase  with  the  same 
rapidity  as  in  Kentucky  or  Illinois?  The  reason  is,  that 
the  increase  of  population  must  always  depend  upon,  and 
can  never  for  any  considerable  period  exceed,  the  increase 
of  the  food  and  other  accommodations  required  for  the 
subsistence  of  human  beings;  and  this  increase  being  very 
different  in  different  countries,  the  progress  of  population 
must  vary  accordingly:  in  some  it  may  be  rapid,  in  others 
slowly  progressive,  and  in  others  stationary,  or  even  retro- 
grade. 

It  is  certain,  however,  that  the  principle  of  increase  in  the 
species  is  sufficiently  powerful  to  keep  the  population  of 
the  most  favoured  countries,  or  of  those  where  wealth  is 
most  easily  obtained  and  rapidly  increased,  quite  up  to  the 
level  of  the  means  of  subsistence.  This  is  evinced  by  the 
poverty  of  a  considerable  portion  of  the  people  of  such 
countries,  by  their  usually  having  more  claimants  for  employ 
than  employers,  or  by  the  demand  for  labour  being  rather 
greater  than  that  for  labourers ;  in  short,  by  the  constant 
pressure,  as  it  were,  of  a  part  of  the  population  against  the 
limits  of  subsistence.  But,  when  such  is  the  case,  even  in 
the  most  favourably  situated  countries,  it  is  quite  obvious 
that  if  the  principle  of  increase  were  allowed  to  exert  its 
full  force  in  countries  placed  under  less  favourable  circum- 
stances— if  the  same  habit  of  early  and  universal  marriage 
were  indulged  in  the  latter  as  in  the  former,  it  could  not 
fail  to  occasion  the  most  deplorable  results.  Man  cannot 
increase  beyond  the  means  of  subsistence  ;  and  where  these 
are  either  stationary,  or  but  slowly  advancing,  any  such  de- 
velopment of  the  principle  of  increase  as  is  exhibited  in 
countries  where  these  means  are  increasing  most  rapidly 
would  be  productive  only  of  increased  misery  and  mortality. 
And  hence,  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases,  the  principle  of 
increase  is  restrained  and  controlled  by  prudential  consid- 
erations. Man  is  not,  like  the  lower  animals,  actuated  only 
by  instinct.  To  occasion  a  marriage,  it  is  not  always  enough 
that  the  parties  should  be  attached  to  each  other.  The 
obligation  of  providing  for  the  children  that  may  be  expect- 
ed to  spring  from  it,  is  one  that  cannot  fail  to  awaken  the 
forethought  and  to  influence  the  conduct  of  all  but  the 
most  improvident  and  thoughtless.  If  the  situation  of  those 
who  might  be  disposed  to  enter  into  a  matrimonial  alliance 
be  such  as  to  preclude  all  reasonable  expectation  of  their 
being  able  to  bring  up  and  educate  their  children,  without 
exposing  themselves  to  privations,  or  to  the  risk  of  being 
cast  down  to  a  lower  place  in  society,  they  may  not  impro- 
bably either  relinquish  all  thoughts  of  forming  a  union,  or 
postpone  it  till  a  more  convenient  opportunity.  No  doubt 
there  are  very  many  individuals  in  all  countries  who  are 
not  affected  by  such  considerations,  and  who,  seeing  the 
future  through  the  deceitful  medium  of  their  passions,  are 
not  deterred  from  gratifying  their  inclinations  by  any  fear 
of  the  consequences.  But  the  great  majority  of  every  so- 
ciety act  on  sounder  principles.  They  are  anxious  not  to 
preserve  merely,  but  to  improve  their'condition  in  society, 
and  cannot  bear  the  idea  that  their  family  should  be  in  a 
worse  situation  than  themselves.  Hence  the  reason  that  in 
all  old  settled  or  densely  peopled  countries,  marriages  are 
deferred  to  a  much  later  period  than  in  colonies  and  newly 
settled  countries,  where  there  are  comparatively  great  fa- 
cilities for  gaining  a  livelihood,  and  that  a  much  larger  pro- 
portion of  the  population  find  it  expedient  to  pass  their 
lives  in  celibacy.  And  it  is  fortunate  that  such  is  the  case 
— that  the  forethought  anil  good  sense  of  the  people,  .-11111 
their  laudable  wish  to  maintain  and  better  their  condition, 
make  them  control  the  violence  of  their  passions,  and  dis- 
regard the  dicta  of  spurious  advisers*  It  is  quite  obvioiU 
that  if  the  capacity  of  multiplication,  or  the  principle  of 
increase,   in    densely   peopled   countries,   wheie   there   is   a 

comparatively  great  difficulty  in  obtaining  supplies  of  food, 
were  not  checked  by  the  prevalence  of  moral  restraint, 
arising  from  the  consideration  of  the  circumstances  under 
which  society  is  placed,  it  would  occasion  the  constant 
pressure  of  misery  and  famine.  There  is  no  alternative. 
The  population   of  every  country  has  the  power,  supposing 

food  and  other  necessary  accommodations  to  be  adequate!) 

supplied,  to  go  on  d. .ul/ling  every  twenty  or  live  and  twenty 
years;  but  as  the  limited  extent  and  limited  fertility  of  the 

yea 


soil  render  it  impossible  to  go  on  permanently  p-oducing 
food  in  this  ratio,  it  unavoidably  follows  that  unless  the 
passions  be  moderated,  and  a  proportional  diminution  bo 
effected  in  the  number  of  marriages  and  births,  the  stand- 
ard of  subsistence  will  be  reduced  to  the  lowest  assignable 
limit,  and  famine  and  pestilence  will  be  perpetually  sit  work 
to  relieve  the  population  of  wretches  born  only  to  be  Btarvedi 

Although,  therefore,  the  principle  or  instinct  which 
prompts  to  the  increase  of  the  species  be  alike  powerful  in 
the  most  opposite  conditions  and  states  of  society,  its  devel- 
opment depends  on  a  variety  of  circumstances.  Generally, 
however,  there  can  be  no  question  that  it  is  sufficiently 
powerful,  even  where  the  means  of  subsistence  are  ac- 
quired with  the  greatest  ease,  to  keep  population  on  a  level 
with  these  means  ;  and  in  all  hut  the  most  favoured  situa- 
tions, it  could  hardly  fail,  if  not  controlled  by  other  circum- 
stances, to  make  the  increase  of  population  outrun  that  of 
the  means  of  subsistence,  and,  consequently,  to  occasion  an 
increase  of  misery  and  mortality.  But  this  tendency  is  sel- 
dom or  never  allowed  to  exert  its  full  influence.  The  prin- 
ciple of  increase,  though  one  of  the  strongest  implanted  in 
our  nature,  is,  after  all,  governed  less  by  instinct  than  by 
reason.  At  all  events,  it  is  invariably  found,  when  we 
look  at  nations  or  great  masses  of  individuals,  that  the 
period  and  frequency  of  marriages  and  the  rate  of  increase 
are  determined  by  the  state  of  the  population  with  respect 
to  food,  and  that  the  latter  is  never  outrun  by  the  former. 

The  principle  of  increase  is  not,  therefore,  the  bugbear, 
the  invincible  obstacle  to  all  real  improvement  it  has  been 
represented  by  those  who  have  overlooked  the  influence  ot 
moral  causes  in  modifying  and  controlling  its  action.  That 
the  tendency  to  increase  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  im- 
provement of  society  is  a  fact,  as  to  which,  indeed,  there 
can  be  no  dispute.  Without  going  back  to  antiquity,  let 
any  one  compare  the  state  of  this  or  any  other  European 
country  500  or  100  years  ago  with  its  present  state,  and  he 
will  be  satisfied  that  prodigious  advances  have  been  made, 
that  the  means  of  subsistence  have  increased  much  more 
rapidly  than  the  population,  and  that  the  labouring  classes 
are  now  generally  in  the  possession  of  conveniences  and 
luxuries  that  were  formerly  not  enjoyed  even  by  the  richest 
lords.  The  principle  of  increase  is  not,  however,  merely 
consistent  with  the  continued  improvement  of  the  bulk  of 
society — it  is,  in  fart,  the  great  cause  of  this  improvement, 
and  of  the  wonderful  progress  made  in  the  arts.  Had  the 
principle  been  less  powerful,  or  had  it  not  existed  at  all, 
every  new  discovery,  by  diminishing  the  necessity  for 
others,  would  have  occasioned  a  decline  in  the  spirit  of 
invention,  and  society  would  long  since  have  been  either 
in  a  languishing  or  a  stationary  state.  But  the  increase  of 
population,  though  generally  subordinate  to  the  increase  of 
food,  is  always  sufficiently  powerful  to  keep  invention  on 
the  stretch.  All  that  numerous  class  who  live  by  their  la- 
bour, and  who  are  either  striving  to  raise  themselves  to  a 
higher  station,  or  to  maintain  their  present  position,  are  at 
this  moment  impelled  by  the  same  powerful  motives  to  in- 
vent and  contrive  new  and  more  powerful  methods  of  pro- 
duction that  impelled  their  ancestors  5000  years  ago ;  and 
so  it  will  be  in  all  time  to  come.  The  run's  acurns  mortalia 
corda  will  never  cease  to  operate,  and  will  secure  the  con- 
tinued advancement  of  society.  To  suppose,  as  some  have 
done,  that  the  extraordinary  progress  already  made  in 
science  and  the  arts  would  have  been  equal  or  greater  had 
the  tendency  to  increase  been  less  powerful,  is  in  truth 
equivalent  to  supposing  that  industry  and  invention  would 
be  promoted  by  lessening  the  motives  to  their  exercise,  and 
the  advantages  derivable  from  them.  There  might,  perhaps, 
have  been  less  squalid  poverty  among  the  very  dregs  of  the 
population,  had  there  been  no  principle  of  increase;  but  it 
is  a  contradiction  to  pretend,  had  such  really  been  the  case, 
that  the  powers  and  resources  of  industry  would  have  been 
so   astonishingly    developed,    that   scientific    investigations 

would  have  been  prosecuted  with  equal  perseverance  and 

zeal,  that  so  much  wealth  would  have  been  accumulated 
by  the  upper  and  middle  classes,  or  that  the  same  circum- 
stances which  urged  society  forward  in  its  infancy  would 
have  continued  in  every  subsequent  age  to  preserve  their 
energy  unimpaired;  and  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether 
an  exemption  from  the  evils  incident  to  poverty  would  not 
have  been  dearly  purchased,  even  by  the  very  lowest  clas- 
ses, by  the  sacrifice  of  the  hopes  and  fears  attached  to  their 
present  condition,  and  the  extraordinary  gratification  they 
now  reap  from  successful  industry. 

If  these  Conclusions  lie  well  founded,  it  follows  that  the 

schemes  proposed  for  directly  repressing  population  in  the 
ancient  and  modern  world,  besides  being  tor  the  most  part 
atrocious  and  disgusting,  have  really  been  opposed  to  the 

ultimate  objects  their  projectors  had  in  view.  Could  the 
rate  of  Increase  be  subjected  to  any  easily  applied  physical 

control,  tiw  comparatively  among  the  p er  classes  would 

be  inclined  to  burden  themselves  w  ilh  tin-  lii^k  of  pHM  Idlng 
for  u  family ;  and  the  most  effective  stimulus  to  exertion 


POPULIN. 

being  destroyed,  society  would  gradually  sink  into  apathy 
and  languor."  It  is,  therefore,  to  the  principle  of  moral  res- 
traint, or  to  the  exercise  of  the  prudential  virtues,  that  we 
should  exclusively  trust  for  the  regulation  of  the  increase  of 
population.  In  an  instructed  society,  where  there  are  no 
institutions  favourable  to  improvidence,  this  check  is  suf- 
ficiently powerful  to  confine  the  progress  of  population 
within  due  limits,  at  the  same  time  that  it  is  not  so  powerful 
as  to  hinder  it  from  operating,  in  all  cases,  as  the  strongest 
incentive  to  industry  and  economy. 

Mr.  Malthus's  Essay  on  Population  made  a  great  sen- 
sation at  the  time  when  it  appeared,  and  is  valuable  from  its 
showing  conclusively  that  the  principle  of  increase  is  strong 
enough,  without  any  adventitious  encouragement,  to  keep 
population  always  on  a  level  with  the  means  of  subsistence. 
In  other  respects,  however,  it  is  altogether  defective.  Mr. 
Maltbus  has  not  shown  that  the  mischievous  consequences 
that  might  otherwise  result  from  the  operation  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  increase  are  sure  to  be  countervailed  by  the  opera- 
tion of  those  prudential  considerations  to  which  it  necessa- 
rily gives  rise;  nor  has  he  shown  the  important  and  power- 
ful influence  of  the  principle  in  securing  the  continued  im- 
provement of  society.  One  of  the  best  expositions  of  the 
theory  of  population  is  that  given  by  Bishop  Sumner  in  his 
Records  of  the  Creation.  See  also  the  note  on  Population 
in  M'Culloch's  edition  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations. 

PO'PULIN.  A  crystallizable  substance  separated  from 
the  bark  of  the  Populus  tremula. 

PO'RCATE.  (Lat.  porca,  a  ridge.)  In  Entomology, 
when  a  surface  has  several  parallel  elevated  longitudinal 
ridges. 

PORCELAIN.     See  Pottery. 

PORCELLANITE.    An  opake  brittle  variety  of  jasper. 

PORCH.  (Fr.  porche.)  In  Architecture,  an  arched  or 
flat  or  ceiled  vestibule  at  the  entrance  of  a  church  or  other 
building. 

PORES.  In  Natural  Philosophy,  the  small  interstices 
between  the  particles  or  molecules  of  matter  which  com- 
pose bodies.  There  are  many  considerations  which  prove 
that  all  bodies,  even  the  densest  are  composed  of  molecules, 
not  in  absolute  contact,  but  separated  from  each  other  by 
intervals,  which,  though  so  small  as  to  be  inappreciable  to 
the  senses,  have,  nevertheless,  a  magnitude  considerable  in 
respect  of  the  molecules  themselves.  The  porosity  of  bo- 
dies may  be  demonstrated  in  many  cases  by  very  simple  ex- 
periments. If  a  piece  of  wood,  or  marble,  granite,  or  other 
compact  stone,  be  plunged  under  water  and  placed  under 
the  receiver  of  an  air-pump,  on  withdrawing  the  external 
pressure  the  air  which  had  been  dispersed  through  the  inte- 
rior cavities,  or  pores,  will  issue  from  every  point  of  their 
surface,  and  rise  in  a  torrent  of  bubbles.  In  like  manner, 
mercury  is  forced  through  a  piece  of  dry  wood  or  leather, 
and  made  to  fall  in  a  finely  divided  shower.  A  body  plunged 
deep  under  a  liquid  sustains  a  pressure,  in  consequence  of 
which  it  is  contracted  in  all  its  dimensions,  and  the  liquid 
penetrates  the  body  without  producing  any  apparent  disrup- 
tion of  its  parts.  Iron,  by  being  hammered,  is  reduced  in 
volume ;  and  the  dimensions  of  all  bodies  are  affected  by 
heat  and  cold.  The  facility  with  which  translucent  sub- 
stances are  penetrated  by  the  rays  of  light  evinces  extreme 
porosity.  And  this  penetration  is  not  confined  to  bodies 
which  are  usually  termed  diaphanous ;  for  gold  itself,  one  of 
the  most  opake  of  the  metals,  when  beaten  into  extreme 
thinness,  transmits  a  soft  green  light.  All  these  facts  prove 
the  existence  of  pores;  and  it  has  been  inferred  that  gold 
has  more  pores  than  solid  parts ;  whence  water,  or  any  sub- 
stance of  the  same  specific  gravity,  must  have  many  times 
more  pores  than  solid  parts. 

PORI'FERA.  (Lat.  poms,  a  pore,  and  fero,  I  carry.)  A 
name  invented  and  applied  by  Mr.  Hogg  to  a  group  of  Po- 
lyps, including  the  genera  Cellepora,  Millepora,  and  Tubu- 
lipora :  also  used  by  Dr.  Grant  to  designate  the  class  of 
organized  beings  including  the  marine  and  fresh-water 
sponges. 

PO'RISM,  (Gr.  iropiaua;  from  iropt?i,>,  I  investigate),  in 
Geometry,  is  defined  by  professor  Playfair  to  be  "  a  proposi- 
tion affirming  the  possibility  of  finding  such  conditions  as 
will  render  a  certain  problem  indeterminate,  or  capable  of 
innumerable  solutions." 

According  to  Pappus,  the  porisms  constituted  one  of  the 
eight  subjects  which  formed  the  ancient  geometrical  analy- 
sis. Euclid  composed  a  treatise  on  porisms  in  three  books, 
of  which  no  trace  now  remains,  except  some  obscure  hints 
preserved  in  the  mathematical  collections  of  Pappus.  From 
the  manner  in  which  the  porisms  are  mentioned  by  Pappus, 
it  is  evident  that  the  ancients  set  a  high  value  on  this  class 
of  propositions;  but  the  description  which  he  has  given  of 
them  is  so  vague  that  geometers  were  long  unable  to  divine 
his  meaning,  or  to  discover  the  peculiar  circumstances  in 
respect  of  which  a  porism  differs  from  an  ordinary  problem. 
The  subject,  indeed,  baffled  the  ingenuity  of  the  most  emi- 
nent mathematicians,  until  it  was  taken  up  by  Dr.  Simson, 


PORPHYRY. 

of  Glasgow,  who  at  length  succeeded  in  restoring  a  great 
number  of  Euclid's  porisms,  together  with  their  analysis. 
The  propositions  thus  restored  form  a  part  of  his  posthu- 
mous works,  published  in  1776,  at  the  expense  of  Earl  Stan- 
hope. It  still  remained,  however,  to  inquire  into  the  proba- 
ble origin  of  the  porisms,  or  the  steps  by  which  the  ancient 
geometers  had  been  led  to  their  discovery;  and  also  to 
point,  out  the  relations  in  which  they  stand  to  other  classes 
of  geometrical  truths.  This  was  accomplished  by  the 
late  Professor  Playfair,  in  an  admirable  paper,  "On  the 
Origin  and  Investigation  of  Porisms,"  published  in  vol.  iii. 
of  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh, 
and  afterwards  in  the  3d  volume  of  his  collected  Works, 
Edin.  1822. 

The  nature  of  a  porism,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  is 
derived  from  an  ordinary  proposition,  will  be  best  illus 
trated  by  an  example.  The  following  proposition  is  one  of 
those  selected  by  Mr.  Playfair  for  the  purpose: 

A  triangle  ABC  being  given,  and  also  a  point  D ;   to 
draw  through  D  a  straight  line  D  E,  such 
that  perpendiculars  being  drawn  to  it  o 

from  the  three  angles  of  the  triangle, 
namely,  A  E,  B  G,  C  F,  the  sum  of  the 
two  perpendiculars  on  the  same  side  of 
D  E  shall  be  equal  to  the  remaining  per- 
pendicular, or  that  A  E  and  B  G  together 
shall  be  equal  to  CF. 

Suppose  it  done ;  bisect  A  B  in  H ; 
join  CH  (intersecting  DE  in  L),  and 
draw  H  K  perpendicular  to  D  E. 

Because  A  B  is  bisected  in  H,  the  two  perpendiculars 
A  E  and  B  G  are  together  double  of  H  K  ;  and,  as  they  are 
equal  to  C  F,  by  hypothesis,  C  F  must  also  be  double  of 
H  K,  and  C  L  of  L  H.  Now,  C  H  is  given  in  position  and 
magnitude,  therefore  the  point  L  is  given  ;  and  the  point  D 
being  also  given,  the  line  D  L  is  given  in  position,  which 
was  to  be  found. 

The  construction  is  obvious.  Bisect  A  B  in  H,  join  C  H, 
and  take  H  L  equal  to  one  third  of  C  H  ;  the  straight  line 
which  joins  the  points  D  and  L  is  the  line  required. 

Now,  it  is  plain  that  while  the  triangle  ABC  remains 
the  same,  the  point  L  also  remains  the  same,  wherever  the 
point  D  may  be.  The  point  D  may  therefore  coincide  with 
L;  and,  when  this  happens,  the  position  of  the  line  to  be 
drawn  remains  undetermined  ;  that  is  to  say,  any  line  what- 
ever drawn  through  L  will  satisfy  the  conditions  of  the 
problem.  Here,  then,  we  have  an  indeterminate  case  of  a 
problem,  and,  of  consequence,  a  porism,  which  may  be  thus 
enunciated : 

A  triangle  being  given  in  position,  a  point  in  it  may  be 
found  such  that  any  straight  line  whatever  being  drawn 
through  that  point,  the  perpendiculars  drawn  to  this  straight 
line  from  the  two  angles  of  the  triangle  which  are  on  one 
side  of  it,  will  be,  together,  equal  to  the  perpendicular  that 
is  drawn  to  the  same  line  from  the  angle  on  the  other  side 
of  it. 

For  examples  of  porisms,  see  Simpson's  Opera  Reliqua  ; 
Playfair's  paper  above  mentioned  ;  a  paper  by  Prof.  Wal- 
lace, entitled  "  Some  Geometrical  Porisms,  ifce."  in  the 
Edinburgh  Transactions,  vol.  iv. ;  Stewart's  General  The- 
orems, 1746;  Leslies  Geometrical  .Analysis;  and  Ley- 
bourn's  Mathematical  Repository.  See,  also,  Traill's  Ac- 
count of  the  Life  and  Writings  of  Robert  Simpson,  M.D.; 
and  Chasles,  Jlpercu  Historique  sur  I'Origine  et  le  De- 
veloppement  des  Methodes  en  Geometric  Brux.  1837. 

The  term  porism  is  also  used  by  the  Greek  geometricians 
to  signify  merely  the  corollary  to  a  proposition. 

PORO'SITY.  A  property  of  matter,  in  consequence  of 
which  its  molecules  are  net  in  absolute  contact,  but  sepa- 
rated by  intervals  or  pores.  The  quantity  of  matter  in  a 
body  is  inversely  as  its  porosity ;  whence  the  ratio  of  the 
porosity  of  one  body  to  another  may  be  determined  from 
their  weight.     See  Pores. 

PO'RPHYRY.  (Gr.  vopipvpa,  purple.)  In  Statuary,  an 
extremely  hard  stone  of  a  red,  or  rather  purple  and  white 
colour,  more  or  less  variegated,  its  purple  being  of  all  grada- 
tions, from  violet  to  a  claret  colour.  It  i.-:  susceptible  of  a 
very  high  polish.  Egypt  and  the  East  furnish  very  plenti- 
ful strata  of  this  material.  It  is  also  found  in  Minorca. 
The  extreme  ease  with  which  the  ancients  seem  to  have 
cut  this  substance,  and  worked  it  in  sculptural  subjects,  has 
been  a  matter  of  much  discussion  among  the  moderns.  Dr. 
Lister,  in  a  paper  of  the  Philosophical  Transactions,  seems 
to  think  that  the  ancients  possessed  the  secret  of  tempering 
steel  better  than  the  moderns.  The  French  cut  it  with  an 
iron  saw  without  teeth,  using  a  kind  of  freestone  pulverized 
and  mixed  with  water.  And  Cosmo  di  Medici  is  said  to 
have  distilled  a  water  by  the  help  whereof  Francesco  Taddi, 
his  sculptor,  gave  his  tools  a  hardness  and  temper  capable 
of  working  the  hardest  and  most  compact  substances. 

Porphyry.    In  Geology,  an  unstratified  or  igneous  reck 
containing  embedded  crystals  of  felspar.     The  term  was 
3  0*  969 


PORPITA. 

originally  applied  to  n  red  rock  of  this  kind  found  in  Egypt, 
alluded  to  in  the  preceding  article.    See  Geology. 

I'll  Ul'ITA.  (<ir.  iropnn,  .innu/us  clypri.)  The  name 
of  a  genus  of  sea  nettles  (.icalcphtt)  characterized  by  an 
Internal  circular  Battened  disk  of  a  calcareous  and  homy 
texture. 

PORRECT.    (Lat.  porrigo,  J  eitend.)    In  Zoology,  when 

a  pari  extends  forth  horizontally,  as  if  to  meet  something. 

PORRl'GO.  (Lat.  porrigo.)  The  ringworm,  or  scald- 
head. 

PORT.     See  Harbour. 

Port  is.  usually,  the  adverb  of  larboard  ;  as,  the  ship 
heels  to  port,  for  the  larboard  side.  Put  the  helm  a-port, 
&c. 

Port.  The  opening  or  embrasure  in  the  ship's  side  for 
a  gun.  The  ports  of  the  lower  deck  are  defended,  when  at 
sea,  by  strong  covers  hanging  from  hinges;  the  ropes  by 
which  these  are  held  up,  or  open,  are  called  port  lanyards, 
and  consist  of  a  pendant  passing  through  a  leaded  hole  in 
the  side,  with  a  tackle. 

PORTAL.  (Fr.  portal!.)  In  Architecture,  the  lesser  of 
two  gales,  when  they  are  of  two  dimensions,  at  the  entrance 
of  a  building. 

PORTCU'LUS.  (Fr.  portecoulisse.)  In  Fortification, 
a  sort  of  machine  composed  of  several  large  pieces  of  wood, 
laid  across  one  another,  like  a  harrow,  and  pointed  with 
iron,  used  formerly  to  be  hung  over  gateways  or  fortified 
places,  to  be  let  down  in  case  of  a  surprise,  and  when  there 
was  not  time  to  shut  the  gate. 

PORTE,  THE  SUBLIME.  The  official  title  of  the 
government  of  the  Ottoman  empire:  said  to  be  derived 
from  a  gate  of  the  palace  at  Bronssa,  the  original  metro- 
polis of  that  empire,  called  Bab  Humayoor,  the  sublime 
gate. 

PO  RTER.  A  liquor  brewed  from  malt,  part  of  which 
has  been  more  highly  dried  than  that  used  for  ale.  It  is 
hopped  in  the  same  way  as  ale;  and  its  deep  colour  is 
finally  given  to  it  cither  by  burned  sugar,  which  usually 
goes  under  the  name  of  colouring,  or,  more  legitimately,  by 
roasted  or  parched  malt.  Porter  was  first  brewed  in  1722. 
The  malt  liquor  previously  drunk  consisted  of  three  kinds — 
ale,  beer,  and  "  twopenny  ;"  and  a  mixture  of  either  of  these 
kinds  was  a  favourite  beverage  under  the  name  of  half-and- 
half;"  or  a  mixture  was  drunk  called  "three  threads,"  con- 
.sistinc  of  equal  portions  of  each  of  the  above  kinds  of  liquor, 
for  a  draught  of  which  the  publican  had  to  go  to  three  dif- 
ferent casks.  About  1722,  llarwood.  a  London  brewer,  com- 
menced brewing  a  malt  liquor,  which  was  intended  to  unite 
the  flavours  of  ale  and  beer,  or  ale,  beer,  and  "twopenny;" 
and,  having  succeeded,  he  called  his  liquor  "entire,"  or 
"entire  butt;"  a  name  intended  to  intimate  that  it  was 
drawn  from  one  cask  or  butt  only.  A  mixture  of  ale  or 
porter,  drawn  from  different  casks,  is  very  commonly  drunk 
in  London  at  the  present  time.  Harwood's  liquor  obtained 
the  name  of  porter  from  its  consumption  by  porters  and 
labourers.  From  1722  to  1701,  the  retail  price  of  porter  was 
'id.  per  pot,  when  it  was  raised  to  3W„  at  which  it  con- 
tinued till  1799;  it  has  never  been  higher  than  6d.,  nor, 
during  the  present  century,  lower  than  tit  the  present  time 
(September  1841),  when  the  price  is  id.  The  following 
air. unit  of  the  fluctuations  of  the  price  per  barrel,  since 
1816,  is  from  B  private  source:  In  July,  1816,  the  price  was 
reduced  fr 45s.  to  40s.,  but,  in  October,  was  again  ad- 
vanced to  4.r>* ;  iu  January,  1817,  a  further  advance  was 
made  to  50s. ;  and,  in  December  of  the  same  year,  it  reached 
55s.  In  1819,  1820,  and  1-22,  the  price  was  successively  re- 
duced from  55s.  to  Ms.,  45s.,  and  40s.  In  January,  1824, 
it  was  advanced  to  4,r>.v. ;  in  November,  1825,  to  50s.;  but  a 
few  months  afterwards  it  again  fell  to  45s.  Since  the  abo- 
lution  of  the  beer  duties,  in  1830,  the  price  has  been  33s.  per 

PORT-FIRE.  In  Gunnery,  a  paper  tube  about  ten 
inches  long,  filled  with  a  composition  of  meal-powder. 
sulphur,  and  nitre,  rammed  moderately  hard;  used  to  fire 
guns  and  mortars  instead  of  a  match.    [Button's  Diet.) 

PCRTICO.  dial.;  from  porticos,  Lat.)  In  Architec- 
ture a  place  for  walking  in   under  shelter,  occasionally 

r:i i -•  >l  alter  the  manner  of  a  gallery  with   arches.     Some 

times  tin-  portico  is  vaulted,  and  sometimes  it  is  with  a 

flat  ceiling.  The  most  usual  application  of  the  word  is 
to  the  projection  supported  by  columns  placed  before  a 
building. 

PCRTIO,  or  PORTION',  is  a  term  anatomically  applied 
to  two  branches  of  the  seventh  pair  of  nerves:  the  portio 

hard  portion,  and  the  portio  mollis,  or  soft  portion  : 
the  former  Is  the  facial  nerve,  the  latter  the  auditory  or 
acoustic  nerve. 

PCRTLAND  POWDER.  A  mixture  of  several  in- 
digenous bitter  herbs  which  was  once  a  celebrated  remedy 
in  the  gout. 

PORTLAND  STONE.     A  granular  limestone,  belong- 
ing to  the  upper  part  of  the  oolite  formation,  und  abounding  ! 
970  ' 


POSITION. 

in  the  island  of  Portland,  upon  the  coast  of  Dorsetshire. 
Sa  Geology. 

P(  IRTLAND  VASE.  A  celebrated  cinerary  urn  or  vase, 
long  in  possession  of  the  noble  family  of  the  Barberini  at 

Rome  (whence  it  was  called  the  Barlierini  rase);  from 
whom  it  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Portland  family, 
who  deposited  it,  in  1810,  in  the  British  Museum,  of  which 
it  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  reliques.  This  beautiful  speci- 
men of  ancient  art  was  found  in  the  tomb  of  the  Emperor 

Alexander  Severus  and  his  mother  Mammtca.  It  is  de- 
scribed by  Montfaucon  {jlntiq.  Expliqui,  torn,  v.),  who  was 
evidently  mistaken  in  representing  it  as  formed  Of  a  precious 
stone.  The  substance  is  said  to  he  of  glass,  or  composition  ; 
it  is  of  a  deep  blue  or  violet  colour,  and  the  figures  in  the 
scene  depicted  on  it  are  white.  The  subjects  are  mytho- 
logical, but  have  been  very  imperfectly  explained.  See 
two  memoirs  upon  it,  by  Dr.  King  and  W.  Marsh,  in  the 
8th  volume  of  the  Archo?ologia,  and  one  by  Dr.  Darwin,  in 
the  Notes  to  his  Botanic  Garden.)  The  late  Mr.  Wedg- 
wood made  a  mould  of  this  vase,  and  took  from  it  a  number 
of  casts,  made  with  the  greatest  skill,  and  perfectly  resem- 
bling the  original. 

PO'RTRAIT.  (Fr.  pouitrait.)  In  Painting,  the  repre- 
sentation of  an  individual,  or,  more  strictly  speaking,  of 
a  face,  painted  from  real  life.  Portraits  are  of  full  length, 
half  length,  &c. ;  und  are  executed  in  oil  or  water  colours, 
crayons,  &c. 

PORTREE'VE,  or  PORT  GREVE.  (Ang.  Sax.  gerefa.) 
Anciently,  the  principal  magistrate  in  ports  and  maritime 
towns.  According  to  Camden,  this  was  the  ancient  title 
of  the  officer  who  was  afterwards  called  mayor,  in  Lon- 
don. 

PORT  ROYALISTS.  The  name  popularly  given  to 
the  members  of  the  celebrated  convent  of  the  Poll  Royal 
des  Champs.  It  was  founded  about  1204.  by  Matthieu  de 
Marli,  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  for  the  Holy  Land ;  and, 
though  originally  limited  in  its  means  and  objects,  it  grad- 
ually acquired  such  importance  as  to  have  secured  for  it  a 
prominent  place  in  the  history  of  Europe.  It  would  be  out 
of  place  here  to  give  any  details  of  its  varied  fortunes,  and 
the  religions  controversies  which  it  carried  on  in  the  17th 
century — the  period  of  its  greatest  importance  ;  and  we  refer 
the  reader  to  the  learned  work  of  Reiichlin  [Oeschichte  von 
Port  Royal),  for  full  information.  (See,  also,  the  eloquent 
article  in  vol.  lxxiv.  of  the  F.din.  Review.)  It  was  abolished 
by  Louis  XIV.,  as  a  nest  of  Jansenists  and  heietics.  Among 
the  distinguished  names  connected  with  the  Tort  Royal,  are 
those  of  Lancelot,  Paschal,  Arnauld,  Nicole  de  Sncy,  and 
Tilleniont.  The  school  books  which  were  published  for 
the  use  of  that  institution,  were  translated  into  all  the  lan- 
guages  of  Europe,  and  maintained  their  reputation  long 
after  its  abolition  ;  and,  though  they  are  now  fallen  into 
disuse,  the  following  deserve  especial  mention  :  1.  Nouvelle 
Mtthode  pour  apprendrc  la  I.angue  I^atiiu  ;  2.  .Ymujellc 
JMethode  pour  apprendre  la  Langue  Grccque ;  3.  Gram- 
moire  Generate,  <$-c. 

POSITION.  (Lat.  pono,  I  place.)  A  rule  in  Arithmetic, 
called  also  the  rule  of  supposition,  or  rule  of  false.  It  con- 
sists in  assuming  a  number,  and  performing  upon  it  the 
operation  described  in  the  question,  and  then  comparing 
the  result  with  that  given  in  the  question,  in  order  to  dis- 
cover the  error  of  the  assumption.  Writers  on  arithmetic 
divide  the  rule  into  two  parts,  single  position  and  double. 
position;  the  former  comprehending  those  questions  in 
which  the  results  tire  proportional  to  the  suppositions,  and 
where,  consequently,  only  one  assumption  is  required  :  the 
latter  those  in  which  the  results  arc  not  proportional  to  the 
suppositions,  and  where  two  suppositions  are  necessary  in 
order  to  deduce  the  true  answer.  To  simple  position  be- 
long such  questions  as  the  following:  What  number  is  that 
from  which,  if  a  third  and  a  fourth  of  itself  he  subtracted, 

the  remainder  is  (ill  ?  Double  position  comprehends  ques- 
tions of  this  sort :  What  number  is  that  which,  being  mul- 
tiplied by  fi,  the  product   Increased   by  18,  and  the  sum 

divided  by  9,  the  quotient  shall  be  2(1  ?      It  will  be  observed, 

that  both  these  questions  ate  immediately  solved  by  a 
simple  algebraic  equation;  .and,  in  fact,  the  same  pro- 
cess is  performed  in  the  arithmetical  operation  in  the  as- 
sured number,  which,  in  the  algebraic,  Is  performed  on  the 
unknown  quantity.  The  rules  given  for  the  solution  of 
questions  in  double  position,  are  founded  on  certain  prin- 
ciples i>(  algebra,  which  may  be  applied  with  much  greater 
facility  to  the  immediate  solution  of  the  questions  them- 
selves. Sin  h  questions,  therefore,  cannot  be  considered  as 
properly  belonging  to  arithmetic,  hut  to  what  may  be  deno- 
minated numerical  analysis.  Position  is  also  called  the 
rule  of  trial  and  error,  anil  is  sometimes  employed  with 
good  effect  in  approximating  to  the  roots  of  numerical 
equations. 

Position.  In  Painting,  the  placing  of  the  model  in  tho 
manner  besl  calculated  for  the  end  in  view  by  the  artist. 
Such  positions  as  are  most  natural  and  easy,  and  which 


POSITIVE  ELECTRICITY. 

exhibit  the  peculiar  habit  of  the  individual,  in  portrait  paint- 
ing, are  preferable. 
POSITIVE  ELECTRICITY.  See  Electricity. 
POSITIVE  QUANTITY,  in  Algebra,  denotes  an  affirm- 
ative or  additive  quantity  ;  which  character  is  indicated  by 
the  sign  -f>,  called,  in  consequence,  the  positive  sign.  The 
term  is  used  in  contradistinction  lanegative ;  negative  quan- 
tities being  such  as  are  subtractive,  and  marked  by  the 
sign  — ,  which  is  called  the  negative  sign.     See  Sios. 

PO'SSE  COMITA'TUS.  (Eat.)  In  Law,  the  power  of 
the  county,  which  the  sheriff  is  empowered  to  raise  in  case 
of  riot,  possession  kept  on  forcible  entry,  rescue,  or  other 
force  made  in  opposition  to  the  king's  writ  or  execution  of 
justice.  It  is  said  to  include  all  knights  and  other  men, 
above  the  age  of  fifteen  able  to  travel,  within  the  county. 
Justices  of  the  peace  may  also  raise  the  posse  in  order  to  re- 
move a  force  in  making  entry  Into  or  detaining  lands. 

POST.  (Fr.  poste.)  In  Architecture,  any  vertical  piece 
of  timber ;  as  a  truss  post,  door  post,  a  quarter  in  a  par- 
tition. 

Post.  In  Public  Economy,  a  messenger,  courier,  or  con- 
veyance that  travels  at  stated  periods,  and  generally  with 
more  than  ordinary  speed,  employed  to  convey  letters  or 
other  despatches,  whether  of  government  or  individuals. 

POST-ABDOMEN.  (Lat.)  The  name  applied  by  La- 
treiile  to  the  five  posterior  segments  of  the  abdomen  of 
Hexapod  insects ;  and  to  the  tail  of  Crustaceans,  which 
consists  of  analogous  but  more  numerous  segments. 

POSTAGE.  The  duty  or  rate  of  charge  levied  on  letters 
or  other  articles  conveyed  bv  post. 

PO'STEA.  (Lat.)  In  Law,  the  return  of  the  judge 
before  whom  a  cause  Is  tried,  after  verdict,  of  what  was 
done  in  the  cause,  which  is  endorsed  on  the  back  of  the 
nisi  prius  record. 

POSTERN.  (Fr.  posterne.)  In  Architecture,  a  small 
gate  or  door  at  the  back  of  a  building. 

PosTerv.  In  Fortification,  a  small  gate,  usually  made 
in  the  angle  of  the  flank  of  a  bastion,  or  in  that  of  the 
curtain. 

POSTI'LUM.  (Lat.)  In  Architecture,  the  portico  at 
the  back  of  a  temple.     See  Naos. 

POSTLIMINIUM,  or  JUS  POSTLIMINII.  (Lat.  limen, 
a  threshold.)  In  National  and  Civil  Law,  the  right  by 
virtue  of  which  persons  taken  by  an  enemy  return  to  their 
former  state  of  freedom,  with  their  former  rights  and  pro- 
perty, on  its  termination ;  and  property  so  taken  reverts  to 
its  former  owners. 

POST  OBIT.  (Lat.  post  obitum,  after  death.)  A  bond 
given  for  the  purpose  of  securing  a  sum  of  money  on  the 
death  of  some  specified  individual. 

POST  OFFICE.  A  place  for  the  reception  and  distribu- 
tion of  the  letters  and  despatches  that  are  to  be  or  that  have 
been  carried  by  the  post ;  where  the  duties  on  them  are 
paid,  and  where  the  various  departments  connected  with 
the  business  of  the  post  are  conducted,  or  superintended. 

The  conveyance  of  letters  by  post  is  one  of  the  few  in- 
dustrious undertakings  which  are  certainly  better  managed 
by  government  than  they  could  be  by  individuals.  It  is 
indispensable  to  the  satisfactory  working  of  the  post-office, 
that  it  should  be  conducted  with  the  greatest  regularity  and 
precision :  and  that  all  the  departments  should  be  made 
subservient  to  each  other,  and  conducted  on  the  same  plan. 
It  is  plain  that  such  results  could  not  be  obtained  in  any 
extensive  country  otherwise  than  by  the  agency  of  govern- 
ment ;  and  the  interference  of  the  latter  is  also  required  to 
make  arrangements  for  the  safe  and  speedy  conveyance  of 
letters  to,  from,  and  through  foreign  countries. 

The  organization  of  the  post-office  supplies  one  of  the 
most  striking  examples  of  the  advantages  resulting  from 
the  division  and  combination  of  employments.  "Nearly 
the  same  exertions  that  are  necessary  to  send  a  single  letter 
from  Falmouth  to  New  York  will  suffice  to  send  50,000. 
If  every  man  was  to  effect  the  transmission  of  his  own 
correspondence,  the  whole  life  of  an  eminent  merchant 
mi!_'ht  be  passed  in  travelling,  without  his  being  able  to 
deliver  all  the  letters  which  the  post-office  forwards  for 
him  in  a  single  evening.  The  labour  of  a  few  individuals, 
devoted  exclusively  to  the  forwarding  of  letters,  produces 
results  which  all  the  exertions  of  all  the  inhabitants  of 
Europe  could  not  effect,  each  person  acting  independently." 
(Senior  on  Political  Economy.) 

Posts  appear  to  have  been  established  for  the  first  time, 
in  modern  Europe,  in  1479,  by  Louis  XI.  of  France.  They 
were  originally  intended  to  serve  merely-  for  the  conveyance 
of  public  despatches,  and  of  persons  'travelling  by  autho- 
rity of  government.  Subsequently,  however,  private  indi- 
viduals were  allowed  to  avail  themselves  of  this  institution 
for  forwarding  letters  and  despatches;  and  governments, 
by  imposing  higher  duties  or  rates  of  postage  on  the  letters 
and  parcels  conveyed  by  post  than  are  sufficient  to  defray 
the  expense  of  the  establishment,  have  rendered  it  pro- 
ductive of  a  considerable  revenue.   Nor,  while  the  rates  of 


POST  OFFICE. 

postage  are  confined  within  reasonable  limits,  and  do  not 
materially  affect  the  facility  of  correspondence,  is  there, 
perhaps,  a  less  objectionable  tax. 

The  post  office  was  not  established  in  England  till  the 
17th  century.  Post-masters,  indeed,  existed  in  more  ancient 
times  ;  but  their  business  was  confined  to  ihe  furnishing  of 
post  horses  to  persons  who  were  desirous  of  travelling  ex- 
peditiously, and  to  Ihe  despatching  of  extraordinary  packets 
upon  special  occasions.  In  1635,  Charles  I.  erected  a  letter 
office  for  England  and  Scotland  ;  but  this  extended  only  to 
a  few  of  the  principal  roads ;  the  times  of  carriage  were 
uncertain;  and  the  post-masters  on  each  road  were  required 
to  furnish  horses  for  the  conveyance  of  the  letters  at  the 
rate  of  i\d.  a  mile.  This  establishment  did  not  succeed  ; 
and,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war,  great  difficulty 
was  experienced  in  the  forwarding  of  letters.  At  length  a 
post  office,  or  establishment  for  the  weekly  conveyance  of 
letters  to  all  parts  of  the  kingdom,  was  instituted  in  1649, 
by  Mr.  Edward  Prideaux,  attorney-general  for  the  Common- 
wealth ;  the  immediate  consequence  of  which  was  a  saving 
to  the  public  of  £7,000  a  year  on  account  of  post  masters. 
In  1657,  the  post  office  was  established  nearly  on  its  present 
footing,  and  the  rates  of  postage  that  were  then  fixed  were 
continued  till  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne.  (Black.  Com^ 
book  i.,  c.  8.) 

From  the  establishment  of  the  post  office  by  Cromwell- 
down  to  1784,  mails  were  conveyed  either  on  horseback,  or 
in  carts  made  for  the  purpose  ;  and  instead  of  being  the 
most  expeditious  and  safest  conveyance,  the  post  had 
become,  at  the  latter  period,  one  of  the  slowest  and  most 
easily  robbed  of  any  in  the  country.  In  1784,  it  was  usual 
for  the  diligences  between  London  and  Bath  to  accomplish 
the  journey  in  seventeen  hours,  while  the  post  took  forty 
hours  ;  and  on  other  roads  the  comparative  rate  of  travel- 
ling of  the  post  and  stage  coaches  was  in  about  the  same 
proportion.  The  natural  consequence  of  such  a  difference 
in  point  of  despatch  was,  that  a  very  great  number  of  letters 
were  sent  by  other  conveyances  than  the  mail :  the  law  to 
the  contrary  being  easily  defeated,  by  giving  them  the  form 
of  small  parcels. 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  occurred  to  Mr.  John 
Palmer  of  Bath,  comptroller-general  of  the  post  office,  that 
a  very  great  improvement  might  be  made  in  the  convey- 
ance of  letters,  in  respect  of  economy,  as  well  as  of  speed 
and  safety,  by  contracting  with  the  proprietors  of  stage 
coaches  for  the  carriage  of  the  mail ;  the  latter  being  bound 
to  perform  the  journey  in  a  specified  time,  and  to  take  a 
guard  with  the  mail  for  its  protection.  Mr.  Palmer's  plan 
encountered  much  opposition,  but  was  at  length  carried 
into  effect  with  the  most  advantageous  results.  The  use 
of  mail-coaches  speedily  extended  to  most  parts  of  the  em- 
pire ;  and.  while  letters  and  parcels  were  conveyed  in  less 
than  half  the  time  that  had  been  required  under  the  old 
system,  the  coaches  by  which  they  were  conveyed  afforded, 
by  their  regularity  and  speed,  a  most  desirable  mode  of 
conveyance  for  travellers.  Mr.  Palmer  was  the  author  of 
several  other  improvements  in  the  economy  of  the  post- 
office  ;  nor  is  there  any  individual  to  whom  the  department 
owes  more.     (Macpherson's  slnna/s  of  Com.  anno  1784.) 

Within  the  last  few  years,  however,  the  construction  of 
railways  between  most  of  the  great  towns  of  the  empire 
has  gone  far  to  supersede  the  use  of  mail  coaches  on  the 
principal  lines  of  road,  and  has  added  prodigiously  to  the 
facilities  of  correspondence  and  travelling.  The  journey 
from  London  to  Liverpool,  which  had  been  accomplished 
by  the  mail  in  about  twenty  or  twenty-two  hours,  is  now 
accomplished,  by  railway,  in  nine  or  ten  hours!  and  on 
other  roads  in  the  same  proportion.  The  great  expense  of 
the  post  office  consists,  in  fact,  not  so  much  in  the  convey- 
ance of  letters  from  place  to  place,  as  in  their  previous  col- 
lection and  their  distribution  after  they  have  been  conveyed 
to  their  destination.  This  necessitates  the  establishment 
of  a  vast  number  of  subordinate  offices  in  the  remoter  parts 
of  the  kingdom,  many  of  which  do  not  defray  their  ex- 
penses. This  is  particularly  the  case  in  Ireland,  where,  in 
1838,  the  expense  of  collecting  the  gross  post  office  revenue 
amounted  to  391.  16*.  4-.d.  per  cent. 

Revenue  and  Rates  'of  Postage.— During  1838  the  post 
office  of  the  United  Kingdom  produced  a  gross  revenue  of 
£•2,346.278,  and  a  nett  revenue,  after  deducting  the  expense 
of  collection,  of  £1,676,522.  This  large  revenue  was  de- 
rived from  rates  of  postage,  varying  with  the  distance 
according  to  which  letters  were  conveyed,  but  so  that  at  an 
average  they  amounted  to  about  ~d.  or  7.W.  for  a  single 
letter.  But  the  fact  that  the  post  office  revenue  had  con- 
tinued nearly  stationary  during  the  twenty  years  ending 
with  1838,  notwithstanding  the  vast  increase  in  that  period 
of  population  and  of  the  intercourse  between  the  different 
parts  of  the  empire,  was  a  conclusive  proof  that  the  rates 
of  postage  had  been  carried  to  a  vicious  excess  ;  and  that 
in  the  arithmetic  of  the  post  office,  as  well  as  of  the  cus- 
toms, two  and  two,  instead  of  always  making  four,  some- 

971 


POST  OFFICE. 

times  make  only  one.  The  effectual  reduction  of  these 
rates  \\.i~  theref  re  urgently  required,  not  only  bemuse  of 
the  Importance  to  a  commercial  and  manufacturing  com- 
munity of  having  the  charge  for  the  conveyance  of  corres- 
pondence fixed  al  a  moderate  amount,  but  because  it  was 
all  but  certain  that  moderate  rates  of  postage  would  be  more 
productive  of  revenue.  It  did  not,  however,  follow,  that 
because  an  average  charge  of  ~d.  or  7'd.  each  on  all  letters 
conveyed  by  post  was  very  decidedly  too  much,  that  the 
plan  for  malting  an  invariable  charge  of  Id.,  whether  the 
letter  were  conveyed  one  mile  or  1000  miles,  should  have 
been  adopted.  This  was  to  rush  from  one  extreme  to 
another,  and  to  endanger  a  considerable  amount  of  revenue 
without  any  equivalent  advantage.  It  must,  no  doubt,  be 
admitted  that  the  proposal  for  a  uniform  penny  rate  of  post- 
age, had  many  recommendations  in  Its  favour.  Being 
calculated  at  once  to  obviate  trouble  and  save  expense,  it 
could  not  fail  to  be  acceptable  (what  reduction  of  taxation 
is  not  ?)  to  a  large  portion  of  the  public,  particularly  to 
persons  engaged  in  business.  We  believe,  however,  that 
the  scheme  was  more  indebted  for  its  popularity  to  the 
oppressiveness  of  the  old  rates  of  postage  than  to  any  in 
trinsic  merits  of  its  own.  Had  these  been  reduced  four  or 
five  years  previously  to  a  reasonable  amount,  that  is,  had 
letters  of  1  oz.  Weighl  coming  from  Scotland  or  Ireland  to 
London  been  reduced  to  6d.,  and  other  letters  in  proportion, 
and  mercantile  circulars  been  allowed  to  pass  under  covers 
open  at  the  ends  at  \d.  or  2d.  each,  we  venture  to  say  that 
the  clamour  for  a  uniform  rate  of  penny  postage  would  not 
have  made  any  way.  But  in  this,  as  usually  happens  on 
similar  occasions,  those  who  delay  to  make  reasonable  and 
necessary  concessions  at  the  outset,  are  in  the  end  compelled 
to  concede  a  great  deal  more  than  would  at  first  have  been 
satisfactory.  This,  at  all  events,  has  been  eminently  true 
in  the  present  instance.  The  clamour  for  a  uniform  penny 
rate  became  too  powerful  to  be  resisted  ;  and  parliament, 
whether  it  were  so  inclined  or  not,  was  obliged  to  lend  its 
sanction  to  the  measure.  And  under  the  provision  of  the 
act  2  &  3  Vict.,  cap.  52.  it  has  been  enacted  that  all  inland 
Inters,  without  regard  to  the  number  of  enclosures,  or  the 
distance  conveyed,  provided  they  be  paid  when  posted  or 
despatched,  shall,  if  not  exceeding  J  oz.  weight,  be  charged 
Id. ;  1  oz.  2d.  :  2  oz.  -id.  ;  3  oz.  6d. ;  and  so  on ;  2d.  being 
added  for  every  additional  ounce  up  to  16  oz.,  beyond  which, 
with  the  following  exceptions,  no  packet,  whether  subject 
to  postage  or  not,  is  received  : 

1.  Parliamentary  petitions  and  addresses  to  her  Majesty. 

2.  Parliamentary  proceedings. 

3.  Letters  and  packets  addressed  to  or  received  from 
places  beyond  sea. 

4.  Letters  and  packets  to  and  from  public  departments, 
and  to  and  from  public  officers  that  formerly  franked  by 
virtue  of  their  offices. 

5.  Deeds,  it'  sent  o|ien,  or  in  covers  open  at  the  sides. 
They  may  be  tied  with  string  and  sealed,  in  order  to  pre- 
vent inspection  of  the  contents  :  but  they  must  be  open  at 
the  sides,  that  it  may  be  seen  that  they  are  entitled  to  the 
privilege. 

With  these  exceptions,  all  packets  above  the  weight  of 
10  oz.  will  be  immediately  forwarded  to  the  Dead  Letter 
Office. 

But  all  letters  not  paid  when  they  are  posted  or  despatch- 
ed are  charged  double  the  above  rates. 

All  parliamentary  and  official  franking  has  been  put  an 
end  to;  but  members  of  either  house  of  parliament  are 
entitled  to  receive  petitions  to  parliament  free  of  charge, 
provided  such  petitions  be  sent  in  covers  open  at  the  ends, 
and  do  not  exceed  0  oz.  weight. 

To  facilitate  the  working  of  the  plan,  envelopes  and 
stamps  for  single,  double,  &c.  letters,  are  furnished  by  the 
post  office,  and  have  been  widely  distributed. 

Such  are  the  more  prominent  features  of  the  new  sys- 
tem ;  and  none  can  deny  that  it  has  the  recommendations 
of  Simplicity  and  cheapness  in   its  favour,  and  that  it  has 

greatly  facilitated  correspondence.  But  it  may  nevertheless 
be  doubted  whether  its  adoption  was  expedient  It  is  cer- 
tainly very  convenient  for  merchants,  bankers,  middlemen, 
and  retail  dealers,  to  L»'t  letters  for  id.,  that  previous"]  cost 
them  Id.  or "  ../. :  bul  their  satisfaction  is  not  the  only  thing 
to  be  attendeii  to  in  forming  a  lair  estimate  of  the  measure. 
The  public  exigencies  require  that  a  sum  of  above  fifty 
millions  a  year  should  be  raised,  one  way  or  other;  and  so 
long  as  we  are  pressed  by  an  unreasoning  necessity  of  this 
sort,  it  is  not  much  to  say  in  favour  of  the  repeal  or  dimi- 
nution of  any  tax,  that  (hose  on  whom  it  fell  with  the 
creates)  g<  •>■  ritj  are  delighted  with  the  reduction.  Sugar 
lias  in  England  become  a  necessary  of  life;  and  its  con- 
sumption, to  say  the  least  of  it.  is  (|uite  as  Indispensable  to 

the  bulk   of  the    people,    and   especially   to   the   labouring 

writing  of  letters.     Put  would  it,  then-lore. 

It  a  u  lae  measure  to  repeal  the  duty  on  sugar,  or  to  reduce 

it  to  Is.  a  cwt  !    It  has  been  alleged,  indeed,  that  taxes  on 

973 


POTASSIUM. 

the  transmission  of  letters  are  objectionable  on  principle, 
and  should  therefore  be  repealed,  independently  altogether 
of  financial  considerations.  But  it  is  easier  to  make  an 
allegation  of  this  sort  than  to  prove  it.  All  taxes,  however 
Imposed,  if  they  lie  carried  (as  was  the  ca-e  with  the  old 
rates  of  postage)  beyond  their  proper  limits,  are  objection- 
able ;  but  provided  these  be  not  exceeded,  we  have  yet  to 
learn  why  a  tax  on  a  letter  should  be  more  objectionable 
than  a  tax  on  the  paper  on  which  it  is  written,  on  the  food 
of  the  writer,  or  on  fifty  other  things. 

During  the  first  vear  (1840)  of  the  new  svstem.  the  nett 
revenue  of  the  Post  Office  fell  off  about  £1,200.000!  No 
doubt,  however,  the  revenue  will  Increase  in  subsequent 
years,  with  the  increasing  population  and  wealth  of  the 
country.  But  it  would  have  done  this  under  any  system 
of  moderate  duties  ;  and  its  future  increase,  whatever  it 
may  be,  is  consequently  no  proof  of  the  superiority  of  the 
presenl  system. 

POST  "POSITION*.  In  Music,  retardations  of  the  har- 
mony, effected  by  placing  discords  upon  the  accented  parts 
of  a  bar  not  prepared  and  resolved  according  to  the  rules 
for  discords. 

POSTSCE'XH'M.  (Lat.  post,  behind,  and  scena.  a  scene.) 
In  Architecture,  the  back  part  of  the  theatre  behind  the 
scenes,  furnished  with  conveniences  for  robing  the  actors 
and  depositing  the  machinery. 

PO'STULATE.  (Lat.  postulare.  to  demand.)  In  Geom- 
etry, something  to  be  assumed,  or  taken  for  granted.  Euclid 
has  constructed  his  Elements  on  the  three  following  postu- 
lates :  1.  That  a  straight  line  may  be  drawn  from  any  one 
point  to  any  other  point.  2.  That  a  terminated  straight  line 
may  be  produced  to  any  length  in  a  straight  line.  3.  That 
a  circle  may  be  described  from  any  centre  at  any  distance 
from  that  centre.     (Playfair's  Euclid.) 

Postulate.  In  Logic  and  Philosophy,  a  proposition  of 
which  the  truth  is  demanded  or  assumed  for  the  purpose  of 
future  reasoning. 

POTA'SH.  The  saline  matter  obtained  by  lixiviating 
the  ashes  of  wood.  When  purified  by  calcination  it  is 
termed  pear/ash,  and  is  in  that  state  an  impure  carbonate 
of  potassa.  The  production  of  potash  is  carried  on  upon  a 
large  scale  in  Russia  and  America  ;  it  can  only  he  thus 
obtained  in  countries  where  there  are  vast  natural  forests, 
and  where  the  value  of  timber  is  little  more  than  that  of 
the  labour  of  felling  it.    See  Potassium. 

POTASSA.    Sec  Potassium. 

POTA'SHIUM.  This  extraordinary  metal  wasdiscovered 
by  Davy  in  the  year  1807,  and  was  one  of  the  tir>t  fruits  of 
his  masterly  researches  into  the  chemical  powers  of  elec- 
tricity. Its  properties  are  so  remarkable,  that  it  was  for  a 
time  doubted  whether  it  could  with  propriety  be  placed 
among  the  metals;  but  the  progress  of  discovery  has  re- 
moved all  difficulty  upon  that  point,  by  making  us  acquainted 
with  other  metallic  substances,  the  properties  of  which  are, 
as  it  were,  intermediate  between  those  of  potassium  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  common  metals  on  the  other.  One 
of  the  striking  peculiarities  of  potassium  is  mechanical 
rather  than  chemical,  namely,  its  low  specific  gravity,  it 
being  the  lightest  known  solid  ;  another  is  its  intense  affinity 
for  oxycen.and  ils  consequent  energetic  action  when  placed 
upon  water,  where  it  immediately  takes  tire.  The  specific 
gravity  of  potassium  is  -865  at  the  temperature  of  00°;  it  is 
solid  at  the  ordinary  temperature  of  the  atmosphere ;  at 
80°  it  becomes  soft,  and  at  150°  is  perfectly  liquid;  at  32° 
it  is  brittle,  and  has  a  crystalline  texture.  In  colour  and 
lustre  it  resembles  mercury.  Its  attraction  for  oxygen  is 
such  that  it  immediately  loses  its  brilliancy  on  e\|iosure  to 
air.  and  becomes  converted  into  potassa  :  heated  in  the  air 
it  burns  with  a  purple  flame.  The  equivalent  of  potassium 
is  40,  and  that  Of  potassa  or  protoxide  of  potassium  is  48. 
When  potassium  is  heated  in  oxygen  it  absorbs  a  larger 
quantity  of  that  element  and  becomes  a  peroxide,  which, 
however,  is  immediately  converted  into  protoxide  by  the 
action  of  water.  Protoxide  of  potassium  exists  in  the  state 
Of  hi/drate  In  what  is  called  caustic  potash,  which  is  a 
compound  of  48  potassa  +  0  water.     This  substance  fuses 

at  a  dull  red  heat,  it  is  very  Boluble  and  deliquescent,  and 

powerfully  corrodes  almost  all  animal   textures.     It  is  the 

tapis  eaustievs  of  old  pharmacy.     Dissolved  In  water  it 

D  !iii.  or  the  liquor  potassa  of  the  Pharmacopoeia. 

This  solution  is  obtained  by  pouring  water  upon  a  mixture 

of  equal  parts  of  quicklime  and  carbonate  of  potassa;  me 

racts    carbonic    acid    from     the    carbonate,    and 

converted    into  an    insoluble  carbonate  of  lime, 

whilst  the  evolved  potassa  is  taken  op  bj   the  water.     The 

solution  thus  obtained  is  powerfully  alkaline  and  caustic; 

and.  as  it  soon  absorbs  carbonic  acid  when  exposed  to  air, 

it    should    lie    carefully   preserved    in    well  Stopped    phials. 

Tree  potassa  is  easily  detected  and  recognised,  when  in 

solution,   by    its    alkaline   reaction    upon    proper   vegetable 

Dolours,  rendering,  for  instance,  the  yellow  of  turmeric 
brown,  and  the  blue  of  violet  green  ;  when  excess  of  tar- 


POTATOES. 


POULTRY, 


taric  acid  is  added  to  it,  it  yields  a  white  granular  precipi-  i  requires  to  be  formed  into  thicker  and  heavier  vessels  ;  and 


tate  of  bitartrate  of  potassa,  and  an  alcoholic  solution  of 
carbazotic  acid  yields  with  it  yellow  and  difficultly  soluble 
crystals  of  carbaxotate  of  potassa.  When  potassa  is  in 
combination,  as,  for  instance,  when  any  of  its  salts  are  dis- 
solved in  water,  they  are  best  detected  by  a  strong  solution 
of  chloride  of  platinum,  which  causes  a  yellow  precipitate 
of  the  potassio-chloride  of  platinum 


more  fusible  than  the  finest  porcelains  of  Japan  and  China. 
The  colours  employed  in  painting  porcelain  are  the  same 
metallic  oxides  used  for  colouring  glass,  and  in  all  the 
more  delicate  patterns  they  are  laid  on  with  a  camel-hair 
pencil,  and  generally  previously  mixed  with  a  little  oil  of 
turpentine.  Where  several  colours  are  used,  they  often  re- 
quire various  temperatures  for  their  perfection  ;  in  which 


When  potassium  and  sulphur  are  heated  together,  they  [  case  those  that  bear  the  highest  heat  are  first  applied,  and 


combine  and  form  a  sulphuret  of  potassium^  With  the 
acids,  potassa  forms  a  variety  of  useful  salts ;  such  as  nitre, 
or  nitrate  of  potassa,  with  nitric  acid;  sulphate  of  potassa, 
with  the  sulphuric  acid ;  and  carbonate  of  potassa,  with 
the  carbonic  acid.  The  latter  is  a  very  important  salt :  it 
forms  great  part  of  the  residuum  or  ash  of  burnt  wood, 
from  which  it  is  obtained  by  lixiviation,  and  brought  to  this 
country  from  Russia  and  America,  under  the  name  of  pearl- 
ash  and  potash.  It  consists  of  48  potassa  -4-  22  carbonic 
acid  ;  it  is  deliquescent,  uncrystallizable,  and  has  an  alka- 
line reaction.  When  carbonic  acid  is  passed  through  a 
solution  of  this  sort,  it  becomes  converted  into  bicarbonate 
of  potassa,  composed  of  48  potassa  -f-  44  carbonic  acid. 
Potassium  burns  with  great  splendour  in  chlorine,  and 
forms  chloride  of  potassium  ;  it  also  combines  with  iodine, 
bromine,  and  fluorine. 

POTA'TOES.  The  common  name  for  the  roots  of  the 
Solanum  tuberosum,  which  see. 

POTE'NTIAL  MOOD.  (Lat.  possum,  /  am  able.)  In 
Grammar,  that  mood  of  the  verb  which  expresses  an  action 
conceived  as  possible;  denoted  in  English  by  the  auxiliary 
verb  may  or  might. 

POTENTIAL  QUALITIES.  In  Scholastic  Philosophy, 
such  as  are  supposed  to  exist  in  a  body  in  potentia  only.  In 
Grammar,  a  mood  of  the  verb,  also  called  the  optative;  by 
some  considered  as  the  same  with  the  subjunctive. 

POTl'TII.  The  Roman  priests  of  Hercules,  who  were 
said  to  have  been  instituted  by  Evander.  Of  an  inferior 
grade  to  them,  but  in  the  service  of  the  same  god,  were 
the  Pinari ;  but  these  became  extinct  through  the  means  of 
Appius  Claudius. 

PO'TSTONE.  A  tough  variety  of  steatite,  sometimes 
manufactured  into  culinary  vessels.  It  is  the  lapis  ollaris 
of  Pliny. 

PO'TTERY  AND  PORCELAIN.  The  better  kind  of 
pottery,  called  in  this  country  Staffordshire  tcare,  is  made 


subsequently  those  which  lire  brought  out  at  lower  temper- 
atures. This  art  of  painting  on  porcelain,  or  in  enamel,  is 
of  the  most  delicate  description  :  much  experience  and 
skill  are  required  in  it,  and  with  every  care  there  are  fre- 
quent failures ;  hence  it  is  attended  with  considerable  ex- 
pense. The  gilding  of  porcelain  is  generally  performed  by 
applying  finely  divided  gold  mixed  with  gum-water  and 
borax ;  upon  the  application  of  heat  the  gum  burns  off",  and 
the  borax  vitrifying  upon  the  surface  causes  the  gold  firmly 
to  adhere  ;  it  is  afterwards  burnished. 

In  the  manufacture  of  various  kinds  of  pottery  employed 
in  the  chemical  laboratory,  and  especially  in  regard  to  cru- 
cibles, many  difficulties  occur;  and  many  requisites  are  ne- 
cessary, which  cannot  be  united  in  the  same  vessel.  To 
the  late  Mr.  Wedgwood  we  are  indebted  for  vast  improve- 
ments in  this  as  well  as  in  other  branches  of  the  art.  Cru- 
cibles composed  of  one  part  of  pure  clay  mixed  with  about 
three  parts  of  coarse  and  pure  sand,  slowly  dried  and  an- 
nealed, resist  a  very  high  temperature  without  fusion,  and 
generally  retain  metallic  substances  ;  but  where  the  metals 
are  suffered  to  oxidize,  there  are  few  which  do  not  act 
upon  ony  earthen  vessel,  and  some  cause  its  rapid  fusion, 
as  the  oxides  of  lead,  bismuth,  &c.  Where  saline  fluxes 
are  used,  the  best  crucibles  will  always  suffer ;  but  plati- 
num may  often  be  employed  in  these  cases,  and  the  chem- 
ist is  this  enabled  to  combat  many  difficulties  which  were 
nearly  insurmountable  before  this  metal  was  thus  applied. 
Whenever  silica  and  alumina  are  blended,  as  in  the  mix- 
ture of  clay  and  sand,  the  compound  softens,  and  the  vessel 
loses  iw  shape  when  exposed  to  a  long-continued  white 
heat,  and  this  is  the  case  with  the  Hessian  crucibles :  con- 
sequently, the  most  refractory  of  all  vessels  are  those  made 
entirely  of  clay,  coarsely-powdered  burned  clay  being  used 
as  a  substitute  for  the  sand.  Such  a  compound  resists  the 
action  of  saline  fluxes  longer  than  any  other,  and  is  there- 
fore used  for  the  pots  in  glass  furnaces.     A  Hessian  cruci- 


of  an  artificial  mixture  of  alumina  and  silica ;  the  former     ble  lined  with  purer  clay  is  rendered  much  more  retentive  ; 


obtained  in  the  form  of  a  fine  clay,  from  Devonshire  chiefly 
and  the  latter  consisting  of  chert  or  flint,  which  is  heated 
red-hot,  quenched  in  water,  and  then  reduced  to  powder. 
Each  material,  carefully  powdered  and  sifted,  is  diffused 
through  water,  mixed  by  measure,  and  brought  to  a  due 
consistency  by  evaporation :  it  is  then  highly  plastic,  and 
funned  upon  the  potter's  wheel  and  lathe  into  various  cir- 
cular vessels,  or  moulded  into  other  forms,  which,  after 
having  been  dried  in  a  warm  room,  are  enclosed  in  baked 
clay  cases  resembling  bandboxes,  and  called  sen-gars ;  these 
are  ranged  in  the  kiln  so  as  nearly  W  rill  it,  leaving  only 
space  enough  for  the  fuel ;  here  the  ware  is  kept  red-hot 
for  a  considerable  time,  and  thus  brought  to  the  state  of 
biscuit.  This  is  afterwards  glazed,  which  is  done  by  dip- 
ping the  biscuit-ware  into  a  tub  containing  a  mixture  of 
about  60  parts  of  litharge,  10  of  clay,  and  20  of  ground  flint, 
diffused  in  water  to  a  creamy  consistence;  and  when  taken 
out  enough  adheres  to  tbe  piece  to  give  an  uniform  glazing 
when  again  heated.  The  pieces  are  then  again  packed  up 
in  the  seggars,  with  small  bits  of  pottery  interposed  between 
each,  and  fired  in  a  kiln  as  before.  The  glazing  mixture 
fuses  at  a  very  moderate  heat,  and  gives  an  uniform  glossy 
coating,  which  finishes  the  process  when  it  is  intended  for 
common  white  ware. 

The  patterns  upon  ordinary  porcelain,  which  are  chiefly 
in  blue,  in  consequence  of  the  facility  of  applying  cobalt, 
are  generally  first  printed  off  upon  paper,  which  is  attached 
to  the  plate  or  other  article  while  in  the  state  of  biscuit ; 
the  colour  adheres  permanently  to  the  surface  when  heat  is 
properly  applied :  other  mineral  colours,  such  as  the  oxides 
of  chrome  and  manganese,  are  also  occasionally  employed 
in  the  same  way. 

The  manufacture  of  Porcelain  is  a  more  refined  branch 
of  art;  the  materials  are  selected  with  the  greatest  caution, 
it  being  necessary  that  the  compound  should  remain  per- 
fectly white  after  exposure  to  heat :  it  is  also  required  that 
it  should  endure  a  very  high  temperature  without  fusing, 
and  at  the  same  time  acquire  a  semivitreous  texture,  and  a 
peculiar  degree  of  translucency  and  toughness.  These 
qualities  are  united  in  some  of  the  oriental  porcelain,  or 
China,  and  in  some  of  the  old  Dresden  ;  but  they  are  rarely 
found  coexistent  in  that  of  modern  European  manufacture. 
Some  of  the  French  and  English  porcelain,  especially  that 
made  at  Sevres  and  Worcester,  is  extremely  white,  and 


and  a  thin  china  cup,  or  other  dense  porcelain,  resists  the 
action  of  saline  matters  in  fusion  for  a  considerable  time. 
Plumbago  is  a  very  good  material  for  crucibles,  and  applica- 
ble to  many  purposes;  when  mixed  with  clay  it  forms  a 
very  difficultly  fusible  compound,  and  is  protected  from  the 
action  of  the  air  at  high  temperatures  :  it  is  well  calculated 
for  small  table  furnaces. 

POULP.  The  English  generic  name  of  the  eight-footed' 
Dibranchiate  Cephalopods  (Octopi),  which  have  a  double 
alternate  row  of  suckers  on  each  foot. 

PO'ULTRY.    Different  kinds  of  birds  reared  for  the  pro- 
duction of  eggs,  feathers,  and  for  the  use  of  their  bodies  as 
animal  food.    The  domestic  poultry  in  common  use  in  Brit- 
ain are  the  common  domestic  fowls,  or  cock  and  hen,  the 
turkey,  the  duck,  and  the  goose  ;  to  which  may  be  added, 
as  occasionally  reared,  the  guinea  fowl  and  the  peacock. 
The  most  generally  useful  kind  of  poultry  is  the  common 
domestic  fowl,  which,  though  a  native  of  India,  accompa- 
nies man  throngh  all  climates,  but  which  is  only  productive 
of  abundance  of  eggs  when  well  fed  and  warmly  lodged. 
Hence,  all   poultry-houses,   when   not  built   adjoining  an 
apartment  in  which  fire  is  kept,  or  over  a  stable  or  cow- 
house, where  they  might  benefit  by  the  heat  generated  by 
the   larger  animals,  ought  to  be  furnished  with  flues,  or 
some  other  means  of  generating  heat  artificially  during  win- 
ter and  spring.    Without  some  mode  of  effecting  this,  poul- 
try will  seldom  produce  abundance  of  eggs  in  cold  weather, 
particularly  in  the  colder  parts  of  Britain.    Hence,  in  Scot- 
land, the  common  hen  roosts  in  the  same  room  that  the  cot- 
tager lives  in  ;  and  the  poultry-house  of  the  small  farmer  is 
a  loft  either  over  his  kitchen,  or  over  his  cow-house.     In 
the  management  of  poultry  it  is  not  sufficient  to  supply 
abundance  of  food  and  warmth,  hut  it  is  equally  necessary 
that  they  have  ample  space  for  exercise.    This  space  should 
always  contain  living  plants  of  various  kinds,  and  some 
gravelly  or  sandy  soil ;  because  worms,  snails,  and  insects, 
as  well  as  occasionally  grass  and  herbage,  form  a  part  of 
the  food  of  poultry ;  and  sand  or  gravel  is  swallowed  by 
them  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  digestion.    Hence,  no 
healthy  poultry  can  ever  be  reared  in  towns,  however  much 
the  natural  food  may  be  imitated  by  the  supply  of  animal 
matters,  herbage,  and  sand  :  the  want  of  exercise  in  poultry 
so  circumstanced  will  soon  become  evident  from  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  fowls,  and  from  the  soft  shell  of  their  eggs, 


duly  translucent;  but  it  is  more  apt  to  crack  by  sudden     in  consequence  of  the  animal  functions  not  beiog  efficiently 
changes  of  temperature ;  more  brittle,  and  consequently  |  performed. 

79  ®  973 


POULTRY-HOUSES. 

POULTRY-HOUSES.  Structures  In  which  poultry  are 
k«j)t  in  the  night  time;  the  principal  features  of  which 
ought  i<>  be,  that  each  kind  of  bird  shall  be  separately  lodg 
ed,  and  that  all  shall  have  access  to  an  ample  field,  contain- 
ing a  pond  and  a  heap  of  gravel.    See  Poultry. 

POUNCE.  A  powder  to  prevent  ink  from  spreading 
upon  paper  after  erasures:  it  is  either  sandairach  ri  In  ol 
the  juniper]  in  powder,  or  the  powdered  bone  of  the  cuttle- 
fish. The  term  pounce  is  also  applied  to  the  coloured  pow- 
ders used  by  pattern  drawers  lor  sprinkling  over  pricked 
papers. 

]'(  U'.\T>.  (Lat.  pondus,  weight.)  A  measure  of  «  eight 
In  England  two  different  pounds  are  used  ;  the  pound  nr<<tr 
dupois,  and  the  pound  troy.  The  pound  avoirdupois  weighs 
7000  grains  troy,  and  the  pound  troy  5760  grains.  The  for- 
mer is  divided  into  16  ounces, -and  the  latter  into  12.  {See 
Wkioht.)  Pound  is  also  a  denomination  of  money;  the 
pound  Bterling  being  equal  In  value  to  20  shillings,  or  240 
pence.  Anciently  -240  pence  were  equivalent  to  a  pound  of 
silver ;  hence  the  origin  of  the  term. 

POLPART'i?  Lit:  VMli.NT.  The  tendinous  attachment 
of  the  external  oblique  muscle  of  the  abdomen  to  the  supe- 
rior and  anterior  spinous  process  of  the  os  ileum  and  os 
pubis. 

POU'RPRESTURE,  or  PU'RPRESTURE,  in  Law,  is 
said  to  be  ultra  an}'  man  takes  unto  himself  or  appropri- 
ates anything  that  he  ought  not,  whether  it  be  in  any  juris- 
diction, land,  or  franchise  ;  and  generally  when  anything  is 
done  to  the  nuisance  of  the  king's  tenants,  by  way  of  nui- 
sance or  hurt  to  the  king's  highways  or  demesnes,  by  en- 
closing. &.C.  Pourpresture  may  also  he  lay  tenant  against 
lord  of  the  fee,  or  hy  one  neighbour  against  another. 

POUR8UIVANT.     See  Pursuivant. 

I'i  AVER,  in  Algebra  and  Arithmetic,  denotes  the  product 
arising  from  the  continued  multiplication  of  a  quantity  or 
number  into  itself.  The  successive  powers  of  a  number  are 
formed  and  indicated  as  follows :  Thus,  taking  the  num- 
ber 3, 

3'=   3,  the  1st  power  of  3; 
3   X  3  or  3-'  =   9,  the  2d  power,  or  square  of  3; 

32  x  3  or  33  =  27,  the  3d  power,  or  Cube  of  3: 

33  X  3  or  31  =  81,  the  4th  power  of  3,  &c. 

In  like  manner,  the  successive  powers  of  the  quantity  a  are 
ol,  a-,  a3,  <x4,  &c.  The  numbers  indicating  the  powers  are 
called  the  exponents ;  and  it  is  obvious  from  their  formation 
that  powers  of  the  same  quantity  are  multiplied  hy  adding 
their  exponents,  and  divided  by  subtracting  their  exponents. 
Powers  are  considered  as  negative  or  fractional  which  have 
negative  or  fractional  exponents. 

Power,  in  Mechanics,  denotes  a  force  which  being  ap- 
plied to  a  machine  tends  to  produce  motion.  A  mechanical 
power  denotes  one  of  the  six  simple  machines;  Viz.,  the 
lever,  the  inclined  plane,  the  screw,  the  wheel  and  axle,  the 
■wedge,  and  the  pulhy. 

Power.  In  Law,  a  term  commonly  applied  to  designate 
a  reservation  made  in  a  conveyance,  either  for  the  party 
conveying  or  for  some  other  party,  to  enable  him  to  do  cer- 
tain acts"  regarding  the  property  conveyed.  Powers  are 
either  common  law  authorities,  or  have  their  validity  from 
the  Statute  Of  Uses.  To  the  former  class  belong  powers 
granted  by  will  or  by  act  of  parliament  to  certain  persons  to 
sell  estates,  &c.  The  latter  are  of  several  sorts — 1.  Powers 
appendant,  or  appurtenant,  are  powers  granted  to  one  who 
has  an  estate  given  him  by  the  deed  creating  the  power, 
and  strictly  depending  on  the  estate  so  limited  ;  as  where 
an  estate  for  life  is  limited  to  a  man,  with  power  to  grant 
leases  in  |H>ssession.  2.  A  power  collateral,  or  in  gross, 
given  also  to  one  having  an  interest,  either  granted  by  the 
same  deed,  or  subsisting  previously  to  its  execution  ;  but  it 
enables  him  to  create  such  interests  only  as  will  not  attach 
on  the  Interest  limited  to  him,  as  a  power  to  tenant  for  life 
to  appoint  the  estate  after  his  decease  among  bis  children. 

3.  A  power  simply  collateral  is  one  given  10  a  party  who 
has  not  any  interest  in  the  land,  either  after,  or  subsisting 
Immediately  up  to,  the  period  of  the  execution  of  the  deed. 

POWEE  OF  ATTORNEY.  In  Law,  an  instrument  by 
which  a  party  empowers  another  to  perform  certain  arts 
lor  bus,  either  generally,  or  for  a  particular  purpose  ;  such 
as  to  accept  and  negotiate  letters  of  exchange,  to  receive 
dividends,  fee.  An  instrument  hy  winch  a  party  authorizes 
bis  attorney  to  appear  and  plead  for  him  is  termed  a  war- 
rant of  attorney  (see  that  artii  le  i, 

POWERS,  GREAT,  OF  EUROPE.  In  the  language  of 
modern  diplomacy,  England,  France,  Austria,  Russia,  and 
Prussia,  are  so  called. 

I'OZZI'OLA'N'A.  Volcanic  ashes  used  in  the  mami 
facture  Of  a  mortar  which  hardens  under  water.  They  are 
exported  from  Pozzuoli,  a  town  in  the  Bay  Of  Naples. 

PRAAM.  A  sort  of  lighter  used  in  Holland  and  the 
Baltic. 

PRA'CTICE.  A  rule  in  arithmetic  for  expeditiously 
974 


PRAETORIAN  COHORTS. 

solving  questions  in  proportion  ;  or,  rather,  for  abridging  the 
opei  ition  of  multiplying  quantities  expressed  in  different  de- 
nominations: as  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence;  yards,  feet, 
and  inches,  &C. 

1'K.l.  I'DAMITES.  A  term  given  to  those  inhabitants 
of  the  earth  who  are  presumed,  by  Bome  writers,  to  have 
lived  before  Ad  tm.  In  support  of  this  theory,  a  work  was 
published  in  it>.V>.  by  Isaac  de  la  Pyreri,  which  proved  the 
means  of  converting  many  to  its  author's  opinions. 

I'li.l'.t  OKItl.Y.  (Lat.  pra?,  before,  and  cor,  the  heart.) 
The  tore  part  of  the  chest. 

PREFECT.  (Lat.  prcefectus.)  A  common  name  of  va- 
rious Roman  functionaries;  among  others  a  military  officer, 
who  had  the  command  of  the  cavalry  of  a  legion.  The 
praetorian  prefect  was  the  commanding  officer  of  the  prav 
toiian  cohorts,  w  ho  were  the  imperial  guard,  and  always 
stationed  at  Rome.  This  office,  alter  the  time  of  Severus, 
i  agrossed  the  highest  powers  to  which  a  subject  could  at- 
tain. (See  Pk.viorian  Cohorts.)  Prated  was  likewise 
the  title  given  to  the  imperial  governor  of  Egypt,  which 
was  on  a  different  footing  from  the  other  provinces,  which 
were  superintended  by  senatorial  men  with  the  titles  of 
proconsul  and  proprietor.  The  prefect  of  Egypt,  on  the 
contrary,  was  always  of  the  equestrian  order,  and  was  a 
military  governor.  This  anomaly  is  said  to  have  arisen 
from  a  prophecy  which  foretold  that  Egypt  should  recover 
its  liberty  when  the  Roman  fasces  and  pratexta  should 
come  to  it;  and  which  Augustus  took  advantage  of,  to 
bring  that  province  more  immediately  under  bis  own  super- 
intendence. 

PRyEMUNI'RE.  In  Law,  a  name  given  to  a  species  of 
offence,  in  the  nature  of  a  contempt,  against  the  king  and 
his  government.  The  name  is  derived  from  the  words 
"  pr.TiHoneri,"  or  "prsmuniri  facias,"  which  are  used  in 
the  beginning  of  the  writ  preparatory  to  the  prosecution  of 
the  Offence  ;  "  Cause  A.  B.  to  be  forewarned  that  he  appear 
before  us,"  &x.  The  first  statute  of  praemunire  was  pass- 
ed in  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  to  restrain  the  encroachments 
of  the  Romish  clergy;  and  several  subsequent  statutes  be- 
fore the  Reformation  have  extended  the  number  of  penal 
acts  under  this  title.  The  principal  were  those  proceeding 
from  an  assumption  of  authority  In  England  by  virtue  of 
papa]  and  other  foreign  provisions.  But,  by  still  later  stat- 
utes, acts  of  a  very  miscellaneous  character  have  been  ren- 
dered, liable  to  the  penalties  of  praemunire,  as  refusing  to 
take  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and  supremacy,  &c. 
PR-dSNO'MEN.  See  Coomomen,  Name". 
Pit  ETP'XTA.  (Lat.)  A  long  white  robe  with  a  pur- 
ple herder,  originally  appropriated  by  Tullus  Hostilius  to 
the  Roman  magistrates  and  some  of  the  priests  ;  hut  after- 
wards worn  by  the  children  of  the  higher  classes  ;  by  hoys 
till  the  age  of  seventeen  (when  they  assumed  the  toga  viri- 

lis),  and  by  girls  till  they  were  married. 

PR/E'TOR.  A  Roman  magistrate  ranking  in  dignity 
next  to  the  consuls.  Anciently  the  name  of  pra-tor  was 
common  to  all  the  thief  magistrates  ;  but,  on  account  of  the 
continual  absence  of  the  consuls  in  foreign  wars,  and  their 
consequent  inability  to  discharge  many  of  their  civil  duties, 
a  new  (  nil  magistrate  wa~  created  to  supply  their  place 
(A.U.  389),  to  whom  the  title  of  prstor  was'  specially  as- 
signed. He  was  at  first  elected  from  the  patricians,  but 
the  office  was  afterwards  (A.U.  418)  thrown  open  also  to 
the  plebeians.  When  it  was  found  that  a  single  pra-tor 
was  Inadequate  to  the  due  discharge  of  his  duties,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  great  Influx  of  strangers,  another  was  add- 
ed (A.U.  519)  to  administer  justici  in  cases  in  which  they 
were  involved,  with  the  epithet  peregrinut  attached  to  bis 
title,  to  distinguish  him  from  the  more  ancient  and  bonoui 
able  magistrate,  the  praetor  urbanue,  as  he  was  called. 
This  latter  dignitary  corresponded  in  man)  respects  to  the 
lord-mayors,  mayors,  or  provosts  of  our  country .  combining 
with  their  functions  the  judicial  power  of  lord-chancellor. 
Besides  this,  he  performed  the  duties  of  the  consul,  on 
many  occasions  In  their  absence,  presiding  in  the  assemblies 
of  the  people,  and  convening  the  senate.    So  long  as  the 

Roman  empire  was  confined  to  Italy,  the  Dumber  Of  prstors 
did  not  exceed  two  :  but  on  the  reduction  of  Sicily  and  Sar- 
dinia to  the  form  Of  provinces,  two  more  wire  added  10 
govern  them,  and  again  two  more  were  created  on  the  -ah 
lection  of  hither  and  farther  Spain  to  the  Roman  yoke. 
The  praetors  on  bi  ing  elected  determined  their  province, 
tnsuls,  bj  casting  lots.    Under  the  emperors  the 

powers  of  the  pra  tors  were  reduced,  their  principal  func- 
tions being  transferred  to  the  pnetorian  prefect;  but  the 
name  of  the  magistrate  continued  to  the  time  of  Justinian. 
(See  JVYe&uAr's  Roman  History.) 

PB  ETO  RJ  W  COHORTS.    A  body  of  troops  among 
the  !•''  mans,  distinguished  from  the  res!  of  the  army  by 
and  superior  privileges,  first  instituted  by  Augus- 
tus,   and    called    hy  that    name,    in    imitation    of  the    select 
band  which   attended  a  Roman  general  in  battle.      At   llnir 

first  institution  they  were  nine  in  number,  thrco  being  sta- 


PR^TORIUM. 

tioned  at  Rome,  and  the  rest  in  the  adjacent  towns  of  Italy, 
and  consisted  of  Italian  soldiers  only.  Tiberius  assem- 
bled them  all  at  Rome,  and  placed  them  in  a  permanent 
camp  ;  a  measure  which,  while  it  answered  the  purpose  of 
keeping  the  citizens  in  awe,  proved  dangerous  and  some- 
times destructive  to  his  successors.  The  emperor  Severus 
disarmed  the  old  guards,  and  established  the  praetorian  co- 
horts on  a  new  footing,  increased  their  number,  and  filling 
theui  entirely  with  troops  draughted  from  the  armies  of  the 
northern  frontier.  The  command  of  these  troops  was  vest- 
ed in  an  officer  called  the  Pratorian  praefect,  who,  as  the 
government  gradually  degenerated  into  a  military  despot- 
ism, rose,  from  the  station  of  simple  captain  of  the  guards, 
not  only  to  be  the  head  of  the  army,  but  of  the  provinces, 
and  even  of  the  law.  In  every  department  of  administra- 
tion he  represented  the  person  and  exercised  the  authority 
of  the  emperor.  The  pratorian  bands  were  deprived  of  all 
their  privileges  by  Diocletian,  who  replaced  them  by  other 
troops,  and  were'tinallv  abolished  by  Constantine. 

PRjETO'RIUM.  That  part  of  a  Roman  camp  in  which 
the  general's  tent  stood,  and  where  he  took  the  auspices. 
It  was  raised  a  few  feet  above  the  level  of  the  rest  of  the 
camp.  Of  the  four  gates  of  the  Roman  camp,  that  which 
lav  next  the  enemv  was  called  the  pratorian  gate. 

PRAGMATIC 'SANCTION,  more  correctly  Pragmatic 
Rescript.  A  term  of  which  the  use  seems  to  have  origina- 
ted in  the  Byzantine  empire,  signifying  a  public  and  solemn 
constitution  or  decree  pronounced  by  a  prince  ;  distinguish- 
ed from  the  simple  rescript,  which  was  a  declaration  of 
law  in  answer  to  a  question  propounded  on  behalf  of  an  in- 
dividual. In  European  history  several  important  treaties 
are  called  by  the  name  Pragmatic  Sanction  ;  among  which 
the  principal  are — 1.  The  oidinance  of  Charles  VII.  of 
France,  in  1438,  which  constituted  the  foundation  of  the 
liberties  of  the  Gallican  church.  2.  Charles  VI.,  emperor 
of  Germany,  being  without  male  descendants,  endeavour- 
ed by  an  instrument  termed  the  Pragmatic  Sanction  to  se- 
cure the  succession  to  his  female  heirs  ;  which  caused  the 
Bavarian  war  of  succession,  1740.  3.  The  law  of  succes- 
sion to  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  when  ceded  by  Charles  II. 
of  Spain,  in  1759,  to  his  third  son  and  his  posterity. 

PRAIRIE.  (Fr.)  A  term  in  common  use  for  the  vast 
plains  or  savannahs  of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri.  See 
Savannahs. 

PRASE.  Green  quartz.  The  colouring  matter  of  this 
mineral  appears  to  be  actinolite. 

PRA'XEANS.  A  sect  of  heretics  that  sprung  up  in  A*ta 
in  the  second  century  ;  so  called  from  their  founder,  Pra*eas, 
an  Asiatic  ha;resiareh.  The  distinguishing  characteristics 
of  this  sect  were  their  denial  of  plurality  of  persons  in  the 
godhead,  and  their  belief  that  it  was  the  Father  himself 
who  suffered  on  the  cross.  The  Monarchic',  Sabellians, 
and  Patripassians  adopted  these  sentiments. 

PREA'MBLE.  The  commencement  o(  a  statute,  which 
recites  the  intention  of  parliament  in  framing  it,  and  is  oft- 
en admissible  in  argument  to  prove  its  meaning. 

PRE'BEND.  (Lat.  prsbenda.i  The  share  of  the  estate 
of  a  cathedral  or  collegiate  church  received  by  a  preben- 
dary. To  all  such  churches  there  are  several  prebendaries 
attached,  who  reside  and  officiate  in  rotation. 

PRECE'DENCV.  (Lat.  precedo,  /  go  first.)  The  rela- 
tive rank  of  men  and  women  in  the  etiquette  of  society ; 
strictly  it  means  the  order  in  which  they  follow  one  an- 
other in  a  state  procession,  which  it  is  part  of  the  office  of 
herald's  duty  to  ascertain  and  preserve.  The  following 
are  the  degrees  of  precedency  commonly  recognised  in  Eng- 
land anion?  men  :  1.  The  Sovereign.  2.  The  Prince  of 
Wales.  3.  The  Queen's  consort.  4.  The  Queen  Dowa- 
ger. 5.  The  princes  of  the  blood  according  to  seniority.  6. 
The  Sovereign's  uncles.  7.  Cousins  of  the  Sovereign.  8. 
Husbands  of  princesses.  9.  The  archbishop  of  Canterbury. 
10.  The  lord  high  chancellor.  11.  The  archbishop  of  York. 
12.  Lord  high  treasurer.  13.  Lord  president  of  the  privy 
council.  14.  Lord  privy  seal.  15.  Lord  high  constable. 
16.  Earl  marshal.  17.  Lord  high  admiral.  18.  Lord  stew- 
ard of  the  household.  19.  Lord  chamberlain  of  the  house- 
hold. (The  last  five,  however,  take  precedence  only  of  all 
their  degree :  i.  c,  if  dukes,  they  precede  all  dukes  ;  if 
marquises,  all  marquises,  &c.)  20.  Dukes.  21.  Marquises. 
22.  Dukes'  eldest  sons.  23.  Earls.  24.  Marquises'  eldest 
sons.  25.  Dukes'  younger  sons.  26.  Viscounts.  27.  Earls' 
eldest  sons.  23.  Marquises'  younger  sons.  29,  30,  31.  The 
bishops  of  London,  Durham,  and  Winchester.  32.  Other 
bishops  according  to  priority  of  consecration.  33.  Barons. 
34.  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons.  35.  Viscounts'  eld- 
est sons.  36.  Earls'  younger  sons.  37.  Barons'  eldest  sons. 
38.  Knishts  of  the  Garter.  39.  Privy  councillors.  40.  Chan- 
cellor of  the  Exchequer.  41.  Chancellor  of  the  duchy  of 
Lancaster.  42.  Lord  chief  justice  of  K.  B.  43.  Vice-chan- 
chellor.  44.  Master  of  the  Rolls.  45.  Lord  chief  justice  of 
C.  P.  46.  Lord  chief  baron  of  the  Exchequer.  47.  Judges 
and  barons  of  the  Exchequer  of  the  degree  of  the  coifj'by 


PRECESSION  OF  THE  EQUINOXES. 

seniority.  48.  Knights  bannerets  made  by  the  king  in  per- 
son. 49.  Viscounts'  younger  sons.  50.  Barons'  younger 
sons.  51.  Baronets.  52.  Bannerets  not  made  by  the  king 
in  person.  53.  Knights  grand  cros-es  of  the  Bath.  54. 
Knights  commanders  of  the  Bath.  55.  Knights  bachelors. 
56.  Companions  of  the  Bath.  57.  Eldest  sons  of  the  young- 
er sons  of  peers.  58.  Baronets'  eldest  sons.  59.  Knights  of 
the  Garter's  eldest  sons.  60.  Bannerets'  eldest  sons.  61. 
Knights  of  the  Bath's  eldest  sons.  62.  Knights'  eldest  sons. 
63.  Baronets'  younger  sons.  64.  Esquires  of  the  King's 
body.  65.  Gentlemen  of  the  privy  chamber.  66.  Esquires 
of  the  knights  of  the  Bath.  67.  Esquires  by  creation.  68. 
Esquires  by  office.  69.  Younger  sons  of  knights  of  the  Gar- 
ter. 70.  Younger  sons  of  bannerets.  71.  Younger  sons  of 
knights  of  the  Bath.  72.  Younger  sons  of  knights  bache- 
lors.   73.  Gentlemen  entitled  to  bear  arms. 

PRE'CEDENTS,  in  Law,  are  defined  authorities  to  be 
followed  in  courts  of  justice.  Precedents,  strictly  speaking, 
are  only  binding  on  tribunals  when  they  are  in  the  shape  of 
actual  judicial  dicisions  of  the  point  in  question.  What  En- 
glish lawyers  term  an  extrajudicial  opinion — i.  e.,  the  opin- 
ion of  a  judge  pronounced  where  it  was  not  called  for  to 
decide  the  issue — can  only  have  authority  from  the  character 
of  the  individual  judge,  and  not  as  a  precedent.  When  the 
principles  of  equity  were  as  yet  unsettled,  it  was  held  by 
many  that  precedents  were  inapplicable  in  that  branch  of 
law ;  as  its  very  name  seemed  to  imply  that  each  case 
should  be  governed  by  the  judge's  opinion  of  its  individual 
merits.  But  Lord  Keeper  Bridgman,  among  others,  serious- 
ly refuted  this  supposition ;  and  precedents  have  long  been 
of  as  much  authority  in  courts  of  equity  as  in  those  of  com- 
mon law.  A  form  of  an  instrument  or  a  pleading,  from 
which  others  corresponding  in  circumstances  may  be  cop- 
ied, is  also  termed  a  precedent. 

l'RECETTORIES.  In  the  Middle  Ages,  a  kind  of  bene- 
fices possessed  by  the  more  eminent  Knights  Templar, 
whom  the  grand  master  created  and  styled  Praceptores 
Templi ;  whence  the  name.  Of  these  preceptories,  16  are 
recorded  as  belonging  to  the  Templars  in  England  (see  Mon. 
■ing.)  ;  but  it  is  averred  by  some  writers  that  these  places 
were  merely  cells,  subordinate  to  their  head-quarters,  the 
Temple  in  London.     See  Commandery. 

PRECESSION  OF  THE  EQLTNOXES.  A  term  used 
in  astromony  to  denote  a  small  annual  variation  in  the  po- 
sition of  the  line  in  which  the  planes  of  the  ecliptic  and 
equator  intercept  each  other,  in  consequence  of  which  the 
sun  returns  to  the  same  equinoctial  point  before  completing 
his  apparent  revolution  with  respect  to  the  fixed  stars. 

The  longtitude  of  a  star  is  counted  on  the  ecliptic  east- 
ward from  the  first  point  of  Aries,  or  the  vernal  equinox.  If 
the  line  of  the  equinoxes,  therefore,  maintained  always  the 
same  position  with  respect  to  the  celestial  sphere,  thelong- 
titudes  of  the  stars  would  be  invariable.  But  on  comparing 
the  actual  state  of  the  heavens  with  the  observations  re- 
corded by  ancient  astronomers,  it  is  found  that  the  longti- 
tudes  of  all  the  stars  have  considerably  increased,  and  all 
to  the  same  degTee ;  so  that  the  celestial  sphere  appears  to 
:  turn  round  the  axis  of  the  ecliptic  with  a  slow  motion  from 
west  to  east,  or  in  the  same  direction  as  the  sun  in  his  an- 
nual revolution.  The  phenomena,  however,  will  be  in  all 
respects  the  same,  if,  instead  of  supposing  the  whole  firma- 
ment to  advance  in  the  order  of  the  signs,  we  suppose  the 
axis  of  the  earth's  equator  to  have  a  slow  motion  about  the 
axis  of  the  ecliptic  in  the  opposite  direction.  This  will  give 
to  the  line  of  intersection  of  the  two  planes  (which  is  the 
line  of  the  equinoxes)  a  retrograde  motion  from  east  to 
"est,  in  consequence  of  which  the  sun,  whose  motion  is 
from  west  to  east,  arrives  at  the  equinoctial  point  sooner 
than  if  they  remained  at  rest;  and  therefore  the  equinoxes, 
and  the  seasons  which  depend  on  them,  come  round  before 
the  sun  has  completed  an  entire  circuit  of  the  sphere.  On 
this  account  the  motion  has  been  called  the  precession  of 
the  equinoxes. 

Although  the  existence  of  the  precessional  motion  of  the 
equinoctial  points  was  known  at  an  early  period  in  the  his- 
tory of  astronomy,  the  imperfection  of  instruments  prior  to 
the  sixteenth  century  did  not  permit  of  observations  be- 
ing made  with  sufficient  accuracy  to  determine  its  precise 
rate,  which  must  therefore  be  deduced  from  comparisons  of 
the  longtitude  of  the  same  star  calculated  from  modern  ob- 
servations ;  although,  on  account  of  the  extreme  slowness 
of  the  motion,  the  determination  must  be  liable  to  some  un- 
certainty, unless  a  considerable  interval  of  time  has  elapsed 
between  the  epochs  of  observation.  According  to  Bradley's 
observations,  the  longtitude  of  the  star  Spica  Virginis,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  year  1760,  was  2004944°.  At  the  be- 
ginning of  1802  Maskelvne  found  the  longtitude  of  the  same 
star  to  be  201-0781°.  The  difference  is  05837°  in  42  years, 
which  gives  50'3"  in  a  year.  The  comparison  of  a  great 
number  of  observations  on  different  stars  gives  50'1"  for  the 
annual  precession.  According  to  this  estimate,  the  equi- 
noctial points  retrograde  on  the  ecliptic  at  the  rate  of  one 

975 


PRECESSION  OF  THE  EG.UINOXE3. 

donee  in  "Hi  years,  and  therefore  will  require  a  period  of 
:  omplete  revolution. 
The  physical  cause  of  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes  is 
lined  action  of  the  sun  ami  moon  on  tin 
matter  accumulated  about  the  earth's  equator,  and  forming 
he  terrestrial  spheroid  above  its  inscribed 
sphere.    The  matter  of  this  spheroidal  shell,  in  reference  to 
the  effect  of  the  solar  attraction  on  it.  may  l>e  regarded  as 
i  ring  about  the  earth  in  the  plane  of  the  equator. 
Now  the  solar  force,  acting  on  the  part  of  the  ring  which  is 
above  the  ecliptic,  may  at  every  point  be  resolved  into  two 
parts,  one  parallel  to  the  plane  of  the  equator,  and  the  other 
perpendicular  to   it;   and   the  resultant   of  all   the   latter 
forces  must  be  a  force  tending  to  impress  on  the  rim:  a  mo- 
tion round  the  intersection  or  its  plane  with  the  ecliptic. 
.    thing  holds  true  of  the  other  half  of  the  ring 
which  is  under  the  ecliptic.    If  the  earth,  therefore,  had  no 
motion  of  rotation,  the  plane  of  the  equator  would  turn 
round  the  line  of  its  intersection  with  the  ecliptic  until  it 
coincided  with  the  latter  plane.    But  while  the  equator  has 
this  tendency  to  revolve  about  an  axis  in  its  plane,  it  has  also 
a  rotatory  motion  about  an  axis  perpendicular  to  its  plane; 
it  will  therefore,  according  to  a  well-known  theorem  in  me- 
chanics, not   revolve  on  either  of  these  axes,  but  on  one 
which  divides  the  angle  between  them,  so  that  the  sine  of 
its  angular  distance  from  each  axis  is  in  the  inverse  ratio 
of  the  angular  velocity  round  that  axis.     See  Rotation. 
In  order  to  illustrate  this,  let  E  K  F  U  be  the  earth's 
equator,  A  the  centre,  A  B  the  axis  of 
FT*}  rotation,  S  the  sun,  and  E  F  the  diame- 
x/"/7  ter  of  the  equator  perpendicular  to  A  S ; 
and  suppose  the  earth  to  be  in  the  posi- 
tion it  occupies  at  the  summer  solstice. 
We  may  also  suppose  the  centre  of  gravity  A  to  be  at  rest, 
as  the  effect  in  question  is  not  altered  by  the  orbital  mo- 
tion.    It  is  plain  that  if  the  earth  were  a  sphere,  the  sun's 
attraction  would  have  no  tendency  to  give  it  an  angular 
motion  about  the  centre  A;  for  all  the  matter  h< 
metrically  arranged  about  the  line  S  A,  the  effect  of  the 
attraction  on  any  point  on  one  side  of  that  line  would  be  ex- 
actly compensated  by  the  attraction  on  the  corresponding 
point  on  the  opposite  side.     But  the  earth  being  an  oblate 
spheriod,  we  must  consider  the  effect  of  the  sun's  attraction 
on  the  mass  of  matter  exterior  to  the  sphere  which  touches 
the  spheroid  at  its  poles.    Now  let  K  he  an  element  of  tin 
protuberant  matter,  which  we  may  suppose  to  he  all  accu- 
mulated in  the  plane  of  the  equator ;  the  sun's  attraction  on 
K,  acting  in  the  line  which  joins  S  and  K,  may  I 
into  two  parts— one  of  them  acting  in  the  plane  of  the  equa- 
tor, and  the  other   in  a  line  perpendicular  to  that  plane. 
The  part  of  the  solar  force  acting  on  K  perpendicularly  to 
the  equator,  tends  to  give  that  plane  a  rotatory  motion  about 
the  axis  E  F,  by  drawing  K  towards  the  plane  of  the  eclip- 
tic :  but  the  earth  at  the  same  time  revolves  about  the  axis 
A  B.  which  is  perpendicular  to  E  F.    In  consequence  of 
tills  compound  motion  the  axis  of  rotation  will  change  its 
position  from  A  1!  to  A  I),  the  pole  B  moving  in  a  direction 
opposite  to  that  of  the  rotation  ;  and  as  the  solar  force  con- 
tinues to  act  at  every  instant,  the  poleB  will  have  a  contin- 
uous slow  motion  about  the  pole  of  the  ecliptic,  and  the 
plane  of  the  equator,  which  is  perpendicular  to  A  B,  will  at 
every  instant  intersect  the  ecliptic  in  a  new  line,  which  will 
slowly  recede  or  go  backward  on  the  ecliptic  in  the  direc- 
tion opposite  to  that  of  the  earth's  rotation. 

The  motion  now  described  may  be  assimilated  to  that  of  a 
top  put  into  rapid  motion,  with  its  axis  inclined  to  the  horizon. 
In  this  posiii .in  the  axis  of  the  lop  slowly  revolves  about 
the  vertical  draw  n  from  the  point  on  which  it  rests,  describ- 
ing the  surface  of  a  cone  ;  and  ai  y  section  of  the  top  per- 
pendicular to  the  axis,  if  produced  to  meet  the  horizon,  will 
at  every  instant  intersect  that  plane  in  a  new  line;  and  the 
line  of  Intersection  "ill  revolve  with  a  motion  correspond- 
ing to  that  of  the  axis  in  the  direction  opposite  to  that  of  the 
rotation. 

The  attraction  of  the  moon  on  the  spheroidal  shell  pro- 
duces a  similar  effect  to  that  of  the  sun.  and  in  a  still  great- 
er degree,  in  the  ratio  of  about  .">  to  -■  It  i<  easj  to  see  that 
the  etlect  of  both  those  bodies  in  displacing  the  equator  of 
the  terrestrial  spheroid  must  vary  with  their  position  in  re- 
ference to  it ;  for  if  they  moved  in  the  plane  of  the  equator, 
there  would  evidently  be  no  di  -placement,  and  tln-ir  power 
to  produce  it  is  greatest  when  the  earth  is  in  such  I 
don  that  the  inclination  of  the  equator  to  the  ecliptic,  or  to 
the  plane  of  the  lunar  orbit,  is  a  maximum.  This  ine- 
quality of  action  gives  rise  to  another  highly  important  as- 
tronomical phenomon;  namely,  an  apparent  vibratory  mo- 
tion of  the  equator,  which  Bradley  'who  lir-l  • 

cause  and  period]  significantly  denominated  the  nutation  of 

Vie  earth's  an   .      -       \i  ivtios. 

In  consequence  of  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes  the 
sun's  place  among  the  zodiacal  constellations,  at  an- 
season  of  the  year,  is  now  greatly  different  from  what  it 
976 


PRE-EXISTENCE. 

was  in  remote  ages.  Sometime  before  the  nze  of  Ilippar- 
chus  the  first  points  of  Aries  and  Libra  corresponded  to  the 
vernal  and  autumnal  equinoxes,  and  those  of  Cancer  and 
Capricorn  to  the  summer  and  winter  solstices.  These  (xcints 
have  now  receded  30°  from  the  constellations  to  w  Inch  they 
then  corresponded.  The  vernal  equinox  now  happens  when 
the  sun  is  in  Pisces,  the  summer  solstice  when  he  is  in 
Gemini,  the  autumnal  equinox  when  lie  is  in  Virgo,  and  the 
winter  solstice  when  he  is  in  Sagittarius.  Astronomers, 
however,  still  employ  the  term  the  first  point  of  Aria  to  de- 
note the  position  of  the  vernal  equinox.  On  this  account 
the  signs  of  the  zodiac,  or  ecliptic,  which  nre  fixed  in  respect 
of  the  equinoctial  points,  must  be  carefully  distinguished 
from  the  constellations,  which  are  moveable  with  resect  to 
those  points.  (See  Airy' 8  .Mathematical  Tracts  ;  Encye. 
lint.,  art.  "  Precession  ;"  It'oodhousc's  Physical  Jlstronomy  ; 
La  Place,  Mecaniquc  Celeste;  Poisson,  Sur  le  Mouvemeut 
da  la  Terre  autour  de  son  Centre  dc  (iravite.  in  the  Mem, 
de  VAead,  dee  Sciences  de  Fan.--,  torn,  vii.,  1^-29.) 

PRECTPITATE.  (Lat  preceps,  headlong.)  A  result 
of  chemical  decomposition,  in  which  a  substance  is  thrown 
(Imrt)  in  a  solid,  and  generally  in  a  finely  divided  state,  from 
a  liquid. 

PREDA'CEANS.  (Lat.  pneda,  booty.)  The  English 
name  used  by  Kirby  as  synonymous  with  the  Carnassicrs 
of  Cuvier.    See  Fkrinks. 

PREDESTLVATH  >N.  (In  Gr.  zrpnoptauoc,  Rom.,  viii., 
29  j  Eph.  i.,  5,  11.)  The  belief  that  God  has  from  all  eter- 
nity decreed  whatever  comes  to  pass.  In  a  theological 
sense,  it  is  thus  defined  in  the  17th  Article  of  our  church — 
"Predestination  to  life  is  the  everlasting  purpose  of  God, 
whereby,  before  the  foundations  of  the  world  were  laid,  he 
hath  constantly  decreed  by  his  counsel,  secret  to  u>.  to  de- 
liver from  curse  and  damnation  those  whom  he  hath  chos- 
en in  Christ  out  of  mankind,  and  to  bring  them  by  Christ  to 
everlasting  salvation."  The  Lambeth  Articles,  agreed  to 
in  1595  by  a  portion  of  the  clergy,  assert  that  'God  from 
eternity  hath  predestinated  certain  men  unto  life,  certain  he 
hath  reprobated."  Theological  writers  have  generally  for- 
borne to  use  the  word  predestination  with  respect  to  the  re- 
jected :  "Nefas  est  dicere  Deum  aliquid  nisi  hnnum  pra?des- 
tinare."  (August.,  De  Dono  Persevcranticc.)  See  Elec- 
tion. Calvinism. 

PREDETERMINATION.  In  Scholastic  Philosophy, 
that  concurrence  of  God  which  determines  men  in  the  per- 
formance of  their  actions,  good  or  evil ;  called  physical  pre- 
dttermination,  or  premotion. 

I'VE'DIAL.  (Lat.  pnedium,  farm.)  Of  or  belonging  to 
a  farm  Tims  we  often  read  of  predial  slaves  and  slavery, 
in  oppos'.tion  to  domestic ;  predial  disturbances  in  Ireland, 
&c. 

PRE'DICABLE.  In  Louie,  a  term  which  ran  be  affirma- 
tively predicated  of  several  others.  The  notions  expressed 
by  such  terms  are  formed  by  the  faculty  termed  abstraction, 
after  the  particular  circumstances  characterizing  each  indi- 
vidual have  beer,  withdraws  from  it.  The  preclicables  are 
commonly  said   to  be  five;  L'e-.ois.  spec..  •'.  pro- 

perty 'which   has  been  subdivided   into  four  heads  by  no 
very    intelligible    BJ  and   accident 

(which  is  either  separable  or  inseparable).  Sec  these  terms 
and  Logic 

PREDI'CAMENTS,  or  CATEGORIES,  in  Logic,  are  a 
certain  number  of  genera]  heads,  or,  in  logical  phraseology, 
summa  genera,  under  one  or  other  of  which  every  term  'nay 
be  arranged.  Aristotle  enumerated  ten  predicaments; 
others,  by  subdividing  seine  of  these,  have  increased  their 
number.  Those  of  Aristotle  nre — substance,  qoantity,  qua- 
lity, relation,  place,  time,  situation,  possession,  action,  suf- 
fering. It  is  evident  that  all  these  may  be  arrange/!  under 
two  grand  heads — substance  and  at:ribute.  Sec  Category, 

AtTI'.II'.I  te. 

PREDICATE.    In  Logic,  Is,  of  the  two  terms  of  a  pro- 
portion, that  which  is  affirmed  or  denied  of  the  other.   See 
I  ,0OII 

PREDISPO'SING  CAUSE,  in  Medicine,  is  any  circum- 
stance which  renders  the  bod)  susceptible  of  disease. 

PRE  EXISTENCE,   in  Philosophy,  tl  of  any 

thins  before  another;  commonly  used  for  the  existence  of 
the  human  soul,  in  some  former  Condition,  before  it  became 

connected  with  its  present  body.    It  was  the  doctrine  of  the 
Pythagorean  school,  and  connected  with  their  peculiar  te- 
lle   Metempsychosis.    It  was  also  the  doctrine  of 

and  he'  uses  in  support  of  it  arguments  which  have 

exercised  a  strong  influence  on  many  minds,  and  to  this 
day  are  constantly  recurring  to  those  "  ho  study  the  subject 
on  Independent  principles;  particularly  the  rapidity  of 
learning  in  early  childhood,  which  he  explains  as  an  effort 
of  reminisce  »  e,  doi  acquisition.  Others  have  enlisted  into 
ttions  which  are  sometimes 

raiseel  by  scenes,   persons,  sounds  w  ords,   though   seen  or 

heard,  as  our  reason  would  persuade  us,  for  the  Bret  oBte, 
as  if  we  were  conscious  of  some  prior  familiarity  with 


PREFACE. 

them.  This  poetical,  rather  than  philosophical  view  of  the 
subject,  is  beautifully  illustrated  in  a  well  known  ode  of 
Wordsworth. 

PRE'FACE.  (Lat.  prte,  and  fari,  to  speak.)  The  obser- 
vations prefixed  to  a  work  or  treatise,  intended  to  inform 
the  reader  of  its  plan  and  peculiarities.  There  are  few 
subjects  which  afford  so  wide  a  field  for  the  display  of  skill 
and  address  as  preface  writing ;  and  those  who  wish  to 
witness  an  unrivalled  exhibition  of  these  qualities  may  con- 
sult some  of  Dr.  Johnson's  prefaces,  either  to  his  own  writ- 
ings, or  to  the  numerous  works  which  he  edited. 

PRE'FECT.  An  important  political  functionary  in  mo- 
dern France.  Under  the  old  regime,  the  officers  who  were 
sent  round  to  the  provinces  to  superintend  the  details  of  ad- 
ministration on  behalf  of  the  king  were  at  first  styled  mai- 
tres  des  requites.  These  were  made  permanent  local  offi- 
cers in  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  and  afterwards  attained  many 
additional  powers,  with  the  title  of  intendants.  These  were 
abolished  at  the  Revolution,  when  various  attempts  were 
made  to  establish  elective  local  governments.  By  a  law  of 
the  year  1800  prefects  were  first  appointed  for  the  depart- 
ments, with  powers  similar  in  many  respects  to  those  of  the 
old  intendants,  with  a  council  of  the  prefecture,  and  a  gen- 
eral council  of  the  department;  which,  however,  fell  into 
disuse.  With  slight  variations,  the  prefects  retain  the  same 
jurisdiction.  They  are,  in  some  respects,  analogous  to  our 
sheriffs  ;  but  with  far  greater  powers.  They  possess  not 
the  nominal  only,  but  the  actual  direction  of  the  police  es- 
tablishment, within  their  respective  departments,  together 
with  extensive  powers  of  municipal  regulation  ;  the  arron- 
disseinents  or  districts  Into  which  the  departments  are  sub- 
divided are  under  sous-prefets  appointed  by  them.  Their 
power,  however,  is  considerably  controlled  by  that  of  the 
council  of  the  prefecture,  which  acts  in  some  measure  as  a 
court  of  appeal  from  the  prefect,  taking  cognizance  of  vari- 
ous cases  within  the  sphere  of  his  administrative  interfer- 
ence, if  legal  disputes  arise  upon  it. 

PRE'HNITE.  A  mineral  of  a  greenish  colour,  allied  to 
the  zeolites ;  originally  discovered  at  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  By  Colonel  Prehn. 

PRE' LACY.     See  Episcopacy. 

PRE'LATE.  (Lat.  prelatus.)  A  term  commonly  ap- 
plied to  bishops,  archbishops,  and  patriarchs,  in  Christian 
churches.  Anciently,  mitred  abbots  seem  also  to  have 
been  called  prelates. 

PRE'LUDE.  (Lat.  pra,  before,  and  ludo,  J  play.)  In 
Music,  the  preface  or  introduction  to  a  movement,  and  usu- 
ally consisting  of  a  few  bars  of  harmony  in  the  same  key  as 
the  movement  which  it  precedes  ;  being,  in  fact,  a  prepara- 
tion to  the  ear  for  what  is  to  follow. 

PRE'MIER.  (Fr.)  The  name  generally  given  to  the 
prime  minister  of  England. 

PRE'MISES.  In  Logic,  the  two  first  propositions  of  a 
syllogism  are  so  called.     See  Syllogism. 

PREMO'NSTRANTS.  A  religious  order  of  regular  can- 
ons instituted  in  1120  by  St.  Norbert  (whence  they  are  also 
called  Norbertines),  at  Premonstratum,  in  Picardy,  which 
is  said  to  have  derived  its  name  from  having  been  pointed 
out  by  the  Virgin.  The  canons  of  this  order  followed  the 
rule  of  St.  Austin,  and  were  sometimes  called  White  Can- 
ons, from  the  colour  of  their  habits.  They  were  brought 
into  England  about  1140,  where  they  are  said  to  have  estab- 
lished thirty-five  houses  of  their  order. 

PRENSICULA'NTIA.  (Lat.  prehendo,  /  seize.)  A 
name  applied  by  Illiger  to  an  order  of  Mammalia,  corres- 
ponding with  the  Glires  of  Linnaeus  and  the  Rodentia  of 
Cuvier,  and  indicative  of  the  prehensile  faculty  with  which 
the  fore  paw  is  endowed  in  most  of  the  species  of  this  order. 
PREPARATION.  In  Music,  the  previous  adjustment  of 
two  notes  by  whose  introduction  a  note  which  is  to  become 
a  discord  is  heard  in  the  preceding  harmony.     See.  Mcsic. 

PREPOSI'TION.  (Lat.  pra-pono,  /  place  before.)  In 
Grammar,  that  part  of  speech  which  denotes  the  relations 
between  objects ;  as  in,  to,  upon.     See  Grammar. 

PRERO'GATIVE.  (Lat. prcerogativa,  applied  in  ancient 
Rome  to  that  tribe,  or  century,  which  had  the  privilege  of 
giving  its  votes  (rogare  suffra'gia)  first  at  the  comitia.)  A 
word  in  English  law,  signifying  the  king's  special  rights, 
both  as  chief  of  the  kingdom  in  point  of  honour,  and  as  su- 
preme magistrate  intrusted  with  the  execution  of  the  laws. 
Prerogatives  are  said  to  be  of  two  kinds,  direct  and  inciden- 
tal; the  first,  such  as  belong  to  the  king  essentially  by  vir- 
tue of  his  high  political  character  ;  such  as  the  inviolability 
of  his  person,  the  appointment  to  offices  and  places  of  trust, 
the  command  of  the  army,  the  power  of  making  war  and 
peace,  the  supremacy  of  the  national  church,  his  legislative 
authority,  &c. ;  and  the  latter,  such  exceptions  as  are  made 
in  his  favour  from  the  ordinary  rules  of  law  in  private  mat- 
ters. Such  are,  with  respect  to  debts,  the  power  to  levy 
first  execution  before  other  creditors,  and  of  levying  by  the 
prerogative  writ  of  extent;  the  power  of  taking'  goods  and 
chatties  in  succession,  which  no  other  corporation  can  do ; 


PRESBYTERY. 

exemption  from  all  customs  general  and  special  as  to  de- 
scent of  lands,  in  a  case  where  any  such  custom  would  have 
the  effect  of  preventing  lands  held  jure  corona;  from  passing 
to  the  successor;  the  abstract  dominion  of  all  lands  and 
hereditaments  by  the  fiction  of  universal  occupancy ;  the 
right  to  derelict  lands  by  the  sudden  retiring  of  the  sea ;  the 
dominion  of  seas,  navigable  rivers,  &c. 

PRERO'GATIVE  COURT.  The  court  in  which  wills 
are  proved,  and  administrations  taken,  which  belong  to  the 
archbishop,  by  his  prerogative.    Sec  Law,  Ecclesiastical, 

PRESBYO'PIA.  (Gr.  i:pcc6vs,  old,  and  wxp,  the  eye.) 
An  imperfection  of  vision  commonly  attendant  upon  the 
more  advanced  periods  of  life,  in  which  near  objects  are  seen 
less  distinctly  than  those  at  a  distance.  It  is  usually  caused 
by  flattening  of  the  cornea ;  hence  convex  spectacles  are 
required.  It  often  happens  that  one  eye  is  more  affected 
than  the  other,  in  which  case  glasses  of  different  foci  should 
be  used. 

PRE'SB YTER.  (Gr.  -nptaGvTtpo;,  elder  ;  by  which  word 
it  is  translated  in  our  New  Testament.)  One  of  an  order 
of  ministers  in  the  Christian  church,  frequently  alluded  to 
in  the  Scriptures  as  having,  in  its  several  members,  the 
spiritual  care  of  distinct  congregations,  and  exercising  as  a 
class  a  general  superintendence  over  the  concerns  of  the 
church.  It  is  allowed  that,  up  to  the  time  of  Calvin,  there 
never  existed  a  church  in  which  there  was  not  an  order  of 
presbytery,  or  priests,  subordinate  to  that  of  bishops ;  and, 
although  the  words  themselves  are  sometimes  confounded 
in  the  New  Testament,  the  assertors  of  episcopacy  point 
out  the  distinction  between  the  offices  as  accurately  pre- 
served throughout.     See  Episcopacy  and  Presbytery. 

PRESBYTE'RIANS.  The  name  given  to  that  sect  of 
Christians  who  have  embraced  the  Presbyterian  form  of 
government.     See  Presbytery. 

PRE'SB YTERY  (Gr.  Tpea6vTiptoi>,  a  council  or  assembly 
of  elders),  is  that  form  of  ecclesiastical  polity  according  to 
which  there  is  no  gradation  of  order  in  the  church,  but 
which  vests  church  government  in  a  society  of  clerical  and 
lay  presbyters,  or,  in  common  phraseology,  ministers  and 
lay  elders,  all  possessed  officially  of  equal  rank  and  power. 
The  Presbyterians  maintain  that  the  words  presbyter  {-Kpta- 
Bvrtpoi)  and  bishop  {tTTWKO-Kai)  are  synonymous  and  inter- 
changeable terms  ;  that  we  nowhere  read  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment of  bishops  and  presbyters  or  of  pastors  of  different  rank, 
in  the  same  church ;  that  all  ministers  of  the  gospel,  being 
ambassadors  of  Christ,  are  inherently  equal ;  and  that  dea- 
cons are  laymen,  whose  sole  duty  it  is  to  take  charge  of  the 
poor.  Among  other  proofs  they  quote  the  following:  "The 
elders  (TrpcoSviepoi)  who  are  among  you  I  exhort,  who  am 
also  an  elder  (avfnrpecBvTtpos).  Feed  the  flock  which  is 
among  you,  taking  the  oversight  thereof  (cmoKoizovvTcc,  act- 
ing as  bishops  over  them),  not  by  restraint,  but  willingly; 
not  for  filthy  lucre,  but  of  a  ready  mind;  neither  as  being 
lords  over  God's  heritage."  (1  Peter,  v.,  1,  2,  3.)  It  is 
contended  that,  in  this  passage,  the  identity  of  presbyter  and 
bishop  is  apparent ;  and  that  the  apostle  himself,  as  an  of- 
ficer of  the  church,  was  simply  a  presbyter  or  elder.  (See 
also  Hebrews,  xiii.,  7,  17;  1  Thess.,  v.,  12,  6.)  On  these 
grounds  the  Presbyterians  assume  that  "the  very  chiefest 
apostles"  were  presbyters,  or  labouring  ministers  ;  and  that 
every  faithful  pastor  of  a  flock  ordained  by  the  imposition 
of  hands,  as  sanctioned  and  taught  in  Scripture,  is  a  suc- 
cessor of  the  apostles  in  every  respect  in  which  divinely  in- 
spired men  can  be  regarded  as  having  any  successors.  It  is 
farther  argued,  in  support  of  the  polity  under  review,  that 
Timothy  himself,  though  said  to  be  a  bishop,  was  ordained 
"  with  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  presbytery.'"  (I 
Tim.,  iv.,  14.) 

It  is,  however,  admitted  by  the  Presbyterians  that  episco- 
pacy was  introduced  at  an  early  period  into  the  Christian 
church,  and  has  hitherto  been  the  prevailing  polity;  but 
they  insist  that  as  St.  Paul  presided  at  the  ordination  of 
Timothy,  not  as  supreme  over  his  brethren,  but  as  moderator 
or  chairman  for  the  occasion,  primus  in  paribus,  so  the  mod- 
erator of  a  presbytery,  instead  of  being  changed  or  re-elected, 
had  in  course  of  time  been  declared  permanent;  and  hence 
the  origin  of  the  episcopal  order.  (Jllos/ieim,  i.,  90;  Hill's 
Theol.  Institutes.) 

But  while  the  Presbyterians  trace  the  origin  of  their 
church  to  the  practice  of  the  apostles,  and  affirm  that  there 
are  no  intimations  of  episcopacy  in  Scripture,  or  in  the 
writings  of  the  apostolical  fathers,  they  admit  that  presby- 
tery, as  it  now  obtains,  did  not  exist  between  the  2d  century 
and  the  reformation  of  religion.  "The  first  reformers,  who 
believed  that  the  distinction  between  bishops  and  presbyters 
had  no  foundation  in  Scripture,  and  who  wished  to  apply  an 
effectual  remedy  to  the  abuses  which  appeared  to  them  to 
have  arisen  in  the  progress  of  human  inventions,  of  invest- 
ing bishops  with  powers  superior  to  presbyters,  did  not  con- 
sider the  antiquity  or  universality  of  that  practice  as  any 
reason  for  its  being  continued.  Recurring  to  what  they  con- 
sidered the  primitive  Scripture  model,  they  laid  the  founda- 

977 


PRESBYTERY. 

tion  of  presbyterian  church  government  on  this  principle, 
thai  all  members  :ir»-  equal  in  rank  and  power;  and  tbey 
diil  not  admit  an>  official  preference,  but  that  which  is  con 
stitued  by  voluntary  agreement  for  the  sake  of  order."  (Hill's 

Theol.  fust.,  p.  167.) 

The  first  presbyterian  church,  in  modem  times,  was  found- 
ed in  Geneva,  by  John  Calvin,  about  1541 ;  and  tin-  si>:i  in 
was  thence  introduced  into  Scotland,  with  some  modifica- 
tions, by  John  Knox,  about  1560,  but  was  not  legally  estab- 
lished there  till  1592.  For  about  a  century  from  this  date 
there  was  a  continual  struggle  in  Scotland  between  presby- 
tery and  episcopacy  for  superiority.     The  latter    which  was 

patronized  by  the  court)  predominated  in  1606;  bul  was 
superseded  by  the  former  (to  which  the  great  hody  of  the 
people  were  attached)  in  1538.    Presbytery  kept  Its  ground 

from  this  period  till  the  revolution  in  1660,  when  episcopacy 
asain  obtained  the  ascendancy,  which  it  maintained  till 
1688;  soon  after  which  it  was  abolished,  and  the  national 
church  of  Scotland  declared  presbyterian — a  form  which  it 
has  since  retained.  The  most  numerous  bodies  of  dissenters 
from  the  Scottish  established  church,  such  as  the  Associate 
and  Relief  Synods,  are  also  Presbyterians;  their  cause  of 
secession  being  that  the  church  had'  relaxed  the  strictness  of 
presbyterian  principles. 

Presbytery  has  never  flourished  ureatly  in  England.  Here 
the  first  presbyterian  church  was  formed  at  Wandsworth, 
Surrey,  in  1573,  .".hunt  'JO  years  before  presbytery  was  estab- 
lished by  law  in  Scotland  ;  but  though  the  system  was  never 
palatable  to  the  English  nation  generally,  an  attempt  was 
made  to  make  the  established  church  presbyterian  in  the 
reign  of  Charles  I.  This  object  was  signally  promoted  by 
the  famous  Assembly  of  Divines  at  Westminster.  In  1649, 
presbytery  was  sun  tinned  by  the  English  parliament,  and 
lb.-  established  church  was  nominally  presbyterian  from 
this  date  till  the  restoration  in  ltjtJO;  yet  it  was  never  gen- 
erally adopted,  or  regularly  organized,  except  in  London 
and  in  Lancashire.  {.Murray's  Lift  of  Samuel  Rutherford, 
Edin.,  I(s-.i8.  chap,  viii.)  Upwards  of  8000  presbyterian 
clergy  were  ejected  from  their  cures  in  England,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  Act  of  Uniformity  in  106-2.  Then 
many  congregations  about  150)  in  England,  particularly  in 
the  northern  counties,  called  presbyterian  ;  some  of  them  in 
full  connexion  with  the  Scottish  church,  others  differing 
materially  from  that  polity,  while  not  a  few  of  them  have 
adopted  nearly  the  same  church  government  with  the  Inde- 
pendents. In  Ireland,  chiefly  in  the  province  of  Ulster,  there 
are  about  450  presbyterian  congregations.  There  are  up- 
wards of  100  such  congregations  in  our  North  American 
possessions;  and  presbytery  has  also  been  introduced  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent  in  the  other  British  colonies. 

In  the  United  States  of  America  presbytery  embraces  up- 
wards of  OSOO  congregations,  with  2000  ministers.  (American 
Almanac  for  1840.)  The  same  system,  though  some  what 
modified  from  that  which  obtains  in  Scotland,  is  the  estab- 
lished church  in  Holland.  (Steven's  Brief  i'iew  of  the 
Dutch  Eccles.  Establishment,  ed.  1839.)  It  still  exists, 
though  to  a  very  limited  extent,  in  Geneva:  it  prevails  also 
less  or  more  in  several  of  the  other  Swiss  cantons. 

The  constitution  of  the  church  of  Scotland,  which  has 
long  been  the  most  perfect  and  efficient  model  of  presbytery, 
is  as  follows:  The  kirk  session  is  the  lowest  court,  and  is 
composed  of  the  parochial  minister  and  of  lay  elders,  the 
number  of  whom  varies  in  different  parishes,  but  is  general- 
ly about  12.  The  minister  is  moderator  ex  officio.  This  kirk 
session  exercises  the  religions  discipline  of  the  parish  ;  but 
an  appeal  may  be  made  from  its  decisions  to  the  presbytery, 
the  court  next  in  dignity.  The  presbytery,  from  which  there 
is  a  power  of  appeal  to  the  synod,  i^  composed  of  the  min- 
isters of  a  number  of  contiguous  parishes  (varying  in  nuin- 
l>er  in  different  cases  ,  w  ith  a  lay  elder  from  each.  A  mod- 
erator, who  must  I"-  a  clergyman,  is  chosen  every  half  year. 

A  presbytery  generally  meets  once  a  month,  but  it  "must 
meet  at  least  twice  a  year;  and  it  may  hold  pro  re  nata 
meetings.  This  court  takes  young  men  on  trial  as  candi- 
dates for  licence;  ordains  presentees  to  vacant  livings;  has 
Die  power  of  sitting  in  judgment  on  the  conduct  of  any  of 
its  members,  and  them;  ami  has  die  general 

superintendence  of  religion  and  education  w  [thin  it--  bounds. 
The  number  of  preeb;  present  82.    The  synod, 

which  meets  mice  yearly,  is  formed  of  the  members,  both 
lay  and  clerical,  of  two  or  more  presbyteries.  \t  ever] 
meeting  a  moderator  is  chosen,  who  must  be  a  clergyman; 
and  a  sermon  is  preached  before  tin-  court  proceeds  to  husi- 
oeaa,  The  Bomber  of  synods  i-  sixteen.  The  general  as- 
sembly is  the  highest  ecclesiastical  court,  its  decisions  being 
supreme.  It  meets  annually  in  the  month  of  .May,  and  sits 
for  ten  successive  days.  Unlike  the  inferior  courts,  it  con- 
sists of  representatives  chosen  by  the  various  presbyteries, 
royal  burghs,  and  universities  of  Scotland.  The  number  of 
representatives  from  rm  pends  on  the  number  of 

members  of  which  each  Is  composed.    No  presbytery  sends 

leSB  than  two  ministers  and  one  lay  elder;  and  OOI  I    more 
978 


PRESIDENT. 

than  siv  ministers  and  three  elders.  The  total  number  of 
members  of  the  general  assembly  is  386,  of  whom  218  are 
iniiiist,  is.    This  supreme  court  has  of  late  consisted  of  more 

than  this  Dumber,  as  the  church  has  admitted  the  ministers 
of  quoad  sacra  parishes  as  constituent  members  of  ecclesias- 
tical courts:  but  the  civil  law  has  not  given  us  sanction  to 
this  measure:  indeed  the  question  is  at  present  sub  judice. 
Tin'  assembl]  chooses  a  new  moderator  yearly,  w  ho,  in  re- 
cent times,  is  always  a  clergyman.  A  sermon  is  r 
before  the  opening  of  the  court.  The  assembly  is  honoured 
with  the  presence  of  a  nobleman  as  representatu.  of  the 
sovereign,  under  the  title  of  lord  high  commissioner;  but  ibis 
high  functionary  takes  no  part  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
court,  except  in  opening  and  closing  or  di->oh  ing  its  sittings, 
and  has  no  voice  in  its  deliberations.  The  assembly  before 
its  close  appoints  a  commission,  which  is  equivalent  to  a 
committee  of  the  whole  house,  being  composed  of  all  the 
members  of  assembly,  and  one  minister  additional,  named 
by  the  moderator.  The  commission  meets  quarterly ;  but 
may  hold  pro  re  nata  meetings, 

The  income  of  the  clergy,  w  hich  may  average  about  X250 
yearly,  including  manse  and  glebe,  is  regulated  bj  the  state  ; 
and  they  are  nominated  to  livings  by  patronage.  They  have 
no  liturgy,  no  altar,  no  instrumental  mii<ic.  The  Scottish 
Presbyterians  do  not  kneel,  but  stand  in  time  of  prayer  ;  and 
in  singing  the  praises  of  Cod  they  sit.  The  sacrament  of 
the  Supper  is  not  administered  In  private  houses  to  any  per- 
son under  any  circumstances  whatever.  (The  Directory 
for  the  Public  Worship  of  (•'ad,  by  the  IVcstin  nstt  r  .  ls.-i  m- 
bly  of  Divines.)  Pluralities  have  been  prohibited;  and  the 
residence  of  clergymen  within  their  respective  parishes  has 
always  been  imperative.  Their  creed  is  ri^'id  Calvinism, 
and  may  be  found  embodied  in  the  Westmin, 
of  Faith  and  the  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms.  But 
though  the  faith  of  the  Scottish  Presbyterians,  whether 
churchmen  or  dissenters,  is  Calvinistic,  not  a  few  of  the 
Presbyterians  in  other  countries  have  adopted  an  Arniiiiim, 
and  not  unfrequent'.y  a  Unitarian  creed.  (Adam's  Relig. 
tVorld  Displayed,  ii..  289-305;  Lord  King's  Inquiry  into 
the  Constitution  of  the  Primitive  Church;  Forbts's  Prcsby- 
tirinn  Letters.) 

Presbytery.  In  the  Scottish  Kirk,  a  district  composed 
of  a  number  of  adjacent  parishes.  See  the  preceding  ar- 
ticle. 

Presbytery.  In  Architecture,  a  portion  of  the  choir  or 
clvmcel  of  a  church  arranged  with  seats  for  the  dignitaries 
of  the  establishment. 

PRESCRTPTION.  A  title  acquired  by  use  and  time  to 
incorporeal  hereditaments,  such  as  a  right  of  way  or  of  com- 
mon, and  the  like.  All  prescription  is  either  pel 
when  it  is  in  a  man  and  his  ancestors,  or  it  is  in  riL'ht  of  a 
particular  estate;  which  last  being  in  a  man.  and  those 
whose  estate  he  hath,  is  called  prescription  in  a  one  elate. 
It  presupposes  a  L'rant,  and  can  therefore  give  a  title  to 
those  things  only  which  can  pass  by  grant.  After  uninter- 
rupted enjoyment  for  thirty,  and  in  many  cases  for  twenty 
years,  a  prima  facie  title  arisi-s  by  prescription  to  the  thing 
enjoyed  ;  and  unless  such  enjoyment  have  continued  under 
some  consent  or  agreement,  the  title  becomes,  in  sixty  \  ears, 
absolute  and  indefeasible.  The  time  of  prescription  in  most 
of  the  ordinarv  instances  to  which  it  applies  is  now  regu- 
late! by  2  &  3  W.  4.  c.  71. 

PRESENTATION.  In  Law,  the  appointment  of  a 
clergyman  to  a  benefice  by  the  patron,  which  lakes  place 
by  presenting  him  to  the  bishop  for  institution. 

PRESENTATION,  FEAST  OF.  In  Ecclesiastical 
Usage,  the  same  with  the  Purification  of  the  Blessed  Vir- 
gin.     Sir  I'lKlHi  A  HON. 

PRESE'NTMENT,  in  Criminal  Law.  is  defined  to  lie  an 
information  made  by  the  jury  in  a  court  before  a  judge  who 
has  authority  to  punish  an  offence.     Pi  .km:.',  it  is 

the  notice  taken  by  a  grand  jury  of  their  own  knowledge, 
without  any  bill  or  indictment  found  before  them,  at  the 
suit  of  the  king,  of  any  offence,  nuisance,  libel,  &.c.  of  w  hich 
they  are  competent  to  take  notice.  An  Indictment,  i  orrect- 
lv  speaking,  is  that  which  is  drawn  up  ami  engrossed  to  be 
found  by  the  grand  jury,  founded  on  their  presentment  or 
n. lie  of  instruction.  Presentment  is  also  comprehensively 
taken  to  include  inquisitions  of  office  and  Indictments,  as 
\\<ll  as  presentments  >  t  r  i ,- 1 1  v  so  called. 

PRE'SIDENT.        I. at.  pr.'i-idro,  /  sit  foremost.)      A   title 

applied  to  many  officers  in  various  capacities, bul  generally 

denoting  a  pic  eminencj .  oiler  u  mporary  or  fixed,  among 

a  number  of  Individuals  assembled  for  a  definite   purpose. 

Thug  tin-  superior  of  a  board  or  council,  &c  is  generally 

entitled  president,  as  is  the  individual  called  to  on 

an  occasional   meeting,  or  to  till  the  chair  at  a  club,  dinner, 

fee;  although  tie- old  English  title  of  chairman  is  frequent- 
ly used  on  such  occasions. 

Tin-   supremo  executive  officer  of  the  United  States  of 

America  is  styled  president.    The  qualifications  required 

of  a  person  raised  to  this  dignity  are,  to  be  a  natural-born 


PRESIDENT,  LORD,  OF  THE  CUONCIL. 

citizen  of  the  age  of  thirty-five  years,  and  to  have  resided 
fourteen  years  within  the  States'.  The  election  is  by  elec- 
toral colleges  in  every  state.  These  colleges  contain,  in 
each  state,  a  number  of  electors  equal  to  all  the  senators 
and  representatives  of  that  state  in  congress;  but  their  ap- 
pointment varies  in  different  states,  and  at  different  times; 
sometimes  it  is  made  by  their  respective  legislatures,  some- 
times by  general  election  throughout  the  state,  sometimes 
part  of  the  electors  are  chosen  by  district  and  part  by  gen- 
eral election.  The  colleges  in  each  state  vote  by  ballot  for 
a  president  (and  at  the  same  time  for  a  vice-president) ; 
and  the  votes  of  all  the  electors,  taken  in  this  manner,  are 
counted  by  the  president  of  the  senate :  when,  if  any  person 
have  an  absolute  majority  of  votes,  he  is  duly  elected  ;  if  not, 
the  election  is  made  by  the  house  of  representatives  be- 
tween the  three  persons  having  the  highest  number;  in 
which  case  the  votes  are  taken  by  states,  and  a  majority  of 
all  the  states  is  necessary  to  constitute  a  choice.  On  two  oc- 
casions, of  which  the  last  was  in  1824,  no  candidate  having 
had  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  voters,  the  house 
of  representatives  has  proceeded  to  make  the  election ;  and, 
on  the  last  of  these  occasions,  a  majority  of  states  chose  a 
candidate  (Adams)  who  had  a  smaller  number  of  electoral 
votes  than  one  of  his  opponents  (Jackson).  On  one  occa- 
sion, in  1800,  the  states  balloted  thirty-six  times  before  any 
candidate  could  obtain  an  absolute  majority.  Should  the 
president  die  during  his  term  of  office,  he  is  succeeded  by 
the  vice-president,  an  event  which  has  recently  occurred. 

In  his  legislative  capacity,  the  president  has  the  power 
of  approving  bills  sent  to  him  after  passing  both  houses  of 
congress,  or  of  returning  them  to  the  house  in  which  they 
have  originated  with  his  objections  annexed.  In  the  latter 
case,  the  bill  must  be  considered  by  that  house ;  ami  if,  on 
reconsideration,  it  obtain  a  majority  of  two  thirds  in  both 
houses,  it  passes  into  a  law.  In  his  executive  capacity,  he 
is  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the  Union, 
and  of  the  state  militias  when  called  into  the  service  of  the 
Union  ;  he  has  the  power  of  reprieving  and  pardoning,  ex- 
cept in  cases  of  impeachment ;  he  has  power  to  make  trea- 
ties, with  the  consent  of  the  senate  (by  a  majority  of  two 
thirds) ;  he  nominates  ambassadors,  consuls,  judges  of  the 
supreme  court,  and  all  other  officers  of  the  United  States 
whose  appointments  are  not  vested  elsewhere  by  the  con- 
stitution. 

PRESIDENT,  LORD,  OF  THE  COUNCIL.  The  fourth 
great  officer  of  state  in  England;  appointed  by  letters  patent 
under  the  great  seal,  durante  bene  placito. 

PRESS.  (Fr.  presse.)  The  machine  by  which  books, 
&c,  are  printed.  Very  little  improvement  in  the  construc- 
tion of  this  instrument  took  place  from  the  first  introduction 
of  the  art  into  Europe  till  the  late  Earl  Stanhope  applied 
the  powers  of  his  mind  to  the  subject,  and  introduced  a  new 
press  of  a  decidedly  superior  construction.  The  old  press 
was  made  of  wood,  with  an  iron  screw  that  had  a  bar  fitted 
in  it;  to  the  lower  end  of  this  screw  was  attached,  hori- 
zontally, a  flat  piece  of  wood,  called  the  platen,  which  was 
brought  down  by  means  of  the  screw,  and  pressed  the  paper 
upon  the  face  of  the  types ;  and  thus  the  impression  was 
obtained.  This  press  has,  however,  entirely  given  place  to 
presses  made  of  iron.  Lord  Stanhope's  press  is  construct- 
ed of  iron,  with  a  screw  ;  but  the  bar  is  fixed  to  an  upright 
spindle,  to  which  a  lever  is  attached  connected  with  a  se- 
cond lever  fixed  to  the  top  of  the  screw  by  a  connecting  bar. 
These  two  levers  are  placed  at  different  angles  to  each 
other ;  and  when  the  platen  is  brought  down  to  the  face  of 
the  types,  and  power  is  wanted,  the  two  levers  take  such  a 
position  with  each  other  so  as  to  act  with  the  greatest  ad- 
vantage, and  thus  an  almost  incredible  accession  of  power 
is  gained,  which  enables  the  pressman  to  print  larger  sheets 
of  paper  in  a  superior  manner,  with  less  labour,  ami  with 
greater  ease  to  himself.  This  press  maintains  its  superiority 
over  all  others. 

This  great  improvement  in  the  printing  press  that  Lord 
Stanhope  had  accomplished,  excited  other  ingenious  men 
to  exert  their  abilities  in  attempts  at  further  improvements ; 
anions  whom  was  a  Mr.  George  Clymer,  an  American,  who 
brought  forward  an  iron  press,  called  the  Columbian  press, 
in  which  he  discarded  the  screw,  and  obtained  his  power 
entirely  by  levers.  This  press  has  great  power,  and  conse- 
quently are-n  strength,  and  is  made  of  a  size  to  print  larger 
sheets  of  paper  than  any  other ;  but  for  the  common  run  of 
printing  it  does  not  work  so  easy  as  the  Stanhope  press. 
These  two  are  looked  upon  as  the  best  presses. 

There  are  a  variety  of  others  which  are  great  improve- 
ments upon  the  old  construction,  and  which  are  held  in 
estimation  by  printers,  but  the  limits  of  this  work  will  not 
admit  of  the  details  of  their  respective  merits. 

The  book  press,  in  the  warehouse  department,  used  for 
pressing  books  previous  to  their  delivery,  is  the  common 
screw  press,  with  a  perpendicular  screw,  and  screwed  down 
by  means  of  an  iron  bar:  it  is  also  used  for  pressing  paper, 
when  wetted,  previous  to  being  printed  on,  for  the  "purpose 


PRICE. 

of  making  it  in  better  condition  for  the  process ;  and  also  in 
cylindrical  or  machine  printing  to  cause  it  to  lie  flat,  other- 
wise it  is  apt  to  wrinkle,  particularly  large  sheets,  in  being 
earned  round  the  cylinders,  upon  a  flat  surface.  In  large 
establishments  Brahmah's  hydraulic  press  is  generally  used 
for  these  purposes,  as  being  much  more  powerful,  and  also 
more  expeditious,  not  only  in  its  use,  but  also  in  its  effect. 

Prbss.  A  machine  for  the  purpose  of  compressing  or 
squeezing  bodies.  Any  of  the  mechanical  powers  may  be 
used  for  this  purpose.  When  constructed  on  a  large  scale, 
the  hydrostatic  pressure  of  water  is  the  power  generally  em- 
ployed.    See  Hydrostatics. 

Press  is  metaphorically  applied  either  to  the  whole  liter- 
ature of  a  country,  or  to  that  part  of  it  more  immediately  con- 
nected with  newspapers  or  other  periodical  publications. 

PRESSIRO'STERS,  Pressirostres.  (Lat.  pressus,  flat- 
tened; rostrum,  a  beak.)  A  tribe  of  wading  birds,  including 
those  which  have  a  flattened  or  compressed  beak. 

PRE'SSURE.  Dr.  Young  defines  pressure  to  be  "a force 
counteracted  by  another  force,  so  that  no  motion  is  pro- 
duced. (Lectures  on  Nat.  Phil.)  Thus,  when  a  heavy 
body  is  supported  on  a  table,  or  the  ground,  the  force  of  ter- 
restrial gravity,  which,  if  the  support  were  removed,  would 
cause  the  body  to  descend  towards  the  centre  of  the  earth, 
being  destroyed  at  every  instant  by  the  resistance  of  the 
support,  produces  a  pressure.  A  pressure  and  a  moving 
force  differ  from  one  another  only  in  this  respect,  that  the 
infinitely  small  velocities  which  the  pressure  tends  to  pro- 
duce are  incessantly  destroyed  by  the  resistance  of  the  ob- 
stacle ;  whereas  those  that  are  actually  produced  at  every 
instant  by  the  moving  forces  are  accumulated  in  the  moving 
body,  and  produce  a  finite  velocity  after  a  finite  time.  The 
pressures  of  two  different  bodies  are,  therefore,  to  each 
other  as  the  masses  multiplied  by  the  infinitely  small  ve- 
locities which  they  tend  to  produce  in  the  same  instant  of 
time,  and  which  they  would  produce  if  the  bodies  were  free 
to  move. 

The  pressure  of  a  solid  body  is  exerted  in  the  direction  of 
the  resultant  of  all  the  forces  by  which  the  body  is  acted 
upon.  In  the  interior  of  liquid  and  aeriform  bodies,  the 
pressure  is  equal  in  all  directions.  (See  Hydrostatics, 
Pneumatics.)  Centre  of  Pressure,  in  Hydrostatics,  is  that 
point  of  a  plane  or  side  of  a  vessel  containing  a  liquid  to 
which,  if  a  force  were  applied  equal  to  the  total  pressure, 
and  with  the  opposite  direction,  it  would  exactly  balance  the 
effort  of  the  total  pressure. 

PRESSVVORK,  in  Printing,  is  the  operation  of  taking  im- 
pressions from  types.  &c.  by  means  of  the  press;  distinct 
from  composing,  which  is  arranging  the  types  to  prepare 
them  for  press. 

PRESTO.     (It.)     In  Music.     See  Allegro. 

PRESU'MPTION  OF  LAW,  is  the  assuming  the  truth 
of  a  certain  state  of  facts  by  the  ordinary  custom  of  the  law. 
It  is  either  "juris  et  de  jure,"  which  is  a  presumption  which 
no  evidence  to  the  contrary  can  be  admitted  to  traverse,  as 
the  presumption  of  incapacity  in  a  minor  with  guardians  to 
act  without  their  consent;  or  it  is  "juris"  only,  which  may 
be  traversed  by  evidence,  as  where  the  property  of  goods 
is  presumed  to  be  in  the  possessor  until  the  contrary  is 
shown. 

PRESUMPTIVE  HEIR.     See  Heir. 

PRETE'NDER.  The  name  by  which  the  Chevalier 
Charles  Stuart  is  usually  known,  from  his  having  pretend- 
ed a  right  to  the  British  crown,  from  which  he  had  been  ex- 
cluded. 

PRE'VOTALES,  COURS.  (Fr.  courts  of  prevots,  or 
provosts.)  Certain  tribunals  of  summary  jurisdiction,  which 
existed  in  France  before  the  Revolution,  were  called  by  this 
name.  They  were  the  courts  of  the  prevots  of  France  and 
of  Paris,  of  the  prevots  des  marechaux  (see  Provost,  Pro- 
vost-Marshal, &c),  and  exercised  a  summary  jurisdic- 
tion over  vagrants,  highway  robbers,  disturbers  of  the  peace, 
&c.  These  ancient  institutions  furnished  Napoleon  with 
the  model  of  certain  extraordinary  courts,  with  mixed  civil 
and  military  judges,  which  were  formed  in  1808  for  the  pur- 
pose of  preserving  public  order  in  a  summary  manner.  All 
these  unconstitutional  tribunals  were  abolished  by  the  first 
charter  of  1814 ;  but  with  provision  for  the  restoration  of 
the  Courts  Prevotales,  should  it  be  thought  necessary.  They 
were  accordingly  established  in  1815,  to  last  for  two  years ; 
but  expired  in  1818. 

PRIA'PUS.  (Gr.  Ttpiaros.)  A  divinity  introduced  into 
Grecian  mythology  after  the  time  of  Alexander.  He  was 
the  god  of  fruitfulness,  and  by  the  Romans  was  looked 
on  particularly  as  the  guardian  of  gardens,  in  which  in- 
decent and  rudely  sculptured  wooden  statues  of  him  were 
usnallv  set  up. 

PRICE  (Fr.  prix),  in  commerce,  means  the  value  or  ex- 
changeable worth  of  any  commodity  or  product  estimated 
or  rated  in  monev,  or  simply  the  quantity  of  money  for 
which  it  will  exchange.  The  price  of  a  commodity  rises 
when  it  fetches  more,  and  falls  when  it  fetches  less  money. 

979 


PRICE. 

rrice  of  frcrly  produced  Commodities.— The  exchangea- 
ble value  of  commodities— thai  is.  theii  pow  er  of  exchanging 
fur  or  baying  other  commodities— depends,  at  any  given  pe- 
riod, partly  on  the  comparative  facility  of  their  pi 
and  panly  on  the  relation  of  the  supply  and  demand.  If 
any  two  or  more  commodities  respectively  requited  the 
same  outlay  of  capital  and  labour  to  bring  them  to  market. 
and  it"  the  supply  "t'  each  were  adjusted  exactly  according 
to  the  effectual  demand — that  is,  were  they  all  in  sufficient 
abundance,  and  DO  mure,  to  supply  the  wants  of  those  able 
and  willing  to  pay  the  outlay  upon  them,  and  the  ordinary 
rate  of  profit  at  the  time,  they  would  each  fetch  the  same 
price,  or  exchange  lor  the  same  quantity  of  money  or  any- 
thing else.  But  if  any  single  commodity  should  happen  to 
require  less  or  more  capital  and  labour  for  its  production, 
while  the  quantity  required  to  produce  the  others  continued 
stationary,  its  value,  a.s  compared  with  these,  would,  in  the 
tirst  case,  fall,  and  in  the  second  rise;  and  supposing  the 
cost  of  its  production  not  to  vary,  its  value  might  he  increas- 
ed by  a  falling  off  in  the  supply,  or  by  an  increase  of  de- 
mand, and  conversely. 

But  it  is  of  importance  to  hear  in  mind,  that  all  variations 
of  price  arising  from  any  disproportion  in  the  supply  and 
demand  of  such  commodities  as  may  be  freely  produced  in 
indefinite  quantities,  are  temporary  only ;  while  those  that 
are  occasioned  by  changes  in  the  cost  of  their  production  are 

permanent,  at  least  as  much  so  as  the  Cause  in  which  they 
originate.  A  genera]  mourning  occasions  a  transient  rise  in 
the  price  of  black  cloth  ;  but  supposing  that  the  fashion  of 
wearing  black  were  to  continue,  its  price  would  not  perma- 
nently vary:  lor  previously  those  who  manufactured  blue 
and  brown  cloths,  &c,  would  henceforth  manufacture  only 
black  cloth  :  and  the  supply  being  in  this  way  increased  to 
the  same  extent  as  the  demand,  the  price  would  settle  at  its 
old  level.  Hence  the  importance  of  distinguishing  between 
a  variation  of  price  originating  in  a  change  of  fashion,  or 
other  accidental  circumstances— such,  for  example,  as  a  de- 
ficient harvest — and  a  variation  occasioned  by  some  change 
in  the  cost  of  production.  In  the  former  case,  prices  will 
at  no  distant  period  revert  to  their  old  level ;  in  the  latter, 
the  variation  w  ill  be  lasting. 

When  the  price  of  a  freely  produced  commodity  rises  or 
falls,  such  variation  may  evidently  lie  occasioned  either  by 
something  affecting  its  value,  or  by  something  affecting 
the  value  of  money:  but  when  the  generality  of commodi- 
ties rise  or  fall,  the  fair  presumption  is,  that  the  change  is 
not  in  them,  hut  in  the  money  with  which  they  are  com- 
pared. This  conclusion  does  not,  however,  apply  in  all 
cases;  and  we  believe  that  most  part  of  that  fall  in  the 
price  of  commodities  which  has  taken  place  since  the 
peace,  and  which  has  been  so  generally  ascribed  to  a  rise 
in  the  value  of  money  occasioned  by  a  decline  in  the  pro- 
ductiveness of  the  mines,  has  been  caused  by  the  increased 
productiveness  of  industry,  arising  from  the  abolition  of  op- 
pressive restraints  on  commerce,  the  opening  of  new  and 
more  abundant  sources  of  supply,  and  the  discovery  of  new 
means  and  improved  methods  of  production. 

Price  of  monopolized  Commodities. — Exclusive,  however. 
of  the  commodities  now  alluded  to,  there  is  a  considerable 
class  whose  producers  or  holders  enjoy  either  an  absolute 
or  a  partial  monopoly  of  the  supply.  When  such  is  the 
case,  prices  depend  entirely  or  principally  on  the  proportion 
between  the  supply  and  demand,  and  are  not  liable  to  be  in- 
fluenced, or  only  in  a  secondary  decree,  by  changes  in  the  cost 
of  production.  Antique  statues  and  gems,  the  pictures  of  the 
great  masters,  wines  of  a  peculiar  flavor  produced  in  small 
quantities  in  particular  situations,  and  a  few  other  articles, 
exist  under  what  may  be  called  absolute  monopolies; 
their  supply  cannot  be  increased;  and  their  price  must 
therefore  depend  entirely  on  the  competition  of  those  who 
may  wi-h  to  buy  them,  without  being  in  the  slightest  de- 
gree Influenced  by  the  cost  of  their  production. 

Monopolies  are  sometimes  established  by  law  ;  as  when 
the  power  to  supply  the  market  with  a  particular  article  is 
made  over  to  one  individual  or  society  of  individuals,  with- 
out any  limitation  of  the  price  at  which  it  may  be  sold; 
which,  of  course,  enables  those  possess)  d  of  the  monopoly 
to  exact  the  highest  price  for  it  that  the  competition  of  the 
buyers  win  afford,  though  such  price  ma]  exceed  the  cost 
of  production  in  any  conceivable  degree,  Monopolies  of 
this  sort  used  to  be  common  in  England  particularly  in  the 
reien  of  Elizabeth;  but  they  were  finally  abolished  i>y  the 

famous   act  Of  the  21  .lac.  1,  c.  3,  an   act  which,   by  estab- 
lishing the  freedom  of  competition  In  all  busim 
ried  on  at  home,  has  been  productive  of  the  greatest  advan- 
tages. 

The  rights  conveyed  by  patents  sometimes  establish  a 
valuable  monopoly;  tor  they  enable  the  inventors  of  mi 
proved  methods  Of  production  to  maintain,  during  the  con- 
tinuance ol'  the    patent,  the  price  of  the  article   at   a    level 

which  may  be  much  higher  than  Is  required  to  afford  them 
the  ordinary  rate  of  protit.     This  advantage,  however,  by 
980 


PRIMATE. 

Stimulating  invention,  and  exciting  to  new  discoveries,  of 
which  it  is  the  natural  and  appropriate  reward,  instead  of 
being  injurious,  is  beneficial  to  the  public. 

There  Bre  also  partial  monopolies,  depending  upon  situa- 
tion, connexion,  fashion,  &c;  these  and  other  inapprecia- 
ble circumstances  sometimes  occasion  a  difference  of  .'to  per 
cent.,  or  more,  in  the  price  of  the  same  article  in  shops  not 
very  distant  from  each  other. 

Generally  speaking,  the  supply  of  monopolized  commodi- 
ties is  less  liable  to  vary  than  those  that  are  freelj  pro 
duced  ;  and  their  prices  are  commonly  steady.  Hut  there 
are  various  exceptions  to  this  rule  ;  and  of  these  the  partial 
monopoly  of  the  supply  of  corn,  which  the  exist 
laws  secure  to  the  British  agriculturists,  may  he  taken  as 
an  example.  The  variations  in  the  harvests  of  particular 
countries,  and  their  average  equality  throughout  the  world, 
expose  a  nation  which  shuts  foreign  com  out  of  its  ports  to 
vicissitudes  of  price,  from  which  it  would  enjoy  a  compara- 
tive exemption  were  its  ports  always  open.  Sometimes 
the  expiration  of  a  monopoly,  a  patent  for  example,  has  oc- 
casioned a  sudden  and  extraordinary  increase  of  supply, 
and  consequent  fall  of  price  ;  entailing,  of  course,  a  serious 
loss  on  the  holders  of  large  stocks  of  goods  produced  under 
the  monopoly. 

New  Sources  of  Supply. — The  effects  on  prices  produced 
by  the  opening  of  new  markets,  or  new  BOUrces  of  supply, 
are  familiar  to  every  one.  The  fall  that  has  taken  place  in 
the  price  of  pepper,  and  of  most  sorts  of  commodities  brought 
from  the  East,  since  the  opening  of  the  trade  in  1814,  is  a 
conspicuous  proof  of  what  is  now  stated. 

Influence  of  Tares  on  Prices. — It  is  unnecessary  to  dilate 
on  a  topic  so  familiar  to  every  one.  When  a  tax  is  laid  on 
a  commodity,  its  price  necessarily  rises  in  a  corresponding 
proportion  ;  for  otherwise  the  producers  would  not  obtain 
the  ordinary  rate  of  profit,  and  would,  of  course,  withdraw 
from  the  business.  A  considerable  part  of  the  price  of 
many  articles  in  this  and  other  countries  really  consists  of 
the  tax  or  duty  laid  upon  them. 

These  statements  will  probably  suffice  to  give  our  readers 
a  general  idea  of  the  principles  which  determine  the  value 
of  commodities.  To  go  deeper  into  the  subject  would  in- 
volve us  in  discussions  that  belong  to  political  economy, 
and  which  are  nowise  suited  for  such  a  work  as  this. 

Such,  however,  of  our  readers  as  wish  for  full  and  satis- 
factory information  as  to  these  topics,  and  the  practical 
operation  of  the  different  circumstances  to  which  we  have 
new  adverted,  would  do  well  to  consult  Mr.  Tooke's  His- 
tory of  Pricr.<.  This  work  is  especially  valuable  for  the 
rare  union  which  it  exhibits  of  a  perfect  know  ledge  of  prin- 
ciples with  the  most  extensive  acquaintance  with  practical 
details. 

PRICKING  -UP.  In  Architecture,  the  fust  coating  of 
plaster  in  work  of  three  coats  upon  laths.  It  is  executed 
with  coarse  stuff  in  London,  usually  compounded  with  road 
stuff,  or  Thames  sand.  The  surface  is  scratched  over,  to 
form  a  helter  key  for  the  next  coat. 

PRICK-POST.  In  Architecture,  a  post  in  wooden  build- 
ings framed  intermediately  between  two  principal  posts. 

PRIEST.  (Gr.  vpcoSvTtpos,  elder.)  Etyniologicnlly,  the 
Christian  priest  is  merely  a  minister  who  presides  over  the 
spiritual  affairs  of  a  congregation.  The  word,  however,  is 
commonly  used  also  to  represent  the  Greek  leptvc,  who, 
like  the  Jewish  priest,  had  both  a  sacrificial  and  mediato- 
rial character;  and  the  Roman  Catholic  looks  upon  the 
Christian  priest  in  thi'  same  light. 

I'lUM.E  VIJE.  (Eat.  tltr first  passages.)  Medical  men 
apply  this  term  to  the  Stomach  and  bowels. 

PRI'MAGE.  A  certain  allowance  paid  by  the  shipper  or 
consigner  of  goods  to  the  master  and  saili  r^  of  a  vessel  for 
loading  the  same.  It  varies  in  different  places  according  to 
their  respective  customs. 

PRI'MARY  COLOCRS.  The  colours  into  which  a  ray 
of  white  solar  light  may  be  decomposed  or  separated. 
Newton  supposed  them  to  be  seven;  red,  orange,  yellow, 

green,  blue,  indigo,  and  violet.  Mayer  considered  seme  of 
these  to  be  secondary  colours,  and  that  there  are  onlythree 
primary  colours  in  the  solar  spectrum  ;  namely,  red.  yellow, 
and  blue,  certain  portions  of  which  constitute  white  built 
and  all  the  other  colours,  ((i/nra  intdita,  1775,  It 
Young  assumes  red,  gieen,  and  violet  as  the  fundamental 
Colours.  I  I.*  cturet  mi  .\'<it.  Phil.,  p.  439.)  In  tact,  any 
three  prismatic  rays  may  be  assumed  as  the  primary  colours, 

and  all  the  rest  compounded  from  them.  pro>  Ided  w  e  attend 

only  to  the  predominant  tint  resulting,  and  disregard  its  di- 
lution with  while.  (Jhrse/iil  mi  Light,  $  518.)  Ace  Chro- 
matics, LlOHT. 

PRIMAR]    KOCKS,  or  PRIMITIVE  ROCKS.     See  Ge- 

OLO0Y. 

PRI'MATE.      (I. at.  primus,  first.)     A  prelate  of  superior 

dignity  and  authority.  In  England,  the  archbishop  of  York 
is  entitled  Primate  of  England;  the  archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, Primate  ol  all  England. 


PRIMATES. 

PRIMATES.  The  name  given  by  Linntcus  to  the  first 
order  of  animals  in  his  Systema  jYaturie,  which  associated 
man  with  the  monkeys  and  bats,  and  corresponded  to  the 
Bimana,  Quadrumana,  and  Cheiroptera  of  Cuvier. 

PRIME  NUMBERS,  in  Arithmetic,  are  numbers  which 
have  no  divisors,  or  which  cannot  be  divided  into  any  less 
number  of  equal  integral  parts  than  the  number  of  units  of 
which  they  are  composed;  such  are  2,  3,  5,  7,  11,  13,  &c. 

A  general  method  of  finding  prime  numbers,  beyond  a 
certain  limit,  by  a  direct  process,  is  one  of  the  most  difficult 
problems  in  the  theory  of  numbers  ;  and,  though  often 
sought  after,  has  not  yet  been  discovered.  Many  remarka- 
ble properties  of  numbers  have,  however,  been  detected,  by 
means  of  which  it  is  in  most  cases  not  difficult  to  determine 
whether  an  assigned  number  is  prune  or  not.  Some  of 
these  properties  are  the  following: 

1.  Every  prime  number  above  3  is  comprehended  in  one 
of  these  forms,  (i  n  -f-  1,  or  6  n  —  1  (re  being  any  whole  num- 
ber) ;  that  is  to  say,  if  a  prime  number  be  increased  or  di- 
minished by  unity,  the  result  is  a  multiple  of  6.  In  order 
to  prove  this,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  remark  that  every  whole 
number  is  necessarily  comprised  in  one  or  other  of  these  six 
forms  (where  n  is  successively  0,  1,  2,  3,  &c), 

6n  +  l,  67t  +  2,  6n  +  3,  6n  +  4,  6n  +  5,  G/i  +  6. 
Now  the  second,  fourth,  and  sixth  of  these  forms,  being  di- 
visible by  2,  cannot  give  prime  numbers.  The  tlurd  gives 
only  numbers  divisible  by  3;  therefore  the  primes  can  only 
be  of  the  form  6  re  +  1,  or6re-(-5.  But  6?i  +  5  =  6re  +  6  — 
1  =  6(«+1)  —  l  =  6?i'  —  1.  n'  being  any  whole  number; 
it  follows,  therefore,  that  all  prime  numbers  are  compre- 
hended in  one  of  the  forms  6  n  -4-  1,  or  6  re  —  1. 

2.  In  like  manner,  every  prime  number  above  2  is  of  one 
of  the  forms  4  re +  1,  or  4n  —  1;  and  every  prime  number, 
excepting  2,  of  one  of  the  forms  8  re  + 1,  8  re -4- 3,  8 n  +  5, 
8n  +  7.  In  fact,  prime  numbers  may  be  divided  in  this 
manner  into  classes,  according  to  any  modulus,  at  pleasure  ; 
the  last  four  forms,  however,  are  those  which  possess  the 
most  distinctive  properties. 

Although  every  prime  number  is  comprehended  in  one 
of  these  forms,  the  converse  proposition  is  not  true  ;  name- 
ly, that  every  number  in  one  of  these  forms  is  a  prime 
number.  No  direct  rule  has  yet  been  given  by  which  it 
can  be  determined  <i  priori  whether  a  given  number  be 
prime  or  not. 

3.  If  a  number  cannot  be  divided  by  another  number  less 
than  the  square  root  of  itself,  that  number  is  a  prime. 

4.  If  ?i  denote  any  prime  number,  the  product,  1  •  2  •  3  •  4 
•  •  •  •  (n  —  1),  increased  by  unity,  is  divisible  by  n. 

It  is  frequently  of  use  in  arithmetical  investigations  to 
know  whether  a  number  is  prime  or  not;  tables  of  them 
have  accordingly  been  formed  to  a  certain  extent,  and  are 
given  in  various  works.  Vega's  tables  contain  the  prime 
numbers  under  400,000.  The  largest  prime  number  which 
has  yet  been  verified  is  231  —  1  =  2147483&47.  This  was 
found  by  Euler. 

For  properties  of  prime  numbers,  see  Fermat's  edition  of 
Diophantus  ;  Euler's  Algebra,  and  Analysis  Infinitorum  • 
Legendre,  Essai  sur  la  Theorie  des  Nombres ;  Barlow's 
Elementary  Investigations,  &-c. ;  and  especially  the  Dis- 
quisitiones  Arithmetics  of  Gauss,  of  which  there  is  a 
French  translation  by  Delisle. 

Prime  and  Ultimate  Ratios. — A  method  of  calculation 
Invented  by  Newton,  and  employed  in  the  Principia,  being 
an  extension  and  simplification  of  the  ancient  methods  of 
exhaustions.  It  may  be  thus  explained  :  Let  there  be  two 
variable  quantities  constantly  approaching  each  other  in 
value,  so  that  their  ratio  or  quotient  continually  approaches 
to  unity,  and  at  last  differs  from  unity  by  less  than  any  as- 
signable quantity  ;  the  ultimate  ratio  of  these  two  quanti- 
ties, is  said  to  be  a  ratio  of  equality.  In  general,  when 
different  variable  quantities  respectively  and  simultaneously 
approach  other  quantifies  considered  as  invariable,  so  that 
the  differences  between  the  variable  and  invariable  quanti- 
ties become  at  the  same  time  less  than  any  assignable  quan- 
tity, the  ultimate  ratios  of  the  variables  are  the  ratios  of 
tin'  invariable  quantities  or  limits,  to  which  they  continu- 
ally and  simultaneously  approach.  They  are  called  prime 
ratios,  or  ultimate  ratios,  according  as  the  ratios  of  the  va- 
riables are  considered  as  receding  from,  or  approaching  to, 
the  ratios  of  the  limits.     (See  Principia,  book  i.) 

PRI'MER,  signified  anciently  a  religious  work  employed 
in  the  Roman  Catholic  service ;  but  it  is  now  generally 
used  to  denote  the  first  book  for  children. 

PRIMER  SEISIN.  (Norm.  Fr.)  An  ancient  branch  of 
the  royal  prerogative  in  England,  whereby  it  had  possession 
for  a  year  of  the  lands  and  tenements  of  which  a  tenant  in 
capite  died  seised,  if  the  heir  was  of  full  age;  or,  if  not, 
until  he  was  of  a«e. 

PRIME  VERTICAL.  In  Astronomy,  the  vertical  circle 
of  the  sphere  which  intersects  the  meridian  at  right  an- 
gles, and  passes  through  the  east  and  west  points  of  the 


PRINCE  OF  WALES. 

horizon.  In  dialling,  prime  vertical  dials  are  those  which 
are  projected  on  the  plane  of  the  prime  vertical,  or  a  plane 
parallel  to  it. 

PRI'MINE.  In  Botany,  the  outermost  sac  or  covering 
of  an  ovule ;  either  composed  of  cellular  tissue  only,  or 
traversed  by  numerous  veins  or  bundles  of  tubes. 

PRIMING.  (Lat.  primus,  first.)  In  Architecture,  the 
first  coat  of  painting. 

PRIMIPI'LUS.  In  Ancient  History,  the  name  of  the 
centurion  of  the  first  cohort  of  a  legion,  who  had  charge 
of  the  Roman  eagle.  This  office  was  one  of  considera- 
ble dignity,  and  entitled  its  holder  to  various  privileges, 
which  conferred  both  rank  and  emolument.  On  quitting 
his  charge,  the  primipilus  assumed  his  place  among  the 
members  of  the  equestrian  order,  with  the  title  primipi- 
larius.  (See  Adam's  Rom.  Antiquities ;  Mem.  de  I'Acad. 
des  laser.,  vol.  xxxii.1 

PRIMI'TI^E.  The  first  fruits  of  any  production  of  the 
earth,  which  were  uniformly  consecrated  to  the  Deity  by 
all  the  nations  of  antiquity.     See  First  Fruits. 

PRI'MITIVE.  In  Grammar,  a  word  neither  derived  from 
any  other  language,  nor  compounded  from  any  other  words 
of  the  same  ;  as  horse,  man. 

PRI'MITIVE  COLOURS,  in  Painting,  are  red,  yellow, 
and  blue,  from  the  mixtures  whereof  all  other  colours  may 
be  obtained. 

PRIMOGE'NITURE.  The  right  of  the  eldest  son,  and 
those  who  derive  through  the  eldest  son,  to  succeed  to  the 
property  of  the  ancestor.  Among  ancient  nations,  the 
Jews  alone  appear,  as  far  as  is  known,  to  have  recognised 
this  usage  among  their  institutions.  For  some  notice  of  the 
policy  of  the  system  of  primogeniture,  see  Succession, 
Law  of. 

PRIMULA  CEvE.  (Primula,  one  of  the  genera.)  A  nat- 
ural order  of  herbaceous  Exogens,  inhabiting  the  northern 
and  colder  parts  of  the  globe.  It  is  nearly  allied  to  all  the 
regular  Monopetalous  orders,  with  a  capsular  superior  fruit, 
especially  to  Solanacea  and  Ericaceae,  from  both  of  which 
it  is  readily  known  by  the  stamens  being  placed  opposite  to 
the  segments  of  the  corolla.  In  this  respect  it  agrees  with 
Jlfyrsinacew,  which  differ  chiefly  in  their  fleshy  fruit  and 
arborescent  habit.  The  cowslip,  from  which  a  sedative 
wine  is  made;  the  primrose,  auricula,  and  the  acrid  cycla- 
men; together  with  anagallis,  or  the  herb  pimpernel, 
which  regularly  closes  its  flowers  at  the  approach  of  rain- 
are  species  of  this  order. 

PRl'MUM  MO'BILE,  in  the  Ptolemaic  Astronomy,  is  the 
outermost  sphere  of  the  universe,  which  gives  motion  to  all 
the  others  (t.  e.  those  of  the  moon,  planets,  &.c.)  and  car- 
ries them  round  with  it  in  its  diurnal  revolution.  Its  centre 
is  the  centre  of  the  earth. 

PRI'MURIES,  or  PRIMARY  QUILLS.  (Primores, 
Linn.)  The  largest  feathers  of  the  wings ;  they  rise  from 
the  pinion-bones,  or  those  corresponding  to  the  metacarpus 
and  digits. 

PRINCE.  (From  the  Latin  princeps.  first,  leader,  or  fore- 
most.) This  title  is  probably  of  Teutonic  origin  :  the  Ger- 
man equivalent,  furst,  has  the  same  etymological  significa- 
tion, and  the  Latin  nation  appears  to  have  translated  it.  In 
England,  the  title  is  applied  only  to  members  of  the  royal 
family  ;  and  in  no  case,  except  that  of  the  eldest  son  of  the 
reigning  king  (Prince  of  Wales),  is  it  connected  with  a  ter- 
ritorial distinction.  On  the  Continent,  the  rank  of  princes 
is  various :  in  France,  under  the  old  regime,  the  title  be- 
longed only  to  certain  families  of  high  distinction,  connect- 
ed with  the  royal  blood  ;  it  ranks  in  Germany  below  that  of 
duke. 

PRINCE  OF  WALES.  The  title  bestowed  by  patent 
on  the  heir  apparent  to  the  crown  of  England.  He  is  born 
Uuke  of  Cornwall,  &c. ;  but  the  title  of  Duke  of  Cornwall 
does  not  necessarily  belong  to  the  heir  apparent,  as  it  can 
only  be  held  by  tbe  first-begotten  (not  eldest)  son  of  a  king: 
thus  Henry  VIII.  was  not,  in  the  life  of  his  father,  Duke  of 
Cornwall.  The  origin  of  the  title  of  Prince  of  Wales  is  as 
follows:  When  Edward  I.  subdued  Wales,  he  promised 
the  people  of  that  country,  upon  condition  of  their  submis- 
sion, to  give  them  a  prince  who  was  born  amongst  them, 
and  who  could  speak  no  other  language.  Upon  their  ac- 
quiescence with  this  deceitful  offer  he  conferred  the  princi- 
pality of  Wales  upon  his  second  son  Edward,  then  an  in- 
fant,'born  within  the  principality,  and  unable  to  speak  any 
language.  Edward,  by  the  death  of  his  elder  brother  Al- 
fonso, became  heir  to  the  crown,  and  from  that  time  this 
honour  has  been  appropriated  to  the  eldest  sons  of  the 
Kings  of  England.  The  Earldom  of  Chester,  which  is 
likewise  usually  conferred  upon  the  heir-apparent,  was 
once  a  principality,  and  erected  into  that  title  by  parliament 
in  the  21st  of  Richard  II. ;  it  was  then  appointed  to  be  given 
to  the  king's  eldest  son.  But  the  whole  acts  of  that  parlia- 
ment were  repealed  in  the  reign  of  Henry  IV.,  although  the 
earldom  has  usually  been  since  given  with  the  principality 
of  Wales.    The  revenue  of  the  last  Prince  of  Wales  was 


PRINCEPS  SENATUS. 

£185,000;  £60,000 being  paid  from  the  mil  list,  and  £fi5,000 
from  the  consolidated  fund.  His  income  was  last  regulated 
bv  35  6.  :t.ij.  125.  To  compass  the  death  of  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  or  vi  ilate  the  chastity  Of  liis  consort,  is  hi^li  trea- 
son within  the  statute  of  25  Ed.  :!.  The  Prince  of  Wales 
lias  a  household  of  lus  own,  of  which  the  chief  officers  are 
a  comptroller  and  auditor  general,  treasurer,  vice  chamber- 
lain, Gloucester  king  alarms,  and  herald;  besides  another 
class  "i  officers  belonging  to  the  duchy  of  Cornwall,  and 
another  as  great  steward  of  Scotland.  As  Duke  of  Corn- 
wall and  Karl  of  Chester,  the  prince  appoints  sheriffs.  &c, 
for  those  counties.  By  a  statute  of  the  order  of  the  Garter, 
iss I  in  181)5,  the  Prince  of  Wales  was  declared  a  constit- 
uent part  of  the  original  institution.  Hence  everj  prince 
becomi  a  a  Knight  ot  the  Garter  the  moment  he  is  created 
Prince  of  Wales.  For  the  constitutional  question  raised  in 
1788,  respecting  the  right  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  to  the  re- 
see  Kia.Kvr. 

PRINCEPS  SENA'TUS.  Prince  or  first  of  the  senate. 
In  Ancient  Koine,  the  citizen  whose  Dame  was  inscribed 
first  on  the  list  of  the  senate  by  the  censors  was  so  called. 
The  high  dignity  was  not  connected  with  any  office,  and 
was  conferred,  in  later  times,  only  on  those  who  were  re- 
cognised  as  the  most  considerable  citizens  of  the  state.  Be- 
fore the  second  Punic  war,  it  seems  to  have  belonged  to  the 
oldest  of  those  who  had  held  the  office  of  censor;  hut  tin 
first  deviation  from  this  practice  was  in  favour  of  Fabius 
Maximus.  This  title  was  the  fust  germ  of  the  imperial  au- 
thority of  Augustus.  (See  Senate.)  There  is  a  memoir 
on  the  subject  in  vol.  x.xiv.  of  the  Jlemoires  dc  I'Acadcmie 
des  Inscriptions. 

PRl'NCIPAL.  (Lat.  princeps,  chief.)  In  Architecture, 
a  main  timber  in  an  assemblage  of  carpentry.  Thus,  in  a 
roof,  the  strong  rafters  used  for  trussing  the  beams  are  called 
principal  rafters. 

1'itisi  [pal.  The  name  of  which  the  heads  of  the  Scot- 
tish universities  ore  distinguished. 

Prini  ipai..  In  the  Fine  Arts,  the  chief  circumstance  in  a 
work  of  art,  to  Which  the  resl  are  to  be  subordinate. 

PRI'NI  I  PES.  The  name  given  to  one  of  the  four  grand 
divisions  of  the  Roman  infantry.  It  was  their  duty  to  as- 
sume the  initiative  in  an  engagement,  for  which  they  were 
admirably  qualified,  being  the  choice  men  of  the  Roman 
army,  and  from  this  circumstance  their  name  is  said  to  be 
derived.  The  other  three  bodies  were  the  velites,  hastati, 
and  triarii,  w  Inch  see.  (See  Mem.  de  VAcad.  des  Jnscr.  vol. 
x.xix.) 

PRI'NCIPLE.  (Lat.  principittm.)  In  Chemistry,  a  term 
sometimes  applied  to  certain  proximate  components  of  or- 
ganic  bodn-s,  Mich  as  bitter  principle,  febrifuge  principle, 
narcotic  principle,  &c.  This  term,  however,  is  now  almost 
disused,  it  having  been  found  that  each  bitter,  febrifuge, 
narcotic,  or  other  substance,  generally  contains  a  principle 
peculiar  to  itself  upon  which  its  powers  depend,  and  that 
bo  such  common  or  universal  principle  as  was  for- 
merly supposed.  For  the  same  reason  the  term  "  principle 
of  inflammability,"  or  phloiristmi,  is  rejected,  as  applied  in 
common  with  •'nervous  principle,"  rSt'c,  to  an  imaginary 
e.xi>tence. 

PRl'NCIPLES.  In  the  Fine  Arts,  those  general  and 
fundamental  truths  from  which  the  rules  and  maxims  of 
art  arc  deduced.  To  each  art  particular  principles  are  at- 
tached on  which  its  theory  is  founded.  These  principles, 
before  they  can  be  said  to  have  stability,  must  be  found  to 
depend  on  certain  truths,  which,  recognised  by  every  one, 
and  indisputable,  oblige  the  mind  to  concur  in  the  deduc- 
tions that  resull  from  them.  Before  a  law  in  any  art  is 
laid  down,  u  is  necessary  to  trace  it  to  the  principles  from 
Which  n  spril  gs,  though  there  may  he  causes  winch  prevent 

being  universally  admitted;  such  as  Igno- 
rance, prejudice,  love  of  novelty,  and  the  like,  indeed, 
tin  re  is  an  everlasting  contesl  between  truth  and  error  in 
all  human  Institutions.  The  former,  like  light,  is  acknow- 
ledged by  all,  though  our  passions  and  interests  too  often 
tempt  us  to  obscure  it;  but,  as  darkness  Itself  proves  thai 
light  exists,  so  falsehood  only  enables  truth  to  shine  with 
I  ii -Ire. 

PRINTING.  M'r.  Imprimerie.)  Letterpress  printing,  to 
which  this  article  la  confined,  la  the  art  of  taking  imprea 
sions  from  engravings  in  relief. 

The  process  is  generally  limited  to  printing  from  types, 
and  from  engravings  on  wood. 

The  history   of  its  origin  is  enveloped  in  my-t. 
this  art,  which  commemorates  all  other  Inventions,  which 
bands  down  to  posterity  ever]  Important  event,  which  im- 
mortalizes the  actions  of  the  great,  and  which,  above  ail, 

'  Men. I-  and  dill'u-es  (he  word   of  God  to  all  mankind  ;   this 

very  ait  has  left  its  own  origin  in  obscurity,  and  haa given 
employment  to  the  studies  and  researches  of  the  njosl 
learned  men  in  Europe,  to  determine  to  whom  the  honom 
of  the  Invention  is  due. 
Borne  writen  maintain  that  the  art  was  practised  as  far 


PRINTING. 

hack  at  least  as  the  building  of  Babylon  ;  and  hold  that  thf» 
characters  impressed  on  the  bricks  found  on  the  supposed 
site  of  that  city  are  literally  printed:  we  are  in  possession  of 

metal  stamps,  with  words  engraved  in  relief,  which  the 
Romans  made  use  of  to  mark  their  various  articles.  On 
this  subject  .Mr.  Landseer,  in  his  Lectures  on  the  Art  of 
Engraving,  8vo.  1807,  observes,  "Had  the  modem  art  of 

making  paper  been  known  to  the  ancients,  we  had  proba- 
bly  never  heard   the  names  of  Faust  and  Finiguerra  :  for, 

w  nh  the  same  kind  of  stamps  which  the  Roman  tradesmen 

used  lor  their  pottery  and  packages,  books  might  also  have 
been  printed;  and  the  same  engraving  which  adorned  the 
shields  and  pnteras  of  the  more  remote  ages,  with  the  addi- 
tion of  paper,  might  have  spread  the  rays  of  Greek  and 
Btrurian  intelligence  over  the  world  of  antiquity.  Of  the 
truth  of  this  assertion  I  have  the  satisfaction  to  lay  before 
you  the  most  decided  proofs,  by  exhibiting  engraved  Latin 
inscriptions,  both  in  cameo  and  intaglio,  from  the  collection 
of  Mr.   Douce,   With    impressions   taken   from  them  at  Mr. 

Savage's  letterpress  but  yesterday  (in  1805).  One  of  these 
is  an  intaglio  stamp,  engraved  on  stone,  with  which  a  Ro- 
man oculist  was  used  to  mark  his  medicines;  the  other, 
which  is  of  metal,  and  in  cameo,  is  simply  the  proper  name 
of  the  (Roman)  tradesman  by  whom  it  has  probably  been 
used.  'Tints  Valagini  Mauri.'"  Of  the  latter  stamp,  the 
following  impression  is  a  facsimile  : 


VALAG1 


Papillon's  relation  of  the  two  Cunio,  who  engraved  on 
wood  the  heroic  actions  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and  printed 
impressions  from  them  in  the  year  1285,  the  truth  of  which 
has  been  defended  by  Zani,  Ollley,  and  Singer  ;  the  print  of 
St.  Christopher  carrying  the  infant  Jesus  across  the  sea, 
with  an  inscription  and  the  date  1421!  at  the  bottom  on  the 
same  block,  in  the  library  of  Earl  Spencer ;  and  the  decree 
of  the  government  of  Venice,  of  the  dale  ilth  October, 
1441,  respecting  "playing  cards,  and  coloured  figures  print- 
ed," the  art  and  mystery  of  making  which  had  fallen  to 
total  decay  at  Venice,  in  consequence  of  the  great  quantity 
which  were  made  out  of  Venice,  and  prohibiting  the  intro- 
duction of  them  under  pain  and  forfeiture  and  fine — a  de- 
cree which  carries  the  art  of  printing  back  into  the  14th 
century:  these  circumstances,  taken  together,  prove  that 
the  knowledge  and  the  practice  of  the  art  of  printing  exist- 
ed in  Europe  long  before  the  time  which  is  usually  attribu- 
ted to  it,  although  it  had  not  been  applied  to  the  multiplica- 
tion of  hooks. 

According  to  Du  Halde  and  the  missionaries,  the  art  of 
printing  from  engraved  blocks  of  wood  was  practised  in 
China  nearly  fifty  years  before  the  Christian  era  ;  and  from 
the  early  commercial  intercourse  of  the  Venetians  with  that 
country,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  knowledge  of 
the  art  and  of  its  application  to  the  multiplying  of  books 
was  derived  from  thence ;  for  Venice  is  the  first  place  in 
Europe  of  which  we  have  any  account  in  which  it  was 
practised,  as  appears  by  the  decree  above  mentioned,  which 
is  the  most  ancient  document  in  existence  respecting  print- 
ing; but  the  date  of  this  application  of  the  arl,  or  the  place 
where  it  was  first  practised,  it  is  Impossible  to  determine. 
From  that  decree  and  tin'  existence  of  the  print  ot'  St. 
Christopher,  it  would  seem  that  it  hail  been  long  applied  to 

the  production  of  playing  cards,  and  of  religious  subjects ;  and 

when  it  was  extended  to  hooks,  they  were  pi  inled  by  the  Chi- 
nese method,  siiil  in  use,  each  page  being  engraved  on  a  block 

of  wood:  and  if  this  plan  was  followed,  as  most  probably  it 
was.  from  its  being  the  mosl  expeditious,  and  Ihe  most  correct 

—of  fastening  a  page  of  manuscript  on  the  face  of  the  block 
ami  engraving  from  that,instead  of  drawing  the  characters  on 

the  wood — it  WOUld  at  once  account  for  Ihe  diversity  of  char- 
acters found  in  the  block  hooks,  which  varied  with  the  differ- 
ent band  writings  of  the  scribes,  and  has  completely  puzzled 

the  learned,  w  ho  endeavour  to  ascertain  the  printer  by  com- 
paring Ihe  characters  with  some  oilier  work  ;  as  well  as  for 
their  great  similarity  to  manuscripts,  1'or  which  lliev  w  ere 
sold.  This  appearance  too  was  aided  by  their  being  printed 
on  line  side  of  the  piper  only,  the  indention  being  removed 
by  burnishing  tin'  back,  anil  two  leaves  were  pasted  to- 
gether, llnis  making  them  such  perfect  facsimiles  of  tnanu- 

scripts  as  to  require  even  at  the  present  day  great  discrimi- 
nation   and   even   chemical   skill    lo  distinguish   them   In  mi 

each  Other;   and  as  these  hooks  had  neither  names,  dates, 

nor  places  affixed  io  them,  it  la  now  Impossible  to  ascertain 

by  whom,  when,  or  where  they  were  executed  ;  anil  thus 


PRINTING. 


the  fabrication  of  these  pseudo-manuscripts  involved  the 
first  introduction  of  the  art  of  printing  books  in  Europe  in 
complete  obscurity. 

About  the  year  1450,  the  great  and  accumulating  expense 
of  engraving  blocks  for  each  separate  work  of  the  increas- 
ing number  of  books  produced  by  means  of  printing,  led 
to  the  important  improvement  of  the  art  of  casting  separate 
metal  types,  and  substituting  them  for  the  wooden  blocks 
previously  used.  This  formed  a  new  epoch  in  the  art,  and 
is  now  termed,  erroneously,  the  origin  of  printing.  After  a 
lapse  of  many  years,  several  cities  claimed  the  honour  of 
this  invention,  but  time  has  reduced  these  claims  to  two — 
Haarlem  and  Mentz ;  and  this  rivalry  has  employed  the  stu- 
dies and  the  pens  of  many  learned  men,  who  have  laboured 
to  prove  the  respective  claims  of  these  cities  to  the  imagi- 
nary honour  of  the  invention  of  printing;  for  what  can  be 
more  imaginary  than  such  an  honour  1  seeing  the  art  had 
been  practised  in  Europe,  privately  and  publicly,  in  a  modi- 
fied form,  for  sixty  or  seventy  years  previously  to  the  period 
Which  forms  the  subject  in  dispute.  The  claims  of  Haarlem 
rest  upon  the  statement  of  Hadrian  Junius,  who  gives  it 
upon  the  testimony  of  one  Cornelius,  who  had  been  a  ser- 
vant of  Laurence  Coster,  for  whom  the  invention  is  claim- 
ed ;  but  this  testimony  is,  in  our  opinion,  utterly  worthless. 
Modern  research  gives  the  credit  of  the  introduction  of  move- 
able metal  types  (unquestionably  a  grand  improvement),  to 
Peter  Schoefler,  the  assistant  and  son-in-law  of  John  Fust 
or  Faust  of  Mentz,  so  well  known  in  Europe  as  Dr.  Faus- 
tus.  Of  two  writers  who  have  supported  the  respective 
claims  of  these  two  places,  it  has  been  observed,  that  it 
now  seems  to  be  allowed  that  Heinecken  has  paid  too  little 
attention  to  the  antiquity  of  the  claims  of  Haarlem,  and 
Meerman  infinitely  too  much. 

The  first  edition  of  the  Speculum  Humana  Salvationis 
was  printed  by  Coster  at  Haarlem,  about  the  year  1440  as 
is  supposed,  and  is  one  of  the  earliest  productions  of  the 
press  of  which  the  printer  is  known,  and  of  which  we  shall 
have  occasion  to  speak  hereafter.  But  the  celebrated  Bi- 
ble, known  as  the  "Mentz  Bible  without  date,"  is  the  first 
important  specimen  of  printing  with  metal  types :  this  was 
executed  by  Gutemberg  and  Fust,  between  the  years  1450 
and  1455,  and  was  the  occasion  of  the  secret  being  divulged, 
of  producing  books  by  mechanical  means,  as  is  mentioned 
in  the  article  Black  Letter.  Then  followed  "  the  Psal- 
ter, of  1457,"  by  Fust  and  Schoefler.  These  works  are  ex- 
ecuted in  such  a  manner  that,  with  all  our  boasted  skill,  and 
our  improvements  in  the  art,  we  are  decidedly  of  opinion, 
perfect  facsimiles,  taking  the  ink  and  workmanship  into 
account,  could  not  have  been  executed  in  England  so  lately 
as  twenty-five  years  ago.  When  the  secret  was  made 
known,  books  avowedly  printed  issued  from  the  press  in  all 
parts  of  Europe,  far  beyond  what  could  have  been  calcula- 
ted upon  from  a  new  discovery ;  for  before  the  year  1500, 
there  were  printing  offices  in  upwards  of  220  places — in 
Austria,  Bavaria,  Bohemia,  Calabria,  the  Cremonese,  Den- 
mark, England,  Flanders,  France,  Franconia,  the  Frioul, 
Geneva,  Genoa,  Germany,  Holland,  Hungary,  Italy,  Lom- 
bard}', Mecklenburg,  Moravia,  Naples,  the  Palatinate,  Pied- 
mont, Poland,  Portugal,  Rome,  Sardinia,  Upper  and  Lower 
Saxony,  Sicily,  Silesia,  Spain,  Swabia,  Switzerland,  Thessa- 
lonica,  Turkey,  Tuscany,  the  Tyrol,  Venice,  the  Veronese, 
Westphalia,  Wirtemberg,  &c.  The  number  of  places  in 
which  the  art  was  practised,  the  wide  extent  to  which 
it  had  spread  in  so  short  a  space  of  time,  combined  with 
the  skill  which  the  early  printers  displayed  in  their  works, 
appear  to  us  to  be  totally  incompatible  with  the  date  gener- 
ally assigned  to  the  invention ;  and  we  are  of  opinion  that, 
after  having  been  long  practised  in  private,  it  emerged  into 
publicity  in  a  state  nearly  approaching  to  perfection. 

It  is  impossible  in  this  short  and  rapid  sketch  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  art  to  enter  into  detail,  or  to  trace  its  progress  in 
the  different  cities  and  towns,  or  even  in  the  different  coun- 
tries where  it  was  first  publicly  practised  after  the  secret 
was  divulged  :  in  fact,  it  would  be  impossible  to  arrive  at  any 
satisfactory  conclusion;  for  as  the  first  printers  neither 
affixed  their  names,  dates,  nor  places  where  their  produc- 
tions were  executed,  the  greatest  research  could  only  result 
in  vagueness  and  uncertainty.  There  has  been  great  differ- 
ence of  opinion  among  bibliograpbers  who  have  written 
on  the  subject,  even  respecting  the  first  edition  of  the  Latin 
translation  of  the  Bible;  and  Meerman  has  enumerated  ten 
ancient  editions  without  date,  in  favour  of  the  priority  of 
each  of  which  pretensions  have  been  advanced  and  sup- 
ported. 

William  Caxton  is  generally  regarded  as  first  who  intro- 
duced the  art  of  printina  into  England,  and  practised  it  at 
Westminster;  but  a  prior  claim  is  advanced  in  favour  of 
Oxford,  which  has  occasioned  much  controversy.  Dr.  Dib- 
din,  in  his  Typographical  -Antiquities,  says,  "  Although 
Caxton  is  called  by  me  the  first  English  printer,  yet  I  fully 
believe  in  the  authenticity  of  the  Oxford  edition  of  the  Ez- 
posicio  sancti  Jeronimi  in  simbolo  apostolorum,  &.C.,  of  the 


date  of  1468,  which  was  printed  by  a  foreigner  at  Oxford, 
who  was  interrupted  in  the  prosecution  of  his  typographi- 
cal labours."  Several  copies  of  this  work  are  in  existence; 
one  is  in  the  Bodleian  library,  another  in  the  public  library 
at  Cambridge,  and  a  third  in  the  British  Museum :  Herbert 
mentions  a  fourth  in  the  Earl  of  Pembroke's  library ;  a  fifth 
in  All  Souls  library,  of  which  a  doubt  may  be  entertained  ; 
and  Hearne  speaks  of  a  sixth  copy  in  the  school  tower  at 
Oxford.  Those  who  deny  the  priority  for  Oxford  argue  that 
the  date  is  incorrect,  either  from  accident  or  design ;  that 
being  in  Roman  numerals  an  X  is  omitted,  and  that  the  real 
date  of  the  book  should  be  MCCCCLXXVIII. 

Caxton,  during  a  long  residence  on  the  Continent  on  com- 
mercial affairs  and  political  missions,  in  the  reign  of  Henry 
VII.,  acquired  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  art,  and  on  his 
return  to  England  established  a  printing-office  in  a  chapel 
adjoining  to  Westminster  Abbey,  where,  for  many  years,  he 
was  indefatigable  in  translating  and  preparing  works  for  the 
press,  and  in  printing  them ;  and  to  him  may  be  fairly  as- 
cribed the  merit  of  being  the  first  to  introduce  the  practice 
of  printing  generally  into  England.  He  printed  many  books 
on  a  variety  of  subjects;  and  all  the  productions  of  his 
press  are  objects  of  great  interest  to  book  collectors.  He 
commenced  printing  in  England  about  the  year  1474,  and 
was  billowed  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  Richard  Pynson,  &.C. 

In  the  Privy  Purse  Expenses  of  Henry  the  Seventh  are 
the  following  entries : 

"June  6,  1499.    To  the  Printers  at  Westmr,  £1." 

"Nov.  1,  1504.  To  Richard  Pynson,  the  Prynter,  in  re- 
warde,  £1." 

"  24.    For  prynting  of  new  Colletts,  £1  Us.  4d." 

"July  12,  1505.  To  Ric.  Pynson  opon  a  prest  for  masse- 
bokes  to  be  printed,  £10." — Ezcerpta  Historica,  8vo,  1833. 

Dr.  Dibdin  relates,  that,  in  1524,  Dr.  Robert  Wakefield, 
chaplain  to  Henry  VIII.,  published  his  Oratio  de  Laudibus 
et  Vtilitate  trium  lAnguarum,  Aratric<£,  CAaldaictB,  et  He- 
hraicm,  &c,  4to.  The  printer  was  Wynkyn  de  Worde  ;  and 
the  author  complains  that  he  was  obliged  to  omit  his  whole 
third  part,  because  the  printer  had  no  Hebrew  types.  We 
have  now  in  the  British  Ibunderies,  in  addition  to  the  Roman 
and  Italic  characters,  Arabic,  Armenian,  Coptic,  Domesday, 
Engrossing,  Ethiopic,  Etruscan,  German,  Greek.  Alexandrian 
Greek,  Gothic,  Hebrew,  Hibernian  or  Irish,  Malabaric, 
.Malayan,  Nagari  or  Brahmin,  Persian,  Philosophical,  Runic, 
Russian,  Samaritan,  Sanscrit,  Saxon,  Sclavonian  or  ancient 
Russian,  Script  in  imitation  of  writing,  Swedish,  Syriac, 
Tamoul,  Telegii,  Turkish ;  also  black  letter,  and  music ;  and, 
in  addition,  a  great  variety  of  fancy  types. 

The  first  book  in  which  Greek  types  occur  is  Cicero's  Of- 
fices, printed  in  the  year  1465,  in  which  the  characters  are 
so  imperfect  that  the  words  are  with  difficulty  deciphered; 
and  the  first  book  printed  in  Roman  characters  was  Cicero's 
Epistolm  Familiares,  by  Svveynheini  and  Pannartz,  at 
Rome,  in  1467.  The  Italic  type  was  the  invention  of  Aldus 
Manutius,  the  celebrated  printer  at  Venice,  about  1500,  and 
dedicated  by  him  to  the  States  of  Italy,  from  which  it  took 
its  name. 

The  art  appeared  to  start  into  publicity  in  a  state  of  per- 
fection. As  it  extended,  the  workmanship  became  much  in- 
ferior ;  so  that  while  the  productions  of  the  first  printers 
were  executed  in  a  very  superior  style,  and  the  embellish- 
ments showed  a  great  proficiency  both  in  design  and  en- 
graving, the  productions  of  their  competitors  had  all  the 
crudeness  and  imperfection  of  a  new  invention  ;  and  in  the 
17th  century  it  had  retrograded  to  a  very  low  state.  At  the 
commencement  of  the  18th  century,  Caslon  made  great  im- 
provement in  types ;  and  about  1750  Baskerville  of  Birming- 
ham also  made  great  improvements,  both  in  types  and  print- 
ing, which  were  subsequently  carried  on  by  Bensley,  Bul- 
mer,  Corrall,  Davison,  M'Creery,  Whittingham,  and  a  few 
others,  in  London  ;  the  Foulis,  at  Glasgow;  the  Ballantynes 
in  Edinburgh  ;  Bodoni  at  Parma,  and  Didot  at  Paris. 

Many  of  the  manuscripts  of  the  14th  and  15th  centuries 
were  WTitten  in  a  beautiful  manner,  and  embellished  by 
borders  round  the  pages,  and  by  the  large  letters  at  the  com- 
mencements of  chapters  being  drawn  and  coloured  with 
brilliant  colours,  heightened  with  burnished  gold,  and  fin- 
ished with  taste,  delicacy,  and  great  ability,  so  as  produce  a 
most  splendid  effect.  These  were  called  illuminated  manu- 
scripts. On  the  first  production  of  books  by  the  process  of 
printing  these  ornamental  letters  were  left  blank,  and  both 
these  letters  and  the  borders  were  finished  by  hand  in  the 
usual  manner,  which  gave  to  the  book  a  perfect  resemblance 
to  a  manuscript,  of  which  it  became  by  these  means  a  com- 
plete facsimile.  This  is  the  case  with  the  Mentz  Bible  by 
Fust  and  Gutenberg.  The  first  printers  soon  began  to  print 
these  large  ornamented  letters,  the  letter  itself  being  in  some 
instances  red  and  the  ornamental  part  blue,  in  others  the 
letter  is  blue  and  the  ornamental  part  red  ;  and  these  were 
afterwards  finished  by  hand,  as  is  apparent  in  the  Psalter 
of  1457,  printed  by  Fust  and  Schoeffer,  who  also  showed 
great  ingenuity  and  skill  in  the  large  letter  B  in  the  same 

983 


PRINTING. 


book,  which  is  printed  with  red  ink,  and  the  ornamental 
put,  consisting  of  a  nourished  line,  as  if  it  bad  been  drawn 
with  a  pen,  extending  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  the 

folio  |>;itr«',  with  blue  ink.  Of  two  copies  which  We  have 
examined,  one  was  in  the  library  of  Geo.  III.  at  Bucking- 
ham Pi i hire,  and  the  other  in  the  possession  of  Karl  Spencer. 
The  first  edition  of  the  Speculum  Humana  Salralionis, 
which   WSS   printed  at   Haarlem,  about   the  year   1-1  -in,   by 

Lenience  Coster,  has  engravings  on  wood  printed  in  a 
different  coloured  ink  from  the  body  of  the  work.  A  copy 
of  this  rare  and  curious  work,  which  We  examined  BOOK 
years  a'_"i  in  the  valuable  collection  of  Qie  Messrs.  Long- 
man, impressed  us  momentarily  with  the  idea  that  the  en- 
gravings were  pen  and  ink  drawings,  and  that  the  ink  had 
turned  brown  with  ace,  so  precisely  was  this  effect  produced 
by  the  tone  of  the  ink. 

We  mention  these  early  specimens  of  printing  with  col- 
oured inks,  and  in  the  case  of  the  Psalter  having  two  Mocks 
of  wood  with  two  different  colours,  as  being  produced  by 
means  of  the  press,  coeval  with  the  generally  received 
opinion  of  the  invention  of  printing,  to  show  the  impossibility 
o(  the  case.  For,  looking  at  the  freedom  of  tin-  engraving 
in  the  letter  B,  and  the  skill  of  the  workman  in  printing  it, 
it  must  be  evident  to  every  person  conversant  with  the 
art  that  this  perfection  could  only  be  obtained  by  lone  prac- 
tice ;  and  the  contrast  between  these  productions  of  the  first 
practitioners  and  their  competitors,  when  the  art  became 
public,  puts  the  question  beyond  a  doubt,  as  an  examination 
Bf  the  facsimiles  given  by  Heinecken  from  Fables  printed 
at  Bamberg  about  1461,  from  the  Legendts  printed  at  the 
same  place  about  1470,  and  also  the  Fables  of  ..Esop  by 
('avion,  will,  we  think,  satisfy  the  most  scrupulous  and 
skeptical. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  15th  century  the  art  was  extend- 
ed to  the  imitation  of  pen  and  ink  sketches  with  a  coloured 
ground,  by  the  great  masters  of  painting;  and  in  a  few 
years  it  was  farther  extended  to  the  imitation  of  drawings 
jn  clare-obscure,  and  that  with  such  success  as  to  induce 
some  of  the  first  artists  to  encourage  it  by  drawing  the  sub- 
jects on  the  blocks.  The  first  praclisers  of  this  extension  of 
the  art  were,  Michael  Wolgemuth  of  Nuremberg,  who  fur- 
nished the  designs  for  the  .Nuremberg  Chronicle,  and  also 

engraved  them  on  wood,  and  Blair,  a  native  of  Landshut, 

the  disciple  of  Martin  Schon;  between  whom  the  priority 
rests  of  printing  in  clare-obscure.  After  them  were  Girolomo 
Hoeetto,  Lucas  Cranach,  Baldassar  Peruzzi,  Hans  Burgh- 
mair,  and  (Jgo  da  Carpi  (who  has  been  generally  regarded 

as  the  inventor  of  this  style  of  printing,  but  dates  prove  this 
opinion  to  be  erroneous),  Domenico  Beccafuiuii,  John  I'liic, 
Albert  Altdorfer,  Hans  lluldung.  Lucus  Jacobs  Leydeu 
(called  Lucas  Van);  all  these  were  born  in  the  lfith  cen- 
tury. In  the  16th  century,  there  were  Antonio  da  Trenta, 
Giovanni  Nicolo  Vicentino  (called  Rossigliani),  Herbert 
Goltzor  Goltzius,  Andrew  Andreani,  Henry  Goltz  or  Goltz- 
ius. Abraham  Hloemaert,  Paul  Moreelze,  Bartolomeo  Corio- 
lano,  Giovanni  Batista  Coriolano,  Christopher  Jegher,  George 
L'Allemand.  ami  Frederic  Bloemaert  In  the  17th  century, 
there  were  Louis  Businck,  Vincent  le  Sueur,  Antonio 
Maria  Zanetti,  Nicholas  le  Sueur,  Comte  de  Caylus,  Ed- 
ward kirkhall,  and  John  Baptist  Michael  Papillon.  This 
last-mentioned  engraver,  in  his  treatise  on  Engraving  on 
Wood,  expressly  states  that  Albert  Durer  engraved  some 
subjects  on  clare-obscure,  and  that  he  had  examined  them 
in  the  collection  of  the  king  of  France;  Parmigiano  also 
superintended  the  printing  in  this  manner  of  a  number  of 
hie  own  designs;  Titian,  Baflhelle,  and  other  eminent  mas- 
ters made  designs  on  the  blocks  for  printing;  and  the  author 
of  Jin  Enquiry  into  the  Origin  of  Printing  in  Europe  states, 
that  "one  of  the  greatest  princes  and  connoisseurs  of  our 
age  used  to  say,  be  saw  nothing  in  prints  that  could  give 
him   the   plea-iire   he   received   from   looking  at   the  wood 

prints,  done  In  chiaro-oscuro  by  lingo  (li  Carpi."  This 
prince  was  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  regent  of  France. 

Alter  these  were  John  Baptist  Jackson,  who  executed  a 
number  of  subjects,  of  a  large  size,  iii  clare  obscure,  copied 
from  celebrated  paintings  in  churches  in  Italy,  and  from 
private  collections;  he  afterwards  established  a  manufac- 
tory at  Chelsea  for  printing  paper-hangings  In  oil  colours,  a 
speculation,  however,  which  was  unsuccessful,    s f 

his  productions  printed  in  colours  Were  Complete  failures, 
the  Oil  having  spread  in   the  paper;   and  the  subjects   being 

in  the  rir-t  Instance  engraved  with  strong  lines,  they  have 
the  appearance  of  coarse  engravings  coloured  by  children. 
Jackson  flourished  from  1730,  to  I7S4  If r.  John  Skippe,  an 
amateur,  executed  many  subjects  in  clare-obscure  very 
adroitly. 

Gubitz,  an  engraver  at  Berlin,  has  produced  a  great  num- 
ber of  subjects  primed  in  colours,  of  a  very  superior  charac 

ter,  but  none-  of  tbem  can  be  called  imitations  of  drawings. 
The  writer  of  tins  article  was  the  tir-t  who  attempted  to 

Imitate  drawings  in  water  colours  by  means  of  the  common 
printing  press,  and  accomplished  the  applying  of  all  the  col- 


ours used  by  artists  to  the  composition  of  printing  ink,  thus 

seiving  as  a  pioneer  to  more  skilful  persons  who  might  de- 
Vote  themselves  to  this  branch  of  art;   and  he  succeeded  in 

producing  facsimiles  of  the  drawings  of  different  artists  so 

as  to  deceive  every  one  who  examined  them.  Mes-rs. 
Whiting  and  liranslon.  of  Beaufort  House,  applied  printing 
in  coloured  inks  to  the  prevention  of  forgery,  and  to  em- 
bossing on  paper;  and  Messrs.  Vizetelly  and  liranslon  have 
produced  some  very  tasteful  things  in  colours;  but  neither 
of  these  establishments  has,  to  our  knowledge,  turned  their 
attention  to  the  imitation  of  drawings.  Mr.  Baxter  is  now 
pursuing  the  subject,  and  has  executed  many  very  superior 
specimens  in  a  manner  that  would  have  been  deemed  total- 
ly impracticable  twenty  five  years  ago.  The  result  is  con- 
firming the  most  sanguine  expectations  we  ever  entertained 
on  the  subject  ;  and  we  are  decidedly  of  opinion  that  the 
powers  of  the  printing  press  in  producing  works  of  art  are 
far  from  being  fully  developed. 

The  art  of  taking  impressions  in  gold  from  types,  and  from 
engravings  on  wood  and  metals  in  relief,  generally  called 
printing  in  gold,  is  executed  most  successfully  by  the  com- 
mon printing  press.  It  is  also  accomplished  with  bronze  of 
different  colours  in  the  most  delicate  engravings  ;  but  how- 
ever beautiful  the  effect  of  bronze  may  be  at  first,  it  unfor- 
tunately is  not  permanent. 

After  this  brief  sketch  of  the  history  and  progress  of  the 
art  of  printing  in  Europe,  tin  art  more  important  in  the 
effects  it  has  produced  on  the  human  mind,  and,  conse- 
quently, on  the  state  of  society,  than  tiny  other  that  has 
ever  been  practised,  we  shall  lay  before  the  reader  a  short 
outline  of  the  practical  part,  for  the  better  understanding  of 
which,  we  shall  subjoin  a  glossary  of  the  chief  technical 
terms  in  common  use. 

The  first  operation,  called  composing,  is  to  arrange  the 
separate  letters  called  types  (see  Typks)  into  words,  lines, 
and  pages.  These  pages,  being  placed  upon  a  large  tint  sur- 
face, called  an  imposing  stone,  in  such  an  order  that  when 
they  are  printed,  and  the  sheet  of  paper  is  folded,  the  pages 
will  follow-  each  other  consecutively,  are  then  wedged  up  in 
an  iron  frame,  termed  a  chase.  This  operation  is  styled  im- 
posing. 

A  printing  press  is  a  machine  on  which  the  matter  to  be 
printed  is  laid  on  an  even  surface  horizontally  placed,  either 
of  stone  or  iron  ;  and  the  pressure  upon  the  tj  pes  js  produced 
by  a  parallel  surface  of  wood  or  iron,  technically  a  platen, 
by  means  of  a  screw,  or  lever,  or  both  combined.  See 
Pur.s.s. 

Perhaps  the  most  satisfactory  way  of  explaining  the  pro- 
cess generally,  will  be  to  take  a  printing-office  just  com- 
mencing, and  describe  the  whole  arrangement,  and  follow, 
in  the  order  of  its  proceeding,  the  execution  of  a  work  from 
its  being  put  in  hand  to  its  completion. 

The  office  having  been  supplied  with  all  the  necessary 
materials;  \iz.,  frames,  cases,  case  racks,  bulks,  boards, 
board  racks,  imposing  stone,  furniture,  quoins,  mallet,  shoot- 
ing-sticks,  brass  rule,  chases,  and  types,  in  the  quantity  and 
variety  that  may  he  judged  necessary;  and  also  presses 
with  their  accompaniments,  banks  and  horses,  with  a  sink, 
lye  trough,  wetting  trough,  and  paper  hoards;  and  in  the 
warehouse,  with  a  gathering  table,  poles,  a  peel,  and  a  press 
to  press  the  books  before  they  are  delivered — it  may  be  said 
that  the  office  is  in  a  state  to  commence  business. 

The  compositor  now  proceeds  to  lay  the  letter  into  as 
many  rases  as  may  be  judged  expedient  in  the  first  instance 
(see  Case),  laying  the  Italic  in  cases  distinct  from  the 
Roman,  each  letter  or  sort  in  the  box  appropriated  to  it: 
having  done  this  with  one  fount,  he  will  put  the  cases  into 
the  case  rack,  and  proceed  with  another  fount,  till  the  whole 
of  the  letter  is  laid  ;  he  will  put  the  superfluous  sorts  either 
into  a  fount  case  or  into  coffins  ;  an  1  he  will  then  be  ready 
to  take  copy. 

The  pressman  has  to  adjust  his  press,  place  the  footstep 
so  as  to  give  him  the  greatest  advantage  in  the  pull,  fix  the 
rounce,  place  the  girths  so  that  the  carriage  shall  run  in  and 
out  properly,  fix  the  back  Btay,  justify  the  platen  so  that  it 

shall  bear  equally  on  all  pans  of  the  form,  and  cover  his 
tvuipans  and  frisket  ;  and  he  is  also  ready  to  proceed  in  his 
work. 

The  compositor  having  taken  copy,  and  received  direc- 
tions respecting  the  measure,  the  length  of  the  page,  any 
peculiarity  in  the  spelling  of  particular  words,  the  use  of 
capital  letters,  the  punctuation,  the  words  that  are  to  be  in 
Italic  or  small  capitals,  and  any  other  directions  that  may 
be  deemed  Qecessarj .  proct  eds  to  make  his  measure,  and  cut 
a  c pos]nLr  rule;  he  then  begins  to  compose,  letter  by  let- 
ter, till  be  ha-  formed  a  word;  he  separates  ibis  from  the 
following  wool  by  a  space,  and  so  continues  till  he  has 
composed  a  line;  be  then  Justifies  this  line,  by  increasing 
the  space  between  the  words  or  lessening  ii  according  to 

chrcumstant  es,  so  that  the  line  shall  be  tolerably  tight  in  the 

composing  stick  ;  and  thus  procei  d-  iiii  he  has  campli  led  a 
page;  alter  having  set  the  head  line  and   direction  line 


PRINTING. 


with  the  signature,  he  ties  a  page  cord  round  it,  to  preserve 
it  from  falling  asunder,  puts  it  on  a  page-paper,  and  places 
it  on  the  bottom  of  his  frame ;  and  thus  continues,  page 
after  page,  till  he  has  composed  a  sheet. 

It  may  be  necessary  to  state  that  every  line  is  of  the  same 
length,  whether  the  types  fill  it  out  or  not ;  the  last  line 
of  a  paragraph,  lines  of  poetry,  and  short  lines  of  any  other 
description,  are  filled  up  with  quadrats  to  the  proper  length, 
in  order  that  they  be  secured  from  derangement  by  being 
wedged  up  in  the  chase  ;  which  is  termed  locking-up. 

The  pages  are  then  taken  to  the  imposing  stone,  and  ar- 
ranged in  the  proper  order ;  the  page  papers  removed ;  a 
chase  is  then  placed  over  them  (see  Chase),  furniture  put 
about  them  (see  Furniture),  and  the  pagecords  taken 
away ;  proper  quoins  are  then  selected,  and  the  form  is 
locked  up.  It  is  then  taken  to  a  press,  and  one  impression 
is  printed  ;  this  is  styled  the  first  proof,  which  is  folded  and 
taken  to  the  reader  with  the  copy ;  a  boy  reads  the  copy  to 
him,  while  he  examines  the  proof  and  marks  the  errors  of 
the  compositor,  and  puts  a  query  to  any  doubtful  matter  for 
the  author's  consideration ;  the  proof  is  then  returned  to  the 
compositor,  who  corrects  the  errors  and  mistakes,  and  a 
second  impression  is  printed  with  more  care,  and  generally 
on  better  paper;  this  is  styled  a  clean  proof;  it  is  examined 
by  the  first  proof  to  see  that  the  errors  of  workmanship  are 
corrected,  which  is  termed  revising,  and  then  sent  out  with 
the  copy  to  the  author ;  he  makes  what  alterations  and 
corrections  he  may  think  necessary  (see  Correcting)  ; 
these  are  corrected  by  the  compositor  ;  another  impression 
is  printed,  revised,  and  read  finally  and  with  care  for  press ; 
the  margin  is  then  adjusted  (see  Margin)  ;  and  the  correc- 
tions being  carefully  made,  it  is  taken  to  the  press  to  be 
printed  off. 

In  the  mean  time,  after  the  author  has  returned  the  sheet 
for  press,  the  warehouseman  delivers  out  the  proper  quan- 
tity of  paper,  which  the  pressman  wets,  by  drawing  the  pa- 
per, to  the  extent  of  three,  four,  five,  or  six  dips  for  each 
quire,  through  clean  water,  according  as  the  paper  may  be 
hard  sized  or  porous,  and  also  as  the  form  may  be  solid  or 
open ;  the  paper  as  it  is  wetted  is  laid  upon  a  board,  opened 
out,  and  another  board  is  laid  upon  it  with  weights  ;  on  the 
following  day  it  is  turned,  which  causes  fresh  surfaces  to 
come  into  contact  with  each  other,  and  diffuses  the  moisture 
equally  throughout  every  part  of  the  heap;  it  will  be  in 
good  condition  to  print  on  the  next  day.  This  wetting  the 
paper  causes  it  to  receive  the  impression  of  the  ink  in  a 
much  more  perfect  manner  than  it  could  possibly  be  made 
to  do  if  dry. 

The  pressman  having  received  the  forms  lays  the  inner 
form  on  the  press,  and  prints  one  copy,  which  is  called  a 
revise  ;  this  he  takes  to  the  person  appointed  to  revise  it, 
and  while  that  is  doing  proceeds  to  secure  the  form  on  the 
table  of  the  press  by  means  of  quoins ;  to  place  his  tympan 
sheet ;  to  fix  the  points  which  make  small  holes  in  the  paper 
that  enable  him  to  cause  the  pages  to  fall  precisely  on  the 
back  of  each  other  when  the  second  side  of  the  paper  is 
printed,  and  to  produce  an  even  and  uniform  impression  in 
all  the  pages  ;  he  then  cuts  his  frisket,  which  preserves  the 
margin  of  the  paper  clean,  and,  when  the  revise  is  correct- 
ed, proceeds  to  ink  the  surface  of  the  types  by  means  of 
balls  or  rollers.  When  the  whole  impression  of  one  side  of 
the  paper  is  printed,  he  lifts  the  form  off  the  press,  washes 
the  ink  off  the  face  of  the  type  with  lye,  and  rinses  it  with 
water.  He  then  proceeds  in  a  similar  manner  with  the  outer 
form,  which  completes  the  sheet;  and  thus  sheet  after 
sheet. 

If  it  be  intended  to  have  large  paper  copies  of  a  work,  the 
alteration  of  margin  is  made  when  the  number  of  small  pa- 
per copies  is  printed  off  from  each  form. 

When  the  sheet  is  printed  the  compositor  lays  it  up,  dis- 
tributes the  letter,  and  proceeds,  sheet  after  sheet,  till  the 
body  of  the  work  is  finished  ;  then  the  title,  dedication, 
preface,  introduction,  contents,  and  any  other  prefatory  mat- 
ter, is  proceeded  with,  these  being  always  printed  the  last. 

The  warehouseman  then  takes  the  printed  sheets  away, 
and  hangs  them  up  on  poles  to  dry,  varying  the  number  of 
sheets  hung  up  together  from  five  or  six  to  ten  or  eleven,  ac- 
cording to  the  state  of  the  weather,  the  heat  of  the  room,  or 
the  pressure  of  business ;  when  these  sheets  are  dry  they 
are  taken  down  from  the  poles,  carefully  knocked  up,  anil 
put  away  in  the  warehouse  in  piles ;  when  the  book  is  near- 
ly finished  from  ten  to  fourteen  consecutive  sheets  are  laid 
upon  the  gathering  table  in  order,  and  collected  sheet  bv 
sheet  by  boys,  who  deposit  each  gathering  in  a  heap  at  the 
end  of  the  table,  which  is  generally  what  is  styled  a  horse- 
shoe table,  so  that  when  a  boy  has  deposited  his  gathering  he 
has  only  to  turn  himself  and  begin  again.  These  gather- 
ings are  then  carefully  collated,  to  ascertain  that  the  differ- 
ent sheets  are  correct  and  in  order,  and  folded  up  the  mid- 
dle. When  the  work  is  finished  the  gatherings  are  put  to- 
gether, each  of  which  forms  a  copy  of  the  work,  and  press- 
ed ;  the  work  is  now  completed,  and  awaits  the  order  of  the 


bookseller,  <fcc,  to  deliver  the  copies  either  to  himself,  the 
bookbinder,  or  to  others,  according  to  circumstances. 

A  new  method  of  obtaining  impressions  from  types  by 
means  of  cylinders  has  been  introduced,  and  the  power  gen- 
erally employed  is  steam.  Mr.  Kcinig,  a  Saxon,  had  con- 
sidered that  steam  might  be  employed  with  advantage  to 
expedite  the  process  ;  but  not  receiving  encouragement  on 
the  Continent  to  enable  him  to  prosecute  his  plans,  he  came 
to  England  in  1804,  and,  after  explaining  his  views  to  some 
of  the  principal  printers  in  London,  Mr.  Thomas  Bensley, 
Mr.  George  Woodfall,  and  Mr.  Richard  Taylor  embarked  in 
the  undertaking,  but  Mr.  Woodfall  soon  withdrew.  After 
innumerable  experiments,  and  a  great  outlay  of  capital,  the 
result  was  not  satisfactory  ;  but  the  experience  gained  by 
prosecuting  these  experiments  resulted  in  the  production  of 
a  machine  to  print  with  cylinders  instead  of  a  flat  surface, 
as  was  the  case  with  the  printing  press,  which  was  limited 
in  the  size  of  the  paper  by  the  size  of  the  press  and  the 
power  of  the  pressman.  In  cylindrical  printing,  by  which 
the  pressure  is  communicated  in  lines,  the  size  may  be  very 
considerably  increased. 

The  first  machine  that  was  constructed  was  capable  of 
printing  1000  copies  per  hour  of  double  demy  paper  on  both 
sides,  while  a  press  is  estimated  to  print  250  copies  of  a 
single  sheet  on  one  side  only,  in  the  same  time. 

When  this  machine  was  completed,  the  proprietors  of 
the  Times  newspaper,  ever  ready  to  adopt  any  improvement 
that  would  expedite  its  publication,  without  regarding  ex- 
pense, agreed  with  the  patentees  for  two  machines ;  and 
on  the  28th  of  November,  1814,  the  Times  was  published, 
executed  by  cylindrical  printing,  the  moving  power  being 
steam :  these  were  the  only  machines  constructed  under 
the  first  patent. 

Various  improvements  and  simplifications  of  this  complex 
machine  were  soon  effected  by  different  ingenious  men,  and 
were  adopted  by  many  printers.  They  have  become  in- 
valuable for  the  publication  of  periodicals  where  the  num- 
ber of  copies  is  great,  and  also  for  newspapers  ;  for  their 
power  of  printing  sheets  of  paper  of  a  size  far  beyond  the 
capability  of  any  press,  and  their  rapidity  of  throwing  off 
copies,  enable  the  editors  to  increase  the  size,  and  to  delay 
commencing  the  printing  off  for  a  considerable  time  later 
than  before  their  introduction,  and  thus  avail  themselves 
of  any  intelligence  that  might  arrive  in  the  interval. 

Perhaps  the  most  complete  machine  for  printing  one  side 
of  the  paper  is  that  used  at  the  office  of  the  Times  ;  the 
carriage  on  which  the  pages  to  be  printed  are  laid,  travels 
under  the  printing  cylinders,  of  which  there  are  four,  and 
back  again  nineteen  times  in  a  minute,  producing  two  im- 
pressions in  going,  and  two  in  returning,  or  seventy-six  in  a 
minute,  being  4,560  copies  of  four  pages  of  that  newspaper 
in  the  hour,  at  its  ordinary  rate  of  working.  The  paper  is 
laid  on  at  both  ends  of  the  machine,  two  persons  laying  on 
at  each  end ;  and  the  printed  sheets  are  delivered  two  at 
each  end. 

The  types  are  inked  by  means  of  rollers,  and  the  appa- 
ratus for  this  purpose  was  the  invention  of  Mr.  Edu  ard 
Cowper ;  the  paper  is  secured  in  travelling  round  the  cylin- 
ders by  means  of  tapes,  as  first  practised  by  Mr.  Kdnig :  the 
chief  improvements  in  this  machine  are  known  as  those  of 
Messrs.  Applegath  and  Cowper,  by  the  former  of  whom  it 
was  constructed  and  fitted  up. 

This  machine  has  the  appearance  of  four  single  machines 
formed  into  one,  and  working  at  less  speed  than  separate 
machines  are  in  the  habit  of  doing,  many  of  which  are 
capable  of  printing  1500  per  hour ;  and  we  have  no  hesita- 
tion in  saying,  that  if  it  were  requisite  for  the  sake  of 
despatch,  the  principle  might  be  extended,  and  a  machine 
constructed  to  print  6000  or  8000  an  hour  without  diffi- 
culty. 

The  idea  of  cylindrical  printing  in  England  originated 
some  years  anterior  to  Mr.  KOnig  submitting  his  plan,  for 
the  late  Mr.  William  Nicholson  took  out  a  patent  for  the 
purpose,  date<l  29th  April,  1790,  but  it  was  never  acted  on  ; 
and,  as  to  the  use  of  steam  as  the  motive  power,  the  late 
Mr.  Alexander  Tilloch  is  known  to  have  stated  previously 
to  the  introduction  of  these  machines,  that  he  had  long  had 
it  in  contemplation  to  apply  steam  as  the  power  to  print  off 
the  Star  newspaper. 

The  late  Sir  William  Congreve  took  out  a  patent  for  a 
machine  to  print  two  colours  at  once,  which  was  made  by 
Messrs.  Donkin  and  Company,  and  completely  answered 
the  purpose.  This  machine  was  intended  to  print  stamps 
and  bank  bills,  which  Sir  William  stated  would  be  inimita- 
ble, except  by  the  machine  of  which  he  was  the  patentee ; 
but  he  was  too  sanguine,  and  the  opinion  was  fallacious, 
for  nothing  in  the  process  of  printing  is  more  easy  to  execute 
at  the  common  press  by  a  common  workman  than  this 
inimitable  plan  for  preventing  forgeries. 

Glossary  to  the  Article  Printing. 

Alteration  of  Margin,  is  increasing  the  space  between 
3P  *  985 


PRINTING. 


the  pages,  so  as  in  enlarge  the  margin  of  a  book,  and  make 
ii  proportional  In  large  paper  copies. 

ll.uk  Stay,  is  a  girth  or  Btrap  of  strong  leather  attached 

tu  the  back  of  the  carriage,  and  fastened  to  the  hind  |iart  of 

its  use  i-  to  check  the  carriage  In  running  out 

beyond  the  point  which  will  allow  the  tympan  to  1  isu  clear 

of  the  front  of  the  platen. 

Halls  are  used  for  coating  the  face  of  the  type  or  engraving 
with  ink  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  impressions.  They 
consist  of  ilie  ball-stock,  Stuffed  with  carded  wool,  and  not 
many  years  ago  were  covered  with  an  undressed  sheep- 
skin, the  hair  taken  oil",  termed  a  pelt.  The  noisome  smell 
which  these  halls  occasioned  in  a  printing  office  by  the 
means  used  to  keep  them  in  good  working  order,  induced 
many  persons  to  turn  their  attention  to  the  providing  of  a 
substitute  Cor  them;  but  long  without  success:  at  length 
Mr.  B.  Foster  Introduced  composition  balls,  made  of"  glue 
and  treacle  melted  together  and  cast  in  a  dished  mould,  so 
thai  the  edges  are  thinner  than  the  middle,  and  attached  to 
a  piece  of  canvass  as  a  substitute  for  the  pelt ;  these  balls 
were  found  to  answer  so  well,  and  be  so  free  from  any 
noxious  smell,  that  they  have  generally  superseded  the  pelt 
balls. 

Hunk.  A  table  placed  at  the  side  of  a  press,  on  one  end 
of  which  the  horse  containing  the  paper  to  be  printed  is 
laid,  and  at  the  other  the  sheets  printed  during  the  opera- 
tion. 

Hoard  Rack.  Grooves  formed  in  some  recess,  or  under 
the  imposing  stone  or  a  hulk,  or  in  a  closet,  to  receive  letter 
hoards  on  which  types  ate  placed  that  are  not  in  immediate 
use. 

Carriage.  That  part  of  a  press  on  which  the  types  are 
placed  to  be  printed,  which  is  run  in  till  they  are  imme- 
diately under  the  platen,  and,  when  the  impression  is  taken, 
run  out,  in  order  to  change  the  sheet  of  paper,  and  to  ink 
lac  tj  pes  again. 

Case  Rack.  A  frame  of  wood  of  the  width  and  depth  of 
a  oase,  with  ledges  attached  to  the  inside  of  the  upright 
parts  to  receive  those  cases  which  are  not  in  use. 

I'uffni.  A  piece  of  strong  paper  twisted  into  a  conical 
shape  like  a  sugar  paper,  into  which  any  superfluous  types 
are  temporarily  deposited.  Also  that  part  of  the  carriage 
of  a  wooden  press  in  which  the  stone  is  bedded. 

ing  Hull'.  A  piece  of  brass  rule,  the  width  of 
which  i-  equal  to  the  height  of  the  types,  cut  to  the  length 
of  the  line,  and  laid  in  the  composing  stick,  upon  which  the 
compositor  arranges  the  types;  it  facilitates  the  process, 
and  by  means  of  it  he  empties  his  stick  when  it  is  full. 

(  omposing  stick.  An  instrument  of  simple  construction, 
in  which  the  compositor  arranges  the  words  and  lines.  It 
ha-,  a  slide,  which  is  secured  by  a  screw,  by  means  of  which 
he  is  enabled  to  make  the  lines  of  any  length  that  may  lie 
required. 

Direction  Line.  A  line  of  quadrants  at  the  bottom  of 
each  page,  in  which  is  inserted  the  first  word  of  the  next 
page,  which  is  called  the  catch-word;  in  the  first  page  of 
each  sheet  there  is  also  inserted  in  it  the  number  of  the 
volume,  if  more  than  one,  and  the  signature. 

To  Distribute.  To  replace  the  letters  in  their  respective 
situations  in  the  cases,  after  a  sheet  has  been  printed  ofT,  to 
enable  the  compositor  to  proceed  with  the  work. 

Footstep.  An  inclined  plane  fixed  under  the  front  side 
(if  the  press,  fur  the  pressman  to  place  his  foot  upon  when 
at  woik,  tu  enable  him  to  exert  his  strength  to  advantage. 

Farm.     A  chase  with  one  or  more  pages  wedged  up  in  it. 

Fniini   Case.     A  case  of  large  dimension  in   which  the 

superfl s  sorts  of  a  fount  are  placed,  as  a  depot,  till  they 

be  wanted. 

It  is  made  of  wood,  of  a  height  to  suit  a  man 
Standing  to  work  at  it,  on  which  the  cases  arc  placed.  It 
is  much  higher  at  the  hack  than  the  front,  which  brings 
the  most  distant  boxes  nearer  to  the  compositor's  hand. 

Frisket.  A  light  iron  frame,  attached  to  the  tympan  by 
joints  or  pivots,  which  turns  down  upon  the  tympan  over 

the  sheet  of  paper  to  he  printed,  to  preserve  the  margin 
clean,  and  to  retain  the  paper  in  its  position  ;  t,,  effect  this, 
the  frlskel  Is  covered  with  paper,  and  openings  cut  in  it  the 
size  oi  the  pages  to  he  printed. 

Girths.  Two  pieces  of  girthweb  or  strong  leather, 
fastened  at  one  of  the  ends  to  the  w  heel,  and  wound  differ- 
ent ways  round  it,  and  the  other  ends  attached  t"  the  ex 

Ireine  ends  of  the  carriage  ;  by  this  means  turning  the  mimic 
one  way  causes  the  camaire  to  run  in  Under  the  platen,  and 

turning  it  the  reverse  waj  causes  it  to  run  out  again. 

Iliad  I. me  The  line  at  the  lop  of  the  page,  which  con- 
tain- the  ti.iio  or  number  of  the  page,  ami  frequently  the 
title  of  the  book,  or  the  subject  of  the  chapter  or  of  the 
page. 

Horse.  An  apparatus  of  a  desk-like  shape,  placed  on 
(he  '-Mil.  close  to  the  tympan  of  the  press,  on  which  the 
papei  to  i.e  printed  is  laid. 

Inner  Form.  The  thase  and  pages  in  proper  order, 
9S8 


wedged  up.  which  contains  the  2d,  3d,  6th,  7th,  10th,  11th, 
14th,  and  15th  pages  Of  a  sheet  in  octavo;  it  invariably  con- 
tains the  second  page  of  a  sheet,  whatever  may  be  the  size 
of  the  hook. 

Justifying.  Putting  equal  space  between  the  words  in 
each  line;  making  the  lines  of  preciselj  tin  same  length; 
placing  the  marginal  notes  opposite  the  references  ;  making 
the  pages  uniformly  of  one  length  ;  and  adjusting  any  pecu- 
liar matter,  so  that  the  whole  shall  be  tight  and  propel 
w  hen  wedged  up. 

To  Knock-up.  At  press,  it  is  for  the  presstnen  to  make  a 
pair  "f  halls.  In  the  warehouse,  it  is  to  make  the  printed 
sheets  even  at  the  edges,  which  is  performed  by  taking  in  id 

of  a  panel  of  sheets  by  tho  two  edges,  holding  them  slack 
in  the  hands,  and  letting  them  fall  on  their  bottom  edge  by 
their  own  weight,  then  by  a  sleight  of  hand  throwing  them 
flat  on  the  hoard,  repeating  the  operation  till  all  the  sheets 
are  even  at  the  edges,  when  they  are  placed  in  piles  until 
they  are  gathered. 

To  Lay-up.  This  is  the  operation  of  washing  the  ink  off 
the  types  after  the  impression  is  printed,  by  laying  the  form 
on  a  letter  board,  loosening  the  quoins,  and  working  the 
letter  with  the  hand,  pouring  on  it  plenty  of  water  to  clean 
the  types  for  distribution. 

Letter  Board.  A  board  on  which  pages  of  types  are 
placed  for  distribution,  and  also  when  they  are  not  imme- 
diately wanted.  There  are  two  ledges  of  wood  grooved  in 
on  the  under  side,  which  project  a  little  mine  than  an  inch, 
on  which  it  rests,  which  allows  it  to  be  set  over  other  types 
on  boards  without  putting  them  in  confusion. 

Lye  Trovgh.  A  shallow  trough,  lined  with  lead,  suffi- 
ciently capacious  to  admit  a  board  on  which  a  form  is  laid  ; 
this  trough  has  some  lye  in  it,  with  which  the  surface  of 
the  letter,  the  chase,  and  the  furniture  is  brushed  over,  to 
remove  the  ink  which  has  accumulated  during  the  process 
of  printing  ;  the  form  is  then  taken  out,  set  upon  its  edge, 
and  rinsed  with  water.  The  lye  is  composed  of  water  and 
pearlash. 

Mallet.  (Fr.  maillet.)  A  wooden  hammer,  with  which 
the  quoins  arc  tightened,  and  also  loosened  ;  and  which  is 
also  used  for  general  purposes. 

JMcasure.  (Fr.  mesure  )  The  space  in  the  composing 
stick  between  the  end  and  the  slide,  which  is  the  length  of 
a  line,  however  large  or  small  the  page  may  be,  is  styled 
the  measure. 

Outer  Farm.  The  chase  and  pages  in  proper  order, 
wedged  up,  which  contains  the  1st,  4th,  5th,  8th,  9th,  12th, 
Kith,  and  Kith  pages  of  a  sheet  in  octavo;  it  invariably 
contains  the  first  and  last  pages  of  a  sheet,  whatever  may 
be  the  size  of  the  book. 

Page  Cord.  Small  twine,  even  and  strong,  which  is 
used  to  tie  round  the  pages  of  types,  to  secure  them  from 
accidents  till  they  are  imposed,  when  the  cords  are  taken 
off. 

Page  Papers.  Pieces  of  stout  and  smooth  paper,  on 
which  the  pages  of  types  in  the  progress  of  a  work  are 
placed  in  a  safe  place  iill  a  sheet  is  ready  to  he  Imposed. 

Paper  Boards.  Hoards  on  which  paper  is  laid  when 
wetted  ;  also  those  boards  used  in  pressing  books  ;  they  tire 
of  various  dimensions,  according  to  the  size  of  the  paper. 
They  differ  from  letter  boards  in  being  smooth  and  even  on 
both  sides. 

Peel.  A  thin  piece  of  wood  with  a  long  handle  affixed 
to  it,  in  the  shape  of  the  letter  T;  it  is  used  lor  hanging 
the  sheets  of  a  book  upon  the  poles  to  dry,  and  for  taking 
them  down  again. 

Platen.  A  thick  piece  of  wood,  or  more  generally  now 
made  of  iron,  perfectly  level  on  its  under  side,  attached  Im- 
mediately under  the  moving  power  of  a  printing  press, 
which  produces  the  impression. 

Point.    There  are  always  two  points  used  in  press-work, 

when  a  sheet  of  paper  Is  printed  on  both  sides;  they  are 
made  of  thin  iron,  u  ith  a  notch  at  one  end,  and  a  projecting 
spur  or  point  at  the  other  end  ;  they  are  attached  to  the 
tympan  by  screws,  and  lie  flat  upon  it:  the  spurs  being 
under  the  sheet  of  paper  to  he  printed  make  small  holes  in 

it,  so  that  when  the  reiteration  or  second  side  is  printed  the 
spurs  are  placed  in  these  holes,  which  cause  the  pages  to 
actlj  on  the  hack  of  each  other. 
Poles.  Long  pieces  of  Br  wood,  about  an  inch  and  a 
half  thick,  and  three  or  lour  inches  broad,  placed  across 
the  warehouse  and  other  rooms  in  a  printing-office,  at  ahoitt 
eight  or  nine  inches  apart,  and  about  fourteen  inches  from 
the  ceiling;  their  ends  rest  in  notches  cut  in  stretchers 
fastened  to  the  wall.  Their  use  is  to  hang  the  damp  printed 
papei  upon  to  dry,  which  is  dime  with  facility  by  means  of 

the    perl. 

Quadrats.  (Fr.  quadrat)  Pieces  of  metal  of  the  same 
bod)  as  the  type,  hut  cast  lower  in  height  ;  used  to  fill  up 
Inn  i  In  ,  and  to  form  a  blank  line  or  lines  w  here  nece-arv  ; 
being  cast  lower  than  the  type,  they  do  not  produce  any 
impres.-ion  on  the  paper. 


PRINTING  INK. 

Quoin.  A  wedge  about  half  an  inch  thick  and  of  various 
widths,  to  wedge  up  the  pages  of  type  in  a  chase. 

Roller.  (Fr.  rouleau.)  The  roller  has  nearly  superseded 
the  use  of  balls  for  inking  the  surface  of  the  types.  It  is 
formed  of  a  composition  of  glue  and  treacle  cast  on  a  wooden 
cylinder,  turning  on  its  axis  in  a  light  frame. 

Rounce.  The  rounce  is  the  handle  by  which  the  car- 
riage of  the  press,  on  which  the  form  to  be  printed  is  laid, 
is  run  in  under  the  platen  and  out  again  ;  it  is  fixed  on  the 
spit,  which  is  the  axis,  that  passes  through  the  drum,  a 
cylinder  of  wood  on  which  one  end  of  the  girths  are  fasten- 
ed.   The  whole  apparatus  is  generally  termed  the  rounce. 

Run-in.  The  act  of  placing  the  carriage  with  the  form 
of  types  under  the  platen,  to  obtain  an  impression.  This  is 
effected  by  turning  the  rounce. 

Run-out.  The  act  of  withdrawing  the  carriage  with  the 
form  of  types  from  under  the  platen,  by  turning  the  rounce 
the  reverse  way  from  the  preceding,  after  the  impression  is 
taken. 

Shooting  Stick.  An  implement  for  tightening  and  loosen- 
ing the  quoins  that  wedge  up  the  pages  in  a  chase.  It  is  in 
the  shape  of  a  wedge,  about  two  inches  broad  and  nine 
inches  long,  and  is  usually  made  of  box  wood.  In  use  the 
small  end  is  placed  against  the  quoin,  and  the  other  struck 
by  the  mallet. 

Signature.  A  letter  of  the  alphabet  placed  at  the  bottom 
of  the  first  page  of  a  sheet,  and  so  on  to  each  sheet  con- 
secutively through  the  alphabet,  with  the  exception  of  the 
letters  J,  V,  and  W  ;  their  use  is  to  facilitate  collating  a 
book,  as  a  guide  to  the  bookbinder  in  folding  the  sheets, 
and  as  a  ready  means  of  referring  to  any  part  of  a  work 
before  it  is  bound. 

Sink.  A  corner  of  the  pressroom,  generally  inclosed  and 
lined  with  lead,  with  loose  boards  upon  the  lead  ;  in  this 
sink  are  placed  the  lye  trough  and  a  wetting  trough ;  it  is 
here  where  the  forms  are  washed,  rinsed,  and  laid  up. 
There  is  always  a  pipe  to  carry  off  the  waste  water. 

Sorts.  It  is  generally  used  in  the  plural  ;  it  means  any 
letter,  point,  mark,  space,  or  quadrat,  that  is  either  deficient 
or  redundant  in  quantity.  A  work  runs  upon  sorts  ;  that 
is,  a  greater  number  of  some  particular  letters  are  required 
than  the  regular  proportion,  an  index  for  instance. 

Space.  A  piece  of  metal  cast  lower  than  a  type,  so  as 
not  to  print,  used  to  separate  words  ;  they  are  of  different 
thicknesses,  so  as  to  enable  the  compositor  to  arrange  the 
words  at  equal  distances  from  each  other  in  the  same  line. 
Tympan.  A  wooden  frame  attached  to  the  carriage  of 
the  press  by  joints,  and  covered  with  parchment,  on  which 
the  sheet  of  paper  to  be  printed  is  laid  ;  there  is  another 
frame  called  the  inner  tympan,  which  fits  into  this,  also 
covered  with  parchment;  between  these  are  placed  pieces 
of  woollen  cloth,  termed  blankets,  which  form  a  soft  medium 
between  the  types  and  the  platen  that  tends  to  produce  an 
equal  impression. 

Tympan  Sheet.  A  sheet  of  paper,  the  same  that  a  work 
is  printed  on,  laid  upon  the  tympan,  and  fastened  to  it  at 
the  corners  with  paste  ;  it  is  the  guide  on  which  the  sheets 
to  be  printed  are  laid,  by  which  means  the  margin  is  kept 
regular  and  uniform. 

Wetting  Trough.  Two  troughs  joined  together  and  lined 
with  lead  ;  one  deep,  containing  the  water ;  the  other  shal- 
low, of  sufficient  size  to  contain  a  paper  board.  The  paper 
is  wetted  for  printing  by  drawing  it  through  the  water,  and 
opening  it  out  on  the  board. 

PRINTING  INK.  A  composition  with  which  the  face 
of  types  and  engravings  in  relief  are  coated  previous  to  ob- 
taining an  impression  from  them  :  it  is  made  of  different 
colours  ;  but  books,  and  the  generality  of  printing,  are  exe- 
cuted with  black  ink.  Its  composition,  generally  speaking, 
is  linseed  oil  boiled  to  a  varnish,  with  colouring  matter 
added  to  it.  The  preparation  of  this  article  was  long  kept 
a  profound  secret  by  the  few  manufacturers  of  it  in  England, 
who  completely  monopolized  the  trade,  till  Mr.  W.  Savage 
published  a  treatise  on  the  subject,  in  which  he  gave  the 
process  in  detail  for  making  printing  ink  of  every  quality 
and  colour,  which  may  be  consulted  with  advantage  by 
those  who  are  interested  in  the  subject. 

PRIOR,  PRIORESS.  (Lat.)  The  heads  of  certain  con- 
vents of  monks  or  nuns,  which  are  thence  denominated 
priories ;  the  prior  is  inferior  in  dignity  to  the  abbot. 

PRISCTLLIANISTS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  heretics 
of  the  4th  century;  so  named  from  Priscillian,  bishop  of 
Atila  in  Spain,  who  was  put  to  death  in  A.D.  382  by  Maxi- 
mus,  tyrant  of  Gaul,  for  heresy,  on  the  accusation  of  another 
bishop,  Ithacius:  one  of  the  earliest  instances  of  persecution 
to  death  for  that  offence.  The  opinions  of  Priscillian  and 
his  followers  are  said  to  have  been  Manichtean  ;  but  it  is 
remarkable  that  Snip.  Severus,  himself  sufficiently  zealous 
against  their  doctrines,  admits  that  their  persecutor  Ithacius 
was  a  man  of  disreputable  character,  and  that  purity  and 
austerity  of  manners  were  often  sufficient  with  him  to 
ground  an  accusation  of  Prisciilianism.     This  affords  a 


PRISON. 

curious  parallel  with  the  history  of  the  12th  and  13th  cen- 
turies, when  accusations  of  Manicheism  were  liberally 
brought  against  sectaries  whose  avowed  tenets  extended 
only  to  the  reformation  of  ecclesiastical  matters  and  denial 
of  the  church's  authority.     (See  Mosheim,  cent,  iv.,  part  2.) 

PRISM.  In  Geometry,  a  solid  contained  by  planes  of 
which  two  that  are  opposite  are  equal,  similar,  and  parallel, 
and  all  the  rest  parallelograms.  Prisms  take  particular 
names  from  the  figures  of  their  ends,  or  opposite  equal  and 
parallel  sides.  When  the  ends  are  triangles,  they  are  called 
triangular  prisms ;  when  the  ends  are  square,  square  prisms ; 
when  the  ends  are  pentagonal,  pentagonal  prisms  ;  and  so 
on.  A  right  prism  has  its  sides  perpendicular  to  its  ends  ; 
an  oblique  prism  is  that  of  which  the  sides  are  oblique  to 
the  ends.  The  solid  content  of  a  prism  is  found  by  multi- 
plying the  area  of  the  base  into  the  perpendicular  altitude ; 
hence  all  prisms  are  to  one  another  hi  the  ratio  compounded 
of  their  bases  and  altitudes. 

Prism.  In  Dioptrics,  a  piece  of  glass  or  other  diaphanous 
substance,  in  form  of  a  triangular  prism,  employed  to  sepa- 
rate a  ray  of  light  into  its  constituent  parts  or  colours  by 
refraction.  The  prism  is  the  instrument  by  means  of  which. 
most  of  the  remarkable  phenomena  of  light  and  colours  are 
exhibited.     See  Chromatics,  Optics,  Refraction. 

PRISMATIC  COLOURS.  The  colours  produced  by  de- 
composing light  by  a  prism.     See  Primary  Colours. 

PRISMATIC  COMPASS.  A  surveying  instrument,  much 
used  on  account  of  its  convenient  size  and  form  in  military 
sketching,  and  for  filling  up  the  details  of  a  map  where 
great  accuracy  is  not  required.  The  construction  is  as  fol- 
lows :  The  compass-card,  divided  into  degrees  and  minutes, 
is  attached  to  the  needle,  and  turns  with  it.  On  one  side 
of  the  compass-box  stands  a  perpendicular  slip,  called  the 
sight-vane,  having  a  long,  narrow,  perpendicular  slit  in  it, 
along  the  middle  of  which  a  fine  thread  is  sti etched.  On 
one  side  of  the  box,  opposite  to  the  sight-vane,  there  is  a 
prism,  through  which  and  through  the  sight-vane  an  object 
is  observed,  and  bisected  by  the  thread.  The  use  of  the 
prism  is  this— the  rays  of  light  passing  from  the  thread  to 
the  eye  are  refracted  in  passing  through  the  prism,  so  that 
the  thread  appears  to  be  prolonged,  and  to  intersect  the  cir- 
cle on  the  card  on  which  the  divisions  are ;  consequently, 
the  magnetic  azimuth  of  any  object  which  the  thread  bi- 
sects is  indicated  immediately  by  the  division  with  which 
the  thread  coincides.  The  angle  between  two  stations  is 
thus  obtained,  being  equal  when  the  stations  are  on  opposite 
sides  of  the  meridian  to  the  sum  of  their  azimuths,  and  to 
the  difference  of  the  azimuths  when  they  are  on  the  same 
side  of  the  meridian.  The  card  is  divided  to  15'  of  a  degree, 
which  is, perhaps, a  smaller  angle  than  can  be  measured  by 
this  instrument.  (See  Simms's  Treatise  on  Mathematical 
Instruments.) 

PRISMOID.  An  imperfect  prism  ;  a  figure  resembling  a 
prism,  but  not  answering  exactly  to  the  definition. 

PIU'SON.  (Fr.  prendre,  to  take.)  Imprisonment  is  used 
in  most  civilized  states  for  three  purposes :  for  safe  custody 
of  persons  charged  with  offences,  for  the  detention  of  debt- 
ors, and  for  punishment;  under  which  latter  head  the  refor- 
mation of  prisoners  must  be  comprehended,  as  being  prop- 
erly only  an  adjunct  to  punishment.  The  first  principles  of 
order  seem  to  require  that  these  three  classes  of  prisoners 
should  be  kept  entirely  distinct,  and,  if  possible,  in  separate 
places  of  confinement;  but  even  the.  former  rule  has  been 
generally  very  imperfectly  observed,  while  the  latter  is  in 
most  places  impracticable  by  reason  of  expense.  The  alle- 
viation of  the  horrors  of  imprisonment,  by  physical  improve- 
ment of  the  condition  of  prisoners  and  the  imparting  of  reli- 
gious instruction,  has  been  from  very  early  times  an  object 
with  philanthropists ;  but  the  adaptation  of  imprisonment 
to  serve  the  end  of  punishment  has  been,  comparatively 
speaking,  only  very  recently  attempted.  The  Society  of  the 
Brothers  of  Mercy,  in  Italy,  paid  much  attention  to  the  for- 
mer subject  in  the  15th  and  10th  centuries;  and  the  names 
of  S.  Carlo  Borromeo  and  St.  Vincent  de  Patile  have  deri- 
ved from  it  much  of  their  lustre.  But  the  earliest  instance 
of  a  prison  managed  on  any  principles  of  policy  and  hu 
manity  seems  to  be  that  of  the  Penitentiary  at  Amsterdam, 
erected  in  1595;  an  example  which  was  soon  followed  by 
some  of  the  German  towns,  especially  Hamburg  and  Bre- 
men. In  England  it  is  well  known  that  the  impulse  of 
prison  improvement  was  first  communicated  by  the  celebra- 
ted Howard,  whose  sufferings,  when  taken  by  a  privateer 
and  imprisoned  at  Brest,  during  the  seven  years'  war,  are 
said  to  have  first  directed  his  attention  to  the  subject.  The 
fruits  of  his  observations,  in  his  repeated  visits  to  most  of 
the  prisons  of  Europe,  were  given  to  the  world  partly  in  his 
publications,  and  partly  on  examination  before  a  committee 
of  the  House  of  Commons  in  1774.  To  his  suggestions,  and 
those  of  Jonas  Hanway,  are  principally  owing  the  provisions 
of  the  19  G.  3,  c.  74  (passed  in  1778),  truly  called  the  basis 
of  succeeding  legislation  on  the  subject.  Solitary  imprison- 
ment was  then  first  instituted.    The  works  of  Neeld  and 

987 


PRISON. 

others,  nml  the  labours  of  the  Prison  Discipline  Society 
(founded,  we  believe,  chieflj  by  Mr.  Powell  Buxton),  kept 
the  attention  of  the  public  fixed  on  the  subjeefc  in  1813, 
the  construction  of  the  Milbank  Penitentiary  was  begun,  in- 
tended aa  a  species  of  modi  I  prison  ;  but  that  establishment, 
from  man}  errors  committed  in  its  foundation,  and  first  man- 
agement, was  long  before  ii  answered  in  any  degree  the 
views  of  its  projectors.  Meanwhile,  practical  improvement 
had  proceeded  much  farther  in  the  United  States  of  Ameri- 
ca, where  ii tperimeais  of  solitary  confinement  and  of 

association  in  silence  were  both  first  Instituted  on  an]  ex- 
tensive scale,  and  have  formed  the  basis  of  two  different 
systems,  which  now  divide  the  suffrages  of  observers.  En- 
rope  lias,  ia  this  mailer,  taken  lessons  from  America;  and 
the  reports  of  French  visiters  'Messrs.  Beaumont  and  De 
Tocqueville,  1834;  Messrs.  De  Metz  and  Blouet,  sent  by 
government;  l-:i7),  of  Dr.  Juliers,  sent  from  Prussia,  and 
Mr.  Crawford  from  England,  have  contributed  largely  to 
the  present  state  of  public  opinion  on  the  subject  In  1834, 
inspectors  were  appointed  to  report  annually  on  the  state  of 
English  and  Scottish  prisons — a  measure  wliirh  had  been 
earlier  adopted  with  reference  to  Ireland;  and  their  reports 
may  be  consulted  with  great  advantage,  both  with  a  view 
to  the  actual  state  of  prisons  and  their  prospective  reform. 
The  "Third  Report  of  the  English  Inspector  for  the  Home 
District"  (1838)  is  particularly  valuable,  from  the  historical 
sketch  ii  contains,  and  from  tin1  comparison  there  instituted 
between  the  separate  and  the  silent  systems.  The  chief 
heads  of  improvement  in  prison  discipline  which  have  been 
recommended  or  Introduced  since  public  attention  was  call- 
ed to  the  subject  are,  1.  Inspection  nnd  control ;  2.  Classifi- 
cation ;  3.  Separate  or  solitary  punishment ;  4.  The  "silent" 
or  lion  intercourse  system  ;  5.  The  introduction  of  labour;  6. 
Religious  and  intellectual  instruction. — 1.  The  first  of  these 
is  matter  rather  of  practical  than  theoretical  development. 
The  history  of  the  plan  originally  suggested  by  General 
Bentham  and  his  brother,  the  philosopher,  which  has  form- 
ed, to  a  certain  extent,  the  basis  of  later  experiments,  is 
mentioned  under  the  head  Penitentiary.  2.  Classifica- 
tion, under  the  English  jail  acts  of  1823  and  1824,  has  been 
extensively  introduced  into  prisons.  It  is,  of  course,  a  great 
improvement  on  the  indiscriminate  mixture  of  prisoners  of 
all  classes  and  characters  which  formerly  prevailed;  but, 
aa  a  means  of  reformation  or  of  punishment,  it  has  not  an- 
swered the  views  once  entertained  of  it.  And  the  reason  is 
obvious:  the  only  object  of  classification  is  the  exclusion  of 
the  moral  influence  of  mora  or  less  corrupted  minds ;  but  by 
no  system  of  classification  (and  as  many  as  fifteen  classes 
have  been  introduced  in  some  prisons)  can  this  be  exclu- 
ded. In  every  class,  whether  arranged  according  to  age,  or 
degree  of  offence,  or  in  any  other  practicable  mode,  there 
will  probably  be  some  unusually  depraved  characters;  and 

then  the  experiment  must  fail.  The  only  perfect  classifica- 
tion is  that  which  constitutes  the  basis  of,  3.  The  separate 
system,  namely,  the  entire  separation  of  prisoners  from  each 
other  in  solitary  cells.  When  this  has  been  carried  to  ex- 
cess as  a  means  of  punishment,  namely,  seclusion  by  day 
and  by  night,  without  labour,  without  employment,  with 
only  the  occasional  silent  visits  of  the  turnkey  or  the  nodi 

rai  attendant,  it  has  generally  proved  more  than  human 
nature  can  bear, at  Least  for  any  time;  but  separate  confine- 
ment with  labour  as  an  alleviation,  and  with  occasional  vis 
Its  for  religious  consolation  and  instruction,  is  a  very  differ- 
ent mode  of  treatment.  The  separate  system  is  that  estab- 
lished in  the  great  eastern  penitentiary  of  Pennsylvania,  in 
Philadelphia,  uow  in  operation  for  ten  or  eleven  years;  and  in 
thai  of  Glasgow  -which  may  be  mentioned  as  models  in  their 
kind.  •!.  The  difficulty  of  enforcing  solitary  confinement,  in 
some  American  pri  one,  seems  to  have  led  to  the  adoption 
of  the  .-■///  nt  system;  of  which  the  prison  at  Auburn,  in  the 
State  of  New-York,  affords  the  most  celebrated  instance. 
The  prisoners  work  together  in  the  day,  but  are  prevented 
from  all  communication:  at  night  they  are  separate,  it 
was.  we  believe,  introduced  several  years  ago  in  the  Maisoo 
di  Force  at  Ghent  In  England,  It  is  in  operation  al  Cold 
bath  Fields,  Wakefield,  and  elsewhere.  With  reaped  to 
the  comparative  advantages  of  the  two  systems,  the  work 
of  Messrs,  Beaumont  and  be  Tocqueville  may  be  consulted 
for  an  Impartial  summary  of  evidence,  without  the  expres- 
sion of  decided  opinion.  |  Part  I.,  chap.  ii..  s.  3.)  The  "  sep- 
arate" was  recommended  In  1839  by  the  committee  on  ve- 
ondary  punishments,  and  la  advocated  by  Mr.  Crauford,  in 
Ins  Report  on  tin  Penitentiaries  of  the  United  State*  1837, 
and  In  the  fourth  Report  above  alluded  to;  by  Dr.  Juliers ; 

is.  Hi-  Metz  and  lilouett,  and  by  M.  Moreau-<  'hris- 
tophe    in    various   WOrkS.      The   silent   system   seems   to   he 

supported  by  M.Lucas,  lie  la  Reform  dee  Prism 
while,  iii  his  Thiorit  is  V Emprisonnement,  be  attempt-  to 
reconcile  the  two  ;  by  Messrs.  Berenger  and  GasparJn  :  and 
l>y  Mr.  Inspector  Williams  (fourth  Report  England  ;  North 
era  and  Eastern  Division  .  The  chief  objections  to  the 
separate  system  are,  1.  As  a  punishment,  its  Inequality, 


PRIVATEER. 

being  felt  far  more  severely  by  some  than  others;  but  to 
this  it  may  be  answered,  that  those  who  do  feel  it  are  pre- 
cisely those  whom  it  is  most  desirable  to  atl'eel — the  more 

depraved.  '-.  Its  effects  on  the  mind  and  passions  in  some 
respects;  a  very  difficult  and  delicate  subject,  and  by  far 

the  most  serious  charge  against  it.  :t.  That  even  as  a  sys- 
tem of  reform,  for  which,  in  subjects  presenting  any  prospect 

Of  amendment,  it  is  best  calculated,  it  is  utterly  useless  In 
short  terms  Of  imprisonment.  "  Those  best  acquainted  with 
the  Subject  in  the  United  States,"  says  Mr.  Williams,  "con- 
ceive that  two  years'  imprisonment  are  required  before  any 
Impression  can  be  made,  and  from  four  to  six  years  to 
achieve  the  work  of  reformation."  To  the  silent  system, 
its  enemies  object,  1.  The  extreme  difficulty  of  carrying  it 
into  successful  operation.  2.  Its  supposed  edict  in  irrita- 
ting, degrading,  and  even  brutalizing  the  minds  of  prisoners, 
by  its  vexatious  discipline.     They  appeal  in  support  of  this 

position  to  the  quantity  of  punishment  (corporal,  or  by  soli- 
tary confinement)  which  is  required  to  carry  it  into  effect 
In  Wakefield  and  Coldbath  Fields, upon  this  system,  26,257 
punishments  were  Inflicted  on  13,188  prisoners,  or  two  on 
each  on  the  average;  while  in  all  England  the  proportion 
was  found  U>  be  54,825  punishments  to  ll>!),4<.>5  prisoners,  or 
one  to  two  only.  But  this  is  explained  in  some  degree,  in 
the  latter  prison  at  least,  by  the  number  of  short  imprison- 
ments. 5.  With  respect  to  the  introduction  of  labour  into 
prisons  of  punishment,  the  chief  question  seems  to  be, 
whether  it  ought  to  form  part  of  the  punishment,  and  be  of 
a  vexatious  and  severe  nature,  or  whether  it  should  be  used 
as  an  alleviation  to  the  rigour  of  separate  confinement,  as  a 
preparation  of  the  criminal  for  re-entrance  into  society. 
The  former  is  the  principle  commonly  adopted  in  England; 
the  ordinary  sentence,  for  many  offences,  being  Imprison- 
ment with  hard  labour,  and  with  occasional  intervals  of  sol- 
itary confinement ;  the  treadwheel  being  the  most  common 
species  of  labour.  On  tills  subject  the  reader  may  consult 
the  original  article  "Prisons"  in  the  Eur.  Britanmca ;  but 
the  views  Of  the  author  are  somewhat  too  dogmatically  ex- 
pressed. The  policy  and  practicability  of  making  prison 
labour  pay  or  contribute  largely  towards  the  maintenance 
of  the  prison  has  not  been  much  discussed  In  England, 
where,  from  our  less  economical  habits,  the  experiment  has 
hardly  been  tried.  In  America  several  are  said  to  afford  a 
revenue  to  the  state.  (See  Messrs.  De  Beaumont  and 
Tocqueville.)  In  Belgium  they  have  long  been  rendered 
very  productive:  the  works  of  the  present  very  able  in- 
spector-general, M.  Ducpetiaux,  contain  ample  information 
on  the  subject.  The  10th  and  17th  Reports  of  the  Irish  In- 
spectors refer  largely  to  it:  from  the  latter  it  appears  that 
the  cost  of  work  has  been  more  than  repaid  by  the  return 
in  every  prison  ;  but  it  does  not  appear  clearly  what  is  com- 
prehended tinder  the  former  head,  and  the  numbers  seem 
not  altogether  accurate.  There  are,  however,  serious  moral 
objections  to  plaus  combining  economical  advantage  with 
punishment  and  reformation.  It  is  impossible  to  conclude 
an  article  on  this  subject  without  noticing  that  terrible  de- 
fect in  our  institutions,  the  want  of  any  control  over,  or  pro- 
\-ision  for.  Offenders  discharged  from  prisons  ;  a  defect  which 
the  abolition  of  transportation,  without  any  substitute,  will 
render  even  more  conspicuously  injurious  than  it  has  hith- 
erto been.  Most  of  the  best  modern  authorities  on  this 
subject  are  referred  to  in  the  course  of  this  article  :  see  also 
the  article  "  Gefangniss"  in  the  Conversations  Lexicon,  and 
the  German  works  mentioned  at  the  end  of  it  ;  and  the  Ed. 
Hev.,  vols,  xxii.,  xxx.,  xxxv.,  and  xxxvi. 

The  last  prisons  act  is  the  2  &  3  Vict.,  c.  50  (1839).  Tty 
this  act.  sip, irate  confinement  is  for  the  first  time  distin- 
guished from  the  severer  punishment  of  solitary  confine- 
ment. The  justices  are  empowered  to  make  rules  for  classi- 
fication, &c,  subject  to  the  approval, of  the  secretary  of 
state.  According  to  the  reports  of  1838,  133,313  |>ersons 
were  confined  in  the  prisons  of  England  and  Wales  during 
that  year ;  of  whom  23,808  were  committed  for  trial  at  as- 
sizes  and  sessions,  56,738  on  summer]  conviction. 

PRISONS,  MAMEKTINE,  Certain  fearful  places  of 
confinement  in  ancient  Rome,  chiefly  intended  for  state 
prisoners.    They  were  constructed  by  Ancua  Martins,  of 

large  uncemented  stones  ;  and,  from  the  specimens  of  them 

which  remain,  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  a  more  horrible 
place  for  the  confinement  of  a  human  being.    There  were 

two  apartments,  one  above   the  oilier,  to  Which  there  was 

no  entrance  except  by  a  small  aperture  in  the  upper  roof; 

and  a  similar  hole   in   the   upper  floor  led  to  the  cell  below, 

there  being  no  staircase  to  either.    The  upper  prison  was 

-J?  Bel  long  bj  30  wide,  and  the  lower,  which  was  ellipti- 
cal, was  2ii  hy  10;  the  height  of  the  former  was  14  feet,  of 

the  latter  7.  .None  but  persons  of  distinction  had  the  priv- 
ilege of  occupying  thee  prisons. 

PlilV ATI  I.  K.  A  vessel  belonging  to  one  or  more  pri- 
VBtj  individuals,  sailing  with  a   license  from  government, 

In  time  of  war,  to  seize  and  plunder  the  ships  of  the  enemy. 
The  practice  of  granting  commissions  to  privateers  first  be- 


PRIVILEGE. 

came  general  in  the  war  between  Spain  and  the  revolted 
Netherlands,  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century ;  when  it 
was  extensively  made  use  of  by  the  Prince  of  Orange  as  a 
means  of  annoying  the  Spanish  trade. 

PRI'VJLEGE.  (Lat.  privilegium  :  defined  by  Cicero,  lex 
privato  homini  irrogata.)  In  the  ordinary  acceptation  of 
the  word,  a  law,  or  an  exception  from  the  common  provis- 
ions of  law,  in  favour  of  an  individual  or  a  body.  Privilege 
is  said  to  be  personal  or  real ;  that  is,  attached  to  the  per- 
son only,  or  to  the  person  in  respect  of  a  particular  place  ; 
as  to  a  member  of  one  of  the  universities,  an  officer  of  one 
of  the  courts  at  Westminster.  The  privileges  chiefly  recog- 
nised by  the  English  law  are  privilege  of  parliament  (see 
Parliament),  and  the  privilege  to  sue  and  be  sued,  accord- 
ing to  particular  provisions,  allowed  to  officers  and  attend- 
ants in  the  courts  of  justice. 

PRI'VITY,  in  Law,  is  a  peculiar  mutual  relation  which 
subsists  between  individuals  connected  in  various  ways  ;  so 
that,  besides  those  who  are  actually  parties  to  a  transac- 
tion, others  connected  with  these  parties  are  said  to  be 
privy  to  the  transaction,  and  are  bound  by  its  consequences. 
Several  sorts  of  privity  are  enumerated  by  writers  on  law  ; 
but  those  of  most  ordinary  occurrence  are  three :  privity  of 
blood,  of  estate,  and  of  contract.  The  former  subsists  be- 
tween an  ancestor  and  his  heir ;  the  second  between  lessor 
and  lessee,  tenant  for  life  and  reversioner  created  by  the 
same  instrument  ;  and  privity  of  contract  between  those 
who  are  parties  to  a  contract,  which  species  of  privity  is 
personal  only. 

PRIVY  CHAMBER,  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE.  Offi- 
cers of  the  king's  household,  instituted  by  Henry  VII. 
Their  proper  duties  are  to  attend  the  king  and  queen  at 
court  in  their  diversions,  progresses,  &c.  There  are  also 
four  gentlemen  ushers  of  the  privy  chamber,  whose  office 
is  to  wait  in  the  presence  chamber,  attend  on  the  king's 
person,  and  note  affairs  under  the  lord-chamberlain  and 
vice-chamberlain. 

PRIVY  COUNCIL.     See  Council,  Privy. 

PRIVY  SEAL,  LORD.  The  fifth  great  officer  of  state 
in  England,  who  has  the  custody  of  the  privy  seal  of  the 
king,  used  to  all  grants,  charters,  pardons,  &.c,  before  they 
come  to  the  great  seal. 

PRIZE.  Anything  captured  by  a  belligerent  using  the 
right  of  war:  in  common  language,  only  ships  thus  cap- 
tured, with  the  property  taken  in  them,  are  so  called.  Pri- 
zes taken  in  war  are  condemned  by  the  proper  judicature 
in  the  courts  of  the  captors :  such  condemnation  is  held  to 
divest  the  title  of  the  proprietor  and  confer  a  new  owner- 
ship. In  order  to  give  jurisdiction  to  a  court  of  prize,  it  is 
deemed  necessary,  by  the  law  of  nations,  that  the  property 
captured  should  be  in  possession  of  the  captors  in  their 
own  ports,  those  of  an  ally,  or  of  a  neutral  ;  but  no  belli- 
gerent power  has  a  right  to  capture  in  the  ports  of  a  neu- 
tral country,  or  within  a  marine  league  of  her  shores  ;  nor 
does  a  capture  made  then  render  the  adjudication  valid. 
Subject  to  capture  are  hostile  property,  ?'.  e.,  the  property  of 
persons  domiciled  in  a  hostile  country,  and  neutral  property 
contraband  of  war.     See  Contraband. 

PRO' A,  FLYING.  A  narrow  canoe  about  30  feet  long 
by  3  feet  wide,  used  in  the  Ladrone  Islands.  The  lee  side 
is  flat,  being  the  mere  longitudinal  section  of  the  common 
form,  and  tbe  head  and  stem  exactly  alike.  A  slight  frame- 
work projects  several  feet  to  windward,  bearing  a  small 
block  of  wood  like  a  canoe  :  this  float  supports  the  vessel 
from  oversetting  to  that  side,  as  she  would  otherwise  do, 
and  the  framework  affords  support  for  a  weight  acting 
against  tbe  pressure  of  the  sail.  The  vessel  is  steered  by 
a  paddle  at  either  end,  and  moves  with  great  velocity,  ei- 
ther backwards  or  forwards,  being  adapted  to  a  side  wind 
in  running  between  two  places.  The  sail  is  mat,  with  a 
boom,  upon  one  mast.  Proa  is  also  the  name  for  large 
boats  used  by  the  Malays,  propelled  both  bv  oars  and  sails. 

PROAU'LION.  (Gr.  xpo,  and  av\v,  a  hall.)  In  Archi- 
tecture, the  same  as  vestibule  ;  which  see. 

PRO'BABILISM.  In  Theology  and  Ethics,  a  theory 
professed  by  some  casuistical  divines,  chiefly  of  the  Jesuit 
order,  according  to  which  it  is  lawful  to  follow  a  probable 
opinion  in  doubtful  points,  although  other  opinions  may 
seem  to  the  mind  of  the  inquirer  more  probable.  Those 
who  teach  this  doctrine  are  styled  Probabilists.  This  and 
the  other  tenets  of  the  once  celebrated  science  of  casuistry 
are  ably  touched  on  by  Mr.  Hallam,  in  vol.  iii.  of  his  Liter- 
ature of  Europe. 

PROBABILITY,  THEORY  OF.  A  very  extensive  and 
important  application  of  analysis,  having  for  its  object  the 
determination  of  the  number  of  ways  in  which  a  future  or 
uncertain  event  may  happen  or  fail,  in  order  that  we  may 
be  enabled  to  judge  whether  the  chances  of  its  happening 
or  failing  are  the  greater,  and  in  what  proportion. 

In  this  theory  the  word  chance  is  used  to  signify  the  oc- 
currence of  an  event  in  a  particular  way,  when  there  exist 
two  or  more  ways  by  which  it  may  take  place,  and  no  rea- 
80 


PROBABILITY,  THEORY  OF. 

son  can  be  assigned  for  its  happening  in  one  way  rather 
than  another.  For  example,  if  a  die  be  thrown  up  into  the 
air,  it  will  necessarily  fall  on  one  or  other  of  its  six  faces  ; 
but  as  we  know  of  no  reason  why  it  should  fall  on  the 
face  marked  one  rather  than  on  that  which  is  marked  two, 
or  on  any  other  face,  and  as  the  circumstances  are  precisely 
the  same  in  all  the  cases,  we  say  the  chance  of  its  falling 
on  any  one  face  is  equal  to  the  chance  of  its  falling  on  anv 
other.  Suppose,  again,  a  die,  having  four  of  its  faces  white, 
and  the  other  two  black,  to  be  tossed  up.  There  are  four 
ways  in  which  the  die  may  fall  so  as  to  turn  up  a  white 
face,  and  two  in  which  it  may  turn  up  a  black  face ;  we 
therefore  say  the  chances  of  its  turning  up  a  white  face  are 
to  the  chances  of  its  turning  up  a  black  face  as  four  to  two. 
In  ordinary  language,  when  an  event  is  said  to  happen  by 
chance,  it  is  merely  implied  that  the  cause  is  unknown,  or 
cannot  be  certainly  appreciated. 

The  term  probable,  in  its  common  acceptation,  is  applied 
to  any  contingent  or  future  event,  to  denote  that  in  our 
judgment  the  event  is  more  likely  to  happen  than  not  to 
happen.  In  mathematical  language  probability  has  a  defi- 
nite signification.  Suppose  five  balls  to  be  placed  in  an 
urn,  three  of  them  white,  and  two  black  ;  and,  one  of  them 
being  drawn  out  at  random,  let  it  be  proposed  to  assign  a 
measure  of  the  probability  of  its  being  a  white  or  a  black 
ball.  In  this  case  there  are  five  chances  in  all,  three  of 
which  are  in  favour  of  a  white  ball,  and  two  in  favour  of  a 
black.  The  probability  of  drawing  at  the  first  trial  any 
particular  ball  will  evidently  be  represented  by  the  fraction 
$ ;  hence  the  probability  of  drawing  a  white  ball  is  |,  and 
the  probability  of  drawing  a  black  ball  |.  Now  it  is  obvi- 
ous that  the  absolute  number  of  balls  in  the  urn  will  not 
affect  the  relative  probabilities,  so  long  as  the  proportion  of 
white  to  black  balls  remains  unaltered.  Suppose,  for  exam- 
ple, the  number  of  balls  increased  to  fifty,  of  which  thirty 
are  white  and  twenty  black  ;  the  probability  of  drawing  a 
white  ball  at  the  first  trial  must  still  remain  the  same,  there 
being  always  three  chances  in  favour  of  a  white  ball  for 
every  two  in  favour  of  a  black.  Whatever,  therefore,  the 
number  of  balls  in  the  urn  may  be,  the  probability  of  draw- 
ing one  of  a  particular  colour  must  remain  the  same,  so 
long  as  the  ratio  of  the  number  of  balls  of  that  colour  to 
the  whole  number  in  the  urn  remains  unaltered.  Hence 
we  derive  the  following  definition,  which  is,  in  fact,  the 
basis  of  the  whole  doctrine  of  probabilities : 

The  probability  of  the  occurrence  of  any  event  is  mea- 
sured by  a  fraction,  the  numerator  of  which  expresses  the 
number  of  chances  favourable  to  the  occurrence  of  the 
event,  and  the  denominator  the  whole  number  of  chances 
favourable  and  unfavourable. 

This  fraction  is  called  the  mathematical  probability.  It 
is  important  to  remark,  that  all  the  chances  are  considered 
as  equal ;  for  example,  that,  in  drawing  a  ball  from  the 
urn,  any  one  ball  has  the  same  chance  of  being  drawn  as 
any  other. 

Every  contingent  event  gives  rise  to  two  opposite  pro- 
babilities— one,  that  the  event  will  happen  :  the  other,  that 
it  will  not ;  and  the  sum  of  these  probabilities  is  always 
equal  to  unity.  Thus,  in  the  preceding  example,  the  pro- 
bability that  a  white  ball  will  be  drawn  from  the  urn  is  f, 
and  the  probability  that  a  black  ball  will  be  drawn  (i.e., 
that  a  white  ball  will  not  be  drawn)  is  f ;  and  f -)-f  =4  =  1. 
In  general,  let  m  denote  the  number  of  chances  favourable 
to  an  event,  and  n  the  number  of  unfavourable  chances; 
then,  the  whole  number  of  chances,  or  ways  in  which  the 
event  can  happen  or  fail,  being  m  +  n,  the  probability  that 

the  event  will  happen  is ,  the  probability  that  it  will 

7B+  n 

not  happen  — ,  and  the  sum  of  these  probabilities  is  L 

m-\-n 
Hence,  ifp  denote  the  probability  of  the  occurrence  of  any 
event,  the  probability  that  it  will  not  occur  is  1  — p.  For 
instance,  let  p  =  the  probability  that  an  individual  of  a 
given  age  will  live  over  one  year;  then  1 — p  is  the  proba- 
bility that  he  will  not  live  over  the  year,  or  that  he  will  be 
dead  within  the  year.  As  the  individual  must  either  be 
alive  or  dead,  the  sum  of  the  probabilities  must  necessarily 
amount  to  certainty,  which  is  represented  by  unity,  and 
hence  the  probability  of  any  contingent  event  is  always  a 
fraction  less  than  unity. 

Probability  of  simultaneous  Events. — The  probability  of 
the  simultaneous  occurrence  of  several  independent  events 
is  calculated  as  follows  :  Let  it  be  required  for  example, 
to  determine  the  probability  of  throwing  aces  with  two 
dice.  Let  the  dice  be  called  respectively  A  and  B.  The 
probability  that  A  will  turn  up  ace  is  ^ ;  and  if  a  person 
were  to  purchase  the  chance  of  receiving  a  sum  of  £36  on 
the  occurrence  of  this  event  alone,  the  proper  sum  he 
ought  to  pay  for  the  chance  is  £G.  But,  if  the  sum  is  to 
be  received  only  on  condition  of  A  and  B  both  turning  up 
ace,  the  above  probability  will  only  be  beneficial  to  him 


PROBABILITY,  THEORY  OF. 


provided  I!  also  turns  up  ace.  Now,  the  probability  of  this 
( \  cut  is  likewise  I ;  therefore,  the  probability  of  receiving 
tin  sam  is  |  ,,i  ;.  thai  is  ,'(i.  and  the  price  to  be  paid  for 
the  chance  la  '  of  £6,  that  is,  XI. 

The  same  reasoning  may  be  applied  to  any  number  of 
Independent  events :  and  the  conclusion,  w  hich  Is  pei  fectlj 
general.  ma\  be  expressed  by  the  follow  ing  rule ;  "  The  pro 
Bability  of  the  occurrence  of  several  Independent  events  is 
obtained  by  multiplying  together  their  separate  proba- 
bilities." Thus,  lei  jj  di  note  tin'  probability  of  an  event  A, 
q  that  of  an  event  1!,  r  that  of  an  event  C,  &.C. ;  then  the 
probability  of  the  joint  occurrence  of  those  events  is  e.v- 
pressed  by  the  continued  product pyr,  tec. 

Probability  of  success)  01  Eui  its. — The  probability  of  the 
.r  recurrence  of  the  same  or  different  events  is 
determined  precisely  in  the  same  manner.  For  example, 
let  the  probability  he  required  of  throwing  ace  twice  sin: 
cessively  with  the  same  die.  The  probability  of  ace  turn- 
ing U)i  at  the  first  throw  is  -,';,  and  at  tin'  second  J;  the 
probability  of  ace  turning  up  at  both  throws  is,  therefore,  £ 
of  £=JU.  Hence,  the  probability  that  ace  will  not  turn 
up  both  at  the  first  and  second  throw  is  1  — 3TT  =  'jf* 
This  last  probability,  it  is  necessary  to  remark,  is  quite 
distinct  from  the  probability  that  ace  will  nut  turn  up  in 

either  throw,  anil  which  is  found  thus:  The  probability 
that  ace  will  not  be  thrown  at  the  first  throw  is  J  ;  and  the 
probability  that  it  will  not  be  thrown  at  the  second  also  £ : 
hence,  by  the  former  rule,  the  probability  that  it  will  not 
he  thrown  at  either  throw  is  {  X  t  =  §4-  This,  added  to 
Jg,  the  probability  that  ace  will  be  thrown  both  times, 
does  not  give  the  sum  equal  to  unity,  for  there  are  still  two 
cases  to  be  taken  account  of.  Ace  may  he  thrown  at  the 
first  throw,  and  not  at  the  second ;  or  ace  may  not  he 
thrown  at  the  first  throw,  hut  thrown  at  the  second.  The 
probability  that  ace  will  turn  up  at  the  fust  throw  is  |,  and 
that  it  will  not  turn  up  at  the  second  throw  § ;  hence,  the 
probability  thai  it  will  turn  up  at  the  first,  and  not  at  the 
second  is.  '  x  r=gV  The  probability  that  it  will  not 
turn  at  the  fust,  but  turn  up  at  the  second,  is  ji  -)-|  =  ^-; 
and  the  sum  of  these,  added  to  the  sum  of  the  probabilities 
of  the  two  former  cases,  gives  a  result  equal  to  unity.  A 
distinct  enumeration  of  the  different  suppositions  that  may 
be  madi  relative  to  the  ace  point,  in  two  successive  throw's 

of  the  same  (he,  will  render  this  reasoning  more  obvious. 
The  event  can  happen  only  in  one  of  four  ways,  which, 
with  their  respective  probabilities,  are  as  follows": 

1.  Ace  at  both  throws,  probability  =  ~$ 

2.  Ace  at  neither  throw,  probability        =  ^4 

3.  Ace  at  first,  not  at  second,  probability  =  A 

4.  Ace  at  second,  not  at  first,  probability  =  A 
And  the  sum  of  these  fractions  is  §4  =  1. 

This  reasoning  may  be  rendered  general.  Suppose  m 
=the  number  of  white  balls  in  an  urn,  and  n==the  num- 
ber of  black  halls  in  the  same  urn.  and  that  when  a  ball 
has  been  drawn  it  is  immediately  replaced  in  the  urn,  so 
that  ai  each  trial  the  whole  number  of  chances  is  m+n. 
Let  p  =  the  probability  of  drawing  a  white  hall  on  any 
trial,  and  r/_ihe  probability  of  drawing  a  black  ball;  we 

have  then  p=_?     ,  and  q=—0—  .    And  first  let  us 

"i  +  «  in  +  >i 

consider  the  probabilities  of  the  different  possible  events 
that  may  happen  mi  two  trials. 

The  only  possible  ways  in  which  the  balls  can  be  drawn 
in  two  successh  e  trials  are  these  four : 

1.  first  white, second  white;  probability =pxp  =  p2; 

2.  First  white,  second  black;  probability— pXq=pq; 

3.  first  block,  second  white ;  probability =qXp=pq; 

4.  First  black,  sec 1  black;  probability  =  j  X  q — j> ; 

Adding  together  these  probabilities  we  get 

P2  +  2po  +  a2=(p  +  „)2, 
and  the  Bum  is  equal  to  unity,  as  will  be  evident  by  sub- 
stituting for;  and  o  their  values  in  terms  of  m  and  n. 

It  thus  appears,  that  the  probabilities  of  all  the  different 
combinations  that  can  be  formed  in  two  trials,  are  ii  spec! 
ively  given   by  the  development   of  the  binomial  (p-\-q)2. 

It  will  be  observed,  that  the  term  2pq  gives  the  proba- 
bility of  drawing  a  hall  of  each  colour  in  the  two  trials, 

without  distinct] I  order;  that  is,  the  white  ball  mav  he 

drawn  either  at  the  first  or  second  trial. 

NOW,    let    the  number  of  trials,   instead  of  being  two,  be 
d    to   any   number   n  ;   the   probabilities  Of  Oil     dil 

ferenl  combinations  will  be  given  by  the  development  of 
the  binomial  (p  +  q)u.    This  development  is 

pu  +  'ipu-.  ,  +  fi^I)?u-2y2  .... 


■  w-(u  —  l)(u  —  2), 
1.8,  3~T 
990 


(u  — o  +  l) 


J,  U-T  ql  -j-  &C. 


The  first  term  p\  indicates  the  probability  of  drawing  a 
wbne  bill  in  each  of  the  a  trials,  or  that  all  the  balls 

drawn    will    he   white.     The  second  term    u  pB— 1  q  denotes 

the  probability  of  drawing  u  —  1  white  balls  and  i black 

ball  in  u  trials,  without  regard  to  the  order;  that  is  to  say, 
the  black  ball  may  be  drawn  at  the  fust,  second,  third,  or 
any  oilier  trial.     The  general  term 

it(a-l)(it-2)....(«-p  +  l)         ..    v 

1.2.3    v         P       9 

gives  the  probability  that  in  u  trials  u  —  v  white  balls  will 
be  drawn,   and   0  black  balls,  without  distinction  Of  Order. 

If  the  probability  of  drawing  the  ball  in  a  determinate 
order  of  succession  were  required  ;  for  instance,  if  it  were 
required  to  determine  the  probability  of  drawing  u  —  v 
white  balls  successively,  and  then  v  black  balls:  the  co- 
efficient of  the  term  must  be  suppressed,  and  the  probability 
becomes  /)>'— vyv. 

The  practical  question  that  most  frequently  arises  is,  not 
to  determine  the  probability  of  the  repetitions  of  an  event 
in  any  precise  order,  but  the  probability  that  the  number 
of  repetitions  will  exceed  or  not  exceed  a  certain  limit. 
Thus,  in  the  preceding  example,  suppose  it  were  required 
to  assign  the  probability  that  not  fewer  than  u—v  white 
halls  will  be  drawn  m  u  trials;  ii  is  evident  that  us  the 
first  term  gives  the  probability  of  drawing  «  white  balls, 
the  second  term  that  of  drawing  u — 1  while  balls,  ami  so 
on,  and  as  each  of  these  combinations  satisfies  the  con- 
dition, the  required  probability  w  ill  be  found  by  taking  the 
sum  of  all  the  terms  of  the  development  of  (p  +  ?)u  from 
the  first  to  that  in  which  the  factor ;u— vyv  appears,  both 
inclusive.  As  an  example,  let  it  be  required  to  determine 
the  probability  of  throwing  ace  at  least  tieice  in  four  throws 
of  the  same  die.  Here  we  have  p  =  i,  ?  =  j,  w  =  4.  and 
u  —  o  =  2,  whence  o  =  2.  Now,  the  development  of 
(P  +  9)4  t0  the  term  in  which  p-q-  occurs,  is  p*-\-ip3q 
-|-  t>p-  </-',  which,  on  substituting  for  p  and  q  their  values, 

becomes  U)4  +  4  (J)3  x  |  +  6(')2x  (£)2  =  -^i  =  between 

\  and  I.  Again,  suppose  the  question  were  to  assign  the 
probability  of  throwing  ace  at  least  o;icc  in  four  trials,  we 
should  have  u  —  0  =  1,  and  therefore  o  =  3.  Now,  the 
term  of  the  development  of  (;»  +  </)^  in  which  pqS  occurs, 
is  the  fourth,  or  last  but  one;  the  sum  of  the  lir.-t  four 
terms,  therefore,  gives  the  required  probability.  Hut  the 
calculation  of  this  sum  is  easy;  for,  since  the  sum  of  all 
the  terms  is  (p-\-q)*  =  l,  and  the  least  term  is  q-i,  the  sum 

of  the  first  four  is  1  —  ?t  =  l  —  (|)4  =  1  —  -5^-  =  —  . 
*  1296      1296 

Probability  derived  from  Experience. — In  what  precedes 
it  has  been  supposed  that  the  number  of  ways  in  which  an 
event  can  arrive  are  known  « priori ;  but  it  may  happen, 
and  indeed  does  happen,  in  the  greater  number  of  the  most 
important  questions  to  which  the  calculus  of  probabilities 
is  applied,  that  the  number  of  chances  favourable  and  un- 
favourable to  the  occurrence  of  any  particular  event  is 
unknown,  and  that  the  ratio  of  the  one  to  the  other  can 
only  he  inferred  from  considering  the  ways  in  which  the 

event  has  been  observed  already  in  happen.  Recurring  to 
the  case  of  the  urn — let  us  suppose  the  urn  to  contain  a 
certain  number  of  balls  6f  different  colours;  but  that  the 
number  of  each  colour  is  unknown,  and  that,  from  having 
observed  the  result  of  several  trials,  we  line  to  determine 
the  probability  of  drawing  a  ball  of  a  particular  colour  at 
the  next  trial.  The  method  of  proceeding  is  as  follows: 
Taking  a  simple  case;  suppose  the  urn  to  contain  only 
four  balls,  of  two  colours,  white  and  black,  and  that,  on 
four  successive  trials  (the  ball  drawn  being  in  each  case 
replaced  in  the  urn),  three  white  halls  anil  one   black   have 

been  drawn.     Three  hypotheses  may  be  fori I  respecting 

the  number  of  balls  of  each  colour  in  the  urn  ;  and  if  ;i  = 
the  probability  of  drawing  a  White  ball,  and  q=  that  of 

drawing  a  black  ball,  on  any  hypothesis,  the  three  hypo- 
theses, with  the  corresponding  values  of;  and  q,  will  bo 
as  under,  viz. : 

1.  3  white,  1  black,  p=  J,  q=i  ; 

2.  2  white,  2  black,  p  =  f ,  ?  =  I ; 

3.  1  white,  3  black,  p  =  j,  f=|. 

NOW,  on  calculating  from  each  of  these  hypotheses  the 
probability  of  the  event  observed,  namely,  of  drawing 
three  white  balls  and  one  black  in  loiirtriaN,  which  proba- 
bility, by  what  was  shown  above,  is  expressed  by  -ip^q, 

we  have, 

by  1st  hypothesis,  4p3q=;fJ, 
by  2d  hypothesis,  •ip3q==^it 
by  :td  hypothesis,  4/>'j  =  ^. 

The  numerators  of  these  fractions,  which  represent  the 
relative  probabilities  of  the  event  which  has  happened  on 


PROBABILITY,  THEORY  OF. 

each  of  the  hypotheses,  mav  be  considered  as  giving  the 
relative  probabilities  of  the  hypotheses  as  to  the  causes  ot 
the  event,  or  to  the  state  of  the  urn  by  which  the  event  was 
determined:  and,  as  one  or  other  of  these  hypotheses 
must  necessarily  be  true,  the  sum  of  their  probabilities 
must  be  unity ;  whence  the  probability  of  each  hypothesis 

is  respectively 

27     16      3 

4tf>  re~>  4^' 
This  result  mav  be  expressed  generally  as  follows :  The 
probabilities  of  the  different  hypotheses  are  found  by  di- 
viding the  probability  of  the  event  which  has  been  observes, 
calculated,  according  to  each  hypothesis,  by  the  sum  ot  its 
probabilities  calculated  on  all  the  hypotheses. 

Now,  in  order  to  find  the  probability  of  drawing  a  white 
ball  at  the  next  trial,  we  may  reason  in  this  manner:  If 
the  first  hypothesis  be  true,  the  chance  of  drawing  a  white 
ball  is  |,  and  the  probability  of  the  hypothesis  being  true  is 
^■3-;  therefore,  the  compound  probability  of  both  hypo- 
thesis and  event,  is  §  X  |j  =  AV"  U  tile  second  hyP°' 
thesis  be  true,  the  probability  of  drawing  a  white  ball  is 
f ,  and  the  probability  of  the  hypothesis  is  I£;  therefore, 
the  compound  probability  is  f  X  ^  =  10-  If  the  third 
hypothesis  be  true,  the  chance  of  drawing  a  white  ball 
is  i,  and  the  probability  of  the  hypothesis  is  £g\  therefore, 
the  joint  probability  of  the  hypothesis  being  true,  and  of 
the  event  arising,  is  i  X  T\  =  T|  j- .  Adding  together  these 
partial  probabilities,  the  whole  probability  of  drawing  a 
white  ball  at  a  future  trial  is  y^y  +  fVy  +  J84  =  T&T" 

In  like  manner,  the  probability  of  drawing  a  black  ball 
at  a  future  trial,  is 


And  the  sum  of  the  two  probabilities  is  1,  as  it  ought  to  be, 
since  the  ball  must  necessarily  be  white  or  black. 

The  method  of  proceeding  which  has  been  followed  in 
this  particular  case  is  quite  general,  and  applicable  to  all 
cases  where  it  is  required  to  compute  the  probabilities  of 
events  depending  on  causes  not  known  a  priori,  but  only 
inferred  from  experience.  It  may  be  stated  generally  as 
follows  :  let  c,  c',  c",  c'" ,  &c.  be  so  many  independent  causes 
(or  hypotheses),  eacli  of  which  may  give  rise  to  an  event 
E ;  and  let  the  probabilities  of  the  existence  of  these  causes 
be  respectively  A,  A'  A",  A'",  &c,  and  those  of  the  events 
calculated  according  to  each  hypothesis  p,  p',  p"  p'".  &c. ; 
then  the  probability  of  the  event  E  is  h  p  -f  A'  p'  +  h" p" 
+  A"V"  +  &c. 

The  preceding  examples  will  suffice  to  give  some  idea 
of  the  manner  in  which  the  probability  of  the  occurrence 
or  failure  of  events  depending  on  chance  is  submitted  to 
numerical  estimation ;  but  for  the  methods  of  applying  the 
calculus  in  particular  cases,  and  especially  when  the  for- 
mulie  involve  high  numbers,  and  the  ordinary  processes 
of  arithmetic  become  unavailable,  reference  must  be  made 
to  works  specially  devoted  to  the  subject,  a  list  of  which  is 
given  at  the  end  of  this  article. 

The  calculus  of  probabilities  had  its  origin  in  the  specu- 
lations of  Pascal,  Fermat,  Huygens,  and  other  eminent 
mathematicians  of  the  17th  century.  It  was  first  applied 
to  the  solution  of  questions  connected  with  games  of 
chance:  but  it  has  since,  by  the  researches  of  James  Ber- 
noulli, Montmort,  Demoivre.  D'Alembert,  Simpson,  Con- 
dorcet, Lagrange,  La  Place,  Poisson,  and  others,  become 
one  of  the  most  interesting  branches  of  mathematics,  and 
been  applied  with  equal  success  and  advantage  to  numerous 
important  questions  belonging  to  natural  and  political  phi- 
losophy. One  of  its  most  familiar  and  useful  applications 
is  to  the  subject  of  annuities,  assurances,  reversions,  and 
other  interests  depending  on  the  average  duration  of  human 
life,  and  the  expectation  of  the  continuance  or  survivorship 
of  lives  of  given  ages.  (See  Annuity,  Expectation-  of 
Life.)  Another  important  application  is  to  determine  the 
most  probable  mean  or  average,  of  a  great  number  of  ob- 
servations; and  hence  its  utility  in  many  cases  of  practical 
astronomy  and  general  physics.  (See  Probable  Error.) 
Condorcet  has  applied  it  to  determine  the  value  of  testi- 
mony, the  verdicts  of  juries,  and  the  best  mode  of  consti- 
tuting tribunals,  and  of  collecting  votes  in  elections.  In  such 
applications,  it  is  true,  assumptions  more  or  less  arbitrary- 
must  be  admitted,  and  great  uncertainty  will  always  attach 
to  results  which  are  influenced  by  human  will  or  caprice : 
nevertheless,  the  knowledge  derived  from  an  accurate  and 
systematic  analysis  of  the  circumstances  concerned,  and  of 
the  consequences  of  their  various  combinations,  affords  im- 
portant aid  in  guiding  our  judgments,  and  may  be  of  great 
use  in  the  practical  affairs  of  life. 

The  following  are  the  principal  works  on  the  subject: 
Montmort,  Analyse  des  Jeux  de  Hasard.  (1st  ed.,  1708 :  2d, 
1713);  Bernoulli,  *1rs  Conjectandi,  1713 ;  De  Mo'ivre,  Doc- 
trine of  Chances  (1st  ed.  1718;  3d,  greatly  enlarged,  1785) ; 


PROCEDENDO. 

Simpson,  Laws  of  Chance,  1740;  Condorcet,  Essai  sur 
V Application  de  analyse  a  la  Probabilite  des  Decisions 
renducs  it  la  Pluralite  des  Voii,  1785;  La  Place,  Theorie 
.Inahitique  des  Probnbilites,  3d  edit.,  18-20;  Poisson,  Re- 
cherches  sur  la  Probabilite  des  Jugemens,  1837  ;  the  article 
in  the  Encyc.  Metropol.  by  Professor  de  Morgan,  and  that 
in  the  Encyc.  Brit,  by  Mr.  Galloway  (which  is  published 
separately).  For  elementary  works,  the  reader  may  be 
referred  to  Simpson's  Laws  of  Chance,  and  Lacroiz's 
Traite  E'ementaire,  &c. ;  and  for  an  explanation  of  the 
objects  and  results  of  the  science,  without  mathematical 
investigation,  to  Professor  De  Morgan's  Essay  on  Probabil- 
ities, and  on  their  Application  to  Life  Contingencies  and 
Insurance  Offices,  in  the  Cabinet  Cyclopedia. 

PRO'BABLE  ERROR.  In  Astronomy  and  Physics, 
when  the  value  of  any  quantity  or  element,  as  the  declin- 
ation of  a  star,  the  latitude  of  a  place,  the  specific  gravity 
of  a  bodv,  &c,  has  been  determined  by  means  of  a  number 
of  independent  observations,  each  liable  to  a  small  amount 
of  error,  the  determination  (in  whatever  way  it  may  have 
been  deduced  from  the  observations)  will  also  be  liable 
to  some  uncertainty  ;  and  the  probable  error  is  the  quantity, 
which  is  such  that  there  is  the  same  probability  of  the  dif- 
ference between  the  determination  and  the  true  absolute 
value  of  the  thing  to  be  determined  exceeding  or  falling 
short  of  it.  Thus,  if  twenty  measurements  of  an  angle  have 
been  made  with  the  theodolite,  and  the  arithmetical  mean 
or  average  of  the  whole  gives  50°  27'  13" ;  and  if  it  be  an 
equal  wager  that  the  error  of  this  result  (either  in  excess 
or  defect)  is  less  than  two  seconds,  or  greater  than  two 
seconds,  then  the  probable  error  of  the  determination  is  two 
seconds.  The  method  of  computing  the  probable  error, 
which  is  deduced  from  the  theory  of  probability,  is  as  fol- 
lows :  Let  /,  V,  I",  &c.  be  the  observed  values,  A  the  num- 
ber of  observations,  m  the  average  value  (i.  e.,  the  sum  of 
the  observed  values  divided  by  number  of  observations) ; 
then  if  we  call  /  —  m  the  error  of  the  observation  /,  and 
2  (£  — m)2  the  sum  of  the  squares  of  the  errors  of  all  the 

observations,  the  probable  error  is  -674489  X ; 


that  is,  the  square  root  of  the  sum  of  the  squares  of  the 
errors,  divided  by  the  number  of  observations,  and  multi- 
plied by  the  decimal  -674489. 

It  is*  frequently  convenient  to  compute  the  probable  er- 
ror of  a  result  from  another  function,  which  is  called  the 
weiirht.  The  w-eight  is  the  square  of  the  number  of  obser- 
vations divided  by  twice  the  sum  of  the  squares  of  the  er- 
rors ;  and  the  probable  error  is  -476936  divided  by  the 
square  root  of  the  weight.  This  definition  agrees  with  the 
former,  for  -674489  =  -476936  X  >/2. 

PROBAIVG.  A  flexible  piece  of  whalebone  with  a  ball 
of  sponge  attached  to  its  extremity,  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
moving obstructions  in  the  oesophagus. 

PRO'BATE  OF  TESTAMENTS.  In  Law,  the  exhibit- 
ing and  proving  wills  and  Testaments  before  the  ecclesias- 
tical judge  delegated  by  the  ordinary  of  the  place  where  the 
party  dies.  It  is  done  by  granting  letters  testamentary  to  the 
executor  under  seal  of  the  court ;  and  such  probate  is  evi- 
dence in  questions  relating  to  the  personal  estates. 

PROBE.  (Lat.  probo,  J  try.)  A  surgical  instrument, 
generally  made  of  silver  wire,  rounded  at  one  end,  and 
pointed  'at  the  other,  for  the  purpose  of  examining  wounds. 
PRO'BLEM.  In  Geometry,  a  proposition  requiring  some 
operation  to  be  performed  or  construction  to  be  executed ; 
such  as  to  bisect  a  line,  to  describe  a  circle  passing  through 
three  given  points.  In  Algebra,  a  problem  requires  some 
unknown  truth  to  be  investigated,  or  discovered  and  dem- 
onstrated. 

PROBOSCfDIANS,  Proboscidia.  (Lat.  proboscis,  a 
trunk.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Pachydermatous  Mam- 
mals, including  those  which  have  the  nose  prolonged  into 
a  prehensile  trunk  or  proboscis ;  as  the  elephant  and  mas- 
todon. 

PROBO'SCIS,  in  Mammalogy,  signifies  the  prehensile 
organ  formed  by  a  prolongation  of  the  nose,  of  which  the 
trunk  of  the  elephant  is  an  example.  In  Entomology,  the 
oral  instrument  of  the  Diptera  is  so  called,  in  which  the  or- 
dinary trophi  are  replaced  by  an  ex-articulate  sheath,  ter- 
minated by  a  pair  of  tumid  lobes  (labella).  and  containing 
one  or  more  lancet-shaped  instruments  (scapella),  covered 
by  a  valve.  In  Malacology,  the  same  term  is  applied  to 
the  tongue  of  certain  Gastropods,  when  it  is  so  long  as  to 
be  capable  of  being  protruded  for  some  distance  from  the 
mouth  •  in  which  case  it  is  generally  organized  at  the  ex- 
tremity for  the  purpose  of  boring  the  shells  ot  other  testa- 
cea  and  of  destroying  by  suction  the  soft  parts  of  the  inhab- 

PROCEDE'XDO  (or  Procedendo  in  Loqueld).  A  writ 
which  lies  where  an  action  has  been  removed  from  an  in- 
ferior to  a  superior  jurisdiction,  and  it  does  not  appear  to 
the  court  that  the  suggestion  on  which  the  removal  took 


PR0CELLAR1A. 

place  was  sufficiently  proved  to  send  the  cause  back  to  the 
inferior  court  for  farther  proceeding. 

Procedendo  «</  Judicium.  A  writ  which  issues  out  of  the 
court  of  chancery,  commanding  inferior  courts  to  proceed 
t   judgment  where  it  has  been  unjustly  delayed. 

PR<  ii  T.I.I,  \  R]  \.  (I, at.  procella.  a  storm.)  A  Linnav 
nn  genua  of  web  looted  birds,  now  the  type  of  a  family  of 
ngipennate  Palmipedes  in  the  system  of  Cuvier, 
characterized  by  the  beak  being  hooked  at  the  tip,  with  its 
extremity  appearing  as  though  a  piece  had  been  articulated 
to  the  rest;  the  nostrils  are  united  to  form  a  tube,  which 
lies  along  the  back  of  the  upper  mandible;  and  their  feet, 
instead  of  a  back  toe,  have  merelj  a  claw  implanted  in  the 
heel.  Those  species  In  which  the  lower  mandible  is  trun- 
cated belong  to  the  true  Procetlarim.  Some  smaller  spe- 
cies, With  a  sliurler  bill,  rather  longer  legs,  and  black  phi 
mage,  commonly  called  Storm-birds,  or  Mother  Carey's 
chickens,  are  associated  under  the  generic  name  Thalassi- 
droma.  The  Procellaria  range  over  the  high  seas  at  the 
greatest  distance  from  land.  Their  name  of  Petrel,  which 
is  a  diminutive  of  Peter,  has  been  applied  to  them  from 
their  habit  of  walking  on  the  waves,  which  they  do  with 
the  assistance  of  their  wings. 

PRO'CESS,  in  the  language  of  English  Common  Law, 
is  used  in  two  senses:  to  signify  the  whole  proceedings  in 
an  action  or  prosecution  :  ami  to  signify  the  means  whereby 
the  defendant  in  an  action  is  compelled  to  appear  in  court. 
When  actions  were  commenced  by  original  writ  (see  Plead- 
ing), original  process  was  that  which  was  founded  on  that 
writ,  commencing  with  notice,  writ  of  attachment,  &c. 
JUcsne,  or  intermediate  process,  was,  properly  speaking, 
such  process  as  issued  pending  the  writ,  on  some  collateral 
or  interlocutory  matter;  as.  id  summon  juries  or  witnesses. 
But  in  popular  language  it  was  taken  to  signify  the  whole 
process,  from  the  commencement  of  the  suit,  before  the 
final  process  which  ended  it.  Thus  a  defendant  was  said 
to  be  arrested  on  mi-sue  process,  i.  e.,  on  a  writ  of  capias 
issued  pending  the  suit.  This  was  done  originally  when 
the  defendant,  being  summoned  or  attached,  neglected  to 
appear  or  made  default.  In  course  of  time,  by  a  legal  lie- 
lion,  the  summons  and  neglect  were  supposed;  and  the 
writ  of  capias  became  the  commencement  of  the  proceed- 
ings, to  which  the  term  mesne  process  was  still,  inaccu- 

rately,  applied.     The  term  mesne  process  is  now  con [y 

applied  to  the  writ  of  summons,  which  is  the  instrument 
now  in  use  for  commencing  personal  actions.  Thus  the 
popular  inaccuracy  of  language  is  retained.  Final  pro- 
cess is  the  writ  of  execution  used  to  carry  the. judgment 
into  effect.    In  ordinary  language,  the  regular  proci  edings 

Of  everj  court  Of  judicature  in  a  suit  are  called  its  process. 

I'i;i  ICE'S  VERBAL.  In  the  language  of  French  juris- 
prudence, an  authentic  written  minute  or  report  of  an  offi- 
cial act  or  proceeding,,  or  statement  of  facts.  The  term  is 
also  used  to  signify  minutes  drawn  up  by  a  secretary  or 
other  officer  of  tiie  proceedings  of  an  assembly. 

PR<  H  LAMA  TION.  Public  notice  given  by  the  king  to 
his  subjects.  [See  Kino,  Privy  Council.)  The  power  of 
issuing  proclamations  is  a  branch  of  the  king's  prerogative, 
and  Vested  in  him  alone.  They  have  a  binding  force  on 
the  subject,  in  so  far  as  they  are  grounded  on  and  enforce 
the  laws  of  the  realm.  They  may  be  said  to  be  of  two 
sorts:  the  one.  enforcing  an  actually  existing  law  by  giving 
it  a  particular  application  of  time,  place,  and  circumstance  : 
the  other,  exercising  an  extraordinary  power  vested  in  the 
king,  which  until  bo  exercised  is  dormant ;  as  a  proclama- 
tion to  prohibit  any  subject  from  leaving  the  realm  during 
a  certain  time.  Proclamations  must  be  under  the  ereat 
.seal.  By  31  II.  8,  C.  B,  it  was  enacted  that  the  kind's  proc- 
lamations should  have  the  force  of  law ;  an  enactment 
which,  while  it   subsisted,  did,  ill  effect,  make  a  complete 

revolution  in  tin-  government  of  this  country.  It  was, 
however,  repealed  five  years  afterwards  by  IE.B,  c.  12, 
Nevertheless,  in  later  times,  jt  was  held  by  crown  lawyers, 
that  the  king  might  suspend  or  dispense  with  an  existing 
law  in  favour  of  particular  circumstances.  But  bv  l  \V.  &. 
M..  -tat.  -j.  c.  -J.  it  is  declared  that  no  such  powei  exists. 

PROCO'NSUL.  Originally  an  officer  invested  with  con 
solar  command  without  the  office.  Thus,  a  consul  some 
times  had  his  command  prolonged  to  him  after  his  year  of 
magistracy  had  ceased,  with  the  title  of  proconsul.  The 
provinces  which  at  lirM  were  governed  bj  prtetors  were, 
f.r  the  most  |iart.  subsequently  put  under  proem 
proprietors,  who  were  at  first  especially  appointed  al  the 
Comitia  Tributa ;  but  afterwards,  oy  the  Bempronean  law, 
entered  mi  their  provincial  jurisdictions  forthwith,  on  the 
expiration  of  then-  year  of  consulship  or  prtetorship.  Thi 
office  was  properly  annual ;   but  it  might  be  prolonged,  at 

WSJ  done  in  the  case  of  Cesar.  In  the  time  of  the  fepub 
lie  the  proconsul  held  the  military  command  as  well  as  Die 

civil  jurisdiction  of  his  pro\  ince,  ami  accordingly  bail  about 
him  a  large  staff  of  officers,  as  the  lieutenants  oi  legati, 
prefects,  &c.    But  Augustus,  on  assuming  the  chief  power 


PRODOMUS. 

in  the  state,  remodelled  the  system  by  a  new  partition  of 
the  provinces, and  by  separating  the  civil  jurisdiction,  which 
was  left  tin-  proconsul,  from  the  military  command.  Un- 
der the  emperors,  the  proconsuls  and  proprietors  were  thus 
distinguished;  the  former  being  appointed  to  the  provinces 
under  the  especial  superintendence  of  the  senate,  the  latter 
to  those  which  the  emperor  held. 

PROCRU'STES.  In  Mythology,  a  famous  robber  of  an- 
cient Greece,  who  tortured  his  victims  by  placing  them  on 

an  iron  bed,  which  their  stature  was  made  to  lit  by  stretch- 
ing or  mutilating  them  so  as  to  suit  its  dimensions  ;  whence 
the  well  known  metaphorical  expression,  the  bed  of  Pro- 
crustes.  He  was  killed  by  Theseus,  near  Hermione,  in  Ar- 
golis.  According  to  a  recent  critic  (Bdttiger),  Procrustes, 
Sinis,  Phil)  oc.rmptes,  &c,  were  all  different  names  for  one 
real  or  fabulous  robber,  derived  from  the  different  kinds  of 
violence  applied  by  him  to  travellers. 

PRO'CTOR.  (Lat.  procurator.)  In  Ecclesiastical  Law, 
he  who  undertakes  lor  his  fee  to  manage  a  cause  in  the 
ecclesiastical  or  civil  court,  being  duly  admitted  under  53 
G.  3,  c.  127,  exercising  the  same  office  which  is  performed 
by  attorneys  and  solicitors  in  courts  of  common  law  and 
equity. 

PROCTORS.  In  the  English  Universities,  both  at  Ox- 
ford and  Cambridge,  two  masters  of  arts  are  appointed  an- 
nually to  this  office.  Each  college,  in  both,  nominates  a 
proctor  in  rotation,  according  to  a  cycle  of  years  drawn  up, 
on  mathematical  principles,  to  suit  the  number  of  fellows 
on  the  foundation  of  each.  The  proctors  are  officers  of 
considerable  importance  ;  being,  in  the  firsi  place,  the  chief 
police  magistrates  for  the  time  being  of  each  university. 
They,  with  their  deputies  the  pro-proctors,  have  power  not 
only  to  enforce  the  rules  of  academical  discipline  on  the 
students,  but  also  an  extensive  summary  authority  0V(  r  the 
townspeople,  according  to  the  special  privileges  of  the  uni- 
versities. They  also  have,  in  both  universities,  peculiar 
legislative  authority  as  assistants  to  the  heads  of  houses, 
and  official  votes  in  the  election  of  many  professors  and 
other  officers.  The  proctors  must  be  masters  of  arts,  and 
their  standing  as  such,  at  Oxford,  from  four  to  ten  years. 

PRO'CURATOR.  (Lat.  pro,  for,  and  cura,  care.)  A 
Roman  provincial  magistrate,  whose  office  it  was  to  man- 
age the  affairs  of  the  revenue,  and  exercise  a  judicial  au- 
thority in  matters  pertaining  to  it.  Sometimes  the  pro- 
curator discharged  the  office  of  governor,  especially  in  a 
small  province,  as  did  Pontius  Pilate  in  Judea;  in  which 
case,  but  not  otherwise,  he  had  the  power  of  inflicting 
capital  punishment.  This  magistracy  did  not  exist  under 
the  republic,  its  duties  being  comprised  under  those  of  the 
preetor  or  proconsul,  but  was  instituted  by  Augustus.  They 
were  called  Procuratores  Ciesaris,  to  distinguish  them  from 
the  common  procurator,  who  was  merely  an  agent  employ- 
ed by  private  persons  to  manage  their  affairs  in  their  ab- 
sence when  an  action  was  brought  against  them. 

Procurator,  Procureur,  Src.  In  the  Civil  Jurispru- 
dence, one  who  undertakes  the  care  of  any  legal  proceed- 
ings for  another,  and  stands  in  his  place  by  virtue  of  a 
power  or  procuration  from  him.  A  mandatory  is  said  to 
differ  from  a  procurator  in  that  the  latter  acts  only  by  vir- 
tue of  an  express  written  instrument.  In  France,  before 
the  revolution,  the  procureurs  (procuratores  ad  lites)  were 
officers  legally  empowered  to  carry  on  suits  on  hi  half  of 
clients.  This  body  was  abolished  in  17111,  and  that  of 
avoucs  substituted  in  its  place.     The  du  mi,  in 

Flame,  are  officers  of  w  h one  is  appointed  to  every  tri- 
bunal of  arrondisscinent,  together  with  a  sufficient  number 
of  ■'  substitutes." 

PROCUREUR-GENERAL.  The  public  advocate  of  the 
crown  in  France.  Every  pnrlrminl  or  emir  souveraiiu  bad, 
before  the  revolution,  a  /</-</.<  attached  to   it. 

Under  the  present  sj  stem  of  judicature,  o f  these  officers 

is  established  in  every  tour  royale,  for  the  criminal  part  of 
its  proceedings ;  and  under  him  an  avocat  general,  lor  the 
civil  department  of  the  conn.  The  public  accusers  in  the 
inferior  courts  of  assize,  and  premiere  instance,  are  termed 
respectively  procureurs  criminels  and  procureurs  du  roi. 
These  officers  are  >  barged  with  the  conduct  of  all  criminal 
proceedings  on  behalf  of  the  prosecution;  and  are  placed 
under  the  immediate  control  of  the  minister  of  justice. 

PRO' DIG Y  (of  very  doubtful  etymology),  in  ordinary 
modern  language  signifies  a  surprising  though  natural  event; 
in  contradistinction  to  miracle,  which  is  something  out  of 
the  course  of  nature.    Among  the  Romans,  however,  any 

exlraordinai ,  event  OX  appearance,  to  which,  from  insuffi- 
cient acquaintance  With  natural  history,  they  could  not  as- 
sign a  cause,  was  termed   a  prodigy,  and  regarded  as  a  su- 

peinatui.il  event,  Indicative  of  favourable  or  (more  gener- 
al]] I  Of  Unfavourable  dispositions  of  their  gods.  Hence  the 
led  prodigies,  mam  evidently  false,  some 
retd  but  misunderstood,  which  1  .ivy  has  inserted  in  his 
annals. 
PRO'DOMUS.    (Gr.  vpo,  and  <5o/*oc,  house.)    In  Ancient 


PRODUCT. 

Architecture,  the  portico  before  the  entrance  of  the  cella 
of  a  temple;  the  same  as  pronaos.     See  Naos. 

PRO'DUCT,  in  Arithmetic  and  Algebra,  is  the  result  of, 
or  quantity  produced  by,  the  multiplication  of  one  number 
by  another,  or  a  quantity  of  any  kind  by  a  number.  See 
Multiplication. 

PRODU'CTA.  An  extinct  genus  of  fossil  bivalve  shells, 
closely  allied  to  the  living  genus  Terebratala.  They  only 
occur  in  the  older  secondary  rocks. 

PRO'EM.  tGr.  tt/jo  ujil,  I  go  before.)  A  term  formerly 
used  for  preface,  which  see. 

PROEMPTO'SIS.  (Gr.  -npo,  before,  and  cuttitttu,  I  fall 
vpon.)  The  term  applied  to  the  lunar  equation  or  addition 
of  a  day  to  prevent  the  new  moon  happening  too  soon ; 
which  must  be  effected  by  the  addition  of  a  day  every  330 
years  and  another  every  3400.  The  opposite  term  is  me- 
temptosis,  which  is  used  to  signify  the  solar  equation  ne- 
cessary to  prevent  the  new  moon  from  falling  a  day  too  late, 
or  the  suppression  of  the  bissextile  every  13-1  years. 

PROFESSOR.  The  recognised  title,  in  all  universities, 
of  the  public  and  authorized  teachers  in  the  various  facul- 
ties. In  the  origin  of  those  institutions  the  degrees  confer- 
red on  students  were,  in  fact,  licences  to  commence  as  pub- 
lic teachers ;  and  the  terms  master,  doctor,  and  professor 
seem  to  have  been  used  indifferently.  But  as  in  process  of 
time  the  great  body  of  graduates  ceased,  in  most  of  them, 
to  have  any  concern  in  public  instruction,  a  separate  body 
of  recognised  teachers  gradually  arose ;  endowed  in  some 
instances  with  salaries,  in  others  paid  by  fees.  These  were 
the  professors.  But  in  those  universities  in  which  collegi- 
ate foundations  prevailed,  as  in  Oxford  and  Cambridge, 
these  officers  fell  into  a  secondary  situation.  The  neces- 
sary business  of  instruction  was  transacted,  and  still  con- 
tinues to  be  so,  by  the  functionaries  of  the  several  colleges. 
The  professors,  therefore,  and  the  instruction  which  they 
convey  by  lectures,  have  become  only  auxiliaries,  instead 
of  principals,  and  attendance  on  their  lectures  is  in  few 
cases  compulsory.  On  the  other  hand,  in  universities  des- 
titute, or  nearly  so,  of  collegiate  endowments  (as  those  of 
Scotland,  Germany,  and  others  founded  on  the  German 
model),  the  professors  have  become  at  once  the  governing 
body  of  the  university,  and  the  sole  recognised  functiona- 
ries lor  the  purpose  of  education. 

PROFI'LE.  (Fr.  profil.)  In  Architecture,  the  contour 
of  the  different  parts  of  an  order. 

Profile.  In  the  Fine  Arts,  an  outline  of  the  principal 
parts  of  an  object,  free  from  all  foreshortening,  showing 
their  real  projections,  indentations,  &c. 

PRO'FIT  (Fr.  profit),  in  Political  Economy  means  the 
advantage  or  gain  resulting  to  the  owner  of  capital  from  its 
employment  in  industrious  undertakings.  It  is  the  premi- 
um, as  it  wrere,  on  accumulation.  Were  there  no  profit, 
there  would  be  little  or  no  motive  to  save  and  amass;  and 
all  the  vast  advantages  that  society  derives  from  the  form- 
ation and  employment  of  capital  would  be  unknown.  But 
without  taking  into  account  the  security  and  consequence 
conferred  on  the  possessors  of  capital  or  wealth,  and  look- 
ing only  at  its  tangible  results,  profit  consists  of  that  part  of 
the  produce  raised  by  the  agency  of  capital  employed  in 
industrious  undertakings  that  remains  in  the  hands  of  those 
by  whom  it  is  employed  after  replacing  the  capital  itself 
or  such  portions  of  it  as  may  have  been  wasted  in  the  busi- 
nesses, and  every  expense  necessarily  incurred  in  superin- 
tending its  employment. 

The  rate  of  profit  is  the  proportion  which  the  amount  of 
profit  derived  from  an  undertaking  bears  to  the  capital  em- 
ployed in  it. 

Thus,  suppose  an  agriculturist  employs  a  capital  equiva- 
lent to  1000  quarters  of  corn,  or  .£1000,  in  the  cultivation  of 
a  farm,  and  that  the  net  surplus  produce  remaining  to  him 
at  the  end  of  the  year,  after  his  capital  has  been  replaced, 
and  he  has  been  indemnified  for  the  trouble  of  superintend- 
ence, and  for  every  necessary  expense  incurred  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  farm,  is  100  quarters,  or  .£100 ;  this  net  sur- 
plus would  form  the  profits  of  the  agriculturist,  being  to  the 
capital  by  whose  agency  they  are  obtained  in  the  ratio  of 
100  to  1000,  or  at  the  rate  of  ten  per  cent. 

It  has  been  shown  by  Dr.  Smith  and  others,  that  the 
capital  vested  in  different  businesses  yields,  provided  they 
be  not  subjected  to  any  species  of  monopoly,  about  the 
same  rate  of  net  profit;  and  we  shall  now  endeavour 
shortly  to  state  the  circumstances  which  seem  to  determine 
this  rate. 

In  this  investigation  it  is  not  necessary  to  inquire  whether 
the  capital  engaged  in  certain  businesses  yields  rent  as  well 
as  profits,  or  profits  only.  The  competition  of  the  pro- 
ducers will  always  reduce  profits  in  different  businesses  to 
what  is,  taking  all  things  into  account,  nearly  the  same 
common  level ;  and,  as  rent  is  in  every  case  a  surplus  over 
and  above  profits,  it  may  in  this  investigation  be  left  wholly 
out  of  view.  The  laws  by  which  profits  are  regulated  in 
countries  where  the  best  lands  only  are  cultivated,  and  no 


PROFIT. 

rents  are  paid,  are  in  no  respect  different  from  those  which 
regulate  them  in  countries  where  cultivation  has  been 
widely  extended,  and  where  lands  of  superior  fertility  yield 
a  high  rent. 

Suppose,  therefore,  that  rent  is  deducted,  or  set  aside,  it 
follows  that  the  whole  of  the  remaining  produce  of  indus- 
try must,  in  the  first  instance,  be  divided  between  capitalists 
and  labourers  ;  that  U,  between  those  who  furnish  the  capi- 
tal and  those  who  furnish  the  manual  labour  made  use  of 
in  the  production  of  commodities.  And  hence,  were  taxa- 
tion either  unknown  or  constant,  the  proportion  of  the  pro- 
duce of  industry  under  deduction  of  rent  falling  to  the 
share  of  the  capitalists  could  not  be  increased  without  the 
proportion  falling  to  the  share  of  the  labourers  being  at  the 
same  time  diminished,  and  conversely.  But  the  share  of 
the  produce  of  industry  falling  to  the  capitalists  includes, 
besides  profit,  the  portion  required  to  replace  the  capital 
wasted  in  production,  and  to  defray  the  wages  of  superin- 
tendence. So  that  the  rate  of  profit  is  not,  as  has  been  al- 
ready stated,  determined  by  the  raiio  which  the  share  of 
the  produce  of  industry  that  goes  in  the  first  instance  to  the 
capitalists,  after  every  sort  of  outlay  has  been  deducted, 
bears  to  the  total  capital  employed. 

Suppose,  for  example,  that  an  agriculturist  employs  a 
quantity  of  capital  of  the  value  of  1000  quarters  of  corn, 
or  .£1000,  in  cultivating  a  farm  ;  that  half  this  capital  con- 
sists of  seed,  horses,  and  other  instruments  used  in  agri- 
culture, the  other  half  being  employed  in  the  payment  of 
wages;  and  suppose  that  after  his  rent  has  been  deducted 
or  set  aside,  he  has  produce  equivalent  to  1-200  quarters,  or 
£1200;  of  this  sum  1000  quarters,  or  .£1000,  must  go  to  re- 
place his  capital ;  and  supposing  that  his  taxes  amount  to 
100  quarters,  or  .£100,  it  follows  that  100  quarters,  or  £100 
will  remain  for  his  profits,  which  are  consequently  at  the 
rate  of  ten  per  cent.  Now,  in  this  case — and  this  case  is, 
mtitatis,  mutandis,  the  case  of  every  man  engaged  in  busi- 
ness— it  is  obvious  that  the  rate  of  profit  may  be  raised  in 
three,  but  only  in  three  ways;  viz.,  1.  By  industry  becom- 
ing more  productive ;  or  2.  By  a  reduction  in  the  rate  of 
wages ;  or  3.  By  a  reduction  in  the  amount  of  taxation. 
And  it  may  be  reduced  by  the  opposite  circumstances;  or 
1.  By  industry  becoming  less  productive  ;  or  2.  By  a  rise  in 
the  rate  of  wages ;  or  3.  By  a  rise  in  the  amount  of  taxa- 
tion. Profits  cannot  be  affected  in  any  way  not  referable  to 
one  or  other  of  these  heads. 

To  revert  to  the  previous  example,  let  it  be  supposed, 
other  things  remaining  the  same,  that  the  quantity  of  pro- 
duce is  increased,  by  means  of  the  better  application  of  the 
capital  and  labour  employed,  from  1200  quarters,  or  £1200, 
to  1300  quarters,  or  £1300  ;  the  gross  amount  of  profits 
would  in  this  case  be  increased  from  100  quarters,  or  £100, 
to  200  quarters,  or  £200,  and  the  rate  of  profit  would  be 
raised  from  10  to  20  per  cent.  A  similar  result  would  be 
produced,  other  things  being  the  same,  were  wages  redu- 
ced from  500  quarters,  or  £500,  to  400  quarters,  or  £400 ; 
and  were  taxation  reduced  from  100  quarters,  or  £100,  to 
50  quarters,  or  £50,  the  rate  of  profit  would  be  raised  from 
10  to  15  per  cent.  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  suppose  that 
the  quantity  of  produce,  instead  of  being  increased,  is  di- 
minished, or  that  wages  or  taxes  are  augmented,  the  gross 
amount  of  profit,  and  the  rate  of  profit,  will  be  proportion- 
ally lessened. 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  gradually  decreasing  productive- 
ness of  the  capital  laid  out  on  the  lands,  the  productiveness 
of  industry  would  have  increased  with  every  discovery  and 
invention  for  saving  labour ;  so  that,  without  a  correspond- 
ing increase  of  wages  and  taxes,  the  rate  of  profit  would 
have  been  continually  increasing.  But,  though  improve- 
ments may  materially  increase  the  productiveness  of  agri- 
cultural industry  for  a  lengthened  period,  the  incraase  can- 
not be  permanent ;  inasmuch  as  the  growth  of  population 
never  fails,  in  the  end,  to  force  recourse  to  inferior  lands, 
which,  of  course,  yield  less  produce  in  return  for  the  same 
outlay.  This  decreasing  productiveness  of  the  capital  ap- 
plied'to  the  soil  has  a  double  influence  over  profits  ;  for,  in 
the  first  place,  it  lessens  the  quantity  of  produce  obtained 
by  the  outlay  of  capital  and  labour ;  and,  in  the  second 
place,  it  increases  the  portion  of  that  produce  going  to  the 
labourer  as  wages.  The  latter  must  always  get  enough  to 
enable  him  to  subsist  and  continue  his  race  ;  and  though, 
in  the  event  of  his  resorting  to  a  lower  species  of  food  or  an 
inferior  standard  of  comfort,  a  rise  in  the  price  of  raw  pro- 
duce may  not  be  followed  by  a  rise  of  wages,  yet,  speaking 
generally,  the  one  is  always  consequent  to  the  other.  The 
cost  of  food  is  the  main  regulator  of  wairs  ;  and  it  is  quite 
impossible  to  go  on,  for  any  lengthened  period,  by  taking 
bad  land  into  cultivation,  or  forcing  the  good  land,  making 
constant  additions  to  its  cost,  without  ultimately  raising 
wages.  Manufacturing  industry,  or  the  adaptation  of  mat- 
ter to  our  use,  necessarily  becomes,  from  the  influence  of 
discoveries  and  inventions,  more  and  more  productive  as 
society  advances;  so  that  the  decreasing  fertility  of  the 
3  Q  993 


PROFIT. 

soil  is  at  bottom  the  only  cause  of  whatever  reduction  in 
the  rate  of  profit  is  i"  be  ascribed  to  a  decline  In  the  pro- 
ductiveness of  industry  ;  and  it  is  pretty  frequently  al  - 
cause  of  those  n  ductions  that  are  occasioned  Ijy  a  rise  in 
the  rat.-  of  wages.  The  latter,  it  is  true,  is  also  brought 
about  by  an  increase  d  demand  for  labour,  and  by  a  greater 
prevalence  of  moral  restraint.  Hut  a  rise  of  wages  caused 
by  the  increased  cost  of  necessaries  does  not  depend  on 
gent  circumstances,  or  on  the  forethought  of  the  la- 

bourers.      It  must  be  experienced  in  every  country  and  state 
n  .  according  as  i|  becomes  mote  and  more  difficult 

tain   supplies   of  food   for   an    increasing    population. 

Thi  absolute  wages  of  the  labourer,  or  the  quantity  of  ne- 

td  conveniences  given  him  for  liis  labour,  may 
be,  and  indeed  frequently  tire,  diminished  in  the  progress 
o!  society  :  but  when  cultivation  is  far  extended,  li«'  is  uni- 
formly almost  in  the  receipt  of  a  larger  share  of  the  pro- 
duce of  his  labour;  so  that,  as  has  just  been  observed, 
profits  are  reduced  in  an  advanced  stage  of  society,  because 
the  quantity  of  produce  is  diminished,  and  because  the  la- 
bourers get  a  larger  share  of  this  diminished  quantity. 

The  theory  of  Smith,  as  to  the  circumstances  which  de- 
termine the  rate  of  profit,  differs  widely  from  the  above. 
He  seems  to  have  had  no  idea  of  the  important  principle 
which  shows  that,  despite  the  countervailing  influence  of 
improvements,  the  capitals  successively  .applied  to  the  land 
are  sure,  in  the  long  run,  to  decrease  in  productiveness. 
And  not  imagining  that  there  was  any  natural  cause  why 
the  produce  obtained  by  the  outlay  of  equal  amounts  of 
capital  and  labour  should  ever  be  diminished,  he  supposed 
that  profits  were  lowered  tlurough  the  competition  of  capi- 
talists ;  that  when  capital  increased,  the  undertakers  of 
different  businesses  became  anxious  to  encroach  on  each 
other  ;  and  that,  in  order  to  attain  their  object,  they  ottered 
their  produce  at  a  lower  price,  and  gave  higher  wages  to 
their  workmen. 

But  though,  at  first  view,  this  theory  appear  sufficiently 
plausible,  it  will  not  bear  the  least  examination.  It  Is  easy 
to  see  that  competition  cannot  occasion  a  general  fall  of 
prolits.  All  that  competition  can  do,  and  all  that  it  ever 
does,  is  to  reduce  the  profits  obtained  in  different  business- 
es and  employments  to  the  same  common  level,  to  prevent 
particular  individuals  realizing  greater  or  lesser  profits  than 
their  neighbours.  Farther  than  this  competition  cannot 
go.  The  common  and  average  rate  of  profit  depends  not 
on  it,  but  on  the  excess  of  the  produce  obtained  by  em- 
ploying capital  after  it  is  replaced,  along  with  every  con- 
il  expense.  Competition  cannot  affect  the  produc- 
tiveness of  industry,  neither  can  it,  speaking  generally,  af- 
fect the  rate  of  wages;  for,  such  as  the  ordinary -demand 
for  labour  is,  such  will  be  its  supply,  and  it  has  no  influ- 
ence over  taxation.  It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  it  has  no- 
thing to  do  with  the  determination  of  the  common  and 
average  rate  Of  profit.  It  hinders  individuals  from  getting 
more  or  less  than  this  common  rate  ;  but  it  has  no  farther 
effect. 

Hence  it  appears,  that  that  fall  in  the  rate  of  profit  that 
is  usually  observed  to  take  place  as  society  advances  is  not 
owing  to  an  increase  of  capital,  or  to  the  competition  con- 
sequent upon  that  increase,  but  to  an  inability  to  employ 
capital  with  the  same  advantage  as  before  :  resulting  (1,) 
from  a  decrease  in  the  fertility  of  the  soils  to  which  re- 
course iim-t  In-  had,  or  rl,)  from  a  rise  of  wages,  or  (3,) 
from  tin  ini  rease  of  taxation.  Of  these  causes,  one  nia_\  he 
the  more  powerful  at  one  period,  and  another  at  a  dillerent 
period.  The  first  aot  only  lessens  the  quantity  of  [produce 
raised  bj  the  outlay  of  capital  and  labour,  but  it  also,  as 
already  seen,  generally  raises,  in  the  end.  the  rate  of  pro- 
pottionaj  wages.  It  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  lay  down 
any  fixed  principles  with  respect  to  the  influence  of  taxa- 
tion. In  the  progress  Of  Society,  it  may  increase  or  dimin- 
ish. It  has  been  shown  that  the  heavy  taxation  of  Holland, 
during  the  last  centurj ,  vc  as  the  principal  cause  of  the  low 
rate  of  profit  in  that  country  {Principles  of  Political  Econ- 
omy, -_'d  (  d..  p.  lull  :  and,  no  doubt,  profits  in  England  are 
sensibly  affed  ition. 

The  principles  already  established  show,  1.  That  so  long 
as  the  productiveness  of  industry  is  undiminished,  profits 
cannot  be  reduced  otherwise  than  bj  a  rise  of  wages  or  of 
taxes;  2.  That  so  long  as  the  rate  of  wages  Is  constant, 
profits  cannot  be  reduced,  unless  Industry  become  less  pro- 
ductive, or  taxation  he  augmented  :  and.  3.  That  go  ti 
taxation  remains  constant,  profits  cannot  be  reduced,  unless 
Industry  become  less  productive,  or  wages  be  raised,  it  Is 
supposed,  in  these  cases,  for  the  sake  of  simplicity,  that 

.  one  ol  the  regulating  principles  of  profit  reman 
st.-mt,  the  other  two  vary  in  the  same  way.    lint  the]  might 
vary  in  dull-rent  ways ;  and  If  so,  then  Influence  on  profits 

■WOUld  Obviously  depend  on  the  extent  to  which   the  varia- 
tion in  the  one  exceeded  the  variation  In  the  other.    Sup 
lor  Instance,  that  while  the  productiveness  of  industry 
remains  i  onstant  a  rise  of  wages  and  a  reduction  of  ta.vi- 
994 


PROGRESSION. 

I  tion  are  experienced  ;  the  effect  of  this  variation  will  plain- 
ly depend  on  the  rise  of  wages  exceeding,  falling  short,  or 
being  identical  with  the  reduction  in  the  amount  of  taxa- 
tion :   If  it  exceed  the  reduction  of  taxation,  profits  will  be 

lowered  proportionally  to  the  excess  ;  If  it  be  less  than  the 

reduction  of  taxation,  profits  will  be  proportional!)  raised; 
and  if  the  rise  of  wages  and  the  reduction  of  taxation  be 
exactly  equivalent,  profits  will,  of  course,  undergo  no  change. 
PROGNOSIS.  (»;r.  too,  and  yivwoicw,  I  know.)  An 
opinion  respecting  the  progress  and  termination  of  a  dis- 
ease. 

PROGRAMME.  An  old  university  term,  signifying  an 
outline  of  the  speeches  or  orations  to  be  delivered  on  a  par- 
ticular occasion  ;  but  now  applied  in  a  more  extended  sense 
to  the  outline  of  any  entertainment  or  public  ceremony. 

PROGRESS.  The  state  journeys  of  royal  personages 
were  called  by  this  name  in  old  English  etiquette.  In  the 
•  of  Elizabeth  and  James  they  were  frequent,  and 
somewhat  costly  to  the  wealthier  subjects,  inasmuch  as 
they  were  usually  honoured  with  the  onerous  privilege  of 
affording  hospitality  to  royalty.  The  "progresses"  of 
Queen  Elizabeth  firm  the  subject  of  a  work  by  Mr.  Nichr 
oll.  (See  also  Quart.  Rev.,  vol.  xli.)  Perhaps  the  most 
celebrated  progress  in  English  history  is  that  of  James  I. 
from  Scotland  to  London  on  his  accession. 

PROGRESSION.  (Lat  progressio.)  In  Arithmetic,  a 
series  of  numbers  proceeding  according  to  a  certain  order. 
It  IS  arithmetical,  geometrical,  or  harmonical. 

An  Arithmetical  Progression  is  a  series  of  numbers,  in- 
creasing or  decreasing  by  equal  differences.    Thus, 
increasing,     1,    3,    5,    7,   9,  &c. 
decreasing,  18,  15,  12,    9,   6,  &x. 
Or,  generally,  a  ±  d,  a  ±  2-i,  a  ±  3d,  a  ±  4rf,  ±,  &c. 
Let  a  denote  the  least  term, 
2  the  greatest  term, 
d  the  common  difference, 
n  the  number  of  terms, 
5  the  sum  of  all  the  terms  ; 

then  the  principal  properties  of  an  arithmetical  progression 
are  expressed  by  the  following  formulae : 

a  =  2 —  (n  —  1)  d,  2  =  a+  (n  —  1)  d, 

z —  a     2  —  i 

« — r   ' "   d 

and  these  expressions  become  still  simpler  when  the  first 
lorui.  A,  is  nothing. 

A  Geometrical  Progression  is  a  series  of  numbers  in- 
creaaing  or  decreasing  in  a  certain  constant  ratio;  or  such 
that  the  quotient  of  any  one  of  them  by  that  which  imme- 
diately precedes  is  constantly  the  same.     Thus, 

increasing,     1,    2,    4,    8,  16,  &.C. 
decreasing,  81,  27,    9,    3,    1,  &c. 
Or,  generally,  a,  ra,  r-a,  r"a,  &c. 


d—- 


1  I  -i  a  +  2 

■+l,s=-o-*; 


Or  a,  -; 


r'  J-2'    r3 


ice 


where  a  is  the  first  terra,  and  r  the  common  ratio  in  the 
one  case,  and  \—r  the  common  ratio  in  the  other. 

Let  a  denote  the  least  term, 
2  the  greatest  term, 
r  the  common  ratio. 
n  the  Dumber  of  terms, 
s  the  sum  of  the  terms ; 

then  the  principal  properties  of  a  geometrical  progression 
are  expressed  as  follows  : 

*  ,  f**V*-r 

0= ,   :  =  arn— l,  _ — I  -  In— I, 

ra—\,  ~ —  x(,/ 

r:  rz —  a       r" — 1 

„  =  log.  -  -H los.  r,  *  =  — j-=  —a. 

Some  of  these  formula-  may  he  mure  conveniently  ex- 
pressed in  terms  of  s  which  does  not  enter  into  any  one  of 
the  first  font.     Thus, 

r— 1  8  — a 

a  = ;s  ;  or  a  —  :r —  (r  —  Its;  r= . 

rn  —  1  '  s  —  z 

An  Harmonical  Progression  is  a  series  of  numbers  ia 
harmonical  proportion,  or  such  that,  of  any  three  consei  u- 

ti\e  terms,  tin-  fust  is  to  the  third  as  the-  difference    I"  iv  '  •  re 

the  first  mid  Bee I  is  to  the  difference  between  tin 

and  third.     {See   Harmonic  ai.  Proportion.      Thi 
rocals  of  an  arithmetical  progression  form  an  ban 
progression.     Thus,   the   reciprocals   ol*  the   arithmetical 
series  I,  2,  It.  4,  5,  &.c.  are 


t.  '    ' 

-j*  r  s' 


«CC 


which  form  an  Harmonical  progression. 


PROHEDRI. 

PRO'HEDRI.     (Gr.  rpbtcpoi.)    Certain  Athenian  officers  ' 
chosen  to  superintend  the  proceedings  in  the  two  legisla-  , 
tive  assemblies  :  so  called  because  they  had  the  privilege 
of  sitting  in  the  front  seats  {r.poirpia).    The  proheclri  of  the 
senate  were  ten  in  number.     (.See  Prytanes.)     The  pro-  j 
hedri  of  the  ecclesia  were  more  in  number,  one  being  ap- 
pointed  from  each  tribe,  which  did  not  contain  the  prytanes  I 
for  the  time  being.    Their  duties  only  extended  to  the  one 
assembly  of  the  people,  a  new  set  being  elected  each  time ; 
and  one  of  their  number  was  appointed  epistates  or  presi- 
dent.    Their  employment  was  to  propose  the  subject  of  de- 
bate to  the  people,  and  to  count  the  votes. 

PROHIBITION.  In  Law,  a  writ  to  forbid  any  court 
from  proceeding  in  a  cause  then  depending,  on  suggestion 
that  the  cause  of  it  does  not  properly  belong  to  that  court. 
tn  modem  times,  the  writ  of  prohibition  is  chiefly  used 
where  parties  have  been  impleaded  before  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal courts.  It  issues  properly  out  of  the  court  of  King's 
Bench :  but  may  also  be  had  in  some  cases  out  of  the 
Chancery.  Common  Pleas,  or  Exchequer.  It  is  the  proper 
remedy  where  the  court  against  which  it  is  sued  has  ex- 
ceeded its  jurisdiction  in  taking  cognizance  of  matters  not 
properly  belonging  to  it.  It  is  granted  on  motion  ;  but  if 
the  question  of  jurisdiction  be  doubtful,  the  courts  direct 
the  party  suing  the  writ  to  declare  in  prohibition.  This 
proceeding  rested  originally  on  a  fiction  of  law.  The  plain- 
tiff assumed  that  the  writ  had  been  granted,  and  brought 
his  action  against  the  defendant,  on  the  supposition  that  he 
was  proceeding  in  the  case,  notwithstanding  the  prohibi- 
tion ;  and  the  merits  were  then  tried  on  demurrer.  But 
now,  by  1  VV.  4,  c.  21,  the  declaration  concludes  with  a 
praver  for  a  writ. 

PROJECTILE  (Lat.  projicio,  I  throw  forward),  in  Me- 
chanics, is  a  body  which,  having  had  a  motion  in  space 
impressed  on  it  by  the  action  of  an  external  force,  is  aban- 
doned by  this  force,  and  left  to  pursue  its  course.  Thus,  a 
stone  thrown  from  the  hand  or  a  sling,  an  arrow  shot  from 
a  bow,  and  a  bullet  discharged  from  a  cannon,  are  projec- 
tiles while  they  continue  in  motion. 

Motion  of  Projectiles. — When  a  heavy  body  is  projected 
from  the  earth,  it  is  subject  to  the  action  of  three  separate 
and  independent  forces  :  I.  The  projectile  force,  or  that  by 
which  it  was  put  in  motion,  and  in  virtue  of  which,  if  no 
other  force  interfered,  the  body  would  continue  for  ever  to 
move  forward  in  a  straight  line  with  the  same  constant  ve- 
locity. 2.  The  force  of  gravity,  by  which  it  is  at  even' in- 
stant pulled  towards  the  earth  in  a  vertical  line.  3.  The 
resistance  of  the  atmosphere,  which,  acting  in  the  direc- 
tion opposite  to  that  in  which  the  body  is  moving,  tfnds  at 
every  instant  to  destroy  its  motion,  or  to  bring  it  to  rest. 

When  the  projectile  is  a  body  possessing  considerable 
tensity,  and  the  motion  is  slow,  the  resistance  of  the  air  is 
inconsiderable,  and  the  body  describes  almost  the  same 
path  as  if  it  had  been  projected  in  a  vacuum  :  but  when 
the  velocity  is  great,  as  in  the  case  of  a  cannon-ball  (and  it 
is  only  in  such  cases  that  the  -theory  of  the  motion  of  pro- 
jectiles has  any  practical  application),  the  resistance  of  the 
air  becomes  enormous,  and  causes  the  projectile  to  deviate 
widely  from  the  path  it  would  have  pursued  if  this  force 
had  not  been  in  action.  The  direct  investigation  of  the 
path  of  a  projectile  in  a  resisting  medium  being  a  problem 
of  the  higher  mathematics,  and  attended  with  very  consid- 
erable ditfkuliy.  the  way  in  which  the  subject  can  be  ren- 
dered most  intelligible  is,  to  proceed,  in  the  first  place,  on 
the  supposition  that  there  is  no  resistance,  and  determine 
the  circumstances  of  the  motion  of  a  body  supposed  to  obey 
only  the  impulse  by  which  it  was  projected  and  the  force 
of  gravity,  and  then  to  consider  the  resistance,  as  a  disturb- 
ing force,  and  find  the  correction  that  must  be  applied  in 
consequence  to  the  path  determined  on  the  previous  sup- 
position. 

Motion  of  Projectiles  in  vacuo. — In  order  to  determine 
the  path  of  a  projectile  on  the  sup- 
position that  it  is  not  resisted  by 
the  atmosphere,  suppose  it  to  be 
projected  from  the  point  A  with  a 
velocity  a,  in 'the  direction  AT: 
since  gravity  acts  only  in  the  ver- 
tical direction,  it  is  evident  that  the 
body  will  move  in  the  vertical  plane  passing  through  A  T. 
Let  A  C  D,  therefore,  be  its  path  or  trajectorv  in  this  plane ; 
and  let  A  X  and  A  Y  be  the  rectangular  co-ordinates  of  the 
curve,  AX  being  horizontal,  and  A  Y  in  the  direction  of 
gravity.  At  the  end  of  any  given  time  t,  let  P  be  the  place 
of  the  projectile:  i  =  AQ,  its  absciss:  and  y=PQ,  its 
ordinate :  also  let  g  he  the  accelerating  force  of  gravitv 
(=  32  feet  per  second),  and  A  the  angle  TAX. 

The  body  being  projected  in  the  direction  of  the  line  A  T 
with  a  velocity  =  a,  its  velocity  in  the  horizontal  direction 
will  continue  uniform,  and  =  o  cos.  A.  In  like  manner,  its 
velocity  in  the  vertical  direction  A  Y,  due  to  the  projectile 
force,  is  =  a  sin.  A ;  and  at  the  end  of  any  time  t  the  spaces 


B 


PROJECTILE. 

passed  over  in  those  directions,  if  gravity  did  not  act  would 
be  respectively,  t  a  cos.  z,  and  t  a  sin.  A.  But  the  space 
through  which  a  heavy  body  falls  by  the  action  of  gravity 
in  the  time  t  \sh  g  t-\  and  as  this  is  in  the  vertical  direc- 
tion, and  opposite  to  A  Y,  it  must  be  joined  to  the  resolved 
part  of  the  projectile  motion  in  that  direction,  with,  a  con- 
trary sign.     We  have,  therefore, 

i  =  ta  cos.  A,  y  =  ta  sin.  A  —  hgt2  .  .  .  .  (1.) 
On  eliminating  t  from  these  two  equations,  and  supposing 
the  velocity  a  to  be  that  which  a  body  would  acquire  in 
falling  from  a  height  =  h.  so  that  a  =  jigh,  we  obtain  the 
following  for  the  equation  of  the  curve  described  by  the 
projectile : 

!/  =  ztan.  A  —  — — -.  .  .  .  (2.) 

'  4Acos.2A 

This  equation  belongs  to  a  parabola  whose  axis  is  vertical, 
or  parallel  to  A  Y.    The  summit  of  the  parabola  is  found 

dy 
by  differentiating  the  equation,  and  making  -r-  =  0,  which, 

gives  i  =  2A  cos.  A  sin.  A,  and  consequently  y  =  Asin.2  A, 
for  the  values  of  x  and  y  at  that  point. 

Inorde*  to  find  the  amplitude  or  range  of  the  projectile, 
that  is,  the.  point  B  in  which  it  again  passes  through  the 
horizontal  plane  from  which  it  was  projected,  we  have 
only  to  suppose,  in  the  above  equation,  y  =  0.    This  gives 

z  =  4A  cos.  A  sin.  A  =  2A  sin.  2A 
for  the  value  of  A  B  ;  and,  as  the  sine  of  an  angle  contin- 
ues to  increase  to  90°,  the  value  of  AB  will  be  greatest 
when  A,  the  angle  of  projection,  is  45°.  The  amplitude  is 
then.=  2A.  or  twice  the  altitude  due  to  the  initial  velocity. 
At  every  other  inclination  there  are  two  angles  which  give 
the  same  range,  the  one  as  much  less  than  45°  as  the  other 
is  greater. 

The  velocity  v,  at  any  point  in  the  curve,  is  found  by 
di2  +  <f«2 

means  of  the  differential  formula  7.-2= '  .    On  dif- 

dti 

ferentiating  the  values  of  x  and  y  in  the  equations  (1),  and 
adding  the  results,  we  find 

v-  =  a-  —  2  a  g  t  sin.  A  +  g- 1-. 
Let  £  =  fhe  height  from  which  a  body  must  have  fallen  to 
acquire  the  velocity  v,  then  t)2  =  2«-i.     But  we  have  also 

substituting,  therefore,  these 


a?-  =  2gh,  and  t  = r; 

o  cos.  A 

values  in  the  above  equation,  we  obtain 
k  =  h  —  i  tan.  A  + 


4Acos.2A' 

and  comparing  this  with  the  value  of  y  in  equation  (2),  we 
have  ultimately  k  +  y  =  h. 

From  this  equation  it  appears  that  if  in  A  Y  a  point  H  be 
taken,  such  that  AH  =  J,  the  height  from  which  a  heavy 
body  must  fall  to  acquire  the  initial  velocity,  and  a  straight 
line  H  H  be  drawn  through  H  parallel  to  the  horizon,  or  to 
A  X,  the  velocity  of  the  projectile  in  the  curve  at  any 
point  P  is  equal  to  that  which  a  heaw  bodv  would  acquire 
by  falling  freely  from  the  line  H  H'  to  P.  'The  line  H  H', 
as  is  easily  proved,  is  the  directrix  of  the  parabola ;  and 
hence  all  the  parabolas  described  by  bodies  projected  from 
the  same  point,  and  with  the  same  velocities,  though  with 
different  elevations,  have  the  same  directrix,  and  conse- 
quently their  foci  in  the  circumference  of  the  same  circle. 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  theory  of  the  motion  of  projec- 
tiles in  a  vacuum  is  extremely  simple  ;  but,  as  has  been 
already  mentioned,  the  resistance  which  the  air  opposes  to 
their  motion,  particularly  when  the  velocity  is  great,  is  by 
far  too  considerable  to  be  neglected  :  in  fact,  it  changes  en- 
tirely the  form  of  the  trajectory,  and  the  law  of  motion  by 
which  it  is  described. 

Motion  of  Projectiles  in  a  resisting  Medium. — When  the 
resistance  of  the  air  is  taken  into  account,  the  determina- 
tion of  the  path  described  by  a  projectile  is  a  problem  of 
far  greater  difficulty,  though  still  capable  of  rigid  solution, 
on  assuming  an  algebraic  relation  between  the  velocity 
and  the  resistance  ;  but  when  it  is  considered  that,  in  or- 
der to  compute  the  trajectory  of  a  resisted  body,  it  is  ne- 
cessary not  only  to  assume  a  law  of  resistance  which  we 
never  can  be  quite  sure  is  the  true  one.  but  also  to  know 
accurately  the  initial  velocity  of  the  body,  together  with 
its  densitv.  form,  and  dimensions,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  no 
great  practical  advantage  is  likely  to  be  obtained  in  any 
case  from  the  theory,  and  that  recourse  must  be  had  to  ex- 
periment. The  problem,  however,  regarded  merely  as  a 
mathematical  speculation,  possesses  considerable  interest, 
and  has  been  discussed  by  Newton  in  the  Principia  (Scho- 
lium, prop.  10.  lib.  ii.;.  by  John  Bernoulli.  Dr.  Brook  Tay- 
lor, Hermann,  Euler,  and  others.    For  the  solution,  see 

995 


PROJECTION. 

jLegendre,  Exercises  de  Calcul  Integral,  torn.  i. ;  Poisson, 
Traiti  de  Mtcanique. 

The  hypothesis  asually  made  with  respect  to  the  resist- 
ance is.  that  it  is  proportional  to  the-square  of  the  velocity. 
Oil  this  hypothesis  it  u;is  shown  by  Newton  that  the  tra- 
jectory baa  more  resemblance  to  a  hyperbola  than  a  para- 
bola. The  two  branches  A  ('  anil  C  L>  are  dissimilar ;  and 
M  the  motion  in  the  descending  branch 
C  1)  becomes  constantly  more  nearly 
vertical  and  uniform,  so  that  ultimate- 
ly the  body  would  describe  a  vertical 
line  with  a  uniform  velocity.  This 
branch  of  the  curve  has  therefore  a 
vertical  asymptote  M  O,  to  which  it 
continually  approaches.  The  other  branch  A  C  has  like- 
wise an  asymptote,  which  makes  an  angle  with  the  axis  A 
B,  and  intersects  it  at  a  distance  A  X  from  A.  depending 

on  the  initial  direction  and  velocity  of  the  projectile. 

Some  anomalous  circumstances  are  observed  in  experi- 
ment- with  artillery,  which  are  quite  beyond  the  reach  of 
theoretical  calculation.  Bullets  are  frequently  driven  to 
the  right  or  left  of  the  plane  in  which  they  were  projected, 
as  if  a  force  acted  upon  them  sideways  as  well  as  vertical- 
ly, and  In  this  case  their  path  becomes  a  curve  of  double 
curvature.  Dr.  lliitton  ascribes  this  chiefly  to  a  whirling 
motion  acquired  by  the  bullet  about  an  avis,  in  consequence 
of  its  friction  against  the  sides  of  the  piece;  for  this  rota- 
tory motion,  combined  with  the  progressive  motion,  causes 
each  part  of  the  ball's  surface  to  strike  the  air  in  a  direc- 
tion different  from  what  it  would  do  if  there  were  no  such 
whirl.  Euler,  on  the  other  hand,  attributes  the  lateral  de- 
flection chiefly  to  the  irregularity  of  the  figure  of  the  ball, 
and  in  a  small  degree  to  its  rotation.  Mr.  Robins  found 
the  range  of  shot  extremely  uncertain,  falling  sometimes 
2U0  yards  short  of  what  it  did  at  other  times,  though  there 
was  no  visible  cause  of  difference  in  making  the  experi- 
ment; and  Dr.  llutton  states  that  he  often  experienced 
a  difference  of  one  fifth  or  one  sixth  of  the  whole  range, 
both  in  the  deflection  to  the  right  or  left,  and  also  in  the 
evtent  of  the  range  of  cannon  shot.     See  Gunnery,  Re- 

SISTAM   K. 

PROJECTION.     In  Perspective,  the  representation  of 
any  object  on  the  perspective  plane.    Sec  Perspective. 
PROJECTION  (»F  THE  SPHERE,    [n Geography, the 

representation  of  the  several  parts  of  the  surface  of  the 
sphere  on  a  plane,  according  to  some  geometrical  law  by 
which  the  different  points  in  the  representation  can  be  ac- 
curately referred  to  their  relative  positions  on  the  sphere. 
It  is  a  problem  of  much  importance,  in  consequence  of  its 
application  to  the  construction  of  maps,  charts,  planis- 
pheres, &c. 

Projections  are  of  various  kinds,  according  to  the  situa- 
tions in  which  the  eye  is  supposed  to  he  placed  in  respect 
of  the  sphere  and  the  plant-  on  which  it  is  to  be  projected ; 
but  there  are  three  which,  by  reason  of  the  frequency  of 
their  use,  are  particularly  deserving  of  attention  ;  namely, 
the  orthographic,  the  stereographic,  and  the  central  or  gno- 
monic. 

1.  Orthographic  Projection.  In  this  projection  the  eye 
is  supposed  to  be  at  an  infinite  distance,  and  the  plane  of 
projection,  i.  e.,  the  plane  on  which  the  representation  is 
made,  perpendicular  to  the  direction  of  the  rays  of  light, 
which  are  all  parallel  to  each  other.  The  laws  of  this 
projection  are  easily  deduced.  1.  Any  point  in  space  is 
projected  by  drawing  a  straight  line 
from  it  perpendicular  to  the  plane  of 

projection.  '2.  A  straight  line  perpen- 
dicular to  the  plane  of  projection  is 
projected  Into  a  point.     A  straight 

-^  line  A  li,  parallel  to  the  plane  of  pro- 
jection P  U,  is  projected  Into  an  equal 
straight  line  a  b  ;  and  a  straight  line  CD,  inclined  to  the 
plane  of  projection,  is  projected  into  a  straight  line  cd, 
which  Is  shorter  than  C  l>.  in  the  proportion  Of  the  cosine 
oi  Hie  angle  of  inclination  to  radius.  :t.  a  plane  surface 
perpendicular  to  the  plane  of  projection  is  projected  into  a 
straight  line.  i.  \  clri  te  parallel  to  the  plane  of  projec- 
tion is  projected  into  an  equal  Circle;  bin  a  circle  oblique 
to   ilii     plane  Of  projection   is    projected    into   an  ellipse,  of 

which  the  greater  axis  is  equal  to  the  diameter  of  the  cir- 
cle, and  the  les>er  axis  is  equal  to  that  diameter  multiplied 

by  the  cosine  of  the  obliquity. 

Orthographic  projections  of  the  sphere  are  usually  made 
either  on  the  plane  ol  the  equator,  or  on  the  plane  of  a 

meridian.     When  on   the  plane  of  the  equator,  the  nuri 

dians  are  all  represented  by  straight  lines  Intersecting  In 

tip-   centre  Of  the   projection,  and   the   parallels  of  latitude 

by  circles  whose  radii  are  respectively  equal  to  ( to 

(it   the   latitude.      Winn  the   representation  is  on  the  plane 

ot'a  meridian,  the  other  meridians  an-  represented  by  ellip- 
ses, ami  the  parallels  ol  latitude  by  Straight  lines  parallel 
to  the  diameter  ol  the  projection.     Orthographic  projections 


db 


PROJECTION  OF   THE  SPHERE. 

of  a  hemisphere  have  this  defect,  that  they  are  much 
crowded  and  distorted  near  the  Circumference  Of  the  repre- 
sentation, as  may  be  interred  from  the  above  figure  :  all  the 
points  in  the  arc  A  C  being  compressed  within  the  line  ac 
(which  is  equal  to  the  versed  sine  of  the  arc),  w  bile  tin  arc 
at  the  vertex  of  the  hemisphere  is  projected  into  a  line 
nearly  equal  to  itself. 

The  orthographic  projection  has  a  multitude  of  other 
applications.  The  plans  and  sections  by  which  artificers 
execub  their  different  constructions  are  orthographic  pro- 
jections of  the  things  to  be  constructed ;  and  a  solid  body 
may  be  represented  in  all  its  dimensions  by  orthographic 
projections  on  two  planes  at  right  angles  to  each  other. 
Set    lo  si  uiPTivE  Geometry. 

2.  Stereographic  Projection. — In  this  projection  the  eye 
is  supposed  to  be  situated  at  the  surface  of  the  sphere,  and 
the  plane  of  projection  is  that  of  the  great  circle,  which  is 
every  where  90  degrees  from  the  po- 
sition of  the  eve.  Thus,  let  A  C  B  E 
represent  a  sphere  cut  by  a  plane  P  CI 
passing  through  the  centre,  and  per- 
pendicular to  the  plane  of  the  great 
circle  ABE;  and  let  E  be  the  position 
of  the  eye  in  this  circle.  If  straight 
lines  be  drawn  from  E  to  any  points  -«■ 
A  D  B  in  the  opposite  hemisphere,  the  points  a  d  b  in  which 
those  lines  cut  the  plane  P  U  will  be  the  stereographic 
projections  of  A  D  B. 

Some  of  the  principal  properties  of  this  projection  are 
the  following:  1.  The  projection  of  any  circle  on  the 
sphere  which  does  not  pass  through  the  eye  is  a  circle  :  and 
circles  whose  planes  pass  through  the  eye  are  projected 
into  straight  lines.  2.  The  angle  made  on  the  surface  of 
the  sphere  by  two  circles  which  cut  each  other,  and  the 
angle  made  by  their  projections,  is  equal.  3.  Let  C  be  the 
pole  opposite  to  E,  and  c  its  projection  ;  then  any  point  A  is 
projected  into  a  point  a,  such  that  c  a  is  equal  to  half  the 
tangent  of  the  arc  A  C. 

3.  Gnomonic  or  Central  Projection. — In  this  projection 
the  eye  is  situated  at  the  centre  of  the  sphere,  and  the 
plane  of  projection  is  a  plane  which  touches  the  sphere  tit 
any  point  assumed  at  pleasure.  The  point  of  contact  is 
called  the  principal  point  ;  and  the  projections  of  all  other 
points  on  the  sphere  are  at  the  extremities  of  the  tangents 
of  the  arcs  Intercepted  between  them  and  the  principal 
point.  As  the  tangents  increase  very  rapidly  when  the  arcs 
exceed  45°,  and  at  90°  become  infinite,  the  centra]  projection 
cannot  be  adopted  for  a  whole  hemisphere. 

The  orthographic  and  srercoirapliic  projections  were  both 
employed  by  the  ancient  {Creek  astronomers  for  the  purpose 
of  representing  the  celestial  sphere  with  all  its  cir<  les  on  a 
plane.  The  first  was  called  by  them  the  aii.ili  innia.  1'tolemv 
wrote  a  treatise  on  this  projection  ;  and  the  Arabs  derived 
from  it  the  fundamental  theorems  of  trigonometry .  The  ste- 
reographic projection  appears  to  have  been  invented  by  llip- 
parchus,  and  was  denominated  by  the  Greek  astronomers 
planisphere.  The  name  stereographic  (derived  from  rrrr- 
pcoc,  a  solid)  was  given  to  it  by  the  Jesuit  Aguilon,  because 
it  results  from  the  intersection  of  two  solids,  the  COne  and 
the  sphere.  Hipparchus  and  Ptolemy  appear  (though  they 
do  not  expressly  mention  it)  to  have  been  acquainted  with 
its  principal  property,  namely,  that  circles  on  the  sphere 
are  projected  into  circles,  which  affords  great  facilities  for 
the  construction  of  maps.  The  second  property,  not  less 
remarkable,  that  all  circles  in  the  projection  intersect  each 
other  in  ant'.es  equal  to  those  made  by  the  corresponding 
circles  on  the  sphere,  is  of  modern  discovery,  and  appears 
to  have  been  first  demonstrated  by  Dr.  Ilalley,  in  1696,  in 
No.  219,  of  the  Phil.  Tnin*.,  white  the  discover]  is  attrib- 
uted to  Demoivte  or  Ilooko.  From  lite  equality  ol  the  an- 
gles, it  follows  that  any  very  small  portion  of  the  spherical 
Surface  and  its   projection  tire  similar  figures — a  property  of 

great  importance  in  the  construction  of  maps,  but  which  is 
not  peculiar  to  ibis  projection,  as  it  belongs  also  to  Merca- 
tor's  ;  anil  numerous  other  relations  may  be  assigned  be- 
tween the  original   and   projected   figures   in   winch  it  will 

hold  good.    The  gnomonic  projection  is  also  described  l>y 

Ptolemy;  but  as  the  Greeks  had  no  idea  ol'  tin  li  iuouoiuet- 
rical  tangents,  the  polar  distances  were  expressed  by  the 
ratios  of  the  sines  to  ibe  cosines  ,,f  the  arcs. 

In  constructing  maps  of  countries,  the  object  sought  to 
be  attained  is  to  lay  down  the  places  in  their  true  relative 
positions,  and  at  the  same  lime  to  preserve  as  much  as  pos- 

slble  the  same  Bcale  of  distances  throughout.  In  the  three 
projections  which  have  been  explained,  equal  portions  of 
the  spherical  surface  are  represented  by   unequal  portions 

of  a  plane  surface,  ami  the  de  via  tion  limn  equality  becomes 
in  the  centre  to  the  circumference  of  the  projec- 
tion, The  degrees  of  latitude  are  greatly  contracted  towards 
the  circumference  In  the  orthographic  projection,  and  en- 
larged in  the  gnomonic,  bo  as  m  both  cases  f>  produce  a 
great  distortion.    Geographers  have,  accurdiugly,  attempted 


PROJECTURE. 

to  correct  this  deviation  by  placing  the  point  of  view  at 
some  finite  distance  without  the  sphere.  This  gives  rise  to 
the  following,  which  was  proposed  by  Lahire. 

Globular  Projection.— Let  A  C  B  be  the  hemisphere  to  be 
represented  on  the  plane  passing  through  the 
diameter  A  B,  and  let  E  be  the  position  of 
the  eye  in  a  straight  line  passing  tbrough  the 
centre  O  perpendicular  to  A  B  ;  the  represen- 
tation will  be  perfect,  if  the  several  arcs  A  M, 
M  F,  F  C,  have  each  the  same  ratio  to  their 
projections  A  N,  N  G,  G  O.  This  cannot  be 
u  accomplished  accurately,  but  the  nearest  ap- 

proximate will  be  obtained  by  placing  the  point  E  in  such  a 
position  that  if  F  be  the  middle  point  of  the  arc  AC,  its 
corresponding  point  G  is  also  the  middle  of  A  O.  The  pro- 
blem therefore,  is  to  find  a  point  E  in  C  D,  such  that  on 
drawing  the  line  E  F  to  bisect  A  C  it  shall  also  bisect  the 
radius  A  O.  Draw  F  L  perpendicular  to  O  C,  and  join  F  O. 
It  is  evident  that  F  L  is  half  the  side  of  the  inscribed  square, 
and  G  O  is  half  the  radius ;  therefore  F  L  is  to  G  O  as  O  F 
or  O  C  to  O  L.  But  FL:GO::LE:  OE;  therefore, 
LE:OE::  OC:OL,  and  consequently  LO:  O  E  :  : 
C  L  :  O  L  ;  whence  OE-CL  =  OU  But  D  L  •  C  L  = 
F  L2=  O  L2 ;  therefore  O  E  =  D  L,  or  DE^OL,  the  co- 
sine or  sine  of  45° ;  consequently,  by  the  trigonometrical 
tables,  U  E  =  -71,  the  radius  being  unity. 

The  projections  which  have  now  been  explained  are  sel- 
dom used  in  delineating  the  features  of  a  single  country,  or 
a  small  portion  of  the  earth's  surface.  For  this  purpose  it 
is  found  more  convenient  to  employ  some  of  the  methods 
of  development  of  the  spherical  surface  explained  under 
the  term  Map. 

The  projection  of  the  circles  of  the  sphere  on  a  plane  is 
a  problem  of  which  the  solution  is  easily  found,  either  by  the 
methods  of  the  descriptive  geometry,  or  by  common  alge- 
bra, or  spherical  trigonometry.  Whatever  be  the  situation 
of  the  eye,  every  circle  on  the  sphere,  not  passing  through 
the  eye,  forms  the  base  of  a  cone,  of  which  the  eye  is  the 
apex ;  and  the  intersection  of  this  cone  with  the  plane  of 
projection  gives  the  curve  into  which  the  circle  is  projected. 
This  curve,  therefore,  can  be  no  other  lhan  a  conic  section, 
and  its  equation  can  never  exceed  the  second  degree.  On 
forming  the  general  equation,  and  assigning  a  particular  po- 
sition to  the  eye  and  the  plane  of  projection,  all  the  proper- 
ties of  the  different  kinds  of  projection  are  readily  deduced. 
The  subject  is  explained  in  a  popular  manner  In  Murray's 
Encyclopaedia  of  Geography  (Introduction),  Malte  Brim's 
Geography,  and  most  other  works  on  that  science ;  and 
treated  mathematically  by  Lambert  in  his  Bcitragc,  &c. 
Berlin,  1772;  by  Euler  in  the  Petersburg  Commentaries  for 
1777  ;  by  Lagrange  in  the  Berlin  Memoirs  for  1779 ;  and  by 
Gauss  in  a  Memoir  which  is  translated  in  the  Philosophical 
Magazine  for  August  and  September,  1828. 

PROJE'CTURE.  In  Architecture,  the  jutting  or  leaning 
outwards  of  the  mouldings  and  other  members  of  architec- 
ture beyond  the  face  of  a  wall,  column,  &c. 

PROLA'PSUS.  (Lat.)  A  protrusion  or  falling  down  of 
a  part  of  a  viscus  that  is  uncovered. 

PROLATE  SPHEROID.  In  Geometry,  a  spheroid  pro- 
duced by  the  revolution  of  an  ellipse  about  its  transverse 
diameter;  so  called  in  opposition  to  the  oblate  spheroid, 
which  is  produced  by  the  revolution  of  the  ellipse  about  its 
shorter  axis. 

PROLEGO'MENA.  (Gr.  irpo\ey6i/cva.)  In  Literature, 
preliminary  or  introductory  observations  or  dissertations 
prefixed  to  any  work.  The  famous  dissertation  prefixed  by 
D'Alembert  to  the  Encyclopedic,  and  the  dissertations  pre- 
fixed by  Dugald  Stewart,  Playfair,  Leslie,  and  Mackintosh 
to  the  last  edition  of  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  are 
among  the  best  specimens  of  prolegomena. 

PRO'LEGS,  in  Entomology,  are  the  fleshy,  exarticulate, 
pediform,  often  retractile  organs,  which  assist  various  larvae 
in  walking  and  other  motions,  but  which  disappear  in  the 
perfect  insect. 

PROLE'PSIS.  (Gr.  Trfo\aiJi6dvo),  T  anticipate.)  In  Rhe- 
toric, a  figure  by  which  the  speaker  anticipates  and  answers 
imaginary  objections,  such  as  might  be  raised  against  the 
sentiments  which  he  is  urging. 

PRO'LOGUE.  (Gr.  np6\oyoc.)  A  piece  in  verse,  recited 
before  the  representation  of  a  play,  and  serving  as  an  intro- 
duction to  it.     See  Epilogue. 

PROLU'SION.  (Lat.)  A  classical  word  which  has  been 
adopted  in  a  rather  general  sense  by  authors  unwilling  to 
entitle  their  own  productions  by  a  more  ambitious  designa- 
tion; an  essay  or  preparatory  exercise,  in  which  the  writer 
tries  his  own  strength,  or  throws  out  some  preliminary  re- 
marks on  a  subject  which  he  intends  to  treat  more  profound- 
ly. The  early  and  fugitive  pieces  of  some  poets  (as  the 
Culex  and  others  attributed  to  Virgil)  have  been  termed,  by 
critics,  their  prolusions. 

PROME'THEANS.    A  term  applied  to  small  glass  tubes 
containing  concentrated  sulphuric  acid,  and  surrounded  with 
84 


PROPAGATION  OF  PLANTS. 

an  inflammable  mixture,  which  they  ignite  on  being  pressed, 
and  thereby  give  instantaneous  light.  The  term  is  derived 
from 

PROME'THEUS.  (From  Gr.  jiyrifi  counsel.)  Accord- 
ing to  the  most  ordinary  form  of  his  legend  in  Greek  my- 
thology, one  of  the  Titans,  who  was  exposed  to  the  wrath 
of  Jupiter  on  account  of  his  having  taught  mortals  the  arts, 
and  especially  the  use  of  fire ;  which  he  was  said  to  have 
stolen  from  heaven,  concealed  in  a  pipe.  According  to  an- 
other story,  Prometheus  was  actually  the  creator  of  men  ; 
and  in  the  Protagoras  of  Plato  he  is  made  not  to  have  cre- 
ated, but  to  have  inspired  them  with  thought  and  sense. 
His  punishment  was  to  be  chained  to  a  rock  on  Caucasus, 
where  a  vulture  perpetually  gnawed  his  liver;  from  which, 
he  was  finally  rescued  by  Hercules.  This  legend  has  formed 
the  subject  of  the  grandest  of  all  the  poetical  illustrations  of 
Greek  supernatural  belief,  the  Prometheus  Bound  of  iEschy- 
lus.  Many  have  recognised  in  the  indomitable  resolution 
of  this  suffering  Titan,  and  his  stern  endurance  of  the  evils 
inflicted  on  him  by  a  power  with  which  he  had  vainly 
warred  for  supremacy,  the  prototype  of  the  arch -fiend  of 
Milton.  Others  have  sought  for  a  recondite  analogy,  and 
discovered  in  the  tortures  endured  by  Prometheus  as  a  sa- 
crifice for  mankind,  whom  he  had  benefited,  a  foreshadow- 
ing of  the  great  mystery  of  Christianity. 

PROMISSORY  NOTE.  A  note  or  writing  by  which  an 
individual,  or  number  of  individuals,  promise  or  engage  to 
undertake  or  perform  some  specified  act.  In  ordinary  lan- 
guage, however,  it  is  applied  to  engagements  to  pay  certain 
specified  sums  of  money  at  certain  dates.  Such  documents, 
if  drawn  on  proper  stamps,  are  legal  negotiable  instruments 
that  enjoy  the  same  privileges  as  bills. 

PRO'MONTORY.  (Lat.  pro,  and  mons,  amountain.)  In 
Geography,  a  point  of  land,  whether  high  or  low  is  indiffer- 
ent, projecting  into  the  sea.     See  Cape. 

PROMU'SCIS.  The  name  of  the  suctorious  organ  of  the 
Hemipterous  insects,  formed  by  the  union  of  the  two  jaws 
(mazillte)  to  the  lower  lip,  which  they  embrace ;  thus  form- 
ing a  jointed  organ,  containing  four  long  capillary  lancets 
and  a  short  tongue. 

PRONA'OS.  (Gr.  rpo,  and  vaoc,  a  temple.)  In  Archi- 
tecture, the  front  porch  of  a  temple.     See  Naos. 

PRONA'TOR  MUSCLES.  Those  which  are  used  in 
turning  the  palm  of  the  hand  downwards. 

PRO'NOUNS.  In  Grammar,  parts  of  speech  which  are 
used  in  the  stead  of  nouns,  to  avoid  needless  or  inconvenient 
specification.  Pronouns  are  divided  into  substantive  or 
personal,  and  adjective  ;  the  latter  including  possessive,  de- 
monstrative, relative,  indefinite,  and  interrogative  pronouns. 

PROOF.  (From  the  verb  to  prove.)  hi  Engraiing,  an 
impression  taken  from  an  engraving  to  prove  the  state  of  it 
during  the  progress  of  executing  it;  also  one  taken  before 
the  insertion  of  the  letters  are  engraved  on  the  plate. 

Proof.  In  Printing,  an  impression  on  which  the  errors 
and  mistakes  are  marked  for  the  purpose  of  being  correct- 
ed. Proofs  are — first  proof,  which  is  the  impression  taken 
with  all  the  errors  of  workmanship.  After  it  is  read  by 
the  copy,  and  the  errors  corrected,  which  if  not  many,  and 
carefully  done,  another  impression  is  printed  with  more 
care,  to  send  to  the  author ;  this  is  termed  a  clean  proof. 
On  it  he  makes  his  corrections  and  alterations :  when  those 
are  altered  in  the  types,  another  proof  is  printed,  and  read 
over  carefully,  previously  to  the  whole  number  being  print- 
ed oft";  this  is  called  the  press  proof. 

Proof.     See  Evidence. 

PROOF  SPIRIT.  A  mixture  of  equal  weights  of  abso- 
lute alcohol  and  water;  the  specific  gravity  of  such  a  mix- 
ture is  0-917 ;  but  the  density  of  the  proof  spirit  of  commerce 
is  0-930. 

PROPAEDEUTICS.  (Gr.  -rrpo,  and  irai&cvu),  I  instruct.) 
A  term  used  by  German  writers  to  signify  the  preliminary 
learning  connected  with  any  art  or  science :  that  in  which, 
it  is  necessary  to  be  instructed,  in  order  to  study  with  ad- 
vantage the  art  or  science  itself. 

PROPAGANDA.  The  name  given  to  an  association,  or, 
as  it  is  termed,  the  congregation  I)e  propaganda  Fide,  estab- 
lished at  Rome  by  Gregory  XV.  in  1022,  for  diffusing  a 
knowledge  of  Christianity  throughout  the  world.  It  is  a 
committee  of  cardinals  and  special  agents  of  the  pope,  under 
whose  presidency  it  meets  every  week.  Its  duties  are,  the 
superintendence  and  assistance  of  missionaries  in  all  parts 
of  the  globe,  the  maintenance  of  recent  converts,  the  pub- 
lication of  religious  works  in  foreign  languages,  &c.  De- 
rived from  this  celebrated  society,  the  name  propaganda  is 
applied  in  modern  political  language  as  a  term  of  reproach 
to  secret  associations  for  the  spread  of  opinions  and  princi- 
ples which  are  viewed  by  most  governments  with  horror 
and  aversion. 

PROPAGA'TION  OF  PLANTS.  The  greater  number 
of  plants  are  propagated  naturally  by  means  of  seeds ;  but, 
in  addition  to  these,  many  plants  are  extended  over  the  sur- 
face on  which  they  take  root  by  the  production  of  runners 

997 


PROPEDS. 

or  lateral  shoots,  which  spread  along  the  surface,  and  root 
:it  the  joints  or  buds,  from  which  they  send  up  new  plants  ; 
by  Backers  or  Bide  shoots  from  the  roots;  and  by  various 
oiher  natural  means.    Artificially,  plants  are  propagated  by 

seed,  by  runners,  sinkers,  offsets,  dividing  the  tubers,  lav  ers. 

cuttings,  grafting,  budding',  inarching,  fcc  Beeds  are  gather- 
ed when  mature,  and  sown  on  recently  stirred  soil,  and  cov- 
iiit'erent  depths,  according  to  the  size  of  the  seed, 
the  nature  of  the  soil  and  situation,  and  other  circumstances. 
The  plants  formed  by  runners  are  separated  from  the  parent 
plant  by  cutting  through  the  runner,  and  removing  the  young 
plant,  in  order  to  plant  it  elsewhere.  Suckers,  slips,  or  side 
shoots  from  the  roils,  are  separated  from  the  parent  plant 
by  being  slipped  down,  or  cut  otf,  so  as  to  carry'  "ith  them 
a  portion  of  fibrous  roots;  and  they  are  afterwards  planted 
in  suitable  soil,  &c.  Offsets  are  small  bulbs  which  are  pro- 
round  the  base  of  larger  ones,  and,  being  taken  off 
and  planted,  become  plants.  Tubers  arc  underground 
Stems,  containing  leaf  buds-,  and  these  may  be  separated 
and  planted  entire,  or  cut  into  as  many  pieces  as  there  are 
buds,  in  either  of  which  cases  new  plants  will  be  formed. 
Layers  are  branches  or  shoots  of  either  woody  or  herbaceous 
plants,  which  are  bent  down,  and  a  portion  of  their  length 
buried  a  few  inches  in  the  soil :  that  portion  having  been 
pre\  iously  w  ounded  by  cutting,  bruisireg,  or  twisting,  which. 
by  checking  the  descent  of  the  sap.  gives  rise,  alter  a  eei- 
tain  period,  to  the  production  of  roots.  After  these  roots 
are  formed,  the  portion  of  the  layer  which  has  produced 
them  is  separated  from  the  main  stock  or  parent  plant,  and 
planted  by  itself.  Cuttings  are  portions  of  shoots,  either  of 
ligneous  or  herbaceous  plants:  and  they  are  made  of  the 
young  shoots  with  the  leaves  on,  or  of  the  ripened  wood 
either  with  or  without  its  leaves;  and  after  they  have, 
either  in  a  herbaceous  state  with  the  leaves  on,  or  with  the 
wood  mature  and  with  or  without  the  leaves,  been  proper- 
ly prepared  and  planted,  they  form  roots  at  their  lower  ex- 
tremity, each  cutting  becoming  a  perfect  plant.  In  general, 
CUttinge  should  !»'  taken  from  those  shoots  of  a  plant  which 
are  nearest  the  soil ;  because,  from  the  moisture  and  shade 
there,  such  shoots  are  more  predisposed  to  emit  roots  than 
'lie  upper  part  of  the  plant  The  young  or  last- 
formed  shoots  are  to  be  taken  in  preference  to  such  as  are 
Older,  as  containing  more  perfect  buds  in  an  undeveloped 

state,  and  a  hark  re  easily  permeable  by  roots  ;  and  the 

cutting  is  to  he  prepared  by  cutting  its  lower  extremity 
across  at  a  joint,  the  lenticells  or  root-buds  being  there  most 
abundant.  When  the  cutting  is  planted,  the  principal  part 
of  the  art  consists  in  making  it  quite  firm  at  the  lower  ex- 
tremity, so  as  completely  to  exclude  the  air  from  the  wound- 
ed section.  Cuttings  emit  roots  at  this  section,  either  in 
consequence  of  the  action  of  the  accumulated  sap  in  the 
catting,  as  in  the  case  of  the  ripened  wood  in  deciduous 
trees  and  shrubs  ;  or  in  consequence  of  the  joint  action  of 
the  ace  in  n  1 1  la  ted  sap  and  of  the  leaves,  as  in  the  case  of  cut- 
ties Of  soft  wood  with  the  leaves  on,  and  in  a  living  state. 
A  tew  plants  are  propagated  by  cuttings  of  the  leaves,  the 
petiole  of  the  leaf  being  slipped  olf  from  the  parent  plant, 
and  probably  containing  the  latent  embryos  of  buds.  Graft- 
ing and  budding  are  processes  which  have  been  already  ex- 
plained. (See  these  words.)  Inarching  may  he  described 
as  a  Bpecles  of  grafting,  in  which  the  scion  is  not  separated 
from  the  parent  plant  till  it  has  become  united  with  the 
stock. 

PRO'PEDS.  Propedes.  The  name  given  by  Kirhy  to  the 
soft,  fleshy,  inarticultate,  pediform  appendages  of  certain 
larvae,  placed  behind  the  true  feet,  and  disappearing  in  the 
mature 

PRo'PEK.  In  Heraldry,  any  object  represented  of  its 
natural  colour  i-  so  termed. 

PROPERTY.  In  Logic,  a  predicahle  which  denotes 
something  essentially  conjoined  to  the  essence  of  the  species. 
There  are  enumerated  in  hooks  on  logic  four  kinds  of  prop- 
erty, which  are  termed  "  universal,  hut  not  peculiar;"  "pe- 
culiar, but  not  universal  ;"  "universal  and  peculiar;"  "  uni- 
od  peculiar,  but  not  at  every  time."  The  last  kind 
is  evidently  more  properly  designated  as  Accident.  Sec 
Loon  .  PrkdicaRLE. 

i  11  IV.  I'lciMT  OF.     8»t  I'ioiit  of  Propkrty. 

PRCPHETS.     [Gr.  irpo,  before,  and  <f>,,i,t,  r  speak.)     A 
a  In  the  Scriptures  to  persons  inspired,  or  endowed 

with  the  capacity   to   predict  future  events.     The   first   to 

whom  it  is  applied  is  Abraham;  and  we  heir,  in  the  same 
i  if  companies  of  prophets,  persons  w  ho  were 

d   in  the  study  or  exposition  of  tne  divine  law.  in 

which  case  it  does  not  necessarily  imply  the  power  of  pre 
dieting  future  events,    iii  its  in strict  signification,  the 

term  prophet  Is  given  to  Elijah.  Bllsha,  and  others,  who  did 

not  commit  their  prophecies  to  writing,  but  whose  Inspira- 
tion Is  attested  in  the  historical  books  of  the  Old  Testament, 
he  sixteen  whose  hooks  are  collected  under  the  sub 

divisions  of  the  greater  and  the  lesser.     Jonah,  tin  earl  lest, 
B.C.  ;  and  Malachi,  the  latest,  about  400  B.C. 


PROPORTION. 

PROPHVT. ATTIC.  (Gr.  npopv\aooa,  I defend.)  Means 
used  to  prevent  disease. 

PROPO'RTIOX  Lat.  proportio),  in  Arithmetic  and  Ge- 
ometry, Ls  the  equality  or  similitude  of  ratios ;  four  numbers 
or  magnitudes  being  said  to  be  proportional,  or  in  propor- 
tion, when  the  ratio  of  the  first  to  the  second  is  the  same 
as  the  ratio  of  the  third  to  the  fourth,  or  when  the  first  di- 
vided by  the  second  gives  the  same  quotient  as  the  third 
divided  by  the  fourth. 

The  definition  of  proportion  has  given  rise  to  much  con- 
troversy among  writers  on  the  elements  of  geometry.  Eu- 
clid's celebrated  definition  in  the  tilth  hook,  whatever  may 

be  said  in  favour  of  its  ingenuity  and  exactness,  is  found  by 
experience  to  be  much  too  complicated  and  refined  to  be 
understood  by  beginners;  and  accordingly  many  attempts 
have  been  made  to  .substitute  for  it  one  more  intelligible; 
but,  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  defining  the  term  ratio  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  include  incommensurable  quantities, 
none  of  these  attempts  can  be  said  to  have  been  perfectly 
successful.  This  imperfection,  however,  must  be  under- 
stood as  belonging  merely  to  the  metaphysical  accuracy  of 
the  definition,  for  many  of  the  treatises  which  have  been 
composed  with  the  view-  of  superseding  Euclid's  have  all 
the  simplicity  and  elegance  which  can  be  desired.  On  this 
subject  the  reader  may  consult  Jlarrmr's  Mathematical 
Lectures;  the  notes  to  Playfair's  Euclid;  Camerer's  Eu- 
clid, Berlin,  li-'2.->;  I)e  Morgan,  On  Vie  Connexion  of  Num- 
ber and  Magnitude,  1836 ;  and  the  art.  "  Proportion"  in  the 
Penny  Cyc. 

Proportion  is  continual  or  discrete,  direct  or  inverse.  It 
is  continual  when  every  two  adjacent  terms  have  the  suite 
ratio,  or  when  the  consequent  of  one  ratio  is  the  antecedent 
of  the  next  following;  thus,  2,  -1,  8,  16,  fcc,  are  numbers  in 
continual  proportion,  for  the  ratio  of  2  to  4  is  the  same  as 
that  of  4  to  8,  of  8  to  16,  &c.  JJiscrcte  proportion  is  when 
the  antecedent  of  one  ratio  is  different  from  the  consequent 
of  the  former ;  thus,  2,  3,  4,  6.  The  terms  direct  and  in  Bi  rsc 
have  reference  to  arithmetical  questions  in  what  is  denom- 
inated the  Rule  of  Three,  and  which  in  their  enunciation 
include  four  numbers,  two  of  which  are  of  one  kind  and 
two  of  another,  and  moreover  each  number  of  the  second 
kind  intimately  connected  with  one  of  the  numbers  of  the 
first  kind  by  the  nature  of  the  question.  Now.  when  the 
four  numbers  are  written  in  the  form  of  a  proportion,  if  the 
antecedents  of  the  two  ratios  are  the  related  numbers,  the 
proportion  is  said  to  be  direct ;  but  if  the  antecedent  of  the 
first  ratio  is  the  number  connected  with  the  i  onsequent  of 
the  second,  the  proportion  is  inverse.  For  example,  let  the 
question  he  this:  If  8  yards  cost  12  shillings,  what  is  the 
price  of  20  yards'?  The  answer  is  30  shillings.  Now,  in 
this  question,  the  numbers  8  and  20  are  of  one  kind,  name- 
ly, yards ;  and  the  two  others,  12  and  30,  are  of  the  same 
kind,  shillings.  The  numbers  form  the  proportion  8  :  20: : 
12:30;  and  the  numbers  8  and  13  (the  antecedents  of  the 
ratios)  are  related  to  each  other,  and  also  20  and  30;  12 
shillings  being  the  price  of  8  yards,  and  30  the  price  of  20. 
The  proportion  is  therefore  direct.  Hut  if  the  question  were 
to  find  in  how  many  days  4  men  will  do  a  piece  of  w  oik, 
supposing  fi  men  can  do  it  in  10  days,  the  related  numbers 
would  he  differently  placed;  for  the  answer  being  1")  days, 
the  four  numbers  written  as  proportionals  must  stand  thus, 
4  :  6  :  :  10  :  15 ;  and  as  the  numbers  4  and  15  are  here  the 
related  numbers,  or  the  antecedent  of  the  first  ratio  is  re- 
lated to  the  consequent  of  the  second,  the  proportion  is  in- 
verse. This  is  also  called  reciprocal  proportion  ;  for  if  one 
of  the  ratios  he  formed  of  the  reciprocals  of  the  given  num- 
bers instead  of  the  numbers  themselves,  the  related  num- 
bers would  stand  as  in  direct  proportion ;  thus,  \  :  $  :  :  10  : 
15;  or  6:4::TVTV 

It  is  a  property  of  proportional  numbers,  derived  imme- 
diately from  the  definition,  that  the  product  of  the  first  and 
fourth  terms  is  equal  to  the  product  of  the  second  and  third. 
Hence,  when  three  terms  of  a  proportion  are  [riven,  the 
fourth  can  be  found.  This  is  the  object  of  all  questions  in 
the  Rule  of  Three. 

The  precedine  remarks  apply  exclusively  to  geometrical 
proportion  ;  that  is  to  sav.  when  the  proportion  consists  in 
the  equality  of  ratios.  Writers  on  arithmetic  also  mention 
nrit'imiticul    proportion,    and    harmonical   proportion,    for 

Which  see  the  res|iei  liv  e  terms. 

PROPORTION.  In  the  I'mc  Arts,  the  most  proper  relation 
of  the  measUN  Of  parts  to  each  other  and  to  the  whole. 
The  Greeks  used  the  word  avpfierpia  (symmetry  I,  to  express 
this  Idea.  In  many  instances,  proportion  may  be  consider- 
ed almost  synonymous  with  fitness,  though  there  is  a  dis- 
tinction hotvv  een  lhein  ;  since  every  form  susceptible  of  pro- 
portion may  be  considered  either  with  respect  to  its  whole 

as  connected  With  the  end  designed,  or  with   respect  to  the 

relation  "t  the  several  parts  to  the  end.  in  the  first  case, 
litne-s  is  the  thin:'  considered ;  in  the  second,  proportion. 
Fitness,  therefore,  expresses  the  general  relation  of  means 


PROPORTIONAL  COMPASSES. 

to  an  end,  and  proportion  the  proper  relation  of  parts  to  an 
end.  It  is  hence  needless  to  dwell  on  the  intimate  con- 
nexion that  exists  between  beauty  and  proportion,  in  all 
complex  forms.  Payne  Knight,  in  his  Inquiry  into  the  Prin- 
ciples of  Taste,  has  asserted  that  in  many  productions  of  art 
"  symmetry  is  the  result  of  arbitrary  connexion."  It  would 
be  very  easy  to  show  the  absurdity  of  this  assertion,  if  we 
considered  it  worth  the  space. 

PROPORTIONAL  COMPASSES.  Compasses  with  two 
pairs  of  opposite  legs,  by  which  distances  are  enlarged  or 
diminished  in  any  proportion. 

PROPORTIONAL  SCALES.     See  Scales. 

PROPORTIONALS.  The  terms  of  a  proportion ;  of  these 
the  first  and  last  a*e  the  extremes,  and  the  intermediate  the 
means,  or  the  mean  when  the  proportion  consists  of  only 
three  terms.     See  Proportion. 

PROPORTIONS,  DEFINITE.  In  Chemistry.  See  Af- 
finity. 

PROPOSI'TION,  in  Logic,  is  defined  "a  sentence  indica- 
tive ;"  i.  e.,  a  sentence  which  affirms  or  denies.  Thus,  sen- 
tences in  the  form  of  command  or  question  are  excluded 
from  the  character  of  propositions.  Logical  propositions  are 
said  to  be  divided,  first,  according  to  substance,  into  categori- 
cal and  hypothetical;  secondly,  according  to  quality,  into 
affirmative  and  negative  ;  thirdly,  according  to  quantity,  into 
universal  and  particular.  1.  A  categorical  proposition  is 
where  the  sentence  affirms  or  denies  absolutely,  as  "man 
is  mortal."  A  hypothetical  proposition  is  defined  to  be  two 
or  more  categoricals  united  by  a  conjunction,  as  "  if  Caius  is 
man,  he  is  mortal."  There  are  several  sorts  of  hypothetical 
propositions;  conditional,  disjunctive,  causal,  &c.  2.  An 
affirmative  proposition  is  one  whose  copula  (or  conjunction) 
is  affirmative,  as  "  man  is  mortal ;"  a  negative  proposition 
has  a  negative  copula,  as  "man  is  not  immortal."  3.  An 
universal  proposition  is  when  the  predicate  is  said  of  the 
whole  of  the  subject,  as  "all  men  are  mortal,"  "Caius  is 
mortal ;"  a  particular,  when  it  is  said  of  part  of  the  subject 
only,  as  "  some  men  are  rich."  To  these  two  species  may 
be  added  the  indefinite  proposition,  when  the  subject  has 
no  sign  of  universality  or  particularity,  or  is  a  singular  m  >un, 
which  is  either  universal  or  particular  according  to  the  mat- 
ter. The  matter  of  a  proposition  is  said  to  be  either  neces- 
sary, impossible,  or  contingent ;  and  if  the  matter  of  an  in- 
definite proposition  be  either  of  the  former,  it  is  equivalent 
to  an  universal ;  if  the  last,  to  a  particular :  e.  g.,  "  birds  fly," 
i.  e.,  all  birds — universal.  "  No  birds  are  quadrupeds  ;"  here 
the  matter  is  impossible,  and  the  proposition  universal. 
"  Birds  sing,"  i,  e.,  some  birds — particular. 

The  fourfold  division  of  propositions  according  to  quality 
and  quantity  is  denoted  by  arbitrary  signs ;  e.  g.,  A  stands 
for  an  universal  affirmative,  in  the  logic  used  at  Oxford ;  E 
for  an  universal  negative ;  I  for  a  particular  affirmative  ;  O 
for  a  particular  negative. 

A  categorical  proposition  is  composed  of  two  terms  united 
by  a  copula.  (.See  Term  Copula.)  The  first  term,  i.  e.,  that 
of  which  the  other  is  affirmed  or  denied,  is  the  subject ;  the 
other  (that  which  is  affirmed  or  denied  respecting  the  first) 
the  predicate.  In  the  collocation  of  our  language,  the  sub- 
ject usually,  but  not  invariably,  precedes  the  predicate. 
Thus,  "Diana  of  the  Ephesians  (subject)  is  great"  (predi- 
cate) is  transposed  into  "  Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians." 
In  some  languages,  as  Greek  and  Latin,  the  latter  form  of 
collocation  is  not  less  natural  or  usual  than  the  former. 
When  the  subject  of  a  proposition  is  a  common  term  (see 
Term)  it  is  said  to  be  "distributed,"  when  the  universal 
sign  (all,  no,  every,  &c.)  is  prefixed,  and  the  proposition 
consequently  universal.  The  predicate  is  said  to  be  "dis- 
tributed" in  all  negative  and  no  affirmative  propositions,  in- 
asmuch as  a  negative  proposition  denies  that  any  part  of 
the  predicate  agrees  with  the  subject,  whereas  an  affirma- 
tive can  never  assert  that  every  part  of  the  predicate  agrees 
with  the  subject ;  i.  e.,  can  never  do  so  necessarily,  by  the 
logical  force  of  the  proposition,  although  it  may  undoubted- 
ly happen  that  the  predicate  agrees  with  the  subject  and 
with  nothing  else :  e.  g.,  "  Caesar  was  the  first  Roman  em- 
peror." Two  propositions  are  said  to  be  opposed,  when, 
having  the  same  subject  or  predicate,  thev  differ  in  quan- 
tity, in  quality,  or  in  both.  The  two  universals  (A  and  E) 
are  termed  contraries  to  each  other ;  the  two  particulars  (I 
and  O)  sub-contraries ;  the  universals  and  particulars  (A 
and  E,  I  and  O)  subalterns;  A  and  O,  or  E  and  I  (those 
which  differ  both  in  quantity  and  quality),  contradictories.  A 
proposition  is  said  to  be  converted  when  its  terms  are  trans- 
posed ;  i.  e.,  when  the  subject  is  made  the  predicate,  and  the 
predicate  the  subject.     See  Conversion  of  Propositions. 

Proposition.  In  Mathematics,  a  theorem  proposed  to  be 
demonstrated,  or  a  problem  in  which  something  is  proposed 
to  be  done. 

PROPRIETOR.  A  Roman  magistrate,  bearing  the  same 
relation  to  the  prator  that  the  proconsul  did  to  the  consul. 
(See  Proconsul.)  Under  the  emperors,  proprietors,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  proconsuls,  were  appointed  as  governors 


PROSPECTUS. 

to  the  imperial  provinces,  the  latter  being  the  servants  of 
the  senate. 

PROPYLiEUM.  (Gr.  7r/7o7nAaiov.)  In  Ancient  Archi- 
tecture, the  vestibule  of  a  house.  The  vestibules  or  porticos 
at  Athens,  leading  to  the  Acropolis,  were  thus  denominated. 

PRO  RE  NATA.  (Lat.  according  as  occasion  may  re- 
quire.)    A  term  commonly  used  in  medical  prescriptions. 

PROROGA'TION.     See  Parliament. 

PROSCE'NIUM.  (Gr.  npo,  before,  and  cKnvn,  a  scene.) 
In  Architecture,  the  frontispiece  or  part  in  a  theatre  where 
the  drop  scene  separates  the  stage  from  the  audience,  and 
beyond  the  orchestra.  In  the  ancient  theatres  it  comprised 
the  whole  of  the  stage. 

PROSCRI'PTION.  (Lat.  proscribere,  to  proscribe,  out- 
law, or  doom  to  death;  to  confiscate  one's  property.)  The 
most  vindictive  species  of  proscription  was  that  introduced 
by  Sylla  when  he  wrested  Rome  from  the  hands  of  the 
Marian  faction.  It  consisted  in  making  out  a  list  of  persons 
supposed  to  be  obnoxious  to  the  state,  and  getting  a  sentence 
of  condemnation  passed  against  them,  which  made  it  un- 
lawful to  harbour  a  proscribed  person.  By  these  measures 
thousands  of  citizens  perished  in  the  civil  wars  of  Rome. 
The  most  celebrated  proscription  was  that  of  the  triumvirs, 
Octavius,  Antony,  and  Lepidus,  in  which  Cicero  was  slain. 

PROSE.  (Lat.  prorsa  oratio ;  from  prorsus,  adv.,  direct 
or  straightfvricard.)  In  Literature,  all  language  not  in 
verse.  Prose  diction,  to  be  good,  or  even  admissible,  in  or- 
dinary criticism,  must  be  conformable  to  the  rules  of  com- 
position as  to  style,  cadence,  &c. 

PRO'SELYTE.  (Gr.  Trpocrn\vTO$,  one  who  arrives  as  a 
stranger.)  A  term  in  use  among  the  Jews  after  their  con- 
nexion with  the  Greeks,  and  applied  to  such  foreigners  as 
embraced  their  religion.  These  they  divided,  according  to 
the  common  opinion,  into  two  classes;  distinguished  by  the 
terms  proselytes  of  the  gate,  and  proselytes  of  righteous- 
ness. Of  these  the  former  were  such  as  merely  renounced 
idolatry,  and  believed  in  and  worshipped  the  true  God,  ob- 
serving the  precepts  of  the  natural  law,  and,  from  being  ad- 
mitted within  the  first  gate  of  the  temple,  received  this  ap- 
pellation. The  latter  class  were  those  who  submitted  to 
circumcision,  and  in  every  other  respect  conformed  entirely 
to  the  customs  of  the  Jewish  people.  Dr.  Burton,  how- 
ever, it  must  be  admitted,  thinks  this  distinction  unfound- 
ed. (Lectures  on  the  Eccl.  History  of  the  First  Three  Cen- 
turies, 1.  iii.) 

PRO'SENCHYMA.  (Gr.  ■Kpoatyxcw,  I  pour  still  more 
upon.)  Cellular  tissue,  the  cellules  of  which  taper  to  each 
end,  and  consequently  overlap  each  other  at  their  extremi- 
ties. It  is  the  first  approach  on  the  part  of  cellular  tissue 
to  the  condition  of  woody  tissue. 

PRO'SERPINE.  The  Latin  form  of  Persephone,  the 
name  of  a  Grecian  goddess,  sprung  from  Jupiter  and  Ceres. 
She  was  stolen  from  her  mother  by  Pluto,  who,  enamoured 
of  her  beauty,  carried  her  off  from  the  plains  of  Enna  in 
Sicily,  while  sporting  with  her  companions,  to  the  infernal 
regions,  where  she  became  his  queen.  The  wanderings  of 
Ceres  in  search  of  her  daughter  were  much  celebrated  by 
the  ancient  poets.  When  she  at  last  discovered  the  place 
of  her  concealment,  a  compromise  was  entered  into,  by 
which  Proserpine  was  allowed  to  spend  two  thirds  of  the 
year  with  her  parents  and  the  rest  with  Pluto  in  his  empire. 

PROS'ODY.  (Gr.  irpoc,  to,  and  loir;,  song;  signifying, 
literally,  a  guide  or  assistance  to  versification.)  The  science 
which  treats  of  quantity,  accent,  and  the  laws  of  harmony, 
both  in  metrical  and  prose  composition.  In  the  Greek  and 
Latin  languages  every  syllable  had  its  determinate  value  or 
quantity,  and  verses  were  constructed  by  systems  of  recur- 
ring feet,  each  foot  containing  a  definite  number  of  syllables 
possessing  a  certain  quantity  and  arrangement.  (See  Foot.) 
The  versification  of  modern  European  languages,  in  general, 
is  constructed  simply  by  accent  and  number  of  syllables. 
They  have,  therefore,  no  prosody  strictly  so  called.  The 
Germans,  however,  have  laboured  to  subject  their  language 
to  the  ancient  metrical  system,  but  with  indifferent  success. 

PROSOPO'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  -poaunrov,  figure  or  person, 
and  ypatpb),  I  describe.)  In  Rhetoric,  a  word  used  by  some 
critical  writers  to  signify  the  description  of  animated  ob- 
jects. Of  this  figure  the'portraits  of  the  horse  and  the  levi- 
athan in  the  book  of  Job  are  well-known  and  beautiful  ex- 
amples. 

PROSOPOPCE'IA.  (Gr.  irpoaunrov,  and  -rroicw,  I  make.) 
A  figure  by  which  inanimate  objects,  or  abstract  ideas,  are 
personified,  and  addressed  or  represented  by  the  poet  or 
orator  as  if  endowed  with  human  shape  or  sentiments.  Mil- 
ton's famous  digression  of  Sin  and  Death,  in  the  Paradise 
Lost,  is  at  once  a  prosopopoeia  and  an  allegory. 

PROSPE'CTUS  (Lat.),  in  its  most  extended  sense,  is 
applied  to  the  outline  of  any  plan  or  proposal  submitted 
for  public  approbation ;  but  it  is  most  usually  confined  to 
literary  undertakings,  in  which  it  signifies  an  outline  or 
sketch  of  the  plan  or  design  of  a  work,  together  with  such 
other  circumstances  connected  with  the  publication,  &c, 

999 


PROSTATE  GLAND. 

as  it  may  be  thought  desirable  to  enlarge  upon  or  make 
known. 
PRO'STATE  GLAND.    In  Comparative  Anatomy,  the 
.Land  retains  its  single  compact  form  in  most  of  the 
Quadrumana,  but  is  bifid  in  the  Rnminantia ;  in  the  Ro- 
dentia  and  Insectivora  it  is  resolved  into  numerous  slender 
elongated  ccecal  tubes;  in  the  mole  it  is  remarkable  Tor  its 
i  size. 
PRi  t'STA  rE3.     Gr.)    The  name  given  to  the  guardians 
of  the  foreign  settlers  at  Athens,  whose  business  it  was  to 
represent  them  in  courts  of  law,  and  protect  them  from  in- 
jurv. 

PRO'STHAPHE'RESIS.  (Gr.  vpooStv,  and  aQatptaic, 
subtraction.)  A  term  used  by  the  older  writers  on  astrono- 
my to  signify  the  difference  between  the  true  and  mean  mo- 
tion, or  tlte  true  and  mean  place  of  a  planet,  or  the  quantity 
which  must  be  taken  from  or  added  to  the  mean  anomaly, 
in  order  to  get  the  true  anomaly.  Let  P  (or  P')  be  the  place 
of  a  plant  in  its  orbit,  9  the  sun,  C  the  centre, 
and  A  the  perihelion  of  the  orbit;  the  angle  A 
S  P  is  the  true  anomaly,  A  C  P  is  the  mean 
anomaly;  and  the  difference  between  A  SPand 
A  C  P  is  S  I'C,  which  is  the  prosthapheresis. 
If  A  C  P  be  less  than  a  right  angle,  S  P  C  must 
lie  added  to  A  C  P  in  order  to  get  the  true  ano- 
maly;  but  if  it  lie  greater  than  a  right  angle,  the  angle  S  P 
C  must  be  deducted.  The  angle  S  P  C  is  called  by  modern 
writers  the  equation  of  the  centre,  or  equation  of  the  orbit. 
PR(  i  STHESIS.  <;r.  -pos,  and  uOnin,  I  place.)  A  fig- 
ure ii  grammar  by  which  one  of  more  letters  are  added  to 
the  commencement  of  a  word;  as  in  the  common  English 
participles,  /« loved,  Jcreft,  Sec.    See  Metaplasm. 

PRO'STYLE,  or  PROSTYLOS.  (Gr.  -p.-,,  Wore,  and 
crvXos,  a  column.)  In  Architecture,  a  temple  or  other  build- 
in;:  with  columns  in  its  front  face. 

PR<  >  TASIS.  (Gr.  zp6raois,  from  Trporeivd),  I  stretch 
or  put  forth.)  In  Grammar  and  Rhetoric,  every  properly 
constructed  period  (see  Period)  is  said  to  be  naturally  divisi- 
ble into  twn  parts  ;  of  which  the  first  is  termed  protasis,  the 
second  apodosis.  In  the  ancient  drama,  the  protasis  was 
the  exposition,  usually  contained  in  the  first  part  of  the  piece, 
either  by  way  of  soliloquy  or  dialogue,  serving  to  make 
known  the  characters  and  the  plot  to  the  audience. 

PROTEA'CE/E.  (Protea,  one  of  the  genera.)  A  natural 
order  of  arborescent,  rigid,  useless  Ezogens,  Inhabiting  the 
hotter  parts  of  the  world,  and  found  in  dry,  sterile,  atony, 
exposed  places,  especially  near  to  the  sea  coast.  Tiny  are 
known  from  F.laagnacca  by  the  woody  texture  of  their 
leaves ;  by  the  irregular  calyxes  having  a  valvate  aestivation, 
with  the  stamens  placed  upon  the  lobes;  and  by  the  dehis- 
cent fruit.  The  genera  Banksia,  Dryandra,  Protea,  and 
are  cultivated  for  the  sake  of  their  beautiful  fo- 
liage and  (lowers.  The  seeds  of  Gucvina  are  sold  in  Chili 
for  tin  same  use  as  hazel  nuts  with  us.  One  of  the  larger 
timber  trees  of  New  Zealand  is  the  Knightia  ezcelsa,  a  plant 
of  this  order. 

PROTE'CTOR.  In  English  History,  a  title  which  has 
been  three  times  assumed  by  daring  statesmen :  1.  Richard, 
duke  oi  York,  in  1453,  was  appointed  by  parliament  protector 
during  pleasure.  L.'.  The  duke  of  Somerset,  being  consti- 
tuted one  of  Henry  YIII.'s  sixteen  executors,  obtained  a 
patent  from  the  young  king,  Edward  VI.,  in  1548,  constitu- 
ting him  protector,  with  the  assistance  of  the  other  fifteen 
as  councillors;  but  he  only  enjoyed  this  dignity  a  few 
month-,  and  his  li»<s  of  it  was  soon  followed  by  his  death. 
3.  Cromwell  took  the  tit:,,  of  lord  protector  of  the  common- 
wealth of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  on  the  12th  Dec, 
1653,  when  the  "Barel •<  Parliament"  resigned  its  au- 
thority into  his  hand.  His  Bon  Richard  succeeded  him  in 
his  title  and  authority,  but  was  never  formally  installed  pro- 

PRQTEST.  In  Parliamentary  Law,  is  a  privilege  pecu- 
liar to  the  members  of  the  upper  hi  use  of  parliament  of  en- 
terinL'  (by  have  of  the  hon-e  always  presumed)  their  dis- 
sent from  a  motion  or  resolution  agreed  to  l.\  a  majority  of 
the  house,  together  with  their  reasons  for  dissenting.  The 
paper  embodying  these  reasons  of  dissent  i-  called  a  protest, 
and  is  entered  on  the  journals.  Protests,  with  the  reasons, 
were  first  set  down,  according  to  Lord  Clarendon,  m  L64L 
Sec  Parliament. 

I'll'  KTESTANTS.  A  genera]  name  applied  to  the  rati- 
on- denominations  of  Christians  which  have  sprung  from 
the  adoption  of  tin-  principles  of  the  Reformation  In  the  16th 
century.  The  term  was  assumed,  in  the  tir.-t  in 
the  reformers  of  North  Germany,  who,  in  the  year  1529, 
formally  protested  against  a  decree  of  the  imperial  diet  held 
at  Spires,  which  ordained  that  the  question  between  the 

parties  should  remain  unsettled,  some  restrictions  being 
laid  upon  tin-  progress  ol  the  new  opinions,  until  the  calling 
of  a  general  council,  the  time  of  which  was  left  uncertain. 
The  Protestants  accordingly  asserted  that  the  decree  was 

Unfavourable  and  unjust  to 'their  party,  and  claimed  the  im- 


PROTItACTOR. 

mediate  summons  of  a  lawful  council,  which  they  knew  it 
was  the  interest  of  the  papacy,  under  the  circumstances,  to 
delay.  In  the  early  period  of  the  Reformation,  the  princi- 
pal reformed  churches  "ere  two.  those  of  the  follow  <  i-  of 
Luther  and  of  Calvin,  the  partisans  of  Zuingli  having  be- 
come nearly  identified  with  the  latter.  Since  that  time  the 
number  of  subdivisions  upon  every  point  of  doctrine  and 
discipline  has  been  infinite.  The  general  bond  of  union, 
however,  among  all,  continues  to  ibis  daj  to  be  thi 
lion  of  private  judgment,  and  rejection  of  any  infallible  head 
of  the  church,  or  ultimate  authority  in  pope  or  council.  We 
believe,  also,  that  no  Protestant  church  has  ever  relapsed 
into  any  one  of  the  prominent  results  of  the  Romish  system 
— such  as  the  doctrine  of  the  seven  sacraments,  of  transub- 
stantiation,  or  of  purgatory,  the  Celibacy  of  the  clergy,  or 
veneration  of  images  or  relies. 

There  are,  however,  two  lines  of  argument  upon  which 
these  principles  are  maintained,  the  respective  assumption 
of  which  seems  to  constitute  the  strongest  line  of  distinction 
among  Protestants.  The  tir.-t  i<  that  to  which  the  German 
and  .-Swiss  reformers  most  generally  leaned,  which  con- 
siders the  Bible  to  contain  within  itself  so  complete  a  re- 
pository of  divine  truths  as  to  he  its  own  interpreter,  as  well 
as  tile  evidence  of  its  own  authenticity  .and  inspiration.  The 
English  reformers,  on  the  other  hand,  endeavoured  to  base 
their  doctrines  upon  the  practice  of  the  fust  three  centuries, 
and  appealed  therein  to  similar  principle-  with  the  Roman 
church,  which  they  maintained  to  be  corrupt,  not  in  its 
origin,  but  in  its  growth. 

PRO'TEl'S.  A  marine  deity  of  the  Greeks,  celebrated 
for  his  gift  of  divination,  and  the  power  of  changing  his 
form,  by  which  means  he  eluded  those  who  resorted  to  him 
for  information. 

Pro'tecs.  In  Zoology,  this  name  was  originally  and 
very  aptly  applied  to  a  genus  of  Infusories,  which,  during 
life,  never  for  a  single  minute  maintain  the  same  form  ;  this 
peculiarity  is  strikingly  manifested,  as  in  the  common  species 
called  Proteus  diffluens.  The  term  was  subsequently  used 
by  Laurenti  to  designate  a  singular  amphibious  reptile,  pe- 
culiar to  certain  subterranean  waters  in  Carniola,  and  w inch, 
like  the  American  siren,  retains  the  external  gills,  together 
with  internal  lungs  or  air-trigs,  throughout  life. 

PROTIIO'NOTARY.  (Lat.  proto-notarius,  or  first  no- 
tary.) A  title  originally  of  the  Byzantine  empire.  The 
Apostolical  prothonotaries  of  the  Papal  court  are  officers 
having  precedence  of  the  other  notaries  or  secretaries  of 
the  Roman  chancery;  the  papal  "notaries  participant-' 
rank  after  bishops,  but  before  abbots.  In  England,  officers 
in  the  courts  of  King's  Bench  and  Common  Pleas  had  this 
title,  until  the  recent  changes  in  those  court-. 

PROTHO'RAX.  (Gr.  -po,  before,  and  Ouipat,.  a  shield.) 
In  Entomology,  signifies  the  tirst  segment  of  the  thorax  In 
insects;  by  Kirhy  the  term  is  restricted  to  the  upper  part 
onlv,  or  shield  of  that  segment. 

PROTHY'RIDES.     (Gr.  r.po,  and  Ovpa,  a  door.)     See  An- 

CONES. 

PRO 'THYRUM.  (Gr.  -po.  and  Ovpa.)  In  Architecture, 
a  porch  before  the  outer  door  of  a  house. 

PRO'TOCOL.  (From  the  Latin  protocollum  :  a  word 
derived  from  the  Greek  zpunos,  first,  and  xoWa,  glue  :  but 
the  etymological  signification  attached  to  this  derivation 
seems  unknown.)  The  word  protocol,  in  the  French  lan- 
guage, signifies  the  formulae  or  technical  words  of  legal  in- 
struments ;  in  Germany,  it  has  been  used  to  denote  the 
minutes  or  rough  draught  of  an  instrument  or  transaction. 
It  is  in  the  latter  sense  that  the  word  has  been  borrowed 
by  diplomacy,  in  which  it  signifies  the  original  copy  of  any 
dispatch,  treaty,  or  other  document. 

PRO'TOTYPE.  (Gr.  nputioc,  first,  and  roiros,  a  mark.) 
In  the  Fine  Arts,  the  original  pattern  or  model  of  a  thing 
whereon  are  founded  principles  of  imitation. 

PRI  I T<  >'/.<  •  A.     (Gr.  -pioroi,  and  Uooi,  animal.)     A  name 
synonymous  with  acrita  and  oozoa,  and  applied  to 
plest  animals,  or  those  which  stand,  as  it  were,  on  the  first 
step  of  organization. 

PROTRA'CTOR.  A  mathematical  instrument  for  lay- 
ing down  angles  on  paper,  osed  in  surveying,  plotting,  &c. 

In  its  simplest  form,  the  protractor  consists  mere!]  of  a 
semicircular  limb  of  meia I.  divided  into  lsip,  and  subtend- 
ed by  a  diameter,  in  the  middle  of  which  is  a  notch  to  mark 
the  position  of  the  centre.  <  in  placing  this  notch  over  the 
angular  point,  and  lav  oil-  the  diameter  along  a  given  straight 
line,  an  angle  of  any  number  of  degrees  may  he  made  by 
marking  the  point  on  tin-  paper  which  coincides  with  the 
glvi  "  degree  on  the  Umb,  and  joining  this  point  with  the 
centre,  when  the  instrument  is  removed.     The  protractor  is 

rendered  more  commodious  by  transferring  the  divisions  to 

the  edge  of  a  parallel  ruler. 

Winn  a  survey  is  to  he  plotted  on  a  larce  scale,  and  it 
becomes  necessary,  in  consequence,  to  lav  don  n  the  angles 

with   considerable    precision,  a  more   complex   apparatus  is 
required.    The  most  approved  form  ol  the  protractor  may 


PROVERBS. 

be  described  as  follows :  It  consists  of  an  entire  circle,  con- 
nected with  its  centre  by  four  radial  bars.  The  centre  of 
the  metal  is  removed,  and  a  circular  disk  of  glass  fixed  in  its 
place,  on  which  are  drawn  two  lines  crossing  each  other  at 
right  angles,  the  point  of  intersection  denoting  the  centre  of 
the  protractor.  Round  the  centre,  and  concentric  with  the 
circle,  is  fitted  a  collar  carrying  two  arms,  one  of  which  has 
a  vernier  at  its  extremity  adapted  to  the  divided  circle;  and 
the  other  a  milled  head,  which  turns  a  pinion  working  in  a 
toothed  rack  round  the  exterior  edge  of  the  instrument. 
The  rack  and  pinion  give  motion  to  the  arms,  which  can 
thus  be  turned  quite  round  the  circle,  and  set  the  vernier  to 
any  angle  that  may  be  required.  Each  of  the  two  arms  is 
prolonged  beyond  the  edge  of  the  protractor,  and  carries  a 
fine  steel  pricker,  which  is  pressed  down  when  the  instru- 
ment is  placed  in  its  required  position,  and  makes  a  small 
puncture  in  the  paper.  It  is  essential  that  the  points  of  the 
two  prickers,  and  the  centre  of  the  instrument,  be  accurate- 
ly in  the  same  straight  line.  (Simms  on  .Mathematical  In- 
struments.) 

In  Anatomy,  the  muscles  which  draw  forwards  a  part 
are  termed  protractors. 

PRO'VERBS.  (Lat.  proverbium.)  A  familiar  saying, 
which  has  been  variously  defined.  In  point  of  form,  there 
are  two  species  of  proverbs  ;  one  containing  a  maxim  direct- 
ly expressed  in  a  concise  and  familiar  style ;  the  other,  in 
which  a  maxim  is  expressed  metaphorically,  e.  g.  "  honesty 
is  the  best  policy,"  or,  rather,  allegorically,  e.  g.  "strike, 
while  the  iron  is  hot."  In  point  of  substance,  proverbs  are 
for  the  most  part  rules  of  moral,  or,  still  more  properly,  of 
prudential,  conduct. 

In  dramatic  literature,  chiefly  French,  the  term  has  been 
applied  to  short  pieces,  in  which  some  proverb  or  popular 
saying  is  taken  as  the  foundation  of  the  plot.  They  ori- 
ginated in  the  fondness  of  the  higher  class  of  France  for 
private  theatricals,  which  became  a  sort  of  passion  about 
the  middle  of  the  last  century.  Carmantelli  was  the  most 
successful  writer  of  proverbs  at  the  time  of  their  highest 
popularity.  Those  of  M.  Theodore  Leclcrcq,  at  the  present 
time,  have  met  with  considerable  success. 

PROVERBS,  THE,  OF  SOLOMON.  One  of  the  can 
onical  books  of  the  Old  Testament.  According  to  the  ar- 
rangement in  its  present  shape,  the  first  nine  books  form  a 
species  of  introduction  ;  those  from  the  tenth  to  the  twenty- 
fourth  contain  the  proverbs  of  Solomon,  properly  so  called  : 
and  the  remainder  furnishes  a  kind  of  appendix;  including 
the  thirtieth  and  thirty-first,  which  contain  the  proverbs  of 
Agur,  the  son  of  Jakeh,  and  of  king  Lemuel. 

PROVI'NCIA.  Those  countries  were  called  by  the  Ro- 
mans provinces  which,  having  been  reduced  under  their 
power,  were  subjected  to  government  by  magistrates  sent 
from  Rome.  The  laws  of  a  province  were  generally  set- 
tled by  ten  commissioners,  dispatched  from  Rome  in  con- 
junction with  the  victorious  general.  In  its  modern  accepta- 
tion, province  signifies  a  grand  division  of  a  kingdom  or  state, 
comprising  several  cities,  towns,  &c,  all  under  the  same 
government,  and  usually  distinguished  by  the  extent  either 
of  the  civil  or  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction. 

PROVISIONS,  in  the  Navy,  daily,  1  lb.  of  biscuit,  1  oz. 
of  cocoa,  \  oz.  of  tea,  \  of  an  imperial  pint  of  spirits,  or  1 
imperial  pint  of  wine,  \  lb.  of  beef  with  j  lb.  of  flour,  and  % 
lb.  of  pork  with  i  a  pint  of  peas  on  alternate  days,  or  1  lb. 
of  fresh  meat  with  9  oz.  of  vegetables.  Part  of  the  flour 
may  be  exchanged  for  suet,  currants  and  raisins;  1  pint  of 
oatmeal,  and  10  oz.  of  sugar  a  week.  After  ten  days  of  salt 
provisions,  an  allowance  of  lemonade. 

PROVI'SO.  In  Law,  a  condition  inserted  in  a  deed  on 
which  its  validity  depends,  commencing  usually  with  the 
words  "  provided  that ;"  as  also  in  acts  of  parliament. 

PROVI'SOR.  The  title,  in  the  ancient  French  Universi- 
ties, of  an  officer  charged  with  the  management  of  their  ex- 
ternal affairs,  both  spiritual  and  temporal,  and  to  a  certain 
extent  with  their  discipline  also.  The  provisor  of  the  Sor- 
bonne  was  an  officer  of  high  importance  among  the  clergy. 
The  principals  of  Napoleon's  lyceum  had  the  title  of  provi- 
sors,  and  the  modern  royal  colleges  retain  it  for  the  same 
functionary. 

PRO'VOST  (contracted  from  Lat.  propositus,  placed 
over).  The  title  of  the  chief  municipal  magistrates  of  Scot- 
land, equivalent  to  mayor  in  England.  The  chief  magis- 
trates of  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  are  styled  Lord  Provost. 
PROVOST  OF  A  UNIVERSITY.  See  University. 
PRO'XENE.  (Gr.  vp>\cvog.)  In  Grecian  Antiquities, 
officers  at  Sparta  who  had  the  charge  of  superintending 
strangers.  (Herodot.,  vi.)  In  the  flourishing  time  of  the 
Grecian  republics,  wealthy  and  distinguished  men  of  par- 
ticular states  seem  to  have  accounted  it  an  honour  to  act  as 
protectors  of  the  citizens  of  foreign  commonwealths:  thus, 
Alcibiades  was  prorejius  of  the  Spartans  at  Athens. 

PRO'XIMATE  PRINCIPLES.  Distinct  compounds 
which  exist  ready  formed  in  animals  and  vegetables,  such 
as  albumen,  gelatine,  fat,  &c,  in  the  former;  and  sugar, 


PRURIGO. 

gum,  starch,  resins,  &c,  in  the  latter,  which  are  so  called, 
without  reference  to  their  ultimate  composition. 

PRO'XY.  (Lat.  proximus.)  In  Parliamentary  Law, 
every  peer,  spiritual  or  temporal,  can  (by  license,  supposed 
to  be  obtained  from  the  king)  constitute  another  lord  of  par- 
liament, of  the  same  order  with  himself,  his  proxy,  to  vote 
for  him  in  his  absence.  Proxies  cannot  be  used  when  the 
house  is  in  committee,  nor  can  a  proxy  sign  a  protest.  By 
an  order  of  2  C.  2,  no  peer  can  hold  more  than  two  proxies. 
See  Parliament. 

PRUD'HO'MME.  (Lat.  homo  prudens.)  In  France, 
during  the  middle  ages,  municipal  tribunals  composed  of 
citizens  exercising  a  sort  of  conciliatory  or  equitable  juris- 
diction, as  arbiters  of  disputes,  inspectors  of  police,  &.c,  were 
termed  councils  of  pruaVhommcs.  In  1806,  a  court  of  this 
denomination  was  re-established  at  Lyons  by  a  law  of  Na- 
poleon ;  its  principal  office  is  the  decision  of  disputes  be- 
tween masters  and  workmen  in  the  silk  manufacture. 

PRU'NING.  The  art  of  cutting  off  parts  of  plants,  and 
more  especially  of  trees  and  shrubs,  with  a  view  to  strength- 
ening those  which  remain,  or  of  bringing  the  tree  or  plant 
into  particular  forms,  calculated  to  increase  particular  pro- 
ducts. Pruning,  therefore,  varies  according  to  the  kind  of 
plant  or  tree  to  be  pruned,  and  according  to  the  object  in 
view.  In  the  case  of  forest  trees,  the  general  object  of  prun- 
ing is  to  increase  the  quantity  of  timber  in  the  trunk  by 
diminishing  the  side  branches,  commencing  at  the  lower 
part  of  the  tree  when  it  is  quite  young,  and  gradually  ad- 
vancing upwards  as  the  tree  increases  in  growth.  In  the 
case  of  hedges,  the  object  is  to  produce  a  dense  mass  from 
the  ground  upwards,  which  is  effected  by  shortening  the 
side  branches.  In  the  case  of  pruning  trees  which  are  cul- 
tivated for  the  sake  of  their  fruit  or  blossoms,  the  object  is 
to  thin  out  the  branches  so  as  to  admit  the  light  and  air 
more  freely  to  their  leaves  and  blossoms,  and  to  concentrate 
and  increase  the  nourishment  to  the  branches  which  re- 
main. In  the  case  of  trees,  or  shrubs  cultivated  for  the 
beauty  of  their  shapes,  whether  natural  or  artificial,  the  ob- 
ject of  pruning  is  to  deprive  the  trees  or  shrubs  of  all  those 
branches  which  deviate  from  or  interfere  with  the  natural 
shape,  or  with  the  form  which  is  intended  to  be  produced 
by  art.  In  pruning  with  a  view  to  produce  fruit,  it  is  ne- 
cessary to  know  on  what  description  of  branches  and  buds 
the  fruit  is  produced.  In  some  trees,  as  in  the  peach,  it  i3 
generally  produced  on  the  wood  of  the  preceding  year ;  in 
others,  as  in  the  apple  and  pear,  it  is  generally  produced  on 
wood  of  two  years'  growth  ;  and  in  the  vine  it  is  produced 
on  shoots  of  the  current  year.  The  general  effect  of  pruning 
on  plants  is  to  increase  their  longevity ;  since  the  tendency 
of  all  vegetables  is  to  exhaust  themselves,  and,  consequent- 
ly, to  shorten  their  duration,  by  the  production  of  seeds.  In 
the  operation  of  pruning,  the  shoots  are  cut  off  close  to  the 
buds,  or  at  a  distance  from  them  not  greater  than  the  diame- 
ter of  the  branch  to  be  cut  off;  because,  without  the  near 
proximity  of  a  bud,  the  wounds  will  not  heal  over.  In 
shoots  which  produce  their  buds  alternately,  the  cut  is  made 
at  the  back  of  the  bud,  sloping  from  it,  so  as  that  it  may  be 
readily  covered  by  bark  in  the  same  or  in  the  following 
year.  This  is  readily  done  with  a  pruning  knife,  by  a 
slanting  cut,  made  at  an  angle  of  45°  with  the  direction  of 
the  branch ;  but,  in  the  case  of  branches  where  the  buds 
are  produced  opposite  each  other,  either  one  bud  must  be 
sacrificed,  or  the  branch  must  be  cut  off  at  right  angles  to 
its  line  of  direction  ;  and  is  more  conveniently  done  by  the 
pruning  shears.  The  operation  of  pruning  may  in  many 
cases  be  superseded  by  rubbing  off,  or  pinching  out,  the 
leaf-buds,  so  as  to  prevent  superfluous  shoots  from  being 
produced. 

PRU'NING  KNIFE.  A  knife  the  blade  of  which  has  a 
straight  edge,  formed  of  well-tempered  steel,  and  of  no 
great  breadth,  with  a  narrow  point,  in  order  that  it  may  be 
more  readily  introduced  among  crowded  branches.  For- 
merly, pruning  knives  were  hooked  at  the  point ;  but  the 
cuts  made  by  such  knives  had  a  tendency  to  crush  the 
shoot,  and  leave  a  rough  section,  more  readily  injured  by 
the  air  and  water,  and  less  likely  to  be  speedily  healed 
over.  Such  knives,  when  of  a  large  size,  were  called 
pruning  hooks. 

PRU'NING  SHEARS.  Shears  in  which  one  of  the  blades 
moves  on  a  pivot  which  works  in  an  oblong  opening,  instead 
of  a  circular  one,  bv  which  means  a  draw  cut  is  produced 
similar  to  that  effected  by  a  knife,  instead  of  the  crushing 
cut  produced  by  common  shears,  which  fractures  the  sec- 
tion left  on  the  branch,  and  renders  it  liable  to  become 
diseased  or  to  decay,  instead  of  being  covered  over  with 
fresh  bark.  Pruning  shears  are  particularly  adapted  for 
cuttin"  spiny  or  prickly  shrubs,  such  as  the  different  species 
of  thorns,  gooseberries,  or  roses. 

PKURI'GO.  (Lat.  prurio,  /  itch.)  An  itching  of  the 
skin  with  the  eruption  of  small  pimples.  The  term  is  also 
medically  applied  to  irritation  of  various  parts  of  the  body 
from  other  causes,  as  from  vermin,  worms,  &c. 

3  a  *  low 


PRUSSIAN  BLUE. 

PRU'SSIAN  BLUE.  This  beautiful  dark-blue  pigment 
was  accidentia  discovered  iu  1710  in  Diesbach,  a  chemist 
of  Berlin.  Tie  process  for  us  preparation  was  rirst  pub- 
lished in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  for  17-J4,  by  Dr. 
Woodward.  It  is  made  by  adding  solution  of  ferrocyanuret 
of  potassium  to  persulphate  of  iron.  The  ferrocyanuret  of 
-  ma  is  prepared  bj  gentlj  igniting  carbonate  ofpotassa 
wiili  animal  matters,  such  as  boms,  boot's,  or  dried  blood,  in 
iron  vessels,  by  which  cyanuret  of  potassium  and  some 
cyanuret  of  iron  are  formed;  the  soluble  parts  are  then 
.  <1  out  with  water,  and  Sulphate  of  iron  added  until 
the  Prussian  blue  which  is  formed  ceases  to  be  decomposed 
by  the  &ee  potassa  contained  in  the  solution;  the  ferro- 
cyannrel  of  potassium  is  then  Bet  to  crystallize,  and  separated 

bj  repeated  crystallization  from  sulphate  of  potassa.     It  is 

thus  obtained  in  truncated  octoedxal  crystals  of  a  yellow 
colour,  commonly  called  Prussiate  of  potash.  It  is  much 
used  as  a  lest  of  the  presence  of  metals,  and  especially  of 
iron,  the  peroxide  of  which  it  throws  down  from  its  solutions 
in  the  state  of  Prussian  blue.  This  compound  has  generally 
been  considered  as  a  ferrocyanate  of  the  peroxide  of  iron; 

but,  according  to  Berzelius,  it  is  a  double  cyanuret ;  that  is, 
a  ferrocj  anuret  of  the  sesquicyaauret  of  iron.  Ferrocyanuret 
of  potassium  (prussiate  of  potash)  is  composed  of  2  atoms  of 
cyanuret  of  potassium  (66  X  2)  =  132,and  l  atom  of  cyanuret 

of  iron  rJti  +  36)  =  54,  and  has,  therefore,  the  equivalent 
(132  +  54)  =  186. 

PRUSSIC  ACID.  The  composition  and  chemical  cha- 
racters of  this  acid  are  given  under  the  head  of  hydrocyanic 
acid.  Prussic  acid  is  frequently  used  medicinally  as  a 
powerful  sedative  and  anti-irritant,  especially  to  allay  cough 
in  phthysis,  and  to  mitigate  the  spasmodic  action  in  whoop- 
ing-cough ;  but  from  its  poisonous  nature  it  requires  to  be 
employed  with  much  caution.  The  antidotes  for  prussic 
acid,  where  it  has  been  taken  as  a  poison,  are  solution  of 
chlorine,  by  which  it  is  chemically  decomposed  ;  and  am- 
monia, which  combines  with  it,  and  acts  as  a  stimulant. 

PRY'TANES.  (Gr.  Trpvravcti.)  The  Athenian  senate 
consisted  of  3011  persons,  elected  fifty  from  each  of  the  ten 
tribes;  each  of  these  fifties  took  it  by  turn  to  preside  with 
tlie  title  of  Prytanes,  having  one  tenth  of  the  year  assigned 
to  it;  or,  more  accurately  speaking,  :t4  days  were  allotted 
to  each  of  the  first  tour  "tribes,  and  3.>  to  the  last  six;  the 
Attic  year  consisting  of  354  days.  Kadi  titty  was  atrain  sub- 
divided into  five  doilies  of  ten.  which,  when  prytanes,  took 
it  by  turns  to  perform  the  duties  of  prohedri  (■npocc'poi), 
seven  days  being  allotted  each.  From  these  prohedri,  again, 
was  chosen  by  lot  an  epistntes  (htmd-in)  or  president, 
whose  office  lasted  one  day. 

PSALM.  (Gr.  uVuA(/of,  from  xpaWoi,  I  sing.)  A  sacred 
song  or  hymn,  originally  accompanied  with  music.  The 
book  of  Psalms  is  called,  in  the  Hebrew,  Tluhillim  (praises), 
in  conformity  with  the  general  object  of  the  collection.  It 
seems  to  have  been  an  article  of  faith,  with  most  of  the 
early  fathers,  that  tin;  Psalms  were  all  of  them  composed 
by  David;  a  strange  notion,  which  the  internal  evidence  of 
several  immediately  refutes.  The  Jews  divide  them  into  5 
books,  ending  witii  the  40th,  71st,  BBth,  105th,  ami  last, 
respectively.  They,  as  well  as  all  Christians,  retain  the 
number  150;  but  the  divisions  have  varied.  There  is  an 
ryphal  151st  added  in  some  Creek  versions.  The  119th 
and  following  psalms  to  the  134th,  called  by  some  ''gradual 
psalms,"  or  "  psalms  of  the  stairs,"  a  term  of  which  various 
explanations  have  been  given,  are  thought  by  Calmet  and 
others  to  have  been  composed  on  the  occasion  of  the 
deliverance  from  Babylon  :  possibly  by  Esdras,  who  ia con- 
sidered as  the  first  collector  of  the  Psalms;  but  they  were 
at  least  partially  used  before,  as  early  as  the  reign  of  Heze- 
kiah. 

PSA'LMODY.      \  general  term  applied  to  the  whole 
rig,  &c 

PSA'LTER.    A  book  of  devotion  containing  the  psalms. 

•mr's  Origins*  Litur/riue,  vol.  i..  p.  907. 

PSALTE'RIUM.    (Lat  a  psalter  or  psalm  h„0k.)    The 

name  of  the  manyplies  or  third  cavity   of  the  complex 

stomach  of  the  ruminant  quadrupeds,  bo  called  because  it  is 

occupied  by  numerous  broad  folds  of  membrane  resembling 

the  leaves  of  a  hook. 

PSA'LTERY.     A  Stringed  instrument  in  use  among  the 
ancient  .lews,  by  whom  it  was  called  nablum  (whii  b 
It  resembled,  according  to  Burney,  partly  the  lyre  and  partly 
the  harp. 

PSE'PHOI.  <('-r.)  A  general  name  given  to  several 
things  made  use  of  by  the  Creeks  in  giving  their  suffrages, 
and  in  tlieir  computations,  at  small  stones,  shells,  beans,  .^e. 
They  were  synonymous  with  the  calculi  and  tabslla  of  the 
Romans,  whii 

PSEUDEPI'GRA  PHY.  (Gr.  uW>c,  false ;  and  btvypa^, 

inscription.)     The  ascription  OX  false   name-  of  author!  to 

Work-.      This   was    carried    to   a   great   extent   among   the 

■Hans  of  the   fourth    and   following   centuries.      Thus, 

the  verses  known  by  the  name  of  SSibyline  are  evident 
ltxhi 


PSYCHOLOGY. 

Christian  forgeries;  and  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  distin- 
guish the  spurious  works  of  the  fathers  from  the  true. 
(See  Gieseler,  Tc it-book  of  Eccl.  Hist.,  1st  period,  chap.  3, 
sec.  5-2,  for  a  good  section  on  Christian  pseudepigraphy  ; 
Fabric//  Oodea  Pseudeptgraphua ;  llaibier,  Diet,  des  Ouv- 
rages  .In  on  antes  et  l'siuduiiijiiics,  contains  a  notice  of  most 
w  oiks  falsely  ascribed  to  their  alleged  authors  in  the  French 
Language.) 

I'SKU'DOBLEPSIS,  (Gr.  yVnnV,  and  fiXupts,  sight.) 
There  arc  various  forms  of  false  vision,  some  apparently 
dependent  upon  nervous  irritation,  others  upon  organic 
derangement  Specks,  network,  colours,  and  imaginary 
bodies  floating  Or  dancing  before  the  eves,  distorted  vision, 
double  vision,  are  among  the  most  common  modifications 
of  tins  complaint.  They  occur  in  plethoric  as  well  as  in 
debilitated   habits,  and  are  the  consequence  occasionally  of 

intense  study,  of  weakening  evacuations,  of  debauchery,  of 
hysteria,  and  of  hypochondriasis;  the  treatment,  therefore, 
which  is  required  is  very  various.  Attention  to  the  stomach 
and  bowels,  local  bleeding,  camphor,  ether,  and  other  ner- 
vine stimulants,  change  of  scene  and  occupation,  varied 
exercise,  are  among  the  efficient  remedies.  A  very  alarm- 
ing case  of  double  vision,  with  coloured  circles  in  rapid 
motion  dancing  before  the  eyes,  of  two  years'  continuance, 
and  brought  on  by  too  intense  application  of  study,  gave  way 
to  cupping  ami  to  a  journey  to  the  Highlands. 

PSEU'DO  BULB.  In  Botany,  an  enlarged  aerial  stem, 
resembling  a  tuber,  from  which  it  scarcely  differs,  except  in 
being  formed  above  ground,  in  the  epidermis,  being  often 
extremely  hard,  and  in  retaining  upon  its  surface  tlie  scars 
of  leaves  that  it  once  bore. 

PSEUDODIP'TERAL.  (Gr.  uWi/j,  false,  lie,  twice, 
and  -repui;  a  wing.)  In  Architecture,  a  term  denoting  a 
building  or  temple  wherein  the  distance  from  eacli  side  of 
the  cell  to  tlie  columns  on  the  flanks  is  equal  to  two  iuter- 
cnlumniations  ;  the  intermediate  range  of  columns  which 
would  stand  between  tlie  outer  range  and  the  cell  being 
omitted. 

PSEUDOISODO'MUM.  (Gr.  xpevSvs,  icroj,  equal,  and 
Souoi,  a  house.)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  a  species  of 
masonry  In  which  the  height,  thickness,  and  length  of  the 
courses  are  different.    See  Isodokuv. 

PSEU'DOPOUS.  Pseudopdda.  (Gr.  xjJcvSns,  and  ttouc, 
foot.)  A  name  applied  to  a  tribe  of  Polygastric  Infusories, 
including  those  in  which  the  body,  by  various  contractions 
and  chances  of  form,  produces  pediform  processes. 

PSEUDOSCO'RPIONS,  Pseudo-scorpiones.  A  family 
of  Arachnidans,  including  those  with  an  oblong  body  divided 
into  several  segments,  with  two  or  four  eyes,  and  six  or 
eight  lees,  as  the  hook-crabs  (Ckelifer). 

PSEUDO'THYRON.  (Gr.  xltiivu  and  Qvpa,  a  door.) 
In  Architecture,  a  false  door. 

PBI'TTACINES,  Psittacini.  (Parrot  tribe.)  The  name 
of  a  tribe  of  Scansorial  birds,  of  which  the  genus  Psittacus 
is  the  tvpe. 

PSOAS  MUSCLE.  (Gr.  xpoai,  the  loins.)  A  large  mus- 
cle upon  the  fore  part  and  sides  of  tlie  lumbar  vertebras.  It 
In  nils  the  thigh  forwards,  and  assists  in  turning  it  outwards. 

PSO'PHIA.  (Gr.  \po(pctx>,  I  make  a  noise.)  A  subgenus 
of  storks,  having  a  shorter  bill  than  the  rest,  with  the  bead 
and  neck  covered  only  with  a  kind  of  down,  and  the  cir- 
cumference of  tlie  eye  naked.  They  frequent  wooded 
regions,  and  subsist  on  {Trains  and  fruits.  The  best  known 
species  (Psophia  crepitans}  is  a  native  of  South  America, 
and  is  remarkable  for  Die  ambiguous  sound  which  it  emits 
from  time  to  lime,  and  whence  its  specific  name  is  derived. 
This  bird  is  easily  tamed   by  the  Spanish  seniors  in  South 

America,  and  is  even  taught  by  them  to  guide  and  defend 
the  common  poultry  from  the  rapacious  birds,  as  a  shep- 
herd's dog  L'liards  his  sheep  from  tlie  Wolves. 

PS(  »'RA.    (Gr.)    The  itch.     See  In  n. 

PSOItl  VSIS.  A  rough  scaly  stale  ot  cuticle,  sometimes 
continuous  ami  sometimes  in  patches,  generally  accompanied 
by  chaps  or  Assures. 

PSV'cill'..    (Gr.)    In  Mythology,  a  nymph  whom  Cupid 

married,   after  she   had   been   persecuted    by    Venus.     'J'he 

word  signifies  the  soul,  of  which  Psyche  was  considered 

the  personification.  This  beautiful  allegory  is  first  known 
to  us  by  the  romance  of  Apuhius:  but  it  is  presumed  to  be 
of  much  earlier  origin   from   its  occurrence  in  relics  of  art. 

Lafontaine  made  it  the  subject  of  a  pastoral,  and  JMrs.  Tighe, 
reci  ntly,  of  a  poem. 

PSYCHOLOGY.  [Gr.  <//ny).  the  soul,  and  )<jyoc,  dis- 
course.) In  its  larger  acceptation,  may  be  taken  as  synony- 
mous vv  ilh  mental  philosophy.     The  word  is  more  frequently 

noed  in  reference  to  the  lower  facilities  of  the  mind,  and 
the  Classification  of  the  phenomena  which  they  present. 
All  psychology  is  built  on  experience,  either  immediate,  or 

revived  by  the  memory  and  imagination.  But,  in  reflecting 
on  our  intellectual  faculties,  ue  discover  in  them  certain 
laws,   which,   as    soon    as    ihey  are   presented   to  us,   we  at 

once  recognise  as  universal  and  necessary ;  certain  condi- 


PSYCHOMANCY. 

tions  without  the  fulfilment  of  which  we  are  sensible  that 
no  act  of  intellection  could  have  taken  place.  This  uni- 
versality is  something  very  different  from  the  empirical 
truth,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  which  we  attribute  to  the  laws 
of  association,  which  are,  indeed,  universal,  but  which 
might,  for  aught  we  can  see,  have  been  different  from 
what  they  are.  Corresponding  to  this  distinction,  German 
writers  have  discriminated  between  a  higher,  or  rational, 
and  a  lower,  or  empirical  psychology :  the  first,  that  of 
Kant,  who  sought,  in  all  our  mental  faculties,  to  determine 
that  only  which  is  necessary  and  immutable  ;  the  second, 
that  of  Hartley,  who  treats  all  our  intellectual  acts  as  alike 
objects  of  mere  history,  dependent  for  their  validity  only 
on  the  fact  that  they  do  really  recur  in  such  and  such 
order.  The  psychology  of  Aristotle  was  of  the  latter  de- 
scription. He,  consequently,  regarded  the  science  as  form- 
ing one  of  the  physical  sciences,  or  those  which  are  conver- 
sant with  the  contingent  and  changeable.  Many  pregnant 
psychological  truths  are  discoverable  in  that  philosopher's 
work  on  the  soul ;  in  particular,  the  doctrine  of  association, 
the  master-light  of  all  sound  experimental  psychology, 
owes  its  first  enunciation  to  him.  Among  later  writers 
who  have  made  valuable  contributions  to  the  science  may 
be  enumerated  Hobbes,  Locke,  Hartley,  and  Sir  Thomas 
Brown.  The  value  of  these  authors'  writings  in  this 
peculiar  province  cannot  be  too  highly  appreciated.  It  is 
only  when  psychology  intrudes  upon  the  domain,  or  usurps 
the  attributes,  of  the  higher  philosophy,  that  its  claims 
need  to  be  resisted.  As  a  preparation  for  metaphysical 
and  theological  thought,  and,  indeed,  as  an  indispensable 
requisite  for  the  science  of  man,  whether  history,  politics, 
or  ethics,  it  is  not  easy  to  exaggerate  its  importance. 

PSYCHOMA'NCY.  (Gr.  ipvxv,  an<l  pavTiia,  prophecy.) 
A  species  of  divination,  in  which  the  dead  were  supposed 
to  appear  as  spirits,  to  communicate  the  wished  for  infor- 
mation. 

PSVCHRO'METER.  (Gr.  i^vxpoc,  cool;  uttpov,  mea- 
sure.) An  instrument  invented  by  Professor  August  of 
Berlin,  for  measuring  the  tension  of  the  aqueous  vapour 
contained  in  the  atmosphere.  It  consists  of  two  very  sen- 
sible thermometers,  one  of  which,  when  an  observation  is 
to  be  made,  has  its  bulb  kept  moistened,  but  so  that  no  drop 
of  water  remains  suspended  from  it.  The  thermometers 
being  then  freely  exposed  to  the  air,  the  temperature  indi- 
cated by  each  is  observed,  and  also  the  height  of  the 
barometer,  from  which  data  the  tension  of  the  vapour  is 
computed  by  means  of  this  formula : 

e~ c'  —000081482  (t  —  t')  b ; 

where  b  is  the  height  of  the  barometer  (in  Paris  lines),  t 
the  temperature  of  the  air  (in  centesimal  degrees),  t'  the 
temperature  of  the  wet  bulb,  e'  the  tension  of  vapour  cor- 
responding to  the  temperature  t',  and  e  the  tension  of  the 
vapour  actually  contained  in  the  air.  The  instrument  is 
described  in  the  work  of  August,  Sur  les  Progres  de  V  Hy- 
grometrie  dans  les  Verniers  Temps,  Berlin,  1830 ;  also  in 
the  Lehrbuch  der  Meteorologie  of  Koemptz ;  and  Qucte- 
let's  Correspondence  Jllathematique  et  Physique,  3me  serie, 
tome  2. 

PTERODA'CTYLE,  Pterodactylus.  (Gr.  ttc/Mk,  a  wing, 
rWruXoj,  a  digit.)  The  name  of  a  genus  of  extinct  rep- 
tiles, in  which  the  second  digit  of  the  hand  is  of  extreme 
length,  and  is  considered  to  have  supported  an  aliform  ex- 
pansion of  the  skin. 

PTE'ROPODS,  Pteropoda.  (Gr.  7rrrpoi/,and  irovc,  afoot.) 
The  name  of  a  class  of  Mollusks,  comprehending  those 
which  have  a  natatory  wing-shaped  expansion  on  each  side 
of  the  head  and  neck. 

PTERY'GIANS,  Pterygia.  (Gr.  irrcpvl.  a  wing.)  A 
name  applied  by  Latreille  to  a  group  of  Mollusks,  corres- 
ponding to  the  Cephalopods  and  Pteropods  of  Cuvier,  both 
of  which  have  locomotive  organs,  composed  of  wing-like 
expansions  of  the  skin. 

PTERY'GODA.  (Gr.  Trrepvl.)  Latreille  has  given  this 
term  to  two  small,  hard,  moveable  bodies,  in  the  form  of 
little  elytra,  directed  backwards,  and  terminating  at  the 
origin  of  the  wings.  They  arise  from  the  two  sides  of  the 
anterior  extremity  of  the  trunk,  near  the  exterior  base  of  the 
two  first  legs,  instead  of  from  the  second  segment  of  the 
trunk,  like  true  elytra.  They  are  present  in  Lepidopterous 
and  Strepsipterous  insects. 

PTERY'GOID.  (Gr.  wrepvl,  and  trio;,  form.)  Wing- 
shaped.  The  name  is  applied  to  processes  of  the  sphenoid 
hone,  which  complete  the  osseous  palate  behind,  and  form 
distinct  bones  in  the  oviparous  vertebrate  animals. 

PTI'SAN.  (Gr.  ttthtoo),  I  bruise.)   A  weak  diluent  drink. 

PTOLEMAIC  SYSTEM.     See  Astronomy. 

PTOLEMA'ITES.  A  sect  of  ancient  heretics  among 
the  Gnostics,  who  maintained  that  the  Mosaic  Law  came 
partly  from  God,  partly  from  Moses,  and  partly  from  the 
traditions  of  the  Jewish  doctors.  (See  MosheMs  Church 
History.) 


PULLEY. 

PTY'ALISM.  (Gr.  tttvoXi^o),  I  spit.)  An  increased 
flow  of  saliva.     Salivation. 

PUBE'SCENT.  (Lat.  pubescens,  hairy.)  In  Zoology, 
when  a  part  or  whole  is  covered  with  very  fine  recumbent 
short  hairs. 

PU'BLICANS.  (Lat.  publicani.)  The  farmers  of  the 
public  revenue  of  Rome.  They  formed  two  distinct  classes  ; 
the  farmers-general  of  the  revenues,  who  were  regarded  as 
belonging  to  one  of  the  most  honourable  grades  of  citizens, 
and  deputies  or  under  publicans  of  an  inferior  caste,  whose 
reputation  was  on  a  par  with  that  of  the  most  degraded 
citizens.  Hence,  in  the  New  Testament,  the  rtXojvnri,  a 
word  rendered  publicans  by  the  Latin  translators,  are  almost 
always  placed  in  juxtaposition  with  sinners.  (See  Milman's 
Hist,  of  Christianity.)  This  term  was  also  applied  as  a 
nickname  to  the  Albigenses,  which  see. 

PUBLIC  SAFETY,  COMMITTEE  OF.  (French  Revo- 
lution.) This  famous  body  was  formed  out  of  the  conven- 
tion, April  6,  1793,  and  invested  with  very  general  powers 
to  provide  for  the  supposed  welfare  of  the  state  ;  even  the 
power  of  arrest  and  imprisonment  was  soon  conferred  upon 
it.  After  the  downfall  of  the  Girondist  party  {see  Giron- 
distes),  this  committee  became  the  virtual  government  of 
France,  by  a  decree  of  Dec.  4,  1793.  Its  members  were,  at 
this  period,  elected  every  month,  but  in  general  the  same 
were  re-elected.  From  this  period  its  history  is,  in  effect, 
that  of  the  revolution.  It  appointed  tribunals,  composed 
of  committees,  invested  with  sovereign  power  to  try  offences 
against  the  state,  over  the  whole  country.  It  was  in  the 
committee  of  public  safety  that  the  opposition  to  Robes- 
pierre originated  ;  but,  on  the  overthrow  of  that  personage, 
its  powers  were  limited  by  the  convention ;  and,  on  the 
introduction  of  the  new  constitution  of  October,  1794,  it 
became  extinct  along  with  the  assembly  out  of  which  it 
had  been  formed. 

PUCK.  In  Mediaeval  Mythology,  the  "  merry  wanderer 
of  the  night,"  whose  character  and  attributes  are  so  beau- 
tifully depicted  in  the  Midsummer  Night's  Dream.  This 
celebrated  fairy  is  known  by  a  variety  of  names  ;  as  Robin 
Oood-fe/low  and  Friar  Rush  in  England ;  and  in  Germany, 
as  Knecht  Ruprecht ;  but  it  is  by  his  designation  of  Puck, 
that  he  is  most  generally  known  both  in  England,  Ger- 
many, and  the  more  northern  nations.  He  was  the  chief 
of  the  domestic  tribe  of  fairies,  or  brownies,  as  they  are 
called  in  Scotland ;  and  innumerable  stories  are  told  of  his 
nocturnal  exploits,  among  which,  drawing  the  wine,  and 
cleaning  the  kitchen  while  the  family  were  asleep,  are 
the  most  prominent.  The  word  is  probably  derived  from 
the  old  Scandinavian  pukj,  a  boy;  it  is  also  synonymous 
with  pug,  or  monkey,  whose  form  this  fairy  is  said  to  have 
most  frequently  assumed. 

PU'DDING-STONE.  A  conglomerate  of  rounded  peb- 
bles cemented  together  by  a  fine-grained  and  generally 
silicious  or  sandy  paste.  When  select  specimens  are  cut 
and  polished,  they  resemble  a  section  of  a  plum-pudding, 
and  are  often  used  for  ornamental  purposes,  such  as  snuff- 
boxes and  slabs. 

PUE'RPERAL  FEVER.  A  fever  attended  by  peritoneal 
inflammation,  which  comes  on  about  the  third  day  after 
delivery.  The  usual  febrile  symptoms  are  attended  with 
great  tenseness  and  tenderness  of  the  abdomen  ;  the  milk 
disappears,  and  the  bowels  are  usually  affected  by  diarrhoea. 
It  is  most  common  in  the  autumn,  and  appears  to  be  con- 
tagious. It  is  an  alarming  disease,  and  requires  great 
promptitude  and  judgment  in  its  treatment.  Bleeding, 
modified  according  to  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  purging 
with  calomel,  saline  sudorifics,  and  occasionally  opium,  to 
quiet  pain  and  induce  rest,  are  among  the  remedial  means  ; 
but  it  often  happens  that  great  irritability  of  the  stomach 
and  bowels,  or  even  incessant  purging  and  vomiting,  are 
predominant  symptoms,  and  the  fever  assumes  a  typhoid 
character,  in  which  case  the  system  requires  support  from 
cordials. 

PU'GGING.  In  Architecture,  the  stuff  made  of  plaster 
laid  on  the  sounding  boarding  under  the  boards  of  a  floor,  to 
deaden  the  sound  between  one  story  and  another. 

PU'GIL.  (Lat.  pugillus.)  A  quantity  of  anything  which 
may  be  taken  up  between  the  thumb  and  two  fingers. 

PUISNE  JUDGE.  (Norm.  Fr.  puisne,  younger.)  The 
judges  and  barons  of  the  King's  Bench,  Common  Pleas,  and 
Exchequer,  with  the  exception  of  the  chief  justices  and 
chief  baron,  are  so  called. 

PU'LLEY.  In  Mechanics,  one  of  the  six  simple  machines, 
or  mechanical  powers.  It  consists  of  a  wheel,  moveable 
about  an  axis,  and  having  a  groove  cut  in  its  circumference, 
over  which  a  cord  passes.  The  axle  is  supported  by  a  box 
or  sheave,  called  the  block,  which  may  either  be  moveable, 
or  fixed  to  a  firm  support. 

A  single  pulley  serves  merely  to  change  the  direction  of 
motion ;  but  several  of  them  may  be  combined  in  various 
ways,  by  which  a  mechanical  advantage  or  purchase  is  gain- 
ed, greater  or  less,  according  to  their  number  and  the  mode 

1003 


(2.) 


PULMOGRADES. 

of  combination.  The  purchase  sained  by  any 
combination  is  readily  computed  by  comparing 
li  nty  of  the  weight  raised  with  that  of 
the  ni< >\  mi}  power, according  t< >  the  principle  of 
virtual  velocities,  which  is  :tlikt-  applicable  to 
all  machines  of  whatever  kind.  In  fig.  1,  which 
represents  a  system  where  the  several  portions 
of  the  cord  are'  parallel  to  each  other,  suppose 
the  weight  W  to  rise  one  inch,  the  two  blocks 
would  approach  each  other  by  that  quantity, 
and,  consequently,  the  length  of  cord  connect- 
in;;  a  simile  pair  of  pulleys  would  be  shortened 
b]  3  inches,  so  that  the  power  1'  would  deal  end 
2  inches.  Let  the  Dumber  of  pulleys  in  each 
block  be  »  ;  then,  while  the  weight  as 
1  inch,  the  power  descends  3  n  inches,  and, 
consequently,  when  there  is  equilibrium,  the  power  is  to 
the  weight  as  1  to  8  n. 

In  the  combination  represented  in  fig.  2,  the 
purchase  is  much  greater.    Here  the  pulleys  are 
all  moveable,  and  each  is  supported  by  a  separate 
cord,  having  one  end  fastened  to  a  fixed  obsta- 
cle and  the  other  attached  to  the  succeeding 
pulley,  excepting  the  upper  block,  which  is  fixed. 
7    Q    It  is  evident  that,  for  every  inch  the  weight  on 
(Jfe    P   the  first  pulley  a  ascends,  the  second,  A.  ascends 
two;    the  third,   c,    ascends   four,  and  so  on; 
da  the  velocity  being  doubled  by  each  additional 

r^-j  pulley.   Trie  purchase  finally  obtained  is.  there- 

luwl  fore,  =  2" ;  or  the  power  is  to  the  weight  as 

1  :  •>. 
The  third  combination,  fig.  3,  has  still  greater  efficacy. 
(3.)  In  this  system,  each  cord  is  fastened  to  the 
Weight,  and,  passing  over  a  pulley,  is  attached 
to  another  pulley,  excepting  the  last,  which 
supports  the  power.  While  the  weight  W  rises 
1  inch,  the  first  moveable  pulley./,  will  sink  1 
inch,  which  allows  the  cord  applied  to  it  to 
Blacken  2  inches,  and  this  joined  to  the  inch 
which  the  weight  ascends  allows  the  second 
moveable  puliey.  »■,  to  descend  3  inches.  This 
allows  the  next  pulley  in  succession  to  descend 
6  inches,  which,  joined  to  the  1  inch  which  the 
weight  ascends,  gives  7  inches  for  the  descent  of  the  third" 
pulley.  In  like  m  inner,  it  is  found  that  the  descent  of  the 
fourth  pulley  is  15  inches.  Hence,  one  moveable  pulley  al- 
lows the  weight  to  descend  -  X  1  +  1  =  3  inches;  two  such 
pulleys.  -2  X  3  +  1  =  7  inches  ;  3  pulleys,  '2  X  7  +  1  =  15 
Inches  ;  four  pulleys,  2  X  15  +  1  =  3)  inches,  and  so  cm  ;  so 
that  the  purchase  obtained  by  n  moveable  pulleys,  is  2  "  +  ' 
—  1,  or  the  power  is  to  the  weight  as  1  to  2n  +  '  — 1.  The 
theoretical  advantage  thus  computed  is,  however,  in  all  the 
cases,  greatly  diminished  by  friction,  and  the  rigidity  of  the 
rope. 

The  two  last  combinations  are  of  little,  if  any,  use  in 
practice,  hut  various  modifications  of  the  first  are  common. 
5  neaton's  tack,  OB  it  is  usually  called. 
contains  two  rows  of  wheels,  one  under  the  other,  in  each 
block,  and  a  simile  cord  is  made  to  pass  over  them  in  such 
a  manner  that  tin-  power  and  the  weight  both  act  in  the 
same  line  with  the  centres  of  the  two  blocks,  so  that  there 
is  no  tendency  to  twist.  But  this  ingenious  arrangement  is 
open  to  set  eral  objections,  and  particularly  the  great  amount 
of  lateral  friction  of  so  many  independent  wheels.  In 
While's  pulley  see  fig.  1),  the  wheels  in  each  block  turn 
on  the  same  axis,  ami,  consequently,  revolve  in  the  same 
time;  and  they  are  of  different  sizes,  their  dimensions  being 
so  proportioned  that  a  point  on  the  circumferrence  of  any 
wheel  moves  with  the  velocity  of  the  rope  on  that  wheel. 
To  effect  this  the  diameter  of  the  wheels  in  the  upper  block 
must  be  as  the  numbers,  1.  3.  ."i.  kc.,  and  in  the  lowers  J. 
-1.  ii.  A^c.  Instead  of  separate  wheels,  the  upper  and  lower 
blocks  are  cut  in  grooves  iii  the  above  proportions,  whereby 
tin-  friction  is  reduced  to  that  of  one  wheel  in  each  block. 

PU'LMOGRADES,  Pulmograda.    (LaL  pulmo,  a  /»»"■. 

gradior.  /  advance.)     The  none  of  a  tribe  of  Acalephans, 

including  those  gelatinous  species  Which   swim   by  the  con- 

■  I    the   vaSCUUU   margin    o|    the  disk  shaped   body, 

where  respiration,  also,  probablj  taki  -  place. 

PITLMON  MIII'.S.  Pulmonaria,  The  name  of  the  order 
of  Arnchnidans,  including  those  which  breathe  by  means 
of  pulmonary  sac-  or  longs. 

IT  I. Mi  (NATES,  Pulmonata.    The  name  of  an  order  of 

GastropodoUS  Molln-ks,  including  those  which   breathe  air. 

to  winch  the  blood  is  exposed  while  circulating  through  a 
rk  which  lines  the  internal  surface  of  the 
bronchial  cavity. 

The  order  is  subdivided  into  the  Puhnnvata  ttrrutria, 
comprehending  the  Linnaan  genera  lAmax  and  // 
'  "'in.  Urap.,  and  .iiltntinu,  Lain.  ;  and   the  Pulmonata 

aaualica,  comprehending  the  genera  Onchidium,  Buchanan  ; 
1004 


PUMP. 

Planorbis,  Cuv. ;  Lymncea,  Lam. ;  Physa,  Drap. ;  Auricula, 
Lam. :   Cbnovuluo,  Lam. 

PU'LPIT.  lLat  piiipituni.)  In  Architecture,  the  raised 
part  in  a  public  building  from  which  an  oration  is  delivered. 

in  the  ancient  theatre  it  was  the  higher  pan  of  the  staize 
whereon  the  musicians  stood. 

l'L'LSL.  (Lat.  pulsus.)  The  pulsation  of  the  arteries, 
depending  upon  the  impulse  given  to  the  blood  by  the  actiou 
Of  the  heart.  (See  Hhart.)  The  pulse  is  usually  fell  by 
pressing  the  radial  artery  at  the  wrist,  and  the  rapidity, 
regularity,  and  force  of  the  circulation  is  thus  judged  of, 
and  furnishes  an  important  criterion  of  the  phenomena  and 
progress  of  disease.  The  range  of  the  pulse  as  to  frequency , 
in  a  healthy  adult,  is  usually  between  CO  and  80,  but  there 
are  persons  whose  pulses  rarely  beat  GO  limes  in  a  minute, 
and  others,  not  out  of  health,  in  whom  the  frequency  ex- 
ceedsSO;  the  pulse,  in  short,  is  extremely  capricious,  and 
before  any  correct  inferences  can  be  drawn  from  it.  the  pecu- 
liarities of  each  individual  require  to  be  carefully  considered  ; 
slight  mental  affections,  indigestion,  irritability,  and  many 
other  causes  producing  modifications  of  the  pulse,  do  not  ad- 
mit of  any  general  description.  The  terms  hard,  full,  soft, 
and  wiry  pulse,  are  used  to  indicate  other  obvious  modifica- 
tions independent  of  the  Dumber  of  pulsations.  The  average 
rate  of  the  pulse  of  a  healthy  infant  is,  for  the  first  year, 
from  about  120  to  10*;  for  the  second  year,  from  108  to  90; 
for  the  third,  from  100  to  80 ;  from  the  seventh  to  the  twelfth 
year,  the  pulsations  are  about  70.  When  the  pulse  exceeds 
14(1  beats  in  a  minute  it  is  not  easy  to  count  it  precisely,  and 
to  this  it  attains  in  some  febrile  diseases. 

An  iuti rmitting  pulse  is  by  no  means  uncommon,  and 
often  produced  by  trivial  causes  ;  with  many  persons  in  per- 
fect health  the  pulse  will  lie  subject  to  very  extraordinary 
irregularities  ;  and  there  are  cases  on  record  in  which  a  per- 
son's pulse  which  has  always  intermitted  in  a  state  of  health 
has  acquired  regularity  on  the  accession  of  disease.  The 
state  of  the  digestive  organs  has  often  a  marked  influence 
upon  this  condition  of  Uk;  pulse. 

Prist.  Leguminous  plants  cultivated  for  their  pods  or 
seeds,  such  as  the  pea.  bean,  kidney-bean,  ke. 

PULVI'LLI,  in  Entomology,  are  the  cushions  of  short 
hairs  very  closely  set,  or  a  membrane  capable  of  being  in- 
flated, or  very  soft  and  concave  plates,  which  cover  the  un- 
derside, or  their  apex,  of  the  four  first  joints  of  the  innnus  or 
tarsus,  and  sometimes  even  of  the  ends  of  the  moveable 
spines  situated  at  the  apex  of  the  tibia,  which  act  so  as  to 
produce  a  vacuum,  and  enable  the  insect  to  suspend  itself, 
or  walk  against  gravity. 

PU'LVINATED.  (Lat.  pulvinar,  a  pillow.)  In  Archi- 
tecture, a  term  used  to  express  a  swelling  in  any  portion  of 
an  order,  such,  for  instance,  as  that  of  the  frieze  in  the 
modem  Ionic  order. 

PU'MICE.  (Lat.  pumex.)  A  porous  volcanic  product, 
consisting  chiefly  of  silica  and  alumina,  with  traces  of  pot- 
ash, soda,  and  oxide  Of  iron. 

PUMP.  A  machine  for  raising  water.  Though  the 
forms  under  which  this  useful  engine  is  constructed,  and 
the  mode  in  which  the  power  is  applied,  may  be  modified 
in  an  infinite  number  of  ways,  there  are  only  three  which 
can  be  considered  as  differing  from  each  other  in  principle. 
These  are,  the  sucking  pump,  the  forcing  pump,  and  the 
lifting  pump,  so  called  from  the  manner  in  which  they  act. 

The  sucking  pump,  or  common  household  pump,  is  an  ap- 
paratus of  which  the  principle  and  construction  will  be  evi- 
dent from  the  annexed  figure.     A  A  is  a  pipe  of  any  con- 
venient length,  the  lower  end  of  which  reaches         ..  . 
below   the  surface  of  the  water  in  the  well  or  re-         v  "J 
Bervoir;  I?  is  a  barrel,  generally  of  greater  tliam-  |[E 

ler  than  the  pipe;  C  a  valve  opening  upwards;  f 
Ha  piston  mo\ed  by  the  rod  H:  in  this  piston  B 
there  is  also  a  valve  opening  upwards.  When 
ton  is  raised, the  air  in  the  barrel  between 
the  valves  is  expanded,  and  its  tension,  conse- 
quently, diminished;  the  pressure  of  the  air  in 
the  pipe,  therefore,  opens  the'  valve  (',  and  the 
whole  air  in   the  pipe    and   barrel    her. .in,  -   h--s 

dense.    In  this  state  the  atmospheric  pressure  on 
the  .-info  e  of  the  water  causes  it  to  rise  in  the 
pipe,  until  the  ten-ion  of  the  confined  air  becomes  yV*J  , 
equal    to   the    pres-iue    of   the   atmosphere.     On    ^~— 

again  depressing  the  piston,  the  valve  in  it  opens,  and  the 
air  passes  through  it  from  the  barrel  as  it  descends;  but  the 
valve  C  is  closed  by  the  downward  pressure,  and  the  vol 
lime  of  water  Which  has  entered  the  pipe  remains.  On 
again  raising  the  piston,  the  same  effect  is  repeated,  and  an 
additional  quantity  of  water  enters  the  pipe.  Thus,  by  the 
alternating  motion  of  the  piston,  a  column  of  water  is  raised 
in  the  pipe  until  it  reaches  the  piston  when  at  the  bottom  of 
the  barrel,  and  the  w  hole  of  the  air  below  it  has  been  ex- 
cluded.    On  rai-iiiL'  the  pistOD  w  hen  the  water  has  n   ,, ■),,  ,| 

it.  the  fluid  will  he  compelled  to  follow  bj  the  pressure  of 

the  atmosphere  on  its  surface  iu  the  well.     When  the  pis- 


PUMP. 

ton  is  again  depressed,  the  water  flows  through  the  valve  in 
it,  and  ascends  into  the  barrel,  and  by  the  succeeding  strokes 
of  the  piston  is  lilted  up  umil  it  reaches  and  flows  out  of 
the  spout  F. 

Although  in  theory  the  limit  of  the  height  to  which  water 
mav  be  raised  by  the  sucking  pump,  from  the  surface  of  the 
fluid  in  the  well  to  the  highest  position  of  the  moveable  pis- 
ton, is  about  34  feet  (the  height  of  a  column  of  water  which 
balances  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere),  it  is  not  found 
practicable,  with  pumps  of  the  ordinary  construction,  to 
raise  it  more  than  about  28  feet.  The  difference  arises  from 
the  difficulty  of  making  the  apparatus  absolutely  air-tight. 
The  forcing  pump  is  represented  in  fig.  2.  The  piston- 
rod  E  D  is  attached  to  a  solid  plunger  D, 
adjusted  to  the  cavity  of  the  barrel.  A 
pipe  G  H,  furnished  with  a  valve  F,  open- 
ing outwards,  communicates  with  the 
barrel  at  G.  On  elevating  the  plunger  D, 
the  water  will  ascend  through  the  valve 
C,  in  the  same  manner  as  in  the  sucking 
pump,  till  the  barrel  is  filled  to  D.  Now, 
when  the  plunger  is  depressed  the  valve 
C  will  shut,  and  the  water  between  D 
and  C  be  forced  through  the  valve  F  into 
the  pipe  G  H.  When  the  plunger  is 
raised,  the  valve  at  F  shuts,  the  pressure 
on  itsunder  side  being  removed, so  that  the 
water  which  was  forced  into  the  pipe  by 
the  previous  stroke  cannot  return  into  the 
barrel.  At  the  next  stroke  of  the  piston 
more  water  is  again  forced  into  the  pipe,  and  so  on  till  it  is 
raised  to  the  height  required. 

In  this  pump  the  pipe  A  A  may  be  dispensed  with,  and 
the  barrel  B  immersed  in  the  reservoir ;  in  which  case  the 
action  of  the  pump  is  independent  of  the  atmospheric  pres- 
sure, and  could  be  maintained  equally  well  in  a  vacuum. 
In  order  to  produce  a  continued  stream  through  the  pipe 
G  H,  an  air  vessel,  m  n,  may  be  attached 
to  the  lateral  branch  above  the  valve  F, 
fig.  3.    The  pipe  G  H  reaches  to  near  the 
bottom  of  the  air  vessel ;  and  when  the 
water  has  been  forced  into  the  vessel  by 
the  action  of  the  pump,  until  it  reaches 
above  the  lower  end  of  tho  pipe  at  G,  it 
is  evident  that,  as  all  communication  is 
then  cut  off  with  the  external  atmosphere, 
every  additional  quantity  of  water  thrown 
into  the  vessel  will  tend  more  and  more 
to  compress  the  air  within  it,  which,  act- 
ing by  its  pressure  on  the  surface  of  the 
water,  forces  it  through  the  pipe  G  H  in  a 
continued  stream. 
The  lifting-  pump  is  represented  by  fig.  4.    The  barrel  of 
the  pump  is  immersed  in  the  water  and  fixed  to  an  immove- 
(4.)  able  frame.    The  piston  with  its  bucket  and 

G  s  valve  C,  opening  upwards,  is  attached  at  E  to 
another  frame,  G  H  I  K  L,  consisting  of  two 
strong  iron  rods,  H  I  and  L  K,  which  move 
through  holes  in  the  framework  to  which  the 
pump  is  fixed.  An  inclined  branch  M  N,  either 
fixed  to  the  top  of  the  barrel,  or  moveable  by 
means  of  a  ball  and  socket,  is  fitted  exactly  to 
the  barrel,  and  furnished  with  a  valve  at  M. 
Suppose  the  barrel  immersed  in  the  water  to  a 
certain  depth :  if  the  piston  frame  be  now 
thrust  down  by  the  handle  at  G,  the  piston 
will  descend,  and  the  water  be  forced  by  its 
upward  pressure  through  the  valve  C,  so  as  to 
maintain  the  same  level  in  the  pump  as  in  the 
well.  But  when  the  piston  frame  is  elevated,  the  valve  C 
will  shut  (as  shown  in  the  figure),  and  the  water  above  C 
he  lifted  up  with  the  piston,  and  forced  through  the  valve 
M  into  the  branch  M  N,  from  which  its  return  will  be  pre- 
vented by  the  shutting  of  the  valve  M  when  the  piston  de- 
scends. 

In  each  of  these  different  kinds  of  pumps  which  have 
been  described,  the  total  effort  required  to  work  the  machine, 
independently  of  friction,  is  equal  to  the  weight  of  a  column 
of  water,  the  base  of  which  is  equal  to  the  area  of  a  section 
of  the  working  barrel,  and  the  altitude  equal  to  the  distance 
between  the  surface  of  the  water  in  the  reservoir  and  the 
point  to  which  it  is  raised.  In  the  sucking  pump  the  whole 
of  this  effort  is  expended  in  raising  the  piston  ;  in  the  forcing 
pump  one  part  is  expended  in  raising  and  the  other  in  de- 
pressing the  piston,  and  it  is  advantageous  to  dispose  the 
machinery  so  that  these  two  parts  shall  be  nearly  equal.  In 
small  pumps  for  domestic  purposes,  the  strength  of  man  is 
usually  employed  as  the  moving  power;  but  in  raising  water 
from  great  depths,  as  the  bottom  of  mines,  the  steam:engine 
is  applied  to  this  purpose.  (See  Fire  Engine.)  For  an  ac- 
count of  the  mechanism  of  different  kinds  of  pumps,  see 
Gregory's  Mechanics,  vol.  ii. 
81 


PUNISHMENT. 

The  chain  pump  used  in  ships  of  war  consists  of  an  end- 
less chain  moving  over  a  wheel  on  the  gun-deck,  which  is 
turned  by  winches,  and  over  a  roller  in  the  pump-well,  hav- 
ing saucers  or  flat  circular  pistons  at  certain  intervals.  Near 
the  pump-well,  on  the  side  on  which  the  chain  on  turning 
the  winches  ascends,  are  a  few  feet  of  pipe  ;  through  this 
the  saucers  raise  the  column  of  water,  which,  being  lifted 
over  the  upper  orifice  of  the  pipe,  falls  into  the  cistern,  and 
thence  into  the  waste-pipe,  called  the  pump-dale,  which 
carries  it  overboard.  The  descending  portion  of  chain  falls 
through  another  case  called  the  back  case.  Chain  pumps, 
in  large  ships,  throw  out  a  ton  a  minute. 

PU'AIPERNTCKEL.  The  name  of  a  species  of  bread 
peculiar  to  Westphalia:  it  consists  of  bran,  has  a  little  acid- 
ity, but  is  agreeable  to  the  taste,  and  very  nourishing,  and 
remains  moist  for  several  months.  It  forms  the  chief  food 
of  the  Westphalian  peasants ;  but  it  is  regarded  as  a  great 
delicacy  in  other  parts  of  Germany,  whither  it  is  exported  in 
large  quantities.  They  sometimes  weigh  60  lbs.  The  term 
is  said  to  be  of  French  derivation,  and  originated  in  a  French, 
soldier  having  rejected  the  bread  with  disgust,  exclaiming, 
"C'est  bon  pour  Nickel ;"  i.  e.,  for  his  horse. 

PUN.  A  play  upon  words,  the  wit  or  point  of  which  de- 
pends on  a  resemblance  between  the  sound  and  syllables  of 
two  or  more  words,  which  have  different,  and  perhaps  op- 
posite, meanings.     See  Paronomasia. 

PU'NCHEON.  In  Architecture,  a  short  post.  The  small 
quarters  in  a  partition  above  the  head  of  a  door  are  called 
puncheons. 

Puncheon.  A  measure  of  capacity  for  liquids,  contain- 
ing 84  gallons,  or  one  third  of  a  tun. 

PU'NCTATE.  (Lat.  punctum,  a  point.)  In  Zoology, 
when  a  part  is  beset  with  many  points,  or  minute  impres- 
sions, which  do  not  perforate  the  surface. 

PUNCTUATION.  In  Writing,  the  dividing  words,  prop- 
ositions, or  sentences  from  each  other  by  means  of  certain 
marks  or  points,  designed  to  facilitate  the  apprehension, 
or  to  regulate  the  enunciation  of  written  language.  Points 
or  stops  are  said  to  have  been  first  used  by  Aristophanes, 
the  Alexandrian  grammarian ;  but  the  modem  system  of 
punctuation  is  due  to  Manutius,  a  learned  printer,  who  lived 
at  Venice  in  the  15th  and  16th  centuries.  The  marks  most 
commonly  in  use  are,  1.  The  comma  (,),  which  is  placed 
between  the  less  important  divisions  of  a  sentence  or  pas- 
sage ;  as,  for  instance,  before  and  after  qualifying  proposi- 
tions or  clauses ;  between  single  words  not  connected  by 
conjunctions  ;  before  conjunctions  which  unite  sentences, 
&c.  2.  The  semicolon  (:),  which  distinguishes  the  longer 
or  more  important  members  of  a  sentence ;  as  when  the  lat- 
ter part  is  an  inference  from,  or  qualification,  explanation,  or 
illustration  of,  the  former.  3.  The  colon  (:),  which  is  chief- 
ly used  to  distinguish  such  members  of  a  sentence  as  are 
themselves  divided  by  semicolons  into  two  or  more  principal 
parts.  4.  The  period  or  full  stop  (.),  which  stands  at  the 
end  of  a  complete  sentence.  Besides  these  may  be  enumer- 
ated the  note  of  interrogation  (?)  or  inquiry;  of  exclama- 
tion (!),  expressing  admiration,  endearment,  or  any  consider- 
able emotion ;  the  parenthesis  ( ),  used  when  a  clause  is  in- 
serted which  interrupts  the  progress  of  the  sentence ;  with 
other  marks,  either  less  commonly  used,  or  the  rules  for 
whose  use  are  less  easily  defined. 

PU'NDIT  (more  correctly  written  Pandit).  The  title  of 
learned  Brahmins  in  Hindoostan.  The  term  is  used  ironi- 
cally in  England  to  designate  any  one  who  makes  a  vast 
show  of  learning  without  possessing  it  in  reality. 

PU'NIC  WARS.  The  name  given  to  the  celebrated 
contests  in  which  the  Romans  and  Carthaginians  were  en- 
gaged for  more  than  three  centuries,  and  which  finally  ter- 
minated in  the  destruction  of  Carthage.  The  first  com- 
menced A.C.  264,  and  ended  A.C.  241  ;  the  second  lasted 
from  A.C.  218  to  A.C.  202 ;  the  third  from  A.C.  149  to  A.C. 
147,  ending  with  the  destruction  of  Carthage. 

PU'NISHMENT.  (Lat.  poana,  punishment.)  In  Juris- 
prudence, the  infliction  of  suffering,  under  legal  sanction, 
upon  those  who  have  violated  the  law. 

It  is  undoubtedly  true,  that  both  in  legislation  and  in  pub- 
lic opinion  respecting  punishment,  the  vindictive  theory 
which  considered  it  as  a  retribution  for  crime,  and  to  be  go- 
verned by  our  moral  feelings  of  indignation  against  the  of- 
fender, has  far  too  generally  prevailed,  and  that  the  primary 
end,  the  interests  of  society,  has  been  overlooked.  But  we 
are  not  quite  certain  whether  the  present  course  of  opinion 
does  not  run  too  exclusively  in  the  contrary  direction ;  and 
whether  those  who  adopt  the  common  formula,  that  "  the 
object  of  all  punishment  is  the  prevention  of  the  offence  in 
future,"  have  reflected  on  all  the  consequences  of  that  po- 
sition. 

For  instance,  it  is  the  common  practice  in  this  country  as 
well  as  in  others,  to  connect  the  administration  of  justice 
with  the  enforcement  of  the  tenets  of  religion  and  morality. 
In  passing  sentence,  wherever  there  is  any  peculiarity  in 
the  case  calculated  to  call  forth  such  observation,  the  judge 

1005 


PUNISHMENT. 

rarely  fails  to  comment  on  the  moral  deformity  of  the  act ; 
not  merely  in  its  tendency  to  injure  society,  but  subjective 
ly,  a<  evidencing  mural  depravity  in  the  person  committing 
it.    The  solemnities  of  public  worship  which  form  part  of 

the  ceremonial  ;  the  public  harangues  of  the  judges  (as,  for 
instance,  in  the  English  custom  of  charging  the  grand  jury)  ; 
the  Language  in  which  the  jury  is  commonly  addressed, 

both  by  the  judge  and  the  advocates;  all  these  seem  based 
on  the  assumption  that  the  moral  quality  of  acta  is  one 
of  the  matters  lobe  brought  under  their  consideration.  But 
if  the  judge  has  really  no  concern  whatever  With  that  mu- 
ral quality,  and  is  simply  there  to  see  that  society  may  he 
guarded,  as  far  as  possible,  from  exposure  to  material  injury 
by  fraud  or  violence,  all  these  ceremonies  are  utterly  out  of 
place.  They  must  either  be  defended  as  politic  devices, 
employing  the  machinery  of  religion  to  aid  in  terrifying  of- 
fenders from  the  commission  of  crime  ;  or  as  concessions  to 
popular  ignorance.  And  it  is  certain  that  in  such  a  case 
they  had  far  better  be  abolished  altogether,  as  they  strongly 
lead  the  mind  to  dwell  on  that  false  view  of  the  object  of 
punishment,  which  it  is  the  object  of  Bentham  and  his 
school  to  extirpate. 

Again,  in  popular  estimation,  the  moral  atrocity  of  an 
offence  is  one  of  the  elements  in  the  correct  measure  of 
punishment.  (Jn  whatever  ground  philosophers  may  ob- 
ject to  sanguinary  laws,  this  plain  objection  is  that  which 
has  always  prevailed  in  the  public  mind.  In  the  case  of 
forgery,  for  example,  the  feeling  of  the  majority  triumphed 
in  the  end  over  the  severity  of  the  law,  not  because  it  was 
thought  disproportioned  to  the  injury  indicted  on  society,  or 
to  the  importance  of  repressing  the  crime,  hut  because  it 
was  thought  not  to  deserve  it  in  a  moral  point  of  view. 
Now  all  such  expressions  of  sentiment,  on  the  theory  in 
question,  is  founded  on  a  wrong  principle ;  and  the  writers 
who  adhere  to  it  are  forced  to  admit  this  feeling  as  a  dis- 
turbing cause,  preventing  the  right  doctrine  from  being  ful- 
]>  carried  out;  they  are  forced  to  admit,  as  part  of  their  de- 
finition of  a  good  punishment,  that  it  shall  not  be  such  as 
to  shock  the  popular  notion  of  moral  justice;  which  is,  in 
Other  words,  to  admit  that  penal  laws  must  be  governed  in 
part  by  principles  which  they  condemn  as  altogether  wrong; 
a  very  mischievous  concession  for  a  legislator  to  make. 

That  the  interest  of  society  is  the  great  object  of  punish- 
ment must  be  conceded  on  all  hands.  That  the  specific  ob- 
ject of  preventing  the  offence  from  being  committed  is  a 
very  important  part  of  that  general  object,  probably  by  far 
the  most  important,  may  also  be  conceded.  Hut  the  ques- 
tion is,  whether  the  general  object  does  not  comprehend 
other  particular  objects  also;  and  whether  a  punishment, 
which  should  answer  in  the  highest  degree  the  advantage 
of  repressing  that  particular  offence,  or  class  of  offences, 
might  not  be  imperfect  notwithstanding. 

This  question  can  only  be  solved  by  deciding  the  great 
preliminary  difficulty  of  political  science,  in  which  so  many 
others  are  involved;  whether  the  ruling  power,  which  we 
call  the  state,  or  society,  or  the  legislature,  has  or  has  not 
any  moral  authority.  Those  who  conclude  that  it  has  no- 
thing to  do  beyond  preserving  the  personal  security  and 
property  of  individuals,  of  course  deny  that  it  has  any. 
It u i  those  who  believe  that  it  has,  also,  what  may  be 
termed  a  paternal  power,  and  is  entrusted  by  Providence 
with  the  maintenance  of  religion  and  moral  principle,  must, 
tty  admit  that  there  maybe  a  moral  object  in  pun- 
ishment beyond  the  mere  prevention  of  the  offence. 

And  it  must  be  observed  in  passing,  that  those  who  do 
hold  the  slat"  to  possess  such  a  moral  authority,  and  have 
such  moral  dutiee imposed  anon  it,  need  not,  therefore,  hold 
those  to  be  its  principal  objects.  It  may  very  well  be  that 
the  primary  object  of  the  association  of  men  in  a  political 
body  is  security  and  self-defence;  yet  that  such  association 
may  have  other  ends  not  inconsistent  with  Ibis.  And  al- 
though those  other  ends  are  in  themselves  incomparably  the 
most  Important,  it  does  not  at  all  follow  that  they  are  the 
most  important  as  regards  the  state.  When  men  enter  into 
a  particular  contract  with  each  other,  their  mutual  duties 
under  that  contract  are  primarily  those  connected  with  the 
object  of  that  contract  :  they  may  have  Other  and  mure  on 
portant  mutual  duties,  which  yet,  as  n  L'-'iuls  that  contract, 
are  secondary.  No  religious  man  will  deny  that  the  con- 
nexion of  master  and  servant  involves  some  duties  of  a 
very  exalted  character;  but  the  principal  object  of  that  con- 
nexion is,  nevertheless,  the  rendering  of  service  in  view  of 
a  remuneration. 

We  have  not  space  here  to  punue  this  line  of  re 
but  must  proceed  to  take  the  moral  vocation  of  the  state  us 
admitted,  and  consider  the  effect  of  that  admission  on  the 
theory  of  punishment   In  the  first  place,  it  would  be  a  mis- 
take to  suppose  that  it  justifies  retribution  as  an  object  of 

punishment  No  one  can  apportion  retributive  justice  who 
cannot  judge  Of  the  motives  of  actions.  The  moral  antho 
rity  of  the  State,  even  by  those  who  have  carried  its  divine 
Character  to  the  highest  point,  has  only  been  likened  to  the 
1000 


PUPE. 

paternal ;  and  no  father  has  the  right  to  chastise  a  child  bj 
way  of  retribution.  He  lias  no  right  to  punish  at  all,  except 
with  a  view  to  reformation.     Omitting  this  mistaken  end, 

the  real  objects  of  punishment  may  be  classed  as  follows  ; 

I.  The  interests  of  society ;  which  must  be  subdivided 
into, 

i.  Its  security  from  the  injury  to  person  or  property  occa- 
sioned by  the  crime. 

ii.   Its  moral  and  religious  improvement. 

And  II.  The  reformation  of  the  offender.  This  is  admit- 
ted as  one  Of  the  ends  of  punishment  by  all  writers  ;  but 
Bentham  and  his  followers  regard  it  as  such  only  so  tar  as 
it  conduces  to  the  security  of  society  by  preventing  the  repe- 
tition of  the  offence;  those  who  embrace  the  hinder  view, 
both  on  this  account,  and  also  as  the  fulfilment  of  the  duty 
of  the  state  towards  the  offender  himself.  Considered  In 
either  view,  it  is  clearly  a  secondary  object  only,  the  good 
of  society  being  the  first. 

The  security  of  society  is  attainable  by  punishment  in 
four  ways  : 

1.  By  forcibly  preventing  the  offender  from  repeating  his 
offence  ;  as  by  death,  mutilation,  or  perpetual  imprisonment. 

2.  By  reforming  the  habits  of  the  offender,  and  thereby 
taking  away  the  desire. 

3.  By  deterring  the  offender  from  repetition  by  the  fear  of 
fresh  punishment. 

4.  By  deterring  others  through  example.  And  this  last  is 
clearly  the  chief  practical  end  of  all  legal  inflictions.  The  ad- 
mission of  other  principles,  while  it  seems  necessary  in  or- 
der to  satisfy  our  conception  of  the  existence  of  the  state  as 
a  moral  agent,  need  not  prevent  the  legislator  from  keeping 
this  steadily  in  view. 

Our  limits  forbid  us  from  pursuing  farther  the  analysis 
of  punishment,  and  pointing  out  in  what  manner  the  differ- 
ent kinds  and  degree  of  it  principally  in  use  follow,  or  de- 
part from,  their  legitimate  ends.  VVe  will  conclude  with 
the  classification  of  punishments  given  by  Bentham,  in  his 
Theorie  des  Peines,  to  use  the  title  of  the  work  as  given  by 
his  translator  Dumont.  If  Bentham's  theory  be  defective  ia 
its  main  principles  (and  although  we  have  presented  the 
reader  with  some  arguments  against  it,  we  do  not  assert  that 
they  must  be  conclusive  with  all),  it  is  at  all  events  only 
from  being  imperfect,  not  erroneous:  as  far  as  it  goes,  it  is 
logical,  consistent,  and  definite.  And  as  he  was  nearly  the 
first  writer  who  introduced  anything  like  clearness  or  ar- 
rangement into  the  popular  notions  on  penal  laws,  so  we  are 
inclined  to  think  that,  on  the  whole,  he  has  done  more  for 
society  in  this  particular  than  in  any  other  of  the  various 
subjects  to  which  he  applied  his  reforming  genius.  It  must 
not  be  forgotten  that  Sir  S.  Homilly  and  t?ir  J.  Mackintosh 
were  the  pupils  who  carried  his  speculations  into  practice. 

He  divides  punishments  into  corporeal  and  privative.  The 
first  of  these  arc,  1.  Simply  afflictive,  those  which  consist  in 
the  mere  infliction  of  temporary  pains,  the  lash,  &c.  2. 
Complexly  inflictive,  in  which  pain  is  joined  with  perma- 
nent loss  ;  as  in  the  old  punishments  of  mutilation  and  dis- 
figurement. 3.  Restrictive,  under  which  he  classes  together 
(perhaps  rather  inappropriately)  imprisonment,  or  the  total 
deprivation  of  liberty,  and  banishment,  which  deprives  of  a 
certain  portion  of  Liberty.  4.  Active  or  laborious  ;  such  as 
the  galleys,  hard  Labour,  &c.  Transportation  combines  this 
character  with  the  former.  5.  Privative  punishments  are 
those  which  deprive  the  criminal,  1.  Of  life.  2.  Of  reputa- 
tion only ;  such,  perhaps,  as  the  amende  in  French  law.  3. 
Of  property:  fine,  and  confiscations.  4.  Forfeiture  of  condi- 
tion; which,  more  or  less,  accompanies  infamous  punish- 
ments in  most  countries ;  e.f.,  civil  infamy,  in  France,  is  at- 
tended with  various  disabilities.  These  eight  comprehend 
all  the  simple  forms  of  punishment  in  ordinary  use  ;  but  he 
adds  a  few,  which  he  terms  anomalous,  and  only  mentions 
to  hold  them  up  to  general  reprobation.  1.  What  he  calls 
vicarious  punishments  ;  as  u  hen  the  family  of  a  suicide  are 
punished  by  the  forfeiture  of  his  chattels.  !i.  Transitive; 
when  the  penalty  passes  to  future  generations:  corruption 
of  blood  in  the  English  law.  3.  Collective,  of  which  he 
gives,  as  an  Instance,  the  punishment  of  corporations  for  the 
aits  of  individual  corporators;  a  more  ordinary  one  is,  the 
compelling  the  inhabitants  of  a  hundred  to  make  good  the 
damages  occasioned  by  a  riot  4.  Fortuitous;  where  indi- 
\  nluals  wholly  unconnected  with  the  offender  are  implica- 
ted, as  it  wire,  casually,  in  the  consequences  of  his  crime  ; 
of  which  he  gives,  as  an  instance,  the  avoidance  of  mesne 
conveyances  by  some  kinds  of  confiscation,  and  consequent 
loss  of  innocent  purchasers  :  and  the  imposition  Of  deodands, 
where  no  negligence  is  imputed.  (See,  also,  F.il.  ll<r.,  vol. 
x\h..  where  his  work  is  reviewed;   Lucas,  Siisleme  Penal.) 

PI  'PA.  (Lat  pupa,  a  puppet.)  A  genus  of  land  snails, 
so  called  from  the  res<  mblance  of  the  shell  to  the  pope,  or 

chrysalis  of  an  insect.    Several  species  are  British,  as  I'lipa. 

sto,  Drap. ;  /'.  marginata,  Drap.:  /'.  edeatula,  Drap. 

I'l  I'K.  (Lat.  pupa.)  The  name  Of  the  oviform  nymphs 
of  Lepidopterous  insects  ;  also  applied  to  Metabolian  in- 


PUPIL. 

sects  generally,  when  in  the  second  stage  of  their  meta- 
morphosis. 

PU'PIL.  (Lat.  pupa.)  A  term  applied  to  the  central 
opening  of  the  eye,  because  it  reflects  the  diminished  image 
of  the  person  who  looks  into  it.  It  is  the  central  aperture 
of  the  iris. 

PUPIPARES,  Pupipara,  (Lat.  pupa,  and  pario,  I  bring 
forth.)  Those  insects  are  said  to  be  pupiparous  which  pro- 
duce their  young  in  the  condition  of  a  pupe  or  nymph ;  as 
the  forest-fly,  Hippobosca  equina. 

PU'PIVORES,  Pupivora.  (Lat.  pupa  and  voro,  I  devour.) 
The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Hyinenopterous  insects,  comprehend- 
ing those  of  which  the  larva-  live  parnsitically  in  the  interior 
of  the  larvae  and  pups  of  other  insects. 

PURA'NA.  (Sanscrit,  a  poem.)  The  sacred  books  of 
India  which  contain  the  explanation  of  the  Shaster  (which 
see.)  There  are  eighteen  books  of  the  Puranas ;  chiefly 
filled  with  legends  of  the  inferior  gods  and  the  heroes  of 
Hindostan.  (See  Mem.  de  I'Acad.  des  Inser.,  vol.  xxxviii.) 
It  should  be  stated,  that  Professor  Wilson  intimates  his  dis- 
belief of  the  received  opinion  as  to  the  great  antiquity  of  the 
Puranas,  and  believes  the  writings  now  known  under  that 
name  to  be  mere  imitations  of  lost  originals.  (Preface  to  his 
translation  of  the  Vishnu  Purana.)  See  Asiatic  Journal, 
Dec.  1840. 

PURBECK  LIMESTONE.     See  Geology. 

PU'RCHASE,  in  Law,  means,  generally,  the  acquisition 
of  lands  or  tenements  by  any  other  means  than  descent ; 
as  by  devise,  gift,  deed,  or  agreement. 

PU'RGATORY.  A  place  appointed  for  the  satisfaction 
of  temporal  punishments,  which,  according  to  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  are  distinguished  from  the  eternal,  of 
which  the  latter  only  are  remitted  to  us  by  the  death  of 
Christ.  There  is  none,  perhaps,  of  the  peculiar  articles  of 
the  Romish  faith  in  favour  of  which  so  little  can  be  advanced 
from  the  language  of  scripture ;  and  it  may  be  safely  averred 
that  it  was  not  from  that  source  that  the  opinion  ever  gained 
possession  of  men's  minds.  It  seems  to  be  a  natural  but  too 
strict  an  inference  from  the  imperfectly  disclosed  economy 
of  the  divine  judgments,  which  we  find  to  admit  of  every 
degree  of  severity  in  this  life,  and  are  liable  to  conclude 
from  analogy  must  be  subject  to  some  equivalent  adjustment 
in  the  next.  Accordingly,  we  discover  some  imperfect 
recognitions  of  the  idea  in  individual  writers  several  cen- 
turies before  it  can  be  proved  that  it  formed  an  established 
article  of  faith.  Augustin  is  considered  the  earliest  of  these  ; 
and  he  speaks  vaguely  and  inconsistently.  It  was  first  in- 
culcated as  a  doctrine  by  Gregory  the  Great,  who  seems  to 
have  connected  it  with  the  then  popular  belief  that  the 
world  was  closely  approaching  to  its  end.  It  was  much  dis- 
cussed between  the  Greeks  and  Latins  at  the  council  of 
Ferrara,  1438.  The  present  Roman  Catholic  belief  is  thus 
expressed  in  the  creed  of  Pope  Pius  IV. :  "  Constanter  teneo 
purgatorium  esse,  animasque  ibi  detentas  suffragio  fidelium 
juvari."  To  which  it  may  be  added,  that  the  sins  punished 
in  Purgatory  are  of  two  kinds — mortal,  repented  of;  and 
venial.  This  article  of  the  creed  is  derived  from  the  canon 
of  the  council  of  Trent  on  the  subject,  sess.  25.  The  "  Romish 
doctrine"  of  Purgatory  is  condemned  by  Art.  22  of  the  Eng- 
lish Church.  The  reader  will  find  the  general  argument 
for  Purgatory  well  stated  (among  Protestants)  by  Hooker  in 
his  3d  Sermon :  the  latter  part,  in  which  he  replied  to  it,  is 
lost.  It  is  also  set  forth  with  much  learning  and  modera- 
tion in  Tracts  for  the  Times,  No.  79. 

PURIFICATION.  An  observance  enjoined  by  the  law 
of  Moses  upon  occasion  of  certain  accidental  defilements, 
which  are  scrupulously  recorded  in  the  Levitical  code. 
The  purification  was  generally  by  water ;  and  in  the  case 
of  women,  who  were  considered  impure  after  childbirth  for 
the  space  of  forty  days  if  delivered  of  a  male,  and  eighty  if 
of  a  female,  the  offering  of  a  lamb  and  some  other  sacrifices 
was  required.  The  purification  of  the  Virgin  Mary  is  a  fes- 
tival in  the  calendar,  and  is  observed  on  the  2d  of  February, 
heing  forty  days  after  Christmas.  This  festival  was  estab- 
lished in  the  6th  century,  and  is  variously  termed  in  ecclesi- 
astical antiquities  by  the  names  of  viraTTtivTr/,  Festum  Can- 
delarum,  Candlemas,  the  Presentation.  The  processions  of 
this  day  were  instituted  by  Gregory  the  Great.  For  an  ac- 
count of  the  ceremonies  of  purification  among  the  Greeks 
and  Romans,  see  the  article  Lustration. 

PU'RIM.  The  name  of  the  solemn  festival  among  the 
Jews  in  which  they  commemorate  their  deliverance  from 
the  wiles  and  stratagems  of  Haman,  as  recorded  in  the 
book  of  Esther.  The  observance  of  this  festival  has  been 
religiously  maintained  by  all  the  Hebrew  race  from  its 
institution  down  to  the  present  time.  It  is  held  in  Feb- 
ruary. 

PU'RIST.  A  name  sometimes  applied  to  rigorous  critics 
of  purity  in  literary  style. 

PU'RITANS.  The  name  by  which  the  dissenters  from 
the  Church  of  England  were  generally  known  in  the  reign 
of  Elizabeth  and  the  first  two  Stuarts.    The  term  was  as- 


PUTREFACTION. 

sumed,  as  the  word  implies,  from  the  superior  purity  of  doc- 
trine and  discipline  which  the  more  violent  reformers  claim- 
ed as  their  own  ;  maintaining  that  they  followed  the  word 
of  God  alone,  puritied  from  all  human  inventions  and  super- 
stitions, of  which  they  believed  the  English  church  to  re- 
tain a  considerable  share,  notwithstanding  its  alleged  re- 
formation. According  to  Fuller,  the  use  of  the  name  com- 
menced about  15G4.  (See  Ncale's  History  of  the  Puritans.) 
See  Dissenters. 

PU'RLINE.  In  Architecture,  a  piece  of  timber  lying  on 
the  principal  rafters  to  support  them  in  the  middle. 

PU'RPLE.  (Gr.  izoptpvpa.)  In  Painting,  a  colour  pro- 
duced by  the  mixture  of  red  and  blue,  and  thence  partaking 
of  the  hue  of  each.  Among  the  ancients,  purple  was  al- 
ways the  distinguishing  badge  of  power  and  distinction ;  and, 
of  all  the  various  kinds  in  use,  the  Tyrian  dye  is  the  most 
celebrated.  This  colour  was  produced  from  an  animal  .juice 
found  in  a  shell-fish,  called  niiiixx,  or  conchylium,  the  quali- 
ty of  which,  however,  varied  with  the  different  coasts  on 
which  it  was  caught. 

PURPLE  OF  CASSIUS.  A  compound  of  the  oxides  of 
tin  and  gold,  obtained  by  adding  protochloride  of  tin  to  a  solu- 
tion of  chloride  of  gold.  The  true  nature  of  the  compound 
has  not  been  determined  ;  it  is  used  as  a  purple  colour  for 
porcelain  painting,  and  also  for  staining  glass,  to  which  it 
imparts  a  fine  ruby  red. 

PU'RPURA.  An  eruption  of  small  purple  specks  and 
patches,  caused  by  extravasation  of  blood  under  the  cuticle ; 
it  is  generally  attended  by  constitutional  debility,  and  often 
by  fever.  Aperient  medicines,  and  sometimes  purgatives, 
carried  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  followed  by  mild  tonics, 
and  in  some  cases  by  wine,  bark,  and  acids,  are  the  princi- 
pal remedies  ;  but  in  the  treatment,  much  will  depend  upon 
the  concomitant  symptoms. 

In  Zoology,  purpura  is  a  generic  name  of  the  univalve 
Gasteropod  which  secretes  the  purple  fluid  which  formed 
the  base  of  the  Tyrian  dye. 

PU'RPURE.  Purple.  In  Heraldry,  one  of  the  colours  or 
tinctures  used  in  blazonry.  It  is  equivalent  to  amethyst 
among  precious  stones,  Mercury  among  planets.  In  en- 
graving it  is  represented  by  diagonal  lines  from  the  sinister 
to  the  dexter  side  of  the  escutcheon. 

PURPU'RIC  ACID.  A  substance  resulting  from  the  ac- 
tion of  nitric  acid  upon  uric  acid  ;  it  forms  deep  red  or  pur- 
ple compounds  with  most  bases. 

PURPU'RIFERS,  Purpurifera.  (Lat.  purpura,  purple, 
fero,  I  bear.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Gastropodous  Mol- 
lusks,  including  those  species  which  secrete  the  purple  sub- 
stance forming  the  celebrated  dye  of  the  ancients. 

PU'RSER.  An  officer  in  the  British  navy,  whose  chief 
duty  consists  in  keeping  the  accounts  of  the  ship  to  which 
he  belongs:  but  he  also  acts  as  purveyor. 

PURSUIVA'NTS.  In  Heraldry,  a  kind  of  probationers 
in  the  Heralds'  College  of  England,  not  admitted  to  the  full 
privileges  of  the  college,  but  advanced  by  succession  into  its 
higher  offices.  They  are  styled  Portcullis,  Rouge  Dragon, 
Blue  Mantle,  and  Rouge  Croix. 

PURVE'YANCE,  or  POURVEYANCE.  (Fr.  pourvoir, 
to  provide.)  In  English  Law,  the  providing  necessaries  for 
the  king's  house.  The  right  of  purveyance,  or  pre-emp- 
tion, ?'.  e.,  of  buying  necessaries  for  the  household,  impres- 
sing horses  and  carriages  for  use,  or,  on  payment  of  a  set- 
tled price,  even  against  the  will  of  the  owner,  was  a  valu- 
able part  of  the  ancient  prerogatives  of  the  kings  of  Eng- 
land, especially  in  times  when  the  court  was  frequently  in 
progress.  It  was  abolished  by  12  C.  2,  c.  24,  and  has  only 
been  occasionally  revived  since  that  time  by  temporary 
acts  for  special  purposes.  The  name  of  "  purveyor"  had 
long  before  become  so  odious,  that  by  36  Ed.  3,  c.  2,  it  was 
changed  into  "  buyer." 

PUS.  (Lat.)  A  bland,  yellowish  fluid,  somewhat  like 
cream,  found  in  abscesses,  and  formed  upon  the  surfaces 
of  what  are  termed  healthy  sores  ;  it  is  heavier  than  wa- 
ter, and  viewed  under  the  microscope,  appears  composed 
of  translucent  globules  floating  in  a  colourless  fluid. 

PUTA'MEN.  In  Botany,  the  inner  coat,  or  shell,  or 
stone  of  a  fruit :  commonly  called  the  endocarpium. 

PU'TLOGS.  (Etym.  uncertain.)  In  Architecture,  short 
pieces  of  timber  used  in  scaffolds  wherever  the  scaffold 
boards  lie.  They  are  placed  at  right  angles  to  the  wall, 
one  end  of  them  resting  on  the  ledges  of  the  scaffold,  and 
the  other  on  holes  left  in  the  wall. 

PUTREFA'CTION.  (Lat.  putrefactio.)  The  sponta- 
neous decomposition  of  animal  and  vegetable  substances, 
attended  by  the  evolution  of  foetid  gases.  The  putrefac- 
tion for  putrefactive  fermentation)  of  animal  substances  is 
usually  attended  by  more  fffltid  and  noxious  exhalations 
than  those  arising  from  vegetable  products.  This  appears 
principally  referable  to  the  more  abundant  presence  of  ni- 
trogen in  the  former  ;  and  hence  those  vegetables  which 
abound  in  nitrogeniferous  principles  (such  as  most,  if  not 
all,  of  the  cruciform  plants)  exhale  peculiarly  nauseous  ef- 

1007 


PUTTY. 

Aavia  :  hence,  also,  surh  animal  products  as  arc  destitute 
of  nitrogen  are  cither  unsusceptible  of  what  is  commonly 
called  putrefaction,  or  suffer  it  slowly  and  imperfectly. 
The  formation  of  ammonia,  or  of  ammoniacal  compounds, 
is  a  characteristic  of  most  cases  of  animal  putrefaction  ; 
while  other  combinations  of  hydrogen  are  also  formed,  es- 
peciallj  carburetted  tlydrogen,  together  with  complicated 
and  often  highly  infections  vapours  or  gases,  in  which  sul- 
phur and  phosphorus  are  frequently  discerned.  These 
putrefactive  effluvia  are,  for  the  most  part,  easily  decompo- 
sed, and  resolved  into  new  and  comparatively  innocuous 
compounds,  by  the  agency  of  chlorine ;  hence  the  impor- 
tance of  that  body  as  a  powerful  and  rapidly  acting  disin- 
fectant 

The  rapidity  of  putrefaction,  and  the  nature  of  its  pro- 
ducts, are  to  a  great  extent  influenced  by  temperature. 
moisture,  and  access  of  air;  they  do  not  ensue  below  the 
freezing  point,  nor  in  dry  substances,  nor  under  the  entire 
exclusion  of  oxygen  ;  and  hence  various  means  suggest 
themselves  of  retarding  or  preventing  putrefaction,  as  well 
Bsof  modifying  its  results:  a  temperature  between  60°  and 
80°,  a  due  degree  of  humidity,  and  free  access  of  air,  are 
the  circumstances  under  which  it  proceeds  most  rapidly. 
The  most  effective  antiputrefactives  or  antiseptics  are  sub- 
stances which  either  absorb  or  remove  a  portion  of  the  wa- 
ter or  moisture,  and  enter  into  new  combinations  with  the 
organic  matter ;  hence  the  great  efficacy  of  certain  salts, 
sugar,  alcohol,  and  several  other  applications,  among  which, 
perhaps,  the  most  remarkable  are  some  of  the  volatile  oils, 
such  especially  as  kreosote  and  other  empyreumatic  pro- 
ducts obtained  by  the  destructive  distillation  of  wood,  and 
pyroligneous  acid,  and  pyroligneous  spirit ;  the  latter  is  emi- 
nently useful  in  the  preservation  of  dead  bodies  for  the  pur- 
poses of  dissection,  and,  when  properly  and  sufficiently  in- 
jected into  the  vessels,  and  externally  applied,  indefinitely 
suspends  all  the  ordinary  steps  of  the  putrefactive  process. 

The  astringent  or  tanning  principle  of  vegetables  is  also  a 
powerful  preserver  of  most  organic  tissues:  it  enters  into 
chemical  combination  with  the  albuminous  and  gelatinous 
membranes  and  fibres;  and  the  resulting  compound,  of 
which  leather  furnishes  a  characteristic  example,  is  com- 
paratively little  prone  to  change,  although  the  tanning  ma- 
terial itself,  as  well  as  the  animal  principles  with  which  it 
unites,  are  separately  liable  to  decay. 

Among  saline  substances,  the  antiputrefactive  powers  of 
salt  are  commonly  known  :  when  a  piece  of  flesh  is  salted, 
brine  runs  from  it,  in  consequence  of  the  energy  with  which 
the  salt  abstracts  the  component  water  of  the  muscular 
fibre;  the  flesh  becomes  indurated,  and  its  susceptibility  to 
putrefactive  changes  greatly  diminished;  it  becomes  at  the 
same  time  less  easy  of  digestion  as  an  article  of  food.  Cor- 
rosive sublimate  is  a  far  more  powerful  preservative  than 
Common  salt;  and  it  appears  to  act  not  by  the  mere  abstrac- 
tion of  water,  but  by  entering  into  chemical  union  with  the 
fibre.  Sulphate  of  copper  and  several  other  metallic  salts 
are  similarly  efficacious  ;  and  the  most  putrescible  substan- 
ces, BUCh  as  the  brain  for  instance,  after  having  been  steep- 
ed in  such  solutions  and  dried,  will  remain  without 
farther  change  fur  an  indefinite  period:  the  poisonous  na- 
ture i. (these  and  many  other  metallic  salts  prevents  their 
employment  in  the  preservation  of  articles  of  food. 

It  is  probable  that  the  ancient  Egyptians  employed  sever- 
al of  the  above-mentioned  antiputrefactive  and  preservative 
substances  in  the  preparation  of  their  mummies,  which 
have  remained  for  so  many  hundred  years  without  signs  of 
decay  or  decomposition  ;  yet  in  these  and  similar  cases, 
when    by    the   careful    application   Of  various   solvents   the 

preservative  substances  are  removed,  the  flesh  resumes  its 
susceptibility  of  putrefaction. 

The  inhabitants  of  northern  climates  avail  themselves  of 
freezing  to  prevent  the  putrefaction  of  their  food,  and  the 

supplies  of  game  and  other  articles  in  the  Russian  markets 

are  retained  in  a  frozen  state;  our  fishmongers  resort  to  the 
same  expedient  for  the  preservation  of  their  unsold  Ash, 
which  is  daily  removed  to  the  icehouse  after  having  been 
exhibited  in  their  shops;  salmon  is  packed  in  ire  fur  the 
purpose  of  transport  anil  preservation. 

It  is  curious  to  remark  the  wonderful  influence  of  vitality 

in  opposing  tho^e  chemical  changes  winch  constitute  putre 
fiction,  and  in  retaining  that  arrangement  of  the  organic 

elements  requisite  for  the  functions  of  lite  ;  when  a  part  of 

dies,  the  phenomena  of  gangrene  or  mortification 

ensue:  that  W,  of  local  putrefaction:  the  putrefactive  chan 
ges  are  the  more  energetic  in  consequence  of  the  proximity 
of  tin-  dead  pin  to  the  living. 

All  organic  tissues  may  be  indefinitely  preserved  by  CftU- 
tious  desiccation;  and  it  is  in  consequence  of  the  absence 
Of  Component  water  that  the  animal  part  of  bone  resists  pu- 
trefaction :  dried  bones  may  thus  be  stored  up  for  ages,  and 
when  it  is  required  to  extract  their  nutritive  parts,  these  are 
found  unimpaired. 

l'l  TTV.  in  Architecture,  a  very  fine  cement  used  by 
1008 


PYRAMIDS  OF  EGYPT. 

plasterers,  made  of  lime  only.  It  differs  from  fine  stuff  in 
the  manner  of  preparing  it,  and  in  its  being  used  without 
hair.  Also  a  composition  used  by  glaziers,  consisting  of  oil, 
Whiting,  &c. 

PY'CNITE,  or  SHORLOUS  TOPAZ.  (Gr.  wvkvoc, 
thick.)     A  prismatic  mineral  found  at  Altenburg  in  Saxony. 

PYTJNOSTYLE.  (Gr.  jrwevoy,  aud  orvXoc,  a  column.) 
In  Architecture,  an  arrangement  of  columns,  in  which  the 
intercolumniations  are  equal  to  one  diameter  and  a  half  of 
the  columns. 

PY'GMY.    See  Pigmy. 

PYLA'GORAS.  (Gr.  miXayopac,  so  called  from  the  as- 
sembly of  the  Amphictyons  at  Tbermopyle.)  The  title  of 
one  of  the  two  deputies  from  each  confederate  at  the  Aiu- 
phyctyonic  Council.  His  functions  comprised  the  diplo- 
matic and  deliberative  duties  of  the  mission:  while  the  care 
of  the  sacred  rites  fell  on  his  colleague,  the  Hieromnemon 
(Ispouvitnuv). 

PYLORI'DEANS,  Pyloridea.  (Gr.  m^r,,  an  entrance, 
ovpoc,  a  guard,  and  eitoc,  form.)  The  name  of  a  tribe  of 
Lamillibrancliiate  Bivalves,  comprehending  those  which 
have  a  shell  open  at  both  extremities. 

PYLO'RUS.  (Gr.  7ruA»;,  an  entrance,  and  ovpoc,  a  guard.) 
The  aperture  of  the  stomach  into  the  duodenum  ;  it  guards, 
as  it  were,  the  entrance  into  the  intestinal  canal. 

PYRA'LLOITE.  (Gr.  irvp.fire,  and  aAXoc,  another.)  A 
mineral  which  undergoes  various  changes  of  colour  when 
heated. 

PY'RAMID.  (Supposed  to  be  from  Gr.  irvp,  fire,  from 
the  resemblance  of  the  form  to  a  spire  of  flame  ;  but  for  a 
more  probable  derivation  of  the  word,  see  infra.  Pyramids 
of  Egypt).  In  Geometry,  a  solid  contained  by  a  plane 
polysonal  hase  and  other  planes  meeting  in  a  point.  This 
point  is  called  the  vertex  of  the  pyramid  ;  and  the  planes 
which  meet  in  the  vertex  are  called  the  sides,  which  are 
necessarily  all  triangles. 

The  principal  properties  of  pyramids  are  the  following : 
1.  Every  pyramid  is  equivalent  to  one  third  of  a  prism  hav- 
ing the  same  base  and  altitude.  Hence,  2.  All  pyramids 
having  equivalent  bases  and  equal  altitudes  are  equivalent. 

3.  The  solid  content  of  a  pyramid  is  measured  by  the  pro- 
duct of  the  area  of  the  base  into  one  third  of  the  altitude. 

4.  If  a  pyramid  is  cut  by  a  plane  parallel  to  its  base,  the 
frustum  (or  part  comprehended  between  the  base  and  the 
section)  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  three  pyramids  having  for 
their  common  altitude  that  of  the  frustum,  and  of  which 
the  bases  are  respectively  the  lower  base  of  the  frustum, 
the  upper  base  of  the  frustum,  and  a  mean  proportional  be- 
tween them.     (See  Legendre's  Geometry,  and  Notes.) 

Pyramids  are  denominated  from  the  figures  of  their  hases, 
being  triangular,  quadrangular,  pentagonal,  &c,  according 
as  the  base  is  a  triangle,  a  quadrangle,  a  pentagon. 

PYRAMIDS  OF  EGYPT.  Celebrated  monuments  of* 
massive  masonry,  which,  from  a  square  hase.  rise  by  regu- 
lar gradations  till  they  terminate  in  a  point,  but  so  that  the 
width  of  the  base  always  exceeds  the  perpendicular  height. 
The  pyramids  commence  immediately  south  of  Cairo,  but 
on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Nile,  and  extend  in  an  uninter- 
rupted range  for  many  miles  in  a  southerly  direction,  paral- 
lel with  the  hanks  of  the  river. 

The  three  largest  are  situated  in  the  vicinity  of  Ghi/.eh, 
not  far  from  Cairo;  and  of  these  the  loftiest  is  called  the 
pyramid  of  Cheops,  from  the  prince  by  whom  it  is  supposed 
to  have  been  erected.  The  side*  of  its  base,  which  are  in 
the  line  of  the  four  cardinal  points,  measure  at  the  founda- 
tion 7634  feet  :  so  that  it  occupies  a  space  of  more  than  13 
acres.  Its  perpendicular  height  is  480  feet,  being,  conse- 
quentlv  43  feet  higher  than   St.    Peter's  at    Rome,   and   136 

feet  higher  than  St.  Paul's.    Supposing  this  pyramid  to  be 

entirely  solid,  its  contents  would  exceed  three  millions  of 
cubic  yards,  and  the  muss  of  stone  contained  in  it  would  be 
six  times  as  great  as  that  contained  in  the  Plymouth  break- 
water! [Egyptian  Antiquities,  Library  of  Entertaining 
Knowledge,  ii.,  213).  This  hutre  fabric  consists  of  succes- 
sive tiers  of  vast  blocks  of  calcareous  stone,  rising  above 
each  other  in  the  form  of  steps.  The  thickness  of  the 
stones,  which  is  identical  with  the  height  of  the  steps,  de- 
creases  as  the  altitude  of  the  pyramid  increases,  the  great- 
est helgfal  being 4-628  ft.,  and  the  least  1-686  ft.  The  mean 
breadth  of  the  steps  is  about  1  ft.  9  in.  The  best  authori- 
ties agree  in  estimating  the  number  of  steps  or  tiers  of  stone 
at  203.  According  to  the  information  communicated  to 
Herodotus  by  the  priests,  100,000  men  were  employed  for 
twenty  yars  In  the  construction  of  this  prodigious  edifice ; 
nnd  ten  years  were  employed  in  constructing  a  causeway 


ii™ '. 


e^xtleries  have  been  eiplored  in 


of  the  principal 


..  .1  general  attention;  but  n«r  recently  the  reaearchea  of  Colonel  How- 
lid  Vt»  have  been  attended  with  greater  raoceas.  The  Utter  »rntlemim 
-  new  chamber!  in  the  itt.ai  pyramid  ;  he  at*) 
opene!  ihe  third  pyramid  of  Chizeb,  of  the  previous  opening  of  which  no 
tradition  eiistt. 


PYRAMIDAL  NUMBERS. 

by  which  to  convey  the  stones  to  the  place,  and  in  their 
conveyance.     (Lib.  ii.,  §  124.) 

The  olher  pyramids  are  of  inferior  dimensions  ;  but  they 
are  mostly  all,  notwithstanding,  of  vast  magnitude — instar 
montium  eductm :  they  are  not  all  of  stone,  some  of  them 
being  of  brick. 

Many  learned  dissertations  have  been  written,  and  many 
fanciful  and  a  few  ingenious  conjectures  have  been  framed, 
to  account  for  the  original  use  and  object  of  these  imperish- 
able structures.  But  the  difficulty  of  the  subject  is  such,  that 
hitherto  no  satisfactory  conclusion  has  been  arrived  at. 
Even  in  the  remotest  antiquity  their  origin  was  matter  of 
doubt,  and  nothing  certain  was  known  with  respect  to 
them  or  their  founders.  (Plin.  Hist.  Nat.,  lib.  36,  $  12.) 
On  the  whole,  however,  it  would  seem  to  be  most  proba- 
ble that  they  were  intimately  connected  with  the  religion 
of  the  ancient  Egyptians :  and  that  they  were  at  once  a 
species  of  tombs  and  temples,  but  participating  more  of  the 
latter  than  of  the  former  character.  (For  some  remarks  on 
this  part  of  the  subject,  see  Shaw's  Travels,  p.  170,  &.C., 
4to  edit. ;  and  Greaves's  Pyramidograpkia,  in  his  Works, 
vol.  i.) 

It  has  long  been  customary  to  regard  the  Pyramids  as 
monuments  merely  of  the  power  and  folly  of  the  monarchs 
by  whom  they  were  raised,  and  of  the  bondage  of  their  sub- 
jects. This,  however,  seems  to  be  a  very  superficial,  pre- 
judiced view  of  the  matter.  The  varying  magnitude  of  the 
pyramids,  the  fact  of  their  being  scattered  over  a  space  ex- 
tending lengthwise  about  70  miles,  and  their  extraordinary 
number,  appear  to  show  pretty  conclusively  that  they  must 
have  been  constructed  from  a  sense  of  utility  or  duty ;  and 
not  out  of  caprice,  or  from  a  vain  desire  to  perpetuate  the 
names  or  the  celebrity  of  the  founders.  If  we  had  a  suffi- 
cient knowledge  of  antiquity,  it  would  probably  be  found 
that  the  motives  which  led  to  the  construction  of  the  pyra- 
mids were,  at  bottom,  nearly  identical  with  those  which 
led  to  the  construction  of  St.  Peter's  and  St.  Paul's  ;  and 
that  they  are  monuments  of  the  religion  and  piety,  as  well 
as  of  the  power  of  the  Pharaohs. 

The  pyramids  were  esteemed  by  the  ancients  as  one  of 
the  seven  wonders  of  the  world,  and  most  deservedly  ;  for 
it  is  impossible  to  look  at  these  stupendous  structures  with- 
out being  overwhelmed  with  a  sense  of  their  sublimity. 
They  are  associated,  too,  with  some  of  the  most  interesting 
events  in  the  history  of  the  human  race.  Herodotus,  Plato, 
and  Pythagoras  beheld  them  with  wonder  and  admiration  ; 
Alexander  the  Great  and  Napoleon  marshalled  their  hosts 
under  their  shadow  ;  and  they  are  probably  destined  to  sur- 
vive long  after  the  proudest  monuments  of  the  present  gen- 
eration have  crumbled  into  dust. 

The  etymology  of  the  word  pyramid  is  involved  in  as 
great  obscurity  as  the  object  of  the  structures  themselves. 
The  most  usual  derivations  that  have  been  assigned  to  the 
term  almost  all  proceeded  on  the  supposition  that  it  is  of 
Greek  origin,  than  which  nothing  can  be  more  erroneous. 
Perhaps  the  most  probable  conjecture  is  that  of  De  Sacy, 
which  is  as  follows :  The  is  in  Trvpuun  he  regards  as  a 
Greek  termination  ;  the  first  syllable  irv  he  holds  to  be  the 
Greek  version  of  the  Egyptian  article  pi  (and  so  written  by 
the  Greeks  from  their  wish  to  derive  the  word  from  -rrvp, 
fire) ;  and  he  refers  the  syllable  p  iu  to  the  root  ram,  which, 
in  the  Egyptian  language,  signified  separating-  or  setting 
apart  from  common  use :  consequently,  the  word  pyramid 
will  denote  a  sacred  place  or  edifice  set  apart  for  some  reli- 
gious purpose.  (De  Sacy,  Observations  sur  I'Origine  du 
JVom  donne  par  les  Grecs  et  les  Arabs  aux  Pyramides 
d'JEgypte.)  See  M'Oulloch's  Geog.  Diet.,  art.  "Egypt," 
anil  the  authorities  there  cited. 

PYRAMIDAL  NUMBERS,  in  Arithmetic,  are  numbers 
formed  by  the  successive  sums  of  polygonal  numbers,  in 
the  same  manner  as  the  polygonal  numbers  are  formed  from 
arithmetical  progressions.    Thus : 

Arithmetical  progression,  1,  2,    3,    4,    5,  &c. 
Polygonal  numbers,  1,  3,    6,  10,  15,  &c. 

Pyramidal  numbers,  1,  4,  10,  20,  35,  &c. 

See.  Figurate  Numbers  and  Polygonal  Numbers. 

PYRENE'ITE.  A  mineral  found  in  the  limestone  of 
the  French  Pyrenees;  it  appears  to  be  a  variety  of  the 
garnet. 

PYRETO'LOGY.  (Gr.  Ttvperoc,  fever,  and  Aoyo?,  a  dis- 
course.)   The  doctrine  of  fevers. 

PYRE'XLE.  (Gr.  -vp,  fire,  and  elk,  habit.)  Fevers ; 
diseases  attended  by  fever. 

PYRI'TES.  (Gr.  ™p.)  Sulphurets  of  copper  and  iron, 
commonly  distinguished  as  copper  and  iron  pvrites.  The 
former  is  the  principal  ore  of  copper  ;  the  latter  is  an 
abundant  natural  product  of  a  brass-yellow  colour.  When 
exposed  to  air  and  moisture,  especially  after  having  been 
heated,  it  absorbs  oxygen,  and  yields  sulphate  of  iron,  or 
green  vitriol.  The  term  is  derived  from  irvp,  fire ;  either 
because  they  sometimes  spontaneously  ignite,  or  as  beina 
hard  enough  to  strike  fire  with  steel. 
85 


PYROMETER. 

PYROACE'TIC  SPIRIT.  A  liquid  formed  during  the 
destructive  distillation  of  acetate  of  lead.  When  carefully 
purified,  it  has  a  peculiar  spirituous  odour,  is  limpid,  and 
very  inflammable  ;  its  specific  gravity  is  0792,  and  it  boils 
at  132°.  It  consists  of  3  car. +  3  b.  + ox.  Hence  1  equiv- 
alent of  acetic  acid  (4  car. +  3  h. +  3  ox.)  corresponds  to  1 
equivalent  of  pyroacetic  spirit  and  1  of  carbonic  acid ; 
hence  dry  acetate  of  baryta  is  resolved  by  heat  into  car- 
bonate of  baryta  and  pyroacetic  spirit.  The  term  acetone  is 
now  commonly  applied  to  this  compound. 

PYRO-ACIDS.  (Gr.  iru/>.)  The  prefix  pyro  is  usually 
applied  to  the  products  which  are  obtained  by  subjecting 
certain  organic  acids  to  heat.  The  acids  are  thus  modified, 
and  give  rise  to  distinct  classes  of  salts.  Thus  we  have 
the  pyrogallic,  pyromalic,  pyrotartaric  acids,  &.c. 

PY'ROCHLORE.  (Or.  vvp,  and  x*<"/>o?>  green.)  A 
name  given  by  Werner  to  the  octoedral  ore  of  titanium. 

PYROLI'GNEOUS  ACID.  (Gr.  m>p,  and  Lat.  lignum, 
wood.)  This  term  is  generally  applied  to  the  acid  liquor 
which  passes  over  along  with  tar  and  gaseous  products 
when  wood  is  subjected  to  destructive  distillation.  This 
acid  liquor  is  an  impure  vinegar,  from  which  acetic  acid  is 
obtained  as  follows :  The  pyroligneous  acid,  freed  from 
tar,  is  saturated  with  chalk  or  powdered  slaked  lime,  filter- 
ed, and  evaporated,  by  which  an  impure  acetate  of  lime  is 
obtained  ;  this  is  gently  heated,  so  as  to  destroy  part  of  its 
empyreumatic  matter  without  decomposing  the  acetic 
acid  ;  it  is  then  mixed  with  sulphate  of  soda,  which  yields, 
by  double  decomposition,  sulphate  of  lime  and  acetate  of 
soda ;  the  acetate  of  soda  is  filtered  otf  the  sulphate  of 
lime,  evaporated,  heated,  and  redissolved  and  crystallized. 
In  this  way  a  pure  crystallized  acetate  of  soda  is,  by  proper 
management,  obtained,  which  is  mixed  in  a  retort  or  still 
with  a  proper  proportion  of  sulphuric  acid,  and  a  gentle 
heat  applied,  which  causes  the  strong  acetic  acid  to  distil 
over,  and  sulphate  of  soda  remains  behind.  This  acetic 
acid  is  in  a  high  state  of  concentration;  it  is  lowered  by 
the  addition  of  water,  and  if  intended  for  the  table  or  for 
domestic  use,  as  a  substitute  for  other  forms  of  vinegar,  it 
is  usually  coloured  with  a  little  burned  sugar.  The  char- 
coal which  is  the  residue  of  this  distillation  of  wood  is  of 
an  excellent  quality — that  employed  in  the  manufacture  of 
gunpowder  is  thus  prepared.  This  manufacture  of  vinegar 
is  now  carried  on  upon  a  very  large  scale,  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  vinegar  used  for  domestic  purposes  and  in  the 
arts,  in  many  of  which  it  is  largely  consumed,  is  derived 
from  this  source. 

PYROLIGNEOUS  SPIRIT.    Sec  Pyroxvlic  Spirit. 

PYROLU'SITE.  A  mineralogtcal  term  applied  by  some 
to  the  common  black  or  binoxide  of  manganese,  from  the 
facility  with  which  it  is  resolved  by  heat  into  oxygen  and 
a  suboxide. 

PY'ROMANCY.  (Gr.  irvp,  and  navrcia,  prophecy.) 
Among  the  classical  ancients,  a  species  of  divination  by 
means  of  the  fire  of  the  sacrifice  ;  in  which,  if  the  flames 
immediately  took  hold  of  and  consumed  the  victims,  or  if 
they  were  bright  and  pure,  or  if  the  sparks  rose  upward  in 
a  pyramidal  form,  success  was  said  to  be  indicated.  If  the 
contrary  took  place,  misfortunes  were  said  to  be  presaged. 

PYRO'METER.  (Gr.  irvp,  and  anpov,  measure.)  An 
instrument  for  measuring  the  degrees  of  heat.  According 
to  this  definition,  the  pyrometer  is  synonymous  with  ther- 
mometer ;  but  though  the  two  terms  are  sometimes  applied 
indifferently  to  the  same  instrument,  the  term  pyrometer 
is  generally  understood  to  denote  either  an  instrument  in- 
tended to  measure  higher  temperatures  than  can  be  meas- 
ured by  the  ordinary  thermometer,  or  an  instrument  for 
comparing  the  expansions  of  different  metals. 

Various  contrivances  have  been  employed  for  the  above 
purposes.  Musschenbroek,  the  original  inventor  of  the  py- 
rometer, adopted  the  following  method :  A  prismatic  rod 
(about  six  inches  long)  of  the  metal  under  trial  being  at- 
tached at  one  extremity  to  an  immoveable  obstacle,  and 
heated  by  lamps,  the  other  end  is  necessarily  pushed  for- 
ward ;  and  this  being  fastened  to  the  end  of  a  rack  playing 
into  a  pinion,  communicates  a  revolving  motion  to  an  axle  to 
which  a  train  of  wheel- work  is  attached,  whereby  the 
minutest  expansion  of  the  heated  bar  is  rendered  sensible, 
and  measured  by  an  index  on  a  dial.  The  principle  of  this 
apparatus  is  sufficiently  simple  ;  but  the  uncertainty  attend- 
ing the  motion  of  so  many  loosely  connected  wheels  and 
pinions  must  have  rendered  its  indications  of  little  value  ; 
and  the  method  is  liabie  to  a  still  more  serious  objection, 
namely,  that  the  temperature  communicated  to  the  bar  by 
the  lamps  is  entirely  unknown.  Desaguliers,  and  afterwards 
Ellicott,  made  several  improvements  in  the  construction  of 
the  instrument,  tending  to  give  it  a  mote  equable  motion 
and  to  increase  its  delicacy.  Graham  substituted  a  microme- 
ter screw  for  the  wheels  and  levers  that  had  formerly  been 
employed  ;  and  on  this  principle  Mr.  Smeaton  contrived  an 
ingenious  apparatus,  which  is  described  in  the  Phil.  Trans., 
vol.  xlviii. 

3R  1009 


PYROMORPHITE. 

Various  niher  forms  of  the  pyrometer  have  been  proposed. 
to  render  it  better  adapted  for  the  measurement  of  expansion 
by  heat;  among  which  the  most  perfect  perhaps  are  those 
contrived  by  Ferguson,  JJe  Luc,  and  particularly  that  em- 
ployed bj  Kamsden  for  determining  the  expansion  of  the 
glass  rods  used  in  measuring  the  base  on  Hounslow  Heatb 
fix  Genera]  Ion's  survey,    ^ee  Phil.  Trans.,  1785.] 

for  ascertaining  the  temperatures  of  furnaces,  and  other 
verv  high  temperatures,  the  pyrometers  now  described  are 
inapplicable.  In  order  to  remedy  this  deficiency,  Wedgwood 
availed  himself  of  the  property  which  clay  possesses  of 
contracting  by  heat,  and  remaining  afterwards  in  that  state 
of  contraction.  He  found,  by  repeated  trials,  that  fine  porce- 
lain clay  contracted  Uniformly  with  the  degree  of  heat  ap- 
plied to  it  ;  accordingly,  by  measuring  the  dimensions  of  a 
cylindrical  piece  of  this  substance  (which  may  be  done  «  ith 
great  accuracy,  by  observing  the  depth  to  which  it  will  sink 
between  rWO  scales  Of  metal  inclined  to  each  other  under  a 
small  angle),  and  the  subjecting  it  to  the  heat  of  a  furnace, 
and  applying  the  scale  again  to  it  when  cold,  an  indication 
of  the  degree  of  heat  to  which  it  has  been  subjected  is  given 
by  the  amount  Of  its  contraction.  Wedgwood  divided  his 
scale  into  240°;  and,  in-  order  to  compare  it  with  that  of 
Fahrenheit's  thermometer,  made  use  of  a  piece  of  fine  silver 
fitted  to  the  same  mould  as  the  pyrometric  pieces  of  clay. 
Having  determined  the  expansion  of  the  silver  between  50° 
and  '-!-  of  Fahrenheit's  scale,  the  silver  and  clay  were 
subjected  to  the  same  heat ;  and,  by  a  comparison  of  the 
expansion  of  the  one  with  the  contraction  of  the  other,  he 
estimated  that  each  degree  of  his  scale  was  equal  to  130° 
of  Fahrenheit's.  He  also  estimated  that  the  zero  of  his 
scale  corresponded  with  1077-53  of  Fahr. ;  and  from  these 
data  comparative  tables  of  the  two  scales  are  formed.  The 
objections  to  this  method  are,  that  as  clay  is  a  heterogeneous 
mixture,  it  is  not  very  probable  (and  there  are  no  means  of 
ascertaining  the  fact)  that  its  contractions  are  equal  at 
different  temperatures;  and  that  different  portions  of  clay 
possess  different  degrees  of  contractibility.  It  was  also  sur- 
mised that  a  long  or  frequent  exposure  to  inferior  degrees 
of  heat  will  cause  it  to  contract,  even  after  it  has  undergone 
tin;  action  of  a  high  temperature  :  but  this  appears  to  have 
been  disproved.     [Phil.  Traits.,  1782,  1784J  1786.) 

Guyton  Morveau  invented  a  platina  pyrometer  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  Wedgwood's.  In  a  solid  plate  of  highly  baked 
porcelain  a  groove  was  cut  containing  a  fiat  bar  of  platina. 
an  inch  and  three  quarters  in  length,  two  tenths  of  an  inch 
broad,  and  one  tenth  of  an  inch  thick.  One  end  of  the  bar 
abuts  against  the  bottom  of  the  groove,  the  other  presses 
against  the  short  arm  of  a  bent  lever,  of  which  the  long  arm, 
moving  on  a  pivot,  becomes  the  index  of  the  instrument, 
and  marks  t lie  degrees  on  a  scale  fixed  to  the  porcelain. 
With  this  instrument  he  made  numerous  experiments,  the 
general  result  of  which  proved  that  Wedgwood  had  assigned 
by  far  too  high  a  temperature  for  the  decrees  of  his  scale. 
(jlnnales  de  Chimie,  torn.  xlvi. ;  Nicholson's  Journal,  vol.  vi.) 

A  pyrometer,  invented  by  Professor  Daniell,  is  described 
in  the  eleventh  volume  of  Brandt's  Quarterly  Journal. 
The  part  on  which  the  heat  acts  consists  of  a  rod  or  wire  of 
platina,  about  ten  inches  in  length,  and  about  a  seventh  of 
an  inch  in  diameter,  placed  within  a  tube  of  black  lead 
ware,  and  having  one  end  lixed  at  the  bottom  of  the  tube: 
to  the  other  end  is  attached  a  fine  wire  of  platina,  which, 
after  passing  two  or  three  times  round  the  axis  of  a  wheel, 
is  fastened  to  a  spring  by  which  it  is  always  preserved  at 
the  same  degree  of  tension.  The  teeth  of  the  wheel  play 
into  a  pinion,  the  axis  of  which  carries  an  index,  whose 
revolution  show.-,  on  a  greatly  magnified  scale,  the  expan- 
sion and  contraction  of  tin-  platina  rod.  With  this  instru- 
ment experiments  u  ere  made  to  determine  the  fusing  points 
of  the  different  metals;  the  results  agreed  nearly  with  those 
of  Morveau,  but  differed  widely  from  those  of  Wedgwood. 
Blr.  Danieii  subsequently  made  great  Improvements  upon 
this  apparatus,  or  rather  invented  a  second  pyrometer, 
which  is  described  in  the  Phil,  '/'am*.,  for  1830,  and  the 
Phil.  Magazine  for  1831  and  1832. 

For  Mr.  Prtnsep's  method  of  determining  high  tempera- 
tures from  the  fusing  points  of  pun-  metals  and  different 
metallic  alloys,  see  Phil.  Trans.,  1828;  or  Phil.  Mag.,  new 
s  dee,  vol.  hi.  (See  Library  of  Useful  Knowledge ;  Grego- 
ry's Mechanics  ;   Encyc,  Brit.) 

PYKo.Mu'it-i'iilTK.  (Gr.irop, and uopfa,  form.)  Native 
phosphate  of  lead.  When  healed  before  the  blowpipe,  it 
fuses  into  a  globule,  which  assumes  a  polj  hedral  crystalline 
form  as  ii  cools. 

PY'ROPE.  (Gr.  nvp,  and  tod/,  the  eye.)  A  fiery  or  bril- 
liant red  garnet 

PYROTHORUS.  (Gr.  trap,  and  <btpu>,  /  bear.)  A  sub- 
stance which  spontaneous!)  takes  lire  when  exposed  to  air, 
tttomberg'e  pyrophorus  is  made  by  mixing  equal  weights  of 

Blum   and  brown   sugar,  and  stirring  the   mixture  OVW   the 
fire  in  an   iron  ladle  till   quite  dry;  it  is  then   put  into  an 
earthen  or  coated  glass  bottle,  and  heated  red-hot  so  long  as 
1010 


PYRRHIC  DANCE. 

a  flame  appears  at  the  mouth  ;  it  is  then  removed,  carefully 
stopped,  and  suffered  to  cool.  The  black  powder  which  it 
contains  becomes  flowing  hot  when  exposed  lor  a  few 
minutes  to  the  air :  the  experiment  succeeds  best  in  a  dam'' 
state  of  the  atmosphere,  and  the  ignition  is  frequently  ac- 
Celerated  by  breathing  upon  the  powder.  A  mixture  of  3 
parts  of  lampblack,  4  of  dried  alum,  and  8  of  carbonate  of 
potassa,  may  be  substituted  for  the  above,  and  calcined  in 
the  same  way:  -27  pans  of  sulphate  of  potassa  and  15  of 
calcined  lampblack,  heated  to  redness  in  a  crucible,  and 
then  carefully  preserved  out  of  contact  of  air,  also  yields  a 
good  pyrophorus. 

It  appears  from  Gay  Lussac's  experiments  that  the  essen- 
tial ingredient  in  pyrophorus  is  sulphuret  of  potassium  ;  the 
charcoal  and  alumina  only  act  by  being  interposed  between 
its  particles  ;  but,  when  the  mass  once  kindles,  the  charcoal 
takes  fire  and  prolongs  the  combustion.  An  excellent  pyro- 
phorus is  afforded  by  heating  tartrate  of  lead  red-hot  in  a 
glass  tube,  in  which  it  may  afterwards  be  hermetically 
sealed.  When  the  tube  is  broken,  and  the  black  powder 
within  it  shaken  out  through  the  air,  it  bums  with  the  emis- 
sion of  a  dense  smoke  of  oxide  of  lead.  This  curiously 
shows  the  spontaneous  Inflammability  of  minutely  divided 
lead. 

PYRO'RTHITE.  (Gr.  ™p,  and  opfloc,  straight.)  A 
mineral  resembling  orthite,  but  differently  affected  by  heat. 

PYRO'SIS.  (Gr.  -rrvpou),  I  burn.)  A  disease  of  the 
stomach,  attended  by  a  binning  sensation,  and  the  throwing 
up  of  a  quantity  of  saline  and  sour  fluid;  it  is  sometimes 
called  water  brash  and  black  water:  it  is  a  variety  of  heart- 
burn. 

PYRO'SMALITE.  (Gr.  vvp,  oouv,  odour,  and  hQos,  a 
stone.)  A  native  submuriate  of  iron,  which,  when  heated, 
exhales  the  odour  of  chlorine. 

PY'ROSOME,  Pyrosoma.  (Gr.  -rep,  and  auua,  a  body.) 
The  generic  name  of  certain  compound  Ascidians,  remarka- 
ble for  the  brilliant  phosphoric  luminosity  which  they  emit. 

PY'ROTE'CIINY  (Gr.  Trip,  and  rex'-n,  art),  signifies,  in 
its  widest  sense,  the  art  or  science  which  teaches  the  man- 
agement and  application  of  tire  to  certain  operations  ;  but 
it  is  most  usually  restricted  to  those  articles  and  instruments 
manufactured  for  amusement,  or  for  grand  public  occasions. 
The  origin  of  artificial  fireworks  is  lost  in  obscurity.  They 
were  in  general  use  in  China  long  before  their  introduction 
into  Europe,  winch  is  comparatively  of  recent  date.  The 
finest  inventions  of  this  kind  are  due  to  the  celebrated  Rug- 
gieri,  father  and  son,  who  executed  in  Home  and  Paris,  and 
the  principal  capitals  of  Europe,  the  most  brilliant  tirew  orks 
that  were  ever  seen. 

Fireworks  are  divided  into  three  classes  :  1.  Those  to  be 
Bet  off  Upon  the  ground;  -2.  Those  which  are  shot  up  into 
the  air  ;  and  3.  Those  which  act  upon  or  under  water. 

The  three  prime  materials  of  this  art  are,  nitre,  sulphur, 
and  charcoal,  along  with  filings  of  iron,  steel,  copper,  zinc, 
and  resin,  camphor,  lycopodium,  &c.  Gunpowder  is  used 
either  in  grain,  half  crushed,  or  finely  ground,  for  different 
purposes.  The  longer  the  iron  filings,  the  brighter  red  and 
white  sparks  they  give  ;  those  being  preferred  which  are 
made  xxith  a  very  coarse  file,  and  quite  free  from  rust. 
Sieel  filings  and  cast-iron  borings  contain  carbon,  and  afford 
a  more  brilliant  fire,  with  wavy  radiations.  Copper  filings 
give  a  greenish  tint  to  flame,  those  of  zinc  a  fine  blue 
colour ;  the  sulphuret  of  antimony  gives  a  less  greenish  blue 
than  zinc,  but  with  much  smoke;  amber  affords  a  yellow 
fire,  as  well  as  colophony  and  common  salt;  but  the  last 
must  be  very  dry.  Lampblack  produces  a  very  red  colour 
with  gunpowder,  and  a  pink  with  nitre  in  excess.  It  serves 
for  making  golden  showers.     The  yellow  sand. or  glistening 

mica,  communicates  to  fire-Works  golden  radiations.  Ver- 
digris imparts  a  pale  green;  sulphate  of  copper  and  sal- 
ammoniac,  a  palm-tree  green.  Camphor  yields  a  very 
u  bite  Same  and  aromatic  fumes,  which  mask  the  bad  smell 
of  other  substances.  Benzoin  and  storax  are  used  also  on 
account  of  their  agreeable  odour.     Lycopodnuu  burns  with 

a  rose  colour  and  a  magnificenl  Same  ;  but  it  is  principally 
employed  in  theatres  to  represenl  lightning,  or  to  charge  the 
torch  of  a  fury.  (Bee,  for  full  information  as  to  the  various 
processes  adopled  m  the  construction  of  fire-works,  Ure'a 
1/1,  i.  ot  .  irts,  At,  art.  "  Fireworks.") 
n  &OXENE.    [Gr.  irvp,  and  leuos,  a,  stranger.)    The 

iitustti-,  supposed  to  have  pre-existed  in  the  volcanic  mine- 
rals containing  it,  and  acfl  to  have  been  formed  by  fire. 
PYROXY'LIC  SPIRIT.    (Gr.   imp,  and  \v\ov,  wood.) 
i  of  the  products  of  Hie  destructive  distillation  off 
wood.    Its  specific  gravity  when  rectified  is  0*804 :  it  boila 
at  150      II  burns  \vith  a  blue  flame,  and  ma*j  be  used  as  ■ 
substitute  for  alcohol  in  lamps.  ior  which  purpose  it  is  often 
.-"id  under  the  name  of  naphtha.    It  is  assumed  to  be  the 
hydrate  of  a  peculiar  hydrocarbon  which  chemists  have 
d  by  the  term  methylene  (from  ni0v,wine,  and  v\n, 

PI   KK11IC   DANCE,  called  by  the  Romans  Pyrrhfca 


PYRRHONISTS. 

Ealtalio.  A  species  of  warlike  dance,  said  to  have  been 
invented  by  Pyrrhus  to  grace  the  funeral  of  his  father 
Achilles,  though  this  point  is  involved  in  obscurity.  This 
dance  consisted  chiefly  in  such  an  adroit  and  nimble  turning 
of  the  body  as  represented  an  attempt  to  avoid  the  strokes 
of  an  enemy  in  battle,  and  the  motions  necessary  to  perform 
it  were  looked  upon  as  a  kind  of  training  for  the  field  of 
battle.  This  dance  is  supposed  to  be  described  by  Homer 
as  engraved  on  the  shield  of  Achilles.  Lord  Byron  describes 
the  Suliotes  as  still  performing  this  dance  (Childe  Harold)  ; 
and  in  the  famous  fide  on  the  aspirations  of  Greece  after 
liberty,  he  exclaims: 

"  You  have  the  Pyrrhic  dance  as  yet  ; 
Where  is  the  Pyrrhic  phalanx  gone? 
Of  two  such  lessons  why  forget 
The  nobler  and  the  manlier  one  ?" 

PY'RRHONISTS.  The  followers  of  Pyrrho,  a  philoso- 
pher of  Elis,  and  disciple  of  Anaxarchus,  who  flourished 
about  300  B.C.  Their  tenets,  which  have  come  to  us  only 
through  the  reports  of  unfriendly  writers,  are  said  to  have 
been  so  absurdly  sceptical,  that  the  Pyrrhonists  would  not 
put  even  as  much  confidence  in  the  senses  as  was  necessary 
tor  the  preservation  of  their  existence ;  but  this  seems  partly 
refuted  by  the  age  at  which  Pyrrho  himself  died,  which 
was  90  years.  There  is  a  summary  of  the  doctrines  of  Pyr- 
rhonism" in  the  2d  vol.  of  the  historical  part  of  the  Encyc. 
Jiletropolitana.     See  Scepticism. 

PYTHAGORE'ANS.  The  followers  of  Pythagoras,  a 
native  of  Samos,  born  B.C.  570  ;  said  to  have  been  the  first 
Greek  who  assumed  the  title  of  a  philosopher.  Pythagoras, 
after  travelling  through  Egypt  and  the  East  in  search  of 
instruction,  finally  fixed  his  abode  at  Crotona,  one  of  the 
Dorian  colonies  in  the  south  of  Italy.  He  here  attached  to 
himself  n  large  number  of  youths  of  noble  descent,  whom 
he  formed  into  a  secret  fraternity  for  religious  and  political 
as  well  as  philosophical  purposes  ;  and  by  their  assistance 
produced  many  beneficial  changes  in  the  institutions  of 
Croton  and  the  other  Grreco-Italian  cities.  Of  the  strictly 
philosophical  tenets  of  the  Pythagoreans  very  imperfect 
records  are  preserved.  Many  of  the  doctrines  ordinarily 
imputed  to  them  are  evidently  the  fabrication  of  the  later 
Pythagoreans,  a  class  of  visionaries  who  lived  during  the 
decline  of  the  Roman  empire.  The  fragments  of  Philolaus, 
apparently  a  genuine  follower  of  Pythagoras,  have  been 
collected  by  Boeckh ;  but  these,  combined  with  what  ac- 
counts we  can  glean  from  Plato,  Aristotle,  and  others,  are 
far  from  being  sufficient  to  give  us  the  information  necessary 
for  a  clear  understanding  of  this  very  singular  system.  One 
point  is  sufficiently  evident,  that  the  Pythagoreans  were  the 
greatest  mathematicians  of  their  time,  and  that  they  sought 
in  the  study  of  mathematical  relations  that  solution  of  the 
principal  philosophical  problems  for  which  their  contempo- 
raries, the  Ionic  and  Eleatic  philosophers,  sought,  the  first 
in  physical,  the  others  in  ontological  hypotheses.  Bearing 
this  peculiarity  distinctly  in  mind,  the  student  of  the  history 
of  philosophy  will  be  prepared  for  much  in  the  Pythagorean 
doctrine  which  would  otherwise  seem  capricious  and  unin- 
telligible. To  reduce  the  phenomena  presented  to  the  senses 
to  harmony  with  the  laws  of  reason  is  the  first  endeavour 
of  philosophical  thinkers:  to  determine  its  own  limits,  and 
the  necessary  laws  of  its  operation,  is  among  the  last  of  the 
problems  of  which  the  reason  enters  on  the  solution.  The 
relations  of  space  and  quantity,  as  they  are  the  most  obvious, 
are  also  the  most  distinct  and  definite  forms,  in  which  the 
laws  of  the  outward  world  can  present  themselves  to  this 
faculty.  We  cannot,  therefore,  feel  surprise  when  we  dis- 
cover in  the  early  mathematicians  that  error  which  has 
more  or  less  prevailed  among  all  great  mathematicians  who 
meddled  with  philosophy — the  error  of  striving  to  enlarge 
the  domain  of  their  favourite  science  beyond  its  legitimate 
bounds.  Precisely  as  the  atomic  philosophers  have  en- 
deavoured to  explain  all  things  by  a  diversity  in  the  figure 
of  their  ultimate  parts,  the  Pythagoreans  seemed  to  have 
found,  in  the  number  and  proportions  of  those  parts,  the 
true  essence  of  the  things  themselves.  Having  proceeded 
thus  far,  they  went  a  step  farther.  They  perceived  that 
the  universe  and  its  parts  are  obedient  to  certain  laws,  and 
that  these  laws  can  be  expressed  by  numbers.  By  a  mis- 
take prevalent  during  every  period  of  speculation,  they 
mistook  the  necessary  conditions  of  a  thing's  subsistence 
for  the  essence  of  that  thing  itself,  and  at  once  pronounced 
that  numerical  relations  were  not  merely  all  that  could  be 
understood  in  outward  phenomena,  but  were,  in  fact,  all 
that  was  real  in  them.  Units  of  number  grew  gradually 
into  points  in  space,  and  these  into  material  atoms.  To 
every  order  of  existence,  even  to  many  abstract  conceptions, 
a  distinct  number  was  assigned.  God  is  represented  as  the 
original  unity  ;  the  human  soul,  the  earth,  the  planets,  the 
animal  creation,  have  each  their  own  peculiar  arithmetical 
essence ;  as  have  also  the  abstractions  justice,  opportunity 
(icaipds),  opinion,  &c.  In  many  of  these  numbers,  it  is  not 
difficult  to  imagine  a  symbolical  meaning  ;  but  how  far  any 


QUADRANT. 

such  meaning  was  contemplated  by  the  Pythagoreans  must 
remain  matter  of  doubt. 

The  outlines  of  a  dualislic  scheme  are  discernible  in  a 
singular  table  of  opposites  (crvoroixia),  preserved  to  us  by 
Aristotle,  in  which  the  two  principles  of  the  universe  are 
successively  represented  under  the  form  of  limit  and  the 
unlimited,  odd  and  even,  one  and  many,  right  and  left,  male 
and  female,  still  and  moved,  straight  and  curved,  light  and 
darkness,  good  and  evil,  square  and  oblong. 

But  it  would  far  fljxceed  our  limits  to  enumerate  the 
various  fanciful  disguises  under  which  the  Pythagoreans 
voluntarily  or  involuntarily  concealed  the  result  of  their 
meditations.  Their  moral  system  is  more  intelligible,  being 
founded,  as  the  tone  of  their  general  doctrines  would  lead 
us  to  anticipate,  on  the  ideas  of  law  and  harmony.  Every 
state,  and  every  member  of  a  state,  is  to  exhibit,  each  in  his 
degree,  a  miniature  resemblance  of  the  universal  constitu- 
tion of  the  world.  This  essentially  Greek  idea  they  sought 
to  realize  in  themselves  by  a  long  course  of  propedeutic 
discipline,  in  which  music  plays  a  conspicuous  part.  That 
the  Pythagoreans  were  strongly  influenced  by  their  doctrines, 
is  sufficiently  apparent  in  the  length  of  time  during  which 
their  brotherhood  continued.  Philolaus,  Lysis,  Cleinias, 
Eurythes,  and  Archytes,  in  all  probability  genuine  Pytha- 
goreans, were  contemporaries  of  Plato  and  Socrates.  (See 
ThirlwalVs  Hist,  of  Greece,  vol.  ii.,  c.  12. ;  Hitter's  Hist, 
of  Philosophy,  b.  iv. ;  Boeckh's  Philolaus,  &c.) 

The  doctrine  of  metempsychosis,  or  the  transmigration  of 
souls  through  different  orders  of  animal  existence,  is  the 
main  feature  by  which  the  Pythagorean  philosophy  is 
popularly  known.  It  is,  however,  by  no  means  certain 
that  the  genuine  Pythagoreans  held  this  doctrine  in  a  literal 
sense.  It  may  have  been  only  a  mythical  way  of  commu- 
nicating their  belief  in  the  individuality  and  post  mortem 
duration  of  the  soul. 

PY'THIAN  GAMES.  One  of  the  four  great  national 
festivals  of  Greece,  celebrated  every  fifth  year  in  honour 
of  Apollo,  near  Delphi.  Their  institution  is  variously  re- 
ferred to  Amphictyon,  son  of  Deucalion,  founder  .of  the 
council  of  Amphictyons,  and  Dionied,  son  of  Tydeus ;  but 
the  most  common  legend  is,  that  they  were  founded  by 
Apollo  himself,  after  he  had  overcome  the  dragon  Python. 
The  contests  were  the  same  as  those  at  Olympia,  and  the 
victors  were  rewarded  with  apples  and  garlands  of  laurel. 
As  is  well  known,  the  priestess  who  delivered  the  oracle  at 
Delphi  was  called  Pythia.     See  Delphi. 

PY'THON.  (Gr.  vvduiv.)  The  name  of  a  genus  of 
large  non-venomous  Ophidian  reptiles,  having  anal  hooks, 
and  a  double  series  of  sub-caudal  scuta?. 

PYX.  The  name  given  to  the  box  in  which  the  host  is 
kept  by  the  Roman  Catholic  priesthood. 

PYXI'DIUM.  (Gr.  nvfa,  a  small  box.)  A  fruit  which 
divides  circularly  into  a  lower  and  upper  half,  of  which  the 
latter  acts  as  a  kind  of  lid. 

PY'XIS  NAUTICA.  The  Mariner's  Compass.  A  con- 
stellation of  the  southern  hemisphere,  formed  by  Lacaille. 

PYX,  TRIAL  OF.     See  Coinage. 


a. 


Q.  (Fr.  queue,  a  tail ;  its  form  being  that  of  O  with  a 
tail.)  In  all  the  languages  in  which  it  is  used  it  is  invaria- 
bly followed  by  u.  Q.  is  used  as  an  abbreviation  for  ques- 
tion :  Qy.  for  query  ;  Q.  E.  D.  for  quod  erat  demonstran- 
dum, which  was  to  be  demonstrated,  &c. 

QUADRAGE'SIMA.  (Lat.  fortieth.)  In  the  Calendar, 
a  term  applied  to  the  time  of  Lent,  because  it  consists  of 
about  forty  days.  Quadragesima  Sunday  is  the  first  Sun- 
day in  Lent,  and  about  the  fortieth  day  before  Easter. 

QUADRA'NGLE.  In  Geometry,  a  plane  figure  having 
four  angles,  and  consequently  four  sides. 

QUA'DRANS.  A  division  of  the  Roman  as,  consisting 
of  one  fourth  of  it,  or  three  ounces  when  the  as  was  of  its 
full  weight.  (See  As,  Teruncius.)  A  farthing.  Before 
Edward  I.  the  smallest  coin  was  a  penny  or  starling.  It 
was  marked  with  a  cross,  so  as  to  admit  of  being  quartered ; 
but,  to  avoid  unfair  cutting,  half  pence  and  farthings  were 
coined  in  the  above  reign. 

QUA'DRANT.  In  Geometry,  the  fourth  part  of  a  cir- 
cle ;  an  arc  of  90  degrees. 

Quadrant  is  also  a  mathematical  instrument,  formerly 
much  used  in  astronomy  and  navigation.  The  instrument 
is  variously  contrived  and  fitted  up,  according  to  the  purpose 
for  which  it  is  intended  ;  but  it  consists  essentially  of  a  limb 
or  arch  of  a  circle  equal  to  the  fourth  of  the  circumference, 
and  divided  into  90°,  with  subdivisions.  The  mural  qua- 
drant is  of  considerable  size  (6  or  8  feet  radius,  for  example), 
the  axes  of  which  moves  in  a  wall  or  solid  piece  of  mason- 
ry. Ptolemy,  in  the  Almagest,  describes  a  quadrant  with 
which  he  determined  the  obliquity  of  the  ecliptic.    Tycho 

1011 


aUADRANTAL  TRIANGLE. 

Brahe  had  D  large  mural  quadrant  for  observing  altitudes, 
and  others  which  revolved  on  a  vertical  axis  fol  measuring 
azimuths.  Picart,  in  his  measurement  of  the  earth,  used  a 
quadrant  for  his  terrestrial  angles.  In  1725  a  mural  qua- 
drant, by  Graham,  was  erected  in  the  Royal  Observatory  al 

IWich,  which,  in  1750,  was  replaced  by  Bird's  quadrant, 

with  which  Bradley  made  his  celebrated  observations.   The 

quadrant  has,  however,  of  late  years  been  entirely  super- 
seded by  the  mi.™/  circle;  it  having  been  found  that  tiie 
circle,  on  account  of  the  symmetry  ojfcits  form,  and  the  ad- 
vantage which  it  possesses  of  allowing  the  readings  to  be 
made  at  different  parts  of  the  limb,  is  an  instrument  much 
more  to  be  relied  on.  (See  Mcral  Circle.)  Hadley'a 
quadrant,  ill  its  principle  and  application,  is  the  same  as  the 
i it.  by  which  it  lias  been  superseded.  (Sec  Sextant  ) 
For  further  information  respecting  the  quadrant,  see  La- 
lande,  Astronomic,  s.  3311. ;  I'mcc's  Practical  Astronomy; 
Pearson's  Practical  Astronomy  ;  and  the  Penny  Cyclopedia. 

QUADRANT,  in  Gunnery,  or  the  gunner's  square,  is  an  in- 
strument used  for  elevating  and  pointing  cannon,  mortars, 
&c.  It  consists  of  two  rectangular  branches  of  wood  or 
brass,  having  a  quadrantal  ar.  h  between  them,  divided  into 
90°,  and  furnished  with  a  thread  and  plummet.  One  of  the 
branches  being  placed  in  I  lie  mouth  of  the  piece,  the  de- 
gree intersected  by  the  thread  on  the  limb  shows  the  ele- 
vation. 

QUADRAN'TAL  TRIANGLE,  in  Trigonometry,  is  a 
spherical  triangle  which  has  one  side  equal  to  a  quarter  of 
a  circle,  cr  90°. 

QUA'DRANT  OF  ALTITUDE.  An  appendix  to  an 
artificial  globe,  consisting  of  a  tliin  pliable  slip  of  brass, 
which  is  applied  to  the  globe,  and  used  as  a  scale  for  mea- 
suring the  distances  between  points  in  degrees.  It  is  gra- 
duated into  90°,  the  degrees  being  of  the  same  length  as 
those  on  one  of  the  great  circles  of  the  globe.  At  the  end 
where  the  division  terminates  a  nut  is  rivetted  on,  and  fur- 
nished with  a  screw,  by  which  it  is  attached  to  the  brass 
meridian  of  the  globe  at  any  point.  This  point  being  placed 
in  the  .zenith,  and  the  quadrant  applied  to  the  globe,  its 
zero  coincides  with  the  horizon,  and  consequently  the  alti- 
tude of  any  point  along  its  graduated  edge  is  indicated  by 
the  corres(ionding  division. 

aUADRA'TIU  EQUATION,  in  Algebra,  is  an  equation 
of  the  second  degree,  or  one  which  involves  the  second 
power,  or  square,  of  the  unknown  quantity. 

Quadratic  equations  are  of  two  kinds,  incomplete  and 
complete.  The  incomplete  equation  is  that  which  contains 
only  terms  affected  by  the  square,  and  not  by  the  simple 
power  of  the  unknown  quantity.  It  is  also  called  an  equa 
tion  of  two  terms,  because  by  means  of  proper  reductions 
of  the  known  quantities,  it  may  always  be  put  under  the 
form  a  xi  =  b  ;  or  a  pure  quadratic,  because,  on  dividing  by 
the  coefficient  of  x2,  it  contains  only  the  square  of  the  un- 
known quantity  in  one  term,  or  is  of  the  form  x2  =  c. 

The  complete  quadratic  equation  consists  of  three  terms, 
containing  the  square  of  the  unknown  quantity  in  one,  the 
simple  power  in  another,  and  the  known  quantities  in  a 
third.  It  is  also  called  an  affected  quadratic,  and  its  general 
form  is  a  xl  -f-  4  x  -f-  c  ='0. 

When  the  proposed  equation  consists  of  only  two  terms, 
the  method  of  finding  the  value  of  the  unknown  quantity 
is  obvious.  Let  the  equation  after  reduction  be  z2  —  p, 
then  i  =  v/p.  Now,  if  p  be  a  number,  its  square  root, 
which  is  the  value  of  x,  can  either  be  found  exactly,  or  to 
any  required  degree  of  approximation  ;  and  if  p  be  an  alge- 
braic quantity,  its  square  root  will  be  found  either  exactly 
or  approximately  by  the  ordinary  methods  of  extraction. 
There  is,  however,  a  circumstance  respecting  the  sign  of  the 
root  which  must  be  attended  to.  The  root  of  any  quantity 
may  be  either  positive  or  negative,  because  the  square  of 
-J-  a  and  of  —  a  is  equally  a-  ;  whence  y/ai  =  ^  a,  and  the 
equation  x2  =  p  gives  two  values  of  x,  namely,  x=.-\-^/p, 
and  x  =  —  y/p. 

As  the  square  of  any  quantity,  whatever  be  its  sign,  is 
always  positive,  it  follows  that  a  negative  quantity  can 
never  be  formed  by  the  multiplication  of  any  real  quantity 
into  itself,  and  hence  an  equation  of  the  form  i*—  —  p 
can  have  no  real  root.  When  such  an  equation  occurs  in 
the  solution  of  a  problem  in  which  Only  real  quantities  are 
concerned,  it  shows  that  some  contradiction  is  involved, 
either  in  the  data,  or  in  the  reasoning  by  which  that  result 
has  been  produced. 

A  complete  quadratic  equation  is  always  reducible  to  the 
form  i2  -f-  a  x  =  ^  b ;  and  in  order  to  deduce  from  it  the 
value  of  x,  it  is  necessary  to  add  some  known  quantity  to 
both  sides  by  which  the  first  will  be  rendered  an  exact 
square.  The  square  of  the  binomial  x-\-  u,  is  x2-f-  2uz-f- 
ui ;  on  comparing  this  with  z2  +  ax,  it  Is  evident  that  if  we 
suppose  a  =  2  u,  or  u  =  Jo,  and  consequently  u2  =  $  a2,  the 
quantities  j-' -j- 2  «  x  -f-  ul  and  z2-\-az-\-  i  ft2  will  be  equal ; 
and  therefore,  since  x2  +  2  u  z-f-  u2  is  tin-  square  of  sr.4-  u, 
no  x2  -f-  a  x  -f  i  at  must  be  the  square  of  x  +  i  o2,  which  is 
1012 


QUADRATIC  EQUATION. 

equal  to  x  -f- «.     If,  therefore,  the  proposed  equation  be  x'3 
-\-  ax  =  b,  let  i  a2  be  added  to  both  sides,  and  it  becomes  I 
-f-ai-)-ia2  =  ia2  +  A,  which,  on  extracting  the  square 

root,  gives  r -f-  A  a  =  i  ^    -  -\-b ;  therefore,  by  transposi- 

In  like  manner,  it  will  appear  that,  if  the  proposed  equa- 
tion were  x2  —  az  —  b,  the  equation  giving  the  value  of  x 

will  he  x  —  tf  =  ±  v  -r  +  b;  whence  x=  -  ^  v  !L  -f_  j,. 

The  quantity  b  retains  the  same  sign  in  the  resolved  as  in 
the  original  equation. 

From  these  considerations  the  rales  for  the  solution  of 
quadratic  equations  in  general  follow  so  obviously  that  it  is 
unnecessary  to  state  them  in  form.  The  double  sign,  how- 
ever, which  appears  in  the  root,  and  which  shows  that  the 
unknown  quantity  in  every  quadratic  equation  has  two  dis- 
tinct values,  requires  some  further  attention. 

Taking  an  example  in  numbers,  let  the  proposed  equation 
he  x2  -+■  2  x  =  35.  Adding  to  each  side  the  square  of  half 
the  coefficient  of  x,  or  of  1,  it  becomes  x2  -J-  2  x  -|-  1  =  36 ; 
whence  x-f- l  =  -f  6,  and,  consequently,  z  = — 1^0;  that 
is,  x  =  -f-5,  or  x  =  —  7.  Now,  if  we  transpose  the  abso- 
lute term  of  the  proposed  equation  x-  -f-  2  i  =  35  to  the  left 
side,  it  becomes  x2  -f-  2  x  —  35  =  0 ;  and  it  is  easy  to  see 
(and  may  be  proved  by  actual  multiplication),  that  r--(-2x 

—  35  arises  from  the  product  of  two  factors  i  —  5  and  x-f- 
7;  therefore  (x  —  5)  (x  -f-  7)  =  0.  But  this  last  equation 
may  be  satisfied  in  two  ways,  viz.  either  by  making  c  —  5 
=  0,  or  by  making  x  +  7  =  0.  If  x  —  5  =  0,  then  x=5; 
and  if  x-f- 7  =  0,  then  x  = —  7.  There  are  two  values  of 
x.  therefore,  which  alike  satisfy  the  proposed  equation 
nearly,  -f-  5  and  —  7,  and  these  are  the  two  roots  found 
above  by  the  direct  solution. 

What  has  been  now  said  in  respect  of  the  particular  ex- 
ample is  true  of  quadratic  equations  in  general.  Every  ex- 
pression of  the  form  x2  +  a  x  —  b  is  decomposable  into  two 
factors,  x  — p  and  x-\-q,  in  which  p  and  q  are  quantities  in- 
dependent of  x,  and  depending  only  on  a  and  b.  Hence  the 
equation  z2-f-ax —  6  =  0  is  identical  with  the  equation  (x 

—  p)  (x-f-c)  =  0;  and  this  last  is  obviously  satisfied  alike 
by  making  i — ;)  =  0,  or  by  making  x-f-  <,=0,  that  is,  by  x 
=  +p  or  x  = —  q. 

It  follows,  therefore,  that  every  quadratic  equation  has 
necessarily  two  roots,  and  it  is  obvious  that  it  can  have  no 
more  than  two ;  for  if  it  could  be  supposed  to  have  three, 
or  any  greater  number,  then  the  expression  xi -\- a  x  —  b 
would  be  resolvable  into  as  many  separate  factors  of  the 
form  x  —  p,  x  —  q,  x  —  r,  &.C  But  this  is  evidently  impos- 
sible ;  for  the  product  of  three  such  factors  would  necessa- 
rily contain  the  third  power  of  x,  or  x3  which  the  given 
equation  does  not.  The  resolution  of  equations  into  as 
many  factors  as  there  are  roots  is  a  property  belonging  to 
equations  of  every  degree.     See  Equations. 

The  consideration  of  the  nature  of  the  factors  into  which 
the  proposed  equation  can  be  resolved  leads  to  some  im- 
portant consequences.  The  hypothesis  x2  -f-  a  x  —  b  =  (x  — 
p)  (x-f-  q)  gives  x2-f-  ax  —  4  =  z2 —  (p  —  q)  s — pq  ;  whence, 
since  z  is  an  inde  erminate  quantity,  we  must  have  a  = — 
(p  —  q)  and  b  —  pq.  Now,  since  +  /)  and  —  q  are  the  two 
roots  of  the  equation  x2  +  a  x  =  b,  it  is  evident  that  p  —  a  is 
their  sum,  and — pq  their  product;  therefore,  because d  — 
e  = —  a,  the  sum  of  the  two  roots  of  any  quadratic  x2  + 
a  x  =  b  is  equal  to  the  coefficient  of  the  second  term,  having 
its  sign  changed  ;  and  their  product  is  equal  to  the  absolute 
number  or  term  which  does  not  contain  i,  having  its  sign 
also  changed. 

The  roots  of  quadratic  equations  may  he  exhibited  by  a 
geometrical  construction.  All  quadratics  belong  to  one  of 
the  four  forms, 

x2  +  a  x  =s  b  c,        z2  —  ai  =  Jc, 
z2  +  ax  =  —  be,    x2  —  a  x  =  —  be. 

Now  to  construct  the  first  form,  let  a  circle  be  described 
on  a  diameter  =  a.  or  radius 
=  A  a  :  in  the  circle  inflect  a 
straight  line,  A  B  =  b  —  e, 
and  produce  it  to  C,  so  that 
AC  =  (,  and  consequently  e[- 
B  C  =  c  ;  and  draw  C  D  E 
through  the  centre  O,  meet- 
ing the  circle  in  1)  and  F. ; 
then  C  D  and  C  E  are  the 
two  roots  of  the  equation.  For  let  C  D  =  x,  then  C  E  =  z 
4-  a.  and  the  rectangle  C  D  •  C  E  =  x  (x  -f-  a)  =  r2  +  a  x. 
lint  by  construction  C  A  •  CB  =  i  C  and  by  the  property  of 
tin'  circle  C  D'CE=C  A'CB;  therefore,  ii-f«  =  Jc, 
which  was  the  equation  given. 

To  construct  the  second  form,  namely,  x2  —  a  x  =  4  c,  let 
C  E  =  x ;  then  C"  D  =  x  —  a,  and,  consequently,  C  E  •  C  D 


Q.UADRATO. 

=  i(i-«)  =  i!-«;  but,  as  before,  C  E  ■  CD=C  A- 
CB  =  ic;  therefore  z2  —  m  =  ic,  and  the  roots  of  the 
equation  are  C  E  and  C  D.  In  these  two  cases,  if  b  — c  = 
0,  the  straight  line  C  B  A  becomes  a  tangent  to  the  circle  ; 
and  if  b —  c  be  greater  than  a,  another  line  may  be  taken 
which  is  a  mean  proportional  between  b  and  c,  and  which 
will  lie  the  tangent  to  the  circle,  so  that  the  construction  is 
possible  in  all  cases. 
To  construct  the  fourth  form,  z2  —  a  x  =  —  b  c,  let  a  cir- 
cle be  described  with  the  radius  \  a  as 
before,  and  inflect  in  it  a  straight  line 
A  B  =  b  -j-  c ;  take  A  C  =  ft,  and 
through  C  and  the  centre  O  draw  the 
diameter  E  D ;  then  E  C  and  C  D  are 
the  two  roots  of  the  equation  or  values 
of  x.  For,  since  E  D  =  a,  if  E  C  =  z, 
then  CD  =  «  —  z,  and  therefore  E  C  ■ 
CD  =  i!«-i)  =  «x-irJ.  ButEC- 
CD=AC'CB  =  k;  therefore  a  x 

x2=zb  c;  or  z2  —  a  x  —  —  be.    The  same  construction 

gives  the  third  form,  x2  +  a  x  =  —  b  c ;  but  the  two  roots  are 
in  this  case  both  negative,  namely  —  EC  and  —  CD. 

Hence  it  follows  that  every  geometrical  problem  produc- 
ing a  quadratic  equation  can  be  constructed  by  means  of  a 
circle  and  straight  lines;  and,  reciprocally,  all  probletns  re- 
specting circles  and  straight  lines  may  be  resolved  algebrai- 
cally by  means  of  quadratic  equations. 

QUADRA'TO,  or  QUA'DRO.  (It.)  In  Music,  a  name 
given  to  the  note  B  in  the  natural  or  diatonic  scale,  marked 
thus  a,  being  a  semitone  minor  higher  than  B  mol  or  [). 

QUADRA'TRIX.  In  Geometry,  a  transcendal  curve,  by 
means  of  which  the  quadrature  of  curvilinear  spaces  can 
be  determined  mechanically  The  best  known  of  these 
curves  is  the  Quadratrix  of  Dinostratus,  so  called  from  its 
reputed  inventor,  a  brother  of  Menechmus  and  disciple  of 
Plato.  This  curve  is  generated  as  fol- 
lows— 

In  the  circular  quadrant  CAB,  sup- 
pose the  radius  C  A  to  revolve  uniform- 
ly about  C,  passing  through  the  different 
positions  C  K,  C  k,  &c,  till  it  arrives  at 
the  position  C  B  ;  and  that  during  the 
JB  same  time  a  line  A  L,  at  right  angles  to 
C  A,  moves  parallel  to  itself  with  a  uni- 
form motion  from  the  position  A  L,  passing  through  the  dif- 
ferent positions  M  N,  m  n,  &c,  and  arriving  at  C  B  at  the 
same  instant  that  C  K  coincides  with  C  B ;  then  the  con- 
tinual intersection  of  the  revolving  radius  and  the  parallel 
line  will  trace  the  quadratrix  A  P  Q,. 

From  this  mode  of  describing  the  curve,  it  is  easy  to  see 
how  it  may  be  applied  to  divide  an  angle  into  any  number 
of  equal  parts.  Let  it  be  required,  for  example,  to  trisect 
the  angle  A  C  k.  Having  applied  the  quadratrix  to  C  A, 
take  A  M  equal  to  a  third  of  A  m,  and  through  M  draw  M  X 
perpendicular  to  A  C,  meeting  the  curve  in  P;  join  C  P, 
and  the  angle  A  C  P  is  equal  to  one  third  of  A  C  k ;  for  by 
the  nature  of  the  quadratrix  A  M  :  A  m  : :  A  K  :  A  k. 

The  application  of  this  curve  to  the  quadrature  of  the 
circle  depends  on  the  property  that  the  line  C  Q.  is  a  third 
proportional   to  the   quadrantal   arc  A  B,  and  the  radius. 

Hence  the  arc  AB=         ',  and  consequently  the  area  of 

CB3 

the  quadrant  C  A  B  =     j     . 

If  the  quadratrix  be  continued  beyond  A,  without  the  cir- 
cle, it  will  consist  of  a  series  of  infinite  hyperbolic  branches, 
cutting  the  axis  C  A  produced,  in  points  which  are  separa- 
ted from  each  other  by  a  space  equal  to  2  A  C. 

Other  curves  may  be  formed  in  a  similar  manner,  by 
which  the  quadrature  of  the  circle  would  be  obtained. 
Thus,  instead  of  supposing  the  lines  M  N,  m  n  to  be  inter- 
sected by  the  radiants  CK,  C  k,  we  may  suppose  straight 
lines  drawn  from  K  k  parallel  to  A  C,  intersecting  M  N,  m 
n  in  r  and  s ;  these  intersections  form  a  different  curve, 
which  is  called  the  Quadratrix  of  Tscfiirnhausen. 

Let  A  M  =  x,  M  P  —  y,  and  A  C  =  a ;  then,  since  x :  a : : 

Hence  the  equa- 


2  a' 


A  K  :  A  B,  or  i  t,  we  have  AK  = 
tion  of  the  quadratrix  of  Dinostratus  is  y  =  (a  —  x)  tan. 
;  and  that  of  the  quadratrix  of  Tschirnhausen  y  =  a 


2  a 

7T  X 

sin. -g — .  (Montucla,  Histoire  des  Mathematiques  ;  Pea- 
cock's Collection  of  Examples  ;  Leslie's  Geometry  of  Curve 
Lines.) 

QUA'DRATURE,  in  Astronomy,  denotes  the  position  of 
the  moon  when  she  is  90°  from  the  sun,  or  at  one  of  the 
two  points  of  her  orbit  equally  distant  from  the  conjunction 
and  opposition. 

Quadrature,  in  Geometry,  signifies  the  determination 


aUADRICORNS. 

of  the  area  of  a  curve,  or  finding  an  equal  square.  The 
differential  element  of  the  area  of  a  curve  referred  to  rect- 
angular co-ordinates  is  y  d  x  ;  and  since  y  is  given  in  terms 
of  x  by  the  equation  of  the  curve  of  which  the  area  is  pro- 
posed to  be  found,  the  problem  of  quadratures  in  general 
reduces  itself  to  the  integration  of  the  differential  X  d  x,  in 
which  X  is  an  algebraic  function  of  x  and  known  quanti- 
ties. In  the  applications  of  the  higher  geometry,  a  problem 
is  conceived  to  be  resolved  when  it  is  reduced  to  quadra- 
tures; that  is,  when  the  variable  quantities  have  been  sep- 
arated, and  its  solution  been  made  to  depend  on  finding  the 

values  of  one  or  more  integrals  of  the  form  /  X  d  x.    In 

the  case  of  some  curves,  parabolas,  for  example,  of  differ- 
ent orders,  expressed  by  the  equation  ym  :=  a  zn,  the  inte- 
gral is  found  in  finite  terms ;  in  regard  to  other  curves,  the 
circle,  for  example,  it  can  be  represented  by  a  converging 
series  ;  but  it  frequently  happens,  especially  in  the  applica- 
tions to  physical  astronomy,  that  the  expression  represented 

by  X  is  too  complicated  to  allow  of  the  integral  /  X  a"  z 

being  found  by  a  converging  series  ;  and  when  this  occurs, 
the  only  thing  that  can  be  done  is  to  rind  values  of  it  for 
particular  cases  only,  that  is  to  say,  for  portions  of  the  area 
corresponding  to  values  of  x,  taken  within  certain  limits. 
The  method  of  quadratures  accordingly  forms  an  important 
branch  of  the  Integral  Calculus. 

The  quadrature  of  the  circle  is  a  problem  of  great  celeb- 
rity in  the  history  of  mathematical  science.  The  whole 
circular  area  being  equal  to  the  rectangle  under  the  radi- 
us, and  a  straight  line  equal  to  half  the  circumference,  the 
quadrature  would  be  obtained  if  the  length  of  the  circum- 
ference were  assigned ;  and  hence  the  particular  object 
aimed  at  in  attempting  to  square  the  circle  is  the  determina- 
tion of  the  ratio  of  the  circumference  to  the  diameter. 
This  ratio  can  only  be  expressed  by  infinite  series,  of  which 
many  have  been  given  that  converge  with  great  rapidity. 
See  Circle. 

It  is  necessary  to  make  a  distinction  between  the  definite 
and  the  indefinite  quadrature.  The  definite  quadrature 
would  be  that  which  would  give  either  the  area  of  the 
whole  circle,  or  of  some  particular  portion  of  it,  without 
giving  that  of  every  other  portion  ;  the  indefinite  quadrature 
would  give  the  area  of  any  sector  whatever,  or  the  length 
of  any  arc  which  could  be  assigned.  James  Gregory  un- 
dertook to  demonstrate  that  the  definite  quadrature  is  im- 
possible ;  Huygens,  however,  objected  to  his  reasoning ;  and 
the  opinion  of  geometers  seems  to  be,  that  no  satisfactory 
demonstration  has  yet  been  given  of  the  absolute  impossi- 
bility of  solving  the  problem.  It  has  indeed  been  proved  by 
Lambert  and  Legendre  that  the  ratio  of  the  circumference 
to  the  diameter,  and  its  square,  are  irrational  numbers. 
But  irrational  quantities  may  be  susceptible  of  geometrical 
construction ;  and  if  a  straight  line  equal  to  the  circumfer- 
ence of  a  circle  having  a  given  radius  could  be  constructed 
geometrically,  the  quadrature  of  the  circle  would  be  accom- 
plished, although  the  length  of  the  line  could  not  be  ex- 
pressed by  a  finite  number.  With  regard  to  the  indefinite 
quadrature.  Newton  has  demonstrated  in  the  Pnncipia 
(though  in  a  manner  not  altogether  unobjectionable)  that 
no  curse  which  returns  into  itself,  like  the  circle  or  ellipse, 
is  susceptible  of  it. 

Numerous  pretenders  to  the  discovery  of  the  quadrature 
of  the  circle  have  appeared  at  various  times,  and  occasion- 
ally present  themselves  even  at  the  present  day.  They  are 
only  to  be  found  among  those  who  have  an  imperfect 
knowledge  of  the  principles  of  geometry  ;  and  when  their 
reasoning  happens  to  be  intelligible,  their  paralogisms  are 
in  general  easily  detected.  With  a  view  to  discourage  the 
futile  attempts  so  frequently  made  on  this  and  similar  sub- 
jects, the  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Paris,  in  1775,  publicly  an- 
nounced, that  it  would  not  examine  in  future  any  paper 
pretending  to  the  quadrature  of  the  circle,  the  trisection  of 
an  angle,  the  duplication  of  the  cube,  or  the  discovery  of  the 
perpetual  motion  ;  and  shortly  after  the  Royal  Society 
adopted  a  similar  resolution.  For  the  history  of  this  fa- 
mous problem,  see  the  third  supplement  to  the  4th  volume 
of  Montucla. 

It  was  stated  in  the  article  Circle  that  the  approxima- 
tion to  the  numerical  ratio  of  the  circumference  to  the  di 
ameter  had  been  computed  by  De  Laguy  to  128  places  of 
decimals.  It  should  have  been  added,  that  the  approxima- 
tion was  carried  by  Vega  to  140  figures ;  and  Montucla 
mentions  a  MS.  in  the  Radcliffe  Library  at  Oxford,  in  which 
it  is  carried  to  154  figures.  Very  recently  (May,  1841;  a 
paper  was  communicated  by  Mr.  Rutherford  of  Woolwich 
to  the  Royal  Society,  in  which  the  number  is  extended  to 
208  places  of  decimals,  and  which  is  presumed  to  be  accu- 
rate to  the  last  figure,  the  computations  having  been  actu- 
ally- carried  to  210  figures 

QTJA'DRICORNS,  Quadricornia.  (Lat.  quatuor,  four, 
and  cornu,  a  horn.)     The  name  of  a  family  of  Apterous 

1013 


aUADRIFORES. 

insects,  comprehending  those  which  have  four  antennae.  A 
species  of  antelope  With  four  horns  is  called  Antilope  quad- 
rieornie. 

aUA'DRIFORES,  Qnadrifera.  (Lat.  quatuor.  and  foro, 
/  fierce.)  A  name  given  by  Latrcille  to  a  family  of 
Sessile  Cirripeds,  comprehending  those  in  which  the  oper- 
cular covering  of  the  tube  is  composed  of  four  valves  or 
calcareous  pieces. 

HI  ADRI'GA.  (I, at.  quatuor,  and  jugum,  a  yoke.)  In 
Antiquity,  a  car  or  chariot  drawn  by  four  horses,  which 
were  harnessed  all  abreast,  and  not  in  pairs.  The  quadri- 
ga is  often  met  with  on  the  reverse  of  medals,  which  are 
thence  termed  nummi  quadrigati,  or  victorinti,  from  then1 
being  a  representation  of  a  figure  of  Victory  holding  the 
reins. 

aUA'DRl  HYDROCARBON.  A  liquid  hydrocarbon, 
in  which  4  atoms  of  hydrogen  and  1  of  carbon  are  so  com- 
bined and  condensed  as  to  constitute  one  atom  of  quadri 
In  drocarbon. 

QUADRILATERAL.  (Lat.  quatuor,  four,  and  latus, 
a  side.)  In  Geometry,  a  plane  figure  contained  by  four 
Straight  lines.  It  comprehends  the  square  parallelogram, 
reebtngle,  rhombus,  rhomboid,  and  trapezium.  The  most 
general  properties  of  a  quadrilateral  figure  are  the  two  fol- 
lowing: 1.  The  siun  of  the  four  angles  is  equal  to  four 
riL'ht  angles  ;  2.  The  sum  of  the  squares  of  the  sides  is 
equal  to  the  siun  of  the  squares  of  the  two  diagonals  to- 
gether, with  four  times  the  square  of  the  straight  line  which 
joins  the  middle  points  of  the  diagonals. 

Ui  Utlill.  \  TERALS,  Quadrilatera.  (Lat.)  Thennme 
of  a  tribe  of  crabs  (Brachyurous  Crustaceans),  comprehend- 
ing those  in  which  the  carapace  or  shell  is  more  or  less 
square-shaped. 

Ql  ADRIPE'NNATES,  Quadripennes.  (Lat.  quatuor, 
and  penna,  a  icing.)  The  name  of  a  section  of  Anelytrous 
insects.  Including  those  which  have  four  wings. 

QUADRIRE'.ME.  (Lat  quatuor,  and  renins,  an  oar.) 
A  ship  of  war  in  use  among  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans ;  so  called  because  it  had  four  banks  of  oars.  See 
Galley. 

QUADRISU'LCATES,  Quailrisulrata.  (Lat.  quatuor, 
and  sulcus,  a  furrow.)  A  name  applied  to  those  Ungulate 
quadrupeds  in  which  the  hoof  is  divided  into  four  parts, 
corresponding  to  the  four  dibits. 

aUADRI'VIUM.  (Lat.)  In  the  language  of  the  schools, 
the  four  lesser  arts — arithmetic,  music,  geometry,  and  as- 
tronomy.   See  Triviom, 

QUA'DRUM.  In  Music,  the  same  as  natural,  which 
see. 

aUA'DRUMANES,  Quadrumana.  (Lat.  quatuor,  four, 
and  nianus,  hand.)  The  name  of  an  order  of  Mammals, 
comprehending  those  in  which  the  four  extremities  are  ter- 
minated by  a  hand;  as  tho  ape,  baboon,  &c.  The  hinder 
extremities  are  always  terminated  by  more  perfect  hands 
than  the  fore  extremities,  in  which  the  thumb  is  some- 
times wanting,  or,  as  in  the  South  American  monkeys,  in- 
capable of  being  opposed  to  the  other  digits. 

aUA'DRUPEDS,  Quadrupedia.  (Lat.  quatuor,  four; 
pes,  afoot.)  All  Vertebrate  animals  with  four  extremities 
fitted  for  terresirial  progression  were  formerly  so  called,  the 
scaly  reptiles  being  distinguished,  as  oviparous  quadrupeds, 
from  the  hairy,  warm-blooded,  viviparous  four-footed  mam- 
mals. But  as  there  are  both  reptiles  and  mammalia  which 
have  only  two  legs,  and  as  those  of  both  classes  which 
agree  in  having  four  legs  differ  essentially  in  the  Important 
characters  on  which  classific  distinctions' are  now  founded, 
the  term  quadruped  is  no  longer  used  in  a  strict  zoological 
sense  as  Indicative  of  a  particular  group  of  animals. 

<il  \ 'DRUPLE.  in  Arithmetic,  fourfold;  the  product 
of  tiny  magnitude  or  quantity  multiplied  by  4. 

Ql  dS'STOR.  A  Roman  magistrate  whose  office  it  was 
to  collect  the  public  revenue,  whence  their  name  (from 
qtuero,  f  teek)  was  derived.  Two  qusjstors  were  originally 
brj  the  kin«s  In  the  earliest  times  of  the  city;  and 
after  their  expulsion  the  appointment  remained  in  the 
hands  of  the  consuls  till  the  year  :107  A.C.,  when  they  be- 
gan to  he  elected  by  the  people  at  the  Comitia  Tributa. 
Soon  after  this  tun  more  muestors  were  appointed  to  attend 
the  consuls  in  war ;  and  from  this  time  they  might  be  cho- 
sen indifferently  from  plebeians  anil  patrician-,  the  former 
class  having  been  previously  excluded.  As  the  Roman 
empire  was  extended  over  all  Italy,  and  the  other  countries 
that  finally  owned  its  sway,  the  number  of  qUffiSton  was 
increased,  so  that  one  was  appointed  to  each  consul  or 
prtetOt  when  he  went  to  his  province;  and  this  WSJ  dune 
generally  by  lot.  but  - etinies  the  superior  magistrate  was 

allowed  to  choose  bis  own  quaestor.  The  qtuBstorshlp  was 
the  fust  step  uf  preferment  which  gave  admission  into  the 
senate;  but  it  was  sometimes  held  by  those  who  had  been 
consuls,  Under  the  emperors  the  office  underwent  many 
ehaagei ;  Augustus  deprived  them  of  the  charge  of  the 
u  huh  he  Imposed  on  the  praters,  and  gave  them 
1014 


aUANTITY. 

the  superintendence  of  the  public  records;  but  the  former 
office  was  restored  to  them  by  Claudius. 

aUA'GOA.  The  name  of  a  Solipedous  quadruped,  or 
species  of  F.ijhus,  allied  to  the  zebra. 

QUA'GMIKE.  Boggy  ground  saturated  with  water  to 
BUCfa  a  degree  as  to  be  mora  like  mud  than  firm  soil. 

QUAIL.  A  genus  of  Gallinaceous  birds  ( Coturnii,  Cuv.), 
allied  to  the  partridge,  but  of  smaller  size,  with  a  more 
slender  beak  and  shorter  tail,  and  without  red  eyebrows  or 
spurs. 

QUA'KERS,  or  FRIENDS.  A  religious  sect,  which 
had  its  origin  in  England  about  the  middle  of  the  17th 
century,  and  spread,  by  the  emigration  of  its  members,  who 
were  exposed  to  many  restrictions  and  persecutions  in  this 
country,  over  various  parts  of  Europe  and  North  America. 
The  founder  of  the  sect  was  George  Fox,  who,  being  equal- 
ly dissatisfied  with  the  tenets  of  the  established  church 
and  those  of  the  Puritans,  succeeded  in  attaching  to  him- 
self various  persons  who  agreed  xvith  him  in  the  view 
which  he  took  of  the  internal  operation  of  religion  on  men's- 
hearts,  conceiving  it  to  supersede  all  the  observances  of 
different  denominations,  nor  to  be  evidenced  in  any  degree 
by  them.  The  Quakers,  therefore,  reject  both  the  sacra- 
ments ;  nor  do  they  appoint  any  order  of  ministers,  but 
consider  the  instruction  and  edification  of  their  congrega- 
tions to  be  the  proxince  of  whatsoever  person  of  either 
sex  conceives  himself  to  he  impelled  thereto  at  the  time 
by  an  internal  suggestion  of  the  Spirit.  Upon  doctrinal 
points,  liowex'er,  they  assert  themselves  to  maintain  opin- 
ions coincident  xvith  those  generally  received  by  the  ortho- 
dox. Their  internal  affairs  are  managed  by  yearly,  quar- 
terly, and  monthly  meetings,  of  which  the  former  in  this 
country  is  held  in  London,  and  embraces  representatives 
for  all  the  rest.  A  similar  arrangement  takes  place  among 
the  females  of  the  society,  xvho  are  allowed  a  considerable 
share  in  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  their  own  sex. 

Tliis  society  is  distinguished  in  its  intercourse  xvith  the 
xvorld  by  great  seriousness  of  deportment,  uniform  sober- 
ness in  dress,  and  generally  a  scrupulous  avoidance  of 
ex-erything  xvhich  can  encourage  vanity  and  frivolity. 
They  are  all  sensitix'ely  averse  from  all  matters  of  cere- 
mony, xvhich  they  conceive  to  have  their  origin  in  flattery 
and  deception.  Their  refusal  to  take  judicial  oaths  used 
in  former  times  to  subject  them  to  very  severe  penalties. 
Up  to  the  accession  of  James  II.  their  history  is  an  unvaried 
series  of  persecutions  ;  either  such  as  they  endured  in  com* 
nion  xvith  other  dissenters,  or  such  as  were  peculiar  to 
themselves  in  consequence  of  their  refusal  to  pay  tithes 
and  to  take  oaths.  Under  Jtunes,  the  severity  of  the  penal 
laws  xvas  relaxed;  hut  William  III.  xvas  the  first  prince 
xvho  enacted  laws  for  the  especial  relief  of  the  Uuakers. 
From  this  time,  their  affirmation  is  receix-ed  in  lieu  of  oath 
in  judicial  proceedings;  and  an  alteration  in  the  met  bod 
of  levying  tithes  has  been  provided,  by  which  their  scru- 
ples are  satisfied.  (See,  among  other  authorities  resent- 
ing the  Quakers,  Fox's  Journal ;  Barclay's  Apology,  and 
SevjelPa  History  of  the  Rise,  A'-e.  of  theQuakers  (1722). 
The  Quakers  of  the  present  day  are  thought  to  be  a  de- 
creasing sect.  In  1836,  the  number  of  their  congregations 
xvas  estimated  at  300.  (Congregational  Magazine*)  They 
are  most  numerous  in  Yorkshire,  Lancashire,  Durham, 
Cumberland,  and  Essex. 

QUA'KING  BOG.  Peat  bog  in  a  growing  state,  and  so 
saturated  xvith  xvater  that  a  considerable  extent  of  surface 
xvill  quake  or  shake,  xvhen  pressed  on  by  the  foot  or  nny 
other  body.  Such  hogs  are  unfit  for  any  useful  purpose 
till  they  are  drained. 

QUA'LITY.  (Lat.  qualis.)  In  Physics,  some  property 
or  affection  of  bodies.  Sensible  qualities  are  those  which 
immediately  affect  the  senses;  as  figure,  taste,  &.C. 

Qcaltty,  in  the  philosophy  of  Kant,  the  second  cate- 
gory (there  being  four  in  all),  comprising  the  notions  of 
existence  or  reality,  non-existence  or  negation,  and  limi- 
tation. 

QUA'NTITY.  (Lan.  quantus,  how  much.)  A  property 
of  anything  capable  of  being  increased  or  diminished. 
Quantity  is  distinguished  Into  continued  and  disrate.  It  is 
continued  xvhen  the  parts  are  connected  together,  and  is 
then  called  magnitude,  which  is  the  object  of  geometry.  It 
is  discrete  when  the  parts  have  an  unconnected  and  inde- 
pendent existence,  forming  multitude  or  number,  xvhich  is 

the  object  of  arithmetic.  The  quantity  of  matter  in  any 
body  is  proportional  conjointly  to  the  magnitude  and  den- 
sity of  the  body,  and  Is  measured  by  its  absolute  weight 
Quantify  of  motion  is  used  synonymously  with  momentum, 

to  denote  the  product  of  the  quantity  of  matter  in  the 
moving  body  by  Its  velocity.  Algebraic  quantities  are  the 
expressions  of  indefinite  numbers. 

Qt  vntity.  In  Prosody,  the  amount  of  time  in  a  sylla- 
ble. Syllables  are  either  short  a?  long;  the  former  being 
the  unit  or  smallest  measure  of  time,  the  latter  consisting 
of  two  times.    This  distinction  Ls  clearly  marked  in  the 


QUARANTINE. 

ancient  languages,  in  which  some  syllables  are  necessarily 
long  or  short  by  position,  others  by  the  nature  of  the  vow- 
els which  they  contain ;  and,  in  the  Latin  language,  some 
common,  or  susceptible  of  being  sounded  as  long  or  short, 
according  to  certain  rules  of  elegance  or  convenience.  All 
the  metrical  system  of  the  ancient  languages  is  founded  on 
quantity.  In  most  modern  languages  there  is,  strictly 
speaking,  no  quantity,  as  distinct  from  emphasis  or  accent ; 
the  long  syllables  being  those  which  receive  the  arsis,  the 
short  those  which  receive  the  thesis.  In  the  German  lan- 
guage, however,  critics  have  endeavoured  to  establish  a 
conventional  system  of  quantity,  and  thus  to  adapt  that  lan- 
guage to  regular  versification  in  the  ancient  Greek  and 
Latin  metres.     See  Rhythm,  Metre. 

QUARANTINE.  (Ital.  quaranto,  forty.)  A  period  of 
time  of  variable  length,  during  which  a  vessel  from  certain 
coasts  or  ports,  said  or  supposed  to  be  infected  with  cer- 
tain diseases,  is  not  allowed  to  communicate  with  the  shore, 
except  under  particular  restrictions.  A  ship  in  quaran- 
tine carries  a  yellow  flag  at  the  main ;  and  when  released 
from  this  condition,  she  is  said  to  obtain  pratique.  The 
term  is  derived  from  the  Ital.  quaranto,  forty,  it  being 
generally  supposed  that  if  no  infectious  disease  break  out 
within  40  days  or  six  weeks,  no  farther  danger  is  to  be  ap- 
prehended. It  is  universally  believed  that  the  Venetians 
were  the  first  to  adopt  regulations  for  guarding  against  the 
introduction  of  infected  persons  into  their  ports ;  but  there 
is  now  no  civilized  country  in  which  it  is  not  practised. 
(For  full  particulars  on  the  history  and  policy  of  quaran- 
tines, see  the  Com.  Diet.) 

aUA'RE  IMPEDIT.  In  Law,  a  writ  lying  for  one  who 
has  a  right  of  advowson  against  a  person  who  hinders  or 
disturbs  him  in  his  right  by  presenting  a  clerk  when  the 
church  is  void. 

QUART.  A  measure  of  capacity,  being  the  fourth  part 
of  a  gallon.     See  Measures. 

QUA'RTAN.  (Lat.  quartus,  fourth.)  A  species  of  in- 
termittent fever  or  ague,  which  returns  every  fourth  day. 
See  Ague. 

QUART A'TION.  In  Metallurgy,  the  separation  of  sil- 
ver from  gold  by  means  of  nitric  acid.  To  extract  the 
whole  of  the  silver  from  gold  by  the  action  of  nitric  acid, 
it  is  necessary  that  there  should  be  at  least  three  parts  of 
silver  to  one  of  gold,  otherwise  the  gold  protects  the  silver 
from  the  action  of  the  acid ;  so  that,  in  thus  separating 
these  precious  metals,  it  is  customary,  where  gold  greatly 
predominates,  to  add  silver  till  it  constitutes  at  least  three 
fourths  of  the  alloy. 

QUA'RTER.  The  fourth  part  of  anything.  As  a  term 
of  weight,  it  denotes  the  fourth  of  a  hundred  weight,  or 
28  pounds  ;  as  a  dry  measure,  it  signifies  the  fourth  of  a 
chaldron. 

Quarter.  The  after  part  of  the  ship's  side.  On  the 
quarter,  implies  the  bearing  or  position  of  an  object  seen 
between  abaft  and  abeam. 

QUARTER  DAYS.  The  days  usually  regarded  in  Eng- 
land and  most  Continental  countries  (but  not  in  Scotland) 
as  beginning  the  four  quarters  of  the  year.  They  are, 
1.  Lady  Day  (25th  of  March) ;  2.  Midsummer  Day  (June 
24th) ;  3.  Michaelmas  Day  (Sept.  29th) ;  and  4.  Christmas 
Day  (Dec.  25th). 

QUARTER  DECK.  The  portion  of  the  uppermost  deck 
of  a  ship  between  the  main  and  mizen  masts.  This  is  the 
"  parade"  in  men-of-war. 

QUA'RTERING.  In  Heraldry,  the  division  of  a  shield 
by  two  lines,  fess-wise  and  pale-wise,  meeting  in  the  centre 
of  the  shield.  In  marshalling,  whenever  a  husband  can 
place  his  wife's  arms  on  an  escutcheon  of  pretence  (see 
Escutcheon),  the  children  may  bear  them  quarterly,  with 
their  own :  whence  arises  the  great  variety  of  quarterings 
in  the  shields  of  some  families. 

QUARTER  MASTER.  In  the  Navy,  a  petty  officer, 
who,  besides  other  duties  of  superintendence  cons  the  ship, 
and  attends  to  her  steerage. 

Quarter-master.  In  the  Army,  an  officer  whose  busi- 
ness it  is  to  look  after  the  quarters  of  the  soldiers,  and  at- 
tend to  their  clothing,  bread,  ammunition,  &c.  There  is  a 
quarter-master  attached  to  every  regiment,  whether  of  foot, 
cavalry,  or  artillery. 

QUA'RTER  ROUND.  In  Architecture.  See  Echinus 
and  Ovolo. 

QUARTERS.  The  stations  of  a  ship's  crew  in  time  of 
action,  to  which  they  are  summoned  by  beat  of  drum,  or  by 
the  boatswain's  pipe. 

QUARTERS  and  QUARTERING.  (Fr.  quartiers.)  In 
Architecture,  the  upright  posts  in  partitions  to  which  the 
laths  are  nailed.  Quarters  are  either  single  or  double  ;  the 
former  being  sawn  stuff  two  inches  thick,  and  four  inches 
broad;  the  latter  usually  sawn  to  a  scantling  four  inches 
square,  or  four  inches  by  a  less  width.  No  quarters  should 
ever  be  more  than  fourteen  inches  apart.  Quartering  is  a 
term  properly  applied  only  to  an  assemblage  of  quarters, 


QUEEN. 

though  it  is  not  unfrequently  used  to  denote  the  quarters 
themselves. 

QUARTER  SESSIONS  OF  THE  PEACE.  In  Law,  a 
court  held  by  two  justices  at  least,  one  of  whom  must  be 
of  the  quorum,  quarterly,  in  every  county  ;  having  a  juris- 
diction originally  in  matters  touching  the  breach  of  the 
peace  only,  but  since  extended  by  various  statutes.  (See 
Justices  of  the  Peace.)  Quarter  sessions  in  boroughs, 
since  the  Municipal  Corporation  Act,  are  held  by  the  re- 
corders. 

QUARTER  STAFF.  A  weapon  of  defence;  so  called 
from  the  manner  of  using  it,  one  hand  being  placed  in  the 
middle,  and  the  other  equally  between  the  middle  and  end. 

QUA'RTETT.  A  piece  of  music  arranged  for  four 
voices  or  four  instruments.  Of  the  latter  the  most  cele- 
brated are  arranged  for  two  violins — a  tenor  violin,  and  a 
violoncello ;  and  many  of  the  most  distinguished  composers, 
among  whom  we  may  mention  Haydn,  Moz:irt,  Beethoven, 
Romberg,  Spohr,  Ries,  Onslow,  &c,  have  not  disdained  to 
devote  their  talents  to  this  species  of  composition.  The 
term  quartctt,  though  strictly  any  piece  in  four  parts,  is  sel- 
dom applied  except  to  instrumental  pieces. 

QUA'RTILE  A'SPECT,  in  Astrology,  denotes  the  as- 
pect or  appearance  of  two  planets,  whose  positions  are  at  a 
distance  of  90°  on  the  zodiac. 

QUA'RTINE.  The  fourth  envelope  of  the  vegetable 
ovuluin,  beginning  to  count  from  the  outside. 

QUARTO.  A  name  given  to  books  composed  of  sheets 
of  paper  folded  into  four  leaves.    It  is  abbreviated  4to. 

QUARTODECIMA'NTES.  In  Church  History,  those 
who  imitated  the  Jews  in  celebrating  Easter  on  the  14th  day 
of  the  paschal  moon,  instead  of  the  Sunday  next  following, 
were  so  called,  after  they  had  been  excommunicated  as 
heretics  by  the  councils  of  Nice,  Constantinople,  and  Ephe- 
sus.     See  Easter. 

QUARTZ.  A  German  term,  now  universally  adopted 
in  scientific  language,  and  commonly  applied  in  mineralogy 
to  the  purer  varieties  of  silica,  especially  to  rock  crystal. 

QUASIMO'DO.  In  the  Roman  Catholic  Calendar,  the 
first  Sunday  after  Easter ;  so  called  because  the  Introit 
for  that  day  begins  with  the  words  "  Quasi  modo  geniti 
infantes."  "(1  Pet.,  ii.,  1.)  It  is  also  called  Dominica  in 
nlbis,  as  being  the  day  on  which  those  who  had  been  bap- 
tized on  Easter  Sunday  deposited  their  white  robes  in  the 
sacristy. 

QUA'SSIA.  The  wood  of  the  Quassia  ercelsa,  or  ama- 
ru;  a  native  of  South  America,  and  some  of  the  West  In- 
dian islands.  It  yields  an  intensely  bitter  infusion,  which 
may  be  made  with  one  drachm  of  the  shavings  of  quassia 
to  a  pint  of  boiling  water:  of  this  a  wine-glass-full  may  be 
taken  twice  a  day,  with  or  without  other  additions,  as  a 
tonic.  It  is  a  good  vehicle  for  most  of  the  metallic  salts, 
which  are  not  decomposed  by  it,  as  by  many  other  bitter 
vegetable  infusions.  A  strong  infusion  of  quassia,  sweet- 
ened with  brown  sugar,  is  a  safe  and  effective  poison  for 
flies. 

QUATRAI'N.  (Ital.  quattrino.)  In  Poetry,  a  piece  con- 
sisting of  four  verses,  the  rhymes  usually  alternate  ;  some- 
times also,  especially  in  French  poetry,  intermixed,  the  first 
and  fourth,  second  and  third,  rhyming  together. 

QUA'VER.  (Sax.  pazian.)  In  Music,  a  character,  £. 
whose  measure  is  equal  to  half  a  crotchet,  or  one  eighth 
of  a  semi  breve. 

QUEEN.  (Anglo-Sax.  cwen,  wife.)  1.  A  female  sov- 
ereign ;  entitled  queen  regnant,  or  queen  regent.  She  has, 
in  Great  Britain,  the  same  power,  prerogatives,  &c,  as  a 
king,  which  is  expressly  declared  by  stat.  1  Mar.  1,  St.  3, 
c.  1.  In  France,  where  females  do  not  succeed  to  the 
throne,  the  title  queen  regent  has  been  given  to  the  mothers 
of  kings  holding  sovereign  authority,  or  a  portion  of  it, 
during  the  minority  of  their  sons;  as  Catherine  de  Medicis 
in  the  reign  of  Francis  H. ;  Mary  de  Medicis,  in  that  of 
Louis  XIII. 

2.  Queen  Consort.  The  wife  of  a  king.  Her  rights  and 
dignities  (in  England,  as  well  as  most  other  countries)  ap- 
pear to  be  similar  in  many  respects  to  those  of  the  "  Augus- 
ta," or  Piissima  regina  conjux  divi  imperatoris,  in  imperial 
Rome.  The  English  queen,  like  the  Roman  empress,  is  ca- 
pable of  receiving  a  grant  from  her  husband,  or  making  one 
to  him ;  therein  differing  from  all  other  wives.  She  can 
also  purchase  and  convey  land,  &c,  without  his  concur- 
rence, and  sue  and  be  sued  alone :  in  short,  she  is  looked 
upon  in  all  legal  proceedings  as  a  feme  sole.  But,  except 
where  she  enjoys  specific  exemptions,  she  is  only  on  a  foot- 
ing with  other  subjects ;  and  this  also  is  according  to  the 
Roman  maxim,  "Augusta  legibus  soluta  non  est."  By  the 
Statute  of  Treasons,  25  Ed.  3,  to  compass  or  imagine  the 
death  of  the  king's  "  companion,"  and  also  to  violate  and 
defile  her,  is  treason.  The  queen,  if  accused  of  treason 
herself,  is  tried  by  the  peers  of  parliament ;  as  Ann  Boleyn 
in  28  Hen.  8.  The  consort  of  George  IV.  was  proceeded 
acainst  by  the  method  of  a  bill  of  pains  and  penalties 
e  1015 


QUEEN  POST. 

Queen-gold  was  a  duty  amounting  to  one  full  tenth  of  the 
value  of  lines.  &.c,  on  grants  by  tlie  crown,  anciently  due  to 
the  queen  :  which  Charles  I.  purchased  of  his  consort  Hen 
rietta,  in  1635,  for  £10,000,  but  which  was  not  revived  alter 
the  restoration.  The  queen  conanrt  has  a  separate  house- 
hold, consisting  of  six  ladies  of  the  bed-chamber,  a  cham- 
berlain, vice-chamberlain,  mistress  of  the  robes,  master  of 
the  horse,  and  three  equerries,  attorney  and  solicitor  gener- 
al, &c. 

3.  Quern  Dowager.  The  widow  of  a  deceased  king.  She 
Continues  to  enjoy  most  of  the  privileges  which  belonged  to 
bet  as  queen  consort  Nor  did  she,  in  ancient  times,  lose 
her  dignity  on  remarriage;  for  Catherine,  queen  dowager  of 
I'mri  V.  alter  she  had  married  Owen  Tudor,  maintained 
an  action  by  the  name  of  Catherine  Queen  of  England. 
lint  it  is  held  that  no  man  can  marry  a  queen  dowager 
Without  special  license  from  the  king,  on  pain  of  forfeiture 
of  lands  and  goods,  according  to  an  act  of  6  Hen.  ti.  which, 
however,  is  not  printed  among  the  statutes.  The  revenue 
of  a  queen  dowager  is  settled  by  statute.  By  1  &  2  VV.  4, 
c.  11,  his  late  majesty  was  empowered  to  settle  £100,000 
per  annum  on  his  queen,  to  commence  at  his  decease. 

4.  Queen  Mother.  A  queen  dowager  who  is  also  mother 
of  the  reigning  sovereign. 

Q.UEE.V  POST.  In  Architecture,  an  upright  post  in  a 
roof  for  suspending  the  beam  when  the  principal  rafters  do 
not  meet  in  the  ridge.     See  Roof. 

QUE'RUITRON"  HARK.  The  bark  of  the  Querevs  ni- 
gra, or  American  oak ;  it  is  a  highly  valuable  dye-stuff,  and 
is  used  in  the  production  of  some  of  the  most  durable  yel- 
lows. 

QUE'RCITS.  (Lat.)  This  is  the  most  important  genus 
of  trees  found  in  the  cold  countries  of  the  world,  on  account 
of  its  producing  the  various  kinds  of  timber  called  oak. 
The  species  are  not,  however,  confined  to  Europe,  or  simi- 
lar latitudes,  but  occur  abundantly  in  the  equinoctial  parts 
of  Asia  and  America  ;  they  have  not,  however,  been  found 
south  of  the  equator.  It  is  usually  recognised  by  the  cup 
in  which  the  acorn  is  seated ;  but  in  some  tropical  species 
the  acorn  is  so  small  as  to  be  buried  in  the  cup,  when  the 
fruit  nearly  resembles  that  of  the  chesnut  (Castanea).  The 
valuable  oak  of  Great  Britain  is  obtained  from  two  native 
species:  the  one  Q.  pedunculata,  the  long-stalked  or  white 
oak  ;  the  other  Q.  scssiliflora,  the  sessile-fruited  or  red  oak. 
A  prejudice  has  arisen  against  the  timber  of  the  latter, 
which,  however,  appears  to  be  unfounded,  as  it  is  found  to 
be  in  point  of  strength  and  durability  fully  equal  to  the 
other.  Oak  timber,  however,  is  affected  very  much  by  soil 
and  climate;  and  hence  we  have  oak  of  bad  quality  from 
both  our  native  species.  What  is  called  wainscot  oak  is 
probably  the  timber  of  Q.  scssiliflora,  grown  rapidly  in  the 
dense  forests  of  Hungary;  by  some  persons,  however,  it  is 
supposed  to  be  furnished  by  an  Oriental  species  called  Q. 
arris,  or  the  mossy-cupped.  The  Escidus  of  Virgil,  whose 
acorns  were  eatable,  appears  to  have  been  a  sweet-fruited 
variety  of  Q.  sessiliflora.  Besides  the  species  already  men 
tioned,  the  Quercus  ilei,  or  European  oak,  the  Q.  suiter,  or 
cork  tree,  whose  bark  is  in  such  extensive  use,  and  the  Q. 
or  Spanish  ilex,  whose  acorns  are  sweet  and  eata- 
ble, are  the  more  important  species.  Those  from  North 
America,  although  fine  trees,  are  inferior  to  the  oaks  of  Eng- 
land as  regards  their  timber,  and  require  hotter  summers 
than  we  have  in  these  islands.  Oak  galls  are  produced 
upon  Q.  infectoria,  in  the  Levant,  by  the  puncture  of  a 
cynips.  The  species  are  excessively  confused  by  botanists ; 
but  a  full  popular  account  of  this  genus  will  be  found  in 
Loudon's  Arboretum  Britanniaim.  For  a  few  popular  de- 
tails, see  also  the  article  Oak,  in  this  work. 

Hi  I. S  I'll  i.V  The  application  of  torture  to  prisoners  un- 
der criminal  accusation,  according  to  the  laws  of  France  he- 
fore  the  Revolution.  The  question  w  as  of  two  kinds  :  one, 
where  strong  evidence,  but  insufficient  of  itself  to  justify  a 
Condemnation  to  death,  existed  against  a  prisoner  on  a  cap- 
ital charge;  lie  might  then  be  subjected  to  torture  to  pro- 
duce confession.  This  was  termer!  the  question  pre  para 
toirc.  It  was  abolished  by  an  ordinance  of  Louis  XVI.  in 
1780.  The  other,  termed  question  prealable  or  definitive, 
was  applied  to  the  prisoner  u  Inn  convicted  of  a  capital  of- 
fence, in  order  to  make  him  discover  supposed  accomplices. 
It  was  abolished  by  the  .National  Assembly.  The  prepara- 
tory question  was  also  of  two  sorts:  one,  avec  reserve  de 
preuves,  in  which  case,  If  the  criminal  did  not  confess  tinder 
the  torture,  the  oilier  evidence  was  considered  as  still  sub 
sisiini;  against  him,  so  as  to  justify  his  condemnation  to 

some  lighter  punishment;  the  other,  sans  reserve  de  preuves, 

in  which  ease,  ii  hi'  persisted  in  ins  denial,  he  was  acquit- 
ted altogether.  It  was  at  the  option  of  the  Judges,  accord 
tag  io  their  opinion  of  the  amount  of  evidence,  to  decide  to 
which  of  these  questions  the  accused  should  he  subjected. 

The  modes  of  torture  applied,  varied  in  France,  being  fixed 
by  the  several   parliaments  within   their  separate  jurisdic 
tions.    Those  in  common  use  at  Paris  were — the  question 
1010 


QUIETISM. 

by  water,  which  consisted  in  stretching  the  limbs  of  the  suf- 
ferer on  a  board  by  means  of  screws,  and  forcing  him  to 
swallow  large  quantities  of  water;  and  the  hoots,  in  which 
his  legs  were  enclosed  in  wooden  cases,  the  whole  tightly 
campreeeed  with  ropes,  and  wedges  driven  with  a  mallet 
between  the  two  cases.  The  question  varied  in  degree,  be- 
ing ordinary  or  txtraordinary,  at  the  discretion  of  the  judg- 
es. Children  and  adolescents,  old  men,  and  women  with 
child,  were  excepted  from  torture  by  the  French  law.  And, 
by  an  ordonnance  of  1070,  the  second  application  of  the 
question  was  forbidden  in  all  cases. 

Torture  has  been  applied,  as  a  mode  of  extorting  confes- 
sion, in  all  countries  into  which  the  principles  of  the  civil 
law  have  been  imported  :  although  the  barbarity  and  un- 
certainty of  the  practice  were  remarked  upon  even  in  the 
best  times  of  Roman  jurisprudence.  The  observations  of 
Cicero  on  the  subject  are  well  known;  and  Ulpian,  the 
greatest  authority  on  the  civil  law, speaks  even  more  direct- 
ly. "Res  est  fragilis  el  periculosa  (the  torture),  et  qua  veri- 
tatem  fallit:  nam  plerique  patientia  sive  duritnl  tormento- 
rem  ita  et  torments  contemnunt,  ut  ezprimi  eis  Veritas  nullo 
modo  possit;  alii  tanta  sunt  impatientia  ut  quidvis  mentiri 
quam  pati  mallent"  It  is,  however,  an  important  remark, 
that  as,  by  the  strict  principles  of  jurisprudence,  the  torture 
was  only  applied  in  cases  where  there  already  existed  a 
mass  of  evidence  against  the  prisoner,  sufficient,  in  ordinary 
judgment  to  warrant  his  condemnation,  it  did.  in  fact,  afford 
him  an  addilional  chance  of  escape;  and  that  however 
great  its  absurdity  on  every  supposition,  its  barbarity  rather 
arose  from  its  liability  to  abuse  than  its  legitimate  infliction. 

The  practice  of  judicial  torture  was  not  a  part  of  the  com- 
mon law  of  England,  except  in  one  particular  case.  The 
rack  is  said  to  have  been  first  introduced  into  this  country 
by  the  dukes  of  Exeter  and  Suffolk,  in  the  minority  of  Henry 
VI. ;  at  all  events,  it  was  then  first  made  a  common  engine 
of  discovery  in  state  matters.  It  was  used,  on  warrant  from 
the  privy  council,  on  prisoners  in  the  Tower  of  London  for 
a  long  period  afterwards,  and  more  especially  iu  the  reign 
of  Elizabeth,  to  enforce  confessions  or  accusation  of  accom- 
plices from  recusant  priests,  and  others  suspected  of  being 
engaged  in  treasonable  plots  against  her.  It  was  probably 
employed  in  the  examination  of  Guy  Fawkes,  after  the  de- 
tection of  the  Gunpowder  Plot;  as  has  been  conjectured, 
among  other  reasons,  from  the  feeble  and  trembling  hand  in 
which  the  signature  of  that  criminal  to  his  last  confession 
is  written,  when  compared  with  that  In  which  he  subscribed 
his  former  declarations.  On  the  trial  of  Felton  for  the  as- 
sassination of  Villieis,  duke  of  Buckingham,  the  judges  were 
consulted  by  the  privy  council  as  to  the  lawfulness  of  the 
infliction  of  torture  ;  and  on  their  asserting  it  to  be  illegal,  it 
was  not  applied:  there  is,  however,  reason  to  suppose  that 
it  was  used  at  least  in  one  subsequent  case  in  the  reign  of 
Charles  I.     (See  Jardine  on  Torture,  1837.) 

The  exception  to  which  allusion  hns  been  made,  by 
which  torture  was  in  one  case  recognised  by  the  common 
law,  is  the  celebrated  Peine  Forte  et  Dure.  It  has,  indeed, 
been  said,  and  was  asserted  by  the  judges  in  8  Hen.  4  that 
this  infliction  was  only  introduced  in  consequence  of  the 
first  statute  of  Westminster ;  but  it  is  at  least  highly  proba- 
ble that  before  that  period  persons  refusing  to  plead  were 
subjected  to  imprisonment  and  ill-treatment  to  induce  them 
to  do  so.  After  that  statute,  the  judgment  appears  only  to 
have  been  to  strait  and  severe  confinement ;  nor  was  it  until 
the  reign  of  II.  IV.  that  its  horrible  character  seems  to  have 
been  fully  determined  by  law.  After  that  time,  the  prison- 
er was  remanded  to  the  place  from  whence  be  I  nine,  laid 
On  the  ground  In  a  dark  room,  and  "as  many  weights  as  ho 
can  bear,  and  more,"  laid  upon  him;  with  no  sustenance 
except  a  morsel  of  the  worst  bread  and  a  draught  Of  the 
worst  water,  on  alternate  days;  and  so  to  remain  until  he 
pleaded  or  died  ;  which  alternative,  according  to  the  later 
practice,  was  soon  decided,  as  the  weights  laid  on  wen  suf- 
ficient to  cause  speedy  death.  The  peine  forte  et  dure  was 
not  unfrequently  put  in  practice  until  the  beginning  of  the 
last  century  ;  and  as  late  as  the  commencement  of  the  reign 
of  George  ill.  the  enforcing  prisoners  to  plead  bj  squeezing 

their  thumbs,  and  other  modes  of  torture,  was  a  common 
Old  Bailey  practice.  By  IS  G.  3,  c.  20,  any  person  standing 
mute,  or  not  answering  directly  to  the  arraignment,  incurred 
conviction. 

tiri't  M,IM  v..    Pure  or  caustic  lime.    See  Lime. 

atJI'CKSILVER.    sec  Mercury. 

QXJ'IETISM.  A  name  generally  applied  to  the  opinions 
of  enthusiasts,  who  conceive  the  great  object  of  religion  to 

be  the  absorption  of  all  human  sentiments  and  passions  into 

devout  contemplation  and  love  of  God.   This  idea  has  found 

its  admirers  and  encomiasts  in  all  ages.     A  sect  called  by 

tins  name  .m  Greek,  FJesychasts)  existed  among  the  reli- 
gious of  Mount  \lhos  ;  and  in  the  lTtli  Century  it  w  as  given 
ii:  Frame  to  a  peculiar  class  Of  devout  persons  wilh  a  ten- 
dency  towards  a  higher  spiritual  devotion,  which  seems  to 
have  arisen,  in  great  measure,  out  of  a  natural  opposition 


QUINCUNX. 

to  the  hierarchal  coldness  and  positive  morality  of  Roman 
Catholic  religion  at  that  time,  especially  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Jesuits.  A  Spanish  priest,  Molinos,  published 
at  Rome  a  work  entitled  The  Spiritual  Guide  (1675),  of 
which  the  ardent  language  attracted  a  multitude  of  parti- 
sans. Its  leading  feature  was  the  description  of  the  happi- 
ness of  a  soul  reposing  in  perfect  quiet  on  God,  so  as  to  be- 
come conscious  of  His  presence  only,  and  untroubled  by  ex- 
ternal things.  He  even  advanced  so  far  as  to  maintain  that 
the  soul,  in  its  highest  state  of  perfection,  is  removed  even 
beyond  the  contemplation  of  God  himself,  and  is  solely  oc- 
cupied in  the  passive  reception  of  divine  influences.  The 
work  of  Molinos  was  afterwards  condemned  on  the  appli- 
cation of  the  Jesuits.  Akin  to  the  ideas  of  Molinos  seem  to 
have  been  those  of  the  French  Quiefists,  of  whom  Madame 
de  la  Motte  Guyon  and  Fentlon  are  the  most  celebrated 
names.  The  former  was  at  one  time  treated  as  insane,  on 
account  of  some  strange  delusions  which  led  her  to  repre- 
sent herself  (unless  she  was  calumniated)  as  the  mystical 
woman  of  the  Apocalypse  ;  at  another  she  was  admitted  to 
the  intimacy  of  Madame  tie  Maintenon,  and  high  in  court 
favour.  Fenelon  praised  her  in  his  treatise  Sur  la  Vie  In- 
terieure  (1691),  in  which  many  of  the  most  dangerous  tenets 
of  Quietism  were  contained.  The  writings  of  the  latter 
upon  this  subject  were  finally  condemned  by  Innocent  XII. ; 
and  the  example  of  the  archbishop  in  submitting  to  the  de- 
cision, and  declaring  himself  satisfied  and  convinced  by  the 
opinion  of  the  Church,  has  been  dwelt  on  by  pious  writers 
as  a  signal  triumph  of  a  truly  religious  mind.  The  dissolute 
conduct  of  some  hypocritical  priests,  nnder  the  pretence  of 
inculcating  the  tenets  and  practice  of  Quietism,  brought  it 
eventually  into  disrepute  more  than  the  repeated  condemna- 
tions of  the  head  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

QUTNCUNX.  The  Latin  term  properly  for  that  dispo- 
sition of  five  objects  in  which  they  are  made  to  occupy  the 
four  corners  and  point  of  intersection  of  the  diagonals  of  a 
square ;  but  the  word  is  extended  to  any  number  of  things 
so  arranged  in  lines  that  the  members  of  each  succeeding 
line  stand  behind  the  spaces  between  those  of  the  preceding 
one.  Troops  were  frequently  drawn  up  in  this  order ;  which 
was  also  a  favourite  arrangement  for  plantations  of  vines. 

QUINDE'CAGON.  In  Geometry,  a  plane  figure  bounded 
by  fifteen  sides.  The  regular  quindecagon  is  inscribable  in 
a  circle  bv  elementarv  geometry.     (Euclid,  book  iv.) 

QUINDECE'MVIRI.  Roman  magistrates,  whose  duty- 
it  was  to  take  care  of  the  Sibylline  books,  and  consult  them 
on  critical  occasions  when  the  senate  deemed  their  advice 
necessary.  They  were  exempted  from  the  privilege  of 
serving  in  the  army,  and  from  other  offices  in  the  city ;  and 
their  priesthood,  which  was  probably  in  service  of  Apollo, 
lasted  for  life.  Their  number,  as  their  name  imports,  was 
fifteen  by  Sylla's  appointment ;  but  originally  they  had  been 
ten,  an  equal  number  being  elected  from  patricians  and  ple- 
beians :  and  bv  Julius  Ca'sar  thev  were  raised  to  sixteen. 

QU'INIA,  or  QUININE.  An  alkaline  base  obtained 
from  yellow  bark  ;  the  Cinchona  cordifolia.  This  sub- 
stance, combined  with  sulphuric  acid,  forms  the  sulphate 
of  quinia.  which  is  now  so  extensively  used  as  a  medicine, 
and  as  a  substitute  for  the  various  forms  of  Peruvian  bark. 
To  obtain  quinia,  bruised  yellow  bark  is  boiled  in  repeated 
portions  of  water,  acidulated  by  sulphuric  acid,  till  all  its 
soluble  matters  are  extracted;  a  little  excess  of  quicklime 
is  then  added  to  the  strained  decoction,  and  the  precipitate 
which  is  formed  is  collected,  washed,  and  carefully  dried; 
it  is  then  digested  in  alcohol,  which  takes  up  the  quinia, 
and  from  which  it  may  be  obtained  in  the  form  of  a  yellow- 
ish umrystallizable  substance  by  careful  evaporation.  It  is 
dissolved  in  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  and  the  sulphate  of  qui- 
nine, or  quinia,  crystallizes  from  its  concentrated  solution 
in  fine  silky  prisms,  which  effloresce  on  exposure  to  air. 
Sulphate  of  quinia  is  difficultly  soluble  in  water,  and  in- 
tensely bitter.  It  is  administered  as  a  tonic  and  febrifuge 
in  doses  of  from  one  to  five  or  six  grains. 

QUINQUAGE'SIMA  SUNDAY,  in  the  Calendar,  is  the 
seventh  Sunday  before  Easter,  and  consequently  about  the 
fiftieth  day  before  that  festival ;  whence  the  origin  of  the 
term. 

QULN'QUA'TRUS.  In  Roman  Classical  Antiquities,  the 
feast  of  Minerva,  which  began  on  the  14th  of  the  Kal.  of 
April,  and  lasted  five  days.  It  is  in  allusion  to  the  well- 
known  attributes  of  the  goddess  that  Juvenal  makes  this 
the  season  in  which  her  youthful  votaries  pray  for  forensic 
success. 

Eloquium  et  famam  Demosthenes  et  Ciceronis 
Inripit  optare.  et  totis  Quinquatnbus  optat. 

QUINQUENNA'LIA,  or  LUDI  QUINQUENNALES. 
In  Classical  Antiquity,  public  games  celebrated  every  five 
years.  They  were  instituted  by  the  emperors  in  commemo- 
ration of  different  events  of  their  respective  reigns.  Medals 
struck  on  these  occasions  have  been  discovered,  bearing  the 
date  of  the  reign  of  Posthumus. 

QULNQUERE'MIS.    (Lat.  quinque,  Jive,  and  remits,  an 


QUOIN. 

oar :  in  Greek,  -rtvTvpvs-)  The  name  of  a  class  of  Roman 
war  ships  which  were  rowed  by  five  banks  of  oars,  whence 
the  name  is  derived.  The  substitution  of  the  quinquereme 
for  the  trireme,  as  the  ordinary  war  vessel,  gradually  tools 
place  in  the  course  of  the  fourth  century  before  Christ ;  in 
the  interval  between  the  Peloponnesian  and  first  Punic 
wars.  The  number  of  vessels  of  this  large  class  employed 
in  the  latter  is  perfectly  surprising.  According  to  Polybius, 
the  Romans  lost  700  in  the  course  of  it ;  the  Carthaginians 
500.  In  A.U.C.  498  (the  year  in  which  Regulus  was  sent 
to  Africa)  the  Romans  had  330,  the  Carthaginians  350: 
each  quinquereme  of  the  former  nation  carried  300  rowers 
and  120  soldiers,  in  all  140,000  men ;  the  Carthaginians,  ac- 
cording to  the  same  computation,  amounted  to  150,000: 
numbers  which  would  be  scarcely  credible,  were  they  not 
given  by  so  exact  an  author.     See  Trireme,  Galley. 

QUIN'QUINA.  Peruvian  bark.  The  bark  of  various 
species  of  Cinchona,  which  see. 

QLT'NSEY.  (Fr.  squinance.)  Inflammation  of  the  ton- 
sils. This  is  common  inflammatory  sore  throat:  it  is  not 
infectious.  It  begins  with  pain  on  one  side  of  the  throat, 
and  swelling  of  the  tonsil,  attended  by  febrile  symptoms, 
which  sometimes  run  high,  especially  as  the  tumefaction 
advances ;  there  is  great  restlessness  and  anxiety,  and  often 
the  utmost  difficulty  of  swallowing  even  liquids,  and  of 
breathing.  The  disease  has  proved  fatal  by  producing  suf- 
focation, but  it  generally  terminates  in  resolution,  or  suppu- 
ration :  in  the  latter  case  the  abscess  breaks,  and  a  good 
deal  of  pus  is  discharged,  and  the  patient  is  at  once  relieved 
of  all  his  urgent  symptoms ;  but  it  occasionally  happens  that 
the  other  side  of  the  throat  becomes  affected,  and  goes 
through  the  same  stages. 

QUI'XTAIX.  An  ancient  pastime,  in  which  a  post  was 
erected,  with  a  cross-piece  turning  upon  a  pivot  on  the  top 
of  it,  to  one  end  of  which  a  sand  bag  was  suspended,  and 
at  the  other  a  board  was  fixed.  The  play  consisted  in  ri- 
ding or  tilting  against  the  board  with  a  lance,  and  passing 
without  being  struck  behind  by  the  sand-bag. 

QUl'XTAL.  An  old  denomination  of  weight,  being  the 
same  with  the  hundred  weight,  or  equal  to  112  pounds. 

QUINTESSENCE.  A  term  applied  by  the  older  chem- 
ists to  alcoholic  tinctures  or  essences,  made  by  digestion  at 
common  temperatures  or  in  the  sun's  heat. 

QUI'NTILE.  In  Astrology,  an  aspect  of  two  planets 
distant  from  each  other  the  5th  of  the  zodiac,  or  72°. 

QUI'NTELIANS.  A  sect  of  ancient  heretics  ;  so  called 
from  Quintilia,  their  founder  and  leader.  Their  chief  pe- 
culiarities consisted  in  attributing  extraordinary  gifts  to  Eve 
Cor  having  eaten  of  the  tree  of  knowledge,  and  in  admitting 
women  to  the  sacerdotal  and  episcopal  office. 

QUI'NTINE.  (Lat.  quintus.)  A  name  given  in  botany 
to  the  fifth  or  innermost  envelop  of  the  vegetable  ovulum, 
the  most  external  being  the  first  or  primine. 

QITXTCPLE.  In  Music,  a  species  of  time,  now  seldom 
used,  containing  five  crotchets  in  a  bar. 

QULXZALNE.  In  Chronology,  the  fourteenth  day  after 
a  feast  day,  or  the  fifteenth,  if  the  day  of  the  feast  be  inclu- 
ded. But  a  different  rule  seems  to  have  prevailed  on  the 
Continent.  (See  Sir  H.  JVicolas's  Chronology  of  History, 
p.  105.) 

QUI  PRO  QUO,  or  QUID  PRO  QUO.  (Lat.  one  for 
another.)  A  conventional  term  borrowed  from  the  French, 
who  use  it  in  the  sense  of  an  error  committed  by  mistaking 
one  thing  or  person  for  another ;  especially  a  verbal  am- 
biguity. 

QUIRI'NUS.  An  Italian  warlike  divinity,  supposed  by 
some  to  be  the  same  as  Mars.  When  the  Romans  deified 
Romulus  they  called  him  by  this  name,  and  the  festivals 
insiituted  in  his  honour  Quirinalia. 

QUIRK.  In  Architecture,  a  piece  of  ground  cut  off  from 
a  square  plot. 

QUIRKED  MOULDING.  In  Architecture,  one  whose 
convexitv  is  sudden,  being  in  the  form  of  a  conic  section. 

QUI  TAM.  (Lat.  who  as  well.)  In  Law,  a  penal  action, 
in  which  half  the  penalty  is  given  to  the  crown  and  the  rest 
to  the  informer.  The  plaintiff  describes  him  as  A.  B.  '■  qui 
tam  pro  domino  rege  quam  pro  se  ipso," — who  sues  as  well 
for  the  king  as  himself. 

QUIT  RENT.  (Lat.  quietus redditus.)  In  Law,  asmall 
rent  payable  by  tenants  of  manors  in  token  of  subjection. 
See  Rent. 

QUO'DLIBET.  (hat.  what  you  please.)  In  the  language 
of  the  schoolmen,  questions  on  general  subjects  within  the 
range  of  their  inquiries  were  termed  questiones  quodlibetica, 
or  miscellaneous.  In  French  the  word  quodlibet,  or  quolibet, 
is  retained,  in  the  sense  of  a  slight  jeud'esprit  pun,&c.  What 
is  termed  in  music  a  "  pot-pourri"  was  also  called  in  Ger- 
tnanv  a  quodlibet. 

QUOIN.  (Fr.  coin.)  In  Architecture,  the  comer  or  in- 
ternal and  external  angle  of  a  building,  or  of  any  part  of  a 
tuilding. 

Quots.  In  Artillerv,  a  loose  wedge  of  wood  put  below 
3  R  *  1017 


QUORUM. 

fee  breech  of  a  cannon,  for  the  purpose  of  adjusting  its  ele- 
vation. 

UCO'RI'M.  A  term  derived  from  the  words  used  in  the 
Latin  form  of  the  commission  issued  to  justices  of  the  peace; 
in  which  the  expression  occurred,  "quorum  unum  A.  H.  esse 
voluntas. " — "of  whom  we  will  that  A.  B.  be  one;"  tlius 
rendering  it  necessary  that  certain  individuals  (said  to  be  of 
the  quorum)  should  be  present  at  the  transaction  of  business. 
Hence  when  in  an  assembly,  committees,  &.c.  it  is  necessary 
that  a  certain  number  should  he  present  to  give  validity  to 
its  acts,  that  number  is  generally  said  to  constitute  a  quorum. 

ftTJOTA.  i.at.  quot,*«to  many.)  Thai  partwhicheaeh 
member  of  a  society  has  to  contribute  or  receive  In  making 
Up  or  di\  iding  a  certain  sum. 

QUOTIDIAN.  (Lat.  quotidianus.)  That  form  of  ague 
which  returns  daily. 

Ul'i  i'TIENT  (Lat.  quoties,  how  often),  in  Arithmetic,  is 
the  result  of  the  operation  of  division  ;  and  may  he  either  a 
magnitude  of  any  denomination,  or  an  abstract  number. 
When  a  magnitude  of  any  kind  is  proposed  to  he  divided 
into  any  number  of  parts,  and  the  divisor  is,  consequent- 
ly, an  abstract  number,  the  quotient  is  of  the  same  kind 
with  the  dividend  or  quantity  proposed  to  be  divided ; 
but  when  the  dividend  and  divisor  are  both  things  of  the 
same  denomination,  or  both  magnitudes  of  any  kind,  the 
quotient  is  an  abstract  number,  and  is  the  ratio  of  the  one 
magnitude  to  the  other. 

CIU<  I  WARRANTO.  In  Law,  a  writ,  filed  in  the  Court 
of  King's  Bench  by  the  attorney-general,  or  an  individual  in 
his  name,  calling  upon  the  person  informed  against  to  show 
by  what  title  he  holds  any  office,  franchise,  or  liberty.  The 
proceedings  on  a  writ  of  quo  warranto  presenting  many  diffi- 
culties, it  has  been  superseded  in  modem  times  by  what  is 
termed  an  information  in  the  nature  of  a  quo  warranto. 


R. 

R.  One  of  those  letters  belonging  to  the  series  called 
liquids  or  semivowels.  It  was  called  the  litera  canina  by 
the  Latins,  from  some  fancied  resemblance  it  bears  in  sound 
to  the  snarling  of  a  dog.  At  the  commencement  of  English 
words,  derived  from  the  Greek  through  the  medium  of  the 
Latin,  r  is  usually  followed  by  h,  to  represent  the  force  of  p, 
as  in  rhetoric,  rhapsody  ;  and  the  same  observation  applies 
to  this  letter  when  it  occurs  in  the  middle  of  an  English 
word  derived  from  a  Greek  compound,  as  in  diarrhaa,  from 
e'en  and  pew.  This  letter  is  susceptible  of  numerous  inter- 
changes, more  especially  in  Latin;  for  a  complete  list  of 
v.  hn  Q  see  the  Penny  Oyclopmdia.  As  an  abbreviation,  R., 
among  ourselves,  stands  for  rex  or  regina,  and  in  ancient 
times  for  Roma  ;  R.  P.  for  respublica,  &,c.  In  medicinal  pre- 
scriptions, R.  stands  for  recipe  or  take. 

B  \  BBL  A  Hebrew  term  for  doctor  or  teacher;  the 
termination  being  properly  the  first  pronoun  possessive.  This 
word,  which  is  frequently  found  in  the  New  Testament,  is 
in  use  at  the  present  day,  the  rabbis  being  the  expounders  of 
the  law,  and  more  particularly  of  the  Talmud,  or  commen- 
taries of  later  doctors.     .See  Talmud. 

RA'BDOMANCY.    See  Rhabdomakct. 

RACA.  An  ancient  Syria*  word,  signifying  vanity  or 
folly,  and  pronounced  by  the  Jews  with  certain  gestures  of 
indignation.  Our  Saviour,  in  using  the  word  (Matt.,  v., 22), 
intimates  that  whoever  should  apply  this  word  to  his  neigh- 
bour, should  be  condemned  by  the  council  of  the  sanhedrim. 

1!  \t  T.'M  E.  'L;it.  racemus,  a  bunch  of  grapes.)  In  Bot- 
an\,  a  tin  in  of  inflorescence,  in  which  the  flowers  are  stalked 
along  a  common  unbranched  axis,  as  in  the  hyacinth. 

RACE'MIC  ACID.  (Lat.  racemus,  a  bunch  of  gropes.) 
An  acid  found,  together  with  the  tartaric  arid,  in" the  tartar 
obtained  from  certain  vineyards  on  the  Rhine.    It  is  the 

jjrirntartnric  oriil  of  Berzelius.  It  is  less  soluble  in  water 
than  tartaric  acid,  and  differs  in  the  form  of  its  crystals  and 
In  its  salts;  yet  it  appears  to  be  isomeric,  and  to" have  the 
same  equivalent  with  the  tartaric  acid. 

B  VCHi'LLA.  K'.r.  />>i\ic,  a  spine.)  A  branch  of  in- 
florescence; the  zigzag  centre  upon  which  the  florets  are 
arranged  in  the  Bpikeletsof  gi 

RACHIS.  i;r.  pa yi j.)  A  brandl  which  proceeds  in 
nearly  a  straight  line  from  the  base  to  the  apex  of  the  In- 
florescence of  a  plant  It  ifl  also  applied  to  the  petioles  of 
the  leaves  of  ferns. 

Rachis.    A  term  applied  by  Illiger  and  other  zoologists 

to  the  vertebral  eoluinn  of  m animals  and  birds. 

B  M  urns.  {Gr.paxfSi  ""  spine,  the  part  principally 
affected.)  The  rickets.  A  disease  generally  confined  to 
childhood,  known  by  a  large  head,  protruded  breastbone, 
flattened  ribs,  tumid  belly,  emaciated  limbs,  and  great  gen 
erai  debility ;  the  bones  li  general,  and  especially  ihe  spine, 
are  variously  distorted  and  deficient  In  bony  matter:  the  syi 
tein  occasionally  rallies  from  this  slate-  as  growth  advances, 
lUia 


RADIANT  HEAT. 

hut  there  is  more  or  less  deformity  left.  Tonics,  cold  bath- 
ing, regular  and  proper  exercise,  very'  careful  nursing,  and 
occasionally  rhubarb  and  tonic  aperients,  are  the  principal 
remedies  ;  and  where  particular  bones  are  inclined  to  bend, 

attempts  must  be  made  to  throw  the  weight  off  them.  This 

disease  is  frequently  symptomatic  of  a  scrofulous  state  of  the 
glands  and  viscera:  the  stomach  and  bowels  are  always 
greatly  deranged ;  and  as  there  appears  to  be  a  deficiency 
of  the  hardening  matter  of  the  bones,  various  salts  of  lime, 
and  even  phosphate  of  lime,  have  been  prescribed  ;  the  only 
apparent  use  of  some  of  these  remedies  is  to  render  the  gas- 
less  acrid  and  acid. 
RACK.  (Sax.  wroccan,  to  strain,  torment,  &c. ;  evident- 
ly of  the  same  origin  as  the  Germ,  rachen,  Aug.  to  wreak.) 
An  instrument  of  torture  formerly  used  in  England.  Ac- 
cording to  Coke  (who,  however,  merely  reports  the  story  on 
traditional  authority),  the  rack  w '8S  first  introduced  into  the 
Tower  by  the  Duke  of  Exeter,  constable  of  the  Tower  in 
1447 ;  anil  thence  called  "  the  Duke  of  Exeter's  daughter." 
(3  Inst.,  p.  34.)  Stowe,  in  his  Chronicle,  says  that  the 
duke's  daughter  herself  invented  it.  The  earliest  mention 
of  the  use  of  the  "  rack  or  brake"  is  by  Holinshed,  under  the 
year  14t>T.  But  it  first  became  common  in  the  reign  of  Henry 
V11I.  Under  that  prince,  the  remaining  Tudors,  James  I., 
and  Charles  I.,  down  to  1040,  the  rack  was  a  common  imple- 
ment of  torture  for  prisoners  confined  in  the  Tower,  and  in- 
flicted by  the  warrant  of  the  council  or  under  the  sign  manual. 
The  rack  consisted  of  an  oblong  frame  of  wood,  composed 
of  four  beams,  a  little  raised  above  the  ground  ;  the  sufferer 
was  fastened  by  the  hands  and  feet  to  the  corners,  where 
two  cross  beams  joined  tile  longer  ones,  sometimes  by  small 
cords  attached  to  each  finger  and  toe ;  and  the  cords  were 
twisted  by  means  of  rollers,  so  as  to  raise  him  from  the 
ground,  and  stretch  his  body  with  extreme  violence,  disloca- 
ting the  limbs,  and,  according  to  the  Jesuit  writers,  who  have 
left  the  most  vivid  representations  of  the  sufferings  of  their 
companions  under  the  stale  persecution  of  Elizabeth,  some- 
times extending  the  sufferer  "more  than  a  palm  beyond  his 
usual  stature  !"  (Jenner,  Societas  Europcea,  p.  12  ;  see  also 
Jardine's  Reading  on  the  Use  of  Torture  in  England,  1837.) 

The  Roman  equvleus  is  often  translated  ruck  by  English 
writers  ;  but  whether  the  equuleus  was  something  similar 
to  the  English  engine,  or  a  wooden  horse  (as  the  derivation 
of  the  word  implies),  or,  in  short,  what  was  its  form  and 
description,  antiquaries  have  not  been  able  to  discover.  Bee 
among  other  authorities  the  learned  treatise  of  iMagius,  JUe 
Equuleo.) 

Rack.  A  railed  convenience  formed  above  the  manger 
in  a  stable  for  the  reception  of  the  hay.  It  should  be  con- 
structed with  openings  at  the  bottom  for  the  seed  or  dust 
to  pass  through. 

Rack.  In  Machinery,  a  rectilinear  sliding  piece,  having 
teeth  cut  on  its  edge  so  that  they  may  work  with  those  of  a 
wheel  or  pinion  which  drives  or  follows  the  rack.  The  rack 
may  be  regarded  as  a  toothed  wheel  whose  radius  is  in- 
finite. 

RACK  RENT.     See  Rent. 

RACO'VIANS.  In  Eccl.  History,  the  Unitarians  of  Po- 
land are  sometimes  so  called  ;  from  Racow,  a  small  city  of 
that  country,  where  Jacobus  a  Sienna,  its  head,  erected  a 
public  seminary  for  their  church  in  1000.  Here  the  "Ra- 
covian  Catechism,"  originally  composed  by  Socinus,  and  re- 
vised by  his  most  eminent  followers,  was  published.  (Mo- 
sheim,  Eccl.  Hist.,  cent.  16,  sec.  3.) 

RADIANT.  In  Geometry,  a  Btraight  line  proceeding 
from  a  given  point,  or  fixed  pole,  about  which  it  i-  conceived 
to  revolve.  When  several  radiants,  forming  a  system,  are 
constrained  to  revolve  in  such  a  manner  that  all  the  inter- 
sections excepting  one  are  carried  along  given  straight  lines 
or  curves  called  directrices,  then  the  remaining  intersection 
traces  a  curve  whose  equation  is  of  an  order  which  is  a  certain 
determinate  function  of  the  orders  of  the  several  directrices. 
Thus,  if  all  ihe  intersections  hut  one  are  carried  along  straight 
lines,  the  remainingone  describesa  conic  section.  The  theory 
of  the  description  of  lines  of  the  sec  ml  order  by  the  intersec- 
tion of  radiants  is  given  by  Newton  in  the  I'rinri/iia  :  and 
the  subject  is  treated  more  generally  by  Mnclaiiriii  in  his 
Oeomctria  Orgnnica.  and  bj  some  recent  writers  in  the  An- 
nates des  Muthematiques.  See,  also,  Leslie's  Geometry  of 
Ourvi  Lines;  Carnot,  Essai  sur  la  Theorie  des  Trans- 
it &.C. 

RADIANT  HEAT.  When  a  hot  body  Is  suspended  in 
the  air,  a  quantity  of  heat  is  emitted  in  all  directions  by  its 
Surface,  passing  off  in  right  lines  like  radii  drawn  from 
the  centre  to  the  circumference  of  n  circle ;  these  rays  pass 
freely  through  the  air  without  affecting  its  temperature; 

when  fhej  impinge  upon  surrounding  bodies,  the]  are  either 
njl'rtnl,  nlisorlial,  or  transmitted.  The  quantity  of  these 
rays,  or  of  radiant  heat,  which  is  thus  emitted,  is  greatly 
dependenl  npon  the  nature  of  the  heated  surface  ;  it  is 
smallest  from  polished  metallic  Surfaces,  and  greatest  from 
rough  and  uniiiclulUc  surfaces.    The  radiating  power,  for 


RADIARIES. 

Instance,  of  polished  silver,  heated  up  to  212°,  being  =  1, 
that  of  a  surface  of  writing  paper  is  about  =  P.  Whether 
colour  has  or  has  not  any  effect  upon  this  escape  of  heat 
from  surfaces,  is  a  doubtful  question. 

That  this  radiant  heat  is  susceptible  of  reflection,  may  be 
shown  by  holding  a  piece  of  polished  tin  plate  opposite  a 
fire  in  such  a  position  as  admits  the  reflection  of  the  flame 
to  be  seen  in  it,  when  an  impression  of  heat  is  at  the  same 
time  perceived  upon  the  face ;  if  the  surface  of  the  tin  plate 
be  roughened  or  covered  with  paper,  scarcely  any  heat  is  then 
thrown  on",  but  the  plate  itself  becomes  hot  in  consequence 
of  the  absorption  of  the  rays.  This  terrestrial  radiant  heat, 
especially  when  it  emanates  from  surfaces  which  are  not 
luminous,  as  from  a  flask  of  hot  water,  for  instance,  is  to  a 
great  extent  arrested  in  its  progress  by  a  plate  of  transparent 
glass,  in  which  respect  it  appears  to  be  unlike  solar  heat, 
which  passes  freely  through  all  transparent  media  ;  but  there 
are  some  substances  which  do  not  thus  impede  its  progress  ; 
among  them,  a  transparent  plate  of  rock-salt  is  most  remark- 
able, the  rays  proceeding  through  it  with  little  interruption  ; 
such  substances,  therefore,  have  been  termed  thcrmophanous 
bodies.     (See  Melloni,  Annates  de  C/iim.  ct  Phys.,  vol.  liii.) 

RA'DIARIES,  Hadiaria,  or  Radiata.  (Lat.  radius.) 
The  name  given  by  Cuvier  to  the  lowest  organized  of  the 
primary  divisions  of  the  animal  kingdom  ;  because  certain 
of  the  animals  therein  included  have  a  radiated  form  of  a 
part  or  the  whole  of  their  body.     -See  Acrita,  Nemato- 

HEURA,  ZOOPHYTA. 

RADIATING  POINT.  In  Optics,  any  point  from  which 
rays  of  light  proceed. 

RADIATION.  (Lat.  radius,  a  ray.)  In  Physics  and 
Meteorology,  the  emission  of  rays  of  light  or  heat  from  a 
luminous  or  heated  body. 

The  theory  of  the  radiation  and  conduction  of  heat,  which 
long  remained  one  of  the  most  obscure  parts  of  physical  in- 
quiry, has  been  reduced,  by  the  successive  labours  of  Pre- 
vost,  Leslie,  Fourier,  Biot,  Laplace,  Poisson,  Melloni,  Forbes, 
and  others,  to  a  purely  mathematical  form,  and  thereby 
placed  in  the  same  rank  with  physical  optics,  with  which, 
indeed,  it  has  many  principles  in  common. 

The  general  laws  of  the  radiation  of  heat,  which  have 
been  established  by  experiment,  are  the  following:  1.  Like 
all  other  emanations,  its  intensity,  in  a  vacuum,  varies  in 
the  ratio  of  the  inverse  square  of  the  distance  from  the  radi 
ating  point.  In  air  and  the  gases,  the  decrease  is  a  little 
faster  in  consequence  of  a  partial  absorption.  2.  The  amount 
of  radiation,  or  the  rate  at  which  a  body  parts  with  its  heat, 
is  proportional  to  the  excess  of  the  temperature  of  the  body 
above  that  of  the  medium  in  which  it  is  placed.  This  prin- 
ciple was  assumed  by  Newton  ;  and  it  follows  from  it  that 
if  the  times  of  cooling  be  taken  in  an  arithmetical  progres- 
sion, the  heat  will  decrease  in  a  geometrical  progression. 
The  principle,  however,  is  found  by  experiment  to  hold  good 
only  within  a  certain  range  of  temperature,  not  exceeding 
5(P  of  Fahrenheit.  At  the  higher  temperatures  Dulong  and 
Petit  found  the  rate  of  cooling  to  be  more  rapid  than  in  the 
ratio  stated.  3.  All  bodies  placed  in  an  enclosed  space  as- 
sume in  time  the  temperature  of  the  enclosure.  4.  Heat  is 
emitted  from  every  point  of  the  surface  of  a  hot  body  in  all 
directions,  and  the  intensity  of  the  heating  ray  is  as  the  sine 
of  the  angle  which  it  makes  with  the  surface.  This  result, 
which  is  by  no  means  obvious,  was  discovered  by  Leslie; 
and  its  physical  cause  is,  that  radiation  takes  place  not  from 
the  surface  alone,  but  from  particles  situated  within  a  cer- 
tain minute  but  sensible  depth,  which  is  different  for  differ- 
ent surfaces.  5.  The  intensity  of  radiation  varies  with  the 
nature  of  the  radiating  body,  and  the  state  of  its  surface 
with  regard  to  polish,  colour,  source  of  heat,  &c.  It  is 
greatest  for  rough  and  dark  surfaces,  and  least  for  bright 
surfaces  of  polished  metal. 

The  velocity  with  which  radiated  heat  is  propagated 
through  space  is  entirely  unknown.  It  is  certain,  however, 
that  it  is  very  great,  and  probably  not  inferior  to  that  of 
light. 

The  doctrine  of  the  radiation  of  heat  was  first  stated  in  a 
precise  and  satisfactory  manner  by  Prevost  of  Geneva,  about 
1790.  Its  leading  principle  being  that  all  bodies  are  perpetu- 
ally exchanging  their  heat  with  one  another,  it  is  sometimes 
called  the  theory  of  exchanges.  As  this  emission  of  heat 
cannot  be  attributed  to  the  body  which  receives  it,  but  for 
the  same  radiating  body  and  the  same  state  of  surface  de- 
pends only  on  the  temperature  of  the  body,  we  are  led  to 
suppose  that  radiation  takes  place  with  greater  or  less  in- 
tensity at  all  temperatures;  that  it  is  reciprocal  between 
distant  bodies ;  and  that  it  subsists  when  the  temperatures 
are  equal,  though  in  this  case  no  alteration  of  temperature 
takes  place.  By  a  close  attention  to  the  phenomena,  we  are 
also  led  to  infer  that  the  faculty  of  the  emission  (and  also  of 
the  absorption)  of  heat  belongs  to  all  the  molecules  of  a  body  I 
and,  consequently,  that  radiation  takes  place  not  only  at  the 
surfaces,  but  also  in  the  interior  of  solids  and  liquids,  in  the 
same  manner  as  it  takes  place  in  air,  or  differing  only'in  con- 


RADICAL  REFORMERS. 

sequence  of  its  more  rapid  absorption.  Fourier  and  Laplace 
were  thus  led  to  view  the  constituent  molecules  of  all  bodies 
as  so  many  foci  of  radiating  heat.  This  heat  is  radiated  by 
every  molecule  in  every  direction,  and  is  propagated  through 
the  pores  or  void  spaces  of  ponderable  matter,  until  it  is  en- 
tirely absorbed  by  the  molecules  which  it  encounters.  In 
solids  and  liquids  the  absorption  take  place  at  very  small 
distances ;  in  air  and  the  gases  at  very  great  distances.  The 
mathematical  theory  of  heat  is  founded  on  this  hypothesis 
of  molecular  radiation. 

Solar  and  Terrestrial  Radiation. — The  measure  of  heat 
received  from  the  sun,  and  of  that  which  is  constantly 
escaping  from  the  earth  into  the  regions  of  space,  are  among 
the  most  important  elements  of  meteorology.  If  the  earth 
were  not  surrounded  with  the  atmosphere,  the  quantity  of 
solar  light  received  at  any  time  on  a  given  portion  of  its  sur- 
face would  be  proportional  to  the  inclination  of  the  ray  to 
the  surface,  or  to  the  cosine  of  the  sun's  zenith  distance  ; 
but  owing  to  the  modifying  effects  of  the  atmosphere,  it 
would  appear  from  the  results  of  experiments  that  so  far 
from  this  law  holding  good,  the  force  of  the  sun's  direct 
radiation  rather  increases  with  the  latitude.  Professor 
Daniell  (Meteorological  Essays,  p.  228)  suggests  that  as  the 
cooling  power  of  the  air  has  been  proved  to  be  in  proportion 
to  its  elasticity,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  difficulty 
with  which  heat  passes  through  the  atmosphere  is  in  the 
same  ratio.  The  proportion  of  solar  heat  absorbed  in  trav- 
ersing the  atmosphere  vertically  has  been  estimated  by 
Leslie  and  Pouillet  at  25  parts  in  100 ;  by  Kamptz  at  32 ; 
and  by  Prof.  Forbes  at  29. 

The  force  of  solar  radiation  is  measured  by  the  excess  of 
the  temperature  which  a  body  assumes  when  exposed  to 
the  direct  action  of  the  sun's  rays  above  that  which  it  would 
have  in  the  shade.  This  excess  may  be  roughly  measured 
by  two  common  thermometers,  one  placed  in  the  shade,  and 
the  other  exposed  to  the  sun,  and  having  its  bulb  covered  to 
prevent  reflection.  The  most  accurate  measurement  is, 
however,  given  by  the  actinometer,  an  instrument  invented 
by  Sir  J.  Herschel,  in  1624,  for  the  dynamical  measurement 
of  solar  radiation.  A  description  of  this  valuable  instrument, 
and  full  directions  for  the  method  of  using  it,  are  given  in 
the  Report  of  the  President  and  Council  of  the  Royal  Society 
on  the  Objects  of  Scientific  Inquiry  in  Physics  and  Meteor- 
ology, 1840. 

From  certain  experiments  made  by  Pouillet  at  Paris,  he 
inferred  that  the  whole  amount  of  solar  heat  annually  radi- 
ated to  the  earth  is  equal  to  that  which  would  suffice  to 
melt  a  stratum  of  ice  about  14  metres  or  40  feet  thick  en- 
crusting the  whole  earth  (Elements  de  Physique  etde  Mete- 
orologie)  ;  but  in  a  subsequent  memoir  (Sur  la  Chaleur 
Solaire)  he  estimated  the  same  quantity  at  31  metres,  or  102 
feet. 

The  measure  of  terrestrial  radiation  is  of  equal  importance 
with  that  of  solar  radiation,  but  no  perfect  instrument  has 
yet  been  contrived  for  its  determination.  The  best  means 
consist  in  the  daily  register  of  the  minimum  temperature 
shown  by  a  register  thermometer,  the  bulb  of  which  is  placed 
in  the  focus  of  a  parabolic  metallic  mirror  pointed  towards 
the  clear  aspect  of  the  sky,  and  defended  from  currents.  It 
may  be  supposed  that  the  same  atmospheric  causes  which 
obstruct  the  passage  of  radiant  heat  from  the  sun  oppose 
also  its  transmission  from  the  earth  into  space. 

From  the  theory  of  terrestrial  radiation,  a  curious  deduc- 
tion was  made  by  Fourier,  with  regard  to  the  temperature 
of  the  region  of  space  through  which  the  earth  moves  in  its 
orbital  revolution.  On  computing  the  temperature  which  it 
is  necessary  to  suppose  the  planetary  spaces  to  possess  in 
order  that  the  thermometries]  state  of  the  earth's  surface 
may  be  such  as  is  actually  observed,  he  found  that  the  ex- 
isting phenomena  correspond  to  those  which  would  result 
from  the  supposition  that  the  regions  of  space  have  a  tem- 
perature of  about  —  58°  Fahrenheit.  Svanberg  arrived  at 
the  same  conclusion  by  a  different  process ;  but  others  have 
given  very  different  estimates.  Thus  Poisson  makes  it  — 13° 
cent,  or  -j-8J°  Fahr.,  and  Pouillet  supposes  it  to  be  below 
—  115°  cent,  or  —  175°  Fahr.  (See  Leslie's  Experimental 
Inquiry  into  the  JVature  and  Propagation  of  Heat,  1804  ; 
Prevost,  Essai  sur  la  Calorique  Rayonnantc,  1809  ;  Fourier, 
Theorie  Analytique  de  la  Chaleur,  1822 ;  Laplace,  Mechan- 
ique  Celeste,  tome  v. ;  Poisson,  Thiorie  Mathematique  de  la 
Chaleur,  1835;  Kelland's  Theory  of  Heat,  1837;  Reports  to 
the  British  Association  for  1832,  1835,  and  1840.) 

RA'DICAL  (Lat.  radix,  a  root),  in  Chemistry,  is  a  term 
occasionally  used  as  synonymous  with  base :  thus  sulphur 
and  phosphorus  are  the  radicals  of  the  sulphuric  and  phos- 
phoric acids.  The  term  compound  radical  is  applied  to  cer- 
tain organic  combinations ;  in  this  case  compounds  of  hydro- 
gen, carbon,  or  nitrogen  constitute  the  principal  radicals. 

RA'DICAL  BASS.  In  Music,  the  same  as  fundamental 
bass,  which  see. 

RA'DICAL  REFORMERS.  In  Politics,  that  political 
party  in  England  which  desires  to  have  the  abuses  which, 

1019 


RADICAL  SIGN. 

from  lapse  of  time  or  any  other  cause,  may  have  crept  into  ' 
the  government,  completely  rooted  out  (as  the  origin  of  the 
term  implies);  all  our  institutions  remodelled;  and.  In  short, 
a  larger  portion  of  the  democratic  spirit  infused  into  the  con- 
stitution. 

RA'DICAL  SIGN.  In  Algebra,  the  symbol  ./,  denoting 
tin-  extraction  of  a  root  It  is  ;i  modification  of  the  letter  r, 
the  initial  letter  of  radix  or  root.  To  distinguish  the  par- 
ticular root  which  is  to  be  extracted,  a  number  is  prefixed 
t'i  the  symbol ;  thus,  ^/,  \/,  4/,  &c,  denote  respectively  the 
square  root,  cnbe  root,  fourth  root,  &c. ;  but  as  the  square 
root  or  second  toot  was  the  first  considered,  the  number  is 
usually  omitted,  and  merely  the  symbol  s/  written.  Frac- 
tional exponents  are  frequently  used  instead  of  the  radical 
sign.     A  radical  quantity  is  a  quantity  to  which  the  radical 

sign  is  prefixed. 

KA'DICLE.  In  Rotany,  that  portion  of  an  embryo  which 
eventually  becomes  the  descending  axis  or  root.  It  is  the 
lowest  of  the  two  opposite  cones  of  which  an  embryo  plant 

consists. 

RA'DIOLITES.  A  genus  of  fossil  shells;  the  inferior 
valve  of  which  is  in  the  shape  of  a  reversed  cone,  the 
superior  valve  convex. 

RA'DIUS.  ,L:rt.  a  ray.)  In  Geometry  and  Trigonometry, 
the  semidiaineter  of  a  circle,  or  straight  line  drawn  from  the 
centre  to  the  circumference.  In  the  trigonometrical  tables 
the  sines,  cosines,  tangents,  &c.  of  circular  arcs  are  express- 
ed in  parts  of  the  radius,  which  is  usually  assumed  equal  to 
1.  The  radius  is  equal  to  the  side  of  the  inscribed  hexagon ; 
or  it  is  equal  to  an  arc  of  57-29578°,  or  57°  17'  4481",  the 
semicircumferences,  or  180°,  in  parts  of  the  radius  1  being 
3-1413937. 

Radius.  In  Osteology,  a  bone  of  the  forearm;  so  called 
from  its  supposed  resemblance  to  the  spoke  of  a  wheel.  Its 
upper  end,  which  is  the  smallest,  is  formed  into  a  round 
hollowed  head,  and  is  articulated  with  the  small  head  at 
the  side  of  the  pulley  of  the  humerus,  whilst  the  rounded 
border  of  it  next  the  ulna  is  articulated  with  the  lesser 
sigmoid  cavity  of  that  bone;  its  lower  extremity  is  articu- 
lated with  the  bones  of  the  wrist. 

RADIUS  OP  CURVATURE.  In  the  higher  Geometry, 
the  radius  of  curvature  at  any  point  of  a  curve  line  is  the 
radius  of  the  circle  which  osculates  the  curve  at  the  given 
point  (see  Osctlation),  or  has  the  same  curvature  as  the 
curve  at  that  point.  The  curvature  of  a  circle  being  uni- 
form, and  inversely  as  the  radius,  the  radius  of  the  osculat- 
ing circle  enables  us  to  judge  of  the  curvature  of  any  curve 
line  at  its  different  points.  The  general  expression  for  the 
radius  of  curvature,  r,  of  any  plane  curve  defined  by  the 
equation  y=f(z),  is 

r_(dr?  +  dy2)% 
dxd2y 
(.?cc  F.voi.t-te.)  From  this  expression  the  value  of  r  is 
readily  found  when  the  equation  of  the  curve  is  given;  it 
is  a  propertj  of  lines  of  the  second  order,  that  the  radius  of 
curvature  is  e-pial  to  the  cube  of  the  normal  divided  by  the 
square  of  the  semiparameter. 

The  expression  fur  the  radius  of  curvature  of  a  surface 
repri  sented  by  the  equation  z=/(iy),  at  any  point  whose 
co-ordinates  are  7,  ,j,  :,  is  as  follows:   Make 

dy  dz  di 

—  =  m,   — =.p,  —  =  ?, 

dz  dz  dy 

d*i  _        dlz    _       rf2  z  _ 

di-  dzdy        '  (l)/' 

and  let  R  denote  the  radius  of  curvature  of  a  normal  section 
of  the  surface  ;  then 


r  -4-  2  *  m  -4- 1  m^ 
RA'DIUS  VE'I  T<  >R.  In  Astronomy,  is  the  straight  line 
drawn  from  the  centre  of  force  to  the  point  of  the  orbit, 
where  the  body  is  supposed  to  be.  A  body  projected  in 
space,  and  subjected  to  the  ar-tion  of  a  centripetal  force,  as 
gravity,  which  varies  in  the  inverse  ratio  of  the  distance, 
describes  a  conic  section  which  has  one  of  its  foci  at  the 
centre  of  force.  In  the  parabola,  let  p  denote  the  param- 
eter; and  in  the  ellipse  and  hyperbola,  let  a  denote  the 
semitransverse  axis,  and  e  the  eccentricity  ;  also  let  r  denote 
the  radius  vector,  and  rj  the  angle  which  it  makes  with  the 
transverse  axis;  then  the  expression  for  the  radius  vector 
in  tie-  parabola,  the  ellipse,  and  the  hyperbola  respect- 
ively, is 

Ap  _     o2  —  cl  e2  —  a% 


1-f-cos.rc 


»    I    r  cos.  B 


a  +  e  cos.  v 


These  expressions  are  called  the  polar  equations  of  the 
three  curves, 


RA'DIX,  or  ROOT. 
10-20 


See  Root. 


RAILROADS. 

RAFT.  A  species  of  float  formed  of  various  logs  or 
planks,  fastened  together  side  by  side,  so  as  to  lie  conveyed 
lion,  one  point  to  another.  This  means  of  conveying  lim- 
ber to  the  sea-coast  is  advantageously  practised  in  many 
places.  The  following  notice  of  the  plan  adopted  on  the 
Rhine,  of  bringing  the  vast  quantities  of  trees  felled  near  its 
source  down  to  the  navigable  stations  on  its  banks,  max  hu 
interesting  to  the  reader: 

A  little  below  Anilernach  the  little  village  of  Namedy 
appears  on  the  left  bank,  under  a  wooded  mountain.  The 
Rhine  here  forms  a  bay.  where  the  pilots  are  accustomed 
to  unite  together  the  small  rafts  of  timber  floated  down  the 
tributary  rivers  into  the  Rhine,  and  to  construct  enormous 
floats,  which  are  navigated  to  Dordrecht,  and  sold.  These 
machines  have  the  appearance  of  a  floating  village,  com- 
posed of  12  or  15  little  wooden  huts,  on  a  platform  of  oak 
and  deal  timber.  They  are  frequently  800  or  900  feet  in 
length,  and  bO  or  70  in  breadth.  The  rowers  and  workmen 
sometimes  amount  to  700  or  800,  superintended  by  pilots, 
and  a  proprietor,  whose  habitation  is  superior  in  size  and 
elegance  to  the  rest.  The  raft  is  composed  of  several  layers 
of  trees,  placed  one  on  the  other,  and  bound  together:  a 
large  raft  draws  not  less  than  G  or  7  feet  of  water.  Several 
smaller  ones  are  attached  to  it.  by  way  of  protection,  besides 
a  string  of  boats  loaded  with  anchors  and  cables,  and  used 
for  the  purpose  of  sounding  the  river  and  going  on  shore. 
The  domestic  economy  of  an  East  Indiaman  or  an  English 
man  of  war  is  hardly  more  complete.  Poultry,  pigs,  and 
other  animals  are  to  be  found  on  board  ;  ami  several  butchers 
are  attached  to  the  suite.  A  well-supplied  boiler  is  ai  work 
night  and  day  in  the  kitchen  ;  the  dinner  hour  is  announced 
by  a  basket  stuck  on  a  pole,  at  which  signal  the  pilot  gives 
the  word  of  command,  and  the  workmen  run  from  all 
quarters  to  receive  their  messes.  The  consumption  of  pro- 
visions in  the  voyage  to  Holland  is  almost  incredible  :  some- 
times amounting  to  40,000  or  50,000  pounds  of  bread  ;  18,000 
or  20,000  of  fresh,  besides  a  quantity  of  salted  meat;  and 
butter,  vegetables,  &.C  in  proportion.  The  expenses  are  so 
great,  that  a  capital  of  three  or  four  hundred  florins  is  con- 
sidered necessary  to  undertake  a  raft.  Their  navigation  is 
a  matter  of  considerable  skill,  owing  to  the  abrupt  windings, 
tin  rocks,  and  shallows  of  the  river:  and  some  years  ago 
tin-  secret  was  thought  to  be  monopolized  by  a  boatman  of 
Riidesheim  and  his  sons.    (.111111:1111  <>n  the  Rhine.) 

RATTER.  (Sox. rafter.)  In  Architecture,  an  inclined 
piece  of  timber  in  the  side  of  a  roof:  in  the  provinces  called 
a  spar.  It  is  of  various  sorts,  as  will  be  seen  under  the  art. 
Roof,  which  see. 

RAG-STONE.    A  dark  gray  silk-ions  sandstone. 

RAIL.  In  Architecture,  the  horizontal  part  in  any  piece 
of  flaming  or  panelling  Thus,  in  a  door,  the  horizontal 
pieces  between  which  the  panels  lie  are  called  rails,  whilst 
the  vertical  pieces  between  which  the  panels  are  inserted 
are  called  styles. 

RAIL,  or' WATER-RAIL.  (Rallus  aqvntims  of  Lin.) 
A  native  species  of  a  genus  of  Macrodactyle  or  long-toed 
waders,  destitute  of  alar  spines  or  a  frontal  shield. 

RATLING.  A  fence  or  barrier  made  of  posts  and  rails. 
The  most  ordinary  fence  of  this  description  in  the  country 
is  formed  of  wooden  posts  let  in  the  soil,  so  as  to  stand  up- 
right,  to  which  are  nailed  or  morticed  horizontal  wooden 
rails,  one  above  another,  at  such  a  distance  as  to  prevent 
domestic  animals  from  penetrating  through  them.  In  some 
cases  one  horizontal  rail  is  fixed  to  the  posts  near  the 
ground,  and  another  near  the  top  of  the  post,  and  the  in- 
terval between  them  is  rendered  impervious  to  cattle  by  up- 
right rails  nailed  to  the  top  and  bottom  horizontal  rail. 
Iron  railings  are  generallv  formed  in  ibis  manner. 

RAILROADS,  or  RAILWAYS.  Roads  constructed  of 
tracks  1,1'  iron  called  rails,  on  which  ihe  wheels  of  carriages 
roll,  and  to  which  they  are  confined  by  ledges  or  flanges 
raised  either  on  the  rail  or  on  the  tires  of  the  wheels 

Theory  of  Railways.— The  object  to  be  obtained  by  the 
construction  of  roads  of  every  kind  is  to  effect  the  trans- 
port of  loads  by  the  least  possible  expenditure  of  tractive 
force ;  and  one  road  is  better  or  worse  than  another,  ceteris 
paribus,  according  as  the  same  moving  power  is  capable  of 
drawing  upon  it  a  greater  or  less  amount  of  load.  Since 
the  moving  power,  whatever  it  may  be,  is  expended  in 
overcoming  the  resistance  which  the  carriage's  on  which 
the  load  Is  borne  offers,  this  object  can  only  be  attainable 
bs  the  adoption  of  such  expedients  as  will  permanently 
diminish  the  amount  of  that  resistance.  The  causes  of 
resistance  to  the  motion  of  a  carriage  along  the  roael  are  the 
following: 

1.  Roughness  nr  lrnrrnmcss  of  the  Rood  Surface. — AM 
asperities  formed  by  stones  or  other  hard  substances  pro- 
jecting above  the  general  surface  of  the  roael  produce  a 
resistance  to  the  moving  power,  since,  when  the  win  els 
encounter  them  anil  pass  e.ver  them,  the  weight  of  the 
load,  resting  as  it  does  upon  the  Wheels,  must  be  raised 
through  a  height  corresponding  with  such  projections; 


RAILROADS. 


and,  when  such  projections  are  frequent  cr  continued, 
this  expenditure  of  the  moving  power  is  also  continued, 
and  the  same  species  of  resistance  is  produced  as  if  the 
moving  power  had  continually  to  raise  an  equivalent 
weight.  In  like  manner,  if  cavities  or  ruts  occur  on  the 
road  surface,  the  %vheels  sink  into  them,  and  the  moving 
power  is  constantly  expended  in  raising  the  load  out  of 
these  cavities.  All  roughness  or  unevenness  of  surface 
consisting  of  nothing  more  than  a  multitude  of  such  pro- 
jections and  cavities,  more  or  less  minute  in  magnitude, 
the  same  causes  operate  by  such  means  in  absorbing  the 
moving  power. 

2.  Softness  of  the  Road.— However  free  the  road  surface 
may  be  from  asperities  or  cavities,  if  its  substructure  be  of 
such  a  nature  that  it  will  yield  to  the  pressure  of  the 
Wheels,  a  resistance  will  be  produced  to  the  moving  power, 
the  amount  of  which  will  be  more  or  less,  according  to  the 
degree  in  which  this  softness  or  yielding  quality  exists. 
The  wheels  sinking  into  a  cavity  produced  in  the  soft  sur- 
face of  the  road  by  their  pressure,  the  moving  power  is 
affected  in  nearly  the  same  manner  as  if  it  had  to  draw  the 
load  out  of  the  cavity  which  it  makes  for  itself,  and  a  cor- 
responding amount  of  resistance  is  the  consequence. 

3.  Acclivity  of  the  Road  Surface. — When  the  surface  of 
the  road  is  not  perfectly  horizontal,  but  forms  an  inclined 
plane  up  which  the  load  is  to  be  drawn,  a  resistance  will 
be  produced  by  the  gravity  or  weight  of  the  load,  which 
will  be  proportional  to  the  steepness  of  the  acclivity :  thus, 
if  the  road  surface  rise,  in  the  direction  of  the  motion,  one 
perpendicular  foot  in  50  feet  of  distance,  then  as  much 
moving  power  will  be  absorbed  in  going  over  every  50  feet 
of  distance  as  would  lift  the  entire  load  through  one  foot  of 
perpendicular  height. 

This  cause  of  resistance  differs  from  the  former  causes. 
In  both  the  former  the  resistance  to  the  moving  power 
would  be  equally  produced  in  whichever  direction  the  load 
is  drawn;  but  the  effect  of  an  acclivity  is  to  increase  the 
resistance  only  in  the  ascending  direction.  In  the  descend- 
ing direction,  on  the  other  hand,  it  will  have  the  effect  of 
assisting  the  moving  power,  by  causing  the  gravity  of  the 
load  to  co-operate  with  that  power  in  overcoming  the  other 
resistance.  In  all  roads,  therefore,  on  which  the  traffic  is 
equal  in  both  directions,  the  advantage  derived  from  de- 
scending acclivities  is  to  be  placed  against  the  power  ex- 
pended in  ascending  them.  The  principles  on  which  the 
question  of  the  best  possible  arrangement  of  the  acclivities 
on  roads  of  different  kinds  depends  are  of  great  importance, 
not  only  with  reference  to  the  working  of  roads,  but  also  in 
Saying  them  out,  or  originally  constructing  them  ;  and  there 
is  none  about  which  there  has  been,  and  still  is,  a  greater 
difference  of  opinion  among  engineers  and  men  of  practical 
6cience. 

Such,  therefore,  being  the  sources  of  resistance,  the 
qualities  which  must  be  imparted  to  a  road,  to  diminish  as 
much  as  possible  the  resistance  to  the  moving  power,  must 
be  the  following: 

1st.  Smoothness  ami  evenness  of  the  road  surface. 

2d.  Hardness  and  durability  of  the  road  structure. 

3d.  Such  an  arrangement  of  the  acclivities  that  the  effect 
of  the  gravity  of  the  load  shall  produce  on  the  whole  the 
least  amount  of  re-istance,  or  that  it  shall  contribute  the 
greatest  amount  of  advantage  to  the  moving  power. 

In  ordinary  roads,  formed  of  gravel,  broken  stone,  or 
pavement,  the  entire  surface  is  constructed  in  an  uniform 
manner,  so  that  every  part  of  it  is  equally  adapted  to  the 
motion  of  the  wheels;  and,  as  the  tractive  power  com- 
monly used  is  the  strength  of  horses,  the  structure  of  the 
road  must  also  be  more  or  less  made  with  a  view  to  their 
qualities.  Thus  it  might  happen  that  the  great  degree  of 
smoothness  and  hardness  which  would  contribute  most 
effectually  to  diminish  the  resistance  of  the  carriages,  would 
be  incompatible  with  the  continued  health  and  soundness 
of  the  horses  working  on  it.  The  paved  streets  of  a  town, 
by  reason  of  their  hardness,  produce  less  resistance  to  the 
motion  of  carriages  than  the  softer  gravel  roads  of  the 
country,  but  they  are  incomparably  more  injurious  to  the 
horses  which  work  upon  them. 

This  difficulty  is  met  by  appropriating  certain  parts  onlv 
of  the  road  to  the  action  of  the  wheels,  and  imparting  to 
these,  in  the  highest  practicable  degree,  the  qualities  neces- 
sary to  diminish  the  resistance,  and  to  give  the  greatest 
durability  to  the  road  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  to  adapt  that 
part  of  the  road  appropriated  to  the  horses  to  the  peculiar 
action  of  their  feet,  and  to  the  circumstances  of  the  struc- 
ture and  health  of  the  animal. 

This  has  been  accomplished  bv  constructing  upon  the 
roadway  parallel  tracks,  with  a  width  corresponding  to  the 
distance  between  the  wheels,  and  between  these  tracks 
forming  a  path  suitable  to  the  horses. 

Another  advantage  al tending  such  an  arrangement  is, 
that  the  extent  of  the  rna  d  surface  adapted  to  the  action  of 
the  wheels  is  extremely  limited,  and  a  greater  amount  of 
82  86 


expense  can  be  incurred  in  giving  it  the  necessary  smooth- 
ness, hardness,  strength,  and  durability,  than  could  be  at 
all  practicable  if  these  qualities  were  to  be  imparted,  as  ia 
common  roads,  to  the  whole  extent  of  the  road  surface. 

Such  are  the  general  principles  which  have  led,  through 
a  succession  of  stages  of  progressive  improvement,  to  that 
most  perfect  of  all  the  instruments  of  transport  which 
human  invention  has  yet  devised — the  modern  railway. 
Such  a  road  consists  of  two  parallel  tracks  of  iron  firmly 
maintained  in  their  places,  the  upper  surfaces  of  which 
are  rendered  in  a  very  high  degree  smooth  and  level,  a 
strength  being  given  to  them  which  renders  them  capable 
of  sustaining  enormous  loads  without  being  deranged  in 
their  structure  or  position.  The  carriages  are  maintained 
upon  such  tracks  or  ledges  by  means  of  a  projecting  flange 
which  is  constructed  upon  the  inside  of  the  tires  of  the 
carriage  wheels,  and  which,  by  pressing  on  the  inside  of 
either  rail,  prevents  the  carriages  from  escaping  from  the 
rails.  The  general  method  of  constructing  such  roads  will 
be  rendered  most  easily  and  agreeably  intelligible  by  a 
brief  view  of  their  history  from  their  first  invention  to  their 
present  state. 

History  of  Raihcays. — About  the  middle  of  the  17th 
century,  the  transport  of  coals  from  the  pits  to  the  harbour 
was  eifected  in  the  coal  districts  of  Northumberland  and 
Durham  by  laying  down  parallel  tracks  of  timber  with  a 
horse-path  between  them,  the  wheels  being  confined  upon 
the  beams  or  rails  of  timber  by  ledges  or  flanges  projecting 
from  the  inside  of  the  tire  of  the  wheels.  These  timber 
rails  were  constructed  in  pieces  of  about  six  feet  long  with 
a  section  of  about  four  inches  square  :  they  were  supported 
on  pieces  of  timber  called  sleepers  laid  at  right  angles  to 
them  transversely  on  the  road.  These  sleepers  were  laid 
at  about  two  feet  apart,  so  that  each  pair  of  parallel  rails 
was  supported  by  three  sleepers  ;  besides  giving  support  to 
the  rails,  these  sleepers  also  had  the  effect  of  maintaining 
the  rails  in  gauge,  or  in  keeping  them  at  a  fixed  distance 
asunder.  The  rails  were  fastened  to  the  sleepers  by  pins 
driven  quite  through  the  rails,  and  half  way  through  the 
sleepers;  to  preserve  the  uniformity  of  the  upper  surface 
of  the  rail,  these  wooden  pins  were  planed  off  at  the  top. 

The  necessity  of  giving  room  for  the  flanges  of  the 
wheels,  running  as  they  did  below  the  surface  of  the  rail, 
and  the  small  depth  between  the  surface  of  the  rail  and 
the  sleeper,  rendered  it  impossible  to  protect  the  sleepers 
effectually  from  the  action  of  the  horses'  feet  by  any  cover- 
ing of  gravel  or  other  material.  The  sleepers  were  conse- 
quently subject  to  be  worn  and  destroyed.  The  rails,  also, 
being  worn  by  the  action  of  the  wheels  still  more  rapidly 
than  the  sleepers,  required  to  be  frequently  replaced  :  and, 
each  new  rail  being  pinned  down  to  the  same  sleeper,  the 
ends  of  the  s  eepers  were  gradually  perforated  by  so  many 
holes  that  the  sleepers  were  weakened,  and  required  to  be 
soon  replaced.  These  defects  were  remedied  by  the  adop- 
tion of  the  double  timber  railway,  which  consisted  in  laying 
upon  the  surface  of  trie  timber  rails,  above  described,  addi- 
tional rails  of  timber  of  equal  scantling,  attached  to  the 
lower  rails  by  wooden  pins,  passing  quite  through  the  upper 
and  half  through  the  lower  rails,  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  lower  rails  themselves  were  attached  to  the  transverse 
sleepers.  This  change  was  attended  with  many  advantages. 
Besides  the  increased  strength  given  to  the  rails  by  the 
double  timbers,  the  depth  of  the  sleepers  below  the  upper 
surface  of  the  superior  rail,  allowed  the  sleepers  to  be  pro- 
tected from  the  action  of  the  horses'  feet  by  covering  them 
with  broken  stones,  gravel,  or  other  road  materials.  The 
structure  of  rails  and  sleepers  also  being  stronger  and  more 
weighty,  and  held  down  by  the  road  material  with  which 
the  sleepers  were  covered,  allowed  a  packing  or  ballasting 
to  be  driven  under  the  rails,  so  as  to  give  greater  stability 
and  firmness  to  the  road.  Another  advantage  obtained  by 
this  arrangement  was,  that  when  the  superior  rails  were 
worn  by  the  action  of  the  wheels,  they  could  be  replaced 
by  new  ones  without  disturbing  the  inferior  rails;  and  as 
the  places  of  the  joints,  and  those  at  which  they  were  at- 
tached by  pins  to  the  inferior  rails,  could  be  varied  at 
pleasure,  the  pinholes  made  in  the  inferior  rails  would  not 
come  in  the  same  place,  or  near  each  other,  so  as  injuriously 
to  weaken  the  latter. 

The  next  improvement  consisted  in  the  addition  of  a  plate 
or  bar  of  iron,  about  two  inches  broad  and  half  an  inch  thick, 
laid  along  the  upper  surface  of  the  superior  rail,  and  attach- 
ed to  it  by  nails  or  iron  pins  countersunk  in  it.  The  wheels 
of  the  carriages  ran  upon  this  iron  rail,  which  formed  a 
more  durable  surface  than  that  of  the  wood.  In  the  United 
States  of  America,  railways  of  this  construction  are  still  in 
verv  general  use.  They  are  recommended  in  that  country 
by  the  abundance  and  cheapness  of  timber,  and  the  com- 
parative high  cost  of  iron.  Such  a  road  is  tolerably  efficient 
where  the  traffic  is  light,  and  can  therefore  be  resorted  to 
in  localities  and  circumstances  in  which  an  adequate  re- 
turn could  not  be  obtained  fur  the  capital  necessary  for  the 

1021 


RAILROADS. 


construction  of  these  timber  railways  in  America  many 
other  Improvements  have  been  introduced,  mure  especially 
in  the  substructure  of  the  road.  In  laying  out  the  roadway 
for  the  reception  of  the  rails,  two  parallel  trenches  are  cut 
along  the  line  of  way  corresponding  to  the  distance  between 
the  rails,  and  transverse  trenches  at  right  angles  to  these  are 
cut  to  receive  the  sleepers :  these  trenches  are  respectively 
bottomed  with  a  ballasting  of  broken  stone,  on  which  the 
rails  and  cross-sleepers  rest.  This  basis  answers  the  double 
purpose  of  a  firm  and  durable  support  for  the  road  and  an 
effectual  means  of  drainage.  The  scantling  of  the  timbers 
used  for  the  rails  is  usually  six  inches  in  width  by  ten  inches 
in  depth :  they  are  attached  to  the  sleepers,  so  as  to  be  at 
once  kept  from  springing  from  them  and  from  altering  their 
gauge,  by  the  following  means:  A  notch  is  cut  in  the  sleeper 
corresponding  to  the  size  and  form  of  the  rail  ;  and  the  rail, 
at  the  place  where  it  is  let  into  the  sleeper,  is  formed  with 
a  vertical  surface  on  the  outside,  and  a  levelled  surface  on 
the  inside,  increasing  in  width  downwards.  When  let  into 
the  notch  of  the  sleeper,  the  levelled  part  of  the  rail  is  forced 
into  the  corresponding  cavity  of  the  notch  by  a  wedge  driven 
between  the  outside  edge  of  the  rail  and  the  outer  surface 
of  the  notch. 

An  expedient  based  upon  the  general  principle  of  rail- 
ways has  been  adopted,  but  from  what  date  we  are  not  in- 
formed, in  the  streets  of  some  of  the  Italian  cities,  and  more 
particularly  in  those  of  Milan.  Paralleled  tracks  of  hewn 
stone  are  laid  down  to  receive  the  wheels  of  carriages,  and 
such  a  width  is  given  to  them  as  to  be  accommodated  to 
any  variations  which  are  usual  in  the  structure  of  carriages. 
This  width  is  also  such  that  the  wheels  are  not  liable  to 
run  otT  these  flagged  paths  by  any  irregularity  in  the  course 
which  the  horse  takes  in  drawing  the  carriage. 

Great  facility  of  draught  is  obtained  by  this  expedient, 
which  has  been  of  late  years  adopted  with  some  improve- 
ment in  England.  A  flagged  trackway  of  this  kind  was 
constructed  some  years  ago,  and  is  still  in  operation,  extend- 
ing from  the  West  India  Docks,  along  the  Commercial  Road, 
towards  the  City  of  London,  and  a  similar  expedient  has 
been  more  recently  proposed  to  facilitate  the  application  of 
steam  power  on  common  roads.  Stone  track  ways  of  this 
kind  have  been  accordingly  laid  down  on  some  parts  of  the 
high  road  between  London  and  Birmingham.  This  expe- 
dient has  the  advantage  in  one  respect  over  railways,  inas- 
much as  the  carriages  are  not  confined  by  flanges  or  any 
other  expedient  to  the  stone  paths  on  which  the  wheels 
move,  and  consequently  the  same  carriages  which  run  upon 
them  may  also  move  on  other  parts  of  the  road.  Thus,  one 
carriage  may  pass  another,  while  both  used  the  same  line 
of  stone  rails,  which  cannot  be  effected  when  carriages  are 
confined  to  the  rails. 

In  the  progress  of  improvement,  the  timber  railway  above 
described  was  succeeded  by  the  last  iron  plate  railway,  or 
tramway,  which  was  a  long  period  used  exclusively  in  the 
coal  districts,  and  in  public  works  generally,  and  is  still  to 
a  considerable  extent  adopted,  espeetfcly  in  the  railways 
which  are  carried  through  the  workings  of  mines,  and  on 
which  the  product  of  the  mine  is  conducted  in  wagons,  be- 
ing pushed  by  men  or  drawn  by  horses  to  the  foot  of  the 
shaft. 

The  Plate  Railway,  or  Tramway. — About  the  year  1770 
tramways  of  cast  iron  came  into  use  in  the  collieries  in  the 
north  of  England.  These  railways  consisted  of  two  rails 
of  cast  iron  laid  parallel  to  each  other  at  a  distance  from 
three  to  three  and  a  half  feet  asunder.  They  were  usual- 
ly supported  either  on  timber  or  stone  bearing.  A  cross 
Vertical  section  of  these  as  lirst  used  is  represented  at  liir.  1  ; 
where  A  A'  represents  the  timber  supports,  BCD,B'  C'  D' 

(1-) 
S  i 

3-6 


represent  the  sections  of  the  rails,  C  D,  C  D'  represent  the 
horizontal  plates  attached  by  nails  or  pins  to  the  sleeper. 
On  this  plate  the  wheels  of  the  wagon  rolled.  The  ledges 
lie,  lie  rose  perpendicularly  two  and  a  half  inches  on 
the  outside  edges  C  of  each  plate  CD'.    These  ledges,  by 

pressing  on  the  OUtside  Of  the  wheels,  prevented  the  WBgOD 
from  escaping  from  the  road.  They  were  subsequently 
raised  on  the  inxi,lr  of  the  horizontal  plate,  so  as  to  act  on 
the  inside  of  the  wheels. 

In  order  to  give  such  rails  strength  in  the  vertical  direc- 
tion, to  supersede  the  necessity  of  a  continued  support  be- 
neath them,  they  were  afterwards  cast  u  it ti  a  ledge  beneath 
them,  projecting  downwards  from  the  outside  edge  of  the 
horizontal  plate.  A  side  view  of  such  a  rail  is  represented 
in  fig.  2,  anil  a  cross  section  of  the  rails  in  rig.  3.  The  up- 
1022 


right  ledges  B  C,  B'  C  (fig.  3)  rising  from  the  horizontal 
plates  CD,  CD',  and  coming  within  each  wheel,  kept  the 
wheels  on  the  rails;  and  the  ledge  D  E,  D'E',  projecting 
downwards,  and  increasing  in  depth  towards  the  middle  of 
the  distance  between  the  supports,  as  represented  in  fig.  2, 
gave  the  necessary  strength  to  the  rail.  The  outlines  of 
this  ledge  formed  each  a  curve,  so  that  the  strength  at  dif- 
ferent points  between  the  supports  might  be  proportioned 
to  the  mechanical  effect  of  the  vertical  pressure.  The 
flanges  B  C,  B'  C  are  the  same  height  throughout  the  whole 
length  of  the  rail. 

These  tramways  were  for  a  long  period  constructed  ex- 
clusively of  cast  iron  ;  but,  when  improved  methods  of  roll- 
ing malleable  iron  were  contrived,  they  were  formed  by 
rolling ;  and  for  nearly  twenty  years  back  they  have  been 
constructed  exclusively  of  wrought  iron. 

Edge  Railway. — Within  twenty  years  after  the  first  in- 
troduction of  tramways  of  iron,  the  form  of  rail  called  the 
edge  rail  was  brought  into  use.  This  rail  is  constructed  in 
the  form  of  a  bar  of  iron,  whose  width  is  considerably  less 
than  its  depth,  placed,  as  the  name  implies,  with  its  narrow 
edge  presented  upwards.  Owing  to  its  depth  being  much 
greater  than  its  width,  its  power,  in  proportion  to  its  weight 
to  resist  vertical  pressure,  is  very  considerable.  The  wheels 
were  retained  on  rails  of  this  description  by  flanges  project- 
ing from  the  inside  of  their  tires.  These  flanges,  at  the 
point  where  the  wheels  rest  on  the  rails,  descend  below  the 
rails ;  and  the  wheel  cannot  pass  off  the  rail  towards  the 
outside,  unless  the  flange  rolls  over  the  rail. 

For  a  long  period  after  their  first  adoption,  edge  railways 
were  confined  to  the  mining  districts,  and  more  particularly 
to  the  collieries,  where  they  were  used  for  the  transport  of 
the  products  of  the  mines  to  the  places  of  shipment :  but 
this  species  of  road  acquired  vastly  increased  importance 
when  passengers  and  goods  came  to  be  transported  on  it  by 
locomotive  engines,  which  took  place  between  Liverpool 
and  Manchester  in  the  year  1830.  Since  that  time,  the 
construction  of  railways  adapted  for  general  traffic,  at  a 
speed  which  until  within  the  last  ten  years  would  have 
been  thought  impossible,  has  been  carried  to  a  great  extent 
in  England,  and  in  the  United  States.  Lines  of  railway 
with  the  same  object  have  likewise  been  projected,  and 
some  of  limited  extent  constructed  in  ditl'ercnt  parts  of  Eu- 
rope. The  general  flatness  of  Belgium  offering  the  greatest 
facilities  for  the  construction  of  this  kind  of  road,  lines  of 
railway  have  been  brought  into  operation  between  the  chief 
towns  of  that  country,  and  it  is  intended  to  continue  these 
lines  to  Aix-la-Chapelle,  from  which  a  line  was  recently 
opened  to  Cologne.  The  Times,  of  Dec.  16,  1841,  gives  a 
list  of  the  various  railroads  projected,  in  progress,  and  com- 
pleted, in  Germany,  down  to  that  date. 

In  France,  the  only  railways  worked  by  steam  power, 
adapted  for  passengers,  which  have  yet  been  brought  into 
operation,  are  the  short  lines  connecting  Versailles  and  St. 
Germain  with  Paris.  Several  others  of  greater  extent  are, 
however,  in  progress;  among  which  may  be  mentioned, 
more  particularly,  the  Paris  and  Havre  line,  by  which,  com- 
bined with  the  London  and  Southampton  railway,  the 
French  metropolis  will  be  accessible  by  a  journey  of  twenty- 
four  hours  or  less  from  London. 

Within  the  limits  of  the  present  article,  it  would  not  be 
possible  to  trace,  in  the  order  of  time,  the  succession  of  im- 
provements  by  which  the  present  methods  of  laying  out 
and  constructing  railways  for  the  swift  transport  of  passen- 
gers by  steam  power  have  been  attained.  When  the  Liver- 
pool and  Manchester  line  was  first  brought  into  operation, 
little,  comparatively,  was  understood  of  tin-  <  Stabilities  of 
such  means  of  Intercommunication;  and  that  line  may  lie 
regarded  as  an  experimental  railway,  the  refills  of  which 
nave  supplied  the  data  on  which  others  have  since  been 

constructed  and  worked.  'I'he  form,  strength,  and  weight 
of  the  rails — the  mode  of  fixing  them  on  the  road — the 
weight,  power,  anil   proportions  of  the  engines — the  form, 

strength,  ami  weigh)  of  the  carriages  and  wagons — the  mag- 
nitudes of  the  trams,  and  the  speed  of  transport,  have  all 
been  subject  to  change  from  year  to  year,  ami  almost  from 
uiouth  to  month,  since  the  opening  of  that  line  in  lt)30  to 


RAILROADS. 


the  present  time.  We  shall  not,  therefore,  attempt  to  trace 
these  improvements;  but  shall  briefly  explain  the  forma- 
tion and  construction  of  railways,  according  to  the  methods 
and  principles  at  present  generally  received. 

Of  the  Formation  and  Construction  of  Railways. — What- 
ever be  the  moving  power  to  be  used  for  the  transport  of 
loads  upon  a  railway,  its  force  must  be  proportioned  to  the 
average  resistance  of  such  loads,  and  it  must  be  capable  of 
varying  its  energy  to  the  same  extent  as  that  resistance  is 
subject  to  variation.  The  great  perfection  which  has  been 
attained  in  the  construction  of  the  rails,  and  in  the  methods 
of  fixing  them  in  their  position  upon  the  road,  is  such,  that 
the  resistance  offered  to  the  tractive  power  by  loads  moved 
on  a  straight  and  level  railway  may  be  regarded  as  practi- 
cally uniform,  so  that  the  moving  power  by  which  a  load  is 
transported  at  a  given  speed  on  a  straight  and  level  line  of 
railway  is  subject  to  a  resistance  as  unvaried  and  as  uni- 
form as  any  to  which  moving  powers  are  usually  submitted 
in  any  of  the  processes  of  art ;  but  as  the  amount  of  resist- 
ance to  the  tractive  powers  upon  a  straight  and  level  rail- 
way is  diminished  by  the  perfection  thus  attained  in  the 
construction  of  the  road,  so,  in  the  same  degree,  is  any  re- 
sistance produced  by  a  departure  from  a  perfect  level  more 
sensibly  felt.  Thus,  if  the  resistance  to  the  moving  [lower 
on  a  straight  and  level  railway,  by  a  load  moved  at  a  given 
speed,  be  equal  to  the  250th  part  of  the  load,  an  acclivity 
which  would  rise  at  the  rate  of  one  foot  in  250,  or  nearly  at 
the  rate  of  20  perpendicular  feet  in  a  mile,  would  produce 
a  resistance  to  the  moving  power,  by  reason  of  the  ascent 
alone,  equal  to  a  250th  part  of  the  load,  and  therefore  equal 
to  the  resistance  which  the  moving  power  would  sustain  on 
a  level  line.  It  follows,  therefore,  that,  under  such  circum- 
stances, in  drawing  a  load  up  such  an  acclivity,  the  moving 
power  would  have  to  overcome  twice  the  resistance  opposed 
to  it  on  a  level  ;  for  the  same  causes  which  produce  on  a 
level  a  resistance  amounting  to  the  250th  pari  of  the  load 
equally  produce  this  resistance  in  ascending  the  acclivity, 
in  addition  to  which  there  would  be  an  equal  amount  of  re- 
sistance due  to  the  ascent.  If,  therefore,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, the  moving  power  were  required  to  draw  the 
load  up  the  acclivity  at  the  same  speed  as  that  at  which  it 
drew  it  on  the  level,  trie  machine  exerting  that  power  must 
be  endowed  with  properties  in  virtue  of  which  it  is  capable 
of  varying  its  energy,  without  injury  to  its  structure,  in  the 
proportion  of  two  to  one. 

Whether  such  limits  of  variation  in  the  resistance  or  in 
the  moving  power  as  are  here  referred  to  for  the  sake  of  il- 
lustration be  those  which  are  requisite  in  practice  or  not,  it 
is  apparent  that  some  practical  limits  must  exist  to  the  varia- 
tion of  the  resistance ;  and  that,  whatever  these  limits  may 
be,  corresponding  limits  must  be  imposed  on  the  acclivities 
or  gradients,  as  they  have  been  called,  which  are  admissi- 
ble on  the  railway  on  which  such  moving  power  is  to  be  ap- 
plied. If  the  moving  p6wer  be  incapable  of  increasing  its 
energy  in  a  greater  proportion  than  two  to  one,  then  the 
steepest  gradients  must  not  create  more  than  twice  the  re- 
sistance on  the  level  parts  of  the  line  ;  and,  if  the  resistance 
on  the  level  parts  of  the  line  be  equal  to  the  250th  part  of 
the  load,  the  steepest  gradients  ought  not  exceed  one  in  250. 
This,  however,  proceeds  on  the  supposition  that  the  same 
speed  is  required  to  be  maintained  in  ascending  the  acclivi- 
ties as  on  the  level. 

When  a  carriage  of  any  kind  changes  the  direction  of  its 
motion,  it  does  not  accomplish  this  by  suddenly  passing  from 
motion  in  the  one  direction  to  motion  in  the  other.  Many 
mechanical  effects,  which  will  be  sufficiently  obvious,  for- 
bid this.  The  change  of  direction  is,  on  the  other  hand, 
effected  gradually,  by  causing  the  carriage  to  move  in  a 
curve.  Now,  in  such  a  motion,  it  is  evident  that  the  wheels 
which  traverse  the  outer  part  of  the  curve  will  in  the  same 
time  move  over  a  greater  space  than  those  which  traverse 
the  inner  part ;  in  fact,  the  inner  and  outer  wheels  move 
over  arches  of  circles  which  have  the  same  centre,  the 
outer  arch  being  longer  than  the  inner.  If  the  wheels, 
therefore,  be  (as  they  always  are)  of  the  same  magnitude, 
the  outer  wheel  must  revolve  oftener  on  its  axle  in  passing 
over  the  curve  than  the  inner :  but,  besides  this,  the  posi- 
tion assumed  by  the  wheels  in  passing  round  a  curve  is  dif- 
ferent from  that  which  they  have  when  moving  in  a  straight 
line.  If  a  four-wheel  carriage  move  along  a  straight  road, 
its  axles  will  be  at  right  angles  to  the  direction  of  its  motion, 
and  therefore  parallel  to  each  other ;  but  if  it  move  in  a 
curve,  which  it  does  in  turning  a  corner,  then  its  axles  are 
no  longer  parallel,  but  each  of  them  is  directed  to  the  centre 
of  the  curve  which  the  carriage  describes.  The  mechanism 
by  which  this  effect  is  provided  for  by  four-wheel  carriages, 
used  on  common  roads,  is  the  perch  or  pivot  on  which  the 
axle  of  the  fore  wheels  is  made  to  turn.  By  this  pivot  the 
fore  axle  may  be  placed  at  any  required  angle  with  the  axle 
of  the  hind  wheels.  As  the  wheels  of  all  such  carriages 
revolve  independently  of  each  other,  each  upon  its  own  axle, 
the  wheels  on  the  same  axle  may  revolve  at  different  speeds. 


These  two  provisions,  therefore,  are  brought  into  play  when 
a  common  carriage  changes  its  direction.  The  outer  wheels, 
in  turning  round  the  curve,  move  faster  than  the  inner,  and 
the  axles  throw  themselves  out  of  parallelism,  and  take  the 
directions  of  the  radii  of  the  curve. 

The  peculiar  structure  of  railway  carriages  excludes  the 
possibility  of  either  of  these  provisions  for  turning  round  a 
curve.  To  maintain  in  security  the  carriages  on  the  rails, 
it  has  been  found  necessary  to  fix  the  axles  truly  square 
with  the  carriages,  and  therefore  to  exclude  the  pivot  or 
perch  by  which  a  common  carriage  is  turned.  It  has  like- 
wise been  found  necessary  to  key  the  wheels  firmly  upon 
the  axle,  so  that  the  wheels  and  axle  shall  turn  together,  in- 
stead of  the  axle  being  fixed,  as  in  a  common  carriage,  and 
the  wheels  turning  upon  it.  The  mechanism  of  a  railway 
carriage  is  therefore  essentially  adapted  to  rectilinear  mo- 
tion, and  it  contains  no  expedient  by  which  it  can  move 
round  a  curve.  When  such  a  carriage,  therefore,  first  en- 
counters a  curve,  its  tendency  is  to  proceed  in  the  continua- 
tion of  the  straight  line  in  which  it  has  previously  moved, 
and  which  forms  a  tangent  to  the  curve.  If  this  tendency 
were  allowed  to  take  effect,  the  outer  wheel  would  run  off 
the  mil  on  the  outside  of  the  curve,  and  the  inner  wheel 
would  come  off  the  rail  in  the  space  between  the  rails.  This 
is  prevented  by  the  flange  which  projects  from  the  tire  of 
the  outer  wheel,  and  which,  at  the  point  where  that  wheel 
rests  upon  the  rail,  descends  below  the  rail.  When  the 
wheel  makes  an  effort,  in  virtue  of  the  tendency  to  recti- 
linear motion,  to  pass  off  the  rail,  the  flange  comes  in  con- 
tact with  the  inside  of  the  rail,  and,  by  pressing  upon  it, 
throws  the  carriage  inwards ;  and  this  taking  place  with 
the  fore  wheels,  the  direction  of  the  body  of  the  carriage  is 
shifted,  and  it  is  thrown  more  nearly  square  with  the  rails. 
This  action  of  the  flange  is  continued  while  the  carriage  is 
passing  round  the  curve,  and  it  is  to  it  alone  that  the  change 
of  direction  of  the  carriage  is  due. 

The  tires  of  the  wheels  of  railway  carriages  have  usual- 
ly a  conical  form  given  to  them,  becoming  gradually  smaller 
from  the  flange  outwards  ;  and,  when  a  carriage  rests  straight 
upon  the  rails,  the  distance  between  the  flanges  of  the 
wheels  being  less  than  the  distance  between  the  rails,  a 
small  space  is  left  between  the  flanges  and  the  rails,  to  al- 
low some  play  to  the  flanges  without  letting  them  strike  the 
rails.  When  the  carriage  comes  to  a  curve,  the  flange  of 
the  outer  wheel  comes  into  contact  with  the  outer  rail,  and 
the  whole  play  of  the  flanges  is  given  to  the  space  between 
the  flange  of  the  inner  wheel  and  the  inner  rail.  In  conse- 
quence of  the  conical  form  of  the  tires  of  the  wheels,  the 
outer  wheels,  in  this  case,  rest  upon  a  thicker  part  of  the 
cone  than  the  inner,  and  the  actual  diameter  on  which  they 
revolve  is  consequently  greater  than  that  on  which  the  in- 
ner wheels  revolve.  This  effect  has  been  generally  regard- 
ed as  an  expedient  sufficient  to  enable  railway  carriages  to 
run  round  curves  of  a  certain  limited  radius  ;  but  that  this 
is  an  error  may  be  easily  shown — if,  to  a  four-wheel  car- 
riage, wheels  of  equjfcliiameter  be  attached,  smaller  wheels 
being  put  on  the  o«#"side  than  on  the  other,  and  if  such 
wheels  were  attached  to  their  axles,  so  that  the  axles  re- 
volve with  them,  and  if  at  the  same  time  the  axles  be  fixed 
square  with  the  carriage,  such  a  carriage  will  be  found  to  be 
incapable  of  moving  in  a  curve,  notwithstanding  the  inequali- 
ty of  its  wheels. 

The  pressure  of  the  flange  on  the  rail  being,  therefore, 
the  only  means  of  turning  a  railway  carriage  round  a  curve, 
and  such  pressure  being  attended  by  friction,  and  therefore 
by  increased  resistance  to  the  moving  power,  curves  as  well 
as  acclivities  are  a  cause  of  resistance,  and  this  resistance 
will  be  great  in  proportion  to  the  rapidity  of  the  curve  or 
the  shortness  of  its  radius.  But,  independently  of  this  ef- 
fect of  curves,  a  more  serious  objection  to  those  whose  radius 
is  under  a  certain  limit  of  magnitude  arises  from  the  liabili- 
ty of  the  carriages  to  run  off,  by  the  flange  encountering  any 
obstacle  or  inequality  which  would  cause  it  to  pass  over  the 
rails. 

The  section  of  a  railway  is  therefore  limited  by  those  cir- 
cumstances which  govern  its  acclivities,  already  explained, 
and  which  are  equally  related  to  the  amount  of  the  resist- 
ance on  level  rails,  and  to  the  practical  limits  of  the  varia- 
tion of  the  moving  power;  and  the  plan  is,  on  the  other 
hand,  limited  by  the  necessity  of  effecting  every  change  of 
direction  of  the  line  by  curves  whose  radius  shall  have  such 
a  magnitude  as  to  exclude  all  danger  of  the  carriages  run- 
ning off  the  line.  In  the  laying  out  of  a  railway,  therefore, 
limitations  of  its  section  and  plan  must  be  kept  constantly  in 
view. 

Since  the  natural  surface  of  a  country  is  rarely  adapted 
to  the  conditions  which  have  been  thus  shown  to  be  ne- 
cessary to  the  formation  of  a  railway,  an  artificial  surface 
must  generally  be  formed  by  raising  some  and  lowering 
other  parts  of  the  country  through  which  the  railway  is  to 
pass.  The  expedients  by  which  this  is  accomplished  are 
attended  with  mure  or  less  difficulty  and  expense,  and  the 

1023 


RAILROADS. 


skill  of  thB  engineer  is  eminently  required  in  the  selection 
of  Blich  B  course  for  a  proposed  line  of  railway  as  will  he 
attended  with  the  least  expensive  construction,  due  regard 
being  had  to  the  pexmanenl  expense  of  working  and  main- 
taining it. 

Whin  a  railway  is  proposed  to  be  constructed  between 
two  points,  which  are  called  its  ttrmiyiii,  the  engineer 
makes  himself  generally  acquainted  with  the  country  be- 
tween these  termioii,  and  selects  that  course  for  the  line 
which,  with  least  deviation  from  a  straight  line  joining 
the  proposed  terminii.  will  afibrd  the  greatest  facilities  for 
the  formation  of  the  artificial  surface  of  the  railway,  lim- 
ited as  it  must  be  in  respect  to  its  acclivities,  and  to  the 
curves  by  which  its  various  changes  of  direction  are  effect- 
ed. This  is  first  accomplished  by  an  eye  survey  or  general 
reconnaissance  of  the  country.  An  instrumental  sur\ey  is 
afterwards  made  along  the  direction  which  has  been  se- 
lected for  the  line,  and  a  nearly  accurate  profile  of  the  coun- 
try from  terminus  to  terminus,  in  the  proposed  direction  is 
obtained.  This  being  accomplished  and  reduced  to  a  draw- 
ing, as  represented  in  fig.  4,  a  line  ABCUEFGHIKis 

(4-) 


drawn,  regulated  by  the  degrees  of  inclination  which  have 
been  decided  to  be  the  best  practical  limits  of  the  accliv- 
ities. This  line  will,  as  represented  in  the  figure,  in  some 
place-,  as  A  B,  C  D,  E  F,  G  H,  I  K,  pass  above,  and  in  oth- 
ers. LSC,  DE,  FG,  H  I,  below,  the  natural  surface  of  the 
ground.  It  is  therefore  to  be  considered  that,  in  the  one 
case,  the  artificial  surface  of  the  line  must  be  elevated 
above  the  natural  surface  ;  and  that,  in  the  other  case, 
some  expedient  must  be  provided  by  which  the  artificial 
surface  may  pass  at  the  requisite  depth  below  the  natural 
surface. 

The  surface  of  a  railway  is  raised  above  the  natural  sur- 
face of  the  ground  by  either  of  two  expedients  ;  1st,  by  form- 
ing a  mound  of  earth  with  sloping  sides,  bavins  the  rail- 
way on  its  summit;  this  is  called  an  embankment  (tig.  5) ; 
(5.) 
A' 


2dly,  by  constructing  a  bridge  by  which1  the  railway  can  be 
conducted,  at  the  requisite  elevation,  above  thi 
surface  of  the  ground,  in  the  same  manner  as  a  road  is 
Constructed  Over  B  river;  such  a  bridge  is  called  a  via- 
tiuit.  Such  structures  are  formed  either  of  masonry  or  of 
r :ist  iron  ;  but  in  countries  such  as  the  United"  States'  where 
timber  is  abundant,  cheap  viaducts  of  carpentry  are  fre- 
quently used. 

The  surface  of  a  railway  is  conducted  below  the  natural 
surface  of  the  ground  by  either  of  two  expedients:  1st,  by 
farming   an  excavation,  or  artificial  valley,   with   sloping 

sides,  along  the  bottom  of  which  the  railway  is  C trucl 

ed ;  such  an  excavation  is  called  a  cutting  (fig.  0; ;  2dlv,  by 


(0.) 


d 


undermining  the  ground  and  constructing  a  subterranean 
archway  or  vault  of  sufficient  magnitude,  the  roof  or  which 

is  usually  lined  with  masonry,  and  along  the  bottom  of 
which  the  railway  is  conducted :  such  an  archway  is  called 
a  tunnel. 

In  laying  out  a  railway,  the  disposition  of  its  cuttings  and 
embankments  must  be  kept  in  \  ieW,      In  genera],  tin    mate 

rial  by  which  the  embankments  are  formed  i*  obtained 
from  the  cuttings;  ami,  with  a  view  to  the  saving  Of  ex- 
panse, the  engineer  so  arranges  his  section  that  the  qu an 
tity  of  stuff  required  for  the  formation  of  embankments 
nhaii  be  as  nearly  as  p  I  to  that  supplied  by  the 

cuttings.     If  there  be  an  excess  of  stuff  from  the  cuttings, 
1024 


ground  must  bo  obtained  in  some  position  near  the  cuttings 
whereon  it  can  be  thrown.    This  is  technically  called  put 
ting  it  tu  spoil. 

If.  on  the  other  hand,  there  be  an  excess  of  embankment, 
then  the  Stuff  necessary  for  the  formation  of  such  embank 
ment  must  be  obtained  from  some  excavation  made  near 
the  embankment  expressly  to  supply  the  stuff  for  the  em- 
bankment.    This  is  called  side  cutting. 

The  distance  along  which  the  stuff  obtained  from  a  cut- 
ting  is  carried  before  it  is  laid  down  to  form  the  embank- 
ment is  called  the  lead  ;  and  the  quantity  of  labour  neces- 
sary to  form  an  embankment  out  of  an  adjacent  cutting  is 
determined  by  the  number  of  cubic  yards  of  stuff  necessary 
to  form  the  embankment  multiplied  by  the  average  lead,  or 
the  mean  distance  to  which  such  staff  has  to  be  carried. 

Where  a  very  low  and  long  embankment  occurs,  it  may 
happen  that  the  lead  is  so  long  that  the  expense  of  forming 
the  embankment  from  the  nearest  cutting  would  be  greater 
than  the  expense  of  putting  the  cutting  to  spoil,  and  of  form- 
ing the  embankment  from  side  cutting.  These  are  ques- 
tions which  are  determined  in  each  individual  case  with 
reference  to  the  price  of  land  and  labour. 

When  the  elevation  above  the  natural  surface  of  the 
ground  at  which  the  railway  must  be  carried  is  so  great 
as  to  render  an  embankment  impracticable,  or  attended  with 
a  disproportionate  expense,  a  viaduct  is  resorted  to  ;  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  when  the  excavation  necessary  to  give  an 
open  cutting  would  be  productive  of  objectionable  expense, 
then  the  railway  is  conducted  under  the  ground  through  a 
tunnel. 

The  slopes  A  B,  A'  B\  fig.  5,  6,  forming  the  sides  of  em- 
bankments and  cuttings,  depend  on  the  nature  of  the  soil  or 
strata  through  which  the  cuttings  are  made,  and  of  which 
the  embankments  are  formed.  In  general,  every  material 
has  a  certain  angle  at  which  it  will  rest,  all  more  steep  an- 
gles causing  it  to  slip  or  fall:  this  angle  is  called,  in  me- 
chanics, the  angle  of  repose.  In  the  strata  through  which 
railway  cuttings  are  made,  and  from  which  embankments 
are  usually  formed,  the  slopes  of  the  sides  are  rarely  less 
than  1A  foot  horizontal  to  1  foot  vertical,  and  they  vary  be- 
tween that  and  2  feet  horizontal  to  1  foot  vertical.  When 
the  material  is  gravel,  sand,  loose  chalk,  or  gravelly  clay, 
a  slope  of  1 J  to  1  is  generally  found  sufficient;  but  wilb  cer- 
tain descriptions  of  clay,  such  as  that  called  the  London 
clay,  a  more  gradual  slope  must  be  allowed.  With  such 
material,  the  slopes  are  constructed  at  1$  or  2  horizontal  to 
1  vertical  ;  but  in  general  it  is  better,  even  at  increased  ex- 
pense of  earthwork,  to  allow  a  sufficient  slope  in  the  com- 
mencement, and  thereby  avoid  the  continual  expense  at- 
tending slips,  as  the  gradual  decadence  of  the  sides  of  cut- 
tings and  embankments  is  called. 

The  face  of  slopes,  both  of  cuttings  and  embankments, 
should  be  covered  with  soil  and  sown  With  grass  seeds,  so 
as  to  produce  a  turf,  which  gives  a  farther  security  against 
slips.  They  may  be  also,  especially  the  slopes  of  embank- 
ments, planted  with  shrubs;  care  being  taken,  however,  not 
to  obstruct  the  ventilation  of  the  road. 

When  the  stratum  through  which  a  cutting  is  required  to 
be  made  is  rock  or  hard  stratified  chalk,  it  will  stand  with 
perpendicular  sides  ;  and,  in  such  cases,  cuttings  of  great 
depths  may  be  made  at  a  tritlinsr  sacrifice  of  land.  The 
Olive  Mount  cutting  on  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  rail- 
w  ay  is.  at  the  deepest  parts,  above  100  perpendicular  feet 
from  the  natural  level  of  the  surface  to  the  level  of  tho 
rails  :  and  cuttings  of  still  greater  depth  and  much  greater 
extent,  through  stratified  chalk,  are  executed  on  the  Brigfa 
ton  railway,  of  which  the  sides  are  perpendicular. 

In  most  case-',  however,  where  cuttings  attain  to  these 

extraordinary  depths,  tunnels  would  be  less  expensive,  u 
sometimes  happens  thai  the  material  of  the  cutting  is  re- 
quired for  an  adjacent  embankment;  and,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, if  the  sides  of  the  cutting  can  he  perpendicu- 
lar, and  the  sacrifice  of  land  small,  it  may  be  preferable  to 
tunnelling.  The  materials  from  the  Olive  Mount  cutting 
above  mentioned  were  required  for  the  formation  of  the 
broad  green  embankment  adjacent  to  it. 

Drainage. —  The  formation  level,  as  the  artificial  surface 
of  the  road  Intended  10  receive  the  rails  and  their  sup- 
ports is  called,  should  be  properly  drained.  This  is  effected 
by  a  Centre  drain,  carried  along  the  middle  of  the  road,  w  ith 

cross  drain-  at  proper  Intervals  communicating  with  side 
drains  in  the  cuttings,  and  discharging  the  water  down  slo- 
ping drains  descending  the  sides  oi  em  hank  no  nts.    Thecen- 

ire  anil  cross  drains  are  covered  drains,  formed  either  of 
brick   or  Stone,  or.  more  economically,  Of  tiles  made  of  a 

in  for  the  purpose. 
Rood  Structure.— The  surface  of  the  road  beine  prepared 
to  receive  the  rails,  the  props  or  chairs  which,  at  fixed  In- 
tervals, form  the  Bupporl  of  the  rails  must  next  he  laid  down. 

These  are  sustained  on  supports  of  either  of  tw  0  kinds ; 

1st.  In  cuttings  or  on  well  consolidated  embankments, 
stone  blocks  are  provided,  roughly  formed  into  a  rectangu- 


RAILROADS. 


lar  parallelopiped,  the  base  of  which  is  a  square  whose  fide 
is  2  feet,  and  the  height  of  which  is  1  foot.  A  bottoming  of 
broken  stone  and  gravel  being  spread  to  receive  these,  they 
are  set  upon  it  by  raising  them  repeatedly  by  means  of  a 
lever,  and  letting  them  fall  in  the  place  where  they  are  in- 
tended to  rest,  until  they  beat  for  themselves  a  solid  and 
unyielding  bed.  It  was  the  practice  to  lay  these  blocks  so 
that  their  sides  were  parallel  and  perpendicular  to  the  sides 
of  the  railway.    In  fig.  7  is  represented  the  plan  of  a  rial- 

(7.) 


I  Mi   I  u  |  i  ery 


"ml 


f  ryi 


m  nrrnn  m  rnrn 


ijnxanjro_m _rkijriiXaZLr^rL,  r 

UU.  L_s_l  i_H_i  Lii  LiU  i_2J  LiU  Lai 


S  g  s 

way  thus  laid  on  blocks,  showing  its  drainage,  consisting,  as 
is  usual  with  railways  having  extensive  traffic,  of  two  lines. 
The  line  R  R,  R'  R'  is  appropriated  to  carriages  moving  in 
one  direction,  and  the  line  rr,  r'  r'  to  carriages  moving  in 
the  other  direction.  By  thus  causing  carriages  moving  in 
the  same  direction  to  be  confined  to  the  same  line,  the  col- 
lision of  trains  meeting  is  prevented.  The  centre  drain  run- 
ning between  the  two  lines  of  railway  is  represented  at 
DUD.  The  cross  drains  are  shown  at  C  C  C,  communica- 
ting with  the  side  drains  S  S  S. 

The  blocks  are  represented  at  B  B,  supporting  the  rails, 
and  laid  with  their  sides  parallel  and  perpendicular  to  the 
rails. 

This  arrangement  has  lately  been  superseded  by  the  di- 
agonal arrangement  of  blocks,  represented  in  fig.  8.    It  is 


considered  that  this  arrangement  gives  the  block  a  better 
bearing  on  its  bed ;  but  the  chief  advantage  attending  it,  as 
compared  with  the  former  position  of  the  blocks,  is  that  it 
renders  the  base  of  the  block  more  accessible  for  repairing 
and  adjustment,  from  time  to  time,  when  the  road  is  in  op- 
eration. 

2dly,  On  embankments  newly  made,  or  other  parts  of 
the  line  where  the  foundation  of  the  road  is  liable  to  yield 
under  the  operation  of  the  traffic  upon  it,  wooden  sleepers, 
S  S,  fig.  9,  extending  across  the  road,  are  used  instead  of 


Q 

' 

(9.) 

K 

Q     U 

l 

y 

j 

H 

Hj           |. 

— J 

r 

s 

S 

n 

s 

« 

p 

s 

nl        !r, 

s 

Cj 

L 

^J     L 

"1 

b 

ill     L!J 

stone  blocks  to  support  the  chairs.  These  are  usually 
formed  of  larch  :  the  tree  is  split  along  the  centre,  so  as  to 
form  two  sleepers,  one  side  of  which  is  flat,  and  the  other 
convex.  They  are  usually  from  8  to  9  feet  long,  and  from 
9  to  10  inches  broad  on  the  flat  side ;  and  from  4  to  5  inches 
deep,  measured  in  the  thickest  part.  Thev  are  laid  across 
the  road,  with  the  flat  side  downwards.  The  chairs  are  fas- 
tened to  them  by  pins  on  the  convex  side,  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  they  have  been  already  described  to  be  fastened  to 
the  blocks.  Each  pair  of  opposite  chairs  being  thus  con- 
nected, by  being  attached  to  the  same  sleeper,  the  rails  are 


(10.) 


kept  in  gauge,  notwithstanding  the  yielding  of  the  founda- 
tion under  the  sleeper. 

Until  within  a  recent  period,  stone  blocks  were  universal- 
ly regarded  as  the  best  permanent  support  for  the  rails 
wherever  they  could  be  laid  upon  a  solid  and  durable  foun- 
dation, and  wooden  sleepers  were  only  resorted  to  as  tempo- 
rary supports,  to  be  ultimately  superseded  by  stone  blocks 
whenever  the  foundation  of  the  road  should  be  properly  con- 
solidated. Opinion  has,  however,  undergone  some  change 
on  this  subject,  and  wooden  sleepers  are  now  sometimes 
used  in  preference  to  stone  blocks  for  permanent  purposes : 
whether  they  will  prove  economical,  when  submitted  to  the 
trial  of  a  long  period  of  time,  experience  alone  can  decide. 

The  chairs,  which  are  the  immediate  supports  or  props  on 
which  the  rails  rest,  are  attached  to  the  centre  of  the  upper 
surfaces  of  the  blocks  in  the  following  manner:  Two  holes 
are  drilled  in  the  blocks  to  a  sufficient  depth,  about  2  inches 
in  diameter,  into  which  plugs  of  oak  or  other  hard  wood 
are  driven  ;  holes  are  then  bored  in  these,  3-8ths  of  an  inch 
in  diameter,  corresponding  in  position  with  two  holes  in  the 
chair  of  cast  iron,  which  is  to  support  the  rail.  Iron  pins 
of  half  an  inch  in  diameter  are  then  driven  through  the 
holes  in  the  chairs  into  the  holes  in  the  block,  a  piece  of 
patent  felt  being  placed  between  the  chair  and  the  block ; 
and  the  chair  is  thus  firmly  fastened  to  the  block. 

The  chairs  are  formed  of  cast  iron,  formed  with  a  cavity 
corresponding  to  the  magnitude  and  form  of  the  rail :  they 
vary  very  much  in  their  size  and  form,  according  to  the 
opinion  or  judgment  of  the  engineer.  A  cross  vertical  sec- 
tion of  one  of  the  most  common  forms 
of  chair,  fixed  on  a  block,  now  in  use, 
with  the  rail  resting  in  it,  is  repre- 
sented in  fig.  10. 

A  great  variety  of  expedients  have 
been  resorted  to  to  maintain  the  rail 
fixed  in  its  position  in  the  chair. 
Pins  and  wedges  of  iron  were  first 
used  of  various  forms,  and  applied  in 
various  ways.  These,  however,  have  now  been  very  gen- 
erally superseded  by  the  simple  contrivance  of  a  wooden 
block  or  wedge,  driven  in  between  the  side  of  the  chair,  as 
represented  at  a,  fig.  10.  These  wedges  are  prepared  by 
previously  passing  them  through  a  h>  drostatic  press,  so  as  to 
harden  them  by  exposing  them  to  a  severe  pressure.  Besides 
affording  a  very  effectual  fastening  to  the  rail  in  the  chair, 
these  wedges,  from  the  nature  of  the  material,  soften  the 
jar  which  attends  tho  transition  of  the  wheels  over  the 
chairs. 

Weight  and  Form  of  Rails. — The  weight  and  form  of  the 
rails  have  been  subject  to  great  variation,  since  the  exten- 
sion of  railways  to  the  rapid  transport  of  passengers.  This 
has  not  arisen  so  much  from  ignorance  of  the  mechanical 
properties  of  the  metal  thus  applied,  as  from  the  varying 
weight  and  speed  of  the  engines  and  loads  transported  upon 
them.  The  weight  of  the  engines  was,  in  the  commence- 
ment, limited  to  6*tons ;  but  the  most  common  weight  of 
these  machines  at  present  is  12  tons;  and  their  speed,  as 
well  as  the  amount  of  loads  which  they  draw,  have  un- 
dergone a  corresponding  increase.  The  strength  and  solid- 
ity of  the  structure  on  which  this  extraordinary  traffic  is  car- 
ried have  necessarily  undergone  corresponding  changes. 
The  Liverpool  and  Manchester  railway  was  first  laid  down 
with  rolled  iron  rails,  weighing  35  pounds  per  yard,  support- 
ed on  chairs  3  feet  asunder.  These,  were,  however,  soon 
found  insufficient  in  strength,  and  they  were  replaced  by 
rails  weighing  50  pounds  per  yard,  supported  on  bearings 
at  the  same  distance  asunder. 

The  distance  between  the  bearings  or  chairs  has  also 
been  subject  to  change.  The  necessary  strength  or  weight 
of  the  rail  will  evidently  depend  on  this  distance;  the 
greater  the  distance  between  the  props,  the  greater  must  be 
the  strength  of  the  rail ;  and,  so  far  as  regards  the  expense, 
the  engineer  has  to  balance  the  cost  of  heavier  rails  against 
the  saving  effected  by  a  diminished  number  of  blocks  and 
chairs.  But,  independently  of  the  consideration  of  expense, 
the  effect  upon  the  carriages  and  engines  is  to  be  considered. 
Between  chair  and  chair,  a  slight  flexure  of  the  rail  takes 
place,  and  the  wheels  have  consequently  to  pass  over  a  se- 
ries of  eminences,  so  as  to  give  to  the  carriages  a  pitching 
motion,  the  intervals  and  degree  of  which  must  depend 
conjointly  on  the  strength  of  the  rails  and  the  distance  be- 
tween the  chairs. 

The  least  distance  between  the  chairs  now  used  is  3  feet, 
and  the  greatest  5  feet ;  50  lb.  rails  are  very  generally  used 
on  3  feet  bearings  ;  65  lb.  rails  on  4  feet  bearings  ;  and  To  lb. 
rails  on  5  feet  bearings.  All  these  varieties  of  construction 
are  used  in  different  parts  of  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester 
railway.  The  Grand  Junction  railway,  extending  from 
Birmingham  to  Newton,  is  laid  down  uniformly  with  65  lb. 
rails  on  4  feet  bearings,  and  the  London  and  Birmingham 
railway  has,  in  different  places,  all  theabrve  varie  ies. 

The  form  of  the  rail  has  been  much  varied.    The  fish- 
3S  1025 


RAILROAD. 

bellied  rail  nu  considered  to  have  the  most  advantageous 
form,  when  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  railway  was 
first  brought  into  operation,  and  tor  some  years  afterwards. 
This  form  gives  increased  depth  to  the  rail  at  the  parts 
most  distant  from  tin-  supports;  and,  in  theory,  it  is  un- 
questionably the  most  correct,  the  strength  of  every  part  to 
resi>t  vertical  pressure  being  the  same.  Hut  various  prac- 
tical objections  have  been  found  against  it,  Which  our  limits 
will  not  allow  us  to  examine  or  discuss ;  and  the  6ah-bellied 
rail  baa  accordingly  been  altogether  superseded  by  the 
parallel  rail,  which  is  a  rail  whose  cross  section  is  the 
same  at  every  part.  Nothing  can  he  more  varied  or  more 
capricious  than  the  forms  given  to  the  cross  section  of  rails 
by  diti'erent  engineers.  The  figures  11  to  18,  represent  a 
few  of  tins  great  variety. 

(11.1  (12.)  (13.)  (14.) 


(15.) 


(lb.) 


(17.) 


(18.) 


The  form,  however,  which  has  obtained  most  general 
favour  at  the  present  time  is  that  which  is  represented  in 
fig.  13,  the  cross  section  of  which  is  nearly  the  same  as  the 
longitudinal  section  of  a  dumb  bell.  This  form  of  parallel 
rail  has  the  advantage  of  being  capable  of  being  reversed, 
either  side  being  turned  upwards. 

In  some  rare  instances,  modern  railways  in  England  have 
been  laid  down  on  continuous  bearing's.  The  rails,  in  such 
cases,  are  supported  immediately  on  the  longitudinal  truck- 
ers without  chairs.     This  is  the  case  in  the  Manchester 


(19.) 
R 


f 


(20.) 


and  Bolton  railway,  and  in  the  Great 
Western  railway  :  a  section  of  a  rail,  as 
attached  to  a  longitudinal  trucker  sup- 
port without  a  chair,  is  represented  in 
fig.  19,  where  R  is  a  section  of  the  rail, 
P  an  iron  pin  attaching  it  to  the  trucker 
B.  These  pins  are  placed  at  regular 
distances  along  the  outside  base  of  the 
rail. 

A  section  of  the  rail  with  its  trucker 
support,  used  on  the  Great  Western  rail- 
way, is  given  in  tig.  '20.  These  rails  are 
fastened  to  the  truckers  by  screws  on 
each  side.  They  weigh  from  40  to  50 
lbs.  per  yard. 

Ga.ugt  of  the  Railway. — The  gauge,  or  the  distance  be- 
tween the  rails,  on  which  depends  the  distance  between 
the  wheels  of  the  carriages  and  engines,  and  to  a  certain 
extent  their  structure,  has  recently  been  a  subject  of  much 
discussion.  It  is  contended  by  some  that  all  railways  con- 
structed in  the  same  country  ought  to  have  the  same  gauge  ; 
that,  though  it  is  not  contended  that  the  gauge  now  in  use 
is  the  best  that  could  possibly  have  been  adopted,  yet  that, 
extensive  lines  of  road  having  been  constructed  with  that 
gauge,  more  disadvantage  will  attend  any  departure  from 
it  than  could  be  balanced  by  any  advantages  that  could 
attend  any  other  magnitude  of  gauge. 

In  the  colliery  railways  in  the  north  of  England,  the  rails 
had  been  laid  at  4  feet  8A  inches  asunder ;  and  on  the 
Liverpool  and  Manchester  railway,  the  first  line  intended 
for  general  trartic,  was  laid  down  by  Mr.  Stevenson  with 
the  same  gauge.  The  lines  of  railway  subsequently  pro- 
jected, extending  from  Liverpool  and  Manchester  to  Bir- 
mingham 'and  thence  to  London),  to  Preston,  Wigan, 
Bolton,  Leeds,  and  other  places,  were  laid  down  with  the 
same  gauge,  since  the  carriages  and  engines  would  neces- 
sarily have  to  pass  from  one  to  the  other.  But  when  rail- 
ways began  to  be  constructed  in  Belgium  and  other  parts 
of  tin  Continent,  where  the  same  reason  for  uniformity  of 
gauge  did  not  prevail,  the  same  gauge  nevertheless  was 
adopted.  The  Bret  conspicuous  departure  from  this  uni- 
formity took  place  in  the  Great  Western  railway,  extending 
from  London  to  Bristol,  which  w  as  laid  down  with  a  gauge 
of  7  feet;  and  the  Eastern  Counties  railway  next  adopted 
a  gauge  of  C  feet. 

The  gauge  of  a  railway  can  he  regarded  as  nothing  more 
than  its  linear  modulus,  or  the  index  to  its  general  scale. 
There  is  nothing  per  se  to  give  one  gauge  a  preference  over 
another;  but,  as  the  magnitude  of  the  gauge  determines 
the  general  magnitude  and  scale  of  the  railway,  and  of 
everything  connected  with  the  railway,  including  waRons, 
coaches,  and  engines,  bridges,  viaducts,  tunnels,  cuttings, 
fee,  and,  In  short,  all  the  works,  whether  of  u  moveable 
1028 


RAIN. 

and  perishable  or  fixed  and  permanent  nature,  it  is  a  matter 
of  the  greatest  importance  that  it  should  be  determined 
With  a  just  regard  to  the  traffic  of  the  line. 

(  urves  on  Railways. — With  a  view  to  insure  the  public 
safety,  the  legislature  has  generally  required  that  no  curve 
shall  be  allowed  upon  a  main  line  with  a  less  radius  than 
one  mile :  the  exceptions  to  this  are  where  one  railway 
passes  into  another ;  and  at  the  termini,  or  the  entrance  of 
depots  or  stations.  In  such  situations  the  trains  must 
slacken  their  speed,  and  therefore  a  sharp  curve  is  attended 
with  less  danger.  It  has  appeared,  however,  that  these 
restrictions  upon  the  radii  of  curves  have  been  more  strin- 
gent than  safety  requires.  In  a  course  of  experiments 
made  by  Dr.  Lardner,  within  the  last  two  years,  it  has 
been  established  that  curves  of  a  mile  radius  produce  no 
sensible  increase  of  resistance  at  the  usual  speed  of  rail- 
way trains,  and  therefore  curves  of  considerably  less  radius 
may  be  traversed  at  that  speed  without  danger.  We  may 
here  state,  that  on  the  Newcastle  and  Carlisle  railway 
there  are  many  curves  in  the  main  line  with  radii  under 
half  a  mile,  which  are  traversed  at  the  usual  speed  with 
perfect  safety. 

Motive  Power  on  Railways. — The  motive  power  on  rail- 
ways for  general  trartic  is  at  present  steam  power,  and  is 
either  locomotive  engines,  which  move  along  the  railway 
with  the  load  which  they  draw  ;  or  stationary  engines, 
which,  by  means  of  ropes  extended  along  the  line  of  rail- 
way, draw  the  loads  in  either  direction.  See  Locomotive 
Engine  and  Stationary  Engine. 

Resistance  of  Air  to  Railway  Trains. — Until  very  re- 
cently, it  has  been  considered  by  engineers  that  the  resist- 
ance to  railway  trains  was  almost  entirely  due  to  friction 
and  mechanical  effects,  and  that  that  part  of  the  resistance 
which  depends  on  the  atmosphere  formed  so  inconsiderable 
a  portion  of  the  whole  that  it  might  be  disregarded  in 
practice.  The  result  of  a  course  of  experiments,  made 
within  the  last  two  years,  by  Dr.  Lardner,  the  details  of 
which  may  be  seen  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  British  Asso- 
ciation, have,  however,  indicated  a  serious  amount  of 
resistance  due  to  the  air.  If  Dr.  Lardner's  conclusion  shall 
be  confirmed  by  further  experience,  the  great  expense  at- 
tending the  maintenance  of  very  high  speed  on  railways, 
and  the  improbability  of  attaining  in  the  ordinary  work  of 
a  line  the  extraordinary  velocity  which  some  persons  now 
contemplate,  will  be  apparent. 

Speed  of  Railway  Traffic.     See  Locomotive  Engine. 

For  the  details  of  the  structure  and  operation  of  railways, 
see  the  Treatise  by  Nicholas  Wood,  3d  edition,  London, 
1838 ;  The  Steam  Engine,  $-c,  by  Dr.  Lardner,  7th  edition, 
London,  1840. 

Railway,  Pneumatic  or  Atmospheric.  The  name 
given  to  a  system  of  locomotion  on  railways  by  means  of 
the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere.  A  simple  and  ingenious 
apparatus  for  this  purpose  was  invented  a  few  years  ago, 
and  is  now  being  exhibited  on  the  West  London  Railway 
at  Wormwood  Scrubs.  Those  who  desire  to  see  a  brief 
though  clear  account  of  this  invention,  with  a  resume  of 
the  advantages  likely  to  accrue  from  its  being  generally 
adopted,  may  consult  the  well-reasoned  letter  of  Mr.  Pirn, 
addressed  to  the  President  of  the  Hoard  of  Trade  (1841). 
(See  also  a  treatise  on  this  subject,  by  Mr.  Samuda.) 

RAIN.  (Ger.  regen.)  In  Meteorology,  water  falling 
from  the  atmosphere  in  drops. 

The  theory  of  rain  is  not  yet  very  satisfactorily  estab- 
lished. One  of  the  most  ingenious  explanations,  ami  indeed 
the  only  one  which  rests  entirely  on  known  principles, 
was  proposed  by  Dr.  James  Hittton  in  the  Philosophical 
Transactions  of  Edinburgh,  for  1787.  It  is  now  a  well- 
ascertaineil  fact,  though  it  was  only  matter  of  conjecture  to 
Dr.  Mutton,  that  the  capacity  of  air  for  moisture,  or  the 
quantity  of  moisture  which  a  given  volume  of  air  will  hold, 
increases  with  the  temperature,  but  in  a  much  faster  ratio 
than  the  temperature  ;  and  hence  it  follows  that  if  two 
equal  portions  of  air  at  different  temperatures  completely 
saturated  with  moisture  are  mingled  together,  a  precipita- 
tion must  take  place  in  consequence  of  the  mixture,  which 
will  have  the  mean  temperature  of  the  two  portions,  being 
unable  to  sustain  the  mean  quantity  of  vapour.  For  ex- 
ample, suppose  that  while  the  temperature  increases  in  an 
arithmetical  ratio,  the  rapacity  for  retaining  moisture  in- 
creases  In  a  geometrical  ratio,  and  that  at  the  temperature 
of  15  centesimal  degrees  air  can  hold  200  parts  of  moisture; 
then  at  30  degrees  it  will  hold  400  parts,  and  at  45  degrees 
BOO  parts.  Now,  suppose  two  equal  bulks  of  damp  air,  at 
the  respective  temperatures  of  15  and  45  degrees,  to  be 
mixed  together,  the  compound  must  contain  lOOO  parts  of 
Vapour,  or  either  half  of  il  500  p:irls  ;  and  the  temperature 
of  the  Compound  Will  be  30  degrees.  But  at  this  tempera- 
ture the  air  is  saturated  with  400  parts,  and  consequently 
there  will  be  a  precipitation  of  100  parts  from  each  of  the 
given  bulks. 

It  is  obviously  not  necessary  that  the  commingled  por- 


RAIN. 

tions  of  air  should  be  fully  saturated  with  moisture,  as 
assumed  in  the  above  example  ;  rain  will  be  precipitated  if 
the  two  masses  approach  the  point  of  saturation,  but  the 
quantity  will  be  proportionally  less.  It  is  also  a  conse- 
quence of  the  theory,  that  for  a  given  difference  of  heat  the 
precipitation  will  be  greatly  increased  at  the  higher  tem- 
peratures ;  and  this  is  conformable  to  experience,  for 
showers  are  most  copious  during  hot  weather,  and  in  tropi- 
cal countries.  The  circumstances,  therefore,  on  which, 
according  to  this  theory,  the  quantity  of  rain  precipitated 
in  a  given  time  depends,  are  the  following:  The  previous 
dampness  of  the  commixed  portions  of  air  ;  the  difference 
of  their  respective  temperatures ;  the  elevation  of  their 
mean  temperature  ;  and  the  extent  to  which  the  combina- 
tion takes  place. 

The  principal  objection  to  this  theory  is,  that  the  quantity 
of  rain  which  actually  falls  in  a  given  portion  of  time  is 
often  verv  much  greater  than  can  be  supposed  to  be  pro- 
duced by  any  probable  extent  of  cooling  that  can  take  place 
in  the  free  atmosphere  in  that  time,  unless,  perhaps,  we 
have  recourse  to  the  supposition  of  a  cold  and  warm  cur- 
rent driving  swiftly  in  opposite  directions,  and  continually 
mixing  their  conterminous  surfaces.  Sir  J.  Leslie  (Encyc. 
Brit.,  art.  "  Meteorology")  computes  that  if  two  currents 
of  moist  air  were  driving  along  in  opposite  directions,  with 
velocities  whose  sum  is  30  miles  an  hour,  the  one  bavins  a 
temperature  of  70°  of  Fahrenheit,  and  the  other  of  50°, 
the  deposition  of  moisture  in  the  space  of  an  hour  would 
be  equal  to  the  height  of  an  inch.  If  the  sum  of  the  oppo- 
site velocities  amounted  to  60  miles  an  hour,  and  the  inter- 
mingling influence  extended  to  but  a  quarter  of  an  inch  at 
the  grazing  surfaces,  there  would  still  be  produced  in  the 
same  time  a  fall  of  rain  reaching  to  half  an  inch  in  altitude. 
These  quantities  agree  sufficiently  with  observation  in 
certain  cases ;  but  the  objection  still  recurs  that  rain  fre- 
quently falls  from  clouds  which  appear  to  move  very 
slowly,  and  when,  consequently,  the  supposition  of  such 
velocities  is  inadmissible. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Luke  Howard,  and  some  other 
writers  on  meteorology,  that  Dr.  Hutton's  theory  is  insuffi- 
cient to  explain  the  phenomena ;  and  that  the  immediate 
cause  of  rain  is  to  be  ascribed,  in  many  instances  at  least, 
to  the  electric  action  of  the  clouds  on  each  other.  They 
suppose  the  hygrometric  moisture  in  the  air  to  be  kept 
suspeaded  by  the  mutual  repulsions  of  the  electric  atmo- 
spheres of  the  particles  ;  and  that  when  the  electricity  is 
from  any  cause  withdrawn,  the  suspending  power  is  like- 
wise removed,  and  the  particles  coalesce  and  fall  in  conse- 
quence of  their  gravity.  That  rain  is  connected  in  some 
waj  or  other  with  the  electric  state  of  the  atmosphere,  is  a 
position  which  may  be  readily  conceded ;  but  as  the  dis- 
turbance of  the  electric  equilibrium  remains  to  be  accounted 
for,  this  theory,  as  it  at  present  stands,  brings  us  no  nearer 
to  definite  ideas. 

Some  extraordinary  falls  of  rain  have  been  recorded,  the 
accounts  of  which,  if  not  given  on  apparently  unexception- 
able testimony,  would  scarcely  fail  to  be  regarded  as  fabu- 
lous. On  the  25th  October,  18-25,  a  fall  of  30  French  inches 
(32  English),  within  24  hours,  occurred  at  Genoa ;  and  on 
the  9th  October,  1827,  there  fell  at  Joyeuse,  in  the  south  of 
France,  a  quantity  equal  to  31  English  inches  within  the 
space  of  22  hours.  (Prof.  Forbe's  Report  on  Meteorology, 
in  the  Reports  of  the  British  Association  fur  1840.) 

A  curious  circumstance  attending  the  fall  of  rain  is,  that 
the  quantity  collected  in  rain  gauges  placed  at  the  surface 
of  the  ground  is  considerably  greater  than  when  the  instru- 
ments are  placed  at  some  elevation  above  the  surface.  On 
an  average  of  13  years  the  quantity  of  rain  which  fell 
annually  in  the  court  of  the  observatory  at  Paris  was  56 
centimetres  (22  English  inches)  ;  while  the  mean  quantity 
which  fell  on  the  terrace,  at  the  height  of  28  metres  (92 
feet)  above  the  court,  was  only  50  centimetres,  or  8-9ths  of 
the  former  quantity.  A  gauge  placed  on  the  top  of  York 
Minster,  at  an  elevation  of  212  feet  10  inches,  showed  a  fall 
of  14963  inches  between  February  1833  and  February  1834 ; 
while  two  perfectly  similar  instruments,  one  placed  on  the 
top  of  the  Museum  of  that  city,  at  a  height  of  43  feet  8 
inches,  and  the  other  on  the  ground,  gave  respectively 
19-852  inches  and  25-706  inches.  {Reports  of  the  British 
Association  for  1834.;  It  is  supposed  that  this  phenomenon 
depends,  in  some  measure  at  least,  on  the  circumstance 
that  the  drops  of  rain,  descending  from  the  higher  regions 
with  the  temperature  belonging  to  the  elevation,  cause  a 
condensation  of  vapour  in  the  lower  strata,  and  probably 
of  fogs,  which  are  always  denser  near  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  and  which  yield  a  considerable  deposition  of  water. 
Any  hypothesis  of  this  kind,  however,  is  quite  insufficient  ! 
to  explain  the  great  difference  observed  at  York  between 
the  products  of  the  rain  gauges  on  the  ground  and  the  top 
of  the  Minster,  and  which  is  most  probably  to  be  abscribed 
to  some  imperfection  in  the  action  of  the  Instrument  when  ( 
exposed  to  gales  of  wind.    It  has  been  suggested  that  eddies  i 


RAINBOW. 

are  formed  round  the  rim  of  the  funnel,  which  have  the 
effect  of  diverting  part  of  the  rain. 

Rain  drops  vary  in  size  from  perhaps  the  25th  to  the  3d 
part  of  an  inch  in  diameter  ;  and,  like  other  falling  bodies, 
descend  with  a  continually  accelerating  velocity  until  the 
resistance  of  the  air  becomes  equal  to  their  weight,  after 
which  the  descent  is  uniform.  The  terminal  velocity  is 
proportional  to  the  square  root  of  the  diameter  of  the  drop ; 
but  it  is  perhaps  not  possible  to  determine  with  certainty 
the  actual  terminal  velocity  corresponding  to  a  drop  of  any 
given  diameter. 

The  average  quantity  of  rain  which  falls  in  a  year  at  any 
given  place  depends  upon  a  great  variety  of  circumstances, 
as  latitude,  proximity  to  the  sea,  elevation  of  the  region, 
configuration  of  the  country  and  of  the  mountain  ranges, 
exposure  to  the  prevailing  winds  ;  and  in  general  on  the 
different  local  causes  which  influence  climate.  Humboldt 
estimates  that  the  average  depth  of  rain  which  annually 
falls  at  the  latitudes  of  0°,  19°.  45°,  and  60°,  may  be  taken 
respectively  at  98,  80,  29,  and  17  inches ;  but  this  estimate 
must  be  regarded  rather  as  a  rough  approximation  to  the 
ratio  in  which  the  quantity  decreases  on  going  from  the 
equator,  than  as  indicating  the  actual  averages  at  any  par- 
ticular place ;  and  it  is  observed  that  though  the  annual 
depth  be  greatest  towards  the  equator,  the  number  of  rainy 
days  in  the  majority  of  places  increases  with  the  latitude. 

The  greatest  depth  of  rain  which  has  been  registered  at 
any  place  in  a  year  is  at  Maranham,  lat.  2A°  S.,  and  which 
is  stated  by  Humboldt  to  be  277  English  inches.  But  this 
is  greatly  above  the  average,  and  indeed  more  than  double 
the  annual  quantity  which  has  heen  observed  at  any  other 
locality.  At  St  Domingo  the  annual  fall  is  estimated  at 
120  inches ;  at  Cayenne,  116  inches ;  in  the  island  of 
Granada,  112;  at  the  Havannah,  91 ;  at  Calcutta,  from  76 
to  118 ;  at  Bombay,  from  83  to  96 ;  the  island  of  Martinique, 
87  inches ;  and  at  Sierra  Leone,  86.  Of  European  Coun- 
tries, Portugal  appears  to  be  the  most  humid,  123  inches 
having  been  observed  at  Coimbra  in  a  year.  The  average 
■depth  at  Paris  is  19-1  inches  (Arago,  Journal  de  Physique, 
1816) ;  Berlin,  20-9 ;  Brussels,  19  ;  Florence,  41-3  ;  Lyons, 
39-5 ;  Maestricht,  36-1 ;  Marseilles,  184 ;  Padua,  36.6 ;  Peters- 
burg, 18-2;  Rome,  312;  Rotterdam,  224;  Stockholm,  187; 
Vienna,  17.  For  places  in  Great  Britain  the  following 
averages  were  deduced  by  Dr.  Dalton  from  observations  of 
a  number  of  years  :  Manchester,  36140  inches  :  Liverpool, 
34-118 ;  Lancaster, 39-714 ;  Kendal, 53-944 ;  Dumfries, 36918 ; 
Glasgow,  21-331 :  London,  20686.  Mr.  Howard  gives  the 
annual  average  at  London  equal  to  249  inches  ;  Professor 
Phillips  at  York,  25-7 ;  and  Mr.  Adie  at  Edinburgh,  25 
inches.  (On  the  theory  of  rain,  see  Kamptz,  Lehrbuch  der 
JWtteorologie  ;  Muncke,  in  Gehler's  Physical is ches  IV'&rter- 
buch;  DanielVs  Meteorological  Essays,  &C.) 

RAIXBOW.  (Germ,  regeqbogen  ;  Lat.  iris  ;  Fr.  arc  en 
ciel.)  The  brilliant-colotred  arch  which  makes  its  appear- 
ance when  rain  is  falling  in  the  region  of  the  sky  opposite 
to  the  sun,  and  the  sun  is  shining  at  the  same  time. 

This  well-known  meteor  presents,  when  perfect,  the  ap- 
pearance of  two  concentric  arches ;  the  inner  being  called 
the  primary,  and  the  outer  the  secondary  rainbow.  Each 
is  formed  of  the  colours  of  the  solar  spectrum  ;  but  the 
colours  are  arranged  in  the  reversed  order,  the  red  forming 
the  exterior  ring  of  the  primary'  bow  and  the  interior  of  the 
secondary.  The  innermost  bow  is  a  segment  of  a  circle 
whose  radius  subtends  an  angle  of  about  42° ;  the  radius 
of  the  outer  subtends  an  angle  of  about  51° ;  and  the  com- 
mon centre  is  situated  in  the  prolongation  of  the  straight 
line  which  passes  through  the  centre  of  the  sun  and  the 
eye  of  the  spectator.  From  the  conditions  invariably  ac- 
companying its  appearance,  the  colours  of  the  rainbow 
were  known  at  an  early  period  to  be  produced  by  the  sun's 
rays  passing  through  the  drops  of  falling  rain  ;  but  the 
phenomenon  is  a  complicated  one,  and  was  not  fully  and 
satisfactorily  explained  until  Newton  had  discovered  the 
compound  nature  of  solar  light,  and  the  different  refrangi- 
bility  of  the  component  rays. 

In  order  to  explain  the  phenomenon  of  the  rainbow,  lei 
us  suppose  a  beam  of  light  admitted  through  a  small  hole 
in  the  shutter  of  a  darkened  room  to  fall  on  a  spherical 
globule  of  water  at  I  (fig.  1,)  in  the  direction  of  S  I,  and 
trace  the  path  of  the  light  in  the 
interior  of  the  globule.  On  enter- 
ing the  globule  at  I  it  is  refracted, 
and  consequently  decomposed,  the 
ravs  of  each  colour  being  deflected  S, 
under  a  different  angle  from  its 
original  direction.  For  the  sake 
of  perspicuity,  we  shall  confine  B.^ 
our  attention  to  the  red  ray.  Let 
I  K  be  the  direction  of  the  ray  after  the  first  refraction, 
meeting  the  surface  of  the  drop  at  K  a  portion  of  the  light 
will  effect  its  escape,  and  be  again  refracted  in  the  direction 
K  P,  while  the  remaining  portion  will  be  reflected  by  the 

1027 


RAINBOW. 


surface  in  the  direction  K  L,  the  lines  IK.KL  making 
equal  angles  \\  iiti  a  tangent  at  K.  Hut  ou  arriving  again 
ai  the  surface  at  I*  this  portion  of  the  ray  \\  hieta  was  re- 
flected from  K  mil  lie  again  divided  into  two  parts;  one 
pan  will  escape  at  L,  ami  be  refracted  in  the  direction  L  ti, 
while  the  oilier  p.irt  will  be  reflected  by  the  surface,  and 
proceed  in  the  direction  I,  51.     At  51  the  phenomenon  will 

be  repeated ;  pan  of  the  remaining  light  will  escape  and 

be  refracted  in  the  direction  51  K,  and  the  other  be  reflected 
in  the  direction  51  N.  This  process  will  he  repeated  indef- 
initely :  but  the  intensity  of  the  light  is  diminished  at  each 
successive  impact,  and  after  a  few  reflections  the  quantity 
which  emerges  becomes  insufficient  to  make  an  impression 
on  the  eye.  All  this  may  be  shown  experimentally  by 
f»n«tng  a  beam  of  light  to  fall  upon  a  glass  cylinder  rilled 
with  water,  and  placed  in  a  darkened  room;  the  red  light 
emerging  at  the  points  KLM  will  be  seen  when  the  eye 
is  placed  in  the  straight  lines  K  P,  or  L  CI,  or  M  K . 
To  apply  this  experiment  to  the  explanation  of  the  rain- 
bow, it  is  necessary  to  determine 
the  inclination  of  the  emerging  to 
the  incident  ray.  We  shall  first 
take  the  case  of  two  refractions 
with  a  single  intermediate  reflec- 
tion. Let  ti  I  (tig.  2)  be  the  inci- 
dent ray,  I K  the  direction  after  the 
first  refraction,  K  the  point  of  re- 
^^""l>  flection,  L  the  point  of  emergence, 

a  arid  L  R  the  direction  of  the  emer- 

ging ray  ;  also  let  S  I  and  R  L  be  produced  to  meet  in  T. 
The  angle  -J  T  R  is  called  the  angle  of  deviation,  and  the 
object  is  now  to  find  an  expression  for  its  value  in  terms  of 
the  angle  of  incidence.  Let  O  be  the  centre  ;  draw  O  I  P 
and  O  L,  and  join  O  T,  which  will  evidently  pass  through 
K.     Let  us  now  assume, 

i  =  O  I  T  =  S  I  P  the  angle  of  incidence, 
r  =  O  K  I  =  O  1  K  the  angle  of  refraction, 
D  =  S  T  R  the  angle  of  deviation  ; 
then,  since  OKI^K  IT  +  KTI.and  KIT  =  OIT 
—  OIK,  we  have  r  =  *  —  r+JD,  whence 
D  =  4r  — 2i    .    .     .    .     (1.) 
Here  D  is  expressed  in  terms  of  r  and  t ;  but  by  the  theory 
of  refraction  we  have  also  the  relation 

sin.  i  =  n  sin.  r    .     .     .     .     (2.) 
(where  n  is  the  index  of  refraction  for  the  red  ray),  so  that 
the  value  of  D  depends  only  on  that  of  i. 

The  angle  of  incidence,  i,  may  have  any  value  between 
90°  and  0.  But  it  is  obvious  that  between  those  values  1) 
must  have  a  maximum  ;  for  when  S  I  falls  perpendicularly 
on  the  globule  there  is  no  deviation,  and  when  S  I  merely 
touches  the  globule  the  deviation  again  vanishes.  To  find 
the  determinate  value  of  i  at  which  the  maximum  takes 
place,  differentiate  the  equation  (1;,  and  make  the  differen- 
tia] of  JJ  equal  to  zero;  this  gives  di  =  -2dr.  Equation 
(2)  also  gives  cos.  i  d  i  =  n  cos.  r  dr ;  whence  we  obtain, 
by  eliminating  d  r,  and  dividing  both  sides  of  the  resulting 
equation  by  d  i,  n  cos.  r  ■=.  2  cos.  i.  On  substituting  for  cos. 
r  in  this  equation  its  value  found  from  (2),  the  following 
expression  is  obtained : 

cos.  i  =  ,/<}  (n'2  —  1). 

This  is  the  value  of  /'  corresponding  to  the  maximum  de- 
viation expressed  in  terms  of  n.  But  in  respect  of  the  red 
rays,  the  value  of  R  is  found  experimentally  to  be  108  -f-  81 
=  L3333;  and  the  corresponding  value  of  i  given  by  the 
trigonometrical  tables  is  i  =  59°  23'  30".  From  this  the 
values  of  r  and  D  are  readily  deduced  ;  and  the  three  values 
are  as  follows : 

i  —  590  23'  30",  r  =  4fJ°  \<Z  10",   D  =  42°  1'  40". 

The  next  step  towards  the  explanation  of  the  phenomenon 
is,  to  show  th  it  no  other  light  than  that  which  falls  on  the 
drop  under  the  angle  Of  incidence  Corresponding  to  the  L'reat 
est  deviation,  will  be  refracted  in  sufficient  quantity  to  make 
a  sensible  impression  on  the  eye.  Now  since  S  I  is  the  in 
cident  ray,  with  respect  to  which  the  deviation  is  a  mini- 
mum, the  rays  w  Men  are  situated  very  near  to  S  I,  on  cither 
side,  will  enter  the  drop  at  very  nearly  the  same  angle  of 
incidence,  and  consequently  will  emerge  very  nearly  paral 

lei  to  L  R.  With  respect  then  to  the  pencil  of  Light  which 
falls  on  the  drop  at  the  angle  of  incidence  corresponding  to 
the  maximum  deviation,  all  the  rays  of  red  light  which  it 
contains,  ami  which  emerge  after  the  first  reflection,  will  on 
their  emergence  be  parallel,  and  enter  the  eye  situated  In 
the  straight  line  L  R  in  sufficient  number  to  make  .1  vivid 
UnprestloD  on  the  retina.  But  with  respect  to  a  pencil  fall- 
ing on  the  drop  at  a  small  distance  from  I,  and  consequently 
under  a  different  angle  of  Incidence,  the  red  rays  at  their 

emergence  \\  ill  not  be  parallel,  hut  divergent ;  and  the  light 

will  consequently  diminish  In  intensity  as  it  recedes  from 
Uic  drop,  and  at  the  distance  of  Uie  spectator  wdl  be  much 

una 


loo  faint  to  produce  a  distinct  impression.    It  is  on  this  del- 
icate principle  Hi  it  the  phenomenon  principally  depends. 
The  above  principles  being  clearly  unuerslood,  all  the 

circumstances  of  the  phenomenon  admit  01  easy  explana- 
tion. Let  A  B  (J  (fig.  3)  be  a  section  of  a  drop  of  rain  made 
by  the  plane  passing  through  the 
centre  of  the  sun,  the  centte  of 
the  drop,  and  the  eye  of  the  spec- 
tator; and  suppose  the  rays  ticm 
the  surfs  centre  to  fall  on  it  in 
the  direction  S  A.  Let  E  be  the 
position  of  the  eye  of  the  specta- 
tor, whose  hack  is  turned  towards 
the  sun,  and  draw  E  1'  parallel 
to  :>  A.  Now  suppose  the  line 
E  T  to  be  drawn  so  as  to  make  E^ 
with  E  F  an  angle  of  42°  1'  40", 

aud  to  meet  the  drop  at  C  ;  then,  since  the  whole  of  the  an- 
tenor  surface  of  the  drop  is  illuminated  by  the  rays  S  A, 
some  one  of  those  rays  must  fall  on  it  under  an  angle  of  in- 
cidence, such  that  alter  being  retracted  at  A.  reflected  at  B, 
and  again  refracted  at  (',  il  will  emerge  parallel  to  C  E,  and 
consequently  make  with  E  F  the  maximum  angle  of  devia- 
tion. The  spectator  will  therefore  see  the  nd  colour  of  the 
spectrum  in  the  direction  E  C.  But  it  is  obvious  that  all 
tliese  conditions  will  lie  fulfilled  in  respect  of  every  drop  of 
rain  which  the  line  E  C  will  meet,  on  supposing  it  nj  revolve 
about  EF  as  an  axis  at  the  same  angle  ol  inclination.  Hence 
the  red  rays  thus  retracted  lorm  the  surface  of  a  cone,  the 
axis  of  which  is  the  prolongation  of  the  straight  line  drawn 
from  the  centre  of  the  sun  to  the  eye  ;  ami  as  the  eye  of  the 
spectator  is  at  the  apex  of  the  cone,  a  circular  segment  of 
red  light  will  be  visible,  the  other  part  of  the  circle  being 
cut  off  by  the  horizon. 

What  has  now  been  said  has  reference  only  to  nys  com- 
ing from  the  sun's  centre;  but  the  same  thing  must  happen 
with  respect  to  rays  coming  from  every  point  of  the  sun's 
disk;  and  as  the  sun's  diameter  subtends  an  angle  of  about 
3u',  the  spectator  Will  consequently  see  a  band  of  red  light 
of  the  breadth  of  about  30'. 

The  explanation  which  has  now  been  given  of  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  red  light  applies  to  all  the  other  colours  of 
the  spectrum,  the  only  difference  being  in  the  value  of  the 
index  of  refraction.  For  the  violet  ray,  in  passing  from  air 
10  water,  the  index  is  109  ■+■  81  ;  we  have  therefor*  n  = 
1*3468;  and  on  computing  from  this  the  values  of  i,  r,  and 
D,  by  means  of  the  preceding  formulae,  there  results,  approx- 
imately, 

t  =  58°  40'  3",  r  =  39°  24'  20",  D  =  40°  17'. 
In  this  case,  therefore,  the  angle  of  maximum  deviation  is 
less  than  for  the  red  ray,  and  hence  the  violet  is  within  the 
red.  The  breadth  of  the  violet  baud  will  obviously  be  the 
same  as  that  of  the  red,  as  both  depend  on  the  same  cause ; 
namely,  the  magnitude  of  the  sun's  apparent  diameter. 

As  the  red  and  violet  are  the  rays  whose  indices  of  refrac- 
tion are  the  least  and  greatest  respectively,  all  the  other 
prismatic  colours  will  lie  between  these  two,  and  occupy 
bands  of  the  same  breadth,  hut  with  considerable  blending 
into  each  other;  for  the  distance  between  the  centre  of  the 
red  and  the  centre  of  the  violet,  being  equal  to  the  differ- 
ence between  their  respective  angles  of  maximum  deviation, 
amounts  only  to  42°  2' — 40°  17'  =  1°  45'.  The  whole 
breadth  of  the  interior  or  primary  bow  is  this  quantity  plus 
the  sun's  apparent  diameter,  or  about  2°  15'. 

The  size  of  the  bow  depends  upon  the  height  of  the  sun 
above  the  horizon.  When  the  sun  is  in  the  horizon,  the 
bow  will  be  a  semicircle  to  a  spectator  on  a  plane;  but  on 
the  summit  of  a  mountain,  he  may  see  a  segment  greater 
than  a  semicircle. 

We  have  now  to  explain  the  formation  of  the  exterior 
bow.  In  this  case,  tin'  light  sutlers  two  reflections  in  the 
interior  of  the  globule,  and  the  pith  of  a  ray,  as  represented 
in  fig.  1,  is  S  I  K  L  51  II.  If  we  denote  the  angle  of  devia- 
tion, or  the  angle  formed  by  S  I  and  51  li,  the  incident  and 
emerging  rays  by  If.  and  take  as  before  1  and  r  to  represent 

the  angles  of  incidence  and  refraction,  it  is  easy  lo  find  the 
equation, 

D'  =  G  r  —  2  i  —  180°. 
On  procecdinrz  from  this  by  the  same  method  ns  nefore,  to 
find   the  value  of  1  Corresponding  to  the  marimum  value  of 
D',  the  following  equation  is  obtained  : 


cos.  i=  >/i  (■*—  !)• 
Substituting  for  the  constant  n  its  values  in  respect  of  the  red 
and  violet  rays,  the  values  of  1,  and  consequently  of  r  and 
D',  arc  obtained.     They  are  as  follows  : 

red,  i  =  71°  50',   r  =  45°  27',   D'  =  —  50°  5& ; 
\  iolet,  1  s=  71°  2G',   r  =:  44°  47',   D'  =  —  54°  9' ; 
the  minus  siun  Indicating  that  the  incident  arid  emergent 
raysinlereccl  before  the  drop. 


RAIN-GAUGE. 

From  these  values  it  appears  that  in  the  case  of  the  ex- 
terior bow  the  deviation  is  le  ist  in  respect  of  the  red  ray, 
and  greatest  in  respect  of  the  violet ;  the  order  of  the  colours 
is  therefore  reversed,  the  red  occupying  the  innermost  band, 
and  the  violet  the  outermost,  as  represented  in  fig.  4,  where 
E  R  is  the  red  and  E  V  the 
violet  ray,  the  eye  of  the 
spectator  being  at  E.  The 
breadth  from  the  middle  of 
the  red  to  the  middle  of  the 
violet  is  3°  10',  or  nearly 
double  that  of  the  interior 
bow.  The  interval  between 
the  red  of  the  interior  bow 
and  the  red  of  the  exterior 
is  50°  59'—  42°  2',  or  8°  57'. 
All  these  values,  deduced 
as  above  from  the  theory 
of  refraction,  are  found  to 
agree  exactly  with  those 
found  by  actual  measurement. 

Dr.  Halley,  in  the  Phil.  Trans,  for  1700,  has  computed 
the  diameters  of  the  rainbows  formed  by  three,  four,  and 
five  reflections;  but  these  bows  are  rarely  if  ever  seen,  the 
light  being  too  faint  to  make  an  impression  on  the  eye.  Su- 
pernumerary or  spurious  rainbows  are  sometimes  seen  with- 
in the  primary  and  without  the  secondary  bow,  and  having 
the  same  order  of  colours  as  the  bows  to  which  they  respec- 
tively belong.  They  are  explained  by  Dr.  Young  on  the 
theory  of  the  interference  of  light.  (Phil.  Trans.  1804; 
Lect.,  vol.  i.,  p.  470.)  An  inverted  or  distorted  iris  is  some- 
times observed  lying  on  the  ground,  formed  by  the  drops  of 
dew  suspended  from  the  tops  of  the  blades  of  grass,  or  from 
spiders'  webs.  In  favourable  circumstances  lunar  rainbows 
are  sometimes  seen ;  but  their  colours  are  faint  and  scarcely 
perceptible. 

The  first  explanation  of  the  true  theory  of  the  rainbow  is 
usually  ascribed  (see  Newton's  Optics)  to  Antonio  De  Do- 
minis,  archbishop  of  Spalatro,  whose  work  De  Radiis  Visis 
et  /jucis,  was  published  at  Venice  in  1611,  but  stated  to  have 
been  written  twenty  years  previously.  It  would  appear, 
however,  from  the  account  of  this  work  given  by  Boscovich, 
Montucla,  Priestley,  and  Biot,  that  the  merit  of  De  Dominis 
was  confined  to  a  vague  statement  or  surmise,  unsupported 
by  experiment,  that  the  interior  bow  is  formed  by  two  re- 
fractions and  air  intermediate  reflection.  He  gave  no  reason 
for  the  precise  angle  which  its  diameter  subtends  ;  and  with 
respect  to  the  exterior  bow,  his  attempt  to  explain  its  forma- 
tion is  wholly  erroneous.  The  true  theory  of  the  exterior 
bow,  and  the  determination  of  the  particular  angles  of  devi- 
ation under  which  alone  the  rays  transmitted  to  the  eye  are 
sufficiently  dense  to  be  visible,  belongs  to  Descartes.  The 
explanation  given  by  Descartes,  in  his  Dioptrics,  is  complete 
in  every  respect,  excepting  as  to  the  cause  of  the  colours, 
the  theory  of  which  was  supplied  by  Newton's  great  dis- 
covery of  the  unequal  refrangibility  of  the  different  rays. 
(See  Montucla,  Histoire  des  jyiathtmatiqu.es,  vol.  i.,  p.  700 ; 
Priestley  on  Vision,  p.  107 ;  Biot,  Traite  de  Physique,  torn, 
iii.,  p.  460. 

RAIN-GAUGE,  also  called  OMBROMETER.  UDOME- 
TER, and  PLUVIAMETER.  An  instrument  for  measur- 
ing or  gauging  the  quantity  of  rain  which  falls  at  a  given 
place. 

"  The  rain-gauge  may  be  of  very  simple  construction.  A 
cubical  box  of  strong  tin  or  zinc,  exactly  10  inches  by  the 
side,  open  above,  receives  at  an  inch  below  its  edge  a  funnel, 
Sloping  to  a  small  hole  in  the  centre.  On  one  of  the  lateral 
edges  of  the  box,  close  to  the  top  of  the  cavity,  is  soldered 
a  short  pipe,  in  which  a  cork  is  fitted.  The  whole  should 
be  well  painted.  The  water  which  enters  this  gauge  is 
poured  through  the  short  tube  into  a  cylindrical  glass  vessel, 
graduated  to  cubic  inches  and  fifths  of  cubic  inches.  Hence, 
one  inch  depth  of  rain  in  the  guage  will  be  measured  by  100 
inches  of  the  graduated  vessel,  and  l-100th  inch  of  rain  may 
be  very  easily  read  off*. 

"  It  is  very  much  to  be  desired  that,  being  of  such  easy 
construction,  more  than  one  of  these  gauges  should  be  erect- 
ed ;  or  at  least  one  placed  with  its  edge  nearly  level  with 
the  ground,  and  another  upon  the  top  of  the  highest  build 
ing,  rock,  or  tree  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  place  of 
observation,  the  height  of  which  must  be  carefully  determ- 
ined, it  having  been  satisfactorily  ascertained  that  the  height 
of  the  gauge  above  the  ground  is  a  very  material  element 
of  the  quantity  of  rain  which  enters  it.  The  quantity  of 
water  should  be  daily  measured  and  registered  at  9  a.  m." 
(Report  of  the  President  and  Council  of  the  Royal  Society  on 
the  Instructions  to  be  prepared  for  the  Scientific  Expedition 
to  the  Jintartic  Regions,  1840.) 

A  convenient  form  of  the  instrument  is  represented  in  the 
annexed  figure,  where  the  rain  which  enters  the  funnel  is 
collected  in  a  cylindrical  vessel  of  copper,  connected  with 
which  at  the  lower  part  is  a  glass  tube  with  an  attached 


RAMPART. 

scale.  The  water  stands  at  the  same  height  in 
the  cylinder  and  glass  tube,  and  being  visible 
in  the  latter,  the  height  is  read  immediately  on 
the  scale ;  and  the  cylinder  and  tube  being  con- 
structed so  that  the  sum  of  the  areas  of  their  sec- 
tions is  a  given  part,  for  instance  a  tenth,  of  the 
area  of  the  funnel  at  its  orifice,  each  inch  of 
water  in  the  tube  is  equivalent  to  the  tenth  of  an 
inch  of  water  entering  the  mouth  of  the  funnel. 
A  stop-cock  is  added,  by  which  the  water  is 
drawn  off"  when  the  observation  is  made. 

RAISING  PLATE,  or  UPPER  PLATE.  In  Architec- 
ture, the  plate  or  longitudinal  timber  on  which  the  roof 
stands  raised  or  placed. 

RA'JAH.  The  hereditary  princes  of  the  Hindoos  are  so 
termed.  They  belong  to  the  caste  of  warriors,  or  Cshatriya, 
and  are  generally  dependent  on  Europeans,  except  in  those 
parts  of  the  country  which  the  European  arms  have  not  as 
yet  penetrated.     See  Caste. 

RAKE,  TO.  The  sea  term  for  incline,  and  applies  to  the 
masts,  stem,  and  stern-post,  &c. ;  the  bowsprit,  instead  of 
raking,  is  said  to  steeve.  Masts  generally  rake  aft,  and  in 
peculiar  rigs  only  forward.  The  rake  of  the  mast  has  an 
influence  on  the  sailing  of  the  vessel,  and  the  masts  of  some 
schooners  rake  excessively.  The  principal  effect  seems  to 
be  to  diminish  the  effect  common  to  al!  the  sails,  of  depress- 
ing the  ship's  head. 

To  rake  a  ship,  is  to  fire  into  her  head  or  stern  in  the  di- 
rection of  her  length,  or  along  her  decks.  It  is  similar  to 
what  engineers  term  enfilading. 

RAM.    In  Hydraulics.     See  Hydraulic  Ram. 

RAMADAN,  or  RHAMADAN.  The  name  given  to  the 
great  fast  or  Lent  of  the  Mohammedans.  It  commences 
with  the  new  moon  of  the  ninth  month  of  the  Mohammedan 
year:  and,  while  it  continues,  the  day  is  spent  uninterrupt- 
edly in  prayers  and  other  devotional  exercises.  Even  the 
night  is  passed  by  the  more  rigid  of  the  faithful  in  the 
mosques,  which  are  splendidly  illuminated  on  this  occasion  ; 
but,  generally  speaking,  the  arrival  of  sunset  is  the  signal 
for  a  moie  than  usually  unlimited  indulgence  in  the  plea- 
sures of  the  table  ;  and,  on  the  third  evening  of  the  fast,  the 
grand  vizier  commences  a  series  of  official  banquets.  The 
Ramadan  ends  on  the  day  preceding  the  only  other  great 
festival  of  the  Mohammedans — the  Bairum  (which  see), 
equivalent  to  our  Easier. 

RAMA YA'NA  (Sanscr.  the  Career  or  Travels  of  Rama), 
the  oldest  of  the  two  great  Sanscrit  epic  poems,  describes 
the  life  and  actions  of  the  hero  Raina,  and  his  wife  Sita ; 
and  especially  Rama's  expedition  to  Ceylon,  to  rescue  Sita 
from  the  tyrant  Rawana.  The  poem  is  thought  to  have  been 
composed  before  the  Christian  era  ;  but  there  is  no  certain 
indication  of  its  age.  A  translation  of  it  was  commenced  by 
Messrs.  Carey  and  Marshman  (printed  at  Serampore) ;  and 
another  hv  A.  W.  von  Schlegel  (Bonn,  18-29). 

RAM,  BATTERING.     .See  Battering  Ram. 

RAME'NTA.  In  Botany,  thin,  brown,  foliaceous  scales, 
appearing  sometimes  in  great  abundance  upon  young  shoots, 
and  particularly  numerous  and  highly  developed  upon  the 
petioles  and  the  backs  of  the  leaves  of  ferns. 

RA'MISTS,  or  RA'MEANS.  In  Philosophy,  the  partisans 
of  Pierre  Rame,  better  known  by  his  Latin  name  of  Ramus, 
royal  professor  of  rhetoric  and  philosophy  at  Paris  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  II.  He  perished  in  the  massacre  of  St.  Bar- 
tholomew. His  system  of  logic  was  opposed  to  that  of  the 
Aristotelian  party;  and  during  the  latter  half  of  the  16th 
century  a  vehement  contest  was  maintained  between  their 
respective  adherents  in  France,  Germany,  and  other  parts 
of  Europe.  (Hallam,  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  -E?t- 
rope,  vol.  ii.,  ch.  3.)  "  He  conferred,"  says  the  same  writer, 
"material  obligations  on  science  by  denying  the  barbarous 
method  of  the  schoolmen.  What  are  the  merits  of  his  own 
method,  is  a  different  question."     (lb.  vol.  i.,  ch.  7.) 

RAMNE'NSES,  or  RAMNES.  The  name  of  the  first 
century  of  the  300  horsemen  who  constituted  the  cavalry  of 
Rome  under  the  early  kings.  Most  probably  the  name  also 
applied  at  first  to  the  original  century  of  patrician  houses 
established  by  Romulus,  and  distinguished  Ihem  from  the 
Tatienses  and  Luceres ;  whose  names,  in  like  manner,  must 
be  supposed  to  extend  not  merely  to  the  two  remaining  cen- 
turies of  cavalry,  but  to  the  two  centuries  of  tribes  respect- 
ively instituted  by  Romulus,  on  the  accession  of  the  Sabines 
and  Tarquinius  Priscus.  (See  the  histories  of  Niebuhr  and 
Arnold.) 

RAMP.  (Fr.  Rampe.)  In  Architecture,  a  concave  bend 
or  slope  in  the  cap  or  upper  member  of  any  piece  of  ascend- 
ing or  descending  workmanship. 

RA'MPANT.  (Fr.)  In  Heraldry,  a  term  used  to  describe 
lions,  tigers,  bears,  &c,  when  represented  as  standing  erect 
on  their  hind  legs. 

RA'MPART,  or  RAMPIER.  In  Fortification,  the  wall 
which  surrounds  a  fortified  place.  Il  is  built  of  the  earth 
taken  out  of  the  ditch  ;  though  the  lower  part  of  the  outer 

1029 


RAMS'  HORNS. 

slope  is  usually  constructed  of  masonry.  The  advantage 
of  earth  is,  thai  the  hails  instead  of  splintering  the  work, 
and  rebounding  In  various  directions  to  the  great  injury  of 
the  besieged,  pass  forward  into  the  earth,  and  bury  them- 
selves there.  This  also  renders  the  rampart  of  earth  much 
more  durable  under  the  tire  of  the  besiegers  than  masonry 
would  be.  The  usual  height  of  the  rampart  is  about  three 
fathoms  and  its  thickness  about  ten  or  twelve  feet.  See 
For  urn  vnov. 

RAMS'  HORNS.  In  Fortification,  the  name  given  by 
Belidor  to  the  tenailles.    See  Tenaille. 

B  \  N  A.  (Lai  u  frog.)  The  generic  name  of  the  tail- 
less Batrachian  reptiles,  which  have  the  hind  le»s  longer 
than  the  fore,  and  Webbed  toes  fitted  for  swimming,  and 
not  expanded  at  the  extremity.  Their  head  is  flat,  muzzle 
rounded,  and  the  opening  of  their  jaws  large  ;  the  tongue 
In  most  of  them  is  soft,  and  not  attached  to  die  bottom  of 
the  gullet,  but  to  the  edges  of  the  jaw,  with  the  free  end 
turned  backwards.  There  are  hut  four  toes  to  the  ante- 
rior feet;  the  hind  ones  frequently  exhibit  the  rudiment  of 
a  sixth. 

There  are  no  ribs  to  the  skeleton,  and  a  prominent  carti- 
laginous plate  supplies  the  place  of  a  tympanum,  and  ren- 
ders the  ear  visible  externally.  The  eye  is  furnished  with 
two  fleshy  lids,  and  a  third,  which  is  transparent  and  hori- 
zontal, concealed  under  the  lower  one.  Inspiration  is  ef- 
fected by  the  muscles  of  the  throat,  which,  by  dilating, 
draw  in  air  by  the  nostiils,  and  by  contracting  while  the 
nostrils  are  closed  by  the  tongue, compel  the  air  to  enter  the 
lungs;  expiration,  on  the  contrary,  is  produced  by  the  mus- 
cles hi'  the  lower  part  of  the  abdomen.  The  young  frog, 
which  is  called  a  tadpole,  is  at  first  furnished  with  a  long 
fleshy  tail,  and  a  small  homy  beak,  having  no  other  ap- 
parent limbs  than  little  fringes  on  the  sides  of  the  neck. 
These  disappear  in  a  few  days,  and  the  hind  feet  of  the 
tadpole  are  very  gradually  and  visibly  developed;  the  fore 
feet  are  also  developed,  but  under  the  skin.  throiiL'h  which 
they  subsequently  penetrate.  The  tail  is  gradually  ab- 
sorbed. The  beak  falls  and  discloses  the  true  jaws,  w  hull 
at  first  wire  soil  and  concealed  beneath  the  skin;  and  the 
branchite  are  absorbed,  leaving  to  the  lungs  alone  the  func- 
tion of  respiration  in  which  they  participated.  The  eyes, 
which  at  first  could  only  be  discerned  through  a  transpa- 
rent spot  in  the  skin  of  the  tadpole,  are  now  visible  with 
their  three  lids.  Tadpoles  reproduce  their  limbs  almost 
like  salamanders. 

The  period  at  which  each  of  these  changes  takes  place 
Varies  With  the  species.  In  cold  and  temperate  climates, 
the  perfect  animal  passes  the  winter  under  ground,  or  in 
the  mud  under  waiter,  without  eating  or  breathing;  though 
if  it  be  prevented  from  respiring  during  the  summer  for  a 
few  minutes  by  keeping  its  mouth  open,  it  dies. 

RA'NDOM  SHI  IT.  A  shot  discharged  with  the  axis  of 
the  gun  above  the  horizontal  or  point  blank  direction. 

RANGE,  in  Gunnery,  is  the  horizontal  distance  to  which 
a  shot  or  other  projectile  is  carried.  Were  it  not  for  the 
resistance  of  the  air,  the  path  described  by  a  projectile 
acted  upon  by  the  force  of  gravity  would  be  a  parabola; 
and  the  greatest  range  would  be  obtained  by  discharging 
I  an  angle  of  45°  of  elevation.  Hut  by  rea- 
son of  the  atmospheric  resistance,  the  path  actually  de- 
scribed is  very  different  from  a  parabola,  and  the  elevation 
which  gives  the  greatest  range  can  only  be  determined  by 
experiment.      Set  GuNNCRY,  Projectiles. 

Rajiok.  A  certain  quantity  of  cable  drawn  up  out  of  the 
cable  tied  and  laid  along  the  deck,  equal  in  length  to  the 
depth  of  wati  r.  in  order  that  the  anchor,  when  let  go,  may 
reach  the  bottom  without  being  checked. 

RA'NGER.  Formerly  a  sworn  officer  of  the  king's 
forests,  whose  principal  duty  it  was  to  see  and  inquire  of 
trespassers  in  his  bailiwicks,  and  present  them  at  the  next 
court holdon  for  the  forest;  but  now  merely  an  officer  of 
state-.    See  Forest. 

HA'.VIIi.r,.  The  family  of  Batrachian  reptiles,  hav- 
ing as  the  type  the  frog  (Rana  temporaria,   Linn.)      See 

B  ASA. 

RA'NTERS.     A  sect  which  originated   in    a   secession 

from    the    Wesleyan   Connexion,   on    tin'   ground    that   the 

nj  paid  to.,  much  attention  to  order  and  decorum 

ill  the  conducting  Of  public  worship,  and  that  they  were  de 

ficient  in  zeal  in  obtruding  the  gospel  on   the  minds  of  the 

peopli    bj  open  preaching  in  the  streets  and  fields.    The 

ministers  of  this  party  parade  the  streets,  preaching,  sing 
ing  hymns,  and  inviting  the  populace  to  Come  to  their 
places  of  worship.  They  admit  of  female  preaching;  a 
thing  unknown  to  ever]  Othel  body  of  .Methodists.  Then 
Chapels  are  about  -lull  in  number  :  their  preachers.  2700; 
their  members,  34,000.    (Bourne's  Hut.  vf  the  I'nm.  Mi  th 

B  \ 'M'l.V     (hat.   rana,  a  frog,  to  which  it  has  been 
■opposed  lo  beat  some  resemblance.)    A  tumour  under  the 
tongue,  generally  arising  from  some  obstruction  of  the  ducts 
1030 


RASORES. 

of  the  salivary  glands  ;  when  they  break  they  are  apt  to 
lease  a  very  troublesome  ulcer. 

i;  \.\  i  Will.  A  <  T..K.    (Ranunculus,  one  of  the  genera.) 

Exogenous  Polypetalous  plants,  in  almost  all  cases  herba- 
ceous, inhabiting  the  colder  parts  of  the  world,  and  un- 
known  in   hot  countries,  except  at  considerable  elevalions. 

They  are  of  great  importance,  in  consequence  of  their  usu- 
ally poisonous  qualities,  as  evinced  by  aconite  and  helle- 
bore in  particular,  which  are  the  roots  of  several  species. 
Some  of  them  are  objects  of  beauty,  as  the  larkspurs,  ra- 
nunculus, anemone,  and  peony.  A  few  are  simply  astrin- 
gent, as  the  COptis  or  gold  thread  of  North  America.  Tin: 
plants  of  this  order  are  readily  known  by  having  an  indefi- 
nite number  of  bypOgynOUS  stamens,  separate  carpels,  ex- 
stipulate  undotted  leaves,  and  an  herbaceous  stem. 

B  INS  DBS  VACHES.    (Germ.  Knhreigen.)   The  name 

of  the  simple  and  beautiful  melody  w  Inch  the  Swiss  herds- 
men are  in  the  habit  of  playing  on  the  Alpine  horn,  ami 
sometimes  of  singing,  when  they  drive  out  their  herds  to 
the  mountains.  It  consists  of  a  frw  simple  intervals,  and 
has  a  beautiful  effect  in  the  echoes  of  the  Swiss  moun- 
tains. The  natives  regard  it  almost  with  rapture,  and  are 
said  to  be  seized  with  irrepressible  longings  to  return  to 
their  native  country  when  they  hear  it  played  in  a  foreign 
land. 

RAPE.  (hat.  raptUS.)  In  Criminal  Jurisprudence,  a 
well-known  and  detestable  ofience  committed  against  wo- 
men. This  oflence  has  been  most  properly  viewed  by  all 
legislators  as  one  of  the  graves!  character,  and  has  been 
usually  visited  with  the  highest  penalties.  The  accusation 
of  rape,  it  is  true,  is  one  that  may  be  easily  made,  and  is, 
no  doubt,  sometimes  preferred  in  cases  where  consent  has 
been  given.  The  proof,  therefore,  should  be  clear  in  pro- 
portion to  the  enormity  of  the  crime  ;  but  when  proved  it  is 
one  that  should  very  rarely  indeed  escape  the  utmost  ven- 
geance of  the  law.  Capital  punishment  for  this  offence 
was  abolished  in  1841. 

Rape.  An  Anglo-Saxon  territorial  division,  of  which 
the  etymology  is  uncertain.  Sussex  is  the  only  county  di- 
vided into  rapes:  each  containing  three  or  four  hundred. 
These  subsisted  as  military   divisions   at  the  time  when 

Domesday  Book  was  c piled.     They  were  formerly  under 

the  superintendence  of  "  rasse-reeves,"  subordinate  to  the 
sheriff  of  the  county. 

Rape.  A  plant  belonging  to  the  cabbage  family  (Eras- 
sica  rapa.  Linn.),  cultivated  in  fields  lor  its  seeds,  which 
are  crushed  for  oil;  and  sometimes  for  its  leaves,  which 
are  feil  off  by  sheep.  In  Belgium  another  species  or  \  anety 
of  Brassica  is  cultivated  for  these  purposes,  called  cobya, 
the  llrnssica  oliefera  of  De  Candolle. 

RAPHE.  (Gr.  pa<pi).  a  suture.)  In  Botany,  the  vascu- 
lar cord  communicating  between  the  nucleus  of  an  OVUle 
and  the  placenta,  when  the  base  of  the  former  is  removed 
from  the  base  of  the  ovuluin. 

Raphe.  In  Anatomy,  a  term  applied  to  parts  which  look 
as  if  thev  had  been  sewed  or  joined  together. 

RATB3DES.  (Gr.  pa(j>rj.)  Certain  needle-like  trans- 
parent bodies  found  lying  in  the  tissue  of  plants.  They 
were  formerly  thought  to  be  peculiar  organs,  hut  are  now 
known  to  lie  the  crystals  of  various  sails. 

RAPTURES.  (Let  raptor,  a  robber.)  Rapacious  birds, 
or  raveiiers.  The  name  of  the  order  of  birds  called  Jlccipi- 
tres  by  Linna-us  and  Cuvier,  including  those  which  live  by 
rapine,  and  are  characterized  by  a  strong,  curved,  sharp- 
edged,  and  sharp  pointed  beak:  and  robust  short  legs,  with 
three  toes  before  and  one  behind,  armed  with  long,  strong, 
crooked  talons. 

RARE'F ACTION.  In  Physics,  an  augmentation  of  the 
intervals  between  the  particles  of  matter,  whereby  the 
same  number  of  panicles  occupy  a  Larn  r  space.    The  terns 

is  chiefly  used  in  speakum  of  the  aeriform  Quids,  the  terms 
dilatation  and  expansion  being  applied  in  .-peaking  of  solids 
and  liquids.  In  the  free  atmosphere  rar.  taction  is  caused 
by  diminishing  the  pressure,  and  hence  the  air  becomes 
rarefied  at  elevations  above  the  general  level.  The  limits 
to  which  rarefaction  may  lie  carried  are  not  known  ;  but  it 
has  been  proved  by  experiments  with  the  air-pump,  that 
air  may  he  rarefied  90  as  to  occupy  a  volume  Kt.tKHI  times 
greater  than  it  occupies  under  the  Ordinal]  pressure. 

RASKO'LNIKS.  (Rusa  raskolo.  a  division.)  The 
name  of  the  largest  and  most  Important  body  of  di 

from  the  Greek  Church  in  the  Russian  dominions.    They 

designate  themselves  Starowerzi,  or  the  OrtAodea  :  but  dif- 
fer from  the  Greek  Church  only  in  the  outward  forms  id' 

religion,  and  in  maintaining  a  more  strict  ecclesiastical  dis- 
cipline.    This  hcilv  was  formerly  subjected  to  persecution; 

but  it  is  now  tieated  with  comparative  toleration,  though 

it-  members  are  still  excluded  from  the  service  of  the  state. 
Their  Dumber  is  said  to  be  about  300,000. 

RASO'RES.     (Lai.  redo,  t  scratch.)    Gallinaceous  birda, 
or  scratched.    The  name  of  an  order  ot  birds,  Ini 
thOW  which  have  strong  feet,  provided  With  obtuse  claw  s 


RAT. 

for  scratching  up  grains,  &c,  and  the  upper  mandible 
vaulted,  with  the  nostrils  pierced  in  a  membranous  space 
at  its  base,  and  covered  by  a  cartilaginous  scale.     See  Gal- 

LINAOE.E. 

RAT.  The  name  of  a  large,  destructive,  and  very  pro- 
lific species  of  the  genus  Mas  (Mas  decumanus,  Linn.), 
introduced  into  the  British  Islands  from  Asia;  not,  as  is 
commonly  believed,  from  Norway.  It  has  spread  over  all 
the  country,  and  multiplied  at  the  expense  of  the  old  Brit- 
ish species  called  the  "black  rat"  (Mas  rattus.  Linn.). 
See  Mus. 

KA'TCHET,  in  Clock  and  Watch  Work,  is  the  name 
given  to  an  arm  or  piece  of  mechanism,  one  extremity  of 
which  abuts  against  the  teeth  of  a  ratchet  wheel,  and  the 
other  extremity  is  either  freely  jointed  to  a  reciprocating 
driver  for  the  purpose  of  communicating  a  continuous  mo- 
tion to  the  wheel,  or  is  attached  to  a  fixed  centre  to  ensure 
the  wheel  against  reverse  motion.  In  the  former  case  it  is 
also  called  a  click  or  paul,  in  the  latter  a  detent. 

RA'TCHET  WHEEL.  A  wheel  having  teeth  formed 
like  those  of  a  saw,  against  which  the  ratchet  abuts.  See 
Ratchet. 

RATE  OF  A  SHIP,  in  the  Royal  Navy.  The  navy  is 
divided  into  three  classes.  Rated  ships,  commanded  by 
captains;  sloops  and  vessels,  by  commanders;  and  the 
third  class  by  lieutenants.  Rated  ships  are  divided  into  six 
classes :  1st,  all  three-deckers ;  2d,  two-deckers,  having  700 
men  and  upwards  (war  establishment) ;  3d,  ships  having 
from  600  to  800  men;  4th,  ships  having  from  000  to  400 
men ;  5th,  ships  having  from  400  to  250  men ;  6th,  ships 
having  under  250  men. 

Rate  of  sailing-  of  a  Vessel  is  measured  by  the  log,  which 
see.  Various  plans  have  been  proposed  for  this  purpose 
by  various  forms  of  the  log  itself,  by  the  rise  of  water  in 
tubes  communicating  with  the  sea,  and  (by  Captain  Bur- 
ney)  by  the  pressure  upon  a  body  towed  astern  and  pulling 
on  a  spring.  But  the  violence  and  irregularity  of  the  pull, 
and  the  uncertainty  in  reading  the  result,  have  probably 
combined  to  set  aside  this  last  plan,  which,  in  theory,  seems 
to  promise  some  advantages;  because  the  pressure,  increas- 
ing as  the  square  of  the  velocity,  would  show  very  small 
changes  of  velocity :  for  the  same  reason,  however,  the 
mean  result  shown  in  a  heavy  sea  would  be  too  great.  A 
certain  and  simple  method  of  ascertaining  the  velocity  at 
any  instant,  with  precision,  is  one  of  the  most  important 
desiderata  towards  the  perfection  of  naval  science. 

RA'THOFFITE.  In  Mineralogy,  a  species  of  garnet 
found  in  Sweden,  accompanied  by  calcspar  and  horn- 
blende. 

RATIFICATION.  (Lat.  ratum,  determined,  facio,  / 
make.)  The  solemn  act  by  which  a  competent  authority 
gives  validity  to  an  instrument,  agreement,  &c.  The  term 
is  ordinarily  used  in  international  law  for  the  sanction 
given  by  governments  to  treaties  contracted  by  their  repre- 
sentatives. In  French  law,  ratification  is  defined  the  ap- 
probation or  confirmation  of  what  has  been  done  or  prom- 
ised. Thus,  in  many  instances,  a  person,  on  attaining  his 
majority,  ratifies  acts  done  by  himself  or  his  guardian  in  his 
minority.  And  ratification  is  either  express  or  tacit ;  the 
latter  resulting,  by  implication,  from  his  silence  for  ten 
years  after  attaining  his  majority. 

RA  TIO  (Lat.),  in  Geometry,  is  defined  by  Euclid  {Ele- 
ments, book  v.,  def.  3)  to  be  "a  mutual  relation  of  two 
magnitudes  of  the  same  kind  to  one  another  in  respect  of 
quantity."  This  definition  has  been  much  criticised.  Dr. 
Barrow  (Lectiones  Math.)  calls  it  a  metaphysical  definition, 
inasmuch  as  it  is  not  properly  a  mathematical  definition, 
since  nothing  in  mathematics  depends  on  it,  or  can  be  de- 
duced from  it ;  and  supposes  that  Euclid  had  probably  no 
other  design  in  making  it  than  to  give  a  general  summary 
idea  of  ratio  to  beginners.  It  has  been  remarked,  that  as 
the  word  quantity  in  our  language,  if  not  quite  synonymous 
with  magnitude,  has  a  signification  only  a  little  more  gen- 
eral, the  definition  as  above  rendered  is  either  tautological 
or  unmeaning.  Dr.  Simson  supposes  it  to  be  the  interpola- 
tion of  some  unskilful  editor.  Leslie  (Elements  of  Geome- 
try) ingeniously  supposes  that  the  Greek  word  jn/Aj/erfn?*, 
which  is  usually  translated  quantity,  may  have  reference 
to  multitude  or  number,  as  well  as  to  magnitude,  and  that 
Euclid's  definition  maybe  rendered  as  follows:  "Ratio  is 
a  certain  mutual  habitude  of  two  homogeneous  magnitudes 
with  respect  to  quotity,  or  numerical  composition."  Dr. 
Wallis  (Opera  Mathematka,  torn,  ii.,  p.  665)  translates  the 
same  word  by  the  Latin  quantuplicitas,  which  refers  to  the 
number  of  times  the  one  magnitude  is  contained  in  the 
other.  Dr.  Peacock  (Jilgebra,  p.  309)  remarks,  that  there 
is  no  geometrical  definition  of  ratio  by  which  the  equiva- 
lence of  different  modes  of  representation  may  be  ascer- 
tained as  necessary  consequences ;  and  for  this  reason,  ra- 
tios in  geometry  are  only  considered  in  connexion  with 
each  other,  as  constituting,  or  not  constituting,  a  proportion. 
In  arithmetic  and  algebra,  a  ratio  may  be  defined  as  the 


RATTLESNAKE. 

fraction  whose  numerator  is  the  antecedent,  and  denomi- 
nator the  consequent  of  the  ratio;  and  hence,  in  those  sci- 
ences, the  theory  of  ratios  become  identified  with  the  theo- 
ry of  fractions.  (For  an  account  of  what  has  been  written 
on  the  subject  of  geometrical  ratios,  see  Camerer's  Euclid, 
Excursus  ad  lib.  v.,  Berlin,  1825.) 

RA'TION.  In  the  Army,  a  portion  of  food  and  ammu- 
nition, &c,  distributed  to  each  soldier  for  his  daily  main- 
tenance. The  rations  of  officers  vary  according  to  the  num- 
ber of  servants  in  their  pay. 

RA'TIONAL.  In  Arithmetic  and  Algebra,  an  expres- 
sion in  finite  terms;  or  one  in  which  no  extraction  of  a  root 
is  left ;  or,  at  least,  none  such  indicated,  which  cannot  be 
actually  performed  by  known  processes.  The  contrary  of 
these  are  called  surd  or  irrational  quantities.  Thus,  2,  9, 
12A,  are  rational  quantities  ;  and  ^/%  £/4,  &c,  are  irration- 
al "or  surd  quantities,  because  their  values  can  only  be  ap- 
proximately, and  not  accurately,  assigned. 

RATIONAL  HORIZON.  In  Geography,  the  plane 
passing  through  the  centre  of  the  earth  parallel  to  the  sen- 
sible horizon  of  the  place  to  which  it  is  referred.  See 
Horizon. 

RA'TIONALISM.  The  interpretation  of  scripture  truth3 
upon  the  principles  of  human  reason  ;  which  has  become 
famous  in  the  present  day  by  the  theological  systems  to 
which  it  has  given  birth  in  Germany.  The  history  of  the 
progress  of  the  opinions  of  the  reformed  churches  of  that 
country  may  be  found  in  Dr.  Pusey's  essay  upon  this  sub- 
ject. He  conceives  the  polemical  discussions  which  pre- 
vailed throughout  those  communities  in  the  17th  and  first 
half  of  the  following  century  to  have  prepared  the  way  for 
the  reception  of  the  low  views  of  Christianity,  as  a  moral 
system,  which  were  derived  from  the  writings  of  the  con- 
cealed or  avowed  deists  of  this  country.  Herbert,  Tyndal, 
Morgan,  Toland,  &c. ;  and  from  the  tone  with  which  they 
were  reviewed  by  the  sincere,  but  odd.  theologians  of  the 
orthodox  party.  From  the  middle  of  the  last  century  there 
has  arisen  in  Germany  a  succession  of  divines — Baumgar- 
ten,  Michaelis,  Semler,  Eichhorn,  Paulus,  Bretschneider, 
&c,  who  have  endeavoured  either  to  affix  a  lower  and 
more  human  character  to  the  invisible  operations  of  God 
upon  men  through  Christianity,  or  to  reduce  the  accounts 
which  we  have  of  the  foundation  of  our  religion  to  the  mix- 
ture of  truth  and  error  natural  to  fallible  men.  They  have 
questioned  the  genuineness  of  almost  all  the  separate  parts 
of  Scripture,  and  the  accuracy  of  all  their  supernatural 
narratives.  The  discredit  into  which  these  theologians  ap- 
pear to  have  fallen  arises,  in  a  great  measure,  from  the  ina- 
bility they  have  shown  to  produce  a  connected  and  con- 
sistent system  of  religion  upon  the  low  ground  which  they 
have  taken  up.  Of  later  years  a  much  more  spiritual  con- 
ception of  the  nature  of  scripture  promises  and  Christian 
assistances  is  observable  in  the  writings  of  German  divines, 
under  the  operation  of  which  their  theological  criticism  has 
already  assumed  a  more  dignified  and  exalted  lone.  The 
sensation  created  by  Strauss's  Life  of  Christ,  the  latest, 
and  in  some  respects  the  most  remarkable  production  of  the 
Rationalist  school,  may  probably  have  aided  in  this  reac- 
tion. (See  the  article  "Rationalismus,"  in  the  Conv.  Lexi- 
con. The  English  reader  may  consult  the  writings  of  Mr. 
Hugh  Rose  and  Dr.  Pusey  on  the  subject  of  German  ra- 
tionalism; Atkinson's  View  of  Universities  in  Germany; 
Hawkins's  Germany,  and  two  articles  in  the  Church  of 
England  Quarterly  Review,  Oct.  1837,  and  Jan.  1838.) 

RA'TLINES.  Small  horizontal  lines  or  ropes  extended 
over  the  shrouds,  thus  forming  the  steps  of  ladders  for 
going  up  and  down  the  rigging  and  masts.  To  rattle  the 
rigging,  is  to  fix  these  ratlines. 

RATTANS,  or  CANES.  The  long  slender  shoots  of  a 
prickly  bush  (Calamus  rotang,  Linn.),  one  of  the  most  use- 
ful plants  of  the  Malay  peninsula  and  the  Eastern  islands. 
They  are  exported  to  Bengal,  to  Europe,  and  above  all  to 
China,  where  they  are  consumed  in  immense  quantities. 
For  cane-work  they  should  be  chosen  long,  of  a  bright  pale 
yellow  colour,  well  glazed,  and  of  a  small  size ;  not  brittle 
or  subject  to  break.  They  are  purchased  by  the  bundle, 
which  ought  to  contain  100  rattans,  having  their  ends  bent 
together,  and  tied  in  the  middle.  In  China  they  are  sold  by 
the  picul,  which  contains  from  9  to  12  bundles.  Such  as 
are  black  or  dark-coloured,  snap  short,  or  from  which  the 
glazing  flies  off  on  their  being  bent,  should  be  rejected. 
When  stowed  as  dunnage,  they  are  generally  allowed  to 
pass  free  of  freight.  (Mi/bum's  Orient.  Com.,  <S-c.)  The 
imports  into  this'country  are  very  considerable.    (See  Com. 

RATTLESNAKE.  One  of  the  most  deadly  of  poison- 
ous serpents  is  so  called,  on  account  of  the  peculiar  rattling 
instrument  which  it  carries  at  the  extremity  of  the  tail, 
and  which  is  formed  of  several  horny  flattened  rings,  loose- 
ly attached  together,  which  move  and  rattle  whenever  the 
animal  shakes  or  alters  the  position  of  the  tail.  These 
riii"?  increase  in  number  with  the  age  of  the  animal,  and  it 

°  1031 


RATTLESNAKE  ROOT. 

Is  asserted  it  acquires  an  additional  one  nt  each  casting  of 
the  skin.  The  generic  name  of  the  rattlesnake,  I 
(from  the  Greek  «,p.>ruAo?,  a  rattle),  relates  to  the  above 
mentioned  peculiarity.  Two  species  are  well  distinguish 
ed;  Vis.  the  Qrotaius  korridus  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
Cretaliu  thtrissua  of  Guiana.  The  genua  is  peculiarly 
American.  In  common  with  the  boa,  the  rattlesnakes 
have  simple  transverse  plates  beneath  the  body  and  tail. 
Their  muzzle  is  hollowed  by  a  little  round  depression  be- 
hind each  nostril.  The  habits  of  the  rattlesnake  are  slog 
gish  ;  they  move  slowly,  and  only  bite  when  provoked,  Or 
for  the  purpose  of  killing  their  prey.  They  feed  principally 
Upon    birds,  rats,   squirrels  &.C.,  Which   it   is    believed    they 

have  the  power  of  fascinating. 
RATTLESNAKE   ROOT.    The  root  of  the  POggota 

Senega,  a  stimulant  said  to  have  proved  a  serviceable  rem- 
edy in  cases  of  the  bite  of  the  rattlesnake. 

R.V'VELIN,  in  Military  Works,  is  a  detached  work  com- 
posed of  two  embankments  forming  a  salient  angle.  It  is 
raised  before  the  curtain  on  the  counterscarp  of  the  work, 
serving  to  cover  it  and  the  adjacent  Hanks  from  the  direct 
fire  of  the  enemy.  When  used  to  cover  the  approach  to  a 
bridge,  it  is  called  a  titc  du  punt.  It  is  also  used  in  field 
fortification. 

RAY,  Rata.  (Lat.  radius,  a  ray.)  A  genus  of  cartila- 
ginous Plagioatomous  fishes,  recognisible  by  their  horizon- 
tally flattened  and  broad,  disk-shaped  body,  which  is  chiefly 
composed  of  the  immense  pectoral  fins,  the  jointed  and 
branched  rays  of  which  diverge,  like  the  rays  of  a  fan,  and 
support  a  broad  duplicature  of  the  skin,  which  is  continu- 
ous anteriorly  with  that  of  the  side  of  the  flattened  head  ; 
whence  the  name  of  the  genus.  The  Rai<e  of  Linnaeus  are 
now  divided  into  many  subgenera,  of  which  the  sting  ray, 
eagle  ray,  electric  ray,  fire  flare,  skate,  &c,  are  the  respect- 
ive types. 

Ray.  In  Optics,  a  beam  of  light  propagated  in  a  straight 
line  from  some  luminous  point.  A  ray  of  white  light  may 
be  divided  by  retraction  Into  a  number  of  distinct  rays  of 
different  colours.     See  Refraction. 

RA'YAH.  The  designation  by  the  Turkish  government 
of  its  nun  Mohammedan  subjects,  who  pay  the  capitation 
tax.  Under  Bajazet  I.  the  taxable  Rayahs  in  Turkev,  in 
Europe,  were  numbered  at  1,11-2,000;  under  Selim,  the' late 
sultan,  1,337,000. 

RAZE'E.  (Fr.)  The  term  used  for  any  vessel  cut  down 
to  an  inferior  class,  as  a  74  to  a  frigate,  &c.  By  razeeing, 
the  draught  of  water  is  diminished,  while  the  centre  of 
gravity  is  lowered,  and  the  qu  iliiies  of  the  vessel  have  gen- 
erally, though  not  invariably,  been  improved. 

REACH.  That  portion  rif  the  length  of  a  river  in  which 
the  stream  preserves  the  same  direction. 

REACTION.  A  term  used  in  Mechanics  to  denote  the 
reeiproeality  of  force  exerted  by  two  bodies  which  act  mu- 
tually on  each  other;  or  the  general  fact,  collected  from 
observation,  that  any  two  bodies  repelling  or  attracting  each 
other  are  made  to  recede  or  approach  with  equal  momenta. 
Newton's  third  law  of  motion  is,  that  "reaction  is  always 
contrary  and  equal  to  action,  or  that  the  mutual  actions  of 
two  bodies  are  always  equal,  exerted  in  opposite  directions." 
In  the  mathematical  consideration  of  mechanics,  this  prin- 
ciple must  be  assumed  a.  a  necessary  axiom  or  law  ;  and,  in 
fact,  as  is  remarked  by  Dr.  Young  (JVa*.  Phil.),  there  would 
be  something  peculiar,  and  almost  inconceivable,  in  a  force 
Which  could  afftcl  Unequally  the  similar  particles  of  mat 
ter ;  or  in  the  particles  themselves,  if  they  could  be  sup- 
posed of  such  different  degrees  of  mobility  as  to  be  equally 
moveable  with  respect  to  one  force,  and  unequally  with  re- 
s|>ect  to  another.  The  principle  may,  therefore,  as  justly 
be  termed  a  necessarj   law  as  an  experimental  fact. 

REA'DER.  In  Ecclesiastical  matters,  one  of  the  five  in- 
ferior orders  in  the  Romish  Church.  In  the  Church  of  Eng 
land,  a  reader  is  a  deacon  appointed  to  do  divine  service  In 
churches  and  chapels  of  which  no  one  has  the  cure.  There 
are  also  readers  i  priests)  attached  to  vaiious  eleemosynary 
and  other  foundations. 

REAL.    See  Money. 

REA'LGAR.  Redvulphnret  of  arsenic.  It  is  found  na- 
tive, and  is  composed  of  38  arsenic  I   Hi  sulphur. 

RB'ALISM,  in  Philosophy,  has  two  distinct  meanings, 
according  as  it  is  used  in  contradistinction  to  idealism  or  to 

nominalism  :   in    the  former  case   relating   to  the   theory  of 

perception,  In  the  second  to  the  theory  of  abstraction  and 
generalization.  For  the  first,  see  PERCEPTION  and  ho  w. 
ISM;  for  the  second.  Si  molastu-  Philosophy,  ThOMISTS, 
BcOTISTB,  and  Nominalists. 

REAL  PRE8ENCE.     sv,  Transihstantiation. 

REAL  PROPERTY.  Real  property  is  commonly  said 
to  consist  in  -lands,  tenements,  and  hereditaments;"  of 
which  terms  the  last  is.  in  feet,  coextensive  with  the  ''  mi 
real  property  Itself, expressing  tin-  same  thing  by  the  quality 
which  tie-  logicians  would  term  its  difference,  viz.,  that  it 
descends  to  the  heir  wherever  held  in  perfect  right :  thus 
1032 


REASON. 

distinguished  from  all  other  species  of  full  property,  which, 
if  possessed  in  equally  absolute  right,  descend  to  the  execu- 
tors or  administrators  of  the  party.    Hereditaments,  then, 

are  either  corporeal  or  incorporeal  ;  the  first  being  land  ami 
ils  visible  adjuncts  reo  gui-ed  by  the  law  as  appertaining  to 
it,  consisting  principally  of  whatever  is  fixed  thereon;  the 
second,  to  follow  Blackstone's  division,  are  chiefly  ten — ad- 
VOWSOns,  tithes,  rights  of  common,  rights  of  way,  oflices, 
dignities,  franchises,  corodies  (pensions  ch  uged  on  eeclesi- 
asiical  property,  now  obsolete),  annuities  charged  on  land, 
and  rents  reserved  out  of  lands  and  tenements.  The  quali- 
ty of  the  property  which  the  man  may  possess  in  those  ob- 
jects Included  under  the  term  real  (technically  called  his 
estate)  may  vary  in  tenure  or  in  degree.  See  Freehold, 
Copyhold,  Fee  Simple,  &.c. 

REAM.  A  quantity  of  paper,  consisting  generally  of 
twenty  quires  of  twenty  four  sheets  each  ;  but  What  is  call- 
ed the  printer's  ream  contains  sil£  quires,  or  516  sheets.  See 
Paper. 

RE'APING.  Cutting  down  corn  or  pulse  with  a  sickle, 
hook,  or  scythe,  or  by  a  leaping  machine.  These  opera- 
tions are  more  advantageously  performed  when  the  corn  or 
pulse  is  not  quite  ripe  than  when  it  is  thoroughly  ripe;  be- 
cause in  the  latter  case  the  seeds  are  apt  to  drop  out  in  the 
process  of  handling,  turning,  and  drying. 

REAR.  The  third  or  last  division  of  a  fleet,  commanded 
by  a  rear  admiral. 

REAR  GUARD.  That  part  of  an  army,  a  regiment,  or 
battalion,  which  marches  after  the  main  body.  Rear  rank 
signifies  the  last  rank  of  a  battalion  when  drawn  up  in  open 
order. 

REA'SON.  (Eat.  ratio.)  That  particular  faculty  in  man 
of  which  either  the  exclusive  or  the  more  intense  enjoy- 
ment distinguishes  him  from  the  rest  of  the  animal  creation. 
Like  most  of  the  terms  in  the  science  of  mind,  that  of  reason 
has  been  employed  in  a  great  variety  of  significations.  Du- 
gald  Stewart  takes  it  in  its  widest  sense,  and  comprises  un- 
der it  all  the  operations  of  the  intellect  upon  the  materials 
of  knowledge  which  are  furnished  in  the  first  instance  by 
sense  and  perception.  Its  office  is  to  distinguish  the  true 
from  the  false,  right  from  wrong,  and  to  combine  means  for 
the  attainment  of  particular  ends.  According  to  this  defi- 
nition, therefore,  the  province  of  reason  is  coextensive  with 
the  range  of  human  activity,  and  it  directs  itself  to  the  three 
supreme  objects  of  desire  to  man — the  good,  the  beautiful, 
and  the  true.  Mr.  Hume,  however,  withdraws  the  discern- 
ment of  right  and  wrong,  and  of  the  beautiful  and  its  con- 
trary, from  the  domain  of  reason  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
also,  denies  the  certainty  of  the  truth  which  it  enunciates, 
and  limits  its  convincing  force  merely  to  a  certain  weight  of 
probability.  Locke's  usage  of  the  term,  again,  partaking  as 
it  does  of  the  general  looseness  of  his  phraseology,  is  very 
different.  In  one  passage  reason  is  declared  to  lie  the  fac- 
ulty which  finds  out  the  means,  And  rightly  applies  them,  to 
discover  either  the  certain  agreement  or  disagreement  of  two 
ideas,  or  their  probable  connexion.  But,  in  another  place, 
it  is  said  to  be  conversant  with  certainty  alone;  while  the 
discovery  ofwhat,  as  probable,  enforces  a  contingent  assent 
or  opinion,  is  ascribed  toan  especial  faculty.  Which  is  called 
the  judgment.  Bird,  on  the  other  hand,  confines  the  latter 
term  to  the  apprehension  of  intuitive  truth  ;  but  agrees  so 
far  with  Locke  as  to  make  it  one  part  of  reason,  whose 
other  part  is  reasoning,  both  demonstrative  and  moral.  On 
the  whole,  however,  it  is  clear  that  In  the  mind  of  Locke 
the  terms  reasoning  and  reason  were  nearly,  if  not  quite, 
equivalent.  But  reasoning  and  deduction  are  evidently  not 
the  source  either  of  the  dignity  or  the  authority  of  the  hu- 
man intellect.  The  discursive  faculty  can  never  e-tablish 
any  other  than  a  conditional  truth,  which  predisposes  some 
anterior  and  pre-established  verity  as  its  basis  and  verifica- 
tion. If  there  were  not  in  the  human  mind  something  pri- 
mary, unconditional,  and  absolute,  to  which  all  reasonings 
might  he  referred,  as  to  their  source  and  foundation,  the 
discursive  process  would  proceed  into  infinity,  and  its  con- 
clusions he,  as  Hume  asserts  that  they  are,  without  any 
power  to  enforce  assent.  But  there  are  unquestionably  in 
the  human  mind  certain  necessary  and  universal  principles, 
which,  shining  w  i.h  an  intrinsic  light  of  evidence,  ate  lliem- 
selves  above  proof,  but  the  authority  for  all  mediate  and 
contingent  principles.  That  which  is  thus  above  reasoning 
is  the  reason. 

In  the  language  of  English  philosophy,  the  terms  reason 
and  understanding  are  nearly  identical,  and  are  so  used  by 
Stewart;  hut  in  the  critical  phil phy  of  Kant  a  broad  dis- 
tinction has  been  drawn  between  them.  Reason  is  the 
principle  of  principles ;  either  speculatively  verifies  every 

special  principle,  or  practically  determines  the  proper  ends 
of  human  action.  Approximately,  it  may  be  called  the  sum 
of  what,  in  Scotch  philosophy,  has  been  denominated  the 
laws  of  man's  Intellectual  constitution.  The  understand- 
ing, on  the  other  h  Hid,  is  coextensive  with  the  vernacular 
use  of  reason.    It  is  that  which  conceives  of  sensible  ob- 


REBATE. 

jects  under  certain  general  notions,  which  again  it  compares 
one  with  another,  or  with  particular  representations  of 
them,  or  with  the  objects  themselves.  It  is,  therefore,  the 
faculty  of  reflection  and  generalization.  But  the  act  of 
comparison  is  called  a  judgment;  and  the  understanding, 
when  it  enunciates  its  conceptions,  becomes  also  the  fac- 
ulty of  judging.  But  the  truth  of  a  proposition  which  is  not 
identical,  or  the  enunciation  of  a  primary  truth,  cannot  be 
immediately  certain.  To  prove  it,  recourse  must  be  had  to 
other  propositions  previously  admitted  ;  the  understanding, 
that  is,  must  deduce  one  judgment  from  another,  and  so  be- 
comes the  discursive  faculty,  or  reasoning.  Farther,  in  dis- 
covering these  mediate  truths,  and  in  the  regular  and  me- 
thodical disposition  of  them  for  the  purpose  of  conclusion, 
as  well  as  in  the  selection  of  means  for  the  accomplishment 
of  its  ends,  it  exhibits  itself  as  a  power  of  adaptation. 

By  adopting  this  distinction  between  reason  and  under- 
standing much  of  the  difficulty  involved  in  the  considera- 
tion of  instinct  will  be  removed.  Instinct  is  defined  to  be  a 
natural  impulse  in  animals,  by  which  they  are  directed  to 
certain  actions  necessary  to  the  continuation  of  the  individ- 
ual and  of  the  species,  and  enabled  to  perform  them  uner- 
ringly, independent  of  instruction  and  experience.  To  this 
definition  it  is  usual  to  add— without  deliberation,  and  with- 
out a  view  to  the  end  which  their  actions  will  effectuate. 
But  these  words,  while  they  apply  to  the  instinctive  princi- 
ple in  its  lowest  manifestation,  do  not  belong  to  it  in  its 
highest.  That  in  some  cases  the  spontaneity  of  the  animal 
operates  unconsciously  is  fully  established  by  experience. 
The  solitary  wasp  does  not  itself  feed  upon  flesh,  and  it 
cannot  know  that  a  larva  is  to  issue  from  the  egg  which  it 
is  placing  in  the  sand  ;  but  yet  it  deposites  in  the  same  hole 
with  it  the  exact  number  of  green  worms  that  is  sutlicient 
for  the  sustenance  of  the  wasp-worm  until,  being  trans- 
formed into  a  fly,  it  will  be  capable  of  finding  food  for  itself. 
In  other  cases,  it  is  impossible  to  deny  the  presence  of  judg- 
ment and  design,  of  reasoning  and  adaptation.  It  is  essen- 
tia to  the  nymphs  of  the  water-moth,  or  cod  bait,  which, 
by  means  of  the  gluten  which  proceeds  from  its  body,  cov- 
ers itself  with  pieces  of  straw  or  wood,  and  of  gravel  or 
light  shells,  that  it  should  maintain  itself  in  equilibrium 
with  the  water  in  which  it  lives.  To  accomplish  this, 
when  its  coating  is  too  light  it  is  observed  to  add  a  piece  of 
gravel,  and  a  piece  of  wood  when  it  is  too  heavy.  The  for- 
mer cases  may  be  designated  as  pure  instinct,  the  latter  as 
instinctive  intelligence.  Yet,  however  we  may  be  con- 
strained to  assign  understanding  and  intelligence  to  the  op- 
erations of  the  inferior  animals,  they  are  manifestly  desti- 
tute of  reason.  However  exquisite  may  be  the  construction 
of  the  bee's  cell,  it  is  impossible  to  ascribe  to  it  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  mathematical  principles  of  its  construction. 
The  bee  is  born  an  artist ;  and  prior  to,  and  independently 
of  all  instruction  and  experience,  is  perfect  in  its  works,  and 
chooses  its  means  with  an  unerring  certainty.  But  the 
acts  of  the  rational  creature  proceed  slowly,  through  diver- 
sified and  oft-repeated  experiments,  to  realize  the  principles 
of  the  act  which  are  present  to  its  mind ;  while  the  means 
it  employs  are  as  various  as  the  individuals,  and  seldom 
the  best  and  most  appropriate.  Again,  the  acts  of  the  infe- 
rior animals  are  solely  subservient  to  the  continuation  of 
the  individual,  or  the  propagation  of  its  kind ;  whereas  the 
works  of  the  rational  animal  fall  short  of  perfection  in 
many  respects,  and  are  rendered  still  more  difficult  by  a 
voluntary  combination  of  the  beautiful  with  the  simply 
useful  and  necessary. 

REBATE.  (Fr.  rabattre.)  In  Architecture,  the  groove, 
recess,  or  channel,  sunk  on  the  edge  of  any  piece  of  mate- 
rial. 

REBEC.  A  Moorish  word,  signifying  a  stringed  instru- 
ment somewhat  similar  to  the  violin,  having  three  strings 
tuned  in  fifths,  and  played  with  a  bow.  It  was  introduced 
by  the  Moors  into  Spain.  It  appears  to  have  been  much 
used  at  festive  entertainments.  Hence  Byron,  speaking  of 
Seville,  says, 

Nor  here  war's  clarion,  but  love's  rebec  sounds. 

Milton,  in  TSMlegro,  calls  it  the  "jocund  rebec  " 

REBE'LLION,  CIVIL.  In  Scottish  Law,  bv  a  peculiar 
fiction,  a  debtor  who  disobeys  a  charge  on  letters  of  horn- 
ing to  pay  or  perform  in  terms  of  his  obligation  is  accounted 
a  rebel,  by  reason  of  his  disobedience  to  the  king's  com- 
mand contained  in  the  writ.  The  penal  consequences  for- 
merly attaching  to  this  construction  of  the  law  were  abol- 
ished bv  20  G.  2,  c.  50. 

REBELLION,  THE  GREAT.  The  revolt  of  the  Long 
Parliament  against  the  authority  of  Charles  I.,  in  English 
History,  is  commonly  so  denominated.  Nevertheless,  as 
arbitrary  and  unconstitutional  acts  were  undoubtedly  com- 
mitted on  both  sides  during  the  struggle  which  preceded 
the  actual  resort  to  arms,  a  constitutional  lawyer  may  con- 
sider it  questionable  whether  the  parliament  may  be  more 
justly  said  to  have  rebelled  against  the  king,  or  the  king 
87 


RECKONING. 

against  the  state.  The  question  is  very  fairly  discussed  by 
Mr.  Hallam  in  his  Constitutional  History  of  England.  The 
commencement  of  the  rebellion  may  be  daied  from  the 
votes  of  the  two  houses  concerning  the  militia  (Feb.  1642), 
by  which  they  endeavoured  to  seize  on  the  military  power 
of  the  realm  ;  immediately  after  which  the  king  left  London 
for  the  north  of  England,  and  hostilities  speedily  began. 
(See  Clarendon,  vol.  i.,  p.  2.)  In  the  summer  of  1642  the 
parties  first  took  up  arms  ;  the  king's  standard  was  set  up 
August  25,  and  the  civil  war  was  ended  by  the  submission 
of  the  king  to  the  Scots  in  April,  1646.  The  period  of  the 
rebellion  is,  however,  extended,  in  ordinary  language,  so  as 
to  include  the  Commonwealth  or  Protectorate,  down  to  the 
restoration  of  Charles  II.  in  May,  1660. 

RE'BUS.  An  antiquated  species  of  ingenuity,  a  great 
favourite  with  our  ancestors ;  being  an  enigmatical  repre- 
sentation of  a  name  or  thing  by  using  figures  for  letters, 
syllables,  or  parts  of  words :  thus  an  eye,  and  a  ton  or  bar- 
rel, represent  the  family  name  of  Eyton  ;  an  instance  of  a 
rebus  borne  by  way  of  device,  as  they  very  commonly  were. 
(See  Device.)  In  heraldry,  a  coat  of  arms  alluding  to  the 
name  of  the  bearer  (otherwise  called  amies  parlantes)  is 
also  called  a  rebus  ;  e.  g.,  three  trouts  for  Troutbeck,  three 
cups  for  Butler,  &c.  The  term  is  said  to  be  derived  from 
an  annual  practice  of  the  priests  of  Picardy,  which  consist- 
ed in  satirizing  tne  people  of  their  vicinity  on  the  recur- 
rence of  the  Carnival  in  ingenious  squibs,  entitled  "  De  re- 
bus quae  geruntur." 

REBU'TTER.  In  Law,  the  fifth  stage  of  the  pleadings 
in  a  suit,  or  the  plaintiff's  answer  to  the  defendant's  re- 
joinder.    See  Pleading. 

RECE'PTACLE,  in  Botany,  has  four  different  significa- 
tions :  1.  That  part  of  a  flower  upon  which  the  carpella 
are  situated  ;  or,  in  other  words,  the  apex  of  the  peduncle, 
or  summit  of  the  floral  branch,  of  which  the  carpella  are 
the  termination.  2.  The  axis  of  the  theca  of  Trichomanes 
and  Hymmophyllum,  among  ferns.  3.  That  part  of  the 
ovarium  from  which  the  ovula  arise,  and  which  is  com- 
monly called  the  placenta.  And,  4.  That  part  of  the  axis 
of  a  plant  which  bears  the  flowers  when  it  is  depressed  in 
its  development ;  so  that,  instead  of  being  elongated  into  a 
rarhis,  it  forms  a  flattened  area,  over  which  the  flowers  are 
arranged,  as  in  Compositae. 

RECE'SSION  OF  THE  EQUINOXES.  See  Preces- 
sion. 

RECE'SS  OF  THE  EMPIRE.  In  History,  the  name 
given  in  judicial  language  to  the  decrees  of  the  German 
diet.  They  are  thought  to  have  been  so  termed  from  being 
pronounced  at  the  time  when  the  diet  was  about  to  "re- 
cede" or  separate.     See  Diet. 

RE'CHABITES.  A  religious  order  among  the  ancient 
Jews,  instituted  by  Jonadab,  the  son  of  Rechab,  from  whom 
they  derived  their  name.  It  comprised  only  the  family  and 
posterity  of  the  founder,  who  was  anxious  to  perpetuate 
among  them  the  nomadic  life  ;  and  with  this  view  prescri- 
bed to  them  several  rules,  the  chief  of  which  were — to  ab- 
stain from  wine,  from  building  houses,  and  from  planting 
vines.  These  rules  were  observed  by  the  Rechabites  with 
great  strictness.  (See  Jer.  xxxv.,  6.)  In  recent  times,  a 
branch  of  the  body  called  teetotallers,  has  assumed  the 
name  of  Rechabites. 

RE'CIPE.  The  symbol  B  at  the  head  of  a  medical  pre- 
scription generally  means  recipe,  or  "takei"  Dr.  Paris  says 
this  character  is  a  relic  of  the  astrological  symbol  of  Jupiter, 
a  planet  under  the  ascendancy  of  which  herbs  were  often 
collected  or  prepared.     (Pharmacologia.) 

RECI'PROCAL.  In  Arithmetic,  the  quotient  resulting 
from  the  division  of  unity  by  any  number.  Thus,  £  is  the 
reciprocal  of  2;  and,  conversely,  2  is  the  reciprocal  of  \. 

RECI'PROCAL  FIGURES,  in  Geometry,  are  two  figures 
of  the  same  kind  (triangles,  parallelograms,  prisms,  pyra- 
mids, &c),  so  related  that  two  sides  of  the  one  form  the 
extremes  of  an  analogy  of  which  the  means  aie  the  two 
corresponding  sides  of  the  other. 

RECI'PROCAL  PROPORTION,  is  when,  of  four  terms 
taken  in  order,  the  first  has  to  the  second  the  same  ratio 
which  the  fourth  has  to  the  third  :  or  when  the  fir*t  has  to 
the  second  the  same  ratio  which  the  reciprocal  of  the  third 
has  to  the  reciprocal  of  the  fourth.  In  works  of  arithmetic, 
the  case  which  gives  rise  to  this  class  of  relations  is  called 
inverse  Proportion,  or  the  Rule  of  Three  Inverse. 

RE'CITATIVE.  (Lat.  recitare,  to  recite.)  In  Music,  a 
species  of  singing  differing  but  Utile  from  ordinary  speaking. 
It  is  used  in  operas,  &c,  to  express  some  action  or  passion, 
or  to  relate  a  story,  or  reveal  a  secret  or  design  ;  and,  though 
written  in  true  time,  the  performer  may  alter  the  parts  of 
the  measure  as  he  thinks  most  suitable  to  produce  certain 
effects,  those  that  accompany  him  being  dependant  on  his 
pleasure. 

RE'CKONING.  In  Navigation,  the  estimated  place  of  a 
ship,  calculated  from  the  rate  as  determined  by  the  log,  and 
the  course  as  determined  by  the  compass,  the  place  from 
3  S  *  1033 


RECLINATION. 

which  the  vessel  started  being  known.  An  elegant  and 
ready  method  lor  solving  this  problem  has  been  recently 
given  by  Professoi  GUI,  of  New-York,  In  the  first  number 
of  his  Mathematical  Miscellany,  much  more  accurate  than 
the  method  usually  given  by  writers  on  navigation.  (See 
Vwm  v  rios.i  Dead  reckoning  means  the  same  as  reckon- 
ia'.  lim-  allowance  bciiiL'  made  lor  drift,  lce-wav,  currents, 
tsx. 

EECLINA'TION  Lat.  reclino,  /  repose).  In  "Dialling,  is 
the  angle  which  the  plane  of  the  dial  makes  with  a  vertical 
plane  which  it  intersects  in  a  horizontal  line. 

REGLU'SE.  The  common  title  of  a  class  of  religious 
persons  in  Koman  Catholic  countries.    See  Imi.isi. 

RECOGNISANCE,  in  Law.  an  acknowledgment  of  a 
debt  upon  record.  By  a  fiction  of  law,  the  obligation  which 
a  party  enters  into  before  a  court  of  record  or  magistrate 
duly  authorized,  with  condition  to  do  some  particular  act — 
as  to  appear  at  the  assizes,  keep  the  peace,  &c. — is  in  the 
form  of  a  recognisance;  the  party  acknowledging  himself 
to  be  indebted  to  the  kin;:,  the  plaintiff,  &.<•„  with  condition 
that  the  obligation  shall  be  void  on  performance  of  the 
thing  stipulated. 

RECOl'L,  in  Artillery,  is  the  rebound  or  resilience  of  a 
i  ordnance  when  discharged.  This  has  been  em- 
ployed for  the  determination  of  the  explosive  force  of  gun- 
powder: but  the  method  does  not  appear  to  be  susceptible 
of  much  accuracy.     See  Gunnery. 

REVOLLETS,  or  RE'COLLECTS.  Monks  of  the  or- 
der of  St.  Francis  under  a  reformed  rule.  The  first  separa- 
tion from  the  original  body  seems  to  have  taken  place  to- 
wards the  end  of  the  14th  century,  when  some  religious 
persons,  desirous  of  returning  to  stricter  discipline,  assumed 
the  title  of  Brothers  of  the  Observance.  From  these  origi- 
nated the  Recollects  (living  in  a  state  of  recollection,  or  re- 
clusion),  first  established  in  Spain  by  the  Count  de  Belalca- 
zar,  about  1484,  and  afterwards  introduced  into  Italy.  After 
much  opposition,  they  acquired  the  possession  of  great 
wealth  and  court  favour  in  France,  during  the  10th  and  17th 
Centur 

K  E( !( >KD.  Literally  an  authentic  account  of  any  fact  or 
transaction  in  writing,  contained  in  rolls  of  parchment, 
wood,  or  any  other  durable  substance,  and  preserved  in  a 
court  of  record.    See  Archives. 

Record.  In  Law,  the  authentic  testimony  in  writing, 
contained  in  rolls  of  parchment,  of  the  judgment  of  a  supe- 
rior court,  and  of  the  other  proceedings  in  a  case.  Records 
are  said  to  be  of  three  kinds — judicial  records;  ministerial 
records  on  oath,  being  offices  or  inquisitions  found ;  records 
made  by  conveyance  or  consent,  as  fines,  recoveries,  or 
deeds  enrolled.  (See  Court.)  Trial  by  record  is  used 
where  a  matter  of  record  is  pleaded  in  any  action,  as  a  fine, 
judgment,  fee;  and  the  opposite  party  pleads  ••null  tiel  re- 
cord," that  there  is  no  such  record  existing.  On  this  issue 
is  joined,  which  can  be  tried  only  by  inspection  of  the  re- 
cord. 

RECORDA'RI  FA'CIAS  LOQUE'LAM.  In  Law,  a 
writ  to  remove  proceedings  out  of  an  interior  court  to  the 
King's  Bench  oi  Common  Pleas.  It  is  directed  to  the  sheriff 
Commanding  him  to  make  a  record  of  the  plaint  and  other 
proceedings,  and  then  to  send  up  the  cause.  It  is  the  com- 
mon mode  by  which  an  action  of  replevin  is  transferred  from 
the  sheriff's  to  the  superior  courts, 

Itl'.i  i  I'RDER.  The  chief  judicial  officer  of  a  borouch  or 
city,  exercising  within  it.  in  criminal  matters,  the  jurisdiction 

of  a  court  of  record  ;  whence  his  title  is  derived.  This  ju- 
risdiction is  now  in  ide  uniform  in  extent  throughout  all  bor- 

OUgha,  and  is  rendered  equal  to  that  of  the  quarter  sessions 
of  a  county.  Recorders  were  formerly  chosen  without  re- 
striction by  the  corporations  with  which  they  were  connect- 
ed ;  but  by  the  existing  municipal  system  the  appointment  is 
vested  in  the  crown,  and  the  selection  is  confined  to  barris- 
ters  of  five  years'  standing. 

Ri< -order.  The  nnme  of  a  musical  Instrument  some- 
what resembling  the  flageolet,  formerly  In  use  in  this  coun- 
try. It  had  a  peculiarly  pleasing  tone  ;  hence  Milton  speaks 
of 

Ttie  Dnrinn  mood 
Of  flutes  and  soft  recorders. 

The  etymology  of  the  term  is  involved  in  great  obscurity. 

BECO'VERY,  or   COMMON    RECOVERY.      I-   Law 

{set  Pink),  a  mode  of  assurance  in  the  form  of  a  fictitious 

action,  by  means  of  which  conveyance-,  were  made  by  va- 
rious tenant*  possessed  of  limited  righls  in  real  property  (by 

tenants  in  tail  more  particularly).    The  effect  of  a  common 

recovery  duly  Buffered  w  as  to  raise  tin  absolute  bar.  not  only 
of  all  estates  tall,  but  of  all  estates  in  remainder  and  re- 
version expectant  on  such  estates  tail  ;  and  to  give  the  re- 
rovepr  a  fee  simple  absolute.  A  common  recovery,  how- 
ever did  not  bar  a  springing  use,  or  an  executory  devise.  A 
common  n-ro\ery  also  avoided  all  charges,  leases,  and  in 
cumbrances  made  by  those  in  reversion  or  remainder.  By3 
Ai  4  W.  4,  c.  7  1,  common  recoveries  are  abolished,  and  u 
1034 


RECUSANTS. 

new  mode  of  conveyance  for  the  use  of  tenant  in  tail  sub- 
-tituted  tor  them.     Sec  Estate  Tail. 

RECTANGLE.  In  Geometry,  a  right-angled  parallelo- 
gram. When  the  adjacent  sides  are  equal,  it  becomes  a 
square.  The  area  of  a  rectangle  is  numerically  expressed 
by  the  product  of  the  two  numbers  which  express  the 
lengths  of  its  adjacent  sides,  and  hence  the  term  rectangle  is 
sometimes,  but  incorrectly,  used  for  product. 

BJECTIFICATION.  In  Geometry,  the  determination  of 
a  straight  line,  whose  length  is  equal  to  a  portion  of  a  curve. 
It  is  effected  by  the  integral  calculus. 

If  the  curve  be  entirely  in  one  plane,  the  length  of  the 

arc  is  /  *J  d  y*  +  d  x1  ;  or  if  it  be  a  curve  of  double  cur- 
vature, its  length  is  /  y/d  j5  -f  d  y2  -f-  d  zl.     In  the  former 

case,  the  equation  of  the  curve  being  single  will  give  a  val- 
ue of  d  y  or  d  x,  as  may  be  found  most  convenient ;  and  this 
being  substituted  in  the  above  formula,  and  the  expression 
integrated  between  the  specified  limits,  the  actual  length  is 
obtained.  In  the  second  case,  the  equations  upon  two  of 
the  planes  of  projection  being  given,  the  values  of  d  y  and 
d  i  can  be  Obtained  in  terms  of  d  u  (u  being  another  varia- 
ble), and  the  values  of  y  and  z  in  terms  of  u ;  then  these 
substitutions  being  made,  the  process  is  the  same  as  before. 
See  Integral  Calculus. 

It  will,  however,  very  rarely  happen  that  the  rectification 
can  be  obtained  in  finite  terms',  as  the  substitutions  generally 
introduce  radical  expressions  into  the  differential,  which  are 
hardly  ever  so  connected  with  the  rational  parts  as  to  be 
susceptible  of  a  finite  integral  ;  and  hence  it  has  been  an  ob- 
ject with  mathematicians  to  transform  the  expressions  into 
others,  the  successive  terms  of  which  are  so  related  as  to 
diminish  at  a  very  rapid  rate.  In  this  case,  the  approxima- 
tion to  the  value  of  the  arc  is  rendered  comparatively  easy. 
The  first  curve  which  was  rectified  was  the  semicubical 
parabola;  and  the  merit  belongs  to  a  Mr.  Neal,  whose  rec- 
tification was  published  in  1657.  Two  years  later  the  same 
curve  was  rectified  by  Van  Heureat,  in  Holland. 

Rectification.  A  Chemical  term,  generally  implying  a 
second  or  more  frequently  repeated  distillation  ;  thus,  "rec- 
tified spirit  of  wine,"  means  spirit  which  has  been  redistil- 
led, and  by  which  it  is  to  a  great  extent  freed  from  water,  or 
rendered  stronger. 

RECTILI'NEAL,  or  RECTILINEAR  FIGURE,  in  Ge- 
ometry, is  a  figure  bounded  by  straight  lines. 

RE'CTOR.  (Lat.  rector  ecclesia?,  ruler  of  the  church),  is 
a  person  who  hath  the  charge  and  care  of  a  parish  church. 
The  other  rector  is  a  la]  man,  or  a  college  or  corporate  body 
(see  art.  Tithes).  He  is  bound  to  provide  a  vicar  to  serve 
the  church  in  his  place,  and  to  allow  the  small  tithes,  or  a 
sufficient  stipend,  for  his  maintenance.  The  term  rector  is 
also  employed  in  Scotland  to  designate  the  head  master  of  a 
public  school  or  academy. 

RECTRI'CES.  (Lat."  rectrix,  a  guide.)  The  name  of 
the  tail  feathers  of  a  bird,  which,  like  a  rudder,  direct  its 
flight. 

RE'CTUM.  (Lat.  straight.)  The  last  portion  of  the 
large  intestines;  so  named  from  an  erroneous  notion  of  the 
old  anatomists  that  it  was  straight 

RECU'MBENT.  (Lat.  recumbo,  Iliedown.)  In  Zoolo- 
gy,  when  a  part  is  leaning  or  reposing  upon  any  thing. 
"RECU'RRENT  NERVES.  Two  branches  of  nerves 
from  the  par  vagum,  in  the  cavity  of  the  thorax,  are  so  call- 
ed :  tin  y  are  distributed  to  the  muscles  of  the  larynx  and 
pharynx. 

RECU'RRING  DECIMALS,  or  CBftCULATING  DE- 
CIMALS, in  Arithmetic,  are  decimals  which  arise  from  the 
expansion  of  a  fraction  whosi  denominator  includes  one  or 
more  prime  numbers,  as  (actors,  different  from  2  or  5,  and 
not  included  in  the  numerator.  In  this  case  the  same 
figures  are  continually  repeated  in  the  same  order.  Thus, 
T2r  =  - 181818,  fee. ;  \  =•  1428571428571,  see.,  ad  infinitum. 
Their  value  can  always  be  found  by  taking  one  of  the  pe- 
riods for  a  numerator,  and  as  many  nines  for  the  denomina- 
tor as  there  are  figures  in  the  period,  and  reducing  the  re- 
sulling  fraction  to  its  lowest  terms.  Thus,  Ii=-'£ -L?  being 
so   reduced,  is  found  equal  to  L 

Recurring  decimals  were  first  noticed  by  Dr.  Wallis;  but 
their  pro]..-i  tie-  have  not  been  extensively  investigated. 

RECU'RRING  SERIES.  In  Algebra,  a  series  in  which 
the  coefficients  of  the  successive  powers  of  x  are  formed 

from  a  certain  number  of  the  preceding  coetlicii  nts   accord 

ing  to  sunn-  invariable  law.  Thus  a-f- (a-f- 1)  z-f- (2  a 
-4-  2)  xl  -f-  (3  a  +  3)  r3-f-  (5  o+  5)  a£+  .  . .  is  a  recurring 
series,  the  coefficient  of  each  term  being  the  sum  of  the 
coefficients  of  tie  two  preceding  terms.    The  value  of  the 

terms  of  such    a  series  can   always  be  exhibited  in  a  finite 
form.     'See    Ettler,    Introductio  in  .Inahjsin    Infinitorum ; 
it's  .  tlgt  bra,  i1.'  . 
RECU'SANTS.    In  English  Histiry,  a  term  applied  to 


RED. 

those  who  refused  to  acknowledge  the  king's  supremacy  as 
head  of  the  church,  chiefly  Papists. 

RED.    One  of  the  primary  colours.     .See  Chromatics. 

RE'DAN.  In  Fortification,  a  kind  of  rampart  placed  in 
advance  of  the  principal  works  to  defend  the  least  protect- 
ed parts.  The  redan  usually  consists  of  a  rampart  of  earth  ; 
and  it  is  the  simplest  kind  of  field  fortification.  See  For- 
tification. 

RED  BOOK.  The  name  given  to  a  book  containing  the 
names  of  all  persons  in  the  service  of  the  state.  The  Red 
Book  of  the  Exchequer  is  an  ancient  record,  in  which  are 
registered  the  names  of  all  those  that  held  lands  per  baro- 
niam  in  the  time  of  Henry  II. 

RE'DDLE.  A  soft  argillaceous  mineral,  deeply  tinged 
with  red  by  oxide  of  iron.  The  best  specimens,  used  as 
drawing  chalk,  are  brought  from  Germany. 

REDE'MPTORISTS.  A  religious  order  founded  in  Na- 
ples by  Liguori  in  1732,  and  revived  in  Austria  in  1820. 
They  are  bound  by  the  usual  monastic  vows,  and  devote 
themselves  to  the  education  of  youth  and  the  propagation 
of  Catholicism.  They  style  themselves  members  of  the 
order  of  the  Holy  Redeemer  (il  Santo  Redemptore),  whence 
their  name  ;  but  they  are  also  often  called  Liguorists,  from 
the  name  of  their  founder. 

RED  LEAD.  An  oxide  intermediate  between  the  pro- 
toxide and  peroxide  of  lead.     See  Lead  and  Minium. 

RED  MARL.     New  red  sandstone.     See  Geology. 

RED  PRECIPITATE.  The  peroxide  of  mercury,  ob- 
tained by  the  decomposition  of  nitrate  of  mercury  by  heat. 
See  Mercury. 

REDOU'BT.  In  Fortification,  a  term  applied  to  nearly 
every  kind  of  work  intended  to  fortify  military  positions  ;  as 
also  to  works  constructed  within  others  to  prolong  their  de- 
fence ;  or  to  detached  works  used  to  secure  some  piece  of 
ground  which  would  be  useful  to  the  besiegers,  and  thereby 
create  delay  in  offensive  operations. 

REDU'CL\G  SCALE.  A  scale  used  by  surveyors  for 
turning  links  into  roods  and  acres  by  inspection. 

REDU'CTION.  The  process  of  converting  a  metallic 
oxide  into  metal  by  expelling  its  oxygen.  In  some  cases  it 
is  effected  simply  by  heat,  but  generally  by  the  joint  action 
of  heat  and  some  deoxidizing  agent;  upon  the  large  scale, 
charcoal  is  almost  always  resorted  to. 

Reduction.  In  Arithmetic,  the  changing  of  quantities 
from  one  denomination  to  another. 

REDUCTION  OF  FIGURES,  in  Practical  Geometry, 
consists  in  describing  figures  similar  to  the  given  ones,  but  of 
different  (generally  smaller)  dimensions.  The  pentagraph 
and  the  proportional  compasses  are  the  readiest  and  most 
accurate  methods  of  performing  these  reductions ;  but  in 
the  absence  of  these,  many  different  methods  are  taught  in 
works  of  practical  geometry.  The  simplest  is  here  an- 
nexed. 

Let  A  B  C  D  be  the  figure  to  be  reduced,  and  a  b  be 


the  line  which  is  homologous  to  A  B.  At  a  convenient 
place  on  the  paper  draw  a  b,  parallel  to  A  B,  and  equal  to 
the  reduced  line.  Draw  A  a,  B  b,  meeting  in  O,  and  from 
O  draw  lines  to  all  the  other  angles  of  the  figure  ;  then 
draw  b  c  parallel  to  BC.sd  parallel  to  A  D,  &c. ;  and  join 
the  last  two  points.  Then  abed  is  the  reduced  figure 
sought. 

If  the  proposed  figure  be  curvilinear,  inscribe  any  po- 
lygon within  it,  and  draw  the  similar  polygon  as  above 
directed;  then  trace  the  curve  through  the  angles  of  the 
polygon. 

REDU'NDANT  HYPERBOLA.  A  line  of  the  third  or- 
der, having  three  pairs  of  asymptotic  branches.  Its  proper- 
ties may  be  seen  in  Newton's  Enumeratio. 

REEF,  in  Navigation,  signifies  to  diminish  the  surface  of 
the  sails  on  the  increasing  of  the  wind.  Sails  attached  to 
yards  are  reefed  at  the  head.  Strong  horizontal  bands  of 
canvass,  from  three  to  six  feet  apart,  extend  across  the  sails ; 
these  are  called  reef  bands ;  and  there  are  usually  four  in 
each  topsail,  and  two  in  the  foresail  and  mainsail.  The 
reef  band  is  commonly  pierced  with  two  holes  in  each  cloth 
(or  breadth  of  canvass)  in  the  sail ;  through  each  hole  are 
drawn  two  reef  points— short  pieces  of  flat  rope,  each  hav- 
ing an  eye  in  one  end,  and  hung  one  before  and  the  other 
abaft  the  sail,  each  passing  through  the  eye  in  the  end  of 
the  other.  The  sail  being  lowered,  and  trimmed  to  the 
wind  so  as  to  shake,  the  extremities  of  the  reef  band  are 
drawn  up  towards  the  yard  arm  by  the  ropes  called  reef 
tackles  ;  the  men  then  going  out  upon  the  yard,  which  they 
lean  over  while  their  feet  are  supported  by  the  foot  ropes 
gather  up  the  loose  canvass  of  the  sail  till  they  reach  the 


REFLEXION. 

reef  band,  which  they  keep  extended  tight  along  the  yard 
until  the  earings  are  passed  or  secured,  the  weather  earing 
being  passed  first ;  they  then  tie  the  two  reef  points  of  each 
pair  together  over  the  yard,  and  the  sail  is  reefed,  the  sur- 
face having  been  thus  diminished  by  the  depth  of  one  reef. 
Gaff  sails  are  reefed  at  the  foot.  The  sail  being  lowered 
enough  to  slack  the  canvass,  the  earing  which  is  on  the 
after  leech  is  brought  or  hove  down  to  the  boom  end  by  a 
strong  rope  called  a  reef  pendant ;  the  men  then  standing 
wherever  they  can  reach  the  foot  of  the  sail,  tie  the  points 
under  it.  When  the  yard  is  not  lowered,  as  in  reefing  the 
courses,  the  sail  is  partly  clued  up  for  reefing. 

Reef,  or  Coral  Reef,  is  also  applied  to  a  chain  of  rocks 
in  various  parts  of  the  ocean  lying  near  the  surface.  See 
Geology. 

REEL.  A  lively  dance  peculiar  to  Scotland,  generally 
written  in  common  time  of  four  crotchets  in  a  bar,  but 
sometimes  in  gig  time  of  six  quavers. 

Reel.  An  angler's  implement  attached  to  the  butt  of  the 
rod,  for  the  purpose  of  winding  in  the  line  when  a  fish  is 
hooked.  The  barrel  of  the  reel  should  be  of  sufficient  di- 
ameter to  wind  in  quickly,  as  a  fish  is  often  lost  by  not  being 
able  to  bring  him  rapidly  within  reach  of  the  landing  net; 
especially  where,  as  in  fly-fishing,  a  great  length  of  line  has 
been  thrown  out. 

RE-E'NTER.  In  Engraving,  a  word  which  denotes  the 
passing  of  the  graver  into  those  incisions  of  the  plate,  so  as 
to  deepen  them,  where  the  aquafortis  has  not  bitten  in  suf- 
ficiently. 

RE-E'NTERING  ANGLE.  In  Fortification  the  angle 
of  a  work  whose  point  turns  inwards  towards  the  defended 
place. 

REEVE.  (Ang.  Sax.  gerefa,  an  officer  or  governor.)  A 
word  of  a  very  general  application,  entering  into  the  com- 
position of  some  titles  yet  in  use.  Hence  sheriff,  i.  e.,  shire- 
reeve,  the  governor  of  a  shire  or  county ;  borough-reeve, 
port-reeve,  &c. 

Reeve.  The  Sea  term  for  putting  a  rope  through  a  block, 
or  any  hole  through  which  it  is  intended  to  run. 

REFE'CTION.  (Lat.  reficio,  /  restore.)  In  the  lan- 
guage of  Ecclesiastical  communities,  a  spare  meal,  sufficient 
only  to  maintain  life  ;  whence  the  hall  in  convents  where 
meals  are  taken  is  termed  refectory. 

REFE'CTORY.  (Lat.  refectorum.)  In  Architecture, 
an  apartment  wherein  meals  are  taken. 

REFERE'NDARIES.  In  the  early  monarchies  of  Europe 
after  the  fifth  century,  public  officers  charged  with  the  duty 
of  procuring,  executing,  and  despatching  diplomas  and 
charters.  The  office  of  great  referendary,  in  the  French. 
monarchy,  became  merged  in  that  of  chancellor. 

REFLECTING  CIRCLE.  An  astronomical  instrument 
for  the  measurement  of  angles  by  reflection.  (See  Sex- 
tant.) The  term  is  also  applied  to  a  surveying  instrument, 
invented  by  Sir  Howard  Douglas,  which  combines  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  Hadley's  quadrant  and  the  protractor.  The 
object  of  it  is  to  protract,  or  lay  down  on  the  plan,  the  an- 
gles measured  with  the  instrument  from  the  instrument  it- 
self, without  any  intermediate  step,  or  even  a  register  of 
their  values.  The  advantage  of  such  an  instrument  must 
be  obvious  in  military  surveys,  where  expedition  is  impor- 
tant, while  accuracy  is  thereby  far  more  efficiently  insured 
than  by  the  old  and  more  tedious  process.  It  is  also  ad- 
vantageously used  in  forming  general  sketches  of  a  country. 

RE'FLEX.  (Lat.  reflecto,  /  bend  back.)  In  Painting, 
the  illumination  of  one  body,  or  a  part  of  it,  by  light  re- 
flected from  another  body.  The  foundation  of  the  law  of 
reflexes  depends  upon  the  knowledge  that  every  body  in 
light  reflects  that  light  to  a  certain  degree,  in  the  same  way 
that  flame  does.  The  stronger,  therefore,  the  light  on  the 
body,  the  stronger  will  be  the  reflex,  distances  being  equal. 
Again,  the  more  directly  the  light  falls  on  a  body,  the  more 
influence  it  will  have  in  imparting  a  reflex. 

REFLE'XION,  in  Mechanics,  denotes  the  rebound  or  re- 
gressive motion  of  a  body  from  the  surface  of  another  body 
against  which  it  impinges.  In  Natural  Philosophy,  the  term 
is  applied  to  the  analogous  motions  of  light,  heat  and  sound, 
when  turned  from  their  course  by  an  opposing  surface.  The 
laws  of  the  reflexion  of  light  form  the  branch  of  science 
called  catoptrics  ;  those  of  the  reflexion  of  sound  are  some- 
times called  cataphonics.     Sec  Sound. 

The  simplest  view  which  can  be  taken  of  the  mechanical 
action  whereby  reflexion  is  produced,  is  to  assimilate  it  to 
that  which  takes  place  when  an  elastic  body  impinges  on 
another  body  which  it  cannot  move  out  of  its  place.  If 
light,  heat,  and  sound  are  propagated  by  the  pulses  of  an 
elastic  medium,  the  same  theory  will  apply  to  them ;  and  it 
is  to  be  remarked,  that  in  all  cases  of  reflexion  the  change 
of  motion  which  takes  place  follows  precisely  the  same 
laws  as  that  which  is  produced  by  the  impact  of  two  elastic 
bodies. 

Reflexion  of  Light. — When  we  consider  only  the  direction 
of  the  rays  of  light  after  being  reflected  from  a  polished 

1035 


REFLEXION. 


surface,  and  leave  its  Quantity  or  intensity  out  of  view,  the 
laws  of  reflexion  ire  extremely  ample.     Suppose  A  B  (i\«. 
(1.)  1.)  to  be  a  smooth  polished  surface,  or  mir- 

ror, ami  a  ray  of  light  proceeding  in  the  ili- 
,a  rection  I.  P  to  Impinge  on  the  surface  at  P, 
and  to  In'  reflected  from  it  in  the  direction 
I'  K.  Through  the  point  PdrawP  u  a  nor 
mal  or  perpendicular  to  the  surface;  then. 
p  adhering  to  the  definitions  adopted  by  moat 

writers  on  optics,  the  angle  I.  P  il  is  called  the  angh  of  m 
cidtnrr,  Q  P  R  the  angU  of  reflexion,  the  plane  in  which  are 
tli.>  two  straight  lines  1,  P  ami  P  11  is  called  tin  plane  of  in- 
cidence, and  the  plane  determined  by  U  P  ami  P  It  the  plane 
of  reflexion.  Now  the  two  general  laws  of  rellevion  are 
1st.  The  plane  of  rellevion  coincides  with  the  plane 
of  incidence:  or  the  three  straight  lines  1.  I",  P  ti.  and  I'  R, 
are  in  one  plane.  3d.  The  angle  of  reflexion  is  equal  to 
the  angle  of  incidence,  and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  nor- 
m  al.     These  laws  hold  true,  whatever  he  the  nature  of  the 

reflecting  ratface,  or  tin-  origin  of  the  light  which  falls  on 
it.  Experience  offers  ao exception  to  them  whatever;  and 
all  the  phenomena  of  reflexion  from  mirrors  or  polished 
surfaces,  whether  plane  or  having  any  regular  curvature, 
are  readily  deduced  from  them  as  simple  geometrical  conse- 
quences. 

Reflexion  from  Plane  .Mirrors. — To  determine  the  path 
of  the  reflected  rays,  and  the  formation  of  images  by  plane 
mirrors,  suppose  M  N  (fig.  '-'  to 
\u-  an  object  placed  before  the  plane 
reflecting  surface  A  B,  and  the  eye 
to  be  situated  at  E.  The  rays  ,,f 
light  which  proceed  from  the  point 
M,  and  are  reflected  to  the  eye  at 
E,  will  impinge  on  the  mirror  at  P. 
and  appear  to  come  from  a  point 
»i,  which,  in  respect  of  the  plane 
A  B,  is  symmetrical  with  M  :  that  is  to  say.  placed  in  the 
Straight  line  which  i>  drawn  from  M   perpendicular  to  the 

surface,  and  at  the  same  distance  from  A  B  on  the  opposite 
side.  For  let  M  K  In-  tin-  perpendicular,  and  let  it  be  con- 
tinued t'.ll  it  meet  the  prohibition  of  E  P  in  m  ;  then,  from 
the  equality  of  the  angles  of  incidence  and  reflexion,  the 
nnr/les  M  P  K  ami  K  P  B  (which  are  the  complements  of 
those  angles)  are  equal :  hence  M  P  K  —  K  P  m  :  and  the 
two  right  angled  triangles  K  P  M  and  K  P  m,  h  n  I 
common  side,  are  every  way  equal  ;  whence  K  m  =z  K  M. 
In  like  manner,  the  rays  which  issue  from  X.  and  are  re- 
flected to  E,  will  appear  to  proceed  from  a  point  «  symmet- 
rical with  N  ;  anil  as  the  same  thin;;  is  evidently  true  with 
respect  to  ever]  other  poinl  of  the  object,  a  perfect  image 

m  n  of  the  object  will  be  formed  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
mirror,  and  at  the  same  distar.ee.  It  will  he  observed  that 
the  Image  is  not,  properly  speaking,  reversed,  like  writing 
looked  at  through  the  opposite  side  of  the  paper:  the  spec- 
tator sees  the  same  side  of  the  object  as  if  he  stood  in  front 
of  the  mirror,  and  viewed  the  object  directly;  but.  in  the 
reflected  image,  right  takes  the  place  of  left,  and  left  of 
right. 

Reflexion  from  Carre  Surfaces— In  order  to  apply  the 
two  general  laws  of  reflexion  to  the  determination  of  the 
direction  of  a  ray  reflected  from  a  curve  surface,  it  is  as- 
sumed that  the  reflexion  takes  place  at  each  point  of  the 
surface  in  the  same  manner  as  it  would  from  a  plane 
touching  the  curve  surface  at  that  point,  and   the  problem 

therefore  bee.  mes  that  of  determining  the  direction  of  the 
normal  at  the  given  point;  for.  when  the  direction  of  the 
Incident  ray,  and  of  the  normal  at  the  point  of  incidence, 
are  both  known,  the  plane  of  the  reflected  ray,  and  the 
position  of  the  ray  in  that  plane,  are  both  given.  The 
mirror  may  he  concave  or  convex;  and  the  incident  rays 
may  be  parallel  or  divergent. 

Let  I)  centre  of  a  concave  mirror,  D  C  its 

axis,  C  the  centre  of  curvature  at  I)  :  and  assume  the  Beml 

(3.)  diameter   of  the   mirror  I)  P   to   be 

,  sm  ill  in  comparison  of  us  radius  of 

/  curvature  ('  1).     Now  suppose  .-,   ra> 

k-    of  light   L  P,  parallel   to  the  avis,   to 

|    \  fall  on  the  mirror  at  P:  thi 

|r      B  c       draw  P  C,  and  make  the  angle  C  P  R 

\  —C  P  I,  or   P  L  II.    P  It   will   be   the 

direction  of  the  n  fleeted  raj  ;  tor,  by 
the  nature  of  curvature,  CP  is  a  normal  to  tin-  surface,  the 
an:  1)  i'  being  -mall.  Hut.  on  the  hypothesis  of  n  p  being 
small,  we  havi  also  B  P=B  !»•  ami  by  reason  of  the 
equal  angles  UP  ('and  R  C  P,  R  P=R  C,  therefore  HI) 
-    RC;  or  i;  iv  a  given  point,  and.  consequently,  all  the 

rays  which  fill   on  the  mirror  parallel  to  C  II  ao 

into  the  same  pant  II.  Prom  this  property  Ihe  point  R, 
which  bisects  the  radius  C  I'.  is  called  the  principal  focus 
ol  the  mirror,  or  the  focus  of  parallel  rays.    Set  Foi  i  -. 

It  tin-  reflecting  surface  were  a  portion  of  a  paraboloid. 
then  all  rays  parallel  to  the  axis  would  be  accurately  re- 
l(Wi 


I  fleeted  into  the  focus  at  R,  whatever  the  extent  of  the  sur- 
i  ce  might  tie  ;  hut,  on  account  of  the  practical  difficulty  of 

grinding  and  poliehing  curve  surfaces  of  any  other  form 
than  the  spherical,  the  concave  and  convex  mirrors  requi- 
red for  optical  purposes  are  always  spherical. 

Suppose,  next,  the  rays  to  diverge  from  a  point  in  th<» 
axis  of  the  mirror.  Let  L  (tig.  4)  be  the  luminous  point,  C 
the  centre  of  curvature,  and 
P  R  the  reflected  rav.  To 
find  the  point  li.let  I=LPC 
=  R  P  (.';  and  let  K,  C,  I. 
denote  respectively  the  acute 
angles  at  the  points  indicated 
by  these  le;ti  re.  We  shall 
then  have,  obviously,  R — I 
=C,andI+L=C;  whence  L  +  R  =  2C.  Now,  since  I> 
P  is  supposed  to  be  an  arc  of  a  small  number  of  degrees,  I) 
P  may  he  regarded  as  a  straight  line  perpendicular  to  L  D ; 
and  since  the  angles  R,  C,  L  are  also  small,  we  may  sub- 
stitute for  the  arcs  to  which  thev  respectively  correspond 

,..  .,  PD'PDPD 

their    trigonometrical   tangents,   namelv,  =r-=i    r— >    =r-=-. 

UK  DC  JJ  L 
Hence,  if  we  assume  DL=f,DR  =  (;,DC=r,  the  radi- 
us of  curvature,  the  above  equation  R  +  L  =  2  C  will  be- 
come 

p  q  r 
which  gives  the  relation  between  p  nnd  q,  r  being  a  con- 
stant quantity  for  the  same  mirror.  If,  therefore,  L  be  a 
given  point,  then  p  has  a  given  value,  and  q  is  also  deter- 
mined ;  so  that  all  rays  diverging  from  the  point  L,  and 
falling  on  the  mirror,  are  reflected  into  the  point  R.  As  the 
two  quantities  p  and  q  enter  symmetric  illy  into  the  equa- 
tion, each  being  expressed  in  terms  of  the  other  by  the 
same  formula,  the  points  R  and  L  are  interchangeable; 
that  is,  if  R  be  taken  as  the  radiating  point,  then  L  is  the 
focus  of  the  reflected  rays.  Hence  L  and  R  are  culled  con- 
jugate points,  or  conjugate  foci. 

Since  the  reciprocals  of  p  and  q  always  make  up  the 
same  sum,  when  one  of  those  quantities  increases  the  other 
diminishes,  and  vice  versa.  If.  therefore,  L  approaches  to- 
wards  C.  1',  will  also  approach  towards  C  (the  origin  being 
supposed  at  D),  and  they  will  ultimately  coincide  at  that 
point,  so  that  a  ray  issuim:  from  ('  would  be  reflected  back 
on  itself.  If  L  recedes  from  ('.  then  R  recedes  from  C,  or 
approaches  D.  .Suppose  I,  to  he  at  an  infinite  distance  ;  in 
this  case  1  -f-/>  =  0.  and  the  equation  gives  q  ==  V  r,  or  I)  R 
=  A  D  C ;  so  that  R  becomes  the  principal  foots,  as  it  evi- 
dently ought ;  for  when  L  is  at  an  infinite  distance,  the 
rays  L  P  are  parallel  to  the  axi'. 

It  is  evident  from  the  above  equation  that  so  Ions  as  p 
and  q  have  the  s  ime  sign,  that  is,  so  lone  as  L  and  K  are 
on  the  same  side  of  the  mirror,  each  of  those  quantities 
must  be  greater  than  \  r.  Suppose  the  radiating  point  L  to 
be  placed  between  h  and 
C  (fig.  5),  and  let  D  L  or 
p  become  less  than  J  r. 
In  this  case,  q  must  be- 
come negative  ;  that  is  to 
say.  the  rays  which  ema- 
nate from  L  must  become 
divergent    after    reflexion, 

and  have  the  same  direction  as  if  they  diverged  from  a 
point  R'  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  mirror,  and  of  which 
the  distance   q   from   D   is   determined   by    the   equation 

1        1         2 

=-.     This  point  R'  is  called  the  virtual  focus  of 

p       q        r 

the  reflected  rays. 

The  same  construction  and  equation  (with  the  proper 
changes  of  sign)  apply 
equally  to  convex  and  con- 
cave mirrors.  Let  L  (fig. 
C)  be  the  luminous  point, 
from  w  Inch  diverging  rax  a 
fall  on  the  convex  mirror 
P  li.  of  which  C  is  the 
centre  of  cun  iture.     De- 

noting,  as  before.  |l  [..  II 
1!,  and  I)  C,  by  /.,  q.  and  r  respectively,  ard  assuming  the 
constant  r  to  t"'  positive,  then,  by  exactly  the  same  reason- 
ing as  above,  we  shall  find  the  equation 

1_1_2 

q       p~~  r 
In  this  case,  p  and  q  Increase  or  decrease  simultaneously  ; 
and  it  we  suppose  p  to  increase  to  Infinity,  or  the  incident 
rays  to  become  parallel,  then  we  have  again  }={r;  so 

that,  for  parallel  r;ns  the  conjugate  focus   i_  nl    the  middle 

of  ihe  distance  between  l>  and  C.  When  the  mirrur  U 
convex,  the  conjugate  focus  is  always  the  virtuul  focus. 


(-•) 


REFORM  ACT. 

From  what  has  now  been  shown,  it  is  easy  to  see  in 
what  manner  images  are  formed  by  concave  or  convex 
mirrors.  Let  M  N  (fig.  7}  be  an 
object  placed  before  a  concave 
mirror  A  B,  beyond  its  centre 
of  curvature  C.  On  tracing 
the  path  of  the  rays  M  A,  M  D, 
M  B,  after  reflexion,  they  will 
be  found  to  meet  in  the  point 
fef  m.  and  those  which  proceed 
from  N  will,  in  like  manner,  be 
found  to  meet  in  n  :  whence,  rays  diverging  from  every  point 
of  the  object  between  M  and  N  will  meet,  after  reflexion,  in  a 
point  situated  between  m  and  n ;  and  in  this  manner  an  in- 
verted image  m  n  of  the  object  will  be  formed.  The  mag- 
nitude of  the  image  is  to  that  of  the  object  as  D  m  to  D  M, 
or  as  the  distance  of  the  image  from  the  mirror  is  to  the 
distance  of  the  object  from  the  mirror ;  and  the  image  will 
be  more  brilliant  in  proportion  as  the  rays  of  light  coming 
from  the  object  are  collected  within  a  smaller  space.  If 
the  object  were  placed  at  m  «,  then  an  enlarged  image 
would  be  formed  at  M  N.  It  is  on  this  principle  that  re- 
flecting telescopes  and  microscopes  are  constructed.  See 
Telescope,  Microscope. 

Intensity  of  reflected  Light. — It  has  now  been  shown 
that  the  path  of  the  reflected  light  can  be  determined  in  all 
cases  with  geometrical  precision,  when  the  form  of  the 
reflecting  surface  is  known  ;  but  the  case  is  very  different 
when  the  question  is  to  determine  the  quantity  or  propor- 
tion of  the  light  which  is  thrown  into  a  different  direction 
by  an  opposing  surface.  The  following  laws,  however, 
have  been  established  by  experiment:  1st.  The  quantity  of 
light  regularly  reflected  increases  with  the  angle  of  inci- 
dence, but  doe?  not  vanish  entirely  when  that  angle  be- 
comes 0.  2d.  It  depends  both  on  the  nature  of  the  medium 
through  which  the  light  is  passing  when  it  falls  on  the  re- 
flecting surface,  and  on  that  of  the  substance  on  which  it 
falls.  3d.  Bodies  of  different  natures,  placed  in  the  same 
circumstances,  reflect  very  different  proportions  of  the  inci- 
dent light. 

On  this  subject  a  great  number  of  experiments  were 
made  by  Bouguer.  and  more  recently  by  Araeo,  Fresnel, 
Mr.  Potter,  and  others.  The  following  numerical  relations 
are  given  by  Bouguer :  When  a  beam  of  light,  the  intensi- 
ty of  which  is  represented  by  1000,  falls  upon  water  so  as 
to  make  an  angle  of  0°  30'  with  the  surface,  the  inten- 
sity of  the  reflected  light  is  represented  hv721  ;  at  an  angle 
of  15°  with  the  surface,  by  'ill  :  at  an  angle  of  30°.  bv  65; 
and  at  an  angle  from  00°  to  90°,  by  18.  Of  1000  rays"  fall- 
ing upon  a  surface  of  glass,  and  making  an  angle  of  5°  with 
the  surface,  543  are  reflected  ;  300  when  the  angle  is  15° : 
112  when  3(1°;  25  when  60^,  or  above.  Of  1000  rays  fall- 
ing on  a  polished  surface  of  black  marble.  600  are  reflected 
when  the  angle  with  the  surface  is  3°  15'  ;  156  when  15°; 
51  when  30°;  23  when  60°  and  upwards.  Mercury  and 
metallic  mirrors  give  a  less  rapid  diminution.  Of  1000  in- 
cident rays,  700  are  reflected  when  the  angle  with  the  sur- 
face is  very  small ;  and  about  600.  or  more  than  half, 
when  the  angle  approaches  to  90°,  or  the  incident  ray  is 
nearly  perpendicular  to  the  surface.  (Traite  d'Optique. 
See  also  the  Edinburgh  Journal  of  Science  for  1830  and 
1832.) 

In  order  to  produce  reflexion  in  a  greater  or  less  degree, 
the  only  indispensable  condition  is.  that  light  pass  from  one 
medium  to  another  having  a  different  refractive  power.  In 
passing  through  a  perfectly  homogeneous  medium,  no  re- 
flexion take*  place  :  but  whenever  there  is  a  change  of  me- 
dium (and  this  change  may  occur  in  the  same  substance  by 
an  inequality  of  density  in  the  different  parts,  or  a  different 
arrangement  of  the  particles),  more  or  less  reflexion  takes 
place  at  the  surface  which  separates  the  two  media. 
Thus,  in  passing  through  the  atmosphere,  the  solar  light 
undergoes  an  infinite  number  of  partial  reflexions  before  it 
arrives  at  the  earth,  as  every  successive  thin  stratum  of 
air.  by  reason  of  its  increasing  density,  forms,  as  it  were,  a 
different  medium.     See  Refraction,  Astronomical. 

If  any  surfaces  could  be  formed  of  so  perfect  a  polish  as 
to  reflect  the  whole  of  the  incident  light,  the  eve  would  be 
unable  to  distinguish  them  ;  and.  unless  bv  coming  in  actu- 
al contact  with  them,  we  should  have  no  reason  to  suspect 
their  existence.  Bodies  are  onlv  visible  in  consequence  of 
rays  irregularly  reflected  from  their  surfaces  meeting  the 
eye  ;  for  rays  which  are  regularly  reflected  onlv  show  the 
luminous  points  from  which  they  emanate,  and  not  the  sur- 
faces on  which  they  fall.  If  the  lunar  surface  were  as 
perfectly  polished  as  a  globule  of  pure  mercurv,  the  moon 
would  present  to  us  only  a  reflected  image  of  the  sun.    See 

LlOFIT.    (  >PTIfS. 

REFORM  ACT.     In  Politics.     .See  Parliament. 

REFORMATION.    An   important  era  in  political  and 

ecclesiastical  history,  when  the  doctrines  and  usages  of  the 

Romish  church,  then  dominant  throughout  the'  western 

83 


REFORMATION. 

states  of  Christendom,  were  first  successfully  called  in 
question.  This  event  is  commonly  dated  from  the  year 
1517,  when  Luther  began  to  oppose  the  pope  and  con- 
demned the  sale  of  indulgences.  Mosheim  assigns  to  it  the 
date  1520,  when  Luther  was  excommunicated. 

Prior  to  the  Reformation,  the  pope  claimed  of  divine 
right,  and  exercised,  absolute  authority  over  the  whole 
Christian  church,  with  the  exception  of  those  states  and 
provinces  in  which  the  Eastern  or  Greek  church  was  estab- 
lished. Not  only  was  his  authority  regarded  as  supreme 
on  subjects  of  doctrine  and  discipline,  but  his  decisions 
were  considered  as  infallible  ;  and  whoever  ventured  to 
question  or  gainsay  them  was  treated  as  a  heretic,  and 
was  liable  to  such  canonical  censures  and  temporal  penal- 
ties as  the  canon  law  determined.  Of  course,  the  exercise 
of  private  judgment  in  religious  and  ecclesiastical  matters, 
or  the  right  of  the  people  to  peruse  the  sacred  volume,  was 
peremptorily  denied.  Nothing,  therefore,  could  be  more 
absolute  than  was  the  government  of  the  Christian  church 
under  the  see  of  Rome.  His  holiness,  also,  laid  claim  to 
supremacy  even  in  temporal  things  throughout  the  wide 
range  of  his  religious  authority  ;  though  the  exercise  of  this 
supremacy  was  not  always  quietly  submitted  to ;  nay,  was 
sometimes  resisted  with  success.  He  regarded  all  parts  of 
the  world  not  inhabited  by  Christians  as  uninhabited,  and 
gave  full  power  to  those  Christians  who  might  occupy 
them  to  make  war  on  the  inhabitants ;  and  the  countries, . 
if  conquered,  were  parcelled  out  according  to  his  sovereign 
pleasure.  But  while  the  absolutism  claimed  by  the  Roman 
pontiff  was  calculated  to  arouse  jealousy  and  opposition, 
which,  indeed,  it  did,  in  some  degree,  in  different  places 
and  at  various  times,  these  feelings  were  greatly  increased 
by  several  other  causes  :  such  as  the  immoral  lives  of  the 
clergy;  the  facilities  by  which  their  immoralities  were 
pardoned  ;  the  exorbitant  wealth  of  the  church  :  the  great 
personal  immunities  of  ecclesiastics,  and  their  encroach- 
ments on  the  jurisdiction  of  the  laity.  These  and  similar 
circumstances,  which  the  invention  of  the  art  of  printing 
and  the  revival  of  learning  had  tended  more  thoroughly 
and  widely  to  disclose,  gradually  prepared  the  public  mind 
for  that  reformation  of  religion  of  which,  in  this  article,  we 
intend  briefly  to  give  an  account. 

Without  minute'y  mentioning  the  frequent,  but  compar- 
atively feeble  opposition,  to  which  the  absolutism  in  the 
government  of  the  church  had,  in  various  periods,  given 
rise,  it  may  suffice  here  to  confine  ourselves  to  an  account 
of  that  course  of  opposition,  in  the  llith  century,  which  ter- 
minated in  the  Reformation. 

According  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Romish  church,  all  the 
good  works  of  the  saints,  over  and  above  those  necessary 
for  their  own  justification,  are  deposited,  together  with  the 
infinite  merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  one  inexhaustible  treasury. 
The  keys  of  this  treasury  were  committed  to  St.  Peter,  and 
his  successors,  the  popes,  who  may  open  it  at  pleasure, 
and  by  transferring  a  portion  of  this  superabundant  merit 
to  any  particular  person  for  a  sum  of  money,  may  convey 
to  him  either  the  pardon  of  his  own  sins,  or  a  release  for 
any  one  in  whose  happiness  he  is  interested,  from  the 
pains  of  purgatory.  Hence  the  origin  (which  took  place  in 
the  11th  century)  of  the  sale  of  indulgences.  Pope  LeoX., 
under  the  pretence  of  raising  contributions  towards  building 
the  church  of  St.  Peter  at  Rome,  granted,  in  1517,  the  right 
of  promulgating  those  indulgences  in  Germany,  together 
with  a  share  in  the  profits  arising  from  the  sale  of  them, 
to  the  archbishop  of  Magdeburg,  who,  as  his  chief  aeent 
for  retailing  them  in  Saxony,  employed  Tetzel,  a  Domini- 
can friar,  of  dissolute  morals,  but  of  great  activity  and  en- 
ergy of  character.  Tetzel,  assisted  by  the  monks  of  his 
order,  executed  the  commission  with  great  zeal,  but  with 
little  discretion  or  decency  ;  and,  by  disposing  of  them  at  a 
very  low  price,  carried  on  for  some  time  an  extensive  and 
lucrative  traffic  among  the  credulous  and  ignorant.  The 
princes  and  nobles  were  irritated  at  seeing  their  vassals 
drained  of  their  wealth  to  replenish  the  treasury  of  a  pro- 
fuse pontiff.  Men  of  piety  regretted  equally  the  corruptions 
of  the  church  and  the  delusions  of  the  people.  Even  the 
most  unthinking  were  shocked  at  the  scandalous  behaviour 
of  Tetzel  and  his  associates.  But  it  was  reserved  to  Mar- 
tin Luther,  formerly  a  monk  of  the  Augustine  order,  and 
at  that  time  professor  of  theology  at  Wittenberg,  effectually 
to  expose  the  artifices  of  those  who  sold,  and  the  simplicity 
of  those  who  bought  indulgences,  and  to  shake  the  founda- 
tions of  the  papal  see  itself.  What  were  the  motives 
which  first  induced  this  distinguished  person  to  oppose  this 
traffic  cannot  now  be  ascertained.  The  traffic  was  not  a 
novelty,  as  it  had  been  practised  throughout  Christendom 
for  several  centuries.  Some  writers  have  imagined,  though 
with  what  justice  is  not  evident,  that  his  opposition  was 
founded  in  jealousy,  because  this  gainful  trade  had  not 
been  conferred  on  the  Augustinians,  to  whom  he  belonged, 
but  on  the  Dominicans,  a  rival  order.  But,  whatever  were 
his  motives,  his  opposition  at  first  was  confined  simplv  to 

1037 


REFORMATION. 


the  sale  of  indulgences.  His  memorable  theses,  ninety-five 
in  number,  against  this  practice  were  affixed  to  the  doers 
Dt'  the  cathedral  of  Wittenberg,  31st  October,  1517;  while 
from  the  pulpit  he  inveighed  bitterly  against  the  irregulari- 
ties and  vices  ni'  tlu1  in. niks  who  published  indulgences,  a. 4 
well  as  against  the  abuse  itself.  The  sentiments  contained 
in  his  theses  he  proposed  not  as  points  fully  established,  or 
of  undoubted  certainty,  but  merely  as  subjects  of  inquiry 

and  disputation  :  he  appointed  a  day  on  which  the  learned 
were  invited  to  impugn  them,  either  in  person  or  by  wri- 
ting; and  to  the  whole  he  subjoined  solemn  protestations 

of  his  high  respect  for  the  apostolic  see,  and  of  his  implicit 
obedience  to  its  authority.  No  opponent  appeared  at  the 
time  prefixed.  Meanwhile  the  theses  spread  over  Ger- 
many with  astonishing  rapidity  ;  they  were  everywhere 
read  with  the  greatest  avidity  ;  and  ail  admired  the  bold- 
ness of  the  man  who  had  ventured  to  attack  the  plenitude 
of  papal  power.  Meanwhile  Tctzel,  in  opposition  to  Lu- 
ther, published  counter-theses  at  Frankfort  on  the  Oder; 
Eckius,  a  celebrated  divine  of  Augsburg,  endeavoured  to 
refute  Luther's  notions;  and  Prierias,  a  Dominican  friar, 
master  of  the  sacred  palace  and  inquisitor-general,  wrote 
against  him  with  uncompromising  virulence.  But  this  op- 
position was  of  little  or  no  avail.  Luther  supported  his 
views  by  arguments  founded  on  reason  or  derived  from 
scripture,  and  his  cause  was  found  daily  to  gain  strength. 

Leo,  naturally  fond  of  ease,  and  occupied  in  the  pursuits 
of  pleasure  and  ambition,  paid  little  or  no  attention  to  the 
dispute  that  was  thus  raging  in  Germany,  and  at  first  de- 
spised it  as  a  mere  monkish  squabble.  Hut  the  tidings  of 
Luther's  rapid  success,  and  the  clamours  of  the  ecclesiastics 
for  aid  and  vengeance,  at  length  roused  him  from  his  apathy, 
and  induced  him  to  take  prompt  steps  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
spread  of  heresy.  On  the  21st  Aug.  1518,  he  summoned 
Luther  to  appear  at  Rome  within  sixty  days,  before  the 
auditor  of  the  chamber  and  the  inquisitor-general  Prierias, 
who  had  written  against  him,  whom  he  empowered  jointly 
to  examine  his  doctrines  and  to  decide  concerning  them. 
This  was  evidently  an  unjust  tribunal  by  which  the  deci- 
sion was  to  be  made  ;  and  through  the  influence  of  Frede- 
rick the  elector  of  Saxony,  who  was  favourable  to  the  new 
doctrines,  and  of  others,  and  by  a  submissive  letter  written 
to  the  Pope  by  Luther  himself,  bis  holiness  ngreed  to  refer 
the  hearing  and  determining  of  the  cause  to  his  legate  in 
Germany,  Cardinal  Cajelan,  a  Dominican,  eminent  for 
scholastic  learning. 

The  reformer  accordingly  appeared  before  Cajetan,  who, 
after  some  discussion,  commanded  him  to  retract  his 
opinions;  but  Luther,  with  that  intrepidity  of  mind  which 
was  his  grand  characteristic,  declared  that  he  could  not, 
with  a  safe  conscience,  renounce  opinions  which  he  be- 
lieved to  be  true,  nor  should  any  consideration  induce  him 
to  do  what  would  be  so  base  in  itself,  and  so  offensive  to 
God.  The  result  was,  that  Luther,  who,  with  his  friends, 
suspected  that  even  the  imperial  safe-conduct  would  not 
be  able  to  protect  him  from  the  legate's  power  and  resent- 
ment, was  induced  to  withdraw  secretly  from  Augsburg, 
and  return  to  Wittenberg;  previously  to  which,  however, 
he  prepared  a  solemn  appeal  from  the  pope,  ill-informed  at 
that  tune  concerning  I  us  cause,  to  the  pope  when  he  should 
be  better  able  to  judge  respecting  it.  (Secken,  Comment., 
lib.  i.,  p.  14;  Luthcri  Opera,  i.,  p.  Kit).)  But  so  impatient 
were  Luther's  enemies  at  Rome,  that  even  before  the  sixty 
days  had  expired,  he  was  there  condemned  as  a  heretic ; 
and  Leo,  in  several  of  the  briefs  and  letters,  had  stigma- 
tized him  as  a  child  of  iniquity,  and  as  given  up  to  a  repro 
bate  mind.  Hut  Luther,  convinced  that  his  views  wen- 
agreeable  both  i  i  Scripture  and  reason,  was  not  to  be  de- 
terred from  teaching  and  promulgating  his  opinions  both 
from  the  pulpit  and  through  the  press;  and  as  every  step 

taken    by  the  court  of  Rome   against    him    convinced   him 

that  Leo  would  soon  proceed  to  the  most  violent  measures; 

he  had  recourse  to  the  only  expedient  in  his  power  in 
order  to  prevent  the  effect  of  the  papal  censure-.  He  ap 
pealed  to  a  general  council,  which  he  affirmed  to  he  the 
representative  of  the  Catholic  church,  and  superior  in 
power  to  the  pope,  who,  being  a  fallible  man,  might  err,  as 
St.  Peter,  the  most  perfect  of  rill  Ins  predecessors,  had 
erred.  As  opposition  against  him  increased,  and  as  the 
controversy  advanced,  Luther's  views  began  to  expand  ; 
and  in   his  disputation  with    Bckhu,   be   went   so   fat  as  to 

question  the  supremacy  of  tin:  pope  over  the  church,  as 
well  as  the  doctrines  of  purgatory,  auricular  confession, 

an!  absolution;  and  he,  about  the  same  time,  published 
several  treatises,  in  which  he  more  openly  expri 

dissent.  I. other  may  now  be  said  to  have  embraced  the 
fundamental   tenet   which  now  characterizes   all    sects   of 

Protestants,  and  which  was  subversive  of  the  slavish  obe- 
dience  in    |Kiints   of  doctrine   and    discipline   which    had 
hitherto  been  paid  to  the  holy  see;  namely,  thai 
is  the  only  rule  of  faith   and   manners,  and  that  this  rule  i- 

to  be  interpreted  by  the  exercise  of  private  judgment.    A 
1038 


step  was  at  this  period  (June,  1520)  taken  by  the  court  of 
Home  fatal  to  the  object  which  it  had  in  view.  The  pope 
issued  a  bull  condemning,  as  heretical  and  offensive  to 
pious  ears,  forty-One  propositions  extracted  out  of  Luther's 
works;  all  persons  were  forbidden  to  read  bis  works  00 
pain  of  excommunication  ;  those  who  possessed  a  copy  of 
them  were  commanded  to  commit  it  to  the  flames  ;  and  he 
himself,  if  he  did  not  within  sixty  days  publicly  recant  his 
errors  and  burn  his  works,  pronounced  a  heretic,  excom- 
municated, and  delivered  unto  Satan ;  and  all  secular 
princes  required,  under  pain  of  incurring  the  same  censure, 
to  seize  his  person,  that  he  might  be  punished  as  his  crimes 
deserved. 

'I'll is  sentence,  while  it  did  not  disconcert  or  intimidate 
Luther,  excited  more  indignation  than  terror  among  his 
followers,  and  gave  a  flesh  impulse  to  the  spread  of  the 
new  doctrines.  In  some  cities  the  people  violently  ob- 
structed the  promulgation  of  the  bull ;  in  others,  the  per- 
sons who  attempted  to  publish  it  were  insulted,  and  the 
bull  itself  was  torn  in  pieces  and  trodden  under  foot.  Lu- 
ther, after  renewing  his  appeal  to  the  general  council, 
published  remarks  on  the  papal  bull;  and,  being  now 
persuaded  that  Leo  had  been  guilty  both  of  impiety  and 
injustice  in  his  proceedings  against  him,  assumed  a  bolder 
tone,  anil  dec  hired  the  pope  to  be  that  man  of  sin,  or  Anti- 
christ, whose  appearance  is  foretold  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. He  declaimed  against  his  branny  and  usurpations, 
and  exhorted  all  Christian  princes  to  shake  off  such  an 
ignominious  yoke.  Nor  did  he  stop  here.  As  Leo  had,  in 
execution  of  the  bull,  appointed  Luther's  works  to  be  burnt 

at  B e,  the  latter,  by  way  of  retaliation,  assembled  all 

the  members  of  the  university  of  Wittenberg,  and,  with 

great  pomp,  ill  presence  of  a  vast  number  of  spectators, 
cast  the  volumes  of  the  canon  law.  together  with  the  bull 
of  excommunication,  into  the  flames;  and  his  example  was 
imitated  in  several  cities  of  Germany.  This  took  place  on 
the  10th  of  December,  1520;  and,  on  the  6th  of  the  ensuing 
month,  the  pope  launched  a  second  bull  against  him,  by 
which  Luther  was  finally  expelled  from  the  communion 
of  the  church.  Thus  separated  from  all  connexion  with 
the  see  of  Rome,  Luther  applied  himself  more  assiduously 
than  ever  to  the  study  of  the  word  of  God,  as  the  only 
standard  of  theological  truth;  and  while  he  was  thus 
enabled  to  attack  with  the  greater  success  most  of  the 
peculiar  papal  doctrines,  both  theological  and  ecclesiastical, 
he  exposed,  at  the  same  time,  the  immoral  and  secular 
lives  of  the  clergy  ;  and  thus  laid  the  foundation  of  that 
reformation  of  religion  which  at  first  he  never  contem- 
plated, but  which  has  been  characterized  "as  a  revolution 
in  the  sentiments  of  mankind,  the  greatest  as  well  as  the 
most  beneficial,  that  has  happened  since  the  publication  of 
Christianity."  (Rubirtsu/i's  Charles  V.,  Svo  ed.,  vol.  ii., 
p.  12.) 

A  spirit  of  inquiry  having,  by  means  of  Luther's  preach- 
ing and  publications,  and  the  violent  procedure  of  the 
court  of  Rome,  been  excited  in  the  public  mind,  the  pro- 
gress of  the  reformed  doctrines  was  rapid  and  general,  and 
threatened  to  embrace  the  whole  of  Germany,  notwith- 
standing the  Emperor  Charles  V.  co-operated  with  the 
pope  to  check  and  destroy  them.  Luther,  too,  was  pro- 
tected, from  various  motives,  not  merely  by  the  Elector  of 
Sa.xony,  but  by  many  other  princes;  and  the  new  views 
were  adopted  and  sedulously  propagated  by  Melanchthon, 
Carlostadius,  and  other  eminent  men.  Erasmus,  too, 
though  he  did  not  long  follow  in  the  same  course  as  the 
German  reformer,  and  ultimately  wrote  against  some  of 
his  views,  yet  discovered  and  exposed,  with  great  learning 
and  ability,  many  errors  both  in  the  doctrine  and  worship 
of  the  Romish  church,  and  may  he  considered  as  his 
auxiliary  in  the  work  of  reformation. 

Under  such  circumstances  it  was  that  the  imperial  diet 
at  Worms  was  held,  January,  1521,  to  which  the  different 
princes  were  invited,  in  order  to  concert  the  most  proper 
measures  for  checking  tin  progress  of  those  new  and  dan- 
L'eroiis  doctrines,  which  threatened  to  disturb  the  pi  ace  of 

Germany,  and  to  overthrow  the  religion  of  their  ancestors. 

An  attempt  to  condemn  him  in  his  absence  was  frustrated 
by  a  majority  of  the  mi  inbers  of  the  diet;  and  Luther, 
under  a  sale  conduct,  was  summoned  to  appear  before 
them,  lie  did  not  hesitate  to  attend;  but  neither  threats 
nor  entreaties  COUld  induce  him  to  retract  any  of  his  opin- 
ions, or  to  consent  to  their  being  tried  by  any  other  rule 
than  the  word  of  God.  lie  was  allowed  to  leave  the  city 
in  safety;  but  an  edict  was  published  in  the  emperor's 
name,  after  his  departure,  putting  him  under  the  ban  of  the 
empire.  The  circumstances,  however,  in  which  Charles 
was  placed  —  the  commotions  in  Spain,  and  the  vv.ns  m 
Italy  and  the  Low  countries,  together  with  the  prudent 
precaution  of  the   Elector  of  Saxony  in  concealing  I. other 

in  tin  castle  of  Wartburg,  ail  concurred  in  preventing  the 
edict  i»  iiii.'  earned  into  effect    During  his  confinement  his 

opinion:,  continued  to  gain  ground ;  and  the  Augustinians 


REFORMATION. 


of  Wittenberg  ventured  on  an  alteration  in  the  established 
forms  of  public  Worship,  by  abolishing  the  celebration  of 
private  masses,  and  by  giving  the  cup  as  well  as  the  bread 
to  the  laity  in  administering  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper.  In  a  short  time,  however,  the  new  views  were 
condemned  by  the  university  of  Paris,  and  a  refutation  of 
them  was  attempted  by  Henry-  VIII.  of  England.  But 
neither  of  these  intimidated  Luther.  He  published  ani- 
madversions on  both  with  as  much  virulence  as  if  he  had 
been  dealing  with  an  ordinary  adversary. 

Meanwhile  an  attack  no  less  violent,  occasioned  by  a 
similar  cause,  was  made  on  the  Romish  church  in  Switzer- 
land. The  Franciscans  being  intrusted  with  the  sale  of 
indulgences  in  that  country,  executed  their  commission 
with  the  same  indiscretion  and  rapaciousness  which  had 
rendered  the  Dominicans  so  odious  in  Germany.  But  they 
were  met  and  opposed  (1518)  by  Zuinglius,  a  man  not  in- 
ferior to  Luther  himself  in  zeal  and  intrepidity,  and  who 
advanced  with  perhaps  more  daring  and  rapid  steps  to 
overthrow  the  whole  fabric  of  the  established  religion. 
Notwithstanding  that  the  universities  of  Cologne  and  Lou- 
vain  pronounced  his  doctrines  to  be  erroneous,  the  cantons 
of  Zurich,  Berne,  Basil,  and  Schaffhausen  embraced  his 
opinions.  Several  conferences  were  at  different  times 
held  between  the  Roman  Catholics  and  the  "  Evangelicals," 
as  the  followers  of  Zuinglius  were  called  ;  and  all  of  them 
tended  to  the  spread  of  the  reformed  faith.  After  a  con- 
ference held  at  Berne  in  1528,  the  council  of  that  canton, 
considering  the  result  to  be  in  favour  of  the  Evangelicals, 
published  ten  theses,  which  embodied  the  substance  of  the 
Reformation  in  Switzerland ;  and  most  of  the  leading 
principles  contained  in  them  are  acknowledged  by  the  re- 
formed churches  generally,  however  widely  they  may 
ditfer  among  themselves  on  some  abstruse  points. 

The  Swiss  and  the  German  reformers  were  at  first  un- 
acquainted with  the  proceedings  of  each  other,  though 
both  were  animated  by  the  same  spirit,  and,  in  different 
places,  pursuing  a  similar  object.  But,  while  they  both 
resisted  and  exposed  the  usurpations  and  errors  of  the 
Romish  church,  and  generally  agreed  in  their  sentiments, 
they  entertained  very  different  theological  opinions ;  and 
thus  was  sown  the  seeds  of  those  divisions  which  have 
since  agitated  the  reformed  churches.  The  chief  subject 
of  dispute  between  the  two  reformers  was  concerning  the 
manner  in  which  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  were  pre- 
sent in  the  Eucharist.  Luther  and  his  followers,  though 
they  rejected  the  papal  belief  of  transubstantiation,  were, 
nevertheless,  of  opinion  that  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ 
were  really  present  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  in  a  way  which 
they  could  not  pretend  to  explain.  Zuinslius  and  his  ad- 
herents repudiated  the  doctrine,  and  taught  that  the  bread 
and  wine  used  at  the  Eucharist  were  no  more  than  ex- 
ternal symbols  to  excite  the  remembrance  of  Christ's  suf- 
ferings in  the  minds  of  those  who  received  it.  Both  parties 
maintained  their  opinions  with  equal  obstinacy ;  and,  as 
this  depute  threatened  to  retard  the  great  work  of  reforma- 
tion, and  to  bring  discredit  on  its  adherents,  the  Landgrave 
of  Hesse  invited  Luther  and  Zuinglius,  with  several  of  the 
most  eminent  of  their  respective  followers,  to  a  conference 
at  Marburg,  in  order  to  promote  unanimity  and  peace. 
After  a  disputation  of  four  days,  however,  neither  of  the 
contending  parties  could  be  persuaded  to  abandon  their 
views.  But  as  both  agreed  in  their  sentiments,  not  only  as 
to  the  popish  hierarchy,  but  as  to  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  Christianity,  they  parted  in  Christian  charity, 
though  not  in  brotherhood,  agreeing  to  refrain  from  open 
controversy. 

The  struggle  between  the  Roman  Catholics  and  the  re- 
formers still  raged  in  Germany.  At  the  diet  of  the  empire, 
held  at  Spires  in  15-26,  the  emperor's  ambassadors  used 
their  utmost  endeavours  to  suppress  all  disputes  about 
religion,  and  insisted  on  the  vigorous  execution  of  the 
sentence  which  had  been  pronounced  against  Luther  and 
his  followers  at  Worms.  This  attempt  was  successfully 
resisted  by  the  majority  of  the  members ;  and  it  was  at  last 
unanimously  agreed  to  present  an  address  to  the  emperor 
entreating  him  to  call  a  general  council  without  delay;  and 
that  the  princes  of  the  empire  should  in  the  meantime  be 
allowed,  in  their  respective  dominions,  to  manase  religious 
matters  as  they  should  think  proper.  These  resolutions 
proved  favourable  to  the  cause  of  the  Reformation,  and 
gave  an  impetus  to  the  expression  of  the  public  voice.  The 
war  in  which  at  this  time  the  emperor  was  engaged  with 
the  pope,  gave  a  decided  advantage  to  the  friends  of  the 
reformed  faith,  and  greatly  increased  their  number.  At  a 
diet,  however,  held  in  the  same  place  in  1529,  the  power 
which  had  been  given  to  princes  of  managins  ecclesiastical 
affairs  until  the  meeting  of  a  general  council,  was  revoked 
by  a  majority  of  votes,  and  every  change  declared  unlaw- 
ful that  should  be  made  in  the  established  religion  before 
the  determination  of  the  approaching  council  was  known. 
After  many  ineffectual  remonstrances  and  arguments,  six 


princes  of  the  empire  and  thirteen  imperial  cities  "  pro- 
tested" against  this  decision.  Hence  arose  the  denomina- 
tion of  "  Protestants  ;"  a  term  at  first  applicable  only  to  the 
Lutherans,  but  now  common  to  all  who  have  separated 
t  from  the  church  of  Rome. 

As  the  reformed  doctrines  in  Germany  had  not  yet  been 
reduced  to  a  system,  the  Elector  of  Saxony  ordered  Luther, 
and  oilier  divines,  to  commit  to  writing  the  leading  articles 
of  their  religious  system,  along  with  the  principal  points  on 
which  they  differed  from  the  church  of  Rome.  In  com- 
pliance with  this  order,  Luther  delivered  to  the  elector  at 
Torgau  seventeen  articles,  which  had  been  agreed  on  at  a 
conference  at  Sulzbach ;  hence  called  the  Articles  of 
Torgau.  This  declaration  of  the  sentiments  of  the  re- 
formers was  enlarged  and  rendered  more  minute  and  per- 
spicuous by  Melanchthnn,  who  performed  the  task  with 
equal  ability  and  elegance. 

In  1530,  Charles  convoked  a  diet  of  the  empire  at  Augs- 
burg, and  directed  the  reformers  to  lay  before  it  an  account 
of  their  tenets  in  German  and  Latin.  The  work  prepared 
by  Luther  and  Melanchthon  was  presented  to  the  diet ; 
hence  called  the  Confession  of  Augsburg,  or  Confessio 
Augustana,  which  was  read  aloud  by  the  chancellor  to 
the  assembly.  It  contained  twenty-eight  chapters,  of 
which  twenty-one  were  illustrative  of  the  religious  opin- 
ions of  the  Protestants,  and  the  remaining  seven  of  the 
errors  and  superstitions  of  the  papal  faith.  But  after  much 
disputation,  not  only  was  it  rejected,  but  the  diet  published 
a  decree  condemning  most  of  the  peculiar  tenets  held  by 
the  Protestants,  and  forbidding  any  person  to  protect  or 
tolerate  such  as  taught  them;  enjoining  a  strict  observ- 
ance of  the  established  rites,  with  other  articles  equally 
galling  and  tyrannical.  But  the  Protestants  were  now  too 
powerful  a  body,  and  their  views  had  assumed  so  com- 
pletely" the  form  of  a  system  that  they  were  not  easily  dis- 
mayed. On  the  contrary",  they  assembled  at  Smalcalde, 
where  they  concluded  a  treaty  of  mutual  defence,  both 
religious  and  political,  against  all  aggressors,  and  formed 
the  Protestant  states  of  the  empire  into  one  regular  com- 
bination. Thus,  in  the  year  1530,  was  the  Reformation 
virtually  established  in  Germany;  first,  by  the  publication 
of  the  Confession  of  Augsburg;  and,  second,  by  the  league 
of  Smalcalde,  which  made  that  creed  the  bond  of  union  of 
a  powerful  political  confederacy. 

It  may  here  be  mentioned  that  the  followers  of  Zuin- 
glius, or  Sacramentarians,  as  they  were  sometimes  called, 
presented  their  confession  of  faith  on  the  part  of  four  cities, 
Strasburg,  Memmingen,  Landau,  and  Constance  ;  generally 
known  by  the  Confession  of  Strasburg,  or  Confessio  Tetra- 
politana.  The  reformed  cantons  of  Switzerland  were  not 
allowed  to  join  the  league  of  Smalcalde,  inasmuch  as  they 
refused  to  sign  the  Confession  of  Augsburg ;  and  thus  the 
Swiss  Evangelicals,  or  Sacramentarians,  continued  distinct 
from  the  Lutherans  (as  they  still  do),  though  they  joined 
in  a  separate  league  with  the  city  of  Strasburg  and  the 
Landgrave  of  Hesse,  who  adopted  their  views.  The  Hel- 
vetic Confession  of  Faith,  founded  on  the  articles  of  Berne 
already  referred  to,  was  finally  published  in  1532.  The 
reformed  doctrines  had  early  spread  to  Geneva  ;  and  John 
Cauvin,  or  Calvin,  of  that  city,  after  the  death  of  Zuin- 
glius, carried  them  farther  than  the  Swiss  Protestants  had 
done.  He  nbolished  all  festivals  except  the  Sabbath,  dis- 
carded all  church  ceremonies,  used  leavened  bread  for  the 
sacrament,  and  taught  the  doctrines  of  predestination  and 
election  in  all  their  rigour.  {See  Presbytery,  in  this 
work.)  Calvinism  thus  became  the  third  great  branch  of 
the  Reformation,  Luther  and  Zuinglius  being  respectively 
at  the  head  of  the  other  two.  The  systems  of  Zuinglius 
and  Calvin,  however,  gradually  merged  together,  and  they 
may  now  be  considered  as  one,  having  the  same  confession 
of  faith. 

It  would  exceed  the  bounds  to  which  we  must  neces- 
sarily confine  ourselves  in  this  article,  were  we  to  trace 
the  history  of  the  Reformed  faith  after  the  treaty  of  Smal- 
calde :  that  treaty,  among  other  results  (such  as  con- 
ferences, meetings  of  councils,  particularly  the  celebrated 
council  of  Trent  in  1540).  gave  rise  to  a  war  between  the 
emperor  and  the  Protestants.  But  the  peace  of  Augsburg, 
in  1555,  terminated  those  and  similar  calamities  which  had 
so  long  agitated  the  empire.  The  following  are  the  lead- 
ing articles  of  that  peace :  namely,  that  the  Protestants 
who  followed  the  Confession  of  Augsburg  should  in  future 
be  free  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  pope,  and  from  the 
authority  and  superintendence  of  the  bishops ;  that  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  German  empire  should  be  at  perfect 
liberty  to  judse  for  themselves  in  all  matters,  religious  and 
ecclesiastical;  that  all  persons,  whatever  be  their  religious 
opinions,  should  enjoy  equal  civil  rights  and  privileges ;  in 
other  words,  that  a  complete  toleration  in  religious  matters 
should  obtain  ;  and  that  all  those  who  should  persecute 
any  person  under  religious  pretences  should  be  declared 
and  treated  as  public  enemies  of  the  empire,  invaders  of  it§ 

1039 


REFORMATION,  JUBILEE  OF. 

liberties,  and  disturb)  rs  of  its  peace.  Thus  was  the  Re- 
formation  final Ij  established  in  many  parts  of  Germany  as 
it .  \i>ts.  without  any  verj  marked  change  either  as  to  its 
extent  01  to  it*  principles,  at  the  present  day.  The  con- 
ditioDs  on  which  this  desirable  object  was  obtained  were 
hcmniirai.il-  tn  both  parties,  both  Catholic  ami  Protestant, 
and,  generally  speaking,  to  the  German  character.  This 
happj  state  of  things  was  broken  many  years  after  by  the 
thirty  years'  war  (1619-48) ;  bui  the  treaty  of  Westphalia, 
which  terminated  this  war.  confirmed  the  articles  of  the 
p  ace  of  lugsburg,  and  extended  its  benefits  to  the  Calvin- 
i>ts  as  well  as  to  lhc  Lutherans.  Equal  religious  rights 
ami  privileges  were  extended  to  all,  as  is  still  happily  the 

CISC. 

While  these  events  were  taking  place  in  Germany  ami 
Switzerland,  the  spirit  of  inquiry,  which  had  been  evoked 
so  signally  in  these  countries,  spread,  and  roused  most  of 
the  nations  of  Europe  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  from  their 
mental  inactivity  or  superstitious  credulity:  the  doctrines 
of  the  Reformation  found  their  way  partially  into  France  ; 
aNu  into  Spain  and  Italy.  Trior  to  Luther's  death  (1546) 
these  doctrines  had  made  many  converts  in  the  Nether- 
lands; and  in  the  time  of  Philip  II.  the  "Seven  United 
Provinces,"  which  separated  from  the  rest,  proclaimed 
liberty  of  conscience,  and  adopted  the  tenets  of  Calvinism, 
to  which  they  have  ever  since  adhered. 

About  the  year  1556,  the  Lutheran  creed  was  adopted 
as  the  state  religion  in  Denmark  and  Norway.  This  creed 
was  propagated  in  Sweden  soon  alter  Luther's  rupture 
with  the  church  of  Rome,  by  Olaus  Petri,  one  of  his  dis- 
ciples. Both  Lutheronism  and  Calvinism  early  gained  an 
extensive  looting  in  Poland,  which  they  still  retain.  To 
Hungary  and  Transylvania  a  similar  remark  applies.  The 
history  of  the  Reformation  In  the  British  empire  is  well 
known,  and  need  not  be  detailed  here.  Though  the  Pro- 
testant episcopal  church  is  the  established  religion  in  Ire- 
land, more  than  three-fourths  of  the  people  of  that  country 
retain  their  hereditary  attachment  to  the  papal  creed.  Al- 
together, not  more  than  a  fourth  of  the  population  of 
Europe  are  Protestant;  of  the  remainder,  about  two-thirds 
still  adhere  to  the  Romish  faith,  the  two  great  exceptions 
being  Turkey,  where-  Mohammi  danism  is  established;  and 
the  east  of  Europe  and  other  contiguous  provinces,  where 
the  Greek  church  prevails.    Protestantism,  besides,  is  the 

predominant  religion  in  the  United  States,  and  in  almost  all 
the  I!riti-li  colonies.     See  CHRISTIANITY. 

Independently  of  the  truth  or  falsehood  of  the  doctrinal 
and  other  points  on  which  the  reformed  church  dissents 

from  that  of  Koine,  the  Reformation  was  the  cause  of  many 
interesting  and  important  advantages.  It  hurst  the  fetters 
by  which  the  human  mind  had  previously  been  bound,  and 

restored  it  to  liberty.  It  made-  religion  an  object  of  the  un- 
derstanding, and   not  of  the  eye  ;  of  the  heart,  rather  than 

of  the  memory.  "On  the  whole,  the  Reformation  has  been 
an  incalculable  good  to  Europe;  it  has  purified  religion  and 
morals;  it  has  improved  tin-  intellect,  and  has  guaranteed 
civil  liberty."  {Dunham's  Hist,  of  Ike  Germanic  Emp.,  b. 
hi.,  c  2.)    It  has  contributed  to  improve  even  the  Church 

of  Koine  itself  both  in  science  and  in  morals.     "The  desire 

of  equalling  the  reformers  in  those  talents  which  had  pro 
cured  them  respect ;  the  necessity  of  acquiring  the  knowl- 

[uisite  for  defending  their  own  tenets,  or  refuting  the 
arguments  of  their  opponents;  together  with  the  emulation 
natural  between  two  rival  churches,  engaged  the  Roman 
Catholic-  clergy  to  apply  themselves  to  the  study  of  useful 

which  they  cultivated  with  such  assiduity  and  sue 

cess,  that  they  have  gradually  bee ■  as  eminent  in  lin-r- 

alure  as  they  were,  in  -one-  period-,  infamous.  The  same 
principle  occasioned  a  change  no  less  considerable  in  the 

of  the  Romish  clergy.  Many  of  them  have,  in  con 
sequence,  been  distinguished  for  all  the  accomplishments 
and  virtues  which  can  adorn  their  profession,  and  differ 
greatlj  from  their  pr<  deci  ssors  before  the  Reformation,  both 
in  their  maxim-  and  in  their  conduct"  (Robi  rtson's  '  'harles 
V.,  vol.  v.,  p.  414-15;  Hist,  ol  tin  Great  Reformation  in 
Germany  and  Switzerland, bj  D'Aubigne;  F.Paul,  Hist. of 

tin    ( 'OWU  il  ffj     I 

REFORMATION,  Jl  BILEE  OF  THE.  The  two  hun 
dredih  anniversary  ol  the  Introduction  of  the  Reformation 
at  Geneva,  was  solemnized  under  this  title  in  August,  1835. 

The  canton,  since-   tin-  <  longTI  91  of  Vienna,  ha\  bag    Ire.  oine 

"mixed" in  religion,  the  government  nmk  no  part  in  iliis 
festival,  the  expenses  of  w  hlch  wen-  defrai  ed  by  voluntary 
subscription.  Invitations  wen-  seni  to  tin-  Protestant  clergy 
of  all  countries,  both  Lutheran  and  Calvinist,  to  attend  its 
solemnization:  61  were  pre  enl  from  France,  12  from  Eng- 
land, :i  in  in  North  America,  The  account  of  tins  great 
Is  published  under  the  title  of  Jubili  dela  ■ 

lirn    ,1,     ( ,i  n,  r,  ,    Olil-V.,    1835. 

REFORMED  CHURCH,  comprises,  In  a  general  sense,  all 
dies  of  Christians  thnt  have  separated  from  > !■•- 
Church  of  Home  since  the  era  of  the  Reformation  ;  but  it  is 
1040 


REFRACTION  OF  LIGHT. 

applied  in  a  restricted  sense  to  those  Protestant  churches 
Which  did  not  embrace  the  doctrines  and  discipline  of 
Luther,  and  more  particularly  to  the  Calvinislic  churches 
on  the  Continent. 

REFRA'CTION.  (Lat.  refractus,  broken.)  In  Mechan- 
ics, tin-  change  of  direction  w  inch  lakes  place  iii  the  motion 

of  a  body  when  it  passes  obliquely  out  of  one  medium  into 
another  of  different  density.  The  term  is  chiefly  applied  to 
the  deviation   from  their  rectilinear  course  of  the  rays  of 

light  in  passing  through  transparent  substances. 

REFRACTION  OF  LIGHT.  The  deviation  of  a  ray  of 
light  from  its  original  path  in  entering  a  medium  of  a  differ- 
ent density.     This  change  of  direction,  which  lakes  place 

at  the  surface  of  separation  of  two  media,  is  the  ultimate 

fact  from  which  man)  Of  the  most  interesting  phenomena 
of  Unlit  receive  their  explanation.  The  laws  by  w  Inch  it  is 
regulated,  and  the  investigation  of  ihe  consequences  of 
those  laws,  form  the  branch  of  natural  philosophy  usually 
termed  Dioptrics. 

The  phenomenon  may  he  observed  as  follows :  Suppose 
a  beam  of  light  proceeding  from  a  luminous  (1.) 

point  S  (fig.  1)  to  be  admitted  through  a  S 
small  hole  A  in  the  side  of  a  vessel  A  II  ;  N 
then,  the  vessel  being  empty,  the  light  will 
fall  on  the  bottom  at  a  point  L  in  the  same 
straight  line  with  S  and  A.  Now  let  water 
he-  poured  into  the  vessel,  and  suppose  the 
beam  Of  light  to  fall  on  the  surface  of  the  1  R  !■ 

water  at  P ;  then  it  will  be  seen  that  the  light  no  longer 
continues  its  course  in  the  same  straight  line,  but  is  hint,  or 
nfractcd,  at  P,  and  proceeds  through  the  water  in  a  straight 
line  P  R,  more  nearly  perpendicular  to  the:  surface.  A  simi- 
lar deviation  takes  place  in  all  cases  in  which  light  passes 
from  one  transparent  medium  into  another ;  hut  the  magni- 
tude of  the  angle  R  1'  I.,  or  the  amount  of  the  refraction, 
varies  according  to  the  nature  of  the  two  media,  and  the:  de- 
gree of  obliq.iity  with  which  the  incident  ray  falls  on  the 
surface-  of  separation. 

Through  1'  draw  U  P  q  a  normal  to  the  surface  ;  then  S 
P  CI  is  the  angle  of  incidence,  R  1'  </  is  the  angle  of  refraction, 
and  the  follow  ing  laws  an   found  to  he  observed  in  all  cases  ; 

1.  The  refracted  ray  P  K  is  in  the  same  plane  Willi  S  P 
and  P  ti  ;  that  is,  with  the  incident  ray  anil  the  perpendicu- 
lar to  the  surface  at  the  point  of  incidence. 

2.  The  Incident  ray  S  1'  and  the  refracted  ray  1'  R  are  al- 
ways on  opposile  sides  of  the  perpendicular  U  P  q. 

3.  Whatever  be  the  inclination  of  tile  incident  ray  to  the 
surface,  the  sine  of  the  angle  of  incidence  has  to  the  sine  of 
the  angle  of  refraction  a  constant  ratio. 

These  three  laws,  which  hold  good  for  curve  surfaces  as 
well  as  for  planes,  enable  us  to  determine  the  path  of  the 
refracted  ray  with  mathematical  precision  when  i he  form 
oi'  the  surface  and  the  nature  of  the  refracting  medium  are 
both  known.  The  first  two  are-  easily  verified,  anil  have 
been  known  from  the  days  of  Ptolemy.  The  third,  which 
i>  very  remarkable,  was  firsl  enunciated  in  tin-  Dioptrics  of 
Descartes,  published  in  1637;  hut  the  discovery  belongs  to 
Willebrod  Snell,  professor  of  mathematics  ai  Leyden,  who 

died  at  an  early  age-  in  1626.  Snell,  indeed,  made  no  ine-n- 
tion  of  the  sines  oi'  the-  two  angles,  bul  the-  relation  w  huh 
lie  alliiinc-el  In  subsist  is  identical  w  ilh  the-  law  as  stated  by 
Descartes.  Through  P  (fig. 2),  the  point  of  incidence,  as  a 
centre,  let  a  circle  be  described  inn  ling 
the  incidental  ray  in  T,  and  the  refracted 
in  R,  and  through  R  draw  K  M  perpen- 
dicular to  the  surface  A  li,  meeting  1'  L 
in  M  ;  draw  also  K  c,  M  </,  T  <,  respective- 
ly perpendicular  to  Q.  q.  Now  the  propo- 
sition affirmed  bj  Snell  was,  that  for 
every  Inclination  of  S  P  to  the  surface 
the  line  I'  K  is  to  1'  lVJ  in  a  constant  ratio. 
Hut  1'  K  =  PT, and  PT:PM  ::T«:  M«\- 
or  as  'I'  c ;  it  r,  therefore  T  e  is  to  R  c  in  s  i  onstant  ratio ; 

and  these  are  ohx  ioiisly  the-  sines  ol  incidence'  and  refraction 

respectively  to  the  same-  radius.  Descartes,  in  stating  the 
law  of  tin-  sines,  made  no  mention  of  Snell,  leaving  it  to  he 
Inferred  thai  he  himself  w  as  the  discoverer  of  Un-  property 
in  que  Hon,  «  huh.  in  fact,  i^  usuallj  ascribed  to  him  by  the 
French  authors,  li  Is,  however,  by  no  means  certain 
(though  asserted  bj  various  writers)  that  Descartes  was  ac- 
quainted with  what  had  been  done  by  Snell,  as  the  work 
of  the  latter  existed  enlj  In  manuscript  when  the  Dioptric* 
made  iis  appearance. 

Lei  i  denote  the  angle  of  incidence,  r  Ihe  angle  of  refrac- 
tion, and  lei  a  1  DO  Ihe-  constant  ratio  of  the  sines  in  pass- 
ing from  a  given  medium  A  into  another  given  medium  Bj 
w  e-  ha\  a  then,  by  the  third  law  above  stated,  sin.  i=  n  sin. 
r,  for  ever]  value  of  i.  The  quantity  «,  which  is  constant 
for  the-  sn tw  o  medio,  is  greater  than  unit)  w  hen  the  in- 
fracting power  of  tin-  first  medium  A  is  less  than  thai  of  ihe 

sec I  it,  and  vice  versd,    its  value  must  be  determined  in 

ever]  case  by  experiment;  and  as  it  is  relative  to  both 


, 


REFRACTION  OF  LIGHT. 


media,  it  is  convenient  for  the  purpose  of  comparing  the  re- 
fractive powers  of  different  substances  to  refer  them  all  to 
some  common  medium  A,  usually  assumed  to  be  an  abso- 
lute void,  and  in  this  case  the  quantity  n  is  called  the  prin- 
cipal index  of  refraction  of  the  medium  B,  or  simply  the  in- 
dex of  refraction.     We  have  therefore  this  definition  : 

The  index  of  refraction  of  any  transparent  substance  is  the 
ratio  of  the  sine  of  incidence  to  the  sine  of  refraction,  when 
light  passes  from  a  vacuum  into  the  substance. 

As  there  is  no  known  substance  of  such  a  nature  that 
light  entering  it  from  a  vacuum  is  refracted  so  as  to  make 
•  the  angle  of  refraction  greater  than  the  angle  of  incidence, 
the  index  of  refraction  is  always  greater  than  unity.  Of  all 
known  substances,  that  which  possesses  the  greatest  refrac- 
tive power  is  chromate  of  lead,  for  which  the  index  of  re- 
fraction is  3 ;  hence  in  the  equation  sin.  ?'=  n  sin.  r,  all  the 
values  of  n  which  have  yet  been  experimentally  determined 
lie  between  1  and  3. 

From  the  formula  sin.  i=zn  sin.  r  some  remarkable  con- 
sequences are  readily  deduced.  Suppose  i  to  have  its  great- 
est value,  namely  90°,  in  which  case  the  incident  ray  be- 
comes parallel  to  the  surface  of  the  medium.  We  have 
then  sin.  i  =  1  ;  and  the  formula  becomes  1  =  n  sin.  r, 
whence  sin.  r  =  1  -f-7i,  which  is  the  limiting  value  of  r.  In 
the  case  of  water  the  index  of  refraction  n  =  1-336  (or  nearly 
£),  and  the  arc  whose  sine  is  the  reciprocal  of  this  quantity 
is  48°  27'  40"  ;  consequently  light  cannot  enter  water  more 
obliquely  than  under  an  angle  of  48°  28'.  Thus,  suppose  a 
(3.)  vessel  ABCD  (fig.  3)  to  be  filled  with 

.  P  t.  water,  and  a  part  of  the  surface  A  P  to  be 

/  [1     covered  over  ;  then,  on  drawing  a  line  P 

/  9     M,  making  with  the  perpendicular  P  Q.  an 

P1  <-     ^  —lc  angle  M  P  a  =  48°  28',  the  part  APMD 
**      ^  will  remain  in  perfect  darkness,  however 

the  uncovered  part  of  the  surface  P  B  may  be  illuminated. 
It  is  a  principle  in  optics,  that  if  a  ray  of  light  passes  from 
a  point  A  to  a  point  B  after  any  number  of  refractions  or  re- 
flections, a  ray  will  pass  from  B  to  A  by  following  precisely 
the  same  course  in  an  opposite  direction.  From  this  it  fol- 
lows that  if  a  ray  of  light  S  P  (fig.  4)  falling  on  the  exterior 
surface  A  B  of  a  medium  is  refracted  into 
the  direction  P  R,  then  on  arriving  at  the 
interior  surface  C  D  it  will  suffer  another 
refraction,  and  escape  from  the  medium  in 
the  direction  R  s,  making  with  K  k  (the 
perpendicular  to  C  D  at  R),  the  angle  s  R 
A-  equal  to  the  angle  SPtt.  With  respect 
to  the  surface  C  D,  P  R  K  becomes  the  an- 
*  *  gle  of  incidence,  and  k  R  s  the  angle  of  re- 
fraction ;  and  if  we  suppose  the  ray  to  pass  from  the  medium 
into  a  vacuum,  and  n  to  be  the  index  of  refraction  of  the 

medium,  we  have  sin.  i = -  sin.  r.    Now,  since  n  is  greater 

than  unity,  r  is  greater  than  i ;  and  if  we  suppose  those  an- 
gles to  increase  until  r,  or  the  angle  4R«  becomes  a  right 
angle,  then  sin.  r=l,  and  we  have  sin.  t=  1  —  n,  for  the 
limiting  value  of ;',  beyond  which  the  ray  will  not  leave  the 
surface  at  R  ;  for  if  sin.  t  be  greater  than  1  -h?j,  it  follows 
that  sin.  r  must  be  greater  than  unity,  which  is  impossible. 
Hence  it  follows  that  if  the  ray  P  R  fall  upon  the  interior 
surface,  making  with  the  normal  K  R  an  angle  greater  than 
1  -J-  re,  it  will  not  leave  the  medium,  but  be  reflected  internal- 
ly from  R. 

This  property  admits  of  various  practical  applications. 
For  ordinary  glass  the  value  of  n  is  about  4,  so  that  in  pass- 
ing from  glass  to  air  we  have  sin.  i  =  §  sin.  r.  Now  let  i  in- 
crease until  r  =  90°,  then  sin.  «"=$,  whence  i  =  41°  49', 
which  therefore  is  the  limiting  value  of  the  angle  of  incidence 
when  light  passes  from  glass  into  air.  Let  ABC  (fig.  5)  be 
a  triangular  glass  prism  having  the  angle 
at  A  a  right  angle,  and  the  sides  A  B  and  A 
C  equal,  so  that  B  and  C  are  each  angles  of 
7B  45°;  and  conceive  a  ray  of  light  S  P  to  fall 
perpendicularly  on  the  surface  A  C  at  P. 
This  will  continue  its  course  throusrh  the 
glass  in  a  straight  line  until  it  meets  the  side 
B  C  in  R,  making  with  R  O.  (the  normal  to 
B  C)  the  angle  of  incidence  S  R  a  =45°. 
But  this  angle  being  greater  than  41°  49',  the  ray  will  not 
leave  the  medium,  but  be  reflected  at  the  interior  surface  in 
the  direction  R  T,  which,  since  the  angles  of  incidence  and 
reflection  are  equal,  will  be  perpendicular  to  S  R,  so  that  the 
ray  will  fall  perpendiculary  upon  the  surface  A  B,  and  pass 
through  it  without  refraction.  The  prism  thus  produces  the 
same  effect  as  a  diagonal  mirror  placed  in  the  plane  B  C. 

When  the  index  of  refraction  for  each  of  two  media  has 
been  determined,  the  refraction  which  takes  place  in  pass- 
ing from  the  one  medium  to  the  other  is  also  known,  the  con- 
stant ratio  of  the  sines  of  incidence  and  refraction  being,  in 
this  case,  the  ratio  of  the  indices  of  the  two  media.  Let  m 
be  the  index  of  refraction  for  the  medium  A,  and  n  the  in- 


dex for  the  medium  B ;  then,  in  passing  from  A  into  B,  we 

n 
have  sin.  i=  -sin.  r.    Thus,  the  index  of  refraction  fox 

771 

water  is  1336,  and  for  amber  1-547;  therefore  in  passing 
out  of  water  into  amber  the  constant  ratio  of  the  sines 
of  incidence  and  refraction  will  be  1-158,  the  quotient  which 
arises  from  the  division  of  1-547  by  1-336.  An  imme- 
diate consequence  of  this  is,  that  when  a  ray  of  light  en- 
ters a  medium  after  having  passed  successively  through 
several  others,  the  path  of  the  ray  in  the  last  medium  will 
be  the  same  as  if  it  had  entered  that  medium  directly  un- 
der the  same  angle  of  incidence  as  that  by  which  it  entered 
the  first ;  and  if  the  media  are  bounded  by  parallel  surfaces, 
the  direction  of  the  ray  after  escaping  from  the  last  surface 
will   be  parallel  to  its  primitive   direction.  (6.) 

Thus,  let  the  ray  S  P  (fig.  6),  entering  the  g 
medium  A  at  P,  be  refracted  into  the  direc- 
tion P  R,  and  on  entering  the  second  medium 
B  be  again  refracted  into  the  direction  R  V, 
the  path  of  the  ray  V  X  after  leaving  the 
second  medium  will  be  parallel  to  S  P,  pro- 
vided the  surfaces  at  P  and  V  are  parallel ; 
and  in  all  cases  the  ray  will  emerge  at  V 
under  the  same  angle  of  obliquity  as  it  entered  the  first  sur- 
face at  P. 

The  principles  which  have  now  been  laid  down  are  suffi- 
cient to  enable  us  to  compute  the  path  of  a  ray  of  light 
through  any  diaphanous  substance,  or  through  different  sub- 
stances in  succession,  when  the  index  of  refraction  belonging 
to  each  substance  is  known.  The  following  table  (from 
Brewster's  Optics,  Cab.  Cyclopedia,  p.  370)  gives  the  in- 
dices of  refraction  for  the  greater  part  of  the  substances 
which  have  yet  been  examined. 

Table  of  the  Refractive  Powers  of  Solid  and  Fluid  Bodies. 


Index  of 

Index  of 

Refraction 

Refraction 

Realgar,  artificial  . 

2-5-19 

Plate   glass,   from 

1-514 

Odohednte    .        . 

2-50O 

to 

1-542 

Diamond 

2  439 

Croivn  glass,  from 

1-525 

Nitrite  of  lead 

2  3.22 

to 

1-534 

Blende    .... 

2  2U) 

Oil  of  cloves  . 

1-535 

Phosphorus    . 

2-224 

Balsam  of  capivi 

1-528 

Sulphur  melted 

2-148 

Gum  arabic    . 

1-502 

Zircn    .... 

1-Sol 

Oil  of  beech  nut 

1-500 

Glass — lead  2  parts,  fliot 

Castor  oil 

1-490 

1  part 

1-530 

Cajeput  oil     . 

1-468 

Garnet    .... 

1-815 

Oil  <if  lurpentine 

1.475 

Ruby      .... 

1-779 

Oil  of  olives  . 

1.470 

Glass— lead  3  parts,  £int 

Alum      . 

1-457 

1  part 

2-02S 

Fluor  spar 

1-434 

Sapphire 

1-794 

Sulphuric  acid 

1.434 

••pinelle 

1-764 

Nitric  acid     . 

1-410 

Cinnamon  stone    . 

1-759 

Muriatic  acid 

1-410 

Sulphuret  of  carbon 

1-768 

Alcohol  . 

1-372 

Oil  of  easm  . 

1.641 

Cryolite 

1-349 

Balsam  of  Tolu 

1-62S 

Water    . 

1-336 

Guiacum 

1-619 

Ice 

1309 

Oil  of  anise  seed    . 

1-601 

Fluids  in  minerals 

1-294 

Quartz   .... 

1  543 

to 

1-131 

Rock-salt 

1-557 

T;ibasheer 

1-111 

Su^ar  melted 

1-554 

Ether  expanded  to 

thrice 

Canada  balsam 

1-549 

its  volume  . 

1057 

Air 

.       1-000294 

Table  of  th 

e  Refrac 

ive  Powers  of 

Gases. 

Index  of 

Index  of 

Refraction 

Carbonic  acid 

Refraction 

Vapour  of  sulphurel  of 

1 -0UO449 

carbon 

1-001530 

Carburetted  hydrog 

en    .       1  000443 

Phosgene 

1-001 '59 

Ammonia 

I-0003S5 

Cyanogen      . 

1  000834 

Carbonic  oxide 

.       1-0(11)310 

Chlorine 

1-000772 

Nitrous  gas    . 

1-000808 

defiant  gas    . 

1  090678 

Azote      . 

.       I-00O300 

Sulphurous  acid      .        . 

1  000665 

Atmospheric  air 

.      1-000294 

Sulphurettud  hydrogen  . 

1-000544 

Oxygen  .        . 

1-000272 

Nitrous  oxide 

1-000503 

Hy-lrogen 

1-000133 

Hydrocyanic  acid  . 

1  000451 

Vacuum 

1  000000 

Muriatic  acid 

1-000449 

In  the  preceding  remarks,  light  has  been  regarded  as  a 
homogeneous  substance,  all  the  parts  of  which  have  the 
same  index  of  refraction.  This,  however,  is  not  the  case  ; 
refraction  never  takes  place  without  a  separation  of  the  dif- 
ferently coloured  rays,  so  that  for  every  transparent  body 
the  index  of  refraction  changes  with  the  colour  of  the  light. 
The  numerical  value  of  the  indices,  given  iu  the  above  ta- 
ble, correspond  to  the  yellow  or  green  rays  which  occupy 
the  middle  of  the  dispersed  pencil.  For  the  different  re- 
frangibilities  of  the  primary  rays,  see  Chromatics,  Disper- 
sion, Spectrum. 

Double  Refraction.— The  phenomena  and  laws  of  refrac- 
tion, which  have  yet  been  considered,  belong  to  those  cases 
in  which  a  single  refraction  takes  place  on  the  entrance  of 
light  into  a  different  medium,  or  in  which  a  pencil  of  light  on 
entering  a  refracting  medium  continues  to  form  a  single  pen- 
cil, and  to  afford  a  single  image  of  the  object  from  which  it 
proceeds.  There  are,  however,  a  multitude  of  substances 
which,  either  in  their  natural  state  or  under  accidental  cir- 
3T  1041 


REFRACTION  OF  LIGHT. 


cumstnnces.  exorcise  a  peculiar  influence  nn  lisht,  causing 
it,  in  its  passage  through  them,  to  follow  two  distinct  paths, 
forming  with  each  other  an  angle  of  greater  or  les^  amount. 
Such  BUDStances  arc  called  doubly  refracting-  substances, 
and  the  phenomenon  Itself  is  called  double  refraction. 

The  substances  or  media  which  produce  only  single  re- 
fraction belong  to  one  or  other  of  the  four  following  classes  : 
-  and  vapours.  'J.  Fluids.  3.  Substances  which 
have  passed  from  the  liquid  to  the  solid  state  so  rapidly  as 
t.i  prevent  the  molecules  from  taking  a  regular  crystalline 
arrangement:  for  example,  glass,  glue,  &c. ;  gums,  resins, 

&.C.     4.  Cry8tal3  Whose  primitive   form   is  the  cube,  regular 

octahedron,  or  rhomboldal  dodecahedron,  or  which  belong 
to  the  tessular  system  of  Moris.  All  other  substances,  us 
the  salt-,  precious  stones,  crystals  not  belonging  to  the  above- 
named  forms:  all  bodies  belonging  both  to  the  animal  and 
vegetable  kingdoms,  in  Which  there  exists  any  disposition  to 
a  regular  arrangement  of  the  molecules,  as  horn,  mother  of 
pearl,  &.c. ;  and,  in  general,  all  bodies  unequally  compressed, 
or  which  have  not  the  same  structure  In  all  directions,  sep- 
arate the  light  which  they  refract  into  two  distinct  pencils, 
which  pursue  separate  courses,  and  are  governed  by  totally 
different  laws. 
In  order  to  give  an  idea  of  this  remarkable  phenomenon, 
(7.)  "    let   A  B  C  1)  X    llig.   7.)   be  a  crystal  of 

g.       Iceland  spar  (carbonate  of  lime),  having  its 
/       faces  made  smooth  either  by  cleavage  or  by 
^s^X       -iC  grinding,  and  let  it  be  laid  on  one  of  its 
y.(\     fSi>        faces  on   a  sheet  of   white  paper  over  a 
1    /     ,  black   spot  O ;   then,  on  looking   through 


~—>     the  crystal,  two  spots  will  be  seen,  one  at 
Tzo  )/     O,  and  the  other  at  E.    On  turning  the 


crystal  round  on  its  axis,  but  always  keep- 
ing the  same  face  on  the  paper,  one  of  the  images,  O,  will 
remain  invariable,  while  the  other  E,  will  appear  to  describe 
a  circle  about  O.  If  instead  of  a  round  spot  the  object 
viewed  be  a  straight  line  ;  then,  on  looking  through  the 
crystal,  a  double  image  of  the  line  will  be  seen,  one  pass- 
ing through  (),  and  the  other  through  E.  On  turning  the 
crystal  as  before,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  distance  between 
the  two  lines  varies,  but  that  they  always  remain  parallel 
to  each  other;  and  that  in  the  course  of  a  complete  revo- 
lution of  the  crystal  about  its  axis  there  are  two  positions 
in  which  the  images  will  coincide,  and  two  other  positions, 
midway  between  the  former,  in  which  they  will  attain  a 
maximum  distance.  These  phenomena  show  that  a  ray 
of  light,  S  I,  on  entering  the  face  of  the  crystal  at  I,  is  sep- 
arated by  refraction  into  two  pencils,  I  0  and  I  E  ;  and  it 
is  found  that  on  emerging  from  the  crystals  the  two  pencils 
make  the  same  angle  with  the  surface,  and  continue  their 
course  in  a  direction  parallel  to  each  other  and  to  the  inci- 
dent ray  S  I. 

It"  we  cause  a  beam  of  solar  light  to  fall  on  the  crystal, 
and  examine  the  paths  of  the  two  pencils,  it  will  be  found 
that  I  O  follows  the  laws  of  ordinary  refraction,  the  sine  of 
incidence  being  to  the  sine  of  refraction  in  a  constant  ratio, 
and  the  pencil  continuing  in  the  same  plane  with  the  inci- 
dent ray  and  the  normal  to  the  surface  at  the  point  of  inci- 
dence :  hence  I  O  is  called  the  ordinary  pencil.  Hut  I  E  is 
found  to  follow  an  entirely  different  law,  and  is  therefore 
called  the  extraordinary  pencil.  If.  for  example,  the  inci- 
dent ray  S  1  is  perpendicular  to  the  face  of  the  crystal,  the 
ordinary  refraction  does  not  take  place,  the  angle  of  inci- 
dence being  zero  ;  but  in  this  case  the  angle  of  refraction  of 
the  extraordinary  pencil,  I  E,  is  G°  1°.'.  and  it  is  not  in  the 
same  plane  with  the  normal  and  the  incident  ray. 

From  a  careful  examination  of  the  phenomena  it  is  also 
found  that  although  a  ray  of  light  falling  on  the  face  of  the 
crystal  is  refracted  generally  into  two  pencils,  there  is  one 
particular  direction  in  which  the  incident  ray  undergoes 
only  the  ordinary  refraction.  This  direction  is  parallel  to 
A  X,  the  sle.rt.-r  BJtia  of  the  crystal,  and  is  called  the  axu 
ef  double  refraction.  It  is,  therefore,  to  lie  observed  that  the 
axis  of  double  refraction  of  a  crystal  is  not  a  fixed  line,  but 
a  determinate  direction  with  reroren.ee  to  the  faces  of  the 
crystal,  every  line  parallel  to  AX.  forming  an  axis  of  double 

refraction.  In  some  crystals  tie-  extraordinary  ray  is  re- 
fracted towards  tin1  axis  A  X.  in  Others  it  is  refracted  from 
it.  In  the  first  case  the  axis  is  called  a  positive  axis  of  re- 
fraction ;  in  the  second  it  is  called  a  negative  axis. 

In  the  crystal  we  have  now  been  considering  (Iceland 
spin,  there  is  only  one  direction  in  which  the  double  re 
fraction  does  not  take  place,  hut  in  many  other  crystals 
there  are  two  directions  which  have  this  property.  In 
examining  the  phenomena  of  double  refraction  in  si  great 
number  of  crystallized  substances,  Sir  David  Brewster 
found  that  all  those  crystals  whose  primitive  and  simplest 
form  has  only  one  axi<  of  figure,  or  one  pre-eminent 
line  about  which  the  figure  is  symmetrical,  have  Wily 
one  axis  of  double  refraction.  The  primitive  forms 
which  have  only  one  symmetrical  axis  of  figure  are  the  fol- 
lowing:— 

1042 


1.  The  rhomb  with  an  obtuse  summit ;  as  Iceland  spar, 

tourmaline,  quartz,  &c. 

2.  The  rhomb  with  an  acute  summit ;  of  xvhich  form  are 

corundum,  sapphire,  ruby,  cinnabar,  and  arseniate  of 
copper. 

3.  The  regular  hexaedral  prism  ;  as  emerald,  beryl,  arse- 

niate of  lead,  &.C. 

4.  Octohedron  with  square  base ;  as  zircon,  oxide  of  tin, 

prussiate  of  potash,  &c. 

5.  Right  prism  with  square  base;  as  arseniate  of  potash, 

phosphate  of  magnesia,  tec. 

In  all  these  forms,  and  in  the  primitive  forms  to  which  ' 
they  belong,  the  line   A  X   is  the  axis   of   figure  and  of 
double  refraction  ;    and  it   is  the  only  direction  in  xvhich 
there  is   no  double  refraction.     See  Brewster's   Optics,  p. 
149.) 

The  property  of  possessing  two  axes  of  double  refraction 
was  discovered  by  Sir  David  Brewster  in  1815,  and  he  found 
that  it  belonged  to  all  crystals,  whether  chemical  bodies  or 
mineral  substances,  which  are  included  in  the  prismatic 
system  of  .Mobs,  or  whose  primitive  forms  are, 

1.  A  right  prism,  base  a  rectangle. 

2.  A  right  prism,  base  a  rhomb. 

3.  A  right  prism,  base  an  oblique  parallelogram. 

4.  Oblique  prism,  base  a  rectangle. 

5.  Oblique  prism,  base  a  rhomb. 

6.  Oblique  prism,  base  an  oblique  parallelogram. 

7.  Octohedron,  base  a  rectangle. 

8.  Octohedron,  base  a  rhomb. 

In  all  these  forms  there  is  no  axis  about  which  the  crystal 
is  symmetrical. 

In  all  cases  of  crystals  xvith  two  axes  of  double  refrac- 
tipn,  both  the  pencils  are  refracted  according  to  the  laws  of 
extraordinary  refraction.  In  a  substance  called  analcime 
Sir  D.  Brewster  found  there  were  several  planes  along 
which  if  the  incident  ray  passes  it  will  not  sutler  double 
refraction,  xvhatever  be  the  angle  of  incidence.  Each  of 
these  planes,  therefore,  may  be  considered  as  containing  an 
infinite  number  of  axes  of  double  refraction,  or  lines  in 
which  there  is  no  double  refraction.  No  other  substance 
has  vet  been  found  possessing  the  same  property.  (Optics, 
p.  155.) 

Another  very  remarkable  property  is,  that  in  crystals 
xvhich  have  only  one  axis  of  double  refraction  the  axis  has 
always  the  same  position,  being,  in  fact,  in  all  cases,  the 
axis  of  symmetry  ;  but  in  crystals  xvhich  have  two  axes  of 
double  refraction,  the  axes  change  their  position  according 
to  the  colour  of  the  incident  light.  Sir  John  Herschel,  to 
whom  this  discovery  is  due,  found  that  in  crystals  of 
Rochelle  salts  the  inclination  of  the  two  axes  for  violet 
light  is  56°,  xvhile  for  red  light  it  is  about  76°.  In  other 
crystals,  as  nitre,  the  inclination  of  the  two  axes  is  greater 
for  the  violet  than  for  the  red  rays;  but  in  all  cases  the  line 
which  joins  the  extremities  of  the  axes  for  all  the  rays  is  a 
str  lisht  line. 

The  property  of  double  refraction  was  discovered  by 
Bartholin,  in  1669,  and  xvas  fust  explained  by  Iluygens  on 
the  hypothesis  of  the  propagation  of  light  by  means  of  an 
elastic  medium.  The  phenomena  have  been  studied  with 
great  assiduity  in  modern  times,  and,  in  fact,  the  investiga- 
tion of  their  laxvs  forms  one  of  the  principal  parts  of 
physical  optics,  and  has  mainly  contributed  towards  the 
establishment  of  the  now  generally  received  theory  of  un- 
dulation. Newton  does  not  appear  to  have  paid  much 
attention  to  the  subject,  and  his  theory  of  emission  does 
not  very  readily  accommodate  itself  to  the  explanation  of 
the  phenomena  ;  though  it  must  be  owned  that  the  sup- 
porters  of  that  theory  have  succeeded,  by  means  of  certain 
arbitrary  hypotheses,  in  constructing  mathematical  for- 
mula; xvhich  represent  the  greater  part  of  the  known  facts. 
For  the  complete  explanation  of  all  the  phenomena,  the 
undulatory  theory  requires  two  postulates,  or  assumptions: 
1.  That  the  vibrations  of  the  ether  take  place  transversely, 
or  in  the  direction  perpendicular  to  the  visual  ray;  and,  •-'. 
That  the  elasticity  of  the  medium  Is  unequally  developed 
in  the  interior  of  the  refracting  crystal.  The  first  of  these 
assumptions  is  analagous  to  \xhal  takes  place  when  a  blow 
is  given  to  a  cord  tightly  stretched  ;  the  motion  is  commu- 
nicated rapidly  in  the  direction  of  its  length,  While  the 
vibrations  are  at  right  angles  to  that  direction.  With  respect 
to  the  second  assumption,  the  facts  which  are  known  re- 
specting the  constitution  of  crystals  render  it  exceedingly 
probable,  «  priori.  All  diaphanous  bodies  which  refract 
light  only  in  a  single  direction,  and  according  to  the  Car- 
tesian law.  are  found  to  have  the  same  tenacity  and  the 
same  elasticity  in  all  directions,  and  their  linear  dilatations 
by  heat  are  also  the  same  :  but  it  has  been  established  that 
wnh  respect  to  all  crystallized  substances,  which  possess 
the   property    of   double    retraction,  the  elastic   force   with 

winch  they  resist  compression  is  greater  in  certain  direc- 
tions than  in  others  ;  and  also  that  linear  dilatation  corre- 
sponding to  the  same  increase  of  temperature  varies  with 


A/jj 


REFRACTION,  ASTRONOMICAL. 

the  direction  in  which  it  is  measured.  These  facts  prove 
that  the  matter  of  the  crystal  possesses  an  elasticity  vary- 
ing with  the  direction  ;  and  it  seems  natural  to  suppose  that 
the  ether  within  it  must  have  the  same  property.  On  these 
two  assumptions,  namely,  transverse  vibrations,  and  un- 
equally developed  elasticity  of  the  medium,  Fresnel  has 
constructed  a  mathematical  theory  of  double  refraction, 
from  which  all  the  phenomena  which  have  yet  been  ob- 
served are  deduced  as  simple  corollaries.  (See  Sir  J. 
HerschcVs  Treatise  on  Light,  Ency.  Metropol. ;  Airy's 
Mathematical  Tracts,  2d  ed.  ;  Pouillet,  Elemens  de  Phy- 
sique.) 

REFRACTION,  ASTRONOMICAL.  Refraction,  in  As- 
tronomy, is  the  apparent  angular  elevation  of  the  celes- 
tial bodies  above  their  true  places,  caused  by  the  refraction 
of  the  rajs  of  light  in  their  passage  through  the  earth's 
atmosphere. 

It  is  found  by  experiment,  that  the  refractive  power  of  a 
gas  or  aeriform  substance,  is  proportional  to  its  density. 
Now  the  earth's  atmosphere  is  not  a  medium  of  uniform 
density,  but  of  a  density  continually  diminishing  as  the  dis- 
tance from  the  centre  is  increased.  For  the  purpose  of 
illustration,  the  atmosphere  may  be  regarded  as  composed 
of  a  great  but  finite  number  of  concentric  spherical  strata, 
each  having  a  uniform  density  greater  than  that  of  the 
stratum  by  which  it  is  enveloped,  but  less  than  that  of  the 
stratum  which  it  envelopes.  Hence,  on  entering  each  suc- 
cessive stratum,  the  light  must  undergo  a  slight  deviation 
from  its  rectilinear  course,  and 
the  amount  of  all  these  devia- 
tions constitutes  the  phenome- 
g  non  of  astronomical  refraction. 
Let  A  A,  B  B,  C  C,  represent 
the  boundaries  of  the  succes- 
sive strata,  and  suppose  a  ray 
of  light  proceeding  from  the  star  S  to  enter  the  highest 
6tratum  A  A  obliquely  at  a.  If  no  deviation  took  place, 
the  ray  would  continue  to  advance  in  the  same  straight 
line  Sa;  but  in  consequence  of  entering  a  denser  medium 
it  is  refracted,  according  to  the  law  of  Descartes,  into  a 
direction,  a  b,  more  nearly  perpendicular  to  the  surface  of 
the  spherical  stratum.  At  b  it  again  enters  a  medium  of  a 
greater  density,  and  is  refracted  into  the  direction  b  c,  still 
approaching  the  perpendicular  to  the  surface.  On  arriving 
at  c  the  phenomenon  is  repeated,  and  the  ray  is  bent  from 
the  direction  be  into  the  direction  c  O;  so  that  in  passing 
from  S  to  O  the  ray  of  light,  instead  of  describing  the 
straight  line  S  O,  describes  the  polygon  S  a  b  c  O,  and  to  a 
spectator  at  O  the  star  will  appear  to  be  situated  at  S'  in  the 
direction  O  c  Hence  the  star  appears  to  be  elevated  above 
its  true  place  ;  and  the  angle  S'  O  S,  which  is  the  difference 
between  its  true  and  apparent  elevations,  is  the  astronomi- 
cal refraction.  If  we  suppose  the  number  of  the  strata  to 
become  infinitely  great,  then  the  angular  deviation  at  each 
successive  stratum  will  become  infinitely  small :  and  the 
path  of  the  ray,  instead  of  being  a  polygon,  will  be  a  con- 
tinuous curve,  which,  according  to  the  laws  of  refraction, 
will  lie  wholly  in  the  same  vertical  plane. 

Since  the  ratio  of  the  sines  of  incidence  and  refraction  is 
constant,  it  is  evident  that  the  total  effect  will  be  the  great- 
est when  the  luminous  rays  enter  the  atmospheric  strata 
with  the  greatest  obliquity  ;  that  is  to  say,  when  the  object 
is  seen  in  the  horizon.  At  the  zenith  there  is  no  refrac- 
tion ;  in  descending  from  the  zenith  to  the  horizon  it  con- 
tinually increases,  according  to  a  certain  law,  which  may 
be  determined  theoretically  if  the  refractive  power  of  atmos- 
pheric air  at  a  given  density  and  temperature,  the  dilatation 
of  air  by  heat,  and  also  the  law  of  the  variation  of  the 
density  and  temperature  in  ascending  into  the  higher  regions 
of  the  atmosphere,  are  supposed  to  be  known.  At  a  me- 
dium density,  and  at  the  temperature  of  melting  ice,  Biot 
and  Arago  found  by  experiment  that  for  any  altitude  ex- 
ceeding 10°  above  the  horizon  the  law  of  atmospheric  re- 
fraction is  represented  by  the  formula  r=  60-6"  tan.  (Z  — 
325  X  r),  in  which  r  is  the  refraction  corresponding  to  a 
given  zenith  distance  Z.  Bradley  had  given  the  formula 
r  =  57"  tan.  (Z  —  325  r).  From  either  of  these  it  appears 
that  the  increase  of  refraction  is  nearly  proportional  to  the 
tangent  of  the  zenith  distance,  but  at  low  altitudes  the  ex- 
pression becomes  much  more  complicated. 

The  following  table  given  by  Mr.  Ivory  {Phil,  transac- 
tions for  1838,  part  2)  shows  the  amount  of  refraction  at 
different  zenith  distances,  the  temperature  bein»  50°  of 
Fahrenheit,  and  the  height  of  the  barometer  30  inches. 
The  correction  (omitting  some  small  terms)  for  the  ac- 
tual  temperature  and  barometric  pressure  is  obtained  by 

multiplying   the   tabular  refraction  by  .  - 

,  •     .       .  ,  l  +  c(t  — 50)     30' 

where  b  is  the  observed  height  of  the  barometer  reduced 
to  the  fixed  temperature  of  50°  Fahr.,  t  the  temperature  of 
the  air  on  the  same  scale,  and  c  =  -002183. 


REFRACTIVE  POWER. 


Zenith  Dis- 
tance. 

Refraction. 

Zenith  Dis- 
tance. 

Refraction. 

10" 

10  3U" 

82° 

39T6S'~ 

20 

21-26 

83 

44.542 

30 

33  72 

84 

609-86 

40 

4S-99 

85, 

593-96 

45 

68  36 

85* 

646  21 

50 

69-52 

86, 

707-43 

55 

83-25 

-86£ 

779-92 

60 

100-85 

W. 

866-76 

65 

124-65 

87* 

971-93 

70 

159  16 

88, 

1101  35 

75 

214-70 

8SJ 

12626 

80 

32019 

89 

1466-8 

81 

353-79 

8D£ 

1729-5 

The  existence  of  astronomical  refraction  was  known  at 
an  early  period,  though  its  amount  and  laws  have  only 
been  ascertained  in  recent  times.  Ptolemy,  in  his  book  on 
Optics,  remarks  that  in  consequence  of  refraction  a  star  is 
brought  nearer  the  zenith,  and  that  the  effect  is  greater  in 
the  case  of  a  low  than  a  high  star ;  but  as  no  mention  is 
made  of  the  subject  in  the  Almagest,  it  was  not  then  re- 
garded as  an  element  of  astronomical  calculation.  Similar 
notions  appear  in  the  Optics  of  Alhazen.  Walther  was 
the  first  who  began  to  estimate  the  effects  of  refraction  near 
the  horizon  ;  and  Tycho  Brahe  constructed,  from  observa- 
tions, the  first  table.  He  supposed  the  horizontal  refrac- 
tion to  be  34',  which  is  very  near  the  truth  (its  mean 
amount  being  33') ;  but  he  supposed  it  to  vanish  at  the  alti- 
tude of  45°,  though  its  mean  amount  at  that  altitude 
appears,  by  the  preceding  table,  to  be  nearly  1  minute. 
Dominic  Cassini  gave  an  empirical  formula  for  computing 
the  refraction  at  any  altitude  ;  but  the  solution  of  the  pro- 
blem on  true  principles  was  first  undertaken,  and,  in  fact, 
fully  accomplished,  by  Newton,  though  his  results  did  not 
represent  the  observations,  in  consequence  of  the  imperfect 
knowledge  which  then  existed  respecting  the  physical  con- 
stitution of  the  atmosphere. 

REFRACTION,  TERRESTRIAL.  The  atmospherical 
refraction  which  has  just  been  explained,  is  the  effect  pro- 
duced by  the  whole  atmosphere  on  a  body  placed  entirely 
beyond  it ;  but  as  the  density  of  the  atmosphere  varies  with 
the  height,  it  is  evident  that  the  apparent  place  of  any 
object  placed  on  a  different  level  from  that  of  the  observer 
must  be  affected  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  by  refraction. 
Whether  the  rays  of  light  come  from  a  more  elevated  ob- 
ject, and  consequently  pass  from  a  rarer  into  a  denser 
medium,  or  from  an  object  depressed  below  the  horizon  of 
the  observer,  and  consequently  pass  from  a  denser  into  a 
rarer  medium,  they  are  equally  bent  downwards,  and  con- 
sequently the  apparent  place  of  the  object  is  raised.  This 
refraction  between  terrestrial  objects  is  called  terrestrial  re- 
fraction ;  and  as  the  density  of  the  air  near  the  surface  of 
the  earth  is  liable  to  great  irregularities  from  being  irregular- 
ly heated,  its  effects  give  rise  to  many  very  remarkable  phe- 
nomena. Among  these  are  looming  or  mirage,  the  fata 
morgana  (see  the  terms),  and  the  occasional  appearance 
above  the  horizon  of  distant  objects  which,  in  the  ordinary 
state  of  the  atmosphere  are,  invisible.  Sometimes,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  rarefaction  of  the  air  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
a  surface  of  water,  or  of  a  building,  or  of  the  earth  itself, 
a  distant  object  appears  to  be  depressed  instead  of  being 
elevated ;  and  occasionally  it  is  at  once  both  depressed  and 
elevated,  so  as  to  appear  double,  in  which  case  one  of  the 
images  is  generally  seen  in  an  inverted  position,  as  if  a  re- 
flexion had  taken  place.  In  very  exact  observations,  as  in 
geodetical  surveys,  it  is  found  that  the  refraction  is  not 
always  confined  to  the  same  vetircal  plane,  but  sometimes 
produces  a  deviation  amounting  to  a  few  seconds  later- 
ally. 

REFRACTIVE  POWER,  in  Optics,  is  the  degree  of  in- 
fluence which  a  diaphanous  body  exercises  on  the  light 
which  passes  through  it.  For  the  measure  of  this  influence 
modern  writers  generally  adopt  the  square  of  the  index  of 
refraction  diminished  by  unity,  or  n2  —  1,  where  n  denotes 
the  principal  index  of  refraction.  {See  Refraction.)  The 
reason  of  this  is  founded  on  certain  dynamical  considera- 
tions regarding  the  physical  cause  of  refraction.  According 
to  the  Newtonian  theory  of  emission,  the  velocity  of  light 
is  accelerated  on  entering  a  denser  medium  by  reason  of  the 
increased  molecular  attraction ;  and  the  law  of  refraction  is 
explained  by  supposing  the  index  of  refraction  of  any  sub- 
stance to  be  the  ratio  of  the  velocity  of  light  in  that  sub- 
stance to  its  velocity  in  a  vacuum.  Thus,  let  u  denote  the 
velocity  of  light  in  a  vacuum,  and  v  its  velocity  while 
passing  through  a  diaphanous  substance,  then  v  -f-«  =  n  ; 
or,  since  sin.  i  -f-  sin.  r  —  u,  the  sine  of  incidence  is  to  the 
sine  of  refraction  inversely  as  the  velocity  in  a  vacuum  to 
the  velocity  in  the  medium.  Now  the  increment  of  the  vis 
viva,  or  the  excess  of  the  square  of  the  new  velocity  above 
that  of  the  former,  is  v2  —  u2,  and  the  ratio  of  this  to  the 

1043 


REFRAIN. 

square  of  the  former  is  ,  bj  —  u-,  :  u-,  which  is  the  same  as 
the  ratio  of  n-  —  1  to  unity. 

ttog  to  the  undulntory  theory,  the  velocity  of  light 
is  diuiiui.-lied  i'ii  entering  a  denser  body.  In  tins  case,  u-  — 
e-  is  the  loss  of  vis  viva  ;  and  the  ratio  »-  —  p9]  ;  r.',  c,r 
n- —  1  to  1,  is  the  ratio  of  vis  lira  which  is  lost  to  that 
i  i-  retained.  In  either  case,  the  ratio  al  —  1  to  1 
forms  the  measure  of  the  refractive powr  of  the  substance 
of  which  ;i  i-  the  index  of  refraction. 

Bome  mod,  in  authors  employ  the  phrase  absolute  refrac- 
tire  powir  to  denote  the  ratio  of  the  refractive  power  of  a 
Substance  (as  above  defined)  to  its  density  :  that  is  to  sty, 
the  ratio  «-'  —  1 ;  :  1).  where  I)  stands  for  the  density  of  the 
body.  Sir  [saac  .Newton  {Optics,  p.  -J47,)  calls  this  the 
"refractive  power  of  a  body  in  respect  of  Its  density  :"  and. 
as  it  i-  '  e  of  tlie  theory  of  emission  that  the  re- 

fractive powi  r  mu-t  he  proportional  to  the  density,  the  ratio 
(«*  — 1):  I),  according  to  this  theory,  is  constant  for  the 
same  medium  ;  that  is  to  say,  its  numerical  value  depends 
only  on  the  nature  of  the  medium,  and  is  independent  of 
its  condition  ;  so  that  a  liquid  and  its  vapour  ought  to  have 
the  same  absolute  refractive  power,  which  is  contradicted 
by  the  experiments  of  Ar.igo  and  Petit 

The  French  authors  use  the  term  puissance  refractive  to 
denote  the  refractive  power,  or  the  number  n2  —  1,  while 
they  express  the  absolute  refractive  power,  or  the  ratio 
(it-  —  1)  :  D,  by  the  term  pouvoir  refringent.  It  is  con- 
venient to  have  different  names  for  the  two  things,  which 
are  totally  different,  at  least  in  their  numerical  measures. 
Thus  hydrogen  gas  has  a  smaller  index  of  refraction,  and 
consequent!}  a  smaller  retractive  power,  than  any  other 
suhstance  ;  hut  its  absolute  refractive  poirrr.  or  pouroir  re- 
fringent. is  greater  than  that  of  any  other  substance.  (For 
a  table  of  the  values  of  the  ratio  (»-  —  1):  D  for  a  con- 
siderable number  of  different  substances,  see  Brewster's 
Optics,  Gib.  Cyclopaedia.) 

KKl'l;  \  l\.     'Ihe  burden  of  a  song,  &c.     See  Bcrden-. 

REFRANGIBILlT Y ,  in  Optics,  is  the  disposition  of  the 
rays  ot  light  to  he  refracted  or  bent  in  passing  obliquely 
lrom  one  transparent  medium  into  another :  but  the  term 
is  chiefly  used  to  denote  the  degree  of  that  disposition  pos- 
&  Bsed  by  the  differently  coloured  rajs.  See  Refraction, 
Spki  trim. 

RE'FI'GE.  CITIES  OF.  Six  cities  appointed,  according 
to  the  words  of  Moses,  under  the  Jewish  dispensation  Deu 
teron.,  xix.,  -J,  9),  for  the  safety  of  those  who  had  caused  the 
accidental  death  of  any  one.  If  a  deliberate  murderer  fled 
to  one  of  these  cities,  the  elders  of  the  city  were  to  deliver 
him  "  into  the  hands  of  the  avenger  of  blood."  The  cities 
are  enumerated  in  Joshua,  chap.  xx. 

REFUGEE.  A  name  which  has  been  given  in  history 
and  political  phraseology  indiscriminately  to  persons  who 
flee  from  religious  or  [lolitical  persecution  in  their  own  coun- 
try, and  take  refuse  in  another.  It  was  originally  applied 
to  the  French  Protestants  (refugies)  who  found  an  asylum 
in  this  country,  and  among  various  Continental  nations, after 
the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  by  I.ouis  XIV. 

REG  \  l.l  \.      i.;it.  rex,  a  king,      hi  Polities,  the  privi- 
leges, prerogative,  and  right  of  property,  belonging,  in  virtue 
ot  office,  to  the  sovereign  of  a  state.    The  latter  class  of  ob- 
most  commonly  termed  regalia  minora  ■  as   in 
untries,  waifs,  strays,  and  newly-formed  land.  fee. : 
Qd,  forfeitures,  &c. ;  while  the  former  are  known 
by  the  epithet  majora.     Regalia,  in   English   Heraldry,  the 
royal  insignia, crowns,  sceptres,  globes,  crosses,  tc.,  used  at 
the   coronation:    also   the  crown   jewels.      Regalia  of  the 
church,  the  privileges  which  have  been  conceded  to  it  by 
king-  :  sometimes  the  patrimony  of  a  church. 

REGARDANT.  (Fr.)  In  Heraldry,  literally,  looking 
behind  :  applied  to  any  animal  whose  face  is  turned  towards 
the  tail  in  an  attitude  of  vigilance. 

REGATTA.  (Hal.]  \  word  used  originally  by  the 
Veneuans  to  signify  a  grind  fete,  in  which  the  gondoliers 

contested  for  superiority  in  rowing  their  gondolas;  but  the 

term  has  been  adopted  into  all  the  languages  of  modern 
in  which  it  signifies  a  brilliant  species  of  boat  race 
In  England,  festivities  of  this  species  are  almost  of  weekly 
occurrence  during  the  summer  season. 

KEGEL,  oi  RIGEL.  A  star  of  the  first  magnitude,  con- 
stituting the  left  heel  of  the  constellation  Orion. 

REGENERATION.  In  Theology ,  the  new  birth  of  man 
unto  righteousness,  following  oo  the  abolition  of  the  original 

corruption  of  his  nature.     Similar  language   was  used   re 

nieeting  the  admission  of  proselytes  to  the  privili 

-■>.  also,  in  other  religions.    The  Sanscrit  name  for 
a  Brahmin  is  said  to  signify  "twice  horn;"  and  Tertullian 
says  that  the  heathens  used  baptism  in  their  myst 
regenerationem."    When  oar  Saviour  admonished  Nicode 

to  marvel  at  bis  words,  "  Ye  must  he  horn  again." 
he  added,  with  reference,  doubtless,  to  the  doctrines  ahead-, 
taught  among  the  Jew  s,  "  Art  thou  a  master  of  Israel,  and 

1044 


REGICIDE. 

knowest  not  these  things  ?"  (John,  iii.,  10.)  That  baptism 
is  "a  sign  of  regeneration."  as  expressed  in  the  J7;h  Artit  la 
of  the  Church  of  England,  is  admitted  by  nearly  all  Chris- 
tians. (Rom.,  vi„  4,  11;  Tit.,  iii..  o;  John,  iii..  0.)  But 
whether  the  new  birth  to  which  allusion  is  made  in  these 
solemn  passages  actually  takes  place  by  and  through  bap- 
tism ;  whether  baptism,  duly  administered  bj  those  author- 
ised, is  in  itself  an  "opus  operatum,"  in  the  language  of  the 
schools  ;  or  w  hether  the  regeneration  spoken  of  as  tin  con- 
dition ot  our  salvation  takes  place  alter,  and  independent  of 
baptism,  by  the  operation  of  the  spirit  on  the  inner  man — 
this  is  a  question  on  which  Protestants  have  never  agreed 
among  themselves,  and  w  hull  divides  the  English  church  at 
this  day.  The  former  is  the  commonly  received  or  Catholic 
doctrine;  and  has  been  so  fr  m  very  early  limes,  as  tar  as 
we  can  conclude  from  the  language  of  the  lathers  and  an- 
cient forms  of  the  church.  But  it  docs  not  appear  to  be  posi- 
tively declared  by  the  Church  of  England,  though  inferred 
from  various  passages  m  the  baptismal  service. 

RE'GENT.  d.at.  rego.  f govern.)  The  peiBon  who  ex- 
ercises the  powers  of  a  sovereign  during  the  absence,  inca- 
pacity, or  minority  of  the  latter,  in  most  hereditary  gov- 
ernments the  maxim  is.  that  the  office  belongs  to  the  nearest 
relative  of  the  sovereign  capable  of  undertaking  it;  but  this 
rule  is  subject  to  many  limitations.  The  kings  of  France  ex- 
ercised at  various  periods  the  power  of  fixing,  by  ordinance 
or  will,  the  regency,  in  case  of  their  decease  leaving  issue 
under  age;  and  also  the  period  of  their  son's  majority. 
Nevertheless,  these  wills  !ia\e  bei  D  at  various  time-  disre- 
garded in  favour  of  what  was  esteemed  the  principle  of  the 
monarchy.  Thus,  the  testament  of  I.ouis  .XIII..  by  which 
he  declared  his  wife  future  regent,  hut  limited  her  power  in 
the  essential  prerogative  of  the  choice  of  a  count  il,  was  set 
aside  as  to  this  limitation,  and  she  was  appointed  regent 
with  full  prerogatives.    The  testament  of  Louis  XIV..  as  to 

during  the  minority  of  Louis  XV..  was  - 
by  the  parliament  of  Paris  immediately  after  his  death.  Iii 
England,  the  right  to  appoint  the  regent  is  now  fully  recog- 
nised to  belong  to  parliament;  although,  in  1788,  on  the  oc- 
casion of  the  first  illness  of  George  III.,  much  discussion 
took  place  as  to  the  absolute  right  which  some  supposed  to 
inhere  in  the  heir  apparent.  The  regency,  in  the  event  of 
the  demise  of  the  present  sovereign  leaving  issue,  is  vested 
by  act  of  parliament  in  her  majesty's  consort. 

RE'GENT  MASTERS,  or  REGENTS.  In  the  English 
Universities,  a  term  borrowed  from  the  ancient  Ui 
the  1  rniveraity  Of  Paris.  In  that  institution  graduates  in  the 
faculties,  within  a  certain  period  after  their  degree,  had  the 
privilege,  which  they  were  bound  to  exercise,  of  gi\  ing  pub- 
lic lectures  (dncendl,  legendi.  regendl  scholas  .  The  same 
custom  was  adopted  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge  ;  although  the 
regent  masters  were  at  an  early  period  succeeded  in  the  per- 
formance of  this  office  by  the  established  professors  The 
regents  still  form  the  governing  body  of  the  universities,  in 
the  convocation  and  congregation  at  Oxford,  and  in  the 
academical  senate  of  Cambridge.     See  Master  of  Arts. 

RE'GICIDE.  (Lat.  rex.  king,  and  Cffdp,  /  kill.)  The 
offence  of  slaying  a  king  or  other  sovereign.  The  eariy 
Greek  republics,  unaccustomed  to  the  legitimate  rule  of 
monarchs,  saw,  in  the  occasional  subjugation  which  they 
underwent  from  successful  partisans,  a  mere  usurpation,  or 
tyranny:  and  tyrannicide  was  with  them  only  the  Slaying 
of  a  public  enemy.  And  the  hatred  which  attachi 
in  the  minds  of  the  Roman  people  to  the  royal  name  and 
authority  made  them  regard  the  acts  of  the  elder  and  younger 
Brutus,  even  to  the  latest  days  of  the  republic,  and  long  after 
the  establishment  of  the  empire,  as  virtuous  and  honour- 
able. Hence  the  perverted  morality  on  this  peculiar  sub- 
ject which  continues  to  prevail,  more  or  lo-s<.  even  to  the 
present  day,  as  false  in  logic  as  contrarj  to  the  plain  rules 
of  conscience ;  for  it  is  obvious  that,  to  each  individual,  a 
wealthy  or  powerful  oppressor,  who  commits  injuries  against 
him  and  his  friends  for  which  the  law  can  give  him  no  re- 
do-v  is  hist  as  fair  a  subject  for  illegal  vengeance  as  a  king 
to  any  member  of  the  community.  Vet  no  one  ever  sought 
seriously  to  set  op  the  right  of  assassination  in  such  canon; 

BS  Buchanan,  I.anguet.  Mariana,  and  others  have  done  in 
thai  of  kings.  English  history  has  three  notorious  instances 
I'.dward  II..  Richard ill.,  and  Edward  V.  murder- 
ed by  powerful  and  rebellious  subjects.  But 
all  other  countries,  i-  fertile  in  examples  of  regicide,  effect- 
ed or  attempted  by  private  individuals  under  the  influence 

of  religious  and  political  fanaticism.  Henrj  III.  and  IV. 
both  tell  by  the  hands  of  Roman  Catholic  zealots.  The 
reader  will  find  in  the  Discourse  of  Pere  Mathieu  on  the 
Death  of  the  latter  lately  republished  in  Qfmfer,  ./rehires 
''"""""-  ,  a  singular  example  of  ,„,.  fanaticism  of  cruelty 
in  the  way  of  retaliation,  excited,  and  not  hi  naturally,  by 
the  repetition  of  such  monstrous  and  desperate  acts.  But 
the  savage  execudon  of  Ravaillac  did  not  deter  Damien,  in 
the  reign  of  I.ouis  \v.,  from  attempting  the  same  oflbnee 
from  the  same  motives.     The  murder  of  the  Due  de  Bern, 


REGIMENT. 

and  the  repeated  attempts  on  the  life  of  Louis  Philippe,  from 
political  enthusiasm,  show  but  too  plainly  that  the  morbid 
passions  which  actuated  those  celebraled  assassins  have 
but  taken  in  modern  times  another  direction.  The  murder 
of  Gustavus,  king  of  Sweden,  by  Ankarstrom,  is,  perhaps, 
the  most  deliberate  instance  of  this  crime  on  record  ;  for 
the  criminal,  though  rancorous  and  determined,  was  no 
zealot.  It  must  be  added,  that  the  application  of  the  term 
regicide  to  the  members  of  the  commission  which  sat  in 
judgment  on  Charles  I.,  and  to  the  majority  of  the  conven- 
tion which  condemned  Louis  XVI.,  is  a  violation  of  that 
moral  sense  which  judges  unerringly  of  actions ;  whatever 
the  character  of  their  conduct  might  be,  it  was  altogether 
different  from  assassination  ;  and  to  confound  Vane  or  Car- 
not  with  R&  vail  lac  and  Fieschi,  under  a  similar  designation, 
can  scire  no  ends  but  those  of  temporary  party  malice. 

RE'GIMEXT.  (Lat.  rego,  I  rule.)  A  body  of  troops  con- 
sisting (if  infantry)  of  several  battalions,  or  (if  cavalry)  of 
several  squadrons,  under  the  command  of  a  colonel.  The 
British  army  consists,  at  present,  of  three  regiments  of  horse 
guards;  sixteeu  regiments  of  cavalry,  of  which  four  are 
heavy  dragoons,  five  light  dragoons,  four  hussars,  and  four 
lancers;  three  regiments  of  foot  guards,  divided  into  the 
grenadier  guards,  the  Scots  fusiliers,  and  the  Coldstream 
guards;  and  ninety-nine  regiments  of  infantry,  exclusive  of 
the  royal  regiment  of  artillery,  and  the  royal  corps  of  ma- 
rines. Many  of  the  regiments  in  the  British  army  are  dis- 
tinguished by  the  name  of  the  counties  or  districts  where 
the  men  were  originally  enlisted.  Thus  the  3d  regiment  is 
called  the  East  Kent  regiment;  the  6th,  the  Royal  War- 
wickshire, &c,  &c.  No  rule  is  established  with  regard  to 
the  number  of  men  of  which  a  regiment  should  consist :  both 
in  England  and  on  the  Continent  this  point  is  settled  either 
by  the  exigencies  of  service  in  time  of  war,  or  the  principles 
of  economy  in  time  of  peace.  In  the  British  army,  the  three 
regiments  of  horse  guards  consist,  at  present,  each  of  32  offi- 
cers, 53  non-commissioned  officers,  351  privates,  and  274 
horses.  The  ordinary  cavalry  regiments  have  each  at  an 
average  27  commissioned  officers,  31  non-commissioned  offi- 
cers, 304  privates,  ami  283  horses.  The  grenadier  regiment 
of  guards  consists  of  three  battalions;  and  has  90  officers,  177 
non-commissioned  officers,  and  2080  privates.  The  other 
two  regiments  of  foot  guards  consist  also  of  two  battalions 
each,  and  have  each  61  officers,  109  non-commissioned  offi- 
cers, and  1280  privates.  The  royal  regiment  of  artillery  con- 
sists of  nine  battalions,  having  449  officers  and  6062  non- 
commissioned officers  and  men,  exclusive  of  the  horse  bri- 
gade, the  engineers,  and  sappers  and  miners.  (Stat,  of  the 
Brit.  Empire,  vol.  ii.,  p.  433.) 

RE'GISTER,  LORD;  or  LORD  CLERK  REGISTER. 
A  Scottish  officer  of  state,  who  has  the  custody  of  the  ar- 
chives; hence  also  termed  custos  rotulorum.  He  was  of 
old  the  principal  clerk  of  the  kingdom,  from  whom  other 
clerks  derived  their  authority.  The  office  was  formerly  at 
pleasure,  but  since  1777  for  life.  Salary  £  1200  a  year.  He 
is  assisted  in  his  duties  by  a  resident  deputy. 

RE'GISTRY  OF  BIRTHS,  MARRIAGES,  AND 
DEATHS.  Down  to  the  year  1836,  in  consequence  of  the 
defects  of  the  system  of  registration,  no  complete  or  accurate 
information  could  be  obtained  as  to  the  amount  of  births, 
marriages,  and  deaths  throughout  England;  but  at  that 
period  the  necessity  of  having  it  superseded  by  a  better  sys- 
tem was  admitted,  which  was  finally  accomplished  by  the 
act  6&7  Will.  4,  c.  80. 

This  act,  passed  in  pursuance  of  the  recommendation  of 
a  committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  on  parochial  regis- 
ters (1833),  embodies  a  plan  for  the  effectual  registration  of 
births,  deaths,  and  marriages  in  England  and  Wales.  To 
give  uniformity  to  the  system,  it  is  conducted  under  the 
superintendence  of  an  officer  resident  in  London  ;  and  there 
also  a  central  place  of  deposit  is  provided  for  certified  copies 
of  all  parochial  registers,  with  ready  means  of  finding  any 
entry  in  them.  It  is  provided  that  in  every  case  of  birth,  the 
following  circumstances  shall  be  recorded :  viz..  the  time 
and  place  of  birth ;  the  name  (if  any)  and  sex  of  child  ; 
name  and  surname  of  father  ;  name  and  maiden  surname  of 
mother ;  rank  or  profession  of  father ;  the  signature,  descrip- 
tion, and  residence  of  the  informant ;  and  also  the  baptismal 
name  of  child,  if  added  after  registration  of  birth.  In  every 
case  of  death  the  register  is  to  record  the  time  and  place  of 
death ;  the  name  and  surname,  sex,  age,  and  rank  or  pro- 
fession of  the  deceased  ;  the  cause  of  death  ;  and  the  signa- 
ture, description,  and  residence  of  the  informant.  In  all 
cases  the  entries  must  be  signed  by  the  informant,  and  also 
by  the  registrar,  who  discharges  this  duty  without  any  im- 
mediate expense  to  the  parties  requiring  registration,  his  re- 
muneration  being  derived  from  moderate  fees  paid  out  of 
the  poor's  rates.  The  insertion  of  the  cause  of  death,  along 
with  the  period  of  death,  and  the  residence,  sex,  age,  and 
occupation  of  the  deceased,  will,  in  time,  afford  data  of  the 
utmost  importance  to  medical  science,  and  to  the  improve- 
ment of  vital  statistics. 


REGIUM  DONUM. 

The  central  office  in  London  for  the  deposit  of  certified 
copies  of  registers,  and  the  general  supervision  and  conduct 
of  the  business  of  registration,  is  called  the  General  Regis- 
ter Office.  It  is  presided  over  by  a  registrar-general  appoint- 
ed under  the  great  seal,  having  under  him  an  assistant  re- 
gistrar, chief  clerk,  and  a  numerous  body  of  subordinate 
clerks.  From  this  office  communications  emanate  to  all 
superintending  registrars,  registrars  of  births  and  deaths, 
and  registrars  of  marriages,  who  all  act  within  their  respec- 
tive districts  under  the  directions  of  the  registrar-general,  in 
whom  is  vested  the  power  of  dismissal. 

There  are  at  present  619  superintendent  registrars,  who 
may  each  appoint  a  deputy,  with  the  approval  of  the  regis- 
trar-general. Of  these  superintendents  562  have  accepted 
the  office  as  clerks  of  boards  of  guardians  for  the  poor,  or 
have  been  appointed  by  the  guardians,  and  57  have  been 
appointed  by  the  registrar-general.  Each  superintendent 
registrar  serves  within  the  district  to  which  he  is  appointed, 
which  comprises  one  or  more  registrar's  districts. 

There  are  2197  registrars  of  births,  and  deaths,  who  may 
each  appoint  a  deputy,  with  the  approval  of  the  guardians, 
or  of  the  poor  law  commissioners.  Of  these  registrars,  1981 
have  been  appointed  by  the  boards  of  guardians  established 
under  the  Poor  Law  Amendment  Act;  and  216  are  regis- 
trars of  temporary  districts,  appointed  by  the  poor  law  com- 
missioners. Each  registrar  is  appointed  to  some  one  of  the 
2197  registrars'  districts,  into  which  the  whole  of  England 
and  Wales  has  been  divided:  and  he  must  reside  in  that 
district,  and  register  all  births  and  deaths  that  occur  in  it. 

Marriages  are  registered,  1st,  By  clergymen  of  the  estab- 
lished church,  of  whom  11,694  have  been  furnished  with 
books  for  this  purpose.  2dly,  By  registrars  of  marriages,  of 
whom  there  were,  on  the  1st  of  January,  1838,  716:  these 
last  are  appointed  by  the  superintendent  registrars,  and  re- 
gister marriages  solemnized  in  their  presence  in  registered 
places  of  worship,  or  in  the  superintendent  registrar's  office  ; 
297  of  the  total  number  of  716  are  also  registrars  of  births 
and  deaths.  3dly,  By  the  registering  officers  of  Quakers,  of 
whom  there  are  90.  And  4thly,  By  the  secretaries  of  syna- 
gogues, of  whom  there  are  36. 

The  clergyman,  and  the  various  officers,  amounting  in  all 
to  about  14,400  to  whom  the  business  of  registration  is  com- 
mitted, are  bound  to  make  quarterly  deliveries  of  certified 
copies  of  all  entries  in  their  respective  registers  during  the 
previous  quarter,  to  the  superintendent  registrars  of  the  dis- 
trict to  which  they  respectively  belong  ;  and  these  certified 
copies  are  transmitted  by  the  superintendent  registrars  to 
the  registrar-general.  The  certified  copies  are  made  on 
separate  leaves  of  paper  of  a  uniform  size  and  peculiar  tex- 
ture, having  a  distinguishing  water-mark.  On  being  re- 
ceived at  the  general  register  office  in  London  (whither 
they  are  sent  by  post),  they  are  carefully  examined ;  and 
any  defects  being  noted,  are  made  the  subject  of  communi- 
cation with  the  person  from  whom  the  defective  copy  came, 
who  is  required  either  to  furnish  another  copy,  or  a  satis- 
factory explanation.  They  are  then  arranged,  paged,  and 
inserted  in  books  for  reference. 

Alphabetical  indexes  of  births,  deaths,  and  marriages  are 
prepared  and  kept  in  the  general  register  office  ;  and  any 
person,  on  payment  of  Is.,  may  search  these  indexes  for 
any  entry,  and,  on  finding  it,  may,  if  he  wish,  obtain,  for  2.?. 
6d.,  a  stamped  copy  of  such  entry,  which  will  be  "received 
as  evidence  of  the  birth,  death,  or  marriage  to  which  the 
same  relates,  without  any  farther  or  other  proof  of  such 
entry."  There  are  separate  alphabetical  indexes  for  the 
births,  the  deaths,  and  the  marriages  in  each  quarter.  The 
registrar-general  is  bound  to  furnish,  once  a  year,  one  of  the 
principal  secretaries  of  state  with  a  general  abstract  account 
of  the  births,  deaths,  and  marriages  registered  during  the 
foregoing  year,  to  be  laid  before  parliament.  Three  reports 
of  the  registrar-general  have  already  been  published;  and, 
in  a  statistical  point  of  view,  the  sound,  accurate,  and  judi- 
cious information  which  they  embody,  cannot  be  too  high- 
ly appreciated.     (Statistics  of  the  Brit.  Empire.) 

RE'GISTRY  OF  DEEDS,  in  Law,  exists  in  England 
only  in  certain  districts;  in  the  three  ridings  of  Yorkshire, 
and  in  Middlesex,  it  is  established  by  act  of  parliament.  It 
does  not  extend  to  copyhold  estates,  or  to  leases  not  exceed- 
ing twenty-one  years  in  possession.  The  intention  of  the 
registry  was  to  give  notice  to  purchasers  of  incumbrances 
existing  on  estates.  But  its  value,  in  this  respect,  is  ma- 
terially lessened  by  the  prevalence  of  the  equitable  doctrine 
of  notice  ;  namely,  that  where  a  party  is,  either  actually  or 
constructively,  aware  of  incumbrances  not  registered,  he  is 
bound  by  such  knowledge. 

REGISTRY  OF  SHIPS.     See  Ships,  Registry  of. 

RE'GIUM  DONUM.  (hat.  royal  gift.)  An  annual  grant 
of  public  money  in  aid  of  the  maintenance  of  the  Presby- 
terian clergy  in  Ireland.  It  was  instituted  by  William  III. 
in  1690,  and  remodelled  in  1790.  The  stipends  are  paid  to 
ministers  both  of  the  "Synod  of  Ulster"  and  "Seceding 
Synod,"  the  two  principal  divisions  of  the  sect. 

1045 


REGIUS  PROFESSORS. 

REGIUS  PROFESSORS.  The  nam,'  given  to  those  pro- 
fessors in  the  English  universities  whose  chairs  were  found- 
ed by  Henry  VIII.  In  the  Bcoteh  universities,  in  which 
the  patronage  of  by  far  (he  greater  number  of  chairs  is  vest- 
ed in  the  civil  bodies,  those  professors  are  called  regius  pro- 
fessors who  have  been  appointed  by  the  crown. 

REGLET.      I. n.  regula.)    In  Architecture.    SeeFiLLET. 

RJBGRATLNG.     See  Fokkst.ii.lino. 

REGRESSION.  Lat.  regressus,  a  going  backwards.) 
In  Astronomy,  the  regression  of  the  moon's  nodes  is  the  mo- 
tion of  the  line  of  intersection  of  the  orbit  of  the  moon  with 
the  ecliptic,  which  is  retrograde,  or  contrary  to  the  order  of 
the  signs.  This  motion  of  the  nodes  of  the  lunar  orbit  takes 
place  with  considerable  rapidity,  the  whole  revolution  be- 
ing accomplished  in  about  18|  years.  The  nodes  of  the 
pUnetarj  orbits  also  regress  on  the  ecliptic;  but,  in  the  case 
of  the  planets,  the  regression  is  extremely  slow,  that  of  the 
nodes  of  Mercury,  which  is  the  most  rapid,  amounting  only 
to  about  4-2  seconds  of  a  degree  in  a  solar  year.  See  Node, 
Planet. 

REGULAR  ROntES.     See  Platonic  Bodies. 

REGULAR  FIGURES,  in  Geometry,  are  equilateral  and 
equiangular  polygons.  Circles  can  be  described  within  and 
about  such  figures ;  but  such  figures  can  be  described  by 
geometrical  methods  only  in  particular  cases.  General  ex- 
pressions for  the  radii  of  the  circles  described  within  and 
about  them  (r  and  R),  and  for  their  areas  and  angles,  can, 
however,  be  given  in  neat  forms.  Thus,  if  n  denote  the 
number  of  sides  of  the  polygon,  and  if  u°  represent  the  nth 
part  of  1800,  we  shall  have,  a  being  the  side,  R  =  ka  cosec. 
u°,  r  =  ha  cot.  u°.  area  =  j,n  a?  cot.  u°. 

Tables  of  the  values  of  cosec.  u°  and  cot.  «°,  computed 
from  these  expressions,  may  be  seen  in  most  works  on  men- 
suration adapted  to  the  values  of  n  as  far  as  12.  (See  Hut- 
ton's  Mensuration.) 

REGULARS.  In  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  those 
that  profess  and  follow  a  certain  rule  of  life,  and  observe 
the  three  vows  of  poverty,  chastity,  and  obedience,  are  so 
called. 

REGUEA'TOR.  In  Machinery,  a  general  name  for  any 
contrivance  of  which  the  object  is  to  produce  the  uniform 
movement  of  machines.  The  regulators  most  commonly 
applied  are  the/y  and  the  governor,  for  which  see  the  re- 
spective term«. 

The  regulator  of  a  watch  is  the  spiral  spring  attached  to 
the  balance.  This  ingenious  contrivance,  the  invention  of 
Hooke,  has  contributed  as  much  to  the  improvement  of 
Watches  as  the  pendulum  to  the  improvement  of  clocks. 

In  a  paper  published  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Royal  Astro- 
nomical Society,  vol.  xi..  the  present  Astronomer  Royal  has 
Investigated  the  mathematical  problem  of  the  motion  of  the 
regulator  applied  to  the  clock-work  by  which  motion  is  given 
to  large  equatorial  telescopes.  For  this  purpose,  absolute 
Uniformity  of  motion  is  of  very  great  importance.  The 
construction  usually  adopted,  in  this  country  at  least,  de- 
pends on  the  same  principle  as  that  of  the  governor  of  the 
steam-engine.  Two  balls  suspended  from  the  upper  part  of 
a  virtual  axis  by  rods  of  a  certain  length,  are  made  to  ex- 
pand by  the  rotatory  velocity  of  the  axis;  and  when  the 
expansion  reaches  a  certain  limit,  a  lever  is  pressed  against 
some  revolving  part,  whereby  a  friction  is  produced  which 
immediately  checks  the  velocity.  Now  the  uniformity  of 
the  rotatory  motion  of  the  spindle  depends  upon  the  as- 
sumption, that  if  upon  the  whole  the  retarding  forces  are 
equal  to  the  accelerating  force*,  the  balls  will  move  in  a 
nd  in  no  other  curve.  But  this  assumption  is  Incor- 
rect ;  for  the  balls  may  move  in  a  curve  differing  insensibly 
from  an  ellip-e  ;  and,  in  some  instances,  Mr.  Airy  observed 
the  balls  to  revolve  in  an  ellipse  "i  considerable  eccentrici- 
ty. When  this  takes  place,  the  rot  ttory  motion  of  the  spin- 
dle becomes  exceedingly  variable.  This  injurious  effect 
may  be  partly  counteracted  by  constructing  the  apparatus 
so  that  the  revolutions  shall  be  either  very  slow  or  very 
quick  ;  the  former  method  has  the  effect  01  gn  i 
smoothness  of  motion,  but  the  second  insures  more  com 
pletlv  that  the  Object  observed  shall  remain  stead]  in  tin- 
field  of  the  telescope. 

RE'GI.'EI'S.  In  Chemistry.  The  old  chemists  designa- 
ted several  of  the  brittle  or  inferior  metals  by  this  term, 
when  freed  from  impurities  and  obtained  in  their  metallic 
state:  it  is  thus  th  it  they  speak  of  regulus  of  antimony, 

■'l.  ii.r. 

REHABILITATION,  in  Foreign  Criminal  Eaw.  is  the 
reinstatement  of  a  criminal  in  his  personal  rights  which  he 
has  lost  by  a  judicial  sentence.  Thus,  in  Scotland,  a  par- 
don from  the  king  is  said  to  rehabilitate  a  witness  labour- 
ing under  infamia  juris.  In  France,  persons  condemned  to 
imprisonment  or  compulsory  labour  may  demand  their  re- 
habilitation live  years  after  the  expiration  of  their  penalty: 

the  'ban  ma  i«  considered  by  the  com  royale  of  the  district, 

and  pronounced  upon  by  the  king  In  his  privy  council.     Va- 
rious singular  forms  were  attached  to  the  process  of  reha- 
10-16 


REJOINDER. 

bilitation  in  ancient  times.  There  are  extant  letters  of 
Charles  VI.,  given  in  1383,  permitting  a  criminal  whose 
hand  had  been  cut  off  for  homicide  to  replace  it  by  another 
made  in  such  fashion  as  he  may  choose. 

REHE  l/RSAL.  The  recital  in  private  of  an  opera,  ora- 
torio, or,  in  short,  any  dramatic  work,  previously  to  public 
exhibition. 

REIN-DEER,  (Germ,  rennthier.)  Crrrus  tarandus, 
Linn.  A  large  species  of  Centra*  with  branched,  recurved, 
round  antlers,  the  summits  of  which  are  palmated.  These 
antlers  are  remarkable  for  the  size  of  the  branch  which 
comes  off  near  the  base,  and  is  directed  forwards,  called 
the  brow-antler,  and  which  is  said  to  be  u-ed  by  the  animal 
to  clear  away  the  snow  from  the  hidden  lichens  which 
constitute  the  food  of  the  rein-deer  during  the  long  and  se- 
vere winter  of  Greenland,  their  native  clime.  As  the  fe- 
male also  possesses  antlers  of  similar  form,  hut  smaller 
upon  the  whole  than  those  of  the  male,  their  function  as 
instruments  to  obtain  food  is  rendered  more  probable,  since 
in  the  deer  which  do  not  exist  in  artic  climes  the  females 
are  destitute  of  antlers.  These  appendages  of  the  rein- 
deer are  annually  shed  and  renewed  in  both  sexes. 

The  length  of  a  full-grown  male  is  about  nine  feet,  that 
of  the  head  is  fifteen  inches.  They  are  well  clothed  with 
hair,  which  becomes  thicker,  longer,  and  of  a  whiter  col- 
our in  the  winter  season;  at  which  time  the  male  has  a 
white  beard,  like  the  goat.  The  rutting  season,  is  at  the 
beginning  of  winter,  and  the  hind  brings  forth  one,  rarely 
two  calves,  in  May  or  June. 

The  rein-deer  is  swift  of  foot,  sharp-sighted,  has  an  acute 
smell  and  hearing.  It  is  more  cautious  and  timid  In  herds 
than  when  solitary.  It  can  swim  well,  and  often  crosses 
lakes  and  rivers. 

The  flesh  of  the  rein-deer,  which  is  held  in  great  esteem 
by  the  Greenlanders,  is  usually  eaten  raw,  or  dried  with  the 
smoke  of  the  lichen  nivalis.  The  blood  is  boiled  with  ber- 
ries mixed  with  the  fat  which  is  also  preserved  separately 
and  used  as  lard.  The  half-digested  contents  of  the  paunch 
of  the  rein-deer  is  the  Greenlander's  prime  luxury  ;  nor  is 
the  trail  rejected.  The  hide  of  the  rein-deer  supplies  the 
Greenlander  with  a  beautiful  material  for  his  tent,  his 
clothing,  his  bedding.  The  bones  and  antlers  are  worked 
into  implements  for  domestic  use,  for  fishing  and  hunting. 
The  tendons  are  split  into  threads. 

The  Greenlanders  likewise  use  the  spare  hides  of  the 
rein-deer  as  an  article  of  barter. 

REI'NECKE  (The  Fox).  The  name  of  a  celebrated 
popular  German  epic  poem,  which,  during  the  latter  part  of 
the  middle  ages  and  the  early  centuries  of  modern  times, 
enjoyed  an  almost  European  reputation.  It  became  first 
known  through  the  medium  of  a  Low  German  version  in 
the  15th  century ;  and  it  has,  with  few  interruptions,  ever 
since  involved  the  German  literati  in  discussions  as  to  its 
origin,  which  are  yet  apparently  far  from  being  settled.  It 
contains  a  humorous  and  satirical  account  of  the  adven- 
tures of  Reinecke  (the  fox)  at  the  court  of  King  Nodel  (the 
lion)  ;  exhibits  the  cunning  of  the  former,  and  the  means 
which  he  adopted  to  rebut  the  charges  preferred  against 
him,  and  the  hypocrisy  and  lies  by  which  he  contrived  to 
gain  the  favour  of  his  sovereign,  who  loaded  him  with  hon- 
ours. The  king,  the  officers  of  his  court,  and  all  his  sub- 
jects are  represented,  as  in  Esop's  Fables,  under  the  names 
of  the  animals  best  suited  to  their  respective  characters  ; 
and  the  poem  is  an  admirable  satire  on  the  intrigues  prac- 
tised at  a  weak  court.  The  most  successful  versions  of 
this  poem  nre  those  of  Goethe,  in  hexameters  ;  of  8  It  at, 
in  the  measure  of  the  original ;  and  the  more  recent  at- 
tempt of  Ortlepp.  This  poem  appears,  In  some  form  or  oth- 
er, to  have  been  known  throughout  Burope.  For  full  infor- 
mation respecting  It.  the  reader  may  consult  Mean  Romas 
tlu  Renard,  Paris.  1826)  ;  and  the  Reinhart  Fuchs,  bv  Jacob 
Grimm  fBerlin.  1834). 

REINFO'RCE,  in  Artillery,  is  that  part  of  a  gun  nearest 
to  the  breech,  made  stronger  to  resist  the  explosive  force  of 
the  powder.    Set  Gnu. 

REINFORCE  KINGS,  are  flat  hooplike  mouldings  on  the 
reinforces  on  the  side  nearest  the  breech.  There  are  OBO* 
ally  two,  the  second  being  rather  smaller  than  the  tirst. 

REIS  EFFENDI.  The  name  given  to  one  of  the  chief 
Turkish  officers  of  state.    He  is  chancellor  of  the  empire 

and  minister  of  foreign  nft'iirs,  in  which  capacity  he  ne- 
gotiates with  the  ambassadors  and  interpreters  of  foreign 

REITERS.  (Germ,  reuters,  riders.)  The  German  cav- 
alry of  the  Hth  and  15th  centuries  were  so  called;  es|>e- 
ciaily  in  France  during  the  religious  wars,  in  which  they 
served  on  the  Protestant  side.  At  that  ]>eriod  they  were 
light-armed,  and  carried  a  long  sword  and  carbine. 

REJOI'NDER.  In  Law,  the  fourth  stage  in  the  plead- 
ing- in  an  action,  being  the  defendant's  answer  to  the  plain- 
tiff -  n  plication.  The  next  allegation  of  the  plain  till'  in 
called  a  surrejoinder.     See  Plbadinu. 


RELAIS. 

BEL  AIS.  In  Fortification,  a  narrow  walk  of  four  or  five 
feet  wide,  left  without  the  rampart  to  receive  the  earth 
which  may  be  washed  down  and  prevent  its  falling  into  the 
ditch.     It  is  sometimes,  for  greater  security,  pallisaded. 

RELA'PSE  (Lat.  relator,  I  fall  back),  is  applied,  in  Ec- 
clesiastical Law,  to  a  heretic  who  falls  back  into  an  error 
which  he  has  abjured. 

RELATION,  INHARMONIC.  In  Music,  a  term  deno- 
ting that  a  dissonant  sound  is  introduced  which  is  not  heard 
in  the  preceding  chord. 

RELE'ASE  (Fr.  relaiser),  in  Law,  signifies,  properly 
speaking,  a  discharge  of  a  right:  e.  g.,  1.  A  release  of  land 
is  a  discharge  or  conveyance  of  a  man's  right  in  lands  and 
tenements  to  another  that  has  some  former  estate  in  pos- 
session, on  which  principle  the  common  mode  of  convey- 
ance by  lease  and  release  is  founded ;  i.  e.,  releasing  all  the 
right  of  the  releasor  to  a  party  already  in  possession  under 
a  lease  for  a  year.  2.  A  release  of  a  right  of  action  ;  which 
may  be  pleaded  in  bar.  (See  Pleading.)  A  release  "of 
all  demands"  discharges  all  sorts  of  actions,  rights,  titles, 
conditions,  executions,  appeals,  covenants,  contracts,  annu- 
ities, rents,  recognisances,  &c. 

RE'LICS  (Lat.  reliqua;),  in  the  Romish  Church,  are  the 
remains  of  saints  and  holy  men,  or  of  their  garments,  &c, 
which  are  enjoined  to  be  held  in  veneration,  and  are  con- 
sidered, in  many  instances,  to  be  endued  with  miraculous 
powers.  They  are  preserved  in  the  churches,  to  which 
they  are  often  the  means  of  attracting  pilgrimages,  and  in 
very  ignorant  times  and  places  have  been  actually  made  ob- 
jects of  adoration.  The  virtues  which  are  attributed  to 
them  are  defended  by  such  instances  from  scripture  as  that 
of  the  miracles  that  were  wrought  by  the  bones  of  Elisha. 
(2  Kings,  xiii.,21.) 

RELIE'F,  in  Feudal  Law,  is  derived  from  the  Latin  re- 
levare,  to  take  up ;  because  the  tenant,  by  payment  of  the 
relief,  was  said  to  take  up  the  fief  which  had  fallen  to  the 
lord  by  the  death,  &c,  of  his  predecessor.  '-The  heir," 
says  Blackstone,  "  when  admitted  to  the  feud  which  his 
ancestor  possessed,  used  generally  to  pay  a  fine  or  acknowl- 
edgment to  the  lord  in  horses,  arms,  money,  or  the  like,  for 
such  renewal  of  the  feud ;  which  was  called  a  relief,  be- 
cause it  raised  up  and  re-established  the  inheritance;  or,  in 
the  words  of  the  feudal  writers,  '  incertam  et  caducam  hiere- 
ditatem  relevabat.'  "  Reliefs,  together  with  the  other  inci- 
dents of  feudal  tenure,  were  abolished  in  England  by  stat. 
12  Car.  2.     .See  Feudal  System. 

Relief.  In  Architecture,  the  projection  of  a  figure  or 
ornament  from  the  ground  or  plane  on  which  it  is  sculp- 
tured. In  Sculpture,  when  the  whole  of  the  figure  stands 
out,  the  work  is  denominated  alto-rilievo ;  when  only  half 
out,  demi-rilievo  ;  and  when  its  projection  is  very  small,  it 
is  called  basso  rilievo. 

Relief,  Rilievo.  In  Sculpture,  that  species  of  sculpture 
in  which  the  figures  are  engaged  on  or  rise  from  a  ground. 
There  are  three  sorts  of  rilievo — basso-rilievo,  in  which  the 
figures  or  other  objects  have  but  small  projection  from  the 
ground  on  which  they  are  sculptured  ;  mezzo-rilievo,  in  which 
the  figures  stand  out  about  half  their  natural  proportions,  the 
other  half  appearing  immersed  in  the  ground ;  and,  lastly, 
alto-rilievo,  in  which  the  figures  stand  completely  out  from 
the  ground,  being  attached  to  it  only  in  a  few  places,  and  in 
others  worked  entirely  round  like  single  statues  ;  such  are 
the  metopae  of  the  Elgin  marbles  in  the  British  Museum, 
which  marbles  also,  in  the  Panathenaic  procession,  exhibit 
some  exquisite  examples  of  basso-rilievo. 

RELIEF  SYNOD.  A  respectable  body  of  Presbyterian 
dissenters  in  Scotland,  whose  ground  of  separation  from  the 
established  church  was  the  violent  exercise  of  lay  patron- 
age which  obtained  in  the  latter.  Though  patronage,  or 
the  appointment  of  clergymen  to  church  benefices  by  pre- 
sentations had  been  established  by  act  of  Parliament  in 
1712,  yet  a  minority  of  the  clergy  were  opposed  to  that 
measure;  at  least  to  the  intrusion  of  a  minister  into  paro- 
chial charge  contrary  to  the  sentiments  of  the  people.  The 
majority  of  the  Church,  however,  entertained  different 
views,  and  rigorously  enforced  the  provisions  of  the  act  of 
1712.  With  this  state  of  things  the  people  generally,  but 
particularly  in  rural  districts,  were  dissatisfied  ;  and  hence 
the  origin  of  the  Secession  Church,  and  the  Relief.  See 
Burghers. 

The  origin  of  the  Relief  may  be  dated  in  1752.  Six  of 
the  ministers  of  the  Presbytery  of  Dunfermline  having  re- 
fused, contrary  to  the  express  authority  of  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  to  assist  at  the  admis- 
sion of  Mr.  Richardson  to  the  parish  of  Inverkeithing  (the 
people  being  unwilling  to  receive  him  as  their  pastor),  were 
summoned  before  this  venerable  court  for  contumacy.  They 
pleaded  conscientious  scruples ;  but  this  representation  had 
no  effect  on  the  assembly  ;  and,  as  an  example  to  the  church, 
one  of  the  six  recusants  was  peremptorily  deposed  from  the 
office  of  the  ministry,  while  the  remaining  five  were  sus- 
pended.   Mr.  Gillespie,  minister  of  Carnock,  the  individ- 


REMAINDER. 

ual  deposed,  still  claimed  his  pastoral  relation  to  his  flock ; 
and  though  deprived  of  the  use  of  the  parish  church, 
preached  in  the  fields,  attended  not  merely  by  his  former 
hearers,  but  by  many  others  attracted  by  the  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances of  the  case.  A  chapel  was  afterwards  built  for 
him  in  the  neighbouring  town  of  Dunfermline,  where  he 
continued  to  preach  till  his  death,  and  to  oppose  the  law  of 
patronage  in  the  church.  Mr.  Gillespie  for  a  few  years 
stood  alone ;  but  in  consequence  of  the  violent  settlement  of 
a  clergyman  in  the  town  of  Jedburgh,  the  great  body  of  the 
people  of  that  place,  forsaking  the  established  church,  gave 
a  call  (1759)  to  Mr.  Thomas  Boston,  minister  of  a  neighbour- 
ing parish,  to  be  their  pastor.  Mr.  Boston,  for  whom  they 
erected  a  chapel,  accepted  the  invitation,  and  withdrew 
from  the  Church  of  Scotland.  Owing  to  exactly  similar 
circumstances,  the  people  of  the  parish  of  Kilconquhar,  in 
Fifeshire,  followed  the  example  set  them  in  Jedburgh,  and 
chose  Mr.  Collier  to  be  their  minister.  On  the  22d  of  No- 
vember, 1759,  Mr.  Gillespie  and  Mr.  Boston,  with  a  lay  elder 
from  each  of  their  congregations,  met  in  a  presbyterian  ca- 
pacity at  Colinsburgh,  in  the  last  mentioned  parish,  to  in- 
duct Mr.  Collier  to  his  charge.  On  the  evening  of  the  same 
day  these  three  ministers  met,  and  agreed  to  form  them- 
selves into  an  ecclesiastical  body,  to  be  called  the  "Pres- 
bytery of  Relief,  for  the  relief  of  Christians  oppressed  in 
their  Christian  privileges."  This  sect  gradually  gained  ac- 
cession to  their  number  from  causes  similar  to  those  which 
we  have  already  detailed,  and  at  length  formed  themselves 
into  a  synod,  which,  at  this  date  (1842),  embraces  eleven 
presbyteries,  including  116  congregations  ;  being,  in  point  of 
numbers  and  influence,  the  third  ecclesiastical  body  in  Scot- 
land. The  founders  of  the  Relief  professed  to  differ  from 
the  established  church  on  no  point  other  than  the  right  of 
patrons  to  appoint  ministers  against  the  inclinations  of  the 
people.  This  still  constitutes  the  leading  characteristic  of 
the  sect ;  but  on  this  they  have  engrafted  voluntary  church 
principles,  or  are  hostile  to  the  principle  of  a  national  church, 
or  to  state  endowments  of  religion.  The  Secession  and 
Relief  are  at  present  engaged  in  considering  overtures  made 
mutually  to  each  other  for  forming  a  union  of  the  two  de- 
nominations. The  Relief  Synod  have  a  professor  of  di- 
vinity in  their  own  connexion.  (Smith's  Hist.  Sketches  of 
the  Relief  Church ;  Hutchison's  Compendious  flew  of  the 
Synod  of  Relief;  Adam's  Relig.  World  Displayed,  vol.  iii., 
p.  223-232 ;  M'Kerrow's  Hist,  of  Secession,  v.  i.,  319-324, 
326-328.1 

RELIE'VING  TACKLES.  Temporary  tackles  attached 
to  the  end  of  the  tiller  in  bad  weather  to  assist  the  helms- 
man, and  in  case  of  accident  happening  to  the  tiller  ropes. 
They  are  also  strong  tackles  from  the  wharf  to  which  the 
ship  is  hove  down,  passed  under  her  bottom  and  attached 
to  the  opposite  side,  to  assist  in  righting  her  afterwards,  as 
well  as  to  prevent  her  from  oversetting  entirely. 

RE'LIQUARY.  A  receptacle  for  the  relics  venerated  in 
Roman  Catholic  churches.  The  difference  between  a  reli- 
quary and  a  case  (Fr.  chasse)  used  for  the  same  purpose  is, 
that  the  former  is  smaller  in  dimensions,  and  contains  only 
small  fragments ;  the  latter,  in  many  instances,  entire  bodies. 

REMAI'NDER.  The  difference  of  two  quantities  left 
after  the  less  is  subtracted  from  the  greater. 

Remainder.  A  remainder,  in  Law,  is  a  future  estate  in 
land,  tenements,  or  hereditaments,  limited  to  arise  after  the 
determination  of  another  estate  ;  as  if  land  be  granted  to 
A  for  twenty  years,  and  afterwards  to  B  and  his  heirs  for 
ever,  B  has  a  remainder  in  fee.  An  estate  in  reversion  is 
the  residue  left  in  the  grantor,  to  commence  in  posses- 
sion after  the  determination  of  some  particular  estate  grant- 
ed out  by  him ;  as  if  A,  being  seised  in  fee-simple,  gives  to 
B  and  his  heirs  male  of  his  body  (thus  creating  an  es- 
tate tail),  on  the  failure  of  such  heirs  male  the  land  given 
reverts  to  A,  who,  therefore,  prior  to  such  failure,  has  an 
estate  in  reversion  in  the  lands.  Remainders  are  either 
vested  or  contingent ;  vested  or  executed,  where  the  estate 
is  invariably  fixed,  to  remain  to  a  determinate  person  after 
the  preceding  estate  (called  the  particular  estate)  is  spent. 
In  this  case,  the  remainder  man  has  a  present  interest  to  be 
enjoyed  in  futuro.  Contingent  remainders,  otherwise  called 
executory,  are  defined  to  be  "  where  the  estate  in  remainder 
is  limited  to  take  effect  either  to  an  uncertain  person,  or 
upon  an  uncertain  event ;  so  that  the  particular  estate  may 
chance  to  be  determined,  and  the  remainder  never  take  ef- 
fect." The  doctrines  of  law  with  reference  to  these  es- 
tates have  gradually  been  moulded  into  a  system  so  intri- 
cate, and  replete  with  the  most  refined  distinctions,  that  it 
would  be  impossible  to  give  a  cursory  view  of  this  branch 
of  our  jurisprudence.  An  instance  of  a  vested  remainder 
is  to  be  found  in  the  example  before  cited  of  an  estate 
granted  to  one  party  for  a  term  of  years,  and  afterwards  to 
another  in  fee  simple.  A  contingent  remainder  limited  to 
an  uncertain  person  is  where,  for  instance,  there  is  an  estate 
to  A  for  life,  and  afterwards  to  B's  eldest  son  (then  unborn). 
And  in  order  to  prevent  the  accumulation  of  future  possi- 

1047 


REMBLAT. 

ble  estates,  the  rule  of  law  is.  ili.it  no  Limitation  by  way  of 
remainder  01  executor]  devise  (».  ».,  a  grant  of  a  contingent 
remainder  by  w ill  i  shall  be  good  which  is  to  take  effect  af- 
ter the  determination  of  a  life  or  lives  in  being  and  2] 
(the  period  of  niiooritj )  afterwards.    An  instance  of  a  con- 

tJUL'cnt  remainder  limited  on  an  uncertain  event  is  where 
laud  is  given  tn  A  for  life,  and  in  case  1!  survives  A  then  to 
B  in  fee. 

The  particular  estate,  which  precedes  in  legal  language 
supports)  a  vested  remainder,  may  he  either  of  years,  or  of 

freehold;  to  support  a  contingent  remainder  it  must  neces- 
sarily be  of  freehold. 

RRMBTiAL  (Fr.)  A  term  used  in  Fortification  to  de- 
note the  earth  or  materials  used  in  filling  up  a  trench  or  ex- 
cavation. It  is  opposed  to  deblai,  which  denotes  the  mate- 
rials o\ca\  ated. 

REMEMBRANCERS.  Officers  of  the  Court  of  Exche- 
quer, who  perform  various  functions,  the  chief  of  which  is 
to  put  the  judges  of  that  court  in  reun  inhrance  of  BUch 
things  as  are  to  be  called  on  or  done  for  the  king's  benefit 
They  were  formerly  three  in  number;  the  king's  remem- 
brancer, the  lord  treasurer's  remembrancer,  and  the  remem- 
brancer of  first  fruits ;  hut  the  duties  of  the  second  of  these 
officers  were  merged  in  the  tirst  by  3  &.  4  Will.  4,  c.  99. 

RF.'.MICES.  (Lat.  remigo,  /  row.)  The  quill  feathers 
of  the  wings  of  a  bird,  which,  like  oars,  propel  it  through 
the  air. 

RE'MTPEDS,  Remipcdes.  (Lat.  rema,  an  oar;  pes,  a 
foot.)  The  name  of  an  order  of  Coleopterous  insects,  inclu- 
ding those  which  have  tarsi  adapted  fur  swimming.  See 
Ni  i  ropoDS. 

H  EM  I'TTENT  FEVER.  Any  fever  which  suffers  a  de- 
cided remission  in  its  violence  during  the  twenty-four  hours, 
but  without  entirely  leaving  the  patient,  is  called  a  remit- 
tent ;  it  differs  from  an  intermittent  in  there  never  being  a 
total  absence  of  fever.  These  fevers  are  most  common  in 
autumn,  and  they  vary  in  degree  from  extreme  mildness  to 
alarming  violence,  and  are  both  inflammatory  and  malig- 
nant. The  remittent  fever  of  children,  or,  as  it  is  often 
called,  the  infantile  fever,  is  generally  symptomatic  either 
of  worms  in  the  intestines,  or  of  a  foul  state  of  bowels,  aris- 
ing from  inattention  to  diet,  or  from  the  indigestible  trash 
which  children  frequently  indulge  in:  the  tongue  is  very 
foul,  the  head  aches,  the  belly  is  tumid,  food  is  loathed; 
the  child  is  drowsy  all  day,  but  restless  and  often  deliri- 
ous at  night,  and  the  bowels  torpid.  A  proper  system  of 
purging  is  the  most  essential  part  of  the  treatment  in  these 
cases;  and  under  it  the  symptoms,  though  often  alarming 
and  obstinate,  gradually  give  way.  Calomel,  with  scam 
monyand  jalap,  aided,  if  necessary,  by  infusion  of  senna  and 
aperient  salts,  are  the  principal  remedies,  and  saline  draughts 
and  diluents  in  the  intervals,  If  bilious  diarrhoea  ensue, 
with  vomiting,  the  irritability  of  the  stomach  must  be  allay- 
ed by  effervescing  salines,  and  that  of  the  bowels  by  very 
Dild  aperients;  if  the  head  is  much  affected,  cold  and  evap 
orating  lotions  may  he  used.  Good  air,  thorough  ventila- 
tion, and  light  farinaceous  diet,  with  the  above  treatment, 
generally  effect  a  cure  ;  hut  the  disorder  is  often  very  obsti- 
nate, and  continues  for  three  weeks  or  a  month.     The  yel- 

loir  frri  r.  or  bilious  remittent  of  hot  climates,  and  especially 
of  the  West  Indies,  is  another  form  of  this  fever ;  it  appears 
to  be  produced  by  marsh  miasma.  In  all  these  fevers  par- 
ticular symptoms  occasionally  present  themselves,  which 
require  particular  modes  of  treatment;  and  this  must  also 
be  modified  according  to  the  inflammatory,  malignant,  ner- 
vous, or  intermittent  form  which  they  may  assume  or  pass 
into. 

REMONSTRANTS.    In  Ecclesiastical  History.    SeeAR- 

M1M  \ns. 

RE'MPH  IN.  An  idol  worshipped  by  the  Israelites  while 
in  the  wilderness,  according  to  the  language  of  St.  Stephen, 
as  recorded  in  the  Acts,  »  Ye  took  up  the  tabernacle  of  Mo 

lOCh,  and  the  star  of  your  god  Remphan."     In  this  passage 

commentators  are  agreed  that  St.  Stephen  quotes  the  words 
of  Amos,  -Ye  have  home  the  tabernacle  of  your  Moloch 

and  Chinn,  your  images."  Chiun  anil  Remphan  are,  th.  re 
fore,  the  same,  and  both  are   thought  to  he  personifications 

of  Sirius,  the  1  tog -tar.  [F.nr.  Brit.)  Chiun  is  supposed 
by  si, I,,,.  I,,  |M.  the  same  word  a-  Chan  or  Khan.  Chagan, 
Kiinig,  "king;"  Remphan  or  Raiphan,  "high  or  exalted 
light." 

RENAL  GLANDS.  There  is  a  glandular  body  upon 
each  kidney  o|'  a  somewhat  triangular  shape,  small  in  the 
adult,  but  in  the  fOBlUS  longer  than  the  kidney  ;  it  is  called 
the  renal,  or  supra-renal,  gland  or  capsule;  it  has  no  excre- 
tory duct,  ami  us  use  is  unknown. 

RENDERED.    In  Architecture.    Se«  Hindered  andSet. 

Rendered  ash  Floated,  in  Architecture, plastering  of 
three  coats  on  brickwork. 

RENDERED   ami  S«T.     In   Architecture,  a  term   used   to 

denote  plastering  of  two  coats  on  naked  brick  or  stonework. 

If  the  work  Is  to  he  of  three  coats,  it  is  called  roughing  >n. 
1048 


RENT. 

Pricking  up  is  the  first  of  three-coat  plaster  on  lath,  or  on 
brickwork,  that  has  been  previously  rendered.  The  mate- 
rials lor  rendering  and  pricking  up  are  the  same. 

Rendered,  Floated,  and  Set  for  Paper.  In  Archi- 
tecture, plastering  of  three  coats;  the  tirst  being  lime  and 

hair  upon  buck  work  ;  the  sen  mil.  the  same  compound,  with 
the  addition  of  a  little  more  hair,  and  then  floated  with  a 
long  rule;  the  third.  Jim  stuff  mixed  with  white  hair. 

RENNET,  or  RUNNET.    The  prepared  inner  membrane 

of  the  calf's  stomach,  which  has  the  property  of  coagula- 
ting the  albumen  of  milk  and  converting  it  into  curd  and 
whey. 

RENT.  (I, at.  reditus  ;  Fr.  fermage,  loyer  des  terres.) 
In  Political  Economy,  and  in  ordinary  language,  the  sum 
paid  by  llie  fanners  or  lessees  of  lands  to  the  landlords. 

In  order  to  acquire  clear  and  correct  ideas  with  respect  to 

the  nature  and  origin  of  rent,  it  is  necessary  to  discriminate 
between  the  sources  whence  it  usually  arises  ;  that  is,  be- 
tween the  portion  paid  tor  the  use  of  the  natural  and  inhe- 
rent powers  of  the  soil,  and  the  portion  paid  for  the  use  of 

the  buildings,  fences,  drains,  mads,  and  other  improvements 

made  upon  the  soil.  Two  farms  may  be  naturally  of  about 
equal  goodness,  and  equally  well  situated;  hut  if  little  or 
no  capital  have  been  laid  out  on  the  one,  while  a  great  deal 
has  been  judiciously  laid  out  on  the  other,  they  will  let  for 
very  different  sums.  It  is  usual,  no  doubt,  to  class  all  sums 
derived  from  hind,  whatever  may  be  their  origin,  under  the 
common  name  of  rent;  hut  it  is  obviously  necessary,  in  an 
inquiry  of  this  sort,  to  distinguish  between  the  sums  paid 
for  the  use  of  the  land  and  those  paid  for  the  use  of  the 
improvements,  if  there  be  any,  made  upon  it.  Landlords 
are,  for  the  most  part,  capitalists  as  well  as  owners  of  the 
soil  :  and  the  sums  paid  to  them  by  their  tenants  for  the 
use  of  the  capital  expended  upon  the  soil,  though  included 
under  the  term  rent,  are  substantially  and  in  tact  profits, 
and  depend  wholly  on  the  circumstances  by  which  they  are 
governed.  Rrnt  really,  therefore,  consists  of  that  portion 
of  the  gross  sum  paid  far  laml,  that  is,  paid  for  the  use  of 
tin  natural  ami  into  r,  at  powers  of  the  soil,  or  that  mould  be 
paid  fur  the  land  supposing  it  to  hi  in  a  state  of  nature,  and 
without  any  improvement  upon  it.  The  owners  of  the  soil 
receive  this  portion  of  their  gross  income,  not  because  they 
are  capitalists,  but  because  they  are  landlords.  And  we 
shall  now  briefly  endeavour  to  exhibit  the  origin  of  this  pay- 
ment, or  of  rent,  in  the  scientific  and  restricted  sense  of  the 
term. 

Origin  of  Rent. — On  the  first  settling  of  any  country 
abounding  in  large  tracts  of  unappropriated  land,  rent,  in 
the  sense  now  explained,  is  unknown  ;  and  for  this  obvious 
reason,  that  no  person  will  pay  rent  for  what  may  be  pro- 
cured in  unlimited  quantities  for  nothing.  In  such  countries 
rent  only  begins  to  appear  when  the  best  of  the  unappropri- 
ated lands  have  become  private  property  and  been  occupied. 
Suppose,  however,  this  comes  to  be  the  case,  and  that  the 
population  has  increased,  so  that  the  demand  for  raw  prod- 
uce can  no  longer  be  supplied  by  the  culture  of  the  best 
lands:  under  these  circumstances,  it  is  plain  either  that 
population  must  become  stationary,  or  that  the  price  of  raw 
produce  must  rise  so  as  to  enable  inferior  lands  to  be  culti- 
vated. No  advance  short  of  this  will  procure  another 
bushel  of  corn;  and  competition  will  not,  as  will  be  imme- 
diately seen,  allow  prices  to  rise  permanently  above  this 
level.  Under  the  circumstances  supposed,  the  inhabitants 
have  but  one  alternative.  If  they  pay  a  price  sufficient  to 
cover  the  expense  of  cultivating  secondary  lands,  they  will 
obtain  additional  supplies;  if  they  do  not,  they  must  be 
without  them. 

Suppose,  now,  that  the  price  rises  so  as  to  pay  the  expense 
of  raising  corn  on  soils  which,  in  return  for  the  same  ex- 
penditure that  would  produce  1(10  quarters  on  lands  of  the 
tirst  quality,  will  only  yield  HO  quarters ;  it  is  plain  it  will 
then  be  indifferent  to  a  farmer  whether  he  pay  a  rent  of 
ten  quarters  for  the  first  quality  Of  land,  or  farm  tile  second 
quality,  which  is  unappropriated  and  open,  wilhoul  paving 
any  rent.  If  the  population  went  on  increasing,  lands 
w  hub  would  yield  only  80,  70,  fid,  50,  &c,  quarters  in  re- 
turn for  the  same  expenditure  that  had  raised  100  quarters 
on  the  best  lands  might  be  successively  brought  under  cul- 
tivation. And  When  recourse  has  been  had  to  these  Inferior 
foels.  the  Corn  renl  Of  those  that  are  superior  would  plainly 
be  equal  to  the  ditlerence  between  the  quantity  of  produce 
obtained  from  them  and  the  quantity  obtained  from  the 
WOrSl  quality  under  tillage.  Suppose,  for  example,  that  IhO 
WOTSt  quality   cultivated  J  lelds  60  quarters,  then  the  rent  of 

the  first  quality  w  ill  be  40  quarters,  or  100—60;  the  rent  of 

the  second  quality  will,  in  like  manner,  he  equal  to  the  dif- 
ference between  'JO  and  00,  or  :ill  quarters  ;  the  rent  of  the 
third  quality  will  he  equal  to  80  —  00,  or  LJ0  ipiarlers,  and 
BO  on  ;  the  produce  raised  on  the  land  last  cultivated,  or  by 
means  of  the  capital  Ia8t  applied  to  the  soil,  being  all   the 

while  sold  at  u-  necessary  price,  or  at  that  price  which  is 
sufficient  merely  to  cover  the  cost  of  its  production,  Inclu- 


RENT. 


ding  therein  the  ordinary  rate  of  profit  on  the  capital  of  the 
cultivators.  If  the  price  were  above  this  level,  agriculture 
would  be  a  peculiarly  profitable  business,  and  tillage  would 
be  immediately  extended  :  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the  price 
fell  below  this  level,  capital  would  be  withdrawn  from  the 
soil,  and  the  poorer  lands  thrown  out  of  cultivation.  Under 
such  circumstances,  it  is  clear  that  rent  could  not  enter  into 
the  price  of  that  portion  of  the  necessary  supply  of  produce 
raised  by  means  of  the  capital  last  applied  to  the  soil.  Its 
price  is  exclusively  made  up  of  wages  and  profits.  The 
proprietors  of  the  superior  lands  obtain  rent ;  but  this  is  the 
necessary  result  of  their  greater  fertility.  The  demand 
cannot  be  supplied  without  cultivating  inferior  soils,  the 
produce  of  which  must  necessarily  sell  for  such  a  price  as 
will  afford  the  ordinary  rate  of  profit  to  their  cultivators. 
This  price  will,  however,  yield  a  surplus  over  and  above 
the  ordinary  rate  of  profit  to  the  cultivators  of  the  more  fer- 
tile lands ;  and  it  is  this  surplus  that  forms  rent. 

In  so  far,  therefore,  as  rent  is  a  return  for  the  use  of  the 
soil,  and  not  for  the  capital  laid  out  on  improvements,  it 
results  entirely  from  the  necessity  of  resorting,  as  population 
increases,  to  soils  of  a  decreasing  degree  of  fertility,  or  of 
applying  capital  to  the  old  land  with  a  less  return.  It  va- 
ries inversely  as  the  produce  obtained  by  means  of  the  cap- 
ital and  labour  employed  in  cultivation  ;  increasing  when 
the  profits  of  agricultural  labour  diminish,  and  diminishing 
when  they  increase.  Profits  are  at  their  maximum  in  coun- 
tries like  Australia,  Indiana,  and  Illinois  ;  and  generally  in 
all  situations  in  which  no  rent  is  paid,  and  the  best  of  the 
good  lands  only  are  cultivated ;  but  it  cannot  be  said  that 
rents  have  attained  their  maximum  so  long  as  capital  yields 
any  surplus  in  the  shape  of  profit. 

A  quarter  of  wheat  may  be  raised  in  Kent  or  Essex,  or  in 
the  Carse  of  Gowrie,  for  a.  fourth  or  a  fifth  part,  perhaps,  of 
the  expense  necessary  to  raise  it  on  the  worst  soils  in  culti- 
vation in  the  less  fertile  parts  of  the  country.  The  same 
article  cannot,  however,  have  two  or  more  prices  at  the 
same  time  and  in  the  same  market.  And  it  is  plain,  that  if 
the  price  be  not  such  as  will  indemnify  the  producers  of  the 
wheat  raised  on  the  worst  soils,  they  will  cease  bringing  it 
to  market,  and  the  required  supplies  will  no  longer  be  ob- 
tained; while,  if  the  price  exceed  this  sum,  fresh  capital 
will  be  applied  to  its  production,  and  competition  will  soon 
sink  prices  to  their  natural  level ;  that  is,  to  such  a  sum  as 
will  afford  the  common  and  ordinary  rate  of  profit  to  the 
raisers  of  that  portion  of  the  required  supply  which  is  pro 
duced  under  the  most  unfavourable  circumstances,  or  at  the 
greatest  expense.  The  cost  of  producing  this  portion  gov- 
erns the  price  of  the  whole  crop.  It  is  plainly,  therefore, 
the  same  thing  to  the  consumers  whether,  in  an  advanced 
stage  of  society,  the  excess  of  return  over  the  cost  of  pro- 
duction on  superior  lands  belong  to  a  non-resident  landlord 
or  an  occupier.  It  must  belong  to  the  one  or  the  other. 
Corn  is  not  high  because  rent  is  paid,  but  rent  is  paid  be- 
cause corn  is  high ;  because  the  demand  is  such  that  it 
cannot  be  supplied  without  cultivating  soils  of  a  diminished 
degree  of  fertility  as  compared  with  the  best.  Suppose 
there  is  in  any  country  an  effectual  demand  for  ten  millions 
of  quarters  of  corn  ;  that  nine  millions  may  be  raised  upon 
lands  that  yield  a  high  rent ;  but  that  it  is  necessary  to  raise 
the  other  million  on  inferior  lands,  which  yield  nothing  but 
the  common  and  average  rate  of  profit  to  their  cultivators. 
Under  these  circumstances,  it  is  clear  that  the  relinquishing 
of  the  rents  payable  by  the  cultivators  of  the  superior  lands 
would  be  no  boon  to  the  cultivators  of  those  that  are  infe- 
rior. It  would  not  lessen  their  expenses ;  that  is.  it  would 
not  lessen  the  capital  and  labour  employed  by  them  in  the 
production  of  that  portion  of  the  required  supply  raised  on 
their  lands  ;  and  unless  it  did  this,  it  is  obviously  impossi- 
ble, supposing  the  demand  not  to  decline,  that  it  could  lower 
prices.  Although,  therefore,  landlords  were  to  give  up  the 
whole  of  the  rents,  their  doing  so  would  have  no  influence 
over  prices.  Such  an  act  would  turn  farmers  into  landlords, 
and  landlords  into  beggars;  but  there  its  effect  would  stop. 
But  the  case  is  entirely  different  when  the  cost  of  production 
varies.  If  it  diminish,  the  competition  of  the  producers  will 
infallibly  sink  prices  in  the  same  proportion.  If  it  increase, 
no  supplies  will  be  brought  to  market/unless  the  price  rise 
to  a  corresponding  level.  In  no  case,  therefore,  whether 
the  demand  be  great  or  small,  whether  it  be  for  one  thou- 
sand or  one  million  quarters,  can  the  price  of  raw  produce 
ever  permanently  exceed  or  fall  below  the  sum  necessary 
to  pay  the  cost  of  producing  that  portion  of  the  required 
supply  that  is  raised  on  the  worst  land,  or  by  means  of  the 
last  capital  laid  out  on  the  soil. 

It  has  been  objected  to  this  theory,  that,  though  it  mav 
apply  in  unappropriated  countries  like  New  Holland,  it  wiil 
not  apply  in  countries  like  England,  where  land  is  univer- 
sally appropriated,  and  where,  it  is  alleged,  the  worst  quali- 
ties always  yield  some  small  rent  to  the  proprietor. 

It  may  be  observed  of  this  objection,  that,  even  if  it  were 
well  founded,  it  would  not  practically  affect  the  conclusions 


previously  established.  There  are  in  England  and  Scotland 
vast  tracts  of  land  which  do  not  let  for  Gd.  an  acre  ;  but  to 
cultivate  them  would  require  an  outlay  of  many  thousands 
of  pounds,  and  the  rent  would  consequently  bear  so  small  a 
proportion  to  the  expenses  of  production  as  to  become  alto- 
gether evanescent  and  inappreciable. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  there  is  in  this,  and 
most  other  extensive  countries,  a  great  deal  of  land  which 
yields  no  rent.  In  the  United  States  and  Russia,  such  is 
unquestionably  the  case ;  and  yet  no  one  presumes  to  say 
that  the  laws  which  govern  rent  in  them  are  different  from 
those  which  govern  it  in  England  and  France.  The  poor- 
est lands  are  always  let  in  immense  tracts.  If  it  were  at- 
tempted to  let  particular  portions  of  these  tracts  separately, 
no  one  would  offer  for  them  ;  but  they  appear  to  yield  rent, 
because,  though  they  really  fetch  nothing,  the  more  fertile 
spots  with  which  they  are  intermixed  may,  in  most  cases, 
be  let  for  a  larger  or  smaller  rent.  But,  though  every  rood 
of  land  in  Britain  paid  a  high  rent,  it  might  still  be  truly  af- 
firmed that  such  rent  did  not  enter  into  the  price  of  raw 
produce.  The  rent  of  a  country  consists  of  the  difference, 
or  the  value  of  the  difference,  between  the  produce  obtained 
through  the  agency  of  the  capital  first  applied  to  the  land 
and  that  which  is  last  applied  to  it.  It  would,  as  already 
seen,  be  exactly  the  same  thing  to  a  cultivator,  whether  he 
paid  a  rent  of  ten  quarters  to  a  landlord  for  land  yielding, 
with  a  certain  outlay,  100  quarters  of  corn,  or  employed  the 
same  capital  in  cultivating  inferior  land  yielding  only  90 
quarters  for  which  he  paid  no  rent.  Were  it  possible  al- 
ways to  go  on  obtaining  equal  returns  for  every  equal  addi- 
tional capital  applied  to  the  superior  soils,  no  person,  it  is 
obvious,  would  ever  resort  to  those  of  inferior  fertility  ;  and, 
under  such  circumstances,  the  largest  population  might  be 
supported  on  the  smallest  extent  of  land.  But  such  is  not 
the  law  under  which  food  is  obtained ;  and  the  fact  that  in 
the  progress  of  society  new  and  less  fertile  land  is  invariably 
brought  under  cultivation,  demonstrates  that  additional  cap- 
ifil  and  labour  cannot  be  indefinitely  applied  with  the  same 
advantage  to  the  old  land.  The  state  of  a  country  may  be 
such,  the  deniand  for  agricultural  produce  may  be  so  great, 
that  every  quality  of  land  yields  rent ;  but  it  is  the  same 
thing,  in  respect  of  this  theory,  if  there  be  any  capital  em- 
ployed  on  land  which  yields  only  the  ordinary  rate  of  profit, 
whether  it  be  employed  on  old  or  new  land.  And  that  there 
is  everywhere  a  very  large  amount  of  capital  employed  in 
such  a  manner,  is  a  feet  of  which  there  cannot  be  any  doubt 
Whatever.  The  owners  and  occupiers  of  land  are  influen- 
ced by  the  same  principles,  in  the  employment  of  their  cap- 
ital and  labour,  that  influence  other  men.  Like  them,  they 
endeavour,  in  prosecuting  their  own  interest,  so  to  adjust  the 
capital  they  employ  that  the  last  quantity  laid  out  may  yield 
the  common  and  ordinary  rate  of  profit,  neither  more  nor 
less.  Suppose,  for  example,  that  a  landlord  occupies  a  farm 
which  he  might  let  for  £200  a  year,  producing,  with  a  cer- 
tain outlay  of  capital,  300  quarters  of  wheat.  If  the  farm 
be  managed  with  the  requisite  skill  and  attention,  the  wheat 
should,  at  an  average,  sell  for  so  much  money  as  is  equiva- 
lent to  the  rent,  the  expense  of  labour,  and  the  profit  on  the 
capital  employed.  Suppose,  now,  that  the  landlord  finds 
that  by  laying  nut  additional  capital  on  the  farm  it  may  be 
made  to  yield  10,  20,  50,  or  100  quarters  more,  he  will  make 
the  outlay,  provided  the  additional  produce  yield  the  ordi- 
nary rate  of  profit.  He  will  not  wait,  before  commencing 
the  improvement,  until  prices  rise  to  a  still  higher  elevation. 
It  will  be  quite  enough  to  induce  him  immediately  to  set 
about  it,  that  they  are  such  as  afford  a  fair  prospect  of  real- 
izing the  usual  return  on  the  capital  to  be  expended.  He 
will,  in  fact,  act  exactly  as  the  merchant  or  manufacturer 
acts  who  sends  another  ship  to  sea,  or  builds  another  cotton 
mill,  whenever  he  supposes  that  the  capital  so  embarked 
will  yield  customary  profits.  And,  supposing  that  the  farm 
is  let  to  a  tenant,  he.  it  is  obvious,  will  do  the  very  same  thing 
as  the  proprietor,  if  he  obtain  so  much  more  profit  as  will, 
over  and  above  the  usual  return,  suffice  to  replace  the  cap- 
ital itself  previously  to  the  termination  of  his  lease.  Wheth- 
er he  will  employ  this  additional  capital  depends  entirely 
on  the  circumstance  of  prices  being  such  as  will  repay  his 
expenses  and  profits ;  for  he  knows  he  will  have  no  addi- 
tional rent  to  pay.  Even  at  the  expiration  of  his  lease,  the 
fact  of  an  additional  capital  having  been  employed  would 
not  ecrasion  any  rise  of  rent,  unless  in  so  far  as  some  por- 
tion of  it,  by  being  permanently  incorporated  with  the  soil, 
may  increase  its  productive  powers;  and  were  his  landlord 
to  require  more  rent  because  a  greater  moveable  capital  had 
been  employed,  he  would  cease  to  employ  it,  since  by  the 
supposition  he  gets  only  the  same  profit  he  might  get  by 
employing  it  in  any  other  department  of  industry. 

If  we  reverse  the  previous  suppositions,  and  suppose  that 
the  owner  of  a  farm  finds  that,  owing  to  a  fall  in  the  price 
of  corn,  the  capital  employed  in  its  cultivation  does  not  yield 
the  common  and  ordinary"  rate  of  profit,  he  will  then,  acting 
on  the  same  principle  that  led  him  in  the  other  case  to  in- 
3  T  *  1049 


RENT. 


Crease  the  capital  on  the  farm,  withdraw  a  part  or,  it  may 
be  the  Whole,  of  such  capital  :  ami,  supposing  it  to  be  Jet, 
the  rent  would  be  proportionally  reduced  at  the  end  of  the 
lease,  or  sooner. 

li  la  DOI  to  be  supposed  that  we  mean  to  affirm  that  these 
result-;  follow  immedi  itely,  and  without  any  difficulty,  on  a 
rise  or  fall  of  prices  :  on  the  contrary,  they  take  place  only 
■-  :  and  are  often  productive,  on  the  one  hand,  of 
peculiar  advantages,  and,  on  the  other,  of  peculiar  sacrifices. 
But,  in  purely  theoretical  inquiries,  or  such  as  have  the  es 
tablisbmenl  of  principles  for  their  object,  such  accidental 
circumstances  may  be  overlooked;  and  it  may,  generally 
speaking,  be  said  that  the  last  portion  of  capital  laid  out  on 
the  soil  yields  only  the  common  and  average  rate  of  profit. 
If,  on  the  one  hand,  it  were  to  yield  more,  fresh  capital 
would  be  drawn  to  agriculture,  and  competition  would  sink 
prices  to  such  a  level  that  they  would  only  yield  this  rate. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  capital  last  applied  to  the  soil 
should  yield  less  than  this  common  and  average  rate,  it 
would  be  v.  ithdrawn  until,  by  the  rise  of  price,  the  last  re- 
maining portion  of  capital  left  this  rate  to  its  owners:  and 
hence  it  follows  that,  whether  the  last  quality  of  land  taken 
into  cultivation  yield  rent  or  not,  the  last  capital  applied  to 
the  land  yields  only  the  common  and  average  rate  of  profit : 
and,  consequently,  the  price  of  the  produce  which  it  yields, 
and  which  determines  the  price  of  all  the  rest,  is  totally  un- 
affected by  rent. 

It  is  farther  said  by  those  who  have  cavilled  at  this  theo- 
ry, that  it  represents  the  cultivation  of  had  land  as  the  cause 
of  rent;  whereas  it  is,  they  affirm,  the  growing  demand  of 
the  population  for  food  that  is  its  cause,  it  being  the  rise  of 
price  consequent  upon  this  increased  demand  that  occasions 
the  cultivation  of  bad  lands,  and  the  payment  of  a  rent  for 
those  that  are  superior.  This,  however,  is,  at  best,  mere 
verbal  trithng.  The  demand  of  the  population  for  corn  ele- 
vates its  price  to  such  a  height  as  is  necessary  to  obtain  the 
required  supply,  and  may,  therefore,  be  truly  said  to  be  the 
cause  of  its  being  produced;  but  rent  originates  in  the  pecu- 
liar circumstances  under  w  Inch  supplies  of  corn  are  produ- 
ced. Were  it  not  that  it  is  most  frequently  necessary,  in 
obtaining  increased  supplies  of  corn,  to  resort  to  soils  of  dif- 
ferent degrees  of  fertility,  or  to  apply  capital,  with  a  less 
return,  to  the  old  land,  rent  would  be  altogether  unknown; 
nor,  though  the  demand  for  corn  were  increased  in  a  ten- 
fold proportion,  would  prices  be  permanently  elevated.  It 
does,  therefore,  seem  to  be  logically,  as  well  as  substantially 
correct,  to  affirm  that  the  decreasing  fertility  of  the  soil  is 
the  immediate  cause  of  rent,  and  that  its  amount  is  deter- 
mined by  the  extent  to  which  bad  land  is  cultivated  or  good 
land  forced. 

This  analysis  of  the  nature  and  causes  of  rent  discovers 
an  important  distinction  between  agricultural,  and  commer- 
cial, and  manufacturing  industry.  In  manufactures,  the 
worst  machinery  is  first  set  in  motion,  and  every  day  its 
powers  are  improved  by  new  inventions,  and  it  is  rendered 
capable  of  yielding  a  greater  amount  of  produce  with  the 
same  expense  ;  and  as  no  limits  can  he  assigned  to  the 
quantity  of  improved  machinery  that  may  he  introduced, 
as  a  million  of  steam  engines  maybe  constructed  for  the 
same,  or  rather  for  a  less  proportional  expense  than  is  re- 
quired Cor  the  construction  of  one,  competition  never  fails 
to  reduce  the  price  of  manufactured  commodities  to  the 
sum  for  which  they  may  he  purchased,  according  to  the 
least  expensive  method  of  production. 

In  agriculture,  on  the  contrary,  the  best  machines,  or  best 
soil-,  are  brought  first  into  use  ;  and  recourse  is  afterwards 
hail  to  interior  soils,  or  those  requiring  a  greater  expenditure 
to  make  them  yield  the  same  supplies,  it  is  true  that  Im- 
provements iii  'In'  construction  Of  farming  implements,  the 
discovery  of  more  efficient  manures,  and  the  Introduction 
of  more  prolific  crops  and  improved  systems  of  management, 
Increase  in  a  high  degree  the  productiveness  of  the  soil, 
and  proportionally  reduce  the  price  of  raw  produce ;  but  a 
fall  of  price,  though  permanent  in  manufactures,  is  only 
temporary  in  agriculture.  When  the  price  of  corn  is  re- 
duced, all  classes  obtain  greater  quantities  than  before  in 
exchange  lor  their  products,  or  their  labour;  hence  the 
rate  of  profit,  and,  consequently,  tie-  accumulation  of  capital, 
are  both  increased  :  ami  tin-  Increase,  bj  causing  a  greater 

demand  for  labour  and  higher  wages,  leads,  in  the  end,  to 
ise  of  population,  and  a  further  demand  for  raw 
produce  and  an  extended  cultivation.  Agricultural  im- 
pi  ivements  obviate,  sometimes  for  a  lengthened  period,  the 
necessity  of  having  recourse  to  inferior  -oils .  still,  hou  et  er, 
this  effect  cannol  lie  permanent.  The  stimulus  which  they  | 
at  the  same  time  give  to  population,  and  the  natural  ten- 
dency of  mankind  to  increase  up  to  the  means  of  subsistence,  ' 
is  sure,  iii  the  long  run,  to  raise  prices,  and,  by  forcing  re-  j 

Course  to  poor  lands,  rents  also. 

In  illustrating  this  important  distinction  between  agricul- 
ture and   manufacturing  industry,  Mr.  Malthas   DBS  set   the 

theory  of  rent  in  a  striking  point  of  view.     "The  earth," 
1050 


he  observes,  "  has  been  sometimes  compared  to  a  vast 
machine,  presented  by  nature  to  man  for  the  production  of 
food  and  raw  materials ;  but  to  make  the  resemblance  more 
just,  as  far  as  the]  admit  of  comparison,  we  should  consider 
the  soil  as  a  present  to  man  of  a  great  number  of  machines, 
ail  susceptible  of  continued  improvement  by  the  application 
of  capital  to  them,  but  yet  of  very  different  original  quali- 
ties and  powers. 

"This  great  inequality  in  the  powers  of  the  machinery 
employed  in  procuring  raw  produce,  forms  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  features  which  distinguishes  the  machinery 
of  the  land  from  the  machinery  employed  in  manufac- 
tures. 

"  When  a  machine  in  manufactures  is  invented  which 
will  produce  more  finished  work  with  less  labour  and  capi- 
tal than  before,  if  there  be  no  patent,  or  as  soon  as  the 
patent  is  over,  a  sufficient  number  of  such  machines  may 
be  made  to  supply  the  whole  demand,  and  to  supersede  en- 
tirely the  use  of  all  the  old  machinery.  The  natural  con- 
sequence is  that  the  price  is  reduced  to  the  price  of  pro- 
duction from  the  best  machinery  ;  and  if  the  price  were  to 
be  depressed  lower,  the  whole  of  the  commodity  would  be 
withdrawn  from  the  market. 

"  The  machines  which  produce  corn  and  raw  materials, 
on  the  contrary,  are  the  gifts  of  nature,  not  the  works  of 
man  ;  and  we  find  by  experience  that  these  gifts  have  very 
ditl'erent  qualities  and  powers.  The  most  fertile  lands  of  a 
country,  those  which,  like  the  best  machinery  in  manufac- 
tures, yield  the  greatest  products  with  the  least  labour  and 
capital,  are  never  found  sufficient  to  supply  the  effective 
demand  of  an  increasing  population.  The  price  of  raw 
produce,  therefore,  naturally  rises  till  it  becomes  sufficiently 
high  to  pay  the  cost  of  raising  it  with  inferior  machines 
and  by  a  more  expensive  process  ;  and,  as  there  cannot  be 
two  prices  for  corn  of  the  same  quality,  all  the  other  ma- 
chines, the  working  of  which  requires  less  capital]  compared 
with  the  produce,  must  yield  rents  in  proportion  to  their 
goodness. 

"  Every  extensive  country  may  thus  he  considered  as 
possessing  a  gradation  of  machines  for  the  production  of 
corn  and  raw  materials,  including  in  'his  gradation  not  only 
all  the  various  qualities  of  poor  land,  of  which  a  very  large 
territory  has  generally  an  abundance,  but  the  interior 
machinery  which  may  be  said  to  he  employed  when  good 
land  is  farther  and  farther  forced  for  additional  produce. 
As  the  price  of  raw  produce  continues  to  rise,  these  inferior 
machines  are  successively  called  into  action;  and  as  the 
price  of  raw  produce  continues  to  fall,  they  are  successively 
thrown  out  of  action.  The  illustration  here  used  serves  to 
show  at  once  the  necessity  of  the  actual  price  of  corn  to 
the  actual  produce,  and  the  different  effect  which  would 
attend  a  great  reduction  in  the  price  of  any  particular 
manufacture  and  a  great  reduction  in  the  price  of  raw  pro- 
duce." (Inquiry  into  the  .Vature  and  Progress  of  Kent, 
p.  37.) 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  in  the  earlier  stages  of  society, 
and  when  only  the  best  lands  are  cultivated,  rent  is  un- 
known. The  landlords,  as  such,  do  not  begin  to  share  in 
the  produce  of  the  soil  until  it  becomes  necessary  to  culti- 
vate lands  of  an  inferior  degree  of  fertility,  or  to  apply  capital 
to  the  superior  hinds  with  a  diminished  return.  Whenever 
this  is  the  case,  rent  begins  to  be  paid  ;  and  it  continues  to 
increase  according  as  cultivation  is  extended  over  poorer 
soils,  and  diminishes  according  as  the^e  poorer  soils  are 
thrown  out  of  cultivation.  Kent,  therefore,  depends  exclu- 
sively on  the  extension  of  tillage.  It  is  high  where  tillage 
is  widely  extended  over  inferior  lands,  and  low  where  it 
is  confined  to  the  superior  descriptions  only.  But  in  no  case 
does  rent  enter  into  price ;  for  the  produce  raised  on  the 
poorest  lands  id"  a  country,  or  by  means  of  the  capital  last 
applied  to  the  culture  of  the  soil,  determines  the  price  of 
the  entire  crop;  and  this  produce  yields  only  the  common 
and  average  rate  of  profit. 

Influence  of  situation  on  Rent. — In  the  previous  state- 
ments we  have,  to  simplify  the  consideration  of  the  ques- 
tion, omitted  to  notice  the  influence  of  situation  on  rent.  It 
is  plain,  however,  that  this  is  a  very  important  element  in 
determining  its  amount;  and  that  diflerence  of  situation 
lias  precisely  the  same  sort  of  influence  over  rent  as  differ- 
ences of  fertility.  Thus,  suppose  two  farmers  employ 
equal  quantities  of  capital,  as  5000  quarters  each,  in  the  cul- 
tivation of  farm-  of  the  same  goodness,  the  one  situated  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  London,  and  the  other  in  York- 
shire ;  and  suppose,  farther,  that  London  is  the  market  to 
which  the  produce  of  both  farms  is  sent,  and  that  the  cost 
of  conveying  corn  from  Yorkshire  to  London  i-  ."is.  a  quar- 
ter :  under  these  circumstances,  if  the  gross  produce  of  each 
firm  were  1000  quarters,  of  which  the  landlord  received 
one  fifth  part,  oi  200  quarters,  as  rent,  the  farm  oear  Lon- 
don would  fetch  £50  a  year  more  than  the  farm  in  York- 
shire. For,  as  the  corn  raised  in  the  districts  adjacent  to 
London  is  not  adequate  for  its  supply,  its  price  in  the  city 


RENT. 

must  suffice  to  pay  those  who  bring  any  portion  of  the 
necessary  supplies  from  the  greatest  distance,  as  well  for 
the  expenses  of  carriage  as  for  those  of  production  ;  and 
the  farmer  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  who  gets  this  increased 
price  for  his  produce,  will  have  to  pay  a  proportional  in- 
crease of  rent,  in  the  same  way  that  the  occupier  of  good 
land  has  to  pay  an  increased  rent ;  when  inferior  lands  are 
taken  into  cultivation. 

It  would,  on  many  accounts,  be  desirable  readily  to  dis- 
tinguish between  that  portion  of  the  gross  rental  of  a  coun- 
try which  is  to  be  considered  as  rent,  properly  so  called,  or 
as  the  remuneration  paid  to  the  landlords  for  the  use  of 
the  natural  powers  of  the  soil,  and  that  portion  which  is 
the  return  to,  or  the  interest  upon,  the  capital  laid  out  upon 
houses,  fences,  drains,  roads,  and  other  improvements. 
But  how  desirable  soever,  it  is  admitted  by  all  practical 
men  that  it  is  quite  impossible  to  make  such  a  distinction 
with  anything  approaching  to  accuracy.  No  two  of  the 
most  expert  agriculturists,  supposing  them  to  be  desired  to 
resolve  the  gross  rental  of  a  single  improved  farm  into  its 
constituent  parts,  would  arrive  at  the  same  result.  Im- 
provements become  so  much  blended  with  the  natural 
powers  of  the  soil,  that  the  influence  of  the  one  cannot  be 
separated  from  that  of  the  other  ;  and  it  is  merely  the  joint 
value  of  the  two  that  can  be  estimated.  No  doubt  can, 
however,  be  entertained  by  any  one  who  reflects  for  a  mo- 
ment on  the  vast  sums,  the  many  hundreds,  or  rather 
thousands  of  millions,  that  have  been  laid  out  upon  the  soil 
of  Great  Britain,  that  the  payment  made  to  the  landlords 
for  the  use  of  its  natural  powers  is  inconsiderable,  compared 
with  that  made  to  them  on  account  of  improvements  ;  and 
hence  the  inequality  and  mischievous  operation  of  taxes  on 
rent.  Two  landlords  receive  equal  rents  from  their  estates ; 
but  the  rent  of  one  is  principally  a  consequence  of  natural 
fertility,  while  that  of  the  other  is  derived  principally  from 
outlays  of  capital.  What,  then,  could  be  more  unfair  than 
to  subject  them  both  to  the  same  equal  tax  ?  And  yet  the 
amount  of  their  rents  is  the  only  criterion  to  which  recourse 
could  be  had  in  fixing  the  amount  of  the  tax  ;  for  all  the 
tax  collectors  in  the  world  could  not  separate  between  what 
was  really  rent,  in  the  scientific  sense  of  the  term,  and 
what  was  interest  on  capital.  Such  a  tax  would  oppose 
the  most  effectual  obstacle  to  improvements.  Instead  of 
carrying  capital  from  other  employments  to  the  land,  it 
would  henceforth  be  carried  from  the  land  to  them.  The 
object  would  not  then  be  to  have  an  estate  look  well,  but 
to  have  it  look  ill ;  and  it  may  be  said  of  estates  as  of  indi- 
viduals, 

Pauper  videri  Cinna  vult,  et  est  pauper. 
The  effects  that  were  formerly  produced  by  the  taille, 
and  that  are  now  produced  by  the  contribution  fonciere  in 
France,  and  the  fluctuating  land  taxes  imposed  in  other 
countries,  abundantly  confirm  the  truth  of  this  statement. 
Their  influence  has  been  most  disastrous. 

The  theory  of  rent  explained  in  this  article  was  first  pro- 
mulgated and  satisfactorily  established  in  a  tract  on  the 
corn  laws,  published  at  Edinburgh  in  1777,  by  Dr.  James 
Anderson,  a  native  of  Hermandston  in  Mid  Lothian,  editor 
of  the  Bee  and  other  publications.  But  notwithstanding 
the  clear  and  able  manner  in  which  he  explained  the  theory, 
and  its  ingenuity  and  importance,  his  elucidations  do  not 
appear  to  have  attracted  the  least  attention  ;  and  seem, 
indeed,  to  have  been  completely  forgotten.  So  much  so 
was  this  case,  that  when,  in  1815,  Mr.  Malthus  and  Sir 
Edward  West  published  tracts  explaining  the  nature  and 
origin  of  rent,  they  were  universally  believed  to  be  the 
authors  of  the  theory.  Although,  however,  there  is,  we 
believe,  no  doubt  as  to  their  originality,  still  they  were 
merely  the  expositors  of  a  theory  that  had  been  clearly  and 
ably  explained  above  forty  years  previously  to  the  publica- 
tion of  their  tracts. 

Rent,  in  Law,  is  defined  "  a  certain  profit  issuing  yearly 
out  of  lands  and  tenements  corporeal,"  not  necessarily, 
although  by  English  usage  generally,  consisting  in  money. 
There  are  at  common  law  three  kinds  of  rents:  1.  Rent- 
service  ;  having  some  incident  of  feudal  service  connected 
with  it,  for  which  the  landlord  might  distrain  of  common 
right.  2.  Rent-charge,  where  the  owner  of  the  rent  had  no 
future  interest  or  reversion  expectant  on  the  land ;  as  where 
one  having  parted  with  his  land  reserved  a  rent  with  a 
clause  of  distress  in  the  deed,  by  which  the  land  was  charged 
with  the  payment  of  the  rent.  3.  Rent-seek,  reditus  siccus, 
w*ich  was  rent  reserved  by  deed  without  a  clause  of  dis- 
tress. But  the  common  remedy  of  distress  was  extended 
to  all  these  divisions  of  rent  by  4  G.  2,  c.  38.  (See  Dis- 
tress.) The  ordinary  remedy  by  action  is  in  debt,  for  the 
breach  of  the  express  contract ;  or  covenant  may  be  brought 
for  the  breach  of  a  covenant  to  pay  rent.  And  these  actions 
may  be  brought  at  any  time  within  twenty  years  after  the 
cause  of  action  shall  have  accrued.  A  "  fee-farm-rent"  is 
a  rent  issuing  out  of  an  estate  in  fee.  The  common  term 
M  rack-rent"  has  no  particular  legal  acceptation,  and  merely 


REPEATING  CIRCLE. 

means  a  rent  at  or  near  the  full  value  of  the  premises  de- 
mised. 

REPE'AT.  In  Music,  a  character  :$:  denoting  the  repe- 
tition of  the  part  which  it  bounds.  It  is  sometimes  ex- 
pressed by  dots  against  the  bar,  and  sometimes  by  the  words 
Da  Capo. 

REPEATING  CIRCLE.  In  order  to  diminish  the  effect 
of  errors  of  graduation,  and  to  obtain  very  accurate  measure- 
ments by  means  of  comparatively  small,  and,  therefore, 
portable  instruments,  a  method  of  observing  was  invented, 
or  rather  brought  into  use,  by  Borda,  which  is  now  exten- 
sively employed,  especially  in  geodetical  operations.  The 
method,  which  consists  in  moving  the  telescope  successively 
over  portions  of  the  graduated  limb  corresponding  to  the 
angle  to  be  measured,  and  reading  only  the  multiple  arc, 
may  be  advantageously  applied  to  circular  instruments 
destined  for  very  different  purposes :  as,  for  example,  to  an 
instrument  for  the  measurement  of  the  zenith  distances  of 
stars  or  terrestrial  objects,  or  the  distance  of  two  trigono- 
metrical stations,  in  which  case  it  is  simply  called  repeating 
circle;  to  a  reflecting  circle  used  for  observations  at  sea, 
when  it  becomes  a  repeating  reflecting  circle ;  or  to  a  theo- 
dolite, when  it  becomes  a  repeating  theodolite. 

For  the  purpose  of  giving  an  idea  of  the  principle  of  this 
method,  we  borrow  the  following  illustration  from  Sir  J. 
Herschel :  "  Let  P  Q.  be  two  objects,  which  we  may  suppose 
fixed  for  purposes  of  mere  explanation;  and  let  K  L  be  a 
telescope  moveable  on  O,  the  common  axis  of  two  circles, 
A  M  L  and  A  B  C,  of  which  the  former,  A  M  L,  is  abso- 
lutely fixed  in  the  plane  of  the  objects,  and  carries  the 
graduations  freely  moveable  on  the  axis.  The  telescope  ia 
attached  permanently  to  the  latter  circle,  and  moves  with 
it.  An  arm,  O  a  A,  carries  the  index  or 
vernier,  which  reads  off  the  graduated 
limb  of  the  fixed  circle.  This  arm  is 
provided  with  two  clamps,  by  which  it 
can  be  temporarily  connected  with  either 
circle,  and  detached  at  pleasure.  Sup- 
pose now  the  telescope  directed  to  P. 
Clamp  the  index  O  A  to  the  inner  circle, 
and  unclamp  it  from  the  outer,  and  read 
off;  then  carry  the  telescope  round  to 
the  other  object  Q,.  Li  so  doing  the  inner 
circle,  and  the  index  arm,  which  is 
clamped  to  it,  will  also  be  carried  round  over  an  arc  A  B 
on  the  graduated  limb  of  the  outer  equal  to  the  angle  P  O 
Q,.  Now  clamp  the  index  to  the  outer  circle,  and  unclamp 
the  inner,  and  read  oft*.  The  difference  of  readings  will  of 
course  measure  the  angle  POO.;  but  the  result  will  be 
liable  to  two  sources  of  error,  that  of  graduation,  and  that 
of  observation,  both  of  which  it  is  our  object  to  get  rid  of. 
To  this  end  transfer  the  telescope  back  to  P,  without  un- 
clamping  the  outer  circle  ;  then,  having  made  the  bisection 
of  P,  clamp  the  arm  to  A,  and  unclamp  it  from  B,  and  again 
transfer  the  telescope  to  Q,  by  which  the  aim  will  now  be 
carried  with  it  to  C  over  a  second  arc  B  C  equal  to  the  angle 
POd.  Now  again  read  off;  then  will  the  difference  be- 
tween this  reading  and  the  original  one  measure  twice  the 
angle  P  O  Q,  affected  with  both  errors  of  observation,  but 
only  with  the  same  error  of  graduation  as  before.  Let  this 
process  be  repeated  as  often  as  we  please  (suppose  ten 
times)  ;  then  will  the  final  arc  A  B  C  D  read  off  on  the  cir- 
cle be  ten  times  the  required  angle,  affected  by  the  joint 
errors  of  all  the  ten  observations,  but  only  by  the  same  con- 
stant error  of  graduation,  which  depends  on  the  initial  and 
final  readings  off  alone.  Now  the  errors  of  observation, 
when  numerous,  tend  to  balance  and  destroy  one  another ; 
so  that,  if  sufficiently  multiplied,  their  influence  will  dis- 
appear from  the  result.  There  remains,  then,  only  the 
constant  error  of  graduation,  which  comes  to  be  divided  in 
the  final  result  by  the  number  of  observations,  and  is  there- 
fore diminished  in  its  influence  to  one  tenth  of  its  possible 
amount,  or  to  less  if  need  be."  (Astronomy,  Cab.  Cyc,  p. 
105.) 

When  the  repeating  circle  is  used  for  measuring  zenith 
distances,  it  is  constructed  so  as  to  be  capable  of  being 
turned  round  on  a  vertical  pivot,  the  direction  of  which 
passes  through  its  centre,  and  to  which  its  plane  is  parallel, 
and  also  of  turning  in  its  own  plane  about  a  horizontal  axis. 
The  instrument  being  placed  in  the  same  vertical  plane 
with  the  star,  the  telescope  is  directed  to  the  star  and  the 
bisection  made  ;  the  telescope,  which  carries  the  verniers 
with  it,  is  then  firmly  clamped  to  the  circle,  and  the  circle 
turned  round  180°  in  azimuth  about  the  vertical  pivot.  If 
the  circle  be  now  kept  fast,  the  telescope  undamped  and 
carried  round  till  the  star  is  again  bisected,  it  is  plain  that 
the  arc  of  the  limb  passed  over  by  the  verniers  in  conse- 
quence of  this  motion  of  the  telescope  will  be  double  the 
zenith  distance  of  the  star.  The  same  process  is  repeated 
as  often  as  may  be  thought  necessary.  For  the  purpose  of 
geodetical  measurements  the  circle  is  usually  furnished 
with  two  telescopes,  one  on  the  face,  and  the  other  on  the 

1051 


REPELLENTS. 

bark  ;  and  BO  placed  thru  the  optical  axes  of  both  are  ex- 
actly in  the  plane  of  the  circle.     The  circles  used  by 
,  and  Delambre  in  the  operations  connected  with 
isureraeat  of  the  French  arc  >>f  meridian,  were 
about  4-10ths  of  a  metre  (nearly  1G  inches)  in  diameter, 
and  were  di\  Ided  into  arcs  equivalent  to  about  39  sexagesl- 
onda,  which   were   subdivided  into  tenths  by  the 
verniers. 

The  merit  of  first  applying  the  Ingenious  principle  of 
repetition  to  angular  measurements  belongs  to  Tobias 
Mayer:  but  it  was  Borda,  as  above  stated,  who  first  brought 
the  instrument  into  general  use. 

For  a  description  of  the  repeating  circle,  its  adjustments, 
and  the  method  of  using  it.  see  Blot,  AstrtmomU  Physique, 
tome  L ;  Delambre,  JUstronomie,  or  Bast  Metrique,  tome  I.  j 
Puissant,  Traiti  de  Giodisie;  Roper's  Practice  of  Navi- 
gation, fee.  The  comparative  advantages  and  defects  of 
the  instrument  are  very  dearly  stated  in  a  paper  by 
Troughton  in  the  first  volume  of  "the  Memoirs  of  the  Royal 
Astronomical  s 

REPE'LLENTS.  Applications  to  thesurface  of  the  body 
which  appear  to  make  disorders  n  treat  inwards. 

REPE'LLING  POWER.    See  Repulsion, 

BJB'PENT.  I.at.  repo,  I  creep),  in  Zoology,  is  used  in 
the  same  sense  as  Creeping,  and  is  applied  to  those  animals 
which  move  with  the  body  close  to  the  ground,  either 
without  the  aid  of  legs,  or  by  means  of  more  than  four  pairs 
ofshori 

RE  PETEND.  In  Arithmetic,  that  part  of  a  repeating 
decimal  which  recurs  continually  ad  infinitum.  It  is  called 
a  simple  repetend  when  then-  is  but  one  (inure,  as  -333. . .  ad 
inf. ;  and  a  compound  repetend  w  hen  there  are  more  figures 

than  one  in  the  repeating  period,  as  •029029 ad  inf.    It 

is  usual  to  mark  the  first  and  last  figures  of  the  period  by 
dots  placed  over  them  ;  thus  the  repetends  above  mentioned 
are  written  -It.  and  "029. 

REPLE'VLN,  in  Law,  is  an  action  of  tort,  in  which  the 
plaintiff  seeks  the  recovery  of  goods  illegally  distrained. 

ION. 

REPLICATION.  In  Law,  the  third  stage  in  the  plead- 
ings in  an  action,  being  the  plaintiff's  answer  to  the  defend- 
ant's plea.    Set  Pleading. 

REPO'SE.  I.  t.  repono,  T  lie  doicn.)  In  the  Fine 
Arts,  the  absence  of  that  agitation  which  is  induced  by  the 
Scattering  and  division  of  a  subject  into  too  many  uncon- 
nected parts.  iM  which  case  a  work  is  said  to  want  repose. 

Where  repose  is  wanting  from  this  cause,  "the  eye,"  Bays 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  "  is  perplexed  and  fatigued,  from  not 
knowing  win nre  to  rest,  where  to  find  the  principal  action, 
or  which  is  the  principal  figure;  for  where  all  are  making 
equal  pretension  all  nre  in  danger  of  neglect." 

REPRESENTATION.  (I.at.  representation  In  Poll 
tics,  the  part  performed  by  a  deputy  chosen  by  a  constitu- 
ent body  to  support  its  interests,  and  act  in  its  name  on   a 

public  occasion.  Thus  a  plenipotentiary  represents  the 
sovereign  or  the  state  which  delegates  him  at  a  foreign 
Court  Mut  tie  most  ordinary  use  of  the  word  is  to  express 
pal  function  of  the  delegate  of  a  constituency  in 
a  legislative  assembly.  Representation,  in  this  sense,  was 
unknown  to  the  political  systems  of  the  ancients,  and 
seems  to  have  originated  in  the  necessities  and  usages  of 
feudal   times;  the  lord  not  being  able  to  lew  aid   from  his 

without  their  consent,  it  became  customary  for 
these  t<>  delegate  powers  to  individuals  from  among  their 
numbers  t,,  attend  his  summons,  and  confer  with  him  re- 
ri  d.     Hence,  in  our  own  country,  the 
'■■  tntj   freeholders  by  knights,  of  corn- 

by  their  chosen  burgesses,  in  parliament.  The 
most  complete  early  model  of  a  representative  feudal  as 
sembly  is  to  be  found  in  the  parliament  of  the  Sicilies  tin 
der  ihe  Suabian  Mul's;  but  England  is  the  only  country  in 
which  it  has  expanded  regularly  into  a  legislature. 

The  i  lib  f  question,  In  political  science,  regarding  the 
system  of  representation  is,  lev,  far  each  delegate  repre- 
sents tbe  opinii  .  i  body  Which  sends  bini,  and 
is  bound  lo  acl  in  obedience  to  their  directions.  This  w  as 
unquestionably  the  early  notion  of  representation.  But  the 
constitutional  principle  of  English  statesmen  has  been  in 
general  \  ery  different,    it  is,  that  each  member  represents, 

not  the  local  body,  but  the  entire  nation.      The  ties  which 

bind  him  to  bis  constituents  .are  altogether  subordinate  to 

eh     ttai  h  to  him   in   a  general   character,      lie  is 

hound  to  sacrifice  not  only  the  wishes,  but  the  immediate 
and  local  interests  of  the  body  which  sends  him,  if  they 

.are  in  Opposition  b'  tin'  general  fond  of  the  country.  The 
most  popular  and  best  known  exposition  of  this  d 

perhaps  to  he  found  in  Burke's  fa s  speech  to  the  electors 

of  Bristol,    li  follows  as  a  corollary,  thai  constituencies  act 

lutionally  in  demanding  pledges  of  candidates  tor 
tin  ,r  representation  as  to  the  part  which  the)  are  to  take 

on  particular  qu<   dons.    But  this,  like  othei  rule!  oft 

stilutional  conduct,  must  not  be  pressed  too  far.     Constilu- 

1002 


REPTILES. 

encies,  as  well  as  representatives,  are  bound  to  use  their 
powers  for  the  general  good  of  the  nation ;  and  there  may 

be  Occasions,  although  rarely,  on  which  those  powers  are 
best  used  by  Inking  securitv   of  the  representative  that   his 

conduct,  on  some  very  Important  ami  critical  questions, 

will   be  in  accordance  With   what  they  deem   the  national 
view.      See  /:,  nt /in in'.--  Rationale  of  Representation.) 
Representation.    In  Painting  and  the  other  .\us.  the 

transference  to  a  plane  of  a  solid  mass,  or  the  appearance 
of  an  object  to  the  eye. 

REPRIE'VE.  i  I  'torn  the  Fr.  reprendre,  to  take  back.) 
In  Law,  the  suspension  of  the  execution  of  sentence,  on 
judgmenl  in  a  criminal  case  for  a  certain  time.  Reprieve 
at  the  will  of  the  judge  is  arbitrary  ;  and  the  latter  has  pow- 
er to  gjve  it  wlnre  he  is  dissatisfied  with  the  verdict,  in 
onier  to  give  time  to  apply  to  the  crown  for  a  pardon.  Re- 
prieve is  also  ii  necessitate  legis;  as.  a  woman  capitally 
convicted  has  a  riL'ht  lo  a  reprieve  during  pregnancy  ;  or 
When  a  party  becomes  insane  betw  een  judgment  and  award 

of  execution. 

REPRI'SALS,  LETTERS  OF.  In  National  Law,  the 
capture  of  properly  belonging  to  the  subjects  of  a  foreign 
power  in  satisfaction  of  losses  sustained  by  a  citizen  of  the 
capturing  state.  (See  Letters  of  Marque.)  Letters  of 
reprisal  are  grantable  by  the  law  of  tuitions,  where  the  sul>- 
ject  of  one  state  has  been  oppressed  or  injured  by  the  sub- 
jects of  another,  and  where  justice  has  been  refused  on  ap- 
lication  by  letters  of  request.  The  mode  of  serving  out  let- 
ters of  marque  and  reprisal  in  time  of  time  was  regulated 
by  statute  4  Hen.  5,  c.  7,  but  has  been  long  disused.  The 
power  of  granting  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal  is  some- 
times given  by  proclamation  of  the  king  in  council  to  the 
lords  of  the  admiralty. 

REPRI'SES.  In  Law,  deductions  or  payments  out  of 
the  value  of  lands  ;  such  as  rent-charges,  or  annuities. 

REPROBA'TION,  in  Theology,  is  a  term  commonly 
applied  to  the  supralapsaiian  tenet  of  the  consignment  of 
all  mankind  to  eternal  punishment,  with  the  exception  of 
those  whom  God  has  arbitrarily  selected  for  eternal  happi- 
ness.    Se<  Election,  Predestination. 

REPRODUCTION.  (Lat.  reproduce,  I  reproduce.)  This 
word,  in  Physiology,  is  sometimes  used  for  generation^  but 
it  signifies  properly  the  power  which  a  fully  developed  or- 
ganized being  possesses  to  push  forth  and  form  anew  parts 

of  the  body  which  have  been  cut  oil'.    Vegetables  possess 

this  faculty  in  an  eminent  degree,  and  animals  have  the 
power  of  reproduction  in  proportion  as  they  resemble  vege- 
tables in  the  simplicity  of  their  organization  :  thus  tin; 
freshwater  polype  Hydra  viridis,  when  divided  Into  many 
pieces,  reproduces  all   its  characteristic   organs  out  of  each 

piece.  Worms  and  ether  Anneiides  can  reproduce  many 
segments  of  the  body.  Snails  can  push  forth  new  horns, 
and  even  reproduce  a  great  part  of  the  head.  Lobsters 
and  spiders  thus  gain  new  claws  or  legs.  Newts  and  liz- 
ards reproduce  their  tails. 

REPTA'TION.  A  mode  of  progression  by  advancing 
successively  parts  of  the  trunk,  which  occupy  the  place  of 
the  anterior  parts  which  are  carried  forwards,  as  in  ser- 
pents: also  applied  to  the  slow  progression  of  those  ani- 
mals whose  extremities  are  so  short  that  the  body  touches 
the  ground. 

RE'PTILES,  Reptilia.  (La  t.  repo,  I  creep.)  The  name 
of  a  class  of  cold-blooded  Vertebrate  animals,  including 
all  those  which  have  lungs,  and  a  heart  composed  of  two 
auricles  and  one  ventricle.  Those  \xhich  retain  their  gills 
during  the  whole  or  a  part  of  their  existence  are  termed 
Batrachians  or  Amphibia:  the  latter  name  Limueus  ap- 
plied  to  the  whole  group,  as  well   as  to  certain  true   fishes. 

Sei  Amphibians,  Chelonians,  Saurians,  Ophidians  and 
Batrachians.)  Cuvier,  in  characterizing  the  Class  of  rep- 
tiles as  defined   by  him,  well   Observes,   that  as  it  is  from 

respiration  that  the  blood  derives  its  heat,  and  the  muscu- 
lar fibre  its  susceptibility  of  nervous  irritation,  the  blood  of 

reptiles  is  cold,  ami  the  muscular  energy  less  than  thai  of 

quadrupeds,  and  much    less   than   that   of  birds.     Thus  we 

find  their  movements  usual!)   confined   to  crawling  and 

swimming;  for  though  at  Certain  times  several  of  them 
jump  and  run  with  Considerable  activity,  their  habits  are 

generally  lazy,  their  digestion  excessively  slow,  and  their 

sensations  obtuse.  In  cold  or  temperate  climates,  almost 
all  of  them  pass  the  winter  in  a  state  of  torpor.  Their 
brain,  which  is  proportionally  very  small,  is  not  so  essen- 
tially requisite  to  the  exercise  of  their  .animal  and  vital 
faculties  as  to  the  members  of  the  two  first  (lasses:  their 
sensations  vein  to  be  less  referred  to  a  common  centre,  lor 
they  Continue  to  live  and  to  exhibit  voluntary  motions  long 
alter   losing    their   brain,   and    even   after   tin'    lOBS  of  their 

head.  A  communication  with  the  nervous  system  is  also 
linn  b  less  necessary  to  the  contraction  of  their  fibres,  and 
their  muscles  preserve  their  irritability  after  being  severed 

from  the  body  much  longer  than  those  of  the  preceding 
classes:  their  heart  continues  to  pulsate  for  hours  after  it 


REPUBLIC. 

has  been  torn  away,  nor  does  its  loss  prevent  the  body 
from  moving  for  a  long  time. 

The  smallness  of  the  pulmonary  vessels  permits  reptiles 
to  suspend  the  process  of  respiration,  without  arresting  the 
course  of  the  blood ;  thus  they  dive  with  more  facility, 
and  remain  longer  under  water  than  either  the  Mammalia 
or  birds. 

No  reptile  hatches  its  eggs.  The  young  Batrachians  on 
quitting  the  egg  have  the  form  and  branchiae  of  fishes,  and 
some  of  the  genera  preserve  these  organs  even  after  the 
development  of  their  lungs. 

The  quantity  of  respiration  in  reptiles  is  not  fixed,  like 
that  of  the  Mammalia  and  birds,  but  varies  with  the  pro- 
portion of  the  diameter  of  the  pulmonary  artery  compared 
to  that  of  the  aorta.  Thus  tortoises  and  lizards  respire 
more  than  frogs,  &c;  and  hence  a  much  greater  differ- 
ence of  sensibility  and  energy  is  manifested  in  this  class 
than  can  exist  between  one  of  the  Mammalia  and  another, 
or  between  birds.     See  Erpktology. 

REPU'BLIC.  (Lat.  respublica,  commonwealth.)  That 
form  of  government  in  which  the  supreme  power  is  vested 
in  the  people.  A  republic  may  be  either  an  aristocracy  or 
a  democracy :  the  supreme  power,  in  the  former,  being 
consigned  to  the  nobles  or  a  few  privileged  individuals,  as 
was  formerly  the  case  in  Venice  and  Genoa ;  while,  in  the 
latter,  it  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  rulers  chosen  by  and 
from  the  whole  body  of  the  people,  or  by  their  representa- 
tives assembled  in  a  congress  or  national  assembly.  The 
free  towns  of  the  Continent,  Hamburg,  Frankfort,  Liibeck, 
and  Bremen,  are  instances  of  this  latter  form  of  govern- 
ment; but  the  most  perfect  example  of  it  is  to  be  found  in 
the  United  States,  in  Texas,  and  in  some  of  the  South 
American  confederations  which  have  shaken  off"  the  Span- 
ish yoke.  In  Switzerland,  aristocracy  is  blended  with  de- 
mocracy in  the  form  of  government. 

REQUE'ST,  LETTERS  OF.  In  Ecclesiastical  Law, 
an  instrument  by  which  the  regular  judge  of  a  cause 
waives  or  remits  his  own  jurisdiction,  under  the  provisions 
of  the  Statute  of  Citations,  23  H.  8,  c.  9;  in  which  event 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  appellate  court  attaches. 

REQUESTS,  COURT  OF.  1.  An  ancient  court  of  equi- 
ty, inferior  to  the  Court  of  Chancery,  of  which  the  lord 
privy  seal  was  chief  judge  ;  taken  away  by  16  &  17  C.  1, 
c.  10.  2.  The  Court  of  Conscience,  or  of  Requests,  of  Lon- 
don, for  the  recovery  of  small  debts,  was  erected  in  the  9th 
year  of  H.  8,  with  jurisdiction  between  citizens  and  free- 
men in  cases  of  debt  or  damages  under  40s.,  extended  in 
the  reign  of  G.  3,  to  £5.  The  local  courts  instituted  in 
many  parts  of  the  kingdom  for  the  recovery  of  small  debts 
by  summary  process  are  hence  called  popularly  Courts  of 
Requests.  Many  of  them  are  very  recently  erected,  or  in 
process  of  erection,  under  local  acts.  The  number  of 
causes  tried  in  the  Southwaik  Court  of  Requests  in  1837, 
under  40s.,  was  14,474  ;  above  that  sum,  3333. 

RE'QUIEM.  (Lat.)  In  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  a 
mass  performed  for  the  repose  of  the  souls  of  deceased  per- 
sons. It  is  so  called  from  the  prayer  commencing  "Requi- 
em sternum  dona  iis  Domine."  The  term  is  also  applied 
to  grand  musical  compositions  performed  on  solemn  occa- 
sions in  honour  of  deceased  civil  or  ecclesiastical  dignita- 
ries. The  requiems  composed  by  Mozart,  Jomelli,  and 
Cherubini  are  well  known. 

RE'SCRIPTS.  (Lat.  rescribo,  I  write  back )  In  the 
Civil  Law,  answers  of  popes  and  emperors  to  questions  in 
jurisprudence  propounded  to  them  officially.  Those  of  the 
Roman  emperors  constitute  one  of  the  authoritative  sources 
of  the  civil  law. 

RE'SCUE.  In  Law,  in  the  more  general  sense,  a  spe- 
cies of  resistance  against  lawful  authority  ;  as,  by  deliver- 
ing one  arrested  out  of  the  hands  of  those  who  have  legal 
custody  of  him.  In  a  more  restricted  application,  the  term 
rescue  means  the  taking  away  and  setting  at  liberty, 
against  law,  any  distress  taken  for  rent,  or  services,  or 
damage  feasant. 

RESEDA'CE^E.  (Reseda,  one  of  the  genera.)  A  natu- 
ral order  of  herbaceous  or  suffiutescent  Exogens,  inhabit- 
ing Europe  and  Asia.  There  are  but  three  genera  belong- 
ing to  it ;  and  of  these  but  one  species,  the  common  mig- 
nonette, a  Barbary  plant,  now  a  universal  favourite  for 
the  sake  of  its  peculiar  fragrance,  is  the  only  species  pos- 
sessing any  interest  except  to  the  botanist. 

RESERVOIR.  (Fr.)  A  tank,  or  pond,  in  which  water 
is  collected  and  preserved  in  order  to  be  conveyed  through 
pipes  for  the  supply  of  a  town,  &c.  Thus,  Edinburgh  is 
chiefly  supplied  with  water  by  springs  collected  in  a  mag- 
nificent reservoir  seven  miles  distant  from  the  city.  The 
term  is  also  applied  to  a  place  where  water  is  collected 
and  preserved  for  the  more  regular  supply  of  a  fountain 
or  drinking  trough  in  seasons  when  it  is  not  naturally 
abundant. 

RESIDENCE  OF  CLERGYMEN  ON  THEIR  BENE- 
FICES, is  enjoined  by  the  common  law  of  England,  as 
84 


RESISTANCE  OF  FLUIDS. 

well  as  by  the  canon  law  and  many  statutory  provisions. 
These  last  are  now  consolidated  by  1  &  2  Vict.,  c.  106. 
Under  that  act,  an  incumbent  is  considered  to  be  non-resi- 
dent if  he  is  absent  for  one  or  more  periods  exceeding  in 
the  whole  three  calendar  months  in  each  year  ;  and  will 
be  liable  to  the  penalties  unless  he  has  obtained  a  license 
for  non-residence  from  the  bishop,  or  is  within  any  of  the 
statutory  exemptions.  The  license  may  be  given  when 
there  is  no  house  or  fit  place  of  residence,  to  reside  in  some 
fit  or  convenient  house  described  in  the  license,  which 
must  be  within  three  miles  of  the  church  ;  or  within  two, 
if  the  church  be  in  a  city,  market,  or  borough  town.  The 
statutory  exemptions  are  in  favour  of  a  variety  of  officers 
of  cathedral  and  collegiate  churches  ;  who  may  not,  how- 
ever, be  absent  on  account  of  their  residence  and  perform- 
ance of  duty  elsewhere  for  more  than  five  months.  Li- 
censes for  absence  from  the  benefice  may  also  be  granted 
by  the  bishop,  on  petition,  for  a  few  other  causes :  incapa- 
city of  mind  or  body ;  the  dangerous  illness  of  a  wife  or 
child,  part  of  the  family — in  which  case  the  license  is  only 
for  six  months,  and  requires  the  archbishop's  renewal ; 
and  in  case  a  house  convenient  for  residence  cannot  be 
procured  within  the  benefice.  The  penalties  are  fixed  in  a 
graduated  scale,  being  the  prefixtures  of  portions  of  the 
value  of  the  benefice,  and  may  be  proceeded  for  in  the 
bishop's  court.  The  bishop  may  also  proceed  by  monition 
and  sequestration. 

RE'SIUUE.  In  Law,  the  remainder  of  a  testator's  es- 
tate after  payment  of  debts  and  legacies  :  if  this  remainder 
be  bequeathed  to  any  one,  he  is  styled  the  residuary  lega- 
tee. If  a  legatee  dies  before  the  testator,  the  legacy  is  a 
lost  or  lapsed  legacy,  and  sinks  into  the  residue  ;  and  this 
provision  of  the  law  is  extended  to  devises  of  real  property 
by  7  G.  4,  and  1  Vict.,  c.  26,  (the  Wills  Act)  s.  25.  See 
Legacy,  Will. 

RE'SIN.  (Gr.  ptnvr) ;  from  /5cw,  I  flow.)  A  proximate 
principle  common  in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  the  ultimate 
components  of  which  are  carbon,  oxygen,  and  hydrogen. 
There  are  many  varieties  of  resin.  Their  general  charac- 
ters are  fusibility  and  inflammability  ;  solubility  in  alcohol, 
insolubility  in  water.  They  are  generally  separable  into 
tun  distinct  portions  by  the  action  of  cold  and  of  hot  al- 
cohol. They  are  valuable  as  ingredients  in  varnishes,  and 
several  of  them  are  used  in  medicine.  They  are  often 
naturally  blended  with  modifications  of  gum,  in  which 
case  they  constitute  the  series  of  gum  resins.  The  specific 
gravity  of  the  resins  varies  between  1-0  and  14.  They 
become  negatively  electric  by  friction.  The  commonest 
resin  in  use,  usually  called  rosin,  is  obtained  by  distilling 
turpentine :  the  volatile  oil  passes  over,  and  the  resin  re- 
mains in  the  still. 

RESI'STANCE,  in  Mechanics,  denotes  generally  a  force 
acting  in  opposition  to  another  force,  so  as  to  destroy  it  or 
diminish  its  effect.  Resistance  is  sometimes  considered  as 
of  two  kinds,  active  and  passive  ;  the  active  resistance  be- 
ing that  which  corresponds  to  the  useful  effect  produced 
by  a  machine,  and  the  passive  that  which  belongs  to  the 
inertia  of  the  machine.  Thus,  in  raising  water  from  a 
well,  the  active  resistance  to  the  force  employed  is  meas- 
ured by  the  quantity  of  water  which  is  raised ;  and  the 
passive  resistance  by  the  force  required  to  overcome  the 
weight  of  the  bucket  and  the  rope,  the  friction  of  the  pul- 
ley on  its  axle,  &c. 

RESISTANCE  OF  FLUIDS.  In  Hydrodynamics,  the 
force  with  which  a  solid  body  moving  through  a  fluid  is 
resisted  or  retarded.  Of  all  the  different  kinds  of  resistance 
which  manifest  themselves  among  bodies,  there  is  none  of 
greater  importance  than  this,  on  account  of  its  application 
to  the  theory  of  naval  architecture. 

Sir  Isaac  Newton  was  the  first  who  gave  a  general  theory 
of  the  motions  and  actions  of  fluids.  (.See  Hydrodynam- 
ics.) The  Newtonian  theory  of  the  resistance  of  fluids, 
which  is  given  in  the  second  book  of  the  Principia,  is 
founded  on  the  assumption  of  the  perfect  intennobility  of 
the  particles  of  the  fluid,  and  the  equal  propagation  of  pres- 
sure in  all  directions.  These  are,  indeed,  the  characteris- 
tic properties  of  fluidity  ;  nevertheless,  the  results  of  the 
mathematical  theory  differ  so  widely  in  many  cases  from 
actual  experiment,  that  some  philosophers  have  called  in 
question  the  accuracy  of  the  principles  from  which  they 
are  derived.  The  theory,  however,  notwithstanding  its  de- 
fects, furnishes  some  propositions  of  great  practical  use, 
and,  indeed,  forms  the  groundwork  of  all  our  knowledge  on 
the  subject.  We  shall  here  give  a  general  view  of  its 
leading  principles. 

It  is  evident  that  a  solid  body,  in  moving  through  a  fluid, 
must  communicate  a  motion  to  the  fluid  particles  with 
which  it  successively  comes  in  contact.  Now,  the  quantity 
of  motion  communicated  to  the  fluid  is  necessarily  equal  to 
that  which  is  lost  by  the  solid,  and  may  therefore  be  taken 
as  the  measure  of  the  resistance.  To  determine  this  quan- 
tity of  motion,  let  us  conceive  a  cylindricai  or  prismatic 

1053 


RESISTANCE  OF  FLUIDS. 


body,  terminated  by  a  plana  perpendicular  to  us  axis,  to  be 
propelled  through  a  non-elastic  fluid  in  the  direction  of  its 
thai  the  particles  of  the  fluid  strike  against  the 
plane  perpendicularly:  and  lei  A  denote  the  area  of  the 
anterior  surface  of  the  body,  p  the  density  of  the  fluid,  and 
c  the  velocity  of  the  motion,  during  the  small  interval  of 
time  ..  '  Then  the  space  described  by  the  body  in  the 
time  d  I  is  B  d  t  ;  the  volume  of  the  fluid  displaced  in  that 
tune  is  A  p  1/  t  ;  the  mass  of  the  fluid  displaced  is  p  A  0  d 
t ;  and  the  momentum  or  quantity  of  motion  imparted  to 
the  fluid  is  p  A  v  d  t  X  o  =  p  A  v-  d  t.  Let  It  denote  the  re- 
sistance of  the  fluid,  we  have  then 

R  =  pAv*dt.  .  .  .  (1.) 
From  this  equation  it  appears  that  the  resistance  upon  a 
plane  surface,  moved  perpendicularly  through  a  non-elastic 
fluid  at  rest,  is  proportional  to  the  density  of  the  fluid,  to 

Uie  area  of  the  plane,  and  to  the  square  of  the  velocity. 

We  may  deduce  from  equation  (J)  a  measure  of  the 
force  of  resistance  by  comparing  it  with  the  pressure  of 
gravity.  Let  A  denote  the  height  from  which  a  heavy 
body  must  fall  in  order  to  acquire  the  velocity  v,  and  let  g 
be  the  accelerating  force  of  gravity  [32  feet  in  a  second); 
we  have  then  (see  Force)  v2=%gh,  and  by  substituting 
this  in  equation  (1),  we  get 

R  =  2pAhXgdt  ....  (2.) 
Now,  since  g  is  the  velocity  generated  by  gravity  in  one 
second,  g  d  t  \<  the  velocity  genetated  in  the  time  d  t ;  and 
since  -  p  A  A  expresses  the  mass  of  a  prism  of"  the  fluid, 
having  A  for  the  area  of  its  base  and  2A  for  its  altitude, 
%p  AAX  gdt  is  the  quantity  of  motion  which  the  prism 
would  acquire  by  the  free  action  of  gravity  in  the  time  d  t; 
in  other  words,  its  weight.  We  have,  therefore,  this  prop- 
osition :  The  direct  resistance  of  an  unelastie  fluid  an  any 
plane  surface  is  equal  to  the  weight  of  a  column  of  the  fluid 
having  the  surface  for  its  base,  and  for  its  altitude  twice 
the  height  due  to  the  velocity  with  which  the  surface  moves 
tht  flu  1  1.  I  ,et  W  be  the  weight  of  the  unit  of  vol- 
ume of  the  liquid  ;  we  have  thru 

R  =  2WA  A.  .  .  .  (3.) 
The  above  measure  of  the  force  of  resistance  is  deduced 
on  the  supposition  that  the  direction  of  the  motion  is  per- 
pendicular to  the  plane.  If  the  shock  is  received  obliquely, 
the  resistance  will  be  greatly  diminished.  Let  A  B  repre- 
sent the  profile  of  the  plane,  and  M  N  the 
E  direction  of  the  motion  of  the  plane  in  stag- 
nant water,  or  of  a  vein  of  fluid  DCBE 
striking  against  the  plane,  supposed  to  be 
fixed.  Let  F  be  the  intersection  of  M  N 
wilh  A  I!,  and  draw  B  C  perpendicular  to 
M  N.  Now,  if  A  denote  the  area  of  the 
given  plane  AB,i  the  velocity  of  the  mo- 
B  tion.  and  It  the  direct  resistance  due  to  the 
velocity  v  (that  is,  the  resistance  which  the 
plane  would  sustain  if  placed  perpendicular- 
ly to  M  N)  ;  then  (1)  we  have  R=zp  A  «2  d 
t.  On  F  N  take  F  G,  to  represent  It.  This 
force  F  G  may  be  resolved  into  two,  F  II  perpendicular 
and  II  G  parallel  to  A  B,  of  which  the  latter  produces  no 
effect  on  the  plane  ;  hence  the  resistance  Is  diminished,  by- 
reason  of  the  oblique  impact,  in  the  ratio  of  F  II  :  F  G,  or 
of"  .-in.  i  :  1  (t denoting  the  angle  of  incidence  A  F  N).  But, 
again,  the  absolute  resistance  is  also  proportional  to  the 
number  or  filaments  which  strike  the  plane;  and  it  is  ob- 
vious that  the  number  which  would  strike  it  in  the  oblique 
position  A  1!  is  less  than  the  number  which  would  strike  it 
if  direct!}  opposed  to  the  stream,  in  the  ratio  of  B  C  i  B  A, 
or  of  sin.  1  :  1.    Comj iding  this  with  the  former  ratio, 

the  total  diminution  Of  resistance  is  as  .sin.  -V  :  1  ;  that  is  to 
say,  the  absolute  resistance  or  pressure  in  the  direction  F 
II  perpendicular  to  the  plane  is  it  sin.  V, 

It  still  remains  to  find  the  effective  impulse  or  resistance 
In  the  direction  of  the  motion.  Draw  11  1  perpendicular  to 
M  N.  The  force  in  the  direction  i"  n  may  be  resolved  Into 
F  I  and  I  II,  of  which  the  effective  part  is  I'  I.  Hence  the 
effective  impulse  is  to  the  absolute  oblique  impulse  as  r  1  to 
F  II,  or  as  sin,  t :  1 ;  consequently  the  effective  impulse  on 

(he  plane  in  the  direction  M  N  is  11  sill.  3,.  Let  this  be  de- 
note d  by  E';  we  have  then 

R'  =  R  sin.  3i  =  p  A  »2  d  t  X  sin.  H (4.) 

If  We  denote  by  A'  the  area  of  the  projection  of  the  plane 
A  B  upon  a  plane  perpendicular  to  M  N.  we  have  A'  =  A 
cos.  A  BC  :  A  sin.  i;  and  since  p  v*  d  t  —  2  W  A,  the 
above  formula  becomes,  by  substitution, 

R'sJWA'J  sin.  ti (5.) 

From  this  last  formula  the  effective  oblique  impulse  In 
the  direction  of  the  stream  upon  any  plane  surface  is  easily 

computed.     For  other  Burf&CeB  than  planes,  it  i-  1 
to  find  an  expression  for  the  resistance  on   the  differential 
element  of  the  surface,  which  may  be  regarded  as.  coinci- 
1054 


ding  with  its  tangent  plane;  and  the  sum  of  all  these  re- 
Bistances,  found  by  the  usual  process  of  Integration,  will 
give  tin}  whole  resistance  on  the  surface.  For  a  surface  of 
revolution  we  have 


dA'  =  2rrv<2y  and  sin.  2, 


-(LM.Y 


therefore, 


/"di/3 


dy3 


Numerous  experiments  have  been  made  for  the  purpose 
of  ascertaining  how  far  this  theory  of  the  resistance  of  fluids 
agrees  with  the  actual  facts,  or  for  forming  an  empirical 
theory  for  the  guidance  of  the  engineer.  Of  the  details  of 
these  experiments  our  limits  will  not  permit  us  to  give  an 
account ;  but  the  principal  experimenters,  and  works  in 
which  the  results  may  he  found,  are  the  following:  Sir 
Isaac  Newton  [Principia,  lib.  ii.)  ;  Mariotte  (Traite  des 
Mouvemens  des  Eauz);  Gravesande  (System  of  Natural 
Philosophy)  ;  1).  Bernoulli  and  Krall't  (Comment.  I'etmpol.)  ; 
Borda  (Mem.  de  VAcad.  des  Sciences  de  Paris,  1763  and 
1707) ;  Condorcet,  D'Alembert,  and  Bossut,  by  order  of  the 
French  government  in  177.V,  Bossut  (Hydrodynamiqwe); 
Du  Buat  (Principes  «P Hydraulique) ;  Robins  (Gunnery).; 
Don  George  d'Ulloa  (F.r.aman  Maritime);  Coulomb  (Mem. 
de  V Institut.  torn,  iii.)  ;  Vince  (PAiV.  Trans.);  llutton 
(Tracts.);  Beaufpy  (Nautical  and  Hydraulic  Experi- 
ments) ;  Russel  (Trans,  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edin.  vol. 
xiv.),  &c.  The  general  results  of  the  experiments  may  be 
stated  as  follows : 

I.  The  force  of  resistance  on  bodies  moving  in  fluids  is 
proportional  to  the  square  of  the  velocity,  at  hast  within 
the  limits  of  2  to  10  feet  per  second.  This  is  in  accordance 
with  the  theory. 

II.  The  direct  resistance  on  bodies  moving  with  the  same 
velocities  is  nearly  in  the  ratio  of  the  surfaces. 

III.  The  resistances  on  surfaces  moving  obliquely  do  not 
by  any  means  vary  In  the  ratio  of"  the  squares  of  the  sines 
of  the  angles  of  incidence,  especially  when  the  incidence 
is  very  oblique  ;  and  for  such  motions  the  theory  must  be 
entirely  abandoned. 

The  above  results  are,  however,  considerably  modified 
by  various  circumstances,  of  which  the  principal  are  the 
following: 

1.  The  form  of  the  body.  The  Newtonian  theory  takes 
account  only  of  the  anterior  surface  of  the  body  ;  but  it  was 
clearly  established  by  the  experiments  of  Du  Bual  that  the 
form  of  the  hinder  part  is  not  less  efficacious  in  modifying 
the  resistance.  A  prismatic  body,  having  its  prow  and  poop 
equal  and  parallel  surfaces,  being  plunged  horizontally  into 
a  stream,  will  require,  in  order  to  keep  it  immoveable,  a 
force  in  the  direction  of  its  axis  equal  Co  the  difference  of 
the  real  pressures  exerted  on  its  prow  and  poop.  If  the 
fluid  is  at  rest,  this  difference  will  be  nothing,  because  the 
opposite  dead  pressures  are  equal ;  but  in  a  stream  there  is 
superadded  to  the  dead  pressure  on  the  prow  the  active 
pressure  arising  from  the  deflection  of  the  filaments  of  the 
fluid,  which  being  turned  aside  and  rendered  divergent  by 
the  obstruction  of  the  anterior  surface,  a  part  of  the  pres- 
sure of  the  circumambient  fluid  is  employed  in  turning 
them  into  the  trough  behind  the  body,  and  consequently 
there  is  less  pressure  on  the  posterior  surface  than  if  the 
body  were  at  rest  in  stagnant  water,  so  that  the  body  is  im- 
pelled backwards.  This  force  is  called  by  Du  Buat  the 
non pressure \  by  Beaufoy  the  minus  pressure.  Now,  the 
whole  impulse  to  be  withstood  if  the  body  is  in  a  stream, 
or  the  resistance  to  be  overcome  if  it  moves  in  stagnant 
water,  is  the  sum  of  the  active  pressure  on  the  fore  part 
and  the  non-pressure  on  the  hinder  part;  and  this  does  not 
di  pend  solely  on  the  form  of  the  prow  and  poop,  but  also, 
and  perhaps  chiefly,  on  the  length  of  the  bod)  .  The  non- 
pressure  on  a  cube  was  found  bj  experiment  to  be  reduced 

to  a  fourth  part,  by  making  the  length  of  the  body  triple  of 
the  breadth.  The  mere  lengthening  of  a  ship,  without 
changing  the  form  of  the  prow  or  poop,  increases  the  speed. 

2.  Another  circumstance  Which  modifies  the  general  re- 
sults is  the  velocity  of  the  body.  It  was  asceitained,  by 
Mr.  Russel'a  experiments  on  canal  boats,  that  the  resistance 

dors  not  follow  the  ratio  of  the  squares  of  the  velocities, 
excepting  when  the  velocity  is  small  and  the  depth  consid- 
erable ;  but  that  the  increments  of  the  resistance  are  great- 
er than  those  due  to  the  squares  of  the  velocities  as  the  \  e- 
loclty  approaches  to  a  certain  limit  depending  on  the  depth 
of  the  fluid;  and  that  Immediately  after  passing  tins  limit 

the    resistance    sutlers    a  sudden   diminution,   and   becomes 

much  less  than  that  due  to  the  square  of  the  velocity.    In 

a  canal  about  live  and  a  half  bet  deep  this  limit  (which  is 

1  Ity  of  the  wave  generated  by  the  motion  of  the 
body)  was  found  to  be  from  11  to  12  feet  per  second,  or 
about  eight  miles  per  hour. 

:f.  A  third  cause  which  modifies  the  theory  is  the  adhe- 
sion of  the  molecules  of  the  fluid,  which  is  most  sensible 


RESISTANCE  OF  FLUIDS. 

when  tile  motion  is  slow  and  the  body  small  and  very  long. 
In  such  cases,  it  becomes  necessary  to  add  a  term  depending 
on  the  first  power  of  the  velocity. 

4.  The  resistance  is  also  influenced  by  the  depth  of  the 
body  under  the  surface  of  the  water.  When  the  body  is 
near  the  surface  the  resistance  is  greater  than  when  it  is  at 
the  depth  of  six  feet.  When  a  body  floats,  the  fluid  is  heap- 
ed up,  as  it  were,  before  the  anterior  surface,  by  which  the 
resistance  is  increased. 

5.  In  elastic  fluids,  as  the  density  increases  with  the  pres- 
sure, the  density  of  the  fluid  before  the  anterior  surface  in- 
creases with  the  velocity,  and  the  increments  of  the  resist- 
ance are  greater  than  in  the  ratio  of  the  square  of  the  velo- 
city. In  this  case,  also,  we  may  conceive  a  velocity  so 
gieat  that  the  pressure  on  the  posterior  surface  becomes  ne- 
gative, as  in  the  case  of  a  cannon  ball  projected  with  a  ve- 
locity greater  than  that  with  which  air  rushes  into  a  vacuum. 
When  this  takes  place  the  fluid  is  not  even  in  contact  with 
the  posterior  surfaces  of  the  ball,  and  the  character  of  the 
resistance  is  wholly  changed.     See  Projectiles. 

6.  When  a  body  moves  in  a  fluid  a  portion  of  the  fluid 
adheres  to  the  body,  and  accompanies  it  in  its  motion ; 
whereby  the  form  of  the  moving  body  is  altered,  and  the 
resistance  increased.  The  quantity  of  fluid  thus  dragged 
along  is  independent  of  the  velocity,  and  was  estimated  by 
Du  Buat,  from  experiments  made  on  spheres  vibrating  in 
water,  to  increase  the  quantity  of  displaced  fluid  in  the 
ratio  of  1  to  l-6.  His  experiments  on  prisms  also  showed 
that  the  quantity  of  dragged  fluid  was  proportional  to  the 
bulk  of  the  moving  body.  Mr.  Baily  (Phil.  Trans.  1832) 
gives,  as  the  mean  results  of  his  experiments  on  pendulums 
swinging  in  air,  the  ratio  1  to  l-848  as  the  increase  of  the 
displaced  fluid  from  this  cause ;  and  remarks  that  the  quan- 
tity appeared  to  depend  on  the  form  as  well  as  magnitude 
of  the  moving  body,  but  not  on  its  weight  or  specific  gravity. 
This  circumstance,  which  considerably  modifies  the  resist- 
ance, though  made  known  by  Du  Buat  in  1786,  was  over- 
looked by  other  experimenters,  until  re-discovered  by  Bessel 
in  1826,  when  engaged  on  experiments  to  determine  the 
length  of  the  seconds'  pendulum. 

From  the  above  considerations,  it  may  be  inferred  that  the 
resistance  R  opposed  to  any  body  moving  through  a  fluid, 
considered  as  a  pressure  of  so  many  pounds  weight,  will  be 
expressed  by  an  equation  of  tins  form. 

R  =  (m  +  n)  W  A  h  ; 
where  W  is  the  weight  in  pounds  of  the  unit  of  volume  of 
the  fluid  (one  cubic  foot) ;  A  the  area  of  the  greatest  trans- 
verse section  of  the  body,  expressed  in  square  feet ;  h  the 
height  in  feet  due  to  the  velocity,  so  that  h  =  vZ  —  64  ;  and 
m  and  n  numerical  coefficients,  constant  for  bodies  of  simi- 
lar figure,  but  variable  for  bodies  of  different  figures,  and  to 
be  determined  by  experiment  for  each  kind  of  body  ;  m  hav- 
ing reference  to  the  impulse  and  pressure  on  the  anterior 
surface,  and  jt  to  the  non-pressure  on  the  posterior  part. 
The  following  are  a  few  of  the  cases  for  which  values  of  m 
and  n  have  been  found. 

When  a  thin  plate  is  directly  opposed  to  the  impulse  of  a 
stream,  the  value  of  m  -f-  n  appears  to  increase  with  the 
area.  If  A  is  equal  to  a  tenth  of  a  square  foot,  m  +  re  = 
1-4 ;  and  if  A  =  1  square  foot,  ra-f-  7t=  1-9.  The  value  of 
m  -f-  n  for  surfaces  of  larger  dimensions  has  not  been  suf- 
ficiently determined.  For  a  prismatic  body  terminated  by  two 
planes,  the  pressure  against  the  anterior  force  remains  con- 
stant ;  but  the  non-pressure,  or  value  of  n,  diminishes  as 
the  length  increases.  For  a  cube  held  fast  in  a  scream,  Du 
Buat  found  jn-f-7i  =  l-46;  and  for  a  prism  whose  length 
was  from  three  to  six  times  the  square  root  of  its  face,  m-f- 
n  =  l-34.  But  when  the  bodies  moved  in  srill  water,  he 
found,  as  for  the  thin  plate,  m-\-n  =  1-43;  for  the  cube,  m 
-f-  n  =  1-17  ;  and  for  the  prism,  m  +  n  =  I'lO. 

By  means  of  these  values  the  actual  resistances  are  read- 
ily computed  for  each  body,  when  the  velocity  is  given. 
Suppose  the  velocity  to  be  3  feet  per  second,  and  the  oppos- 
ing surface  in  each  case  to  be  1  square  foot.  For  v  =  3,  we 
have  A  =  9-f-64  =  -1406.  With  respect  to  W,  the  weight 
of  an  imperial  gallon  of  water,  at  temperature  62°  and  un- 
der the  mean  pressure,  is  10  lbs.  avoirdupois;  but  an  impe- 
rial gallon  contains  277-27  cubic  inches,  whence  the  weight 
of  a  cubic  foot  of  wnter  is  62-3  lbs.  avoirdupois.  Hence,  if 
the  bodies  are  impelled  through  stagnant  water  with  a  ve- 
locity of  3  feet  per  second,  the  absolute  resistances  in  each 
case  are  as  under : 
For  the  thin  plate  R  =  1-43  x  623  X  -1406  =  125  lbs 
For  the  cube  R  =  1-17  X  623  x  0406  =  10-2 

For  the  prism  R  =  1-10  X  623  X  -1406  =    96 

The  effect  produced  by  the  addition  of  a  poop  or  prow 
was  also  determined  by  Du  Buat.  The  addition  of  a  poop 
to  a  prismatic  body  whose  length  is  four  or  five  times  its 
breadth  only  diminishes  the  resistance  by  a  tenth  part.  But 
when  a  prow  consisting  of  two  equal  vertical  planes,  mak- 
ing with  each  other  an  angle  of  60°,  was  added,  the  re- 


RESPIRATION. 

sistance  was  reduced  to  about  a  half.  On  giving  the  prow 
the  form  of  a  semicylinder,  the  resistance  was  also  reduced 
about  a  half.  The  section  of  the  prow  being  a  triangle 
whose  height  was  double  the  base  or  breadth  of  the  prism, 
the  resistance  was  reduced  to  two  fifths.  In  general,  a 
prow  having  a  curved  surface  produces  a  greater  diminu- 
tion of  the  resistance  than  one  of  equal  magnitude  termi- 
nated by  plane  surfaces. 

For  a  sphere  moving  in  water  or  in  air  with  a  moderate 
velocity,  the  experiments  give  m-\-  n=- 0-6;  but  this  value 
increases  when  the  velocity  becomes  great,  as  in  the  case  of 
a  projectile.  The  experiments  of  Bossut  on  the  model  of  a 
ship  moved  in  the  direction  of  its  axis  gave  ?n+?i  =  0-16. 
This  may  be  considered  as  the  value  corresponding  to  the 
solid  of  least  resistance.  For  the  effect  with  which  solid 
bodies  resist  an  effort  tending  to  break  or  crush  them,  see 
Strength  of  Materials  ;  and  for  the  resistance  of  the 
atmosphere  on  a  projectile,  see  Gunnery,  Projectile. 

RESISTANCE,  SOLID  OF  LEAST.  In  Mechanics, 
the  solid  whose  figure  is  such  that  in  its  motion  through  a 
fluid  it  sustains  the  least  resistance  of  all  others  having  the 
same  length  and  base  ;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  being  station- 
ary in  a  current  of  fluid,  offers  the  least  interruption  to  the 
progress  of  that  fluid.  In  the  former  case,  it  has  been  con- 
sidered the  best  form  for  the  stem  of  a  ship ;  in  the  latter,  the 
proper  form  for  the  pier  of  a  bridge.  The  determination  of 
the  curve  whose  revolution  gives  the  body  having  this  pro- 
perty is  a  problem  which  can  be  solved  by  the  ordinary  me- 
thods of  maxima  and  minima,  when  the  law  of  resistance 
is  assumed.  On  the  hypothesis  that  the  resistance  is  pro- 
portional to  the  square  of  the  velocity,  Newton  gave  the 
following  construction :  Let  a  curve  D  G  be  so  taken  that  if 
from  any  point  N  in  it,  an  ordi- 
nate N  M  be  drawn  perpendi- 
cular to  the  axis  A  B,  and  from 
a  given  point  G  the  line  G  R 
be  drawn  parallel  to  the  tan- 
gent N  T  at  N,  cutting  the  axis 
in  R ;  then  if  M  N  :  G  R  : :  G 
Rs  :  4  B  R  •  B  G2,  the  solid  generated  by  the  revolution  of 
this  curve  about  the  axis  A  B  will  be  the  solid  of  least  re- 
sistance.    (Prtneipia,  lib.  ii.,  prop.  34.) 

RESOLUTION.  (Lat.  resolutio.)  In  Medicine  and 
Surgery,  this  term  implies  the  cessation  or  dispersion  of  in- 
flammatory action  without  the  formation  of  an  abscess  or 
mortification. 

Resolution.  In  Music,  the  writing  out  of  a  canon  or 
fugue  in  partition  from  a  single  line. 

Resolution  of  a  Discord.  The  descent  by  a  tone  or 
a  semitone,  according  as  the  mode  may  require,  of  a  dis- 
cord which  has  been  heard  in  the  preceeding  harmony. 

Resolution  of  Equations.  The  finding  the  values 
which  the  unknown  quantity  or  quantities  must  have,  so  as 
to  fulfil  the  conditions  expressed  in  the  proposed  equation  ; 
viz.  of  rendering  the  aggregate  value  of  all  the  positive 
terms  equal  to  the  aggregate  value  of  all  the  negative  terms. 
These  values  are  called  the  roots  of  the  equation.  See 
Equation. 
Resolution  of  Forces.  See  Resultant. 
Resolution,  or  Solution,  in  Mathematics,  is  the  orderly 
enumeration  of  the  things  to  be  done  to  obtain  what  is  re- 
quired in  a  problem.  A  problem  may  be  divided  into  three 
parts — the  proposition,  the  resolution,  and  the  demonstra- 
tion. 

RE'SONANCE.  (Lat.  resonans.)  In  Music,  the  return- 
ing of  sound  by  the  air  acting  on  the  bodies  of  stringed  mu- 
sical instruments. 

RESPIRA'TION.  (Lat.  respiro,  /  breathe.)  The  func- 
tion by  which  the  nutrient  circulating  fluid  of  an  organized 
body  is  submitted  to  the  influence  of  air,  for  the  put  pose  of 
changing  its  properties.  The  great  end  which  appears  to 
be  answered  by  respiration  is  the  removal  of  carbon,  in  the 
form  of  carbonic  acid,  from  venous  blood.  This  gas  is  ac- 
cordingly found  in  the  air  which  is  expired  from  the  lungs ; 
and  the  blood,  having  lost  its  carbonic  acid,  at  the  same 
time  loses  its  dingy  hue,  and  acquires  the  florid  red  which 
characterizes  arterial  blood.  It  has  been  shown  by  Dr. 
Stevens  that  a  peculiar  attraction  exists  (not  chemical)  be- 
tween oxygen  and  carbonic  acid,  which  acts  through  mem- 
branes, and  in  consequence  of  which  the  carbonic  acid  ap- 
pears to  be  attracted,  as  it  were,  out  of  the  venuos  blood,  by 
the  oxygen  of  the  air  in  the  cellular  structure  of  the  lungs; 
while,  at  the  same  time,  a  portion  of  oxygen,  probably 
equal  in  bulk  to  that  of  the  emitted  carbonic  acid,  is  ab- 
sorbed by  the  blood,  and  contributes  to  its  arterial  charac- 
ters. The  change  from  the  arterial  to  the  venous  state,  and 
consequently  the  formation  of  carbonic  acid,  appears  to  take 
place  in  the  capillary  junctions  of  the  artery  and  vein  ;  but 
how  it  is  there  effected  we  know  not. 

From  the  quantity  of  carbonic  acid  emitted  from  the  lungs 
in  a  given  time,  it  has  been  attempted  to  ascertain  the  quan- 
tity of  carbon  which  is  thus  thrown  off";  but  the  usual  esti- 

1055 


RESPIRATOR. 

mates  upon  this  subject,  which  place  it  nt  about  12  ounces 
in  the  24  boats,  arc  ptobobt)  overrated,  Inasmuch  as  that 
quantity  of  carbon  is  more  than  exists  in  the  food  daily 
taken  into  the  stomach,  If  wo  average  it  at  6  ounces,  it 
will  probably  be  nearer  the  truth  ;  and  »>  ounces  of  charcoal 
an-  equal  to  22  ounces  of  carbonic  acid  gas.  Besides  car- 
bonic acid,  there  is  also  a  quantity  of  aqueous  vapour 
thrown  out  with  the  expired  air;  this  is  probably  Chiefly 
produced  by  the  superficial  exbalents  of  the  lungs,  but  it 
may  also  be  partly  derived  from  transpiration  from  the 
blood.  It  has  not  lurn  satisfactorily  ascertained  whether 
nitrogen  is  taken  up  by  the  blood  as  well  as  oxygen, 
though  experiments  have  rendered  it  probable  that  a  por- 
tion of  that  component  of  the  atmosphere  is  also  absorbed. 

Respiration  of  Plants.     See  Botany. 

RESPIRATOR.  An  instrument  fitted  to  cover  the  mouth, 
over  which  it  is  retained  by  proper  bandages :  it  is  construct- 
ed of  a  series  of  flattened  silver  or  gilt  wires  over  and  be- 
tween which  tin?  air  passes  and  repasses  in  the  act  of  respi- 
ration and  of  speaking.  It  is  presumed  that  the  warm  air 
emitted  from  the  lungs  imparts  its  excess  of  temperature  to 
the  small  metallic  bars,  and  that  these  in  their  turn  impart 
heat  to  the  cold  air  drawn  through  them  at  each  inspiration  ; 
so  that  in  this  way  the  low  temperature  of  the  external  air 
in  cold  weather  is  mitigated  before  it  reaches  the  lungs,  and 
its  supposed  noxious  influence  prevented.  When  a  handker- 
chief is  tied  over  the  mouth,  and  we  are  obliged  to  breathe 
through  the  nose,  the  extreme  low  temperature  of  the  ex- 
ternal air  is  similarly  mitigated  before  it  reaches  the  lungs. 

RESPONDE'NTLA.  In  Mercantile  Law,  a  species  of 
contract;  which  differs  from  bottomry  in  that  the  loan  is 
effected  on  the  security  of  the  freight,  and  not  on  that  of 
the  ship  itself.     Sec  Bottomry. 

REST.  In  Music,  a  pause  or  interval  of  time,  during 
which  there  is  an  intermission  of  the  voice  or  sound.  A 
rest  may  be  for  a  bar,  or  more  than  a  bar,  or  for  a  part  of  a 
bar  only. 

RESTITUTION,  WRIT  OF,  in  Law,  lies  where  judg- 
ment has  been  reversed,  to  restore  to  the  defendant  what 
he  has  lost  II  can  properly  only  be  granted  where  the 
party  cannot  be  restored  by  the  ordinary  course  of  law. 
Restitution  of  goods  to  a  party  robbed  was  unknown  to  the 
common  law;  but  the  Btat.  21  II.  8,  c.  11,  first  saw  it.  Bv 
the  statute  7  &  H  O.  4,  c.  29,  s.  57,  it  is  now  in  the  power  of 
the  court  to  award  a  writ  of  restitution  of  goods  and  chat- 
ties, and  to  restore  them  in  a  summary  manner,  where  a 
thief  or  fraudulent  taker  has  been  indicted  on  the  part  of 
the  owner  and  convicted.  Such  restitution  cannot  be  grant- 
ed Of  a  valuable  security,  where  the  property  has  passed 
into  Other  hands  by  a  bona  tide  the  transaction.  But  a  writ 
of  restitution  will  reach  goods  stolen,  although  they  have 
been  sold  in  market  overt.  Restitution  can  only  be  had 
from  the  person   in  possession  Of  the  goods  at  the  time  of 

and  after  the  felon's  conviction. 

RESTORATION.  THE,  in  English  History,  is  applied  by 
waj  of  eminence  to  the  accession  of  Charles  II.  tothe  throne 
alter  an  Interregnum  of  eleven  years  and  four  months,  from 
Jan.  30.  1649,  when  Charles  I.  was  beheaded,  till  May  29, 
1660.  The  latter  day  is  appointed  in  the  liturgy  of  the  En- 
glish Churcb  as  an  anniversary  festival  in  commemoration 
of  the  restoration  of  the  monorchia!  form  of  government  in 
these  realms. 

RESU'LTANT,  in  Dynamics,  is  the  force  which  results 
from  the  composition  of  two  or  more  forces  acting  upon  a 
body.  When  the  two  forces  act  upon  a  body  in  the  same 
line  of  direction,  the  resultant  is  equivalent  to  the  sum  of 
both  ;  when  they  act  In  opposite  directions,  the  resultant  is 
equal  to  their  difference,  and  acts  in  the  direction  of  the 
greater.  If  the  lines  of  direction  of  the  two  forces  are  in- 
clined to  each  other,  then,  on  taking  in  each  direction  from 
the  point  wlnre  thej  interseel  a  straight  line  to  represent 
each  of  the  forces  respectively,  and  constructing  a  parallel 

oL'ram  of  which  these  lines  are  the  sides,  the  resultant  is 

represented  both  In  intensity  and  direction  bj  the  diagonal 
of  the  parallelogram  passing  through  the  point  ofintersec 
tJon.    By  combining  this  resultant  u  nh  a  third  force,  a  new 

resultant  will  be  obtained  ;  and  in  this  manner  the  resul- 
tanl  of  any  number  of  forces  may  be  determined.     See  Com- 

oi    Forces. 
RESURRE'CTION.    (Lat.  resurgo,  T  rise  again.)    The 
history  of  the  resurrection  of  our  Saviour  is  detailed  in  the 

separate  narration  of  each  of  the  lour  Evangelists,  and  is 
also  referred  to  and  Insisted  on  in  tin-  Acts  Of  the  Apostles, 
and  in  every  one  of  the   Epistles.     The  importance  of  this 

history,  as  an  evidence  ofthe  truth  of  Christianity,  is  point- 
ed out  in  a  peculiar  manner  by  Palej  I  'vidi  nets,  pari  2,  cb. 
8);  namely,  that  it  was  alleged  from  the  beginning  by  all 

the  propagators  of  Christianity,  and  relied  on  as  the  great 

t'    •  of  the  doctrines  which  they  taught;  consequently,  if 

the  fact   be   untrue,  they  must  all  have  l,een   eilbei  deceiv- 
ers, or  deceived  in  a  point  on  which  it  is  morally  n. 
hie  tin  j  could  be  so. 
1050 


RETICULUM. 

RESUSOITA'TION.  (Lat.  resuscitare,  to  arouse.)  This 
term  is  generally  used  to  signify  the  restoring  to  animation 
of  persons  apparently  dead.  Tlie  first  and  principal  object 
in  these  cases  is  to  aerate  the  blood  by  the  artificial  intro- 
duction of  fresh  air  into  the  lungs,  and  to  restore  the  nat- 
ural function  of  respiration  ;  the  lungs,  therefore,  must  be 
inflated,  and  proper  stimulants  applied  when  necessary; 
among  these,  in  cases  of  drowning  and  of  apparent  death  from 
exposure  to  cold,  friction  and  warm  bath  are  eminently  im- 
portant:  alter  hanging,  the  vessels  of  the  brain  often  require 
to  be  unloaded  by  venesection  in  the  jugular  vein.  Electri- 
city is  sometimes  resorted  to,  but  generally  hopelessly.  In 
all  these  cases  no  time  should  on  any  account  be  lost,  as 
everything  depends  upon  prompt  treatment,  as  well  as 
upon  proper  means ;  and  many  lives  have  been  lost  for 
want  of  immediate  aid,  and  skill  in  applying  it.  The  at- 
tempts to  restore  suspended  animation  should  not  be  given 
up  till  unequivocal  proofs  of  death  are  manifest.  (See 
DROWNING.)  The  details  of  the  management  of  different 
cases  of  apparent  death  are  too  extensive  to  come  within  our 
limits:  upon  ibis  subject  the  reader  may  advantageously 
consult  Taylor's  Elements  of  Medical  Jurisprudence. 

RETA'INER.  In  old  English  Law,  a  servant  not  dwel- 
ling in  the  master's  house  or  employed  by  him  in  any  dis- 
tinct occupation,  but  wearing  his  livery  (i.e.,  hat,  badge,  or 
suit),  and  attending  on  particular  occasions:  an  important 
relic  of  the  times  of  private  warfare.  The  giving  liveries, 
or  retaining  this  class  of  servants,  was  forbidden  by  many 
statutes  with  little  efl'ect.  The  statutes  themselves  were 
repealed  by  3  Car.  1,  c.  1 ;  but  the  usage  had  then  nearly 

RETAINER,  or  RETAINING  FEE.  In  the  language  of 
the  Bar,  a  fee  given  to  a  counsel  to  secure  his  services;  or 
rather,  as  it  has  been  said,  to  prevent  the  opposite  side  from 
engaging  them.  A  special  retainer  is  for  a  particular  case 
expected  to  come  on.  A  general  retainer  is  given  by  a  par- 
ty desirous  of  securing  a  priority  of  claim  on  the  counsel's 
services  for  any  case  which  he  may  have  in  any  court 
which  that  counsel  attends.  The  efl'ect  of  it  is  merely  this, 
that  if  a  counsel  having  a  general  retainer  receive  a  special 
retainer  on  the  other  side,  he  cannot  accept  it  until  twenty  - 
four  hours  after  notice  shall  have  been  given  of  its  arrival 
to  the  party  so  generally  retaining  him  ;  when,  if  he  does 
not  receive  a  brief  or  a  special  retainer  from  the  latter,  he  is 
hound  to  accept  it.  The  same  wind  in  its  strict  legal  accep- 
tation signifies  the  engagement  of  an  attorney  by  his  client, 
which  enhances  the  mutual  duties  implied  by  the  law  be- 
tween them. 

RE'l'ARDA'TION.  The  act  of  hindering  the  free  pro- 
gress of  a  body,  and  ultimately,  therefore,  stopping  it.  It 
arises  from  the  opposition  of  the  medium  in  which  the  body 
moves,  or  from  the  friction  of  the  surface  upon  which  it 
moves.     Sec  Friction,  Resistance. 

RE'TE  MUCO'SUM.  (Lat.)  The  soft  and  apparently 
fibrous  mailer,  or  layer,  situated  between  the  cuticle  and 
the  cutis  ;  it  is  the  seat  of  the  colour  of  the  skin.  It  is  black  in 
the  negro,  and  the  colouring  matter  is  of  such  a  nature  as  to 
admit  of  being  bleached  bv  the  action  of  chlorine. 

RE'TIARII'.S,  Retiaria.  (Lat.  rete,  a  net.)  In  Entomo- 
logy, those  spiders  are  so  called  which  spin  a  web  or  net  to 
entrap  their  prey 

RETIA'RIUS.  (Lat.  rete,  a  net.)  The  name  of  a  class 
of  Roman  gladiators  armed  in  a  peculiar  way.  The  retia- 
rius  was  furnished  with  a  trident  and  net,  with  no  more 
covering  than  a  short  tunic  ;  and  with  these  implements  he 
endeavoured  to  entangle  and  despatch  his  adversary,  who 
was  called  secutor  (from  sequi,  to  follow),  and  was  armed 
with  a  helmet,  a  shield,  and  sword. 

RE'iTCCE.Vl'i:.  (Lat.  rete.)  In  Zoology,  when  a  sur- 
face has  a  number  of  minute  impressed  lines  which  inter- 
sect each  other  in  various  directions,  like  the  meshes  of  a 
net. 

RETI'CULATEH  \V<  IRK.  In  Architecture,  that  where- 
in the  stones  are  square  and  laid  lozengewiso,  resembling 

the  meshes  of  a  net.  This  species  of  masonry  is  scarcely 
ever  practised  in  the  present  dav  ;  but  it  was  very  common 
among  the  ancients. 

RETl'CUliATES,  Reticulata.  (T.at.  reticulum,  a  vrt.) 
The  name  id'  a  section  of  Lithophytes,  comprehending  those 

in  which  the   polype  cells  have  a  reticulate  disposition  on 

the  surface  of  expanded  plates. 

RE'TICI'I.E.  In  a  telescope,  a  network  of  some  fine 
fibres  crossing  each  other  al  right  angles,  and  dividing  the 
field  of  view  into  a  series  of  small  equal  squares.  It  has 
been  long  used  for  observations  on  the  quantity  of  the  ™- 

llghtened  parts  of  a  luminary  d  urine  eclipses  :  and  is  found, 

under  most  circumstances,  well  adapted  for  the  purpose, 
when  placed  in  a  convenient  position  In  respect  to  the  ob- 
ject gloss  of  the  telescope.  The  term  reticule  is  also  ap- 
plied to  a  well  Known  article,  formerly  of  network,  but  now 
of  every  description  of  materials,  used  bv  ladies. 
RETI'CULUM.    (Lat.)    The  name  ofthe.  "honeycomb 


RETINA. 

bag,"  or  second  cavity  of  the  complex  stomach  of  the  Ru- 
minant quadrupeds  ;  so  called  because  of  the  reticulate  or 
honeycomb-like  disposition  of  the  mostly  hexagonal  cells 
which  occupy  its  inner  surface. 

RE'TINA."  (Lat.  rete.)  The  pulpy  expansion  of  the  op- 
tic nerve  in  the  interior  of  the  eve  ;  it  is  the  seat  of  vision. 

RETINASPHA'LTUM,  or  RETINITE.  (Gr.  pcTivn, 
resin,  and  aoipaXrov,  bitumen,  retinite.)  A  substance  dis- 
covered by  Mr.  Hatchett,  associated  with  Bovey  coal,  and 
which  has  since  been  found  in  other  coal  strata.  When 
digested  in  alcohol  it  yields  a  portion  of  resin,  and  asphal- 
tum  remains ;  it  appears,  therefore,  to  be  a  substance  inter- 
mediate between  resin  and  bitumen,  and  renders  it  probable  | 
that  bitumens  are  of  resinous  origin. 

RETINITIS.     Inflammation  of  the  retina. 

RE'TIPEDS,  Retipedes.  (Lat.  rete.  and  pes,  afoot.) 
The  name  given  by  Scopoli,  to  one  of  the  divisions  of  a  bi- 
nary arrangement  of  birds,  including  all  those  which  have 
the  skin  of  the  tarsi  divided  into  small  polygonal  scales. 

RETI'RED  FLANK.  In  Fortification,  a  flank  having 
an  arc  of  a  circle  with  its  convexity  turned  towards  the 
place. 

RETORT.    A  chemical  vessel  employed  in  a  variety  of 

O/'    N     distillations,    it  is  generally  made 
^Ca  )    of  glass    or    earthenware,    and 

\^    J    sometimes    is  provided    with   a 
■  0  stopper  so  placed  above  the  bulb 

JSk.     as  to  enable  substances  to  be  in- 
c? f    ^,  troduced  into  it  without   soiling 

>lr  £±  J  t]ie  neck  ;  in  this  case  it  is  called 

(         }       (2.)  ^ '    a  tubulated  retort.     A  receiver  is 

\ J  usually  annexed  to  it  for  the  pur- 

pose of  collecting  the  products  of  distillation.  Fig.  1  repre- 
sents a  plain  retort  and  receiver  ;  in  tig.  2,  both  are  tubula- 
ted. 

RETOUCH.  In  Painting.  Sculpture,  &c,  a  verb  used  to 
denote  the  reapplication  of  the  master's  hand  to  a  work 
which  he  had  theretofore  considered  in  a  finished  state. 

RETRACE.  In  Painting,  &c,  a  verb  used  to  denote  the 
renewal  of  the  outline  of  a  drawing. 

RETRENCHMENT.     See  Fortification. 

RETROCE'DENT.  A  term  applied  in  Medicine  to  those 
diseases  which  move  about  from  one  part  of  the  body  to  an- 
other; as  retroccdent  gout,  when  it  leaves  the  toe  for  the 
stomach. 

RETROGRADATION.  A  term  applied  to  the  apparent 
motion  of  a  planet  when  it  is  contrary  to  the  order  of  the 
signs,  or  when  the  planet  appears  to  move  westward  among 
the  fixed  stars.     See  Planet. 

RETU'RN,  in  Law,  in  its  most  usual  signification,  is  ap- 
plied to  writs.  The  return  to  a  writ  is,  properly  speaking,  a 
recital  by  the  sheriff  or  other  officer  to  whom  it  was  directed 
of  what  he  has  done  in  execution  of  it ;  as,  for  exam- 
ple, in  cases  of  civil  process,  that  the  defendant  cannot  be 
found  (technically  called,  non  est  inventus),  has  no  goods 
within  the  sheriff's  bailiwick  (nulla  bona),  and  so  forth. 
This  is  endorsed  on  the  writ ;  and  the  writ  is  then  delivered 
into  the  court  whence  it  issued  on  the  "  return  day,"  or  day 
when  the  writ  is  returnable.  The  remedy  against  the  sher- 
iff for  a  false  return  is  by  action  on  the  case.  The  return 
of  members  of  parliament  is  thus,  strictly  speaking,  the  re- 
turn by  the  sheriff,  or  other  returning  officer,  of  the  writ  ad- 
dressed to  him,  certifying  the  election  in  pursuance  of  it. 
See  Parliament. 

Return.  In  Architecture,  a  projecture,  moulding,  or 
Wall  continued  in  a  different  or  opposite  direction. 

REVEILLE.  (Fr.  literally,  awake.)  The  name  given 
to  the  practice  prevalent  throughout  all  the  European  ar- 
mies of  beating  the  drum  at  daybreak,  to  awake  the  soldiers 
and  put  a  stop  to  the  challenging  of  the  sentries.  The 
equivalent  tune  played  on  the  bugle  in  the  evening,  to  sum- 
mon the  soldiers  within  their  barracks,  is  called  the  retreat. 

REVELA'TION,  in  a  theological  sense,  is  a  communica- 
tion of  truth  made  by  God  to  man;  but  it  is  understood 
that  those  truths  only  are  revealed  which  are  communica- 
ted by  direct  and  special  means,  that  is.  by  divine  inspira- 
tion. Such  fragments  of  the  divine  will  and  economy  as 
are  taught  men  by  their  own  faculties  and  instincts  are  dis- 
tinguished under  the  term  natural  religion. 

FE'VELS,  MASTER  OF  THE,  or  LORD  OF  MIS- 
RULE. The  name  of  an  officer  formerly  attached  pro  tem- 
pore to  royal  and  other  distinguished  houses,  whose  duty 
it  was  to  preside  over  the  Christmas  entertainments.  This 
office  was  first  permanently  instituted  in  the  reign  of  Henry 
VIII.;  and  appears  to  have  gone  out  of  fashion  towards  the 
end  df  the  17th  century. 

REVINDICATION.  A  term  of  the  civil  law,  signify- 
ing a  claim  legally  made  to  recover  property,  by  one  claim- 
ing as  owner.  The  right  of  property  must,  generally  speak 
ing.  he  complete,  to  proceed  to  the  action  of  revendication  ; 
thus,  no  such  action  can  be  brought  for  corporeal  things  un- 
til after  delivery,  by  which  they  pass. 


REVERSIONARY  PAYMENTS. 

RE'VENUE.  (Ft.)  The  name  was  given  to  the  income 
of  a  state  derived  from  the  customs,  excise,  taxation,  and 
other  sources,  and  appropriated  to  the  payment  of  the  na- 
tional expenses.  Most  useful  and  comprehensive  tables, 
showing  the  revenue  and  expenditure  of  Great  Britain,  will 
be  found  in  the  Parliamentary  Papers  printed  every  session. 

RE'VEREND.  (Lat.  reverendus.)  A  title  of  respect  giv- 
en to  the  clergy.  In  Roman  Catholic  countries  the  mem- 
bers of  the  different  religious  orders  are  styled  reverend. 
In  England  deans  are  very  reverend,  bishops  right  reverend, 
and  archbishops  most  reverend.  In  Scotland,  the  principals 
of  the  universities  and  the  moderator  of  the  General  As- 
sembly for  the  time  being  are  styled  very  reverend. 

REVE'RSE.  In  Numismatics,  the  opposite  to  the  ob- 
verse or  face  of  the  coin  or  medal.  See  Obverse,  Numis- 
matics. 

REVE'RSION,  in  Law,  is  defined  to  be  the  residue  of  an 
estate  in  lands,  tenements,  or  hereditaments,  left  in  the 
grantor,  to  commence  in  possession  after  the  determination 
of  some  particular  estate  granted  by  him. 

REVE'RSION  OF  SERIES,  in"  Algebra,  is  the  method 
of  expressing  the  value  of  an  unknown  quantity  which  is  in- 
volved in  an  infinite  series  of  terms,  by  means  of  another 
series  of  terms  involving  the  powers  of  the  quantity  to 
which  the  proposed  series  is  equal.  Thus,  if  the  proposed 
series  be 

z  =  az-f-6zz  +  cz3  +  (Zz*-t-  .  .  .ad  inf.  ....  (1.) 
and  if  we  assume 

x=  A  2  +  B  :2  +  C  z>  +  D  :*  +  .  .  .  ad  inf.  .  ...  (2.) 
the  original  series  will  be  reverted  on  determining  the  coef- 
ficients A.  B,  C,  D,  &c. 

The  ordinary  method  substituting  the  last  series  (2)  and 
its  powers  for  z  and  its  powers  in  the  series  (1),  and  equa- 
ting the  coefficients,  whereby  the  values  of  A,  B,  C,  D,  &c, 
are  obtained.  But  this  method,  though  given  by  Newton, 
by  whom  the  problem  was  first  proposed,  becomes  unman- 
ageable after  a  few  steps  ;  and  is  moreover  defective,  inas- 
much as  it  does  not  show  the  connexion  of  the  coefficients, 
nor  the  law  by  which  they  are  formed.  A  general  formula 
was  given  by  Arbog;ist  {Ca/cul  des  Derivntions),  whereby 
they  may  be  continued  with  comparatively  little  trouble  to 
almost  any  extent.  The  values  of  the  first  four  coefficients 
are, 


A=  -,B  =  - 


C  = 


2  ft2 


D  =• 


5  b'  —  5  a  ft  c  -f-  a"  d 

a~1  ' 


(See  also  JVoodchouse's  Principles  of  Analytical  Calcula- 
tion, arts.  72  and  73;  and  the  Penny  Cyclopedia,  where  the 
values  of  the  coefficients  are  given  to  eleven  terms.) 

REVE'RSION.  REVERSIONARY  PAYMENTS.  In 
the  doctrine  of  Annuities,  a  reversion  is  a  payment  which 
is  not  to  be  received,  or  a  benefit  which  does  not  begin,  un- 
til the  happening  of  some  event,  as  the  death  of  a  person 
now  living.  Payments  which  are  to  be  received  at  the  end 
of  a  specified  period  of  time  are  usually  called  deferred  pay- 
ments. 

The  present  value  of  a  sum  of  money  to  be  received  on 
the  death  of  an  individual  of  a  given  age  depends  evidently 
upon  the  chances  which  the  individual  has  of  surviving 
each  future  year  of  age,  combined  with  the  interest  of  mon- 
ey. The  method  by  which  the  value  is  calculated,  from  an 
observed  or  assumed  law  of  mortality,  has  been  explained 
under  the  term  of  Assurance  ;  and  for  the  sake  of  facilita- 
ting calculations  of  this  kind,  which  are  of  very  frequent 
occurrence  in  the  affairs  of  life,  extensive  tables  have  been 
published,  computed  from  various  hypothesis  of  mortality, 
and  at  different  rates  of  interest.  Such  tables  are  usually 
exhibited  in  the  form  of  Annuity  Tables,  from  which  the 
solutions  of  all  questions  relating  to  assurances  and  rever- 
sions are  easily  deduced.     See  Annuity  and  Assurance. 

Let  A  denote  the  value  of  an  annuity  of  ]/.  on  a  life  of  a 
given  age,  V  the  present  value  of  1/.  to  be  received  at  the 
end  of  the  year  in  which  the  life  fails  (the  year  being  sup- 
posed to  commence  with  the  day  on  which  the  annuity  is 
payable),  r  the  rate  of  interest,  and  o  =  1  -f-  (1  +  r\ ;  then, 
V  =  »  (1  + A)  —A,ot\  —  v  —  (1  —  v)  A. 

Suppose,  for  example,  that  on  the  death  of  A,  whose 
present  age  is  fifty  five,  the  sum  of  5000/.  is  to  revert  to  B,  or 
his  assigns,  and  "that  B  proposes  to  sell  his  interest  in  this 
reversion  ;  and  let  it  be  proposed  to  calculate  the  sum  which 
he  ought  now  to  receive,  allowing  the  purchaser  interest  at 
the  rate  of  4  per  cent,  per  annum.  In  the  table  given  under 
the  term  Annuity,  the  value  of  an  annuity  of  £1  on  a  male 
life  aged  fifty -five  is  110392.    At  4  per  cent,  we  have  r  = 

12-0392 
■04,  and  v  =  1  ■+■  104 ;  therefore  V  =  — — 110392  = 

•5370.  This  is  the  value  of  the  reversion  of  XI  :  conse- 
quently £5000  X  -5370  =  £2085  is  the  sum  which  B.  should 
receive  for  his  reversionary  interest. 

3U  1057 


REVETEMENT. 

When  the  reversionary  benefit  consists  of  an  annuity  to 
commence  upon  the  death  of  an  individual,  ami  to  continue 

ior  a  term  of  years  certain,  its  value  is  round  by  computing 
the  value  of  the  annuity  for  the  assigned  period,  and  pro- 
ceeding as  in  the  above  example  ;  but  when  ii  consists  of  an 
annuity  commencing  upon  tin-  death  of  one  individual,  and 

terminable  upon  the  death  of  another,  it  becomes  necessary 
to  have  recourse  to  tables  of  annuities  on  joint  lives.  Thus,  if 
A  becomes  entitled  upon  the  death  of  A"  to  an  annuity  of  £1 
for  the  remainder  of  his  life,  the  present  value  of  the  rever- 
sion, or  of  ,  i's  interest,  is  equal  to  B  —  A  B  ;  where  B  de- 
notes the  present  value  of  the  annuity  on  the  life  of  B,  and 
A  B  the  value  of  the  annuity  on  the  joint  lives  of  .1  and 
B,  that  is.  to  continue  only  so  long  as  both  remain  alive. 

The  four  following  rules  give  the  solution  of  all  the  cases 
of  reversionary  annuities  which  can  arise  when  three  lives 
tire  concerned,  and  it  is  seldom  that  a  case  occurs  in  prac- 
tice involving  a  greater  number.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that 
the  two  letters  A  B  standing  together  denote,  as  above, 
the  value  of  an  annuity  on  the  joint  lives  of  .4  and  B,  P  B 
that  of  an  annuity  on  the  joint  lives  of  B  and  P,  and  A  P 
Q.  that  of  an  annuity  on  the  joint  continuance  of  the  three 
lives  A,  P,  Q,  and  so  on.  Let  R  be  the  value  of  the  re- 
versionary annuity  in  each  case. 

1.  On  a  single  life  A,  after  the  longest  of  two  lives  P 
and  Q;  R  =  A  —  A  P—  A  Q-f  A  P  U. 

•J.  On  the  longest  of  two  lives  A,  B,  after  a  single  life 
P;  R  =  A  +  B  — AB  — AP  — BP-f  A  PI!. 

3.  On  a  single  life  A,  after  two  joint  lives  P,  Q ;  R  =; 
A  — APQ. 

4.  On  two  joint  lives  A,  B,  after  a  single  life  P ;  R  = 
A  B  —  A  B  P. 

When  reversionary  benefits  are  contingent  on  lives  failing 
in  an  assigned  order,  as  for  instance  an  annuity  to  be  re- 
ceived upon  the  death  of  A  provided  he  die  while  B  is 
living,  the  formula  becomes  more  intricate,  and  could  scarce- 
ly be  explained  without  entering  into  details  inconsistent 
with  the  nature  of  this  work.  For  full  information  on  the 
subject,  see  the  Treatises  of  Baily  (1813),  and  Milne  (1816). 
We  may  remark,  however,  that  the  formula  for  the  solu- 
tion of  questions  connected  with  this  subject  may  be  great- 
ly simplified  by  the  use  of  an  appropriate  notation:  for  ex- 
amples of  which  see  lh  Morgan's  Essay  on  Probabilities, 
Cabinet  Cycl.:  and  Hardy's  A"  tc  and  General  Notation 
for  Life  Contingencies  (1840)  ;  In  which  last  work  the  so- 
lutions of  all  the  cases  of  annuities  and  assurances  which 
can  arise,  when  not  more  than  three  lives  are  concerned, 
are  arranged  in  a  convenient  table. 

REVE'TEMENT.  In  Fortification,  a  strong  wall  of 
brick  or  stone  built  round  the  lower  part  of  the  rampart, 
to  support  the  earth  and  prevent  it  rolling  into  the  ditch, 
as  well  as  to  increase  the  difficulty  of  escalade. 

REVIEW.  The  name  now  commonly  assumed,  by  lit- 
erary usage,  for  periodical  publications  consisting  of  a  col- 
lection of  critical  essays.  The  Journal  des  Savans,  com- 
menced at  Paris  in  1665  by  M.  de  Sallo,  is  commonly  cited 
as  the  first  review  properly  so  called.  The  most  distin- 
guished modern  journals  under  the  name  of  review  in 
France  are,  the  /.*,  oue  Eneyclopidique,  the  oldest  of  them 
(now  extinct);  the  Revue  Francaise,  and  }>/.<  Deux 
.Month*  ;  and  the  Rente  Britannique,  which  consists  of 
translations  from  the  English.  In  England  the  Monthly 
Rrrt'tr  (established  in  1749)  was  the  first  publication  of  its 
kind.  The  establishment  of  the  Edinburgh  Review  in 
1802,  followed  by  that  of  the  Quarterly  in  180!),  maybe  said 
to  have  commenced  a  new  era  in  criticism  ;  from  that  time 
reviews  have  been  adopted  as  the  organs  for  Conveying  the 

opinions  of  sects  ami  parties  In  religion  and  politics,  as  well 
a.s  in  literature.  All  the  leading  works  of  this  description 
(the  Edinburgh,  Quarterly.  Foreign  Quarterly,  British  and 
Foreign,  Westminster,  British  Critic,  Church  of  England, 
and  Dublin]  now  appear  quarterly,  or  nearly  go.  The 
management  of  reviews  In  England  is  in  the  bands  of  an  ed- 
it irj  w  hose  name,  however,  does  not  appear,  the  publisher 
being  the  party  responsible.  The  article-  are  also  always 
anonymous:  the  Westminster  only,  some  tim.   ago,  adopt 

cd  the  practice  of  putting  the  initial-  of  contributors,  or  ini- 
tials assumed   by  them,    at   the    fool   of  their    papers.      All 

these  reviews  adhere  to  their  designation,  the  articles  ail 
milled  being  in  the  form  of  reviews  on  Borne  work  or  works 
specified  at  the  head,  although,  in  point  id'  fad,  the  latter 
are  often  not  even  noticed  by  the  reviewer,  his  n  marks  he 
ing  more  in  the  form  of  a  general  essay  than  of  a  review. 
In  this  way  they  serve  the  purpose  of  affording  govern- 
ments or  political  parties  the  means  of  making  statements 
of  facts,  or  declarations  of  opinion,  which  do  not  involve 
them  iii  the  difficulties  of  direct  responsibility,  and  yet  are 
generally  understood  to  convey  their  sentiments.    The  pay 

of  writers  in  reviews  is  various,  depending  not  only  on  the 
means  of  the  review,  hut  on   the  rules  adopted  by  partial 

lar  editors  ;  tor  some  have  th  inght  proper  u>  equalize  their 
rate  of  remuneration,  others  to  retain  in  their  own  hands 
10W 


RHAMNACEjE. 

the  power  of  estimating  contributions  according  to  their 
supposed  value.     The   French  "  ie\  ues,"  are  conducted  on 

a  different  plan.    Articles,  in  general,  have  the  name  of  the 

Contributor   attached;  and   the   form  of  a   "review"   is  not 

preserved,  tales,  poetry,  essays  on  the  politics  of  the  day, 
&.c,  being  admitted  indiscriminately. 

But  besides  France  and  England,  reviews  have  been  long 
established  in  the  other  European  states,  and  in  America; 
hut  this  species  of  publication  has  taken  the  deepest  root  in 
Germany,  where  reviews  may  be  said,  without  exaggera- 
tion, to  appear  daily,  though  none  of  them  possess  the  influ- 
ence of  our  Edinburgh  or  Quarterly  Review.  The  Ciuttm- 
trer  Oelehrte  Anieige,  which  is  the  oldest,  still  exists,  and 
maintains  a  high  character  for  ability  and  impartiality. 

REVIEW.  In  Military  language,  an  inspection  of  the  ap- 
pearance and  regular  disposition  of  a  body  of  troops  assem- 
bled for  that  purpose. 

REVISE.     See  Correcting. 

REVI'VOR,  BILL  OF,  in  Law,  is  a  continuance  of  an 
original  bill  in  a  court  of  equity,  when  by  death  some  parry 
to  it  has  become  incapable  of  prosecuting  or  defending  a 
suit,  or  a  female  plnintiffhas  incapacitated  herself  by  mar- 
riage from  suing  alone.  A  bill  "  of  revivor  and  supple- 
ment" continues  a  suit  upon  an  abatement,  and  supplies 
defects  arisen  from  some  event  subsequent  to  the  institu- 
tion of  the  suit. 

REVOCA'TIOX,  POWER  OF.  In  Law,  a  power  con- 
tained in  a  voluntary  deed  of  conveyance  to  uses,  by  which 
the  grantor  retains  the  liberty  to  revoke  the  uses  granted 
by  the  deed.  Voluntary  estates  made  with  power  of  revo- 
cation are  held  fraudulent  under  stat.  27  Eli/..,  c.  4,  as 
against  purchasers. 

RE'VOLUTE.  (Lat.  revolvo,  /  red!  back.)  In  Zoology, 
when  a  part  is  rolled  outwards  or  backwards. 

REVOLU'TION.  In  Politics,  a  word  of  somewhat  in- 
definite meaning,  but  usually  denoting  an  extensive  change 
in  the  political  constitution  of  a  country  accomplished  in  a 
short  time,  whether  by  legal  or  illegal  means.  The  term 
Revolution,  in  English  History,  is  applied  by  way  of  emi- 
nence to  the  year  1688,  universally  regarded  as  the  great 
era  of  English  liberty — when  William  III.  and  Mary  acce- 
ded to  the  throne  on  the  forced  abdication  of  James  II. 

Revolution.  In  Geometry,  the  motion  of  a  point  or 
line  about  a  centre. 

REVOLUTION,  in  Astronomy,  is  used  to  signify  the  period 
in  which  a  planet,  satellite,  or  comet  returns  to  the  place 
in  its  orbit  from  w  hicl]  we  estimate  its  setting  out. 

REVOLUTION,  FRENCH  (ERA  OF  THE).  In  Chro- 
nology, this  was  substituted  for  the  Christian  era  in  all  pub- 
lic acts  and  documents,  by  a  decree  of  the  National  Con- 
vention in  1793;  and  fixed  at  the  23d  September,  1792,  the 
day  of  the  foundation  of  the  French  Republic.  It  was 
abolished  by  Napoleon,  and  the  Christian  era  restored,  in 
1806. 

REX  PACRO'RUM.  In  Roman  History,  a  priest  ap- 
pointed after  the  expulsion  of  Tarquin  to  superintend  cer- 
tain holy  rites  which  had  always  been  performed  by  the 
king  in  person.     (JJv.  ii.,  2.) 

RHABDOLO'GIA.  (Gr.  p«#rV,  a  rod,  and  >o>oc,  a  de- 
scription.) The  name  given  by  Napier  to  a  method  of  per- 
forming multiplication  and  division  by  means  of  a  set  of 
figured  rods  or  scales.    See  Napier's  Rods. 

RHA'BDOMANCY.  (Gt.  ^«/3 Sos,  and uAvrsia,  prophecy.) 
Properly,  divination  by  a  rod  or  w  and.  Some  persons  have 
been  believed  to  be  endowed  by  nature  with  a  peculiar 
sense  or  perception,  by  which  they  tire  enabled  to  discover 
tilings  hid  in  the  earth,  especially  metals  and  water.  But 
a  more  prevalent  opinion  has  been,  that  the  discovery  of 
these  substances  might  be  effected  by  means  of  a  divining 
rod.  The  divining  rod  is  a  branch  of  a  tree,  generally 
ha/el,  forked  at  the  end,  and  held  in  a  particular  Way,  by 
the  two  ends,  in  the  hands  of  the  adept  ;  and  is  supposed 
to  indicate  the  position  of  the  substance  sought  by  bending 

towards  it  with  a  slow  rotatory  motion,  the  adept,  accord- 
ing to  modern  practice,  being  placed   in   contact  with  some 

tallic  or  other  magnetic  substance.     The  art  is  said  to 

he  occasionally  practised  in  the  south  of  France  and  Italy, 

under  the  names  of  metalloscopy,  hydroseopy,  fcc.  Cam- 
petti,  an  Italian,  in  the  beginning  of  the  present  century, 
excited  much  attention  by  his  professed  powers  of  rhab- 
domancy. 

Ill  I  \Sl.\.\'('E.E.  (Rhamnus,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  arborescent  or  shrubby  ExogenS,  inh abit 
ing  all  parts  of  the  world  excepting  the  arctic  regions. 
The  berries  of  various  species  of  Rhamnus  are  violent  pur- 

g  iti\  es  :  while  the  fruit  of  Bome,  as  the  jujube,  is  harmless 
and  eatable.  Rhamnus  trangula  yields  "the  best  kind  of 
charcoal  for  irunpowder.  From  the  berries  of/,',  infectori- 
u.i  and  others  a  yellow  dye  is  obtained,  but.  in  general,  the 
species  are  neither  useful    nor  ornamental.     The)   are  nil 

•  ai  til  flowered  polypetalous  or apetalous  plants,  with  four 
or  live  Stamens  alternating  with  the  lobes  of  the  calyx. 


RHAMPHASTOS. 

RHAMPHA'STOS.  (Gr.  pa^oi,  a  beak.)  The  name 
of  a  genus  of  Scansorial  birds  (Toucans)  in  the  system  of 
Cnvier,  distinguished  by  an  enormous  beak,  nearly  as 
thick  and  as  long  as  the  body  in  some  species.  The  com- 
pensation by  which  this  disproportionate  beak  is  rendered 
manageable  and  portable  is  an  extremely  light  and  cellular 
structure  internally.  It  is  arcuated  near  the  extremity, 
and  in  old  toucans  is  irregularly  indented  along  the  edges. 
The  toucans  are  distinguished  from  the  hornbills  by  the 
scansorial  modification  of  their  feet,  in  which  two  toes  be- 
hind are  opposed  to  two  in  front ;  and  by  their  long,  nar- 
row, and  ciliated  tongue.  They  are  confined  to  the  hot 
climates  of  America,  where  they  live  in  small  flocks,  feed- 
ing on  fruit,  insects,  and  the  eggs  and  callow  offspring  of 
other  birds. 

RHAPO'NTICIN.  A  substance  obtained  from  the 
Rheum  rhaponticnm,  in  the  form  of  yellow  scales ;  insolu- 
ble in  cold  water  and  in  ether,  and  tasteless  and  inodor- 
ous. It  dissolves  in  24  parts  of  boiling  water,  and  in  2  of 
absolute  alcohol.  t 

RHA'PSODIST.  (Gr.  pa-XTO),  I  sew  or  string  together  ; 
won,  a  song.)  A  class  of  persons  who  are  said  to  have 
flourished  in  the  age  of  Homer,  whose  occupation  it  was 
to  compose  or  commit  to  memory  poems,  which  they  re- 
cited for  the  amusement  of  their  auditors.  It  has  been 
supposed  that  by  means  of  persons  of  this  class  the  poems 
of  Homer  were  preserved  till  the  invention  of  writing  se- 
cured them  more  permanently,  and  among  them  is  divided 
the  honour  of  the  authorship  of  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey  by 
those  who  deny  the  individuality  of  Horner.  But  the  fact 
of  the  existence  of  such  a  class  with  higher  pretensions 
than  to  the  faculty  of  making  short  extemporaneous  effu- 
sions is  highly  doubtful,  as  it  rests  mainly  on  the  assumed 
fact  that  the  art  of  writing  was  unknown  in  Ionia  in  the 
Homeric  age. 

RHEA.  (Gr.  ptui,  I  flow.)  In  Classical  Mythology, 
daughter  of  Ccelus  and  Terra,  wife  of  Saturn,  and  mother 
of  Vesta,  Ceres,  Juno,  Pluto,  &c.  She  is  frequently  con- 
founded with  Ops,  Terra,  and  Cybele.  For  the  particulars 
of  her  history,  see  Saturn. 

Rhea.  The  name  of  a  genus  of  Struthious  birds,  of 
which  the  three-toed  ostriches  of  South  America  are  the 
representatives. 

RHE'IN.  An  inodorous  bitterish  substance  of  a  yellow 
colour,  obtained  by  gently  heating  powdered  rhubarb  with 
8  parts  of  nitric  acid  of  the  sp.  gr.  137,  evaporating  to  the 
consistence  of  syrup,  and  diluting  with  cold  water. 

RHE'TORIC.  (Gr.  pijTopiKn,  sc.  rexflt  the  rhetorical 
art;  from  pnro>p,  an  orator.)  In  the  widest  sense  in  which 
the  word  is  occasionally  used  by  modern  writers,  the  art 
of  prose  composition  generally.  In  the  most  restricted 
and  most  etymological  sense,  the  art  of  oratory,  or  of  ad- 
dressing public  assemblies.  In  an  intermediate  sense,  in 
which,  perhaps,  it  is  most  commonly  employed,  the  art  of 
argumentative  composition.  This  comes  nearest  to  the 
signification  which  Aristotle,  the  earliest  extant  writer  of 
a  formal  treatise  on  rhetoric,  attached  to  the  title  of  his 
subject,  when  he  defined  it  to  be  the  art  of  discovering 
and  employing  topics  of  persuasion.  He  arranged  these 
topics  or  means  of  persuasion  under  three  heads.  First, 
those  which  arise  from  the  character  of  the  orator  him- 
self; i.  e.,  the  character  in  which,  by  what  must  be  term- 
ed rhetorical  artifice,  he  places  himself  before  his  hearers. 
It  is  obvious  that  a  speaker  addressing  an  assembly,  who 
is  known  by  them  to  be  actuated  by  honest  motives,  and 
to  understand  the  subject  on  which  he  speaks,  advances 
by  the  mere  possession  of  these  adventitious  attributes  a 
long  way  towards  the  end  and  aim  of  oratory,  viz.,  per- 
suasion. Hence  it  is  that  Aristotle  presents,  as  one  of  the 
chief  branches  of  rhetoric,  the  art  by  which  the  speaker 
or  writer,  as  it  were,  invests  himself  with  these  attributes, 
and  thus  ensures  a  more  favourable  reception  to  his  argu- 
ment. The  art  of  moving  the  passions  by  the  use  of  such 
arguments  and  representations  as  are  proper  to  excite  each, 
belongs  also,  in  Aristotle's  arrangement,  to  this  division  of 
his  subject.  In  his  second  division  he  treats  of  argument 
itself,  considered  with  respect  to  its  cogency  or  inconclu- 
siveness  in  point  of  form  ;  and  hence  logic,  in  this  point  of 
view,  becomes  ancillary  to,  or  a  subdivision  of,  rhetoric. 
The  third  division  of  the  subject  exhibits  the  modes  of 
persuasion  arising  from  style,  arrangement,  delivery,  and 
action  ;  and  to  this  third  branch  writers,  who  have  treated 
of  rhetoric  in  its  more  limited  sense,  have  usually  confin- 
ed themselves. 

As  the  work  of  Aristotle  is  the  first,  so  it  is  the  only 
systematic  treatise  on  rhetoric  which  the  ancients  have 
left  us,  among  whom  the  art  was  much  more  diligently 
cultivated  than  among  the  moderns.  Public  speaking  was 
of  infinitely  greater  importance  in  the  classical  common- 
wealths than  in  any  modern  state ;  even  in  our  own, 
where  most  sedulously  studied  and  most  valued,  it  is  but 
a  subsidiary  accomplishment.  The  true  momentum  of 
decision,  that  which  convinces  or  dissuades,  lies  in  the 


RHIZANTHE.E. 

pen  of  the  writer,  rather  than  the  voice  of  the  orator  ;  and 
while  in  the  Grecian  republics  assemblies  were  actually 
swayed  by  oratory  to  determine  on  a  particular  course  of 
action,  its  principal  use  now  appears  to  be  to  arraign,  to 
vindicate,  or  to  explain  the  actions  of  individuals.  French 
oratory,  from  the  nature  of  its  subject,  is  and  always  was 
confined  within  narrow  limits.  Probably  pulpit  oratory, 
in  modern  European  society,  answers  most  nearly  to  the 
classical  notion  of  rhetoric  ;  and,  had  it  ever  been  sub- 
jected to  systematic  rules,  would  have  been  found  most 
nearly  to  conform  to  those  which  the  ancients  have  left 
us.  Among  the  Romans,  oratory  did  not  begin  to  be  cul- 
tivated as  a  science  until  just  at  the  period  when  its  polit- 
ical importance  was  about  to  cease.  Rhetoric,  under  the 
Roman  empire,  was  taught  as  a  regular  science  ;  but  its 
practical  display  was  confined  to  the  orators  of  the  forum, 
among  whom  the  art  gradually  declined,  from  the  tenden- 
cy of  the  crvil  law,  during  the  last  period  of  its  develop- 
ment, to  conduct  all  process  by  written  rather  than  oral 
method.  On  the  other  hand,  the  rules  of  rhetoric  were 
applied  to  the  construction  of  declamations,  a  species  of 
fictitious  argument  much  in  vogue  during  the  decline  of 
Roman  literature ;  and  of  panegyrical  harangues.  The 
study  of  rhetoric,  in  this  perverted  sense  of  the  word,  t.  e., 
of  declamatory  speaking  or  writing,  found  peculiar  favour 
in  the  African  and  oriental  schools  of  the  Roman  empire. 
Some  of  the  early  Christian  writers,  especially  Tertullian, 
afford  evident  tokens  of  having  acquired  the  art  of  compo- 
sition under  such  discipline.     See  Eloquence. 

RHEU'MATISM.  (Gr.  pevnana^oi.)  A  painful  affec- 
tion of  the  joints,  attended  by  swelling  or  stiffness  ;  and 
also  affecting  the  muscular,  tendinous,  and  fibrous  tex- 
tures. It  is  occasionally  accompanied  by  fever,  when  it 
constitutes  acute  rheumatism,  or  rheumatic  fever  :  in  which 
case  the  joints  are  much  swollen  and  excessively  painful ; 
the  pulse  frequent,  but  seldom  hard  ;  the  perspiration  usu- 
ally abundant  and  acid  ;  the  tongue  extremely  foul,  and 
the  bowels  costive  ;  headache  is  seldom  complained  of, 
and  delirium  very  rare.  In  this  form  of  the  disease  its 
translation  or  metastasis  to  the  heart  is  not  uncommon. 
The  treatment  consists  in  occasional  venesection  ;  in  the 
use  of  purgatives  and  sudorifics,  and  occasionally  of  tonics, 
more  especially  cinchona :  calomel  and  opium  are  also 
largely,  and  often  very  successfully  employed.  Chronic 
rheumatism  is  not  in  general  attended  by  any  very  re- 
markable constitutional  symptoms.  It  occasionally  leads 
to  permanent  distortion  of  the  joints ;  affects  the  perios- 
teum, tendons,  and  ligaments  ;  and  is  most  common  in 
debilitated  habits,  when  the  health  has  been  broken  by 
previous  disease  or  over  exertion  of  body  or  mind. 
Opium,  especially  in  the  form  of  Dover's  powder,  is  gener- 
ally necessary  in  this  disorder  to  procure  rest.  The  bow- 
els should  be  kept  moderately  active  by  warm  purges,  and 
tonics  and  alteratives  cautiously  administered.  A  course 
of  sarsaparilla  is  often  extremely  serviceable  :  colchicum 
has  been  resorted  to,  but  with  most  uncertain  success. 

RHINO'CEROS.  (Gr.  piv,  a  nose;  Ktpa<;,  a  horn.)  The 
name  of  a  genus  of  Pachydermatous  mammals,  character- 
ized by  one  or  two  horny  productions  upon  the  nose.  A 
species  of  hornbill  is  also  called  rhinoceros,  on  account  of 
the  remarkable  recurved  horny  process  which  rises  from 
its  upper  mandible. 

RHINSBURGERS.  The  name  of  a  sect  of  Christians 
which  sprung  up  in  Holland  in  the  18th  century.  They 
seem  to  have  separated  from  the  church  for  the  mere  sake 
of  separation,  for  they  held  all  its  doctrines,  but  rejected 
all  discipline  ;  no  other  profession  being  required  from  its 
members  than  a  belief  that  Christ  is  the  Messiah,  and  that 
the  Scriptures  are  inspired.  They  allowed  of  no  priests  : 
any  member  (women  alone  excepted)  might  preach  and 
expound  in  their  meetings,  which  were  held  in,  so  called, 
colleges  of  piety.  At  one  period  they  had  formed  eighteen 
of  these  in  different  towns  ;  but  from  the  large  license  of 
the  interpretation  of  Scripture  which  they  enjoyed,  several 
ran  into  enthusiasm,  and  having  no  principle  of  cohesion 
they  soon  fell  to  pieces,  and  are  now  completely  extinct. 
See  Society. 

RHIPI'PTE'RANS,  Rhipiptcra.  (Gr.  pine,  a  fan  ;  ttte- 
pov,  a  wing.)  A  name  proposed  by  Latreille  to  supersede 
that  of  Strepsiptera,  by  which  Kirby  designated  a  new  or- 
der of  insects  which  he  had  discovered.  The  new  name 
has  nothing  to  recommend  it,  since  it  signifies  a  character, 
founded  on  the  presence  of  pterygoda,  common  to  other 
orders  of  insects,  as  the  Eepulopterans. 

RHIZA'NTHE^E.  (Gr.  pt^a,  a  root ;  avdos,  a  flower.) 
A  class  of  plants  occupying  a  station  between  sexual  and 
asexual  species,  and  appearing  to  be  an  intermediate  form 
of  organization  between  Endogens  and  the  lower  orders  of 
vegetation.  They  agree  with  the  former  in  the  presence 
of  sexes,  and  in  their  flowers  having  sometimes  a  ternary- 
structure  ;  but  they  have  scarcely  any  spiral  vessels  ;  and 
their  seeds  appear,  as  far  as  they  have  been  examined,  to 
consist  of  a  mass  of  spores,  without  a  special  embryo.    In 

1059 


RHIZOMA. 

their  succulent  texture,  in  their  colour,  often  in  their  pu- 
trid odour  when  decaying,  in  the  sporuliferous  seeds,  and 
in  their  parasitica]  habits,  these  plants  resemble  Funga- 
cett :  while  in  their  flowers  and  sexes  they  accord  with 
jSraeett,  or  similar  Endogens.  They  are  in  all  cases  para 
site<.  and  destitute  of  proper  leaves,  in  lieu  of  \\  bit  b  some 
of  them  have  scales  imbricated  over  their  stems,  -\"i 
withstanding  their  parasitical  habits,  some  are  of  extraor- 
dinary size:  the  flowers  of  Raffiesia  arnolUi  are  as  much 
as  nine  feet  in  circumference. 

RHtZO'MA.     In  Botany.     See  Rootstock. 

RHI'ZOSTOMES,  Rkiiostotaa.  (Gr.  )i&,  and  <xr<u/a, 
amouth.)  A  genus  of  Medusa,  including  those  which 
have  the  absorbing  orifices  of  their  nutrient  canals  of 
small  size,  and  situated  in  great  numbers  on  the  branches 
of  arms,  or  peduncles,  extending  from  the  centre  of  the 
inferior  surface  of  the  disk. 

RflO  HUM.  (Gr.  podov,  a  rose;  on  account  of  the  rose- 
red  colour  of  some  or  its  salts,  especially  of  the  chloride, 
when  dissolved  in  water.)    A  metal  discovered  in  1703,  by 

Wollaston,  associated  with  palladium  in  the  ore  of  pla- 
tinum. It  is  of  a  whitish  colour,  very  difficult  of  fusion, 
and  very  hard.  Its  specific  gravity  is  about  II,  and  its 
equivalent  about  53.  It  has  been 'used  for  the  points  of 
metallic  pens. 

RHOMBOID.  In  Geometry,  a  quadrilateral  figure 
which  has  its  opposite  sides  equal.  When  its  angles  are 
right  angles,  it  is  called  a  rectangle. 

KHoMli  SPAR.  A  crystalline  magnesian  carbonate  of 
lime. 

RHO'MBUS.  In  Geometry,  a  plane  figure  bounded  by- 
four  equal  straight  lines.  When  its  angles  are  right  an- 
gle*, it  becomes  a  square. 

RHONCUS.  (Gr.  poyxoj.)  A  rattling  or  wheezing 
sound:  the  term  is  chiefly  applied  to  sounds  occasioned 
by  certain  morbid  states  of  respiration,  as  indicated  by  the 
stethoscope. 

RHU'BARB.     The   root  of  the   Rheum  palmatum,   and 

perhaps  8 e  other  species,  cultivated  in  China  for  the 

supply  of  the  drug  market.  The  varieties  of  rhubarb 
known  in  commerce  tinder  the  names  of  Russian,  Turkey, 
and  Indian  rhubarb,  are  all  derived  from  one  source;  but 
the  select  pieces  are  sold  under  the  name  of  Russian  and 
Turkey  rhubarb,  and  those  of  somewhat  interior  quality 
as  East  Indian.  To  judge  of  the  quality  of  rhubarb,  it 
should  be  cut  or  broken  :  when  good  it  is  of  a  mottled  red- 
dish or  brownish  red  colour;  that  which  is  very  pale  or 
very  dark  coloured,  and  either  so  soft  as  to  be  spongy,  or 
hard  and  stony  in  texture,  is  bad.  Rhubarb  is  B  valuable 
article  of  the  materia  medica,  being  an  aperient,  and  at 
the  same  time  a  tonic  and  astringent.  The  average  dose 
of  powdered  rhubarb  is  twenty  grains,  which  after  its  pur- 
gative operation  leaves  a  certain  astringent  effect  upon 
the  bowels  ;  hence  its  use  in  diarrhraa  :  from  two  to  five 
grains  operates  as  a  tonic,  and  is  very  useful  in  some 
forms  of  dyspepsia.  A  mixture  of  one  part  of  rhubarb 
with  two  of  powdered  sulphate  of  potash  is  an  excellent 
aperient  for  children.  It  is  occasionally  given  as  a  tinc- 
ture or  infusion;  but  the  powder  is  the  best  form,  either 
in  a  little  plain,  or  peppermint  water,  or  in  the  form  of 
pill. 

KIM. MB.  A  circle  on  the  earth's  surface  making  a 
given  angle  witb  the  meridian  of  the  place,  marking  the 
direction  of  any  object  through  which  it  passes.  The 
divisions  on  the  compass  card  are  called  rhumbs.  See 
Meki  a tor's  Chart. 

RHUMB  LINE.  In  Naval  Affairs,  the  track  of  a  ship 
which  cuts  all  the  meridians  at  the  same  angle;  called 
also  the  luzodromic  curve.  This  being  the  simplest  curve, 
is  the  route  universally  pursued;  but  a  ship  sailing  on  this 
curve  never  looks  direct  for  her  port  until  it  comes  in  sight. 
See  Loxontio.Mii    CtRVK. 

REIT  MB.  <;r.  pvB/iOi,  measure;  or  Germ,  reim.)  In 
Poetry,  the  correspondence  of  sounds  In  the  last  words  or 
syllables  of  verses.  The  latter  is  the  true  rhyme  of  modem 
European  Languages.     There  are  rhymed  verses  in  the 

Latin   classical    poets,  where   the  jingle   -ci  in-  intentional, 

and  more  distinct  examples  of  M  in  the  fragments  of  Roman 

military  songs,  &.<■..  which  have  come  down  to  us.  Bui 
in  the  earlier  period  of  the  decs.]  of  the  I. aim  language, 

when  accent  was  substituted  for  metre   in   the  rhythmical 

arrangement  of  the  verse,  rhyme  made  its  way  Into  the 

Composition  of  chinch  hymns,  fee.      It  has  been  attempted. 

but  with  little  success,  to  deduce  this  Innovation  from  the 

GotilS,  and  from  the  Arabians;   but  the  foimer.  like  the  old 

races,  probablj  used  alliteration,  but  no  rhyme  la 

their  Verses;  and  the  hitter  could  not  have  intluenced 
European  literature  until  a  period  long  after  that  in  which 

rhyme  Oral  appears.    ,\  rhyme  in  which  the  final  syllables 

only  ,-iL'ree  '. strain,  complain),  is  called  a  male  rhyme  ;  one 
in  which  the  two  final  syllables  of  each  verse,  agree,  ■  ii<- 
last  being  -sliurt  {motion,  ocean),  female  ;  and  the  latter  is 
1000 


RIDER. 

sometimes  extended  in  Italian  poetry  to  three  syllables 
[femore,  imtnemore),  when  the  verse  is  called  sdrucciol&. 
in  English  such  a  licence  Is  hardly  permissible,  i 
burlesque  poetry  (see  Hudibras  and  lion  Juan  foi  iu- 
liy  the  strict  rules  of  French  prosody,  the  male 
nnd  female  species  of  rhymes  must  be  alternately  us, ,), 
however  intricate  the  disposition  of  the  verse  maybe;  al- 
though the  last  short  syllable  is  generally  mule,  or  very 
slightly  sounded.  Rhymes  which  extend  not  only  beyond 
the  three  last  syllables,  but  through  the  whole  structure  of 
the  lines,  are  used  in  Arabian  and  Persian  poetry.  Rh\  nies 
in  which  the  consonants  of  the  last  syllable  in  each  verse 
are  identical  (dress,  address)  are  vicious  in  English,  but 
rather  admired  iii  French  poetry.     One  more  singularity  of 

English  poetry  deserves  notice:  while,  from  the  Irregularity 
oi  our  spelling,  many  syllables  rhyme  with  each  other,  al- 
though widely  dissimilar  in  orthography  (woe,  pursue), 
there  are,  on  the  other  hand,  rhymes  which  speak  to  the 
eye,  and  not  to  the  ear;  i.e.,  in  which  the  orthography  of 
the-  rhyming  syllables  is  the  same,  but  the  pronunciation 
different;  as,  wind,  find ;  gone,  alone.  In  the  following 
triplet  of  Dryden, 

>Tis  nothing  yet ;  then  poor  and  naked  come, 

Thy  Father  will  receive  his  nnthnft  home, 

Aaj  thy  blessed  Saviour's  blood  discbarge  the  mighty  sum, 

it  will  be  seen  that  the  first  and  third  lines  rhyme  in  a 
legitimate  manner,  although  the  last  syllables  are  differently 
spelt;  while  the  first  and  second  rhyme  to  the  eye  only, 
and  not  to  the  ear.  This  is  a  licence  only  rendered  ad- 
missible by  precedent. 

RilYXCHOPIIORES.  Rhyncophora.  (Gl. pyyxpc, aleak, 
and  (jiipui,  I  carry.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Coleopterous 
insects,  comprehending  those  which  have  the  head  pro- 
longed in  the  form  of  a  snout  or  probosi  is. 

RHYTHM.  (Gr.  pvQu.os.)  The  consonance  of  measure 
and  time  in  poetry,  prose  composition,  nnd  music,  and  by 
analogy  in  dancing.  Each  verse  or  each  period  may  be 
considered  as  a  whole,  within  which  the  poetical  rhythm 
is  regular  and  exact,  within  certain  limited  variations,  the 
rhetorical  less  perfect,  and  the  pleasure  derived  from  it 
rather  matter  of  taste  and  experience  than  of  rule.  Those 
parts  which  receive  the  ictus  or  stress  of  the  rhythm  are 
termed  arsis  (elevation),  the  remainder  form  the  thesis 
(depression);  the  former  is  frequently  denoted  to  the  eye 
by  the  accent  marked  ',  when  in  a  foreign  or  unknown 
word  we  wish  to  direct  the  voice  in  pronunciation  to  em- 
ploy the  correct  emphasis.  The  smallest  rhythmical  divi- 
sion is  the  foot,  by  which  every  union  of  arsis  and  thesis  is 
understood.  A  short  syllable  is  an  original  Unit  of  tune;  a 
long  syllable  contains  two  units.  The  number  of  feet  enu- 
merated in  classical  writers  on  metre  amount  to  twenty- 
eight,  including  all  the  varieties  which  may  be  formed  out 
of  two,  three,  or  four  syllables,  long  and  short,  and  varying 
from  two  to  eight  units  of  time.     See  Foot,  Metre. 

RIAL.  A  gold  coin  current  in  the  reigns  of  Henry  VI. 
and  Elizabeth:  under  the  former  its  value  was  10*.,  under 
the  latter  15s. 

RIBS.  In  Architecture,  curviform  limbers  to  which,  in 
an  arched  or  coved  plaster  ceiling,  the  laths  are  nailed. 

Ribs.  A  term  for  the  timbers  of  a  ship  which  spring 
from  the  keel,  as  the  ribs  of  an  animal  from  the  back 
bone. 

Ribs.  In  Anatomy,  the  lateral  appendages  of  a  vertebra, 
especially  when  developed  so  as  to  encompass  the  trunk. 
In  the  human  subject  there  are  twelve  ribs. 

RICE.     .SVc  Oryza. 

RICE  PAPER.  This  substance  is  said  to  be  a  mem- 
brane of  the  Jlrtocarpus  indsa,  or  bread-fruit  tree.  (See 
Artocarpe*.)  It  is  brought  from  china  in  small  pieces, 
dyed  of  various  colours,  and  is  use  d  as  a  material  for  paint- 
ing upon,  anil   for  the   manufacture   of  several    fancy  and 

ornamental  articles.  It  is  sometimes  erroneously  stated  to 
be  prepared  from  rice.  (See  Brewster,  Edinb.  Journ.  of 
Science,  vol.  ii.) 

RICI'NIC  ACID.  One  of  the  products  obtained  by  dis- 
tilling castor  oil  at  a  high  temperature. 

RICKETS.     Set   I!  *■  urn-. 

RICOCHET  FIRING,  in  Gunnery,  is  a  mode  of  firing 
with  small  charges  from  pieces  of  ordnance  elevated  at 
small  angles,  as  from  IP  to  f>°.  It  is  a  very  destructive 
method;   as  tile  rebound  causes   the   shot   or  shell    to  pass 

along  a  great  space  almost  upon  the  ground,  destroying  all 
that  it  meets  with  in  its  way.  The  word  signifies,  Literallyt 
the  sort  of  motion  which  is  familiarly  lulled  ducks  and- 

drakes,  as  applied  to  a  tlat  stone  thrown  on   the  surface  of 
the  water  under  a  very  small  tingle. 
RIDEAU.    In  fortification,  a  small  elevation  of  earth 

extending   itself  lengthwise  on   a   plain,   serving  to  cover  a 

camp  from  the  approach  of  the  emmy,  or  to  give  other  ad- 
vantage to  a  tHist. 
RIDER.     A  term  used  to  signify  any  addition  to  manu- 


RIDGE. 

scripts  or  other  documents,  inserted  after  their  comple- 
tion. 

RIDGE.  In  Architecture,  the  upper  horizontal  timber  in 
a  roof,  ag.-iinst  which  the  rafters  pitch. 

Rl'DlNG.  The  three  divisions  of  the  county  of  York 
are  so  termed,  by  a  corruption  of  the  Saxon  word  trithing 
or  triding  (third  part). 

RIDO'TTO.  (Ital.)  A  favourite  Italian  public  enter- 
tainment, consisting  of  music  and  dancing;  held  generally 
on  fast  eves. 

RITLE  GUNS.  Muskets  or  pieces  of  ordnance,  whose 
barrels,  instead  of  being  a  clear  cylinder  inside,  are  fur- 
rowed with  spiral  channels.  The  object  is  to  give  the 
ball  a  rotatory  motion  about  an  axis,  in  consequence  of 
which  it  preserves  its  direction  with  much  greater  cer- 
tainty than  when  fired  from  the  common  clear  barrel.     See 

Gl'N. 

A  body  of  men  armed  with  rifles  are  called  riflemen ; 
but  the  term  is  most  frequently  applied  to  the  military 
corps  called  the  rifle  brigade,  and  to  the  60th  regiment  of 
the  British  army,  which  is  dressed  in  green  and  armed  with 
rifles. 

RIG.  The  peculiar  manner  of  fitting  the  masts  and 
rigging  to  the  hull  of  any  vessel;  thus,  schooner  rig,  ship 
rig,  &c,  imply  the  masts  and  sails  of  these  vessels  without 
regard  to  the  hull. 

Rl'GGING.  The  system  of  cordage  by  which  the  masts 
are  supported,  and  the  sails  extended  or  taken  in.  The 
rigging  is  hence  divided  into  standing  rigging  and  running 
rigging.  The  standing  rigging  consists  of  the  pendant*, 
short  strong  ropes  first  put  over  the  lower  mast  heads,  and 
having  thimbles  for  hooking  tackles  to;  the  shrouds, 
stays,  and  backstays.  The  lower  rigging  implies  that  of 
the  lower  masts;  the  topmast  rigging  that  of  the  topmast, 
and  so  on.  The  size,  strength,  number  of  ropes,  gtc.  of  the 
rigging,  are  all  matters  determined  by  experience.  A  com- 
plete description  of  rigging  is  to  be  found  in  the  well-known 
work  of  Darcy  Lever. 

Rl'GGING  LOFT.  The  room  or  rooms  in  which  the 
rigging  is  prepared. 

RIGHT.  In  Geometry,  a  term  sometimes  used  synony- 
mously with  straight,  as  right  line;  but  generally  as  oppo- 
sed to  oblique.  Thus,  a  right  angle,  the  angle  formed  by 
two  straight  lines  perpendicular  to  each  other,  or  an  angle 
of  90° ;  right  cone,  cylinder,  prism,  pyramid,  &x.,  figures 
whose  sides  are  perpendicular  to  the  plane  of  the  base. 

Right-angled  Triangle.  A  triangle  having  one  right 
angle. 

Right-angled  Triangle.  In  Numbers.  A  favourite  spec- 
ulation of  the  Platonic  school  of  mathematicians  was  to 
find  rational  numbers  which  should  designate  the  sides 
of  a  right-angled  triangle.     Pythagoras  gave  the  formula' 

n, ,  and  ,  where  n  is  odd.     Plato  gave  2  ji, 

2  2'  b 

n2  —  1,  and  n2-J- 1,  where  ?!  is  either  odd  or  even.  Various 
other  forms  have  been  given  by  subsequent  writers.  The 
determination  of  such  sets  of  formula  forms  a  branch  of 
the  Dinphantine  Analysis. 

RIGHT  SPHERE.  In  Geography,  the  position  of  the 
sphere  when  the  equator  cuts  the  horizon  at  right  angles. 

RIGHT  ASCENSION,  in  Astronomy,  is  the  angle  at  the 
pole  of  the  equator  formed  by  two  great  circles,  one  of 
which  passes  through  the  first  point  of  Aries,  and  the  other 
through  a  celestial  body,  and  is  consequently  measured  by 
the  arc  of  the  equator  intercepted  between  those  circles. 
Right  ascension  and  declination  are  the  two  co-ordinates  to 
which  the  positions  of  celestial  objects  are  referred. 

RIGHT  DIVINE.     See  Divine  Right. 

RIGHT  OF  PRO'PERTY.  (Lat.  jus  proprietatis ;  Fr. 
droit  de  propriete.)  In  Political  Economy,  the  right  which 
6tates,  bodies  of  individuals,  and  individuals  have  to  the 
exclusive  use  and  enjoyment  of  such  lands,  natural  powers, 
and  products  as  have  been  appropriated  or  set  apart  for  any 
peculiar  purpose. 

Origin  of  this  Right. — It  would  occupy  the  reader's 
time  to  no  good  purpose  were  we  to  state  the  different 
theories  that  have  been  advanced  by  jurists  and  writers 
on  public  law,  to  account  for  the  origin  of  this  right.*  This, 
indeed,  appears  to  us  to  be  sufficiently  obvious.  All  the 
rude  products  furnished  by  nature  have  to  be  appropriated ; 
and  not  one  in  a  thousand,  perhaps,  of  these  products  is, 
in  its  natural  state,  capable  either  of  supplying  our  wants 
or  administering  to  our  comforts.  Hence  the  necessity  not 
only  of  applying  labour  in  the  appropriation  of  natural 
products,  but  in  fashioning  and  preparing  them  so  as  to 
be  useful ;  and  hence,  also,  the  origin  of  the  right  of  pro- 
perty. 

If  a  number  of  individuals  be  set  down  together  on  the 
shore  of  an  unoccupied  and  unappropriated  island,  abound- 


R1GHT  OP  PROPERTY. 

ing  with  natural  products,  such  as  game,  trees  laden  with 
fruit,  &c,  each  will  have  quite  as  good  a  right  as  another 
to  take  the  game  or  the  fruit.  But  those  who  do  so,  or  who 
have,  through  their  skill  and  industry,  appropriated  a  por- 
tion of  the  common  stock,  will  obviously  be  entitled  to  the 
exclusive  use  of  such  portion.  We  shall  not  undertake  to 
decide  whether  there  be  or  be  not  a  principle  inherent  in 
man  that  at  once  suggests  to  every  individual  that  it  is  his 
duty  not  to  interfere  with  what  has  been  produced  or  appro- 
priated by  the  labour  of  others;  it  is  sufficient  for  us  to 
know  that  the  briefest  experience  would  point  out  to  every 
one  the  necessity  of  respecting  this  principle.  If  A  climb 
a  tree  and  bring  down  fruit,  which,  as  soon  as  he  comes  to 
the  ground,  is  taken  from  him  by  others,  he  will  not  again 
engage  in  any  similar  undertaking  till  he  be  well  assured 
that  he  shall  be  permitted  exclusively  to  profit  by  what  has 
been  obtained  through  his  sole  exertions ;  nor  will  others 
engage  in  any  such  undertaking  without  a  similar  assu- 
rance. No  doubt,  therefore,  the  right  of  property  has  had  a 
very  remote  origin.  The  necessity  for  its  establishment 
is  so  very  obvious  and  urgent,  that  it  must  have  been  all 
but  coeval  with  the  formation  of  societies.  All  have  been 
impressed  with  the  reasonableness  of  the  maxim  which 
teaches  that  products  acquired  by  the  labour  of  a  man's 
body,  and  the  work  of  his  hands,  should  be  considered  as 
exclusively  his  own.  Even  among  the  rudest  savages  the 
principle  of  meum  and  tuum  is  recognised ;  the  hows  and 
arrows  of  the  huntsman,  and  the  game  he  has  killed,  being 
regarded  by  him  as  his  own,  and  his  right  to  their  exclusive 
possession  being  respected  by  his  fellows.  The  right  of 
property,  like  other  rights,  is,  no  doubt,  perfected  only  by 
degrees,  and  is  necessarily  limited  and  adapted  to  the  state 
of  society  at  the  time.  Thus,  among  hunters,  the  feral 
natune  on  which  they  subsist,  not  being  bred  under  the 
care  or  inspection  of  individuals,  are,  so  long  as  they  run 
wild  in  the  forest,  the  common  property  of  the  tribe,  and 
only  become  the  property  of  individuals  after  they  have 
been  appropriated  or  caught  by  their  labour  or  ingenuity. 
As  society  advances,  the  right  of  property  expands.  The 
modern  Tartars,  like  the  ancient  Scythians,  estimate  their 
wealth  by  the  number  of  their  cattle.  Their  right  to  the 
animals  which  they  have  domesticated  and  reared  is  deem- 
ed sacred  and  inviolable;  but  the  pasture  grounds  belong, 
like  the  hunting-grounds  of  the  Indians,  to  the  whole  so- 
ciety ;  and  as  the  flocks  are  driven  from  one  place  to  an- 
other, the  grounds  may  be  successively  depastured  by  the 
cattle  of  every  different  individual.  The  moment,  how- 
ever, that  men  began  to  renounce  the  pastoral  for  the  agri- 
cultural mode  of  life,  a  right  of  property  in  land  began  to 
be  established.  The  soil  cannot  be  cultivated,  its  fertility 
cannot  be  increased,  nor  can  it  be  made  to  produce  those 
crops  which  yield  the  largest  supplies  of  food  and  other  ne- 
cessary accommodations,  without  continuous  labour,  and 
persevering  attention. 

Paler  ipse  Cctendi 
Haud  facilem  esse  viani  voluit. 

Hence  the  origin  of  property  in  land.  Nothing,  it  is  plain, 
could  ever  tempt  any  one  to  engage  in  a  laborious  employ- 
ment; he  would  neither  domesticate  wild  animals,  nor 
clear  and  cultivate  the  ground,  if,  after  months  and  years 
of  toil,  when  his  flocks  had  become  numerous,  and  his  har- 
vests were  ripening  for  the  sickle,  a  stranger  were  allowed 
to  rob  him  of  the  produce  of  his  industry.  The  utility,  or 
rather  necessity,  of  enacting  some  general  regulations,  that 
should  secure  to  every  individual  the  peaceable  enjoyment 
of  the  produce  he  had  raised,  and  of  the  ground  he  had 
cultivated  and  improved,  is,  indeed,  so  very  obvious,  that  it 
suggested  itself  to  the  first  legislators.  The  author  of  the 
book  of  Job  places  those  who  remove  their  neighbours' 
landmarks  at  the  head  of  his  list  of  wicked  men  ;  and  the 
early  Greek  and  Roman  legislators  placed  these  marks 
under  the  especial  protection  of  the  god  Terminus,  and 
made  their  removal  a  capital  offence.  (Goguet,  deTOri- 
gine  des  Loix,  lib.  i.,  art.  2.)  Society  may,  in  fact,  be  said 
to  have  grown  out  of  the  institution  of  a  right  of  property 
in  land.  "Had  not."  says  Mr.  Justice  Blackstone,  '-a  sepa- 
rate property  in  lands,  as  well  as  moveables,  been  vested  in 
some  individuals,  the  world  must  have  continued  a  forest, 
and  men  been  mere  animals  of  prey.  Whereas  now,  so 
graciously  has  Providence  interwoven  our  duty  and  our 
happiness  together,  the  result  of  the  institution  of  property 
has  been  the  ennobling  of  the  human  species,  by  giving  it 
opportunities  of  improving  its  rational  faculties,  as  well  as 
exerting  its  natural.  Necessity  begat  property  ;  and  in  order 
to  ensure  that  property  recourse  was  had  to  civil  society, 
which  brought  along  with  it  a  long  train  of  inseparable 
concomitants — states,  government,  laws,  punishments,  and 
the  public  exercise  of  religious  duties.  Thus  connected  to- 
gether, it  was  found  that  a  part  only  of  society  was  suffi- 
cient to  provide,  by  their  manual  labour,  for  the  necessary 
subsistence  of  all;  and  leisure  was  given  to  others  to  cuiti- 

1061 


RIGHT  OF  PROPERTY. 


vnte  the  human  mind,  to  Invent  useful  arts,  and  to  lay  the 
foundation  of  society."    {Comment,,  hook  ii..  cap.  J.) 

It  is  obvious,  in  in  what  has  now  been  stated,  that  the 
law  of  the  land  is  not,  as  Dr.  Paley  has  affirmed,  the  real 

foundation  of  the  riuht  of  property.  It  has  a  much  more 
reiimtf  ami  more  solid  foundation.  It  prows  out  of  the  cir- 
cumstance's under  which  man  is  placed:  and  could  not  be 
overthrown  or  set  aside  without  depopulating  the  earth, 
and  throwing  mankind  back  into  primeval  barbarism.  The 
obvious  utility  of  securing  to  each  individual  the  peaceable 
enjoyment  ol  the  land  he  has  enclosed  and  cultivated,  and 
of  the  produce  raised  or  acquired  bj  his  labour,  has  un- 
doubtedly formed  the  irresistible  reason  that  has  induced 
every  people  to  make  the  right  of  property  a  part  of  the 
law  of  the  land,  and  to  guard  it  by  the  strongest  sanctions. 
The  securitj  of  properly  is,  in  truth,  the  principal  founda- 
tion on  which  society  rests.  Until  properly  had  been  pub- 
licly guaranteed,  men  must  have  looked  on  each  other  as 
enemies  rather  than  as  friends.  The  idle  and  Improvident 
are  always  desirous  of  seizing  on  the  earnings  of  the  la- 
borious and  frugal ;  and  if  they  were  permitted  to  prosecute 
their  attacks,  they  would,  hy  generating  a  feeling  of  inse- 
curity, effectually  check  both  industry  and  accumulation,  and 
sink  all  classes  to  the  same  level  ofhopeless  misery  as  them- 
selves. The  security  of  property  is,  if  possible,  still  more 
necessary  to  accumulation  than  production.  No  man  ever 
denies  himself  an  immediate  gratitication,  when  it  is  within 
his  power,  unless  he  thinks  that,  hy  doing  so,  his  present 
forbearance  Will  obtain  for  him  a  greater  accession  of  com- 
forts and  enjoyments,  or  that  it  will  obviate  some  probable 
and  considerable  evil  at  a  future  period.  Where  the  right 
of  property  is  vigilantly  protected,  an  industrious  man  who 
gams  as  much  by  one  day's  labour  as  is  sufficient  to  main- 
tain him  two,  is  not  idle  the  second  day,  hut  accumulates 
the  surplus  produce  above  his  wants  as  a  capital ;  the  in- 
creased consequence  and  enjoyments  which  the  possession 
of  capital  brings  along  with  it  being,  in  the  great  majority 
of  cases,  more  than  sufficient  to  counterbalance  the  desire 
of  immediate  gratification.  But,  wherever  property  is  inse- 
cure, we  look  in  vain  for  the  operation  of  the  principle  of 
accumulation.  "It  is  plainly  better  for  us,"  is  then  the  in- 
variable language  of  the  people,  "  to  enjoy  while  it  is  in  our 
power,  than  to  accumulate  property  which  we  shall  not  be 
pei milted  to  use,  and  which  will  expose  us  to  the  depreda- 
tions of  those  who  exist  only  by  the  plunder  of  their  more 
industrious  neighbours." 

The  Becurit]  of  property  is  violated  not  merely  when  a 
man  is  deprived  of  the  power  of  peaceably  enjoying  the 
fruits  of  his  industry ;  it  is  also  violated,  and  perhaps  in  a 
still  more  unjustifiable  manner,  when  he  is  prevented  from 
using  the  powers  with  which  nature  has  endowed  him  in 
any  way,  not  injurious  to  others,  he  may  consider  most  for 
his  own  advantage,  of  all  the  species  of  properly  which  a 
man  can  possess,  the  faculties  of  his  mind  and  powers  of 
his  body  are  most  particularly  his  own.  He  should,  there- 
fore, be  permitted  to  enjoy,  that  is,  to  use  or  exert,  these 
powers  at  bis  discretion.  And  hence  the  right  of  property 
is  as  much  Infringed  upon  when  a  man  is  interdicted  from 
engaging  in  a  particular  branch  of  business,  as  it  would  be 
were  he  unjustly  deprived  of  the  produce  he  had  raised. 
Every  monopoly  which  gives  to  a  low  individuals  the  ex- 
clusive pow,r  of  carrying  on  certain  branches  of  industry  is 
thus,  in  tact,  established  in  direct  violation  of  the  property 
of  every  one  else.  It  prevents  them  from  using  their  na- 
tural capacities,  or  powers,  in  the  manner  they  may  con- 
sider best;  and  as  every  man  who  is  not  a  slave  is  justly 
held  to  he  the  best,  and,  indeed,  only  judge,  of  what  is  ad- 
vantageous tor  himself,  the  principles  of  natural  law  and 
the  right  of  property  are  both  subverted  hy  his  exclusion 
from  any  employment.  In  like  manner,  the  right  of  pro- 
perty is  violated  whin  regulations  are  made  to  force  indi- 
viduals to  employ  themselves  or  their  capital  in  a  particular 
way.  The  property  of  a  landlord  is  violated  if  be  he  com- 
pelled to  adopt  any  system  of  cultivation,  even  supposing  it 
were  really  preferable  to  that  which  he  was  previously  fol- 
lowing. The  property  of  the  capitalist  is  violated  when  he 
is  obliged  to  accept  a  lower  interest   for   his  stock   than   he 

might  have  obtained;  and  the  property  of  the  labourer  is 

violated  whenever  he  is  obliged  to  engage  in  any  particular 

occupation.  It  follows,  too,  that  every  restraint  on  tin' 
freedom  of  commerce  is  an  Infringement  of  the  right  of  pro- 
perty.   If  I,  the  lawful  owner  of  any  given  article,  am  pre 

vented  from  exchanging  for  any  other  1  may  be  desirous  to 
obtain,  the  right  of  property  is  as  much  invaded  as  if  I  were 
debarred  from  making  any  dirert  nSC  of  the  article.  Had 
.  .•  been  adverted  to.  it  is  probable  the  re 
strictive  aygti  in  would  not  have  made   quite  so  much  pro 

-  ii  hat  done. 
Effects  of   the  Insecurity  of  Property. — The  finest  soil, 
the  finest    Climate,  and    the    finest  intellectual   |x>wers,  can 
prevent  no  people  from  becoming  barbarous,  poor,  and  mis 

erable,  if  they  have  the  misfortune  to  be  subjected  to  a 

1002 


government  which  does  not  respect  and  support  the  right  of 
property.  All  those  vast  and  fruitful  countries,  comprising 
the  fairest  portion  of  the  earth,  that  stretch  from  i1 
Sea  to  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  from  the  western  shores  of 
Morocco  to  the  confines  of  China,  once  the  seat  of  the  most 
renowned  empires,  of  arts  and  civilization,  are  now,  through 
the  want  of  security  and  freedom,  become  the  most  deplor- 
able spectacles  of  extreme  misery.  "No  care,"  says  Mr. 
Kinneir,  speaking  of  some  of  the  most  fertile  provinces  ol 
Asia  Minor,  "  is  taken  to  improve  the  land  ;  nor  can  this  be 
matter  of  surprise,  when  we  reflect  that  the  farmer  is  liable 
to  be  turned  out  at  a  moment's  warning,  and  is  certnin  of 
being  taxed,  or  rather  plundered,  in  exact  proportion  to  the 
yearly  produce  of  his  farm.  it  is  not,  indeed,  uncommon, 
should  there  be  a  prospect  of  a  plentiful  harvest,  for  the 
crops  upon  the  grounds  to  he  seized  by  the  pacha,  at  a  low 
valuation,  and  then  pul  up  to  the  highest  bidder  I"  (Journey 
in  Jlsia  Minor,  <\-e.  p.  52.)  The  same  intelligent  traveller 
observes,  in  speaking  of  Syria,  "  that  the  Grand  Seignior  is 
the  lord  of  the  soil,  and  the  mtri  or  capitation  tax,  is  regu- 
larly paid  into  the  public  treasury.  The  pachas  derive 
their  revenues  from  levying  arbitrary  contributions  in 
money  and  in  kind  upon  the  merchants,  citizens,  villagers, 
and  cultivators  of  the  land.  This  unjust  and  uncertain 
mode  of  taxation  is  rendered  still  more  afflicting  by  the  man- 
ner of  collecting  it.  The  troops  and  followers  of  the  pacha, 
a  licensed  banditti,  disperse  themselves  over  the  country  and 
villages,  where  they  live  at  free  quarters,  and  for  every 
piastre  that  is  received  by  their  master  at  least  three  have 
been  exacted  from  the  unfortunate  proprietor.  Under 
such  a  system,  neither  agriculture,  commerce,  .arms,  arts, 
nor  sciences,  can  ever  make  the  least  progress;  and  it  is 
deeply  to  be  lamented  that  no  successful  effort  has  hitherto 
been  made  to  wrest  so  noble  a  country  from  those  who  are 
so  unworthy  to  possess  it."    (Ibid.  p.  174.) 

Had  it  been  possible  for  arbitrary  power  to  profit  by  the 
lessons  of  experience.it  must  long  since  have  perceived 
that  not  only  the  wealth  of  its  subjects,  but  its  own,  would 
he  most  effectually  increased  by  maintaining  the  security  of 
property.  Were  ihe  governments  of  Turkey  and  Persia  to 
establish  a  vigilant  system  of  police,  to  secure  to  each  indi- 
vidual the  unrestrained  power  of  disposing  of  the  fruits  of 
his  labour,  and  to  substitute  a  regular  plan  of  taxation  in 
the  room  of  the  present  odious  system  of  extortion  and 
tyranny,  industry  would  gradually  revive  ;  capital  and  pop- 
ulation would  be  augmented  ;  and  a  moderate  land  tax,  or 
reasonable  duties  on  a  few  articles  in  general  demand, 
would  bring  a  much  larger  sum  into  Ihe  cotters  of  the 
treasury  than  all  that  is  now  obtained  by  force  and  violence. 
The  stated  public  burdens  laid  on  the  Turks,  Persians,  &c. 
are  light  compared  with  those  imposed  on  the  English, 
Dutch,  and  French.  But  the  latter  know  that  when  they 
have  paid  the  taxes  due  to  government  they  will  be  permit- 
ted peaceably  to  enjoy  or  to  accumulate  the  residue  of  their 
wealth  ;  whereas  the  subjects  of  eastern  despotisms  have, 
generally  speaking,  no  security,  that  the  moment  after  they 
have  paid  their  stated  contributions,  the  pacha,  or  one  of 
his  satellites,  may  not  strip  them  of  every  additional  far- 
thing they  possess  !  Security  is  the  foundation,  the  principal 
element,  in  every  well-digested  system  of  finance.  When 
maintained  inviolate,  it  enables  a  country  to  support,  with- 
out much  difficulty,  a  very  heavy  load  of  taxes;  but  where 
there  is  no  security,  where  property  is  a  prey  to  rapine  and 
spoliation,  to  the  attacks  of  the  needy,  the  powerful,  and 
the  profligate,  the  smallest  burdens  are  justly  regarded  as 
oppressive,  and  uniformly  exceed  the  means  of  the  im- 
poverished and  dispirited  inhabitants. 

Power  of  bequeathing  Property. — To  perfect  the  right  of 
property,  it  is  necessary  not  only  that  an  individual  should 
have  the  power  freely  to  dispose  of  It  during  his  lifetime, 
but  also  that  he  should  have   power  to  bequeath  it  to 

others  in  the  event  of  his  death.  JYihil  enim  tarn  eon- 
oeniem  est  naturali  aquitate,  say  the  Roman  jurists;  qnam 
voltintatrm  Domini  volentis  rem  siiam  in  alium  transferre, 
ratam  Imlirri.  (Instil.,  lib.  ii.,  tit.  i.,  s.  40.)  It  is  evident  that 
the  being  enabled  to  bestow  our  property  on  those  Who 
occupy  'be  chief  place  in  our  affections  must  have  a  power- 
ful effect  in  stimulating  industry.  When  a  man  is  assured 
that  be  is  not  labouring  for  strangers,  that  the  fruit  of  his 
industry  will  not  fall  into  the  hands  of  an  unknown  succes- 
sor, but  will  descend  to  bis  children  or  his  friends,  he  finds, 

as  it  w  en-,  his  existence  Indefinitely  extended,  and  continues 
with  unimpaired  energy  to  evert  himself  for  the  benefit  of 

those  who  are  to  perpetuate  bis  family  and  name,  and 
whose  w  elfare.  perhaps,  is  as  dear  to  him  as  bis  own.  The 
power  of  bequeathing  property  connects  the  future  with 
the    present:   without   It,  no  Undertaking   WOUld  be   entered 

upon  which  did  not  promise  an  adequate  return  during  the 
lifetime  of  the  projector.     But  in  civilized   societies  the 

plans  of  the  capitalist  are  not  circumscribed  by  the  brief 
duration  of  human  life,  lie  plants  forests  by  w  hiih  he 
can  never  expect  to  be  enriched  ;  he  raises  edifices  fitted 


RIGHT  OF  PROPERTY. 

nnd  intended  to  outlive  many  generations  ;  and  executes 
innumerable  improvements,  of  which  posterity  alone  can 
reap  the  benefit.  And  he  does  all  this  because  he  is  per- 
mitted to  name  his  successors  ;  to  transmit  his  property  and 
effects  to  those  with  whom  he  is  connected  by  the  ties  of 
kindred,  affection,  or  gratitude,  and  in  whose  welfare  he 
feels  a  deep  interest. 

Numerous  difficult  and  important  questions  have,  how- 
ever, to  be  decided  in  framing  regulations  as  to  the  be- 
queathing of  property  by  will;  and  as  our  purpose  at  present 
is  merely  to  point  out  the  principle  on  which  the  power  is 
conceded,  we  shall  defer  the  notice  of  the  conditions  which 
should  limit  its  exercise  to  the  article  Succession,  Law  of. 
Property  in  Wild  Animals. — It  is  clear  from  what  has 
been  previously  stated,  and  from  the  nature  of  the  thing, 
that  nothing  can  be  made  property  unless  it  be  susceptible 
of  appropriation  ;  and,  on  this  ground,  it  has  sometimes 
been  objected  to  the  game  laws,  that  they  have  made  a  pro- 
perty of  that  which,  being  incapable  of  appropriation,  should 
belong  to  the  community,  or  to  the  captors.  In  support  of 
this  view  of  the  matter  the  rule  of  the  Roman  law  has  been 
appealed  to.  where  it  is  laid  down — Fera  igitur  bestim,  et 
Volucres,  et  pisces,  et  omnia  animalia  qua  mari,  calu,  et  terra 
nascuntur,simul  atquc  abaliquo  capta  fucrint,  jure  gentium 
statim  illius  esse  incipiunt ;  quod  enim  ante  nullius  est,  id 
naturali  ratione  occupanti  conceditur.  (Instit.,  lib.  ii.,  tit.  i., 
§  12.)  But  it  is  distinctly  laid  down  in  the  same  article 
whence  we  have  borrowed  this  paragraph,  that  the  propri- 
etor of  an  estate  has  full  power  to  prohibit  any  one  from 
entering  upon  it  to  kill  wild  animals.  Without  this  proviso, 
there  would  not,  in  fact,  be  any  such  thing  as  a  real  property 
in  land ;  and  this  is,  in  truth,  all  that  is  meant  when  it  is 
said  thai  game  is  property.  A  partridge  or  hare  is  mine  so 
long  as  it  remains  on  my  estate;  but  the  moment  it  trans- 
fers itself  to  the  estate  of  another,  it  becomes  the  property 
of  the  owner  of  such  estate.  Poachers  are  punished,  not 
because  they  have  killed  wild  animals,  but  partly  and  prin- 
cipally because  in  doing  so  they  invade  the  right  of  property 
by  killing  it  without  leave  on  lands  belonging  to  other  par- 
ties, on  which  Ihey  had  no  right  to  enter,  and  partly  because 
they  have  not  paid  the  tax  demanded  by  government  from 
all  who  kill  game. 

It  is  sometimes  indispensable  for  the  interests  of  society 
to  appropriate  the  whole  or  a  portion  of  the  landed  property 
of  one  or  more  individuals  to  some  public  purpose,  as  the 
formation  of  a  road,  a  canal,  &c.  But  property  should 
never  be  wantonly  taken  for  such  purposes,  nor  till  the  ad- 
vantages to  be  obtained  by  its  cession  have  been  fully  estab- 
lished before  some  competent  tribunal ;  and  when  this  has 
been  done,  full  crmpensation  should  in  every  case  be  given 
to  those  who  are  thus  called  upon  to  give  up  their  property 
for  the  promotion  of  the  public  interests. 

Inconveniences  of  a  Community  of  Goods.— Those 
schemes  of  policy  that  have  been  founded  or  projected 
either  upon  the  the  principle  of  a  communion  of  goods,  or 
of  an  equal  partition  of  the  land  among  the  different  fami- 
lies belonging  to  the  society,  are  bottomed  on  the  most  erro- 
neous views,  and  would,  if  they  could  be  acted  upon,  be  an 
effectual  bar  to  every  improvement.  Those  who  have  ad- 
vocated these  schemes,  struck  with  the  evils  arising  from 
the  violations  of  private  property  to  which  the  ill-regulated 
cupidity  of  some  and  the  wretchedness  of  others  are  per- 
petually giving  birth,  seem  to  have  thought  that  the  crimes 
and  disorders  that  were  thus  occasioned  might  be  advanta- 
geously and  completely  got  rid  of  by  abolishing  the  right  of 
property,  and  obliging  men  to  labour  in  common,  and  giving 
each  individual  an  equal  share  of  the  produce  raised  by  the 
joint  labour  of  all.  They  imagined  that  they  would,  in  this 
way,  eradiate  that  selfishness  which  was  so  fruitful  a  source 
of  mischief ;  that  as  no  one  could  be  either  richer  or  poorer 
than  his  neighbour,  no  one  would  be  the  object  of  envy  or 
attack  ;  and  that  the  principal  sources  of  discord  and  crime 
being  thus  dried  up,  men  would  henceforth  live  together 
like  brothers,  and  be  anxious  only  to  promote  each  other's 
welfare.  But  these  expectations  are  wholly  inconsistent 
with  the  nature  of  man,  and  cannot,  therefore,  be  realized. 
\\  e  might  as  well  attempt  to  eradicate  the  feelings  of  hun- 
ger and  of  thirst,  as  of  self-interest;  and  if  we  could  eradi- 
cate it,  we  should  eradicate  the  principle  which  impels  man 
to  labour,  which  prompts  him  to  contrive,  invent,  and  amass. 
Ihere  is  plainly  nothing  blameable  in  our  preference  of  our- 
selves to  others  The  desire  of  aggrandizement  becomes 
injurious  only  when  it  prompts  individuals  to  endeavour  to 
advance  their  own  interests  by  acting  unjustly  by  their  fel- 
low-men ;  for,  otherwise,  it  is  the  source  of  all  that  is  most 
advantageous  to  society.  And  it  is  mainly  for  the  purpose 
of  obviating  this  abuse,  and  of  protecting  every  one  in  the 
enjoyment  of  his  property,  that  governments  have  been  in- 
stituted. Hanc  enim  ob  causam,  says  Cicero;  mazime  ut 
suatuerentur,respubliccBcivitatesqueconstituta;'sunt.  Nam 
etsi  duce  nature  congregabantur  homines,  tamen  spe  custo- 
dies rerum  suarum  urbium  presidia  quarebant. 


RIGIDITY. 

It  is  idle,  therefore,  to  think  that  the  feelings  of  self-in- 
terest can  ever  be  eradicated  from  the  human  breast.  All 
that  the  adoption  of  the  system  of  those  who  propose  to 
establish  a  communion  of  labour  and  of  goods  could  do, 
would  be  to  give  the  principle  of  selfishness  a  different  di- 
rection from  what  it  takes  when  left  to  itself;  to  render  it 
a  source  of  idleness  and  poverty,  instead  of  labour  and 
wealth.  Suppose  you  have  a  community  of  a  thousand  in- 
dividuals who  live  and  labour  in  common  ;  in  this,  as  in  ali 
similar  cases,  it  would  be  obvious  to  every  individual  that 
if,  on  the  one  hand,  he  made  any  unusual  exertions,  either 
of  body  or  mind,  he  would  reap  only  the  thousandth  part  of 
the  advantages  derivable  from  them ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  must  be  equally  obvious,  that  if  he  contrive  to 
avoid  performing  his  due  share  of  work,  or  obtain  more 
than  his  fair  proportion  of  its  produce,  he  will  be  the  sole 
gainer.  Under  such  circumstances,  it  is  clear  not  only  that 
society  could  make  no  farther  progress,  but  that  it"  must 
gradually,  and  not  very  slowly,  retrograde.  The  principle 
of  self-interest  would  not  be  annihilated  ;  on  the  contrary, 
it  would  be  as  strong  as  ever ;  but  inasmuch  as  no  one  could 
henceforth  expect  to  advance  himself  by  industry,  ingenui- 
ty, or  frugality,  a  regard  for  his  own  interest  would  teach 
him  to  lbllovv  an  opposite  course,  and  would  infallibly 
prompt  him  to  labour  as  little  and  to  consume  as  much  as 
possible !  The  evils  produced  by  such  a  system  would  be  so  in- 
tolerable that  it  could  not  be  continued.  But  if  it  were,  we 
should,  instead  of  the  industry,  invention,  and  wealth  pro- 
duced by  the  establishment  of  private  property,  and  the 
consequent  efforts  of  individuals  to  advance  themselves  in 
the  scale  of  society,  have  universal  idleness,  indifference, 
and  the  most  abject  misery.  We  should  purchase  an  ex- 
emption from  those  crimes  and  disorders  incident  to  an  ad- 
vanced stage  of  society,  and  which  the  adoption  of  good 
laws  and  a  vigilant  system  of  police  go  far  to  repress,  by 
the  annihilation  of  everything  that  raises  civilized  man 
above  the  condition  of  the  savage,  and  by  subjecting  all 
classes  to  the  plague  of  universal  "poverty. 

Inconveniences  of  Agrarian  Laws. — The  attempt  to  found 
a  society  upon  an  agrarian  law,  or  upon  the  principle  of 
maintaining  an  equal  division  of  land  among  the  ditierent 
families  of  the  society,  is  as  much  opposed  to  the  nature  of 
things  as  a  communion  of  goods;  but  were  the  system  in 
other  respects  as  advantageous  as  it  is  the  reverse,  it  could 
not  be  maintained  for  any  considerable  period.  Though  the 
first  settlers  of  an  unoccupied  country  were  to  adopt  this 
plan,  it  would,  in  less  than  a  dozen  years,  be  wholly  sub- 
verted, and  there  would  be  the  greatest  inequality  in  their 
fortunes.  This  would  arise  from  differences  of  strength, 
talent,  and  conduct,  from  the  varying  numbers  and  conduct 
of  children,  and  the  other  unforeseen  accidents  and  occur- 
rences which  are  always  affecting  the  circumstances  of  in- 
dividuals. It  is  absurd  to  suppose  that  an  equality  of  con- 
dition could  be  maintained,  notwithstanding  the  operation 
of  such  powerful  causes  of  derangement,  without  resorting 
to  the  most  atrocious  system  of  tyranny,  without  equalizing 
the  number  of  children,  and  abstracting  a  portion  of  the 
earnings  of  the  industrious  and  frugal  to  bestow  them  on 
the  idle  and  improvident.  But  it  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  on 
such  crude  absurdities.  The  distinction  of  rich  and  poor  is 
not,  as  some  shallow  sophists  would  seem  to  suppose,  arti- 
ficial, but  real ;  it  is  as  much  a  part  of  the  order  of  Provi- 
dence as  the  distinction  of  the  sexes.  It  depends  on  the 
differences  of  the  physical  and  mental  powers  and  disposi- 
tions of  different  individuals,  and  of  the  different  circum- 
stances under  which  they  happen  to  be  placed  ;  and  to 
a, tempt  to  obliterate  this  distinction  by  encroaching  on  the 
right  of  property,  and  enacting  agrarian  laws,  or  laws  of  a 
similar  tendency,  is  to  attempt  to  accomplish  what  is  in  its 
nature  impracticable,  at  the  expense  ol  great  and  certain 
mischief  and  inconvenience. 

RIGHT,  PETITION  OF.  A  declarator}'  enactment 
passed  by  the  parliament  of  1628,  to  which  this  name  was 
given  by  the  framers,  who  were  desirous  to  imply  by  it 
that  the  franchises  therein  specified  were  not  newly  ac- 
quired, and  that  the  law  was  merely  explanatory  of  the 
ancient  constitution.  It  was  calculated  to  protect  the  sub- 
ject against  forced  loans,  benevolences,  taxes  imposed  with- 
out consent  of  parliament,  arbitrary  imprisonments,  &c. 
Much  delay  and  some  evasion  took  place  before  Charles  I. 
could  be  induced  to  give  the  royal  assent  to  this  measure. 
RIGHTS,  BILL  OF.  See  Bill  of  Rights. 
RIGI'DITY.  In  Mechanics,  a  resistance  to  change  of 
form.  In  all  theoretical  investigations  respecting  the  appli- 
cation of  forces  through  the  intervention  of  machines,  those 
machines  are  assumed  (except  cords)  to  be  perfectly  rigid, 
so  far  as  the  forces  employed  are  able  to  affect  their  inte- 
grity of  form  and  structure.  Rigidity  is  often,  in  the  arts, 
called  stiffness,  and  is  opposed  to  flexibility. 

The  rigidity  of  cords,  or  the  difficulty  with  which  they 
are  bent  into  any  given  curve,  is  the  chief  cause  of  the  loss 
of  power  arising  from  their  employment  in  machines.    The 

1063 


RIGORISTS. 

law  of  their  loss  of  force  may  lie  thus  expressed :  The  re- 
tfetaace  Arising  from  the  stiffness  of  cords  is  as  the  weights 
which  stretch  the  cords  multiplied  by  the  thickness  of  the 
cords,  anil  dil  ided  by  the  radii  of  curvature  Of  the  surfaces 

over  which  thej  pass,  it  i-.  howevt  r.  necessary  to  state 
that  experiments  exhibit  great  discrepancies  with  this  theo- 
retical law. 

RTGORISTS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  name  some- 
times given  to  the  extreme  JanBenist  party.  (See  Moskem, 
vol.  v..  p.  231,  transl.  cd.,  1796.) 

RTMOSE.  (Lat.  rima.  a  cleft.)  In  Zoology,  when  the 
surface  of  an  animal  or  part  resembles  the  hark  of  a  tree, 
having  numerous  minute,  narrow,  and  nearly  parallel  exca- 
vations, Which  run  into  each  other. 

RINFORZA'NDO.  (It.  strengthening.)  In  Music,  a 
a  direction  to  the  performer,  denoting  that  the  sound  is  to  be 
increased.  It  is  marked  thus  <  ;  when  the  sound  is  to  be 
diminished  (diminuendo)  this  mark  >  is  need. 

RING.  In  Geometry,  the  figure  enveloping  a  sphere 
which  moves  with  its  centre  always  in  a  riven  curve,  most 
commonly  a  circle.  For  the  principal  properties  Of  this 
solid,  see  Hachette,  Geometric  Descriptive. 

The  term  is  also  sometimes  applied  to  designate  the  area 
of  the  space  between  two  concentric  circles. 

KING  BONE.  In  Farriery,  a  callus  growing  in  the  hollow 
circle  of  the  little  pastern  of  a  horse,  just  above  the  coronet. 

RING  OF  SATURN.     See  Saturn. 

KINGS.  FAIRY.  This  name  is  given  to  irregular  circles 
in  pastures  and  lawns  on  which  .Agarics  spring  up,  and 
winch  become  much  more  verdant  than  the  surrounding 
grass.  They  are  caused  by  the  centrifugal  growth  of  the 
spawn  of  the  -iparic,  which  radiates  from  a  common  centre, 
and  bears  the  fructification,  which  is  what  appears  above 
ground,  only  at  the  circumference.  The  verdure  of  the  grass 
where  these  fungi  grow  seems  to  be  caused  either  by  their 
manuring  the  ground  when  they  decay,  or  by  the  nitrogen 
they  give  ott'.  which  is  an  active  stimidant  to  vegetation, 
The  application  of  fairy  rings  was  given  to  this  phenome- 
non from  their  being  regarded  as  the  places  where  the  fai- 
ries held  their  noctural  revels. 

RING  SAIL.  A  small  and  light  sail  set  on  a  mast  on  the 
talfrail.  Also  a  studding  sail  set  upon  the  gati"  of  a  fore 
and  aft  sail. 

RI'NGWORM.  This  disease  appears  in  circular  patches 
Upon  the  neck,  forehead,  or  scalp;  it  begins  with  clusters 
of  little  pustules,  which  form  scabs,  leaving  a  red,  pimply 
surface  and  destroying  the  roots  of  the  hair  as  it  proceeds, 
which  it  does,  if  not  prevented,  over  the  greater  part  of  the 
head.  It  is  most  common  in  children  of  a  feeble,  flabby 
habit ;  but  as  it  is  communicable  by  contagion,  it  generally 
Spreads  rapidly  in  schools  and  families  by  the  frequent  con- 
tact of  the  heads  of  children,  or  by  the  use  of  the  same 
caps,  combs,  towels,  &c. ;  so  that  when  it  once  appears, 
tin  diseased  boys  should  be  strictly  removed  from  the  others. 
The  treatment  consists  in  shaving  the  head,  and  using  fre- 
quent and  regular  ablutions  in  the  first  instance,  sponging 
the  part  with  weak  soap  and  water ;  when  the  scabbing  be- 
gins, other  applications  must  be  used,  the  selection  of  which 
must  entirely  depend  upon  the  degree  of  irritation  and  other 
circumstances.  Solutions  of  nitrate  of  silver,  sulphate  of 
copper,  iodide  of  potassium,  or  of  iron,  pitch,  and  tar  oint- 
ments, petroleum  and  naphtha,  mercurial  ointments  of  dif- 
ferent kinds,  and  various  other  stimulants;  as  also  some- 
times sedatives,  are  resorted  to,  to  get  rid  of  the  morbid 
state  of  the  part ;  but  so  whimsical  and  obstinate  is  the  dis- 
ease, thai  it  is  impossible  to  lay  down  any  mode  of  treat- 
ment which  can  be  considered  as  approaching  to  a  specific. 
Except  in  particular  cases,  no  internal  medicine  has  ap- 
peared to  be  of  use. 

RTOT,  in  Law,  is  said  to  be  a  tumultuous  disturbance  of 
the  peace  by  three  persons  or  more  assembling  together  of 

their  own  authority  in  order  to  assist  each  other  against 
any  one  who  shall  oppose  them  in  the  execution  of  a  pri- 
vate purpose,  and  afterwards  executing  the  same  in  a  vio- 
lent and  turbulent  manner.  A  rout  is  said  to  be  a  disturb- 
ance of  the  peace  by  persons  assembled  together  to  do  a 
thing,  which,  if  executed,  WOUld  make  them  rioters,  and 
making  tome  motion  towards  that  object;  an  unlawful  as- 
sembly, a  similar  disturbance  by  persons  who  neither  exe- 
cute their  purpose,  nor  make  any  actual  motion  towards  the 
execution  of  it. 

RIPIE'NO.  (It.  full.)  In  Music,  a  term  Signifying  full, 
and  is  u>e,l  in  compositions  Of  many  parts,  to  distinguish 
these  Which  till  up  the  harmony  and  play  only  occasional 
Iv,  from  those  that  play  throughout  the  p 

RIPPLE-HARKS.  The  peculiar  undulated  marks, 
which  the  receding  waves  leave  on  the  sea  beach,  and 
which  are  occasionally  found  in  some  of  the  older  strata  of 

■  i  ore  considered  as  am DCrng  a  similar  action  at 

a  remote  period.  The  wind  blowing  over  a  sandy  district 
somi  times  occasions  a  similar  appearance. 

RITOKNK'LLO.     (It.  a  return.)     In  Music,  properly  a 
10G4 


RIVER. 

short  repetition,  such  as  that  of  an  echo,  or  of  the  last  words 
of  a  BOBg,  especially  if  such  repetition  be  made  after  a  voice  by 
one  or  more  instruments.     Hut  by  custom   tins  word  is  now 

used  to  denote  all  symphonies  played  before  the  voices 
begin,  and  which  seem  to  prelude  or  introduce  what  follows. 
RITUAL.     (Lat.  runs,  a  rite.)     A  book  in  which  the 
different  rites  or  services  of  the  church  are  contained. 

1:1  \  i.K.  i  Lat.  rivus.)  In  Physical  Geography,  an  inland 
current  of  water,  formed  within  a  certain  portion  of  the 
earth's  surface  by  the  confluence  of  brooks,  small  streams, 
or  mountain  torrents,  arid  discharging  itself  into  the  ocean, 
a  lake,  marsh,  or  other  river.  There  are  few  subjects  in 
physical  geography  which  present  s(1  wide  a  field  for  specu- 
lation as  rivers,  whether  we  regard  them  in  an  historical, 
political,  economical,  or  scientific  [mint  of  view.  They  are 
associated  with  the  earliest  efforts  of  mankind  to  emerge 
from  a  state  of  barbarism  ;  but  they  are  no  less  serviceable 
to  nations  which  have  reached  the  acme  of  civilization.  In 
the  earliest  ages  they  Were  regarded  with  veneration,  and 
became  the  objects  of  a  grateful  adoration  surpassed  only  by 
that  paid  to  the  sun  and  the  host  of  heaven.  Nor  is  this 
surprising;  for  in  countries  where  the  Labours  of  the  hus- 
bandman and  shepherd  depended  for  a  successful  issue  on 
the  falling  of  periodical  rains,  or  the  melting  of  the  collect- 
ed snows  in  a  far-distant  country,  such  rivers  as  the  Nile, 
the  Ganges,  and  the  Indus  were  the  visible  agents  of  na- 
ture In  bestowing  on  the  inhabitants  of  their  banks  all  the 
blessings  of  a  rich  and  spontaneous  fertility  ;  and  hence 
their  waters  were  held  sacred,  and  they  received,  and 
to  this  day  retain,  the  adoration  of  the  countries  through 
which  they  flow.  But  it  is  by  countries  which  have  al- 
ready made  progress  in  civilization  (to  which,  indeed,  they 
largely  contribute,  that  the  advantages  of  rivers  are  best  ap- 
preciated, in  their  adaptation  to  the  purposes  of  navigation, 
and  in  their  application  to  the  useful  arts.  Like  the  veins 
and  arteries  of  the  human  body  which  convey  life  and 
strength  to  its  remotest  extremities,  rivers  vivify,  maintain, 
and  excite  the  efforts  of  human  industry  :  u  hither  we  re- 
gard them  near  their  source  as  the  humble  instruments  of 
turning  a  mill,  in  their  progress  as  facilitating  the  transport 
of  agricultural  or  manufacturing  produce  from  one  district 
to  another,  or  as  enriching  the  countries  at  their  mouths 
\\  ith  the  varied  products  of  distant  lands.  This  has  been 
so  admirably  expressed  by  Pliny,  that  we  cannot  refrain 
from  embodying  his  words  in  our  pages.  "The  beginnings 
of  a  river,"  he  says,  "are  Insignificant,  and  its  Infancy  is 
frivolous:  it  plays  among  the  flowers  of  a  meadow  ;  it  wa- 
ters a  garden,  or  turns  a  little  mill.  Gathering  strength,  in 
its  youth  it  becomes  wild  and  impetuous.  I  inpatient  of  the 
restraints  which  it  still  meets  with  in  the  hollows  among 
the  mountains,  it  is  restless  and  fretful ;  quick  in  its  turning, 
and  unsteady  in  its  course.  Now  it  is  a  roaring  cataract, 
tearing  up  and  overturning  whatever  opposes  its  progress, 
and  it  shoots  headlong  down  from  a  rock;  then  it  becomes 
a  sullen  and  gloomy  pool,  buried  in  the  bottom  of  a  glen. 
Recovering  breadth  by  repose,  it  again  dashes  along,  till, 
tired  of  uproar  and  mischief,  it  quits  all  that  it  has  swept 
along,  and  leaves  the  opening  of  the  x-alley  strewed  with 
the  rejected  waste.  Now  quitting  its  retirement,  it  comes 
abroad  into  the  world,  journeying  with  more  prudence  and 
discretion  through  cultivated  fields,  yielding  to  circum- 
stances, and  winding  round  what  would  trouble  it  to  over- 
whelm or  remove.  It  passes  through  the  populous  cities, 
and  all  the  busy  haunts  of  man,  tendering  its  services  on 
every  side,  and  becomes  the  support  and  ornament  of  the 
country.  Increased  by  numerous  alliances,  and  advanced 
in  its  course,  it  becomes  grave  and  stately  in  its  motions, 
loves  peace  and  quiet,  and  in  majestic,  silence  rolls  on  its 
mighty  waters  till  it  is  laid  to  rest  in  the  vast  abyss." 

Host  large  rivers  have  their  origin  In  very  elevated  moun- 
tains, or  on  Mgh  table  lands,  the  height  and  direction  of 
which  chiefly  determine  their  size  and  course.  For  full  in- 
humation on  the  various  points  involved  in  this  subject,  we 
beg  in  refer  the  reader  to  the  article  "  Rivers"  in  the  F.nni. 
Ilrit. :  and  we  shall  in  this  place  confine  our  remarks  to 
some  of  their  most  striking  peculiarities — periodical  inunda- 
tions, oecultations,  and  reappearance. 

The  periodical  inundations  of  rivers  depend  on  great  falls 
of  rain  in  mountainous  regions,  or  on  the  melting  of  snows 
in  the  neighbourhood  Of  their  source.  The  period  depends 
on  the  return  of  these  seasons  in  different  places.  Within 
the  tropics,  the  rainy  season  occurs  usually  about  the  time 
when  the  sun  pav-.es  the  meridian  towards  the  tropics  J  and 
continues  until   his  return  to  the  same  place.     The  rise  of 

the  Orinoco  commences  in  May,  its  Inundation  begins  in 

June,  and  the  waters  return  to  their  channel  in  September  : 
from  which  time  they  decrease  until  April  of  the  succeed- 
ing year.  In  the  Lower  Mississippi  whose  inundations  be- 
gin  in   March,  and  are  at   their  height   in   June,  are  found 

ti enormous  rafts  of  driftwood  (formed  during  the  imm- 

dationa  ,  Which  sometimes  extend  for  ten  or  twelve  miles 
in  one  mass,  rise  and  fall  with  the  stream,  yet  have  a  luxu- 


RIVERS. 


nous  vegetation  on  their  summits.  The  great  rivers  of  Asia 
— the  Ganges,  the  Indus,  the  Tigris,  and  Euphrates — have 
also  their  periods  of  inundation,  depending  on  the  circum- 
stances determining  the  setting  in  of  the  rains  on  the  moun- 
tains in  which  they  originate.  In  the  Ganges  the  waters 
begin  to  increase  in  April,  and  at  the  end  of  July  the  coun- 
try, for  a  hundred  miles  along  its  banks,  presents  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  vast  lake  interspersed  with  insulated  villages 
and  woods.  But  of  all  inundations,  those  of  the  Nile  are 
the  most  celebrated ;  nor  is  it  possible  to  find  anywhere 
anion'.'  terrestrial  objects  a  more  striking  instance  of  the 
stability  of  the  laws  of  nature,  than  the  periodical  rise  and 
fall  of  "this  mighty  river.  We  know  by  the  testimony  of 
antiquity  that  theinundations  of  the  Nile  have  been  the 
same,  with  respect  to  their  season  and  duration,  for  three 
thousand  years.  Indeed,  their  certainty  regulates  the  pub- 
lic revenue ;  for  when,  by  means  of  nilometers,  it  is  ascer- 
tained that  the  waters  promise  an  unusually  prosperous 
season,  the  taxes  are  proportionally  increased.  Shortly 
after  the  commencement  of  the  rains  of  Abyssinia,  in  June, 
the  river  begins  to  rise,  and  attains  its  greatest  height  in 
August.  At  Cairo  the  greatest  rise  is  twenty-eight  feet; 
but  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  with  a  mean  breadth  of  three 
or  four  leagues,  it  is  only  four  feet.  It  decreases  gradually 
until  the  following  .May;  and  as  soon  as  the  waters  are 
within  their  usual  channel,  the  soil,  moistened  and  en- 
riched by  the  sediment  deposited  from  the  inundation,  is 
diligently  cultivated  by  the  natives.  Pliny  thus  speaks  of 
the  inundation:  "Justum  incrementum  est  cubitoriim  16. 
minores  aqnse  non  omnia  rigant:  ampliores  detinent  tar- 
dius  recedendo.  Haec  serendi  tempora  absumunt:  ilia?  non 
dant  sitiente.  Utrumque  reputat  provincial.  In  duodecim 
cubitis  famem  sentiant,  in  tredecim  etiamnum  esurit ;  qua- 
tuordecim  cubita  hilaritatem  afferant,  quindecim  securita- 
tem,  sexdecim  delicias."     (Hist.  Nat.,  lib.  v.,  9.) 

The  engu/fment  and  reappearance  of  some  rivers  have 
attracted  attention  in  every  age  ;  nor  has  any  satisfactory 
explanation  been  yet  assigned  for  this  extraordinary  phe- 
nomenon. In  the  Memoir  of  the  Abbe  Guettard.  the  phe- 
nomenon in  question  is  accounted  for  by  the  spongy  na- 
ture of  the  soil  through  which  such  rivefs  flow  ;  thus  the 
Guadiana,  one  of  the  largest  rivers  in  Spain,  suddenly  dis- 
appears in  the  marshes  near  the  village  of  Castillo  de  Cer- 
rera,  and  after  pursuing  a  subterraneous  course  for  twelve 
or  fourteen  miles  bursts  again  into  day.  Limestone  dis- 
tricts afford  many  specimens  of  this  phenomenon  ;  one  of 
the  most  striking  of  which  is  the  occultation  of  the  Rhone 
near  the  gorge  called  the  Perte.  There  are  also  some  cu- 
rious instances  in  Derbyshire  and  Yorkshire.  But  no  coun- 
try surpasses  Greece  in  the  number  of  its  subterranean 
streams,  the  peculiarities  of  which  are  often  clothed  in 
splendid  mythological  fictions  by  her  ancient  bards.  The 
waters  of  many  valleys  in  the  Peloponnesus  have  no  other 
outlets  than  {epedpu,  or  chasms,  which  engulf  them;  such 
are  the  outlets  of  the  valleys  of  Tegea,  Mantinea,  Asa?a, 
Stymphalus,  Peneus,  &c.  A  familiarity  with  such  phe- 
nomena, and  a  poetical  temperament,  readily  led  the  ancient 
Greeks  to  conceive  still  more  distant  secret  communica- 
tions ;  and  the  imagination  which  peopled  every  grove,  and 
animated  every  stream  with  presiding  deities,  could  easily 
reconcile  itself  to  the  story  of  the  river  god  Alpheus,  who 
was  said  to  pursue  his  favourite  nymph  Arethusa  beneath 
the  bed  of  the  ocean  from  Greece  to  the  shores  of  Sicily. 
(Traill's  Physical  Geography.) 


Rivers. 

Length. 

Length  id 
English 

Propor- 
tional . 

Majni- 

Area  of 
Basin  in 
English 

Miles. 

Mites. 

tude  of 
Basin. 

Europe 

Thnmes        .        .        . 

ISO 

1 

5-500 

Rhine   .... 

g 

810 

12i 

70  000 

Loire    .... 

720 

8.V 

4S.0O0 

Po 

2i 

400 

b" 

27,000 

Elbe     .... 

4? 

820 

9 

50.000 

Vistula          .        . 

4+ 

760 

13*. 

76,000 

Danbue 

94 

1750 

56 

310,000 

Dnieper 

7i 

1390 

36 

200,000 

Dun      .... 

Asia. 

71 

1350 

37 

205,000 

Wolga 

141 

2520 

94 

520,000 

Euphrates    . 

9| 

1750 

42 

230,000 

Indus    .... 

"*. 

102 

2070 

72 1 
76" 

400.000 

Ganges 

1800 

420,000 

Kan^-'se,  or  Great  River 

of  China 

21* 

3870 

13S 

760,000 

Aniour.  Chinese  Tartar)- 

16i 

2880 

164 

900  000 

Lena.  Asiatic  Russia 

13* 

2430 

174 

9(0,000 

Oby,  ditto     .        .        . 
Africa. 

Nile      .... 

15 

2700 

236 

1,300,000 

1-i 

2330 

90      j 

500,000 

America. 

uncertain. 

St.  Lawrence,  including 

lakes         . 
Mississippi    .         .         . 

22* 
19"1 

4050 
3420 

109 
249 

600,000 
1,368,000 

Phfa     .... 
Amazon,   not   including 

,3i 

2430 

225 

1,240,000 

Arajuav   . 

22$ 

4095 

395 

2.177.000 

The  preceding  table,  from  Dr.  Traill's  valuable  Treatise 
on  Physical  Geography,  shows  the  length  of  the  course 
of  twenty-two  of  the  principal  rivers  of  the  world,  and  the 

|  area  of  their  respective  basins,  together  with  their  propor- 
tional lengths  in  English  miles ;  a  calculation  which  has 

1  been  obtained  by  multiplying  them  by  180,  being  the  dis- 
tance between  the  remotest  sources  of  the  Thames,  which 
is  assumed  as  unity,  and  its  embouchure  at  the  Nore. 

For  an  account  of  the  phenomena  of  the  Australian  riv- 
ers, which,  in  apparent  contrariety  to  the  laws  of  nature, 
in  other  parts  of  the  world,  become  narrower  the  farther 
they  flow  from  their  source,  see  the  Geog.  Diet.,  art. 
"Australia." 

River.  In  Hydraulics,  a  current  of  water  flowing  in  an 
open  channel.  The  velocity  of  a  current  of  water  flowing 
in  an  open  channel  depends  on  the  volume  of  water,  the 

I  form  of  the  channel,  and  its  inclination  ;  and  the  deter- 
mination of  the  relations  subsisting  among  these  three 

'  quantities  is  a  problem  of  great  practical  importance,  the 
solution  of  which  must  be  derived  partly  from  experiment, 
and  partly  from  the  general  theory  of  the  motion  and  re- 

,  sistance  of  fluids. 

If  water,  whether  flowing  in  pipes  or  open  channels, 

;  suffered  no  resistance  from  the  solid  matter  with  which  it 
comes  in  contact,  the  velocity  would  depend  solely  upon 
the  accelerating  force  of  gravity,  and  at  any  point  of  the 
channel  would  be  in  proportion  to  the  square  root  of  the 
difference  of  level  between  that  point  and  the  source.    But 

1  this  velocity,  if  not  constantly  impeded,  would  soon  become 
enormous,  and  render  rivers  the  immediate  instruments  of 
devastation  and  ruin  to  the  earth.  The  Rhone,  for  exam- 
ple, which  receives  its  principal  waters  at  an  elevation  of 
900  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  would  enter  the  bay  of 

i  Marseilles  with  a  velocity  of  164  miles  in  an  hour,  such 

1  being  the  velocity  due  to  a  heavy  body  falling  from  a 

!  height  of  900  feet.     Even  the  Thames,  which  has  a  de- 

'  scent  of  only  100  feet,  would  acquire  a  velocity  of  54  miles 
in  an  hour. 

The  forces  which  tend  to  impede  this  constantly  in- 
creasing velocity  depend  upon  the  quantity  of  surface  ex- 
posed to  friction  and  the  velocity  of  the  stream.  Let  /  de- 
note the  length  of  a  portion  of  the  stream  through  which 
the  velocity  and  the  form  of  the  channel  remain  the  same, 
and  c  the  length  of  the  line  of  intersection  of  the  channel 
with  a  vertical  plane  perpendicular  to  the  stream  (»".  e.,  the 
perimeter  or  boundary  of  the  transverse  section  minus  the 
superficial  breadth) ;  then  the  surface  exposed  tc  friction 
is  represented  by  c  I.  With  respect  to  the  velocity,  it  is 
found  by  experiment  that  the  resistance  is  expressed  by  a 
function  of  the  velocity  made  up  of  two  parts,  one  depend- 
ing on  the  velocity  simply,  and  the  other  on  its  square. 
Hence,  denoting  the  friction  or  resistance  by  /,  and  the 
mean  velocity  by  b,  and  assuming  m  and  n.  two  constant 
numbers,  to  be  determined  by  experiment,  the  resistance 
will  be  expressed  by  this  formula : 

/  =  (m  v  +  n  v2)  c  I. 
Now  the  force  which  opposes  the  velocity  is  the  resist- 
ance, and  the  force  which  tends  to  accelerate  it  is  the  com- 
ponent of  the  weight  in  the  direction  of  the  slope ;  and  as 
the  velocity  of  the  portion  under  consideration  is  regarded 
as  uniform,  these  two  forces  must  be  equal  to  each  other. 
Let  a  denote  the  area  of  the  transverse  section  of  the 
stream,  then  the  bulk  is  a  I,  and  its  weight  gal;  the  re- 
solved part  of  which  in  the  direction  of  the  slope  is  g  a  I 
sin.  (',  where  i  is  the  inclination  of  the  surface  to  the  hori- 
zon. We  have,  therefore,  f=  gal  ,sin.  i,  or  (mv  -\-  n  v2) 
c  I  =  gal  sin.  i ;  whence  for  any  length  /  for  which  the 
area  of  the  section,  the  slope,  and  form  of  the  channel  re- 
main unchanged,  we  have  (m  v  -4-  n  t>2)  c  =  g  a  sin.  i. 

If  we  assume  R  =  a  -i-  c  (the  area  of  the  section  divided 
by  the  length  of  its  boundary  diminished  by  the  width), 
then  the  formula  becomes  m  v  +  n  v2  =  g  R  sin.  i.  This 
quantity  R  is  what  is  usually  called  the  radius  of  the  sec- 
tion, and  sometimes  the  hydraulic  depth.  It  is  the  depth 
which  the  river  would  take  if  it  flowed  in  a  rectangular 
channel,  whose  breadth  is  equal  to  the  bottom  and  sides 
of  the  actual  bed. 

The  constants  m  and  n  have  been  determined  experi- 
mentally by  Prony  (Recherches  Physico-MaUiematiques  sur 
la  Thtiirie'des  Eauz  Co urantes,  Paris  1804).  On  reducing 
his  measures  to  English  feet,  and  rejecting  the  term  m  v, 
which  is  small  in  comparison  of  n  v2,  the  formula  becomes, 


v  —  10953  ,/R  sin.  ;'. 
Eytelwein  (Handluch  der  Mechanikfester  Korper  nnd 
der  Hydraulik,  Berlin,  1801)  gives  v  =  9487 ,/R sin.  i.  As 
a  sufficiently  near  approximation,  we  may  assume  v  ■=.  100 
^/R  sin.  i ;  and  if  we  denote  the  fall  in  feet  each  mile  by 
h,  we  shall  have  sin.  i  ■=.  k  -f-  5280,  and  the  formula  will 
become  on  reduction  v  =  $  ^/R  h  nearly.  This  gives  the 
velocity  in  feet  per  second.  To  find  the  velocitv  in  miles 
3U*  1065 


RIVOSE. 

per  hour,  we  nm«t  multiply  by  3G00,  and  divide  by  5380, 

which  gives  t>  =  iir ^/R * >'  a  formula  found  to  be  sutri- 
ciently  conformable  t.i  experiments. 

From  the  above  formula  the  mean  velocity  v  is  given, 
when  R  and  k  are  determined;  <>r.  generally,  any  one  of 
the  three  quantities,  the  mean  velocity,  the  hydraulic 
depth,  and  the  fall,  is  determined  in  terms  of  the  other  two. 
It  La  necessarj  to  observe,  that  the  velocity  is  not  ; 
in  all  the  parts  of  the  section  of  the  stream.  The  lil a- 
ments  of  water  in  contact  with  the  bottom  and  side-  of  the 

Channel  are  arrested  by  the  friction,  and  in  their  turn  re- 
tard the  filaments  next  above  them  in  consequence  of  their 
adherence  or  viscidity  ;  so  that  the  filaments  which  suffer 
the  least  retardation  are  those  at  the  surface  and  nearest 
the  middle  of  the  stream.  On  the  other  hand,  the  hydro 
static  pressure  tends  to  give  the  greatest  velocity  to  the 

filaments  which  are  deepest   under  the  surface.     By  the 

combination  of  these  two  causes,  the  greatest  velocity  in 
an  open  channel  of  a  symmetrical  term  is  at  the  middle, 
and  at  a  small  depth  under  the  surface. 

The  mean  velocity,  which  has  been  denoted  by  v,  is  that 
Which,  when  multiplied  by  the  area  of  the  transverse  sec- 
tion, gives  the  total  quantity  of  water  which  passes  through 

the  section  in  a  given  time.  Du  Bu&l  found  that  tin  great- 
est  velocity  is  to  the  mean  velocity  of  the  whole  section  in 
the  ratio  nearly  of  5  to  4;  so  that  if  the  greatest  velocity  is 
experimentally  determined,  we  may  assume  the  mean  ve- 
locity to  be  4-5ths  of  the  quantity  given  by  the  experiment. 
It  was  found  by  Du  Buat  that  if  from  the  square  root  of 
the  velocity  in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  expressed  in  inches 
per  second,  unity  be  subtracted,  the  square  of  the  remain- 
der gives  the  velocity  at  the  bottom. 

Since  the  mean  velocity  of  a  river  is  proportional  to  the 
square  root  of  the  hydraulic  depth  (the  inclination  remain- 
ing the  same),  it  follows  that  on  contracting  the  channel 
the  velocity  will  lie  increased.  When  a  river  receives  a  per- 
manent addition,  the  first  effect  is  to  increase  the  velocity, 
Whereby  the  attrition  on  the  sides  and  bottom  is  also  in- 
creased; and  th  :  generally  of  softer  materials. 
the  consequence  is  that  the  width,  and  sometimes  though 
more  rarely,  the  depth,  is  increased  until  the  resistance  is 
again  equal  to  the  accelerative  force,  and  the  velocity  be- 
comes uniform. 

It  is  frequently  of  great  importance  to  determine  the 
whole  quantity  of  water  furnished  by  a  river,  or,  as  it  is 
called,  the  discharge.  For  this  purpose  the  figure  of  the 
bed  must  be  accurately  determined,  w  hirh  may  be  done  by 
soundings.  This  also  <_'ives  the  area  of  the  section,  and 
consequent^  the  hydraulic  depth.  The  velocity  at  the 
surface  may  be  determined  by  means  of  a  tloat;  or  at  a 
small  depth  under  the  surface  by  the  instrument  called 
Print's  tube  (see  the  term),  or  by  measuring  the  force  of 
the  current  by  means  of  a  dynamometer. 

See,  in  addition  to  the  works  above  quoted,  Bossut, 
Traite  d? Hydrodynamiqut :  Navier,  Lefons  sur  V Applica- 
tion de  la  Micanique ;  Belidor,  Architecture  Hydraulique. 

RIVO'SE.  (l.at.  rivus,  a  brook.)  In  Zoology,  when  the 
surface  Of  an  animal  or  part  is  marked  with  furrows  which 
do  not  run  in  a  parallel  direction,  and  are  rather  sinuate. 

RLXDOLLAR.  (A  corruption  of  Germ,  reichsthaler,  or 
dollar  of  the  empire.)  A  silver  coin  of  different  values  in 
different  countries.     Sri  Mosky. 

if  '  M  II.     The  curve,  or  arch,  which  is  generally  cut  in 

the  foot  of  so square  sails,  from  one  clue  to  the  other,  to 

keep  the  foot  clear  of  stays  and  ropes. 

ROAD,  or  ROADSTEAD.  A  place  of  anchorage.  A 
Vessel  when  at  anchor  is  termed  a  roadster,  in  contradis- 
tinction to  another  under  sail. 

ROADS,  are  pathways  formed  through  a  country,  by 
which  passengers  and  commodities  may  travel,  or  he  trans- 
ported, with  more  or  less  facility  anil  expedition,  from  one 

place  to  another.    Roads  are  of  \  arious  kinds,  according  to 

the  slate  of  civilization  and  wealth  of  the  country  through 
which  they  are  Constructed,  and  according  to  the  nature 
and  extent  of  the  traliic:  to  be  earned  on  upon  them,  from 
the  rude  paths  of  the  aboriginal   people,  earned  in  direct 

Lines  o\  ei  the  natural  Burface  of  the  country,  passabl ily 

by  foot  passengers  or  paok  horses,  to  the  o  mparatively  per- 
fect modern  mad,  carried  on  an  artificial  causeway,  and 
reduced  to  a  marly  level  Burface  at  enormous  expense  by 
means  of  vast  excavations,  extensive  embankments,  bridges, 
viaducts,  tunnels,  ami  other  expedients  supplied  bj  the  skill 
and  ingenuity  of  the  civil  engineer. 

Mages    of   Hauls. — There    is    no    expedient   which 

more  powerfully  conduces  t"  the  advancement  of  a  people 
in  civilization,  or  to  the  extension  of  their  prosperity  and 

national  wealth,  than  the  construction  of  good   roads,  con 

necting  the  various  centres  of  commerce  ami  of  industry 

about  which  they  may  have  collected  themselves.    The 

invention  of  printing,  the  expedient  of  money,  the  adoption 

of  a  uniform  system  of  weights  ami  measures,  would  sever- 
ally be  ineffectual,  or  productive  of  advantages  of  a  very 
moo 


ROADS. 

limited  extent,  if  the  intercommunication  of  those  whose 
feelings  and  ideas  are  expressed  and  conveyed  in  print,  and 

among  whom   money  is  made  to  circulate,  and  whose  c i- 

tnerce  is  stimulated  and  facilitated  by  the  uniform  module 
of  quantity  supplied  by  Weights  and  measures,  were  not 
facilitated  and  expedited  by  the  means  of  conveyance  sup- 
plied by  roads.  Without  roads,  the  interchange  of  advan- 
tages, moral,  intellectual,  and  physical,  which  now  takes- 
place  in  all  highly  civilized  countries  between  the  rural  and 
the  urbane  population,  could  not  he  maintained;  without 
them,  indeed,  large  towns  or  cities  could  not  continue  to 
exist  The  supply  of  the  population  collected  in  such 
places  with  the  various  products  of  agriculture,  necessary 
to  their  physical  existence,  could  not  be  sustained.  .Nor,  on 
the  other  hand,  would  the  rural  population  affording  that 
supply  he  benefitted  by  a  return  in  exchange  of  the  refine- 
ments of  tlie  town,  and  the  various  articles  of  luxury  and 
necessity  obtained  by  commerce  from  every  part  of  the 
globe. 

But  roads  are  not  less  necessary  for  the  advancement  of 
agriculture  itself,  than  for  the  due  maintenance  of  the 
necessary  relations  between  the  towns  and  the  country. 
Without  the  aid  of  roads,  it  would  be  impossible  to  apply 
those  arts  to  the  soil  by  which  increased  powers  of  produc- 
tion are  given  to  it.  Without  roads,  the  various  kinds  of 
manure,  by  which  the  scientific  farmer  knows  how  to  raise 
augmented  crops,  could  not  he  transport*  d  to  his  fields  from 
the  place,  often  distant  and  difficult  of  access,  where  such 
manures  are  found.  Roads  may  then,  in  fact,  he  considered 
as  a  system  of  veins  and  arteries,  by  which  all  those  prin- 
ciples necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  the  prosperity  of  a 
country-  are  kept  in  circulation. 

History  of  Roads. — The  importance  of  roads  to  the  wel- 
fare of  nations  was  not  unknown  to  the  ancients.  The 
senate  of  Athens,  the  government  of  the  Lacedemonians, 
the  Thebans,  and  other  states  of  Greece,  bestowed  much 
care  upon  them;  but,  as  might  naturally  be  expected,  the 
first  great  advances  in  the  art  of  Intercommunication  by 
roads  were  due  to  a  people  essentially  commercial.  The 
invention  of  paved  roads  is  traced  to  the  Carthaginians. 
Rome,  ever  aw  ake  to  the  advantages  to  be  gained  from  con- 
quered  people,  followed  in  the  steps  of  the  Carthaginians, 
and  vastly  extended  and  improved  their  processes  in  the 
construction  of  roads. 

The  Via  Appia,  the  Via  Aurelia,  and  the  Via  Flaminia 
were  the  first  great  monuments  of  the  Roman  people  in  this 
department  of  art.  Under  Julius  Cesar,  the  capital  of  the 
empire  was  made  to  communicate  with  all  the  chief  tow  us 
by  paved  roads  ;  and  during  the  last  African  war,  a  road 
of  this  kind  was  constructed  from  Spain  through  Gaul  to 
the  Alps.  After  this,  these  great  lines  of  communication 
were  extended  through  Savoy,  Dauphiae,  and  Provence; 
through  Germany,  every  part  of  Spain;  through  Gaul,  and 
even  to  Constantinople ;  through  Asia,  Hungary,  Macedonia, 
and  to  the  mouths  of  the  Danube.  Neither  did  the  inter- 
position of  seas  obstruct  the  labour  or  daunt  the  enterprise 
of  this  great  people.  The  lines  of  communication  thus  con- 
structed to  the  shores  of  the  continent  of  I'm  ope  were  con- 
tinued at  corresponding  points  of  the  neighbouring  islands 

and  continents.  Sic  ily.  Corsica.  Sardinia.  England,  Africa, 
and  Asia  were  accordingly  intersected  and  penetrated  by 
roads,  forming  the  continuation  of  the  great  European  lines. 
These  gigantic  works  were  not  mere  paths  prepared  for  the 
action  of  the  feet  of  horses  and  the  wheels  of  carriages, 
f< Tnicd  upon  the  natural  surface  of  the  ground,  but  wen: 
constructed  cm   principles  in  some   respects   as   efficient  as 

those  which  modern  engineering  has  supplied  ;  forests  w  era 
opened,  mountains  excavated,  hills  lowered,  valleys  tilled 
up.  chasms  and  rivers  bestridden  by  bridges,  and  marshes 
drained,  to  an  extent  which  would  bear  no  mean  comparison 
to  the  result  of  the  great  engineering  enterprise  of  recent 
tunes. 

'/  Roads. — The  first  roads  of  artificial  construction 
in  England  wire-  those  formed  by  the  Romans  While  it  was 
a  Roman  province.     \  grand  trunk  road  was  carried  through 

the-  country  north  and  south,  and  another  nearly  at  right 
angles  to  it  east  and  west  These  main  lines  win''  supplied 
with  branches,  extending  ill  every  direction  which  the 
conquerors  found  It  expedient  t>>  render  accessible  to  their 
arms.  The  Roman  road  called  Watling  Street  commenced 
from  Richborough  in  K<  i  m  Ruterpinc, and  being 

carried  through   London  in   a  north  w 'estei  1\  direction,  WBS 

continued  to  Chester.  The  road  called  Ermine  Street 
commenced  from   London,  and  passing  through    Lincoln 

was   cam,  d    thence    tl igh  Carlisle  into   Scotland.     The 

Fobs  Way  passed  from  Bath,  in  a  direction  north-east,  and 
joined  the  Ermine  Street    The  road  called  ikenald  ex- 

tended  from  -Norwich,  in  a  southward  direction,  to  Dorset- 
shire. 

The  example  thus  afforded  by  their  conquerors  was  not 
followed  by  the  Britons,  who.  unconscious  of  the  many  ad- 
\  antages  attending  facilities  of  intercommunication,  relapsed 


ROADS. 


into  the  barbarous  neglect  of  roads  ;  and  while  the  Roman 
ways  were  allowed  to  fall  into  decay,  new  roads  were  not 
constructed.  For  many  centuries,  such  intercourse  as  was 
maintained  between  the  various  parts  of  this  country  took 
place  almost  exclusively  by  rude  paths,  capable  of  being 
passed  on  foot,  or  at  best  by  horses,  carried  over  the  natural 
surface  of  the  ground  in  straight  directions  from  place  to 
place.  Hills  were  surmounted,  valleys  crossed,  and  rivers 
forded,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  savages  of  the  most 
remote  wilds  of  America  now  communicate  with  each 
other,  or  with  the  settlers.  It  was  not  till  the  reign  of 
Charles  II.  that  any  attempt  was  made  by  the  legislature 
to  im]irove  the  roads  of  the  country.  In  the  16th  year  of 
the  reign  of  that  monarch,  the  first  turnpike-road  was  es- 
tablished by  law,  whereon  toll  was  taken.  It  passed  through 
Hertfordshire,  Cambridgeshire,  and  Huntingdonshire.  It  was 
not,  however,  till  about  a  century  from  the  present  time, 
that  any  great  or  effectual  attempts  were  made  to  establish 
a  system  of  good  roads  through  the  country.  Till  nearly 
the  middle  of  the  last  century,  most  of  the  goods  were  con- 
veyed from  place  to  place  in  Scotland  on  pack-horses. 
Oatmeal,  coals,  turf,  and  even  straw  and  hay,  were  con- 
veyed in  this  way  ;  but  in  carrying  goods  between  distant 
placet)  it  was  necessary  to  employ  a  cart,  as  all  that  a  horse 
could  carry  on  his  back,  was  not  sufficient  to  defray  the 
cost  of  a  long  journey,  The  time  that  the  carriers  usually 
required  to  perforin  their  journeys  seems  now  almost  in- 
credible :  the  common  carrier  between  Selkirk  and  Edin- 
burgh, a  distance  of  thirty-eight  miles,  required  a  fortnight 
for  his  journey,  going  and  returning.  The  road,  for  a  con- 
siderable extent,  lay  along  the  bottom  of  the  district  called 
Gait  Water;  the  bed  of  the  stream,  when  not  flooded,  being 
the  tract  chosen  as  the  most  level  and  easiest  to  travel  in. 

Nor  were  the  means  of  travelling  between  large  towns 
much  better.  In  1678,  a  contract  was  made  to  establish  a 
coach  between  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow,  a  distance  of  forty- 
four  miles.  Tbis  coach  was  to  be  drawn  by  six  horses,  and 
the  journey  between  the  places,  to  and  from,  was  engaged 
to  be  completed  in  six  days  ;  even  so  recently  as  the  year 
1750,  the  stage  coach  from  Edinburgh  to  Glasgow  took  a 
day  and  a  half  to  make  the  journey. 

In  the  year  1763,  there  was  but  one  stage  coach  between 
Edinburgh  and  London,  which  started  once  a  month  from 
each  place,  and  took  a  fortnight  to  perform  the  journey. 
At  the  present  time,  afier  the  lapse  of  not  so  much  as  eighty 
years,  there  are  seven  coaches  daily  start  from  each  of 
these  cities  for  the  other  ;  besides  several  steam  ships  of 
enormous  magnitude,  which  sail  weekly  from  each  place, 
supplying  all  the  accommodation  and  luxury  of  floating 
hotels,  and  completing  the  journey,  in  common  with  the 
coaches,  in  less  than  forty-eight  hours.  If  each  of  the 
coaches  be  estimated  as  conveying  ten  passengers  daily, 
the  coaches  alone  would  thus  convey  daily  between  these 
cities  about  140  passengers,  or  above  4000  monthly.  If  an 
equal  number  he  estimated  as  conveyed  by  the  steam  ships, 
we  should  have  the  present  intercourse  in  passengers  be- 
tween London  and  Edinburgh  amounting  to  about  8000 
monthly  ;  whereas,  in  1703,  the  number  conveyed  by  stage 
coaches  between  these  places  monthly  could  not  have  ex 
ceeded  twenty-five,  and  by  all  the  means  of  conveyance 
then  existing  probably  did  not  exceed  fifty. 

It  happens  that  the  line  of  road  now  occupied  by  the 
Liverpool  and  Manchester  Railway  and  its  branches,  and 
travelled  daily  by  thousands  of  passengers,  at  a  speed  of 
twenty-five  miles  an  hour,  including  stoppages,  was,  in  the 
year  1770,  travelled  over  by  Mr.  Arthur  Young,  who  has 
left  us  in  his  Tour  the  following  account  of  the  state  of  the 
roads  at  that  time :  "  I  know  not  in  the  whole  range  of 
language  terms  sufficiently  expressive  to  describe  this  in- 
fernal road.  Let  me  most  seriously  caution  all  travellers, 
who  may  accidentally  propose  to  travel  this  terrible  coun- 
try, to  avoid  it  as  they  would  the  devil ;  for  a  thousand  to 
one  they  break  their  necks,  or  their  limbs,  by  overthrows 
or  breakings-down.  They  will  here  meet  with  ruts,  which 
I  actually  measured,  four  feet  deep,  and  floating  with  mud 
only  from  a  wet  summer.  What,  therefore,  must  it  be 
after  a  winter  1  The  only  mending  it  receives  is  tumbling 
in  some  loose  stones,  which  serve  no  other  purpose  than 
jolting  a  carriage  in  the  most  intolerable  manner.  These 
are  not  merely  opinions,  but  facts  ;  for  I  actually  passed 
three  carts  broken  down  in  these  eighteen  miles  of  exe- 
crable memory."  With  the  exception  of  a  few  rare  in- 
stances of  important  roads,  constructed  under  special  acts 
of  parliament,  the  roads  of  England  have  not  been  con- 
structed on  any  scientific  principle,  and  are,  in  most  cases 
nearly  coincident  with  the  foot  and  horse  paths  adopted 
by  the  early  inhabitants  of  the  country.  These  rude  paths 
having  been  formed  at  an  early  period,  the  only  roads  of 
communication  between  the  chief  towns  were  gradually 
improved,  so  as  to  be  capable  of  being  travelled  over  bv 
wheel  carriages.  The  natural  surface  of  the  ground  was 
In  time  covered  with  an  artificial  coating  of  gravel  or  stones  ■ 


hills  too  steep  to  be  surmounted  by  carriages  were  either 
levelled,  and  the  material  obtained  from  their  excavation 
thrown  into  the  valleys,  or  the  roads  were  carried  round 
them  ;  at  a  later  period  fences  were  added  ;  and  thus,  by 
slow  degrees,  the  old  horse-path  grew  into  the  modern 
road.  How  far  removed  from  a  truly  good  and  scien- 
tific line  of  communication  such  a  road  must  be,  will  be 
apparent  to  any  one  who  considers  what  the  principles 
ought  to  be  on  which  a  road  should  be  laid  down  and  con- 
structed. 

The  Art  of  Road-making. — When  it  is  proposed  to  con- 
struct a  line  of  road  extending  between  two  places,  the 
engineer  upon  whom  such  a  duty  devolves  first  makes 
himself  well  acquainted  with  the  surface  of  the  country 
lying  between  the  two  places,  so  as  to  obtain  an  acquaint- 
ance with  the  face  of  the  country,  somewhat  approaching 
to  that  which  would  be  supplied  by  a  superficial  model  of 
it,  which  would  exhibit  all  its  inequalities  and  undulations 
of  surface.  He  is  then  to  select  what  he  considers,  all 
circumstances  being  taken  into  account,  the  best  general 
route  for  the  proposed  road.  But,  previously  to  laying  it 
out  with  accuracy,  it  is  necessary  to  make  an  instrumental 
survey  of  the  country  along  the  route  thus  selected  ;  taking 
the  levels  from  point  to  point  throughout  the  whole  dis- 
tance, and  making  borings  in  all  places  where  excavations 
are  required,  to  determine  the  strata  through  which  such 
cuttings  are  to  be  carried,  and  the  requisite  inclinations  of 
the  slopes  or  slanting  sides,  as  well  of  the  cuttings  as  of 
the  embankments  to  be  formed  by  the  material  thus  ob- 
tained. It  is  also  requisite,  in  the  selection  of  the  route 
for  the  proposed  road,  to  have  regard  to  the  supply  of 
materials,  not  only  for  first  constructing  it,  but  for  main- 
taining it  in  repair ;  thus,  the  position  of  gravel  pits  and 
quarries  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  proposed  line,  and 
the  modes  of  access  to  them,  should  be  well  ascertained. 

The  results  of  such  an  investigation  should  be  reduced 
to  a  plan  and  section  ;  the  plan  of  the  road  being  on  a  scale 
not  less  than  66  yards  to  an  inch,  and  the  section  not  less 
than  30  feet  to  an  inch. 

The  loss  of  tractive  power,  and  danger  to  travellers  pro- 
duced by  steep  acclivities,  render  it  especially  necessary 
that  a  proper  limitation  should  be  imposed  upon  the  incli- 
nations or  acclivities  on  every  line  of  road  on  which  much 
traffic  is  carried  on.  As,  however,  this  reduction  of  hills 
in  a  country  where  much  inequality  of  surface  exists  is 
attended  with  a  considerable  outlay  of  capital,  the  engineer 
will  have  to  balance  the  cost  of  constructing  a  road  having 
the  best  possible  inclinations  against  the  advantages  to  be 
obtained  in  the  permanent  working  of  the  road  ;  and  if  the 
expected  traffic  be  not  such  as  to  yield  advantages  propor- 
tionate to  the  capital  absorbed,  greater  rates  of  inclination 
must  be  allowed  to  the  hills,  with  a  view  to  diminish  the 
extent  of  the  works,  and  to  render  the  expense  of  con- 
structing the  road  proportionate  to  the  traffic  expected 
upon  it. 

A  dead  level,  even  where  it  can  be  obtained,  is  not  the 
best  course  for  a  road  ;  a  certain  inclination  of  the  surface 
facilitates  the  drainage,  and  keeps  the  road  in  a  dry  state. 
There  is  a  certain  inclination,  depending  on  the  degree  of 
perfection  given  to  the  surface  of  the  road,  and  on  the 
structure  of  the  carriages  worked  upon  it,  which  cannot 
be  exceeded  without  a  direct  loss  of  tractive  power  ;  this 
inclination  or  acclivity  is  that,  in  descending  which,  at  a 
uniform  speed,  the  traces  slacken,  or  which  causes  the  car- 
riages to  press  on  the  horses :  the  limiting  inclination 
within  which  this  effect  does  not  take  place  is  called  the 
angle  of  repose. 

On  all  acclivities  less  steep  than  the  angle  of  repose,  a 
certain  amount  of  tractive  force  is  necessary  in  the  descent 
as  well  as  in  the  ascent ;  and  the  mean  of  the  two  draw- 
ing forces,  ascending  and  descending,  is  equal  to  the  force 
along  a  level  road.  Thus,  on  such  acclivities  as  much 
power  is  gained  in  the  descent  as  is  lost  in  the  ascent; 
but  on  acclivities  which  are  more  steep  than  the  angle  of 
repose,  the  load  presses  on  the  horses  during  their  descent, 
so  as  to  impede  their  action,  and  their  power  is  expended 
in  checking  the  descent  of  the  load  ;  or,  if  this  effect  be 
prevented  by  the  use  of  any  form  of  drag  or  break,  then 
the  power  expended  on  such  drag  or  break  corresponds  to 
an  equal  quantity  of  mechanical  power  expended  in  the 
ascent,  for  which  no  equivalent  is  obtained  in  the  descent. 

On  well-constructed  roads,  with  carriages  such  as  now 
are  generally  used  in  England,  the  angle  of  repose  may  be 
taken  at  about  one  in  thirty-six  ;  and  this  is  consequently 
an  acclivity  which  ought  not  to  be  exceeded  on  roads  over 
which  much  traffic  is  carried. 

The  expedients  by  which  the  requisite  inclinations  are 
obtained  on  common  roads  are  the  same  as  those  which 
are  resorted  to  in  the  construction  of  railways.  See  Rail- 
roads. 

The  exact  course  of  the  road  and  the  degree  of  its  ac- 
clivities being  determined,  the  next  thing  to  be  considered 
is  the  formation  of  its  surface.    The  qualities  which  ought 

1067 


ROADS. 


ROASTING. 


to  be  imparted  to  it  arc  twofold— first,  it  should  be  smooth  :  I  firm  and  the  crust  consolidated.     After  this,  the  remaining 
liv  it  should  be  hard  :  and  the  goodness  of  the  road    -J  inch.-  of  stone  may  be  put  on  :  the  whole  of  this  stone, 

forming  ti  indies  of  crust,  is  to  consist  of  pieces  broken  as 
nearly  as  is  practicable  Into  a  cubical  form,  and  of  such  a 
magnitude  that  they  can  pass  through  a  ring  of  •-"  inches 


will  be  exactly  in  the  proportion  of  the  degree  in  which 
these  qualities  can  be  imparted  to  it.  and  permanently 

maintained  upon  it.  An  error  prevailed  among  mad  en- 
gineers until  a  very  recent  period.  It  was  considered  thai 
smoothness  of  surface  alone  was  sufficient  for  the  perfection 
ol  a  road;  and  that,  provided  it  could  be  made  sufficiently 
durable,  it  was  unimportant  how  soft  or  yielding  the  coat- 
ing of  the  road  might  be;  This  error,  into  which,  among 
others,  Macadam  himself  fell,  was  i>ased  upon  a  neglect 
of  one  of  the  most  important  circumstances  to  be  con- 
sidered in  the  construction  of  a  road.  The  main  object  to 
;  lined  by  all  roads  is  the  diminution  of  the  resistance 
which  a  carriage  opposes  to  the  tractive  power.  Other 
things  being  the  same,  it  was  sufficiently  apparent  that 
this  resistance  would  he  diminished  by  increasing  the 
smoothness  of  the  road  surface.  But  roughness  or  un- 
evenness  of  surface  is  not  the  only  cause  of  resistance  to 
the  tractive  power:  if  two  roads  have  their  surfaces 
equally  smooth  and  even,  hut  one  is  soft  and  elastic,  so  as 
to  yield  under  the  pressure  of  the  wheel,  recovering  its 
form  as  the  wheel  advances,  and  the  other  is  hard  and 
unyielding,  the  resistance  to  the  tractive  power  will  he 

greater  on  the  suft  and  yielding  road  than  on  the  hard  and 

unyielding  road  :  and  this  augmentation  of  resistance  will 
be  in  proportion  to  the  softness  of  the  surface.  That  this 
would  be  the  case,  admits  of  immediate  demonstration  on 
mechanical  and  mathematical  principles;  hut,  without 
resorting  to  these,  it  must  he  sufficiently  apparent  from 
the  results  of  the  most  common  experience.  A  surface  of 
velvet  may  be  as  smooth  and  even  as  a  surface  of  ice ; 
but  if  an  ivory  ball  be  rolled  on  the  latter,  it  will  continue 
its  motion  much  longer  than  on  the  former.  In  fact,  the 
wheels  of  a  carriage  in  passing  along  a  soft  road  sink  into 
it-  surface,  as  the  ball  would  sink  into  the  pile  of  the  vel- 
vet:  and  although  in  virtue  of  its  elasticity,  the  surface 
of  the  road,  like  that  of  the  velvet,  may  recover  its  smooth- 
lies,  after  the   pressure   has  1 ii  removed  from  it,  still  a 

resistance  will  he  offered  to  the  drawing  or  impelling 
power,  which  would  not  he  produced  by  a  hard  and  un- 
yielding surface  equally  smooth. 

Macadamizition. — This  process,  which  has  received  its 
name  from  Macadam,  fo  Whose  labours  the  improvement 
of  the  roads  of  England  within  the  last  half  century  owes 
so  much,  consists  in  forming  the  road  crust  of  stone-, 
broken  with  a  hammer  into  angular  pieces  of  a  small  and 
uniform  size.  This  method,  however,  is  one  which  was 
long  practised  in  various  parts  of  Europe.  When  the 
stones  of  which  the  road  crust  is  to  he  formed  are  broken 
to  the  proper  magnitude  and  form,  they  are  spread  over 
the  surface  of  the  road  in  a  I  ■;,  er  of  :t  or  4  inches  thick. 
After  this  has  been  consolidated' by  carriages  working  upon 
it  or  by  rollers,  another  layer  of  broken  stones  of  equal 
depth  is  laid  upon  it  :  it  is  consolidated  in  like  manner  ; 
and  thus  one  layer  is  laid  over  another  until  an  artificial 
crust  is  formed  of  broken  stones  of  sufficient  thickness  to 
give  the  requisite  strength  to  the  road. 

A  coating  or  road  crust  thus  formed  misht  be  constructed 
on  any  substratum  whatsoever,  and  a  smooth  and  appa- 
rently good  road  would  be  obtained.  It  was  the  practice 
of  Mr.  Macadam  to  disregard  the  nature  of  the  substratum  ; 
and  he  maintained  that  if  it  was  not  such  a  bog  as  would 
not  allow  a  man  to  walk  over  it,  he  would  even  prefer  it 
to  a  hard  bottom. 

!*«  System. — The  improvement  in  road-making 
which  consisted  in  a  due  attention  to  the  substratum  or 
foundation  of  the   road,  so  as   to  give   increased  facility  to 

the  tractive  power  by  rendering  its  surface  hard  and  un- 
yielding, is  due  to  the  late  Mr.  Telford.  The  following  is 
a  description  of  the  method  of  constructing  such  a  road 
practised  by  that  eminent  engineer. 

Upon  the  level  l"d  prepare.!  for  the  road  materials  a 
bottom  course  or  layer  of  stones  N  to  be  set  by  hand,  in 
form  of  a  close  firm  pavement.  The  stones  set  in  the 
middle  of  the  road  should  he  7  inches  in  depth  :  at  9  feet 
from  the  centre  the  depth  should  be  5  inches:  at  12  feet, 
4  inches  ;  and  at  lf>  feet.  'A  inches  ;  the  entire  width  of  the 
road  being  30  feet.     These   stones   are   to   be  set  on   their 

broadest  edges  lengthwise  across  the  road,  and  the  breadth 
of  the  upper  edge  should  not  exceed  1  Inches.     All  the 

irregularities  of  the  Upper  part  of  this  pavement  are  to  be 
broken  oil'  by  hammers,  and  all  the  Interstices  to  be  tilled 
with  Btone  chips  firmly  wedged  "r  packed  by  band  with  a 

light  hammer  ;  so  that,  when  the  pavement  is  finished,  its 
cross  section  shall  have  a  convexitj  of  surface  ol  aboul  I 
Inches  in  tie  centre  above  tin-  extreme  edges  ;  18  feel  In 
the  centre  of  this  pavemenl  are  to  be  coated  with  a  layi  t 

of  hard  broken  stone-,  t>  inches  deep:   of  these  l,  in 
must    be   first    put  on   and  worked   down    bj   carriages   and 
hones  in  the  ordinary  traffic  of  the  road,  care  beinL'  taken 
constantly  to  rake  in  the  ruts  until  the  surface  has  become 
10W 


nternal  diameter.  The  spaces  on  each  side  of  the  middle 
is  feet  are  to  be  eoated  with  broken  stone  or  vv  ell  cleansed 
stroim  gravel  up  to  the  level  of  the  footpath  or  other 
boundary  of  the  road,  so  as  to  make  the  w  hole  convexity 
of  the  road  ti  inches  in  the  middle  above  the  level  of  the 
edges  .  and  the  whole  of  the  materials  thus  formed  and 
consolidated  should  be  covered  with  a  coating  lh  inches 
deep  of  good  gravel,  free  from  clay  or  earth. 

Such  was  the  method  practised  by  Mr.  Telford  in  the 
construction  of  great  main  roads,  such  as  that  between 
Holyhead  and  Shrewsbury.  In  the  streets  of  towns,  and 
other  places  where  roads  have  to  hear  a  still  heavier  traffic, 
such  a  road  as  that  above  described  is  found  to  be  subject  to 
a  superficial  wear,  so  rapid  as  to  produce  an  intolerable 
quantity  of  dust  in  summer  and  of  mud  in  winter.  In  such 
places  recourse  has  been  generally  had  to  pavement.  The 
first  object  to  he  secured  for  a  durable  pavement,  as  well  as 
in  other  roads,  is  to  secure  a  good  foundation.  The  best 
method  is  to  lay  a  foundation  of  gravel  or  broken  stone,  the 
bed  of  which  should  be  formed  with  a  convexity  sloping  to 
each  side  by  a  fall  of  about  1  in  50.  After  the  first  layer  of 
broken  stone  is  put  on,  the  street  should  be  open  for  car- 
riages  to  pass  over  it  until  it  is  consolidated,  all  ruts  being 
carefully  raked  in.  The  same  process  should  be  repealed 
with,  each  successive  layer,  until  a  sufficiently  solid  founda- 
tion is  obtained  for  the  pavement.  On  this  foundation  a 
pavement  formed  of  blocks  of  stone  is  laid,  the  blocks  be- 
ing 10  inches  in  depth,  from  10  to  15  inches  in  length,  and 
from  0  to  8  inches  in  width.  Such  is  the  structure  which  is 
requisite  for  the  streets  which  are  the  main  thoroughfares 
of  a  izreat  city  ;  a  pavement  with  less  strength  of  foundation, 
and  formed  of  smaller  blocks  of  stone,  being  used  for  the 
streets  of  less  intercourse. 

To  manv  inconveniences  produced  in  the  great  thorough- 
fares of  London,  such  as  Oxford-street,  Holborn,  Fleet- 
street,  the  Strand,  &c,  by  reason  of  the  rapid  wear  of  eve- 
rv  kind  of  pavement  hitherto  adopted,  a  suspension  of  the 
intercourse  during  the  frequent  repairs,  the  dust  in  summer 
and  the  mud  in  winter  produced  by  a  surface  of  broken 
stones,  and  the  intolerable  noise  produced  by  every  species 
of  stone  pavement,  have  lately  excited  much  Inquiry  as  to 
the  possibility  of  constructing  some  road  having  sufficient 
strength  for  a  traffic  so  enormous,  sufficient  durability  to 
prevent  the  inconvenience  of  the  frequent  suspension  of  in- 
tercourse by  the  necessity  of  repairs,  and  presenting  a  sur- 
face which,  while  it  would  be  free  from  the  noise  of  a  stone 
pavement,  would  not  be  attended  with  the  inconvenience 
of  dust  and  mud  produced  by  a  surface  of  broken  stone. 
This  problem  appears  to  be  in  a  great  degree  solved  by  the 
adoption  of  a  pavement  of  wood.  A  short  piece  of  Oxford- 
street  was  thus  paved  in  the  beginning  of  1839;  and  after  a 
successful  trial    of  several  months,  the  same  pavemc  lit  was 

extended  nearly  throughout  the  whole  extent  of  that  street ; 

and  at  the  present  time  1842  this  method  of  pavement  is 
in  process  of  construction  in  several  other  thoroughfares  of 
I. onil, m.  The  idea  of  a  wooden  pavement  is  not  new.  In 
the  northern  parts  of  Germany  and  in  Russia  Mich  pave- 
ments have  been  Ion'.'  in  use;  some  of  the  main  streets  of 
Petersburg!)  and  Vienna  have  long  been  paved  in  this  man- 
ner. A  few  years  ago  a  series  of  experiments  were  made 
at  New  York,  to  determine  the  best  description  of  paving 
for  a  street.      One  of  the  methods  adopted  was  a  tesselaled 

pavemeni.  formed  oi'  hexagonal  blocks  of  pine  wood,  mea- 
suring 6  inches  on  each  side  of  their  transverse  section,  and 
1-2  inches  in  depth.  From  the  manner  in  which  the  timber 
is  cut  its  fibres  are  vertical,  and  therefore  the  tendency  to 
wear  from  vertical  pressure  is  small.  The  blocks  are  coat- 
ed with  pitch  or  tar,  forming  a  s »th  upper  surface. 

\  |  riOUS  methods  have  been  proposed  for  laving  the  wood 

pavements  of  London:  but  as  these  methods  are  severally 

as  vet  only  in  process  of  trial,  nothing  is  practically  known 
Of  their  respective  merits.     There    appears,  however,  to  be 

sufficient  to  justify  a  well  grounded  expectation  that  wood 

pavements  of  some  form   or  other  will  soon  supersede  all 

others  for  the  great  thoroughfares  of  towns. 

Concerning  die  formation  of  roads  of  various  kinds,  their 
drainage,  fencing,  their   management,  repairs,  &c.,  much 

might    be   said;   but   the   limits   which    must   he   imposed  on 

this  article  compel  us  to  refer  the  reader  for  lie   e  details  to 

Sir  Henry   Pametl'S  Treatise  on  Roads.     See  also  the   Kn- 

,  article  "Chemin;"  Bergier,  Histoiri  «'<.*  Grands 
chimin-  de  f  Empire  Item, mi  ;  Annates  des  Fonts  el  Chaut- 
?trs ;    Anderson's    Qmmeree;    M'Culloch's     7Vi 

,  Library  of   Useful  Knowledge;  Mr.  Telford's 

ROA'STTNG,  in  Chemical  Metallurgy,  means  the  pro- 
tracted application  of  heat  to  metallic  ores,  below   their 


ROB. 

fusing  points.  It  is  generally  resorted  to  to  expel  volatile 
matters,  especially  sulphur,  arsenic,  carbonic  acid,  water, 
fee. 

ROB.  A  term  of  Arabic  origin,  applied  by  old  pharma- 
ceutical writers  to  thin  extracts  or  inspissated  juices. 

RO'BBERY  (from  the  Germ,  rauben,  to  rob),  in  Law,  is 
defined  a  felonious  taking  of  money  or  goods  of  any  value 
from  the  person  of  another,  or  in  his  presence,  against  his 
will,  by  violence  or  putting  him  in  fear;  and  this,  whether 
the  fear  be  of  injury  to  the  person's  property  or  character. 
But  it  is  necessary  that  the  fear  be  of  immediate  injury,  not 
of  some  future  injurious  results  ;  and  then  the  money  must, 
generally  speaking,  be  taken  immediately  upon  the  threat 
made,  and  not  afterwards  given  from  fear  of  consequences. 
But  the  extortion  of  money  by  threat  to  accuse  of  an  infa- 
mous crime  was  made  robbery  by  7  &.  8  G.  4,  c.  29.  The 
law  on  the  subject  is  now  collected  in  the  recent  statute  1 
Vict.,  c.  29  ;  and  robbery  is  capital  only  when  the  robber 
"at  the  time,  or  immediately  before  or  after,"  stabs,  cuts,  or 
wounds  any  person. 

ROBES,  MASTER  OF  THE.  An  officer  in  the  royal 
household,  whose  duty,  as  the  designation  implies,  consists 
in  ordering  the  sovereign's  robes.  Under  a  queen,  this  of- 
fice, which  has  always  been  one  of  great  dignity,  is  per- 
formed by  a  lady,  who  enjoys  the  highest  rank  of  the  ladies 
in  the  service  of  the  queen. 

RO'C,  or  RU'KH.  The  well-known  monstrous  bird  of 
Arabian  mythology,  of  the  same  fabulous  species  with  the 
simurg  of  the  Persians.  In  the  notes  to  vol.  iii.  of  Mr. 
Lane's  edition  of  the  Jlrabian  Nig/its'  Entertainments  are 
some  curious  extracts  from  the  writers  of  old  voyages  of 
that  nation  ;  showing  that  the  tale  was  either  founded  on, 
or  supported  by,  the  wonderful  accounts  of  travellers. 
Even  Sinbad's  well-known  adventure,  when  his  crew  broke 
the  roc's  egg,  and  were  attacked  in  consequence  by  the  en- 
raged pair  of  birds,  is  borrowed  from  the  serious  narration 
of  Ibn-El-YVardee.  The  roc  is  also  described  by  Marco 
Paulo.  (Marsden's  transl.,  p.  707.)  The  size  of  this  famous 
monster  is,  of  course,  described  with  all  the  luxuriance  of  ori- 
ental imagination.  Ibn-El-Wardee  makes  one  of  its  wings 
10,000  fathoms  long.  Mr.  Lane  appears  to  think  that  this 
extravagant  fiction  was  suggested  by  the  condor ;  but  the 
size  and  power  of  that  bird  are  much  exaggerated,  even  in 
the  common  accounts.  The  bearded  vulture  of  Egypt  seems 
a  better  archetype  of  the  rukh.  In  a  drawing  from  an  il- 
luminated Persian  MS.,  which  Mr.  Lane  has  copied,  the 
roc,  or  rather  simurg.  which  is  represented  as  performing 
the  slight  operation  of  carrying  otf  three  elephants  in  its 
beak  and  claws,  is  something  like  a  cock,  with  eagle's 
wings  and  an  extravagant  tail.  The  simurg  is  a  creature 
of  importance  in  Persian  Mythology :  it  is  the  phoenix  of 
oriental  fable,  one  only  living  at  a  time,  and  attains  the  age 
of  1700  years.     (See  the  notes  to  Southeifs  Thalaba.) 

ROCELLIC  ACID.  An  acid  obtained  from  the  Rocella 
tinctoria. 

ROCHE'LLE  SALT.  The  tartrate  of  soda  and  potassa. 
It  is  a  double  salt,  composed  of  2  equivalents  of  tartaric 
acid  (66  X  2)  =  132,  1  equivalent  of  potassa  =  48,  and  1  of 
soda=32.  Its  crystals,  which  are  large  and  well-defined 
prisms,  often  presenting  eight,  ten,  or  twelve  sides,  include  8 
equivalents  (9X8)=  72  of  water. 

ROCK.     See  Geology. 

ROCK  CORK.     A  variety  of  asbestos,  which  see. 

ROCK  CRYSTAL.  A  common  mineralogical  term  ap- 
plied to  crystallized  silica:  it  is  also  called  quartz. 

RO'CKET.  In  the  Military  Art,  a  very  destructive  spe- 
cies of  fire-work,  the  best  kind  of  which  was  invented  by 
the  late  Sir  William  Congreve,  and  called  after  him  the 
Congrcve  rocket.  The  body  of  the  machine  is  cvlindrical, 
and  its  head  conical.  It  is  filled  with  very  inflammable 
materials;  on  the  combustion  of  which,  as  in  the  common 
sky-rocket,  the  body  is  impelled  forward  with  a  continual 
acceleration. 

ROCKING  or  LOGGING  STONES.     See  Geology. 

ROCK  SALT.  Common  salt  found  in  masses  or  beds  in 
the  new  red  sandstone,  as  in  Cheshire  and  elsewhere.  See 
Geology. 

ROCK  SHELLS.  The  common  name  of  certain  Uni- 
valves, characterized  by  the  long  straight  canal  which  ter- 
minates the  mouths  of  their  shells.     See  Murex. 

ROCKWORK.  In  Architecture,  masonry  wrought  in 
imitation  of  rough  stone,  in  various  arrangements,  and 
chiefly  used  in  basements  of  buildings. 

Rockwork,  in  Gardening,  is  applied  to  a  quantity  of 
stones,  fragments  of  rock,  or  even  vitrified  bricks,  piled  to- 
gether in  such  a  nrinner  as  to  form  a  nidus  for  the  growth 
and  display  of  alpine  plants.  When  the  pieces  of  rock  are 
of  such  torms  as  can  be  connected  together  so  as  to  present 
the  appearance  of  stratification,  that  mode  of  arranging 
them  may  be  adopted  ;  and  the  soil  and  plants  may  be 
placed  in  vertical,  oblique,  or  horizontal  fissures,  or  on 
ledges,  according  to  the  lines  of  stratification.    When,  bow- 


85 


M 


ROLLING  PENDULUM. 

ever,  as  is  most  frequently  the  case,  land  or  water-worn 
stones  are  used,  they  may  be  distributed  over  a  mound  of 
earth,  not  uniformly,  but  in  groups,  with  smooth  surfaces 
of  soil  between,  in  the  manner  that  may  be  observed  in  na- 
ture, where  stones  of  different  sizes  are  seen  rising  out  of 
the  surface  of  a  green  hill  or  hillock.  When  agglutinated 
masses  of  vitrified  bricks  are  used,  either  alone  or  mixed 
with  land  stones  of  different  sizes,  they  may  be  distributed 
over  a  mound,  or  along  a  bank  of  soil,  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  produce  a  varied  surface,  without  attempting  to  imitate 
nature,  and  with  interstices  between  them  for  inserting  the 
plants.  Imitations  of  conical  hills,  caverns,  precipices,  and 
even  the  Alps,  on  a  small  scale,  have  been  made  in  rock- 
work  ;  but  these,  and  all  other  imitations  of  nature,  require 
to  be  designed  and  directed  by  the  eye  and  mind  of  an  art- 
ist. In  general,  the  piles  of  stone  called  rockwork,  in  bo- 
tanic aud  flower  gardens,  might  with  more  propriety  be 
called  heaps  of  stones. 

ROD.  A  measure  of  length,  otherwise  called  a  pole.  It 
is  5i  yards,  or  16£  feet ;  and  four  of  these  make  the  Gan- 
ger's chain. 

RO'DENTS,  Rodentia.  (Lat.  rodo,  I gnaw.)  The  name 
given  by  Cuvier  to  the  Glires  of  Linnams,  an  order  of  Un- 
guiculate  Mammals,  comprehending  those  which  have  two 
long  chisel-shaped  incisors  in  each  jaw,  and  no  canines, 
but  a  vacant  interspace  between  the  incisors  and  the  molars ; 
the  lower  jaw  is  articulated  by  a  longitudinal  condyle,  in 
such  a  way  as  to  allow  of  no  horizontal  motion,  except 
from  back  to  front,  and  vice  versa,  as  is  requisite  for  the  ac- 
tion of  gnawing.  The  molars  also  have  flat  crowns,  whose 
enamelled  eminences  are  always  transverse,  so  as  to  be  in 
opposition  to  the  horizontal  motion  of  the  jaw,  and  to  in- 
crease the  power  of  trituration.  The  genera  in  which  these 
eminences  are  simple  lines,  and  the  crown  is  very  flat,  are 
more  exclusively  frugivorous  ;  those  in  which  the  eminen- 
ces of  the  teeth  are  divided  into  blunt  tubercles  are  omniv- 
orous ;  while  the  small  number  of  such  as  have  no  points 
more  readily  attack  other  animals,  and  approximate  some- 
what to  the  Carnaria.  The  form  of  the  bodv  in  the  Roden- 
tia is  generally  such  that  the  hinder  parts  of  it  exceed  those 
of  the  front,  so  that  they  rather  leap  than  walk.  In  some 
of  them  this  disproportion  is  even  as  excessive  as  it  is  in  the 
kangaroos.  In  the  whole  of  this  class  the  brain  is  almost 
smooth,  and  without  furrows  ;  the  orbits  are  not  separated 
from  the  temporal  fossa?,  which  have  but  little  depth  ;  and 
the  eyes  are  altogether  lateral.  The  inferiority  of  these 
animals  is  visible  in  most  of  the  details  of  their  organiza- 
tion. Those  genera,  however,  which  possess  stronger  clav- 
icles have  a  certain  degree  of  dexterity,  and  use  their  fore 
feet  to  convev  their  food  to  the  mouth. 

RODOMONTADE.  A  term  that  has  passed  into  most 
European  languages  ;  from  Rodomont,  a  boisterous  charat- 
ter  in  the  Orlando  Furioso — signifying  a  boastful  mode  of 
talking. 

ROE.  The  ova  of  osseous  fishes  which  are  developed 
simultaneously  and  in  great  numbers  are  so  called. 

ROESTONE.  A  granular  limestone,  or  oolite ;  which 
see.    See  also  Geology. 

ROGATIONS.  (Lat.  rogo,  I  ask.)  In  the  Ritual,  pub- 
lic supplications  or  litanies  were  anciently  so  termed,  until 
the  latter  designation  began  to  supersede  every  other. 
(Palmer,  Orig.  Liturgical,  vol.  i.,  p.  270.)  In  the  Calendar, 
the  three  Rogation  days  are  the  Monday,  Tuesday,  and 
Wednesday  next  before  Ascension-day. 

ROGUE'S  YARN.  A  yarn  of  a  different  twist  and  col- 
our from  the  rest,  and  inserted  in  the  royal  cordage,  to  iden- 
tify it  in  case  of  its  being  stolen. 

RO'LLERS.  The  name  given  by' seamen  to  unusually 
heavy  waves,  which  set  in  upon  a  coast  or  island  without 
wind.    They  are  frequent  at  Ascension. 

RO'LLING,  in  Mechanics,  is  when  all  the  parts  of  the 
surface  of  one  body  come  into  successive  contact  with 
those  of  another,  and  under  such  conditions  as  that,  at  eve- 
ry instant,  the  portion  of  the  two  surfaces  which  have  been 
in  contact  are  exactly  equal.  When  this  condition  is  not 
fulfilled,  the  one  surface  is  said  to  slide  upon  the  other. 
The  friction  of  bodies  in  rolling  is  much  less  than  in  that 
of  sliding ;  and  hence  the  advantage  of  wheels  to  all  kind* 
of  carriages.     See  Friction. 

Rolling.  In  Naval  language,  the  lateral  oscillation  of  a 
vessel.  This  motion,  which  is  often  very  great  when  the 
vessel  is  running  before  the  sea,  endangers  the  masts, 
strains  the  sides,  and  loosens  the  decks  at  the  waterwavs  • 
it  is  also  liable  to  cause  the  guns  to  break  adrift.  When 
the  centre  of  gravity  is  too  low,  the  oscillations  begin  and 
end  violently.  The  changes  in  the  stowage  necessary  to 
modify  the  nature  or  extent  of  the  roll  are  made  by  seamen 
from  experimental  knowledge. 

RO'LLING  PE'NDULUM.  A  cylinder  caused  to  oscil- 
late in  small  spaces  on  a  horizontal  plane.  Its  mathema- 
tical expressions  are  interesting,  but  it  has  been  applied  to 
no  important  practical  purpose. 

1069 


ROLLING  TACKLE. 

RO'LLING  TA'CKLE.  A  tackle  or  pulley  hooked  to 
the  weather  quarter  of  a  yard,  and  to  a  lashing  or  strap 
round  the  mast  mar  the  slings  or  parral  Of  the  yard  ;  tin' 
i  ..t'  it  is  to  keep  the  yard  constantly  ever  to  leeward 
thereby  depriving  it  of  play  and  friction  when  the  ship  rolls 
to  windward. 

ROLLS,  MASTER  OF  THE.  A  high  officer  of  the 
('unit  ofChancery,  second  only  to  the  lord  chancellor.  He 
is  appointed  by  the  crown  by  letters  patent,  and  holds  his 
office  for  life.  The  master  of  the  rolls  administers  justice 
i:i  a  separate  court  called  the  Rolls.  He  has  the  power  of 
hearing  and  determining  originally  the  same  matters  as  the 
lord  chancellor,  excepting  cases  of  hinac]  and  bankruptcy  ; 
but  all  orders  and  decrees  pronounced  by  the  master  of  the 
rolls  must  lie  signed  by  the  lord  chancellor  before  they  are 
enrolled.  The  master  of  the  rolls  is  also  the  chief  of  the 
twelve  masters  in  Chancery,  and  chief  clerk  in  the  Petty 
Bag  Office  :  he  is  the  keeper  also  of  all  the  records  of  the 
Court  of  Chancery  after  the  decrees  and  orders  have  been 
enrolled  ;  and  on  that  account  he  was  anciently  styled 
g-iiariliin  des  rolles.  The  master  of  the  rolls  ranks  iinnie- 
diatelv  after  the  chief  justice  of  the  King's  Bench:  his  sal- 
ary, by  the  stat.  6  Geo.  4,  c.  84,  is  £7000  a  year. 

Before  the  passing  of  the  act  3  &  4  vV.  4,  c.  94,  the  mas- 
ter of  the  rolls  did  not  hear  motions,  pleas,  or  demurrers  ; 
and  whatever  was  presented  for  his  decision,  other  than 
the  hearing  of  causes,  was  brought  before  him  by  petition. 
By  the  above-mentioned  act,  however,  this  was  altered  ; 
and  motions,  pleas,  and  demurrers  are  now  heard  by  him  in 
the  same  manner  as  by  the  other  equity  judges.  By  the 
act  1  &  2  Vict.,  chap,  ill,  entitled  "  An  Act  for  the  hotter 
Custody  of  the  Public  Records,"  the  master  of  the  rolls  for 
the  time  being  Is  entrusted  with  the  custody  both  of  the 
public  records  and  those  of  the  common  law  courts  and 
Court  of  Exchequer. 

ROMAN  ALUM.  An  alum  extracted  from  the  volcanic 
rocks  of  the  Solfaterra  near  Naples :  it  crystallizes  in 
opaque  cubes,  and  appears  to  contain  more  alumina  than 
the  common  octoedral  alum. 

RO'MAN  ARCHITECTURE.    See  Architbcture. 

RO'MAN  CATHOLICS,  ROMANISTS,  OK  PAPISTS. 
The  names  by  which  Protestants  designate  the  members  of 
the  lnr::e  and  ancient  church,  which  regards  the  bishop  Or 
pope  of  Rome  as  its  infallible  spiritual  bead,  and  assumes 
to  itself  the  title  of  the  Catholic,  or  universal.  A  rapid  re- 
view of  the  external  fortunes  of  this  system,  as  connected 
with  the  holy  see,  will  be  found  in  the  article  Papacy  ;  the 
principal  doctrines,  also,  by  which  it  is  distinguished  are 
detailed  under  the  several  heads.  (Sec  Tkanscbstantia- 
tion,  Mass,  Penance,  Pf rgatory,  &c.)  It  will  be  suffi- 
cient in  this  place  to  point  out  the  general  argument  upon 
which  the  Roman  system  has  been  erected. 

The  Roman  doctors  hold  that  the  Scripture  is  not  suffi- 
cient for  its  own  Interpretation.  The  hooks  which  compose 
the  canon  of  the  New  Testament  are,  they  conceive,  de- 
sultory and  incomplete;  being  many  of  them  written  for 
special  occasions,  at  a  period  considerably  later  than  the 
foundation  of  the  religion  in  various  districts,  in  some  of 
which  whole  generations  of  believers  may  have  passed 
away  without  having  seen  or  heard  of  their  precious  con- 
tents. It  is  not  to  be  supposed,  however,  that  doctrines  so 
important  as  (hose  shadowed  forth  in  the  Epistles  of  St. 
Paul,  or  the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  could  have  been  left  un- 
taught to  the  churches  which  flourished  before  their  publi- 
cation or  beyond  their  reach.  It  must  be  admitted,  there- 
fore, they  argue,  that  the  first  preachers  of  Christianity 
must    have   been   commissioned   and   instructed   to   deliver 

these  same  doctrines  orally ;  and  it  is  affirmed  that  several 
Important  doctrines  are  imperfectly  developed  in  Scripture, 
and  would  not  be  undi  rstood,  except  for  some  such  illu  tra 
tion  by  the  way,  the  result  of  which  is  conveyed  in  the 
creeds  of  the  first  centuries.  It  is  also  affirmed  thai  the 
practice  of  the  primitive  church,  the  infallibility  of  which 
is  assumed,  authenticates  various  articles  of  Roman  belief, 
of  which  only  very  slight  hints  are  to  be  found  in  Scripture, 
and  such,  perhaps,  as  would  not  have  been  discovered  but 
for  this  verj  evidence  from  the  usage.  This  line  of  a  run 
ment  is  admitted  also  by  many  Protestants,  the  facts  al- 
leged being  disputed,  and  opposite  results  obtained.  It 
must  be  allowed,  however,  that  the  Catholics  do  not  ad- 
vance any  article  of  belief  without  pointing  out  some  sup- 
d  ground  for  it  in  Scripture,  although  the  only  shadow 

Of  proof  of  this  kind  is   in  some  cases  to  be  found  now  here 

but  in  the  writings  which  Protestants  esteem  apocryphal. 
But  while  Protestants  may  refer  to  (he  practice  of  the  prim 
hive  church,  and  the  traditions  which  must  have  circulated 
in  tie  genuine  historical  evidence  of  the  si  rip 

(ural  Interpretation  of  the  earliest  and  purest  times,  they 
find  too  much  contradiction  In  the  Individual  witni 

der  any  one  system  deduced  therefrom   as  infallibly 
light.     The  Romanists,  on  the  contrary,  attaching  more  im- 
portau.ee  to  this  kind  of  evidence,  and  labouring  under  the 
1070 


ROMANCE. 

same  difficulty  in  discriminating  between  genuine  and  cor- 
rupt traditions,  take  refuge  in  the  idea  of  a  spiritual  head 
of  the  church,  an  authorized  interpreter  of  tradition,  an  in- 
fallible expounder  of  the  faith,  and  him  they  seat  in  the 
chair  of  St.  Peter  tit  Rome  ;  maintaining  that  the  dogmas 
which  have  been  advanced  from  this  source  have  always 
been  those  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  always  authentic. 
la  later  times,  however,  a  question  has  been  much  agit  iled 

respecting  the  relative  authority  of  popes  ami  councils;  the 
superiority  of  each  has  been  maintained  by  different  classes 

of  theologians,  and  it  is  certain  that  in  some  cases  the  de- 
cision of  popes  have  been  ultimately  reversed  by  councils. 

It  is  clear  that  there  cannot  be  anywhere  an  authority  com- 
petent to  settle  the  question  ;  but  it  is  believed  that  the  opin- 
ion now  generally  acquiesced  in  is,  that  the  two  are  co-or- 
dinate powers,  and  that  infallibility  resides  in  the  decrees 
of  a  /i"/»  m  council. 

ROMA'NCE.  In  Literature,  a  work  of  fiction  in  prose 
or  verse,  containing  the  relation  of  a  series  of  adventures, 
either  marvellous  or  probable.  A  tale  confined  to  the  lat- 
ter class  of  events  has,  indeed,  been  considered  to  be  more 
strictly  designated  by  the  term  novel.  (A'ce  Novel.)  But 
as  our  nomenclature  for  works  of  fiction  is  not  very  precise 
or  accurate,  the  name  romance  is  very  frequently  used  to 
comprehend  both. 

The  term  romance  is  derived  from  the  class  of  languages 
in  which  such  fictitious  narratives,  in  modem  times,  were 
first  widely  known  ami  circulated.  These  were  the  tongues 
derived  from  the  Latin,  Italian,  Spanish,  and  French,  which 
were  all  Roman  dialects,  in  contradistinction  to  the  Euro- 
pean languages  of  Teutonic  origin.  But  the  "  langue  Ro- 
mane"  more  properly  signifies  the  dialect  of  southern 
Fiance,  Catalonia,  &c,  of  which  the  Provencal  was  a  va- 
riety. 

The  famous  Milesian  Tales  of  antiquity  are  thought  to 
have  been,  iii  classical  times,  the  class  of  writings  nearest 
approaching  to  our  modern  romances.  All  the  original 
Greek  compositors  of  this  kind  have  perished.  Hut  we 
have,  in  the  Golden  Ass  of  .Aptilcius,  a  Latin  imitation  of 
these,  written  in  the  later  times  of  the  Roman  empire.  It 
contains  a  series  of  wonderful  adventures,  sorceries,  trans- 
formations, love,  religion,  &c. ;  and  although  it  has  been  as- 
serted that  the  romance,  in  its  proper  sense,  was  unknown 
to  the  ancients,  it  would  he  difficult  to  say  in  what  respect) 
except  the  total  absence  of  chivalrous  sentiment,  which  is 

of  modern  growth,  this  curious  fragment  diners  from  those 

later  inventions  which  we  have  agreed  to  call  by  that  name. 

The  same  may  he  said,  and  with  even  greater  strictness, 
of  the  Creek  pastoral  romances;  a  class  of  works  apper- 
taining to  a  later  period,  of  winch  the  famous  Daphnis  and 
Cnloe  of  Longus  is  the  first  known  specimen.  They  con- 
tain narratives  of  amours,  adventures,  ace.,  usually  inter- 
mixed with  some  supernatural  interference  ;  and  they  have 
the  great  characteristic  of  a  modern  novel — a  pair  of  lovers, 
by  way  of  hero  and  heroine,  whose  attachment  is  generally 
brought  to  a  happy  termination. 

The  earliest  modern  romances  were  collections  of  chival- 
rous adventures,  chiefly  founded  on  the  lives  and  achieve- 
ments of  the  warlike  adherents  of  two  sovereigns,  one  of 
whom,  perhaps,  had  only  a  fabulous  existence,  while  the 
annals  of  the  other  have  given  rise  to  a  wonderful  series  of 
fables — Arthur  and  Charlemagne.  These  romances  were 
metrical  compositions  in  that  branch  of  the  modem  French 
language  termed  the  langue  d'oil,  which  prevailed  through- 
out the  north  of  France,  and  especially  in  Normandy.  Be- 
sides these,  a  great  variety  of  smaller  tales,  some  chival- 
rous, some  marvellous,  some  simply  ludicrous,  termed  fabli- 
iini,  exist  in  the  same  language.  The  date  of  these  compo- 
sitions extends  from  the  12th  to  the  15th  centuries. 

From  the  hands  of  these  rhymers  the  tales  of  chivalry 
passed  first  into  those  of  prose  compilers,  w  ho  reduced  them 
into  a  form  more  resembling  that  of  our  modem  romances. 
The  French  prose  romances  of  chivalry,  still  confined  to 
the  same  classes  of  subjects,  belong  to  the  14th  and  l.">ih 
centuries.  These,  again,  gave  birth  in  two  different  coun- 
tries to  two  widely  differing  series  of  works  of  Imagination. 

In  Italy,  the  poets  termed  Komanzieri,  taking  the  adven- 
tures of  the  knights  of  Charlemagne  as  their  subject,  trans- 
ferred the  mile   conceptions  Of  their   predecessors   into  one 

of  th.'   st    finished   and   enchanting   forms   of  poetry   to 

w  Inch  modern  fancy  has  given  birth.  Iloiardo,  in  the  latter 
half  Of  the  15th  century,  was  the  first  of  these  poets;  and 
the  names  of  Pulci,  Ariosto,  and  TaSBO,  three  of  the  greatest 
in  Italian  literature,  grace  their  long  catalogue.  In  Spain 
anil  Portugal  a  new  class  of  chivalrous  romances  was  called 

into  existence.    Lobelra,  a  Portuguese,  in  the  14th  century 

composed  the  first  lour  books  of  .'I  mail  in  dt  (Inn/.  This  fa- 
mous work  resembles  in  character  the  French  romances  of 

ii.  but  narrates  the  exploits  of  a  new-  and  entirely  lm» 
aginary  hero.   .  Imadia  \\  as  finished,  and  a  long  lit  of  similar 

romances  added  to  it  by  subsequent  Spanish  and  Portuguese 
writers.    In  these,  while  adventures  became  more  and  mure 


ROMANCE. 

marvellous,  the  fanciful  spirit  of  chivalry  was  more  and 
more  carried  into  wild  exaggeration.  They  became,  how- 
ever, so  popular  as  to  be  transplanted  into  most  European 
languages,  and  even  in  France  to  supersede  the  heroic  ttles 
of  Arthur  and  Charlemagne.  They  declined  with  the  ad- 
vance of  a  better  taste  in  literature  after  the  art  of  printing 
had  been  for  some  time  introduced  ;  and  were  finally  driven 
out  of  fashion  by  the  wit  of  Cervantes,  whose  Don  Quixote 
is  aimed,  in  great  measure,  against  them. 

Meanwhile,  a  new  species  of  fiction  had  acquired  voeue 
in  Italy,  to  which  the  term  novel  was  first  applied.  This 
was  the  amorous  or  humorous  tale  ;  of  which  the  Decame- 
ron of  Boccaccio  contains  the  earliest,  and  by  far  the  most 
popular  collection.  The  stories  were  derived  from  many 
originals;  but  especially  from  the  fabliaux,  of  which  men- 
tion has  been  already  made.  The  Italian  Novellieri  are 
extremely  numerous ;  but  their  compositions  are  always 
short,  and  would,  in  our  modern  language,  be  designated  by 
the  term  tale  rather  than  novel  or  romance.  They  flour- 
ished in  the  15th  and  16th  centuries.  From  these,  again, 
was  derived  the  comic  satirical  tale  of  Spain  :  a  more  sus- 
tained and  longer  class  of  composition,  of  which  I.azarillo 
de  Tonnes  and  Guzman  d 'Alfarache  are  the  best  known 
specimens.  But  in  these,  which  were  also  caricatures  of 
the  chivalrous  romances,  a  long  course  of  independent  ex- 
ploits of  the  hero  formed  the  substance  of  the  work,  and  not 
a  story  possessing  an  individual  point  and  interest. 

Don  Quixote,  of  which  the  first  part  was  published  in 
1609,  was  the  joint  result  of  the  romances  of  chivalry,  which 
it  was  intended  to  ridicule,  and  of  the  romances  of  low  life, 
of  whose  character  it  contains  a  large  intermixture.  Al- 
though Cervantes  had  more  in  view,  perhaps  (the  satirical 
object  of  his  writing),  than  the  direct  delineation  of  man- 
ners and  occurrences,  such  as  we  now  expect  in  a  novel, 
yet  it  may  be  fairly  said  that  his  immortal  work  is  the  first 
of  its  kind  in  which  human  nature  is  brought  on  the  stage 
alike  unadorned  and  undegraded;  neither  exaggerated  by 
the  ridiculous  costume  of  chivalry,  nor  lowered  by  the  fa- 
miliar buffoonery  of  a  comic  tale.  While,  therefore,  it  has 
been  the  source  of  numerous  imitations  in  its  satirical  char- 
acter, its  wide  popularity  has  produced  much  more  lasting 
effects  in  another  manner :  it  gave  the  first  example  of  a 
work  of  fiction  in  which  the  grave  and  gay  events  of  life 
might  be  mingled  together ;  and  in  which,  also,  the  views 
and  sentiments  of  the  author  might  be  conveyed  through 
the  medium  of  fictitious  personages  and  events. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  chivalrous  romance  had  been 
seized,  at  an  earlier  period,  by  a  very  different  genius  from 
that  of  Cervantes,  and  applied  to  another  object.  The  fic- 
tions of  Rabelais  (the  Histories  of  Garg-antua  and  Pan/a- 
gruel)  cannot  be  termed  romances;  but  their  popularity 
was  so  great,  that  France  was  inundated  for  more  than  a 
century  afterwards  with  Rabelaisian  tales ;  and  many  of 
the  elements  of  the  modern  low  romance,  comic  hyperbole, 
eccentric  humour,  and  much  freedom  and  gro.-sness  of  de- 
lineation, have  been  undoubtedly  derived  to  us  from  Rabe- 
lais and  his  admirers.  Swift  and  Sterne  were  both  essen- 
tially imitators  of  this  singular  genius. 

In  the  17th  century,  Le  Sage  naturalized  the  Spanish  ro- 
mii'.ce  in  France.  His  works  present  a  singular  mixture  of 
different  styles,  although  all  derived  from  the  same  coun- 
try. In  Gil  Bias,  for  example  (if  that  work  he  not  actually 
of  Spanish  origin),  we  have  something  of  the  humour  of 
Don  Quixote,  the  form  as  well  as  much  of  the  substance  of 
Guzman  dy  Al far  ache ,  &c. ;  and  much  intermixture  of  a  class 
of  tales  of  love  and  intrigue,  which,  coming  originally  from 
the  Italian  novellieri,  had  acquired  a  certain  chivalrous  col- 
ouring in  passing  through  the  hands  of  Spanish  imitators. 
There  is,  moreover,  a  touch  of  French  taste  and  philosophy, 
such  as  afterwards,  when  mixed  with  satire,  gave  birth  to 
the  modern  philosophical  tale  or  romance,  of  which  Vol- 
taire's writings  contain  the  best  known  specimens. 

After  Le  Sage,  a  new  class  of  romances  suddenlv  grew 
into  fashion  in  France— the  heroic ;  derived,  indeed,  "in  part 
from  an  earlier  source,  the  pastoral  romance  of  the  16th 
century.  Of  these,  the  Clelie  and  Cassandre  of  Mademoi- 
selle Scudery  were  among  the  most  popular  examples,  al- 
though they  have  long  ceased  to  be  read.  This  species  of 
composition  was,  in  fact,  a  revival  of  the  old  chivalrous  ro- 
mance, without  its  supernatural  marvels,  but  with  even 
greater  exaggeration  of  sentiment.  Its  temporarv  success  is 
rather  to  be  attributed  to  a  caprice  of  fashion  than  to  the 
natural  progress  of  taste.  It  was  not,  however  wholly 
without  its  use,  as  it  called  back  some-degree  of  sentiment 
and  high  feeling  into  the  romance,  which  was  in  danger  of 
degenerating  wholly  into  a  comic  cast. 

During  the  18th  century,  the  romance  and  novel  enjoyed 
a  popularity,  both  in  England  and  France,  which  threw 
comparatively  into  the  shade  every  other  species  of  ficti- 
tious literature.  It  would  be  impossible  to  continue  such  a 
sketch  as  the  present,  so  as  to  trace  out  the  various  styles 
and  species  of  those  compositions  which  grew  into  vo^ue 


ROMANTIC. 

by  the  success  of  distinguished  writers  in  each  respective 
branch.  In  England,  Richardson  transferred  into  ordinary 
lite  somewhat  of  the  refined  sentiments  which  distinguish- 
ed the  heroic  romance,  and  thus  formed  the  basis  of  the 
modern  English  novel,  properly  so  called,  or  novel  of  man- 
ners. His  Pamela  appeared  in  1740 ;  his  last  work,  Sir 
C/iarles  Grandison,  in  1753.  Fielding  and  Smollett,  about 
the  same  time,  revived  the  old  comic  romance,  adapted  to 
English  scenes  and  characters.  Sterne  did  the  same  by 
the  humorous  or  Rabelaisian  style  of  writing,  but  added  an 
intermixture  of  pathos  which  had  certainly  never  been 
joined  before  with  so  incongruous  a  companion.  To  these 
four  writers,  in  conjunction  with  Goldsmith's  Vicar  of 
Wakefield,  confessedly  an  independent  original,  almost  all 
the  English  fictitious  prose  literature  of  the  last  century 
which  is  not  imitated  from  foreign  works  may  be  said  to 
owe  its  existence.  In  France,  Marivaux,  Provost,  and,  with 
a  worse  taste  than  theirs,  the  younger  Crebillon,  formed 
the  national  manner  in  this  class  of  writing  for  some  time. 
Their  productions  have  much  of  the  same  character  with 
those  of  Richardson,  but  a  far  lower  tone  of  morality,  and 
less  life-like  description.  But  the  popularity  of  the  famous 
Noucelle  Heloise  gave  a  new  turn,  not  only  in  France,  but 
over  Europe,  to  the  public  taste  in  this  branch  of  writing. 
Marivaux  and  Prevost  may  be  said  to  have  been  Rousseau's 
models,  as  to  the  externals  of  his  great  romance  ;  but  its 
tone  and  sentiment  are  peculiarly  its  own.  In  France,  after 
many  inferior  imitators,  Madame  de  Stael,  the  first  of  fe- 
male novelists,  must  be  classed  as  the  best  and  latest  disci- 
ple of  the  school  of  Rousseau.  In  Germany,  his  style  had 
even  greater  success  ;  and  he  may  be  said  to  have  called 
into  life  at  once  the  taste  and  the  power  of  that  people  and 
literature  for  fictitious  composition.  Wieland,  Kotzebue, 
and  Goethe  (Sorrows  of  IVcrther  and  Wilhelm  .l/r/.srcr),  are 
all,  though  with  much  originality  of  their  own,  essentially 
followers  of  Rousseau  :  Lafontaine,  and  many  other  inferior 
writers,  more  direct  imitators. 

In  our  own  times,  while  the  novel  of  manners  continues 
to  maintain  its  empire  in  popular  estimation,  another  spe- 
cies of  romance— the  historical — has  likewise  acquired  a 
most  powerful  hold  on  the  public  taste,  which,  even  more 
than  the  first,  is  chiefly  of  English  original.  The  historical 
romance,  in  which  fictitious  scenes  and  personages  are 
made  to  serve  as  vehicles  for  the  historical  portraiture  of 
past  times,  had,  especially  in  Germany,  been  cultivated 
with  success  before  the  writings  of  Sir  Walter  Scott ;  but  it 
is  to  his  adoption  of  this  branch  of  composition,  and  the  ex- 
traordinary talent  which  he  devoted  to  it,  that  its  present 
popularity  and  universal  imitation  are  entirely  owing. 

ROMANCE'RO.  In  Spanish,  the  general  name  for  a 
collection  of  the  national  ballads  or  romances;  so  called 
from  the  Roman  or  Romanic  tongue,  which,  in  the  early 
part  of  the  middle  ages,  seems  to  have  been  the  common 
appellation  of  all  the  dialects  spoken  from  the  Alps  to  the 
western  extremity  of  the  Mediterranean.  The  Romancero 
General,  the  most  celebrated  of  these  collections,  was  pub- 
lished in  1604-14. 

ROMANE'SQUE.  (Fr.)  In  Painting,  appertaining  to 
fable  or  romance.  In  historical  painting,  it  consists  in  the 
choice  of  a  fanciful  subject  rather  than  one  founded  on  fact. 
The  romanesque  is  different  from  romantic,  because  the  lat- 
ter may  be  founded  on  truth,  which  the  former  never  is. 

Romanesque,  in  Literature,  is  applied  to  the  common  dia- 
lect of  Languedoc  and  some  other  districts  in  the  south  of 
France,  which  is  a  remnant  of  the  old  Romance  language, 
now  nearly  extinct.  This  term  must  not  be  confounded 
with  Romaic,  which  is  used  to  signify  the  language  of  mod- 
ern Greece. 

RO'MAN  ORDER.     See  Composite  Order. 

RO'MAN  SCHOOL.  This  school  of  painting,  which, 
like  the  Florentine,  addressed  itself  to  the  mind,  is  formed 
upon  antique  models.  Its  style  was  poetical  ;  embellished 
with  all  the  grandeur,  pathos,  and  freedom  front  common 
matters  that  the  happiest  imagination  could  conceive.  In 
touch  its  masters  were  easy,  correct  in  drawing,  learned 
and  full  of  grace.  In  composition  it  is  sometimes  whimsi- 
cal, yet  always  elegant.  The  heads  of  the  figures  are  al- 
ways drawn  with  great  respect  to  truth  and  expression,  and 
it  exhibits  great  intelligence  in  contrasting  attitudes.  It  is 
in  colouring  that  it  displays  the  greatest  marks  of  negligence, 
while  in  draperies  it  is  eminently  successful.  At  the  head 
of  this  school  was  Raffaelle;  and  among  its  other  principal 
masters  were  Giulio  Romano,  Zuccaro,  M.  A.  Caravaggio, 
Baroccio,  Andrea  Sacchi  (perhaps  the  best  colourist  of  this 
schooU. 

ROMA'NTIC,  ROMANTICISM.  By  romantic  is  un- 
derstood that  singular  intermixture  of  the  wonderful  and 
the  mysterious  with  the  sublime  and  beautiful  which  intro- 
duces us  into  an  enchanted  existence,  and  raises  us  above 
the  bare  realities  of  life  by  its  dazzling  peculiarities.  Anti- 
quity was  a  stranger  to  this  feeling,  nor  had  the  classic 
languages  any  term  to  express  it.    See  Chivalry. 

1071 


ROMAN  VITRIOL. 

Almost  all  authors  concur  in  the  ditliculty  of  giving  a  pre-  I 
ificatiOD  in  the  term  romantic.  The  hictionnairc 
de  r.icaduiiic  Franchise  says,  "  Le  roinantique  est  un  genre 
nouveau.  Romantique  Be  dit  encore  des  ecrivains  qui  affec- 
tent  de  s'ail'ranchir  des  regies  tie  composition  at  de  style 
etablies  par  I'example  des  auteon  elasslques."  This  defi- 
nition, though  far  irom  being  precise,  is  perhaps  the  best 
that  has  hitherto  been  given;  and  instead  of  attempting  to 
rival  it,  we  shall  content  ourselves  with  placing  it  before 
the  reader. 

The  term  romanticisin — an  offshoot  of  romantic — is  of  re- 
cent invention,  and  Is  applied  chiefly  to  the  fantastic  and 
unnatural  productions  of  the  modern  French  school  of  nov- 
elists, ai  the  bead  of  w  bich  are  Victor  Hugo,  Balzac,  "George 
Sand,"  &c,  and  their  imitators  in  France  and  other  coun- 
tries. 

ROHAN  VITRIOL.    Sulphate  of  copper,  or  blue  vitriol. 

Rl  i\l AX/IK  Rl.  In  Italian  Literature,  a  series  of  poets 
who  took  for  the  subject  of  their  compositions  the  chival- 
rous romances  ^t~  France  and  Spain  ;  and.  wilh  one  or  two 
exceptions  only,  those  relating  to  the  exploits  of  Charle- 
magne and  bis  fabulous  Paladins.  The  earliest  of  these 
poets  flourished  in  the  latter  end  of  the  15th  century.  Boi- 
ardo,  although  not  absolutely  the  first  in  order  of  time,  is 
considered  as  having  laid  the  groundwork,  in  his  Orlando 
Jnuamorato,  of  the  edifice  of  fiction  raised  by  his  successors. 
Pulci,  in  the  Morgante  Maggiore,  was  the  first  who  allied 
the  romantic  incidents  and  sentiments  of  chivalry  with  light 
and  humorous  satire.  Berni  remodelled  the  work  of  Boiar- 
do.  Ariosto,  in  the  Orlando  Furioso,  carried  this  species  of 
poetry  to  the  highest  degree  of  perfection.  These  are  the 
four  principal  Romanzieri ;  but  many  other  poets  of  the 
same  school  flourished  until  the  end  of  the  16th  century. 
Tasso  composed  one  of  his  early  poems  (//  Rinaldo)  on  the 
common  model.  In  the  beginning  of  the  18th  century,  the 
Abate  Forliguerra  compiled  his  Ricciardetto,  a  poem  of  a 
Semi-burlesque  character,  intended  originally  as  a  parody, 
but  completed  as  a  sciious  composition  ;  and  thus  closes  the 
list  of  the  Romanzieri.  All  these  poets  adopted  the  ottava 
rima,  invented  by  Boccaccio  (see  Ottava  Rima).  In  their 
poems  the  thread  of  the  main  narration  is  frequently  inter- 
rupted by  a  multiplicity  of  minor  adventures  and  Intrigues  ; 
and  this  complication  of  plot  appears  to  have  constituted 
one  of  the  characteristic  features  of  the  chivalrous  epic.  In 
most  of  them  (from  the  time  of  Pulci)  each  book  begins 
with  a  sort  of  prologue,  more  or  less  connected  with  the 
subject  which  follows:  and  these  prologues  form,  perhaps, 
the  greatest  charm  of  the  poem  of  Ariosto;  effecting  the 
transitions  from  one  subject  to  another  by  means  of  some 
touch  of  pathetic  or  elevated  reflections,  or  of  light  humour 
and  playful  satire,  generally  in  the  form  of  an  address  to 
the  supposed  audience,  the  poem  being  framed  on  the  model 
of  a  tale  recounted  by  a  minstrel  to  an  assembly  of  knights 
and  ladies. 

KOMA'NZOFITE.  A  mineral  from  Finland  of  a  brown 
colour :  it  is  a  triple  silicate  of  lime,  alumina,  and  iron. 

RO'NDEAU.  (Fr.)  In  French  Poetry,  a  little  poem  of 
thirteen  verses,  divided  Into  three  unequal  strophes,  with 
two  rhymes  (eight  lines  masculine  and  five  feminine,  or 
vice  versa).  The  two  or  three  first  words  of  the  first  verse 
serve  as  the  burden,  and  recur  in  that  shape  after  the  eighth 
and  thirteenth  verses.  There  are  also  double  rondeaux  and 
single  rondeaux;  the  latter  an  obsolete  but  easier  kind  of 
verse.  In  Music,  the  term  rondeaux  is  applied  to  a  liu'lit  air, 
in  which  the  first  strain  forms  the  burden,  and  as  such  is 
frequently  repeated :  it  is  also  written  rondo. 

Rl  i  MUX.  In  Fortification,  a  small  round  tower,  erect- 
ed in  some  particular  cases  at  the  foot  of  the  bastion. 

ROOD.  (Aug.  Sax.  rode,  beam;  used  for  the  Cross.)  The 
crucifix,  sometimes  also  the  image  of  a  saint,  was  so  called 
in  old  English  churches.  Roods  were  set  in  shrines  or  tab- 
ernacles, and  tbe  place  where  they  stood  was  called  tin- 
rood-loft,  which  was  commonly  over  or  near  the  passage 
out  of  the  body  of  the  church  Into  the  chancel.  They  were 
all  ordered  to  be  taken  down  In  1548  (Burnet,  Hist,  of  tht 
Reformation,  vol.  ii.,  book  1),  but  restored  for  a  short  time 
under  Queen  Mary.     (.1rch<tola<rin,  voL  L) 

Rood.  A  square  measure,  the  fourth  part  of  a  statute 
acre,  and  equal  to  40  perches  or  square  poles. 

ROOF.  In  Architecture,  the  uppermost  part  of  a  build- 
ing, containing  the  timber  work,  with  its  covering  of  slat-', 
lead,  tile,  or  other  material.  Carpenters,  however,  restrict 
tin  ir  use  of  the  wool  to  the  timber  framing  alone. 

The  inclination  of  the  sides  of  a  root  will,  considering  the 
species  of  covering  to  be  the  same  in  all,  depend  very  much 
on  the  temperature  of  the  country  to  u  bdeh  it  is  to  be  adap 
ted.  In  the  southern  countries  of  Europe  roofs  do  not  re- 
quire much  elevation,  while  as  we  proceed  northward  they 
require  a  far  greater  pitch.  In  tin:  warm,  or,  rather,  hot 
climates,  buildings  require  nothing  more  than  a  terrace  for 
thi-ir  covering;  but  in  the  temperate  climates,  wherein  the 
latitude  exceeds  42  degrees,  experience  shows  that  the  flat 
11T72 


ROOF. 

covering  of  a  building  cannot  be  practised  with  any  expec- 
tation of  durability .  The  rains  of  hot  climates  are  violent, 
while  those  of  temperate  climates  are  searching.  In  the 
more  northern  latitudes,  the  moisture,  the  driving  nature  of 
the  rain,  and,  in  addition,  the  duration  of  the  snow  on  the 
roofs,  require,  it  is  obvious,  a  more  considerable  inclination. 
Such  materials  as  lead,  copper,  zinc,  and  the  like,  which, 
supposing  them  one  piece,  as,  in  fact,  when  used,  they  ought 
to  be,  are  not  fair  examples  from  which  to  draw  inferences 
in  the  theory  whereof  we  speak  ;  for,  if  well  executed,  they 
must  either  of  them  be  considered  as  one  homogeneous 
piece  :  but  in  the  case  of  tiles,  whether  of  marble,  stone,  or 
clay,  the  case  is  far  different.  Without  entering  minutely 
into  the  details  of  this  subject,  we  will  merely  observe  that, 
supposing  the  inclination  of  a  roof  to  be  zero  at  the  equator, 
if  we  ado  to  it  an  inclination  of  three  degrees  for  ever)'  cli- 
mate from  the  equator  to  the  polar  circle,  each  climate  be- 
ing taken  at  2°  42'  'Mi",  we  obtain  results  which  show  that 
the  roofs  and  pediments  of  temples  of  antiquity  must  have 
been  well  studied  in  that  useful  point  of  view  which  re- 
garded their  durability  and  impenetrability  by  rain.  The 
Encyc.  Met.  we  believe  to  have  been  the  first  instrument  of 
promulgating  this  curious  theory  ;  and  believing  in  it  as  we 
do,  we  can,  if  it  be  not  true,  only  use  the  Italian  saying,  "si 
non  e  vero,  e  ben  trovato."  The  theory  would  give  an  in- 
clination to  roofs  at  Athens  of  16A  degrees,  and  they  are 
very  nearly  so  inclined;  the  temple  of  Minerva  being  16 
degrees,  and  that  of  the  temple  of  Rretbeus  ISA  degrees. 
In  Rome,  according  to  this  theory,  the  inclination  of  a  roof, 
and,  consequently,  pediment,  should  be  22  degrees;  and  ex- 
perience finds  it  varying  from  23  degrees  to  24A.  The  ad- 
vocates for  the  propriety  of  strictly  copying  Greek  forms 
and  details  under  the  latitude  of  London  will,  if  they  have 
studied  the  aesthetics  of  the  art,  find  no  little  difficulty  in 
establishing  their  doctrines  after  weighing  this  matter  im- 
partially. But  our  limits  prevent  farmer  observation;  we 
will  merely  subjoin  a  table  conformable  to  the  theory  : 


Inclination  of 

Place. 

Latitude  to 

Length  of 

Roof,  supposing 

nearest  Maiu'e. 

longest  Day. 

Covering  to  be 

Roman  Tiles. 

Carthagena 

37"  3^ 

I4h.  42m. 

1U"  12' 

Palermo     . 

3d     7 

14      48 

19    48 

(Latitude  of 
Alliens  is  33°  5') 

1     •        • 

(see  above.) 

Lisbon       ,        . 

33    42 

14      60 

20      0 

Madrid      . 

40    25 

15        0 

21      0 

Napl  s      . 

40    50 

15        2 

21     12 

Rome 

41     54 

15      10 

22      0 

Paris 

48    50 

16       6 

27    36 

London      •        . 

51     31 

16      34 

30    24 

-iu.s'Tdam        . 

62    22 

16     44 

31     24 

Edinburgh 

55     57 

17      31 

36     12 

Petersburg        . 

59    56 

18     44 

43    24 

A  roof,  as  respects  its  construction,  involves  some  knowl- 
edge of  mathematics.  Of  the  general  principles  on  which 
its  proper  construction  depends,  we  shall  here  subjoin  some 
account.  The  obvious  mode  of  covering  a  building,  where 
a  greater  or  lesser  inclination  of  the  sides  of  the  roof  is  re- 
quired by  the  climate,  is  lo  place  two  sloping  rafters  CC 
upon  the  walls  B  B,  as  in  the  subjoined 
diagram  (fig,  1),  meeting  at  the  apex  A  ; 
where  we  will  suppose  ihem  so  connect- 
ed with  a  hinge  as  to  be  inseparable,  but 
capable  of  descending  by  their  gravity, 
as  shown  in  No.  2.  The  walls  are  con- 
sidered as  solid  masses,  moveable  on 
points  P.  If  the  walls  be  not  of  suffi- 
cient Weight,  the  thrust  that  will  be  thus 
exerted  on  them  by  the  tendency  of  tbe 
rafters  to  spread  ai  their  feet  will  throw 
the  walls  out  of  an  upright,  as  in  No.  2, 
and  the  whole  assemblage  will  be  de- 
stroyed. By  the  laws  of  mechanics  it  is 
known  that  the  horizontal  thrust  thus 
acting  on  the  walls  is  proportional  to  the 
length  of  a  line  d  e,  drawn  at  right  angles  to  the  rafter,  In- 
tersecting  a  vertical  line  drawn  from  the  apex,  which  it  is 
manifest  must  Increase  as  the  roof  becomes  flatter.  To 
counteract  the  thrust  above  mentioned,  nothing  more  is  ne- 

than  to  tie  together  the  feet  of  /r»  \ 

the  rafters,  as  in  the  following  diagram 
Sg.  J  :  in  which  A  I!  is  the  tie  in  ques- 
tion, and  thence  is  called  a  tie-beam.  If  ' 
the  extent  be  not  very  great,  the  rafters 
may  be  kept  from  spreading  by  a  minor  tie,  as  at  a  b,  called 
a  collar.  Beyond  certain  lengths  or  spans,  however,  it  will 
Occur  t"  the  reader  that  a  tie-beam  will  itself  ha\  B  a  tenden- 

cj  t"  bend,  or  sag,  as  the  workmen  call  it,  in  the  middle; 
and  from  this  circumstance  a  fresh  con- 
trivance in 'nines  necessary,  which  will 

be  sen  in  the  annexed   diagram   (fig.   3), 

marked  c  d  :  this  is  called  a  kingpost,  or, 
more  properly,  king  pact,  Inasmuch  as  it 


ROOK. 

does  not  perform  the  office  of  a  post,  but  rather  of  a  tie,  for  it 
ties  up  the  beam  to  prevent  its  bending.  If  the  rafters  be  so 
long  as  to  be  liable  to  bend,  two  pieces  a  a,  called  struts, 
are  introduced;  which,  having  their  footing  against  the 
sides  of  the  king  post,  act  as  posts  to  support  or  strut  up  the 
rafters  at  their  weakest  point.  The  piece  of  framing  thus 
contrived  is  altogether  called  a  truss.  It  is  obvious  that  by 
means  of  the  upper  joints  of  the  struts  we  obtain  more 
points  of  support  (rig.  4),  or  rather  suspension  ;  and  that  but 
for  the  compressibility  of  the  timber, 
there  would  be  no  limit  to  the  space 
which  a  roof  might  be  made  to  cov- 
er. This  compressibility  takes  place 
'  at  those  points  where  the  fibres  of 
the  wood  are  pressed  at  right  angles,  or  nearly  so,  with 
their  direction,  and  many  ways  are  adopted  for  avoiding  this 
inconvenience.  There  is  a  species  of  roof,  dependent  in 
construction  on  the  principles  we  have  just  described,  which 
we  shall  here  briefly  notice,  and  whereof  the  following  is  a 
,,- v  diagram  (fig.  5).    This  roof  lias  three 

^'     nA        points  of  support,  A,  B,  A ;  the  posts 
-^ir^cJr*^.     A  A,  A  A  are  called  queen  posts  ;  the 
***  collar  A  B  A  is  here  a  straining- piece, 
instead  of  a  tie,  as  it  was  in  the  ex- 


^m 


ample  of  ties  first  noticed,  its  operation  being  exactly  the 
reverse  of  a  tie.  The  curb  or  mansard  roof  is  one  in  which 
a  story  is  obtained,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  annexed  diagram 
(tig.  6).  Its  principles  are  the  same  as 
those  already  mentioned,  and  do  not  here 
require  farther  notice.  In  the  execution  of 
roofs  the  expense  of  trussing  every  pair  of 
rafters  would  be  unnecessary,  and  the  prac- 
tice would  also  load  the  walls  with  a  far 
greater  weight  than  would  be  expedient :  it  is  therefore  the 
custom  to  place  these  principal  parts  of  a  roof  at  certain 
intervals,  which,  however,  should  never  exceed  ten  feet. 
The  rafters  which  are  actually  trussed  are  called  principal 
rafters  ;  and  by  the  intervention  of  the  purlinc  A  in  the  di- 


ffig.  7.) 


agram  (fig.  7),  are  made  to  bear  the 
smaller  or  common  rafters,  which 
are  notched  down  on  it.  These  com- 

O-ggg-  -^ib^L_  zssaq  mon  rafters  are  received  by  or  pitch 
c  I    upon  a  plate  B,  called  a  pole  plate  ; 

'-'  and  the  principal  rafters,  which  fall 
on  the  tie-beam,  are  ultimately  borne  by  the  wall-plate  C. 
ffi".  8.)        When  beams,  in  either  roofs  or  floors,  are 

I ;°V,'     .    so  long  that  they  cannot  be  procured  in  one 

'  *\£  '  piece,  two  pieces  to  form  the  required  length 
{  f  T  p  >  are  scarfed  together,  by  indenting  them  at 
their  joints  and  bolting  them  together,  of 
which  practice  two  modes  are  here  subjoined  (fig.  8). 

ROOK.  The  name  of  a  well-known  species  of  crow 
(Corvus  frugilegus,  Linn.),  resembling  in  size  and  colour 
the  carrion  crow,  but  differing  in  haviing  the  base  of  the 
bill  whitish  and  scurfy,  and  bare  of  feathers.  "This,"  says 
Montague,  "  is  acquired  by  the  bird's  habit  of  thrusting  its 
bill  into  the  ground  after  worms  and  various  insects.  The 
rook  is  content  with  feeding  on  the  insect  tribe,  particularly 
the  larva;  of  the  cockchaffer ;  and  while  following  the  plough 
to  remove  from  the  newly-made  furrow  this  destructive 
grub,  it  more  than  repays  the  husbandman  for  the  grain 
which  it  may  afterwards  pick  up.  The  rook  is  gregarious 
at  all  seasons,  resorting  constantly  to  the  same  trees  every 
spring  to  breed,  wheu  the  nests  may  be  seen  crowded  one 
over  another  upon  the  upper  branches.  It  lays  four  or  five 
eggs,  much  like  those  of  the  crow,  of  a  greenish  colour, 
spotted  and  blotched  with  dusky.  After  their  young  have 
taken  wing,  they  all  forsake  their  nest-trees,  returning  to 
them  again  in  October  to  roost;  but  as  winter  comes  on, 
they  generally  select  more  sheltered  places  at  night  in  some 
neighbouring  wood,  to  which  they  fly  off  together."  (Mon- 
tague, Ornithological  Dictionary.)  The  wood  or  grove  of 
tall  trees,  in  which  rooks  congregate  and  build  their  nests, 
is  called  a  rookery. 

ROOT.  In  Arithmetic,  a  number  which  being  multi- 
plied into  itself  any  number  of  times  produces  another  num- 
ber, called  a  power,  of  which  power  the  original  number  is 
the  root.  The  root  takes  the  name  of  the  power  whose 
root  it  is.  Thus,  it  is  called  the  square  root,  if  the  power 
is  a  square  ;  the  cube  root,  if  the  power  is  a  cube,  and  so  on. 

Root.  That  part  of  the  central  axis  of  a  plant  which  is 
formed  by  the  descending  fibres,  and  whose  function  is  to 
attract  liquid  food  from  the  soil  in  which  it  is  mingled.  It 
differs  from  the  stem  in  not  having  leaves  or  buds  upon  its 
surface,  and  in  its  tendency  to  burrow  under  ground,  re- 
treating from  light ;  nevertheless,  some  kinds  of  roots  are 
exclusively  formed  in  air  and  light,  as  in  the  ivy,  and  other 
such  plants. 

ROOT  OF  AN  EQUATION,  in  Algebra,  signifies  the 
value  ot  the  unknown  quantity  which  enters  into  the  equa- 
tion.    See.  Equation. 

ROO'TSTOCK.    In  Botany,  a  prostrate  rooting  thick- 


ROSEMARY. 

ened  stem,  which  yearly  produces  young  branches  or  plants. 
It  is  common  in  Iradaceag  and  Epiphytous  Orchidacte,  and 
is  often  confounded  with  the  root.  Ginger  and  orris  root 
are  common  instances  of  it. 

ROSA'CEiE.  (Rosa,  one  of  the  genera.)  A  large  and 
important  natural  order  of  plants,  the  species  of  which  are, 
for  the  most  part,  inhabitants  of  the  cooler  parts  of  the 
world.  They  are  in  some  cases  trees,  in  others  shrubs,  and 
in  a  great  number  of  instances  herbaceous  perennial  plants; 
scarcely  any  are  annuals.  No  natural  orders  contain  more 
species  of  general  interest,  in  the  beauty  of  their  flowers  or 
their  perfume  :  there  is  the  rose  itself,  and  various  species 
of  the  genera  Rubus,  Spircea,  Potentilla,  Geum,  and  Pyrus. 
The  apple,  pear,  plum,  cherry,  peach,  nectarine,  apricot, 
and  similar  valuable  fruits,  are  the  produce  of  others.  The 
white  thorn,  with  all  its  numerous  exotic  allies,  belongs  to 
the  genus  Cratmgus.  As  medicinal  plants,  some  are  of 
considerable  importance.  The  root  of  Potentilla  reptans, 
Geum  urbanam,  and  others,  is  powerfully  astringent;  the 
hark  of  Prunus  coccomilia  has  some  reputation  as  a  febri- 
fuge ;  an  Abyssinian  plant  called  Brayera  anthelmintic)! 
has  energetic  vermifugal  qualities  ;  and  finally,  prussic 
acid  is  obtained  from  the  leaves  and  seeds  of  the  almond, 
peach,  plum,  and  other  related  species.  This  important  as- 
semblage of  plants  is  distinguished  by  having  several  pe- 
tals ;  separate  carpels  ;  distinct,  perigynous,  numerous  sta- 
mens ;  alternate  leaves,  and  an  exogenous  mode  of  growth. 

RO'SARY.  (Lat.  rosarium,  a  rose-bed.)  A  Roman 
Catholic  devotional  practice  ;  which  consists  in  reciting  15 
times  the  Paternoster,  or  Lord's  Prayer,  and  150  times  the 
Ave  Maria,  or  angelical  salutation;  but  as  the  computa- 
tion is  made  by  means  of  beads,  the  string  of  beads  used 
for  this  purpose  has  acquired  the  popular  name  of  a  rosary. 
The  rosary  i3  thus  three  times  the  ordinary  chaplet.  It  is 
instituted  in  honour  of  the  fifteen  principal  mysteries  in  the 
life  of  our  Saviour  and  the  Virgin  Mary.  Some  have  at- 
tributed its  institution  to  St.  Dominic ;  others  (among  whom 
is  Mosheim,  cent,  x.,  part  2,  c.  4)  give  it  a  higher  antiquity. 
The  festival  of  the  Rosary  falls  on  the  first  Sunday  in  Oc- 
tober. Its  name  was  changed  by  Gregory  XIII.  from  that  of 
St.  Mary  of  the  Victory,  given  by  Pius  V.  on  its  original  in- 
stitution in  honour  of  the  battle  of  Lepanto,  which  took; 
place  on  that  day. 

ROSE.  (Lat.  rosa.)  In  Botany,  the  English  name  for 
the  well-known  and  universally  cultivated  flower  of  the  ge- 
nus Rosa.  (See  Rosaces.)  It  would  occupy  too  much 
space  to  point  out  even  cursorily  the  various  ceremonies 
in  which  this  flower  plays  a  distinguished  part ;  suffice  it  to 
say,  that  in  the  earliest  ages  it  was  regarded  with  even 
more  favour  than  at  the  present  times,  and  both  at  public 
and  private  festivals  was  considered  an  indispensable  in- 
gredient. (See  the  Damen  Lexicon.)  In  architecture,  the 
sculptured  representation  of  this  flower  is  found  in  the  cen- 
tre of  each  face  of  the  abacus  in  the  Corinthian  capital, 
and  is  called  the  rose  of  that  capital.  Roses  are  also  used 
to  decorate  the  caissons  in  the  soffitts  of  coronas  and  ceil- 
ings. 

ROSE  ENGINE.  In  Mechanics,  an  appendage  to  the 
turning  lathe,  by  which  a  surface  of 
wood  or  metal,  as  a  watch-case,  is  en- 
graved with  a  variety  of  curved  lines. 
The  assemblage  of  these  lines  present- 
ing some  resemblance  to  a  full-blown 
rose,  is  called  by  the  French  rosette ; 
and  hence  the  engine  by  which  the  or- 
nament is  produced  is  called  a  rose  en- 
gine. The  mechanism  by  which  the  fig- 
ures are  produced  is  sometimes  called 
a  carnb,  and  may  be  described  as  fol- 
lows :  "  A  wheel  upon  the  axle  C  turns 
uniformly  in  the  direction  ABDE.  A 
rod  m  n  moves  in  guides,  which  only 
permit  it  to  ascend  and  descend  perpen- 
dicularly. Its  extremity  m  rests  upon  a 
path  or  groove  raised  from  the  face  of 
the  wheel,  and  shaped  into  such  a  curve 
that  as  the  wheel  revolves  the  rod  m  n  shall  be  moved 
alternately  in  opposite  directions,  through  the  guides,  with 
the  required  velocity.  The  manner  in  which  the  velocity 
varies  will  depend  on  the  form  given  to  the  groove  or  chan- 
nel raised  upon  the  face  of  the  wheel ;  and  this  may  be 
shaped  so  as  to  give  any  variation  to  the  motion  of  the  rod 
m  n  which  may  be  required  for  the  purpose  to  which  is  to 
be  applied."  Gardner's  Mechanics,  Cabinet  Cyclopedia,  p. 
250.) 

The  purpose  of  the  machine  is  therefore  to  convert  a  uni- 
form rotatory  movement  into  a  varied  rectilinear  and  alter- 
nating movement.  It  is  also  used  in  machinery  for  spin- 
ning, and  for  lace-making. 

ROSE'MARY  (Lat.  ros  marinus,  sea  dew),  is  the  name 
given  to  a  small  evergreen  shrub  of  the  Labiate  order, 
which  inhabits  rocky  hills  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Medi- 

1073 


-  E 


ROSE-NOBLE. 

terranean.  and  which  is  commonly  cultivated  in  our  gar- 
dens,     ll  ii:is  very  narrow  green    leaves,  tamed  link  at  the 

edge,  riini  hoary  underneath.  The  flowers  are  of  a  dull 
leaden  blue,  or  even  white.  It  has  been  employed  in  infu- 
sion as  a  remedy  fur  headache,  and  La  extensively  employed 
in  the  manufacture  of  pomatums  for  promoting  ihe  growth 

of  hair.  Oil  of  rosemary  is  what  gives  the  green  colour  to 
these  preparations.  It  is  also  said  to  be  one  of  I 
dients  in  Can  de  Cologne.  Narbonne  honey  is  also  sain  to 
owe  its  peculiar  flavour  to  bees  reeding  on  the  blossoms  of 
the  rosemary.  The  gray  bushes,  mntltid  with  dew  drops, 
on  the  rocky  coasts  of  France  and  Italy,  are  said  to  justify 
the  singular  name  that  has  been  given  to  the  plant.  It  is 
the  \t3avii>Tif  aTiiiavuiitaTtK!]  of  DioSCOlides. 

ROSE-NOBLE.  A  gold  coin  of  the  value  of  6s.  8d., 
first  coined  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III. 

ROSEOLA,  called,  from  its  rose  colour,  a  rash;  fre- 
quently symptomatic  of  different  febrile  complaints,  of  dis- 
ordered stomach  and  bowels,  of  teething,  and  of  any  con- 
stitutional irritation.  Acidulated  drinks,  mild  aperients  and 
sudorifies,  and  strict  attention  to  the  diet,  with  caution 
against  the  application  of,  or  exposure  to,  cold,  so  as  to  cause 
a  retrocession,  are  the  principal  points  to  be  attended  to. 

ROSES,  FESTIVAL  OF.  A  rural  festival  of  some  parts 
of  France,  In  which  the  best-behaved  maiden  of  the  town 
or  village  (called  La  Rosiere)  is  annually  crowned  with  ro- 
ses in  the  church,  whither  she  is  conducted  with  great 
pomp  by  the  villagers.  These  festivals  were  originally  cel- 
ebrated on  the  8th  of  June  at  Saiency,  a  village  of  Picardy, 
under  Louis  Xlll.;  but  they  were  afterwards  introduced 
iuto  Surene,  near  1'aris.  whence  they  extended  to  many  oth- 
er places,  and  have  latterly  even  penetrated  to  Moravia. 
The  Persians  have  also  an  annual  festival  of  roses  which 
consists  of  bands  of  youth  parading  the  streets  with  music, 
and  offering  roses,  as  the  Italians  during  the  carnival  cun- 
J'ctti,  to  all  they  meet,  for  which  they  receive  a  trifling  gra- 
tuity. 

ROSES,  WHITE  AND  RED.  In  English  History,  the 
well-known  feuds  that  prevailed  between  the  houses  of 
York  and  Lancaster  are  so  called,  from  the  emblems  adopt- 
ed by  their  respective  partisans;  the  adherents  of  the  house 
of  Yoik  having  the  white,  those  of  Lancaster  the  red  rose, 
as  their  distinguishing  symbol.  These  wars  originated  with 
the  descendants  of  Edward  III. ;  and  after  extending  overs 
period  of  more  than  eighty  years,  during  which  England 
formed  an  almost  uninterrupted  scene  of  bloodshed  and  de- 
vastation, were  finally  put  an  end  to  by  the  victory  of  Henry 
Tudor,  earl  of  Richmond,  over  Richard  III.,  in  1485,  the 
victor  uniting  in  his  own  person  the  title  of  Lancaster 
through  his  mother,  and  that  of  York  by  his  marriage  with 
the  daughter  of  Edward  VI.  Since  that  period  the  rose 
has  been  the  emblem  of  England,  as  the  thistle  and  sham- 
rock (see  those  terms)  are  respectively  the  symbols  of  Scot- 
land and  Ireland. 

ROSE'TTA  STONE  (so  called  from  Rosetta,  a  village 
of  Egypt,  where  it  was  discovered  by  the  French).  The 
nam.-  given  to  the  celebrated  stone,  now  in  the  l!riti-h  Mu- 
seum, which  has  played  so  distinguished  a  part  in  all  mod- 
ern hieroglyphical  researches.  It  is  a  piece  of  black  ba- 
salt, tiiree  feet  In  length,  and  about  two  feet  and  a  half  in 
breadth,  and  contains  parts  of  three  different  sculptured  in- 
scriptions :  one  in  sacred  characters,  or,  as  they  are  termed, 
hieroglyphirs  ;  the  second  in  enchorial  characters  i.  e.,  in 
those  of  the  country,  or  in  modified  conventional  hieroglyph- 
ics) ;  and  the  third  in  Greek.  From  the  last,  or  Grc 
Kription,  it  appears  that  the  inscriptions  are  either  entirely 
or  substantially  identical,  and  form  a  royal  decree  which 
was  ordered  to  be  sculptured  in  the  languages  above  speci- 
fied. The  inscriptions  are  a  good  deal  mutilated,  particu- 
larly the  hieroglyphical;  but  they  are  still  sufficient]}  dis 
tinrt  to  allow  the  hieroglyphical  and  enchorial  characters 
to  be  compared  with  each  other  and  the  (J  reek.  As  the 
discovery  of  this  stone  presented  to  the  learned  the  first 
opportunity  of  viewing  the  Greek  in  Juxtaposition  to  the 
Egyptian  language,  great  bones  were  entertained  that  a  key 
would  thereby  be  obtained  to  the-  decyphering  of  the  nu- 
merous monuments  of  ancient  Egypt  It  would  appear, 
however,  from  the  invi  I  Dr.  Young  and  Cham 

pollion,  whose  attention  has  been  deepl)  engro 

t.  that  the  Greek  does  not  faithfully  represent  the 

enchorial  text,  but  gives  merely  its  substance.  According 
to  the  Greek  inscription,  the  stone  was  erected  in  the  reign 
of  Ptolemy  Epiphanes  [A.C.  194  .whose  benevolence  it  de 

Scribes,  and  enumerates  his  victories  and   the  principal   DO 

litical  transactions  of  his  reign.     See  Hieroglyphic  b. 
ROSICRU'CIANS.     A  sect  of  visionary  specula!  m  who 
:  Germany  about  the  beginning  of  the  17th  century. 
They  ascribed,  indeed,  a  much  higher  antiquity  to  them 

selves;  but  it  is  probable  that  if  an)  body  or  philosophers 

Who  adopted  this  title  ever  existed  in   reality,  they  were  the 

alchemists,  tire  philosophers,  or  Paracelsisb  of  the  ifith  cen- 
tury, who  adopted  this  mode  of  giving  vogue  and  fashion  to 
1074  l 


ROT. 

their  tenets.  Germany  was  inundated  with  tracts,  from 
L600  to  1630,  purporting  to  come  from  supporters  or  from  en- 
emies of  this  sect,  in  Which  their  opinions  and  intentions 
are  canvassed,  but  generally  iii  a  u  ild  and  unintelligible  man- 
ner. From  one-  of  these,  a  Treatise  m  tilt  Laura  if  the  Hosi- 
crueians,  by  Ritter  von  Maier  (1G18),  we  learn  that  the  fra- 
ternity had  >ix  fundamental  laws: — 1.  That  their  chief 
end  and  object  was  to  cure  the  sick  without  fee  or  re- 
ward. 2.  That  in  travelling  they  w  ere  to  change  their  hab- 
its and  dress,  so  as  to  accommodate  themselves  to  those  of 
the  countries  in  which  they  sojourned.  3.  To  meet  once  a 
year  on  a  certain  day  and  at  a  certain  place,  kept  secret 
from  the  rest  of  the  world.  4.  To  till  up  vacancies  in  their 
body  by  electing  members.  5.  To  use  the  letters  R  C  as 
their  common  symbol.  0.  That  the  fraternity  should  re- 
main undivulged  for  one  hundred  years  from  its  foundation. 
It  appears  probable  that  the  device  of  the  rose  issuing  out  of 
the  cross,  which  was  the'  same  with  Martin  Luther's  seal, 
was  adopted  for  the  purpose  of  attracting  the  notice  of  the 
religious:  the  rose  was  explained  to  represent  the  blood  of 
<  Ihrist  It  would  appear  from  these  laws  that  some  species 
of  Freemasonry  was  intended ;  and  the  Rosicrucians  ha\  e 
been  by  some  connected  with  the  Freemasons ;  but  there 
is.  in  point  of  fact,  no  evidence  that  any  such  society  existed 
at  all, and  the  name  and  other  circumstances  were  probably 
only  the  device  of  some  alchemists,  who  usually  conveyed 
their  own  notions  under  cover  of  symbolical  language.  An- 
drea, a  German  scholar,  is  slated  in  the  Convi  rs  itions  T.i  i  i- 
con,  to  have  been  the  original  propagator  of  the  reports  con- 
cerning the  Rosicrucian  society.  The  Rosicrucians  have 
been  also  connected  in  various  ways,  by  public  opinion,  with 
the  Cabalists,  Illuminati,  tec.;  anil  the  division  of  spiritual 
beings  inferior  to  the  angels  into  sylphs  arid  gnomes,  which 
furnished  Pope  with  the  machinery  of  the  Rape  of  the  Lock, 
is  of  Rosicrucian  or  Cabalistic  origin.  It  is  found  in  that 
singular  work,  the  Comte  de  Gabalis,  which  obtained  a  sud- 
den popularity  in  the  beginning  of  the  last  century;  in 
which  the  author  professes  himself  a  member  of  the  Rosi- 
crucian fraternity,     i  See  Mosheim,  Eccl.  Jlist.,  vol.  v.) 

ROSIN.     .sv  Resin. 

ROSTE'LLUM.  (Lat  rostrum.)  An  elevated  and  rath- 
er thickened  portion  of  the  stigma  of  Orchidaceous  plants, 
from  which  the  peculiar  gland  separates  by  which  the  i»>I- 
len  masses  of  some  species  of  that  order  are  eventually 
held  together.  It  was  formerly  supposed  to  be  the  point 
through  which  impregnation  is  effected;  but  this  is  now 
known  to  have  been  an  error. 

Rostelli'm.  The  name  of  the  mouth  of  the  louse  and 
similar  Apterous  insects,  in  which  the  ordinary  tropin  are 
replaced  by  an  <  particulate  retractile  tube,  from  which  a  re- 
tractile siphuncle  is  protruded.  The  uncinated  proboscis  of 
worms    TiFnij ,  is  also  so  called. 

ROSTER,  in  Military  affairs,  is  applied  to  the  plan  or  ta- 
ble by  which  all  military  duty  is  regulated. 

RO'STRULUM.  [Lat  dim.  of  rostrum;,  in  Entomology, 
is  the  name  of  the  oral  instrument  of  the  flea  and  other 
Jlphanipterans ;  in  which  the  ordinary  tropin  are  replaced 
by  a  bivalved  beak, between  the  valves  of  which  there  are 
three  lancet-shaped  instruments. 

ROSTRUM.  (Lat.)  Literally  the  prow  of  a  ship,  but 
metaphorically  applied  to  the  pulpit  or  pleading  place  in 
the  Roman  forum,  which  was  decorated  with  the  prows  of 
\e  si  Is  taken  from  the  enemy.      (See  .Wibuhr's  Raman 

History.) 

ROT.  A  term  applied  to  a  well-known  disease  peculiar 
to  sheep.  It  is  often  called  great  rot,  and  hydruphie  rut, 
&.C. ;  but  it  is  more  popularly  known  by  the  single  term  of  rot. 
Many  causes  have  been  assigned  for  it  ;  as  the  Fankola 
hep&tica,  or  fluke  worm  ;  some  particular  plants  eaten  as 
food;  ground  eating ;  snails,  and  other  ingesta :  but  as  most 

of  the  supposed  deleterious  herbs  have  been  tried  byway 

of  experiment,  and  have  failed  to  produce  the  disease,  so  it 
is  attributable  to  some  oilier  cause.  Neither  Is  there  satis- 
factory reason  to  suppose  that  the  fluke  worm  is  the  original 
cause  of  it,  but  a  consequence  ;  since  we  know  that  the  hili- 
ar>  \i  --els  of  other  annual-,  as  horses,  asses,  rat-,  fcc,  of- 
ten have  them  :  and  above  all.  because  that  they  are  not  al- 
ways present  In  the  rotted  subject.  From  long  experience, 
and  the  almost  invariable  effect  produced  by  a  humid  -tale  of 

atmosphere,  soil,  and  product  we  are  warranted  in  conclud- 
ing these  are  tie-  actual  am!  immediate  agents :   perhap-the 

led  food  it-elf  is  sufficient  to  do  it.  The  morning  dew 
baa  been  supposed  equal  to  it.  Bakewell,  when  his  sheep 
wen-  pasl  service,  used  to  rot  them  purposely,  that  they 
might  not  pass  into  other  hands.    This  I  tidily 

did  by  overflowing  hi-  pastures.    Rut  great  differences  of 
opinion  exisl  as  to  the  quantity,  form,  and  varieties  of  to 
tare  productive  "f  this  fatal  disease.     It  is  said  that  land  on 

which  water  flows,  but  does  not  stagnate,  will  not  rot  how- 
ever m  'i-t;  but  tlii-  i-  contradicted  by  the  experience  of 
Bakewell,  "bo  used  merely  to  flood  his  lands  a  few  i  i 
only,  to  rot  his  sheep.   It  is  also  said  they  are  safe  from  rot 


ROTATION. 


en  Irish  bogs,  salt  marshes,  and  spring-flooded  meadows, 
which  experience  seems  to  verify.  It  is  also  said  that  the 
very  hay  made  from  unsound  land  will  rot;  but  this  wants 
continuation.  When  salt  marshes  are  found  injurious,  it  is 
only  when  the  rain  has  saturated,  or  rather  super-saturated 
such  marshes.  That  putrid  exhalations  unaccompanied  with 
moisture  can  occasion  rot,  wants  confirmation  also;  for  these 
commonly  go  together,  and  it  is  difficult  to  separate  their  ef- 
fects. It  is  not,  perhaps,  the  actual  quantity  of  water  immedi- 
ately received  by  land,  hut  the  capacity  of  that  land  to  retain 
the  moisture,  which  makes  it  particularly  of  a  rotting  quality. 

The  signs  of  rottenness  are  sufficiently  familiar  to  persons 
about  sheep.  They  first  lose  flesh,  and  what  remains  is 
flabby  and  pale  :  they  also  lose  their  vivacity.  The  naked 
partsi  as  the  lips,  tongue,  &c,  look  livid,  and  are  alternate- 
ly hot  and  cold  in  the  advanced  stages.  The  eyes  look  sad 
and  glassy,  the  breath  is  fetid,  the  urine  small  in  quantity 
and  high-coloured  ;  and  the  bowels  are  at  one  time  costive, 
and  at  another  affected  with  a  black  purging.  The  pelt  will 
come  oft'  on  the  slightest  pull  in  almost  all  cases.  The  dis- 
ease has  different  degrees  of  rapidity,  but  is  always  fatal  at 
last.  This  difference  in  degree  occasions  some  rotted  sheep 
to  thrive  well  under  its  progress  to  a  certain  stage,  when 
they  suddenly  fall  off,  and  the  disease  pursues  the  same 
course  with  the  rest.  Some  graziers  know  this  crisis  of  de- 
clension, as  it  has  been  called,  and  kill  their  sheep  for  mar- 
ket in  the  immediate  nick  of  time  with  no  loss.  In  these 
cases,  no  signs  of  disease  are  to  be  traced  by  ordinary  inspec- 
tors ;  but  the  existence  of  the  flukes,  and,  still  more,  a  certain 
state  of  liver  and  of  its  secretions,  are  characteristic  marks 
to  the  wary  and  experienced. 

The  treatment  of  rot  is  seldom  successful  unless  when  it 
is  early  commenced,  or  when  of  a  mild  nature.  A  total  change 
of  food  is  the  first  indication,  and  of  that  to  a  dry  whole- 
some kind  :  all  the  farina;  are  good,  as  the  meals  of  whent, 
barley,  oats,  peas,  beans,  &c.  Carrots  have  done  good, 
mixed  with  these :  broom,  burnet,  elder,  and  melilot,  as  diur- 
etics, have  also  been  recommended;  but  it  is  necessary  to 
observe  that  there  is  seldom  any  ventral  effusion  but  in  the 
latter  stages  of  the  Complaint  As  long  as  the  liver  is  not 
wholly  disorganized,  the  cure  may  be  hoped  by  a  simple  re- 
moval of  the  cause,  which  has  been  shown  to  be  a  variable 
temperature,  with  excessive  moisture  of  pasturage,  which 
may  also  be  aided  by  such  remedies  as  assist  the  action  of 
the  biliary  system.  Salt  acts  in  this  way,  and  thus  salt 
marshes  are  good  :  salt  may  also  be  given  in  the  water. 
Salt  appears  the  principal  ingredient  in  Flesh's  patent  re- 
storative for  sheep ;  for  it  states  it  to  be  composed  of  turpen- 
tine, sal  ammoniac,  turmeric,  quicksilver,  brimstone,  salt, 
opium,  alkanet  root,  bark,  antimony,  camphor,  and  distilled 
water;  but  of  this  medley  none  of  the  articles  can  be  in 
sufficient  quantity  to  prove  useful  but  the  salt.  In  the  more 
advanced  stages  of  the  disease,  when  the  liver  has  become 
materially  affected,  it  is  prudent  to  rub  the  belly  of  each 
sheep  with  half  a  drachm  of  mercurial  ointment  every  other 
day  tor  a  week.  Give  also  the  following,  every  morning: 
Watery  tincture  of  aloes,  half  an  ounce;  decoction  of 
willow  bark,  four  ounces ;  nitric  acid,  twenty-five  drops. 
(Loudon's  Eacy.  of  Agriculture.) 

Rot.     In  timber.     See  Dry  Rot. 

ROTA'TIOX.  (Lat.  rota,  a  wheel.)  In  Mechanics,  the 
motion  of  a  solid  body  about  an  axis.  Rotatory  motion  is  dis- 
tinct from  progressive  motion,  though  both  are  frequently 
found  to  coexist  in  the  same  body.  The  planets,  for  exam- 
ple, at  the  same  time  that  they  have  a  progressive  motion  in 
their  orbits,  revolve  also  about  axes  passing  through  their 
respective  centresof  gravity.  It  is  the  rotatory  motion  of  the 
earth  about  its  axis  which  produces  the  alternations  of  day 
and  night;  and  a  slow  but  constant  change  of  position  in 
that  axis,  arising  from  the  attractions  of  the  sun  and  moon 
on  a  body  not  absolutely  round,  gives  rise  to  the  astronomi- 
cal phenomenon  of  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes. 

The  determination  of  the  circumstances  of  the  rotation 
of  a  planet  about  its  axis  is  a  problem  of  physical  astrono- 
my, not  less  interesting  or  important  than  that  of  the  plan- 
et's motion  in  its  orbit.  It  was,  in  fact,  long  considered  as 
the  more  difficult  problem  of  the  two;  but,  according  to  the 
methods  of  modern  analysis,  both  form  a  part  of  the  same 
theory,  and  their  solutions  are  deduced  from  the  same  gen- 
eral equations  of  motion. 

In  relation  to  practical  mechanics,  the  problem  of  rotation 
is  also  of  great  importance;  inasmuch  as  it  comprehends 
the  methods  of  computing  the  performance  of  machines,  the 
forces  necessary  to  overcome  their  inertia,  and  the  proper 
relations  and  most  advantageous  disposition  of  their  several 
parts,  in  order  that  the  required  effect  may  be  produced  by 
the  smallest  expenditure  of  power  and  the  least  strain  or  in- 
jury to  the  machine  itself. 

In  all  investigations  relating  to  the  motion  of  bodies  about 
axes,  the  terms  moment  of  force,  moment  of  inertia,  angular 
velocity,  are  of  constant  occurrence  ;  it  is  therefore  impor- 
tant to  keep  in  view  the  exact  meaning  of  those  terms. 


The  moment  of  a  force  exerted  in  turning  a  body  about  an 
axis,  is  the  product  obtained  by  multiplying  the  force  into 
the  perpendicular  from  the  axis  upon  the  line  of  its  direc- 
tion ;  or  it  is  the  force  multiplied  into  the  leverage.  Thus, 
if  F  be  force  supposed  to  act  in  a  plane  perpendicular  to  the 
axis,  h  a  line  drawn  from  the  axis  perpendicular  to  the  di- 
rection of  the  force,  the  moment  of  the  force  is  F  A.  But 
as  force  is  measured  by  the  velocity  which  it  communicates 
to  a  given  mass,  this  is  usually  expressed  by  M  V  h ;  where 
V  is  the  velocity  which  the  force  F  communicates  to  the 
mass  M,  when  directed  to  its  centre  of  gravity,  in  the  time 
which  is  assumed  as  unity. 

The  moment  of  inertia  of  a  body  in  respect  of  a  given 
axis,  is  the  sum  of  all  the  products  obtained  by  multiplying 
each  element  of  the  body  into  its  distance  from  the  axis. 
Thus,  if  m  be  one  of  the  constituent  elements  of  the  body, 
and  r  the  distance  of  m  from  the  axis,  then  the  moment  of 
inertia  is  Xr  m:  the  summation  denoted  by  2  being  extend- 
ed to  every  element  m.     See  Moment. 

The  different  particles  of  a  solid  body  revolving  about  an 
axis  move  with  a  velocity  proportional  to  their  respective 
distances  from  the  axis ;  and  the  velocity  of  the  particle 
whose  distance  from  the  axis  is  unity  is  the  angular  veloci- 
ty of  rotation.  If  this  be  denoted  by  to,  then  the  velocity 
of  a  particle  whose  distance  from  the  axis  is  r  will  be  r  o>. 

These  definitions  being  premised,  we  may  now  state  a 
few  of  the  more  remarkable  properties  of  rotary  motion.  If 
the  motion  is  produced  by  impulse,  and  the  moving  body  is 
not  acted  upon  by  any  accelerating  forces,  so  that  the  veloc- 
ity is  uniform,  the  fundamental  theorem  (which  is  easily 
deduced  from  the  property  of  the  lever)  is, 

moment  of  impelling  force 

angular  velocity = z-ft-  —. . 

J  moment  ot  inertia 

In  the  case  of  a  body  turning  about  a  fixed  axis,  it  is  sup- 
posed that  the  impelling  force  acts  in  a  direction  perpendic- 
ular to  the  plane  passing  through  the  axis  of  rotation 
and  the  point  at  which  the  force  is  applied.  If  the  impel- 
ling force  is  not  perpendicular  to  this  plane,  it  must  be  re- 
solved into  two  parts,  one  of  which  is  perpendicular  to  the 
plane,  and  the  other  parallel  to  it;  and  it  is  only  the  form- 
er part  which  tends  to  produce  rotation,  the  latter  being  de- 
stroyed by  the  resistance  of  the  axis. 

When  all  the  different  particles  of  a  body  are  acted  upon 
by  accelerating  forces  (as  in  the  case  of  a  pendulum  drawn 
aside  from  the  position  of  rest  and  abandoned  to  the  action 
of  gravity),  the  angular  velocity  becomes  a  variable  quanti- 
ty, and  is  expressed  by  this  formula, 

d  iii      moment  of  the  impelling  forces 
d  t  ~ '  moment  of  inertia 

where  dw  is  the  element  of  the  velocity,  and  dt  the  ele- 
ment of  the  time.  The  moment  of  the  impelling  forces  is 
computed  from  this  expression,  £  m  v  h  ;  where  m  is  the 
mass  of  an  element  of  the  body,  h  its  distance  from  the  axis 
of  rotation,  and  v  the  velocity  due  to  the  accelerating  force. 
From  the  above  formula?,  it  is  obvious  that  the  computation 
of  the  moment  of  inertia  must  enter  into  every  question 
connected  with  rotatory  motion. 

Principal  Axes. — Generally  speaking,  any  change  which 
is  made  in  the  position  of  the  axis  about  which  a  body  re- 
volves must  be  accompanied  with  a  change  in  the  moment 
of  inertia.  Hence,  if  a  point  (which  is  not  the  centre  of 
gravity)  be  taken  in  a  solid  body,  all  the  axes  which  pass 
through  that  point  (and  they  may  be  infinite  in  number) 
will  have  different  moments  of  inertia,  and  there  must  ex- 
ist one  in  respect  of  which  the  moment  is  a  maximum,  and 
another  in  respect  of  which  it  is  a  minimum.  Those  axes 
in  respect  of  which  the  moment  of  inertia  is  a  maximum  or 
minimum  are  called  the  principal  ares  of  rotation. 

If  for  any  point  taken  in  a  solid  body,  we  proceed  by  the 
usual  methods  of  maxima  and  minima  to  find  the  position 
(relatively  to  the  principal  lines  of  the  body)  of  that  line  or 
axis  about  which  the  moment  of  inertia  is  the  greatest  or 
least  possible,  the  analysis  leads  to  a  cubic  equation,  of 
which  all  the  three  roots  are  real.  Hence,  for  every  point 
of  a  body,  however  irregular,  there  are  three  principal  axes. 
Further  examination  shows  that  these  axes  form  a  system 
of  straight  lines  at  right  angles  to  each  other.  One  of  them 
is  such  that  the  moment  of  inertia  with  respect  to  it  is  the 
least  possible  ;  with  respect  to  another,  the  moment  is  the 
greatest  possible  ;  and  although  with  respect  to  the  third 
the  moment  is  not,  strictly  speaking,  the  greatest  or  least, 
vet  it  possesses  this  characteristic  of  maxima  and  minima, 
that  its  differential  coefficient  is  nothing,  or  its  value  is  not 
affected  by  a  very  small  change  in  the  position  of  the  axis. 

If  the  form  and  structure  of  the  revolving  body  be  such 
that  the  moments  of  inertia  about  two  of  the  principal  axes 
are  equal,  then  every  line  in  the  plane  of  those  axes  pas- 
sins  through  their  points  of  intersection  will  be  a  principal 
axis.  For  example,  in  the  spheroid  of  revolution,  the  polar 
diameter  forms  one  of  the  principal  axes;  the  two  others 
are  in  the  plane  of  the  equator,  aud  consequently  equal ; 

1075 


ROTATION. 

and  it  is  obvious  from  the  symmetrical  form  of  the  body 
that  every  equatorial  diameter  will  have  the  same  mo- 
ment of  inertia,  or  l>e  a  principal  axis.  If  all  three  princi- 
pal axes  are  equal,  as  in  the  case  of  a  sphere  when  the 
point  in  which  the  axes  meet  is  the  Centre,  then  every  line 
passing  through  the  same  point  is  a  principal  axis.  From 
this  it  follows  that  with  respect  to  any  point  taken  In  a  sol- 
id body  there  are  either  three  principal  axes,  or  else  an  in- 
finite number. 

It  is  a  property  of  the  principal  axes,  that  if  a  body  be- 
gins to  revolve  about  any  one  of  them  it  will  continue  to 
revolve  annul  the  same  axis  uniformly  and  perpetually, 
unless  the  motion  is  deranged  by  the  action  of  a  disturbing 
force.  The  centrifugal  forces  about  a  principal  axis  exactly 
counterbalance  each  other,  and  the  axis  remains  unmoved 
without  the  aid  of  any  support.  There  is,  however,  an  es- 
sential difference  in  this  respect  between  one  of  the  axes  and 
the  two  others.  If  a  body  begins  to  revolve  about  an  axis 
very  near  to  one  of  the  axes  for  which  the  moment  of  iner- 
tia is  the  greatest  or  least  possible,  the  axisof  actual  rota- 
tion will  continue  to  oscillate  about  that  principal  axis,  nev- 
er deviating  from  it  beyond  certain  narrow  limits,  and  the 
angular  velocity  will  only  suffer  small  periodic  alterations  ; 
but  if  the  body  begins  to  revolve  about  an  axis  which  is 
very  near  to  the  intermediate  principal  axis,  the  axis  of  rota- 
tion will  deviate  from  the  principal  axis  indefinitely,  and 
the  velocity  of  rotation  will  not  remain  constant.  Hence 
the  rotation  about  two  of  the  principal  axes  is  stable  ;  about 
the  third  unstable. 

When  a  solid  body  revolves  about  a  fixed  axis,  there  are 
certain  points  in  the  body  having  determinate  situations 
with  respect  to  the  axis  of  rotation  and  centre  of  gravity, 
which,  on  account  of  their  remarkable  properties,  require 
to  be  distinguished.  Thus,  in  computing  the  effects  of  ma- 
chinery, it  is  often  necessary  to  determine  the  situation  of 
the  point  at  which  if  the  whole  mass  of  the  revolving  body 
were  concentrated  the  rotatory  effect  would  remain  unalter- 
ed. This  point  is  called  the  centre  of  gyration.  The  centre  of 
oscillation  of  a  body  suspended  by  an  axis  is  the  point  at 
which  if  all  the  matter  were  collected  the  oscillations 
would  be  performed  in  the  same  time.  The  centre  of  per- 
cussion is  the  point  at  which  if  the  body  encountered  an  im- 
moveable obstacle  the  motion  would  be  arrested  without 
producing  any  strain  on  the  axle.  For  the  properties  of 
these  centres,  and  the  method  of  computing  their  positions, 
see  Centre. 

Motion  of  a  Body  entirely  free. — If  a  body  is  retained  by 
no  fixed  point,  but  is  at  liberty  to  move  in  any  direction,  and 
if  a  force  be  applied  to  it  in  a  direction  which  passes  through 
its  centre  of  gravity,  all  the  points  of  the  body  move  forward 
in  straight  lines  parallel  to  each  other  and  to  the  direction  of 
the  impelling  force.  But  if  the  direction  of  the  force  does 
not  pass  through  the  centre  of  gravity,  the  body  will  ac- 
quire two  motions — one  progressive,  and  the  other  rotatory  ; 
and  these  two  motions  are  entirely  independent  of  each 
other,  that  is  to  say,  each  is  performed  exactly  in  the  same 
manner  as  if  the  other  did  not  exist.  The  progressive  mo- 
tion is  the  same  as  if  the  direction  of  applied  force  had 
passed  through  the  centre  of  gravity,  and  the  rotatory  motion 
communicated  to  the  body  is  the  same  as  if  the  centre  of 
gravity  had  been  a  fixed  point  In  consequence  of  this 
property  the  general  problem  of  determining  the  motions  of 
a  body  subjected  to  the  action  of  given  forces  resolves  itself 
into  two  ;  of  which  the  first  is  to  determine  the  motion  of 
the  centre  of  gravity  of  the  moving  body,  and  the  second  to 
determine  at  every  instant  the  position  of  the  axis  and  the 
velocity  of  rotation. 

In  the  solution  of  the  latter  problem  the  following  elegant 
theorem,  first  given  by  Frisi,  is  of  important  use:  When  a 
body  revolves  on  an  axis  passing  through  its  centre  of  grav- 
ity, and  a  force  is  impressed  tending  to  make  the  body  re- 
volve about  another  axis  also  passing  through  its  centre  of 
gravity,  the  body  will  revolve  about  neither,  but  on  a  third 
axis,  which  lies  in  the  same  plane  with  the  other  two,  and 
so  situated  as  to  divide  the  angle  Which  they  contain  into 
two  parts,  such  that  the  sines  of  the  parts  are  to  each  other 
In  the  inverse  ratio  of  the  angular  velocities  with  which 
the  body  would  have  revolved  about  the  said  axes  respect- 
ively. It  is  evident  that  this  conclusion  will  hold  good  if 
the  angular  motions  about  both  axes  are  impressed  simulta- 
neously ;  and  as  the  velocity  about  the  new  avis  may  In  like 
manner  be  compounded  with  another  velocity  about  a  diff- 
erent axis,  it  follows  that  if  several  angular  motions  about 
given  axes  are  impressed  on  a  body  at  the  same  time,  the 
position  of  the  resultant  axis  and  the  velocity  of  rotation 
may  be  readil]  computed. 

If  the  primitive  axes  are  nt  right  angles  to  each  other, 
then  the  square  of  tho  angular  velocity  about  the  resultant 
avs  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  squares  of  the  velocities 
about  the  primitive  axes.  These  properties  form  the  theory 
of  the  composition  of  rotatory  motion.  For  their  demon 
stralion  the  reader  may  be  referred  to  .liry's  Mathematical 
1070 


ROUNDEL. 

Tracts,  "  Precession"  and  "  Nutation ;"  or  to  the  article 
"  Rotation,"  m  the  new  edition  of  the  Encyclopaedia  liritan- 
nica. 

The  principal  application  of  the  theory  of  the  rotation  of 
bodies  entirely  free  is  to  the  planets,  and  particularly  the 
earth.  It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  the  change 
which  is  continually  taking  place  in  the  position  of  the 

terrestrial  axis  of  rotation  is  only  in  respect  of  fixed  points 
In  space  ;  for  it  can  be  shown  that  since  the  earliest  record- 
ed astronomical  observations,  the  position  of  the  poles  of 
rotation  on  the  earth's  surface  has  undergone  no  alteration 
whatever. 

The  principal  works  on  the  subject  are  Euler's  Theoria 
Motus  Corponan  Solidorum,  17ii5;  Vince,  Phil.  Trans., 
1780;  Frisii,  Opera,  torn.  ii..  1783;  Jltwood's  Treatise  on 
the  Rectilinear  Motion  and  Mutation  of  Bodies,  17H4;  J.an- 
den's  Mathematical  Memoirs,  1789;  Laplace,  Micanique 
Celeste;  Lagrange,  Mecanique  Analytique ;  Po'isson,  Traiti 
dc  M  canique,  &c. 

ROTATION  OF  CROPS.  In  Agriculture  and  Garden- 
ing, it  is  found  that  the  same  annual  crop  cannot  be  ad- 
vantageously cultivated  on  the  same  soil  for  more  than  one 
or  two  years ;  and  hence  one  kind  of  crop  is  made  to  suc- 
ceed another.  And  the  number  of  cultivated  crops  being 
limited,  when  the  whole  course  has  been  gone  through 
once,  it  is  again  repeated  ;  and  hence  the  origin  of  the 
word  rotation.  But  as  the  same  number  and  kind  of  crops 
are  not  always  grown  in  regular  succession,  but  a  change  is 
frequently  made  according  to  general  principles,  the  term 
used  in  that  case  is  succcssioii  of  crops.  The  principle  on 
which  the  succession  of  crops  is  founded  is,  that  every  kind 
of  plant  not  only  extracts  nourishment  from  the  soil,  but 
exudes  into  it  excrementitious  matter,  which  is  found  in- 
jurious to  that  species,  though  it  may  prove  nutritious  to 
another  species.  As  a  general  principle  of  guidance  in  de- 
termining the  succession  of  crops,  it  is  considered  advan- 
tageous that  a  crop  cultivated  for  its  leaves  or  roots  should 
succeed  one  cultivated  for  its  ripened  seeds  ;  that  the  cereal 
grasses  should  be  succeeded  by  leguminous  plants ;  tap- 
rooted  plants,  or  plants  bearing  tubers,  by  fibrous-rooted 
plants ;  and  plants  which  form  a  compact  covering  on  the 
surface,  such  as  corn  and  legumes  sown  broadcast,  by  plants 
which  only  partially  cover  the  surface,  such  as  crops 
grown  in  rows  sufficiently  wide  to  admit  of  cultivation  be- 
tween. It  may  also  be  adopted  as  a  rule,  that  where  land 
is  to  be  subjected  to  a  crop  of  the  same  plants  for  a  number 
of  years,  as  in  permanent  pasture,  the  plants  composing  the 
crop  should  be  of  several  different  kinds,  by  which  means 
the  excrementitious  deposit  of  one  species  becomes  the  nu- 
triment of  another.  Hence  the  propriety  of  sowing  clover, 
ribwort,  and  other  taproutcd  dicotyledonous  herbage  plants 
among  pasture  grasses. 

RO'TATORIES,  Rotatoria.  (Lat.  rota,  a  wheel.)  Wheel 
animalcules.     s'<c  Rotifers. 

RO'TIFERS,  Rotifera.  (Lat.  rota,  and  fero,  T  carry.) 
The  name  of  a  class  of  highly  organized  Infusorial  ani- 
mals, outwardly  distinguished  by  certain  ciliated  appendages 
at  the  anterior  part  of  the  body,  which  seem  to  move  in  a 
rapid  rotatory  manner,  and  by  their  superior  size.  They 
are  commonly  termed  "  wheel  animalcules." 

ROTTEN  STONE.  An  earthy  mineral  found  near 
Bakewell  in  Derbyshire,  in  Wales,  and  at  Albany  in  New 
York.  It  is  much  used  for  polishing  metals ;  and  consists, 
according  to  R.  Phillips,  of  66  alumina,  10  carbon,  and  4 
silica.     It  resembles  tripnli. 

ROU'BLE.  A  Russian  silver  coin  of  different  values.  It 
was  first  struck  at  Moscow  in  1654.  Catherine  II.  caused 
some  gold  coins  to  be  struck  with  this  name  ;  but  they  are 
no  longer  current.     *Vc  Mosey. 

ROUE'.  In  the  beau  monde,  a  person  devoted  to  a  life 
of  pleasure  and  sensuality,  but  not  so  completely  vitiated  in 
his  character  and  manners  as  to  be  excluded  from  society. 
The  term  is  said  to  have  been  first  used  in  this  sense  by 
Philip  of  Orleans,  the  regent  of  France. 

ROUGE.  A  species  of  lake  prepared  from  the  dried 
flowers  of  the  Carthamus  tinctorius,  or  satflower.  Rouge 
is  the  only  cosmetic  which  can  be  applied  without  ultimate 
injury  to  the  complexion. 

ROUGH-CAST.  In  Architecture,  the  plastering  of 
walls  with  mortar  and  line  gravel,  left  rough  without  any 
smoothing. 

ROUGHING  IN.     See  Rendered  and  Set. 

urn  i.  II  STUCCO.    In  Architecture,  stucco  floated  and 

brushed  In  a  small  degree  with  water. 

ROUND.      The    property   of   a    circle,    sphere,    or    right 

cylinder,  and  indeed  of  any  solid  of  revolution,  though  most 
commonly  confined  to  the  sphere  and  cj  Under. 

ROU'NDEL.  In  Heraldry,  an  ordinary  in  the  form  of  a 
circle.  It  is  improper  to  say  a  roundel  or,  gules,  &.c,  de- 
scribing it  by  its  tincture;  unless,  first,  In  case  of  counter- 
changes;  secondly,  where  the  roundel  is  of  fur,  or  of  equal 

tinctures,  as  a  roundel  ermine,  a  roundel  cheeky  of  or  and 


ROUNDELAY. 

aeure.  &c. ;  otherwise,  roundels  have  distinguishing  names, 
according  to  their  tinctures.  A  roundel  or  is  called  a  be- 
zant, from  the  gold  coins  of  the  Greek  or  Byzantine  empire; 
a  roundel  argent,  a  plate ;  gules,  a  tortcau,  a  kind  of  cake; 
azure,  hurt,  a  species  of  rlovver ;  vert,  pomme ;  sable,  pellet ; 
purpure,  golpe.  A  field  or  charge,  with  equidistant  round- 
els, is  said  to  be  bezwity,  platy,  &.c,  according  to  the  tinc- 
ture. 

ROU'NDELAY,  in  Poetry,  is  properly  a  short  poem  of 
thirteen  verses ;  eight  in  one  rhyme,  and  five  in  another. 
See  Rondeau. 

ROUND  HEADS.  A  nickname  given  to  the  Puritans 
at  the  lime  of  the  civil  wars  by  the  Cavaliers,  from  the 
close  black  skull-cap,  reaching  down  to  the  ears,  which 
was  then  worn  by  staid  and  serious  persons  ;  or,  more 
probably,  from  the  custom  that  prevailed  among  them  of 
wearing  the  hair  closely  cut  to  the  head. 

ROUND  ROBIN.  (Fr.  rond  ruban.)  A  phrase  origin- 
ally derived  from  a  custom  of  the  French  officers,  who,  on 
signing  a  remonstrance  to  their  superiors,  wrote  their  names 
in  a  circular  form,  so  that  it  might  be  impossible  to  ascer- 
tain who  had  headed  the  list.  It  is  now  used  to  signify  any 
act  by  which  a  number  of  individuals  bind  themselves  to 
pursue  a  certain  line  of  conduct. 

ROUND  TABLE,  KNIGHTS  OF  THE.  The  name 
given  to  the  famous  order  of  knights  that  existed  in  Eng- 
land under  the  reign  of  King  Arthur,  by  whom  it  was 
founded.  The  members  of  this  order  are  said  to  have  been 
forty  in  number,  and  derived  their  name  from  a  huge  round 
marble  table  round  which  they  were  accustomed  to  sit. 
Their  adventures  form  the  themes  of  much  of  the  early  ro- 
mantic poetry  and  ballads  of  England  ;  and  our  own  times 
have  been  peculiarly  fertile  in  clearing  away  much  of  the 
obscurity  in  which  the  well-known  names  of  Tristram, 
Launcelot,  and  other  members  of  this  order  were  enveloped. 
Sir  W.  Scott's  labours  in  this  field  are  too  well  known  to 
require  any  remark.  (See  Schlegel'-s  Histury  of  Literature, 
which  gives  a  masterly  sketch  of  the  influence  of  the 
Round  Table  on  the  romantic  poetry  of  that  and  succeed- 
ing ages.) 

ROUP.     A  Scotticism  for  auction. 

ROW.  To  propel  a  boat  by  oars.  Rowing  is  reckoned 
the  most  favourable  application  of  human  strength ;  the 
whole  force  is,  however,  not  effective  on  the  oar,  as  the 
part  inside  the  actual  fulcrum,  which  is  in  the  water,  acts 
as  a  backwater.  Some  nations  take  short  strokes,  which 
they  rise  up  in  making;  the  English  prefer  a  long  stroke 
sitting,  which,  to  say  the  least,  saves  much  exertion.  As 
the  theory  of  rowing  involves  the  resistance  of  fluids,  it  is 
necessariiy  defective. 

ROYAL.  In  Naval  affairs,  the  sail  above  the  top- 
gallant sail.  The  term  royal  is  also  applied,  in  artillery,  to 
a  kind  of  small  mortar. 

ROY'ALISTS.  The  name  applied  originally  to  the  ad- 
herents of  the  Bourbon  family  after  the  revolution  of  179-2; 
but  now  in  common  use  to  designate  the  party  attached  to 
the  claimants  of  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  thrones. 

ROYAL  OAK,  Robur  Carolinum.  In  Astronomy,  a  con- 
stellation formed  by  Halley  in  the  southern  hemisphere. 
See  Constellation. 

ROYALS.  The  name  given  by  way  of  eminence  to  the 
first  regiment  of  foot  in  the  British  service :  it  is  sup- 
posed to  be  the  oldest  regular  corps  in  Europe.  {James's 
Military  Diet.) 

RUBEFACIENTS.  (Lat.  rubefacio,  I  make  red.)  Sub- 
stances which,  when  applied  to  or  rubbed  upon  the  skin, 
induce  a  redness  or  blush  upon  the  part,  not  followed  by 
blister. 

RU'BELLITE.  Red  schorl  or  tourmaline.  There  is  a 
magnificent  group  of  crystallized  rubellite  in  the  British 
Museum,  from  the  cabinet  of  the  late  Mr.  Greville. 

RUBE'OLA.  The  measles.  This  disease  is  preceded 
by  fever,  with  swelling  and  inflammation  of  the  eyes ;  an 
oppressive  cough ;  and  about  the  fourth  day  there  is  an 
eruption  of  small  red  points,  perceptible  to  the  touch, 
which  continues  for  four  or  five  days,  and  then  goes  oft", 
with  desquamation  of  the  cuticle ;  but  the  fever,  cough, 
soreness  of  the  eyes,  and  irritable  state  of  bowels  are  apt 
to  continue  for  some  time  after  the  entire  disappearance  of 
the  eruption.  The  most  alarming  cases  are  those  in  which 
the  inflammatory  symptoms  and  fever  run  very  high,  and 
which  sometimes  require  bleeding,  or  blisters  and  cupping 
upon  the  che-t ;  or  in  which  there  is  a  putrid  tendency,  with 
a  dark  livid  colour. 

RU'BEZAHL.  The  name  of  a  famous  spirit  of  the 
Riesengebirge  in  Germany,  who  is  celebrated  in  innumer- 
able sagas  ballads,  and  tales,  and  represented  under  the 
various  forms  of  a  miner,  hunter,  monk,  dwarf,  giant,  &c. 
He  is  said  to  aid  the  poor  and  oppressed,  and  shows  be- 
nighted wanderers  their  road ;  but  wages  incessant  war 
with  the  proud  and  wicked.  The  origin  of  the  name  is 
obscure.    (See  the  Tales  of  Musaus.) 


RULE  OF  THREE. 

RU'BICEL.    A  term  applied  to  the  Brazilian  ruby. 

RU'BRIC.  (Lat.  ruber,  red.)  In  the  language  of  the  old 
copies  of  manuscripts,  and  of  modern  printers,  any  writing 
or  printing  in  red  ink.  The  date  and  place  on  a  title  page 
being  frequently  in  red  ink,  the  word  rubric  has  come  to 
signify  the  false  name  of  a  place  on  a  title  page.  Many 
books  printed  at  Paris  bear  the  rubric  of  Genoa,  London, 
&c.  But  the  most  common  use  of  the  word  is  in  ecclesias- 
tical matters.  In  MS.  Missals,  the  directions  prefixed  to 
the  several  prayers  and  offices  were  written  or  printed  in 
red  ink;  and  hence,  the  rubric  familiarly  signifies  the  order 
of  the  liturgy,  in  Roman  Catholrc  countries  as  well  as  in 
England. 

RU'BY.  A  crystallized  gem  of  various  shades  of  red, 
found  chiefly  in  the  sand  of  rivers  in  Ceylon,  Pegu,  and 
Mysore.  Among  lapidaries,  the  scarlet-coloured  is  some- 
times called  spinelte  ruby;  the  pale  or  rose  red,  balass 
ruby;  and  the  yellowish  red,  rubicelle.  It  is  inferior  in 
value  and  beauty  to  the  red  sapphire,  or  oriental  ruby  of 
the  jewellers.  It  consists  of  83  alumina.  9  magnesia,  and 
7  or  8  chromic  acid  ;  the  latter  gives  its  colour. 

RUDDER.  A  heavy  flat  piece  or  frame  of  wood,  hung 
upon  the  stern  post  by  means  of  pintles  and  gudgeons,  for 
the  purpose  of  steering  the  ship.  The  rudder  is  turned 
round  the  stern  post  as  an  axis,  by  the  tiller,  which  enters 
the  rudder  head.  In  vessels  drawing  much  water  the 
rudder  is  deep  and  narrow ;  in  flat-bottomed  vessels,  it  is 
shallow  and  broad.  When  carried  to  a  considerable  breadth, 
as  in  the  Chinese  vessels,  it  is  pierced  with  holes,  which 
preserves  an  increased  leverage  with  a  diminished  direct 
resistance  from  the  water. 

When  the  rudder  is  broken  off  by  the  ship  getting 
aground,  or  by  a  heavy  sea,  a  temporary  one  is  made  by 
a  topmast  and  other  spars  placed  parallel,  and  loaded  at 
the  bottom  with  pigs  and  ballast,  and  confined  to  the  stem 
post  by  hawsers  leading  on  each  side  of  the  keel. 

Rudder  Coat.  A  covering  of  tarred  canvass  loosely 
put  round  the  rudder  head  to  keep  the  water  from  entering 
by  the  aperture,  while  it  admits  of  the  rudder  being  turned 
freely  round. 

Rudder  Pendants.  Strong  pieces  of  rope  ending  in 
chains,  by  which  the  rudder,  if  unshipped,  is  held  to  the 
ship's  quarter. 

Rudder  Shock.  A  piece  of  wood  fitting  between  the 
head  of  the  rudder  and  the  rudder  hole,  to  prevent  the 
play  of  the  rudder  in  case  of  the  tiller  being  removed. 

RUDE'NTURE.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture,  the  rope  or 
staff  with  which  the  lower  parts  of  the  flutings  of  columns 
are  often  filled.     See  Cabling. 

RUDIA'RIUS.  (Lat.)  The  term  applied  to  a  discharged 
gladiator.  The  word  is  derived  from  the  staff  (rudis), 
which  was  given  him  in  token  of  his  dismission. 

RUDO'LPHINE  TABLES.  A  set  of  astronomical  tables 
computed  by  Kepler,  and  founded  on  the  observations  of 
Tycho  Brahe.  They  were  called  the  Rudolphine  Tables 
in  honour  of  Rudolph  II.,  emperor  of  Bohemia,  who,  upon 
the  death  of  Tycho  in  1601,  conferred  upon  Kepler  the 
title  of  imperial  mathematician,  and  undertook  to  defray 
the  expenses  of  their  preparation.  Owing  to  various  causes 
the  work  was  not  completed  till  16-27,  when  the  tables 
were  published  at  Uim.  They  are  the  first  that  were  ever 
calculated  on  the  hypothesis  that  the  planets  move  in 
elliptic  orbits,  and  they  contributed  greatly  to  the  progress 
of  modern  astronomy.  For  a  detailed  account  of  this  very 
remarkable  production,  see  Delambre,  .istronomie  Moderns, 
torn,  i.,  p.  557. 

RUFF.  The  name  of  the  male  of  the  Machetes  pug-nax, 
which  is  distinguished  at  the  breeding  season  by  a  ruff  or 
tuft  of  wide-spreading  feathers,  projecting  behind  the  eyes 
and  from  the  upper  part  of  the  neck.  The  female  is  called 
the  reeve.     See  Machetes  and  Tringa. 

RULE,  in  Arithmetic,  denotes  a  certain  prescribed  series 
of  numerical  operations,  adapted  to  discover  from  the  given 
conditions  to  which  an  unknown  number  is  subjected  what 
that  number  is.  They  are  generally  distinguished  by  par- 
ticular names,  according  to  the  purposes  for  which  they 
are  given,  or  the  particular  nature  of  the  business  for 
which  they  are  required ;  as  the  rules  of  interest,  the  rules 
of  fellowship,  &c. 

Rule.  In  a  monastic  sense,  a  system  of  laws  or  regula- 
tions by  which  monasteries  and  other  religious  houses  are 
governed,  and  which  the  monks,  nuns,  and  novices  vow  at 
their  entrance  to  observe.     See  Orders,  Monastic. 

Rule.  In  Law,  an  order  of  one  of  the  three  superior 
courts  of  common  law.  Rules  are  either  general  or  par- 
ticular; the  former  being  such  orders  relating  to  matters 
of  practice  as  are  laid  down  and  promulgated  by  the  court 
for  the  general  guidance  of  the  suitors  :  the  latter  are  such 
orders  as  are  confined  to  the  particular  case  in  reference 
to  which  they  have  been  granted.  See  Courts  of  Law, 
and  Pleading. 

RULE  OF  THREE,  in  Arithmetic  is  the  rule  by  which 

1077 


RULES. 

when  three  numbers  are  given  a  fourth  is  to  be  found,  so 
that  the  font  shall  ho  in  direct  or  inverse  proportion,  be  the 
case  may  require. 

RULES,  in  the  Fine  Arts,  those  laws  and  maxima 
founded  on  the  general  and  fundamental  truths  of  nature  by 

which  artists  are  guided  in  their  compositions. 

i;i  l.r.s    BRASS.     Pieces  of  brass  of  different  thick 

i  high,  to  print  with.  They  arc  made  in 
lengths  of  fourteen  inches,  hut  of  late  years  lengths  half  as 
long  again  nave  been  made.  One  of  the  edges  is  bevelled 
-  to  print  a  line  line,  and  when  a  thicker  line  is  re 
quired  the  bottom  edge  is  placed  uppermost,  which  is  the 
full  thickness  of  the  brass;   by  this  means  lines  of  different 

tbicknesses  axe  obtained,  and  also  double  lines,  a  thick  one 
and  a  fine  one,  when  required.  They  arc  used  tor  column 
lines  in  tabic  work  ;  to  separate  matter  that  requires  to  be 

distinct  ;  and  to  be  placed  round  pages. 

In  cases  where  diagrams  are  required,  and  there  is  no 
engraver  within  reach,  they  may  be  formed  by  a  clever 
workman  with  brass  rule.  Of  late  years  many  ingenious 
and  elaborate  imitations  of  architectural  drawings  of  build- 
ings, with  pillars,  &.<;.  have  been  made  with  brass  rule  ; 
and  in  this  department  of  art  Mr.  Ebene/.er  Parkes,  of 
Fetter  Lane,  has  displayed  great  skill  and  ingenuity. 

RULE,  CARPENTER'S.  A  folding  ruler,  generally 
used  by  carpenters  and  other  artificers,  having  a  variety  of 
scales  adapted  to  facilitate  the  calculations  of  most  frequent 
occurrence  by  inspection.  Sometimes  it  has  a  sliding  piece 
in  one  of  its  legs,  by  which  its  use  is  greatly  extended.  See 
Sliding  Ri  i.e. 

RULE,  GAUGING,  is  a  rule  adapted  in  the  same  man- 
ner to  discover  the  contents  of  casks  and  other  vessels. 
It  is  used  by  the  officers  of  excise  in  surveying  the  articles 
in  the  process  of  manufacture  that  are  liable  to  duties.     See 

Gil  BIND. 

RUM.  A  spirituous  liquor  distilled  from  the  fermented 
juice  of  the  sugar  cane,  or  from  molasses.  Its  flavour  is 
due  to  the  presence  of  a  peculiar  volatile  oil :  its  average 
proportion  of  alcohol  fluctuates  between  50  and  5(i  per 
rent.  The  rum  consumed  in  the  United  Kingdom  is  en- 
tirely the  produce  of  the  West  Indies,  and  to  a  great  ex- 
tent of  Jamaica  ;  and  for  this  preference  it  is  indebted 
partly  to  its  superior  quality,  and  partly  to  its  being  pro- 
tected against  rum  of  Bast  India  produce  by  a  differential 
duty  of  6s.  per  gallon;  tin-  dutj  on  West  India  rum  being 

9s.,  that  on  Hast  India  rum  being  15s.  per  gallon.  The 
quantity  of  rum  entered  for  home  consumption  for  the 
years  1839-40,  averaged  2,670,515]  gallons;  the  duty  on  it 
for  the  three  years,  1837-38-39,  averaged  jEI  .372,540;  and 
in  1840,  the  gross  amount  was  XI. 154,544.  The  consump- 
tion of  rum  in  this  country  has  long  been  gradually  de- 
clining. 

RUMEN.  (Lai.)  The  name  of  the  paunch  or  first  cavity 
of  the  complex  stomach  of  the  Ruminant  quadrupeds. 

RU'MINANTS,  Ruminantia.     (Lat.  rumino,  [  chein  tin 

cud.)     The  name  given  by  Cuvier  to  the  Pecora  of  Lin- 

an  order  of  Ungulate  Mammals.  Including  those  which 

have  a  complicate.!  stomach  of  four  cavities  so  disposed  as 

to  allow  of  rumination,  and  a  cloven  hoof. 

Rl  MINA'TION.  (Lat.  rumino.)  The  act  by  which 
food  once  chewed  and  swallowed  is  a  second  time  subjected 
to  mastication.  Digestion  is  always  preceded  by  this  action 
in  the  order  of  Mammals,  hence  called  "Ruminants;"  but 
very  rarely,  and  as  an  exceptional  case,  in  am'  other  ani 
mal.  The  stomach  ofthe  Ruminants  is  specially  organized 
for  run  g  of  four  distinct  cavities,  till   of 

which  communicate  with  a  muscular  canal  at  the  termina- 
tion of  the  oesophagus.  Haul,  solid,  or  coarsely  masticated' 
food,  passes  from  the  beginning  of  the  muscular  canal  into 

the  first  cavity  of  the  stomach,  called  the  rumen,  or  paunch. 

Water  is  received  into  the  second  cavity,  called  the  • 
lutn.and  almost  exclusively  occupies  the  honeycomb 

Of  that  cavity;  it  is  gradually  mixed  with  the  coarsely  di- 
vided food  which  i-  undergoing  mastication  in  the  rumen. 
When  this  is  sufficiently  advanced,  a  portion  of  the  mass  is 
received  into  the  muscular  canal  tit  the  termination  of  the 
bogus;  it  is  there  moulded  into  a  ball,  and  propelled 
by  a  rapid  and  inverted  action  of  the  muscles  of  the  gullet 
into  the  mouth,  where  it  is  more  perfectly  masticated, 
mixed  with  fluid,  and  again  swallowed.  It  now  pass  - 
directly  into  the  third  stomach,  called  the  psalterium,  from 
tin-  broad  leaf-like  plates  of  membrane  with  which  it  is  dc 
cupied;  here  the  superfluous  fluid,  which  otherwise  might 
have  too  much  diluted  the  gastric  juice,  is  absorbed,  and 
the  subdivided  cud  passes  gradually  into  the  fourth  or  true 
digesting  stomach,  called  the  abomasvs.  In  the  camel  tribe, 
ireloped  at  the  sides  of  the  rumen,  in  ad 
dition  to  those  of  the  reticulum,  and  the  psalterium  is  not 
separated  by  am  contraction  Cri  m  the  abpmasus. 

BUMP  PARLIAMENT.    In  English  History,  after  the 
dissolution  of  Bichnrd  Cromwell's  parliament,  and  his  own 
demission  of  the  protectorate,  a  council  of  officers,  at  whose 
lUTd 


RUTACEjE. 

head  were  Desborough,  Lambert,  and  others,  having  seized 
the  supreme   authority,  found  it  advisable  to  call 
the    remnant   of   the    Long    Parliament,    which    ha 

forcibly  dissolved  by  <>ii\er.  it  was  assembled  in  May, 
1659;  and  consisted  of  little  more  than  seventy  members, 
those  Who  had  been  excluded  not  being  allowed  to  resume 
their  seats.  This  body  soon  became  odious  to  the  IV,  -i 
teiian  and  Royalist  parts  of  the  nation,  and  by  its  own  as- 
sumption of  power  displeased  the  officers  who  had  called 
it  again  into  being.  It  acted,  however,  with  some  vigour 
and  determination,  and  defeated  a  variety  of  royalist  con- 
spiradi  -;  but  having  ventured  so  for  as  to  cashier  Lam- 
bert and  others  ofthe  leading  officers,  the  troops  again  sur- 
rounded Westminster  Hall,  and  expelled  it,  on  the  13th 

October  in  the  same  year.  But  Fleetwood,  who  had  the 
command  of  the  army,  being  unable  to  keep  together  the 
distracted  gov  eminent,  the  officers  once  more  invited  the 
parliament  to  >it  again,  which  it  did  on  the  26th  of  Decem- 
ber. It  once  more  assumed  absolute  authority  ;  but  Gen- 
eral Monk  took  part  against  it.  On  his  invitation  a  good 
many  ofthe  excluded  members  went  to  the  house  (Feb.  21), 
and  thus  placed  the  Independents,  who  had  hitherto  ruled 
it,  in  a  minority;  and,  having  passed  some  measures  re- 
versing its  former  acts,  the  parliament  dissolved  itself.  It 
got  its  nickname  from  heing,  as  it  were,  the  remnant  and 
fag-end  ofthe  old  Long  Parliament,  and  was  treated  by  the 
nation  with  general  contumely  and  derision.    Hut  it  cannot 

be  denied  that,  utterly  unable  as  it  was  to  command  the 
divided  nation,  it  showed  boldness  and  vigour  in  its  con- 
duct, which,  with  a  little  more  popularity,  would  probably 
have  ensured  great  successes.  Vane  and  Hazlerig  were  its 
leading  members. 

RU'NCINATE.  In  Botany,  hooked  back,  or  curved  in 
a  direction  from  the  apex  to  the  base  ;  as  the  lobes  of  the 
leaf  of  the  dandelion. 

RUN  BS.  (Genu.  Runen),  are  properly  the  signs  or  let- 
ters of  the  ancient  alphabet  peculitr  to  the  northern 
nations  (Germans  and  Scandinavians).  Schlegel  deduces 
tin-  alphabet  from  the  Phoenicians.  (Lectures  on  Ancient 
arid  Modern  Literature.)  Others  have  supposed  it  to  have 
been  derived  from  that  of  the  Romans  ;  but  its  originally 
consisting  only  of  sixteen  letters  has  been  urged  as  an 
argument  against  this  hypothesis.  The  runen  inscrip- 
tions found  in  Germany  (especially  Northern  Saxony)  are 
thought  by  some  to  have  tokens  of  an  origin  somewhat 
different  from  the  Scandinavian.  {Grimm  on  the  German 
Rimes,  1821.)  The  antiquity  of  both  has  been  much  dis- 
puted. Of  those  found  in  Gothland,  it  is  said  that  the 
oldest  are  not  earlier  than  A.D.  1200,  the  latest  1449  ;  1300 
stones  with  Runic  inscriptions  have,  it  is  said,  been  dis- 
covered in  Sweden;  many  in  Denmark;  none  in  Lapland 
or  Finland.  Runic  staves  are  mas.ive  sticks,  generally  of 
willow,  inscribed  with  Runic  characters,  probably  of 
magieal  import.     (See  (our.  Lexicon.) 

RUPEE.  A  coin  of  different  values,  current  in  different 
parts  ofthe  East  Indies.     See  Money. 

RU'PIA.  (Gr.  pviroi.)  An  eruption  of  flatfish  vesicles, 
succeeded  by  an  ill-conditioned  disch  Urge,  which  concretes 
into  thin  scabs  easily  rubbed  off  and  regenerated  ;  they 
generally  occur  as  a  consequence  of  poor  diet  and  weak 
habit  of  body.  Light  nutritious  food,  tonics,  and  alteratives 
are  the  remedies. 

RUPTURE.     See  Hernia. 

RU'RAL  ECO'NOMY.  The  general  management  of 
territorial  property,  either  by  the  proprietor  or  his  agent. 
On  a  small  scale,  the  agent  is  termed  a  bailiff  or  farm 
servant;  and  on  a  large  scale,  a  land  steward  or  factor. 
The  duties  of  the  latter  tire  to  collect  the  rents,  and  see 
that  the  different  clauses  in  the  leases  by  which  the 
tenants  hold  their  lands  are  fulfilled  ;  and  of  the  lurmer, 
to  cultivate  the  land  in  such  a  manner  as  to  produce  the 
greatest  profit,  or  to  fulfil  the  intentions  ofthe  proprietor 
as  to  the  kind  of  produce  which  he  considers  it  desirable 
in  obtain.     See  Aqrk  i  ltc'rk. 

Rl  ST.  in  its  ordinary  acceptation,  is  the  reddish  peroxide 
which  is  found  on  the  surface  of  iron  when  exposed  to 
moisture. 

Rl     i.     In  Horticulture.     See  Mildew. 

Rl  'STIC.  (Lat.  rus.)  In  Architecture,  a  term  applied 
to  work  jigged  out  into  an   irregular  surface.     Work  also 

which  is  left  rough,  without  tooling. 

HIT  VI'!', U  hull,  one  ,,!'  Hie  genera.)  A  natural 
order  of  plants,  composed   principally  of  trees  and  shrubs 

inhabiting  the  warmer  parts  of  the  world,  seldom  of  her- 
baceous plants.  The  species  are  sometimes  very  orna- 
mental, especially  those  belonging  to  the  genera  Correa, 
nd  Diosma.  Some,  as  the  common  rue,  the 
bucku  plant,  &C.,  are  remarkable  for  having  S  powerful, 
peculiar,  unpleasant   odour,  and  antispasmodic  quality  ; 

and  a  tew  hive  a  fi  brifuga]    bark.     The  Dictamnus  rt/ei/.f, 
I'u,  is  extremely  fragrant,  and  gives  off  un  in 
flammable  vapour. 


RUTIDOSIS. 

RUTIDO'SIS.  (Gr.  pvris,  a  furrow.)  A  disease  of  the 
eye,  in  which  the  cornea  appears  shrunk  and  puckered. 
It  is  produced  by  a  wound,  or  by  a  deficiency  of  the  aqueous 
humour,  which  happens  from  old  age  or  fevers,  or  occa- 
sionally from  the  action  of  an  extremely  arid  atmosphere. 
After  death  it  is  produced  by  the  evaporation  of  the 
aqueous  humour  through  the  cornea,  and  the  consequent 
shrinking  from  that  membrane. 

RUTlLlTE.  (Lat.  rutilus,  red.)  Native  oxide  of  tita- 
nium. 

RYA'COLITE.  (Gr.  pva\,  a  stream,  and  h9og,  a  stone.) 
A  name  given  to  glassy  felspar. 

RYE.  (Ger.  roggen  ;  Du.  rog,  rogge),  according  to 
some,  is  a  native  of  Crete  ;  but  it  is  very  doubtful  if  it  be 
found  wild  in  any  country.  It  has  been  cultivated  from 
time  immemorial,  and  is  considered  as  coming  nearer  in 
its  properties  to  wheat  than  any  other  grain.  It  is  more 
common  thin  wheat  in  many  parts  of  the  Continent; 
being  a  more  certain  crop,  and  requiring  less  culture  and 
manure.  It  is  the  bread  corn  of  Germany  and  Russia.  In 
Britain  it  is  now  very  little  grown,  being  no  longer  a  bread 
corn  ;  and  therefore  of  less  value  to  the  farmer  than  barley, 
oats,  or  peas. 

RYOTS.  (Arab,  a  subject.)  The  name  given  to  the 
cultivators  of  the  soil  in  Hindostan.  Their  social  condi- 
tion presents  many  singular  anil  interesting  features,  to 
some  of  which  we  shall  here  advert.  In  all  eastern  coun- 
tries the  rulers  may  be  said  to  be  the  proprietors  of  the 
soil ;  but  in  India  the  cultivators  have  a  perpetual,  heredi- 
tary, and  transferable  right  of  occupancy,  so  long  as  they 
continue  to  pay  the  share  of  the  produce  of  the  land  de- 
manded by  the  government.  The  value  of  this  right  of 
occupancy  to  the  rural  population  depends  on  the  degree 
of  resistance  which  they  have  been  able  to  oppose  to  the 
exactions  of  arbitrary  governments.  In  Bengal  and  the 
adjacent  provinces  of  India,  from  the  peculiarly  timid 
character  of  the  inhabitants,  and  the  open  and  exposed 
nature  of  the  country,  this  resistance  has  been  trifling 
indeed  ;  and  consequently  the  value  of  the  right  of  occu- 
pancy in  the  peasant,  or  ryot,  has  been  proportionally- 
reduced.  This,  also,  may  be  considered,  though  with 
some  modifications,  as  being  nearly  the  condition,  in  this 
respect,  of  the  inhabitants  of  every  part  of  the  great  plain 
of  the  Ganges,  comprising  more  than  half  the  population 
of  Hindostan.  But  where  the  country  is  naturally  difficult, 
the  people  have  been  able  more  effectually  to  resist  the 
encroachments  of  the  head  landlord,  or  state,  and  to  retain 
a  valuable  share  in  the  property  of  the  soil.  This  has 
been  particularly  the  case  along  the  ghauts,  as  in  Bednore, 
Canara,  Malabar,  &c. ;  the  inhabitants  of  which  provinces 
not  only  lay  claim  to  a  right  of  private  property  in  the 
soil,  but  have  been  generally  ready  to  support  their  claim 
by  force  of  arms.  There  can  be  no  question,  indeed,  that 
the  same  modified  right  of  property  formerly  existed  every- 
where ;  and  it  is  indeed  impossible  that  otherwise  the 
land  should  ever  have  been  reclaimed  from  the  wilder- 
ness. But  in  those  parts  of  India  which  could  be  readily 
overrun  by  a  military  force,  the  right  of  property  in  the 
soil  has  long  been  little  else  than  the  right  to  cultivate 
one's  paternal  acres  for  behoof  of  others,  the  cultivators 
reserving  only  a  bare  subsistence  for  themselves. 

Under  the  Mogul  emperors,  the  practice  in  Bengal  was 
to  divide  the  gross  produce  of  the  soil,  on  the  metayer  prin- 
ciple, into  equal  shares  ;  whereof  one  was  retained  by 
the  cultivator,  the  other  going  to  government  as  rent  or 
tax.  The  officers  employed  to  collect  this  revenue  were 
called  zemindars  ;  and  in  the  course  of  time  their  office 
seems  to  have  become  hereditary.  It  may  be  remarked 
that,  in  Persian,  zemindar  and  landholder  are  synonymous  ; 
and  this  etymology,  coupled  with  the  hereditary  nature 
of  their  office,  which  brought  them  exclusively  into  con- 
tact with  the  ryot  or  occupier,  as  well  as  with  the  govern- 
ment, led  many  to  believe  that  the  zemindars  were  in 
reality  the  owners  of  the  land,  and  that  the  ryots  were 
their  tenants.  This,  however,  it  is  now  admitted  on  all 
hands,  was  an  incorrect  opinion.  The  zemindars  in  reality 
were  tax-gatherers,  and  were,  in  fact,  obliged  to  pay  to 
the  government  nine  tenths  of  the  produce  collected  from 
the  ryots,  retaining  only  one  tenth  as  a  compensation  for 
their  trouble  ;  and,  so  long  as  the  ryots  paid  their  fixed 
contribution,  they  could  not  be  ousted  from  their  posses- 
sions, nor  be  in  anywise  interfered  with. 

But  notwithstanding  what  has  now  been  stated,  the 
perpetual  or  zemindary  settlement,  established  by  Lord 
Cornwallis  in  Bengal,  in  1793,  was  made  on  the  assump- 
tion that  the  zemindars  were  the  proprietors  of  the  soil. 
His  lordship,  indeed,  was  far  from  being  personally  satis- 
fied that  such  was  really  the  case  ;  but  he  was  anxious  to 
create  a  class  of  1  arse  proprietors,  and  to  give  them  an 
interest  in  the  improvement  and  prosperity  of  the  country. 
It  is  clear,  however,  that  this  wish  could  not  be  realized 
without  destroying  the  permanent  rights  of  the  ryots ;  for, 


RYOTS. 

unless  this  were  accomplished,  the  zemindars  could  not 
interfere  in  the  management  of  their  estates.  The  inter- 
ests of  the  zemindars,  and  the  rights  of  the  ryots,  were 
plainly  irreconcileable  ;  and  it  was  obvious  that  the  former 
would  endeavour  to  reduce  the  latter  to  the  condition  of 
tenants  at  will.  But  this  necessary  consequence  was 
either  overlooked  or  ineffectually  provided  against.  The 
zemindars  became,  under  condition  of  their  paying  the 
assessment  or  quit-rent  due  to  government,  proprietors  or 
owners  of  the  land.  The  amount  of  the  assessment  was 
fixed  at  the  average  of  what  it  had  been  for  a  few  years 
previously,  and  it  was  declared  to  be  perpetual  and  in- 
variable at  that  amount.  When  a  zemindar  fell  into 
arrear  with  government,  his  estate  might  be  either  sold  or 
resumed. 

That  the  assessment  was  at  the  outset,  and  still  is  too 
high,  cannot  well  be  doubted ;  and  it  must  ever  be  matter 
of  regret  that  the  settlement  was  not  made  with  the  ryots, 
or  cultivators,  rather  than  with  the  zemindars  ;  but,  not- 
withstanding these  and  other  defects,  the  measure  was, 
on  the  whole,  a  great  boon  to  India.  Until  tbe  introduc- 
tion of  the  perpetual  system  into  Bengal,  the  revenue  was 
raised  in  it,  as  it  continues  to  be  in  the  rest  of  India  down 
to  the  present  day,  by  a  variable  as  well  as  a  most  oppres- 
sive land-tax.  We  all  know  what  a  pernicious  influence 
tithe  has  had  in  this  country  ;  but  suppose  that,  instead 
of  amounting  to  10,  tithe  had  amounted  to  50  per  cent,  of 
the  gross  produce  of  the  soil,  it  would  have  been  an 
effectual  obstacle  to  all  improvement ;  and  the  country 
would  now  hfive  been  in  about  the  same  state  as  iu  the 
days  of  Alfred,  or  of  William  the  Conqueror. 

In  France,  Italy,  and  other  parts  of  Europe,  where  the 
metayer  system  is  introduced,  the  landlord  seldom  or  never 
gets  half  the  produce,  unless  he  also  furnish  the  stock  and 
farming  capital,  and,  in  most  cases,  the  seed.  But  in  India 
neither  the  government  nor  the  zemindars  do  anything  of 
the  sort :  they  merely  supply  the  land,  which  is  usually 
divided  into  very  small  portions,  mostly  about  six,  and 
rarely  amounting  to  twenty-four  acres.  A  demand  on 
the  occupiers  of  such  patches  for  half  the  produce  is  quite 
extravagant ;  and  hence  the  excessive  poverty  of  the  peo- 
ple, which  is  such  as  to  stagger  belief.  Still,  however, 
the  perpetual  system  is  vastly  preferable  in  principle,  and 
also  in  its  practical  influence,  to  any  other  revenue  system 
hitherto  established  in  India.  It  set  limits  to  fiscal  rapa- 
city, and  established,  as  it  were,  a  rampart  beyond  which 
no  tax-gatherer  dared  to  intrude.  The  enormous  amount 
of  the  assessment,  and  the  rigour  with  which  payment 
was  at  first  enforced,  ruined  an  immense  number  of  zemin- 
dars. But  their  lands  hiving  come  into  new  and  more 
efficient  hands,  a  better  system  of  management  was  intro- 
duced, and  the  limitation  of  the  government  demand  gave 
a  stimulus  to  improvement  unknown  in  any  other  part  of 
Hindostan.  This,  in  fact,  was  the  grand  desideratum.  A 
land-tax,  that  may  be  increased  should  the  land  be  im- 
proved, is  all  but  certain  to  prevent  any  such  improvement 
being  made.  This  has  been  its  uniform  operation  in  every 
country  in  the  world  that  has  had  the  bad  fortune  to  be 
cursed  with  such  a  destructive  impost.  But  a  heavy  land- 
tax,  provided  it  be  fixed  and  unsusceptible  of  increase,  is 
no  bar  to  improvements,  unless  in  so  far  as  it  tends  to  de- 
prive the  proprietors  and  occupiers  of  land  of  the  means 
of  making  them.  There  is,  in  such  a  case,  no  want  of 
security  ;  and  the  cultivator  is  not  deterred  from  attempt- 
ing improvements,  or  of  bringing  superior  enterprise  and 
industry  to  operate  on  his  estate,  by  the  fear  that  the  tax 
will,  in  consequence,  be  increased. 

The  truth  of  what  is  now  stated  has  been  fully  evinced 
in  Bengal  during  the  last  twenty  or  thirty  years  ;  for  both 
the  population  and  the  land  revenue  of  that  part  of  our 
Indian  empire  have  greatly  increased.  A  great  deal  of 
waste  land  has  been  cultivated,  and  various  works  have 
been  undertaken  that  would  not  be  so  much  as  dreamed 
of  in  any  other  part  of  our  empire  in  the  East.  But,  with 
all  this,  there  has  been  but  little,  if  any,  improvement  in 
the  condition  of  the  people  of  Bengal  under  our  govern- 
ment. They,  in  fact,  are  practically  excluded  from  at  least 
all  direct  participation  in  the  benefits  resulting  from  the 
limitation  of  the  assessment.  They  have  merely  ex- 
changed one  task-master  for  another.  It  is  their  landlords 
who  have  been  the  great  gainers.  The  occupiers  still, 
generally  speaking,  hold  under  the  metayer  principle,  pay- 
ing half  or  even  more  of  their  produce  as  rent ;  so  that 
their  poverty  is  often  extreme,  and  their  condition  not  in- 
frequently inferior  even  to  that  of  the  hired  labourer,  who 
receives  the  miserable  pittance  of  two  annas,  or  about  3d. 
a  day  as  wages, 

It  seems,  however,  as  if  there  were  some  strange  fatality 
attending  the  government  of  India  :  and  that  the  greatest 
talents  and  the  best  intentions  should,  when  applied  to 
legislate  for  that  country,  produce  only  the  most  pernicious 
uroiects.  The  perpetual  settlement  carried  into  effect  by 
v  1079 


RYTINA. 

Lord  Cornwallis  in  Bengal  was  keenly  opposed  by  Lord 
Teignmouth,  Colonel  Wilkes,  Mr. Thackeray,  SirT.  Monro, 
and  others,  whose  opinions  on  such  subjects  are.  certainly 
entitled  to  very  great  respect ;  and  it  would  seem  that  the 
Board  of  Control  became,  at  length,  favourable  to  their 
Mews.  In  consequence  of  this  change  of  opinion  it  was 
resolved  to  introduce  a  different  system,  under  the  super- 
intendence of  in  zealous  advocate,  Sir  Thomas  Monro, 
into  the  presidency  of  Madras,  or  Fort  St.  George.  This 
new  system  has  received  the  name  of  the  ryotwar  settle- 
ment. It  proceeds  on  the  assumption  that  government 
possesses  the  entire  property  of  the  soil,  and  may  dispose 
of  it  at  pleasure:  no  middlemen  or  zemindars  are  inter- 
posed between  the  sovereign  and  cultivators:  the  ryots 
being  brought  into  immediate  contact  with  the  collectors 
appointed  by  government  to  receive  their  rents.  It  is  im- 
possible tor  us  to  enter  into  the  details  of  this  system, 
which  are  complicated  In  the  hiehest  degree  ;  but  we  beg 
to  refer  the  reader  for  full  information  to  the  Oeog.  Diet., 
art.  "  India,  British." 

RYTIN'A.  (Gr.  fivTtf,  a  furrotp)  The  name  of  a  genus 
of  herbivorous  Cetaceans,  of  which  a  species  inhabiting 
the  coasts  of  Kamtschatka  {Rytina  stclleri),  with  a  wrin- 
kled and  furrowed  integument,  is  the  type. 


s. 


S.  A  sibilant  articulation,  found  in  all  the  languages  of 
which  we  have  any  knowledge.  S  may  be  regarded  as  a 
species  of  semivowel,  from  its  forming  a  kind  of  imperfect 
sound  without  the  aid  of  any  of  the  vowels  ;  and  from  its 
peculiar  quality  of  being  able  to  be  sounded  before  all  the 
consonants,  it  has  been  termed  by  grammarians  su<e  potcs- 
tatis  litera.  It  is  susceptible  of  numerous  interchanges, 
both  in  the  ancient  and  modern  languages.  As  an  abbre- 
viation, S  is  used  for  snr ins,  societas,  south,  solo,  &c. 

BA'BAISM,  or  SAIU-'.ISM.  (From  the  Heb. zaba,  lord ; 
whence  Sabaoth,  &c,  or  army,  the  host  of  heaven.)  The 
religion  which  has  for  its  objects  Of  worship  the  sun,  moon, 
and  other  heavenly  bodies.  This  belief  prevailed  in  very 
remote  ages  in  the  Asiatic  countries  between  the  Euphrates 
and  the  Mediterranean  ;  and  ChakUea,  the  native  land  of 
astronomy,  was  its  most  celebrated  seat.  Many  allusions 
are  made  to  this  species  of  worship  in  the  Old  Testament, 
especially  in  the  invectives  of  the  prophets  against  the 
various  forms  of  idolatry  borrowed  by  the  Jews  from  their 
heathen  neighbours.  (See  Sale's  Preliminary  Discourse 
to  the  Koran.)  There  is  a  valuable  memoir  on  the  Sabaism 
of  the  ancient  Persians  by  Foucher,  Mem.  de  I'Ac.  drs  laser.. 
vol.  xxv.,  p.  10U.  See  also  Russell's  Connezion  of  Sacred 
and  Profane  History,  vol.  i. 

SAB A'OTII.  A  Hebrew  word,  signifying  hosts  or  armies. 
It  occurs  in  the  New  Testament  as  a  designation  of  the 
Almighty  (the  Lord  of  Sabaoth). 

SABA'SIA.  In  ancient  Mythology,  festivals  in  honour 
of  various  divinities,  entitled  Sabasii :  the  origin  of  which 
term  is  not  clear.  Mithras,  the  sun,  is  called  Sabasius  in 
ancient  monuments,  whence  the  word  seems  to  have  some 
connexion  with  the  root  of  Sabaism  (see  above)  ;  but 
Bacchus  was  also  thus  denominated,  according  to  some, 
from  the  Sabae,  a  people  of  Thrace  :  and  the  nocturnal 
Sabasia  were  celebrated  in  his  name.  Jupiter  Sabasius 
is  thought  to  be  the  same  as  JEgiochus  ;  the  Phoenician 
word  tsebaoth  signifying  kids,  as  the  Greek  di\  a  goat 
But  there  is  probably,  some  more  general  oriental  meaning, 
which  has  not  ><i  been  reached. 

SABBATA'EIANS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  various 
sects  have  been  so  called  ;  particularly  a  subdivision  of 
the  Anabaptists  in  the  Kith  century,  who  observed  the 
Jewish  sabbath.  The  Sabbatians  of  the  4th  century  were 
followers  of  Sahbatius,  a  .\ovatian  bishop,  who  attempted 
to  introduce  some  Jewish  observance  into  the  church. 
They  are  said  to  have  had  the  singular  peculiarity  of  ab- 
horring the  use  of  the  right  hand;  whence  they  were 
called  Aptcrrpoi,  or  left-handed. 

SA'BIJATH.  A  Hebrew  word  signifying  rest,  applied 
by  the  Jews  to  the  seventh  day  of  their  week  (our  Satur- 
day), on  Which  tiny  were  commanded  to  abstain  from  all 
manner  of  work,  because  "in  six  days  God  created  the 
heavens  and  the  earth,  ami  rested  the  seventh  day."  The 
universal  practice  of  the  Christian  church  from  the  earliest 
period,  in  conformity  to  what  may  be  gathered  from  some 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Aposties,  btai  set  apart  the  first 
day  of  the  week  (Sunday)  for  the  especial  worship  of  God, 
in  memory  of  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord  on  that  day. 
The  obligation  upon  which  the  observance  of  Sunday  rests 
has  been  placed  upon  different  grounds.  The  most  preva- 
lent opinion  supposes  the  commandment  given  to  the  Jews 

Originally  to  I*  of  universal  obligation,  as  far  as  the  observ- 
ance of  one  day  in  seveu.     But  there  have  been  many 
11W0 


SACK. 

divines  in  all  ages  who  have  held  that  all  the  formal  obli- 
gations of  Judaism,  as  well  those  of  the  commandments  as 
those  of  the  Levitjcal  law,  were  abrogated  on  the  advent 
of  our  Saviour,  and  consider  the  consent  of  the  church 
and  the  practice  of  the  Apostles  to  be  the  only  sufficient 
authority  for  this  observance.  It  is  upon  this  principle 
that  the  Continental  churches  hold  themselves  justified  in 
indulging  in  all  sorts  of  worldly  recreation  on  Sundays, 
alter  the  services  of  public  worship  are  concluded.  Arch- 
bishop Whately  lias  recently  drawn  attention  to  the  subject 
by  his  able  arguments  against  the  popular  opinions  on 
which  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  is  made  to  rest. 

The  name  Sabbatarians  was  given  to  some  early  sects 
of  Judaising  Christians,  who  insisted  on  the  observance  of 
the  Sabbath  (Saturday)  under  the  new  dispensation. 

SABBATICAL  YEAR.  Every  seventh  year  among 
the  Jews  was  so  called,  because  on  that  year  the  land 
was  allowed  to  lie  fallow,  and  the  people  were  supported 
by  the  tripled  produce  of  the  year  preceding.  (Exod.,  xxiii., 
10;  Levit.,  xxv.,  3,20.) 

SABE'LLIANS.  Heretics  of  the  3d  century,  followers 
of  Sabellius,  whose  system  was  an  attempt  to  explain  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity  by  representing  the  Father  as  the 
sole  person,  and  the  Son  and  Spirit  as  attributes,  or  ema- 
nations from  him.  Thus  they  compared  the  Divinity  to 
the  sun ;  of  which  the  Father  would  be  analogous  to  the 
substance,  the  Son  to  the  light,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  to  the 
heat.  This  scheme  has  been  known  in  later  times  as 
that  of  the  Modal  Trinity  ;  and  some  divines  of  the  or- 
thodox English  Church  have  found  themselves  entangled 
in  it,  when  attempting  to  explain  accurately  the  mysteri- 
ous doctrine  to  which  it  refers.  On  the  other  hand,  their 
opponents  have  been  led,  inadvertently  in  some  cases,  to 
make  too  formal  a  distinction  of  the  Three  Persons,  and 
have  thereby  subjected  themselves  to  the  charge  of  Trithe- 
ism.     (See  Mosheim.  transl.  ed.,  1790,  vol.  i.,  p.  305.) 

SA'BIANS.  A  Christian  sect,  also  called  Christians  of 
Saint  John  ;  thought  by  some  to  be  the  remnant  of  the 
Jewish  Hemerobaptists  found  in  Persia  and  Arabia,  prin- 
cipally at  Basra.  (See  Mem.  de  VAc.  des  Inscr.,  vol.  xii. ; 
and  Mosheim,  vol.  iv.) 

SA'BLE.  A  small  quadruped,  allied  to  the  martin-cat, 
celebrated  for  the  fine  quality  and  rich  colour  of  its  fur,  of 
which  the  hairs  turn  with  equal  ease  in  every  direction. 
A  single  skin  of  the  darker  colour,  though  not  above  four 
inches  broad,  has  been  valued  as  high  as  jt'15.  The  sable 
(Mustela  zibellina,  Linn.)  is  principally  a  native  of  the 
northern  regions  of  Asia:  it  is  hunted  and  killed  for  the 
Russian  market,  either  by  a  single  ball,  a  blunt  arrow,  or 
traps,  by  exiles  or  soldiers  sent  for  that  purpose  in  the  des- 
erts of  Siberia.  The  skin  is  in  the  highest  perfection  from 
November  to  February.  A  nearly  allied  animal,  called 
the  "  fisher,"  inhabits  North  America,  and  is  similarly 
sought  after  and  destroyed  for  its  fur. 

Sable.  In  Heraldry,  black  :  derived,  probably,  from 
the  fur  of  the  animal  sable.  One  of  the  colours,  or  tinc- 
tures, employed  in  blazonry.  It  is  equivalent  to  diamond 
among  precious  stones,  Saturn  among  planets.  In  engra- 
ving, it  is  represented  by  vertical  and  horizontal  lines 
crossing  each  other. 

SACCHA'RIC  ACID.  (Lat.  saccharum,  sugar.)  An 
uncrystallizable  acid  product,  formed  along  with  oxalie 
acid  during  the  action  of  nitric  acid  on  sugar. 

SA'CCHAROID.  (Lat.  saccharum,  and  Gr.  £«5oc,  form.) 
A  texture  resembling  that  of  loaf  sugar ;  as  saccharoiu 
carbonate  of  lime,  &c. 

SACCHARO'METER.  (Lat.  saccharum,  and  Gr.  ncroov, 
a  measure.)  An  instrument  for  determining  the  specific 
gravity  of  brewers'  and  distillers'  worts. 

SA'CCHARUM,     See  Sugar. 

SACCHOL.VCTIC  ACID.  (Lat.  saccharum,  and  lae, 
milk.)  An  acid  obtained  by  digesting  sugar  of  milk  in 
nitric  acid.  It  is  identical  with  that  obtained  from  gum, 
and  termed  mucous  arid. 

BA'CER  MO'RBUS.  (Lat  sacred  disease.)  One  of  the 
names  applied  by  the  older  writers  to  epilepsy,  though 
other  disorders  were  also  occasionally  similarly  desig- 
nated. 

SACK.  (Fr.  vin  ser,  from  which  the  term  is  generally 
supposed  to  be  derived.)  A  Spanish  wine  of  the  dry  kind. 
The  import  ant  part  which  it  plays  in  Shakspeare  is  well 
known.  Falstall"  calls  it  sherris  sack,  which  means  sher- 
ry sack;  so  called,  says  Blount,  in  his  Olossographia, 
from  Seres,  a  sea  town  of  Corduba,  where  that  kind  of 
sack  is  made.  At  a  later  period,  sack  seems  to  have  been 
used  as  n  general  term  for  all  kinds  of  sweet  wines  ;  and 
it  lias  been  conjectured  that,  instead  of  being  a  corruption 
Of  the  French  sec,  as  above  noticed,  it  derives  its  name 
more  probably  from  a  common  practice  of  the  Spaniards, 
of  putting  their  sweet  wines  into  sacks  made  of  goat 
skins,  and  thus  transporting  them  from  one  place  to  an- 
other. 


SACKBUT. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  observe,  that  the  term  sack,  in 
the  sense  of  a  bag,  is  found  in  all  the  European  and  many 
Asiatic  languages. 

SA'CKBUT.  A  wind  instrument  of  the  trumpet  species, 
but  differing  from  the  common  trumpet  in  form  and  size. 
It  is  of  low  or  bass  pitch,  and  is  drawn  out  or  shortened 
by  means  of  sliders,  according  to  the  acuteness  or  gravity 
of  the  tone  to  be  produced.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  trombone  of 
the  Italians. 

SA'CRAMENT.  (Lat.  an  oath.)  The  military  oath 
taken  by  every  Roman  soldier,  by  which  he  swore  to  obey 
his  commander  and  not  desert  his  standard. 

Sacrament.  In  Theology,  a  word  which  does  not  oc- 
cur in  Scripture,  nor  possesses  any  exact  equivalent  there  ; 
but  employed  very  early  by  writers  in  theology  to  signify 
certain  distinctive  ceremonies  of  the  Christian  faith.  Our 
Saviour  appointed  the  baptism  of  believers  as  an  initiatory 
rite  ;  he  also  commanded  the  observance  of  the  supper  of 
the  Lord  to  be  held  in  remembrance  of  him.  These,  then, 
are  the  badges  by  which  Christian  men  are  known,  and 
by  which  they  make  .profession  of  their  belief.  The  ex- 
pressions of  Scripture,  moreover,  with  which  the  appoint- 
ment of  these  ceremonies  is  attended,  have  been  generally 
considered  to  attach  some  ulterior  meaning  to  them.  The 
one  is  called  the  second  birth,  the  other  is  said  to  be  the 
communion  of  the  body  and  blood  of  our  Saviour  Christ ; 
and  the  mysteries  which  seem  to  be  concealed  under  these 
terms  have  been  made  the  subjects  of  various  interpreta- 
tions. According  to  the  general  consent  of  ancient  ortho- 
doxy, the  sacraments  have  in  themselves  a  peculiar  effica- 
cy, conferring  grace  upon  the  recipient,  and  imparting  to 
him  the  benefits  of  the  Christian  covenant.  The  Romish 
Church  is  accused  of  holding  the  extreme  opinion  that  this 
grace  is  conferred  ex  opere  operato,  by  the  mere  act,  the  re- 
cipient remaining  passive  ;  that  they  fail  of  operation  only 
where  he  is  under  the  influence  of  positive  sin  ;  but  that 
the  administration  of  the  Eucharist  to  a  dying  man  uncon- 
scious of  the  whole  proceeding,  would  have  the  same  ef- 
fect as  if  he  received  it  in  the  most  holy  frame  of  mind. 
The  English  Church  requires  the  worthy  acceptation  of 
the  person  himself,  as  is  expressly  stated,  with  a  tacit  ref- 
erence to  this  superstitious  notion,  in  its  twenty-fifth  arti- 
cle. It  guards,  at  the  same  time,  against  the  idea  very 
generally  held  among  the  Protestant  Churches  abroad,  and 
our  own  dissenting  sects,  in  the  words  with  which  the 
article  begins  :  "  Sacraments  ordained  of  Christ  be  not 
only  signs  or  tokens  of  Christian  men's  profession  ;  but, 
rather  they  be  certain  sure  witnesses  and  effectual  signs 
of  grace,  and  God's  will  towards  us,  by  the  which  he  doth 
work  invisibly  in  us,  and  doth  not  only  quicken,  but  also 
strengthen  and  confirm  our  faith  in  him." 

The  question  as  to  the  number  of  such  ceremonies  must 
be  settled  by  the  definitions  of  a  sacrament  which  theolo- 
gians shall  propound.  It  is  agreed  that  a  sacrament  is  a 
federal  rite,  instituted  by  Christ  or  the  Apostles,  with  a 
direct  appointment  of  matter  by  which  some  interior 
meaning  is  signified,  and  the  form  or  manner  of  its  appli- 
cation. This  definition  is  conceived  by  Protestants  to  re- 
strict the  number  to  two  only  ;  the  Romanists  extend  it  to 
seven,  adding  to  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  Confir- 
mation, Penance,  Orders,  Matrimony,  and  Extreme  Unc- 
tion. 

SA'CRED  WAR.  The  most  remarkable  known  by  this 
name  in  classical  history  is  that  which  commenced  with 
the  seizure  of  Delphi  by  the  Phocians,  B.C.  357,  anil  was 
ended  by  the  conquest  of  the  Phocians  by  Philip  of  Mace- 
don,  B.C.  346,  according  to  the  chronology  of  Clinton. 
(Fasti  Hdlen.ici.) 

SA'CRIFICE.  Generally  any  offering  made  to  the 
Deity  ;  but  more  properly  that  of  a  victim  upon  an  altar, 
accompanied  by  customary  ceremonies  and  forms  of 
prayer,  with  the  idea  of  gratifying  God  and  averting  his 
displeasure.  In  the  Scriptures  we  meet  with  offerings, 
both  of  fruits  and  of  animals,  antecedent  to  any  command 
or  institution  of  God  ;  such  as  those  of  Cain  and  Abel ;  of 
Noah  and  the  Patriarchs  ;  many  of  which,  nevertheless, 
are  described  as  acceptable  to  him.  In  the  Levitical  Law, 
however,  sacrifices  are  ordained  bv  divine  appointment; 
and  a  question  arises  as  to  the  probability  of  a  similar 
command  having  been  in  fact  given  to  our  first  parents. 
The  universality  of  the  practice  undoubtedly  requires 
either  the  supposition  of  an  original  revelation,  or  the  dis- 
covery of  a  common  principle  impelling  all  men  alike  to 
the  adoption  of  what  at  first  sight  seems  to  militate  against 
our  ideas  of  reason,  and  the  absurdity  of  which  has,  we 
know,  been  represented  in  the  strongest  light  by  the  sages 
of  all  nations  at  a  certain  period  of  the  intellectual  devel- 
opment of  each.  Those  divines  who  consider  the  ap- 
pointment to  have  emanated  directly  from  God  conceive  it 
to  have  been,  from  the  first,  typical  of  the  last  and  great- 
est sacrifice — that  of  our  Saviour  on  the  cross.  It  may 
fairly  be  asked  of  those  who  look  for  logical  reasons  for 
all  divine  appointments,  whether,  upon  human  principles, 
91 


SAFETY  LAMP. 

it  seems  the  more  probable  that  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  be- 
ing predetermined,  the  notion  should  be  familiarized  to 
mankind  by  ordaining  a  previous  practice  ;  or  that,  the 
practice  existing  and  having  a  meaning  of  its  own  in  all 
minds,  the  new  revelation  should  be  accommodated  to  our 
notions  by  adopting  that  very  practice  for  its  foundation  % 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  follow  the  general  current  of 
modern  opinion  upon  this  subject,  and  inquire  for  some 
general  principle  of  our  nature  to  account  for  the  univer- 
sal reception  of  the  ideas,  we  may  discover  it  perhaps  in 
the  perpetual  sense  of  obligation  with  which  the  enjoy- 
ment of  prosperity  is  properly  accompanied,  and  which  in 
some  minds  takes  the  form  of  grateful  acknowledgment, 
and  the  devotion  to  the  giver  of  some  portion  of  the  gifts 
by  which  we  are  ourselves  gratified  ;  and  in  others  be- 
comes an  uneasy  scruple,  and  suggests  the  voluntary  sur- 
render of  a  part  with  a  view  to  the  more  secure  enjoy- 
ment of  the  remainder. 

SA'CRILEGE.  (Lat.  sacrilegium.)  The  profanation 
of  anything  or  place  consecrated  to  the  service  of  God. 

SA'CRISTY.  (Lat.  sacer,  sacred.)  In  Architecture, 
an  apartment  attached  to  a  church,  in  which  the  conse- 
crated vessels  of  the  church,  and  the  garments  in  which 
the  clergyman  officiates,  &c,  are  deposited. 

SA'CRUM.  The  posterior  bone  of  the  pelvis,  articula- 
ted to  the  last  lumbar  vertebra,  and  firmly  united  on  each 
side  to  the  hip  bones  ;  below,  the  os  coccygis  is  attached 
to  it.  It  probably  derives  its  name  from  having  been  of- 
fered by  the  ancients  in  sacrifices.  In  young  subjects  it 
is  composed  of  five  or  six  pieces  united  by  cartilages,  but 
in  more  advanced  age  it  becomes  one  bone. 

SADDER.  A  work  in  the  modern  Persian  tongue,  com- 
prising a  summary  of  various  parts  of  the  Zendavesta,  or 
sacred  books  of  the  ancient  Persians  (which  see).  The 
authority  and  character  of  the  Sadder  are  supposed  to  be 
very  small ;  some  attribute  it  to  the  Parsees,  and  give  it 
an  antiquity  of  several  centuries  ;  others  consider  it  a 
more  modern  forgery.  (See  Mem.  dc  VAc.  des  Inscr.,  vol. 
xxxviii.) 

SADDLE.  In  Sea  Language,  a  lump  of  wood  acting 
as  a  seat  or  rest  to  the  heel  of  a  boom,  and  shaped  ac- 
cordingly. 

SA'DDUCEES.  A  peculiar  sect  of  religionists  among 
the  Jews.  It  is  remarked  that  during  the  time  that  proph- 
ets are  recorded  to  have  arisen  among  the  Jews,  there  is 
no  account  of  the  existence  of  any  sects  among  them: 
they  frequently  fell  away  into  total  idolatry  ;  but  when- 
ever recalled  from  that  corruption,  they  appear  to  have 
reverted  in  a  body  to  the  pure  religion  of  their  ancestors, 
and  never  to  have  been  separated  in  religious  distinctions 
among  themselves.  The  most  ancient  sect  was  that  of 
the  Sadducees,  whose  founder,  Sadok,  lived  about  250 
years  B.C.  He  appears  to  have  restricted  the  providence 
of  God  to  the  distribution  of  the  temporal  rewards  and 
punishments  which  form  the  main  feature  of  the  old  dis- 
pensation. In  the  time  of  our  Saviour  his  followers  en- 
tirely rejected  the  doctrine  of  a  resurrection.  They  were 
assimilated  also  to  the  Epicureans  in  maintaining  the  per- 
fect freedom  of  human  actions  ;  and,  like  those  pagan 
philosophers,  were  few  in  number,  and  only  of  the  high- 
est and  most  literary  classes.  They  were  distinguished 
also  from  the  Pharisees  by  the  rejection  of  traditions,  and 
by  strict  adherence  to  the  written  law  alone.  (See  Mil- 
man's  Hist,  of  Christianity,  vol.  i.,  p.  75,  211.) 

SA'FETY  LAMP.  A  iainp  invented  by  Sir  H.  Davy, 
which  is  so  constructed  as  to  burn  without  danger  in  an 
explosive  atmosphere.  Flame  may  be  considered  as  va- 
pour or  aeriform  matter  in  a  state  of  intense  ignition  ;  the 
temperature,  therefore,  of  flame  is  always  very  high.  It 
is,  however,  independent  of  its  luminosity;  for  some  of 
the  dimmest  flames,  those  of  pure  hydrogen  gas,  and  of  al- 
cohol, for  instance,  are  those  which  are  hottest ;  and  that 
this  is  so  may  be  shown  by  projecting  into  them  finely- 
powdered  substances,  such  as  magnesia  or  lamp-black,  or 
by  holding  in  them  fine  platinum  wire,  when  the  intensity 
of  their  temperature  is  rendered  evident  by  those  substan- 
ces becoming  white  hot.  And  whenever  flames  emit 
much  light  they  derive  that  property  from  the  presence  of 
finely  divided  matter  diffused  through  them :  thus,  the  in- 
tense brilliancy  of  the  flame  of  phosphorus  appears  to 
depend  upon  the  particles  of  incombustible  phosphoric 
acid  diffused  through  it ;  and  the  bright  light  emitted  by  a 
gas  flame  depends  upon  finely-divided  charcoal,  which  is 
ignited  by  the  gas  and  at  the  same  time  burned.  The 
correctness  of  this  theory  of  flame  is  shown  by  the  circum- 
stance of  its  being  extinguished  by  cooling ;  and  this  is 
best  effected  by  causing  it  to  pass  through  a  piece  of  fine 
wire  gauze,  which,  when  held  horizontally  in  the  midst 
of  the  flame,  extinguishes  its  upper  part :  the  inflammable 
vapour  or  gas,  and  the  soot  or  carbon,  pass  through,  but 
in  passing  are  so  far  cooled  as  to  be  extinguished  ;  they 
may,  however,  be  rekindled  by  applying  a  flame  above 
the  wire  gauze.  That  the  wire  gauze  merely  acts  by 
3  X  *  1081 


SAFETY  VALVE. 


SAIL. 


its  cooling  power,  is  shown  by  the  flame 
_  ' : r.  .uuli  it  when  it  acquires  a  white 
beat,  or  when  its  meshes  ore  not  Bne  enough 
to  exert  a  due  cooling  power ;  it  is  also  round 
th.it  very  hot  flames,  such  as  that  of  hydro- 
gen, will"  piss  through  tissues  which  are  Im- 
pervious to  flames  of  a  lower  temperature, 
such  as  that  of  a  common  candfe  or  a  gas 


PA 'no.     A  species  of  ferula  or  starch  obtained  from  the 
of  an  Easl  Indian   palm   tree,  the   Sagus 
..     farinifera.    It  is  usually  granulated,  and   known  in  the 
S_^S.         to  exert  a  due  cooling  power ;  it  is  also  ton, id     trade  under  the  name  of  pearl  sago. 

thm  , vn-  hni  flame*   .nrfc  :,«  ii,-,t  ,,(-  i,,-,i,,,_         xhe  tree,  when  at  maturity,  is  about  30  feet  hich.  and 

from  I-'  t.i  22  inches  in  diameter.    Before  the  formation  of 

the   fruit,  the  stem  consists  of  an  external  wall   about  2 

inches  thick,  the  whole  interior  being  filled  up  with  a  sort 

flame.      ( See   I'umk.)      The   application    of    of  spongy,   medullary   matter.     When   the  tree   attains  to 

these  principles  to  the  construction  of  the    maturity,  and  the  fruit  is  formed,  the  stem  is  quite  hollow. 

safety   lamp   is  as  follows:  The   flame   of  a  j  Being  cut  down  at  a  proper  period,  the  medullary  part  is 

extracted  from  the  trunk,  and  reduced  to  a  powder  like 
sawdust.  The  filaments  are  next  separated  by  washing. 
The  meal  is  then  laid  to  dry  ;  and  being  made  into  cakes  is 
haked  and  eaten.  For  exp<  natation,  the  finest  sngo  meal 
is  mixed  with  water,  and  the  paste  rubbed  into  small  grains 
of  the  size  and  form  of  coriander  seeds.  This  is  the  species 
principally  brought  to  England,  for  which  market  it  should 
be  chosen  of  a  reddisll  hue.  and  readily  dissolving  in  hot 
and  burns  fa  the  cage  :  but,  in  consequence  water  into  a  fine  jelly.  Within  these  fvw  years,  however, 
of  the  cooling  power  of  the  wire  gauze,  no  |  a  process  has  been  'invented  by  the  Chinese  for  refining 
tl  ime  can  pass  outwards  so  as  to  ignite  the  sur-  sago,  so  as  to  give  it  a  fine  pearly  lustre  ;  and  the  sago  so 
rounding  atmosphere:  the  miner,  therefore,  is  warned  of  cured  is  in  the  highest  estimation  in  all  the  European 
his  danger  by  the  appearance  of  the  lamp.  As  long  as  j  markets.  It  is  a  light,  wholesome,  nutritious  food.  It  is 
the  external  atmosphere  is  safe,  the  lamp  burns  as  usual  ;  '  sent  from  the  islands  w  here  it  is  grown  to  Singapore,  where 
but  upon  the  approach  of  the  fire-damp  the  flame  is  more  it  is  granulated  and  bleached  by  the  Chinese.  The  export 
or  less  enlarged;  and  in  the  most  explosive  condition  of  trane  to  Europe  and  India  is  now  principally  confined  to 
the  surrounding  air  the  cyltndc  r  appears  rilled  with  a  blue  |  that  settlement.     (Ainslie's  Mat.  Indica ;  Crawfurd's  East. 


small  oil  lamp  C  is  surrounded  by  a  cylinder 

of  wire  gauze  A  u  (doubled  at  A,  where  like- 
ly to  become  h  ittest,  and  protected  by  the 

stout  wire  frame  D).  and  bums  within  it,  the 
air  having  free  ingress  and  egress.  When  it 
is  immersed  in  an  explosive  atmosphere,  such 

as  that  Of  a  coal  mine  infested  by  fire-damp, 
the   inflammable    gas    enters  from   without 


lambent  flame,  which  flickers  within  it,  the  wick  of  the 
lamp  appearing  for  the  time  extinguished.  It  is,  however, 
rekindled  as  the  air  becomes  more  pure  ;  or  should  the 
fire-damp  greatly  predominate,  it  may  be  entirely  extin- 
guished. Before  this  happens,  however,  the  miner  is  duly- 
apprised  of  his  danger,  and  has  time  to  retreat.  (See 
Darn  on  the  Safety  Lamp.) 

SAFETY  VALVE.     Ace  Steam  Engine. 

B  VITI.oWKK.  The  dried  flowers  of  the  Carthamvs 
tinctorius,  or  bastard  saffron,  used  as  a  dye  stuff,  and  in 
the  preparation  of  the  pigment  called  rouge. 


.Irchip..  vol.  i.,  p.  363-393 ;  vol.  in.,  p.  348 ;  Bill's  Rl  view  of 
the  Commerce  of  Bengal,  <j-e.) 

The  consumption  of  sago  has  undergone  an  almost  in- 
credible increase  within  the  last  twenty  years,  which  is 
wholly  ascribable  to  the  reduction,  in  the  interval,  of  the 
oppressive  duties  by  which  the  article  was  formerly  load- 
ed.—  (  Pa/irrs  published  by  the  Board  of  Trade.) 

SA'GUM.  The  military  dress  of  the  Roman  magistrates 
and  dignitaries  ;  a  cloak  fastened  at  the  breast  with  a  clasp. 
The  same  name  was  given  to  the  ordinary  dress  of  several 
barbarous  nations.     Thus  Tacitus  says  of  the  Germans, 


S  \  I'FRi  >\.     The  prepared  stigmata  o?  the  Crocus  sat-  I  tegumen  omnibus  sagum  :  and  Varro  and  Diodorus  Siculus 
irus.     The  stigmata  of  this  purple  crocus  are  of  a  deep  :  represent  it  as  the  costume  of  the  Cauls. 


orange  colour,  and  when  in  quantity  have  a  peculiar  and 
very  characteristic  odour :  they  are  used  in  medicine, 
chiefly  as  a  rich  yellow  or  orange  colouring  matter.  Saf- 
fron is  now  chiefly  imported  from  the  south  of  Europe,  es- 
pecially Spain  :  it  was  formerly  largely  cultivated  in  this 
country  in  the  vicinity  of  Saffron  Walden  in  Cambridge- 
shire. S  i  (Iron  is  often  largely  adulterated  with  the  petals 
of  other  plants,  especially  with  those  of  the  marigold. 

SA  G  \.  Tie-  gi  neral  name  of  those  ancient  composi- 
tions which  comprise  at  once  the  history  and  mythology 
of  the  northern  European  races.  Their  language  i-  difler- 
ent  from  the  modern  Danish,  Swedish,  and  Norwegian, 
and  is  more  powerful  and  expressive  than  either  of  these 
later  dialects.     Of  the  mythological  sagas  the  most  fa- 


SA'HLITE.     In  Mineralogy,  a  variety  of  augite  from  the 
silver  mine, of  Sahla  in  Sweden. 

SAIL.  A  surface  obtained  by  canvass,  mat,  or  other 
|  material,  by  the  action  of  the  wind  on  which,  w  hen  e.\- 
I  tended,  the  vessel  is  moved.  A  sail  extended  by  a  yard 
hung  [slung]  by  the  middle  and  balanced,  is  called  a  square 
sail:  a  sail  set  upon  a  gaff  or  a  stay,  is  called  a  fort  and 
aft  sail;  which  terms  refer  to  the  position  of  the  yard, 
gaff,  or  stay,  when  the  sail  is  not  set.  The  upper  part  of 
every  sail  is  the  head,  the  lower  part  the  foot ;  the  sides  in 
general  are  called  leeches  ;  but  the  weather  or  side  edge  of 
any  but  a  square  sail  i<  called  the  luff,  and  the  other  edge 
the  after  leech.  The  upper  two  corners  are  earings,  but 
tint  i  'l  a  jib  is  the  head  ;  the  lower  two  corners  are  In  gen- 


inoiis  are  the  saga  of  Regnar,  Lodbrok,  the  Hervarar  saga,  t.ral  clu,s  ;  the  weather  clue  of  a  fore  and  aft  sail,  or  of  a 

the  Voluspa  saga,  and  the  Wilkina  saga.     The  historical  course  while  set,  is  the  tacA\    The  edges  of  a  sail  are 

numerous;  the  Jomsvilkangia saga  and  the  Kaf  strengthened  by  a  rope  called  the  bolt  rape.    The  ropes  at 

comprehend  much  of  the  early  annals  of  Nor-  the  upper  and  lower  edges  are  the  head  and  foot  ropes  of 

way  and  Denmark;  the  Eyrbiggia  >a_',a  is  the  chief  his-  the  sail.    The  canvass  or  sail-cloth  is  made  in  bolts ;  and 

h  ument  of  ancient  Iceland.  It  is,  however,  to  he  the  qualities  are  numbi  red  from  \o.  I.  which  is  the  strong- 
remembered,  that  the  chief  object  of  the  relators  is  the  in-  est,  and  is  used  for  sturui  sails,  to  No.  -.  which  is  used  for 


t>  resl  of  the  narrative  :  so  that  as  mere  histories  they  are 
of  imperfect  value.  Many  of  them  are  collected  iii  the 
great  w..rk  of  Snorre  Sturleson  c  tiled  II,  imskringla.  The 
period  of  these  compositions  is  considered 
by  antiqu  >.  ithin  the  12th  and  13fh  centuries. 


the  smallest  sails,  as  mii  ill  studding  sails,  he.,  which  the 
seamen  commonly  caMfiying  kites.  The  cloths  in  a  square 
sail  are  seamed  vertically  ;  in  a  fore  and  aft  sail  they  are 
parallel  to  the  after  leech.  In  this  way  the  strain  of  the 
sheet  diffuses  itself  over  the  canvass  b  >th  along  and  across 


BAGA  PENl  M.    A  fetid  gum-resin  brought  from  Persia  the  ,i  ahs.     Discussions  have,  however,  arisen  as  to  the 

r.dria.  probably  the  produce  of  a  species  of /eru/o.  best  mode  of  seaming.    When  a  seam  op.  as.  the  sail  often 

ionallj   used  in  medicine  as  a  nervine  and  stim-  splits.     Captain  Cowan    took  out  a  patent  for  horizontal 

ulating  expectorant.    It<  odour  somewhat  resembles  that  seaming;  he  n  m                     on  the  Construction  of  Sails, 

fffitida,  hut  it  is  much  weaker.  <$..<;.)  it,,,  sl„i,   sails  when   they  split  remain  full,  ami  are 

S  \  GGER.     A  clay  used  in  making  the  pots  in  which  less  liable  to  blow  away,  and  that  they  also  were  found  to 

earthenware  is  baked,  and  which  are  called  saggers  or  last  much  longer.     The  plan,  however,  has  not  been  ap- 

eeggers.    _                      _                   ^  proved.    Diagonal  seaming,  which  has  also  had  its  advo- 

BAGGING  Tii  LEEWARD.    A  .Nautical  term,  deno-  cates,  is  defective  in  principle ;  for  it  must  bring  the  strain 

ting  the  movement  by  which  a  ship  make,  considerable  of  a  sheet  either  on  a  single  cloth,  or  entirely  across  the 


leeway. 

SAGI'TTA.  I. at.  arrow,  or  dart.)  One  of  Ptolemy's 
4J  constellations  in  the  northern  hemisphere.  See  Cok- 
STKLLA.TION. 

i  \.     A   term   used   by  the  older  writers  on  trigo- 
nometry to  denote  the  versed  sine  of  an  are:  from  its  re- 
semblance to  an  arrow  standing  on  the  chord  of  to 
arc. 

BAGITTATttroS.    (Lat  the  Jlrther.)   One  of  the  twelve 

COnstell  itions  of  the  zodiac.     It  is  represented  on  celestial 


stitches. 

Sails  take  their  names  from  the  mast,  yard,  or  stay  upon 
which  they  are  stretched.  Thus,  the  principal  sail  ax- 
tended  upon  tin-  main  mast  is  called  the  main  sail;  the 
next  above,  which  stands   upon  the  main  lop  mast,  is  the 

mast  sni;  above  which  is  the  main-top-gallant 
sail :  and  above  all,  the  main  royal.  Ill  like  m  inner,  there 
are  thi'  fori  sail,  the  fore-top  sail,  the  fore  top-gallant  sail, 
and  the  fori  royal;  and  similar  appellations  are  given  to 

iipported  b]  the  mitten  or  after  mast.    The  inain- 


glObei  and  charts  by  the  figure  of  a  centaur  in  the  act  of    stay  sail,  main  &  ween   the 

Shooting  an  arrow  from  his  how.  main  and  tore  masts;  and  the  mizten  Staysail,  iitf.zcn-top- 

BAGI'TTATE.     (Lot.  sagitta,  on  arrow.)    In  Zoology,  \mu  tic,  are  between   the  mam  and  mizzen 

a  part  of  an  animal   is  so  called  when  it  is  triangular  and     masts.     Between  th"  foremast  mid  bowsprit  are  the  for* 
hollowed  out  at  the  base,  with  posterior  angles.  |  staysail,  the/or*  top  mast  staysail,  thsjib,  and  some  limes 


SAILING. 

a  firing  jib  and  middle  jib.  Square  sails  extended  by  yards 
under  the  bowsprit  and  jib-booms  are  called  sprit  sails ; 
and  the  studding  sails  are  those  which  are  extended  upon 
the  different  yards  of  the  main  mast  and  fore  mast. 

To  make  sail,  is  to  set  sail.  To  shorten  sail,  is  to  take  in 
some  sail.  To  loose  sails,  is  to  spread  or  hang  out  the  sails 
that  had  been  furled  to  air  them,  or  for  the  purpose  of  set- 
ting afterwards.  To  strike  sail,  is  to  lower  the  yard  or 
gaff  of  a  sail  when  set,  in  token  of  salute. 

The  common  theory  of  sails  which  assume  the  impact 
of  columns  of  air  is  radically  defective  ;  for  it  is  a  fact  fa- 
miliar to  sailors  that  the  reef  points,  or  any  light  stuff  by 
accident  in  the  same  situation,  hang  vertically  in  the  hol- 
low of  the  sail,  as  in  a  calm,  thereby  proving  that  the  sail 
is  filled  with  a  mass  of  air,  quiescent  or  nearly  so,  and 
maintained  in  a  state  of  statical  pressure;  whereas,  if  the 
common  theory  were  true,  the  points  would  lie  flat  to  the 
canvass,  as  weeds  are  pressed  against  the  bank  of  a  stream. 
Hence  it  follows  that  (as  all  sailors  believe  who  have  not 
mixed  with  their  practice  the  fragments  of  imperfect  the- 
ories) there  is  a  certain  extent  of  hollow  or  belly  which  in- 
creases the  effect  of  the  sail.  It  of  course  adds  to  the  ef- 
fect of  sails  to  wet  them,  by  swelling  the  threads  and 
closing  the  pores:  this  practice  is  often  resorted  to  in 
chase. 

SAILING.  In  Navigation,  the  art  of  directing  a  ship 
on  a  given  line  laid  down  in  a  chart.  It  is  called  plane 
Baiting  when  the  chart  is  constructed  on  the  supposition 
that  the  earth's  surface  (or  rather  the  surface  of  the  ocean) 
is  an  extended  plane  ;  and  globular  sailing,  when  the  chart 
is  a  globular  chart,  or  constructed  on  the  supposition  that 
the  earth  is  a  sphere.     See  Navigation. 

SAILING  ORDER,  or  ORDF.Il  OF  SAILING.  Any 
determinate  order  preserved  by  a  squadron  of  ships.  It 
usually  implies  1,  2,  or  3  parallel  columns,  but  is  at  the  dis- 
position of  the  admiral. 

SAINFOLV.  (Hedysarum  onabrychis.)  A  plant  of  the 
family  of  the  Leguminosa.  It  will  not  thrive  well  except 
when  the  soil  or  subsoil  is  calcareous,  and  is  consequently 
not  generally  met  with  in  this  country ;  though  it  is  ex- 
tensively cultivated  on  the  Cotswold  Hills,  and  on  the 
chalk  soils  of  Dorset,  Hants,  Wilts,  &c.  It  generally  re- 
in iins  tor  eight  or  ten  years — a  much  longer  period  than  it 
does  in  France.  It  is  made  into  hay,  the  after  crop  being 
eaten  by  cattle. 

SAINT  JOHN,  KNIGHTS  OF ;  or  HOSPITALLERS. 
A  military  order  of  religious  persons.  They  derived  their 
name  from  a  church  and  monastery  dedicated  to  St.  John 
the  Baptist,  founded  at  Jerusalem  about  1048,  by  merchants 
from  Amalti,  the  brotherhood  of  its  members  being  devoted 
to  the  duty  of  taking  care  of  poor  and  sick  pilgrims.  The 
order  was  instituted  as  a  military  brotherhood  by  Raymond 
du  Puy,  its  principal,  early  in  the  12th  century.  It  was 
divided  into  three  ranks — knights,  chaplains,  and  servitors  ; 
and  in  its  military  capacity  it  was  bound  to  defend  the 
church  against  the  infidels.  It  possessed  various  posses- 
sions and  settlements  at  different  times  in  different  parts  of 
the  East.  In  the  13th  century,  being  driven  from  Palestine, 
the  knights  of  this  order  fixed  their  principal  seat  first  in 
Cyprus,  and  afterwards  at  Rhodes,  where  they  remained 
from  1309  to  1522,  when  the  island  was  captured  by  Solyman 
II.  After  several  changes  of  settlement,  they  were  fixed  in 
1530  by  Charles  V.  at  Malta  and  its  dependant  islands, 
Whence  they  took  the  name  of  Knights  of  Malta.  Here  they 
maintained  themselves  until  1798,  when  the  island  was  ta- 
ken by  Napoleon.  The  order,  however,  continued  to  sub- 
sist, notwithstanding  the  loss  of  its  sovereign  possessions 
both  in  Malta  and  in  Tuscany  :  the  seat  of  the  chapter  is 
now  at  Ferrara.  Before  the  French  Revolution  the  number 
of  knights  was  estimated  at  3000.  The  temporal  powers 
of  the  order  were  chiefly  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  the 
grand  master ;  but  he  was,  in  fact,  controlled  by  the  gov- 
ernors of  the  eight  languages.  These  were,  of  Provence, 
Auvergne,  France,  Italy,  Aragon,  Germany,  Castile,  and 
England.  The  lands  were  divided  into  priories,  com- 
manderies,  and  bailliages.  The  spiritual  power  was  exer- 
cised by  the  chapter,  consisting  of  eight  ballivi  conven- 
tuales.  The  knights  were  under  the  rules  of  the  order  of 
St.  Augustine  ;  but  Protestants  were  not  bound  to  celibacy. 
They  were  required  to  be  necessarily  of  good  descent;  but 
those  whose  proofs  of  noble  ancestry  were  unquestionable 
were  termed  cavalieri  di giustizia,  while  others  who  could 
not  show  such  proofs  might  be  admitted  on  account  of 
their  merits  as  cavalieri  di  graiia.     See  Hospitallers. 

SAINTS.  (Lat.  sancti,  holy  persons.)  Pious  men,  who, 
according  to  a  custom  early  prevalent  among  Christians, 
were  commemorated  with  honour  after  their  death  in  the 
services  and  ceremonies  of  the  church.  This  distinction 
was  originally  applied  to  the  apostles  and  eminent  martyrs 
and  confessors,  whose  places  of  burial  were  regarded  with 
pious  affection  by  the  faithful  in  the  neighbourhood,  and 
memorials  or  relics  of  whom  were  carefully  cherished 
among  them.    The  observance  of  particular  days  in  the 


SAL  AMMONIAC. 

honour  of  the  saints  was  also  a  very  early  custom  :  but  the 
natural  feeling  which  prompted  this  and  other  tributes  of 
gratitude  and  respect  towards  them  became  gradually  cor- 
rupted. The  intercession  of  the  saints  was  supposed  to 
have  power  with  God,  and  individuals  put  themselves  un- 
der the  especial  patronage  of  one  or  more  among  the  num- 
ber, which  in  later  times  was  vastly  augmented,  giving  to 
them  the  honour  and  worship  due  to  Gcd  alone,  and  con 
ceiving  themselves  sufficiently  protected  by  the  influence 
of  their  prayers.  It  was  affirmed  that  miracles  were  per- 
formed at  their  tombs  and  by  their  relics,  and  the  greatest 
rivalry  and  contention  arose  between  the  votaries  of  the 
shrines  of  different  saints,  and  sometimes  those  of  the  same. 
For  the  manner  of  enrolment  among  the  number  of  saints, 
see  art.  Canonization.  (See  Bingham  and  Pulmcr's  Ori- 
gines  Liturgical,  as  to  the  progress  of  the  invocation  of 
saints  in  the  church,  vol.  i.,  27ii,  &c.) 

SAINT  SIMOXIANS.  Claude  Henri,  Count  de  S.  Si- 
mon, of  the  ancient  family  of  that  name,  born  in  17C0,  w^s 
engaged  during  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  a  series  of  un- 
successful commercial  enterprises,  a  traveller,  and  in  the 
early  portion  of  his  life  a  soldier  in  America  ;  but  having 
dissipated  a  considerable  fortune,  and  been  unable  to  draw 
the  attention  of  the  public  to  a  variety  of  schemes,  political 
and  social,  which  he  was  constantly  publishing,  he  at- 
tempted suicide  in  1820 ;  he  lived,  however,  a  few  years 
longer,  and. died  in  1825,  leaving  his  papers  and  projects  to 
Olinde  Rodriguez.  St.  Simon's  views  of  society  and  the 
destiny  of  mankind  are  contained  in  a  variety  of  works, 
and  especially  in  a  short  treatise  entitled  the  Nouveau. 
Christianisme,  published  after  his  death  by  Rodriguez. 
This  book  does  not  contain  any  scheme  for  the  foundation 
of  a  new  religion,  such  as  his  disciples  afterwards  invent- 
ed. It  is  a  diatribe  agiinst  both  the  Catholic  and  Protes- 
tant sects  for  their  neglect  of  the  main  principle  of  Chris- 
tianity, the  elevation  of  the  lower  classes  of  society ;  and 
inveighs  against  "  Sexploitation  de  I'homme  par  l'homme," 
the  existing  system  of  individual  industry,  under  which 
capitalist  and  labourer  have  opposite  interests  and  no  com- 
mon object.  The  principle  of  association,  and  just  division 
of  the  fruits  of  common  labour  between  the  members  of 
society,  he  imagined  to  be  the  true  remedy  for  its  present 
evils.  After  his  death  these  ideas  were  caught  up  by  a 
number  of  disciples,  and  formed  into  something  resembling 
a  system.  The  new  association,  or  St.  Simonian  family, 
was  chiefly  framed  by  Rodriguez,  Bazar,  Thierry,  Cheva- 
lier, and  other  men  of  talent.  After  the  revolution  of  July, 
1830,  it  rose  rapidly  into  notoriety,  from  the  sympathy  be- 
tween the  notions  which  it  promulgated  and  those  enter- 
tained by  many  of  the  republican  party.  In  1831,  the  so- 
ciety had  about  3000  members,  a  newspaper  (the  Globe), 
and  large  funds.  The  views  of  the  St.  Simonian  family 
were  all  directed  to  the  abolition  of  rank  and  property  in 
society,  and  the  establishment  of  association  (such  as  the 
followers  of  Mr.  Owen  in  this  country  have  denominated 
co-operative),  of  which  all  the  members  should  work  in 
common  and  divide  the  fruits  of  their  labour.  But  with 
these  notions,  common  to  many  other  social  reformers, 
they  united  the  doctrine,  that  the  division  of  the  goods  of 
the  community  should  be  in  due  proportion  to  the  merits 
or  capacity  of  the  recipient.  Society  was  to  be  governed 
by  a  hierarchy,  consisting  of  a  supreme  pontiff,  apostles, 
disciples  of  the  first,  second,  and  third  order.  It  was  not 
until  about  this  period  (1830)  that  they  began  to  invest 
these  opinions  with  the  form  and  character  of  a  religion; 
but  shortly  after  having  done  so  they  went  into  great  ex- 
travagances. There  was  a  disunion  among  them  as  to  the 
fittest  person  to  preside  in  the  society ;  and  consequently 
Messrs.  Bazar  and  Enfantin  divided,  for  some  time,  the 
duties  and  dignity  of  the  "Supreme  Father,"  as  he  was 
termed.  But  on  the  19th  Nov.,  1831,  Bazar  and  many 
others  left  the  society,  of  which  Enfantin  remained  the 
supreme  father.  Their  doctrines  and  proceedings  now  be- 
came licentious  and  immoral  to  the  last  degree.  On  the 
22  Jan.,  1832,  the  family  was  dispersed  by  the  government. 
Enfantin  and  Rodriguez  were  tried  on  various  charges,  and 
imprisoned  for  a  year.  The  former  afterwards  collected 
again  a  part  of  fhe"societv  at  Menilmont ant ;  but  it  broke  up 
for  want  of  funds.  Some  former  members  of  the  St.  Si- 
monian association  are  now  in  places  of  rank  and  consider- 
ation: some  of  the  most  extravagant  have  gone  to  the 
East ;  but  Enfantin,  we  believe,  has  no  followers. 

SAX AMANDER,  Salamandra.  {Gr.caXaunvc'pa.)  The 
name  of  a  genus  of  Batrachian  reptiles,  now  limited  to  the 
terrestrial  species  of  long-tailed  Caducibranchiate  Batra- 
chians,  or  those  which  lose  their  gills  before  arriving  at 
maturity,  but  retain  their  tails.  This  appendage  is  changed 
in  the  progress  of  growth  in  the  true  salamander  from  a 
compressed  to  a  rounded  form.  The  female  brings  forth 
the  young  alive,  which  are  hatched  in  the  oviduct;  and 
the  sexes  frequent  the  water  at  the  season  of  reproduction. 
See  Batrachia  and  Triton. 

SAL   AMMO'NIAC.      Muriate   of  ammonia ;    hydro- 

1083 


SALEP. 

chlorite  of  ammonia.  A  compound  of  17  of  ammonia  and 
3?  hydrochloric  acid,  it*  name  is  derived  from  the  Tem- 
ple oi  Amnion,  in  Egypt,  where  it  was  originally  made  by 
burning  camels'  dung:  it  is  now  largely  manufactured  In 
this  country.     See  Ammonia. 

s  \i.i:r.'  S«<  Salop. 
SAL  GEM.    Common  salt. 

B  \1.H '  \  <  T..L.  [Salix,  the  principal  genus.)  A  na- 
tural order  of  Achlamyd  iceous  Bxogens,  distinguished  by 

a  tWO-valved  capsule,  and  numerous  seeds  tufted  with  long 
hairs.  The  genus  Salir  comprehends  the  plants  called 
osiers,  sallows,  and  willows,  and  is  of  great  economical 
value,  not  only  for  the  purpose  of  the  basket-maker,  but 
bee  tuse  sever  il  species  have  a  hark  which  has  heen  found 
by  Davy  to  contain  as  much  tannin  as  the  oak;  and  a 
crystalllzable  principle  called  salieine  has  heen  obtained 
from  Salii  h,  \i  i  and  others,  Which,  according  to  Magendie, 
arrests,  the  progress  of  a  fever  with  the  same  power  as  the 
sulphate  of  ipiinia.  The  poplars,  aspens,  and  abele  trees 
also  form  a  part  of  this  order. 

SA'LICIN.  A  bitter  crystalllzable  substance  extracted 
from  willow  bark.  It  exists  in  several  species  of  willow; 
and  a  similar  substance  has  been  extracted  from  the  bark 
of  the  poplar,  especially  of  the  Populus  tremula.  Its  ulti- 
mate elements  are  carbon,  hydrogen,  and  oxygen,  so  that 
it  differs  from  the  vegeto-alkalis  in  containing  no  nitrogen. 

SA'LIC  LAW.  The  law  of  that  community  of  the  na- 
tion of  Franks  which  inhabited  the  country  between  the 
Meuse  and  the  Rhine— the  law  of  the  Ripuarian  Franks 
governing  those  who  dwelt  between  the  Rhine  and  the 
Loire.  The  origin  of  the  name  Salian,  given  to  this  por- 
tion of  the  Franks  and  their  law,  is  uncertain:  some  de- 
rive it  from  the  river  Saale,  in  Saxony,  on  the  banks  of 
which  they  suppose  them  to  have  inhabited  before  the 
period  of  their  emigration  westward.  The  body  of  law  in 
question  was  republished  and  reformed  by  Charlemagne  in 
798,  and  is  still  preserved,  both  in  the  earlier  and  in  the  re- 
modelled shape.  The  most  celebrated  portion  of  it  is  con- 
tained in  the  title  62  Dr  .llode,  where  it  is  declared  that 
''no  portion  of  the  inheritance  in  Salic  land  (terra  salica) 
can  fall  to  females  ;  but  that  the  whole  must  pass  to  the 
males."  What  those  lands  were  which  are  intended  by 
the  term  Salic,  has  afforded  room  for  infinite  discussion 
among  French  antiquaries.  It  is  suppose,]  by  Ducange 
that  they  were  those  lands  which  were  acquired  by  Franks 
at  the  period  of  the  conquest,  and  held  by  military  service 
only.  But  it  seems  that  the  exclusion  of  females  was  only 
to  take  place  where  males  were  to  be  found  in  the  same 
degree  of  kindred  to  the  ancestor.  However  this  may  be, 
the  fundamental  law  which  excludes  females  from  succes- 
sion to  the  crown  of  France  received,  in  very  early  times, 
the  appellation  of  the  Salic  law,  and  was  supposed  by  her 
lawyers  to  be  derived  from  the  provisions  of  this  ancient 
code.  It  was,  indeed,  a  custom  prevalent  from  the  earliest 
times,  as  we  learn  from  Tacitus,  among  the  Germanic 
tribe-.  It  was  observed  in  France  under  the  first  race; 
hut  the  tir-t  occ  ision  on  which  it  was  publicly  canvassed 
was  in  1316,  when  Jeanne,  the  daughter  of  Louis  Ilutin, 
was  excluded  from  the  crown  in  favour  of  Philip  V.,  her 
uncle.  In  1328 it  was  contested  by  Edward  III.,  who  claim- 
ed by  a  prior  title  to  Philip  ofValols,  if  females  were  ad- 
missible  ;  being  the  sun  of  Isabella,  sister  of  Louis  Hutin. 
From  this  pretension  arose  the  wars  between  England  and 
France,  which  occupied  the  whole  of  the  following  cen- 
tury. In  1593  the  famous  arret  of  the  parliament  of  Paris 
was  pronounced,  by  which  all  treaties  made  to  transfer  the 
crown  to  a  foreign  dynasty  were  declared  null,  as  contrary 
to  the  "Salic"  ami  other  fundamental  laws.  The  same 
law  has  been  recognised  in  all  countries  of  which  the 

crown  has  devolved    upon  the  royal    house  of  Frame,  and 

forms  now  the  foundation  of  the  pretensions  of  the  infante 

Don  Carlos  to  the  throne  of  Spain.      It  was  also  consider 

ed  as  established  in  those  great  fiefs  of  the  crown  of  France 
Which  had  been  granted  to  primes  of  the  blood  by  way  of 

apanage;  ami  by  this  means,  mi  the  death  of  Charles  duke 
of  Burgundy,  leaving  a  daughter  only,  the  dukedom  of 
Burgundy  proper  reverted  to  Louis  XI.  as  a  male  fief. 
(See  Mem.  dt  VJIt.  des  Tnscr.,  vol.  \.\.:  Meyer's  Origines 
Judii  iain        1 1   '  i  n '    Mid  Ui    hrrs.) 

SALICC/dUES.     The  French  term  for  the  family  of 
MacroUTOUS  or  long  tailed  Crust  icea  of  which  the  shrimp 
lg  Ibi'  tv  pe. 

SALIENT.  (Lat.  salio,  /  leap.)  In  Heraldry,  a  term 
lined  to  describe  a  beast  when  represented  as  leaping  or 
sprite. 

SALIENT  ANGLE,  In  Geometry  and  Fortification, 
mi  angle  of  a  polygon  projecting  outwards  in  reference  to 

tie-  centre  of  (be    polygon.      An  angle   pointing   inwards  is 

called  a  n  entering  angle.    All  the  angles  of  any  regular 

figure,  as  the  triangle,  square,  hexagon,  &<•.,  are  Ballent, 

BALIE'NTIA.     (Lat.  salio,  I  hap.)     The  third  order  in 
the  Mammalogical  system  of  llliger,  including  the  Mar- 
supial genera   Jlypsinrymnus  und  Ualmaturus,  or  the  po- 
1084 


SALMON. 

toroos  and  kangaroos,  whose  progression  is  by  successive 
leaps. 

SALI'FEROUS  ROCKS.  The  new  red  sandstone  sys- 
tem of  some  geologists.     See  Geology. 

SALLFI'ABLE  BASE.    This  term,  which  is  of  frequent 
occurrence  in  chemistry,  is  chiefly  applied  to  those  metal 
lie  oxides  which  combine  in  definite  proportions  with  the 
acids,  so  as  to  form  distinct  salts:  ammonia,  and  the  vegeto- 
alkalis  are  also,  upon  the  same  principle,  salifiable  bases. 

SA'LII.  The  Roman  Bamens,  or  peculiar  priests  of 
Mars.  They  were  twelve  in  number,  and  were  instituted 
by  Noma  to  guard  the  ancile,  or  sacred  shield  of  Mars. 
They  used  on  solemn  occasions  to  proceed  through  the  city 
dancing,  whence  they  derived  their  name  (from  satire,  to 
dance). 

SALI'VA.  (Lat.)  The  fluid  secreted  into  the  mouth 
by  the  salivary  glands  ;  its  principal  use  is  to  lubricate  the 
parts,  and  to  assist  in  rendering  the  food  of  a  proper  con- 
sistency to  be  swallowed, 

SALIVA'TION.  The  excessive  flow  of  saliva  which  Li 
produced  by  the  continuous  use  of  mercury  and  of  soma 
other  remedies. 

SALIX.  (Lat.  a  willow,)  is  a  genus  of  plants  consisting 
of  numerous  species,  all  either  trees  or  bushes,  occurring 
abundantly  in  all  the  cooler  parts  of  the  northern  hemi- 
sphere. Some  of  them,  like  S.  alba,  acquire  the  dimen- 
sions of  the  largest  forest  trees  ;  others  are  lost  among  the 
grass  with  which  they  grow,  as  S.  herbacea.  They  are  the 
last  kind  of  ligneous  plants  that  disappear  before  the  rigours 
of  an  arctic  climate,  the  only  tree  found  on  Melville  Island, 
nine  inches  high,  having  been  a  willow  (Saliz  arctica). 
Few  extend  into  warm  regions,  the  Salix  babylonica,  or 
weeping  willow,  being  the  best  known  instance.  Their 
timber,  when  they  form  any,  is  light,  tough,  soft,  and  unfit 
for  purposes  of  construction :  it  is  chiefly  used  for  turnery, 
and  for  coarse  in-door  purposes.  Many  species  have  long 
flexible  shoots,  and  are  called  osiers,  under  which  name 
they  are  extensively  employed  by  the  workers  in  wicker ; 
others  are  not  flexible,  but  form  small  trees  or  rough  bushes, 
named  sallows.  The  latter,  called  Saules  marceavi  by  the 
French,  yield  the  best  kind  of  charcoal  for  military  pur- 
poses ;  they  are  all,  however,  burned  for  the  preparation 
of  this  substance.  The  bark  of  S.  hrlix,  fragilis,  prntan- 
dria,  and  others,  has  been  found  useful  in  intermittent 
fevers;  and  as  these  maladies  are  most  common  in  the 
low  marshy  places  where  salices  abound,  it  has  been  sup- 
posed that  they  are  the  means  which  the  Creator  has  given 
us  for  protecting  ourselves  against  such  disorders.  The 
species  intermix  very  freely,  forming  mules  and  hybrids, 
which  have  led  botanists  to  create  a  prodigious  number  of 
false  species. 

SALLY  PORTS,  in  Fortification,  are  underground  pas- 
sages leading  from  the  inner  works  to  the  outward  ones,  for 
the  troops  to  sally  out.  They  are  otherwise  called  postern 
gates. 

SA'LMON.  (Lat.  salmo.)  The  excellent  and  highly 
valuable  fish  so  called  in  England  is  the  Salmo  salar  of 
Linnauis,  not  of  Rondeletius.  Both  species  exist  in  our 
rivers,  the  latter  having  been  recognizably  and  accurately 
defined  under  the  name  of  Salmo  rrior,  or  bull  trout,  w  Inch 
it  is  to  he  hoped  will  be  retained  for  this  species,  notwith- 
standing that  the  name  of  Salmo  salar  may  have  been  ap- 
plied to  it  by  the  older  ichthyologist. 

The  normal  locality  of  the  salmon  is  at  the  mouth  or 
estuary  of  the  larger  livers,  which,  in  the  season  of  sexual 
excitement,  they  ascend,  sooner  or  later,  in  the  summer 
months,  according  as  circumstances  may  influence  their 
coming  into  breeding  condition.  At  first  they  ascend  only 
so  tar  as  the  tide  wave  reaches,  and  retire  with  the  ebb; 
but  as  the  quantity  of  roe  and  milt  increases,  the  instinct 
which  teaches  the  tit  locality  for  ovlposition  becomes  more 
imperative,  anil  few  are  the  natural  obstacles  which  the 
salmon  does  not  overcome  in  its  endeavour  to  reach  it. 

The  great  value  of  the  fish  renders  an  accurate  know- 
ledge of  it.  under  the  disguise  of  its  immature  form  and 
markings,  of  the  highest  Importance;  bul  the  difficulties 
which  attend  the  observation  <>f  the  migrator]  inhabitants 
of  the  water  have  only  very  lately  been  overo  me  in  the 
present  instance.  The  proof  that  the  small  Salmonoid 
flsh,  called  the  parr,  is,  as  many  naturalists  had  suspected, 
the  young  of  the  salmon,  has  been  elicited  by  the  careful 
and  repeated  observations  and  experiments  of  .Mr.  Shaw  of 

Drumlanrlg,  of  which  the  following  condensed  account  i* 

taken  from  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  F.itin 
burgh. 

In  the  river  Nltb,  Dumfries,  the  salmon  oviposits  in  the 
month  of  January.  <)n  the  Kith  of  January,  Mr.  Bhaw  ob- 
served a  female  salmon  of  about  ifi  lbs.  weight,  and  two 

males  of  at  least '.Ti  lbs.,  engaged  in  depositing  their  spawn. 

The  spot  which  they  had  selected  for  that  purpose  was  a 

little  apart  from  some  other  salmon  which  Were  engaged 
in  the  same  process,  and  rather  nearer  the  side  of  the  stream, 
although  still  iu  pretty  deep  water.    The  two  males  kept 


SALMONOIDS. 

rip  an  incessant  conflict  during  the  whole  of  the  day  for 
possession  of  the  female,  and  in  their  struggle  frequently 
drove  each  other  almost  ashore,  and  were  repeatedly  on  the 
surface,  displaying  their  dorsal  fins  and  lashing  the  water 
with  their  tails.— The  female  throws  herself  at  intervals  of 
a  few  minutes  on  her  side  ;  and  while  in  that  position,  by 
the  rapid  action  of  her  tail  she  digs  a  receptacle  in  the  gravel 
for  her  ova,  a  portion  of  which  she  deposits,  and  again  turn- 
ing upon  her  side  she  covers  it  up  by  the  renewed  action  of 
the  tail ;  thus  alternately  digging,  depositing,  and  covering 
the  ova,  until  the  process  is  completed  by  the  laying  of  the 
whole  mass,  an  operation  which  generally  occupies  three 
or  four  days.  The  embryo  fish,  conspicuous  by  the  two 
dark  eye-specks  and  the  vascular  vitelline  sac,  presented 
some  appearance  of  animation  in  the  ovum  on  February 
28th,  that  is,  forty-eight  days  after  having  been  deposited ; 
and  on  8th  April,  or  90  days  after  impregnation  of  the  ova, 
the  young  were  excluded.  The  head  is  large  in  proportion 
to  the  body,  which  measures  |ths  of  an  inch  in  length  ;  the 
vitellicle  is  i,  of  an  inch  in  length,  and  resembles  a  light  red 
currant;  the  tail  is  margined  like  that  of  the  tadpole,  with 
a  continuous  fin  running  from  the  dorsal  above  to  the  anal 
beneath.  The  vitelline  sac  and  its  contents  are  absorbed 
by  the  30th  May,  or  in  about  fifty  days,  until  which  time 
the  young  fish  does  not  leave  the  gravel.  The  terminal 
fringe-like  fin  now  begins  to  divide  itself  into  the  dorsal,  adi- 
pose, caudal,  and  anal  fins;  and  the  transverse  bars  on  the 
sides  of  the  body  m  ike  their  appearance.  At  this  period 
the  young  salmon  measures  an  inch  in  length,  and  is  very 
active,  and  continues  in  the  shallows  of  its  native  stream 
till  the  following  spring,  when  it  has  attained  the  length  of 
from  three  to  four  inches,  and  i3  called  the  "  May  parr :" 
they  now  descend  into  deeper  parts  of  the  river,  but  remain 
there  over  the  second  winter.  In  April,  the  caudal,  pecto- 
ral, and  dorsal  fins  assume  a  dusky  margin ;  the  lateral  bars 
begin  to  be  concealed  by  a  silvery  pigment;  and  the  migra- 
tory dress,  characteristic  of  the  salmon  fry  or  smolt,  is  as- 
sumed. The  fish  now  begin  to  congregate  in  shoals,  and  to 
migrate  seaward. 

The  full-grown  salmon  averages  a  weight  of  between  25 
lbs.  and  35  lbs.;  but  instances  are  recorded  of  their  attaining 
to  55  lbs.,  60  lbs.,  70  lbs.,  74  lbs.,  and  83  lbs.  The  last  cited 
weight  was  that  of  n  female  salmon,  which  came  into  the 
possession  of  Mr.  Groves,  the  fishmonger,  in  Bond  Street, 
about  the  season  of  1821 ;  it  was  a  short  fish  for  the  weight, 
but  of  very  unusual  thickness  and  depth.  When  cut  up,  the 
flesh  was  fine  in  colour,  and  proved  of  excellent  quality. 
See  Fisheries. 

SA'LMONOEDS,  Salmonidm.  A  family  of  soft-finned 
Abdominal  ti<h^s.  of  which  the  salmon  is  the  type,  having 
their  upper  jaw  formed  in  the  middle  by  the  Intermaxillary, 
and  at  the  sides  by  the  maxillary  bones,  both  of  which  sup- 
port teeth;  they  are  also  characterized  by  a  posterior  small 
adipose  dorsal  fin,  and  the  body  is  covered  with  regular 
cycloid  scales.  They  pass,  by  almost  imperceptible  grada- 
tions, into  the  Clupeoid  or  herring  family,  with  which  they 
have  been  united  by  M.  Agassiz,  to  form  a  common  group 
teTmed  Halecoids.  Those  species  of  Silmonoids  which, 
like  the  Clupeoids,  inhabit  the  sea,  not  only  approach  the 
land,  but  ascend  the  rivers  to  near  their  source,  in  order  to 
deposite  their  ova. 

SALO'N,  or  SALOON.  (It.  salone.)  In  Architecture, 
a  large  state  apartment;  or,  as  its  name  imports,  a  great 
hall,  or  one  for  the  reception  of  works  of  art,  and  usually 
running  up  through  two  stories  of  a  house.  Salon  is  also 
applied  to  the  reunions  of  the  French  capital,  which  have 
always  exercised  considerable  influence  upon  the  country 
in  all  that  relates  to  fashion,  literature,  and  even  politics. 
M.  Guizot's  admirable  little  work  upon  the  Salons  of  Paris 
is  well  known.  It  was  recently  well  reviewed  in  the  Jour- 
nal drs  Debats. 

SA'LOP.  The  prepared  root  of  the  Orchis  mascula.  It 
consists  principally  of  a  modification  of  gum,  much  resem- 
bling tragacanth,  with  a  small  quantity  of  starch;  it  is 
■ometimes  used  as  an  article  of  food. 

SALP.  Satpa.  (Lat.  salpa,  a  stock-fish.)  A  name  ap- 
plied to  a  genus  of  soft-shelled  or  tunicated  Acephalous 
Mollnsks,  which  float  in  the  sea,  protected  bv  a  transparent 
gelatinous  coat,  perforated  for  the  passage  of  water  at  both 
extremities. 

SA'LPINX.  (Gr.  (tiXtti)'?,  a  trumpet.)  The  Eustachian 
tube,  or  channel  of  communication  between  the  mouth  and 
ear. 

SAL  SEIGNETTE.  Tartrate  of  potassa  and  soda.  See 
Eochelle  Salt. 

SALT.  (Lat.  sal,  Germ,  salz.)  This  term,  though  in 
ordinary  language  limited  to  common  salt,  or  sea  salt,  is 
applied  in  chemistry  to  all  combinations  of  acids  with  alka- 
line or  salifiable  bases.  The  term  has  also  been  extended 
to  certain  binary  combinations  of  chlorine,  iodine,  bromine, 
and  fluorine  with  the  metals;  and  these  have  been  called 
haloid  salts  (from  d\i,  sea  salt,  and  u<5os,form),  inasmuch 
86 


SALUTES. 

as  modern  chemistry  has  taught  us  that  sea  salt  belongs  to 
this  class.  Certain  definite  combinations  of  the  sulphurets 
with  each  other  have  of  late  been  called  sulphur  salts  ;  but 
the  former  appellation  of  double,  sulphurets  is,  perhaps,  more 
properly  applicable  to  such  compounds. 

Sea  salt  is  a  compound  of  1  equivalent  of  sodium  =  24, 
and  1  of  chlorine  =  36;  its  equivalent,  therefore,  is  (24  + 
36)  =60:  and  it  is  a  chloride  of  sodium.  The  circum- 
stances which  gave  rise  to  the  notion  of  its  containing  mu- 
riatic acid  and  soda,  and  being  therefore  a  muriate  of  soda, 
will  be  apparent  by  reference  to  the  article  Muriatic  Acid. 
For  rock-salt,  see  Geology. 

The  nomenclature  of  salts  has  reference  to  the  acids 
which  they  contain  ;  sulphates,  nitrates,  carbonates,  &c, 
implying  salts  of  the  sulphuric,  nitric,  and  carbonic  acids. 
The  termination  ate  implies  the  maximum  of  oxygen  in  the 
acids,  and  ite  the  minimum:  thus  the  salts  of  sulphurous 
and  nitrous  acids  are  called  sulphites  and  nitrites.  When 
salts  contain  1  equivalent  of  acid  and  1  of  base,  they  are 
called  neutral  salts  ;  where  1  equivalent  of  acid  is  combined 
with  2  of  base,  they  are  termed  basic  salts,  subsalts,  or  di- 
salts ;  and  where  there  are  2  equivalents  of  acid  and  1  of 
base,  the  salt  is  a  supersalt,  or  bisalt.  Thus,  the  terms  sub- 
acetate  and  diacetate  of  lead  are  synonymous;  so  are  super- 
carbonate  and  bicarbonate  of  potash.  Many  salts  are  hy- 
drous ;  that  is,  they  contain  a  definite  proportion  of  water 
of  crystallization;  others  are  destitute  of  water,  and  are 
dry  or  anhydrous  salts.  Some  salts  attruct  moisture  when 
exposed  to  air,  and  are  said  to  be  deliquese ;  others  suffer 
their  water  to  escape  and  become  opaque,  or  pulverulent : 
these  are  called  efflorescent  salts. 

Salt  is,  next  to  bread,  the  most  important  necessary  of 
life.  It  is  one  of  the  most  important  British  minerals  and 
is  procured  in  immense  quantities,  both  from  fossil  beds  and 
brine  springs,  in  Cheshire  and  Worcestershire.  Previousl)' 
to  the  discovery  of  the  fossil  beds  during  the  16th  century, 
and  subsequently,  a  good  deal  of  salt  continued  to  be  made 
by  the  evaporation  of  sea  water  in  salt  pans,  at  Lymington 
and  many  other  places  ;  but  the  works  at  these  places  are 
now  all  but  abandoned  ;  while  not  only  has  the  quality  of 
the  article  in  question  become  greatly  improved,  but,  in- 
stead of  being  imported  as  formerly,  it  is  now  largely  ex- 
ported. The  consumption  of  Great  Britain  only,  exclusive 
of  Ireland,  amounts  to  about  180,000  tons ;  and  the  foreign 
exports  to  about  300,000  tons  per  year,  of  which  the  United 
States,  Canada,  the  Low  Countries,  Russia,  Prussia,  and 
Denmark  are  the  chief  consumers.  Previously  to  1823,  an 
oppressive  tax  of  155.  per  bushel,  or  about  thirty  times  the 
original  cost  price  of  the  article,  was  imposed  on  salt ;  but 
in  that  year  it  was  reduced  to  2s.,  and  two  years  subse- 
quently was  totally  repealed.  During  the  existence  of  the 
duty,  the  retail  price  of  salt  was  Ahd.,  it  is  now  only  hd.  per  lb. 

In  ancient  Rome,  salt  was  subjected  to  a  duty,  vectigal 
salinarium  (see  Burman,  Dissertatio  de  Vectigalibus  Pop. 
Rom.,  c.  6) ;  and  it  has  been  heavily  taxed  in  most  modern 
states.  The  gabelle,  or  code  of  salt  laws  formerly  estab- 
lished in  France,  was  most  oppressive.  From  4000  to  5000 
persons  are  calculated  to  have  been  sent  annually  to  prison 
and  the  galleys  for  offences  connected  with  these  laws,  the 
severity  of  which  had  no  inconsiderable  share  in  bringing 
about  the  Revolution. 

SA'LTATORY.  (Lat.salto,  I  leap.)  In  Zoology,  the  ex- 
tremities of  an  animal  which  by  their  form  and  proportions 
are  adapted  for  leaping,  are  called  pedes  saltatorii ;  as  the 
hind  lees  of  the  kangaroo,  cricket,  &c. 

SA'LTIGRADES.  Saltigrada.  (Lat.  saltus,  a  leap,  and 
gradior,  I  walk.)  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  spiders  which 
seize  their  prey  by  leaping  upon  it  from  a  distance. 

SA'LTIRE.  In  Heraldry,  an  ordinary  in  the  form  of  a  cross 
of  St.  Andrew :  formed  by  two  bends,  dexter  and  sinister 
crossing  each  other.  Charges  having  length  (swords,  batons, 
&e.)  placed  in  the  direction  of  the  saltire,  are  said  to  be 
borne  saltire-wise. 

SALT  MARSH.  Land  under  pasture  grasses  or  herbage 
plants,  subject  to  be  overflown  by  the  sen,  or  by  the  waters  of 
estuaries  or  the  outlets  of  rivers,  which,  in  consequence 
of  proximity  to  the  sea,  are  more  or  less  impregnated  with 
sea  salt. 

SALT  MINE.     See  Geology. 

SALT  OF  LEMONS.  Binoxalate  of  potassa  is  usually 
sold  under  this  name,  and  is  used  for  the  removal  of  iron- 
moulds  and  other  stains  from  linen  ;  it  is  generally  effectual, 
and  does  not  corrode. 

SALT  OF  SORREL.     Oxalate  of  potash. 

SALTPE'TRE.  (Lat.  sal,  salt,  and  Gr.  rtrpt,  a  stone, 
from  its  being  found  in  certain  stony  soils.)  Nitrate  of 
potash.  An  anhydrous  salt  composed  of  1  equivalent  of 
nitric  acid  =  54,  and  1  of  potassa  =  48.     S?e  Nitre. 

SALT,  SPIRIT  OF.     See  Muriatic  Acid. 

SALT  SPRINGS.     See  Geology. 

SALU'TES.  In  Military  and  Naval  Discipline,  an  exhi- 
bition of  respect  performed  in  different  ways,  according  to 

1085 


SALVAGE. 

circumstances.  In  the  army,  the  officers  salute  their  supe- 
riors by  dropping  the  point  of  their  sword.  In  the  navy, 
the  usual  mode  of  Balutatton  is  by  thing  a  certain  numiier 

ot" guns,  which  is  regulated  according  t"  the  rank  or  station 
of  the  Individual.  [See  Miles' a  Epitome  of  the  Naval  Ser- 
vice of  England,  1.^41.) 

SA'LVAGE,  in  Mercantile  Law,  is  defined  to  be  a  com- 
pensation to  be  made  by  the  ship-owners  or  merchant  to 
other  persons  by  whose  assistance  the  ship  or  lading  may 
be  saved  from  impending  peril,  or  recovered  after  actual 
loss.    Salvage  may  booomo  due— 4.  Oa rescue  from  penis 

of  the  sea.  In  this  case,  the  salvor,  or  rescuer,  has  a  lien 
on  the  goods  preserved  until  a  recompense  is  mole  him. 
The  amount  of  this  recompense  may  he  fixed  by  a  jury ; 
but  it' the  salvage  happen  at  sea.  or  between  high  and  low 
water  mark,  the  court  of  admiralty  has  also  jurisdiction  to 
rix  the  amount  on  suit  brought ;  and  by  12  Anne,  st.  2,  c.  18., 
and  other  statutes,  summary  (lowers  for  the  same  purpose 
are  given  to  inferior  officers  in  certain  cases.  2.  On  rescue 
from  the  hands  of  enemies.  In  this  case,  the  old  law  was, 
that  if  a  ship  was  retaken  from  enemies  before  It  was  taken 
home  or  condemned  by  the  captor,  the  original  owner  could 
recover  her  on  payment  of  salvage  to  the  recaptor;  but  if 
retaken  at  a  later"  period,  she  became  lawful  prize  to  the 
recaptors.  But  by  13  G.2,  c.4.  s.  18,  and  other  statutes,  the 
right  of  the  original  owner  has  been  extended  to  all  cases  of 
recapture.  Salvage,  OH  recapture  by  B  kind's  ship,  was  fixed, 
in  I7'.i:t.  at  one  eighth,  and  by  a  private  vessel  at  one  sixth. 

SALVATE'TTA.  (Let  salus,  health.)  A  vein  of  the 
arm  terminating  in  the  lingers.  It  was  formerly  regarded 
as  hiving  peculiar  influence  on  the  health  when  opened 

SAL  VOLATILE.  Carbonate  of  ammonia.  The  term  is 
often  applied  to  a  spirituous  solution  of  carbonate  of  am- 
monia flavoured  with  aromatics. 

BAMANiE'ANS,  SARMA'NES,  GERMA'NES.  Names 
given  by  different  classical  writers  to  a  sect  of  philosophers 
of  India.  Clement  of  Alexandria  derives  the  name  from 
Gr.  acftio<,  venerable.  But  it  is  more  probably  oriental ;  the 
word  schamman,  in  India,  signifying  a  philosopher.  The 
Samamtans  are  particularly  distinguished  by  those  who 
mention  them  from  the  Brahmins.  Saint  Jerome  and  Cle- 
ment of  Alexandria  represent  them  as  priests  of  Buddha; 
and  the  same  name  appears  in  the  Cha-Men  of  the  Chinese, 
and  Sammono-Codom  of  Siam.  (See  Buddhists.)  There 
is  a  memoir  on  the  subject  by  M.  de  Guignes.  [Jtft  m.  de 
VJic.  des  fnscr.,  vol.  xxvi.  See  also  Hist,  de  I'.icad.  des 
Inscr.,  vol.  xxxi. :  and  Mem.,  vol.  xl.) 

S  \MA'RA.  An  indehiscent  superior  fruit,  being  a  few- 
seeded,  indehiscent,  dry  nut,  elongated  into  wing-like  ex- 
pansions; as  in  the  fruit  or  "key"  of  the  ash-tree,  &c. 
From  this  root  is  formed  the  word  samaroid,  expressing  a 
resemblance  to  a  samara. 

SAMARITANS.  The  inhabitants  of  the  city  and  dis- 
trict of  Samaria  to  the  north  of  Judea.  The  city  was  the 
capital  of  the  kings  of  Israel  ;  and  after  the  captivity  of  that 
portion  of  the  Jew  ish  nation,  a  colony  of  Luthites,  who  are 
supposed  to  be  Scythians,  was  settled  in  the  country  by 
the  kings  of  Assyria.  It  is  stated  that  they  were  instructed 
in  the  Jewish  religion  by  a  priest  who  was  sent  to  them  for 
that  purpose  by  Esarhaddon,  in  order  to  avert  the  anger, 
as  was  supposed,  of  the  god  of  the  country.  The  Samari- 
tans professed  belief  in  the  Pentateuch  only,  but  no  idola- 
trous practices  are  imputed  to  them;  and  it  was  probably 
their  spurious  origin  which  excited  against  them  the  jea- 
lousy and  affected  contempt  of  the  Jews,  to  which  many 
passages  of  the  New  Testament  so  pointedly  refer. 

SAM  I  A.N  EARTH  and  STONE.  A  species  of  marl 
from  the  island  of  Samoa. 

SAMSON'S  POST.  A  strong  pillar  resting  on  the  kel- 
son, and  supporting  a  beam  of  the  deck  over  the  hold,  and 
thus  acting  to  keep  the  cargo  in  its  place.  Also  a  tempo- 
rary or  moveable  pillar  carrying  a  leading  block  for  various 
purposes. 

SA 'MITEL,  BOOKS  OF.  Two  canonical  hooks  of  the 
Old  Testament  The  first  twenty  four  chapters  of  the  first 
book  contain  all  that  relates  to  the  prophet  Samuel  himself, 

beginning  with   the  government  of  Eli     The  second  book, 

together  with  the  remainder  of  the  tir^t,  carries  on  the  his- 
tory of  the  Jews  to  the  death  of  David.  It  is  traditionally 
saiil  thai  the  prophet  Samuel  composed  the  first  pari,  and 
the  prophets  Gad  and  Nathan  the  remainder 

SANCTIFICA'TU  IN,  in  Theol  gy,  denotes  the  slate  of 
those  Christians  who.  having  lost  fh.6  Inclination  to  vice, 
have  become  pun-  and  holy,  and  wholly  dewiled  to  vtoiks 
of  goodness.  This  slate  is  produced  by  the  special  Opera 
lion  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  ensues  upon  justification  ; 
which 

S  V.N<  TI'AKV.  (Lat.  sancrus,  holy.)  The  innermost 
chamber  of  the  tabernacle,  and  in  after  limes  of  I  lie-  temple, 

among  the  Jews,  in  which  was  kept  the  ark  of  the  cove 
nant,  and  which  was  regarded  as  the  especial  residence  of 

the  Must  High.    It  is  also  called  the  Holy  of  Holies,  and 
1090 


SANSCRIT. 

was  never  entered  except  once  a  year,  and  then  only  by 
the  high  priest  on  the  day  of"  the  great  expiation  of  the  sins 
of  the  people.  For  the  mystical  signification  of  tliis  act, 
see  Ilebr.  IX.  24. 

By  the  Human  Catholics,  the  part  of  the  church  imme- 
diately round  the  altar  is  called  ihe  sanctuary,  which  is 
supposed  in  many  respects  to  bear  an  analogy  to  that  of  the 
Jews. 

From  the  time  of  Constantino  downwards,  certain  church- 
es have  been  set  apart  in   many  countries  to  be  an  asylum 

for  fugitives  from  the  hands  of  justice.  This  seems  to  have 
been  originally  intended  only  to  prevent  sudden  violence, 
and  to  give  lime  lor  ihe  regular  administration  of  the  law, 
and  perhaps,  in  the  case  of  certain  delinquencies,  for  the 
intercession  of  the  church.  But  in  England,  particularly 
down  to  the  Reformation,  any  person  who  had  taken  refuge 
in  a  sanctuary  was  secured  against  punishment,  if  within 
the  space  of  forty  days  he  gave  signs  of  repenlance  and 
subjected  himself  to  banishment. 

SAND.  (Germ.)  Finely  divided  silicious  matter  consti- 
tutes common  river  and  sea  sand;  particles  of  oilier  sub- 
stances are  often  blended  with  it,  and  sometimes  il  becomes 
calcareous  from  the  prevalence  of  carbonate  of  lime. 

SA'NDALS.  A  species  of  slippers  worn  by  the  ancient 
Jews.  Greeks,  and  Romans.  They  consisted  of  a  sole  with 
a  hollow  part  at  one  extreme,  to  embrace  the  ancle  and 
leave  the  upper  part  of  the  foot  bare.  Originally  sandals 
were  made  of  leather  ;  but  they  afterwards  bee  one  articles 
of  great  luxury,  being  made  of  gold,  silver,  or  other  precious 
stuff,  and  most  beautifully  ornamented. 

SA'NDARACH.  The  resin  of  Callitris  guadrivalois  is 
so  called.  The  powder  of  this  resin  is  sometimes  used  un- 
der the  name  of  pounce,  to  prevent  ink  from  sinking  into 
paper. 

SANDEMA'NIANS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  the  fol- 
lowers of  Robert  Sandeman,  who  published  his  opinions  in 
1757  in  a  series  of  letters.  They  are  of  a  highly  Antino- 
mian  character;  and  their  distinguishing  opinion  is  well 
expressed  in  Sandeman's  epitaph,  where  "  the  ancient 
faith,"  for  which  he  "  long  and  boldly  contended,"  is  said 
to  be  "  that  the  bare  work  of  Jesus  Christ,  without  a  deed 
or  thought  on  the  part  of  man,  is  sufficient  to  present  the 
chief  Of  sinners;"  faith,  according  to  them,  being  only  a 
simple  assent  to  the  divine  testimony  concerning  the  Re- 
deemer. The  real  founder  of  the  Sandemanians  was  John 
(;iass.  the  father-In  law  of  Sandeman.  The  adherents  of 
the  former  have  retained  the  name  of  Glassites,  but  are 
confined  entirely  to  Scotland,  from  which  church  lheir 
founder  originally  dissented  ;  whereas  the  followers  of  San- 
deman  have  extended  to  England  and  America  as  well  as 
Scotland.  This  sect  has  never  been  numerous,  and  it  is 
now,  we  believe,  nearly  extinct. 

SA'NDERLING.  The  name  of  a  small  wading  bird,  a 
species  of  Tringa  (Tr.  armaria,  111.),  which  fieijuenls 
many  of  our  shores,  but  is  not  a  plentiful  bird. 

SAND1VER.  The  impurities  which  collect  upon  glass 
during  its  fusion  in  the  furnace  are  so  called. 

SANDPIPER.  A  name  applied  to  different  species  of 
the  genus  Tringa,  but  properly  restricted  to  the  Tringahy- 
po/ccuus  of  Linna-us,  which  is  the  type  of  the  subgenus 
Tot  anus. 

SANDSTONE.  Stone  composed  of  agglutinated  grains 
of  sand,  which  may  be  calcareous  or  siliceous.  See  Ge- 
ology. 

SA'NGIAC.  A  Turkish  officer,  governor  of  a  sangia- 
cate,  or  district  forming  part  of  a  pai  halic.  There  were 
two  hundred  and  ninety  such  districts  in  the  Turkish  em- 
pire before  the  recent  losses  of  territory  on  the  side  of 
Greece  and  the  Caucasus. 

SANG1  ISO  RBEyE.  (Sanguisorba,  one  of  the  genera.) 
A  natural  order  of  herbaceous  or  undershrubby  Exogens, 
usually  combined  with  Rosacea,  BS  a  sub  order  ;  but  appa- 
rently distinct,  on  account  of  the  constantly  apetalous 
Bowers,  indurated  calyx,  and  solitary  or  almost  solitary 
carpels.  Their  general  character  is  that  of  astringency. 
Burnet,  the  Sanguisorba  officinalis,  is  sometimes  grown  as 
a  pasture  plant. 

SANGITSUGES,  Sanguisuga.  (Lnt.  sanguis,  blood, 
and  sugo,  T suck.)    The  name  of  a  family  of  Hemipterous 

inserts,  including   those   which  suck  the  blood  of  animals: 

also  applied  to  a  family   of  Abranchiate  Annelidans,  of 

which  the  leech  [Sanguisuga  medicinalis,  8av.)  is  the  type. 
SA'NHEDRIM.  (Heb.)  The  highest  judicial  tribunal 
among  the  Jews,  consisting  of  seventy  one  members,  In- 
cluding the  hiL'h  priest  Its  origin  is  referred  bj  some  wri- 
ters to  the  institution  by  Moses  of  a  council  of  seventy  per- 
sons on  the  occasion  of  a  rebellion  of  the  Israelites  in  the 

w  ililerness.     (See  Milman's  Hist,  of  Christianity,  i.  339, 

&.C.) 

SA'NIES.    (Lat)    A  thin,  unhealthy,  purulent  discharge 
from  wounds  or  sores. 
BA'NSCBJT.    The  learned  language  of  Hindostan.   The 


SANS-CULOTTES. 

literal  meaning  of  the  word  Sanscrita  is  po'ished.  and  it  is 
used  by  grammarians  in  the  sense  of  "  regularly  inflected  or 
formed."  (Colebrooke's  Remains,  vol.  ii.,  p.  2.)  And  it  is  a 
question  whether,  in  its  present  form,  it  was  ever  a  spoken 
language,  although  the  theory  of  Schlegel  is,  that  it  was 
imported  by  the  conquering  or  Brahminical  caste.  It  con- 
stitutes the  most  ancient  literature  of  the  Hindoos,  and  is 
radically  connected  with  the  various  dialects  of  Hindustan, 
so  that  they  may  be  regarded  as  more  or  less  deflected  from 
it.  Colebrooke,  however,  is  of  opinion  that  "  there  seems 
no  good  reason  for  doubting  that  it  was  once  universally 
spoken  in  India  ;"  and  he  says,  that  "  those  who  are  learn- 
ed in  Sanscrit,  at  the  present  day,  deliver  themselves  with 
6uch  fluency  as  is  sufficient  to  prove  that  it  may  have  been 
spoken  in  former  times  with  as  much  facility  as  the  con- 
temporary dialects  of  the  Greek  language,  or  the  more  mo- 
dern dialects  of  the  Arabic  tongue."  Nine  tenths  of  the 
'•  Hindustani,"  it  is  said,  may  be  traced  to  the  Sanscrit;  the 
remaining  tenth  is  thought  to  be,  perhaps,  founded  on  the 
old  "  Hindi"  language,  which  Sir  W.  Jones  thought  anteri- 
or to  it,  conceiving  the  Sanscrit  to  have  been  introduced  by 
conquerors  in  some  very  distant  age.  In  the  Hindoo  drama, 
the  gods  and  saints  are  made  to  speak  in  Sanscrit;  while 
women,  benevolent  genii,  &c,  speak  another  dialect,  and 
the  lower  personages  a  third.  (See  also  Professor  Wilson's 
Hindoo  Theatre,  Introduction.)  The  attention  of  European 
inquirers  was  directed  to  the  Sanscrit  and  its  cognate  Ian 
guage  by  Sir  William  Jones.  Since  his  time  the  study  has 
made  great  progress  in  England,  where  it  has  been  especial- 
ly furthered  by  the  labours  of  Houghton,  Wilkins,  and 
Wilson;  and  more  in  Germany,  where  Frederic  Schlegel 
{Sprache,  &-c.  der  fndier,  1808)  was  the  first  to  excite  the 
spirit  of  investigation.  He  was  followed  by  his  brother,  A 
W.  Schlegel  (who  edited  the  Bhngavat  Gita,  translated 
into  English  by  Mr.  Wilkins),  and  many  others.  Among 
recent  German  philologists,  Bopp  deserves  the  highest  name 
for  his  researches  in  this  direction.  (See  Quart.  Rev.,  vol. 
xlv.,  &c.,  where  it  is  said  that  in  the  course  of  thirty  years 
nearly  700  works  on,  and  translations  from  the  Sanscrit, 
have  appeared.)  The  intiicate  connexion  of  Sanscrit  with 
the  principal  varieties  of  the  Caucasian  speech,  and  espe- 
cially the  Zend,  Greek,  and  Sclavonic,  has  greatly  added  to 
the  interest  respecting  it. 

SANSCULOTTES,  or  BREECHESLESS.  A  name 
first  given  in- ridicule  to  the  Jacobins  and  other  extravagant 
patriots  in  the  French  Revolution,  and  afterwards  assumed 
by  them  as  a  title  of  honour ;  like  the  old  nickname  of 
*'  guex"  (beggars),  in  which  the  revolters  of  the  Nether- 
lands prided  themselves.  We  have  never  been  able  to  as- 
certain the  real  history  of  this  famous  appellation,  but  we 
believe  that  Camille  Desmoulins  was  one  of  the  first  who 
rendered  it  popular:  his  blasphemous  application  of  it  at 
his  trial  is  well  known.  It  acquired  great  celebrity  after 
the  "journee"  of  the  20th  June,  1792,  when  one  of  the 
principal  standards  borne  by  the  insurgents  was  a  pair  of 
black  breeches,  with  the  inscription,  "Tremblez,  tyrans! 
voici  les  Sans-Culottes."  Subsequently  the  French  nation 
adopted  it  with  the  utmost  gravity  in  the  original  Republi- 
can calendar.  The  five  supernumerary  days  (the  twelve 
months  containing  thirty  a  piece),  were  named  Sansculot- 
tides  ;  and  were  festivals  dedicated  to  "  Genius,"  "Labour," 
"  Actions,"  "  Rewards,"  "Opinion."  In  Leap-jears  there 
was  to  be  a  sixth  Sansculottide,  the  festival  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. Future  generations  will  find  some  difficulty  in  believ- 
ing the  narrative  of  the  ludicrous  farces  with  which  nation- 
al caprice  interspersed  the  great  tragedy  of  the  French  Rev- 
olution. 

SA'NTALIN.  The  colouring  matter  of  red  sandal  or 
saunders  wood,  from  which  it  is  separated  by  digesting  the 
rasped  wood  in  alcohol,  and  then  adding  water  to  the  tinc- 
ture ;  it  falls  in  the  form  of  a  bright  red  precipitate,  soluble 
in  alcohol  and  in  alkaline  solutions. 

SA'NTONIN.  A  proximate  vegetable  principle,  obtained 
from  the  seed  of  the  Artemisia  santoniea.  It  is  white,  crys- 
tallizable,  bitterish,  and  very  little  soluble  in  water,  but 
more  so  in  alcohol. 

SAP.  The  fluid  which  is  absorhed  by  the  roots  from  the 
earth,  then  sent  upwards  into  the  stem,  and  afterwards 
conveyed  from  the  leaves,  where  it  is  assimilated  and  al- 
tered, to  the  bark.  In  its  crude  state  it  consists  of  little  ex- 
cept water  holding  earthy  and  gaseous  matter  in  solution, 
especially  carbonic  acid  ;  but  as  it  rises  through  the  tissue 
of  the  stem  it  dissolves  the  secretions  it  meets  within  its 
course,  and  thus  acquires  new  properties,  so  that  by  the 
time  it  reaches  the  leaves  it  is  entirely  different  from  its 
state  when  it  first  enters  the  root.  The  course  taken  by 
the  sap  in  its  passage  through  the  stem  is  by  the  whole  of  the 
tissue  included  within  the  bark,  provided  it  is  all  permeable  ; 
but  as,  in  many  plants,  the  central  part  of  the  stem  becomes 
choked  up  with  solid  matter  deposited  in  the  tissue,  it  usu- 
ally happens,  especially  in  trees,  that  the  course  of  the  sap 
is  confined  to  the  outer  part  of  the  wood,  hence  called  sap- 


SAPWOOD. 

wood.  It  is  not  certainly  known  through  what  kind  of  tis- 
sue the  upward  motion  of  the  sap  takes  place,  but  it  is  pro- 
bable that  it  is  carried  onwards  through  all  the  tubes  and 
vessels  of  the  wood  and  their  intercellular  passages.  The 
dotted  vessels  of  the  wood  seem  more  especially  destined  to 
fulfil  this  office  when  the  sap  is  in  rapid  motion  ;  but  as 
they  afterwards  become  empty,  while  the  ascent  of  the  sap 
continues,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  woody  tubes  or 
pleurenchyma  offer  the  most  constant  means  by  which  the 
sap  is  conveyed.  In  Fortification,  sap  is  a  trench  or  ap- 
proach made  under  cover  of  gabions,  &c. 

SAPAN  WOOD.  A  dye-wood  produced  by  certain  spe- 
cies of  Casalpina.  It  has  long  been  used  in  India,  and  re- 
sembles Brazil  wood  in  its  colour  and  properties. 

SAP  GREEN,  The  inspissated  juice  of  the  berries  of 
the  buckthorn  (Rhamnus  cat/iarticus).  It  is  used  by  wa- 
ter-colour painters  as  a  green  pigment. 

SAPHE'NA.  (Gr.  <ru0^s,  visible.)  The  large  vein  of 
the  leg  which  ascends  over  the  external  ancle. 

SAPINDA'CE^E.  (Sapindus,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  exotic  trees  and  shrubs,  the  larger  part  of 
which  occur  in  South  America.  They  usually  have  com- 
pound leaves  and  inconspicuous  flowers,  resembling  those 
of  European  maples;  and  many  of  them  are  climbing 
plants.  The  order  is  poisonous  in  various  degrees;  never- 
theless, the  arillus  of  Bliglia  sapida  is  an  esteemed  fruit  in 
Africa  and  the  West  Indies,  where  it  is  called  the  akee. 
The  most  singular  property  observed  in  the  order  is  that  of 
having  an  astringent  quality,  and  forming  a  lather  when 
agitated  in  water,  whence  the  name  of  the  typical  genus — 
from  sapo.  snap. 

SA'PONIN.  A  peculiar  suhstance  contained  in  the  root 
of  the  Saponaria  officinalis.  It  is  the  cause  of  the  lather 
which  that  root  forms  with  water. 

SAPOTA'CEvE.  (Sapota,  the  name  of  one  of  the  spe- 
cies), are  a  small  natural  order  of  Exogenous  trees,  inhabit- 
ing the  West  Indies  and  other  tropical  countries.  They  in 
some  cases  produce  eatable  fruits,  known  by  the  colonial 
names  of  sapodilla.  marmalade  apple,  star  tipple,  Surinam 
medlar,  &c.  Their  juice  is  white,  like  milk  ;  and,  unlike 
the  secretions  of  most  lactescent  families  of  plants,  may  be 
used  for  alimentary  purposes.  The  fruit  of  some  yields  a 
greasy  substance  ;  whence  one  of  them,  Bassia,  has  gained 
the  name  of  shea,  or  butter  tree  in  Africa. 

SAPPARE.  In  Mineralogy,  a  term  applied  to  the  cyan- 
ite. 

SAPPERS  AND  MINERS  ROYAL.  The  name  given 
to  the  non-commissioned  officers  and  privates  of  the  corps 
of  Royal  Engineers.  Their  duties  consist  in  building  fortifi- 
cations, in  executing  field  works  and  in  performing  similar 
operations,  tinder  the  direction  of  their  superior  officers. 
They  were  first  embodied  at  the  end  of  the  American  war, 
under  the  name  of  "  Royal  Military  Artificers  ;"  and  after 
being  formed  into  independent  cempanies,  were  stationed  at 
Portsmouth,  Chatham,  and  some  other  military  and  naval 
arsenals.  In  1812  they  received  their  present  designation ; 
and,  at  the  same  time,  an  institution  was  formed  at  Chatham 
for  instructing  the  men  in  all  the  duties  of  military  engineer- 
ing. This  corps  consists  of  13  companies,  each  of  68  men: 
some  of  which  are  employed  in  the  colonies ;  others  in  the 
mechanical  operations  connected  with  the  survey  at  pre- 
sent carried  on  by  the  Board  of  Ordnance;  and  others  re- 
main at  Sandhurst  and  Addiscombe,  to  execute  the  various 
military  works  undertaken  for  the  instruction  of  the  cadets 
of  these  seminaries. 

SA'PPHIC.  The  name  given  to  a  species  of  verse  ;  from 
Sappho,  the  famous  Greek  poetess,  by  whom  it  was  said  to 
lie  invented.  It  consists  of  eleven  syllables  of  five  feet,  of 
which  the  following  is  a  plan : 

This  measure  was  afterwards  introduced  into  Latin,  and  re- 
ceived, as  the  reader  is  aware,  great  improvements  in  the 
hands  of  Horace  and  Catullus.  The  rules  for  the  compo- 
sition of  Greek  are  much  less  strict  than  those  for  the  com- 
position of  Latin  sapphics.  The  sapphic  strophe  consists 
of  three  sapphic  verses,  followed  by  a  versus  .Qdonicvs,  or 
Adonian  verse ;  which  see.  This  species  of  verse  has  been 
successfully  imitated  in  German  and  English. 

SA'PPHIRE.  (Gr.  oa<papos.)  A  very  hard  gem,  consist- 
ing essentially  of  crystallized  alumina.  It  is  of  various 
colours;  the  blue  variety  being  generally  called  the  sap- 
phire, the  red  the  oriental  ruby,  the  yellow  the  oriental 
topaz. 

SAPRO'PHAGANS,  Saprophaga.  (Gr.  cxpoc,  decompos- 
ing matter,  and  d>iyu>,  I  eat.)  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Co- 
leopterous insects,  comprising  those  which  feed  on  animal 
and  vegetable  substances  in  a  state  of  decomposition. 

SA'PWOOD,  is  the  external  part  of  the  wood  of  Exo- 
gens,  which,  from  being  the  latest  formed,  is  not  filled  up 
with  solid  matter,  or  with  the  colouring  principles  which 
are  deposited  in  wood  after  a  certain  time.  For  these  rea- 
sons, sapwood  is  that  through  which  the  ascending  fluids 

1087 


SARABAITES. 

of  plants  move  most  freely  ;  and  not  being  solidified  by  the 
earthy  and  other  substances  eventually  incorporated  with 
wood,  is  quickly  decomposed  when  exposed  to  the  action  of 
air  and  moisture.  Hence,  for  all  building  purposes  the  sap- 
wood  is.  or  ought  to  boi  removed  from  timber.  The  sap- 
wood  or  unsolidified  wood  of  all  trees  is  much  the  same  in 
its  power  of  resisting  decomposition,  that  of  the  oak  and 
lignum  vita'  perishing  quickly  as  poplar  and  other  valueless 
timber;  and  chemists  have  ascertained  that  if  the  hardest 
beaitwood  Is  reduced  to  its  original  condition  of  sapwood 
by  the  ahstraction  of  the  matter  of  solidification,  all  those 
properties  which  give  heartwood  its  value  are  destroyed. 

BA'RABAiTJSS.  A  kind  of  oriental  monks  or  c.Tnobites. 
described  by  Caarian  in  his  Institutions ;  and  supposed  ti> 
lie  the  same  with  those  culled  Remoboth  by  St.  Jerome 
<Epist.  wiii.)  and  Eust.,  and  characterized  as  vicious  anil 
ignorant.  They  seem  to  have  been  seceders  from  the  ordi- 
nary monastic  life,  who  formed  a  species  of  society  rather 
resembling  that  of  the  Moravians  of  the  present  day,  and 
without  community  of  goods.  (  Waddinaton's  Hist,  of  the 
Church,  cli.  xix.) 

SA'RABAND.  (Span.)  In  Music,  a  composition  in  tri 
pie  time  very  similar  to  a.  minuet.  When  denoting  music 
for  the  dance,  it  is  to  the  same  measure  which  usually  ter- 
minates when  the  beating  hand  rises ;  being  thus  distin- 
guished from  the  courant.  which  ends  when  the  hand  falls. 

SARCOCE'LE.  (Gr.  oapi,  flesh,  and  ntjXn,  a  tumour.) 
A  tumefaction  of  the  testicle. 

SA'RCOCO'LLA.  (Gr.  oapl,  and  koXXi,  glue.)  The 
concrete  juice  of  the  Pentra  sarcocolla.  a  plant  growing  in 
the  northern  parts  of  Africa.  It  somewhat  resembles  gum 
arable  ;  but  it  is  soluble  in  alcohol,  and  its  aqueous  solution 
is  precipitated  by  tannin. 

SA'RCOLITE.  (Gr.  oapl,  and  \Sos,  a  stone.)  A  varie- 
ty of  zeolite  of  a  flesh  colour. 

SARCO'LOGY.  (Gr.  onpl,  and  >oyoc,  a  discourse.)  The 
history  or  doctrine  of  the  fleshv  parts  of  the  bodv. 

BARCO'PHAGUS.  (Gr.  <r>,  and  0ayu«,  I  consume.) 
In  Antiquities,  a  stone  receptacle  for  a  dead  body.  The 
name  originates  in  the  use  of  the  lapis  Assius,  stone  of 
Assos  (in  Asia  Minor,)  said  to  have  been  prepared  in  anti- 
quity for  this  purpose,  on  account  of  its  supposed  property 
of  corroding  dead  bodies,  so  as  to  consume  them  entirely  in 
forty  days  ;  which,  together  with  other  incredible  qmlitirs, 
is  ascribed  to  it  by  Theophrastus  and  Pliny.  One  of  the 
most  celebrated  specimens  of  this  object  of  art  is  the  great 
sarcophagus  taken  by  the  British  in  F.gvpt  in  1801,  common 
ly  called  that  of  Alexander:  it  is  deposited  in  the  British 
Museum.  Dr.  Clarke,  the  traveller,  wrote  an  essay  to 
prove  that  the  Macedonian  conqueror  had  really  been  en- 
tombed  in  it ;  but  this  opinion  seems  unfounded. 

SARDO'NIC  LAUGH.  A  convulsive  laugh,  said  to 
have  been  first  observed  in  those  who  ate  the  herb  sardo- 
nia,  which  grows  in  Sardinia. 

S  \  KImiWX.  (Gr.)  A  reddish  yellow  or  orange  col- 
oured chalcedony  or  cornelian  ;  it  is  often  blood  red  by- 
transmitted  light. 

SA'ROS.  An  ancient  astronomical  period,  the  origin  and 
exact  length  of  which  are  unknown,  though  they  have  been 
the  subject  of  much  disputation.  George  Syncellns,  who 
wrote  in  the  eighth  century,  cites  a  passage  from  Rerosus, 
reported  by  Julius  Africanus,  in  which  mention  is  made  of 
three  periods— the  Sossos,  the  A'eros.  and  .faros  ;  and  the 
Sams  is  stated  to  be  3600  years.  According  to  Lalande 
(Astronomic,  §  1572),  Syncellus  also  cites  Anianus  and 
Panodorus.  who  assigned  the  lengths  of  these  periods  as 
follows:  the  Sossos,  60  days;  the  Neros,  600  days  ;  and  the 
Saros,  3600  days,  or  9  common  years,  10  months,  and  11 
days.  Legentil,  after  Pugeres,  supposes  the  Saros  to  be  10 
years;  Freret  supposed  it  to  he  l'.U.  years;  Giiaud,  3600  Ju- 
lian months,  which  make  371 1  lunations,  or  31  years.  Sui 
das  states  that  the  Sin-  was  a  period  of  lunar  months  equal 
to  18|  years;  and  Halley  (Phil.  Trans.  No.  194),  adopting 
the  same  notion,  and  supporting  himself  by  a  passage  in 
Pliny, supposes  it  to  be  identical  with  the  lunar  period  of  18 
years, or  rather  of  223  lunations,  which  corresponds  almost 
exactly  to  242  nodical  revolutions  of  the  moon  (see  Moon), 
and  consequently  brings  back  the  eclipses  in  the  same  or- 
der. But  Goguet  |  Origins  des  Loix,  4-e.)  remarks,  tlvu  the 
statement  of  Suidas  is  not  supported  by  that  of  any  ancient 

author;  and  that  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  Pliny, 
in  the  passage  in  question,  had  the  Saros  in  view.  By 
some  authors  the  Saros  has  been  confounded  with  the  Me- 
lon ic  eti 

S  MiRACENIA'CE^E  (Sarracenia,  one  of  the  genera), 
are  curious  herbaceous  plants,  inhabiting  the  bogs  of  North 
America,  and  haying  their  leaves   hollowed  out  into  tubes 

or  pitchers  open  at  the  upper  end.  Their  flowers  are  some 

thing  like  those  of  Papaveracea-,  to  which  they  are  doubt- 
b-ss  allied. 

SAKS  U-AKll.l.A.  The  root  of  the  Smilax  sarsaparil- 
la.   Several  varieties  of  this  drug  are  imported  from  South 

io8a 


SATELLITE. 

America:  that  which  is  now  generally  preferred  is  the  red- 
dish fibrous  root,  known  in  the  market  under  the  name  of 
Jamaica  or  red  sarsaparilla.  What  is  termed  Lisbon  sar- 
saparilla is  less  fibrous,  and  more  mealy  and  white  in  the 
interior.  This  root,  though  long  employed  in  medicine, 
seems  only  lately  to  have  been  properly  estimated.  It  was 
formerly  regarded  as  a  specific  in  syphilis  ;  but  this  opinion 
is  now  given  up,  and  it  is  used  as  a  powerful  and  valuable 
alterative  medicine  in  many  disorders  of  debility,  but  more 
especially  in  those  cachectic  habits  which  present  symp- 
toms formerly  mistaken  for  venereal — such  as  pains  of  the 
bones,  nodes  of  the  periosteum,  loss  of  strength  and  flesh, 
and  other  characters  of  what  is  sometimes  called  a  broken 
constitution.  In  these  cases  a  course  of  sarsaparilla  has 
often  effected  a  cure,  especially  If  resorted  to  in  time,  when 
all  other  remedies,  and  more  especially  mercurials,  had 
failed.  It  must  be  taken  in  pretty  large  doses ;  that  is,  in 
quantities  not  less  than  an  ounce  to  an  ounce  and  a  half  a 
day,  and  persevered  in  for  six,  eight,  or  ten  weeks  ;  or  a  quan- 
tity of  extract  or  syrup,  or  rather  preparation  equivalent  to 
that  weight  of  the  dried  root :  a  concentrated  liquid  extract, 
and  a  syrup,  are  now  prepared,  which  are  the  best  forms. 
They  nre  apt  to  disagree  with  we;ik  stomachs  ;  but  general- 
ly, by  proper  management  and  perseverance,  this  difficulty 
may  be  got  over.  Where  it  agrees,  the  strength  is  gradual- 
ly regained,  the  pains  and  other  symptoms  abate  and  van- 
ish ;  and  the  only  other  effect  observed  is,  either  that  the 
bowels  are  rather  more  open  than  usual,  or  the  flow  ot 
urine  or  the  perspiration  increased. 

SARTO'RIUS  MUSCLE.  (Lat.  sartor,  a  tailor.)  A 
muscle  of  the  thigh  attached  at  the  upper  extremity  to  the 
edge  of  the  anterior  superior  spinous  process  of  the  ileum, 
and  at  the  lower  to  the  inner  side  of  the  head  of  the  tibia 
It  is  concerned  in  bending  the  leg  obliquely  inwards,  and  in 
crossing  the  thighs  ;  thence  called  sartorius,  or  the  tailor's 
muscle. 

SASH.  (Fr.  chassis.)  In  Architecture,  a  piece  of  fram- 
ing for  holding  the  squares  of  glass  in  a  window.  It  is  ol 
two  sorts — viz.  that  called  the  French  sash,  which  is  hung 
like  a  door  to  the  sash-frame  ;  and  that  In  which  it  moves 
vertically  from  being  balanced  by  a  weight  on  each  side,  to 
which  it  is  attached  by  liies  running  over  pulleys  at  the 
top  of  the  Bash-frame.  When  in  a  window  both  the  upper 
and  lower  sashes  are  moveable  the  sashes  are  said  to  be 
double  hung,  and  single  hung  when  only  one  of  them 
moves. 

S  \SH-FRAME.  In  Architecture,  the  wooden  frame  into 
which  the  sashes  are  fitted. 

SASSAFRAS.  The  wood  of  the  Lauras  sassafras,* 
native  of  North  America,  and  growing  abundantly  upon  the 
banks  of  the  river  Sassafras;  whence  its  name.  It  has  a 
warm  aromatic  flavour,  and  the  decoction  is  diuretic  and 
diaphoretic.  It  was  formerly  used  in  cases  of  stone  in  the 
bladder  (hence  its  name  has  by  some  been  derived  from 
saxum,  ii  stone,  and  frangere,  to  break).  It  has  also  been 
extolled  as  an  antisypliilitic  remedy,  and  in  rheumatic  and 
cutaneous  affections  :  it  is  now  scarcely  ever  employed  ex- 
cept as  an  ingredient  in  the  compound  decoction  of  sarsa- 
parilla. 

SA'SSOLIN.  Native  boracic  acid,  from  the  vicinity  of 
Sasso.  in  Florence. 

SA'TAN.  A  Hebrew  word  signifying  enemy  or  adver- 
sary, and  used  as  such,  without  any  reference  io  the  Evil 
Rower  itself,  in  one  or  two  passages  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments.  The  equivalent  term  in  Greek  for  this  word 
is  SiaSoXos,  literally  our  who  accuses  or  calumniates  ;  whence 
the  word  devil  is  derived. 

SATELLITE  (Lat.  satelles,  vn  attendant),  in  the  Solar 
Sj  stem,  is  the  attendant  of  a  planet :  a  body  which  revolves 
about  the  planet,  and  follows  it  in  its  orbit  round  the  sun. 
Hence  the  satellite  is  sometimes  called  a  secondary  planet, 
or  merely  a  secondary;  the  planet  about  which  it  revolves 
being  the  primary. 

The  planets  which  are  accompanied  by  satellites  are  the 
Earth,  Jupiter.  Saturn,  and  Uranus.  The  Earth  has  one 
satellite,  namely,  the  Moon;  Jupiter  has  four;  Saturn  sev- 
en; and  Uranus  certainly  two,  If  not  six.  For  the  Earth's 
satellite,  see  Moon. 

Satellites  of  Jupiter. — These  bodies  were  first  observed 
by  Galileo,  and  their  discovery  followed  immediately  that 
of  the  telesco|>e.    With  a  telescope  of  ordinary  power  they 

may  be  seen  (unless  when  eclipsed  by  the  shadow  of  the 
planet,  or  concealed  behind  its  disk),  on  any  clear  night,  at 
different  distances  from  the  planet,  and  arranged  nearly  in 
a  straight  line,  in  which  they  appear  to  oscillate  backwards 

and  forwards  with  different  velocities,  and  performing  un- 
equal  excursions;  so  that  their  arrangement  with  respect 
to  the  planet,  or  configurations,  are  constantly  changing. 
S etlmes  they  are  observed  to  pass  before  Jupiter,  in 

which  ease  they  cast  a  shadow  on  his  disk  like  a  small, 
round,  black  spot,  whence  they  are  inferred  to  be  npnke 
bodies  illuminated  by  the  sun ;  at  other  times  they  pass  be- 


SATELLITE. 


SATIRE. 


hind  the  planet  and  are  concealed  from  our  view;  and  all  j  observed  to  happen  about  16  m.  26  sec.  earlier  than  they 
these  phenomena  occur  in  regular  order,  and,  with  respect 
to  each  satellite,  after  the  same  intervals  of  time. 

An  attentive  examination  of  the  apparent  motions  of  the 
satellites  soon  renders  it  evident  that  they  revolve  round 
Jupiter  in  small  but  unequal  orbits,  the  planes  of  which 
are  nearly  coincident  vviih  that  of  the  equator  of  the  planet, 
which  is  inclined  in  a  small  angle  to  the  ecliptic.  Obser- 
vation also  shows  that  the  motions  of  the  satellites  about 
their  primary  are  regulated  by  the  same  laws  as  are  ob- 
served by  the  planets  in  their  revolutions  round  the  sun. 
The  orbits  are  ellipses  of  small  eccentricity,  of  which  Jupi- 
ter occupies  one  of  the  foci ;  the  areas  described  by  the  ra- 
dius vector  are  proportional  to  the  times  of  description;  and 
the  squares  of  the  periodic  limes  are  respectively  proportion- 
al to  the  cubes  of  the  mean  distances.  Thus  Jupiter  and 
his  satellites  form  a  system  in  miniature  entirely  analogous 
to  that  of  the  sun  and  planets. 

The  satellites  are  distinguished  as  the  first,  second,  third, 
and  fourth,  according  to  their  respective  distances  from  Ju- 
piter, the  first  being  that  which  is  nearest  the  planet.  The 
following  table  shows  their  mean  distances  (in  terms  of  the 
equatorial  radius  of  Jupiter),  times  of  revolution,  masses  as 
compared  with  Jupiter,  and  diameters  in  English  miles : 


Satellite. 

Mean  Di<tance 

Periodic  Time. 

Mass. 

Diameter 

in  Miles. 

1 
2 
3 
4 

6043  '.3 
9  62347 
15  3  0-'4 
26-99535 

Day*. 
l-7bOI4 
355118 
7  15455 
16'6«77 

o-onnon 

0  000023 
U-O00U-& 
0-000043 

2508 
2068 
3377 
2890 

The  mean  distances  are  found  by  measuring  the  angular 
distances  from  Jupiter  at  the  time  of  the  greatest  elonga- 
tions, and  the  masses  were  determined  by  Laplace  from  the 
theory  of  gravitation.  On  account  of  the  minuteness  of  their 
apparent  diameters,  it  is  difficult  to  determine  their  true  di- 
ameters with  precision.  The  second,  which  is  the  smallest, 
at  the  mean  distance  of  the  planet  subtends  an  angle  of 
rather  less  than  1" ;  and  the  third,  which  is  the  largest,  an 
angle  of  less  than  15".  {Memoirs  lioijal  Jlstronomical  So- 
ciety, vol.  hi.,  p.  301.) 

Small  as  the  satellites  of  Jupiter  are  in  comparison  of  the 
primary  planet,  they  are  in  themselves  bodies  of  considera- 
ble magnitude.  As  compared  with  the  Earth,  their  diame- 
ters may  be  approximately  stated  as  follows :  That  of  the 
first  rather  less  than  £,  of  the  second  $,  of  the  third  £,  and 
of  the  fourth  more  than  J.  The  third  is  about  the  size  of 
Mars.  These  four  moons  must  present  to  the  inhabitants 
of  Jupiter  a  spectacle  of  endless  variety. 

Although  their  orbits  are  doubtless  elliptical,  the  eccentri- 
cities of  the  first  and  second  are  so  small  as  to  be  insensible 
to  observation.  That  of  the  third  is  sufficiently  sensible  ; 
and  that  of  the  fourth  still  greater,  but  subject  to  considera- 
ble variations.  The  direction  of  the  motions  of  the  satellites 
in  their  orbits  is  from  west  to  east,  according  to  the  general 
analogy  of  the  planetary  system  ;  and,  from  observed  peri- 
odical defalcations  of  light  to  which  they  are  subject,  it  has 
been  inferred  that,  like  our  own  moon,  each  of  them  revolves 
about  its  axis  in  the  same  time  as  that  in  which  it  completes 
a  sidereal  revolution  about  the  planet. 

From  the  preceding  table  it  will  be  seen  that  the  periodic 
time  of  the  first  satellite  is  nearly  half  of  that  of  the  second, 
and  that  of  the  second  nearly  half  of  that  of  the  third.  The 
mean  angular  motions  of  these  three  satellites,  therefore, 
form  very  nearly  the  progression  1,  J,  |;  so  that  the  mean 
motion  of  the  first  satellite,  added  to  twice  that  of  the  third, 
is  very  nearly  equal  to  three  times  the  mean  motion  of  the 
second.  Another  equally  singular  analogy  is,  that  the  mean 
longitude  of  the  first,  minus  three  times  that  of  the  second, 
plus  twice  that  of  the  third,  is  always  very  nearly  equal  to 
two  right  angles.  These  two  results  subsist  equally  in  re- 
spect both  of  the  sidereal  and  synodical  motions  and  longi- 
tudes ;  and  it  follows  as  a  consequence  of  the  last,  that  for 
a  great  number  of  years  at  least,  the  three  first  satellites 
cannot  be  eclipsed  at  the  same  time,  fur  in  the  simultaneous 
eclipses  of  the  second  and  third  the  first  will  always  be  in 
conjunction  with  Jupiter,  and  vice  versa,. 

On  account  of  the  shortness  of  the  periods  of  revolution, 
the  eclipses  of  the  satellites  (especially  of  the  first)  take 
place  very  frequently ;  and  they  are  phe'nomena  of  consid- 
erable importance  in  astronomy,  from  their  affording  signals 
by  means  of  which  the  differences  of  terrestrial  longitudes 
are  determined,  in  the  same  manner  as  in  the  case  of  an 
eclipse  of  the  moon.  The  method,  however,  is  not  capable 
of  the  same  precision  as  is  afforded  by  lunar  observations. 

The  eclipses  of  Jupiter's  satellites  have  also  a  historical 
interest,  from  having  led  Rremer  to  the  important  discovery 
of  the  successive  propagation  and  velocity  of  light.  When 
Jupiter  is  in  opposition  with  the  sun,  and  his  distance  from 
the  earth,  consequently,  less  than  his  distance  from  the  sun 
by  the  whole  radius  of  the  earth's  orbit,  the  eclipses  are 


happen  when  the  planet  is  in  conjunction,  and  its  distance 
from  the  earth  greater  than  its  distance  from  the  sun  by 
the  same  quantity.  This  phenomenon  can  only  be  explain- 
ed by  supposing  that  light  occupies  16  m.  26  sec.  in  travers- 
ing the  earth's  orbit,  and,  consequently,  8  m.  13  sec.  in 
coining  from  the  sun  to  the  earth,  which  gives  a  velocity  of 
about  192,01)0  miles  in  a  second.  The  theory',  with  its  con- 
sequences, has  been  amply  confirmed  by  Bradley's  discov- 
ery of  the  aberration.     See  Aberration. 

Satellites  of  Saturn. — Saturn,  as  has  already  been  men- 
tioned, is  accompanied  by  seven  satellites.  The  most  dis- 
tant, which  is  by  far  the  largest,  was  discovered  by  Huy- 
gens  in  1665.  Four  others  were  first  seen  by  Dominic  Cas- 
sini  about  twenty  years  afterwards  ;  but  the  two  interior 
ones,  which  can  only  be  seen  under  very  peculiar  circum- 
stances, and  with  the  aid  of  the  most  powerful  telescopes, 
were  discovered  by  Sir  William  Herschel,  in  1789.  On  ac- 
count of  the  difficulty  of  observing  the  satellites  of  this 
planet,  their  theory  has  been  little  studied.  The  third  law 
of  Kepler,  which  connects  the  periods  and  distances,  is 
found  to  be  preserved,  as  in  the  system  of  Jupiter.  The 
planes  of  their  orbits  coincide  nearly  with  that  of  the  ring, 
with  the  exception  of  the  seventh,  which  makes  an  angle 
with  that  plane  of  about  three  or  four  degrees.  The  orbit 
of  this  last  is  sensibly  elliptical,  the  eccentricity  being  -049. 
Owing  to  the  obliquity  of  the  orbits  to  Saturn's  ecliptic,  the 
satellites  are  not  eclipsed  in  every  revolution,  but  (with  the 
exception  of  the  two  interior  ones)  only  fall  into  the  shadow 
of  the  planet  at  the  times  when  the  ring  is  seen  from  the 
earth  nearly  edgewise.  The  following  table  shows  their 
mean  distances  from  Saturn  in  terms  of  the  equatorial  ra- 
dius of  the  planet,  and  their  periods  of  sidereal  revolution: 


Satellite. 

Mean  Distance. 

Periodic  Time. 

d.    A.    m. 

1 

3351 

0    22    38 

2 

4  300 

1      8    53 

3 

5  234 

1    21     18 

4 

6-NI9 

2    17    45 

5 

9  524 

4    12    25 

6 

22-081 

15    22    41 

7 

64-359 

79      7    55 

The  two  interior  satellites  appear  to  just  skirt  the  exterior 
edge  of  the  ring.  The  seventh,  like  the  satellites  of  Jupi- 
ter, exhibits  periodical  changes  in  the  intensity  of  its  light, 
whence  it  is  inferred  that  it  revolves  on  its  axis  in  the  same 
time  in  which  it  completes  its  orbital  revolution. 

Satellites  of  Uranus. — Sir  John  Herschel  remarks  that, 
with  the  exception  of  the  two  interior  satellites  of  Saturn, 
the  attendants  of  Uranus  are  the  most  difficult  objects  to 
obtain  a  sight  of,  of  any  in  our  system.  Their  existence 
was  first  discovered  by  Sir  William  Herschel,  who  sus- 
pected their  number  to  be  six  ;  but  he  was  only  able  to  ob- 
tain micrornetrical  measures  of  the  distance  of  two  of  them, 
and  only  those  two  have  yet  been  seen  by  any  other  astron- 
omer. Sir  W.  Herschel's  observations  are  given  in  the 
Phil.  Trans,  for  1788  and  1797,  and  again  in  the  vol.  for 
1815.  They  were  made  between  the  years  1787  and  1798  ; 
and  from  the  latter  period  until  1828,  the  planet  having  been 
unfavourably  situated,  these  satellites  remained  unobserv- 
ed, and  had  even  fallen  out  of  notice.  Between  the  latter 
year  and  1834  a  series  of  observations,  recorded  in  the  Me- 
moirs of  the  R.  Jistr.  Society,  vol.  viii.,  were  made  by  Sir 
John  Herschel  for  the  purpose  of  verifying  his  father's  re- 
sults, which,  with  respect  to  two  satellites,  were  confirmed 
in  the  amplest  manner.  The  periodic  times  deduced  from 
his  observations  are  respectively  8  d.  16  h.  56  m.  313  sec, 
and  13  d.  11  h.  7  m.  12  6  sec.  The  orbits  are  nearly  circu- 
lar, and  almost  perpendicular  to  the  ecliptic,  being  inclined 
to  that  plane  in  an  angle  of  78°  58' ;  and  what  is  extremely 
remarkable,  as  contrary  to  the  otherwise  unbroken  analogy 
of  the  solar  system,  the  motions  of  the  satellites  in  their  or- 
bits are  retrograde,  or  from  east  to  west.  The  following 
table  shows  the  distances  (in  radii  of  Uranus)  and  periods 
of  all  the  satellites,  according  to  Sir  William  Herschel. 
(Herschel's  Jlstromy,  Cab.  Kncyc.) 


Mean  Distance. 

Sidereal  Period. 

d.    h.    m.     ». 

1  ? 

13-120 

5    21    25      0 

17022 

8    16    56      5 

3? 

19-845 

10    23      4      0 

22  752 

13    11       8    59 

45-507 

33      1    43      0 

6? 

91-008 

107     16    40       0 

SATIN.  A  closely  woven  silk,  generally  dressed  with 
gum,  especially  when  intended  for  ribands,  dresses,  &c. 

SATIN  SPAR.  A  fibrous  variety  of  carbonate  of  lime 
assuming  a  silky  appearance  when  polished. 

SATIRE,  in  Literature,  has  been  defined  a  representation 
of  vice,  or  of  the  ridiculous,  either  in  the  form  of  discourse 
3Y  1089 


SATIRE. 

or  put  in  dramatic  action.  The  word  satire  must  not  be 
confounded  as  to  its  etymology  with  the  satyrf  of  the 
Greeks,  which  were  burlesque  dramatic  pieces,  in  which 
the  persons  represented  a  band  of  satyrs.  {See  Drama.) 
The  modern  WOtd  satire.  Latin  satin,  is  derived  from  the 
lanz  satura — a  dish  full  of  various  fruits  and  herbs  winch 
was  carried  in  procession  at  the  leasts  of  Ceres.  Whence 
the  word  came  to  signify  a  poem  full  of  miscellaneous  mat- 
ter without  orderly  method  |  and  in  this  sense  only  it  was 
probably  employed  by  Lucilius.  the  first  writer  of  satires: 
although  the  title  so  usurped  by  him  was  afterwards  only 
applied  to  poems  of  a  similar  character  with  his  own,  vi/.., 
containing  moral  reflection, interspersed  with  critical  touch- 
es directed  against  real  or  imaginary  personages. 

Satire,  in  the  literary  sense  of  the  word,  as  designating  a 
species  of  composition,  is  usually  confined  to  a  species  of 
poetry;  but  prose  works,  of  winch  the  contents  are  of  a  sa- 
tirical character,  are  often  comprehended  under  the  same 
appellation.  Dramatic  writings,  also,  are  not  satires  in  the 
stricter  sense  of  the  word,  although  their  contents  be  of  a 
satirical  character.  According  to  their  subjects,  satires  are 
divided  into  political  and  moral,  and  these  again  severally 
subdivided  into  personal  and  general.  Political  satires,  in 
almost  every  language,  have  been  nearly  confined  to  prose  : 
the  moral  satire  alone  has  found  its  appropriate  vehicle  in 
verse.  The  only  Greek  satirist  of  whom  any  fragments 
have  reached  us  was  Archilochus,  and  his  attacks  were 
evidently  directed  against  individuals.  Aristophanes  pos- 
sessed a  vein  of  satirical  power,  both  in  the  indignant  and 
ludicrous  strain,  which  has  never  been  surpassed;  and  his 
dramas  contain  not  only  sarcasms  on  individuals,  but  also 
political  and  ethical  lessons  of  the  highest  value.  But  the 
moral  satire,  properly  so  called,  was  invented  by  the  Ro- 
mans, not  only  in  form,  but  in  substance  also,  and  by  them 
carried  to  perfection  ;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  the  only 
species  of  Roman  poetry  which  has  any  degree  of  originali- 
ty is  that  which  would  seem  to  have  accorded  the  least 
with  the  grave  and  austere  turn  of  the  genuine  Roman  i 
character. 

Of  the  three  Roman  satirists  whose  works  have  reached 
us,  Horace,  the  earliest,  excels  in  conveying  moral  and  pru- 
dential lessons  in  beautiful  and  precise  language,  in  light 
allusions  to  the  follies  or  excesses  of  his  time;  sometimes 
though  rarely,  assuming  the  comic  character,  but  generally 
evincing  more  of  the  indefinable  quality  termed  by  us  hu- 
mour than  is  shown  by  any  other  classical  Writer,  with  the 
exception  of  Aristophanes.  Whether  the  various  person 
ages  introduced  by  Horace,  for  the  most  part  rather  as  ex- 
amples to  be  shunned  than  as  individuals  to  be  held  up  to 
laughter  or  contempt,  were  intended  to  represent  to  his 
readers,  by  allusions  now  undiscernible,  actual  characters 
known  to  them,  is  a  matter  not  easily  ascertainable.  The 
same  may  be  said  with  respect  to  Juvenal,  whose  selected 
victims  are  for  the  most  part  exalted  or  notorious  person 
ages  of  the  generations  immediately  preceding  his  own; 
and  it  is  not  ascertained,  although  it  has  often  been  conjec- 
tured, that  their  names  were  intended  to  conceal  those  of 
cotemporaries  of  his  own.  Juvenal,  without  either  wit  or 
humour,  excels  in  the  deep  tones  of  moral  indignation  be- 
fitting the  scandalous  excesses  of  the  times  in  which  he 
lived:  his  exalted  notions  of  virtue,  and  even  of  sanctity, 
are  so  far  superior  to  the  ordinary  standard  of  moral  excel 
lence  to  be  drawn  from  classical  writers,  that  it  has  been 
conjectured  that  he,  as  well  as  Persius,  had  made  some  ac- 
quaintance, either  directly  or  indirectly,  will)  the  lessons  of 
Christianity.  Per-ius.  although  he  occasionally  rises  into 
very  elevated  flights  of  poetry,  doe-  nol  afford  main  exam- 
ples of  the  peculiar  excellences  of  the  satirist. 

In  the  literature  of  the  modern  nations,  the  fate  of  satire 
has  been  similar  to  that  which  has  befallen  many  other 
species  of  composition.  The  name  and  form  Of  the  ancient 
satire  have  been  preserved  by  many  writers,  who  have  pro- 
duced, for  the  most  part,  little  besides  cold  or  exaggerated 
imitations  of  antiquity.  Hut  the  true  spirit  of  satire,  in  its 
moral  beauty,  its  humour,  and  its  delicate  irony,  has  been 
inherited  by  others,  who  had  too  much  originality  of  thought 
to  tie  down  their  genius  to  an  antiquated  form'  of  writing. 
Thus  in  France,  Boileau  is,  or  was,  generally  cited  a<  the 
prince  of  satirists:  his  satires  are  closely  formed  on  the 
model  of  Horace,  and  are  elegant  and  correct  in  style.  He- 
sides  him,  Regnier  and  many  oilier  writers  have  adopted 
the  same  line.  But  the  true  satirists  of  France  are  Rabe- 
lais, in  his  Inimitable  romances;  Montaigne  the  essayist, 

endowed  with  much  of  the  delicate  and  harmless  sarcasm 
of  Horace;  and,  in  later  times,  Volt  lire.  So  In  England,  al- 
though we  possess  satirists  of  considerable  merit,  who  have 
adopted  the  form  of  the  ancient  satire,  our  true  national 
satirists  are  to  be  found  among  our  essayifts  and  Hovel  H  n- 
tern.     Bishop  Hall,  in  the  reign  of  F.li/.ahelh.  and  Donne,  In 

that  of  James,  published  collections  of  satires,  directed 

partly  against  the  actual  follies  or  vies  of  their  times,  but 
too  closely  paraphrased,  for  the  most  part,  from  the  Latin. 
1090 


SATURN. 

to  admit  of  much  original  observation.  Withers,  among  our 
early  satirists,  is  the  only  other  writer  who  is  at  all  remcu,- 
bered.  Among  our  modern  poets.  Pope  founded  his  satires 
on  the  model  of  those  of  Horace,  and  of  some  of  his  English 
predecessors.  His  style  ami  train  of  thought  were  rather 
French  than  Roman.  His  works  of  this  description  are,  in 
point  of  form,  mere  imitations;  but  ihey  are  admirable  tor 
their  point  and  the  beauty  of  the  verse,  and  not  unfrequent- 
ly  contain  pungent  personal  allusions,  without  which,  un- 
fortunately, a  professed  satirist  can  attract  little  notice  and 
produce  little  effect.  Johnson,  in  his  two  well  known  imi- 
tations of  Juvenal,  Churchill,  and  Young,  are  the  latest  wri- 
ters of  any  note  who  have  composed  in  the  foim  of  the  an- 
cient satire.  But  of  all  these  writers,  not  one  possesses  a 
geniune  or  national  character,  except,  perhaps,  Churchill ; 
while  Swift,  Fielding,  &c,  are,  in  our  literature,  what  Hor- 
ace and  Juvenal  were  in  those  of  the  Romans — the  painters 
of  existing  manners,  and  the  representatives  of  public  opinion 
respecting  them.  The  literary  satire  may,  perhaps,  be  men- 
tioned as  a  separate  species  of  com|H>sition,  containing  either 
rules  of  writing,  or  critical  observations  on  the  defects  of 
individual  writers.  Some  of  Horace's  satires  and  epistles 
(as  well  as  his  Jlrs  Poetica)  belong  exclusively,  others  par- 
tially, to  this  class;  and  have  given  birth  to  a  series  of  sim- 
ilar productions,  down  to  the  English  Bards  and  Scotch 
Reviewers  of  Lord  Byron.  (See,  as  to  the  Roman  satire, 
Qunrt.  Rev.,  Vol.  lii.  ;   Mem.  de  I'.lc.  drs  hiscr..  vol.  xxxix.) 

SATRAP.  The  tide  given  by  the  Greek  writers  to  the 
governors  of  provinces  under  the  Persian  kings  before  the 
conquests  of  Alexander.  TIip  satrapies  of  that  empire  are 
enumerated  by  Herodotus.  The  name  is  thought  by  some 
to  be  derived  from  a  Persian  word,  signifying  "fixed  star." 
(JHem.  de  I'.lc.  drs  Inscr..  vol.  xxxi.) 

SATURDAY.  The  seventh  day  of  the  week,  held  by 
the  Jews  as  their  sabbath.  It  was  dedicated  by  the  Romans 
to  Saturn  ;  whence  its  name. 

SATURN.  An  Italian  deity  having  many  points  of  sim- 
ilarity with  the  Grecian  Kronos  (Vtpovos),  with  whom  he  is, 
accordingly,  frequently  identified.  He  seems  to  have  been 
originally  the  god  of  earth  (of  which  his  wife  Tellus,  Ops, 
or  Rhea  was  the  goddess),  and  presided  over  tillage,  of 
which  the  sickle  he  carried  was  the  symbol.  The  treasury 
at  Rome  was  in  his  tpmple. 

The  Grecian  Kronos  was  the  youngest  son  of  Ueaven 
and  Earth,  and  the  father  of  Jupiter,  Juno,  Neptune,  md 
Pluto.  He  usurped  the  sovereignly,  and  was  in  his  turn 
deposed  and  imprisoned  by  Jupiter.  His  reign  was  celebra- 
ted by  the  ancient  poets  as  the  golden  age. 

The  whole  history  of  this  deity  is  probably  allegorical. 
The  name  itself,  with  a  slight  variation,  signifies  time 
[Kpvpot)  ;  and  his  attribute  of  the  sickle,  together  with  the 
account  of  his  being  the  son  of  Heaven,  by  whose  lumi- 
naries time  is  measured,  and  the  husband  of  Rhea  (flow- 
ing), and  of  his  devouring  his  own  progeny,  are  corrobora- 
tive of  this  conjecture. 

Niebuhr  regards  Saturn  and  Ops  as  the  god  and  goddess 
of  the  earth,  its  vivifying  and  its  receptively-productive 
powers.  (Horn.  Hist.,  vol.  1.,  p.  C'i,  Cambr.  transl.)  Creu- 
zer  makes  Saturn  the  great  god  of  nature,  in  many  respects 
assimilated  to  Janus.  He  is  the  god  who  suffices  for  him- 
self— the  god  who  is  satisfied  with  his  own  powers.  (Syn- 
bolik.  par  Guigniaut,  vol.  hi.,  p.  499.)  Hence  the  derivation 
of  the  name  from  the  Latin  satur,  full,  satisfied. 

SATURN.  One  of  the  principal  planets  in  the  solar  sys- 
tem, and  the  ninth  in  the  order  of  distance  from  the  sun. 
Though  less  brilliant  than  Venus  and  Jupiter,  Saturn  is  still 
a  conspicuous  object  in  the  heavens,  and  has  accordingly 
attracted  the  attention  of  astronomers  since  the  first  dawn 
of  the  science. 

Saturn  revolves  at  the  distance  of  about  890  millions  of 
miles  from  the  sun.  the  mean  radius  of  bis  orbit  being 
9*588786  times  that  of  the  earth's  orbit  :  and  the  period  of 
his  sideral  revolution  is  10759*2198174  mean  solar  days,  or 
about  29.1  years.  The  orbit  is  nearly  circular,  its  eccen- 
tricity being  only  '0561505  fhalf  the  major  axis  being  unity)  ; 
and  it  is  inclined  to  the  ecliptic  in  an  angle  which,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  present  centurv.  was  2°  29'  35"-7,  and  is 
subject  to  a  decrease  of  0  15"i"  annually. 

The  diameter  of  Saturn  at  his  mean  distance  from  the 
earth  subtends  an  angle  of  about  162'  ;  whence  his  true 
diameter  is  9-983   times  thai  of  the   earth,  or  about   7fi068 

miles,  and  consequently  bis  volume  is  nearly  a  thousand 
times  ihat  of  the  earth.     From  the  theory  of  his  perturba- 
tions, his  mass  compared  with  that  of  the  sun  is  found  to  be 
M738;  whence  bta  density  is  inferred  to  he  to  that  of 

the  sun  as  .",.,  in  pill,  nr  about  iih  of  the  density  of  the  earth. 
From  the  Observation  of  certain  dark  spots  nn  his  surface, 

Saturn  is  fl d  to  revolve  about  an  axis  iii  111  hours  39  m. 

lie-1  iec.     This  rapid  rotation  of  so  large  a  bodygives  rise  to 

a  great  centrifugi  I  force  at  the  equator  of  tin-  planet,  and 
ace  irdlngly  bis  form  is  that  of  a  Bpher  id  considerably  flat 
tcned  at  the  pules,  the  ratio  of  the  polar  to  the  equatorial 


SATURN. 

diameter  being  nearly  that  of  11  to  12.  The  inclination  of 
his  equator  to  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic  is  31°  19',  or  nearly 
28°  49'  to  the  plane  of  his  orbit. 

When  seen  through  a  good  telescope,  the  disc  of  Saturn 
appears  striped  with  dark  belts,  somewhat  similar,  but 
broader  and  less  strongly  marked  than  those  of  Jupiter. 
From  their  parallelism  to  his  equator,  it  is  inferred  that  they 
subsist  in  his  atmosphere,  and  are  probably  determined  by- 
Currents  similar  to  our  trade  winds. 

Saturn  is  attended  by  seven  satellites ;  but  the  two  near- 
est the  planet  can  only  be  seen  in  certain  favorable  circum- 
stances, and  with  telescopes  of  the  very  highest  power. 
See  Satullitk. 

Saturn's  Huigs.—Snturn  presents  a  phenomenon  to  which 
there  is  nothing  analogous  in  the  rest  of  the  solar  system. 
This  consists  of  two  flat,  broad,  and  very  thin  rings,  both 
lying  in  the  same  plane,  and  concentric  wiih  each  other 
and  with  the  planet.  They  are  separated  from  the  body  of 
the  planet  by  an  interval  equal  to  about  two  and  a  half 
times  the  diameter  of  the  earth,  and  from  each  other  by  a 
much  smaller  interval.  The  plane  in  which  they  lie  is  in- 
clined to  the  ecliptic  in  an  angle  of  28°  40' ;  and  hence  they 
present  themselves  obliquely  to  the  earth,  under  the  form  of 
an  ellipse,  the  breadth  of  which,  when  greatest,  is  nearly 
equal  to  half  the  length.  The  following  are  the  dimensions 
of  this  extraordinary  appendage,  as  given  by  Sir  John  Her- 
schel  (Treatise  of  Astronomy,  Cab.  CycL),  from  the  micro- 
metrical  observations  of  Struve,  with  the  exception  of  the 
thickness  of  the  rings,  which  was  deduced  from  his  own  ob- 
servations : 

Miles. 

Exterior  diameter  of  exterior  ring  -  -  =176418 
Interior  diameter  of  exterior  ring  -        -    =155272 

Exterior  diameter  of  interior  ring  -        -    =151600 

Interior  diameter  of  interior  ring  -        -    =117339 

Equatorial  diameter  of  the  planet  -  -  =  79160 
Interval  between  the  planet  and  interior  ring  =  19090 
Interval  of  the  rings  -        -        -        -    =      1791 

Thickness  of  the  rings  not  exceeding  -  -  =  100 
As  the  plane  of  this  double  ring  maintains  its  parallelism 
during  the  revolution  of  the  planet,  the  angle  under  which 
it  is  presented  to  the  sun  is  continually  changing,  and 
hence  the  varieties  which  take  place  in  its  apparent  form 
and  magnitude.  The  points  in  which  it  intersects  the  eclip- 
tic are  in  170°  and  350°  of  longitude  ;  consequently,  when- 
ever the  planet  comes  into  either  of  those  longitudes  (and  it 
must  pass  through  both  in  each  revolution),  the  plane  of 
the  ring  passes  through  the  sun,  and  only  the  thin  edge  is 
illuminated.  In  this  case,  the  whole  quantity  of  light 
which  is  reflected  from  it  is  insufficient  to  render  it  visible, 
and  it  entirely  disappears,  even  in  the  most  powerful  tele- 
scopes. On  the  29th  of  April,  1833,  Sir  John  Herschel  re- 
cords, "  The  disappearance  of  the  rings  is  complete,  when 
observed  with  a  reflector  18  inches  in  aperture  and  20  feet 
in  focal  length."  A  little  before  or  after  the  planet  is  in 
this  position,  the  ring  is  seen  as  a  fine  straight  line  of  light 
drawn  across  the  disc  of  the  planet,  and  projecting  on  each 
side  like  <zns<£  or  handles.  As  the  planet  continues  to  re- 
cede, the  sun's  rays  fall  upon  the  ring  more  obliquely,  and 
the  luminous  line  gradually  opens  out  into  an  ellipse,  which 
becomes  wider  and  wider  until  it  attains  its  maximum,  when 
the  longitude  of  Saturn  is  80°  or  260°.  In  following  out 
these  phenomena,  it  is,  however,  necessary  to  take  into 
account  the  position  of  the  earth  relatively  to  the  sun  and 
the  plane  of  the  ring ;  for  it  is  evident,  in  the  first  place, 
that  the  ring  will  only  be  visible  when  the  sun  and  earth 
are  both  on  the  same  side  of  it ;  and,  in  the  second  place, 
that  it  will  become  invisible  when  its  plane  passes  through 
the  centre  of  the  earth,  as  none  of  the  light  reflected  from 
its  sides  can  then  reach  us.  On  this  account  the  disap- 
pearance of  the  ring  is  generally  double,  the  earth  passing 
twice  through  its  plane  in  the  same  revolution.  The  suc- 
cessive disappearances  of  the  ring  form  a  period  of  about  15 
years,  or  half  the  times  of  Saturn's  revolution  in  his  orbit. 
At  present  (1840),  the  north  side  of  the  ring  is  illuminated  ; 
in  December,  1847,  it  will  be  invisible  ;  and  in  April,  1855, 
the  south  side  will  become  visible.  The  two  sides  of  the 
ring  have  thus  alternately  fifteen  of  our  years  of  sunshine, 
and  fifteen  years  of  darkness. 

The  singularity  of  Saturn's  appearance  was  first  noticed 
by  Galileo,  to  whom  the  planet  appeared  triple,  or  as  a 
large  body  placed  between  two  small  ones.  The  explana- 
tion of  the  phenomena  by  means  of  the  ring  was  first  given 
by  Huygens.  Some  astronomers  have  thought  they  observ- 
ed numerous  dark  divisions  in  the  ring  ;  so  that  instead  of 
two  there  must  be  a  number  of  concentric  rings.  Siurve 
states,  that  he  could  perceive  no  traces  of  such  division  in 
the  great  Dorpat  refractor. 

That  the  ring  is  composed  of  solid  ponderous  materials  is 
proved  from  the  circumstances  of  its  casting  a  dark  shadow 
on  Saturn  on  the  side  nearest  the  sun,  and  receiving  the 
ihadow  of  the  planet  on  the  opposite  side.    The  ring  must 


SAXIFRAGACEjE. 

therefore  be  under  the  influence  of  the  planet's  attraction, 
and  also  liable  to  be  deranged  by  the  disturbing  action  of  the 
satellites,  the  largest  of  which  does  not  move  in  the  same 
plane.  Hence  it  is  an  interesting  problem  in  physical  as- 
tronomy to  determine  the  conditions  under  which  its  equi- 
librium is  maintained.  Laplace  has  shown,  from  the  theory 
of  gravitation,  that  in  order  to  maintain  the  stability  of  the 
ring,  it  is  necessary  that  the  planet's  attraction  be  counter- 
acted by  a  centrifugal  force  arising  from  a  very  rapid  rota- 
tion of  the  ring  in  its  own  plane.  Observation  has  confirm- 
ed the  result  of  theory  ;  for  from  the  motions  of  certain 
dusky  spots  on  its  surface  it  has  been  found  that  the  ring 
revolves  in  10  hours  29  m.  17  s.,  which  is  very  nearly  the 
period  assigned  by  Laplace,  and  that  in  which  a  satellite 
would  revolve  at  a  distance  equal  to  that  of  the  middle  of 
the  ring.  Laplace  also  showed  that  in  order  to  resist  the 
tendency  to  subversion  of  the  equilibrium,  it  is  necessary  to 
suppose  the  ring  to  be  of  unequal  density  or  thickness  in  its 
different  parts,  so  that  the  centre  of  gravity  may  not  coin- 
cide with  the  centre  of  figure  ;  for  if  it  were  perfectly  simi- 
lar throughout,  its  equilibrium  would  be  disturbed  by  the 
slightest  force,  as  the  attraction  of  a  satellite  ;  and  as  it  would 
have  no  tendency  to  recover  itself,  it  would  ultimately  be 
precipitated  on  the  planet.  This  inequality  of  form  would 
seem  to  be  indicated  by  observation,  for  it  has  been  noticed 
that  the  two  arms  of  the  ring  sometimes  appear  to  be  dis- 
similar. According  to  Bessel,  the  mass  of  the  ring  is  equal 
to  about  the  l-118lh  part  of  that  of  the  planet.  For  further 
information,  see  Herschel's  Treatise  on  Jistronomy. 

SATURNA'LIA,  the  festival  of  Saturn,  was  celebrated 
at  Rome  about  the  middle  of  December,  and  occupied  at 
different  times  one,  three,  and  five  days.  It  was  a  season  of 
complete  liberty  and  rejoicing.  No  business  was  done ; 
friends  visited  and  made  presents  to  each  other  ;  and,  what 
was  most  remarkable,  slaves  were  permitted  to  jest  with 
their  masters,  and  were  even  waited  on  at  table  by  them. 

SA'TYRS.  In  Classical  Mythology,  divinities,  or  rather 
supernatural  personages,  represented  with  the  heads,  arms, 
and  bodies  of  men,  and  the  lower  parts  of  goats.  They 
were  under  the  peculiar  government  of  the  god  Bacchus. 
Some  antiquaries  have  fancied  that  the  notion  of  satyrs 
arose  from  the  introduction  of  ourang  outangs  by  the  real 
Bacchus,  on  his  return  from  his  conquest  of  India,  and  de- 
rive the  name  from  the  Heb.  sahurim  hairy  men  ;  Bacchus, 
according  to  tradition,  having  remained  some  time  in  Pales- 
tine during  his  return.  In  the  same  way  we  may  perhaps 
account  for  St.  Augustin's  story,  of  a  satyr  having  been  seen 
and  caught,  in  his  own  time,  in  the  deserts  of  Africa.  In 
Grecian  Dramatic  Literature,  the  name  satyr  is  applied  to  a 
theatrical  piece,  in  which  the  chorus  consisted  of  satyrs,  of  a 
semi-burlesque  character — to  judge  of  it  by  the  only  specimen 
left  to  us,  the  Cyclops  of  Euripides.  It  was  customary  for 
the  tragedian  to  present  at  the  same  time  three  tragic  pieces 
and  one  satyr,  forming  a  tetralogy.  In  Zoology,  the  outrang- 
outang  (Simia  satyrus,  Linn.)  is  sometimes  called  satyr. 

SAUCISSON.  In  Fortification,  a  long  pipe  or  bag  filled 
with  gunpowder  for  the  purpose  of  firing  a  mine.  1'he 
term  is  also  applied  to  a  fascine,  longer  than  the  common 
ones,  used  for  raising  batteries  and  repairing  breaches. 

SAU'NDERS  or  SANDAL  WOOD.  The  white  or  scent- 
ed sandal  wood  is  the  produce  of  the  Santalum  album.  It 
is  brought  from  the  East  Indies.  When  distilled  with  wa- 
ter it  yields  a  thick  essential  oil,  smelling  something  like 
roses.  Red  saunders  or  sandal  is  the  wood  of  the  Pterocar- 
pus  santalinus,  also  a  native  of  India.  Its  colouring  matter 
is  insoluble  in  water,  but  soluble  in  alcohol,  and  is  used  to 
impart  a  red  tinge  to  certain  tinctures.  The  resinous  exu- 
dation of  this  tree  constitutes  one  of  the  varieties  of  dra- 
gon's blood. 

SA'URIANS,  Sauria.  (Gr.  oavpos,  a  liiard.)  The  name 
of  an  order  of  reptiles,  including  all  those  which  are  cover- 
ed with  scales  and  have  four  legs,  as  the  crocodile  and 
lizard.  The  mouth  of  the  saurians  is  always  armed  with 
teeth,  and  their  toes  are  generally  furnished  with  claws; 
they  have  all  a  tail  more  or  less  long,  and  generally  very 
thick  at  the  base.  A  few  species,  exceptions  to  the  general 
character,  have  only  two  legs.  The  most  gigantic  and  sin- 
gular species  of  the  Saurian  order  are  now  extinct. 

SAUSSURITE.  A  variety  of  nephrite  named  in  honour 
of  Saussure,  who  discovered  it  on  the  banks  of  the  lake  of 
Geneva  in  rounded  masses. 

SAVA'NNAHS.  The  name  given  to  those  vast  systems 
of  plains  watered  by  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi.  These 
savannahs  are  greatly  diversified  in  appearance;  but  they 
have  some  general  features,  which  the  reader  will  find  sys- 
tematically described  in  Mr.  Flint's  work  on  America. 

SAVINGS  BANKS.  See  Bank,  Savings.  (See  also  De- 
gerando.  De  la  Bievfaisance  Publique,  vol.  iii.,  I.  2,  ch.  4.) 

SAXIFRAGA'CE^E.  (Saxifraga,  one  of  the  genera.) 
A  natural  order  of  herbaceous  Exogens.  chiefly  inhabiting 
the  mountainous  regions  of  Europe  and  the  northern  parts 
of  the   world.    They  are  nearly  allied  to  Rosacea,  from 

1091 


SAXON  ARCHITECTURE. 

which  they  differ  in  having  polyspermous,  didymous,  par- 
daily  concrete  carpels,  and  albuminous  seeds,  and  in  want- 
ing stipules.  The  root  of  Heuckera  Americana  is  a  power- 
ful astringent,  whence  it  is  called,  in  North  America,  alum 
root;  otnei  species  are  pretty  herbaceous  plants:  none  of 
them  are  of  general  Interest 

SA\ll.\  AIU  111  LECTURE.     See  Architecture. 
SAXO.N    III. I   E.     A  Bolution  rtf  indigo   in  concentrated 
sulphuric  acid:  it  i*  much  used  as  a  dye  stmt'. 

SCABl'NI  S.  The  Latinised  form  of  the  old  German 
word  schuppr,  in  French  echevin.  Judicial  officers  of  vari- 
ous descriptions  in  the  middle  ages  bore  this  title,  especi  illy 
in  the  ••  communes,"  or  municipalities.  See  as  to  its  history, 
Meger's  Instil.  Judiciaries;  Mem.  del' Ac.  des  Inscr.  vol. 
ixxvii. 

SCA'BROUS.  (Lat.  scaber,  rough.)  In  Zoology,  when  a 
surface  is  r.  ugh  to  the  touch,  from  granules  scarcely  visible. 
SCA'FFOLDING,  in  Architecture,  is  the  temporary  com- 
bination of  tiiii.ici --work,  liy  the  means  of  upright  poles  and 
horizontal  pieces,  on  which  latter  are  laid  the  boards  for  car- 
rying up  the  different  stages  or  floors  of  a  building,  and 
which  are  struck  or  removed  as  soon  as  they  have  answer- 
ed their  purpose.  The  scaffolding  used  for  carrying  up 
buildings  on  the  Continent  has  always  been  more  scientifi- 
cally mid  solidly  constructed  than  that  used  in  this  country. 
But  great  improvements  have  latterly  taken  place  ;  and 
there  seems  to  be  a  prevalent  notion  here,  in  the  present 
day,  that  for  large  buildings  a  little  more  skill  should  be  dis- 
played than  that  which  emanates  from  the  combination  of 
unlnBtructed  Irish  labourers. 

SCAGLIO'LA.  (It.)  In  Architecture,  a  composition  ; 
sometimes  called  also  Mischia,  from  the  mixture  of  colours 
employed  in  it,  being  made  to  imitate  marble.  The  Floren- 
tines claim  the  invention  of  this  art,  but  it  had  been  prac- 
tised in  Lombardy  previous  to  its  introduction  at  Florence. 
Lanza  says  that  it  was  invented  by  Guido  Sassi,  who  died 
at  the  age  of  bo,  in  1049,  at  Carpi,  in  the  state  of  Modena, 
and  that  he  commenced  by  executing  cornices  and  other 
members  of  architecture  which  had  all  the  appearance  of 
the  finest  marbles  ;  whereas  its  introduction  at  Florence  was 
not  till  the  middle  of  the  18lh  century.  Scagliola  is  com- 
posed of  gypsum  or  sulphate  of  lime,  calcined  and  reduced 
to  a  fine  powder, with  the  addition  of  which  to  water  a  fine 
paste  is  made.  When  columns  are  made  with  this  compo- 
sition, a  frame  or  cradle  is  first  formed,  which  is  lathed 
round  and  coated  with  lime  and  hair,  raised  up  in  some 
parts  with  small  projections.  On  this,  when  dry,  is  laid  a 
composition  consisting  of  pure  gypsum,  calcined  and  passed 
through  a  sieve,  and,  as  wanted,  mixed  with  glue  or  isin- 
glass ;  it  is  floated  with  wooden  moulds  of  the  proper  form, 
during  which  operation  the  colours,  by  which  the  imitation 
is  obtained,  tire  put  on.  When  this  is  set  the  work  is  smooth- 
ed with  pumice  stone  with  one  hand  of  the  workman,  while 
the  other  is  employed  in  washing  it  with  a  sponge  and  wa- 
ter. It  is  then  polished  with  tripoli,  charcoal,  and  a  piece 
of  fine  linen,  and  afterwards  with  a  piece  of  felt  dipped  in 
oil  and  tripoli,  and  finished  off  with  pure  oil  laid  on  with 
cotton  wool. 

SCALD  {Skdlld),  signifies  in  the  ancient  Norsk  language 
a  poet.  In  the  old  northern  literature,  those  mythological 
poems  of  which  the  writers  are  known  are  properly  called 
songs  of  the  Scalds,  while  those  of  unknown  authors  are 
termed  Eddus.  It  appeals  from  Tacitus  that  the  ancient 
Germans  had  those  three  classes  of  poems  which  were 
found  at  a  later  era  in  Scandinavia,  namely,  relating  to  the 
gods,  to  heaven,  and  to  historical  subjects.  The  Scalds 
whose  remains  have  come  down  to  us  are  very  numerous. 
Their  poems  tire  partly  alliterative,  and  partly  rhymed  ;  and 
this  latter  circumstance  seems  to  indicate  works  of  compar- 
atively recent  date.  The  historical  value  of  their  poems  is 
considerable ;  but  they  are  written  in  a  peculiar  vein  of  ex- 
aggeration, and  in  a  metaphysical  and  almost  enigmatical 
fashion,  which  appears  to  have  been  characteristic  of  the 
poetical  art  of  the  north.  (See  Edda,  Saoa.)  The  most 
complete  list  of  the  Scalds,  and  commentary  on  Scaldic  poe 
try,  is  to  be  found  (according  to  the  Conversations  Lex.)  in 
the  Fundgruben  d<s  orient.,  vol.  i. 

SCALE.  (It.  scala,  a  ladder,  or  series  of  stairs.)  In 
Music,  a  progressive  series  of  sounds  ari>ing  In  acuteness  or 
falling  in  gravity  from  any  given  pitch  to  the  greatest  prac- 
tical distance,  through  such  Intermediate  degrees  as  create 
an  agreeable  nnd  perfect  succession,  wherein  all  the  har- 
monical  Intervals  are  conveniently  divided.  See  the  words 
Diatonic  and  Chromatic 

Scale.  In  Mensuration,  a  line  or  rule  of  n  definite 
length,  divided  into  a  given  number  of  equal  parts,  ami  u  ed 
for  the  purpose  of  measuring  other  linear  magnitudes.    It 

becomes  a  standard  scale  when  all  its  divisions  have  been 

examined  and  compared  with  some  standard  measure.    |  S<  i 
Meakork.j     The  scales  of  thermometers  are  graduated 

from   si  .rue  arbitrary  point  or  zero  (as  that  which  indicates 
the  temperature  of  freezing  water),  from  which  the  heat  is 

1093 


SCAPULA. 

counted  upwards  or  downwards  in  degrees,  which  are  als» 
arbitrary. 

The  term  scale  is  also  applied  to  a  mathematical  instru- 
ment, consisting  of  an  assemblage  of  lines  and  figures  en- 
graved on  a  plane  rule,  by  means  of  which  certain  propor- 
tional quantities  or  arithmetical  results  are  obtained  by 
Inspection.  Of  these  the  principal  are  the  plane  scale,  the 
scale,  Hunter's  scale,  &c.  For  the  construction 
and  uses  ot'  these  vaiious  scales,  see  Robertson's  Descrip- 
tion and  Use  of  Mathematical  Instruments. 

In  arithmetic,  scale  signifies  the  order  of  progression  on 
which  any  system  of  notation  is  founded  ;  as  the  binary 
scale,  the  denary  scale,  &.c.  See  Binary  Arithmetic, 
Notation. 

Scale,  in  Zoology,  is  properly  applied  to  the  plates,  gener- 
ally thin,  small,  and  (imbricated,  which  defend  the  skin  of 
fishes.  They  are  substances  of  different  texture  which  are 
developed  beneath  the  true  epiderm,  and  appertain  to  the 
system  of  the  rete  mucosum.  The  so-called  scales  of  ser- 
pents  and  other  reptiles  are  modifications  of  the  epidermis, 
and  are  sometimes  termed  "  scutes."  Fishes  have  been 
classified  according  to  the  structure  of  their  scales.  See  the 
words  Ctenoid,  Cycloid,  Ganoid,  Placoid. 

SCALE'NE.  (Gr.  <sKu\nvoi.)  In  Geometry,  a  scalene 
triangle  is  a  triangle  of  which  the  three  sides  are  unequal. 
A  cone  or  cylinder  is  also  said  to  be  scalene  if  its  axis  is  in- 
clined to  its  base  ;  but  in  this  case  the  term  oblique  is  more 
frequently  used. 

SCALE'NUS.     A  muscle  of  the  neck,  situated  between 
the  transverse  processes  of  the  cervical  vertebra;  and  the 
upper  part  of  the  neck. 
SCALPEL.    (Lat.  scalpare.  to  carve.)    A  dissecting  knife. 
SCALPRFM.     (Lat.  a  knife.)     Li  Mammalogy,  the  cut- 
ting edge  of  the  incisor  teeth. 

SCA'MMONY,  in  Pharmacy,  is  the  gum-resin  of  the 
Convolvulus  scammonea,  chiefly  imported  from  Aleppo 
and  Smyrna  in  packages,  called  drums,  weighing  about  100 
pounds  each.  It  is  of  a  dark  olive  colour,  and  when  wetted 
and  rubbed  should  easily  form  a  milky  solution  ;  it  is  very 
apt  to  be  adulterated,  and  an  article  entirely  fictitious  is 
often  sold  under  the  name  of  scammony.  Scammony  is  an 
excellent  drastic  purge,  and  is  generally  administered  in  com- 
bination with  other  purgatives  in  doses  of  three  or  four  grains. 
BCA'NDALUM  MAGNA'TTJM.  In  Law,  an  action 
which  still  lies,  although  for  a  long  period  it  has  never  been 
resorted  to,  on  the  stat.  2  Ric.  2,  stat.  1,  c.  5.,  and  statute  of 
Westminster  the  First,  3  E.  1,  c.  31,  for  words  spoken  in 
derogation  of  a  peer,  a  judge,  or  other  great  officer  of  the 
realm ;  which  need  not  be  such  as  would  be  actionable  at 
common  law  in  the  case  of  a  private  person.  "The  Duke 
of  Richmond  v.  Castellow,"  in  the  eighth  year  of  Queen 
Anne,  seems  to  have  been  the  last  instance  of  this  species 
of  action. 

SCANSO'RIALS,  Scansores.  (Lat.  scando,  /  climb.) 
Climbing  birds.  The  name  of  an  order  of  birds,  including 
those  which  have  the  toes  arranged  in  pairs,  two  before 
and  two  behind  ;  a  conformation  of  the  foot  which  is  ad- 
mirably adapted  for  the  act  of  climbing. 

SCANT.  In  Naval  language,  the  term  applied  to  the 
wind  when  it  is  barely  fair. 

SCANTLING.  (Fr.  echantillon.)  In  Architecture,  the 
measures  of  breadth  and  thickness  of  a  piece  of  timber  or 
other  material.  It  is  also  the  name  of  a  piece  of  timber 
When  under  live  inches  square. 

Scantling.  In  Naval  Architecture,  the  scale  or  dimen- 
sions of  the  breadth  and  thickness  of  the  timbers.  Thus 
two  ships  of  different  sizes  may  have  the  same  scantling. 

SCA'PE.  In  Botany,  a  peduncle,  which,  in  plants  desti- 
tute of  a  stem,  rises  above  the  ground  and  supports  the  flowers 
upon  its  apex,  as  in  cowslip.  Also  a  synonym  of  Siaprllus. 
SCAPEMENT,  or  ESCAPEMENT.  See  Horology. 
SCAPIUTE.  {GT.<TKu(p>i,aboat.)  A  genus  of  elliptical- 
chambered  shells,  belonging  to  the  family  of  Ammonites, 
having  the  inner  extremity  coiled  up  in  whorls  embracing 
one  another,  and  the  outer  extremity  continued  nearly  in 
a  horizontal  plane,  and  then  folded  hick,  so  as  sometimes 
to  touch  the  spire  of  the  opposite  end  of  the  shell.  The 
transverse  plates  are  numerous,  and  are  pierced  by  a  mar- 
ginal siphuncle  at  the  back  of  the  shell,  and  their  edges 
are  deeply  cut  a  nil  folia  ted.  These  beautiful  shells,  which 
thus  resemble  Ihe  ancient  form  of  a  boat,  are  almost  pecu- 
liar to  the  chalk  formation. 

BCA'POLITE.  A  mineral,  originally  from  Arendahl  in 
Norway,  the  crystals  of  which  are  often  collected  in  groups 
of  parallel,  diverging,  or  intermingled  prisms;  hence  its 
name,  from  memos,  a  rod,  and  AiOoc,  a  stone. 

SCA'PULA.  (I, at.  the  shoulder.)  In  Comparative  Ana- 
tomy, the   bone  which   passes  from   the  shoulder  joint  in  ft 

direction  towards  the  vertebra]  column,    li  is  broad  and 

flat,    generally    triangular,    sometimes    suliqiiailrilateral,    in 

the  Mammalia;  ni w,  and  commonly  Babre-shaped,  In 

birds ;  narrow  and  straight  in  Saurian  reptiles ;  a  round, 


SCAPULARS. 

strong,  and  straight  column,  in  Chelonian  reptiles  ;  va- 
riously shaped,  and  articulated  to  the  back  of  the  skull  in 
most  fishes. 

SCAPULARS,  or  SCAPULAR  FEATHERS,  in  Orni- 
thology, are  those  which  take  their  origin  from  the  shoulders 
and  cover  the  sides  of  the  back. 

SC A'PULARY.  A  portion  of  the  dress  of  the  monastic 
orders,  consisting  of  two  bands  of  woollen  stuff,  of  which 
the  one  crosses  the  back  or  shoulders,  and  the  other  the 
stomach.  According  to  the  Abbe  Fleury  (JJaurs  des 
Chretiens),  the  scapulary  originated  with  St.  Benedict, and 
was  a  large  and  heavy  covering  of  the  shoulders,  worn  by 
the  early  monks  in  their  rural  labours  for  the  convenience 
of  carrying  loads,  and  to  protect  the  tunic.  Simon  Stock, 
an  Englishman,  general  of  the  Carmelites  in  the  13th  cen- 
tury, first  introduced,  under  the  authority  of  a  vision,  the 
notion  that  the  scapulary  is  an  especial  sign  of  devotion  to 
the  Virgin  Mary.  Since  that  time  it  has  been  not  an  un- 
common superstition,  that  whoever  dies  wearing  it,  is  sure 
of  salvation.  The  scapulary  of  lay  persons  consists  of  two 
little  pieces  of  stuff  on  which  the  name  of  the  Virgin  is 
embroidered. 

SCA'PUS.  (Lat.  a  stalk.)  In  Ornithology,  the  stem  or 
trunk  of  a  feather,  including  the  hollow  base  or  quill, 
"calamus,"  which  is  inserted  into  the  skin,  and  the  solid 
exserted  stem  supporting  the  barbs,  or  "rachis." 

Scapus.  In  Architecture,  the  same  as  the  shaft  of  a 
column,  which  see. 

SCARABjE'IDAXS.  Scarabeidm.  (Lat.  scaralxeus,  a 
beetle.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Coleopterous  insects,  of 
which  the  genus  Scarabteus  is  the  type  ;  it  corresponds  with 
the  great  tribe  of  Lamellicorns.     See  that  word. 

SCARAB.E'US.  In  Antiquities.  The  use  and  meaning 
of  the  scarabsus,  as  a  symbol,  are,  as  yet,  among  the  mys- 
teries of  archajological  science.  The  Egyptians,  It  is  said, 
found  in  it  an  emblem  of  the  world  instinct  with  the  seeds 
of  life  ;  because  the  kind  of  beede  represented  by  it  forms 
a  ball  of  earth  in  which  to  deposit  its  eggs.  It  is  also 
called  a  type  of  the  sun.  However  this  may  be.  it  was 
habitually  worn  by  the  ancient  Egyptians  and  Etrurians  as 
an  amulet.  According  to  Mrs.  Hamilton  Gray  {Tour  to 
the  Sepulchres  of  Etruria,  1840j,  several  different  styles  of 
the  scarabsus  are  traceable.  The  ancient  Egyptian  scara- 
bieus  was  plain,  or  inscribed  with  characters :  and  was 
made  of  opaque  stone,  basalt,  or  porphyry.  The  Etrurian 
scaraba;us  (found  in  quantities  in  the  sepulchres)  was  of 
gemitransparent  stone,  cornelian,  onyx,  sardonyx,  agate,  or 
jasper.  It  is  almost  always  engraved,  generally  with  the 
figure  of  a  god  or  genius,  supposed  to  be  the  chosen  pro- 
tector of  the  individual  who  wore  it:  sometimes  with 
whole  scenes,  such  as  the  labours  of  Hercules,  races,  &.c. ; 
sometimes  with  Etru-can  words  or  names  ;  and  occasion- 
ally with  Egyptian  divinities,  Isis  or  Horus.  Lastly,  the 
modern  Egyptian  scarabajus  of  Roman  times  was  generally 
of  precious  or  semi-precious  stones,  and  rudely  engraved  : 
and  seems  to  belong  to  an  age  when  the  religious  use  of 
the  scarabaus  was  forgotten,  and  it  was  retained  only  as 
an  ornament.  In  the  Etruscan  scirabaei  themselves,  ac- 
cording to  the  same  authoress,  there  are  three  distinct 
styles  of  art  remarkable — the  rude  or  native  Etruscan,  the 
Grecian,  and  that  of  a  period  of  decline. 

SCA'RAMOUCH.  (Ital.  scaramuccia,  skirmish.)  A 
personage  in  the  old  Italian  Comedia  dell'  Arte,  dressed  in 
the  Spanish  or  Hispano-Neapolitan  costume,  and  repre- 
senting a  military  personage,  a  poltroon  and  braggadocio, 
who  always  ended  by  receiving  a  beating  from  the  hands 
of  Harlequin.  The  most  celebrated  Scaramouch  of  the 
Italian  theatre  at  Paris  was  Tiberio  Fiurelli,  a  Neapolitan. 
Who  had  the  honour  of  making  Louis  XIV.  laugh  when 
an  infant ;  and  whose  agility  was  such  that  he  was  able, 
according  to  his  biographers,  to  give  a  box  on  the  ear  with 
his  foot  at  the  age  of  80. 

SCARFING.  In  Architecture,  the  formation  of  a  beam 
out  of  two  pieces  of  timber ;  usually  employed  when  it 
cannot  be  conveniently  procured  in  one  length.  It  is 
usually  performed  by  indenting  the  pieces  where  they  are 
joined  to  each  other,  and  bolting  them  together  in  the  op- 
posite direction. 
SCARFSKIN.  The  cuticle  or  epidermis.  See  Skin. 
SCARLFICA'TOR.  An  instrument  used  in  cupping  ;  it 
consists  of  10  or  12  lancets,  which  are  discharged  through 
apertures  in  its  plane  surface  by  pulling  a  kind  of  trigger, 
so  that  in  passing  they  make  a  number  of  incisions  in  the 
part  to  which  the  instrument  is  applied 

SCARLATI'NA,  or  SCARLET  FEVER.  This  highly 
contagious  disease  assumes  two  forms.  In  the  one  it  comes 
on  with  the  usual  symptoms  of  fever,  such  as  languor, 
chills  and  heat,  thirst,  nausea  and  vomiting;  and  on  the 
third  or  fourth  day  a  scarlet  efllorescence  appears  upon  the 
skin,  which  in  three  or  four  days  ends  in  the  cuticle  peeling 
off  in  branny  scales  :  the  febrile  symptoms  and  soreness  of 
the  throat,  if  any  had  been  observed,  then  give  wav  and 
92  v* 


SCEPTICISM. 

the  patient  gradually  recovers.  It  is,  however,  not  uncom- 
monly followed  by  dropsical  swelling  of  the  body,  which  is 
but  of  short  continuance.  In  the  other  form  of  this  disease 
the  febrile  symptoms  are  at  first  more  alarming:  there  is 
bilious  vomiting,  great  soreness  and  ulceration  of  the  throat, 
quick  and  small  pulse,  laborious  breathing  ;  and  the  erup- 
tion, instead  of  mitigating  the  symptoms,  is  accompanied  by 
their  dangerous  increase.  The  body  becomes  swollen,  and 
the  nose  and  eyes  inflamed ;  the  breath  grows  fcetid,  and 
the  inflammation  of  the  throat  terminates  in  greyish  sloughs, 
which  give  it  a  speckled  appearance.  Under  an  aggrava- 
tion of  such  symptoms,  the  patient  is  cut  off;  or  his  recovery 
is  very  slow,  and  dropsical  swellings  and  glandular  tumours 
follow,  and  leave  him  in  a  very  precarious  state.  It  occa- 
sionally happens  that  the  putrid  symptoms  run  very  high  ; 
the  rash  is  livid,  and  accompanied  by  petechia?  ;  the  breath 
highly  fcetid,  the  throat  gangrenous;  and  other  symptoms 
announce  a  highly  malignant  form  of  the  disease. 

In  the  milder  form  of  scarlet  fever,  the  bowels  should  be 
cleansed  by  saline  aperients,  and  the  patient  kept  in  a 
moderate  temperature,  as  near  b'0°  as  possible,  and  in  a 
clean  and  open  room.  If  the  throat  is  much  affected,  an 
emetic  should  be  given  as  early  as  possible,  and  the  bowels 
opened  by  small  doses  of  calomel  and  antimoninls.  When 
the  heat  of  the  body  is  much  above  the  usual  standard,  or 
very  distressing,  sponging  with  cold  water,  judiciously  re- 
sorted to,  has  proved  eminently  useful.  Acidulated  gargles 
must  be  used  for  the  throat;  and  the  dilute  acids,  with 
light  preparations  of  bark  and  tonics,  at  the  decline  of  the 
eruption,  are  required.  Where  the  malignant  symptoms 
run  high,  cordial  tonics,  acids,  wine,  and  the  other  treatment 
of  putrid  fevers  must  be  adopted. 

Scarlet  fever  is  distinguished  from  measles  by  the  greater 
extent  and  want  of  elevation  of  the  eruption,  and  by  its  not 
congregating  into  semilunar  patches ;  nor  is  there  the  cough, 
and  running  from  the  eyes  and  nose,  which  usher  in  the 
measles.  It  seizes  those  of  all  ages,  but  children  and  young 
persons  are  most  subject  to  it ;  and  it  appears  at  all  seasons 
of  the  year,  but  in  autumn  is  often  epidemic.  It  may  attack 
the  same  person  more  than  once. 

EM  '  A  RP.  In  Fortification,  the  interior  slope  of  the  ditch. 
See  Escarp. 

SCE'LIDES.  (Gr.  oki\oc,  a  leg;.)  In  Mammalogy,  the 
lower,  posterior,  or  pelvic  extremities. 

SCENE.  In  Dramatic  Literature  (from  the  Gr.  axfvTj, 
arbour),  dramatic  representations,  having,  it  is  supposed, 
originally  taken  place  on  spots  of  ground  shaded  with 
boughs  of  trees.  The  imaginary  place  in  which  the  action 
of  the  play  is  supposed  to  pass  ;  also  a  division  of  a  drama : 
properly  speaking,  whenever  the  action  changes  to  a  new 
scene  or  place.  But  in  the  French  theatre,  and  those 
framed  on  its  model  (in  which  unity  of  place  is  observed), 
every  entry  of  an  actor  constitutes  a  new  scene.  On  the 
English  stage,  the  subdivi:-ion  called  a  scene  is  extremely 
arbitrary  ;  the  scenes  in  most  plays  being  far  more  numerous 
than  the  actual  changes  of  scene,  while  at  the  same  time 
the  French  rule  is  not  observed,  and  actors  enter  in  ihe 
middle  of  a  scene.  The  scenes  in  a  play  are  numbered  at 
subdivisions  of  the  act.     See  Act. 

SCENE  PAINTING.  A  department  of  the  art  of  paint- 
ing governed  by  the  laws  of  perspective,  applied  to  the 
peculiar  exigencies  of  a  theatre.  It  is  conducted  chiefly 
in  water  colours,  and  admits  of  the  most  striking  effects, 
which  indeed,  in  scene  painting,  is  almost  all  that  is  re- 
quired. 

SCENERY.  The  appearance  of  a  place  or  of  objects,  or 
the  representation  of  a  spot  wherein  an  action  is  performed. 
See  Landsc  APE. 

SCEPTICISM.  (Gr.  cicnTTOuai,  I  examine.)  In  the 
History  of  Philosophy,  a  name  given  to  that  tendency  of 
thought  or  system  of  doctrines  the  object  of  which  is,  by 
denying  the  existence  of  all  grounds  of  knowledge,  to  intro- 
duce universal  doubt  and  suspension  of  assent.  Schools  of 
scepticbm  have  existed  at  several  different  periods  in  the 
progress  of  philosophical  inquiry.  The  first  who  received 
or  adopted  the  name  was  Pyrrho,  a  contemporary  of  Alex- 
ander the  Great,  and  his  successors,  who  taught  in  Athens 
about  the  year  300  B.C.  Our  chief  notices  of  his  opinions 
are  derived  from  the  writings,  in  verse,  of  his  disciple  Timon, 
preserved  to  us  by  Sextus  Empiricus.  He  was  led  to  his 
sceptical  views  partly  by  the  contradictions  observable  in 
the  impressions  on  our  senses,  and  partly  by  the  incompati- 
bility of  the  principles  of  different  schools  with  each  other. 
To  a  cmplete  suspension  of  judgment  in  speculation  Cnrn-xf)) 
he  united  a  corresponding  state  of  indifference  in  feeling 
(ampalia),  and  made  virtue  and  happiness  to  ensist  in  the 
absence  of  mental  perturbation.  Either  he  or  his  scholars 
endeavoured  to  present  a  synopsis  of  their  sceptical  views 
in  ten  general  forms,  or  commonplaces,  all  of  which,  how- 
ever, may  be  included  in  one  or  other  of  the  two  sources 
of  doubt  mentioned  above. 

The  school  of  Pyrrho  seems  to  have  expired  with  his  dis- 

1093 


SCEPTRE. 

ciple  Timon  ;  though  many  of  his  views  were  espoused 
and  maintained  by  the  later  academy.  (See  Academics.) 
About  the  middle  of  the  third  century  of  the  Christian  Bra, 
we  meet  with  a  school  to  which  the  name  of  the  later  scep- 
tics has  been  assigned.  This  sect  seems  to  have  originated 
with  one  fnesidemus,  a  physician.  It  was,  in  tact,  a 
school  of  physicians,  who,  in  opposition  to  the  Methodic 
sect,  adopted  a  strictly  empirical  mode  of  treatment,  and 
sought  in  sceptical  considerations  a  justification  of  their 
practice.  The  (.'rounds  of  this  scepticism  have  been  re- 
corded by  Sextus  Empiricus.  It  regarded  not  so  much  the 
validity  of  the  notices  given  by  the  senses  (to  which  their 
empirical  method  imposed  00  them  a  necessity  of  yielding 
their  assent),  as  the  general  form  and  method  of  science. 
Syllogism  they  regarded  as  utterly  void,  inasmuch  as  the 
Conclusion  must  have  been  contained  in  the  induction  on 
which  the  major  proposition  was  founded.  Perfect  Induc- 
tion was  impossible;  imperfect  was  unsatisfactory.  They 
also  attacked,  with  considerable  Muteness,  the  received 
doctrines  of  cause  and  effect,  and  of  the  nature  of  God ; 
chiefly  in  opposition  to  the  Stoics,  the  most  dogmatical  of 
the  ancient  sects.  Their  morality,  like  their  speculative 
creed,  was  a  system  of  mere  sensualism.  This  school  may 
be  considered  as  the  last  purely  Grecian  sect.  After  them 
an  oriental  element  was  introduced  into  philosophy,  which 
materially  altered  its  character  and  bearing.  The  most 
celebrated  sceptics  of  modern  times  are,  Montaigne  (A.I). 
1580) ;  Glanville,  tin  Englishman,  who  flourished  about  the 
period  of  the  Restoration  ;  Bayle,  and  Hume.  Of  these 
Mr.  Hume  has  the  merit  of  producing  the  most  systematic 
and  comprehensive  scheme  of  scepticism  the  world  has  yet 
seen.  According  to  this  philosopher,  all  the  objects  of  con- 
sciousness may  be  reduced  to  two  classes — 1,  the  impres- 
sions on  the  senses;  and  2,  ideas,  or  copies  of  those  im- 
pressions, which  differ  from  ihcir  originals  only  in  being  less 
vivid.  All  knowledge,  save  that  of  mathematical  relations, 
consists  in  the  arrangement  of  these  impressions  according 
to  the  order  of  their  succession.  Of  the  connexion  between 
any  two  links  of  this  succession  we  know  nothing;  that  to 
Which  we  give  the  name  of  causation  being,  in  fact,  nothing 
more  than  habitual  sequence  relatively  to  the  phenomena, 
and  custom,  or  often  repeated  association,  in  relation  to 
ourselves.  All  inquiry  into  things  in  themselves,  or  their 
grounds — in  other  words,  all  metaphysical  speculation,  is 
consequently  founded  on  delusion.  The  writings  of  David 
Hume,  which  contain  his  sceptical  speculations,  are  his 
Treatise  on  Human  Nature,  and  the  early  part  of  the  second 
volume  of  his  Essays,     (See  Bitter,  book  x.,  ch.  1.) 

SG'E'ITRE.  (ilr.  oici)-Tpn\  a  stuff  to  lean  on.)  A  well- 
known  emblem  of  sovereignty.  Achilles,  as  is  well  known, 
BWears  by  his  staff'  or  sceptre  in  the  first  book  of  the  Iliad. 
Tarquin,  the  elder,  first  assumed  the  sceptre  among  the 
Romans.  According  to  Justin,  it  was  originally  a  spear. 
The  sceptre  of  the  Merovingian  kings,  as  represented  on 
monuments,  is  a  rod,  probably  of  metal,  of  the  height  of  the 
bearer,  and  slightly  curved  like  a  crosier. 

SGH  AA'l.S'l'ElN.  A  mineralogical  synonym  of  table  spar 
(tafel-spath  of  the  Germans).  It  occurs  in  grey  laminated 
masses  or  concretions,  chiefly  at  Bognatscha  in  the  Bannat. 
SCHEELE'S  GREEN.  A  green  pigment  obtained  by 
mixing  arsenite  of  potassa  with  sulphate  of  copper,  it  is 
an  arsenite  of  copper. 

BCHEE'iitUM.  A  name  sometimes  applied  to  tungsten, 
in  honour  oi  Scheele,  who  discovered  it. 

BCHELLING,  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF,  teaches  the 
identity  or  indifference  of  the  ideal  and  real.  Its  author, 
Frederick  Wilhelm  Joseph  von  Schelling,  was  born  January 
S27lh,  17;.">.  and  studied  successively  at  Tubingen,  Leipzig, 
and  Jena.  In  the  latter  place,  he  was  a  pupil  of  Fichte. 
Bchelling  lived  nil  recently  at  Munich,  under  the  patronage 
of  the  King  of  Bavari  i,  who  ennobled  him,  and  advanced 
him  to  the  dignity  ofgeheime  rath,  or  privy  councillor;  but 
he  has  within  the  last  few  months  accepted  of  an  invita- 
tion from  the  Prussian  monarch  to  reside  at  Berlin,  where 

his  lectures  are  said  to  excite  the  most  lively  interest  among 
the  Prussian  literati. 

It  is  extremelj   difficult  to  understand  the   true  import 

and  significant')1  of  any  particular  system  of  philosophy,  if 

ulered  in  itself,  and  apart  from  its  connexion  with 

the  general  history  of  philosophy,  which,  from  its  earliest 
origin  to  its  latest  development,  will  be  found  to  constitute 

a  Close  and  compact  whole.  This  general  truth  is  particu- 
larly applicable  tO  the  philosophical  development  of  <;er- 
m any.  the  unity  of  u  hose  literary  pursuits  seems  to  supply 
the  want  of  a  true  political  unity.  The  concatenation  of 
views  and  opinions,  from  Leibnitz  and  Spmosa  to  the 
philosophers  ol  the  present  day.  Is  easily  traceable ;  but  it 
will  be  sufficient  for  the  elucidation  of  Schelling's  philoso- 
phy 10  begin  with  the  critical  theory  of  Kant.  The  tran- 
scendental idealism  of  ihis  philosopher  formed  the  transition 

from  the  empiricism  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  effected, 

m  il  were,  a  compromise  between  the  scepticism  of  Hume 
1094 


SCHELLING,  PHILOSOPHY  OF. 

and  the  realism  which  it  succeeded  to.     Without  denying 
or  asserting  the  existence  of  a  material  world,  Kant  was 
content  with   confessing  an  ignorance  at  all  events  of  its 
nature.     He  taught  that  all  that  man  can  know  of  outward 
objects  is,  that  they  furnish  the  material  ground  of  his  con- 
ceptions;   to  which  the  mind  furnishes,  on   its  part,   the 
form,  in  congruity  with  its  original  and  connatural  laws. 
Of  things  themselves,  or,  as  Kant  calls  ihem.  of  phenomena, 
man  absolutely  knows  nothing;  all  that  he  can  do  is  to 
note  the  modes  under  which    they   appear  to   hiin.     But 
while  the  criticism  of  the  pure  reason  seemed  to  lead  to  a 
speculative  idealism,  that  of  the  practical  reason  appeared 
to  possess  a  mystical  tendency.     The  principles  of  the  lat- 
ter work  may  thus  be  summed  up:  A  consideration  of  the 
exigencies  of  man's  moral  nature  enforces  the  validity  of 
those  ideas  of  (owl,  immortality,  and  a  future  state  of  retri- 
bution, which  the  speculative  reason  does  indeed  project, 
but  cannot  legitimate.     The  latter  tendency  of  the  Kantian 
philosophy  was  worked  out  by  Hainan   and  Herder,   but 
found  its  culminating  point  in  Jacobi's  Philosophy  of  Faith 
(Glaubm's    Philosophic),  which    had   many  adherents  in 
Germany,  and  extensively  influenced  the  prevailing  ideas 
of  philosophy.     According  to  Jacohi,  the  end  and  aim  of 
true  philosophy  is  a  knowledge  of  God.     Now,  the  pursuit 
of  this  object  must  set  out  from  feeing  and  intuition,  for 
there  is  no  speculative  method  which  can  give  a  demon- 
stration of  God  ;  for  God  is  infinite,  but  the  understanding 
finite  ;  and  all  mediate  knowledge  by  reasoning,  which  is  a 
procedure  of  the  intellect,  cannot  attain  to  the   infinite. 
Reasoning,  moreover,  cannot  do  more  than  establish  the 
correspondence  of  certain  identical  propositions  from  which 
it  passes,  step  by  step,  and  on  the  presumption  of  whose 
truth  it  proceeds.     The  element,  therefore,  of  all  human 
knowledge  is  faith  ;  an  original  instinct  of  man's  nature, 
which  immediately  reveals  to  him  the  divine;  and,  in  spite 
of  any  suspicions  of  the  validity  of  sensuous  testimony, 
enforces  a  belief  in  the  existence  of  an  external  world. 
The  philosophical  merits  of  Jacobi  consist  in  this,  that  he 
did  not,  with  Kant,  regard  God  as  a  mere  abstraction,  but 
as  a  living  spirit,  whose  presence  is  manifest  within  man 
himself;  and  further,  in  the  way  that  he  insisted  on  the 
validity  of  the  immediate  perceptions  of  consciousness,  in 
opposition  to  the  absolute  authority  of  the  finite  understand- 
ing.    However,  true  philosophical  science  cannot  admit  of 
any  such  contrariety  of  intellect  and  feeling;  and  to  estab- 
lish their  identity,  or  at  least  to  combine  them  in  unison, 
was  the  problem  which  Fichte  attempted  to  solve.     But 
the  predominant  character  of  the  hitter's  philosophy  lies  in 
the  way  in  which   he   carried,  to  its  extreme  result,  the 
idealistic  tendency  of  Kant.     In  the  llissmsrh  iftslekre  wo 
have  a  system  of  pure  and  absolute  idealism.     The  exist- 
ence of  a  material  world  is  here  denied  unconditionally  ; 
the  real  exists  only  so  far  as  it  is  necessarily  conceived  by 
us;  so  that  the  external  world  is  purely  a  creation  of  our 
conceptions,  and  the  real  is  a  product  of  the  ideal.     To  use 
the  language  of  Fichte,  the  ego  is  absolute,  and  posits  itself; 
it  is  a  pure  activity.     As  its  activity,  however,  has  certain 
indefinable  limi's,  when  it  experiences  this  limitation  of 
its  activity  it  also  posits  a  non-ego,  and  so  originates  the 
objective  world.     The  ego,  therefore,  cannot  posit  itself 
without  at  the  same  time  projecting  a  non-ego  ;    which, 
consequently,  is  in  so  far  the  mere  creation  of  the  ego. 
With  the  mediate  knowledge  of  reflection,  by  which  Fichte 
attained  to  this  speculative  result,  he  combined  for  practical 
ends  the  authority  of  immediate  consciousness.     As,  he 
argued,  it  is  from  the  impulse  of  the  ego  to  activity  that 
the  non  ego  arises,  the  absolute  ego  is  also  in  the  same  rela- 
tion to  the  intelligent  ego  as  a  cause  is  to  its  effect.     But 
although  the  absolute  practical  ego  is  absolutely  free,  and 
the  sole  principle  of  al.  reality,  so  as  to  posit  the  world  in 
opposition  to  itself,  and  to  be  its  cause,  it   has,  nevertheless, 
a  subjective  limit  to  its  operation.     This  is  the  idea  of  duty 
which  the  consciousness  immediately  announces  to  man  as 
an  unconditional  authority  and  obligation;  which,  however, 
is  not  subversive  of  the  freedom  of  the  ego,  but  is  simply  an 
impulsive  motive  to  its  activity.     Now.  so  far  as  the  eco 
attempts  to  realize  this  duty,  it  tends  to  a  moral  order.     He 
who  does  his  utmost  to  establish  this  moral  order,  comes 
near  to  the  Deity,  and  enters  upon  his  true  and  proper  life. 
Such  was  the  point  to  which  speculation   bad  attained 
when  Bchelling  appeared  as  a  philosophical  writer.    The 
subjective  thought   bad  been  male  the  supreme   and  only 
principle,  before  which  all  objective  entity  was  driven  into 
the  back  ground;  and  the  subjectivity  of  the  idea  was  the 
only   real    existence    acknowledged.       For    this   subjective 
Idealism  Bchelling,  however,  did  but  substitute  an  objective 

Idealism,  by  giving  objectivity  to  the  idea  itself,  aid  decla- 
ring every  entity  to  be  also  rational  thought  Kant  had 
spoken  of  the  objective  as  unkaowable;  Fichte  had  denied 

in    existence;   and   Bchelling    identified    the    ideal    and    the 

real.  Fichte  had  confined  himself  to  giving  a  derivation  of 
nature  and  its  laws  out  of  an  absolute  and  spontaneous  ac- 


SCHELLING,  PHILOSOPHY  OF. 

tivity  of  the  ego.  Schelling  maintained  that  not  only  must 
the  laws  of  consciousness  be  immediately  cognizable  in  the 
objective  world,  as  laws  of  nature ;  but  conversely,  also, 
the  laws  of  nature  must  be  immediately  demonstrable  in 
the  consciousness  as  laws  of  the  subjective.  Man  finds 
himself  in  nature,  and  nature  in  himself.  Besides  Fichte's 
method,  therefore,  of  descending  from  the  ego,  Schelling 
held  it  to  be  necessary  to  ascend  from  nature  up  to  ego. 
The  former  method  is  given  in  his  transcendental  philoso- 
phy, the  latter  in  the  nature-philosophy,  which  make  up 
his  system  of  identity.  The  general  principles  of  this  sys- 
tem are  as  follows  :  That  true  and  perfect  science,  which  it 
has  always  been  the  object  of  philosophy  to  realize,  must 
be  one  which  has  its  authority  in  itself,  embraces  all  things, 
and  is  perfectly  correspondent  to  its  object ;  for  truth  is  im- 
possible without  a  perfect  agreement  of  the  knowing  and 
the  known.  Now,  as  all  philosophy  must  proceed  on  the 
assumption  that  the  cognizant  mind  is  capable  of  true  cog- 
nition, it  follows  that  the  knowing  subject  cannot,  in  its  es- 
sence, be  opposed  to  the  subject  known  ;  and  that,  con- 
sequently, it  must  be  possible  to  know  the  real  essence  of 
things.  The  essence,  therefore,  of  that  which  thinks  and 
that  which  exists,  of  thought  and  entity,  soul  and  body,  is 
one  and  the  same.  By  means  of  this  essential  oneness,  or, 
in  the  terminology  of  Schelling,  of  this  absolute  identity  and 
indifference  of  thought  and  being,  the  ideal  and  real,  and  in 
consequence  of  the  mind  being,  in  substance  at  least,  ho- 
mogeneous with  things  without  it,  the  former  is  capable  of 
representing  in  cognition  the  latter,  such  as  they  are  in 
truth  and  in  their  essence.  The  knowledge  thus  gained  is 
a  pure  intellectual  intuition  ;  it  is  not  mere  reflection,  which, 
by  its  nature,  cannot  go  beyond  its  data.  Rising  above  phe- 
nomena to  the  ideas  of  the  absolute,  which  is  their  identi- 
cal origin,  it  is  able  to  apprehend  the  essence  of  things. 
However,  it  is  by  reflection  that  man  becomes  conscious  of 
these  ideas  through  the  aid  of  the  senses  ;  and  this  art  of 
unfolding  ideas  by  reflection  constitutes  Dialectics.  One  of 
the  duties  of  this  ait  is  to  trace  the  identical  principle  in  its 
regular  development,  and  to  determine  every  branch  of 
knowledge,  in  relation  not  only  to  the  fundamental  idea  of 
the  truth,  but  also  to  the  cognate  sciences.  The  true  meth- 
od of  philosophy  is  the  method  of  construction,  and  without 
it  no  safe  step  can  be  taken  in  speculative  science.  This 
method  is  to  become  fully  conscious  of  the  laws  of  mind, 
which  are  inherent  in  it ;  and,  agreeably  to  them,  to  shape 
every  special  science  conformably  to  the  existence  of 
things.  By  such  a  method  philosophical  science  is  possi- 
ble ;  and  this  is  a  science  of  the  existent  agreeably  to  the 
ideas  ( H'issenschaft  von  ideen)  ;  that  is,  a  science  of  God, 
and  of  his  relation  to  the  world,  and  of  man  and  nature. 
According  to  the  nature-philosophy,  the  Absolute,  or  God,  is 
both  thought  and  entity,  without  either  unity  or  dilference, 
out  of  which  all  contrariety  has  proceeded,  and  into  which 
it  will  again  return.  As  the  Absolute  is  the  sole  and  eter- 
nal essence  of  all  things,  every  true  entity,  and  therefore 
nature  also,  is  divine,  without  a  participation  in  which  there 
can  be  no  existence.  In  the  eternal  generation  of  things, 
the  Absolute  has  revealed  itself  in  infinite  ways  in  space 
and  time.  This  revelation  is  a  living  development  of  the 
infinite  according  to  certain  contraries  of  the  subjective  and 
the  objective,  the  ideal  and  the  real.  These  contraries 
strive  to  combine  together  in  different  proportions,  and  so 
acquire  different  names,  according  to  the  varying  prepon- 
derance or  polarity  of  the  ideal  and  real.  Things,  conse- 
quently, are  not  different  in  their  essence,  but  merely  quan- 
titatively, or  in  degree.  The  preponderance  of  the  objective 
constitutes  unconscious  nature ;  that  of  the  subjective  is 
spirit.  The  more  complete  the  combination  of  these  con- 
traries, the  more  perfect  are  the  objects.  The  most  perfect 
union  of  them,  or  their  absolute  indifference,  is  found  in  the 
universe;  and  this  complete  identification  and  reunion  of 
them  is  the  full  revelation  of  God.  Man,  lastly,  is  a  copy 
of  the  universe  (microcosm),  in  so  far  as,  in  a  manner  of 
his  own,  he  unites  together  the  ideal  and  the  real. 

The  philosophy  of  Schelling  appears,  then,  to  be  directly 
opposed  to  that  of  Kant,  from  which,  however,  it  is  direct- 
ly descended,  not  only  in  the  nature  of  the  knowledge 
which  it  assumes  to  be  possible,  but  also  with  respect  to 
the  objects  of  that  knowledge.  In  its  essence  it  pretends  to 
give  a  true  image  of  the  object  known,  and  embraces,  there- 
fore, both  nature  and  the  world  of  man  and  spirits.  In  its 
method  of  exposition,  also,  it  pretends  to  imitate  the  true 
course  of  the  development  of  nature,  in  which  everything 
passes  by  coherent  and  successive  steps  (or  powers, 
A,  A',  A2,  &c.)  from  the  undeveloped  to  the  developed  and 
perfect ;  and,  beginning  from  the  lowest  grades  of  entity, 
passes  to  its  higher  developments. 

Such  is  an  outline  of  the  system  of  Identity,  as  propound- 
ed by  Schelling  upwards  of  thirty  years  ago,  and  which 
has  exercised  so  imporiant  an  influence  on  the  mind  of 
Germany.  There  is,  however,  good  reason  to  believe  that 
the  opinions  of  its  author  have  been  materially  modified  in 


SCHIRRUS. 

the  interval  ;  and  though,  influenced  by  some  singular  feel- 
ing of  reserve,  which  may,  in  fact,  be  said  to  have  charac- 
terized him  throughout  life,  Schelling  has  hitherto  refrained 
from  embodying  his  new  views  in  any  distinct  or  tangible 
form,  yet  the  unaccountable  leniency  with  which  he  treats 
his  opponents  in  the  celebrated  Vorrede  to  Beckers's  trans- 
lation of  Cousin's  Vorrede,  and  the  covert  but  ill-concealed 
hostility  therein  displayed  to  some  of  the  principles  on 
which  both  his  own  system  and  that  of  Hegel  are  based 
(see  infra),  coupled  with  the  (unacknowledged,  it  is  true, 
but  still  sufficiently  authentic)  revelations  of  some  of  his 
most  distinguished  pupils — all  these  circumstances  have 
given  rise  to  the  supposition  that  the  long  silence  which  he 
has  maintained  towards  the  public  will  speedily  be  broken 
by  a  recantation  of  his  old,  and  his  avowal  of  a  new  system. 
This  conjecture  has  been  materially  strengthened  by  his  re- 
cent call  to  Berlin  ;  and  the  rumours  which  have  reached 
us  of  the  nature  of  his  lectures  leave  little  doubt  of  the  fact, 
though  his  present  views  have  not  been  sufficiently  devel- 
oped to  warrant  us  in  hazarding  an  opinion  respecting  them. 

A  brief  statement  of  the  manner  in  which  the  theory  of 
Schelling  was  farther  modified  by  Hegel  may  be  well  ap- 
pended here,  and  will  complete  it  as  a  general  view  of  the 
modern  philosophy  in  Germany.  In  the  Encyclopedia  of 
Philosophical  Sciences,  which  Hegel  published  in  1817  at 
Berlin,  and  designed  as  a  mutual  for  the  use  of  his  class, 
he  gives  a  general  view  of  his  system,  and  clearly  exhibits 
its  ultimate  tendency.  "  Logic,"  he  says,  "is  the  basis  of 
ontology."  The  idea  in  itself  and  potentially  is  the  pri- 
mary substance,  but  in  actu  it  pisses  into  the  real.  The 
ideal  is  to  be  examined,  1st,  subjectively,  as  it  exists  in  the 
mind  ;  2d,  objectively,  or  in  other,  i.  e.,  m  its  outward  man- 
ifestation ;  and  3d,  absolutely,  as  it  is  realized  in  art,  reli- 
gion, and  philosophy.  Schelling  had  made  triplicity  in 
unity  to  be  the  law  which  the  principle  of  identity  follows 
in  its  outward  development,  and  this  trinary  law  forms  also 
a  conspicuous  element  of  the  Hegelian  system.  Thus  he 
makes  thought  to  be  threefold  :  1.  Formal  thought,  which 
is  independent  of  all  subject  matter,  or,  in  the  language  of 
Hegel,  of  all  contents  ;  2.  The  notion,  or  thought  more 
fully  determined  ;  3.  The  idea,  or  thought  in  its  totality,  and 
fully  determined.  The  last  is  the  concrete,  which  is  a 
self-developing  andorganical  system,  containing  in  itself  all 
momenta  or  germs  of  farther  developement.  Philosophy  is 
the  right  evolution  of  this  concrete,  and  its  true  method  is 
the  dialectical  momentum.  The  history  of  philosophy,  apart 
from  its  accidental  media  of  schools  and  professors,  is  no- 
thing less  than  the  actual  development  of  philosophy  itself. 
The  several  systems  successively  recorded  are  but  so  many 
gradations  of  progress,  and  the  latest  system  is  the  sum  and 
perfection  of  all  anterior  ones.  Thus  the  theories  of 
Schelling  and  Hegel  are  essentially  based  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple ;  the  absolute  identity  of  thought  and  being.  Accord- 
ing to  the  former,  the  mind  is  in  full  possession  both  of 
truth  and  reality,  the  knowledge  of  which  it  attains  by 
self-consciousness  in  the  intellectual  intuition.  For  the 
latter,  Hegel  substituted  his  dialectical  tnomeiitum,  or  the 
logical  development  of  the  idea.  Generally,  Hegel,  stood 
in  the  same  relation  to  Schelling  as  Wolff  did  to  Leibnitz. 
The  cold  and  rigorous  formalism  of  Fichte  was  displaced  by 
Schelling  for  a  loose  and  illogical  style  of  political  enthu- 
siasm. Hegel,  however,  rightly  insisted  on  the  necessity  of 
a  scientific  and  systematic  form  as  an  indispensable  condi- 
tion of  an  exact  science  of  truth.  (Michelet,  Geschichte 
der  letzen  Systeme  der  Philosophic  in  Deutschland  ;  Jncobi, 
Brief e  uber  die  l,ehre  des  Spinosa;  Fichte,  Vie  ff'issen- 
scha'ftslchre ;  Die  Bestimmung  der  Mcnschen  ;  Schelling, 
System  des  trans cendentalcn  Idcalismus  ;  Bruno,  Oder  uber 
die  gotliche  und  naturliche  Princip.  der  Dinge  ;  Hegel,  Phe- 
nomenologie  des  Geistes  ;  Encyclopaedic  der  Philosophischen 
Wissenschaften.  For  some  of  the  more  recent  views  at- 
tributed to  Schelling,  see  StahVs  Philosophic  des  Rechts  nach 
geschichtlicher  Jlnsicht,  <S-c,  <$•<:.) 

SCHEME.  (Gr.  a\vita.)  A  plan  or  representation  of 
any  geometrical  or  astronomical  figure  ;  a  diagram. 

SCHE'RIF.  (Arab,  lord,  or  master.)  A  title  given  in 
the  East,  by  prescriptive  usage,  to  those  who  descend  from 
Mohammed  through  his  son-in-law  and  daughter,  Ali  and 
Fatima.  They  are  also  called  Emir  and  Seid,  and  have  the 
privilege  of  wearing  the  green  turban.  (See  Emir.)  The 
chiefs  of  Mecca  and  of  Medina,  who  are  always  supposed  to 
belong  to  this  sacred  family,  are  styled  the  scherifs  of  those 

cities.  ,  t  C  J   c 

SCHERO'MA.  A  dryness  of  the  eye  arising  from  a  defi- 
ciency in  the  secretion  of  the  lachrymal  glands. 

SCHIAH.     See  Sunniah. 

SCHILLER  SPAR.  (Germ.schillern,  to  change  colours.) 
A  mineral  of  a  pearly  lustre  and  changeable  hues.  Horn- 
blend  and  Lnbradorite  are  varieties  of  it. 

SCHI'RRUS.  (Gr.  cxippo^)  An  induration  of  a  gland, 
forming  an  indolent  tumour,  not  readily  suppurating,  and  at 
first  unattended  by  discoloration  of  the  skin. 


SCHISM. 

SCHISM.  (Gr.  «r\iJiui,  /  cleave.)  Separation  from  the 
true  church  :  of  Which,  as  of  heresy,  it  imy  be  said  that 
Christians  are  not  agreed  whether  the  mere  act  constitutes 
the  crime,  or  whether  it  is  only  a  wilful  and  obstinate  sep- 
aration that  deserves  to  l>e  so  denominated.  The  chief 
BChisms  enumerated  by  Roman  Catholic  authorities  are 
those  >>t  the  Novatians,  the  Donatists,  the  Luciferians,  the 
Greek  Church  and  the  Protestants.  The  great  schism  of 
tin-  West  in  the  14th  century  holds  also  an  Important  place 
in  the  history  of  the  Papacy.     See  Astipopk. 

BCHfSMA.  (Gr.  o\ioua.)  In  Music,  an  interval  equal 
to  halt  a  comma;  therefore  eighteen  of  them  are  required 
to  make  a  complete  tone. 

SCHIST,  (fir.  oxioto;.)  A  Geological  term  adopted 
from  the  German,  and  applied  to  the  varieties  of  slate ; 
hence  also  the  term  schistose  rack.--,  applied  to  those  which 
have  a  slaty  texture.     See  Geology. 

SUM  ZOPODS.  (Gr.  a\t^u>,  I  divide,  and  ttouc,  afoot.) 
The  tribe  of  long-tailed  Decapod  Crustaceans,  including 
those  which  have  the  legs  slender  and  filamentous,  accom- 
panied by  ;i ii  external  articulated  branch  as  long  as  the 
limbs,  which  thus  appear  doubled  in  number ;  fitted  for 
swimming,  and  not  chelil'emus,  the  eggs  being  carried  be- 
neath them,  and  not  under  the  tail.  The  opossum-shrimps 
(Musis)  are  examples  of  this  tribe. 

SCHOLARSHIP.     See  Bcrsars. 

SCHOLA'STIC  PHILOSOPHY.  That  method  of  phi- 
losophizing which  arose  in  the  schools  and  universities  of 
what  are  commonly  called  the  dark  ages.  The  father  of 
the  schoolmen  was  John  Scotus  Erigena,  a  native  of  Ire- 
land, who  lived  in  the  ninth  century.  He  first  introduced 
among  his  contemporaries,  from  what  source  is  unknown, 
the  philosophy  of  Aristotle,  which  he  combined  with  the 
doctrine  of  the  new  Platonists,  and  out  of  the  combination 
constructed  a  complete  system  of  Pantheism.  These  spec- 
ulations were  at  first  regarded  by  the  church  with  an  evil 
eye;  nor  was  it  before  the  expiration  of  the  following  cen- 
tury that  they  were  applied  to  the  purpose  of  explaining 
and  supporting  the  leading  facts  of  Christianity.  It  was 
probably  the  necessity  which  was  felt  of  combating  heretics 
with  their  own  weapons,  that  caused  the  universal  adoption 
of  the  Aristotelian  philosophy  by  the  great  religious  author- 
ities of  the  day.  It  is  at  any  rate  certain,  that  the  subtlety 
and  ingenuity  of  the  early  schoolmen  were  confined  to  the 
task  of  constructing  a  scientific  basis  for  the  doctrines  of 
the  church  out  of  the  materials  afforded  by  that  system. 
The  scholastic  philosophy  may  be  said  to  have  expired  with 
the  conclusion  of  the  14th  century,  at  least  as  to  its  influ- 
ence on  the  leading  minds  of  the  age.  Four  distinct  periods 
have  been  observed  in  the  course  of  its  development ;  the  first 
beginning  with  its  earliest  commencement,  and  including 
the  names  of  Berengarius,  and  Archbishops  Lanfranc,  An- 
selm,  and  Hildebert.  The  second  era  commences  with  the 
rise  of  the  sect  of  Nominalists,  the  founder  of  whom  was 
Johannes  Roscellinus,  and  their  most  distinguished  member 
the  celebrated  Peter  Abelard.  The  third  period  is  marked 
by  the  introduction  into  Europe  of  the  writings  of  the  Ara- 
bian philosophers,  and  the  translation  into  Latin  of  the  ver- 
sions of  Aristotle's  writings,  with  the  complete  ascendency 
of  realism  (which  see),  and  the  now  undisputed  supremacy 
of  Aristotle.  The  greatest  names  in  this  period,  which  em- 
braces nearly  all  the  thirteenth  century  are  those  of  Alter- 
tus  Magnus,  Thomas  Aquinas,  and  Duns  Scotus,  with  the 
respective  followers  of  the  two  latter,  the  Thomists  and 
SrutiMs.  The  glaring  realism  of  Scotus  roused  the  inde- 
pendent spirit  of  an  Englishman,  William  of  Ockam,  to  a 
closer  investigation  of  the  internal  conditions  of  thought, 
and  in  him  led  to  what  may  be  considered  a  transition 
state  between  the  formation  of  the  old  schoolmen  and  the 
tendency  towards  nature  and  experience  which  distinguish- 
es modern  speculations.  The  acuteness  of  this  man  restored 
the  victory  to  the  Nominalists.  His  nominalism,  however, 
differed  from  that  of  Roscellinus  and  Abelard  in  the  admis- 
sion that  "  universale"  have  a  foundation  of  reality  in  the 
subjective  conditions  of  the  intellect,  though  not  an  out- 
ward nature;  whereas,  according  to  the  former,  a  general 
term  was  a  name  only — a  "flatus  vocis."  An  excellent  ac- 
count of  the  leading  principles  of  the  scholastic  philosophy, 
and  the  mode  of  its  combination  with  the  Catholic  doc- 
trines, is  to  be  found  in  Dr.  Hampden's  Bamptotl  Lectures 
(Oxford,  lH:t:t),  The  learned  author,  however,  does  not 
sufficiently  explain  the  points  in  which  the  scholastic  no- 
tion of  Aristotle's  philosophy  deviates  from  the  genuine  doc- 
trines of  that  profound  thinker,  especially  with  regard  to 
tin-  doctrine  of  emanation,  B  purely  oriental  dogma,  grafted 
on  the  Grecian  philosophy  of  the  new  Platonists  of  the 
Latin  empire.  (See  Tennemann's  Geschichte  dcr  I'hitoso- 
phie.) 

The  scholastic  theology,  to  adopt  the  definition  of  Mr. 

Hal  lam  '  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  Europe  in  the  15th, 

With,  ami  \'lh  Centuries  .  was,  "  In  its  general  principle,  an 

alliance  between  faith  and  reason  ;  an  endeavour  to  arrange 

lutMi 


SCHOOLS,  NORMAL. 

!  the  orthodox  system  of  the  church,  such  as  authority  had 
made  it,  according  to  the  rules  and  methods  of  the  Aiisto- 
telian  dialectics,  and  sometimes  upon  premises  supplied  by 
metaphysical  reasoning."  The  scholastic  philosophy,  ac- 
cording to  the  s  ime  author,  "  seems  chiefly  to  be  distin- 
guished from  this  theology  by  a  larger  infusion  of  meta- 
physical reasoning,  or  by  its  occasional  inquiries  into  sub- 
jects not  immedj  itely  related  to  revealed  articles  of  faith. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  sudden  rise  and  expansion 

i  of  the  scholastic  method  was  favourable  to  the  growth  of 
mental  vigour  and  illumination  ;  since  it  substituted  rigid 
reasoning,  although  on  premises  for  the  most  part  fanciful, 
for  that  mere  acquiescence  in  authority  which  had  distin- 
guished the  theology  and  the  scanty  remnant  of  philosophy 

I  which  subsisted  in  the  ages  immediately  preceding.  France, 
Germany,  England,  and  at  one  period  Spain,  were  the  prin- 
cipal seats  of  the  scholastic  controversies:  in  Italy  they  had 
less  influence.  Our  own  island  has  indeed  the  honour  of 
having  produced  an  unusual  proportion  of  the  chief  names 
in  this  department  of  literature.  The  best  known  among 
these  are  Duns  Scotus,  before  mentioned  ;  aod  William 
Ocknm,  one  of  the  last  of  the  distinguished  schoolmen  who 
flourished  in  the  14th  century.  In  the  14th  century,  the  di- 
alectical method  of  the  schools  was  applied  by  some 
learned  legists  to  the  science  of  jurisprudence.  Bartolus 
and  Baldus  have  the  highest  reputation  among  the  scho- 
lastic jurists. 

SCHOLIASTS.  (Gr.  <TXn^v,  leisure.)  The  name  given 
to  the  old  grammarians,  or  critics,  who  used  to  write  anno- 
tations on  the  margin  of  the  manuscripts  of  the  classical 
authors  of  antiquity,  called  scholia ;  the  fruits,  as  it  were, 
of  leisure. 

SCHO'LIUM.  (lint.)  In  Geometry,  an  explanatory  ob- 
servation, or  excursive  remark,  on  the  nature  and  applica- 
tion of  a  train  of  reasoning. 

SCHOOLS,  FREE  AND  ENDOWED.  Free  schools  are 
such  as  afford  a  gratuitous,  or  nearly  gratuitous  education, 
to  the  children  of  the  place,  from  whatever  source  the  funds 
be  derived  ;  endowed  schools,  those  of  which  the  funds 
arise  out  of  royal  or  private  endowment.  The  greater  por- 
tion of  these,  in  England,  are  also  grammar  schools  ;  viz., 
schools  in  which  elementary  education  in  the  classical  lan- 
guages is  afforded,  according  to  the  intentions  of  the  foun- 
der. A  few  among  these  have  acquired,  in  popular  phra- 
seology, the  designation  of  public  schools.  Most  of  these 
schools  were  founded  or  endowed  in  the  century  and  hnlf 
following  the  Reformation.  Nearly  500  are  described  by 
Mr.  Carlisle  in  his  work  on  these  institutions. 

SCHOOLS,  INFANT,  are  said  to  owe  their  origin  to  Mr. 
Robert  Owen  of  New  Lanark.  They  have  now  been  in 
operation  since  the  year  1820.  Their  number  is  roughly  es- 
timated at  150  in  England,  70  in  Scotland,  and  50  in  Ireland, 
each  school  having  on  an  average  about  100  scholars,  gen- 
: 1 1 1  v  between  two  and  seven  years  of  age. 

SCHOOLS,  NATIONAL.  After  public  attention  had 
been  drawn  to  the  advantages  of  Dr.  Bell's  system  of  mutual 
instruction  in  schools,  chiefly  through  the  activity  of  Mr. 
Lancaster,  two  societies  were  formed  in  England  for  carry- 
ing it  into  general  operation.  The  British  and  Foreign 
School  Society  was  founded  by  Dissenters  in  1805  ;  the  Na- 
tional Society,  by  members  of  the  establishment,  a  few 
years  later.  The  instruction  of  the  former,  in  religion,  is 
confined  to  those  points  in  which  all  are  agreed  ■  that  of 
the  latter  is  founded  on  the  liturgy  and  catechism  of  the 
established  church.  The  schools  of  these  two  societies  are 
now  extensively  spread  over  the  face  of  the  kingdom.  The 
education  given  by  them  is  nearly  gratuitous,  hut  certain 
small  payments  are  in  some  cases  exacted.  Mr.  Hill,  in  his 
work  on  the  state  of  education  in  England,  estimates  the 
children  attending  schools  of  the  former  union  at  60.000  or 
B0,000,  and  those  of  the  National  Schools  at  about  170,000; 
but  these  calculations  seem  to  be  founded  chiefly  on  proba- 
bilities. The  same  writer  estimates  the  average  length  of 
education  in  these  schools  at  about  two  years  for  each 
child.  Reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic,  with  religious 
knowledge  according  to  the  principles  of  the  respective  in- 
stitutions, form  the  amount  of  education  generally  given  ; 
but  in  some  schools  geography,  and  even  the  elements  of 
geometry,  are  taught :  and  attempts  have  been  made  to 
add  instruction  in  various  branches  of  manual  industry. 
Bach  society  has  a  model  school,  and  establishment  for 
training  teachers.  That  of  the  HiitUi  and  Foreign  is  in 
the  Borough  Road:  the  principal  ons  of  the  National  in  the 

Sanctuary. Westminster ;  but  it  has  others  in  different  places. 

BCHOOL8,  NORMAL.    Sd is  foi  the  education  of 

persons  Intended  to  become  schoolmasters,  teachers,  or  pro- 
fessors in  any  line.  Normal  schools  form  a  regular  put  of 
the  establishments  i'>r  education  in  many  Continental  states, 

especiallj  in  Germany.  The  normal  school  of  Paris  was 
suppressed  in  1821,  but  revived  a  few  years  afterwards  un- 
der the  name  of  preparatory  school,  and  has  now  (since  the 
event  of  ldJO;  resumed  its  original  title. 


SCHOOLS  OF  ART. 

SCHOOLS  OF  ART.  See  these  under  the  heads  Dutch 
School,  Flemish  School,  &c. 

SCHOOLS,  PUBLIC.  This  is  a  name  of  not  very  defi- 
nite application,  by  which  a  certain  number  of  schools  are 
designated,  conferring  a  classical  education,  having  on  the 
average  a  larger  number  of  boys,  and  frequented  by  the 
children  of  persons  of  rank  and  wealth.  The  principal  are, 
1.  The  three  colleges,  two  of  royal  and  one  of  private 
foundation,  Eton,  Winchester,  and  Westminster.  2.  Some 
or  all  of  the  great  metropolitan  endowed  schools,  Charter- 
House,  St.  Paul's,  Merchant  Tailors',  Christ's  Hospital  (al- 
though the  last  is  no  longer  frequented  except  by  children 
of  the  less  wealthy  classes).  3.  Certain  endowed  grammar- 
schools  in  the  country,  raised  by  fashion  and  old  reputation 
to  the  rank  of  public— Harrow,  Rugby,  Shrewsbury,  and 
perhaps  two  or  three  more  ;  but  here  the  designation  be- 
comes extremelv  arbitrary. 

SCHOOLS,  SCOTTISH  PAROCHIAL.  In  the  reign  of 
James  IV.  (1494),  the  Scottish  legislature  enacted  that  all 
barons  and  substantial  freeholders  should  send  their  children 
to  school  fraui  the  age  of  six  to  nine  years,  and  afterwards 
to  the  academical  institutions.  But  it  was  not  until  1615 
that  the  foundations  of  the  present  system  were  laid  by  an 
act  empowering  the  bishops,  together  with  a  majority  of  the 
landlords,  or  "  heritors,"  to  establish  schools  in  every  parish. 
In  1 696,  by  another  statute,  the  establishment  of  such  schools 
was  directed.  The  appointment  of  the  schoolmaster  was 
vested  in  the  heritors  and  minister ;  the  burden  of  the  ex- 
pense of  erecting  the  school  and  a  dwelling-house  for  the 
master,  and  paying  to  the  latter  a  salary  of  not  less  than 
£5  lis.  Id.,  nor  more  than  j£11  2s.  -2d.  per  ann.,  being  sup- 
ported by  the  former.  The  general  supervison  of  the  schools 
was  intrusted  to  the  presbyteries  in  which  they  were  situ- 
ated. Besides  the  salary  (which  has  been  raised  to  a  maxi- 
mum of  £34  4s.  i^d.,  and  minimum  of  £25  13s.  3j</.),  the 
master  is  supported  by  trifling  fees  from  the  scholars.  Read- 
ing, writing,  and  arithmetic,  some  of  the  branches  of  prac- 
tical mathematics  in  ordinary  use,  and  even  a  slight  amount 
of  classical  learning,  have  been  usually  taught  in  these 
parish  schools.  Such  is  a  short  outline  of  the  system,  of  the 
results  of  which,  in  the  general  education  and  morality  of 
the  poorer  classes,  Scotland  has  been  so  justly  proud. 

SCHOOLS,  SUNDAY.  First  set  on  fool  by  Mr.  Robert 
Raikes  of  Cloucester.  According  to  Mr.  Hill,  in  his  recent 
work  on  national  education,  the  number  of  children  at 
present  frequenting  Sunday  schools  varies  from  800,000  to 
900,000.  The  average  length  of  a  Sunday  school  education 
he  estimates  at  four  years;  the  education  given  is  almost 
uniformly  confined  to  reading  alone ;  but  many  Sunday 
schools  appear  to  have  evening  schools  connected  with 
them,  open  two  or  three  times  a  week,  in  which  writing 
and  arithmetic  are  taught. 

SCHOO.XER.  A  small  sharp-built  vessel,  with  two 
masts  of  considerable  length  and  rake,  with  small  topmasts, 
and  fore  and  aft  sails.  A  schooner  carries  a  square  fore  top 
sail  and  topgallant  sail. 

SCHORL.  (Swed.  scorl,  brittle.)  A  mineral  usually  oc- 
curring in  black  prismatic  crystals  ;  it  is  brittle,  and  has 
much  lustre,  and  becomes  electric  by  heat  and  friction.  See 
Tourmaline. 

SCLE-S'OI'DS,  Scitcnoides.  The  name  of  a  family  of 
Acanthopterygian  fishes,  of  which  the  genus  Sciama  is  the 
type.  This  family  is  nearly  allied  to  the  Percoids;  but 
both  the  vomer  and  palatine  bones  are  without  teeth  ;  the 
bones  of  the  head  are  generally  cavernous,  and  the  muzzle 
more  or  less  enlarged  and  obtuse. 

SCIATICA  (Gr.  toxtov,  the  hip.)  A  rheumatic  aflec- 
tion  of  the  hip  joint. 

SCI'EN'CE  (Lat.  scientia),  in  its  most  comprehensive 
sense,  is  applied  to  the  knowledge  of  many,  methodically  di- 
gested and  arranged  so  as  to  become  attainable  by  one. 
The  knowledge  of  reasons  and  their  concisions  constitute 
abstract,  that  of  causes  and  effects  and  of  the  laws  of  nature 
natural  science.  The  term  science  is,  however,  more  parti- 
cularly used  in  contradistinction  to  art  and  literature.  As 
distinguished  from  the  former,  a  science  is  "  a  body  of 
truths,  the  common  principles  of  which  are  supposed  to  be 
known  and  separated,  so  that  the  individual  truths,  even 
though  some  or  all  may  be  clear  in  themselves,  have  a 
guarantee  that  they  could  have  been  discovered  and  known, 
either  with  certainty  or  with  such  probability  as  the  subject 
admits  of,  by  other  means  than  their  own  evidence."  (See 
Art.)  As  distinguished  from  literature,  science  is  applied 
to  any  branch  of  knowledge  which  is  made  the  subject  of 
investigation  with  a  view  to  discover  and  apply  first  princi- 
ples. (See  Literature.)  The  various  sciences  will  be 
found  under  their  particular  heads. 

SCI'LLITIN.  The  bitter  principle  of  the  squill  (the  bulb 
of  the  Scilla  maritima),  to  which  its  medical  properties  of 
an  expectorant  and  diuretic  are  referable.  It  is  a  white  sub- 
stance, of  a  resinous  appearance. 

SCIN'COI'DS,  Scincoides.    A  family  of  Saurian  reptiles, 


SCOT. 

of  which  the  genus  Scincus  is  the  type.  They  have  short 
feet,  a  non-extensible  tongue  ;  the  body  and  tail  are  covered 
with  equal  scales  like  tiles;  they  have  no  impressed  lateral 
line,  and  the  toes  are  margined. 

SCLNTILLA'TION.  (Lat.  scintilla,  a  spark.)  In  As- 
tronomy, the  term  applied  to  the  twinkling  or  tremulous 
motion  of  the  light  of  the  larger  fixed  stars;  by  which  they 
appear  as  if  the  rays  of  light  coining  from  them  were  not 
continuous,  but  produced  by  particles  succeeding  each  other 
at  intervals  with  a  sort  of  vibratory  movement.  The  plan- 
ets, excepting,  perhaps,  Venus  sometimes,  have  not  this 
twinkling  appearance  ;  and  they  are  th  is  readily  distinguish- 
ed from  stars  of  the  first  magnitude.  It  arises  from  the  ex- 
treme smallness  of  the  apparent  diameters  of  the  fixed  stars, 
and  depends  in  some  measure  on  the  state  of  the  atmo- 
sphere. In  countries  where  the  atmosphere  is  very  pure 
and  dry,  and  at  considerable  altitudes,  the  scintillation  is  ob- 
served to  be  much  diminished,  and  the  stars  shine  with  a 
steady,  clear  light. 

SCIO'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  axia,  a  shadow,  and  ypatpu,  I  de- 
scribe.) In  Painting,  &.C.,  the  art  of  casting  and  delineating 
shadows  with  truth,  and  upon  mathematical  principles. 

SCI'OX.  (Lat.  scindo,  I  cut  off.)  The  first  young  shoot 
produced  during  the  year  by  a  tree  ;  or,  more  commonly,  a 
part  of  a  branch  prepared  for  the  purpose  of  being  grafted 
upon  some  other  tree. 

SCIO'LTO.  (It.  free.)  In  Music,  a  term  which,  applied 
to  counterpoint,  signifies  that  it  is  free  from  syncopated  or 
tied  notes,  or  that  it  is  not  constrained  by  general  rules. 
When  applied  to  notes,  it  signifies  that  they  are  not  tied  to- 


3am 


gether  qfey; 

Sciolti.  Legati. 

SCIO'PTIC  or  SCIOPTR1C  BALL.  (Gr.  cKia,  shadow, 
and  oiTTOfkai,  I  view.)  A  name  sometimes  given  to  a  me- 
chanical contrivance,  used  in  the  camera  obscura,  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  motion  to  a  lens  in  every  direction. 

SCI'RE  FA'CIAS,  in  Law,  is  a  judicial  writ,  which  lies 
in  various  cases ;  most  commonly  to  call  on  a  party  to  show 
cause  to  the  court  whence  it  issues,  why  execution  of  judg- 
ment passed  should  not  be  made  out.  It  is  not  granted  un- 
til a  year  and  a  day  alter  judgment  given. 

SCTSSEL.  The  clippings  of  various  metals  produced  in 
several  mechanical  operations  concerned  in  their  manufac- 
ture. The  slips  or  plates  of  metal  out  of  which  circular 
blanks  have  been  cut  for  the  purpose  of  coinage  are  called 
scissel  at  the  mint. 

SCI'URLXES,  Sciurini.  Squirrel  tribe.  The  name  of  a 
family  of  Rodents,  of  which  the  genus  Sciurus  is  the  type. 
They  are  distinguished  by  their  very  narrow  lower  incisors, 
and  by  their  long  and  bushy  tail.  They  h:i\e  four  toes  be- 
fore, and  five  behind.  The  thumb  of  the  fore  foot  is  some- 
times marked  bv  a  tubercle.     The  molars  are  tuberculated. 

SCLE'RODERMS,  Scleroderma  (Gr.  axXnp-jc,  hard,  and 
iep/xa,  skin.)  A  name  given  by  Cuvier  to  a  family  of  Plec- 
tognathic  fishes,  comprehending  those  which  have  the  skin, 
covered  with  hard  scales. 

SCLERO'TICA.  (Gr.  oxXripoc.)  One  of  the  membranes 
of  the  eye.     See  Eye. 

SCOLOPA'CiD^E,  (Gr.  a/coXo-tra*,  a  woodcock.)  Snipe 
tribe.  The  name  of  a  family  of  wading  birds,  of  which  the 
genus  Scolopaz  is  the  type.  The  snipes  proper  have  a 
straight  beak,  the  nasal  furrows  extending  to  near  its  point, 
which  is  a  little  inflated  externally,  so  as  to  extend  beyond 
the  lower  mandible.     The  point  is  soft,  and  verv  sensible. 

SCOLOPE'NDR^E.  (Gr.  oKoXo-tvlp*.)  The  generic 
name  of  the  Centipedes. 

SCO'MBEROIDS,  Scomberoides.  Mackerel  tribe.  The 
name  of  the  family  of  fishes  of  which  the  genus  Scomber  is 
the  type.  They  are  characterized  by  having  a  smooth  body 
covered  with  small  scales,  and  a  very  powerful  tail  and 
caudal  fin  ;  and  include  species  of  the  greatest  utility  to 
mankind,  in  consequence  of  their  abundance  and  flavour. 

SCO'NCES.  In  Fortification,  small  forts  for  the  defence 
of  a  pass,  river,  or  other  place. 

SCO'PA.  (Lat.  a  little  brush.)  In  Mammalogy,  a  fasci- 
culus of  long  flaccid  hairs,  which  may  grow  fiom  any  limit- 
ed part  of  the  body  or  extremities. 

SCO'PIPEDS,  Scopipedes.  (Lat.  scopaea,  a  broom,  and 
pes,  afoot.)  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Melliferous  insects,  in- 
cluding those  which  have  the  tarsi  of  the  posterior  feet  fur- 
nished with  a  brush  of  hairs. 

SCO'RPIO.  In  Astronomy,  the  eighth  sign  of  the  zodiac, 
and  one  of  the  ancient  zodiacal  constellations.  When  this 
constellation  rises,  Orion  sets;  hence  the  mythological  fable 
of  the  death  of  Orion,  who  perished  by  the  sting  of  a  scor- 
pion.    See  Constellation. 

SCOT.     (Sax.  sceat,  part  or  portion,  in  the  sense  of  con- 
tribution.)    This  old  word  has  passed  into  various  ordinary 
expressions,  such  as  "  scot-free,"  &c,  and  at  one  time  found 
its  way  into  the  Italian  language  (Dante,  I'urgatorio).    In 
3  Y  *  1097 


SCOTER. 

English  law  it  is  still  retained  in  the  phrase  "inhabitants 
paying  Bcot  and  lot,"  which  lias  long  boon  held  to  mean 

paying  parochi  il  rates,  and  constitutes  one  of  the  old  rights 

of  voting  in  various  boroughs  existing  before  the  Reform 
Act. 

SCOTER.  A  name  of  the  Mark  duck,  or  black  diver 
(.Inns  nigra,  Linn.),  now  the  tvpe  of  the  subgenus  Oidcmia, 
Plcm. 

SCOTIA,  (fir.  aKOTia,  darkness.)  In  Architecture,  the 
name  of  a  hollow  moulding,  chiefly  used  between  the  tori 
in  the  bases  of  columns.  It  takes  its  name  from  the  shadow 
formed  by  it,  which  seems  to  envelop  it  in  .darkness.  It  is 
sometimes  called  a  casement;  and  often,  from  its  resem- 
blance to  :i  common  pulley,  trochUus. 

SCOTISTS.  An  old  scholastic  sect,  followers  of  Duns 
Scotus,  "the  subtle  doctor,"  one  of  the  leading  champions 
of  Realism  in  the  Kith  century.  He  held  that  the  "univer- 
sal" existed  not  in  "  in  posse"  only,  but  "  in  acta  ;"  not  de 
pending  in  anywise  on  the  conditions  of  the  understanding, 
but  presented  to  it  as  nn  outward  reality.  In  this  respect 
his  realism  differs  from  that  of  his  predecessor,  Thomas 
Aquinas,  whose  doctrines  he  combats  in  other  respects.  See 
Thomists. 

S('<  > TODI'NTA.  (Or.  okotos,  darkness,  and  Sno;,  giddi- 
ness.)    Giddiness,  with  imperfect  vision. 

SCREEDS.  (Etym.  uncertain.)  In  Architecture,  wood- 
en rules  for  running  mouldings.  Also  the  extreme  guides 
on  the  margins  of  walls  and  ceilings  for  floating  to,  by  the 
aid  of  the  rules.  They  are  always  necessary  for  running  a 
cornice  when  the  ceiling  is  not  floated. 

SCREEN.  (Fr.  escran.)  In  Architecture,  a  partition 
usually  wrought  with  rich  tracery,  placed  behind  the  high 
altar  Of  a  church,  and  also  before  small  chapels  and  tombs. 
Sometimes,  as  at  Easter,  they  are  placed  temporarily  at  the 
sides  of  choirs. 

SCREW.  In  Mechanics,  one  of  the  six  mechanical 
powers,  consisting  Of  a  spiral  ridge  or  groove,  winding  round 
a  cylinder,  so  as  to  cut  every  line  on  the  surface  parallel  to  the 
axis  at  the  same  angle.  The  screw  may  be  formed  either  on 
the  outside  or  inside  of  the  cylinder;  in  the  former  case,  it 
is  called  the  exterior  or  malr  screw;  in  the  latter,  the  in 
ttriur  or  ft  male  screw.  The  action  of  the  screw  resembles 
that  of  the  wedge,  or  inclined  plane;  but  as  the  cylinder 
has  always  a  handle  attached  to  it,  the  screw  is  in  reality  a 
compound  of  the  inclined  plane  and  lever;  and  if  the  direc- 
tion of  the  power  be  parallel  to  the  base  of  the  cylinder,  and 
perpendicular  to  its  radius,  an  equilibrium  is  produced  when 
the  power  is  to  the  resistance  or  pressure  as  the  interval 
between  the  adjacent  threads  is  to  the  circumference  de- 
scribed by  the  point  to  which  the  power  is  applied.  Hence 
the  mechanical  advantage  afforded  by  the  screw  is  propor- 
tional jointly  to  the  fineness  of  the  threads  and  the  smallness 
of  the  cj  Under  relatively  to  the  length  of  the  lever  or  han- 
dle. It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  by  diminishing  the 
distance  between  the  threads,  or  diminishing  the  diameter 
of  tin-  cylinder,  we  diminish  also,  in  both  cases,  the  strength 
of  the  screw  ;  and  hence  there  is  obviously  a  limit  to  the  in- 
crease of  power.  But  the  action  is  greatly  increased  by 
means  of  the  contrivance  called  a  double  screw, m,  from  the 
name  of  its  Inventor,  Hunter's  seme,  which  consists  in  the 
combination  of  two  screws  of  unequal  fineness  of  thread, 
one  of  which  works  within  the  other.  In  this  case  the 
power  does  not  depend  upon  the  interval  between  the 
threads  of  either  screw,  but  on  the  difference  between  the 
intervals  in  the  two  screws,  and  may  be  increased  to  almost 
any  extent. 

The  endless  srrrw  consists  of  a  screw  combined  with  a 
wheel  and  axle  in  such  a  manner  that  the  threads  of  the 
screw  work  into  the  teeth  fixed  on  the  periphery  of  the 
wheel.  Suppose  the  power  applied  to  the  handle  of  the 
screw,  and  the  weigh)  attached  to  the  axle  of  the  wheel, 
then  there  will  be  equilibrium  when  the  power  is  to  the 
Weight  as  the  distance  between   the  threads  multiplied  by 

the  radius  of  the  axle  is  to  the  length  of  the  lever  or  handle, 
multiplied  by  the  radius  of  the  w  heel. 

The  water  screw,  or  screw  of  .Irchimedes,  is  formed  by 

Windings  flexible   tube  round  a  cylinder  in   the   for la 

screw.  If  the  machine,  thus  constructed,  be  placed  oblique- 
ly, so  as  to  make  with  the  vertical  an  angle  equal  to  that 
which  the  spiral  makes  with  the  lines  parallel  to  the  axis 
of  the  cylinder,  there  will  be  in  each  convolution  of  the 
spiral  a  part  parallel  to  the  horizon.  If  any  body,  then,  be 
placed  within  the  spiral  at  this  part,  it  will  remain  tit  rest  ; 
and  if  the  screw  be  turned  the  body  will  ascend,  because 
the  part  of  the  -crew  behind  it  becomes  more  inclined  than 

the  pan  before  it.  and  it  is  consequently  urged  forward.  This 

simple  but  ingenious  connivance  is  usually  employed  for  the 
purpose  of  raising  water  to  a  small  height,  but  it  may  be 

employed  to  raise  any  substance   that  can    pa-s   within   the 

tube-,  and  it  is  evident  that  the  action  may  be  increased  by 

placing  s,.\era|   tubes  or  spiral  channels   (for  the-,    nia>   In- 
formed of  wood  or  iron)  on  the  name  cylinder.    The  princi- 
1098 


SCROPHULARIACE^E. 
pie  has  been  recently  applied  to  the  propelling  of  steam- 

M'ssels. 

The  micrometer  screw  is  a  contrivance  adapted  to  as- 
rroiioinioal  or  optical  instruments,  for  the  purpose  of  measur- 
ing angles  with  great  exactness.  The  very  gTeat  space 
through  which  the  lever  of  t lie  screw  passes  in  Comparison 
of  that  which  is  described  by  the  cylinder  in  the  direction 
of  its  length,  renders  the  screw  of  immense  use  in  subdivid- 
ing space  into  minute  parts. 

As  a  mechanical  power,  the  screw  has  innumerable  ap- 
plications; but  it  is  employed  with  most  effect  in  all  cases 
in  which  a  very  great  pressure  is  required  to  he  exerted 
within  a  small  space,  and  without  intermission.  Hence  it  is 
tin-  power  generally  used  for  expressing  juices  from  solid 

substances,  for  compressing  cotton  and  other  goods  into  hard 
dense  masses  for  the  convenience  of  carriage,  for  coining, 
stamping,  printing,  &.C. 

SCRIBES.  The  copyists,  and  at  the  same  time  the  inter- 
preters of  the  law,  in  the  later  periods  of  the  Jewish  history. 
They  were  held  in  great  honour  among  that  people,  and 
ranked  with  the  priests  themselves  in  their  estiitiation.  In 
the  New  Testament  we  find  them  generally  referred  to  in 
connexion  with  the  Pharisees,  to  which  sect  they  appear 
generally  to  have  belonged,  and  with  whom  they  coincided 
in  temper  and  sentiments.  Some  ancient  writers  conceive 
the  scribes  to  have  formed  peculiar  sects  in  themselves ;  but 
there  is  no  authority  for  this  opinion. 

SCRI'BING.  (Lat.  sci ibo,  I  write  or  scratch.)  In  Archi- 
tecture, fitting  the  edge  of  a  board  to  another  board  in  the 
same  plane  as  the  edge.  In  joiner's  work,  it  is  the  fitting 
one  piece  of  wood  to  another  so  that  their  fibres  may  be  re- 
spectivelv  at  right  angles. 

SCRl'PTIJRES.  The  Holy  Scriptures,  or  writings  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testament.  The  Canonical  Scriptures,  which, 
having  been  duly  authenticated,  are  inserted  in  the  canon 
or  rub-  by  which  the  faith  of  a  believer  is  determined.  See 
Bible,  New  Testament,  Old  Testament. 

SCRI' VENER.  (From  the  Lat.  scriho,  /  write ;  apparent- 
ly through  the  Spanish  escribano.)  Money  scriveners,  in 
old  English  usage,  were  patties  who  received  money  to 
place  it  out  at  interest,  and  supplied  parties  who  wished  to 
lend  money  on  security.  Money  brokers  and  attorneys  who 
practise  in  this  manner  have  been  held  to  he  within  the 
statutes  relating  to  scriveners.  In  this  sense,  the  word  is 
obsolete.  The  last  regular  scrivener  is  said  to  have  been  a 
person  of  the  name  of  Jack  Ellis,  a  cotemporaxy  of  Dr. 
Johnson,  mentioned  in  fioswell's  Life.  The  city  company 
of  scriveners  remains  to  attest  the  ancient  importance  of  the 
business. 

SCRO'FULA.  This  disease  was  originally  termed  x°iP"c, 
or  swine  disease,  by  the  Greeks  ;  and  later  nosologists  have 
translated  it  by  the  term  scrofula.  It  consists  in  indurated 
glandular  tumours,  especially  about  the  neck,  which,  when 
they  suppurate,  discharge  a  white  curdled  matter,  unlike 
healthy  pus.  Scrofula  is  not  contagious,  but  often  a  heredi- 
tary disease,  and  dependent  upon  a  peculiar  predisposition 
in  the  constitution  :  its  first  appearance  is  usually  between 
the  third  and  seventh  years  of  the  child's  age,  and  it  seldom 
shows  itself  after  the  age  of  puberty.  It  is  most  common 
among  delicate  children  with  fair  complexions,  and  those 
disposed  to  rickets.  It  Is  rare  in  warm  climates,  and  seems 
to  be  favoured  by  cold  and  variable  countties.  It  is  pro- 
moted by  everything  that  debilitates  ;  and  when  its  exciting 
causes  are  by  any  accident  not  brought  into  action,  it  may 
even  remain  dormant  through  life,  and  not  show  itself  till 
the  next  generation.  In  mild  cases  the  glands,  after  having 
suppurated,  slowly  heal  ;  in  others  the  eyes  and  eyelids  are 
inflamed,  and  the  joints  become  affected,  the  disease  gradu- 
ally extending  to  the  ligaments  and  bones,  and  producing  a 
hectic  and  debilitated  state,  under  which  the  patient  sinks; 

orit  ends  in  tuberculated  lungs  and  pulmonary  consumption. 

In  the  treatment  of  the  mild  and  simpler  forms  of  scrofula, 
the  diet  should  be  nourishing  and  invigorating,  and  a  dry 
situation  and  sea  air  are  to  be  sought  ti-r;  great  attention 
should  be  paid  to  the  clothing,  so  as  to  avoid  colds  and 
COUghs;  and  tonics  and  gentle  stimulants,  with  mild  nar- 
cotics, and  occasionally   the  alkalis,  should   be   prescribed. 

Iodine  has  sometimes  appeared  of  much  service,  but  it  re- 
quires  the  greatest  circumspection  in  its  internal  use;  it 
may  be  applied  externally,  as  may  also  sea  water  and 
other  saline  lotions.  Chalybeate*  and  mercurials  are  fre- 
quently prescribed  ;  and  much  benefit  has,  in  some  instances, 
been  derived  from  a  course  oTsareaparllla. 
BCROPHULARIA'CEJB.     (Scrophularia,   one   of   the 

genera.)  A  natural  order  of  herbaceous  or  shrubby  mono- 
petalous  Exogens,  inhabiting  all  parts  of  the  world,  except 
tin-  coldest.  Tin-  stamens  are  either  dithnamous  or  un- 
symmetrical  :  nevertheless  the  affinity  of  the  order  is  un- 
doubtedly with  Solanticem,  through  the  medium  of  the  tribo 
Salpiglossidea  <<  that  it  becomes  necessary  to  separate 
them  l>\  a  nn  re  artificial  distinction,  considering  as  Solanar 
cae  such  genera  as  have  a  plaited  corolla  and  live  stamens, 


SCRUPLE. 

and  as  Scrojtkiilariacem  all  those  in  which  the  fifth  stamen 
is  wanting,  or  the  aestivation  of  the  corolla  imbricated. 
They  are  generally  acrid,  bitterish  plants.  The  leaves  of 
some  are  purgative,  and  even  emetic,  a  property  so  much 
increased  in  digitalis  that  its  effects  become  highly  danger- 
ous ;  and  nearly  all  the  tribe  turn  black  in  d  ying.  Many 
of  the  genera,  such  as  digitalis,  calceolaria,  &c,  are  valued 
by  gardeners  for  their  beautiful  flowers. 

SCRU'PLE.  A  denomination  of  weight;  the  third  part 
of  a  drachm,  and  equal  to  twenty  grains.     See  Weights. 

SCRU'TIN  Y.  (Lat.  scrutor,  /  examine.)  In  the  Primi- 
tive Church,  an  examination  in  the  last  week  of  Lent  of 
the  catechumens  who  were  to  be  baptized  on  Easter-day ; 
used  chiefly  in  the  ancient  Church  of  Rome.  In  parlia- 
mentary language,  an  examination  of  the  votes  given  at  an 
election  by  an  election  committee,  at  which  the  bad  given 
on  both  sides  are  rejected,  and  the  poll  corrected  according- 
ly, is  called  a  scrutiny. 

SCUD.  The  name  given  by  seamen  to  loose,  vapoury 
clouds  driven  swiftly  aiong  by  the  winds.  To  Scud,  signi- 
fies to  run  directly  before  the  wind  in  a  gale.  As  the  ob- 
ject is  to  keep  before  the  sea,  the  fore  sail  or  foretop  sail 
is  set:  the  latter  or  the  maintop  sail  is  often  necessary, 
as  the  fore  sail  is  often  becalmed  from  the  height  of  the 
waves. 

SCU'DO.     See  Money. 

SCULL.  An  oar,  so  short  that  one  man  can  work  a 
pair.  It  most  generally  implies  an  oar  placed  over  the 
stern  of  a  boat,  and  worked  from  side  to  side  ;  the  blade, 
which  is  turned  diagonally,  being  always  in  the  water. 
In  China,  where  Ihe  method  is  well  understood,  large 
boats  are  impelled  by  a  single  scull  with  considerable  ve- 
locity. 

SCU'LPTURE.  (Lat.  sculpo,  /  carve.)  The  art  of 
carving  in  wood,  stone,  or  other  materials.  The  origin  of 
sculpture  is  so  remote,  that  at  ihis  period  there  neither  ex- 
ists the  probability  of  any  authentic  account  of  it  being 
satisfactorily  deduced,  nor  even  the  indication  of  that  na- 
tion in  which  it  first  appeared.  Though  idolatry  may  have 
favoured  its  early  advances,  and  rendered  it  powerful  as- 
sistance, we  are  not  indebted  to  religion  alone  for  its  inven- 
tion. In  Egypt,  indeed,  it  may  be  said  that  its  progress 
was  impeded  by  the  restraints  and  shackles  with  which 
religion  invested  it.  "The  monstrous  shapes  and  sorceries" 
of  "  fanatic  Egypt"  clearly  barred  its  perfection  in  the  coun- 
try where  a  bird's  head  was  combined  with  the  body  of  a 
lion,  and  cats'  and  wolves'  heads  were  joined  to  the  divine 
form  of  man.  It  was  in  Greece  only  that  the  unnatural 
junction  of  the  two  noblest  animals  was  successful,  and 
grace  and  dignity  resulted  from  the  attempt  in  the  creation 
of  a  centaur.  The  first  artist  on  record  as  a  sculptor  is 
Bezaleel,  who.  with  Aholiab  (see  Exodus,  xxxi.),  formed 
the  cherubim  that  covered  the  mercy-seat ;  but,  previous 
to  these,  the  art  of  moulding  and  working  in  metal  was 
long  known.  The  presents  to  Rebekah  consisted  of  jewels 
of  silver  and  gold  ;  Judih  gave  to  Tamar  his  signet  and 
his  bracelets  ;  in  Egypt  "Pharaoh  took  offhis  ring  from  his 
hand,  and  put  it  upon  Joseph's  hand."  Then,  as  to  the 
art  of  moulding  or  carving,  from  the  use  of  idols,  we  know 
it  must  have  existed  in  Asn,  and  in  Egypt  from  the  time 
of  Abraham  and  Jacob.  The  terap/um,  which  Rachel 
stole  from  her  father  (Gen.  xxxi.,  v.  19,  30),  were,  accord- 
ing to  the  best  commentators,  carved  images  in  a  human 
form,  and  household  deities,  like  the  penates  and  lares  of 
the  Romans  many  centuries  afterwards.  The  command- 
ment will  doubtless  occur  to  the  reader,  "Thou  shalt  not 
make  to  thyself  any  graven  image;"  as  well  as  the  address 
of  Moses  to  the  Israelites,  "For  ye  know  how  we  have 
dwelt  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  how  we  came  through  the 
nations  which  ye  passed  by  ;  and  ye  have  seen  their  abom- 
inations, and  their  idols  of  wood  and  stone,  silver  and  gold, 
which  were  among  them." 

Some  of  the  most  extraordinary  specimens  of  early 
sculpture  on  record  are  described  by  Diodorus  as  the  works 
of  Semiramis ;  but  they  are  too  wonderful  to  allow  of  our 
implicit  reliance  on  the  author.  She  is  s  aid  to  have  had 
representitions  in  brick  on  her  palace  of  every  sort  of  ani- 
mal in  relief.  These  were  afterwards  so  coloured  to  nature 
as  to  have  the  appearance  of  life.  In  the  midst  of  them 
was  represented  Semiramis  piercing  a  tiger  with  a  dart, 
and  near  her  Ninus  killing  a  lion  with  his  lance.  In  an- 
other part  of  the  same  palace  were  pbced  the  statue  of 
Jupiter  Belus,  those  of  Ninus,  Semiramis.  and  the  princi- 
pal officers  of  the  state,  the  whole  executed  in  bronze.  We 
are  also  told  that,  bv  command  of  this  princess,  a  temple 
was  raised  at  Babylon,  on  the  top  whereof  three  massive 
statues  were  placed  of  Jupiter,  Juno,  and  Rhea.  That  of 
Jupiter  was  forty  feet  in  height.  Stupendous  as  these 
works  are  stated  to  have  been,  we  gather  from  the  same 
author  an  account  of  the  execution  of  one  which  throws 
them  into  insignificance.  One  of  the  sides  of  the  mountain 
Bagistan  was  extremely  rough  and  steep,  and  seventeen 


SCULPTURE. 

stadia  in  height:  this  she  caused  to  be  reduced  to  a  smooth 
surface,  and  then  sculptured  into  a  figure  of  herself,  attend- 
ed by  one  hundred  of  her  guards.  It  is  to  be  observed  that 
Diodorus  relates  this  story  on  the  authority  of  Ctesias. 
Doubtful  as  it  is,  the  same  sort  of  scheme  was  proposed  to 
Alexander  by  the  architect  Dinocrates,  as  related  by  Vitru- 
vius  in  the  preface  to  one  of  his  books. 

Of  the  sculpture  of  the  Persians  little  notice  is  necessary. 
In  the  article  Painting  we  have  mentioned  that  it  was 
contrary  to  the  tenets  of  their  religion  to  make  in  any  way 
representations  of  the  human  form.  In  Persepolis  there 
are,  however,  some  extraordinary  sculptures,  bearing  con- 
siderable resemblance  to  the  style  of  the  Egyptian  bassi- 
relievi  in  the  palace  of  Thebes,  allowing  for  the  difference 
of  dress;  but  they  contain  nothing  in  science  or  imitation 
particularly  worthy  of  our  notice.  The  earliest  sculpture 
to  which  we  can  refer,  and  on  which  we  can  reason,  is 
that  of  the  Egyptians.  Herodotus  tells  us,  that  they 
erected  the  first  altars  and  temples  to  the  gods,  and  carved 
the  figures  of  animals  in  stone.  The  abundance  and  vari- 
ety of  the  specimens  still  in  existence  of  their  sculpture, 
minute  and  colossal,  domestic  and  religious,  prove  them 
to  have  been  a  nation  with  prodigious  resources,  and  dis- 
tinguished for  their  wisdom  and  affection  for  the  arts.  The 
greater  portion  of  their  sculpture  seems  to  have  been  sa- 
cred ;  that  is,  representations  of  the  divinities,  and  their  at- 
tributes and  qualities.  In  respect  of  the  dimensions  of  some 
of  their  statues,  Herodotus  mentions  one  before  the  temple 
of  Vulcan  at  Memphis,  and  another  at  Sais,  placed  there 
by  King  Anvisis,  each  of  the  height  of  seventy-five  feet. 
The  part  of  the  sphinx,  near  the  great  pyramid,  still  out  of 
the  sand,  that  is,  from  the  throat  upwards,  rises  to  the 
height  of  twenty-five  feet.  At  Thebes,  the  sitting  statues 
of  Memnon,  the  mother  and  the  sons  of  Osymandyas,  are 
each  fifty-eight  feet  high.  A  long  catalogue  might  be  add- 
ed to  these  :  we  will,  however,  only  add,  that  in  the  Brit- 
ish Museum  is  a  closed  hand,  which  must  have  been  part 
of  a  statue  sixty-five  feet  high.  Grace  of  form,  elegance, 
and  symmetry,  are  not  to  be  found  in  Egyptian  sculpture. 
The  faces  of  their  statues  have  a  resemblance  to  the  Chi- 
nese, and  their  bodies  are  formed  with  large  bellies.  They 
generally  stand  equally  poised  on  both  legs,  having  one 
foot  advanced  ;  the  arms  either  hanging  down  straight  on 
each  side,  or  if  one  be  raised,  it  is  at  a  right  angle  across 
the  body.  Some  of  their  statues  are  seated,  and  some  are 
kneeling;  the  position,  however,  of  the  hands  is  rarely  dif- 
ferent from  what  we  have  described.  The  faces  of  them 
are  generally  flat;  the  brows,  eyelids,  and  mouths  formed 
of  simple  curves  slightly  marked,  and  with  little  expression. 
The  tunics  and  draperies  are  frequently  without  folds. 

The  arts  of  Egypt  seem  to  have  been  in  a  progressive 
state  of  improvement  from  .about  or  before  the  period  of 
Moses  to  the  invasion  and  subjugation  of  the  country  by 
Cambyses,  a  thousand  years  afterwards.  Winckelman 
thinks  that  there  were  two  distinct  styles;  the  first  ending 
with  the  conquest  just  mentioned,  and  the  second  com- 
mencing at  that  period,  and  ending  after  the  time  of  Alex- 
ander the  Great.  In  the  first  of  these  styles  he  describes 
the  forms  as  straight,  stiff,  and  ungraceful.  The  sitting 
figures  have  the  legs  always  par  <IleI ;  the  feet  are  squeezed 
together,  and  the  arms  fixed  to  the  sides.  In  the  females 
the  left  arm  is  generally  folded  across  the  breast,  and  the 
draperies  exhibit  very  little  skill  or  knowledge.  In  the 
second  style  the  hands  become  more  elegant :  the  feet  are 
placed  at  a  greater  distance  from  each  other,  the  arms 
hang  more  freely,  and  the  figure  is  generally  clothed  with 
a  tunic,  robe,  and  mantle.  The  material  usually  employed 
is  granite  or  basalt:  the  statues  are  not  only  formed  with 
the  chisel,  but  polished  carefully  ;  and  the  eyes  are  some- 
times formed  of  different  materials  from  the  statues  them- 
selves. Small  figures  are  frequently  found,  to  which  the 
name  of  penates  has  been  given  ;  they  are  sometimes  com- 
posed of  wood,  sometimes  of  baked  earth,  and  some  are 
covered  with  a  green  enamel. 

"  Winckelman,"  says  Flaxman  in  his  Second  Lecture  on 
Sculpture,  "has  remarked  tint  the  Egyptians  executed 
quadrupeds  better  than  the  human  figure  ;  for  which  he 
gives  the  two  following  reasons  :  first,  that  as  professions 
in  that  country  were  hereditary,  genius  must  have  been 
wanting  to  represent  the  human  form  in  perfection  ;  sec- 
ondly, that  the  superstitious  reverence  for  the  works  of 
their  ancestors  prevented  improvement.  This  is  an  amu- 
sing but  needless  hypothesis  ;  for  there  are  statues  in  the 
Capitoline  Museum  with  as  great  a  breadth,  and  choice  of 
grand  parts,  proper  to  the  human  form,  as  ever  they  repre- 
sented in  their  lions  or  other  inferior  animals,  Ip  addition 
to  these  observations  on  Egyptian  statues,  we  may  remark, 
the  forms  of  their  hands  and  feet  are  gross  ;  they  have  no 
anatomical  detail  of  parts,  and  are  totally  deficient  in  the 
grace  of  motion.  This  last  defect,  in  all  probability,  was 
not  the  consequence  of  a  superstitious  determination  to 
persist  in  the  practice  of  their  ancestors  ;  it  is  accounted  for 

1099 


SCULPTURE. 


In  another  and  better  way."  This  "  better  way"  of  the 
professor  is  from  their  being  deficient  at  the  time  in  geom- 
etry, which.  /«■  says,  "will  naturally  account  tor  that  of 
motion  in  their  stataea  and  relievos,  which  can  only  be  ob- 
tained by  a  c  ireful  observation  assisted  by  geometry."  We 
confess  we  are  nut  convinced  with  the  reason  given  ;  and 
witli  all  respect  for  the  splendid  talents  of  the  professor, 
whose  own  knowledge  of  geometry,  from  his  curious  defi- 
nition of  the  centre  of  gravity  in  the  human  figure,  we  ap- 
prehend to  have  been  exceedingly  limited,  we  rather  pre- 
fer the  hypothesis  of  Winckclnian.  Tin:  Egyptian  bassi- 
relievi  are  usually  sunk  from  the  surface  of  the  material 
employed,  which  practice  most  probably  obtained  from 
their  being  cut  in  very  bard  stone,  such  as  granite  or  basalt. 
and  from  [lie  distance  they  were  usually  placed  above  the 
eye.  In  the  first  case,  cutting  the  ground  away  from  the 
figure  would  h  ive  occupied  quite  as  much  time  as  carving 
the  figure  itself;  and  in  the  second  case,  the  range  of  the 
outline  created  a  greater  breadth  of  shadow  and  distinct- 
ness to  the  spectator.  These  ba-ssi-relievi,  or  hieroglyphics, 
when  found  on  the  walls  of  tombs,  relate  the  profession, 
actions,  and  funeral  of  the  deceased ;  on  those  of  palaces, 
the  wars,  negotiations,  triumphs,  processions,  trophies,  with 
the  civil,  military,  and  domestic  enjoyments  of  kings  ;  on 
those  of  temples  they  were  the  records  of  theology;  and 
on  obelisks  they  are  hymns  to  the  gods,  or  eulogies  of  their 
kings. 

The  only  correct  notions  that  can  be  obtained  on  the 
subject  of  Phoenician  sculpture  is  from  a  contemplation  of 
the  medals  of  the  Carthaginians,  who  were  a  colony  from 
Phoenicia;  though,  perhaps,  these  may  mislead  us.  The 
Phoenicians,  known  by  the  name  of  Canaanites  in  Scrip- 
ture, were  at  a  very  early  period  advanced  in  civilization. 
When  Moses  sent  out  the  spies  to  search  the  land  of  Ca- 
naan, they  returned  with  an  account,  "that  the  people 
be  strong  that  dwell  in  the  land,  and  the  cities  are  walled 
and  very  gre  tt."  it  was  from  Childea,  according  to  the 
authorities  cited  by  Jacob  Bryant,  that  the  arts  of  the 
Phoenicians  were  derived,  having  first  been  transplanted  to 
Egypt.  Beautiful  in  their  own  persons,  they  were,  unlike 
the  Egyptian  t  ices,  themselves  models  for  their  artists,  and 
their  situation  and  character  were  favourable  to  the  prog- 
ress  of  the  art.  Their  extraordinary  and  BUCCessful  spirit 
of  commerce  led  to  its  cultivation,  and  some  of  the  statues 
that  decorated  their  temples  were  celebrated  in  history. 
Winckelman  is  of  opinion  that  the  Etrurians,  or  ancient 
Tuscans,  carried  sculpture  to  a  certain  degree  of  perfection 
much  earlier  than  the  Geeks.  The  same  Dedal  us  who  has 
the  reputation  of  having  taught  tliis  art  to  the  Greeks,  has 
ti  similar  good  office  assigned  to  him  by  historians  towards 
the  Etrurians;  for,  in  order  to  escape  the  resentment  of 
Minos,  king  of  Crete,  he  is  reported  to  have  taken  refuge  in 
Sicily,  whence  he  passed  over  into  Italy.  Etrurian  art 
proves  that  the  first  attempts  towards  sculpture  were  in 
clay,  whereof  innumerable  specimens  have  been  found  in 
Rome  and  its  environs  ;  and  as  the  Romans  in  the  early 
period  of  their  existence  as  a  people  were  entirely  ignorant 
of  the  arts,  no  doubt  is  left  of  these  specimens  being  the 
work  of  the  Etrurians  or  Volscians.  Clay  was  for  a  long 
time  the  only  material  used — "nulla  signa,  statua've,  sine 
urgilla  ;"  and  Pliny  and  Varro  tell  us  that  the  Hercules, 
the  Jupiter  Capitolinus,  the  quadriga  on  the  top  of  his  tem- 
ple, and  all  the  other  statues  of  the  gods  before  the  temple 
of  Ceres  was  erected,  were  "Tuscanica  omnia."  Many  of 
the  Etruscan  statues  bear  so  striking  a  resemblance  to 
those  of  Greece,  that  antiquarians  have  thought  it  probable 

they  must  have  been  brought  from  that  c itry,  or  from 

Magna  Grscia  into  Etruria,  about  the  period  of  the  con- 
quest of  Greece  by  the  Romans,  when  Italy  became  almost 
saturated  with  the  magnificent  spoils  of' ;ut  which  that 
country  yielded.  The  Etruscan  sculpture  is  in  two  distinct 
styles  of  art.  In  the  first  or  earliest  3tj  le,  the  general  lines 
or  contours  are  exceedingly  Stiff  and  straight,  and  the  atti- 
tudes exhibit  anything  but  a  feeling  of  ease  in  the  figure  ; 
the  form  of  the  head  is  entirely  devoid  of  beauty,  the  out- 
lines not  well  rounded  ;  their  figures  are  almost  invariably 

too  slender ;  the  form  id'  the  head  is  oval,  the  chin  piked, 
the  eyes  flat,  with  some  degree  of  tendency  towards  squint- 
ing.    All   these  defects  indicate  tin  infant  state  id'  the  art, 

and  it  is  not  extraordinary  to  see  the  very  nine  defects  in 

the  works   of  the   Gothic   sculptors.     The   second   style  of 

Etruscan  art  is  conjectured  03  Winckelman  t>  be  1 tem- 
porary with  the  age  of  Phidias;  but  it  is  to  he  observed 
that  this  conjecture  is  in  no  way  borne  out  or  supported  by 
proof.     In   this   style   the  joints   are  strongly   marked,   the 

muscles  raised,  the  hones  perfectly  distinguishable,  and 
derable  knowledge  of  the  science  of  anatomy  is  dis- 
played.    The  statues  of  the   godl  are  executed  with  delicti 
cy,  and  there  is  a  show  of  great  power  without  violent  dis- 
.1   of  the   inii-iles.     The  attitudes,   however,  are   far 
from  natural,  and   the  action  constantly  overstrained.     To 
Uiia  Millin  adds  u  third  period  in  tbo  history  of  Etruscan 
1100 


art,  commencing  at  the  conquest  of  Greece  by  the  Romans, 
at  which  time  the  Etruscan  artists  became  acquainted  with 
the  works  of  the  Grecians,  and,  adopting  their  style,  be- 
came at  first  their  imitators,  and  afterwards  their  rivals. 
To  the  Italian  artists  of  this  period  Horace  is  supposed  to 
allude  in  one  of  his  satires.  In  concluding  this  succinct  ac 
count  of  the  sculptures  of  Etruria.  to  exhibit  the  extent  to 
which  it  was  cultivated  it  is  only  necessary  to  state,  on  the 
authority  of  Pliny,  that  when  the  Romans  conquered  Vol- 
sinium,  one  of  the  twelve  cities  of  Etruria,  they  carried 
away  from  that  city  alone  about  2000  statues. 

Before  turning  to  the  sculpture  of  the  Greeks  we  may  no- 
tice, as  bearing  some  resemblance  to  the  Egyptian  sculp 
Hire,  that  of  the  Hindus.  It  is  not,  however,  intended  to 
compare  the  one  with  the  other;  for  the  latter  is  far  more 
deficient  than  the  former,  both  in  science  and  resemblance 
to  nature.  The  stupendous  excavations  at  Ellora,  which 
have  been  mentioned  in  the  article  Architecture,  and 
those  at  Elephantis  and  other  parts  of  India,  are  well 
known  by  representations  which  have  been  published  in 
this  country.  They  are,  by  some,  considered  ofwery  high 
antiquity,  and  are  decorated  profusely  with  mythological 
sculpture,  whereof  the  subjects  are  symbols,  allegorical  fig- 
ures, and  groups  expressive  of  the  attributes  and  energies  of 
divinity,  according  to  the  Brahmin  doctrines.  The  reader 
who  is  desirous  of  farther  information  on  this  subject  may 
profitably  consult  Moore's  Hindu  I'anthron,  which  contains 
upwards  of  1500  outlines  of  Hindu  painting  and  sculpture 
faithfully  delineated  from  the  originals. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  first  dawn  of  the  art  was  on  tbo 
soil  of  Phoenicia  and  Egypt :  we  have  now  to  trace  it  to  its 
meridian  splendour  on  the  shores  of  Greece.  In  Egypt  the 
forms  of  the  human  figure,  and  its  "  face  divine,"  far  re- 
moved from  beauty  and  intellectual  expression,  a  burning 
climate,  and  institutions  inimical  to  improving  on  the  mod- 
el, restrained  the  art  within  very  narrow  bounds  ;  whereas 
in  Greece,  the  beautiful  forms  of  the  male  and  female  mod- 
els, the  genial  and  delicious  climate,  were  among  the  lend- 
ing physical  causes  of  the  supereminent  success  of  the 
Greeks.  With  them,  says  D'Agincourt,  "  an  lieu  de  noirs 
scarabees,  du  chacal,  ou  de  la  hyene  foroce,  du  hideux 
crocodile,  cVtaient  les  diligentes  ouvrieres  du  niont  Hy- 
mette,  le  noble  coursier,  le  taureau  vigoiireux,  le  cerf  agile, 
I'elegant  et  doux  chevreuil,  qui  peuplaient  las  rives  email- 
lees  de  <e<  tleuves,  ses  riuntes  collines.  sesforetsombragees." 
With  them,  unlike  the  attachment  to  the  combinations  of 
human  with  the  brutal  forms  of  Egypt,  the  softest  desires, 
the  noblest  and  liveliest  emotions  of  the  heart,  found  con- 
tinual nourishment  in  the  splendid  and  affecting  spectacle* 
which  the  religion  of  the  nation  constantly  exhibited.  The 
institution  of  public  games,  at  which  all  men  of  considera- 
tion and  celebrity,  and  of  whatever  rank,  contended  for 
honours,  and  the  beauty  of  form  to  be  seen  at  them,  which 
was  an  unceasing  object  of  contemplation,  raised  them  into 
a  nation  of  connoisseurs.  No  crowns,  no  honours  decreed 
by  a  congregated  assemblage  of  intelligence,  awaited  the 
monotonous  labours  of  the  Egyptian  sculptor:  his  works 
were  to  be  executed  in  conformity  with  the  practice  of 
former  ages.  Egypt  abounded  with  artisans,  Greece  with 
artists. 

Greek  sculpture  has  usually  been  arranged  under  three 
epochs,  which  we  shall  here  enumerate.  We  of  course 
pass  over  the  rude  and  unfashioned  representations  of  the 
divinities  of  the  primitive  ages,  which  Patisanias  tells  us 
were  little  more  than  blocks  of  stone,  though  regarded  to 
the  last  with  the  greatest  reverence,  and  to  he  seen  as  late 
as  the  time  of  Adrian  at  Thebes,  Argos,  and  other  cities; 
and  which,  indeed,  were  rather  .symbols  than  representa- 
tions. Neither  do  we  think  it  here  necessary  again  to 
touch  upon  the  works  ofDffidalus  and  End.cus.  about  which 
we  can  now  form  no  just  conception,  except  that  the  raa- 
teriil  they  employed  was  wood.    About  775  B.C.,  Dipmnia 

and  Sscyllis  the  Cretan  her  line  celebrated  fur  their  marble 
statues',  which  retained  much  of  the  ancient  style  in  the 
advancing  position  of  the  legs,  the  general  form  of  the  fig- 
ure, and  particularly  in  the  vertical  folds  of  drapery,  whose 
edges  were  zigzag.  Boon  after  tins  period  sculpture  re- 
ceived tile  most  elaborate  finishing,  though  the  character  of 
the  face  and  limbs  w.as  not  much  changed  from  the  taste- 
less  and   barbarous  style   of  former  times.     Elaxman  con- 

jectures that  tin-  colossal  busts  of  Hercules  and  \|>o|iorn 
the  British  Museum  may  have  been  the  works  of  Dipn-nis 
nnd  Scyiiis.    It  is  not  difficult  to  conceive  the  progressive 

improvement  in  an  art  so  much  cultivated,  between  the 
time  of  w  hub  we  are  now  speaking  and  the  first  epoch  in 
which  Ageladas,  the  master  of  Polycletus,  appeared. 
Ageladas,  with  whom  Ins  been  confounded  Eladas  or  Cei- 

adas.  the  master  of  Phidias,  was  a  native  of  Argos,  and  co- 

temporary  with  Pisistratus.  It  was  at  this  period  that  art 
approached   the   personification  of  ideal    beauty   by  the 

choice  of  forms  from  many  models,  so  that  the  excellence 
found  in  each  might  be  combined  in  one.    Its  cultivation 


SCULPTURE. 


had  become  an  object  of  necessity  in  most  of  the  Grecian 
states,  induced  greatly  by  a  practice  introduced  about  this 
era,  of  honouring  with  a  statue  every  individual  who  had 
received  three  crowns  in  the  public  games.  Such  a  cus- 
tom afforded  the  artist  the  opportunity  of  contemplating 
some  of  the  most  perfect  examples  of  living  beauty,  from 
which  were  afterwards  deduced  those  canons  of  proportion 
on  which  all  future  art  has  been  unable  to  improve.  With- 
in the  interval  of  which  we  have  just  spoken  appeared  the 
sculptor  Callimachus,  to  whom  Vitruvius  assigns  the  merit 
of  having  invented  the  Corinthian  capital.  (See  Archi- 
tecture.) "The  better  drawing  of  the  figure,  with  a 
more  careful  attention  to  its  parts,  more  precision  and  vari- 
ety of  attitude,  a  less  elaborate  curling  and  dressing  the 
hair,  the  form  of  the  figure  better  shown  through  the  dra- 
pery, are  all  certain  signs  of  a  near  approach  to  the  age  of 
Phidias." 

The  second  epoch  of  sculpture  among  the  Greeks  was  in 
the  age  of  Phidias,  who  flourished  about  490  years  before 
the  Christian  era — a  period  peculiarly  splendid  in  history, 
as  abounding  with  statesmen,  warriors,  artists,  philoso- 
phers, and  poets ;  among  whom  will  doubtless  occur  to  the 
reader  the  names  of  Socrates,  Plato,  Pericles,  Miltiades, 
Cimon,  Themistocles,  and  Xenophon.  The  emulation 
among  such  rare  talents  as  then  appeared  was  highly  fa- 
vourable to  the  growth  and  perfection  of  genius.  Athens, 
destroyed  by  the  army  of  Xerxes,  rose  under  the  auspices 
of  Pericles  in  renewed  and  far  greater  grandeur.  Phidias, 
the  pupil  of  Eladas  the  Argive,  though  by  some  it  is  thought 
that  honour  belongs  to  Hippias,  was  employed  by  Pericles 
in  the  superintendence  of  the  public  works  ;  and  the  ad- 
miration of  his  powers  was  so  universal  with  the  ancients, 
that  Quintilian  says,  speaking  of  his  Athenian  Minerva 
and  Olympian  Jupiter  at  Elis,  "  Cujus  pulchritudo  adjecisse 
aliquid  etiam  recepta;  religioni  videtur,  adeo  majestas  operis 
deum  eequavit."  Plutarch  affirms  that  Callicrates  and  Ieti- 
nus  executed  the  work  of  the  Parthenon ;  and  this,  as  far 
as  relates  to  the  latter,  is  confirmed  by  Pausanias.  The 
statue,  however,  of  Minerva,  of  ivory  and  gold,  within  the 
temple,  was  the  work  of  Phidias  himself;  and,  excepting 
his  Jupiter  at  Elis,  his  most  celebrated  production,  some 
have  doubted  that  Phidias  himself  ever  worked  in  marble  ; 
but  although  his  chief  material  was  bronze  when  he  did 
not  use  ivory,  it  is  certain  that  he  occasionally  wrought  in 
marble.  The  great  reputation  of  Phidias  was  founded  upon 
his  representations  of  the  gods,  excelling  more  in  them  than 
in  human  forms ;  and  in  his  works  in  ivory  it  is  said  he 
was  unrivalled.  Polycletus,  the  scholar  of  Ageladas  above 
mentioned,  and  cotemporary  of  Phidias,  assisted  in  the  per- 
fection of  style  of  the  second  epoch.  He  was  of  Sicyon, 
and  especially  celebrated  for  his  Doryphoros,  or  lance- 
bearer,  and  his  Diadumenus,  or  youth  binding  a  fillet  round 
his  head.  The  first  was  so  esteemed  by  artists,  that  it  was 
called  the  "canon,"  from  which  they  studied  their  propor- 
tions. There  is,  however,  some  doubt  whether  it  be  this 
or  another  statue  to  which  this  honour  was  paid.  The  co- 
temporaries  of  these  great  men  were  Callon,  Phragmon, 
Gorgias,  Lacon,  Myron,  Pythagoras,  Scopas,  and  Perelius. 
Jn  a  passage  of  Pliny,  Alcamenes  is  classed  with  Critias, 
Nestocles,  and  Hegias,  who  are  called  the  rivals  of  Phi- 
dias. The  name  of  Colotes  is  preserved  as  another  of  his 
scholars. 

The  third  epoch  is  that  in  which  we  become  acquainted 
with  the  names  of  Praxiteles  and  Lysippus,  and  in  which 
what  VVinckelman  calls  the  finestife  was  introduced.  The 
graces  of  youth  and  beauty  were  the  delight  of  Praxiteles  ; 
and  in  his  marble  statues"  at  the  Ceramicus  of  Athens,  he 
is  said  to  have  excelled  himself.  His  Venus  of  Cnidos  was 
so  endowed  with  charms,  that  her  suitors  were  seaborne 
from  all  quarters  to  pay  homage  at  her  shrine.  This  statue, 
whirh  had  been  rejected  by  the  Coans  on  account  of  its  be- 
ing naked,  was  refused  to  Nicomedes  by  the  citizens  of 
Cnidos  in  payment  of  a  debt  of  immense  amount.  It  re- 
mained at  Cnidos  in  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Arcadius, 
about  400  A.D.  Flaxman  in  his  Lectures  observes  of  it, 
that  it  "  seems  to  offer  the  first  idea  of  the  Venus  de  Medi- 
cis,  which  is  likely  to  be  the  repetition  of  another  Venus, 
the  work  of  this  artist."  A  satyr,  Cupid,  Apollo  (the  lizard- 
catcher),  and  Bacchus  leaning  on  a  fawn,  are  known  works 
of  this  master.  Cotemporary  with  Praxiteles  was  Lysip- 
pus, so  celebrated  for  the  group  of  horses  still  to  be  seen  in 
the  front  of  St.  Murk's  church  at  Venice.  This  epoch, 
though  that  which  VVinckelman  calls  of  the  fine  style,  is 
not  in  grandeur  comparable  to  its  predecessor.  The  refine- 
ment of  art  was  carried  almost  to  its  utmost  limit:  greater 
delicacy  and  voluptuousness  may  indeed  have  been  and 
was  introduced  into  the  female  forms,  but  in  dignity  and 
simplicity  of  feeling  it  is  inferior  to  the  extraordinary  pro- 
ductions of  the  age  of  Phidias.  After  this  period  several 
of  the  finest  groups  and  statues  were  nevertheless  executed : 
one  of  them,  the  Laocoon  (see  Laocoon),  is  in  a  very  high 
class  of  art,  and  perhaps  not  inferior  to  any  group  known. 


The  principal  schools  of  sculpture  were  Athens  and 
Rhodes ;  from  which  latter  school  came  the  Laocoon,  the 
Torso  Farnese,  and  the  Colossus.  To  what  extent  the  Rho- 
dians  were  sculptors  may  be  conjectured  from  the  circum- 
stance of  the  Romans  carrying  off  from  this  little  island  3000 
statues.  After  the  death  of  Alexander  the  Great,  324  years 
before  Christ,  the  arts  of  design  seem  to  have  declined  from 
their  meridian  excellence.  Apelles  found  an  asylum  in 
Egypt  with  Ptolemy,  a  prince  whose  liberality  induced 
artists  to  repair  to  his  dominions,  and  whose  example  in 
this  respect  was  followed  by  his  successor  ;  but  under  the 
detestable  tyranny  of  the  seventh  of  that  dynasty,  the  art- 
ists abandoned  Alexandria  altogether.  The  alternate  fa- 
vour and  disgrace  whirh  they  experienced  under  the  kings 
of  Syria,  and  those  of  Bithynia  and  Pergamus,  was  repeat- 
ed in  Sicily  under  Agathocles  and  Hiero  II.,  till  the  taking 
(212  B.C.)  of  Syracuse  by  Marcellus,  who  was  the  first  to 
appreciate  Greek  statues  as  invaluable  ornaments  to  the 
"eternal  city." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  Macedonian  war,  500  marble 
and  bronze  statues  graced  the  triumph  of  the  conquerors. 
Mummius  and  Scylla  left  no  place  unstripped  of  all  in  the 
shape  of  art  upon  which  they  could  lay  their  hands;  and 
within  a  very  comparatively  circumscribed  period  Rome  be- 
came the  rendezvous  of  all  artists  who  had  any  pretensions 
to  talent,  for  it  was  the  only  place  in  which  they  could  ob- 
tain employment. 

The  Romans  had  no  natural  taste  in  the  fine  arts,  nor  any 
style  of  their  own  originally ;  and  down  to  a  late  period  they 
employed  the  Etrurians  in  all  works  of  art.  Tibullus  char- 
acterized the  art  in  its  early  age  by  the  line, 

Stabat  io  exigua  ligneus  ceJe  deusj 

and  even  to  its  last  hour  it  may  be  truly  averred  that  sculp- 
ture never  shone  in  Rome  except  with  a  borrowed  light. 
Volsinium,  one  of  the  twelve  cities  of  Etruria  (the  modern 
Bolsena),  was  called  the  city  of  artists;  and  it  was  this 
depot  which  for  a  long  time  supplied  the  Romans  with  ar- 
chitects, painters,  and  sculptors,  and  taught  the  Romans  at 
an  early  period  what  little  they  knew  of  art.  Before  the 
5th  century  of  its  existence  the  use  of  marble  was  scarcely 
known  in  Rome  ;  but  in  the  6th,  the  Romans  began  to 
spread  themselves  towards  the  regions  inhabited  by  Gre- 
cians, and  imbibed  a  taste  for  the  expensive  materials  used 
by  that  nation. 

The  year  146  B.C.  was  signalized  by  the  entire  reduction 
of  Greece  under  the  dominion  of  the  Romans.  Sixty-six 
years  previously  a  dawn  of  luxury  and  taste  had  opened  at 
Rome  by  the  introduction,  through  Mnrcellus,  of  statues 
from  Syracuse  ;  but  though  the  increasing  luxury  of  the  Ro- 
mans created  a  constant  demand  for  fresh  objects  of  the 
art,  its  history  in  the  city  is  but  a  melancholy  continuing 
decline  of  it,  its  energies  and  beauties  being  destined  to  ex- 
pire among  the  people  of  a  strange  land.  The  only  occu- 
pation then  left  for  Greek  artists  was  to  be  found  in  Rome, 
whither  they  were  invited,  and  where  abundance  of  them 
were  to  be  seen.  Among  them  Pliny  (1.  xxxv.,  c.  12,  and 
xxxvi.,  c.  5)  mentions  the  name  of  Pasiteles,  a  sculptor,  who 
wrote  five  volumes,  containing  a  catalogue  raisonnt-e  of  the 
finest  works  of  art  known  in  his  time.  Pasiteles  excelled 
as  a  modeller  in  metal.  The  silver  statue  he  executed  of 
Roscius,  as  also  his  vases,  were  highly  celebrated.  Arche- 
silaus,  Topirus,  and  Evander,  all  Athenians,  were  among 
his  cotemporaries  in  the  Augustan  age.  The  first  of  these 
who  excelled  in  marble  is  extolled  by  Pliny  for  his  care  in 
modelling  before  he  began  upon  the  block.  He  was  the 
friend  of  Lucullus,  for  whom  he  executed  a  group,  described 
by  Varro,  representing  a  lioness  with  cupids  sporting  round 
her,  and  endeavouring  to  force  her  to  drink.  Still,  how- 
ever, the  passion  for  ancient  Greek  statues  prevailed  with 
the  Romans.  Martial  says,  in  speaking  of  a  statue  of  Her- 
cules, 

Non  est  farina  recens,  nee  nostri  gloria  coeli : 

Nobilis  Lysippi  munus,  opusque  vides. — ^Lib.  ix.,  Ep.  45.) 

Under  Augustus  the  art  had  not  been  entirely  divested  of 
grand  and  noble  feeling ;  but  after  his  time  it  partook  very 
much  of  the  character  of  his  successors  as  they  appeared. 
Licentious  and  obscene  under  the  sway  of  the  vicious,  de- 
bauched, and  cruel  Tiberius  ;  under  Caligula  it  became  so 
grossly  flattering,  that  ancient  Greek  statues  of  the  gods 
were  decapitated  to  make  room  for  the  head  of  this  em- 
peror. Under  Nero,  (to  whom,  however,  we  perhaps  are 
indebted  for  the  preservation  of  the  Apollo  of  the  Vatican 
and  the  Borghese  gladiator,  which  were  found  in  his  villa 
at  Antium)  it  became  so  outre  and  extravagant,  that  some 
of  the  statues  of  Lysippus  were  actually  gilt.  It  has  been 
conjectured  that  the  Apollo  and  gladiator  above  mentioned 
were  part  of  the  spoils  from  the  temple  at  Delphi.  The 
reigns  of  the  three  emperors  that  succeeded  Nero  were  of 
such  short  duration,  that  had  they  been  so  minded  they  had 
not  sufficient  time  to  inflict  any  very  serious  injury  on  the 

1101 


SCULPTURE. 


arts.  Vespasian,  whose  only  blemish  was  avarice,  which 
is  even  extenuated  by  the  laudable  and  pattiotic  use  he 
made  of  Ins  revenues,  cultivated  the  arts  as  well  as  litera- 
ture. The  Temple  of  Peace,  which  was  really  a  temple  of 
the  arts.  w;is  by  him  decorated  with  the  choicest  specimens 
Of  Creek  painting  ami  sculpture.  The  reigns  of  bis  s-n 
Titus  and  of  Trajan  were  also  favourable  to  Bcolpture.  The 
latter  was  the  patron  of  ApollodorUS,  from  whose  hand  is 
the  sculpture  on  the  column  that  bears  the  emperor's  name 
and  records  his  military  exploits.  Trajan,  moreover,  had 
the  liberality  and  good  sense  to  erect  statues  m  honour  of 
the  eminent  nun  of  his  time.  The  works  of  this  period 
were,  however,  rather  architectural  than  sculptural,  such 
as  temples,  palaces,  triumphal  arches,  &c,  and  the  sculp- 
ture chiefly  in  request  was  for  their  decoration  ;  a  want  cer- 
tainly not  calculated  to  retrieve  the  art  from  its  ninlring 
suite,  but  rather  to  encourage  bold  and  off-hand  execution 
at  the  expense  of  simplicity  and  expression.  Adrian  was 
so  great  a  lover  of  the  arts,  that  he  did  not  think  it  beneath 
his  character  as  emperor  himself  to  exercise  those  of  paint- 
ing and  sculpture  for  his  amusement.  He  not  only  restored 
the  principal  buildings  at  Athens,  but  extended  his  foster- 
ing care  to  the  temple  of  Jupiter  at  Olympia,  where  he 
caused  to  lie  erected  a  colossal  statue  of  the  god  in  gold  and 
ivory.  The  statue  of  Antinous,  so  generally  known,  was 
the  work  of  this  reign.  Antoninus  and  Marcus  Aurelius 
were  appointed  by  Hadrian  as  his  successors;  under  them 
the  art  revived  for  a  time,  and  has  acknowledged  her  grati- 
tude to  the  last  by  his  bronze  statue  at  the  Capitol.  The 
former  crowded  with  the  choicest  specimens  of  sculpture 
he  could  procure  his  villa  at  Lanuvium.  How  sculpture 
was  encouraged  at  this  time  may  be  gathered  from  the  in- 
numerable busts  of  these  emperors  that  have  reached  us. 
Commodus  had  likewise  been  honoured  with  a  multitude 
of  statues,  but  these,  upon  his  death,  were  decreed  by  the 
senate  to  be  all  destroyed.  Only  thirteen  years  afterwards, 
under  Septunius  Severus,  the  decay  of  the  art  became  very 
manifest :  its  decline  continued  during  the  reign  of  Alex- 
ander Severus,  though  two  busts  of  him,  which  were  dis- 
covered a  few  years  since,  are  not  without  merit.  During 
the  next  half  century,  the  rapid  succession  of  twenty  em- 
perors, scarcely  one  of  whom  died  a  natural  death,  gave  to 
sculpture  little  chance  of  a  revival.  In  fact,  by  the  end  of 
the  4th  century  it  was  extinct,  of  which  no  other  proof  is 
than  the  arch  of  Constantine  and  the  statues  of 
that  prince,  through  whose  removal  of  the  capital  of  the  em- 
pire to  Constantinople,  Rome  no  longer  swayed  the  sceptre 
of  the  fine  arts.  If  the  Romans  do  not  deserve  the  admira- 
tion in  which  the  Creeks  are  held  for  their  knowledge  of 
the  fine  arts,  they  deserve  our  gratitude  for  their  instru- 
mentality in  preserving  some  of  the  noblest  productions  of 
the  art  of  sculpture.  There  are  two  epochs  under  which 
the  taste  of  the  R<  imans  for  the  tine  arts  may  be  classed :  the 
first  beginning  with  the  capture  of  Syracuse  by  Marcellus, 
and  ending  at  the  time  of  Julius  Casar;  the  second,  that  of 
the  Augu»tan  age.  in  which  all  the  polite  arts  flourished. 

From  the  4th  to  the  Kith  century,  if  there  were  materials 
sufficiently  authentic,  the  history  of  the  arts,  as  we  have 
shown  also  in  the  articles  Architecture  and  Painting, 
is  such  a  blank  as  to  be  scarcely  worth  the  trouble  of  tracing. 
In  the  13th  century,  however,  the  clouds  of  darkness  began 
to  separate,  opening  a  dawn  for  their  revival  in  the  14th, 
which  was  soon  afterwards  to  bring  on  the  blaze  of  day. 
We  shall  divide  our  account  of  the  art  from  this  period  into 
three  epochs. 

First  Epoch. — The  Roman  power  having  been  entirely 
.  m  the  West  of  Europe,  Italy  became  divided  into 
republics  and  principalities,  \\  hereof  the  chief  were  Venice, 
Genoa,  and  Pisa,  these  bemg  the  earliest  in  Cully  establish- 
ing liberty.  The  last,  however,  was  foremost  in  founding 
a  si  h  ol  Of  native  art.  The  Pisans,  who  I 
erable  extent  of  coast,  had  beaten  the  Saracens  in  Africa, 
Sardinia,  Majorca,  Minorca,  and  Sicily;  and  had  thus  ac- 
quired the  treasures  with  which  they  commenced  the  erec- 
tion of  their  cathedral,  which   was  finished  in  10 

seven  years  after  that  of  St.  Mark  at  Venice  bad  been  con 
secrated.  Schools  of  painting,  sculpture,  and  architecture. 
soon  arose  alter  this  period,  and  the  cause  ofn  ligion  found 
employment  for  the  talent  they  produced,  ir  ba 
jectured  that  Buschetto,  whom  the  majority  of  writers  and 
weight  of  argument  prove  to  have  been  a  Greek,  though 
thought  by  some  to  have  been  an  Italian,  was  the  founder 
of  the  school  at  Pisa,  The  reputation  of  this  si  hool  was 
raised  to  the  greatest  height  by  the  appearance  of  Nicolo  de 
Pisa,  the  pride  and  glory  of  the  12th  century,  and 
who  on  its  restoration  gave  dignity  and  Importance  to  Bculp 
ture.    That  tb  jrments  w  bi(  b 

acquired  soon  enabled  Nicolo  to  discriminate  between  them 
and  the  chetto.  Is  evident  from  some  remains 

of  his  woik  in  the  Campo  Santo,    in  1225  be  was  employ- 
ed at  Bo  >rating  the  sarcophagus  of  St.  Dominic, 
m  Which  his  admiration  and  successful  imitatiou  of  tile 
UUJ 


antique  shine  forth.  He  was  afterwards  engaged  on  the 
bas  reliefs  of  the  pulpits  at  Pisa  and  Sienna,  and  on  the 
facades  of  the  cathedrals  at  Orvieto  and  Lucca.  The  time 
of  his  death  is  uncertain.  Ciovanni,  the  son  of  Nicolo,  suc- 
ceeded his  father,  to  whom  in  some  respects  he  was  mora 
than  equal.  Their  figures,  especially  those  of  their  draped 
females,  are  elegant,  and  exhibit  "  an  originality  of  idea  and 
a  force  of  thought  seldom  met  with  when  schools  of  art  tire 
in  the  habit  of  copying  from  each  other."  The  school  of 
Pisa  is  not  limited  to  the  two  we  have  just  named.  Araolfo 
the  Florentine,  the  brothers  Agostino  and  Agnolo,  and  An- 
drea I  "goiino.  all  deserve  to  be  recorded.  Andrea  executed 
in  bronze  the  Oldest  gate  of  the  baptistry  at  Florence,  on 
Which  is  represented  the  life  of  St.  John.  This  work  is  de- 
signed with  much  grandeur  and  simplicity,  and  almost  if 
not  quite  equal  to  his  master;  but  in  his  marble  statues  he 
is  inferior.  Giovanni  da  Balduccio,  scholar  of  Nicolo  or 
Ciovanni,  was  of  this  epoch  :  his  first  works  were  at  Milan, 
where  afterwards,  in  1339,  he  executed  the  mausoleum  of 
St.  Peter  the  Martyr.  In  the  14th  century  Giotto  establish- 
ed a  school,  distinguished  by  good  drawing,  which  prepared 
Florence  for  a  perfect  re-establishment  of  the  art.  Of  it 
was  Orgagna,  a  name  ever  to  be  remembered  for  his  cele- 
brated loggia  at  Florence,  who  was  also  eminent  for  his 
works  in  sculpture.  A  school  at  Sienna,  towards  the  end 
of  this  century,  produced  Jacopo  della  Querci a,  whose  prin- 
cipal works  were  at  Bologna,  Lucca,  and  especially  Sienna, 
where  a  fountain  which  he  designed  was  so  admired  that 
he  acquired  the  name  of  Jacopo  della  I'onte.  From  his 
hand  is  the  bas-relief  in  the  facjade  of  San  Petronio  at  Bo- 
logna. The  loth  century  was  a  splendid  era  for  the  pro- 
duction of  everything  that  was  great  and  intelligent,  and 
most  especially  for  the  art  of  sculpture.  The  love  of  liberty 
and  knowledge  seemed  to  animate  the  whole  of  the  Italian 
republics ;  and  as  if  the  republic  of  the  arts  were  not  ex- 
cluded from  the  common  sentiment,  no  individual  master 
seems  so  to  have  outstripped  his  rivals  as  to  have  impress- 
ed the  art  with  his  own  particular  style. 

This  period  brings  us  to  the  second  epoch,  at  the  begin- 
ning whereof  we  find  six  great  artists  engaged  in  a  compe- 
tition for  executing  the  bronze  doors  of  the  baptistry  at 
Florence,  in  which,  after  a  year's  trial,  Lorenzo  Ghiberti 
bore  away  the  palm  from  his  rivals.  Among  these  was 
Donatello,  a  Florentine,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  re- 
storers of  the  art.  "  Some  of  his  works,"  says  Flaxman,  no 
incompetent  judge,  "both  in  bronze  and  marble,  might  be 
placed  beside  the  best  productions  of  ancient  Greece  \\  ith- 
oiit  discredit."  His  alto-relievo  of  two  singing  boys  in  the 
Duomo  at  Florence  is.  in  point  of  character,  sentiment, 
drawina,  and  drapery,  of  extraordinary  beauty.  The  marble 
statue  he  executed  of  St.  George  standing  upright,  equally 

poised  on  both  his  legs,  with  his  hands  resting  on  the  shield 
before  him,  so  excited  the  admiration  of  Michael  Angelo, 
that  after  contemplating  it  in  deep  silence  for  a  considera- 
ble length  of  time,  he  suddenly  exclaimed  "March."  Lo- 
renzo Ghiberti,  the  cotemporary,  and.  as  we  have  before 
mentioned,  successful  rival  of  Donatello,  in  the  gates  (1401) 
to  the  baptistry  of  San  Giovanni,  has  immortalized  himself 
by  that  work. "which,  from  the  eulogy  bestowed  on  it  by 
Michael  Angelo,  bears  the  appellation  of  the  "Gates  Ol 
Paradise."  This  undertaking  occupied  forty  years  of  his 
life,  and  still,  notwithstanding  the  criticism  i  f  Reynolds, 

n  i - "I  the  noblest  monuments  of  modern  art.    The 

subjects  are  from  the  Old  and  New  Testaments ;  and  the 
complaint  of  Reynolds  is,  that  "  the  landscape  and  buildings 
occupy  so  large  a  portion  of  the  compartments  that  the 

figures  remained  but  secondary  objects,  entirely  Contrary  to 
the  principle  of  the  ancients."  Brunelleschi,  the  intimate 
friend  of  Donatello,  known  better  by  his  high  acquirements 
as  an  architect,  was  not  less  a  sculptor  of  considerable 
eminence:  at  Florence,  in  the  church  of  St.  Maria  Novella, 
is  an  admirable  crucifix  by  him  in  wood.  In  1450,  Andrea 
VerroccbJD  and  Dominico  Ghirlandaio  were  found  among 
the  first  rank  ofsculptors  in  Florence.  The  former  of  these 
two.  the  master  of  Pietro  Perugino  and  Leonardo  da  Vinci, 
executed  at  Venice  the  famous  figure  of  Bartolomeo  Cog- 

leone  da  Bergamo  on  horseback.  The  latter  was  the  mas- 
iir  ni  Michael  Ingelo  da  Buonarotti,  whom  we  have  once 
more  (see  Architecture  and  Paintingj  to  introduce  to 
the  reader's  notice  as  the  most  eminent  of  modern  sculp- 
tors, as  well  as  ol'  architects  and  painters.  The  miraculous 
works  of  this  extraordinary  man  seem  rather  the  result  of 
inspiration  than  of  genius,  and  with  him  is  introduced 

'I'll'-  third  epoch,  in  which  the  perfect  restoration  of  the 
art  was  accomplished.  The  historian  of  the  painters,  sculp- 
tures, and  architects  wrote  the  life  of  Buonarotti  while  he 
was  yet  living,  and  thus  apostrophises  for  his  so  doing: 

"  Lei    none  be   surprised  that  I  have  here  written  the  Life 

of  Michael   Ingelo,  who  is  yet  living.    Indeed,  it  cannot  be 

expected    that   he  will    evet  die.   and.   therefore,   it  has  np- 

|>cared  to  me  proper  to  do  him  this  little  h ur ;   for  w  hen, 

iu  common  with  other  men,  his  life  shall  pass  away,  he 


SCULPTURE. 


Will  be  immortal  in  his  immortal  works,  the  fame  of  which, 
as  long  as  the  world  lasts,  will  live  with  glory  in  the  mouths 
of  men  and  in  their  records,  in  contempt  of  envy  and  despite 
of  death."  Michael  Angelo  was  nobly  descended,  and  at 
the  early  age  of  15  was  patronized  by  Lorenzo  de  Medici, 
who  took  hiui  into  his  house,  and  whilst  living  continued 
his  friend.  His  career  in  sculpture  was  commenced  by  a 
sleeping  Cupid,  a  Bacchus,  and  young  fawn,  the  colossal 
David,  and  a  group  of  a  Madonna  sitting  with  the  dead 
Christ  on  her  knees;  works  which  raised  him  immediately 
above  his  cotemporaries.  It  is  not  our  purpose  here  to 
touch  upon  the  productions  of  Michael  Angelo  in  the  other 
two  arts  which  occupied  a  great  portion  of  his  time,  and 
which  it  appears  he  afterwards  regretted;  for  Condivi,  his 
biographer,  observes,  "Che  mi  rammenta  udirlo  dire  che 
quando  la,  (the  basso-relievo  of  the  battle  of  Hercules  with 
Uie  Centaurs),  viede,  cognosce  quanto  torto  egli  abbia  fatto 
alia  natura  a  non  seguitar  prontamente  l'arte  della  scul- 
tura."  Julius  II.,  on  being  raised  to  the  papal  chair,  em- 
ployed Michael  Angelo  on  a  mausoleum,  which  it  was  in- 
tended to  place  under  the  centre  of  the  dome  of  St.  Peter's. 
It  was  projected  on  a  most  magnificent  scale:  but  being 
subjected  to  many  delays,  and  the  pope  dying,  only  one  of 
its  sides  was  completed,  which  was  afterwards  erected  in 
the  church  of  St.  Pietro  in  Vincola  by  order  of  his  nephew. 
In  this  monument  is  found  the  celebrated  Moses  and  some 
other  statues,  two  of  which  in  the  present  day  are  in  the 
gallery  at  the  Louvre.  It  is  mortifying  to  know  that  a  large 
portion  of  this  artist's  time  was  wasted  at  the  quarries  of 
Pietra  Santa,  owing  to  the  misconduct  of  the  underlings  of 
Leo  X.  Cardinal  Giuliano  di  Medici,  in  1523,  engaged  him 
on  the  sacristy  and  library  of  San  Lorenzo.  In  the  Capella 
dei  Depositi,  or  sacristy,  are  the  statues  of  Lorenzo  and 
Giuliano  di  Medici  seated,  and  in  Roman  military  habits: 
the  former  is  conceived  with  a  simplicity  worthy  of  the 
highest  era  of  Grecian  art.  The  recumbent  statues  of  Day- 
break and  Night,  under  the  statue  of  Giuliano  in  the  same 
chapel,  "are  grand  and  mysterious:  the  characters  and 
forms  bespeak  the  same  mighty  hand  and  mind  evident 
throughout  the  ceiling  of  the  Sistine  Chapel  and  Last  Judg- 
ment. Even  this  mighty  master  was  doomed  to  experience 
ill-treatment  from  his  employers,  his  last  years  having  been 
attended  with  mortification,  and  chequered  with  vexation 
and  trouble.  Universal  in  his  accomplishments,  he  was 
mainly  useful  in  defending  the  city  of  Florence  when  it  was 
besieged  by  the  Prince  of  Orange.  Having  arrived  at  the 
advanced  age  of  eighty,  and  withdrawn  from  all  employ- 
ment, except  the  conduct  of  the  works  at  St.  Peter's,  which 
lie  retained  to  prevent  the  intrigues  for  marrying  his  design 
from  being  successful,  he  gratified  the  pious  inclination  of 
his  mind,  and  derived  amusement  in  his  leisure  hours  from 
working  on  an  enormous  block  of  marble  a  group  of  four 
figures,  consisting  of  the  dead  body  of  our  Saviour,  supported 
by  Joseph  of  Arimathea  attended  by  the  two  Marys :  a 
composition  of  infinite  grandeur  and  pathos,  which  he  lived 
not  to  finish.  His  death  occurred  on  the  15th  of  December, 
1563,  almost  90  years  of  age.  "  Michael,"  says  Ariosto,  "  piu 
che  mortal,  Angel'  divino."  Besides  the  honour  lie  con- 
ferred on  seven  popes  by  serving  them,  he  was  the.  friend 
of  Solyman  emperor  of  the  Turks,  Francis  I.  king  of  France, 
the  emperor  Charles  V.,  the  princes  of  the  republic  of 
Venice,  those  of  Italy,  particularly  the  duke  of  Tuscany, 
reigning  at  the  time  of  his  death.  His  body  having  been 
buried  in  the  church  of  the  Holy  Apostles  at  Rome,  where 
the  pope  meditated  a  magnificent  tomb  to  his  memory,  was 
privately  removed  to  Florence,  where  funeral  obsequies 
were  celebrated  over  it  with  every  demonstration  of  pomp 
and  splendour.  The  ceremony  took  place  in  the  church 
Della  Croce,  attended  by  all  the  members  of  the  Academy, 
the  church  being  decorated  for  the  occasion  with  a  cata- 
falco,  and  the  choicest  examples  of  painting  and  sculpture. 
The  panegyric  was  pronounced  by  Benedetto  Varchi.  Flax- 
man,  in  his  Tenth  Lecture  on  Sculpture,  closes  his  account 
of  him  thus :  "  The  character  and  works  of  Michael  Angelo 
have  been  dwelt  on  at  greater  length,  because,  as  his  mental 
and  bodily  powers  continued  far  beyond  the  usual  date  of 
human  life,  his  diligence  attained  to  so  much  greater  per- 
fection in  the  principles  of  art.  Anatomy,  the  motion  and 
perspective  of  the  figure,  the  complication,  grandeur,  and 
harmony  of  his  grouping,  with  the  advantages  and  facility 
of  execution  in  painting  and  sculpture,  besides  his  mathe- 
matical and  mechanical  attainments  in  architecture  and 
building,  together  with  the  many  and  prodigious  works  he 
accomplished,  demonstrate  how  greatly  he  contributed  to 
the  restoration  of  art."  After  this  epoch,  or  perhaps  almost 
belonging  to  it,  appeared  Giovanni  da  Bologna,  a  sculptor 
of  extraordinary  merit,  and  eminent  particularly  for  his 
works  in  bronze  and  marble.  His  Venus  coming  from  the 
Bath  is  delicate  and  graceful ;  and  the  group  of  the  Rape  of 
the  Sabines,  in  the  grand  piazza  at  Florence,  is  extremely 
well  composed,  and  possesses  a  fine  undulation  of  line.  The 
Mercury  he  executed,  rising  to  fly,  is  energetic  and  original. 


There  are  many  small  works  extant  by  this  artist.  Bene- 
vento  Cellini,  one  of  the  strangest  and  most  eccentric  fel- 
lows that  ever  existed  in  the  world,  appeared  about  this 
period.  He  was  chiefly  employed  as  a  goldsmith  and 
sculptor  in  metals ;  but  was  frequently  employed  on  large 
figures  and  groups,  of  which  the  Perseus  holding  the  head 
of  Medusa  in  his  left  hand,  at  Florence,  is  a  splendid  in- 
stance of  his  talent.  Other  real  disciples  of  the  great  Tus- 
can master  were  Raphael  di  Monte  Lupo,  his  favourite 
pupil,  who  assisted  in  the  execution  of  the  two  statues  of 
the  Virtues  on  each  side  of  the  Moses ;  Nicolo  di  Tribolo, 
who  made  the  bronze  gates  of  the  cathedral  at  Bologna ; 
Giovanni  dell'  Opera,  who  received  that  name  from  the 
prolific  chisel  he  wielded ;  and  Vincenzo  Dante.  Of  his 
school  also  are  Baccio  Bandinelli,  a  man  of  considerable 
talent,  but  of  course  greatly  inferior  to  Michael  Angelo, 
though  he  set  himself  up  as  a  rival  and  competitor ;  Baccio 
di  Monte  Lupo,  who,  among  his  works,  executed  the  cruci- 
fix in  the  church  of  San  Lorenzo ;  Andrea  Contucci,  a  clever 
and  occasionally  successful  imitator  of  Michael  Angelo,  and 
founder  of  the  school  of  Loretto  ;  Francesco  Rustici,  a  pupil 
of  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  but  whose  works  evince  a  devotion 
to  the  style  of  Michael  Angelo  Buonarotti,  and  who  intro- 
duced it  into  France ;  and  Jacopo  Tatti,  commonly  called 
Sansovino,  who  was  the  head  of  the  Venetian  school  of 
sculpture.  As  an  architect  he  was  an  artist  of  surprising 
talents,  as  is  manifest  from  his  works  at  Verona;  his  sculp- 
ture, however,  is  deficient  in  purity,  though  not  in  richness 
of  composition.  His  principal  pupils  were  Danese  Cattaneo 
and  Alessandro  Vittoria.  The  principles  of  the  school  were 
diffused  through  Italy,  and  were  equally  to  be  seen  in  Lom- 
bardy  and  Naples:  in  the  latter  city  the  principal  masters 
were  Marliano  Nola  and  Girolamo  St.  Croce.  At  Milan 
were  Agostino  Busti  and  Guglielmo  della  Porta,  whose  re- 
putation was  raised  by  the  statues  executed  by  him  on  the 
tomb  of  Paul  the  Third  at  St.  Peter's.  These  have  been 
esteemed  as  among  the  best  examples  of  modern  sculpture. 
Torregiano,  who  also  belongs  to  this  period,  was  of  a  vaga- 
bond disposition,  but  a  man  of  genius ;  he  was  invited  over 
to  England,  w  here  he  wrought  upon  the  tomb  of  Henry  VII. 
at  Westminster,  for  which  he  received  the  sum  of  £1000. 
From  Benvenisto  Cellini  we  learn  that  he  was  handsome, 
but  of  consummate  impudence,  having  the  manner  of  a 
bravo  more  than  of  a  sculptor;  and  to  crown  all,  what  with 
his  strange  gestures,  shrill  voice,  and  a  certain  trick  of  knit- 
ting his  brows,  he  was  enough  to  frighten  any  one  who 
came  in  contact  with  him.  When  he  quitted  England  he 
visited  Spain,  says  Vasari,  and,  distinguishing  himself  by 
many  clever  works,  had  a  commission  in  marble  from  the 
Duke  d'Arcus,  of  a  Madonna  and  Christ  of  the  size  of  life, 
with  great  assurances  that  he  shoutd  be  rewarded  accord- 
ing to  his  merit.  The  duke  being  a  grandee  of  the  first  class, 
the  sculptor  considered  he  should  be  proportionately  re- 
warded. After  considerable  study  and  application  the  work 
was  finished  to  his  own  satisfaction ;  whereon,  with  impa- 
tience to  possess  himself  of  the  treasure,  the  duke  forthwith 
sent  for  it,  and,  to  display  his  generosity  to  the  greatest  ad- 
vantage, two  of  his  servants  were  loaded  with  money  in 
payment  for  it.  The  bulk  was  pleasing  in  appearance  to 
the  artist ;  but,  upon  being  opened,  the  bags  were  found  to 
contain  only  brass  maravedi,  amounting  to  the  trifling  sum 
of  thirty  ducats.  Vexation  and  disappointment  roused  the 
indignation  of  Torregiano,  who,  looking  on  the  present  more 
as  an  insult  than  a  reward  due  to  his  merit,  snatched  up  his 
mallet,  and,  heedless  of  the  perfect  workmanship  with 
which  it  had  been  finished,  as  well  as  the  sacred  character 
of  the  subject,  broke  it  in  pieces,  and  sent  the  lacqueys 
away  with  their  load  of  brass  to  recount  the  tale  to  their 
master.  The  grandee,  enraged  at  the  merited  indignity  with 
which  the  artist  had  treated  him,  and  it  may  be  horrified  at 
the  sacrilegious  nature  of  the  act,  presented  him  to  the  In- 
quisition as  an  infidel  and  a  heretic.  Torregiano  pleaded 
the  right  of  an  author  over  the  work  of  his  own  creation, 
but  without  success:  he  was  condemned  to  lose  his  life. 
Torregiano  baulked,  however,  the  holy  office  of  its  victim 
by  starving  himself  to  death  in  his  prison.  This  occurred  in 
152-2,  at  which  time  he  was  fifty  years  old.  In  England  we 
also  had  Giovanni  da  Padua  in  the  following  reign. 

Spain  produced  some  celebrated  sculptors  in  the  16th 
century,  their  first  native  artist  being  Berruguette,  a  pupil  of 
Vasari'  and  Buonarotti.  Berruguette's  disciple,  Paul  de  Ces- 
pides,  is  reputed  the  greatest  sculptor  that  Spain  ever  pro- 
duced. 

It  does  not  appear  that  Germany  produced  any  sculptors 
of  eminence  before  the  17th  century.  But  in  France,  Jacques 
d'AngomVme,  who  had  been  at  Rome,  where  he  had  a 
competition  even  with  Buonarotti ;  Jean  Gougeon,  who 
finished  the  Fountain  of  the  Innocents  at  Paris  in  1550,  and 
was  one  of  the  victims  in  the  massacre  on  St.  Bartholomew's 
Day ;  Jean  Cousin,  whose  works,  though  deficient  in  force 
and  truth,  yet  exhibit  much  grace  and  delicacy;  and  Ger- 
man Pilon,  whose  detail  is  remarkable  for  its  beauty,  arc 

1103 


SCULPTURE. 

names  that  entitle  that  country  to  a  high  rank  among  the 
nations  of  Europe,  in  which  all  the  works  of  sculpture  that 
were  produced  are  n  many  testimonies  of  the  influence 
which  the  izt-mus  of  Michael  Angelo  exerted  over  the  arts. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  17th  century,  Bernini,  a 
native  of  Naples,  born  in  1596,  raised  himself  to  employ- 
ment before  unknown.  Endowed  with  all  the  qualities  ne 
cessary  fur  becoming  a  great  artist,  and  desirous  of  distin- 
guishing himself  by  the  foundation  of  a  new  school,  he 
plunged  into  caprice  and  complexity,  and  preferring  efled 
to  simplicity,  effaced  .ill  traces  of  the  style  which  from  the 
Him  of  Baonarotti  had  prevailed  in  Europe.  His  draperies, 
founded  on  the  paintings  of  the  Bolognese  school,  his  af- 
fected style,  the  violent  expression  in  which  lie  delighted, 
are  the  marks  of  an  ambitious  artist,  whose  only  aim  was 
to  be  striking.  He  deluged  Italy  with  his  works,  and  cor- 
rupted it  with  his  taste  till  his  death  in  1630.  The  most 
celebrated  cotemporaries  of  Bernini  were  Alguardi  and 
FJammingO.  The  latter  is  much  esteemed  for  his  repre- 
sentations of  youth,  and  particularly  of  infants.  At  Naples 
he  executed  a  concert  of  cherubs,  and  two  infants  on  a 
monument  at  Rome,  which  are  his  most  admired  works: 
the  latter  was  particularly  admired  by  Rubens,  who  says  of 
It,  "  Nature  rather  than  art  appears  to  have  sculptured 
them,  and  the  marble  is  softened  into  life."  Rusconi  in 
Italy  succeeded  to  Bernini,  and  was  the  artist  most  in  re- 
quest at  the  beginning  of  the  18th  century.  His  greatest 
work  was  at  St.  Giovanni  Laterano,  where  lie  was  assisted 
by  Monnot,  Le  Gros,  Morakli,  Moratti,  Ottoni,  and  Rossi, 
pupils  of  the  preceding  school.  The  further  progress  of 
sculpture  seemed  now  impossible ;  in  short,  the  art  seemed 
to  have  departed,  though  men  whose  names  are  not  worth 
recording,  with  all  the  pretensions  of  artists,  still  hovered 
about  the  scenes  of  its  former  glory. 

In  France,  Anzirevalle  Adrian,  Delia  Bella,  and  Tacca, 
pupils  of  Giovanni  da  Bologna,  occupy  the  interval  up  to 
the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV. — one  extremely 
creditable  to  the  French  school.  In  the  remaining  period 
of  that  monarch's  reign,  the  principal  sculptors  were  Gerar- 
don.  burn  at  Troves  in  1630,  and  Paget,  born  at  Marseilles 
in  Hi,,:  the  bitter  of  whom,  from  his  fiery  and  energetic 
style,  received  the  appellation  of  the  Michael  Angelo  of 
France.  These  two  were  the  head  of  the  school  of  the 
succeeding  sculptors  of  France;  among  whom  was  Fal- 
conet, celebrated  for  his  writings,  and  for  the  equestrian 
statue  he  executed  at  St.  Petersburg  of  the  Czar  Peter. 
The  unfortunate  Louis  XVI.,  previous  to  the  Revolution, 
was  a  great  patron  of  sculpture,  and  had  projected  a  col- 
lection of  statues  of  the  most  eminent  characters  of  the 
country.  Pigal,  the  sculptor  of  the  day,  had  executed 
some  of  them  before  the  dreadful  period  which  stopped  in 
France,  for  a  time,  the  cultivation  of  the  arts.  The  school 
of  Pigal  was  of  considerable  extent  and  influence,  Mouchy, 
Bocquet,  Moette,  Chaudet,  and  Lebrune  being  members  of 
it,  and  continuing  the  art  to  within  a  generation  of  the 
present  time.  Cotcmporary,  or  nearly  so.  with  these  in 
Germany,  were  Rauchmuller  of  Vienna,  Schluter  of  Ber- 
lin, Millich,  Bartel,  and  others;  subsequent  to  whom  are 
Ohnmacht,  Sonnenschien,  and  Nahl,  all  sculptors  of  much 
reputation.  Our  knowledge  of  Spanish  sculptors  is  so 
limited,  from  their  reputation  not  travelling  away  from 
their  own  country,  and  in  it  indeed  being  little  known,  ex- 
cept in  Madrid  and  the  chief  cities,  where  the  principal 
employment  for  them  is  the  decoration  of  churches,  that 
we  apprehend  little  interest  would  be  created  by  an  enu 
mention  of  them.  In  England,  up  to  a  late  period,  the 
must  celebrated  sculptors  were  foreigners.  Cibber,  Rou- 
blllac,  and  Si  heemacher  had  the  sway;  and  monuments 
of  their  genius,  especially  of  the  Becond,  are  the  pride  of 
some  of  our  churches.  The  art,  however,  seemed  to  be 
near  its  dissolution,  when  Antonio  Canova,  in  1787,  re 
vived  in  Rome  the  purity  without  which  it  is  worthless. 
This  justly  admired  artist  was  burn  in  175?  at  Possagno,  a 
village  amidst  the  Asolani  hills,  at  the  foot  of  the  Venetian 
Alps.  Pietro,  his  father,  and  Pashm,  his  grandfather,  were 
Sculptors,  whose  lalwurs  were  chiefly  confined  to  the 
churches  of  the  district.  Deprived  of  his  father  when  only 
three  years  of  age,  he  was  indebted  to  bis  grandfather  for 
the  early  instruction  and  employment  of  the  chisel,  by  which 
he  acquired  great  mechanical  dexterity.  Attracting  the 
notice  of  the  patrician  Giovanni  Faliero,  he  was  by  him 
placed  with  Torretto,  one  of  the  best  Venetian  sculptors  of 
that  day.  Toretlo  soon  afterwards  died,  anil  young  An- 
tonio then  studied  under  Toretto's  nephew,  Ferrari.  But 
he  soon  broke  through  the  trammels  of  the  an  as  it  was 
then  practised;  and  the  rapidity  >>t"  bis  progress  having  In 
duced  bis  patron  to  Bad  a  more  appropriate  theatre  for  the 
exercise  or  his  powers,  the  young  nrti^t  was  sent  to  Rome 
in  December,  17s0.  soon  after  which  time  the  Venetian 
government  granted  him  a  pension  of  300  ducats  for  three 
years.  At  this  period  the  fashionable  sculptors  <>f  Rome 
Were  Agostino  Peima,  Pacili,  Bracci,  Sibilla,  and  others, 
1104 


SCURVY. 

whose  productions  are  already  forgotten  ;  so  that  in  the 
way  of  emulation  Canova  had    little   to  excite  his  talents. 

Before  the  period  had  expired  for  which  iiis  pension  was 

granted,  the  zeal  of  Volpalo  had  been  successful  in  procur- 
ing for  liiin  the  commission  to  execute  the  monument  of 
Clement  XIV.  (Ganganelli).  Thus  was  afforded  to  the 
young  sculptor  an  opportunity  of  exhibiting  bis  (lowers  to  a 
public  who  were  fortunately  capable  of  appreciating  his 
merit.  Before  the  expiration  of  the  18th  century,  he  had 
produced  an  amazing  quantity  of  works,  at  which  time  it 
was  not  the  practice  (one  afterwards  introduced  by  him)  to 
employ  inferior  workmen  to  reduce  the  block  to  the  last 
shape  of  the  siipi  rliiies.  The  enumeration  of  his  works 
would  occupy  much  more  space  than  can  be  here*^ssigned 
to  them:  they  were  generally  deficient  in  energy,  but 
abounding  in  grace  and  elegance;  and  in  his  monumental 
sculpture  there  is  vast  originality  of  invention,  whilst  it  is 
free  from  extravagance.  His  females  are  voluptuous,  but 
not  offensively  so;  lus  execution  of  them  exquisite.  In  the 
monument  executed  in  memory  of  the  archduchess  Chris- 
tina of  Austria,  there  is  a  pathos  in  the  composition,  whose 
figures  are  linked  together  with  the  chain  of  nature,  worthy 
the  divine  Raphael  himself.  Canova  died  at  Venice  on 
the  Kith  of  October,  1822;  and  his  remains  were  removed 
to  his  native  place,  in  which  he  had  erected,  at  his  own 
expense,  a  splendid  church.  Albert  Thorwaldsen,  a  cotem- 
porary  of  Canova,  but  much  his  junior,  a  native  of  Den- 
mark, lias  by  his  great,  though  irregular  and  erratic  genius, 
raised  himself  to  eminence  in  Rome  as  well  as  in  his  own 
country.  His  powers  in  basso-relievo  are  great ;  hut  in  ex- 
tending the  principles  of  the  art,  we  cannot  assign  to  him  a 
niche  in  the  temple  of  fame,  by  the  side  of  the  men  whose 
merits  we  have  just  discussed. 

In  England,  the  respectable  artists,  Bacon,  Banks,  and 
Nollekens,  were  followed  by  Flaxman,  a  name  honourable 
to  the  arts  of  this  country.  Intense  feeling  and  simplicity 
characterize  all  his  works  ;  and  in  Epic  sculpture,  we  think, 
lie  very  far  surpassed  Canova.  He  was  burn  at  York  in 
1755,  and  died  in  1826.  The  lectures  which  lie  delivered 
as  professor  of  sculpture  at  the  Royal  Academy  have  been 
published.  In  the  present  day,  we  apprehend,  the  sculp- 
ture of  our  country,  supported  as  it  is  by  the  talents  of 
Westmacott,  Lough,  Rennie,  Chantrey,  and  many  othi  rs, 
will  bear  comparison  with  those  of  any  other  country  in 
Europe. 

SCULPTURE,  PRACTICE  OF.  What  has  been  said 
under  the  article  Practice  of  Painting,  relative  to 
anatomy,  comparative  anatomy,  symmetry,  invention,  ex- 
pression, and  drapery,  equally  applies  to  the  art  of  sculp- 
ture, and  need  not  be  here  repeated.  We  shall,  therefore, 
merel]  state  the  different  -methods  practised  in  producing  a 
work  in  this  art. 

A  model  as  large  as  the  intended  figure  or  group  is  first 
made  in  clay,  it  is  placed  on  a  stand  called  the  sculptor's 
easel;  and  the  general  form  is  got  out  with  the  hand  and 
fingers,  small  box-wood  tools  being  made  use  of  to  touch 
the  parts  that  the  fingers  cannot  reach.  The  clay  is  kept 
moist,  to  prevent  its  shrinking,  till  the  model  is  completed. 
The  model  is  then  moulded  in  plaster  ol'  Paris,  before  it  be- 
gins to  dry.  whence  a  matrix  is  formed,  into  which  plaster 
is  introduced;  and  the  matrix  being  broken  away  from  it, 
the  model  in  clay  is  thus  transferred  into  one  of  plaster. 
This  becomes  the  standard  from  which  the  artist  takes  all 
the  measurements  for  the  figure  he  is  about  to  execute. 
The  block  of  marble  and  the  model  being  now  placed  on 
stands,  with  a  graduated  rod,  which  moves  on  a  frame  per- 
pendicular 10  it,  and  has  a  point  attached  to  it  which  can 
be  made  to  advance  and  recede  at  pleasure,  certain  promi- 
nent points  are  selected  and  marked  in  the  model,  and 
their  distance  measured  on  the  frame  longitudinally  and 
vertically,  and  also  the  distance  that  the  point  of  the  rod  is 
advanced  or  receded  to  touch  a  given  point.  This  being 
found  on  the  outside  of  the  rough  block,  the  particular 
point  is  drilled  down  tO  as  great  a  distance  as  was  mea- 
sured in  the  model.  This  operation  being  repeated  for  a 
great  number  of  points,  the  surface  is  worked  away  to  all 

the  several  points  found  as  above,  till  at  last  it  I 
assume  the  general  form  ,,f  the  model.    As  the  Bculptor 
approaches  the  surface  which  is  to  be  left  when  finished, 

mure  cauliun  and  liner  tools  become  necessary,  till  at  length 
it  is  brouzht  into  a  state  for  his  finishing  lunches.  The 
process  which  we  have  described  of  bringing  the  shapeless 
block  into  something  like  the  form  it  Is  ultimntelj  to  bear, 
ami  which  is  an  operation  purely  mechanical,  is  performed 
by  Inferior  workmen,  by  which  the  artist's  labour  and  time 

tire  much  spared.     It  is  only  Willi  sin  h  a  genius  as  Michael 

Angelo  thai  the  making  a  model  could  be  dispensed  with, 
SCUTPER.     A  hole  In  the  ship's  deck  or  side  to  carry 

off  the  rain,  nr  water  shipped. 
SCU'RVl ,  Scorbutus.  This  disease,  once  so  common  in  our 

navy.  Is  now  of  very  rare  occurrence.    Ii  generally  appears 

connected  with  debilitating  causes,  and  especially  unw  hole- 


SCUTATE. 

some  food,  want  of  exercise,  and  by  cold  and  moisture.  It 
begins  with  indolence,  sallow  looks,  and  loss  of  strength 
and  spirits ;  the  gums  become  spongy,  the  teeth  loose,  the 
breath  faeiid;  eruptions  appear  on  different  parts  of  the 
body  ;  and  at  length  the  patient  sinks  under  general  emaci- 
ation, diarrhoea,  and  hemorrhages.  In  the  prevention  and 
cure  of  this  disease,  much  is  effected  by  attention  to  diet 
and  cleanliness.  Fresh  vegetables,  farinaceous  substances, 
and  brisk  fermented  liquors,  good  air  and  due  exercise,  are 
among  the  principal  remedial  means.  Acids,  and  especially 
lemon  juice,  have  been  much  extolled;  but  the  researches 
of  Dr.  Steevens  have  rendered  the  propriety  of  acid  diet 
somewhat  doubtful. 

SCUTATE.  (Lat.  scutum,  a  shield.)  In  Zoology,  when 
a  surface  is  protected  by  large  scales. 

SCUTE'LLUM.  (Lat.  scutum.)  A  term  used  by  Gart- 
ner to  denote  the  small  cotyledon  on  the  outside  of  the  em- 
bryo of  wheat,  inserted  a  little  lower  down  than  the  other 
more  perfect  cotyledon,  which  is  pressed  close  to  the  albu- 
men. 

SCUTIBRA'NCHIANS,  Scutibranchiata.  (Lat.  scutum; 
branchiae,  gills.)  A  name  given  by  Cuvier  to  an  order  of 
hermaphrodite  Gastropodous  Mollusks,  including  those 
which  have  the  gills  covered  with  a  shell  in  the  form  of  a 
shield. 

SCUTIGERS.  Scutigera.  (Lat.  scutum;  gero,  I  carry.) 
The  name  of  a  genus  of  unequal-legged  (J  hilopodous  Myria- 
pods,  which  frequent  buildings  in  the  South  of  Europe,  and 
prey  upon  insects,  wood-lice,  and  other  small  creatures. 

SCU'TIPEDS,  Scutipedes.  'Lat.  scutum,  a  shield;  pes, 
afoot.)  The  name  given  by  Scopoli  to  one  of  the  divisions 
in  his  binary  system  of  ornithology,  including  those  birds 
which  have  the  anterior  part  of  the  leg  covered  with  seg- 
ments of  unequal  horny  rings  terminating  on  each  side  in  a 
groove. 

SCU'TTLE.  An  opening  in  the  ship's  side  or  deck  to 
admit  light  or  air,  or  for  communication. 

To  scuttle  the  decks,  implies  to  cut  holes  to  let  the  water 
down  from  them  into  the  hold,  as  in  the  case  of  shipping  a 
heavy  sea,  or  of  fire. 

To  scuttle  a  vessel,  is  to  cut  a  hole  in  her  for  the  purpose 
of  sinking  her. 

SCUTTLE-BUTT.  A  cask  of  water  with  a  large  hole 
in  it  placed  for  use  in  a  ship. 

SCUTUM.  (Lat.)  The  shield  of  the  Roman  heavy- 
armed  legionaries :  was  made  of  wood,  defended  with  plates 
of  iron,  and  covered  with  leather.  It  was  either  oval  (ova- 
tum)  or  of  semi-cylindrical  shape  (called  imbricatum). 
Polybius  appears  to  make  the  latter  sort  4  feet  long,  and 
it  is  evident  that  it  covered  a  great  part  of  the  body.  In 
the  centre  was  a  boss  of  brass  or  iron,  projecting  from  the 
shield.  From  this  classical  word  is  derived  the  modern 
term  esquire,  through  the  middle  ages  :  Lat.  scutiger,  shield- 
bearer. 

SCY'LLA.  In  Mythology,  the  daughter  of  Nisus,  king 
of  Megara,  who  threw  herself  into  the  sea  for  love  of  Minos, 
king  of  Crete,  and  was  turned  into  a  bird.  Also  a  poetical 
monster,  half  man  half  dragon,  who  inhabited  the  coast  of 
Italy  opposite  Charybdis,  according  to  the  well-known  le- 
gend in  the  Odyssey.  The  modern  town  of  Scilla  stands 
near  the  cave  dreaded  by  the  early  navigators  as  the  habit- 
ation of  this  monster. 

SCY'PHUS.  (Gr.  okv^oc,  a  cup.)  The  cup  of  a  narcis- 
sus. Also,  in  Lichens,  a  cup-like  dilatation  of  the  podetium, 
bearing  shields  upon  its  margin. 

SCY  TALE.  (Gr.  gkvtos,  a  skin.)  An  instrument  used 
by  the  Lacedemonians  for  the  conveyance  of  secret  in- 
structions to  their  commanders'.  The  construction  of  it 
was  as  follows :  When  a  general  was  sent  out,  a  black 
rod  was  given  him,  while  another  of  exactly  similar  dimen- 
sions was  preserved  at  home.  When  instructions  were  to 
be  sent  out,  a  strip  of  parchment  was  wrapped  round  the 
the  rod,  and  on  the  folds  the  orders  were  written ;  which 
accordingly  could  not  be  interpreted  unless  the  parchment 
were  rolled  on  a  similar  rod. 

SEA.  In  Geography,  a  part  of  the  great  ocean.  See 
Ocean  Tides. 

Sea.  The  term  used  by  sailors  for  a  single  wave,  or  for 
general  agitation.  In  a  long  sea,  the  waves  are  distant ;  in 
a  short  sea,  they  are  closer  and  more  upright:  a  cross  sea 
is  composed  of  waves  moving  in  different  directions. 

SEA  ANEMONE.  The  name  of  a  highly  organized 
Polype  of  the  genus  Jlctinia. 

SEA  BOAT.  A  term  applied  by  seamen  to  a  vessel,  as 
respects  her  qualities  in  bad  weather. 

SEA  DEVIL.  The  seaman's  name  of  a  large  cartilagin- 
ous fish  of  the  Ray  tribe,  the  type  of  the  genus  Cephalop- 
tera,  Cuvier;  also  applied  to  the  angler  (Lophius  piscato- 
rius,  Linn.) 

SEAL.  (Lat.  sigillum.)  In  Gem  Sculpture,  a  stamp  cut 
or  sunk  on  stone,  capable  of  yielding  an  impression  to  any 
soft  substance.    When  a  gem  is  selected  for  cutting,  it  is 


SEARCH  WARRANT. 

put  into  the  hands  of  the  lapidary  to  reduce  it  to  shape  and 
smoothness.  It  is  then  fixed  with  mastic  to  a  piece  of  wood 
to  serve  as  a  handle,  and  the  subject  is  sketched  upon  it 
with  a  copper  point  or  a  diamond.  The  tool  is  a  lathe 
somewhat  resembling  a  turning  lathe,  into  the  end  of  the 
spindle  whereof  points,  knobs,  or  circles  can  be  inserted. 
The  gem  is  then  applied  to  the  end  of  one  of  these  tools, 
according  to  the  nature  of  the  cutting  required,  wetted  with 
diamond-dust  and  olive  oil,  and  by  frequent  working  the 
subject  is  wrought.  Frequent  impressions  are  of  course 
taken  during  the  progress,  to  show  the  excesses  or  defects. 
These,  however,  are  not  necess-.iry  in  working  cameos, 
because  the  prominences  are  obvious  to  the  eye.  The 
tools  are  soft  iron  or  copper ;  and  the  powder  of  the 
ruby,  or  other  hard  stones,  is  often  substituted  for  diamond 
powder. 

Seal.  In  Zoology,  the  English  name  for  a  genus  of 
Marine  Carnivorous  Mainmiferous  Quadrupeds,  otherwise 
called  Phocida.  The  variety  of  seals  is  very  great,  and 
they  are  found  in  vast  numbers  in  the  seas  round  Spitz- 
bergen,  and  on  the  coasts  of  Labrador  and  Newfoundland. 
As  it  frequents  the  British  shores,  it  is  well  known,  and 
has  been  repeatedly  described.  Seals  are  principally 
hunted  for  their  oil  and  skins.  When  taken  in  the  spring 
of  the  year — at  which  time  they  are  fattest — a  full-grown 
seal  will  yield  from  8  to  12  gallons  of  oil,  and  a  small  one 
from  4  to  5  gallons.  The  oil,  when  extracted  before  putre- 
faction has  commenced,  is  beautifully  transparent,  free 
from  smell,  and  not  unpleasant  in  its  taste.  The  skin,  when 
tanned,  is  extensively  employed  in  the  making  of  shoes; 
and  when  dressed  with  the  hair  on,  serves  for  the  coveriug 
of  trunks,  &c.     See  Fisheries. 

SEAL,  GREAT.  All  charters,  commissions,  grants  of 
land,  franchise,  liberties,  &c,  letters  patent,  and  letters 
close,  of  the  king,  pass  the  great  seal.  The  usual  course 
is,  that  a  grant,  or  letters  patent,  pass  by  bill ;  which  is  pre- 
pared by  the  attorney  or  solicitor -general  under  warrant 
from  the  king.  It  is  then  subscribed  at  foot  with  the  sign 
manual,  and  sealed  with  the  privy  signet.  In  this  stage  it 
is  next,  in  some  cases,  taken  directly  to  pass  the  great  seal ; 
in  other  cases,  an  extract  of  the  bill  is  taken  to  the  keeper  of 
the  privy  seal,  who  makes  out  a  writ  or  warrant  thereupon 
to  the  chancery,  where  it  passes  the  great  seal.  Then  the 
sign  manual  is  a  warrant  to  the  privy  seal,  and  that  to  the 
great  seal.  There  are,  however,  some  grants  which  only 
pass  through  certain  offices,  as  the  Admiralty  or  Treasury, 
under  the  sign  manual,  requiring  neither  privy  nor  great 
seal.  The  keeper  of  the  great  seal  has,  by  5  Eliz.  c.  18, 
the  same  place  and  jurisdiction  as  the  lord  chancellor  of 
England :  since  that  statute,  therefore,  both  offices  cannot 
exist  at  the  same  time  in  different  persons, -which  was  not 
unfrequently  the  case  before. 

SEALING-WAX.  The  wax  used  for  sealing  letters, 
legal  instruments,  &c.  The  best  red  sealing  wax  is  made 
by  melting  in  a  very  gentle  heat  48  parts  of  shell-lac  with 
lit  of  Venice  turpentine  and  1  of  Peruvian  balsam ;  32  parts 
of  the  finest  cinnabar,  thoroughly  levigated,  are  then  stirred 
in,  and  the  whole  well  mixed.  When  it  has  cooled  down, 
it  is  either  rolled  into  sticks,  or  shaped  in  brass  moulds. 
The  best  black  sealing-wax  is  a  mixture  of  60  parts  of  shell- 
lac  and  30 of  ivory  black;  it  may  be  perfumed  with  a  little 
Peru  balsam  or  styra*.  The  earliest  application  of  sealing- 
wax  to  its  present  use  seems  to  have  been  made  about  the 
year  1553.  The  first  printed  account  of  it  is  said  by  Berze- 
lius  to  have  appeared  in  1563.  The  great  seals  applied  in 
tin  boxes  to  certain  legal  documents  are  made  of  a  mixture 
of  15  parts  of  Venice  turpentine,  5  of  olive  oil,  and  8  of  wax 
melted  together,  and  coloured  with  red  lead. 

SEAL,  PRIVY.  All  charters,  pardons,  &c,  which  re- 
quire the  great  seal,  pass  first  through  the  hands  of  the 
keeper  of  the  privy  seal :  and  other  instruments  of  less  con- 
sequence pass  the  privy  seal  only.  A  warrant  to  issue 
money  out  of  the  king's  coffers,  under  the  privy  seal,  is  suf- 
ficient. The  keeper  of  the  seal  is  now  an  officer  of  state, 
with  the  title  Lord  Privy  Seal.  By  2  W.  4,  c.  49,  the  offices 
of  clerks  of  the  signet  and  privy  seal  are  to  be  abolished  aa 
soon  as  vacancies  occur  in  them. 

SEA'MAN.  A  man  brought  up  to  the  sea,  and  capable 
of  discharging  the  duties  of  that  life.  A  complete  seaman 
is  called  an  able  seaman,  and  is  rated  A.  B. ;  one  less  com- 
petent, an  ordinary  seaman;  and  a  man  fresh  from  the 
shore,  a  landsman.  The  reader  will  find  in  the  Com.  Diet. 
full  particulars  respecting  the  enrolment,  wages,  and,  in 
short,  all  the  statistics  of  seamen. 

SEAMS.  The  spaces  between  the  edges  of  planks :  these 
in  a  ship  are  caulked,  and  then  covered  with  pitch. 

Seams.  In  Geology,  thin  layers  which  separate  thicker 
strata. 

SEAMEW.     A  name  for  the  gull.     See  Larus. 

SEARCH  WARRANT,  in  Law,  is  granted  by  a  justice 
of  the  peace,  under  7  &  8  G.  4,  c.  29,  to  search  for  goods 
stolen,  or  respecting  which  other  offences  specified  in  the 
3  Z  1105 


SEA  SICKNESS. 

act  have  been  committed.  The  warrant  is  granted  on  the 
oath  of  a  credible  witness,  that  he  has  "reasonable  cause 
to  suspect"  the  goods  to  be  in  the  possession  and  on  the 
premises  ofa  certain  individual. 

SEA  SICKNESS.  Nausea  and  retching,  which  attack 
moat  persona  on  tii»t  going  to  sea;  sometimes  continuing 
only  a  day  or  two,  but  often  lasting  the  whole  of  a  long 
voyage.  The  most  effective  antidote,  or  reined),  consists 
i.i  lyiiiL'  in  the  horizontal  position.  In  some  persons  it-  vio- 
lence is  prevented  by  small  doses  of  opium,  or  by  soda  \\  a- 
ter,  or  saline  draughts  in  the  act  of  effervescence  ;  liniments 
and  plaisters  containing  opium  applied  to  the  pit  of  the  stom 
acii  are  also  recommended,  as  mitigating,  or  even  preventing 
this  iu"st  annoying  malady.  The  violence  of  the  attacks 
not  only  varies  in  different  individuals  at  different  times. 
but  the  same  person  who  escapes  in  one  voyage  shall  suffer 
severely  in  another.  The  cause  of  sea  sickness  is  probably 
referable  to  the  influence  of  the  motion  of  the  vessel  npon 
the  circulation  of  the  blood :  it  has  been  compared  to  the 
sickness  occasioned  by  swinging.  For  some  ingenious  ob- 
servations upon  this  subject,  see  Dr.  Wollaston's  Croonian 
Lecture,  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  for  1810. 

SEASONS.  (Fr.  saisons.)  The  four  quarters  of  the 
year — spring,  summer,  autumn,  winter.  The  seasons  are 
considered  as  beginning  respectively  when  the  sun  enters 
the  signs  Aries,  Cancer,  Libra,  and  Capricorn ;  so  that  the 
spring  season  commences  about  the  21st  of  March,  summer 
about  the  22d  of  June,  autumn  about  the  23d  of  September, 
and  trinur  about  the  23d  of  December. 

SEA  UNICORN.  The  name  of  the  narwhal  (.Monodon 
monoceros,  L.). 

SEA  URCHIN.  The  name  generally  applied  to  the  dif- 
ferent species  of  Echinus. 

SEBACEOUS  GLANDS.  Small  cuticular  glands  which 
secrete  a  greasy  matter,  serving  to  protect  and  soften  the 
skin  or  cuticle. 

SEB  VCIC  ACID.  Oneof  the  acids  produced  during  the 
destructive  distillation  of  fat. 

SKi  ALE.  (Lat,)  The  ergot  or  clavus  of  rye.  See 
Ergot. 

SL  CANT  Lat.  srco,  Icut),  in  Trigonometry,  is  a  straight 
line  drawn  from  the  centre  of  a  circle  to  one  extremity  of 
an  arc,  and  produced  until  it  meets  the  tangent  to  the  other 
extremity.  The  secant  of  an  arc  is  a  third  proportional  to 
the  cosine  and  the  radius;  hence,  if  the  radius  be  taken  as 
unit,  the  secant  is  the  reciprocal  of  the  cosine.     See  Trig- 

SISOMETKY. 

BECE'DERS.     See  Burghers. 

SE'COND,  in  the  Sexagesimal  Arithmetic,  is  the  COth 
part  of  a  minute,  or  prime.  Thus  a  degree  of  a  circle,  and 
an  hour  of  time,  are  each  divided  into  60  minutes,  and  each 
minute  into  60  seconds.  In  the  old  treatises  on  astronomy, 
the  seconds  are  sometimes  denominated  second  minutes. 
(minute  secundae) :  while  the  minutes,  being  the  first  divi- 
sion of  the  unit,  are  the  primes  (minute  prima;.  Following 
out  the  analogy,  the  sixtieth  part  of  a  second  was  called  a 
third  ;  but  this  term  is  not  found  in  modern  works.  It  was 
formerly  usual  to  denote  minutes  and  seconds,  both  of  time 
and  arc,  by  tin-  characters  '  and  "  ;  but  these  are  now  gen- 
erally used  only  to  indicate  minutes  and  seconds  of  arc, 
those  of  time  being  indicated  respectively  by  the  abbrevia- 
tions m.  and  sec. 

Se'cond.  In  Music,  a  musical  interval ;  being  the  dif- 
ference between  any  sound  and  the  next  nearest,  whether 
above  or  below  it.     It  may  be  either  major  or  minor. 

NDAKIKS.or  SECONDAB Y QUILLS.  (Second- 
ariee,  Linn.)  The  large  feathers  of  the  wing  which  arise 
from  the  bones  of  the  antibrachium  or  fore-arm,  and  prin- 
cipally from  the  ulna,  are  so  called. 

SECONDARY  CIRCLES,  in  Astronomy,  are  great  cir- 
cles of  the  sphere  perpendicular  to  another  great  circle. 
which  is  regarded  as  the  primary,  and  consequently  passing 
through  its  |H>les.  The  secondaries  of  the  ecliptic  are  the 
circles  on  which  the  latitudes  of  celestial  objects  are  mea- 
sured. 

SE'CONDARY  ROCKS  or  STRATA.  A  series  of  stra- 
tified rocks  with  certain  characters,  by  which  they  are  dis- 
tinguished as  a  (las-  from  the  primary  rocks,  which  are 
beneath  them,  and  from  the  tertiary  neks,  w  Inch  lie  upon 
them.     Set  Gkoloot. 

SE'COND  COAT;    In  Architecture,  either  the  finishing 
,ti  laid  and  set,  or  in  rendered  and  set ;  or  it  is  the 
floating  when  the  plaster  is  roughed  in,  floated,  and  set  for 
paper. 

SE'COND  SIGHT  'called  in  Gaelic  Taischitaraugh;  from 

i   unreal  or  shadowy  appearance).     A   well-known 

Highland  superstition.     In  all  ages  tin'  idea  has  prevailed 

tint  persona  endowed  with  tin-  power  of  divination  did  not 

only  foretel  by  instinct,  but  had  sometimes  an  actual  and 

mysterious  vision  of  distant  or  future  events  :  as  in  the  lines 
of  I.uran   which  describe  the  presages  before  the  battle  of 
Pharsalia — 
1106 


SECRETION. 


Inipia  coDcurrunt  Pompeii  et  Caesaris  arwa. 

But  the  peculiarity  of  the  Highland  superstition  seems  to 
consist  in  this,  that  persons  were  supposed  to  be  endowed 
With  the  faculty  who  were  in  no  other  respect  feared  or 
reverenced  for  their  supernatural  powers:  it  was  regarded 
as  a  mere  natural  power,  like  superior  sharpness  of  sight  or 
hearing.  The  Inhabitants  of  the  Western  Islands  were 
thought  to  be  peculiarly  gifted  with  it.  It  could  not  be  ex- 
erted at  pleasure  ;  the  power  came  on  the  seer  involuntarily, 
and  often  to  his  extreme  terror  and  suffering.  Neverthe- 
less, certain  rules  were  in  fashion  for  the  interpretation  of 
the  visions  ;  such,  for  instance,  as  that  mentioned  by  Sir  YV. 
Scott,  that  if  a  seer  saw  a  figure  w  uh  his  back  to  him,  on 
altering  the  position  of  his  own  plaid  if  the  figure  appeared 
with  its  plaid  similarly  arranged  the  vision  regarded  the 
seer  himself.  Martin,  in  his  Description  of  the  Western 
Islands,  seems  to  have  brought  this  superstition  into  notice 
in  England.  It  is  well  known  how  Johnson  undertook  the 
defence  of  it,  in  his  Journey  to  the  H'istern  Islands  ;  but, 
in  despite  of  evidence  which  neither  Bacon,  Boyle,  nor 
Johnson  were  able  to  resist,  the  taisch.  with  all  its  visionary 
properties,  seems  to  be  now  universally  abandoned  to  the 
use  of  poetry.  The  exquisitely  beautiful  poem  of  Loehicl 
will  at  onceoccur  to  the  recollection  of  every  reader.  Notes 
to  the  Lady  of  the  Lake.)  It  is  finely  described  by  Collins 
in  his  ode  on  the  Superstitions  of  the  Highlands.  But  the 
classical  bard  of  the  second  sight  is  Sir  Walter  Scott.  (See 
especially  his  noble  ballad  Lord  Ronald,  the  character  of 
Allan  Macalister  in  the  Legend  of  Montrose,  &c.  &.c.) 
How  far  the  belief  in  second  sight  is  preserved  at  the  pre- 
sent day,  we  cannot  tell.  Mr.  Logan,  in  his  Scottish  Gael, 
only  says,  "  It  is  not  so  prevalent  as  formerly."  (Vol.  ii. 
340.) 

SE'CRETARY.  An  officer  employed  in  writing  letters, 
despatches,  &c,  under  the  orders  of  his  superior.  The  title 
of  secretary  was  first  used  to  denote  a  public  minister  in 
France,  where  the  three  clerks  of  the  privy  council  were 
also  termed  secretaries  as  earlv  as  the  14th  century. 

SE'CRETARY,  LI  IRD.  A  high  officer  in  the"kingdom 
of  Scotland,  resembling  the  great  prothonotary  in  foreign 
courts.  This  office  was  kept  up  after  the  Union,  but  has 
been  disused  since  1746. 

SE'CRETARY  OF  STATE.  Oneof  the  highest  officers 
of  the  British  crown.  This  office,  however,  is  compara- 
tively modern  in  point  of  importance ;  thesecretarj  of  state 
having  been  originally  what  his  name  implies,  a  mere  ser- 
vant of  the  privy  council.  There  was  only  one  until  the 
reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  who  added  another ;  but  their  func- 
tions were  limited  to  preparing  business  for  the  council  board, 
which  they  attendeil  afterwards  with  their  proposals,  Un- 
der Elizabeth  they  became  members  of  the  council.  Queen 
Anne  raised  the  number  to  three,  by  the  appointment  of  a 
secretary  for  Scotch  affairs — an  office  which  did  not  long 
continue  ;  and  one  for  the  American  department  was  ap- 
pointed in  the  reign  of  George  III.,  but  abolished  in  1788, 
At  present  there  are  three  secretaries  of  state.  1.  The  Se- 
cretary for  the  Home  Department.  2.  The  Colonial  Secre- 
tary. 3.  The  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs.  In  each  of 
these  departments  there  are  two  under-secretaries,  one  of 
whom  remains  in  office  on  a  change  of  ministry.  The 
clerks  in  the  Home  Office  are  divided  into  senior  and  junior ; 
but  no  such  distinction  obtains  in  the  other  two.  Each  of 
the  principal  secretaries  has  6000/.  a  year.  The  Alien  Of- 
fice  is  annexed  to  the  Home  Department :  the  State  Paper 
<  Iffice  belongs  alike  to  those  of  all  the  departments.  The 
Secretary  for  Home  Affairs  has  the  custody  of  the  privy 
signet;  and  the  Privy  Signet  Office,  in  which  grants,  letters, 
led  with  the  privj  signet,  are  made  out,  is  in  his 
department.  The  principal  secretaries  are  a!w  a\  s  ex  officio  , 
cabinet  ministers.  Their  position  in  the  English  govern 
men!  is.  in  fact,  identical  with  that  of  the  ministers  of  home 
and  foreign  affairs,  &.<•.,  in  France  and  other  Continental 
countries.  The  Secretary  at  War  is  attached  to  the  War 
Office.  His  salary  is  2480/.;  and  he  is  also  frequently, 
though  not  always,  a  member  of  the  cabinet.  The  secre- 
tary of  state  for  Ireland  Is  also  Keeper  of  the  privy  seal  of 
that  part  of  the  kingdom,  and  chief  secretary  of  the  lord 
lieutenant.  His  office  is  divided  into  two  departments,  mili- 
tary and  civil,  in  each  of  which  an  under-secretaryls  placed. 

Like  the  secretary  at  war.  be  is,  though  more  rarely,  some- 
tune-  a  member  of  the  cabinet. 

SECRETION.  Lit.  secretio.)  The  process  by  which 
substances  are  separated  from  the  blood  in  nuimals,  or  from 

the  sap  of  veg<  tables. 

In  somi  i  iion  appears  to  ben  mere  separation 

of  water,  and  of  oilier  substances  held  in  solution  by  it,  from 

the  blood;  but  in  other-  the  process  is  much  more  elabo 

rate  and  intricate.     A   highly  Complicated  glandular  struc- 
ture is  requisite  ;  and  the  proximate  or  ultimate  elements 


SECT. 

of  the  Mood  are  arranged  into  new  combinations,  so  as  to 
constitute  a  new  and  distinct  product,  of  which  no  traces 
are  to  be  found  in  the  healthy  blood.  The  animal  secretions 
are  arranged  by  Bostock  under  the  heads  aqueous,  albumin- 
ous, mucous,  gelatinous,  fibrinous,  oleaginous,  resinous  and 
saline.  Magendie's  classification  of  the  secretions  comprises, 
L  Exhalations,  as  from  the  skin,  the  surfaces  of  the  closed 
cavities  of  the  body,  and  the  lungs;  2.  Follicular  secretions, 
which  are  either  cutaneous  or  mucous  ;  and,  3.  Glandular 
secretions,  such  as  milk,  bile,  urine,  saliva,  &c.  See  Physi- 
ology and  Botany,  &c, 

SECT.  A  term  used  in  ordinary  language  to  signify  any- 
body which  separates  from  the  established  religion  of  a  coun- 
try- In  this  sense,  the  word  appears  to  be  derived  from  Lat. 
seco,  I  cut ;  sectarians  being,  as  it  were,  cutoff  from  the  gener- 
al mass.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  term  was  anciently  ap- 
plied to  the  followers  of  some  distinguished  person  ;  in  which 
sense,  the  idea  of  cutting  off  wholly  disappears,  and  the 
word  seems  then  to  be  derived  from  Lat.  sequor,  I  follow. 
The  chief  sects,  both  of  philosophers  and  religions,  will  be 
found  noticed  under  their  respective  heads. 

SE'CTION  (Lat.  sectio),  in  Geometry,  denotes  the  line 
formed  by  the  intersection  of  two  surfaces,  and  likewise  the 
surface  formed  when  a  solid  body  is  cut  by  a  plane.  When 
a  plane  is  cut  by  a  plane,  the  section  is  a  straight  line  ;  when 
a  sphere  is  cut  by  a  plane  the  section  is  a  circle ;  and  when 
a  cone  is  cut  by  a  plane,  the  section  may  be  a  triangle,  a 
circle,  an  ellipse,  an  hyperbola,  or  a  parabola,  which  five  fig- 
ures are  consequently  called  the  conic  sections.  See  Co- 
nic Sections.)  Vieta  gave  the  name  of  angular  sections  to 
the  branch  of  analysis  which  has  for  its  object  the  investi- 
gation of  the  sines  and  chords  of  the  multiples  and  subniul- 
tiples  of  a  given  arc.  On  this  subject  the  student  may  con- 
sult the  work  of  Poinsot,  entitled  Heckerches  stir  V  Analyse 
des  Section  Angulaires,  Paris,  18-25. — Section  of  a  Ratio,  and 
Section  of  Space,  are  terms  that  were  employed  by  Apol- 
lonius  of  Perga,  who  wrote  two  books  with  those  titles :  the 
former  of  which  was  restored  by  Dr.  Hallev,  and  the  latter 
by  Willebrord  Snell. 

Section.  In  Architecture,  the  projection  or  geometrical 
representation  of  a  building,  supposed  to  be  cut  through,  so 
as  to  exhibit  its  interior. 

SE'CTOR.  (Lat.)  In  Geometry  the  sector  of  a  circlr 
is  a  portion  of  the  area  of  the  circle  bounded  by  two  radii 
and  the  intercepted  arc.  Sectors  of  different  circles  are 
said  to  be  similar  when  the  sides  or  radii  include  equal  an- 
gles. The  area  of  a  sector  is  equal  to  that  of  a  triangle 
whose  base  is  equal  to  the  length  of  the  contained  arc,  and 
altitude  equal  to  the  radius  of  the  circle. 

Sector.  A  mathematical  instrument,  of  considerable 
Use  in  making  diagrams,  laying  down  plans,  &c.  Its  prin- 
cipal advantage  consists  in  the  facility  with  which  it  gives 
a  graphical  determination  of  proportional  quantities ;  and 
hence  it  is  called  by  the  French  the  compass  of  proportion. 
The  instrument  consists  of  two  rulers  (generally  of  brass 
or  ivory),  representing  the  radii  of  a  circular  arc,  and  move- 
able round  a  joint,  the  middle  of  which  forms  the  centre  of 
the  circle.  From  this  centre  there  are  drawn  on  the  faces 
of  the  rulers  various  scales  ;  the  choice  of  which,  and  the 
order  of  their  arrangement,  may  be  determined  by  a  consid- 
eration of  the  uses  for  which  the  instrument  is  chiefly  in- 
tended. The  scales  usually  put  on  sectors  are  of  two  kinds 
— single  and  double  ;  that  is  to  say,  such  as  are  drawn  only 
on  one  of  the  limbs,  and  such  as  are  drawn  on  both  limbs. 
The  first  kind,  however  (comprising,  for  example,  a  line  of 
inches,  of  chords,  sines,  logarithms,  &c),  are  not  peculiar 
to  the  sector,  but  are  merely  placed  there  for  convenience, 
and  may  be  used  whether  the  instrument  is  shut  or  open. 
Of  the  lines  repeated  on  both  limbs  the  principal  are  the 
following :  1.  A  line  of  equal  parts,  by  which,  with  a  pair 
of  compsases,  we  are  enabled,  on  the  principle  that  similar 
triangles  have  their  homologous  sides  proportional,  to  find  a 
third  proportional  to  two  given  lines,  a  fourth  proportional 
to  three  given  lines,  to  diminish  a  line  in  any  given  propor- 
tion, &c.  2.  A  scale  of  chords,  which  enables  us  to  pro- 
tract an  angle  of  any  given  number  of  degrees,  to  find  the 
degrees  which  any  given  angle  contains,  to  cut  off  an  arc 
of  any  given  magnitude  from  the  circumference  of  a  given 
circle,  &c.  3.  Scales  of  sines,  tangents,  and  secants,  where- 
by the  length  of  the  trigonometrical  lines  corresponding  to 
a  given  arc  of  a  circle  of  any  radius  are  determined.  4.  A 
line  of  polygons,  whereby  "the  proportional  length  of  the 
side  of  any  regular  polygon  (of  not  more  than  twelve  sides) 
to  the  radius  of  the  circumscribing  circle  is  found. 

The  sector  may  be  used  in  trigonometry  for  obtaining  a 
rough  solution  of  all  the  cases  of  right-angled  plane  trian- 
gles ;  and  it  is  also  conveniently  applied  to  the  construction 
of  various  geometrical  problems.  For  a  description  of  its 
different  uses,  see  Robertson's  Treatise  of  such  Mathemati- 
cal Instruments  as  are  usually  put  into  a  Portable  Case. 

Sector.  In  Astronomy,  an  instrument  constructed  for  the 
purpose  of  determining  with  great  accuracy  the  zenith  dis- 


SEDATIVES. 

tances  of  stars  passing  within  a  few  degrees  of  the  ze- 
nith, where  the  effect  of  refraction  is  small.  See  Zenith 
Sector. 

SE'CULAR  EQUATION,  SECULAR  INEQUALITY. 
(Lat.  seculum,  a  century.)  In  Astronomy,  any  deviation 
from  the  mean  motion  or  mean  orbit  of  a  celestial  body  is 
called  an  inequality,  and  the  numerical  expression  of  the 
magnitude  and  period  of  the  inequality  is  called  an  equation. 
The  equations  representing  the  motions  of  the  bodies  of  the 
solar  system  are  of  two  kinds,  periodic  and  secular:  the 
first  being  those  which  pass  through  all  their  changes  and 
return  to  the  same  state  in  a  comparatively  short  period  of 
time;  and  the  second  such  as  change  their  values  so  slowly 
that  the  variation  only  becomes  sensible  after  the  lapse  of 
centuries,  and  require  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  series 
of  their  changes  a  length  of  time  which  in  some  cases  as- 
tronomers have  not  yet  ventured  to  calculate.  Thus  the 
lunar  evection,  which  depends  on  the  position  of  the  trans- 
verse axis  of  the  moon's  orbit  in  respect  of  the  line  of  the 
syzygies,  is  a  periodic  inequality,  passing  through  all  its  dif- 
ferent values  in  about  31  days  19A  hours :  but  the  acceler- 
ation of  the  moon's  mean  motion  depending  on  a  slow  vari- 
ation of  the  eccentricity  of  the  earth's  orbit,  is  a  secular  ine- 
quality, amounting  only  to  about  10  seconds  in  a  century. 
The  secular  inequalities  are  in  fact  periodic  as  well  as 
the  others ;  but  they  proceed  so  slowly  that  the  observa- 
tions of  many  hundreds,  or  even  thousands  of  years,  would 
be  insufficient  to  make  known  their  periodicity.  The  dis- 
covery of  their  nature  is  one  of  the  results  of  the  theory  of 
gravitation. 

SE'CULAR  GAMES,  in  Antiquity,  were  games  celebra- 
ted once  in  a  hundred  years.  They  lasted  three  days  and 
three  nights,  during  which  period  sacrifices  were  offered  up, 
and  theatrical  shows  exhibited,  and  combats  in  the  circus, 
&c,  took  place.  Valerius  Publicola,  the  first  consul  creat- 
ed after  the  expulsion  of  the  kings,  A.U.C.  245,  was  the  first 
who  celebrated  them  at  Rome.  Some  authors  maintain 
that  the  secu'um,  or  age,  consisted  of  100,  and  others  of  110 
years ;  but  it  is  certain  several  Roman  emperors  did  not  al- 
low so  long  an  interval  as  either  period  to  elapse.  Thus, 
Augustus  celebrated  secular  games  A.U.  730,  Caligula  64 
years  later,  and  Domitian  26  years  afterwards ;  on  which 
occasion  Tacitus  assisted  in  the  capacity  of  juris-decemvir. 
According  to  Zosimus,  the  emperor  Septimus  Severus  was 
the  last  who  celebrated  them  ;  but  other  writers  have  stated 
that  under  the  emperor  Philip,  A.U.  1000,  these  games  were 
held  with  more  magnificence  than  had  ever  been  before 
witnessed.     They  were  celebrated,  in  all,  eight  times. 

The  original  sseculum  of  the  Etruscan  augurs  is  said  by 
some  to  have  been  measured  by  the  longest  life  of  those 
who  were  born  at  its  commencement ;  and  they  had  a  pe- 
culiar tradition,  that  the  duration  allotted  to  nations  was 
measured  by  a  certain  number  of  these  sacula.  (Plutarch, 
Sylla :  Censorinus,  De  die  JVatali.) 

SECULARIZATION.  In  Politics,  the  appropriation  of 
church  property  to  secular  uses.  In  most  European  states 
such  appropriations  have  taken  place  on  a  great  scale  with- 
in the  last  century.  In  England,  the  only  great  seculariza- 
tion has  been  that  made  under  Henry  VIII. 

SE'CULAR  POEMS,  in  Antiquity,  were  those  recited  at 
the  celebration  of  the  secular  games.  Of  this  species  of 
poem  the  Sapphic  Ode  of  Horace,  at  the  end  of  his  book  of 
Epods,  is  a  noble  specimen.  Several  editions  of  Horace 
give  the  name  secular  poem  to  the  21st  Ode  of  the  first  book. 
See  Neibuhr's  Rome,  2d  edition,  p.  289.) 

SECULAR  REFRIGERATION.  The  periodical  cooling 
and  consequent  consolidation  of  the  crust  of  the  globe  :  a 
term  used  by  geologists  in  reference  to  the  supposed  central 
heat,  and  even  fluidity  of  the  globe,  and  to  the  phenomena 
of  its  gradual  refrigeration. 

SECULAR  YEAR.  The  same  with  Jubilee— kept  once 
in  a  century. 

SEC'UNDINE.  (Lat.  secundus.)  In  Botany,  the  outer- 
most but  one  of  the  enclosing  sacs  of  the  ovuhini,  immedi- 
ately reposing  upon  the  primine.  Mirbel  considers  it  the 
second  integument  formed  by  the  ovula ;  Schleider  says  it 
is  the  first,  and  that  the  primine  or  first  integument  of  Mir- 
bel is  formed  afterwards. 

In  Zoology,  the  foetal  membranes  collectively  are  some- 
times termed  secundiues. 

SECU'RIFERS.  Securiferi.  (Lat.  securis,  a  hatchet; 
fero,  /  bear.)  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Tcrebrantia,  or  boring 
Hymenopterous  insects,  comprising  those  in  which  the  fe- 
males have  a  saw-shaped  or  hatchet-shaped  terrebra  or  ap- 
pendage to  the  posterior  part  of  the  abdomen,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  preparing  a  place  to  receive  the  eggs,  and  of  depos- 
iting them  therein. 

SECU'RIPALPS,  Sccuripalpi.  Lat.  securis,  a  hatchet  .- 
palpo,  I  feel.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Coleopterous  in- 
sects, comprehending  those  in  which  the  maxillary  palps 
terminate  in  a  joint  which  is  elongated  and  hatchet-shaped. 

SE'DATrVES.  (Lat.  sedo,  /  assuage.)  Medicines  which 

1107 


SEDENTARIES. 

assuage  pain  ;  generally  by  inducing  Bleep  and  diminishing 
irritability . 

SEDENTARIES,  Sedentaria.  (Lat.  Bedeo,  /  sit.)  The 
name  of  a  section  of  spiders  (.Irum  ida-\  comprehending 
tlmse  which  remain  motionless  in  the  hiding-place  of  their 
web  until  called  forth  by  an  entangled  prey. 

SEDGE  BIRD.  The  name  of  the  Sylvia  phragmitis, 
Bech.  This  species  of  warbler  visits  this  country  about  the 
middle  of  April,  and  emigrates  in  September.  It  frequents 
the  Bedgy  banks  of  rivers,  and  constructs  a  nesi  composed 

of  a  little  moss  intermixed  with  dry  stalks,  lined  With  dry 

gra-s.  and  occasionally  a  few  baits.    It  lays  five  or  six  eggs 

of  a  light  brown  colour,  mottled  with  darker  shades  of 
the  same.    Il  is  sometimes  called  reed  bunting. 

SEDI'TION.  (Lat.  se,  apart,  and  ire,  to  go.)  In  Law, 
a  general  and  not  strictly  technical  word,  comprising,  in 
common  language,  offences  against  the  state  which  do  not 
amount  to  high  treason.  The  distinction  between  the  two 
offences  was  not  very  accurately  adhered  to  or  defined  un- 
til later  times.  Sedition  is  of  the  like  tendency  with  trea- 
son, but  without  the  overt  acts  which  are  essential  to  the 
latter.  Thus,  there  are  seditious  assemblies,  seditious  li- 
bels, &c,  as  well  as  direct  or  indirect  threats  and  acts 
amounting  to  sedition  ;  all  punishable  as  misdemeanours. 
The  acts  39  G.  3,  c.79  (by  which  the  famous  Corresponding 
Societies  were  suppressed),  and  57  G.  3,  c.  19,  were  passed  to 
prevent  seditious  meetings  and  assemblies. 

SEE.  (Lat.  sedes,  a  seat.)  The  name  usually  given  to 
the  diocess  of  a  bishop  in  England.  It  was  originally  ap- 
plied exclusively  to  the  papal  chair  at  Rome  ;  but  it  has 
long  been  used  in  its  present  wide  signification. 

SEED,  is  the  reproductive  part  of  a  plant  resulting  from 
impregnation,  and  containing  the  embryo  or  rudiment  of  a 
future  plant ;  or,  in  other  words,  it  is  the  ovulum  in  its  most 
perfect  and  finally  organized  state.  It  is  formed  of  repro- 
ductive matter  peculiar  to  dowering  plants,  its  equivalent  in 
flowerless  plants  being  the  spore.  It  is  commonly  said  that 
as  the  seed  is  the  part  intended  by  nature  to  multiply 
the  races  of  plants,  special  contrivances  are  provided  for 
ensuring  its  dispersion  and  migration  from  place  to  place; 
such,  for  instance,  as  being  discharged  with  force  by  the 
sudden  explosion  of  the  case  or  seed-vessel  in  which  it  is 
generated  ;  having  membranous  wings  that  render  it  buoy- 
ant, and  so  on.  Hut  this  idea,  although  to  a  certain  extent 
true,  is  frequently  misapplied  to  seed-vessels,  as  in  the  in- 
stance of  the  dandelion,  the  ash  tree,  the  sycamore,  &c. :  in 
these  latter  cases  the  part  to  which  the  name  of  seed  is  giv- 
en is  a  true  pericarp  or  seed-vessel.  On  the  other  hand, 
many  kinds  of  seed-vessels,  such,  for  instance,  as  those  of 
corn,  of  labiate  and  boraginaceous  plants,  &c,  are  miscalled 
seeds,  or  naked  seeds. 

SE  G  M  ENT.  (Lat.)  In  Geometry,  a  part  cut  off  from  a 
figure  by  a  line  or  plane.  The  segment  of  a  circle  is  a 
part  of  the  area  comprised  between  an  arc  and  its  chord ; 
and  segments  of  different  circles  are  said  to  be  similar  when 
their  arcs  have  the  same  ratio  to  the  circumferences  of  their 
respective  circles,  or  when  they  contain  the  same  number 
of  degrees.  The  area  of  a  circular  segment  may  be  found 
as  follows:  Let  P  R  be  the  chord  of  a  circle  whose  centre 
is  C,  and  let  A  B  be  the  diameter  per- 
pendicular to  P  R,  and  meeting  it  in  (1 ; 
and  put  z  =  ACl,y=  P  CI,  z  =  A  P,r 
=  A  Cthe  radius,  and7T  =  314159.  the 
■Jb  ratio  of  the  circumference  to  the  diam- 
eter. .Now  the  area  of  the  segment  P 
A  R  is  evidently  equal  to  the  difference 
between  the  sector  A  P  O  R  and  the 
triangle  PC  R;  but  the  area  of  the 
sector  =  r:  (the  radius  into  half  the  arc),  and  the  triangle 
=  y  (r  —  i)  ;  therefore  the  segment  =  r  z  —  r  y  -f-  y  z. 
When  the  radius  of  the  circle  and  the  chord  of  the  segment 
(that  i-.  randy)  arc  known,  this  expression  i*  easily  calcu- 
lated from  a  table  of  sines,  for  the  angle  A  ( '  1'  is  found 
from  its  sine  =  y  -i-r ;  and  when  the  angle  is  given  the  arc 
z  is  obtained  from  this  proportion,  I :  ir  r  : :  A  C  P  :  180°. 
With  respect  to  /,  we  have  from  the  property  of  the  circle 
x  —  y/ir^—y-). 

The  superficial  ami  solid  contents  of  asegmentot  a  sphere 
are  found  thus:  Let  S  be  the  spherical  surface  of  the  Beg 
men!  of  the  sphere  whose  centre  is  C  by  the  plane  I' till. 
The  symbols  having  the  same  values  as  above,  the  circum- 
ference of  the  circle  P  UR  is  2  ir  ;/  ;  and  the  differential  of 
the  surface  is  </ s  =  i!  77 ;/ </ :.    Hut  fr the  nature  of  the 

circle.  //  dl—rdx;  heme  d  S  =  2ji  r  d  i,  and  S  =;  2  n  r  x  ; 

so  that  the  surface  of  the  segment  is  found  in  terms  of 

the  radius  of  the  sphere  and  the  altitude  of  the  segment. 
Lei    I     denote   the   solid   contents  Of  the  segment;    then, 

'!i>  ii,.    area  of  the  circle  P  Q,  B  is  it  y2,  the  differential  of 

I  '=  it  yld z=.2nr  xdx  —  nx2dz  ;  Whence 
U  =  ffzZ(r- 
SEGNO.     [ltal.  a  mark.)     In  Music.     See  \i.  Seono 

i         It.  it  follows.)     In  Music,  a  word  which,  pre- 

noa 


SELEUCID.E,  ERA  OF. 

;  fixed  to  a  part,  denotes  that  it  is  immediately  to  follow  ths 
last  note  of  the  preceding  movement.  When  minims,  crotell- 
t  ets,  &.C  are  subdivided1  by  a  stroke  drawn  through  their 
tails,  so  as  to  make  them  into  abbreviated  groups,  ttie  term 
indicates  that  the  following  notes  are  divided  similarly  to 
those  first  marked. 

SEIDL1TZ  WATER.  The  mineral  waters  of  Seidlitz, 
a  village  of  Bohemia:  sulphate  of  magnesia,  sulphate  at 
soda,  and  carbonic  acid,  are  its  active  ingredients.  It  is  of- 
ten taken  as  an  agreeable  and  effective  aperient.  The  arti- 
cle sold  under  the  name  id'  Si  idlitz-pvirders  is  intended  to 
produce  the  same  effect,  though  very  different  in  composition. 
These  powders  are  generally  sold  in  different-colored  pa- 
pers: one  blue,  containing  S  drachms  of  the  potassa-lar- 
trate  of  soda  mixed  with  2  scruples  of  bicarbonate  of  soda  ; 
the  other  red,  containing  35  grains  of  finely  powdered  tar- 
taric acid.  The  former  powder  is  dissolved  in  half  a  pint  of 
water,  and  the  latter  in  a  separate  wine-glass  full  ;  the  solu- 
tions are  then  mixed,  and  taken  in  the  act  of  effervescence. 

SEl'GNORY.  (Fr.  seigneurie.)  In  Lower  Canada,  the 
right  of  feudal  superiority  in  real  estate.  The  term  "fief" 
is  applied  both  to  the  land  held  of  a  seigneur,  and  to  the 
dominum  directum,  or  right  of  direct  seigniory,  reserved  to 
him  who  has  granted  the  land  in  fief.  The  king  has  the 
paramount  segniory  in  all  the  feudal  lands.  By  6  G.  4,  c. 
59,  persons  holding  fiefs  or  segniories  may,  on  application  to 
the  king,  obtain  a  commutation  and  release  of  feudal  bur- 
dens, and  the  fief  or  segniory  may  be  regrauted  in  common 
socage.  The  land  held  in  seigniory  is  said  to  amount  to 
more  than  15,000  square  miles. 

SEIGNORAGE.  An  ancient  prerogative  of  the  crown, 
w  hereby  it  claimed  a  percentage  upon  every  ingot  of  gold 
or  silvet  brought  to  the  mint  to  be  coined.  Upon  gold  it 
amounted  under  Edward  ill.  to  5s. per  lb.  weight,  of  which 
a  fifth  was  appropriated  to  the  master  of  the  mint:  upon 
silver  it  varied  from  Is.  to  Is.  and  3d.,  &c,  but  the  amount 
varied  in  different  reigns.  The  term  seignorage  is  used  in 
common  language  to  signify  profit. 

SEI'SIN,  in  the  Common  Law  of  England,  signifies  pos- 
session, either  actual  (seisin  in  deed)  or  in  law ;  as  where 
lands  have  descended  to  a  party  who  has  not  ejitered  into 
actual  possession  of  them,  or  is  by  wrong  disseised  of  them. 

SEISMO'METER.  (Gr.  acio/ioc,  an  earthquake.)  An  in- 
strument for  measuring  the  shock  of. earthquakes  and  other 
concussions.     (Kdin.  Phil.  Trans,  vol.   xv.  p.  219.) 

SE'JANT.  In  Heraldry,  a  term  employed  to  describe 
beasts  when  represented  in  a  sitting  posture.  Scjantram- 
pant,  sitting  with  the  two  fore  feet  lifted  up,  etc., 

SELA'CIANS,  Selacii.  (Gr.  treXaxos,  a  species  of  scale- 
less  fish.)  The  name  given  by  Cuviei  to  the  tribe  of  Chon- 
dropterygians  which  includes  the  rays  and  sharks. 

SELE'NE.  (Gr.  the  moon.)  In  Grecian  Mythology,  tho 
goddess  of  the  moon.  Her  Latin  equivalent  was  Luna. 
She  was  represented  sometimes  as  the  wife,  the  sister,  and 
the  daughter  of  Helios,  the  sun  ;  and  was  identical  with 
Artemis  or  Diana,  which  see. 

SELEMTE.  (Gt.  ctXiji'iTris.)  One  of  the  mineralogical 
synonyms  of  crystallized  sulphate  of  lime. 

SELE'NIUM.  (Gr.  ±t\>)in,  the  moon.)  A  substance 
discovered  in  1818  by  Berzelius.  In  its  general  chemi- 
cal habitudes  it  bears  a  resemblance  to  sulphur.  It  has 
hitherto  been  obtained  in  very  small  quantity,  and  general- 
ly occurs  in  some  of  the  varieties  of  iron  pyrites.  It  is 
a  brittle,  opaque  substance,  tasteless,  and  inodorous,  hav- 
ing something  of  the  appearance  of  lead,  but  of  a  deep  red 
colour  when  reduced  to  powder,  its  specific  gravity  is  about 
4-3.  At  212°  il  becoins  soft  and  tenacious  and  at  'Ji0°  is 
perfectly  liquid;  at  050°  it  boils  and  sublimes.  It  is  insol- 
uble in  water,  and  unaltered  by  air ;  and  when  heated  by 
the  blowpipe,  so  as  to  become  oxidized,  it  exhales  a  strong 
odour  of  horse-radish.  Its  equivalent  is  about  40.  It  forms 
an  oxide  and  two  acids;  the  selenievs  and  being  a  com- 
pound of  1  equivalent  of  selenium  and  2  of  oxygen,  and 
the  selenic  acid  of  1  and  3.  It  also  combines  with  hydro- 
gen, forming  the  kydroselenit  acid,  a  gaseous  compound  of 
40  selenium  -f- 1  hydrogen.  Its  odour  at  first  resembles  sul- 
phuretted hydrogen,  hut  it  afterwards  powerfully  irritates 
the  nose,  excites  catarrhal  symptoms,  and  destroys  the 
sense  of  smell.  Dr.  I'rout  has  suggested  the  possibility  of 
the  evolution  of  tins  a  rapound  bj  volcanoes,  and  lis  diffu- 
sion through  the  atmosphere  as  productive  of  certain  forms 
of  the  epidi  naic  disordi  r  calli  d  Influenza. 

SELENO'GRAPHY.  (i;r.  x  thiVJi,  'hi  moon, and  )/>j0u», 
I  describe.)  The  description  of  the  surface  of  the  moon,  as 
geography  i^  a  description  of  ilie  surface  of  the  earth. 

SELEU  ciD.i:,  BRA  til'  Till'.  In  Chronology,  the  era  of 
ilc.  .-  ri,  n,  hi. i ,  oiheru  tse  called  the  Macedonian  era,  dates 
from  the  epoch  of  the  first  conquests  ol  Seleucus  Nicator  iu 
Syria,  about  311  years  before  Christ.  It  was  followed  g' 
ally  by  the  Greek  colonies  bordering  on  the  Levant;  and 
In  the  JeWS  till  the  15th  Century,  by  whom  it  was  called 
tile  era  of  contracts.    There  is  considerable  difference  of 


SELLA  TURCICA. 

opinion  among  authors  respecting  the  month  and  day  on 
which  the  year  of  this  era  commenced,  so  that  it  is  frequent- 
ly not  possible  to  fix  the  correspondence  of  dates ;  but  ac- 
cording to  the  computation  most  generally  followed,  the 
year  312  of  the  era  of  the  Seleucida;  began  on  the  1st  of 
September  in  the  Julian  ye:ir  preceding  the  first  year  of  our 
era.  Hence  to  reduce  a  Macedonian  date  to  the  common 
era,  subtract  311  years  and  4  months. 

SE'LLA  TURCICA.  A  cavity  in  the  sphenoid  bone ;  it 
is  surrounded  by  the  four  clenoid  processes,  and  contains 
the  pituitary  gland. 

SE'LLI.  The  priests  of  Jupiter,  who  delivered  his  ora- 
cles at  the  sacred  grove  of  Dodona  in  Epirus. 

SE'LTERS  or  SELTZER  WATER.  A  mineral  water 
from  Seltzer,  about  ten  miles  from  Frankfort  on  the  Maine. 
It  is  an  agreeable  beverage,  from  the  quantity  of  free  carbo- 
nic acid  which  it  contains,  and  which  covers  its  slightly  sa- 
line taste.  Common  salt,  with  the  carbonates  of  magne- 
sia, lime,  and  soda,  are  the  saline  ingredients. 

SE'LVAGE.  A  piece  of  very  flexible  kind  of  rope,  com- 
posed of  yarns  not  twisted  together,  but  laid  parallel,  and 
confined  by  external  marline. 

SEMAPHORE.  (Gr.  <ri//<a,  a  sign,  and  (pcf <o>,  1  bear.)  A 
term  mostly  used  synonymously  with  telegraph,  but  which, 
as  its  derivation  imports,  may  be  applied  to  any  means 
whatever  employed  to  communicate  intelligence  by  signals. 
Sec  Telegraph. 

SEME'.  (Fr.  sown.)  In  Heraldry,  a  term  employed  to 
describe  a  field  or  charge  powdered  or  strewed  over  with 
figures,  such  as  stars,  billets,  crosses,  &c. 

SEMEIOTIC.  (Gr.  atjuuov,  a  sign.)  That  which  re- 
lates to  the  signs  or  symptoms  of  diseases. 

SEMI-A'RIANS.  A  branch  of  the  great  Arian  heresy, 
who  denied  the  bi.wovaioi>,  or  consubstantiality  of  the  Son 
with  the  Father ;  but  admitted  the  bjioiovaov,  or  similarity 
of  substance.  (See  art.  Arians  ;  and  Mosheim,  Eccle.  Hist. 
vol.  i.,  trans.  1790,  p.  44.     See  Homoousians.) 

SE'MIBREVE  (j.  c,  half  a  breve).  In  Music,  a  note 
whose  length  is  half  that  of  a  breve.  It  is  the  integer  whose 
fractions  and  multiples  express  the  time  of  other  notes. 
See  Music. 

SE'MICIRCLE.  In  Geometry,  the  half  of  a  circle  ;  or  the 
figure  bounded  by  the  diameter  and  half  the  circumference. 

SEMICO'LON.     See  Punctuation. 

SEMICU'BICAL  PARABOLA.  In  Analysis,  a  curve 
of  the  second  order:  defined  by  this  property,  that  the  cubes 
of  the  ordinates  are  proportional  to  the  squares  of  the  cor- 
responding abscissa;  or  by  the  equation  }3=:oi2.  The 
curve  is  the  evolute  of  the  common  parabola. 

SE'MIDIA'METER.  In  Geometry,  half  of  the  diame- 
ter ;  or  the  part  of  the  diameter  of  any  figure  comprehend- 
ed between  the  centre  and  the  extremity  of  the  diameter. 

SEMIDIAPA'SON.  (Gr.)  In  Music,  a  defective  octave, 
or  one  diminished  by  a  minor  semitone. 

SE'MlDIAPE'iNTE.  (Gr.)  In  xMusic,  the  same  as  de- 
fective fifth ;  which  see. 

SE  M'lblATE'SSARON.  (Gr.)  In  Music,  a  defective 
fourth,  properly  called  a  false  fourth. 

SEMIDI'TOiXO.  (Gr.)  In  Music,  the  same  as  a  minor 
third. 

SEMIME'TAL.  A  term  applied  by  the  old  chemists  to 
the  brittle  metals. 

SE'MIMIWTMA.    In  Music,  a  half  minim  or  crotchet. 

SE'MINYMPH.  Lyonnet  so  calls  the  nymphs  of  those 
insects  which  undergo  but  slight  changes  in  passing  to  the 
perfect  or  imago  stage. 

SEMIO'PAL.  A  silicious  mineral  nearly  resembling  the 
common  opal. 

SEMIPA'LMATE.  (Lat.  semi,  half,  and  palma,  a  palm.) 
In  Zoology,  when  the  toes  are  connected  together  by  a  web 
extending  along  only  their  proximal  half.  The  term  semi 
being  frequently  used  in  the  composition  of  zoological  terms 
with  the  same  meaning,  it  is  only  requisite  to  refer  to  the 
term  to  which  it  is  prefixed. 

SEMI'PELA'GIANS.  A  sect  who  differ  from  the  Pela- 
gians, from  whom  they  are  derived,  in  maintaining  the  ne- 
cessity of  the  divine  grace  towards  the  practice  of  virtue  ; 
but  at  the  same  time  conceive  that  this  grace  may  be  ob- 
tained by  an  effort  of  the  human  will.  (See  Calvinists, 
Pelagians,  &c. ;  and  Mosheim,  Eccl.  Hist.  vol.  ii.,  trans. 
1790,  p.  92.) 

SE'MIQUA  DRATE,  or  SEMIQUARTILE.  In  the 
language  of  Astrology,  an  aspect  of  the  pptnets  when  dis- 
tant from  each  other  half  a  right  angle,  or  45°.  The  terms 
semiquintile  and  semisextile  have  a  similar  meaning;  the 
first  denoting  the  half  of  a  fifth  of  the  complete  circle, 
that  is,  36°;  and  the  second  the  half  of  a  sixth,  or  30°. 

SEMIQUAVER.  In  Music,  a  note  whose  duration  is 
half  that  of  a  quaver. 

SE'MISOSPI'RO.  (It.)  In  Music,  a  small  pause  equal 
to  the  eighth  part  of  a  bar  in  common  time. 

SE'MITONE.    (Gr.)    In  Music,  the  half  a  tone  ;  though, 


SENEGIN. 

strictly  speaking,  that  is  not  a  proper  definition  of  it,  inas- 
much as  semitones  are  of  three  sorts — greater,  lesser,  and 
natural.  In  keyed  instruments  which  have  their  sounds 
fixed,  the  semitones  afibrd  the  means  of  a  new  sort  of  scale 
between  the  different  tones,  by  which  their  defects  are 
partially  remedied. 

SEM1VO  WEL,  is  said  of  those  consonants  which,  like 
vowels,  can  be  pronounced  independently,  or  without  the 
aid  of  any  other  letter.  To  this  class  belong  b,  d,  c,  g,  k, 
p,  s,  t,  v,  x,  and  z. 

SEMO'NES,  in  Roman  Classical  Antiquity,  were  deities 
holding  a  middle  place  between  the  twelve  supreme  gods 
and  heroes.  To  this  class  belonged  such  gods  as  Vertum- 
nus,  Priapus,  the  Fauns,  Satyrs,  &c.  The  word  semones  is 
a  contraction  of  Lat.  semi,  half,  and  homo,  man. 

SEMU'NCIA.  A  small  Roman  coin,  equivalent  to  half 
an  ounce,  being  l-24th  of  the  Roman  pound. 

SENA'RIA.  (Lat.)  In  ancient  Architecture,  the  pipes 
of  aqueducts,  whose  diameter  was  an  inch  and  a  half,  or 
six  quarters  ;  when  they  were  seven  quarters  they  were 
called  septenaria,  and  so  on,  according  to  the  number  of 
quarters  of  inches  in  their  diameter. 

SE'NATE.  (Lat.  senatus  ;  i.e.,  assembly  of  elders.)  The 
deliberative  assembly  of  the  Roman  people.  The  members 
of  this  council  were  originally  chosen  from  the  patricians, 
and  were  probably  single  representatives  of  each  of  the 
houses  of  that  order :  a  plebeian  senator  is  first  mentioned 
A.U.C.  355.  At  the  foundation  of  the  city  their  number 
was  100,  which  was  doubled  on  the  admission  of  the  Sa- 
bines,  and  increased  to  300  by  Tarquinius  Priscus ;  but  the 
more  ancient  members  and  those  admitted  by  this  last  king 
were  distinguished  by  the  titles  of  patrcs  ma  jorum  and 
patres  minorum  gentium,  or  senators  of  the  greater  and  of 
the  lesser  houses  respectively.  In  the  last  ages  of  the  re- 
public the  members  of  the  senate  amounted  to  above  400, 
and  were  still  farther  raised  by  the  emperors  to  1000.  The 
members  of  the  senate  were  originally  chosen  by  the  kings, 
and  afterwards  the  election  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  con- 
suls, military  tribunes,  and  finally  of  the  censors ;  but  the 
fact  of  having  held  certain  magistracies,  as  the  qusstor- 
ship,  and  all  superior  posts,  gave  a  right  to  this  privilege. 
I  fader  the  regal  government  the  senate  deliberated  on  such 
affairs  as  the  king  proposed  to  them,  and  he  was  said  to  act 
according  to  their  counsel.  On  the  establishment  of  the 
republic  the  whole  power  of  the  state  was  thrown  into  is 
hands,  the  different  magistrates  using  the  authority  they 
enjoyed  merely  as  its  delegates.  The  first  constitutional 
check  imposed  on  it  was  the  power  of  intercession,  or  ne- 
gativing their  proceedings,  granted  to  the  tribunes  of  the 
commonalty.  Still,  while  Rome  was  free,  the  authority  of 
the  senate,  though  subordinate  to  the  assembly  of  the  peo- 
ple, remained  very  great.  It  assumed  the  guardianship  of 
public  religion;  the  management  of  the  revenue;  the  ap- 
pointment of  governors  to  the  provinces,  whose  constitution 
it  settled  ;  the  direction  of  diplomatic  affairs,  and  many 
other  functions  of  importance.  Under  the  emperors  its 
power  became,  in  general,  little  more  than  nominal ;  yet 
the  assembly  still  existed  till  the  occupation  of  Italy  by  the 
Goths  in  the  13th  century  after  the  foundation  of  Rome : 
and  in  the  last  ages  of  its  existence,  after  the  seat  of  em- 
pire had  been  transferred  to  Byzantium,  it  seems  to  have 
been  the  centre  of  what  remained  of  the  old  national  spirit. 
After  that  time  its  existence  as  a  council  ceased,  though 
the  name  of  senator  was  still  retained  by  some  noble  fami- 
lies of  Rome  as  an  empty  but  high-sounding  title.  The 
senatorial  badges  were  the  laticlave,  or  tunic  with  a  pur- 
ple band,  black  buskins  reaching  up  to  the  middle  of  the 
leg.  and  a  silver  crescent  on  the  foot. 

The  affairs  of  the  Italian  and  provincial  towns  of  the 
Roman  empire,  in  imitation  of  the  capital,  were  adminis- 
tered by  senates.  See  as  to  these  provincial  senates,  or 
curia?,  Savigny's  Hist,  of  the  Roman  Law,  vol.  i. 

Senate.  In  many  republican  constitutions  of  modern 
times,  the  upper  house  of  the  national  assembly  has  been 
so  called.  The  senate  of  the  United  States  (see  Congress) 
is  composed  of  two  members  for  each  state  of  the  Union. 
The  senators  are  chosen  by  the  stale  for  six  years.  The 
American  senate,  besides  its  legislative  functions,  is  also  a 
species  of  executive  council,  assisting  the  president ;  its 
consent  being  necessary  for  the  ratification  of  treaties,  ap- 
pointment of  ambassadors,  judges  of  the  supreme  court, 
heads  of  departments  in  the  administration,  &c.  It  is  also 
the  high  court  of  impeachment  for  public  functionaries. 

SE'NEGA  ROOT.  The  root  of  the  Polygala  senega. 
Rattlesnake  root.  It  is  brought  from  North  America:  it 
has  a  peculiar  pungent  flavour,  and  promotes  the  flow  of 
saliva.  In  large  doses,  it  nauseates  and  purges.  It  is  oc- 
casionally used  in  stimulating  gargles ;  and  in  America,  as 
an  antidote — probably  a  very  inefficient  one — to  the  effects 
of  the  bite  of  the  rattlesnake. 

SE'NEGIN.  The  bitter,  acrid  principle  of  the  Polygala 
senega,  or  rattlesnake  root. 

1109 


SENESCHAL. 

BffNESCHAL.  A  French  title  of  office  and  dignity,  de- 
rived from  the  middle  ages,  answering  to  that  of  steward, 
or  high  steward,  in  England.  They  were  originally  the  lieu- 
tenants of  the  dukes  and  other  great  feudatories  of  the 
kingdom;  sometimes  termed  baillis.  or  bailiffs.  When  the 
k'niL's  recovered  the  rights  of  suzerainty,  and  especially  the 
judicial  authority,  in  those  provinces  which  had  been  pre- 
viouslv  governed  by  these  great  nobles,  the  bailiffs  and  se- 
neschals continued  as  royal  judges  and  superintendents, 
both  military  and  financial ;  but  their  powers,  like  those  of 
the  dukes  and  counts  whom  they  succeeded,  were  grad- 
uallv  encroached  on  by  the  crown. 

BENIN  \  LEAVES.  The  leaves  of  the  Cassia  senna. 
They  are  imported  from  Alexandria,  whither  they  are 
brought  from  Upper  Egypt.  They  are  largely  mixed  with 
the  leaves  of  the  Cynanc/uim  oleafolium.  or  Argel,  which 
are  thick,  and  not  ribbed  like  the  genuine  senna  leaves. 
They  have  a  nauseous,  mucilaginous,  bitter  taste,  and  yield 
a  pale  brownish  green  infusion.  The  true  senna  leaves  are 
distinctly  ribbed,  thin,  generally  pointed,  and  when  chewed 
have  a  peculiar  nauseous  flavour,  and  yield  a  dark  brown 
infusion.  It  is  a  griping,  nauseating,  and  somewhat  drastic 
purge,  and  a  most  valuable  addition  to,  or  vehicle  for,  other 
purgatives. 

SE'NSES.  (Lat.  sentio,  T  fee!.)  The  faculties  are  so 
called  by  which  we  become  acquainted  with  the  properties 
and  states  of  external  things.  They  are  five  in  number — 
sight,  hearing,  taste,  touch,  and  smell :  for  the  physiology 
of  which,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  articles;  such  as 
Eye,  Ear,  Smell,  &x.  See  also  Nervous  System.  We 
can  only  here  advert  to  the  fact,  that  the  late  Dr.  Thomas 
Brown  of  Edinburgh  and  Sir  C.  Bell  have  propounded  the 
novel  doctrine  of  a  sixth  sense,  called  the  muscular  sense 
(our  whole  muscular  frame  being  supposed  to  be  a  distinct 
organ  of  sense) ;  a  doctrine  which  had  almost  fallen  into 
oblivion,  but  to  which  Mr.  Whewell  has  recently  declared 
his  adherence  in  his  Philosophy  of  the  Inductive  Sciences, 
&c.  This  part  of  the  subject  is  ably  treated  in  the  Edin. 
Review,  vol.  lxxiv. 

BENSITTVE  PLANT.  This  name  is  generally  applied 
to  a  small  annual,  called  Mimosa  pudica,  inhabiting  the 
tropics  of  America.  It  has  a  stem  about  a  foot  and  a  half 
high,  covered  with  stiff  hairs ;  the  leaves  are  bipinnate  in 
n  somewhat  digitate  manner;  and  the  flowers  are  collected 
in  small  pink  balls.  It  derives  its  name  from  the  irritabili- 
ty of  its  leaves,  which  collapse  and  fold  up  when  touched, 
or  even  when  irritated  by  casting  on  them  the  focus  of  a 
burning  glass;  or  by  exposing  them  to  the  vapour  of  hydro- 
cyanic acid.  The  cause  of  this  irritability  has  been  inves- 
tigated by  Dutrochet  (Memoires  pour  seri-ir  a  VHist.  Anat. 
et  Phys.  des  Vegetauz,  &-c.  vol.  i.  534),  who  refers  the  phe- 
nomenon to  the  action  of  endosmose,  and  to  the  operation 
of  a  "fibrous  tissue  capable  of  moving  inward  under  the 
influence  of  oxygenation."  Without  attempting  to  analyze 
the  speculations  of  this  author,  which,  however  curious, 
can  scarcely  be  said  to  throw  much  new  light  upon  the  sub- 
ject, it  will  be  sufficieut  to  explain  the  nature  of  the  pheno- 
mena themselves.  When  the  leaf  of  a  sensitive  plant  is  at 
rest,  it  consists  of  many  leaflets  spreading  flat,  and  connect- 
ed in  pairs  along  the  sides  of  certain  common  leafstalks. 
When  one  of  these  leaflets  is  irritated,  the  pair  to  which  it 
belongs  rise  upward,  and  apply  their  faces  to  each  other ; 
this  is  rapidly  followed  by  the  same  action  in  the  succeed- 
ing leaflets,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  seconds  the  whole 
of  the  leaflets  are  in  a  state  of  collapse  ;  then  the  leaf  itself 
suddenly  bends  downwards;  and  if  the  plant  is  in  very 
good  health,  the  shock  thus  communicated  to  one  leaf  will 
extend  to  those  immediately  above  and  below  it.  After  a 
time  the  leaf  resumes  its  original  position,  Upon  the  ap- 
proach of  night,  that  is  to  say,  upon  the  withdrawal  of  light, 
the  leaf  falls  of  itself  into  the  same  state,  without  any 
special  irritation.  This  kind  of  irritability  is  by  no  means 
confined  to  the  Mimosa  pudica ;  on  the  contrary,  some 
other  species  of  the  same  genus,  as  the  M.  dormicn's,  sensi- 
tive, casta,  somniuns,  palpitims,  &c  possess  the  same  pro- 
perty, as  is  indicated  by  their  names.  And  among  the  Le- 
guminous order,  it  is  also  found  beyond  the  genus  Mimosa, 
as  in  the  Hcdysarum  gyrans,  whose  three  leaflets  are  in  a 
continual  state  of  dancing  or  balancing  during  the  day.     In 

fact  the  folding  their  leaves  at  night,  \\  hich  is  universal  in 
all  the  compound  leaved  species  of  this  order,  is  the  same 
thing  feebly  exercised.  Nor  is  such  Irritability  confined  to 
this  order ;  the  ternate  and  pinnate  leaved  species  of  Oial- 
u,  the  Diandra  muscipula,  and  numerous  other  plants,  ex- 
hibit similar  phenomena. 

BE'NSUALISM.  In  Mental  Philosophy,  that  theory 
which  resolves  all  our  mental  acts  and  intellectual  powers 
into  various  modifications  of  mere  sensation.  The  best 
known,  and  the  most  elaborate  attempt  of  this  kind  which 
has  been  made  In  modern  times,  Is  that  of  Condillac,  who 
conceived  that  he  u  as  following  out  tin'  principles  of  Locke 
into  their  legitimate  consequences.  I'or  this  belief  it  can- 
1110 


SEPOY. 

not  be  denied  that  there  exists  at  least  plausible  ground. 
Locke  does  indeed  draw  a  distinction  between  sensation 
and  reflection,  as  separate  sources  of  "ideas:"  but  his  ac- 
count of  reflection  is  so  vague,  and  its  existence  apparently 
so  unsupported  in  his  system,  as  to  justify  the  attempt  te» 
reduce  it  to  mere  revived  sensation.  The  writings  of 
Condillac  may  be  regarded  as  a  fair  reductio  ad  absurdum 
of  the  theory  which  attempts  to  explain  the  existence  of  our 
mental  phenomena  independently  of  conditions  in  the  mind 
itself.  The  theory  opposed  to  sensualism  is  called  intellect- 
ualism. 

SE  NTENCE.  In  English  Law,  the  decree  or  judgment 
of  the  ecclesiastical  or  admiralty  courts  is  so  termed  ;  also, 
in  popular  language,  the  judgment  of  a  criminal  court  al- 
lotting the  punishment  of  a  convicted  person. 

SE'N'TRY.  (Lat.  sentia,  /  perceive.)  The  name  given 
to  a  soldier  when  placed  on  guard.  In  all  the  countries  of 
Europe,  sentries  are  relieved  every  two  hours. 

SE'NZA  (It.  icithout),  in  Music,  signifies  without;  as 
senza  stromenti,  without  instruments;  con  e  senza  violini, 
With  and  without  violins. 

SE'PALS.  The  divisions  of  that  portion  of  a  flower 
called  the  calyx. 

SEPARATISTS.  A  religious  sect  which  originated  in 
Dublin  about  the  year  1803.  Their  principle,  like  that  of 
most  sects  at  their  commencement,  was  to  return  more  near- 
ly to  what  they  conceived  to  be  the  primitive  form  of 
Christianity.  There  is  nothing  very  peculiar  in  their  ten- 
ets, beyond  their  withdrawal  from  the  fellowship  of  other 
Christian  bodies.  In  the  year  1833  an  act  of  parliament 
was  passed  for  their  relief  in  the  matter  of  oaths. 

SE'PARATISTS,  or  MOTAZALITES.  The  name  of 
one  of  the  chief  heretical  sects  of  the  Mohammedans. 
They  were  the  followers  of  Wasel  Ebn  Orta,  who  dissent- 
ed from  the  main  body  of  the  Mohammedans  about  the 
40th  year  of  the  Hegira.  Their  leading  tenets  consisted  in 
rejecting  the  eternal  attributes  of  God  ;  in  denying  the  great 
doctrine  of  predestination,  so  zealously  cherished  by  all  the 
orthodox  Mussulmans ;  and  in  asserting  the  free  agency  of 
man.  This  sect  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  inventors  of 
scholastic  divinity,  and  are  subdivided  into  several  inferior 
sects,  which  mutually  brand  one  another  as  infidels,  (Sale's 
Koran,  Preliminary  "Discourse,  vol.  i.,  p.  212.)  The  great 
opponents  of  the  Separatists  were  the  Sefatians,  who  main- 
tained the  eternal  attributes  of  God  (hence  they  were  call- 
ed Sefati,  or  Attributists)  ;  but  who  afterwards  adopted  a 
belief  in  the  outward  resemblance  of  God  to  created  be- 
ings. This  sect  was  afterwards  subdived  into  various  sects, 
the  chief  of  which  were  the  Asharians,  Moshabbehites, 
Keramians,  Jabarians,  and  Morgians :  for  an  account  of 
which  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  Preliminary  Discourse 
above  mentioned. 

SE'PIA.  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a  species  of  pigment  prepar- 
ed from  a  black  juice  secreted  by  certain  glands  of  the  sepia 
or  cuttlefish,  which  the  animal  ejects  both  to  darken  the 
water  when  it  is  pursued,  and  as  a  direct  means  of  annoy- 
ance. That  this  juice  was  used  as  ink  by  the  ancients  is 
well  known. 

Tunc  queritur,  crassus  calamo  quod  pendeat  humor, 

Nigra  quod  infusa  vanescat  sepia  lympha; 

Dilutas  querilur  geminet  quod  fistula  guttas.— Pert.  Sat.  III. 

Compare  Pliny  (Nat.  Hist.  1.  ii.,  c.  29),  where  he  says 
that  it  was  the  property  of  this  fish,  when  it  was  enclosed 
by  a  net,  to  shed  a  black  juice,  which  so  darkened  the  wa- 
ter that  the  fisherman  could  not  see  it.  All  the  varieties  of 
the  sepia  yield  this  juice  ;  but  the  Sepia  officinalis,  which  is 
so  common  in  the  Mediterranean,  is  chiefly  sought  after, 
from  the  profusion  of  colour  which  it  affords.  It  is  insolu- 
ble in  water,  but  is  extremely  diffusible  through  it,  and  \* 
very  slowly  deposited.  When  prepared  with  caustic  lye, 
it  forms  a  beautiful  brown  colour  with  a  fine  grain,  and  has 
given  name  to  a  species  of  drawing  now  extensively  cultiva- 
ted for  landscapes  and  other  branches  of  the  tine  aits.   The 

honour  of  the  invention  of  thesepic  drawing  is  due  toProfes- 

sor  Sciclel  in  aim  of  Dresden,  who  discovered  it  at  Rome  in  1777. 

SI'.TIAD.E.  (r.r.  anna.)  Cuttle-fish  tribe.  The  name 
of  the  family  of  Decapodous  Dibranchiate  Cephalopoda  of 

which  the  cuttle-fish  (Sepia  officinalis)  is  the  type.     They 

arc-  characterized  by  the  rudiment  of  a  shell,  in  the  form  of 

a  friable  calcareous  plate  imbedded  in  the  back  part  of  the 

mantle,  and  of  which  the  material  called  pounce  is  made. 

SE'PIOLA.      (Dim.  of  sepia,  a  cuttlefish.)     The  name  of 

a  genus  of  Decapodous  Dibranchiate  Ceplui bipods,  of  which 

the  species  are  of  small  size,  and  are  characterized  by 
short,  rounded,  advanced  subdorsal  fins,  and  a  short  inter- 
nal horn]  rtj  le. 

BE'PIUM.     The  bone  or  internal  shell  of  the  cuttlefish. 

SK'l't  >Y.  (  \  corruption  of  the  Indian  word  sipahi,  sol- 
dier.)   The  designation  of  the  native  troops  in  ihe  service 

of  the  Bast  India  Company.  They  were  so  called  as  early 
as  1708  (see  MiWt  British  India,  book  iv.,  ch.  I),  although 
at  that  period  they  do  not  seem  to  have  been  as  yet  disci- 


SEPS. 

pUned  in  the  European  fashion,  nor,  indeed,  until  long  after 
other  European  powers  had  set  the  example.  (See  the 
United  Service  Journal  for  1836,  vol.  i.,  p.  461,  where  there 
is  a  valuable  paper  on  the  "History  and  Character  of  the 
Indian  army.")  The  first  Sepoys  (says  the  author)  who 
were  raised  and  regularly  disciplined  by  the  English,  seem 
to  have  been  carefully  chosen  either  from  among  the  Mo- 
hammedan portion  of  the  population,  or  from  among  the 
higher  castes  of  Hindoos,  a  considerable  proportion  of  the 
latter  being  Rajpoots,  the  most  warlike  of  Indian  races. 
But  the  necessities  of  the  service  have  subsequently  intro- 
duced a  greater  mixture  in  their  ranks.  The  character  of 
the  Sepoys  as  soldiers  has  been  the  subject  of  much  discus- 
sion. According  to  a  writer  in  the  same  periodical  (1831, 
vol.  iii..  p.  3),  "  the  Sepoys  have  justly  been  celebrated  for 
excellent  qualities ;  as,  for  instance,  patience  and  fortitude 
under  difficulties  and  privations.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
if  we  analyze  the  account  of  the  wars  in  which  they  have 
been  employed,  we  shall  rind  that  they  seem  to  possess  pas- 
sive rather  than  active  courage  ;  for  instance,  that  in  line 
they  will  remain  steady  under  fire ;  in  a  broken  or  close 
country,  however,  where  skirmishers  and  small  detachments 
are  necessarily  most  employed,  they  are  found  wanting." 
Others,  however,  disagree  even  from  this  modified  dispraise. 
At  all  events,  their  fidelity  and  respect  for  their  officers  have 
generally  been  found  of  the  highest  and  most  durable  char- 
acter; the  famous  mutinies  of  Vellore  in  1806,  and  Barrack- 
pore  in  1825,  having  been  both,  it  is  generally  thought,  pro- 
voked by  the  mismanagement  of  their  superiors.  Some,  in- 
deed, allege  that  these  qualities  received  a  severe  shock  in 
1796,  when  a  considerable  alteration  was  made  in  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Indian  army,  and  a  larger  proportion  of 
British  officers  introduced,  so  that  the  internal  economy  of 
their  battalions  ceased  to  be  superintended  by  their  own 
"  subadars."  The  Sepoys  of  Madras,  says  Sir  J.  Malcolm 
(Quarterly  Rev.,  vol.  xviii.),  still  remember  with  pride  the 
campaigns  of  Clive  and  Coote,  which  are  far  beyond  the 
memory  of  the  present  generation.  The  native  Indian  can- 
not rise  higher  than  the  rank  of  ensign,  or  cornet.  The  na- 
tive cavalry  is  of  more  recent  introduction,  and  seems 
scarcely  to  merit  the  praise  of  steadiness,  which  all  agree  in 
bestowing  on  the  infantry.  See,  also,  Williams's  Indian 
.Irmy ;  Alison,  Hist,  of  the  Revolution,  chap.  li. ;  Sir  J. 
Malcolm's  Political  History  of  India,  vol.  ii.,  chap,  x.) 

SEPS.  (Lat.  a  species  of  serpent.)  The  name  of  a  genus 
of  Saurian  reptiles,  which  have  a  long  round  serpentiform 
body,  and  four  very  short  legs,  each  terminated  in  the  com- 
mon seps  (Seps  c/ialcides)  by  only  three  toes. 

SEPTA'RIA.  Nodules  of  indurated  and  slightly  ferru- 
ginous marl,  with  interior  fissures  generally  filled  with  some 
crystallized  mineral,  such  as  carbonate  of  lime,  quartz, 
sulphate  of  baryta,  &.c. ;  thus  dividing  the  section  of  the 
nodule  into  septa,  or  distinct  partitions.  When  calcined  and 
reduced  to  powder,  these  septaria  furnish  the  valuable  mor- 
tar called  Roman  or  Parker's  cement,  which  has  the  proper- 
ty of  hardening  under  water. 

SEPTE'MBER  (Lat.  septem,  seven),  so  called  from  its 
being  the  seventh  month  in  the  Roman  year  as  established 
by  Romulus,  which  began  with  March,  is  the  ninth  month 
in  the  calendar  of  Numa.  Several  of  the  Roman  emperors 
gave  names  to  this  month  in  honour  of  themselves ;  but, 
unlike  the  month  of  August,  whose  ancient  name  of  Sex- 
tilis  has  been  quite  merged  in  that  of  Augustus,  the  name 
of  September  has  outlived  every  other  appellation. 

SEPTE'MBRISTS.  The  name  given  to  the  agents  in  the 
dreadful  massacre  which  took  place  in  Paris  on  September 
2,  1792,  during  the  French  Revolution.  The  numbers  that 
perished  in  this  massacre  have  been  variously  given  ;  but 
the  term  has  become  proverbial  throughout  Europe  for  all 
that  is  bloodthirsty  and  malignant  in  human  nature. 

SEPTE'MVIRI  EPULONUM.  Certain  priests  in  ancient 
Rome  were  so  called,  whose  duty  consisted  in  preparing  the 
sacred  feasts  at  games,  processions,  and  on  other  solemn  oc- 
casions. They  were  assistants  to  the  pontifices,  certain  of 
whose  privileges,  such  as  the  right  of  wearing  the  togaprm- 
texta,  they  enjoyed.  Their  office  was  instituted  A.U.C.  557; 
and  at  first  they  were  only  three  in  number,  which  was  in- 
creased to  seven,  it  is  supposed,  by  Sylla. 

SE'PTIC.  (Gr.  cnnroi,  putrid.)  A  term  applied  by  the 
old  chemists  and  physiologists  to  certain  substances  supposed 
to  promote  putrefaction. 

SEPTUAGE'SIMA.  (Lat.  seventieth.)  In  the  Ecclesi- 
astical Calender,  the  third  Sunday  before  Lent;  the  first 
Sunday  in  Lent  being  termed  Quadragesima  (fortieth),  the 
three  preceding  ones  Septuagesima,  Sexagesima,  and  Quin- 
quagesima. 

SE'PTUAGINT.  (Lat.  seventy.)  The  Greek  translation 
of  the  Old  Testament  made  at  Alexandria  for  the  advantage 
of  the  Jews  of  Egypt,  who  had  lost  the  use  of  the  Hebrew 
language.  According  to  the  old  tradition,  this  version  was 
the  work  of  seventy-two  interpreters,  who  were  shut  up  in 
separate  cells  by  the  command  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus, 


SEQUESTRATION. 

and  there  completed  the  whole  translation  alone,  in  which, 
upon  examination,  they  were  all  found  to  agree  to  a  letter — 
a  prodigy  which  established  the  inspiration  of  the  work.  It 
is  supposed,  however,  by  modern  critics,  that  this  version  of 
the  several  books  is  the  work  not  only  of  different  hands, 
but  of  separate  times  ;  although  the  general  design  may 
have  been  that  which  we  have  mentioned.  The  authority 
of  the  Septuagint,  as  compared  with  the  Hebrew  text,  from 
which  it  differs  in  many  points,  has  been  the  subject  of  much 
controversy.  It  is  from  this  version  that  the  authenticity  of 
the  Apocrypha,  which  are  not  found  in  the  Hebrew,  is  as- 
serted by  Roman  Catholic  writers.  The  quotations  of  the 
Old  Testament  which  are  found  in  the  New  are,  for  the 
most  part,  given  in  the  words  of  the  Septuagint.  (See 
Prideaux'  Connexion.) 

SE'PTUM.  (Lat.  a  partition.)  In  Botany,  any  partition 
separating  a  body  into  two  or  more  cells  in  a  direction  paral- 
lel with  the  longer  axis.  Partitions  parallel  with  the  shorter 
axis  are  called  phragmata. 

Septum.  In  Anatomy,  the  plate  or  wall  which  separates 
from  each  other  two  adjoining  cavities  ;  as  the  septum 
transversum,  or  diaphragm,  between  the  chest  and  the  ab- 
domen ;  the  septum  narium,  between  the  two  nasal  pas- 
sages ;  the  septum  ventriculosum  in  the  brain,  and  in  the 
heart,  &c.  The  partitions  of  chambered  shells  are  also 
called  septa. 

SE'PULCHRE.     See  Tomb. 

SEPULCHRE,  SAINT,  HOSPITALLERS  OF  THE. 
An  order  of  knighthood,  originally  instituted  in  Palestine, 
afterwards  established  in  Fiance  by  Louis  VII.,  and  united 
by  Pope  Innocent  VIII.  to  that  of  Malta  ;  but  the  order  still 
continued  to  exist  in  France,  and  was  taken  under  protec- 
tion by  Louis  XVIII.  in  1814. 

SE'PULTURE,  RITES  OF  (Lat.  sepelio,  I  bury),  signi- 
fy literally  the  ceremonies  performed  in  depositing  the  bo- 
dies of  the  dead  in  the  earth  ;  but  the  expression  is  applied 
in  a  more  extended  signification  to  all  ceremonies  of  this 
kind,  whether  they  consist  in  interment,  incremation,  or 
embalming.  A  veneration  for  the  dead  has  characterized 
the  history  of  every  age  and  country  ;  and  the  different  kinds 
of  funeral  rites  that  prevail  among  different  nations  are  in- 
timately connected  with  their  religious  feelings,  and  form 
important  testimonies  at  once  of  their  modes  of  thinking 
and  degrees  of  civilization.  The  three  chief  modes  of  treat- 
ing the  dead  that  have  prevailed  from  the  earliest  ages  down 
to  the  present  times,  are  burning,  interment,  and  embalm- 
ing ;*  and  all  these  modes  were  accompanied  by  ceremonies 
differing  according  to  the  genius  or  taste  of  the  different  peo- 
ple, but  bearing,  notwithstanding,  such  strong  features  of 
resemblance,  as  sufficiently  to  indicate  the  universality  of 
the  feeling  which  led  to  their  adoption.  The  peculiar 
solemnities  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  among  whom  both 
incremation  and  interment  prevailed,  though  the  former 
was  by  far  the  most  frequent,  need  not  be  detailed  in  this 
place.  Among  the  Romans,  the  importance  of  burial  to  the 
dead  may  be  gathered  from  the  belief,  that  the  souls  of  the 
unburied  wandered  a  hundred  years  on  the  borders  of  the 
Styx  before  they  were  admitted  to  the  infernal  regions. 
The  practice,  peculiar  to  the  Egyptians,  of  embalming  their 
dead,  has  been  noticed  under  Mummy  ;  and  the  custom  still 
prevalent  in  India — which  it  may  be  truly  said  monopolizes 
the  cruelties  of  funereal  observances — of  immolating  women 
on  the  funeral  pile  of  their  husbands,  will  be  found  under 
Suttee.  The  practice  of  interment  has  been  adopted  by 
all  the  nations  that  have  embraced  Christianity.  See  Ceme- 
tery. 

SE'QUENCE.  (Lat.  sequentia.)  In  Music,  a  similar 
succession  of  chords  ascending  or  descending  diatonically. 

SEQUESTRATION.  In  English  Law,  a  species  of  ex- 
ecution for  debt  in  the  case  of  a  beneficed  clergyman,  issued 
by  the  bishop  of  the  diocess  on  the  receipt  of  a  writ  to  that 
effect.  The  profits  of  the  benefice  are  paid  over  to  the  credi- 
tor until  his  claim  is  satisfied.  Sequestration  is  also,  in 
Chancery,  the  setting  aside  from  both  parties  the  matter  in 
controversy. 

Sequestration.  In  Scottish  Law — 1.  A  species  of  dili- 
gence (i.  e.,  a  process),  used  where  two  or  more  creditors 
are  in  competition  for  the  property  of  a  land  estate,  the  own- 
er of  which  is  in  insolvent  circumstances ;  or  where  the 
right  to  a  land  estate  is  the  subject  of  litigation.  In  these 
cases  the  court  may,  on  application,  sequestrate  the  rents, 
and  employ  a  factor  to  collect  them.  2.  Sequestration  is 
also  the  process  whereby  the  whole  estate,  both  heritable 
and  moveable,  of  a  bankrupt,  is  distributed  equitably 
among  his  creditors.  It  is  granted  on  application  to  the 
court  of  session  by  the  bankrupt,  with  the  concurrence  of 


*  The  sin<mlar  usa^e  adopted  by  the  followers  of  Zoroas'er,  and  still  pre- 
served in  Thibet,  is  worthy  of  particular  nn'ice.  From  aD  idea  that  the  pure 
elements  of  ear:h  and  fire  would  be  contaminated  by  being  made  the  instru- 
ments of  dissolution,  the  corpse  is  laid  upon  a  platform  erected  for  the  pur- 
pose, and  enclosed  with  ma«sy  walls,  and  there  ahandoned  as  a  prey  to  tie 
wolres  and  the  vultures.    (ScAJegeT*  History  of  Literature.) 


SEQJJIN. 

one  or  more  creditors,  or  on  their  application,  and  on  citation 
of  the  bankrupt ;  and  is  analogous  to  a  flat  in  bankruptcy  in 
English  law. 
SEQUIN,    (ltal.  zecchino;  derived  from  zecca,a  mint.) 

The  gold  pieces  of  Venice  were  originally  so  called ;  after- 
wards the  name  was  extended  to  other  gold  coins  in  use  in 
the  Mediterranean,  as  those  of  the  Pope,  the  .Sultan.  Flor- 
ence, and  Genoa.     Set  MuNtv. 

SERA'GLIO.  An  Italian  corruption  of  the  oriental  word 
srrai.  The  palace  of  the  Turkish  sultan  in  Constantinople 
is  thus  designated  by  European  writers.  The  principal  gate 
of  the  seraglio  is  the  Uabi  Hnmnyun,  or  Sublime  Gate, 
whence  the  ordinary  title  of  the  Turkish  government  is  de- 
rived. 

SE'RAPHIM,  or  JESUS,  ORDER  OF  THE.  An  an- 
•  •ient  Swedish  order  of  knighthood,  instituted  in  1334;  but 
dormant  from  the  period  of  the  Reformation  until  1748.  The 
number  of  knights,  besides  the  king  and  members  of  the 
royal  family,  is  limited  to  twenty-four. 

SKI;  \PIII\E.  A  keyed  musical  wind  instrument  of  the 
organ  species,  adapted  to  the  size  of  a  chamber. 

BE  I!  WHS.  or  SERAPHIM.  (Heb.  to  purify.)  In  the 
Celestial  Hierarchy,  the  angels  of  the  highest  rank.  They 
are  represented  as  surrounding  the  throne  of  God,  whose 
messengers  they  are,  and  as  being  more  immediately  in- 
spired with  the  Divine  love,  which  they  communicate  to  the 
inferior  inhabitants  of  heaven.  They  are  almost  invariably 
Spoken  of  in  connexion  with  the  cherubim,  whom  they  re- 
semble both  in  rank  and  attributes. 

SERATIS.  An  Egyptian  deity.  The  image  and  wor- 
ship of  this  god  were  brought  from  Sinope  in  l'ontus  to 
Alexandria,  in  the  last  year  of  Ptolemy  Soter,  in  conse- 
quence, it  is  said,  of  a  vision  of  Ptolemy  I.  According  to 
some  accounts,  this  image  was  a  statue  of  Jupiter;  but  how- 
ever this  may  have  been,  Serapis  was  clearly,  as  Sir  G. 
Wilkinson  expresses  it  (.inc.  Egypt,  iv..  3tii)),  "at  most  a 
Graco-Egyptian  deity."  And  there  is  no  foundation  for  the 
notion  entertained  by  some  early  Christian  fathers,  that  he 
represented  the  Patriarch  Joseph  'which  they  supported  by 
an  argument  drawn  from  the  ornament  in  the  shape  of  a 
bushel,  which  the  images  of  this  god  usually  bore  on  the 
head);  or  for  that  of  some  modern  antiquaries,  that  it  was 
another  name  for  Apis.  (Plut.  de  Is.  ct  Usir.,  Quart.  Rev., 
Inly,  1840.) 

Sl.K  ISftl  1ER.  The  name  given  by  the  Turks  to  the 
commanders  in-chief  of  their  armies.  It  is  compounded  of 
two  P(  [Ban  words,  signifying  head  of  an  army. 

SERENA'DE  (Span,  serenata;  from  Lat.  serenus,  c/ear), 
signified  originally  music  performed  in  the  open  air  on  a 
serene  evening  ;  but  it  is  now  universally  applied  to  a  musi- 
cal performance  made  by  gentlemen  in  a  spirit  of  gallantry 
under  the  windows  of  ladies  whom  they  admire.  This 
practice,  which  was  formerly  very  general  in  Spain  and 
Italy,  has  latterly  fallen  greatly  into  disuse  in  these  coun- 
tries; hut  it  is  still  very  common  in  the  German  university 
towns,  where  the  students  are  in  the  habit  of  assembling  in 
the  evening  under  the  windows  of  a  favourite  professor, 
and  offering  him  a  musical  tribute. 

SERENE.  SERENE  HIGHNESS,  SERENITY.  (Genu. 
dun -h, audit...  Titles  of  courtesy  in  European  etiquette  of 
considerable  antiquity.  Before  the  dissolution  of  the  Ger- 
man empire.  Serene  and  Most  Serene  Highness  were  the 
appropriate  addresses  of  princely  houses  holding  immedi- 
ately Of  the  empire.  Since  that  period  the  rules  of  princely 
etiquette  have  become  more  uncertain  ;  but  it  appears  to  he 
the  general  principle  that  these  titles  belong  of  right  to  mem- 
ben  of  the  families  of  sovereign  houses  in  the  confederacy, 
and  also  to  members  of  ci  devaht  sovereign  houses  now 

d  :  and  that  sovereign  princes  can  DTIOret  I  r  concede 
these  appellations  to  princes  not  sovereign  w  ithin  their  own 
dominions,  but  not  so  as  to  give  litem  a  title  to  it  out  of  them. 

But  the  distinctions  as  to  the  mode  in  wbiefa  these  titles  are 

to  be  employed  in  addressing  superiors,  equals,  and  inferiors, 
are  extremely  complicated. 

SERF.  Lat.  servos.)  The  French  name  for  the  lowest 
class  of  slaves  in  the  dark  ages;  those  who  u,  re  incapable 
of  holding  property,  attached  to  the  land,  and  liable  to 
feudal   services  of  the  lowest  description.     In  England  this 

appears  to  have  been  the  general  character  of  the  condition 
of  the  villeins;   hut  in  France  and  German)   Mr.  Hajlam 

thinks  that  the  villeins,  properly  so  called,  were  a  superior 
cla^s.  only  hound  to  lived  payments  and  duties  in  respect  of 
their  land.  [Middli  Agu,  chap.  ii..  part  2.  See  Villiin.) 
The  emancipation  of  this  class  in  France  was  extremely 
gradual.  Louis  Hutin  enfranchised  them  on  the  royal  do 
mains  by  edict  in  1315  ;  hut  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
carried   immediately  into  execution,  and  a   limited   kind  of 

servitude  existed  in  some  places  down  to  the  Revolution, 
rhe  "serfs,"  or  "  >.'i-n<  de  main  inorte,"  on  some  estates 
(e.  g..  in  part  of  Champagne  and  Nivernois),  could  not 
leave  their  habitations,  ami  might  !»•  followed  by  tin-  lord 
in  any  part  of  France  for  the  Uulle,  or  villein  lax,  which,  in 
lll'J 


SERJEANTS-AT-ARMS. 

some  localities,  was  not  permanent,  but  a  volonte.  See.  as 
to  the  progress  of  enfranchisement,  a  memoir  by  Duprev, 
Hist.  Ac.  J.,  38.) 

SERGE.  A  cloth  of  quilted  woollen,  extensively  manu- 
factured in  Devonshire  and  other  English  counties. 

SERGEANT.     S,r  Skrjeant. 

SE'KIES  (Lat.  order),  in  Arithmetic  and  Algebra,  is  a 
progression  of  numbers  or  quantities  which  succeed  each 
other  according  to  some  determinate  law.  Thus,  the  pro- 
gression of  the  natural  numbers,  1.  2,  3,  4,  5,  &c.,  constitutes 
a  series  ;  the  law  of  which  is,  that  any  term  is  greater  by 
unity  than  the  preceding.  As  the  law  which  connects  the 
terms  may  be  varied  in  an  infinite  number  of  ways,  it  fol- 
lows that  series  may  have  an  infinite  number  of  different 
forms;  thus,  an  arithmetical  series  is  one  in  which  each 
term  ditlers  from  the  preceding  by  a  constant  number  or 
quantity  :  a  geometrical  series  is  one  to  which  each  term  is 
a  multiple  of  the  preceding  by  a  constant  factor. 

The  usual  form  of  a  series  is  a  set  of  terms  connected  by 
the  signs  +  or  — .  When  the  number  of  terms  is  greater 
than  any  assignable  number,  the  series  is  said  to  be  infinite, 

A  converging  scries  is  one  in  which  the  successive  terms 
become  less  and  less,  each  being  smaller  than  that  which  im- 
mediately precedes  it. 

A  diverging  series  is  one  in  which  any  term  is  greater 
than  the  preceding. 

A  recurring  series  is  one  in  which  each  term  is  a  certain 
constant  function  of  two  or  more  of  the  preceding  terms. 
Thus,  1  + 3x-(-4i2  +  7i3  +  ll  i4+  &c,  is  a  recurring 
series,  every  term  being  formed  in  the  same  manner  from 
the  two  immediately  preceding.  This  series  is  formed 
by  the  expansion  by  division  of  the  algebraic  fraction 
l  +  2i 


1  —  I  —  £i 

An  exponential  series  is  one  whose  terms  depend  on  ex- 
ponential quantities ;  a  logarithmic  series  is  one  whose 
terms  depend  on  circular  functions,  as  sines,  cosines,  &c. 

The  general  term  of  a  series  is  a  function  of  some  inde- 
terminate quantity  z,  which,  on  substituting  successively 
the  numbers  1,  2,  3,  &.c,  for  i,  produces  the  terms  of  the 
series. 

In  general,  the  principal  questions  which  arise  respecting 
series  are  to  find  the  sum  of  all  the  terms,  or  of  a  given 
number  of  them  ;  and  the  exposition  of  the  methods  w  hich 
have  been  invented  for  this  purpose  forms  an  extensive  and 
important  part  of  every  treatise  on  the  calculus.  The  stu- 
dent may  be  recommended  in  particular  to  Eider's  Intro- 
ductio  in  Analysin  Infinitorum, and  Calculus  Differentialis  ; 
and  the  third  volume  of  Lacroix's  Calcul  Vifferenttvl  ct  In- 
tegral. 

SE'RJEANT.  (Lat.  serviens.)  Serjeant-at-law  is  the 
highest  degree  in  the  common  law,  and  all  mu.st  proceed 
through  this  degree  before  attaining  the  dignity  of  judge. 
The  Court  of  Common  Pleas  is  open  to  Serjeants  only  for 
the  purpose  of  pleading.  This  exclusive  privilege  was  at- 
tempted to  be  taken  aw  ay  in  1834,  and  for  five  years  the 
court  was  thrown  open.  But  after  solemn  argument,  it  was 
decided  by  the  privy  council  that  this  enlargement  was  un- 
warranted; and  the  former  practice  again  prevails.  Ser- 
jeants-at-law are  now  made  by  the  king's  writ,  commanding 
them  to  take  their  degree.  No  precise  time  seems  now  ne- 
cessary to  permit  a  barrister  to  become  a  Serjeant.  (See 
Serjeant  Manning's  learned  work,  Serviens  ad  Legem.) 

Skkjeant.  In  the  Army,  a  non-commissioned  officer, 
both  in  infantry  and  cavalry  regiments,  whose  duty  it  is  to 
form  the  ranks  and  to  instruct  recruits  in  discipline.  On 
parade  they  act  as  fuglemen,  in  going  through  the  evolu- 
tions. The  serjeant-major  is  a  non  commissioned  officer, 
who  acts  as  assistant  to  the  adjutant;  hut  original!)  he  was 
a  field  officer,  corresponding  in  rank  to  the  modern  major. 
Colour-serjeanls  are  certain  non  commissioned  officers  ap- 
pointed to  attend  the  officers  who  have  charge  of  the  col- 
ours of  the  regiment. 

SERJEANT,  KING'S.  One  or  more  of  the  serjeants-at- 
law,  w  hose  presumed  duty  is  to  plead  for  the  king  in  causes 
of  a  public  nature,  as  indictments  for  treason,  &c. 

SERJEANT- AT  ARMS.  <  Hticers  whose  duty  is  to  at- 
tend the  per-ou  of  the  king,  the  lord-high-steward,  when 
sitting  in  judgment  on  a  traitor,  &c.    The  whole  number  la 

restricted  by  an  ancient  law  (13  R.  2)  to  thirty.  Two  of 
these  nie  allowed  by  the  king  to  attend  at  the  houses  of 
parliament  during  their  sittings,  and  each  has  a  deputy.     In 

tin-  House  of  I. oids,  the  practical  maintenance  of  decorum 

below  the  bar.  near  the  throne,  and  in  the  gallery,  devolves 
Upon  the  gentleman  and  yeoman  usher,  wilh  their  assis- 
tants :  to  that  "  the  serjeanl  a>  anna  attending  the  House  of 

Lords,"  has  le<s  conspicuous  duties  to  perform  than  those 

which  devolve  upon  -the  serjeanl  attending  the  House  of 
Commons:"  both,  however,  execute  the  commands  of  the 

lions,-  to  u  inch  they  belong,  as  regards  the  apprehension  or 
custody  of  all  persons  committed  by  order  of  parliament.  In 


SERJEANTY,  GRAND  AND  PETTY. 

the  House  of  Commons,  the  serjeant-at-arms  is  an  officer  of 
considerable  importance,  enjoying  large  emoluments,  assist- 
ed by  a  deputy  and  several  subordinate  officers.  During  the 
sittings  of  the  house  he  occupies  a  chair  below  the  bar,  and 
he  directs  a  large  proportion  of  the  arrangements  connected 
with  the  maintenance  of  order  in  the  approaches  to  the 
house  and  the  offices  adjacent.  He  is  at  once  the  executive 
and  the  ceremonial  officer  of  the  lower  house  ;  but  his  dis- 
cretionary powers  are  not  extensive,  for  almost  all  his  more 
important  duties  are  performed  under  the  immediate  direc- 
tion of  the  house  itself,  communicated  through  the  speaker. 
The  office  is  usually  held  by  a  gentleman  of  the  military 
profession,  seldom  under  the  rank  of  a  field  officer. 

SERJEANTY,  GRAND  AND  PETTY.  In  English 
Law,  feudal  tenures.  Tenure  by  grand  serjeanty  was 
where  the  tenant  held  land  of  the  king  by  service,  to  be 
performed  in  his  own  person,  in  his  wars,  &c. ;  such  as  to 
hear  a  banner  or  spear,  or  to  assist  at  his  coronation. 
Tenure  by  petit  serjeanty  was  where  the  owner  was  bound 
to  contribute  some  small  thing  towards  military  service,  &c. ; 
such  as  a  sword,  dagger,  bow,  or  spear.  Tenure  by  grand 
serjeanty  was  preserved  by  stat.  12  C.  2,  which  abolished 
the  other  feudal  tenures,  and  still  subsists  in  some  cases  ; 
as,  for  instance,  the  family  of  Dymoke  hold  the  lands  of 
Scrivelsby  by  the  service  of  attending  as  champions  at  royal 
Coronations. 

SE'RMON.  In  Ecclesiastical  usage.  The  use  of  the 
sermon  or  homily  as  a  portion  of  the  communion  service  is 
said  to  be  of  remote  antiquity.  This  ancient  custom  fell 
into  partial  disuse  during  a  great  part  of  the  middle  ages. 
The  Homilies  of  Elfric,  archbishop  of  Canterbury  in  the 
10th  century,  were  long  used  in  the  English  church  ;  but 
these  became  antiquated  ;  and  in  the  year  1281,  says  Mr. 
Palmer  {Orig.  Liturg.,  vol.  ii.,  ch.  4,)  preaching  seems  to 
have  been  generally  omitted.  In  that  year  Archbishop 
Peckham  ordered,  in  his  Constitutions,  that  four  sermons 
should  be  delivered  during  the  year.  But  for  some  time 
prior  to  the  Reformation  preaching  was  again  coming  mure 
into  use ;  and  the  publication  of  homilies  by  authority 
seems  to  have  completely  restored  the  ancient  practice. 
See  Homily. 

SERON.  A  buffalo's  hide,  used  for  packing  drugs  and 
other  arlicles. 

SERO'SITY.  (Lat.  serum.)  The  liquid  which  exudes 
from  the  serum  of  the  blood  when  it  is  coagulated  by  heat. 
It  is  water  holding  some  of  the  salts  of  the  blood  and  a 
trace  of  albumen  in  solotion. 

SE'RPENS,  or  SERPENS  OPHIUCHI.  In  Astronomy, 
one  of  the  ancient  constellations  in  the  northern  hemi- 
sphere. 

SERPENT.  In  Zoology,  a  general  name  for  the  species 
of  the  order  Opkidia. 

Serpents  are  divided  into  spurious,  or  Pseudophidians, 
and  true,  or  Ophidians  proper.  The  Pseudophidians,  al- 
though presenting  the  well-marked  external  characters  of 
the  order,  retain  an  imperfect  pelvis,  a  small  sternum, 
scapulas,  and  coracoids  or  clavicles,  hidden  beneath  the 
skin ;  whereby,  as  well  as  in  the  structure  of  the  skull, 
they  approach  the  saurian  order.  The  common  blind-worm 
(Anguis  fragilis)  is  a  native  representative  of  the  Pseudo- 
phidian  family. 

The  true  serpents  have  neither  sternum  nor  vestige  of 
the  scapular  arch  :  they  have  no  third  eyelid,  nor  tympa- 
num ;  but  the  auditory  ossicle  exists  beneath  the  skin,  and 
its  handle  passes  behind  the  tympanic  bone.  Several 
species  retain  a  vestige  of  hind-limbs,  which  in  some  even 
shows  itself  externally  in  the  form  of  a  small  hook.  The 
chief  subdivisions  of  the  true  Ophidians  are — the  Amphis- 
bcenae  ;  the  Tythlopes  ;  the  Roles  (  Turtrix)  ;  the  Boas  ;  the 
Pythons  ;  the  Colubers  ;  the  Acrochords  ;  all  which  tribes 
are  non-venomous.  The  Pseudoboas,  Rattlesnakes,  Trigo- 
nocephali,  and  Vipers  are  the  venomous  tribes ;  and  are 
distinguished  by  having  the  superior  maxillary  bones  short 
and  moveable,  supporting  fewer  teeth  than  in  the  non- 
venomous  serpents,  and  having  the  first  of  the  short  series 
larger  than  the  rest,  sometimes  the  only  conspicuous  fang, 
and  traversed  by  the  duct  of  a  poison-gland,  around  which 
duct  the  tooth  is,  as  it  were,  longitudinally  folded,  so  as  to 
appear  perforated  by  a  canal.  The  last  tribe  of  true  ser- 
pents includes  the  Hydrophides,  or  sea-snakes,  which  have 
likewise  a  poison-gland  and  duct,  the  latter  being  inclosed 
by  the  last  instead  of  the  first  of  the  maxillary  series  of 
teeth.  The  tail  of  the  sea-snakes  is  flattened  vertically, 
and  forms  their  chief  organ  of  swimming.  No  species  of 
this  family  has  yet  been  discovered  which  exceeds  seven 
feet  in  length. 

The  remains  of  an  extinct  genus  of  serpents  (Palaophis), 
indicating  species  of  from  ten  to  twenty  feet  in  length,  have 
been  discovered  in  the  Eocene  tertiary  formations  in  Suiiiilk. 
Kent,  and  Sussex.  (See  Mr.  Owen's  Paper  in  the  Gcologi 
cal  Transactions,  2d  Series,  vol.  vi.,  p.  209.) 
In  antiquity  the  serpent  played  an  important  part.    By 


SESAMUM. 

some  nations  it  was  regarded  as  the  emblem  of  cunning, 
deceit,  and  wickedness  (compare  the  narration  of  the  fall  of 
man  in  Genesis  with  the  Persian  saga  of  Ahreman  and 
Ormuzd) ;  by  others,  such  as  the  Egyptians  and  Phoeni- 
cians, it  was  looked  upon  as  a  good  genius  (ayaWaijiuv), 
and  worshipped  as  the  emblem  of  fertility ;  while  by  the 
Greeks  and  Romans,  whose  mythology  originated  undoubt- 
edly from  Egypt  and  the  East,  it  appeared  under  a  variety 
of  symbolic  representations.  With  the  latter  the  serpent 
was  the  well  known  emblem  of  the  healing  art;  and  in  the 
present  time  a  serpent  with  its  tail  in  its  mouth  is  regarded 
as  an  emblem  of  eternity.  The  serpent  appears  also  to 
have  held  a  place  in  the  Scandinavian  mythology,  where  it 
was  regarded  as  a  symbol  of  the  human  passions.  In  the 
early  ages  of  the  Christian  church,  a  sect  of  the  Gnostics, 
also,  worshipped  the  serpent,  whence  they  were  called 
Ophites  (from  Gr.  o(pis,  a  serpent.)  (See  Mosheim's  Ges- 
chichte  der  Schlangenbrudcr  der  crsien  Kirche.) 

Serpent.  (So  called  from  its  form.)  A  musical  brass 
wind  instrument,  serving  as  bass  to  the  horns  or  cornets. 
It  is  most  generally  covered  with  leather,  and  has  three 
parts — a  mouth-piece,  neck,  and  tail.  The  compass  is  two 
octaves,  produced  by  six  holes  stopped  with  the  fingers. 

SERPENTA'RIUS.  One  of  the  ancient  northern  con- 
stellations, represented  on  the  globes  by  the  figure  of  a  man 
grasping  a  serpent  (serpens)  in  his  hand.  -See  Constella- 
tion. 

SE'RPENTINE.  A  magnesian  rock  of  various  colours, 
and  often  speckled  like  a  serpent's  back.     See  Geology. 

SERPI'GO.     See  Ringworm. 

SERPU'LEANS,  Serpulea.  (Lat.  serpo,  I  creep.)  The 
name  of  a  family  of  Cephalobranchiate  Ancllidans,  inhabit- 
ing cylindrical  and  tortuous  calcareous  tubes ;  generally 
parasitic  on  shells. 

SE'RRATE.  (Lat.  serra,  a  saw.)  In  Zoology,  when  a 
part  is  cut  into  teeth  like  a  saw,  or  is  armed  with  teeth 
whose  sides  are  unequal. 

SER'RICORNS,  Scrricornes.  (Lat.  serra,  a  saw ;  cornu, 
a  horn.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Coleopterous  insects, 
comprehending  those  which  have  serrated  or  saw-shaped 
antenna;. 

SERTULA'RIA.  (Lat.  sertum,  a  wreath.)  The  name 
of  a  genus  of  compound  tubular  Polypes  ;  restricted,  in 
modern  zoology,  to  those  species  in  which  the  cells  are 
arranged  on  two  sides  of  the  stem,  either  opposite  or  alter- 
nate. 

SE'RUM.  (Lat.)  The  fluid  which  separates  from  blood 
during  its  coagulation.     See  Blood. 

SE'RVILE.  A  Spanish  political  nickname;  applied,  in 
the  first  instance,  to  those  who  opposed  the  changes  advo- 
cated by  the  liberal  party  in  the  cortes  of  1808  and  the  fol- 
lowing years. 

SE'RVITES.  (Servants  of  the  blessed  Virgin.)  A  reli- 
gious order,  instituted  in  Tuscany  in  A.D.  1233,  under  the 
rule  of  St.  Augustin.  The  monks  wore  a  black  habit,  in 
commemoration  of  the  widowhood  of  the  Virgin.  (Mosheim, 
cent,  xiii.,  part  2.) 

SERVITOR.  (Lat.)  An  under  graduate,  who  is  partly 
supported  by  the  college  funds,  is  so  called  at  Oxford.  The 
servitors  at  Oxford  are  the  same  class  as  the  sizars  at  Cam- 
bridge. 

SE'RVITUDE,  in  the  Civil  Law,  is  divided  into  real  or 
predial,  mixed,  and  personal ;  the  first  being  the  subjection 
of  an  inheritable  thing  to  certain  duties  or  services  towards 
another  inheritable  thing;  the  second,  that  of  an  inheritable 
tiling  towards  a  person  ;  the  third,  that  of  a  person  towards 
a  person  or  thing,  i.  e.,  slavery,  whether  by  dependence  on 
a  person  or  on  the  soil.  The  word  servitude  is  equally 
applicable  to  the  duty  or  burden,  and  to  the  right  of  exact- 
ing  it :  c.  g.,  the  right  of  way  which  A.  enjoys  on  the  land 
of  B,  and  B's  liability  to  permit  that  right  to  be  exercised, 
are  both  designated  by  the  term  servitude  ;  the  first  active, 
the  latter  passive.  Real  servitudes  are  numerous,  and  fall 
into  several  classes  or  divisions.  They  are,  for  example, 
either  visible,  such  as  the  right  to  light  and  air,  sewers,  &c. ; 
or  latent,  such  as  the  right  of  way,  right  of  drawing  water, 
&c,  which  appear  only  when  they  are  exercised.  They 
were  also  divided  by  the  Romans  into  urban,  which  affected 
dwellings  in  the  city  ;  and  rustic,  appertaining  to  land  and 
farm  building.  Of  mixed  servitudes  only  three  species  were 
recognised  by  their  writers  on  jurisprudence — usufruct,  use, 
and  habitation. 

SE'SAMOID  BONES.  (Gr.  cnuaur;,  a  seed  or  grain, 
and  ucoc,  form.)  Small  bones  found  at  the  articulations 
of  the  great  toes,  and  occasionally  at  the  joints  of  the 
thumbs.  Little  tendinous  ossifications  are  sometimes  met 
with  in  other  parts,  especially  in  the  advanced  age  of  labo- 
rious persons. 

SE'SAMUM.     (Gr.  ennapov.)     A  genus  of  plants  of  the 

natural  family  Pedalina.    They  are  supposed  originally  to 

have  been  natives  of  India  ;    but  are  now  cultivated  in 

many  countries.    Their  seeds,  which  are  employed  as  an 

3  Z  *  1113 


SESIA. 

article  of  diet,  ami  yield  an  oil  of  a  very  fine  quality,  form 
an  extensive  article  of  commerce  in  the  East.  All  the 
.'.•  annuals.  The  term  sesame  has  long  been  fami- 
liar to  all  the  readers  of  the  Arabian  Xights'  Enttrtain- 
mcnts. 

I  \.     (Gr  or;;,  a  moth.)    The  name  of  a  genus  of 
Lepidopteroua  insects. 

BE'SQ.l  I  Lat  .  .applied  to  word?,  signifies  one  integer 
oiul  a  half;  as  a  aqui  granum,  a  grain  anil  a  half.  &c.  In 
Chemistry  tins  term  is  used  to  designate  compounds  in 
which  an  equivalent  and  a  half  of  one  substance  are  com- 
bined w  itii  one  ot  another  ;  thus,  sesquicarhonate  of  soda  is 
a  salt  composed  of  one  equivalent  and  a  half  of  carbonic 
acid  with  one  of  soda. 

Seso.ii.  In  Music,  a  whole  and  a  half;  which,  joined 
with  altera,  tana,  ijuarla.  &.c,  is  much  used  in  the  Italian 
musk  to  express  a  set  of  ratios,  particularly  the  several 
species  of  triple  time. 

Sesqui.  In  Geometry,  the  expression  of  a  ratio  in  which 
the  greater  term  contains  the  less  once,  and  leaving  a  certain 
aliquot  part  of  the  less  over.  Thus,  if  the  part  remaining 
is  half  the  less  term,  the  ratio  is  called  sesquialtcra  ;  if  the 
part  remaining  be  a  third  of  the  less  term  (as  in  the  ratio 
of  4  to  3),  the  ratio  is  called  srsamtrrtia,  and  so  on.  These 
terms  are  nearly  obsolete.  Sesquiduplicatz,  however,  some- 
times occurs  in  modern  treatises,  and  signifies  t lie  ratio  in 
which  the  greater  term  is  twice  and  a  half  times  the  less; 
as  the  ratio  of  ID  to  4.  or  of  15  to  6. 

SE'SSILES,  Sessilia.  (Lat.sedeo,  Isit.)  The  name  of 
a  division  ot'  the  class  Cirripeds,  comprehending  those 
species  which  are  not  suspended  bv  a  pedicle. 

SESSION.  COURT  OF.  The  supreme  civil  court  of 
Scotland,  having  jurisdiction  in  all  civil  questions,  of  what- 
ever nature.  It  was  constituted  by  an  act  of  the  Scottish 
parliament  in  1537.  It  was  intended  to  supply  the  place  of 
the  previously  existing  courts  and  more  especially  of  a  judi- 
cial committee  of  parliament  called  the  "  lords  of  session  ;" 
whence  tin-  name  of  the  court  and  the  titles  of  the  judges. 
Originally  it  consisted  of  seven  laymen  and  eight  church- 
men, including  the  president.  In  1(J40,  however,  an  act 
was  passed  providing  for  the  exclusion  of  churchmen  from 
the  court;  and  though  repealed  in  1661,  the  principle  laid 
down  in  it  has  ever  since  been  acted  upon,  other  important 
improvements  were  introduced  at  different  periods,  particu- 
larly after  the  Revolution,  when  the  right  of  appeal  from 
the  court  to  parliament  was,  for  the  first  time,  recognised. 
At  the  Union  power  was  given  to  all  individuals  who  con- 
sidered tin  mselves  aggrieved  by  judgments  of  the  Court  of 
Session  to  appeal  to  the  II.  ot  Lords;  and  it  is  a  curious 
fact  that  at  this  moment,  and  for  a  lengthened  period,  the 
principal  judicial  business  ,,f  the  II.  of  Lords  has  consisted 
in  hearing  and  deciding  Scotch  appeals.  Originally,  and 
down  to  1808,  the  whole  fifteen  judges  sit  together  in  one 
court;  hut  in  that  year  an  act  was  passed  dividing  the  court 
into  two  chambers,  the  lord  president  presiding  in  the  first 
division  of  seven  judges,  and  the  lord  justice-clerk  in  the 
d  of  six;  the  two  remaining  judges  trying  cases  in  the 
first  instance,  or,  as  it  is  technically  termed,  sitting  as  lords- 
ordinary.  Since  then  the  number  of  judges  has  been  re- 
duced to  thirteen  :  four  belonging  to  each  ot"  the  divisions. 
and  five  acting  as  lords  ordinary.  The  judges  were  at  first 
chosen  by  the  Scotch  parliament :  hut  since  l~>.>4  they  have 
been  appointed  by  the  crown.  They  are  either,  as  already 
stated,  called  lords  of  Bession,  or  senators  of  the  college  of 
justice  ;  which  last  embraces  the  whole  body  of  barristers 
(advocates)  ami  attorneys  or  solicitors  who  practise  before 
the  court.  They  must  he  twenty  the  years  of  age ;  and.  by  the 
Treaty  ot  Union,  no  person  can  be  named  to  the  office  unless 
he  have  Berved  as  an  advocate  or  principal  clerk  of 
for  live  years,  or  as  a  writer  to  the  signet  for  ten.  The 
salaries  of  the  ordinary  judges  have  recently  been  raised  to 
£3000  a  year  each  :  those  of  the  lord  justice-clerk  and  lord 
president  being  respectively  £4000  and  X'45u0. 

At  its  outset  the  i  lourt  of  Session  was  intended  to  serve 
U  a  stai  ding  or  perpetual  jury  for  the  trial  of  cases;  the 
introduction  of  pettj  juries  into  the  trial  of  civil  cases  in 
Scotland  being  onl)  of  verj  recent  date,  as  well  as  of  limi- 
ted application.  It  WBS,  in  tact,  unknown  till  1815,  when 
■  ial  or  jury  court  was  instituted,  lor  the  trial  of  cases 

involving  questions  as  to  the  value  of  property,  or  damages, 
or  the  determination  of  some  tact.    Hut  in  1S30  this  court 

suppressed, I  the  Court  of  Session  now  avails 

of  the  assistance  of  petty  juries  in  the  trial  of  the  above  de- 
scription ot  i;i-i-.    Sa  Justiciary,  Court  of. 

SESSION  of  PARLIAMENT.    The  period  between  its 
meeting  and  prorogation.    All  the  acta  paasedins 

are  legally  considered  as  forming  a  single  statute:  each 
separate  act  being  designate  d  as  a  chapter,  and  its  subdivi- 
sions as  sections.     Set  Parliam 

SESSIONS  OF  Tin:  PEACE.    In  English  Law,  the 
term  "Session  of  the  Peace"  is  applied  to  designate  a  sit- 
ting of  justices  of  the  peace  for  the  execution  of  those 
1114 


SETTLEMENT. 

duties  which  are  confided  to  them  by  their  commission, 
and  by  charter  or  statute.  Such  are — 1.  A  petty  (or  petit) 
se^>ion.  which  Is  a  private  meeting  of  two  or  more  justices 
of  the  peace  for  the  execution  of  some  power  vested  in 
them  by  law  ;  many  acts  of  parliament  requiring  the  con- 
currence of  a  plurality  of  justices,  and  there  being  other 
occasions  on  which,  although  not  strictly  necessary,  it  is 
considered  usual  and  expedient.  One  of  the  most  important 
instances  of  the  first  kind  is  the  holding  parties  to  bail 
against  whom  a  charge  of  felony  has  been  entertained.  2. 
A  special  session  ;  which  is  principally  distinguished  from 
the  former  by  being  public,  instead  of  on  the  private  motion 
of  the  justices,  it  being  necessary  that  notice  should  be 
given  to  every  magistrate  of  the  division.  Special  sessions 
are  held  to  grant  licences,  execute  the  provisions  of  the 
Highway  Act.  appoint  overseers  of  the  poor,  and  for  many 
other  purposes.  3.  Uuarter  sessions.  (See  that  article ; 
and  see  Justice  ok  the  Peace.) 

SESTE'RTH  M.  (Contracted  from  mille  sestertiorum.) 
The  sum  of  1000  sestertii ;  usually  estimated  at  about  £S 
English. 

SESTE'RTIUS.  A  sesterce  ;  a  Roman  silver  coin,  equal 
in  value  to  two  asses  and  a  half,  or  nearly  twopence  of 
English  money. 

SETA  (Lat.),  is  a  term  used  by  botanists  in  various 
senses.  It  is  the  stalk  that  supports  the  theca,  capsule,  or 
sporangium  of  mosses:  the  awn  or  beard  of  grasses,  when 
it  proceeds  from  the  extreme  point  of  a  palea  or  glume  ; 
sometimes  the  glandular  aculeus  of  roses,  and  also  the 
abortive  stamens  or  rudimentary  perianth  of  Cyperaceous 
plants. 

SETA'CEOTJS.  (Lat.  seta.)  In  Entomology,  the  an- 
tenna1 which  resemble  a  bristle  are  so  called. 

SET  FAIR.  In  Architecture,  the  coat  of  plaster  used 
after  roughing  in  and  floated,  or  pricked  up  and  floated.  It 
should  be  well  trowelled,  to  answer  well  for  colour. 

SE'THIANS.  In  Ecclesiastical  history,  a  sect  of  Chris- 
tian heretics,  who  sprung  up  in  Egypt  in  the  second  cen- 
tury, strongly  imbued  with  the  principles  of  Gnosticism  ; 
but  whose  chief  peculiarity  consisted  in  their  belief  in 
the  identity  of  Jesus  Christ  with  Seth.  the  son  of  Adam, 
whence  they  derived  their  name.  They  continued  to  exist 
about  -JUO  years,  during  which  period  they  had  many  fol- 
low era. 

BE  TTCERS,  Scticera.  (Lat.  seta,  a  bristle;  Gr.  Kipac, 
a  horn.)  A  term  applied  by  Latreille  to  a  family  of  Lo- 
phyropodous  Crustaceans,  including  those  in  which  the 
superior  antenna?  ate  long  and  setaceous. 

SE'TIGERS,  Setigera.  (Lat.  seta,  a  bristle;  gero,  / 
carry.)  The  name  ot'  a  tribe  of  Anellidans,  including  those 
which,  like  the  earthworm,  are  provided  with  bristles  for 
progressive  motion.  The  Setigera  are  the  first  tribe  of  the 
Abranchiated  order  of  Anellidans. 

SE'TIREMES.  (Lat. seta,  a  bristle;  remus, an  oar.)  A 
name  given  by  Kirby  to  the  natatory  legs  of  certain  aquatic 
insects;  which  are  fringed  with  bristles. 

SET  OFF.  In  Law,  a  species  of  defence  to  a  civil  action, 
by  which  a  party  ncknow  ledges  the  justice  of  the  plaintiffs 
demand,  but  sets  up  a  demand  of  his  own  against  the 
plaintiff  sufficient  to  counterbalance  cither  the  whole  or  a 
part  of  it. 

SET i  IN.  ( From  Lat  seta,  a  bristle ;  because  bristles  or 
horse  hairs  were  formerly  used  to  keep  open  the  wound.) 

A  seton  is  an  artificial  ulcer,  made  by  passing  a  skein  of 
thread  under  a  portion  of  the  Skin  by  means  of  an  Instrument 

called  a  seton  needle:  the  thread  is  occasionally  anointed 
with  irritating  substances,  in  order  to  keep  up  a  discharge 
from  the  sore. 

SETO'SE.  (Lat.  seta,  a  bristle.;  In  Zoology,  when  a 
surface  is  beset  with  still',  scatter,  d  hairs. 

SETTINt;.  In  Architecture,  the  quality  of  hardening 
in  plaster      Also  the  living  of  Stones  ill  walls  or  vaults. 

SE'TTING  COAT.  In  Architecture,  the  best  sort  of 
plastering  on  ceilings  or  walls  ;  in  inferior  work  it  is  made 
of  fine  stuff,  and  when  the  work  is  very  dry  a  little  sand  is 

used.      \  setting  'oat  \  be  either  a  second  coal  on  laying 

or  rendering  or  a  third  upon  floating.  The  term  finishing 
denotes  the  third  coat,  where  stucco  is  used  ;  that  of  set- 
tiii".  where  the  work  is  for  paper. 

SETTLEMENT.  In  Law,  the  right  which  an  indi- 
vidual acquires  to  parochial  assistance,  under  the  statutes 
for  the  r.  lief  of  thi'  poor,  in  that  parish  or  district  to  which 
he  legal!]  belongs,  and  in  which  he  is  said  to  have  the 
settlement 

The  law  of  settlements  has  recently  undergone  consider- 
ations by  the  Poor  Laws  Amendment  Act,  4  &  5 

\V.    I,   cap.  76.      Bui    that   act   does  not,  except    In 

eases,  take  awaj  settlements  already  possessed  bj  \irtuo 

of  the   law  as  ll   previously  Stood  under  a   great  variety  of 

enactments.  It  i~.  consequently,  necessarj  to  consider  in 
how  many  i less  settlement  may  now  be  legally  acquired ; 

and,  also,  what  modes  of  settlement  were  recognised  before 


SETTLEMENT,  ACT  OP. 

the  passing  of  the  act  in  question.  The  first  species  of  set- 
tlement is  by  birth  ;  all  persons  who  have  not  obtained  a 
settlement  elsewhere  by  other  means  being  legally  settled 
in  the  parish  or  district  wherein  they  were  born.  Before 
the  passing  of  the  late  act,  bastard  children  were  deemed 
to  be  settled  in  the  parish  where  they  were  born  :  they  now 
have,  and  follow,  the  settlement  of  their  mother  until  they 
attain  the  age  of  sixteen,  or  acquire  settlements  in  their 
own  right.  2.  Settlement  by  parentage.  All  legitimate 
children  are  settled  in  the  parish  where  their  parents  are 
settled,  until  they  become  emancipated.  Emancipation 
takes  place  on  attaining  the  age  of  twenty-one,  if  living 
separate  from  the  parents;  or  marriage;  or  gaining  a  set- 
tlement in  the  party's  own  right;  or  contracting  some  other 
relation  inconsistent  with  the  notion  of  a  subordinate  situa- 
tion in  the  parental  family.  3.  Settlement  by  marriage. 
A  woman  acquires  the  settlement  of  her  husband  ;  and 
after  his  death  she  retains  his  last  settlement,  unless  she 
acquires  a  new  one  for  herself.  4.  Settlement  by  appren- 
ticeship. This  is  acquired  by  a  person  who  has  been  bound 
an  apprentice,  and  has  inhabited,  under  such  apprentice- 
ship, in  any  town  or  parish ;  the  place  where  he  has  resided 
the  last  forty  days  being  that  in  which  he  is  settled.  Actual 
service  with  the  master  is  not  necessary  ;  but  if  he  have 
served  elsewhere,  it  must  be  with  the  master's  permission. 
Apprenticeship  in  the  sea  service  or  fishing  trade  does  not, 
since  the  recent  act,  confer  a  settlement.  5.  Settlement  by 
renting  a  tenement.  A  person  bond  fide  occupying  and 
renting  a  tenement,  at  the  rent  of  £10  per  annum  at  least, 
for  the  term  of  a  year,  the  rent  for  a  year  having  been 
actually  paid  (.and  the  tenement  having  been  actually  occu- 
pied by  him  for  a  year  also),  acquires  a  settlement  by 
dwelling  forty  days  in  the  parish  in  which  such  tenement 
is  situated.  Since  4  &  5  W.  4,  no  settlement  can  now  be 
acquired  by  renting  a  tenement,  unless  the  person  occupy- 
ing it  has  been  rated  to  and  has  paid  the  poor's  rate  for  one 
year  at  least.  6.  Settlement  by  estate.  A  person  having, 
by  descent  or  devise,  &.c,  an  estate  in  lands  or  tenements, 
either  freehold,  copyhold,  or  for  years,  acquires  a  settlement 
in  the  parish  in  which  it  is  situate  by  forty  days'  residence. 
But  no  such  settlement  is  acquired  by  the  purchase  of  an 
estate,  unless  bought  for  £30  at  least,  bond  fide  paid.  And. 
by  the  late  act,  no  person  possessing  such  a  power  of  ac- 
quiring a  settlement  shall  retain  it  longer  than  he  shall  in- 
habit within  ten  miles  of  the  parish.  7.  Settlement  by 
being  charged  with  and  paying  parish  taxes  and  levies  in 
respect  of  a  tenement  of  the  value  of  .£10 ;  such  as  poor 
rate,  church  rate,  or  land  tax.  These  are  now  the  only 
modes  of  acquiring  a  settlement:  but  two  more  must  be 
mentioned,  by  which  a  settlement  could  formerly  be  ac- 
quired, as  the  settlements  so  gained  still  continue  in  force. 
1.  By  hiring  and  service.  This  could  be  obtained  by  any 
unmarried  person  lawfully  hired  into  any  parish  or  town 
for  the  space  of  a  year,  provided  he  continued  in  service 
under  such  hiring  for  the  space  of  a  year,  and  resided 
in  the  parish  forty  days.  2.  By  serving  an  office.  This 
was  obtained  in  any  place  by  executing  any  public  annual 
office. 

Poor  people  coming  from  one  parish  to  another,  and  en- 
deavouring to  settle  themselves  in  the  latter,  may,  if  they 
become  actually  chargeable,  be  removed  by  an  order  of 
two  justices  to  that  in  which  they  were  last  legally  settled; 
and  all  persons  who  think  themselves  aggrieved  by  such 
order  of  removal  (usually  the  parish  to  which  the  removal 
takes  place)  may  appeal  against  such  order  to  the  next  gen- 
eral or  quarter  sessions  of  the  peace.  It  is  doubtful,  indeed, 
since  the  statute  4  &  5  W.  4,  whether  any  but  the  parish 
can  appeal.  The  parish  appealing  is  bound  to  give  suffi- 
cient notice  of  the  intended  appeal,  and  also  (since  the  stat. 
4  &.  5  W.  4)  to  state  in  writing  the  legal  grounds  on  which 
the  order  is  contested.  The  sessions  must  either  quash  or 
affirm  the  order  of  the  justices ;  and  the  order  of  the  ses- 
sions can  only  be  quashed  by  the  Court  of  King's  Bench, 
either  on  a  special  case,  granted  by  the  sessions,  for  the  ref- 
erence of  a  point  of  law  to  the  superior  court,  or  on  certi- 
orari, for  defects  appearing  on  the  face  of  the  order. 

A  certificate  is  a  written  acknowledgment,  by  the  church- 
warden and  overseers,  that  a  particular  person  is  legally  set- 
tled in  their  parish.  A  certificate-man  cannot  gain  a  set- 
tlement in  the  parish  to  which  the  certificate  is  directed,  ex- 
cept by  renting  a  tenement  of  the  annual  value  of  £10. 
See  Poor  Laws. 

SL'TTLEMEXT,  ACT  OF.  In  English  Historv,  die 
statute  12  &  13  W.  2,  c.  2,  by  which  the  crown  was  limited 
to  the  Princess  Sophia,  duchess  dowager  of  Hanover 
^youngest  daughter  of  Elizabeth,  queen  of  Bohemia,  who 
was  daughter  to  James  I.),  and  the  heirs  of  her  body,  being 
Protestants— on  the  failure  of  issue  of  the  Princess  Anne, 
then  next  in  succession.  The  duchess  died  in  the  reign  of 
Queen  Anne;  and  her  son,  George  I.,  was  consequently 
called  to  the  throne. 

SETT  OFF.    In  Architecture,  the  horizontal  projection 


SEXTANT. 

left  in  carrying  up  a  wall,  where  the  thickness  of  it  dimin- 
ishes at  its  different  stages  or  stories. 

SE'VEXTH.  In  Music,  an  interval  ;  whereof  there  are 
four  species.  First,  the  defective  seventh,  consisting  of 
three  tones  and  three  greater  semitones.  Second,  the  minor 
seventh,  consisting  of  seven  degrees  and  six  intervals,  dia- 
tonically  taken  ;  four  being  tones,  and  the  rest  greater  semi- 
tones. Third,  the  major  seventh,  being  only  a  major  semi- 
tone less  than  the  octave.  Fourth,  the  extreme  sharp  sev- 
enth, which  is  only  a  comma  less  than  the  octave. 

SEVEX  YEARS'  WAR.  In  History,  a  war  carried  on 
in  Germany  between  two  alliances,  headed  respectively  by 
Austria  and  Prussia,  from  the  year  1756  to  1703,  when  it 
was  ended  by  the  peace  of  Hubertsburg.  It  was  signalized 
chiefly  by  the  extraordinary  campaigns  of  Frederick  II.,  the 
Great  King  of  Prussia.  His  principal  ally  throughout  the 
struggle  was  England ;  while  he  was,  at  one  period,  as- 
sailed by  the  forces  of  Austria,  France,  the  Empire,  Swe- 
den, and  Russia.  When  the  forces  of  the  Prussian  sover- 
eign had  been  almost  annihilated  by  this  coalition,  the  death 
of  the  Russian  empress,  Elizabeth,  caused  the  withdrawal 
of  Russia  from  the  alliance  of  his  enemies,  and  brought 
about  the  termination  of  the  war  without  material  advan- 
tages gained  by  any  party. 

SEWER.  In  Architecture,  a  subterraneous  conduit,  or 
channel,  to  receive  and  carry  off  the  superfluous  water  and 
filth  of  a  city.  The  sewers  of  Rome  have  been  the  models 
of  those  of  the  modern  cities  of  Europe.  They  are  as  old 
as  the  elder  Tarquin.  These  cloaca  had,  between  the 
(luirinal,  Capitoline,  and  Palatine  hills,  many  branches, 
which  joining  in  the  Foruni,  now  the  Campo  Vaccino,  were 
received  for  conveyance  into  the  Tiber  by  a  larger  one 
called  the  cloaca  maxima.  It  must  be  admitted,  however, 
that  it  is  erroneous  to  designate  the  Roman  cloaca  by  the 
term  sewers.  They  were  rather  drains,  made  to  carry  off 
the  stagnant  water  of  the  pestilential  marshes  which  occu- 
pied much  of  the  low  ground  near  the  Tiber,  and  the  spaces 
between  the  Aventine,  Palatine,  and  Capitoline  hills.  The 
height  and  width  of  the  cloaca  maxima  are  equal,  each 
measuring  134  feet. 

SEXAGE'SIMA.  (Lat  sixtieth.)  In  the  Calendar,  the 
eighth  Sundav  (nearlv  sixty  days)  before  Easter. 

SEXAGESIMAL  ARITHMETIC.  A  method  of  com- 
putation proceeding  by  sixties  (as  the  common  arithmetic 
proceeds  by  tens),  and  used  by  the  ancient  Greek  astrono- 
mers for  facilitating  arithmetical  calculations,  particularly 
division  and  the  extraction  of  roots ;  operations  which, 
when  performed  on  numbers  expressed  by  the  complicated 
Greek  notation,  are  attended  with  great  labour  and  diffi- 
culty. 

SEXAGESIMAL  FRACTIOXS,  are  such  as  have  60, 
or  some  multiple  of  60,  for  their  denominator.  Fractions 
of  this  kind  were  anciently  the  only  fractions  used  in  astron- 
omy ;  and  they  are  still  retained  in  the  division  of  the  cir- 
cle, and  of  time,  where  the  degree,  or  hour,  is  divided  into 
60  minutes,  the  minute  into  60  seconds,  and  so  on. 

SE'XTAXS,  or  SEXTAXT.  In  Astronomy,  one  of  the 
constellations  formed  by  Hevelius.  It  is  placed  across  the 
equator,  and  on  the  south  side  of  the  ecliptic. 

SE'XTAXT.  (Lat.  sextans,  the  sixth  part ;  the  limb  of 
the  instrument  being  the  sixth  part  of  a  complete  circle.) 
An  instrument  for  measuring  the  angular  distances  of  objects 
by  reflexion.  The  sextant  is  capable  of  very  general  appli- 
cation ;  but  it  is  chiefly  used  as  a  nautical  instrument  for 
measuring  the  altitudes  of  celestial  objects,  and  their  appa- 
rent angular  distances.  It  is  an  instrument  of  the  utmost 
importance  in  navigation. 

The  principle  of  the  sextant,  and  of  reflecting  instru- 
ments generally,  depends  upon 
an  elementary  theorem  of  catop- 
trics ;  viz.,  if  an  object  be  seen  by 
reflexion  from  two  mirrors  which 
are  perpendicular  to  the  same 
plane,  the  angular  distance  of  the 
object  from  its  image  is  double 
the  inclination  of  the  mirrors. 
Thus,  let  A  and  B  be  sections  of 
two  mirrors  perpendicular  to  the 
same  plane,  and  inclined  to  each 
other  in  the  ansle  A  I B  ;  a  ray 
of  light  coming  from  the  sun  and 
falling  upon  the  mirror  A,  in  the  direction  S  A,  will  be  re- 
flected in  the  line  A  B ;  and  falling  upon  B,  it  will  again  be 
reflected  in  the  direction  BE.  Let  AB  be  produced  to  D, 
and  S  A  prolonged  to  meet  B  E  in  E.  Now,  since  the  an- 
gles of  incidence  and  reflexion  are  always  equal  (see  Re- 
flexion), we  have  DB  E  =  2  DB  I,  and  BAE=2BAI; 
but  I>BE  =  B  AE  +  BE  A,  and  DBI  =  B  AI  +  BIA, 
consequently  B  A  E  +  B  E  A  =  2  B  A 1  +  2  B  I  A  :  and,  there- 
fore, since  B  A  E  =  2  B  A  I,  we  have  also  B  E  A  =  2  B I A  ; 
that  is  to  say,  the  angular  distance  between  the  object  S 
and  its  image  seen  by  the  eye  at  E,  in  the  direction  E  B  H, 

1115 


Is  the  double  of  the  inclination  of  the  mirrors 
remarked,  thai  the  place  of  the  image,  as  Been  from  E  Is  In- 
dependent of  the  situation  of  the  mirrors  on  the  plan.',  so 
long  as  the  line  •  >t"  tin-  intersection  of  their  planes  and  their 
inclination  to  each  other  remain  constant 

From  what  has  been  now  said,'  it  may  be  seen  that  if  a  con- 
venient method  could  be  devised  for  measuring  the  incli- 
nation of  two  mirrors  perpendicular  to  the  same  plane, 

when  they  are  SO  placed  that  the  Image  of  an  object  B   is 

brought  to  coincide  with  an  object  II  seen  directly,  we 
should  at  once  have  a  reflecting  instrument  for  measuring 
angular  distances.  Such  instruments  are  the  sextant,  the 
quadrant,  the  reflecting  circle,  respectively  so  called  from 
i!..  ,  itent  ot'  the  ate  which  the  graduated  limb  embraces. 
The  contrivance  adopted  for  this  purpose  in  the  sextant 
is  to  attach  the  frame  of  the 
mirror  B  to  the  plane  of  the  sec- 
tor ot"  a  circle  A  M  .V,  and  the 
frame  ot"  tin-  mirror  A  to  a  ra- 
dial bar  A  I  revolving  in  the 
plane  of  the  sector  round  a  pin 
ji  i -sin-;  through  the  centre. 
VM  Both  frames  are  generally  sup- 
plied  with  the  means  of  adjust 
ing  the  planes  of  the  mirror  ver- 
tically, and  15  is  generally  also 
capable  of  being  turned  by  a 
delicate  motion  a  small  way  round  a  pin  passing  through 
the  frame  of  the  sector. 

The  arc  or  limb  M  >J  of  the  sector  is  graduated  ;  and  the 
revolving  radius  or  indu  carries  at  its  extremity  a  vernier 
scale,  applying  to  the  graduations  on  the  limb,  and  subdivi- 
ding them  into  such  smaller  portions  as  may  he  desired. 

'Die  method  of  rinding  the  zero  point  of  the  limh  may  he 
understood  generally  from  the  following  considerations  : 
The  angle  E  (see  the  first  figure)  being  double  the  angle  I, 
It  follows  that  when  the  mirrors  are  parallel,  or  the  angle 
J  is  nothing,  the  angle  E  is  nothing  also,  ami  9  and  its  im- 
age will  appear  as  one  object,  the  one  exactly  covering  the 
other.  It  is,  therefore,  only  necessary  to  turn  round  the  ra- 
dial liar  which  carries  A  till  the  image  of  a  distant  object 
seen  by  reflexion  from  Ii  is  in  accurate  conjunction  with 
the  object  itself  seen  directly  ;  and  the  point  on  the  limb 
at  which  the  index  then  stands  is  the  zero  point  of  the  are. 
If  it  is  not  also  the  zero  of  the  numbered  graduations,  its 
distance  from  the  numeral  zero  is  called  the  nulez'eiroi  of 
the  instrument,  and  is  to  be  applied  as  a  correction  to  all 
angles  measured. 

In  graduating  the  limh,  half  degrees  are  marked  as  whole 
ones,  and  the  smaller  divisions  accordingly  ;  so  that  the  an- 
gle read  from  the  instrument  is  not  the  inclination  of  the 
mirrors,  hut  the  distance  of  the  object  from  its  image.  In 
this  class  of  instruments,  therefore.  '.IIP  are  indicated  by  an 
arc  of  45°,  120°  by  an  arc  of  60°,  &c. 

The  minor  A  is  completely  silvered  behind  ;  but  B  is  sil- 
vered on  that  half  only  which  is  next  the  plane  of  the  in- 
strument, the  upper  part  being  left  clear,  that  objects,  sinh 
as  11,  ma)   he  seen  through  it,  as  well  as  the  jmag 

crs.  as  S,  by  r<  flexion  from  its  surface.  The  mirror  B  is  so 
placed  by  tile  maker  that  when  A  is  parallel  to  it,  tin"  index 
Which  carries  A  either  exactly  or  nearly  corresponds  with 
I  I  Of  tie-  divisions  as  they  are  numbered  on  the  limb. 

When  the  index  has  been  set  by  hand  nearly  in  the  p  tsition 
requisite  for  measuring  any  proposed  angle,  it  is  clamped  to 

the  limh  In  a  screw  acting  on  a  sprm;.',  and  moved  slowly  by  a 

tangent  screw  till  it  attains  accurately  the  required  position. 
Such  being  the  general  principles  of  the  instrument,  we 

shall  now  briefl  ie  different  parts  of  it.  as  eon 

Btructed  by  the  best  makers  and  the  methods  of  adjusting 
and  obsen  ing  with  it. 

'I'h ly  important  object  to  he  aimed  at  in  the  frame  is 

to  combine  lightness  with  sufficient  strength.    Thi 

rally  Of  brass,  and  cast  in  one  piece  from  a  model  ; 

but  the  late  Mr.  Troughton  introduced  thin  double  frames 
parallel  to  each  other,  and  connected  by  pillars.  These 
frames  are  very  lisht;  but  it  may  be  doubtful  whether  they 
sufficiently  fulfil  the  condition  of  Btrength. 
In  all  good  instruments  the  index  is  strengthened  by  an 
along  its  length.  The  graduations  an- mail.- on  a 
slip  of  gold,  diver,  or  platina,  which  is  /,/  /»  to  a  groove  in 


SEXTANT. 
It  may  be    to  the  plane  of  the  instrument.    But  in  the  better  class  of 


instruments  all  three  axe  fastening  screws,  the  maker  liini 
sell'  placing  the  mirror  In  its  perpendicular  position. 

The  other  mirror,  B,  is  attached  to  the  frame  of  the  sec- 
tor, and  in  some  instruments  is  incapable  Of  lateral  motion. 

being  only  provided  with  the  means  of  placing  it  perpendic- 
ular to  the  plane  of  the  instrument  :  so  that  the  position  of 
its  plane  With  respect  to  the  graduations  may  he  regarded  as 
permanent.  The  vertical  adjustment  Is  effected  by  a  screw  . 
which  sometimes  acts  on  the  frame ;  and  in  some  instru- 
ments directly  on  the  mirror,  on  which  it  presses  by  means 
of  a  spring.  In  other  instruments  the  frame  of  this  mir- 
ror turns  round  an  axis  passing  through  the  frame  of  the 
instrument;  so  that  when  the  index  is  set  to  zero  on  the 
limb,  I!  can  be  set  parallel  to  A,  and  the  index  error,  there- 
fore, reduced  to  nothing.  This  mirror  B  is  called  the  ho- 
rizon glass  by  seamen,  and  the  adjustment  we  have  been 
speaking  of  is  culled  the  parallel  adjustment  of  the  horizon 
glass.  It  is  a  most  important  adjustment,  and  one  that  re- 
quires continual  attention,  being  liable  to  be  altered  by  very 
trifling  causes'. 

In  common  quadrants,  a  sight  vane  with  two  holes  is 
placed  (as  at  E)  opposite  B,  one  hole  at  the  same  distance 
from  the  plane  as  the  upper  edge  of  the  silvered  part  of  the 
mirror,  and  the  other  opposite  the  middle  of  the  unsilvered 
part.  But  the  best  instruments,  instead  of  the  sight  vane, 
are  furnished  with  telescopes,  which  screw  into  a  socket 
attached  to  a  piece  of  brass  passing  through  the  frame  of 
the  instrument ;  and  by  means  of  a  screw  the  socket  can  be 
raised  or  depressed,  so  that  the  telescope  can  be  placed 
with  more  or  less  of  the  object-glass  opposite  the  silvered 
or  the  unsilvered  part  of  the  index  glass,  as  the  varying 
brightness  of  the  objects  observed  may  render  necessary. 

The  telescopes  are  of  two  kinds.  One  a  direct  telescope, 
which  is  simply  an  opera-glass;  and  having  a  narrow  field 
of  view,  is  generally  used  in  the  more  ordinary  sort  of  ob- 
servations, such  as  observing  altitudes.  The  other  is  an  in- 
verting or  astronomical  telescope,  which  has  a  large  field  of 
view,  and  is  that  which  dexterous  observers  use  exclusive- 
ly. It  is  commonly  supplied  with  two  eye-pieces;  one  of 
considerable  power,  and  chiefly  for  determining  the  index 
error,  and  the  other  for  observing  with.  In  the  frames  of 
each  eye-piece  are  two  pairs  of  wires,  each  pair  perpendic- 
ular to  the  other,  dividing  the  field  of  view  into  nine  spaces, 
of  which  that  in  the  middle  is  square;  and  it  is  important 
that  in  all  observations  made  with  this  instrument  the  con- 
tact of  the  image  seen  by  reflexion,  and  of  tin-  object  seen 
directly,  should  be  made  as  near  the  middle  of  this  square 
as  possible,  at  any  rate  at  the  same  distance  as  the  centre  of 
the  square  from  the  plane  of  the  instrument 

It  is  essential,  also,  that  the  telescope  should  be  parallel 
to  the  plane  of  the  instrument ;  and  in  the  collar  into  which 
the  telescope  is  sen-wed  there  are  two  screws  for  making 
this  parallel  adjustment.  The  adjustment  is  not  very  lia- 
ble to  alter,  but  no  careful  observer  will  omit  to  examine  it 
at  every  convenient  opportunity. 

Both  the  mirrors  are  supplied  with  coloured  glasses  of 
different  degrees  of  shade,  framed  and  placed  in  such  a  po- 
sition that  they  can  be  turned  down  before  the  mirrors,  ei- 
ther singly  or  combined.  The  eye-pieces  of  the  telescopes 
are  also  supplied  with  coloured  shades,  set  in  caps,  which 
are  screwed  on  the  eye  piece.  They  are  used  in  taking  the 
index  error  by  means  of  the  sun,  and  in  observing  the  sun's 
altitude  from  an  artificial  horizon. 

Adjustment  of  the.  Sextant. — 1.  To  set  the  index  glass, 
when  it  admits  of  adjustment,  perpendicular  to  the  plane 
of  t!i.   instrument. 

Place  the  index  about  the  middle  of  the  limb;  and  look- 
ing obliquely  into  the  index  class,  the  part  of  the  limb  will 
be  seen  by  reflexion  in  the  L'lass,  as  well  as  directly.  If  the 
part  of  the  limb  seen  directly  and  its  image  ill  tin-  glass  ap 
pear  as  one  continued   frame,  tin1  mirror  is  in   adjustment; 

but  if  the  reflected  image  appears  to  incline  downward,  it 
shows  that  the  face  of  tin-  class  inclines  backward  from 

lln  perpendicular.;  if  upwards,  that  it  inclines  forward,  and 
the  adjustment  must  be  made  by  the  screw  supplied  for  the 
put  pose. 

•J.  To  Bet  the  horizon  glass  perpendicular  to  the  frame  of 
the  instrument. 

Ila\  ing  Carefully  adjusted  the  index  class,  or  seen  that  it 


the  limb.     Instruments  of  this  kind  are  now  all  graduated     is  in  adjustment,  sen-w  tin-  telescope  into  its  socket :  adjust 

by  a  dividing  machine.  the  eye-piece  to  distinct  vision :  screw  the  dusk  shade  cap 

The  frame  of  tie-  sextan!  is  supported  by  thru-  feet,  one    on  tin-  eye  end  of  tin-  telescope,  or  turn  down  sh 


near  each   end    of  the   limb,    and   the  third    tit  the  centre. 

where  it  serves  also  as  a  Bheath  to  cover  the  central  pin 

''with   il-  tat    inn-.'  screw]  round  which  the  index  revolves 
A  handle  parallel  to  th''  frame  is  attached  to  the  back  of 

ii,  to  hold  the  i  r  trument  by  when  observing. 

Tin-  revolving  mirror    A   is  attached   by  three  screws   to 

tdex.    la  common  instruments  only  two 

of  these  Screws  an-   fastening  screws,  and  the  third  is  used 
as  an  adjusting  screw  for  placing  the  mirror  perpendicular 
1110 


fore  tin-  mirrors  ;  and  looking  towards  the  sun,  brine  the  In- 
dex near  to  Zero;  move  it  steadily  backwards  and  forwards, 
and  tin-  reflected  image  of  the  sun  will  be  seen  to  pass  over 
his  disk,  as  viewed  directly.  If  the  two  circular  ili-ks  ac- 
curately cover  '-nil  other  in  passing,  the  perpendicular  ad- 
justment of  the  i .-"ii  glass  requires  no  adjustment;  but 

if  they  pass  a  ii:ti«-  aside  of  each  other,  so  thai  two  different 
col 'd  lines  appear  on  each  side  of  tie-  overlapping  mid- 
dle part,  the  mirror  B  must  be  turned  by  the  appropriate 


SEXTANT. 

screw  till  the  disks  accurately  cover  each  other,  when  the 
adjustment  will  be  complete.  This  adjustment  may  also  be 
effected  by  making  a  bright  star  and  its  image  coincide  with 
each  other ;  but  in  this  case  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say 
that  the  darkening  shades  must  be  turned  aside. 

3.  To  set  the  telescope  parallel  to  the  plane  of  the  instru- 
ment. This  adjustment  is  effected  by  two  screws  in  the 
collar  which  attaches  the  telescope  to  the  limb  of  the  sex- 
tant, and  diametrically  oppose  each  other  in  a  line  perpen- 
dicular to  the  plane  of  the  instrument.  By  tightening  the 
upper  one  the  object  end  of  the  telescope  is  inclined  towards 
the  instrument,  and  the  contrary  effect  is  produced  by  tight- 
ening the  lower  one.  To  make  the  adjustment,  turn  round 
the  eye-piece  of  the  telescope  till  two  of  the  wires  in  its 
focus  appear  parallel  to  the  plane  of  the  instrument  (and  of 
this  the  eye  can  judge  with  sufficient  accuracy)  ;  then  take 
two  objects,  as  two  bright  stars,  or  the  sun  and  the  moon, 
whose  distance  in  either  case  should  not  be  less  than  90°, 
in  order  that  any  error  in  the  adjustment  may  become  more 
apparent,  and  bringing  the  image  of  one  of  the  objects  in 
accurate  contact  with  the  other  object  on  the  wire  next  the 
instrument,  instantly  bring  them  to  the  other  wire  ;  and  if 
they  are  also  in  accurate  contact  upon  that  wire,  it  may  be 
concluded  that  the  axis  of  the  telescope  is  parallel  to  the 
plane  of  the  instrument.  If  the  objects  are  the  sun  and 
moon,  and  they  separate  at  the  farther  wire,  it  shows  that 
the  object  end  of  the  telescope  inclines  towards  the  plane  of 
the  instrument,  and  the  contrary  if  they  overlap,  and  the  error 
must  be  corrected  by  turning  the  proper  screws  in  the  collar. 
The  above  are  all  the  adjustments  which  this  class  of  in- 
struments admit  of,  and  they  are  essential  to  every  instru- 
ment of  the  kind.  We  have  now  only  to  state  how,  in 
practice,  the  index  error  of  the  instrument  may  be  most  con- 
veniently and  accurately  determined. 

Having  effected  the  perpendicular  adjustment  of  the  hori- 
zon glass  by  the  method  above  explained,  bring  the  border 
of  the  sun's  reflected  image  to  coincide  with  the  sun  seen 
directly  both  on  the  right  and  left  side  ;  and,  reading  the  in- 
dex at  both  observations,  if  one  reading  is  on  the  left  and 
the  other  on  the  right  of  zero,  half  the  difference  is  the  index 
error,  and  the  fourth  part  of  the  sum  is  the  sun's  semidi- 
ameter ;  but  if  both  readings  are  on  the  same  side  of  zero, 
half  the.  sum  is  the  index  error,  and  the  fourth  part  of  the 
difference  is  the  semidiameter.  No  instrument-maker,  how- 
ever, will  leave  the  index  error  so  large  that  the  readings 
for  the  sun's  diameter  will  be  both  on  one  side  of  zero. 

The  Reflecting  Circle  depends  on  the  same  principles  as 
the  sextant,  from  which  it  differs  chiefly  by  having  the 
whole  circle  graduated.  In  some  instruments  of  this  kind, 
the  angle  is  measured  by  repetition.  Sec  Repeating  Circle. 
But  the  only  instrument  of  this  kind  that  can  be  now  said 
to  be  in  general  use  in  this  country  is  Troughton's  reflecting 
circle;  in  which,  by  means  of  three  equidistant  indexes, 
and  by  observing  alternately  with  the  face  of  the  index  di- 
rect and  reversed,  six  times  the  required  angle  is  obtained, 
without  reference  to  the  index  correction.  After  what  has 
been  said  above  on  the  principles  of  reflecting  instruments 
generally,  the  following  short  account  of  this  instrument 
will  be  sufficient. 

All  the  indexes  move  round  together;  and,  of  course,  the 
apparatus  for  slow  motion,  or  the  tangent  screw,  is  only 
requisite  for  one  of  them,  which  is  called  the  leading  index, 
and  which,  for  the  sake  of  convenience,  stands  at  or  near 
zero  on  the  limb  when  the  revolving  and  fixed  mirrors  are 
parallel. 
In  the  annexed  figure  let  B  D,  B  E,  and  B  F,  he  the  posi- 
tions of  the  indexes  when  the  re- 
volving mirror  is  parallel  to  the 
fixed  one  K  L :  and  let  A  C  and 
M  N  be  two  positions  of  the  re- 
volving mirror  when  it  is  equally 
\G'  inclined  to  K  L.  Then  the  arcs 
D  G,  D  G  ,  E  H,  E  H',  FI,  FI',  pass- 
|d  ed  over  by  B  D,  B  E,  and  B  F,  will 
be  all  equal;  and  if,  when  the 
mirror  has  the  position  M  N,  the 
face  of  the  instrument  be  reversed, 
M  N  and  K  L  will  have  the  same 
relative  position  to  each  other  that 
A  C  and  K  L  have ;  and  consequently  if  an  object  is  seen 
by  reflexion  from  A  C  and  KL,  it  will  also,  when  the  in- 
strument is  reversed,  be  seen  by  reflexion  from  M  N  and 
K  L  to  an  eye  placed  in  the  same  situation.  Hence  the  de- 
grees on  the  arcs  G  G',  H  H',  1 1',  which  are  the  differences  of 
the  readings  of  the  observations  in  the  direct  and  reversed 
positions,  are  each  the  measure  of  double  the  distance  of 
the  object  from  its  reflected  image.  The  degrees  being 
numbered  round  the  circle  from  0  to  720°,  and  the  indexes 
placed  very  nearly  at  equal  distances  from  each  other,  it  is 
customary  in  practice  to  read  the  degrees,  with  the  minutes 
and  seconds,  from  the  leading  index  only,  and  to  read  only 
the  minutes  and  seconds  at  the  other  indexes. 
88  94 


SHADOW. 

SE'XTILE  ASPECT,  in  Astrology,  is  the  aspect  of  two 
planets  when  they  are  distant  from  each  other  the  sixth 
part  of  a  circle,  or  sixty  degrees. 

SEXTON.  (Lat.  saenstanus,  sacrista.)  A  church  offi- 
cer, who  is  properly  the  keeper  of  holy  things  belonging  to 
divine  worship,  and  said  to  be  the  same  with  the  ostiarius 
in  the  Romish  church.  A  sexton  is  usually  appointed  for 
life  (whether  by  the  minister  or  others,  according  to  cus- 
tom), and  in  such  case  a  mandamus  lies  to  restore  him  to 
his  office. 

SFORZA'TO.  (It.  forced.)  In  music,  a  term  written 
over  a  note  to  signify  that  it  is  to  be  played  or  struck  louder 
than  the  rest. 

SFUMA'TO.  (It.  smoky.)  In  Painting,  a  term  applied 
to  that  style  of  painting  wherein  the  tints  are  so  blended 
that  the  outline  is  scarcely  perceptible,  the  whole  present- 
ing an  indistinct  misty  appearance.  Guercino's  works  pre- 
sent some  of  the  finest  examples  of  the  style. 

SGRAFI'TTO.  (It.  scratched.)  In  Painting,  a  species  of 
painting  in  which  the  ground  is  prepared  with  dark  stucco, 
on  which  a  white  coat  is  applied;  which  last  being  re- 
moved with  an  iron  instrument,  the  chipping  it  away  opens 
to  the  black  ground  and  forms  the  shadows,  giving  it  the 
appearance  of  a  chiaro-scuro  painting.  The  principal  pic- 
tures of  Polidoro  da  Caravaggio  are  executed  in  this  man- 
ner, which  is  capable  of  great  effect,  and  is  extremely  dura- 
ble, though  it  must  be  conceded  the  appearance  is  rather 
harsh. 

SHABRACK.  The  cloth  furniture  of  a  cavalry  officer's 
charger.    The  term  is  of  Hungarian  origin. 

SHA'DDOCK.  The  fruit  of  the  Citrus  decumaria:  it  is 
a  species  of  orange. 

SHA'DOW.  In  Optics,  a  portion  of  space  from  which 
light  is  intercepted  by  an  opaque  body.  As  the  rays  of 
light  proceed  in  straight  lines,  every  opaque  object  on  which 
light  falls  is  accompanied  with  a  shadow  on  the  side  oppo- 
site to  the  luminous  body;  and  the  shadow  appears  more 
intense  in  proportion  as  the  illumination  is  stronger,  because 
any  object  placed  within  it  contrasts  more  strongly  with  the 
surrounding  objects  on  which  the  light  is  suffered  to  fall. 

As  every  point  of  a  luminous  body  is  a  separate  focus  of 
illumination,  it  follows  that  an  opaque  object  illuminated 
by  the  sun,  or  any  other  source  of  light  which  is  not  a 
single  point,  must  have  an  infinite  number  of  shadows, 
though  not  distinguishable  from  each  other;  and  hence  the 
shadow  of  an  opaque  body  received  on  a  plane  is  always 
terminated  by  a  penumbra,  or  partial  shadow,  the  extent  of 
which  is  greater  in  proportion  to  the  magnitude  of  the 
luminous  body,  the  distance  of  the  opaque  body  from  the 
plane  on  which  the  shadow  falls,  and  the  degree  of  obliquity 
with  which  the  luminous  rays  fall  on  the  plane. 

Shadows  are  said  to  be  right,  or  versed,  according  to  the 
position  on  the  planes  on  which  they  are  thrown.  The 
shadow  of  an  upright  body  projected  on  the  plane  of  the 
horizon  is  a  right  shadow ;  and  that  of  a  body  on  a  vertical 
plane  to  which  the  body  is  perpendicular,  as  that  of  a  bar 
of  iron  fixed  perpendicular  in  a  wall,  is  a  versed  shadow. 
In  both  cases,  the  length  of  the  shadow  is  to  the  height  of 
the  opaque  body  as  the  cosine  to  the  sine  of  the  angle  which 
the  luminous  ray  makes  with  the  plane.  The  ancient 
geometers  availed  themselves  of  this  property  of  shadows 
to  measure  the  altitudes  of  objects. 

Coloured  Shadows. — In  certain  states  of  the  atmosphere 
the  shadows  of  opaque  objects  projected  on  a  white  surface 
are  frequently  observed,  about  the  time  of  sunrise  or  sun- 
set, to  be  of  a  blue  colour.  This  curious  observation  ap- 
pears to  have  been  first  made  by  the  celebrated  painter 
Leonardo  da  Vinci,  and  is  also  noticed  by  Otto  Guericke  in 
his  Magdeburg  Experiments ;  but  no  further  notice  seems 
to  have  been  taken  of  the  phenomenon  until  about  a  cen- 
tury later,  when  it  again  occurred  to  Buffon.  Happening 
to  be  standing  on  an  eminence  about  the  time  of  sunset,  he 
perceived  the  shadows  of  the  trees  on  a  white  wall  about 
30  or  40  feet  distant  to  be  coloured  with  a  light  green,  in- 
clining to  blue.  The  next  morning,  at  sunrise,  he  repeated 
the  observation ;  but  instead  of  finding  the  shadows  green, 
he  found  them  blue,  or  rather  the  colour  of  lively  indigo. 
Afterwards,  he  often  observed  the  shadows,  both  in  the 
morning  and  evening,  but  always  observed  them  to  be 
blue ;  and  he  remarks  that  any  one  may  see  a  blue  shadow, 
if  he  will  hold  his  finger  before  a  piece  of  white  paper  at 
sunrise  or  sunset.  The  phenomenon  has  since  been  fre- 
quently observed ;  and  it  is  usually  ascribed  to  the  aerial 
colour  of  the  atmosphere,  which  enlightens  the  shadows, 
and  in  which  the  blue  rays  prevail.  (See  Priesthfs  His- 
tory of  Light,  (S-c,  1762.)  For  remarks  on  shadows  with 
luminous  borders,  glorified  shadows,  and  other  optical  phe- 
nomena of  the  same  kind,  see  Prof.  Forbes's  Report  on 
Meteorology  in  the  Reports  of  the  British  Association  for 
1840. 

Shadow.  In  Painting,  the  form  which  a  solid  object 
projects  on  a  surface  or  surfaces  by  being  interposed  be- 

1117 


SHAFT. 

tween  the  surface  or  surfaces  and  the  sun,  or  other  lumin- 
ousbody;  the  doctrines  whereof  have  received  the  name 
v.    Shade  is  a  term  applied  to  that  portion  of 
the  object  h  inch  i<  ti"t  obvious  to  the  luminous  body. 

SHAFT.  In  Architecture,  that  part  of  a  column  between 
the  base  and  capital,  sometimes  called  the  trunk  nt'  the 
column.  The  shaft  of  a  columa  always  diminishes  in 
diameter  from  about  a  third  of  its  height  Sometimes  it 
has  a  Blight  swelling  [see  Entasis)  in  the  lower  part  of  its 
height  In  Che  oldest  Doric  columns,  the  diminution  was 
siderable  as  to  give  (he  column  a  conical  appearance. 

In  the  Doric  edifices  at  Athens,  the  upper  diameter  is  not 

more  than  a  quarter  less  than  the  lower  diameter ;  in  the 

temples  of  Jupiter  \emeus,  between   Antes  and  Corinth, 

not  more  than  a  tilth  less.    In  Ionic  and  Corinthian  columns, 

the  difference  of  the  upper  and  lower  diameters  varies  from 
B  fifth  to  a  twelfth.  The  ancients  seem  to  have  regulated 
tl'.e  diminution  in  some  proportion  to  the  absolute  height  of 
the  column,  for  no  particular  law  seems  to  have  prevailed 
in  terms  of  the  lower  diameter. 

Shaft.  In  Mines.  A  shaft  or  pit  is  a  prismatic  or  cylin- 
drical hollow  space,  the  axis  of  which  is  either  vertical  or 
much  inclined  to  the  horizon.  The  dimension  of  the  pit, 
which  is  never  less  than  3'2  inches  in  its  narrowest  dia- 
meter, amounts  sometimes  to  several  yards.  Its  depth  may 
extend  to  1000  feet,  and  more.  Whenever  a  shaft  is  open- 
ed, means  must  be  provided  to  extract  the  rubbish  which 
continually  tends  to  accumulate  at  its  bottom,  as  well  as 
the  waters  which  may  percolate  down  into  it ;  as  also  to 
facilitate  the  descent  and  ascent  of  the  workmen.  For 
sometime  a  wheel  and  axle  erected  over  the  mouth  of  the 
opening,  which  serve  to  elevate  one  or  two  buckets  of 
proper  dimensions,  may  be  sufficient  for  most  of  these  pur- 
poses; but  such  a  machine  becomes  ere  long  inadequate. 
Horse-whims,  or  powerful  steam  engines,  must  then  be  had 
recourse  to;  and  effectual  methods  of  support  must  be  em- 
ployed to  prevent  the  sides  of  the  shaft  from  crumbling  and 
falling  down.     (  Ure's  Vict,  of  Arts,  (,-c.) 

SHAG.  The  English  name  of  a  species  of  cormorant 
(Pelicanug  graculus,  Linn.) 

SHAGREE'N.  A  specie-;  of  leather,  supposed  formerly 
to  have  been  prepared  from  the  skin  of  the  shagree,  a 
species  of  whale.  It  i,  prepared  from  horse  or  ass  skin,  its 
granular  appearance  being  given  by  embedding  in  it,  whilst 
soft,  the  seeds  of  a  species  of  chenopodium,  and  afterwards 
shaving  down  the  surface:  it  is  dyed  with  the  green  pro- 
duced by  the  action  of  sal  ammoniac  on  copper  filings.  It 
was  formerly  much  used  for  watch,  spectacle,  and  instru- 
ment cas    -,  and  was  made  chiefly  in  Astracan. 

SHAH.  (In  Persian,  prince.)  The  title  given  by  Eu- 
ropean writers  to  the  monarch  of  Persia,  who  in  his  own 
<■  mntry  is  designated  by  the  compound  appellation  of 
Padishah,  which  see. 

SHAH-NAMAH.  (The  Book  of  Kings.)  The  most  an- 
cient and  celebrated  poem  in  the  modem  Persian  language, 
by  the  poet  who  received  as  a  title  of  honour  the  name 
"  Firdousi"  [of  Paradise),  by  which  he  is  known.  Its  date 
is  supposed  to  be  about  A.D.  1000.  A  complete  translation 
into  Eng  ish,  in  four  volumes,  was  published  by  Captain 
Macan,  Calcutta,  1829. 

SHAKE.  In  Music,  a  quick  alternate  repetition  of  the 
note  above  with  that  over  which  the  mark  tr  is  placed, 
Commonly  ending  with  a  turn  from  the  note  below. 

SHAKERS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  sect  said  to 
have  originated  by  a  secession  from  the' body  of  Quakers, 
in  1147,  in  Lancashire;  who  received  their  nickname  from 
the  peculiar  contortions  of  body  which  they  adopted  in 
their  religious  exercises.  Anne  Lee,  the  great  female  leader 
of  this  sect,  joined  the  society  in  1758;  ami.  considering 
In  England,  went,  with  a  few  followers, 
to  New  York  in  1771,  and  died  ten  years  afterwards,  at 
which  time  hei  sect  had  made  great  progress  in  America. 
She  was  considered  as  the  woman  spoken  of  in  Revela 

tions.  The  sect  appears  to  have  fallen  into  obscurity,  al- 
though a  lew  Congregations  still  remain. 

SHALE.    A  crumbling  variety  of  slate. 

SHA'MANISM,  or  SCH  VMANISM.  A  general  name 
applied  to  the  idolatrous  religions  of  a  number  of  barbarous 
tribes,  comprehending  thi  b  race,  the  Ostiaks, 

id  other  inhabitants  of  Siberia  as  far  a-  the 
Pacific  ocean.  These  nations  generally  believe  in  a  Su- 
preme Being,  hut  to  whom  they  attribute  little  share  in  the 

immediate  government  of  the  wield:  this  is  in  the  hands 
Ofa  i  nailer  of  secondary  gods,  both  benevolent  and  ma- 
levolent towards  men.  They  appear  to  have  very  uncer- 
tain and  fluctuating  opinions  respecting  these  last.  Thus. 
those  tribes  which  dwell  on  the  frontier  of  Russia  are  said 
to  admit  Saint  -Nicholas  among  their  gods.  The  shamans 
or    priests  possess    the   power  of  propitiating  such    as    are 

malignant    These  priests  are  called  by  various  names  In 
it  tribe 1.    Thi  pecting  another  life 

appears  to  be,  that  the  condition  of  man  will  be  poorer  and 
1118 


SHEKEL. 

more  wretched  than  in  the  present;  hence  death  is  an  ob- 
ject of  great  dread.  Women  are  esteemed  very  inferior  to 
men  by  all  these  nations.  The  magic  drum  of  the  priests 
is  well  known.  For  one  of  the  latest  accounts  of  ihese  re- 
mote people,  see  Von  Wr angel's  Journey  to  the  Polar  Sea. 

SHAMMY,  or  SHAMOY.  The  tanned  or  tawe.l  skin  of 
the  Chamois  goat.  Any  soft  pliable  leather  now  passes 
under  the  name.     See  Leather. 

SHAMPOOING.  A  name  given  to  an  operation  in  the 
East,  which  consists  in  pressing  the  joints  and  rubbing 
them,  so  as  to  mitigate  pain,  and  restore  tone  and  vigour  to 
the  parts. 

SHAMROCK.  The  popular  emblem  of  Irelnnd :  as  the 
rose  of  England,  and  the  thistle  of  Scotland,  it  is  generally 
supposed  to  have  been  the  plant  called  white  clover,  Tri- 
fo/ium  repens  ;  but  it  appears  to  have  been  rather  the  wood- 
sorrel,  Ozalis  acetosilla. 

SHANK.     In  Architecture.     See  Femur. 

SHANK  PAINTER.  The  rope  or  chain  which  passing 
round  the  shank  of  the  anchor,  lying  horizontally,  confines 
it  to  the  ship's  bow. 

SHARP.  In  Music,  a  character  #,  which  prefixed  to  a 
note  signifies  that  it  is  to  be  sung  or  played  a  semitone 
higher  than  it  naturally  would  have  been  without  such 
character. 

SHEAF.  In  Mechanics,  a  solid  cylindrical  wheel  fixed 
in  a  channel  and  moveable  about  an  axis,  as  in  the  block 
ofa  pullev. 

SHEA'RIXG.    The  term  in  Scotland  for  reaping. 

SHEARING  SHEEP.  The  operation  of  clipping  off  the 
wool  from  the  bodies  of  ewes  and  lambs:  generally  per- 
formed in  the  beginning  of  summer,  when  the  animals  are 
not  likely  to  sutler  from  being  deprived  of  their  warm  cover- 
ing, and  when  there  is  sufficient  lime  for  the  wool  to  grow 
again  before  winter. 

SHEATH,  in  Eotany,  is  a  term  applied  to  a  petiole  when 
it  embraces  the  branch  from  which  it  springs,  as  in  grasses; 
or  to  a  rudimentary  leaf  which  wraps  round  the  stem  on 
which  it  grows,  as  in  the  scapus  of  many  Endogenous 
planls. 

SHEATHING.  The  covering  laid  on  the  ship's  bottom 
to  defend  it  from  the  worms.  Sheets  of  thin  copper  nailed 
on  with  copper  nails  constitutes,  at  present,  the  sheathing 
of  all  the  better  kinds  of  vessels.  Lead  has  been  used ; 
and  large  headed  iron  nails,  called  scupper  nails  are  used 
still  for  the  same  purpose  on  the  bottoms  of  old  hulks,  piles, 
&c.  Zinc  and  different  compositions  have  been  proposed  as 
substitutes  for  copper;  and  Sir  II.  Davy  ingeniously  sug- 
gested the  application  of  pieces  of  zinc  or  iron  upon  different 
parts  of  the  copper  surface,  which  by  the  action  of  the  sea 
water  render  the  latter  metal  electro-negative,  and  capable, 
therefore,  of  resisting  the  oxidizing  and  corrosive  agencies 
of  the  substances  held  in  solution.  The  pieces  of  iron  or  of 
zinc  so  applied  have  been  properly  called  protectors ;  but 
by  occasioning  the  precipitation  of  earthy  matters  upon  the 
copper,  while  they  effectually  protect  it,  they  render  its  sur- 
face favourable  to  the  adhesion  of  weeds,  barnacles,  &c, 
and  sometimes  to  such  an  extent  as  to  interfere  with  the 
passage  of  the  ship  through  the  water:  upon  such  grounds, 
Sir  Humphrey's  valuable  suggestion  has  been  neglected. 
When  vessels  are  laid  up  in  dock  the  protectors  are  in  suc- 
cessful use.  Sheathing  formerly  was  composed  of  thin  fir 
boards. 

SHEEP.     SceOvis. 

SHEER.  The  curve  which  the  line  of  ports,  or  of  the 
deck  presents  to  the  eye  when  viewing  the  side  of  the 
ship.  When  these  lines  are  straight,  or  the  extremities  do 
not  rise,  as  is  most  usual,  the  ship  is  said  to  have  a  straight 
sheer. 

SHEER  HULK.  A  hulk  permanently  fitted  with  sheers 
for  masliiiL'  and  dismasting  ships. 

SHEERS.  Two  masts  or  spars  lashed  together  at  or 
near  the  bead,  and  raised  to  a  vertical  position,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  lifting  the  masts  into  or  out  of  a  vessel. 

SHEET.  The  rope  attached  to  the  after  mast  or  lee- 
ward mast  clue  or  corner  of  a  sail,  to  extend  it  to  the  wind. 
In  the  square  sails  above  the  courses,  the  ropes  attached  to 
both  clues  are  called  shuts  :  in  till  other  cases  the  weadier- 
niost  one  is  called  a  tuck. 

SHEET  ANCHOR.  The  third  of  the  four  large  anchors 
generally  cariied  by  a  ship. 

SHEIK.     (In  Arabic,  elder  or  eldest.)    A  title  of  dignity 

properly  belonging  U)  the  chiefj    of  the    Arabian   tribes  or 

dans.  The  heads  of  monasteries  are  also  termed,  in  some 
■■-.  sieiks  among  the  Mohammedans,  li  is  also  the 
idle  of  the  higher  order  of  religious  persons  who  pi  each  in 
the  mosques.  The  mufti  of  Constantinople  bears  the  title 
of  Sheikh-ul  Islam. 

Sll  EK  EL.  'flu  name  ofa  weight  and  coin  in  use  among 
the  .lews.  The  weight  of  the  shekel  was  about  X  oz.  in 
English  avoirdupois  weight;  and  the  value  of  the  coin  was 
i!o'.  ~d.    There  were  two  standards  of  the  shekel :  the  she- 


SHINGLE. 

kel  of  the  sanctuary,  which  was  used  in  calculating  the 
offerings  of  the  temple,  and  all  sums  connected  with  the 
sacred  law;  and  the  royal  or  profane  shekel,  used  for  all 
civil  payments.  Various  opinions  are  entertained  respecting 
the  relative  value  of  these  two  standards  ;  but  nothing  cer- 
tain can  be  averred  on  the  subject.  Wener  and  Michaelis, 
without,  however,  any  sufficient  reason,  as  it  appears,  are 
of  opinion  that  the  shekel  used  in  commercial  transactions 
differed  from  both  of  these.  (See  Wener,  Biblisches  Real- 
TOiJrterbucA,  art.  "Sekel.") 

SHEKl'NAH.  The  Jewish  name  for  the  Divine  pres- 
ence, which  rested,  in  the  shape  of  a  cloud,  over  the  "  pro- 
pitiatory," or  "mercy  seat,"  as  it  is  rendered  in  our  transla- 
tion (Leviticus,  xvi.,  2).  The  Jews  reckon  it  among  the 
five  particulars  which  were  present  in  the  first  temple,  and 
Wanting  in  the  second.  (See  Prideauz'  Connection,  1.  3.) 
On  this  account  God  is  so  often  said  in  Scripture  to  "  dwell 
between  the  cherubim;"  that  is,  between  the  images  of 
cherubim  on  the  mercy  seat.  (1  Sam.,  iv..  4  ;  Psalm.,  lxxx., 
1,  &.C.     See  also  AZeM.  de  l\ic.  des  Iiescr.,  vol.  xxxviii./ 

SHE'LDRAKE.  The  common  name  of  the  species  of 
duck  called  .duos  tadorna,  which  is  the  type  of  the  sub- 
genus Tadora  of  Kay  and  modern  ornithologists.  This 
elegant  species  frequents  many  parts  of  our  coast,  and  re- 
mams  throughout  the  year.  The  female  commonly  selects 
a  rabbit-hole  in  which  to  deposit  her  eggs,  which  are  some- 
times as  many  as  sixteen  in  number.  The  sheldrake  feeds 
on  small  fish,  marine  insects,  and  sea-weed. 

SHELL.  The  hardening  principle  of  shell  is  generally 
carbonate  of  lime  nearly  pure.  The  animal  principle,  in 
the  porcellaneous  shells,  is  a  small  quantity  of  soluble  gela- 
tine ;  in  the  mother  of  pearl  shells,  it  is  albuminous.  The 
latter,  therefore,  when  steeped  in  dilute  muriatic  acid, 
leave  a  membranous  or  cartilaginous  residue ;  but  the  for- 
mer are  entirely  soluble.  For  the  form,  structure,  and  mode 
of  growth  of  shell,  see  Conchologt. 

Shell.  In  Artillery,  a  hollow  sphere  of  iron,  which  be- 
ing filled  with  gunpowder  and  fired  from  a  mortar,  bursts 
into  pieces;  when  the  powder  is  exploded,  and  produces  a 
very  destructive  effect.  The  charge  is  introduced  through 
a  hole  in  the  shell  of  about  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  fired 
by  means  of  a  fuze.  The  fuze  is  a  wooden  tube  made  to 
fit  the  hole,  and  filled  with  a  composition  of  sulphur,  salt- 
petre, and  mealed  powder;  and  is  cut  of  such  a  length  that 
the  shell  is  calculated  to  explode  just  before  or  immediate- 
ly after  it  reaches  the  ground. 

SilCLI  MARL.  A  deposit  of  clay  and  other  subslances, 
mixed  with  shells,  which  collects  at  the  bottom  of  lakes. 

SIIE'RBET  (a  word  borrowed  from  the  Persian),  signi- 
fies a  favourite  beverage  in  the  East,  bearing  some  resem- 
blance to  our  lemonade,  made  of  water,  lemon-juice,  and 
sucar,  with  the  addition  of  some  other  ingredients,  such  as 
r os    \\  iter,  to  give  it  a  delightful  perfume. 

SllE'RIFF  (originally  shire-reeve,  from  the  Saxon,  mean- 
ing the  reeve  or  governor  of  the  shire),  is  the  tit ie  of  that 
functionary  who  acted  at  first  only  as  the  deputy  of  the  earl, 
hence  styled  in  Lat.  vice-comes  ;  but  has  long  been  the 
chief  civil  officer  in  each  county,  where  he  is  styled  bailiff 
of  the  crown,  and  where  he  is  specially  entrusted  with  the 
execution  of  the  laws  and  the  preservation  of  the  peace : 
for  which  purposes  he  has  at  his  disposal  the  whole  civil 
force  of  the  county — in  old  legal  language  the  posse  comita- 
tus.  The  most  ordinary  and  important  functions  of  the 
sheriff,  which  he  universally  exercises  by  a  deputy,  called 
under  sheriff,  for  whose  conduct  he  is  responsible,  consist, 
1st.  In  the  execution  of  writs  issuing  from  the  superior 
courts,  or  awarded  by  the  judges  on  their  consent,  to  take 
effect  within  the  county.  2.  In  the  holding  of  the  sheriff's 
court.  The  sheriff  himself  only  executes  in  person  such 
parts  of  his  office  as  are  either  purely  honorary,  such  as  at- 
tendance upon  the  judges  on  circuit  (for  whose  lodging  he 
is  also  bound  to  provide) ;  or  as  are  of  some  dignity  and 
public  importance,  such  as  the  presiding  over  elections  and 
the  holding  of  county  meetings,  which  it  is  in  his  power  to 
call  at  any  time.  The  county  courts  are  incident  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  sheriff.  Until  recently  they  could  only 
hold  pleas  of  debt  or  damages  under  the  value  of  40s.,  ex- 
cept in  replevin,  or  actions  by  virtue  of  a  particular  writ 
termed  a  justicies.  But  it  is  now  enacted,  by  3  &  4  W.  4, 
c.  42,  that  in  any  action  depending  in  a  superior  court  for  a 
debt  or  demand,  not  exceeding  .£20  it  shall  be  lawful  for 
the  court  to  direct  that  the  issue  joined  shall  be  tried  before 
the  sheriff  of  the  county  in  which  the  action  is  brought.  See 
Courts. 

Sheriffs  were  originally  chosen  by  the  freeholders  of  the 
county,  except  in  some  few  counties  where  the  office  was 
hereditary,  as  it  still  is  in  Westmoreland.  The  system  of 
popular  election  was  abolished  in  the  reign  of  Richard  II., 
and  sheriffs  have  long  been  appointed  by  the  crown  upon 
presentation  of  the  judges,  in  a  manner  partly  regulated  by 
law,  partly  by  custom  ;  but  sheriffs  may  also  be  nominated 
by  the  crown  without  recommendation  of  the  judges,  and 


SHEKINAH. 

are  then  familiarly  *tyled  pocket  sheriffs.  Those  appoint- 
ed in  either  way  are  bound  under  a  penalty  of  £500  to  serve 
the  office,  except  in  specified  cases  of  exemption  or  disabili- 
ty. The  description  given  of  the  office  as  it  is  in  England 
applies  to  Ireland  without  variation,  except  as  to  the  time 
of  its  origin. 

SHERIFF  DEPUTE.  In  Scotland,  the  principal  sheriff 
of  a  county.  He  is  named  by  the  crown,  must  be  an  advo- 
cate of  three  years'  standing,  and  receives  a  salary  varying 
from  £350  to  £1200  per  annum.  He  is  entitled  to  name 
sheriff  substitutes;  executes  writs,  returns  juries,  &c. ;  de- 
cides on  claims  for  enrolment  in  the  county  lists  of  parlia- 
mentary voters,  and  exercises  a  certain  criminal  jurisdic- 
tion. He  holds  also  civil  courts  for  the  recovery'  of  small 
debts,  and  a  court  of  record,  the  jurisdiction  of  which  ex- 
tends to  all  personal  actions,  and  possessory  actions  for  the 
recovery  of  real  property. 

SHE'RRY.  A  Spanish  wine  made  from  the  grapes  of 
Xeres  in  Andalusia.  Genuine  sherry  is  a  rich  dry  wine, 
containing  from  20  to  23  per  cent,  of  alcohol :  there  are 
many  varieties,  and  it  is  extensively  imitated  and  adulter- 
ated.    See  Wine. 

SHEW-BREAD.  In  the  Old  Testament.  The  name 
given  to  the  twelve  loaves  of  bread,  one  for  each  of  the 
twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  which  were  appointed  to  be  placed 
every  Sabbath  "  on  the  pure  table  before  the  Lord,"  for  the 
sustenance  of  the  priests.  They  appear  to  be  the  same 
with  that  which  is  called  "  shew-bread"  in  1  Sam.,  21, 
where  the  act  of  David  in  taking  these  loaves  for  the  nour- 
ishment of  himself  and  his  followers  is  related. 

SHI'BBOLETH.  (Heb.  a  flood.)  The  name  given  to  a 
sort  of  test  or  criterion  by  which  the  ancient  Jews  sought 
to  distinguish  true  persons  or  things  from  false.  The  term 
originated  thus:  After  the  battle  gained  by  Jephtha  over 
the  Ephraimites  (see  Judges,  xii.),  the  Gileadites  command- 
ed by  the  former  secured  all  the  passes  of  the  river ;  and 
on  an  Ephraimite  attempting  to  cross,  they  asked  him  if  he 
was  of  Ephraim.  If  he  said  no,  they  bade  him  pronounce 
the  word  Shibboleth,  which  the  Ephraimites  from  inability 
to  give  the  aspirate  called  Sibboleth  ;  and  by  this  means  he 
was  detected  and  instantly  thrown  into  the  river.  In  mod- 
ern times  this  word  has  been  adopted  into  the  language  of 
politics,  in  which  it  signifies  those  political  opinions  on 
which  all  the  members  of  a  party  are  agreed,  or  the  watch- 
word by  which  it  is  intended  to  unite  them. 

SHIELD.  (Germ,  scbild.)  A  well-known  piece  of  de- 
fensive armour,  very  extensively  used  before  the  invention 
of  gunpowder,  and  still  employed  by  many  nations  among 
which  military  art  has  made  imperfect  progress.  It  would 
be  endless  to  detail  the  various  materials  and  shapes  of 
which  it  has  been  constructed  at  different  periods.  The 
ancient  Greek  shield,  as  described  in  Homer,  was  large  and 
massive,  sufficient  to  cover  the  man  from  the  face  to  the 
knee,  composed  of  leather,  inlaid  in  some  instances  with 
metal .  That  of  the  Roman  legionary  was  four  feet  high, 
and  two  and  a  half  broad,  formed  of  wood  covered  with 
leather,  and  strongly  guarded  with  bosses  of  iron  or  bronze. 
The  ancient  Britons  and  other  nations  of  antiquity  wore 
round,  light,  basket-like  shields,  often  of  wicker-work ;  more 
resembling  the  parma  or  lighter  shield  of  the  Romans.  The 
Norman  shield,  as  used  in  England  down  to  the  time  of 
Henry  II.,  was  "of  the  form  called  kite  or  pear-shape,"  flat- 
ter at  first,  afterwards  approaching  to  the  semi-cylindrical. 
Heraldic  devices  were  first  borne  on  it,  so  far  as  is  distinct- 
ascertained,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  (Pictorial  Hist,  of 
England,  i.,  640.)  In  that  of  Edward  IV.  the  shield  had  be- 
come triangular:  the  point  of  the  triangle  was  rounded  off 
about  the  end  of  the  14th  century.  Afterwards  the  shape 
of  the  shield,  as  worn  by  knights,  became  more  and  more 
fantastic.  In  actual  service  it  fell  gradually  into  disuse  : 
sword  and  buckler  fight,  the  favourite  pastime  as  well  as 
warlike  practice  of  former  days,  became  obsolete  after  the 
rapier  and  dagger  had  been  introduced  in  the  reign  of  Eliza- 
beth. The  Highlanders  carried  the  target  with  the  broad 
sword  to  a  much  later  period. 

SHIELDS.  In  Botany,  little  coloured  cups  or  lines  with 
a  hard  disk,  surrounded  by  a  rim,  and  containing  the  fructi- 
fication of  lichens. 

SHILLING.  An  English  silver  coin  equal  to' twelve 
pence,  or  the  twentieth  part  of  a  pound  sterling.  Among 
the  ancient  Saxons,  the  value  of  the  shilling  was  only  five 
pence  ;  it  afterwards  underwent  many  alterations,  contain- 
ing sometimes  sixteen  pence,  and  often  twenty  pence.  The 
p-riod  when  it  obtained  its  present  value  is  assigned  to  the 
reign  of  Edward  I.  Many  other  countries  besides  England 
have  a  coin  of  this  name :  of  these,  perhaps,  the  Hamburgh 
schilling  is  the  best  known.    Its  value  is  Id.  English. 

SHI'LOH.     (Hebr.  differently  rendered — .Son,  He  who  is 
sent,  or  the  Sent,  or  the  Peaceable,  or  the  Prosperous.)     The 
name  given  to  the  Messiah  by  Jacob  in  his  prophecy,  Gen- 
esis, xlix.,  30. 
SHINGLE.    (Germ. ;  or  perhaps  from  Lat.  scindendo.) 

1119 


SHINGLES. 

The  coarse  gravel,  or  accumulation  of  small  stones,  found 
on  the  shores  of  rivers  or  the  sea :  in  the  latter  case  the  term 
sea-beach  is  applied. 

SHl'NGLES.  A  corruption  of  the  French  word  ceingU, 
which  means  a  belt.  This  eruptive  disorder  is  generally 
ushered  in  with  febrile  symptoms,  followed  by  an  itching 
or  tingling  sensation  of  some  part  of  the  body,  occasioned 
by  patches  of  little  red  pimples,  forming  in  the  course  of 
twenty-four  hours  small  transparent  vesicles;  these  suc- 
ceed each  other  till  they  at  length  form  a  kind  of  belt  round 
some  part  of  the  trunk  or  abdomen;  they  often  form  small 
ulcerations  and  scabs,  continuing  their  progress  for  three  or 
four  weeks.  This  disorder  is  not  contagious,  and  generally 
very  slight;  but  in  irritable  habits  the  itching  occasions 
want  of  rest  and  fever,  and  it  is  sometimes  attended  by  a 
deep-seated  pain  of  the  affected  part.  The  cause  of  shin- 
gles is  generally  obscure,  though  it  may  sometimes  be  re- 
ferred to  indigestion  and  suppressed  perspiration :  young  . 
persons  are  most  subject  to  it.  Gentle  aperients  and  dia- 
phoretics, strict  attention  to  the  diet,  and  occasional  ano- 
dynes, are  the  only  internal  remedies  generally  required  ; 
and,  externally,  a  little  cold  cream  or  fresh  spermaceti  oint- 
ment, or  the  occasional  application  of  a  very  weak  Gou-  • 
lard's  lotion,  is  all  that  is  necessary. 

Shingles.  In  Architecture,  small  slabs  of  wood,  or 
quartered  oaken  boards,  used  instead  of  slates  or  tiles  for 
covering  churches  or  spires.  They  are  sawn  to  a  certain 
scantling,  or  rather  cleft  to  about  an  inch  thick  at  one  end, 
and  shaped  like  wedges,  four  or  five  inches  broad  and  eight 
or  nine  inches  long. 

SHIP.  A  general  term  for  all  large  vessels,  but  restrict-  ! 
ed  by  seamen  to  such  only  as  have  three  complete  masts  ; 
i.  e.,  lower,  top,  and  top-gallant  masts.  As  we  cannot  here 
give  a  complete  description  of  so  complex  a  fabric,  and  as 
the  reader  will  have  become  familiar  with  the  forms  of  ships 
from  prints,  we  shall  merely  attempt  to  convey  some  gen- 
eral ideas  on  the  subject.  After  the  hull  has  been  com-  | 
pleted,  a  slight  account  of  the  construction  of  which  has 
been  given  under  Naval  Architect!,  re,  the  ballast,  which 
is  necessary  in  most  ships  to  keep  them  upright  when  un- 
der sail,  and  which  is  in  men-of-war  in  iron  pigs  is  spread 
over  the  bottom  of  the  hold,  chiefly  towards  the  middle  of 
the  length.  The  masts  are  then  taken  in.  On  the  ballast 
are  laid  loose  pieces  of  wood,  called  dunnage,  on  which 
rest  the  iron  tanks  containing  the  water  to  drink,  or  water 
casks.  The  hold  in  large  ships  is  divided  by  partitions  into 
the  fore,  main,  and  after  holds.  At  the  fore  extremity,  in 
men-of-war,  are  the  gunner's,  boatswain's,  and  carpenter's 
rooms,  containing  arms,  supplies  of  rope,  bolts,  pump  gear, 
and  other  materials  of  the  fittings,  or  for  repairs.  In  this 
part  also  is  the  fore  powder  magazine,  when  there  are  two. 
In  the  fore  hold  are  stowed  water,  wood  for  firing,  and. 
separated  by  a  strong  partition,  coals.  In  the  main  hold 
are  stowed  water,  stores,  chain  cables,  &c.  In  the  after 
hold  are  the  provisions ;  and,  in  the  spirit  roam,  the  spirits : 
here  also  is  the  powder  magazine.  In  the  narrow  and 
shallow  after  extremity  is  stowed  the  bread  or  biscuit.  The 
spare  sails  are  kept  in  a  space  called  the  sail  room,  over  the 
fore  hold.  The  hemp  cables  are  kept  in  the  cable  tiers,  on 
a  deck  over  the  main  hold.  These  decks  immediately  01 .  r 
liie  holds  constitute  generally  the  fore  and  after  cock  pit*. 
In  large  ships  the  u  hole  deck  is  called  the  orlop  deck.  On 
the  lower  deck,  which  is  next  above  the  former,  the  men 
mess  and  sleep.  In  frigates,  and  smaller  vessels,  this  deck 
is  a  little  below  the  water;  in  two  and  three  decker?,  it  is 
three  or  more  feet  above  the  water,  and  is  the  lower  gun 
deck.  6 

In  merchant  ships  the  arrangements  depend,  of  course,  on 
the  size  of  the  vessel  and  the  nature  of  the  cargo.  In  all 
these  vessels,  however,  the  place  allotted  to  the  crew  is  in 
the  fore  |w.rt.  and  is  called  the /err  peak.  Ships  are,  in  gen-  I 
erai,  constructed  for  the  purposes  of*  burden,  expedition,  and  I 
war;  the  latter  class,  which  must  possess  also,  In  part,  the 
qualities  of  the  other  two.  exhibit  the  finest  models.     The  ! 

largest  ships,  of  ISO  guns,  carrj  three  complete  r  >wa  or  tiers 

of  heavy  cannon  (33 pounders),  and  are  thence  called  U 
deckers;  of  late  years  some  .still  heavier  guns  have  been 
introduced.  Each  deck  has  from  15  to  17  guns  on  each 
side.  The  middle  of  these  decks  is  called  the  middle  deck  ; 
and  the  deck  next  above  this,  or  which  is  next  below  the 
uppermost  deck,  the  main  deck.  Guns  are  also  carried  on 
the  upper  deck,  of  which  the  fore  part  is  called  the  fore- 
castle,  and  the  part  abaft  the  main  mast  the  quarttr  deck. 
The  deck  over  this  last,  extending  from  the  after  extremity 
to  a  little  before  the  mizzen  mast,  is  called  the  poop.  The 
after  parts  of  these  decks,  from  and  including  the  mizzen 
in. ist,  are  the  C  thins  of  the  admiral,  captain,  and  the  offi- 
cers;  the  latter  being  called  the  ward  room  in  ships  of  the 

lme,  and  ^ae  gun  room  In  frigates.  The  length  of  a  ship  of 
the  largest  cl  iss  Is  about  -.'iki  feel  at  the  water  111  > 

breadth  51  feet,  and  draught  of  water  about  26,  and  the 

height  of  the  truck  above  the  water  210  feet.    The  whole 

1120 


SHIPWRECK. 

weight  of  such  a  ship,  with  her  crew  and  provisions,  is 
about  4600  tons,  of  which  the  hull  or  shell  is  about  half. 
The  men,  with  their  effects,  amount  to  100  tons ;  and  the 
guns,  arms,  and  powder,  to  500  tons.  The  32  pounder  (long 
gun),  and  carriage,  weigh  72  cwt.,  and  the  carronade  one 
third  of  this.  Two-deckers  carry  from  70  to  90  guns.  In 
bad  weather  the  ports  of  the  lower  deck  are  defended  by 
heavy  lids  called  ports,  which  are  firmly  secured  from  with- 
in, the  guns  being  then  run  in  and  secured  from  motion. 
Frigates  carry  one  tier  of  guns  on  the  main  deck,  besides 
guns  on  the  upper  deck  ;  vessels  of  the  lower  classes  carry 
their  guns  on  the  upper  or  open  deck. 

Fine  sailing  ships  have  gone  upwards  of  13  knots  (or  sea 
miles  of  6080  feet)  an  hour,  in  a  squall ;  and  upwards  of  10 
knots  on  a  bow  line,  that  is,  the  sails  being  sharply  trimmed 
when  the  direction  of  the  wind  makes  an  angle  of  about 
67°  with  that  of  the  ship's  head. 

The  principal  scientific  works  on  ships  are  Bouguer, 
Traitt idu  A'arire ;  Euler,  Scitntia  J^'avalis  ;  Id.  Theorie  de 
la  Construction  et  de  la  Manoeuvre  des  faisseauz ;  Don 
George  Juan,  Ezamen  Maritime,  and  a  French  translation, 
with  notes,  by  L'Eveque  ;  Chapman's  JVhvoJ  .Architecture, 
&.C.  Much  general  information  is  to  be  found  in  Charnock's 
Marine  .Architecture,  and  many  other  works  contained  in 
any  good  catalogue,  under  the  heads  Naval  Architecture, 
Seamanship,  especially  in  Darcy  Lever's  Seamanship,  kc. 
But  the  subject  has  as  yet  been  but  imperfectly  treated,  and 
many  points  of  great  practical  importance,  and  unconnect- 
ed with  the  particular  properties  of  fluids,  have  not  been 
discussed. 

SHIP.  ARMED.  In  the  English  usages  of  war,  a  private 
vessel  occasionally  taken  into  the  service  of  government  in 
time  of  war,  armed  and  equipped  like  a  regular  ship  of  war, 
and  commanded  by  an  officer  of  the  navy,  with  the  rank  of 
master  and  commander. 

SHIPBUILDING.     See  Naval  Architecture. 

SHIP  MONEY.  The  celebrated  tax  imposed  by  Charles 
I.  without  authority  of  parliament,  which  proved  one  of  the 
most  immediate  causes  of  the  discontents  that  ended  in  the 
great  rebellion.  This  device  was  first  put  in  practice  in 
1634.  It  was  by  a  writ,  directed  to  the  sheriff  of  every 
county,  to  provide  a  ship  for  the  king's  service  ;  accom- 
panied by  written  instructions,  appointing  a  sum  of  money 
to  be  levied  instead.  This  writ  was  framed  by  Attorney- 
General  Noy.  The  tax  was  paid  for  about  four  years  with- 
out opposition  ;  when  the  question  of  its  legality  was  raised 
by  the  refusal  of  Hampden  to  pay  his  share.  It  was  argued 
before  the  judges  in  the  Exchequer  Chamber,  of  whom  a 
great  majority  gave  judgment  for  the  crown.  The  act 
■  whereby  all  the  proceedings  in  the  business  of  ship-money 
were  adjudged  void,  and  disannulled,  and  the  judgments, 
enrolments,  and  entries  thereupon  vacated  and  cancelled." 
was  one  of  the  first  proceedings  of  the  Long  Parliament. 
(See  Clarendon,  books  i.,  iii.) 

SHIPS,  REGISTRY  OF.  In  Commercial  Navigation, 
the  registration  or  enrolment  of  ships  at  the  custom-house, 
so  as  to  entitle  them  to  be  classed  among,  and  to  enjoy  the 
privileges  of,  British-built  ships. 

The  registry  of  ships  appears  to  have  been  first  introduced 
into  this  country  by  the  Navigation  Act  (IS  Car.  2,  c.  18, 
anno  1660;.  Several  provisions  were  made  with  respect  to 
it  by  the  7  &  8  Will.  3,  c.  22:  and  the  whole  was  reduced 
into  a  5]  stem  by  the  27  Geo.  3,  c.  19. 

It  may  be  laid  down  in  general,  that  a  vessel,  in  order  to  be 
admitted  to  registry,  and  consequently  to  enjoy  the  privileges 
and  advantages  that  exclusively  belong  to  a  British  ship, 
must  be  the  property  of  his  majesty's  subjects  in  the  I'nited 
Kingdom  or  some  of  its  dependencies:  and  that  it  must 
have  been  built  in  the  said  United  Kingdom.  &c,  or  been  a 
prize  vessel  legally  condemned,  or  a  vessel  legally  con- 
demned for  a  breach  of  the  slave  laws. 

The  great,  and  perhaps  the  only  original  object  of  the 
registration  of  ships,  was  to  facilitate  the  exclusion  of 
foreign  ships  from  those  departments  in  which  they  were 
prohibited  from  engaging  by  the  navigation  laws,  by  afford- 
ing a  ready  means  of  distinguishing  such  as  were  really 
British.  It  has  also  been  considered  advantageous  to  in- 
dividuals, by  preventing  the  fraudulent  assignment  of  prop- 
erty in  ships  ;  but  Lord  Tenterden  has  observed,  in  refer- 
ence to  this  suppo.ed  advantage,  that  "the  instances  in 
which  fair  and  honest  transactions  are  rendered  unavaila- 
ble, through  a  negligent  want  of  compliance  with  the  forms 
directed  by  these  and  other  statutes  requiring  a  public  re- 
gister of  conveyances,  make  the  expediency  of  all  such  reg- 
ulations, considered  with  reference  to  private  benefit  only, 
a  matter  of  question  and  controversy."  (Law  of  Shipping, 
part  i..  r.  2.) 

SHIPWRECK,  in  the  open  sea,  arises  from  the  water 
leaking  in  at  the  bottom  of  a  ship  faster  than  the  pumps  can 
discharge  it:  or  from  the  sea  coming  over  one  of  the  decks, 
and  getting  below  in  great  quantity  ;  or  from  the  vessel  be- 
ing overset  by  the  wind.    Li  the  iabouring  of  a  weak  ship 


SHIRE. 

in  a  heavy  sea  the  seams  of  the  sides  and  bottom  open,  and 
the  caulking  works  loosen.  When  the  loss  of  a  mast  oc- 
curs, the  ship  is  often  left  entirely  to  the  action  of  the 
waves.  People  unused  to  the  sea  look  with  admiration  on 
the  strength  and  solidity  of  a  ship ;  but  those  who  have  ex- 
perienced the  violent  shocks  of  the  waves,  and  are  con- 
versant with  the  effects  of  incessant  agitation  upon  any 
fabric,  and  the  straining  effects  of  the  masts  and  sails  on 
the  hull,  are  rather  surprised  that  such  a  machine  should 
hold  together  for  so  many  years. 

When  the  ship  is  wrecked  near  the  shore,  the  object  is 
to  land  the  crew.  The  first  method  proposed  was,  we  be- 
lieve, Bell's,  in  1791.  A  mortar  was  fired  from  the  ship,  car- 
rying a  shell  with  a  rope  attached,  by  which  communica- 
tion with  the  shore  might  be  established.  Captain  Manby, 
in  1808,  employed  the  mortar  on  shore,  where  alone,  it  is 
obvious,  its  action  could  be  depended  upon ;  and  methods 
have  since  been  adopted  for  winding  the  rope  on  a  cone 
for  disengaging  it  without  impediment,  which  had  been 
found  the  chief  difficulty. 

SHIRE.  A  territorial  division.  (From  the  Anglo-Saxon 
scyran,  to  divide ;  whence  the  verb  to  sheer.)  In  modern 
language,  shire  is  synonymous  with  county  ;  but  some 
smaller  districts  in  the  north  of  England  retain  the  provin- 
cial appellation  of  shires  :  as  Richmondshire,  in  the  North 
Riding  of  Yortahire  ;  Hallamshire,  or  the  manor  of  Hallam, 
in  the  West  Riding,  which  is  nearly  coextensive  with  the 
parish  of  Sheffield.     See  County. 

SHIRE  CLERK.  An  officer  appointed  by  the  sheriff  to 
assist  in  keeping  the  county  court. 
SHIRE  MOTE.  The  Shire  Meeting  ;  i.  e.,  sheriff's  court. 
SHOOTING  STARS.  Well-known  meteors,  of  which 
the  orign  and  nature  are  involved  in  great  obscurity, 
and  which  have,  of  late  years,  excited  extraordinary  inter- 
est by  their  periodical  appearances  in  unusually  great 
numbers. 

Phenomena  of  Shooting  Stars. — The  apparent  magnitudes 
of  these  meteors  are  widely  different.  The  greater  part  of 
them  resemble  stars  of  the  3d,  4th,  5th,  and  6th  magnitudes  ; 
but  some  occur  which  surpass  stars  of  the  1st  magnitude, 
and  even  exceed  Jupiter  and  Venus  in  brilliancy.  In  some 
of  them  the  globular  form  can  be  easily  recognised  :  these 
are,  in  every  respect,  similar  to  bolides  or  fire-balls  ;  and, 
in  fact,  it  is  impossible,  from  their  appearances,  to  make 
any  distinction  between  the  larger  shooting  stars  and  the 
smaller  individuals  of  the  class  of  meteors  to  which  the 
name  of  the  fire-balls  is  usually  appropriated.  See  Fire- 
balls. 

Shooting  stars  appear  to  be  equally  numerous  in  every 
climate.  The  weather  seems  to  have  no  influence  upon 
their  number.  They  are  observed  at  all  times  of  the  year ; 
but,  generally  speaking,  they  appear  to  be  more  abundant 
in  the  end  of  summer  and  autumn  than  at  the  other  sea- 
sons. 

Some  of  the  shooting  stars  leave  a  luminous  train  behind 
them,  which  marks  their  path  through  the  sky  with  a  milk- 
white  light.  These  trains  for  the  most  part  disappear  in  a 
few  seconds ;  but  sometimes  they  continue  longer,  and  even 
for  several  minutes.  In  the  case  of  actual  fire-balls,  Dr. 
Olbers  observed  trains  which  continued  from  six  to  seven 
minutes ;  and  Brandes,  in  one  instance,  estimated  that  fif- 
teen minutes  elapsed  between  the  extinction  of  the  fire  ball 
and  the  disappearance  of  the  luminous  train.  The  trains  in 
general  assume  the  form  of  a  cylinder,  the  interior  of  which 
is  void  of  luminous  matter;  and  not  (infrequently,  before 
their  disappearance,  they  take  a  curved  form.  The  most 
probable  explanation  is,  that  they  are  caused  by  a  gaseous 
matter  left  behind  by  the  meteor,  and  bent  by  currents  of 
air. 

The  older  philosophers  had  formed  various  theories  to 
explain  these  remarkable  phenomena.  By  some  they  were 
supposed  to  be  the  products  of  an  oily  sulphurous  Vai>our 
existing  in  the  atmosphere,  which  being  disposed  in  thin 
layers,  and  becoming  inflamed  by  some  means,  would  ex- 
hibit the  appearance  of  a  clear  brilliant  spark  passing  ra- 
pidly from  one  point  to  another.  About  the  middle  of  the 
last  century,  when  the  effects  and  phenomena  of  electrici- 
ty began  to  be  better  understood,  Beccaria  and  Vassali, 
among  others,  regarded  the  shooting  stars  as  merely  electri- 
cal sparks;  an  hypothesis  which  was  soon  shown  to  be 
untenable.  At  a  later  period,  when  the  inflammable  nature 
of  the  gases  became  known,  Lavoisier,  Volta,  Herbert, 
Toaldo,  Gren,  and  others,  referred  these  meteors  to  hydro- 
gen gas,  which,  by  reason  of  its  inferior  density,  they  sup- 
posed must  be  accumulated  in  the  higher  regions  of  the  at- 
mosphere. Dal  ton,  however,  showed  that  such  accumula- 
tion cannot  take  place,  inasmuch  as  all  the  gases  which 
constitute  the  atmosphere  must  be  equally  diffused  through 
its  whole  extent,  according  to  the  law  of  Mariotte.  Deluc 
maintained  that  certain  phosphoric  exhalations  generated 
in  the  earth,  and  becoming  inflamed  in  the  sky,  formed  the 
true  essence  of  the  shooting  stars. 


SHOOTING  STARS. 

In  this  state  the  subject  remained  when  Chladni  publish- 
ed his  celebrated  work  on  the  causes  of  the  masses  of  iron 
and  other  similar  substances  found  in  Siberia  by  Pallas,  in 
which  he  clearly  established,  by  comparing  the  circum- 
stances of  a  great  multitude  of  observations,  that  the  fire- 
balls are  meteors  having  their  origin  beyond  our  atmosphere ; 
that,  in  fact,  they  are  masses  of  nebulous  matter  moving  in 
space  with  planetary  velocities,  which,  when  they  come  in 
the  way  of  the  earth  in  its  revolution  about  the  sun,  and 
enter  the  atmosphere,  are  inflamed  by  its  resistance  and 
friction,  and  become  luminous,  sometimes  scattering  masses 
of  stone  and  iron  on  the  ground.  Halley,  Wallis,  Pringle, 
Maskelyne,  and  others,  had  previously  assigned  a  cosmical 
origin  to  these  meteors,  but  without  suspecting  that  masses 
of  stone  and  iron  fell  from  them.  The  close  resemblance 
which  the  greater  part  of  the  shooting  stars  present  to  fire- 
balls, at  once  induced  Chladni  to  consider  these  phenomena 
also  as  cosmical ;  that  is  to  say,  as  small  masses  of  matter 
not  having  their  origin  in  our  atmosphere,  but  entering  it 
from  without,  and  which  are  either  entirely  consumed  in  it, 
or  become  extinguished  when  they  have  passed  beyond  it. 

These  conclusions,  however,  required  to  be  confirmed  by 
a  more  accurate  investigation  of  the  phenomena  ;  for  as  yet 
no  exact  determination  had  been  made  of  the  actual  aver- 
age heights  of  the  shooting  stars  above  the  earth,  or  of  their 
orbits,  velocities,  or  magnitudes.  In  the  year  1798  this  im- 
portant but  difficult  inquiry  was  undertaken  by  Professors 
Brandes  of  Leipsig,  and  Benzenberg  of  Dusseldorf  (both  at 
that  time  students  in  GSttingen).  Having  selected  a  base 
line  (about  nine  miles  in  length),  they  placed  themselves  at 
its  extremities  on  appointed  nights,  and  observed  all  the 
shooting  stars  which  appeared,  tracing  their  courses  through 
the  heavens  on  a  celestial  map,  and  noting  the  instants  of 
their  appearances  and  extinctions  by  chronometers  previous- 
ly compared.  The  differences  of  the  paths  traced  on  the 
maps  afforded  data  for  the  determination  of  the  parallaxes, 
and  consequently  the  heights  and  the  lengths  of  the  orbits. 
On  six  evenings,  between  September  and  November,  the 
whole  number  of  shooting  stars  seen  by  both  observers  was 
402 ;  of  these  22  were  identified  as  having  been  observed 
by  each  in  such  a  manner  that  the  altitude  of  the  meteor 
above  the  ground  at  the  instant  of  extinction  could  be  com- 
puted. The  least  of  the  altitudes  was  about  6  English 
miles.  Of  the  whole  there  were  7  under  45  miles;  9  be- 
tween 45  and  90 ;  6  above  90 ;  and  the  highest  was  above 
140  miles.  There  were  only  two  observed  so  completely  as 
to  afford  data  for  determining  the  velocity.  The  first  gave 
25  miles,  and  the  second  front  17  to  21  miles  in  a  second. 
The  most  remarkable  result  was,  that  one  of  them  certainly 
was  observed  not  to  fall,  but  to  move  in  a  direction  away 
from  the  earth. 

By  these  observations  a  precise  idea  was  first  obtained  of 
the  altitudes,  distances,  and  velocities  of  these  singular  me- 
teors. A  similar  but  more  extended  plan  of  observation  was 
organized  by  Brandes  in  1823,  and  carried  intoeffect  at  Bres- 
lau  and  the  neighbouring  towns  by  a  considerable  number 
of  persons  observing  at  the  same  time  on  concerted  nights. 
Between  April  and  October  about  1800  shooting  stars  were 
noted  at  the  different  places;  out  of  which  number 62  were 
found  which  had  been  observed  simultaneously  at  more 
than  one  station  in  such  a  manner  that  their  respective  alti- 
tudes could  be  determined,  and  36  others  of  which  the  ob- 
servations furnished  data  for  estimating  the  entire  orbits. 
Of  these  98,  the  heights  (at  the  time  of  extinction)  of  4 
were  computed  to  be  under  15  English  miles ;  of  15  between 
15  and  30  miles  ;  of  22  between  30  and  45 ;  of  33  between 
45  and  70;  of  13  between  70  and  90:  and  of  11  above  90 
miles.  Of  these  last  two  had  an  altitude  of  about  140  miles, 
one  of  220  miles,  one  of  280,  and  there  was  one  of  which 
the  height  was  estimated  to  exceed  460  miles. 

Of  the  36  computed  orbits,  in  26  instances  the  motion  was 
downwards,  in  one  case  horizontal,  and  in  the  remaining  9 
more  or  less  upwards.  The  velocities  were  between  18  and 
36  miles  in  a  second.  The  trajectories  were  frequently  not 
straight  lines,  but  incurvated  sometimes  in  the  horizontal 
and  sometimes  in  the  vertical  direction,  and  sometimes  they 
were  of  a  serpentine  form.  The  predominating  direction  of 
the  motion  of  the  meteors  from  north-east  to  south-west, 
contrary  to  that  of  the  earth  in  its  orbit,  was  very  remarka- 
ble, and  is  important  in  reference  to  their  physical  theory. 

A  similar  set  of  observations  was  made  in  Belgium  in 
1824,  under  the  direction  of  M.  Ouetelet,  the  results  of 
which  are  published  in  the  Annuaire  de  Briixellcs  for  1837. 
M.  Quetelet  was  chiefly  solicitous  to  determine  the  velocity 
of  the  meteors.  He  obtained  six  corresponding  observations 
from  which  this  element  could  be  deduced,  and  the  results 
varied  from  ten  to  twenty-five  English  miles  in  a  second. 
The  mean  of  the  six  results  gave  a  velocity  of  nearly  sev- 
enteen miles  per  second,  a  little  less  than  that  of  the  earth 
in  its  orbit. 

Another  set  of  corresponding  observations  was  made  in 
Switzerland  on  the  10th  of  August,  1838 ;  a  circumstantial 
4  A  1121 


SHOOTING  STARS. 


arrnunt  of  which  is  given  by  M.  Wartmnnn  in  Quetelct's 
ondance  Mat/tematiqne,  for  July,  1839.  M.  Wart 
nit nn  and  live  other  observers,  provided  with  celestial 
charts,  stationed  themselves ai  the  observatory  of  Geneva; 
and  the  corresponding  observations  were  made  at  Plan- 
.  i  village  about  sixty  miles  to  the  north-east  of  that 
city.     In  the  space  of  seven  and  a  half  hours,  the  number 

..i  i,.,r-  observed  by  the  six  observers  at  Geneva  was 

lif'l  ;  and  during  five  and  a  halt' hours,  the  number  observed 
at  Blanchettes  by  two  observers  was  KM.  All  the  circum- 
of  the  phenomena — the  place  of  the  apparition  and 
disappearance  of  each  meteor,  the  time  it  continued  visible, 
its  brightness  relatively  to  the  fixed  stars,  whether  accom- 
panied with  a  train,  &c,  were  carefully  noted,  and  the  tra- 
jectories projected  on  a  large  planisphere.  The  extent  of 
the  trajectories  described  by  the  meteors  was  very  different, 
varying  from  H°  to  70°  of  angular  space.  The  velocities 
appeared  also  to  differ  considerably  ;  imt  the  average  velo- 
ciiy  was  supposed  by  INI.  Warlmann  to  be  -.V;  per  second. 
It  was  round,  from  the  comparison  of  the  simultaneous  ob- 
servations, that  the  average  height  above  the  ground  was 
about  530  miles:  and  hence  the  relative  velocity  was  com- 
puted to  be  about  340  miles  in  a  second.  Hut  as  the  greater 
number  moved  in  a  direction  opposite  to  that  of  the  earth 
in  its  orbit,  the  relative  velocity  must  be  diminished  by  the 
earth's  velocity  (about  19  miles  in  a  second).  This  still 
leaves  upwards  Of  220  miles  per  second  for  the  absolute  ve- 
locity of  the  meteor,  which  is  more  than  eleven  times  the 
orbital  velocity  of  the  earth,  seven  and  a  half  times  that  of 
the  plane'.  Mercury,  and  probably  greater  than  that  of  the 
comets  at  their  perihelia. 

Such  are  the  principal  facts  which  have  yet  been  estab- 
lished respecting  the  heights,  velocities,  and  orbits  of  the 
shooting  stars;  and  it  is  from  these  chiefly  that  we  are  en- 
abled  to  form  any  probable  conjectures  respecting  their  ori- 
gin. And  since  it  is  now  established  that  no  difference  is 
observable  between  the  larger  shooting  stars  and  small  fire- 
balls, both  having  similar  altitudes  and  velocities,  and  pre- 
senting absolutely  the  same  appearances,  we  may  assume 
them  to  be  of  the  same  nature,  and  that  whatever  has  been 
prO\  >  d  respecting  lire-balls  will  apply  equally  to  the  larger 
shooting  stars.  Whether  the  meteoric  appearances  to 
which  the  latter  term  is  applied  may  not  include  objects  of 
totally  different  natures,  is  a  question  admitting  of  doubt, 
it  is  possible  thai  among  the  shooting  stars  there  may  be 
objects  which  are  merely  electric  sparks,  or  which  have  their 
origin  in  spontaneously  inflammable  gases,  known  or  un- 
known, existing  in  tile  atmosphere  ;  but  the  greater  part  Of 
them  must  be  considered  as  identical  with  fire-balls. 

Physical  Theory  of  the  Shooting  stars. — Some  philoso- 
phers, as  already  stated,  have  ascribed  an  atmospheric  ori 
gin  both  to  the  shooting  stars  and  fire-bills;  but  the  obser- 
vations of  Brandes,  and  more  particularly  those  of  Wart- 
Ittann;  which  prove  that  many  of  them  appear  at  altitudes 
In  beyond  the  limits  which  can  be  assigned  with  any  pro- 
bability to  tin'  atmosphere,  have  rendered  this  supposition 
altogether  untenable.  Another  hypothesis  respecting  their 
'origin  is,  that  they  are  bodies  projected  to  our  earth  from 
volcanoes  in  the  moon.  Dr.  Olbers  was  the  first,  perhaps, 
who  showed  the  possibility  of  this  hypothesis.  On  compu- 
ting the  forces  necessary  to  overcome  the  moon's  attraction, 
he  found  that  a  body  projected  from  the  moon  with  a  velo- 
city of  about  is.r)(M)  feet  in  a  second  would  not  fall  back  on 
the  lunar  surface,  hut  recede  from  it  indefinitely;  and  that 
in  order  to  reach  the  earth  it  is  only  necessary  that  the 
projectile  should  have  the  velocity  of  8300  feet,  which  is 
quite  conceivable,  being  only  about  tour  or  five  times  that 
of  a  cannon  ball.  The  hypothesis  of  the  lunar  origin  of 
meteoric  stones  was  adopted  by  Laplace,  Berzelius,  Benzen- 

berg,  and  others;   but  the   observed  velocities  of  the  Shoot 

ing  stars  have  iced,  red  this  origin  extremely  improbable 

with  re8pect  to  them.  In  order  to  enter  our  atmosphere 
with  a  velocity  of 20  miles  in  a  second,  it  may  be  shown 
that  if  they  come  from  the  moon  they  must  have  been  pro 
jected   from  the  lunar  surface  with  a  velocity  of  about 

120,000  feet  in  a  second,  which  may  be  regarded  as  altogeth 

er  Impossible. 

It  thus  appears  that  those  shooting  Stars  and  fire-balls 
which  have  the  planetary  velocity  of  from  20  to  10  miles  in 

it    <  i  md,  cannot  with  any  probability  be  regarded  as  having 

their  origin  in  the  moon.  Whether  any  individual  bodies 
moving  with  a  smaller  velocity  may  have  a  lunar  origin,  is 
a  question    which   cannot    be  decisively   answered.     "To 

me,"  says  Dr.  Olbers,  "it  does  not  appear  at  all  probable; 
and  I  regard  the  moon,  in  its  present  circumstances,  a-  an 
extremely  peaceable  neighbour,  which,  from  its  want  of 
water  and  atmosphere,  is  no  longer  capable  of  any  strong 
i    plosions." 

The  hypothesis  first  suggested  by  Chladni  is  that  which 
appears  to  have  met  with  most  favour,  having    been  adopt 

eil  by  Arngo  and  other  eminent  astroi ers  of  the  pre  cut 

day  to  explain  the  November  phenomena.    It  consists  in 
1122 


supposing  that,  independently  of  the  great  planets,  there 
exist  in  the  planetary  regions  myriads  of  small  bodies  which 
circulate  about  the  sun, generally  in  groups  of  /one-;  and 

that  some  of  these  zones  intersect  the  ecliptic,  and  are  con- 
sequently encountered  by  the  earth  in  its  annual  revolu- 
tion. The  principal  difficulties  attending  this  theory  are  the 
following:  First,  that  bodies  moving  in  groups  in  the  cir- 
cumstances supposed  must  necessarily  move  in  the  same 
direction,  and  consequently,  when  they  become  \i- 
the  earth,  would  all  appear  to  emanate  from  one  point  and 
move  towards  the  opposite.  Now,  although  the  observa- 
tions seem  to  show  that  the  predominating  direction  is  from 
north-east  to  south  west,  yet  shooting  stars  tire  observed  on 
the  same  nights  to  emanate  from  all  points  of  the  heavens, 
and  to  move  in  all  possible  directions.  Secondly,  their  aver- 
age velocity  (especially  as  determined  by  Wartmann)  great- 
ly exceeds  that  which  any  body  circulating  about  the  sun 
can  have  at  the  distance  of  the  earth.  Thirdly,  from  their 
appearance,  and  the  luminous  train  which  they  generally 
leave  behind  them,  and  which  often  remains  visible  for  sev- 
eral seconds,  sometimes  for  whole  minutes,  and  also  from 
their  being  situated  within  the  earth's  shadow,  and  at 
heiL'hts  far  exceeding  those  at  which  the  atmosphere  can 
be  supposed  capable  of  supporting  combustion,  it  is  mani- 
fest that  their  light  is  not  reflected  from  the  sun  ;  they  must 
therefore  be  self-luminous,  which  is  contrary  to  every  anal- 
ogy of  the  solar  system.  Fourthly,  if  masses  of  solid  mat- 
ter approached  so  near  the  earth  its  many  of  the  shooting 
stars  do,  some  of  them  would  inevitably  be  attracted  to  it; 
but  of  the  thousands  of  shooting  stars  which  have  been  ob- 
served, there  is  no  authenticated  instance  of  any  one  having 
actually  reached  the  earth.  Fifthly,  instead  of  the  meteors 
being  attracted  to  the  earth,  some  of  them  are  observed  ac- 
tually to  rise  upwards,  and  to  describe  orbits  which  are  con- 
vex towards  the  earth;  a  circumstance  of  which,  on  the 
present  hypothesis,  it  seems  difficult  to  give  any  rational 
explanation. 

From  the  difficulties  attending  every  hypothesis  which 
has  hitherto  been  proposed,  it  may  be  inferred  how  very 
little  real  knowledge  has  yet  been  obtained  respecting  the 
nature  of  the  shooting  stars.  It  is  certain  that  they  appear 
at  great  altitudes  above  the  earth,  and  that  they  move  with 
prodigious  velocity  :  hut  every  tiling  else  respecting  them  is 
involved  in  profound  mystery.  From  the  whole  of  the 
facts,  M.  Wartmann  thinks  that  the  most  rational  conclusion 
we  can  adopt  is,  that  tin-  meteors  probably  owe  their  origin 
to  the  disengagement  of  electricity,  or  of  some  analogous 
matter,  which  takes  place  in  the  celestial  regions  on  every 
occasion  in  which  the  conditions  necessary  for  the  produc- 
tion of  the  phenomena  are  renewed. 

The  presumptions  in  favour  of  the  cosmical  origin  of  the 
shooting  stars  are  chiefly  founded  on  their  periodical  recur- 
rence at  certain  epochs  of  the  year,  and  the  extraordinary 
displays  of  the  phenomena  in  various  years  on  the  nights  of 
the  12th  or  13th  of  November.  We  shall  here  merely  state 
the  principal  circumstances  accompanying  those  of  1799, 
which  put  the  notion  of  a  lunar  origin  entirely  out  of  the 
question. 

On  the  morning  of  the  12th  of  November,  1790,  before 
sunrise,  Humboldt  and  Bonpland,  then  on  the  coast  of  Mex- 
ico, were  witnesses  to  a  remarkable  exhibition  of  shooting 
stars  and  fire  balls.  They  tilled  the  part  of  the  heavens 
extending  from  due  east  to  about  30°  towards  the  north  and 
south.  They  rose  from  the  horizon  between  the  east  and 
east-north-east  points,  described  arcs  of  unequal  magnitude, 
and  fell  towards  the  south  ;  some  of  them  rose  to  the  height 
of  40°,  all  above  25°  or  30°.  Many  of  them  appeared  to 
explode,  but  the  larger  number  disappeared  Without  emit- 
ting sparks  ;  some  had  a  nucleus  apparently  equal  to  Jupiter. 
This  most  remarkable  spectacle  w  as  seen  at  the  same  time 
in  Cuinana,  on  the  borders  of  Brazil,  in  French  Guiana,  in 
the  channel  of  Hahama,  on  the  continent  of  North  Ameri- 
ca, in  Labrador,  and  in  Greenland;  and  even  at  Carlsruhe, 
Halle,  and  other  places  in  Germany,  many  shooting  stars 
were  seen  on  the  same  day.  At  Sain  and  Hotl'enthal  in 
Labrador,  and  at  Neuhernhul  and  Lichtenau  in  Greenland, 

the  meteors  seem  to  have-  approached  the  nearest  to  the 
earth.  At  Naln  they  fell  towards  all  points  of  the  horizon  ; 
and  some  id'  them  had  a  diameter  which  the  spectators  es- 
timated at  half  an  ell.  (See  Humboldt's  Rccuiil  des  Voy- 
agt  s,  Ac.  vol.  ii.) 

Under  the  term  FiRE-nAM.s,  the  reader  will  find  an  ac- 
count of  a  not  less  stupendous  exhibition  which  took  place 
in  North  America  on  the  nighl  of  the  12th  of  November, 
1833.     In  1834,  a  similar  phenomena  occurred  on  the  night 

of  the  [3th  of  November;  but  on  this  occasion  the  meteors 

were  oi  a  smaller  size.    In  1835,  1830,  and  1838,  si ting 

stars  were  observed  on  the  night  of  November  Kith  in  dlf 

Ii  rent  pans  of  the  world  ;  but  though  diligently  looked  for 
on  the  same  nights  in  1839  and  1840,  they  do  not  appear  !■-■ 
have  been  more  numerous  than  on  other  nights  about  the 
same  season  of  the  year. 


SHORE. 

The  second  great  meteoric  epoch  is  the  10th  of  August, 
first  pointed  out  by  M.  Ouetelet;  and  although  no  displays 
similar  to  those  of  the  November  period  have  been  wit- 
nessed on  this  night,  there  are  more  instances  of  the  recur- 
rence of  the  phenomena.  In  the  last  three  years  (1838, 
1839,  1840),  shooting  stars  were  observed  in  great  numbers 
both  on  the  iJili  and  10th  ;  but  they  appear  in  general  to  be 
unusually  abundant  during  the  two  first  weeks  of  August. 
The  other  periods  which  have  been  remarked  are  the  18th 
of  October,  the  23d  or  24th  of  April,  the  6th  and  7th  of 
December,  the  nights  from  the  lath  to  the  20th  of  June,  and 
the  2<1  of  January. 

Halley  first  suggested  the  idea  that  the  shooting  stars  may 
be  observed  as  signals  tor  determining  differences  of  longi- 
tude by  simultaneous  observations ;  and  Maskelyne  in  1783 
published  a  paper  on  the  subject,  in  which  he  calls  the  at- 
tention of  astronomers  to  the  phenomena,  and  distinctly 
points  out  this  application.  The  idea  was  revived  by  Ben- 
zenberg  in  1802;  but  so  long  as  they  were  regarded  merely 
as  casual  phenomena,  it  could  scarcely  be  hoped  that  they 
would  be  of  much  use  in  this  respect  to  practical  astronomy. 
As  soon,  however,  as  their  periodicity  became  probable,  the 
phenomena  acquired  a  new  interest ;  and  some  recent  at- 
tempts to  determine  longitudes  in  this  manner  have  proved 
that  the  method  is  not  to  be  disregarded.  {Monthly  Notices 
of  the  R.  Astr.  Society  for  January,  1841.) 

See  an  interesting  paper  on  this  subject  by  Dr.  Olbers,  in 
Schumacher's  Jahrl/i/ch  for  1837;  also  the  Annuaire  du 
Bureau  des  Longitudes  for  1836;  Mem.  de  V Academic  de 
Bruxelles  for  1838;  Schumacher's  Astronomischrs  JVach- 
richten,  vols.  xvi.  and  xvii. ;  and  the  various  Scientific 
Journals. 

SHORE.  In  Architecture,  a  piece  of  timber  or  other 
material  placed  in  such  a  direction  as  to  prop  up  a  wall  or 
other  heavy  body. 

SHOT.  Any  kind  of  missile  discharged  by  an  instru- 
ment ;  but  the  term  usually  denotes  balls  for  fire-arms. 

SHOT  LOCKERS.  Long  pieces  of  wood  pierced  with 
holes  like  cups,  in  which  the  shot  are  placed,  along  the 
sides  and  round  the  hatchways. 

SHOU'LDER.  In  Fortification,  the  angle  of  a  bastion 
included  between  the  face  and  flank. 

SHO'VELER.  The  name  of  a  species  of  duck,  remark 
able  for  the  length  and  terminal  expansion  of  the  bill ; 
whence  the  name  of  Spathulea,  proposed  for  the  subgenus 
of  which  it  is  the  type.  It  is  the  Anus  clypeata  of  Lin- 
naeus. 

SHRA'PNELL  SHELLS,  in  Gunnery,  are  shells  filled 
with  a  quantity  of  musket  balls,  which,  when  the  shell  ex- 
plodes, are  projected  about  150  .yards  further.  They  are 
fired  from  guns,  mortars,  Aid  howitzers,  and  have  been 
found  most  effective.  A  six-pounder  spherical  case  con- 
tains twenty-seven  musket  balls,  which,  when  the  shell 
explodes,  do  as  much  injury  as  an  equal  number  of  muskets, 
at  a  distance  far  beyond  the  reach  of  musketry.  (Ency. 
Brit.,  art.  "Gunnerv.") 

SHREW.     Sec  Sorex. 

SHRIKE.  A  name  for  the  butcher  birds,  or  species  of 
JLaniaries. 

SHRINE.  (Lat.  scrinium,  a  desk  or  cabinet;  whence 
also  screen.)  Properly,  the  receptacle  of  the  remains  or 
relics  of  a  saint.  Shrines  are  of  two  sorts:  portable,  used 
in  processions,  called  in  hMin  feretra ;  and  fixed,  in  churches. 
The  appropriate  place  for  slirines,  in  the  churches  of  the 
middle  ages,  was  generally  in  the  eastern  part,  in  the  space 
behind  the  high  altar.  Such  is  the  situation  of  the  cele- 
brated shrine  of  the  three  kings  of  Cologne ;  and  such  was 
that  of  the  shrines  at  St.  Alban's,  Canterbury,  Durham, 
and  Westminster,  before  the  Reformation.  {Archmologia, 
vol.i.) 

SHROUDS.  The  large  ropes  supporting  a  mast  later- 
ally; they  take  the  names  of  their  respective  masts,  as  the 
lower  main  shrouds,  &x. 

SHROVE  TUESDAY.  The  Tuesday  after  Quinqua- 
gesima  Sunday,  and  immediately  preceding  Ash  Wednes- 
day ;  so  called  from  the  Sax.  shriven,  to  confess,  because 
on  that  day  confession  was  made  preparatory  to  the  fast  of 
Lent.  The  custom  of  ringing  the  bells  for  this  occasion 
was  long  retained  in  many  parishes,  particularly  in  Lon- 
don;  although  the  vulgar  name  of  "  pancake  bell"  shows 
that  little  was  left  of  the  solemnity  bevond  the  dinner  on 
pancakes  which  followed  it.  See  Brand's  Popular  Anti- 
quities, for  an  account  of  the  various  Shrovetide  or  carnival 
amusements  of  this  country. 

SHRUB.  A  small  low  dwarfish  tree,  which  instead  of 
one  single  stem,  frequently  puts  forth  from  the  same  root 
several  sets  or  stems. 

Shrub  is  also  the  name  given  to  a  species  of  sweet  wine 
or  liqueur,  of  which  rum  forms  the  chief  ingredient. 

SHUTTLE.  An  instrument  used  by  weavers,  which 
guides  the  thread  it  contains,  so  as  to  make  it  form  the 
woofs  of  stuff's,  cloths,  linen,  and  other  fabrics,  by  throw- 


SIESTA. 

ing  the  shuttle  alternately  from  left  to  right  and  from  right 
to  left  across  between  the  threads  of  the  warp,  which  are 
stretched  out  lengthwise  on  the  loom.  In  the  middle  of 
the  shuttle  is  a  kind  of  cavity,  called  its  eye  or  chamber,  in 
which  is  enclosed  the  spoul,  which  is  part  of  the  thread 
destined  for  the  woof. 

SHWAN  PAN.  The  calculating  instrument  of  the 
Chinese.  It  is  similar  in  shape  and  construction  to  the 
Roman  abacus,  and  is  used  in  the  same  manner.  See 
Abacus. 

SI.  In  Music,  the  name  for  the  seventh  sound,  added  by 
Le  Maire,  a  Frenchman,  at  the  latter  end  of  the  17th  cen- 
tury, to  the  six  ancient  notes,  ut,  re,  mi,  fa,  sol,  la,  of  Guido  ; 
by  means  whereof,  some  authors  say,  much  inconvenience 
in  the  ancient  gamut  is  avoided. 

SI'ALAGOGUE.  (Gr.  cia\ov,  saliva,  and  ayiiiyog,  a 
leader.)     Medicines  which  increase  the  flow  of  saliva. 

SIBE'RITE.  A  mineralogical  synonym  of  rubellite  or 
red  tourmaline,  the  finest  specimens  of  which  have  been 
found  in  Siberia. 

SI'BYL.  The  name  given  to  certain  prophetic  women, 
said  to  have  lived  in  early  ages  in  Greece  and  Italy.  Some 
authors  recount  as  many  as  ten  of  them.  The  most  cele- 
brated were  the  Sibyl  of  Cumae,  fabled  to  have  been  con- 
sulted by  /Eneas,  and  the  prophetess  who  offered  her  books 
to  Tarquin  the  Proud.  (See,  among  many  authorities,  the 
Mem.  de  I' Ac.  </<s  Tnscr.,  vol.  xxiii.) 

Sl'BYLLINE  HOOKS.  Documents  supposed  to  con- 
tain the  fate  of  the  Roman  empire.  Nine  of  them  are  said 
to  have  been  offered  by  an  old  woman,  called  Amalthsea, 
to  Tarquin  the  Proud ;  but  Tarquin  refusing  to  give  the 
price  she  asked,  she  went  away,  and  burnt  three  of  them. 
Returning  with  the  remainder,  she  offered  them  to  the 
king  on  the  same  terms  as  before ;  and,  on  his  second  re- 
fusal, departed  again,  and  returned  with  three,  which  she 
still  offered  at  the  same  price  as  the  original  nine.  The 
king,  struck  with  her  conduct,  at  last  acceded  to  her  offer, 
and  entrusted  the  care  of  the  books  to  certain  priests  (the 
quin decemviri).  They  were  preserved  in  a  stone  chest  be- 
neath the  temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus.  and  were  consulted 
in  limes  of  public  danger  or  calamity.  They  were  destroy- 
ed by  the  fire  that  consumed  the  Capitol  in  the  Marsic  war. 
After  this  calamity,  ambassadors  were  sent  to  collect  such 
fragments  of  Sibylline  prophecies  as  they  could  pick  up  in 
various  countries;  and  from  the  verses  thus  collected  Au- 
gustus formed  two  new  books,  which  were  deposited  in 
two  gilt  cases  in  the  temple  of  the  Palatine  Apollo.  Sibyl- 
line verses  are  often  quoted  by  Christian  writers,  as  con- 
taining prophecies  of  Christianity;  but  these  are  spurious,  a 
forgery  of  the  second  century. 

SICI'LIAN  VE'SPERS.  In  Modern  History,  the  name 
commonly  given  to  the  great  massacre  of  the  French  in 
Sicily,  in  A.D.  1282.  They  were  the  soldiers  and  subjects 
of  Charles  of  Anjou,  who  had  made  himself  master  of  the 
island  after  the  defeat  and  death  of  Conradin.  The  insur- 
rection broke  out  on  the  evening  of  Easter  Tuesday,  whence 
the  name.  Its  consequence  was  the  expulsion  of  Charles; 
and  the  islanders  placed  themselves  under  the  protection  of 
the  king  of  Arragon. 

SIDE'REAL.  (Lat.  sidus,  a  star.)  Something  relating 
to  the  stars. 

The  sidereal  day  is  the  time  in  which  the  earth  makes 
a  complete  revolution  on  its  axis,  in  respect  of  the  fixed 
stars  or  any  fixed  point  in  space.  (See  Day.)  "If  the  side- 
real day  be  taken  equal  to  24  sidereal  hours,  the  mean 
solar  day  will  be  equal  to  24 h.  3m.  5655 sec.  of  those 
hours ;  and  if  the  mean  solar  day  be  taken  equal  to  24 
mean  solar  hours,  the  sideral  day  will  be  equal  to  23  h. 
56  m.  409  sec.  of  those  hours.  Or,  in  all  cases,  if  we  wish 
to  determine,  in  sidereal  time,  the  value  of  any  given  in- 
terval expressed  in  mean  solar  time,  and  vice  versa,  we 
shall  have 

sidereal  time=  1-00273791  X  mean  solar  time, 
mean  solar  time  =  0-99726957  X  sidereal  time." 
(Baily's  Astronomical  Tables,  1827.) 

The  sidereal  year  is  the  time  in  which  the  earth  performs 
a  complete  revolution,  relatively  to  the  fixed  stars,  in  its 
orbit;  namely,  3652563612  mean  solar  days,  or  305 d.  6h. 
9m.  9-6 sec," being  20m.  199  sec.  longer  than  the  tropical 
year.     See  Year. 

SIDE'ROCALCITE.  (Gr.  crfnpoc,  iron;  Lat.  calx, 
lime.)  The  name  given  by  Kirwan  to  the  brown  spar  of 
Werner. 

SIENTTE,  or  SYENITE.  (From  Syene  in  Egypt,  whence 
the  Romans  obtained  it  for  architectural  purposes.)  A 
granitic  aggregate  of  quartz,  felspar,  and  hornblende.  See 
Geology. 

SIERRA.  A  Spanish  term,  signifying  a  chain  of  hills, 
and  prefixed  to  the  names  of  several  places  in  Spain,  and 
other  parts  discovered  or  colonized  by  the  Spaniards. 

SIESTA.  (Span  )  The  name  given  to  the  practice  in- 
dulged in  by  the  Spaniards,  and   the  inhabitants  of  hot 

1123 


SIGILLARIA. 

climates  generally,  of  resting  two  or  three  hours  in  the 
middle  of  the  day,  when  the  heat  is  too  oppressive  to  admit 
of  their  going  from  borne. 

SIGILLARIA.  Fossil  plants  found  in  the  coal  forma- 
tion. 

SIGN.  In  Algebra,  a  symbol  indicating  an  operation  to 
be  performed,  or  a  relation  subsisting  between  two  quan- 
tities. Of  the  former  kind,  those  most  commonly  used  are, 
+  for  addition,  —  for  subtraction,  X  foi  multiplication,  -f- 
for  division,  J  tor  the  square  root,  5/  for  the  cube  root, 
*/  for  the  nth  root,  &c.  The  signs  denoting  a  relation  are, 
=  equal  to.  >  greater  than,  <  less  than,  &c. 

?m<;\.  In  Astronomy,  a  portion  of  the  ecliptic  or  zodiac, 
containing  thirty  degri  es,  or  a  twelfth  part  of  the  complete 
circle.  The  first  commences  at  the  point  of  the  equator 
through  which  the  sun  passes  at  the  time  of  the  vernal 
equinox ;  and  they  are  counted  onwards,  proceeding  from 
west  to  east,  according  to  the  annual  course  of  the  sun,  all 
round  the  circle.  The  names  of  the  twelve  signs,  in  the 
order  in  which  they  follow  each  other,  with  the  characters 
by  which  they  are  indicated  on  globes,  and  in  the  almanacs 
and  books  of  astronomy,  are  as  follows:  Jiries  T,  Taurus 
(<,,  GeminiH,  CancerZa,  Leo  SI,  Virgo  11JJ,  Libra±±,  Scorpio 
111,  Sagittarius  t,  Capricornus  V5,  Aquarius  ^,  Pisces  X. 
It  is  to  be  remarked,  that  the  above  are  also  the  names 
of  the  twelve  constellations  of  the  zodiac;  and  in  ancient 
times  (above  200  years  before  our  era),  the  places  of  the 
sinus  and  the  constellations  were  coincident ;  but  owing  to 
the  motion  of  the  earth's  equator,  by  which  the  equinoctial 
points  are  carried  backwards  on  the  ecliptic  about  50-6" 
annually,  the  intersections  of  the  ecliptic  and  equator,  and 
consequently  the  commencement  of  the  signs,  now  corres- 
pond to  different  stars,  the  first  point  of  the  sign  Aries  being 
at  present  near  the  beginning  of  the  constellation  Pisces 
On  this  account  care  must  be  taken  not  to  confound  the 
signs  of  the  zodiac,  which  are  fixed  in  respect  of  the  equi- 
noxes, with  the  constellations,  which  are  moveable  in 
respect  to  those  points.     See  Constellation. 

The  ascending  signs  are  the  six  beginning  with  Capri- 
cornus, through  which  the  sun  passes  while  advancing 
from  the  winter  to  the  summer  solstice,  and  is,  consequent- 
ly, acquiring  altitude  with  respect  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
northern  hemisphere.  The  other  six,  beginning  with  Can- 
cer, are  called  the  descending  signs. 

SI'  GNALS,  NA'VAL,  imply  a  system  of  symbols  ad- 
dressed to  the  eye,  as  flags,  boards,  lights,  &c,  for  estab- 
lishing communication  at  distances  too  great  for  the  voice. 
Guns  are  also  used  for  the  same  purposes.  The  first  sig- 
nals seem  to  have  been  merely  distinguishing  flags  for  cer- 
tain ships.  In  the  system  of  signals  instituted  by  James  II. 
for  orders  to  the  fleet,  the  purport  depended  on  the  part  of 
the  ship  at  which  they  were  exhibited;  a  condition  very 
detrimental  to  the  use  of  signals  at  sea.  A  code  composed 
ot  numeral  flags  and  pendants,  i.e.,  in  which  each  symbol 
had  a  number  assigned  to  it,  seems  to  have  been  the  first 
step  towards  a  general  system,  as  before  this  plan  each 
admiral  instituted  his  own  code.  In  1815,  Sir  Home  Pop- 
ham's  code  was  adopted.  This  added  several  literal  or 
alphabetical  flags  and  pendants,  which  greatly  extended 
the  means  of  communication,  but  necessarily  rendered  the 
signals  indistinct,  and  their  purports  deceitful,  in  many 
cases,  from  the  increased  difficulty  of  distinguishing  each 
fla?  from  the  rest.  In  1826,  in  consequence  of  some  plans 
having  been  submitted  by  admirals  for  a  more  efficient 
syM'-m.  the  code  now  in  use,  which  is  considered  as  an  im- 
provement on  its  predecessor,  was  adopted.  In  1828,  Ad- 
miral Raper  published  his  code,  which  was  one  of  those 
under  consideration.  The  principle  of  this  system,  which 
is  undeviatingly  adhered  to,  is.  that  the  manner  of  combi- 
nation of  the  Bags  and  pendants  of  which  the  signal  is 
composed,  t.  e.,  their  order  or  arrangement,  points  out  the 
subject  n!'  the  signal,  or,  as  the  author  terms  it,  the  point 
if  service  to  which  the  signal  relates;  while  the  numbers 
of  the  individual  symbols  indicate  the  number  of  the  signal 
in  its  class.  The  numbers  are  denoted,  as  usual,  by  the 
colours ;  hut  when  these  fail,  from  haze  ordistance,  the  num- 
ber is  supplied  by  numeral  distant  signals.  From  the  dis- 
tinctness attending  the  small  number  of  symbols  (the 
mill  lest  possible  for  complete  numeral  signals),  the  pre- 
cision obtained  from  classification  by  which  the  simplicity 
of  each  signal  is  proportioned  to  its  importance,  and  the 
saying  of  the  time  often  wasted  in  vain  attempt*  to  distin- 
guish the  precise  disposition  of  the  colours  of  each  flag,  this 
system  has  been  considered  by  some  competent  judges  as 
the  sole  thoroughly  efficient  method. 

In  the  merchant  service,  signals  are  of  less  extensive 
utility  than  in  the  royal  navy,  their  chief  employment  being 
to  express  the  names  of  vessels,  latitude  and  longitude,  and 
a  few  other  such  particulars;  and  it  were  much  to  be  de- 
sired that  governments  would  njrree  to  establish  universal 
signals  <>n  like  points  of  general  interest.  The  code  in  use 
is  Captain  MarryaU's. 
1124 


SILENUS. 

Ingenious  systems  have  been  published  by  Lieutenant  C. 
Phillips,  K.  N.,  for  the  ships  ol  all  nations ;  and  also  by  Ad- 
miral Sir  C.  Ekins,  entitled  Universal  Signal*,  the  symbols 
being  black  and  white  only.  From  what  little  acquaintance 
we  have  had  wiih  foreign  signals,  we  consider  them  by  no 
means  in  advance  of  our  own. 

SIGNATURE.  (Lat.  signature.)  In  Music,  the  flats 
and  sharps  placed  after  the  clef,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
staff,  which  affect,  throughout  the  movement,  all  notes  of 
the  same  letter. 

Signature.  In  Printing,  a  letter  of  the  alphabet  placed 
at  the  bottom  of  the  first  page  of  each  sheet  of  a  work,  to 
denote,  alphabetically,  the  order  of  the  sheets. 

It  is  customary  to  commence  w  ith  11  on  the  first  sheet  of 
the  body  of  the  work,  and  to  go  regularly  through  the 
alphabet,  with  the  exception  of  the  letters  J,  V,  and  \V, 
which  are  never  used  as  signatures;  and  which  had,  in 
fact,  no  existence  in  the  alphabet  at  the  time  of  the  in- 
vention of  printing;  3f,  expressed  both  I  and  J;  231,  both 
U  and  V;  SJ5S,  the  double  letter  W.  If  the  work  extend 
to  more  sheets  in  number  than  there  are  letters  in  the 
alphabet,  the  succeeding  sheets  go  on  with  a  second  alpha- 
bet, which  commences  with  A,  and  both  the  letters  are 
usually  given  ;  in  this  manner,  A  A,  or  A  a,  and  sometimes, 
to  avoid  the  repetition,  thus,  2  A.  If  a  third  alphabet  be 
necessary,  it  is  always,  at  the  present  day,  placed  with  the 
number  before  it,  as  3  A.  The  printer's  first  alphabet  con- 
sists of  twenty-two  letters,  and  the  second  and  succeeding 
ones  of  twenty-three. 

As  a  guide  to  the  bookbinder,  there  are  other  signatures 
used  in  a  sheet  besides  the  first.  In  a  sheet  of  octavo  the 
first  page  has  B,  the  third  has  B2,  the  fifth  has  B3,  and  the 
seventh  has  B  4:  in  a  sheet  of  twelves  they  are  carried  to 
B  6,  B  5  being  the  first  page  of  the  offcut ;  and  however  nu- 
merous the  pages  may  be  in  a  sheet  with  one  signature, 
when  they  are  all  inserted,  they  are  continued  to  the  last 
odd  page  before  the  middle  of  the  sheet,  but  never  carried 
beyond  the  middle.  In  general  they  are  all  omitted  except 
the  two  first,  to  show  the  first  fold  of  the  paper,  and  the 
first  on  the  offcut.  Small  capitals  are  more  frequently  used 
for  signatures  than  large  capitals,  as  disfiguring  the  foot  of 
the  page  in  a  slighter  manner.  Sometimes  figures  are  used 
instead  of  letters,  but  not  often  ;  the  Gentleman's  .Magazine 
is  an  instance.     (Savage's  Vict,  of  Printing.) 

SI'GNET,  THE  PRIVY.  One  of  the  king's  seals  in 
England,  used  in  sealing  private  letters  and  grants  under 
the  sign  manual.  It  is  in  the  custody  of  the  Secretary  of 
State  for  the  Home  Department.  (See  Seal,  Secretary.) 
The  signet  in  Scotland  is  the  seal  by  which  the  king's  let- 
ters and  writs  for  the  purpose  of  justice  are  now  authenti- 
cated. Hence  the  title  of  clerks  to  the  signet,  or  writers  to 
the  signet ;  whose  business  is  nearly  the  same  with  that  of 
attorneys  in  England.  They  were  anciently  clerks  in  the 
office  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  by  whom  writs  were  pre- 
pared ;  and  when  the  signet  became  employed  in  judicial 
proceedings,  they  obtained  a  monopoly  of  the  privileges  of 
acting  as  agents  or  attorneys  before  the  Court  of  Session. 

SIGN  MANUAL.  The  royal  signature,  superscribed  at 
the  top  of  bills  of  grants  or  letlers  patent ;  which  are  then 
sealed  with  the  privy  signet  or  great  seal,  as  the  case  may 
be,  to  complete  their  validity.  But  there  are  some  grants 
which  pass  through  certain  offices,  as  the  Admiralty  or 
Treasurv.  under  the  sign  manual  only. 

SIGN  OR.  The  Italian  term  equivalent  to  the  English 
Lord,  Sir,  or  Mr.,  the  French  .Monsieur,  and  the  German 
Herr.  Signoria  was  anciently  the  appellation  of  the  chief 
council  of  Venice,  Genoa,  and  Lucca. 

SILENA'CEjE.  (Silene,  one  of  the  genera.)  An  order 
of  Polypetalous  Exogenous  plants,  with  opposite  undivided 
leaves,  and  a  stem  with  tumid  nodes.  The  principal  part 
of  the  order  consists  of  uninteresting  weedy  plants  ;  but  it 
also  contains  the  genera  Dianthus,  of  which  the  garden 
pink,  clove,  and  piccotee  are  species;  the  .Igrostemma, 
Saponaria,  and  some  other  plants  cultivated  for  their  beau- 
tiful flowers. 

SILE'NTIARY.  Among  the  Romans,  the  title  of  office 
of  a  class  of  slaves  attached  to  wealthy  houses.  In  the 
court  of  the  emperors,  there  was  a  body  of  officers  attached 
to  the  household  styled  silentiarics.  Thence  the  title  came 
to  functionaries  of  higher  authority,  and  was  borne  by 
cabinet  secretaries  in  the  Lower  Empire,  and  in  the  courts  of 
Charlemagne  and  other  western  potentates  who  derived 
their  code  of  ceremonial  from  Byzantium.  Members  of  the 
privy  council  seem  to  have  been  sometimes  called  by  this 
name  under  the  Plantagenets  in  England. 

BILElfUS.  (Gr.  Ti\nvo(.)  A  Grecian  divinity,  the  fos- 
ter-father and  attendant  of  Bacchus,  and  likewise  leader 
of  the  satyrs.  This  deity  was  remarkable  for  bis  wisdom, 
his  drunkeness  being  regarded  as  inspiration.  He  was  re- 
presented as  a  rohust  old  in  in  in  a  state  of  intoxication,  and 
riding  on  an  ass,  with  a  can  in  his  hand.  Sileuus,  >a\  -  Mr. 
Bryant,  is  only  a  corruption  of  a  masculine  form  of  IcAixvi}, 


SILEX. 

the  moon.  By  some  speculative  mythologist  the  drunken 
companion  of  Bacchus  la  converted  into  a  sage,  who  was 
honoured  as  a  daemon  after  his  decease.  (Theopompus  in 
JE/ian,  cited  in  Bryant,  Anc.  Mythol.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  328.) 
There  was  an  order  of  priests  called  Sileni,  of  the  same 
class  with  the  Curetes. 

SI'LEX,  or  SI'LICA.  (Gr.  x«*<?<  a  pebble  or  stone.) 
The  earth  of  flints.  This  important  substance  constitutes 
the  characteristic  ingredient  of  a  great  variety  of  siliceous 
minerals ;  among  which  rock-crystal,  quartz,  chalcedony, 
and  flint  may  be  considered  as  silica  nearly  pure.  It  also 
predominates  in  many  of  the  rocky  masses  which  consti- 
tute the  crust  of  our  globe,  such  as  granite,  the  varieties  of 
sandstone,  and  quartz  rock.  Although  silica  has  none  of 
the  ordinary  or  more  obvious  acid  propenies.  yet,  as  it  com- 
bines in  definite  proportion  with  many  salifiable  bases,  and 
expels  carbonic  acid  when  fused  with  the  carbonated  alka- 
lies, it  is  very  commonly  termed  silicic  acid,  and  its  various 
compounds  have  been  denominated  si/icatcs.  When  pure 
and  colourless  rock-crystal  is  heated  red  hot,  and  quenched 
in  water,  it  becomes  opaque  and  friable ;  and  if  in  this 
state  it  be  reduced  to  powder,  it  presents  one  form  of  pure 
silica.  If  in  this  state  (in  which  it  is  perfectly  insoluble  in 
water)  it  be  fused  with  three  parts  of  carbonate  of  potash, 
it  forms  a  glass  which  is  soluble  in  water,  and  from  this 
solution  (formerly  called  liquor  of  flints)  the  concentrated 
acids  throw  down  the  silica  in  the  form  of  a  gelatinous 
hydrate  :  but  if  the  solution  be  diluted,  and  the  acid  gradu- 
ally added,  the  alkali  may  be  perfectly  neutralized  without 
any  deposition  of  the  silica,  which,  therefore,  is  thus  ex- 
hibited in  a  very  soluble  state:  when,  however,  the  solu- 
tion is  evaporated  to  dryness,  the  silica  remains  in  a  state  as 
insoluble  as  before.  This  solubility  of  hydrated  silica, 
whilst  when  dry  it  is  perfectly  insoluble,  may  serve  to  ex- 
plain the  occasional  occurrence  of  silica  in  mineral  waters, 
and  its  deposition  in  various  chalcedonic  incrustations.  But 
silica  presents  another  very  remarkable  character;  which 
is,  that  if  we  reverse  the  above  proportions,  and  fuse  to- 
gether a  mixture  of  one  part  of  carbonate  of  potash  and 
three  of  powdered  rock  crystal  or  calcined  flint,  we  then 
obtain  a  transparent  and  fusible  compound,  which  is  in- 
soluble in  water,  and  which,  in  fact,  is  glass. 

Plate  glass  and  window  glass,  or,  as  it  is  commonly  call- 
ed, crown  glass,  are  silicates  of  soda  or  potassa ;  and  flint 
glass,  of  which  our  common  glass  utensils  are  made,  is  a 
similar  compound,  with  a  large  addition  of  silicate  of  lead. 
See  Glass. 

Silica,  in  its  ordinary  or  anhydrous  state,*  insoluble  in 
all  acids  except  the  hydrofluoric,  which  immediately  acts 
upon  it,  and  forms  an  extraordinary  gaseous  compound,  the 
fluosilicic  acid.  Silica  was  long  considered  as  an  element- 
ary form  of  matter  ;  but  Sir  II.  Davy  found  that  when  the 
vapour  of  potassium  was  brought  "into  contact  with  pure 
silica  heated  to  whiteness,  silicate  of  potassa  was  formed, 
and  a  dark-coloured  matter  separated,  which  was  afterwards 
found  to  be  the  base  of  silica,  and  to  which  the  terms  sili- 
cium  and  silicon  have  been  applied.  It  is  probably  not  me- 
tallic, and  bears  a  greater  analogy  to  boron  than  to  any 
known  principle.  Silicon  is  a  nonconductor  of  electricity, 
incombustible  in  air  and  oxygen,  and  not  acted  upon  by  any 
single  acid ;  but  it  is  readily  soluble  in  a  mixture  of  the  nitric 
and  hydrofluoric  acids.  It  is,  however,  rapidly  oxidized  by 
and  burns  vividly  at  a  temperature  below  redness,  when  in 
contact  with  fused  soda  or  potassa.  The  exact  equivalent 
of  silica  has  not  been  very  satisfactorily  determined,  but  we 
are  probably  not  very  incorrect  in  regarding  silica  as  a  com- 
pound of  equal  weights  of  silicon  and  oxygen.  In  that  case, 
if  it  be  regarded  as  a  protoxide,  it  is  obvious  that  8  will  be 
the  equivalent  of  its  base,  and  silica  will  consist  of  8  silicon 
+  8  oxygen,  and  be  represented  by  the  equivalent  16.  But 
if  silica  be  regarded  as  a  compound  of  1  atom  of  silicon  and 
3  atoms  of  oxygen,  and  Berzelius  has  shown  that  some  ana- 
logies favour  this  view,  then  24  will  be  its  equivalent,  and 
48  that  of  silica.  The  chloride  of  silicium,  and  its  bromide, 
are  limpid  fuming  liquids ;  the  former  very  volatile.  The 
sulphuret  is  a  white  earthy-looking  substance. 

SILHOUETTE.  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a  name  given  to  the 
representation  of  an  object  filled  in  of  a  black  colour,  and  in 
which  the  inner  parts  are  sometimes  indicated  by  lines  of  a 
lighter  colour,  and  shadows  or  extreme  depths  by  the  aid 
of  a  heightening  of  gum  or  other  shining  medium.  This 
sort  of  drawing  derives  its  name  from  its  inventor,  Etienne 
de  Silhouette,  the  French  minister  of  finance  in  1759.  Rep- 
resentations of  this  sort  may  be  well  enough  taken  from  the 
shadow  of  a  person  thrown  on  a  piece  of  paper  placed 
against  a  flat  surface  or  wall.  The  likeness  may  be  still 
better  taken,  if  on  a  reduced  scale,  by  means  of  the  instru- 
ment called  a  pantograph. 

The  invention  of  what  is  called  a  silhouette  is,  however, 
ascribed  to  a  remote  period,  being  said  to  have  been  the 
method  whereby  the  daughter  of  a  Greek  potter  drew  the 
outline  of  her  lover's  portrait  on  a  wall ;  and  has  been  placed 


SILK. 

at  the  time  of  the  renewal  of  the  Olympic  games,  shortly 
before  the  expedition  of  the  Bacchiades  from  Corinth,  about 
776  B.C.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  Sicyon  and  Corinth  were 
the  first  cities  in  which  painting  flourished  ;  and  that  Crato 
of  Sicyon,  Philocles  of  Egypt,  and  Cieanthes  of  Corinth, 
were  considered  the  inventors  of  monochromes,  or  silhouet- 
tes, as  they  have  been  more  recently  called,  which  were 
applied  to  large  objects.  The  Etruscan  vases  furnish  to  an 
amazing  extent,  and  in  boundless  variety,  some  of  the  most 
beautifully  drawn  and  elegant  monochromes  or  silhouettes 
that  have  ever  been  executed. 

SILI'dFICE.  Substances  petrified  or  mineralized  by 
siliceous  earth. 

SILI'CULA.  (Lat.  siliqua,  dim.)  A  fruit  exactly  similar 
to  that  called  a  siliqua,  except  that  it  is  shorter,  and  contains 
fewer  seeds.  It  is  never  more  than  four  times  as  long  aa 
broad,  and  usually  much  shorter. 

SI'LIQUA.  (Lat.)  A  one  or  two  celled,  many-seeded, 
linear  fruit,  dehiscent  by  two  valves  separating  from  a  rep- 
lum;  the  seeds  are  attached  to  two  placenta?  adhering  to 
the  replum,  and  opposite  to  the  lobes  of  the  stigma. 

SILK.  (Lat.  sericum  ;  from  Seres,  the  supposed  ancient 
name  of  the  Chinese.)  A  fine  glossy  thread  or  filament 
spun  by  various  species  of  caterpillars  or  larva?  of  the  Pha- 
lana  genus.  Of  these,  the  Phalcena  atlas  produces  the  great- 
est quantity ;  but  the  Phaliena  bombyx  is  that  commonly 
employed  for  this  purpose  in  Europe.  The  silkworm,  in  its 
caterpillar  state,  which  may  be  considered  as  the  first  stage 
of  its  existence,  after  acquiring  its  full  growth  (about  three 
inches  in  length),  proceeds  to  enclose  itself  in  an  oval-shaped 
ball,  or  cocoon,  which  is  formed  by  an  exceedingly  slender 
and  long  filament  of  fine  yellow  silk,  emitted  from  the  stom- 
ach of  the  insect  preparatory  to  its  assuming  the  shape  of 
the  chrysalis  or  moth.  In  this  latter  stage,  after  emanci- 
pating it>elf  from  its  silken  prison,  it  seeks  its  mate,  which 
has  undergone  a  similar  transformation  ;  and  in  two  or 
three  days  afterwards,  the  female  having  deposited  her  eggs 
(from  300  to  500  in  number),  both  insects  terminate  their  ex- 
istence. According  to  Reaumur,  the  phalwna  is  not  the  only 
insect  that  aflords  this  material — several  species  of  the  ara- 
nea,  or  spider,  enclose  their  eggs  in  very  fine  silk. 

Raw  silk  is  produced  by  the  operation  of  winding  off,  at 
the  same  time,  several  of  the  balls  or  cocoons  (which  are 
immersed  in  hot  water,  to  soften  the  natural  gum  on  the 
filament)  on  a  common  reel,  thereby  forming  one  smooth 
even  thread.  When  the  skein  is  dry,  it  is  taken  from  the 
reel  and  made  up  into  hanks  ;  but  before  it  is  fit  for  weaving, 
and  in  order  to  enable  it  to  undergo  the  process  of  dyeing, 
without  furring  up  or  separating  the  fibres,  it  is  converted 
into  one  of  three  forms — viz.  singles,  tram,  or  organiine. 

Singles  (a  collective  noun)  is  formed  of  one  of  the  reeled 
threads,  being  twisted,  in  order  to  give  it  strength  and  firm- 
ness. 

Tram  is  formed  of  two  or  more  threads  twisted  together. 
In  this  state  it  is  commonly  used  in  weaving,  as  the  shoot  or 
weft. 

Thrown  silk  is  formed  of  two,  three,  or  more  singles,  ac- 
cording to  the  substance  required,  being  twisted  together  in 
a  contrary  direction  to  that  in  which  the  singles  of  which  it 
is  composed  are  twisted.  This  process  is  termed  organiin- 
ing ;  and  the  silk  so  twisted,  organiine.  The  art  of  throw- 
ing was  originally  confined  to  Italy,  where  it  was  kept  a  se- 
cret for  a  long  period.  Stowe  says  it  was  known  in  this 
country  since  the  5th  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  "when  it  was 
gained  from  the  strangers;"  and  in  that  year  (1562),  the 
silk  throwsters  of  the  metropolis  were  united  into  a  fellow- 
ship. They  were  incorporated  in  the  year  1629 ;  but  the 
art  continued  to  be  very  imperfect  in  England  until  1719. 
(See  post.) 

1.  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Manufacture. — The  art  of  rear- 
ing silkworms,  of  unravelling  the  threads  spun  by  them,  and 
manufacturing  the  latter  into  articles  of  dress  and  ornament, 
seems  to  have  been  first  practised  by  the  Chinese.  Virgil  ia 
the  earliest  of  the  Roman  writers  who  has  been  supposed 
to  allude  to  the  production  of  silk  in  China,  and  the  terms 
he  employs  show  how  little  was  then  known  at  Rome  as  to 
the  real  nature  of  the  article : 

Velleraque  ut  foliis  depectant  tenuia  Seres  —Gtorg.,  book  ii.,  lin.  121. 

But  it  may  be  doubted  whether  Virgil  do  not,  in  this  line, 
refer  to  cotton  rather  than  silk.  Pliny,  however,  has  dis- 
tinctly described  the  formation  of  silk  by  the  bombyx.  (Hist. 
JVat.,  lib.  xi.,  c.  17.)  It  is  uncertain  when  it  first  began  to 
be  introduced  at  Rome ;  but  it  was  most  probably  in  the  age 
of  Pompey  and  Julius  Casar:  the  latter  of  whom  displayed 
a  profusion  of  silks  in  some  of  the  magnificent  theatrical 
spectacles  with  which  he  sought  at  once  to  conciliate  and 
amuse  the  people.  Owing  principally,  no  doubt,  to  the  great 
distance  of  China  from  Rome,  and  to  the  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  the  intercourse  with  that  country,  which  was  car- 
ried on  by  land  in  caravans,  whose  route  lay  through  the 
Persian  empire,  and  partly,  perhaps,  to  the  high  price  of 

1125 


SILK. 

silk  in  China,  its  cost,  when  it  arrived  at  Rome,  was  very 
great;  so  much  so.  that  a  given  weight  of  silk  was  some- 
sold  for  an  equal  weighl  of  sold  :    At  lirst  it  was  only 
,.-  ladies  eminent  for  their  rank  and  opulence. 
In  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  o  law  was  passed 
— ne  oestis  serica  oiros  fadaret — that  no  man  should  dis- 
by  wearing  a  silken  garment    ( Tacit.  Annul., 
lib.  ii..  c.  33.)    But  tin'  profligate  Heliogabalus  despised  this 
law,  and  was  the  first  of  the  Roman  emperors  who  wore  a 
dress  composed  wholly  of  silk  [holqsericum).    The  example 
once  set,  the  custom  of  wearing  silk  soon  became  general 
among  the  wealthy  citizens  of  Rome,  and  throughout  the 
According  as  the  demand  tor  the  article  in- 
.  !.  efforts  were  made  to  import  larger  quantities;  and 
the  price  seems  to  have   progressively  declined  from  the 
reign  of  Aurelian.    That  this  must  have  been  the  case,  is 
c>:>\  ious  from  the  statement  of  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  that 
silk  was,  in  his  time  (anno  370),  very  generally  worn,  even 
by  the  lowest  classes:  Sericum  ad  usum  antehac  nobilium, 
nunc  etiam  injimorum  sine  ulla  discrctione  proficicns.     (Lib. 
xviii.,  c.  6.) 

China  continued  to  draw  considerable  sums  from  the  Ro- 
man empire  in  return  for  silk,  now  become  indispensable  to 
the  western  world,  till  the  Gth  century.  About  the  year  550, 
two  Persian  monks,  who  had  long  resided  in  China,  and 
hi  mselves  acquainted  with  the  mode  of  rearing  the 
silkworm,  encouraged  by  the  gifts  and  promises  of  Justinian, 
succeeded  in  carrying  the  eggs  of  the  insect  to  Constantinople. 
Under  their  direction  they  were  hatched  and  i'vd  ;  they  lived 
and  laboured  in  a  foreign  climate ;  a  sufficient  number  of 
butterflies  were  saved  to  propagate  the  race,  and  mulberry 
trees  were  planted  to  afford  nourishment  to  the  rising  gen- 
erations. A  new  and  important  branch  of  industry  was 
thus  established  in  Europe.  Experience  and  reflection  grad- 
ually corrected  the  errors  of  a  new  attempt ;  and  the  Sog- 
doite  ambassadors  acknowledged,  in  the  succeeding  reign, 
that  the  Romans  were  not  inferior  to  the  natives  of  China 
in  the  education  of  the  insects,  and  the  manufacture  of  silk. 
(Gibbon,  Decline  "ml  full,  vol.  \  ii.,  p.  99.) 

Greece,  particularly  tin-  Peloponnesus,  was  early  distin- 
guished by  the  rearing  of  silkworms,  and  by  the  skill  and 
success  with  which  the  inhabitants  of  Thebes,  Corinth,  and 
Ar:_'o<  carried  on  the  manufacture.  Until  the  12th  century, 
Greece  continued  to  be  the  only  European  country  in  which 
arts  were  practised  ;  but  the  forces  of  Roger,  king  of 
Sicily,  having,  in  1147,  sacked  Corinth,  Athens,  and  Thebes, 
carried  off  large  numbers  of  the  inhabitants  to  Palermo,  who 
introduced  the  culture  of  the  worm  and  the  manufacture  of 
silk  into  Sicily.  From  this  island  the  art  spread  into  Italy; 
and  Venice,  Milan,  Florence,  Lucca,  &c,  were  soon  after 
distinguished  for  their  success  in  raising  silkworms,  and  for 
the  extent  and  beauty  ot  their  manufactures  of  silk.  (Gib- 
bon, vol.  x.,  p.  llh;  Biographie  Universelle,  art.  "Roger II.") 

The  manufacture  of  silk  appears  to  have  been  introduced 
into  Spain  at  a  very  early  period  by  the  Moors,  particularly 
in  Murcia,  Cordova,  and  Granada.  "The  last  town,  indeed, 
-'d  a  flourishing  silk  trade  when  it  was  taken  by  Fer- 
dinand in  the  15th  century.  The  French  having  been  sup- 
plied with  workmen  from  Milan,  commenced,  in  1531,  the 
silk  manufacture;  but  it  was  not  till  1564  that  they  began 
isfully  to  produce  the  silk  itself,  when  Traucat,  a 
working  gardener  at  Nismes,  formed  the  first  nursery  of 
white  mulberry-trees,  and  with  such  success  that  in  a' few 
years  he  was  enabled  to  propagate  them  over  many  of  the 
southern  provinces  of  France.  Prior  to  this  time,  some 
French  noblemen,  cm  their  return  from  the  conquest  of  Na- 
ples, had  i  itroduced  a  few  silkworms  with  the  mulberry  into 
Dauphiny;  hut  the  business  bad  not  prospered  in  "their 
hands.  The  mulberry  plantations  were  greatly  encouraged 
by  Henry  IV.  :  and  since  then  they  have  been  the  source 
of  most  beneficial  employment  to  the  French. 

James  I.  was  most  solicitous  to  introduce  the  breeding  of 
silk  worms  into  England,  and  in  a  speech  from  the  thn 
eamc^th  recommended  his  subjects  to  plant  mulberry-trees ; 

but  he  totally  failed  in  the  project.  This  co'intrv  does  nut 
seem  to  he  well  adapted  to  this  species  of  husbandry,  on  ac- 
count of  the  si-eat  prevalence  of  blighting  east  winds  during 
the  .months  of  April  and  May,  when  the  worms  require  a 
plentiful  supply  of  mulberry  leaves.  The  manufacture  of 
silk  goods,  however,  made  great  progress  during  thai  kind's 
P'  niit'nl  and  pompous  reign.  In  1639  it  had  become  so  con 
siderabte  in  London,  that  tin-  silk  throwsters  of  the  city  and 

Suburbs   were   formed  into  a  public  Corporation.      Si  "early 

as  1661  they  employed  40,000  persons.  The  revocation  of 
the  edict  of  .Nantes,  in  1685,  contributed  in  a  remarkable 

er  to  the  increase  of  the  English  silk  trade,  by  tin  in 
flui  "i  a  large  colony  of  ski)  fill  French  weavers,  who  set- 
tle,! in  Bpitalfields.  The  greal  silk  throwing  noil  mounti  d 
at  Derby,  in  1719,  also  served  to  promote  the  extension  of 
this  branch  of  manufacture ;   for  Boon  afterwards,  in  the 

it:io.  h,,.  English  silk  goods  bore  a  higher  price  in  Italy 
than  those  made  by  the  Italians,  according  to  the  testimony 


SILVER. 

of  Keysler.  It  would  he  impossible,  within  our  limits,  to 
give  an  account  of  the  gradual  progress  of  the  silk  manu- 
facture from  that  period  down  to  the  present  time.  Upon 
this  subject,  the  reader  will  find  ample  details  in  the  < 
mercial  Dictionary  ;  meantime  we  may  remark, that  a  great 
revolution  was  effected  in  the  manufacture  in  1835.  Pre- 
viously to  that  epoch  the  legislative  enactments  with  re- 
spect to  it  were  the  most  contradictory  and  impolitic  that 
can  well  be  imagined.  The  importation  of  fori  ign  silks  was 
prohibited  under  the  severest  penalties;  but  the  advantage 
that  this  prohibition  was  believed,  though  most  erroneous- 
ly, to  confer  on  the  manufacturer,  would,  under  anj  cir- 
cumstances, have  been  more  than  neutralized  by  the  im- 
position of  oppressive  duties  on  the  raw  material.  This 
vicious  system  was  productive  of  a  twofold  mischief;  for, 
by  teaching  the  manufacturers  to  depend  on  custom-house 
regulations  for  protection  against  foreign  competition,  it 
made  them  indifferent  about  new  discoveries  and  inven- 
tions ;  while,  owing  to  the  exorbitant  duties  on  the  raw  ma- 
terial, and  the  want  of  improvement,  the  price  of  silks  was 
maintained  so  high  as  to  restrict  the  demand  for  them  with- 
in comparatively  narrow  limits.  In  16i">.  how  c  ver,  a  new 
and  more  reasonable  order  of  things  was  introduced.  The 
duties  on  the  raw  material  were  greatly  lowered ;  at  the 
same  time  that  foreign  silk  goods  were  allowed  to  be  im- 
ported on  payment  of  a  duty  of  30  per  cent,  ad  valorem, 
This  new  system  was  vehemently  opposed  at  its  outset,  and 
it  was  confidently  predicted  that  it  would  occasion  the  ruin 
of  the  manufacture;  but  the  result  has  shown  the  sound- 
ness of  the  principles  on  which  it  was  bottomed.  The  man- 
ufacturers were  now,  for  the  first  time,  compelled  to  call  all 
the  resources  of  science  and  ingenuity  to  their  aid  ;  and  the 
result  has  been  that  the  manufacture  has  been  more  im- 
proved during  the  last  dozen  years  than  it  had  been  in  the 
whole  previous  century,  and  that  it  has  continued  progres- 
sively to  increase. 

The  total  quantity  of  raw  silk  imported  for  home  con- 
sumption in  1838  was  3,595,816  lbs.  The  total  number  of 
individuals  directly  engaged  in  the  manufacture  has  been 
estimated  at  upwards  of  307,000;  but  we  incline  to  think 
that  this  is  very  decidedly  beyond  the  mark.  The  value  of 
the  silks  annually  produced  may,  perhaps,  be  estimated  at 
from  X' 10,000,000  to  XI 2.000,000.  (For  full  particul 
the  history  and  manufacture  of  silk,  see  Porter's  treatise  on 
the  subject  in  Lor  drier' s  Cyclopaedia.) 

BELL.  (Sax.  syl.)  In  Architecture,  the  horizontal  piece 
at  the  bottom  of  a  framed  case,  such  as  that  of  a  door  or 
window.  This  word  is  also  used  to  denote  the  hot  nun  pii  ce 
of  a  quarter  partition.  Ground  sills  are  those  timbers  on 
the  ground  on  which  are  placed  the  posts  and  superstruc- 
ture of  a  timber  building. 

SI'LLIM  AXITE.  A  mineral  named  after  Professor  Silli- 
man,  from  Say  brook  in  Connecticut ;  it  is  of  a  brown  or  dark 
gray  colour,  and  composed  of  silica  and  alumina,  with  a 
trace  of  oxide  of  iron. 

SILT.  The  name  given  to  the  sand,  clay,  and  earth 
which  accumulate  in  running  waters. 

SILU'RLAN.  The  name  given  by  Murchison  to  a  series 
of  rocks  forming  the  upper  subdivision  of  the  sedimentary 
strata  found  below  the  old  red  sandstone,  and  formerly  de- 
signated the  greyieacke  scries.  These  strata  are  well  de- 
veloped in  that  part  of  England  and  Wales  formerly  in- 
cluded in  the  ancient  British  kingdom  of  the  Silurcs.  See 
Geology. 

SILU'RJDANS,  Sifurida;.  (Lat.  silurus,  a  sheath-fish.) 
The  name  of  the  family  of  fishes  ofwhich  the  genus  Silurus 
is  the  type,  and  which  includes  the  electric  silurus  {Malap- 
terurus  electricus).  They  are  chiefly  distinguished  by  the 
want  of  true  scales,  having  merely  a  naked  skin,  or  largo 
osseous  plates.  A  strong  osseous  spine  forms  the  first  ray 
of  the  dorsal  and  pectoral  tins  except  in  the  genus  Jlulap- 
terurus. 

SILVA'XFS.  A  rural  Italian  deity;  so  called  from  Lat. 
sylva.  a  irood.     lie  also  presided  over  bound  Ties. 

SfiiVER.  (Gi  nil.  sillier.)  A  w  bite,  malleable,  ductile, 
and  tenacious  metal,  of  a  brilliant  lustre  when  polished,  ami 
soil  when  pure.  Its  specific  gravity  is  II)-.").  It  is  not  alter- 
ed by  air  or  moisture,  bul  Is  blackened  or  tarnished  bj  sul- 
phuretted hydrogen.  When  melted  in  open  vessels  it  has 
the  curious  property  of  absorbing  oxygen,  which  it  gives  out 
when  it  congeals.  This  is  the  cause  of  the  appearance  of 
granular  crystallization  which  silver  assumes  w  hen  hastily 
cooled;  a  small  per  centagi  of  copper  entirel  j  prevents  the 
effect.    Tin-  only  pure  acids  which  act  upon  silver  are  the 

nitric  and  sulphuric  The  nitric  acid  dissolves  siher  with- 
out the  lid  of  heat,  nilroiis  gass  is  evolved,  and  a  dense  col- 
ourless solution  obtained,  from  which  tabular  crystals  of 
nitrate  of  silvei  maj  he  produced  by  evaporation,  Tiu-so 
crystals  are  anhydrous  and  consist  of  l  is  oxide  of  silver  and 

5-1  nitric  acid,  the  equivalent  of  silver  being  110.  When 
melted,  ami  east  into  Bticka  or  quills,  they  form  the  /n;i</r 
caustic  of  the  surgeons.    Any  gold  which  the  silver  might 


SIMARUBA. 

have  contained,  being  insoluble  in  nitric  acid,  remain?  in 
the  form  of  a  black  powder,  and  this  simple  process  enables 
us  readily  to  separate  those  metals.  Silver  is  not  attacked 
by  cold  sulphuric  acid  ;  but  when  granulated  silver  is  heat- 
ed in  conceiilrated  sulphuric  acid,  one  portion  of  the  acid  is 
decomposed  and  imparts  oxygen  to  the  silver ;  sulphurous 
acid  is  evolved,  and  the  oxide  of  silver  dissolves  in  the  re- 
siduary acid,  forming  a  sulphate  of  silver.  It  is  a  difficultly 
soluble  salt,  forming  anhydrous  acicular  crystals.  In  this 
case,  the  gold  also  remains  undissolved;  and  as  sulphuric 
is  much  cheaper  than  nitric  acid,  it  is  used  foi  the  separa- 
tion of  those  metals  upon  the  large  scale.  The  solutions 
both  of  the  nitrate  and  sulphate  of  silver  are  decomposed 
by  the  immersion  of  several  of  the  other  metals.  Copper  is 
generally  used  for  the  purpose ;  which,  when  immersed  in 
the  solution  of  silver,  causes  its  separation  in  the  form  of  a 
grey  metallic  powder,  which  is  sometimes  technically  call- 
ed water  silver.  Chlorine  and  all  the  soluble  chlorides, 
when  added  to  solutions  of  silver,  occasion  a  white  curdy 
precipitate,  which  is  distinguished  by  the  rapidity  with 
which  it  blackens  by  exposure  to  light.  The  substance  thus 
formed  is  a  chloride  of  silver,  composed  of  110  silver  -f-  36 
chlorine,  the  equivalent  of  chloride  of  silver  being  146.  It 
is  not  decomposed  by  heat  alone ;  but  when  carefully  melt- 
ed it  concretes  into  a  horny  substance,  formerly  called  luna 
cornea.  Chloride  of  silver  may  be  easily  decomposed  either 
by  mixing  it  in  a  moist  state  with  zinc  filings,  or  by  fusing  it 
with  carbonate  of  soda  or  potash :  in  either  case  metallic 
silver  is  obtained.  The  insolubility  of  chloride  of  silver 
renders  a  solution  of  nitrate  of  silver  an  admirable  test  of 
the  presence  of  common  salt  or  other  chlorides  in  mineral 
waters;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  a  solution  of  common  salt 
is  used  to  detect  silver  when  in  solution.  A  solution  of  two 
drachms  of  nitrate  of  silver  in  an  ounce  of  water,  coloured 
by  a  little  sap  green  or  Indian  ink,  forms  marking  ink  ;  and 
when  written  upon  linen,  previously  prepared  by  the  appli- 
cation of  a  weak  solution  of  carbonate  of  soda  with  a  little 
starch  or  gum  in  it,  soon  forms  black  indelible  letters.  When 
a  nitric  solution  of  silver  is  mixed  with  alcohol,  an  effer- 
vescence ensues,  and  fulminating  silver  is  precipitated. 
This  most  dangerous  compound  (a  peculiar  cyanate  of  sil- 
ver) ought  never  to  be  meddled  with  in  quantity,  and  al- 
ways with  the  utmost  circumspection  ;  it  explodes  with  vio- 
lence upon  the  slightest  friction  of  hard  bodies,  or  when 
struck,  rubbed,  or  heated. 

The  numerous  uses  and  applications  of  silver  are  well 
known.  In  its  pure  state  it  is  too  soft  for  coin,  plate,  and 
most  ornamental  purposes,  and  is  therefore,  in  such  cases, 
alloyed  with  copper,  by  which,  in  proper  proportion,  its 
colour  is  not  materially  impaired,  and  it  is  considerably 
hardened.  The  standard  silver  of  our  coin  is  an  alloy  of 
11  oz.  2  dwts.  of  pure  silver,  and  18  dwts.  of  copper,  to 
the  pound  Troy;  and  this  weight  is  coined  into  66  shillings. 

Silver  is  found  native,  and  in  the  state  of  sulphurct,  con- 
stitutes the  varieties  of  black  and  vitreous  silver  ore.  It 
also  occurs  in  combination  with  several  other  metals,  and 
more  especially  with  the  sulphurets  of  lend ;  so  that  the 
lead  of  commerce  is  seldom  quite  free  from  traces  of  silver, 
and  manv  such  lead  ores  are  worked  as  ores  of  silver. 

SIMARU'BA.  The  bark  of  the  root  of  the  Quassia  sim- 
aruba, a  native  of  the  West  Indies.  This  is  a  tough, 
fibrous,  bitter  bark ;  the  infusion  is  occasionally  used  in 
medicine  as  a  tonic. 

SIMARUBA'CE/E.  (Simaruba,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  arborescent  or  shrubby  Exogens,  in- 
habiting the  tropics.  The  species  are  intensely  bitter. 
The  wood  of  quassia  is  well  known.  A  plant  called  Pa- 
raiba  in  Brazil,  the  Simaruba  versicolor  of  St.  Hilaire,  pos- 
sesses such  excessive  bitterness  that  no  insects  will  attack 
it ;  and  Picrcena  excelsa  is  another  species  of  the  order, 
which  is  employed  in  medicine  for  the  same  property. 

SI'MIA.  (Lat.  simus,  flat-nosed.)  The  generic  name 
applied  by  Linnaius  to  all  the  Qundrumanous  Mammals, 
except  the  lpmurs.  The  Linnsan  Simia;  are  divided  into 
numerous  subgenera,  to  none  of  which  the  name  Simia  is 
now  applied,  except  by  some  modern  naturalists  to  the 
orangutans  (Simia  satyrus),  and  S.  jnoris. 

SI'MILAR.  (Lat.  similis,  like.)  In  Geometry,  similar 
rectilineal  figures  are  such  as  have  their  several  angles 
respectively  equal,  each  to  each,  and  their  sides  about  the 
equal  angles  proportional.  The  areas  of  two  similar  fisures 
are  to  each  other  as  the  squares  of  their  homologous  sides. 
Similar  segments  of  circles  are  such  as  contain  equal  an- 
gles. Similar  curves  are  curves  whose  equations  are  of 
the  same  form,  and  the  ratio  of  the  constants  in  those 
equations  equal.  Hence  all  circles  are  similar,  and  all 
parabolas  are  similar ;  because,  in  both  cases,  only  one 
constant  enters  into  the  equation  of  the  curve.  Similar 
solids  are  such  as  are  contained  by  the  same  number  of 
similar  planes,  similarly  situated,  and  having  like  inclina- 
tions to  one  another.  Such  solids  are  to  one  another  as 
the  cubes  of  their  homologous  sides. 


SINE. 

SI'MILE.  (Lat.  like.)  In  Rhetoric,  the  same  as  com- 
parison, which  see. 

SIMI'LITER.  (Lat.  in  like  manner.)  In  Law,  the 
technical  designation  of  the  form  by  which  either  party,  in 
pleading,  accepts  the  issue  tendered  by  his  opponent.  The 
one  having  concluded  his  plea,  replication,  &c.,  by  tender- 
ing issue  in  the  common  form,  by  "  putting  himself  upon 
the  country,"  »'.  e.,  praying  that  the  truth  of  the  facts  may 
be  inquired  of  by  a  jury,  the  other  adds  the  similiter,  which 
is  in  the  form—"  And  the  said  A.  B.  as  to  the  plea,  &c.  of 
the  defendant  (or  plaintiff)  above  pleaded,  and  whereof  he 
hath  put  himself  upon  the  country,  doth  the  like."  See 
Pleading. 

SIMI'LITTJDE,  in  Geometry,  signifies  the  relation  of  fig- 
ures similar  to  each  other. 

SIMONIANS.  The  name  given  to  the  followers  of  Si- 
mon Magus,  who  pretended  to  be  the  great  virtue  and  pow- 
er of  God  sent  from  heaven  to  earth.  Their  system  was  a 
medley  of  the  philosophy  of  Plato,  the  mythological  fables 
of  the  heathens,  and  of  Christianity.  The  sum  of  their 
doctrines,  as  enjoined  by  their  founder,  was,  that  from  the 
Divine  Being,  as  a  fountain  of  light,  flow  various  orders  of 
eternal  natures,  subsisting  within  the  plenitude  of  the  Di- 
vine essence  ;  that  beyond  these  in  the  order  of  emanation 
are  different  classes  of  intelligences,  to  the  lowest  of  which 
belongs  the  human  soul ;  that  matter  is  the  most  remote 
production  of  the  emanative  power,  which,  on  account  of 
its  infinite  distance  from  the  fountain  of  light  possesses 
sluzL'ish  and  malignant  qualities,  which  appear  the  divine 
operations,  and  are  the  cause  of  evil ;  that  it  is  the  great 
design  of  philosophy  to  deliver  the  soul  from  its  imprison- 
ment in  matter,  and  restore  it  to  that  divine  light  from 
which  it  was  derived  ;  and  that  for  this  purpose  God  had 
sent  us  one  of  the  first  ceons  into  the  world.  He  believed 
also  in  the  transmigration  of  souls,  and  denied  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body.  [Kncyc.  Brit.)  We  have  specified  at 
greater  length  the  opinions  of  this  sect  than  they  seem 
properly  entitled  to  ;  but  considering  that  it  was  the  first 
heresy  in  the  Christian  Church,  a  resume  of  its  views  was 
considered  not  to  be  out  of  place. 

SIMONIANS,  SAINT.     See  Saint  Simonians. 

SI'MONY.  In  Law,  an  unlawful  contract  for  the  pre- 
senting a  clergyman  to  a  benefice.  When  such  presenta- 
tion is  made  corruptly,  for  money,  gift,  or  reward,  by  Stat, 
31  Eliz.,  c.  6,  such  presentations  are  void,  and  the  crown 
shall  present  for  that  turn  And  by  1-2  Ann.  8,  t.  2,  c.  12,  if 
any  one,  for  money  or  profit,  procures  in  his  own  name  the 
next  presentation  to  any  living  ecclesiastical,  and  is  pre- 
sented thereupon,  the  contract  is  simoniacal.  The  term  is 
derived  from  Simon  Magus,  who  was  punished,  as  is  rela- 
ted in  the  Acts,  for  attempting  to  obtain  the  gifts  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  by  bribing  the  Apostles.  It  is  generally  re- 
marked, however,  that  the  practices  against  which  our 
laws  are  directed  bear  no  precise  similarity  to  this. 

SIMOON,  or  SIMOOM.  A  hot,  arid  wind  which  blows 
in  Arabia,  Syria,  and  the  adjacent  countries,  and  chiefly 
about  the  time  of  the  equinoxes.  The  simoon,  which  is 
identical  with  the  khamsin  of  Syria  and  the  samiel  of  the 
Turks,  and  resembles  in  many  respects  the  sirocco  and 
sorana  of  other  countries,  derives  its  qualities  from  blowing 
over  sandy  deserts  heated  intensely  by  the  sun.  Some- 
times it  blows  in  squalls,  bearing  along  with  it  quantities  of 
burning  sand  and  dust.  In  the  desert  it  is  greatly  dreaded  ; 
and  the  only  chance  of  safety  the  traveller  has,  is  to  fall 
down  with  his  face  close  to  the  ground,  and  to  continue  as 
long  as  possible  without  drawing  breath.  It  is  described 
by  Bruce.  Volney.  Charind,  Malcolm,  and  other  travellers. 

SIMPLI'CIMANES,  Simplicimani.  (Lat.  simplex,  sim- 
ple; mantis,  a  hand.)  A  name  given  by  Latreille  to  a  tribe 
of  Caraboid  beetles,  comprehending  those  in  which,  in  the 
male,  the  two  anterior  tarsi  are  dilated. 

SIMPLICITY.  (From  Lat.  simplex.)  In  the  Fine 
Arts,  that  quality  in  works  of  art  through  which  the  ele- 
ments whereof  it  is  composed  are  arranged  in  the  most 
natural  order ;  and  in  which  the  ideas  and  images  are  pre- 
sented to  us  so  that  the  principal  objects  are  not  eclipsed 
by  the  accessories,  and  the  details  are  in  due  subordination 
to  the  whole.  Simplicity  is  the  reverse  of  excess  and  ex- 
aggeration, and  may  be  properly  called  a  negative  quality 
in  art. 

SI'NAPISIN.  A  peculiar  principle  extracted  from  mus- 
tard seed  (Sinapis  alba).  It  is  a  white,  crystallizable,  in- 
odorous substance,  of  a  bitter  ta«te,  accompanied  by  the 
flavour  of  mustard.  It  is  supposed  to  contain  sulphur,  car- 
bon, nitrogen,  hydrogen,  and  oxygen. 

SINAPISM.  (Lat.  sinape,  mustard.)  A  mustard  poul- 
tice. 

SI'NCIPUT.  The  anterior  region  of  the  upper  part  of 
the  head,  from  the  vertex  to  the  eyes  in  Mammals,  and 
from  the  vertex  to  the  base  of  the  beak  in  birds. 

SINE.  (Lat.  sinus,  the  bosom.)  In  Trigonometry,  the 
sine  of  any  arc  of  a  circle  is  the  straight  line  drawn  from 

1127 


SINECURE. 

one  extremity  of  the  arc  perpendic- 
ular to  the  radius  passing  through 
the  other  extremity.  Thus,  in  the 
circle  A  B  C  D,  let  O  A  and  O  B  be 
two  radii,  and  let  B  X  be  perpen- 
A.'  diculu  to  O  A  ;  then  B  X  is  the 
sine  of  the  intercepted  arc  A  B.  In 
like  manner,  if  C  Y  and  D  Z  be 
perpendicular  to  A  O,  or  its  pro- 
longation O  A' ;  then  C  Y  is  the 
sine  of  the  arc  A  B  C,  or  of  A'  C, 
the  supplement  of  A  B  C,  and  D  Z  the  sine  of  A  C  D,  or  of 
AD. 

Draw  the  diameter  POP7,  and  suppose  the  arc  A  B  to 
increase  from  0  to  3tiO°.  It  is  evident  that  as  the  arc  A  B 
increases  from  A  to  A  P,  or  from  0  to  90°,  the  sine  B  X  in- 
creases from  zero  to  O  P,  where  it  becomes  equal  to  the 
radius;  and  hence  the  radius  is  called  the  sinus  totus,  or 
whole  sine.  Between  P  and  A  the  sine  again  diminishes 
as  the  arc  is  increased,  and  vanishes  at  A'.  From  A  to- 
wards P'  it  again  increases  till  it  becomes  equal  to  the  ra- 
dio-; O  I",  and  from  this  position  decreases  until  it  again 
vanishes  at  A.  Hence  it  appears  that  the  origin  being  sup- 
posed at  A,  the  sine  is  positive  in  the  first  and  second  quad- 
rants, or  from  0  to  180° ;  and  negative  in  the  third  and  fourth, 
or  from  180°  to  360°. 

If  we  conceive  another  circle  to  be  described  about  the 
same  centre  O,  the  two  lines  O  A  and  O  B  would  intercept 
on  it  an  arc  similar  to  A  B  ;  and  if,  also,  we  suppose  the 
radius  of  this  second  circle  =:  1,  and  denote  the  intercepted 
arc  by  <p  ;  then  we  shall  have  evidently  sin.  <p  :  1  :  :  B  X  : 

B  O,  or  sin.  <p  ■=  vj-p;'     But  the  arc  whose  radius  is  1  is  the 

measure  of  the  angle  at  the  centre  ;  therefore  the  sine  of 
the  angle  A  O  B  is  the  ratio  of  B  X  to  B  O,  or  A  O.-  This 
definition  of  the  sine  of  an  angle  is  adopted  in  some  of  the 
best  recent  works  on  trigonometry. 

The  sine  of  an  arc  is  the  half  of  the  chord  of  the  double 
arc.  Ptolemy,  in  the  graphical  constructions  in  the  Ana- 
lemma,  makes  use  of  the  semichords  instead  of  the  chords  ; 
but  the  introduction  of  the  sines  into  trigonometrical  calcu- 
lation was  an  important  improvement,  of  which  the  credit 
appears  to  be  due  to  the  Arabian  astronomer  Albategnius. 
(Delumbre,  Astronomic  da  J\Ioycn  Age,  p.  12.)  The  term 
sine  has  been  variously  derived  ;  the  Arabic  name  is  ^-t'A, 
or  dgib,  signifying  a  fold,  of  which  sinus  is  the  Latin  trans- 
lation.    {Hutton's  Mathematical  Tables.) 

For  the  analytical  expressions  of  the  sines  of  the  sums 
and  differences  of  two  arcs,  of  multiple  arcs,  and  of  the 
other  trigonometrical  lines,  see  Trigonometry. 

SFNECURE.  In  Politics,  an  office  without  any  duties 
attached  to  it.  The  term  is  properly  ecclesiastical,  and 
applied  to  a  benefice  without  care  of  souls  ;  in  which  sense 
it  is  also  still  employed. 

SINE  DIE.  (Eat.  without  day.)  In  Legal  and  Parlia- 
mentary Usage,  an  adjournment  or  prorogation  sine  die 
means  without  any  specified  day  for  resuming  the  subject, 
or  reassembling. 

SINGULAR  TERM.  In  Logic,  a  term  which  stands 
for  one  individual.  A  singular  proposition  is  one  which 
has  for  its  subject  either  a  singular  term,  or  a  common 
term  limited  to  one  individual  by  a  singular  sign.  See 
Term,  Proposition. 

BINI'STEB  (Lat.  literally,  left)  is  used  in  its  ordinary 
signification  for  unlucky ;  though  the  Romans  in  the  rites  of 
divination  attached  to  it  the  opposite  meaning.  Thus  avis 
sinistra,  or  a  bird  on  the  left  hand,  was  esteemed  a  happy 
omen  ;  and  intonuit  Iwcd,  it  thundered  on  the  left  hand, 
indicated  the  same.  Sitiister,  in  Heraldry,  is  used  to  des 
ignate  the  left-hand  side  or  part. 

SINKING  FUND.  A  provision  made  by  parliament, 
consisting  of  the  surplusage  of  other  funds,  intended  to  be 
appropriated  to  the  payment  of  the  national  debt.  See 
Funds. 

SINO'PLE.  In  Heraldry,  the  Continental  designation 
for  the  colour  green  ;  by  English  heralds  called  vert.  The 
name  is  said  to  be  derived,  through  the  importation  of  the 
Crusades,  from  the  town  of  Sinope,  in  Asia  Minor. 

SI'NTER.  A  German  word  implying  a  scale.  Calcareous 
sinter  is  a  variety  of  carbonate  of  lime  composed  of  succes- 
sive concentric  layers.  Silicious  sinter  is  u  variety  of  com- 
mon opal. 

SI'NUOUS.  (Lat.  sinuosus.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  of  a 
serpentine  or  undulating  form. 

SI'NUS.  (Lat.)  The  veins  of  the  dura  mater  of  the 
brnin  are  called  sinuses. 

SIPHON.  (Gr.  ai(bu>v,a.  tube.)  In  Zoology,  the  name 
of  the  membranous  and  calcareous  tubes  which  traverse 
the  septa  and  the  interior  of  Polythalamous  shells.  Also 
applied  to  the  tubular  prolongation  of  the  mantle  in  certain 
Univalve  and  Bivalve  Mollusks  ;  and  by  Latreille  to  the 
1128 


SIR. 

mouth   of  certain  Suctorious,  Crustaceous,  and  Apterous 
Insects. 

SI'PHON,  or  SY'PHON.  In  Hydraulics,  a  simple  and 
well-known  instrument,  chief-  e 
ly  used  for  the  purpose  of  — ■ 
drawing  off  liquids  from  casks. 
The  siphon  is  simply  a  bent 
tube,  a  b  c,  having  one  end 
longer  than  the  other.  To  use 
the  siphon,  the  tube  is  in  the 
first  place  filled  with  the  li- 
quid, and  the  open  end  a  stop- 
ped by  the  hand,  or  by  a  cock, 
in  which  state  the  liquid  will 
not  flow  from  the  other  extremity.  The  end  c  is  then  im- 
mersed in  the  liquid,  and  the  stop  removed  from  a ;  upon 
which,  if  a  be  at  a  lower  level  than  c,  the  liquid  will  im- 
mediately begin  to  flow  out  at  a,  and  will  continue  to  flow 
until  the  vessel  is  drained  down  to  the  level  of  e. 

The  principle  of  the  siphon  may  be  explained  as  follows  : 
The  lowest  section  of  the  fluid  within  the  tube  at  the  ex- 
tremity c  is  subjected  to  two  unequal  pressures  in  opposite 
directions :  first,  the  pressure  due  to  the  weight  of  the  li- 
quid in  the  branch  b  c,  which  pressure  is  equal  to  the  line 
c  d,  perpendicular  to  the  horizontal  line  drawn  through  the 
highest  part  of  the  tube,  and  tends  to  force  the  liquid  out  of 
the  tube  ;  secondly,  the  pressure  of  the  external  liquor  at  c, 
which  is  equal  to  the  atmospheric  pressure,  or  the  weight 
of  a  column  of  liquid  of  about  34  feet  in  height,  together 
with  the  weight  of  the  column  reaching  from  c  to  the  sur- 
face of  the  liquid  in  the  vessel,  which,  however,  we  may 
leave  out  of  consideration.  Hence,  if  the  line  c  d  be  less 
than  34  feet  (if  the  liquid  be  water),  the  last  pressure  will 
preponderate,  and  the  liquid  will  be  forced  into  the  tube  by 
a  pressure  equal  to  the  weight  of  the  atmosphere  diminish- 
ed by  the  weight  of  a  column  of  the  fluid  equal  to  c  d.  In 
like  manner,  the  pressure  upon  a  section  of  the  liquid  at  a 
is  equal  to  the  weight  of  the  atmospheric  column  diminish- 
ed by  the  weight  of  a  column  of  the  fluid  equal  in  height 
to  a  e.  If,  therefore,  a  e  be  greater  than  c  d,  the  pressure 
at  e  will  be  greater  than  the  pressure  at  a,  and  the  liquid 
will  be  forced  through  the  tube. 

From  this  explanation  it  is  obvious  that  the  limits  within 
which  the  siphon  can  act  are  determined  by  the  specific 
gravity  of  the  fluid.  Water  cannot  be  raised  by  the  siphon 
to  a  greater  height  than  34  feet,  nor  mercury  to  a  greater 
height  than  30  inches.  It  is  also  obvious  that  the  compar- 
ative diameters  of  the  two  branches,  and  their  oblique 
lengths,  are  of  no  importance,  the  action  depending  only  on 
the  difference  of  their  perpendicular  heights. 

Sometimes  the  siphon  is  made  with  both  branches  equal, 
and  turned  up  at  the  extremities  ;  in  which  case,  so  long 
as  the  extremities  are  kept  on  the  same  level,  it  will  con- 
tinue always  full  and  ready  for  use.  This  form  of  the  in- 
strument is  called  the  JVurtcmberg  siphon,  from  its  having 
been  first  used  at  that  place. 

SIPHONA'PTERANS,  Siphonaptera.  (Gr.  <ncW,  a 
priv.,  and  -rripor,  a  wing.)  A  name  given  by  Latreille  to 
an  order  of  insects,  including  those  Apterous  species  which 
have  a  mouth  in  the  form  of  a  siphon. 

SIPHO'NIFERS,  Siphonifera.  (Gr.  oi&wv ;  Lat.  fero,  / 
bear.)  A  name  given  by  D'Orbigny,  and  Ferussac  to  an 
order  of  Cephalopods,  including  all  those  species  which 
have  a  siphon  contained  within  a  polythalamous  shell. 

SIPHONOBRAN'CHIATES,  Siphonobranchiata.  (Gr. 
<r«pu)>\  and  (Ipiyxia,  gills.)  The  name  of  an  order  of  Gas- 
tropods, including  those  in  which  the  branchial  cavity  ter- 
minates in  a  tube  or  siphon  more  or  less  prolonged,  by 
which  the  respiratory  current  of  water  is  received  and  ex- 
pelled. 

SIPHO'NOPHORES,  Siphonophora.  (Gr.  oi<pui;  and 
iptpui,  I  bear.)  A  name  given  by  Eschollz  to  an  order  of 
Acalephes,  to  which  he  refers  those  species  that  have  no 
central  digestive  cavity,  but  simplv  isolated  tubes. 

SIPHO'NOSTOMES,  Siphonos'toma.  (Gr.  atoiuiv,  and 
oropa,  a  mouth.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Crustaceans, 
comprehending  those  which  have  a  siphon  shaped  mouth 
for  suction.  By  M.  de  Blainville  the  term  is  applied  to 
those  Gastropods  which  have  the  opening  of  the  shell  pro- 
longed into  a  siphon. 

SIPHORHI'NIANS,  fiiphorhinii.  (Gr.  mfuv,  and  p,v,  a 
nose.)  A  name  applied  to  a  tribe  of  swimming  birds,  inclu- 
ding those  which  have  the  nostrils  prominent  and  tubular. 

SIP'UNCLE.  Sipuncuhis.  The  name  of  a  genus  of 
worms  which  burrow  in  the  sands  of  the  sea-shore,  and 
are  classed  with  the  F.chinodcrm.i  by  Cuvier,  and  with  the 
F.ntoioa  by  M.  de  Blainville.  They  differ  from  the  soft- 
bodied  Echinodcrms  chiefly  in  the  absence  of  ambulncral 
pores. 

SIR.  The  term  used  in  England,  either  out  of  respect 
or  formality,  in  addressing  any  one.  More  particularly,  it 
is  the  distinguishing  appellation  of  knights  and  baronets,  to 


SIREN. 

whose  Christian  names  it  is  prefixed.  The  derivation  of 
this  word  has  greatly  puzzled  etymologists.  The  Lat. 
hems,  master  (whence  the  Germ,  herr),  and  senior,  whence 
signor,  siore,  sire,  sir,  and  the  Gr.  ttvpioq,  lord,  are  speci- 
mens of  the  origin  which  has  been  assigned  to  this  term. 
The  second  is  undoubtedly  correct.  Since  the  16th  centu- 
ry, the  word  sire  has  been  used  in  prose  only  in  addressing 
sovereign  princes. 

SI'REX.  The  generic  name  of  certain  Perennibranchi- 
ate  reptiles  which  have  only  one  pair  of  feet,  and  retain 
the  external  gills  ;  they  are  peculiar  to  the  southern  prov- 
inces of  the  United  States. 

SIRE'XE.  In  Acoustics,  an  instrument  for  determining 
the  velocity  of  aerial  vibration,  corresponding  to  the  differ- 
ent pitches  of  musical  sounds.  "  In  this  elegant  instru- 
ment the  wind  of  a  bellows  is  emitted  through  a  small  ap- 
erture, before  which  revolves  a  circular  disc  pierced  with  a 
certain  number  of  holes,  arranged  in  a  circle  concentric 
with  the  axis  of  rotation,  exactly  equidistant  from  each 
other,  and  of  the  same  size,  &c.  The  orifice  through 
which  the  air  passes  is  so  situated  that  each  of  these  holes, 
during  the  rotation  of  the  disk,  shall  pass  over  it,  and  let 
through  the  air ;  but  the  disk  is  made  to  revolve  so  near 
the  orifice  that  in  the  intervals  between  the  holes  it  shall 
act  as  a  cover,  and  intercept  the  air.  If  the  holes  be  pla- 
ced obliquely,  the  action  of  the  current  of  air  alone  will 
set  the  disk  in  motion  ;  if  perpendicular  to  the  surface,  the 
disk  must  be  moved  by  wheel-work,  by  means  of  which 
its  velocity  of  rotation  is  easily  regulated,  and  the  number 
of  impulses  may  be  exactly  counted.  The  sound  produced 
is  clear  and  sweet,  like  the  human  voice.  If,  instead  of  a 
single  aperture  for  transmitting  the  air,  there  be  several,  so 
disposed  in  a  circle  of  equal  dimensions  with  that  in  which 
the  holes  of  the  disk  are  situated  that  each  shall  be  oppo- 
site one  corresponding  hole  when  at  rest,  these  will  all 
form  sounds  of  one  pitch,  and  being  heard  together  will  re- 
enforce  each  other.  The  sirene  sounds  equally  when 
plunged  in  water  and  fed  by  a  current  of  that  fluid  as  in 
air;  thus  proving  that  it  is  the  number  of  impulses  only, 
and  nothing  depending  on  the  nature  of  the  medium  in 
which  the  sound  is  excited,  that  influences  our  apprecia- 
tion of  its  pitch."  (Sir  John  Herschel's  Treatise  on  Sound, 
Kncijc.  Jiletropolitana.) 

The  sirene,  as  thus  described,  was  invented  by  Baron 
Cagniard  de  la  Tour.  An  instrument  on  the  same  princi- 
ple, and  for  the  same  purpose,  had  formerly  been  devised 
by  Professor  Robison ;  but  the  construction  was  much  less 
elegant  and  commodious.  A  current  of  air  passing  through 
a  pipe  was  alternately  intercepted  and  permitted  to  pass  by 
the  shutting  and  opening  of  a  stop-cock. 

SI'REXS.  (Gr.  Xciprjvec ',  probably  from  aetpa,  a  chain, 
to  signify  their  attractive  power.)  Melodious  divinities, 
who  dwelt  on  the  shores  of  Sicily,  and  so  charmed  passing 
mariners  by  the  sweetness  of  their  song  that  they  forgot 
their  homes,  and  remained  there  till  they  perished  of  hun- 
ger. Their  history  has  been  variously  described.  Accord- 
ing to  Homer,  in  the  Odyssey,  as  Ulysses  and  his  compan- 
ions were  on  their  homeward  voyage  from  JEaca.  thev  came 
first  to  the  island  of  the  Sirens :  but  they  passed  in  safety  ; 
for,  by  the  directions  of  Circe,  Ulysses  stopped  the  ears  of  i 
his  companions  with  wax,  and  had  himself  tied  to  the  mast 
before  approaching  the  island  ;  so  that,  although  when  he 
heard  the  song  of  the  Sirens  he  made  rigns  for  his  compan- 
ions to  unbind  him,  they  only  secured  him  the  more  closelv 
ia  compliance  with  his  previous  instructions.  Thus  he  lis- 
tened to  the  songs  of  the  Sirens,  and  escaped  notwithstand- 
ing. Hence  it  was  feigned  that  they  threw  themselves  into 
the  sea  from  vexation  at  the  escape  of  Ulysses,  an  oracle 
having  predicted  that  they  should  live  only  so  long  as  their 
strains  had  power  to  arrest  all  who  heard  them.  But  ac- 
cording to  other  poets,  they  threw  themselves  into  the  sea 
from  rage  and  despair  on  hearing  the  more  melodious  song 
of  Orpheus.  Originally  there  were  only  two  Sirens ;  but 
their  number  was  afterwards  increased  to  three,  and  their 
names  are  given  with  great  variety.  See  the  speculations 
of  Bryant  on  the  subject,  Ancient  Mythology,  ii.,  277,  and 
hi..  2:i7. 

SI'RIUS  (called  also  Canicula,  or  Canis  Candens,  the 
Dog-star).  A  star  of  the  first  magnitude  in  the  constella- 
tion of  Canis  Major,  or  the  Great  Dog,  and  the  brightest  in 
the  heavens.  The  Egyptians  observing  that  the  Xile  be- 
gins to  swell  at  a  particular  rising  of  this  star,  paid  it  divine 
honours,  and  named  it  Sirius ;  from  Siris,  one  of  the  ap- 
pellations of  the  Nile. 

SIRO'CCO.  (Ital.)  A  soft  relaxing  wind,  chiefly  expe- 
rienced in  the  south  of  Italy,  Malta,  and  Sicily.  It  blows 
from  the  south-east  or  south ;  and  having  been"  heated  over 
the  sandy  deserts  of  Lybia,  it  becomes  occasionally  moist 
in  its  passage  across  the  Mediterranean,  and  oppresses  the 
inhabitants  of  the  above-named  countries  with  excessive 
languor,  and  a  sinking  of  the  mental  energies.  The  setting 
in  of  the  sirocco  is  followed  by  a  considerable  rise  of  the 
95 


SKELETON. 

thermometer,  and  is  attended  with  a  haze  which  obscures 
the  atmosphere.     .See  Simoon. 

SIRVE'XTE.  In  the  Literature  of  the  Middle  Ages,  a 
species  of  poem  in  common  use  among  the  Troubadours, 
usually  satirical,  and  divided  into  strophes  of  a  peculiar 
construction.     See  Troubadour. 

SI'STRUM.  (Gr.  aeiarpov;  from  otitiv,  to  shake.)  A 
kind  of  timbrel,  which  the  Egyptian  priests  of  Isis  used  to 
shake  with  their  hands  at  the  festivals  of  that  goddess. 

SI'SYPHUS.  In  Ancient  Mythology,  one  of  tile  de- 
scendants of  yEolus,  respecting  whom  a  variety  of  opinions 
prevails.  By  some  he  is  said  to  have  resided  at  Epyra,  in 
the  Peloponnesus  ;  others  maintain  that  he  was  a  Trojau 
prince,  who  was  punished  for  betraying  state  secrets  ;  while 
others  allege  that  he  was  a  notorious  robber,  slain  by  The- 
seus. Be  this  as  it  may,  all  the  ancient  poets  are  agreed 
that  he  was  distinguished  for  his  craftiness  and  cunning; 
and  that  his  punishment  in  Tartarus  for  his  crimes  com- 
mitted on  earth  consisted  in  rolling  a  huge  stone  to  the  top 
of  a  high  hill,  which  constantly  recoiled,  and  thus  rendered 
his  labour  incessant.  The  term  Sisyphus  is  supposed  to  be 
derived  from  Gr.  aiao(j>oc  (by  a  common  duplication  for  ao- 
<po;,  wise),  and  to  signify  onerwise. 

SITTA.  (Gr.  oirra.)  The  name  of  a  bird  in  Aristotle, 
which  Gesner  determined  to  be  the  nuthatch.  Linnsus  re- 
tains the  term  for  the  genus  of  which  the  nuthatch  (Sitta 
Enropwa,  L.)  is  the  type. 

SIVA.  In  Hindoo  Mythology,  a  title  given  to  the  Su- 
preme Being,  considered  in  the  character  of  the  avenger  or 
destroyer.  Sir  William  Jones  has  compared  Siva  to  Jupi- 
ter ;  but  he  appears  to  share  many  of  the  attributes  of  Pluto. 
Under  the  name  of  Mahadeva,  he  is  exhibited  also  as  a  type 
of  reproduction :  to  destroy,  according  to  the  Vedantas  of 
India,  the  Sufis  of  Persia,  and  even  to  many  European 
schools  of  philosophy,  being  only  to  generate  or  reproduce 
under  another  form.     See  Vishnu,  Brama. 

SI VATHE'RIUM.  (Siva ;  and  Gr.  $t)pioi;  a  wild  beast.) 
The  name  of  an  extinct  genus  of  Ruminantia  found  in  fos- 
sil remains  in  the  tertiary  strata  of  the  Sivalik  Sub-Hima- 
layan range.  It  surpassed  all  known  ruminants  in  size,  and 
had  four  horns. 

SI'ZARS.  The  lowest  class  of  students  at  Cambridge. 
At  Oxford  the  same  class  go  in  different  colleges  by  the  de- 
nominations of  servitors,  &c.  They  are  such  as  have  cer- 
tain allowances  made  in  their  battels  (college  bills),  through 
the  benefactions  of  founders  or  other  charitable  persons. 
In  college  phraseology,  a  size  is  a  portion  of  bread,  meat, 
&.C  allotted  to  a  student;  and  hence  the  name  sizar.  The 
sizars  at  Cambridge  are  almost  entirely  on  the  same  footing 
with  independent  students;  at  Oxford  they  are  somewhat 
lower,  and  some  relics  of  their  former  degraded  condition 
still  subsist  in  certain  colleges  in  the  customs  of  bringing  up 
dishes  to  dinner,  dining  off  the  remnants  of  the  fellows'  din- 
ners, &c. 

SIZE.  A  sort  of  varnish,  paint,  or  glue,  used  by  paint- 
ers, and  in  many  other  trades.  It  is  made  of  the  shreds  and 
parings  of  leather,  parchment,  or  vellum,  boiled  in  water 
and  strained. 

SKE'LETOX".  (Gr.  ckcWw,  I  make  dry.)  The  desicca- 
ted support  or  framework  of  an  animal  body,  which,  usually 
consisting  of  different  parts,  may  be  joined  together  by  the 
dried  natural  ligaments,  when  it  is  termed  "a  natural  skel- 
eton ;"  or  may  be  articulated  artificially,  when  it  is  termed 
"an  artificial  skeleton."  In  the  lowest-organized  animals, 
as  the  Polygastria  and  Polypi,  the  skeleton,  when  it  exists, 
commonly  consists  of  a  single  piece.  In  the  Polygastria  it 
is  external,  in  the  form  of  a  case,  and  consists  of  pure  silex. 
In  the  Polypi  it  is  sometimes  external,  sometimes  internal ; 
and  is  composed  of  either  pure  carbonate  of  lime,  or  with  a 
small  additional  proportion  of  phosphate  of  lime,  and  these 
earths  are  combined  with  a  greater  or  less  proportion  of  ge- 
latinous animal  matter.  In  the  Isis  the  skeleton  consists 
of  numerous  separate  calcareous  joints,  connected  together 
by  portions  of  uncalcified  gelatin.  In  many  of  the  Litho- 
phytous  Polypes  innumerable  minute  spicules,  of  various  but 
definite  forms,  are  scattered  through  the  fleshy  investment 
of  the  main  internal  skeleton.  In  the  Echinoderms  the 
skeleton  is  external,  as  regards  the  viscera,  but  is  covered 
by  an  organized  skin.  It  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  the  great 
number  of  pieces  of  which  it  is  composed,  and  the  regular 
and  beautiful  forms  in  which  they  are  combined ;  it  like- 
wise supports  numerous  tubercles  or  spines :  it  is  composed 
of  carbonate  and  phosphate  of  lime,  with  a  gelatinous  basis. 
In  Insects  the  skeleton  is  partly  internal,  but  chiefly  exter- 
nal;  and  its  hardening  material  is  a  peculiar  animal  princi- 
ple, called  "  chitine."  In  cabinets  of  dried  insects  it  is  the 
natural  skeleton  that  is  preserved.  In  Crustacea  the  skele- 
ton, which  bears  the  same  relative  position  to  the  animal  as 
in  insects,  is  rendered  denser  and  more  brittle  by  being  con- 
solidated with  the  carbonate  and  phosphate  of  hine.  In 
the  .Mol/usca  the  skeleton  is  generally  external,  but  some- 
times internal ;  it  ij  hardened  by  the  carbonate  of  lime,  with 
4  A  *  1129 


SKETCH. 

n  very  Flight  trace  of  the  phosphate  of  lime,  and  constitutes  ' 
the  shell.    The  beauty,  durability,  and  variety  of  form  of 

ificationol  the  skeleton  have  rendered  the  shells  of 

tea  at  all  times  a  favourite  object  of  collectors, 

and  the  subject  of  a  distinct  branch  of  natural  history,  un- 

ame  of  "  Conchology."    The  skeleton  of  mollusks 

i^  either  in  one  piece,  as  in  the  univalve  mollusks;  or  in 
most  bivalves;  or  in  many  pieces,  as  in  the 
multivalve  chitons, and  <>t lnr<.  In  the  Cephaiopods,  besides 
tin-  shell,  which  oili-rs  remarkable  varieties  of  form  and 
!,  there  is  likewise  a  rudiment  of  true  interna] 
skeleton  in  a  cartilaginous  condition.  In  the  Vertebrate 
animals,  there  is  always  an  internal  skeleton  destined  to 
pxotl  Cl  the  central  part  of  the  nervous  system,  ami  to  form 
the  fulcrum  and  support  of  the  locomotive  members.  In  a 
few  fishes  it  is  cartilaginous;  in  the  rest  of  the  Vertebrates 
it  is  osseous,  or  consolidated  by  a  large  proportion  of  phos- 
phate and  a  small  proportion  of  carbonate  of  lime,  and  some 
other  hardening  salts.  (See  Host:.)  This  is  termed  the 
'' endoskeleton."  In  most  fishes,  in  several  reptiles,  as  the 
Crocodilians,  and  in  the  armadillos  anion"  the  .Mammalia, 
osseous  plates  are  developed  in  the  substance  of  the  skin  ; 
these  are  analogous  to  the  skeleton  of  most  of  the  Inverte- 
brate animals,  and  form  a  more  or  less  complete  protecting 
case,  called  the  ••  exo-skeleton." 

SKETCH.  (It.  schizzo.)  In  Painting,  &c.,  the  first  de- 
lineated idea  of  the  artist's  conception  of  a  subject,  in  which 
tire  usually  distinguishable  the  lire  and  enthusiasm  with 
which  the  suiij  et  is  expressed  and  felt. 

SKEW  BACK.  In  Architecture,  the  sloping  abutment, 
in  brickwork  and  masonry,  for  the  ends  of  the  arched  head 
of  an  aperture. 

SKEW  BKIDGE.  In  Engineering,  the  name  given  to  a 
kind  of  bridge  introduced  upon  railroads,  when  the  railway 
intersects  any  existing  communication  at  right  angles.  Such 
bridges  were  occasionally  built  before  railroads  were  intro- 
duced :  but  their  general  introduction  has  rendered  the  use 
of  skew  bridges  universal  in  cases  where  it  may  be  neces- 
sary or  unavoidable  to  preserve  as  straight  or  direct  a  line 
as  possible.  The  Encyc.  lintannica  contains  an  elaborate 
article  upon  this  subject. 

SKIN.  The  external  covering  of  the  body.  It  is  divisible 
into  three  parts  or  membranes.  The  exterior  is  called  the 
BCarfskin  or  cuticle:  it  is  an  albuminous  membrane.  Im- 
mediately underneath  it  is  a  thin  layer  of  soft  or  pulpy  mat- 
ter, called  the  rite  mucosum  (mucous  network),  which  is 
t  of  colour  :  it  lies  upon  the  cutis,  or  true  skin,  which 
is  a  gelatinous  texture. 

SKI!'.  (Fr.  esquiver.)  In  Music,  a  passage  from  one 
to  another  by  more  than  a  degree  at  one  time. 

SKI'RTING.  In  Architecture, the  narrow  vertical  board 
on  the  floor  round  the  sides  of  an  apartment. 

SKO'LEZITE.  (Gr.  bkoXos,  twisted.)  A  mineral  which 
occurs  crystallized  and  massive.  It  is  colourless  and  trans- 
it, and  when  heated  before  the  blowpipe  shrinks  up 
into  wormlike  contortions. 

SKCRODITE.  (Or.  cKopoiov,  garlic;  in  allusion  to  its 
odour  when  heated.)      All  ai  seninte  of  iron. 

SKO'BZITE.  A  mineral ogical  synonym  of  a  variety  of 
epidote,  from  Skorza. 

SKILL.  The  bony  case  which  contains  the  brain:  it 
forma  the  forehead,  and  every  part  of  the  head  except  the 
face.  It  consists  of  eight  bones,  namely,  the  frontal  and 
occipital  bones,  upon  Us  fore  and  back  part:   the   two  tem- 

and  two  parietal  bones,  forming  the  temples  and  the 

sidi  s  of  the  skull;   and  the  sphenoid  and  ethmoid  bones, 
com  •  niation  of  the  orbits  and  nose. 

SKY   L  \  I!  I\.     The  name  of  a  species  of  the  genus.flZau- 

the  Mauda  arvensis  of  Linnaeus. 

SKY  SAD ..    A  small  sail  sometimes  set  above  the  royal. 

SL  \li  LINE.  A  small  rope  leading  through  a  block  un- 
der the  lower  yards,  and  thence  to  the  loot  of  the  sail,  for 
the  purp  It  up. 

SLACK.    Small  coal  under  the  size  of  an  egg. 

SLAG.    The  01  vitrifiable  compounds 

■which  are  produced  during  the  reduction  of  metallic  ores 
rious  fluxes.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  large  smelting 
works,  especially  of  iron  and  copper,  the  Blags,  which  are 
abundantly  produced,  are  sometimes  used  as  building  mate- 
rials, and  for  making  and  mending  roads.  They  often  con- 
tain a  considerable  relative  proportion  of  metal. 

SI.  \  \  DEE.  In  Law,  a  malicious  defamation  of  a  man 
by  words  spoken.  It  is  not  actionable  unless  it  impute 
crime  punishable  by  law;  or  some  infectious  i.i 

such  as  leprosy  or  the  like,  which  may  have  the  effect  of 

excluding  from  society  the   person  slandered:  or  be  intend 

.iing  hi  111  in  lii-  nob-  or  business  i  i  such  a  way  as  to 

i  his  means  of  livelihood;  or,  lastly,  unless  it  bo  at 

d  with  special  damage.     In  this  case,  fw':i  special 

damage  must  be  averred  upon  the  pleadings.    If  special 

d  on  ■   pved  by  the  pi 

actio,,  for  words  spoken,  when  the  verdict  is  tinder  -10  shil- 
1130 


SLAVE  TRADE. 

lings,  he  allowed  more  costs  than  damages.  A  defendant 
cannot  he  proceeded  against  criminally  for  words  Bpoken, 
unless  they  have  a  direct  tendency  to  a  breach  Of  the  peace, 
as  by  containing  a  challenge  to  fight;  or  are  of  a  seditious 
or  grossly  immoral  character  ;  or  are  spoken  of  a  magistrate 
in  the  execution  of  his  duty. 
SLATE,    -sec  Geology. 

SLA'VERY,  properly  so  called,  is  the  establishment  of  a 
right,  which  gives  to  one  man  such  a  power  over  another 
as  makes  him  absolute  master  of  his  life  and  property.  But 
the  condition  of  a  slave  is  susceptible  of  innumerable  modi- 
fications ;  and  there  are  few  nations,  whether  of  .ancient  or 
modern  times,  among  whom  slavery  has  been  long  estab- 
lished, thai  have  not  enacted  certain  laws  for  limning  the 
power  of  a  master  over  his  slave.  Slaver]  has  existed  from 
the  earliest  periods  of  authenticated  history,  and  its  origin 
has  generally  been  ascribed  to  a  state  of  war.  In  the  ru- 
dest stages  of  society,  the  difficulty  of  subsistence  was  so 
gieat  that  the  lives  of  captives  were  seldom  spared;  but  as 
society  advanced,  and  luxuries  began  to  be  introduced,  the 
aid  of  labourers  became  requisite,  and  it  was  found  more 
profitable  to  employ  than  to  slay  a  captive.  Thus  the  Latin 
word  servtis,  a  slave,  appears  to  have  been  derived  from 
servo,  /  preserve,  and  to  have  meant  a  person  whose  life 
was  preserved  on  condition  of  giving  his  labour  to  his  con- 
queror;  so  that  a  state  of  slavery,  how  repulsive  soever  to 
our  present  feelings,  probably  formed  at  one  time  an  impor- 
tant mitigation  of  the  horrors  of  barbarism.  But  in  propor- 
tion as  society  rose  in  the  scale  of  civilization,  the  state  of 
slavery  sprung  from  a  variety  of  causes.  Thus,  in  several 
countries,  those  who  had  been  convicted  of  crimes  were 
often  doomed  to  perpetual  slavery;  and,  as  a  necessary  cor- 
ollary of  this  principle  of  slavery,  it  was  laid  down  as  a 
fundamental  regulation,  that  slaves  could  only  beget  slaves ; 
and  hence  the  principle  of  hereditary  bondage.  It  would 
he  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  this  work  to  enter  into  details 
upon  the  different  phases  which  slavery  has  exhibited  in 
the  various  countries  in  which  it  has  existed,  or  to  point  out 
the  malignant  influence  it  has  exercised  upon  the  character 
of  every  nation  among  whom  it  has  been  tolerated.  Upon 
this  subject  the  re ader  will  find  ample  details  in  the  third 
volume  of  the  Cours  d' Economic  Politique  of  M.  Storch, 
Paris,  1823;  and  with  regard  to  slavery,  as  practised  among 
the  Romans,  he  may  consult  with  advantage  the  elaborate 
little  volume  of  Mr.  Blair  on  this  subject.  The  species  of 
slavery  which  existed  during  the  feudal  ages,  and  which  is 
still  to' be  found  in  some  European  countries,  will  be  found 
noticed  under  the  heads  SERF,  SERVITUDE,  and  Villein,  in 
this  work  ;  and  for  some  details  of  negro  slavery,  see  infra, 
and  Negroes. 

The  British  legislature,  as  is  well  known,  passed  an  act 
in  1834  for  the  emancipation  of  Negro  slaves  throughout 
our  dominions  ;  by  which,  after  passing  through  a  prelim- 
inary term  of  compulsory  apprenticeship,  they  were  event- 
ually  raised  to  tin'  condition  of  full  citizenship. 

SLAVE  TRADE,  generally  denotes  the  trade  in  slaves 
carried  on  by  European  nations  between  the  western  coasts 
of  Africa  arid  the  American  settlements;  abolished,  as  far 
as  Great  Britain  is  concerned,  in  1808. 

The  European  Slave  trade  is.  however,  generally  suppo- 
sed to  have  been  commenced  by  the  Portuguese  about  the 
end  of  the  lath  century.  About  1508  the  Spaniards  began 
to  import  .Negroes  into  America,  to  supply  the  place  of  the 
Indians,  w  hose  numbers  w  ere  rapidly  diminishing  under  the 

severity  of  the  toU  to  which  they  were  exposed  by  their 
conquerors.    Sir  John  Hawkins,  one  of  Queen  Elizabeth's 

most  famous  captains,  seems  to  have  been  the  first  English- 
man ol' note  who  embarked  in  this  traffic,  having  been  con- 
cerned in  I  lie  -ale  oi  lo  i  be  Spaniards  iii  tin-  West 
Indies.     In  the  same  reign  the  African  Company  was  first 

chartered,  for  the  purpose  of  trade  w  lib  Guinea,  This  com- 
pany carried  on  a  trade  in  Negroes  with  the  English  settle- 
ments in  America  from  the  beginning  of  the  l?th  century 
to  the  year  1732,  w  hen  that  traffic  was  abandoned  by  it, and 
Chil  lK  carried  on  from  that  time  by  private  traders.  It  was 
not  until  the  hitter  end  of  the  1.-th  century  that  the  atroci- 
ties of  this  trade  began  to  engage  the  attention  of  parlia- 
ment. In  1788  an  ai  t  was  passed  to  regulate  it  ;  and,  after 
twenty  years'  animated  discussion,  it  was  at  last  totally 
abolished  in  1807.  The  United  States  of  America  and  Den- 
mark had  preceded  us  In  this  righteous  act.  (See  Ciark- 
son's  History  of  the  Molition  of  the  Slave  Trade.) 
The  slave  trade  is  now  prohibited  by  the  laws  of  most 

European  nations,  except  Portugal  :  and  bj  the  law  of  that 
COUntT]  it  can  only  be  carried  on  within  certain  geographi- 
cal limits.  .Nevertheless,  it  is  e\ien-i\eK  carried  on  by 
contraband  dealers;   and  no  measuie  can  be  reasonably  ex 

peCted  to  put  a  stop  to  it  short  of  its  being  declared*  piracy 

*TI„    .  ;  tin   wholenf 

tli    Bui         i  ■  i  nl  i 

to  the  nglu  of  north,  and  lu  regard  thoae  engaged  iu  the  trade  as  pinlu. 


SLEEP. 

by  the  common  consent  of  civilized  states.  To  obtain  this 
(result  ought  to  be  one  of  the  most  prominent  objects  of 
English  diplomacy,  both  for  the  sake  of  humanity,  and  in 
order  to  protect  the  interests  of  our  own  colonies,  which 
sutler  severely  from  competition  with  those  European  pos- 
sessions into  which  an  unlimited  importation  of  slave  la- 
bour takes  place.  But  it  must  be  admitted  that  Sir  Fowell 
Buxton,  whose  name  ranks  so  high  among  the  opponents  of 
the  slave  trade,  appears  to  confess  that  even  this  measure 
would  prove  ineffectual,  from  the  difficulty  of  execution. 
We  can  do  no  more  here  than  advert  to  the  scheme  recent- 
ly proposed,  received  with  acclamation  by  a  great  portion 
of  the  public,  and  taken  up  by  government,  of  establishing 
a  legitimate  trade  with  central  Africa  by  the  channel  of  the 
Niger.  We  can  only  say  that  those  who  expected  the 
slightest  effect  to  be  produced  on  the  progress  of  this  abom- 
inable traffic  by  any  sueh  measure,  must  have  estimated 
both  end  and  means  in  a  very  different  manner  from  our- 
selves ;  but  the  official  report  of  Captain  Trotter  has  recent- 
ly announced  the  utter  failure  of  the  expedition,  owing  to 
the  destructive  influence  of  the  climate ;  and  the  general 
opinion  seems  to  be,  that  henceforth  those  who  may  induce 
their  fellow-countrymen  to  embark  in  any  similar  adven- 
ture will  involve  themselves  in  very  serious  responsibility. 
According  to  some  recent  estimates,  about  75,000  slaves  are 
supposed  to  be  annually  carried  from  their  homes  in  Africa 
to  supply  the  American  markets,  including  those  who  per- 
ish by  the  way.  There  can,  however,  be  no  doubt  that  this 
estimate  is  very  greatly  exaggerated  ;  and  we  question 
whether,  taking  those  exported  from  the  east  coast  to  Ara- 
bia, &c,  into  account,  the  average  number  of  slaves  car- 
ried from  Africa  during  the  seven  years  ending  with  1841 
can  have  been  as  high  as  40,000  a  year ;  and  now,  no  doubt, 
even  this  exportation  will  be  very  materially  reduced.  The 
principal  importing  countries  are  Cuba,  Portorico,  and  Bra- 
zil. Publications  on  the  slave  trade  are  so  numerous,  that 
it  is  difficult  to  make  a  selection  for  purposes  of  reference. 
Perhaps  (after  Clarkson's  History)  the  student  could  not 
find  the  account  of  its  progress  better  given  than  in  succes- 
sive numbers  of  the  Edin.  Review,  especially  vols.  xxi., 
xxiii.,  xxiv.,  and  xxvi. ;  though  it  must  be  admitted  that 
there  is  in  these,  and  most  works  on  the  subject,  a  strong 
tendency  to  exaggeration.  There  is  a  good  article  on  the 
international  law  of  the  slave  trade  in  the  Law  Magazine 
for  August,  1841. 

SLEEP.  (Germ,  schlaf.)  That  state  of  the  body  in 
which  the  functions  of  sensation  and  volition  are  suspended, 
while  the  vital  functions  retain  their  usual  activity:  the 
operations  of  the  mind,  if  not  at  perfect  rest,  are  discon- 
nected with  external  objects. 

Healthy  or  natural  sleep  usually  comes  on  with  a  pecu- 
liar sense  of  muscular  lassitude,  gaping,  and  desire  of  repose  ; 
the  eyelids  fall,  and  there  is  general  muscular  relaxation. 
The  sense  of  hearing  is  that  which  is  longest  retained  ;  and 
we  generally  hear  what  is  going  on  about  us,  and  even  feel 
inclined  to  take  occasional  part  in  conversation,  long  after 
the  eyes  are  closed. 

The  quantity  of  sleep  required  by  different  individuals  is 
various,  from  six  to  nine  hours  being  the  average  propor- 
tion. Indolent  listless  persons,  and  especially  those  who 
Indulge  in  the  luxuries  of  the  table,  and  are  in  good  health, 
will  often  slumber  away  from  eight  to  ten  hours  daily  ; 
while  others  of  active  dispositions,  and  who  live  abstemi- 
ously, will  be  satisfied  with  four  or  five  hours  of  sleep;  and 
such  persons  are  generally  more  disturbed  by  dreams  than 
the  former.  Very  young  children  sleep  away  much  of 
their  time,  and  so  also  do  many  old  persons.  Sleep  is  often 
prevented  by  intense  thought,  by  anxiety,  and  other  mental 
affections  ;  and  also  by  hunger,  and  by  the  application  of 
cold  to  a  part  of  the  body.  When  a  person  has  been  over- 
fatigued  by  bodily  exertion,  sleep  is  also  often  courted  in 
vain  ;  and  there  are  many  stimuli  by  which  its  accession 
at  the  usual  times  is  prevented  or  retarded,  such  as  strong 
tea,  coffee,  small  doses  of  opium,  and  several  other  articles 
of  medicine  and  diet.  Bodily  exercise  and  mental  tranquility, 
a  full  meal,  the  absence  of  light,  noise,  and  other  disturbing 
causes,  are  circumstances  generally  favourable  to  sleep; 
but  in  all  these  respects  various  habits  often  greatly  inter- 
fere, and  persons  accustomed  to  very  active  lives  when 
suddenly  deprived  of  their  usual  occupations  often  sleep 
worse  than  before,  indolence  becoming  an  apparent  stimu- 
lant. A  distended  stomach  keeps  some  individuals  awake ; 
and  others  cannot  sleep  in  a  dark  room,  or  in  the  quiet  of 
the  country,  who  have  been  used  to  a  night  lamp,  and  to 
the  rumbling  of  carriages  over  a  London  pavement. 

The  proximate  cause  of  sleep  has  been  discussed  by 
several  eminent  physiologists,  but  without  any  very  satis- 
factory results  :  it  is,  in  fact,  as  entirely  beyond  our  grasp, 
as  are  the  other  functions  of  the  nervous  system.  See 
Dreams. 


SMALLPOX. 

SLEEPER.  In  Architecture,  a  piece  of  timber  whereon 
are  laid  the  ground  joists  of  a  tioor.  Sleepers  are  also 
pieces  of  timber,  now  rarely  used,  in  foundations  crossed  by 
planks,  &c,  and  at  right  angles  to  them,  where  the  soil  is 
had.  Formerly  the  term  was  used  to  denote  the  valley 
rafters  of  a  roof. 

SLI'CKEXSIDE.  A  provincial  term  applied  by  tire 
Derbyshire  miners  to  a  species  of  galena,  or  sulphuret  of 
lead. 

SLIDE.  In  Music,  a  grace  used  in  the  German  school, 
and  consisting  of  two  small  notes  moving  by  degrees. 

SLI'DIXG  KEEL,  is  a  narrow  oblong  frame  or  platform, 
let  down  vertically  through  the  bottom  of  a  small  vessel, 
like  a  deepening  of  the  keel  throughout  a  portion  of  her 
length.  Its  use  is,  like  that  of  the  leeboard,  to  sustain  the 
vessel  against  the  lateral  force  of  the  wind. 

SLI'DING  RULE.  A  mathematical  instrument  or  scale, 
consisting  of  two  parts,  one  of  which  slides  along  the  other, 
and  each  having  certain  sets  of  numbers  engraved  on  it,  so 
arranged  that  when  a  given  number  on  the  one  scale  is 
brought  to  coincide  with  a  given  number  on  the  other,  the 
product  or  some  other  function  of  the  two  numbers  is  ob- 
tained by  inspection.  The  numbers  may  be  adapted  to 
answer  various  purposes  ;  but  the  instrument  is  chiefly  used 
in  gauging,  and  for  the  mensuration  of  timber. 

SLING.  (Ger.  schlinge.)  A  weapon  made  of  a  strap 
and  two  strings,  by  means  of  which  a  stone  or  other  missile 
is  projected  with  much  greater  velocity  than  could  be  given 
to  it  by  the  hand  without  such  assistance.  The  velocity 
with  which  the  projectile  is  discharged  is  the  same  as  that 
with  which  it  is  whirled  round  in  a  circle  having  the  string 
for  its  radius,  and  may  therefore  be  computed  when  the 
time  of  revolution  and  the  length  of  the  siring  are  given. 
The  sling  was  known  as  a  weapon  of  offence  in  the  earliest 
ages. 

SLIPS.  In  Geology,  masses  of  strata  separated  vertically 
or  aslant. 

SLO  \M.     Layers  of  clay  between  those  of  coal. 

SLOOP.  A  vessel  with  one  mast  like  a  cutter;  hut 
having  a  jib  stay,  which  a  cutter  has  not.  Also  the  general 
name  of  ships  of  war  below  the  size  of  frigates. 

SLOPS.  Clothes  and  bedding  supplied  from  the  ship's 
stores  to  the  seamen,  but  at  their  expense. 

SLOUGH.  A  Surgical  term  applied  to  the  separation 
which  ensues  between  dead  ami  living  parts. 

SLUE.  In  Naval  language,  to  slue  is  to  turn  a  cylindri- 
cal piece  of  timber,  as  a  mast  or  boom,  about  its  axis,  with- 
oiii  moving  it  out  of  its  place. 

SLUICE.  (Lat.  clausus,  shut  up.)  In  Hydraulics,  a 
frame  of  timber,  stone,  or  other  solid  substance,  serving  to 
retain  and  raise  the  water  of  a  river  or  canal,  and,  when 
necessary,  to  give  it  vent. 

SLUR.  In  Music,  an  arch  <■ — s  connecting  two  or  more 
nous  not  on  the  same  degree,  indicating  to  the  performer 
that  in  playing  they  are  to  be  united  as  much  as  possible. 

SMACK.  A  vessel  with  one  mast,  commonly  rigged  as 
a  sloop,  and  used  in  the  coasting  trade,  or  as  a  tender  in  the 
royal  navy.  The  vessels  of  this  name  that  have  long  plied 
between  Leith  and  London  are  well  known,  and  have 
always  been  noted  for  their  security. 

SM  ALLPOX.  Called  also  Variola,  from  varius,  changing 
colour  ;  because  it  changes  and  disfigures  the  skin.  There 
are  two  forms  of  this  disease,  generally  called  by  medical 
men  the  distinct  and  the  confluent;  in  the  former  the  pus- 
tules are  separate,  in  the  latter  they  coalesce.  Distinct 
smallpox  begins  with  the  usual  symptoms  of  inflammatory 
fever ;  that  is,  pains  in  the  back  and  loins,  sickness,  drowsi- 
ness, headach,  pain  upon  pressure  about  the  region  of  the 
stomach,  and  in  infants  one  or  more  epileptic  fits.  About 
the  end  of  the  third  day  little  red  spots,  much  resembling 
flea-bites,  make  their  appearance  upon  the  face  and  head, 
which  spread  during  the  fourth  day  over  the  breast,  body, 
and  limbs  ;  about  the  fifth  day  a  small  circular  vesicle  forms 
upon  each  little  point,  depressed  in  the  centre,  surrounded 
by  an  inflamed  margin,  and  containing  a  colourless  fluid, 
and  at  this  time  the  eruptive  fever  disappears  :  about  the 
sixth  day  the  throat  becomes  sore,  and  the  saliva  viscid; 
and  about  the  eighth  day  the  face  is  swollen,  and  the  pus- 
tules round,  prominent,  and  prevalent;  about  the  eleventh 
day  the  pustules  attain  their  full  size  (about  that  of  a  pea), 
and  the  matter  which  they  contain  becomes  opaque  and 
yellow,  and  a  dark  central  spot  appears  on  each  ;  the  swell- 
ing of  the  face  subsides,  and  is  transferred  to  the  hands  and 
feet,  and  more  or  less  secondary  fever  now  ensues.  After 
this  the  pustules  become  rough,  break,  and  scab  over,  and 
a  dark  brown  spot  remains  for  some  days  ;  and  if  the  pus- 
tules have  been  large  an  indentation  is  left :  the  remaining 
symptoms  gradually  subside,  and  about  the  seventeenth  or 
eighteenth  day  the  secondary  fever  disappears. 

Confluent  smallpox  i ■;  ushered  in  by  a  fever  of  a  typhoid 
rather  than  of  an  inflammatory  character;  all  the  incipient 
symptoms  are  aggravated ;  delirium  or  coma  attends  them ; 

1131 


SMALT. 

and  in  infants  there  is  diarrhoea,  and  in  adults  salivation. 
The  eruption  is  very  irregular  in  its  progress  and  appear- 
ance, and  usually  preceded  by  re.l  patches  upon  the  face, 
from  which  the  pustules  emerge  on  the  second  day  in  the 
form  of  clusters  somewhat  resembling  measles.  Their 
progress  is  rapid  ;  but  instead  of  being  circular  and  well- 
dehiied,  they  are  flat  and  irregular  in  shape,  and  contain  a 
brownish  fluid  very  unlike  pus:  the  intermediate  species 
between  the  clusters  are  generally  pale  and  flaccid.  The 
tumefaction  of  the  face  and  running  of  saliva  are  greater 
than  in  the  distinct  species  ;  and  the  fever  does  ii •  > t  cease 
upon  the  appearance  of  the  eruption,  but  about  the  ninth 
day  it  generally  becomes  aggravated,  the  eruption  livid,  and 
accompanied  by  petechia;  or  purple  spots  ;  and  about  the 
eleventh  day  from  the  commencement  of  the  disease  it 
often  terminates  fatally. 

This  disease  is  the  effect  of  a  specific  contagion,  and  is 
produced  either  by  inoculation,  or  by  exposure  to  the  effluvia 
from  persons  Buffeting  under  it:  in  the  latter  case  it  is 
usually  called  the  natural  smallpox.  When  the  distinct 
smallpox  goes  regularly  through  the  stages  above  described, 
it  is  rarely  dangerous,  except  from  mismanagement;  but  it 
often  leaves  a  tendency  to  inflammatory  disorders,  and  in  a 
scrofulous  habit  it  excites  that  disorder  into  activity.  Any 
of  the  symptoms  which  have  just  been  described  as  charac- 
terizing confluent  smallpox  are  alarming ;  so  is  a  sudden 
disappearance  of  the  eruption,  or  change  in  its  appearance, 
followed  by  depression  or  delirium.  In  treating  the  distinct 
smallpox  the  febrile  symptoms  are  to  be  moderated  by  cool 
air,  saline  and  mild  acid  and  diluting  drinks,  and  very  gentle 
aperients.  Bleeding  and  purging  are  in  almost  all  cases  to 
be  decidedly  avoided.  Great  irritability  may  occasionally 
be  allayed  bysmall  doses  of  opium  and  camphor,  or,  which 
is  preferable,  by  muriate  of  morphia:  this  will  also  check 
diarrhoea,  should  it  supervene.  The  confluent  form  gene- 
rally requires  more  or  less  of  the  treatment  which  is  adopt- 
ed in  low  or  putrid  fever.  Obstinate  vomiting,  which  is 
sometimes  not  only  a  troublesome  but  alarming  symptom, 
is  best  encountered  by  the  saline  draught  in  the  act  of 
effervescence,  with  a  few  grains  of  aromatic  confection, 
and  a  few  drops  of  tincture  of  opium. 

SMALT.  (Germ,  schmalz.)  A  fine  blue  colour  used 
in  painting  and  printing  upon  earthenware,  and  applied  to 
several  other  purposes  in  the  arts.  The  finest  smalt  is 
made  by  fusing  glass  with  oxide  of  cobalt,  by  which  a  very- 
deep  blue  compound  is  obtained,  which  when  finely  pow- 
dered acquires  a  beautiful  azure  colour.  Common  smalts 
are  prepared  by  fusing  mixtures  of  zaflre,  sand,  and  pearlash. 

SMABAGD.  (Gr.  ouapiyioi.)  In  modern  times  used 
as  a  synonym  of  emerald  (which  see)  ;  but  applied  by  the 
ancients  to  various  other  precious  stones,  such  as  fluor  spar, 
green  vitrified  lava,  green  jasper,  and  green  glass.  The 
passage  of  Pliny  (Jfat.  Hist,  xxxvii.  5.)  in  which  Nero  is 
said  to  have  been  in  the  habit  of  viewing  the  gladiatorial 
combats  in  a  smaragd,  is  generally  understood  to  signify  a 
smooth  polished  mirror  made  of  some  of  the  above  sub- 
stances ;  but  it  has  been  maintained  that  the  emperor  was 
short-sighted,  and  used  a  concave  eyeglass  formed  of  the 
Bmaragd.  The  smaragd  is  found  in  various  parts  of  Europe, 
Asia,  and  America;  but  particularly  in  the  Ural  mountains, 
and  in  the  mines  of  Chili  and  Mexico. 

BMART  TICKET.  A  certificate  of  a  seaman's  having 
received  a  wound  or  hurt. 

SMELL.  This  sense  resides  in  the  mucous  or  pituitary 
membrane  which  lines  the  nostrils,  and  the  surface  of 
which  is  more  or  less  convoluted  or  extended  in  various 
orders  of  animals.  In  the  human  subject  this  membrane 
is  highly  vascular,  and  largely  supplied,  especially  in  its 
upper  parts,  with  nervous  filaments,  or  ramifications  of  the 
olfactory  trunk,  u  hich  has  its  origin,  by  three  distinct  roots, 
from  the  posterior,  inferior,  and  Internal  parts  of  the  anterior 
lobe  of  the  brain,  an.l  proceeding  towards  the  perforated 
plate  of  the  ethmoid  bone,  divides  into  the  small  threads 
just  mentioned. 

The  physiology  of  odours  is  a  curious  and  intricate  sub- 
ject, requiring  much  more  experimental  Investigation  than 
it  has  hitherto  received.    The  air  is  the  great  vehicle  by 

which  their  various  influences  are  transmitted  in  the  act  of 

Inspiring  to  the  olfactory  surfaces,  and  for  the  diffusion  of 
most  odours  a  certain  degree  of  humidity  in  the  air  appears 
absolutely  essential.  There  is  scarcely  any  sensi 
degree  of  perfection  of  which  varies  so  mm  h  in  different 
individuals  as  that  of  smell,  some  being  painfully  alive  to 
those  odorous  influences  which  are  not  even  perceived  by 
others.  An  obtuseness  of  this  sense  is  also  very  frequent, 
and  its  almost  entire  absence  bj  no  means  uncommon  ;  this 
lecially  the'  case  in  certain  catarrhal  complaints,  and 
in  some  other  affections  of  the  lining  membrane  of  the  nose. 

SMEW.  The  name  of  the  diver  called  Mergus  albellus 
by  Linnaeus.     See  Mbroos. 

SMIL  \  <t;.k  (Smilax,  one  of  the  genera),  form  a  small 

natural  order  of  Endogenous  plants  with  weak  or  twining 

1132  b 


SMORZATO. 

stems  and  reticulated  leaves,  not  distinguishable  from  those 
of  Exogens.  The  drug  called  sarsaparilla,  or  sarza,  is  the 
root  of  various  species  inhabiting  South  America,  and  is 
held  in  high  esteem  for  its  diuretic,  demulcent,  alterative 
qualities. 

SMOKE.  (Low  Germ,  smuke.)  Smoke  has  been  de- 
fined as  the  visible  effluvium  or  sensible  exhalation  of  any- 
thing burning.  The  term  is  commonly  applied  to  those 
results  of  the  combustion  or  ignition  of  pit  coal  which 
escape  from  chimneys,  and  which  constitute  a  serious  and 
well-known  evil  and  nuisance  in  large  towns,  manufac- 
turing districts,  and  almost  everywhere  w  here  large  quan- 
tities of  coal  are  consumed.  Coal  is  often  a  very  complex 
substance  ;  but,  putting  aside  its  occasional  and  adventitious 
ingredients,  carbon,  hydrogen,  nitrogen,  and  oxygen  may  be 
regarded  as  its  ordinary  and  essential  constituents  ;  and  the 
results  of  its  perfect  combustion  would  therefore  be  carbonic 
acid,  steam,  and  nitrogen.  These  substances  would  consti- 
tute invisible  and  incombustible  gases  and  vapour,  and 
would  therefore  escape  from  the  chimney  top,  and  blend 
with  the  atmosphere,  without  being  perceived.  But  it  un- 
fortunately happens  that  from  the  way  in  which  coal  is 
burned  its  combustion  is  far  from  being  perfect,  and  that 
besides  the  above-mentioned  products  inflammable  gases 
and  vapours,  together  with  large  quantities  of  very  finely 
divided  carbon,  constituting  soot  and  black  and  brown 
smoke,  are  vomited  forth  from  the  chimney  shaft,  not  only 
contaminating  the  air,  and  making  all  neighbouring  objects 
black  and  dirty,  but  also  occasioning  great  loss  of  fuel ;  so 
that  the  smoke  of  London  is  not  only  a  nuisance,  but  a  very 
expensive  one,  and  ought  to  be  put  down  by  legislative 
enactments,  several  of  which  have  been  from  time  to  time 
suggested,  but  unfortunately  never  enforced,  and  are  at  this 
moment  a  mere  dead  letter. 

The  neglect  which  this  subject  has  encountered  has 
arisen  chiefly  out  of  the  difficulty  of  enforcing  and  inculca- 
ting rational  doctrines  upon  the  subject  of  combustion,  and 
of  getting  persons  to  adopt  new  systems  of  construction  in 
regard  to  furnaces  and  fire-places,  new  methods  of  stoking 
and  managing  the  fire,  and  new  kinds  of  fuel ;  and  it  is 
astonishing  to  observe  the  obstinacy  and  perverseness  which 
prevail  in  these  respects  amongst  the  masters  as  well  as 
the  men.  There  is  another  cause  too,  which  no  doubt  has 
had  its  influence  in  retarding  the  adoption  of  means  for 
diminishing  the  smoke  nuisance,  which  is,  the  shoals  of 
quacks  and  ignorant  empyrics  and  impostors  who  have 
embarked  in  these  speculations  ;  so  that  till  stringent  and 
coercive  measures  are  adopted  in  regard  to  it,  founded  upon 
scientific  and  rational  principles,  we  must  be  content  to 
continue  breathing  a  tainted  air,  which  fouls  the  organs  of 
respiration,  encrusts  our  buildings,  and  covers  our  books, 
pictures,  and  every  article  of  furniture  with  an  enamel  of 
soot,  and  which  dims  the  atmosphere  to  such  an  extent  as 
materially  to  shorten  the  duration  of  metropolitan  daylight. 

That  ail  these  evils  may  be  got  rid  of  admits  of  no  doubt, 
and  ultimately  with  economy  and  convenience ;  though  the 
first  introduction  of  the  remedies  will  probably  be  attended 
by  many  practical  difficulties,  and  considerable  incon- 
venience and  expense.  One  remedy,  and  the  most  obvious, 
consists  in  the  substitution  of  coke,  anthracite,  and  certain 
other  smokeless  fuel,  for  the  bituminous  and  eminently 
smoke-generating  varieties  of  coal  now  in  common  use. 
Another  is,  the  construction  of  fireplaces  and  furnaces 
which  shall  not  indeed  burn  smoke,  but  prevent  its  forma- 
tion. It  must  be  allowed  that  there  are  many  practical 
difficulties  in  the  way,  rather  perhaps  of  the  application 
than  of  the  invention  or  perfection  of  these  contrivances ; 
hut  experience  has  shown  that  none  of  these  are  of  such  a 
nature  or  magnitude  that  they  may  not  be  overcome  by 
perseverance  and  skill.  They  nil  merge  into  one  common 
principle,  that  of  mixing  air  with  the  combustible  vapours 
and  gases  generated  by  the  action  of  heat  on  pit  coal,  so 
that  by  virtue  of  a  due  supply  of  oxygen  they  may  be  made 
to  burn  with  flame,  and  become  entirely  converted  into  in- 
combustible and  transparent  invisible  vapours  and  gases, 
instead  of  being,  as  they  now  are,  only  partially  burned,  by 
which  their  carbon  is  precipitated,  and  escapes,  together 
with  the  other  imperfectly  consumed  matters,  into  the  air. 
The  foundation  of  a  practical  inquiry  into  the  subject  of  the 
prevention  of  smoke  has  been  laid  by  Mr.  C.  YV.  Williams 
of  Liverpool  {Essays  on  the  Combustion  of  Coal  and  Pre- 
vention of  Smoke).  The  theoretical  details  are  essentially 
blinded  with  the  whole  doctrine  of  heat;  but  the  investi- 
gations which  most  essentially  bear  u|>on  them  will  be 
found  in  .Sir  II.  Davy's  Hcscarchcs  into  the  Philosophy  of 
Flame, 

SMOKE  SAIL.  A  small  sail  hoisted  before  the  funnel 
of  the  galley,  when  the  ship  is  at  anchor  head  to  wind,  to 
screen  the  quarter  deck  from  the  smoke. 

SMORZATO.  (It.  extinguished.)  In  Music,  a  term  de- 
noting that  the  violin  bow  is  to  be  drawn  to  its  full  extent, 
but  gradually  lighter  till  the  sound  is  nearly  lost. 


SMUGGLING. 

SMU'GGLING.  The  offence  of  defrauding  the  revenue 
by  tlie  introduction  of  articles  into  consumption  without 
paying  the  duties  chargeable  upon  them.  It  may  be  coin- 
Eiitted  indifferently  either  upon  the  excise  or  customs 
revenue. 

Origin  and  Preventionof  Smuggling  —  This  crime,  which 
occupies  so  prominent  a  place  in  the  criminal  legislation  of 
all  modern  states,  is  wholly  the  result  of  vicious  commercial 
and  financial  legislation.  It  is  the  fruit  either  of  prohibi- 
tions of  importation,  or  of  oppressively  high  duties.  It  does 
not  originate  in  any  depravity  inherent  in  man  ;  but  in  the 
folly  and  ignorance  of  legislators.  A  prohibition  against 
importing  a  commodity  does  not  take  away  the  taste  for  it; 
and  the  imposition  of  a  high  duty  on  any  article  occasions 
a  universal  desire  to  escape  or  evade  its  payment.  Hence 
the  rise  and  occupation  of  the  smuggler.  The  risk  of  being 
detected  in  the  clandestine  introduction  of  commodities 
under  any  system  of  fiscal  regulations  may  always  be 
valued  at  a  certain  average  rate  ;  and  wherever  the  duties 
exceed  this  rate,  smuggling  immediately  takes  place.  Now, 
there  are  plainly  but  two  ways  of  checking  this  practice, 
either  the  temptation  to  smuggle  must  be  diminished  by 
lowering  the  duties,  or  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  smug- 
gling must  be  increased.  The  first  is  obviously  the  more 
natural  and  efficient  method  of  effecting  the  object  in  view ; 
but  the  second  has  been  most  generally  resorted  to,  even  in 
cases  where  the  duties  were  quite  excessive.  Governments 
have  almost  uniformly  consulted  the  persons  employed  in 
the  collection  of  the  revenue  with  respect  to  the  best  mode 
of  rendering  taxes  effectual ;  though  it  is  clear  that  the 
interests,  prejudices,  and  peculiar  habits  of  such  persons, 
ntterly  disqualify  them  from  forming  a  sound  opinion  on 
such  a  subject.  They  cannot  recommend  a  reduction  of 
duties  as  a  means  of  repressing  smuggling  and  increasing 
revenue,  without  acknowledging  their  own  incapacity  to 
detect  and  defeat  illicit  practices  ;  and  the  result  has  been, 
that  instead  of  ascribing  the  prevalence  of  smuggling  to  its 
true  causes,  the  officers  of  customs  and  excise  have  almost 
universally  ascribed  it  to  some  defect  in  the  laws,  or  in  the 
mode  of  administering  them,  and  have  proposed  repressing 
it  by  new  regulations,  and  by  increasing  the  number  and 
severity  of  the  penalties  affecting  the  smuggler.  As  might 
have  been  expected,  these  attempts  have,  in  the  great 
majority  of  cases,  proved  signally  unsuccessful.  And  it 
has  been  invariably  found  that  no  vigilance  on  the  jiart  of 
the  revenue  officers,  and  no  severity  of  punishment,  can 
prevent  the  smuggling  of  such  commodities  as  are  either 
prohibited  or  loaded  with  oppressive  duties.  The  smuggler 
is  generally  a  popular  character;  and  whatever  the  law 
may  declare  on  the  subject,  it  is  quite  ludicrous  to  expect 
that  the  bulk  of  society  will  ever  be  brought  to  think  that 
those  who  furnish  them  with  cheap  brandy,  geneva,  to- 
bacco, &c.  are  guilty  of  any  very  heinous  offence. 

"  To  pretend,"  says  Dr.  Smith,  "  to  have  any  scruple 
about  buying  smuggled  goods,  though  a  manifest  encourage- 
ment to  the  violation  of  the  revenue  laws,  and  to  the  per- 
jury which  almost  always  attends  it,  would,  in  most  coun- 
tries, be  regarded  as  one  of  those  pedantic  pieces  of  hy- 
pocrisy, which,  instead  of  gaining  credit  with  anybody,  seems 
only  to  expose  the  person  who  affects  to  practise  them  to 
the  suspicion  of  being  a  greater  knave  than  most  of  his 
neighbours.  By  this  indulgence  of  the  public,  the  smuggler 
is  often  encouraged  to  continue  a  trade  which  he  is  thus 
taught  to  consider  as  in  some  measure  innocent ;  and  when 
the  severity  of  the  revenue  laws  is  ready  to  fall  upon  him, 
he  is  frequently  disposed  to  defend  with  violence  what  he 
has  been  accustomed  to  regard  as  his  just  property ;  and 
from  being  at  first  rather  imprudent  than  criminal,  he  at  last 
too  often  becomes  one  of  the  most  determined  violators  of 
the  laws  of  society."     (JVealth  of  Stations,  vol.  iii.,  p.  401.) 

To  create  by  means  of  high  duties  an  overwhelming 
temptation  to  indulge  in  crime,  and  then  to  punish  men  for 
indulging  in  it,  is  a  proceeding  completely  subversive  of  every 
principle  of  justice.  It  revolts  the  natural  feelings  of  the 
people  ;  and  teaches  them  to  feel  an  interest  in  the  worst 
characters — for  such  smugglers  generally  are — to  espouse 
their  cause,  and  avenge  their  wrongs.  A  punishment  which 
is  not  proportioned  to  the  offence,  and  which  does  not  carry 
the  sanction  of  public  opinion  along  with  it,  can  never  be 
productive  of  any  good  effect.  The  true  way  to  put  down 
smuggling  is  to  render  it  unprofitable,  to  diminish  the  temp- 
tation to  engage  in  it ;  and  this  is  not  to  be  done  bv  sur- 
rounding the  coasts  with  cordons  of  troops,  by  the  multipli- 
cation of  oaths  and  penalties,  and  making  the  country  the 
theatre  of  ferocious  and  bloody  contests  in  the  field,  and  of 
perjury  and  chicanery  in  the  courts  of  law  :  but  by  repeal- 
ing prohibitions,  and  reducing  duties,  so  that  their  collection 
may  be  enforced  with  a  moderate  degree  of  vigilance,  and 
that  the  forfeiture  of  the  article  may  be  a  sufficent  penalty 
upon  the  smuggler.  It  is  in  this,  and  in  this  only,  that  we 
must  seek  for  an  effectual  check  to  illicit  trafficking.  When- 
ever the  profits  of  the  fair  trader  become  nearly  equal  to 
89 


SNOW. 

those  of  the  smuggler,  the  latter  is  forced  to  abandon  his 
hazardous  profession.  But  so  long  as  prohibitions  or  op- 
pressively high  duties  are  kept  up,  or  which  is,  in  fact,  the 
same  thing,  so  long  as  high  bounties  are  held  out  to  encour- 
age the  adventurous,  the  needy,  and  the  profligate  to  enter 
on  this  career,  we  may  be  assured  that  armies  of  excise  and 
custom-house  officers,  backed  by  the  utmost  severity  of  the 
revenue  laws,  will  be  insufficient  to  hinder  them.  (For  full 
particulars  respecting  the  law  of  smuggling,  &.c,  see  the 
Com.  Diet.) 

SMUT.  A  disease  incidental  to  corn  crops,  by  which  the 
farina  of  the  grain  in  the  whole  body  of  the  seed  is  convert- 
ed into  a  black,  soot-like  powder.  li'an  ear  of  corn  affected 
by  this  disease  be  smartly  struck  with  the  finger,  the  pow- 
der will  be  dispersed  like  that  of  the  fungus  known  as 
Lycoperdon  bonista,  the  common  puff-ball  found  in  pastures, 
but  darker ;  and  if  a  portion  of  the  powder  be  moistened  and 
examined  with  the  microscope,  it  will  be  found  to  consist  of 
innumerable  minute  transparent  globules.  Some  attributa 
the  smut  to  the  richness  of  the  soil,  and  others  consider  it  as  a 
hereditary  disease  transmitted  by  one  generation  to  another 
through  the  seed.  Wildenow  and  Wirbel  regard  it  as  a 
small  fungus ;  but  Bauer  believes  it  to  be  a  proper  disease, 
indicated  by  a  morbid  swelling  of  the  ear.  Some  cultivators 
steep  the  grain  of  smutty  corn  in  a  weak  solution  of  arsenic 
before  sowing ;  but  others  deny  the  efficacy  of  this  prepara- 
tion. Smutty  grain  is  separated  from  such  as  may  be  used 
for  seed,  or  for  grinding  into  flour,  by  being  rapidly  whirled 
round  in  a  cylinder  lined  with  brushes  ;  or  by  steeping  in 
water,  when  the  smut,  from  its  lightness,  floats  on  the  sur- 
face. The  safest  mode  for  the  farmer  to  pursue  is  never  to 
sow  grain  from  a  field  in  which  the  smut  has  prevailed. 

SNAKE  ROOT.  This  term  is  applied  to  the  root  of  the 
Aristolochia.  serpentaria,  a  native  of  Virginia  ;  it  is  a  fibrous, 
aromatic,  and  bitterish  root.  The  infusion  is  occasionally 
used  as  a  tonic  and  diaphoretic :  in  typhoid  fevers  it  is  a 
good  adjunct  to  Peruvian  bark,  and  to  quinia. 

SNAKE  WOOD.  The  wood  of  the  Strychnos  colubrina. 
Supposed  to  be  an  antidote  to  the  poison  of  certain  snakes. 

SNEEZING.  A  convulsive  action  of  the  respiratory'  or- 
gans, brought  on  by  irritation  of  the  nostrils.  Violent  fits 
of  sneezing  have  occasionally  attacked  persons,  and  are 
even  said  to  have  proved  fatal ;  recourse  must  in  such  cases 
be  had  to  soothing  the  nasal  membrane  by  the  application 
of  warm  milk  and  water,  or  decoction  of  poppies. 

SNIPE.  The  common  name  of  the  Scolopaz  gallinago, 
Linn.  This  bird  is  a  plentiful  species  in  most  parts  of  Great 
Britain.  In  wet  seasons  it  resorts  to  the  hills  and  higher 
grounds  ;  in  ordinary  seasons  it  frequents  marshes.  Its  prin- 
cipal food  is  worms,  in  quest  of  which  it  penetrates  the  soft 
earth  with  its  long  and  slender  bill,  which  is  especially  or- 
ganized for  that  purpose. 

SNOW.  (Ger.  schnee.)  Congealed  water*  which  falls 
from  the  bosom  of  the  atmosphere.  Very  little  is  yet  known 
respecting  the  formation  of  this  meteor.  It  has  not  been  as- 
certained, for  instance,  whether  the  clouds  which  produce 
it  are  composed  of  vesicular  vapours,  or  of  frozen  particles; 
nor  whether  the  flakes  are  completely  formed  before  they 
begin  to  descend,  or  receive  an  increase  in  passing  through 
the  lower  strata  of  the  atmosphere.  The  temperature  of 
the  flakes,  and  the  circumstances  which  determine  their 
form  and  volume,  are  likewise  unknown.  The  only  obser- 
vations which  may  be  considered  as  in  any  degree  complete, 
are  with  reference  to  the  different  forms  which  the  flakes 
assume.  This  subject  was  considered  by  Kepler,  Hooke, 
Cassini,  Muschenbroek,  and  many  others  ;  but  the  most  in- 
teresting series  of  observations  we  possess  are  those  of 
Scoresby  (Account  of  the  Arctic  Regions,  18-20),  who  has  re- 
duced the  different  forms  into  classes,  and  given  a  number 
of  excellent  representations  of  the  flakes  in  different  states. 
Generally  speaking,  when  examined  with  the  microscope 
they  present  modifications  of  stelliform  and  hexagonal 
crystals  ;  and  frequently  they  consist  of  a  star  of  six  rays 
formed  of  prisms  united  at  angles  of  60°,  from  which  other 
prisms  shoot  at  similar  angles,  giving  the  whole  an  appear- 
ance of  exquisite  beauty  and  great  regularity.  The  variety 
of  modifications  is  probably  owing  to  the  state  of  the  atmo- 
sphere when  the  snow  is  formed.  If  the  crystallization  takes 
place  when  the  air  is  calm,  the  crystals  will  be  regularly 
formed  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  will  be  irregular  and  imper- 
fect when  the  air  is  much  agitated.  Sometimes  the  flakea 
present  no  traces  of  crystallization. 

Snow  is  much  less  dense  than  ordinary  ice.  The  bulk,  of 
a  given  weight  of  ice  is  only  about  a  ninth  part  greater  than 
that  of  the  water  from  which  it  is  formed,  while  the  bulk 
of  new-fallen  snow  is  ten  or  twelve  times -greater  than  that 
of  the  water  obtained  by  melting  it. 

At  moderate  elevations  above  the  sea,  and  in  the  mean 
latitudes,  snow  most  frequently  falls  after  some  days  of 
pretty  hard  frost,  and  when  the  temperature  of  the  air, 
thouch  still  a  few  degrees  above  the  freezing  point,  is  sensi- 
bly mitigated.    On  this  circumstance  is  founded  the  remari 

1133, 


SNOW. 

that  it  cannot  snow  in  very  severe  cold ;  and  though  the  re-  ] 
mark  does  not  always  hold  good,  it  will  do  so  generally,  for  i 
two  reasons:  in  the  first  place,  the  air  which  comes  from  ] 
very  old  regions  contains  a  small  portion  of  watery  vapour; 
and  secondly,  because  the  formation  of  clouds,  by  diminish- 
ing the  radiation,  necessarily  mitigates  the  severity  of  the 
cold. 

As  snow  can  only  be  formed  when  the  temperature  of 
the  atmospheric  strata  containing  the  aqueous  vapour  is  be- 
low the  freezing  point,  it  is  obvious  that  if  the  snow  in  fall- 
ing parses  into  strata  of  a  higher  temperature,  it  will  be 
melted  before  arriving  at  the  surface  of  the  earth.  Hence 
it  follows  thai  it  never  snows  in  the  torrid  zone,  nor  in  the 
luats  of  summer,  excepting  on  the  tops  of  very  elevated 
mountains. 

Red  .Snow. — It  had  been  remarked  by  the  ancients  that 
snow  sometimes  assumes  a  red  tint,  anil  Pliny  ascribes  the 
cause  to  age  :  Ipsa  niz  vctustate  rubescit.  Many  modern 
observers  have  described  and  examined  this  curious  phe- 
nomena, which  appears  to  be  met  with  in  all  parts  of  the 
world.  Snussure  observed  red  snow  on  the  Bevem  in  1760, 
and  on  St.  Bernard  in  1778;  and  he  supposed  the  colouring 
matter  to  consist  of  a  vegetable  dust.  Ramond  met  with  it 
in  the  Pyrenees,  Captain  Ross  in  Baffin's  Bay ;  Parry, 
Franklin,  and  Scoresby  collected  it  in  still  higher  northern 
latitudes ;  and  it  has  been  found  abundantly  in  New  Shet- 
land in  latitude  70°  south.  Among  the  Alps  it  is  generally 
found  in  low  sheltered  spots,  and  penetrating  to  the  depth 
of  two  or  three  inches ;  or  rather  the  strata  in  which  it  is 
found  (for  it  occurs  overlaid  at  considerable  depths)  seldom 
exceed  two  or  three  inches  in  thickness.  The  colouring 
matter  of  this  singular  substance  has  been  examined  by 
Wollaston,  R.  Brown,  De  Candolle,  Thenard,  Bauer,  &c. 
Dr.  Wollaston  first  remarked  that  it  is  composed  of  minute 
spherical  globules,  which  have  a  transparent  envelop,  and 
are  divided  into  seven  or  eight  small  cells  filled  with  a 
species  of  red  oil  insoluble  in  water.  Mr.  R.  Brown  and  De 
Candolle  supposed  the  globules  to  be  a  kind  of  algEe.  Mr. 
Bauer  {Phil.  Trans.,  18*2U)  found  the  globules  to  be  exactly 
identical  in  snow  collected  in  Baffin's  Bay  and  New  Shet- 
land ;  and  he  supposed  them  to  be  small  mushrooms  of  the 
genus  Uredo,  lot  tiling  a  peculiar  species,  to  which  he  gave 
the  name  of  Undo  nivalis. 

Snow  Line,  or  Limit  of  Perpetual  Snow. — Since  the  tem- 
perature of  the  atmosphere  continually  diminishes  in  ascend- 
ing from  the  surface  into  the  higher  altitudes,  there  must  be 
in  every  latitude  a  certain  limit  of  elevation  at  which  the  air 
attains  the  temperature  of  freezing  water.  This  limit  is 
called  the  snow  line,  or  line  of  perpetual  congelation  ;  and 
the  mountains  which  rise  above  it  are  covered  with  per- 
petual snow.  Within  the  tropics  the  temperature  varies 
little  throughout  the  year,  and  hence  the  snow  line  is  dis- 
tinctly marked ;  but  in  countries  remote  from  the  equator 
the  limit  of  congelation  rises  in  summer  and  descends  in 
winter  through  a  band  or  zone  of  considerable  breadth.  The 
line  of  perpetual  congelation  is,  of  course,  the  summer  limit. 
The  altitude  of  the  snow  line,  however,  is  not  dependent  upon 
latitude  alone,  hut  also  on  the  configuration  and  aspects  of 
the  mountain  chains,  the  extent  and  temperature  of  the  sur- 
rounding plains,  the  quantity  of  snow  that  falls  annually, 
and  the  multitude  of  eaitses  which  influence  the  climate  of 
a  country.  (.See  Climate.)  On  the  Himalaya  chain,  for  ex- 
ample, tlie  limit  of  perpetual  congelation  on  the  northern 
side  is  at  tin  elevation  exceeding  by  upwards  of  4400  feet 
that  on  the  southern  side,  though  the  hitter  is  directly  ex- 
posed to  the  sun  ;  a  circumstance  which  Humboldt  ascribes 
to  the  radiation  from  the  great  plain  of  Thibet,  the  general 
serenity  of  the  climate,  and  the  rarity  of  snow  in  an  exceed- 
ingly cold  and  dry  atmosphere.  -No'  dependence,  therefore, 
can  he  placed  on  any  general  rule  for  estimating  the  height 

of  the  snow  line,  anil  it  affords  ;m  exceedingly  fallacious  in- 
dication of  the  altitude  of  mountains.  The  following  table 
is  given  by  Humboldt  in  his  Fragmens  Asiatiques,  p.  549. 
The  elevations  stated  are  the  heights  of  the  line  of  perpetual 
congelation  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  the  measures 
are  reduced  to  English  feet. 


Mountain  Chains. 

Latitude. 

Elevation. 

Cordilleras  of  Quito       .... 
Cordillciasof  Bolivia      .... 
Cordilleras  of  Mexico     .... 
„■,,,„     )  Northern  sids    .        .       > 
Himalaya    j  Whcru  5ide     .        ,       \ 

Carpathian! 



v                \  Interior         .... 

Norway    .  Caa{          .... 

0°—  lJ°S. 
16    -  179 
19*N. 
31 
43 
43 
46 
49 
60 
70 
7l4 

Ftrt. 
15.-30 
17,060 

i  i 
\  16,!  in 
j  12,470 
■-."•.II 
10,870 
8,760 

8,618 
2.302 

(Me,  in  nddition  to  the  works  already  cited,  Humboldt, 
Mtmotre  $ur  la.  Liinitc  dc  Neige  perpetuelle  duns  Us  Mtrn 


SOAP. 

tagnes  de  VHimalaya,  et  les  Regions  Equatorealcs,  in  the 
Annales  de  Chiinie,  tome  xiv.) 

SOAP.  'Gr.  cru77toi/,  Lat.  sapo.)  This  useful  compound 
is  obtained  by  the  action  of  alkaline  upon  oily  substances. 
There  are.  accordingly,  a  great  variety  of  soaps;  but  those 
commonly  employed  may  be  considered  under  the  heads 
of,  1.  Fine  white  soaps,  scented  soap,  &.c. ;  2.  Coarse  house- 
hold soaps  ;  :i.  Boil  soaps.  The  materials  used  in  the  manu- 
facture of  white  soaps  are  generally  olive  oil  and  carbonate 
of  soda  :  the  latter  is  rendered  caustic  by  the  operation  of 
quicklime,  and  the  solution  thus  obtained  is  called  soap  ley. 
The  oil  and  a  weak  ley  are  first  boiled  together,  and  portions 
of  stronger  ley  are  gradually  added  till  the  soap,  produced 
by  the  mutual  action  of  the  oil  and  alkali,  begins  to  become 
tenacious  and  to  separate  from  the  water;  some  common 
salt  is  then  generally  added  to  promote  the  granulation  and 
perfect  separation  of  the  soap :  the  fire  is  then  drawn,  and 
the  contents  of  the  boiler  allowed  to  remain  for  some  hours 
at  rest,  so  that  the  soap  may  more  completely  collect. 
When  it  is  perfect  it  is  put  into  wooden  frames  or  moulds  ; 
and  when  stiff  enough  to  be  handled,  it  is  cut  into  oblong 
slices  and  dried  in  an  airy  room.  Perfumes  are  occasionally 
added,  or  various  colouring  matters  stirred  in  while  the  soap 
is  semifluid  to  give  it  a  mottled  appearance.  The  Spanish 
soap  is  marbled  by  stirring  into  it  a  solution  of  sulphate  of 
iron,  which  is  decomposed  by  the  soap,  and  black  oxide  of 
iron  separated  in  streaks  and  patches  through  the  mass.  The 
action  of  the  air  converts  the  exterior  into  red  oxide,  while 
the  interior  long  retains  Its  black  colour  ;  hence  a  slice  of 
this  soap  presents  a  black  mottled  centre,  surrounded  by  a 
reddened  external  layer. 

Common  household  soaps  are  made  chiefly  of  soda  and 
tallow  ;  or  if  potash  is  used,  a  large  addition  of  common 
salt  is  made  to  harden  the  soap,  which  it  probably  effects  by 
the  transference  of  soda.  Yellow  soap  has  a  portion  of 
rosin  added  to  it.  Soft  soaps  are  generally  made  with  pot- 
ash instead  of  soda,  and  fish  oil.  The  common  soft  soap 
used  in  London  is  a  compound  of  this  kind  ;  it  has  a  tena- 
cious consistence,  and  appears  granulated.  Soap  is  soluble 
in  pure  water  and  in  alcohol ;  the  latter  solution  jellies 
when  concentrated,  and  is  medicinally  known  under  the 
name  of  opodeldoc.  When  carefully  evaporated  the  soap 
remains  in  a  gelatinous  state,  which  forms,  when  dry,  the  ar- 
ticle sold  under  the  name  of  transparent  soap. 

The  earths  and  common  metallic  oxides  form  insoluble 
soaps ;  and  accordingly  these  are  precipitated  when  earthy 
and  metallic  stilts  are  added  to  solution  of  soap.  It  is  the 
sulphate  of  lime  and  carbonate  of  lime  in  common  spring 
water  which  thus  render  it  unfit  for  washing,  and  give  it 
what  is  termed  hardness ;  and,  upon  this  principle,  a  spirit- 
uous solution  of  soap  is  a  simple  and  valuable  test  of  the  fit- 
ness of  any  river  or  spring  water  for  the  purposes  of  the 
laundry.  If  it  merely  renders  the  water  slightly  opalescent, 
as  is  the  case  with  rain  and  other  soft  waters,  it  may  be 
used  for  washing;  but  if  it  become  milky,  it  is  usually  too 
hard  to  be  conveniently  employed  ;  and  when  we  wash  or 
shave  with  hard  water,  the  separation  of  the  insoluble  cal- 
careous soap  is  extremely  disagreeable  ;  it  adheres  to  the  skin, 
and  soils  instead  of  cleansing  it. 

The  chemical  nature  of  soap  has  been  laboriously  exam- 
ined by  Chevreul,  who  has  shown  that  the  alkali  in  the  pro- 
cess of  saponification  converts  the  oil  into  peculiar  acids,  as 
he  terms  them ;  the  elain  of  the  oil  forming  oleic  acid,  and 
the  stearine  margaric  acid  :  so  that  soluble  soaps  are  oleates 
and  margarales  of  soda  and  potash.  He  has  enumerated 
several  other  fatty  acids  similarly  produced. 

All  new  soaps  contain  a  considerable  portion  of  adhering 
water,  a  great  part  of  which  they  lose  when  kept  in  a  dry 
place  ;  hence  the  economy  and  excellence  of  old  soap ;  and 
hence  the  dealers  in  soap  generally  keep  it  in  a  damp  cel- 
lar, that  it  may  not  lose  weight  by  evaporation  ;  or,  as  it  is 
stud,  sometimes  Immerse  it  in  brine,  which  does  not  dissolve 

it,  lint  keeps  it  in  its  utmost  state  of  humidity. 

Soap  may  he  considered  as  a  necessary  of  life  ;  in  all  civ- 
ilized countries  its  consumption  is  immense.  According  to 
Pliny,  the  invention  of  soap  must  be  ascribed  to  the  Gauls, 
by  whom,  he  says,  it  was  composed  of  tallow  and  ashes, 
though  the  German  soap  was  considered  the  best.  Hence 
the  Cat.  sapo,  which  by  a  slight  transposition  of  letters  has 
become  soap,  is  probably  derived  from  the  old  German  sepe 
(now-  written  setfi ).  The  great  seat.s  of  the  soap  manufac- 
ture in  Great  Britain  are  Liverpool,  London,  Runcorn,  Bris- 
tol, Bromsgrove,  Brentford,  Hull,  and  Glasgow.  Thus,  of 
154,796,853  lbs.  of  hard  soap  made  in  1839,  Liverpool  fur 
Dished  43,546,119  lbs.;  London,  38,0bTi,175  lbs;  Runcorn, 
11,034,324  lbs. ;  Bristol,  7,512,440  lbs. ;  Bromsgrove,  5,854,213 
lbs.;  Brentford,  4,938,444  lbs.;  Hull,  4,666,435  lbs.;  and 
...  5,858  -II  lbs.  of  14,874,963  lbs.  of  soft  soap  made 
in  the  -nine  year,  Liverpool  furnished  about  one  half,  the 
rest  being  supplied  bj  Glasgow,  Bradford,  Aberdeen,  Paisley, 
etc.  The  manufacture  of  hard  soap  i-  subject  to  a  duty  of 
li</.  per  lb.,  that  of  suit  soap  to  a  duty  of  id.  per  lb. 


SOAP  STONE. 

SOAP  STONE.     A  mineralogical  synonym  of  steatite. 
SOAVE,    SOAVEMENTE.      (It.   sweet,   sweet'y.)      In 
Music,  a  term  denoting  to  the   player  that  the   music  to 
Which  it  is  prefixed  is  to  be  executed  with  sweetness. 

SO'BRiaUET.  In  French,  a  burlesque  appellation  or 
nickname.  The  word  has  been  variously  derived  from  the 
Lat.  subridiculum,  subrusticum,  and  the  Gr.  hGpiariKov,  &c. 
There  is  a  curious  dissertation  in  vol.  xiv.  of  the  Histoire  de 
V  Academic  dcs  Inscrip.,  on  the  authority  of  these  appella- 
tions in  history. 

SO'CAGE  (Mod.  Lat.  socagium;  from  the  Anglo-Saxon 
soke,  or  plough),  denotes,  according  to  Blackstone,  in  its 
original  and  most  extensive  signification,  a  tenure  by  any 
certain  and  determinate  service.  The  sokemen  at  and  im- 
mediately before  the  Norman  conquest  appear  to  have  been 
in  the  lowest  ranks  of  free  cultivators  of  the  land,  being 
classed  along  with  the  villein  in  a  law  of  Edward  the  Con- 
fessor. But  by  the  time  when  the  works  of  Bracton  and  the 
author  of  Fleta  were  compiled,  socage  had  come  to  signify 
any  tenure  not  military  or  quasimilitary  ;  ('.  e.,  either  where 
military  services  were  due  (tenure  in  chivalry  or  by  knight 
service),  or  other  services  of  an  honorary  kind,  such  as  by 
the  French  feudal  law  were  due  on  what  were  called  im- 
perfect fiefs  (tenure  by  grand  serjeanty).  Socage,  therefore, 
comprehended  various  descriptions  of  tenure,  and  has  been 
generally  divided  into  free  and  villein  socage.  In  free  so- 
cage, the  services  were  certain,  and,  in  the  feudal  sense,  not 
base  or  dishonourable,  as  the  payment  of  an  annual  rent ; 
and  none  of  the  feudal  incidents  of  wardship,  &c,  were  de- 
mandable  in  respect  of  lands  so  held,  although  certain  aids 
and  reliefs  were  peculiar  to  socage  as  well  as  to  knight  ser- 
vice. By  the  stat.  12  C.  2,  c.  24,  when  military  tenures  were 
abolished,  all  sorts  of  tenures  held  of  the  king  and  others 
(except  frank-almoign,  copyhold,  and  the  honorary  part  of 
grand  serjeanty)  were  turned  into  tenure  by  free  or  common 
socage.  Villein  socage  was  a  species  of  tenure  in  lands  held 
of  the  king  by  certain  villein  services,  but  certain  and  deter- 
minate, from  which  mixed  species  of  tenure  arose  that  in 
ancient  demesne.  Lands  so  held  are  deemed  to  be  in  cer- 
tain respects  copyhold ;  and  these  were  within  the  excep- 
tions of  the  statute  12  Charles  2,  and  still  subsist. 

SOCIETY.  (Lat.  socius,  a  companion.)  The  term  usu- 
ally applied  to  an  association  for  the  promotion  of  some 
object,  either  literary,  religious,  benevolent,  political,  or  con- 
vivial. Associations  formed  for  commercial  purposes  are 
usually  styled  companies ;  which  see.  Literary  societies 
extend  their  attention  to  all  the  sciences  and  literature  ge- 
nerally, or  to  particular  divisions  of  each.  The  chief  lite- 
rary societies  of  Europe  have  been  noticed  under  Academy. 
The  purposes  for  which  benevolent  and  religious  societies 
are  formed  will  be  best  inferred  from  the  epithets  with  which 
they  are  connected  ;  thus  temperance  societies  are  established 
With  a  view  to  promote  sobriety,  mendicity  societies  for  the 
relief  of  the  indigent,  &c.  There  is  no  feature,  perhaps, 
which  distinguishes  a  civilized  from  a  savage  state  more 
than  the  establishment  of  such  societies;  and  in  this  view 
England  has  a  right  to  claim  a  place  in  the  foremost  ranks 
of  civilization,  whether  we  regard  the  number  or  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  management  of  its  religious  and  benevolent 
institutions.  It  would  be  impossible  in  this  place  to  give 
even  the  names  of  the  chief  societies  of  this  nature  scat- 
tered throughout  the  country;  but  the  reader  will  find  an 
account  of  them  in  the  various  reports  published  from  time 
to  time  by  their  respective  directors,  and  embodying  a  mass 
of  information  respecting  them  at  once  amusing  and  instruc- 
tive. 

Societies  formed  for  convivial  or  political  purposes  are 
most  usually  denominated  clubs — a  term  which  may  be 
truly  said  to  be  exclusively  English,  and  which  embraces 
so  many  complex  ideas  that  it  is  all  but  impossible  to  reduce 
It  within  the  limits  of  a  precise  definition.  The  origin  of 
clubs  may  be  said  to  date  from  the  end  of  the  17th  century. 
It  would  be  superfluous  to  call  to  the  reader's  remembrance 
lhe  beau  ideal  of  a  club  which  Addison  has  drawn  in  the 
Spectator — the  Kit-Kat  club,  which  numbered  among  its 
members  all  the  most  distinguished  persons  of  the  day  ;  the 
Scriblerus  club,  of  which  Swift,  Harley,  Pope,  Gay,  and 
Arbuthnot  were  members ;  or  that  still  nearer  our  own  times 
originally  held  at  the  Essex  Head,  which  was  ennobled  by 
the  genius  of  Johnson,  Burke,  Reynolds,  Goldsmith,  Wynd- 
ham,  and  Fox.  They  were  originally  instituted  solely  for 
convivial  purposes;  but  in  the  course  of  time  the  term  club 
was  successively  adopted  by  various  political  associations, 
both  in  this  country  and  on  the  Continent.  Since  the  com- 
mencement or  the  present  century,  the  chief  clubs  have 
been  either  of  an  avowed  political  character,  as  the  Carl- 
ton, Boodle,  and  the  Reform  clubs;  or  devoted  exclusively 
to  certain  classes,  as  the  United  Service,  the  Oxford,  anil 
Cambridge  ;  or  open  to  all  gentlemen  on  election,  with- 
out regard  to  political  party  or  profession,  as  the  Athenaeum, 
Wyndhatn,  &c.  There  are  about  forty  clubs  in  the  metro- 
polis.   They  consist  each  of  a  limited  number  of  members, 


SOCRATIC  PHILOSOPHY. 

varying  from  1000  to  1500,  who  are  admitted  by  ballot,  and 
pay  from  ten  to  twenty-five  guineas  on  their  admission,  and 
an  annual  subscription,  varying  from  five  to  ten  guineas. 
We  need  scarcely  add,  that  the  club-houses  are,  generally 
speaking,  splendid  edifices,  which  add  much  to  the  magni- 
ficence of  the  streets  and  squares  in  which  they  are  situated. 
The  latest  appropriation  of  the  term  club  has  been  made 
by  several  associations — such  as  the  Roxburgh  club  of  Lon- 
don, the  Bannatyne  of  Edinburgh,  and  the  Maitland  of 
Glasgow — which  were  formed  for  the  purpose  of  printing 
original  MSS.,  which  would  not  otherwise  have  seen  the 
light,  or  of  rescuing  rare  productions  from  oblivion  by  re- 
printing them  from  scarce  and  valuable  editions. 

SOCI'NIANS.  The  followers  of  Socinus,  the  uncle  and 
the  nephew,  both  of  the  same  name,  and  celebrated  for 
similar  opinions  concerning  the  nature  of  Christ.  The  ne- 
phew, Faustus  Socinus,  was  the  principal  founder  of  the 
sect.  He  was  an  Italian,  born  at  Sienna  in  1539 ;  who,  after 
publishing  a  treatise  upon  the  nature  of  the  Saviour,  desired 
to  be  admitted  into  a  society  of  Unitarians  already  existing 
in  Poland.  Their  opinions  do  not  appear  to  have  precisely 
corresponded  with  his,  and  admission  was  refused  him; 
nor  did  he  effect  during  his  lifetime  the  institution  of  any 
distinct  congregation  ;  but  the  views  which  he  disseminated 
in  his  writings  were  gradually  referred  to  and  adopted  by 
many  ministers  and  religious  communities,  especially  in  Po- 
land, where  Crellius,  Wolgozenius,  and  others  published  a 
Socinian  system  of  theology,  comprised  in  the  Bibliotheca 
Fratrum  Polonorum. 

Since  the  death  of  Socinus,  the  theologians  who  have  as- 
serted the  mere  humanity  of  Christ  have  been  generally 
denominated  Socinians.  The  doctrines,  however,  to  which 
that  appellation  can  with  strictness  be  applied  are  not  pre- 
cisely equivalent  to  those  of  the  modern  Unitarians.  The 
Socinian  denies  the  existence  of  Christ  previous  to  his  birth 
of  the  Virgin  Mary :  he  allows,  however,  that  that  birth 
was  miraculous,  and  considers  the  Saviour  as  an  object  of 
peculiar  reverence  and  an  inferior  degree  of  worship.  By 
the  term  Mediator,  as  applied  to  Christ,  he  understands  that 
in  establishing  the  new  covenant  he  was  the  medium  be- 
tween God  and  man ;  and  of  his  sacrifice  he  says  that  as 
the  Jewish  sacrifices  were  not  made  for  the  payment  of 
sins,  but  for  the  remission  of  them,  so  also  the  death  of 
Christ  was  designed  for  the  remission  of  sins  through  God's 
favour,  and  not  for  the  satisfaction  of  them  as  an  equiva- 
lent. (See  Mosheim,  vol.  iv.  transl.  1790,  p.  485,  &c,  art. 
"  Unitarians.") 

SOCK.  (Lat.  soccus.)  The  name  given  to  the  peculiar 
kind  of  shoe  worn  by  the  ancient  Roman  comedions ;  hence 
used  metaphorically  for  comedy  itself.     See  Buskin. 

SO'CLE.  (It.  zoccoli,  a  shoe.)  In  Architecture,  a  square 
member,  whose  breadth  is  greater  than  its  height;  used  in- 
stead of  a  pedestal  for  the  reception  of  a  column.  It  differs 
from  a  pedestal  in  being  without  base  or  cornice. 

SOCRATIC  PHILOSOPHY,  in  a  more  extensive  sense, 
is  used  to  comprehend  the  whole  development  of  philosophy 
of  Greece  from  Socrates  to  the  Neo  Platonists.  The  title  is 
so  far  just,  as  all  the  schools  of  this  period,  with  the  single 
exception  of  the  Epicurean,  called  themselves  by  the  name 
of  Socrates,  and  arrogated  to  themselves  the  merit  of  exclu- 
sively propagating  the  true  doctrines  of  Socrates.  But  in  a 
narrow  and  more  proper  signification,  it  signifies  the  pecu- 
liar direction  and  method  which  Socrates  gave  to  philoso- 
phical inquiry.  Rightly  to  understand  this,  a  brief  retro- 
spect of  the  previous  state  of  philosophy  is  requisite.  By 
the  due  course  of  things,  the  Ionian  and  other  earliest  phi- 
losophers of  Greece  directed  themselves  to  the  study  of  ex- 
ternal nature ;  which,  as  the  outward  condition  of  man's 
existence,  attracts  and  constrains  his  attention,  and  so  be- 
comes the  root  and  source  of  his  intellectual  life  also.  In 
this  state  of  mental  developement  man  is  led  to  identify 
himself  with  the  physical  objects  which  are  around  him, 
and  to  form  a  single  and  exclusive  science — that  of  universal 
nature.  But  on  a  wider  range  of  observation,  man  began 
to  perceive  that  his  faculty  of  reason  is  not  a  physical 
power,  but  different  in  kind,  and  peculiar  to  himself.  And 
so  the  belief  in  the  affinity  of  man  to  the  powers  of  the  sur- 
rounding world  was  gradually  weakened.  Philosophy, 
then,  had  now  arrived  at  the  point  where  either  the  distinc- 
tion of  the  ethical  and  the  physical  must  be  set  forth  in 
clear  evidence  ;  or  else,  by  adhering  to  the  previous  direc- 
tion of  thought,  the  light  which  had  been,  however  uncon- 
sciously, kindled  must  be  obscured  and  extinguished.  To 
the  latter  result  the  labours  of  the  Sophists  directly  tended ; 
for  Archelaus,  the  physiologist,  had  opened  the  way,  by 
his  disquisitions  into  the  nature  and  constitution  of  law  and 
custom,  in  which,  starting  from  a  physical  point  of  view, 
he  declared  reason  to  be  simply  a  power  of  nature,  and 
right  to  have  no  other  foundation  that  might.  Such  at- 
tempts, however,  served  to  stimulate  rather  than  to  repress 
that  inquiry  into  the  nature  of  the  moral  and  rational,  aa 
distinct  from  the  physical,  while  other  considerations  were 

1135 


SOCRATIC  PHILOSOPHY. 

at  this  period  establishing  them  as  independent  sciences. 
Hut  to  admit  the  claims  of  both  as  two  conflicting  science-:, 
with  equal  pretensions  to  universality,  was  inconsistent 
with  the  unifying  tendency  of  philosophy  ;  and  a  more  sci- 
entific range  of  thought  was  required,  adapted  to  reconcile 
and  combine  their  opposite  conclusions.  Such  a  view 
could  only  be  presented  by  logical  or  dialectical  investiga- 
tions, which,  from  the  nature  of  science  itself,  might  show 
that  it  is  essential  to  the  completeness  and  perfection  of 
science  that  it  should  embrace  both  nature  and  reason  at 
once.  It  is  this  perception  of  the  unity  of  science  which 
constitutes  the  true  merit  of  Socrates  as  a  philosopher.  In 
all  the  accounts  of  him  which  either  Xenophon  or  Plato 
furnish,  we  invariably  discern  the  attempt,  at  least,  to  em- 
brace every  question  within  the  light  of  universal  science; 
and  to  prove  that  every  species  of  knowledge,  if  legiti- 
mate, can  be  pointed  out  and  shown  to  be  a  necessary  mem- 
ber of  the  general  idea  of  science. 

It  was  not  the  object  of  Socrates  to  establish  any  per- 
fectly evolved  system  of  doctrine,  so  much  as  to  awaken 
by  his  discourses  a  new  and  more  comprehensive  pursuit  of 
science,  which,  no  longer  one-sided  and  confined  to  special 
branches  of  inquiry,  but  convinced  of  its  universality,  should 
direct  itself  to  all  that  is  knowable.  But  beneath  this  con- 
viction of  the  universality  of  science,  and  the  oneness  of 
its  object-matter,  we  distinctly  trace  that  division  of  the 
latter  into  dialectics,  physics,  and  ethics,  which  his  succes- 
sors more  distinctly  established.  To  these  heads,  there- 
fore, without  expressly  ascribing  them  to  Socrates,  it  will 
he  convenient,  for  the  purpose  of  classification,  to  refer  his 
several  doctrines. 

Under  the  head  of  dialectics,  we  have,  on  the  testimony 
of  Aristotle  (Met.,  xiii.,  4),  to  ascribe  to  Socrates  two  of  the 
very  first  principles  of  science— the  inductive  method  of 
proof,  and  the  definition  of  ideas.  The  object  which  Soc- 
rates had  in  view  by  the  latter  was,  by  the  definition  of 
ideas  to  determine  what  the  thing  is  in  itself,  or  its  essence. 
As  to  the  former,  we  are  told  by  Xenophon  that  when  Soc- 
rates wished  to  come  to  a  decision  on  any  point,  his  inves- 
tigations proceeded  from  propositions  generally  received  as 
true  ;  and  if  we  are  told  that  he  often  preferred  to  take  up 
trifling  and  improbable  positions,  it  was  from  a  conviction 
that  every  thought,  however  imperfect  as  a  work  of  rea- 
son, must  necessarily  involve  the  idea  of  certainty.  Anoth- 
er feature  of  the  Socratic  method  was  to  place  the  particu- 
lar idea  to  be  examined  in  a  great  variety  of  combinations  ; 
a  procedure  which  is  evidently  based  on  a  conviction  of  the 
connexion  of  all  scientific  thought,  and  implying  that  every 
particular  thought  must,  if  it  contain  any  degree  of  certain- 
ly, maintain  its  validity  under  every  possible  combination. 
Such  was  the  true  Socratic  method  of  dialectics,  which 
derived  its  name  from  the  form  of  dialogue  {SiaXfyuv}  in 
which  it  was  accidentally  worked  out ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  term  Socratic  method  has,  in  modern  limes,  been 
confined  to  signify  nothing  more  than  this  outward  form  of 
arguing  by  question  and  answer,  to  the  exclusion  of  its  es- 
sential characteristics.  Socrates,  indeed,  did  not  evolve  any 
systematic  doctrine  of  the  form  and  subject-matter  of  sci- 
ence. He  was  satisfied  with  exercising  his  disciples  in  its 
form,  and  with  infixing  on  their  minds  the  pregnant  truth, 
that  the  legitimacy  of  every  branch  of  knowledge  must  be 
tested  by  its  agreement  with  all  others  ;  and  that  every 
thought  of  man  must  give  an  account  of  itself,  and  have 
it-s  root  in  a  knowledge  of  his  own  and  the  divine  nature. 
This  knowledge  was  the  end  of  his  physical  inquiries 
which  w.r.-  based  on  the  general  principle  thai  all  the  ob- 
jects of  nature  are  only  so  far  worthy  of  inquiry  as  they 
exhibit  traces  of  intelligence  ami  design.  The  self  knowl- 
edge which  the  Delphian  oracle  had  enjoined  upon  him 
Socrates  held  to  be  Impossible,  while  man  is  ignorant  of 
the  universal  principle  whence  are  the  issues  of  all  things, 
and,  consequently,  of  the  system  of  nature  in  the  midst  of 
which  man  is  placed.  In  order  to  oppose  the  atheism  which 
prevailed  in  his  day,  Socrates  examined  the  causes  of  the 
existing  unbelief,  and  referred  to  the  proofs  of  divinity 
which  the  wise  order  of  natural   things  exhibits.     As  the 

prevailing  scepticism  had  its  origin  in  the  denial  of  what- 
ever is  unseen  and  Imperceptible  to  the  outward  senses,  he 
argued  that  the  soul,  which  is  the  ruling  principle  within 
man,  is  yet  not  discernible;  but  still  its  existence  is  admit- 
ted, and  it  participates  in  the  divine  nature.  Whoever,  there- 
fore, can  get  rid  of  the  weak  desire  of  seeing  the  Deity  un- 
der some  palpable  form,  may  easily  recognise  his  opera- 
tions within  his  own  mind,  where  God  has  implanted  a 
consciousness  of  his  presence.  But  he  farther  held,  thai 
not  only  man,  but  the  whole  universe,  is  under  the  rule  of 
an  intelligent  governor;  that  all  is  formed  for  some  wise 
end,  and  affords  evidence  of  that  supreme  reason  from 
Which  man's  rational  soul  derives  and  has  its  being.  In  the 
Consideration  Of  individual  things,  not  less  than  of  the  11,11 
BOle  question  With  Socrates  was  tO  establish  in- 
telligence as  the  ruling  principle  of  all.    This  affords  an  ex- 


SODA. 

planation  of  his  low  estimate  of  the  existing  physiology, 
which  has  not  unfrequently  been  objected  to  him.  His 
contempt  for  it  was  grounded  on  the  same  reason  as  Ba- 
con's aversion  for  the  schoolmen.  It  stopped  at  secondary 
causes,  and  did  not  remount  to  the  one  first  cause,  which 
Socrates  believed  could  only  be  found  in  intelligence  benefi- 
cently disposing  all  things  for  the  best.  Although  the  ear- 
lier philosophers  did  not  entirely  neglect  the  marks  of  de- 
sign which  may  be  discovered  in  the  universe,  still  they 
confounded  nature  with  intelligence.  Socrates,  on  the  con- 
trary, laboured  to  show  that  reason  is  above  nature,  and 
that  the  natural  is  merely  subservient  to  intellectual  ends. 
Whatever  is  without  reason  is  contemptible  ;  and  the  cor- 
poreal is  of  no  value  except  so  far  as  it  ministers  to  the  ra- 
tional soul.  Into  the  nature  of  the  divine  essence  he  did 
not  inquire,  but  was  content  with  asserting  the  principle, 
that  the  Deity  is  the  supreme  reason,  and  must  be  honour- 
ed by  man  as  the  source  of  all  things,  and  of  all  phenome- 
na, and  as  the  end  of  all  human  endeavours.  Lastly,  from 
the  divinity  within  man,  the  intelligence  visible  in  the  uni- 
verse, and  the  worthlessness  of  body,  except  as  an  instru- 
ment of  reason,  Socrates  deduced  the  immortality  of  the 
soul  as  a  necessary  consequence. 

The  object-matter  of  Socrates's  disputations  exhibit  a 
great  preference  of  ethical  to  physical  topics.  This  may 
partly  be  explained  by  the  fact,  that  in  ethics  a  scientific 
spirit  of  inquiry  had  yet  to  be  awakened,  while  physics  had 
been  long  and  extensively  cultivated.  Partly,  also,  it  had  its 
origin  in  the  mental  state  of  Athens  at  this  period.  The 
art  of  sophistry,  which  Socrates  was  seeking  to  overthrow, 
was  based  on  the  monstrous  dogmas,  that  there  is  no  truth 
for  man  ;  that  he  is  the  wisest  who,  rejecting  all  hope  of  it, 
is  skilful  enough  to  hide  from  others  his  own  ignorance 
and  incapacity  by  an  ingenious  display  of  artifices  and 
forms.  Successfully  to  combat  these  pernicious  views,  an 
appeal  must  be  made  to  those  general  principles  of  belief 
which  are  implied  in,  and  indispensable  to,  the  right  conduct 
of  life ;  a  strong  hold  must  be  taken  of  what  is  fixed  and 
indestructible  in  man  in  his  moral  convictions.  But,  con- 
tent with  thus  awakening  man  to  a  consciousness  of  the 
moral  destiny  of  man,  and  his  moral  responsibility,  he  did 
not  seek  to  construct  an  elaborate  system  of  ethics.  Hav- 
ing projected  the  ideal  of  science,  both  in  its  extent  and 
form,  he  contributed  little  to  its  realization,  either  as  a 
whole,  or  in  its  parts.  A  few  propositions  are  necessary, 
however,  to  exhibit  the  true  spirit  of  the  Socratic  ethics. 
Man  naturally  strives  after  happiness  ;  but  in  this  we  must 
distinguish  between  accidental  good  fortune  (tvrvx'a)  and 
that  which  results  from  science  and  industry  (rtjrodi-ca). 
The  essence,  therefore,  of  the  moral  act  consists  in  the  free 
agency  of  man.  All  virtue  is  one  ;  and  no  act  performed 
without  a  clear  perception  of  its  nature  and  tendency  is 
either  good  or  evil.  There  is  no  merit  in  a  virtuous  action 
unless  it  has  been  undertaken  as  such,  intentionally  and 
knowingly,  the  will  being  determined  thereto  by  the  notion 
of  good.  But  this  natural  sense  of  right  may  be  overborne 
by  a  stronger  motive.  This  innate  perception  of  good, 
therefore,  like  all  other  human  faculties,  stands  in  need  of 
education  to  expand  and  strengthen  it.  Virtue  may  be 
taught,  since  it  consists  in  the  science  of  good. 

SOD.  The  grassy  surface  of  the  soil  pared  off"  with  a 
portion  of  the  earth  ;  in  other  words,  turf. 

SO'DA.  Natron  ;  mineral  alkali.  This  important  and 
useful  substance  is  an  oxide  of  sodinm.  Sodium  was  dis- 
covered by  Davy  in  1808.  It  is  a  rnetal  much  resembling 
potassium  in  its  general  characters.  It  is  soft,  malleable, 
fusible  at  1'.I0°,  and  burns  when  heated  in  contact  of  air. 
When  thrown  upon  water  it  does  not  bum,  but  floats  about 
upon  the  surface,  and  rapidly  disappears,  being  converted 
Into  soda,  which  is  dissolved  in  the  water,  and  gives  it  an 
alkaline  reaction.  The  specific  gravity  of  sodium  is  0-97. 
By  the  quantity  of  hydrogen  evolved  (hiring  the  action  of 
sodium  on  water,  we  learn  that  soda,  or  oxide  of  sodium, 
consists  of  1  equivalent  of  sodium  =  24,  and  1  of  oxygen  = 
8.  The  equivalent  of  soda,  therefore,  is  32.  The  com- 
mercial demands  for  soda  are  Chiefly  supplied  from  two 
sources:  the  combustion  of  marine  vegetables,  such  as 
common  sea-weed  and  the  Saisola  soda,  which  furnish  the 
impure  alkalies  called  /;,//>  and  bari'la;  and  the  decom- 
position of  common  salt,  or,  rather,  perhaps,  of  sulphate  of 

soda,  obtained  by  the  decomposition  of  salt  by  sulphuric 

acid.  ( 'arbonate  of  soda  forms  large  rhombo-prismatic  crys- 
tals, composed  of  H'2  soda  -4-  22  carbonic  acid  +  90  water. 
They  fuse  In  their  water  of  crystallization  at  about  150P, 
and  it  may  be  entirely  expelled  by  exposure  to  heat.  They 
effloresce  w  hen  exposed  to  air.  Sulphate  of  soda,  or  Glau- 
ber's salt,  is  the  result  of  the  action  of  sulphuric  acid  upon 
common  salt.  (s,-r  Mnuvric  Ann.)  It  consists  of  32  soda 
4- 40  sulphuric  acid ;  and  the  crystals  are  constituted  of  72 

dry  sulphate  and  90  water  :  they  are  efflorescent,  and  solu- 
ble ill  about  three  parts  of  cold  water.  When  sodium  is 
introduced  into  chlorine  it  Immediately  combines  with  it  to 


SODALITE. 

form  chloride  of  sodium,  or  common  salt;  if  heated  in  the 
gas,  it  burns  very  vividly :  24  parts  of  sodium  combine  with 
36  of  chlorine  to  form  60  parts  of  this  important  and  well- 
known  compound.  (See  Salt.)  When  chlorine  gas  is  pass- 
ed into  a  weak  solution  of  caustic  soda  it  is  absorbed,  and  a 
useful  bleaching  and  disinfecting  solution  is  obtained,  which 
has  been  called  L.abarracque'  s  disinfecting  soda  liquid. 

SO'DALITE.  A  mineral  composed  chiefly  of  silica, 
alumina,  and  soda. 

SODA  WATER.  This  common  and  refreshing  beverage 
is,  as  usually  prepared,  a  supersaturated  solution  of  carbonic 
acid  gas  in  water.  True  soda  water  was  formerly  prepared 
(and  is  still  by  some  manufacturers)  for  medical  use,  chief- 
ly as  a  remedy  for  heartburn,  and  certain  forms  of  dyspep- 
sia and  calculous  complaints  ;  and  consisted  of  one,  two,  or 
three  drachms  of  carbonate  of  soda,  dissolved  in  a  pint  of 
water  highly  impregnated  with  carbonic  acid.  This  is  often 
a  valuable  remedy;  but  would  sometimes  be  attended  by 
mischievous  results,  especially  if  indulged  in  to  the  extent 
to  which  some  persons  pursue  the  use  of  soda  water.  The 
mere  aqueous  solution  of  carbonic  acid,  which  is  made  by 
forcing  the  gas  into  water  by  a  condensing  pump,  and  under 
a  pressure  of  six  or  eight  atmospheres,  is  an  agreeable  and, 
generally  speaking,  harmless  diluent. 

SOD-BURNING.  Burning  of  turf  taken  from  the  sur- 
face of  worn-out  pasture  lands  for  the  sake  of  the  ashes  as 
manure,  &c. 

SODIUM.     See  Soda. 

SOFFITT.  (It.  soffitta,  overlaid.)  In  Architecture.  See 
Lacunar. 

SO'FI.  A  Persian  word,  which  is  employed  to  designate 
religious  persons,  otherwise  termed  Dervishes.  It  is  proba- 
bly a  corruption  of  the  Greek  sophos,  wise.  Sofi  was  the 
surname  borne  by  the  ancestors  of  the  kings  of  Persia  of 
the  race  preceding  that  which  now  occupies  the  throne; 
and  Shah  Ismael  Sofi,  the  first  monarch  of  that  race,  also 
bore  it;  hence  by  European  writers  of  the  16th  and  l?th 
centuries  it  was  used  erroneously  as  a  title  of  the  king  of 

SO'FLSM,  or  SUFISM.  The  mystical  doctrines  of  the 
class  of  Mohammedan  religionists  called  Sons.  This  name 
is  indeed  generally  applied  in  the  East  to  persons  living  to- 
gether in  a  monastic  way,  and  professing  an  ascetic  life. 
But  the  tenets  peculiarly  denoted  by  the  name  of  Sufism 
are  those  of  a  sect  which  is  said  to  be  gaining  ground  ex- 
tensively in  oriental  countries,  especially  among  the  edu- 
cated classes  of  Mohammedans.  These  tenets,  like  those 
of  the  (luitetists  and  other  Christian  sects  of  mystics,  are 
founded  on  a  notion  of  the  union  of  the  human  soul  with 
the  divinity  by  contemplation  and  the  subjugation  of  the  ap- 
petites ;  but,  as  has  been  too  frequently  the  case  among 
Christians  also,  they  have  afforded  a  cover  for  the  most  li- 
centious lessons  of  refined  debauchery.  In  the  last  volume 
of  Mr.  Buckingham's  Oriental  Travels,  containing  a  narra- 
tive of  his  journey  in  Mesopotamia,  will  be  found  a  singular 
account  of  one  of  these  monastic  philosophers,  his  doctrines 
and  conduct  The  principles  of  Sufism  appear  also  to  have 
a  remarkable  affinity,  in  some  respects,  with  those  panthe- 
istic notions  which  are  prominent  in  the  system  of  the  Bra- 
mins,  and  seem  to  form  the  very  foundation  of  the  still 
more  widelv  extended  religion  of  Buddha. 

SOFTENING.  In  Painting,  the  blending  of  colours  into 
each  other. 

SOIL.  The  primitive  earths  in  a  state  of  mixture  with 
organized  matter  fit  for  the  growth  of  plants.  The  surface 
of  the  earth  in  every  country  on  which  plants  have  grown 
and  decayed  is  properly  denominated  soil ;  while  the  earth 
at  a  foot  or  more  beneath  the  surface,  commonly  called  sub- 
soil, is  comparatively  without  organized  matter,  and  is 
therefore  properly  denominated  earth,  clay,  sand,  gravel, 
lime,  or  mixed  earth,  rocks,  or  stones,  as  the  case  may  be. 

SOIREE.  (Fr.  soir,  evening.)  The  term  originally  given 
by  the  French  to  certain  evening  parties  held  for  the  sake 
of  conversation  only,  music,  dancing,  and  similar  entertain- 
ments being  excluded ;  but  the  word  has  been  since  intro- 
duced into  all  the  languages  of  modern  Europe,  and  is  now 
employed  to  designate  most  descriptions  of  evening  parties 
in  which  ladies  and  gentlemen  are  intermixed,  whatever  be 
the  amusements  introduced.  It  is  frequently  applied  in 
England  to  the  public  meetings  of  certain  societies  held  for 
the  advancement  of  their  respective  objects,  at  which  tea 
and  other  refreshments  are  dispensed  during  the  intervals 
of  business. 

SOKE.  A  territorial  division,  now  subsisting  in  Lincoln- 
shire. This  term,  according  to  the  etymology  given  by 
Bracton,  designated  a  precinct  in  which  a  particular  lord 
exercised  justice. 

SOL.    In  Music,  the  fifth  note  in  the  gamut. 

SOLAN  A'CEiE.  (Solanum,  one  of  the  genera.)  A  nat- 
ural order  of  herbaceous  or  shrubby  Exogens,  inhabit- 
ing all  parts  of  the  world  excepting  the  arctic  regions.  They 
are  chiefly  known  from  the  Scrophulariacem  by  their  curved 


SOLANUM  TUBEROSUM. 

or  spiral  embryo,  the  plaited  estivation  of  the  flower, 
and  the  flowers  being  usually  regular,  with  the  same  num- 
ber of  stamens  as  lobes.  The  first  of  these  characters,  how- 
ever, is  not  of  universal  importance  ;  the  plaited  corolla  and 
symmetrical  flowers  are  better  marks  of  distinction.  This 
order  contains  nightshade,  henbane,  mandrake,  tobacco, 
stramonium,  the  potato,  and  the  tomato,  the  leaves  of  all 
which  are  narcotic  and  exciting,  but  in  different  degrees — 
from  Atropa  belladonna,  which  causes  vertigo,  convulsions, 
and  vomiting  ;  tobacco,  which  will  frequently  produce  the 
first  and  last  of  these  symptoms  ;  henbane  and  stramonium 
— down  to  some  of  the  Solanum  tribes,  the  leaves  of  which 
are  so  inert  as  to  be  used  as  kitchen  herbs.  Even  in  the 
potato  plant,  the  narcotic  acrid  principle  is  found  in  the  stem 
and  leaves,  and  even  in  the  rind  of  the  tuber.  But  the  prin- 
cipal part  of  the  latter  consists  of  starch ;  and  the  small 
quantity  of  deleterious  matter  being  volatile  and  near  the 
surface,  is  readily  driven  off  by  the  heat  used  in  cooking. 

SOLA'NIA.  The  active  principle  of  the  Solanum  dulca- 
mara, or  woody  nightshade.  It  is  a  white  alkaline  sub- 
stance, insoluble  in  water,  but  soluble  in  alcohol ;  its  combi- 
nations with  the  acids  are  bitter. 

SOLA'NO.  A  hot  oppressive  wind  which  occasionally 
blows  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  particularly  on  the  eastern 
coast  of  Spain.    The  solano  is  a  modification  of  the  sirocco. 

SOLA'NUM  TUBERO'SUM.  The  botanical  name  for 
the  plant  of  whieh  the  potato  is  the  root.  The  potato, 
which  is  at  present  to  be  met  with  everywhere  in  Europe, 
and  forms  the  principal  part  of  the  food  of  a  large  propor- 
tion of  its  inhabitants,  was  entirely  unknown  in  this  quar- 
ter of  the  world  till  the  latter  part  of  the  16th  century.  It 
is  a  native  of  America ;  but  whether  of  both  divisions  of 
that  continent  is  doubtful.  (Humboldt,  JVouvclle  Espagne, 
li  v.  iv.,  c.  9.)  Some  authors  affirm  that  it  was  first  introduced 
into  Europe  by  Sir  John  Hawkins,  in  1545;  others,  that  it  was 
introduced  by  Sir  Francis  Drake,  in  1573;  and  others,  again, 
that  it  was  for  the  first  time  brought  to  England  from  Vir- 
ginia by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  in  1586.  But  this  discrepancy 
seems  to  have  arisen  from  confounding  the  common  or  Vir- 
ginian potato  (the  Solanum  tuberosum  of  Linnaeus)  with  the 
sweet  potato  (Convolvulus  battatus).  The  latter  was  in- 
troduced into  Europe  long  before  the  former,  and  it  seems 
most  probable  that  it  was  the  species  brought  from  New 
Granada  by  Hawkins.  Sweet  potatoes  require  a  warm  cli- 
mate, and  do  not  succeed  in  this  country  ;  they  were,  how- 
ever, imported  in  considerable  quantities,  during  the  16th 
century,  from  Spain  and  the  Canaries,  and  were  supposed 
to  have  some  rather  peculiar  properties.  The  kissing  com- 
fits of  Falstaff,  and  such  like  confections,  were  principally 
made  of  battatas  and  eringo  roots.  On  the  whole,  we  are 
inclined  to  think  that  we  are  really  indebted  for  the  potato 
(as  well  as  for  tobacco)  to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  or  the  colo- 
nists he  had  planted  in  Virginia.  Gerarde,  an  old  English 
botanist,  mentions  in  his  Herbal,  published  in  1597,  that  he 
had  planted  the  potato  in  his  garden  in  London  about  1590 ; 
and  that  it  succeeded  there  as  well  as  in  its  native  soil, 
Virginia,  whence  he  had  received  it.  Potatoes  were  at  first 
cultivated  by  a  very  few,  and  were  looked  upon  as  a  great 
delicacy.  In  a  manuscript  account  of  the  household  expen- 
ses of  Queen  Anne,  wife  of  James  I.,  who  died  in  1618,  and 
which  is  supposed  to  have  been  written  in  1613,  the  pur- 
chase of  a  very  small  quantity  of  potatoes  is  mentioned  at 
the  price  of  2s.  a  pound.  The  Royal  Society,  in  1663,  rec- 
ommended the  extension  of  their  cultivation,  as  a  means  of 
preventing  famine.  Previously,  however,  to  1684,  they 
were  raised  only  in  the  gardens  of  the  nobility  and  gentry  ; 
but  in  that  year  they  were  planted  for  the  first  time,  in  the 
open  fields  in  Lancashire — a  county  in  which  they  have 
long  been  very  extensively  cultivated. 

Potatoes,  it  is  commonly  thought,  were  not  introduced  into 
Ireland  till  1610,  when  a  small  quantity  was  sent  by  Sir  Wal- 
ter Raleigh  to  be  planted  in  a  garden  in  his  estate  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  Youghal.  Their  cultivation  extended  far  more  readi- 
ly than  in  England  ;  and  have  long  furnished  from  three  -fifths 
to  four-fifths   of  the  entire  food  of  the  people  of  Ireland  ! 

Potatoes  were  not  raised  in  Scotland,  except  in  gardens, 
till  1728,  when  they  were  planted  in  the  open  fields  by  a 
person  of  the  name  of  Prentice,  a  day  labourer  at  Kilsyth, 
who  died  at  Edinburgh  1792. 

The  extension  of  the  potato  cultivation  has  been  particu- 
larly rapid  during  the  last  forty  years.  The  quantity  that 
is  now  raised  in  Scotland  is  supposed  to  be  from  10  to  12 
times  as  great  as  the  quantity  raised  in  it  at  the  end  of  the 
American  war ;  and  though  the  increase  in  England  has 
not  been  nearly  so  great  as  in  Scotland,  It  has  been  greater 
than  at  any  previous  period  of  equal  duration.  The  increase 
on  the  Continent  has  been  similar.  Potatoes  are  now  very 
largely  cultivated  in  France,  Italy,  and  Germany  ;  and,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Irish,  the  Swiss  have  become  their  great- 
est consumers.  They  were  introduced  into  India  some  sixty 
or  seventy  years  ago;  and  are  now  successfully  cultivated 
in  Bengal,  and  have  been  introduced  into  the  Madras  proviu- 
4  B  1137 


SOLAR  CYCLE. 

ces,  Java,  the  Philippines,  and  China.    But  the  common 
potato  dot's  not  thrive  within  the  tropics,  unless  it  be  raised 

Bt  an  elevation  of  3000  or  4000  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
Bea,  so  that  it  can  never  come  into  very  genera!  use  in  these 
regions.    This,  however,  is  not  the  ease  with  the  sweet  po-  \ 
i         which   has   also  been  introduced  into  tropical   Asia  ; 
and  with  such  success,  that  it  already  forms  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  food  of  the  people  of  Java,  and  some  other 
countries.     So  rapid  an  extension  of  the  taste  for,  and  the 
cultivation  of  an  exotic,  has  no  parallel  in  the  history  of  in- 
dustry :  it   has   had,  and  will   continue  to  have,  the  most 
powerful  influence  on  the  condition  of  mankind.     But  upon  j 
this  part  of  the  subject  we  must  refer  the  reader  for  full  ! 
particulars  to  the  Com.  Diet.,  art.  "  Potatoes,"  from  which 
the  above  historical  .-ketch  has  been  taken. 

Si  )LAR  CYCLE.    A  period  of  twenty -eight  years.     See  I 
Cycle. 

SOLAR  SYSTEM,  in  Astronomy,  consists  of  the  sun,  and 
all  the  celestial  bodies  whose  motions  are  controlled  by  its 
gravitation,  viz.  the  planets,  satellites,  and  comets.  See 
Sun,  Planet,  &C. 

SO  LDER.  Plumbers'  solder  is  an  alloy  of  three  parts  of 
lead  and  one  of  tin  ;  it  is  more  fusible  than  lead,  and  readily 
adheres  to  clean  surfaces  of  that  metal  when  it  is  fused. 
Fine  solder  is  a  mixture  of  two  parts  of  tin  ami  one  of  lead  ; 
it  fuses  at  360°.  It  is  used  in  the  process  of  tinning  copper. 
Hard  soldering,  or  brazing,  by  which  two  surfaces  of  cop- 
per are  made  to  adhere,  is  done  by  fusing  together  brass 
and  zinc.  When  this  solder  is  used,  the  copper  requires  to 
be  heated  to  near  its  point  of  fusion. 

SOLDIER.  (Lat.  soldarius  ;  literally,  one  who  serves 
for  pay.)  In  general  language,  a  person  equipped  and  main- 
tained by  the  state  for  the  purpose  of  defending  it  from  for- 
eign aggression,  of  putting  down  intestine  commotion  ;  or,  in 
short,  of  protecting  its  interests  either  at  home  or  abroad, 
according  to  instructions  issued  by  the  civil  government. 
See  Army,  Enlistment,  &c. 

SO'LEA  (Lat.  a  slipper),  in  Mammalogy,  is  the  inferior 
surface  of  the  foot  or  hoof. 

Solea.  The  name  of  a  genus  of  flat  fishes  (Pleuroneeti- 
die),  characterized  as  follows:  "Both  eyes  on  the  right 
side ;  the  mouth  distorted  on  the  side  opposite  the  eyes ; 
small  teeth  in  both  jaws,  but  confined  to  the  underside  only  ; 
form  of  the  body  oblong ;  dorsal  and  anal  fins  extending  to 
the  tail."  The  common  sole  ( Solea  vulgaris,  Cuv.)  is  ta- 
ken by  trolling,  and  in  enormous  quantities,  along  our  coasts, 
principally  from  Sussex  to  Devonshire ;  and  excepting  to- 
wards the  latter  end  of  February,  and  the  beginning  of 
March,  when  the  soles  are  spawning,  and  are  rather  soft 
and  watery,  they  are  in  good  condition  for  the  table  through- 
out the  year. 

SO'LECISM.  In  Rhetoric  and  Grammar  {GT-coXoimapof, 
said  to  be  derived  from  the  name  of  a  town  in  Cilicia,  whose 
inhabitants  spoke  a  barbarous  Greek),  a  violation  of  the  idi- 
omatic rules  of  grammar  or  construction  in  writing  or  speak- 
ing a  language.  Uuintilian  distinguishes  solecism  from 
barbarism,  the  latter  word  being  applied  to  the  erroneous 
use  of  single  words. 

SOLENA'CEAXS,  Solenacea.  (Gr.  aw\r,v,  a  tube.)  The 
name  of  a  family  of  Dimiarv  Bivalve  Mollusks,  of  which 
the  razor  shell  ( Sol en)  is  the  type;  they  are  distinguished 
by  the  great  length  of  the  respiratory  tubes,  whence  their 
name. 

SOLEXOID.  (Gr.  owXrji'.and  fn5o?,  appearance.)  In  Elec- 
tro-Dynamics, a  name  given  by  Ampere  to  a  system  of  small 
electrical  currents,  equal  and  equidistant,  and  returning  into 
themselves,  the  planes  of  which  are  normals  to  any  given 
line,  whether  a  straight  line  or  curve,  upon  which  their 
centres  are  situated,  and  which  forms  the  axis  of  the  solen- 
oid.    (Desprctz.  Traitede  Physique,  1836.) 

BOLFATA'RA.  A  VOleailic  vent  emitting  sulphur  and 
sulphurous  compounds.  The  term  is  borrowed  from  Solfa- 
terra,  the  celebrated  mountain  of  Naples  called  by  the  an- 
cients Phlttfrrtti  Campi. 

SOLFE'GGIO.  In  Music,  the  system  of  arranging  the 
scale  by  the  names  ut,  re,  mi,  fa,  sol,  la,  by  which  musical  stu- 
dents  are  taught  to  sing,  these  notes  being  represented  to  the 
eye  by  lines  and  spaces,  to  which  the  syllables  in  question 
are  applied.  (See  art.  Music,  under  Which  will  be  found 
n  diagram  of  the  scale  under  the  arrangement  in  question.) 

BOLrCITOR.  The  professional  designation  of  persons 
admitted  to  practice  in  the  court  of  Chancery  in  the  conduct 
of  suits,  fcc.,  who  are  styled  attorneys  in  the  courts  of  com- 
mon law.  [See  Attorney.)  The  solicitor-general  is  an 
officer  of  the  crown,  who  holds  by  patent,  and  ranks  next 
to  the  attorney -general,  with  whom  he  is,  in  fact,  associated 
in  the  management  of  the  legal  business  of  the  crown  and 
public  offices,  lie  receives  some  particular  fees  on  plead- 
ing*, and  on  the  enrolment  of  patents.  &.c. ;  but  the'  division 

of  business  between  him  and  the  attorney-general  Is  chiefly 

regulated  by  usage  founded  on  convenience.     He  Is  the  otii 
ter  on  whom   generally  devolve   the   maintenance  of  the 
1180 


SOMNAMBULISM. 

rights  of  the  crown  in  revenue  cases,  patent  causes,  &c. 
The  earliest  date  at  which  the  name  of  this  officer  occurs.  BO 
far  as  is  known,  isthe year  1461.  In  Scotland,  the  term  solicit- 
or is  synonymous  with  attorney  in  England.  They  are  inferior 
to  the  writers  to  the  si?>i>t.  anil  practise  in  llie  inferior  courts. 

SO'LID.  In  Phj  sics,  the  term  so'idis  applied  to  that  con- 
dition of  matter  in  which  the  attractive  forces  of  llie  mole- 
cules are  greater  than  the  repulsive,  and  the  molecules  con- 
sequently cohere  with  greater  or  less  force.  The  other 
states  of  matter  are  the  fluid,  in  which  the  attractive  and 
repulsive  forces  are  balanced  ;  and  the  gaseous,  in  which. 
the  repulsive  prevail. 

Solid.  In  Geometry,  a  magnitude  which  has  three  di- 
mensions ;  length,  breadth,  and  thickness.  The  boundaries 
of  solids  are  surfaces.  Regular  solids  are  those  which  are 
terminated  by  regular  and  equal  planes.  They  are  five  in 
number,  viz.  the  tetraedron,  the  liexaedron,  the  octaedron, 
the  doderaedron,  and  the  icosaedron.  See  Platonic  Bodies. 

SO'LID  ANGLE,  in  Geometry,  is  an  angle  made  by  the 
meeting  of  more  than  two  plane  angles  which  are  not  in  the 
same  plane  in  one  point. 

SO'LID  PROBLEM.  In  Geometry  a  problem  which  can- 
not be  constructed  by  the  intersections  of  circles  and  straight 
lines,  but  requires  for  its  geometrical  construction  the  de- 
scription of  one  or  more  conic  sections.  The  algebraic  so- 
lution of  a  solid  problem  leads  to  a  cubic  or  biquadratic 
equation.  Problems  which  admit  of  being  constructed  by 
the  intersection  of  two  circles,  or  of  a  straight  line  and  circle, 
are  called  plane  problems,  and  their  equations  are  of  the 
second  degree. 

SOLIDU'NGULATES,  Solidungula.  (Lat.solidus, solid; 
ungula,  a  hoof.)  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Mammals,  inclu- 
ding those  with  only  a  single  hoof  on  each  foot ;  as  the  horse, 
ass,  &c. 

SOLI'LOQUY.     See  Monologue. 

SO'LIPEDS.    Synonymous  with  Solidungulates,  which 

SOLLE'CITO.  (It.  afflicted.)  In  Music,  a  term  deno- 
ting that  the  movement  to  which  it  is  affixed  is  to  be  per- 
formed in  a  mournful  manner.  It  also  means  that  the  mu- 
sic is  to  be  performed  carefully. 

SO'LO.  (It.  alone.)  In  Music,  a  movement,  or  part  of  a 
movement,  in  which  only  one  voice  or  instrument  is  em- 
ployed. 

SO'LSTICE.  (Lat.  solstitium.)  The  time  at  which  the 
sun  is  at  its  greatest  distance  from  the  equator,  and  when  its 
diurnal  motion  in  declination  ceases.  This  happens  at  mid- 
summer and  at  midwinter  ;  or  when  the  sun  arrives  at 
the  tropic  of  Cancer,  and  the  tropic  of  Capricorn. 

SOLSTITIAL  POINTS,  are  those  points  of  the  ecliptic 
at  which  the  sun  arrives  at  the  time  of  the  solstices.  They 
are  the  first  points  of  Cancer  and  Capricorn. 

SOLUTION.  (Lat.  solvere,  to  untie.)  In  Mathematics, 
the  construction  of  a  proposed  problem,  or  the  expression 
of  Its  conditions  by  an  equation  which  gives  the  value  of 
the  unknown  quantity. 

SO'MMITE.  A  mineralogical  name  of  the  nephelin  of 
Somma  and  Vesuvius.    See  Nepheline. 

SOMNA'MBULISM.  (Lat.  somno  amhulare,  to  walk  in 
one's  sleep.)  This  is  a  species  of  dreaming,  in  which  the 
bodily  as  well  as  the  mental  functions  are  affected.  There 
are  many  remarkable  cases  of  this  kind  on  record,  some  of 
which  would  appear  perfectly  incredible,  were  they  not  attes- 
ted not  only  by  creditable,  but  by  competent  and  scientific 
witnesses.  Somnambulism  has  been  defined,  as  "a  state  in 
which  the  mind  retains  its  power  over  the  limbs,  hut  posses- 
ses no  influence  over  its  own  thoughts,  and  scarcely  any  over 
the  body,  excepting  those  particular  members  of  it  which 
are  employed  in  walking."  Dr.  Abercnomby  in  his  excel- 
lent Inquiries  concerning  the  Inti  llectual  Powers  and  the  In- 
vestigation of  Truth,  observes,  in  regard  to  this  singular  af- 
fection, that  although  the  mind  is  fixed  upon  its  own  im- 
pressions as  in  ordinary  dreaming,  the  bodily  organs  are 
more  under  the  control  of  the  will  ;  so  that  the  individual 
acts  under  the  influence  of  his  erroneous  conceptions,  and 
holds  conversation  in  regard  to  them.  He  is  also,  to  a  cer- 
tain decree,  susceptible  rjf  impressions  from  without,  through 
his  organs  of  sense  ;  not,  however,  so  as  to  correct  his  erro- 
neous impressions,  hut  rather  to  be  mixed  up  with  them. 
Dr.  Abercromby  observes,  that  the  first  degree  of  somnam- 
bulism generally  shows  Itself  by  a  propensity  to  talk  during 
sleep;  the  person  giving  a  full  and  connected  account  of 
what  pisses  before  him  in  dreams,  and  often  revealing  his 
own  secrets  and  those  of  his  friends.  Walking  during  slcfp 
is  the  next  degree,  and  that  from  which  the  affection  de- 
rives its  name.  He  gets  out  of  bed.  often  dresses  himself, 
and  goes  out  of  doors,  walks  frequently  over  very  dangerous 

places  in  safety  ;  sometimes  he  gets  out  of  a  window,  walks 
along  a  parapet,  gets  to  Ihe  roof  of  the  house,  and  returns 
through  similar  risks  to  his  apartment.  On  awaking  in  the 
morning  he  is  either  utterly  unconscious  of  having  stirred 
during  the  night,  or  remembers  it  as  a  mere  dream.    These 


SOMNUS. 

cases  are  comparatively  common  ;  but  sometimes  trie  trans- 
actions of  the  somnambulist  are  carried  much  further:  he 
Will  mount  his  horse  and  ride,  or  go  to  his  usual  occupa- 
tions, such  as  threshing,  saddle-making,  playing  on  musical 
instruments,  composing  verses,  and  so  forth. 

Although  somnambulists  are  generally  insensible  to  any- 
thing that  is  said  to  them,  they  are  sometimes  capable 
of  holding  conversation,  especially  in  those  cases  where 
the  affection  occurs,  as  it  sometimes  does  in  the  day- 
time. In  these  attacks  the  individuals  are  generally 
unconscious  of  external  impressions,  or  at  all  events  ex- 
tremely confused  in  their  notions  of  external  things.  They 
frequently  speak  intelligibly,  but  in  reference  to  the  impres- 
sions which  are  present  in  their  own  minds.  They  some- 
times repeat  poetry,  and  other  matters  of  which  they  were 
supposed  to  be  perfectly  ignorant;  or  they  hold  conversa- 
tions with  imaginary  beings,  or  relate  circumstances  which 
were  supposed  to  have  been  entirely  unnoticed  or  forgotten. 
Some  have  been  known  to  sing  in  a  style  superior  to  any- 
thing to  which  they  could  attain  when  awake ;  and  there 
are,  says  Dr.  Abercromby,  some  well- authenticated  instan- 
ces of  persons  in  this  condition  expressing  themselves  cor- 
rectly in  languages  with  which  they  were  imperfectly  ac- 
quainted. 

For  the  details  of  individual  cases  of  this  extraordinary 
disorder,  we  must  refer  to  Dr.  Abercromby's  instructive 
volume  already  quoted]  and  the  authorities  therein  cited. 
It  is  impossible  to  give  any  explanation  of  the  extraordinary 
condition  of  the  faculties  which  such  cases  exemplify,  or  to 
point  out  any  general  plan  of  treatment  applicable  to  them. 

The  more  ordinary  cases  of  somnambulism  are  sometimes 
cured  by  tying  the  patient  to  some  part  of  the  bed,  or  by  se- 
curing the  doors  and  windows ;  so  that  after  ineffectual  at- 
tempts to  make  his  escape  he  is  induced  to  return  to  bed, 
and  remains  quiet.  The  state  of  the  stomach  and  bowels, 
and  of  the  nervous  system,  requires  careful  examination 
and  pro|>er  treatment:  in  some  cases  intestinal  worms  ap- 
pear to  have  been  connected  with  nocturnal  disturbances 
bearing  a  close  analogy  to  somnambulism,  and  which  have 
disappeared  after  the  successful  operation  of  vermifuge  rem- 
edies. 

SO'MNUS,  in  classical  Mythology,  the  poetical  god  of 
sleep,  is  the  son  of  Erebus  and  Nox,  or  of  Nox  alone.  He 
dwells  with  his  brother  Death  in  a  palace  at  the  western 
extremity  of  the  earth.  Homer  makes  Juno  seek  him  in 
the  isle  of  Lemnos,  whither  he  had  repaired  for  love  of 
the  nymph  Pasithea.  Ovid  makes  him  dwell  in  a  cavern 
among  the  Scythians  or  Cimmerians  ;  Statins  in  ^Ethiopia. 

SONA'TA.  (It.  sonare,  to  sound.)  In  Music,  a  compo- 
sition executed  wholly  by  instruments.  It  is  generally  a 
free  composition  for  exhibiting  the  composer's  powers  with- 
out confining  him  within  the  rigid  rules  of  counterpoint, 
or  measure. 

SO'NNET.  (It.  sonetto.)  In  Poetry,  a  short  composi- 
tion of  fourteen  or  fifteen  lines,  deca  or  endecasyllabic, 
rhymed  according  to  an  intricate  but  not  always  precisely 
similar  arrangement.  It  is  the  oldest  form  in  which  the 
Italian  language  was  used  ;  but  was,  at  a  still  earlier  period, 
employed,  although  not  commonly,  by  the  Provencal  poets. 
In  Italy,  Dante,  and  the  Tuscan  poets  his  contemporaries, 
brought  the  sonnet  into  public  estimation,  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  14th  century ;  but  by  them  it  was  invariably 
employed  as  the  vehicle  of  thoughts  wrapped  in  very  ob- 
scure language,  and  probably  of  a  symbolical  nature,  though 
generally,  in  their  outward  signification,  breathing  the  spirit 
of  romantic  and  chivalrous  love.  By  Petrarch,  in  the 
course  of  the  same  century,  the  sonnet  was  carried  to  per- 
fection in  point  of  form  and  polish ;  although  applied  by 
him,  as  it  had  been  by  his  predecessors,  almost  exclusively 
to  the  subject  of  his  figurative  and  mystical  passion.  Since 
the  time  of  Petrarch  the  sonnet  has  been  a  favourite  form 
of  composition  in  Italy,  especially  for  the  purposes  of  occa- 
sional poetry.  In  France  it  has  had  little  success ;  or  rather 
the  French  sonnet  is  a  different  poem,  less  regular  in  its 
construction  than  the  Italian.  In  Germany  and  England 
the  comparative  poverty  in  rhymes  of  their  respective  lan- 
guages has  rendered  it  unusual  ;  but  Milton  has  given  to  it 
a  dignity  peculiarly  his  own,  together  with  much  of  the 
melody  and  tenderness  which  characterize  his  Italian  mod- 
els. The  proper  sonnet  is  divided  into  two  quatrains,  with 
four  lines  and  two  rhymes  each,  and  two  terzines,  each 
with  three  lines  and  a  single  rhyme.  Pieces  of  a  similar 
metrical  structure  in  octo-syllabic  lines  are  termed  by  the 
Italians  Anacreontic  sonnets.  It  is  sometimes  said  that 
there  is  "  hardly  an  educated  Italian  who  has  not  composed 
a  sonnet." 

SO'PHIST.  (Gr.  cofiarrn  ;  from  co(po;,  wise.)  A  Greek 
word,  originally  signifying  a  person  of  talent  and  accom- 
plishments. It  was  afterwards  restricted  to  a  bad  sense, 
and  applied  to  a  class  of  men  who  arose  in  Greece  in  the 
fifth  century  B.C.,  and  taught  the  youth  in  the  principal 
cities  various  arts  and  acquirements  for  hire.    It  has  hence 


SORCERER. 

come  to  be  the  general  designation  of  all  such  as  cultivate 
any  branch  of  science  or  philosophy  with  a  view  to  outward 
advantages,  careless  of  the  truth  of  what  they  advance,  ex- 
cept in  so  far  as  it  may  contribute  to  those  purposes.  The 
first  Greek  who  assumed  the  name  of  Sophist  was  Protag- 
oras, a  native  of  Abdera,  who  flourished  about  the  year 
440  B.C.,  and  obtained  numerous  pupils  and  auditors,  espe- 
cially in  Athens.  Of  those  who  followed  the  same  occu- 
pation the  most  celebrated  were  Hippias  of  Elis,  Gorgias 
of  Leontium,  Prodicus  of  Ceos,  and  Euthydemus  of  Chios, 
with  his  brother  Dionysiodorus.  None  of  the  writings  of 
these  men  have  survived ;  but  we  have  abundant  notices 
in  the  writings  of  their  contemporaries,  especially  Plato, 
Xenophon,  and  Aristophanes  of  the  nature  and  tendency 
of  the  doctrines  and  principles  which  they  communicated 
to  the  youth  of  Greece.  Of  the  truth  of  these  accounts 
the  Grecian  history  of  the  latter  part  of  the  fifth  century 
furnishes  us  with  a  melancholy  testimony.  It  is,  indeed,  to 
the  changes  which  had  begun  to  take  place  in  the  internal 
and  external  relations  of  the  Greek  states,  that  the  preva- 
lence and  success  of  the  Sophists  are  mainly  to  be  attribu- 
ted. The  changes  in  the  distribution  of  property  which 
these  revolutions  rendered  necessary  excited  the  passions 
and  gave  scope  to  the  energies  of  the  young  and  enterprising ; 
at  the  same  time  that  the  political  alterations  tended  to 
shake  men's  confidence  in  those  moral  principles  which, 
among  the  Greeks,  were  intimately  bound  up  with  their  civil 
institutions.  We  accordingly  find  the  leading  feature  of  the 
sophistic  doctrine  to  be  a  dislike  to  everything  fixed  and  ne- 
cessary, in  ethics  as  well  as  philosophy.  Prescription  was 
represented  as  the  sole  source  of  moral  distinctions,  which 
must  consequently  vary  with  the  character  and  institutions 
of  the  people.  The  useful  was  held  to  he  the  only  mark  by 
which  one  opinion  could  be  distinguished  from  another.  An 
absolute  standard  of  truth  is  as  absurd  a  notion  in  specula- 
tion as  an  absolute  standard  of  morals  in  practice;  that 
only  is  true  which  seems  so  to  the  individual,  and  just  aa 
long  as  it  so  seems.  "  Man  is  the  measure  of  all  things." 
These  and  similar  doctrines  they  maintained  with  great 
subtlety  and  acuteness,  and  found  numerous  disciples  among 
those  who  were  well  prepared  for  the  admission  of  tenets 
which  swept  away  at  once  all  the  remnants  of  those  prej- 
udices which  might  still  interpose  a  barrier  between  their 
passions  and  their  gratification.  Considered  as  a  link  in  the 
chain  of  philosophical  development,  the  Sophists  were 
doubtless  the  involuntary  cause  of  the  greater  depth  and 
soundness  of  the  subsequent  Grecian  philosophy.  The  suc- 
cess which  they  had  found  in  demolishing  the  systems  of 
their  predecessors  proved  the  necessity  of  laying  the  foun- 
dations of  human  knowledge  deeper  than  heretofore  had 
been  done  ;  and  it  is  thus  to  the  Sophists  that  we  may  at- 
tribute the  more  critical  and  cautious  spirit  which  distin- 
guishes the  doctrines  of  Plato  and  Aristotle  from  those  of 
Heraclitus  or  Parmenides.  (See  Ritter,  Hist,  of  Ancient 
Philosophy,  book  vi.  ;  Mem.  de  VAc.  des  Ivscr.,  vol.  xiii., 
xxxii.  ;  Ed.  Review,  vol.  xxxiv.) 

SOPORI'FICS.  (Lat.  sopor,  sleep.)  Medicines  which 
induce  sleep. 

SO'PRA.  (It.  above.)  In  Music,  a  term  frequently  used 
for  description  ;  as  nclla  parte  di  sopra,  in  the  higher  or  up- 
per part ;  di  sopra,  above ;  contrapunto  sopra  il  soggetto, 
counterpoint  above  the  subject,  &c. 

SOPRA'NO.  (It.  sopra  )  The  upper  or  treble  part  in 
composition. 

SO'RBIC  ACID.  The  acid  of  the  berries  of  the  Sorbus  na- 
cuparia,  or  mountain  ash.     It  is  identical  with  the  malic  acid. 

SORBO'NNE.  A  college  at  Paris  for  the  study  of  the- 
ology ;  so  called  from  the  village  of  Sorbonne,  in  Cham- 
pagne, where  its  founder,  a  priest  named  Robert,  was  bora 
about  the  beginning  of  the  13th  century.  He  made  a  pro- 
vision for  the  instruction  of  sixteen  poor  clerks  in  theology; 
and  his  college  is  said  to  be  the  first  example  of  what  was 
afterwards  the  common  character  of  all  the  English  col- 
leges, the  institution  of  a  ca:nobium  for  regular  clergy.  The 
college  of  the  Sorbonne  was  adorned  with  various  new  ed- 
ifices and  enriched  with  a  library  by  Cardinal  Richelieu,  in 
1629.  His  monument  in  the  church  is  considered  a  chef- 
d'oeuvre  of  French  nil.  (See  Mosheim,  Keel.  Hist.,  vol. 
iii.,  transl.  1790,  p.  53,  &x.)  This  great  college  of  theology 
exercised  a  high  influence  in  ecclesiastical  affairs,  and  on 
the  public  mind,  especially  in  the  16th  and  17th  centuries; 
insomuch  that  the  sceptical  wits  of  the  18th  usually  employ 
the  name  as  synonymous  with  the  spirit  of  bigotry  itself. 
Its  proverbial  celebrity  for  acuteness  in  theological  disqui- 
sition is  attested  by  the  lines  of  our  own  Butler  .- 


SO'RCERER.  (Lat.  sortitor,  from  sors,  a  lot ;  whence 
sorcery.)  Properly  one  who  practices  sortilege,  or  divina- 
tion by  lot  (which  see) ;  but,  in  the  ordinary  language  of 
the  middle  ages,  one  exercising  magical  powers  (see  Ma- 

1139 


SORDINI. 

Gir'.  especially  by  the  aid  of  evil  spirits.  The  sorcerer  of 
the  middle  ages  was,  generally  speaking,  a  personage  of 
distinction,  while  the  witch  was  degraded  and  loathsome. 
The  species  of  sorcery  which  is  Btlll  practised  in  the  East, 
especially  In  Egypt,  by  means  of  the  magic  mirror,  has  re- 
cently attracted  much  attention.  The  most  complete  ac- 
count of  it  will  be  found  In  Lam's  .Modern  Egypt. 

SORDINI.    In  Music.    See  Con  Sordini. 

SOKE'DIA.  In  Botany,  heaps  of  powdery  bodies  found 
in  lichens  lying  upon  any  part  of  the  surface  of  the  thallus. 

SO'REX.  (Lat.  sorex,  a  field-mouse.)  A  Linnsan  genus 
of  the  order  Htstiir,  now  forming  an  extensive  tribe  of 
Insectivorous  Perinea  (Camassiera)  in  the  system  of  Cu- 
vier,  and  subdivided  into  different  genera.  The  original  ge- 
neric term  is  confined  to  the  shrews  or  shrewmice,  Which 
are  the  type  of  the  family  (Soricidce),  and  are  character- 
ized by  having  the  two  superior  middle  incisors  curved  and 
indented  at  the  base,  the  two  inferior  incisors  prolonged  and 
procumbent.  Behind  the  upper  pair  of  incisors  there  are 
live  little  conical  teeth  on  each  side,  and  two  similar  teeth 
behind  the  lower  pair  of  incisors :  the  molars,  which  are 
beset  with  sharp  cusps,  are  four  on  each  side  above,  and 
three  below.  The  true  shrews  are  farther  characterized  by 
lateral,  and  sometimes  anal  and  femoral  scent-glands.  The 
principal  genera,  now  distinct,  which  would  have  ranked 
with  the  Linnaan  Sorex,  are  Myogalea,  Condyhira,  Tupaia, 
Gymnura,  Macroscelis,  Cladobates,  Solenodon,  Crossopus, 
Crocidura.  Of  these  Gymnura  belongs  rather  to  the  fam- 
ily of  hedgehogs,  and  Condylura  to  that  of  the  moles. 

SORI.  (Gr.  otopoi,  a  heap.)  The  small  heaps  of  repro- 
ductive granules  found  growing  upon  the  fronds  of  Polypo- 
diaceous  ferns. 

SORITES.  (Gr.  aupog,  a  heap.)  In  Logic,  an  abridged 
form  of  stating  a  series  of  syllogisms,  of  which  the  conclu- 
sion of  each  is  a  premiss  of  the  succeeding  one ;  e.  g., 
A  =  B,  B  =  C,  C  =  D  ;  therefore  A  =  D.  This  is  a  sorites, 
consisting  of  two  distinct  syllogisms,  which,  drawn  out  at 
length,  would  stand  thus:  A  =  B,B=:C;  therefore  A  =  C  • 
and  A  =  C,  C  =  D ;  therefore  A  =  D. 

SO'RREL,  SALT  OF.     Binoxalate  of  potash. 

SORTES  Ho.ME'RICjE,  VIRGILIANiE,  SANCTO- 
RUM,  &c.  A  species  of  sortilege  or  divination  was  prac- 
tised in  antiquity  by  opening  at  random  a  favourite  au- 
thor, and  applying  the  first  passage  which  met  the  eye  to 
the  circumstances  of  the  inquirer  as  an  oracular  answer  : 
termed  by  the  Greeks  oroixno/iairrta.  They  chiefly  used 
Homer  for  this  purpose.  Thus  Socrates,  when  in  prison, 
hearing  the  line  of  Homer  repeated, 

>;/x<m  »tv  Tpiraiu),  $8tnv  ept6o>\ov  tKOtprjv, 

interpreted  it  to  foretell  his  own  death  within  three  days, 
by  a  play  on  the  word  Phthia.  Among  the  Romans,  Virgil 
was  chiefly  consulted,  and  many  celebrated  instances  are 
preserved.  Adrian,  when  desirous  to  know  on  what  terms 
he  stood  with  his  patron,  the  emperor  Trajan,  consulting 
the  JEneid,  opened  at  the  verses  respecting  Numa,  "  Nosco 
crines  incanaque  menta  Regis  Romani,"  &c.  ;  and  thence 
drew  the  augury  of  his  future  elevation  to  the  empire. 
Alexander  Severus,  according  to  Lampridius,  obtained  a 
similar  presage  from  the  lines  "  Excudant  alii  spirantia  mot- 
ion Bera,"  &.c.  The  anecdote  of  the  ominous  passages  dis- 
covered by  Charles  I.  and  Lord  Faulkland,  when  opening 
Virgil  in  the  public  library  at  Oxford,  is  well  known  (see 
WetwoocTs  Memoirs  .  In  Christian  times,  the  Sortes  Sanc- 
torum came  in  fashion.  They  were  obtained  by  consulting 
the  inspired  writings  in  the  manner  before  described  :  some- 
times, also,  the  inquirer  went  into  a  church  while  service 
WU  performing,  and  drew  a  prognostic  from  the  first  words 
he  heard.  In  this  way,  St.  Anthony  was  directed  to  adopt 
a  life  of  solitary  devotion.  These  practices  became  the  oc- 
ca.-ioti  of  much  superstition.  They  are  condemned  by  St. 
Augustine  in  his  Epistle  to  Januarius  ;  but  are  nevertheless 
continually  mentioned,  with  evident  Credulity  and  approba- 
tion, by  early  ecclesiastical  writers.  Gregory  of  Tours, 
anions  other  similar  stories,  has  one  of  the  French  prince 
HeroveUS,  which  shows  the  ceremonious  manner  in  which 
they  were  sometimes  performed.  That  prince  having  fled 
to  the  Basilica  of  St  Martin,  placed  separately  on  the  saint's 
tomb  the  Psalms,  the  hook  of  Kings,  and  the  Gospels,  and. 
Spending  three  days  and  nights  at  the  tomb  in  fasting  and 
devotions,  on  the  fourth  day  be  Opened  these  sacred  hooks  ; 
from  each  of  which  he  drew  a  discouraging  prediction. 
Elections  to  the  episcopal  offices,  and  other  solemn  pro 
ccedings,  seem  to  have  been  sometimes  decided  in  the  same 
m  inner  in  the  dark  ages.  And  after  this  abuse  had  ceased, 
it  was  long  a  common  practice,  on  the  consecration  of  a 
bishop,  after  the  hook  of  the  Gospels  had  been  laid  on  his 
head,  to  consider  the  first  verse  which  offered  itself  as  a 
prognostic  of  his  hehaviour  and  the  fortunes  of  his  episco 
pacy.  Thus  the  death  of  \lhert,  bishop  of  I, lege,  was  inti- 
mated by  the  ominous  occurrence  of  the  passage  resect- 
ing the  execution  of  John  the  Baptist;  and  that  prelate  was 
1140  r 


SOUND. 

accordingly  put  to  death  by  Henry  VI.  The  Sortes  Sanc- 
torum had  been,  however,  forbidden  by  the  council  of  Vali- 
nes in  the  5th  century,  and  that  anathema  was  repeated  on 
many  later  occasions,  in  which  the  consulting  of  the  scrip- 
tures  is  classed  with  other  profane  and  magical  modes  of 
divination.  There  is  an  essay  on  Sortes  in  the  Mem.  de 
l\ic.  des  fnscr.,  vol.  xix.     See  Stichomancy. 

SORTIE,  or  SALLY.  In  Military  language,  a  term  bor- 
rowed from  the  French  to  signify  a  sudden  attack  made  by 
the  inhabitants  of  a  besieged  city  upon  the  besiegers. 

SO'RTILEGE.  (Lat.  sors,  lot;  lego,  I  collect.)  Divina- 
tion by  lots.  A  very'  ancient  mode  of  exploring  future 
events,  and  which  has  been  supposed  by  superstitious  per- 
sons in  modern  times  Co  derive  countenance  from  various 
incidents  in  sacred  history,  especially  the  choice  of  St.  Mat- 
thias by  lot  to  the  place  of  an  apostle  (Acts,  i.,  26).  Tho 
different  modes  in  which  sortilege  has  been  practised  will 
be  found  detailed  under  that  word,  in  a  learned  article  in 
the  F.nc i/.  Mctropo/itana  ;  and  see  Sortus. 

SOSPl'RO.  (It.  a  sigh.)  In  Music,  the  same  as  Rest, 
which  see. 

SOSTEN'UTO.  (It.  sustained.)  In  Music, a  term  which, 
affixed  to  a  note,  indicates  that  it  is  to  be  held  out  in  an 
equal  and  steady  manner. 

SOTHIC  YEAR.  In  Chronology-,  the  Egyptian  year  of 
365  days  (said  to  have  been  introduced  into  Greece  by  Or- 
pheus) was  so  called  from  Sothis,  the  Dog  stir,  at  whose 
heliacal  rising  it  was  supposed  to  commence.  (Bryant's 
Ancient  Mythology,  vol.  iv.) 

SO'TTO.  (It.  below.)  In  Music,  a  term  freqnently  used 
for  description ;  as  sotto  il  soggetto,  below  the  subject ;  nel- 
la  parte  di  sotto,  in  a  lower  part. 

SOUND.  (Fr.  son.)  The  sensation  produced  by  the  vi- 
brations of  the  air  or  other  medium  with  which  trie  organ 
of  hearing  is  in  contact.  The  doctrine  of  sound  is  usually 
treated  under  the  head  of  acoustics  ;  a  branch  of  physics' 
which  has  for  its  object  the  determination  of  the  laws  by 
which  the  peculiar  motions  which  give  rise  to  the  sensation 
of  sound  are  produced  in  bodies  and  conveyed  to  our  ears, 
and  the  manner  in  which  they  act  on  those  organs  ;  in  oth- 
er words,  to  explain  the  origin,  propagation,  and  perception 
of  sound. 

Although,  strictly  speaking,  sound  is  only  a  sensation  ex- 
cited in  the  auditory  organ,  yet,  in  treating  of  the  subject, 
it  is  usual  to  transfer  the  name  from  the  sensation  to  the 
motion  which  gives  rise  to  it.  We  shall  therefore  speak  of 
sound  as  if  it  proceeded  from  the  sounding  body;  and 
speak  of  a  body  as  sounding  when  its  particles  are  in  that 
state  of  vibration  which  is  requisite  for  making  an  impres- 
sion on  the  ear,  either  immediately  or  through  the  medium 
of  some  other  elastic  substance. 

Phenomena  of  Sound. — In  order  that  a  1/ody  may  produce 
sound,  it  is  necessary  that  its  particles  be  in  a  state  of  rapid 
vibration  ;  and  in  order  that  these  vibrations  may  be  com- 
municated to  the  auditory  organ,  it  is  necessary  that  air  or 
some  elastic  medium  be  interposed  between  the  vibrating 
body  and  the  ear.  Hauksbee,  having  suspended  a  bell  un- 
der the  receiver  of  an  air-pump,  found  the  sound  become 
feebler  in  proportion  as  the  air  was  removed,  and  again  be- 
come stronger  as  the  air  was  readmitted  ;  and  also  that 
when  the  bell  was  suspended  in  a  vessel  full  of  air,  and 
placed  under  the  receiver,  no  sound  was  transmitted  when 
the  air  between  the  vessel  and  the  receiver  was  exhausted. 
This  experiment  has  been  repeated  by  Biot,  with  a  more  per- 
fect apparatus,  and  with  every  attention  to  the  circumstan- 
ces by  which  it  is  influenced;  and  it  was  found  that  when 
the  exhaustion  was  complete  no  sound  was  perceptible, 
even  when  the  ear  was  brought  close  to  the  receiver.  Ilence 
it  appears  that  sound  cannot  he  communicated  through  a 
perfectly  void  space.  But  although  air  is  the  medium 
through  which  sound  is  usually  communicated,  this  only 
happens  because  it  is  the  medium  with  which  the  car  is 
usually  in  contact:  and  many  other  media  are  found  by  ex- 
periment to  perform  the  office  even  more  perfectly.  Frank- 
lin having  plunged  his  head  under  water,  caused  a  per- 
son to  strike  two  stones  together  beneath  the  surface,  and 
at  more  than  half  a  mile  distance  heard  the  blows  distinct- 
ly. Colladon  by  plunging  a  few  feet  into  the  water  a  thin 
tin  cylinder,  closed  at  the  lower  end,  but  having  the  upper 
open  to  the  air,  was  enabled  to  hear  the  Bound  of  a  bell 
Struck  under  water  at  the  distance  of  2000,  6000,  and  even 
12,000  metres  (about  0  miles)  ;  namely,  across  the  whole 
breadth  of  the  Lake  of  Geneva,  from  Rolle  to  Thonon. 
The  conducting  power  of  wood  along  the  fihres  is  very  re- 
markable. Let  a  person  hung  his  ear  close  to  the  end  of  a 
Ordeal,  however  long,  and  he  will  distinctly  hear  the  slight- 
est scratch  made  with  the  point  of  a  pin  at  the  other  end, 
although  the  sound  may  be  so  feeble  as  to  be  inaudible  to 
the  person  who  makes  it.  Miners  at  work  in  one  shaft  oft- 
en hear  the  sound  of  the  pickaxe  in  another  through  the 
solid  rock  :  and  in  general  all  solids  tolerably  compact  are 
good  conductors  of  sound. 


SOUND. 


Sounds  are  propagated  to  great  distances  and  with  re- 
markable distinctness  over  a  surface  of  water,  or  ice,  or  fro- 
zen snow.  In  the  account  of  Parry's  third  polar  expedi- 
tion, it  is  stated  that  two  persons  could  hold  a  conversation 
across  the  harbour  of  Port  Bowen,  a  distance  of  6696  feet, 
or  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter.  Instances  are  also  recorded 
of  sounds  propagated  to  almost  incredible  distances  over 
land.  Derham  relates  the  following :  Guns  fired  at  Carl- 
scroom  were  heard  across  the  southern  extremity  of  Swe- 
den, as  far  as  Denmark,  a  distance  of  120  miles.  Dr.  Hearn, 
a  Swedish  physician,  relates  that  he  heard  guns  fired  at 
Stockholm  at  the  distance  of  30  Swedish  or  180  English 
miles:  the  cannonade  of  a  sea-fight  between  the  English 
and  Dutch,  in  1672,  was  heard  across  England  as  far  as 
Shrewsbury,  and  even  in  Wales,  a  distance  of  upwards  of 
200  miles  from  the  scene  of  action. 

The  diminution  of  the  intensity  of  sound  in  rarefied  air 
Is  rendered  manifest  not  only  by  experiments  with  the  air- 
pump,  but  also  by  the  phenomena  observed  at  great  alti- 
tudes in  the  atmosphere.  Saussure  relates,  that  at  the 
summit  of  Mont  Blanc  the  report  of  a  pistol  was  not  loud- 
er than  that  of  a  small  cracker  in  the  plain  below ;  and  Gay 
Lussac,  having  ascended  in  a  balloon  to  an  altitude  of  near- 
ly 23,000  feet,  far  above  the  clouds  and  away  from  all  solid 
substances,  observed  the  intensity  of  the  sound  of  his  voice 
to  be  greatly  enfeebled. 

It  is  matter  of  familiar  observation  that  sounds  are  not 
propagated  through  the  air  instantaneously,  but  occupy  a 
sensible  portion  of  time  in  passing  from  one  station  to  an- 
other, greater  in  proportion  as  the  stations  are  more  remote. 
The  blow  of  a  hammer  on  an  anvil  is  not  heard  by  an  ob- 
server at  some  distance,  until  a  sensible  time  has  elapsed 
after  the  hammer  has  been  seen  to  descend  ;  and  the  flash 
of  a  gun  fired  a  mile  oft"  is  seen  several  seconds  before  the 
report  is  heard.  But  all  sounds,  whatever  be  their  loudness 
or  pitch,  are  propagated  with  the  same  velocity  through  the 
same  medium.  In  listening  to  the  music  of  a  concert,  the 
sounds  follow  each  other  in  the  same  order  and  at  the  same 
intervals  ;  and  the  same  measure  and  harmony  are  per- 
ceived, at  whatever  distance  the  hearer  may  be  from  the 
orchestra.  Biot  caused  several  airs  to  be  played  on  a  flute 
at  the  end  of  a  pipe  3120  feet  long,  which  were  distinctly 
heard  at  the  other  end  without  the  slightest  derangement 
in  the  order  or  intervals  of  sequence  of  the  notes.  This 
could  not  have  been  the  case  if  there  had  been  the  small- 
est difference  in  the  velocity  of  their  propagation. 

Numerous  experiments  have  been  made  for  the  purpose 
of  determinins  the  actual  velocity  of  sound  through  the  at- 
mosphere. The  usual  mode  of  making  the  experiment  is 
to  observe  the  interval  between  the  flash  and  the  report  of 
a  cannon  fired  at  a  known  distance.  In  this  manner  the 
Florentine  academicians,  in  1660,  found  the  velocity  to  be 
1148  English  feet  per  second.  These  experiments  were  re- 
peated in  France  in  1698,  by  Cassini,  Huygens,  Picard.  and 
Roemer,  who  found  1172  feet;  and  Flamsteed  and  Halley 
at  the  royal  observatory'  of  Greenwich,  from  experiments 
made  at  the  distance  of  3  miles,  found  the  velocity  to  be 
1142  feet  per  second.  This  result  was  confirmed  by  Der- 
ham (Phil.  Trans.,  1708),  who  found  the  same  velocity  by 
a  mean  of  observations  made  at  more  remote  distances.  In 
1737,  the  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Paris  directed  farther  ex- 
periments to  be  made  by  Cassini  de  Thury,  Maraldi,  and  La- 
caille  ;  and  on  this  occasion  the  experiments  were  for  the 
first  time  made  so  as  to  eliminate  the  effect  of  the  wind  by  re- 
ciprocal observations ;  that  is  to  say,  by  firing  cannon  at  both 
ends  of  the  line,  either  simultaneously  or  at  short  intervals. 
They  also  appear  to  have  been  the  first  who  observed  and  re- 
corded the  temperature  of  the  air  at  the  time  of  the  exper- 
iment ;  a  very  essential  element,  as  will  presently  be  seen. 
The  result  at  which  they  arrived  gave  the  velocity  equal  to 
1106  English  feet  per  second,  at  a  temperature  between  4° 
and  6°  of  Reaumur,  or  between  41°  and  44A°  of  Fahren- 
heit. When  the  proper  reduction  is  made  for  temperature, 
this  agrees  very  nearly  with  the  best  modern  observations. 

Various  other  experiments  were  made  in  different  coun- 
tries in  the  course  of  the  last  century  (viz.  by  Bianconi  in 
Italy,  in  1740;  by  Condamine  at  Quito  and  Cayenne,  in 
1740  and  1744  ;  by  Mayer  in  1778,  and  Muller  iri  1791,  in 
Germany ;  by  Espinosa  and  Bauza  in  1794,  at  Chili) ;  but 
as  the  observers  had  not  the  means  of  determining  minute 
intervals  of  time  with  the  precision  which  has  been  attain- 
ed in  more  recent  experiments,  and  besides  neglected  some 
circumstances  which  influence  the  result,  it  is  unnecessary 
to  state  the  details. 

Since  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  the  velocity 
of  sound  has  been  measured  in  various  countries ;  in  Ger- 
many, by  Benzenberg  at  Dusseldorf  in  1809,  and  by  Myr- 
bach  and  Stamfer,  at  Saltzburg  in  1822;  in  France,  by  di- 
rections of  the  Bureau  des  Longitudes,  in  1822;  in  Holland, 
by  Moll,  Vanbeek,  and  Kuytenbrewer,  in  1823 ;  in  England, 
by  Dr.  O.  Gregory  at  Woolwich,  in  1824 ;  in  the  East  Indies, 
by  Mr.  Goldiugham,  in  1821 ;  and  at  Port  Bowen,  in  the 
96 


polar  regions,  by  Parry  and  Foster,  in  1825.  The  results  of 
these  measurements,  when  reduced  to  the  same  tempera- 
ture, agree  very  nearly  with  one  another ;  but  the  experi- 
ments made  in  France  and  Holland  are  by  far  the  most 
circumstantial  and  satisfactory.  In  the  French  experiments, 
two  stations  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Paris  were  chosen, 
Villejuif  and  Montlehery  ;  and  the  signals  were  made  by 
firing  a  gun  from  each  station  alternately,  at  an  interval  of 
five  minutes.  The  observers  at  Villejuif  were  Prony,  Ara- 
go,  and  Mathieu;  and  at  Montlehery,  Humboldt,  Gay  Lus- 
sac, and  Bouvard.  The  observations  commenced  at  11 
o'clock  on  the  nights  of  the  21st  and  23d  of  June,  and  were 
continued  on  both  nights  during  two  hours ;  but  in  many 
instances  the  reports  were  not  heard,  at  least  by  all  the  ob- 
servers. The  intervals  between  the  flashes  and  reports  were 
observed  by  means  of  stop  watches  of  a  peculiar  construc- 
tion, which  permitted  the  seconds  to  be  divided  and  noted. 
The  mean  of  all  the  observations  gave  54-6  seconds  for  the 
time  which  sound  took  to  travel  from  the  one  station  to  the 
other.  The  distance  between  the  stations  was  afterwards 
determined  by  Arago,  and  found  to  be  95496  toises  (11J 
miles) ;  whence  the  velocity  is  1749  toises,  or  340'88  metres  in 
a  second.  But  this  is  the  velocity  belonging  to  the  mean 
temperature,  which  was  16°  centigrade  (613  Fahrenheit), 
and  corresponds  to  a  velocity  of  331*12  metres  (1086'1  En- 
glish feet),  at  the  temperature  of  freezing  water.  The  de- 
tails of  these  experiments  are  given  in  the  Connaissance  des 
Temps  for  1825. 

In  the  Dutch  experiments,  a  clock  with  a  conical  pendu- 
lum was  used,  which  gave  the  means  of  determining  the 
time  to  the  hundredth  of  a  second  by  suddenly  arresting  the 
motion  of  the  index  without  stopping  the  clock.  As  in  the 
French  experiments,  guns  were  fired  from  each  extremity  of 
the  line  ;  but  instead  of  being  fired  alternately,  they  were  in 
the  present  case  fired  simultaneously,  so  that  any  error  that 
might  be  feared  from  a  variation  in  the  state  of  the  atmo- 
sphere or  the  wind  %vas  entirely  eliminated.  The  state  of 
the  hygrometer  was  also  observed.  The  interval  between 
the  stations  was  57839  feet  (nearly  11  miles) ;  and  the  mean 
of  all  the  experiments  reduced  to  the  freezing  temperature, 
and  for  dry  air,  gave  for  the  velocity  of  sound  1089-42  feet 
in  a  second.  The  details  are  given  in  the  Phil.  Trans,  for 
1824. 

Dr.  Gregory's  observations  are  given  in  the  Transactions 
of  the  Cambridge  Phil.  Soc.  for  1824.  The  signals  were  not 
reciprocal ;  but  the  velocity  of  the  wind  was  measured  by 
an  anemometer,  and  allowed  for.  The  distances  were  also 
very  much  smaller  (varying  from  2700  to  13460  feet) ;  ne- 
vertheless the  results  agree  very  well  with  those  above 
mentioned.  Mr.  Goldingham's  experiments  at  Madras  are 
much  less  certain  ;  his  method  consisted  in  taking  a  mean 
of  the  velocities  observed  daily  in  calm  weather,  during  a 
long  time,  by  the  firing  of  the  morning  and  evening  guns  at 
two  stations  visible  from  Madras,  and  a  mean  of  all  the  ob- 
served temperatures  for  the  reduction.  (Phil.  Trans,  for 
1823.)  Benzenberg's  experiments  are  given  in  Gilbert's 
*1nnalen,  new  series,  v.  383  ;  and  those  of  General  Myrbach 
in  the  Jahrbuch  des  Polytek.  Instituts  zu  Jf'ien,  vol.  vii. 
The  experiments  of  Parry  and  Foster  are  given  in  detail  in 
Parry's  Journal  of  a  Third  Voyage,  S,-c.  The  mean  result 
deduced  by  Dr.  Moll  (Phil.  Trans.  1828)  gives  the  velocity 
equal  to  10352  feet  in  a  second,  at  the  temperature  of  17-7° 
Fahr.,  which  corresponds  to  1092  feet  at  32°  ;  but  the  cir- 
stances  were  unfavourable.  The  following  table  exhibits 
in  one  view  the  results  of  the  principal  experiments  now 
described.  The  numbers  are  taken  from  a  more  extended 
table  given  by  Sir  John  Herschel  in  the  Ency.  .Metropolita- 
na,  art.  "  Sound  ;"  to  which  admirable  treatise  we  refer  the 
student  for  information  on  all  points  connected  with  thia 
important  subject. 


1809 
1S21 

1822 
18:2 
1623 
1*23 


Benzenburg 

Goldinham 

Myrbach 

Arago,  Malhieu,    &c 

Moll,  Vanbeek,  &c   - 


Mean  of   Ihe    who! 


These  results  agree  remarkably  well  with  each  other, 
the  greatest  deviation  from  the  mean  being  less  than  4  feet, 
and  the  mean  of  the  whole  being  almost  identical  with  the 
determination  of  Moll  and  Vanbeek.  "  We  may,  therefore," 
says  Sir  John  Herschel,  "adopt  1090 feet  without  hesitation 
(as  a  whole  number),  as  no  doubt  within  a  yard  of  the 
truth,  and  probably  within  a  foot."  This  is  the  velocity 
with  which  sound  travels  in  dry  air,  at  the  temi>erature  of 

1141 


SOUND. 


freezing  water.  Hut  the  velocity  increases  with  the  tempera- 
ture (as  will  be  shown  presently),  at  the  rate  of  114  toot, 
very  nearly,  for  each  degree  of  Fahrenheit's  scale.  Hence 
at  the  temperature  of  62°  (the  standard  temperature  of  the 
British  metrical  system),  the  velocity  is  li-Jl',  feet  We 
may  therefore  assume  the  velocity  of  sound  at  this  standard 
temperature,  as  determined  by  the  best  experiments  to  be 
1125  feel  per  second. 

Theory  of  Sound. — It  has  already  been  stated  that  sound 
is  produced  by  the  vibrations  of  the  molecules  of  a  solid 
body  communicated  to  the  atmosphere  or  other  elastic  me- 
dium, and  conveyed  by  it  to  the  ear.  The  physical  theory 
of  sound,  therefore,  resolves  itself  into  two  parts:  1st,  the 
state  or  condition  of  the  vibrating  body;  and  2d,  the  mode 
in  which  this  mechanical  action  is  propagated  through  the 
medium  to  the  organ  of  sense. 

State  of  Sonorous  Body.— In  order  that  a  body  may  give 
OUI  sound,  its  particles  must  he  put  into  a  state  of  rapid  vi- 
bration. If  the  frequency  of  the  vibration  is  under  a  cer- 
tain limit,  no  sound  will  be  produced ;  above  that  limiting 
velocity  of  vibration,  sound  is  produced;  and  experience 
shows  that  the  quality  of  the  sound  becomes  more  and 
more  acute  as  the  vibrations  are  more  rapid,  until  a  second 
limit  of  velocity  is  attained,  beyond  which  the  human  ear  is 
affected  With  no  sensation  of  sound.  To  prove  this  experi- 
mentally,  let  a  thin  plate  of  tempered  steel  have  one  of  its 
ends  firmly  lived  in  a  vice,  and  let  the  other  end  be  drawn 
a  little  aside  from  the  position  of  rest.  As  soon  as  the  force 
by  w  bich  the  plate  is  bent  is  removed,  the  plate  commences 
a  series  of  vibrations,  which  become  smaller  and  smaller 
until  the  position  of  rest  is  again  attained.  But  the  vibra- 
tions are  all  performed  in  equal  times;  and  if  sufficient 
length  is  given  to  the  plate,  they  take  place  so  slowly  as  to 
admit  of  being  accurately  counted.  On  shortening  the  plate, 
they  become  more  rapid ;  and  long  before  they  attain  that 
degree  of  rapidity  which  is  necessary  for  the  productien  of 
sound,  it  becomes  impossible  to  count  them  directly ;  hut  it 
is  demonstrable  that  when  a  plate  of  metal,  of  equal  thick- 
ness throughout,  is  made  to  vibrate  in  the  manner  now  sup- 
posed, the  time  of  a  vibration  is  directly  proportional  to  the 
square  of  the  length  of  the  plate,  and  consequently  the 
number  of  vibrations  in  a  given  time  is  inversely  as  this 
square  :  SO  that  if  the  number  in  a  second  corresponding  to 
any  length  of  the  plate  lias  been  counted,  the  number  cor- 
responding  to  any  other  given  length  can  be  readily  compu- 
ted. In  this  manner  it  has  been  found  that  a  metallic  plate 
begins  to  sound  when  the  number  of  vibrations  in  a  second 
is  32;  and  at  this  velocity  of  vibration,  the  sound  which  it 
gives  is  of  the  same  pitch  as  that  of  an  organ  pipe  32  feet 
in  length,  open  at  both  ends.  (By  vibration,  we  here 
understand  the  passage  of  the  plate  from  the  extreme 
excursion  on  one  side  of  the  position  of  rest  to  the  op- 
posite, and  not  the  going  and  returning,  or  complete  vibra- 
tion.) 

This  appears  to  be  the  minimum  velocity  of  vibration  ca- 
pable of  producing  sound.  The  other  limit,  or  maximum 
velocity  at  which  sound  ceases  to  be  appreciable,  is  not  so 
easily  determined.  Until  recently  it  has  been  usual  to  fix  it 
at  8200  vibrations  in  a  second  ;  but  M.  Savart  has  discover- 
ed that  by  increasing  the  amplitude  of  the  vibrations,  acute 
sounds  may  be  distinguished  at  a  velocity  of  24,000  vibra- 
tions in  a  second  ;  and  it  is  possible  that  the  limit  may  still 
be  considerably  above  this  number.  By  means  of  an  inge- 
nious apparatus,  Savart  has  succeeded  in  determining  the 
number  of  vibrations  producing  a  sound  of  any  given  pitch 
with  great  exactness. 

Several  other  means  exist  of  determining  the  absolute 
number  of  vibrations  in  a  given  time,  corresponding  to  diller- 
ent  musical  sounds  ;  of  w  hich  one  of  the  most  certain,  and 
most  frequently  bad  recourse  to.  depends  on  the  mathema- 
tical relation  subsisting  between  the  time  of  vibration,  the 
length  of  the  cord,  and  the  tension  of  vibrating  cords.  Let 
n  denote  the  number  of  vibrations  in  a  second,  g  the  accel- 
erating force  of  gravity  (32  feet  in  a  second),  I  the  length  of 
the  eonl.  ir  Us  weight,  '  its  ten-ion  (or  the  weight  by  which 
it  is  stretched)  ;  then  a  formula  equivalent  to  the  following 
was  demonstrated  by  Brook  Taylor  (Mclhodus  Incremento- 
rum,  p.  93) : 

/  S  * 
I  w 
In  this  formula  "•  is  known,  and  /,  /,  and  to  are  measurable 
quantities,  so  that  h  is  completely   determined;  but  a   more 

convenient  expression  Is  obtained  by  substltutlug  the  diame- 
ter and  density  of  the  cord  for  it  weight  Let  r  be  the  radius 
of  the  cord,  n  the  density  of  its  matter,  and  ir  the  ratio  of 
the  circumference  to  the  diameter,  or  ;r  =  3.14159;  then  w 
=zirCgrtl,  and  the  above  formula  becomes 

From  this  it  results  that  the  number  of  vibrations  in  a  se- 
cond is  proportional  directly  to  the  square  root  of  the  tension 
1142 


of  the  cord,  and  inversely  to  its  length,  to  its  thickness  or 
diameter,  and  to  the  square  root  of  its  density. 

In  the  Memoirs  of  the  Berlin  Academy  for  1822  and  1823, 
are  given  the  results  of  a  great  number  of  experiments 
made  in  this  manner  by  M.  Fischer,  for  determining  the  ve- 
locity of  vibration  corresponding  to  different  musical  sounds. 
The  rapidity  of  vibration  giving  the  diapasons  (that  is,  the 
concert  pitches)  of  various  orchestras  at  Berlin  was  found 
to  be  as  follows:  Berlin  Theatre  4:17-32,  Great  French  Op- 
era 431-36,  Feydeau 427-61,  Italian  Theatre  42417  vibrations 
per  second.  The  reach  of  the  voice  of  a  man  usually  ex- 
tends from  soli  to  fa3  in  the  musical  gamut ;  and  that  of  a 
woman  from  re3  to  la*.  Taking  the  diapason  of  tbe  Italian 
Opera  as  the  standard,  the  rapidity  of  vibration  correspond- 
ing to  these  several  notes  is  as  follows :  Soli  190-8,  fa3  678-4, 
re3  572-4,  hu  1606  vibrations  per  second.  But  the  voices  of 
some  singers  reach  much  higher  than  Ia4,  and  consequently 
the  rapidity  of  vibration  with  respect  to  them  will  be  high 
er  in  proportion. 

Some  of  the  most  acute  sounds,  or  highest  tones  which 
the  ear  can  distinguish,  are  given  by  the  wings  of  insects  ; 
and  they  correspond  to  the  astonishing  rapidity  of  12000  or 
15000  vibrations  in  a  second.  When  we  reflect  how  ex- 
tremely probable  it  is  that  the  tympanum  of  the  ear  vibrates 
in  unison  with  the  sounds  that  affect  it,  we  cannot  fail  to 
be  struck  with  admiration  of  the  wonderfully  delicate  or- 
ganization of  a  substance  which  possesses  the  power  of 
adapting  itself  to  all  velocities  of  vibration,  from  32  times 
in  a  second  up  to  24,000,  the  number  found  by  Savart  to  be 
sensible.  The  limits,  however,  at  which  very  acute  sounds 
cease  to  be  audible  appear  to  vary  considerably  in  respect 
of  different  individuals,  some  being  altogether  insensible  to 
sounds  which  painfully  affect  others.  (See  a  very  interest- 
ing paper  on  sounds  inaudible  to  certain  ears,  by  Dr.  Wol- 
laston,  in  the  Phil.  Trans,  for  1820.) 

The  mathematical  problem,  to  determine  the  vibrations 
of  a  stretched  cord,  is  one  of  very  great  difficulty.  After 
exercising  the  talents  of  Dr.  Brook  Taylor,  D'Alembert, 
Euler,  Daniel  Bernoulli,  and  others,  it  was  completely  solved 
by  Lagrange,  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Turin  Miscellanies, 
and  all  the  deductions  from  theory  are  found  to  be  confirm- 
ed by  experiment.  The  subject  of  the  vibrations  of  solids 
has  been  recently  examined  experimentally  by  M.  Savart, 
and  the  results  given  in  a  series  of  most  important  memoirs 
communicated  to  the  French  Academy  of  Sciences,  and 
printed  in  different  volumes  of  the  Annates  de  Chimic.  Sea 
Vibration. 

Propagation  of  Sound. — In  order  to  convey  an  idea  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  vibratory  motions  of  a  sonorous  body 
are  communicated  to  the  atmosphere  or  other  elastic  medi- 
um, let  us  conceive  a  tube,  T  T',  of  an  indefinite  length, 

T  C  PR  AT' 


d  q  S  B 

and  open  at  both  ends,  to  be  filled  with  air  of  a  uniform 
temperature  and  density  throughout.  Let  us  also  sup- 
pose a  piston,  P  ft,  which  closely  fits  the  tube,  and  is  move- 
able within  it  along  the  direction  of  the  axis,  to  be  propell- 
ed suddenly  from  the  position  P  ft  to  R  S  :  and  to  simplify 
the  consideration,  let  the  distance  P  R  be  supposed  one  foot, 
and  the  time  in  which  the  piston  moves  from  P  ft  to  R  S  to 
be  one  second.  Now,  assuming  the  air  within  the  tube  to 
have  been  in  a  state  of  rest  before  the  piston  began  to  move, 
let  us  consider  what  will  be  its  state  at  the  instant  when 
the  piston  arrives  at  R  S.  If  the  air  in  the  tube  were  acted 
upon  as  a  perfectly  hard  body,  any  motion  communicated  to 
the  particles  at  one  extremity  would  be  instantaneously 
conveyed  to  the  other;  and  when  the  piston  arrived  at  R  3 
a  quantity  of  air,  equal  to  that  which  was  contained  be- 
tween Pft  and  R  S,  would  be  expelled  at  T',  and  all  the 
particles  within  the  tube  would  come  to  rest  at  the  same 
lime  with  the  piston.  But  in  consequence  of  the  compres- 
sibility of  the  nir  the  motion  is  not  communicated  to  the 
distant  particles  instantaneously,  but  only  after  a  sensible 
interval  of  time ;  and  we  may  conceive  the  tube  to  be  so 
long  that  when  the  piston  has  arrived  at  It  S  no  air  has  yet 
been  propelled  from  the  tube  all".  In  fact,  the  disturbance 
or  compression  of  the  particles,  which  takes  place  at  the 
instant  the  piston  begins  to  move,  is  propagated  along  the 
tube  with  a  certain  determinate  velocity,  depending  on  the 
elasticity  of  the  air,  and  when  the  piston  reaches  R  S  will 
only  have  reached  to  a  certain  determinate  distance.  Let 
A  B  be  the  section  of  the  tube  which  the  lir-t  compression 
has  reached  at  the  instant  the  piston  comes  to  R  S  ;  then,  at 
the  instant  of  time  on  which  we  have  to  fix  our  attention, 
tbe  column  of  air  between  R  S  and  A  I!  will  be  in  a  >tato 
of  compression,  and  between  A  H  and  tbe  end  of  the  tulio 
at  T'  it  w  ill  still  remain  in  its  natural  state.  The  column 
of  air  between  RS  and  A  B,  which  is  thus  modified  by  the 


SOUND. 


stroke  of  the  piston,  is  called  a  wave  or  undulation,  and  R  A 
is  the  length  of  the  wave. 

On  attending  to  the  state  of  the  molecules  in  the  column 
R  A,  it  will  readily  be  seen  that  they  are  not  subjected  to 
the  same  degree  of  compression  through  its  whole  length. 
Conceive  the  wave  to  be  divided  into  a  very  great  number 
of  thin  layers  by  sections  parallel  to  R  S  or  A  B,  and  that 
the  piston,  in  passing  from  the  position  P  Q,  to  R  S,  has 
produced  the  effect,  not  instantaneously,  but  by  a  great 
number  of  successive  small  impulses.  At  the  instant  the 
piston  comes  to  R  S  the  disturbance  has  by  hypothesis  been 
propagated  only  to  A  B,  and  consequently  the  particles  in 
the  infinitely  thin  layer  next  to  A  B  have  suffered  only  the 
slightest  degree  of  compression,  or  that  caused  by  the  first 
impulse  of  the  piston.  In  the  second  layer  next  to  A  B  the 
molecules  of  air  are  in  a  state  of  greater  compression ;  in- 
asmuch as  they  have  sustained  not  only  the  compression 
due  to  the  first  impulse  of  the  piston,  but  also  that  which  is 
due  to  the  second,  the  effect  of  which  is  propagated  to  them  at 
the  same  instant,  at  which  the  effect  of  the  first  is  propaga- 
gated  to  A  B.  In  like  manner,  the  compression  in  the  third 
layer  preceding  A  B  is  greater  than  in  the  second  ;  and  so  on  to 
the  middle  of  tbe  wave.  If  we  now  attend  to  the  state  of  the 
molecules  at  the  other  extremity  RS  of  the  wave,  a  similar 
effect  will  be  manifest.  The  instant  after  the  piston  stops, 
the  layer  next  to  R  S  has  communicated  all  its  velocity  to 
the  one  preceding  it,  and  remains  at  rest ;  or,  at  the  moment 
of  the  arrival  of  the  piston  at  RS,  sustains  only  the  com- 
pression due  to  the  last  impulse.  The  next  layer  in  succes- 
sion sustains  the  compression  due  to  two  impulses  of  the 
piston — the  last,  and  last  but  one.  By  following  out  this 
mode  of  reasoning,  it  will  readily  appear  that  the  particles 
in  the  state  of  greatest  compression  are  those  towards  the 
middle  of  the  wave  ;  and  that  if  upon  S  B,  as  an  axis  (fig. 
2),  we  raise  a  great  num- 
ber of  perpendiculars,  a  a, 
bb,  cc,  &c,  each  propor- 
tional to  the  compression 
at  the  corresponding  point 
s  a  t>  c  B  of  the  column,  the  curve 

drawn  through  the  summits  of  these  perpendiculars  will 
represent  the  law  of  compression ;  and  hence  is  of  the 
form  represented  in  the  annexed  diagram,  the  parts  on  each 
side  of  the  middle  ordinate  bb  being  perfectly  symmetrical. 
If  we  now  attend  to  the  motions  developed  on  the  other 
side  of  the  piston,  it  will  be  easily  seen  that  similar  phe- 
nomena must  take  place  ;  but  in  a  reverse  order,  inasmucn 
as  the  air  within  the  tube  on  that  side  must  be  rarefied,  in- 
stead of  being  compressed  by  the  motion  of  the  piston  from 
f  Q.  to  R  S.  Let  C  D  (fig.  1,)  be  a  section  of  the  tube,  so 
that  the  column  C  R  is  equal  to  R  A ;  then,  as  the  velocity 
of  propagation  depends  only  on  the  nature  of  the  medium, 
it  is  obvious  that  at  the  instant  in  which  the  piston  arrives 
nt  R  S  the  disturbance  of  the  molecules  will  only  have  ex- 
tended to  C  D.  The  whole  column  between  C  D  and  R  S  will 
be  rarefied  by  the  withdrawal  of  the  piston  of  air  between  P  (i 
and  R  S ;  but  the  rarefaction  will  be  greatest  at  the  middle  of 
the  column,  for  the  very  same  reasons  that  the  condensa- 
tion is  greatest  at  the  middle  of  the  column  between  R  S 
and  A  B.    If,  therefore,  we  represent  the  rarefaction  by  neg- 

(3.) 

b 


alive  ordinates,  a'  a',  V  b',  c  c',  &c.  (fig.  3),  the  state  of 
the  column  of  air  between  A  B  and  C  D  (and  this  is  all 
which  is  modified  by  the  passage  of  the  piston  from  P  Q.  to 
R  S)  will  be  represented  by  the  double  curve  D  b'  S  b  B,  the 
small  part  between  P  Q.  and  R  S  being  neglected  as  insensi- 
ble. There  are  thus  two  distinct  waves  or  undulations 
caused  by  the  motion  of  the  piston :  the  wave  S  B  before 
the  piston  is  called  the  condensed  wave,  and  S  D  behind  the 
piston  is  called  the  rarefied  wave.  But  some  writers  on 
acoustics  consider  both  these  as  belonging  to  the  same  wave  ; 
and  therefore  understand  by  the  term  wave  the  whole  mass 
of  particles  between  C  D  and  A  B  (fig.  1),  which  have  been 
disturbed  by  the  motion  of  the  piston  from  P  O.  to  R  S. 

As  every  thin  stratum  of  air  in  the  tube,  by  reason  of  its 
elasticity,  communicates  to  the  stratum  before  it  the  im- 
pulse which  it  has  received  from  the  one  behind  it,  all  the 
particles  will  successively  be  affected  in  the  same  manner ; 
and  at  the  end  of  a  second  interval,  equal  to  that  in  which 
the  piston  has  passed  from  P  to  Q,  the  motion  will  be  com- 
municated over  another  space  equal  to  R  A,  or  the  wave 
will  have  moved  forward  its  whole  length,  retaining  al- 
ways the  same  form  ;  and,  supposing  the  piston  to  have  in 
this  second  interval  remained  at  rest  at  R  S,  all  the  parti- 
cles in  the  space  R  A  will  have  returned  to  their  original 
state  of  quiescence. 

If,  instead  of  supposing  the  piston  to  remain  at  rest  at 


R  S,  we  suppose  it  to  be  drawn  back,  in  the  second  interval 
of  time,  to  its  original  position  at  P  Q,  then  all  the  phenom- 
ena now  described  will  be  repeated  in  the  reverse  order ; 
that  is  to  say,  the  compressed  wave  will  be  to  the  left  of 
the  piston,  and  the  rarefied  wave  to  the  right ;  and  the 
state  of  the  particles  within  the  tube,  with  respect  to  their 
compression,  as  modified  by  the  advanced  and  subsequent 
retreat  of  the  piston  (the  complete  vibration),  will  be  rep- 
resented as  under  (fig.  4). 

(4-) 


We  have  now  only  to  suppose  this  forward  and  back- 
ward motion  of  the  piston  to  be  performed  with  the  same 
rapidity  as  the  vibrations  of  an  elastic  plate  or  stretched 
cord,  and  the  phenomena  now  described  will  give  an  idea 
of  the  mode  in  which  sound  is  transmitted  through  the  at- 
mosphere. 

From  this  illustration  (imperfect  as  it  is)  of  the  nature  of 
the  motions  communicated  to  the  air  by  the  vibrating  body, 
it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  particles  of  air  in  the  tube  do  not 
change  their  places  inter  se,  but  acquire  a  vibratory  mo- 
tion, backwards  and  forwards,  along  the  length  of  the  tube. 
It  is  also  obvious  that  the  vibrations  of  the  air  through 
which  sound  is  transmitted  must  be  precisely  equal  in 
number  to  those  of  the  sounding  body  ;  and  as  soon  as  the 
vibrations  cease,  those  of  the  air  cease  likewise.  But  so 
long  as  the  body  vibrates,  or  the  reciprocal  motion  of  the 
piston  is  continued  with  the  same  velocity,  a  continued 
musical  sound  will  be  heard  ;  and  this  will  be  precisely  the 
same  at  whatever  part  of  the  tube  the  ear  is  situated,  all 
the  waves  being  perfectly  similar. 

It  is  also  evident  that  sound  is  propagated  not  only  in 
straight  lines,  like  light,  but  in  every  possible  direction. 
Air  being  equally  elastic  in  all  directions,  each  point  of  a 
sonorous  wave  may  be  regarded  as  a  new  centre,  from 
which  rays  are  propagated  on  all  sides.  A  sound  heard 
from  the  opposite  side  of  a  mountain  is  not  conveyed 
through  the  mountain,  but  through  the  air  in  curved  or 
crooked  lines  along  secondary  rays. 

Sounds  differ  from  one  another  in  three  respects — pitch, 
intensity,  and  quality.  The  pitch,  or  tone,  depends  on  the 
length  of  the  wave  ;  or,  which  comes  to  the  same  thing,  on 
the  number  of  vibrations  in  a  given  time  (for  the  velocity 
being  constant,  the  length  of  the  wave  multiplied  by  the 
number  of  vibrations  in  a  given  time  is  constant).  The 
gravest  tone  which  the  ear  can  distinguish  corresponds  to  a 
wave  of  about  thirty-two  feet  in  length,  and  the  most  acute 
to  one  of  about  half  an  inch.  Two  sounds,  however  differ- 
ent in  loudness  or  quality,  are  always  in  perfect  unison 
when  the  undulations  by  which  they  are  conveyed  are  pre- 
cisely of  the  same  length.  The  intensity  or  loudness  does 
not  depend  on  the  length  of  the  wave,  but  on  the  degree  of 
compression  which  the  air  receives  ;  that  is,  on  the  violence 
of  the  impulses,  or  the  length  of  the  stroke  of  the  piston  in 
the  above  illustration.  The  quality  of  sound  (the  timbre 
of  the  French  authors)  is  less  easily  explained.  It  proba- 
bly depends  on  the  greater  or  less  abruptness  of  the  impul- 
ses, or  of  the  changes  of  velocity  and  density  of  the  strata 
of  air  between  the  two  extremities  of  the  wave. 

Theoretical  Determination  of  the  Velocity  of  Sound. — 
The  investigation  of  the  velocity  of  sound  through  the  at- 
mosphere (or  any  gaseous  medium)  is  based  upon  this  fun- 
damental proposition  of  dynamics,  viz.,  that  the  velocity  of 
the  pulses  in  an  elastic  medium  is  as  the  square  root  of  the 
elasticity,  divided  by  the  density  of  the  medium.  Let  v  =  the 
velocity,  f  =  the  elasticity,  rf=the  density  ;  and  the  propo- 
sition gives  a  =  v/(e-f-d).  Make^-=the  measure  of  grav- 
ity (386-29  inches  per  second),  ?c=:  weight  of  the  unit  of 
volume  of  air,  h  =  height  of  the  homogeneous  atmosphere 
(z.  e.,  of  a  column  of  air  of  the  same  density  throughout,  and 
whose  weight  exercises  on  the  base  a  pressure  =  «);  we 
have  then  e—  hw,  d -=w-l-g;  and  the  above  equation  be- 
comes v  =  y/(g A).  But  this  is  the  velocity  which  a  heavy 
body  acquires  by  falling  in  vacuo  from  a  height =£ h; 
therefore,  the  velocity  with  which  sound  is  propagated 
through  the  air  is  the  same  as  that  which  a  heavy  body 
would  acquire  by  falling  through  half  the  height  of  the 
homogeneous  atmosphere.  This  proposition  was  given  by 
Newton  in  the  Principia  (lib.  ii.,  prop.  47),  but  from  a  the- 
ory wholly  inapplicable.  The  correct  demonstration  was 
first  given  bv  Lagrange. 

In  order  to  convert  this  formula  into  numbers,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  determine  h.  Let  A  =  the  standard  height  of  mer- 
cury in  the  barometer,  and  m  =  the  ratio  of  the  density  of 
mercurv  to  the  density  of  atmospheric  air  under  the  same 
pressure;  then  h  =  mb,  and  the  velocity  becomes  v  =  v/ 
(<rmb).  At  the  temperature  of  freezing  water  (32° Fahr.), 
and  under  a  barometric  pressure  of  29927  inches,  the  value 
of  m  is  found  by  experiment  to  be  10,466.    But  we  have 

1143 


SOUND  BOARD. 

also  ,0=38629  inches;  whence  at  that  temperature  v  = 
10,998  inches,  or  916  feet. 

Since  the  velocity,  as  above  stated,  is  proportional  to  the 
square  root  of  the  elasticity  divided  by  the  density,  an  alter- 
ation in  the  height  of  the  barometer,  while  the  temperature 
remains  the  same,  will  produce  no  change  in  the  velocity; 
for  an  increase  of  pressure,  and  consequently  of  elasticity, 
is  accompanied  by  a  proportional  increase  of  density.  An 
increase  of  temperature,  however,  by  increasing  the  elasti- 
city without  changing  the  density,  is  accompanied  by  an 
augmentation  of  velocity.  The  correction  for  a  difference 
Of  temperature  is  found  as  follows:  Let  t  denote  the  num- 
ber of  degrees  of  temperature  on  Fahrenheit's  scale  above 
3'.°,  and  a  a  constant  coefficient ;  then  the  elasticity  at  the 
freezing  temperature  being  c,  the  elasticity  at  the  tempera- 
ture t  will  be  e  (1-f-ar).  But  the  value  of  a  is  found  by 
experiment  = -00208;  therefore  the  elasticity  is  e  (1-j- 
•00208 1)  ;  and  the  formula  for  the  velocity  becomes  v  = 
y/grnb  (1  +  '00208t)  ;  or,  introducing  the  above  value  of 
g  m  i,  v  =  916  (1  +  00104 t). 

The  velocity  of  916  feet  at  the  freezing  temperature,  thus 
deduced  from  theory,  falls  short  of  the  experimental  ve- 
locity (which  has  been  shown  above  to  be  1089  feet)  by 
173  feet,  or  about  a  sixth  part  of  the  whole  quantity.  This 
discrepancy  was  remarked  by  Newton,  who  attempted  to 
account  for  it  by  supposing  the  spherical  molecules  of  air 
to  be  perfectly  elastic  solids,  through  which  sound  is  propa- 
gated instantaneously  ;  but  the  true  solution  of  the  difficul- 
ty was  reserved  for  Laplace.  The  explanation  given  by 
Laplace  is,  that  the  compression  of  the  air  which  takes 
place  in  the  vibration  disengages  a  portion  of  latent  heat, 
which  thus  becomes  sensible,  and  modifies  the  law  of  the 
elasticity,  and  accelerates  the  velocity.  On  submitting 
this  to  calculation,  he  found  that  the  formula  for  the  velo- 
city of  sound  must  be  multiplied  by  a  certain  factor,  name- 
ly, the  square  root  of  the  quotient  which  is  found  by  divi- 
ding the  number  which  expresses  the  specific  heat  of  the  air 
(or  other  gas)  under  a  constant  pressure  by  that  which  ex- 
presses its  specific  heat  under  a  constant  volume.  Let  k 
=  this  factor;  then  Laplace's  formula  for  the  velocity  of 
sound  is 

v  =  ,/g  m  b  (1  +  -00208  t)  k. 

The  value  of  k  for  atmospheric  air,  as  determined  by  Du- 
long  {Lame,  vol.  ii.,  p.  87),  is  1-421  ;  hence y/k  =  1192,  and 
the  formula  in  numbers  is 

v  =  916  X  1192  (1  +  -00104 1)  =  1092  +  1-14 1, 
which  is  almost  identical  with  the  experimental  determina- 
tion. 

Velocity  of  Sounds  through  Liquids  and  Solids.— The. 
following  general  formula  for  the  velocity  with  which 
sound  is  propagated  through  any  elastic  compressible  body, 
whether  liquid  or  solid,  was  found  by  Laplace  :  Let  b  de- 
note (as  before)  the  standard  height  of  the  barometer,  D  the 
density  of  mercury  at  the  freezing  temperature,  d  the  den- 
sity of  the  medium,  and  e  the  compressibility  of  the  medi- 
ium,  that  is,  the  diminution  of  bulk  it  sustains  by  an  addi- 
tional pressure  equal  to  one  atmosphere  ;  then  the  formula 

is  t>  =  V  -jj;  or,  (since £•  =  38629 inches,  6  =  29-927  inch- 
es, D  =  13-568),  v  =  39604  ^(1  -fed)  inches,  or  33^/(1  +  c 
d)  feet  per  second.  Applying  this  to  the  case  of  water,  we 
have  c=  000049589  (Herschel,  F.ncy.  Mctrop.),  and  d=l  ; 
whence  c  =  4687  feet  per  second.  This  result  agrees  vcry 
nearly  with  the  velocity  determined  by  Culladon  and 
Sturm  by  direct  experiment  on  the  propagation  of  sound 
through  the  lake  of  Geneva,  the  velocity  actually  observed 
by  them  being  143.5  metres,  or  4708  English  feet,  which  dif 
fers  from  the  theoretical  velocity  only  by  21  feet — a  space 
described  by  the  aqueous  pulse  in  the  200th  part  of  a  sec- 
ond. 

By  the  above  formula  the  velocity  of  sound  through  any 
medium  of  which  the  compressibility  is  known  i*  readily 
computed.  According  to  Chladni  the  velocities  of  sounds 
in  different  solids,  that  of  air  being  taken  as  unity,  are  as 
follows:  Tinr=?».,  silver  =9,  copper =12,  Iron  =  17,  glass 
=  17,  baked  clay  =  10-12,  woods  of  different  kinds  =11-17. 
But  the  velocity  of  propagation  through  cast  iron  tubes 
was  determined  experimentally  by  Biot,  and  found  to  be 
only  about  10A  times  its  velocity  in  air.  (See  Herschcl's 
Treatise  nn  Sound;  Chladni,  Traite  d'Jlcoustique ;  Biot, 
Traitedr  Physique;  Pouillet,  Elemens  de  Physique ;  Lame, 
Cours  de  Physique,  Ice.) 

Soi  mi.  In  Geography,  a  strait  or  inlet  of  the  sea;  ap- 
plied specially  to  the  strait  which  connects  the  German  Sea 
with  the  Battle. 

BOUND  BOARD.  A  thin  board  placed  over  the  head 
of  a  public  speaker  to  strengthen  or  extend  the  sound  of  his 
-.  nice 

SOUTH.  One  of  the  four  cardinal  points  of  the  com- 
1144 


SPACE. 

pass ;  the  direction  in  which  the  sun  always  appears  at 
noon  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  northern  hemisphere  with- 
out the  tropic. 

SOUTHCO'TTIANS.  In  Religious  History,  the  follow- 
ers of  Joanna  Southcott,  whose  singular  life  and  influence, 
although  now  nearly  forgotten,  deserve  to  be  kept  in  rec- 
ord as  examples  of  the  contagious  effects  of  fanaticism. 
She  was  born  at  Gittisham,  in  Devonshire,  in  1750;  and 
seems  to  have  first  persuaded  herself  of  her  miraculous 
calling  in  1792.  From  that  time  she  was  in  the  habit  of 
publishing  pamphlets  in  an  enthusiastic  strain  ;  traversed 
the  west  of  England,  preaching  and  prophesying,  with  a 
select  body  of  followers,  and  gradually  collected  about  her 
a  considerable  number  of  disciples.  She  came  to  town  about 
1803,  when  she  announced  a  meeting,  which  she  called 
her  trial,  for  the  purpose  of  satisfying  the  world  of  the  re- 
ality of  her  mission.  Several  such  meetings  took  place, 
the  last  in  1804  ;  and  many  persons,  including  several 
clergymen,  attested  their  belief  in  her  pretensions.  After 
this  she  became  the  founder  of  a  church,  which  had  a 
chapel  in  Duke's  Place,  where  service  was  performed  by  a 
Mr.  Tozer,  a  Dissenting  clergyman  of  Exeter,  who  follow- 
ed her  to  London.  At  last  she  announced  her  supernatu- 
ral pregnancy ;  and  this  strange  announcement  took  great 
hold  on  the  public  imagination,  in  consequence  of  Dr. 
Reeve  and  other  medical  men  having  declared  their  belief 
that  she  was  actually  pregnant  in  her  65th  year.  The  ex- 
citement produced  in  London,  in  the  summer  of  1814,  by 
the  whole  affair,  was  to  be  paralleled  only  by  that  which 
other  delusions  as  absurd  and  impious  have  at  different 
times  occasioned.  Her  death,  in  December  of  that  year, 
did  not  undeceive  her  disciples :  even  when  her  body  was 
opened,  four  days  after  it,  and  no  trace  discovered  to  veri- 
fy her  assertions,  many  of  them  continued  to  proclaim 
their  belief  in  her  future  reappearance.  Her  sect  continu- 
ed to  exist  for  many  years,  nor  are  we  aware  that  it  is  yet 
extinct.  Many  of  its  followers  wore  long  beards,  and  a 
peculiar  costume. 

SO'VEREIGN.  In  Politics,  a  person,  or  body  of  persons, 
in  whom  the  legislative  authority  rests  in  every  state.  A 
sovereign  state  is  one  in  which  the  jurisdiction  of  that 
person  or  body,  within  the  limits  of  the  state,  is  absolute 
and  uncontrolled  by  any  foreign  authority.  The  states 
which  composed  the  German  empire  were  termed,  in  the 
language  of  politics,  "  mi-souveraines  ;"  because  their  sov- 
ereignty was  qualified  by  their  subordination,  in  some  re- 
spects, to  the  imperial  authority.  The  same  term  should 
seem  applicable  to  the  several  states  in  the  American 
Union,  which  are  commonly,  but  improperly,  termed  sov- 
ereign ;  as,  on  some  definite  subjects,  the  power  of  their 
legislative  bodies  is  subordinate  to  that  of  Congress,  or  the 
sovereign  body  in  the  Federal  Government. 

Sovereign.  An  English  coin  of  the  value  of  twenty 
shillings,  the  standard  weight  of  which  is  5  pennyweights 
and  327  grains,  or  123374  troy  grains. 

SO'WING.  Depositing  seed  in  the  soil  for  the  purpose 
of  producing  plants.  The  operation  of  sowing  is  generally 
performed  in  spring,  in  order  that  the  plants  may  have  the 
advantage  of  the  coming  summer.  The  seed  is  either 
scattered  abroad,  or  deposited  in  rows  or  drills  ;  on  a  small 
scale  by  the  hand,  and  on  a  large  scale  by  a  sowing  ma- 
chine. Some  seeds  which  are  of  large  size  are  planted 
singly.  The  covering  of  seeds  is  greater  or  less,  according 
to  their  size  and  the  texture  of  the  soil.  Where  the  soil 
is  somewhat  firm,  and  the  seed  is  pressed  into  it  by  a 
roller  or  by  other  means,  and  where  the  climate  is  moist, 
very  little  covering  is  necessary  ;  but  where  the  soil  is 
loose,  and  the  climate  dry  and  warm,  the  covering  should 
be  twice  or  thrice  the  thickness  of  seeds.  As  the  seeds  of 
plants  are  the  natural  food  of  birds,  insects,  and  vermin,  in 
a  state  of  culture  artificial  protection  is  required  from  their 
natural  enemies. 

SOWING  MACHINE.  A  machine  for  depositing  seeds 
in  the  soil,  either  equally  over  its  surface  or  in  rows.  The 
simplest  machine,  and  perhaps  the  most  efficient  for  sow- 
ing seeds  broadcast,  is  a  hollow  cylinder,  pierced  with 
holes,  about  the  average  size  of  the  seed  to  be  sown. 
This  will  deposite  them  at  a  greater  or  lesser  distance 
asunder,  according  to  the  velocity  with  which  it  is  turned 
round.  Machines  for  sowing  seeds  in  rows  are  termed 
drills.     See  Drills. 

SPA.  A  place  celebrated  for  its  mineral  waters,  situate 
about  seven  leagues  from  Aix  la-Chapelle.  The  term  is 
now  generally  applied  to  places  at  which  there  are  miner- 
al springs. 

SPACE  (Lat.  spatium),  signifies  generally  extension  in 
all  directions.  Sometimes  it  has  a  less  general  significa- 
tion ;  thus  Euclid  says,  two  straight  lines  cannot  enclose  a 
space,  that  is.  an  area. 

Space.  In  Music,  the  void  between  the  lines  in  a  mu- 
sical staff.  The  spaces  are  four  in  number,  and  the  lines 
five. 


SPADIX. 

SPA'DIX.  A  form  of  inflorescence  in  which  the  flow- 
ers are  arranged  around  a  fleshy  rachis,  and  enclosed 
within  a  kind  of  bract  called  a  spathe,  as  in  palms  and 
araceous  plants. 

SPAHI'S,  or  SIPAHIS.  A  part  of  the  Turkish  cavalry 
were  so  called.  The  word  has  the  same  derivation  with 
Sepoy. 

SPAN,  in  ordinary  language,  signifies  a  measure  taken 
from  the  space  between  the  thumb  and  the  middle  finger, 
both  being  extended.  In  Architecture  and  Engineering,  it 
is  applied  to  the  extent  or  spread  of  an  arch  between  its 
piers  or  abutments. 

SPA'NDREL.  (It.  spandere,  to  spread.)  In  Archi- 
tecture, the  space  about  the  flanks  or  haunches  of  an 
arch  or  vault  above  the  intrados,  and  not  higher  than  its 
crown. 

SPA'NKUR,  or  DRIVER.  The  name  of  the  gaff  sail 
set  on  the  mizzen  mast  of  a  ship. 

SPA'NNER.  An  iron  instrument  used  in  the  manner  of 
a  lever  to  tighten  the  nuts  upon  screws.  There  is  usually 
a  notch  at  either  end  of  the  spanner,  to  suit  nuts  and 
screw-heads  of  different  sizes. 

SPAR.  (Germ,  spath.)  A  mineralogical  term,  applied 
to  certain  crystallized  substances  which  easily  break  into 
cubic,  or  prismatic,  or  other  fragments,  with  polished  sur- 
faces ;  hence  also  the  term  spathose,  applied  generally  to 
minerals  of  a  sparry  fracture. 

SPAR,  FLUOR,  or  DERBYSHIRE.  Fluoride  of  cal- 
cium.    See  Fluor  Spar. 

SPAR,  HEAVY.     Sulphate  of  baryta.     See  Baryta. 

SPAR,  ICELAND.    Rhomboidal  carbonate  of  lime. 

SPA'ROIDS,  Sparoides.  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Acan- 
thopterygian  fishes,  of  which  the  genus  Sparus  is  the  type. 
The  palate  is  edentulous,  but  the  jaws  are  generally  well 
armed  with  teeth  :  sometimes  these  are  all  of  a  conical 
form,  adapted  for  killing  and  lacerating ;  sometimes  they 
are  all  rounded  and  obtuse,  fitted  for  bruising.  In  some 
species,  the  anterior  teeth  are  shaped  according  to  the 
laniary  type,  and  the  posterior  ones  are  grinders  ;  in  oth- 
ers, the  anterior  teeth  resemble  the  human  incisors.  The 
genera  of  Sparoid  fishes  are  chiefly  founded  on  these  den- 
tal modifications. 

SPA'RROW-HA WK.  The  name  of  the  Falco  nisus  of 
Linnsus,  Jlccipiter  fringillarius  of  Ray ;  which  latter 
name  is  retained  in  modern  ornithology  for  the  sub-generic 
denomination  of  this  small  Raptorial  bird. 

SPARS.  In  Architecture,  a  term  used  in  the  provinces 
to  denote  the  common  rafters  of  a  roof,  as  distinguished 
from  the  principal  rafters. 

SPASM.  (Gr.  oTiaonof,  a  cramp.)  An  involuntary  con- 
traction of  the  muscles  generally  attended  by  pain. 

SPATA'NGUS.  (Gr.  omiTayyos,  a  species  of  Echinus.) 
The  name  of  a  genus  of  Echinida,  or  sea-urchins,  having 
the  mouth  situated  laterally,  and  but  four  rows  of  pores. 

SPATHE.  In  Botany,  a  large  and  coloured  bractea  sit- 
uated at  the  base  of  a  spadix,  enclosing  the  latter,  and  sup- 
posed to  perform  the  office  of  corolla. 

SPA'TULATE.  (Lat.  spathulum,  a  broad  knife  to  spread 
salve  with.)  In  Zoology,  when  a  substance  or  part  of  an 
animal  is  flattened,  and  broader  and  rounder  at  the  apex, 
narrow  at  the  base. 

SPEA'KER.  The  presiding  officer  in  each  house  of  par- 
liament is  so  termed.  The  lord  chancellor,  keeper  of  the 
great  seal,  or  other  person  holding  the  king's  commission, 
is  ex-officio  speaker  of  the  House  of  Lords  ;  and  if  there  be 
none  such,  it  is  said  the  house  may  elect.  He  can  speak 
and  vote  on  any  question.  The  speaker  of  the  House  of 
Commons  is  chosen  by  the  house.  Formerly,  it  was  cus- 
tomary (see  HatselVs  Precedents  of  Parliaments,  vol.  ii.) 
that  persons  holding  high  offices  under  the  crown  should  be 
elected  to  this  dignity.  The  speaker  chosen  must  be  ap- 
proved of  by  the  crown.  The  speaker  cannot  speak  or  vote 
except  in  a  committee,  when  he  is  out  of  the  chair ;  or  in 
case  of  an  equality  of  voices,  when  he  exercises  the  privi- 
lege of  giving  a  casting  vote.  The  office  of  the  speaker  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  in  addition  to  keeping  order  and 
controlling  the  debates  of  the  house,  is  to  issue  warrants  to 
the  clerk  of  the  crown  to  make  out  new  writs  for  the  elec- 
tion of  members  when  seats  are  vacant.  This  power  he 
exercised  only  by  virtue  of  orders  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, until  the  passing  of  the  stat.  10  G.  3,  c.  41,  by  which 
he  was  enabled  to  issue  the  writs  during  a  recess.  See  Par- 
liament. 

SPEA'KING  TRUMPET.     See  Trumpet. 

SPE  CIALTY.  In  Law,  any  instrument  in  writing  un- 
der seal.  Specialty  creditors  are  those  who  have  their  debts 
secured  to  them  by  deed,  in  opposition  to  creditors  on  sim- 
ple contract.  The  advantages  of  the  former  security  are, 
that  it  has  priority  in  the  distribution  of  assets ;  and  that 
specialty  debts  in  general  are  not  presumed  satisfied  until 
after  the  lapse  of  twenty  years,  whereas  simple  contract 
debts  are  buried  in  six  by  the  Statute  of  Limitations. 


SPELL. 

SPECIE.  A  term  Used  for  gold  and  silver  coin,  in  con- 
tradistinction to  paper  money. 

SPE'CIES.  (Lat.)  In  Logic,  a  predicable  which  is  con- 
sidered as  expressing  the  whole  essence  of  the  individuals 
of  which  it  is  affirmed.  The  essence  of  an  individual  is  said 
to  consist  of  two  parts:  1.  The  material  part,  or  genus ;  2. 
The  formal  or  distinctive  part,  or  difference.  The  genus 
and  difference  together  make  up,  in  logical  language,  the 
species ;  e.  g.,  a  "  biped"  is  compounded  of  the  genus  "  ani- 
mal," and  the  difference  "  having  two  legs."  It  is  obviou3 
that  the  names  species  and  genus  are  merely  relative;  and 
that  the  same  common  terms  may,  in  one  case,  be  the  spe- 
cies which  is  predicated  of  an  individual,  and  in  another 
case  the  individual  of  which  a  species  is  predicated:  e.  gn 
the  individual,  Ca?sar,  belongs  to  the  species  man ;  but  man, 
again,  may  be  said  to  belong  to  the  species  animal,  &c,  as 
we  contemplate  higher  and  more  comprehensive  terms.  A 
species,  in  short,  when  predicated  of  individuals,  stands  in 
the  same  relation  to  them  as  the  genus  to  the  species ;  and 
when  predicated  of  other  lower  species,  it  is  then,  in  respect 
of  these,  a  genus,  while  it  is  a  species  in  respect  of  a  higher 
genus.  Such  a  term  is  called  a  subaltern  species  or  genus ; 
while  the  highest  term  of  all,  of  which  nothing  can  be  pre- 
dicated, is  the  "summum  genus;"  the  lowest  of  all,  which 
can  be  predicated  of  nothing,  the  "  infima  species."  The 
difference  which,  together  with  the  genus,  makes  up  the 
species,  is  termed  the  "specific  difference."  See  Predica- 
ble, Logic. 

SPECI'FIC.  In  Medicine,  this  term  is  applied  to  reme- 
dies the  effects  of  which  upon  particular  diseases  are  little 
liable  to  fallacy  and  uncertainty  ;  hence  cinchona  is  called 
a  specific  in  certain  forms  of  intermittent  fever,  and  mer- 
cury- in  syphilis,  &c.  A  specific  character  is  that  which  pe- 
culiarlv  and  certainly  distinguishes  one  thing  from  another. 

SPECIFIC  GRAVITY.     See  Gravity. 

SPE'CTACLES.  An  optical  instrument,  consisting  of 
two  lenses  set  in  a  frame,  for  assisting  or  correcting  the  de- 
fects of  imperfect  vision.  The  lenses  are  convex  or  con- 
cave, according  to  the  nature  of  the  defect  to  be  remedied. 
In  old  age  the  pupil  of  the  eye  becomes  flat,  and  the  rays 
of  light  are  consequently  not  refracted  sufficiently  in  passing 
through  it  to  meet  on  the  retina  and  produce  distinct  vision. 
This  defect  is  remedied  by  a  convex  lens,  which  produces 
a  slight  convergency  of  the  rays  before  they  enter  the  eye. 
Short-sighted  people,  on  the  contrary,  require  concave 
lenses  ;  because,  in  their  case,  the  indistinctness  of  vision 
proceeds  from  too  great  a  curvature  of  the  pupil,  which 
causes  the  rays  to  meet  in  a  point  before  they  reach  the 
retina — a  defect  which  is  remedied  by  giving  the  rays  a 
slight  divergency  before  they  enter  the  eye. 

Spectacles  appear  to  have  been  first  used  about  the  latter 
end  of  the  13th  century ;  but  the  date  and  author  of  the  in- 
vention are  not  certainly  known,  and  have  been  much  dis- 
puted. It  seems  most  probable  that  the  first  hint  of  their 
construction  and  use  was  taken  either  from  the  writings  of 
Alhazen,  who  lived  in  the  12th  century,  or  of  Roger  Bacon, 
who  died  about  1292.  A  passage  in  the  Opus  Majus  of  the 
latter  renders  it  certain,  at  least,  that  he  was  acquainted 
with  the  use  of  crystalline  lenses  in  magnifying  minute  or 
distant  objects.  (See  Smith's  Optics,  "Remarks,"  art.  8, 
5-90.) 

SPE'CTRES,  Spectra.  A  name  given  by  Stoll  and  La- 
treille  to  a  family  of  Orthopterous  insects,  comprehending 
those  which  have  a  linear  and  attenuated  body,  like  the 
ghost  of  an  insect. 

SPE'CTRUM.  (Lat.  spectrum,  image.)  In  Optics,  the 
name  given  to  an  elongated  image  of  the  sun  or  other  lumin- 
ous body,  formed  on  a  wall  or  screen  by  a  beam  of  unde- 
composed  light  received  through  a  small  hole,  and  refracted 
by  a  prism.  For  the  different  colours  and  fixed  lines  of  the 
solar  spectrum,  see  Chromatics  ;  and  for  the  refrangibility 
of  the  different  rays.  Refraction. 

SPE'CULUM.  (Lat.  speculum,  a  mirror.)  In  Optics, 
the  term  speculum  is  usually  appropriated  to  reflectors  form- 
ed of  polished  metal ;  while  the  term  mirror  is  used  to  sig- 
nify a  reflector  of  glass.  For  the  focal  distances  and  laws 
of  reflexion  of  spherical  specula,  see  Reflexion;  and  for 
a  description  of  the  method  of  casting  and  polishins  large 
specula  for  reflecting  telescopes,  see  Sir  W.  Herschel's  De- 
scription of  his  Telescope  in  the  Phil.  Trans,  for  1795; 
Brewster's  edition  of  Ferguson's  Lectures ;  and  Lord  Ox- 
mantown's  Account  of  Experiments  on  the  Reflecting  Tele- 
scope, in  the  Phil.  Trans,  for  1840. 

SPE'CULUM  METAL,  with  which  mirrors  for  reflect- 
ing telescopes  are  made,  is  an  alloy  of  two  parts  of  copper 
and  one  of  tin  ;  its  whiteness  is  improved  by  the  addition 
of  a  little  arsenic. 

SPELL.  (Ang.  Sax.  spel,  story  or  tale.)  Any  form  of 
words,  written  or  spoken,  supposed  to  be  endowed  with 
magical  virtues.  This  superstition  seems  common  to  every 
race  of  man ;  but  it  was  more  peculiarly  prevalent  among 
the  ancients.    The  lines  of  Horace — 

4  B  *  1145 


SPELTER. 

Sunt  verba  et  voces,  quibus  huoc  lenire  dolorem 
Pussis,  fee., 

probably  refer  to  the  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  ma2ie.1l  words 
in  alleviating  pain  and  disease.  There  is  an  amusing  arti 
cle  upon  this  siilijci'i  in  the  Encyclopedia  Metroptlitana. 

SI'E'l.TElt.    The  commercial  term  for  Bine. 

BPERMACE'TI.  This  sobstanoe  concretes  or  crystal- 
lizes  spontaneously  oul  of  the  oil  of  the  spermaceti  whale. 
it  is  purified  first  by  pressure,  then  by  fusion  and  boiling 
with  a  weak  alkaline  ley.  When  melted  in  masses,  It  1  on 
aretes  in  crystalline  plates  of  a  silvery  lustre  and  unctuous 
feel.  It  fuses  at  about  100°.  It  dissolves  in  boiling  alco- 
hol :  and  as  the  solution  cools  it  separates  in  brilliant  scales, 
to  which  Chevreul  has  given  the  name  ofcetrns. 

SPERMl'DIUM.  ((Jr.  ampua,  a  seed.)  Akindofsmall 
seed  vessel,  resembling  a  seed,  and  more  commonly  called 
an  ul.' niiim. 

BPHA'CELUS.     v-v  Gangrene. 

Sl'll.l'.Iils  TE  RUM.  (Gr.  cepaipa,  a  sphere  or  ball.)  In 
ancient  Architecture,  a  circular  court  for  playing  tennis,  or 
other  exercises.     Set  Ball. 

SPHENK.     Native  sihco-calcareous  oxide  of  titanium. 

SPHENOID  BONE.  (Gr.  aQwr,  a  wedge.)  One  of  the 
bones  of  the  head.  BO  called  from  its  being  wedged  in,  as 
it  were,  among  the  other  bones.  It  is  of  a  most  Irregular 
shape,  and  very  complicated  in  its  processes  and  connexions 
With  the  other  bones.  When  removed,  it  is  something  of 
the  figure  of  a  bat  with  its  wings  extended.  It  is  connected 
with  all  the  bones  of  the  skull,  and  with  those  of  the  palate, 
cheeks,  and  upper  jaw. 

SPHERE.  (Gr.  a<p,upa.)  In  Geometry,  a  solid  body  de 
scribed  by  the  revolution  of  a  semicircle  about  its  diameter ; 
or  it  may  be  defined  to  be  a  body  hounded  by  a  surface  of 
which  every  point  is  equally  distant  from  a  single  point 
within  the  surface,  called  the  centre  of  the  sphere.  If  r 
denote  the  radius  of  the  sphere,  and  1,  ?/,  2  the  rectangular 
co-ordinates,  the  origin  being  at  the  centre,  the  equation  of 
the  surface  is  j2  -4-  ;/-  -f-  :-=  r-. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  principal  properties  of  the 
sphere  :  1.  The  surface  of  the  sphere  is  equal  to  four  times 
the  area  of  one  ofits  isrtat  circles  ;  i.  e.,  of  a  section  made 
by  a  plane  passing  through  its  centre.  2.  The  curve  sur- 
face of  any  zone,  or  portion  contained  between  two  parallel 
is  equal  to  the  curve  surface  of  a  cylinder  of  the 
same  height  with  the  height  of  the  zone,  or  the  distance 
between  the  planes,  and  Of  the  same  diameter  with  the 
sphere.  Hence  it  follows,  that  the  whale  surface  of  the 
sphere  is  equal  to  the  curve  surface  of  the  circumscribing 
cylinder.  3.  The  solid  content  of  a  sphere  is  equal  to  that 
of  a  pyramid  whose  altitude  is  the  radius,  and  whose  base 
is  equal  to  the  surface  of  the  sphere  ;  and  hence  the  content 
of  the  sphere  is  one  third  of  the  product  of  its  radius  into  its 
surface.  4.  The  sphere  is  equal  to  two  thirds  of  its  circum- 
scribing cylinder. 

Let  r  denote  the  radius  of  the  sphere,  ,t  its  superficies,  c 
its  solid  content,  and  ir  the  ratio  of  the  semicircumference  to 
the  radius  =  3-141  59;  then,  since  the  area  of  a  circle  of 
which  r  is  the  radius  is  jr  r-,  the  properties  above  stated 
give  the  relations  which  follow;  viz. 

Surface  =  s  =  4  jr  r2  =  12-56637  X  r«, 
Content  =  c=irs=  *  7rr3  =  418850  X  rX 

If  we  suppose  the  diameter  =  1,  and  consequently  r—  \, 
these  relations  become  s=  r,  c  =  \  x-. 

Bphere.  In  Astronomy,  the  concave  expanse  of  the 
heavens,  which,  having  no  definite  limit,  appears  to  the  eye 
as  the  interior  surface  of  a  sphere  enclosing  the  earth, 
whirl,  is  placed  at  the  centre.  The  ancients  gave  the  name 
of  sphere  to  the  orbits  of  the  several  heavenly  bodies ;  thus, 

the  sphere  of  Jupiter,  the  sphere  of  Saturn,  the  sphere  of 

the  fixed  stars.    In  the  Ptolemaic  astronomy,  the  different 

spheres  were  supposed  to  be  solid  and  transparent,  moving 
about  their  common  centre  independently  of  each  other, 
un'1  each  carrying  its  appropriate  hoily  along  with  it. 

Sphere,  in  Geography,  denotes  a  representation  of  the 
earth  on  the  surface  of  a  globe,  which  has  also  represented 
on  it  an  assemblage  of  circles  show  ing  the  positions  of  the 
equator,  ecliptic,  meridians,  &.r.    The  ancients  gave  riifH  r- 

ent  appellations  to  the  sphere,  according  to  the   iiuTunl 

Of  the  earth's  axis  to  the  horizon.  When  the  poles  are  in 
the  horizon,  it  was  called  a  right  sphert  ;  when  the  poles 
are  In  the  zenith  and  nadir,  a  parallel  sphere  ;  and  in  every 
Other  position,  an  oblique  spin  re. 

BPHE'RICAL.    Relating  to  a  sphere.    Thus,  a  tpherical 
in  angle  formed  ou  the  surface  of  a  sphere  bj  the 
tion  01  two  great  circles,  or  circles  who 
pa-s  through  the  centre;  and  a  tpherical 
angle  formed  by  the  intersecting  ares  of  three  Buch  circles. 
For  the  properties  of  spherical  triangles,  see  Trisoni 

BPHE'RICAL  EXCESS,  In  Trigonometry,  Is  the  sum  bj 
which  the  three  angles  of  any  triangle  on  the  surface  of  a 
Sphi  re  or  spheroid  exceeds  two  right  angles.     Let  the  llircc 
1146 


SPHEROID. 

angles  of  a  spherical  triangle  be  denoted  respectively  by 
A,  B,  C,  and  let  E  represent  the  spherical  excess;  then, 
In  the  ahove  definition.  E  -  A  j-B  +  l.'  — Irti  .  Now.  in 
any  spherical  triangle  the  sum  of  the  three  angb 

iter  than  two  and  less  than  six  right  angles;  con- 
sequently E  may  have  any  value  not  exceeding  four  right 
angles. 

In  Geodesy,  the  angles  of  each  triangle  are  determined 
by  instrumental  measurement,  and  are  consequently  sub- 
ject to  the  errors  of  observation.  But  in  order  to  compute 
the  sides  of  the  triangle  with  the  requisite  accuracy,  it  is 
Decess  ir\  that  the  amount  of  the  error  in  the  sum  of  the 
dee  be  known  ;  and  it  is  therefore  necessary  to  de- 
termine the  spherical  excess  independently  of  extreme  pre- 
cision in  the  values  of  the  angles.  Let  S  denote  the  area 
of  the  triangle,  r  the  radius  of  the  sphere,  and  »  the  ratio 
of  the  circumference  to  the  diameter  (=  3-14159) ;  then,  by 
trigonometrv, 

.=  »  +  '£— 'x-., 

whence,  since  E  =  A  +  B  +  C  — 180°,  we  have 

_      S  X  180°  .     .  „       S  X  648000"  .  . 

E  = ; in  degrees,  or  E  = ,  expressed  in 

r-  :r  ri  t 

seconds.  In  any  triangle  that  can  be  measured  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth  S  is  very  small  in  comparison  of  r2,  and 
E  is  therefore  a  very  small  quantity,  seldom  amounting  to 
more  than  five  or  six  seconds  (though,  in  some  of  the  large 
triangles  of  the  British  survey,  where  the  sides  were  near- 
ly 100  miles  in  length,  it  amounted  to  upwards  of  30") ;  and 
therefore  an  approximate  knowledge  of  the  value  of  S,  and 
Of  the  radius  r,  within  the  limits  of  any  probable  error, 
will  suffice  to  give  E  currect  to  the  100th  part  of  a  second. 
Hence,  for  computing  the  value  of  E,  the  triangle  may  be 
considered  a  plane  one,  and  the  value  of  S  computed  from 
approximate  values  of  two  of  its  sides  and  the  included  tin- 
gle. If,  therefore,  a  and  b  denote  the  number  of  feet  in  the 
sides  opposite  the  angles  A  and  B  respectively,  we  shall 
have  S  =  Aaosin.C;  and  if  we  also  assume  ;»=i648000 
-4-2r2  jr  (where  r  is  expressed  in  feet),  the  logarithm  of  E 
in  seconds  will  be  found  from  this  formula, 

log.  E  =  log.  a  -4-  log.  6  +  log.  sin.  C  +  log.  m. 
For  the  middle  of  England,  the  radius  of  an  arc  intersect- 
ing the  meridian  at  an  angle  of  45°  is  20,941.000  feet,  nearly. 
Assuming  this  to  be  the  value  ofr,  then  log.  m  —  9-62H60. 

SPHE'RICS.  In  Geometry,  the  doctrine  of  the  proper- 
ties of  the  sphere  considered  as  a  geometrical  bod) .  ana,  in 
particular,  of  the  different  circles  described  on  its  surface. 
See  Trigonometry. 

SPHE'ROID.  ((ir.  wpatpn,  and  new?,  furm.)  In  Geo- 
metry, a  solid  generated  by  the  revolution  of  an  ellipse  about 
one  ot  its  axes.  If  the  generating  ellipse  revolves  about  its 
major  axis,  the  spheroid  is  prolate,  or  oblong;  if  about  its 
minor  axis,  the  spheroid  is  oblate. 

Lei  2  a  be  the  axis  of  revolution,  and  2  b  the  diameter  of 
the  generating  ellipse  perpendicular  to  the  axis ;  then  the 
origin  of  the  co-ordinates  being  at  the  centre,  and  X  being 
taken  on  the  semi-axis  a,  the  equation  of  the  surface  of  the 
spheroid  is 

ar2    ,   y*  +  z2 


-.+ 


b* 


=  1. 


Let  k2  denote  the  ratio  of  the  difference  of  the  squares  of  a 
and  b  to  the  square  of  a  ;  that  is,  make  a2  A-2  =  a2  —  A2,  and 
put  it = 3-14159;  then  the  whole  surface  S  of  the  spheroid 
is  expressed  by  the  following  series,  in  which  the  upper 

Signs  are  to  he  used  If  the  spheroid  is  oblong  (that  is.  ifa  is 
greater  than  4),  and  the  under  signs  If  the  spheroid  is  ob- 
late ;  viz. 

The  solid  content  of  any  spheroid,  whether  oblate  or  ob- 

long,  Is  equal  to  two  thirds  of  us  circumscribing  cylinder 

and  is  therefore  equal  to  \  ir  a  b-.  And  since  the  content 
of  a  sphere,  of  which  the  radius  is  equal  to  a,  is  *  n  «3,  it 

follows  that  the  content  of  the  spheroid  is  to  the  content  of 

a  Bphere  whose  diameter  is  equal  to  the  axis  of  revolution 
as  b- :  a2. 

The  oblate  spheroid  being  the  figure  assumed  by  the 
earth  and  the  other  planets,  its  properties  are  of  great  im- 

poitani-e  in  astronomy  and  geodesj .    Newton  deui 

that  the  attraction  of  a  sphere  on  any  exterior  bodj  it  the 
same  a>  If  all  the  matter  in  the  sphere  were  collected  into 
m  point  at  the  centre  ;   but  this  property  does  not  hold  true 

of  spheroids,  and  the  calculation  of  tin  1  flee  ti  ol 
is  thereby  nude  nil  greatij  more  difficult  Se«  Gravita- 
tion. 
In  geodetlcal  operations,  it  is  necessary  to  have  regard  to 
:  the  spheroidal  surface  of  the  earth.  Sep 
posing  the  elements  of  the  spheroid  (that  Is,  the  polar  and 
equatorial  axes;  to  be  known,  the  curvature  of  the  surface 


SPHEROMETER. 

at  any  place  of  which  the  latitude  is  given  is  determined  by 
the  following  formula?: 

Let  a  be  half  tlie  polar  axis,  b  the  radius  of  the  equator, 
e  the  ellipticity,  or  a  number  such  that  6  =  a  (1  +  e)  see 
Ellipticity),  and  I  the  given  latitude.  Also,  let  r  be  the 
radius  of  curvature  in  the  direction  of  the  meridian,  r'  the 
radius  of  curvature  in  the  direction  perpendicular  to  the 
meridian,  and  R  the  radius  of  curvature  of  a  normal  sec- 
tion, making  with  the  meridian  an  angle  =  0 ,  then 
r  —  a  (1  —  c  +  3esin.  H)  .  .  .  (1.) 
r'  =  a(l  +  e  +  e  sin.  H) (2.) 


R  = 


.(3.) 


'  r  sin  20 -j-  r'  cos. 
Dividing  the  numerator  and  denominator  of  this  last  ex- 
pression by  r',  substituting  1  —  sin.  20  for  cos.  20,  and  con- 
verting the  result  into  a  series,  of  which  it  is  sufficient  to 
retain  only  the  two  first  terms,  we  obtain  the  following, 
which  is  more  convenient  for  calculation, 


B: 


(l  +  ^-r^sin.20). 


SPHERO'METER.  (Gr.  a<paipa,  and  ptcrpov,  measure.) 
In  Physics,  an  instrument  for  measuring  with  great  pre- 
cision the  thickness  of  small  bodies,  the  curvature  of  opti- 
cal glasses,  &c. 

SPHE'RULITE.  A  term  applied  by  some  mineralogists 
to  a  variety  of  obsidian  or  pearlstone,  which  occurs  in 
rounded  grains. 

SPHIGMO'METER.  (Gr.  ofiypoc,  the  pulse.)  An  In- 
strument for  counting  the  arterial  pulsations. 

SPHl'NCTER.  (Gr.  o(ptyx<o,  I  close.)  A  term  applied 
by  anatomists  to  several  muscles  which  close  or  contract 
the  orifices  which  they  surround. 

SPHINX.  A  fabled  monster,  half  woman  and  half  lion, 
said  by  the  Grecian  poets  to  have  infested  the  city  of  Thebes, 
devouring  its  inhabitants  till  such  time  as  a  riddle  it  had 
proposed  to  them  should  be  solved.  This  was  done  by 
CEdipus,  who  slew  the  sphinx,  and  was,  by  the  gratitude 
of  the  Thebans,  chosen  their  king.  The  Grecian  sphinx 
was  probably  borrowed  from  Egypt;  where  the  enormous 
figure,  now  half  buried  in  the  sand,  was  probably  the  arche- 
type of  the  more  elegant  monster  of  Greece.  This  figure  is 
close  to  the  Pyramids  of  Ghizeh,  and  was  disinterred  by 
the  late  Mr.  Belzoni,  but  has  been  again  nearly  covered. 
It  has  been  said  (on  the  authority  of  Pliny)  that  the  sphinx 
represented  the  Nile  in  a  state  of  flood;  that  event  regular- 
ly occurring  under  the  signs  of  the  Virgin  and  Lion.  But 
others  contend  that  the  original  Egyptian  sphinx  was  male 
(Androsphinx),  like  the  specimen  described  by  Herodotus, 
book  ii.  (  Wilkinson's  Ancient  Egyptians.)  But  the  greater 
part  of  the  enormous  number  around  the  temples  of  Luxor 
(15U0  in  a  single  avenue)  are  said  to  be  female.  (Libr.  of 
Entertaining  Knowledge.)  Sphinxes  are  also  represented 
with  the  heads  of  rams  and  hawks  (Crio-sphinx,  Hieraco- 
sphinx).  The  Egyptian  sphinx  had  no  wings;  these  ap- 
pendages were  added  by  the  Greek  artists. 

SPHRAGI'STICS.  (Gr.  cq\priyic,  a  seal.)  The  science 
of  seals,  their  history,  peculiarities,  and  distinctions,  espe- 
cially with  a  view  to  the  means  which  they  afford  of  as- 
certaining the  age  and  genuineness  of  documents  to  which 
they  are  affixed.  Ancient  seals  were  chiefly  impressed  on 
common  wax  of  different  colours;  sealing-wax  came  into 
use  in  the  sixteenth  century.  This  branch  of  diplomatics 
owes  its  origin  to  Heineccius,  who  published  a  work  on  the 
subject  in  1709.  Gercken's  treatise,  styled  Jlnmerkungen 
iiber  die  Siegel  zuin  Nutzen  dcr  Diplomatik  (Augsburg,  1781), 
Will  be  found  a  useful  guide. 

SPICCA'TO.  (It.  divided.)  In  Music,  a  term  indicating 
that  every  note  is  to  have  its  distinct  sound.  When  used 
in  relation  to  instruments  played  with  a  bow,  it  is  to  be 
understood  that  every  note  is  to  have  a  bow  dislinct  from 
the  preceding  or  succeeding  one. 
SPIDER.     See  Arachnid*. 

SPIKE.  In  Botany,  a  form  of  inflorescence  in  which  all 
the  flowers  are  sessile  along  a  common  axis,  as  in  Plan- 
tago. 

SPI'NDLE.  In  Geometry,  a  solid  generated  by  the  revo- 
lution of  a  curve  line  about  its  base  or  double  ordinate. 
The  solid  generated  by  the  revolution  of  a  curve  about  its 
axis  is  called  a  conoid.  In  Mechanics,  spindle  denotes  the 
axis  of  a  wheel  or  roller. 
SPINE.     See  Vertebra. 

SPINE'L.  (Fr.  spinelle.)  A  subspecies  of  the  niby.  It 
is  of  various  colours,  such  as  red,  brown,  yellow,  and  some- 
times blue ;  its  colouring  matter  is  sometimes  oxide  -of 
chromium,  but  generally  oxide  of  iron.  It  usually  contains 
from  80  to  84  per  cent,  of  alumina,  and  from  8  to  10  of  mag- 
nesia. 

SPINELLA'NE.  A  term  applied  by  some  mineralogists 
to  a  dodecaedral  variety  of  zeolite  of  a  blueish  or  brownish 
colour,  found  near  Andernach  on  the  Rhine.  Its  essential 
components  are  silica,  alumina,  and  soda. 


SPIRAL. 

SPINES.  Branches  that,  being  imperfectly  formed,  lose 
their  power  of  extension,  become  unusually  hard,  and  ac- 
quire a  sharp  point.  They  are  very  different  from  aculei, 
or  prickles,  which  are  a  kind  of  hardened  hair.  In  leaves, 
they  are  processes  formed  either  by  an  elongation  of  the 
woody  tissue  of  the  veins,  or  by  a  contraction  of  the  paren- 
chyma :  in  the  former  case,  they  project  beyond  the  surface 
or  margin  of  the  leaf,  as  in  the  holly ;  in  the  latter  case, 
they  are  the  veins  themselves  become  indurated,  as  in  the 
palmated  spines  of  Berberis  vulgaris. 

SPINE'T.  A  musical  stringed  instrument  with  a  key- 
board, &c,  similar  in  construction  to  a  harpsichord  ;  from 
which,  indeed,  it  little  differs,  except  in  being  much  smaller. 
Its  general  form  is  that  of  the  harp,  and  it  was  originally 
called  the  couched  harp. 

SPI'NNERS,  or  SPINNERETS.  In  Entomology,  organs 
with  which  insects  form  their  silk  or  webs.  In  spiders 
they  consist  of  two  retractile  species  issuing  from  anal  pro- 
tuberances, and  giving  out  the  threads. 

SPINNING.     See  Cotton  Manufacture. 

SPINNING  JENNY.     See  Cotton  Manufacture. 

SPINO'SISM.  In  Philosophy,  the  system  of  Benedict 
Spinosa,  a  Jew  of  Amsterdam,  born  in  1634,  which  is 
developed  in  his  work  on  ethics.  In  it  he  deduces  by 
strictly  mathematical  reasoning,  from  a  few  axioms,  the 
well-known  principles,  that  "  there  can  be  no  substance  but 
God  ;  whatever  is  is  in  God,  and  nothing  can  be  conceived 
without  God."  Hence  his  scheme  is  called,  with  justice, 
Pantheistic.  In  fact,  as  Mr.  Hallam  observes,  "  he  does  not 
essentially  differ  from  the  Pantheists  of  old.  He  conceived,  as 
they  had  done,  that  the  infinity  of  God  required  the  exclusion 
of  all  other  substance  :  that  he  was  infinite  ab  omni  parte, 
and  not  only  in  certain  senses."  "  It  was  one  great  error 
of  Spinosa,"  says  the  same  writer,  "  to  entertain  too  arro- 
gant a  notion  of  the  human  faculties  ;  in  which,  by  dint  of 
his  own  subtle  demonstrations,  he  pretended  to  show  a 
capacity  of  adequately  comprehending  the  nature  of  what 
he  denominated  God.  And  this  was  accompanied  by  a 
rigid  dogmatism,  no  one  proposition  being  stated  with  hesi- 
tation ;  by  a  disregard  of  experience,  at  least  as  the  basis 
of  reasoning  ;  and  by  a  uniform  preference  of  the  synthetic 
mode."  (Literature  of  Europe,  vol.  iv.,  p.  243,  &c. ;  and 
see  Brucker's  History  of  Philosophy,  vol.  iii. ;  Stewart's 
Introductory  Essay  to  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica.) 

SPI'NTHERE.  A  mineral  of  a  greenish  gray  colour, 
found  in  the  department  of  the  Isere  in  France. 

SPI'RACLES,  or  SPIRACULA.  (Lat.  spiro,  I  breathe.) 
In  Entomology,  the  breathing  pores  of  insects  are  so  called. 

SPIRAL.  In  Geometry,  the  name  given  to  a  class  of 
curves  distinguished  by  this  general  property,  that  they 
continually  recede  from  a  centre  or  pole,  while  they  con- 
tinue to  revolve  about  it.  Spirals  receive  different  names 
from  the  properties  by  which  they  are  characterized,  or 
from  their  inventors  ;  thus,  the  equable  spiral,  the  hyperbolic 
spiral,  the  logarithmic  spiral,  the  spirals  of  Cotes,  &c. 

Equable  spiral,  or  spiral  of  Archimedes. — -This  curve  may 
be  supposed  to  be  generated  as  follows  :  If  a  straight  line  P 
ABC  turn  uniformly  about  its  ex- 
tremity P,  a  point  in  the  straight  line 
which  advances  from  P  with  a  uniform 
motion  and  arrives  successively  at  a.  A,  <* 
b,  B,  c,  C,  d,  will  describe  the  spiral. 
The  point  P  is  called  the  pole,  and  the 
portion  of  the  revolving  line  intercepted 
between  the  pole  and  any  point  of  the 
curve  is  the  radiant,  or  radius  vector  at  that  point.  Let  Q, 
be  a  pr>int  in  the  spiral,  make  the  radiant  P  Q  —  u,  and  let 
0  be  the  angle  described  by  the  revolving  line  while  the 
travelling  point  advances  from  P  to  Q  ;  then,  since  from  the 
definition  the  radiant  u  and  the  angle  0  are  both  propor- 
tional to  the  time,  they  are  proportional  to  each  other ;  and 
the  polar  equation  of  the  equable  spiral  is  u  =  a  0,  where  a 
is  a  constant.  If  we  suppose  u  ==  r  when  the  revolving  line 
has  made  a  complete  revolution,  or  when  0  =  2  it  ;  then 

r 
a  =  r  -7-2  it,  and  the  equation  becomes  u  =  5 —  6. 

Some  of  the  principal  properties  of  this  spiral  are  the  fol- 
lowing :  1.  The  area  of  the  spiral  P  a  A  b  Q.  is  equal  to 

—  —  n  u  ■  If  u  =  r.  this  becomes  i  7r  r? ;  or  the  area 
6a         3r 

generated  while  the  revolving  line  makes  one  revolution, 
is  equal  to  a  third  of  a  circle  whose  radius  is  r.  If  u  =  2r, 
the  expression  for  the  area  becomes  |jt  (2  r)2 ;  and  the 
spiral  area  is  therefore  the  third  part  of  a  space  that  is 
double  of  a  circle  described  with  a  radius  =  2  r.  And 
generally  the  whole  area  Generated  by  the  radiant,  from 
the  beginning  of  the  motioif  till  after  any  number  of  revolu- 
tions, Ts  equal  to  the  third  part  of  a  space  which  is  the 
same  multiple  of  the  circle  whose  radius  is  equal  to  the 
greatest  radiant  as  the  number  of  revolutions  is  of  unit.  2. 
The  arc  of  the  spiral  between  its  origin  and  the  radiant  u  is 

1147 


SPIRAL  VESSELS. 

equal  to  that  of  a  parabola  whose  latus  rectum  is  2  a 
Included  between  the  v< irtex  ttnd  an  ordinate  =  u,  and  the 
corresponding  area  of  the  spiral  is  equal  to  one  half  the 
corresponding  area  of  the  parabola.  :t.  The  subtongent  to 
any  pi  int  Q  of  the  spiraJ  is  equal  to  the  arc  of  a  circle  de- 
scribed by  the  radiant  1*  u ;  and  hence  at  the  termination 
of  the  first,  second,  third,  fourth,  &.c.  revolutions,  the  cor- 
responding subtangents  are  as  the  series  of  square  numbers, 
1,  4,  9,  10,  Sec.  ;  for  the  second,  third,  fourth,  &c,  the  sub- 
tangents  are  equal  to  'J,  3,  -i,  &<-.  circumferences,  whose 
radii  are  at  the  same  time  doubled,  tripled, quadrupled,  &c. 
The  equable  spiral  was  proposed  bj  <  'onon  to  \i<  almedes, 

who,  in  Ins  treatise  l\i(n  I -'\t\ov,  has  investigated  its  quad- 
rature, and  some  of  its  chief  properties. 

The  hyperbolic  spiral  belongs  to  a  class  of  spirals  of 

which  the  general  equation  is  u  =  a  6 — ".    If  we  suppose 

n  =  1,  we  have  u  =  a  0  ',  or  u  6  as  a  which  is  the  equa- 
tion of  the  hyperbolic  spiral;  and  from  which  it  follows, 
that  if  from  a  point  in  a  straight  line,  given  by  position,  arcs 
be  described  of  a  given  length,  and  having  each  one  ex- 
tremity in  the  given  straight  line,  the  locus  of  their  other 
extremities  will  be  in  the  spiral. 

This  curve  was  proposed  by  James  Bernoulli,  and  has 
been  called  the  hyperbolic  spiral,  from  the  analog]  between 
its  polar  equation  and  the  equation  to  rectangular  coordi- 
nates of  the  common  hyperbola,  when  referred  to  its 
asymptotes  ;  namely,  x  y  =  A,  a  constant  area. 

The  logarithmic  spiral  differs  from  the  equable  spiral  in 
this  respect,  that  the  point  which  describes  the  curve, 
instead  of  advancing  equably  along  the  uniformly  revolving 
straight  line,  is  carried  along  it  with  a  velocity  increasing 
in  proportion  to  the  distance  from  the  centre.  This  curve, 
which  was  noticed  by  Des  Cartes,  has  many  remarkable 
properties,  of  which  the  more  abstruse  were  investigated 
by  .lames  Bernoulli.      See  LOGARITHKIC  Sl'IRAL. 

For  ihe  Investigation  of  the  properties  of  spirals,  see 
J. (sin  's  Qeomi  tricot  .  Inalysis  ;  Peacock's  Examples  of  the 
Jlifj'ircntial  and  Integral  Calculus ;  Macluurin's  Fluxions, 
&c. 

SPI'RAL  VESSELS,  in  Plants,  are  membranous  tubes 
with  conical  extremities,  lined  in  the  inside  by  a  fibre 
twisted  spirally,  and  capable  of  unrolling  wiih  elasticity; 
their  function  is  that  of  the  conveyance  of  air.  They  nre 
found  in  almost  any  part  of  plants  except  the  bark ;  but  are 
most  abundant  in  leaves  and  flowers,  and  least  common  in 
the  stem  and  root,  except  in  the  medullary  sheath  of  the 
former. 

SPIRE.  (Gr.  aireipa,  a  twisting.)  In  Architecture, 
among  the  ancients,  the  base  of  a  column  :  also  the  as- 
tragal or  torus  of  the  base.  In  modern  architecture,  it  is 
an  erection  above  the  tower  of  a  church,  which  diminishes 
gradually  as  il  rises;  sometimes  rising  in  the  form  of  a  plain 
blender  pyramid,  polygonal  on  the  plane. 

SPI'RIFER.  The  name  of  a  genus  of  extinct  Pallio- 
branchiate  mollusks,  characterized  by  the  shell  having  two 
internal  calcori s  spiral  appendages. 

BPI'RIT  OP  WINE.  See  Alcohol  and  FERMENTA- 
TION. 

SPrRITl  >,  SPIRITO'SO  (It. spirit,  with  spirit),  in  Music, 
denotes,  when  affixed  to  a  movement,  that  it  is  to  be  per- 
formed J,,  ■,  spirited  manner. 
_  SPI'RITS.    All  inflammable  liquors  obtained  bydistilla- 

brandy,  rum,  geneva,  whiskey,  &.c,  are  comprised 

under  this  designation.  The  manufacture  of  spirits  is 
placed  miller  the  Burveillance  of  the  excise,  and  a  very 
large  r<  venue  is  obtained  from  it.  The  following  statistical 
accounts  relative  to  spirits.  &c.,  for  the  year  ending  Jan.  r>. 
1841,  are  extracted  from  a  return  laid  before  the  House  of 
Commons:  i.  it  appears  that  during  that  period  the  total 
gallons  of  proof  spirits  distilled  in  the  United  Kingdom,  and 

produced  from  malt  and  from  a  mixture  of  malt  with  mi- 
mailed  grain,  amounted  to  22,021,394  gallons,  of  which 
- 1  ill. ui,  «rere  distilled  in  England, 8,821,530 gallons 
hi  Scotland,  and  7,281,449  gallons  in  Ireland.  2.  Thi  total 
gallons  of  proof  spirits  on  which  dulj  was  paid  for  con- 
sumption In  the  Untied  Kingd amounted  to  21,859,337 

gallons  ;  the  total  amount  of  duty  paid  thereon  ha\  ing  been 

£5,208  040.  <  If  these  21,859,33';  gallons,  there  were  3,278  I  w 
on  w  bich  dut,  w.is  paid  for  home  consumption  in  England, 
6,180,338  in  Scotland,  and  7,404,051  in  Ireland.  3.  The 
total  number  of  gallons  of  proof  spirits  (made  from  various 

grain,    fcc.),    imported    into    England    from    Scotland,    was 

2,056,640  :  into  England  from  Ireland,  370,441  ;  Into  Ireland 
from  Scotland,  762,358;  and  into  Scotland  from  Ireland, 
total  amount  of  duty  paid  upon  all  which 
was  £1,028,294.  I.  The  total  number  of  gallons  of  proof 
spirits  permitted  out  from  distillers'  stocks  in  England 
0  and  the  total  number  of  gallons 
proof  of  British  brandy  and  spirits  of  wine,  permitted  out 

fr verifiers'  stocks  in  England,  was  as  follows,  viz., 

British  brandy  yt)f,oo;i  gallons,  ami  spirits  of  wine  236,007 
1148 


SPONGE. 

gallons.  5.  The  total  number  of  proof  gallons  of  foreign 
spirits  (including  rum,  brandy,  geneva,  &.<•.)  which  paid 
duty  in  the  United  Kingdom,  amounted  altogether  to 
3,644,410;  the  net  amount  of  duty  paid  upon  which  was 
£2,440,942,  Of  this  duty,  England  paid  X'2,:t5-J,550,  Scot- 
land £66,134,  and  Ireland  £22,258.  If  to  the  above  quan- 
tities there  be  added  the  spirits  of  the  manufacture  of  the 
I'nited  Kingdom,  and  of  Jersey  and  Guernsey,  the  gross 
total  number  of  gallons  of  spirits  of  all  kinds  that  paid  duty 
in  the  year  1840-41  will  amount  to  25,517,326,  and  the  net 
amount  of  such  duty  to  £7,654,233,  (For  full  particulars 
as  to  the  operation  of  the  duties  upon  spirits,  see  the  Com. 
Hut.)     See  Distillation. 

SITKITI' AL1S.M.  as  distinguished  from  Materialism. 
That  system  according  to  which  all  that  is  real  is  spirit, 
soul,  or  self;  that  which  is  called  the  external  world  being 
either  a  succession  of  notions  impressed  on  the  mind  by 
the  Deity,  or  else  the  mere  educt  of  the  mind  itself.  The 
first  is  the  spiritualism  of  Berkeley ;  the  second,  w  Inch 
may  he  called  pure  egoism,  that  of  Fichte. 

SP1'RUL1D/E.  The  name  of  a  family  of  Dibranchiata 
Cephalopoda,  of  which  the  genus  SpiriUm  is  the  type. 
They  are  chiefly  characterized  by  having  a  spiral  discoid 
chambered  shell  developed  in  the  substance  of  the  mantle, 
instead  of  a  calcareous  or  horny  plate. 

SPLANCHNOLOGY.  (Gr.  onlavvov,  an  entrail,  and 
Aoyoj,  a  discourse.)     The  doctrine  of  the  viscera. 

SPLAYED.  (Displayed,  spread  out.)  In  Architecture, 
a  term  used  to  denote  an  angle  which  is  cut  oil",  or  oblique. 

SPLEEN.  A  spongy  viscus,  of  an  oval  form,  the  use  of 
which  is  unknown  ;  placed  in  the  human  subject  in  the 
left  hypochondrium,  between  the  eleventh  and  twelfth 
false  ribs.  Spleen  is  also  used  for  a  species  of  hypochon- 
driasis to  which  the  English  are  said  to  be  particularly 
open. 

SPLENITIS.     Inflammation  of  the  spleen. 

SPLE'NIUS.  A  flat  muscle,  situated  between  the  back 
of  tin-  ear  and  the  lower  and  posterior  part  of  the  neck. 

SPLENT  COAL.  An  inferior  kind  of  cannel  coal  from 
the  Scotch  collieries. 

SPLICE.  In  Naval  language,  to  join  the  end  of  a  rope 
with  the  end  or  bight  of  another  by  untwisting  the  strands 
of  both  and  laying  them  up  again  Involved. 

To  splice  the  main  brace,  a  term  applied  to  an  extra  allow- 
ance of  spirits  in  cases  of  cold  or  wet. 

SPLINT.  A  piece  of  wood  or  pasteboard,  so  shaped  as 
to  support  a  broken  or  debilitated  limb. 

SPLINTERY.  That  fracture  of  minerals  which  is  nearly 
even,  but  exhibits  small  splinters  or  scales  thicker  at  one 
extremity  than  the  other,  and  adhering  by  their  thicker 
ends  to  the  broken  surface. 

SPO'DUMENE.  A  mineral  found  in  laminated  masses, 
hard,  brittle,  translucent,  and  of  various  shades  of  green, 
or  grey.  It  was  first  discovered  at  Utoe,  in  Sweden.  It 
consists  of  silica  and  alumina,  with  8  to  10  per  cent,  of 
lithia.  Before  the  blowpipe,  it  exfoliates  into  little  scales 
of  an  ash  colour:  heme  its  name,  from  ottoSvu),  to  reduce  to 
ashes.     It  is  also  called  triphane. 

SPOLIATION,  WRIT  OF,  In  English  Law,  is  obtained 
by  one  of  the  parties  to  a  suit  in  the  ecclesiastical  courts 
suggesting  that  his  adversary  has  wasted  the  fruits  of  a 
benefice,  or  received  them  to  his  prejudice.  The  suit 
founded  on  this  writ  lies  for  one  Incumbent  against  another, 
where  they  both  claim  by  one  patron,  and  the  right  of 
patronage  is  not  in  question. 

SPO'NDEE.  (Gr.  vtrovSt),  a  libation.)  In  Greek  and 
Latin    Poetry,   the   name   of  a   foot   consisting  of  two   long 

syllables.  It  was  so  called  iiecaiise  it  was  originally  em- 
ployed in  the  hymns  sung  In  honour  of  Ihe  gods  during  the 

offering  up  Of  B  sacrifice,  for  which  it  was  admirably  fitted 
from  its  grave  structure.  ,S/ion<laic  verse  is  an  hex  nnnter 
line,  in  which   the  two  Inst   feet  are  spondees;  instead  of 

the  usual  termination,  a  dactylus  and  a  spondee, 
SPO'NDYLUS.    (Lat.  spondyrus,  a  spindle  or  shell  fish.) 

The    name  of  a    l.inna-an   genUS  of  the    Vermes  Test 

comprehending  the  spring  oj  sters  ;  characterized  by  having 

a  strong  100th  on  each  side  of  the  depression  lodging  111  ■ 
elastic  ligament  of  the  hinge  of  the  shell.  The  genua  is 
included  in  the  Ostr.icean  family  ol  the  Acephalous  Testa- 

cea  by  cuvier,  and  has  been  subdivided  bj  Lamarck  into 
the  genera  Spondylus  proper  and  Plicatula.  Some  of  the 
species  of  Spondylus,  as  tin-  water  clam  i sp.  partus),  form 

a  seiies  of  chambers  by  secreting  successive  layers  of 
nacraoUS  shell  at  a  distance  from  each  other,  the  last  cham- 
ber containing  a  quantity  of  fluid,  which  escapes  by  very 

slow  evaporation  through  tin-  pores  of  the  calcareous  shell. 

SPONGE  I'r.  eponge,  Germ,  schwamm),  i>  a  cellular 
liiirous  tissue  produced  by  small  animals,  almost  Imper- 
ceptible, called  Polypi  by  naturalists,  which  live  in  the  sea. 

'I'his  tis-ur  i-  said    io  he   covered   in   its   recent  state  with  a 

kind  oi  semifluid  thin  coat  of  animal  jelly,  susceptible 
slight  contraction  or  trembling  on  being  touched  ;  which  is 


SPONGE  TENT. 

?he  only  symptom  of  vitality  displayed  by  the  sponge. 
After  death  this  jelly  disappears,  and  leaves  merely  the 
sponge  ;  formed  by  the  combination  of  a  multitude  of  small 
capillary  tubes,  capable  of  receiving  water  in  their  interior, 
and  of  becoming  thereby  distended.  Sponges  occur  attached 
to  stones  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  and  abound  particularly 
upon  the  shores  of  the  islands  in  the  Grecian  Archipelago. 
Although  analogous  in  their  origin  to  coral,  sponges  are 
quite  different  in  their  nature  ;  the  former  being  composed 
almost  entirely  of  carbonate  of  lime ;  while  the  latter  are 
formed  of  the  same  elements  as  animal  matters,  and  afford 
on  distillation  a  considerable  quantity  of  ammonia. 

Dilute  sulphuric  acid  has  been  recommended  for  bleach- 
ing sponges,  after  the  calcareous  impurities  have  been  re- 
moved by  muriatic  acid.     Chlorine  water  answers  better. 

The  sponges  of  commerce  are  usually  prepared  before 
they  come  to  the  market,  by  being  beaten  and  soaked  in 
dilute  muriatic  acid  with  a  view  to  bleach  them,  and  to  dis- 
solve any  adherent  portions  of  carbonate  of  lime.  Three 
kinds  are  found  commonly  in  the  market,  and  known  as 
the  Turkey ;  the  variety  of  the  same,  which  is  very  rare  ; 
and  the  West  Indian.  On  examining  the  living  sponge  of 
commerce  with  a  power  of  about  500  linear,  the  fleshy  mat- 
ter will  be  distinctly  observed,  having  in  its  interior  gemmse, 
which  are  considered  to  be  the  young.  These  are  occa- 
sionally given  off  from  the  mass  of  living  matter.  The 
greater  portion  of  the  mass  of  sponge  consists  of  small 
cylindrical  threads  or  fibres,  various  in  size.  The  spicule 
are  not  found  within  these,  but  in  the  large  and  flattened 
fibres,  and  varying  in  number  from  one  to  three  or  more, 
imbedded  in  their  substance.  Sometimes  one  spiculum 
projects  a  half  or  more  from  the  side  of  the  fibre,  and  is 
then  only  covered  with  the  animal  matter  at  the  base,  or 
half  way  up.  The  fibres  of  the  West  Indian  species  of 
sponge  have  been  clearly  proved  to  be  solid.  In  the  rare 
variety  of  Turkey  sponge,  the  fibres  are  possessed  of  vessels 
which  anastomose  in  various  directions,  differing  much  in 
size,  and  not  imbedded  in  homy  fibre,  but  in  a  separate 
sheath.  This  true  vascular  tissue  performs  very  important 
functions  in  the  economy  of  the  animal  during  life.  In 
some  of  the  tubes  of  sponge  have  been  observed  small 
globules,  the  largest  of  which  measured  the  16(56th  of  an 
inch,  and  the  smallest  the  50,0U0th  of  an  inch.  They  were 
accidentally  perceived  to  move  from  right  to  left.  (See  a 
Paper  read  by  Mr.  Bowerbank  at  a  meeting  of  the  Micro- 
scopical Society  in  1841.) 

SPONGE  TENT,  is  formed  by  dipping  sponge  into  hot 
melted  wax  plaister,  and  pressing  it  till  cold  between  two 
iron  plates :  it  is  then  cut  into  pieces,  and  used  for  dilating 
wounds. 

SPO'NGI/E.  The  name  of  a  class  of  aquatic  Zoophites 
composed  of  the  different  genera  and  species  of  sponge. 

SPO'NGIOLE.  In  Botany,  the  lax  cellular  tissue  and 
mucus  situated  at  the  extremities  of  roots,  having  the  prop- 
erty of  absorbing  fluid  like  a  sponge  ;  whence  the  name. 

SPO'NSIONS.  In  International  Law,  acts  and  engage- 
ments made  on  behalf  of  states  by  agents  not  specially 
authorized,  or  exceeding  the  limits  of  the  authority  under 
which  they  purport  to  be  made,  are  so  called  by  writers  on 
this  branch  of  jurisprudence.  Such  conventions  must  be 
confirmed  by  express  or  tacit  ratification ;  the  latter  of 
which  is  implied  from  the  fact  of  acting  under  it  as  if  bound 
by  its  stipulations  ;  but  mere  silence  is  not,  in  general,  held 
equivalent  to  ratification.  Such  are  the  official  acts  of 
admirals  and  generals  suspending  or  limiting  hostilities, 
capitulations  of  surrender,  cartels  of  exchange,  &c.  (See 
Grotius,  De  Jure  Bel.  et  Pac.,  lib.  iii. ;  Vattel,  liv.  ii.  ; 
Wheaton,  On  International  Law,  vol.  i.,  p.  291.) 

SPO'NSORS.  In  the  Roman  Catholic,  Greek,  Lutheran, 
and  Calyinistic  Churches  on  the  Continent,  and  in  the  Church 
of  England,  the  name  given  to  the  parties  who  at  the  bap- 
tism of  infants  make  a  profession  of  the  Christian  faith  in 
their  name,  and  guarantee  their  religious  education.  (See 
Jfeander's  Church  Histury,  vol.  i.,  part  2.;  In  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  baptism  is  administered  without  sponsors. 

SPOO'NDRIFT.  The  light  spray  blown  off  the  waves  in 
a  violent  wind. 

SPO'RADIC.  (Gr.  <7-£</>w,  I  sow.)  A  term  applied  to 
such  diseases  as  attack  a  few  persons  at  a  time. 

SPORANGI'UM.  (Gr.  a-rropa,  a  seed,  and  ayyetov,  a  ves- 
sel.) The  case  in  which  the  reproductive  matter  of  ferns, 
mosses,  and  many  other  Cryptogamic  plants  is  enclosed. 
Sporangiolum  is  the  same  part,  when  so  small  as  to  be  mi- 
croscopic. 

SPORI'DIA.  (Gr.  atropa,  and  e«So?,  form.)  A  term  used 
in  describing  Alga?  and  Characeae,  to  denote  the  granules 
which  resemble  sporules,  but  which  are  of  a  doubtful  nature. 
Also,  in  describing  Fungi,  to  indicate  the  immediate  cover- 
ing of  the  sporules. 

SPORIDIO'LA.  The  sporules  or  reproductive  granules 
of  Fungi. 

SPO'RTUM,  SPORTULA.  In  Roman  Antiquities.  It 
90 


sauiLL. 

was  an  ancient  usage  in  Rome  for  rich  men  to  distribute 
victuals  on  certain  occasions  among  their  poor  clients,  each 
of  whom  attended  for  the  purpose  with  a  wicker  basket 
(sportum.)  Afterwards  this  dole  was  generally  commuted 
for  money ;  and  the  sum  thus  distributed,  about  100  quad- 
rantes,  or  eighteen  pence  English,  was  called  sportula. 

SPO'RULES,  or  SPORES.  (Gr.  ampa,  a  seed.)  The  re- 
productive bodies  of  Asexual  or  Cryptogamic  plants,  differ- 
ing from  seeds  in  not  being  generated  by  impregnation,  and 
in  having  no  definite  and  predetermined  points  of  growth, 
but  springing  forth  into  young  plants  from  any  part  of  their 
surface. 

SPOTS  ON  THE  SUN.     See  Sun. 

SPRING.  In  Astronomy,  one  of  the  four  seasons  of  the 
year.  For  the  northern  hemisphere,  the  spring  season  be- 
gins when  the  sun  enters  Aries,  the  first  of  the  northern 
signs,  or  about  the  21st  of  March,  and  ends  at  the  time  of 
the  summer  solstice.     See  Seasons. 

Spring.  In  Mechanics,  a  piece  of  mechanism,  formed 
of  tempered  steel  or  some  other  elastic  substance,  applied 
mostly  for  the  purposes  of  producing  resistance,  or  of  pre- 
venting a  shock  from  the  collision  of  hard  bodies,  or  of 
giving  motion  to  mechanism  by  its  effort  to  unbend  itself. 
For  the  law  of  the  force  exerted  by  a  spring,  see  Elastic 
Curve. 

Spring.    In  Natural  History.     See  Fountain. 

Spring.  In  Naval  language,  a  rope  or  hawser  by  which 
a  ship  is  held  at  one  part,  as  the  bow  or  quarter,  in  order  to 
keep  her  ic  a  particular  position,  or  to  turn  her  in  a  short 
compass. 

SPRINGING.  In  Architecture,  the  lower  part  of  an 
arch ;  or  that  part  from  which  it  rises. 

SPRING  TIDES.  The  tides  at  the  times  of  the  new  and 
full  moon.  At  these  times  the  sun  and  moon  are  in  a 
straight  line  with  the  earth,  and  their  joint  effect  in  raising 
the  waters  of  the  ocean  is  a  maximum,  and  the  tides  are 
consequently  the  highest.     See  Tides. 

SPRIT  SAIL.  This  is  generally  a  four-cornered  fore-and- 
aft  sail,  supported  diagonally  by  a  piece  of  wood  called  the 
sprit.    Ships  formerly  carried  sails  on  their  sprit-sail  yards. 

SQUA'DRON.  in  Military  affairs,  signifies  a  body  of  cav- 
alry, averaging  from  one  to  two  hundred  men.  in  naval 
matters,  it  is  applied  to  a  detachment  of  ships  employed  on 
a  particular  expedition. 

SQUALL.  The  Sea  term  for  a  gust  of  wind,  or  for  a 
short  temporary  increase  in  the  force  of  the  wind. 

BQUA'MA.  (Lat.  a  scale.)  The  bracteae  of  an  amen- 
tum ;  also  used  occasionally  for  any  kind  of  bacted  or  rudi- 
mentary leaf  which  has  a  scaly  appearance. 

SQUA'MMIPENNES.  (Lat.  squama;  penna,  a  Jin.) 
The  name  of  a  family  of  Acanthopterygious  fishes,  com- 
prising those  which  have  the  dorsal  and  anal  fins  covered 
with  scales. 

SQUA'MOUS.  (Lat.  squama,  a  scale.)  In  Zoology, 
when  a  surface  is  covered  with  small  scales. 

SQUARE.  In  Geometry,  a  four-sided  rectilineal  figure, 
of  which  all  the  angles  are  right  angles,  and  all  the  sides 
equal. 

SQUARE  MEASURES.  The  squares  of  the  lineal 
measures.     See  Measure. 

SQUARE  NUMBER,  in  Arithmetic,  is  the  product  of  a 
number  multiplied  by  itself.  Thus,  the  squares  of  the  nat- 
ural numbers,  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  &.c,  are  respectively,  1,  4,  9,  16, 
25,  &c.  The  square  numbers  are  the  first  series  of  figurate 
numbers  derived  from  the  progression  1,  3,  5,  7,  9,  &c,  in. 
which  the  common  difference  of  the  terms  is  2.  (See  Figu- 
rate Numbers.)  Among  the  properties  of  square  num- 
bers the  following  may  be  mentioned :  Every  odd  square 
number  is  of  the  form  8  n  + 1,  or,  when  divided  by  8,  leaves 
1  for  the  remainder.  Every  even  square  number  is  of  the 
form  4  7i,  or  is  divisible  by  four.  Every  square  number  ends 
with  one  or  other  of  the  following  digits,  0,  1,  4,  5,  6,  9.  No 
number  of  the  form  2  ml  -f-  3  n-  can  be  a  square. 

SQUARE-RIGGED.  The  term  for  a  vessel  carrying 
square  sails,  which  are  extended  by  yards  suspended  hori- 
zontally, or  slung  by  the  middle. 

SQUARE  ROOT.  In  Arithmetic,  the  square  root  of  any 
number  is  the  number  which  being  multipled  into  itself 
produces  the  given  number.  Thus  12  is  the  square  root  of 
144,  i  is  the  square  root  of  ±  and  -05  the  square  root  of  -0025. 
When  the  given  number  "is  not  an  exact  square,  the  root 
may  be  found  to  any  degree  of  approximation  by  the  process 
for  extracting  the  square  root,  which  is  taught  in  every  book 
of  common  arithmetic.     See  Quadratic  Equation. 

SQUILL.  The  root  of  the  Scilla  maritima.  Squills  are 
imported  from  the  Levant ;  they  have  a  nauseously  bitter 
and  very  acrid  flavour,  and  are  generally  cut  into  slices  and 
dried  for  pharmaceutical  uses.  There  are  two  varieties,  the 
red  and  the  white  ;  which,  however,  do  not  appear  to  differ 
materially  in  composition.  In  large  doses  squill  is  purgative 
and  emetic ;  but  it  is  chiefly  employed  in  smaller  doses  as  a 

1149 


STABAT  MATER  DOLOROSA. 

powerful  expectorant,  and  as  a  diuretic  in  combination  with 
other  remedies.  Half  an  ounce  of  oxymel  of  squills  la 
sometimes   prescribed  as  an  emetic  in  cases  where  the 

bronchia  are  much  loaded  with  viscid  mucus,  and  in  the 
chronic  coughs  of  Old  people. 

kT  MATEB  DOLOROSA.  The  first  word-  of 
a  celebrated  Latin  liymn  of  the  Church,  in  rhymed  lines  of 
eight  syllables  without  metre  ;  said  to  have  been  composed 

by  a  Franciscan  monk  named  Jacopone,  in  the  14th  century. 

It  has  been  set  to  music  by  nearly  all  the  great  cum,. 

known  of  all  their  compositions  is  thai  of  Pergolesi, 
commenced  bj  him  when  nearly  mi  his  deathbed,  and  fin- 
ished bj  another  hand.  The  stabat  mater  is  performed  in 
the  ecclesiastical  services  of  the  Roman  Church  during 
Holy  Week. 

STACCATO.  (It.  separated.)  In  Music,  a  term  denoting 
that  the  notes  to  which  it  is  affixed  are  to  be  detached  in  a 
striking  way  from  each  other,  being  much  like  spiccato, 
which 

STACK.  Corn  in  the  sheaf  piled  up  in  a  circular  or  rect- 
angular figure,  brought  to  a  point  or  ridge  at  top,  and  after- 
ntched  to  protect  it  from  the  influence  of  the  weath- 
er, and  mure  especially  from  rains.  The  term  is  also  some- 
times applied  to  hay  piled  up  in  the  same  manner;  which, 
however,  in  most  places,  is  called  a  rick.  The  foundation 
of  a  corn  stack  is  commonly  made  on  a  platform  of  wood  or 
iron,  raised  on  props  to  protect  it  from  the  moisture  of  the 
soil,  and  also  from  rats  and  mice;  in  which  reaped  stacks 
of  com  differ  from  ricks  of  hay,  which  are  built  always  on 
the  ground. 

STA'DIUM.  (Gr.  araliov.)  A  measure  of  length  in  use 
among  the  ancient  Greeks  and  some  other  nations,  the  pre- 
cise value  of  which  is  unknown  ;  though  there  are  some 
data  from  which  a  rough  approximation  to  its  value  may  be 
made.  The  most  ancient  measurement  of  an  arc  of  the  ter- 
restrial meridian  is  that  of  Eratosthenes,  and  the  result  gave 
the  length  of  the  circumference  of  a  great  circle  =  350,009 
stadia.  But  the  circumference  of  the  earth's  equator  is 
known  to  be  nearly  ij.lMHl  English  miles;  whence,  suppos- 
ing the  measurement  of  Kratosthenes  to  he  correct,  a  Stadium 
is  the  tenth  part  of  an  English  mile.  Posidonius  found  by 
another  measurement  the  circumference  of  the  earth  to  be 
240,000  stadia:  on  the  same  supposition  of  an  accurate  de 
termination,  this  gives  about 9j  stadia  to  the  English  mile. 
But  it  is  to  be  remarked,  that  little  dependence  can  be 
placed  on  these  ancient  measurementa;  for  Ptblemj  estj 
mated  the  circumference  of  the  earth  at  180.U0U  stadia. 
which  is  only  ijths  of  the  result  found  by  Posidonius.  The 
milium  is,  however,  supposed  to  have  been  different  at 
different  places,  (isee  Paucton,  JUetrologie ;  also  the  Quar- 
trrlij  lit  n.  ir.  No.  5.)  The  best  account  of  the  stadium, 
and  the  ancient  mode  of  measuring  distances,  is  to  be  col- 
lected from  the  various  memoirs  of  Danville;  in  the  Mtm. 
de  l\icad.  des  Inscr.,  vols,  xxiv..  x.wiii.,  x.xxvi.  ;  and  ffis- 
toire  de  I'.icad..  vols.  xwii..  xxxi. 

Stadii  m.     In  Ancient  Architecture,  an  open  area  used 

for  exercises  by  the  Grecian  youth.     With  the  Romans  it 

was  much  in  trie  form  of  the  circi,  but  most  of  thi 

stadia  were  enclosed  by  merely  an  earthen  mound.    Yitruvi- 

us  informs   us   that  its  length   was  much  greater   than   its 

breadth ;    the   lists   were   formed   by   a   bank   or   terrace. 

Thoush  the  stadium  mostly  formed  part  of  a  gymnasium, 

mes  formed  a  separate  structure,  and  was  built  at 

■  and  with  considerable  elegance  :  w  itness  that  on 

thian  Isthmus  mentioned  by  Pausanias.  as  well  a- 

that  of  Herodie  Atticus  at  Athens,  which  was  of  large  di- 

mensions.  and  constructed  of  Pentelican  marble.     Besides 

this,  mention  is  made  by  that  author  of  several  others. 

STA  DTHOLDER.  (Dut  stadhouder,  tity-kola 
name  formerly  given  to  the  commander  In-chief  of  the  mili- 
tary force-  in  the  republic  of  the  United  Netherlands.  Wil- 
liam I..  Prince  of  Oranee,  had  been  made  governor  or  stadt- 
holder  of  the  three  provinces  of  Holland,  Zealand,  and 
Utrecht ;  and  during  the  war  of  independence,  he  was  con- 
tinued in  that  office  by  the  goodwtil  of  those  provinces. 
After  his  death  tin-  Earl  of  Leicester  was  decian 
holder  by  the  States  Genera] :  while  some  of  thi 

-    appointed   l'rince   Maurice,   son  of  their   former 

governor,     rot  a  century  and  a  half  afterwards  the  office 

:.  rred  and  withdrawn  by  the  several   provinces  at 

many  different  times,  although  always  confined  to  members 

of  the  bouse  of  Orange.     William  IV.,  Prince  of  Orange,  in 

1747.  was  the  lir-t  general  hereditary  Itadtholder;  in  17M, 

the  office  ceased  in  the  French  conquest ;  in  1-M.  the  pres- 

d  of  the  house  of  Orange  (who  recently  abdicated 

in  favour  of  his  son    w  .is  raised  10  the  throne  by  the  title  of 
King  Willi  mi  I.     The  power  of  the  stadlholder  varied  in 
■  provinces,  and  at  different  period--. 
.-I  IFF.     In   Music,  the  five  lines  and  spaces  between 
(hem,  on  h  in*  h  music  Is  written. 
Si  mi.    in  Architecture,     5     Bt      -inn. 
Ktajt.     In  Military  ajTairs,  those  officer*  attached  to  the 
1150 


STAMENS. 

commander  of  an  army  to  assist  him  in  carrying  his  plant 
into   execution.     They   consist    of  a  qu.irteiniasi. 
adjutant  general,  major.-  Of  brigade,   il     The  importance 

of  the  judicious  selection  of  a  staflf  is  ably  demonstrated  in 

the  preface  to  James'*  Military  liictiunary. 

ST  WT'  ANGLE.    Iii  Architecture,  a  square  rod  of  wood 

standing  flush  with  the  wall  on  each  of  us  -.des.  ;u  the  ex- 
ternal angles  of  plastering  on  the  inside  of  the  apartments, 

to  prevent  the  angles  thereof  being  broken  or  damaged. 

STAIRS.  In  Architecture.  steps  for  ascending  from  the 
lower  to  the  upper  part  of  a  house.  When  these  are  en- 
Ith  walls  or  balustrades,  with  landing-places  for 
communication  between  the  several  stories  of  a  building, 
the  whole  Is  called  a  staircase.  Vltruvius  makes  no  men- 
tion of  staircases  in  his  Treatise  on  Architecture  ;  and,  in- 
deed, with  the  ancients  they  formed  no  feature  in  the  in- 
terior, being  generally  on  the  outside  of  the  houses.  Those 
id'  which  traces  remain  arc  narrow,  and  so  inconvenient 
that  in  some  cases  the  steps  are  a  foot  in  height.  In  modern 
architecture,  they  are  often  constructed  with  great  display 
of  skill  and  magnificence,  and  are  no  small  test  of  the  skill 
and  power  of  the  architect  Those  stairs  which  proceed  in 
a  right  line  of  ascent  are  called  fliers  ;  when  they  wind 
round  a  solid  or  open  neird  they  are  called  minders.  .Viitd 
stairs  are  such  as  partly  wind  and  partly  tlv. 

STALACTITES.  Conical  concretions  of  carbonate  of 
lime  attached  to  the  roofs  of  calcareous  caverns,  and  formed 
by  the  gradual  dropping  of  water  holding  the  carbonate  in 
solution:  from  oruXuffoui,  I  drop. 

STALA  CMITE.  Btalactical  formations  of  carbonate  of 
lime,  found  upon  the  floors  of  calcareous  caverns. 

STALK.  In  Architecture,  an  ornament  resembling  a 
stalk  in  the  Corinthian  capital,  from  which  the  volutes  and 
helices  spring.     It  is  sometimes  fluted. 

STALL.  In  Architecture,  a  seat  raised  on  the  sides  of 
the  choir  or  chancel  of  a  churrh.  mostly  appropriated  to  a 
dignitary  of  a  cathedral  or  collegiate  church,  Sometimes 
stalls  are  placed  near  the  hii:h  altar,  for  the  priest  and 
deacon  or  snbdeacon  to  rest  while  the  Ben  ice  in  certain 
parts  is  carried  on  by  the  choristers.  In  churches  of  the 
kinds  named  there  is  generally  a  series  of  them.  At  St. 
George's  Chapel,  Windsor,  a  stall  is  appropriated  to  every 
if  the  Garter  after  his  election  and  installation. 

STA'LLAGE.  In  Law.  a  duty  paid  for  the  liberty  of 
setting  up  moveable  stalls  or  tables,  or  the  like,  in  a  fair  or 
market ;  due  to  the  owner  of  the  soil  as  Mich,  to  set  npstalls 
without  who<e  licence  i-  trespass.  When  the  stalls  are 
fixed  into  the  ground,  the  dun  is  termed  piekage. 

STALL  FEEDING.  Cattle  kept  in  stables,  and  tied  up 
separately,  Which  have  their  food  brought  to  them 
to  be  stall-fed.  The  advantages  of  this  mod,  of  fattening 
cattle  are  very  great,  both  to  the  farmer  or  feeder  and  to  the 
public;  because  much  less  food  is  wasted,  and  a  much 
greater  quantity  of  manure  is  produced.  The  diaad' 
are.  that  more  manual  labour  is  required  tor  cutting  and 
carrying  the  food  from  the  field  to  the  stable:  and  that  the 
flesh  of  the  animals,  for  want  of  exercise  in  the  latter,  is 
not  considered  so  wholesome  or  high-flavoured  as  that  of 

cattle  which  have  pastured  at  large.  To  remedy  this  de- 
fect of  stall  feeding,  the  most  enlightened  farmers-,  instead 
of  rendering  their  cattle  fixtures  by  tying  them  up  to  stakes. 
put  t\\  o  or  three  together  in  small  yards,  with  a  shed  at  one 
end.  in  which  they  can  take  exercise,  shelter,  or  re|iose,  ac- 
cording to  their  inclination.  By  this  mode  an  equal  quan- 
tity of  manure  is  produced  with  less  labour,  and  the  rle-h  of 
the  cattle  is  reckoned  wholesome.  When  herbage  plants 
or  grasses  are  cut  only  fwo  or  three  times  in  the  comae  of 
a  s,  a-on.  instead  of  being  continual!)  cropped  by  thi 
cattle  during  the  whole  summer,  the  amount  of  vegetable 
produce  is  found  to  be  much  greater,  because  the  plant  while 
growing  perfects  a  sufficient  number  Of  leaves  to  nourish 
the  root;  and  when  this  produce  is  given  to  cattle  in  racks, 
-beds,  or  small  courts,  much  less  of  it  Is  wastSJQ 
than  if  it  were  eaten  on  the  sj>ot  where  it  grew.  Hence  any 
l',\-  i.  surface  Of  cultivated  land  will  produce  a  much  greater 
quantity  of  butcher  meat  under  crop-  to  be  mown  than  un- 
der herbage  to  be  pastured;  ami  stall  feeding,  therefore,  is 
oi f  the  greatest  < lent  improvements  that  has  been  in- 
troduced into  husbandry.     There  can  be   little  doubt  that, 

with  the  progress  of  rural  Improvement,  it  will  ultimately 
become  universal;  and  then,  and  not  till  then,  will  the 
butcher  meat  id"  warm  climates  lie  equal  to  that  of  RMh 
climates  as  that  Of  Hritain.     In  warm  climates,  at  pre-etit, 

cattle  cannot  be  fattened  by  partiiilng 

STA'MENS.  I. at.  The  male  apparatus  of  a  flower. 
They  are  situated  immediately  within  the  petals,  and  con- 
sist each  Of  a  filament,  the  anther,  and  the  pollen  ;  of  which 
the  two  latter  are  essential,  and  the  former  not.  They  are 
a  modified  form  of  the  |>etal.  and  are  placed   next  it  on  the 

Inside  next  the  centre  of  the  flower.  Independently  of  thair 
physiological  Importance,  they  are  much  used  as  good  mark* 
of  di-ciuuinaiiun  in  systematical  botany. 


STAMINIDIA. 

STAMINI'DIA.  (Lat.  stamen.)  Those  bodies  which 
are  supposed  to  be,  in  Hepatice,  and  other  Cryptogamic 
plants,  the  equivalent  of  anthers  in  more  perfect  plants. 

STAMP  DUTIES.  Duties  imposed  on  pieces  of  parch- 
ment and  paper  on  which  many  species  of  legal  instruments 
are  written;  on  newspapers,  advertisements,  cards,  dice, 
&c.  The  stamp  duties  have  been  consolidated  and  altered 
by  a  great  variety  of  acts  of  parliament ;  and  by  4  and  5  YV. 
4,  c.  60,  the  boards  of  stamps  and  taxes  are  united  into  a 
single  one. 

The  manner  in  which  the  stamp  duties  on  legal  instru- 
ments are  chiefly  secured  is  by  prohibiting  the  reception  of 
them  in  evidence,  unless  they  bear  the  stamp  required  by 
the  law.  Should  the  instrument,  after  being  stamped  and 
executed,  be  altered,  a  restamping  will  in  certain  cases  be 
requisite ;  thus,  a  mere  mistake  may  be  altered  without  a 
stamp;  but  any  change  in  the  terms  of  a  contract,  or  any 
fresh  conveyance  by  indorsement  on  a  former  one,  requires 
a  fresh  stamp.  The  objection  to  an  instrument  arising  from 
the  want  of  a  stamp  must  be  taken  at  the  trial  before  the 
instrument  is  read ;  but  it  is  sufficient  for  tire  purpose  of 
evidence  that  the  instrument  when  produced  on  the  trial 
should  be  properly  stamped,  although  it  may  not  have  been 
stamped  when  it  was  executed  ;  except  in  cases  where  the 
commissioners  of  stamps  are  prohibited,  by  express  enact- 
ment, from  affixing  in  this  manner  a  subsequent  stamp. 
When  an  instrument  has  been  lost,  and  it  is  proposed  to 
give  secondary  evidence  of  its  contents,  it  is  necessary  first 
to  give  evidence  that  it  was  duly  stamped ;  but  this  fact 
may  be  presumed  from  circumstances :  and  where  an  in- 
strument is  withheld  by  an  adversary  after  notice  to  pro- 
duce, it  is  always  taken  as  against  him  that  it  is  so  stamped. 
An  unstamped  instrument,  though  inadmissible  in  evidence 
of  its  contents,  may  yet  be  received  in  evidence  for  collateral 
purposes.  Thus,  in  indictment  for  forgery  of  an  instrument, 
the  instrument  may  be  produced,  although  unstamped ;  and 
an  agreement,  although  unstamped,  is  admissible  for  the 
purpose  of  proving  usury,  &c.     (See  Starkie  on  Evidence.) 

STA'NCHIONS.  The  Sea  term  for  upright  supports  in 
general. 

STAND.  A  Sea  term,  used  variously ;  as,  for  example, 
a  sail  is  said  to  stand  well  or  ill.  A  ship  is  said  to  stand 
towards  or  from  the  shore  or  any  object  (for  to  sail).  To 
stand  on,  to  continue  the  course.     To  stand  by,  to  be  ready. 

STA'NDARD.  In  Botany,  the  upper  and  erect  petal  of 
that  form  of  corolla  which  is  called  Papilionaceous,  from  its 
fancied  resemblance  to  a  butterfly. 

Standard.     See  Banner,  Flag. 

Standard  of  Money.     See  Monet. 

STA'NISL  AUS,  SALVT.  A  Polish  order  of  knighthood, 
founded  by  Stanislaus,  king  of  Poland,  in  1765  ;  renewed  by 
the  emperor  Alexander  in  1815. 

STA'NNARIES.  (Lat.  stannum,  tin.)  The  stannary 
courts  of  Devon  and  Cornwall,  are  courts  of  record  for  the 
administration  of  justice  among  the  tinners.  They  are  held 
before  the  lord  warden  and  his  substitutes.  The  privileges 
of  the  tinners  were  confirmed  by  33  E.  1.  The  appeal  from 
the  lord  warden  lies  to  the  privy  council  of  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  and  thence  to  the  sovereign. 

STA'JSNIC  ACID.    Peroxide  of  tin. 

STA'JN'ZA.  (Ital.  stanza,  station.)  In  Poetry,  a  series 
or  number  of  verses  connected  with  each  other  in  a  poem, 
of  which  the  metre  is  constructed  of  successive  series  similar 
in  arrangement.  The  stanza,  however,  must  be  understood 
to  form  a  shorter  division  than  the  classical  strophe,  to 
which  this  definition  would  be  equally  applicable.  The 
term  is  of  Italian  origin,  and  signifies  literally  a  station  or 
resting  place :  it  is  so  called  from  terminating  with  a  full 
point  or  pause.  The  ottava  rima,  which  consists  of  six 
lines  in  alternate  rhyme  ended  by  a  couplet,  the  lines  being 
deca,  or,  rather,  hendeca-syllabic,  is  the  principal  Italian 
6tanza.  {See  Ottava  Rima.)  The  Spenserian  stanza  (which 
was  perhaps  invented  by  the  poet  from  whom  it  derives  its 
name,  but  was  certainly  first  applied  by  him  to  the  construc- 
tion of  a  regular  poem)  consists  of  eight  deca-syllabic  verses 
and  an  Alexandrine  at  the  end ;  the  first  and  third  verses 
forming  the  last  rhyme  ;  the  second,  fourth,  fifth,  and  sev- 
enth another;  and  the  eighth  and  ninth  a  third  rhyme. 
Lord  Byron  has  given  both  to  the  Ottava  and  the  Spenserian 
stanza  in  English  verse  a  peculiar  and  original  character. 

Stanza.  In  Architecture,  an  apartment  or  division  in  a 
building.  The  series  of  divisions  of  the  Vatican,  for  in- 
stance, are  called  the  stanze  of  the  Vatican. 

STAPES.  A  stirrup.  One  of  the  bones  of  the  internal 
ear  is  so  called,  from  its  shape. 

STAPHYLO'MA.  (Gr.  oraQvXn,  a  grape.)  A  disease 
of  the  eyeball,  in  which  the  cornea  becomes  opaque  and 
tumid,  forming  a  white  projection,  sometimes  resembling  a 
grape  in  shape;  it  occasionally  increases  to  a  great  extent, 
and  requires  to  be  removed  by  an  operation. 

STA'PLE,  signified  originally  a  public  market,  whither 
merchants  were  obliged  to  carry  their  goods  for  sale ;  but  is 


STAR. 

now  applied  to  the  chief  commodities  either  grown  or  manu- 
factured in  any  country. 

STAR.  (Gr.  aorpuv,  Ger.  stern.)  In  a  popular  sense, 
the  term  star  is  used  to  designate  any  celestial  body  what- 
ever, including  the  planets;  but  in  astronomy  it  is  applied 
only  to  those  self-shining  bodies  which  are  situated  beyond 
the  sphere  of  solar  attraction,  and  consequently  do  not  par- 
ticipate in  the  motions  of  the  solar  system. 

One  of  the  first  results  of  the  observation  of  the  heavens 
was,  that  the  stars  maintain  always  the  same  positions  re- 
latively to  each  other.  Hence  they  were  called^jcd  stars, 
in  distinction  to  the  planets,  or  wandering  stars,  which  are 
constantly  changing  their  places  in  the  firmament.  The 
fixity  of  the  stars  is,  indeed,  not  absolute;  for  modern  ob- 
servations have  detected  some  changes  of  relative  position 
among  them  ;  but  these  changes  are  so  minute,  that,  in  gen- 
eral, they  only  become  sensible  after  the  lapse  of  a  number 
of  years,  by  a  comparison  of  positions  determined  with  the 
most  perfect  instruments  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  the 
interval.  They  are  consequently  altogether  inappreciable 
to  unassisted  vision,  and  the  discovery  of  their  existence  has 
not  rendered  a  change  of  language  necessary :  astronomers 
still  speak  of  the fized  stars. 

Apparent  Magnitude  of  the  Stars. — The  first  circum- 
stance which  arrests  the  attention  of  the  observer  of  the 
stars  is  the  great  differences  of  their  apparent  magnitudes 
or  their  relative  brightness.  In  order  to  establish  a  grada- 
tion in  this  respect,  and  for  the  convenience  of  description 
and  reference,  astronomers  divide  them  into  classes  or  orders, 
which  are  called  magnitudes.  A  few  of  the  most  brilliant 
are  denominated  stars  of  the  first  magnitude ;  those  of  an 
inferior  degree  of  brightness  are  of  the  second  magnitude  ; 
and  so  on  down  to  the  6th  or  7th,  which,  according  to  the 
established  convention,  comprehend  all  the  stars  visible  to 
the  naked  eye.  The  gradation  is,  however,  still  continued 
among  those  which  are  only  visible  in  the  telescope,  and 
magnitudes  from  the  8th  to  the  16th  are  familiar  to  those 
who  are  in  the  practice  of  using  powerful  instruments.  It 
is,  however,  to  be  remarked,  that  this  classification  is  not 
based  on  any  photometrical  determination,  but  is  entirely 
arbitrary.  "  Of  a  multitude  of  bright  objects,"  says  Sir 
John  Herschel,  "  differing,  probably,  intrinsically,  both  in 
size  and  splendour,  and  arranged  at  unequal  distances  from 
us,  one  must  of  necessity  appear  the  brightest,  one  next  be- 
low it,  and  so  on.  An  order  of  succession  must  exist;  and 
it  is  a  matter  of  absolute  indifference  where,  in  that  infinite 
progression  downwards  from  the  brightest  to  the  invisible, 
we  choose  to  draw  our  lines  of  demarcation.  All  this  is 
matter  of  pure  convention.  Usage  has,  however,  established 
such  a  convention  ;  and  although  it  is  impossible  to  deter- 
mine exactly,  or  a  priori,  where  one  magnitude  ends  and 
another  begins,  and  although  different  observers  have  dif- 
fered in  their  magnitudes,  yet,  on  the  whole,  astronomers 
have  restricted  their  first  magnitudes  to  about  15  or  20  prin- 
cipal stars,  their  second  to  50  or  60  next  inferior,  their  third 
to  about  200  yet  smaller,  and  so  on  ;  the  numbers  increas- 
ing very  rapidly  as  we  descend  in  the  scale  of  brightness, 
the  whole  number  of  stars  already  registered,  down  to  the 
7th  magnitude  inclusive,  amounting  to  15,000  or  20,000." 
(Jlstronomy,  Cabinet  Cyclopaedia,  p.  374.) 

Arrangement  and  Nomenclature  of  the  Stars. — In  order 
to  indicate  the  quarter  of  the  heavens  in  which  any  star  is 
situated,  astronomers,  in  the  earliest  ages  of  the  science, 
had  recourse  to  the  method  of  forming  them  into  groups,  to 
which  they  gave  the  name  of  constellations,  or  asterisms 
(see  Constellation),  and  distinguished  the  different  groups 
one  from  another  by  appellations  borrowed  in  general  from 
mythology,  and  suggested  by  vague  resemblances  or  fanciful 
analogies,  the  origin  of  which  it  is  now  difficult  or  impossi- 
ble to  trace.  A  few  of  the  brightest  stars  received  particu- 
lar names:  some  of  which,  conferred  by  the  Greeks  and 
Arabs,  have  been  preserved,  as  Sirius,  Rigel,  Aldebaran, 
Arcturus,  Capella,  &c. ;  but  it  is  obvious  that  this  nomen- 
clature could  not  be  carried  to  any  great  extent.  The  sys- 
tem which  has  prevailed  in  modem  times,  and  been  gene- 
rally adopted  by  astronomers  in  their  charts  and  catalogues, 
was  invented  by  Bayer,  whose  Uranometria,  containing 
charts  of  all  the  constellations,  was  first  published  at  Augs- 
burg in  1603.  It  consists  in  distinguishing  the  stars  belong- 
ing to  each  constellation  by  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  be- 
ginning with  the  brightest,  which  is  called  a.  The  next 
brightest  is  called  fi,  the  next  in  order  of  brightness  y,  and 
so  on ;  and  when  the  letters  of  the  Greek  alphabet  were 
exhausted,  Bayer  had  recourse  to  the  Roman,  and  then  to 
the  Italian.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  the  order  of  the  let- 
ters indicates  only  the  relative  brightness  of  stars  in  the 
same  constellation,  without  reference  to  other  parts  of  the 
heavens.  Admitting  the  principle,  it  might  have  been  sim- 
pler to  have  employed  the  ordinal  numbers  1,  2,  3.  4,  &c., 
for  distinguishing  individual  stars.  But  great  perplexity  is 
caused  by  the  irregular  forms  of  the  constellations,  whose 
numerous  contortions  and  interlacings  with  each  other  baffle 

1151 


STAR. 


the  efforts  of  memory,  find  which  seem,  as  Sir  J.  Herschel 
remarks,  "to  have  been  purposely  named  and  delineated 
to  cause  as  much  confusion  as  possible." 

Distribution  of  the  Stars.— The  siars  are  very  irregularly 
distributed  over  the  celestial  sphere.  In  some  regions  spaces 
hi  considerable  magnitude  occur  In  which  scarcely  a  single 
star  is  to  be  seen,  while  in  others  they  are  crowded  to- 
gether, so  as  to  present  to  the  unassisted  eye  the  appear- 
ance of  a  confused  mass  of  light.  A  great  and  rapid  In- 
crease of  number  Is  in  general  perceptible  as  we  approach 
the   borders  Of  the   Milky  Way,  where  they  appear,  when 

viewed  through  a  powerful  telescope,  to  be  crowded  almost 
beyond  imagination.  [See  MlLKY  Way.)  Besides  the  ge- 
neral increase  which  takes  place  towards  this  region,  there 
are  in  several  parts  of  the  heavens  patches  or  clusters  of 
stars,  where  great  numbers  are  condensed  into  a  very  nar- 
row space.  A  telescope  turned  upon  the  Pleiades  snows 
fifty  or  sixty  large  stars  crowded  together  within  a  small 
area,  and  comparatively  insulated  from  the  rest  of  the  hea- 
vens. The  constellation  Coma  Berenices  is  a  similar 
group,  though  more  diffused.  Another  incurs  in  the  con- 
stellation Cancer,  and  is  called  Prsesepe,  or  the  Beehive, 
from  the  great  number  of  stars  it  presents  in  the  telescope. 
In  the  sword  handle  of  Orion  there  is  also  a  group  of  the 
same  kind,  but  in  which  the  individual  stars  can  only  be 
distinguished  in  a  telescope  of  considerable  power;  and  in 
various  parts  of  the  heavens  there  are  found  luminous  spots 
in  which  no  star  can  be  distinguished  with  ordinary  tele 
scopes,  but  which,  when  viewed  through  very  powerful  in- 
struments, are  found  to  consist  of  stars  crowded  together  so 
as  to  occupy  almost  a  definite  outline.  "Many  of  them," 
says  Sir  J.  Herschel,  "  are  of  an  exactly  round  figure,  and 
convey  the  complete  idea  of  a  globular  space  filled  full  of 
stars,  insulated  in  the  heavens,  and  constituting  in  Itself  a 
family  or  society  apart  from  the  rest,  and  subject  to  its  own 
internal  laws.  It  would  be  a  vain  task  to  count  the  stars 
in  one  of  these  globular  clusters.  They  are  not  to  be  reck- 
oned by  hundreds ;  and  on  a  rough  calculation,  grounded  on 
the  apparent  intervals  between  them  at  the  borders  (where 
they  are  not  seen  projected  on  each  other)  and  the  angular 
diameter  of  the  whole  group,  it  would  appear  that  many 
clusters  of  this  description  must  contain  at  least  ten  or 
twenty  thousand  stars  compressed  and  wedged  together  in 
a  round  space,  whose  angular  diameter  does  not  exceed  8 
or  10  minutes;  that  is  to  say,  in  an  area  not  exceeding  the 
tenth  part  of  that  covered  by  the  moon."  {Astronomy,  p. 
400.) 

Number  of  the  Stars. — Hopeless  as  any  attempt  to  count 
the  number  of  the  "starry  host"  may  appear  to  be.  it  has 
nevertheless  been  sometimes  made.  Of  the  stars  visible  to 
the  naked  eye  at  any  one  time,  the  number  probably  does 
not  exceed  a  few  thousands  ;  but  in  the  telescope  they  are 
prodigiously  multiplied.  Sir  VV.  Herschel  estimates  that 
in  a  zone  not  exceeding  two  degrees  In  breadth,  but  includ- 
ihg  a  portion  of  the  Milky  Way,  the  Dumber  which  passed 
through  the  field  of  his  telescope  in  a  Bingle  hour  amounted 
to  50,000.  On  account  of  their  irregular  distribution  this 
estimate  furnishes  a  very  imperfect  datum  for  inferring  the 
whole  number  in  the  sphere  ;  but  it  has  been  supposed  that 
not  fewer  than  75  millions  may  be  visible  in  a  good  tele 
scope.  Baron  Zach,  indeed,  was  of  opinion  that  there  may 
be  1000  millions  in  the  entire  heavens.  Hut  it  is  abundant- 
ly obvious  that  all  estimates  of  this  sort  are  nothing  better 
than  fanciful  conjectures ;  and  instead  of  a  limit  being  found 
to  the  number  of  the  stars,  there  is  an  Infinitely  greater 
probability  that  if  an  observer  could  transport  himself  to 
the  remotest  visible  star,  he  would  there  behold  a  firma- 
ment not  less  rich  than  the  one  he  left  behind.  "Every 
increase,  "  says  Sir  .1.  Herschel,  "in  the  dimensions  and 
power  of  Instruments,  which  successive  improvements  in 
optical  science  have  attained,  has  brought  into  view  multi- 
tudes innumerable  of  objects  Invisible  before;  so  that,  for 
any  thing  experience  has  hitherto  taught  us,  the  number 
id  the  stars  may  be  really  Infinite,  in  the  only  sense  in  which 

we  can  assign  a  meaning  lothe  word."    (,  Istrtmomy,  p.  :n:t.) 

Parallax  and  Distance  of  the  Stars. — The  distance  of  the 
fixed  stars  from  the  earth  has  in  all  aces  been  an  object  of 
inbrest  and  inquiry.  The  element  from  which  the  dis- 
tance ran  be  deduced  is  the  annual  parallax,  or  the  angle 
subtended  by  the  diameter  of  the  earth's  orbit  at  ii. 
tance  of  the  star  [see  Parallax);  but  this  distance  is  so 
great  that  if  we  except  one  or  two  Instances,  perhaps  still 
doubtful,  all  the  attempt!  of  astronomers  to  determine  it 
have  hitherto  lieen  fruitless.  The  instance  in  which  the 
Observation!  have  most  probably  abown  the  annual  parallax 
to  have  n  measurable  value  is  that  of  the  double  star  til 
Cjgni,  observed  by  Bessel  at  KOnigsberg  in  1830 and  1840. 
The  value  of  the  parallax  Obtained  by  this  celebrated  as 
tronomer  was  0*3483"  (a  little  more  than  the  third  part  of  a 

t  .  m  which  it  results  that  the  distance  of  the  star 

09,000  limes   the  mean    radius  of  the  earth's  orbit;  a 
ince  so  enormous,  that  light,  which  is  propagated  with 
US 


a  velocity  of  190,000  miles  in  a  second,  would  require  9J, 
yean  to  traverse  it.  (.Monthly  Notices  of  the  lioyoi  .utr. 
Society,  May,  1840.)     .Now  there  is  every  reason  tii  believe 

that  this  is  one  of  the  nearest  of  the  fixed  Stars  ;  and  It  is 
no  extravagant  supposition  that  there  may  be  others  still 
ri&lble  w  Inch  are  a  thousand  times  more  remote.  If,  there- 
lore,   one   of  these   were   annihilated,  some    ten    thousand 

years  would  elapse  before  its  extinction  could  be  perceived 
at  the  distance  of  the  earth. 

Proper  .Motions  of  the  Stars. — On  comparing  the  places 
of  the  stars  determined  by  receni  observations  with  the  po- 
sitions assigned  to  them  in  the  older  catalogues,  it  is  found 
that  man]  of  them  have  undergone  a  very  sensible  dis- 
placement  Within  the  last  fifty  years  the  double  star  61 
Oygni,    above   mentioned,    has    moved    through    4'  23"   of 

right  ascension  ;  ami  as  the  motion  appears  to  be  uniform, 
its  rate  is  therefore  about  5*3"  annually.    Another  star  (ji 

Cassiopeia;)  has  an  annual  proper  motion  of  374".  The 
number  of  stars  in  which  such  million  has  been  detected, 
though  of  smaller  amount  than  in  the  above   instances,  is 

verj  considerable.  Out  of  2959  stars  in  the  catalogues  of 
Bradley  and  Piazzi,  lle^sel  found  425  having  a  proper  mo- 
tion of  not  less  than  U-".  The  discovery  of  the  existence 
of  such  changes  in  the  places  of  the  stars  gives  rise  to  some 
interesting  speculations  relative  to  the  constitution  of  the 
universe.  That  the  stars  gravitate  to  each  other  like  the 
bodies  of  the  solar  system  is  rendered  certain  from  the  phe- 
nomena of  binary  stars  ;  and  when  we  admit  the  prevalence 
of  this  force  among  them,  we  are  led  to  suppose  a  centrifu- 
gal force  to  be  necessary  to  counteract  the  tendeny  to  a  ge- 
neral collapse  produced  by  their  mutual  gravitation.  Hence 
we  conclude  that  the  proper  motions  must  be  performed  in 
circular  or  elliptic  orbits  round  some  very  remote  centre; 
and  as  every  appearance  leads  us  to  suppose  the  stars  to  be 
bodies  of  the  same  nature  as  our  own  sun,  it  becomes  ex- 
tremely probable  that  the  sun  with  its  attendant  system  is 
transported  through  space  with  a  similar  motion.  Now  the 
translation  of  the  solar  system  would  necessarily  give  rise 
to  an  apparent  change  of  the  positions  of  the  stars;  for  in 
consequence  of  the  diminution  of  distance,  they  must  ap- 
pear to  recede  from  that  point  of  the  heavens  towards 
which  the  sun's  motion  is  din  cted,  and  to  converge  and  be- 
come more  condensed  in  the  region  diametrically  opposite. 
Sir  William  Herschel  was  of  opinion  that  this  is  what  ac- 
tually takes  place,  and  that  a  general  recess  of  the  principal 
stars  from  the  point  occupied  by  £  Hercules  is  already  indi- 
cated by  the  catalogues,  and  consequently  that  the  solar 
system  is  carried  forward  in  the  direction  of  that  slar.  It 
seems  however,  to  be  the  opinion  of  astronomers  at  present 
that  the  observations  are  not  yet  sufficient  to  establish  the 
certainly  of  this  motion  ;  bill  Whether  the  supposition  shall 
be  confirmed  or  not,  it  is  evident  that  the  proper  motions 
which  have  been  remarked,  cannot  be  all  accounted  lor  in 
this  way.  They  appear,  indeed,  to  be  subject  to  no  one  as- 
signable law.  but  to  be  directed  to  many  different  and  even 

opposite  pom's  of  space,    li  is  a  curious  circumstance,  and 

was  first  noticed  by  Hessel.  thai  a  targe  proportion  of  the 
stars  which  have  a  proper  motion  are  double  stars.  In  the 
Memoirs  of  the  Royal  .istrun.  Society,  vol.  ii..  a  list  is  given 
of  all  the  stars  whose  proper  motions,  as  determined  by 
comparison  of  the  observations  of  Bradley  and  Mayer  with 
Piazzi's  catalogue,  exceed  half  a  second  either  in  right  as- 
cension or  declination. 

Variable  and  Periodic  Stars. — The  proper  motions  are 
not  the  only  indications  of  the  existence  of  active  ion  es  in 
the  stellar  regions.    Many  stars  have  been  observed  whose 

light  appears  to  undergo  a  regular  periodic  increase  and  di- 
minution of  brightness,  amounting  in  some  instances  to  a 
Complete  extinction  and  revival.     Of  this  kind  one  of  the 

most  remarkable  is  the  >mr  Omieron  in  the  constellation 
CetUB,  or  the  Whale,  which  has  a  period  ofaboul  334  days. 
At  its  greatest  brightness  it  is  a  star  of  the  second  or  third  mag- 
nitude, and  continues  in  ibis  state  about  a  fortnight,  w  lien 
iis  light  begins  to  wane,  and  at  the  end  of  three  months 
it  bee es  for  sunn-  lime  invisible  to  liie  naked  e>e.     Algol, 

in  the  constellation  Perseu  -.  appears  for  about  62  hours  as  a 

star  of  the  second  magnitude  ;  us  light  then  suddenly  dimin- 
ishes, and  in  about  :u  hours  ii  i-  reduced  to  ilio  iif  h  magni- 
tude; it  then  begins  lo  n  Vive,  and  in  the  space  of  :H  hours 
more  it  is  restored  in  its  original  state,  thus  accomplishing 

ils  period  in  about  09  hours.     The  slar  i  Cephei  has  a  period 

ofaboul  5days8j  hours,  and  fi  Lyre  one  of  6  days  9  hours. 

A  star  in  the  brea.-t  of  the  Swan  has  a  period  of  about  15 
years,  during  live  of  which   it   is  invisible.     Various  oilier 

similar  Instances  have  been  remarked;  and  recently  Sir 

John  Herschel  ha-  | tied  put  a  Cassiopeia!  and  a  Ononis 

/the  latter  of  the  iir-t  magnitude)  as  variable  stars.   {.Month- 
of  the  Royal  .i.-tr.  Society,  May,  1830,  and  June, 
1840.) 

Several  hypothesis  have  been  suggested  lo  account  for 
the.se  variations.  Newton  suggested  thai  the  stars  revolve 
about  axes  of  rotation,  like  the  sun  and  planets ;  and  that 


STAR. 

parts  of  their  surfaces  may  be  covered  with  spots,  or  be 
less  fitted  to  emit  light.  Maupertuis  supposed  that  their 
figure  is  not  globular  but  flat,  and  that  the  variations  of 
brilliancy  depend  on  the  angle  made  by  the  flat  sides  with 
the  visual  ray.  Others,  again,  have  imagined  that  the  par- 
tial obscurations  may  be  occasioned  by  dark  bodies  or  pla- 
nets revolving  about  them  in  regular  periods. 

Temporary  Stars. — On  examining  ancient  catalogues  it  is 
found  that  some  stars  formerly  distinguished  by  their  splen- 
dour have  entirely  disappeared,  no  stars  being  now  found 
in  the  places  which  they  are  set  down  as  having  occupied. 
Others  have  suddenly  shone  forth  with  extraordinary  bril- 
liancy, and  after  a  longer  or  shorter  period  have  gradually 
died  away,  and  become  extinct.  A  phenomenon  of  this 
kind,  about  125  years  B.C.,  induced  Hipparchus  to  under- 
take the  formation  of  his  catalogue.  In  the  year  389  of  our 
era  a  star  suddenly  blazed  forth  near  a  Aquila:,  and  re- 
mained for  three  weeks  as  bright  as  Venus,  and  then  dis- 
appeared. But  one  of  the  most  remarkable  instances  is 
that  of  the  star  which  appeared  in  1572,  and  was  observed 
by  the  astronomer  Tycho  Brahe.  It  suddenly  shone  forth 
in  the  constellation  Cassiopeia,  attained  a  splendour  equal 
to  that  of  Jupiter  and  Venus  when  nearest  the  earth,  and 
could  be  seen  with  the  naked  eye  at  mid-day.  Its  bright- 
ness gradually  diminished,  and  at  the  end  of  sixteen  months 
it  disappeared,  and  has  never  been  seen  since.  During  the 
time  of  its  visibility,  its  apparent  place  remained  unchanged. 
All  the  phenomena  attending  it  are  fully  described  by  Tycho 
in  his  work  entitled  De  Nova  Stella  Anni,  1572.  A  similar 
phenomenon  occurred  in  the  year  1604,  in  the  constellation 
Serpentarius,  of  which  an  account  is  given  by  Kepler  {De 
Stella  Nova  in  Pede  Serpentarii,  Praga?,  1606).  For  various 
other  instances  of  a  similar  kind,  and  also  of  stars  set  down 
in  the  catalogues,  but  which  cannot  now  be  found,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  Dalaiule's  Jistronomie,  tome  i.,  p.  250. 
.  Double  and  Multiple  Stars. — Many  of  the  stars  which 
appear  to  the  naked  eye,  or  in  telescopes  of  feeble  power, 
merely  as  bright  points,  are  found,  when  observed  with  high 
magnifying  powers,  to  be  composed  of  two,  and  some  of 
theru  of  three  or  more  stars,  in  close  juxtaposition.  This 
appearance  may  arise  from  the  circumstance  of  two  stars 
being  situated  in  nearly  the  same  line  of  view ;  for  it  is  evi- 
dent that  two  stars  thus  placed  would  appear  as  a  double 
star,  however  great  the  real  distance  between  them  may 
be.  It  was  suggested  by  Galileo  that  the  variations  (if  sen- 
sible) of  the  apparent  distance  between  two  contiguous 
stars  would  furnish  a  good  method  of  determining  the  an- 
nual parallax ;  and  a  series  of  observations  on  double  stars 
was  undertaken  by  Sir  William  Herschel  with  a  view  to 
this  question.  The  result,  however,  was  a  discovery  of  a 
very  different  kind  ;  for  instead  of  finding  an  alternate  in- 
crease and  decrease  of  the  apparent  distance  between  the 
two  stars,  which  would  be  the  consequence  of  an  annual 
parallax,  he  observed  in  some  instances  a  regular  progres- 
sive change  from  year  to  year  in  one  direction.  By  reason 
of  the  slowness  of  the  apparent  motion,  a  considerable  in- 
terval elapsed  before  he  was  able  to  determine  its  laws ; 
but  it  was  explicitely  announced  by  him  in  1803  that  there 
exist  sidereal  systems  composed  of  two  stars,  one  revolving 
round  the  other,  or  both  about  a  common  centre.  Subse- 
quent observations  have  fully  confirmed  this  discovery  ;  and 
in  some  instances  even  the  ellipticity  of  the  orbits  and  the 
periods  of  revolution  have  been  determined.  Some  of  these 
binary  systems,  as  they  are  called,  have  periods  of  great 
length,  and  which,  consequently,  have  been  inferred  from 
observations  continued  during  the  description  of  only  a 
6inall  part  of  their  orbits.  Thus,  y  Leonis  has  an  angular 
motion  of  about  only  3-10ths  of  a  degree  in  a  year,  and 
consequently  requires  1200  years  to  complete  its  revolution. 
The  star  y  Virginis,  which  consists  of  two  stars  of  nearly 
the  same  magnitude,  has  a  period  of  629  years.  The  period 
of  01  Cygni  is  452  years,  and  that  of  Castor  252  years. 
There  are  others,  however,  having  much  shorter  periods, 
and  which  have  already  been  observed  through  their  entire 
orbits.  The  star  n  Coronas,  for  example,  has  a  period  of 
little  more  than  43  years,  and  has  consequently  completed 
nearly  two  revolutions  since  its  discovery  as  a  double  star 
by  Sir  William  Herschel  in  1761 ;  s  Ursa?  Majoris  has  a  pe- 
riod of  about  085  years,  and  70  Ophiuchi  one  of  about  80 
years.  Since  the  time  of  Sir  William  Herschel,  the  observ- 
ation of  double  stars  has  been  a  subject  of  much  interest  in 
astronomy,  and  catalogues  containing  some  thousands  of 
them  have  been  published,  giving  the  apparent  distances  of 
the  two  bodies,  and  their  angles  of  position,  or  the  direction 
of  the  straight  line  which  joins  them,  by  comparing  which 
with  future  observations  their  orbits  and  periods  will  be- 
come known.  (Herschel  and  South,  Phil.  Trans.  1826; 
Herschel,  Memoirs  of  the  Royal  Astronom.  Society,  vol.  hi., 
Struve,  Cata/ogus  Stellarum  Duplicium  et  jMulliplicium, 
Petropoli,  1837.) 

About  40  or  50  of  the  double  stars  are  already  known  to 
form  binary  or  revolving  systems;  and  there  are  others 
97 


STARCH. 

presenting  phenomena  still  more  remarkable.  Struve  has 
enumerated  52  triple  stars ;  and  systems  have  been  ob- 
served compounded  of  five  and  even  more  stars,  all  appear- 
ing to  revolve  about  a  common  centre. 

Some  of  the  binary  systems  afford  curious  instances  of 
contrasted  colours,  the  colour  of  the  smaller  star  being  fre- 
quently complementary  to  that  of  tne  larger.  In  such  in- 
stances the  larger  star  is  usually  of  a  ruddy  or  orange  hue, 
and  the  smaller  one  blue  or  green.  Sir  J.  Herschel  thinks 
it  probable  that  the  colour  of  the  small  star  is  the  effect  of 
the  brighter  light  of  the  large  one  ;  for  it  is  a  general  law  of 
optics  that  when  the  retina  is  under  the  excitement  of  any 
bright-coloured  light,  feebler  lights  for  the  time  appear 
coloured  with  the  complementary  tints.  This  opinion 
seems  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  though  insulated  stars 
of  a  red  colour,  almost  as  deep  as  that  of  blood,  appear  in 
many  parts  of  the  heavens,  no  green  or  blue  star  (of  any 
decided  hue)  has  been  noticed  unassociated  with  a  com- 
panion brighter  than  itself. 

Intrinsic  Light  of  the  Stars. — On  account  of  the  distance 
of  the  stars,  it  is  not  possible  to  form  any  idea  of  their  actual 
magnitude ;  for  when  viewed  through  good  telescopes  they 
appear  simply  as  luminous  points  without  any  sensible 
disks.  Their  light  may,  however,  be  compared  with  that 
of  any  other  luminous  object ;  and  Dr.  Wollaston  found  by 
photometrical  experiments  the  light  of  Sirius,  the  brightest 
of  the  fixed  stars,  to  be  to  that  of  the  sun  in  the  ratio  of  1  to 
20,000,000,000.  STow  the  proportion  of  light  received  from 
any  luminous  body  being  inversely  as  the  square  of  its  dis- 
tance it  follows  that  the  sun  would  require  to  be  removed 
to  141,400  (the  square  root  of  the  above  number)  times  its 
actual  distance,  in  order  that  its  light  should  be  equal  to 
that  of  Sirius.  But  the  parallax  of  Sirius,  if  sensible  at  all, 
is  undoubtedly  less  than  1",  whence  it  is  easily  calculated 
that  the  distance  of  Sirius  cannot  be  less  than  200,000  times 
the  distance  of  the  sun  from  the  earth :  from  this  it  follows 
that  the  light  of  Sirius  cannot  be  less  than  the  double  of 
that  emitted  bv  the  sun.  Dr.  Wollaston,  assuming  a  smaller 
and  more  probable  limit  of  the  parallax,  supposes  the  light 
of  Sirius  to  be  equal  to  that  of  fourteen  suns.  {Phil.  Trans., 
1829  ;  HerscheVs  Astronomy,  p.  380.) 

The  observation  of  the  places  of  the  stars  has  formed 
the  principal  business  of  the  astronomer  in  all  ages;  for  as 
it  is  to  them  that  the  motions  of  the  planets  and  all  the  other 
bodies  of  the  solar  system  are  referred,  the  knowledge  of 
their  exact  relative  positions  is  the  foundation  of  all  our 
astronomical  theories,  and  of  all  the  applications  of  the 
science  to  the  practical  purposes  of  geography  and  naviga- 
tion. The  discovery  of  their  proper  motions  could  only  be 
made  after  instruments  and  methods  of  observation  and 
theory  had  been  brought  to  a  state  of  great  perfection,  and 
is  consequently  of  recent  date.  For  our  knowledge  of 
binary  and  other  systems  of  connected  stars,  and,  in  gen- 
eral, of  all  the  facts  which  have  been  brought  to  light 
respecting  the  phvsical  constitution  of  the  stars,  we  are 
chiefly  indebted  to  the  two  Herschels ;  and  so  pre-emi- 
nently distinguished  have  been  the  labours  and  discoveries 
of  these  illustrious  astronomers  in  this  department  of  ob- 
servation, that  it  is  now  usually  called  the  Herschelian 
branch  of  astronomy,  in  contradistinction  to  the  observation 
of  positions  which  forms  the  business  of  national  observ- 
atories.    See  Astronomy,  Nebula. 

STARBOARD.  The  right-hand  side  of  a  ship,  looking 
forwards. 

STARCH.  (Germ,  starke.)  Starch  is  one  of  the  com- 
monest proximate  principles  of  vegetables.  It  is  charac- 
terized by  its  insipidity,  and  by  insolubility  in  cold  water, 
in  alcohol,  and  in  ether.  It  dissolves  in,  or  at  least  forms  a 
gelatinous  compound  with  water,  heated  to  175°  ;  and  this 
solution,  even  when  much  diluted,  is  rendered  blue  by 
iodine.  This  admirable  test  of  the  presence  of  starch  is  not 
effective  in  hot  solutions ;  and,  by  boiling,  the  blue  colour 
disappears,  but  returns  in  strong  solutions  as  they  cool. 
The  term  starch  is  commercially  applied  to  that  obtained 
from  wheat,  which,  for  this  manufacture,  is  ground  and  dif- 
fused through  vats  of  water,  where  it  undergoes  a  slight 
fermentation,  and  acquires  a  peculiar  sour  smell.  Apart 
of  the  gluten  and  albumen  of  the  grain  is  thus  separated  in 
the  form  of  a  viscid  scum ;  the  starch  being  in  the  form  of 
a  finely  divided  white  powder,  is  gradually  further  sepa- 
rated by  washing  in  large  quantities  of  water,  from  which 
it  is  ultimately  allowed  to  settle,  and  put  into  boxes  lined 
with  linen  to  drain  ;  it  is  then  cut  into  squares,  which  are 
dried  first  in  airy  chambers  upon  porous  bricks,  and  after- 
wards rolled  up  in  papers  and  stove  dried  ;  it  is  in  this  latter 
operation  that  the  starch  acquires  that  peculiar  columnar 
texture  and  fracture  which  is  well  exhibited  on  opening  a 
paper  parcel  as  it  comes  from  the  stove.  A  little  smalt  is 
generally  added  to  the  starch,  by  which  it  acquires  a  very 
pale  blue  tint,  and  is  better  adapted  to  conceal  or  cover  the 
yellow  tint  acquired  by  worn  linen.  Starch  may  be  ob- 
tained from  many  other  grains,  and  from  potatoes  and 
4C  1153 


STAR  CHAMBER. 
*cvcml  other  eeculairl  rorrmhlnri     Arroxc  root  is  the  starch 

of  the  Ma  ran  tu  arumlinacea  ;  sago,  of  the  Saa-us  farinifera, 
an   i'.u-t   India  pnltn  tree;  and  tapioca  and  MMMMOf  the 

Jatrvpha  manihot.  Viewed  iindnr  the  nnierascepe,  the  \a 
rifles  of  starch  exhibit  a  more  or  less  distinct  globular  ap- 
pearance, and  are  said  to  be  made  up  of  little  spherical 
particles  of  soluble  Hard),  enveloped  in  an  insoluble  mem- 
brane, which  protects  the  interior  from  the  action  of  cold 
water,  but  which  is  broken  or  burst  hi  hot  water.     In  the 

l<r. ■<  rss  of  germination,  and  by  various  chemical  agents, 
starch  may  be  converted  into  a  species  of  gum  and  of 
sugar. 

-  li  is  charged  with  a  duty  of  3'ei.  per  lb. ;  and  its  man- 
ufacture is.  consequently,  placed  under  the  control  of  the 
excise.  Every  maker  of  starch  for  sab-  most  take  out  an 
annual  licence,  whii  h  e  ets  £5.  .Notice  must  be  given  to 
the  i  xcise  of  the  erection,  and  of  all  changes  in  the  con- 
struction of  workshops,  implements,  fee  used  in  the  manu- 
facture of  starch,  under  a  penalty  of  £800.  All  starch,  be- 
fore it  is  put  into  any  stove  nr  place  to  dry.  must  be  papered 
and  sealed,  or  stamped  by  the  officer,  under  a  penalty  of 
X1U0.  Any  person  forging  or  counterfeiting  BUCh  stamp  or 
seal  U  guilty  of  felony,  but  with  the  benefit  of  clergy.  Any 
person  knowingly  selling  any  starch  with  a  forged  or  coun- 
terfeit stamp.  &c.  forfeits  x';>ni).  No  quantity  of  starch  ex- 
ceeding iSlbs.  to  be  removed  from  one  place  to  another, 
unless  the  word  stares  be  marked  on  the  package  in  legible 
letters  three  inches  long,  under  forfeiture  of  the  package. 
and  of  the  cattle  and  carts  conveying  the  same.  Any 
dealer  in  starch  receiving  any  qunntin  i  g9£  lbs.  not 

marked  as  above,  shall  forfeit  £200.  Starch-makers  are  to 
make  weekly  entries  of  the  starch  made  by  them,  under  B 
penalty  of  £50;  and  are  to  make  payment  of  the  duties 
within  a  week  of  such  entry.  Cockets  granted  for  ship- 
ping starch  to  be  carried  coastwise  are  to  express  the 
quality,  quantity,  weight,  the  mark  of  the  package,  by 
whom  made  and  sold,  and  to  whom  consigned;  and  if  ship- 
ped without  such  cockct,  it  may  be  seized.  No  starch  is 
to  be  imported,  unless  in  packages  containing  at  least  3941hs. 
stowed  openly  in  the  hold,  on  pain  of  forfeiture,  and  of  in- 
curring a  penalty  of  £50.  No  starch  is  to  be  exported,  un- 
less the  package  as  originally  sealed  or  stamped  by  the 
oflicer  be  entire,  and  unless  the  officer  mark  the  word  •  / 
portation  upon  it.  The  duties  must  have  been  paid  on  all 
starch  exported;  but  the  exporter  is  entitled  to  an  excise 
drawback  of  Z\d.  per  lb.  (Bum's  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
Harriot's  ed..  tit.   -Starch.") 

STAll  CHAMBER,  COURT  OF  (Curia  camera  stel- 
latse;  from  the  ornaments  of  the  ceiling  of  the  room  in 
which  at  one  period  it  sate;,  was  originally  the  privy  coun- 
cil itself,  "sitting  in  the  star  chamber,''  and  there  exercising 
important  criminal  jurisdiction,  and  administering  equitable 
relief.  It  is  mentioned  as  early  as  the  reign  of  Edward  III. 
In  the  third  year  of  Henry  VII.  an  act  was  passed  giving 
determinate  criminal  powers,  extending  cruelly  to  state  of 
fences  and  misdemeanors  of  a  public  kind,  to  "the  court  of 
star  chamber.  The  judges  were  lour  high  officers  of  state, 
with  power  to  join  a  bishop  and  a  temporal  lord  of  the 
council,  and  two  justices  of  the  courts  of  Westminster,  to 
their  number.  They  proceeded  by  bill  and  information 
without  the  assistance  of  a  jury.  The  sittings  of  the  privy 
council  itself,  as  a  criminal  court,  were  after  this  gradually 
abandoned,  and  its  powers  transferred  to  the  star  chamber. 
This  court  continued  to  exercise  very  extensive  jurisdiction, 
both  in  political  matters  and  in  private  concerns, during  the 
reigns  of  Henry  V11I.  and  his  successors,  until  it  was  finally 
dissolved  by  16  Car.  1,  c.  10,  together  with  what  remained 
of  its  cognate  jurisdictions.     (See  CoBKI  n..  I'rivy.) 

BTA'BKEY'S  SOAP.  A  compound  of  turpentine,  or 
oil  of  turpentine,  and  alkali. 

BT  \  E<  1ST.  A  title  under  the  Polish  republic  enjoyed 
by  noblemen  who  were  in  possession  Of  certain  castles  and 
domains  called  starosties.  These  were  grants  of  the  crow  n. 
and  only  conferred  for  life,  but  generally  renewed  after  the 

di  mlse  ofa  possessor  to  Ins  in  ir-. 

BTA'BSTONE.  A  very  rare  variety  of  sapphire,  which, 
when  cut  and  viewed  in  a  direction  perpendicular  to  the 
axis,  presents  a  peculiar  retlectiou  of  light  in  the  firm  of 
a  star. 

3T.VTER.  (Gr.  crrarnp.)  An  ancient  fJrcek  measure 
ofvajue.  It  was  undoubtedly  a  coined  piece  of  money  at 
an  early  period.  The  common  gold  currency  in  the  repub- 
lican times  of  Greece  consisted  of  staters.    Tie 

i  weighed  two  drachms,  and  is  estimated 
silver  drachms  ;  but  the  value  of  the  coin  struck  by  different 
with  this  denomination  varied  greatly. 

STATES,  or  ESTATES.  In  modem  European  History 
'French  etats,  Germ,  stande),  those  divisions  of  =<m  ietv, 
profc-  es  01  men,  which  have  partaken,  either 

directly  or  by  representation,  in  the  government  of  their 
country.     Their  number  has  varied  in  different  countries. 
in  France,  and  most  other  feudal  kingdoms,  there  have 
1154 


STATICS. 

been  three  estates  (nobles,  clergy,  commonality),  members 
ot  the  ancient  national  assemblies.  Hence  the  Well-known 
appellation  tirr.i  Mat  (third  estate,!  for  the  last.  In  Svvedeu 
there  are  at  this  day  four:  nobility,  clergy,  citizens.  |>ea«.aiils. 
In  most  countries  the  ancient  system  of  assemblies  con- 
voke,! from  separate  estates  disappeared  by  the  progn 
absolute  government  in  the  16th  and  17th  centuries  ;  and  in 
modern  monarchical  constitutions  the  English'  tern  of 
government,  hi  king,  lords,  and  commons,  or  analogous 
powers,  has  prevailed.  Hut  the  states  have  been  recon- 
stituted of  late  years  in  some  German  monarchies  and 

grand  duchies,  the  electorate  of  Hesse  0  ISSel,  fcc. 

STATES-GENERAL.  In  Trench  History,  assemblies 
which  were  first  called  AD.  1303,  and  were  held  Occasion- 
ally from  that  period  to  the  year  1014.  when  the*  were  dis- 
continued, till  they  were  summoned  again  at  an  interesting 
period,  viz..  in  the  year  1789.  These  states-general,  how- 
ever, were  very  different  from  the  ancient  assemblies  of 
the  French  nation  under  the  kings  of  the  first  and  second 
race.  There  is  no  point  with  respect  to  which  the  French 
antiquaries  are  more  generally  agreed  than  in  maintaining 
that  the  states-general  had  no  suffrage  in  the  passing  of 
laws,  and  possessed  no  proper  jurisdiction.  The  whole 
tenor  of  the  French  history  confirms  this  opinion.  See 
Ass  km  in.  y.  Directory. 

BTATICS.  (Lat.  stare,  to  stand.)  The  branch  of  Me- 
chanics which  has  for  its  object  the  investigation  of  the 
conditions  of  equilibrating  forces,  or  the  conditions  under 
which  several  forces  applied  to  a  rigid  body  mutually  de- 
stroy each  other. 

There  are  three  general  principles  on  which  the  theory 
of  equilibrium  may  be  grounded:  these  are.  1.  The  prin- 
ciple of  the  lever:  2.  The  principle  of  the  composition  of 
lories ;  .Hid  3.  The  principle  of  virtual  velocities. 

Principle  of  the  J.ccr. — The  equilibrium  of  a  straight 
horizontal  lever,  loaded  at  its  extremities  with  weights 
which  are  reciprocally  proportioned  to  their  distances  from 
the  fulcrum,  was  demonstrated  by  Archimedes  [see  Le- 
vkr)  ;  and  it  is  easy  to  extend  this  principle  to  the  lient 
lever,  when  the  fulcrum  is  at  the  angular  point,  and  to 
show  that  if  the  two  aims  In-  urged  in  opposite  directions 
by  two  forces  perpendicular  to  the  arms,  and  reciprocally 
Proportioned  t,i  their  lengths,  there  will  he  equilibrium. 
Xow.  it  is  an  axiom  in  statics  that  a  force  may  be  regarded 
as  acting  at  any  point  whatever  in  the  line  of  its  direction  ; 
and  hence  it  follows  that  any  two  forces,  applied  at  any 
point.s  whatever  in  a  plane  which  is  only  moveable  round 
a  fixed  point,  and  having  any  directions  whatever  in  that 
plane,  w  ill  he  in  equilibrium  when  they  are  to  each  other 
reciprocally  as  perpendiculars  drawn  from  the  fixed  point 
to  the  lines  of  their  direction;  for  the  perpendiculars  may 
be  regarded  as  the  arms  of  a  bent  lever  having  the  fixed 
point  for  its  fulcrum.  This  general  principle,  which  is  also 
called  the  principle  of  moments,  suffices  for  the  resolution 
of  all  the  problems  of  statics,  and  is,  indeed,  the  only  one 
which  was  rigorously  demonstrated  previous  to  the  dis- 
covery of  the  composition  of  forces;  that  is  to  say,  previous 
to  the  publication  of  the  Principia  in  1667. 

Composition  of  Forces. — The  second  general  principle 
consists  in  this,  that  any  two  forces  acting  together  upon 
the  same  point  ofa  body,  are  equivalent  to  a  single  force 
represented  in  intensity  and  direction  by  the  diagonal  of 
a  parallelogram,  of  which  the  two  given  forces  are  repre- 
sented by  the  sides.  This  equivalent  of  the  two  forces  is 
called  their  resultant;  and  as  the  resultant  may  be  com- 
bined with  a  third  force  acting  on  the  same  point,  and  the 
resultant  of  this  composition  with  a  fourth,  and  so  on,  it 
follows  that  any  number  of  forces  applied  to  the  same 
point  have  a  single  resultant,  or  may  be  replaced  by  a  single 
force.  (See  Force.)  This  principle  was  not  known  to  the 
ancients.  Galileo  demonstrated  that  a  body  moved  bj  two 
uniform  velocities,  the  one  vertical  and  the  other  horizontal, 

most  acquire  the  velocity  represented  by  the  hypothennse 
of  the  right-angled  triangle,  whose  sides  represent  respect- 
ively the  tWO  velocities.  This  is  a  particular  case  of  the 
principle.  Newton  proved  it  to  be  true  generally,  and  sub- 
stituted the  composition  of  forces  for  that  of  motions;  and 
in  the  second  corollary  to  the  third  law  of  motion,  he  shows 
how  the  laws  of  equilibrium  may  easily  be  deduced  from  it. 
The  JVVnreeUi  Meeanique  of  Varignon,  published  in  1725* 
contains  the  first  complete  theory  of  the  equilibrium  or 
tori'-  in  different  machines,  deduced  solely  from  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  composition  of  forces.  The  simplicity  of  the 
principle,  and  the  facility  of  its  application  to  all  questions 

connected  with  equilibrium,  caused  it  to  lie  almost  imme- 
diate!] adopted;  and  it  is  the  basis  of  all  the  modern 
treatises  of  statics. 

I'irtiuil  Velocities. — The  third  general  principle  on  which 
tin-  i  onilitioiis  of  equilibrium  may  be  made   to   depend   con- 

si-t-  |g  tins,  that  forces  acting  in  opposite  directions  destroy 

each  other  when  tin  \  are  inversely  proportional  to  the  v,  - 
locities  which  they  would  respectively  coiiunujiicatc  to  the 


STATICS. 


body  in  the  first  instant  of  its  morion,  if  the  equilibrium  were 
destroyed.  This  principle  applies  almost  self-evidently  to 
the  conditions  of  equilibrium  of  the  lever,  pulley,  and  other 
simple  machines.  lis  generality  was  first  remarked  by  John 
Bernoulli.  It  has  been  adopted  by  Lagrange,  as  the  basis 
of  his  Mecanique  Analytique;  and  it  has  the  advantage 
over  the  others  of  being  capable  of  representation  in  a  single 
general  formula,  which  includes  the  solution  of  every  ques- 
tion that  can  be  proposed  relative  to  the  equilibrium  of 
forces.  Lagrange,  however,  remarks  that  it  is  not  suffi- 
ciently self-evident  to  be  erected  into  a  primitive  principle; 
but  it  may  be  regarded  as  a  general  expression  of  the  laws 
of  equilibrium  deduced  from  the  two  former.  See  Virtual 
Velocity'. 

The  general  problem  of  statics  may  be  thus  enunciated: 
To  find  the  equations  of  equilibrium  of  a  body  urged  by  any 
number  of  forces  having  any  directions  whatever  in  space. 
We  shall  briefly  indicate  the  steps  by  which  the  equations 
which  express  the  conditions  of  equilibrium  are  obtained, 
adopting  the  principle  of  the  composition  of  forces. 

1.  A  force  which  acts  on  any  point  of  a  solid  body  may 
be  regarded  as  applied  at  any  point  in  the  line  of  its  direc- 
tion, provided  the  different  points  of  the  line  are  invariably 
connected,  as  is  the  case  with  any  two  points  of  a  rigid 
body.  This,  as  already  staled,  may  be  assumed  as  an 
axiom. 

2.  If  a  material  point  is  urged  by  two  forces  acting  in  the 
same  straight  line,  and  in  the  same  direction,  the  etiect  will 
be  the  same  as  if  the  point  were  urged  in  the  same  direction 
by  a  single  force  equal  to  their  sum ;  and  if  the  two  forces 
act  in  opposite  directions,  the  etiect  will  be  the  same  as  if 
the  two  forces  were  replaced  by  a  single  force  equal  to  their 
difference  acting  in  the  direction  of  the  greater.  The  single 
force  into  which  the  others  are  compounded  is  called  the 
resultant:  and  as  a  third  force  may  be  compounded  with 
the  resultant  of  two,  another  with  the  new  resultant,  and 
so  on,  it  is  obvious  that  any  number  of  parallel  forces  act- 
ing on  a  point  have  a  single  resultant. 

3.  It  has  been  shown  in  the  article  Force  (p.  462)  that 
a  force  acting  in  any  direction  can  always  be  decomposed 
into  three  others  respectively  parallel  to  three  straight  lines 
given  in  space,  provided  no  two  of  these  lines  be  parallel. 
Hence  it  follows  that  whatever  be  the  number  or  the  di- 
rection of  the  forces  which  act  upon  a  solid  body,  they  may 
be  ail  replaced  by  three  sets  of  parallel  forces  acting  in 
given  directions.  We  have,  therefore,  only  to  consider  the 
theory  of  parallel  forces. 

4.  When  two  parallel  forces  P  and  Q,  acting  in  the  same 

/direction,  are  applied  to  the  extremities  of  a 
I  rigid  straight  line  A  B,  the  resultant  R  will 

/  be  equal  to  their  sum,  parallel  to  their  com- 

/  mon  direction,  and  will  divide  the  line  AB 

A       /c      B    into  two  parts  in  C,  so  that  the  distance  of 
/         /      the  points  of  application  from  C  are  recipro- 
/      &'       cally  as  the  forces,  or  so  that  A  C  :  C  B  : : 
/  a  :  P.     Thus,  if  A  P  and  B  Q  be  taken  to 

*  represent  the  forces,  and  C  R  the  resultant, 

we  have  CR=AP+BQ;  and  the  two 
forces  will  be  in  equilibrium  with  the  force  C  R',  equal  to 
C  R,  and  acting  in  the  opposite  direction. 

5.  When  two  parallel  forces  P  and  Q,  acting  in  oppo- 

site directions,  are  applied  to  the  extremities 
,  o    of  a  rigid  straight  line  A  B,  there  are  two 

cases  for  consideration.  If  P  and  Q.  are  un- 
equal, they  have  a  resultant  which  is  pa- 
rallel to  their  direction,  equal  to  their  dif- 
ference, and  applied  at  a  point  C  in  A  B  pro- 
duced, which  is  such  that  A  C  :  C  B  :  :  Q,  :  P, 
or  A  C  :  A  B  :  :  Q,  :  P  —  Q,  and  the  two  forces 
represented  by  AP  and  B  Q,  will  be  in  equi- 
librium with  a  force  C  R'  equal  and  opposite  to  C  R.  But 
if  the  two  forces  P  and  Q,  are  equal,  the  point  C,  deter- 
mined as  above,  is  at  an  infinite  distance,  and  there  is  con- 
sequently no  resultant.  In  this  case,  therefore,  the  two 
forces  P  and  Q.  cannot  make  equilibrium  with  any  single 
force. 

The  system  of  two  equal  and  parallel  forces  applied  in  op- 
posite directions  at  the  extremities  of  a  rigid  straight  line  is 
very  important  in  statics.  For  the  sake  of  facilitating  cal- 
culation, the  two  forces  may  be  transferred  to  other  points 
in  the  lines  of  their  direction,  so  that  the  line  joining  the 
new  points  of  application  shall  be  perpendicular  to  the  di- 
rection of  the  forces.  Under  this  form,  the  system  has  been 
designated  by  the  French  mathematicians  a  couple  ;  and  its 
consideration  has  introduced  great  simplicity  into  the  theory 
of  equilibrium.  We  shall  here  state  the  principal  properties 
of  couples,  referring  for  the  details  of  demonstration  to  the 
Elemens  de  Statique  of  Poinsot. 

6.  Def. :  A  couple  is  a  system  of  two  equal  parallel  forces 
acting  in  opposite  directions,  and  applied  perpendicularly  to 
the  extremities  of  an  inflexible  straight  line  of  a  given 
length. 


B> 


7.  It  is  obvious  from  the  definition  that  the  efficacy  of  a 
couple  depends  on  two  things ;  the  intensity  of  the  forces, 
and  the  length  of  the  straight  line  or  lever  to  the  extrem- 
ities of  which  they  are  applied.  Now  the  force  multiplied 
into  the  leverage  is  the  moment,  or  the  measure  of  the  ef- 
fect produced.  Let  the  force  be  denoted  by  F,  and  the 
length  of  the  straight  line  by  a,  then  F  a  is  the  statical 
moment  of  the  couple.  And  if  there  be  another  couple  F' 
a',  such  that  F  :  ¥'  :  :  a'  :  a,  then  Fs  =  F'«';  or  the  stati- 
cal moments  of  the  two  couples  are  equal,  and  the  one  may 
be  substituted  for  the  other  without  disturbing  the  conditions 
of  equilibrium. 

8.  Any  couple  applied  to  a  solid  body  may  be  transported, 
parallel  to  itself,  to  any  position  in  its  own  plane,  or  in  any 
other  parallel  plane  ;  and  it  may  be  turned  round  through 
any  angle  in  those  planes  without  altering  in  any  manner 
its  effect  on  the  body  to  which  it  is  applied,  provided  the 
new  points  of  application  are  invariably  connected  with 
those  to  which  the  couple  was  originally  applied. 

9.  Two  couples  situated  anywhere  in  the  same  plane,  or 
in  parallel  planes,  may  be  composed  into  a  single  couple 
equal  to  their  sum,  if  they  tend  to  turn  the  body  in  the  same 
direction,  or  equal  to  their  difference  if  they  tend  to  turn  it 
in  opposite  directions.  Hence,  by  successive  composition, 
any  number  of  couples  acting  in  parallel  planes  may  be  re- 
placed by  a  single  couple,  the  statical  moment  of  which 
will  be  equal  to  the  difference  between  the  sum  of  the  mo- 
ments of  all  the  couples  tending  to  turn  the  body  in  one  di- 
rection, and  the  sum  of  the  moments  of  those  which  tend  to 
turn  it  in  the  opposite. 

10.  Two  couples  situated  anywhere  in  two  planes  which 
intersect  each  other  may  always  be  compounded  into  a  sin- 
gle couple  ;  and  if  we  represent  the  moments  of  the  two 
couples  respectively  by  two  straight  lines,  making  an  angle 
equal  to  that  of  the  two  planes,  and  complete  with  the  par- 
allelogram, the  moment  of  the  resulting  couple  will  be  rep- 
resented by  the  diagonal,  and  the  plane  of  the  resulting 
couple  will  divide  the  angle  formed  by  the  plane  of  the 
component  couples  into  two  parts  respectively  equal  to  the 
parts  into  which  the  diagonal  divides  the  angle  of  the  par- 
allelogram. From  this  it  is  obvious  that  by  successive  com- 
position any  number  whatever  of  couples,  applied  in  any 
manner  to  a  solid  body,  may  be  replaced  by  a  single  couple. 

11.  Reciprocally,  any  couple  may  always  be  resolved  into 
two  others  situated  in  given  planes,  provided  these  planes 
and  the  plane  of  the  proposed  couple  meet  in  the  same  or 
in  parallel  straight  lines. 

12.  From  the  principles  above  stated,  we  draw  this  im- 
portant conclusion — viz.,  that  when  a  solid  body  is  urged  by 
any  number  of  forces  having  any  directions  whatever,  the 
whole  may  be  reduced  to  one  force  and  to  one  couple.  For 
let  m  be  one  of  the  points  of  a  solid  body,  and  conceive  a 
force  F  represented  in  intensity  and  di- 
rection by  the  straight  line  m  F  to  be 
applied  at  m.  Take  O  any  point  what- 
ever in  the  solid  body  or  invariably 
connected  with  it,  and  draw  O  A  per- 
pendicular to  m  F,  and  conceive  the  H 

force  F  to  be  applied  at  A  in  the  same  T      *> / 

direction  mF.    Now  suppose  another  y      y/ 

force  G  represented  by  O  G,  equal  and 

parallel  to  m  F,  to  be  applied  at  O,  and  let  a  third  force  H 
represented  by  O  H,  equal  to  O  G,  but  acting  in  the  opposite 
direction,  be  also  applied  at  O.  These  two  auxiliary  forces 
will  not  alter  the  statical  condition  of  the  body,  because  the 
one  exactly  destroys  the  effect  of  the  other.  But  the  sys- 
tem of  three  forces  F,  G,  H  may  now  be  conceived  as  con- 
sisting of  a  single  force  G  applied  at  O,  and  of  a  couple 
formed  by  the  two  forces  F  and  H  applied  at  the  extremities 
of  the  lever  O  A.  Let  O  A  be  denoted  by  a,  then  the  stati- 
cal moment  of  this  couple  is  F  a  ;  and  by  (9)  we  may  con- 
ceive it  to  be  moved  in  its  own  plane  until  the  cenUe  of  the 
arm  O  A  coincides  with  the  point  O. 

In  like  manner,  if  the  other  points  m'  m"  &c.,  of  the  solid 
body  be  respectively  urged  by  forces  F'  F",  &c,  acting  in 
any  directions  whatever,  each  of  these  forces  may  be  re- 
placed by  a  single  force  acting  at  O,  and  by  a  couple  having 
its  centre  at  O.  Now  (2)  all  the  force  acting  at  O  will  have 
a  single  resultant  R  applied  at  the  same  point,  and  all  the 
couples  having  their  centre  at  O  may  be  compounded  into 
a  single  couple,  which  has  its  centre  at  the  simie  point  (9). 
Therefore,  finally,  the  whole  of  the  forces  acting  on  the  sol- 
id body  may  be  reduced  to  one  force  and  to  one  couple  ;  and 
in  order  that  the  body  may  remain  at  rest,  it  is  necessary 
that  the  efforts  of  the  resulting  force  and  the  resulting  couple 
be  severally  destroyed.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  the  result- 
ant R  cannot  destroy  the  couple,  or  be  in  equilibrium  with 
it ;  and,  in  general,  the  resultant  and  the  couple  will  be  sit- 
uated in  different  planes. 

From  this  it  appears  that  the  conditions  necessaiy  for  the 
equilibrium  of  a  body  urged  by  a  number  of  forces  are  these  : 
1.  That  the  resultant  of  all  the  forces  at  the  point  O  be  no- 

1153 


STATICS. 

thing ;  and.  2.  That  the  moment  of  the  couple  he  nothing, 
u  rirst  hi  these  conditions  la  satisfied,  there  can  be 
no  progressive  motion  ;  and  when  the  second  is  satisfied. 
there  can  be  no  rotatory  motion  about  an  axis.  Jn  order  to 
express  these  conditions  by  equations,  an  expression  for  the 
resultant,  and  an  expression  for  the  single  couple, 

must  be  deduced  from  the  conditions  of  the  proposed  prob- 
lem, and  the  results  severally  made  equal  to  nothing.  We 
shall  now  show  the  general  forms  of  these  expressions,  and 

for  simplicity  we  shall  first  suppose  all  the  forces  to  act  in 
the  same  plane. 

Let  there  be  any  number  of  forces  F'  F"  F'".  fcc,  applied 
respectively  at  the  points  m'.m",  m    ,  fcc, 
of  a  system  of  points  Invariably  co 
'         and  suppose  all  the  points  to  be  in  one  plane, 
j^f/l  and  all  the  forces  to  act  in  the  same  plane, 

— f— — ll       but  to  have  any  directions  whatever  in  that 
plane.     From  a  |xiint  «•  taken  arbitrarily  in 

jj jfthe  plane  draw  the  rectangular  axes  0  X. 

O  Y;  then,  whatever  the  direction  of  the 
force  F'.  it  may  be  resolved  into  two  forces  respectively 
parallel  to  these  axes.  Let  the  force  F'  be  represented  in 
intensity  and  direction  by  the  line  m!  I.  and  let  X'  =  m'  k  be 
its  component  parallel  to  the  axis  O  X,  and  Y'  =  kl  its  com- 
ponent parallel  to  O  Y.  In  like  manner  let  X"  and  V "  be 
the  components  of  a  second  force  F"  resolved  in  the  same 
manner,  X"  V"  those  of  a  third  F'",  and  so  on  ;  then,  in- 
stead of  the  system  of  forces  F',  F",  F'".  fcc,  we  shall  have 
two  groups  of  parallel  forces,  namely,  X'.  X",  X".  fcc,  par- 
allel to  1 1  X.  and  V.  V",  V".  fcc.,  parallel   to  ( )  Y. 

Now  if  i'  and  ;/  he  the  coordinates  of  the  point  m',  so 
that  r'  =  OB,  and  1/  =  0  C  (m'  It  and  m'  C  being  respective- 
ly perpendicular  to  OX  and  O  Y) ;  then  (12)  the  force  X' 
may  be  replaced  by  an  equal  force  applied  at  <>,  and  by  a 
couple  whose  statical  moment  is  X'  X  O  C  =  X'  y'.  In  like 
manner  the  force  Y'  may  be  replaced  by  an  equal  force  ap- 
plied at  O,  and  by  a  couple  whose  statical  moment  is  Y  X 
OB  =  Y'i'.  Each  of  the  remaining  forces  X".  X'",  fcc, 
Y  ',  Y '",  fcc,  may  evidently  be  replaced  in  a  similar  man- 
ner. But  it  is  evident  that  "the  group  of  forces  X'.  X",  X '", 
fcc,  applied  at  O,  may  be  represented  by  a  simile  force  X 
equal  to  their  sum  (those  which  fall  to  the  right  of  the  axis 
I)  Y  being  considered  as  positive,  and  those  Which  fall  in 
the  opposite  direction  as  negative),  and  those  of  the  group 
Y'  ,Y'  .  Y'",  fcc,  by  a  single  force  Y  (having  due  regard  to 
the  signs),  and  the  first  condition  of  equilibrium  requires 
that  we  have  X  =0,  Y  =  0  (for  the  resultant  of  X  and  Y 
can  only  be  nothing  when  these  quantities  are  severally  = 
0;  :  that  is  to  say,  we  must  have  the  two  following  equa- 
tions: 

X'  +  X"  +  X"'  +  fcc.  =  0)  , 

Y'  +  Y"4-Y'"+«cc=0J-  •  •  (a> 

With  respect  to  the  two  sets  of  coupies  X'  y1,  X"  y" ',  fcc, 
Y'  1',  Y"  1",  fcc,  since  they  are  all  situated  in  the  same 
plane,  it  follows  from  the  principle  stated  in  (9)  that  they 
may  all  be  compounded  into  a  single  couple  whose  statical 
moment  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  statical  moments  of  the 
component  couples  ;  and  since  the  second  condition  of  equi- 
librium requires  that  the  moment  of  this  resultant  couple  be 
nothing,  the  following  equation  must  he  satisfied  : 

XV  +  X"  y"-|- fcc  —  \'z'  —  V  r"  —  &c  =  0  .    .    (i) 

The  effort  exerted  by  each  of  these  separate  couples  is  to 
turn  the  system  round  an  axis  passing  through  the  point  O, 
and  perpendicular  to  the  plane  X  O  Y  ;  and  the  sum  of  the 
etfTts  being  nothing,  there  is  consequently  no  rotatory  mo- 
tion communicated. 

The  equations  which  have  now  been  obtained  for  the 
equilibrium  of  a  system  of  forces  all  acting  In  the  same 
plane  are  easily  rendered  general.  Let  F',  F",  F'",  &c.  be 
the  forces,  having  any  directions  whatever  in  space,  applied 
to  the  [mints,  of  B  solid  body  ]  through  a  [Miint  1 1  in  the  body, 
or  invariably  connected  with  it.  draw  three  rectangular  axe's. 
OX,0  V,  and  0  Z  ;  and  let  each  of  the  forces  1"  1  , 

into  three  others  parallel  to  those  axes,  ami  denoted  respi  1  t- 

ively  by  X',  Y',  '/.' ,  then  the  Oral  condition  of  equilibrium 
obviously  requires  the  three  equations, 
X-r-X'  +  X"-rfcc.  =  0) 

r-)-Y"+Y"'4-«Ms.=oJ  ...(c) 

'/:  +  '/"+  Z'"  +  fcc  =  oS 

With  respect  to  the  couples  formed  by  transporting  there- 
solved  forces  from  their  (Miints  of  application  to  the  point  O, 

it  is  manilest  that  as  the  direction  of  the  forces  are  now  m 
planet  parallel  to  three  rectangular  planes,  SOY,  SO  '/. 
and  YO  Z,  the  couples  may  all  be  transferred  to  lb 

therefore,  by  the  same   reasoning   as  above,  it   is 
easy   ;,,  see  that  in  each    plane  there  will  be    t\\  0 

lending  to  turn  the  body  about  an  axi*  perpendicu- 
lar 10  that  plane.     Thus,  in  the  plane  \  ( >  Y.  there  M  ill  be. 

the  two  sets  of  couples  X'tr*,  X'y",  fcc..  x        I 
x",fcc. ;  and.  similarly,  in  the  plane  X  0  Z  there  will  be  two 

1    X"  :",  fcc,  Z'  1'.  V."  1" ,  fcc. ;  and  in  the  plane  Y 
O  Z  the  two  sets  Y' :',  Y"  1",  fcc,  Z'  y\  Z"  y",  fcc.    Now, 

1156 


STATION. 

•  supposing  all  these  couples  to  be  compounded  into  one,  it  is 

manifest  that  the  moment  of  this  resulting  couple  can  only 

be  nothing  when  the  sums  of  the  moments  of  the  couples 

in   each  plane  are  respectively   nothing:  hence  we  have 

ad  set  of  equations, 

XV  +  X"  i/'-f-  fcc  —  Y'  r'-Y"/"tc.  =  0) 

Y'V  +  Y"  :"  +  fcc.  —  Z'  1/'  —  Z"i/"fcc  =  oS.  .  .  .  (d) 

"/.'  /'  -f-  Z"  e"  +  **■  —  X'  :'  —  X"  :"  fcc  =  U  ) 

These  two  systems  of  equations  (c)  and  (d)  contain  the 
conditions  necessary  for  the  equilibrium  of  any  solid  body. 
When  the  first  system  (e)  is  satisfied,  there  can  be  no  pro- 
greasive  motion  :  and  when  the  system  (d)  is  satisfied,  there 
can  he  no  rotation  about  an  axis. 

These  two  systems  of  equations  are  usuri'y  given  under 

a  dilferent  form.     Let  „'.   ,'.  y ',  be  the  three  angles  which 

the  direction  of  the  force  I"  make  with  lines  parallel  to  the 

es  OX,  O  Y,  OZ;  we  shall  then  have  for  the  coiur 

ponents  of  the  force  F  . 

X'  =  F'  cos.  a'.  Y'  =  F'  cos.  p",  Z'  =  F'  cos.  /. 
Denoting  the  analogous  angles  in  respect  of  the  force  F"  by 
we  shall  have  similar  expressions  for  the  com- 
ponent of  that  force;  and  so  on.     Hence  the  six  equations 
(«)  and  id)  become 

F*  cos.  <('  +  F"  cos.  a"  +  fcc.  =  0  ) 
F'  cos.  ,>  +F"  cos.  p"  +  &.c.  —  0  \   .  .  .  (O 
F'  cos.  j '  -j-  F"  cos.  j  "  -f-  fcc  =  0  ) 
F'  (y7  cos.  a'  —  z'  cos.  p")-f-F"  (y"cos.  a"  —  x"  cos.    ") 

|8")+fcc=0 
F"  (2'  cos.  p"  —  1/'  cos.  y')  -f-  F"  (z"  cos.  6" — y"  cos.    I   ,j~ 
>",  +  &c.  =  0  ({a> 

F'  (z'  cos.  ) '  —  :'  cos.  a')  +  F"  (1"  cos.  y"  —  2"  cos. 
a")  +  &c  =  0  J 

Our  limits  will  only  permit  of  our  giving  a  general  indi- 
cation of  the  manner  in  which  the  above  equations  are  ap- 
plied to  the  solution  of  particular  problems. 

1.  If  the  body  is  retained  by  a  fixed  point,  we  have  only 
to  assume  the  fixed  point  as  that  iu  respect  of  which  the 
preceding  transformations  are  made.  The  effort  of  the  re- 
sultant of  the  different  forces  will  then  be  annihilated  by 
the  resistance  of  the  fixed  point,  and  consequently  there 
will  be  equilibrium  if  the  resultant  couple  is  nothing,  or  if 
the  three  equations  (d')  are  satisfied. 

•2.  If  the  body  is  retained  by  two  fixed  points,  the  line 
which  joins  them  will  constitute  a  fixed  axis  in  the  body. 
On  taking  the  point  O  anywhere  on  the  axis,  the  resultant 
of  the  forces  applied  at  O  will  again  be  destroyed  by  the 
resistance  of  the  axis  ;  but  In  order  that  equilibrium  may 
take  place,  it  is  not  now  necessary  that  the  resulting  couple 
be  nothing — it  is  sufficient  tl»at  it  he  situated  in  any  plane 
which  contains  the  axis  ;  for  when  this  condition  is  fulfilled, 
its  arm  coincides  with  the  axis  and  is  fixed,  and  consequent- 
ly the  effect  of  the  forces  applied  at  its  extremities  will  be 
annihilated. 

3.  LastlsM  f  the  body,  in  other  respects  free,  be  subjected 
to  touch  an  invariable  plane,  it  is  not  necessary  for  equi- 
librium that  the  equations  ',c'}  be  satisfied  :  it  will  be  suffi- 
cient if  the  resultant  of  the  forces  be  perpendicular  to  the 
plane,  provided  it  also  fall  within  the  interior  of  the  space 
which  limits  the  points  of  contact  of  the  body  with  the 
plane,  for  in  this  case  it  will  be  destroyed  by  the  plane's  re- 
sistance. The  second  system  of  equations  {d')  must,  how- 
ever, be  satisfied  ;  since  the  resistance  of  the  plane  can  only 
generate  a  normal  resistance,  which,  therefore,  is  incapable 
of  destroying  the  action  of  the  couple. 

Of  all  the  forces  which  art  upon  bodies,  that  which  most 
frequently  comes  under  our  observation  is  terrestrial  gravity, 
under  the  influence  of  which  all  bodies,  when  unsupported, 
fall  to  the  ground  in  vertical  lines.  A  solid  body  acted  upon 
by  gravity  presents  the  case  of  an  infinite  number  of  con- 
nected points  urged  by  parallel  forces;  for  though  gravity 
is  directed  towards  the  centre  of  the  earth,  yet  DJ  reason 
of  the  great  magnitude  of  the  earth  in  comparison  of  such 
bodies  as  usually  come  under  consideration,  the  direction  of 
the  forces  acting  on  the  dilferent  points  may  all  he  regarded 
as  parallel.  All  these  forces  have  therefore  a  single  result- 
ant, which,  in  respect  of  1  very  particular  body,  passes 
through  a  given  point,  called  the  centre  of  gravity.  The  de- 
termination of  the  centres  of  gravity  of  different  bodies,  and 
of  their  various  properties,  consequently  forms  a  considera- 
ble portion  of  every  treatise  on  status.  For  the  general  for- 
Gravitv.  Bee  Poinsot,  Minims  i!e 
siitiijn,:  Blot,  ffotions  '/'■  Station*;  Pcdsson,  'J'raif  de 
.Vrrnniijue ;  Lagrange.  .Vicnniijuc  .Inalitit/i/t  :  llfinrrll's 
Methanit  a  :  and  the  references  under  the  term  If  CI  BASICS.) 

STATION.  I. at.  stare,  to  stand.)  In  Astronomy,  ■ 
planet  Is  said  to  be  at  its  ttatum,  of  to  be  stationary,  when 

its  motion  in  right  ascension  C<  aaes,  or  its  apparent  place  in 
the  ecliptic  remains  for  a  t'rw  days  unaltered.  The  real  mo- 
tions of  the  planets  are  always  m  the  same  direction  from 

west  to  east;  Inn   owing  to  the  motion  of  the  earth  from 

which  they  are  seen,  tluir  apparent  motions,  thougl 

ally  from  west  to  east,  or  direct,  ore  sometimes  from  east  to 


STATIONARY  ENGINE. 


west,  or  retrograde,  and  in  changing  from  one  of  these  di- 
rections to  the  other  the  planet  appears  for  some  short  time 
to  stand  still.  The  distance  of  the  earth  and  of  a  planet 
from  the  sun  being  given,  and  also  their  periodic  times,  the 
determination  of  the  arc  of  retrogradation,  or  the  times  at 
which  the  planet  will  appear  stationary,  is  an  easy  prob- 
lem ;  but  to  the  ancient  astronomers,  who  were  unacquaint- 
ed with  the  relative  distances  of  the  planets,  and  who, 
moreover,  supposed  the  earth  to  be  the  centre  of  motion,  the 
phenomena  of  the  stations  and  retrogradations  occasioned 
great  embarrassment,  and  the  principal  object  of  the  various 
systems  which  were  propounded  previous  to  that  of  Coper- 
nicus was  to  give  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  them.  See 
Epicycle,  Planet. 

Station,  in  Surveying,  is  the  place  selected  for  planting 
the  instrument  with  which  an  angle  is  to  be  measured. 

Station,  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  is  applied  to  certain 
churches  in  which  indulgences  are  granted  on  certain  days. 

Station,  is  applied  to  those  resting-places  on  railways  at 
which  a  halt  is  made  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  or  letting 
down  passengers  or  goods.  The  last  stations  on  a  railroad 
are  called  the  termini. 

STATIONARY  ENGINE,  in  contradistinction  to  a  "Lo- 
comotive Engine,"  expresses  a  steam  engine  in  a  fixed  posi- 
tion, which  draws  loads  on  a  railway  by  a  rope  or  other 
means  of  communication  extended  from  the  station  of  the 
engine  along  the  line  of  road. 

On  railways  worked  by  locomotive  engines,  inclined 
planes  sometimes  are  constructed  of  an  acclivity  too  steep 
to  be  worked  with  advantage  by  these  machines:  such  a 
plane  occurs  on  the  London  and  Birmingham  railway,  be- 
tween the  passenger  station  at  Euston  Square  and  the  de- 
pot and  station  for  goods  at  Camden  Town.  Similar  inclined 
planes  are  constructed  on  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester 
railway,  between  the  quay  at  Liverpool  and  the  station  at 
Edge  Hill,  and  between  the  passenger  station  at  Lime 
Street  and  the  same  place.  In  these  cases  a  stationary  en- 
gine is  placed  at  the  summit  of  the  inclined  plane,  by  the 
power  of  which  acting  on  a  rope  carried  along  the  plane 
the  trains  of  carnages  and  wagons  are  drawn  to  the  sum- 
mit. 

But  it  is  not  only  on  planes  whose  acclivity  forbids  the 
advantageous  application  of  locomotive  engines  that  station- 
ary engines  are  used  as  a  moving  power  on  railways.  In 
some  situations,  where  a  line  of  railway  is  sufficiently  level, 
they  are  applied  in  preference  to  locomotive  power.  Thus 
the  railway  extending  from  the  India  House  in  London  to 
Blackwell,  whose  acclivities  do  not  exceed  sixteen  feet 
per  mile,  is  worked  throughout  its  entire  length  by  station- 
ary power. 

When  a  line  of  railway  is  to  be  worked  by  stationary  en- 
gines the  whole  line  is  resolved  into  a  succession  of  stages 
of  certain  lengths,  at  the  end  of  each  of  which  a  stationary 
steam  engine  is  placed  ;  or,  more  generally,  two  such  engines 
are  provided,  in  order  that  the  occasional  suspension  of  one 
for  the  purpose  of  repairs  may  not  interrupt  the  traffic  of 
the  road.  The  power  of  these  engines  is  applied  to  give 
motion  to  a  drum,  or  cylinder,  or  wheel,  on  which  a  rope  is 
wound.  This  rope  extends  along  the  road,  being  supported 
at  short  intervals  on  iron  sheaves  or  pulleys,  by  which  its 
friction  and  consequent  wear  and  resistance  are  diminished. 

There  are  several  methods  by  which  the  stationary  engine 
is  made  to  draw  the  train  by  a  rope. 

The  plan  adopted  by  Mr.  Stephenson  to  draw  the  trains 
of  goods  from  the  quay  at  Liverpool  to  the  station  at  Edge 
Hill,  up  an  inclined  plane  of  about  a  mile  in  length,  is  by 
an  endless  rope.  At  the  foot  of  the  machine  awheel  is  laid 
down  in  a  horizontal  position,  revolving  on  a  vertical  axis, 
having  a  groove  on  its  circumference  of  a  proper  magnitude 
to  receive  the  rope.  The  diameter  of  this  wheel  is  equal  to 
the  distance  between  the  centres  of  the  two  lines  of  rails  ; 
so  that  when  the  rope  is  extended  between  each  line  it  will 
fall  into  the  groove  at  the  ends  of  the  diameter  of  the  wheel 
which  is  at  right  angles  to  the  line  of  the  road.  Thus,  the 
rope  being  brought  round  the  groove  of  the  wheel  for  half 
its  circumference,  is  carried  up  each  line  of  rails  midway 
between  the  rails. 

At  the  summit  of  the  plane,  a  similar  wheel  is  similarly 
placed,  round  which  the  rope  is  conducted  ;  but,  instead  of 
being  merely  half  carried  round  this  wheel,  it  is  brought 
round  two  other  wheels  of  less  diameter,  by  means  of 
which  the  necessary  tension  is  given  to  it.    Let  A  represent 


the  great  wheel  at  the  top  of  the  plane,  and  let  a  b  represent 
the  rope  passing  up  the  plane  between  one  line  of  rails  and 


falling  into  the  groove  of  the  wheel  at  b.  It  is  carried 
round  the  wheel  A  to  c,  and  thence  passes  diagonally  to  a\ 
where  it  falls  into  the  groove  of  a  smaller  wheel  B,  from 
whence  it  is  carried  to  e  and  half  round  another  wheel  C, 
equal  to  B  ;  and  from /it  is  conducted  to  g,  where  it  falls 
again  into  the  groove  of  the  wheel  B,  from  whence  it  pass- 
es diagonally  to  A,  and  half  round  a  second  groove  in  the 
great  wheel  A  to  i  k,  from  whence  it  is  carried  down  the 
other  line  between  the  rails. 

The  steam  engine  is  thrown  into  connexion  with  the 
axle  of  the  wheel,  to  which  it  imparts  continued  revolution. 
The  adhesion  of  the  rope  to  the  grooves  makes  this  motion 
cause  the  rope  to  be  drawn  in  the  direction  of  the  arrows. 
Any  train  of  carriage,  therefore,  attached  to  the  rope  ab 
would  be  drawn  in  one  direction,  and  a  train  attached  to  ik 
would  be  drawn  in  the  other  direction.  The  tension  of  the 
rope  is  regulated  by  a  weight  suspended  by  a  rope  passing 
over  a  vertical  wheel  D,  and  attached  to  the  axle  of  the 
wheel  C.  This  weight  hangs  in  a  pit,  and  continually 
draws  the  wheel  C  from  the  wheel  D.  By  this  means, 
however  the  rope  may  vary  its  length  by  moisture  or  other 
hygrometric  causes,  it  will  necessarily  have  the  same  ten- 
sion. 

The  new  tunnel  at  Liverpool,  extending  from  the  engine 
station  at  Edge  Hill  to  the  passenger  station  at  Lime  Street, 
is  differently  worked,  but  also  by  an  endless  rope.  The  dis- 
tance from  the  Lime  Street  station  being  2200  yards,  a  hori- 
zontal shaft  is  extended  across  the  whole  width  of  the  two 
lines  of  railway  at  Edge  Hill.  The  extremities  of  this 
shaft  are  continued  on  either  side  into  two  buildings, 
where  stationary  engines  are  erected.  A  motion  of  revolu- 
tion may  be  given  to  the  shaft  by  either  of  those  engines 
separately,  or  by  both  of  them  simultaneously.  Upon  the 
shaft,  and  in  the  centre  of  one  of  the  lines  of  railway,  a 
grooved  wheel,  19£  feet  in  diameter,  is  fixed  with  its  plane 
vertical.  The  rope,  which  constantly  ascends  the  plane 
between  the  rails  of  the  line  appropriated  to  ascending 
trains,  passes  over  this  wheel,  and  being  brought  under  it, 
is  returned  nearly  to  the  point  where  it  first  comes  upon 
it.  It  is  there  conducted  into  the  groove  of  another  wheel 
4  feet  in  diameter,  placed  in  front  of  the  greater  wheel. 
By  this  arrangement  the  rope  embraces  nearly  the  whole 
circumference  of  the  greater  wheel,  and  an  adhesion  is  ob- 
tained sufficient  to  draw  a  load  of  one  hundred  tons  up  the 
plane.  After  the  rope  passes  over  the  smaller  wheel,  it  is 
carried  round  a  horizontal  wheel  placed  upon  a  carriage 
running  backwards  and  forwards  upon  a  railway,  which 
wheel  is  drawn  by  a  weight  similar  to  that  described  in  the 
preceding  case,  by  which  a  uniform  tension  is  given  to  the 
rope.  After  passing  round  this  horizontal  wheel,  the  rope 
is  then  directed  to  the  centre  of  the  other  line  of  railway 
by  two  other  horizontal  wheels,  and,  after  passing  down  the 
plane,  is  conducted  by  two  other  horizontal  wheels  at  Lime 
Street  into  the  centre  of  the  ascending  line,  along  which  it 
is  conducted,  as  already  described,  to  the  large  shaft  wheel 
at  the  top  of  the  plane. 

Bv  either  of  the  contrivances  here  described  a  railway 
of  any  extent  may  be  worked  by  stationary  engines  driving 
endless  ropes  ;  and  as  the  rope  is  at  the  same  time  moving  in 
contrarv  directions  along  the  two  lines  of  railway,  trains  may 
he  drawn  bv  the  same  engine  at  the  same  time  in  contrary 
directions,  "in  case  of  such  a  rope  being  applied  to  an  in- 
clined plane,  the  weight  of  the  descending  train  would  act 
upon  the  ascending  train,  leaving  the  moving  power  to  act 
against  the  difference  of  their  weights  only.  If,  in  such  a 
case,  the  descending  load  were  greater  than  the  ascending 
load,  the  latter  would  not  only  descend  by  its  gravity 
without  anv  moving  power,  but  would  draw  the  ascending 
load  up.  A  plane  worked  in  this  way  without  an  engine  is 
called  a  self-acting  plane.  Railways  composed  of  self-act- 
ing planes  are  very  frequent  in  mining  districts,  where  the 
level  at  which  the  mineral  product  is  obtained  is  much  more 
elevated  than  that  at  which  it  is  shipped.  The  weight  of 
the  mineral  itself  is,  in  such  cases,  used  as  the  moving  pow- 
er, the  loaded  wagons  in  their  descent  drawing  the  empty 
wagons  in  the  contrary  direction. 

When  an  endless  rope  is  not  used,  the  power  of  the  en- 
gine is  applied  to  a  drum  or  cylinder,  called  a  rope-roll,  on 
which  the  rope  is  coiled.  In  such  cases,  the  rope  being  car- 
ried along  the  line  of  rails,  has  its  extremity  attached  to  the 
train  to  be  drawn ;  and  the  engine,  as  it  works,  turns  the 
rope-roll  on  which  the  rope  is  gradually  coiled,  and  the  train 
is  thus  drawn  towards  the  engine.  When  the  train  has  ar- 
rived there,  the  whole  of  the  rope  will  be  coiled  on  the 
rope-roll.  In  order  to  move  the  train  in  the  other  direction, 
a  similar  engine  is  placed  at  the  other  extremity  of  the  rail- 
way along  which  the  train  is  moved ;  and  the  train  is  drawn 
back  by  the  other  engine  in  the  same  manner.  But,  in  or- 
der to  unroll  the  rope  from  each  rope-roll,  the  train,  in  re- 
turning, is  made  to  draw  the  roj>e  after  it.  Thus  the  two 
engines  reciprocally  draw  the  train  backwards  and  forwards 
between  them ;  each  engine,  while  it  draws  the  train  in 

1157 


STATIONERY. 

one  direction,  unrolling  the  ropo  from  the  rope-roll  of  the 
other. 

There  are  various  other  expedients  that  have  been  sug- 
gested and  practised  for  working  railways  by  stationary  en- 
gines and  ropes,  but  all  of  them  partake  more  or  less  of  the 
principle  of  one  or  other  of  these  here  described.  The 
speed  attainable  by  such  means  was  formerly  very  much 
limited  ;  but  the  application  of  ropes  and  the  machinery  con- 
nected with  them  has  been  much  improved,  and.  if  it  were 
Otherwise  desirable,  a  line  of  railway  could  now  lie  worked 

at  an  average  speed  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty  miles  an  hour 
by  a  series  of  stationary  engines  and  ropes.  Nor  would  it 
be  necessary  in  passing  each  station  to  stop  the  train,  expe- 
dients being  devised  by  which  the  train  may  be  transferred 
from  one  rope  to  another  without  stopping  it. 

STA'Tlo.M'.KV.  The  name  given  to  all  the  materials 
employed  in  the  art  of  writing,  but  more  especially  to  those 
of  pen,  ink,  and  paper.  The  term  stationery  is  derived 
from  the  business  of  booksellers  having  been  ancientlv  car- 
ried on  entirely  in  stalls,  or  stations.  The  Stationery  Office 
in  London  is  Die  medium  through  which  till  government  of- 
fices, both  at  home  and  abroad,  are  supplied  with  writing 
materials  ;  and  at  the  same  time  it  contracts  for  the  printing 
of  all  reports  and  other  matters  laid  before  the  House  of 
Commons,  &c.  It  consists  of  a  comptroller,  a  storekeeper, 
and  about  thirty  clerks  and  other  subordinate  officers ;  and 
has  a  branch  establishment  at  Dublin. 

STATION  POINTER.  An  instrument  used  in  maritime 
surveying,  for  expeditiously  laying  down  on  a  chart  the  po- 
sition of  a  place  from  which  tile  angles  subtended  by  three 
distant  objects,  whose  positions  are  known,  have  been  ob- 
served. It  consists  of  three  scales,  which  move  about  B  com- 
mon centre,  two  of  them  carrying  each  a  divided  circular 
arc,  and  the  third  two  verniers  adapted  to  the  arcs,  by  means 
of  which  the  scales  can  be  opened  so  as  to  form  two  angles 
of  any  inclination.  Suppose  the  angles  of  the  scales  to  be 
made  equal  to  the  two  measured  amiies,  and  the  instrument 
to  be  laid  on  the  chart,  so  that  the  edges  of  the  three  scales 
coincide  with  the  positions  of  the  observed  objects,  the  cen- 
tre marks  the  position  of  the  s|>ot  from  which  the  objects 
were  observed.  (See  Simms's  Treatise  on  Mathematical  In- 
struments, p.  98.) 

STATIONS.  In  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  (from  the 
Roman  statio,  a  soldier  keeping  guard).  The  weekly  fasts 
of  Wednesdays  and  Fridays.  These  were  omitted  between 
Easter  and  Whitsuntide.  They  terminated  at  three  in  the 
afternoon;  hence  sometimes  called  semijejunia.  Saturday 
Was  made  a  station  day  by  the  council  of  Elvira  ;  which,  it  is 
said,  led  to  the  gradual  neglect  of  the  Wednesday  station  in 
the  Western  t  'Imrch.    (Riddle's  Christian  Antiquities,  624.) 

STATISTICS.  (Lat.  status,  state,  condition.)  The 
name  given  to  the  science  which  exhibits  the  state  or  con- 
dition of  a  country  or  nation,  principally  in  relation  to  its 
extent,  population,  industry,  wealth,  and  power. 

By  a  statistical  account  of  a  country,  we  mean  a  work  de- 
scribim:  its  situation  and  extent;  its*  natural  and  acquired 
capacities  of  production;  the  quantity  and  value  of  the  va- 
rious articles  of  utility  and  convenience  existing  and  an- 
nually produced  in  it;  the  number  and  classes  of  its  inhab- 
itants, with  their  respective  incomes  ;  its  institutions  for  the 
government,  improvement,  defence,  and  maintenance  of  the 
population  :  with  a  variety  of  subsidiary  statements  and  de- 
tails, a  eciei embracing  so  great  a  variety  of  objects  is  not 

easily  defined  or  limited  ;  nor  is  it  possible  to  draw  an]  dis- 
tinct line  of  demarcation  between  what  should  be  left  out 
Of  Statistical  works,  and  what  should  be  included  in  them. 
Much  must  always  depend  on  the  object  in  view,  and  on 
the  eood  sens,,  and  discrimination  of  the  author.  Statis- 
tics has  many  features  in  common  with  geography  and  pol- 
itics, and  embraces  that  sort  of  m  ingrel  science  that  has 
been  called  political  arithmetic.  Some  authors,  and,  among 
others,  the  economist  M.  Say,  contend  that  any  description, 
however  brief,  of  the  territory  of  a  country  is  foreign  to 
statistics,  and  belongs  exclusively  to  physical  geography. 
Hut  this  is  evidently  a  most  erroneous  statement.     Iluu  can 

we  acquire  any  accurate  or  comprehensive  knowledge  of 
the  capacities  of  production  enjoyed  bj  a  country,  if  we  be 

unacquainted   with   its  situation,   soil,   climate,   and  native 

productions,  and  with  its  facilities  far  brincing  them  to  market 
and  exchanging  them  with  others  ?  So  far  from  being  alien 
to.  this  knowledge  lies  at  the  very  foundation  of  the  science ; 

and  any  work  which  should  omit  it,  however  Well  it  might 

be  executed,  would  have  no  claim  to  be  considered  as  ■ 
complete  statistical  work.  Those  topographical  details 
which  are  essential  in  a  geographical  work  would,  howev- 
er, he  totally  0UI  Of  place  in  one  devoted  to  st  itistics.  One 
Of  the  principal  objects  of  the  latter  is  to  exhibit  the  means 
and  sources  of  the  national  wealth,  its  amount  and  distri- 
bution ;  and  these  would  not  be  in  any  respect  prone. ■• 

Indulging  in  topographical  details.    Hence,  in   statistical 

works,  :i  sburi  notice  of  the  principal  divisions  of  the  coun- 
try, with  reference  especially  toils  climate,  soil,  native  prod- 
1158 


STATISTICS. 
nets,  agriculture,  Including  the  method  of  holding  and  ocrn- 
pj  Lag  lands,  manufactures,  and  population,  is  general 

Sclent.     This   much,    however,    cannot    lie  dispensed  Willi. 

It  is  the  foundation  on  which  all  the  rest  of  the  building 

j  is  to  stand  ;  and  the  completeness  of  the  Other,  and   more 

elevated  parts,  will  generally  depend  more  on  the  compact- 

i  solidity  of  this  than  on  anything  <  Ise. 

Opinions  differ  as  widely  as  to  the  mode  in  which  statis- 
tical treatises  should  be  drawn  up,  as  with  respect  to  the 
topics  they  should  embrace.  Some  contend  that  their  ob- 
ject is  limits  I  to  an  exposition  of  the  state  of  o  country, 
province,  or  place,  at  some  given  period;  and  that,  conse- 
quently, all  historical  am!  theoretical  discussions  should  be 
rigidly  excluded.  The  Germans,  who  are  supposed  to  be 
the  great  authorities  in  statistical  matters,  mostly  compose 
their  works  on  this  plan  :  but  it.  notwithstanding,  appears  to 
us  to  be  radically  objectionable,  and  to  be  calculated  to  de- 
prive the  science  of  all  that  is  most  interesting  and  instruct- 
ive. Nor  need  we  travel  beyond  the  sphere  of  German 
statistical  works  for  ample  proof  of  what  is  now  suited. 
They  are.  in  fact,  with  lew  exceptions,  the  most  worthless 
rubbish  imaginable.  We  have  accounts,  sometimes  accu- 
rate and  sometimes  not,  but  usually  put  forward  with  equal 
Confidence,  of  a  variety  of  minute  tacts;  but  as  we  have  no 
explanation  of  the  circumstances  under  which  they  origina- 
ted, they  communicate,  even  when  accurate,  little  useful 
information  :  and  it  would  not  be  more  idle  to  attempt  to 
form  any  notion  of  St.  Peter's  or  St.  Paul's  from  an  account 
of  the  number  of  tons  of  stone,  brick,  and  mortar,  in  each, 
than  it  would  be  to  attempt  to  form  any  opinion  of  the  state 
of  Prussia.  Austria,  or  any  other  German  state,  from  the 
details  respecting  it  supplied  by  German  statistical  writers. 
They  tell  us,  for  example,  that  so  many  looms  were  at  work 
in  such  a  town  or  place  at  such  a  time  ;  hut  the  chances  are, 
not  a  word  will  be  said  as  to  whether  the  number  of  looms 
was  increasing  or  diminishing  ;  and  supposing  that  were 
stated,  it  is  all  but  certain  that  not  a  word  will  be  said  ex- 
planatory of  the  causes  by  which  this  result  has  been 
brought  about,  thouzh  this  be,  in  fact,  of  ten  times  more  im- 
portance than  anything  else.  This  species  of  statistics  pre- 
sents us  with  a  skeleton,  instead  of  a  living  animated  body. 
It  isof  importance,  no  doubt,  to  know  the  amount  of  popula- 
tion, the  sum  paid  in  taxes,  the  rate  of  wages,  &c.,  in  n  coun- 
try or  district  at  any  given  period  :  but  it  is  only  by  comparing 
these  statements  with  others  of  the  same  sort,  applying  to 
different  epochs,  that  we  learn  whether  such  country  be  ad- 
vancing or  retrograding:  and  it  is  only  by  comparing  details 
peculiar  to  one  country  with  those  peculiar  to  another,  that 
wc  learn  in  what  respects  they  agree  and  differ,  and  that 
the  attention  of  the  politician  and  economist  is  called  to 
those  circumstances  that  retard  the  progress  id' one,  and  ac- 
celerate that  of  the  other.  Those  who  make  a  parade  of 
subdivisions  would  call  this  comparative  statistics,  and 
would  contend  that  it  should  not  be  mixed  up  with  descrip- 
tive statistics.  But  to  be  really  good,  ami  possessed  of  interest 
enough  to  make  it  be  read,  a  work  must  embrace  both.  They 
should  not  be  so  intermixed  as  to  create  confusion  ;  hut  un- 
less they  be  combined  in  due  proportions,  the  principles 
on  which  the  comparisons  are  made  expounded,  and  the 
Circumstances  that  produce  the  discrepancies  pointed  out, 
and  their  influence  correctly  appreciated,  no  details,  how- 
ever accurate,  can  he  of  much  value.  It  is  the  easiest  thing 
possible  to  pile  fizures  on  fizures  ;  but  unless  deduced  from 
correct  data,  they  serve  only  to  mislead  :  and  they  do  this 
the  more  easily,  that  they  have  a  scientific  air  about  them, 
and  that  most  people  shrink  from  the  irksome  task  of  exam- 
ining whether  tabular  statements  be  correct  or  not.  There 
is  nothing,  indeed,  about  which  one  should  be  so  sceptical 
as  the  great  number  of  what  are  called  statistical  facts  and 
details,  or  with  respect  to  which  a  sound  and  searching 
criticism  is  so  necessary.  The  reader  would  do  well  gener- 
ally to  lo>k  with  suspicion  and  distrust  on  most  Statement^ 
how  imposing  soever  they  may  appear,  unless  he  be  in- 
formed of  the  sources  Whence  they  have  been  derived,  and 
of  the  principles  on  and  the  mode  in  which  the)  have  been 
compiled. 

It  would  be  easy  to  illustrate  what  has  now  been  said  by 
references  to  the  statements  in  parliamentary  and  other  of- 
ficial documents,  mam-  of  which  aie  altogether  (Use  . 

while  many  more,  from  the  conditions  to  which  they  apply 

not  being  clearly  sel  forth,  are,  though  not  absolutely  incor- 
rect, titled  only  to  mislead. 

Perhaps  the   least  valuable  book   ever  published   on   any 

Important  subjeci  was  thai  of  l>r  Ccriquhcnm  i'n  the  health 

of  the  British  Empire.  It  i-.  from  I" 
ning  to  end.  a  ti-si f  extravagant  hypoth s,  exaggera- 
tion, and  absurdity.  Nothing  was  too  difficult  for  this  In- 
trepid calculator.  Under  his  transf,,rmiiiLr  hand  everything 
u  as  reduced  to  rizure?  ;  and  matters  as  to  which  it  is  impos- 
sible to  obtain  any  certain  information,  and  of  which  he 
knew  nothing.  Were  Bel  down  as  if  they  had  be.  n  a-m 
tained  with  absolute   precision  '.     And  yet  the  moat  e.xtrava- 


STATISTICS. 


gant  of  his  statements,  were  for  a  while  regarded  as  well- 
established  truths.  The  book  obtained  an  extensive  circu- 
lation ;  it  was  translated  into  German,  and  the  German  doc- 
tors continue  to  refer  to  it  as  if  its  authenticity  were  alike 
unquestioned  and  unquestionable. 

Injustice,  however,  to  the  German  writers  on  statistics,  it 
should  be  stated  that  the  circumstances  under  which  they 
are  placed  do  not  really  admit  of  their  publishing  the  best 
class  of  works.  In  Prussia,  Austria,  and  most  German 
states,  the  press  is  subject  to  a  rigorous  censorship ;  and  no 
statements  of  a  political  kind  are  allowed  to  be  published 
that  might  give  offence  to  government,  or  that  would  be 
likely  to  call  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  the  defects  in  the 
organization  of  the  state.  This  sufficiently  accounts  for  the 
absence  of  such  discussions  in  German  works,  and  their 
anti-critical  character.  But  this  certainly  is  no  reason  why 
the  writers  of  other  nations,  not  laid  under  any  restraints, 
should  adopt  such  emasculated  works  as  models  for  their 
treatises. 

Indeed,  it  would  seem  to  be  considered  by  some  writers 
that  ever)  thing  in  statistics  may  be  estimated  in  figures, 
and  exhibited  in  tabular  statements  !  But  the  truth  is,  that 
but  a  few  of  the  more  prominent  facts  in  regard  to  the  situa- 
tion of  any  great  country,  can  be  so  exhibited.  A  grand  ob- 
ject in  every  good  statistical  work  should  be,  not  merely  to 
state  what  is,  but  why  it  is  ;  to  trace  and  exhibit  causes  as 
well  as  effects  !  to  show  how  advantageous  results  may  be 
best  brought  about,  and  how  those  of  an  opposite  character 
may  be  best  avoided. 

It  may  be  said,  perhaps,  that  this  would  encroach  on  the 


province  of  the  politician  and  political  economist.  But,  in 
our  estimation,  a  certain  admixture  of  politics  and  political 
economy  is  indispensable  to  statistics.  Without  such  ad- 
mixture, most  statistical  works  are  little  better  than  worth- 
less ;  if  they  are  to  be  excluded,  a  good  almanac  may  be  ta- 
ken as  the  model  of  a  good  statistical  work. 

Arthur  Young,  in  his  Travels  in  France,  Townsend  in  his 
Travels  in  Spain,  and  Volney,  in  his  Syria  and  Egypt,  in- 
dulge largely  in  discussions  that  depend  more  or  less  on  pol- 
itics and  political  economy.  But,  nevertheless,  no  one  can 
doubt  that  the  books  in  question  belong  to  the  class  of  trav- 
els, of  which,  indeed,  they  are  among  the  verv  best  speci- 
mens. And  why  should  it  be  otherwise  with  statistical 
works  ?  If  their  writers  know  what  they  are  about,  they 
will  use  political  science  not  to  supersede,"  but  to  illustrate, 
explain,  and  give  utility  to  their  statistical  details. 

A  really  good  statistical  work  can  only  be  compiled  by  a 
writer  who  to  great  talent  and  good  sense  adds  the  most  ex- 
tensive information,  and  hence  the  extreme  raritv  of  such 
works;  but,  when  properly  executed,  they  are' alike  in- 
structing and  interesting.  'Est  cnim  cognitio  reipublica  et 
privato  homini  et  publico  utilissima  et  maxims  necessaria, 
atque  scientiam  Mam,  qua  duce  cog%itionemreipublica>  nobis 
comparamus,  imprimis  dignam  esse,  quam  studiosius  cola- 
mus  et  proscquamur,  non  est,  quod  jure  negare  vel  adeo  dubi- 
tare  possimus.     (Mone,  Hist.  Statistical,  p.  4.) 

We  subjoin  a  few  of  such  of  the  more  interesting  particu- 
lars in  the  statistics  of  the  United  Kingdom,  and  of  Europe 
generally,  as  may  be  exhibited  in  a  tabular  form.  The  de- 
tails are  mostly  derived  from  official  returns. 


I.  Table  exhibiting  the  Area,  Population,  &c.  of  England  and  Wales. 


Englaitd. 

Bedford 

Berks    

Buckingham  .... 

Cambridge 

Cheshire 

Cornwall,  exclusive  of  Scilly  Islands 

iberland  .... 

Derby  ...... 

Devon  

Dorset 

Durham 

Essex 

Gloucester    ..... 

Hants 

Hereford 

Hertford 

Huntingdon  .... 

Kent 

Lancaster 

Leicester  •        •        •        • 

Lincoln         

Middlesex 

Monmouth 

Norfolk 

Northampton  .... 
Northumberland  .... 
Nottingham  .... 

Oxford 

Rutland 

Salop  ..... 

Somerset 

Stafford 

Suffolk 

Surrey  ..... 

Sussex  ..... 

Warwick  ..... 
Westmorland  .... 
Wilts   .  .... 

Worcester 

Yorkshire 

Total  of  England 


296,320 
4*1,280 
472,320 
548,480 
673,280 
851,200 
974.720 
637,920 

1,054,400 
643,540 
"U2,080 
981,120 
805,120 

I,040.()00 
552.320 
403.200 
233,080 
996,480 

1,130.240 
515,840 

1,671,040 
180,480 
317,440 

1.295,360 
650,240 

1,197.440 
535.6S0 
483,840 
95.360 
859.520 

1,052,800 
757,760 
969.600 
485,760 
93-.  240 
574,080 
487,680 
874,880 
462.720 

3,735.040 


32.243.200 


63,393 
109.215 
107,444 

89.346 
191,751 
188,369 
117,230 
161,142 
343,11(11 
115,319 
160,361 
226.437 
260,809 
219,656 

89,191 

97,577 

37,568 
307,624 
672,731 
130.081 
208.567 
818.129 

45.582 
273.371 
131,757 
157,101 
140,350 
109,620 

16.356 
167,639 
273,750 
239,153 
210.431 
269,043 
159,311 
208,190 

41,617 
185,107 
139,333 
858.-92 


8.331,434 


Popula- 
tion, 1821. 


83,716 
131,977 
134,068 
121,909 
270,098 
267,447 
156,124 
213,333 
439,040 
144.499 
207,673 
289,424 
335.S43 
283.295 
103.243 
129.714 

48,' 

426,016 

1.052.5,59 

174, 

283,058 

1,144,531 

7I.KS3 
344,368 
162,483 
198,965 
186,873 
136.971 

18,487 
206,153 
355,314 
345,595 
270,542 
398.658 
233,019 
274.392 

51.359 

222,157 

184,424 

1,173,187 


11.261,43" 


Inhabi'ed 
Houses, 
1841. 


21,235 
31,472 

31,071 
33,112 
73,390 
65,641 
34,444 
52,910 
94,63' 
34,559 
57,450 
67,602 
80,856 
66,5-9 
23.461 
30,155 
11,897 
95,547 

289,166 
44,649 
73,038 

207,670 
24. --H 
85.922 
40,903 
48,704 
50,541 
32,141 
4,297 
47,203 
81,632 
97.676 
64.081 
95,3-5 
54.066 
81,445 
10.-45 
50.956 
46,962 

315,082 


Population,  1841. 


Males. 

Females. 

52,169 

55,768 

79,674 

80,552 

76,316 

79,673 

81.513 

82,996 

I93.U-9 

202,211 

164.451 

176,818 

86,206 

91,706 

135,639 

136.563 

252.752 

280,979 

83,442 

91,301 

159,874 

164,403 

172.299 

172,696 

205.374 

225,933 

174,724 

180,216 

57,257 

57,181 

77,619 

79,618 

29.154 

29,545 

272.415 

275.746 

814.857 

852,207 

105.613 

110,242 

1-1,802 

180,915 

73^.970 

837,646 

70,608 

63,741 

199,055 

213,566 

98.886 

100,175 

121,271 

128,997 

121,660 

128,113 

80,383 

81,190 

10,743 

10,597 

119,357 

119,657 

209.421 

226.581 

258.72S 

251,477 

154,107 

161,022 

278.  IS6 

304,427 

147.572 

152,198 

195,967 

206,154 

28.234 

28,235 

128,904 

131.103 

114,753 

118,731 

Total. 


802,754 


107,937 
160.226 
155,989 
164.509 
395.300 
341.269 
177,912 
272,202 
533.731 
174,743 
324.277 
344.995 
431,30' 
354,940 
114.43S 
157.23: 
58,699 
518,161 

1,667,064 
215.855 
3b2,71 

1,576,616 
134,349 
412.621 
199,061 
260,268 
249,773 
161.573 
21,340 
239.014 
436.002 
510.206 
315,129 
582.613 
299,770 
402,121 
56,469 
260,007 
233.454 

1.591,554 


Acres  of 
Land    to    a,. , 
Individual  in    ****<?  ' 
1841. 


.114 

2362 
3- 139 
3  266 
4785 
2-144 
2-944 
4-468 


1  1  5i 

i  7  i: 

0  18  10' 

1  18  10 
0  12  9 

0  14  2$ 

1  1 
0  15 


7-- .530 
'.321.875  17673.1:33  14,995. 5QSl      At.   2VJ5tT|Jv7o  17     3^ 


Walet. 

Anglesey 

Brecknock 

Cardigan 

Caermarthen        .        .        . 

Caernarvon  .... 

Denbigh 

Flint 

Glamorgan   ..... 

Merioneth 

Montgomery         .        .        .        . 

Pembroke 

Badnor         .        .        .        .        • 
Total  of  Wales 
Total  of  England    . 
Total  of  England  and  Wales 


33.-06 

31.633 

42,956 

67.317 

41,521 

60,352 

39.622 

71,52- 

27.506 

47,9' 

56,2S0 

19,050 


45,063 
43,603 
57,784 
90.239 
57.958 
76,511 
53,784 
101,737 
34,352 
59.899 
74,009 
22,459 


II. 458 
10.634 
15,102 
23,407 
16.  -69 
18,485 
13,320 
33.205 
8.467 
13,650 

l-.— : 


24,369 
26,911 
31.997 
50.796 
39.600 
44.617 
33.636 
89.028 
19247 
34.252 
40,343 
12,738 
~ 44V33 
7.321.875 


7,7t9.405 


26.521 

50.890 

26.384 

53.295 

36,383 

68.3S0 

55.687 

106,452 

41.468 

81.068 

44.674 

89,291 

32,911 

66,547 

84,434 

173.462 

19,991 

39.23S 

34,968 

69  220 

47,919 

-.-  2152 

12.448 

25,186 

463.758 

911.321 

7.673.633 

14.995,508 

8.137.421 

15,906,8291 

L.  3.    d. 


0     4     84 
0    7    2} 


5-214    Av.  0    6  10 
_2-150    Av.  0  17    3j 


1159 


STATISTICS. 

II.  Table  exhibiting  the  Area,  Population,  &c.  of  Scotland. 


Counties. 

Area  in  Acres. 

Popula- 

Popula- 

Inhabited 

11.  .u.rs, 

1841. 

Population,  1841. 

Acres  of 

Land    to    an 

Indm.lual  in 

1341. 

H.i.t  ..(  I.:,u,l 
1810, 

i  .,.  i! 

0    3    33 

Lind. 

Lakes 

Total. 

Males. 

Females. 

Total. 

Aberdeen     .... 
Argyle  aud  Islands    . 

1.264,400 

6,400 

1,260,300 

123,032 

155,337 

32,193 

89,528 

102,7.35 

192,233 

6  523 

»0M,  i8Q 

61. MO 

3,840 

1,054,400 

71,859 

84,306 

97.316 
127,299 

30.247 

■17. ',.1 
78,870 

85,552 

164,322 

4 -II.H 

0  10  u 
0    3  103 

Berwick      ... 

Caithness    .... 
..an.    .    . 

ID         ... 

412,800 

liao 

414,031) 

112228 

23.426 

26,651 

50.(176 

242,880 

30,621 

33,385 

7,403 

lli,  .27 

17,900 

31.427 

0    3    74 

2,500 

11,791 

13.797 

3,067 

-.1  - 

B,587 

15,695 

6    ,i,  . 

6,400 

4H..H-  ' 
30,720 

22.609 
10,8  i  1 

30,238 
13.263 

6,902 
3,593 

16.993 
9.331 

19,204 
9,786 

36,197 
19,116 

12146 

1  1117 

0  1     5 

1  0  mi 

19,840 

I6i  76 

20,710 

27,317 

7,936 

22,505 

21,790 

44,295 

3294 

0     6     1* 

6,400 

803,320 

54,597 

70,878 

111, 

3s.72s 

72.S25 

0     7     9^ 

LJiuburgh  .... 
►:u.n 

226,569 

122,954 

191,514 

102.7011 

122,914 

22 -,,i.23 

1     4     6j 

4,480 

307,200 

26,705 

31,162 

8,133 

16,071 

i  -  '■.'  1 

34,994 

1,920 

93.743 

114,556 

28,965 

65,735 

71,.-. 

140.310 

Forfar  (Angus)      .     . 

174,080 

e 

670,330 

174.0SH 

99,127 

29.9S6 

113.130 
35,127 

36, 1 53 
8,009 

79.234 
17,253 

91,166 
18,628 

170,400 
3n,7sl 

4-865 

1    0   9] 

2,594,560 

122.240 

2,716,800 

74,292 

90,157 

45,506 

62,109 

0  13  1* 
0  9  102 
0    7    3| 

0  9  102 

1  1    7t 

243,200 

1,280 

244,430 

26,349 

29.113 

15,804 

17,2-IS 

Kinross    .     .     .     .     • 

■ 

4.480 

50,560 

6,725 

7,762 

1,806 

4,194 

4.569 

3,763 

8,000 

533,760 

29,211 

33,903 

8,159 

18,838 

22,261 

41,099 

12  792 

604,880 

1,920 

604,300 

146,699 

244.3-7 

81,531 

203,369 

211,741 

427,113 

Linlithgow.    .    .    . 

76,1ml 

17,884 

22.i.s5 

6,309 

13,766 

13.11-2 

124,800 

1,920 

126,720 

s.J  57 

y.octi 

2,233 

4,232 

4,936 

9,218 

13  iSG 

0  0  4* 
0  5  li 
0    5    6j 

Orkney  and  Shetland 

819,200 

25,600 

844,100 
204,100 

46,344 

B,735 

53,124 
10,046 

11,371 
2,119 

26,343 
6,122 

33,9.3 
6,398 

60.7116 
10,  ,2,1 

in- i"u 

[.656  BO 

144,000 

32,000 

1,638,320 

126.366 

139,060 

29,172 

65,339 

72,812 

13s  l.l 

U-989 

Reiitreiv       .... 

1,230 

145,230 

78,05b 

112,175 

24,626 

72,725 

82,030 

154,755 

Ross  and   Cromarty, 

i ,  - :  > ;.  1 1  it  > 

457,600 

67,600 

1,904,000 

35,343 

68,828 

16,377 

36,861 

42,119 

78,980 

23-378 

0   1   14 

320 

457,920 

33,6.12 

40.SM 

8,662 

21,930 

24,073 

46,003 

9-947 

0  4  83 
0  11     4J 

168,320 

960 

169,980 

5,070 

6,637 

1,446 

3,972 

4,017 

7,989 

21  069 

312,960 

8,320 

321,'sn 

50,325 

65,376 

15,837 

41,070 

41,109 

82,179 

3  SOS 

1.222,560 

288,960 

3o,0sU 

1,162,640 

23,1 17 

23,840 

4,972 

11,307 

13,3.59 

24.666 

45  510 

0    8    63 

Wigtown    .... 

4,300 

293,760 
19,352,321 

22,918 

33.241 

7,440 

18,258 
1,241,276 

20,921 

30,179 

7  375 

18,944,UOO 

403,320 

1 ,599,068 

2,093,416 

503,451 

1 ,379,334 

2,620,610 

Av.  7  221 

Av.  0    5     IJ 

III.  Table  exhibiting  the  Area,  Population,  &c.  of  Ireland. 


Provinces  and 
Counties. 

Area  in 
Statute 
Acres. 

Lakes. 

Extent  in 
\cres,  ex- 
clusive of 
Lakes. 

Popula- 
icn,  1321. 

Population,  1331. 

Inhabited 
Douses, 
1831. 

Acres  of 

Land    to    an 

Individual   in 

l(s31. 

Rent  of  Land 

per  Acre  in 

1831. 

Males. 

Females. 

Totals. 

Lcinsler. 

/..  s.  d. 

219,363 

— 

2192863 

97.070 

48,327 

51,026 

99.353 

13,275 

2-632 

0  15    0 

Dublin 

248,631 

— 

335,892 

173,856 

206,311 

380,167 

39,861 

•654 

1     0     1.1 

392,43'. 

— 

392,435 

99.065 

.34.172 

108,424 

17,153 

3619 

0  13    0 

613,636 

— 

513,  '06 

93,977 

99,709 

193,686 

31,007 

0  17    0A 

Kings    . 

52s,  166 

24s 

527,913 

131,033 

71,217 

72,938 

144,225 

24,266 

3-660 

0  12     II 

Longforl 

263,645 

15,892 

247,7  53 

107.570 

55,310 

57,243 

112,55a 

19,4  is 

2-201 

0  12    3 

206,261 

101.011 

62,439 

65.042 

107,431 

22,1140 

1-652 

n  16    0 

Vleath  . 

567,127 

— 

567,127 

159, 113 

88,993 

87,833 

176,826 

29,796 

3-207 

0  18    0 

396,310 

— 

134,275 

72,469 

73,312 

145,851 

23,713 

2-721 

0  14    0 

336,251 

16,334 

369,917 

128,819 

67,7011 

69,172 

136,872 

23,103 

2-7113 

0  13    7 

Wexford 

564,479 

— 

564,179 

170,806 

87,995 

94.7  11 

182,713 

29,923 

3  089 

0  14    0 

Wicklow 

494.704 
4,712,058 

— 

494,704 

110.767 

61,052 

60,505 

121,557 
T909/7T3 

18,412 

2T"2^729 

4  070 

0  12     0 

Totals 
Minister. 

32,474     4.741-.514 

1,737,592 

927,877 

931,336 

Av.  2-4.37 

Av.  0   14     7£ 

Clare    .... 

302.352 

18,655        733,697 

203,0S9 

128,446 

129,876 

2.58.322 

40,353 

3034 

0  II    3 

Cork     . 

1,769,  '.1 

1,769,563 

730.444 

396,714 

111  HI- 

810,732 

118,879 

2  1  s3 

0  13    74 

0  6   r 

Kerry    . 

1,148,720 

14,669 

1,134,051 

216,115 

131.696 

131. 4311 

263.1  6 

41,294 

4-310 

Limerick 

674 .7S3 

— 

674.713 

277.-177 

133.62 

161,730 

315.335 

44,-ni 

2-140 

0  13    8 

Tipperary 

1,013,173 

11,328 

1,001,845 

346,196 

197,713 

204,-50 

402,563 

60,264 

2-419 

0   17     8* 

Waterford 

471,281 

44^652 

471.211 
5.635^220 

706.0-6 

156,521 

85,217 

TsxoaU 

91,137 
1,133,741 

164,731 

ft     064 

"2^2277152 

316.9(19 

24,-141 

!  66S 

0  12    6 

Totals 
Ulster. 
Antrim 

5,373,872 

1,935,612 

330,444 
55,971 

Av.  2-620 

Av.  0  13    0\ 

758,366 

49,790 

262,860 

152,178 

2171 

0  16    0* 

Armagh 

321,1  S3 

18,394 

309,789 

205,450 

111,618 

117,222 

'22-. S40 

39,571 

1-407 

Oil     6A 

Cavan  .... 

473,449 

21,987 

451,462 

195,076 

1)3,174 

H4,75i 

31.917 

1-911 

0   13    7* 
0    6    0Z 

Donegal 

1,165,107 

— 

1,163,107 

248,270 

III. -45 

147 .304 

289,141 

60,171 

4-021 

Down  .-.. 

611,404 

158 

611,246 

32.411 

169,416 

1-2    .Hi 

3,2.11 12 

62,629 

1-736 

0  16    0 

Fermanagh   . 

471,348 

48,797 

422,531 

130.997 

73,117 

76,646 

149,762 

2.5.7-1 

2  821 

(I   12     3 

Londonderry          , 

5  Is,  271 

■.,„ 

608,706 

193,868 

106,657 

115,355 

'222,012 

39,077 

2-29! 

u  12    2:{ 

Mnnaghan     . 

327,048 

7,844 

319,204 

174.69' 

95,67! 

99,157 

195,536 

35.225 

l-i.i 

0  13    34, 

Tyrone 

Totals 
Connaught. 

183.791 

727,134 
T22~4~274 

261,865 
1 ,991.494 

149,410 
1,113,094 

155,058 
1,173,524 

384,468 

2,  .'-I..  '■■  '■ 

54.663 
40X005 

2311 

11   11     '  | 

5,40s  ,07C 

Av.  2.285 

Av.  0   12     34, 

Gal  way 

1,510,39; 

77,  92! 

1,432,671 

337,37-1 

204,691 

209,991 

414,611 

67,114 

3-461 

0  12     l.A 

Leitrim 

394,80" 

124,78: 

69,451 

72.07. 

111    -.' 

24.20(1 

2  7"i 

0   10     7-j 

Mayo    .... 

1,297,10' 

293,11 

179,69: 

186,731 

366,321 

62.367 

3-54 

0    8    6* 

Roscommon .        .        . 

609,46 

24.78" 

,111 

208,79' 

123,031 

121 .  -. 

249,611 

41,369 

2-34. 

0   13     0 

Sligo     .        ,        .        . 
Totals 

20,399,601 

194,47- 
1  _455"^9S 

425,926 
4.135,13 

19,944,20' 

1  l.  ,.22' 
1,110,29: 
6,80l~99l 

83.730 

88,035 
683,4  It 

~3797T,n2 

17l,7i.- 
1,343,914 
7.767,401 

29,538 

.•■4.1.1- 
1 ,249.'iT6 

2-4SC 

0  10  34 

660,498 
3,794,380 

Av.  3  07- 

Av.  0   10     9aJ 

Gen.  Av.2'56 

Gen.Av.O  12     9 

IV.  The  following  Account  of  the  Area  and  Population  of  the  different  European  State*  litis  been  compiled  from  the 
latest  and  best  authorities,  and  will,  we  believe,  be  found  nearly  accurate.  There  are  uo  means  whatever  "t 
compiling  any  similar  account  for  any  one  of  the  other  quarters  of  the  world. 


States,  and  their  Designation. 

Area  in  Square 
1  Dglish) 

Population 
(Latest  Returns.) 

Pop,  t.i  lbs 
Squire  Mile. 

United  Kingdom  of  Ureal  Britain  and  Ireland. 
Great  Itrilain 
Ireland         ...                                                                              ... 

87,412 

31.   "I 

1,096 

(1841)      18,532,335 

1,2115,3-2 
124,079 

213-0 

2.5-4 
113  2 

Isle  of  Man  and  Channel  Islands 

1100                               s             ... 

120,382 

26,861,796 

223- 1 

STATUARY. 


STEAM. 


States,  and  tbeir  Designation. 


(including  Poland)    . 
Austria  (including  Lombardy,  &c.) 
France  (including  Corsica) 
Prussia  .        . 

Spaii 


Brought  forward 


Turkey  (including  Servia,  Wallachia,  and  Moldavia) 

Sweden  and  Norway 

(including  parts  of  Limburg  and  Luxemburg) 


Holland  ( including  parts  of  Limburg  and  Luxemburg) 
Denmark  (including  Holstein  and  Lauenburg)    . 


Germany. 


nb.T; 


Hi: 

Wii 

Saxony  .        ,         • 

Baden    . 

Hesse-Cassel  .        . 

Hessr-Darmstadt   . 

Mecklenburg  Schwerin 

Oldenburg      . 


Nassau 

Other  German  States 


Italy. 

Naples  and  Sicily  '. 

Sardinia  and  Piedmont  (including  Monaco)  . 

Papal  Slate 


any 


Parma  . 
Modena 
Lucca  . 
San  Marino 


Swiss  Confederation 


Area  in  Square 
Miles  (English). 


120,352 

!  ,01/0 ,000 

257,363 

203,736 

107,621 

1*2,270 

2t0,5S5 

291,164 

13,214 

36,510 

13,598 

21,856 


29.637 
14,734 

7,640 


Total 


5,904 
4,430 
3,240 


10,282 


42.132 

29.130 

17,210 

7,686 

2,268 

2,092 

413 

22 

14,950 
17,900 
IIS 
999 
488 
200 


Population. 
(Latest  Returns.  I 


26,861,796 
49,000,000 
36,519. StO 
33.540,908 
14.330,146 
12,236,941 
15,000,000 
4,259,772 
4,242.600 
3,550,000 
(1838)  2,915,396 
(1834-5)    2,033.265 


(1839) 
(1--36) 
(1838) 


(1833-9) 
(1S36) 


(1837) 
(1833) 
(1836) 
(IS37) 
(IS38) 


(1S37) 
(1838) 


(1836) 
(1833; 


(1S36) 


(1S36) 


(1S37) 


4,315,469 

1,706,280 
l,t34.654 

1,652.114 
1.263,100 
7IM.S00 
7K5.4U0 
432,652 
267.660 
379,262 
970,190 


7.975.850 

4,650,368 

2,732,436 

1,436,785 

465  6-3 

403. 0U0 

158,900 

7,600 

2,12.5,480 
9-'6.000 
120.000 
203,100 
131,462 
7,000 


Pop.  to  the 
Square   Mile. 


240,043,719 


223  1 
24-5 
141  9 
164-6 
1327 
66  9 
71  2 
14  6 
321 


213.9 
159  1 
2411 
99-8 
110-7 
2163 
191-6 


345-4 

1421 
511 
1016  9 
2U3-3 
269  4 
35 

(FsT" 


STA'TUARY.  (From  statue.)  The  art  of  carving  or 
otherwise  forming  statues. 

STATUE.  (Lat.  statua,  from  sto,  /  stand.)  In  Sculp- 
ture, a  representation  in  relief  in  some  solid  substance,  as 
marble  or  bronze,  or  in  some  apparently  solid  substance,  of 
a  man  or  otber  animal.  Tbere  are  various  species  of  sta- 
tues :  1.  Those  smaller  than  nature.  2.  Those  of  the  same 
size  as  nature.  3.  Those  larger  than  nature.  4.  Those 
that  are  three  or  more  times  larger  than  nature,  and  are 
called  colossal.  The  first  were  by  the  ancients  confined  to 
men  and  gods  generally.  The  second  were  confined  to 
the  representation  of  men  celebrated  for  their  learning  and 
talents,  who  had  rendered  service  to  ihe  state,  and  were  ex- 
ecuted at  the  public  expense.  The  third  were  confined  to 
kings,  emperors,  and,  when  more  than  twice  the  size  of  na- 
ture, to  heroes.  The  fourth  species  were  confined  to  statues 
of  the  cod*,  or  of  kings  and  emperors  represented  under  the 
form  of  gods.  Equestrian  statues  are  those  in  which  the 
figure  is  seated  on  a  horse.     See  Sculpture. 

STA'TUS  QUO.  In  Politics,  a  trealy  between  two  or 
more  belligerents,  which  leaves  each  party  in  possession  of 
•.he  same  territories,  fortresses,  &x.  as  it  occupied  before 
hostilities  broke  out,  is  said  to  leave  them  "  in  statu  quo 
ante  bellum,"  in  the  same  state  as  before  the  war. 

STA'TUTE.  (Lat.  statuo,  I  establish.)  An  act  of  par- 
liament made  by  the  king  by  and  with  the  advice  of  the 
lords  and  commons.  But  some  ancient  statutes  are  in  the 
form  of  charters  or  ordinances,  proceeding  from  the  crown, 
and  in  which  the  consent  of  the  lords  and  commons  is  not 
expressed.  1.  As  to  the  time  from  which  statutes  run,  if  no 
time  was  expressed  for  the  operation  of  a  statute  to  com- 
mence, it  was  of  force,  anciently,  from  the  first  day  of  the 
session,  and  consequently  had  a  retrospective  operation. 
By  33  G.  3,  c.  13,  it  now  has  force  from  the  day  on  which 
it  receives  the  royal  assent.  2.  Statutes  are  divided  into 
public  and  private  ;  a  distinction  which  rests  rather  on  con- 
ventional usage  and  difference  in  the  formalities  of  pass- 
ing them,  than  on  any  principle ;  and  public  acts  themselves 
may  be  either  local  or  general.  There  may  be  a  private 
clause  in  a  general  act.  Statutes  are  also  said  to  be  decla- 
ratory of  the  law  as  it  stood  at  their  passing  ;  remedial,  to 
correct  defects  in  the  common  law,  subdivided  into  enlarg- 
ing and  restraining;  and  penal,  imposing  prohibitions  and 
penalties.  But  these,  again,  are  rather  distinctions  of  an 
arbitrary  character  than  of  any  legal  effect,  although  some  le- 
gal maxims  have  been  founded  on  them  ;  e.  g.  that  penal  stat- 
utes, or  clauses  in  statutes,  are  to  be  construed  strictly,  reme- 
dial statutes  liberally,  &c.  A  few  other  rules  laid  down  by 
learned  authorities  in  the  construction  of  statutes  are — that 
they  are  to  be  construed  out  of  the  words  themselves,  accord- 
ing to  the  true  intent  of  the  makers  ;  that  when  the  words  of 
a  statute  are  doubtful,  general  usage  may  be  called  in  to  ex- 
plain them ;  that  the  purview  of  the  whole  act  is  to  be  con- 


sidered, and  not  particular  words  or  clauses  only ;  that 
doubtful  words  are  to  be  construed  with  reference  to  the 
object  of  the  act ;  that  the  preamble,  or  recital  at  the  com- 
mencement, is  to  be  considered,  as  it  generally  indicates  the 
evil  which  it  was  meant  to  remedy,  and  consequently  af- 
fords an  insight  into  the  meaning  of  the  framers  ;  that  re- 
peal of  former  statutes  by  implication  shall  not  be  favour- 
ed, &c.  Statutes  are  numbered  according  to  rather  an  in- 
convenient arrangement :  the  entire  acts  of  one  session  are 
considered  as  forming  two  collections  or  volumes,  one  of 
public  and  one  of  private  acts  ;  each  act  forming  a  distinct 
"chapter,"  and  subdivided  into  sections. 

STAUROLITE.  (Gr.  aravpoc,  a  cross,  and  XtQoc,  a  stone.) 
The  mineral  called  cross-stune,  harmotome,  and  Andreas- 
bergolite.  It  is  a  silicate  or  baryta  and  alumina,  with  traces 
of  lime  and  potash,  and  forms  small  quadrangular  prisms 
crossing  each  other :  the  most  characteristic  specimens  are 
from  Andreasberg,  in  the  Hartz. 

STAUROT1DE.  (Gr.  aruvpog,  a  cross,  and  c«5oc,  form.) 
A  name  given  by  Haiiy,  and  other  mineralogists,  to  the  pris- 
matic garnet,  or  grenatite.  It  occurs  in  four  and  six-sided 
prisms,  sometimes  crossing  each  other  at  right  angles.  It  is 
a  silicate  of  alumina  and  lime,  with  Ihe  oxides  of  iron  and 
manganese.  It  occurs  in  primary  rocks,  and  is  distinguish- 
ed from  garnet  by  its  form  and  difficult  fusibility. 

STAY.  A  strong  rope  from  the  mast  head,  leading  for- 
ward to  support  it  from  falling  aft.  It  takes  the  name  of 
the  mast,  as  the  fore  stay,  main-topmast  stay,  &c.  To  stay, 
means  to  tack.  To  be  in  stays,  is  to  be  in  the  act  of  tacking. 
To  miss  stays,  signifies  to  fail  in  attempting  to  tnck. 

STEAM.  The  elastic  fluid  into  which  water  is  convert- 
ed by  the  continued  application  of  heat. 

All  liquids  whatever,  when  exposed  to  a  sufficiently  high 
temperature,  are  converted  into  vapour.  The  mechanical 
properties  of  vapour  are  similar  to  those  of  gases  in  general. 
The  property  which  is  most  important  to  be  considered,  in 
the  case  of  steam,  is  the  elastic  pressure.  When  a  vapour 
or  gas  is  contained  in  a  close  vessel,  the  inner  surface  of  the 
vessel  will  sustain  a  pressure  arising  from  the  elasticity  of 
the  fluid.  This  pressure  is  produced  by  the  mutual  repul- 
sion of  the  particles,  which  gives  them  a  tendency  to  fly 
asunder,  and  causes  the  mass  of  the  fluid  to  exert  a  force 
tending  to  burst  any  vessel  within  which  it  is  confined. 
This  pressure  is  uniformly  diffused  over  even'  part  of  the 
surface  of  the  vessel  in  which  such  a  fluid  is  contained  :  it  is 
to  this  quality  that  all  the  mechanical  power  of  steam  is  due. 

To  render  the  chief  properties  of  steam  intelligible,  it 
will  only  be  necessary  to  explain  the  phenomena  which  at- 
tend the  conversion  of  water  into  vapour  by  the  continued 
application  of  heat,  under  the  various  circumstances  of  ex- 
ternal pressure  which  present  themselves  in  the  processes 
of  nature  and  art. 

Let  A  B  be  a  tube  or  cylinder,  the  magnitude  of  whose 
4  C  *  1161 


STEAM. 


base  is  a  square  inch,  and  lot  a  piston  F  move 
Bteam  tight  In  it ;  let  it  he  imagined  that  un- 
drr  this  piston,  in  the  bottom  of  the  cylinder, 
there  is  an  inch  depth  of  water,  which  will 
therefore  be  in  quantity  a  cubic  inch;  let  the 
piston  be  counterbalanced  by  a  weight  \v  act 
ing  over  a  pulley,  which  shall  be  sufficient  to 
counterpoise  the  weight  of  the  piston  and  its 

friction  in  the  cylinder;  and  let  the  Weight 
W  YV  be  so  arranged  that  from  time  to  lime  its 
amount  may  he  diminished  to  any  required 
extent.  Under  the  circumstances  here  sup- 
posed, the  piston  being  in  contact  with  the 
water,  and  all  air  being  excluded  from  be- 
neath it,  it  will  be  pressed  down  by  the  weight 
of  the  atmosphere,  which  we  shall  assume  to  be  14j  lbs. 
Let  it  be  also  supposed  that  a  thermometer  is  placed  in  the 
water  under  the  piston,  and  that  the  tube  A  B  is  transpa- 
rent, so  that  the  indications  of  the  thermometer  may  be  ob- 
served.  The  temperature  of  the  water  under  the  piston 
being  reduced  to  that  of  melting  ice,  which  is  32°  of  the 
common  thermometer,  let  the  (lame  of  a  lamp  be  applied 
under  the  tube,  and  let  the  time  of  its  application  be  noted. 
If  the  thermometer  he  now  observed,  it  will  be  seen  slowly 
B&d  gradually  to  Indicate  an  increasing  temperature  of  the 
water,  the  piston  maintaining  its  position  in  contact  with 
the  water  unchanged.  This  augmentation  of  the  tempera- 
ture will  continue  until  the  thermometer  indicates  the  tem- 
perature of  212°.  Let  the  time  be  then  noted.  It  will  be 
found  that  after  that  epoch,  the  water  will  cease  to  increase 
in  temperature,  notwithstanding  the  continued  application 
of  the  lamp,  the  thermometer  not  rising  above  212°.  But 
another  effect  will  begin  to  he  manifested  ;  the  piston  F  will 
be  observed  gradually  to  rise,  leaving  a  space  apparently 
vacant  between  it  and  the  water.  The  depth  of  the  water 
will,  however,  be  at  the  same  time  gradually  diminished, 
and  the  diimmilion  of  its  depth  will  be  found  to  bear  con- 
stantly the  same  proportion  to  the  ascent  of  the  piston. 
This  proportion  will  render  the  circumstances  here  supposed 
to  be  that  of  1700  to  1.  If  the  application  of  the  lamp  be 
continued,  and  the  tube  have  sufficient  length,  the  water 
will,  after  the  lapse  of  a  certain  time,  altogether  disappear 
from  the  bottom  of  the  tube;  and  when  thai  occurs,  the 
piston  will  have  risen  to  the  height  of  1700  inches,  being 
1700  tunes  the  original  depth  of  the  water. 

The  tube  will  now,  to  all  appearance,  be  empty;  hut  if 
the  apparatus  were  weighed,  it  would  be  found  to  have  the 
same  weight  as  at  the  commencement  of  the  experiment. 
The  water,  therefore,  must  still  he  contained  in  the  tube, 
though  it  has  assumed  an  invisible  form.  To  demonstrate 
its  presence,  let  the  lamp  be  removed  ;  immediately  the 
piston  will  begin  to  descend,  and  the  inner  surface  of  the 
lube  will  he  covered  wilh  a  dew.  which  speedily  increasing, 
will  fall  to  the  bottom  in  drops  id' water.  The  piston  mean- 
while will  continue  to  move  downwards,  sweeping  before  it 
the  water  from  the  sides  of  the  tube;  and  at  length  will  re- 
cover its  fust  position,  having  under  it,  as  at  the  beginning, 
a  cubic  inch  of  w  aler. 

In  the  above  process,  the  elevation  of  the  piston  is  pro- 
duced by  the  elastic  force  of  the  steam,  into  which  the 
water  was  gradually  converted  by  the  lamp.  The  apace 
between  'he  piston  and  tin'  water  during  its  ascent,  though 
apparently  empty,  was  filled  with  steam  ;  which,  like  air 
anil  most  other  gases,  is  a  colourless  and  invisible  fluid. 
The  proportion  of  the  elevation  of  tin1  piston  to  the  diminu- 
tion of  depth   of  the  watei  being  1700  to  1,  proves  that  the 

water  in  passing  into  steam  increases  iis  volume  in  that 
proportion.  When  the  water  altogether  disappeared,  the 
height  of  the  piston  from  the  bottom  of  the  tube  was  1700 
inches;  and  as  the  tube  under  the  piston  was  then  filled 
with  the  steam  into  which  the  w  aler  had  been  converted, 
it  is  apparent  that  the  cubic  inch  of  water,  in  this  case, 
Was  converted  ml. i  1700  inches  of  .-team. 

The  pressure  of  the  atmosphere  above  the  piston  was, 

in  this  case,  overcome  by  the  elastic  force  ol  the  steam,  ami 
the   piston,  hearing   that   pressure   Upon   it,  Was   raised   to  a 

height  of  1700  no  ins.     In  the  evaporation,  therefore,  of 

this  cubic  inch  of  water,  n  mechanical  force  has  been 
evolved  equivalent  to  14$  lbs.  raised  to  the  height  of  1700 
inches. 

From  the  moment  at  which  the  water  began  to  be  con- 
.1   into  steam   the  thermometer,  having  then  attained 

■  I  io  rise.    Nevertheless,  the  application  of  the 
lamp  was  continued,  and  therefore  the  same  quantity  id' 

heal  per  minute  was  still  supplied  to  the  water.     Since  the 

water  did  not  Increase  in  temperature,  it  may  he  asked 

What  became  of  this  continued  supply  of  heat  received 
from  the  lamp  ?    It  tnav   be  said  lli.it  il  u  as  imparled  to  the 

tn  into  w  inch  the  water  w  as  converted;  but  if  the  Ihcr- 
mometer   were   raised   out   of  the   water,  and    held   in   the 

■team  between  the  water  and  the  piston,  it  would  still  nidi- 
sate  the  same  temperature  of  212°.     Wc  thus  arrive  at  the 
1163 


extraordinary  and  unexpected  fact,  that  notwithstanding  a 
large  Supply  of  heat  imparted  to  water  (luring  its  evapora- 
tion, that  bent  is  sensible  neither  ill  the  Water  itself  nor  in 
the  vapour  into  which  the  water  is  converted. 

The  quuntitj  of  heat  which  is  thus  absorbed  in  convert- 
ing water  into  steam  is  easily  determined,  the  interval  of 
time  being  noted  which  elapsed  between  the  first  applica- 
tion of  the  lamp  and  the    u nut  at  u  Inch  the  the 

ter  ceased  to  rise.  Let  us  suppose  that  interval  to  be  an 
hour;  the  interval  being  also  noted  between  the  moment 
the  thermometer  ceases  to  rise  and  the  process  of  evapora- 
tion begins,  and  the  moment  at  which  the  last  (larticle 
of  water  disappears  from  the  bottom  of  the  tube  and  the 
evaporation  is  completed,  it  will  be  found  that  this  interval 
is  5A  hours;  and  in  general,  whatever  may  be  the  length  of 
time  necessary  to  raise  tin'  temperature  of  tin'  water  from 
32°  to  212°,  5j  times  that  interval  will  be  necessary  for  the 
same  source  of  beat  to  evaporate  the  same  quantity  of  wa- 
ter. It  follows,  therefore,  that  to  evaporate  water  under  a 
pressure  of  If;  pfiuiipU  /■<  r  square  inch  requires  5A  times  as 
much  heat  as  is  necessary  and  sufficient  to  raise  the  same 
water  from  32°  to  212°. 

Since  the  difference  between  212°  and  32°  is  180°,  and 
since  5.V  times  180°  is  990°,  it  follows  that  to  convert  the 
water  into  steam  after  it  has  attained  the  temperature  of 
212°,  as  much  heat  must  be  supplied  to  it  as  would  he  suf- 
ficient, if  it  were  not  evaporated,  to  raise  it  990°  higher. 
The  heat  thus  absorbed  in  evaporation,  and  not  sensible  to 
the  thermometer,  is  said  to  be  latent  in  the  steam  ;  and  the 
phenomena  which  have  been  just  described  (brm  the  found- 
ation of  the  whole  theory  of  latent  heat.  That  this  large 
quantity  of  heat  is  actually  contained  in  the  steam,  though 
not  sensible  to  the  thermometer,  admits  of  easy  demonstra- 
tion, by  showing  that  it  may  be  reproduced  by  converting 
the  steam  into  water.  If  a  cubic  inch  of  water,  in  the  form 
of  steam  at  the  temperature  of  212°,  he  introduced  into  the 
same  vessel  with  .r>.l  cubic  inches  of  water  at  the  tempera- 
ture of  32°,  the  steam  will  be  immediately  converted  into 
water  ;  the  temperature  of  the  5i  inches  of  ice  cold  water 
will  he  raised  to  212°,  and  there  will  he  found  in  the  vessel 
6J  cubic  inches  of  water  at  212°.  Thus,  while  the  steam, 
in  reassuming  the  liquid  form,  has  lost  none  of  its  temper- 
ature, it  has  nevertheless  given  up  as  much  heat  as  has 
raised  5A  cubic  inches  of  water  from  32°  to  212°.  It  is 
therefore  demonstrated  that  this  quantity  of  heat  v\  as  actu- 
ally in  the  steam  ;  and  that  it  was  its  presence  there  in  the 
latent  state,  by  some  agency  not  yet  explained,  that  confer- 
red  upon   the   water  in  the  vaporous  form  the  property  of 

elasticity. 

We  have  here  supposed  that  the  pressure  under  which 
the  water  in  the  tube  was  evaporated  was  the  mean  pres- 
sure of  the  atmosphere,  or  14ij  lbs.  per  square  inch.  Let 
us  now  suppose  that  the  piston  resting  on  the  water,  is  load- 
ed with  a  force  of  \X\  lbs,,  besides  the  pressure  of  the  at- 
mosphere, which  may  be  done  by  taking  II  j  lbs.  from  the 
counterpoise  W.  If  the  same  process  he  followed  as  be- 
fore, it  will  now  he  found  that  the  thermometer  will  not 
cease  to  rise  when  it  has  attained  212-  ;  nor  will  the  piston 

then  begin  to  ascend.     The  then oeter  Will,  on  the  other 

hand,  continue  to  rise  until  it  lias  attained  2.">(A  It  will 
thin,  as  in  the  former  case,  cease  to  rise;  the  piston  will 
ascend,  and  the  water  will  begin  to  lie  converted  into  steam  ; 
the  proportion,  however,  between  the  ascent  of  the  piston 
ami  the  ilnniin  hed  depth  of  the  water,  or,  in  other  words, 
between  the  \oliiine  ol"  steam  produced  and  the  volume  ol' 
water  producing  it,  instead  of  being  17011  to  1,  will  now  be 
about  930  lo  I,  being  little  more  than  half  Ihe  former  pro- 
portion. The  force  against  w inch  the  elasticity  of  the 
steam,  in   the  present  case,  acts,  is  \>\\\   lbs.;  and  this  force 

is  raised    about   930    inches   h>    the   evnpoiali la    cubic 

inch  of  water.  In  the  former  cum-,  a  force  of  1-1 !  lbs.,  be- 
ing half  the  present  force,  wa<  raised  i"  1700  Inches  by  the 

evaporation   of  the  same  quantity  of  water.      If  the  double 

force,  instead  of  being  raised  930  inches,  had  been  raised 

Onlj  850  inches,  or  half  the  fust  elevation,  then  the  me- 
chanical effect  evolved  Would  in  bolh  cases  be  plecisely  the 
same,  the  double  resistance  being  raised  through  only  half 
the  space  ;  bill  I  lie  actual  height  through  w  hich  the  double 
resistance  is  raised  I"  iug  930  inches  instead  of  850,  a  great- 
,-1  mechanical  effect  is  produced  in  the  on"  case  than  in  the 

other,  in  the  proportion  of  93(1  to  850,  being  an  advantage 
on  the  pail  01  ihe  steam  of  gn  ater  pressure  of  about  8  per 
cent. 

if  the  pressure  under  which  the  evaporation  is  produced 
were  furtbei  varied,  it  would  be  found  that  with  every  in- 
crease of  pressure  Ihe  temperature  at  which  the  evapora- 
tion would  commence  would  be  augmented,  ami  that  with 
ev  erv  diminution  of  pressure  that  temperature  would  be  di- 
minished, ll  would  be  also  found  thai  tin-  volume  "t  steam 
produced  by  a  cubic  inch  of  water  would  be  le-.s  with  eve 
ry  increase  of  pressure  under  which  Ihe  evaporation  is 
made  ;  and  thut  the  diminution  of  volume  would  be  nearly, 


STEAM. 


but  not  in  quite  so  great  a  proportion,  as  the  increase  of 
pressure.  In  like  manner,  if  the  pressure  be  diminished, 
the  volume  of  steam  produced  by  a  cubic  inch  of  water 
will  be  augmented  in  nearly,  but  not  quite  so  great  a  pro- 
portion, as  that  of  the  dlnunution  of  pressure.  From  all 
this,  it  obviously  follows  that  the  mechanical  effect  evolved 
by  the  evaporation  of  a  given  volume  of  water  under  dif- 
ferent pressures  is  very'  nearly  the  same  ;  greater  pressures, 
however,  having  a  slight  advantage  over  lesser  ones. 

It  has  been  seen  that  14 J  lbs.  are  raised  to  a  height  of 
1700  inches  by  tlie  evaporation  of  a  cubic  inch  of  water 
Under  the  pressure  of  14$  lbs.  per  square  inch.  Now,  1700 
inches  are  nearly  equal  to  142  feet;  and  14$  lbs.  raised  142 
feet  is  equivalent  to  142  times  14$  lbs.  raised  one  foot,  which 
is  equal  to  very  nearly  2100  lbs.  raised  one  foot.  To  use 
round  numbers,  it  may  then  be  stated,  that  by  the  evapora- 
tion of  a  cubic  foot  of  water  a  mechanical  force  is  produced 
equivalent  to  a  ton  weight  raised  a  font  high ;  and  that  this 
force  is  very  nearly  the  same,  whatever  be  the  temperature 
or  pressure  under  which  the  evaporation  takes  place. 

In  the  following  table,  calculated  by  Dr.  Lardner,  and 
given  by  him  in  the  Appendix  to  the  7th  edition  of  his  work 
on  the  Steam  Engine,  is  exhibited  the  temperatures  at 
which  water  is  evaporated  under  different  pressures,  the 
volume  into  which  the  water  expands  by  evaporation,  the 
mechanical  effect  evolved  expressed  in  lbs.  raised  one  foot. 


. 

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r*  o 

a. 

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su  i 

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S"g 

1 

102  9 

2os63 

1739 

58 

292-9 

484 

2339 

2 

126-1 

10*74 

1*12 

59 

294  2 

477 

2343 

3 

1410 

7437 

1*50 

60 

295-6 

470 

2347 

4 

152-3 

50-5 

1895 

61 

296  9 

463 

2351 

5 

161-4 

4617 

1924 

62 

293-1 

456 

2355 

6 

169-2 

3397 

1948 

63 

299-2 

449 

23=9 

7 

175.9 

3376 

1969 

64 

300-3 

443 

2362 

8 

182.0 

2033 

1989 

65 

301  3 

437 

2365 

9 

187-4 

2674 

2006 

66 

302-4 

431 

2369 

10 

192  4 

2426 

2022 

67 

303-4 

42.5 

2372 

It 

197  0 

2221 

2036 

68 

304-4 

419 

2375 

12 

201  3 

2050 

2050 

69 

305  4 

414 

2378 

13 

2053 

1904 

2063 

70 

3064 

403 

23*2 

14 

209  I 

1773 

2074 

71 

3074 

4"3 

21--: 

15 

212-8 

1669 

2036 

72 

309  4 

3>- 

2338 

16 

216-3 

1573 

2097 

73 

309-3 

393 

2391 

17 

219-6 

1438 

2107 

74 

3103 

388 

239* 

18 

222  7 

1411 

2117 

75 

311-2 

3*3 

2397 

19 

225  6 

1343 

2126 

76 

312-2 

379 

2400 

20 

223-5 

1281 

2135 

77 

313-1 

374 

2403 

21 

231  2 

1225 

2144 

73 

314  0 

370 

2405 

22 

233-8 

1174 

2152 

79 

314  9 

366 

2403 

23 

236-3 

1127 

2160 

80 

315-8 

362 

2411 

24 

233-7 

1084 

2163 

81 

316-7 

358 

2414 

25 

241-0 

1044 

2175 

82 

317-6 

354 

2417 

26 

243  3 

1007 

2182 

83 

3IS-4 

350 

2419 

27 

2455 

973 

2189 

84 

3193 

346 

2422 

28 

247-6 

941 

2196 

85 

3 '01 

342 

2425 

29 

2496 

911 

2202 

86 

3210 

339 

2427 

30 

251-6 

883 

2209 

87 

32  IS 

335 

2430 

31 

253-6 

857 

2215 

83 

322-6 

332 

2432 

32 

255-5 

833 

2221 

89 

323-5 

32S 

2435 

S3 

257  3 

810 

2226 

90 

324-3 

325 

243S 

34 

259- 1 

7    - 

2232 

91 

325-1 

3:2 

2440 

35 

260  9 

767 

2238 

92 

325  9 

319 

3443 

36 

262-6 

741 

2213 

93 

3267 

316 

2445 

37 

2843 

729 

2243 

94 

327-5 

3'3 

2443 

33 

2659 

712 

2253 

95 

32*-2 

310 

2450 

39 

267-5 

695 

2?59 

96 

329  0 

Si  17 

2453 

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269-1 

679 

2226 

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329.3 

304 

2455 

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270-6 

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330  5 

301 

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331  3 

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635 

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100 

3320 

295 

2462 

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2750 

622 

22S2 

110 

339  2 

271 

2456 

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276-4 

610 

22-7 

120 

3JV8 

251 

2507 

46 

277-0 

593 

2291 

130 

392-] 

233 

2527 

47 

279-2 

556 

2296 

140 

357-9 

213 

2545 

48 

2,0-5 

575 

2300 

150 

363  4 

205 

2561 

49 

251-9 

564 

2314 

160 

36*7 

193 

2577 

50 

2=3  2 

554 

2303 

170 

373-8 

153 

293 

51 

234-4 

544 

2312 

ISO 

37«4 

174 

260* 

52 

2-5-7 

534 

2316 

190 

3-2-9 

166 

2622 

53 

2-6  9 

525 

2320 

200 

3873 

15-i 

2636 

54 

2SH 

516 

2324 

210 

8916 

151 

2650 

55 

2^9  3 

508 

2327 

220 

395  5 

145 

2663 

56 

290-5 

500 

2331 

230 

39C-4 

140 

2675 

1     57 

291  7 

492 

2335 

240 

403  1 

134         26*7 

From  what  has  been  above  explained,  it  is  apparent  that 
the  quantity  of  sensible  heat  in  steam  is  augmented  with 
every  increase  of  pressure  under  which  the  evaporation 
takes  place  ;  but  if  the  interval  of  time  be  observed  which 
elapses  between  the  first  application  of  the  lamp  to  the  ice- 
cold  water  in  the  experiment  above  described,  and  the  mo- 
ment at  which  the  last  particle  of  water  disappears  by 
evaporation  from  the  bottom  of  the  tube,  it  will  be  found 
that  this  interval  is  exactly  the  same,  whatever  be  the  tem- 
perature or  pressure  under  which  the  evaporation  takes 
place.    It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  actual  quantity  of 


heat  necessary  to  convert  ice-cold  water  into  steam  is  the 
same,  whatever  be  the  pressure  of  the  steam ;  but  as  the 
temperature  of  steam  increases  and  diminishes  as  the  pres- 
sure is  increased  or  diminished,  it  follows  that  this  given 
quantity  of  heat  is  differently  distributed  between  sensible 
and  latent  heat  in  steam  of  different  pressures.  As  the 
pressure  is  increased  the  sensible  heat  is  augmented,  and 
the  latent  heat  undergoes  a  corresponding  diminution,  and 
vice  versa.  The  sum  of  the  sensible  and  latent  heats  is,  in 
fact,  a  constant  quantity  :  the  one  being  always  increased 
at  the  expense  of  the  other.  It  has  been  shown  that  in 
converting  water  at  32°  of  temperature,  and  under  a  pres- 
sure of  14$  lbs.  per  square  inch,  it  was  necessary  first  to 
give  it  180°  additional  sensible  heat,  and  afterwards  990° 
of  latent  heat,  the  total  heat  imparted  to  it  being  1170°. 
Such,  then,  is  the  actual  quantity  of  heat  which  must  be 
imparted  to  ice-cold  water  to  convert  it  into  steam.  The 
actual  temperature  to  which  water  would  be  raised  by  the 
heat  necessary  to  evaporate  it,  if  its  evaporation  could  be 
prevented  by  confining  it  in  a  close  vessel,  will  be  found  by 
adding  32°  to  1170°.  It  may,  therefore,  be  stated  that  the 
heat  necessary  for  the  evaporation  of  ice-cold  water  is  as 
much  as  would  raise  it  to  the  temperature  of  1202°,  if  its 
evaporation  were  prevented.  If  the  temperature  of  red-hot 
iron  be,  as  is  supposed,  about  800°,  and  that  all  bodies  be- 
come incandescent  at  the  same  temperature,  it  follows  that 
to  evaporate  water  it  is  necessary  to  impart  to  it  400°  more 
heat  than  would  be  sufficient  to  render  it  red  hot  if  its 
evaporation  were  prevented.  As  the  mechanical  effect 
evolved  by  water  evaporated  at  all  pressures  is  nearly  the 
same,  and  as  the  quantity  of  heat  necessary  to  effect  that 
evaporation  is  also  the  same,  it  follows  that  the  same 
quantity  of  fuel  employed  in  the  evaporation  of  water  is 
productive  of  very7  nearly  the  same  mechanical  effect, 
whatever  he  the  pressure  of  the  steam. 

Since  the  heat  imparted  to  water  in  evaporation  is  ne- 
cessary to  sustain  it  in  the  form  of  vapour,  it  follows  that 
if  any  portion  of  that  heat  be  taken  from  it.  the  steam  will 
not  be  lowered  in  temperature,  but  a  portion  of  it  will  be 
reconverted  into  water  :  a  process  which  is  called  condensa- 
tion. To  illustrate  this,  let  us  suppose  the  tube  A  B  to  be 
filled  with  steam  of  212°  of  temperature,  produced  from  a 
cubic  inch  of  water  evaporated  under  the  pressure  of  14$ 
lbs.  on  the  piston.  If,  by  the  application  of  external  cold, 
or  any  other  means,  a  quantity  of  heat  be  extracted  from 
this  steam,  say  as  much  as  would  be  sufficient  to  evaporate 
the  tenth  of  a  cubic  inch  of  water,  then  a  tenth  part  of  the 
steam  in  the  tube  will  be  condensed  and  deposited  in  the 
liquid  state  in  the  bottom,  the  piston  will  descend  through 
a  tenth  of  its  entire  heisht,  and  the  steam  remaining  un- 
condensed  will  still  have  the  temperature  of  212°  and  the 
pressure  of  14$  lbs.  per  square  inch,  while  the  water  in  the 
bottom  of  the  tube  produced  by  the  condensation  will  also 
have  a  temperature  of  212°.  The  heat,  therefore,  which 
has  been  thus  abstracted,  is  the  heat  which  was  latent  in 
the  steam  formed  by  the  water  thus  deposited.  And  in  the 
same  manner,  any  heat  which  is  drawn  from  the  steam 
will  be  latent  heat ;  a  corresponding  condensation  will  take 
place  until  all  the  steam  has  been  condensed,  and  the  pis- 
ton brought  into  contact  with  the  botiom  of  the  tube.  Af- 
ter that,  any  abstraction  of  heat  must  be  made  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  sensible  heat  of  the  water. 

It  has.  in  some  works,  been  stated  that  by  mere  mechan- 
ical compression  steam  will  be  converted  into  water.  This 
is,  however,  an  error,  since  steam,  in  whatever  state  it  may 
exist,  must  possess  at  least  212°  of  heat ;  and  as  this  quan- 
tity of  heat  is  sufficient  to  maintain  it  in  the  vaporous  form, 
under  whatever  pressure  it  may  be  placed,  it  is  clear  that 
no  compression  or  increase  of  pressure  can  diminish  the 
actual  quantity  of  heat  contained  in  the  strain  :  and  it  can- 
not, therefore,  convert  any  portion  of  the  steam  into  water. 

If  steam,  by  mechanical  pressure,  be  forced  into  a  di- 
minished volume,  it  will  undergo  an  augmentation  both  of 
temperature  and  pressure,  the  increase  of  pressure  being 
greater  than  the  diminution  of  volume  ;  in  fact,  any  change 
of  volume  which  it  undergoes  will  be  attended  with  the 
change  of  temperature  and  pressure  indicated  in  the  above 
table.  The  steam,  after  its  volume  has  been  changed,  will 
assume  exactly  the  pressure  and  temperature  which  it 
would  have  in  the  same  volume  if  it  were  immediately 
evolved  from  water.  Thus,  let  us  suppose  a  cubic  inch  of 
water  converted  into  steam  under  a  pressure  of  14$  lbs.  per 
square  inch,  and  at  the  temperature  of  212°.  Let  its  vol- 
ume be  then  reduced  by  compression  in  the  proportion  of 
1700  to  930.  When  so  reduced,  it*  temperature  will  be 
found  to  have  risen  from  212°  to  250°.  and  its  pressure  will 
be  increased  from  14$  lbs.  per  square  inch  to  29A  lbs.  per 
square  inch  ;  but  this  is  exactly  the  state,  as  to  pressure, 
temperature,  and  density,  as  the  steam  would  be  in  if  it 
were  immediately  raised  from  water  under  the  pressure  of 
294  lbs.  per  square  inch.  It  appears,  therefore,  that  in  \\  hat- 
ever  manner,  after  evaporation,  the  density  of  steam  be 

'  1163 


STEAM. 


changed,  whether  hv  expansion  or  contraction,  it  will  still 
remain  the  sum-  as  it'  it  were  Immediately  raised  from 
water  in  its  actual  state. 

The  circumstance  wliicli  has  given  rise  to  the  erroneous 
notion  that  mere  mechanical  compression  will  produce  a 
condens  ition  of  strain  is,  thai  the  vessel  in  which  steam  is 
contained  must  necessarily  have  the  same  temperature  as 
,1  itself.  If  then  the  steam  contained  In  thevessi  i 
be  suddenly  compressed,  it  will  undergo  as  sudden  an  ele- 
vation .it  temper  itnre  ;  and  the  vessel  containing  it  not  re- 
ceiving at  the  same  time,  from  any  external  sonne.  a  cor- 
responding increase  of  temperature,  it  will  rob  the  steam  of 

a  portion  of  its  heat,  and  a  partial  condensation  will  be  pro- 
duced, and  will  lie  continued  until  the  temperatures  of  the 
i,d  the  vessel  containing  it  shall  be  equalised. 
Since  water,  in  passing  Into  steam,  sutlers  a  great  enlarge- 
ment of  volume,  steam,  on  the  other  hand,  in  being  con- 
verted into  water  undergoes  a  corresponding  diminution  of 
volume.  It  has  been  seen  that  a  cubic  inch  of  water. 
evaporated  at  the  temperature  of  212°,  swells  into  1700 
cubic  inches  of  steam.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  If  a  close 
vessel,  containing  1700  cubic  inches  of  such  steam,  be  ex- 
posed to  cold  sufficient  to  take  from  the  steam  all  its  latent 

heat,  the  steam  w  ill  be  reconverted  Into  water,  will  shrink 
into  its  original  dimensions,  and  will  leave  the  remainder 

Of  the  vessel  B  vacuum.  This  property  of  steam  has  sup- 
plied the  means,  in  practical  mechanics,  of  obtaining  that 
amount  of  mechanical  power  which  the  properties  of  the 
atmosphere  confer  upon  a  vacuum.  If  by  any  means  what- 
ever the  space  in  a  cylinder  under  the  piston  be  rendered 
a  vacuum,  the  atmospheric  pressure  will  take  effect  above 
the  piston,  and  will  urge  the  piston  down  wards  with  a  force 
amounting  to  about  13  lbs.  on  each  scpiare  inch  of  the  sur- 
face of  the  piston.  To  render  steam  available  lor  this  pur- 
pose, it  is  only  necessary  to  inject  it  into  the  cylinder  until 
it  expels  from  the  cylinder  all  the  atmospheric  air  or  other 
Uncundensable  gases  which  the  cylinder  contains;  and 
x\  hen  that  is  effected,  the  pure  steam  which  remains  in 
the  cylinder  being  sudden!}  condensed  by  the  application 
of  cold,  leave,  the  cylinder  a  vacuum,  and  gives  effed  to 
the  atmospheric  pressure  .above  the  piston,  as  before  ex- 
plained.   Tins  is,  tit  fact,  the  principle  of  the  atmospheric 

engine. 

The  temperature  and  pressure  of  steam  produced  by  im- 
mediate evaporation,  when  it  has  received  no  beat,  save 
that  which  it  takes  from  the  water,  have  a  fixed  relation 
one  to  the  other.  If  this  relation  were  known,  and  express- 
ed by  a  mathematical  formula,  the  temperature  Blight  al- 
ways be  inferred  from  the  pressure,  or  rice  versa.  But 
physical  science  has  not  yet  supplied  any  principles  by 
Which  such  a  formula  can  be  deduced  from  an\  known 
properties  of  liquids.  In  the  absence,  therefore,  of  any  gen- 
eral relation  established  bj  direct  reasoning,  empyrical  for- 
mula; have  been  proposed  which  express,  with  more  or  less 
precision,  this  relation  in  different  parts  of  the  thermonietric 
scale. 

When  the  pressure  under  which  the  evaporation  takes 
place  does  not  exceed  one  atmosphere,  or  15  lbs.  ]>er  squ  ire 
inch,  the  relation  between  the  temperature  ami  the  pres- 
sure will  be  expressed  with  sufficient  accuracy  by  the  fol- 
lowing formulie,  proposed  bv  Southern  : 

P=004948+(.^±£)S18 
^  155*7256/ 

T  =  1557-25GX  n/P —  0-04943  — 51-3; 
where  P  expresses  the  pressure  in  pounds  per  square  inch, 
and  T  the  temperature  by  Fahrenheit's  thermometer. 

For  pressures  exceeding  one  atmosphere  and  not  exceed- 
ing four,  the  relation  i^  expressed  by  the  following  formula;, 
•.imposed  by  Tredgold : 

/103  +  T-xS 

—  v.  201-18  / 
T  =  20118  <yv  —  103; 
or  bv  the  following  formula-, 

/•98-206  +  T^6 


fry 


198' 

T  =  198-502  6/ P  —  98-806. 
For  pressures  extending  from  four  to  fifty  atmospheres, 
the  following  formula  hive  been  proposed  by  Messrs.  Du- 
long  and  Arago : 

P  =  (0-20793  -f  0-000758.5  Tj5 
T  =  147-901  v/P  —  39-014. 
Biot  has  proposed  a  more  general   formula,  which  eX- 
the  relation  between  the  pressure  and  the  tempera- 
ture, whatever  be  the  pressure  under  which  the  evapora- 
tion takes  place.    Let  ;,  be  the  pre-, me.  expressed  In  mil- 
limetres, cit  mercury  at  the  temperature  of  melting  Ice;  l<  i 
t  be  th'-  temperature  of  the  water  taken  cm  tin-  centesimal 
air  thermometer;  and  let  a,  a\,  a>,  b\,  bi  be  constant  quan- 
1104 


tities.  whose  values  shall  be  determined  by  the  following 
conditions: 

a   =       5-96131330059 

log.  o,  =       f-82340688193 

log.  4,  =  ■—  0-01309734295 

log.  a2=      0-74110951837 

log.  i',  —  —0-00212510583. 
The  relation  between  p  and  t  will  then  be  expressed  by 
the  following  formula, 

\oG.p  =  a-alb?0+,-a2b2*>  +  ,^ 
M.  Biot  compared  the  temperature  and  corresponding 
pressures,  calculated  by  this  formula,  with  the  series  de- 
termined by  an  extensive  course  of  experiments  undertaken 
by  MM.  AragO  and  Dulong  by  order  of  the  French  govern- 
ment, to  those  of  tin-  experiments  of  Taylor  at  lower  tem- 
peratures, and  to  a  numerous  series  of  MSS.  observations 
of  M.  Gay-Lussac,  extending  from  the  boiling  point  to  tem- 
peratures considerably  below  thai  of  melting  ice-,  and  found 
that  the  calculated  and  observed  results  corresponded  with- 
in the  limits  of  error  of  the  experiments  themselves.  The 
formula  first  given  above  offer,  however,  much  greater  fa- 
cility for  practical  calculation,  and  altoic!  as  accurate  results 

as  are  required  for  all  ordinary  purpose  s. 

The  same  difficulty  which  attends  the  establishment  of 
a  general  formula  expressing  the  relation  between  the  tem- 
peratures and  pressures  of  steam,  also  attends  the  deter- 
mination of  one  expressing  the  relation  between  the  pres- 
sure and  the  augmented  volume  into  which  the  water  ex- 
pands by  evaporation.  Empirical  formula;  have  according- 
ly been"  likewise  proposed  to  express  this  relation.  The 
late  Professor  Na\  ier  proposed  lite  following  formula  for  this 
purpose. 

Let  V  express  the  number  of  cubic  inches  of  steam  pro- 
duced bv  one  cubic  inch  of  water,  and  let  P  express  the 
pressure'  of  this  steam  in  kilograms  per  square  metre ;  then 
we  shall  have 

1000 

—  0-09  +  000004S4  P 
This  formula  gives  sufficiently  accurate  results  when  ap- 
plied to  pressures  much  above  one  atmosphere.     It  fails  to 
give  the  same  accuracy,  however,  when  applied  to  lower 
pressures. 

The  following  formula;  have  been  proposed  by  M.  de 
Pambour : 

_  10,000 

—  0-4227  +  00025c  P 
which  will  apply  to  low  pressures ;  and 
T_         ifi.noo 

~~  1.421  +  0-0023P' 
which  will  ne  applicable  to  high  pressures.    In  each  of 
these  P  is  expressed  in  pounds  per  scpiare  foot 

Dr.  Lardner  proposes  the  following  modified  formula,  V 
and  P  retaining  their  signification  : 
3875969 
*  — 164 -4- P' 
which  maybe  used  in  reference  to  low-pressure  engines  of 
every  form,  as  well  as  for  high-pressure  engines  which 
work  expansively. 

When  the  pressure  is  not  less  than  30  lbs.  per  square 
inch,  the  following  formula  will  be  more  accurate: 
4347820 

—  618  +  P' 
In  the  preceding  observations  steam  has  been  considered 
as  receiving  no  heat  except   that  which  it  lake-s  from  the 
water  during  the   process  Of  evaporation,   the   amount  of 

which,  as  Ins  been  shown,  Is  1170°  more  that  the  heat 
contained  In  ice  cold  water.    But  steam,  after  having  been 

formed  from  water  by  evaporation,  m  Other  ma- 

terial substances,  receive  an  accession  ol  heat  from  any 
external  source,  and  its  temperature  mi\  thereby  be  ele- 
vated, [f  the  steam  to  which  such  additional  Jieat  is  im- 
parted  be  so  confined  as  to  be-  incapable  of  enlarging  its 
dimensions,  the-  eitec-t  produced  upon  it  by  the  Ini 
temperature  will  be  an  increase  or  pressure  :  but  if,  on  the 

other    hand,  it  be-   confined    under  a   given    pressure,  with 

povt  n  to  enlarge  its  volume,  Bubjeci  to  the  preservation  of 

that  pressure,  as  would  be  the  Case  if  it  were-  contained  in 
a  cylinder  under  a  moveable   piston  loaded  with  a  given 

pressure,  then  the  edict  of  the  augmented  temperature 

will  be.  not  an  Increase  of  pressure,  but  an  increase  of  vol- 

i  the  Increase  of  volume  In  this  latter  case  will 

tlj  the  same  proportion  as  the  Increase  of  pres 

sure  in  the  former  case. 

These  effects  ol  elevated  temperature  are  common  not 
only  to  the  vapours  of  all  liquids,  but  also  to  all  permanent 

ICh  more  remarkable,  the  numerical 

amount  of  the  augmentation  of  pressure  <>r  volume  pro- 

dw  ■  d  by  ti  given  increase  of  temperature  is  the  same  foi 


STEAM. 


all  vapours  and  gases.  If  the  pressure  which  any  gas  or 
vapour  would  have  were  it  reduced  to  the  temperature  of 
melting  ice  be  expressed  by  1UO,000,  then  the  pressure 
which  it  will  receive  for  every  degree  of  temperature  by 
which  it  is  raised  will  be  expressed  by  208g  ;  or,  what 
amounts  to  the  same,  the  additional  pressure  produced  by 
each  degree  of  temperature  will  be  the  480th  part  of  its 
pressure  at  the  temperature  of  melting  ice.  From  these 
data  it  is  easy  to  obtain  an  algebraical  expression  by  which 
the  augmentation  of  pressure  in  a  given  volume,  or,  what 
is  the  same,  the  augmentation  of  volume  under  a  given 
pressure  for  every  increase  of  temperature,  may  be  calcu- 
lated. 

Let  v  be  the  volume  of  any  elastic  fluid  at  the  tempera- 
ture of  32° ;  and  let  it  be  then  supposed  to  be  raised  by  the 
application  of  heat  to  the  temperature  T,  if  under  a  given 
pressure.  Let  its  augmented  volume  be  V.  The  increase 
of  volume  will  then  be  V  — v,  while  the  increase  of  tem- 
perature will  be  T° —  32°.  But  since  the  increase  of  vol- 
ume for  one  degree  of  temperature  is  — -,  the  increase  for 

To— 320  win  be  ~  X  (TO—  32°) ;  and  therefore  the  aug- 
mented volume  V  will  be 
V=v  + 


1,-0 


(TO— 32°). 


=  v     1  + 


TO  — 320  i 
480       » 


If  V  be  the  volume  at  any  other  temperature  T',  we 
shall  have 

i         T"o_ 3-jo  ) 

From  whence  we  infer 

V  T  +  448 . 

V  =  T'  +  443 ' 

by  which,  when  the  volume  of  steam  at  any  one  tempera- 
ture is  known,  the  volume  at  any  other  temperature  may 
be  found,  supposing  that  the  steam  receives  no  accession 
of  water  by  evaporation. 

Steam  which  thus  receives  additional  heat  after  its  se- 
paration from  the  water  from  which  it  is  evolved  has  been 
called  by  Dr.  Lardner  superheated  steam,  to  distinguish  it 
from  common  steam,  which  is  that  usually  employed  in 
steam  engines.  Superheated  steayn  admits  of  losing  a  part 
of  its  heat  without  suffering  partial  condensation  ;  but  com- 
mon steam  is  always  partially  condensed  if  any  portion  of 
heat  be  withdrawn  from  it.  For  further  details  on  these 
properties,  see  Lardner  on  the  Steam.  Engine,  7th  ed.  p.  168, 
etscq;  also  Appendix.  See  also  Lardner  on  Heat,  chap, 
viii. ;   Cabinet  Cyclopaedia. 

In  the  mechanical  operation  of  steam,  which  has  been 
already  explained,  the  pressure,  density,  and  temperature 
of  the  steam  are  supposed  to  remain  the  same  during  its 
action,  and  the  mechanical  effect  is  produced  by  the  con- 
tinual increase  of  the  quantity  of  steam  produced  by  eva- 
poration. Thus,  the  piston  in  the  apparatus  represented  in 
the  figure  is  moved  upwards,  not  by  any  change  in  the 
temperature,  density,  or  pressure,  but  by  the  increased  vol- 
ume required  by  the  continual  production  of  steam.  It  has 
been  proved  that  by  this  process  alone  the  evaporation  of 
a  cubic  inch  of  water,  whatever  be  the  pressure  under 
which  it  takes  place,  evolves  a  mechanical  force  equivalent 
tg  a  ton  weight  raised  a  foot  high.  But  if,  after  this  eva- 
poration has  been  completed,  the  steam  be  separated  from 
the  water  which  produced  it,  and  the  load  on  the  piston  be 
gradually  diminished,  the  steam  would  expand  by  moving 
the  piston  upwards  in  virtue  of  its  excess  of  pressure,  and 
this  expansion  will  continue  until  the  pressure  of  the  steam 
shall  be  reduced  to  equality  with  the  load  on  the  piston. 
All  mechanical  efl'ect  developed  in  this  process  is  due  to 
the  steam  itself,  independently  of  any  further  evaporation. 

To  make  this  important  quality  of  the  expansive  action 
of  steam  understood,  let  us  suppose  the  piston  loaded  with 
a  pressure  amounting  to  four  times  that  of  the  atmosphere, 
including  that  of  the  atmosphere  itself.  If  the  water  under 
the  piston  be  evaporated  under  this  pressure,  it  will  have  a 
temperature  of  about  291°,  and  by  its  evaporation  the  pis- 
ton will  be  raised  40  feet.  This  will,  therefore,  be  the 
whole  mechanical  effect  arising  from  the  immediate  eva- 
poration of  the  water.  But  when  the  evaporation  has 
teen  completed,  and  the  piston,  with  its  load  of  four  at- 
mospheres, stands  suspended  at  40  feet  above  the  bottom 
of  the  tube,  let  a  pressiue  equal  to  that  of  one  atmosphere 
be  removed  from  the  piston.  The  remaining  pressure  of 
three  atmospheres  being  less  than  that  of  the  steam  below 
the  piston,  the  piston  will  be  raised,  and  will  continue  to 
rise  until  it  has  attained  a  height  of  about  50  feet,  and  the 
temperature  of  the  steam  thus  expanded  will  fall  to  about 
275°;  and  its  pressure  being  reduced  to  that  of  three  at- 
91  98 


mospheres,  it  will  cease  to  rise.  By  this  process,  therefore, 
a  mechanical  force  has  been  obtained  from  the  steam  equal 
to  the  weight  of  three  atmospheres  raised  10  feet,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  efl'ect  obtained  by  immediate  evaporation  ;  but 
the  expansive  action  does  not  stop  here.  Let  it  be  sup- 
posed that  the  piston  is  again  relieved  from  the  pressure  of 
another  atmosphere,  the  superior  pressure  of  three  atmos- 
pheres below  will  cause  it  to  rise,  and  it  will  ascend  to  the 
height  of  about  75  feet,  the  temperature  of  the  steam  fall- 
ing to  about  250°,  and  its  pressure  being  reduced  to  two  at- 
mospheres. A  further  mechanical  effect  equivalent  to  the 
weight  of  two  atmospheres  raised  to  about  25  feet,  has  thus 
been  obtained  ;  and  it  is  evident  that  by  constantly  and 
gradually  diminishing  the  load  on  the  piston,  an  additional 
effect  may  be  always  obtained  from  a  given  amount  of 
evaporation,  to  an  extent  which  is  only  limited  by  practical 
circumstances  which  restrain  the  application  of  this  ex- 
pansive principle.  Since  the  cost  of  producing  steam  as  a 
mechanical  agent  depends  chiefly  on  the  quantity  of  fuel 
necessary  to  effect  the  evaporation  of  a  given  volume  of 
water,  it  follows  that  all  the  mechanical  effect  obtained  by 
this  principle  of  expansion  is  so  much  power  added  to  the 
steam  without  further  expense.  Its  importance,  therefore, 
will  be  obvious  in  the  economy  of  steam  power.  For  the 
manner  of  rendering  it  available  in  steam  machinery,  see 
Steam  Engine. 

History  of  Steam. — The  nature  and  properties  of  steam 
were  altogether  unknown  to  the  ancients.  Some  accounts 
have  come  down  to  us  bearing  a  very  early  date  of  engines  ; 
such,  for  example,  as  that  proposed  by  Hero  of  Alexandria, 
in  which  the  mechanical  agency  of  steam  was  more  or  less 
used ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that  those  who  invented  and 
applied  these  machines  comprehended  the  properties  of 
vapour,  or  had  any  correct  notion  of  the  phenomena  pro- 
duced by  the  application  of  heat  to  liquids.  Even  at  a  much 
more  recent  period  the  effects  produced  by  steam  were 
ascribed,  not  to  the  vapour  of  water,  but  to  the  force  of  air 
which  was  supposed  to  be  expelled  from  water  by  heat.  In 
the  beginning  of  the  17th  century,  De  Caus  proposed  the 
construction  of  a  machine  by  which  a  column  of  water 
was  raised  by  the  elastic  force  of  steam ;  but  there  is  no 
sufficiently  distinct  explanation  of  the  properties  of  vapour 
in  his  description  of  that  machine  to  warrant  the  conclu- 
sion that  he  comprehended  the  elasticity  of  the  vapour  of 
water.  About  the  middle  of  the  same  century.  Lord  Wor- 
cester published  the  description  of  a  high  pressure  steam 
engine,  which  has  since  formed  so  remarkable  a  feature  in 
all  historiesof  that  machine.  Towards  the  latter  end cf  that 
century,  however,  the  actual  properties  of  vapour  began  to 
be  gradually  unfolded.  In  1083,  Sir  Samuel  Moreland  pub- 
lished a  description  of  the  force  of  steam,  in  which  he  as- 
signed very  nearly  the  exact  numerical  proportion  in  which 
water  increases  its  volume  when  evaporated  under  the 
pressure  of  a  single  atmosphere.  A  few  years  after  this, 
Papin  discovered  the  method  of  producing  a  vacuum  by  the 
condensation  of  steam,  and  the  circumstances  attending  its 
condensation,  became  gradually  better  understood,  having 
been  applied  to  mechanical  purposes  by  Savery,  Newco- 
men,  and  others.  About  the  middle  of  the  18th  century, 
the  celebrated  Watt  applied  himself  to  the  improvement  of 
the  steam  engine,  and  by  varions  experiments  determined 
the  relative  volumes  of  steam  as  commonly  used  in  steam 
engines,  and  the  quantity  of  heat  absorbed  in  evaporation 
and  evolved  in  condensation.  About  the  same  period  Dr. 
Black  was  engaged  in  his  well-known  investigations  re- 
specting the  phenomena  of  heat,  and  had  discovered  the 
phenomena  and  found  the  theory  of  latent  heat,  which 
served  to  explain  the  effects  which  Watt  had  also  observed. 
During  the  latter  part  of  the  18th  and  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century,  the  physics  of  heat,  and  more  especially 
those  principles  immediately  connected  with  steam,  were 
rapidly  advanced.  The  relation  between  the  temperatures 
and  pressures  of  the  vapour  of  water  throughout  the  com- 
mon range  of  the  thermometric  scale  was  determined  by 
Dalton,  and  confirmed  by  Gay-Lussac,  Prof.  Kobison,  Ure, 
Southern,  and  others.  The  discovery  of  the  law  in  virtue 
of  which  the  pressiue  of  all  gases  and  vapours  increases  in 
proportion  to  their  density  at  a  given  temperatiue  was  due 
to  Mariotte,  and  is  known  as  Mariotte's  law.  The  discovery 
of  the  remarkable  fact  that  all  gases  and  vapours  receive 
the  same  increase  of  pressure  or  volume  for  each  degree  of 
temperature  was  first  discovered  by  Dalton ;  but  was  imme- 
diately afterwards  discovered  also  by  Gay-Lussac,  who  was 
not  informed  of  Dalton's  proceedings.  The  most  important 
course  of  experiments  which  has  since  been  made  were 
undertaken  by  a  committee  of  the  French  Institute,  con- 
sisting of  MM.  Prony,  Arago,  Gerard,  and  Dulong,  in  con- 
sequence of  an  application  from  the  French  government  to 
the  academy  to  point  out  the  best  means  of  preventing  ac- 
cidents from  the  bursting  of  the  boilers  of  steam  engines. 
The  experiments  were  conducted  chiefly  by  Arago  and  Du- 
long, and  were  certainly  not  only  the  most  delicate  as  to 

1165 


STEAM  BOILER. 


their  management,  but  the  most  hazardous  which  science 
anil  art  ow  e  to  the  courage  and  zeal  of  philosophers.  Steam 
was  produced  of  a  sufficient  pressure  to  force  a  column  of 
mercury  up  a  glass  tube  to  the  height  of  nearly  43  feet;  an 
atmosphere  being  measured  by  a  column  of  mercury  mea- 
suring  29*939  inches.  The  following  table  exhibits  the 
temperatures  and  corresponding  pressures  of  steam  as  de- 
termined by  these  experiments,  up  to  fifty  atmospheres. 


Pressure  in 
Atmospheres. 

Temperature. 

Pressure  ill 
Atmospheres. 

Temperature. 

] 

212* 

13 

380  bo" 

■i 

234 

14 

386-94 

2. 

250-5 

15 

392s6 

2* 

263-8 

16 

39s-48 

3 

275-2 

17 

403-83 

34 

2s5 

18 

408-92 

4, 

293-7 

19 

413-78 

44 

300-3 

20 

41846 

5 

3075 

21 

422-96 

5* 

314-24 

22 

427-28 

6, 

320-36 

23 

431-42 

64 

3J(J  26 

24 

435-56 

k 

331-7 

25 

439  34 

33686 

30 

45716 

8 

341-78 

35 

472  73 

9 

350-78 

40 

4S6  59 

10 

358-83 

45 

499"  14 

11 

306-85 

60 

610  6 

,2 

374 

The  last  six  temperatures  in  the  above  table  are  deduced 
by  calculation  from  the  formula  e  =  (1  -4-  0-7153«)5,  in 
which  e  expresses  the  elasticity  in  atmospheres,  and  t  the 
temperatures  in  centieme  degrees,  beginning  from  100°, 
and  proceeding  upwards.  The  methods  employed  in  this 
magnificent  course  of  experiments  will  be  found  detailed  in 
the  Annates  de  Ckimie  et  de  Physique,  tome  xliii.  p.  74. 

The  committee  seized  the  opportunity  presented  by  the 
apparatus  used  for  these  experiments  for  testing  Marriotte's 
law,  as  applied  to  atmospheric  air;  and  they  found  that  it 
agrees  with  experiment  as  far  as  a  pressure  of  twenty-four 
atmospheres. 

For  further  details  respecting  the  properties  of  steam,  see 
Dr.  Lardner  on  the  Steam  Engine,  7th  edition  ;  Lardner  on 
Heat,  Cabinet  Cyclopaedia ;  De  Pambour  on  the  Steam  En- 
gine;  various  articles  on  Steam  and  Vapour,  in  the  Philo- 
sophical Transactions  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Institute  of 
France;  the  Jinnales  de  Chimie  ct  Physique  ;  the  Jinnales 
de  Mines ;  the  Journal  des  Ponts  et  Chaussees,  &c.  &c. 

STEAM  BOILER.  A  vessel  in  Which  water  is  convert- 
ed into  steam  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  steam  engines, 
or  for  any  other  purposes  for  which  steam  is  used  in  the 
arts,  or  in  domestic  economy. 

The  most  common  form  of  boiler  used  for  steam  engines 
is  that  called  the  wagon  boiler,  an  isometric  view  of  which 
is  given  in  the  cut.    The  form  of  boiler  adopted  by  Watt 


consisted  of  a  semi-cylindrical  top.  flat  perpendicular  sides, 
flat,  ends,  and  a  slightly  concave  bottom.  That  which 
is  represented  in  the  cut  has  sides  a  little  concave.  The 
steam  used  in  these  boilers  does  not  exceed  the  pressure  of 
the  atmosphere  by  more  than  5  lbs.  per  square  inch;  and 
the  sides  and  ends,  though  not  so  favourable  to  strength  as 
the  cylindrical  form,  are  sufficiently  Strong  lor  this  pressure. 
In  a  boiler  of  this  form  the  air  and  smoke,  passing  through 
flues  that  are  carried  round  it,  are  in  contact  at  one  side 
only  with  the  boiler.  The  brickwork  or  other  materials 
■forming  the  flue  must  therefore  be  non-conductors  of  heat, 
1100 


that  they  may  not  absorb  any  considerable  quantity  of  heat 
from  the  air  passing  in  contact  with  them. 

The  grate  and  part  of  the  flues  are  rendered  visible  in 
the  figure,  by  the  removal  of  a  portion  of  the  surrounding 
masonry  in  which  the  boiler  is  set.  The  interior  of  the 
boiler  is  also  shown  by  cutting  oil'  one  half  of  the  semi- 
Cylindrical  roof.  The  door  by  which  fuel  is  introduced 
upon  the  grate  is  represented  at  A,  and  the  door  leading  to 
the  ash  pit  at  B.  The  fire-bars  at  C  slope  downwards  from 
the  front  at  an  angle  of  about  25°,  giving  a  tendency  to  the 
fuel  to  move  towards  the  back  of  the  grate.  The  ash-pit  D 
is  constructed  of  such  a  magnitude,  form,  and  depth,  as  to 
admit  a  current  of  atmospheric  air  to  the  grate  bars  suffi- 
cient to  sustain  the  combustion. 

The  fuel,  when  introduced  at  the  fire-door  is  laid  on 
that  part  of  the  grate  which  is  called  the  dead  plates. 
There  it  is  submitted  to  the  process  of  coking,  by  which 
the  gases  and  volatile  matter  are  expelled  from  it;  and 
being  carried  by  a  current  of  air  admitted  through  small 
apertures  in  the  fire-door  over  the  burning  fuel  in  the 
hinder  part  of  the  grate,  they  are  burned.  When  the  fuel 
in  the  front  of  the  grate  has  been  thus  coked  it  is  pushed 
back,  and  a  fresh  feed  is  introduced  upon  the  dead  plates. 
The  coal  thus  pushed  back  soon  becomes  vividly  ignited, 
and  by  continuing  this  process,  the  fuel  spread  over  the 
grate  is  maintained  in  the  most  active  state  of  combus- 
tion in  the  hinder  part  of  the  grate.  By  such  an  arrange- 
ment the  smoke  produced  by  the  combustion  will  be 
burned  before  it  enters  the  flues.  The  flame  and  heated 
air  proceeding  from  the  fuel  rushing  to  the  back  of  the 
furnace  pass  over  the  fire-bridge  E,  and  being  carried 
through  the  flue,  pass  below  the  concave  base  of  the  boiler. 
This  bottom  flue  is  very  nearly  equal  in  width  to  the  base 
of  the  boiler,  the  space  left  near  the  comers  being  only  what 
is  sufficient  to  support  the  weight  of  the  boiler  resting  on 
the  masonry.  The  bottom  of  the  boiler  being  concave,  the 
flame  and  heated  air  rise  to  the  upper  part  of  the  flue  by 
the  eft'ect  of  their  high  temperature,  und  lick  the  bottom 
from  the  fire-bridge  to  the  further  end. 

The  flue  rises  at  the  back  of  the  boiler,  and  returns  along 
the  side  from  H  to  I.  It  then  passes  in  front  of  the  boiler 
at  K  to  the  opposite  side,  along  which  it  is  again  carried 
from  the  front  to  the  back  of  the  boiler.  At  the  back  it 
finally  turns  upwards  to  the  base  of  the  chimney. 

By  this  arrangement  the  flame  and  heated  air  are  made 
to  circulate  round  the  boiler  ;  and  the  length  and  magnitude 
of  the  flues  should  be  such  that  when  it  arrives  at  the 
chimney  its  temperature  shall  be  reduced,  as  nearly  as  is 
consistent  with  the  maintenance  of  the  draught,  to  the 
temperature  of  the  water  with  which  it  is  in  contact. 

The  magnitude  of  the  grate  and  ash-pit  must  be  deter- 
mined by  the  rate  at  which  the  evaporation  is  to  be  pro 
duced  in  the  boiler.  There  is  no  well-established  rule  for 
this.  Some  engine-makers  allow  a  square  foot  of  grate 
surface  for  each  cubic  foot  of  water  to  be  evaporated  per 
hour,  while  others  only  allow  half  this  for  the  same  eva- 
poration and  the  same  quantity  of  fuel.  Practice  varies  be- 
tween these  limits. 

To  facilitate  the  raking  out  of  the  grate,  the  bars  are 
placed  with  their  ends  towards  the  fire-door.  They  are 
made  of  cast  iron  about  two  inches  broad  on  the  upper  sur- 
face, and  with  intervals  of  half  an  inch  between  them. 

They  taper  downwards,  the  spaces  between  them  widen- 
ing, to  facilitate  the  fall  of  the  ashes  between  them.  The 
height  of  the  centre  of  the  bottom  of  the  boiler  above  the 
front  of  the  grate  is  usually  about  two  feet,  and  about  three 
feet  above  the  back  of  it.  • 

Between  the  evaporating  power  of  the  boiler  and  the 
magnitude  of  surface  it  exposes  to  the  action  of  the  fire, 
there  is  a  relation  not  yet  satisfactorily  ascertained.  That 
part  of  the  surface  immediately  over  the  grate  is  probably 
the  most  efficient  in  producing  steam.  The  tendency  of  the 
flame  to  rise  would  naturally  bring  it  more  in  contact  with 
those  parts  of  the  boiler  which  are  horizontal  in  their  posi- 
tion, and  which  form  the  tops  of  the  flues,  than  with  those 
which  are  vertical  or  lateral.  In  the  boiler  here  represent- 
ed the  most  efficient  surface  would  therefore  be  the  bottom 
of  the  boiler.  Engine  builders  vary  much  in  the  quantity 
of  surface  which  they  allow  for  a  given  rate  of  evaporation. 
Some  allow  twelve  and  some  eighteen  square  feet  of  sur- 
face for  each  cubic  foot  of  water  per  hour  to  be  evaporated. 

The  capacity  of  the  boiler  is  appropriated  to  a  two-fold 
purpose:  1.  to  contain  the  water  to  tie  evaporated;  2.  to 
contain  a  quantity  of  ready-made  sleam  to  supply  the  engine. 
The  proportion  of  the  steam  space  in  the  boiler  to  the  vol- 
ume of  the  cylinder  has  been  variously  estimated.    It  is  held 

by  some  that  it  will  lie  sufficient  if  it  lie  live  times  the  volume 
of  the  cylinder,  while  others  allow  double  that  quantity. 

For  every  cubic  foot  of  water  per  hour  intended  to  be 
evaporated,  water  space  should  be  allowed  in  the  boiler 
for  at  least  five  cubic  feet ;  so  that  one  fifth  of  the  contents 
are  evaporated  per  hour. 


STEAM  BOILER. 

The  surface  of  the  water  in  the  boiler  must  be  matter  of 
careful  anil  exact  regulation.  It  should  always  be  above 
the  range  of  the  flues.  When  the  heat  in  the  flues  acts 
upon  a  part  of  the  boiler  which  is  not  in  contact  with  wa- 
ter, steam  being  a  slow  recipient  of  heat,  the  heat  accumu- 
lates in  the  boiler  plates,  and  raises  their  temperature  to  an 
injurious  degree.  The  plates  may  be  by  this  means  soften- 
ed, so  as  to  cause  the  boiler  to  burst ;  or  the  difference  be- 
tween the  expansion  of  these  highly  heated  plates  and  of 
those  in  contact  with  water  may  cause  the  joinings  of  the 
plates  to  open  and  the  boiler  to  leak.  By  whatever  means, 
therefore,  the  boiler  be  fed,  the  level  of  the  water  ought 
never  to  be  allowed  to  fall  below  the  highest  flue. 

Since  the  level  of  the  water  in  the  boiler  ought  to  be 
maintained  in  a  steady  position,  it  is  evident  that  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  feed  must  be  equal  to  the  quantity  of  water 
evaporated.  If,  therefore,  one  fifth  of  the  water  in  the 
boiler  be  evaporated  per  hour,  that  quantity  ought  to  be 
introduced  by  the  feeding  apparatus  in  the  same  time.  To 
regulate  the  feed  with  safety  and  certainty,  it  is  necessary 
to  provide  an  indicator  of  the  level  of  the  water  in  the  boiler. 

This  is  accomplished  by  a  float  which  rests  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  water  suspended  by  a  wire,  which  passes  steam- 
tight  through  a  small  hole  in  the  top  of  the  boiler,  and  is 
connected  by  a  flexible  chain  or  string,  passing  over  a  wheel 
with  a  counterpoise,  which  is  only  capable  of  balancing 
the  weight  of  the  float  when  the  latter  is  sustained  by  its 
buoyancy  in  the  water.  The  position  of  the  counterpoise 
will  depend  on  that  of  the  float;  when  the  latter  falls  the 
counterpoise  must  rise,  and  vice  versa.  The  position  of 
the  counterpoise,  therefore,  will  always  indicate  that  of  the 
float,  and  of  the  surface  of  the  water  on  which  the  float  rests. 

There  are  other  methods  of  indicating  the  quantity  of 
water  to  the  eye  and  the  ear  (see  Eardner  on  the  Steam 
Engine,  p.  266,  et  seq.)  ;  but  that  which  is  most  deserving 
of  notice  is  one  in  which  the  indicator  is  made  to  govern 
the  feeder,  so  as  to  supply  water  to  the  boiler  in  the  same 
proportion  as  that  in  which  it  is  evaporated.  The  wire 
supporting  the  float  on  the  surface  of  the  water  above  de- 
scribed, represented  at  N  in  the  figure,  is  attached  to  the 
arm  of  a  lever,  of  which  the  opposite  arm  is  connected  with 
a  common  puppet  valve  placed  in  the  bottom  of  the  small 
feeding  cistern.  When  the  surface  of  the  water  falls,  the 
float  falls  with  it,  and  draws  down  the  arm  of  the  lever, 
which  raises  the  opposite  arm  and  opens  the  v;i]\f.  Water 
from  the  feeding  cistern  flows  into  the  boiler  through  the 
tube  P,  and  continues  to  flow  into  it  until  the  level  of  the 
surface  has  been  raised  so  high  that  the  float  no  longer 
pulls  down  the  arm  of  the  lever,  and  therefore  the  valve  in 
the  bottom  of  the  cistern  is  closed.  In  the  actual  operation 
of  this  self-acting  feeder,  however,  the  surface  of  the  water 
BO  adjusts  itself  that  the  float  opens  the  valve  just  so  much 
as  is  necessary,  and  sufficient  to  admit  as  much  water  from 
minute  to  minute  as  is  consumed  by  evaporation,  and  there- 
fore the  level  of  the  water  is  maintained  in  a  fixed  position. 

To  secure  the  safety  of  the  boilers  it  is  necessary  to  pro- 
vide means  for  preventing  the  pressure  of  the  steam  con- 
tained in  them  from  exceeding  a  certain  limit,  and  also  for 
indicating  its  pressure  at  all  times.  The  former  object  is 
attained  by  safety  valves,  which  are  of  various  forms.  The 
safety  valve  is  a  common  puppet  valve  placed  on  the  top 
of  the  boiler,  which  opens  upwards,  and  which  is  held 
down  by  a  pressure  proportional  to  the  limit  within  which 
the  steam  is  intended  to  be  kept.  When  the  pressure  of  the 
steam  exceeds  that  limit,  this  valve  is  raised  by  it,  and  the 
steam  escapes  until  its  pressure  is  reduced  to  below  that  of 
the  valve.  The  magnitude  of  the  aperture  of  the  valve 
should  be  sufficient  to  enable  the  steam  to  escape  faster 
than  under  any  possible  circumstances  it  could  be  gene- 
rated. Safety  valves  differ  one  from  another,  chiefly  in  the 
manner  in  which  the  required  pressure  upon  them  is  pro- 
duced. In  some,  weights  of  the  requisite  amount  are  placed 
directly  upon  the  valve,  as  represented  in  the  figure  under 
N.  In  some,  the  valve  is  held  down  by  the  elasticity  of  one 
or  more  springs.  In  others,  a  lever  presses  on  the  valve  by 
a  sliding  weight,  the  pressure  be.ng  varied  at  discretion  by 
shifting  the  position  of  the  weight ;  and  in  others  the  lever 
which  acts  on  the  valve  is  held  down  by  a  spring  similar 
to  that  of  the  common  spring  balances,  which  may  be 
screwed  up  to  any  required  tension.  In  all  boilers  two 
safety  valves  should  be  provided,  one  of  which  should  be 
placed  out  of  the  reach  of  the  engineer,  so  as  to  impose  a 
major  limit  to  the  pressure  which  he  can  give  to  the  steam. 

The  most  ordinary  indicator  of  the  pressure  of  the  steam 
in  low-pressure  boilers  is  the  mercurial  steam  gauge,  re- 
presented at  O  in  the  figure,  which  consists  of  a  glass  tube 
bent  into  ,he  siphon  form,  the  bent  part  and  a  portion  of 
each  leg  being  filled  with  mercury.  One  leg  communicates 
with  the  steam  within  the  boiler,  and  the  other  is  open  to 
the  atmosphere.  The  difference  between  the  levels  of  the 
columns  of  mercury  in  the  two  legs  is  always  a  measure 
of  the  difference  between  the  pressure  of  the  steam  and 


STEAM  CARRIAGE. 

that  of  the  atmosphere.  If  the  tube  be  of  iron,  which  is 
most  generally  the  case,  the  position  of  the  surface  of  the 
mercury  in  it  is  indicated  by  a  float  having  a  wooden  rod 
rising  from  it. 

This  indicator  cannot  be  conveniently  applied  to  high- 
pressure  boilers,  since  the  column  of  mercury  supported  by 
the  pressure  of  the  steam  would  have  too  great  a  height. 
In  these  boilers  a  thermometer  is  immersed,  by  which  the 
temperature  of  the  steam  is  indicated  ;  and  this  becomes  an 
indicator  to  its  pressure,  since  the  pressure  varies  with  the 
temperature.     See  Steam. 

The  safety  of  high-pressure  boilers  is  sometimes  provided 
for,  by  inserting  in  them  a  plug  of  metal  capable  of  being 
fused  at  that  temperature  above  which  the  boiler  is  exposed 
to  the  danger  of  explosion.  If  the  water  and  steam  exceed 
that  temperature,  the  metal  of  the  plug  or  of  its  solder  will 
melt,  and  it  will  fall  out,  and  the  steam  will  escape  from 
the  opening  which  it  leaves.  An  alloy  composed  of  one 
part  of  lead,  three  of  tin,  and  five  of  bismuth,  will  fuse  at 
the  common  temperature  of  boiling  water ;  and  alloys  of 
the  same  metals  in  various  proportions  will  fuse  at  dif- 
ferent temperatures  from  200°  to  400°. 

When  a  boiler  ceases  to  be  worked  and  the  furnace  is 
extinguished,  the  space  within  it  appropriated  to  steam 
will  be  left  a  vacuum  by  the  condensation  of  the  steam 
with  which  it  was  previously  filled.  The  external  pres- 
sure of  the  atmosphere  acting  on  the  boiler  would,  under 
such  circumstances,  have  a  tendency  to  crush  it  inwards. 
To  prevent  this  a  safety  valve  is  provided,  opening  in- 
wards, and  balanced  by  a  weight  to  keep  it  closed  until  it 
he  relieved  from  the  pressure  of  the  steam  within. 

To  render  the  strength  of  the  fire  proportional  to  the 
evaporating  power,  a  plate  called  a  damper  is  placed  with 
its  plane  at  right  angles  to  the  flue,  so  that  by  raising  and 
lowering  it,  like  the  sash  of  a  window,  the  space  for  the 
passage  of  air  through  the  flue  is  increased  or  diminished. 
The  force  of  draft  and  that  of  the  fire  can,  therefore,  be 
varied  merely  by  shifting  the  position  of  the  damper. 

Such  a  damper  can  be  regulated  by  hand,  but  more  uni- 
formly by  connecting  it  with  a  float  placed  on  a  column  of 
water  or  mercury,  which  measures  the  force  of  the  steam, 
as  represented  in  the  figure,  where  the  chain  suspending 
the  damper  is  seen  at  O  and  the  float  at  P.  If  the  force  of 
the  strain  be  suddenly  increased,  such  a  column  will  raise 
the  float  and  lower  the  damper;  and  if  the  force  of  the 
steam  be  too  feeble,  the  contrary  effect  will  be  produced. 
Such  an  apparatus  is  called  a  self-regu'ating  damper. 

The  form  of  boilers  is  sometimes  cylindrical,  having  an 
oval  flue  conducted  through  them  from  end  to  end.  The 
ends  are  hemispherical.  Such  a  form  is  favourable  to 
strength,  and  is  better  adapted  than  the  wagon  shape  to 
high-pressure  boilers. 

(For  the  boilers  of  railway  engines,  see  Locomotive 
Engine  ;  and  for  those  of  marine  engines,  see  Steam  Navi- 
gation. For  more  minute  details  respecting  steam  boilers, 
see  Eardner  on  the  Steam  Engine,  7th  edition;  also  Tred- 
gatd,  2d  edition.  Appendix.) 

STEAM  CARRIAGE.  A  name  usually  applied  to  loco- 
motive engines  adapted  to  work  on  common  roads. 

The  principle  of  the  construction  of  these  is,  in  its  general 
conditions,  similar  to  that  of  the  locomotive  engine  used  on 
railways  (see  Locomotive  Engine)  ;  but  the  engine  adapt- 
ed to  common  roads  must  have  the  same  power,  with  a 
much  less  weight ;  or,  in  other  words,  the  ratio  of  the 
weight  of  the  engine  to  the  evaporating  power  of  the  boiler 
is  much  less  than  in  the  case  of  railway  locomotives. 

Although  the  attempt  made  to  adopt  the  steam  engine  as 
an  accessory  power  on  common  roads  has  not  hitherto 
been  productive  of  any  practical  result  of  a  permanent  na- 
ture, this  has  not  arisen  so  much  from  the  failure  of  steam 
power  to  accomplish  the  traction  of  carriages,  as  from  the 
greater  expense  of  that  power,  as  compared  either  with 
horse  power  on  common  roads  or  with  steam  power  on  rail- 
ways. At  the  time  when  the  construction  of  railways 
throughout  the  country  was  extensively  undertaken,  and 
when  the  great  power  and  economy  of  the  locomotive 
engine  upon  them  was  demonstrated  by  the  results  of  the 
traffic  on  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  railway,  several 
projects  for  the  application  of  the  locomotive  engine  on 
common  roads  were  in  progress,  and  were  attended  with 
effects  which  presented  a  fair  prospect  of  ultimate  success. 
The  establishment  of  the  great  lines  of  railway  communi- 
cation throughout  the  kingdom,  by  engrossing  the  traffic  of 
all  those  districts  in  which  the  locomotive  engine  on  com- 
mon roads  promised  greatest  advantage,  and  on  which,  if 
anvwhere.  it  would  have  taken  the  place  of  horse  power, 
discouraged  speculators,  and  most  of  the  projects  which 
had  been  in  progress  fell  to  the  ground.  Among  these 
were  the  steam  carriages  of  Mr.  Gurney,  Col.  Maceroni, 
Mr.  Hancock,  Dr.  Church,  Mr.  Ogle,  Mr.  Russell,  and  va- 
rious others. 

The  engine  in  steam  carriages  generally  acts  either  di- 

1167 


STEAM  CARRIAGE. 

rertly  on  the  wheel?,  and  causes  them  to  revolve,  am! 
thereby  propels  the  carriage;  or  i'  acts  on  cranks  formed 
..11  ih  :  Kile  of  the  wheels,  and  the  wheels  being  keyed 
upon  the  axle  are  compelled  to  revolve  with  it.    In  either 

case,  the  revolution,  whether  of  the  wheels  or  the  axU  .  is 
produced  l>y  a  connecting  rod  jointed  on  the  end  of  the 
piston  rod,  and  receiving  motion  from  the  piston  rod.  The 
ire  generally  driven  by  two  pistons  working  in  two 
cylinders,  so  that  one  is  at  its  dead  point  when  the  other  is 
in  the  position  most  favourable  for  its  action.  The  arrange- 
ment of  this  part  of  the  machinery  being  similar  to  that  of 
the  railway  locomotive,  need  not  be  here  more  fully  de- 
scribed. 

The  steam  carriages  of  different  projectors  differ  one 
from  another,  chiefly  in  the  boilers,  and  in  the  apparatus 
for  generating  the  steam  and  admitting  it  to  the  cylinder. 
Mr.  Curney's  boiler  consisted  of  a  series  of  strong  iron 
tubes  placed  side  by  side,  so  as  to  form  the  bars  of  the 
grate  of  the  furnace.  These  were  connected  with  another 
system  nearly  at  right  angles  to  them,  forming  the  back  of 
the  furnace;  and  these  again  with  a  third  system,  forming 
the  roof  of  the  furnace.  The  tubes  forming  the  grate  bars 
had  their  ends  inserted  in  a  strong  iron  cylinder,  having  its 
axis  horizontal,  and  its  length  extended  across  the  front  of 
the  furnace  under  the  fire-door;  and  the  tubes  forming  the 
roof  of  the  furnace  were  inserted  in  a  similar  cylindrical 
vessel,  eitending  in  like  manner  across  the  front  of  the 
furnace  above  the  fire-door.  These  two  cylinders  were 
likewise-  connected  by  upright  cylinders  of  less  diameter 
placed  at  each  side  of  the  fire-door.  This  system  of  tubes 
and  cylinders  being  filled  with  water,  the  heat  of  the  fur- 
nace acting  on  the  tubes  surrounding  the  fireplace,  and  the 
heated  air  and  flame  being  afterwards  conducted  above  the 
tubes  forming  the  roof  of  the  fireplace,  before  it  escaped 
into  the  chimney,  steam  was  produced  in  the  tubes,  which 
by  its  lightness  passed  from  them  to  the  cylindrical  vessel 
extending  over  the  fire-door.  From  that  vessel  the  steam 
passed  into  a  larger  cylindrical  vessel  above  it,  called  a 
separator,  its  purpose  being  to  disengage  the  pure  steam 
from  the  spray  of  water  with  which  it  is  generally  mixed 
when  it  first  escapes  from  the  boiling  water  in  a  state  of 
Violent  agitation. 

Every  part  of  this  boiler  being  cylindrical,  has  the  form 
which  is  most  favourable  to  strength,  and  which,  within 
given  dimensions,  contains  the  greatest  quantity  of  water. 
The  tubes  surrounding  the  furnace  can  freely  expand  in 
the  direction  of  their  length,  without  being  loosened  at  the 
joints,  and  without  straining  any  part  of  the  apparatus. 
Proper  means  of  opening  the  tubes  at  their  ends  are  pro- 
vided, by  which  they  may  be  scraped  on  the  inside,  and 
cleansed  from  any  deposit  which  may  be  left  in  them  by 
the  water  evaporated  in  them. 

In  these  engines  the  draught  of  the  furnace  was  produced 
by  projecting  the  waste  steam  into  the  chimney  ;  but  in- 
stead of  dismissing  it  directly  from  the  eduction  pipe  of  the 
cylinder  to  the  chimney,  it  was  conducted  to  a  re 
called  a  blowing  box.  This  box  served  the  same  purpose 
as  the  upper  chamber  of  a  smith's  bellows.  It  received  the 
steam  from  the  cylinder  in  alternate  puffs,  but  it  let  it 
escape  into  the  chimney  in  a  continued  stream  by  a  number 
of  small  jets.  A  regular  draught  was  by  this  means  pro- 
duced, and  no  noise  was  perceived. 

The  pipe  through  which  the  boiler  is  fed  was  carried 
through  this  blowing  box  in  a  spiral  form,  so  that  tin  exten- 
sive thread  of  the  feeding  water  was  exposed  to  the  heat  of 
the  waste  steam  as  it  passed  from  the  cylinders,  [n  passing 
through  this  box  the  feeding  water  was  raised  from  60°  to 
212°,  at  which  temperature  it  was  forced  into  the  boiler. 

A  steam  carriage  constructed  by  Mr.  Gurney,  weighing 
35cwt.,  working  for  eight  hours,  was  found,  according  to 
Mr.  Gunny's  statement,  to  do  the  work  of  about  thirty- 
horses.  The  engine  wis  placed  on  a  carriage  separate 
from  that  which  bore  the  passengers,  and  the  one  drew 
the  other  after  it  in  the  same  manner  as  tie-  railu  a\  engine 
draws  its  train.  Mr.  Gumey  stated  that  the  weight  of  an 
engine  sufficient  to  draw  after  it  a  carriage    containing 

eighteen  passengers  would  be  about  a  ton  ;  so  that  the  ^ross 
weight  of  the  whole,  the  engine  and  carriage  for  passen- 
gers taken  together,  would  not  exceed  that  of  a  common 
iach  and  four  horses. 
In  the  steam  carriage  proposed  by  Mr.  Hancock,  and 
which  was  worked  for  some  lime  on  the  New  Road  and 
other  roads  about  London,  the  engine  and  passeng)  rs  w<  re 
placed  in  the  same  carriage.  In  the  boiler  the  subdivision 
of  the   water,    s<>  as   to  expos,,    a   sufficient   surface   to   the 

action  of  the  lire,  was  accomplished  by  dividing 

box  by  a  number  of  thin  plates  of  metal  like  a  galvanic 
battery,  the  water  being  allowed  t"  flow  between  everj  ■■. 

ternate  pair  of  plates,  the  intermediate  spaces  forming  the 
flue  through  which  the  flame  anil  hot  air  piss.  In  fact,  a 
number  of  thin  plates  of  water  tire  exposed  on  both  sides 
to  the  most  intense  action  of  flame  and  heated  air ;  so  that 
1108 


STEAM  ENGINE. 

steam  of  a  high  pressure  is  produced  in  great  abundance, 
and   with   considerable   rapidity.     The  plates  forming   the 

boiler  were  bolted  together  by  strong  iron  ties,  extending 
across  tie'  boiler  at  right  tingles  to  the  plates.  The  distance 
between  plate  and  plate  was  two  inches. 

There  were  ten  Bat  chambers  of  this  kind  for  water,  and 
Intermediately  between  them  ten  tines.    Under  these  flues 

was  the  fire-grate,  six  square  feet  in  magnitude.  The  water 
spat  '  -  were  tilled  to  about  two  thirds  of  their  depth  with 
water,  and  the  other  third  was  left  for  steam.  'Die  water 
chambers  throughout  the  whole  series  communicated  with 
each  other  at  top  and  bottom,  and  were  held  together  by 
two  large  bolts.  By  releasing  these  bolts  at  any  time,  the 
chambers  fell  asunder;  and  by  screwing  them  up,  they 
might  be  all  made  tight  again. 

These  boilers  were  constructed  to  bear  a  pressure  of  400 
or  500  lbs.  per  square  inch  ;  but  the  safety  valve  was  screw- 
ed up  to  a  pressure  not  exceeding  100  lbs.  per  inch.  There 
were  100  square  feet  of  surface  exposed  to  the  fire.  The 
stages  which  the  engine  performed  were  eight  miles,  after 
Which  a  fresh  supply  of  water  and  fuel  was  taken  in. 

Mr.  Nathaniel  Ogle,  of  Southampton,  obtained  a  patent 
for  a  locomotive  carriage,  which  he  worked  for  some  time 
experimentally.  In  his  evidence  before  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, he  has  there  described  his  contrivance.  "The  base 
of  the  boiler  and  the  summit  are  composed  of  cross  pieces, 
cylindrical  within  and  square  without ;  there  are  holes 
bored  through  these  cross  pieces,  and  inserted  through  the 
whole  is  an  air  tube.  The  inner  hole  of  the  lower  surface, 
and  the  under  hole  of  the  upper  surface,  tire  rather  larger 
than  the  other  ones  ;  round  the  air  tube  is  placed  a  si, mil 
cylinder,  the  collar  of  which  tits  round  the  larger  aperture 
on  the  inner  surface  of  the  lower  frame  and  the  under  sur- 
face of  tho  upper  framework.  These  are  both  drawn  to 
gether  by  screws  from  the  top ;  these  cross  pieces  are 
united  by  connecting  pieces,  the  whole  strongly  bolted  to- 
gether; so  that  we  obtain  in  110th  of  the  space,  and  with 
l-10th  of  the  weight,  the  same  heating  surface  and  power 
that  are  now  obtained  in  other  and  low-pressure  boilers 
with  incalculably  greater  safety.  Our  present  experimental 
boiler  contains  250  su|>erficial  feet  of  heating  surface,  in  the 
space  of  3  feet  8  inches  high,  3  feet  long,  and  2  feet  4  inches 
broad,  and  weighs  about  8  cwt.  We  supply  these  two 
cylinders  with  steam  communicating  by  their  pistons  with 
a  crank  axle,  to  the  ends  of  which  cither  one  or  both 
wheels  are  fixed,  as  may  be  requited.  One  wheel  is  found 
to  be  sufficient,  except  under  very  difficult  circumstances, 
and  when  the  elevation  is  about  1  foot  in  6,  to  impel  the 
wheel  forward. 

'•The  cylinders  of  which  the  boiler  is  composed  are  so 
small  as  to  bear  a  greater  pressure  than  could  be  produced 
by  the  quantity  of  fire  beneath  the  boiler ;  and  if  any  one 
of  these  cylinders  be  injured  by  violence  or  any  other  way, 
it  would  become  merely  a  safety  valve  to  the  rest.  We 
have  never,  with  the  sreatcst  pressure,  burst,  rent,  or  injured 
our  boiler;  and  it  has  not  once  required  cleaning,  after 
having  been  in  use  twelve  months." 

For  more  full  details  respecting  steam  carriages,  see 
Lanlnrr  on  the  Steam  F.nrrinr,  7th  edit.;  also,  a  Treatise 
on  Elemental  Locomotion,  by  Alexander  Gorden,  C.  E. 

STEAM-ENGINE.  A  machine  in  which  the  mechanical 
power  developed  in  the  evaporation  of  water  is  rendered 
available  as  a  moving  power.  Steam  engines  vary  much 
in  magnitude,  form,  and  proportions,  as  well  as  in  the  de- 
tails of  the  machinery  by  which  the  power  of  the  steam  is 
adapted  as  a  prime  mover.  We  shall  first  explain  those 
forms  of  steam-entiine  most  generally  used  in  the  arts  and 
manufactures,  and  shall  afterwards  give  a  succinct  account 
of  the  history  of  the  invention  and  progressive  improve- 
ment of  this  machine.  The  forms  of  engine,  and  the  mode 
of  its  application  to  transport  by  'ami  and  water,  have  been 
consigned  to  separate  articles.  Set  Locomotive  Engine, 
Railways,  and  Steam  Navigation. 

Double-acting  Condensing  Steam  Engine. — This  form  of 
engine  is  that  which  is  almost  Invariably  used  as  a  moving 
jinwi  r  in  all  manufactures  in  this  country.  It  consists  of  a 
cylinder  represented  in  Beetion  at  (',  in  which  a  moveable 
piston  I'  is  driven  upwards  ami  downwards  by  the  force  of 
steam  supplied  by  a  boiler  placed  near  the  engine.     See 

S  l  i    LH     liotLER. 

Th-  piston  uives  motion  to  a  working  beam  H/,  which, 
by  means  .if  a  heavy  bar  <  >,  called  a  connecting  rod,  moves 
a  Jhj  irhnl  and  crank,  from  which  the  machinery  to  be 
Worked  directly  receives  its  motion.  Steam  is  supplied 
ft the   boiler   to  tlie  cylinder  by  the  steam  pipe  S.     The 

'r,  T  in  thai  pipe,  near  the  cylinder,  is  regulated 

by  a  s\  Stem  of  levers  connected  with  the governor  Q..     This 

governor  is  an  apparatus  consisting  of  two  heavy  balls  at- 
tached to  the  ends  of  rods  which  are   kept  revolving  on  a 
vertical   shaft  by   a  cord   or   baud,   or  by  a  train  Ol 
wheels  connected  with   the  fly  wheel.     The  velocity  with 
which  the  balls  of  the  governor  revolve  is  therefore  always 


STEAM  ENGINE. 


proportional  to  that  of  the  fly-wheel,  and  of  the  machinery 
driven  by  it.  If  by  reason  of  too  rapid  a  supply  of  steam  an 
undue  speed  be  imparted  to  the  fly-wheel,  the  balls  are 
whirled  round  with  a  corresponding  velocity ;  and  by  rea- 
son of  their  centrifugal  force  they  recede  from  the  vertical 
spindle  round  which  they  turn,  and  acting  thereby  on  the 
system  of  levers  which  connect  them  with  the  throttle- 
valve  T,  they  partially  close  the  latter,  check  or  diminish 
the  supply  of  steam  to  the  cylinder,  and  moderate  the 
velocity  of  the  machine.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  motion 
of  the  engine  be  slower  than  is  requisite,  owing  to  a  defi- 
cient supply  of  steam  through  S,  then  the  balls,  not  being 
sufficiently  affected  by  centrifugal  force,  fall  towards  the 
verticle  spindle,  and  acting  on  the  system  of  levers  in  the 
contrary  way.  they  turn  the  throttle-valve  T  more  fully 
open,  and  admit  a  more  ample  supply  of  steam  to  the  cylin- 
der, so  as  to  increase  the  speed  of  the  engine  to  the  requisite 
limit. 

The  piston  P  is  accurately  fitted  to  the  cylinder,  and  made 
to  move  in  it  steam-tight  by  packing,  with  which  it  is  sur- 
rounded. This  piston  divides  the  cylinder  into  two  com- 
partments, between  which  there  is  no  communication  by 
which  steam  or  any  other  elastic  fluid  can  pass.  A  case  B 
B'  placed  beside  the  cylinder  contains  the  valves  by  means 
of  which  the  steam  which  impels  the  piston  is  admitted  and 
withdrawn  as  the  piston  commences  its  motion  in  each  di- 
rection. The  upper  steam-boz  B  is  divided  into  three  com- 
partments by  two  valves;  above  the  upper  steam-valve  V 
is  a  compartment  communicating  with  the  steam-pipe  S. 
Below  the  exhausting  valve  E  is  another  compartment  com- 
municating with  a  pipe  called  the  eduction  pipe,  which  leads 
downwards  from  the  cylinder  to  a  vessel  called  the  con- 
denser, which  we  shall  presently  describe.  By  this  eduction 
pipe  the  steam  is  withdrawn  from  the  cylinder  after  it  has 
driven  the  piston.  By  the  valve  V  a  communication  may 
be  opened  or  closed  between  the  boiler  and  the  top  of  the 
cylinder,  so  as  to  admit  or  intercept  the  supply  of  steam  from 
the  one  to  the  other.  By  the  valve  E  a  communication  may 
be  opened  or  closed  between  the  top  of  the  cylinder  and  the 
condenser,  so  that  the  steam  in  the  top  of  the  cylinder  may 
either  be  permitted  to  escape  into  the  condenser  or  confined 
in  the  cylinder.  The  continuation  S'  of  the  steam-pipe 
leads  to  the  lower  steam-box  B ,  which,  like  the  upper,  is 
divided  into  three  compartments  by  two  valves  V  and  E'. 
The  upper  compartment  communicates  with  the  steam-pipe 
S',  and  the  lower  with  the  eduction-pipe.  By  means  of  the 
valve  V  steam  may  be  admitted  from  the  steam-pipe  S'  to 
the  bottom  of  the  cylinder,  and  by  means  of  the  valve  E' 
this  steam  may  be  permitted  to  escape  to  the  condenser. 

The  four  valves  V,  E,  V,  and  E'  are  in  the  engine  rep- 
resented in  the  figure  connected  by  a  system  of  levers  with 
a  single  handle  or  spanner,  m,  which  being  pressed  upwards 
or  downwards  opens  and  closes  the  valves  in  pairs.  Thus 
when  it  is  pressed  down  the  levers  connected  with  it  raise 
the  upper  exhausting  valve  E  and  the  lower  steam  valve 
V,  and  close  the  upper  steam  valve  V  and  the  lower  ex- 
hausting valve  E'.  On  the  other  hand,  when  the  spanner 
m  is  pressed  up  it  opens  the  upper  steam  valve  V  and  the 
lower  exhausting  valve  E',  and  at  the  same  time  closes  the 
upper  exhausting  valve  E  and  the  lower  steam  valve  V. 

The  cylinder  is  closed  at  the  top,  and  the  piston-rod  P 
being  accurately  turned,  runs  in  a  steam-tight  collar  furnish- 
ed with  a  shifting  box,  by  means  of  which  it  is  surrounded  by 


a  packing  of  hemp  and  constantly  lubricated  with  melted 
taliow.  A  funnel  is  screwed  on  the  top  of  the  cylinder, 
through  which,  by  opening  a  stop-cock,  melted  tallow  is 
permitted  to  fall  from  time  to  time  on  the  piston  so  as  to 
lubricate  it. 

The  condenser  D  is  submerged  in  a  cistern  of  cold  water ; 
at  its  side  there  enters  a  tube  1'  governed  by  a  cock  I,  which 
being  opened  or  closed  to  any  required  extent  a  jet  of  cold 
water  may  be  allowed  to  play  in  the  condenser.  This  jet 
throws  the  water  upwards  towards  the  lower  orifice  of  the 
eduction  pipe  L'.  From  the  bottom  of  the  condenser  D  pro- 
ceeds a  tube  having  a  valve  II  in  it,  opening  outwards ;  this 
tube  leads  to  the  air-pump  K',  which  is  a  pump  submerged 
in  the  same  cistern  with  the  condenser,  worked  by  a  piston 
having  a  valve  in  it  opening  upwards.  The  piston-rod  R,  of 
the  air-pump  is  carried  upwards,  and  attached  at  d  to  a  sys- 
tem of  jointed  rods  called  the  parallel  motion,  to  which  is 
also  attached  at  g  the  great  steam-piston  rod.  On  the  rod 
of  the  air-pump  is  placed  projecting  pins,  which,  as  it  alter- 
nately ascends  and  descends,  strike  the  spanner  m,  and 
thereby  open  and  close  the  valves  V,  V,  E,  E',  in  pairs,  as 
already  described. 

The  upper  part  of  the  air-pump  cylinder  communicates  by 
a  valve  opening  outwards  with  a  small  cistern  K,  called 
the  hot  well,  for  a  reason  which  will  presently  appear.  A 
pump  L,  called  the  hot  water  pump,  descends  into  the  hot 
well  and  is  worked  by  the  great  working  beam  to  which  its 
rod  is  attached. 

If  the  machine  thus  arranged  continued  to  be  worked  for 
any  length  of  time,  the  cistern  of  water  in  which  the  con- 
denser and  air-pump  are  immersed  would  become  warm, 
and  the  condenser  would  be  rendered  incapable  of  doing 
that  for  which  alone  it  is  useful,  viz.,  of  reducing  the  steam 
to  water  by  cold.  To  prevent  this  a  pump  N  is  provided, 
called  the  cold  water  pump,  by  which  a  supply  of  cold  water 
is  constantly  kept  flowing  into  the  cistern,  the  heated  water 
being  at  the  same  time  allowed  to  escape  by  a  waste  pipe. 
By  this  means  the  temperature  of  the  water  in  the  cold  cis- 
tern is  kept  so  low  as  to  be  capable  of  effectually  condensing 
the  steam. 

The  piston  being  supposed  to  be  at  the  top  of  the  cylinder, 
the  spanner  m  will  be  raised  by  the  lower  pin  on  the  air- 
pump  rod,  and  the  valves  V  and  E'  will  be  opened,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  other  pair  of  valves  V  and  E  will  be 
closed.  Steam  will  therefore  be  admitted  above  ihe  piston, 
and  the  steam  which  had  previously  filled  the  cylinder  be- 
low the  piston  will  be  drawn  ofl'  to  the  condenser.  It  will 
there  encounter  the  jet  of  cold  water,  which  is  kept  con- 
stantly playing  there  by  keeping  the  cock  I  sufficiently  open. 
It  will  thus  be  immediately  reduced  to  water  or  condensed 
(see  Steam),  and  the  cylinder  below  the  piston  will  remain 
a  vacuum.  The  steam,  therefore,  admitted  from  the  steam- 
pipe  through  the  open  valve  V  to  the  top  of  the  cylinder, 
will  press  the  piston  to  the  bottom  of  the  cylinder.  As  it 
approaches  that  position  the  spanner  m  will  be  struck  down- 
wards by  the  upper  pin  on  the  air-pump  rod,  and  the  valves 

V  and  E'  previously  open  will  be  closed,  while  the  valves 

V  and  E  previously  closed  will  be  opened.  The  steam 
which  has  just  pressed  down  the  piston,  and  which  now 
fills  the  cylinder  above  the  piston,  will  then  flow  oft' through 
the  open  valve  E  by  the  eduction-pipe  to  the  condenser, 
where  it  will  be  immediately  condensed  by  the  jet  of  cold 
water  which  constantly  plays  there,  and  steam  from  the 
boiler  admitted  through  the  open  valve  V  will  fill  the  cylin- 
der below  the  piston  and  press  the  piston  upwards.  When 
the  piston  has  reached  the  top  of  the  cylinder  the  lower  pin 
on  the  air-pump  rod  will  have  struck  the  spanner  m  up- 
wards, and  will  thereby  have  closed  the  valves  V  and  E 
and  opened  the  valves  V  and  E'.  The  piston  will  then  be 
in  the  same  situation  as  in  the  commencement,  and  will 
again  descend,  and  so  will  continue  to  be  driven  upwards 
and  downwards  by  the  steam. 

While  this  process  is  going  on  in  the  cylinder  a  quantity 
of  warm  water  is  formed  in  the  condenser,  by  the  mixture 
of  condensed  steam  with  the  cold  water  admitted  through 
the  condensing  jet  I'.  It  has  been  shown  (see  Steam)  that 
any  quantity  of  water  in  the  state  of  steam  being  condensed 
by  "cold  water,  will  raise  nearly  six  times  its  own  weight  of 
cold  water  from  the  freezing  to  the  boiling  point  by  the 
latent  heat  which  is  rendered  sensible  in  the  process  of  con- 
densation. But  since  the  jet  of  cold  water,  instead  of  being 
at  the  temperature  of  melting  ice,  is  at  the  common  temper- 
ature of  the  atmosphere,  say  50°,  and  it  is  necessary  to  re- 
duce the  temperature  of  the  water  in  the  condenser  to  at 
least  100°  (otherwise  steam  would  be  produced  by  it,  which 
would  seriously  resist  the  motion  of  the  piston),  and  to  re- 
duce water  from  21-2°  to  100°  by  mixture  with  water  at  50° 
would  require  a  quantity  of  the  latter  about  twice  the  for- 
mer, it  follows  that  the  quantity-  admitted  through  the  jet 
must  be  more  than  twenty  times  the  quantity  which  passes 
through  the  cylinder  in  the  form  of  steam. 

The  warm  water  which  is  thus  formed  in  the  condenser, 
4  D  1169 


STEAM  ENGINE. 


if  allowed  to  accumulate  there,  would  soon  choke  it  up  and 
slop  the  action  of  the  machine.  To  prevent  this  the  air- 
pump  is  provided;  when  the  air-pump  piston  ascends  il 

leaves  belOVV  it  a  Vacuum,  and  the  foot  oatve  M  being  re- 
lieved from  all  pressure,  the  weight  of  the  water  in  the 
condenser  forces  it  open,  ami  the  warm  water  flows  from 
the  condenser  into  the  lower  part  of  the  air-pump,  from 
Which  its  return  to  the  condenser  is  prevented  by  the  closed 
valve.  When  the  air  pump  piston  descends  its  pressure  on 
the  liquid  under  it  will  force  open  the  valve  in  it,  through 
which  the  warm  water  will  pass;  and  when  the  piston  de 
gcends  to  the  bottom  of  the  pump-barrel  the  warm  water 
which  was  below  it  will  pass  above  it,  and  cannot  return, 
as  the  valves  which  open  upwards  will  be  kept  closed  by 
its  weight  When  the  piston  next  ascends  it  will  raise  the 
water  thus  collected  above  it,  and  will  throw  it  through  the 
valve  into  the  hot  well  K. 

The  hot  water  pump  L  is  usually  a  suction  and  forcing 
pump,  and  draws  up  the  warm  water  from  the  hot  well, 
and  drives  it  through  a  pipe  called  the  feed  pipe  to  a  cistern 
placed  over  the  boiler,  from  which  the  boiler  derives  its 
feed  of  water.     Sec  Steam  Boiler. 

The  system  of  jointed  rods,  c,  d,  e,  /,  g,  called  the  parallel 
motion,  have  for  their  object  the  maintenance  of  the  rods 
of  the  steam-piston  and  air-pump  in  a  truly  vertical  position. 
The  steam-piston  rod  imparts  motion  to  the  beam,  and  the 
air  pump  rod  receives  motion  from  it.  The  beam,  however, 
moving  as  it  does  alternately  upwards  and  downwards  on 
an  axis,  every  point  on  it  must  move  alternately  in  the  arc 
of  a  circle  whose  centre  is  in  the  axis  of  the  beam.  If  the 
ends  of  the  rods  of  the  steam-piston  and  air-pump  were  im- 
mediately attached  to  the  beam,  they  would  move  therefore 
not  in  truly  vertical  straight  lines,  but  in  the  arcs  of  circles, 
and  by  reason  of  the  curvature  of  such  arcs  they  would  be 
alternately  reflected  to  the  right  and  to  the  left.  Such  an 
effect  would  be  quite  incompatible  wilh  that  smoothness 
and  precision  which  are  essential  to  the  effective  action  of 
the  steam-engine.  By  the  parallel  motion  the  ends  of  these 
piston  rods  are  not  immediately  attached  to  the  working 
beam ;  a  rod  c  d,  called  the  radius  rod,  moves  on  a  fixed 
centre  c  attached  to  the  framing  of  the  engine;  a  bar  d  h 
connects  the  other  end  of  this  radius  rod  with  a  pivot  ft  on 
the  beam,  so  that  as  the  beam  ascends  and  descends  the 
pivots  ft  and  d  each  moves  in  an  arc  of  a  circle,  and  these 
pivots  are  thereby  drawn  aside,  but  always  in  contrary  di- 
rections. These  deflections  of  the  ends  of  the  bar  d  b  are 
neutralized  at  its  middle  point  c,  which  neither  deviates  to 
the  right  nor  to  the  left,  but  moves  in  a  vertical  straight  line. 
To  this  point  e  the  end  of  the  air-pump  piston  is  attached. 

At  the  end  of  the  beam  to  another  joint  /  is  attached  a 
bar / g,  equal  to  b  d,  connected  by  pivots  with  another  beam 
d  g  equal  in  length  to  ft/,  so  as  to  form  the  jointed  parrallel- 
ogram  ft  d  g  f.  By  this  arrangement,  as  the  beam  ascends 
and  descends  the  pointy  is  moved  in  a  manner  altogether 
similar  to  the  point  c,  only  that  it  moves  through  a  greater 
space  in  the  proportion  of  the  distance  of  g  from  the  axis 
of  the  beam  to  that  of  e  from  the  same  point.  The  point  g, 
therefore,  to  which  the  steam-piston  is  attached,  is  moved 
upwards  and  downwards  in  a  truly  vertical  straight  line, 
while  the  end/  of  the  beam  with  which  it  is  connected  is 
moved  upwards  and  downwards  in  the  arc  of  a  circle. 

Whrn  the  piston  is  at  the  top  of  the  cylinder  the  crank  O 
placed  on  the  axis  of  the  fly-wheel  F  is  at  its  lowest  position, 
and  when  the  piston  is  at  the  bottom  of  the  cylinder  it  is  in 
its  highest  position.  In  each  of  these  positions  the  action 
of  the  steam  on  the  piston  could  not  impart  any  motion  to 
the  crank  ;  for  the  connecting  rod  O  being  then  in  line  with 
the  crank,  any  force  given  to  it.  being  necessarily  exerted  in 
the  direction  of  its  length,  would  only  produce  a  pressure  or 
strain  on  the  crank-pin  without  the  least  tendency  to  turn 
the  crank  round  the  axis  of  the  Ay-wheel.  In  these  posi- 
tions the  machine  is  therefore  placed  in  a  dilemna,  in  which 
the  moving  power  ceases  to  have  any  influence  on  the  ob- 
ject it  is  intended  to  move. 

The  machine  is  extricated  from  this  dilemna  by  the  in- 
ertia of  the  fly-wheel;  that  wheel  being  a  large  mass  of 
matter,  having  once  received  a  certain  velocity  of  rotation 
on  its  axis,  has  a  tendency  to  retain  such  motion,  and  will, 
in  tact,  retain  it  until  it  has  been  deprived  of  it  by  the  con 
tinned  resistance  of  friction  and  the  air.  When,  therefore, 
the  crank  arrives  at  either  of  the  positions  above  mentioned 
and  the  moving  power  ceases  to  be  effective,  the  inertia  of 
the  fly-wheel  causes  it  to  continue  its  motion, and  the  crank 
is  immediately  turned  out  of  the  extreme  position  it  lias  as 
sinned,  and  thrown   into  a  position  in  which  the  power  of 

the  piston  on  n  becomes  effective. 

Tie-  functions  of  the  fly-wheel  are,  however,  not  confined 
to  carrying  the  machine  thus  throiurh  the  dead  points  h\ 
'  l'v  of  the  force  it  has  received  from  the  piston  when 
the  crank  was  in  a  more  favourable  position;  it  likewise 
equalizes,  bj  tbesame  property,  the  unequal  effect  of  the 
crank ;  it  is  only  when  the  crank  forms  a  right  angle  with 
1170 


the  connecting  rod  that  it  is  fully  effective.  As  that  angle 
changes  its  leverage  changes,  until  at  length  the  leverage  is 
reduced  to  nothing  at  those  extreme  positions  just  mentioned. 

When   the  crank  is  in  and  near  the  position  in  which  it  is 

rectangular  to  the  connecting  rod,  its  action  is  Bhared  be- 
tween  the  By  wheel  and  the  machinery  driven  by  the  en- 
gine, a  part  being  engaged  in  accelerating  and  therefore  giv- 
ing  momentum  to  the  fly-wheel.    As  it  passes  towards  the 

dead  points  this  momentum  taken  up  by  the  flywheel  is 
given  back  to  the  crank  ill  aid  of  the.  moving  power,  at  those 
positions  Of  the  crank  where  the  effect  of  the  moving 
power  upon  it  becomes  enfeebled.  In  this  manner  the  fly- 
uheel  iii  the  steam-engine  becomes  a  perfect  equalizer  of 
the  mechanical  action  of  the  machine. 

Although  the  system  of  rods  called  the  parallel  morjoii 
appears  in  the  figure  to  consist  only  of  one  parallelogram 
b  d  g  f,  and  one  rod  c  d,  it  is  in  fact  double,  a  similar  paral- 
lelogram and  radius  rod  attached  to  corresponding  points, 
and  acting  in  the  same  manner  on  the  other  side  of  the 
beam  ;  but  from  the  view  given  in  the  cut,  the  one  set  of 
rods  hides  the  other.  The  two  systems  of  rods  thus  at- 
tached to  the  beam  are  connected  by  cross  rods,  the  ends  of 
which  form  the  pivots  or  joints,  and  extend  between  the 
parallelograms.  The  ends  of  these  cross  rods  only  are  visi- 
ble in  the  figure.  It  is  to  the  middle  of  one  of  these  rods, 
the  end  of  which  is  represented  at  e,  that  the  air-pump  pis- 
ton is  attached  ;  and  it  is  to  the  middle  of  another,  the  end 
of  which  is  represented  atg,  that  the  steam  piston  rod  is  at- 
tached. These  two  piston  rods,  therefore,  are  driven  not  by 
either  of  the  parallelograms,  but  by  the  bars  extending  be- 
tween them. 

To  the  working  end  II  of  the  beam  is  attached  the  con- 
necting rod  O,  formed  of  cast  iron,  the  lower  end  of  which 
is  attached  to  the  crank  G  by  a  pivot.  The  weight  of  the 
connecting  rod  is  made  to  balance  the  weight  of  the  piston 
rods  of  the  air-pump  and  cylinder,  and  the  weight  of  the 
piston  rod  N  of  the  cold  water  pump,  balances  the  weight 
of  the  piston  rod  L,  of  the  hot  water  pump.  Thus,  so  far  as 
the  weight  of  the  moveable  parts  of  the  machine  is  concerned, 
the  engine  is  in  equilibrium,  and  the  piston  would  rest  In- 
differently in  any  position  in  the  cylinder. 

The  axis  of  the  fly-wheel  on  which  the  crank  is  formed  is 
square  in  the  middle,  where  the  wheel  is  attached  to  it; 
but  has  cylindrical  necks  at  each  end,  which  rest  in  bear- 
ings supported  by  the  framing  of  the  machine,  in  which 
bearings  the  axis  revolves  freely.  On  the  axis  of  the  crank 
is  placed  the  fly-wheel,  and  connected  with  its  axle  is  the 
governor  Ci  already  described. 

The  manner  in  which  the  crank  affects  the  connecting 
rod  at  the  dead  points  already  mentioned  produces  an  effect 
of  great  importance  in  the  operation  of  the  engine.  When 
the  crank  approaches  the  low'est  point  of  its  play,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  piston  is  approaching  the  top  of  the 
cylinder,  the  motion  of  the  crank  pin  becomes  nearly  hori- 
zontal, and,  consequently,  its  effect  in  drawing  the  con- 
necting rod  and  the  end  of  the  beam  downwards,  and  the 
piston  upwards,  is  extremely  small.  The  consequence  of 
this  is,  that  as  the  piston  reaches  the  top  of  the  cylinder  its 
motion  becomes  very  rapidly  retarded  ;  and  as  the  motion 
of  the  crank  pin  at  its  lowest  point  is  actually  horizontal, 
the  piston  is  brought  to  a  state  of  rest  by  this  gradually  re- 
tarded motion.  A  similar  effect  is  produced  at  the  Other 
dead  point.  This  suspension  of  motion  at  each  end  of  the 
stroke  affords  time  for  the  process  of  condensation  to  be 
effected,  so  that  when  the  moving  power  of  the  steam  upon 
the  piston  can  come  into  action,  the  condensation  shall  be 
sufficiently  complete.  As  the  piston  approaches  the  top  of 
the  cylinder,  and  its  motion  becomes  slow,  the  working  gear 
is  made  to  open  the  lower  exhausting  valve;  the  steam  en- 
closed in  the  cylinder  below  the  piston,  and  which  has  just 
driven    the  piston   upwards,  presses  usually  with  a   force  of 

about  17  lbs.  per  square  inch,  while  the  uncondensed  va- 
pour resists  with  a  force  of  about  2  lbs.  per  square  inch. 
The  steam  will  therefore  have  a  tendency  to  rush  from  the 
cylinder  to  the  condenser  through  the  open  exhausting 
valve,  with  an  excess  of  pressure  amounting  to  15  lbs.  per 
square  inch,  while  the  piston  paus,.s  at  the  top  of  the  cylin- 
der. This  process  pir-  on  ;  and  when  the  piston  has  been 
made  to  descend  by  the  motion  of  the  fly-wheel  a  sufficient 
distance  from  the  top  of  the  cylinder  to  call  the  moving 
force  of  the  steam  into  action,  the  exhaustion  will  be  com- 
plete, ami  the  pressure  of  tin-  uncondensed  vapour  in  the 

cylinder  will  bee e  the  same  as  in  the  condenser.    The 

pressure  of  the  steam,  and  of  the  uncondensed  vapour,  varies 
within  certain  limits,  and  therefore  the  amount  here  assign- 
ed to  them  must  be  taken  merely  as  an  example. 

The  size  of  the  exhausting  valves  should  be  such  as  to 
cause  the  condensation  to  be  completed  when  the  steam  im- 
pelling the  piston  is  called  into  action.  It  is  usual  to  make 
these  Valves  With  a  diameter  equal  to  a  fifth  of  that  of  the 
cylinder,  and  the  steam  valves  are  generally  made  of  the 
same  magnitude. 


STEAM  ENGINE. 


The  great  lever  or  working  beam  was  so  called  from  being 
originally  made  of  oak.  It  is  now,  however,  universally 
constructed  of  cast  iron.  '  r 

The  mechanism  by  which  the  four  valves  V,  V,  E,  E , 
are  opened  and  closed,  is  subject  to  great  varieties.  Some- 
times thev  are  opened  alternately  in  pairs  by  two  distinct 
levers,  and  driven  by  two  pieces  attached  to  the  air-pump 
rod  ;  but  more  generally  the  admission  of  steam  to  the  cylin- 
der is  regulated  by  a  single  moveable  piece,  called  a  slide. 

Slides  are  very  various  in  their  form  and  arrangement ; 
but  that  which  has  come  into  most  general  use  is  one  which 
is  called  from  the  form  of  its  cross  section  the  D  valve. 
This  slide  is  represented  in  vertical  section  in  tigs.  2  and  3. 

(2.) 


The  rod  E,  by  which  the  slide  is  moved,  passes  through 
a  stuffing  box  F.  The  moveable  piece  or  slide  G  is  repre- 
sented by  a  vertical  section  a,  being  a  hollow  passage 
through  it  extending  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  ;  S  is  the 
mouth  of  the  great  steam  pipe  coming  from  the  boiler;  P  is 
the  pipe  leading  to  the  condenser ;  T  II  is  a  hollow  space 
formed  within  the  slide,  always  in  communication  with  the 
steam  pipe  S,  and,  consequently,  always  filled  with  steam 
from  the  boiler.  A  transverse  section  of  the  slide  and  cylin- 
der is  represented  in  fig.  4,  where  a  represents  the  top  of  the 
passage  marked  a  in  tig.  2. 
In  the  position  of  the  slide  represented  in  fig.  2,  the  steam 
filling  the  space  T  H  has  access  to  the 
top  of  the  cylinder,  but  is  excluded  from 
the  bottom.  The  steam  which  was  be- 
low the  piston,  passing  up  the  passage  a, 
escapes  through  the  tube  P  to  the  con- 
denser. When  the  piston  has  descended 
the  rod  E  moves  the  slide  downwards, 
and  throws  it  into  the  position  represent- 
ed in  fig.  3.  The  steam  in  T  H  has  now 
access  to  the  bottom  of  the  cylinder; 
while  the  steam  above  the  piston,  pass- 
ing through  P,  escapes  to  the  condenser. 
In  this  way  the  operation  of  the  piston  is 
continued,  and  the  steam  consumed  at 
each  stroke  only  exceeds  the  capacity  of  the  cylinder  by 
what  is  necessary  to  fill  the  passages  between  the  slide  and 
the  cylinder.  The  steam  filling  the  space  TH  has  a  ten- 
dency to  press  the  slide  back,  so  as  to  break  the  contact  of 
the  rubbing  surfaces,  and  thereby  to  cause  the  steam  to 
leak  from  the  space  T  H  to  the  back  of  the  slide ;  this  is 
counteracted  by  the  packing  x  at  the  back  of  the  slide. 

In  engines  of  very  long  stroke,  the  extent  of  the  rubbing 
surface  of  slides  of  this  kind  renders  it  difficult  to  keep  them 
in  steam-tight  contact,  and  to  insure  their  uniform  wear. 
In  such  cases,  therefore,  separate  slides  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple are  provided  at  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  cylinder, 
moved,  however,  by  a  single  rod  of  communication. 

A  great  variety  of  slides  and  cocks  for  regulating  the  ad- 
mission of  steam  to  the  cylinder  may  be  seen  described  in 
Dr.  Lardner's  work  on  the  Steam  Engine,  p.  227-242. 

The  method  of  working  the  valves  by  pins  attached  to 
the  air-pump  rod  already  described,  has  been,  except  in  the 
case  of  engines  of  great  magnitude  and  power,  superseded 
by  a  contrivance  called  an  eccentric,  by  means  of  which 
the  slides  or  valves  receive  motion  from  the  axle  of  the  fly- 
wheel. 

An  eccentric  is  a  metallic  circle  attached  to  the  axle  of 
the  fly-wheel,  so  that  its  centre  shall  not  coincide  with  the 
centre  round  which  the  axle  revolves.  Let  us  suppose  that 
G  (fig.  5)  is  a  square  revolving  shaft;  let  BD  be  a  circular 
plate  of  metal,  having  a  square  hole  cut  in  it  through  which 
the  revolving  shaft  G  passes ;  and  let  C  be  the  centre  of  this 
circular  plate.  By  the  revolution  of  the  shaft  this  centre  C 
will  be  carried  round  it  in  a  circle,  the  radius  of  which  will 
beCG. 


Let  E  F  be  a  metallic  ring  formed  of  two  semicircles  of 
metal  screwed  together  at  H,  so  as  to  be  capable  by  the  ad- 
justment of  the  screws  of  having  the  circular  aperture  form- 
ed by  the  ring  enlarged  or  diminished  within  certain  small 
limits  ;  let  this  circular  aperture  be  equal  to  the  magnitude 
of  the  eccentric  B  D,  and  to  the  circular  ring  E  F  let  an  arm 
L  M  be  attached.  If  the  ring  be  placed  round  the  eccentric, 
and  the  screws  H  be  so  adjusted  as  to  allow  the  eccentric  to 
revolve  within  the  ring,  then,  while  the  eccentric  revolves, 
the  ring  not  partaking  of  its  revolution,  the  arm  L  M  will  be 
alternately  driven  right  and  left  by  the  motion  of  the  centre 
C  as  it  revolves  round  G.  When  the  centre  C  of  the  ec- 
centric is  in  the  same  horizontal  line,  and  to  the  left  of  it, 
then  the  position  of  L  M  will  be  that  which  is  represented 
in  fig.  5.  But  after  half  a  revolution  of  the  main  axle  the 
centre  C  will  be  thrown  to  the  right  of  G,  and  the  point  M 
will  be  moved  to  the  right  to  a  distance  from  its  former  po- 
sition equal  to  twice  C  G.  Thus,  as  the  eccentric  revolves, 
the  ring,  together  with  the  arm  L  M,  will  be  alternately 
driven  right  and  left,  through  a  space  equal  to  twice  the 
distance  between  the  centre  of  the  eccentric  and  the  centre 
of  the  revolving  shaft. 

If  we  suppose  a  notch  formed  at  the  extremity  of  the  arm 
L  M,  capable  of  embracing  a  lever  N  M  moveable  on  a  pivot 
at  N,  the  motion  of  the  eccentric  would  give  to  such  a  lever 
an  alternate  motion  from  right  to  left,  and  vice  versa.  If 
we  suppose  another  lever  N  O  connected  with  N  M,  and  at 
right  angles  to  it,  forming  what  is  called  a  bell  crank,  then 
the  alternate  motion  of  M  from  right  to  left  will  impart  a 
corresponding  motion  upwards  and  downwards  to  the  end 
O  of  the  lever  N  O.  If  this  last  point  O  were  attached  to 
the  vertical  rod  of  the  slide,  it  would  move  the  slide  up- 
wards and  downwards.  The  extent  of  this  motion  might 
lie  regulated  at  pleasure  by  varying  the  length  of  the  arms 
of  the  levers,  and  the  moment  at  which  it  would  commence 
to  move  in  either  direction  would  be  determined  by  the  po- 
sition of  the  eccentric  on  the  fly-wheel  shaft. 

Expansive  Engine. — As  the  operation  of  the  steam  en- 
gine has  been  explained,  the  power  which  moves  the  piston  is 
the  immediate  force  with  which  vapour  is  produced  in  the 
boiler.  Each  quantity  of  water  which  is  successively  evap- 
orated obtains  the  space  requisite  for  it  in  the  form  of  steam, 
by  pressing  towards  the  cylinder  an  equal  quantity  of  steam 
previously  contained  in  the  boiler;  and  it  is  the  force  with 
which  the  steam  is  thus  pressed  forward  that  impels  the 
piston.  But  it  has  been  shown  (see  Steam)  that  great  ad- 
ditional mechanical  power  will  be  obtained  from  the  steam, 
if,  besides  this  moving  power  which  results  from  immediate 
evaporation,  the  expansive  power  of  the  steam  separated 
from  the  water  be  used.  This  is  accomplished  by  closing 
the  valve  through  which  steam  flows  from  the  boiler  to  the 
cylinder  before  the  piston  has  completed  its  stroke.  Thus, 
let  us  suppose  that  when  the  piston  has  advanced  through 
half  its  stroke  the  steam  valve  be  closed,  the  steam  which 
is  then  acting  upon  the  piston  will  still  urge  it  forward ;  but 
as  the  piston  advances,  this  steam,  assuming  a  proportion- 
ally augmented  volume,  will  acquire  a  gradually  diminish- 
ed pressure,  so  that  through  the  remaining  half  of  the  stroke 
the  piston  will  be  urged  by  a  pressure  progressively  de- 
creasing, and  at  the  termination  of  the  stroke  it  will  be  a 
little  less  than  half  the  force  with  which  the  piston  was 
impelled  while  the  steam  valve  was  open. 

Since  the  force  of  the  steam,  from  the  moment  the  steam 
valve  is  closed,  is  thus  continually  diminished,  its  moving 
power  might  be  so  much  attenuated  that  it  would  be  inca- 
pable of  overcoming  the  resistance  so  as  to  complete  the 
stroke  ;  this  would  happen  if  the  steam  were  cut  off  when 
only  a  small  fraction  of  the  stroke  has  been  made,  unless 
the  pressure  of  the  steam  while  the  valve  is  open  exceeds 
the  resistance  in  a  proportionate  degree.  It  is  for  this  reason 
that  the  expansive  principle  cannot  be  brought  into  opera- 
tion to  any  considerable  extent  unless  steam  be  used  of  a 
greater  pressure  than  is  commonly  adopted  in  low-pressure 
engines.  It  is  also  apparent  that  with  an  equal  volume  of 
cylinder  greater  length  of  stroke  should  be  given  when  the 
expansive  principle  is  used. 

1171 


STEAM  ENGINE. 


The  mechanism  by  which  the  expansive  principle  is 
brought  into  practical  operation  consists  merely  In  the  adap- 
tation of  valves  01  slides  w  bich  shall  stop  the  admission  of 
sir  mi  when  the  required  fraction  of  the  stroke  has  been 
made  by  the  piston,  but  which  shall  leave  the  communica- 
tion with  the  condenser  open  till  the  stroke  is  completed 

[f  separate  valves  be  used,  this  is  accomplished  by  adapting 

the  pins  or  other  mechanism  by  which  they  are  worked  to 
open  and  close  them,  independently  of  each  other,  at  the 
proper  times.    It  slides  be  used,  it  is  effected  by  regulating 

the  form  and  a|>eruire  of  the  slide,  so  as  to  cover  and  un- 
cover the  passages  to  the  cylinder  at  the  proper  times. 
Bach  species  of  valve,  and  each  form  of  slide  or  cock,  has 
its  own  peculiar  provisions  for  accomplishing  this,  the  de- 
tails of  which  may  be  seen  by  a  reference  to  Lardncr  on 
the  Steam  Engine,  p.  *.':t-J,  et  seq. 

Single-acting  Steam  Engine. — When  the  steam  engine  is 
applied  to  the  purpose  of  pumping  water,  which  in  the  first 
periods  Of  its  invention  was  its  only  practical  application; 
the  force  which  it  exerts  is  only  required  in  raising  the 
pump  rods  with  their  load  of  water,  their  own  weight  being 
more  than  sufficient  for  their  descent.  As  the  pump  rods 
are  attached  to  the  working  end  H  (tig.  1)  of  the  beam,  the 
force  of  the  steam  is  only  required  to  draw  up  that  end,  and, 
therefore,  to  draw  down  the  end  at  which  the  steam  piston 
is  attached  :  the  steam,  therefore,  being  only  required  to 
press  the  piston  downwards,  it  is  not  admitted  from  the 
boiler  below  it,  as  in  the  engine  already  described,  which 
for  distinction  is  called  the  double-acting  engine.  During 
the  down  stroke  of  the  single-acting  engine  the  performance 
of  the  machine  is  precisely  similar  to  that  already  descri- 
bed ;  steam  is  admitted  through  the  upper  steam  valve 
above  the  piston,  while  the  space  in  the  cylinder  below  the 
piston  is  kept  in  free  communication  with  the  condenser  by 
keeping  the  lower  exhausting  valve  open.  The  operation, 
therefore,  of  the  upper  steam  valve,  and  the  lower  exhaust- 
ing valve,  is  precisely  the  same  as  in  the  double-acting  en- 
gine. \\  hen  the  piston  has  reached  the  bottom  of  the  cyl- 
inder, the  two  former  valves  being  closed,  a  valve  called 
the  equilibrium  valve  is  opened,  by  which  a  free  commu- 
nication is  made  between  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  cylin- 
der :  by  this  means  the  steam  which  fills  the  upper  part  of 
the  cylinder,  being  allowed  to  flow  equally  to  the  lower 
part,  will  press  with  the  same  force  on  both  sides  of  the 
piston,  and  will,  therefore,  have  no  tendency  whatever  to 
move  it.  Under  these  circumstances,  the  preponderating 
weight  of  the  pump  rods  suspended  from  the  other  end  of 
the  beam  will  draw  the  piston  to  the  top  of  the  cylinder; 
while  it  is  ascending  the  steam  which  was  above  will  pass 
through  the  equilibrium  valve  below  it,  and  when  the  pis- 
ton has  reached  the  top  of  the  cylinder,  the  cylinder  under 
the  piston  will  be  tilled  with  the  same  Steam  which  previ- 
ously had  driven  the  piston  down.  In  order  to  accomplish 
the  next  down  stroke,  the  equilibrium  valve  is  closed,  and 
the  upper  steam  valve  and  lower  exhausting  valve  are 
opened  ;  the  steam  pressure  acts  above  the  piston,  and  a 
vacuum  is  produced  below  it,  and  the  piston  descends  as 
before. 

Single-acting  engines  are  frequently  worked  with  expan- 
sion. In  the  application  of  this  principle  to  them  the  upper 
steam  valve  is  closed  before  the  lower  exhausting  valve; 
but  both  these  valves  are  open  together.  The  mechanism 
for  working  the  expansion  valves  does  not  materially  differ 
in  its  principle  from  that  already  described  in  the  double- 
acting  engine. 

The  great  theatre  of  the  operation  of  single-acting  engines 
is  the  mining  districts,  and  especially  that  of  Cornwall.  The 
Cornish  pumping  engines  are  constructed  of  enormous  pow- 
er, and  carry  out  the  expansive  principle  to  a  great  extent. 
Engines  are  there  used  for  the  drainage  of  mines  with  cyl- 
inders from  7  to  8  feet  in  diameter, and  from  io  to  12  feet'in 

the  stroke.  Steam  having  a  pressure  of  from  '20  to  Hll  lbs. 
per  square  inch  and  upwards,  is  used  for  impelling  them, 
and  is  cut  on"  at  a  third  or  fourth  of  the  stroke.  A  system 
of  careful  inspection  has  been  for  some  years  established  by 
the  mining  companies  with  a  view  to  the  Improvement  of 
the  efficiency  or  the  engines,  and  monthly  reports  of  the 
performance  of  the  engines  have  been  regularly  printed. 
The  effect  of  this  has  been  to  stimulate  the  activitx  and 
skill  of  all  concerned  in  the  manufacture  and  working  of 
id  a  rapidly  progressive  Improvement  in 
them  has  taken  place.    The  efficiency  of  these  engines  is 

estimated  bj  the  n ber  of  pounds  weight  of  water  which 

capable  of  elevating  one  foot  high  bv  the  combos 

tionOfa  bushel  of  COals.     This   has   heen   termed   (he  ,hil» 

of  the  engine,  in  1769,  when  Mr.  Watt  first  directed  bis 
attention  to  the  steam  engine.  Bmeaton  computed  thai  the 
average  duly  of  the  engines  then  In  use  was  about  ;">.'.  mill- 
ions; from  that  time  to  the  year  1800,  a  period  of  "thirty 
years,  Mr.  Watt's  Improvements  in  the  steam-engine  were 
made,  and  the  duly  was  gradually  Increased  to  30  millions, 
or  very  nearly  quadrupled.    In  1813,  the  system  of  inspec- 


tion first  mentioned  was  commenced,  and  the  average  duty 
was  the  same  as  in  1800.  From  this  time  to  ]l*>C,  the  en- 
gines nnderwenl  a  progression  of  slow  but  steady  improve- 
ments, and  the  dut]  was  increased  to  30  millions.  This 
state  of  improvement  continued,  and  in  l-!8  the  average 
duty  had  risen  to  77  millions.  The  increase  since  that  time 
has'  been  Blower:  the  average  duty  for  the  last  few  years 

lias  been  ft 80  to  90  millions;  but  in  one  well-conducted 

experiment  it  was  found  that  by  the  combustion  of  a  bushel 
of  coals  an  amount  of  mechanical  power  was  produced 
which  raised  the  inconceivable  load  of  135  millions  of 
pounds  weight  one  foot  high.  Thus,  by  the  improvements 
of  Watt  and  their  immediate  consequences,  the  power  of 
the  steam  engine  was,  within  the  space  of  seventy  years, 
increased  about  "Jo  fold. 

Non-condensing  Steam  Enginet. — The  form  and  struc- 
ture of  non  condensing  engines  differ  in  nothing  from  that 
of  double-acting  condensing  engines  except  in  the  absence 
of  the  condensing  apparatus;  that  is  to  say  the  condenser, 
the  air  pump,  and  the  cold  water  and  hot  water  pumps. 
The  steam,  after  it  has  impelled  the  piston,  instead  of  being 
conducted  to  a  cold  vessel  to  be  condensed,  is  simply  allow- 
ed to  escape  into  the  atmosphere,  and  is  commonly  ejected 
into  the  chimney  of  the  furnace. 

The  operation  of  such  a  machine  is  extremely  simple. 
The  valves  by  which  the  steam  is  admitted  to,  and  allowed 
to  escape  from  the  cylinder,  are  exactly  similar  to  those  of 
the  double  acting  engine.  In  the  down  stroke  of  the  piston, 
the  upper  steam  valve  being  open,  admits  steam  from  the 
boiler  above  the  piston,  and  the  lower  exhausting  valve 
allows  the  steam  below  it  to  escape  through  a  tube  which 
leads  to  the  chimney,  up  xvhich  it  rushes.  In  the  up  sttoke, 
the  lower  steam  valve  being  open  admits  steam  from  the 
boiler  below  the  piston,  and  the  upper  exhausting  valve 
being  open  allows  the  steam  above  the  piston  to  escape  to 
the  chimney. 

It  is  evident,  in  such  a  machine,  that  the  piston  is  always 
resisted  by  the  pressure  of  the  steam  escaping  to  the  chim- 
ney. As  such  escape  cannot  be  effected  except  by  steam 
of  greater  pressure  than  that  of  the  atmosphere,  it  follows 
that  the  piston  is  always  resisted  by  a  force  somewhat 
greater  than  die  atmospheric  pressure.  The  steam  xvhich 
urges  the  piston  is,  therefore,  only  effective  by  the  excess 
of  its  pressure  above  that  of  the  escaping  vapour,  which 
may  he  taken  at  about  lb'  lbs.  per  inch,  but  winch  varies  in 
different  engines. 

As  the  steam  used  in  non-condensing  engines  must  of 
necessity  have  a  pressure  considerally  exceeding  that  of  the 
atmosphere,  such  machines  have  been  generally  called 
high-pressure  engines;  while  those  which  condense  the 
Steam  have  been,  on  the  other  hand,  called  low-pressure 
engines.  These  terms  are  not,  however,  correctly  expres- 
sive of  the  nature  of  these  engines  respectively.  Many  en- 
gines in  which  condensation  is  used,  especially  those  in 
which  the  expansive  principle  is  applied  x\iih  much  effect, 
are  worked  with  steam  of  a  high  pressure,  not  {infrequently 
with  a  pressure  amounting  to  from  two  to  three  atmo- 
spheres. It  is,  therefore,  not  correct  to  call  such  machines 
low-pressure  engines.  It  is,  however,  true  that  engines 
worked  without  condensation  must,  of  necessity,  be  worked 
by  steam  of  a  pressure  which  is  generally  called  high  pres- 
sure. 

All  locomotixe  engines,  without  exception,  used  on  rail- 
ways or  common  roads,  are  high-pressure  non-condensing 
engines.  See  Locomotive  Engine,  and  Steam  Car- 
riage. 

High-pressure  non-condensing  engines  are  almost  univer- 
sally used  for  inland  navigation  in  the  United  States.  See 
Steam  Navigation. 

Rotaturii  Steam  Engine. — This  term  is  sometimes  applied 
to  the  double-acting  engine  working  a  crank  and  fly-wheel, 
as  distinguishing  it  from  the  single  acting  engine  used  for 
pumping.  But  it  is  more  properly  applied  to  an  engine  in 
w  bich  a  motion  of  rotation  is  produced  immediately  by  the 
action  of  the  steam,  without  the  Intervention  of  such  mech- 
anism as  the  working  beam,  crank,  and  fly-wheel.  This  is 
usually  effected  by  a  piston  which,  instead  of  moving  longi- 
tudinally In  the  cylinder,  revolves  within  the  cylinder  on 
an  axis  which  coincides  with  the  geometrical  a'xis  of  the 
Cylinder  itself.    The  mechanism  is  so  contrived  that  this 

piston  shall  revolve   in  steam-tight  contact  with  the  sides 

anil  ends  of  the  cylinder:  and  that  while  steam  from  the 

boiler  constantly  presses  it  on  one  side,  the  steam  on  the 
other  side  shall  eontinuall]  escape  to  the  condenser,  if  it  be 

a  condensing  engine,  or  to  the  chimney.  If  it  be  a  non-con- 
densing engin.-.  The  various  contrivances  for  rotatory  en- 
gines which  have  been  suggested  differ  one  from  the  other: 

only  in  the  mechanical  expedients  by  which  these  ends  are 

attained.    Such  machines  are  very  numerous  and  various: 

but  as  none  of  them  have  yet  been  found  to  be  attended 
with  Sufficient  practical  advantages  Io  force  them  Into  anv 
use  beyond  the  experimental  trials  of  their  inventors,  it  is 


STEAM  ENGINE. 


sufficient  here  to  have  indicated  the  general  principle  of 
their  structure. 

Atmospheric  Engine. — The  engine  so  called  was  the  first 
form  of  steam  engine  which  was  ever  brought  into  exten- 
sive and  durable  practical  application,  and  in  districts  where 
fuel  is  cheap  and  abundant  the  simplicity  of  its  structure 
still  keeps  it  in  partial  use.  Steam,  in  the  atmospheric  en- 
gine, is  only  used  as  an  agent  for  the  production  of  a  vacu- 
um, in  order  to  give  effect  to  the  atmospheric  pressure. 

The  atmospheric  engine,  which  is  only  applied  to  pump- 
ing, consists  of  a  cylinder  open  at  the  top,  having  a  piston 
which  moves  in  it  air-tight  and  steam-tight.  The  piston  is 
thus  maintained  by  being  lubricated  by  oil  or  melted  tallow 
poured  above  it.  Supposing  the  piston  to  be  at  the  bottom 
of  the  cylinder,  steam  is  admitted  from  the  boiler  by  a 
proper  valve.  This  steam,  having  a  pressure  not  much  ex- 
ceeding that  of  the  atmosphere,  will  balance  the  pressure 
of  the  atmosphere  above  the  piston,  and  will  be  sufficient, 
also,  to  overcome  the  friction  of  the  piston  with  the  cylin- 
der. Under  such  circumstances,  the  preponderating  weight 
of  the  pump-rod  at  the  other  end  of  the  beam  draws  the 
piston  to  the  top  of  the  cylinder,  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
piston  is  drawn  up  in  the  single-acting  steam  engine  already 
described.  The  piston  being  thus  suspended  at  the  top  of 
the  cylinder,  the  valve  admitting  steam  from  the  boiler  is 
closed,  and  another  valve  or  cock  is  opened  by  which  a  jet 
of  cold  water  is  thrown  into  the  cylinder.  This  immediate- 
ly condenses  the  steam,  and  leaves  a  vacuum  under  the 
piston.  The  atmospheric  pressure  above  it  consequently 
takes  effect,  and,  forcing  the  piston  to  the  bottom  of  the 
cylinder,  draws  the  pump-rods,  with  their  load  of  water,  up. 
When  the  piston  arrives  at  the  bottom  of  the  cylinder,  the 
cock  admitting  the  jet  of  cold  water  is  closed,  and  another 
is  opened,  by  which  the  warm  water  formed  by  the  mixture 
of  the  condensed  steam  with  the  cold  water  of  the  jet  is 
discharged  into  a  reservoir  from  which  the  boiler  of  the 
engine  is  fed.  The  steam  is  then  again  admitted  from  the 
boiler,  the  piston  ascends,  and  so  the  process  is  continued. 

The  cocks  or  valves  above  mentioned  are  opened  and 
closed  at  the  proper  times  by  means  of  a  rod  or  beam,  called 
the  plug  frame,  attached  to  the  working  beam,  which  is 
placed  and  which  moves  in  a  manner  similar  to  the  rod  of 
the  air-pump  in  the  steam  engines  already  described. 

History  of  the  Steam  Engine. — Various  attempts  at  the 
mechanical  application  of  steam  on  a  small  scale  were 
made  at  very  early  periods  in  the  history  of  mechanical 
science.  Hero  of  Alexandria  has  left  a  description  of  a 
small  machine,  in  which  a  motion  of  continued  rotation 
was  imparted  to  an  axis  by  the  reaction  of  steam  issuing 
from  lateral  orifices  in  arms  placed  at  right  angles  to  the 
revolving  axis.  The  date  of  this  invention  is  about  a  cen- 
tury before  the  birth  of  Christ.  Branca,  an  Italian  engineer, 
about  the  beginning  of  the  17th  century,  proposed  to  give 
motion  to  a  wheel  by  a  blast  of  steam  blown  against  its 
axis  ;  and  about  the  same  period  De  Caus,  a  French  en- 
gineer, described  a  machine  by  which  a  column  of  water 
might  be  raised  by  a  pressure  of  steam  confined  in  the  ves- 
sel above  the  water  to  be  elevated.  There  is  nothing, 
however,  in  the  descriptions  and  developments  which  these 
projectors  have  left,  to  demonstrate  that  they  were  ac- 
quainted with  those  physical  properties  of  elasticity  and 
condensation  (see  Steam)  on  which  all  the  power  of  steam, 
as  a  mechanical  agent,  depends.  In  the  middle  of  the  17th 
century,  or  somewhat  later,  the  celebrated  Marquis  of 
Worcester  published  in  his  work,  called  A  Century  of  In- 
ventions, a  description  of  a  steam  engine  to  be  worked  by 
steam  of  high  pressure,  which,  though  not  minute  and 
explicit  in  its  details,  is  still  such  as  it  is  difficult  to  con- 
ceive being  written  by  any  one  unacquainted  with  the 
elastic  force  of  steam.  (See  La.rd.ner  on  the  Steam  Engine, 
p.  23,  et  seq.)  Towards  the  close  of  that  century,  Papin,  a 
French  engineer,  who  was  employed  by  the  Landgrave  of 
Hesse,  in  Germany,  and  was  professor  of  mathematics  at 
Marbourg,  directed  his  attention  to  the  properties  of  steam, 
and  conceived  the  idea  of  obtaining  a  moving  power  by  in- 
troducing a  piston  into  a  cylinder  and  producing  a  vacuum 
under  it  by  the  sudden  condensation  of  steam  by  coal.  In 
fact,  he  conceived  the  notion  of  the  principle  of  the  atmo- 
spheric engine  ;  but  there  is  no  evidence  of  his  having 
carried  that  or  any  other  machine  into  practical  application, 
even  so  far  as  the  construction  of  a  model,  until  after 
machines  worked  by  steam  had  been  constructed  else- 
where. 

The  first  actual  working  steam  engine  of  which  there 
is  any  record  was  invented  and  constructed  by  Thomas 
Savery,  an  Englishman,  to  whom  a  patent  was  granted  for 
it  in  the  year  1698.  Savery  reproduced  the  method  of 
forming  a  vacuum  by  the  codensation  of  steam,  apparently 
without  being  aware  of  the  paper  written  by  Papin.  He 
combined  this  with  the  elastic  pressure  of  steam  as  applied 
by  Lord  Worcester,  and  constructed  an  engine,  which,  for 
a  time,  was  used  to  a  considerable  extent  for  raising  water. 


Papin's  steam  engine  consisted  of  a  strong  iron  vessel 
formed  in  the  shape  of  an  egg,  having  a  tube  or  pipe  at  the 
bottom,  which  descended  to  the  place  from  which  the 
water  was  to  be  drawn,  and  another  at  the  top,  which 
ascended  to  the  place  to  which  it  was  to  be  elevated.  This 
oval  vessel  was  filled  with  steam  supplied  from  a  boiler,  by 
which  the  atmospheric  air  by  which  it  was  previously  filled 
was  first  blown  out  of  it.  When  the  atmospheric  air  was 
thus  expelled,  and  nothing  but  pure  steam  was  left  in  the 
vessel,  the  communication  with  the  boiler  was  cut  off  and 
cold  water  was  poured  on  the  external  surface  of  the  ves- 
sel. The  steam  within  it  was  thus  condensed  and  a 
vacuum  produced,  and  the  water  was  drawn  up  from  below 
in  the  usual  way  by  suction.  The  oval  steam  vessel  was 
thus  filled  with  water ;  a  cock  at  the  top  of  the  lower  pipe 
was  then  closed,  and  steam  was  introduced  from  the  boiler 
into  the  oval  vessel  above  the  surface  of  the  water.  This 
steam  being  of  high  pressure,  forced  the  water  up  the 
ascending  tube,  from  the  top  of  which  it  was  discharged  ; 
and  the  oval  vessel  being  thus  again  filled  with  steam,  the 
vacuum  was  again  produced  by  condensation,  and  the  same 
process  was  repeated  by  using  two  oval  steam  vessels 
which  would  act  alternately  ;  one  drawing  water  from 
below,  while  the  other  was  forcing  it  upwards,  an  uninter- 
rupted discharge  of  water  was  produced. 

Owing  to  the  danger  of  explosion,  from  the  high  pressure 
of  the  steam  which  was  used,  and  from  the  enormous 
waste  of  heat  by  unnecessary  condensation,  these  engines 
soon  fell  into  disuse. 

The  demand  for  a  moving  power  for  the  drainage  of  the 
mines  less  expensive  and  more  efficacious  than  that  of 
horses,  which  was  then  generally  used,  became  at  this  time 
pressing,  and  probably  led  to  the  invention  of  the  atmo- 
spheric engine  already  described.  This  machine  was  in- 
vented by  Newcomen,  a  blacksmith,  and  Cawley,  a  glazier, 
at  Dartmouth,  in  Devonshire.  In  the  first  engine  con- 
structed by  them  the  condensation  was  effected  by  the 
affusion  of  cold  water  upon  the  external  surface  of  the  cy- 
linder, which  was  introduced  into  a  hollow  casing  by 
which  it  was  surrounded :  the  discovery  of  condensation  by 
jet  within  the  cylinder,  one  of  the  most  important  steps  in 
the  improvement  of  the  steam  engine,  was  accidental.  It 
happened  that  a  small  hole  occurred  in  the  bottom  of  the 
cylinder  of  an  engine,  by  which  the  water  let  in  to  cool  its 
external  surface  oozed  in,  forming  a  little  jet.  The  effect 
was  a  much  more  rapid  and  perfect  condensation  than  ever 
was  or  could  be  effected  by  external  cold.  Thenceforward, 
the  method  of  condensation  by  jet  was  adopted,  and  has 
ever  since  been  used. 

In  the  early  atmospheric  engines,  the  cocks  by  which  the 
steam  was  admitted  and  condensed,  and  by  which  the  in- 
jected water  and  condensed  steam  were  drawn  off,  were 
worked  by  hand  ;  and  as  the  labour  was  light  and  monoto- 
nous, and  required  no  skill,  boys  were  employed  for  the 
purpose,  called  cock  boys.  It  happened  that  a  cock  boy, 
by  name  Potter,  having  an  itch  for  play,  and  endowed  with 
more  ingenuity  than  industry,  imagined  that  by  tying  strings 
to  the  cocks,  and  connecting  them  with  the  working  beam 
above  the  cylinder,  regulating  the  action  by  carrying  them 
under  or  over  certain  pipes,  he  could  make  the  beam,  as  it 
ascended  and  descended,  open  and  close  the  cocks  more 
regularly  and  effectually  than  he  found  himself  able  to  do. 
This  he  accordingly  accomplished,  and  was  habitually 
absent  from  the  engine-house,  enjoying  himself  with  his 
playfellows,  when  his  employers  were  giving  him  credit  for 
most  extraordinary  industry  and  regularity  in  the  discharge 
of  his  duties.  The  engine,  in  fact,  by  this  expedient,  nearly 
tripled  its  efficacy.  Thus,  by  the  ingenuity  of  a  child,  the 
steam  engine  was  first  endowed  with  those  qualities  of  an 
automaton  which  have  ever  since  rendered  it  an  object  of 
admiration  and  interest.  The  atmospheric  engine,  thus 
improved,  held  its  place  as  the  great  instrument  for  the 
drainage  of  mines  until  the  epoch  which  was  rendered 
memorable  by  the  inventions  and  discoveries  of  the  immor- 
tal Watt. 

Watt  was  a  mathematical  instrument  maker  in  Glasgow ; 
and,  being  employed  by  the  university  of  that  place,  it 
chanced,  about  the  year  1763,  that  the  model  of  an  atmo- 
spheric engine  used  at  the  lectures  of  the  professor  of 
natural  philosophy  required  some  repairs,  to  make  which 
it  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Watt.  In  the  experiments 
which  it  became  his  duty  to  make  with  this  model,  he  was 
struck  with  the  fact  that  the  quantity  of  steam  it  consumed 
for  each  stroke  of  the  piston  was  many  times  more  than 
the  contents  of  the  cylinder.  The  large  quantity  of  water 
necessary  to  be  injected  in  order  to  complete  the  condensa- 
tion also  excited  his  surprise.  This  led  him  to  make  ex- 
periments, by  which  he  soon  arrived  at  the  discovery  of 
some  of  the  most  important  phenomena  connected  with  the 
evaporation  of  water.  He  made  a  near  approximation  to 
the  proportion  of  the  volume  of  steam  to  that  of  water, 
lie  ascertained  with  great  precision  the  latent  heat  of  steam, 

1173 


STEAM  GUN. 

and  consequently  determined  the  quantity  of  water  neces- 
sary to  condense  any  given  quantity  of  g team.  Filled  with 
astonishment  at  these  results,  and  more  particularly  at  the 
nature  of  latent  heat,  and  at  the  great  amount  of  the  latent 
beat  of  steam,  he  repaired  to  Dr.  Black,  then  professor  of 
natural  philosophy  in  the  university,  and  communicated  to 
him  the  result  of  his  discoveries.  He  then,  for  the  first 
time,  learned  Black's  celebrated  theory  of  latent  heat,  and 
found  that  he  had  himself  thus  accidentally  discovered 
one  of  the  most  striking  facts  on  which  that  theory  rested. 

Considering  the  atmospheric  engine  in  an  economical 
point  of  view,  Watt  was  forcibly  impressed  with  the  waste 
of  expense  which  appeared  to  arise  in  the  unnecessary  con- 
sumption of  steam  involved  in  its  operation.  In  the  theory 
of  that  engine,  one  cv -Underfill  of  steam  ought  to  he  sutli- 
cient  for  each  stroke  of  the  piston.  Watt,  on  the  other 
hand,  found  that  the  actual  consumption  was  at  the  rate 
of  four  or  live  cylinderfuls  per  stroke.  On  examination,  he 
discovered  the  source  of  this  waste  to  arise  from  the  neces- 
sity, in  order  to  make  the  piston  ascend,  not  only  to  con- 
dense the  steam,  hut  to  cool  the  whole  mass  of  the  cylinder 
down  to  100°;  and,  to  make  the  piston  descend,  it  was  ne- 
cessary not  only  to  till  the  cylinder  with  steam,  but  to  raise 
the  temperature  of  the  cylinder  and  piston  from  100°  to  212°. 
He  soon  perceived  that  this  enormous  waste  of  fuel  was 
the  inevitable  consequence  of  condensing  the  steam  in  the 
cylinder. 

Reflection  on  these  circumstances  happily  led  him  to  the 
idea  of  condensing  the  steam  in  a  separate  vessel,  which 
should  be  kept  immersed  in  a  cistern  of  cold  water,  and 
in  which  a  jet  of  cold  water  might  be  kept  constantly  play- 
ing, with  the  addition  of  a  pump  to  draw  off  the  injected 
water  and  condensed  steam  from  such  vessel.  In  fact,  all 
the  details  of  the  steam  engine  as  already  described  were 
soon  carried  into  practical  effect,  and  engines  constructed 
according  to  these  principles. 

At  the  time  of  this  invention  the  steam  engine  had  never 
been  used,  except  for  the  purpose  of  raising  water.  It 
became  a  substitute  for  horse  power  in  working  pumps. 
Although  Watt  perceived,  in  the  first  instance,  the  ease 
Willi  which  it  might  be  adapted  as  a  general  moving  power, 
his  first  efforts  were  to  get  it  adopted  in  the  mining  districts 
for  drainage.  His  first  engines  were,  accordingly,  the  single- 
acting  engine  above  described  ;  and  it  was  not  until  about 
the  year  1784  that  he  took  a  patent  for  the  double  acting 
engine,  which  is  adapted  to  give  a  motion  of  rotation  to  a 
shaft,  and  therefore  capable  of  giving  motion  to  every  kind 
of  mill  work. 

Notwithstanding  the  manifest  advantages  attending  these 
improvements  of  Watt,  the  mining  and  manufacturing 
interests  were  slow  and  reluctant  in  their  adoption  of  them ; 
and,  at  the  end  of  twenty  years  from  the  date  of  his  first 
improvement,  Watt  and  his  partners  found  that  the  manu- 
facture of  the  steam  engine  had  not  only  not  been  a  source 
of  commercial  profit,  but  had  entailed  upon  them  a  loss  of 
capita]  to  the  amount  of  about  £50,000.  An  application 
was  made  to  parliament,  on  this  ground,  for  an  extension 
Of  the  patent,  which  was,  after  much  opposition,  granted 
till  the  vear  1800.  Various  improvements  in  the  more 
minute  details  of  the  machinery  of  the  engine  succeeded 
this;  and  Watt  lived  to  reap  an  ample  reward  for  his  in- 
genuity and  perseverance,  and  to  be  acknowledged  as  one 
of  the  greatest  benefactors  of  the  human  race. 

The  engine,  as  applied  to  drainage  and  to  manufactures, 
lias  received  no  important  Improvement  in  its  principle  since 
it  was  dismissed  from  the  hands  of  Watt.  Those  principles 
which  he  suggested  and  applied  have  been  carried  out  to 
their  fullest  extent,  and  the  efficiency  of  the  engine  has 
been  proportionally  increased.  The  engine  has  been  suc- 
cessfully adapted  to  navigation.  For  an  account  of  appli- 
cation to  that  purpose,  see  Steam  Navigation. 

For  the  details  of  the  form  and  construction  of  the  boilers 
by  which  steam  is  generated,  and  from  which  it  is  supplied 
to  the  different  kinds  of  engines,  see  Steam  Boiler. 

For  further  and  more  minute  details  respecting  the 
structure  and  operation  of  steam  engines  of  every  variety 
of  form,  and  respecting  the  history  of  the  invention  and 
progressive  improvement  of  the  steam  engine,  see  I.unlmr 

on  tin  Steam  Engine,  7th  edition,  London,  1840. 

STEAM  GUN.  A  contrivance  by  which  balls,  or  other 
projectiles  used  in  warlike  operations,  may  be  projected  by 
the  expansivi  force  of  steam. 

This  Invention,  which  is  due  to  Mr.  Jacob  Perkins,  an 
American  mechanician,  so  well  known  for  various  ingenious 

and  useful  contrivances  in  the  mechanical  arts,  having  been 
first  brought  forward  since  the  general  peace  which  suc- 
ceeded the  battle  of  Waterloo,  has  never  been  submitted  to 
the  test  Of  actual  experience  either  in  military  or  naval 
on  rations,  .- . r i . J  consequently  has  not  received  the  benefit 
oi  that  stimulus  to  improvement  which  is  always  so  neces 

io  bring  mechanical  contrivances  of  a  novel  kind  to 
perfection,  and  which  can  only  be  derived  from  their  prac- 
1174 


STEAM  NAVIGATION. 

tical  application  on  a  large  scale.  Of  the  probable  or  possi- 
ble utilitv  of  the  Steam  gun  nothing,  therefore,  can  be 
inferred  from  that  safest  source  of  information — experience  ; 
and  we  are  left  to  judge  of  it  by  the  general  properties  Of 
vapour,  and  by  the  experiments  on  a  small  scale  to  which 
it  has  been  submitted. 

If  a  stronu'  close  iron  vessel,  having  two  valves,  one 
opening  inwards  and  the  other  outwards,  the  latter  being 
loaded  with  some  definite  pressure,  be  completely  filled 
with  water,  such  a  vessel  may  be  heated  to  the  temperature 
corresponding  to  the  pressure  with  which  the  valve  is 
loaded  without  causing  any  portion  of  the  water  in  it  to  be 
convened  into  steam.  To  render  the  effect  more  easily 
understood,  let  us  suppose  that  the  valve  is  loaded  with  a 
pressure  of  fifty  atmospheres.  The  temperature  of  water 
evaporated  under  that  pressure  being  510°  (see  Steam),  the 
vessel  may  be  raised  to  any  temperature  not  exceeding 
500°,  without  having  any  of  the  water  contained  in  it  con- 
verted into  steam.  If  the  temperature  to  which  the  water 
is  raised  be  500°,  and  a  cubic  inch  of  water  at  common 
temperature  be  forced  into  the  vessel  through  the  valve 
which  opens  inwards,  water  being  sensibly  incompressible, 
a  cubic  inch  of  water  at  500°  will  be  forced  out  at  the  valve 
which  opens  outwards.  This  water  being  no  longer  sub- 
jected to  the  pressure  which  kept  it  in  the  liquid  state, 
will  suddenly  expand  and  flash  into  steam,  which  at  first 
will  have  a  pressure  of  45  atmospheres,  but  as  it  expands 
will  have  its  pressure  diminished  in  nearly  the  same  pro- 
portion as  the  volume  into  which  it  swells  shall  be  in- 
creased. Since,  however,  500°  is  not  sufficient  heat  to 
enable  the  whole  of  the  water  thus  ejected  to  pass  into 
steam  (see  Steam),  that  part  of  it  which  will  take  the 
vaporous  form  will  fake  the  requisite  amount  of  latent  heat 
from  the  sensible  heat  of  that  portion  which  remains  in 
the  liquid  state.  As  this  latter  portion  will  still  retain  a 
considerable  temperature,  it  may  be  conducted  to  a  vessel 
containing  the  feed  for  the  heated  vessel  just  mentioned, 
from  which  it  will  be  again  forced  into  that  vessel. 

Such  was  the  principle  of  Mr.  Perkins's  generators  ;  by 
which  term  he  denominated  those  close  vessels  in  which 
water  was  raised  to  a  high  temperature  without  being  con- 
verted into  steam. 

Now  if  the  valve  through  which  the  heated  water  is 
ejected  be  supposed  to  be  in  communication  with  the  barrel 
of  a  gun  or  piece  of  ordnance,  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
barrel  of  an  air  gun  is  in  communication  with  the  hollow 
metallic  ball  in  which  air  is  compressed,  a  ball  may  bo 
projected  by  the  expansive  force  of  the  water  ejected  from 
the  valve,  in  the  same  manner  exactly  as  the  ball  of  an  air 
gun  is  projected  by  the  expansive  force  of  the  compressed 
air. 

As  the  water  may  be  ejected  from  the  valve  either  in  a 
constant  stream  or  by  a  rapid  succession  of  jets,  the  balls 
may  be  discharged  from  the  barrel  as  rapidly  as  it  is  possi- 
ble for  them  to  be  brought  under  the  action  of  the  steam  ; 
and  since  the  heating  of  the  barrel  only  tends  to  increase 
the  elastic  force  of  the  steam,  there  appears  to  be  no  other 
practical  limit  to  the  action  of  snch  an  engine  of  offence 
except  that  which  may  be  imposed  on  the  heating  power 
applied  to  the  generator. 

Of  the  abstract  practicability  of  applying  steam  in  this 
manner  as  an  offensive  engine  there  can  be  no  doubt.  Both 
theory  and  experiment  conspire  to  establish  it ;  but  of  the 
comparative  efficacy,  convenience,  and  economy  of  it,  com- 
pared with  gunpowder,  many  doubts  will  present  themselves 
to  all  who  duly  reflect  on  the  circumstances  and  purposes 
of  war  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  phenomena  attending  the 
explosion  of  gunpowder  and  the  evaporation  of  water  on 
the  other.  Not  to  mention  any  other,  the  fact  that  the 
steam  gun  cannot  be  brought  into  action  until  the  generator 
has  been  raised  to  a  high  temperature  by  the  application 
of  an  adequate  furnace,  would  at  once  give  to  gunpowder 

an  advantage  over  steam  which  would  limit  the  application 
of  the  latter  to  a  very  few  cases  indeed,  such  as  those  of 
siege  and  other  protracted  military  operations.  In  naval 
warfare  it  might  possibly  be  more  frequently  available  ;  but 
even  in  that  case,  great  Improvements  in  the  details  of  its 
mechanism  should  be  made  before  its  use  could  be  at- 
tempted with  an]   reasonable  prospect  of  advantage. 

The  steam  gun  is  exhibited  on  a  small  scale  in  most  nie- 
chanical  museums  and  other  exhibitions  of  a  like  kind; 
and  such  will  probably  be  the  limit  of  its  use  for  a  long 
period  to  come. 

BTEAM  NAVIGATION.  The  art  of  applying  the 
power  of  steam  to  the  propulsion  of  boats  and  vessels  in 

general,  as  well  for  inland  communication  by  rivers  and 

lakes,  as  for  the  general  purposes  of  national  c uien-o 

on  the  seas  ami  i  ceana  by  which  the  various  parts  of  the 
globe  are  separated. 

The  mannei  in  which  the  steam  engine  is  rendered  an 
instrument  for  the  propulsion  of  vessels  must,  in  its  general 
features,  he  so  familiar  to  every  one  as  to  require  but  short 


STEAM  NAVIGATION. 


explanation.  A  shaft  is  carried  across  the  vessel,  being 
continued  on  eilher  side  beyond  the  timbers  ;  to  the  ex- 
tremities of  this  shaft  on  the  outside  of  the  vessel  are 
attached  a  pair  of  wheels,  constructed  like  under-shot 
water  wheels,  having  fixed  upon  their  rims  a  number  of  flat 
boards  called  paddle  boards.  As  the  wheels  revolve,  these 
paddle  boards  strike  the  water,  driving  it  in  a  direction  con- 
trary to  that  in  which  it  is  intended  the  vessel  shall  be  pro- 
pelled. The  moving  force  imparted  to  the  water  thus 
driven  backwards  by  reaction  on  the  vessel  propels  it.  On 
the  paddle  shaft  are  constructed  two  cranks  or  winches, 
placed  at  right  angles  one  to  the  other,  so  that  whenever 
one  of  them  is  thrown  into  the  highest  or  lowest  position 
the  other  is  horizontal.  These  cranks  are  worked  by  strong 
iron  rods  called  connecting  rods,  which  are  themselves 
either  driven  directly  by  the  pistons  of  two  steam  engines, 
or  are  worked  by  those  pistons  ;  thus  the  medium  of  work- 
ing becomes  similar  to  those  used  in  the  ordinary  land 
engines.  (See  Steam  Engine.)  The  two  cranks  being 
placed  at  right  angles,  it  follows  that  when  one  piston  is  at 
the  top  or  bottom  of  its  stroke,  and  the  crank  driven  by  it  in 
the  highest  or  lowest  position,  the  other  will  be  at  the 
middle  of  its  stroke,  and  the  crank  driven  by  it  will  be  in 
the  horizontal  position.  One  of  the  pistons  is  therefore 
always  in  a  position  to  produce  the  most  advantageous 
effect  on  the  crank  at  the  moment  that  the  other  piston 
loses  all  power  over  the  crank  driven  by  it :  and  in  the 
same  manner  it  may  be  seen  that  while  the  power  of  one 
piston  is  augmented  from  zero  to  its  greatest  effect,  the 
power  of  the  other  is  decreasing  from  its  greatest  effect  to 
zero.     Thus  the  combined  action  of  the  two  pistons  is 


nearly  uniform  in  its  efficiency.  If  one  engine  only  were 
used,  the  motion  of  the  wheels  wou  •>  be  unequal,  being 
most  rapid  when  the  pist  n  is  at  the  middle  of  the  stroke 
and  slowest  at  the  extremities. 

The  steam  engines  used  for  navigation  maybe  either  con- 
densing engines  or  non-co.idensing  engines.  If  the  latter 
are  used,  steam  must  be  used  having  a  pressure  above  the 
atmosphere  of  from  15  to  20  lbs.  per  square  inch.  Boilers 
in  which  steam  is  produced  under  this  pressure  arc  con- 
sidered in  Europe  so  unsafe,  that  non-condensing  engines 
with  low-pressure  boilers  are  almost  universally  used  for 
navigation.  In  America,  however,  high-pressure  boilers 
with  non-condensing  engines  are  generally  used. 

The  arrangement  of  the  parts  of  marine  engines  is  differ- 
ent in  several  respects  from  land  engines.  Steam  vessels 
being  generally  employed  to  navigate  the  open  seas,  and 
being,  therefore,  subject  to  the  vicissitudes  of  tempestuous 
weather,  the  machinery  must  be  protected  by  being  placed 
below  the  deck.  The  space  allotted  to  it  being  thus  limited, 
great  compactness  is  necessary.  The  paddle  shaft  being 
very  little  below  the  deck,  the  working  beam  and  connecting 
rod  could  not  be  placed  above  it.  The  beam  is  therefore 
placed  below  the  cylinder,  and  is  driven  by  the  pistons  by 
means  of  a  cross  head  attached  to  the  piston  rod,  from  the 
ends  of  which  the  rods  of  the  parallel  motion  (see  Steam 
Engine)  are  carried  downwards  to  the  end  of  the  beam. 
From  the  other  end  of  the  beam  the  connecting  rod  is  pre- 
sented upwards  towards  the  crank. 

The  general  arrangement  of  the  parts  of  a  marine  engine 
will  be  easily  understood  by  reference  to  the  figure,  in  which 
ia  represented  in  section  a  marine  engine  with  its  boiler,  as 


placed  in  a  steam  vessel.  The  sleepers  of  oak  supporting 
the  engine  are  represented  at  X  ;  the  base  of  the  engine  is 
secured  to  these  by  bolts  passing  through  them  and  the  bot- 
tom timbers  of  the  vessel.  S  is  the  steam  pipe  leading  from 
the  steam  chest  in  the  boiler  to  the  slides  c,  by  which  it  is 
admitted  to  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  cylinder.  The  con- 
denser is  represented  at  B,  and  the  air-pump  at  E.  The 
hot  well  is  seen  at  F,  from  which  the  feed  is  taken  from 
the  boiler.  L  is  the  piston  rod  connected  by  the  parallel 
motion  a  with  the  beam  H,  working  on  a  centre  K  near  the 
base  of  the  engine.  The  other  end  of  the  beam  H  drives 
the  connecting  rod  M,  which  extends  upwards  to  the  crank, 
which  it  works  upon  the  paddle  shaft  O.  The  framing  by 
which  the  engine  is  supported  is  represented  at  Q.  R. 

The  nature  and  operation  of  the  several  parts  just  men- 
tioned will  be  understood  by  reference  to  the  explanation 
of  the  structure  and  operation  of  the  double-acting  steam 
engine,  given  under  the  head  Steam  Engine  ;  for,  in  fact, 
the  marine  engine,  such  as  is  here  represented,  is  nothing 
more  than  a  double-acting  condensing  steam  engine,  adapt- 
ed in  its  form  to  the  circumstances  in  which  it  is  used  in 
navigation. 

The  beam  exhibited  in  the  figure  is  shown  in  dotted  lines, 
as  being  on  the  farther  side  of  the  engine.  A  similar  beam 
similarly  placed,  and  moving  on  the  same  centres,  must  be 
understood  to  be  at  this  side,  connected  with  the  cross  head 
of  the  piston  in  like  manner  by  a  parallel  motion,  and  with 
a  cross  piece  attached  to  the  lower  end  of  the  connecting 
road  and  to  the  opposite  beam.  The  eccentric,  which  works 
the  slides,  is  placed  upon  the  paddle  shaft  O  ;  and  the  con- 
necting arm  which  drives  the  slides  may  be  easily  detached 
when  the  engine  requires  to  be  stopped.  The  section  of  the 
boiler  grate  and  flues  is  represented  atWU.  The  safety 
valve  y  is  enclosed  beneath  a  pipe  carried  up  beside  the 


chimney,  and  is  inaccessible  to  the  engine-man.  The  cocks 
for  blowing  off  the  salt  water  from  the  boiler  (a  process 
which  we  shall  presently  explain)  are  represented  at  h, 
and  the  feed  pipe  at  I.  Those  parts  will  be  fully  und  r- 
stood  by  reference  to  the  explanation  given  under  the  head 
Steam  Boiler. 

To  save  space,  marine  boilers  are  constructed  so  as  to  pro- 
duce, within  the  smallest  possible  dimensions,  the  necessary 
quantity  of  steam.  With  this  view  a  more  extensive  surface 
in  proportion  to  the  capacity  of  the  boiler  is  exposed  to  the 
fire.  The  flues  by  which  the  flame  and  heated  air  are  con- 
ducted to  the  chimney  are  so  constructed,  that  the  heat  shall 
act  upon  the  water  on  every  side  in  thin  oblong  shells  or 
plates.  This  is  accomplished  by  constructing  them  so  as  to 
traverse  the  boiler  backwards  and  forwards  several  times 
before  they  issue  into  the  chimney.  The  bottom  of  the 
boiler  is  not,  therefore,  one  uniform  flat  or  arched  surface, 
as  in  land  boilers ;  but  is  divided  by  a  number  of  plates 
placed  in  a  vertical  position  side  by  side,  having  spaces  be- 
tween them  alternately  appropriated  tn  the  water  to  be  heat- 
ed and  the  air  from  the  fire.  This  division  is  in  some  boil- 
ers, not  only  made  in  the  bottom  on  a  level  nearly  with  the 
furnace,  but  another  stratum  of  similar  flues  and  water 
spaces  is  constructed  above  the  level  of  the  furnace ;  so 
that  the  heated  air  first  traverses  the  lower  stratum  of  flues, 
and  afterwards,  being  conducted  upwards,  traverses  the  up- 
per stratum  before  it  issues  into  the  chimnies. 

In  steam  vessels,  instead  of  effecting  the  necessary  evap- 
oration by  a  single  boiler,  it  is  usual  to  provide  two,  three, 
four,  or  more  independent  boilers,  according  to  the  mag 
nitude  of  the  vessel  and  the  power  of  her  engines.  By 
this  means,  when  at  sea,  the  engines  may  be  worked  by 
some  of  the  boilers  while  others  are  being  cleaned  or  re- 
paired. 
*  1175 


STEAM  NAVIGATION. 


The  greatest  inconvenience  and  difficulty  attending  the 
application  of  the  steam  engine  to  navigation  arises  from 
the  necessity  of  supplying  the  boilers  with  sea  water.  This 
water  is  injected  into  the  condenser  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
densing the  steam,  and  it  is  thence  mixed  With  the  COO 
deused  strain  conducted  as  feeding  water  into  the  boiler. 
Sea  water  holds  in  solution  certain  alkaline  substances  id' 
which  the  principal  is  muriate  of  soda,  or  common  salt. 
This  forms  about  three  per  cent,  of  the  water.  TJiis  Ball 
not  being  evaporated  with  the  water,  remains  in  the  boiler, 
and  i  titers  into  solution  with  the  water  remaining  in  it,  ren- 
dering that  water  a  solution  more  and  more  concentrated 
the  longer  the  boiler  is  worked.  At  length  the  water  in  the 
boiler  becoming  saturated,  the  salt  will  begin  to  be  precipita- 
ted in  the  form  of  sediment;  and  if  this  were  continued, 
the  boiler  would  finally  be  tilled  with  salt. 

Besides  the  deposition  of  salt  in  a  loose  form,  some  of  the 
alkaline  substances  have  an  attraction  for  iron  and  a  crust 
is  thereby  formed  on  the  inside  of  the  boiler.  This  crust 
obstructing 'the  passage  of  heat  from  the  fire  to  the  water, 
gives  the  boiler  plates  an  undue  or  unequal  temperature, 
causes  them  to  open  in  the  seams,  and  softens  them,  so  as 
to  expose  the  boiler  to  a  liability  to  leak  or  even  to  burst. 

These  effects  can  only  be  prevented  by  either  of  two 
methods:  1st,  by  so  regulating  the  feed  of  the  boiler  that 
the  water  it  contains  shall  not  be  suffered  to  reach  the  point 
of  saturation,  but  shall  be  so  limited  in  its  saltness  that  no 
injurious  incrustation  or  deposit  shall  be  found  ;  2dly,  by 
the  adoption  of  some  means  by  which  the  boiler  may  be 
worked  by  fresh  water.  This  end  can  only  be  attained  by- 
condensing  the  steam  by  a  jet  of  fresh  water,  and  working 
the  boiler  always  by  the  same  water. 

The  method  by  which  the  water  is  prevented  from  being 
over  salted  has  been  usually  to  discharge  into  the  sea  a  cer- 
tain quantity  of  over-salted  water  (called  brine),  and  to 
supply  its  place  by  sea  water  introduced  through  the  con- 
denser, and  which,  being  mixed  with  the  condensed  steam, 
is  rather  less  salted  than  ordinary  sea  water.  To  effect  this, 
cocks,  called  blow-off  cocks,  are  placed  in  the  lower  part  of 
the  boiler  where  the  brine  collects.  The  pressure  of  the 
steam  is  sufficient  to  force  the  lower  strata  of  water  out 
through  these  cocks  when  they  are  open,  and  this  process 
is  called  blowing  out.  It  is,  or  ought  to  be  practised,  at  such 
intervals  as  will  prevent  the  water  from  becoming  over 
Galled. 

The  improper  observance  of  this  process  is  attended  with 
injurious  effects  at  sea.  If  too  much  water  be  blown  out, 
a  proportionate  loss  of  heat  and  waste  of  fuel  is  incurred. 
If  insufficient  water  be  blown  out,  incrustation  takes  place, 
and  its  injurious  consequences  ensue.  The  Messrs.  Sea- 
ward of  Limehouse  use  a  glass  hydrometer  guage,  to 
indicate  the  saltness  of  the  water  in  the  boiler  by  showing 
its  increase  of  density  compared  with  ordinary  sea  water. 
A  vessel  containing  one  ton  of  water  is  placed  so  as  to 
communicate  on  one  side  with  the  boiler,  and  on  the  other 
with  the  sea.  In  this  vessel  is  a  cock,  which  turned  in  one 
direction  opens  the  communication  with  the  boiler,  and  clo- 
nes that  with  the  sea ;  and  turned  in  the  other  direction 
opens  that  with  the  sea,  and  closes  that  with  the  boiler. 
By  this  means  the  engineer  is  enabled  to  discharge  a  defi- 
nite and  ascertained  quantity  of  brine,  and  the  gauge  indi- 
cates when  a  sufficiency  has  been  discharged. 

But  the  most  effectual  method  of  keeping  the  boilers 
from  l.i  Ing  o\er  salt  d  i<  by  means  of  the  brine  pumps  of 
Messrs.  Maud-lay  and  Field.  This  method,  which  has 
been  successfully  applied  in  the  Great  Western  (plving  be- 
tween Bristol  and  New-York),  consists  of  pumps  by  which 
water  is  drawn  from  the  lower  parts  of  the  boiler  and  driv- 
en into  the  sea.  These  pumps  are  worked  by  the  engine, 
and  their  operation  is  constant.  The  feed  pumps  are  like- 
wise worked  by  the  engine;  and  they  bear  such  a  propor- 
tion to  the  brine  pumps,  that  the  quantity  of  salt  discharged 
in  a  given  time  in  the  brine  is  equal  to  the  quantity  of  salt 
Introdui  ed  in  solution  by  the  water  of  the  feed  pumps.  liy 
these  means  the  same  quantity  of  salt  is  constantly  main- 
tained in  the  boiler,  and  consequently  the  strength  of  the 
solution  remains  Invariable. 

T.i  Bave  the  heat  of  the  brine,  the  current  of  heated 
brine  is  conducted  from  the  boiler  through  a  tube,  which  is 
contained  within  that  by  which  the  feed  is  Introduced. 
The  warm  current  of  brine,  therefore,  as  it  parses  out,  Im- 
parts a  considerable  portion  of  its  heat  to  the  cold  feed 
which  comes  in  ;  and  it  is  found  by  this  expedient  that  the 
trine  discharged  into  the  sea  maybe  reduced  to  the  tern 
perature  of  100°. 

Tlii-  expedient  is  so  effectual  that  where  the  apparatus  is 
Constructed,  anil   kept   in   a  state  of  effii 
may  be  regarded  as  nearly  a  perfect  preventive  against  m 
c  nutation. 

A  method  of  condensing  the  steam  without  a  jet,  by  cold 
surfaces,  was   practised   In    Mr.  Watt,    but   abandoned  be- 
cause its  effect  was  not  sufficiently  instantaneous.    This 
11715  82 


was  revived  by  Mr.  Samuel  Hall  of  Basford,  with  a  view  to 
working  marine  boilers  with  fresh  water.    The  steam  from 

the  cylinder  was  drawn  through  a  great  number  of  small 
tu lies,   which  were  constantly  surrounded  by  cold  water. 

Being  by  this  means  i lensed,  without  being  mixed  with 

any  injected  water,  it  was  carried  to  the  feeding  cistern  to 
be  reconducted  to  the  boiler.  In  this  manner  the  same  wa- 
ter circulated  constantly  through  the  boiler,  condenser,  and 
feeding  cistern,  and  it  was  only  necessary  to  make  good  the 
waste  produced  by  leakage.  The  same  supply  id"  fresh  wa- 
ter, therefore,  would  always  work  the  boiler,  the  very  small 
quantity  of  waste  being  made  good  by  the  distillation  of 
sea  water. 

These  condensers  were  adopted  in  several  steam  vessels. 
In  some  they  were  abandoned  after  the  experience  of  a  few 
months;  and  the  results  have  failed  to  produce  their  use  to 
any  considerable  extent,  notwithstanding  that  the  object 
their  projector  professed  to  attain  was  admitted  to  be  one  of 
great  importance. 

One  of  the  remedies  proposed  against  incrustation  was 
the  use  of  copper  boilers.  The  attraction  which  produces 
the  adhesion  of  the  calcareous  matter  to  the  surface  of  iron 
has  no  existence  in  copper,  and  all  the  saline  matter  preci- 
pitated in  a  copper  boiler  will  therefore  pass  away  through 
the  blow-oft" cocks.  Besides  the  injuries  attending  incrusta- 
tion, an  evil  of  another  kind  attends  the  accumulation  of 
soot  mixed  with  salt  in  the  Hues.  In  the  seams  of  the  boil- 
er there  are  always  numerous  apertures  of  dimensions  so 
small  as  to  be  incapable  of  being  rendered  staunch  by  any 
practicable  means,  through  which  the  water  within  the 
boiler  filters,  and  the  salt  which  it  carries  with  it.  mixed 
with  the  soot,  forming  a  compound  which  rapidly  corrodes 
the  boilers.  The  evil  is  not  removed  by  copper  boilers,  iu 
which  it  equally  prevails. 

As  the  voyages  accomplished  by  steam  vessels  have  in- 
creased in  length,  the  economy  of  fuel  in  working  them  has 
become  a  subject  of  vastly  augmented  importance.  So 
long  as  steam  navigation  was  confined  to  river  or  channel 
transport,  or  to  coasting  voyages,  the  speed  of  the  vessel 
was  a  paramount  consideration,  at  whatever  expenditure  of 
fuel  it  might  be  obtained  ;  but  since  steam  navigation  has 
been  extended  to  ocean  voyages,  where  coals  must  be  trans- 
ported sufficient  to  keep  the  engine  in  operation  for  a  long 
period  of  time  without  a  fresh  relay,  greater  attention  has 
been  bestowed  on  economizing  it.  Since  the  resistance  of 
a  steam  vessel  to  the  moving  power  produced  by  the  action 
of  the  paddle  wheels  varies  with  the  state  of  the  weather, 
the  consumption  of  steam  in  the  cylinders  must  undergo  a 
corresponding  variation  ;  and  if  the  production  of  steam  i.i 
the  boilers  be  not  proportioned  to  this,  the  engines  will  ei- 
ther work  with  less  efficiency  than  they  might  do  under 
the  actual  circumstances  of  the  weather,  or  more  steam  will 
be  produced  than  the  cylinders  can  consume,  and  the  sur- 
plus will  be  discharged  to  waste  through  the  safety  valves. 
The  firemen  of  a  marine  engine  must  therefore,  in  a  certain 
degree,  discharge  the  functions  of  a  self-regulating  furnace, 
rendering  the  force  of  the  fire  always  proportionate  to  the 
wants  of  the  engine.  None  but  the  most  industrious  and 
skilful  stokers  can  be  expected  to  accomplish  this. 

Until  within  a  few  years  of  the  present  time  the  heat  ra- 
diated from  every  part  of  the  surface  of  the  boiler  was  al- 
lowed to  go  to  waste,  and  to  produce  injurious  effects  on  those 
parts  of  the  vessel  to  which  it  was  transmitted.  This  evil 
has  been  lately  removed  by  coating  the  exterior  of  the  boil- 
ers with  felt,  prepared  for  the  purpose,  by  which  the  escape 
of  heat  from  the  surface  of  the  boiler  is  very  nearly  if  not 
altogether  prevented.  This  felt  is  attached  to  the  plates  of 
the  boiler  by  a  thick  covering  of  white  and  red  lead. 

A  form  Of  marine  engine  was  some  years  ago  proposed  hy 
Mr.  Thomas  Howard,  in  which  steam  was  produced  by 
projecting  water  in  small  quantities  on  the  surface  of  a  piece 
of  mercury  maintained  at  a  temperature  of  from  400°  to 
500°.  The  steam  thus  produced  contained  much  more  heat 
than  was  necessary  to  sustain  it  in  the  vaporous  form.  The 
engine  was  worked  expansively,  and  by  condensation ;  but 
as  the  project  does  not  appear  to  have  produced  any  practi- 
cal consequences  of  permanent  importance,  we  need  not 
here  notice  it  farther. 

The  method  by  which  the  greatest  amount  of  practical 
effect  can  be  obtained  from  a  given  quantity  of  fuel  must 
mainly  depend  on  the  extended  application  of  the  expan- 
ilve  principle.  So  Stbam,  Stiam  Engine.)  The  diffi- 
culty of  the  application  of  this  principle  in  marine  engines 
has  arisen  from  the  objections  entertained  in  Europe  against 
the  use  of  steam  of  high  pressure  under  the  circumstances 
in  which  an  engine  must  be  worked  at  sea.  To  apply  the 
expansive  principle  With  great  etfect.it  is  necessary  that  the 

moving  power  at  the  commencement  of  the  stroke  shall 
considerably  exceed  the  resistance,  its  force  being  gradually 
attenuated  till  the  completion  of  the  stroke,  when  If  will 

finally  become  less  than  the  resistance.  This  condition 
may  be  fulfilled  without  resorting  to  steam  of  high  pressure, 


STEAM  NAVIGATION. 


if  a  sufficient  quantity  of  piston  surface  be  used.  This 
method  of  rendering  the  expansive  principle  available  for 
navigation,  and  compatible  with  low-pressure  steam,  has 
recently  been  brought  into  operation  by  Messrs.  Maudslay 
and  Field.  Their  improvement  consists  in  adapting  two 
steam  cylinders  in  one  engine  to  work  a  single  crank,  both 
pistons  ascending  and  descending  together,  the  piston  rods 
being  both  attached  to  the  same  horizontal  cross-head  mo- 
ving in  guides. 

Mr.  Francis  Humphry's  has  obtained  a  patent  for  a  form  of 
marine  engine,  by  which  some  simplification  in  the  machin- 
ery is  attained,  and  the  same  power  comprised  within  more 
limited  dimensions,  a  matter  of  great  moment  in  long  voy- 
ages. In  this  engine,  there  is  attached  to  the  piston  of  the 
cylinder,  instead  of  a  piston  rod,  a  hollow  casing,  which 
moves  through  a  stuffing  box  in  the  cover  of  the  cylinder. 
The  cross  section  of  this  casing  is  a  very  narrow  and  elon- 
gated ellipse,  extending  across  the  cylinder,  or  rather  a  long 
narrow  slit  with  rounded  ends.  One  end  of  the  connecting 
rod  is  attached  immediately  to  the  centre  of  the  piston, 
while  the  other  end  is  attached  to  the  crank  placed  above 
the  cylinder;  the  connecting  rod,  therefore,  works  within 
the  casing  just  mentioned  ;  and  instead  of  being,  as  usual, 
driven  by  a  piston  rod,  it  is  driven  by  the  piston  itself. 

To  obtain  from  the  moving  power  its  full  amount  of  me- 
chanical effect,  it  would  be  necessary  that  it  should  be  ex- 
erted against  the  water  in  a  horizontal  direction,  and  with 
a  motion  contrary  to  the  course  of  the  vessel.  No  system 
of  mechanical  propellers  has,  however,  yet  been  contrived 
capable  of  perfectly  accomplishing  this  ;  patents  have  been 
granted  for  numerous  ingenious  mechanical  combinations 
to  impart  to  the  propelling  surfaces  such  angles  as  appear 
to  the  respective  contrivers  to  be  the  most  advantageous. 
In  most  of  these,  the  complexity  has  been  a  fatal  objection. 
No  part  of  the  machinery  of  a  steam  vessel  is  so  liable  to 
become  deranged  at  sea  as  the  paddle  wheels ;  and  there- 
fore that  simplicity  of  construction  which  is  compatible 
with  those  repairs  which  are  possible  on  such  emergencies 
is  quite  essential  for  safe  practical  use. 

In  the  ordinary  paddle  wheel,  the  paddle  boards  have  the 
planes  so  placed  as  to  radiate  from  the  axle  of  the  wheel. 
In  fact,  the  geometrical  axis  of  the  wheel  is  the  common 
line  of  intersection  of  the  planes  of  all  the  paddle  boards. 
On  entering  and  leaving  the  water,  therefore,  these  boards 
will  be  oblique  to  the  water,  and  this  obliquity  will  be  in- 
creased with  the  immersion  of  the  wheels.  When  the 
vessel  is  in  proper  trim,  the  immersion  should  be  equal  to 
the  depth  of  the  lowest  paddle  board ;  and  if  this  immer- 
sion can  be  preserved  unaltered,  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
propelling  power  will  be  effective  with  the  common  wheels. 
In  river  navigation,  or  in  general  in  smooth  water,  and  when 
the  trip  is  so  limited  that  the  fuel  consumed  has  no  sen- 
sible effect  on  the  immersion,  this  steady  immersion  maybe 
preserved,  and  in  such  cases  the  common  wheel  is  a  highly 
advantageous  propeller;  but  in  a  heavy  rolling  sea,  the 
motion  of  the  vessel  will  produce  a  constant  change  of  im- 
mersion in  the  wheels,  and  in  long  voyages  the  fuel  con- 
sumed will  lighten  the  vessel,  so  as  to  produce  a  consider- 
able change  in  her  trim. 

To  remove  this  inconvenience,  and  economize  as  much 
as  possible  the  propelling  effect  of  the  paddle  boards,  it 
would  be  necessary  so  to  construct  them  that  they  may  en- 
ter and  leave  the  water  edgeways,  or  as  nearl y  so  as  possible  : 
such  an  arrangement  would  be,  in  effect,  equivalent  to  the 
process  called  feathering,  as  applied  to  rowing.  Any  me- 
chanism which  would  effectually  accomplish  this  would 
cause  the  paddles  to  work  in  almost  perfect  silence,  and 
would  very  nearly  remove  the  inconvenient  and  injurious 
vibration  which  is  produced  by  the  action  of  the  common 
paddles.  But  the  construction  of  feathering  paddles  is  at- 
tended with  great  difficulty  under  the  peculiar  circumstan- 
ces in  which  such  wheels  work.  Any  mechanism  so  com- 
plex that  it  could  not  be  easily  repaired  with  such  imple- 
ments and  skill  as  can  be  obtained  at  sea  would  be  attend- 
ed with  great  objections,  and  the  efficiency  of  its  pro- 
pelling action  would  not  compensate  for  the  damages  which 
roust  attend  the  helpless  state  of  a  steamer  deprived  of  her 
propelling  agents. 

Feathering  paddles  have  been  projected  by  a  vast  number 
of  ingenious  persons,  and  a  greater  number  of  patents  have 
been  granted  for  this  than  perhaps  for  any  other  contrivance 
whatever  connected  with  the  application  of  steam  power 
to  the  useful  arts;  yet  it  is  remarkable  that  in  no  case  has 
there  been  so  signal  a  failure  in  attaining  the  desired  end. 
Some  inventors  have  failed  by  not  clearly  understanding  the 
mechanical  conditions  to  be  fulfilled  by  a  perfect  wheel,  and 
others  by  the  complexity  and  expense  attending  the  construc- 
tion of  the  wheels  they  proposed.  The  common  paddle- 
wheel,  with  very  slight  modifications,  still  maintains  its  place 
as  the  almost  universal  propelling  instrument  for  steam  ves- 
sels. 

About  the  year  1832,  a  paddle  wheel,  with  mechanism 
99 


for  shifting  the  paddle  boards  as  the  wheel  re  rolved,  was 
brought  into  partial  use  in  the  admiralty  steam  vessels. 
This  was  called  Morgan's  paddle  wheel :  the  inventor  was 
Elijah  Galloway.  Its  propelling  effect  in  a  rough  sea  was 
found  to  be  superior  to  the  common  wheel,  but  in  smooth 
water  the  difference  was  not  considerable.  The  expense  of 
this  wheel  excluded  it  altogether  from  commercial  vessels; 
and  it  seems  to  have  been  found,  in  practice,  to  have  been 
attended  with  other  objections,  for  it  has  been  gradually  re- 
linquished by  the  government  vessels,  and  is  now,  we  be- 
live,  quite  discontinued. 

About  the  year  1833,  Mr.  Field,  of  the  firm  of  Maudslay 
and  Field,  proposed  the  split  paddle,  which  is  now  coming 
into  very-  extensive  use.  In  this  wheel  each  paddle  board 
is  divided  into  two  or  more  narrow  slips  arranged  one  be- 
hind the  other,  like  the  laths  of  a  Venetian  blind  or  the 
steps  of  a  step-ladder.  These  w-heels  are  as  efficient  in 
propelling  when  at  the  lowest  point  as  the  common  paddle 
boards  ;  and  when  they  emerge,  the  water  escapes  simul- 
taneously from  each  narrow  board,  and  is  not  thrown  up,  as 
is  the  case  with  the  common  paddles. 

The  limit  of  the  extent  of  the  voyages  capable  of  being 
made  in  one  uninterrupted  trip  by  a  steam  vessel  will  evi- 
dently depend  on  the  efficiency  of  the  fuel.  As  the  means 
of  economizing  this  are  improved,  this  limit  will  be  more 
extended.  In  1835,  when  it  was  first  proposed  to  cross  the 
Atlantic  from  Bristol  to  New  York  in  a  single  trip,  it  was 
considered  by  persons  who  had  given  much  attention  to  the 
subject  that,  in  the  state  of  steam  navigation  at  that  time, 
the  expense  would  be  so  enormous,  and  the  tonnage  of  the 
vessel  so  engrossed  by  the  fuel,  that  the  success  of  the 
project  as  a  commercial  speculation  intended  for  permanent 
operation  throughout  all  seasons  of  the  year  was  more  than 
doubtful.  A  long  interval,  however,  elapsed  before  the  ex- 
periment was  brought  into  full  operation  ;  and,  in  the  mean- 
while, much  improvement  was  effected  in  the  application 
of  the  steam  engine  to  navigation.  The  experiment  has 
been  happily  at  length  brought  into  full  practical  effect  by 
two  companies.  What  the  commercial  result  has  been  to 
the  speculators,  we  are  not  able  to  say. 

At  the  time  referred  to  in  1835,  those  who  were  doubtful 
of  the  expediency  of  attempting  the  passage  to  New  York 
recommended  a  trial  of  a  line  to  Boston,  touching  at  Hali- 
fax. This  has  since  been  accordingly  effected,  with  every 
prospect  of  permanent  success. 

Steam  Navigation  in  America. — The  problem  of  the  ap- 
plication of  steam  power  to  water  transport  presented  itself 
in  the  United  States  under  conditions  very  different  from 
those  under  which  it  offered  itself  in  Europe,  and  its  solu- 
tion has  been  accordingly  productive  of  very  different  re- 
sults. While  the  chief  object  of  the  commercial  interests 
in  Europe  was  the  establishment  of  lines  of  steam  vessels 
connecting  the  great  cities  and  coast  towns  of  the  British 
dominions  with  each  other,  and  with  those  of  the  Conti- 
nent, and  as  the  art  advanced,  to  extend  the  same  social 
and  commercial  benefit  to  the  coasts  of  the  chief  countries 
of  Europe,  so  as  to  stimulate  the  social  intercourse  of  na- 
tions too  long  disunited  and  struggling  in  unprofitable  war- 
fare, and  thereby  to  diffuse  equally  among  all  the  benefits 
of  general  commercial  intercourse,  America,  standing  alone 
in  her  vast  extent  of  territory,  having  no  near  neighbours 
with  whom  to  cultivate  social  or  commercial  relations,  re- 
garding her  immense  country  intersected  by  some  of  the 
in'  st  noble  rivers  in  the  world,  enriched  by  the  largest 
sheets  of  inland  water  which  can  be  found  upon  the  globe 
— thus  situated,  she  saw  that  inland  navigation,  river  and 
lake  transport,  was  the  great  application  of  steam  by  which 
her  rising  and  enterprising  population  would  be  most  bene- 
fitted, and  by  which  the  necessary  intercourse  could  be 
maintained  between  her  great  western  emporiums  erected 
on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  ;  her  more  north- 
ern settlements  on  the  coasts  of  the  gigantic  lakes  Ontario, 
Erie,  Michigan,  and  others;  and  on  the  eastern  rivers,  the 
Hudson,  the  Delaware,  and  the  Susquehanna.  It  was 
therefore  to  the  construction  of  steam  boats  suitable  to  such 
internal  navigation  that  American  genius  was  directed ;  and 
in  this  it  has  been  eminently  successful. 

The  American  river  steamers  are,  in  general,  long,  narrow 
boats  with  a  small  draught  of  water,  supporting  a  platform 
or  deck  of  vast  magnitude  projecting  on  either  side  consid- 
erably bevond  the  limits  of  the  boat  on  which  it  rests.  The 
paddle  wheels  are  large,  and  are  usually  impelled  by  a  sin- 
gle engine  placed  with  its  boiler  and  machinery  above  the 
deck.  The  engines  are  almost  universally  non-condensing 
high-pressure  engines,  and  many  of  them  are  worked  ex- 
pansively. The  fuel  is  generally  wood  ;  but  in  many  cases, 
especially  in  the  eastern  vessels,  coal.  In  the  structure  of 
the  machinery  there  is  much  rudeness  and  simplicity,  and 
none  of  that  extreme  precision  of  construction  and  fine 
finish  is  to  be  found  which  is  almost  always  observable  in 
European  vessels.  Owing  to  the  form  of  the  boats  and  the 
smooth  water  in  which  they  work,  a  much  greater  average 
4  D  *  1177 


STEAM  NAVIGATION. 

speed  has  been  attained  than  in  the  sea-coin::  steamers  of 
Europe.  Although  we  have  reason  to  know  that  in  com- 
mon reports  the  average  rate  of  the  American  steamers  has 
been  grosslj  exaggerated,  there  is  no  doubt  that  their  rate  of 

going  is  very  considerable.  On  the  Hudson,  between  \™ 
York  and  Albany,  aie  the  fastest  strainers  in  the  United 
States  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  if  the  average  speed  of  these 
vessels,  taken  in  all  circumstances  of  weather  and  tide,  be 
stated  at  thirteen  geographical  miles  an  hour,  it  is  not  overra- 
ted. 

The  principal  theatres  of  river  steamers  in  the  United 
Btates  are  the  Hudson  and  the  Mississippi,  with  its  brandi- 
es. The  Hudson  is  navigated  liy  steam  from  its  inoulh  at 
New  Fork  u>  a  distance  of  about  160  miles,  the  chief  point  of 
traffic  being  the  city  of  Albany,  situated  on  its  western  bank, 
at  about  145  miles  from  New  York.  Although  this  extent  is 
not  considerable,  the  intercourse  upon  it  is  quite  enormous 
during  the  seasons  of  the  year  in  which  the  river  is  open. 
It  is  obstructed  by  the  frost  during  the  winter  months. 

The  Mississippi  is  navigated  by  many  hundred  steamers 
of  very  large  tonnage.  This  steam  traffic  is  carried  on 
through  a  distance  of  nearly  2000  miles  from  the  mouth  at 
New  Orleans.  The  towns  of  Natchez,  Cincinnati,  Louis- 
ville, Pittsburgh,  and  numerous  others,  maintain,  by  this 
means,  an  easy  and  constant  intercourse  with  the  capital 
of  the  southern  states. 

The  steamers  on  the  Mississippi  and  the  Ohio  are  con- 
structed with  even  less  attention  to  safe  engineering  princi- 
ples than  those  of  the  western  rivers,  and,  consequently, 
more  frequent  and  fatal  accidents  arise  from  explosion  and 
other  causes. 

The  dimensions  of  the  steamers  which  ply  on  the  Hud- 
son are  generally  as  follows :  The  length  of  deck  from  150 
to  "250  feet :  the  breadth  of  beam  from  20  to  30  feet ;  and  the 
depth  of  the  hold  from  8  to  10  feet.  They  are  generally, 
but  not  always,  worked  by  a  single  engine ;  the  length 
of  stroke  is  never  less  than  8  feet,  but  the  most  com- 
mon length  is  10  feet ;  the  diameter  of  the  piston  varies 
from  40  to  lifi  inches,  and  the  diameter  of  the  paddle  wheels 
from  30  to  -25  feet;  the  breadth,  or  rather  the  thickness  of 
the  wheel,  varies  from  12  to  14  feet  giving  a  great  extent  of 
surface  to  the  paddle  boards,  which  have  usually  a  dip  of  2.\ 
feet ;  the  draught  of  water  of  these  boats  vanes  from  6  to  9 
feet;  thesteam  is  generally  worked  expansively,  being  cut  off 
at  half  the  stroke,  and  often  sooner :  the  wheels  are  said  to 
make,  on  an.  average,  from  25  to  30  revolutions  per  minute. 

The  Ohio  steamers  are  inferior  in  magnitude  to  those  on 
the  other  western  waters;  their  number  must  be  very  con- 
siderable. About  seven  years  since,  the  number  plying  on 
the  river  and  its  branches  was  about  200 ;  and  that  number 
has  probably  since  been  nearly  doubled.  "  Economy,"  says 
Mr.  Stevenson  in  his  Engineering  'J'uur,  "  would  seem  to  be 
the  only  object  which  the  constructors  of  these  boats  have 
in  view  ;  and  therefore,  with  the  exception  of  the  finery' 
which  the  cabins  generally  display,  little  care  is  expended 
in  their  construction,  and  much  of  the  workmanship  con- 
nected with  them  is  of  a  most  imperfect  and  insufficient 
kind.  When  the  crews  of  these  frail  fabrics,  therefore,  en- 
gage in  brisk  competition  with  other  vessels,  and  urge  the 
machinery  to  the  utmost  extent  of  its  power,  it  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at  that  their  exertions  are  often  suddenly  termi- 
nated by  the  vessel  taking  fire  and  going  to  the  bottom,  or 
by  an  explosion  of  the  steam  boilers.  Such  accidents  are 
frequently  attended  with  an  appalling  loss  of  life,  and  are 
of  so  common  occurrence  that  they  generally  excite  little  or 
no  attention." 

The  steamers  of  the  Mississippi  vary  in  magnitude  from 
100  to  700  tons  ;  and.  unlike  the  light  mould  of  the  Hudson 
steamers,  they  are  heavily  built,  SO  as  to  give  them  abun- 
dant tonnage  for  goods.  They  are  built  with  a  flat  bottom, 
with  a  draught  Of  from  6  to  8  feet  of  water.  A  deck  is 
supported  by  the  hull  at  about  S  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
water,  arid  the  space  in  the  hull  under  this  deck  is  appro 
priated  to  the  caru'o.  The  whole  of  the  steam  machinery 
is  placed  on  this  deck  ;  the  engine  standing  in  the  middle  (if 
the  vessel,  and  the  boilers  and  furnaces  towards  the  bOW. 
That  part  of  the  lower  deck  towards  the  stern  i- 
by  the  crew  and  deck  passengers,  and  is  generally  a  scene 
of  great  filth  and  squalor.  From  the  front  of  tlie  paddle 
staircase  leads  to  a  gallery  or  balcony  of  about  3 
feet  in  width,  which  surrounds  a  Structure  raised  upon  the 
deck,  and  extending  nearly  the  whole  length  of  the  \,  —  I 
presenting  the  external  appearance  of  a  long  wooden  house, 
the  doon  and  windows  of  which  open  on  this  balcony. 
This  structure  is.  in  fad.  the  great  cabin,  extending  from 
the  two  smoke  funnel  I  to  within  about  30  feet  of  the  stern  ; 
this  latter  space,  extending  quite  to  the  stem,  is  appropriated 
to  the  ladles'  cabin.  The  large  cabin,  w  Inch  contains  the 
gentlemen's  berths,  is  also  Hied  as  [he  chief  dining  room. 

Prom  the  balconj  just  mentioned,  staircases  on  either  side 

lead  to  the  third,  or  upjier  deck,  30  feet  above  ii" 
the  water.    The  wheel  house,  in  which  the  steersman  is 
1178 


STEEL. 

placed.  Is  erected  on  the  forepart  of  this  deck,  and  the  mo- 
tion is  communicated  to  the  helm  by  ropes  or  iron  rods. 

The  engines  are  constructed  with  very  small  cylinders, 
worked  With  steam  of  great  pressure.  The  diameter  of  the 
cylinder  is  often  under  18  inches,  while  the  length  of  stroke 
is  from  5  to  0  feet.  The  safety  valve  is  Usually  loaded 
with  100  lbs.  per  square  inch,  which,  at  the  discretion  of 
the  captain,  is  sometimes  increased  to  150  lbs.  Some  of 
the  large  boats  on  the  Mississippi  are  equal  in  magnitude 
to  those  on  the  Hudson,  having  a  length  of  230  feet,  and 
a  breadth  of  beam  of  28  feet.  With  this  great  magnitude 
of  deck  and  a  capacity  of  not  less  than  looo  tons,  they  do 
not  draw  above  8  feet  of  water.  For  further  details  re- 
specting steam  navigation  in  general,  and  in  the  United 
Btates,  see  /Jr.  I.ardntr  on  the  Steam  Engine,  7th  edition; 
Appendix  to  Tredgold  on  the  Steam  Engine ;  and  Stevenson's 
Civil  Engineering  in  North  America. 

SIT. A  KIC  ACID.  (Gr.  0Teap,fat.)  One  of  the  acids 
produced  in  the  process  of  saponification  by  the  action  of 
alkalies  upon  stearine. 

STE'ARINE.  (Gr.  crcap.)  That  part  of  oils  and  fats 
which  is  solid  at  common  temperatures. 

STE'ATITE.  (Gr.  anap.)  A  soft  mineral  of  an  unctu- 
ous or  soapy  feel ;  hence  called  soapstone.  It  is  a  hydrated 
silicate  of  magnesia  and  alumina. 

STEATO'MA.  (Gr.  orcap.)  A  tumour,  the  contents  of 
which  are  of  the  appearance  and  consistency  of  hard  fat. 

STEEL.  (Germ,  stahl.)  This  most  useful  and  curious 
substance  is  a  compound  of  iron  and  carbon  :  their  relative 
proportions  vary  in  steel  of  different  qualities;  but  in  that 
used  for  ordinary  purposes,  the  carbon  rarely  exceeds  2  per 
cent.,  and  is  generally  below  it.  Certain  kinds  of  iron  are 
preferred  to  others  in  this  manufacture  ;  but  this  relates 
entirely  to  its  purity,  which  is  the  essential  requisite.  Steel 
is  made  by  a  process  called  cementation,  which  consists  in 
filling  a  proper  furnace  with  alternate  strata  of  bars  of  the 
purest  malleable  iron  and  powdered  charcoal :  atmospheric 
air  is  carefully  excluded  from  the  boxes  containing  the  bars, 
and  the  whole  kept  for  several  days  at  a  red  heaL  By  this 
process  carbon,  probably  in  the  state  of  vapour,  penetrates, 
and  combines  in  the  above  small  relative  proportion  with 
the  iron,  the  texture  of  which,  originally  fibrous,  becomes 
granular,  and  its  surface  acquires  a  blistered  character. 
The  malleability  of  steel  falls  far  short  of  that  of  iron  ;  but 
it  is  harder,  and  more  sonorous  and  elastic,  and  susceptible 
of  a  higher  polish,  and  has  less  tendency  to  rust.  At  a  red 
heat  it  admits  of  hammering  into  various  forms,  and  of  be- 
ing welded  or  united  by  the  blows  of  the  hammer  to  ano- 
ther piece  of  steel  or  iron.  Blistered  steel,  rolled  or  beaten 
down  into  bars,  forms  shear  steel  :  and  if  melted,  cast  into 
ingots,  and  again  rolled  out  into  bars,  it  forms  cast  steel, 
which,  when  well  prepared,  has  the  great  reconunendati'  m  of 
perfect  uniformity  of  texture,  and  a  finer  and  closergrain.  The 
peculiarity  of  steel,  upon  which  its  high  value  in  the  arts  in 
great  measure  depends,  is  its  property  of  becoming,  by  sud- 
den quenching  in  water,  when  at  a  bright  red  heat,  ex- 
tremely hard,  and  of  being  again  softened  down  to  any  re- 
quisite degree  by  the  application  of  a  certain  temperature, 
which  may  he  indicated  by  a  thermometer,  commencing  at 
about  300°,  and  terminating  at  a  dull  red  heat.  This  pro- 
cess is  often  called  tempering ;  and  the  workman  is  some- 
times guided  in  the  extent  to  which  it  is  carried  by  the 
colour  of  the  polished  surface  of  the  heated  steel,  which  is 
at  first  rendered  of  a  pale  straw  tint,  then  yellow,  brown- 
ish, purple,  and  blue,  as  the  temperature  rises  from  one  ex- 
treme to  the  other.  The  latter  colour  indicates  extreme 
softness  and  elasticity,  such  as  belongs  to  watch  springs, 
some  sword  blades.  &c. ;  pale  straw  indicates  great  hard- 
ness, as  lor  razor  blades;  yellow  is  somewhat  softer,  and 
shows  a  tit  temper  for  penknives;  and  the  incipient  blues 
announce  the  temper  thai  belongs  to  coarser  culling  instil- 
ments, and  to  table  knives,  an]  of  winch,  made  of  hard 
steel,  would  soon  get  spoiled  and  notched,  but  the  edges  of 
which,  when  duly  tempered,  resist  breaking  on  the  one 
hand,  and  bending  on  the  other.  When  a  large  mass  of 
steel  is  hardened  by  quenching  in  water,  it  undergoes  a 
certain  degree  of  expansion,  so  ihnt  the  s|)ecific  gravity  of 

hard  steel  is  somen  hat  less  than  that  of  soft  It  has  been 
attempted  to  improve  the  quality  of  steel  for  certain  pur- 
poses  by  adding  to  it  small  portions  of  other  metals:  hence 
the  term  silrer  steel,  ScC  |  but  none  of  these  alloys  have  on 
the  whole  proved  superior  to  well  made  common  steel. 
There  is  a  kind  of  steel  imported  from  India,  known  under 
the   name  of  wootz,  the  cutting   instruments  of  which  are 

celebrated  for  the  toughness  and  durability  of  thi 

It  appears  probable  that  its  peculiarities  depend  upon  the 
presence  of  a  little  aluminum.  When  the  surface  of  some 
tee]  is  washed  over  with  a  weak  acid,  it  acquires 
a  peculiar  mottled  or  damasked  appearance,  as  if  its  texture 
consisted  of  an  intimate  mixture  of  two  different  kinds  of 

steel,  or  of  fine  fibres  of  steel  and  iron.  Steel,  a  1  loved  with 
a  little  nickel,  often  puts  on  this  appearance ;   but  these 


STEEL  ENGRAVING. 

and  some  other  imitations  of  the  celebrated  Damascus 
sword  blades  have  not  led  to  any  important  improvements 
in  the  manufacture  of  our  cutting  instruments.  (See  Stod- 
art  and  Faraday.     Phil.  Trans.  1822.) 

STEEL  ENGRAVING.    The  art  of  engraving  on  steel. 
See  Engraving. 
STEEL  YARD.     A  balance  by  which  the  weights  of 
bodies  are  determined  by 
s    means  of  a  single  stand- 
ard weight.    The  instru 


ment,  which  is  represent- 
ed in  the  annexed  figure, 
is  a  lever  having  unequal 
arms.  The  load  whose 
weight  is  to  be  determined  is  Mi-pnded  from  the  extremity 
B  of  the  short  arm  ;  and,  in  weighing,  the  constant  weight 
or  counterpoise  P  is  slid  along  the  longer  arm  until  the 
equilibrium  is  established.  Divisions  traced  on  this  arm  in- 
dicate the  weight  at  B  corresponding  at  each  position  of  P. 

In  the  Roman  steel  yard,  or  stutera,  the  lever  was  so 
constructed  that  the  centre  of  gravity  was  brought  immedi- 
ately over  the  point  of  support;  and  the  system  being  ac- 
cordingly balanced  upon  its  fulcrum  F,  the  effect  of  the 
weight  of  the  lever  was  neutralized.  The  longer  arm  was 
then  divided  into  parts,  each  equal  to  the  shorter  arm,  and 
those  again  equally  subdivided.  Suppose  now  the  length 
of  the  shorter  arm,  or  the  distance  F  B,  to  be  one  inch,  and 
the  constant  weight  P  to  be  one  pound  ;  then  if  P  be  placed 
at  the  distance  of  five  inches  from  F,  it  will  make  equilibri- 
um with  a  load  of  five  pounds  suspended  from  B  ;  for,  from 
the  property  of  the  lever,  when  the  equilibrium  is  establish- 
ed the  weight  P  is  to  the  load  at  B  as  the  distance  of  B 
from  F  is  to  the  distance  of  P  from  F.  Whatever  propor- 
tion, therefore,  F  P  has  to  F  B,  the  same  proportion  has  the 
weight  suspended  from  B  to  the  constant  weight  P. 

The  steel  yard  in  common  use  is  constructed  somewhat 
differently,  the  beam  being  seldom  made  so  as  to  balance 
itself  on  the  fulcrum  F ;  but  the  error  that  would  arise  on 
this  account  is  compensated  by  beginning  the  divisions  at 
that  point  where  the  weight  P  being  placed,  the  equilibrium 
is  established.  If,  therefore,  when  P  is  removed  the  longer 
arm  preponderates,  the  divisions  commence  from  a  point 
between  F  and  B.  For  the  purpose  of  increasing  the  range, 
there  are  also  in  general  two  fulcra,  from  either  of  which 
the  beam  may  be  suspended,  and  two  corresponding  scales 
of  division  are  marked  on  opposite  sides  of  the  longer  arm. 

For  weighing  heavy  loads  the  steel  yard  is  a  convenient 
instrument ;  but  for  smaller  weights  it  is  susceptible  of  less 
accuracy  than  the  common  balance.  It  should  be  construct- 
ed so  that  the  point  of  support  F,  and  the  point  of  suspen- 
sion at  B,  may  be  in  the  same  straight  line  with  the  divi- 
sions of  the  beam. 

STEEL  YARD,  MERCHANTS  OF  THE.  A  company 
of  London  merchants  to  whom  the  steel  yard  (see  above) 
was  assigned  by  Henry  III.  A.D.  1232.  They  were  all  for- 
eigners, chiefly  Flemish  and  German,  and  were  long  the 
only  exporters  of  the  staple  commodities  of  England. 

STEENING,  or  STEANING.  In  Architecture,  the  brick 
or  stone  wall  or  lining  of  a  well. 

STEEPLE.  In  Architecture,  a  tower  of  various  forms, 
usually  attached  to  churches  and  other  public  buildings,  in 
which  bells  are  frequently  but  not  always  suspended. 

STEER.  To  keep  the  ship  on  a  sriven  direction.  This  is 
done  by  moving  the  rudder  by  the  tiller,  which  last  is  moved 
from  that  side  to  which  the  ship's  head  is  required  to  be 
moved. 

STEERAGE.  The  steering  of  the  ship.  Also  a  place 
below  in  the  fore  part  of  ships,  as  distinguished  from  the 
chief  cabin  ;  but  the  term  is  of  uncertain  acceptation. 

STEGANO'GRAPH Y.  (Gr.  orcyavos,  covered,  and  ypa<pu, 
J  write.)     The  art  of  writing  in  cvpher.     See  Cypher. 

STE'GANOPODS.  (Gr.  orcyavo;,  covered;  7700?,  a  foot.) 
The  name  of  a  family  of  swimming  birds  (JVatatores)  in  the 
system  of  Illiger,  including  those  species  in  which  all  the 
four  toes  are  connected  by  the  same  web.  It  corresponds 
with  the  genus  Pelccanus  of  Linnaeus. 

STEINHEILITE.  A  mineral  of  a  blue  colour ;  a  variety 
of  iolite. 

STE'LA.  (Gr.  GrrfXn,  from  larnni,  I  stand.)  In  Architec- 
ture, a  small  column  without  base  or  capital,  usually  with 
an  inscription  to  record  an  event,  or  to  perpetuate  the  mem- 
ory of  some  deceased  person.  The  ancients  also  used  them 
for  marking  distances.  There  are  several  specimens  of  ste- 
la? in  the  British  Museum. 

STELLATE.  In  Botany,  a  natural  order  of  Exogens, 
also  known  under  the  name  of  Galiacea ;  which  see. 

STELLE'RIDANS,  Stelleridas.  (Lat.  Stella,  a  star.)  Star 
fishes.  The  name  of  the  family  of  Echinoderms  of  which 
the  genus  listerias  is  the  type. 

STE'LLIONATE.  In  the  Roman  law,  a  general  term  com- 
prehending all  sorts  of  fraud  committed  in  matters  of  agree- 
ment which  were  not  designated  by  any  more  special  appel- 


STEREOMETER. 

lation.  The  name  is  said  to  be  derived  from  stcllio,  a  lizard, 
because  the  fraudulent  man  is  comparable  to  that  animal  for 
versatility  and  address.  The  six  common  species  of  stellion- 
ate  enumerated  by  Roman  writers  were,  1.  When  one  sells 
the  same  thing  to  two  purchasers  ;  2.  When  a  debtor  pledges 
to  his  creditors  something  which  does  not  belong  to  him; 
3.  When  one  abstracts  or  damnifies  something  which  he 
has  pledged  to  creditors  :  4.  Collusion  by  two  parties  to  the 
prejudice  of  a  third  ;  5.  When  a  vender  substitutes  an  ob- 
ject of  less  value  for  that  which  he  has  engaged  to  sell  ;  6. 
A  wilful,  false  declaration  in  an  instrument. 

STEM.  In  Music,  the  upright  or  downright  line  added 
to  the  head  of  a  musical  note;  the  head  being  that  part 
filled  in  black  or  left  open,  as  the  case  may  be. 

STENELY'TRANS,  Stenelytra.  (Gr.  ortvos,  narrow; 
t\vrpov,  a  sheath.)  The  name  given  by  Latreille  to  a  fami- 
ly of  Coleopterous  insects,  comprehending  those  in  which 
the  elvtra  become  narrow  at  the  posterior  part  of  the  bodv. 

STENO'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  orevos,  and  ypa<pu>,  I  write.) 
The  art  of  short  hand,  otherwise  termed  tachygraphy.  This 
art  has  been  practised  from  remote  antiquity,  and  it  is  said  to 
have  originated  in  the  hieroglyphics  of  the  Egyptians.  Nu- 
merous systems  of  stenography  have  been  invented  in  more 
recent  times,  many  of  them  of  great  simplicity  ;  but  it  would 
be  out  of  place  here  to  enter  into  any  details  respecting  them. 

STEP.  A  block  of  wood,  or  in  large  ships  of  late  years 
a  strong  solid  platform,  upon  the  kelson,  supporting  the  keel 
of  the  mast.  It  was  found  that  the  weight  of  the  mast, 
yards,  &c,  added  to  the  enormous  force  upon  the  rigging, 
especially  during  strong  winds,  forced  the  keel  down. 

STEPPES.  (Russ.)  The  name  given  to  the  vast  system 
of  plains  peculiar  to  Asia  ;  synonymous  with  the  prairies  of 
North  America  and  the  Ilhanos  of  South  America.  The 
steppes  of  Russia  are  not  unlike  the  heaths  of  Germany, 
being  in  part  susceptible  of  cultivation,  and  affording  pastu- 
rage for  numerous  herds  of  nomadic  tribes. 

STERCO'RIANISM.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  nick- 
name which  seems  to  have  been  applied  in  the  Wrestem 
church,  in  the  5th  and  6th  century,  to  those  who  held  the 
opinion  that  a  change  took  place  in  the  consecrated  ele- 
ments, so  as  to  render  the  divine  body  subject  to  the  act  of 
digestion.     (See  Mosheim,  vol.  ii.,  transl.  1790,  p.  342.) 

STERELMl'NTHANS.  Sterelmintha.  (Gr.  cu peoc,  solid, 
and  twin's,  an  intestinal  worm.)  The  name  of  a  class  of 
internal  parasitic  animals  or  Entozoons,  comprising  those 
which  are  composed  of  a  solid  parenchymatous  substance, 
in  which  the  nutrient  and  generative  canals  are  simply  ex- 
cavated, and  not  freely  suspended  in  an  abdominal  cavitv. 

STEREOGRA'PHIC  PROJECTION.  (Gr.oTeptog,  solid; 
ypa<p>i,  description.)  The  projection  of  the  sphere  upon  the 
plane  of  one  of  its  great  circles,  the  eye  being  situated  at  the 
pole  of  that  circle.     See  Projection. 

STEREO'GRAPHY.  In  the  descriptive  Geometry,  the 
representation  of  solids  on  a  plane. 

STEREO'METER.  (Gr.  creptac,  solid ;  ucrpov,  measure.) 
In  Hydrodynamics,  an  instrument  invented  by  M.  Say,  a 
French  officer  of  engineers,  for  determining  the  specific 
gravity  of  liquid  bodies,  porous  bodies,  and  powders,  as  well 
as  of  solids.  The  instrument  may  be  described  as  follows  : 
Let  A  E  be  a  glass  tube,  about  three  feet  Ions,  and  open  at 
both  ends,  the  upper  part  A  B  being  about  4-10ths,  and  Af 
the  lower  2-10ths  of  an  inch  in  diameter.  The  upper 
edge  is  ground  smooth,  so  that  it  can  be  shut  air- 
tight by  a  piece  of  ground  plate  glass:  and  the  upper b 
part  A  B  communicates  with  the  lower  by  a  very  nar- 
row slit  at  B,  which  allows  air  to  pass,  but  prevents 
the  passage  of  sand  or  water.  In  using  the  instrument, 
a  powder  (for  instance)  is  placed  in  the  tube  A  B,  and 
the  lower  part  B  E  is  plunged  into  a  vessel  containing  j 
mercury  till  the  fluid  rises  exactly  to  B.  The  ground  f 
glass  cover  is  then  placed  upon  the  mouth  A,  and  j 
there  is  now  no  air  in  the  tube  except  what  is  mixed  I 
with  the  powder.  Supposing  the  barometric  pressure  I 
to  be  30  inches ;  let  the  tube  be  elevated  until  the 
mercury  stands  within  it  at  a  point  C,  15  inches  above 
its  surface  in  the  open  vessel,  and  it  is  manifest  that  the 
air  within  the  tube  is  pressed  with  exactly  half  an  atmo- 
sphere. It  consequently  expands  to  twice  its  original  bulk, 
and  hence  the  tube  A  B  now  contains  only  half  the  quantity 
of  air  it  contained  at  first.  The  part  B  C  must  therefore  con- 
tain the  other  half,  or  the  air  in  B  C  is  equal  to  the  air  mixed 
with  the  powder  in  A  B  :  and  being  half  the  original  quan- 
tity under  half  the  original  pressure,  it  fills  the  same  space 
which  the  whole  occupied  previous  to  the  expansion.  Let 
the  powder  be  now  removed  from  A  B,  and  the  process  re- 
peated when  the  tube  is  filled  with  air.  The  quantity  of  air 
being  now  greater,  will,  when  expanded  to  twice  its  bulk, 
fill  a  larger  space  than  B  C,  and  the  mercury  will  rise  only 
to  some  point  D  ;  but  as  the  expanded  air  occupied  exactly 
the  same  space  in  B  D  or  B  C  as  the  whole  occupied  in  A  B 
under  twice  the  pressure,  it  follows  that  the  cavity  CD  =  B 
D  —  B  C  is  equal  to  the  bulk  of  the  solid  matter  in  the  pow- 

1179 


STEREOTYPE. 

der.  If,  therefore,  we  now  find  the  number  of  grains  of  water 
which  would  fill  the  part  c  li.  we  determine  the  weight  of 
water  equal  in  bulk  to  the  solid  matter  in  the  powder;  mid 
bv  comparing  this  with  the  weight  of  the  powder,  we  obtain 
its  specific  gravity.  (Ency.  Hrit.,  art.  ••  Hydrodynamics.") 

Say's  stereometer  was  first  described  in  the  .dnnales  de 
C'iimic  for  IW7.  An  instrument  on  exactly  the  same  prin- 
ciple was  afterwards  brought  forward  by  Sir  John  Leslie 
Under  the  name  of  8  coniomcter. 

SI'i:  KKOTVI'E.  (Gr.  orepcoc,  solid,  and  rviroc,  a  figure.) 
f  letters,  called  letter-press  plates,  of  the  size  of  a 
page,  cast  from  a  plaster  mould,  in  which  an  exact  repre- 
sentation of  the  types  lias  been  made,  and  thus  forming 
the  permanent  plates  from  which  books  are  afterwards 
printed.  As  the  art  of  printing  i.-ar  Printing)  began  with 
the  impression  of  whole  blocks,  it  may  be  said  that  in  its 
towards  perfection  it  has  again  reached  the  same 
point  by  the  introduction  of  stereotype  plates.  The  origin 
of  the  more  modern  invention  is  involved  in  greater  obscuri- 
ty than  might  at  first  sight  appear  probable  from  its  compar- 
atively recent  due.  By  some  writers  the  merit  of  the  inven- 
tion is  ascribed  to  the  Dutch,  who  had  adopted  the  plan  of 
pdnting with  solid  or  fixed  types  in  the  17th  century;  but 
It  was  not  till  the  end  of  the  last,  and  the  commencement 
of  the  present  century,  that  the  process  was  perfected  and 
generally  introduced.  In  this  useful  invention,  the  most 
prominent  names  are  Ged  of  Edinburgh,  Tulloch  and  Foulis 
Of  Glasgow,  Didot  in  Paris,  and  Wilson  and  Earl  Stanhope 
in  London.  The  process  of  stereotyping  is  very  simple.  A 
page  of  any  work  proposed  to  be  stereotyped  is  set  up  with 
moveable  types  in  the  usual  way.  A  plaster  is  then  taken 
from  it,  which,  being  rir-t  dried,  is  immersed  in  fluid  metal. 
The  cast  or  plate, "after  being  sufficiently  cooled,  is  then 
withdrawn  from  the  mould,  and,  at  a  subsequent  stage,  care- 
fully examined  with  a  view  to  removing  any  imperfections 
previous  to  its  being  printed  from.  The  plaster  used  for 
(brining  the  mould  is  pulverized  gypsum,  mixed  with  water 
to  the  consistence  of  cream.  After  the  form  of  types  has 
been  surrounded  with  a  brass  frame,  and  slightly  oiled  on 
the  surface,  the  tluid  plaster  is  poured  upon  it,  and,  by  the 
application  of  a  brush,  made  to  fill  every  cavity  of  the  let- 
ters, the  superfluous  portion  being  scraped  off.  When  the 
plaster  has  set  sufficiently  bard,  it  is,  by  means  of  the  frame, 
lifted  oil  the  face  of  the  type  and  detached  from  it.  It  is 
then  baked  to  dryness  in  an  oven  ;  and  when  quite  hot  it  is 
placed  in  an  iron  box,  or  casting  )xit,  which  has  also  been 
heated  in  an  oven.  The  box  is  now  plunged  into  a  large 
pot  of  melted  type-metal  and  kept  about  ten  minutes  under 
the  surface,  in  order  that  the  weight  of  the  metal  may  force 
it  into  all  the  liner  parts  of  the  letters.     The  whole  is  then 

cooled;  the old  is  broken  and  washed  off;  and  the  back 

of  the  plate  turned  smooth  on  a  lathe,  or  planed  by  a  ma- 
chine, ons  J.'  ikon.) 

STE'RLING.  The  legal  description  of  the  English  cur- 
rent coin,  of  which  the  most  probable  derivation  is  from 
■lis,  the  popular  name  of  the  Baltic  and  German  tra- 
ders who  visited  London  in  the  middle  ages;  but  in  what 
manner  it  came  to  be  so  applied  is  unknown.  Camden  says 
from  the  employment  of  German  artists  in  coining.  The 
silver  penny  was  first  called  Esterling. 

STERN.  In  Naval  affairs,  the  after  extremity  of  a  vessel. 

BTE'RNA.  A  genus  of  web-footed  birds,  having  a  bill 
a<  long  as  or  longer  than  the  head,  almost  straight,  com- 
pressed, and  pointed;  the  mandibles  of  equal  length,  the 
upper  one  slightly  inclined  towards  the  point;  nostrils 
pierced  towards  the  middle  of  the  bill ;  legs  small,  naked  to 

above  tiic  knee:  three  anterior  toes  united  by  an  indented 

web;  the  bind  toe  free;  wings  very  long  and  pointed;  tail 
more  or  less  forked.  From  the  two  latter  characters,  the 
ol  Sterna  are  sometimes  called  "sea  swallows;" 
their  proper  English  name  is  "tern." 

STERNO'XI.  (Gr.  artpvos,  sternum,  and  o£cf,  pointed.) 
The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Coleopterous  bisects, comprehending 
mum  is  prolonged  into  a  point  at  both 
extremities. 

STE  ft  NUM.  (Lat  sternum,  the  breast  bone.)  In  Com- 
parative Anatomy,  the  simple  or  compound  bone  which 
completes  the  thoracic  cage  anteriorly,  and  serves  as  a  me- 

dium  of  union  to  a  greater  or  le-s  number  of  the  ribs.  The 
sternum  is  not  present  in  the  skeleton  of  Fishes,  Amphibi- 
ans, or  i  Iphidiana  In  Bauriane  the  .anterior  portion  i-  gen- 
erally expanded,  to  be   joined    to  the  broad    COT  i 

In  Chelonians,  this  part  of  the  skeleton  is  re- 
markably developed,  and  very  complex,  and  constitutes  the 
greater  part  of  the  plastron  or  floor  of  their  defensive  osse- 
ouscaee.  In  Birds,  also,  it  Is  more  or  less  complex  at  the 
beginning  of  its  development;  but  the  different  ossifications 
blended  together,  .and  form  a  single  broad  bone. 
principally  remarkable  for  the  keel  like  process  developed 
from  the  middle  line  of  its  under  surface.  This  to 
servient  to  the  attachment  of  the  muscles  of  the  wing,  and 
bears  a  direct  proportion  to  the  powers  of  Hight;  except 
llcO 


STIGMATA. 

where  the  wings,  as  in  the  penguin,  arc  used  as  fins.  In  the 
Stnithious  birds,  the  keel  of  the  sternum  is  wanting. 

In  Mammalia,  the  sternum  is  generally  simple,  and  con- 
sists of  a  single  chain  of  ossicles;  except  in  the  orangutang, 
and  occasionally  in  man,  where  a  double  series  of  ossulca 
tions  are  originally  developed  in  the  body  of  the  bone,  but 
which  afterwards  become  Confluent.  The  upper  portion, 
or  manubrium  sterni,  remains  long  distinct  from  the  main 
body  of  the  sternum  ;  in  man,  the  cartilaginous  appen- 
dage of  the  lower  edge  of  the  sternum  is  called  xiphoid  or 
en-ifonn. 

STETHOSCOPE.  (Gr.  ornQoc,  the  chest,  and  okottcu),  I 
explore.)  A  cylinder  of  cedar  wood,  about  12  inches  long, 
and  1  in  diameter ;  perforated  throughout  its  length,  and  di- 
vided inlo  two  parts  for  the  convenience  of  using  the  whole 
or  half  its  length.  The  end  of  each  part  terminates  in  a  fun- 
nel-shaped cavity.    Its  use  is  adverted  to  under  the  head 

A  I  Si  I   I.TATION. 

STEWARD,  LORD  HIGH,  was  anciently  the  first  officer 
of  the  crown  in  England,  with  the  Latin  title  of  Magnus 
SeneschallUB.  The  office  was  at  one  period  annexed  to  the 
lordship  of  Hinkley,  in  Leicestershire,  held  by  the  family 
of  De  Montfort ;  but  on  the  rebellion  and  fall  of  that  noble 
house,  it  was  in  effect  abolished  as  a  permanent  dignity,  and 
is  now  only  revived  pro  hue  vice  on  the  occasion  of  a  cor- 
onation, or  the  trial  of  a  peer.  In  the  former  case  the  lord 
high  steward's  commission  is  to  settle  matters  of  precedence, 
&c. ;  in  the  latter,  to  preside  in  the  House  of  Lords. 

STEWARD,  LORD,  OF  THE  HOUSEHOLD.  An  offi- 
cer of  the  king's  household  in  England  ;  in  Norman  French, 
Seneschal.  He  is  steward  of  the  marshalsea  or  court  of  the 
household  ;  an  office  which  he  performs  by  deputy.  In  his 
department  is  the  counting  house  where  the  expenses  of  the 
king's  household  are  taken  ;  within  which  is  the  board  of 
green  cloth,  an  ancient  court  which  has  jurisdiction  of  of- 
fences committed  within  the  king's  palaces  and  verge  of 
the  court. 

STHE'NIC  DISEASES.  Those  which  are  the  result  of 
inflammatory  or  increased  action;  as  opposed  to  asthenic, 
or  diseases  of  debility. 

STIBIUM.     Antimony. 

STI  CHOMANCY.  (Gr.  vrixoc,  a  line,  and  udvreia, proph- 
ecy.) Divination  by  lines  or  passages  in  books  taken  at  haz- 
ard. Among  the  Romans  verses  from  the  Sybilline  books 
were  written  on  slips  of  paper,  which  were  thrown  into  a 
vessel ;  and  future  events  were  conjectured  from  the  inter- 
pretation of  one  of  these  slips  drawn  out  at  hazard.  Of  the 
same  kind  were  the  Sortes  Virgilianir,  Homeriea,  &.c.  :  a 
sort  of  literary  superstition  by  which  the  works  of  authors 
-ulted.  and  the  meaning  of  a  line  casually  taken 
assumed  as  indicative  of  the  late  of  the  person  discovering 
it.  Verses  of  the  Bible  selected  in  this  way  by  chance  have 
been,  and  are  still,  frequently  taken  by  the  superstitious  as 
oracular.  This  sort  of  divination  has  been  called  biblioman- 
cy,  or  sortes  bibliae.  It  was  condemned  by  the  council  of 
Valines  in  405,  and  other  early  synods  ;  but  was  long  after- 
wards practised  in  France  at  the  elections  of  bishops,  abbots, 
&.C  The  custom  of  drawing  by  lots  verses  from  the  Bible 
on  such  occasions  is  said  to  have  prevailed  as  hue  as  1740, 
in  the  cathedrals  of  Ypres,  St.  Oiner,  and  Boulogne.  See 
Sortes.  Sortilege. 

STICK,  GOLD.  The  colonels  of  the  two  regiments  of 
Life  Guards  are  so  called,  whose  duty  it  is  to  be  in  immedi- 
ate attendance  on  the  sovereign  on  all  state  occasions.  These 
colon*  I-  di 'duty  for  a  month  alternately  ;  the  one  on  duty  be- 
ing called  the^roM  stick  in  waiting.  The  field  officer  of  the 
Life  Guards,  when  on  duty,  is  called  silver  stuh.  The  term 
originated  in  the  custom  of  the  sovereign  presenting  the  col- 
onel of  the  Life  Guards  with  a  gold  slick  on  his  receiving  the 
regiment. 

STI'GMA.  (Gr.  oriyua.)  An  impression,  such  as  that 
made  by  branding  with  a  hot  Iron.  Stigmatizing  was  a 
common  practice  among  the  ancients  to  mark  their  slaves 

as  property;  and  it    is  pursued  at    the  present  day  among 

slave-drivers.  It  was  customary  also  to  stigmatize  the  vo- 
tariesof  some  of  the  gods  with  some  recognised  emblem  •  f 
their  divinity,  such  as  the  ivy  of  Bacchus,  the  trident  of  .Nep- 
tune, &c. ;  or  with  the  initial  of  their  names,  or  some  mys- 
tical number,    it  is  supposed  that  reference  is  made  to  this 

practice  by  St.  John,  Rev.,  ch.  13.     See  Tat- inc. 

Siiomx".  In  Botany,  the  upper  extremity  of  r 
without  a  cuticle,  in  consequence  of  which  it  has  almost 
uniforml)  a  humid  and  papillose  surface,  li  is  the  part  upon 
which  the  pollen  falls,  and  where  It  is  stimulated  Into  the 
of  the  pollen  tubes,  which  are  indispensable  to 
the  act  of  impregnation. 

B  ri'GM  \T  \.  In  Theological  language,  the  marks  of 
the  wounds  of  our  Saviour.  Tin'  text  a)  the  end  of  the  Epis- 
tle to  the  Gal  atians,  "  From  hence  let  no  man  trouble  me, 
for  1  ben  iii  mj  bodj  the  marks  of  the  Lord  Jesus,"  seems 
to  have  given  ri  e  to  the  superstitions  promulgated  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  church  respecting  the  impression  of  the 


STILE. 

Stigmata  en  favoured  saints',  of  which  the  legend  of  St. 
Francis  <>t'  .\<<isi  affords  the  most  remarkable  instance. 

STILE.  In  Architecture,  the  vertical  piece  in  framing  or 
panelling,     See  Rail. 

STILL.  (Lat.  stillare,  to  drop.)  An  apparatus  for  the 
distillation  of  liquids  upon  the  large  scale.  It  includes  the 
body,  or  boiler,  which  is  usually  set  in  brick  work  over  a 
furnace,  and  to  which  is  annexed  the  head,  forming  the  com- 
munication between  the  boiler  and  condenser  or  tcorm  pipe  ; 
from  the  extremity  of  which  the  distilled  liquid  passes  in 
successive  drops,  or  a  small  continuous  stream,  into  the  re- 
cipient. There  are  an  infinite  variety  of  stills  adapted  to 
particular  purposes,  of  which  the  most  important  are  the  dis- 
tillation of  spirituous  liquors.  (See  O're's  Diet,  of  Arts,  i-c.) 

STILT  BIRD.  The  name  of  the  Himantopus  melanopter- 
u-s,  significative  of  its  very  long  and  slender  legs. 

STI'NKSTOXE.  A  bituminous  carbonate  of  lime,  which 
exhales  a  fetid  odour  when  rubbed. 

STDST.  In  Coal  Mines,  a  measure  of  work  used  under 
ground,  2  yards  long  and  1  broad,  which  each  miner  clears 
before  he  removes  to  another  place,  and  which  is  proved  by 
a  boy  appointed  for  the  purpose,  who  is  colloquially  called 
"  the  judge." 

STIPEND  (Lat.  stipendium),  signified  originally  the  pay 
of  soldiers.  In  a  legal  sense  it  is  applied  to  the  salary  or  al- 
lowance given  to  some  person  for  transacting  the  business  of 
another;  but  in  Scotland  the  term  is  almost  exclusively 
confined  to  the  provision  made  by  law  for  the  established 
clergy.  See  Presbytery. 

STI'PPLING.  In  Engraving,  the  method  of  producing 
shadows  by  means  of  dots  of  greater  or  less  size,  according 
to  the  intensity  of  the  shadow  required.  By  this  method 
the  resemblance  to  chalk  drawings  is  produced. 

STI'PULA.  In  Botany,  a  small  appendage  situated  upon 
each  side  of  the  base  of  a  petiole,  most  commonly  of  a  less 
firm  texture  than  the  latter,  and  having  a  subulate  termina- 
tion :  the  word  is  also  used  in  describing  Hepaticce,  to  denote 
the  appendaces  which  are  occasionally  present  at  the  bases 
of  the  leaves,  but  of  which  they  seem  rather  to  be  lobes 
than  distinct  orcans. 

STOCK  DOVE.  The  name  of  the  wild  species  called 
ColumbaJEnas  bv  Linnsus. 

STOCK  EXCHANGE.  The  name  given  to  the  system 
whereby  the  purchase,  sale,  and  •'  carrying  over"  of  stock 
and  shares  are  effected  by  certain  parties  called  brokers. 
This  curious  and  complicated  subject  may  be  explained  and 
discussed  under  three  different  heads :  viz.  first,  the  parties 
engaged  in  stock  transactions,  whether  brokers  or  jobbers  ; 
secondly,  money  and  time  bargains ;  thirdly,  the  rules  and 
regulations  by  which  these  operations  are  conducted. 

The  Clearing-house  in  Lombard  Street  affords  the  great- 
est facilities  to  the  transactions  of  the  Stock  Exchange, 
inasmuch  as,  without  its  intervention,  difficulties  and  em- 
barrassments would  present  themselves  in  the  final  settle- 
ment or  adjustment  of  those  transactions  of  an  almost 
insurmountable  character.  By  means  of  this  clearing- 
house, all  the  great  monetary  transactions  of  the  day  are 
broucht  to  a  close  by  o  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  ;  whereas 
in  the  ordinary  mode  of  paying  or  receiving  money,  whether 
in  notes  or  hard  cash,  their  settlement  might  not  be  finally 
effected  for  several  days  afterwards,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
security  afforded  to  all  parties  concerned  by  the  operation  of 
the  clearing-house. 

The  members  of  the  Stock  Exchange  are  divided  into  two 
distinct  classes: — viz.  the  brokers,  and  the  jobbers.  It  is 
the  business  of  the  brokers  to  receive  and  to  execute  the 
orders  of  merchants,  bankers,  capitalists,  and  private  indi- 
viduals, who  are  "out  of  the  house;"  the  Stock  Exchange 
being  among  its  own  members  honoured  with  that  dignified 
appellation  ! 

The  jobbers  remain  stationary  in  the  "  house ;"  and  ready 
to  act  upon  the  orders  thus  received  by  the  brokers.  And 
here  it  may  be  as  well  to  explain  the  nature  and  character 
of  the  business  transacted  by  these  jobbers,  who,  being  men 
possessed  of  more  or  less  capital,  endeavour  to  turn  it  to 
account  in  the  manner  we  are  about  to  explain.  It  is  their 
business  to  be  always  prepared  to  make  a  price  to  the  bro- 
kers whenever  the  latter  present  themselves  :  the  readiness 
which  they  display  in  offering  to  do  business  to  large 
amounts  at  the  apparently  small  difference  of  l-8th  per  cent, 
would  appear  extraordinary,  were  it  not  that  they  are  so 
numerous  that  an  eager  competition  is  excited  among  them 
for  the  favours  of  the  brokers.  When  one  of  the  latter 
appears  in  the  market,  he  is  surrounded  by  a  knot  of  job- 
bers, who  announce  themselves  ready  to  buy  or  sell  what- 
ever amount  of  stock  he  has  to  deal  in  at  a  price  varying 
only  l-8th  per  cent.  For  instance,  if  a  broker  has  to  do 
business  in  5000Z.  Consols  (the  market  price  being  about  90), 
the  jobber  offers  to  buy  his  50007.  at  90,  or  to  sell  him  that 
amount  at  90}.  without  being  in  the  slightest  degree  aware 
whether  the  orders  of  the  broker  are  to  buy  or  to  sell,  and 
thus  taking  upon  himself  the  risk  of  selling  that  which  he 
93 


STOCK  EXCHANGE. 

does  not  possess,  or  of  buying  what  he  does  not  intend  to 
keep;  his  only  object  being  to  undo  his  bargain,  at  a  differ- 
ence of  l-8th  per  cent.,  or  even  less,  with  another  broker, 
who  may  have  to  effect  an  operation  the  very  reverse  of  the 
other,  which  1-Sth  or  even  1-lrjth  constitutes  his  profit. 

Without  the  intervention  of  the  jobber,  therefore,  it  will 
be  seen  that  there  would  exist  a  vast  difficulty  in  effecting 
the  transactions  which  daily  take  place.  The  jobbers  are, 
in  fact,  the  "middle  men,"  who  stand  in  the  house  in  the 
character  of  dealers,  always  ready  to  buy  or  sell,  thus  obvi- 
ating the  necessity  of  the  broker's  going  in  quest  of  a  second 
broker,  with  whom  he  might  transact  his  business ;  or,  in 
other  words,  whom  he  might  suit  to  buy  what  the  other 
broker  had  to  sell,  or  vice  versa.  Again,  even  if  one  were 
at  hand,  he  might  not  be  able  to  concur  in  the  actual  amount 
of  stock  which  the  other  wished  to  deal  in ;  whereas  the 
jobber  is  ready  to  do  business  to  any  amount,  even  to  the 
smallest  fraction,  and  hence  a  great  deal  of  lime  is  saved. 
It  often  happens  that  a  broker  who  has  to  dispose  of  shares 
not  currently  dealt  in  is  frequently  obliged  to  wait  for 
months  before  he  can  find  a  purchaser ;  whereas,  in  the 
case  of  stock,  the  jobbers  offer  themselves  as  buyers  or 
sellers  at  a  moment's  notice,  and  thus  offer  facilities  for 
transactions  in  the  public  funds  which  could  not  be  effected 
without  them. 

Having  thus  endeavoured  to  explain  the  difference  be- 
tween broker  and  jobber,  and  confined  our  attention  hither- 
to to  money  transactions,  we  next  proceed  to  describe  the 
nature  of  "  time-bargains,"  which  form  so  essential  a  feature 
in  stock  business.  Indeed,  the  very  existence  of  the  Stock 
Exchange,  as  at  present  constituted,  depends  upon  specula- 
tions in  time-bargains;  for  where  there  exists  a  body  of  600 
members,  the  actual  bond  fide  business  would  not  be  suf- 
ficient to  provide  employment  for  them  all,  notwithstanding 
the  magnitude  of  the  national  debt.  Time-bargains  consist 
of  purchases  and  sales  of  stock  made  for  a  certain  fixed 
period,  regulated  by  the  committee.  There  can  be  little 
doubt  that  they  had  their  origin  in  the  business  which  has 
always  been  transacted  in  the  funds  during  the  period* 
when  the  slocks  are  shut.  For  instance,  Consols  usually 
close  about  the  beginning  of  June  and  December;  that  is  to 
say,  the  transfer  books  at  the  bank  are  shut  for  the  space  of 
five  or  six  weeks,  in  order  to  afford  time  for  the  preparation 
of  the  dividend  warrants,  which  are  paid  in  the  following 
July  and  January.  Hence  it  is  clear  that  a  person  wishing 
to  buy  or  sell  that  particular  stock  during  the  period  refer- 
red to  would  be  unable  to  effect  his  object ;.  but  in  order 
to  secure  the  price  of  the  day,  he  buys  or  sells  the  stock 
"for  the  opening,"  that  is,  for  actual  transfer  on  the  day  on 
which  the  transfer-books  are  re-opened.  This  mode  of 
doing  business  is  legitimate  enough  ;  but  this  practice  has 
no  doubt  given  rise  to  operations  of  the  greatest  magnitude, 
founded,  not  on  actual  necessities,  but  merely  on  specula- 
tion ;  and  this  method  being  found  convenient  for  one 
period,  has  been  continued  on  other  occasions,  without, 
however,  possessing  the  same  pretext  for  its  adoption.  Pe- 
riodical dates  have  consequently  been  fixed  upon  by  the 
committee,  similar  to  the  "opening,"  at  intervals  of  about 
six  weeks,  making  altogether  about  eight  "settling  days," 
as  they  are  called,  in  the  course  of  a  year.  On  these  settling 
days  are  arranged  and  adjusted  all  the  bargains  made  dur- 
ing the  preceding  six  weeks  for  that  particular  day ;  those 
who  sold  stock  having  to  deliver  it  on  the  one  hand,  and 
those  who  purchased  having  to  accept  and  pay  for  it  on  the 
other.  But  as  the  majority  of  the  speculators  have  no  in- 
tention of  doing  either  the  one  or  the  other,  their  bargains 
having  been  of  a  purely  speculative  character,  founded  on 
their  anticipations  of  a  rise  or  fall  in  the  value  of  the  securi- 
ties, so  whatever  difference  may  exist  between  the  price  at 
which  a  party  commenced  his  speculation  and  that  at 
which  he  finally  closed  it,  is  settled  on  this  important  day  ; 
and  his  operations  most  likely  not  having  been  confined  to 
the  same  jobbers,  but  having  been  effected  with  several,  it 
becomes  necessary  to  balance  them  with  the  parties  con- 
cerned, and  much  the  same  process  takes  place  on  this  occa- 
sion as  that  practised  at  the  banker's  clearing-house,  by  es- 
tablishing balances  between  each  other.  Whatever  ba- 
lance remains  unseuled  is  adjusted  by  the  name  of  the  bond 
fide  purchaser  of  the  stock  ^who  intends  to  pay  for  it)  being 
passed  from  one  broker,  or  jobber,  or  speculator  to  another, 
until  it  conies  into  the  hands  of  the  party  who  intends  to 
deliver  or  transfer  the  stock  ;  by  which  means  all  the  inter- 
mediate persons  through  whose  hands  it  passes  (the  price 
given  by  the  purchaser  being  marked  on  the  ticket)  are  en- 
abled to  close  their  accounts  with  each  other  at  that  par- 
ticular price,  and  to  pay  and  recede  the  differences  accord- 
ingly. In  short,  all  transactions  kept  open  until  the  settling 
day  must  then  be  closed ;  and  the  party  who  delays  this 
operation  until  the  last  moment  is  oftea  exposed  to  a  loss, 
from  the  difficulty  of  finding  others  who,  having  adjusted 
their  own  accounts,  are  unable  or  unwilling  to  enter  into  a 
fresh  transaction  on  this  "  dav  of  reckoning,"  whereby  he  is 

11S1 


STOCK  EXCHANGE. 


compelled  to  pay  something  extra  in  the  price  to  those  who 
have  it  in  their  power  to  afford  him  this  facility, in  order  to 
enable  him  to  settle  his  account 

But,  as  many  of  the  bargains  made  for  this  particular  day 
are  really  lion.i  fidt  transactions,  the  Block  bought  and  sold 
being,  in  point  of  fact,  delivered  by  the  actual  holder  and 
taken  by  the  new  purchaser, let  us  briefly  explain  how  this 
is  effected.  This  process  is  one  of  daily  occurrence,  and  is 
not  necessarily  confined  to  a  settling  day,  although  on  such 
occasions  it  usually  amounts  to  a  considerable  item,  from 
its  hiving  extended  over  a  wider  period.  In  either  case, 
however,  the  following  is  the  way  in  which  the  matter  is 
settled  between  the  broker  and  his  principal  who  has  sold 
stock:  The  broker  usually  passes  his  check  for  the  proceeds 
of  the  sale  to  his  principal,  taking  the  precaution  of  crossing 
it,  i.e..  writing  a  banker's  name  across  the  check.  When. 
however,  Bank  of  Kngland  notes  are  demanded  in  lieu  of 
crossed  checks  (as  is  sometimes  the  case),  the  bargain  is 
made  accordingly  :  in  this  case,  the  jobber  who  buys  the 
stock  provides  them  either  by  borrowing  of  those  who  hap 
pen  to  have  large  balances  at  their  banker's,  or  from  their 
own  private  bankers.  The  notes  so  borrowed  by  the  jobber 
are  then  paid  over  to  the  broker,  and  by  him  to  his  principal. 
This  operation  is,  however,  seldom  resorted  to  by  men  of 
business  where  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  credit  of  the 
party  drawing  the  check. 

The  jobber,  on  the  other  hand,  having  sold  the  stock  to 
some  other  broker,  who  buys  for  his  principal,  receives  in 
return  his  check  ;  so  that,  by  this  simple  process  of  passing 
four  checks — viz.  that  of  the  purchaser  to  his  broker,  that 
of  the  broker  to  the  jobber,  that  of  the  jobber  again  to  the 
broker  who  first  sold  the  stock,  and  that  of  the  latter  to  his 
principal — the  whole  transaction  is  completed. 

To  advert  to  another  technical  peculiarity  appertaining  to 
the  Stock  Exchange  which  may  appear  puzzling  to  the 
leader;  the  use,  namely,  of  the  term  "bull"  and  "bear." 
A  bull  is  one  who  speculates  for  a  rise ;  whereas  a  bear,  on 
the  contrary,  is  he  who  speculates  for  a  fall.  The  "bull" 
would,  for  instance,  buy  £  100,000  Consols  for  the  settling 
day,  or,  as  it  is  technically  termed,  "  for  the  account,"  with 
the  object  of  selling  them  again  during  thei  ntervening  pe- 
riod at  a  higher  price.  The  "bear,"  on  the  other  hand, 
would  sell  the  £100,000  stock  (which,  however,  he  does  not 
possess)  "for  the  account,"  with  a  view  of  buying  them  in 
for  the  purpose  of  balancing  the  transaction  at  a  lower 
price  than  he  originally  sold  them  at.  In  stirring  periods, 
when  fluctuations  of  4  or  5  per  cent,  often  occur  during  "  one 
account,"  vast  profits  may  be  realized,  or  equal  losses  sus- 
tained, by  these  gambling  operations. 

The  transactions  in  the  foreign  market  are  carried  on 
much  in  the  same  way  us  in  that  of  the  English  stocks, 
With  the  exception  that  the  settling  days  are  much  more  fre- 
quent, occurring,  as  they  do,  once  in  every  fortnight.  The 
foreign  "  house"  is  quite  of  modern  origin;  but  it  is  subject 
to  the  same  rules  and  regulations  as  the  English,  with  a 
few  exceptions.  The  dealings  are  there  carried  on  in  all 
the  foreign  stocks,  as  well  as  in  railway,  mining,  and  other 
shares.  The  jobbers  are  distinct  from  those  in  the  English 
house,  although  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  them  from  deal- 
ing in  both,  if  they  possess  sufficient  intelligence  to  enable 
them  to  give  their  attention  in  two  places  at  once. 

In  connexion  with  time-bargains  maybe  noticed  that  im- 
portant branch  of  business  which  goes  under  the  denomina- 
tion of  "  continuation,"  or  "earning  over."  This  is  no- 
thing more  than  interest  for  money  borrowed  or  lent  on  se- 
curity of  stock.  The  rate  of  this  continuation  or  interest 
varies  according  to  the  abundance  or  scarcity  of  money,  and 
the  nature  of  the  .security  offered.  For  instance,  on  British 
stocks,  even  whin  money  is  very  scarce,  it  seldom  exceeds 
the  rate  of  5  per  cent,  per  annum  from  one  account  to  an- 
other;  whereas  in  the  foreign  market,  where  the  security 
consists  of  foreign  bonds  of  various  and  doubtful  descriptions, 
it  ranges  from  5  to  10  per  cent.,  or  even  more  on  particular 
occasions,  When  it  reaches  15  per  cent,  per  annum. 

There  are  several  causes  which  tend  to  produce  this  ex- 
traordinary variation  in  the  rates  of  continuation  ;  for  in  the 
case  of  Consols,  which  constitute  the  only  Stock  fol  specu- 
lation in  time-bargains  in  the  English  market,  the  price 
varies  so  little  in  comparison  with  the  value  of  the  stick,  in 
the  course  of  an  "account,"  that  the  security  is  considered 
good  in  itself;  and  therefore  no  extra  charge  is  superadded 
by  the  party  who  lends  his  money.  This  is  not  the  case 
With  regard  to  foreign  stocks,  which  are  consiantly  fluctu- 
ating in  value,  a  fact  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  extremely 
is    nature  of  this  description  of  property,      Most  of 

the  ii is  in  circulation  in  the  foreign  house  have  ceased  to 

bear  any  interest  whatever,  and  many  of  them  hear  upon 
them  the  marks  of  their  shame  and  disgrace,  in  the  Bbape 

Of  the  arrears  of  interest,  called  coupon.*,  overdue  for  several 

years,    it  is  not,  therefore,  to  be  wondered  at  that  foreign 
securities  of  this   description  do  not  command   the  same 
credit  as  our  own  English  stocks ;  and  it  must  hence  follow, 
1182 


as  a  matter  of  course,  that  parties  who  wish  to  raise  money 
upon  them  must  consent  to  pay  a  higher  rate  of  interest  for 
the  accommodation. 

A  great  deal  of  business  is  transacted  in  this  way;  and 
some  brokers,  who  possess  the  means  of  obtaining  large 
sums  of  money  without  much  difficulty,  devote  their  entire 
attention  to  it.  The  process  by  which  the  operation  is 
effected  is  simple,  both  in  the  English  and  foreign  market. 
The  present  rate  of  continuation  in  the  Consol  market  is 
9-16ths  per  cent,  until  the  opening  ;  and  if  a  person,  w  e  w  ill 
suppose,  wishes  to  lend  money  on  that  stock,  from  'he  shut- 
ting (on  the  2d  of  December)  to  the  opening  (on  the  14th  of 
January,  1642),  his  broker  procures  him  £1,000  Consols  as 
security,  for  which  he  furnishes  the  money  at  the  actual 
price  of  the  day,  which  is  £90,  making  £900,  and  resells  at 
the  same  time  the  said  £1000  stock  for  the  opening  (on  the 
14th  of  January)  at  90  pp  making  £906  12s.  5d.,  and  there- 
by leaving  a  difference  in  his  favour  of  £5  12s.  64.  for  the 
loan  of  £900  during  the  above  period  of  fort)  -tour  days, 
which  will  be  found  to  be  at  the  rate  of  £5  3s.  8d.  percent. 
per  annum.  On  foreign  securities  the  principle  is  the  same. 
Supposing  he  lends  on  the  security  of  Spanish  bonds,  he 
receives  as  security  £5100,  for  which  he  pays  on  the  30th  of 
November,  at  the  price  of  24£  per.  cent.,  £1249  10s. ;  but 
sells  it  to  the  same  party  for  the  loth  of  December  (the 
next  settling  day  at  24^.  producing  £1252  13s.  9J.,  leaving 
a  difference  in  his  favour  of  £3  3s.  9</.,  or  1-16  upon  the 
stock  bought  and  resold,  which,  for  fifteen  days,  is  equal  to 
1-gth  per  cent,  per  month,  or  12-Sths  per  cent,  per  annum, 
equal  to  £76  10s.,  being  at  the  rate  of  about  £6  2s.  Gtl.  per 
cent,  per  annum  interest.  This  calculation  is  made  upon 
the  current  rate  of  interest  for  the  "  continuation"  of  that 
stock  on  the  30th  of  November,  which  was  considered  as 
extremely  low. 

The  continuation  on  shares,  in  which  a  great  deal  of 
business  is  also  done,  varies  but  little  from  the  above  ;  but 
a  difficulty  here  arises,  which  offers  a  g"eat  obstacle  to  the 
lending  of  money  for  short  periods. 

The  stamps  which  by  law  are  necessary  for  the  due  trans- 
fer of  property  of  this  description,  and  without  which  trans- 
fer there  could  be  no  security  to  the  lender  of  money,  are  so 
onerous,  and  press  so  heavily  on  all  bond  fide  transactions, 
that  notwithstanding  the  many  attempts  made  at  various 
times  to  evade  them,  they  operate  materially  against  the 
parries  who  lend  money  upon  them,  and,  in  fact,  neutralize 
all  profit  for  short  periods. 

Persons  wliii  have  sold  shares  or  stock,  if  they  are  not  in 
immediate  want  of  their  money,  frequently  avail  themselves 
of  this  method  of  "continuation,"  in  order  to  obtain  inter- 
est for  it  until  they  actually  deliver  the  stock.  On  the  other 
hand,  speculators  for  the  rise  are  by  this  means  able  to  carry 
over  their  purchases  from  one  account  to  another  ;  and 
although  it  may  appear  strange  that  they  should  be  paying 
at  the  rate  of  5  and  even  10  per  cent,  per  annum  interest  on  a 
stock  which,  in  the  instance  of  Consols,  pays  them  only  3 
per  cent.,  and  in  that  of  Spanish  pays  them  actually  no- 
thing, still,  when  viewed  solely  in  the  light  of  speculations, 
the  rise  in  either  security,  if  it  takes  place,  will  more  than 
compensate  for  this  apparent  inconsistency. 

The  proceedings  of  the  Stock  Exchange  are  regulated  by 
a  committee  consisting  of  thirty  members,  who  are  elected 
from  the  general  body  every  Lady  day,  each  member  hav- 
ing one  vote.  They  take  care  that  the  rules  and  regula- 
tions enacted  for  the  admission  and  expulsion  of  members, 
and  for  the  settlement  of  disputes,  are  properly  observed ; 
and  although  some  of  their  laws  are  at  variance  with  the 
established  laws  of  the  country,  they  are  not  so  strictly  en- 
forced by  the  committee  as  to  bring  them  into  collision  with 
the  courts  of  justice;  they  fully  answer  the  purpose  lor 
which  they  were  intended,  and  all  members  previously  to 
their  admission  subscribe  to  the  conditions  there  laid  down. 

All  members,  on  being  admitted,  are  obliged  to  produce 
three  securities  of  £300  each,  for  the  first  two  \  ears  of  their 
probation,  which  £900  becomes  forfeited  in  the  event  of 
their  failure,  and  goes  to  the  creditors  of  the  new  member, 
in  consequence  of  their  being  Interdicted  from  engaging  in 
any  other  business,  on  becoming  members  of  the  Stock  Ex- 
change they  are  no  longer  subject  to  the  bankrupt  laws;  and 
therefore,  in  the  event  of  failure,  till  their  assets  are  secured 
to  the  creditors  in  the  house,  to  the  exclusion  of  those  ou  of 
it.  This  rule  is  enforced  in  order  to  secure  the  house  from 
the  lo>s  which  would  ensue  to  its  members,  were  the  legal 
creditors  (if  any  existed)  to  step  in  and  lay  claim  to  their 
property. 

The  tendency  of  the  above  regulation  is  to  insure  honesty 
among  its  members.  Should  any  principal  have  reason  to 
complain,  he  has  only  to  appeal  to  the  committee,  who  in- 
stantly take  cognizance  of  the  matter,  and  subject  it  to  the 
strictest  investigation.  Defaulters  whose  conduct  has  been 
dishonourable  are  punished,  and  an  example  is  made  of 
thcru  by  publicly  aftLxing  their  names  in  the  house  on  what 


STOCKS. 

Is  termed  Ihe  black  board :  this  is  the  heaviest  disgrace 
which  a  member  can  possibly  experience.  (For  this  elabo- 
rate account  of  the  procedure  of  business  in  the  Stock  Ex- 
change, we  are  indebted  to  the  Times  of  1841.) 

STOCKS.  A  well-known  kind  of  punishment.  The 
practice  of  confining  men  by  the  legs  was  so  common  as  to 
have  given  the  ordinary  name  to  a  chain  of  any  kind  in 
several  languages;  e. g.,  Gr.  irdn ;  Lat. compes;  Engl,  fetter; 
all  from  nous,  foot.  The  stocks  in  England  have  been,  gen- 
erally speaking,  rather  used  for  restraint  than  punishment, 
constables  being  empowered  to  put  disorderly  persons  into 
them  ;  but  it  is  likewise  ordered  by  some  statutes  as  a  pun- 
ishment on  conviction.  It  is  now  almost  disused;  though, 
we  believe,  not  entirely  in  remote  districts. 

STO'ICS.  A  celebrated  sect  of  antiquity  ;  so  called  from 
the  stoa  or  porch  in  Athens,  which  was  the  scene  of  the 
discourses  of  their  four.der  Zeno  of  Cittium  (B.C.  300).  The 
Stoics  are  proverbially  known  for  the  sternness  and  austeri- 
ty of  their  ethical  doctrines,  and  for  the  influence  which 
their  tenets  exercised  over  some  of  the  noblest  spirits  of  an- 
tiquity. To  give  a  connected  and  systematic  account  of  the 
philosophical  principles  on  which  they  grounded  their  moral 
precepts  is  a  less  easy  task  than,  from  the  notoriety  of  the 
latter  in  some  of  their  main  features,  might  have  been  an- 
ticipated. Their  speculations  were  not  confined  to  ethical 
subjects,  but  aimed  at  embracing  the  whole  circle  of  human 
knowledge ;  physics,  theology,  and  logic,  no  less  than  morals 
and  politics.  Their  system,  as  far  as  we  can  gather  from 
the  notices  preserved  by  Cicero,  Diogenes,  and  others,  ap- 
pears to  be  an  attempt  to  reconcile  a  theological  pantheism 
and  a  materialist  psychology  with  a  logic  which  seeks  the 
foundations  of  knowledge  in  sensible  experience,  and  a 
morality  which  claims  as  its  first  principle  the  absolute  free- 
dom of  the  human  will.  Of  the  mode  in  which  they  corn- 
Dined  dogmas  apparently  so  inconsistent  into  a  philosophi- 
cal whole,  we  have  accounts  sufficient  to  inspire  us  with 
respect  for  the  earnestness  and  strength  of  character  pos- 
sessed by  the  leaders  of  their  sect,  and  with  admiration  of 
their  subtlety,  ingenuity,  and  depth.  We  discern,  at  the 
same  time,  in  all  their  speculations,  oqually  a  narrow  and 
controversial  spirit,  most  unlike  the  critical  but  comprehen- 
sive impartiality  which  marks  the  philosophical  writings  of 
their  great  predecessors;  of  Plato,  and,  in  a  still  more  emi- 
nent degree,  of  Aristotle.  The  philosophy  of  the  Stoics 
was  essentially  polemical.  On  every  side  it  presented  an 
armed  front  to  an  opponent.  It  sought  to  confute  the  aca- 
demic scepticism  by  the  strenuous  assertion  of  the  truth  of 
sensible  perceptions,  and  the  validity  of  the  judgments  to 
which  they  lead  by  a  vigorous  protest  in  favour  of  the  com- 
mon sense  of  mankind  as  opposed  to  the  theories  of  the 
schools.  Sensation,  they  affirmed,  is  not  merely  a  passive 
affection  of  the  mind;  it  becomes,  under  certain  conditions, 
perception  or  comprehension  (/caruA»;<^is) — a  faculty  where- 
by the  mind  reaches  beyond  itself,  and  lays  hold,  as  it  were, 
on  outward  being.  From  the  acquisitions  of  sensible  expe- 
rience are  formed  conceptions  and  judgments  of  successive 
stages  of  generality,  which  it  is  the  province  of  the  reason 
to  construct  into  philosophical  system.  Such  is  the  sto- 
ical logic,  which  is  consequently  a  material,  and  not,  as 
with  Aristotle,  a  formal  science.  An  equally  controversial 
bearing  is  perceptible  in  the  remainder  of  their  philosophy. 
Their  greatest  enemies,  the  Epicureans,  had  adopted  the 
mcchanico-corpuscular  theory  of  Democritus,  which  ac- 
counted for  all  physical  phenomena  by  the  varieties  in  size 
and  figure  of  the  ultimate  atoms  of  which  all  substances  are 
the  aggregate.  The  fortuitous  concretions  which  thus  be- 
came the  first  cause  of  all  things,  had  attracted  the  partiali- 
ties and  won  the  assent  of  a  sect  averse  in  all  things  equally 
to  limitation  or  constraint  The  Stoics  espoused  the  op- 
posite doctrine  of  a  one  all-pervading  substance,  a  permeating 
ether,  a  creative  fire,  the  source  of  life  and  law  to  the  mate- 
rial universe.  On  this  they  built  their  doctrine  of  a  univer- 
sal providence,  excluding  chance  in  the  least  things  as  in 
the  greatest,  and  directing  all  events  by  irresistible  necessi- 
ty to  the  promotion  of  perfect  good.  The  same  hypothesis 
furnished  them  with  aground  for  the  first  principle  of  their 
ethical  doctrines.  "  Live  according  to  nature"'  is,  with  the 
Stoics,  the  expression  of  the  coincidence  which  ought  to 
exist  between  the  human  will  and  the  universal  reason, 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  they  identified  with  the  life  and 
power  of  nature.  This  coincidence  is  virtue,  the  only 
good;  as  vice,  its  opposite,  is  the  only  evil.  All  things  else 
are  in  themselves  indifferent ;  being  approved  or  disapprov- 
ed only  by  comparison.  Virtue  is  the  perfect  harmony  of 
the  soul  with  itself;  vice  is,  in  its  essence,  inconsistent  and 
self-contradictory.  The  wise  man,  the  ideal  of  human  per- 
fection, is  absolutely,  and  without  qualification,  free.  His 
actions  are  determined  by  his  free  will,  with  a  power  as 
irresistible  as  that  by  which  universal  nature  is  guided  and 
animated.  In  the  one  no  less  than  in  the  other,  freedom 
and  necessity  are  one. 
In  these  doctrines  the  controversial  character  to  which 


STONE  BORERS. 

we  have  adverted  is  sufficiently  obvious.  Much,  however, 
that  is  exaggerated  and  paradoxical,  both  in  the  tenets  of 
the  Stoics  and  in  those  of  their  opponent  Epicurus,  is  to  be 
accounted  for  by  a  reference  to  the  political  circumstances 
of  the  age  in  which  both  lived.  The  pressure  of  public 
calamity  and  the  utter  extinction  of  national  life  in  Greece, 
while  they  precluded  all  healthful  exercise  of  the  duties  of 
a  citizen — duties  which  had  entered  so  largely  into  the  cal- 
culation of  the  earlier  Greek  moralists — would  drive  the 
more  virtuous  and  thoughtful  part  of  mankind  to  seek  in  the 
development  of  the  individual  life  for  that  satisfaction 
which  they  sought  elsewhere  in  vain.  It  is  easy  to  con- 
ceive that  the  same  circumstances  which  would  recommend 
to  minds  of  a  certain  order  the  good-humoured  apathy  and 
the  tranquil  voluptuousness  of  the  garden,  might,  with  men 
of  sterner  temperament,  be  the  occasion  of  drawing  forth 
all  the  energies  of  their  will,  and  of  placing  those  energies 
at  once  in  distincter  consciousness  to  themselves,  and  in 
sharper  antagonism  with  the  evil  that  surrounded  them. 
In  the  declining  period  of  the  republic,  as  well  as  in  the 
darkest  periods  of  the  empire,  we  find  the  noblest  Romans 
seeking  for  consolation  in  the  doctrines  of  one  or  the  other 
of  these  rival  sects.  Brutus,  Seneca,  Epictetus,  and  the 
philosophic  emperor  Aurelius,  are  among  the  names  of  the 
most  celebrated  Roman  Stoics.  Little,  however,  was  done 
by  the  Romans  to  advance  the  speculative  part  of  the  stoical 
philosophy,  which  was  indebted  for  its  systematic  form  to 
Cleanthes  and  Chrysippus. 

The  chief  sources  of  information  concerning  the  doctrine 
of  the  earlier  Stoics  are  the  philosophical  works  of  Cicero; 
for  their  logic,  the  Academic  Questions ;  for  their  ethics, 
the  treatise  De  Finiiu-s,  and  the  Tusculan  Questions  ;  and 
for  their  theology  and  physics,  the  books  De  JVatura  Deo- 
rum,  and  De  Fato.  See  also  Diog.  Laert.,  1.  vii.  Plutarch, 
Adv.  Stoicos,  &c. ;  Ritter,  Hist,  of  Ancient  Philos.  xi.,  part  5. 

STO'LA.  (Gr.  aroXrj.)  A  dress  of  which  the  name  was 
borrowed  by  the  Romans  from  Greece,  but  acquired  in  their 
language  a  peculiar  signification  ;  being  the  habit  appro- 
priated to  women.  It  was  a  long  vest,  coming  down  to 
the  ankles;  was  worn  within  doors,  and  covered  by  the 
palla  or  cloak  when  they  went  out ;  as  described  by  Horace, 
Sat.,  1.  i.,  2: 

Ad  talos  stola  demissa  et  circumdata  palla. 

Common  prostitutes,  at  least  in  the  age  of  Horace,  were 
not  permitted  to  wear  this  distinguishing  garb  of  the  Roman 
lady.  The  stole  is  a  robe  worn  by  deacons  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  church.     See  Vestments. 

STOLE,  GROOM  OF  THE.  An  officer  of  the  king's 
household  in  the  lord  chamberlain's  department.  He  is 
first  lord  of  the  bedchamber:  his  title  is  derived  from  the 
long  robe  (stola)  worn  by  his  majesty  on  solemn  occasions. 
His  original  duty,  likewise,  was  to  put  the  king's  shirt  on 
of  a  morning,  which,  in  his  absence,  devolved  on  another 
lord  of  the  bedchamber. 

STO'MACACE.  (Gr.  croua,  the  mouth,  and  koko$,  evil.) 
A  fetor  of  breath,  arising  from  ulcerated  gums.  Mouth- 
washes, with  tincture  of  myrrh  and  borax,  and  the  internal 
use  of  tonics  are  the  remedies  which  relieve  it. 

STO'MACH,  Stomachus.  (Gr.  aroua,  the  mouth;  and 
Xtw,  I  melt,  from  its  receiving  the  contents  of  the  mouth 
and  melting  them  down  into  nutriment.)  The  human 
stomach  is  a  somewhat  oblong  and  rounded  membranous 
bag,  situated  in  the  epigastric  region.  It  is  largest  on  the 
left  side  (or  cardiac  end),  and  gradually  diminishes  towards 
the  right  or  lower  orifice,  which  is  called  the  pylorus.  Like 
the  intestines,  the  stomach  has  three  coats  or  membranes, 
connected  together  by  cellular  membrane.  The  exterior  or 
peritonBeal  coat  is  a  dense,  firm  membrane;  the  internal  or 
villous  coat  is  soft,  mucous,  and  vascular;  the  central  coat 
is  muscular,  and  the  glands  of  the  stomach  are  situated  be- 
tween it,  and  the  villous  coat.  The  stomach  is  largely  sup- 
plied with  nerves  which  come  from  the  eighth  pair  and 
sympathetic.  They  are  chiefly  from  the  celiac,  and  are 
accompanied  by  veins  which  empty  themselves  into  the 
vena  porta?.  The  lymphatics  of  the  stomach  proceed  di- 
rectly to  the  thoracic  duct.     See  Anatomy  and  Digestion. 

STOMACH  PUMP.  A  small  pump  or  syringe  with  two 
apertures,  the  valves  of  which  are  so  arranged  as  to  admit 
of  liquids  being  drawn  out  of,  or  injected  into  the  stomach, 
by  means  of  a  flexible  tube. 

STO'MAPODS,  Stomapoda.  (Gr.  aroua,  a  mouth  ;  trove, 
afoot.)  The  name  of  an  order  of  the  class  Crustacea,  com- 
prehending those  in  which  the  maxillary  feet  are  formed 
like  the  first  four  thoracic  feet. 

STO'MATA.  Passages  through  the  epidermis  of  plants 
having  the  appearance  of  an  areola,  in  the  centre  of  which 
is  a  slit  that  opens  or  closes,  according  to  circumstances, 
and  lies  over  a  cavity  in  the  subjacent  tissue.  They  are 
universally  regarded  as  spiracles  or  breathing  pores. 

STONE  BORERS;  called  also  Lithophagi.  Molluscous 
Bivalves,  which,  by  means  of  a  fleshy  foot,  on  which  they 
tuin  as  on  a  pivot,  perforate  or  bore  into  rocks. 

1183 


STONE-CHAT. 

STONE  CHAT.    A  species  of  warbler,  forming  the  type 
Si  tieola  of  Bechsteln.    It  is  the  Sylvia  riW- 
a  thorn;  Motacilla rubieola of  Linnaus.    Also  call- 
ed the  "chick  stone." 

STONE  dWI.I'.W.  The  name  of  a  large  species  of 
plover,  the  JBdienemut  crepitant  of  Temminck.  It  appears 
in  England  at  the  latter  end  of  April;  frequents  open  hilly 
situations;  makes  no  aest,  but  lays  two  eggs  on  the  bare 
ground ;  and  emigrates  in  small  flocks  about  the  end  of  Sep- 
tember. 

STONE  GALLS.  A  technical  tenn  applied  to  nodules 
of  clay  occurring  in  sandstone ;  they  often  fall  out  on  ex- 
posure to  weather,  and  render  the  stone  unfit  for  architec- 
tural purposes. 

STONE  IN  THE  BLADDER.     See  Calculus. 

BTOO'KING.  The  Scotch  term  for  setting  up  sheaves 
of  corn  in  stooks,  that  is,  shocks.  The  operation  is  performed 
soon  after  the  corn  is  cut;  it  being  previously  tied  into 
bunches  or  sheaves. 

STOOL.  The  root  of  a  timber  tree,  which  throws  up 
shoots.  Coppice  wood  consists  chiefly  of  the  shoots  sent  up 
by  the  roots  of  stools  of  trees  or  shrubs  which  have  been 
cut  over  by  the  surface.  In  general  all  Dicotyledonous  trees 
are  endowed  by  nature  with  the  property  of  sending  up 
shoots  from  the  Stump  or  stools ;  but  this  is  not  the  case 
with  most  of  the  Gymnosperms  or  Coniferous  trees.  A 
wood  of  pines  or  firs,  therefore,  w-hen  once  cut  down,  can 
never  be  renewed,  except  by  seeds. 

STO'RAX.  A  fragrant  balsamic  exudation  from  the  Li- 
quidambar  styraciflua.     It  is  generally  much  adulterated. 

STORK.  An  English  name,  equivalent  to  the  Ciconia  of 
modern  ornithologists.  The  white  stork  (Ciconia  alba)  is 
that  species  which  visits,  though  rarely,  in  England. 

STORM.  The  causes  of  those  violent  commotions  of  the 
atmosphere  to  which  we  give  the  names  of  storms,  tem- 
pests, hurricanes,  tornados,  &c,  are  involved  in  great  ob- 
scurity, chiefly  from  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  a  precise 
knowledge  of  the  various  circumstances  with  which  they 
are  accompanied.  In  order  to  ascertain  the  general  laws 
of  these  phenomena,  it  would  be  necessary  to  determine,  in 
a  great  number  of  particular  instances,  the  place  and  time 
at  which  the  storm  begins  and  ends,  the  path  it  describes. 
the  extent  of  atmosphere  disturbed,  the  direction  and  force 
of  the  wind,  and  the  baromelic  pressure  at  every  part  of  the 
disturbed  column  during  the  whole  lime  of  its  continuance. 
But  several  of  these  points  could  only  be  determined  from 
the  comparison  of  a  great  number  of  simultaneous  observa- 
tions on  that  tract  of  the  earth's  surface  over  which  the 
storm  passes ;  while,  from  the  nature  of  the  thing  to  be  ob- 
served, it  is  evident  that  a  few  insulated  observations  is  the 
most  that  can  be  expected  in  almost  any  case.  Besides,  a 
storm  for  the  most  part  passes  over  some  part  of  the  sea, 
where,  unless  a  ship  unfortunately  happens  to  he  caught  in 
it,  no  observation  can  be  made,  or  even  evidence  he  obtained 
of  its  existence. 

It  is  in  the  torrid  zone  fhnt  storms  display  the  greatest 
violence,  and  rage  with  most  destructive  fury.  In  our  lati- 
tudes they  are  comparatively  rare,  nnd  in  the  polar  regions 
they  seldom  amount  to  mole  than  a  stronc  wind. 

Until  recently  it  was  generally  believed  that  during  a 
hurricane  the  wind,  at  every  part  of  the  agitated  mass,  blows 
in  a  rectilinear  and  parallel  direction,  and  n  storm  was  con- 
sidered to  be  sufficiently  explained  when  it  was  described 
as  a  wind  blowing  with  a  velocity  of  100  or  120  miles  in  an 
hour.  A  comparison  of  the  recorded  accounts  of  the  cir- 
cumstano  9  attending  several  storms  has  of  late  years  shown 
that  this  idea  was  erroneous,  and  that  the  phenomena  are 
considerably  more  complicated. 

Franklin  appears  to  have  been  the  first  who  remarked 
that  storms  Dave)  in  a  direction  opposite  to  the  actual  move- 
ment of  the  wind  at  the  time  the  storm  is  raging ;  and  he 
ascribed  the  phenomenon  to  a  great  but  partial  rarefaction 
of  the  air.  arising  from  the  sudden  precipitation  of  vapours, 
or  other  causes,  the  consequence  of  which  would  necessa- 
rily be  a  Simultaneous  rush  of  wind  from  nil  quarters  to  fill 
up  the  vacuity  :  and  the  mass  of  air  being  thus  set  in  mo- 
tion by  a  sort  of  aspiration,  the  gale  will  In'  first  felt  at  those 
places  towards  which  it  blows.  (Letters  and  Papers  on 
Philosophical  Subject  - .  In  a  work  on  winds  and  monsoons, 
published  in  1801,  Colonel  Capper  was  led  from  a  com- 
panion of  the  details  respecting  the  hurricanes  nt  Pondi- 
cherry  and  Madras  in  1760  and  1T7H,  to  remark  that  these 
hurricanes  must  have  been  whirlwinds,  whose  diameters 
could  not  exceed  130  miles,  and  that  the  velocity  of  the 
wind  at  any  point  was  due  to  the  rotatory  velocity  of  the 
vortex.  lie  also  supposed  that,  besides  the  gyratory  move- 
ment which  tonus  the  characteristic  of  the  whirlwind,  a 
storm  has  probably  also  progressive  motion.  Colonel  Cap 
I'     •  speculations,  however,  appear  to  have  met  with  little 

noil   until  the  subject  was  taken  up  by  Mr.  Redfield  of 
New-York,  Who,  in  a  series  of  papers  recently  published 
iu  the  American  journals,  has  diligently  collected  and  ex- 
1J84 


STORM. 

amined  a  great  number  of  observations  relative  to  the  storms 
of  the  West  Indies  and  North  American  coasts,  and  arrived 
at  similar  conclusions.  The  following  general  phenom- 
ena appear  to  be  established:  1.  The  severest  hurricanes 
originate  in  tropical  latitudes  to  the  north  or  east  of  the 
West  India  Islands.  2.  They  cover  simultaneously  an  ex- 
tent of  surface  from  100 to  150 miles  in  diameter,  acting  with 
diminished  violence  towards  the  exterior,  and  increased 
energy  towards  the  interior  of  that  space.  3.  The  tract 
over  which  the  hurricane  passes  is  not  a  straight  line. 
South  of  the  parallel  of  30°  north  latitude,  it  proceeds  in  a 
westerly  course  inclined  to  the  north;  but  when  it  comes 
to  about  this  parallel,  it  changes  rather  abruptly  to  the 
north  and  eastward,  and  continues  to  incline  gradually  more 
to  the  east.  The  average  progressive  velocity  appears  to 
be  from  fifteen  to  twenty-rive  miles  per  hour.  4.  The  du- 
ration of  a  storm  at  any  particular  place  depends,  of  course, 
on  the  extent  of  the  mass  of  agitated  air,  and  the  progres- 
sive velocity  ;  and  storms  of  smaller  extent  move  with  even 
greater  rapidity  than  large  ones.  5.  The  direction  of  the 
wind  in  a  hurricane  is  not  in  the  direction  of  its  progress. 
When  the  progressive  motion  of  the  storm  is  westward,  the 
wind  at  the  commencement  is  from  a  northern  qnarter,  and 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  gale  from  a  southern  quarter  of 
the  horizon.  When  the  progressive  motion  is  eastward, 
the  phenomena  are  reversed  ;  the  wind  blows  at  first  from 
a  southern  quarter,  and  towards  the  end  of  the  gale  from  a 
northern  quarter  of  the  horizon. 

From  these  phenomena,  and  particularly  the  last,  Mr. 
Redfield  concludes  that  the  great  body  of  the  storm  whirls 
in  a  horizontal  circuit  round  a  vertical  or  somewhat  in- 
clined axis  of  rotation,  which  is  carried  forward  with  the 
storm ;  and  that  to  a  spectator  placed  at  the  centre  the  di- 
rection of  the  rotation  is  invariably  from  rig-ht  to  left.  It  is 
to  be  understood,  however,  that  the  phenomena  now  de- 
scribed and  the  conclusion  drawn  from  them  apply  only  to 
the  northern  hemisphere. 

Another  fact  deserving  of  attention  is,  that  the  barometer, 
in  all  latitudes,  sinks  during  the  first  half  of  the  storm  in 
every  part  of  its  track,  and  rises  during  the  second.  This 
phenomenon  is  ascribed  to  the  effects  of  the  centrifugal 
force  of  rotation;  and  such  is  the  regularity  of  its  occur- 
rence, that  it  has  been  considered  as  affording  of  itself  a 
stronc  proof  of  the  rotatory  character  of  the  motion. 

Colonel  Reid,  of  the  engineers,  having  been  officially  em- 
ployed to  restore  the  government  buildings  at  Barbadoes 
blown  down  by  the  great  hurricane  of  1831,  was  led  to  in- 
vestigate the  subject  generally;  and  in  his  work,  entitled 
.fin  Attempt  to  Develop  the  Laics  of  Storms,  A'-c,  he  has  col- 
lected anil  given  the  results  of  an  immense  number  of  de- 
tails, obtained  from  an  examination  of  ships'  logs  furnished 
to  him  by  the  admiralty,  and  other  sources.  These  results 
he  considers  as  confirming  in  all  respects  the  conclusions 
of  Mr.  Redfield  respecting  the  gyratory  motion  of  the  gate 
from  right  to  left;  its  progressive  motion  in  a  curve  line, 
fust  westward,  and  then  towards  the  north  and  east  ;  the 
position  of  the  vertex  of  the  curve  at  or  near  the  110th  de- 
gree of  latitude;  and  the  fall  of  the  barometer  during  the 
first  half  of  the  storm,  and  its  rise  during  the  second.  Colonel 
Reid  has  also  given  an  account  of  several  great  hurricanes 
in  the  southern  hemisphere,  from  which  it  appears  that  the 
southern  storms  follow  exactly  the  same  laws  as  the  north- 
ern, but  in  a  reversed  order.  The  direction  of  the  rotation 
is  from  left  to  right;  the  centre  of  the  gyrating  mass  ad- 
vances first  eastwards,  then  turns  towards  the  south,  and 
falls  off  towards  the  south-west  and  west,  the  vertex  of  the 
curve  being  at  the  ,10th  degree  of  south  latitude.  In  the 
northern  hemisphere,  the  West  Indies,  and  Atlantic  coast  of 
North  America  appear  to  be  the  places  where  storms  most 
frequently  rage ;  in  the  southern,  the  focus  of  storms  ap- 
pears to  he  placed  near  the  Mauritius. 

The  uniformity  of  the  direction  of  the  rotatory  motion  of 
the  hurricane,  and  its  opposite  direction  in  the  opposite 
hemispheres,  was  explained  by  Mr.  Redfield  from  theoreti- 
cal considerations  respecting  the  origin  of  storms,  which  he 
supposes  to  be  produced  by  the  mingling  and  collision  of 
two  atmospherical  currents  near  the  outer  border  of  the 
trade  winds;  namely,  the  superior  or  equatorial  stream, 
and   the   polar  stream,   which   constitutes   the   trades.     On 

looking  at  the  curves  representing  the  paths  of  the  hurri- 
canes on  tln>  charts  projected  by  Mr.  Redfield  and  Colonel 
Keid,  it  is  difficult  not  to  believe  that   the  direction  of  their 

progressive  motion  is  mainly  determined  by  the  configura- 
tion of  the  American  continent. 

The  fact  of  the  whirling  character  of  storms  has  been 
controverted   by  Mr.  Espy,  another  American  writer  on  the 

subject,  who   advocates   Franklin's  theory  of  progressive 

motion  in  radial  lines.  Mr.  Espy  states,  that  on  comparing 
simultaneous  observations  in  the  middle  of  storms  and  all 
round  their  borders,  he  found  that  the  wind  blows  inward  on 
all  sides  of  a  storm  towards  the  central  parts — towards  a 
point,  it  the  storm  bo  round;  and  if  oblong,  towards  a  line 


STORTHING. 

extending  through  its  greatest  diameter;  and  that  he  had 
traced  the  effects  of  seventeen  storms,  without  finding  a 
single  exception  to  the  general  rule.  Professor  Bache,  of 
Philadelphia,  maintains  the  same  opinion  ;  and  has  de- 
scribed a  tornado  which  occurred  at  New  Brunswick  in 
1835,  in  which  he  could  find  no  proof  of  rotation,  the  ob- 
jects thrown  down  by  the  wind  being  all  directed  to  a 
centre.  It  is  not  improbable  that  there  may  be  hurricanes 
of  both  characters.  An  outline  of  Mr.  Espy's  theory  is 
given  hi  the  Report  of  the  British  Association  for  1840. 

Independently  of  the  interest  which  attaches  to  the  sub- 
ject in  a  meteorological  point  of  view,  a  knowledge  of  the 
general  laws  which  regulate  the  phenomena  of  storms 
would  be  of  immense  importance,  inasmuch  as  it  would  en- 
able the  navigator  to  avoid  those  tracts  of  the  ocean  in 
which  they  chiefly  prevail  at  particular  seasons,  or  at  least, 
it"  surprised  by  a  storm,  to  steer  on  the  course  by  which  he 
may  soonest  escape  from  it  or  fall  into  its  wake.  On  either 
theory  the  direction  of  the  wind  at  the  commencement  of 
the  gale  must  indicate,  with  considerable  certainty,  the 
quarter  where  the  storm  is  raging  with  greatest  fury.  (See, 
in  addition  to  the  works  already  cited,  Silliman's  Journal 
from  1831 ;  Prof.  Forbes's  Reports  on  Meteorology,  in  the 
Reports  of  the  British  Association  for  1832  and  1840 ;  and 
the  Edin.  Review,  vol.  lxviii.)     See  also  Wind. 

STO'RTHIXG.  The  parliament  of  Norway.  It  is  elect- 
ed once  in  three  years,  and  sits  every  year  for  the  despatch 
of  business.  The  election  is  double ;  every  qualified  per- 
son (an  owner  or  liferenter  of  land  paying  taxes  in  the 
country,  and  every  one  possessing  land  or  houses  of  150  rlx 
dollars  value  in  towns)  joining  in  the  election  of  councillors, 
who  elect  out  of  their  own  body  the  representatives  of  the 
country.  These  must  be  from  75  to  100  in  number.  The 
storthing,  when  elected,  divides  itself  into  two  houses  :  one 
fourth,  chosen  by  the  rest,  joining  the  laything,  or  upper 
house ;  the  remainder  the  odelsthing,  or  lower  house.  The 
storthing  has  the  usual  powers  of  a  legislative  assembly  in 
a  constitutional  country,  and  the  king  has  only  a  suspensive 
veto;  which,  if  the  storthing  passes  a  law  three  times  in 
Bix  successive  years,  becomes  of  no  effect. 

STORY.  In  Architecture,  a  subdivision  of  the  height  of 
a  house,  comprehending  the  height  ascended  by  one  flight 
of  stairs. 

STORY  POST.  In  Architecture,  a  vertical  post  to  sup- 
port a  floor  or  superincumbent  wall. 

STOVE.  (Dutch,  stove.)  A  receptacle  for  the  combus- 
tion of  fuel  for  the  purpose  of  heating  houses,  &c.  The 
common  fire-grate  for  the  combustion  of  coal,  with  its  vari 
ous  appendages,  is  generally  called  a  stove ;  hence  register 
stoves,  Bath  stoves,  &c.  These  are  often,  and  indeed  gen- 
erally, very  unscientifically  constructed,  and  calculated  to 
consume  a  large  quantity  of  fuel,  with  a  proportionate 
waste  of  heat.  They  are  generally  intended  to  diffuse 
warmth  principally  or  entirely  by  radiation,  and  should  be 
placed  as  near  the  ground  as  possible ;  while  the  different 
parts  into  the  contact  of  which  the  burning  fuel  is  brought 
should  be  of  fire-brick,  or  some  similar  composition,  which 
is  a  bad  conductor  but  a  good  radiator  of  heat.  It  is  mani- 
fest that  in  our  common  fireplaces  the  enormous  volume 
of  hot  air  which  passes  up  the  chimney  is  not  available  as 
a  source  of  heat;  hence,  in  colder  climates,  and  where 
greater  economy  of  fuel  is  studied,  the  fireplace  is  frequent- 
ly closed  in,  and  contained  in  an  iron  box  which  projects 
into  the  room,  while  the  heated  air  before  it  finally  enters 
the  chimney  is  made  to  circulate  through  tubes  or  pipes,  to 
which  it  communicates  much  of  its  excess  of  heat,  and 
these  again  impart  it  to  the  surrounding  air.  What  are 
termed  German  stoves  are  usually  made  upon  such  princi- 
ples ;  and  in  them  the  fuel  is  often  introduced,  and  the  air 
required  for  the  support  of  its  combustion  admitted,  on  the 
outside  of  the  room  in  which  the  stove  with  its  flues  and 
heating  surfaces  is  placed. 

In  AmotVs  stoves  the  heat  is  similarly  but  more  scien- 
tifically economized.  There  is  only  enough  air  admitted 
to  keep  up  the  slow  combustion  of  the  fuel,  and  the  heat  is 
communicated  to  the  radiating  surfaces  of  the  stove  ;  so  that 
before  the  air  which  has  passed  through  the  fuel  finally 
enters  the  chimney  it  has  been  deprived  of  the  greater  part 
of  its  available  heat.  These  stoves  are  also  so  constructed 
as,  by  means  of  thermometric  or  self-acting  registers,  to  ad- 
just with  much  nicety  the  supply  of  air,  so  that  neither 
more  nor  less  may  enter  than  is  required  to  maintain  the 
combustion  of  a  given  quantity  of  fuel. 

In  Fcetham's  air-stoves  the  common  open  fire  is  retain- 
ed ;  but  the  heat  is  to  a  certain  extent  economized  by  causing 
the  hot  air,  before  it  enters  the  chimney,  to  communicate  a 
portion  of  its  heat  to  an  iron  box,  over  which  a  current  of 
air  pass  s    nd  is  sent  warm  info  the  room. 

It  is  manifest  that  our  common  open  fires  must  act  as 
powerful  ventilators,  and  that  the  large  quantity  of  air 
which  is  driven  up  the  chimney  must  be  suppliedin  some 
way  or  other  through  the  apartment  in  which  the  fire  is 


STRAINING  PIECE. 

burning.  This  supply  of  air  is  generally  left  to  chance, 
and  finds  its  way  into  the  room  by  crevices  in  the  doorways 
and  window  sashes,  or  between  the  boards  of  the  floor,  or 
any  similar  accidental  passage  through  which  it  can  make 
its  way  ;  and  as,  in  London  at  least,  the  air  always  abounds 
in  fuliginous  particles,  these  are  carried  in  along  with  it, 
and  show  its  track  by  the  blacks  which  it  deposits.  It'  this 
supply  of  air  is  inadequate,  and  it  generally  is  so  in  new 
and  well-built  houses,  in  consequence  of  the  tightness  of 
the  doors,  windows,  and  floors,  the  chimney  of  necessity 
smokes,  and  the  door  or  window  requires  to  be  left  open  to 
prevent  such  an  effect.  This  evil  may  usually  be  effectual- 
ly prevented  by  admitting  fresh  air  from  without  through 
some  proper  and  adequate  channel,  and  various  ornamental 
or  concealed  apertures  may  be  contrived  for  the  purpose ; 
in  the  best  arrangement  of  which,  however,  much  practical 
as  well  as  theoretical  skill  is  often  essential. 

When  rooms  are  warmed  by  German  or  Arnott's  stoves, 
the  ventilating  powers  of  which  are  very  inferior  to  the 
open  grate,  ventilation  requires  to  be  strictly  attended  to. 
Where  buildings  are  warmed  by  currents  of  hot  air  sent  up 
from  stoves  on  the  basement  story,  great  attention  should 
also  be  paid  to  ventilation ;  and  in  such  cases  the  leading 
object  should  be  to  send  in  a  large  volume  of  air  very  mod- 
erately heated  (to  about  100°),  rather  than  a  small  quanti- 
ty of  very  hot  air;  the  latter  does  not  readily  mix  with  the 
surrounding  cold  air,  but  forms  a  distinct  and  rapidly  ascend- 
ing column,  which  does  not  diffuse  itself  where  most  want- 
ed; and  it  is  apt  to  have  a  disagreeable  and  burned  odour, 
arising  from  the  charring  of  the  particles  of  organic  dust 
which  are  carried  with  the  air  over  the  too  highly  heated 
surfaces  of  the  stove  or  flues.  A  little  aqueous  vapour, 
sent  in  along  with  the  warm  air  by  placing  a  saucer  of 
water  in  some  convenient  situation,  is  often  effectual  in 
preventing  the  disagreeable  sensation  occasioned  by  respi- 
ring too  dry  an  atmosphere. 

Stove.  In  Horticulture,  a  structure  in  which  plants  are 
cultivated  that  require  a  considerably  higher  temperature 
than  the  open  air  in  Britain  and  similar  climates.  There 
are  two  or  three  kinds  of  stoves,  but  the  principal  are  the 
dry  stove  and  the  damp  stove.  The  dry  stove  is  a  struc- 
ture, the  atmosphere  of  which  is  heated  to  the  temperature 
of  from  55°  to  60°  during  winter,  in  which  are  chiefly  cul- 
tivated succulents ;  such  as  the  different  species  of  Cere- 
tus,  Ccreus,  Staphelia,  Euphorbia,  Mesembryanthemum,  and 
other  succulents  having  similar  habits.  During  winter 
these  plants  require  very  little  water,  and  during  summer 
they  require  intense  heat,  and  abundance  of  air  and  water 
during  fine  weather.  The  damp  stove,  sometimes  also  call- 
ed the  bark  stove,  requires  a  temperature  of  between  60° 
and  70°  during  winter,  with  a  proportionate  increase  during 
summer,  accompanied,  in  both  seasons,  with  a  high  de- 
gree of  atmospherical  moisture.  This  moisture  is  produced 
partly  by  evaporation  from  the  bark  bed  in  which  the  plants 
are  plunged,  but  chiefly  by  watering  the  floor  of  the  house, 
and  by  syringing  the  plants.  During  summer  the  plants  in 
the  bark  stove  require  all  the  light  which  the  atmosphere 
in  this  country  is  capable  of  producing,  together  with  abun- 
dance of  air,  as  in  the  dry  stove.  Both  stoves  are  heated 
by  smoke  flues,  or  by  hot  water  or  steam,  circulated  in  me- 
tallic or  other  tubes.  The  plants  cultivated  in  the  moist 
stove  are  exclusively  those  of  the  tropics ;  and  those  which 
require  the  highest  degree  of  heat  are  chiefly  Monocotyle- 
donous  plants,  such  as  the  Scitamineee,  which  include  the 
ginger,  plantain,  banana,  sugar  cane,  palms,  Orchidacea ; 
and  such  Dicotyledonous  plants  as  the  bread  fruit,  the  jam, 
mangosteen,  and  other  East  Indian  plants.  The  bark  hed 
is  chiefly  employed  for  producing  a  uniform  degree  of  mois- 
ture and  heat  to  the  roots,  and  also  as  a  reservoir  of  heat 
for  the  atmosphere  of  the  house  in  case  of  any  diminution 
from  the  flues,  water  or  steam  pipes,  or  the  sun.  Stoves 
of  every  description  require  a  constant  degree  of  attention 
from  the  gardener  throughout  the  year,  more  especially 
such  as  are  devoted  to  the  palms,  the  banana,  the  pine  ap- 
ple, and  the  Orchidacem. 

STRABI'SMUS.  [Gl.  <npa(SiC,eiv,  to  squint.)  An  unna- 
tural obliquity  in  the  axis  of  the  eye,  arising  from  various 
causes.  It  may  often  be,  to  a  great  extent,  overcome,  espe- 
cially in  children,  by  blindfolding  the  sound  eye,  presuming 
one  only  to  be  affected.  In  very  bad  cases,  especially  those 
of  squinting  inward,  and  such  are  by  far  the  most  common, 
an  operation  which  has  lately  been  introduced  is  often  ef- 
fectual in  greatly  relie\ing  the  deformity ;  it  consists  in  di- 
viding the  internal  rectus  muscle  of  the  eyeball,  which  is 
done  by  a  proper  scissors  without  externally  wounding  the 
evelid. 

"STRAIGHT  ARCH.  In  Architecture,  the  arch  over  an 
aperture,  whose  intrados  is  straight,  but  with  its  joints 
drawn  concentricallv,  as  in  a  common  arch. 

STRAIGHT  JOINT  FLOOR.     In  Architecture.     See 
Floor. 
STRAI'NEVG  PIECE.    In  Architecture,  a  piece  of  tim- 
4E  1185 


STRAIT. 

her.  whose  office  is  to  prevent  the  nearer  approach  of  two 
pieces  of  timber  in  an  assemhl  ige  of  framing;  such  is  the 
collar  in  a  queen-post  roof.    Set  Roof. 

STRAIT,  in  Geography,  signifies  a  narrow  pass  or  frith 
separating  one  country  from  another 

ST RAM ON  V.  or  TIH  IBM  APPLE.  The  Datura  Stra- 
vtonium  ;  an  indigenous  narcotic  plant,  the  seeds  and  leaves 
of  which  are  used  in  medicine.  The  dried  leaves  are  oc- 
casionally smoked,  like  tobacco,  for  the  relief  of  spasmodic 
asthma  ;  and  an  extract  of  the  seeds  is  used  as  a  sedative 
in  gome  painful  chronic  atfections.     See  Daturia. 

STRANGURY.  (Gr.  crpayl,  a  drop,  and  ovpov,  urine.) 
A  difficulty  in  voiding  urine. 

STRATH,  in  Scotland,  is  generally  understood  to  signify 
a  valley  of  considerable  size,  whose  appellation  is  deter- 
mined by  some  river  running  through  it,  or  some  particular 
characteristic. 

STRATUM.  When  different  rocks  lie  in  succession 
upon  each  other,  each  individual  forms  a  stratum.  See 
Gkolooy. 

STREAK.  The  appearance  which  arises  from  scratch- 
ing a  mineral  with  the  point  of  a  knife.  The  streak  is 
similar  when  the  colour  of  the  scratch  is  the  same  as  that 
of  the  mineral,  hut  dissimilar  when  the  colour  varies. 

STREAM  TIN.  Native  oxide  of  tin,  or  tinstone,  which 
is  found  in  rounded  particles  and  masses,  mixed  with  other 
alluvial  matters.  The  finest  grain  tin  is  procured  from  this 
ore. 

STRE'LITZ.  (Rus.  plural  strelitzy,  said  to  be  derived 
from  strelai ;  It.  strale,  an  arrow.)  A  soldier  of  the  ancient 
Muscovite  militia  was  so  called.  The  strelitzy  were  the 
only  standing  army  of  the  empire ;  and,  like  the  Turkish 
janissaries,  constantly  Interfered  with  its  government. 
Their  last  revolt  was  in  1698,  during  the  absence  of  the 
Czar  Peter  I.,  who,  on  his  return,  cashiered  the  corps  alto- 
gether. 

STRENGTH,  in  Mechanics,  is  used  in  the  same  sense  as 
force  or  power.  Thus  strength  of  animals  is  the  muscular 
force  or  energy  which  animals  are  capable  of  exerting ; 
strength  of  materials  is  the  resistance  which  bodies  oppose 
to  a  force  acting  upon  them. 

Strength  of  Animals. — It  is  obviously  a  matter  of  much 
Importance  to  be  able  to  estimate  with  tolerable  accuracy 
the  effort  which  an  animal  of  tin-  average  strength  employ- 
ed in  labour  is  capable  of  exerting,  and  accordingly  very 
numerous  observations  have  been  made  on  the  subject ; 
but  this  species  of  force  is  subject  to  variation  from  so  great 
a  number  of  circumstances,  both  physical  and  mechanical, 
that  the  results  given  by  different  authors  present  very  lit- 
tle agreement  with  each  other,  though  they  are  of  great 
value  as  affording  data  for  determining  the  modes  in  which 
animal  labour  is  most  advantageoush  employed. 

The  force  which  an  animal  is  capable  of  exerting  against 
an  obstacle  is  greatest  when  the  animal  stands  still.  When 
it  begins  to  move,  a  considerable  part  of  its  strength  is  ex- 
pended in  the  transference  of  its  own  body  ;  and  the  greater 
the  velocity  with  which  it  moves,  the  less  will  be  the  load 
which  it  is  capable  of  transporting.  There  must,  also,  be 
a  certain  velocity  at  which  it  can  only  move  when  it  car- 
ries no  load.  Now,  if  from  the  total  effect  of  the  muscular 
force  exerted  we  subtract  the  part  which  represents  the 
transference  of  the  weight  of  the  animal's  body,  the  re- 
mainder, which  is  called  the  useful  effrct.  will  be 'obviously 
measured  by  the  load  which  the  animal  is  capable  of  trans- 
porting to  a  given  distance  in  a  given  time  ;  therefore,  put- 
ting 10  =  the  weight,  v  =  the  velocity,  and  t  —  the  time, 
the  useful  effect  is  represented  by  the  product  w  V  t.  and 
will  !>e  greatest  when  this  product  is  a  maximum.  In  or- 
der to  determine  this  maximum  it  is  necessary  to  establish 
a  relation  between  w  and  v  (for  the  time  t  may  be  taken  as 
unity).  The  empirical  formula  given  by  Euler  for  repre- 
senting the  relation  between  the  load  and  the  moving  power 
in  machines  generally  may  be  adopted  for  this  purpose,  as 
it  has  been  found  to  agree  tolerably  well  With  experiment. 
Let  P  denote  the  power  of  the  animal,  or  the  greatest  load 
it  is  capable  of  moving,  ami  c  the  neatest  Velocity  with 
which  it  can  move  unloaded;  then  the  equation  between 

*>  and  Bisa>  =  P^l )   ;  and  the  product  w  v  becomes 

a  maximum  when  3  v=zc,  or  v  is  one  third  of  c.  See  Ma- 
chime. 

In  order  to  compare  the  effects  produced  by  different  ani- 
mals, or  by  the  same  animal  under  different  circumstances, 
i!  If  usual  to  express  the  effect  numerically  in  terms  of  some 
Conventional  Unit,  which,  as  being  the  measure  of  a  lone, 
is  called  the  dynamic  unit.  Tims,  in  the  product  10  v  t,  we 
call  hi  =1  lb.,  -i>  =  1  foot,  and  t=l  minute;  the  measure 
Of  tin  t',,rce  will  be  the  effort  necessary  to  raise  or  trans- 
port a  pound  through  one  ii,ot  of  spue  In  one  minute  of 
time.  For  example,  DesagUlien  asserts  that  a  man  can 
raise  a  hogshead  of  water  10  feet  high  in  a  minute.  Now 
1186 


STRENGTH. 

a  hogshead  of  water,  vessel  included,  weighs  about  550 
lbs.;  and  550  lbs.  raised  through  10  feet  must  require  the 
same  exertion  of  muscular  force  as  5500 lbs.  raised  through 
one  foot;  therefore,  the  useful  effect,  which  in  this  cast  Is 
the  whole  effort,  as  the  man  stands  still,  is  expressed  bj 
,V)iHl  dynamic  units,  and  may  thus  be  compared  with  any 
other  effort  Which  is  ca]iable  of  being  similarly  expressed. 
Instead  of  a  pound,  a  foot,  and  a  minute,  we  might  assume 
a  hundred  weight,  a  yard,  a  day,  or  any  other  denomina- 
tions that  may  be  convenient. 

Strength  of  .Mm. — The  measure  of  human  force  has 
been  the  subject  of  numerous  experiments,  principally  by 
Desaguliers.  Labile.  Guenyveau,  Coulomb,  Schulze,  Bu- 
chanan, &.c,  whose  results  may  be  found  in  mo.  t  treatises 
on  practical  mechanics.  These  results  diner  very  widely, 
as  indeed  might  be  expected,  considering  the  very  great 
differences  of  the  force  which  ditferent  individuals  are  ca- 
pable of  exerting — dillerences  which  depend  not  only  upon 
age,  constitution,  and  habit,  but  even  upon  climate,  tem- 
pera i  ure,  and  food. 

Of  the  different  modes  of  estimating  human  strength,  the 
most  practically  useful  is  the  observation  of  the  average 
effect  produced  daily  by  a  labourer  who  continues  his  ex- 
ertions for  a  number  of  successive  days.  We  shall  state  a 
few  of  the  results;  and  for  the  sake  of  comparison  reduce 
them  to  dynamic  units,  assuming  the  unit  to  be  1000  lbs. 
avoirdupois  transported  to  the  distance  ol'  one  foot  in  one 
minute. 

According  to  Coulomb,  a  man  walking  on  a  level  road 
may  travel  at  the  rate  of  30  miles  per  day,  or  964  feet  per 
minute,  and  continue  his  exertions  II)  hours  a  day.  Taking 
the  weight  of  the  man  at  150  lbs.,  the  quantity  of  action  is 
23,760  dynamic  units. 

It  instead  of  walking  on  a  level  road  he  mounts  a  stair, 
the  velocity  is  reduced  to  26- 4  feet  per  minute,  and  the  la- 
bour can  be  continued  only  8  hours  a  day.  In  this  case, 
the  effect  produced  is  1901  dynamic  units. 

A  man  walking  on  a  level  road,  and  carrying  on  his  back 
a  weight  of  90  lbs.,  travels  at  the  rate  of  a  mile  and  a  half 
per  hour,  or  132  feet  per  minute,  and  continues  his  exertions 
7  hours  per  day.  The  useful  effect  is  consequently  4989 
dynamic  units. 

A  man  climbing  a  stair,  and  carrying  on  his  back  a  load 
equal  to  his  own  weight  or  150  lbs.,  proceeds  at  an  average 
rate  of  only  7  feet  per  minute,  during  rj  hours  a  day.  The 
useful  etiiet  is  consequently  378  dynamic  units. 

A  labourer  transporting  materials  in  a  wheelbarrow,  and 
returning  unloaded  for  a  fresh  burden,  transports  a  load  of 
130  lbs.  with  a  velocity  of  90  feet  per  minute,  working  10 
hours  a  day.  The  useful  etl'ect  is  consequently  7020  dyna- 
mic units. 

The  force  which  man  exerts  in  dragging  a  load  has  been 
variously  estimated.  Schulze  estimates  the  absolute  effect, 
or  that  which  the  man  can  exert  for  a  short  time  without 
moving,  as  equal  to  a  pressure  of  about  107  lbs. ;  Bernoulli 
at  75  lbs. ;  and  Guenyveau  found  the  absolute  force  of 
traction,  when  exerted  by  means  of  a  rope  passing  over  the 
shoulder,  to  be  from  110  to  132  lbs.  Allowing  the  accuracy 
of  Euler's  formula  above  given,  and  assuming  the  action  to 
be  a  maximum  when  the  velocity  is  2  miles  per  hour,  we 
shall  have  c  =  6;  and  if  we  also  assume  the  absolute  force 
P  =  72  lbs.,  then  the  formula  will  become  ic  =  2  (0  —  v)i, 
in  which  is  represents  the  number  of  pounds  corresponding 
to  the  force  developed  when  the  velocity  is  v  miles  per 
hour.  Thus  when  v  =  0,  we  have  10  =  72  lbs. ;  when  v  =  2, 
we  have  10  =  32  lbs.;  and  when  the  velocity  is  4  miles  per 
hour,  the  force  of  traction  becomes  8  lbs.  In  the  extreme 
cases  the  formula  is  inaccurate,  but  for  moderate  velocities 
it  alii  nils  a  tolerable  approximation. 

The  greatest  velocity  with  which  a  man  can  walk  for  a 
length  of  time,  having  no  load  to  drag,  is,  according  to 
Schulze,  537  feet  per  second  ;  accordinz  to  Bernoulli,  tr56 
feet  ;  according  to  Guenyveau,  from  fcSti  to  984  feet  per 
second,  or  from  4J  to  6$  miles  per  hour. 

According  to  Mr.  Buchanan  (Repertory  ef  Arts,  vo\.  xv.), 
the  effective  strengths  of  men  in  working  a  pump,  in  turn- 
ing a  winch,  in  ringing  a  bell,  and  rowing  a  boat,  are  re- 
spectively as  the  numbers  100,  167,  227,  248.  The  last  is 
one  of  the  most  advantageous  modes  in  which  human  force 
can  he  exerted. 

Porters  In  London  carry  from  200  Iks.  to  300  lbs.  at  the 
rate  of  3  miles  per  hour  ;  chairmen  walk  at  the  rate  of 4 
miles  an  hour  wilh  a  load  of  150  lbs.  each  ;  and  it  is  said 
Ibat  an  Albanian  porler  will  carry  from  7(10  to  900  lbs., 
Stooping  forward  and  assisting  his  steps  with  a  short  stall". 

The  following  results  of  experiments  on  the  comparative 

strength  of  men  of  different  countries,  with  Regnler's  dyna- 
mometer,  are  given  by  M.  Peron  : — England,  714;  France, 
li'.ij;  Timor,  58'7;  Van  Die-man's  Land,  518;  New  Hol- 
land, 50* 

Strength  of  Horses  and  other  Quadrupeds. — Of  all  ani- 
mals employed  as  first  movers,  the  horse  is,  beyond  ques- 


STRENGTH. 

tloa.  Ihe  most  useful,  and  that  whose  labour  is  susceptible 
of  the  most  numerous  and  varied  applications.  It  is  there- 
fore very  important  to  ascertain  his  average  force  ;  and  ac- 
cordingly a  great  number  of  estimates  have  been  publish- 
ed, both  of  the  amount  of  labour  he  is  capable  of  perform- 
ing, and  of  his  absolute  muscular  power.  For  the  purpose 
of  determining  the  latter,  the  dynamometer  may  be  con- 
veniently used  ;  but  as  the  action  of  the  animal  is  very 
quickly  reduced  by  continued  exertion,  it  is  more  usual  to 
estimate  it  according  to  the  amount  of  daily  labour  perform- 
ed.  Desaguliers  and  Smeaton  estimate  the  strength  ot  a 
horse  as  equivalent  to  that  of  five  men  j  the  French  authors 
have  commonly  stated  it  as  equal  to  that  of  seven  men ; 
and  Schulze  makes  it  equal  to  that  of  fourteen  men  in 
drawing  horizontally.  According  to  Desaguliers,  a  horse's 
power  is  equivalent' to  44,000  lbs.  raised  1  foot  high  in  one 
minute;  Smeaton  makes  this  number  22,916;  Hachette 
28,000,  and  Watt  33,000.  This  last  estimate  is  what  is  com- 
monly understood  by  the  term  horse  power  as  applied  to 
steam  engines. 

The  quantity  of  action  which  a  horse  can  exert  dimin- 
ishes as  the  duration  of  the  labour  is  prolonged.  Tredgold 
gives  the  following  table,  showing  the  average  maximum 
velocity  with  which  a  horse  unloaded  can  travel,  accord- 
ing to  the  number  of  hours  per  day  : 


Time  of  March, 
in  Hours. 

Greatest  Velocity 
per  Hour,  in 

Miles. 

Time  of  March, 
in  Hours. 

Greatest  Velocity 

per  Hour,  in 

Miles. 

1 

2 
3 

4 
5 

14-7 
10-4 

8-5 
7-3 
6-6 

6 

7 

8 
9 

10 

60 
5-5 
5-2 
4  9 
46 

The  useful  ettect  a  horse  is  capable  of  producing  depends 
much  on  the  manner  in  which  his  strength  is  applied.  One 
of  the  best  modes  is  to  make  him  draw  a  loaded  carriage. 
The  carriers  in  Scotland  usually  transport  in  a  single-horse 
cart  weighing  about  7  cwt.,  the  load  of  a  ton,  and  travel  at 
the  rate  of  22  miles  per  day.  Neglecting  the  weight  of  the 
animal  and  of  the  cart,  and  supposing  the  journey  to  be  ac- 
complished in  10  hours,  the  useful  effect  reduced  to  dy- 
namic units  (1000  lbs.  one  foot  in  one  minute)  is  200,198  dy- 
namic units. 

Navier  gives  the  following  results:  A  horse  drawing  in  a 
cart  a  load  of  1540  lbs.  (700  kilogrammes)  travels  at  the 
rate  of  216A  feet  per  minute,  during  10  hours  per  day.  Here 
the  usefuferi'ect  is  200,046. 

A  horse  harnessed  in  a  coach,  and  drawing  a  load  of  770 
lbs.  avoirdupois,  goes  at  a  trot  at  the  rate  of  433  feet  per 
minute,  during  4i  hours  per  day.  The  useful  effect  is  con- 
sequently 90,020. 

A  horse  carrying  on  his  back  a  load  of  264  lbs.  can  travel 
at  the  rate  of  216.J  feet  per  minute,  10  hours  a  day.  The 
useful  effect  is  34,294  dynamic  units.  Going  at  a  trot  wilh 
double  the  velocity,  during  seven  hours  a  day,  and  carrying 
a  load  of  176  lbs.,  the  useful  effect  is  32,007. 

A  horse  harnessed  in  a  mill,  going  at  a  pace  of  195  feet 
per  minute,  and  exercising  a  force  equal  to  a  pressure  of  99 
lbs.,  during  eight  hours  a  day,  produces  a  useful  effect  rep- 
resented by  9266  dynamic  units. 

On  the  strength  of  mules,  oxen,  and  the  other  animals 
employed  in  industry,  there  are  few  correct  observations. 
The  following  are  the  principal  results  :  Taking  the  useful 
effect  of  the  daily  labour  of  a  man  according  to  Coulomb's 
estimate  as  unity,  then  the  comparative  effects  of  the  la- 
bour of  some  of  the  other  animals  applied  in  the  same 
manner  are  thus  estimated: 

For  carrying  loads  in  a  horizontal  plane. 
Strength  of  a  man  ...        1        (Coulomb.) 
"        of  a  horse         .        .        48     (Brunacci.) 
"        of  a  horse         .        .        6'1      (Wesermann.) 
"        of  a  mule  .        .        76     (Brunacci.) 

For  transporting  burdens  with  a  wheel  carriage. 
Man  with  a  barrow        .        .        1        (Coulomb.) 
Horse  in  a  four  wheel  wagon       175     (Wesermann.) 
Horse  with  a  cart  .        .        .      243     (Brunacci.) 
Mule  with  a  cart    .        .        .      233     (Brunacci.) 
Ox  with  a  cart        .        .        .      122     (Brunacci.) 

The  above  comparisons  are  probably  nearer  the  truth 
than  the  following,  which  are  usually  quoted  from  Hassen- 
fratz  {Encyclopedic  Methodique) : 

In  carrying  loads  on  a  horizontal  plane. 


Strength  of  a  man 

"  of  a  horse  .  8 
"  of  a  mule  .  8 
"  of  an  ass  .  4 
"  of  a  camel  .  31 
In  drawing  a  weight  along  a  horizontal  plane 


Strength  of  a  dromedary 
of  an  elephant 
of  a  dog 
of  a  reindeer 


147 
1 
3 


Strength  of  a  man 
"  of  a  horse 
"  of  a  mule 
"        of  an  ass 


Strength  of  an  ox 
of  a  dog 
of  a  reindeer 


4  to  7 
.  0-6 
.   02 


STRENGTH  OF  MATERIALS. 

On  the  subject  of  animal  power  and  the  best  modes  of  its 
employment,  reference  may  be  made  to  the  following  works: 
Coulomb,  Sur  la  Force  des  Homines  {Mem.  de  l\Scad.) ; 
Prony,  Architecture  Nydraulique ;  Hachette,  Traite  des 
Machines ;  Guenyveau,  Essai  sur  la  Science  des  Machines  ; 
Coriolis,  Calcul.de  I' Effet  des  Machines  ;  Borgnis,  Traite  de 
la  Composition  des  Machines ;  Wesermann,  Taschenbuch 
fur  Strassen  und  (Vegbaubeamte. 

STRENGTH  OF  MATERIALS.  The  force  with  which 
a  solid  body  resists  an  effort  to  separate  its  particles,  or  de- 
stroy their  aggregation,  can  only  become  known  from  ex- 
periment ;  nevertheless,  if  we  assume  an  hypothesis  to  rep- 
resent the  manner  in  which  the  elementary  particles  are 
aiTanged  and  cohere,  general  formula;  may  be  deduced, 
which  will  represent  the  comparative  strength  of  bodies  of 
different  forms  and  dimensions,  or  submitted  to  the  action 
of  forces  applied  in  different  manners,  and  will  consequent- 
ly be  of  great  use  in  practical  mechanics. 

There  are  four  different  ways  in  which  the  strength  of  a 
solid  body  may  be  exerted  :  first,  in  resisting  a  longitudinal 
tension,  or  force  tending  to  tear  it  asunder ;  secondly,  in  re- 
sisting a  force  tending  to  break  the  body  by  a  transverse 
strain ;  thirdly,  in  resisting  compression,  or  a  force  tending 
to  crush  the  body ;  and  fourthly,  in  resisting  a  force  tend- 
ing to  wrench  it  asunder  by  torsion.  We  shall  consider 
these  separately. 

1.  Longitudinal  Tension. — The  resistance  opposed  by  a 
solid  body  to  a  longitudinal  strain  is  usually  termed  the  ab- 
solute strength,  or  force  of  direct  cohesion,  of  the  body. 
Two  points  may  be  proposed  for  investigation  ;  first,  to  de- 
termine the  quantity  by  which  a  body  of  a  given  length  is 
stretched  or  elongated  under  the  action  of  a  given  force  or 
weight;  and,  secondly,  the  effect  required  to  separate  the 
parts  or  produce  rupture.  Experiments  have  usually  been 
directed  to  the  last  of  these  only,  but  the  first  may  be  deter- 
mined indirectly  from  experiments  on  flexure.  In  bodies 
of  a  fibrous  structure,  as  the  woods,  the  cohesive  force  dif- 
fers greatly,  according  as  the  effect  is  applied  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the'fibres,  or  at  right  angles  to  it.  When  the  strain 
is  exerted  in  the  direction  of  the  fibres,  the  cohesive  force 
obviously  depends  on  two  circumstances  only— the  strength 
of  each  fibre,  and  their  number;  and,  in  general,  in  bodies 
of  the  same  substance  and  structure,  the  strength  is  propor- 
tional to  the  transverse  area  of  the  body,  and  to  a  certain 
constant  which  must  be  determined  by  experiment. 

Suppose  the  body  to  be  a  prism  or  cylinder,  and  let  A  be 
the  area  in  square  inches  of  a  section  perpendicular  to  its 
length,  or  to  the  direction  of  the  force  ;  W  the  weight  in 
pounds  which  produces  rupture  ;  and  s  the  absolute  strength 
of  the  substance,  or  the  weight  in  pounds  which  would 
overcome  the  cohesive  force  of  a  rod  whose  transverse  sec- 
tion is  one  square  inch ;  then  W  =  s  A,  or  s  =  W  —■  A.  In 
a  rectangular  beam  whose  breadth  and  thickness  are  re- 
spectively a  and  b,  we  have  A  =  ab;  whence  W  =  sai, 
and  s  —  XV  +  ab.  In  a  cylindrical  rod  whose  radius  is  r, 
we  have  A  =  ir2  (7r=3'14159) ;  whence  VV  =  sir2,  and 
*=:  XV  -i-irr2. 

Under  the  term  Cohesion,  we  have  already  given  a  table 
of  the  values  of  s  in  respect  of  different  woods  and  metals. 
For  farther  information  the  reader  is  referred  to  Barlow's 
Treatise  on  the  Strength  of  Timber,  &c.  (1837) ;  but  a  much 
more  ample  collection  of  experimental  results  will  be  found 
in  the  work  of  Navier,  Resume  des  Lecons,  fyc,  sur  V Appli- 
cation de  la  Mecanique  d  V  Etablissement  des  Constructions 
et  des  Machines.  We  may  remark,  that  although  the  lon- 
gitudinal tension  is,  with  respect  to  mechanical  action,  the 
simplest  of  all  the  strains  to  which  a  solid  body  can  be  sub- 
jected, it  is  the  most  difficult  to  submit  to  experiment,  by 
reason  of  the  enormous  forces  required  to  produce  rupture, 
and,  in  the  case  of  fibrous  bodies,  the  difficulty  of  applying 
those  forces  in  the  direct  line  of  the  fibres.  If  the  fibres 
are  not  all  subjected  to  the  same  strain,  it  is  obvious  that 
the  direct  cohesion  will  be  estimated  at  less  than  its  real 
value  ;  and,  as  Mr.  Barlow  remarks,  it  is  probably  owing  to 
this  circumstance  that  so  little  agreement  is  found  in  the 
results  of  experiments. 

2.  Transverse  Strength.— -When  a  body  suffers  a  trans- 
verse strain,  the  mechanical  action  which  takes  place 
among  the  particles  is  of  a  more  complicated  nature.  Gali- 
leo was  the  first  who  attempted  to  give  a  rational  explana- 
tion of  this  action,  arid  to  submit  the  strength  of  the  mate- 
rials used  in  the  mechanical  arts  to  the  measures  of  geom- 
etry and  arithmetic.  He  assumed  that  all  solid  bodies  are 
composed  of  numerous  small  parallel  fibres,  perfectly  in- 
flexible and  inextensible ;  and  that  when  they  break,  the 
several  fibres  give  way  in  succession,  the  body  turning  on 
the  last,  which  give  way  as  on  a  hinge,  and  the  strain  on 
each  fibre,  previous  to  the  rupture,  being  proportional  to  its 
distance  from  the  quiescent  fibres.  From  this  it  follows 
that  the  resistance  of  a  beam  to  a  transverse  strain  is  in 
the  compound  ratio  of  the  strength  of  the  individual  fibres, 
the  area  of  the  cross  section,  and  the  distance  of  the  centre 

1187 


STRENGTH  OF  MATERIALS. 


rif  gravity  of  the  cross  section  from  the  points  round  which 
the  beam  turns  in  breaking. 

The  first  who  attempted  to  submit  the  theory  of  Galileo 
to  actual  experiment  was  Manotte,  whose  results  were 
published  in  his  TraiU  mr  lea  Mouvemmts  det  Eavx,  1680. 

These  experiments  attracted  the  attention  of  Leibnitz,  who, 
in  the  Mcta  Emditorwn  tor  1684,  pointed  out  detects  of  the 
theory,  and  proposed  a  difiennl  hypothesis.    Leibnitz  as- 

BUmea  that  every  body  before  it  breaks  admits  of  a  certain 
degree  of  extension,  and  consequently  the  fibres  are  neither 
inrit  rible  nor  inextensible.  lie  farther  assumes  a  principle 
first  proposed  by  Hooke,  namely,  that  the  stremrth  of  each 
fibre  under  the  action  of  a  straining  force  varies  with  the 
degree  of  extension,  or  is  proportional  to  the  distance  of  the 
fibre  from  the  fixed  point  about  which  the  beam  is  supposed 
to  turn.  In  this  hypothesis,  the  beam  is  still  supposed  to 
turn  about  its  upper  or  lower  edge,  or  that  all  the  fibres, 
excepting  the  quiescent  ones,  are  in  a  state  of  tension;  al- 
though it  had  been  remarked  by  Mariotte  (and  is,  indeed, 
sufficiently  obvious)  that  when  flexure  takes  place  part  of 
the  fibres  only  are  in  a  state  of  tension,  another  part  being 
compressed,  so  that  the  line  about  which  the  beam  turns  is 
somewhere  within  the  section  of  fracture.  Professor  Robi- 
son  appears  to  have  been  the  first  who  distinctly  showed 
that  the  position  of  the  neutral  aiis  is  a  necessary  datum  in 
the  solution  of  the  problem. 

Although  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  hypothesis  of 
Galileo  is  at  variance  with  the  precise  fact,  yet  it  is  found 
to  be  sufficient  for  practical  purposes;  and,  indeed,  the  re- 
sults which  it  gives  appear  to  agree  nearly  as  well  with 
experiment  as  those  which  are  derived  from  a  more  refined 
theory  and  more  elaborate  calculations.  It  has,  therefore, 
on  account  of  its  great  simplicity,  been  very  generally  adopt- 
ed by  writers  on  mechanics.  We  shall  here  briefly  state 
the  principal  results. 

Suppose  a  prismatic  beam  A  B  to  have  one  end  firmly 
fixed  in  a  wall,  and  a  weight  \V 
to  be  suspended  from  the  other 
end,  the  beam  lying  horizontally. 
According  to  the  hypothesis,  the 
fibres  are  inflexible  and  inexten- 
fa  sible,  so  that  no  bending  takes 
place ;  and  when  the  rupture 
commences  the  fibres  first  give  way  at  the  upper  side  C, 
and  the  beam  turns  about  A  as  upon  a  hinge.  The  two 
forces  brought  into  action  are,  therefore,  the  weight  W  act- 
ing at  the  end  of  the  lever  A  B,  and  the  resistance  of  the 
particles  in  the  section  A  C ;  and  at  the  instant  previous  to 
the  rupture  the  two  forces  are  in  equilibrio,  or  their  re- 
spective moments  of  rotation  are  equal.  Now,  the  resist- 
ance of  any  fibre  in  the  section  A  C  is  the  absolute  strength 
of  the  fibre  multiplied  into  its  distance  from  the  point  A  ; 
therefore  the  whole  resistance  of  the  beam  is  formed  by 
multiplying  each  differential  element  of  the  area  into  its 
distance  from  the  point  A,  and  into  the  absolute  strength, 
and  taking  the  sum  of  all  the  products.  But  this  is  equiva- 
lent to  the  product  of  the  area  of  the  section  by  the  distance 
of  its  centre  of  gravity  from  A,  and  by  the  absolute  strength ; 
hence,  if  we  put  A  =  the  area  of  the  section,  c  =  the  dis- 
tance of  its  centre  of  gravity  from  the  lowest  point,  s  =  the 
absolute  strength  of  the  unit  of  surface,  the  resistance  to 
fracture  is  s  c  A.  Let  W  =  the  breaking  weight  in  pounds, 
and  (=AB,  the  length  of  the  beam ;  then  the  moment  of 
the  force  tending  to  produce  fracture  is  \V  I,  and  the  equa- 
tion of  equilibrium  is  \V/  =  scA;  whence  XV  =  scA-i-l, 
or  «  —  \V/-Hr  A. 

In  a  rectangular  beam  whose  breadth  is  J,  and  thickness 
or  depth  d.  we  have  A  —  bd,  c=  A  d  ;  whence  W=zsbd2 
-t-21  ;  or  the  strength  of  the  beam  is  directly  as  its  bceadth 
and  the  square  of  its  depth,  and  inversely  as  its  length. 

In  a  square  beam  ft  =  </,  whence  W  =  s6J  -j-2/. 

In  a  square  beam  whose  diagonal  is  vertical,  we  have 
A  =  a3,  and  c  =  h  a  v/2 ;  whence  W  =  »o'^Si •_>  /.  The 
beam  ought,  therefore,  to  be  stronger  in  this  position  ;  but 
this  result  of  the  theory  is  contradicted  by  experience. 

If  the  beam  be  cylindrical,  and  r  be  the  radius  of  its  sec- 
tion, then  A  =  rr  r2,  and  c  =  r  ;  whence  W  =  77Sr'  -i-l. 

In  a  cylindric  tube,  the  radii  of  whose  external  and  inter- 
nal surfaces  are  respectively  r  and  r ',  we  have  A  =  k  (ra  — 
r'2),  c  =  r ;  whence  Wr:irsr(r  —  r'2)  -i-l. 

From  the  two  last  cases  it  may  be  shown  the  strength  of 
the  tube  is  to  the  strength  of  the  same  quantity  of  matter 
formed  into  a  solid  cylinder  in  the  ratio  of  r  to  ^(r2  —  r'2)  ; 
so  that  a  tube  may  lie  much  Stronger  than  the  same  quail 

tity  of  matter  in  a  solid  form.    This  principle  furnishes  an 

explanation  of  many  facts  in   the  economy  of  nature.     To 

obtain  the  greatest  strength  with  the  least  possible  weight, 

the  bones  of  animals,  and  the  quilU  and  feathers  of  birds 

have  the  form  of  hollow  tubes;  and  the  same  arrangement 

id  in  many  of  the  vegetable  tribes,  as  the  Om- 

mina. 

In  the  preceding  formula;  the  weight  of  the  beam  is  neg- 

1188 


lee  ted.  ax  inconsiderable  in  comparison  of  the  weight  ap- 
plied :  but  since  in  similar  beams  of  the  same  substance  the 
strength  increases  as  the  square  of  the  depth,  while  the 
Weight  increases  as  the  cube,  there  is  consequent!)  a  limit, 
which,  if  a  beam  of  a  given  shape  and  of  given  materials 
were  to  reach  it,  could  only  bear  its  own  weight,  and  would 
lie  broken  by  any  farther  increase. 

Suppose  a  beam  A  1!  to  be  laid  horizontally  on  two  props, 
and  to  be  broken  by  a  weight  placed  at  A  B 

equal  distances  between  them,  the  pres- 
sure will  be  equally  shared  between 
the  props;  and  since  by  the  hypothesis 
fracture  takes  place  without  bending, 
the  effect  will  be  the  same  as  if  the  w 

beam  had  been  lived  at  the  middle,  and  each  end  acted 
upon  by  a  force  equal  to  half  the  weight,  but  directed  up- 
w  ards.  The  breaking  weight  is,  consequently,  double  of 
that  which  would  be  required  to  break  a  beam  of  half  the 
length  having  one  end  fixed  in  a  wall ;  or  the  transverse 
length  of  the  beam,  when  supported  at  one  end,  is  four  times 
as  great  as  that  of  the  same  beam  supported  at  one  end 
only,  and  having  the  weight  suspended  from  its  other  ex- 
tremity. In  this  case,  therefore,  when  the  beam  is  rectan- 
gular, W  =  -2sbd-  -i-l ;  when  the  beam  is  square,  W  =  2» 
bz  -~l ;  when  cylindrical,  W  =  4  jrsr3  -i-l ;  and  so  with  the 
other  cases. 

When  the  horizontal  beam,  instead  of  being  merely  sup- 
ported, is  firmly  imbedded  in  a  wall  at  each  end,  the  resist- 
ance will  be  equal  to  that  of  the  same  beam  merely  sup- 
ported at  each  end,  added  to  the  resistance  of  two  beams  of 
half  the  length  fixed  at  one  end  only,  and  acted  upon  by 
half  the  weight.  For  it  is  manifest  that  three  fractures 
must  take  place — one  in  the  middle,  and  one  at  each  end ; 
and  the  strain  in  the  middle  is  equal  to  that  of  the  support- 
ed beam,  which  has  just  been  shown  to  be  2  s  b  d-  ~  I,  and 
that  at  each  end  is  one  fourth  of  this,  or  Isbd2  -i-l ;  there- 
line  the  whole  weight  W,  under  which,  if  suspended  from 
the  middle,  the  beam  will  give  way.  is  VV=  3sirf-  -i-l. 

On  the  same  principle,  it  may  be  shown  that  when  a  beam 
is  supported  at  both  ends,  the  weight  which  it  is  able  to 
bear  at  any  point  is  inversely  as  the  rectangle  under  the 
segments  into  which  it  is  divided  by  that  point.  Hence  a 
beam  supported  at  both  ends  is  weakest  in  the  middle,  the 
rectangle  under  the  segments  at  that  point  being  a  maxi- 
mum. It  also  follows  that  when  the  pressure  is  equally 
distributed  over  the  whole  beam,  twice  the  weight  will  be 
required  to  break  it. 

When  the  beam,  instead  of  being  laid  horizontal!}',  is  in- 
clined, its  strength  is  increased  in  the  ratio  of  unity  to  the 
square  of  the  cosine  of  the  angle  of  inclination.  This  con- 
sequence of  the  theory,  however,  can  obviously  hold  only 
within  certain  limits  ;  inasmuch  as  it  would  give  the  strength 
eqaal  to  infinity  when  the  inclination  is  a  right  angle,  or 
when  the  load  is  applied  endwise. 

In  the  hypothesis  of  Galileo,  from  which  the  preceding 
results  have  been  deduced,  the  beam  is  supposed  to  be  ab- 
solutely inflexible,  which  is  not  the  case  with  any  material 
substance;  and  although  the  results  are  sufficiently  accu- 
rate in  their  application  to  architectural  or  mechanical  pur- 
poses, yet  in  the  comparison  of  experiments  to  determine 
the  ultimate  strength  of  different  substances  it  becomes  ne- 
cessary to  take  the  elasticity  and  consequent  incurvation 
into  the  estimate.  Mr.  Barlow,  assuming  that  the  flexure 
takes  place  only  at  the  section  of  fracture,  and  that  the 
fibres  remain  inextensible  in  every  other  point,  deduces  the 
following  formula  for  the  transverse  strain,  which  agree 
verj  well  with  the  experiments. 

As  before,  let  I  denote  the  length,  *  the  breadth,  and  d  the 
depth  of  the  beam,  all  in  inches;  and  let  A  be  the  angle  of 

deflection,  W  the  breaking  weight;  and  S  the  resistance  of 

a  rod  whose  section  is  one  square  inch,  \V  and  S  being  ex- 
pies. ed  in  pounds  ;  then, 

1.  When  the  beam  is  fixed  at  one  end  and  loaded  at  the 
other,  S=:  W  I  COS.  A  -r-  b  d" . 

2.  When  the  beam  is  supported  at  each  end,  and  loaded 
in  the  middle,  S  =  Wi  see.  *A -Mid*. 

3.  When  the  beam  is  fixed  at  each  end  and  loaded  in  the 
middle.  S  =  W/  sec.  »A  -j-6ftd». 

The  angle  of  deflection  being  small,  its  secant  in  the  or- 
dinary applications  may  be  considered  as  equal  to  unity; 
and  ii'  wo  aisn  write  .'.  .-•  instead  of  S  iii  the  above  formulas, 
they  will  become  the  same  as  those  deduced  from  the  hy- 
pothesis of  Galileo. 

The  preceding  results  have  reference  to  the  absolute 
strength  of  the  beam;  or  to  the  weight  which  it  can  .iust 
support  without  being  broken  ;  but  it  is  also  very  important 
to  know  the  amount  of  deflection  w  htcb  a  gives  w  eigtii  w  ill 
produce  in  a  beam  of  a  given  material  and  of  given  dimen- 
sions.   Suppose  a  prismatic  beam  to  be  firmly  fixed  at  one 

end,  and  to  have  B  weight  BUSpended  from  the  other;  then, 
,1'  we  adopt  the  hypothesis  that  the  extension  of  the  fibres 
at  each  point  is  proportional  to  the  straining  force,  the  cur- 


STRENGTH  OF  MATERIALS. 


vature  at  the  different  points,  and  the  law  of  the  action 
which  takes  place,  may  be  deduced  from  the  properties  of 
the  elastic  curve.  (See  Elastic  Curve.)  The  following 
results  of  theory  are  confirmed  by  the  experiments  of  Dupin 
and  Barlow : 

1.  The  deflections  of  a  beam  loaded  with  different  small 
weights  are  proportional  to  those  weights.  2.  The  deflec- 
tion, ceteris  paribus,  is  directly  as  the  cube  of  the  length, 
inversely  as  the  cube  of  tlte  depth,  and  inversely  as  the 
breadth.  Hence,  if  I  denote  the  length,  b  the  breadth,  d  the 
depth,  and  k  the  deflection  (that  is,  the  distance  to  which 
the  loaded  end  of  the  beam  is  drawn  below  the  horizontal 
line),  all  expressed  in  inches,  and  if  w  be  the  weight  in 
pounds  which  the  body  can  support  without  its  elasticity 
being  impaired,  then  k  is  proportional  to  wl*  -—id?  ;  or,  if 
we  assume  E  as  the  constant  modulus  of  elasticity,  E  =  w  £' 
-i-kbdK 

The  deflection  of  a  beam  fixed  at  one  end  and  loaded  at 
the  other  is  double  that  of  a  beam  of  twice  the  length  sup- 
ported at  both  ends  and  loaded  at  the  middle  with  a  double 
weight,  supposing  the  strain  to  be  the  same  in  both  cases; 
consequently,  when  the  weights  are  the  same,  the  deflec- 
tion in  the  first  case  is  to  that  in  the  second  as  4 : 1 ;  and 
when  the  length  and  weight  are  both  the  same,  the  deflec- 
tions (which  vary  as  the  cubes  of  the  lengths)  will  be  to 
each  other  as  32 : 1.  In  the  case  of  the  beam  supported  at 
both  ends,  he  formula  therefore  becomes  E  —  wP-i- 
32kbd3. 

From  the  table  of  data  given  by  Barlow  {Strength  of  Tim- 
ber, p.  150),  we  extract  the  following  mean  results  of  exper- 
iments (on  beams  supported  at  both  ends),  made  in  the 
dock-yard  at  Woolwich,  for  determining  the  elasticity  and 
strength  of  various  species  of  timber : 


Elasticity. 

Strength. 

Description  of  Wood. 

MkbcP 

4bd? 

Teak         .... 

30I8UO 

2462 

Poon         .... 

211200 

2221 

English  Oak      . 

109200 

1181 

Ditto,  another  specimen   . 

1SI400 

1672 

263600 

176U 

205000 

20^6 

Beech       .        .        .       • 

169*00 

1556 

87480 

1013 

Pitch  Pine 

153200 

1632 

New-England  Fir    . 

273900 

1102 

R,ga  Fir    .... 

166100 

hob 

Mar  Forest  Fir 

103700 

1262 

Larch       .... 

131600 

1149 

Norway  Spar    . 

1S2200 

1474 

From  the  mean  of  a  number  of  experiments  by  Tredgold, 
the  values  of  E  and  S,  for  rectangular  cast  iron  bars,  were 
found  to  be  E=:  2254000,  S  =  7620. 

3.  Resistance  of  Bodies  to  Forces  tending  to  crush  them. 
— The  resistance  of  a  body  to  a  crushing  force  might  be 
supposed,  a  priori,  to  follow  the  same  law  as  the  absolute 
force  of  cohesion,  and,  consequently,  to  depend  only  upon 
the  area  of  the  section  and  the  force  of  aggregation  of  the 
particles.  It  is  found,  however,  by  experiment,  that  the 
thickness  of  the  body  (or  length,  if  the  force  is  applied  end- 
wise) has  an  important  influence  on  the  amount  of  pressure 
it  is  capable  of  bearing.  Very  thin  plates  are  readily  crush- 
ed ;  and  the  resistance  appears  to  increase  with  the  thick- 
ness up  to  a  certain  maximum,  after  which  it  diminishes. 
The  theory  of  the  resistance  of  pillars,  which  is  of  great 
importance  on  account  of  its  application  to  architectural 
purposes,  was  investigated  by  Euler ;  and,  according  to  the 
hypothesis  adopted  by  him,  the  strength  varies  directly  as 
the  fourth  power  of  the  diameter  or  side,  and  inversely  as 
the  square  of  the  length.  This  is  confirmed  by  the  recent 
experiments  of  Mr.  Hodgkinson  (Phil.  Trans.,  1840)  in  re- 
spect of  pillars  of  wrought  iron  or  timber;  but  in  the  case 
of  pillars  of  cast  iron,  the  powers  of  the  diameter  and  length 
were  somewhat  different.  Mr.  Hodgkinson  found  from  a 
mean  of  experiments  that  a  solid,  uniform  pillar  of  cast 
iron,  whose  transverse  section  is  one  square  inch,  is  de- 
stroyed by  a  weight  of  98922  lbs.,  or  44.16  tons.  Assuming 
this  as  a  unit  of  measure,  he  gives  the  following  formula  (as 
representing  his  experiments),  in  which  s  is  the  strength  or 
weight  in  lbs.  that  would  crush  the  pillar,  d  the  diameter, 
and  /  the  length,  viz.,  s  =:  98922  X  t/3  55_i_^i -7.  This  formu- 
la applies  to  pillars  of  which  the  lengths  are  twenty-five 
times  the  diameter  and  upwards,  and  which  are  perfectly 
flat  at  the  ends.  When  the  ends  of  a  pillar  are  rounded, 
so  that  the  load  bears  only  on  the  middle  fibres,  the  strength 
is  greatly  reduced.  In  pillars  whose  length  is  thirty  times 
the  diameter,  or  upwards,  Mr.  Hodgkinson  found  the 
strength  of  those  with  flat  ends  to  be  about  three  times 
greater  than  the  strength  of  others  of  the  same  dimensions 
with  round  ends,  the  mean  ratio  being  3-107.  In  shorter 
pillars  the  ratio  was  not  constant.  The  strength  of  a  pillar 
is  slightly  increased  by  placing  disks  on  the  ends  to  increase 
the  bearings. 

100 


Mr.  Hodgkinson  gives  the  following  results  of  his  experi- 
ments on  the  resistance  to  a  crushing  force  of  short  pillars  of 
some  of  the  most  common  descriptions  of  wood,  the  force 
being  applied  in  the  direction  of  the  fibres. 


Description  of  Wood. 

Strength  per  Square  Inch, 
in  lbs. 

Elder      

Elm 

Oak  (English; 

Poplar 

6b31    to  6960 
8633  —  6363 
7518  —   7518 
7733  —  9363 
3297  —  6402 
5674  —   5S63 
5748  —   6586 
67S1  —  7293 
7451  —  9973 

10331 
6499  —  6319 
8198  —  8198 
4231  —  5982 
6484  —  10058 
6790  —   6790 
5395  —   7518 
3107  —  5124 
8241  —  10493 

12101 
6063  —   7227 
2898  —   6128 

The  results  in  the  first  column  were  deduced  in  each  case 
from  experiments  upon  cylinders  of  wood  turned  to  one  inch, 
diameter,  and  two  inches  long,  flat  at  the  ends.  The  wood 
was  moderately  dry.  The  second  column  gives  the  mean 
strength  from  similar  specimens  after  being  turned  and  kept 
dry  in  a  warm  place  two  months  longer.  The  great  differ- 
ence in  the  strength  frequently  seen  in  the  two  columns 
shows  strongly  the  effect  of  drying  upon  wood,  and  the  great 
weakness  of  wet  timber. 

Mr.  Tredgold  found  that  cast  iron  is  crushed  by  a  weight 
of  93,000  lbs.  upon  a  square  inch,  and  will  bear  15,300  lbs. 
without  permanent  alteration. 

4.  Strength  of  Torsion. — The  resistance  which  bodies  op- 
pose to  a  force  tending  to  wrench  them  asunder  has  fre- 
quently been  made  the  subject  of  experiment.  The  follow- 
ing results,  showing  the  comparative  strength  of  various 
metals,  as  ascertained  by  resistance  to  torsion,  is  given  by 
Mr.  Rennie.  For  the  law  according  to  which  the  elasticity 
is  evolved  in  the  case  of  slender  metallic  wires  or  threads 
of  fibrous  substances,  when  the  twisting  force  is  less  than 
is  necessary  to  produce  a  permanent  change  of  structure,  wo 
refer  to  the  term  Torsion. 

Lead 1000 

Tin 1438 

Copper 4312 

Brass 4688 

Gun  metal 5000 

Swedish  iron 9500 

English  iron 10125 

Cast  iron 10600 

Blister  steel 16688 

Shear  steel 17063 

Cast  steel 19562 

Mr.  Banks  (on  the  Power  of  Machines)  states,  as  the  mean 
result  of  several  experiments,  that  a  bar  of  cast  iron,  one 
inch  square,  is  wrenched  asunder  by  a  weight  of  631  lbs. 
avoirdupois,  applied  at  the  extremity  of  a  lever  two  feet  in 
length.  Other  experiments  on  the  force  of  torsion  are  given 
by  G.  Bevan  (Phil.  Trans.,  1829),  and  Savart  (Annates  da 
Chimie,  August,  1829). 

For  farther  information  on  this  subject,  in  addition  to  the 
works  already  quoted,  see  Rondelet,  Art  de  Bdtir  ;  Girard, 
Traite  Analytiqae  de  la  Resistance  des  Solides ;  Tredgold, 
Elementary  Principles  of  Carpentry,  and  Practical  Essay 
on  the  Strength  of  Cast  Iron ;  Banks,  Treatise  on  the  Power 
of  Machines  ;  Hodgkinson,  Transactions  of  the  British  As- 
sociation, vol.  vi. ;  and  Phil.  Trans.,  1840,  &c. 

STREPSITTERANS,  Strepsiptera.  (Gr.  arpc-KTos,  twist- 
ed; TTTtpov,  a  wing.)  The  name  given  by  Kirby  to  the  or- 
der of  insects  which  he  discovered  to  possess  rudimental 
elytra  in  the  form  of  linear  and  spirally  twisted  scales. 

STRETCHER.  In  Architecture,  a  brick  or  stone  laid 
horizontally  with  its  length  in  the  direction  of  the  face  of  a 
wall. 

STRETCHING  COURSE.  In  Architecture,  a  course  in 
which  the  bricks  or  stones  are  laid  horizontally  with  their 
lengths  in  the  direction  of  the  face  of  the  wall.  See  Head- 
ers and  Heading  Course. 

STRE'TTO.  (It.  narrow.)  In  Music,  a  term  indicating 
that  the  measure  to  which  it  is  affixed  is  to  be  performed 
short  and  concise,  hence  quick.  It  is  the  opposite  of  largo. 
STRI'ATE.  (Lat.  stria,  a  groove.)  In  Zoology,  when  a 
surface  is  painted  or  impressed  with  several  narrow  trans- 
verse streaks. 

STRIG^E.  (Lat.)  In  Architecture,  the  flutings  of  a 
column. 

STRIGI'DjE.  The  name  of  the  family  of  Nocturnal 
Raptores  of  which  the  owl  (Stnx)  is  the  type. 

1189 


STRING  BOARD. 

STRING  HOARD.  In  Architecture,  a  hoard  with  its 
face  next  the  well-hole  in  a  wooden  staircase,  which  re- 
ceives the  ends  of  the  steps. 

STRING  COURSE.  In  Architecture,  a  course  running 
quite  along  the  face  of  a  building,  the  projecture  whereof  is 
small  in  proportion  t"  us  height. 

BTRO'BLLE,  or  STRO'BlLUS,  is  the  fruit  of  the  fir  tree, 
to  which  the  common  name  of  cone  is  assigned.  It  may  be 
defined  to  be  a  spike  of  very  imperfect  (lowers  subtended  by 
bracts,  which  are  woody,  pressed  close  to  each  other,  and 
in  many  cases  consolidated, 

STRO'MBUS.  The  name  of  a  shell  fi>h  in  Pliny.  This 
term  was  applied  by  I.innaus  to  a  genus  of  the  Vermes  Tes- 
tacca,  characterized  bj  the  form  of  the  shell,  of  which  the 
aperture  is  much  dilated,  the  lips  expanding,  and  produced 
into  a  groove  leaning  to  the  left.  The  Molluscs  to  which 
this  character  is  applicable  form  a  group  of  Pectinibranchiate 
Gastropods  in  the  system  of  Cuvier,  which  has  been  subdi- 
vided into  the  genera  Strombus  proper,  Pterocera,  Lam., 

&.C. 

STRO'NGYLUS.  A  genus  of  intestinal  worms  in  Ru- 
dolphi's  classification,  characterized  by  having  a  cylindrical 
body,  the  anal  extremity  of  which,  in  the  male,  is  siirround- 
en  by  a  kind  of  pouch  of  a  varied  shape,  from  which  is  pro- 
truded a  small  filament  or  spiculum,  probably  subservient 
to  generation.  The  mouth  is  orbicular,  sometimes  armed 
with  spines,  as  in  the  Strongylus  armatus,  which  infests 
the  mesenteric  arteries  of  the  horse  and  ass,  producing 
aneurisms ;  sometimes  the  mouth  is  surrounded  by  tuber- 
cles or  papilla;,  as  in  the  Strongylus  gigas,  which  is  some- 
times found  in  the  kidney  of  the  human  subject. 

STRO'NTIA.  An  earth  contained  in  a  mineral,  generally 
of  a  pale  green  tint  and  radiated  crystalline  texture,  found 
at  Strontian  in  Argyleshire.  It  is  a  carbonate  of  strontia. 
Strontia  is  the  oxide  of  a  metallic  base,  the  properties  of 
which  are  very  imperfectly  known,  called  strontium;  the 
equivalent  of  strontia,  or  oxide  of  strontium  (composed  of 
44  strontium  and  8  oxygen),  is  52.  It  has  a  caustic  taste,  an 
alkaline  reaction,  and  a  degree  of  solubility  in  water  inter- 
mediate between  lime  and  baryta.  The  salts  of  strontia  are 
generally  obtained  by  dissolving  the  natural  or  artificial  car- 
bonate in  the  acids;  those  which  are  soluble  give  the  flame 
of  burning  bodies  a  fine  rose  red  colour  :  the  nitrate  of  strontia 
is  used  for  this  purpose,  and  with  beautiful  etfect,  in  theatri- 
cal exhibitions  and  fireworks.  The  sulphate  of  strontia  is 
found  native:  it  is  an  insoluble  white  powder  when  artifi- 
cially prepared.  Some  of  its  native  varieties  have  a  pale 
blue  tint,  whence  the  term  co-lestim  .  A  colourless  prismatic 
crystalline  variety,  of  great  beauty,  is  found  associated  With 
the  native  sulphur  of  Sicily. 
STRO'NTIANTTE.  Native  carbonate  of  strontia. 
BTRO'PHE.  {Gr.  arpoiith  a  turning)  A  division  of  a 
Greek  choral  ode  answering  to  a  stanza.  The  name  is  de- 
rived from  arpiQciv,  to  turn,  because  the  singers  turned  in 
one  direction  while  they  recited  that  portion  of  the  poem; 
they  then  turned  round  and  sung  the  next  portion,  which 
was  of  exactly  the  same  length  and  metre  as  the  preceding, 
and  was  termed  the  anlistiophe  (uvrtorpdipi),  from  ivrt,  op- 
posite.) These  were  sometimes  followed  by  another  strophe 
and  antistrophe,  sometimes  by  a  single  stanza  called  the 
epode  (t;rw(5oj). 

STROPHTOLiE.  In  Botany,  synonym  of  Caruncula, 
which  see. 

STROPHULUS.  (Lat.)  The  red  gum ;  an  eruption 
peculiar  to  infants. 

STRUMA.  (I. at.)  In  Anatomy,  an  enlarged  gland. 
Struma.  In  Botany,  a  Bwelllng  thai  is  present  in  some 
leaves  at  the  extremity  of  the  petiole,  where  it  is  connected 
to  the  lamina  ;  as  in  Mimosa  tensitiva.  The  term  also  used 
in  describing  mosses  to  denote  a  dilatation  or  swelling  that  is 
al  lines  present  upon  one  side  of  the  base  of  the  theca. 

STRUT.  In  Architecture,  a  piece  of  timber  obliquely 
placed  from  a  king  or  queen  post  to  support  a  rafter.  It  is 
BOmetimes  called  a  brace.     See  Roof. 

STRUTHIO'NTIXE.  (Strutbio,  an  ostrich.)  The  name 
of  a  family  of  terrestrial  birds,  incapable  of  flight,  with  very 
short  or  ruiliniental  wings,  and  long  and  strong  legs  ;  includ- 
ing the  ostrich  and  other  congeneric  spines  which  constitute 
the  order  Ouraorea  ofKirby,  and  the  family  Brevipennea  in 
the  system  of  Cuvier. 

STRY'CHNIA.  A  poisonous  vegetable  alkaloid,  discov- 
ered in  1818  by  Pelleter  and  CaveatOU  in  the  seed  of  the 
Strydmut  ignotia  and  JVus   vomica,  and  also  in  the  upas 

poison,      ll  IS  aim.  si   insoluble   in  water,  but  Very  soluble  In 

boiling  alcohol,  from  which  it  is  deposited  bj  oarefnl  evapo- 
ration in  small  w  bite  crystals.  Il  is  BO  virulently  poisonous, 
that  half  a  grain  blown  into  the  throat  of  a  rabbit  occasioned 
death  in  five  minutes;   its  operation  is  accompanied  by  lock 

jaw  and  oiber  tetanic  affections,    The  chemical  equivalent 

of  Strychnia  is  about  238.     It  probably  consists  of  'M  atoms 

of  carbon,  Hi  hydrogen,  3  oxygen,  and  I  nitrogen. 
BTI  f'BBLE.    The  root  ends  of  stalks  of  corn,  left  in  the 
ll'JO 


STYLE. 

field  standing  as  they  grew  after  the  corn  has  been  reaped 
by  the  sickle  or  bcj  the.  In  some  parts  of  the  country  only 
a  small  portion  of  the  straw  is  cut  off  with  the  e;u-s  of  corn, 
and  the  stubble  in  that  case  is  a  foot  or  eighteen  inches  in 
length  ;  but  in  others  the  corn  is  cut  as  close  to  the  surface 
as  possible,  in  which  case  the  stubble  is  quite  short.  In  gen- 
eral, long  stubble  is  a  symptom  of  bad  tanning,  because  a 
quantity  of  straw  is  in  this  case  left  waste  in  the  field, 
which  might  have  been  carried  home  and  rotted  into  manure. 
STU'CCO.  (Ital.)  In  Architecture,  a  term  applied  to 
many  sorts  of  calcareous  cements.  The  sense  in  which  it 
is  most  commonly  used  in  this  country  is  to  denote  the  third 
coat  of  three-coat  plaster,  consisting  of  fine  lime  and  sand. 
The  better  sort  is  hand  floated  twice  and  well  trowelled. 
There  is  a  species  called  bastard  stucco,  in  which  a  small 
portion  of  hair  is  used.  {See  Finishing.)  Rough  stucco  is 
merely  floated  and  brushed  with  water,  but  the  best  is 
trowelled  stucco. 

STUDDING  SAILS,  called  also  Steering  Sails,  are  nar- 
row sails  set  temporarily  at  the  outer  edges  of  the  square 
sails. 

STUFA.  (Ital.)  A  jet  of  steam  issuing  from  a  fissure  in 
the  earth :  these  jets  are  not  uncommon  in  volcanic  dis- 
tricts. 

STUFF.  A  Commercial  term,  applied  to  various  woven 
fabrics  ;  it  especially  signifies  a  light  woollen  cloth  formerly 
much  used  for  curtains  and  bed  furniture. 

S TU'RGEON.  (Lat.  sturio,  from  the  German  stoer,  a 
sturgeon.)  The  type  of  a  genus  of  Cartilaginous  fishes, 
with  free  gills,  having  the  body  more  or  less  covered  with 
bony  plates  in  longitudinal  rows.  The  mouth  is  placed  be- 
neath the  snout,  is  small  and  edentulous  ;  but  is  protractile; 
Soft  feelers  or  cirri  are  attached  beneath  the  snout.  The 
bodies  of  the  vertebra?  retain  the  primitive  condition  of  an 
undivided  gelatinous  cord.  The  sturgeons  ascend  the  larger 
rivers  of  Europe  in  great  abundance,  and  are  the  objects  of 
important  fisheries.  The  flesh  of  most  of  the  species  is 
wholesome  and  agreeable  food  ;  their  ova  are  converted  into 
caviar,  and  their  air-bladder  affords  the  finest  isinglass. 

The  sturgeon  which  is  occasionally  captured  on  our  east 

coast  is  the  .riccipenser  sturio  of  LinnsBUS.   See  Accipenser. 

STURIONIANS,  Sturionii.     (Lat.  sturio,  a  sturgeon.) 

The  name  of  the  family  of  Cartilaginous  fishes,  of  Which  the 

sturgeon  is  the  type. 

STY.  A  little  boil  or  tumour  projecting  from  the  edge  of 
the  eyelid. 

STYLAGA'LMAIC.  (Gr.  otuXoj,  a  column,  and  aya^fia, 
an  ornament.)  In  Architecture,  a  term  used  to  denote 
figures  which  perform  the  office  of  columns.  See  Carya- 
tides. 

STYLE.  (Lat.  stylus,  or  stilus.)  A  kind  of  pencil  made 
use  of  by  the  Romans  for  writing  on  waxed  tablets.  It  was 
made  of  brass  or  iron,  with  one  end  sharp  for  writing,  ami 
the  other  blunt  and  smooth  to  make  erasures  with;  hence 
to  turn  the  style  is  a  phrase  used  by  ancient  writers,  signify- 
ing to  make  corrections. 

In  Literature,  the  word  style  may  be  defined  to  mean  the 
distinctive  manner  of  writing  which  belongs  to  each  author, 
and  also  to  each  body  of  writers,  allied  as  belonging  to  the 
same  school,  country,  or  age.  It  is  that  which,  to  use  the 
expression  of  Dryden,  individuates  each  writer  from  all 
others.  The  style  of  an  author  is  made  up  of  various  minute 
particulars,  which  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  describe,  but 
each  of  which  adds  something  to  the  aggregate  of  qualities 
which  belong  to  him.  Collocation  of  words,  turn  of  sen- 
tences, syntax,  rhythm  ;  the  relation,  abundance,  and  the 
character  of  his  usual  figures  and  metaphors;  the  usual  or- 
der in  which  thoughts  succeed  each  other;  the  logical  form 
in  which  conclusions  are  generally  deduced  from  their 
premises;  the  particular  qualities  most  insisted  on  in  de- 
scription; amplification  and  conciseness,  clearness  and  ob- 
scurity,  directness  and  indirectness,  exhaustion,  suggestion, 
suppression— all  these  are  features  of  style,  in  the  largest 
sense  of  the  expression,  in  which  it  seems  to  comprehend 
all  peculiarities  belonging  to  the  manner  in  which  thought 
is  communicated  from  the  writer  to  the  reader.  Excellence 
of  Style,  particularly  of  the  rhetorical  parts  of  style,  was 
more  cultivated  by  the  ancients  than  the  modems  ;  and  less, 
perhaps,  at  the  present  day,  than  at  any  former  period  since 
the  English  language  began  to  be  written  in  prose  with  cor- 

rectness  ami  elegance.    Since  the  period  w  hen  Bolingbroke 
Junius,  Johnson,  Gibbon,  and  Ilurke  became  established  Bfl 

models,  a  certain  superficial  sameness  of  style,  wanting  in 

the  rougl ss  and  vulgarity,  but  also  in  the  force  ami  inch 

viduality  of  old  English  Composition,  seems  to  prevail  to 
such    nn    extent   as    to    render    modern    writing   extremely 

monotonous  and  artificial.  Rut  it  should  never  in-  forgotten 
that  whatever  quality  may  command  a  temporary  popular- 
ity, no  work,  either  in  poetry  or  prose,  has  e\er  permanently 
maintained  its  hold  on  public  admiration  without  excellence 
of  style. 
Style,  in  the  Calendar,  is  a  manner  of  reckoning  time. 


STYLITE. 

The  reformation  of  thp  calendar  by  Julius  Cssar  consisted 
chiefly  in  restoring  the  equinox  to  its  proper  place  in  the 
month  of  March.  This  reformation  took  place  in  A.U.C. 
707.  which  year  was  made  to  consist  of  fourteen  months,  in 
order  to  till  up  the  deficiency  which  had  been  produced  by 
the  former  method  of  computing,  and  was  styled  the  "year 
of  confusion."  By  the  Julian  calendar  an  intercalary  day 
was  added  to  every  fourth  year  (leap  year).  In  consequence 
of  this  erroneous  intercalation,  the  equinox  receded  a  day  in 
about  130  years  ;  and,  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, the  vernal  equinox  fell  on  the  10th  instead  of  the  21st 
of  March.  The  calendar  was  reformed  by  Gregory  XIII., 
in  1577.  By  this  reformation  ten  days  were  dropped  in  the 
year  1582,  the  15th  of  March  being  reckoned  immediately 
after  the  4th ;  and  it  -was  arranged  that  every  100th  year 
(which  by  the  former  calendar  was  a  leap  year)  should  be 
a  common  year,  except  the  fourth,  i.  e.,  1600  remained  a 
leap  year ;  but  1700,  1800,  were  common  years ;  and  1900 
will  be  a  common  year  likewise,  after  which  the  cycle  of 
four  centuries  will  again  commence.  The  Gregorian  calen- 
dar was  immediately  adopted  in  Catholic  countries  ;  but  by 
Protestant  nations  the  old  style  was  for  a  long  time  con- 
tinued. England  adopted  the  New  Style  in  1752  by  statute, 
after  debates  in  parliament,  of  which  a  curious  notice  will 
be  found  in  Lord  Chesterfield's  Letters.  Previously  to  this 
time,  dates  according  to  the  old  style  are  frequently  denoted 

by  the  initials  O.  S. ;  or  thus  —  i  of  January,  1750,  the 

upper  line  denoting  the  old,  and  the  latter  the  new  style. 
This  mode  of  dating  will  still  be  found  in  the  despatches  and 
public  papers  of  Russia  and  Greece,  which  are  the  only  Eu- 
ropean states  in  which  the  Julian  period  is  still  in  use.  The 
time  of  the  two  styles  now  varies  thirteen  days.  For  farther 
information  on  this  subject,  see  Calendar. 

Style,  in  Dialling,  is  the  gnomon  which  projects  the 
shadow  on  the  plane  of  the  dial.     See  Dial. 

Style,  in  Botany,  is  that  elongation  of  the  ovarium  which 
supports  the  stigma.  It  is  an  extension  of  the  midrib  of  the 
carpellary  leaf,  or  is  formed  by  the  rolling  up  of  the  attenu- 
ated extremity  of  the  latter. 

Style.  In  the  Fine  Arts,  the  mode  in  which  an  artist 
forms  and  expresses  his  ideas  on  and  of  a  given  subject.  It 
is  the  form  and  character  that  he  gives  to  the  expression  of 
his  ideas,  according  to  his  particular  faculties  and  powers. 
Style  may  he  almost  considered  as  the  refinement  of  manner 
(See  Manner)  :  it  is  a  characteristic  essence  by  which  we 
distinguish  the  works  of  one  master  from  another.  From 
literature  this  word  has  passed  into  the  theoretic  language 
of  the  fine  arts  ;  and  as  in  that  we  hear  of  the  sublime,  bril- 
liant, agreeable,  historic,  regular,  natural,  confused,  and 
other  styles,  so  we  have  almost  the  same  epithets  applied  to 
styles  of  art.  Indeed  this  is  not  wonderful,  since  the  prin- 
ciples of  taste,  irt  both  the  one  and  the  other,  are  founded  in 
nature;  and  it  is  a  well-known  saying,  that  poetry  is  a 
speaking  picture.  This  word  is  improperly  used  as  applied 
to  colouring  and  harmony  ol  tints  :  we  speak  of  the  style  of 
a  design,  of  a  composition,  of  draperies,  &c. ;  but  not  of  the 
style  of  colouring,  but  rather  the  method  or  manner  of  col- 
ouring. The  definition  of  this  word  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds 
is  as  follows :  "  Style  in  painting  is  the  same  as  in  writing — 
a  power  over  materials,  whether  words  or  colours,  by  which 
conceptions  or  sentiments  are  conveyed."  But  we  can 
scarcely  consider  this  definition  sufficiently  general. 

STY'LITE.  (Gr.  oruAof,  a  column.)  The  title  given  to 
a  peculiar  class  of  anchorites  from  the  places  on  which 
they  took  up  their  solitary  abodes,  being  the  tops  of  various 
columns  in  Syria  and  Egypt.  This  strange  method  of  de- 
votion took  its  rise  in  the  second  century,  and  continued 
to  be  practised  by  many  individuals  for  a  great  length  of 
time.  The  most  famous  among  them  was  one  St.  Simeon, 
in  the  5th  century,  who  is  said  to  have  lived  thirty-seven 
years  upon  various  columns  of  considerable  height  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Antioch. 

STYLO.  Names  compounded  of  this  word  apply  to  the 
muscles  attached  to  the  styloid  process  of  the  temporal 
bone. 

STY'LOBATE.  (Gr.  otuaoj,  a  column,  and  jiaaic,  a 
base.)  In  Architecture,  a  term  signifying  the  uninterrupted 
base  below  a  range  of  columns. 

STY'PTICS  (Gr.  arv<pu>,  I  restrain),  in  Medicine  and 
Surgery,  are  remedies  used  for  checking  a  flow  of  blood. 

STY  RAX.     See  Storax. 

STYX.  (Gr.  Xrvl.)  In  Mythology,  a  nymph :  the 
daughter,  according  to  Hesiod,  of  Oceanus  and  Thetis  ;  but 
other  mycologists  relate  the  genealogy  differently.  She 
dwelt  in  a  rock  palace  in  the  infernal  regions,  from  whence 
one  of  the  infernal  rivers  burst  forth.  This  river,  Styx, 
was  one  of  the  ten  arms  or  branches  of  Oceanus.'  The 
gods  of  Olympus  swore  by  the  water  of  Styx  ;  and  a  deity 
who  took  this  oath  in  vain  was  banished  from  the  heavenly 
mansions  for  ten  years,  to  endure  various  torments.  The 
river  Styx  has  been  sought  for  in  various  places ;  but  the 


SUBLIME. 

most  remarkable  stream  of  the  name  was  in  Arcadia.    It 
forms  a  terrific  waterfall. 

SU'BALTERN.  (Lat.  sub,  under,  and  alter,  other.) 
Literally  an  inferior  officer,  but  generally  applied  to  all 
officers  under  the  rank  of  captain. 

SUBBRACHIANS.  Subbrachia.  (Lat.  sub,  and  brach- 
ium,  the  arm.)  The  name  of  the  order  of  Malacoptervgious 
fishes  comprising  those  which  have  the  ventral  fins  situated 
either  immediately  beneath  and  between,  or  a  little  in 
front  or  behind  the  pectoral  fins. 

SUBCLAVIAN.  An  Anatomical  term  applied  to  ves- 
sels, nerves,  &x.  under  the  shoulder  or  armpit. 

SUB-CO'NTRARY  SECTION.  In  Geometry,  if  an 
oblique  cone  on  a  circular  base  be  cut  by  a  plane  not 
parallel  to  the  base,  but  inclined  to  the  axis,  so  that  the 
section  is  a  circle,  then  the  section  is  said  to  be  sub-contrary. 
The  part  of  the  cone  thus  cut  off  is  similar  to  the  whole 
cone ;  the  plane  of  the  section  and  the  base  of  the  cone 
being  equally  inclined  to  the  axis,  but  the  inclination  being 
in  opposite  directions. 

SUBDO'MINANT.  (Lat.  sub,  under,  and  dominans, 
governing.)  In  Music,  that  note  which  is  a  fifth  below 
the  key  note.  It  is  a  species  of  governing  note,  inasmuch 
as  it  requires  the  tonic  to  be  heard  after  it  in  the  plagal 
cadence.  In  the  regular  ascending  scale  of  seven  notes  it 
is  the  fourth ;  the  term,  however,  has  its  origin  from  its 
relation  to  the  tonic  as  the  fifth  below. 

SUBDU'PLICATE  RATIO.  In  Arithmetic  and  Algebra, 
the  subduplicate  ratio  of  two  numbers  is  the  ratio  of  their 
square  roots.  Thus,  the  subduplicate  ratio  of  the  numbers 
9  and  16  is  the  ratio  of  3  to  4  ;  and  of  the  numbers  a  and  b, 
it  is  the  ratio  of  y/a  to  y/b. 

SU'BERIC  ACID.  (Lat.  suber,  cork.)  An  acid  sub- 
stance into  which  cork  is  converted  by  the  long-continued 
action  of  nitric  acid. 

SU'BERIN.  A  name  given  by  Chevreul  to  the  cellular 
tissue  of  cork  after  the  various  soluble  matters  have  been 
removed  by  the  action  of  water  and  alcohol. 

SU'BITO.  (It.  suddenly.)  In  Music,  a  term  of  direction  ; 
as  vo/ti  subito,  turn  (the  leaf)  quickly. 

SUBJECT.  (Lat.  subjicio,  /  throw  under.)  In  the  Fine 
Arts,  that  which  it  is  the  object  and  aim  of  the  artist  to 
express. 

SU'BJECTIVE  and  OBJECTIVE.  Terms  expressing 
the  distinction  which  in  analyzing  every  intellectual  act 
we  necessarily  make  between  ourselves,  the  conscious  sub- 
ject, and  that  of  which  we  are  conscious,  the  object.  "  I 
know,"  and  "something  is  known  by  me,"  are  convertible 
propositions;  every  act  of  the  soul  which  is  not  thus  re- 
solvable belongs  to  the  emotive  part  of  our  nature,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  the  intelligent  and  percipient.  For  the 
distinction  between  subject  and  object,  all-important  in 
intellectual  philosophy,  and  the  neglect  of  which  has  been 
the  cause  of  infinite  confusion  and  perplexity,  we  are  in- 
debted to  the  schoolmen;  from  whom  it  was  derived, 
through  Wolf  and  Leibnitz,  by  Kant  and  the  modern  Ger- 
man philosophers. 

SUBJECT  OF  A  PROPOSITION,  in  Logic,  is  the  term 
of  which  the  other  is  affirmed  or  denied.  See  Term,  Prop- 
osition, Logic. 

SCBLAPSA'RIANS  or  IXFRALAPSARIAXS.  In 
Ecclesiastical  History.  The  greater  number  of  the  divines 
of  the  Reformed  or  Calvinist  churches  have  held  that  God 
permitted  the  fall  of  Adam,  without  positively  predetermin- 
ing it ;  a  doctrine  which  has  been  termed  sublapsarian,  in 
opposition  to  the  high  Calvinistic  or  supra lapsarian  view. 
(Moshrim,  cent,  xvii.,  sect.  2.)     See  Stpralapsarians. 

SUBLIMA'TION.  (Lat.  sublimatio.)  A  process  by 
which  solids  are  by  the  aid  of  heat  converted  into  vapour, 
which  is  again  condensed,  and  often  in  the  crystalline  form. 
This  operation  is  frequently  resorted  to  for  the  purpose  of 
purifying  various  chemical  products,  and  separating  them 
from  substances  which  are  less  volatile. 

SUBLI'ME.  (Lat.  sublimis.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  high  or 
exalted  in  style.  That  which  in  art  is  raised  above  the 
higher  standard  of  nature  or  its  prototypes.  Sublimity  is 
incompatible  with  our  ideas  of  elegance,  grace,  or  any  of 
the  oilier  sources  of  beauty,  though  these  may  all  enter 
into  an  object  wherein  those  and  many  other  qualities  may 
be  combined  with  sublimity.  They  have  been,  however, 
not  unfrequently  considered  as  some  of  the  sources  of  the 
sublime.  The  nod  of  Jupiter,  in  the  hands  of  such  a  mas- 
ter as  Homer,  is  an  indication  of  sublimity ;  but  when 
Longinus  tells  us,  that,  as  applied  to  literature,  the  con- 
stituent ingredients  of  sublimity  are  boldness  in  thought, 
the  pathetic,  proper  application  of  figures,  use  of  tropes  and 
beautiful  expressions,  and,  last,  musical  structure  and 
sounds,  we  are  inclined  to  think  he  had  very  indistinct 
notions  of  it  himself.  We  cannot  better  exemplify  the 
meaning  of  this  term  than  by  referring  the  reader  to  the 
works  of  Michael  Angelo  in  the  Sistine  Chapel,  wherein, 
as  Fuseli  has  truly  said,  "His  line  is  uniformly  grand; 

1191 


SUBMEDIANT. 

character  and  beauty  were  admitted  only  as  far  as  they 
could  be  made  subservient  to  grandeur.  The  child,  the 
female,  meanness,  deformity,  were  by  him  indiscriminately 
stamped  with  grandeur.  A  beggar  rose  from  his  hand  the 
patriarch  of  poverty  ;  his  infants  teem  with  the  man,  his 
men  are  giants."  The  terribih  via,  hinted  at  by  Agosttno 
Cancel,  is  indeed  the  sublime. 

SUBME  HI  ANT.  (Lat.  sub,  under,  and  medius,  middle.) 
In  Music,  the  middle  note  between  the  tonic  and  subdomi- 
nant  descending.  It  is  the  greater  sixth  in  the  major  scale, 
and  the  lesser  sixth  in  the  minor  scale. 

SCHMl'  LTUT.E,  in  Arithmetic  and  Geometry,  is  the 
same  with  ai  iquvt  part  or  measure  ;  or  it  is  such  a  part  of  a 
quantity  as  can  be  expressed  by  a  whole  number,  as  a  third, 
fourth,  fcc. 

BUBNO'RMAL,  in  Geometry,  is  that  part  of  the  axis  of 
a  curve  line  which  is  intercepted  between  the  ordinate  and 
the  normal.     If  y  be  the  ordinate,  and  x  the  absciss  of  any 

d  y 
curve,  the  expression  for  the  subnormal  is  y  — .  Thesub- 

d  x 
normal  is  always  a  third  proportional  to  the  subtangent 
and  the  ordinate.     See  SoBTANGKHT. 

STJBO'RDINARY.  In  Heraldry.  According  to  some 
writers  on  this  imaginary  science,  an  ordinary,  when  it 
comprises  less  than  one  fifth  Of  the  whole  shield,  is  termed 
a  subordinarv. 

SI  B<  >RNA'TION.  (Lat.  sub  and  orno,  /  provide,  fur- 
nish, procure ;  a  meaning  not  classical.)  Subornation  of 
perjury,  in  Law,  is  the  procuring  a  man  to  take  a  false 
oath  amounting  to  perjury.  The  offence  of  subornation  is 
not  complete  unless  the  oath  be  taken,  so  as  to  bring  the 
offender  within  the  stat.  2  G.  2,  c.  25;  but  it  is  a  misde- 
meanor to  attempt  to  procure  false  testimony. 

SUBPCE'NA.  In  Law,  a  writ  of  which  there  are  several 
sorts.  Subp&na  ad  testificandum  is  the  common  process, 
both  in  equity  and  in  the  courts  of  common  law,  to  compel 
the  attendance  of  a  witness.  Subpana  duces  tecum  is  a 
writ  of  the  same  nature  with  the  former,  with  a  clause 
requiring  the  witness  to  bring  with  him  and  produce  books 
and  papers.  An  action  of  damages  lies  against  parties  dis- 
obeving  this  writ 

BOB-SETHnH  >NE.  In  Music,  the  leading  note  or  sharp 
seventh  of  the  scale.  It  is  a  term  more  used  by  the  Ger- 
man than  by  other  writers. 

SU'BSIDY.  (Lat.  subsidium,  assistance.)  In  Politics, 
pecuniary  aid  granted  by  one  government  to  another  in 
pursuance  of  a  treaty.  The  grants  of  public  money  made 
to  the  sovereign,  or  taxes  imposed  in  this  country,  were 
called  subsidies. 

SU'BSTANTIVE  COLOURS,  are  those  which,  in  the 
process  of  dyeing,  remain  fixed  or  permanent  without  the 
intervention  of  other  substances ;  they  are  opposed  to 
adjective  colours,  which  require  to  be  fixed  by  certain  inter- 
medes,  or  substances  which  have  a  joint  affinity  for  the 
colouring  matter  and  the  material  to  be  dyed.  Sec  Dyking 
and  Mordant. 

BU'BSTANTrVB,  or  NOUN  SUBSTANTIVE.  In 
Grammar,  that  part  of  speech  whicli  denotes  a  substance 
or  subject,  as  distinguished  from  an  attribute  or  predicate. 
Stc  Grammar. 

SUBSTITU'TION,  is  defined  by  writers  on  the  Civil 
Law  to  lie  the  designation  of  a  second,  third,  or  other  heir, 
to  enjoy,  in  default  of  a  former  heir,  or  after  him.  Taken 
in  this  general  sense,  it  includes  all  those  modes  of  disposi- 
tion which  are  expressed  in  our  law  by  the  terms  entail, 
remainder,  executory  it  rise,  &.c.  Substitutions  were  of  two 
Classes:  1.  Vulgar  or  common,  by  which  a  testator  named 
a  second  devisee  to  receive  the  succession,  if  the  first  were 
unable  or  unwilling  to  do  so;  2.  Fidei-commissary,  in 
which  the  second  devisee  was  named  to  receive  the  suc- 
cession after  the  first.     See  Fidei-CommissuM. 

Substitition,  in  the  language  of  Algebra,  signifies  the 
replacing  of  one  quantity  by  another  which  is  equal  to  it, 
but  differently  expressed. 

Substitution,  Chord  of.  In  Music,  a  name  given  to 
the  chords  of  the  ninth  major  and  minor. 

SUBSTRA'TUM.  A  stratum  lying  under  another.  The 
term  subsoil  is  generally  applied  to  the  matters  which  in- 
tervene between  the  surface  soils  and  the  rocks  on  which 
they  rest ;  thus  clay  is  the  common  substratum  or  subsoil 
Of  gravel. 

BU'BSTYLB,  in  Dialling,  is  the  straight  line  formed  by 
the  intersection  of  the  face  of  the  dial  with  the  perpen- 
dicular plane  u  hi.  u  passes  through  the  gnomon.    See  Dux. 

BUBTA'NGENT,  in  Geometry,  is  the  part  ul"  the  axis  of 
a  curve  intercepted  between  the  tangent  and  the  ordinate. 
The  general  expression  for  the  subtangent  of  any  curve 
Whose  equation  is  ?/  =  F  x  (y  the  ordinate  being  a  function 

d  x 
of  x  the  absciss)  is  v  — . 
Vdy 
BUBTE'NSE.    (Lat.  sub  and  tensus.)    A  term  sorae- 


SUCCESSION,  APOSTOLICAL. 

times  used  in  Trigonometry  to  denote  the  chord  of  an  arc. 
Set  Chord. 

BUBTRA'CTION.  (Lat.  subtraho,  J  draw  away.)  In 
Arithmetic,  the  taking  of  one  number  or  quantity  from 
another  in  order  to  find  their  difference.  The  operation  is 
precisely  the  reverse  of  addition. 

SI  BU'LICORNS,  Subiilieomes.  (Lat.  subula,  an  awl; 
cornu,  a  horn.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Neuropterous 
insects,  including  those  which  have  awl-shaped  antenna'. 

BUBU'LIPALPS,  SubuHpalpi.  (Lat.  subula,  and  palpus, 
a  feeler.)  The  name  of  a  section  of  Caraboid  beetles,  in- 
cluding those  which  have  the  exterior  palps  or  feelers  awl- 
shaped. 

BUCCEDA'NEUM.  A  medicine  or  remedy  substituted 
for  another. 

BUCCE'SSION,  APOSTO'LICAL.  In  Theology.  By 
these  words  is  meant  the  uninterrupted  succession  of 
priests  in  the  church  by  regular  ordination,  from  the  first 
commission  given  by  our  Saviour  to  the  Apostles,  and  re- 
corded in  the  Gospels,  down  to  the  present  day.  And  the 
doctrine  of  "  the  apostolical  succession,"  as  it  is  popularly 
called,  means  the  belief  that  the  clergy  so  regularly  or- 
dained have  a  commission  from  God  to  preach  the  gospel, 
administer  the  sacraments,  and  guide  the  church;  that 
through  their  ministration  only  we  can  derive  the  grace 
which  is  communicated  by  the  sacraments.  It  follows,  of 
course,  that  those  sects  of  Christians  which  have  no  regu- 
lar succession  (having  seceded  from  Romanism  without 
retaining  ministers  regularly  ordained,  or  having  subse- 
quently interrupted  the  succession,  that  is,  all  1'rotestant 
bodies, except  the  church  of  England)  have,  properly  speak- 
ing, neither  church  nor  sacraments,  since  they  possess  no 
apostolical  authority. 

This  doctrine  was,  by  admission  on  all  hands,  of  very 
great  antiquity  in  the  church  ;  but  whether  that  antiquity 
is  primitive  or  not,  is  matter  of  discussion  at  the  present 
day.  The  arguments  from  Scripture  cannot  alone  be  relied 
upon  by  either  party.  As  to  the  historical  part  of  the 
question,  those  Epistles  of  Ignatius  which  the  learned 
have  in  the  most  part  agreed  to  regard  as  genuine  (com- 
monly called  the  Greater),  are  much  referred  to  by  the 
mnintniners  of  the  doctrine  in  support  of  it.  They  do  not, 
indeed,  declare  it  in  express  terms  ;  but  the  strict  and  re- 
peated injunctions  to  honour  and  obey  the  bishop  and  pres- 
bytery, together  with  some  insulated  expressions  (such  as, 
"  If  a  man  be  not  within  the  altar,  he  faileth  of  the  bread 
of  God,"  &c),  have  be«n  thought  important  in  the  contro- 
versy ;  and,  as  Mr.  Keble  observes,  "  the  discovery  of  those 
remains  probably  lent  considerable  force  to  the  course  of 
opinions  among  the  clergy  of  England  in  favour  of  the 
doctrine  in  the  17th  century." 

At  the  Reformation  it  was  almost  entirely  lost  sight  of; 
and  that  the  succession  was  actually  preserved  in  England 
is  rather  owing  (humanly  speaking)  to  political  causes  than 
to  any  deliberate  intention  on  the  part  of  the  then  leaders 
Of  the  church.  In  tact,  the  Romanists  contest  the  validity 
of  English  ordinations,  partly  on  the  ground  that  the  suc- 
cession was  actually  interrupted  at  the  accession  of  Eliza- 
beth ;  but  there  is  no  need  to  discuss  an  historical  ques- 
tion on  which  there  seems  to  be  no  substantial  doubt 
whatever.  The  church  of  England  does  not  affirm  the 
doctrine  in  her  articles  ;  and  the  language  of  art.  19, 
although  not  excluding  it,  is  plainly  not  such  as  would 
have  been  used  by  trainers  who  wished  to  inculcate  it- 
Many  expressions  of  her  services,  borrowed  as  they  are 
from  ancient  liturgies,  more  or  less  distinctly  point  towards 
it.  The  first  school  of  Anglican  divines  did  not  rely  on  it 
in  their  controversy  with  Puritanism.  They  rather  rested 
their  argument  on  the  fact,  that  the  church  had  in  early 
times  appointed  the  episcopal  government  and  regular  ordi- 
nation, and  that  it  could  not,  therefore,  be  wise  or  prudent 
to  swerve  from  it.  It  was  at  this  point  that  Hooker  lunk 
up  the  subject.  Whether  he  actually  held  the  tenet  or  no, 
has  been  much  controverted.  His  recent  editor  (Mr.  Keble) 
contends  that  be  did  ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  admits  that 
there  is  a  marked  difference  between  his  language  and  that 
of  the  succeeding  school  of  Laud,  Hammond,  and  Leslie. 
(Preface  to  Hooker,  p.  lxxvii.)  Under  that  school,  it 
became  the  rallying  point  of  high  churchmen,  and  was 
zealously  maintained  by  the  divines  of  that  section  of  the 
church  down  to  and  long  after  the  Revolution.  But  since 
that  time,  without  being  renounced,  it  had  certainly  long 
ceased  to  be  brought  prominently  forward  in  ecclesiastical 
controversy,  until  within  the  last  seven  or  eight  yean. 

In  feet,  the  opposite  ground  had  been  constantly  taken 
by  ordinary  Protestant  reasoners,  both  In  and  out  of  this 
country.  In  their  contests  with  the  church  of  Some.  Chil- 
lingworth,  as  is  well  known,  argues  against  the  Romanist 
tenet,  that  "succession  is  a  certain  and  perpetual  mark  of 
the  true  church,"  by  maintaining  that  it  is  Impossible  to 
prove  it  ;  that  is,  that  it  is  impossible  that  nny  Individual 
can  feel  certain  that  his  orders  were  derived  by  regular 


SUCCESSION,  LAW  OF. 


succession  from  the  Apostles.  If  we  assume,  with  the 
Romanist,  a  priori,  that  the  church  must  have  regular 
succession  because  of  Christ's  promise  to  it,  then  there  is 
no  room  for  such  doubts  ;  but  if  we  are  endeavouring  to 
insist  on  the  fact  of  succession  as  a  test  of  the  truth  of  a 
church,  then  it  cannot  be  denied  that  this  argument  presents 
difficulties  not  easily  surmounted. 

SUCCESSION,  LAW  OF.  In  Political  Economy,  the 
law  or  rule  according  to  which  the  succession  to  the  prop- 
erty of  deceased  individuals  is  regulated.  Generally 
speaking,  this  law  obtains  only  in  cases  where  a  deceased 
part}-  has  died  intestate,  or  in  cases  where  the  power  of 
bequeathing  property  by  will  is  limited  by  the  legislature. 
It  is  plain  that  in  cases  of  intestacy,  where  the  deceased 
either  leaves  a  number  of  descendants,  or  where  he  leaves 
no  direct  descendants,  the  law,  in  order  to  prevent  endless 
disputes  and  litigation,  must  interfere  to  regulate  the  suc- 
cession to  the  property  ;  and  it  will  necessarily  follow  that 
the  succession  will  be  determined  in  different  countries  by 
local  circumstances,  depending  partly  on  the  peculiar  state 
and  institutions  of  each  country,  and  on  the  views  enter- 
tained by  its  legislators  of  what  is  just  and  proper,  and  most 
conducive  to  the  public  advantage.  Hence  it  is  to  no  pur- 
pose in  a  matter  of  this  kind  to  look  for  any  general  or  fixed 
principles.  The  succession  to  the  property  of  those  dying 
intestate,  and  the  power  of  bequeathing  property  by  will 
or  testament,  depend  wholly  on  the  rules  and  regulations 
enacted  in  each  country ;  and  these  necessarily  vary  with 
the  varying  circumstances  of  different  countries  and  con- 
ditions of  society. 

In  most  countries  a  preference  has  been  given,  in  regu- 
lating the  succession  to  property  vacant  by  intestacy,  and 
in  defining  the  power  to  leave  property  by  will,  in  favour 
of  male  heirs;  and  in  some  countries,  and  especially  in 
modern  times,  a  marked  predilection  has  been  shown  in 
favour  of  the  eldest  son,  or,  as  it  is  usually  termed,  in  favour 
of  the  right  of  primogeniture.  Among  the  Jews,  the  eldest 
son  was  entitled  to  a  double  share  of  the  paternal  inherit- 
ance ;  but  among  the  Greeks,  Romans,  and  our  Saxon  an- 
cestors, all  inheritances,  whether  consisting  of  land  or 
moveables,  were  equally  divided,  in  some  cases  among  all 
the  male  children ;  and  in  others  among  all  the  children, 
whether  male  or  female.  The  growth  of  the  feudal 
system  appears,  however,  to  have  put  an  end  to  this  rule 
of  inheritance  in  most  European  nations.  When  titles 
of  nobility  were  created,  it  was  necessary  to  limit  their 
descent  to  the  eldest  son  ;  and  it  was  also  necessary  that 
the  estate  required  to  maintain  the  dignity  of  the  possessor 
of  the  title  should  descend  according  to  the  same  rule  of 
primogeniture.  And  even  when  estates  were  not  held  by- 
noble  proprietors,  various  inconveniences  were  found  to 
result  from  their  partition,  in  the  division  of  military  services ; 
the  number  of  infant  tenants  incapable  of  performing  any- 
kind  of  duty  ;  and,  more  than  all  the  rest  (though  its  im- 
portance was  the  last  to  be  perceived),  the  injurious  in- 
fluence of  the  system  of  equal  partition  in  occasioning  the 
too  great  subdivision  of  the  land,  in  emancipating  the 
younger  sons  from  the  control  of  their  parents,  in  tempting 
them  to  remain  at  home  and  to  indulge  in  the  pleasures 
and  idleness  of  a  country  life,  and  lastly,  in  overspreading 
the  country  with  a  proud  and  a  beggarly  gentry.  In  con- 
sequence, the  old  rule  of  succession  to  landed  property  was 
changed  in  most  countries  ;  and  in  England,  except  in  Kent 
and  a  few  other  places,  when  a  person  dies  intestate  his  estate 
descends  entire  to  his  eldest  son.  And  it  will  be  afterwards 
seen,  notwithstanding  the  statements  of  Adam  Smith  and 
others  to  the  contrary,  that  this  rule,  though  not  without  its 
disadvantages,  is,  on  the  whole,  the  best  that  can  be  devised. 

Females  being  incapable  of  performing  any  personal  feu- 
dal service,  it  is  the  common  rule,  when  a  person  seised  of 
an  estate  dies  intestate  leaving  only  daughters,  that  they 
should  succeed  as  co  heiresses.  Such  is  the  law  of  Eng- 
land ;  and,  when  thus  limited,  little  harm  can  ensue  from 
the  subdivision  that  is  thus  occasioned. 

It  has,  speaking  generally,  been  the  usual  practice  in 
cases  of  intestacy  to  divide  the  money  or  other  moveable 
property  in  equal  portions  among  the  children  or  kinsmen 
of  the  deceased,  without  respect  to  sex  or  seniority.  This, 
however,  though  a  general,  is  by  no  means  to  be  regarded 
as  a  constant  rule.  Thus,  in  the  «ase  of  the  Jews,  daugh- 
ters were  excluded  from  all  participation  in  the  inheritance, 
and,  apparently,  were  left  to  depend  on  the  bounty  of  their 
father's  heirs.  (Michaelis,  Law  of  Moses,  i.  420.)  In 
Athens,  also,  daughters  inherited  nothing  when  there  were 
sons  alive;  and  when  there  was  no  son,  and  a  daughter 
succeeded  to  the  inheritance,  she  was  bound  to  marry  her 
nearest  relation,  so  that  the  property  might  not  be  taken  out 
of  the  family.  (Michaelis,  ubi  suprd.)  In  Rome,  howev- 
er, all  sorts  of  property  were  divided  equally  between  sons 
and  daughters.  And  as  the  inconveniences  found  to  result 
hi  modern  times  from  the  splitting  of  landed  property  do  not 
follow  at  all,  or  in  anything  like  the  same  degree,  from  the 


subdivision  of  moveable  property,  it  is  the  practice  in  thia 
and  most  modern  countries  to  admit  females  of  the  same 
propinquity  to  share  in  the  succession  to  such  property, 
when  left  intestate,  equally  with  males,  excluding  all  pre- 
ference on  account  of  primogeniture. 

These  notices,  brief  and  imperfect  as  they  necessarily 
are,  will  probably  be  sufficient  to  give  the  reader  a  general 
idea  of  the  rules  that  have  been  most  commonly  followed 
in  regulating  the  succession  to  property  in  cases  of  intesta- 
cy, or  where  there  is  no  power  to  bequeath  property  by  will 
or  testament.  Inasmuch,  however,  as  this  power  exists  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent  in  most  civilized  countries,  we  shall 
now  proceed  shortly  to  state  some  of  the  more  important 
principles  and  limitations  that  either  have  been  or  should 
be  attended  to  in  the  construction  of  such  documents. 

Bequeathing  of  Property  by  Will. — The  power  of  be- 
queathing property  by  will  or  testament  (the  libera  testa- 
menti  factio)  is  not  usually  recognised  in  the  earlier  stages 
of  society.  A  man's  property  is  then,  for  the  most  part, 
divided  in  equal  shares  among  his  children,  who  succeed  to 
it  as  matter  of  right ;  and  in  their  default  it  is  inherited  by 
his  surviving  relations,  or  nearest  of  kin.  But  experience 
begins  at  length  to  manifest  the  inconveniences  resulting 
from  the  enforcement  of  this  stnet  rule  of  succession,  and 
power  is,  in  consequence,  given  to  persons  possessed  of  pro- 
perty to  make  testaments,  or  to  dispose  of  a  part  at  least  of 
their  personal  or  real  estate  by  will.  At  first,  however, 
this  power  is  usually  confined  within  very  narrow  limits, 
being  in  general  restricted  to  the  making  of  alterations  in 
the  shares  falling  to  the  children  of  kinsmen  of  the  testa- 
tor ;  that  is,  to  the  increasing  of  the  portion  of  some  to  the 
diminution  of  that  of  others.  Thus,  in  Athens,  there  was 
no  power  to  devise  property  from  the  natural  heirs  previ- 
ously to  the  age  of  Solon  ;  and  that  legislator  confined  the 
privilege  to  those  who  died  without  leaving  issue.  In 
Rome,  three  centuries  elapsed  before  a  citizen  could  dis- 
pose of  his  property  by  a  deed  mortis  causa,  except  in  an 
assembly  of  the  people ;  and  in  that  case  his  will,  as  Mon- 
tesquieu has  remarked,  was  not  really  the  act  of  a  private 
individual,  but  of  the  legislature.  "  With  as  in  England, 
till  modern  times,  a  man  could  only  dispose  of  one  third  of 
his  moveables  from  his  wife  and  children  ;  and  in  general 
no  will  was  permitted  of  lands  till  the  reign  of  Henry 
VIII.,  and  then  only  of  a  certain  portion  :  for  it  was  not  till 
after  the  Restoration  that  the  power  of  devising  real  pro- 
perty became  so  universal  as  at  present."  {Blackstone, 
book  ii.,  cap.  i.)  In  Scotland,  down  to  a  comparatively  re- 
cent period,  almost  all  land  property  was  inalienable  from 
the  lineal  heir. 

Not  only,  however,  is  the  power  of  testators  usually  aug- 
mented as  society  advances,  but  in  some  countries  they  are 
permitted  to  exercise  a  nearly  absolute  control  over  the 
disposal  of  their  property,  and  even  to  bequeath  the  whole, 
or  the  ureater  part  of  it,  to  strangers,  to  the  exclusion  of 
their  children  and  relations,  as  is  substantially  the  case  at 
this  moment  in  England.  This,  however,  is  an  extension 
of  the  power  of  bequeathing,  as  to  the  policy  of  which 
much  difference  of  opinion  is  entertained.  It  is  contended 
that  no  one  who  has  any  property  to  dispose  of  should  be 
allowed  to  throw  his  children  destitute  upon  society ;  that 
the  fear  of  total  disinheritance  should  not  be  rendered  an 
instrument  of  tyranny  in  the  hand  of  fathers ;  and  that  before 
allowing  a  man  to  leave  any  portion  of  his  fortune  to  stran- 
gers, he  should  be  compelled  to  make  an  adequate  provis- 
ion for  the  individuals  he  has  been  the  means  of  bringing 
into  the  world,  and  to  whom,  independently  altogether  of 
any  considerations  of  personal  merit  or  demerit,  he  is  un- 
der the  most  sacred  obligations.  But  though  it  must  be 
owned  that  this  is  a  question  of  considerable  difficulty  and 
nicety,  and  with  respect  to  which  it  does  not  seem  possible 
to  come  to  any  conclusion  that  will  not  be  liable  to  objec- 
tions, yet,  on  the  whole,  it  would  seem  that  the  reasoning 
of  those  who  argue  in  favour  of  the  unlimited  power  of 
bequeathing  to  strangers  is  the  most  satisfactory  and  con- 
vincing :  or  if  any  restriction  be  laid  on  this,  it  would  ap- 
pear to  be  enough  to  enact  that  parents  possessed  of  pro- 
perty should  be  obliged  to  appropriate  a  portion  thereof 
sufficient  to  bring  up  and  educate  their  children  till  they 
come  to  maturitv,  or  be  in  a  condition  to  provide  for  them- 
selves, when  all'  compulsory  obligations  on  the  part  of  the 
parents  should  cease.  None  but  the  strongest  possible  rea- 
sons can  ever  justify  a  legislature  in  giving  their  sanction 
to  any  measure  having  a  tendency  to  weaken  the  spirit  of 
industry  and  economy  in  the  people.  It  is  plain,  however, 
that  if  it  interfere  to  regulate  the  disposal  of  property,  it 
must  unavoidably  do  this:  if  it  be  enacted  that  how  undu- 
tifully  soever  a  man's  children  or  relations  may  have  be- 
haved, they  shall  notwithstanding  be  entitled  to  the  whole 
or  a  certain  proportion  of  his  fortune,  this  will,  in  the  first 
place,  render  every  one  less  anxious  about  the  accumula- 
tion of  that  wealth  which  he  is  not  to  be  permitted  to  dis- 
pose of  at  pleasure  than  he  would  otherwise  be ;  and,  in 
4  E  *  1193 


SUCCESSION,  LAW  OF. 


the  second  place,  the  securing  of  n  certain  provision  to 
children,  independently  of  their  conduct,  must  in  so  far 
render  them  Independent  of  their  parents,  and  weaken 
thai  parental  authority,  which,  though  occasionally  abused, 

is  yet,  in  the  vast  majority  of  instances,  exercised  in  the 
mildest  and  most  indulgent  manner, .and  with  the  best  ef- 
fect  The  more,  therefore,  that  this  subject  is  Inquired  into, 

the  mure,  we  apprehend,  it  will  be  found  that  it  is  always 
the  safest  policy  to  abstain  as  much  as  possible  from  ma- 
king the  relations  of  private  life  the  object  of  legislative 
enactments.  The  humanity  of  the  law  is  but  ti  sorry  sub- 
stitute for  parental  atfection.  If  children  be  ordinarily 
well  behaved  ;  if  they  be  not  extremely  deficient  either  in 
filial  affection  or  common  prudence,  we  have,  in  the  princi- 
ples and  instincts  inherent  In  our  nature,  a  sufficient  secu- 
rity that  but  few  parents  will  he  found  disposed  to  leave 
their  property  to  others  to  their  exclusion.  The  interference 
of  the  legislature  in  their  behalf  appears,  therefore,  to  be, 
speaking  generally,  quite  unnecessary.  In  countries  like 
England  and  Holland,  in  which  the  greatest  latitude  is  giv- 
en to  the  power  of  bequeathing,  the  instances  are  extreme 
ly  rare  in  which  an  affectionate  and  dutiful  family  have 
suffered  from  the  circumstance  of  their  father  being  per- 
mitted to  leave  his  fortune  to  strangers ;  and  it  would  be 
most  impolitic  to  attempt  to  obviate  an  evil  of  such  rare 
occurrence  by  exempting  children  from  the  constant  influ- 
ence of  a  salutary  check  on  their  vicious  propensities,  and 
compelling  a  man  to  bestow  on  profligacy,  extravagance, 
and  idleness,  that  property  which  is  at  once  the  fruit  and 
the  appropriate  reward  of  virtue,  economy,  and  industry. 

The  advantages  resulting  from  the  unrestrained  power  of 
bequeathing  property  by  will  are  so  striking  as  hardly  to 
require  to  be  pointed  out.  Perhaps,  however,  we  may  be 
excused  for  laying  the  following  passage,  from  the  valuable 
though  little  known  work  of  M.  Luzac,  De  la  Richesse  de 
la  Hollander  before  the  reader.  It  strongly  corroborates 
what  has  now  been  stated.  "La  liberte  de  "tester,  celle  de 
disposer  a  volonte  de  ses  biens  par  un  acte  de  demiere  vo- 
lonte peut  encore  <}tre  mise  au  nombre  des  causes,  qui  ont 
contribue  a  anitner  ['Industrie  des  habitans.  Quelque  in- 
diff.  rent  que  Ton  soit  sur  le  partage  des  biens  que  Ton  lais- 
se  en  mourant,  I'idee  de  pouvoir  en  faire  jouir  ceux  qu'on 
vein  en  gratifier.  e  t  surenietit  un  aiguillon  qui  doit  exciter 
au  travail,  mi  tfu  moins  prevenir  qu'on  se  degoute  d'accu- 
muler  des  richesses.  Pourquoi  travaillerai-je  a  augmenter 
ma  fortune  si  je  suis  oblige  de  la  laisser  A  ceux  qui  ne  m'en 
sauront  aucun  gre,  et  qui  ne  la  meriteront  pas  ?  La  liberte 
dc  disposer  librcment  de  ses  biens  par  testament,  est  peut-etre 
la  principale  cause  que  les  fortunes  des  particulitrs  sunt 
plus  considerables  en  Hollande  que  par  tout  ailleurs."     (i. 

304.) 

Entails. — The  recognition  of  the  right  to  bequeath  pro- 
perty to  any  particular  heir  has,  in  several  countries,  been 
follow  iil  by  an  acknowledgment  of  the  right  of  the  propri- 
etor of  an  estate  to  name  an  indefinite  series  of  heirs,  and  to 
prescribe  the  conditions  on  which  they  shall  be  entitled  to 
hold  the  property.  This  right  is  founded  by  lawyers  on 
rib-  maxim  of  the  civil  law,  that  every  one  has  tile  abso- 
lute disposal  of  his  own  property:  unusquisque  est  rei  sum 
moderator  tt  arbiter.  This,  however,  is  not  a  natural  but  a 
civil  right ;  and  it  is  not  to  be  judged  of  by  referring  to  ab- 
stract or  imaginary  principles,  but  by  ils  practical  operation 
and  real  influence  over  the  condition  and  interests  of  socie- 
ty. To  enter  fully  into  an  examination  of  the  advantages 
and  disadvantages  incident  to  the  practice  of  entailing, 
would  far  exceed  the  narrow  limits  within  which  an  article 
of  this  description  must  be  confined  ;  but  we  may,  notwith- 
standing, glance  at  one  or  two  of  the  principal  topics  that 
should  be  attended  to  in  forming  a  correct  conclusion  as  to 
the  influence  of  entails. 

In  tin'  first  place,  it  is  alleged  in  their  favour  that  (hey 
stimulate  exertion  and  economy;  that  they  hold  out  to 
hnnesi  industry  ami  ambition  the  strongest  and  safes)  ex- 
citement, in  the  prospect  of  founding  an  imperishable  name 
ami  a  powerful  family,  ami  of  being  remembered  and  ven- 
erated by  endless  generations  as  their  chief  inn!  benefactor; 

anil,  in  the  second  place,  it  is  said  that  entails  form  the  only 

solid  bulwark  of  a  respectable  aristocracy,  and  prevent 
generations  from  being  ruined  by  the  folly  or  misfortunes  of 
an  individual. 

.Vow,  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  prospect  of  founding 
a  powerful  family,  and  of  securing  property,  accumulated 
during  a  course  of  laborious  and  successful  exertion  and 

economy,  from  the  risk  of  being  squandered  by  the  incon- 
siderate projects  or  extravagance  of  any  future  Individual, 
must  act  as  a  very  powerful  spur  to  the  industry  and  ambi- 
tion of  the  original  founder  of  a  family.  But  here  the 
beneficial  influence  of  the  system  stops;  its  operation  on  the 
subsequent  holders  of  the  property  Is  entirely  different  An 
entail  is  in  a  gre  a  measure  emancipated  from  the 
Influence  of  parental  authority;  his  chance  of  succeeding 
to  the  property  of  his  ancestors  does  not  depend  on  the  cir- 
1194 


i  cumstance  of  his  having  deserved  it,  of  his  being  industri- 
ous or  idle,  dissipated  or  sober.     The  succession  to  entailed 

estates  is  not  regulated  by  the  principle  of  detur  dig 
Their  occupiers  have  no  power  to  change  the  established 
order  of  succession  ;  they  cannot  exclude  the  worst  to  make 
room  for  the  best  of  their  descendants,  hut  must  submit  to 
see  the  properties  of  which  they  are  in  possession  descend) 
as,  in  fact,  they  not  (infrequently  do,  to  the  most  worthless 
and  undutiful  of  their  children  or  relations.  Granting,  there- 
fore, that  the  institution  of  entails  has  a  tendency,  as  it  un- 
doubtedly has,  to  make  one  generation  active,  frugal,  and 
industrious,  it  is  clear  to  demonstration  that  it  must  exempt 
every  succeeding  generation,  that  is,  every  succeeding  heir 
of  entail,  from  feeling  the  full  force  of  some  of  the  most 
powerful  motives  to  such  conduct.  A  system  of  entail 
makes  the  succession  to  property  depend,  not  on  the  good 
or  bad  conduct  of  the  individual,  but  on  the  terms  of  a  deed 
written  a  couple  of  centuries,  perhaps,  before  he  was  in 
existence.  Its  effect  is,  therefore,  to  substitute  a  species  of 
fatalism  in  the  place  of  an  enlightened  discrimination  ;  to 
throw  property  Indifferently  into  the  hands  of  the  undeserv- 
ing and  the  deserving;  and  it  is  plainly  impossible  it  can  do 
this  without  weakening  the  motives  which  stimulate  men 
to  act  the  part  of  good  citizens,  and  strengthening  those  of 
an  opposite  description.  When,  therefore,  we  refer,  as  we 
ought,  to  the  decisive  criterion  of  public  utility,  it  is  imme- 
diately seen  that  the  industry  of  one  generation  is  not  to  be 
purchased  by  the  idleness  of  all  that  are  to  come  after  it ;  and 
that  it  is  not  much  less  injurious  to  allow  an  individual  to 
appoint  his  remotest  heirs,  than  it  would  be  to  deprive  him 
of  the  power  of  nominating  his  immediate  successors. 

As  to  the  second  point,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  a  sys- 
tem of  entail  affords  the  best  attainable  security  for  the  per- 
manence of  property  in  particular  families  ;  and  as  individ- 
uals possessed  of  property  act,  generally  speaking,  with 
more  independence,  and  are  less  liable  to  be  biassed  by 
purely  selfish  considerations  than  those  who  are  compara- 
tively poor,  it  would  seem  that  the  privilege  of  executing  a 
perpetual  entail  of  a  certain  amount  of  property  might, 
with  propriety,  be  allowed  to  noble  families.  Indeed,  we 
are  disposed  to  think  that  in  the  case  of  such  families  it 
would  be  advantageous  to  carry  this  principle  a  good  deal 
farther ;  and  that  no  individual  should  be  advanced  to  the 
peerage  unless  he  were  able  to  establish  a  majorat,  or  to 
entail  such  an  extent  of  landed  property  on  the  heirs  of  the 
title  as  might  be  sufficient  to  secure  them,  supposing  they 
acted  with  ordinary  prudence,  from  falling  into  a  state  of 
poverty,  and  becoming  mere  dependents  on  the  crown.  Hut 
though  the  power  of  entailing  were  conceded  to  noble  fam- 
ilies vested  with  the  prerogative  of  hereditary  legislation,  it 
might  he  confined  within  certain  limits,  ami  made  to  vary 
with  the  entailer's  rank  in  the  peerage.  Neither  is  there 
the  shadow  of  a  reason,  on  political  grounds,  for  conceding 
this  power  to  others.  A  system  of  perpetual  entail  is,  in  a 
general  point  of  view,  certainly  injurious  ;  and  though  con- 
stitutional considerations  may  require  the  privilege  to  be 
granted,  under  proper  modifications,  to  a  particular  class, 
they  can  never  require  that  it  should  be  granted  to  all.  It 
is  not  possible  to  interfere  to  protect  the  families  of  the 
commons  from  the  casualties  to  which  they  are  subject,  by 
sanctioning  a  system  of  perpetual  entail,  without  producing 
mischievous  results.  It  is  the  duty  of  government  to  adopt 
such  regulations  as  may  most  effectually  call  forth  industry 
and  economy  among  all  elates  of  its  subjects:  but  it  is  no 
part  of  its  duty  to  inquire  whether  the  frugality  of  those  on 
the  box,  and  the  extravagance  of  those  in  the  conch,  bid 
fair  to  make  them  change  places  ;  and  still  less  to  attempt 
to  prevent  it  by  throwing  artificial  ramparts  round  the  pro- 
perty of  the  latter. 

In  Scotland  the  practice  of  entailing  has  been  carried  to 
a  very  great  extent,  and  in  some  counties  hardly  an  acre  of 
land  is  now  to  be  met  with  that  is  not  burdened  with  the 
fetters  of  a  perpetual  entail,  chalking  out  an  endless  suc- 
CeSSion  of  heir*.  Latterly,  indeed,  the  system  his  been  so 
far  modified  by  the  interference  of  the  legislature,  that  mo- 
ney is  allowed  10  be  raised  on  the  security  of  entailed  es- 
tates for  the  effecting  of  necessary  improvements,  and  cer- 
tain provisions  may  be  made  fur  widows  and  younger  chil- 
dren.   In  consequence  of  these  modifications,  and  of  the 

abolition  of  the  practice  of  letting  entailed  lands  by  fine, 
the  practice  is  by  no  means  so  injurious  as  has  been  sup- 
posed, and  as  it  has  been  frequently  represented.  Still, 
however,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  its  extreme  inexpedien- 
cy in  a  public  point  of  view  ;  though,  owing  to  the  number 
of  third  parties  interested  in  the  succession  to  entailed  es- 
tates, the  question  as  to  the  abolition  of  entails  is  one  of 
the  greatest  difficulty. 

In  England,  on  the  other  hand,  it  seems  as  if  the  legisla- 
ture bad  hit  tie  bappy  medium  between  giving  too  much 
and  too  little  pow er  to  those  who  have  accumulated  pm|>er- 
ty  over  its  disposal  by  will.  An  English  gentleman  may 
entail  an  estate  on  such  heirs  as  are  in  existence  when  the 


SUCCESSION,  LAW  OF. 


deed  is  executed,  or  till  the  first  unborn  heir  be  21  years  of 
age;  but  here  the  destination  stops,  and  the  heir  in  posses- 
sion has  then  the  absolute  disposal  of  the  property.  This 
gives  to  every  one  that  degree  of  power  over  his  property 
which  is  required  to  inspire  him  with  the  desire  of  accu- 
mulating a  fortune ;  at  the  same  time  that  it  takes  from 
him  the  power  of  legislating  for  future  ages,  or  of  creating 
rules  to  be  obeyed  in  all  time  to  come. 

French  Law  of  Succession. — We  have  already  seen  that 
it  has  been  the  practice  in  most  countries,  as  society  ad- 
vanced, to  relax  the  restraints  imposed  in  early  and  less  en- 
lightened ages  on  the  bequeathing  of  property  by  will.  But 
the  modern  legislators  of  France  have  followed  a  different 
course,  and  have  confined  the  power  of  testators  within  the 
narrowest  limits.  They  have,  in  fact,  gone  far  to  make 
that  rule  of  the  Roman  law,  as  to  equal  partition  among  all 
the  children,  that  obtained  in  cases  of  intestacy,  the  imper- 
ative rule  of  succession  to  all  property,  whether  landed  or 
moveable. 

According  to  the  new  French  law,  a  person  with  one 
child  may  dispose  at  pleasure  of  a  moiety  of  his  property, 
the  child  inheriting  the  other  moiety  as  matter  of  right ;  a 
person  having  two  children  is  only  allowed  the  absolute 
disposal  of  a  third  part  of  his  property  ;  and  those  having 
more  than  two  must  divide  three  fourths  of  their  property 
equally  among  them,  one  fourth  part  only  being  left  at 
their  own  disposal.  The  property  of  those  dying  intestate 
is  equally  divided  among  their  descendants,  without  re- 
spect of  sex  or  seniority. 

This  law  was  intended  to  subvert  the  foundations  of  that 
feudal  aristocracy  whose  ascendency  had  been  very  preju- 
dicial to  France ;  and  as  the  influence  of  an  aristocracy 
must  always  be  mainly  dependent  on  the  magnitude  of  their 
property,  it  was  certainly  well  fitted  to  accomplish  its  ob- 
ject. It  is  seldom,  however,  that  a  law  adapted  to  a  parti- 
cular emergency  may  be  maintained  with  advantage  as  a 
general  rule  of  national  policy ;  and  it  would  be  singular 
were  a  device  originally  fallen  upon  for  the  express  purpose 
of  splitting  estates,  found  beneficial  for  regulating  the  suc- 
cession to  property  in  a  great  kingdom.  Considered  in  a 
general  point  of  view,  this  law  seems  infinitely  more  ob- 
jectionable than  a  system  of  perpetual  entail.  By  interfe- 
ring to  so  extreme  an  extent  in  the  disposal  of  a  man's  prop- 
erty, it  must  plainly  lessen  the  motives  to  accumulation  ; 
while,  by  rendering  all  the  children  in  a  great  measure  in- 
dependent, it  weakens  the  parental  authority,  and  has  the 
same  injurious  operation  in  reference  to  an  entire  family 
that  the  law  of  entail  has  in  reference  to  a  single  child. 
When  the  property  of  the  father  must  be  divided,  all  his 
descendants  are  aware,  from  their  earliest  infancy,  that 
they  are,  without  any  peculiar  merit  or  exertion  on  their 
part,  to  obtain  a  certain  provision ;  and  can  any  one  doubt 
that  this  sort  of  certainty  must  tend  to  paralyze  their  ef- 
forts, and  to  render  the  younger  children  at  least  less  enter- 
prising than  they  would  be,  did  they  know  that  their  condi- 
tion in  society  was  to  depend  principally  on  themselves,  and 
that  they  bad  no  security,  other  than  their  own  deserts,  for 
obtaining  any  thing  from  their  parents  1  But  even  these  do 
not  seem  to  be  its  worst  effects.  The  inevitable  tendency 
of  this,  and  of  every  similar  system,  is  to  occasion  too  great 
an  increase  of  agricultural  population ;  at  the  same  time 
that  it  operates  to  reduce  landed  property  into  such  minute 
portions  as  neither  to  afford  sufficient  employment  to  the 
families  occupying  them,  nor  to  allow  of  their  being  culti- 
vated and  improved  in  the  best  and  most  efficient  manner. 
The  strong  predilection  entertained  by  the  great  bulk  of  the 
children  of  persons  engaged  in  the  business  of  agriculture 
for  the  pursuits  of  their  fathers  has  been  remarked  by  every 
one  in  any  degree  familiar  with  rural  affairs ;  and  it  is  obvious 
that  the  existence  of  a  law  making  the  division  of  estates 
compulsory  affords  the  greatest  facilities  for  gratifying  this  in- 
clination. It  will  give  to  many,  who  might  otherwise  have 
been  obliged  to  emigrate,  or  to  resort  to  some  other  employ- 
ment, the  power  of  continuing  in  that  line  of  life  in  which 
they  have  been  educated,  and  which  is  endeared  to  them 
by  those  early  associations  that  exert  so  strong  an  influence 
over  future  conduct.  Should  a  family  be  unusually  large, 
or  should  the  share  of  the  paternal  property  falling  to  each 
of  the  children  be  insufficient  to  enable  them  to  maintain 
themselves  in  nearly  the  same  class  as  their  father,  some 
of  the  more  adventurous  spirits  will  probably  be  disposed  to 
sell  their  portion,  and  to  engage  in  other  pursuits.  But  ex- 
perience shows  that,  in  the  great  majority  of  cases,  they 
continue  to  reside  on  the  little  properties  obtained  from 
their  ancestors;  and  the  fair  presumption  seems  to  be,  that 
the  process  of  division  and  subdivision  will  continue,  until 
the  whole  land  has  been  parcelled  out  into  patches,  and 
filled  with  an  agricultural  population,  destitute  alike  of  the 
means  and  the  desire  of  rising  in  the  world. 

It  is  no  doubt  true  that  the  condition  of  the  agriculturists 
of  France,  at  this  moment,  Is  decidedly  superior  to  what  it 
was  previously  to  the  Revolution.  But  it  cannot  be  truly  af- 


firmed that  this  improvement  has  been  in  any  respect  ow- 
ing to  the  law  of  equal  inheritance.  It  has  taken  place,  not 
in  consequence  of  that  law,  but  in  despite  of  it.  The  aboli- 
tion of  the  feudal  privileges  of  the  nobility  and  clergy,  and 
of  the  gabelle,  corvees,  and  other  oppressive  and  partial 
burdens  and  imposts,  was  of  the  greatest  service  to  proprie- 
tors and  farmers ;  and,  in  addition  to  these  advantages,  a 
great  part  of  the  property  of  the  church  and  of  the  emigrants 
came  into  their  hands  at  very  low  prices ;  so  that  small 
properties  were  augmented,  and  fresh  energy  given  to  agri- 
cultural pursuits.  Still,  however,  it  is  certain  that  the  rapid 
subdivision  of  landed  property,  and  the  continually  increasing 
excess  of  the  agricultural  population,  caused  by  the  law  of 
compulsory  succession,  have  gone  far  to  neutralize  the  ef- 
fects of  these  advantageous  circumstances,  and  form  at  this 
moment  one  of  the  most  deeply-seated  evils  in  the  social 
condition  of  the  people  of  France. 

In  every  respect,  therefore,  this  law  would  seem  to  be 
most  inexpedient;  and  certainly  the  experience  of  France 
does  not  tend  in  any  respect  to  shake  our  belief  in  the  wis- 
dom of  those  who  contend  that  the  interference  of  the  leg- 
islature in  respect  to  wills  should,  in  all  ordinary  cases,  be 
confined  within  the  narrow  est  limits ;  and  that  in  this,  as 
in  most  other  things,  their  object  should  rather  be  to  pre- 
vent abuses,  than  to  enact  rules  for  the  guidance  of  individ- 
uals in  the  distribution  of  their  property  under  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances. 

Bequeathing  of  Property  for  Charitable  Purposes. — In  the 
article  Foundations  in  this  work,  we  have  briefly  glanced 
at  some  of  the  more  prominent  considerations  that  should 
be  attended  to  in  the  endowment  of  hospitals,  and  in  the 
appropriation  of  property  for  purposes  of  public  utility.  No 
doubt  it  is  of  the  greatest  importance,  in  a  national  point  of 
view,  that  property  should  be  bequeathed  for  such  subjects  ; 
and  it  would  be  easy  to  show  that  England  has  derived,  and 
is  deriving,  the  greatest  advantage  from  the  bequests  of  pri- 
vate individuals  for  the  promotion  of  education,  the  support 
of  the  poor,  and  other  charitable  purposes.  Still,  however, 
it  seems  abundantly  obvious  that  such  bequests  should  in 
all  cases  be  subject  to  the  control  of  the  state.  It  is  difficult 
indeed,  or  rather  impossible  perhaps,  to  define,  a  priori,  how 
far  interference  should  be  carried  in  such  cases  ;  but  that, 
speaking  generally,  it  is  indispensable  even  to  the  proper 
carrying  out  of  the  views  of  the  testators,  is  abundantly  ob- 
vious. 

To  regard  the  instructions  in  the  wills  of  those  who  have 
established  foundations  as  immutable  laws,  which  are  in  no 
case  to  be  altered,  is,  in  truth,  to  permit  the  ignorance,  fol- 
ly, or  presumption  of  an  individual  to  become  a  standard  for 
all  future  ages,  and  to  regulate  the  sludies  and  the  institu- 
tions of  a  more 'advanced  and  enlightened  period  by  his 
crude  conceptions  and  views.  Surely,  however,  it  is  need- 
less to  say,  that  no  select  number  of  men,  and  stdl  less  indi- 
viduals, should  be  allowed  to  erect  themselves  into  infalli- 
ble legislators  for  every  succeeding  generation.  The  regula- 
tions of  the  great  Alfred  and  the  other  benevolent  individu- 
als who  founded  the  Universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge 
may  have  been  excellent  at  the  time  when  they  were 
framed ;  but  had  they  been  strictly  adhered  to,  their  chairs 
must  now  have  been  filled  with  Aristotelian  doctors,  and 
lecturers  on  the  Ptolemaic  system  of  the  world  and  the  in- 
fallibility of  the  Pope! 

It  is  impossible  to  doubt  the  pious  and  benevolent  views 
of  many  of  those  who,  in  the  middle  ages,  left  their  proper- 
ty to  monastic  institutions  ;  but  still  less  is  it  possible  to 
hesitate  applauding  the  conduct  of  the  reformers,  who  di- 
verted this  property  to  other  purposes,  and  who  justly  con- 
sidered that  the  terms  of  a  will  dictated  in  a  comparatively 
barbarous  period  should  not  be  permitted  to  consecrate  and 
hallow  a  system,  which  had  been  discovered  to  be  most  in- 
imical to  the  interests  of  true  religion,  and  productive  only 
of  injurious  consequences. 

The  establishment  of  foundling  hospitals  is  another  in- 
stance of  the  same  kind.  They  were  projected,  and  have 
been  kept  up,  with  the  best  intentions  ;  but  it  admits  of  dem- 
onstration, and  is  now,  indeed,  generally  admitted,  that  they 
have  been  productive  of  an  incomparably  greater  amount 
of  crime  and  of  mortality  than  they  have  obviated. 

Even  as  respects  the  educational  foundations  established 
in  many  parts  of  England,  no  one  can  doubt  that  their  utili- 
ty is  in  very  manv  instances  greatly  narrowed,  and  in  not  a 
few  wholly  nullified,  bv  the  injudicious  rules  laid  down  for 
their  government ;  and,  in  fact,  there  is  nothing  that  stands 
in  greater  need  of  revision  and  amendment  than  the  consti- 
tution and  administration  of  foundations. 

Succe'ssion.  In  Civil  Law.  In  that  jurisprudence,  and 
those  modern  systems  which  are  derived  from  it.  there  is 
no  distinction  between  moveable  and  immoveable  property, 
considered  as  a  subject  of  succession.  Succession,  whether 
of  real  or  personal  property,  is  either  ab  intestato,  or  by  tes- 
tament. The  order  of  succession  ab  intestato,  according  to 
the  civil  law  {see  Descent),  is  to  be  found  in  laws  of  Jus- 

1195 


SUCCINEA. 

tinian  {Novell,  11?.  127,  &c).  It  admits  three  classes  of 
successors— descendants,  ascendants,  and  collaterals,  who 
are  preferred  in  that  order  in  the  succession  ;  so  that  it"  a 
man  leave  an]  descendants,  all  ascendants  and  collaterals 
are  excluded  :  and  ascendants  exclude  collaterals,  except 
brothers  of  the  whole  blood  and  their  children.  The  chil- 
dren nt'  the  deceased  partake  equally.  Step-children  are 
strangers  to  the  succession  of  their  step-parents,  children, 
the  issue  of  several  marriages,  succeed  equally  to  the  prop 
erty  of  their  father;  but  severally  to  the  property  of  their 
respective  mothers.  Grandchildren  take  per  stirpes,  or  by 
right  nt'  representation  ;  i.  c  it'  a  child  die  in  the  parent's 
lifetime,  his  children  divide  his  share  equally.  Among  de- 
scendants, he  or  she  of  the  nearest  degree  is  preferred,  and 
there  is  nn  ri_:ht  of  representation.  Brothers  and  brothers' 
children  per  stirpes  divide  with  parents  ;  but  it  is  doubtful 
whether  or  no  mure  distant  ascendants  divide  with  them. 
Succession  among  collaterals  is  said  not  to  extend  beyond 
the  10th  degree.  The  wife  (by  Novell,  53,  c.  6,)  succeeds, 
under  certain  circumstances,  to  a  fourth. 

SUCCTNEA.  (Lat.  succinum,  amber.)  A  genus  of  fresh- 
water Gastropods,  so  called  from  the  transparent  texture 
and  amber  colour  of  the  shell.  Of  this  genus  two  species 
(Sued nea  amphibia,  Drass.,  and  Sue.  oblonga)  are  British, 
and  to  be  found  occasionally  in  the  river  Wandle,  and  in 
Greenwich  marshes. 

STJ'CCINIC  ACID.  (Lat.  succinum.)  An  acid  obtained 
among  the  products  of  the  destructive  distillation  of  amber ; 
when  pure  it  is  a  white  crystalline  substance.  Its  salts  are 
termed  succinates  ;  of  these  the  succinate  of  ammonia  is  oc- 
casionally used  as  a  test  for  iron.  It  precipitates  the  perox- 
ide of  that  metal  in  the  form  of  a  brown  insoluble  succinate. 

SU'CCTMTE.  (Lat.  succinum.)  An  amber-coloured 
garnet.  . 

BUCKING  PUMP,  or  SUCTION  PUMP.  The  common 
construction  of  the  pump,  in  which  the  two  valves  open 
upwards.     See  Pimp. 

BUCTO'EIANS,  Suctorii.  (Lat.  sugo,  /  suck.)  The 
name  of  a  tribe  of  Cartilaginous  fishes,  comprehending 
those  which,  like  the  lamprey,  have  a  circular  mouth 
adapted  tor  suction. 

SU'ET.  The  fat  situated  about  the  loins  and  kidneys, 
which  is  harder  and  less  fusible  than  that  from  other  parts 
of  the  same  animal.  That  of  the  ox  and  sheep  is  chiefly 
used;  ami  when  melted  out  of  its  containing  membranes  it 
forms  tallow,  and  is  largely  used  in  the  manufacture  of  can- 
dles and  in  the  ordinary  soaps.  Beef  and  mutton  suet, 
when  fused,  concrete  at  a  temperature  of  about  100.  Like 
other  kinds  of  fat,  it  is  a  compound  of  carbon,  oxygen,  and 
hydrogen. 

SUFFE'TES.  (Said  to  be  from  the  Phcenic.  schopetim.) 
Certain  Carthaginian  magistrates,  whose  olfice  bore  consid- 
erable analogy  to  that  of  the  Spartan  kings  and  Roman  con- 
suls. Their  number  was  two,  and  they  were  elected  annu- 
ally from  tin-  noblest  families  of  the  state.  The  functions 
of  the  sulfites  seem  principally  to  have  been  confined  to  the 
management  of  civil  affairs.  Thus  it  was  their  province  to 
assemble  the  senate  and  preside  in  it,  and  also  to  propose 
the  subjects  of  debate,  and  collect  the  votes;   but  there  are 

instances  recorded  of  suffetes  leading  the  armies  of  their 
country.  All  the  cities  of  note  in  tin-  Carthaginian  domin- 
ions had  liken  ise  their  suffetes  ;  hut  these,  of  course,  were 
Invested  merely  with  municipal  authority.  (See  Mem.  de 
I'.ir.  des  Tnscr.  vols,  \wiv.  xvwiii.) 

BU'FFB  \<.  \\.  In  Ecclesiastical  Usage,  every  bishop 
is  said  to  be  suffragan,  relatively  to  the  archbishop  of  bis 
province;  thus  the  bishop  of  Carlisle  is  suffragan  to  the 
archbishop  of  York,  &C.,  either  on  account  of  the  soil  rages 
given  by  them  in  the  provincial  synods,  or  because  they  can- 

notbe  consecrated  without  the  suffrage  or  consent  of  the 
archbishop.  Titular  bishops,  ordained  to  assist  a  bishop  in  his 
spiritual  functions,  are  also  commonly,  but  rather  Improperly, 
styled  suffragans;  a  title  adopted  by  the  stat  36  II.  c<,  c.  14. 
RAGE.    See  Parliament. 

si  FFRAGO.  (Lat,  suffrago,  the  pastern.)  In  Mammal- 
ogy and  Ornithology,  the  joint  of  the  tibia  with  the   tarsus. 

SUFFRU'TICOSE.  (Lat.  Buffrutex,  an  undershrub.) 
Any  plant  which  is  not  exactly  either  a  shrub  or  an  herba- 
ceous plant;   that  is,  which  has  nut  hard,  woody  twigs  and 

complete  iiinls  like  the  one,  nor  perishable  succulent  twigs 
like  the  other.  Lavender  is  an  instance  of  a  sutl'rulicose 
plant. 

BU'GAB.  (Fr.  sur-re,  Germ,  zucker.)  The  great  commer- 
cial demand  for  sugar  is  almost  exclusively  supplied  from 
the  sugar  cane  (Arundo  saccharifera  ,  which  contains  It  in 
greater  quantity  and   purity  than   any  other  plant,  and  con- 

ii  ntly  affords  the  greatest  facilities  for  its  extraction. 
A  large  quantity  of  siiir.-ir  is  contained  in  the  sap  of  the 
American  mapl  leer  iccharimt  and  in  the  Juice  of 
the  beet  root  Bet  i  vulgaris),  from  both  of  which  i'  may  be 
economically  obtained ;  it  has  also  been  extracted  from 
grapes  or  raisins,  and,  as  is  well  known,  is  contained  ubun- 
11% 


SUGAR. 

dantly  in  many  ripe  fruits  and  esculent  vegetables.  It  is, 
how  ever,  in  these,  seldom  so  pure  or  in  such  quantity  as  to 
admit  of  ready  separation. 

The  process,  as  carried  on  in  our  West  India  islands, 
consists  in  pressing  out  the  juice  by  rolling  mills,  and  care- 
fully evaporating  it  till  it  has  acquired  the  proper  consisten- 
cy for  crystallizing;  lime  water  is  added  during  this  opera- 
tion, to  neutralize  any  free  acid,  and  to  facilitate  the  sepa- 
ration of  certain  vegetable  matters,  which,  in  consequence 
of  the  action  of  the  lime,  rise  more  readily  to  the  surface, 
and  admit  of  being  skimmed  oft'.  When  duly  concentrated, 
the  syrup  is  run  oil'  into  shallow  wooden  coolers,  where  it 
concretes  ;  it  is  then  put  into  barrels  with  holes  in  the  bot- 
tom, through  which  a  quantity  of  treacle  or  molasses  gradu- 
ally drips,  and  the  remaining  sugar  acquires  the  granular 
crystalline  state ;  it  is  packed  into  hogsheads,  and  comes  to 
us  under  the  name  of  raicor  muscovado  sugar.  The  follow- 
ing is  a  sketch  of  the  process  by  which  raw  sugar  is  purified 
in  this  country.  Haw  sugar  is  chosen  by  the  refiner  by  the 
sharpness  and  brightness  of  its  grain  ;  it  is  put  into  a  copper 
pan  or  boiler,  previously  charged  with  a  certain  quantity  of 
lime  water,  with  which  a  portion  of  bullock's  blood  has 
been  well  mixed  by  agitation,  and  is  suffered  to  stand  a 
night  to  dissolve.  Early  in  the  morning  fires  are  lighted  un- 
der the  pans,  and  when  the  liquid  boils  the  coagulated  al- 
bumen of  the  blood  rises  to  the  surface  and  carries  the  im- 
purities of  the  sugar  with  it.  The  liquid  is  kept  gently  sim- 
mering, and  continually  skimmed,  till  a  small  quantity,  ta- 
ken out  in  a  metal  spoon,  appears  perfectly  transparent :  this 
generally  takes  from  four  to  five  hours.  The  clear  syrup  is 
then  run  oft"  into  a  cistern ;  the  pans  are  reduced  to  half 
their  former  size,  by  taking  offa  moveable  front,  and  a  smal- 
ler portion  of  the  purified  syrup  returned  into  each  ;  the  fires 
are  now  increased,  and  the  sugar  made  to  boil  as  rapidly  as 
possible,  till  a  small  quantity  taken  on  the  thumb  is  capable 
of  being  drawn  into  threads  by  the  fore-finger ;  the  fire  is 
then  damped,  and  the  boiling  syrup  carried  off"  in  basins  to 
the  coolers  ;  a  fresh  quantity  is  then  pumped  into  the  pans 
and  evaporated  as  before.  In  the  coolers  the  sugar  is  vicr 
lently  agitated  with  wooden  oars  till  it  appears  granulated- 
It  is  upon  this  agitation  that  the  whiteness  and  fineness  of 
grain  in  the  refined  sugar  principally  depend  ;  the  crystals 
are  thus  broken  down  while  forming,  and  the  whole  con- 
verted into  a  granular  mass,  which  permits  the  coloured  li- 
quid saccharine  matter  to  run  off",  and  which  would  be  com- 
bined with  the  solid  if  it  were  suffered  to  form  into  larger 
crystals.  This  granular  texture  likewise  facilitates  the  per- 
colation of  water  through  the  loaves  in  the  after  process, 
which  washes  the  minutely  divided  crystals  from  all  re- 
maining tinge  of  molasses.  That  this  is  the  real  theory  of 
the  whitening  of  sugar  by  the  process  of  refining  appears 
from  a  comparison  with  the  processfor  making  sugar  candy. 
In  this  the  raw  material  is  cleared  and  boiled  as  above ;  but 
instead  of  being  put  into  coolers  and  agitated,  it  is  poured 
into  pans,  across  which  threads  are  strung,  to  which  the 
crystals  attach  themselves  ;  these  are  set  in  a  stove,  and 
great  care  is  taken  not  to  disturb  the  liquid,  as  upon  this  de- 
pends the  largeness  and  beauty  of  the  candy.  In  this  state 
it  is  left  for  five  or  six  days  exposed  to  a  heat  of  about  95° ; 
when  it  is  taken  out  and  washed  with  lime-water.  This 
takes  off' the  molasses  from  the  outside  ;  but  a  great  quanti- 
ty is  combined  in  the  crystal,  and  the  consequence  is,  that 
candy  is  never  whiter  than  the  sugar  it  is  made  from. 
When  the  sugar  has  attained  the  granular  state  in  the  cool- 
ers, as  above  described,  it  is  poured  into  conical  earthen 
moulds,  which  have  been  previously  soaked  a  night  in  wa- 
ter ;  in  these  it  is  again  stirred,  for  the  purpose  of  extricat- 
ing the  air-bubbles,  which  would  otherwise  adhere  to  the 
surface  and  render  it  rough;  when  sufficiently  cold,  the 
loaves  are  carried  to  some  of  the  upper  floors  of  the  manu- 
factory, and  the  paper  rovers  Heine  removed  from  their 
points,  they  are  set  with  their  broad  ends  upward  upon 
earthen  pots.  The  first  portions  of  the  liquid  molasses  soon 
run  down,  and  leave  the  sugar  much  whitened  by  the  sepa- 
ration ;  afterwards,  pipe  clay  mixed  with  water  to  the  con- 
sistency of  cream  is  put  upon  the  base  of  the  loaves  to  the 
thickness  of  about  an  inch:  the  water  from  this  clay  filters 
through  the  loaf,  and  carrying  with  it  all  remaining  tinge  of 
BS,  runs  into  the  pot,  ihe  clay  being  of  no  other  use 
than  to  retain  the  water  and  prevent  its  too  rapid  percola- 
tion, by  which  too  much  of  the  solid  sugar  would  be  dis- 
solved. This  process,  culled  claying,  is  repeated  four  or  five 
times,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  sugar  and  the  degTce 
to  which   it  has  been  boiled.     When  the  loaves  are  thus 

Cleansed  IV all  relics  Of  Colour  they  are  suffered  to  remain 

sometime  fir  the  water  to  drain  off;  when  this  is  complet- 
ted,  they  are  set  with  their  points  upwards,  w  hen  all  remains 
of  it  are  equally  diffused  throughout  ;  they  are  then  stovc- 

drierf  at  a  temperature  between  95  and  100.    The  syrup,  or 

draining!  collected  in  the  pots,  is  mixed  with  the  raw  sugar  iu 
the  next  boilings:  it  is  divided  according  to  its  fineness;  the 
first  runnings,  which  are  the  foulest,  being  reserved  for  the 


SUICIDE. 


coarsest  loaves ;  while  the  last,  being  little  else  than  clear 
syrup,  is  boiled  into  loaves  of  the  same  fineness  as  those 
from  which  it  ran.  The  lowest  syrups  are  boiled  into  what 
is  called  bastard  sugar,  from  which  the  molasses  runs  with 
very  little  mixture  of  solid  sugar :  this  it  is  which  is  sold  un- 
der the  name  of  treacle,  being  quite  incapable  of  further 
crystallization.  The  average  produce  of  100  cwt.  of  raw  su- 
gar treated  as  above  is  63  lbs.  of  refined,  18  of  bastard,  27  of 
molasses,  4  loss  in  dirt,  &c. 

Mr.  Howard,  in  his  patent  process  for  the  refining  of  sugar, 
introduced  a  variety  of  modifications  and  improvements,  the 
principal  of  which  depended  upon  boiling  under  diminished 
atmospheric  pressure,  so  that  no  part  of  the  syrup  was  liable 
to  be  burned  or  otherwise  injured  by  heat ;  he  also  em- 
ployed recently  precipitated  aluminous  earth  to  abstract  part 
of  the  colouring  matter  ;  well-burned  charcoal,  especially 
animal  charcoal,  has  been  found  very  serviceable  for  the 
latter  purpose,  and  a  number  of  other  improvements  in  and 
modifications  of  the  process  of  refining  have  more  lately  been 
adopted. 

The  chemical  characters  of  sugar  are  well  defined,  espe- 
cially those  of  the  crystal lizable  or  cane  sugar.  Its  specific 
gravity  is  about  1-6.  It  dissolves  in  all  proportions  in  water, 
is  less  soluble  in  alcohol,  and  is  recognised  by  its  purely 
sweet  taste.  It  is  blackened  by  sulphuric  acid  ;  and  when 
about  one  part  of  this  acid  is  added  to  two  of  thick  syrup, 
the  mixture  presently  boils  up  into  a  black  frothy  mass, 
which  is  little  else  than  carbon,  acid,  and  water.  In  respect 
to  ultimate  composition,  sugar  belongs  to  that  important  class 
of  proximate  vegetable  principles  which  are  theoretically  re- 
garded as  compounds  of  carbon  and  water;  that  is,  of  carbon 
and  of  oxygen  and  hydrogen,  in  the  same  relative  proportions 
as  they  exist  in  water.  The  following  shows  the  results  of 
Dr.  Prout's  analysis  of  the  finest  loaf  sugar  in  a  dry  and  pure 
state,  with  its  probable  atomic  constitution : 


Carbon 

Hydrogen 

Oxygen 


Equiv.  Theory.  Expt. 

54  42-86  4285 

8  6-35  6-35 

64  50-79  50-80 


1  126      10000     100-00 

Several  other  varieties  of  sugar  have  been  chemically  ex- 
amined ;  such  as  grape  sugar,  honey  sugar,  mushroom  su- 
gar, manna  liquorice  sugar,  &c. 

Consumption  and  Supply. — Sugar  is  to  be  ranked  rather  as 
a  necessary  than  as  the  most  desirable  of  luxuries ;  and  a 
larger  sum  is,  we  believe,  expended  on  sugar  in  this  country 
than  on  anything  else,  excepting  corn  and  butcher's  meat. 
The  sugar  consumed  in  England  is  all  derived  from  the 
Arundo  saccharifcra,  or  sugar  cane,  and  was,  for  a  length- 
ened period,  almost  wholly  supplied  by  our  colonies  in  the 
West  Indies ;  but  latterly  we  have  derived  very  extensive 
supplies  from  the  Mauritius  and  India.  Foreign  sugar  is  vir- 
tually excluded  from  our  markets  by  the  prohibitory  duty 
with  which  it  is  loaded. 

Besides  the  West  Indies,  South  America,  especially  Bra- 
zil, the  East  Indies,  the  Mauritius,  Java,  Siam,  the  Philip- 
pine Islands,  &c,  are  the  countries  which  export  by  far  the 
largest  supplies  of  cane  sugar,  though  it  either  is  or  may  be 
produced  in  most  tropical  countries,  and  it  is  also  cultivated 
to  some  extent  in  some  countries  within  the  temperate  zone. 
During  the  last  war,  when  the  nations  of  the  Continent  ex- 
perienced very  great  difficulty  in  getting  supplies  of  sugar 
from  tropical  countries,  attempts  were  made  to  taise  it 
at  home  from  the  beet-root ;  and  this  sugar  being  exempted 
from  the  heavy  duty  laid  on  colonial  sugar,  its  culture  has 
latterly  been  very  greatly  extended,  especially  in  France. 
But  the  general  opinion  seems  to  be,  that  were  beet-root  su- 
gar subjected  to  the  same  duty  as  colonial  sugar,  its  culture 
would  have  to  be  abandoned.    We  subjoin 


An  Account  of  the  Quantities  of  the  different  Descriptions  of  Sugar  entered  for  Consumption  in  the  United  Kingdom 
during  each  of  the  Eleven  Years  ending  with  18-10;  with  an  Account  of  the  Amount  of  Duty  received  on  the  same, 
the  average  Price  of  Muscovado  Sugar  in  Bond,  &c. 


Quantifies  entered  for  Consumption. 

British  Plantation 
(incl.  Mauritius). 

East  India. 

Foreign. 

Total. 

from  Duties  on  Sugar. 

Muscovado  Sugar. 

Cwts. 

Cwts. 

Cwts. 

Cwt). 

L. 

L.     i.        d. 

1830 

3,590,041 

131,979 

24 

3,722,044 

4,767,342 

1      4      11  per  cwt. 

1831 

3,667,396 

113,536 

79 

3,781,011 

4,650,590 

13        8      — 

1832 

3,575,329 

79.600 

605 

3,655.534 

4,394,338 

17        8      — 

1833 

3,553,450 

98,283 

71 

3,651,804 

4,414,302 

19        8      — 

1834 

3,620,522 

121,007 

50 

3,741,579 

4,559,392 

19        5      — 

1835 

3,757,851 

98,680 

31 

3,856,562 

4,667,900 

1    13        5      — 

1836 

3,378,144 

110,222 

33 

3,488,399 

4,184,165 

2      0      10      — 

1837 

3,684,712 

270,055 

43) 

3,954,810 

4,760,565 

1    14        7      — 

1838 

3,491,225 

418,375 

65 

3,909,665 

4,656,891 

1     13        8      — 

1839 

3,348,298 

477,252 

49 

3,825,599 

4,586,936 

1    19        2      — 

1840 

3,074,198 

518,320 

2316 

3,594,834 

4,449,070 

2      9        1      — 

Doty  on  British  plantation  and  Mauritius  sugar  from  1830  to  1840 14  0  per  cwt. 

Duty  on  East  Indian  sugar  from  1830  to  13th  August,  1835             1     12  0      — 

Duty  on  ditto  of  any  British  possession  within  the  limits  of  the  East  India  Company's  charter  into  which  the  importation  of  foregn  su- 
gar is  prohibited,  and  imported  thence  from  13th  of  Aujust,  1S35  to  1S40 14  0  — 

Duty  on  ditto  of  any  other  British  possession  within  those  limits,  aud  imported  from  thence  from  13th  of  August,  1S35,  to  1840         .        .  1     12  0  — 

Duty  on  foreign  sugar  from  11-30  to  1840         ........               ...               3      3  0  — 

Additional  5  per  cent,  on  the  above  rates  from  16th  of  May,  1840. 


SU'ICIDE,  or  SELF-MURDER.  (Lat.  suicidium.)  Few 
chapters  in  the  history  of  the  human  mind  are  more  sin- 
gular than  that  of  suicide,  as  showing  the  kind  of  honour 
and  estimation  which  a  practice  so  unnatural  has  attained 
in  the  feelings  of  many  nations.  The  rank  which  religious 
suicide  has  held  from  immemorial  antiquity,  and  still  holds, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  Hindoos,  has  been  too  often  described, 
and  is  too  familiar  in  its  most  notorious  and  painful  instan- 
ces, to  need  more  than  adverting  to  on  the  present  occasion. 
It  is  said  that  the  practice  is  condemned  by  their  older 
books;  if  so,  the  traditionary  sentiments  of  the  people  have 
been  formed  on  some  different  model.  The  suicides  of  the 
Hindoos  have  proceeded  partly  from  fanaticism,  partly  from 
an  apathetic  philosophy ;  those  of  the  ancient  Scandina- 
vians, esteemed  equally  honourable,  from  the  overflow  of 
courage  in  warriors,  who  could  endure  any  evil  except  the 
approach  of  helpless  and  unwarlike  old  age. 

Among  the  Greeks,  the  first  inquirers  who  reasoned  out 
the  principles  of  human  life  and  action  by  a  train  of  phi- 
losophical investigation,  singularly  vague  and  discrepant 
opinions  on  this  subject  seem  to  have  prevailed;  as  might 
have  been  expected  from  a  people  to  whom  religion  fur- 
nished so  very  few  fixed  data  of  reasoning,  and  by  whom 
abstract  truth  was  pursued  with  such  unequalled  ingenuity 
and  earnestness.  Socrates,  the  great  master  of  ethics,  was 
emphatic  in  his  condemnation  of  suicide.  Plato  speaks  in 
a  more  dubious  strain  :  writing  as  a  lawgiver,  he  reprobates 
it:  and  in  his  arguments  on  the  subject  is  to  be  found  the 
well-known  illustration  which  has  figured  ever  since  in  all 
such  discussions,  in  which  he  compares  it  to  the  desertion 
93 


by  a  soldier  of  his  post :  yet  he  expressly  excepts  from  his 
censure  those  cases  in  which  it  is  committed  under  the  pres- 
sure of  immitigable  calamity.  Pythagoras,  at  an  earlier  pe- 
riod, denied  its  lawfulness.  (See  Jlthenaius,  1.  iv.)  In  the 
later  days  of  Greek  philosophy,  both  Stoics  and  Epicureans 
found  arguments  for  its  defence  in  their  respective  princi- 
ples. The  former  sect  was  most  notorious  for  its  tenets  on 
this  subject;  Zeno  and  Cleanthes,  its  great  masters,  hav- 
ing both  put  an  end  to  their  own  lives,  as  Demoeritus  had 
done  before  them,  from  the  mere  tedium  of  old  age. 

Cum  jam  mahira  vetustas 
Admonuit  memorem  motus  languescere  mentis, 
Sponte  sua  letho  caput  obvius  obtulit  ipse. 

The  argument  of  an  Epicurean  philosopher  on  the  topic 
may  be  collected  from  Cic.  Tusc.  Disp.,  v.  41 ;  and,  indeed, 
may  be  compressed  in  the  pithy  Greek  motto  for  a  drinking 
party,  'H  mOt  ij  amOi — drink,  or  begone.  "  Stoical  acade- 
mies" (says  Dr.  Moore,  in  his  Essay  on  Suicide,  i.,  233), 
"  if  such  an  expression  be  warrantable,  would  plead  a  dismis- 
sion whenever  their  dignity  was  affronted,  or  their  glory 
diminished ;  whilst  Epicurean  academics  would  care  no- 
thing about  such  matters,  as  long  as  their  personal  indolence 
and  tranquillity  were  not  superseded."  The  influence  of 
Greek  philosophy  had,  as  is  well  known,  a  great  share  in  pro- 
ducing that  tendency  to  suicide  which  distinguished  the  high- 
er society  of  Rome  in  the  later  days  of  the  commonwealth. 
The  "  Roman  death,"  as  it  is  emphatically  called,  was  not 
really  a  national  habit;  the  older  manners  of  the  common- 
wealth repudiated  it ;  its  prevalence  was  owing  to  foreign 
doctrines,  acting  on  minds  affected  by  the  violent  passions, 

1197 


SUICIDE. 


engrossing  luxuries,  and  rapid  vicissitudes  of  fortune  which 
distinguished  that  momentous  era.  Virgil  returns  to  the 
Pythagorean  view  ;  and,  without  inveighing  against  suicide, 

represents  it  as  a  sad  and  mournful  death,  the  perpetrators 
Of  which  are  doomed  to  a  Ion;:  and  shadowy  BZUtenci — 
without  torment,  but  without  enjoyment  ;  one  which  they 
would  willingly  exchange  for  the  bitterest  poverty  and  la 
bour  in  the  cheerful  light  of  day.  Perhaps  the  courtier-poet 
was  a  little  affected  by  the  feelings  of  those  in  power,  who 
loved  to  have-  contented,  orderly,  and  not  too  irritable  sub- 
jects, and  disliked  the  fashion  among  the  noble  Romans  of 
escaping  in  this  manner  from  tyranny  and  persecution.  At 
a  later  period  suicide  committed  by  criminals  under  accusa- 
tion u  as  made  criminal  by  the  Roman  law.  This  was  w  ith 
a  view  to  preserve  the  forfeiture  of  the  criminal's  property 
to  the  government.  Suicide,  as  such,  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  the  subject  of  legislation. 

Although  Christianity  was  not  slow  in  effecting  a  reform 
in  the  feelings  of  mankind  on  this  important  subject,  yet 
some  relics  of  the  ancient  sentiments  lingered  awhile,  even 
in  the  minds  of  enlightened  believers.  The  fanatical  Do- 
natists  were  greatly  addicted  to  suicide,  and  are  justly  con- 
demned on  this  account  among  others  by  the  early  writers 
of  the  church.  Nor  did  these  latter  ever  esteem  suicide 
lawful,  even  under  the  severe  persecutions  to  which  the 
church  was  subjected,  except  perhaps  in  one  case — when 
committed  by  virgins  to  preserve  their  chastity.  The  cher- 
ished sentiments  of  the  fathers  of  the  church  on  this  sub- 
ject rendered  them  not  only  lenient  to  such  victims  of  hon- 
our, but  some  of  them  have  even  gone  so  far  as  to  com- 
mend them.  Augustine,  with  his  usual  strong  sense  of 
moral  right,  only  pities  them;  and  expressly  classes  all  sui- 
cide as  homicide,  {lie  Civ.  Dei.  1.  i.,  c.  19.)  There  was, 
at  an  early  period,  no  commemoration  for  the  souls  of  sui- 
cides in  the  early  church.  And  the  council  of  Bracara, 
A.D.  563,  refused  them  Christian  burial;  a  measure  which 
has  been  pretty  generally  adopted  throughout  Christendom. 

There  have  been  a  few  paradoxical  writers  who  have 
contended  in  favour  of  the  lawfulness  of  suicide,  arguing  on 
Christian  premises.  In  Hume's  Essay  on  Suicide  this 
ground  is  taken,  with  the  author's  usual  adroitness  in  point- 
ing out  supposed  deficiencies  in  the  scheme  of  Revelation. 
A  more  remarkable  instance  is  Dr.  Donne's  "  [JtaBavaroc ; 
or  a  declaration  of  that  paradox  or  thesis,  that  self  homicide 
is  not  so  naturally  sin  that  it  may  never  be  otherwise."  It 
is  remarkable,  however,  less  from  the  force  of  the  argu- 
mentation, than  the  circumstance  that  a  man  of  a  religious, 
though  eccentric  turn  of  mind,  should  have  defended  such 
positions.  Some  of  his  arguments,  those  derived  from  the 
silence  of  Scripture  on  the  specific  subject,  have  been  com- 
monly repeated:  others  seem  very  puerile.  Those  who 
wish  it  will  find  them  seriously  refuted,  at  much  length, 
by  the  painstaking  Dr.  Moore,  in  his  Essaij  on  Suicide,  al- 
ready quoted,  from  which  we  have  taken  most  of  this  his- 
torical sketch.  To  say  the  truth,  his  refutation  is  in  some 
instances  as  weak  as  any  part  of  Donne's  paradox. 

Among  the  writings  of  another  class  of  thinkers,  the 
reasonings  pro  and  con  urged  by  Rousseau  in  the  Nouvelle 
JHeloise  are  well  known.  Though  there  is  little  convincing 
in  the  logic  of  the  antagonist  of  suicide,  yet  the  side  he 
take-  is  made  to  appear  the  generous  and  noble  one;  and 
in  this  case,  as  in  several  others,  Rousseau  must  be  owned 
to  have  done  service  to  the  cause  of  morality,  considering 
the  incredible  influence  which  he  exercised  on  the  fervid 
heads  and  hearts  of  his  time.  It  is  remarkable  that  Lord 
Edward,  in  the  work  above  alluded  to,  is  made  to  admit  one 
exception  in  favour  of  suicide,  in  the  case  of  acute  and 
irremediable  pain.  Madame  de  Bttel,  in  her  Essay  on  the 
Infhu  nee  of  the  Passions,  advanced  a  sort  of  defence  of  sui- 
cide; in  her  later  w..rk  {Reflexions  surlr  Suicide,  published 
in  1810)  she  has  enforced  the  more  customary  doctrine  with 
much  eloquence  and  feeling.  We  are  not  acquainted  with 
the  work  of  the  Swedish  professor  Robcck  in  defence  of 
suicide  (who  killed  himself  after  writing  it)  except  through 
the  mention  made  of  it  by  Dr.  Moore  and  Madame  de  Stael. 
In  discus-inns  on  the  subject  of  proneness  to  suicide  in  par- 
ticular classes  or  nations,  it  is  Impossible  to  disconnect  it 
from  tl  at  of  insanity;  because  the  miserable  delusions  of 
that  disease  constantly  impel  their  victim  to  its  commission. 
In  societies,  therefore,  where  insanity  is  most  romnion.  the 
number  of  suicides  will  be  greatest  It  does  not  follow 
that  the  number  of  suicides  committed  by  persons  not  in- 
sane will  also  be  greatest  in  such  societies;  that  is,  when 
we  disregard  the  refinements  of  those  who  profess  t,>  con- 
sider suicide  itsi-it'as  a  proof  of  greater  or  less  derangement 
of  the  mental  functions.  What  we  mean  by  the  suicide  of 
a  HUte  person  is,  the  suicide  of  one  of  whose  insanity  there 
is  DO  evidence  except  such   as  may  he   considered   to  arise 

from  the  act  Itself.    Considered  In  this  light,  the  tendency 
to  deliberate  suicide  has  been  Bin  nit   in  many 

communities.     Nor  does  it  arise  from  similar  causes,  or  in 
similar  states  of  society.    Among  the  old  Scandinavians 
1196 


as  at  this  day  with  some  tribes  of  savages,  it  was  the  off 
spring  of  the  intolerance  of  fierce  dispositions  of  the  help- 
lessneee  of  age  and  disease.  It  prevails,  too,  sometimes  in 
eneminate  communities,  w  here  there  is  little  /est  ()r  excite- 
ment in  life,  with  mean  habits,  little  self-respect,  and  much 
apathy:  thus  it  is  extremely  common  in  China,  even,  it  is 
said  among  the  lower  classes,  notwithstanding  the  procla- 
mations, full  of  ethical  saws,  which  the  magistrates  issue 
against  its  commission.  Among  people  of  minds  thus  dis- 
posed, the  act  is  generally  deliberate,  and  unconnected  with 
insanity:  so,  again,  where  it  results  from  a  cold  tempera- 
ment, and  a  sarcastic  and  contemptuous  view  of  lit',-,  which 
was  the  notion  formerly  entertained  by  foreigners  of  the 
English  mania  for  suicide  ;  a  notion  which  probably  had  not 
foundation  in  truth  at  any  time.  Sixty  years  ago,  Mercier 
(  Talilrau  de  Paris,  vol.  iv.)  thought  it  prevailed  less  in  Eng- 
land than  France.  At  present,  in  communities  civilized  on 
the  European  model,  it  would  probably  he  found  that  the 
number  of  suicides  was  pretty  nearly  in  proportion  to  that 
of  insane  persons,  and  that  the  same  causes  which  produce 
mental  disturbance  lead  likewise  to  self-murder.  Perhaps 
the  principal  predisposing  influences,  as  they  affect  society 
in  the  mass,  may  be  reduced  to  four: — the  spirit  of  mercan- 
tile speculation,  leading  to  sudden  and  overpowering  vicis- 
situde of  prosperity  and  want ;  mental  excitement,  produced 
chiefly  by  misdirected  education,  literature,  and  philosophy ; 
absence  of  self  restraint,  especially  on  religions  principles; 
and  intemperance  in  spirituous  liquours.  Either  of  these 
causes  alone  may  be  sufficient :  for  example,  in  various 
parts  of  northern  Germany,  and  in  Geneva,  where  there  is 
little  of  commercial  movement,  and  where  the  body  of  the 
people  are  orderly  and  well-conducted,  suicide  is  never- 
theless extremely  common  among  the  educated  classes,  and 
may  be  referred  almost  wholly  to  mental  excitement.  But 
where  they  all  combine,  the  effect  is  fearful ;  as  mny  be 
witnessed  in  the  great  cities  of  France  and  the  United 
States.  On  the  other  hand,  suicide  is  rare  in  nations  where 
fatalism  prevails,  as  among  the  Turks  and  Spaniards ;  in 
nations  in  which  a  love  of  order  is  joined  with  an  unrefined 
mental  organization  and  great  love  of  physical  enjoyment, 
such  as  the  south  Germans,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  the 
Italians.  The  following  table  exhibits  some  of  the  results 
given  by  M.  Quetelet,  from  researches  extending  over  a 
number  of  years,  from  1820  downwards  ;  but  we  give  them, 
premising  our  doubt  as  to  the  possibility  of  obtaining  accu- 
rate returns  in  many  countries. 

Number  of  Suicides  annually,  compared  witli  the  Popula- 
tion. 

Russia 1  in  49.182 

Austria "  20,900 

France "  18,000 

Pennsylvania "  15,875 

Prussia "  11,104 

New- York  (State)  .      "    7,797 

City  of  London  .      "    5,000 

City  of  Berlin "    2,941 

City  of  Geneva                                    .      "    2,941 
City  of  Paris "    2,400 

With  regard  to  classes,  the  number  of  suicides  is  probably 
distributed  in  a  pretty  equally  diminishing  proportion  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest :  with  the  exception,  however,  of  . 
crowned  heads  ;  for  it  has  been  observed,  that  no  sovereign, 
at  least  in  modern  times,  was  ever  known  to  commit  self- 
murder.  There  is  a  remarkable  paper  in  the  first  volume 
of  the  Journal  of  the  London  Statistical  Society,  showing 
its  prevalence  among  the  military  in  this  city.  The  sui- 
cides in  the  Dragoon  Guards  and  Dragoons  are  said  to 
amount  to  one  twentieth  of  all  the  deaths;  while  among 
the  members  of  the  Equitable  (to  make  the  comparison 
with  a  body  of  grown-up  persons)  they  are  only  1  in  110. 

With  respect  to  the  causes  of  suicide,  some  curious  re- 
sults have  been  obtained  by  statisticians  ;  hut,  in  giving 
them,  we  must  profess  our  doubts  concerning  the  value  of 
such  statements,  from  the  very  vague  data  on  which  they 
must  necessarily  be  founded.  It  appears  from  a  classifica- 
tion of  134  suicides  committed  in  ten  years  at  Gc sni 
M.  Provost,  in  the  15th  vol.  of  the  Jlnnales  dc  Hygiene), 
that  the  following  causes  produced  litem  : 

Disease  34 

Mental  alienation 24 

Pecuniary  misfortunes  .       .       .       .19 

Domestic  "  chagrins" 15 

Melancholy,  cause  unknown  .        .        .13 

Misconduct,  drunkenness       .        .        .        .10 
Fear  of  punishment,  remorse        ...      6 

'■  Chagrins"  of  love 6 

Gambling  and  lotteries 4 

Mysticism 2 

Comparing  these  with  other  accounts,  it  would  seem  that 
love  produces  at  Paris  -%s  of  the  suicides  committed,  at  Ge- 


SUIT. 

neva  -i  ,  at  Petersburg  $,  if  Mr.  Schon  is  to  he  believed ;  a 
singular  contrast  to  the  commonly  supposed  effects  of  cli- 
mate. Domestic  griefs,  at  Paris  (from  1794  to  1823),  ^ ;  at 
Geneva  the  same.  Misconduct,  at  Paris  231  at  Geneva 
-jL,  at  Petersburg  ^.  Gambling,  at  Paris  ^  at  Geneva  j\- 
Some  of  these  results,  in  Paris  and  Geneva,  are  certainly 
remarkable  for  their  correspondence.  (See  an  Essay  of  M. 
Brouc,  in  the  16th  vol.  of  the  Annates  de  Hygiene,  already 
cited.  The  reader  may  consult  also  M.  de  Villeneuve  Bar- 
gemont,  Econ.  Politique  Chretienne.) 

The  following  statement  is  extracted  from  the  official  ta- 
bles of  revenue,  trade,  and  population  for  1839 : 

Number  of  suicides  in  England  and  Wales  during  the  year 
ended  30th  of  June,  1839— Males,  751 ;  Females,  307. 

The  Ages  of  1044  Suicides. 


Between  the 

ages  of  10  and  15 

8 

" 

15    "    20 

73 

" 

20    "    30 

151 

" 

30    "    40 

172 

ft 

40    "    50 

217 

>< 

50    "    60 

221 

it 

60    "    70 

141 

u 

70    "    80 

54 

tl 

80    "    90 

14 

It 

90 

2 

From  this  it  appears  that  the  greatest  number  of  sui- 
cides (relatively  to  the  numbers  living)  are  between  the 
ages  of  fifty  and  sixty  (which  appears"  from  M.  Prevost's 
calculation  to  be  also  the  case  at  Geneva) ;  the  tendency  to 
suicide  regularly  increasing  up  to  the  latter  age.  Between 
seventy  and  eighty  the  number  is  still  very  considerable. 


The  Season  of  the  Year. 
January.  February,  March 
April,  Slay,  June  .        .        . 

July.  August,  September 
October,  November,  December 


Thus  the  proportion  of  male  to  female  suicides  is  2i  to  1 ; 
at  Geneva  exactly  the  same  (95  to  38).  The  subject  must 
not  be  dismissed  without  noticing  the  great  increase  of  sui- 
cide which  most  observers  represent  to  have  taken  place 
in  the  last  twenty  years,  especially  in  the  large  towns  of 
northern  Europe.  But  there  must  be  a  certain  degree  of 
doubt  how  much  of  the  apparent  increase  is  owing  to  more 
accurate  observations. 

Suicide  is  ranked  by  the  English  law  as  a  peculiar  spe- 
cies of  felony;  and,  like  other  felonies,  cannot  be  commit- 
ted by  persons  under  the  age  of  discretion,  or  insane.  From 
very  ancient  times  (see  Bracton)  the  law  imposed  the  for- 
feiture of  personal  property  as  a  consequence  of  it ;  and  a 
felo  de  se  (as  a  wilful  suicide  is  termed)  forfeits  all  chat- 
ties, real  and  personal.  But  the  offence  was  never  attended 
with  corruption  of  blood,  or  the  forfeiture  of  lands  of  inher- 
itance :  so  that  the  will  of  a  felo  de  se  stands  good  as  to 
realty.  In  order  to  vest  these  chattels  in  the  crown,  the 
fact  of  self-murder  must  be  proved  bv  an  inquisition,  which 
the  coroner  is  the  proper  officer  to  hold.  In  addition,  the 
law  formerly  required  that  a  self-murderer  should  be  buried 
in  a  highway,  with  a  stake  driven  through  his  body.  Now, 
by  4  G.  4.  c.  52,  his  remains  are  to  be  privately  buried  at  night 
in  the  churchyard.  But  the  canon  law  (confirmed  by  the 
rubric  in  the  Common  Prayer  Book)  forbids  the  perform- 
ance of  Christian  rites  over  them. 

SUTT.    In  Law,  the  same  as  action  ;  which  see. 

SULCATE.  (Lat.  sulcus,  n  furrow.)  In  Zoology,  when 
a  surface  is  deeply  impressed  with  longitudinal  parallel 
lines. 

SU'LPHATES.  Salts  containing  sulphuric  acid ;  green 
vitriol  is  a  sulphate  of  the  protoxide  of  iron.  Glauber's  salt 
is  a  sulphate  of  soda. 

SU'LPHITES.    Salts  of  the  sulphurous  acid. 

SU'LPHOCYA'NIC  ACID.  This  acid  was  discovered 
in  1808,  by  Mr.  Porrett,  who  ascertained  it  to  be  a  com- 
pound of  sulphur,  carbon,  hydrogen,  and  nitrogen ;  he  call- 
ed it  sulphuretted  chyazic  acid,  the  term  chyazic  being  com- 
posed of  the  initials  of  carbon,  hydrogen,  and  azote.  It  is 
best  formed  by  distilling  a  strong  solution  of  sulphocyanuret 
of  potassium  with  phosphoric  acid,  when  sulphocyanic,  or 
more  properly  hydro-sulphocyanic,  passes  over  into  the  re- 
cipient, and  phosphate  of  poxassa  remains  in  the  retort. 
So  obtained,  it  is  a  liquid  of  a  slight  pink  hue,  and  smells 
somewhat  like  vinegar.  The  strongest  solution  has  a  «pe- 
cific  gravity  of  1-022 ;  boils  at  2170,  and  crystallizes  at'ooO 
in  six-sided  prisms.  It  gives  a  very  characteristic  deep 
red  solution  with  persalts  of  iron  ;  with  a  salt  of  copper  it 
gives  a  white  precipitate.    It  is  composed  of 


SULPHUR. 

Atoms.    Equir. 

Sulphur 2         32 

Cyanogen 1  26 

Hydrogen 1  1 

1  59 

Sulphocyanuret  of  potassium  is  obtained  by  mixing  equal 
weights  of  powdered  sulphur  and  ferrocyanate  of  potassa, 
and  keeping  them  in  fusion  for  half  an  hour  in  a  flask ; 
when  cold,  reduce  the  mass  to  powder,  and  digest  it  in 
water ;  filter  the  solution,  and  add  a  sufficiency  of  liquid 
potassa  to  throw  down  the  iron. 

SU'LPHONAPHTHA'LIC  ACID.  A  compound  of  sul- 
phuric acid  and  naphthaline,  discovered  by  Mr.  Faraday. 
(Phil.  Trans..  1826.) 

SU'LPHOSLXATISIX.  (Lat.  sulphur,  and  sinape.  mus- 
tard.) A  crystallizable  substance  obtained  from  mustard 
seed  ;  it  appears  to  contain  sulphur,  carbon,  hydrogen,  and 
nitrogen. 

BULPHOYTNIC  ACID,  (Enothionic  Acid.  An  acid 
formed  by  the  action  of  sulphuric  acid  upon  alcohol.  From 
Mr.  Hennel's  experiments  (Phil.  Trans.,  1826  and  1828)  it 
appears  to  be  a  compound  of 

Atoms.      Equiv. 
Sulphuric  acid         ...    2  80 

Quadri-hydrocarbon       .        .    1  28 

1         108 

SU'LPHUR.  Brimstone.  A  yellow  brittle  mineral  pro- 
duct, found  in  various  parts  of  the  world  ;  but  apparently 
most  abundant  in  volcanic  regions.  Europe  is  chiefly  sup- 
plied with  it  from  the  south  of  Italy  and  from  Sicily.  It 
most  commonly  occurs  massive ;  but  it  is  sometimes  met 
with  crystallized  in  the  form  of  an  oblique  rhombic  octoe- 
dron.  Fine  specimens  of  this  description  are  seen  in  our 
mineral  cabinets,  and  bear  a  high  price.  A  considerable 
quantity  of  sulphur  is  also  obtained  from  some  of  its  metal- 
lic combinations,  such  as  the  sulphurets  of  copper  and  of 
iron.  These  ores  are  heated,  or  roasted,  as  it  is  termed,  in 
furnaces  so  constructed  that  the  sulphur  vapour  may  be 
condensed,  and  from  time  to  time  collected  ;  this,  when 
purified  by  fusion,  is  cast  into  moulds,  and  forms  common 
or  roll  brimstone.  Small  quantities  of  sulphur  also  occur 
in  several  animal  and  vegetable  products,  and  are  frequent- 
ly recognised  by  the  odour  of  sulphuretted  hydrogen  which 
they  evolve  during  putrefaction.  Sulphur  is  a  non-con- 
ductor of  electricity,  insipid,  and  inodorous,  unless  rubbed 
or  heated,  when  it  evolves  a  sulphurous  smell.  It?  specific 
gravity  is  T99.  It  melts  at  about  216°:  and  when  heated 
to  about  250°  it  becomes  a  limpid,  amber-coloured  liquid  ; 
if  the  heat  be  raised  to  about  450°,  it  "gain  becomes  viscid 
and  deeper  coloured;  at  480°  up  to  its  boiling  point  it  ac- 
quires rather  more  fluidity ;  at  about  C0O°  it  rises  rapidly  in 
vapour,  and  in  close  vessels  condenses  in  the  form  of  a  fine 
yellow  powder,  composed  of  crystalline  grains :  in  this  state 
it  is  called  flowers  of  sulphur.  The  earthy  and  metallic 
impurities  which,  with  a  portion  of  sulphur,  remain  in  the 
subliming  vessel,  were  formerly  called  sulphur  virum. 
When  sulphur  in  its  viscid  state  of  fusion  is  poured  into 
water  it  becomes  a  ductile  mass,  which  slowly  hardens, 
and  which  is  often  used  for  taking  impressions  of  seals  and 
medals.  When  sulphur  is  in  the  form  of  vapour  it  is  of  a 
dense  orange  colour :  its  specific  gravity  in  that  state  is  about 
66  and  100  cubic  inches  of  it  should  therefore  weigh  about 
206  grains. 

There  is  another  form  of  sulphur  which  is  sometimes 
called  milk  of  sulphur  (lac  sulphuris),  and  which  is  a  hy- 
drate of  sulphur ;  it  is  obtained  by  precipitating  sulphur  by 
muriatic  acid  from  certain  of  its  alkaline  solutions.  When 
sulphur  which  has  been  melted  is  suffered  to  cool  slowly, 
its  interior  often  exhibits  prismatic  crystals,  and  very  beau- 
tiful specimens  of  this  artificial  crystallization  of  sulphur 
may  be  obtained  by  melting  a  few  pounds  of  it  in  a  crucible 
or  ladle,  and  when  partially  cooled  piercing  the  outer  crust 
and  inverting  the  vessel,  so  that  the  interior  liquid  part 
may  run  out ;  on  breaking  the  mass  when  cold,  the  cavity 
will  be  found  lined  with  prismatic  crystals. 

The  results  of  the  combustion  of  sulphur,  its  equivalent 
number  (16),  and  several  other  details  respecting  its  com- 
binations and  uses,  are  given  under  the  heads  of  Sulphu- 
retted  Hydrogen,  and  of  Sulphuric  and  Sulphurous 
Acids. 

Sulphur  is  insoluble  in  water;  it  dissolves  in  boiling  oil 
of  turpentine,  and  is  deposited  often  in  crystals  as  the  solu- 
tion cools.  It  is  also  soluble  in  alcohol,  if  both  substances 
be  brought  together  in  the  state  of  vapour.  It  combines 
also  with  chlorine,  bromine,  and  iodine.  Its  native  com- 
binations with  the  metals  form  some  of  the  most  important 
ores.  It  is  from  the  sulphurets  of  lead  and  of  copper  that 
the  commercial  demands  for  these  valuable  metals  are  al- 
most exclusively  supplied. 

Sulphur  is  of  great  importance  in  the  arts.    It  is  used  ex- 

1199 


SULPHURETS. 

tensivelv  in  the  manufacture  of  gunpowder,  ami  in  the 
formation  Of  sulphuric  acid,  or  oil  lit' vitriol.  It  is  also  used 
in  medicine,  and  t<>r  other  purposes  of  the  arts.  The  en- 
tries for  home  consumption  in  1838  and  1836  amounted,  at 
an  average,  to  695,056  cw  t.  a  year.  The  duty  on  refined  or 
roll  brimstone  varies  from  6s.  to  9s.  0d.  a  cwt,  whereas  mi 
roiiL'h  it  is  only  6rf. ;  so  that  the  imports  consist  almost 
Wholly  i't  the  hitter.  The  largest  portion  hy  tar  pf  the  im- 
ports come  from  Italy,  or  rather  Sicily.  The  price  of  rough 
brimstone  in  bond  in  the  London  market  usually  varies 
from  61.  His.  to  7/.  10s.  a  ton. 

SO  LPHUKETS.  Compounds  of  sulphur  with  electro- 
poMtive  or  inflammable  bodies.  The  most  common  ores  of 
copper  and  of  lead  are  sulphurets  of  those  metals. 

SI  I.l'HURETTED  HYDROGEN.  Hydnf-sulpkv.ru 
jSeid.  A  gaseous  compound  of  1  atom  of  sulphur  =  16+ 1 
atom  of  hydrogen  =  1.  The  equivalent,  therefore,  of  sul- 
phuretted "hydrogen  is  17.  This  gas  was  first  examined  by 
Scheele  in  1777.  It  may  be  obtained  by  acting  upon  sul- 
phuret  of  antimony  byrnuriatic  acid,  or  upon  protosul 
phuret  of  iron  by  diluted  sulphuric  acid,  and  is  immediate- 
ly recognised  by  its  peculiar  fetid  odour,  which  is  so  diffusi- 
ble that  a  single  cubic  inch  of  it  escaping  into  the  atmo- 
sphere of  a  large  room  is  soon  everywhere  perceptible  by- 
its  smell.  It  is  very  deleterious  to  respiration.  100  cubic 
inches  weigh  about  36  grains,  its  specific  gravity  compared 
with  air  being  as  1180  to  1000,  or,  compared  with  hydrogen, 
as  17  to  1.  It  is  liquefied  by  a  pressure  of  17  atmospheres 
at  50°.  Water  agitated  with  this  gas  takes  up  its  own  vol 
ume,  and  acquires  a  bitterish  nauseous  flavour,  and  the 
odour  which  characterizes  Harrowgate  and  Aix-la-Chapelle 
waters,  and  which  derive  their  chief  peculiarities  from  the 
presence  of  this  gas.  Sulphuretted  hydrogen  extinguishes 
flame,  but  is  Itself  inflammable  in  the  contact  of  air,  burn- 
ing with  a  blue  flame,  and  depositing,  during  its  slow  com- 
bustion, a  portion  of  its  sulphur.  When  mixed  with  excess 
D  and  inflamed,  it  explodes,  and  the  mixture  is  con- 
verted into  sulphurous  acid  and  water.  One  volume  of 
the  gas  requires  one  volume  and  a  half  of  oxygen  for  its  en- 
tire combustion,  and  the  results  are  water,  and  1  volume  of 
gas,  nits  sulphurous  acid.  This  gas  is  immediately  decom- 
posed by  chlorine  and  by  iodine,  which,  if  not  added  to  ex- 
cess, throw  down  its  sulphur  and  combine  with  its  hydro- 
gen. It  is  unequivocally  recognised  by  its  peculiar  odour, 
and  by  its  blackening  the  salts  of  lead.  Sulphuretted  hy- 
drogen, diluted  with  20,000  measures  of  pure  hydrogen, 
sensibly  blackens  a  piece  of  paper  which  has  been  dipped 
into  a  solution  of  acetate  of  lead:  white  lead  is  also  imme- 
diately discoloured  by  it;  hence  the  mischief  which  it  does 
to  white  paint,  and  to  pictures.  The  aqueous  solution  of 
sulphuretted  hydrogen  reddens  litmus;  and  inasmuch  as 
it  combines  with  certain  bases,  it  is  properly  considered  as 
a  weak  acid. 

SI' LPHURIC  ACID,  Oil  of  Vitriol.  This  most  impor- 
tant acid  was  discovered  by  Basil  Valentine  towards  the 
end  of  the  15th  century.  It  was  formerly  obtained  by  the 
distillation  of  green  vitriol,  and  from  its  oily  appearance  it 
acquired  the  mime,  which  it  still  bears,  of  oil  of  vitriol.  In 
this  country  it  is  procured  by  burning  a  mixture  of  7  or  8 
parts  of  sulphur  with  1  of  nitrate  of  soda  or  of  potash.  The 
mixture  is  burned  in  a  furnace  so  contrived  that  a  current 
of  air  i "trries  the  products  of  the  combustion  into  a  large 
leaden  chamber,  the  bottom  of  which  is  covered  to  the 
depth  of  a  few  inches  with  water.  The  principle  products 
of  the  combustion  of  the  above-mentioned  mixture  of  nitre 
and  sulphur  are  sulphurous  and  nitrous  acids;  and  these, 
together  with  atmospheric  air  and  aqueous  vapour,  form 
the  contents  of  the  chamber. 

The  sulphurous  and  nitrous  acids,  with  a  portion  of  wa- 
ter, combine  to  form  a  white  crystalline  substance,  which. 
upon  falling  into  the  water  of  the  chamber,  is  instantly  de- 
composed.   The  nitrous  acid  imparts  oxygen  to  the  humid 

sulphurous  acid,  and  so  converts  it  into  sulphuric  acid; 
while  the  nitrous  acid,  having  lust  oxygen,  reverts  to  the 
state  nf  nitric  oxide,  which  is  given  out  into  the  air  of  the 
chamber,  from  which  it  immediately  tiL'ain  abstracts  OXJ  gen. 
and  he,  inning  nitrous  acid,  is  again  ready  to  acidity  a  new 
portion  of  sulphurous  acid.  The  oxygen,  therefore,  is  thus 
indirectly  transferred  to  the  sulphur,  or  to  the  sulphurous 
ai  id.  In. in  the  .atmosphere,  through  the  medium  of  the  at 
tractive  power  of  the  nitric  oxide  for  that  element ;  and  the 
circumstance  Of  this  process  being  repeated  over  and  over 
again  by  the  same  portion  of  nitrous  gas,  accounts  for  the 
small  quantity  of  nitre  required  in  this  curious  pro 

Winn  the  water  in  the  chambers  is  rendered  sufficiently 

acid,  which  is  judged  of  hy  its  specific  gravity,  it  is  drawn 
off  into  leaden  boilers,  where  it  is  evaporated  down  to  a 
certain  density  :  alter  which,  as  it  would  then  act  upon  the 

lead,  it  is  transferred  to  platinum  boilers  supplied  with  still 
heads,  and  there  is  brought  to  its  proper  degree  of  concen- 
tration by  farther  distilling  off  a  portion  of  the  residuary 
water.  This  last  process  was  formerly  conducted,  at  great 
1200 


SULPHUROUS  ACID. 

risk  and  Inconvenience,  in  glass  retorts ;  its  present  improve- 
ment shows  a  most  important  application  of  platinum, 
which  is  not  acted  upon  by  the  boiling  acid.  Of  late,  sul- 
phurs acid  has  been  largely  manufactured  from  the  BUlphUT 

obtained  by  roasting  common  pyrites  (sulphnret  of  iron); 
one  of  the  objections  to  which  is,  that  it  almost  alwaj  a  con- 
tains more  nr  less  arsenic,  by  which  the  resulting  acid  is 
therefore  contaminated.  The  acid  made  from  Sicilian  sul- 
phur is  indeed  not  always  free  from  this  mischievous  im- 
purity. 

Sulphuric  acid  is  a  limpid  colourless  fluid,  of  a  specific 
gravity  of  1*8.  It  boils  at  620°;  it  freezes  at  15°.  Hut  the 
temperature  at  which  the  diluted  acid  congeals  i>  singular- 
ly modified  by  the  quantity  of  water  which  it  contains. 
When  of  the  specific  gravity  of  l"78  (which  may  he  regard- 
ed as  a  compound  "1  1  atom  of  dry  acid  and  2  of  water),  it 
freezes  at  41)0,  and  remains  solid  for  a  lung  time  at  several 
degrees  above  that  point  if  the  density  be  either  diminished 
or  increased,  a  greater  cold  is  required  to  congeal  it. 

It  is  acrid  and  caustic,  and  intensely  acid  in  all  its  char- 
acters, even  when  largely  diluted.  Its  attractions  for  bases 
is  such  that  it  separates  or  expels  all  other  acids  more  or 
less  perfectly  from  their  combinations.  Its  affinity  for  wa- 
ter, is  such  that  it  rapidly  absorbs  it  from  the  atmosphere, 
and  when  mixed  with  water  much  heat  is  evolved  ;  thus 
by  suddenly  mixing  4  parts  of  the  acid  and  1  of  water  at  ti(P, 
the  temperature  rises  to  300°.  Its  attraction  for  water  also 
causes  the  sudden  liquefaction  of  snow;  and  if  mixed  with 
it  in  due  proportion,  an  intense  cold  is  the  consequences  It 
acts  energetically  upon  animal  and  vegetable  substances, 
generally  charring  them,  and  often,  as  in  the  case  of  sugar, 
with  singular  rapidity. 

The  acid,  as  it  usually  occurs  in  commerce,  under  the 
name  of  concentrated  sulphuric  acid,  is  a  compound  of  1 
atom  of  anhydrous  acid  and  1  of  water.  The  anhydrous 
sulphuric  acid  is  constituted  of  16  sulphur  (1  atom),  and  24 
oxygen  (3  atoms);  its  equivalent,  therefore,  is  16  +  24  = 
40:  this  is  the  composition  of  the  acid  -.s  it  exists  in  the 
anhydmous  sulphates.  The  strongest  liquid  acid  consists  of 
40  of  the  dry  or  anhydrous  acid  (1  atom),  and  0  water  (1 
atom),  and  is  therefore  represented  by  the  equivalent  40  + 
9  =  49. 

Sulphuric  acid  is  an  article  of  great  commercial  consump- 
tion ;  its  purity  and  value  are  judged  ot'  by  its  specific  grav- 
ity. I'pon  this  subject  Dr.  I're's  tallies  may  he  consulted, 
which  show  the  quantity  of  real  or  dry,  and  of  commercial 
acid,  in  diluted  acid  of  till  densities. 

By  the  term  real,  dry,  or  anhydrous  sulphuric  acid,  we 
mean  that  which  exists  in  the  sulphates,  and  which  may 
be  obtained  in  a  separate  state  by  distilling  protosulphate 
of  iron,  or  green  vitriol,  at  a  high  temperature  :  there  comes 
over  a  dense  brownish  liquid,  which  emits  vapour  when 
exposed  to  air,  and  has  hence  been  termed  fuming  sul- 
phuric acid.  On  putting  this  into  a  retort  to  which  a  re- 
ceiver surrounded  by  ice  or  snow  is  carefully  adapted,  and 
heating  it  gently,  a  vapour  passes  over,  which  condenses 
into  a  white  crystalline  solid;  this,  which  is  anhydrous  or 
glacial  sulphuric  acid,  liquefies  at  about  70°,  and  evaporates 
at  about  112°.  Vet.  when  combined  with  such  portion  of 
water  as  constitutes  the  above  described  liquid  acid,  it  is 
one  of  the  most  fixed  of  fluids.  It  hisses  when  dropped 
into  water  in  consequence  of  the  great  heat  evolved. 

The  ready  test  of  sulphuric  acid  is  a  soluble  salt  of  ba- 

ryta  ;  the  soluti f  chloride  of  barium  is  gene-rally  used, 

which,  when  dropped  into  any  solution  of  free  er  combined 

SUlpburiG  acid,  announces  its  presence  by  a  white  cloud,  or 
precipitate  of  sulphate  of  baryta,  which  is  insoluble  in  nitric 
acid:  this  precipitate,  when  collected,  and  well  washed 
and  dried,  consists  of  77  baryta  and  40  sulphuric  arid:  so 
that  117  is  its  equivalent,  and  this  weight  Indicates  111  of  the 
dry  acid.  In  the  same  way  sulphuric  acid,  and  the  sul- 
phates, .n-e  t.sts  of  baryta. 

SULPHURIC  ETHER.    See  Etoer. 

SULPHUROUS  At 'IP.  This  acid  consists  of  16  sulphur 
+  16 oxygen;  its  equivalent  being  3-3.    It  is  obtained  by 

heating  sulphuric  acid  in  Contact  with  certain  metals, 
which  abstract  an  atom  of  its  n\\  gen  :   such,  for  instance, 

as  silver  nr  mercury.    It  is  also  formed  by  burning  sulphur 

i    gas.     One  volume  of  water   takes   up  about  30 

volumes  of  sulphurous  .acid  gas:  so  that  it  requires  to  he 
collected  and  preserved  over  mercury,  or  in  dry  stoppered 

phials.  It  has  the  well  known  sutliieating  odour  Of  burn- 
ing sulphur,  and  is  possessed  of  considerable  bleaching 

powers;  so  that  the  fumes  ot'  burning  sulphur  are  often 
Used  to  whiten  straw,  and  certain  silk  anil  COttOD  goods; 
and  when  certain  Mowers,  sin  h  as  \  inlets,  dahlias,  &c,  are 

exposed  t..  such  fumes,  or  to  sulphurous  acid,  their  colours 
are  mostly  destroyed,  Upon  other  colouring  matters  it  has 
little  effect.  100  cubic  inches  of  sulphurous  acid  gas  weigh 
between  67  ami  68  grams :  u,  specific  gravltj  compared  with 
atmosphl  ric  air  being  2'SS.  It  extinguishes  flame,  and  kills 
animals.     When  subjected  to  the  pressure  of  about  two 


SULPHUR  SALTS. 

atmospheres,  or  when  cooled  down  to  6°,  it  assumes  a  liquid 
form ;  and  in  this  state  it  evaporates  with  such  rapidity  at 
common  temperature  as  to  produce  a  most  intense  degree 
of  cold,  so  that  by  its  aid  chlorine  may  be  liquefied  and 
mercury  frozen.  It  combines  with  bases,  and  produces  a 
class  of  salts  called  sulphites ;  they  are  characterized  by 
emitting  sulphurous  acid  when  acted  upon  by  sulphuric 
acid,  and  by  becoming  converted  into  sulphates  by  oxidizing 
agents. 

SULPHUR  SALTS.  Chemists  have  lately  applied  this 
term  to  the  double  sulphurets.  The  sulphurets  of  the  most 
electro-positive  metals  have  been  termed  sulphur  bases, 
euch  as  the  protosulphuret  of  potassium,  sodium,  barium, 
&c. ;  while  the  sulphurets  of  arsenic,  antimony,  &c,  the 
bisulphuret  of  carbon,  and  sulphuretted  hydrogen,  have 
been  called  sulphur  acids  ;  and  the  compounds  resulting 
from  the  union  of  a  sulphuret  of  the  former  with  one  of  the 
latter  class  are  sulphur  salts. 

SU'I/TAN.  (Sultaun.)  In  Arabic,  mighty.  Various  Mo- 
hammedan princes  are  styled  by  this  title  besides  the  Otto- 
man emperor  or  grand  sultan,  to  whom  it  is  commonly 
given  by  Europeans,  but  whose  peculiar  title  of  Padishah 
is  more  dignified.  The  princes  of  the  deposed  family  of  the 
khan  of  the  dim  Tartars  are  also  styled  sultan:  so  also 
the  pacha  of  Egypt  in  that  country,  although  not  by  the 
court  of  Constantinople. 

SUMACH.  (Eng.  and  Fr.)  The  powder  of  the  leaves, 
peduncles,  and  young  branches  of  the  Rhus  coriaria  and 
Rhus  cotinus,  shrubs  which  grow  in  Hungary,  the  Bannat, 
and  the  Illyrian  provinces.  Both  kinds  contain  tannin, 
with  a  little  yellow  colouring  matter,  and  are  a  good  deal 
employed  for  tanning  light-coloured  leathers  ;  but  the  first  is 
the  best.  With  mordants,  it  dyes  nearly  the  same  colours 
as  galls.  In  calico-printing,  sumach  affords,  with  a  mor- 
dant of  tin,  a  yellow  colour ;  with  acetate  of  iron,  weak  or 
strong,  a  gray  or  black;  and  with  sulphate  of  zinc,  a  brown- 
ish yellow.  A  decoction  of  sumach  reddens  litmus  paper 
strongly  ;  gives  white  flocks  with  the  proto-muriate  of  tin ; 
pale  yellow  flocks  with  alum;  dark  blue  flocks  with  red 
sulphate  of  iron,  with  an  abundant  precipitate.  In  the  south 
of  France,  the  twigs  and  leaves  of  the  Coriaria  myrtifnlia 
are  used  for  dyeing,  under  the  name  of  redoul  or  rodou. 
The  imports  for  home  consumption  amount  to  about  200,000 
cvvt.  a  vear. 

SUMMER.  One  of  the  four  seasons  of  the  year.  The 
summer  season,  for  the  northern  hemisphere,  begins  wrhen 
the  sun  reaches  the  tropic  of  Cancer,  and  ends  at  the  fol- 
lowing equinox. 

Summer.  (Quasi  trabs  summaria,  an  upper  beam.)  In 
Architecture,  any  large  piece  of  timber  supported  on  two 
strong  piers  or  posts,  and  serving  as  a  lintel  to  a  door,  win- 
dow, &c. 

SUMMONS,  WRIT  OF.  In  Law.  By  the  Uniformity 
of  Process  Act,  2  W.  4,  c.  39,  s.  1,  it  is  provided  that  wher- 
ever (in  personal  actions)  it  is  not  intended  to  hold  the  de- 
fendant to  special  bail,  or  to  proceed  against  a  member  of 
parliament  under  6  G.  4,  c.  16,  this  writ,  or  process,  shall 
be  the  commencement  of  the  action.  It  may  issue  from 
either  of  the  four  superior  courts  of  common  law ;  and  a 
copy  of  the  writ  must  be  personally  served  on  the  defendant 
against  whom  it  is  intended  to  proceed.  The  duration  of  a 
writ  of  summons  is  four  calendar  months,  inclusive,  from 
the  day  of  issuing ;  but  it  may  be  continued  by  renewals, 
termed  alias  and  pluries  writ  of  summons.  The  amount 
of  the  debt  claimed  (if  the  action  be  to  recover  a  debt), 
with  other  requisite  particulars,  must  be  indorsed  on  the 
writ  of  summons.  If  the  defendant  do  not  appear  either 
personally  or  by  his  attorney  in  answer  to  the  writ,  the 
plaintiff  may  enter  an  appearance  for  him  in  the  proper 
court,  and  proceed  to  declare  as  if  he  had  appeared. 

SU'MPTUARY  LAWS.  (Lat.  sumptus,  expense.)  Laws 
intended  to  restrain  the  expenditure  of  citizens.  Ancient 
legislation  abounded  in  them.  Thus,  among  the  Romans, 
the  Lex  Orchia  limited  the  number  of  guests  at  a  feast ; 
the  Lex  Fannia  restricted  the  cott  of  an  ordinary  enter- 
tainment to  ten  asses,  and  so  forth.  There  were  anciently 
many  laws  in  England  to  restrain  excess  in  apparel ;  but 
they  were  all  repealed  by  1  J.  1,  c.  25.  It  is  said,  however, 
that  one  ancient  statute,  10  E.  3,  st.  3,  which  orders  that  no 
man  shall  be  served  at  dinner  or  supper  with  more  than 
two  courses,  remains  unrepealed.  It  is  truly  said  by  Mon- 
tesquieu, that  sumptuary  laws  are  of  all  laws  the  most  in- 
efficacious and  most  constantly  violated. 

SUN.  (Ger.  sonne.)  In  Astronomy,  the  central  bodv  of 
our  system,  about  which  all  the  planets  and  comets  revolve, 
and  by  which  their  motions  are  regulated  and  controlled. 
In  Physics,  the  sun  is  the  source  of  light  and  heat ;  and 
therefore  the  primary  cause  of  all  the  motions  and  changes 
effected  on  the  surface  of  the  earth  by  those  great  agents  of 
nature. 

.Apparent  Magnitude  of  the  Sun.— The  sun  presents  to  the 

naked  eye  the  appearance  of  a  luminous  circular  disc,  sub- 

102 


SUN. 

tending  an  angle  of  rather  more  than  half  a  degree.  But 
on  measuring  accurately  the  diameter  of  the  disc  by  means 
of  a  micrometer,  it  is  found  to  be  not  always  the  same,  but 
subject  to  an  annual  variation.  In  fact,  as  the  earth  de- 
scribes an  ellipse,  of  which  the  sun  occupies  one  of  the  foci, 
its  distance  from  the  sun  is  constantly  changing,  and  the 
variation  of  the  sun's  apparent  diameter  is  a  necessary  con- 
sequence of  the  change  of  distance.  When  the  earth  is  in 
its  perihelion,  or  point  of  its  orbit  nearest  to  the  sun,  the 
sun's  apparent  diameter  is  32'  35-6" ;  and  when  the  earth 
is  at  its  aphelion,  or  most  distant  point,  the  apparent  diame- 
ter is  31'  31  0".  The  mean  apparent  diameter,  or  diameter 
at  the  sun's  mean  distance,  is  32'  2-9". 

Distance  of  the  Sun. — The  sun's  true  distance  is  found 
from  his  horizontal  parallax.  This  is  so  small  a  quantity 
that  it  would  scarcely  be  possible  to  determine  it  in  the 
usual  way  by  observations  made  on  opposite  sides  of  the 
earth ;  but  the  astronomical  phenomena  of  the  transits  of 
the  planet  Venus  over  the  sun's  disc  afford  the  means  of 
determining  it  with  the  utmost  precision.  From  such  phe- 
nomena the  parallax  has  been  found  to  be  only  8-6"  ;  that 
is  to  say,  if  an  observer  could  be  placed  at  the  centre  of  the 
sun,  the  earth's  semidiameter  would  be  seen  by  him  under 
an  angle  of  8-6".  From  this  it  follows  that  the  mean  dis- 
tance of  the  sun  from  the  earth  must  be  at  least  equal  to 
24,047  times  the  earth's  radius ;  and  as  the  radius  of  the 
earth  is  nearly  4000  miles,  it  follows  that  the  sun's  true  dis- 
tance from  the  earth  must  be  about  96,000,000  miles.  See 
Planet. 

In  order  to  obtain  a  more  distinct  idea  of  this  enormous 
distance,  we  may  compute  the  time  in  which  it  would  be 
passed  by  some  of  the  swiftest  motions  with  which  we  are 
acquainted.  A  24  lb.  cannon  ball,  fired  with  a  charge  of 
8  lbs.  of  gunpowder,  is  projected  with  a  velocity  of  about 
1(500  feet  in  a  second.  Supposing  it  were  to  continue  to 
move  towards  the  sun  with  the  same  uniform  velocity,  it 
would  require  ten  years  to  reach  his  surface.  A  body 
travelling  with  the  velocity  of  sound  would  require  about 
five  years  to  pass  from  the  sun  to  the  earth.  Light  itself, 
which  travels  with  the  astonishing  velocity  of  192,500  miles 
in  a  second,  only  reaches  the  earth  eight  minutes  and 
eighteen  seconds  after  leaving  the  sun's  surface. 

Knowing  the  distance  and  apparent  diameter  of  the  sun,  it 
is  easy  to  compute  its  real  dimensions.  A  body  which  sub- 
tends an  arc  of  32'  3"  of  a  circle,  whose  radius  is  96,000,000 
miles,  must  have  a  real  diameter  of  892,000  miles ;  which, 
therefore,  is  the  diameter  of  the  sun.  Or,  since  the  true  di- 
ameter of  the  sun  must  have  to  the  diameter  of  the  earth 
the  same  ratio  which  the  sun's  apparent  diameter  as  seen 
from  the  earth  has  to  the  earth's  apparent  diameter  as  seen 
from  the  sun,  that  is,  a  ratio  of  32'  3"  to  8-6",  or  of  111-8  to 
1,  it  follows  that  the  sun's  diameter  must  be  nearly  112 
times  the  diameter  or  the  earth.  Hence  the  volume  of  the 
sun  must  be  1,397,415  (the  cube  of  111-8)  times,  or,  in 
round  numbers,  1,400,000  times  the  volume  of  the  earth. 
The  mean  distance  of  the  moon  being  rather  less  than  60 
times  the  earth's  radius,  if  the  sun's  centre  were  placed  at  the 
centre  of  the  earth  its  surface  would  be  at  twice  the  distance 
of  the  moon's  orbit ;  and  the  volume  of  a  sphere  whose  radius 
is  equal  to  that  of  the  moon's  orbit  would  only  be  an  eighth 
part  of  the  volume  of  the  sun.  The  sun's  volume  is  500  times 
greater  than  the  volumes  of  all  the  planets  taken  together. 

Mass  and  Density  of  the  Sun. — The  magnitude  and  dis- 
tance of  the  sun  are  determined  by  direct  observation ;  his 
mass  as  compared  with  that  of  the  earth  is  deduced  from 
the  law  of  universal  gravitation,  and  the  theory  of  central 
forces.  The  earth  revolves  round  the  sun  at  a  given  dis- 
tance, and  in  a  given  time ;  and  from  these  data  the  centri- 
fugal force  becomes  known.  But  the  force  which  counter- 
acts this  centrifugal  force,  and  compels  the  earth  to  move 
in  its  elliptic  orbit,  and  prevents  it  from  flying  off  in  a  tan- 
gent to  that  orbit,  is  the  sun's  attraction.  Hence  the  solar 
attraction  is  equal  to  the  centrifugal  force.  But  the  earth's 
attraction  at  its  surface  is  a  known  force,  being  that  which 
causes  a  heavy  body  to  fall  through  16^  feet  in  a  second 
of  time ;  and  consequently,  from  the  known  law  of  diminu- 
tion proportionally  to  the  inverse  square  of  the  distance, 
the  earth's  attractive  force  at  any  distance  from  the  surface 
also  becomes  known.  Now,  on  comparing  the  centrifugal 
force  due  to  the  earth's  motion  in  its  orbit  with  the  force  of 
terrestrial  gravity  on  a  body  at  the  distance  of  the  sun,  it  is 
found  that  the  former  exceeds  the  latter  in  the  ratio  of 
354936  to  1.  But  when  the  distance  is  the  same,  the  attrac- 
tive forces  of  two  bodies  are  directly  as  their  masses  or 
quantities  of  ponderable  matter ;  and  hence  the  sun's  mass 
is  354936  times  greater  than  that  of  the  earth.  It  is  also 
found  to  be  about  800  times  greater  than  the  aggregate  of 
the  masses  of  all  the  planets  and  satellites. 

The  density  of  a  body  is  directly  as  its  mass,  and  inverse- 
ly as  its  volume.  If,  therefore,  we  call  the  density  of  the 
earth  1,  the  ratio  of  the  density  of  the  sun  to  that  of  the 
earth  will  be  as  354936 -J- 1397415  to  1,  or  as  -0254  to  1; 
4F  1201 


SUN. 


whence  ihe  sun's  density  is  about  one-fourth  of  that  of  the 
earth. 

In  order  to  compare  the  force  of  solar  gravity  at  the  sun's 
surface  with  that  of  terrestrial  gravity  at  the  earth's  surface, 

We  must  recollect  that  the  attraction  of  a  body  on  an  exte 
rior  point  is  directly  as  the  mass  of  the  attracting  body,  and 
Inversely  as  the  square  of  the  distance  of  the  point  from  it.s 
centre.  Hence,  since  the  sun's  mass  is  351936  times  that  of 
the  earth,  and  the  radius  (or  distance  of  the  surface  from 
the  centre)  111-8  times  that  of  the  earth,  if  A  denote  the 
force  of  solar  gravity  at  the  sun's  surface,  and  B  that  of  ter- 
restrial gravity  at  the  earth's  surface,  then. 
354930  1 
A:B::  (111-6)2  :  (1;2  ' 
or  A  is  to  B  as  97-9  (nearly)  to  1.  A  body,  tnereforc.  which 
at  the  earth's  surface  weighs  one  pound,  would  weigh  27-9 
pounds  if  carried  to  the  surface  of  the  sun.  "  An  ordinary 
man  would  not  only  lie  unable  to  sustain  his  own  Weight  on 
tin-  sun,  hut  would  he  literally  crushed  to  atoms  under  the 
load."     (JJerschel's  Astronomy.) 

Rotation  of  the  Sun. — The  sun's  surface,  w  hen  viewed 
through  the  telescope,  is  frequently  diversified  with  a  num- 
ber of  dark  patches  or  spots,  which  being  observed  from 
day  to  day  are  found  not  to  remain  in  the  same  place,  but 
to  move  across  the  surface,  without,  however,  changing 
their  relative  positions.  These  phenomena  are  accounted 
for  by  supposing  the  sun  to  have  a  rotatory  motion  about  an 
axis  from  west  to  east.  From  a  comparison  of  the  best  ob- 
servations, Delambre  found  the  period  of  rotation  to  be 
about  25  days ;  and  that  the  sun's  equator  is  inclined  to  the 
ecliptic  in  an  angle  of  about  7°  20',  and  intersects  it  in  a 
line  which  makes  an  angle  of  80°  21'  with  the  line  of  the 
equinoxes.  The  observations  of  spots  are,  however,  subject 
to  great  uncertainty  ;  but  the  fact  of  rotation  from  west  to 
east,  or  in  the  same  direction  as  the  earth  and  all  the  other 
planets,  is  established. 

Spots  of  the  Sun. — The  solar  spots,  to  which  allusion  has 
just  been  made  as  furnishing  the  elements  of  the  sun's  ro- 
tation, present  very  remarkable  appearances,  and  have  been 
the  subject  of  numerous  theories  respecting  the  nature  and 
physical  constitution  of  the  sun.  They  began  to  attract 
attention  soon  after  the  discovery  of  the  telescope,  ami  their 
phenomena  are  described  with  sufficient  accuracy  by  Heve- 
lius  and  Scheiner.  In  form  they  are  exceedingly  irregular  ; 
and,  when  watched  attentively  for  some  time,  are  observed 
to  enlarge  and  contract,  and  to  change  perpetually  their 
form  and  outline.  Frequently  they  disappear  without  ap- 
proaching the  edge  of  the  disc,  and  break  out  suddenly  in 
places  where  none  were  seen  before.  Sometimes  a  spot 
has  been  seen  to  break  up  into  several  parts,  and  the  frag- 
ments to  separate  from  each  other,  as  if  acted  upon  by  an 
explosive  force.  The  nucleus  of  a  spot  is  perfectly  black, 
and  sharply  defined;  and  is  surrounded  by  an  umbra,  or 
border  of  a  fainter  shade.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  large 
spots,  or  in  places  where  they  are  numerous,  bright  streaks, 
or  portions  more  luminous  than  the  general  surface  of  the 
sun,  called  faculte,  are  frequently  seen.  Among  these 
(acuta  spots  are  often  observed  to  break  out;  and  when 
this  does  not  happen  they  are  generally  succeeded  by  spots, 
larger  in  proportion  to  the  brightness  of  the  antecedent 
faculte.  The  region  of  the  spots  is  generally  confined  to 
the  equatorial  parts  of  the  sun,  within  about  30°  of  the 
equator ;  but  occasionally  they  are  observed  over  the  whole 
disc. 

The  magnitude  of  the  spots,  and  the  scale  on  which 
their  movements  are  performed,  are  not  the  least  remarka- 
ble circumstances  connected  with  the  phenomena.  At  the 
distance  of  the  sun,  a  line  which  subtends  an  angle  of  one 
second  is  equal  to  about  400  miles,  and  a  circle  of  that  di- 
ameter has  an  area  of  about  166,080  miles;  and  this  is  the 
smallest  space  which  can  be  distinctly  discerned  on  the 
sun's  disc.  But  a  spot  was  observed  by  Mayer  having  a  di- 
ameter equal  to  l-20lh  of  the  diameter  of  the  sun,  or  up- 
wards of  90",  and  consequently  (supposing  it  to  be  circular) 
covering  an  area  of  1520  millions  of  square  miles — upwards 

Of  30  limes  the  whole  surface  of  the  earth. 

Numerous  hypotheses  have  been  formed  respecting  the 
solar  spots.  Scheiner  supposed  them  to  be  planets  revolv- 
ing at  no  great  distance  from  the  sun's  surface.  Galileo 
and  Beveling  conceived  them  to  be  a  sort  of  scoria  or  scum 
formed  at  the  surface  of  the  sun,  and  floating  in  an  ocean 
of  liquid  matter.  Lahire  supposed  them  to  be  protuberant 
parti  of  solid,  opake,  and  Irregular  masses,  floating  in  the 
fluid  mailer  of  the  sun.  J  Jr.  Wilson,  of  Glasgow,  account 
ed  for  the  spots  by  supposing  the  sun  to  consist  of  a  dark 
nucleus,  covered  to  a  certain  depth  by  luminous  matter, 
through  which  cavities  or  gulfs  are  made  by  volcanic  or 
Other  actions,  and  permit  the  dark  nucleus  to  be  seen.  La- 
lande  suggests  that  the  s|>oia  or  opake  bodies  may  be  merely 
the  summits  of  mountains,  usuallj  covered  by  the  Igneous 

fluid    but  which,  by  the   flux  and  reflux  of  Ihe  fluid,  some- 
times protrude  beyond  its  surface,  and  thus  becoiue  visible. 
1202 


[Astronomic  art.  3240.)  The  most  probable  view,  however, 
is  that  taken  by  Sir  William  llerschel,  who  considers  "  the 
luminous  strata  of  the  atmosphere  to  be  sustained  far  above 

the  level  of  the  solid  body  bj  a  transparent  elastic  medium, 
carrying  on  its  upper  surface  (or  rather  at  some  consul 
tower  level  « ithfii  its  depth)  a  cloudy  stratum,  w  bleb,  being 
strongl)  illuminated  from  above, reflects  a  considerable  por- 
tion ot  the  light  to  our  eyes,  and  forms  a  penumbra,  while 
the  solid  body  shaded  by  the  clouds  reflects  none.  I  hi 
temporary  removal  of  both  the  strata,  but  more  of  the  upper 
than  the  lower,  he  supposes  effected  by  powerful  upward 
currents  of  the  atmosphere,  arising,  perhaps,  from  spiracles 
in  the  body,  or  from  local  agitations,"  (Sir  J.  Hersthcl's 
Astronomy,  p.  209.) 

Physical  Constitution  of  the  Sun. — Respecting  the  physi- 
cal nature  of  the  enormous  mass  of  matter  which  controls 
the  motions  of  all  the  bodies  of  the  solar  system,  and  sup- 
plies them  with  light  and  heat,  we  can  only  form  conjec- 
tures, guided  in  a  feeble  degree  by  the  phenomena  ot  the 
spots.  According  to  the  hypothesis  broached  by  Sir  Wil- 
liam llerschel,  as  stated  in  the  above  quotation,  there  are 
two  regions  of  solar  clouds ;  the  inferior  stratum  being 
opake,  and  probably  resembling  our  own  atmosphere  :  while 
the  upper  stratum  is  the  repository  of  light  and  heat,  which 
emanate  from  it  in  all  directions.  This  upper  luminous 
stratum  he  supposed  to  have  an  altitude  of  between  1840 
and  2705  miles  above  the  surface  of  (he  sun.  The  lower 
stratum,  by  reflecting  a  considerable  portion  of  the  rays 
which  fall  upon  it  from  the  luminous  clouds  above,  not  only 
increases  the  quantity  of  light  which  the  latter  send  forth 
into  space,  but  serves  as  a  canopy  to  screen  the  surface  of 
the  solid  body  of  the  sun  from  the  scorching  effects  of  the 
surrounding  regions  of  light  and  heat ;  and  he  supposed  its 
density  might  even  be  such  as  to  maintain  a  temperature  at 
the  actual  surface  of  no  greater  elevation  than  is  consistent 
with  the  support  of  animal  life.  But  whatever  may  he  the 
state  of  the  temperature  tit  the  actual  surface,  ot'  which 
only  casual  glimpses  are  obtained  through  openings  in  the 
luminous  clouds,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  that  the  luminous 
matter  can  be  otherwise  than  in  a  state  of  the  most  intense 
ignition.  "That  the  temperature,"  says  Sir  John  llerschel, 
"  at  the  visible  surface  of  the  sun  cannot  be  otherwise  than 
very  elevated,  much  more  so  than  any  artificial  heat  pro- 
duced in  ouitfurnaces,  or  by  chemical  or  galvanic  processes, 
we  have  indications  of  several  kinds.  1st,  From  the  law  of 
decrease  of  radiant  heat  and  light,  which,  being  inversely  as 
the  squares  of  the  distances.it  follows  that  the  heat  receiv- 
ed on  a  given  area  exposed  at  the  distance  of  the  earth, 
and  on  an  equal  area  at  the  visible  surface  of  the  sun,  must 
be  in  proportion  to  the  area  of  the  sky  occupied  by  the  sun's 
disc  to  the  whole  hemisphere,  or  as  1  to  about  300,000. 
A  far  less  intensity  of  solar  radiation,  collected  in  the  focus 
of  a  burning  glass,  suffices  to  dissipate  gold  and  platina  in 
vapour.  2dly,  From  the  facility  with  which  the  calorific 
rays  of  the  sun  traverse  glass — a  property  which  is  found 
to  belong  to  the  heat  of  artificial  fires  in  the  direct  propor- 
tion of  their  intensity.  3dly,  From  the  fact  that  the  most 
vivid  flames  disappear,  and  the  most  intensely  ignited  solids 
appear  only  as  black  spots  upon  the  disc  of  the  sun  when 
held  between  it  and  the  eye."     {Astronomy,  p.  210.) 

These  circumstances  give  great  probability  to  the  suppo- 
sition that  luminous  matter  which  surrounds  the  body  of 
the  sun  has  a  temperature  far  exceeding  any  which  can  be 
produced  by  artificial  means;  but  the  sciences  of  light  and 
heat  tire  yet  not  sufficiently  advanced  to  enable  (is  to  arrive 
at  any  certain  conclusions  on  the  subject,  or  to  form  other 
than  purely  conjectural  hypotheses  respecting  the  nature 
and  constitution  of  the  sun.  "The  great  mystery,"  con- 
tinues Sir  John  llerschel,  "is  to  conceive  how  so  enormous 
a  conflagration  (if  such  it  be)  can  be  kept  up.  Every  dis- 
covery in  chemical  science  here  leaves  us  completely  at  a 
loss,  or  rather  seems  to  remove  farther  the  prospect  of  pro- 
bable explanation.  If  conjecture  might  he  hazarded,  we 
should  look  rather  to  the  known  possibility  of  an  indefinite 
generation  of  heat  by  friction,  or  to  its  excitement  by  the 
electric  discharge  than  to  any  actual  combustion  of  ponder- 
able fuel,  whether  solid  or  gaseous,  for  the  origin  of  the 
solar  radiation."     (P.  212.) 

Considering  the  enormous  and  incessant  emanation  of 
light  and  heat  from  the  sun,  the  question  has  often  arisen 
whether  the  volume  of  the  sun  undergoes  any  diminution, 
if  the  high  temperature  is  kept  up  either  by  electric  cur- 
rents, or  by  friction,  as  above  suggested,  no  loss  of  volume 
would  be  sustained  ;  but  if,  according  to  the  hypothesis  of 
NeWtOD,  Light  is  produced  by  the  actual  emission  of  lumi- 
nous particles,  a  diminution  of  volume  would  appear  to  be  a 
necessary  consequence.  I  Ibservation,  however,  can  afford 
us  no  information   on  this  head  ,  for,  Supposing   an  actual 

diminution  to  be  going  onat  such  a  rate  as  to  Lessen  the  di- 
ameter by  two  feet  In  24  hours  (which,  having  regard  to 
the  sun's  magnitude,  may  be  considered  as  enormous),  3ono 
years  would  elapse  before  the  diminution  of  the  apparent 


SUN. 

diameter  would  amount  to  a  single  second.  Buffon  sup- 
posed the  sun  to  be  an  immense  furnace,  alimented  by 
comets  precipitating  themselves  into  it  from  time  to  time. 

Atmosphere  of  the  Sun. — The  existence  of  a  solar  atmo- 
sphere was  inferred  by  Bouguer  from  a  comparison  of  the 
intensity  of  radiation  at  different  points  of  the  disc.  By 
reason  of  the  globular  figure  of  the  sun,  a  much  larger  por- 
tion of  the  surface  towards  the  border  is  comprehended  un- 
der a  given  visual  angle  than  at  the  centre ;  and,  as  every 
point  of  the  surface  must  be  supposed  to  radiate  equally  in 
all  directions,  it  follows  that  the  intensity  of  light  near  the 
border  should  be  greater  than  at  the  centre  in  proportion  to 
the  greater  extent  of  surface  comprised  under  the  same  an- 
gle. Bouguer's  observations,  however,  led  him  to  infer  that 
the  light  from  the  centre  of  the  disc  had  a  greater  intensity 
than  that  which  proceeded  from  the  borders — a  circum- 
stance which  would  be  explained  on  the  supposition  of  its 
being  absorbed  in  a  greater  proportion  by  having  to  traverse 
a  greater  extent  of  atmosphere.  But  the  more  delicate  ex- 
periments of  Arago  have  shown  that  all  the  points  of  the 
disc  are  equally  luminous;  so  that  the  hypothesis  of  an  at- 
mosphere, however  probable  on  other  grounds,  is  not  sup- 
ported by  such  observations.  The  existence  of  a  solar 
atmosphere  is,  however,  indicated  by  the  faint  light  observ- 
ed round  the  sun's  limb  in  a  total  eclipse ;  and,  perhaps, 
stillmore  unequivocally  by  the  phenomenon  of  the  zodia- 
cal light.     Sec  Zodiacal  Light. 

Sim's  Position  and  proper  Motion  in  the  Heavens. — The 
discoveries  in  sideral  astronomy  which  have  been  made  in 
modern  times,  all  tend  to  establish  the  hypothesis  of  a  simi- 
larity of  condition  and  a  community  of  nature  between  the 
sun  and  the  fixed  stars.  The  prevalence  of  gravitation 
among  these  remote  bodies,  following  the  same  law  as  is  ob- 
served in  the  solar  system,  is  no  longer  a  matter  of  specula- 
tion ;  the  proof  being  afforded  by  the  elliptic  orbits  described 
by  so  many  of  the  double  stars  about  their  common  centre 
of  gravity.  With  respect  to  the  place  which  the  sun  occu- 
pies in  the  heavens,  we  have,  says  Sir  J.  Herschel  (Mem. 
Royal  .Istron.  Society,  vol.  xi.),  almost  ocular  evidence  that 
our  system  is  eccentrically  situated  within  the  nebula  of  the 
Milky  Way,  and  nearer  to  its  southern  than  to  its  northern 
portion.  It  was  also  an  opinion  of  Sir  William  Herschel, 
that  the  sun,  like  many  of  the  fixed  stars,  has  a  proper  mo- 
tion in  space,  in  consequence  of  which  it  is  at  present  ad- 
vancing towards  a  point  of  the  heavens  within  the  constel- 
lation Hercules.  That  the  sun  does  not  remain  absolutely 
at  rest  in  space,  but  has  a  proper  motion  in  some  direction, 
may  be  regarded  as  not  only  highly  probable,  but  almost 
certain  ;  but  many  centuries  of  observation  may  be  required 
to  enable  astronomers  to  detect  its  laws,  or  even  to  arrive  at 
any  definite  conclusions  respecting  its  direction  or  the  remote 
centre  about  which  it  is  performed.  (Sir  J.  Herschers  As- 
tronomy ;  Lalande,  torn.  iii. ;  Biot,  Astronomie  Physique; 
Laplace,  Systeme  du,  Monde ;  Delambre,  Astronomie,  &c.) 
See  Star. 

SUNDAY,  the  first  day  of  the  week,  is  said  to  derive  its 
name  from  the  Saxons,  who  consecrated  it  to  the  sun  in 
heathen  times.  The  solemnization  of  this  day  dates  from 
the  earliest  age  of  the  Christian  church,  in  memory  of  the 
death  of  Christ,  and  of  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  both 
of  which  events  took  place  upon  it.  The  Jewish  Christians 
retained  at  the  same  time  their  Sabbath,  the  last  day  of  the 
week  ;  but  this  practice  become  obsolete  early,  at  least  in 
in  the  Western  church.  The  Sunday  was  at  first  distin- 
guished merely  by  peculiar  prayers  and  passages  of  the 
Scriptures.  It  does  not  appear  to  have  been  strictly  observ- 
ed as  a  day  of  cessation  from  labour  before  the  reign  of  Con- 
stantine.  By  the  decree  of  that  emperor  (A.D.  321)  public 
business,  and  military  exercises,  were  suspended.  The 
council  of  Laodicea  (A.D.  360)  forbade  labour  in  general 
terms;  and  the  laws  of  Theodosius  (circ.  A.D.  204)  sanc- 
tioned this  interdiction  by  civil  penalties.    See  Sabbath. 

SUNDAY  LETTER.    See  Dominical  Letter. 

SUNNIAH.  (Arab,  a  troop,  or  band.)  The  name  given 
to  the  sect  commonly  considered  as  orthodox  among  the 
Mussulmans  by  the  followers  of  Ali.  The  latter  believe 
that  the  sovereign  imanship,  or  imaginary  dignity  which 
conveys  supremacy  over  all  the  faithful,  belongs  of  right  to 
the  descendants  of  Ali,  son-in-law  of  Mohammed.  The 
schism  between  these  two  sects  has  subsisted  from  the 
earliest  times  of  Mohammedanism ;  when  Ali,  having  be- 
come fourth  caliph  after  the  death  of  Othman,  a  rebellion 
was  raised  against  him  by  Maaniah,  founder  of  the  Ommiad 
race  of  caliphs  about  the  year  1000  of  the  Christian  era. 
The  division  took  place  between  the  two  parties  in  the 
court  of  the  caliph  Moli  1'  Mah,  which  resulted  in  the 
Schiito  party  becoming  pre-eminent  in  Persia,  the  Sunniah- 
ites  in  Turkey  and  most  other  Mohammedan  countries. 

SUO'VETAURILIA.  (Lat.  sus,  a  swine,  ovis,  a  sheep, 
and  taurus,  a  bull.)  In  Roman  History,  a  quinquennial 
sacrifice,  which  consisted  of  the  immolation  of  a  sow,  a 
sheep,  and  a  bull ;  hence  the  name.     .See  Lustration. 


STJPERTONIC. 

SUPERCARGO.  The  person  in  a  merchant  ship  ap- 
pointed to  superintend  all  the  commercial  transactions  of 
the  vovage,  is  so  called. 

SUPERDO'MINANT.  (Lat.  super,  above,  and  domi- 
nans,  governing-.)  In  Music.  In  the  descending  scale,  the 
sixth  of  the  key. 

SU'PEREROGA'TION,  WORKS  OF.  In  Theoloey. 
It  is  a  belief  countenanced  by  many  tenets  of  the  Church 
of  Rome,  that  men  may  acquire  merit  in  the  eyes  of  God 
by  good  works  beyond  what  are  necessary  for  salvation. 
This  notion  is  said  by  Protestants  to  have  been  first  known 
about  the  12th  or  13th  century,  and  to  have  been  founded 
upon  what  the  Roman  Catholics  call  "counsels  of  per- 
fection ;"  that  is,  rules  which  do  not  bind  under  the  pen- 
alty of  sin,  but  are  only  useful  in  carrying  men  to  a  higher 
degree  of  perfection  than  is  requisite  for  Christians.  This 
doctrine  is  condemned  by  the  Church  of  England  in  her 
14th  article. 

SUPERFICIAL  MEASURE.  The  measure  of  surfa- 
ces or  areas ;  also  called  square  measure.  See  Meas- 
ure. 

SUPERFI'CIES.  The  exterior  face  of  any  body.  See 
Surface. 

SUPE'RIOR.  In  Scottish  Law,  one  who  has  made  an 
original  part  of  heritable  property  with  reservation  of  rent 
and  service.  The  grantee  is  termed  vassal :  the  interest 
of  the  grantor  is  dominium  directum,  that  of  the  grantee 
dominium  utile;  or,  the  former  superiority,  the  latter  prop- 
erty. The  reunion  of  these  two  rights  in  the  same  person 
is  termed  consolidation. 

SUPE'RLATIVE.  In  Grammar,  the  name  vulgarly- 
given  to  the  third  degree  in  comparison,  formed  in  the 
Teutonic  languages  by  the  additional  syllable  "  est." 

SUPERSE'DEAS.  In  Law,  a  writ  that  lies  to  stay  va- 
rious ordinary  proceedings  ;  as  to  stay  an  execution  after  a 
writ  of  error  has  been  allowed  and  bail  put  in  ;  to  set 
aside  erroneous  judicial  processes  ;  and,  in  certain  cases, 
to  discharge  prisoners. 

SUPERSTI'TION.  (Lat.  superstitio,  from  super,  above, 
sto,  /  stand :  the  steps  of  the  derivation  are  extremely 
obscure.)  This  word,  like  many  others,  has,  in  common 
language,  both  a  subjective  and  objective  sense  ;  that  is, 
we  speak  of  superstition  as  a  habit  in  the  mind  ;  and  we 
also  speak  of  a  particular  tenet,  or  a  particular  observance, 
as  "a  superstition."  Every  belief— 1,  in  the  existence  of 
particular  facts  or  phenomena,  produced  by  supernatural 
agency,  which  existence  is  not  demonstrated  by  experience 
nor  asserted  in  Revelation  ;  2,  in  causation  not  demon- 
strated by  experience  or  asserted  by  Revelation,  i.  e.,  of 
the  direct  agency  of  supernatural  power  in  producing  re- 
sults which  can  either  be  proved  to  proceed  from  second- 
ary causes,  or  by  reasonable  analogy  must  be  inferred  so 
to  proceed — is,  in  common  language,  superstition.  An  in- 
stance of  the  first  species  is  the  belief  in  the  existence  of 
imaginary  beings,  ghosts,  spectres,  &c. ;  of  the  second,  the 
belief  that  epileptic  fits  are  produced  by  witchcraft— that 
meteorological  phenomena  hitherto  imperfectly  explained, 
such  as  wind  or  lightning,  are  produced  without  the  inter- 
vention of  regular  physical  causes  by  the  immediate  act 
of  the  divinity,  &c.  The  word  is  almost  always  used  in  a 
religious  sense,  like  the  Greek  £ci<nfiaiuovia ;  that  is,  the 
belief  which  we  regard  as  superstitious  concerns  the 
agency  of  the  Deity,  or  inferior  supernatural  agents.  For 
example,  we  do  not  generally  term  the  belief  in  animal 
magnetism,  tellurism,  the  divining  rod,  &c.  superstitions  ; 
these  are  persuasions  respecting  certain  occult  powers  of 
nature  undemonstrated  (that  is,  in  the  case  of  most  be- 
lievers) by  experience  ;  they  are  superstitions  in  the  mode 
in  which  they  are  generated  and  affect  the  mind,  but  not 
in  point  of  subject  matter.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is 
much  carelessness  in  the  application  of  the  word  to  reli- 
gious tenets,  where  these  flow  necessarily  from  the  belief 
in  certain  other  truths  as  revealed ;  for  example,  no  Chris- 
tian esteems  it  superstition  to  believe  that  a  dead  man 
was,  in  a  certain  instance,  restored  to  life,  although  no- 
thing can  be  in  itself  more  incredible  ;  because  it  is  assert- 
ed in  writings  which  he  considers  as  revealed,  and  the 
power  of  working  miracles  is  expressly  claimed  in  that 
revelation.  But  some  Christians  place  faith  in  the  decla- 
ration of  their  Church,  just  as  all  Christians  do  in  Scrip- 
ture ;  and  justify  that  faith  by  argument  addressed  to  the 
reason.  How,  then,  can  they  be  accused  of  superstition  in 
believing  the  truth  of  narratives,  however  incredible  in 
themselves,  which  that  Chirch  sanctions  and  approves  ; 
for  example,  many  of  the  miraculous  legends  commonly 
received  in  the  Romish  Church  ?  Those  who  do  not  ad- 
here to  that  Church  may  stigmatize  it  as  superstitious  ; 
but  they  can  hardly  call  the  belief  which  leads  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  to  address  his  prayer  to  the  Saints,  or  the 
Virgin,  a  superstition  in  him. 

SCPERTOXIC.     (Lat.  super,  above,  and  tonus,  a  tone.) 
In  Music,  the  second  above  the  key  note.    From  its  being 

1203 


SUPINATION. 

a  comma  higher  in  the  major  scale  than  in  the  relative 
minor,  il  is.  in  theory,  considered  a  variable  sound. 

SUPINATION.  The  art  of  turning  the  palm  of  the 
hand  upwards  by  rotating  the  radius  upon  the  ulna. 

SU'PINES,  In  Grammar,  certain  forms  of  the  Latin 
verbs.  The  supine  in  urn  (of  which  the  form  is  the  same 
as  the  neuter  of  the  past  participle,  as  amatum  in  the  verb 
amo)  serves  generally,  in  conjunction  with  another  verb,  to 
express  an  intended  action ;  as  "  I.usiiin  it  Maecenas," 
"  Neque  vos  ultum  injurias  hortor  ;"  in  both  which  cases 
it  would  be  expressed  by  the  Infinitive  in  modem  langua- 
ges :  in  the  Greek,  either  by  the  infinitive,  or  more  accu- 
rately by  the  infinitive  used  as  a  noun  with  a  preposition. 
The  existence  of  the  other  supine  (in  v)  is  doubted  by 
some  grammarians.  The  name  is  said  to  have  been  given 
to  signify  their  character,  neither  passive  nor  active. 

SUPPLEMENT  In  Geometry  and  Trigonometry',  the 
supplement  of  an  arc  or  angle  is  what  must  be  added  to  it 
in  order  to  make  a  semicircle,  or  180°. 

Supplement.  In  Literature,  an  addition  made  to  any 
work  or  treatise,  in  the  view  of  rendering  it  more  com- 
plete. 

SUPPLY.  In  Parliamentary  language,  the  sum  granted 
to  the  sovereign  by  parliament  lor  defraying  the  expenses 
of  the  current  year.  The  known  or  probable  amount  of 
the  different  branches  of  the  year's  expenses  is  stated  to 
the  House  of  Commons,  in  a  committee  of  supply,  by  the 
chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  and,  after  these  have  been 
voted  by  the  committee,  they  are  formally  granted  by  an 
act  of  parliament,  called  the  Appropriation  BUI.  The 
granting  of  the  annual  supplies  is  a  peculiar  privilege  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  which  never  permits  any  altera- 
tion or  amendment  (except  merely  verbal)  to  be  made  by 
the  House  of  Lords  in  the  bills  passed  for  this  purpose. 

Supply.  In  Political  Economy.  See  Political  Econ- 
omy. 
SUPPORT.  In  Architecture.  See  Points  of  Support. 
SUPPORTERS.  In  Heraldry,  the  figures  placed  on 
each  side  of  a  shield.  The  device  of  supporters  probably 
originated  from  the  practice  of  knights  at  tournaments 
having  their  armorial  shields  fixed  or  hung  near  the  place 
of  justing,  and  guarded  by  pages  or  other  retainers  stand- 
ing on  the  side  of  them  dressed  in  various  fanciful  accou- 
trements ;  although  some  consider  it  as  entirely  a  modern 
invention,  or  ornamental  addition  by  painters  and  limners, 
who  found  a  vacant  space  on  each  side  of  the  escutcheon 
which  they  filled  up  by  imaginary  figures.  It  does  not 
appear  that  supporters  were  at  first  exclusively  borne  by 
individuals  of  a  particular  rank  ;  and  some  private  families 
are  supposed  to  be  still  entitled  to  them  by  prescription. 
But,  in  modern  English  heraldry,  the  grant  of  supporters  is 
limited  to  sovereigns  and  princes  of  the  blood  royal,  peers 
of  the  realm,  knights  of  the  Bath,  knights  banneret,  baro- 
nets of  Nova  Scotia  (by  their  patents  of  creation),  and  to 
such  persons  as  receive  them  by  special  license  from  the 
king.  It  is  said  by  heraldic  writers  that  females  cannot 
assume  supporters  ;  but  this  prohibition  seems  to  be  habit- 
uallv  inliinsed  in  practice. 

SUPPO'SED  BASS.  In  Music,  the  bass  of  a  chord 
when  it  is  not  the  root  of  the  common  chord  or  harmonic 
triad.  It  is  also  sometimes  called  the  inversion  of  the  ac- 
company ins  chord. 

BUPPOSTTION.  (Lat.  suppositum.)  In  Music,  the 
use  of  two  successive  notes  of  equal  value  as  to  time,  one 
of  which  being  a  discord  supposes  the  other  a  concord. 
The  harmony,  though  by  rule  falling  on  the  accented  part 
of  the  bar,  and  free  from  discords,  requires  their  proper 
preparation  and  resolution  ;  and  they  are  called  passing 
notes.  Discords  on  the  unaccented  part  of  the  measure 
are  allowable  by  conjoint  degrees,  and  it  is  then  not  re- 
quired that  the  harmony  should  be  so  complete  on  the  ac- 
cented part.  This  transient  use  of  discords  followed  by 
concords  is  what  we,  after  the  French,  call  supposition, 
whereof  there  are  several  kinds. 

SUPPO'SITORY.  A  pill  or  bolus  introduced  into  the 
rectum,  where  it  gradually  dissolves.  Opium  is  sometimes 
Usefully  applied  In  this  way  to  allay  irritation  of  the  blad- 
der and  neighbouring  parts. 

SUPPRESSION.  A  figure  in  Grammar  is  sometimes  so 
called  by  which  words  are  omitted  in  a  sentence,  which 
are  nevertheless  to  be  understood  as  necessary  to  a  perfect 
construction:  as,  for  instance,  in  most  languages,  the  repe- 
tition of  a  noun  is  avoided  where  it  is  coupled  with  a  pro- 
noun in  one  branch  of  the  proposition  ;  e.  g.,  "  this  (horse) 
is  my  horse,"  or  "this  horse  is  mine"  (norsc).  See  EL- 
LIPSIS, 

SUPPURATION.  The  process  by  which  pus  or  matter 
is  formed  in  Inflammatory  tumours. 

SUPRACRETACEOUS  ROCKS.  A  Geological  term 
applied  to  certain  rocks  or  strata  lying  above  the  chalk; 
they  have  also  been  called  tertiary  strata.    Sec  Geology. 

BUPRALAPSA'RIA.NS.  Those  who  assert  that  the 
1204 


SURRENDER. 

fall  of  Adam,  with  all  its  pernicious  consequences,  w.ts 
predestinated  from  all  eternity,  and  that  our  first  parents 
had  DO  liberty  in  the  beginning.     See  Calvinist. 

SUPRANA'TURALISTB,  A  name  given  of  late  years 
to  the  middle  party  among  the  divines  of  Germany,  to  dis- 
tinguish them  from  the  nationalists,  who  exclude  all  su- 
pernatural manifestations  from  religion;  and  from  the 
Evangelical  party,  whose  tenets  are  of  a  more  strict  de- 
BCription.  Thus  many  of  the  supranaturalists  appear  to 
have  given  way  to  the  system  of  accommodation  (as  it  is 
termed)  in  religious  matters,  so  far  as  to  explain  away  the 
doctrine  of  original  sin,  and  other  tenets  which  we  are  ac- 
customed to  consider  as  fundamental  :  others  approximate 
to  what  are  regarded  as  orthodox  Protestant  opinions 
anions  ourselves. 

SUPRE'HACY,  OATH  OF.  An  oath  denying  the  su- 
premacy of  the  pope  in  ecclesiastical  or  temporal  affairs  in 
England,  which  by  many  statutes  was  required  to  be  ta- 
ken, along  with  the  oath  of  allegiance,  by  persons  in  order 
to  quality  themselves  for  office,  &c.  By  10  G.  4,  c.  7,  s.  10, 
Roman  Catholics  are  qualified  for  all  offices  (with  the  ex- 
ception named  in  the  act),  on  taking  a  declaration,  which 
is  substituted  far  the  former  oaths. 

SURAES.  A  name  given  in  Persia  to  buildings  con- 
structed for  the  accommodation  of  travellers.  They  are 
synonymous  w  ith  khans  or  carava?iseras,  which  see. 

SU'RBASE.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture,  the  upper  base  of 
a  room,  or  rather  the  cornice  of  the  dado. 

SURD.  In  Arithmetic  and  Algebra,  a  magnitude  which 
is  inexpressible  by  rational  numbers.  Thus  the  square 
root  of -2.  the  cube  root  of  3,  &.c.  are  numbers  which  can- 
not be  expressed  exactly  in  the  ordinary  notation,  and  are 
represented  by  prefixing  the  radical  signs  indicating  the 
operation,  viz.,  ^/2,  ^3.  Such  quantities  are  otherwise 
called  irrational  or  incommensurable. 

SURFACE.  A  mathematical  surface  or  superficies  is 
defined  by  Euclid  to  be  that  which  has  only  length  and 
breadth.  This  definition  excludes  a  line,  which  has  length 
only ;  and  a  solid,  which  has  length,  breadth,  and  thick- 
ness. As  a  line  is  generated  by  the  motion  of  a  point,  so  a 
surface  is  generated  by  the  motion  of  a  line.  If  the  gener- 
ating line  be  a  straight  line,  and  move  subject  to  the  con- 
dition of  having  always  two  consecutive  positions  in  the 
same  plane,  the  surface  generated  is  developable,  and  can 
be  stretched  out  on  a  plane,  as  the  surface  of  a  cone,  a 
cylinder,  &.C  But  if  the  generating  straight  line  is  con- 
strained to  move  so  that  no  two  of  its  consecutive  positions 
are  In  the  same  plane,  the  surface  cannot  be  developed  on 
a  plane.  Such  a  surface  is  called  by  the  French  geome- 
ters surface  gauche. 

SURMOUNTED.  In  Architecture,  a  term  used  to  de- 
note an  arch  or  dome  which  rises  higher  than  a  semicircle. 

Surmounted.  In  Heraldry,  a  term  used  when  one  fig- 
ure is  laid  over  another :  e.  g.,  a  pile  surmounted  of  a 
chevron. 

SURNAME.  In  modern  European  usage,  the  family 
name  of  an  individual ;  but  often  used  for  any  distinguish- 
ing name.  {Sec  Name.)  According  to  Ducange,  the  use 
of  surnames  in  France  began  about  the  year  Slew,  when 
the  barons  adopted  the  practice  of  designating  themselves 
by  the  names  of  their  estates.  And  this  has  been  the  gen- 
eral, though  by  no  means  the  uniform,  origin  of  family 
names  in  the  nobility  of  Europe ;  some  having  been  de- 
rived from  badges,  cognizances,  the  nicknames  applied  to 
individuals,  &.C.  Among  the  commonalty  of  this  country, 
surnames  are  said  not  to  have  been  general  before  the 
reign  of  Edward  II.  It  will  be  found  on  examination  that  a 
great  number  of  them  originate  in  the  still  older  custom 
of  adding  to  the  son's  Christian  name  that  of  the  father 
by  way  of  distinction;  many  more  from  the  names  of 
trade;  and  many  more  from  accidental  distinctions,  as  of 
size  or  colour,  probably  applied  in  the  first  instance  to  the 
founder  of  the  family. 

SU'RPLICE.  (Lat.  superpelliceum,  apparently  from 
pellis,  skin.)  This  ecclesiastical  vestment  is  thought  by 
Mr.  Palmer  (Orig.  l.iturg.,  ii.,  320)  to  have  been  at  one 
time  not  different  from  the  alb.  It  now  has  wider  sleeves, 
a  difference  which  Is  thought  to  have  originated  in  some 
distinction  between  the  dress  of  a  superior  and  inferior  or- 
der of  clergy.  It  dates  from  the  12th  century.  The  vehe- 
ment objections  entertained  by  the  Puritans  of  the  16th 
century  to  its  use  are  well  known.     See  Vestmektb. 

SURRE'NDER.  In  Law.  1.  A  deed  by  which  the  ten- 
ant of  a  particular  estate  conveys  his  interest  to  tenant  in 
remainder,  a  reversion  Immediately  expectant  on  the  de- 
termination of  that  estate.  2.  A  surrender  of  copyhold  or 
customary  estates  is  the  yielding  up  of  such  estates  by  the 

tenant  into  the  hands  of  the  lord  for  purposes  expressed   in 

nder.    By  this  means  are  accomplished  i 

opyhold  lands,  the  lord  being  in  general  bound  to 
admit  the  party  in  whose  favour  the  surrender  is  made. 
See  Copyuold. 


SURROGATE. 

SURROGATE.  (Lat.  surrogatus.)  In  Law,  one  sub- 
stituted for  or  appointed  in  the  room  of  another.  It  is  com- 
monly used  in  the  ecclesiastical  courts  as  the  description 
of  an  officer  who  acts  as  deputy  for  the  bishop's  chancellor. 

SURSO'LID.  In  Arithmetic,  the  fifth  power  of  a  num- 
ber.   If  2  be  the  root,  the  sursolid  is  2x2x2x2x2  =  3-2. 

SU'RTURBRAND.  A  species  of  peaty,  bituminous  coal 
foimd  in  Iceland.    It  resembles  Bovey  coal. 

SURVEYING.  (Fr.  survoir,  to  overlook.)  In  Practical 
Mathematics,  the  art  of  determining  the  boundaries  and  su- 
perficial extent  of  a  portion  of  the  earth's  surface.  The 
object  of  a  survey  may  be  either  to  ascertain  the  contents 
of  a  field  or  portion  of  land,  or  to  determine  the  relative 
distances  and  bearings  of  the  most  prominent  objects  of  a 
country  for  the  purpose  of  constructing  a  map,  or  to  deter- 
mine the  form  and  dimensions  of  a  portion  of  the  earth's 
surface  with  a  view  to  deduce  the  magnitude  and  figure  of 
the  earth  by  comparing  the  geodetical  distances  between 
given  points  with  their  astronomical  positions.  In  all  ca- 
ses the  operation  is  conducted  on  the  same  principles  ;  but 
while  the  first  requires  only  the  application  of  the  merest 
elements  of  arithmetic  and  trigonometry,  the  last  can  only 
be  accomplished  with  the  aid  of  instnunents  of  the  most 
refined  description,  and  processes  of  calculation  deduced 
from  mathematics  of  the  highest  order. 

In  measuring  land  all  the  lines  and  the  surfaces  whose 
contents  are  to  be  found  are  reduced  to  the  same  horizon- 
tal plane,  on  the  principle  that  as  plants  shoot  up  vertical- 
ly no  greater  number  can  be  produced  on  the  slant  side  of 
a  hill  than  would  grow  on  the  area  covered  by  its  horizon- 
tal base.  When  the  lines  actually  measured  are  not  hori- 
zontal, they  are  therefore  multiplied  by  the  cosines  of  their 
respective  inclinations  to  the  horizon. 

The  English  standard  unit  of  land  measure  is  the  acre, 
which  contains  four  roods ;  and  a  rood  is  subdivided  into 
40  poles  or  perches,  each  pole  containing  30i  square  yards. 
(See  Measure.)  But  though  roods  and  poles  are  the  legal 
subdivisions  of  the  acre,  and  the  terms  continually  occur  in 
all  descriptions  of  the  contents  of  land,  in  practice  a  deci- 
mal division  is  followed,  which  is  greatly  more  convenient 
for  calculation.  For  the  linear  measurements  a  chain  is 
employed  consisting  of  100  links,  and  its  whole  length  is 
such  that  one  square  chain  is  equal  to  the  tenth  part  of  an 
acre.  But  the  acre  containing  4840  square  yards,  the 
square  chain  consequently  contains  484  square  yards,  and 
the  length  of  the  chain  is  the  square  root  of  484,  that  is.  22 
yards ;  whence  its  100th  part,  or  one  link,  is  792  inches. 
In  order  to  avoid  decimal  fractions,  surveyors  usually  set 
down  all  the  measures  in  links  ;  and  when  the  contents  of 
a  field  are  cast  up  in  square  links,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
mark  off  the  five  last  figures  as  decimals  in  order  to  have 
the  contents  in  acres,  the  number  of  square  links  in  an 
acre  being  100X100X10  =  100,000. 

The  measurement  of  angles  being  in  general  an  opera- 
tion much  less  liable  to  error  than  the  measurement  of 
linear  distances,  when  the  surface  to  be  measured  is  of 
considerable  extent  the  skilful  surveyor  will  avoid  making 
farther  use  of  the  chain  than  is  necessary  for  obtaining  the 
data  requisite  for  a  trigonometrical  computation.  The 
most  convenient  instrument,  and  that  which  is  almost  uni- 
versally employed  in  land  surveying  for  the  measurement 
of  angles,  is  the  theodolite,  which,  from  the  nature  of  its 
construction,  gives  the  angles  reduced  to  the  plane  of  the 
horizon,  and  consequently  renders  a  computation  for  that 
purpose  unnecessary.  (See  Theooolite.)  As  auxiliary 
to  the  theodolite,  and  for  the  purposes  of  sketching  and  fill- 
ing in  the  details  of  a  map,  the  plane  table  and  the  pris- 
matic compass  (see  the  terms)  are  used  ;  and  in  order  to 
determine  the  bearings  of  the  several  objects  observed  from 
any  station  with  reference  to  the  cardinal  points  of  the 
horizon,  a  compass  and  needle  accompany  the  theodolite. 

It  frequently  happens  in  surveying  that  triangles  are  to 
be  measured  whose  sides  contain  very  acute  or  obtuse 
angles.  In  such  cases  a  small  error  in  the  angular  mea- 
surement would  lead  to  very  erroneous  results  ;  and  the 
practice  usually  adopted  for  finding  the  area  is  to  measure 
the  longest  side  of  the  triangle  and  the  perpendicular  let 
fall  upon  it  from  the  opposite  angle,  the  area  being  half 
the  product  of  the  side  into  the  perpendicular.  For  the 
purpose  of  tracing  the  perpendicular,  the  simple  cross-staff 
may  be  employed  ;  but  the  instrument  called  the  optical 
square  (which  is  merely  a  small,  shallow,  circular  box 
containing  the  two  principal  glasses  of  the  sextant  fixed  at 
an  angle  of  45°)  will  effect  the  purpose  with  greater  accu- 
racy. The  method  of  using  it  is  obvious.  If  the  observer 
moves  forward  or  backward  in  the  straight  line  A  B  until 
the  object  B  seen  by  direct  vision  coincides  with  another 
object  C  seen  by  reflection,  then  a  straight  line  drawn  to  C 
from  the  point  at  which  he  stands  when  the  coincidence 
takes  place  will  be  perpendicular  to  A  B.  The  box  sextant 
might  evidently  be  employed  for  the  same  purpose. 

Since  every  plane  figure  may  be  regarded  as  composed  of 


2  sin.  A 


SURVEYING. 

a  certain  number  of  triangles,  the  whole  theory  of  land  sur- 
veying resolves  itself  into  the  measurement  of  the  areas  of 
plane  triangles.  For  computing  the  area  of  a  triangle  it  is 
necessary  to  know  the  length  of  at  least  one  side  ;  and 
when  this  is  known,  together  with  any  two  of  its  other 
parts,  the  remaining  parts  and  the  area  are  computed  by 
the  rules  of  trigonometry.  As  usual,  let  the  sides  of  a 
triangle  be  denoted  by  o,  b,  c,  and  the  angles  respectively 
opposite  by  A,  B,  C,  and  let  s  —  %(a-j-b-{-c);  then  the 
area  is  found  by  either  of  the  three  following  formulae: 

A     i  w        .,  ,  ,  I     i     ,    •      ^,    a2  sin.  B  sin.  C 

V    s(s  —  a)  (s —  b)  (s —  c)  | ,  \  afisin.  C, 

(See  Trigonometry.) 

In  surveying  an  estate,  the  usual  practice  is  to  measure 
round  it  with  a  chain,  and  observe  the  several  angles  with 
the  theodolite;  and  if  the  boundaries  are  very  irregular,  a 
straight  line  is  run  between  two  points  so  as  to  cut  off  one 
or  more  of  the  bendings  and  the  perpendiculars  or  offsets 
from  the  straight  line  to  each  bending  measured  with  a  rod 
or  offset  staff,  the  most  convenient  length  of  which  is  ten 
links.  By  this  means  the  spaces  included  between  the 
actual  boundaries  and  the  assumed  straight  lines  are  com- 
puted; and  the  sides  and  angles  of  the  interior  polygon 
being  known,  its  area  may  be  formed  without  resolving  it 
into  triangles.     See  Polygon. 

Trigonometrical  Survey. — When  a  survey  is  to  be  effect- 
ed on  a  large  scale,  as  for  making  a  geometrical  map  of  a 
country,  or  for  measuring  an  arc  of  the  terrestrial  meridian, 
not  only  is  minute  accuracy  required  in  all  the  practical 
parts  of  the  operation,  but  it  becomes  necessary  to  have 
regard  to  the  curvature  of  the  earth's  surface,  the  effects  of 
temperature,  refraction,  altitude  above  the  sea,  and  a  host 
of  circumstances  of  which  the  influence  is  wholly  unap- 
preciable  in  the  practice  of  ordinary  surveying.  Geodetical 
measurements  of  this  kind  have  been  executed  in  various 
countries.  (See  Degree.)  The  first  which  was  under- 
taken in  our  own  country  was  that  of  General  Roy,  begun 
in  1783,  for  the  purpose  of  connecting  the  Greenwich  ob- 
servatory with  tlie  French  triangulation,  which  had  been 
carried  on  from  Paris  to  the  coast  opposite  Dover,  and  con- 
sequently for  determining  the  difference  of  the  meridians  of 
the  two  observatories  by  actual  measurement.  This  gave 
rise  to  a  more  important  operation;  namely,  a  general  sur- 
vey of  the  kingdom,  which  was  begun  in  1791,  under  the 
direction  of  the  Board  of  Ordnance,  and  has  been  carrying 
on  up  to  the  present  time.  A  brief  description  of  the  me- 
thods employed  in  conducting  the  different  parts  of  this 
splendid  national  undertaking  will  probably  be  the  best 
means  we  could  adopt  to  explain  the  nature  and  objects  of 
an  accurate  trigonometrical  survey. 

Measurement  of  Base. — This  is  the  fundamental,  and 
probably  the  most  difficult  part  of  the  whole  operation,  and 
requires  to  be  executed  with  the  most  minute  accuracy,  as 
any  error  committed  in  its  determination  will  affect  all  the 
distances  deduced  from  it,  and  be  multiplied  m  the  ratio  of 
these  distances  to  the  length  of  the  base.  First  of  all,  a 
suitable  piece  of  ground,  on  which  a  straight  line  of  not 
less  than  five  or  six  miles  can  be  laid  down,  must  be  select- 
ed and  carefully  levelled :  and  a  measuring  apparatus  em- 
ployed of  which  the  length  is  exactly  known  in  units  of  a 
standard  scale.  General  Roy's  base  on  Hounslow  Heath 
was  first  measured  with  deal  rods ;  but  as  these  were  found 
to  be  affected  by  the  hygrometrical  changes  of  the  atmos- 
phere, it  was  again  measured  with  glass  tubes  20  feet  in 
length,  furnished  with  a  peculiar  apparatus  for  making  the 
contacts.  In  the  subsequent  measurement  of  the  same  line 
for  the  ordnance  survey,  two  steel  chains  of  100  feet  in 
length,  made  by  the  celebrated  Ramsden,  were  made  use 
of.  One  of  these  was  used  as  a  measuring  chain  ;  the  other 
was  kept  for  the  purpose  of  the  measuring  chain  being  com- 
pared with  it  before  and  after  the  operation.  In  the  act  of 
measuring,  the  chain  was  laid  in  a  trough  supported  on 
trestles,  and  stretched  with  a  weight  of  56  lbs.  The  same 
apparatus  was  employed  in  measuring  five  other  bases  in 
different  parts  of  the  country,  for  the  purpose  of  verifying 
the  accuracy  of  the  work.  For  the  measurement  of  a  base 
in  the  survey  of  Ireland,  Colonel  Colby  employed  a  com- 
pensating apparatus  formed  of  bars  of  different  metals,  so 
arranged  that  the  distance  between  two  points  viewed  by 
microscopes  remains  constant  under  all  changes  of  tempera- 
ture. The  length  of  the  Hounslow  Heath  base  was  nearly 
5-2  miles  ;  that  of  the  Irish  base  about  8  miles. 

Selection  of  Stations.— The  next  step  in  the  operation  is 
to  divide  the  country  to  be  surveyed  into  a  series  of  con- 
nected triangles.  The  choice  of  the  stations  which  form 
the  angular  points  must  depend  in  some  measure  on  the 
nature  of  the  country  ;  but  where  circumstances  admit  of  a 
selection  being  made,  it  is  very  important  to  form  the  tri- 
angles-so  that  the  small  unavoidable  errors  of  observation 
shall  produce  the  least  errors  possible  in  the  resulting  sides. 
The  conditions  required  for  this  purpose  are  most  nearly 


SURVEYING. 


fulfilled  by  making  the  triangles  as  nearly  as  possible  equi- 
lateral. 

Signals. — Various  plans  have  been  adopted  in  the  course 
of  the  survey  for  marking  and  rendering  visible  the  stations 
at  which  the  instrument  is  successively  set  up.  At  first 
Hat:  stall's  were  chiefly  used,  carrying  lamps  and  concave 
reflectors  for  night  observations,  such  signals  could  be 
seen  in  the  telescope  of  the  great  theodolite  at  distances  of 
20  ur  even  24  miles.  Bengal  lights,  fixed  in  small  sockets, 
were  used  for  more  distant  stations.  Hut  night  observations 
having  been  found  by  experience  to  he  attended  with  much 
uncertainty  as  well  as  inconvenience,  they  have  of  late 
years  been  abandoned.  In  the  mountainous  countries  of 
Scotland  and  Ireland,  and  where  the  sides  ofthe  triangles  gen- 
erally exceeded  50  and  sometimes  even  100  miles  in  length, 
conical  piles  of  stone  were  erected  on  the  tops  of  hills  ;  and 
although  these  signals  are  attended  with  this  disadvantage, 
that  they  can  only  be  seen  when  the  atmosphere  is  clear 
(and  the  surveying  parties  have  been  frequently  compelled 
to  remain  weeks  and  even  months  encamped  on  the  sum- 
mits of  the  mountains  before  a  single  observation  could  be 
made),  yet,  from  the  steadiness  ofthe  object  observed,  they 
are  found,  on  the  whole,  to  be  preferable  to  any  night  signals 
that  have  hitherto  been  tried.  When  the  theodolite  is  to  be 
set  up  at  a  station  which  has  been  already  observed  from 
another,  the  pile  is  thrown  down,  and  the  instrument  placed 
exactly  over  its  centre.  The  heliotrope,  and  small  plane 
mirrors,  have  likewise  been  occasionally  employed  with 
success.  (On  this  subject,  see  Mr.  Drummond's  paper  in  the 
Phil.  Trans,  for  1826.) 

Reduction  to  Centre  of  Station. — In  observing  the  angles 
at  any  station,  it  is  supposed  that  the  centre  of  the  instru- 
ment is  placed  exactly  at  the  centre  of  the  station.  This 
condition  was  rigidly  adhered  to  in  the  ordnance  survey 
of  Britain,  by  erecting  signals  on  purpose;  but  where  the 
saving  of  expense  is  an  object,  it  will  often  be  convenient 
to  take  advantage  of  spires,  towers,  &c„  in  which  case  the 
instrument  cannot  always  be  placed  in  the  required  position. 
In  such  circumstances,  the  observation  is  made  at  a  point 
near  the  station,  and  the  angle  at  that  point  subtended  by 
two  remote  objects  is  reduced  to  that  which  would  have 
been  observed  if  the  instrument  had  been  placed  exactly  at 
the  centre  of  the  station.  The  reduction  is  made  as  follows : 
Let  C  (fig.  1)  be  the  centre  of  the  sta- 
tion ;  A  and  B  the  two  remote  objects  ob- 
served ;  and  suppose  the  instrument  to 
be  set  up  at  a  point  K  near  to  C  ;  then 
the  ansile  actually  measured  is  A  K  B, 
while  that  which  is  to  be  determined  is 
ACB.  Put  CA  =  i,  CK  —  d,  the  an- 
gle BAC  =  A,  ACB  =  C,  AKB  =  K, 
BKC  =  J;  then  the  difference  between 
C  and  K  expressed  in  seconds  of  a  de- 
gree is 

,  „ tj. dsm.  (A  —  fl:)sin.K 

b  sin.  A  sin.  1" 
The  distance  C  K  or  d  is  measured ;  C  A  or  b  is  found  ap- 
proximately by  computing  the  triangle  ACB  with  the  ap- 
proximate value  of  C  observed  at  K  ;  and  the  angles  A,  K,  k 
are  given  by  observation.  The  formula  is  not  quite  exact, 
but  sufficiently  so  for  all  ordinary  cases. 

Reduction  to  the  Horizon. — Another  indispensable  condi- 
tion is,  that  the  angles  observed  at  each  station  be  reduced 
to  the  plane  of  the  horizon.  When  the  theodolite  is  em- 
ploy,! for  measuring  the  angles  this  reduction  is  effected 
by  the  instrument  itself,  and  hence  the  great  advantage  of 
the  theodolite  as  a  surveying  instrument;  but  when  the 
angles  are  measured  with  a  repeating  circle  or  sextant,  a  re- 
duction is  necessary,  unless  the  two  distant  objects  observed 
be  in  the  same  horizontal  plane  with  the  instrument,  which 
will  rarely  happen.  Suppose  the  observer  stationed  at  A, 
and  let  B  and  C  be  the  distant  objects.  Let  the  angular 
elevation  of  B  above  the  horizontal  plane  (which  is  found 
by  measuring  its  zenith  distance)  be  [i  seconds,  and  the  ele- 
vation of  C  be  y  seconds;  also  let  A'  be  the  horizontal  pro- 
jection of  the  angle  A,  and  suppose  A  —  A'  =  z  seconds; 
then 

which  cives  the  correction  to  be  subtracted  from  the  ob- 
si  rved  angle  A  in  order  to  have  the  corresponding  angle  A'. 
If  one  ofthe  objects  B  or  C  be  depressed,  the  arc  of  depres- 
sion, ji  or  y,  must  be  regarded  as  a  negative  quantity. 

Spherical  Krcess. — The  sum  of  the  three  angles  of  any 
spherical  triancle  exceeds  180°  by  a  quantity  which  is  call- 
ed the  spherical  excess,  anil  which  we  shall  denote  by  E. 
If  the  observations  conld  be  made  with  absolute  accuracy, 
(ha  urn  of  the  three  observed  angles  of  any  triangle  on  the 

ground  would  be   180°  -4- E ;    the   difference  of  lli.-ir   sum 
from  thi-  quantity  is  the  aggregate  error  of  the  three  ob- 
1206 


served  angles,  and  must  be  distributed  among  those  angles 
so  as  to  render  the  sum  precisely  180° +  E  before  the  sides 
are  computed.  It  is  therefore  necessary  to  determine  E. 
Let  S  denote  the  area  of  the  triangle  in  square  feet,  r  the 
number  of  feet  in  the  radius  of  the  earth,  and  r= 3- 14159; 
then  E  is  given  in  seconds  by  this  formula  (see  Spherical 
Excess), 

„      S  X  648000" 

x.  =  — 

irt* 

(648000  being  the  number  of  seconds  in  180°).  In  order, 
therefore,  to  compute  E,  we  must  previously  know  the  va- 
lues of  S  and  r.  Now  with  respect  to  S,  it  is  to  be  observed 
that  in  every  case  which  can  arise  in  practice  the  atca  of 
the  triangle  must  be  a  very  small  quantity  in  comparison  of 
r2,  so  that  in  order  to  find  E  it  is  not  necessary  to  compute 
S  with  great  precision.  A  sufficiently  near  value  will  be 
obtained  by  calculating  one  ofthe  unknown  sides  as  if  the 
triangle  were  a  plane  one,  and  computing  the  area  from  the 
formula  S  =  A  a  b  sin.  C. 

With  respect  to  r,  which  is  here  tuken  to  represent  the 
radius  of  curvature  ofthe  surface  ofthe  triangle  in  question, 
it  is  to  be  remarked  that  by  reason  of  the  ellipticity  of  the 
earth,  the  radius  of  curvature  of  any  arc  on  the  earth's  sur- 
face varies  not  only  with  the  latitude  of  the  place  of  ob- 
servation, but  also  with  the  direction  of  the  arc  in  respect 
of  the  meridian.  For  the  present  purpose  it  would  be  suffi- 
ciently accurate  to  assume  r  as  the  radius  of  the  meridian  ; 
but  as  the  radius  of  the  perpendicular  and  oblique  arcs  is 
required  in  other  parts  of  the  computation,  we  shall  here 
state  the  formula?  from  which  they  are  computed.  Let  R 
be  the  radius  of  curvature  of  the  meridian  at  latitude  I,  R' 
the  radius  of  the  circle  perpendicular  to  the  meridian,  and 
r  the  radius  of  a  great  circle  making  an  angle  =  0  with  the 
meridian;  also  let  p  denote  half  the  polar  axis  ofthe  earth 
=i 20,852,394  feet  (see  Degree),  and  e  the  ellipticity,  or  the 
difference  between  the  equatorial  and  polar  axes  divided  by 
the  polar  axis  (=  1  -h  301-026  =  003322) ;  then 

R  =  p(l  — e-f-3esin.  2/) 

R'=p(l  +  e  +  esin.V) 

r  =  R(l  +  5-j^sin.20) 

Since  the  inclination  6  is  different  for  each  of  the  sides 
ofthe  triangle,  a  mean  value  of  r  may  be  found  by  making 
0  =  45°,  in  which  case  sin.  20  =  i;  and  as  the  curvature 
varies  very  little  through  a  considerable  extent  of  country, 
the  same  value  of  r  may  be  used  for  all  the  triangles  within 
a  zone  of  two  or  three  degrees  of  latitude.  Suppose,  then, 
the  value  to  be  computed  for  the  mean  latitude  of  a  chain 
of  triangles,  the  formula  for  the  spherical  excess  will  be 
„      a  b  sin.  C  X  648000  , 

E  =. ;    and   on   assuming  the  constant 

2  7T7-2 

648000 -f- 2 rr  r2  =  m,  the  formula  for  computation  will  be 
log.  E  =  log.  a  -4-  log.  b  -f-  log.  sin.  C  +  log.  m. 

It  is  proper  to  remark,  that  in  general  E  is  a  very  small 
quantity.  When  the  sides  of  the  triangles  are  about  20  or 
30  miles,  it  will  seldom  exceed  4  or  5  seconds  of  a  degree  ; 
but  in  some  of  the  great  triangles  connecting  Ireland  with 
the  west  coast  of  Scotland  its  value  was  found  to  exceed 
30  seconds. 

Having  computed  the  spherical  excess  E,  make  e  =  A  + 
B  +  C  —  (180°  +  E),  (A,  B,  C  being  the  observed  horizontal 
angles)  then  e  is  the  error  of  the  sum  of  the  observed  an- 
gles; and  if  there  be  no  reason  for  supposing  that  any  one 
ofthe  angles  has  been  less  accurately  determined  than  the 
others,  the  error  e  must  be  equally  divided  among  them,  or 
a  third  of  e  must  be  added  to  or  subtracted  from  each  angle, 
according  as  the  error  is  in  excess  or  defect,  and  the  re- 
sults will  give  the  angles  from  which  the  sides  are  to  be 
computed.  Thus,  if  the  angles  for  computation  be  A',  B',  C, 
we  have 

A'  =  A  +  ic  B'  =  B-fJe,  C'  =  C4-Je. 

Calculation  of  the  Sides. — The  angles  being  thus  corrected 
for  errors  of  observation,  it  now  remains  to  compute  the 
two  unknown  sides  ofthe  triangles.  The  computation  may 
be  made  by  the  ordinary  rules  of  spherical  trigonometry ; 
but  this  method  is  seldom  practised  on  account  of  the  length 
of  the  calculations.  A  second  method,  which  was  prac- 
tised by  Delambre,  and  litis  been  adopted  in  the  ordnance 
surveys  of  Britian  and  Ireland,  consists  in  first  Computing 
from  the  observed  horizontal  angles  the  corresponding  an- 
gles formed  by  the  chords  of  the  terrestrial  arcs,  and  then 
calculating  the  triangle  as  a  plane  one.  In  this  manner  the 
chords  of  the  spherical  arcs  are  found,  whence  the  arcs 
themselves  are  easily  obtained.  The  reduction  of  a  hori- 
zontal or  spherical  angle  to  the  corresponding  Chord  angle 
is  made  as  follows:  Let  A  be  the  observed  spherical  angle, 
b  and  c  the  lengths  of  the  containing  sides  computed  ap- 
proximately as  above  explained,  r  the  radius  of  curvature 
at  the  plan-  of  observation,  and  A  —  x  the  plane  angle  con- 
tained by  the  chords  ofthe  sides  be;  then 


SURVEYING. 


b  +  c\2  tan.  A  A 


1    (b  -\-  c\ 


AC?) 


2  cot.  i  A 


sin.  1"  *  °  V  r  J  sin.  1" 
This  formula  gives  the  reduction  x  expressed  in  seconds, 
and  consequently  the  chord  angle  A  —  x.  If  we  now  de- 
note by  x'  and  x"  the  corresponding  corrections  for  the  other 
angles  B  and  C,  the  sum  of  the  three  corrections  will  evi- 
dently be  the  difference  between  the  sum  of  the  three 
spherical  angles  of  the  triangle  and  the  sum  of  the  angles 
of  the  plane  triangle  formed  by  the  chords,  or  180°,  and, 
consequently, 

x  +  x'  +  x"  =  E ; 
so  that  the  spherical  excess  is  obtained  from  the  reduction, 
and  does  not  require  to  be  previously  computed. 

The  three  cord  angles  A  —  x,  B  — z',  C  —  x",  being  com- 
puted from  the  above  formula,  the  difference  between  their 
sum  and  180°  gives  the  error  of  the  three  observed  angles, 
and  must  be  apportioned  among  the  three  chord  angles,  so 
that  their  sum  shall  be  precisely  180°.  With  these  cor- 
rected angles  the  chords  of  the  spherical  sides  are  computed 
as  in  plane  trigonometry ;  and  the  arcs  are  then  found  from 
the  chords  from  the  following  formula,  where  a',  b',  c'  are 
the  chords  of  the  three  terrestrial  arcs  a,  b,  c ;  namely, 


a=a'  •{■ 


24  r2 


,        ,,    ,      6'3  ,   ,      c'3 

0  =  0  +  ,  c  =  c  -\ . 

24  r*  24r2 


Legendre's  Theorem. — A  third  method  of  computing  the 
sides,  which  has  been  generally  adopted  in  the  recent  sur- 
veys on  the  Continent,  is  derived  from  a  theorem  which 
was  discovered  by  Legendre,  and  is  demonstrated  in  his 
Elemens  tie  Geometric  "  If  from  each  of  the  angles  of  any 
small  triangle  on  the  surface  of  a  sphere  or  spheroid  one 
third  of  the  spherical  excess  be  deducted,  the  sines  of  the 
angles  thus  diminished  will  be  proportional  to  the  lengths 
of  the  opposite  sides,  and  consequently  the  sides  may  be 
computed  as  if  the  triangle  were  rectilineal."  This  is  the 
easiest  method  of  any ;  and,  in  fact,  if  the  three  angles  are 
assumed  to  have  been  equally  well  determined,  the  pre- 
vious computation  of  the  spherical  excess  is  not  necessary 
for  the  calculation  of  the  sides,  though  it  will  be  required 
for  estimating  the  relative  accuracy  of  the  observations. 
The  method  of  proceeding  is  this :  Let  A,  B,  C  be  the  three 
observed  angles;  and  let  <5  =  A  +  B  +  C — 180°;  then, 
from  each  of  the  three  observed  angles  subtract  j<5,  and 
with  the  angles  thus  reduced  compute  the  sides  as  in  a 
plane  triangle  from  the  formula  6  =  asin.  (B  —  J(5)-=-sin. 
(A  —  J<5).  The  sides  thus  determined  are  equal  to  the 
geodetical  lines,  or  the  spherical  arcs  on  the  ground. 

Latitudes,  Longitudes,  and  Azimuths. — When  the  sides 
of  all  the  triangles  have  been  computed  the  distances  be- 
tween the  stations  become  known  ;  but  in  order  to  com- 
plete the  survey,  it  is  still  necessary  to  determine  the  astro- 
nomical positions  of  the  principal  stations,  and  the  bearings 
of  the  sides  of  the  triangles  with  respect  to  the  terrestrial 
meridians.  For  this  purpose  the  latitude  and  longitude  of 
one  of  the  stations,  and  the  azimuth  of  another  as  seen  from 
it,  must  be  found  by  astronomical  methods  (see  Latitude, 
Longitude,  Azimuth)  ;  but  when  this  has  been  done 
(2  \  these  elements  may  be  computed  for  each 
of  the  other  stations  in  the  chain  of  tri- 
angles, provided  the  dimensions  and  elip- 
ticity  of  the  spheroid  are  assumed  to  be 
known.  The  formula  for  computation  are 
the  following : 

Let  A  and  B  (fig.  2)  be  two  stations,  A  P 
and  B  P  the  meridians  passing  through  A 
and  B  and  meeting  in  the  pole  P ;  and  let 
the  azimuths  at  each  station  be  counted 
from  the  south  towards  the  west.    Assume 
/  =  90°  —  A  P  =  latitude  of  A, 
I'  —  9(P  —  B  P  =  latitude  of  B, 

A  =  180O  —  P  A  B  the  azimuth  of  B  as  seen  from  A, 
B  =  18(P  +  P  B  A  the  azimuth  of  A  as  seen  from  B, 
P  =  A  P  B  the  difference  of  the  longitudes  of  A  and  B, 
d  =  length  of  the  geodetical  line  A  B  in  feet, 
R'  =  radius  of  the  circle  perpendicular  to  the  meridian  at 

A  in  feet, 
e=fhe  ellipticity  as  above  defined  =  -003322 ; 
Then, 
,,_,       I  rfcos.  A    .  (Psin.2  Atan./ )    ,,   ,  .  „.. 

«R'sin.l"T    2R'2sin.l"     S  " 


P  = 


d  sin.  A. 


R'  cos.  V  sin.  1"' 

B  =  180°  + A-P  ■ta-i(*  +  0. 
cos.  £  (I  —  V) 

These  formulae  are  theoretically  sufficient  to  give  the 
elements  in  question ;  but  as  some  uncertainty  must  exist 
as  to  the  ellipticity  of  the  earth,  and  a  small  error  in  this 
respect  will  affect  the  convergency  of  the  meridians,  and 
produce  a  considerable  error  in  the  computed  longitudes 


SUTURE. 

and  azimuths,  it  is  necessary,  in  carrying  a  survey  over  a 
considerable  tract  of  country,  to  check  the  azimuths  by  de- 
termining the  direction  of  the  meridian  at  different  stations 
by  astronomical  observations. 

Calculation  of  Altitudes. — The  only  element  which  re- 
mains to  be  detennined,  in  order  to  complete  the  survey,  is 
the  relative  altitudes  of  the  different  stations  or  principal 
points.  At  ever}'  station  the  elevation  or  depression  of  each 
of  the  others  observed  from  it  is  measured  with  the  theodo- 
lite ;  but  owing  to  the  curvature  of  the  earth,  and  the  re- 
fraction of  light,  a  calculation  is  necessary  in  order  to  deter- 
mine their  true  differences  of  level,  or  of  distance  from  the 
centre  of  the  earth. 

Let  A  and  B  (fig.  3)  be  two  stations,  C  the  centre  of  the 
earth ;  and  let  b  be  the  position  of  B 
as  seen  from  A  elevated  by  refraction, 
and  a  that  of  A  as  seen  from  B.  Make 
C  H  =  C  A ;  then  H  B  is  the  true  dif- 
ference of  altitude  of  A  and  B,  or  the 
quantity  to  be  determined  from  obser- 
vation. Join  A  H,  A  B,  A  o,  and  draw 
the  horizontal  lines  A  D  and  B  D, 
which  will  be  respectively  perpendic- 
ular to  C  A  and  C  B.  Assume  in  sec- 
onds, 

d  =DA5,  the  observed  depression  of  B  ; 

(/'-DBa,  the  observed  depression  of  A ; 

C  =  A  C  B,  the  angle  measured  by  the  arc  A  B  ; 

p  =  the  mean  refraction ; 

<p  =  B  A  H,  the  angular  difference  of  altitudes  ; 
then  B  H  will  be  found  by  the  following  formulas : 

p  =  l\c-(d  +  d')  j^  =  iC-(d  +  p) 

BH  =  ABX<£sin.l". 

Thus  B  H  is  found  in  terms  of  A  B,  and  the  reciprocal 
observations  at  A  and  B.  The  mean  refraction  p  is  also 
determined  at  the  same  time ;  but  if  this  be  assumed  to  be 
known,  the  observation  of  depression  at  one  of  the  stations 
would  be  sufficient  to  give  the  difference  of  elevations.  The 
two  quantities  d  and  a"  have  been  both  assumed  to  be  de- 
pressions ;  if  one  of  them  is  an  elevation,  it  must  be  taken 
with  the  negative  sign. 

See  the  Trigonometrical  Survey  of  England  and  Wales  ; 
Delambre,  Base  du  Systeme  Metrique ;  Puissant,  Traite  de 
Oeodesie  ;  Id.  Jfouvelle  Description  Geometrique  de  la 
France ;  Encyc.  Brit.,  art.  "Trigonometrical  Survey." 

SURVTVORSHIP,  in  the  doctrine  of  Life  Annuities,  is  a 
reversionary  benefit  contingent  upon  the  circumstance  of 
some  life  or  lives  surviving  some  other  life  or  lives,  or  of 
the  lives  falling  according  to  some  assigned  order.  For  the 
solution  of  the  different  questions  which  can  be  put  relative 
to  the  values  of  annuities  and  assurances  in  every  order  of 
survivorship,  where  there  are  only  three  lives,  see  the  trea- 
tises of  Baily  and  Milne,  or  the  Essay  on  Probabilities  by 
Professor  De  Morgan,  in  the  Cabinet  Cyclopmdia. 

SUSPE'NSION  BRIDGE.  In  Architecture,  a  bridge  in 
which  the  roadway,  instead  of  being  carried  over  the  sup- 
porting points,  is  suspended  from  them,  the  supporting  points 
being  chains  or  other  flexible  materials.  The  principle  has 
recently  been  carried  to  a  great  extent  in  this  country,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  Menai  bridge  ;  but  its  application  is  old,  and 
has  long  been  practised  among  people  who  have  attained 
very  little,  if  any,  skill  in  the  arts.     See  Bridge. 

SUSSEX  MARBLE.  A  variety  of  limestone  which  con- 
stitutes one  of  the  fresh-water  deposites  of  the  Wealdon 
group ;  it  abounds  in  shells  of  Paludina;,  a  genus  of  fresh- 
water Univalves.  It  occurs  in  layers  varying  from  a  few 
inches  to  upwards  of  a  foot  in  thickness,  the  layers  being 
separated  by  seams  of  clay  or  of  friable  limestone. 

SU'TTEE.  (More  correctly  written  Sari  or  Satee ;  in 
Sanscrit,  pure.)  A  word  applied  by  the  Brahmins  to  vari- 
ous rites  of  religious  purification ;  but  more  especially,  by 
usage,  to  the  voluntary  self-immolation  of  widows  on  the 
funeral  pile  of  their  husbands.  This  is  nowhere  command- 
ed in  the  religious  books  of  Hindostan,  although  it  is  spoken 
of,  in  common  with  many  other  acts  of  similar  fanaticism, 
as  highly  meritorious.  The  English  government,  up  to  a 
late  period,  had  only  interfered  to  ensure,  as  far  as  possible, 
that  the  sacrifice  should  be  voluntary  on  the  part  of  the 
sufferer,  which  was  done  by  the  presence  of  a  government 
officer.  Thus  legalized,  suttees  became  frightfully  common 
in  Bengal  and  the  adjoining  provinces  in  the  present  centu- 
ry. At  length,  in  December,  1829,  they  were  abolished  in 
the  British  dominions  by  Lord  W.  Bentinck.  (See  Forbes's 
Oriental  Memoirs,  ii.,  26 ;  Heber's  Journal,  l,  70 ;  and  many 
other  authorities.)  There  is  a  curious  account  of  a  suttee 
in  Bali,  an  island  in  which  the  Hindoo  religion  now  pre- 
vails, in  Crawford's  Ind.  Archipelago,  book  vi.,  ch.  2. 

SUTURE,  in  Mammalogy,  is  the  line  formed  by  the  in- 
cumbent series  of  converging  series  of  hairs  of  the  integu- 
ment. In  Entomology,  it  is  the  line  at  which  the  elytra 
meet,  and  are  sometimes  confluent. 

4  1207 


SWAB. 

Svtcre.  in  Anatomy,  means  the  junction  of  bones  by 
their  serrated  or  teethed  margins:  the  bones  of  tbe  skuil 
are  so  united. 

SW  IB.  A  large  bundle  of  old  yarns  hung  by  the  mid- 
dle, ami  swung  right  and  left  to  dry  the  decks. 

SWA'LLOW.  A  name  equivalent  to  the  subgeneric 
term  Hirundo,  appropriated  in  modern  Ornitholog>'  to  t he 
British  speciea  ceiled  hank.  Chimney,  and  window  .swallows, 
and  t.i  foreign  allied  forms  dismembered  from  the  swifts. 

SWAMP.  Ground  habitually  so  moist  and  soft  as  not 
to  admit  of  being  trod  on  by  cattle,  but,  at  the  same  time, 
producing  particular  kinds  of  trees,  bushes,  and  plants.  A 
swamp  diners  from  a  bog  and  a  marsh  in  producing  trees 
and  shrubs,  while  the  latter  produce  only  herbage,  plants, 
and  in  - 

SWAN.  Of  the  noble  web-footed  birds  so  called  there 
are  three  British  species — the  Hooper  or  Bewick's,  the  wild 
and  the  tame  swan.  The.se  form  the  type  of  the  subgenus 
Oggnua.  The  v  id  swan  and  Hooper  ought,  perhaps,  to  be 
regarded  as  the  only  true  native  species.  The  tame  swan 
[Ofgnus  olurj  is  superior  in  bulk  to  either  of  the  wild  spe- 
cies, and  is  at  once  distinguished  by  a  large  black  callous 
knob  on  the  base  of  the  bill.  Both  the  wild  species  are  pe- 
culiarly characterized  by  convolutions  of  the  windpipe,  ex- 
tending in  the  mature  bird  through  the  whole  length  of  the 
keel  ot  the  sternum.  These  convolutions  are  horizontal  in 
the  Cygnus  Beicickii,  and  vertical  in  the  Oggnua  ferns. 

SWARD.  Green  turf;  that  is,  the  surface  of  land  under 
pasture  grasses.  A  fine  sward  may  be  called  the  charac- 
teri-tn-  feature  of  British  landscape,  not  being  found  in  the 
same  degree  of  perfection  in  any  other  country,  not  even  in 
Ireland. 

SWEDEXBO'RGIAXS.  The  followers  of  Emanuel 
Swedenborg,  a  Swedish  nobleman,  who  died  in  1770.  He 
conceived  the  society  which  he  founded  to  be  the  Xew  Je- 
rusalem spoken  of  in  Revelations,  and  its  members  to  be 
gifted  with  peculiar  insight  into  spiritual  things.  The  Swe- 
denborgians  imagine  that  they  can  see  mentally,  and  hold 
conversation  with  spirits.  They  interpret  Scripture  by  a 
system  of  correspondences,  supposing  it  to  have  three  dis- 
tinct senses,  accommodated  respectively  to  particular  class- 
Be,  both  of  men  and  angels.  They  date  the  last  judgment 
of  the  spiritual  world  and  the  second  advent  of  Christ  from 
the  year  1757.  They  abound  principally  in  England,  where 
they  have  at  the  present  day  several  chapels  in  London  and 
other  large  towns. 

SWELL.  The  term  for  a  succession  of  waves  in  a  par- 
ticular direction,  and  named  after  the  point  of  the  compass 
from  which  the  waves  move. 

Swell.  In  Music,  a  set  of  pipes  in  an  organ  acted  upon 
by  a  key  board,  and  capable  of  being  increased  in  intensity 
of  sound  by  the  action  of  a  pedal,  which  allows  of  its  being 
thereby  gradually  augmented.     See  Organ. 

SWIFT.  The  name  of  the  largest  and  most  powerful 
flier  of  the  swallow  tribe  which  visits  this  countrv.  It  is 
the  type  of  the  subgenus  Cypselus  of  Temminckj'the  Hi- 
rundo apus  of  Linnaus.     See  Hircsdo. 

SWIFTER.  The  name  given  to  the  foremost  and  after- 
most shrouds,  which  are  not  rattled  with  the  rest.  The 
term  snifter  is  also  applied  in  many  cases  to  a  rope  used 
for  the  temporary  purpose  of  tightening  or  keeping  a  thing 
in  its  place. 

SWIMMERS.  The  web  footed  or  aquatic  birds  (JVafa- 
tevet,  111.:  In/mipedes,  Cuv.)  are  so  called;  also  a  tribe  of 
spiders  (Araneidie  natantes)  which  live  in  water,  and  there 
■pin  and  spread  abroad  filaments  to  entrap  their  prey. 

BWINE  POX.    The  chicken  pox,  which  see. 

SWINE  STOXE.  Fetid  or  bituminous  limestone,  which 
exhales  a  disagreeable  odour  on  friction. 

SW1.\<;.  Tin-  ship  at  anchor  is  said  to  swing  when  she 
chances  her  position  at  the  turn  of  the  tide. 

SWIVEL.  In  Gunnery,  a  small  cannon  ;  so  called  from 
its  being  fixed  in  a  sicicel,  by  means  of  which  it  may  be  di- 
rected to  any  object.  Swivels  are  chiefly  used  at  sea.  and 
are  placed  on  the  ship's  side,  stern,  or  bow,  and  also  in  the 
tops. 

SWORD  OF  STATE.  Four  swords  are  used  at  the 
coronation  of  a  British  sovereign:  1.  The  sword  of  state, 
properly  so  called.  2.  The  curtana  'ctirtus,  shortened),  the 
sword  of  mercy,  which  is  pointless:  it  is  mentioned  by 
Matthew  Paris.  3.  The  sword  of  spiritual  Justice.  4.  The 
sword  of  temporal  Justice.  These  three  are  carried  before 
the  sovereign  :  he  is  girt  with  the  first. 

SWORD,  ORDER  OP  THE.  A  Swedish  military  order 
of  knighthood,  instituted  by  Gustavus  Vase. 

SI  B  \KITE.     A  term  used  metaphorically  to  designate 
an  effeminate  voluptuary  ;  so  called  from  the  inhal 
Byberis,  formerly  ■  town  of  Italy  on  the  gulf  of  Tarentum, 

Whom  a  devotion  to  sensual  pleasures  had  so  enfeebled  that 

they  became  sn  easy  prey  to  the  Crotonlans,  a  pa 
parativeiv  insignificant  in  point  of  numbers,  by  whom  their 
city  was  levelled  to  the  ground,  B.C.  310. 
1208 


SYLLOGISM. 

SYCEB  SILVER.  The  only  approach  to  a  silver  cur- 
rency among  the  Chinese.  In  it  the  government  taxes  and 
duties,  and  the  salaries  of  the  officers  are  paid;  and  it  is 
also  current  among  the  merchants  in  general.  The  term 
is  derived  from  two  Chinese  words  .»,  tie,  "tine  gloss 
silk."  which  expression  is  synonymous  with  the  significa- 
tion of  the  term  van.  This  silver  is  formed  into  ingots  (by 
the  Chinese  called  shoes),  which  are  stamped  with  the 
mark  of  the  office  thai  Issues  them,  and  the  dates  of  their 
issue.  The  ingots  are  of  various  weights,  but  most  com- 
monly of  ten  taels  each. 

Bj  eee  silver  is  divided  into  several  classes,  according  to 
its  fineness  and  freedom  from  alloy.  The  kinds  most  cur- 
rent at  Canton  are  the  following  : 

1.  Kwan  heang:  the  uoppos  duties,  or  the  silver  which 
is  forwarded  to  the  imperial  treasury  at  l'ekin.  This  is  of 
'.•7  to  !<9  tonch.  On  all  the  imperial  duties  a  certain  per- 
centage is  levied  for  the  purpose  of  turning  them  into  Bycee 
Of  this  high  standard,  and  of  conveying  them  to  l'ekin  with- 
out any  loss  in  the  full  amount.  The  hoppo,  however,  in 
all  probability,  increases  the  percentage  far  above  what  is 
requisite,  that  he  may  be  enabled  to  retain  the  remainder 
for  himself  and  his  dependants. 

2.  Fan  hoo,  or  fan  foo :  the  treasurer's  receipts,  or  that  in 
which  the  land  tax  is  paid.  This  is  also  of  high  standard, 
but  inferior  to  the  boppoS  duties  ;  and  being  intended  for 
use  in  the  province,  and  not-for  conveyance  to  Pekin,  no 
percentage  is  levied  on  the  taxes  for  it. 

3.  Yuen  paon,  literally  "chief  in  value."  This  kind  is 
usually  imported  from  Soochan  in  large  pieces  of  50  taels 
each.  It  does  not  appear  to  belong  to  any  particular  gov- 
ernment tax. 

4.  Yen,  or  een  hearg,  "  salt  duties."  It  is  difficult  to  ac- 
count for  these  being  of  so  low  a  standard,  the  salt  trade 
being  entirely  a  government  monopoly. 

5.  Muh  tue.  or  wuh  tue,  the  name  of  which  signifying 
"uncleansed  or  unpurified,"  designates  it  as  the  worst  of 
all.  It  is  seldom  used  except  for  the  purpose  of  plating. 
(Prinsep's  "  Useful  Tables,"  Appendix  to  Journal  of  Asiatic 
Society.  8vo,  Calcutta,  1834.) 

HY<  i  I'M  A.     (Gr.  avKov,  a  fig.)    A  fig-shaped  tumour. 

SY'COPHANT.  (Gr.  mKufavrvs.  from  ovkov,  a  fig, 
(paivw,  I  disclose.)  It  was  forbidden  by  the  laws  of  Athens 
at  one  period  to  export  figs.  The  public  informers  who 
gave  notice  of  delinquencies  against  this  fiscal  law  were 
extremely  unpopular,  and  hence  the  word  came  into  use  to 
signify  an  informer  or  false  accuser  generally;  in  which 
sense  it  is  constantly  used  by  Aristophanes  and  the  orators. 
In  modern  languages  it  has  acquired  the  sense  of  a  mean 
flatterer. 

SYCo'SIS.  A  tubercular  eruption  upon  the  scalp,  or 
bearded  part  of  the  face  :  it  sometimes  forms  a  very  trouble- 
some impediment  to  shaving. 

SY'EXITE.  A  granitic  rock  from  Siicne,  or  Siena,  in 
Egypt  It  often  has  the  appearance  of  a  variety  of  granite. 
See  Geology. 

SY'LLABLE.  (Gr.  cv\Xa€n.  from  ci'^XauSaiui,  /collect), 
is  defined  by  Girard,  the  celebrated  French  grammarian,  "a 
simple  or  compound  sound,  pronounced  with  all  its  articu- 
lations by  a  single  impulsion  of  the  voice."  The  principal 
difficulty  in  arranging  the  syllabic  construction  of  language 
is  to  ascertain  m  what  cases  two  or  more  consonants  fol- 
lowing each  other  may  be  joined  in  a  syllable  :  which  can 
only  he  done  by  investigation  of  the  mechanism  of  speech. 
(See  a  learned  article  on  this  subject  in  the  Kucyclopedie.) 

SY'LLABCS.  (Gr.  mi  and  bauSavu.)  A  compendium 
or  abridgment,  or  a  table  of  contents  ;  as  a  syllabus  of  lec- 
tures. &c. 

SYLLE'PSIS.  (Gr.  <rv>Ai?Vri?,  connexion,  or  taking  to- 
gether.) In  Grammar,  sometimes  called  substitution.  A 
name  given  by  some  writers  to  that  idiom  of  the  Greek  and 
Latin  languages  w  hereby  an  adjective  predicated  of  a  mas- 
culine and  feminine  substantive  is  made  to  accord  in  gender 
with  the  former:  e.g.,  "rex  ct  regina  beati." 

SYXLOGISM  (Gr.  cri'AArjw,  /  collrd.)  In  Logic,  an 
argument  Stated  in  the  correct  logieal  form,  consisting  .if 
three  propositions,  and  having  the  property  that  the  conclu- 
sion necessarily  follows  from  the  two  premises;  so  that  if 
the  premises  be  true,  the  conclusion  must  be  true  also.  (See 
Proposition,  Logic.)  As  often  as  the  mind  observes  any 
two  notions  t"  agree  with  a  third,  it  immediately  concludes 
that  they  agree  with  each  other:  as,  A  is  equal  toBj  B  is 
equal  to  C;  therefore  A  is  equal  to  C.  Or,  if  it  finds  that 
one  of  them  agrees  and  the  other  di^.-igrees  with  the  third,  it 
pronounces  that  the]  disagree  with  each  other.      In  the  first 

ot'  these  proci isees  t  produces  a  syllogism  with  an  affirma- 
nclusion  in  the  latter,  a  syllogism  With  a  negative 
ooncloslon. 

Syllogisms   are  variously  divided  :   by  some  into  single, 
complex,  and  conjui  ctive,  fee. ;  by  others  (according  to  the 
i  system  ot"  logic    into  categorical,  hypothetical,  con- 
ditional, fcc.    But  the  categorical  syllogism,  consisting  of 


SYLLOGISM. 

three  categorical  propositions,  is  the  simplest  form  of  reason- 
ing, and  that  to  which  all  other  forms  can  be  reduced. 

The  following  are  the  two  canons  by  which  the  validity 
of  a  categorical  syllogism  is  explained  :  1.  If  two  terms, 
»".  e.,  notions  expressed  in  language  (see  Term),  agree  with 
one  and  the  same  third,  they  agree  with  each  other.  2.  If 
one  term  agrees,  and  another  disagrees  with  a  third,  the 
two  first  disagree  with  one  another.  Hence  are  deduced  the 
six  following  rules : 

1.  Every  syllogism  has  three  terms  only,  viz.,  the  middle 
term,  and  the'  two  extremes.  The  subject  of  the  conclusion 
is  called  the  minor  term  ;  its  predicate  the  major  term  :  the 
middle  term  is  that  with  which  they  are  respectively  com- 
pared. 2.  Every  syllogism  has  three  propositions  only :  the 
major  premiss,  in  which  the  major  term  is  compared  with 
the  middle  ,  the  minor  premiss,  in  which  the  minor  term  is 
compared  with  the  middle;  and  the  conclusion,  in  which 
the  major  and  minor  terms  are  compared  together.  3.  The 
middle  term  must  be,  in  logical  language,  distributed  once 
at  least  in  the  premises ;  i.  e.,  it  must  be  the  subject  of  a 
universal,  or  the  predicate  of  a  negative  (see  Proposition)  ; 
otherwise  it  may  happen  that  one  of  the  extremes  is  com- 
pared with  one  part  of  it,  and  the  other  with  another  part. 
4.  No  term  must  be  distributed  in  the  conclusion  which  is 
not  distributed  in  one  of  the  premises ;  otherwise  the  whole 
term  would  be  employed  in  the  conclusion,  where  part  only 
are  employed  in  the  premiss :  this  error  is  called  an  illicit 
process  of  the  major  or  minor  premiss.  5.  From  negative 
premises  you  can  infer  nothing  ;  i.  e.,  if  two  terms  disagree 
with  a  third,  you  cannot  conclude  either  their  mutual  agree- 
ment or  disagreement.  6.  If  one  premiss  be  negative,  the 
conclusion  must  be  negative  ;  for  if  one  term  disagree  with 
the  middle,  it  must  of  necessity  also  disagree  with  the  other. 
The  other  rules  are  corollaries  deducible  from  these  six. 

The  mood  of  a  syllogism  is  the  designation  of  its  three 
propositions  in  their  order,  according  to  their  respective 
quantity  and  quality.  By  reference  to  tiie  head  Proposi- 
tion, it  will  be  seen  that  arbitrary  symbols  are  adopted  in 
logic  to  mark  the  quality  and  quantity  of  propositions  :  thus 
A  stands  for  a  universal  affirmative  ;  E  represents  a  univer- 
sal negative  ;  I,  a  particular  affirmative;  and  O  a  particular 
negative.  These  four  letters  will  afford  sixty-four  different 
combinations  of  three  letters ;  but  of  these  the  greater  part 
will  afford  syllogisms  erring  against  some  one  or  more  of 
the  rules  previously  laid  down:  thus  EEE  would  be  at 
once  inadmissible,  as  exhibiting  two  negative  premises — 
against  rule  5.  By  an  accurate  examination,  it  is  found  that 
eleven  moods  only  will  afford  correct  syllogisms:  AAA, 
A  A  I,  A  E  E,  A  E  O,  A  1 1,  A  O  O,  E  A  E,  E  A  O,  E I  O, 
I  A  I,  and  O  A  O. 

The  figure  of  a  syllogism  consists  in  the  situation  of  the 
middle  term  with  reference  to  the  major  and  minor  terms. 
1.  The  first  figure  is  where  the  middle  term  is  the  subject 
of  the  major  premiss,  and  predicate  of  the  minor.  2.  Where 
the  middle  term  is  the  predicate  of  both  premises.  3.  Where 
it  is  the  subject  of  both.  4.  Where  it  is  the  predicate  of  the 
major,  and  subject  of  the  minor.  Multiplying  the  moods  by 
the  figures,  we  should  have  forty-four  different  syllogisms. 
But  it  will  be  found,  on  examination,  that  five  moods  in 
each  figure  (twenty  in  all)  would  err  against  some  one  or 
other  of  the  rules  before  laid  down  :  e.  g.,  I A  I  is  an  allow- 
able mood  in  the  third  figure  ;  but,  in  the  first,  it  would  have 
an  undistributed  middle.  Of  the  twenty-four  remaining, 
five  are  unnecessary  ;  i.  <?.,  they  are  moods  in  which  a  par- 
ticular conclusion  only  is  inferred  from  premises  which 
would  warrant  a  universal.  The  nineteen  remaining  are 
expressed  in  the  following  mnemonic  lines  : 

Fig.  1,  4  moods:  BAriArA,  cElArEnt,  dArll,  fErlOque, 

prioris. 
Fig.  2,  4  moods  :  CEsArE,  cAmEstrEs,  fEsthiO,  bArO- 

kO,  secundffi. 
Fig.  3,  6  moods:  Tenia  dArAptl,  dlsAmls,  dAtlsI,  /E- 

lAptOn,  BOkArdO,  fErlsOn,  habet :  quarta  insuper 

addit. 
Fig.  4,  5  moods:  BrAmAntlp,  cAmEnEs,  dlmArls,  /E- 

sApO,  frEsIsOn. 

One  mood  in  each  figure  may  be  given  by  way  of  exam- 
ple. The  letter  M  designates  the  middle  term ;  the  letter 
preceding  the  proposition  its  quantity  and  quality. 

1.  A.  All  excess  (M)  is  sinful. 

A.  All  gluttony  is  excess  (M)  :  therefore, 

A.  All  excess  is  sinful.     (A  syllogism  in  Barbara.) 

2.  A.  Everything  expedient  is  lawful  (M). 

E.  Nothing  unjust  is  lawful  (M) :  therefore, 
E.  Nothing  unjust  is  expedient.     (A  syllogism  in  Ca- 
mestres.) 

3.  A.  All  conquerors  (M)  are  cruel. 

I.   Some  conquerors  (M)  are  just :  therefore, 

I.   Some  just  men  are  cruel.     (A  syllogism  in  Datisi.) 

4.  A.  Whatever  is  expedient  is  conformable  to  nature  (M). 


SYMBOL. 

E.  Whatever  is  conformable  to  nature  (M)  is  not  hurt- 
ful: therefore, 
E.  What  is  hurtful  is  not  expedient.     (A  syllogism  in 
Camenes.) 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  all  these  instances  the  major 
premiss  is  presumed  to  precede  the  minor;  but  although 
this  is  the  most  convenient  form  of  reasoning,  the  minor 
premiss  is,  with  equal  validity,  made  the  first  in  the  series : 
e-g; 

Brutus  is  an  honourable  man  : 
Honourable  men  affirm  the  truth ;  therefore 
Brutus  affirms  the  truth. 

This  is  a  syllogism  in  Barbara,  with  the  minor  premiss 
placed  before  the  major. 

The  fourth  figure  is  considered  to  be  inverted  and  un- 
natural ;  and  the  first  three  figures,  with  their  fourteen 
moods,  furnish  almost  every  argument  which  is  employed, 
however  far  it  may  be  removed  in  appearance,  through  the 
intricacy  of  language,  from  the  syllogistic  form.  But  all  ar- 
guments may  be  brought,  by  an  ingenious  process  termed 
reduction,  into  one  or  other  of  the  four  moods  of  the  first 
figure. 

In  reducing  a  syllogism,  the  premises  may  be  illatively 
converted  (see  Illative  Conversion),  or  transposed  ;  since 
the  force  of  the  argument  can  be  altered  by  neither  of  these 
processes.  By  employing  this  liberty,  we  deduce  either  the 
same  conclusion  with  the  original,  or  another  conclusion 
from  which  the  original  conclusion  follows  by  illative  con- 
version. We  have  not  space  to  explain,  by  examples,  these 
various  processes.  The  letters  which  compose  the  names 
of  the  syllogistic  moods  are  framed  to  express  the  manner 
in  which  those  of  the  three  last  figures  are  reduced  into 
those  of  the  first.  The  first  letter  indicates  the  mood  into 
which  those  beginning  with  the  same  letter  are  to  be  re- 
duced:  e.g.,  Bramantip  is  reducible  into  Barbara;  m  indicates 
that  the  premises  are  to  be  transposed ;  s  and  p  that  the 
proposition  denoted  by  the  vowel  immediately  preceding  is 
to  be  converted— s  simply,  p  per  accidens ;  k,  which  occurs 
only  in  Baroko  and  Bokardo,  indicates  that  the  proposition 
denoted  by  the  vowel  immediately  before  it  must  be  left  out, 
and  the  contradictory  of  the  conclusion  (see  Contradio- 
tory)  substituted,  which  is  termed  the  reductio  ad  impos- 
sibile. 

A  hypothetical  syllogism  is  one  in  which  the  conclusion 
is  deduced  from  a  hypothetical  premiss  (called  the  major) 
and  a  categorical  premiss  (called  the  minor).  It  is  of  two 
kinds— conditional  and  disjunctive  :  the  first  subdivided  into 
constructive  and  destructive. 

I  If  the  demand  increases,  the  supply  will  In- 
crease : 
But  the  demand  increases  ; 
Therefore  the  supply  will  increase. 
("If  the  country  is  flourishing,  agriculture  is 

2.  Conditional!      flourishing: 

destructive,  j  But  agriculture  is  not  flourishing  ; 

t  Therefore  the  country  is  not  flourishing, 
f  Either  A  is  B,  or  C  isD: 

3.  Disjunctive.-;  But  A  is  not  B  ; 

I  Therefore  C  is  D. 

It  is  evident  that  a  disjunctive  syllogism  may  easily  he  re- 
duced to  a  conditional.  (See  the  Compendium  of  Logic  by 
Dean  Aldrich,  commonly  used  at  Oxford  ;  and  the  Treatise 
of  Archbishop  Whately.) 

SYLPH.  (Gr.  criXif  >/,  a  kind  of  insect.)  The  name  given 
to  the  spirits  of  air  in  the  fantastic  nomenclature  of  the 
Rosicrucians  and  Cabalists.  (See  those  articles.)  The  use 
which  Pope  has  made  of  this  fancy  in  his  Rape  of  the  Lock 
is  well  known.  He  seems  to  have  borrowed  it  from  the 
enigmatical  romance  called  the  Count  dc  Gabalis. 

SY'MBOL.  (Gr.  ovfiBoXov  ;  from  aw,  together,  and  /3aA- 
>(j,  /  throw.)  A  word  of  many  meanings,  although  now 
commonly  used  in  one  only.  1.  The  primary  meaning  of 
the  verb  av^iMciv  expresses  the  act  of  several  in  consti- 
tuting or  throwing  together  portions  to  form  a  whole.  Hence 
av^oXov  signified  a  treaty  or  agreement.  (Jrist.  Polit.) 
And  it  seems  to  be  in  this  sense  that  the  creeds  are  termed 
bv  earlv  ecclesiastical  writers  symbols  :  either  because  (as 
Augustine  says)  all  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  Christian- 
ity are  collected  in  them ;  or  from  the  old  traditional  story, 
related  by  Rufinus,  that  the  creed  called  the  Apostles'  was 
formed  by  each  of  them  contributing  a  sentence.  (See 
Creed.)  2.  The  mind  may  be  said  to  put  together  (avfiSaX- 
\eiv)  outward  appearances,  and  collect  from  them  the  notion 
of  a  thing  signified  by  them  ;  and  hence  the  outward  ap- 
pearances themselves  derive  the  appellation  of  symbols,  signs, 
or  emblems ;  while  the  act  of  the  mind  is  termed  conjec- 
ture (Lat.  conjicio).  Thus,  the  standards  of  military  bodies 
were  called  by  the  Greeks  symbols ;  as  likewise  omens  and 
portents  ;  and  expressions  or  figures  denoting  a  received 
meaning,  as  the  Pythagorean  symbols.  In  this  sense,  the 
early  Christian  church  called  all  rites,  ceremonies,  and  out- 
ward forms,  bearing  a  religious  meaning,  by  the  general 

1209 


SYMMETRICAL  SOLIDS. 

name  of  symbols ;  the  sacraments  themselves,  and  the 
sacramental  elements,  the  Cross,  and,  in  later  times,  images 

and  pictures.  Symbols,  properly  so  culled,  must  lie  distin- 
guished from  types,  i.e..  phenomena,  manifestations  record- 
ed in  the  Old  Testament,  of  which  the  full  meaning  is  de- 
veloped  by  correlative  manifestations  in  the  Xew  ;  and  from 
mere  symbolical  attributes,  such  as  the  figures  usually  Intro- 
duced in  company  of  the  lour  Evangelists.  Symbolical  books 
are  such  as  contain  the  creeds  and  confessions  of  different 
churches;  such  as  the  three  creeds,  received  by  all;  the 
Confession  of  Augsburg,  received  by  the  Lutherans  ;  the  ar- 
ticles of  the  Church  of  England,  &.c.  The  Germans  call  the 
study  of  the  symbols  and  mysterious  rites  of  antiquity,  and 
also  the  study  of  the  history  and  contents  of  Christian  creeds 
and  confessions  of  faith,  by  the  name  of  Symbolics  (mytho- 
logical or  theological.)  Jlarhcincke's  Institutiones  Sym- 
bolic*, of  which  the  first  edition  appeared  in  1812,  is  one  of 
their  most  distinguished  works  in  the  latter  class. 

SYMMETRICAL  SOLIDS.  In  Geometry,  a  name  given 
by  Legendre  to  solids  which,  though  equal  and  similar,  can- 
not be  brought  to  coincide  with  each  other,  or  to  occupy  the 
same  portion  of  space.  A  man's  two  hands  affords  an  ex- 
ample of  symmetrical  solids.  The  equality  of  plane  figures 
is  proved  by  showing  that  they  may  be  made  to  coincide, 
but  it  is  evident  that  this  mode  of  proof  cannot  be  extended 
to  all  solids. 
.SYMMETRY.  In  the  Fine  Arts.  See  Proportion. 
SY*MPATHY.  {Gt.  cvundoxu,  I  suffer  with.)  In  .Moral 
Philosophy,  the  quality  of  being  affected  by  feelings  common 
to  our  fellow-men.  In  his  Theory  of  Moral  Sentiments,  Dr. 
Smith  maintains  that  sympathy  is  the  real  foundation  of 
morals.  (See  Virtue.}  For  a  succinct  statement  of  this 
theory,  see  "  The  Life  of  Dr.  Smith,"  prefixed  to  M'Culloch's 
edition  of  the  Health  of  Nations,  p.  iv.  In  the  Fine  Arts, 
the  term  signifies  conformity  of  the  parts  to  each  other ;  but 
in  Painting  it  is  more  usually  applied  to  the  effective  union 
of  colours. 

SY'.Ml'HOXY.  (Gr.  civ,  with,  and  <pu>vri,  voice.)  In 
Music,  a  composition  which,  from  the  etymology  of  the  term, 
evidently  implies  that  the  voice  anciently  formed  an  essen- 
tial part  of  its  construction.  In  the  present  day,  however, 
the  term  is  otherwise  applied,  and  is  exclusively  used  for  a 
piece  in  which  instruments  only  are  engaged.  It  is,  in  fact, 
a  composition  for  a  perfect  instrumental  orchestra,  which, 
until  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  was  unknown. 
The  Concert!  grossi  of  Corelli  were  the  first  of  the  species, 
which  was  carried  out  to  a  greater  extent  in  the  works  of 
Geminiani  and  Vivaldi ;  but  it  does  not  seem  to  us  that  he- 
fore  the  time  of  Haydn  it  can  be  said  to  have  assumed  the 
form  which  the  name  now  imports.  There  is,  perhaps,  no 
musical  composition  in  which  the  power  of  the  author  is  so 
completely  developed  as  in  a  symphony.  The  musician  in  it 
becomes  a  poet,  or,  perhaps  rather,  a  painter.  Scenes  and 
the  passions  are  represented  therein  by  a  combination  of 
musical  sounds  ;  hi  illustration  of  which  we  need  only  cite 
that  splendid  work  of  Beethoven,  known  to  all  under  the 
name  of  II  Pastorale.  The  general  form  of  the  symphony 
may  be  thus  described  :  It  opens  with  a  short,  serious,  slow 
movement ;  this  is  followed  by,  and  forms  a  contrast  to  one 
of  spirit  and  of  a  lively  nature ;  then  comes  an  andante 
varied,  or  an  adagio  or  slow  movement;  a  minuet  with  its 
trio  follows  ;  and  the  symphony  usually  closes  with  a  lively 
rondo,  or  a  finale  of  rapid  motion. 

SY'MPHYSIS.  (Gr.  cm (i<j>vav,  to  grow  together.)  A  term 
applied  to  the  junction  of  certain  bones,  or  to  joints  not  ad- 
mitting of  motion,  as  the  symphysis  of  the  pubes. 

SYMPIESl  ('METER.  (Gr.  crv/jr[f\w,  I compress  ;  nerpov, 
measure.)  An  instrument  contrived  by  Mr.  Adie  of  Edin- 
burgh for  measuring  the  weight  of  the  atmosphere  by  the 
compression  of  a  column  of  nas.  It  consisis  of  a  glass  tube 
A  B  C  of  about  18  inches  in  length,  bent  as  repre- 
sented in  the  annexed  figure,  and  having  an  en- 
larged portion  or  bulb  of  about  2  inches  in  length 
and  half  an  inch  in  diameter  at  each  end.  The  top 
at  A  is  hermetically  sealed,  and  the  other  extremity 
C  can  be  stopped  by  a  cork.  The  upper  part  of  the 
\m'  tube  A  m  is  filled  with  some  permanently  elastic 
gas  different  from  common  air  (hydrogen  gas  is 
found  to  answer  best),  and  the  lower  m  I!  ;i  with  a 
fixed  oil,  or  some  fluid  which  does  not  act  upon  the 
gas  and  is  not  acted  upon  by  air. 

The  tube  being  opened  at  C,  the  oil  is  exposed  to 
the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere,  and  stands  at  a 
*i  |B  height  m.  corresponding  to  the  difference  of  the 
i  ■i  of  the  atmosphere  and  of  the  column  of 
"     enclosed  gas.     Consequently,  as  the  atmospheric 
pressure  becomes  greater  the  l'.is  will  be  compressed,  and 
the  column  of  oil  will  rise.    The  change  in  the  bulk  of  the 
g.is  occasioned  by  a  change  of  pressure  is  measured  by  a 
dch  is  formed  experimentally,  and  of  which  the  di- 
visions are  entirely  arbitrary. 
But  as  the  bulk  of  the  enclosed  gas  is  altered  by  any 
1210 


SYNCHRONISM. 

change  of  temperature  as  well  as  of  pressure,  it  is  necessary 
to  apply  a  correction  on  this  account.  For  this  purpose  B 
common  thermometer  is  attached  to  the  instrument  to  indi- 
cate the  temperature  ;  and  the  principal  or  barometric  scale, 
which  measures  the  compression  of  the  gas,  is  made  to  slide 
upon  another  scale  divided  so  as  to  represent  the  change  of 
bulk  in  the  gas  produced  by  a  change  of  temperature  under 
the  same  pressure,  and  corresponding  to  the  graduation  of 
the  thermometer.  In  making  an  observation,  the  tem- 
perature is  first  observed  by  the  thermometer;  an  index  or 
pointer,  which  is  fixed  to  the  top  of  the  sliding  scale,  is  then 
set  opposite  to  the  degree  of  temperature  on  the  fixed  scale, 
and  the  number  on  the  sliding  scale  opposite  the  top  of  the 
column  of  oil  gives  the  pressure  of  the  air  in  inches  of  the 
mercurial  barometer. 

The  principle  of  the  sympicsometer  is  the  same  as  that  of 
the  manometer,  or  air  barometer,  which  was  long  ago  pro- 
posed by  Hooke  ;  and  Mr.  Adie's  great  improvement  con- 
sists in  the  substitution  of  a  gas  for  common  air,  which  has 
the  defect  of  being  absorbed  by  the  enclosing  fluid.  It  is  a 
valuable  instrument  at  sea,  as  it  is  not  affected  in  any  degree 
by  the  motion  of  the  ship;  and  it  possesses  several  advan- 
tages over  the  barometer  in  its  convenient  size,  its  greater 
portability,  and  in  being  less  liable  to  accident.  (See  the 
Edinburgh  Encyclopedia,  art.  "  Meteorology  ;"  Edin.  Phil. 
Journal,  No.  1 ;  Edin.  Journal  of  Science,  No.  20.) 

SYMPO'SIARCH.  (Gr.  cvpirooiov,  feast,  and  apxu,  I 
rule.)  The  ruler  or  master  of  a  feast ;  one  selected  by  the 
consent  of  the  party  to  be  their  president  for  the  occasion, 
whom  the  Greeks  sometimes  called  fiactXcvt.  The  word 
rendered  "governor  of  the  feast,"  in  John,  ii.,  8,  is  ap\irpi- 
kXii'oc.  Some  think  that  a  priest  or  Levite  was  chosen  to 
fill  this  office  in  Jewish  feasts. 

SYN^E'RESIS.  (Gr.  owaipoi,  I  contract.)  Otherwise 
called  Crasis.  (Gr.  Kpaesis,  mixture.)  In  Grammar,  the 
contraction  of  two  syllables  into  one  by  the  formation  of  a 
diphthong,  or  by  rendering  one  of  them  mute:  as,  Atreides 
for  Atreides.     See  Metaplasm. 

SY'NAGOGUE.  (Gr.  avvayia,  I  assemble.)  The  reli- 
gious assemblies  of  the  Jews  are  so  called  by  Hellenic 
writers.  The  Jews  had  no  synagogues,  it  is  thought,  before 
the  Babylonish  captivity.  They  were  first  formed  after  the 
return  of  the  Jews  to  the  Holy  Land.  The  rule  was,  that  a 
synagogue  was  to  be  erected  in  any  place  where  there  were 
ten  persons  of  full  age  and  free  condition  ready  to  attend 
the  service  of  it.  Others,  however,  consider  the  ten  bate! in  hi, 
to  use  the  Hebrew  word,  to  have  been  ten  elders,  or  station- 
ary men  of  the  synagogue.  (See  Lightfoot.)  The  service 
performed  in  the  synagogues  consisted,  and  still  consists,  of 
prayers,  reading  the  scriptures,  and  preaching  and  expound- 
ing of  them.  The  prayers  are  contained  in  liturgies.  The 
reading  of  the  scripture  consists  of  three  portions :  the 
"Shema,"  certain  selected  passages  from  Deuteronomy  and 
Numbers ;  the  law  and  the  prophets.  The  third  part  of  the 
service  is  mentioned  in  several  places  in  the  narratives  of  the 
life  of  our  Saviour,  and  the  Acts:  Luke,  iv.,  16;  Acts,  xiii., 
5.  The  times  of  the  synagogue  service  were  three  days  a 
week  (Monday,  Thursday,  and  Saturday),  besides  the  holy- 
days.  The  ministration  of  the  synagogue  was  not  confined 
to  the  order  of  priests ;  the  elders,  or  "rulers  of  Ihe  syna- 
gogue" were  persons  qualified,  and  duly  admitted,  of  all 
tribes.     (PrideauX,  Connexion,  vol.  i.) 

SYNALAi'PHA.  (Gr.  ow,  together,  akueba,  I  anoint ; 
from  the  melting  together  of  two  sounds.)  In  Classical 
Prosody,  the  usage  by  which,  when  a  word  ends  with  a 
vowel,  wilh  the  letter  m,  and  the  next  begins  with  a  vowel, 
the  final  syllable  of  Ihe  one  runs  into  the  first  of  the  other. 
This,  in  Latin  verse,  also  takes  place  when  the  last  letter  is 
m  ;  but  the  usage  in  this  instance  is  called  ecthlipsis,  or  eli- 
sion. The  synahepha  is  commonly,  though  not  with  equal 
regularity,  adopted  in  Italian  and  Spanish  poetry,  and  is  not 
(infrequently attempted, especially  by  Milton,  in  our  own; 
in  French  it  extends  only  to  the  e  mute  at  the  end  of  words. 

SYNARTHROSIS.  (Gr.  r.i.  with,  and  apOpov,  a  joint.) 
The  immoveable  connexion  of  one  bone  with  another. 

S\  M'A'ltrOI'S.   (Gr.ovv,  tad  Kapxttc,  fruit.)   In  Ii.  i. 
a  term  applied  to  the  carpels  of  a  compound  pistil  when  they 
are  completely  united  into  an   undivided  body,  as  in  the 
oranse. 

ST?  M'  ITBGQREMA'TTC.  (Gr.ow,  and  xaTnyopvua;  a 
word  employed  together  with  categorematics  or  terms.)  In 
Logic,  a  word  which  cannot  be  employed  by  itself  as  a  term, 
but  requires  to  be  conjoined  with  another  "or  Others  for  that 
purpose.     Such  are   adverbs,    prepositions,   nouns  in   other 

cases  besides  the  nominative,  fee.    n<<  Term. 

S\  M  UONDRO'SIS.  <C.r.n,v,;uu\x„iif,v(. a  cartilage.) 
The  junction  of  one  bone  With  another  by  an  intervening 
cartilage. 

SYNCHRONISM.  (Gr.  cm-,  and  Movac,  time.)  The 
tabular  arrangement  of  history  according  to  dates,  by  which 
contemporary  persons  and  things  in  different  countries  are 
brought  together. 


SYNCLINAL. 

SYNCLI'NAL.     See  Anticlinal. 

SYNCOPA'TION.    In  Music.     See  Driving  Notes. 

SY'NCOPE.  (Gr.  avv,  and  koittiv,  /  cut.)  A  figure  of 
Grammar,  by  which  one  or  more  letters  are  omitted  in  the 
middle  of  a  word ;  as  in  the  Latin  litus  for  littus.  See 
Metaplasm. 

Syncope.  In  Pathology,  fainting.  A  disease  in  which 
the  circulation  and  respiration  temporarily  cease,  or  become 
extremely  feeble. 

Syncope.    In  Music.     See  Legato. 

SY'NCRETiSM.  (Gr.  aw,  and  Kpaaig,  mixture.)  In 
Philosophy,  the  blending  of  the  tenets  of  different  schools 
into  a  system.  A  party  among  the  Platonists  at  the  revival 
of  letters,  to  which  belonged  Ammonius,  Pico  della  Miran- 
dola,  Bessarion,  and  other  distinguished  men,  have  received 
the  name  of  Syncretists. 

SY'NCRETISTS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  the  partisans 
of  Calixtus,  a  Lutheran  divine  of  the  16th  century,  who  en- 
deavoured to  form  a  comprehensive  scheme  which  should 
unite  the  different  professors  of  Christianity.  The  opinions 
of  Calixtus  raised  a  strong  controversy  in  the  Lutheran 
church.  A  new  confession  of  faith  was  drawn  up  in  Sax- 
ony for  the  purpose  of  excluding  his  partisans.  As  doctrines, 
however,  they  did  not  long  survive  his  death,  although  not 
without  effect  on  the  spirit  of  the  age.  (Jllosheim,  cent, 
xvii.,  sect.  2.) 

SYNDA'CTYLES,  Syndactyli.  The  name  of  a  tribe  of 
Perchers,  including  those  which  have  the  external  and 
middle  toe  united  as  far  as  the  second  joint. 

SYNDESMOSIS.  (Gr.  avnScanos,  a  ligament.)  The 
union  of  one  bone  with  another  by  means  of  ligament. 

SY'NDIC.  (Gr.  aw,  with,  Sixn,  justice.)  A  title  given 
at  different  times  to  various  municipal  and  other  officers. 
The  syndics  of  cities  in  Provence  and  Languedoc,  under  the 
old  French  government,  were  officers  delegated  by  the  muni- 
cipality as  agents  or  mandatories.  Such  were  also  the  syn- 
dics of  trading  companies.  The  creditors  of  a  bankrupt,  un- 
der the  law  of  France,  appoint  syndics  or  directors  from 
among  their  number. 

SYNE'CDOCHE.  (Gr.  avv,  with,  ck,  out,  and  hxo^ai,  I 
receive.)  In  Rhetoric,  a  figure  by  which  the  whole  is  put 
for  a  part,  or  part  for  the  whole.  It  is  a  species  of  trope. 
(See  Trope.)  There  are  six  ordinary  instances  of  synec- 
doche :  1.  When  genus  is  put  for  species  (as  "  being"  in  the 
sense  of  "man").  2.  When  species  is  put  for  genus.  3. 
When  the  essential  whole  is  put  for  one  of  its  parts.  4. 
When  the  matter,  or  form,  is  put  for  the  whole  being.  5. 
The  whole  for  a  part.    6.  A  part  for  the  whole. 

SYNE'CHIA.  (Gr.  owcx™,  I  adhere.)  A  disease  of  the 
eye,  in  which  the  iris  adheres  to  the  cornea,  or  to  the  cap- 
sule of  the  crystalline  lens. 

SYNE'RGISTS.  (Gr.  awtpyiC,^,  I  co-operate.)  A  name 
given  to  a  party  in  the  Lutheran  church  in  the  latter  end 
of  the  16th  century.  Those  who  were  thus  called  appear 
to  have  held  the  doctrine  that  the  divine  grace  requires  a 
correspondent  action  of  the  human  will  in  order  to  become 
effectual ;  which,  or  something  resembling  it,  is  termed 
semi-pelagian  in  early  ecclesiastical  history.  Some  senti- 
ments expressed  by  Melancthon,  towards  the  close  of  his 
life,  seems  to  have  introduced  it  into  that  church. 

SYNEURO'SIS.  (Gr.  aw,  and  vtvpov,  a  nerve,  or  liga- 
•ment,  or  membrane.)  The  union  of  one  bone  with  another 
by  means  of  an  intervening  membrane. 

SYNGNA'THIANS,  Syngnathii.  (Gr.  aw,  with,  yvadoc, 
a  jaw.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Lophobranchiate  fishes, 
including  those  in  which  the  lengthened  jaws  are  united  by 
a  surrounding  integument,  so  as  to  form  a  tubular  mouth : 
the  genus  Syngnathus,  or  pipe  fish,  is  the  type.  Syngnathai 
is  a  name  given  by  Dr.  Leach  to  an  order  of  Myriapodous 

SY  NGRAPHA.  (Gr.  avv,  and  ypa<j>io,  I  write.)  In 
Diplomatics,  contracts  signed  by  the  creditor  and  debtor, 
and  of  which  a  duplicate  original  was  kept  by  each. 

SYNIZE'SIS.  (Gr.  avvi^o),  I  meet.)  An  obliteration  of 
the  pupil  of  the  eye ;  a  closed  pupil. 

SY'NOCHA.  (Gr.  awcx^y  I  continue.)  A  continued  in- 
flammatory fever.  The  term  synochus  is  applied  to  con- 
tinued fevers,  which  are  in  their  symptoms  intermediate  be- 
tween synocha  and  typhus.  They  are  also  called  mixed 
fevers. 

SYNOD.  (Gr.  avvoSo;,  employed  in  that  language  to  sig- 
nify a  council  or  ecclesiastical  assembly.)  Among  the  mod- 
erns a  distinction  is  sometimes  made  between  a  council  and 
a  synod ;  the  former  term  representing  a  general  assembly 
of  the  episcopal,  provincial,  or  national  order;  the  latter  the 
convention  of  the  inferior  clergy  of  a  diocess  under  its  bish- 
op or  archdeacon.     See  Council. 

Synod.  In  the  Scottish  Kirk,  an  assembly  composed  of 
two  or  more  presbyteries.  It  consists  of  every  parish  min- 
ister within  its  limits,  and  of  the  elders  who  have  last  rep- 
resented the  different  sessions  in  the  presbytery.  There  are 
sixteen  synods  in  Scotland.    See  Presbytery. 


SYSTEM. 

SY'NOD  OF  DORT.     See  Dort,  Synod  of. 

SYNO'DIC.  (Gr.  avv,  together,  oSos,  pathway.)  In  As- 
tronomy, the  synodic  revolution  of  a  planet  (or  the  moon), 
with  respect  to  the  sun,  is  the  time  between  two  consecu- 
tive conjunctions  or  oppositions.  The  duration  of  this 
period  is  easily  found  when  the  difference  between  the 
mean  motion  of  the  planet  and  sun  in  a  given  interval  of 
time  is  known ;  for  this  difference  is  to  360°  as  the  given 
interval  to  the  synodic  revolution.  The  synodical  month  is 
the  period  of  the  moon's  synodic  revolution,  and  is  the  same 
with  lunar  month  or  lunation.     See  Moon. 

SY'NONYMS.  (,Gr.  aw,  and  ovofia,  a  name.)  Words 
of  the  same  language  which  have  a  similar  signification. 
Strictly  speaking,  words  having  exactly  the  same  significa- 
tion are  not  to  be  found  in  any  language,  unless  one  of  them 
has  been  borrowed  from  another  language  ;  but  in  this  case 
the  shades  of  difference  are  often  so  slight  that  words  may 
be  frequently  used  for  one  another,  and  this  interchange 
produces  a  pleasing  variety  in  composition,  necessary  in 
poetry.  Synonyms  form  an  important  object  of  philological 
study,  demanding,  on  the  part  of  the  inquirer,  great  know- 
ledge of  the  principles  of  language.  The  chief  works  on 
this  subject  are  the  Onomasticon  on  Greek,  Dumesnil  on 
Latin,  Blair,  Booth,  and  Crabbe  on  English,  Stosch  and 
Eberhard  on  German,  and  Girard,  Beauzee,  and  Roubaud 
on  French  synonyms. 

SYNO'PSIS.  (Gr.  aw,  together,  oipts,  view.)  A  collective 
view  of  any  subject ;  as  a  synopsis  of  astronomv,  theology,  &c. 

SYNO'VIA.  (Gr.  aw,  and  uov,  an  egg.)  The  fluid 
which  lubricates  the  cartilaginous  surfaces  of  the  joints  :  it 
is  glairy,  and  resembles  the  white  of  egg. 

SY'NTAX.  (Gr.  awrdaaw,  I  arrange  together.)  In 
Grammar  and  Rhetoric,  the  disposition  of  the  words  and 
members  of  a  sentence  in  the  grammatical  arrangements 
proper  to  the  language.    See  Grammar. 

SY'NTHESIS.  (Gr.  avv,  with  ;  ti0Wi,  /  place.)  In 
Geometry  and  Logic,  the  method  of  demonstration  which 
sets  out  from  some  principle  established  or  assumed,  or 
proposition  already  demonstrated,  and  ascends  through  a 
series  of  propositions  to  that  which  is  enunciated.  Synthe- 
sis is  also  called  the  direct  method  or  composition,  and  is 
the  reverse  of  analysis  or  resolution.  It  is  the  method  fol- 
lowed in  Euclid's  Elements.  For  the  sense  in  which 
analysis  and  synthesis  were  understood  by  the  ancient 
geometricians,  see  Analysis. 

Synthesis.  In  Chemistry,  those  chemical  operations 
by  which  compounds  are  obtained  by  the  union  of  the  sepa- 
rate component  parts  are  called  synthetic.  The  term  is 
especially  used  as  opposed  to  analysis.  Thus  I  demonstrate 
the  composition  of  water  analytically  by  resolving  it  into 
oxygen  and  hydrogen  gases ;  and  synthetically,  by  recom- 
bining  those  gases  so  as  again  to  produce  the  water  which 
had  previously  been  decomposed  ;  the  terms  synthesis  and 
analysis  being,  in  fact,  synonymous  with  composition  and 
decompositimi. 

SY'PHILIS.  (Probably  from  Gr.  a«t>\os,  unclean.)  The 
venereal  disease. 

SY'RINGE.  In  Hydraulics,  a  machine  consisting  of  a 
small  cylinder  with  an  air-tight  piston  or  sucker,  which  is 
moved  up  and  down  in  it  by  means  of  a  handle.  The  lower 
end  of  the  cylinder  terminates  in  a  small  tube,  through 
which  a  fluid  is  forced  into  the  body  of  the  cylinder  by  the 
atmospheric  pressure  when  the  handle  is  drawn  up,  and 
then  expelled  in  a  small  jet  by  pushing  the  handle  in  the 
opposite  direction.  The  syringe  acts  on  the  principle  of  the 
sucking  pump.  The  syringe  is  also  used  as  a  pneumatic 
machine  for  condensing  or  exhausting  the  air  in  a  close 
vessel,  but  for  this  purpose  it  must  be  furnished  with  two 
valves.  In  the  condensing  syringe,  the  valves  open  down- 
wards and  close  upwards ;  in  the  exhausting  syringe  they 
are  closed  downwards  and  opened  upwards.  See  Air  Gun 
and  Air  Pump. 

SY'RMA.  (Gr.  ovpua,  from  avpto,  I  draw  )  A  long  gar- 
ment ;  so  called  from  its  train  reaching  the  ground.  It  was 
the  proper  dress  of  actors  in  the  classical  tragedy. 

SYSSARCO'SIS.  (Gr.  avv,  with,  and  aa/jt,  Jlesh.)  The 
junction  of  bones  by  intervening  muscles. 

SYSSI'TIA.  (Gr.  avaahia,  common  messes.)  An  insti- 
tution of  some  ancient  states,  particularly  Lacedsmon  and 
Crete,  by  which  the  male  freemen  had  their  meals  together 
in  common  messes,  instead  of  eating  with  their  families  in 
private. 

SYSTEM.  (Gr.  avv,  together,  and  larnui,  I  stand.)  In 
Astronomy,  an  hypothesis  of  a  certain  order  and  arrange- 
ment of  the  celestial  bodies  by  which  their  apparent  motions 
are  explained.  For  an  account  of  the  systems  of  Ptolemy, 
Copernicus,  and  Tycho  Brahe,  see  Astronomy. 

System.  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a  collection  of  the  rules  and 
principles  upon  which  an  artist  works. 

System.  In  Music,  an  interval  composed,  or  supposed 
to  be  composed,  of  several  lesser  ones ;  as  an  octave,  which 
is  a  system.    See  Diastem. 

1211 


SYSTOLE. 

SY'STOLE.  (Gr.  owrcAXui,  I  contract.)  In  Greek  and 
Laiin  prosody,  a  licence  by  which  a  long  syllable  is  used 
as  short :  e.  g., 

Ahtri  liDga  decern  tulerunt  faatidia  Menses. 

Svstole.     The  contraction  of  the  heart. 

B1  STYLE.  (Gr.  ovi,  with,  and  orvAoj,  a  column.)  In 
Architecture,  the  arrangement  of  columns  in  such  a  manner 
thai  they  are  tun  diameters  apart 

SY'ZYGIES.  (Gr.  uvCvyur,  union,  conjunction.)  In 
Astronomy,  the  places  of  the  moon  or  planets  when  in  con- 
junction or  opposition  with  the  sun. 


T. 

T,  the  nineteenth  letter  in  the  English  alphabet,  belongs 
to  that  order  of  consonants  called  dentals,  or  palato-dentals, 
and  is  susceptible  of  numerous  interchanges,  both  in  the 
ancient  and  modern  languages.  As  an  abbreviation,  T  was 
used  for  Titus,  Tilius,  and  Tullius.  The  Roman  tribunes 
indicated  their  assent  to  the  decrees  of  the  senate  by  sub- 
scribing a  T.  The  sound  of  th  is  peculiar  to  the  English 
language. 

T  BANDAGE.  A  bandage  so  named  from  its  shape;  it 
is  used  to  support  the  dressings  after  certain  surgical  opera- 
tions.    (See  Cooper's  Surgical  Dictionary.) 

TABA  R.D.  A  sort  of  tunic,  or  mantle,  covering  the  body 
before  and  behind,  reaching  below  the  loins,  but  open  at 
the  Sides  from  the  shoulders  downwards:  an  ordinary  article 
of  die^s  iii  England  and  France  in  the  middle  ages.  It  was 
at  first  chiefly  used  by  the  military,  afterwards  by  other 
classes.  The  tabard,  with  coats  of  arms  blazoned  before 
and  behind,  is  the  state  dress  of  heralds  to  this  day.  It 
is  the  dress  worn  by  the  knaves  in  cards.  Long  tabards, 
reaching  to  the  mid-leg,  were  a  peculiarly  English  fashion. 

TABASHE'ER.  A  1'ersian  word  signifying  a  light  white 
porous  substance  found  in  the  joints  of  the  bamboo  :  it  con- 
sists almost  entirely  of  silica.  It  is  said  to  be  used  medi- 
cinally in  the  East  Indies;  but  its  virtues  must  be  merely 
imaginary. 

T.A  BBY.  (Ital.  tabino.)  A  term  formerly  applied  to 
certain  figured  silks  and  other  goods  upon  which  an  irregu- 
lar pattern  had  been  stamped,  either  by  the  pressure  of 
engraved  rollers,  or  by  folding  the  stuffs  in  such  a  way  as 
to  produce,  by  the  mutual  pressure  of  their  fibres,  an  ine- 
quality of  surface,  which,  by  reflected  light,  gives  rise  to 
the  appearance  called  watering. 

TABE'LLION'.  (Lat.  tabula,  from  the  tablets  on  which 
they  wrote.)  In  the  Roman  empire,  officers  who  had 
charge  of  public  documents  were  so  called  ;  they  were  also 
secretaries,  or  registrars,  and  in  some  ca-ses  judges.  (See 
Savigny,  Hist,  of  the  Roman  Law,  vol.  i.)  The  notaries 
were  their  assistants.  In  France,  the  titles  of  "Tabellion" 
ami  ■■  Greffier"  were  confounded,  and  Henry  IV.  united  the 
functions  of  tabellion  with  those  of  notary  ;  but  the  old  title 
seems  still  to  be  retained  (or  was  until  the  Revolution)  in 
some  few  places. 

TA'BEBNACLE.  (Lat.  tabernaculum.)  A  Latin  word 
signifying  a  rent  or  cabin.  The  tabernacle  which  was  car- 
ried from  station  to  station  by  the  Jews  during  their  wan- 
derings in  the  desert,  was  a  tent  of  sails  and  skins  stretched 
upon  a  framework  "i  wood,  and  divided  into  two  compart- 
ments; the  outer,  named  the  Holy,  being  that  in  which 
incense  was  burned,  and  the  shew  bread  exhibited  ;  and  the 
inner,  or  Holy  of  Holies,  in  which  was  desposited  the  ark  of 
Die  covenant.    (Exod.,  xxvi..  xxvii.    See  .  Irchctologia,  vol.  i.) 

The  Feast  of  Tabernacles  was  one  of  the  three  principal 
festivals  among  the  .lews.  It  commenced  on  the  15th  of  the 
month  Tisri,  corresponding  with  the  30th  of  September, 
and  lasted  seven  days,  during  which  the  people  dwelt  in 
booths  formed  of  the  boughs  of  trees.  It  was  instituted  in 
commemoration  of  the  habitation  of  their  ancestors  in  simi- 
lar dwellings  during  the  forty  years  of  their  pilgrimage  in 
the  wilderness.     (See  Leviticus,  xxiii.) 

TA'BES.  (Lat.)  A  wasting  away  of  the  body ;  ema- 
ciation :  atrophy. 

TA'BLATURE.  (Lat.  tabula,  a  tabic.)  In  Music,  the 
use  of  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  or  any  other  character, 
for  expressing  the  notes  or  sounds  of  a  composition.  It  is 
not  now  a  usual  mode  of  writing.    In  its  stricter  and  more 

original  sense  it  is  a  mode  of  Writing  music  for  a  particular 
instrument  on  parallel  lines  (of  which  each  represents  a 
string  of  the  instrument)  by  means  of  certain  letters  of  the 
alphabet.  Thus  A  denotes  that  the  string  is  to  be  struck 
open,  B  lhat  one  of  the  fingers  is  to  be  put  on  the  first  stop, 
C  on  the  second,  D  on  the  third,  and  so  on  through  the 
octave. 

TA'BLE.    (Lat.  tabula.)    In  Physics,  Astronomy,  &c. 

This  term   has  two  different  significations.     In  the  first 

place,  it  i-  nsed  to  denote  merely  a  collection  of  numbers, 

exhibiting  the  measures  or  values  of  some  propcrtv  couuuou 

ISIS 


TABORITES. 

to  a  number  of  different  bodies  in  reference  to  some  common 
standard.  Thus  we  have  tables  of  specific  gravity,  of  re 
tractive  powers,  of  the  expansion  of  substances  by  heat,  tec. 
In  ii^  second  signification,  it  denotes  a  series  of  numbers 
which  proceed  according  to  some  given  law  expressed  DJ  a 
mathematical  formula.  Of  this  kind  are  the  logarithmic 
tables  ;  tables  of  the  powers  or  roots  of  the  different  num- 
bers; of  the  sines,  cosines,  and  other  angular  functions  ;  of 
astronomical  refractions;  of  the  equations  of  the  planetary 
orbits,  &.c.  Tables  of  this  sort,  by  exhibiting  at  once  to  the 
eye  all  the  different  values  which  a  given  formula  can 
have,  save  endless  labour  in  calculation,  and  are  of  the 
uunost  Importance  in  every  branch  of  natural  philosophy. 
The  logarithmic  tables,  for  example,  form  the  universal  in- 
strument of  astronomical  calculation  ;  ami  it  may  he  safely 

affirmed  that  without  them  the  computations  necessary  lor 
determining  the  places  of  the  different  bodies  of  the  solar 
system,  and  rendering  astronomy  a  science  of  practical 
utility,  would  be  altogether  impossible. 

Table  is  also  used  in  n  popular  sense  to  denote  a  collection 
of  particulars  brought  under  one  view.  Thus,  in  history, 
we  have  chronological  tables;  in  statistics,  tables  of  mor- 
tality at  different  ages,  &c.  The  mere  titles  of  the  useful 
tables  which  have  been  formed  in  the  various  departments 
of  knowledge  would  till  a  large  volume. 

TABLEAUX  VIVANTS.  (Fr.  living  pictures.)  The 
name  given  to  an  amusement  in  which  groups  of  persons 
dressed  in  appropriate  costume  are  made  to  represent  some 
interesting  scene  in  the  works  of  distinguished  painters  or 
authors.  It  is  thus  managed:  The  room  in  which  the 
spectators  are  placed  being  darkened,  the  group  assume 
their  respective  attitudes  behind  a  frame  (or  some  other 
contrivance  intended  to  represent  it)  covered  with  gauze  ; 
and  candles  being  so  placed  as  to  reflect  light  upon  the 
group  from  above,  the  illusion  is  complete.  These  repre- 
sentations are  not  unfrequently  resorted  to  in  England  ;  but 
their  home  is  chiefly  in  France  and  Germany,  where  they 
form  an  important  feature  on  all  festive  occasions.  They 
owe  their  present  popularity  to  the  celebrated  M.  Handel- 
Schutz,  whose  genius  for  imitation  and  delineation  was  un- 
rivalled in  Germany.  (See  the  Vamcn- Lexicon.)  Tableaux 
are  often  employed  to  represent  some  scene  in  which  a 
riddle  is  concealed. 

TA'BLE  LANDS.  In  Physical  Geography,  the  name 
given  to  an  extensive  system  of  plains  with  steep  acclivities 
on  every  side,  and  differing  from  other  plains,  which  are 
either  not  much  elevated  above  the  sea,  or  rise  by  imper- 
ceptible degrees.  Some  of  these  tire  very  extensive,  and 
retain  a  general  level  of  several  thousand  feet  above  tho 
sea.  Sometimes  they  are  bordered  with  chains  of  moun- 
tains much  less  elevated  on  the  side  towards  the  table  land 
than  in  the  opposite  direction;  and  sometimes  they  have 
surfaces  much  undulated  or  broken.  The  chief  table  lands 
are  in  Central  Spain,  Southern  Africa,  Central  Asia,  l'ersia, 
Southern  India,  Mexico,  and  the  Southern  Andes.  (See 
Train's  Physical  Geography,  p.  25,  ct  seq.) 

TABLE  SPAR,  TABULAR  SPAR.  Sehaalstein  of 
Werner.  A  greyish  white  mineral,  which  occurs  in  massed 
and  in  granular  concretions  :  it  is  a  silicate  of  lime. 

TABLETS.  In  Roman  Antiquities,  pieces  of  ivory, 
metal,  stone,  or  other  substance,  used  in  judiciary  proceed- 
ings, or  in  the  passing  of  law  s. 

TABOR.     (Fr.  tabourine.)     A  small  drum. 

TABORITES,  or  THABORITES.  The  denomination 
of  one  of  the  parties  into  which  the  followers  of  lluss,  in 
Bohemia,  separated  after  the  death  of  their  leader.  They 
were  so  called  from  Tabor,  a  hill  or  fortress  of  Bohemia, 
upon  which  they  encamped  during  the  struggle  which  they 
maintained  against  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  power.  At 
their  head  stood  John  Ziska  von  Brockznow,  who  w  as  dis- 
tinguished at  once  for  his  indomitable  courage  and  his 
remorseless  cruelty.  After  various  fanatical  exhibitions, 
which  were  met  by  their  adversaries  with  determined  hos- 
tility, the  better  and  more  quietly  disposed  portion  of  tho 
Taborites  formed  themselves  into  a  religious  society  under 
the  denomination  of  the  Bohemian  Brethren.  They  estab- 
lished several  Christian  communities,  elected  their  own 
bishops,  priests,  and  elders  ;  drew  up  a  rigorous  plan  of 
ecclesiastical    discipline  :    and    sent    forth    missionaries    to 

various  parts,  though  with  little  success.  Though  harassed 
by  persecutions,  they  continued  to  augment  their  numbers, 

and  at  the  end  of  the  15th  century  they  counted  about  300 
Communities  of  adherents.  At  the  end  of  this  period  the 
distinctive   inline  and  opinions  of  the  Taborites  were  lost 

among  the  various  assailants  of  the  Romish  corruptions, 
who  formed  the  vanguard  of  the  Reformation  iii  Germany. 
(Sei  t'wivnsKs,  Hussites.)    An  interesting  picture  of 

the  horrors  of  the  hloody  religious  war  in  which  this  sect 
Was  engaged  at  the  period  of  its  institution  is  to  he  found  in 

the   historical   romance  of  Herlossohn,  called   The  Last 
Taborv,      />,,-    1.,1-Jr    Tnl,orit)—v.  Work   well   worthy  of 
I  being  translated  into  English. 


TABTJLATUM. 

TABULA'TUM.  (Lat.)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  a 
term  used  to  denote  the  floors,  ceilings,  and  other  wood- 
work in  a  house  :  occasionally  also  it  was  applied  to  bal- 
conies and  projections  of  that  nature. 

TA'CAMAHA'C.  (An  Indian  word.)  A  brownish  aro- 
matic resin  formerly  used  in  medicine,  supposed  to  be  the 
produce  of  the  Populus  balsam  if  era. 

TACET.  (Lat.  taceo.  silent.)  In  Music,  a  term  denoting 
that  through  the  movement  to  which  it  is  affixed  in  any 
part,  that  part  is  to  lie  still  or  be  silent  during  its  performance. 
TACHO'METER.  (Gr.  ra%oi,  speed,  and  uerpoi;  mea- 
sure.) A  contrivance  invented  for  the  purpose  of  indicating 
minute  variations  in  the  velocity  of  machines.  When  a 
vessel  containing  a  fluid  is  whirled  rapidly  round  a  vertical 
axis,  the  centrifugal  force  produced  by  the  whirling  motion 
causes  the  fluid  to  recede  from  the  axis,  and  to  rise  on  the 
sides  of  the  vessel,  so  that  the  surface  of  the  fluid  assumes 
a  concave  parabolic  form;  and  the  distance  to  which  the 
centre  of  the  surface  falls  below  its  original  level  is  propor- 
tionate to  the  velocity  of  rotation,  and  subject  to  corres- 
ponding variations.  Any  method,  therefore,  of  measuring 
or  rendering  visible  the  depression  of  the 
central  surface  will  indicate  the  variations 
of  velocity.  The  method  usually  adopted 
is  the  following:  A  glass  tube  A,  open  at 
both  ends,  and  expanding  at  one  extremity 
into  a  bell  B,  is  immersed  with  its  wider 
end  in  mercury  contained  in  a  cup  C  D. 
The  tube  is  so  suspended  as  to  be  uncon- 
nected with  the  cup.  This  tube  is  then 
filled  to  a  certain  height,  A,  with  spirits 
tinged  with  some  colouring  matter,  to  ren- 
der it  easily  observable.  The  cup  is  at- 
tached to  a  spindle  turned  by  the  machine. 
Now  as  the  cup  is  whirled  round  by  the 
spindle,  the  level  of  the  mercury  in  the 
b"t|  M3  bell  falls,  and  the  spirit  therefore  descends 
in  the  tube.  As  the  motion  is  continued, 
ever)-  change  of  velocity  causes  a  corres- 
ponding change  in  the  level  of  the  mer 
cur}',  and  consequently  also  in  the  height 
of  the  spirits  in  the  tube  at  A ;  and  as  the 
capacity  of  the  bell  B  is  much  greater  than  that  of  the  tube 
A,  a  very  small  change  in  the  level  of  the  mercury  causes 
a  considerable  change  of  the  heizht  of  the  spirits  in  the 
tube.    (Cabinet  Cyclopedia,  art.  "Mechanics,"  p.  235.) 

TACHYDKO'MUNS.  Tachydromii.  {Qt.Tayps,  sicift, 
and  tponoc,  a  course.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  wading 
birds,  of  which  the  genus  Tachudromus  is  the  type.  The 
term  is  also  applied  to  a  family  of  Saurian  reptiles  by  Fitzin- 
ger,  and  to  a  family  of  Dipterous  insects  by  Mirgen. 

TACHY'DROMUS.  (Gr.  ra%vc,  and  cpouos,  a  course.) 
A  subgenus  of  Lacertida,  differing  from  the  true  lizards  in 
having  a  very  long  body  and  tail,  with  their  fore  legs  \ -en- 
distant  from  the  hind  legs,  and  the  back  covered  with 
scales  similar  to  those  on  the  belly.  They  are  found  in  the 
Indian  islands  and  China,  and  run  with  great  velocity; 
whence  their  name  of  swift  lizards. 

TACHY'GRAPHY, orTACHE'OGRAPHY.  (Gr. TaXoc, 
quick,  and  ypatpw,  1  icrite.)  One  of  the  many  names  of 
Greek  derivation  which  have  been  given  to  the  art  of  short 
hand. 

TACK.  The  weather  clue  or  comer  of  a  course,  as  also 
of  any  sail  set  with  a  boom  or  gaff,  and  of  a  flag.  Also,  the 
rope  by  which  such  clue  is  extended  :  thus,  the  main  tack 
is  the  rope  by  which  the  tack  or  weather  clue  of  the  main- 
sail is  drawn  down  to  the  ship's  side. 

A  ship  is  said  to  be  on  the  starboard  tack  when  she  is 
close-hauled,  having  the  wind  on  the  starboard  side;  and 
on  the  larboard  tack,  when  the  wind  is  on  the  larboard  side. 
To  tack  is  to  change  from  one  tack  to  the  other  by  turning 
the  vessel  round  with  her  head  to  the  wind. 

TA'CKLE.  The  Sea  term  for  a  pulley  composed  of  two 
or  more  blocks.  The  rope  is  called  the  fall.  The  term 
appears  to  have  been  derived  thus :  Gr.  rpoxa^ta ;  Lat. 
trochlea  ;  Ital.  taglia ;  Dutch  taakel.  (See  Willis's  Princi- 
ples of  Mechanics,  p.  198.) 

TA'CTICS.  In  a  general  sense,  the  evolutions,  ma- 
noeuvres, and  positions  which  constitute  the  main  spring  of 
military  and  naval  finesse. 

The  expression  naral  tactics  is  commonly  understood  to 
relate  to  the  attack  or  defence  of  fleets  or  single  ships  ;  but 
as  tactical  manoeuvres  are  necessarily  practised  also  in 
keeping  any  number  of  ships  together,  and  io  the  commu- 
nication of  single  ships,  whether  for  hostile  purposes  <>r  not, 
the  subject,  in  fact,  includes  all  considerations  relative  to 
the  closing  or  separating  of  vessels  at  sea.  We  can  of 
course  here  merely  attempt  to  convey  such  general  notions 
on  the  subject  as  may  assist  the  reader  in  the  study  of  it. 

The  subject  of  tactics,  as  applied  in  war,  naturally  divides 
itself  into  two  parts;  viz.  disposinz  the  fleet  for  closing 
with  or  avoiding  the  enemy  while  distant,  and  bringing  on 


TAGLIACOTIAN  OPERATION. 

the  eniasement.  The  former  alone  of  these  can  be  made 
the  subject  of  fixed  rules;  but  the  manner  of  bringing  on 
the  action  with  the  whole  or  part  of  the  enemy's  fleet,  the 
choice  of  the  weather  or  lee  gage  (as  the  windward  or  lee- 
ward position  is  called),  under  given  circumstances  of 
weather,  locality,  armament,  relative  numbers,  discipline, 
&c,  must  depend  on  the  experience,  skill,  and  coup  d'mil  of 
the  commander-in-chief. 

The  evolutions  by  which  the  ships  of  the  fleet  pass  from 
one  position  to  another  are  given  in  all  works  on  naval  tac- 
tics ;  and  those  in  most  common  use  are  of.en  contained  in 
Signal  Books,  both  English  and  foreign.  The  elementary 
evolutions  really  necessary  are  but  few,  though,  especially 
in  foreign  works,  they  are  multiplied  to  an  inconvenient,  if 
not  impracticable  extent.  The  opinions  of  officers  and 
writers  have  differed  on  many  points  of  great  importance; 
such  as  the  position  of  the  commander-in-chief,  the  tacking 
or  wearing  of  the  fleet  together,  or  in  succession,  and  also 
in  the  general  disposition  of  the  fleet. 

In  regard  to  the  action  itself,  it  appears  it  was  the  cus- 
tom formerly  to  endeavour  to  engage  the  enemy's  whole 
fleet,  ship  to  ship.  This,  however,  was,  in  most  cases,  easi- 
ly avoided,  and  actions  were  consequently  often  indecisive. 
The  circumstance  of  Lord  Rodney's  passing  through  the 
French  fleet  on  the  12th  of  April,  1782,  seems  to  have 
drawn  attention  strongly  to  the  principle  of  separating  the 
enemy's  fleet  into  portions  which  might  be  attacked  in  de- 
tail. The  merit  of  suggesting  the  breaking  of  the  enemy's 
line  on  this  occasion  having  been  attributed  to  Mr.  Clerk  of 
Eldin,  author  of  a  work  on  Tactics  which  appeared  at  the 
time,  has  become  the  occasion  of  much  controversy ;  but 
the  manoeuvre  had  been  already  treated  in  French  and 
Spanish  works  on  Tactics.  One  of  the  most  striking  appli- 
cations of  the  principle  was  exhibited  in  Lord  Nelson's  at- 
tack at  the  battle  of  the  Nile.  Among  the  works  on  Tac- 
tics may  be  noticed  here,  Tactique  .Yavale,  by  the  Count 
Morogues,  which  was  considered  an  improvement  on  Le 
Pere  Hoste's  work;  Tactica  jVaval,  by  Salazar;  and  Mr. 
Clerk  of  Eldin's  JVaval  Tactics,  above  quoted.  Much  in- 
formation is  contained  in  Admiral  Ekins's  JVaval  Battles  ; 
and  remarks  on  the  tactics  of  single  actions  are  found  in  Sir 
Howard  Douglas's  .Vara/  Gunnery.  Some  other  works  on  the 
subject  will  be  found  in  anv  good  catalogue  of  naval  books. 
TVCTION.  (Lat.  tango,  /  touch.)  In  Geometry,  the 
same  as  tangency  or  touching.     See  Tangent. 

T^E'NIA.  (Gr.  rmvia,  a  fillet.)  An  intestinal  worm, 
commonly  called  the  tape  worm.  When  this  worm  infests 
the  bowels,  it  often  produces  a  variety  of  anomalous  symp- 
toms, and  is  very  difficult  to  get  rid  of.  The  most  effective 
remedies  are  purges,  and  especially  oil  of  turpentine,  half 
an  ounce  of  which  is  taken  in  the  morning,  fasting,  mixed 
with  a  little  barley  water.  If  it  does  not  purge  briskly,  a 
dose  of  castor  oil  may  be  taken  after  it,  or  the  oil  of  tur- 
pentine repeated.  If  any  portion  of  the  tape  worm  remains 
in  the  intestines,  the  symptoms  are  apt  to  recur,  so  that 
much  attention  is  requisite  to  ensure  its  total  evacuation. 

T.enia.  In  Architecture,  the  listel  above  the  architrave 
which  separates  it  from  the  frieze  in  the  Doric  order. 

T^E'NIOIDS,  Tanioides.  (Gr.  rama,  a  riband;  titoc, 
form.)  The  name  given  by  Cuvier  to  a  family  of  Acan- 
thopterygious  fishes,  comprehending  those  which  have  a 
flattened  riband-shaped  body ;  also  the  name  of  a  family  of 
Sterelminthoid  intestinal  worms,  of  which  the  tape  worm 
(Taenia)  is  the  tvpe. 

TAFFETY. "  A  thin  glossy  silken  fabric,  formerly  much 
used  in  England.  It  is  extensively  used  on  the  Continent 
for  window  curtains. 
TA'FFRAIL.  The  uppermost  rail  of  a  ship's  stern. 
TA'GES.  An  old  Italian  divinity,  who  is  represented  to 
have  sprung  as  a  beautiful  boy  from  the  earth,  which  a 
Tuscan  ploughman  had  furrowed  too  deep.  The  first  act 
of  this  earth-bom  god  was  to  foretel  from  the  wings  of 
birds  what  was  to  happen  to  the  peasants,  by  whom  he  was 
quickly  surrounded  ;  and  hence  he  was  worshipped  as  the 
inventor  of  augury.  (See  Augurs.)  A  collection  of  his 
prophecies  was  made  and  preserved  in  the  sacred  records 
of  Etruria. 

TA'GLIA.  (Ital.)  In  Mechanics,  the  name  given  to  a 
particular  combination  of  pulleys.  "The  taglia  consists  of 
a  system  of  fixed  pulleys  collected  in  one  common  block, 
and  also  of  a  system  of  moveable  pulleys  in  a  separate 
block,  to  which  the  weight  is  attached,  with  one  string  go- 
ing round  all  the  pulleys,  and  having  one  of  its  ends  fixed 
to  a  point  in  the  system,  and  the  other  end  going  from  one 
of  the  fixed  pulleys  drawn  by  the  power."  {VenturolCs 
Mechanics,  by  Cresswell.)  Sometimes  several  taglias  are 
combined,  so  that  one  acts  upon  the  other;  the  system  is 
thpn  a  compound  taglia.     See  PuLtEY. 

TAGLIACO'TIAN  OPERATION.  The  operation  for 
the  restoration  of  the  nose.  Rhinoplastie  of  the  French. 
The  merit  of  inventing  this  operation  is  usually  given  to 
Tagliacotius,  a  Venetian  surgeon,  who  wrote  upon  the  sub- 

1213 


TAGUS. 

ject  In  1598,  and  proposed  the  replacement  of  the  deficient 
organ  by  an  artificial  nose  ciu  (nil  of  the  skin  ill"  the  shotil- 
dei  nr  arm.  A  supposed  modern  Improvement  consists  In 
having  recourse  lor  the  new  materials  to  the  skin  of  the 
forehead,  out  of  which  a  triangular  piece-  is  so  cut  thai  it 
may  retain  connexion  at  its  apex,  which  is  downwards, 

ami  so  admit  of  being  twisted  or  turned  down  to  form  the 
artificial  nose  by  adhesion  to  the  recently  cut  surfaces  of 

the  truncated  organ.  It  appears  that  this  operation  was 
practised  in  India  from  time  immemorial,  and  that  it  was 
also  ni  :  uncommonly  resorted  to  by  the  Italians,  and  espe- 
cially the  Romans,  among  whom  the  loss  of  the  nose  was 
a  punishment  of  not  unirequenl  infliction.  (See  Jin  Ac- 
count of  Two  Successful  Operations  fur  restoring  a  lost 
Nose,  by  J.  C.  Carpue,  Lond.  1810;  Liston's  Practical  Sur- 
gery, I. mid.  1837;  and  Cooper's  Surgical  Dictionary.) 

TA'GUS.  (Gr.  rayrff.)  In  ancient  Greek  History,  the 
title  of  the  president  of  the  Thessalian  confederacy. 

TAIL.  In  Architecture,  the  bottom  or  lower  end  of  any 
member,  as  of  a  slate  or  tile.  A  tail  trimmer  is  that  next 
the  wall  into  which  the  ends  of  joists  are  fastened  to  avoid 
the  flues.  Used  as  a  verb,  to  tail  in  any  thing  is  to  fasten  it 
by  one  of  its  ends  into  a  wall. 

TAILLE.  In  ancient  French  Jurisprudence,  any  impo- 
sition levied  by  the  king  or  any  other  lord  on  his  subjects. 
There  is  some  obscurity  about  the  derivation  of  this  word. 
It  is  commonly  deduced  from  talcs',  tallies,  little  pieces  of 
wood  with  which  reckonings  were  made.  But  whether 
these  were  not  so  called  from  their  use  in  telling  or  count- 
ing (Germ,  zahlen),  does  not  appear.  Again,  it  is  appa- 
rently connected  with  the  Germ,  zoll,  Engl,  toll;  but  these 
words  are  derived  by  some,  through  the  Ital.  tolta,  from 
the  Lat.  tollere,  to  raise.  Perhaps  the  whole  series  of 
words  is  from  the  same  original  root;  but  it  is  not  easy  to 
trace  the  affinities.  The  Royal  Taille,  in  old  France,  which 
was  the  Impost  commonly  understood  under  the  general 
name,  was  a  personal  or  rather  mixed  constitution,  from 
persons  not  noble  or  ecclesiastical,  or  enjoying  certain 
other  exemptions  imposed  according  to  their  supposed 
ability,  measured  by  their  goods.  In  the  respect  in  which 
it  fell  on  the  agricultural  class,  from  which  it  was 
chiefly  levied,  it  is  described  by  Adam  Smith  as  "a  tax  on 
the  supposed  profits  of  the  fanner,  which  they  estimate  by 
the  ~t.uk  which  he  has  upon  the  farm."  (Book  iii.,  ch.  2.) 
In  Languedoc,  and  one  or  two  other  districts,  the  taille  was 
real;  t.  e.,  imposed  on  land  and  goods.  The  tax  was  ren- 
dered annual  and  permanent  in  1445.  The  "real"  taille  is 
now  replaced  by  tlie  "contribution  fonciere,"  and  the  per- 
sonal by  the  "contribution  personnelle  et  mobiliare." 

TAILLOIR.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture,  the  same  as  abac- 
us ;  which  see. 

TAILZIE,  or  ENTAIL.  (Fr.  tailler,  to  cut  of),  in  Scot- 
tish Law,  signifies,  in  general,  any  deed  whereby  the  legal 
course  < »i  succession  is  cut  oil',  and  an  arbitrary  one  substi- 
tuted. But,  more  strictly,  a  deed  of  tailzie  is  one  framed 
in  terms  of  the  statute  1685,  c.  22,  and  intended  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  the  descent  of  an  heritable  estate  to 
the  series  of  heirs  and  substitutes  called  to  the  succession 
by  the  maker  of  the  tailzie.  The  principal  difference  be- 
tween  Scottish  and  English  entails  lies  in  the  absence  of 
ision,  in  the  law  of  the  former  country,  similar  to 
the  fictions  of  fines  or  recoveries  in  the  latter,  whereby 
parties  in  possession  were  enabled  to  cut  off  the  entail. 
Several  statutes  have  been  passed  since  that  of  1685  to 
give  heirs  of  entail  in  possession  certain  liberties  which 
they  could  not  otherwise  possess;  ;is,  to  sell  superiorities  (2 
G.  2,  c.  50,  51)  :  to  grant  leases  for  31  years,  14  years,  anda 
life  or  two  lives,  and  building  leases  for  99  years;  and  io 
exchange  lands  (10  <;.  3,  c.  51),  redeem  the  land  tax  (42 
G.  3,  c.  46),  make  provisions  for  wives  and  children  (5  G.  4, 

r.  ars  - 

TALAPO'INS.    The  title,  in  Siam,  of  the  priests  of  Fo; 

who  are  called  in  China,  Seng  ;  in  Tartary,  Lamas;  and  by 
Europeans,  Bonzes. 

TALC.  A  foliated  magnesias  mineral  of  an  unctuous 
feel,  often  used  for  tracing  lines  on  wood,  cloth,  fcc.,  which 
are  not  so  easily  effaced  as  those  of  chalk.  Talc  is  cm- 
ployed  in  the  composition  of  rouge  vegetal.  The  i:  mians 
prepared  with  it  a  beautiful  blue,  by  combining  it  with  the 

colouring  fluid  of  particular  kinds  of  testaceous   animals. 

Talc  is  met  with  in  Aberdeenshire,  Perthshire,  and  Banff 
shire  in  Scotland,  and  in  various  parts  of  the  Continent, 
where  rocks  of  serpentine  ami  porphyry  occur.  The  talc 
brought  from  the  Tyrolese  mountains  is  called  in  commerce 
V.  netian  talc.  Several  varieties  are  found  In  India  and 
Ceylon. 
T  VI.CITE.  In  Mineralogy,  a  synonym  of  nacritr ;  which 

SIT. 

TA'LENT.  (Gr.  raXuvTov.)  A  Grecian  weight,  which 
was  mini,  used  in  the  computation  of  money.    It  contained 

60  hum. i. ;  but  lis  value  varied  in  different  stales.    The  Attic 

talent  waa  equivalent  to  about  £198  of  English  money  ; 
1214 


TALMUD. 

the  zEginetan  to  £331.  (See  as  to  the  Attic  talent,  Boeckh, 
i.  25 ;  Gibbon's  Misccllan.  Works,  iii..  410.) 

TAXES.  In  Law.  If  by  reason  of  challenges  or  other 
causes  a  sufficient  number  of  jurors  do  not  appear  ata  trial, 
either  partj  may  pray  a  tales;  thai  is,  may  pray  the  sheriff 
(since  6  G.  1,  C.  50,  the  judge  at  the  trial)  to  allow  a  suf- 
ficient number  of  qualified  men  who  happen  to  be  present 
(talcs  circumsiantibus)  to  be  joined  with  the  other  jurors 
to  make  up  the  twelve.  In  practice  tins  seldom  arises,  ex- 
cept in  the  case  of  special  jury  trials,  when  the  talesmen 
are  taken  from  the  common  jury  panel  in  the  same  court. 
See  Jury. 

TALIO'NIS  LEX.  (Lat.)  A  punishment  in  which  a 
person  convicted  of  a  crime  suffered  exactly  in  the  same 
maimer  as  he  had  offended:  thus  an  eye  was  required  for 
an  eye  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth.  This  mode  of  punishment 
was  established  by  the  Mosaic  law,  and  was  in  some  cases 
imitated  by  the  Romans. 

TA'LISMAN.  (From  the  Arabic,  dual  of  the  noun  te- 
lesm  ;  Gr.  rtkcana,  in  the  sense  of  an  astrological  wonder, 
or  effect  of  the  stars.)  Among  the  Eastern  nations,  a  figure 
cut  in  metal,  stone,  &c,  supposed  to  have  been  made  with 
particular  ceremonies,  and  under  particular  astrological  cir- 
cumstances, and  to  possess  various  virtues,  but  chiefly  that 
of  averting  disease  or  violent  death  from  the  wearer.  In  a 
more  general  sense,  any  portable  object  endowed  with  ima- 
ginary influence  in  controlling  evil  spirits,  &c.  has  been  so 
designated.  The  term  is  frequently  used  as  synonymous 
with  amulet  (which  see) ;  but,  strictly  speaking,  the  latter 
is  not  believed  to  possess  such  extensive  powers  as  the 
talisman.  (See  a  curious  article  in  the  Encyc.  Metropoli- 
tans.) 

TA'LLAGE  (from  the  Fr.  taille),  in  the  language  of  the 
old  English  law,  is  said  to  be  a  general  name  for  all  taxes 
bv  Sir  E.  Coke.     See  Toll,  Taille. 

TA'LLO  W.  (Germ,  talg.)  The  fat  obtained  by  melting 
the  suet  of  the  ox  and  sheep,  and  straining  it  so  as  to  free 
it  from  membrane. 

Tallow  is  an  article  of  great  importance.  It  is  manufac- 
tured into  candles  and  soap;  and  is  extensively  used  in  the 
dressing  of  leather,  and  in  various  processes  of  the  arts. 
Besides  our  extensive  supplies  of  native  tallow,  we  annually 
import  a  very  large  quantity,  principally  from  Russia.  The 
exports  of  tallow  from  Petersburgh  amount,  at  an  average, 
to  between  3,500,000  and  4,000,000  poods,  of  which  the 
largest  portion  by  far  is  brought  to  England  ;  the  remainder 
being  exported  to  Prussia,  France,  the  Hanse  Towns,  Tur- 
key, &c. 

TALMUD.  The  traditionary  or  unwritten  laws  of  the 
Jews.  It  is  called  unwritten,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  tex- 
tual or  written  law;  and  is,  in  fact,  the  interpretation  which 
the  rabbins  affix  to  the  law  of  Moses,  which  embodies  their 
doctrine,  polity,  and  ceremonies,  and  to  which  many  of 
them  adhere  more  than  to  the  law  itself. 

The  word  is  derived  from  Heb.  lamad,  he  taught.  The 
Talmud,  therefore,  is  a  book  or  volume  which  contains 
such  doctrines  and  duties  as  are  taught  to  the  Jews  by  their 
own  authorized  teachers,  the  ancient  rabbins. 

There  are  two  Talmuds,  that  of  Jerusalem  and  that  of 
Babylon  ;  not  to  mention  those  of  Onkelos  and  Jonathan, 
which  are  rather  paraphrases  than  volumes  of  traditionary 
doctrines. 

The  Talmud  of  Jerusalem  consists  of  two  parts — the 
Gemara,  and  the  Mishna.  The  .Mis/inn  signifies  a  doub- 
ling or  reiteration;  the  Gemara.  a  work  brought  to  perfec- 
tion or  completed — from  the  Chaldee  gamar,  to  finish  or 
complete.  The  Gemara  and  the  Mishna  together,  strictly 
speaking,  form  the  Talmud:  but  the  rabbins  are  wont  to 
designate  the  Pentateuch  of  Moses  the  first  part  of  the 
Talmud,  and  which  is  simply  the  law.  The  second  part  is 
the  Mishna,  which  is  a  more  extensive  explication  or  am- 
plification of  the  law;  and  the  third  part  the  Gemara,  as 
finishing  and  completing  it. 

The  Mishna  is  the  work  of  Rabbi  Judah  TIakkadosh, 
120  years  after  the  destruction  of  the  temple  of  Jerusalem. 
It  is  written  in  a  tolerably  pure  style,  and  its  reasonings 
are  much  more  solid  than  those  of  the  Gemara,  which  the 
Jewish  doctors,  if  is  slated,  have  stuffed  with  dreams  and 
and  many  ignorant  and  impertinent  questions 
and  disputations.    The  Gemara  was  written  about  Kill  \  ears 

afterwards  by  Rabbi  Jochanon,  the  rector  of  the  school  at 

Tiberias.  These  two  works  form  the  Jerusalem  Talmud. 
lint  the  Talmud  of  Jerusalem  is  less  esteemed  than  the 
Talmud  of  Babylon  formed  by  Rabbi  Asa  or  Aser,  who  had 
an  ai  ndemy  for  forty  years  ata  place  called  Sara,  near  Ba- 
bylon, whence  it  was  denominated  the  Babylonish  Talmud, 
li  i-  in i    Talmud  which  the  Jews  more  frequently  consult; 

and  it  is  especially  esteemed  by  those  Jews  who  live  be- 
yond the  Euphrates,  from  the  circumstance  thai  it  was 
compiled  at  Babylon.  Rabbi  A8a  was  called  to  bis  fathers 
before  this  celebrated  commentary  on  the  Mishna  was 
completed  ;  but  it  was  finished  by  his  disciples  (some  say 


TALON. 

his  children)  about  500  years  after  Christ.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  the  sacred  authors,  these  Talmuds,  after  the 
Chaldee  paraphrases,  are  the  most  ancient  books  of  doc- 
trine possessed  bv  the  Jews. 

A  convened  Jew  in  the  year  1238  detected  several  er- 
rors in  the  Talmud,  which  he  laid  before  Pope  Gregory  IX., 
who  required  the  archbishops  of  France  and  the  kings  of 
Spain  and  Portugal  to  seize  and  burn  all  such  books  of  the 
Jews,  and  twenty  cartloads  of  Hebrew  books  were  accord- 
ingly burnt  in  France  alone. 

Pope  Paul  IV.  and  Clement  VIII.  also  signalized  them- 
selves in  destroying  all  the  Talmudic  books  that  could  be 
found,  and  many  thousand  volumes  of  the  Talmud  were 
by  their  orders  judicially  condemned  to  the  flames.  These 
acts,  worthy  of  Roman  pontiffs,  might  have  suggested  that 
famous  list,  entitled  Libri  Prohibitorum,  which  afterwards 
received  much  augmentation  ;  and  among  the  many  hereti- 
cal works  enumerated  might  be  found  Addison's  Spectator. 
The  Talmud  of  Jerusalem  was  printed  in  one  vol.  folio, 
and  that  of  Babylon  in  twelve  and  fourteen  vols,  folio, 
which  we  find  in  a  bookseller's  catalogue  thus  described, 
"Talmud  Babylonicum  Hebraicum  integrum  ex  Sapientum 
Scriptis  et  Responsis  compositum  a  Rah.  Aser,  additis 
Comment.  Rab.  Sal.  Iarchi,  et  Rab.  Mosis  Maimonidis,  He- 
braice,  14  torn,  folio,  Amstelodami,  1644." 

Two  curious  works  on  the  traditions  and  doctrines  of  the 
Jews,  and  selections  from  the  Talmud,  were  written  by 
Peter  Stehelin  and  W.  Wotton  ;  the  former  entitled  Tradi- 
tions of  the  Jews,  with  the  Expositions  and  Doctrines  of 
the  Rabbins  contained  in  the  Talmud  and  other  Rabbinical 
Writings,  2  vols.  8vo,  1742  ;  the  latter,  Miscellaneous  Dis 
courses  relating  to  the  Traditions  and  Usages  of  the  Scribes 
and  Pharisees  in  our  Saviour's  Time,  2  vols.  8vo,  1718. 
(See  the  F.nc.  Metropolitana  ;  Wolff*,  Bibl.,  ii.,  658;  Eisen- 
menger,  Das  Entdeckte  Judenthum ;  Remarks  on  the  study 
of  it  in  Quart.  Rev.,  vol.  xliii.) 

TA'LON.  (Fr.)  In  Architecture,  the  same  as  ogee; 
which  see. 

TA'LPA.  In  Surgery,  a  tumour  under  the  skin  or  cuti- 
cle, commonly  called  a  mole. 

TA'LUS.  The  sloping  heap  of  fragments  accumulated 
at  the  foot  of  a  steep  rock.  The  term  talus  has  also  been 
applied  to  the  astragalus,  one  of  the  bones  of  the  ankle. 

TA'MARIND.  (Arab,  tamor-hindy,  Indian  date.)  A 
large  tree  of  the  Leguminous  order,  whose  pods  supply  the 
subacid  preserve  commonly  sold  in  the  shops  under  this 
name.  The  pods  in  their  natural  state  are  acid,  and  ac- 
quire their  sweetness  by  the  sugar  in  which  they  are  pack- 
ed after  their  hard,  brittle  shell  has  been  taken  off.  The 
tree  itself  is  a  native  of  both  the  East  and  West  Indies. 

TA'MARIX  (Tamarisia,  the  people  among  whom  it 
grows),  is  a  name  given  by  botanists  to  some  shrubs  of 
slender  growth,  clothed  with  very  small  green  leaves  and 
long  spikes  of  pink  flowers,  the  natural  country  of  which 
seems  to  extend  from  Spain  to  Delhi,  occupying  a  band  of 
ten  or  twelve  degrees  of  latitude.  They  are  in  this  coun- 
try merely  ornamental  plants ;  but  in  Syria  and  the  adjoin- 
ing countries  they  secrete  a  kind  of  manna,  which  some 
authors  have  asserted  was  the  manna  of  scripture ;  but 
this  opinion  is  not  regarded  as  well  founded. 

TAMBOURI'NE.  (Fr.  tambour.)  A  musical  instru- 
ment of  procession  of  the  drum  species,  being  a  cylinder  of 
about  6  inches  wide,  in  which  bells  are  suspended.  It  is  cov- 
ered at  one  end  with  parchment,  after  the  fashion  of  a  drum. 
TA'MPING.  A  term  used  by  miners  to  express  the  fill- 
ing up  of  a  hole  bored  in  a  rock  for  the  purpose  of  blasting. 
TA'NGENCIES.  (Lat.  tango,  /  touch.)  In  the  ancient 
Geometry,  the  problem  of  tangencies  was  one  of  the  six 
branches  of  the  geometrical  analysis  created  by  Apollonius 
of  Perga.  Its  general  object  was  to  describe  a  circle  pass- 
ing through  given  points,  and  touching  straight  lines  or  cir- 
cles given  in  position,  the  number  of  data  in  each  case  be- 
ing, of  course,  limited  to  three.  Of  the  treatise  of  Apollo- 
nius some  lemmas  only  were  preserved  in  the  mathemati- 
cal collections  of  Pappus;  from  which  the  treatise  was  re- 
stored by  Vieta,  of  whose  restoration  there  is  an  English 
translation  by  Lawson,  with  the  addition  of  a  supplement 
by  Fermat,  on  Spherical  Tangencies.  The  principal  cases 
of  the  problem  of  plane  tangencies  are  given,  and  neatly 
demonstrated,  in  Leslie's  Geometrical  .Analysis. 

TA'NGENT.  (Lat.  tangens;  from  tango,  I  touch.)  In 
Geometry,  the  tangent  to  a  curve  is  a  straight  line  which 
meets  or  touches  the  curve  without  intersecting  it.  The 
nature  of  the  tangent  may  be  explained  as  follows:  Let 
AP B  be  an  arc  of  a  curve,  and  let  the  straight  line  TAB 
f  intersect  it  in  two  points,  A 

T"XI  -\  ,  andB.  Conceive  the  straight 
line  to  revolve  about  the 
point  T.  When  it  comes 
into   the  position  Tab   the 

/  I    I j    intercepted  arc  a  P  b  is  short- 

"""""  A         Si  B  er  than  A  P  B,  or  the  points 


TANNIC  ACID. 

a  and  b  have  approximated.  Let  the  motion  of  the  line 
about  T  still  be  continued,  and  the  length  of  the  intercept- 
ed arc  of  the  curve  will  become  less  and  less,  until  the 
straight  line  comes  into  the  position  T  P,  when  the  two 
points  a  and  b  coalesce,  or  rather  their  distance  becomes 
smaller  than  any  assignable  quantity.  In  this  ultimate  posi- 
tion, the  direction  of  the  vanishing  arc  is  that  of  the  tan- 
gent, or  the  element  of  the  arc  coincides  with  the  tangent. 
From  this  it  is  easy  to  deduce  an  expression  which  deter- 
mines the  direction  of  the  tangent  at  the  point  P.  Let  A  be 
the  origin  of  the  rectangular  co-ordinates,  the  abscissa  being 
measured  on  A  B.  Through  P  draw  the  ordinate  P  Q ;  and 
taking  P  p  an  indefinitely  small  element  of  the  curve,  draw 
pq  the  ordinate  through  p,  and  Pr  parallel  to  AB  ;  also  let 
the  tangent  meet  A  B  produced  in  T.  The  line  QT  is  call- 
ed the  subtangent;  and  the  point  P  being  assumed,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  determine  T,  or  the  distance  QT,  in  or- 
der to  have  the  tangent  PT.  Now  the  triangles  Ppr  and 
PQT  are  similar,  whence  pr:  rP:  :  PQ  :  QT;  but  by  the 
principles  of  the  infinitesimal  calculus  pr  =  dy,  rP  —  dx; 
and  we  have  also  P  Q  =  ?/,  therefore  dy  :  dx  :  :  y  :  QT; 

that    is,   the   subtangent   QT  =  »  — -.   See  Differential 

°  "  dy 

Calculus,  p.  344. 

This  is  the  general  formula  for  the  subtangent  of  any 
curve  at  the  point  whose  co-ordinates  are  x  and  y;  and 
therefore  the  position  of  the  tangent  can  always  be  deter- 
mined when  the  relation  between  x  and  y  is  defined  by  an 
equation,  by  differentiating  that  equation. 

One  of  the  earliest  uses  which  was  made  of  the  differen- 
tial calculus  was  to  find  the  positions  of  tangents  to  curve 
lines;  and  hence  the  calculus  itself,  in  its  early  period,  was 
often  denominated  the  method  of  tangents.  When  the  equa- 
tion of  the  curve  is  given,  it  is  easy  to  find  the  tangent  at 
any  point,  as  only  a  simple  differentiation  is  required  in  ad- 
dition to  the  ordinary  operations  of  algebra  ;  but  the  inverse 
problem,  to  determine  the  equation  of  the  curve  when  its 
subtangent  at  any  point  is  given,  requires  an  integration,  and 
is  consequently,  in  general,  attended  with  much  greater  dif- 
ficulty. Ttte  first  problem  was  called  the  direct,  and  the 
second  the  inverse  method  of  tangents.  The  terms  are  sy- 
nonymous with  differential  and  integral  calculus. 

Euclid  has  shown  that  no  straight  line  can  be  drawn  be- 
tween a  circle  and  its  tangent  which  does  not  cut  the  circle. 
This  property  is  true  of  all  other  curves,  and  the  contact  of 
a  curve  with  its  tangent  is  called  a  contact  of  the  first  order. 
Sec  Contact,  Angle  of. 

Tangent.  In  Trigonometry,  is  the  straight  line  which 
touches  a  circular  arc  at  one  of  its  extremities,  and  is  ter- 
minated by  the  production  of  the  radius  passing  through 
the  other  extremity.  The  arc  and  its  tangent  have  always 
a  certain  relation  to  each  other;  and  when  the  one  is  given 
Ln  parts  of  the  radius,  the  other  can  always  be  computed 
by  means  of  an  infinite  series.  Let  0  denote  an  arc,  and 
tan.  0  the  tangent  of  the  arc  0 ;  we  have  the  following  se- 
ries: 

0  =  tan  0  —  |  tan3  0  +  1  tan5  <P  —  }  tan7  <p  +  &c. 
205  ,    'l707  6209 


tan0=#+-3-  +  3T5  +  ; 


r  +  - 


+  &c. 


32-5-7n3.'-5-7-9 

The  tangents  were  introduced  into  trigonometry  by  the 
Arabians,  and  the  introduction  has  been  of  the  most  impor- 
tant use  in  simplifying  calculations.  For  the  manner  of 
using  the  sines,  cosines,  tangents,  and  other  angular  func- 
tions, see  Trigonometry. 

TA'NISTRY.  An  ancient  Irish  custom  of  descent,  defi- 
ned as  "descent  from  the  oldest  and  worthiest  of  the 
blood."  (See  Sir  J.  Davies's  Cases  before  the  Irish  Judges, 
17G2.)  Some  have  derived  it  from  thane  or  thegn  ;  but  this 
seems  to  be  a  word  of  Teutonic  origin.  (See  also  Quart. 
Rev.,  vol.  lvi.,  p.  223.) 

TANK.  In  the  Navy,  a  case  of  sheet  iron  about  4  feet 
square,  and  containing  about  2  tons.  Bilge  tanks  are  of  va- 
rious forms,  in  order  to  employ  the  vacant  spaces  near  the 
sides  in  small  vessels.  Iron  tanks  have  for  many  years 
been  used  in  the  navy  from  their  incomparable  superiority 
over  casks  in  keeping  the  water  sweet. 

Tank.  In  Gardening,  a  cistern  or  reservoir,  made  of  stone 
or  timber  or  some  other  material,  used  in  collecting  and  pre- 
serving water  during  a  scarcity  or  drought.  Tanks  are  some- 
times built  in  the  ground,  and  lined  with  lead  or  cement. 
(Loudon's  F.ncyc.  of  Gardening,  p.  603.) 

TA'NNER'S  BARK.  The  bark  of  oak,  chesnut,  willow, 
larch,  and  other  trees,  which  abounds  in  tannin,  and  is  used 
by  tanners  for  preparing  leather.  After  being  exhausted  of 
the  tanning  principle  by  being  chopped  into  small  pieces,  or 
bruised,  or  steeped  in  water,  it  is  laid  up  in  heaps  to  dry, 
and  sold  to  gardeners  for  the  purpose  of  producing  artificial 
heat  by  fermentation  in  pits  or  beds,  in  bark -stoves  or  oth- 
er out-houses,  or  pits.     Sec  Stove. 

TANNIC  ACID.  This  term  has  been  especially  applied 
to  a  substance  obtained  by  Pelouze  by  acting  upon  bruised 

1215 


TANNIN. 

galls  by  common  ether  ;  it  is  a  white  uncrystnlline  pow  dar, 
very  astringent,  little  soluble  in  water,  and  reddening  lit- 
mus. When  moistened  and  exposed  to  air  it  becomes  con- 
verted into  gallic  acid.  It  Is  extremely  astringent,  and  ap- 
pears to  be  the  active  principle  of  tanning  substa -  (tan 

ifm)  in  general.  Its  equivalent,  deduced  from  the  analysis 
of  the  neutral  tannaUs,  appears  to  be  4.(3.  Its  ultimate  i  le- 
ment-s  are  30  atoms  of  carbon,  18  of  hydrogen,  and  -1  of 
oxygen. 

TA'NNIN.  The  pure  astringent  principle  of  vegetables, 
upon  which  their  power  of  converting  skin  into  leather  de- 
pends. Its  leading  character  is  its  property  of  producing  a 
Hiisli  precipitate  in  a  Strong  solution  of  animal  jel- 
ly, such,  for  instance,  as  isinglass.  It  may  be  obtained  tolera- 
bly pure  by  infusing  bruised  grape  seeds  in  cold  water;  or 
more  circuitously  by  adding  acetate  of  copper  to  filtered  In- 

t  tsion  of  galls,  washing  the  precipitate,  and  decomposing  it 

(diffused  through  water)  by  sulphuretted  hydrogen.  On 
evaporating  its  solution,  it  is  obtained  as  a  pale  yellow  ex- 
tract, of  a  strong  astringent  taste.  The  action  of  astringents 
upon  persalts  of  iron  has  given  rise  to  its  distinction  into 
two  varieties ;  the  first  changing  them  to  deep  blue  or 
black,  the  second  to  green.  The  tan  of  galls,  oak  bark,  grape 
seeds,  &c,  possesses  the  former  property;  that  of  catechu 
and  tea  the  latter. 

By  digesting  powdered  charcoal  in  nitric  acid,  and  care- 
fully evaporating  the  solution  so  obtained.  Mr.  Hatchctt  suc- 
ceeded in  procuring  a  brown  substance  of  an  astringent 
taste,  and  precipitating  solution  of  gelatine,  which  he  terms, 
therefore,  artificial  tan. 

TANTALITE,  or  COLUMBITE.  The  ferruginous  oxide 
of  columbium.  It  occurs  in  small  masses,  and  in  octoedral 
Crystals.  It  has  been  found  in  Finland  and  in  the  United 
Slates  of  America. 

T  VNTA'LIUM.  SecCoLUMBUM. 
TA'NTALUS.  In  Creek  Mythology,  a  king  of  Lydia, 
rhrygia,  or  Paphlagonia,  according  to  different  authors, 
whose  punishment  in  the  infernal  regions  is  well  known  to 
classical  readers.  He  was  condemned  to  he  plunged  in  wa- 
ter, and  have  delicious  fruits  continually  hanging  over  his 
head,  without  the  power  of  satisfying  either  thirst  or  hun- 
ger. His  crime  is  differently  represented.  According  to 
some,  he  served  to  the  gods  at  a  feast  the  limbs  of  his  own 
son  Pelops;  according  to  others,  he  revealed  the  mystery 
of  the  gods,  of  whom  he  was  high-priest ;  while  others 
attribute  to  him  the  vices  of  pride  and  too  great  wealth. 
(For  a  learned  interpretation  of  the  myth,  see  Bryant's  Ali- 
en nt  Mythology,!.  304.) 

TANTALUS'S  CUP.  A  philosophical  toy  which  amu- 
singly exhibits  the  principle  of  the  siphon.  Into  a  hole  in 
the  bottom  of  a  cup  A  the  longer  leg  of  a  si- 
phon B  C  D  is  cemented,  so  that  the  end  D  of 
the  shorter  leg  nearly  touches  the  bottom  of 
(|A  the  cup  within.  When  water  is  poured  into 
the  cup,  it  rises  in  the  shorter  leg  of  the  si- 
phon until  it  reaches  the  level  of  the  top  of 
the  bend  at  C,  when  it  flows  over  into  the  lar- 
ger leg,  and  is  carried  off  at  G ;  so  that  if  wa- 
ter is  not  supplied  to  the  cup  faster  than  it  is 
drawn  off  by  the  siphon,  the  cup  will  be  emp- 
tied. To  form  the  toy,  the  legs  of  the  siphon 
are  concealed  by  the  hollow  figure  of  a  man 
whose  chin  is  on  a  level  with  the  bend  of  the 
siphon;  so  that  the  figure  stands  like  Tanta- 
lus in  the  fable — up  to  the  chin  in  water  but 
unable  to  quench  his  thirst. 

TAW  ITSIM  )M  ES,  Tanystoma.    (Cr.  nlnJ,  /  stretch,  and 

oro/ta,  a  mouth.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Dipterous  insects, 

comprehending  those  which  have  a  projecting  proboscis, 

with  the  last  joint  of  the  antenna;  undivided. 

TA'PBSTRY.    (Pr.  tapisserie.)     An  ornamental  figured 

textile:  fabric  of  worsted  or  silk  for  lining  the  walls  of  apart- 
ments. The  most  celebrated  manufacture  of  this  kind  is 
produced  at  the  Gobelins  royal  manufactory,  near  Paris.  In 
Painting,  tapestry  is  applied  to  a  representation  of  a  subject 
in  wool  or  silk,  or  both,  worked  on  a  woven  ground  of  hemp 
or  II  iv. 

TAPE  WORM.     See  Taenia. 

TAPIO'CA.  The  prepared  starch  of  the  root  of  the  Ja- 
tropha  manihot.  The  root  abounds  with  a  milky  juice, 
which  is  poisonous,  but  which  deposits  an  inert  starch 
when  diffused  through  water.  The  root  is  called  cassava, 
and  is  rendered  harmless  by  boiling. 

TA'I'1 11.  (Lat.  taptrus.]  Tin-  name  of  a  genus  of  Pachy- 
dermatous Mammals,  of  which  three  existing  and  several 

extinct  species  have  been  determined.    Of  the  existing  spe 

cies  one  is  a   native  of  Sumatra,  the  other  two  of  South 
America.     The)  have  a  short  proboscis;  four  toes  on  the 
fore  foot,  and  three  toes  on  the  hind  foot. 
'I'M'.    A  dark-brown  viscid  liquid,  obtained  by  heating 

th.    v.  oo.l  of  the  lir  tree  :   it  consists  of  resin,  emp\  reum.atic 
oil,  and  acetic  acid.    When  inspissated  by  boiling,  it  is  con- 
1316 


TARTARIC  ACID. 

verted  into  pitch.  The  varieties  of  tar  have  lately  been  the 
subject  of  an  elaborate  investigation  by  Dr.  Seichenbach, 
who  has  obtained  from  it  six  distinct  substances,  which  he 
terms  paraffine,  cupion,  kreasote,  picamar,  capnomar,  and 

TAR,  MIXERAL.  A  variety  of  bitumen,  much  resem- 
bling petroleum. 

T A  .RANIS.  In  Mythology,  a  Celtic  divinity,  confounded 
by  Latin  writers  with  their  Jupiter.  He  was  regarded  as 
the  evil  principle,  and  worshipped  with  human  sacrifices; 
whence  the  verse  of  Lucan, 

Et  Taranis  Scythicas  non  minor  ara  Diana?. 

(See  Mem.  ilr  ['.laid,  des  Iit.'cr.,  vol.  x.xiv.) 

TARA'NTULA.  (So  called  from  Taranto  in  Sicily.) 
The  name  of  a  Fubrician  genus  of  Pedipalpous  Pulmonary 
Arachnidans,  infesting  the  torrid  regions  of  Asia  and  Ameri- 
ca. The  group  is  now  divided  into  the  genera  Phrynus  and 
Thtlijphonus.  The  term  is  also  applied  to  a  genus  of  spi- 
ders found  in  some  parts  of  Sicily,  whose  bite  produces  a 
train  of  symptoms  long  believed  to  be  curable  only  by  music. 
From  this  word  is  derived  the  term  tarantella,  the  national 
dance  of  the  Sicilians. 

TA'RDIGRADES,  Tardigrada.  (Lat.  tardus,  slow;  gra- 
dior,  I  march.)  A  family  of  Edentate  Mammals,  comprising 
those  which  are  remarkable  for  the  slowness  of  their  mo- 
tions when  upon  the  ground,  as  the  sloths. 

TA'RDO  (It.  slow.)  In  Music,  a  term  denoting  that  the 
movement  to  which  it  is  affixed  is  to  be  performed  slowly. 
It  is  nearly  the  same  in  signification  as  largo. 

TARE.  In  Commerce,  an  abatement  or  deduction  made 
from  the  weight  of  a  parcel  of  goods  on  account  of  the 
weight  of  the  chest,  cask,  bag,  &c,  in  which  they  are  con- 
tained. Tare  is  distinguished  into  real  tare,  customary  tare, 
and  average  tare.  The  first  is  the  actual  weight  of  the  pack- 
age ;  the  second  its  supposed  weight  according  to  the  prac- 
tice among  merchants  ;  and  the  third  is  the  medium  tare,  de- 
duced from  weighing  a  few  packages  and  taking  it  as  a  stand- 
ard for  the  whole.  In  Amsterdam,  and  some  other  com- 
mercial cities,  tares  are  generally  fixed  by  custom  ;  but  in 
this  country,  the  prevailing  practice,  as  to  all  goods  that  can 
be  unpacked  without  injury,  both  at  the  custom  house  and 
among  merchants,  is  to  ascertain  the  real  tare.  Sometimes, 
however,  the  buyer  and  seller  make  a  particular  agreement 
about  it. 

Tare.    In  Agriculture.     See  Vetch. 

TA'RGUM.  A  Hebrew  word,  denoting  a  paraphrase  of 
some  portion  of  scripture  in  the  Chaldean  language,  of 
which  there  are  ten  in  existence  :  the  two  principal  ones 
being  those  of  Jonathan  (or  rather  the  Pseudo  Jonathan),  au 
author  who  wrote  a  paraphrase,  or  rather  a  commentary, 
upon  the  Greater  and  Lesser  Prophets,  about  thirty  years 
B.C.  ;  and  of  Onkelos,  upon  the  Pentateuch,  which  is  con 
sidered  the  most  valuable  of  all,  and  is  referred  to  the  first 
century  of  our  era.  Two  others  are  supposed  to  be  of  con- 
siderable antiquity.  The  remaining  six  are  comparatively 
modern.     (See  Enc.  Metr.) 

TA'RIFF.  A  table,  alphabetically  arranged,  specifying 
the  various  duties,  drawbacks,   bounties,  Sec,  charged  and 

allowed  on  the  importation  and  exportation  of  articles  of  for- 
eign and  domestic  produce. 

TARPAW'LING.  A  painted  or  tarred  canvass  cover 
generally. 

TARRAS,  or  TERRAS.  A  volcanic  product,  which, 
mixed  with  mortar,  gives  it  the  property  of  hardening  under 
water.  Several  argillo  ferruginous  minerals  possess  this 
property,  and  are  often  indiscriminately  used  under  this 
term. 

TARSE,  Tarsus.  (Gr.  rapco;,  sole  of  foot.)  In  Mamma- 
lia, signifies  the  collection  or  small  bones  between  the  tibia 
and  metatarsus,  or  those  which  constitute  the  tir-.t  part  of 
the  foot.  In  Birds,  it  is  sometimes  applied  to  the  third 
ment  of  the  leg.  which  is  rarely  fleshy  or  feathered;  and 
corresponds  with  the  t  irsus  and  met  itarsus  conjoined.  In 
Insects,  it  signifies  the  aggregate  of  minute  joints  which 
Constitute   the  fifth  principal  segment  of  the  leg  or  the  foot. 

TA'RTAK.  (Cr.  rapraDoc,  infernal;  because  it  is  the 
sediment  or  dregs  of  wine.)  The  substance  which  con- 
cretes upon  the  inside  of  wine  casks.  It  is  c  II <•<(  red  nnd 
white  nrgnl.  acci Tiling  to  the  wine  from  which  it  is  obtain- 
ed. When  purified  it  is  often  called  cream  of  tartar  :  it  is 
a  bitartrate  of  potash. 

TARTAR  EMETIC.  A  double  salt,  consisting  of  tartar- 
ic add  in  combination  with  potassa  and  protoxide  of  anti- 
mony.   .Sec  Antimony. 

TARTARIC  Mil".  The  acid  of  friar.  This  acid  is 
contained  in  grape  juice,  and  in  tamarinds  and  several  other 

fruits,  It  Is  usual  lj  ob  alned  from  purified  tartan  1  parts  of 

|i>v\  d.aed  tartar  and  I  of  chalk  are  m  ted  In  hi  t  u  ater,  and 

the  uinie  powder  which  tie  of  lime]  I 

i posed  by  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  which  combines  with 

the   lime  to  form   sulphate  of  lime,  and  the    tartaric  acid 


TARTER  OF  THE  TEETH. 

being  liberated  is  obtained  by  evaporation.  When  pure  it 
forms  white  crystals,  composed  of  one  equivalent  of  dry  acid 
and  one  of  water  (66  +  9  =  75).  The  anhydrous  tartaric 
acid,  as  it  exists  in  the  dry  tartrates  (tartrate  of  lead,  for  in- 
stance), is  composed  of 

Atoms.        Equiv. 
Carbon        ...  4  24  36-36 

Hydrogen    ...  2  2  3-03 

Oxygen       ...  5  40  6061 

1  66  100-00 

TARTAR  OF  THE  TEETH.  This  substance,  which  oc- 
casionally concretes  upon  the  teeth,  consists,  according  to 
Berzelius,  of 

Salivary  mucus 135 

Animal  matter  soluble  in  muriatic  acid  7-5 

Phosphate  of  lime  (earthy  phosphates)  79 

100-0 

TA'RTARUS  (Tdprapoc;  called  also  the  house  of 
Hades  by  the  Greeks,  and  Orcus  by  the  Latins),  was  the 
name  of  the  infernal  regions,  over  which  Pluto  or  Hades 
had  dominion. 

TARTRA'TES.  Salts  in  which  the  tartaric  acid  is  com- 
bined with  bases. 

TARTROVI'NIC  ACID.  An  acid  composed  of  tartaric 
acid  in  combination  with  the  elements  of  ether. 

TARTU'FFE.  A  common  French  nickname  for  hypo- 
critical pretenders  to  devotion.  It  is  derived  from  the  cele- 
brated comedy  of  Moliere,  of  which  the  hero  is  so  called. 
Whether  Moliere  invented,  or  took  it  from  the  popular 
language  of  the  time,  does  not  appear :  some  say  that  he  in- 
tended to  attack  Louis  XIV.'s  confessor,  Pere  la  Chaise, 
whom  he  had  once  seen  eating  truffles  with  peculiar  gout ; 
and  thence  the  name.  The  play  was  written  in  1664,  but 
not  acted  till  1669 :  great  difficulties  being  thrown  in  the 
way  of  the  author  by  the  clergy  and  the  papal  legate.  On 
one  occasion  it  was  prohibited  when  the  curtain  was  on  the 
point  of  rising,  and  Moliere  announced  to  the  public  its  dis- 
appointment in  the  well-known  equivocal  words,  "  Mon- 
sieur le  president  ne  veut  pas  qu'on  le  joue."  When  at  last 
licensed  (through  the  influence,  it  is  said,  of  the  king  him- 
self), it  had  a  run  of  three  months  with  unparalleled  suc- 
cess ;  and  the  eager  attention  and  applause  which  it  still 
excites  bear  testimony  at  once  to  the  keenness  of  the  wit, 
and  the  peculiar  relish  of  the  public  for  the  exposure  of  the 
frailties  of  those  who  profess  a  religious  character.  In  Eng- 
land, this  play  has  been  made  more  than  once  lo  serve  the 
popular  passions  of  the  day.  Cibber  translated  it,  and  made 
the  hero  a  nonjuring  churchman  ;  and  the  play  is  still  acted 
under  the  name  of  The  Hypocrite,  in  which  the  Tartulfe  is 
a  methodistical  divine. 

TASTE.  That  power  of  the  mind  which  is  conversant 
about  the  beautiful,  both  of  nature  and  of  art.  In  the  Latin 
language,  the  same  metaphor  obtained  a  very  wide  applica- 
tion, and  the  term  sapientia  was  employed  to  signify  quick- 
ness and  correctness  of  judgment  generally.  Shaftsbury's 
use  of  the  term  is  nearly  as  extensive,  being  applied  by  him 
to  manners,  morals,  and  government,  and  to  wit,  ingenuity, 
and  beauty.  In  its  modern  use  it  is  restricted  to  those  ob-. 
jects  which  fall  within  the  province  of  imagination.  Now, 
although  imagination  derives  its  objects  pre-eminently  from 
those  of  the  sight  and  hearing,  and  although  the  epithet 
beautiful,  is,  for  the  most  part,  confined  to  these  ;  yet  the 
mental  power  which  judges  of  them  borrows  its  name  from 
a  third  sense.  The  reason  of  this  is  satisfactorily  shown  by 
Coleridge.  {Literary  Remains,  vol.  i.)  The  senses,  he  ob- 
serves, are  either  purely  organic,  or  mixed.  The  former  pre- 
sent their  objects  to  the  mind  distinct  from  its  perception  of 
them,  while  the  latter  invariably  blend  the  perception  of  the 
object  with  a  certain  consciousness  of  the  percipient  subject. 
To  the  latter  class  belong  the  touch,  the  smell,  and  the 
taste.  Of  these,  taste  and  smell  differ  from  the  touch,  as 
adding  to  that  reference  to  our  vital  being  which  is  common 
to  the  three  a  degree  of  enjoyment  or  otherwise  ;  while  the 
taste  is  distinguished  from  the  smell  only  by  its  more  fre- 
quent and  dignified  use  in  human  nature.  By  taste  then, 
as  applied  to  the  fine  arts,  we  must  be  supposed  to  mean  an 
intellectual  perception  of  any  object,  blended  with  a  distinct 
reference  to  our  sensibility  of  enjoyment  or  dislike. 

In  the  same  essay  Coleridge  gives  another  and  a  wider 
definition  of  taste  ;  as  "  a  metaphor  taken  from  one  of  the 
mixed  senses,  and  applied  to  objects  of  the  more  purely  or- 
ganic, and  of  our  moral  sense,  when  we  would  imply  the 
co-existence  of  an  immediate  personal  dislike  or  complacen- 
cy." Now,  by  the  constitution  of  man's  nature,  every  exer- 
tion of  human  activity,  in  the  pursuit  of  the  good,  the  beau- 
tiful, and  the  true,  combines  a  sense  of  pleasure,  or  the  con- 
trary, with  the  perception  of  their  respective  objects;  and 
this  fact  would  justify  the  widest  application  of  the  meta- 
phor. While,  however,  in  the  case  of  the  true,  this  co-ex- 
istent pleasure  has  not  received  any  distinctive  appellation, 


TASTE. 

and  while  conscience,  as  comprehending  the  sense  of  ap- 
probation and  disapprobation,  is  characteristically  applied  to 
the  moral  energy,  that  of  taste  has  been  confined  to  the 
perception  of  beauty  and  the  accompanying  gratification. 

But  taste,  like  all  other  metaphorical  terms,  is  extremely 
inaccurate;  and  by  directing  attention  exclusively  to  this 
element  of  pleasure,  it  has  led  to  a  very  inadequate  concep- 
tion of  the  true  nature  of  the  faculty  which  it  designates. 
Thus  Hutcheson  (Inquiry  into  the  Idea  of  Beauty  and  Vir- 
tue) maintains  that  the  faculty  is  peculiar,  and  a  sense 
which,  similarly  to  the  other  senses,  procures  a  pleasure 
totally  distinct  from  a  cognition  of  principles,  or  of  the 
causes,  relations,  and  usages  of  an  object;  that  beauty 
strikes  at  first  sight,  and  that  knowledge  the  most  perfect 
will  not  increase  the  pleasure  which  it  gives  rise  to;  and 
lastly,  that  all  the  diversity  of  sentiments  excited  in  differ- 
ent  minds  by  the  beautiful,  arise  solely  from  the  modifica- 
tions of  the  sense  by  association,  custom,  example,  and  edu- 
cation. Among  the  advocates  of  the  theory  of  a  moral  taste 
we  may  reckon  Hume,  Akenside,  Blair,  Lord  Karnes,  and 
Beattie. 

Blair  accordingly  defines  taste  to  be  the  power  of  receiving 
pleasure  from  the  beauties  of  nature  and  art;  while  Aken- 
side describes  it  as  "  certain  internal  powers  feelingly  alive 
to  each  finer  impulse."  Dr.  Beattie  (Essay  on  Poetry  and 
Music)  supposes  taste  to  have  its  origin  in  a  mutual  har- 
mony and  sympathy  between  the  soul  in  its  first  formation 
and  the  rest  of  nature,  which  experience  may  confirm,  but 
no  perverse  habits  subdue.  In  the  Essay  on  the  Delicacy 
of  Taste,  Mr.  Hume  talks  of  it  as  a  natural  sensibility ; 
while  in  the  Essay  on  the  Standard  of  Taste,  he  seems  to 
admit  of  no  other  criterion  than  the  decisions  of  a  due  and 
sufficiently  extensive  experience.  Lastly,  Lord  Kames  de- 
clares a  taste  in  the  fine  arts  to  be  nearly  allied  to  the  moral 
sense ;  but  yet,  like  morals,  capable  of  being  raised  to  a  ra- 
tional science  by  an  examination  of  the  sensitive  branch  of 
the  human  constitution,  and  an  enumeration  of  the  objects 
which  are  either  agreeable  or  disagreeable  by  nature. 

But  taste  is  not  only  a  sensitive,  but  also  a  cognitive  facul- 
ty. When  a  beautiful  object  is  presented  to  the  mind,  not 
only  does  it  make  on  it  a  delicious  impression  of  pleasure, 
but  the  mind  in  the  first  place  passes  judgment  upon  it,  and 
declares  it  to  be  beautiful ;  that  is,  conformable  to  a  stand- 
ard called  the  beautiful.  In  this  complex  operation  of  taste, 
the  judgment  is  the  antecedent,  and  the  pleasure  the  con- 
sequent. When  the  impassible  judgment  has  passed  sen- 
tence upon  the  object,  then  the  sensibility  is  awakened  to 
certain  sentiments,  which  are,  as  it  were,  the  echo  of  the 
reason.     (Cousin,  Sur  le  Vrai,  le  Bien,  et  le  Beau.) 

Thus,  too,  Ancillon  (Melanges  Littraires,  6,-c.) :  "The 
impression  which  an  object  makes  on  the  senses  is  insuffi- 
cient to  give  rise  to  the  sentiment  of  the  beautiful.  The 
impression  on  the  senses  is  but  the  occasion  on  which  the 
taste  declares  that  the  idea  which  it  impressed  on  the  sen- 
sible object,  and  which  that  object  expresses,  is  the  idea  of 
beauty."  To  this  view  of  taste  we  may  refer  the  opinions 
of  Addison  and  Burke.  According  to  the  latter,  taste  is 
that  faculty  or  those  faculties  of  the  mind  which  are  affect- 
ed with,  or  form  a  judgment  of,  the  works  of  imagination 
and  the  elegant  arts;  while  Addison  connects  the  emotion 
of  pleasure  with  the  power  of  distinguishing  the  beauties 
and  imperfections  of  an  author.  To  this  class  also  we  must 
refer  the  views  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  Dr.  Gerard,  and  Mr. 
Allison.  According  to  the  latter,  taste  is  that  faculty  of  the 
human  mind  by  which  we  both  perceive  and  enjoy  what- 
ever is  beautiful  and  sublime  in  the  works  of  nature  and 
art,  the  perception  of  these  two  qualities  being  attended 
with  an  emotion  of  pleasure  distinguishable  from  every  other 
pleasure  of  our  nature.  In  the  sketch  of  his  proposed  work, 
which,  unfortunately,  he  has  never  completed,  he  intended 
to  show  the  nature  of  the  faculty,  and,  in  refutation  of  the 
theory7  of  Hutcheson,  to  prove  that  it  has  no  resemblance 
to  a  sense  ;  and  that  it  is  not  even  a  separate  and  peculiar 
faculty,  but  admits  of  being  ultimately  resolved  into  more 
general  principles  of  our  mental  constitution.  If  taste  n7ere 
only  a  sense,  it  would  be  difficult  to  explain  the  fact,  that 
amid  the  inexhaustible  variety  of  sensations  which  differ- 
ent minds  experience  from  the  beautiful,  there  nevertheless 
reigns  a  certain  unanimity  in  men's  judgments  with  respect 
to  it,  which  cannot  have  any  other  source  than  the  identity 
of  reason  in  the  human  species.  The  sense  of  pleasure, 
however,  is  still  a  necessary  and  essential  element  of  the 
faculty  of  taste.  Without  it  we  should  be  condemned  to  a 
perfect  uniformity  of  sentiment  in  the  presence  of  the  beau- 
tiful, in  the  same  manner  as  the  absence  of  judgment  would 
reduce  us  to  an  endless  diversity. 

The  same  conclusion  will  follow  from  an  examination  of 
some  of  the  principal  definitions  of  beauty.  According  to 
St.  Austin  (Ep.  18),  "  unity  is  the  universal  form  of  beauty ;" 
and  to  Malespina  (Delle  Leggi  del  Bello),  "  beauty  consists 
in  unity,  multiplicity,  and  propriety."  De  Crousaz  (Traite 
du  Beau)  makes  beauty  to  consist  in  variety,  unity,  regu- 
4  G  1217 


TASTO. 

larity,  order  and  proportion.  Winckelmnim  and  Sulzer 
agree  also  Id  making  unity  and  multiplicity  to  be  essential 
constituents  of  the  beautiful.  And  lastly,  the  definition  of 
beauty  in  the  Italian  schools  of  painting,  was,  •■  il  piu  nell' 
uno,"  variety  in  unity  ;  which  is  nearly  identical  with  llut- 
cheson's  explanation  of  it.  uniformity  in  variety.  The  just 
ness  of  these  views  will  readily  appear.  If  H  e  consider  that 
while  variety  satisfies  the  demands  of  the  imagination  by 
affording  the  gratification  most  conformable  to  its  nature 
and  laws,  unity  is  necessary  for  its  being  apprebendi  d  by 
the  judgment,  and  in  order  to  its  appreciation  as  a  work  of 
art. 

A  few  definitions  of  beauty  remain  to  be  noticed,  which 
apparently  favour  the  theory  of  Hutcheson.  According  to 
Burke  (On  the  Sublime  and  Beautiful),  and  Price  {Essay  on 
Beauty),  beauty  consists  in  such  qualities  as  induce  in  us  a 
sense  of  tenderness  and  affection.  Allison  declares  that 
the  qualities  of  matter  are  neither  beautiful  nor  sublime  in 
themselves,  but  only  such  so  far  as  they  are  signs  or  ex- 
pressions of  qualities  capable  of  producing  emotion.  Wie- 
land  makes  beauty  to  consist  in  the  unity  of  an  agreeable 
variety;  and  Kant  teaches  that  the  beautiful  pleases  iire 
spectively  of  any  idea  of  utility,  or  of  any  conception  of  de- 
sign, simply  by  the  correspondence  of  the  object  and  the 
sensitive  organ. 

The  emotions  of  taste  are  usually  distinguished  into  those 
of  the  sublime  and  beautiful ;  but  Dugald  Stewart  seems 
with  justice  to  have  denied  the  existence  of  any  intrinsic 
difference  between  them.  According  to  Burke,  indeed,  the 
terrible  is  a  fruitful  source  of  the  sublime;  and  this  idea 
does  not  seem  capable  of  being  made  an  ingredient  of  the 
beautiful.  In  the  same  way,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are 
ideas  eminently  beautiful  which  can  never  give  rise  to  an 
emotion  of  sublimity.  Nevertheless,  this  does  not  consti- 
tute an  essential  difference  between  the  two.  It  is  with 
reference  to  their  several  effects  upon  the  imagination  that 
they  may,  perhaps,  be  most  correctly  distinguished.  Con- 
sidered in  itself,  a  beautiful  object  ought  to  present  the 
greatest  possible  unity  combined  with  the  greatest  possible 
variety;  and  considered  in  the  etl'ect  it  produci 
mind,  its  beauty  consists  in  the  free,  facile,  and  harmonious 
play  of  the  imagination.  On  the  other  hand,  the  imagina- 
tion is  lost  and  overpowered  in  the  contemplation  of  the 
sublime,  which  in  its  infinity  presents  at  once  unity  and 
variety. 

TASTO.  (It.  the  touch.)  In  Music,  a  term  used  in  con- 
junction with  solo,  to  signify  that  the  instruments  that  can 
accompany  by  chords  are  only  to  play  single  sounds  till  the 
direction  is  contradicted  by  the  word  accordo,  or  aecompani- 
■mento. 

TA'TTA.  (TndianA  A  bamboo  frame  or  trellis,  over 
which  water  is  suffered  to  trickle  with  a  view  of  cooling  the 
air  as  it  enters  the  windows  or  doors. 

TATTOO'ING.  The  name  given  to  a  practice  common 
to  several  uncivilized  nations,  which  consists  in  puncturing 
the  skin  and  rubbing  a  dye  or  gunpowder  into  the  wounds, 
by  means  of  which  certain  figures  are  represented  on  the 
face  and  other  parts  of  the  body  on  which  the  operation  has 
been  performed. 

TAU'RUS.  (Lat  the  Bull.)  In  Astronomy,  the  second 
in  order  of  the  twelve  zodiacal  constellations.  There  are 
several  remarkable  stars  in  this  constellation:  Aldebaran, 
of  the  first  magnitude,  in  the  eye;  the  well  known  cluster 
called  the  Pleiades,  in  the  neck;  and  the  Hyades,  in  the 

face.       See  CONSTELLATION,  ZODIAC. 

TAU'TOCHRONE  (Gr.  ravroc,  the  same,  and  \piro;, 
time),  in  Mechanics,  is  a  curve  line  having  this  property, 
that  a  heavy  body  descending  along  it  by  the  action  of 
gravity  "ill  always  arrive  at  the  lowest  point  in  the  same 
time,  wherever  the  point  from  which  the  body  begins  to  fall 
be  taken  in  the  curve.  Huygens  first  showed  that  this  is  a 
property  of  the  common  cycloid  when  the  motion  takes 
place  in  a  vacuum,  and  gravity  is  supposed  to  act  in  parallel 
straight  lines.  (See  Cycloid.)  Newton  and  Hermann  also 
determined  the  tautochrone  in  a  vacuum,  when  gravity  is 
supposed  to  be  directed  towards  a  given  centre.  Newton 
likewise  showed  that  the  cycloid  is  also  the  tautochrone  in 
a  resisting  medium,  when  the  resistance  is  proportional  to 
the  velocity  <  Principia,  b.  ii.,  prop.  28)  ;  and  Euler  first  de- 
termined the  nature  of  the  curve  when  the  resistance  is  pro- 
portional to  the  square  of  the  velocity  (Mechanica,  vol.  Ii.) 
See  also  Joh.  Bernoulli,  Opera,  vol.  iii. 

T  HJTO'LOGY.  (Or.  rovrd,  the  same  thing,  and  \oyoe, 
discourse.)  In  Rhetoric,  a  vicious  diction,  by  which  the 
same  Idea  is  expressed  in  two  or  more  different  words  or 
phrases,  apparently  intended  to  convey  different  meanings. 

TAWING.  The  art  of  preparing  certain  kinds  of  leather 
by  Imbuing  the  skins  with  saline,  oily,  and  other  matters. 
See  Leather. 

TAXATKi  ECCLESIAfflTCA.     A  name  given  to  sev 
crni  public  records.    The  oldest  is  that  of  Norwich,  made 
in  1253,  for  the  purpose  of  assessing  the  first  fruits  and  tenths 
1318 


TAXATION. 

1  of  ecclesiastical  benefices;  sometimes  called  Pope  Inno- 
cent's valour,  that  pontiff  ha\  ing  made  a  present  of  them  for 
three  years  to  Henry  III.  All  taxation  was  regulated  by 
this  assessment  until  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  when  the 

/'a/or  F.eclisiusticus,  sometimes  called  the  King's  Books, 
was  compiled  by  his  commissioners. 

TAX ATK  IN.  A  tax  is  a  rate  or  duty  laid  by  government 
on  the  incomes  or  property  of  individuals,  or  on  the  products 
consumed  by  them;  the  produce  of  such  duty  or  rate  being 
placed  at  the  disposal  ofgovernment. 

A  tax  may  he  either  general  or  particular;  that  is,  it  may 
either  alfect  all  classes  indiscriminately,  or  only  one  or  more 
classes. 

Taxation  (Lat.  taxatio)  is  the  general  term  used  to  ex- 
press the  aggregate  ot»particular  taxes,    it  is  also  the  name 

given  to  that  branch  of  the  science  of  political' economy 
which  explains  the  mode  in  which  the  revenue  required 
for  the  public  service  may  be  most  advantageously  raised. 
It  would  be  quite  superfluous  to  enter  into  any  lengthen- 
ed arguments  to  show  the  utility,  or  rather  necessity,  of 
raising  a  revenue  for  the  use  of  the  public.  JVtque  ouies 
gentium,  situ  armit;  neque  arma,  tint  stipendiis ;  neque 
sttpendia,  sine  tributis  habere  gueunt.  I  'Inert.  Hist.,  iv., 
cap.  74.)  Ii  is  admitted  on  all  hands  that  security  from 
foreign  invasion,  the  speedy  and  impartial  administration 
of  justice,  and  the  maintenance  of  good  order  and  tranquilli- 
ty .  are  absolutely  indispensable  to  the  successful  exertion  of 
industry,  and  to  the  advancement  of  society.  And  when 
such  is  the  case,  no  individual  can  justly  complain  that  he 
is  made  to  contribute,  in  the  same  proportion  to  his  means 
as  others,  for  the  attainment  of  such  objects;  or,  which  is 
the  same  thing,  that  he  is  made  to  pay  his  fair  share  of  the 
sum  required  to  procure  the  services  of  the  soldiers  and 
sailors  necessary  to  repel  hostile  aggression,  and  to  support 
the  various  institutions  and  public  functionaries  required  to 
maintain  internal  peace,  to  promote  prosperity,  and  to  protect 
every  citizen  in  the  undisturbed  enjoyment  of  his  property 
and  rights.  In  most  countries  the  public  has  frequently  had 
to  contribute  larger  sums  than  have  been  required  for  the 
ends  of  good  go\  eminent  But  abuses  of  this  kind  obvious- 
ly originate  either  in  the  misconduct  of  administration,  or  in 
the  defective  political  organization  of  the  states  in  which 
they  occur,  and  do  not,  therefore,  properly  come  within  the 
scope  of  our  inquiries.  In  treating  of  taxation,  the  object  of 
the  political  economist  is,  not  to  inquire  whether  the  reve- 
nue raised  In  the  state  exceed  its  necessary  wants,  or  wheth- 
er it  be  judiciously  expended  :  but  to  point  out  the  effect  of 
taxation  on  individual  and  public  wealth,  and,  by  analyzing 
the  various  methods  in  which  a  revenue  may  he  raised  and 
comparing  them  together,  to  show  which  is  most  advan- 
tageous, or  rather  which  is  least  injurious.  But  as  such  iu- 
quiries,  were  they  prosecuted  at  any  considerable  length, 
would  involve  discussions  nowise  suited  for  a  work  of  ibis 
kind,  and  far  exceed  its  limits,  we  must  confine  ourselves 
to  a  few  observations  illustrative  of  the  principles  that 
should  be  especially  kept  in  view  in  the  imposition  of 
taxes. 

Taxes  may  be  either  direct  or  indirect ;  that  is,  they  may 
be  either  imposed  on  the  Incomes  or  property  of  individuals, 
or  on  the  articles  on  which  these  incomes  or  property  are 
expended.  But  before  proceeding  to  inquire  into  the  nature 
and  influence  of  different  taxes,  it  may  be  proper  to  premise 
the  maxims  laid  down  by  Adam  Smith  w  ith  respect  to  taxes 
in  general,  inasmuch  as  they  are  drawn  up  with  singular 
judgment  and  comprehensiveness. 

First  Maxim — "The  subjects  of  every  state  ought  to  con- 
tribute towards  the  support  of  the  government,  as  nearly  as 
possible  in  proportion  to  their  respective  abilities;  that  is, 
in  proportion  to  the  revenue  which  they  respectively  enjoy 
under  the  protection  of  the  state.  The  expense  of  govern- 
ment to  the  individuals  of  a  great  nation  is  like  the  expense 
Of  management  to  the  joint  tenants  of  a  great  estate.  In 
the  observation  or  neglect  of  this  maxim  consists  what  is 
called  the  equality  or  inequality  of  taxation." 

Second — "The  tax  which  each  individual  is  bound  to  pay 
ought  to  be  certain,  and  not  arbitrary.  The  time  of  pay- 
ment, the  manner  of  payment,  the  quantity  to  be  paid,  ought 
till  to  be  clear  and  plain  to  the  contributor  and  to  every 
other  person.  When  it  is  otherwise,  every  person  subject 
to  the  tax  is  put,  more  or  less,  in  the  power  of  the  tax- 
gatherer,  who  can  either  aggravate  the  tax  upon  any  ob- 
noxious contributor,  or  extort,  by  the  terror  of  such  aggra- 
vation, some  present  or  perquisite  to  himself.  The  uncer- 
tainty of  taxation  encourages  the  insolence  and  favours  the 
corruption  of  an  order  of  men  who  are  naturally  unpopular, 
even  where  they  are  neither  insolent  nor  corrupt.  The 
I  iv  of  what  each  Individual  ought  to  pay  is,  in  taxa- 
tion, of  so  great  importance,  that  a  very  considerable  degree 
of  inequality,  it  appears,  I  believe  from  the  experience  of 
all  nations,  is  not  so  great  an  evil  as  a  very  small  degree  of 
uncertainty ." 
Tliird— "  Every  tax  ought  to  he  levied  at  the  time  and  in 


TAXATION. 


the  manner  in  which  it  is  most  likely  to  be  convenient  for 
the  contributor  to  pay  it.  A  tax  upon  the  rent  of  land  or 
of  houses,  payable  at  the  same  term  at  which  rents  are 
usually  paid,  is  levied  at  the  time  when  it  is  most  likely  to 
be  convenient  for  the  contributor  to  pay,  or  when  he  is  most 
likely  to  have  wherewithal  to  pay.  Taxes  upon  such  con- 
sumable goods  as  are  articles  of  luxury  are  all  finally  paid 
by  the  consumer,  and  generally  in  a  manner  that  is  very 
convenient  for  him.  He  pays  them  by  little  and  little  as  he 
has  occasion  to  buy  the  goods ;  and  as  he  is  at  liberty,  too, 
either  to  buy  or  not  to  buy  as  he  pleases,  it  must  be  his  own 
fault  if  he  ever  suffers  any  considerable  inconveniences 
from  such  taxes." 

Fourth — "  Every  tax  ought  to  be  so  contrived  as  both  to 
take  out  and  to  keep  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  people  as  lit- 
tle as  possible,  over  and  above  what  it  brings  into  the  pub- 
lic treasury  of  the  state."  (  Wealth  of  Nations,  M'Culloch's 
ed.,  1  vol.  8vo.,  p.  371.) 

It  may  be,  and  in  fact  often  has  been  supposed,  that  di- 
rect taxes,  or  taxes  laid  on  property  or  income,  or  both, 
would  have  the  advantage  of  corresponding  better  with  the 
first  of  Smith's  maxims  than  any  other  description  of  taxes, 
by  making  individuals  contribute  to  the  wants  of  the  state 
proportionally  to  the  revenue  which  they  enjoy  under  its 
protection  ;  and  so,  no  doubt,  were  it  possible  to  assess  them 
fairly,  such  would  be  the  case.  But  the  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  their  fair  and  equal  assessment  are  such  as  can 
never  be  overcome;  and  the  truth  is,  that  taxes  on  either 
income  or  property,  though  theoretically  equal,  are  practi- 
cally the  most  unequal  that  can  be  imagined.  We  may  get 
a  pretty  accurate  notion  of  the  income  derived  from  lands, 
houses,  funded  property,  and  mortgages ;  but  all  beyond 
this  is  mere  guess-work.  There  are  no  means  by  which  to 
ascertain  the  amount  of  farming  capital,  stock  in  trade,  the 
profits  derived  from  them,  or  the  incomes  of  professional 
men.  No  inquisition  into  the  private  affairs  of  individuals 
can  ever  discover  these  particulars.  There  is  nothing,  in 
fact,  to  depend  upon  in  such  cases  but  the  declarations  of 
the  parties;  and  we  need  not  dwell  on  the  impolicy  of  any 
system  of  finance  that  sets  the  duty  and  the  interests  of  the 
contributors  in  opposition,  and  makes  them  profit  by  con- 
cealing or  perverting  the  truth.  Besides,  although  these 
preliminary  and  insuperable  difficulties  were  overcome,  and 
we  learned  the  capital  and  incomes  of  different  parties,  we 
should  have  other  and  greater  difficulties  to  surmount  be- 
fore the  tax  could  be  fairly  assessed.  The  same  deduction 
should  not  be  made  from  incomes  derived  from  sources  that 
are  not  equally  lasting.  To  assess  them  on  a  just  princi- 
ple, the  present  value  of  different  incomes,  or  their  value 
reduced  to  a  perpetuity,  would  have,  in  the  first  place,  to 
be  determined. 

But  it  may  be  unhesitatingly  affirmed  that  to  do  this  upon 
a  large  scale  would  be  quite  impracticable.  It  is  clear, 
therefore,  that  taxes  on  income  or  property  should  not  be 
introduced,  except  as  a  dernier  resort,  as  a  means  of  filling 
the  coffers  of  the  treasury  when  the  other  and  more  legiti- 
mate sources  of  revenue  are  insufficient,  and  when,  as  in  the 
late  war,  money  must  be  had  at  all  hazards. 

It  is  besides  absurd  to  suppose,  as  has  been  done,  that 
the  burdens  that  at  present  fall  on  the  labouring  classes 
could  be  sensibly  reduced  by  repealing  the  duties  on  tea, 
sugar,  soap,  &c,  and  imposing  in  their  stead  taxes  on  prop- 
erty. Suppose  that  the  attempt  were  made,  and  observe 
what  the  result  must  be.  A  manufacturer  employs  a  cer- 
tain number  of  men,  who  pay  £1000  a  year  in  taxes  on  com- 
modities. Now,  if  the  taxes  that  are  at  present  paid  by  the 
labourers  be  repealed,  those  that  fall  on  their  employers 
must  be  equally  increased;  so  that  the  manufacturer  in 
question  will  have  £1000  more  to  pay  in  taxes  after  the 
change  takes  place,  and  will  of  course  have  £1000  less  to 
lay  out  on  wages.  It  is  consequently  contradictory  and  ab- 
surd to  suppose  that  you  can  improve  the  condition  of  the 
labouring  classes  by  repealing  the  taxes  that  fall  on  them 
to  lay  them  on  capitalists. 

Direct  taxes  on  property  have  been  the  curse  of  every 
country  into  which  they  have  been  introduced,  and  are  at 
once  a  consequence  and  a  cause  of  a  low  and  impoverish- 
ed state  of  society.  To  evade  them,  people  that  are  not 
poor  counterfeit  poverty ;  some  of  the  most  powerful  incen- 
tives to  industry  and  economy  are  in  consequence  destroy- 
ed, at  the  same  time  that  inferior  stock,  machinery,  &c,  are 
made  use  of.  Such  taxes  are,  besides,  most  unpopular,  as 
well  from  their  requiring  an  odious  though  ineffectual  in- 
quisition into  the  affiiirs  of  individuals,  as  from  their  being 
direct.  So  much  is  this  the  case,  that  we  are  well  con- 
vinced that  the  raising  of  eighteen  or  twenty  millions  by 
taxes  on  income  would  be  felt  to  be  a  much  greater  burden, 
and  would  really  be  far  more  injurious,  than  the  raising  of 
fifty  or  sixty  millions  by  well-devised  indirect  taxes,  such 
as  the  greater  number  of  those  that  now  exist  in  England. 
Luckily,  however,  indirect  taxes  have  almost  invariably 
been  the  greatest  favourites  both  of  princes  and  subjects  ; 


and  there  are  many  solid  reasons  why  this  should  be  the 
case.  The  burden  of  direct  taxation  is  palpable  and  ob- 
vious. It  admits  of  no  species  of  disguise  or  concealment, 
but  makes  every  one  fully  sensible  of  the  exact  amount  of 
income  taken  from  him  by  government.  Every  one,  how- 
ever, is  extremely  averse  from  parting  with  property,  un- 
less he  obtain  some  more  acceptable  equivalent  in  its  stead  ; 
and  as  the  benefits  derived  from  the  institution  of  govern- 
ment are  neither  so  very  obvious  nor  striking  as  to  be  easily 
and  readily  felt  and  appreciated  by  the  bulk  of  the  people, 
there  is,  in  the  great  majority  of  cases,  a  decided  disinclina- 
tion to  pay  a  large  amount  of  direct  taxes.  Hence  it  is  that 
governments  have  so  generally  had  recourse  to  indirect 
taxes.  Instead  of  exciting  the  prejudices  of  their  subjects 
by  openly  demanding  a  specific  portion  of  their  incomes, 
they  have  taxed  the  articles  on  which  these  incomes  are 
usually  expended.  This  ingenious  plan  conceals  the  amount 
of  taxation,  and  makes  its  payment  appear  in  some  measure 
voluntary.  The  tax  being  generally  paid,  in  the  first  in- 
stance, by  the  producers,  the  purchasers  confound  it  with 
the  natural  price  of  the  commodity.  No  separate  demand 
being  made  upon  them  for  the  tax,  it  escapes  their  recollec- 
tion, and  the  article  which  they  receive  seems  the  fair 
equivalent  of  the  sacrifice  made  in  acquiring  it.  Such  taxes 
have  also  the  advantage  of  being  paid  by  degrees,  in  small 
portions,  and  at  the  time  when  the  commodities  are  want- 
ed ftir  consumption,  or  when  it  is  most  convenient  for  the 
consumers  to  pay  them. 

That  indirect  taxes  labour  under  some  considerable  dis- 
advantages is  most  true,  though  these  have  been  much  ex- 
aggerated. It  is  alleged,  in  the  first  place,  that  taxes  on 
commodities  necessarily  alter  the  natural  distribution  of  the 
capital  and  industry  of  a  country,  and  force  them  into  less 
advantageous  channels ;  because,  where  a  tax  is  laid  on  a 
particular  class  of  commodities,  the  producers,  in  order  to 
raise  the  price  proportionally  to  the  tax,  diminish  the  supply 
in  the  market  by  transferring  a  portion  of  the  capital  em- 
ployed in  the  production  of  the  taxed  commodities  to  some 
other  business.  But  it  is  to  be  observed  that  this  effect,  if 
it  be  sensible  at  all,  is  experienced  only  when  a  duty  is  first 
imposed,  and  that  after  a  short  while  the  duty  is  blended 
with  the  cost  of  production,  and  has  no  farther  influence 
over  the  distribution  of  capital.  It  is  also  true,  that  provided 
the  tax  be  not  oppressive,  or  so  high  as  to  drive  capital 
wholly  from  the  business,  it  acts  as  a  stimulus  to  invention, 
and  makes  those  engaged  in  the  business  exert  themselves, 
by  new  efforts  of  ingenuity  and  economy,  to  find  out  means 
Qf  paying  the  tax  without  adding  to  the  price  of  the  ar- 
ticles produced,  or  withdrawing  any  portion  of  their  capital 
from  the  business.  In  many  instances  these  efforts  have 
been  completely  successful ;  and  in  some  instances  the  in- 
fluence of  the  tax  has  been  more  than  neutralized  by  the 
exertions  made  to  defeat  it. 

Taxes  on  commodities  being  almost  always  paid  by  the 
producers  before  they  are  sold  to  the  consumers,  they  not 
only,  it  is  said,  increase  prices  by  the  whole  amount  of  the 
duties,  but  also  by  the  profits  due  to  the  manufacturers  by 
whom  they  have  been  advanced.  But  though  this  circum- 
stance undoubtedly  operates  to  increase  prices,  its  influence 
in  this  respect  has  been  greatly  overrated  by  M.  Say,  M. 
Sismondi,  and  others.  The  latter  has  calculated  that  a  tax 
of  4000  francs,  paid  originally  by  a  manufacturer  whose 
profits  were  10  per  cent.,  would,  if  the  manufactured  com- 
modity only  passed  through  the  hands  of  five  different  per- 
sons before  reaching  the  consumer,  cost  the  latter  the  sum 
of  6734  francs.  This  calculation  proceeds  on  the  supposi- 
tion that  he  who  first  advanced  the  tax  would  receive  from 
the  next  manufacturer  4400  francs,  and  he,  again,  from  the 
next,  4840  francs ;  so  that  at  each  step  10  per  cent,  on  its 
value  should  be  added  to  it.  "But,"  as  Mr.  Ricardo  has 
justly  observed,  "this  is  to  suppose  that  the  value  of  the 
tax  would  be  accumulating  at  compound  interest ;  not  at  the 
rate  of  10  per  cent,  per  annum,  but  an  absolute  rate  of  10 
per  cent,  at  every  step  of  its  progress.  M.  Sismondi's  state- 
ment would  be  correct  if  five  years  elapsed  between  the 
first  advance  of  the  tax  and  the  sale  of  the  taxed  commod- 
ity to  the  consumer  ;  but  if  one  vear  only  elapsed,  a  remu- 
neration of  400  francs,  instead  of  2734,  would  give  a  profit 
at  the  rate  of  10  per  cent,  per  annum  to  all  who  had  con- 
tributed to  the  advance  of  the  tax,  whether  the  commodity 
had  passed  through  the  hands  of  five  manufacturers  or  fif- 
tv."  {Principles,  Sfc,  3d  edit.,  p.  459.) 
"  It  is  certainly  true  that  duties  on  commodities  encourage 
smuggling.  "They  tempt,"  says  Dr.  Smith,  "persons  to 
violate  the  laws  of  their  country  who  are  frequently  inca- 
pable of  violating  those  of  natural  justice,  and  who  would 
have  been  in  every  respect  excellent  citizens,  had  not  the 
laws  of  their  country  made  that  a  crime  which  nature 
never  meant  to  be  so."  (P.  378.)  In  consequence  of  this 
tendency,  duties  on  commodities  require  the  employment 
of  a  number  of  revenue  officers ;  and  as  they  expose  the 
producers  of  the  taxed  articles  to  considerable  inconvenience 
v  1219 


TAXATION. 


and  hardship  from  domiciliary  visits,  they  force  them  to 
indemnify  themselves  by  making  a  corresponding  addition 
to  the  price  of  their  goods.  Hut  this,  alter  all,  is  not  so 
much  a  consequence  of  duties  on  commodities,  as  of  their 
abuse,  or  of  their  being  carried  to  an  oppressive  extent.  >?o 
long  as  they  are  confined  within  reasonable  limits,  the  temp- 
tation which  they  Create  to  engage  in  «mnggHng  transac- 
tions may  be  very  easily  obviated  :  and  it  has  been  shown 
over  and  over  again,  that  duties  so  restricted  are  uniformly 
more  productive  than  those  which  are  carried  to  Mich  a 
height  as  to  bold  out  any  great  encouragement  to  smnggling. 

It  may  also  be  said  that  duties  on  commodities  do  no]  fall 
on  individuals  in  proportion  to  their  means  of  paying  for 
them;  and  that  while  they  press  with  undue  severity  on 
persons  with  large  families,  or  who  occupy  prominent  sta- 
tions, they  may  he  almost  wholly  avoided  by  rich  misers 
and  those  in  the  more  obscure  walks  of  life.  Hut  in  taxa- 
tion we  have  only  a  choice  of  dilhcuUies.  However  desi- 
rable, it  is,  as  already  seen,  quite  impossible  to  tax  individ- 
uals in  proportion  to  their  incomes;  and  as  any  attempt  to 
impose  an  equal  income  tax  would  not  only  be  sure  to  fail, 
but  would  be  attended  with  the  most  disastrous  effects,  re- 
sort must  necessarily  be  had  to  the  best  practicable  taxes, 
that  is,  to  duties  on  commodities.  And  it  does  not  really 
appear  that  such  duties  can  be  considered  as  unequal.  If 
duties  be  laid  on  sugar  or  wine,  those  who  abstain  from 
their  use  will,  of  course,  escape  them:  but  those  who  use 
such  articles  have  no  good  right  to  complain  of  this,  seeing 
that  they  may  also,  by  exercising  the  Game  self-denial  as 
the  others,  exempt  themselves  from  the  duties. 

Taxes  on  commodities  are  most  commonly  divided  into 
two  great  classes  :  the  one  consisting  of  external  or  frontier, 
and  the  other  of  internal  duties.  The  first  class,  called  in 
England  customs  duties,  are  principally  charged  on  com- 
modities brought  from  foreign  parts  on  their  importation 
into  a  country,  and  sometimes  also  on  native  commodities 
when  exported.  The  second  class,  which  are  here  called 
excise  duties,  are  charged  on  certain  articles  produced  with- 
in a  country,  and  intended  for  home  consumption.  In  ad- 
dition to  these  great  sources  of  indirect  taxation,  duties  are 
sometimes  laid  on  the  paper  or  other  materials  necessary 
to  the  completion  of  deeds  and  other  contracts,  on  the  lib- 
erty to  use  certain  articles  and  to  exercise  certain  privileges, 
&c. 

Customs  Duties  formed  an  important  branch  of  the  public 
revenue  of  most  ancient  states,  and  in  modern  times  they 
have  been  very  extensively  imposed.  In  England  they  have 
been  charged  from  a  very  remote  period;  and.  though  in- 
considerable at  first,  they  have  increased  with  the  increase 
of  civilization  and  commerce,  till  they  have  long  formed  one 
of  the  most  copious  sources  of  the  public  revenue.  The 
various  duties  were  collected,  for  the  first  time,  in  a  book  of 
rates,  or  tariff,  published  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.;  but 
there  is  hardly  a  year  in  which  the  customs  duties  do  not 
undergo  considerable  modifications.  It  is  now  the  practice 
to  consolidate  the  different  acts  imposing  or  varying  the  cus- 
toms duties  before  they  become  inconveniently  numerous ; 
and  tariffs,  or  tables  of  duties,  drawbacks,  &c.,  are  annually 
published  for  the  convenience  of  merchants  and  others. 

Owing  principally  to  the  vast  increase  of  the  commerce, 
wealth,  and  population  of  the  country,  hut  partly  also  to 
the  increase  of  the  rates,  the  progress  of  the  customs  du- 
ties has  been  quite  extraordinary.  The  revenue  derived 
from  the  customs  duties  in  ]">l.lr>,  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth, 
amounted  to  no  more  than  £50,000.  In  1613,  it  had  in- 
creased to  £148,075,  of  which  no  less  than  £109,572  was 
collected  in  London.  In  lbOO,  at  the  Restoration,  the  cus- 
toms produced  £421,588;  and  at  the  Revolution,  in  1689, 
they  produced  £781,987.  During  the  reigns  of  William 
III.  and  Anne,  the  customs  revenues  were  considerably  aug- 
mented, the  nett  payments  into  the  exchequer  in  1712  being 
£1,315,493.  During  the  war  terminated  by  the  peace  of 
Paris  In  1703,  the  nett  produce  of  the  customs  revenue  of 
Great  Britain  amounted  to  nearly  £2,000,000.  In  1792,  it 
amounted  to  £4,407.000.  In  1815,  at  the  close  of  the  war 
with  revolutionary  France,  it  amounted  to  £11,360,000; 
and  in  1840,  the  customs  revenue  of  the  United  Kingdom 
amounted  to  £23,341,813,  of  which  Great  Hritain  furnished 
£21,209,082,  and  Ireland  £2,132,731. 

For  a  lengthened  period  customs  duties  were  charged  in- 
differently on  all  sorts  of  commodities,  whether  exported  or 
Imported  ;  the  duty  on  wool  sent  to  the  Netherlands, 
Frame.  &.<■..  being  formerly,  in  (art,  the  principal  item  in  the 
customs  revenue.  But  for  a  long  time  past  customs  duties 
have  been  almost  exclusively  laid  on  imported  articles;  those 
laid  on  exports  being,  in  most  instances,  imposed  ruber  to 
check  or  prevent  the  exportation  of  the  articles,  than  in  the 
view  of  raising  revenue. 

Customs  duties,  when  judiciously  Imposed,  and  confined 
within  reasonable  limits,  are.  perhaps.  ti„.  least  exception- 
able Of  all  taxes.  (S/r  Cl  STOICS.  Bui  if  they  be  carried 
to  such  a  height  as  to  give  any  overpowering  stimulus  to 
1220 


smnggling,  they  contradict  and  defeat  the  very  purpose  for 
which  they  are  intended.  Our  finance  ministers  have  not, 
however,  been  sufficiently  alive  to  this  obvious  considera- 
tion. There  can  be  no  articles  better  fitted  to  bear  customs 
duties  than  tobacco  and  spirits;  but  the  duties  with  which 
they  are  loaded  are  so  extravagantly  high  that  they  oc- 
Caston  ■  great  deal  of  smuggling,  with  its  accompanying 
crime  and  demoralization,  and  would  certainly  be  a  good 
deal  more  productive  were  they  effectually  reduced.  The 
existing  duties  on  brandy  and  geneva  are,  perhaps,  the  very 
worst  in  our  tariff;  bul  tiny  would  be  about  the  very  best 
were  they  reduced  from  22s.  6d.  to  8s.  or  10».  a  gallon. 

Is  already  stated,  the  customs  revenue  of  lstd  amounted 
to  £23,341,813  ;  and  we  hesitate  not  to  affirm  that  no  equal 
amount  of  revenue  was  ever  raised  in  any  country,  or  in  any 
period  of  time,  with  so  little  difficulty  and  inconvenience. 
The  assessed  taxes,  exclusive  of  the  land-tax,  produced,  in 
1840,  £2,971,005;  and  no  one  familiar  with  the  facts,  can 
doubt  that  their  payment  produced  more  irritation,  and  was 
regarded  as  a  greater  burden  by  the  public  than  the  pay- 
ment of  the  customs  duties,  though  the  latter  brought  be- 
tween six  and  seven  times  as  great  an  amount  of  income 
into  the  coffers  of  the  treason-. 

The  customs  revenue  of  1840  was  collected  in  Great 
Britain  at  a  charge  of  £'4  18».  104  per  cent,  on  its  gross 
produce :  and  in  Ireland,  at  a  charge  of  £10  8s.  3d.  on  ditto. 

Excise  Duties.  —  The  next  great  branch  of  the  public 
revenue  consists  of  inland  or  excise  duties;  that  is,  as  al- 
ready seen,  of  duties  charged  on  certain  commodities  pro- 
duced or  manufactured  at  home. 

Excise  duties  were  introduced  into  England  by  the  Long 
Parliament  in  1043;  being  then  laid  on  the  makers  and 
venders  of  ale,  beer,  cider,  and  perry.  The  Royalists  soon 
after  followed  the  example  of  the  Republicans,  both  par- 
ties declaring  that  the  excise  should  be  continued  no  longer 
than  the  termination  of  the  war.  But  it  was  found  too 
productive  a  source  of  revenue  to  be  again  relinquished  ; 
and  when  the  nation  had  been  accustomed  to  it  for  a  few 
years,  the  parliament  declared,  in  1649,  that  the  "impost 
of  excise  was  the  most  easy  and  indifferent  levy  that  could 
be  laid  upon  the  people."  It  was  placed  on  a  new  footing 
at  the  Restoration :  and  notwithstanding  Mr.  Justice  Black- 
stone  says,  that  "from  its  first  original  to  the  present  time 
its  very  name  has  been  odious  to  the  people  of  England" 
(Com.,  book  i.,  c.  8),  it  has  continued  progressively  to  gain 
ground  ;  and  it  is  at  this  moment  imposed  on  several  most 
important  articles,  and  furnishes  nearly  a  third  part  of  the 
entire  public  revenue  of  the  kingdom.     See  Excise.  Duties 

Some  excise  duties  that  were  justly  objected  to  have  been 
repealed  within  these  few  years  ;  and  with  the  exception 
of  the  duty  on  glass,  which  interferes  injuriously  with  the 
manufacture,  we  are  not  sure  that  there  is  one  of  the  exist- 
ing duties  that  can  be  fairly  objected  to  on  principle,  though 
the  rate  of  duty  might,  in  some  instances,  be  advantageous- 
ly reduced.  We  subjoin  an  account  of  the  articles  sub- 
ject to  excise  duties  in  Great  Britain  in  1840,  with  the  nett 
produce  of  the  duties  in  the  same  year. 


Hops 
Licences 
Malt 

Paper         .        .        • 
Post  Horse  Doty 
Prat  Horse  Licences 
Snap  ... 

Spirits 
Surar 

Vinegar     .        .        • 
Total 


Net!  Revenue. 


L. 

s. 

d. 

302.948 

14 

9+ 

523  379 

11 

6I 

704,640 

7 

34l.-l.i9 

17 

2! 

947.6-0 

19 

14 

4,788  4  .' 

u 

10>f 

668,716 

0 

Oi 

212.634 

18 

4.001 

m 

806,704 

15 

0* 

73 

3 

9 

26.470 

8 

H 

It  has  been  said  that  the  excise  duties  "greatly  raise  the 
cost  of  subsistence  to  the  labouring  classes."  Hut  this  as- 
sertion has  really  no  solid  foundation.  We  have  seen 
above  that,  in  1840,  the  excise  duties  in  Great  Hritain  pro- 
duced £13,386,774.  Now  of  this  sum  the  duties  on  spirits, 
malt,  and  licensee,  produced  £9,905,937.  In  fact,  the  only 
BXCise  'lutv  that  can  be  said  to  fall  on  a  necessary  of  life  is 
that  on  s,,ap.  which  produced  in  1840  (in  Great  Britain) 
£806,705;  and  as  the  population  of  Great  Britain  amounts 
at  present  to  above  18,500,000,  the  soap-tax.  at  an  average, 
does  not  impose  a  burden  of  above  lOd.  a  year  on  each  in- 
dividual !  If  we  estimate  its  annual  pressure  on  a  labour- 
ing family  of  rive  persons  at  is.  <W..  we  shall  not  be  within, 
derably  beyond  the  mark.  In  Ireland  there  is  no 
tax  on  soap. 

Latterly  some  reductions  hnve  been  made  in  the  duties 
on  glass.    Btill,  however,  they  are  most  objectionable, in- 
asmuch as  they  interfere  most  materially  With  the  pi 
carried  on  in  the  manufacture,  and,  by  obstructing  the  intro- 
duction of  new  discoveries  and  improved  methods,  enhance 


TAXATION. 


the  prices  of  the  article  in  a  much  greater  degree  than 
might  be  inferred  from  the  amount  of  the  duty. 

The  only  taxes  in  the  departments  of  customs  and  ex- 
cise, or  of 'the  revenue  generally,  that  can  be  truly  said  to 
fall  on  articles  necessary  to  the  labourer  are,  besides  soap, 
those  on  tea,  sugar,  and  one  or  two  more.  It  is  pretty  cer- 
tain that  the  duties  on  tea  and  sugar,  which  are  by  far  the 
most  important,  might  be  materially  reduced  without  affect- 
ing the  revenue ;  and  the  presumption  is,  that  the  duty  on 
sugar,  which  enters  so  largely  into  most  descriptions  of  food, 
will  be  speedily  reduced,  and  the  trade  in  it  placed  on  an 
entirely  new  footing. 

Even  though  they  were  not  required  by  the  public  ex- 
igencies, the  duties  on  spirits  obstruct  a  pernicious  habit, 
and  should  not  be  given  up.  They  are  the  best  of  all  pos- 
sible duties ;  and  the  only  thing  to  be  attended  to  in  their 
imposition  is,  not  to  carry  them  to  such  a  height  as  to  defeat 
their  operation  by  encouraging  smuggling.  We  have  yet  to 
learn,  supposing  they  are  not  carried  beyond  this  limit,  that 
a  single  good  objection  can  be  made  to  these  duties. 

The  obscurity  and  complexity  of  the  excise  laws  have 
been  justly  complained  of;  in  this  respect,  however,  they 
have  been  materially  improved  of  late  years  ;  and  the  stat- 
utes under  which  they  are  collected  are  now,  for  the  most 
part,  sufficiently  perspicuous,  and  easily  understood. 

The  capacity  of  a  tax  on  a  commodity  to  raise  a  revenue 
depends  partly  on  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  demand  for 
the  taxed  article,  and  partly  on  the  means  of  preventing  its 
being  smuggled  or  the  duty  evaded.  Every  tax,  by  raising 
the  price  of  the  article  on  which  it  is  laid,  has  a  tendency 
to  bring  it  within  the  command  of  a  smaller  number  of 
purchasers,  and  to  lessen  its  consumption.  An  individual 
who  might  be  able  and  disposed  to  pay  Is.  a  bottle  of  duty 
on  wine  might  neither  have  the  means  nor  the  inclination 
to  pay  2s.  or  3s. ;  and  instead  of  being  augmented,  the  rev- 
enue might  be  diminished  by  such  an  increase  of  duty. 
And  hence,  whenever  the  duties  on  commodities  are  raised 
beyond  certain  limits — which,  however,  it  is  impossible  to 
define  d  priori,  seeing  that  they  necessarily  vary  according 
to  the  description  of  commodities  charged  with  duties,  the 
varying  tastes  and  circumstances  of  society,  and  the  means 
of  counteracting  smuggling — they  depress  consumption  to 
such  an  extent  as  to  become  less  productive  than  if  they 
had  been  lower. 

Variations  in  the  amount  of  the  duties  affecting  commod- 
ities have  exactly  the  same  effect  on  their  price,  and  conse- 
quently on  their  consumption,  as  corresponding  variations 
in  the  cost  of  production.  But  it  is  clear  that  any  reduc- 
tion in  the  price  of  articles  the  necessary  cost  of  which  is 
very  considerable,  and  can  therefore  be  used  only  by  the 
rich,  would  not  so  powerfully  increase  their  consumption 
as  an  equal  reduction  in  the  price  of  cheaply  produced 
commodities  in  general  demand.  Thus,  a  reduction  of  25 
or  even  50  per  cent,  in  the  price  of  coaches  would  not  add 
greatly  to  the  demand  for  them;  for,  notwithstanding  this 
reduction,  they  would  still  be  luxuries  for  which  none  but 
the  rich  could  afford  to  pay.  But  a  reduction  of  25  or  50 
per  cent,  in  the  price  of  tea,  sugar,  beer,  gin,  or  any  article 
in  general  demand,  would  extend  its  consumption  in  a  much 
greaterratio.  The  reason  is  plain.  The  lower  classes  form 
by  far  the  most  numerous  portion  of  society7 ;  the  articles 
referred  to,  and  others  of  the  same  description,  are  highly 
esteemed  by  them,  and  are,  even  at  their  present  prices,  ex- 
tensively consumed.  But  a  reduction  of  a  half,  or  even  a 
fourth  from  their  price,  would  add  prodigiously  to  the  de- 
mand for  them.  It  would  enable  their  present  consumers 
to  use  them  in  larger  quantities  ;  while  it  would  at  the  same 
time  bring  many  of  them  fully  under  the  command  of  a  very 
large  class  by  whom  they  are  now  used  as  luxuries  only  on 
rare  occasions.  The  history  of  taxation  in  this  and  other 
countries  fully  confirms  this  statement.  When  carried  be- 
yond due  limits,  taxes  on  commodities  cease  to  be  product- 
ive, and  recover  that  quality  when  they  are  reduced.  There 
is  much  truth  in  the  shrewd  remark  of  Dr.  Swift,  t'  at  in 
the  arithmetic  of  the  customs  two  and  two  do  not  always 
make  four,  but  sometimes  only  one.  In  1808,  the  duty  on 
coffee  was  Is.  Ihd.  per  lb.;  the  quantity  entered  for  con- 
sumption that  year  being  1,069,691  lbs.,  producing  a  nett 
revenue  of  £161.246.  In  the  course  of  the  year  the  duty 
was  reduced  to  Id.  per  lb. ;  and  next  year  no  fewer  than 
9,251,837  lbs.  were  entered  for  home  consumption,  produ- 
cing a  nett  revenue  of  £245,886.  The  coffee  duty  has  since 
been  lowered  to  6d  ;  and  the  quantity  entered  for  consump- 
tion is  now  (1842)  about  28,500,000' lbs.,  and  the  revenue 
about  £850,000  a  year. 

The  history  of  the  duties  on  tea,  spirits,  wine,  sugar,  nnd 
indeed  of  every  other  article  in  extensive  demand,  is  pre- 
cisely similar.  When  carried  to  an  oppressive  height,  the 
duty  either  occasions  the  use  of  the  article  to  be  given  up ; 
or,  which  is  the  most  common  case,  it  makes  it  be  supplied 
through  clandestine  channels  in  defiance  of  the  law.  But 
when  the  duty  is  moderate,  a  taste  for  the  article  is  diffused ; 


and  the  profits  to  be  made  by  trampling  on  the  law  not  be- 
ing sufficient  to  remunerate  the  smuggler,  he  is  forced  to 
abandon  his  hazardous  occupation,  and  the  article  is  whol- 
ly supplied  through  legitimate  channels.  After  the  various 
disastrous  consequences  entailed  on  the  country  by  the  ex- 
orbitant height  to  which  many  duties  were  carried  previous- 
ly to  1325,  and  the  signal  advantages  that  have  resulted  to 
the  revenue  and  the  public  from  their  subsequent  modifica- 
tion, it  may  be  hoped  that  the  principle  now  stated  will 
meet  with  more  attention  in  future. 

The  attempts  that  have  been  made  in  Great  Britain  and 
elsewhere  to  suppress  smuggling,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
maintain  exorbitant  duties,  have  all  signally  failed.  It  has 
been  invariably  found  that  no  severity  of  the  law,  nor  vigi- 
lance on  the  part  of  tbe  officers,  can  prevent  the  smuggling 
of  commodities  loaded  with  excessive  duties.  At  this  mo- 
ment it  is  supposed  that  from  500,000  to  600.000  gallons  of 
foreign  brandy  and  geneva  find  their  way  into  our  market 
without  paying  any  duty,  in  defiance  of  the  coast  guard, 
and  of  all  the  other  machinery  for  keeping  them  out. 
Large  quantities  of  tobacco  are  also  smuggled.  In  fact, 
there  are  no  means  of  effectually  putting  down  smuggling 
other  than  a  reduction  of  duty.  The  very  severity  of  the 
laws  prevents  their  execution.  It  creates  a  sympathy  in 
favour  of  the  smuggler  ;  it  stimulates  the  trader  to  corrupt 
the  officer  to  conceal  a  fraud ;  and  it  makes  the  officer 
overlook  what  he  might  otherwise  discover. 

Stamp  Duties. — These  duties  form  the  next  most  impor- 
tant branch  of  the  public  revenue,  after  the  customs  and 
excise.  They  are  mostly  laid  on  the  parchment  or  paper 
on  which  certain  deeds,  contracts,  receipts,  acquittances, 
bills  of  exchange,  newspapers,  policies  of  insurance,  inden- 
tures of  apprenticeship,  &c.  are  written  or  printed  :  and 
derive  their  name  from  the  parchment  or  paper  being  im- 
pressed with  a  stamp  stating  the  amount  of  the  duty. 
Winn  imposed  on  fair  principles,  and  not  carried  to  too 
great  a  height,  stamp  ditties  seem  to  be  one  of  the  most 
legitimate  sources  of  revenue.  They  assist  in  authentica- 
tirtg  legal  instruments,  and  render  it  much  more  difficult 
than  formerly  to  forge  deeds  of  any  standing.  It  is  need- 
less, perhaps,  to  say,  that  if  stamp  duties  be  carried  to  such 
a  height  as  to  oppose  any  serious  obstacle  to  the  free  cir- 
culation of  property,  or  to  the  execution  of  necessary  deeds, 
they  become  exceedingly  injurious.  Perhaps  the  duty  on 
fire  insurance  is  the  most  objectionable  of  the  existing 
stamp  duties.  It  amounts  to  3s.  per  cent,  on  all  property 
insured  :  whereas  the  premium  paid  to  insurance  offices, 
for  common  risks,  is  no  more  than  Is.  Gil.  per  cent.,  or  only 
half  the  duty.  Thus,  if  a  person  wish  to  insure  £1000  on 
a  dwelling-house,  a  shop,  warehouse,  or  other  commonly 
hazardous  property,  he  pays  15s.  to  an  insurance  office  as 
an  indemnification  for  the  risk,  and  30s.  to  government  for 
leave  to  enter  into  the  transaction.  So  exorbitant  a  duty 
cannot  be  too  severely  condemned.  It  discourages  that 
providence  and  foresight  the  encouragement  of  which 
ought  to  be  an  object  with  all  prudent  governments ;  and  it 
is  the  principal  cause  that  much  property  is  not  insured  at 
all,  and  that  what  is  insured  is  seldom  sufficiently  covered. 
Every  individual,  in  fact,  who  insures  any  commonly  haz- 
ardous property,  is  obliged  to  pay  three  times  as  much  as 
the  risk  is  really  worth.  Under  such  circumstances,  the 
wonder  certainly  is,  not  that  a  great  deal  of  property  is  un- 
insured, but  that  such  is  not  the  case  with  a  great  deal 
more.  Seeing  the  vast  importance  of  insurance,  it  may 
well  be  doubted  whether  it  ought  to  be  charged  with  any 
duty,  however  slight.  But  were  the  duty  fixed  at  9d.  per 
cent.,  or  at  half  the  premium,  its  influence  in  repressing  in- 
surance would  not  be  very  sensible  ;  and  the  increase  of 
business  to  which  such  a  reduction  of  the  duty  would  lead 
would  be  so  very  great,  that  we  have  little  doubt  that  in  a 
few  years  the  reduced  duty  would  yield  nearly  as  large  a 
revenue  as  is  derived  from  the  present  exorbitant  duty. 

The  duties  on  legacies,  and  on  the  probates  of  wills,  are 
included  under  the  head  of  Stamp  Duties,  of  which  they 
are  very  important  items.  These  duties  affect  only  per- 
sonal or  moveable  property.  The  first,  or  legacy  duty, 
varies  according  to  the  propinquity  of  the  successor  :  being 
1  per  cent,  on  property  devolving  on  children  and  lineal 
heirs,  3  per  cent,  on  property  devolving  on  brothers  and 
si=ters,  4  per  cent,  on  property  devolving  on  cousins,  and 
10  per  cent,  on  property  devolving  on  strangers.  The  pro- 
bate duty  varies  according  to  the  amount  of  property  in  the 
will.  The  duties  on  stage  and  hackney  coaches,  gold  and 
silver  plate,  &c.  come  under  the  head  of  Stamps. 

Land  Tax. — The  existing  land  tax  originated  in  1692,  be- 
ing intended  to  replace  the  subsidies  and  such  like  grants 
previously  made  to  the  crown.  According  to  the  valuation 
at  which  it  was  assessed,  it  was  found  that  a  charge  of  Is. 
per  pound  on  the  rental  of  the  country  produced  £500,000. 
Xo  subsequent  change  has  been  made  in  this  valuation. 
The  tax,  which  was  annually  voted,  usually  amounted  to 
4s.  per  pound  of  the  valued  rent.    In  1798,  it  was  made 

1221 


TAXATION. 


perpetual  at  that  rate,  leave  being  at  the  same  time  given 
to  the  proprietors  to  reduce  it. 

The  land  tax  lias  always  been  very  unequal.  When 
imposed,  the  proprietors  friendly  to  the  Revolution  return- 
ed theii  estates  at  a  much  higher  value  than  those  attach 
ed  to  the  House  of  Stuart.  The  different  degrees  of  im- 
provement tli.it  have  since  taken  place  in  the  various  dis- 
tricts of  the  country  have,  in  some  instances,  tended  to 
correct  the  inequalities  in  the  original  imposition  of  the 
tax  ;  but  llieir  more  common  effect  has  been  to  increase 
them. 

Assessed  Taxes.— These  form  the  fourth  great  bead  Of 
revenue.  They  include  the  duties  on  windows,  servants, 
horses,  carriages,  armorial  bearings,  game,  &c.  The  house 
duty,  that  used  to  be  one  of  the  principal  items  in  the  as- 
sessed taxes,  has  been  recently  repealed.  A  hearth  tax, 
or  duty  proportioned  to  the  number  of  fireplaces  in  a  house, 
was  established  in  this  country  at  a  very  early  period  ;  but 
owing  to  its  being  necessary  to  the  assessing  of  the  tax 
that  the  government  officers  should  be  admitted  to  view 
the  inside  of  each  house,  the  hearth  tax  became  exceed- 
ingly unpopular,  and  was  repealed  by  the  stat.  1  Will.  &. 
Mary,  c.  10.  This  statute  declares  hearth  money  "not 
only  a  great  oppression  to  the  poorer  sort,  but  a  badge  of 
slavery  upon  the  whole  people,  exposing  every  man's 
house  to  be  entered  into  and  searched  at  pleasure  by  per- 
sons unknown  to  him  ;  and  therefore  to  erect  a  lasting 
monument  of  their  majesties'  goodness  in  every  house  in 
the  kingdom,  the  duty  of  hearth  money  was  taken  away 
and  abolished." 

But  six  years  afterwards  "the  prospect  of  this  monu- 
ment of  goodness  was,"  to  use  Blackstone's  words,  "  some- 
what darkened,"  by  the  passing  of  an  act  (7  Will.  III.,  c. 
18)  laying  a  duty  on  all  inhabited  houses  except  cottages, 
and  also  on  windows.  These  duties  were  afterwards  con- 
siderably increased  :  they  were,  however,  materially  modi- 
fied within  the  last  few  years  ;  and  neither  the  existing 
window  tax,  nor  the  house  tax  previously  to  its  repeal, 
could  be  said  to  be  oppressive.  Indeed,  out  of  2,850.937 
inhabited  houses  in  Great  Britain  in  1831,  only  44-2.4^.  or 
not  a  sixth  part  of  the  entire  number,  paid  duty  in  1^33. 
All  houses  below  £10  a  year  of  rent  were  exempted  from 
the  duty  ;  the  rate  of  charge  on  those  that  were  assessed 
being  Is.  Od.  per  pound  on  houses  worth  from  £10  to£20  a 
year  ;  2s.  3d.  per  pound  on  those  worth  from  £20  to  £40, 
and  2$.  10c/.  per  pound  on  those  worth  £40  and  upwards. 
The  assessed  taxes  do  not  extend  to  Ireland.  The  cost  of 
their  collection  amounted,  in  1840,  to  £4  lis.  lOd.  per  cent, 
of  the  gross  produce. 

The  house  tax  being  assessed  according  to  the  rent,  it 

frequently  happened  that  private  houses,  shops,  and  tav 

ems  in  towns,  were  assessed  in  a  larger  sum  than  the 

finest  houses  of  the  nobility  and  gentry  in  the  country. 

1222 


There  was  not,  however,  any  injustice  in  this  ;  for,  In 
point  of  fact,  had  any  attempt  been  made  to  let  till 
they  would  rarely  have  found  a  tenant  or  brougl 
rent.  This  apparent  inequality  afforded,  however,  a  con- 
venient topic  for  declamation,  and  for  raising  an  outcry 
against  the  tax,  which  was,  in  consequence,  repealed  in 
1835. 

With  the  exception  of  the  duties  on  the  postage  of  let- 
ters, which  have  been  noticed  elsewhere  (see  Post-Of- 
fice), the  observations  now  made  will  probably  suffice  to 
give  the  reader  a  general  idea  of  the  principles  on  which 
taxes  should  be  imposed,  and  of  the  leading  characteristics 
of  the  principal  taxes  now  in  force  in  this  country. 

Collection  of  Taxes. — Taxes  in  Great  Britain  are  almost 
wholly  collected  by  government  officers,  paid  l>\  salaries 
The  customs  duties,  the  excise  duties,  and  the  duties  on 
stamps,  with  the  assessed  taxes,  are  each  under  the  man- 
agement of  a  particular  department,  having  at  its  head  a 
board  of  commissioners,  with  various  classes  of  inferior  of- 
ficers. The  post-office  revenue  is  managed  by  a  post-mas- 
ter-general and  a  principal  secretary.  The  heads  of  the 
different  revenue  departments  correspond  with  and  receive 
their  instructions  from  the  treasury,  to  which  is  committed 
the  charge  of  supervising,  controlling,  and  regulating  all 
matters  connected  with  the  assessment  and  collection  of 
taxes.  The  number  of  commissioners  in  the  different  rev- 
enue boards  was  formerly  much  greater  than  at  present  ; 
and  it  is  contended  by  some  very  high  authorities  that 
their  number  might  still  be  advantageously  reduced,  and 
that  the  whole  responsibility  should  rest  with  the  head  of 
each  department.  Various  reforms  and  retrenchments 
have  been  also  introduced  into  the  subordinate  depart- 
ments, and  not  a  few  abuses  have  been  rectified  in  the  as- 
sessment and  collection  of  most  duties.  Perhaps  the  only 
very  material  reforms  that  need  now  be  looked  for  in  this 
department,  must  arise  rather  from  changes  and  modifica- 
tions of  duties  than  from  any  changes  in  the  way  in  which 
they  are  charged  and  collected.  The  reduction  of  the 
present  exorbitant  duties  on  brandy,  geneva,  and  tobacco, 
by  taking  away  an  overwhelming  temptation  to  their  clan- 
destine importation,  would  enable  a  large  saving  to  be  ef- 
fected in  the  customs  departments,  at  the  same  time  that  it 
would  be  productive  of  various  other  beneficial  consequen- 
ces. In  the  excise  there  remains  little  to  be  amended  ;  and 
were  the  glass  duties  repealed,  and  the  regulations  as  to 
some  of  the  other  duties  simplified,  the  system  would  have 
received  all  the  perfection  of  which  it  seems  capable. 

Those  who  wish  for  farther  information  on  the  subjects 
treated  of  in  this  article  may  consult  the  article  on  Taxa- 
tion in  the  new  edition  of  the  Encyclopa-dia  Britannica, 
Ricardo's  Principles  of  Political  Economy ;  M'Culloch's 
edition  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  &c. 


TAXATION. 


Accocxt  of  the  Public  Income  of  the  United  Kingdom  :  specifying  its  different  Sources,  and  the  Amount  derived  from 

each,  during  1838,  1839,  and  1840. 


INCOME. 

183S. 

1839. 

1840. 

CUSTOMS  AND  EXCISE. 

£ 

£ 

27,851, 

92 

£ 

1.341,321 
1,273.630 

5.442.478 
4,845.949 

2-0.079 
1,849,710 
4.827,019 
3,658,800 

779.115 
3,495,687 

27 

£ 

794,238 

£ 
1,290,581 
1,155,613 

5,201.6c* 

4,983,602 

341.440 

1,791,646 

4,6')0.017 

3.472.-64 

921,552 

3,58S,I92 

£ 

27,397,171 

10,730,237 

Mall 

4,932,030 

302.906 
1.846.057 

Sugar  and  Molasses 

4,893.684 
3,362.035 

3,561,812 

Butter 

251.665 
113,907 
3i>"  328 
186.760 

7.T..445 
214/74 
61,478 
54  1. 7-5 

B  10,813 

163,669 

7,632 

418.335 
1,572,618 

2-5.1-6 
1,023.202 

241,266 
1,595,366 

213,073 
105.219 
323.882 

1 ,098.773 
559,679 
262,304 
62.-22 
629.317 
784.168 
182,000 
8,447 
71S.348 
463,426 

1,603,194 
298,404 

1,023,635 
228,251 

1,546,716 

257,577 
1  17,679 
339,5-0 

1,156,640 
785,491 
240,628 
50,504 
683.982 
80-.201 
1  ^6.2-3 
6/27 
735.553 
623  384 

1,730.551 
316.246 

1,064,115 
216.636 

1,617,064 

Soap 

Auctions 

Miscellaneous  of  Customs  and  Excise         .... 

STAMPS. 
Insurance  <  p- 

251.856 
891,704 

734,109 

341. ''-4 

1,699.233 
2,017,686 

292.978 
923.005 
7-1.  i  1< 
363.420 
497.216 
173.047 
469,001 

1.710.5.33 
2.09-.073 
299.398 
!  44.321 
773,114 
376.006 
438.047 
175.070 
473.2,6 

37,115,5 

61 

37 

911,506 

33,127,408 

7,2S7,S23 

4.152.257 

1,342,604 

4-2,429 

300,9o6 

173,-25 

46-.7S4 

ASSESSED  AND  LAND  TAXES. 

1.174,100 
1598,622 

201.4-2 
3>4,2-6 
447,467 
159,852 
266,380 

3,932,689 

2,390,764 

357.815 

245,310 

1.181.283 

1,404,642 
216.523 
410.1711 
4-1.419 
170.951 
230,919 

1,262,561 
201,018 
377,477 
442,757 
156.200 
278,242 

2.346.275 
3-  642 
312,575 

Other  Ordinary  Revenues,  and  other  Resources 

51.275.973 
441.819 

52,058,349 
1,381,933 

51.693,510 
1,750.543 

Excess  of  Expenditure  over  Income  . 

51,720.747     1 

53.440,287 

53,444,053 

1:223 


TAXATION. 


TAXUS. 


Account  of  the  Expenditure  of  the  United  Kingdom  during  1838,  1839,  and  1840;  specifying  the  different  Items,  and 

the  Amount  of  each. 


EXPENDITURE. 


REVENUE.— Charges  of  Collection. 
Civil  IXp.rtii.cals.  ^rcnT      |       |       ;       ". 


Preventive  Service,  Land  Guard,  Revenue  Police  Cruizers, 
aud  Harbour  Vessels 


Stamps 

Assessed  Taxes 

Olher  ordinary  Revenues     . 
Superannuation  and  other  Allowances 


£ 

636,847 
851,494 


Total  Revenue 


PUBLIC  DEBT. 

Interest  of  Permanent  Debt . 
Terminable  Auuuities .        .        .        . 
Managenieot 


Interest  on  Exchequer  Bills 


Total  Debt 


CIVIL  GOVERNMENT.— Ctofl  List-Privy  Purse, 
Salaries  of  the  Household.  Tradesmen's  Bills 
The  Allowances  to  the  several  Branches  of  the  Royal  Fam- 
ily, and  to  his  Royal  Highness  Leopold,  Prince  of  Co- 
bourg  (now  King  of  the  Belgians.*  .        .        .        . 

TL.   l,r  lln-ulcnant  of  Ireland's  Establishment 
The  Salaries  and   Expenses  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament, 

including  Printing 

Civil  Departments,  including  Superannuation  Allowances  . 

OUll  r  Annuities,  Pensions,  and  Superannuation  Allowances 

on  the  Consolidated  Fund  and  on  the  Gross  Revenue 

Pensions,  Civil  List 

Total  Civil  Government 


JUSTICE. 

Courts  of  Justice 

Police  and  Crimiaal  Prosecutions 

Correction 


Total  Justice 

DIPLOMATIC. 
Foreign  Ministers'  Salaries  and  Pensions     . 
Consuls"  Salaries  and  Superannuation  Allowances 
Disbursements,  Outfit,  &c 


Total  Diplomatic 
FORCES. 


Army. 


Navy. 


Effective 
Non-effective 


Effective 
Non-effective 


Effective 


t  Non-effective 


\  Number  of  Men  . 
\  Charge 

\  Number  of  Men 
t  Charge 

Total  Army 

>  Number  of  Men  . 
j  Charge        .        . 

>  Number  of  Men  . 
[  Charge 

Total  Navy 

(  Number  of  Men  . 

>  Charge 

i  Number  of  Men  . 
I  Charge       .       . 


Total  Ordnance 
Total  Forces    . 

Army  and  Ordnance,  Insurrection  in  Canada 

Chin.  Expedition 

Bounties.  &c,  for  promoting  Fisheries 
Public  Works 


24.212.5-0 

4,183,966 

133,566 


371,800 

308.000 
33,869 

142.195 
458,255 


552, 1S1 
562.191 
417,966 


182,028 

14*,6»6 
62  198 


(82,746) 
4,263.541 

(90,911) 
2,552,101) 


6,815,641 

(30.399) 
3.046,867 

(24.530) 
1,473,561 


4.520,428 


(9,012) 

1,219,633 

(6223 

166,053 


Post-office  :  Charges  of  Collection,  and  other  Payments 
Quarantine  and  Warehousing  Establishment! 
Miscellaneous  Services  not  classed  under  the  foregoing  beads 


Memorandum  : 
The  amount  of  Terminable  Annuities  on  the  5th  of  January  was 
In  corresponding  Perpetuities,  as  estimated  by  Mr.  Finlaison 


1,488,341 
570,129 


2,058,470 
154,213 
209,203 
62,213 
374,401 


2,843,500 


29,251,040 


1,532,338 


392,832 


12,720,750 
500,000 


144.731 
676,836 

134.534 
1,533.550 


51,720,747 


4.2°2.I73 
1,830,654 


£ 

638,824 
856.424 


24. 183,^65 

4.27I.4-.S 

133,866 


2.-\5S9.1^9 

v.n.Tol 


371,800 


525.501 
510.201 
403,274 


186.934 
115.929 
48,100 


(SS.4SI) 
3,952.881 

(S9,3--3) 
2,689,781 


6,542  662 


(34.137) 
3.993,225 

(23,732) 
1,496,979 


6.490.204 


(9.235i 

1,790.464 

(614) 

160,746 


1,961,210 


1,494,248 
567,636 


2,061  : 
15.1,709 
169,678 
64,223 
369,101 


2,823,41 


29,445,890 


1,634,683 


1,438,976 


13,984,076 

647,000 

14.5".3 
321,702 

146.466 
746, '•79 
1 1K.S94 

1,767,010 


53.440.2S7 


4.299,720 
1,771,430 


£ 
623,733 

M0.710 


24.352.269 

4,244.444 

134.241 


371,800 


122.410 

518,940 


349.397 
2,743 


534,945 
577,363 
286,295 


19S.765 
124,782 
51,998 


(91.901) 
4.100.5115 

(88,0061 
2.4<9,672 


fc.S90,2C7 


'36.501) 
4,152.666 

122,958) 
1,444,845 


5,697,511 


.  >  395] 

1,474.5:7 

(614) 

157,003 


*  No  part  of  this  income  is  at  present  paid  for  the  use  of  King  Leopold.     The  trustees,  after  discharging  certain  annuities  and  pensions  to  the  servants 
and  establishment  of  the  late  Princess  Charlotte,  repay  the  balance  of  the  annuity  to  the  Exchequer  :  the  sum  so  repaid  in  the  last  year  was  34,000/. 


TA'XICORNS,   Tnrimnir*.      (T.at.  taxus,  a  yew   tree; 

cornu,  11  horn.)    The  name  of  a  family  of  Coleopterous  in 

lading  those  In  which,  the  antenna-  gradually-  an:: 

mint  in  size  as  they  extend  from  the  head,  or  terminate  in 

an  enlargement 

TAXIDERMY.      (C,r.    T'tlic,   arrnnrrrmrnt,   and    rVflpvi, 

The  an  nf  arranging  and  preserving  the  skins  of 
animals.    The  1  popular  treatise  on  taxidermy  is  Mr. 

Swuintson's  volume  in  Lardncr's  Cyclopedia. 
1224  * 


T.vxis.  In  Burgery,  the  replacement  of  pans  which 
have  quitted  their  natural  situation  bj  the  band,  and  with- 
out Instrumenl  or  operation  ;  aa  in  reducing  hernia  or  rup- 
ture. 

TaXIB.  In  Arrhiterture,  the  fitness  of  the  parts  to  the 
end  for  which  a  building  is  erected, 

TA'XUB  'l. at.  .  in  the  botanical  name  of  the  yew  tne, 
celebrated  for  the  hardness  and  elasticity  of  Its  wood,  its 
berries  are  harmless ;  hut  its  leaves  are  poisonous,  porta- 


TAYLOR'S  THEOREM. 

kin?  of  the  property  of  foxglove.  It  is  the  most  simple  form 
of  the  Coniferous  alliance,  and  is  usually  taken  as  the  best 
illustration  of  the  gvmnospermous  structure  among  Exo- 
gens,  because  its  female  flower  is  quite  solitary,  and  readily 
examined.  What  travellers  in  New  Zealand  call  yews  ap- 
pear to  be  species  of  Dacrydium. 

TAYLOR'S  THEOREM.  In  Mathematics,  a  very  gen- 
eral and  remarkable  formula  of  most  extensive  application 
in  analysis,  discovered  by  Dr.  Brook  Taylor,  and  given  in 
his  Meihodus  Incrementorum,  published  in  1715.  The  for- 
mula is  this:  Let  u  be  anv  function  whatever  of  a  variable 
x,  and  let  u  be  what  u  becomes  when  x  receives  an  incre- 
ment =  h ;  then 

du    h      d2u     h1    .  d*u       h3       , 

u  =u+di ;  I +d7* '  m+i* '  r^3+- &c- 

Demonstrations  of  this  important  theorem  are  given  in 
every  treatise  on  the  differential  calculus;  and  it  is  made 
by  Lagrange  the  foundation  of  the  calculus  itself.  (See 
Lagrange,  Theorie  des  Fonctions  .InaJytique.) 

TEA.  The  dried  leaves  of  the  tea  tree,  of  which  there 
are  two  varieties.  1.  The  Thea  nigra;  black  or  bohea  tea. 
2.  Thea  viridis  ;  green  tea.  The  boheas  include  souchong, 
pekoe,  and  congou ;  and  the  greens  are  hyson,  singlo,  and 
imperial  or  bloom  tea.  The  leaves  are  collected  and  dried 
on  iron  plates  by  a~  gentle  heat.  Tea  taken  in  moderation, 
especially  as  we  use  the  infusion,  with  sugar  and  milk,  is 
strengthening  and  invigorating ;  it  also  appears  to  possess 
certain  stimulating  and  narcotic  properties,  of  which  some 
individuals  are  peculiarly  susceptible,  and  which  renders  it 
improper  in  hypochondriacal  and  hysterical  patients.  \\  e 
know  little  of  the  chemical  properties  of  the  varieties  of 
tea ;  but  the  following  table  shows  that,  in  regard  to  its 
more  obvious  constituents,  the  different  varieties  are  not 
widely  dissimilar.  The  column  showing  the  weight  of  the 
precipitate  by  jelly  may  be  taken  as  indicating  the  relative 
proportion  of  the  astringent  matter. 


Soluble 

Soluble 

Precipi- 

I 

100  parts  of  Tea. 

in 

in  alco- 

tate with 

residue. 

water. 

hol. 

j'l'y. 

Green  :  hyson,        14j.  per  lb.    . 

41 

44 

31 

56 

12..      " 

34 

43 

29 

57 

10j.      " 

36 

43 

26 

57 

"                    8«.      " 

36 

42 

25 

53 

7j.      " 

31 

41 

24 

59 

Black  :  souchong,   12».      " 

35 

36 

28 

64 

"                  10*.      " 

34 

37 

23 

63 

8».      " 

37 

35 

28 

63 

36 

35 

24 

64 

"              et'.    " 

35 

31 

23 

65 

Of  the  above  precipitate  by  jelly,  about  40  per  cent,  may 
be  regarded  as  tannin ;  and  the  difference  between  the 
second  and  the  first  column  shows  the  quantity  of  resin 
contained  in  the  above  teas :  the  resin  has  an  agreeable 
flavour  of  the  tea.  Water  distilled  off  tea  has  an  agreeable 
flavour,  and  is  said  to  be  narcotic :  it  contains  a  trace  of 
volatile  oil.  Oudry's  statement  of  the  existence  of  a  pecu- 
liar principle  in  tea  (thein)  requires  confirmation. 

The  late  rise  and  present  magnitude  of  the  British  tea 
trade  are  among  the  most  extraordinary  phenomena  in  the 
history  of  commerce.  Tea  was  wholly  unknown  to  the 
Greeks  and  Romans,  and  even  to  our  ancestors,  previously 
to  the  end  of  the  16th  or  the  beginning  of  the  17th  century. 
It  seems  to  have  been  originally  imported  in  small  quanti- 
ties by  the  Dutch,  but  was  hardly  known  in  this  country 
till  after  1650.  In  1660,  however,  it  began  to  be  used  in 
coffee-houses;  for,  in  an  act  passed  in  that  year,  a  duty  of 
8d.  is  laid  on  every  gallon  of  "  coffee,  chocolate,  sherbet, 
and  tea,"  made  and  sold.  But  it  is  abundantly  evident  that 
it  was  then  only  beginning  to  be  introduced.  The  follow- 
ing entry  appears  in  the  Diary  of  Mr.  Pepys,  secretary  to  the 
Admiralty  :  "  September  26,  1661.  I  sent  for  a  cup  of  tea 
(a  China  drink),  of  which  I  had  never  drunk  before."  In 
1664,  the  East  India  Company  bought  2  lbs.  2  oz.  of  tea  as 
a  present  for  his  Majesty.  In  1667  they  issued  the  first  or- 
der to  import  tea,  directed  to  their  agent  at  Bantam,  to  the 
effect  that  he  should  send  home  100  lbs.  of  the  best  tea  he 
could  get!  (See  the  references  in  jMilburne's  Orient.  Com., 
vol.  ii..  p.  530;  Macpher son's  Hist,  of  Com.  with  India,  p. 
130-132.)  Since  then  the  consumption  seems  to  have  gone 
on  regularly,  though  slowly,  increasing.  In  1689,  instead 
of  charging  a  duty  on  the  decoction  made  from  the  leaves, 
an  excise  duty  of  5s.  per  lb.  was  laid  on  the  tea  itself. 

The  great  increase  that  took  place  in  the  consumption  of 
duty  paid  on  tea  in  17?4  and  1785,  over  its  consumption  in 
the  preceding  years,  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  reduction  that 
was  then  effected  in  the  duties.  In  the  nine  years  prece- 
ding 1780,  above  180,000.000  lbs.  of  tea  were  exported  from 
China  to  Europe  in  ships  belonging  to  the  Continent,  and 
about  50.000,000  lbs.  in  ships  belonging  to  England.  But, 
from  the  best  information  attainable,  it  appears  that  the  real 
consumption  was  almost  exactly  the  reverse  of  the  quanti- 
104 


TEAK  WOOD. 

ties  imported ;  and  that,  while  the  consumption  of  the  Brit- 
ish dominions  amounted  to  above  13,000,000  lbs.,  the  con- 
sumption of  the  Continent  did  not  exceed  5,500,000  lbs.  If 
this  statement  be  nearly  correct,  it  follows  that  an  annual 
supply  of  above  8,000,000  lbs.  was  clandestinely  imported. 
It  was  well  known,  indeed,  that  smuggling  was  carried  on 
to  an  enormous  extent ;  and,  after  every  other  means  of 
checking  it  had  been  tried  to  no  purpose,  Mr.  Pitt  proposed, 
in  1784,  to  reduce  the  duties  from  119  to  12A  per  cent.  This 
measure  was  signally  successful.  Smuggling  and  the  prac- 
tice of  adulteration  were  immediately  put  an  end  to,  and 
the  legal  imports  of  tea  were  about  trebled.  In  1795,  how- 
ever, the  duty  was  raised  to  25  per  cent. ;  and  after  succes- 
sive augmentations  in  1797,  1800,  and  1803,  it  was  raised, 
in  1806,  to  96  per  cent,  ad  valorem,  at  which  it  continued 
till  1819,  when  it  was  raised  to  100  per  cent,  on  all  teas  that 
brought  above  2s.  per  lb.  at  the  Company's  sales. 

Down  to  the  22d  of  April.  1834,  the  duty  on  tea  was  an 
ad  valorem  one,  being  96  per  cent,  on  all  teas  sold  under  2.*. 
a  pound,  and  100  per  cent,  on  all  that  were  sold  at  or  above 
2s.  Seeing  that  tea  may  now  be  considered  almost  as  a 
necessary  of  life,  this  was  certainly  a  high  duty  ;  though, 
as  a  large  amount  of  revenue  must  he  raised,  we  do  not 
know  that  it  could  be  fairly  objected  to  on  that  ground. 
But  under  the  monopoly  system  the  duty  was,  in  fact,  about 
200  per  cent,  ad  valorem!  For,  the  price  of  the  tea  sold  by 
the  Company  being  forced  up  to  nearly  double  what  it 
would  have  been  had  the  trade  been  free,  it  followed,  inas- 
much as  the  duty  varied  directly  as  the  price,  that  it  also 
was  doubled  when  the  latter  was  doubled.  The  price  of 
congou  at  Hamburgh,  for  example,  varies  from  Is.  2d.  to  Is. 
Ad.  per  lb. ;  and  had  the  Company  supplied  our  markets 
with  congou  at  the  same  rate,  it  would  have  cost  us,  duty 
included.'from  2s.  2d.  to  2s.  Sd.  per  lb.  But  instead  of  this, 
the  congou  sold  by  the  Company  has  been,  at  an  average,  a 
good  deal  above  2s.  per  lb. ;  and  the  duty  being  as  much,  it 
has  invariably  cost  us  from  4s.  to  5s.  per  lb.  Hence, 
though  the  duty  was  only  100  per  cent,  on  the  Company's 
price,  it  was  really  above  200  per  cent,  on  the  price  of  tea 
m  an  open  market !  The  mischief  of  the  monopoly  was 
thus  aggravated  almost  beyond  endurance,  inasmuch  as 
every  addition  made  by  it  to  the  cost  of  the  article  made  an 
equal  addition  to  the  duty  on  it. 

But  this  system  is  now  happily  at  an  end.  The  ad  valo- 
rem duties  "ceased  on  the  22d  of  April,  1834 ;  and  all  tea 
imported  into  the  Cnited  Kingdom  for  home  consumption 
is  now  charged  with  a  customs  duty  as  follows: 

Bohea ls.Gd.  per  lb. 

Congou,  twankay,  hyson  skin,  orange 
pekoe,  and  campoi       ....        2s.  2<Z.      " 

Souchong,  flowery  pekoe,  hyson,  young 
hyson,  gunpowder,  imperial,  and  other 
teas  not  enumerated     ....        3s.  Od.     " 

We  subjoin  an  account  of  the  quantities  of  tea  entered 
for  home  consumption  in  the  United  Kingdom  in  1840  and 
1841,  with  the  gross  amount  of  duty  received  on  the  same  : 

Quantities.  Revenue. 

lit.  L. 

1840  .  32.262,892 

1841  .  36,396,078 

TEAK  WTOOD,  or  INDIAN  OAK. 

Tectona  grandis,  a  large  forest  tree,  that  grows  in  dry  and 
elevated  districts  in  the  south  of  India,  the  Burman  empire, 
Pegu,  Ava,  Siam,  Java,  &c.  Teak  timber  is  by  far  the  best 
in  the  East ;  it  works  easily,  and,  though  porous,  is  strong 
and  durable  ;  it  is  easily  seasoned,  and  shrinks  very  little  ; 
it  is  of  an  oily  nature,  and  therefore  does  not  injure  iron. 
Mr.  Crawfurd' says  that,  in  comparing  teak  and  oak  to- 
gether, the  useful  qualities  of  the  former  will  be  found  to 
preponderate.  "  It  is  equally  strong,  and  somewhat  more 
buovant.  Its  durability  is  more  uniform  and  decided  ;  and 
to  ensure  that  durability  it  demands  less  care  and  prepara- 
tion ;  for  it  may  be  put  "in  use  almost  green  from  the  forest, 
without  danger  of  dry  or  wet  rot.  It  is  fit  to  endure  all 
climates  and  alternations  of  climate."  (See  TredgoWs 
Principles  of  Carpentry,  p.  206  ;  Crawfurd's  East.  Archip., 
vol.  i.,  p.  451.) 

The  teak  of  Malabar,  produced  on  the  high  table  land  of 
the  south  of  India,  is  deemed  the  best  of  any.  It  is  the 
closest  in  its  fibre,  and  contains  the  largest  quantity  of  oil, 
being  at  once  the  heaviest  and  the  most  durable.  This 
species  of  teak  is  used  for  the  keel,  timbers,  and  such  parts 
of  a  ship  as  are  under  water:  owing  to  its  great  weight,  it 
is  less  suitable  for  the  upper  works,  and  is  not  at  all  fit  for 
spars.  The  teak  of  Java  ranks  next  to  that  of  Malabar, 
and  is  especially  suitable  for  planking.  The  Rangoon  or 
Burman  teak,  and  that  of  Siam,  is  not  so  close-grained  or 
durable  as  the  others  ;  it  is,  however,  the  most  buoyant, 
and  is  therefore  best  fitted  for  masts  and  spars.  Malabar 
teak  is  extensively  used  in  the  building  yards  of  Bombay. 
Ships  built  wholly  of  it  are  almost  wholly  indestructible  by 
r    4G*  1225 


3.473.964 
3,978,198 

The  produce  of  the 


TEANY. 

ordinary  wear  and  tear ;  and  instances  are  not  rare  of  their 
having  lasted  from  80  to  100  \  cars  ;  the;  arc  said  to  sail  In- 
differently ;  but  this  is  probably  owing  as  much  to  some 
defect  in  their  construction  as  to  the  weight  of  the  timber. 
Calcutta  ships  arc  never  wholly  built  of  teak  ;  the  timbers 
and  framework  arc  always  of  native  wood,  and  the 
planking  and  deck  only  of  teak.  The  teak  of  Burma, 
being  conveyed  with  comparatively  little  difficulty  to  the 
ports  of  Rangoon  and  Martaban,  is  the  cheapest  and  most 
abundant  of  any.  It  is  largely  exported  to  Calcutta  and 
Madias. 

A  species  of  timber  called  African  teak  is  pretty  largely 
imported  into  England,  from  the  weal  coast  of  Africa.  But, 
in  point  of  fact,  it  is  not  teak,  and  it  is  destitute  of  several 
of  its  most  valuable  properties.  It  is,  however,  for  some 
purposes,  a  useful  species  of  timber. 

TEANY,  TAWNY,  or  BRUSK.  In  Heraldry,  a  colour 
Compounded  of  red  and  yellow,  employed  in  blazonry, 
but  rarely  met  With  in  English  coats  of  arms,  and  reckoned 
one  of  the  dishonourable  colours.  In  engraving,  it  is  rep- 
resented by  diagonal  and  horizontal  lines  crossing  each 
other. 

TEARS.  The  fluid  which  lubricates  the  cornea  of  the 
eye,  when  secreted  in  excess,  forms  tears  ;  they  are  limpid, 
saline,  perfectly  miscible  with  water,  and  have  a  slight 
alkaline  reagency,  owning  to  the  presence  of  free  soda :  their 
principal  saline  contents  are  common  salt  and  a  trace  of 
phosphate  of  soda,  and  they  contain  traces  of  albumen;  but 
the  whole  solid  matter  scarcely  amounts  to  1  per  cent. 
When  the  lachrymal  duct  by  which  the  tears  are  conveyed 
into  the  nostrils  is  obliterated,  and  they  flow  over  the  angle 
of  the  eye,  they  become  concentrated  by  evaporation,  and 
leave  an  irritating  muco-saline  crust.  The  exact  nature. 
however,  of  the  animal  matter  contained  in  the  tears  has 
not  been  determined. 

TECIINO'LOGY.  (Gr.  Ttxvn,  art,  and  \oyog,  a  dis- 
course.) A  term  invented  to  express  a  treatise  on  art  or 
the  arts. 

TECTIBRA'NCHIATES.  (Lat.  tego,  /  cover,  and 
branchia,  gills.)  A  name  given  by  Cuvier  to  an  order  of 
Hermaphrodite  Gastropods,  comprehending  those  species  in 
which  the  gills  are  covered  by  a  process  of  the  mantle,  con- 
taining a  shell,  or  enveloped  in  a  reflected  margin  of  the 
foot:  for  this  name  that  of  Monopleurobranckiata  has  been 
substituted  by  M.  De  Blainville. 

TECTCRIUM  OPUS.  (Lat.  tector,  a  plasterer.)  In 
Architecture,  the  plasterers'  work  used  on  ceilings  and 
interior  walls:  it  was  a  composition  of  lime  and  sand,  and 
differed  from  stucco,  which  was  called  albarium  opus. 
Great  pains  were  taken  to  prevent  its  cracking,  by  crossing 
layers  of  reed  upon  it  touted  with  argillaceous  earth  pre- 
vious m  coating  it  with  paint. 

TECTBJ  CES,  Coverts.  (Lat.  tego,  Icovcr.)  The  name 
of  the  feathers  which  cover  the  quill  feathers  and  other 
parts  of  the  wing.     See  Coverts. 

TE  DEL'M.  (From  the  first  words  of  the  original  Latin, 
"Te  Deum  laudamus;"  We  praise  tine,  O  God.)  The 
authorship  of  this  sublime  hymn  has  been  ascribed  by  some 
to  Ambrose  and  Augustine;  by  others  to  Ambrose  alone, 
to  Hilary,  and  other  less  distinguished  persons.  It  is,  how- 
ever,  generally  thought  to  have  been  composed  in  the 
Galiican  church :  the  most  ancient  mention  of  it  being  in 
the  rule  of  Cssarius,  bishop  of  Aries  in  the  fifth  century. 
The  Te  Memo,  in  the  office  of  matins,  is  always  sung  after 
the  reading  of  scripture;  in  the  English  morning  service, 
between  the  two  lessons.  (Palmer,  Origines  Liturgiar, 
ch.  i.,  part  1,  sec.  2.) 

TEETH.     See  Dentes. 

TEETH  OF  WHEELS,  .are  generally  the  means  by 
which  the  [power  of  the  first  mover  is  conveyed  to  the 
working  point  of  a  machine  ;  anil   it   is  obviously  of  great 

importance  that  they  should  be  of  such  a  form  that  as  little 
as  possible  of  the  original  power  may  be  lost  In  transmission, 
and  that  the  impulse  should  be  conveyed  through  the  train 
of  wheels  with  a  uniform  force. 

In  the  formation  of  the  teeth  of  wheels,  the  object  aimed 

at  is  to  give  them  such  a  curvature  that  the  angular  vclo- 

the  two  pieces  working  together  shall  maintain 

the  same  constant  ratio  in  all  positions  of  contact.     In  order 

i' .  presi  rve  the  i  onstancy  of  the  angular  velocitj  ratio,  u  is 

only  necessary  that  the  acting  faces  of  the  teeth  shall  have 
such  a  form  that  the  normal  common  to  the  two  surfaces 
in  contact  shall  always  divide  the  line  of  centres  (that  is, 
the  line  joining  the  centres  of  the  wheel  and  pinion)  in  a 
fixed  point.  Now,  the  teeth  of  one  wheel  being  assumed 
to  have  any  form  whatever,  ii  is  always  geometrically  po 

sible  to  assign   the  form  Of  those   Of  another  so  that   they 

shall  t'ul til  this  condition,  and.  consequi  nth .  work  together 

correctly;    hut    the    forms    which    are   found    to   answer    in 

practice  are  limited  to  a  comparatively  small  Dumber.    We 

subjoin  the  following  cases  from  Brewster's  edition  of  Fcr 
guaun's  Mechanics  : 
1226 


TEINOSCOPE. 

Case  1— If  the  acting  faces  of  the  teeth  of  a  wheel  arc 
epicycloids  whose  generating  circle  has  the  same  r;u I i n-  as 
the  primitive  radius  of  the  pinion,  and  whose  base  has  the 
same  radius  as  the  primitive  radius  of  the  wheel  ;  and  if 
Ihuse  teeth  drive  the  pinion  by  acting  upon  infinitely  small 
pins  in  its  circumference,  the  motion  of  the  wheel  and 
pinion  will  be  uniform. 

Case  2.— If  the  acting  faces  of  the  teeth  of  a  wheel  are 
epicycloids  whose  generating  circle  is  of  any  magnitude 
whatever,  and  whose  base  is  the  convex  circumference  of 
the  wheel ;  and  if  the  acting  faces  of  the  leaves  of  the 
pinion  are  epicycloids  described  by  the  same  generating 
circle,  and  wiiose  base  is  the  concave  circumference  of  the 
pinion — the  motion  of  the  wheel  and  pinion  will  be  uni- 
form. 

( !ase  3.— If  the  acting  faces  of  the  teeth  of  a  wheel  are 
epicycloids  whose  generating  circle  has  a  radius  equal  to 
half  the  radius  of  the  pinion,  and  a  base  of  the  same 
radius  as  the  wheel  ;  and  if  the  acting  faces  of  the  leaves 
of  the  pinion  are  straight  lines  directed  to  the  centre  of  the 
pinion,  the  motion  of  the  wheel  and  pinion  will  be  uni- 
form. 

Case  4. — If  the  teeth  of  a  rack  drive  a  pinion  ;  then, 
when  the  acting  faces  of  the  teeth  of  the  rack  are  cycloids 
whose  generating  circle  has  the  same  radius  as  the  pinion, 
and  when  their  teeth  drive  the  pinion  by  acting  upon  infi- 
nitely small  pins  placed  in  its  circumference,  the  motion  of 
both  will  be  uniform. 

Case  5. — If  the  acting  faces  of  the  teeth  of  the  rack  are 
cycloids  whose  generating  circle  has  a  radius  equal  to  half 
the  radius  of  the  wheel ;  and  if  they  drive  the  wheel  by 
acting  upon  rectilinear  teeth  which  are  a  continuation  of 
the  radii,  the  motion  of  both  will  be  uniform. 

Case  Ii. — When  the  teeth  of  a  wheel  driving  a  rack  have 
their  acting  faces  formed  of  the  involutes  of  a  circle  having 
the  same  radius  as  the  pinion,  and  drive  the  rack  by  acting 
upon  infinitely  small  pins  fixed  in  its  rectilinear  edge,  the 
motion  will  be  uniform. 

For  detailed  information  connected  with  this  subject,  the 
reader  may  be  referred  to  the  following  works:  Camus,  On 
the  Teeth  of  Wheels;  Buchanan's  Treatise  on  Mill  Work, 
by  Rennie;  Airy,  On  the  Teeth  of  Wheels  (Cambridge  Phil. 
Trans.,  vol.  ii.)  ;  and  particularly  to  Willis's  Principles  of 
Mechanism,  1841.     .Vc  Wheel. 

TEGME'NTA.  (Lat.  tego,  /  cover.)  In  Botany,  the 
scales  covering  the  leaf-buds  of  the  deciduous  trees  of  cold 
climates. 

TE'GTJ  MENT,  or  TEC.MEX.  In  Anatomy,  the  general 
covering  of  the  body.  In  Entomology,  the  term  is  applied 
to  the  coverings  of  the  wings  of  the  order  Orthoptera,  or 
straight-winged  insects. 

TEINDS.  In  Scottish  Law,  tithes.  By  the  course  of 
various  usurpations,  the  whole  teinds  of  Scotland  had 
become  Tested  after  the  Reformation  in  the  crown;  or  in 
private  individuals,  termed  titulars,  to  whom  they  had 
been  granted  by  the  crown,  or  to  the  feuars  or  renters  from 
the  church.  By  a  succession  of  decrees  and  enactments 
these  tithes  were  generally  rendered  redeemable  at  a  fixed 
valuation  ;  and  the  clergy  are  provided  for  by  stipends,  paid 
by  the  commissioners  of  tithes  (when  these  are  vested  in 
the  crown)  or  by  the  titular.  The  minister  can  seek  the 
increase  of  these  stipends  by  process  of  augmentation  and 
modification  ;  and,  if  augmented,  every  heritor  becomes 
liable  ill  proportion  to  the  amount  of  his  teinds. 

TEI'ISOSCOPE.  The  name  given  by  Sir  David  Brew  ster 
to  an  instrument  otherwise  called  the  prism  telescope, 
formed  by  combining  prisms  in  a  particular  manner,  so  that 
the  chromatic  aberration  of  the  light  is  corrected,  and  the 
linear  dimensions  of  objects  seen  through  them  increased 
or  diminished. 

"If  we  take  a  prism,  and  hold  its  refracting  edge  down- 
wards and  horizontal,  so  as  to  see  through  it  one  of  the 
panes  of  glass  in  a  window,  there  will  be  found  a  position, 
viz.  that  in  which  the  rays  enter  the  prism  and  emerge 
from  it  at  equal  angles,  when  the  square  pane  of  glass  is  of 
the  natural  size.  If  we  turn  the  refracting  edge  towards 
the  window,  the  pane  will  he  extended  or  in  gnified  in  its 
length  or  vertical  direction,  while  its  breadth  remains  the 
same.      If  we  now  take   the   prism,  and   bold   its   refracting 

edge  ■.  erticaih .  we  shall  find,  by  the  same  process,  that  the 

pane  of  glass  is  extended  or  magnified  in  breadth.      If  two 

such  prisms,  therefore,  are  combined  in  these  positions,  so 
as  to  magnify  the  same  both  in  length  and  breadth,  we 
have  a  telescope  composed,  of  two  prisms ;  but  unfortunately 

lb.    objects  aie  all    highly  fringed    by  the  prismatic   colours. 

We  maj  correct  the  e  colours  in  three  ways:  1st,  We  may 
make  trie  prisms  of  a  kind  of  glass  which  obstructs  all  the 
raj  s  but  those  of  .me  homogeneous  colour  :  or  we  urn  IIM 
a  piece   of  the   same   ijla^s  to  absorb  the  othei    rays  When 

tWO   conn i    L'la-s    prisms    are    used.     Sid,    We    in;n     use 

achromatic  prisms  in  place  of  common  prisms,  fir.  3d, 
what  is  best  of  all  for  common  purposes,  we  ma>   place 


TELAMONES. 

©Over  t\Vo  prisms  exactly  similar  in   reverse   positions." 
(Brewster's  Optics,  Cabinet  Cyc.  p.  303.) 

Professor  Atnici,  of  Modena,  has  recently  constructed  a 
combination  of  prisms  of  the  same  glass,  in  which  the 
chromatic  aberration  is  corrected,  and  a  power  of  about 
three  times  obtained.  The  plan  is  well  suited  for  opera 
glasses.  Amici's  teinoscope  consists  of  four  rectangular 
prisms,  having  their  refractive  angles  different,  and  con- 
nected by  pairs;  the  two  pairs  being  similar,  those  next  the 
eye  or  the  first  pair  are  vertical,  and  the  second  pair  hori- 
zontal, so  that  equal  refraction  is  produced  in  every  direc- 
tion. The  distance  between  each  pair  is  about  an  inch 
and  a  half.  (Library  of  Useful  Knowledge,  "  Optical 
Instruments,"  p.  55.)  Sir  D.  Brewster  (Optics,  p.  364,) 
states  that  this  instrument  had  been  made  by  Dr.  Blair  as 
well  as  by  himself,  before  it  was  proposed  or  executed  by 
Amici. 

TELAMO'NES.  (Gr.  j-Aaw,  / bear  up.)  In  Architecture, 
figures  of  men  used  tor  supporting  entablatures,  similar  to 
Caryatides:  see  that  word. 

TE'LEGRAPH.  (Gr.  ri/\rj,  afar  off,  and  ypacpii),  I  write.) 
The  name  given  to  a  mechanical  contrivance  for  the  rapid 
communication  of  intelligence  by  signals.  Of  late  years, 
the  term  semaphore  (Gr.  ati/ia,  sign;  <ptp<i>,  I  bear)  has 
been  introduced  by  the  French,  and  frequently  adopted  by 
English  writers. 

Although  the  art  of  conveying  intelligence  by  signals  was 
practised  in  the  earliest  ages,  and  is  known  even  to  the 
rudest  savages ;  and  although  its  importance  is  not  only 
obvious,  but  continually  felt  wherever  government  is  es- 
tablished, it  has  been  allowed  to  remain  in  its  original  state 
of  imperfection  down  almost  to  our  times.  The  first  descrip- 
tion of  a  telegraph  universally  applicable  was  given  by  Dr. 
Hooke,  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  for  1684.  The 
method  which  he  proposed,  for  it  was  not  carried  into 
practice,  consisted  in  preparing  as  many  differently  shaped 
figures,  formed  of  deal — for  example,  squares,  triangles, 
circles,  &c,  as  there  are  letters  in  the  alphabet,  and  exhibit- 
ing them  successively,  in  the  required  order,  from  behind  a 
screen  ;  and  he  proposed  that  torches  or  other  lisrhts,  com- 
bined in  different  arrangements,  should  supply  their  place 
by  night.  About  twenty  years  later,  Amontons  exhibited 
some  experiments  before  the  royal  family  of  France,  and 
the  members  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  by  which  the 
practicability  of  the  art  was  demonstrated.  But  although 
both  the  proposal  of  Hooke  and  the  experiments  of  Amon- 
tons were  made  public,  telegraphic  communication  was  not 
applied  to  any  useful  purpose  until  1794,  when  the  plan 
was  adopted  for  conveying  intelligence  to  the  French 
armies.  The  first  telegraph  actually  used  was  the  inven- 
tion of  Cbappe.  It  consisted  of  a  beam  which  turned  on  a 
pivot  in  the  top  of  an  upright  post,  having  a  moveable  arm 
at  each  of  its  extremities  ;  and  each  different  position  in 
which  the  beam  and  its  two  arms  could  be  placed  at  angles 
of  45°  afforded  a  separate  signal,  which  might  represent  a 
letter  of  the  alphabet,  or  have  any  other  signification  that 
might  be  agreed  upon.  In  the  following  year,  1795,  several 
plans  were  submitted  to  the  English  admiralty ;  of  which 
one,  proposed  by  Lord  George  Murray,  was  adopted,  and 
continued  to  be  made  use  of  down  to  the  year  1816.  It 
consisted  of  six  shutters,  arranged  in  two  frames,  which 
being  opened  and  shut  according  to  all  the  different  combi- 
nations which  can  be  formed,  attorned  the  means  of  giving 
sixty-three  separate  and  distinct  signals. 
In  1803,  the  French  erected  semaphores 
along  their  whole  line  of  coast,  formed 
of  an  upright  post,  carrying  two,  or 
sometimes  three  beams  of  wood,  each 
turning  on  its  own  pivot,  one  above  the 
other.  In  1807,  Captain  (now  General) 
Pasley,  of  the  Royal  Engineers,  pub- 
lished his  Polygrammatic  Telegraph, 
differing  from  the  French  semaphores 
by  having  beams  turning  on  the  same 
pivot ;  and,  in  order  to  obtain  a  sufficient 
number  of  different  signals,  he  proposed 
to  erect  two  or  three  posts  at  each  station. 
In  1816,  Sir  Home  Popham  considerably 
simplified  this  construction.  His  telegraph,  which  was 
adopted  in  that  year  by  the  Admiralty  instead  of  the  shut- 
ter telegraph,  and  has  continued  in  use  ever  since,  consists 
of  merely  two  arms,  moveable  on  different  pivots  on  the 
same  mast,  as  represented  in  the  annexed  figure  (1).  It  is 
capable  of  giving  forty-eight  independent  signals.  Lastly, 
jn  1822,  General  Pasley  still  farther  simplified  the  con- 
struction, by  placing  the  two  arms  on  the  same  axis.  As 
this  form  of  the  instrument  appears  to  be  the  most  perfect 
at  present  in  use,  we  shall  give  a  few  details  respecting  its 
construction,  and  the  mode  of  using  it. 

For  day  signals,  the  telegraph  consists  of  an  upright  post 
of  sufficient  height,  with  two  arms  moveable  on  the  same 
pivot  on  the  top  of  it,  and  a  short  arm,  called  the  indicator, 


TELEGRAPH. 


Each  arm  can 


(2.) 
4 


/>6 


2  c::.---.- 


on  one  side  ;  as  in  the  annexed  figure  (2). 

exhibit  the  seven  positions,  1,  2,  3  4,  5, 

6,  7,  besides  the  position  called  the  stop, 

which  points  vertically  downwards,  and 

is  hid  by  the  post.    In  order  to  show 

the  number  of  signals  that  may  be  made 

with   this   machine,   we   may   suppose 

the  arm  nearest  the  indicator,  reckoning 

in  the  order  of  the  numbers  as  shown  in 

the  figure,  to  indicate  tens,  and  the  other 

units ;    then   the   signal   represented   in 

the  figure  will   be   17,  which  may  be 

taken  to  denote  a  letter  of  the  alphabet. 

If  the  arm  on  the  left  had  the  position 

indicated  by  3,  and  that  on  the  light  the 

position  indicated  by  6,  the  signal  would 

be  36.     Ir.  this  manner,  the  number  of 

separate  and  independent  signals,  with  their  signification, 

will  be  as  in  the  following  table  : 


No.  Of 

Signifi- 

No. ,i 

Significa- 

No. of 

Significa- 

Signal. 

es!  in. 

Signal. 

tion. 

Signal 

tion. 

1 

A 

15 

L 

M> 

V 

2 

B 

16 

M 

37 

W 

3 

C 

17 

N 

45 

X 

4 

D 

23 

0 

46 

Y 

5 

E 

24 

P 

47 

Z 

6 

F 

25 

Q 

56 

7 

G 

26 

R 

67 

12 

,      H 

27 

S 

67 

13 

I 

34 

T 

14 

K 

35 

U 

There  are  thus,  as  already  stated,  28  independent  signals 
which  are  more  than  sufficient  for  spelling  any  message 
though  not  enough  for  indicating  both  the  letters  of  the 
alphabet,  and  also  the  numeral  digits;  and  it  maybe  re- 
marked that  No.  4,  is  a  bad  signal,  when  used  by  itself, 
because  it  appears  in  the  telescope  as  a  prolongation  of  the 
post.  Advantage  may,  however,  be  taken  of  the  indicator, 
if  made  moveable,  to  increase  the  number  of  combinations. 

The  use  of  the  indicator  is  to  show  the  order  or  direction 
in  which  the  signals  are  to  be  reckoned ;  that  is,  whether 
from  right  to  left,  or  from  left  to  right.  This  is  indispensable 
at  sea,  or  wherever  it  is  required  to  convey  intelligence  in 
different  directions  at  the  same  time. 

In  order  to  adapt  the  telegraph  to  the  purpose  of  making 
night  signals,  a  lantern,  called  the  central  light,  is  fixed  to 
the  pivot  on  which  the  arms  move,  and  one  is  also  attached 
to  the  extremity  of  each  arm.  A  fourth  lantern,  used  as  an 
indicator,  is  fixed  in  tin;  same  horizontal  line  with  the  cen- 
tral light,  at  a  distance  from  it  equal  to  twice  the  length  of 
one  arm,  and  as  nearly  as  may  be  in  the  plane  in  which 
the  lights  revolve. 

The  arms  and  the  indicator  are  made  of  wood,  framed 
and  panelled  for  the  sake  of  lightness.  The  arms  are  fixed 
one  on  each  side  of  the  post,  and  counterpoised  by  weights, 
or  by  light  frames  of  iron-work,  which  at  a  little  distance 
are  quite  invisible.  The  precaution  of  counterpoising  is 
necessary,  as  the  arms  would  not  otherwise  remain  in  any 
:_'i\ en  position  unless  held  by  the  hand,  or  stopped  by  some 
mechanical  contrivance,  which  would  be  attended  with 
inconvenience.  Motion  is  communicated  to  the  arms  by 
means  of  an  endless  chain  passing  over  two  pulleys  ;  one 
fixed  to  the  arm  itself,  and  turning  on  the  same  pivot ;  and 
the  other  on  a  pivot  fixed  to  the  lower  part  of  the  post, 
within  the  reach  of  the  signalman.  The  pulleys  are  of  the 
same  size,  and  worked  with  groat  care,  so  that  the  arms 
can  be  set  with  the  greatest  exactness  ;  and  the  required 
positions  are  pointed  out  by  a  dial-plate,  the  index  of  which 
is  moved  by  a  lever  attached  to  the  lower  pulley. 

It  is  found  from  experience  that  the  length  of  the  arm 
should  be  about  one  foot  for  each  mile  of  distance,  and  the 
width  of  the  arm  should  be  from  one  sixth  to  one  eighth 
of  its  length.  The  indicator  should  be  of  the  same  width, 
but  only  about  four  fifths  of  the  length  of  the  arm. 

Instead  of  employing  the  different  telegraphic  signals  to 
represent  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  eich  may  have  a  sig- 
nification entirely  arbitrary,  but  settled  by  previous  agree- 
menl  ;  and  thus  a  message  may  be  communicated  by  a 
single  sign.  When  this  plan  is  adopted,  a  much  greater 
number  of  signals  is  required  ;  but  this  is  obtained  by  suc- 
cessively exhibiting  two  or  more  of  the  different  single  signs. 
Thus,  supposing  the  telegraph  capable  of  exhibiting  20  in- 
dependent signs;  then  by  two  successive  chaiges  400  sig- 
nals may  be  made,  and  8000  by  three  successive  changes. 
Every  system  of  telegraphic  signals  according  to  this  plan  is 
of  necessity  accompanied  with  a  telegraphic  dictionary, 
containing  the  signification  of  the  different  ci  mbinations  of 
si»ns  Several  works  of  this  kind  have  been  compiled. 
One  by  Sir  Home  Pr.pham,  at  present  used  in  the  English 
navy,  contains  about  13,000  words  or  sentences,  which  is 
probably  more  than  is  necessary  for  any  practical  purpose, 
though  "there  are  others  much  more  extensive.    The  Admi- 


TELEOLOGY. 

ralty  adheres  to  the  safer,  though  somewhat  less  rapid 
practice,  of  spelling  all  the  sentences. 

Iii  tin-  management  of  a  fleet  sit  sea,  telegraphic  commit - 
nication  is  indispensable.    In  the  English  navy,  the  signals 

are  generally  made  by  flags  ;  though,  from  the  difficulty  of 
making  out  their  figures  and  colours  in  calm  weather,  or 
when   the  Wind  blows  in   the  direction   in  which  the  signal 

is  to  he  communicated,  the  communication,  it  might  be  sup- 
pus.  d,  would  be  made  with  greater  certainty  by  means  of 
iphore. 
attempts  have  been  made  at  different  times,  par- 
ticularly on  the  continent,  to  supersede  the  optical  telegraph, 
which  is  always  useless  In  hazy  weather,  by  applying  the 
electricity  or  galvanism  to  the  rapid  communica- 
tion of  intelligence.     An  apparatus  for  accomplishing  this 
purpose  by  means  of  galvanism  has  recently  been  contrived 
by  Professor  Wheatstone,  of  King's  College,  London,  which, 
if  experiments  on  a  relatively  small  scale  may  be  trusted  to, 
appears  to  be  completely  successful.     It  has  been  adopted 
on  some  of  the  principal  lines  of  railway  in  this  country. 

TELEO'LOGY.  (Gr.  reXoc,  an  end,  and  \oyos,  a  dis- 
course.) The  doctrine  of  final  causes  is  so  called.  The 
teleoiogical  argument  for  the  existence  of  a  Deity  is  derived 
from  the  marks  of  design  apparent  in  the  universe,  which 
not  onlj  imply  an  intelligent  Creator,  but  demonstrate  at 
the  same  time  his  benevolence  and  other  moral  attributes. 
When  these  are  derived  fyom  material  nature,  the  argu- 
ment is  styled  the  physico-theological.  The  reader  will  find 
I's  Bridgewater  Treatise  an  explanation  of  Ba- 
con's meaning  in  banishing  filial  causes  from  the  domain  of 
phj  sical  siience. 

TE'LEl  >SAUE,  Teleosaurus.  (Gr.  rtAtio;,  perfect ;  aavpos, 
a  lizard.)  The  name  of  a  genus  of  fossil  Saurian  reptiles, 
resembling  the  Oavials ;  but  having  the  vertebra;  united 
hv  fiat  surfaces,  instead  of  ball-and-socket  joints. 

TE'LESCt  >PE.     (Gr.  djXjj,  distant ;  oKOirsw,  I  look  at.) 
i  instrument  for  \  iewing  distant  objects. 

For  several  reasons  a  distant  object  is  seen  less  distinctly 
than  a  similar  near  one.  The  angle  which  an  object  sub- 
tends diminishes  as  the  distance  increases;  the  density 
of  the  Light  which  renders  it  visible  also  diminishes  with 
the  distance,  but  in  a  much  faster  ratio;  and  a  considerable 
portion  of  light  is  always  lost  in  its  passage  through  the  at- 
mosphere. 

It  is  found  by  experience  that  to  be  discernible  at  all  in 
ordinary  daylight,  a  detached  object  must  subtend  at  the 
i  not  less  than  30",  and  that  the  least  angle 
under  which  contiguous  objects  can  be  satisfactorily  distin- 
guished is  about  one  minute.  By  the  aid  of  a  telescope  a 
I  image  of  the  object  is  obtained ;  and  within  cer- 
tain limits  the  object  is  not  only  apparently  enlarged,  but 
rendered  brighter  than  it  appears  to  the  unassisted  eye. 

The  invention  of  the  telescope,  to  which  practical  astro- 
nomy i-  indebted  for  its  most  important  discoveries,  has 
been  ascribed  to  various  persons.  Sir  David  Brewster 
{Encyc.  Brit.,  art.  "Optics")  says,  "We  have  no  doubt 
that  this  invaluable  instrument  was  invented  by  Roger  Ba- 
con or  Baptista  Porta,  in  the  form  of  an  experiment;  though 

it  had  not,  perhaps,  in  their  hands  assumed  the  maturity  of 
unentmade  for  sale,  and  applied  to  useful  purposes, 

both  terrestrial  and  eelesti.il.  If  a  telescope  is  an  bistro 
mint  by  means  of  which  things  at  a  distance  can  be  seen 
better  than  by  the  naked  eye,  then  Baptista  Porta's  concave 
lens  was  a  real  telescope;  but  If  we  give  the  name  to  a 
tube  having  a  convex  object  glass  at  one  end,  and  a  convex 
or  concave  lens  at  the  other,  placed  at  the  distance  of  the 
sum  or  difference  of  their  focal  lengths,  then  we  have  no 
distinct  evidence  thai  such  an  instrument  was  used  before 
rung  of  the  17th  century."  Descartes  ascribes  the 
invention  to  .lames  .Melius,  a  citizen  of  Alkmaer  in  Hol- 
land ;  Iluygens  to  John  Lippersey,  or  Zacharias  Jansen; 
Borellus  also  to  Jansen.  Professor  Moll,  who  has 
tlie^e  ii\al  claims,  alter  examining  the  official  pa] 

the  archives  at  the  Hague,  comes  to  the  i  oni  lu 
sion  that  Melius  i  whose  proper  name  was  Jacob  Adriaansy), 
on  the  17th  of  <  Ictobi  r,  1608,  was  in  possession  of  the  art  of 
making  telescopes;  but  that  from  some  unexplained  reason 
he  concealed  his  invention,  and  thus  gave  up  every  claim 
to  the  honour  he  would  have  derived  from  it;  that  On  the 
'i  tober  in  the  same  year,  1608,  John  Or  Hans  I.ip- 

persey,  a  spectacle-maKer  of  Middleburg,  was  actually  in 

ii  of  the  invention;  and  that  there  is  In 

to  believe  that  eitbei  Hans  or  Zacharias  Zanz  (or  Jansen, 

.    ni  till    U  ll  scope,  tlWUgh  one 

of  them  invented   a  compound  miscro  cope  about  1590. 
I  Institution,  vol.  i.) 

The  telescope  soon  made  its  Waj  into  other  countries.      In 

April  or  May,  1600,  the  illustrious  Galileo,  having  heard 

a  rumour  of  the  invention,  set  about  considering  the  means 

ts  could  be  seen  distinctly,  and  was 

soon  in  i e  -ion  oi  a  telescope  which  magnified  three 

I  i  siil, sequent  trials  he  succeeded  in  inert 

1328 


TELESCOPE. 

magnifying  power:  and  before  the  beginning  of  IfilO,  he  had 
Observed  the  satellites  of  Jupiter.  Our  countryman  Harriot 
also,  in  1600,  began  to  use  the  telescope  tor  examining  the 
disc  of  the  moon,  and  before  he  had  heard  of  the  discoveries 
of  Galileo.  [Priestly' 8  History  of  Discoveries  relating  to 
f'ision,  Light,  and  Colours.) 

Telescopes  are  of  two  kinds,  refracting  and  reflecting 
telescopes;  the  former  depending  on  the  use  of  properly 
figured  lenses,  through  which  the  rays  of  light  pass;  and 
the  latter  on  the  use  of  specula,  or  polished  metallic  mirrors, 
which  reflect  the  rays ;  an  inverted  image  of  the  object 
being  formed  in  both  cases  in  the  focus  of  the  lens  or  mirror. 

Refracting  telescopes  were  those  which  were  first  con- 
structed. They  were  of  the  most  simple  character,  consist- 
ing merely  of  an  object-glass  of  one  lens,  and  an  eye-ghiss 
of  one  lens,  but  of  a  shorter  focus.  But  in  this  construction 
the  prismatic  colours  produced  by  the  difference  of  the  re- 
frangibility  of  the  luminous  rays  tinged  the  images  of  all 
objects  seen  through  the  telescope,  and  the  image  was  like- 
wise distorted  by  the  aberration  of  the  extreme  rays.  It 
was  soon  found  that  the  latter  defect  could  be  sufficiently 
corrected  by  employing  more  lenses  than  one  in  the  eye- 
piece ;  but  it  was  long  before  a  remedy  was  found  for  the 
chromatic  dispersion;  and  artists,  despairing  of  success, 
generally  turned  their  attention  to  the  improvement  of  in- 
struments of  the  reflecting  class.  The  difficulty,  however, 
was  at  length  overcome  through  the  persevering  efforts  of 
John  Dollond  (see  Achromatism)  ;  and  the  achromatic  re- 
fracting telescope  may  now  be  regarded  as  an  instrument  all 
but  perfect. 

The  principles  on  which  telescopes  depend  having  been 
explained  under  the  terms  Reflexion  and  Refraction, 
and  the  properties  and  construction  of  their  principal  parts 
under  Achromatism,  Lens,  Mirror,  we  shall  here  de- 
scribe some  of  the  principal  forms  which  the  instrument 
has  assumed.  It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  general 
aim  in  the  construction  of  a  telescope  is  to  form,  by  means 
of  lenses  or  mirrors,  as  large,  bright,  and  distinct  an  image 
of  a  distant  object  as  possible,  and  then  to  view  the  image 
with  a  magnifying  glass  in  any  convenient  manner.  We 
shall  first  describe  those  of  the  refracting  glass. 

(lalilean  Telescope. — This  is  the  most  ancient  form  of  the 
telescope,  and  is  that  which  was  used  by  Galileo.  It  con- 
sists of  a  converging  object-glass  A  B  (fig.  1),  and  a  concave 
(1) 


diverging  eye-glass  C  D.  On  passing  through  the  object- 
glass  A  B,  the  rays  of  light  coming  from  the  different  points 
of  a  distant  object  in  parallel  pencils  are  rendered  conver- 
gent, and  proceed  towards  the  principal  focus,  where  they 
would- form  an  inverted  image;  but  before  they  arrive  at 
this  point  they  fall  upon  the  concave  lens  C  D,  by  which 
they  are  again  rendered  parallel,  or  at  least  their  conver- 
gence is  corrected  so  as  to  give  distinct  vision  of  the  object 
to  the  eye  at  E.  The  lens  C  D  is  therefore  placed  In  tw  ecu 
the  object-glass  and  the  image,  and  at  a  distance  from  the 
image  equal  to  its  principal  local  distance.  The  magnify- 
ing power  is  equal  to  the  principal  focal  distance  of  the  ob- 
ject-glass.    See  Lens. 

In  this  telescope  the  object  is  seen  erect,  and  the  length 
of  the  tube  is  only  the  difference  between  the  focal  l<  ngthe 
of  the  two  lenses.  These  properties  render  it  preferable  to 
any  other  telescope  for  many  ordinary  purposes  :  as,  for  ex- 
ample, an  opera-glass.  When  used  for  this  purpose,  the 
magnifying  power  is  hardly  ever  greater  than  4  ;  and  it  is 
often  as  low  as  2. 

Astronomical  Telescope.— This  is  composed  of  a  converg- 
ing "I  ject-glass  A  H  (fig.  2),  and  of  a  converging  eye-glass 
en.     Kays  of  light  proceeding  from  any  point  M  of  a  dis- 
tant object  M  N,  and  falling  on  the  different  points  of  the 
(2.) 
A 


Object-glass,  are  refracted  into  a  point  m  in  the  principal 
focus.  In  like  manner,  those  proceeding  from  the  point  N 
:ir.'  refracted  inn.  tin-  point  «  ;  and  thus  an  inverted  Image 

„/  „  is  tunned  at  the  foCUB  of  the  object  glass.  The  eye- 
glass   is    placed    so    that    its   focus  shall   coincide  with  the 

msequently  rays  diverging  from  any 

point  of  tin'  image,  and  falling  on  the  lens  C  II.  ale  refract- 
ed into  a  parallel  direction  before  they  enter  the  eye  at  E, 


TELESCOPE. 


and  are  thereby  rendered  fit  to  produce  distinct  vision.  The 
length  of  the  telescope  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  focal  dis- 
tances of  the  two  lenses ;  and  the  magnifying  power  is 
equal  to  the  focal  distance  of  the  object-glass  divided  by 
the  focal  distance  of  the  eye-glass.  This  telescope  was 
first  described  by  Kepler  in  his  Liojitrice  (1611) ;  but  it  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  executed  until  about  twenty  or 
tliirtv  vears  later. 

TerrestruA  Telescope.— -This  differs  from  the  astronomical 
telescope  onlv  in  having  two  additional  lenses  E  F,  G  H 
(rig.  3),  placed  in  the  tube  of  the  eye-glass  for  the  purpose 
of  restoring  the  inverted  image  to  its  erect  position,  and 
thereby  accommodating  the  tefescope  to  terrestrial  objects. 
The  focal  lengths  of  these  additional  lenses  are  usually  the 
same  as  that  of  the  eye-glass.  The  two  pencils  of  rays 
proceeding  from  the  points  M  and  N  cross  each  other  in  the 
anterior  focus  of  the  second  lens  E  F,  and  falling  parallel 
on  E  F  form  in  its  principal  focas  an  inverted  image  of  m  n, 
and  consequently  an  erect  image  of  the  object  M  N.  This 
image  mf  n'  is  seen  by  the  eye  at  E  through  the  lens  G  H, 
as  the  rays  diverging  from  m  and  »'  in  the  focus  of  G  H  en- 
ter the  eye  in  parallel  pencils.  When  the  three  first  lenses 
are  equal,  the  magnifying  power  is  the  same  as  that  of  the 
astronomical  telescope,  whose  object  and  eye-glasses  are 
the  same  as  A  B  and  C  D. 

(3.) 


The  performance  of  refracting  telescopes  depends  most 
essentially  on  the  goodness  of  the  object-glass;  for  if  the 
first  image  is  bright  and  distinct,  and  perfectly  achromatic, 
there  is  little  difficulty  in  constructing  eye-pieces  to  magnify 
it,  without  causing  it  to  undergo  any  sensible  alteration. 

Reflecting  Telescopes. — In  reflecting  telescopes  the  specu- 
lum, or  mirror,  performs  the  same  office  that  the  object- 
glass  does  in  those  of  the  refracting  kind,  and  is  therefore 
called  the  object-mirror.  The  instrument  is  constructed  in 
various  forms ;  but  these  differ  from  one  another  chiefly  in 
reference  to  the  contrivances  which  huve  been  adopted  for 
bringing  the  focal  image  into  a  convenient  situation  for  be- 
ing viewed  by  the  eye-piece.  The  principal  forms  are  the 
Newtonian,  the  Gregorian,  the  Cassegraiuian,  and  the  Her- 
schelian. 

JVcictmian.  Telescope. — Let  ABCD   (fig.  4)  represent  a 


section  of  the  tube  of  the  telescope  ;  A  B  the  object-mirror, 
which  would  form  at  its  focus  the  image  a  of  any  distant 
object.  Now  if  a  person  attempted  to  view  the  image  in  its 
place  at  a  by  placing  himself  directly  before  the  mirror,  he 
would  necessarily  intercept  the  rays  of  light  from  the  object 
passing  down  the  tube  to  the  mirror,  and  consequently 
There  would  be  no  image  to  view.  Sir  Isaac  Newton  over- 
came this  difficulty  by  introducing  a  small  diagonal  plane 
speculum  d  between  A  B  and  a,  which  intercepting  itself 
but  a  small  portion  of  light,  reflects  towards  the  side  of  the 
tube  the  rays  converging  from  A  B,  and  causes  the  image 
which  would  have  been  formed  at  a  to  be  formed  at  b, 
where  it  can  be  conveniently  viewed  by  the  eye-piece  E  at- 
tached to  the  side  of  the  tube.  The  small  minor  is  of  an 
oval  form,  and  is  fixed  on  a  slender  arm  c  connected  with  a 
slide,  by  means  of  which  it  may  be  made  to  approach  or  re- 
cede from  the  large  speculum  A  B,  according  as  the  image 
approaches  to  or  recedes  from  it.  In  this  telescope  the 
magnifying  power  is  equal  to  the  focal  length  of  the  object- 
rnirror  A  B  divided  by  that  of  the  eye-glass. 

Gregorian    Telescope. — In  this  construction  the   object- 
mirror  A  B  (fig.  5)  is  perforated  in  the  middle,  and  the  rays 
(5.) 


^'■JY 


'1 


of  light  from  a  distant  object  being  reflected  from  the  sur- 
face of  A  B  cross  each  other  in  the  focus,  where  they  form 
an  inverted  image  a.  and  are  then  intercepted  by  a  small 
concave  mirror  d,  which  causes  them  again  to  converge  to 
95 


a  focus  at  b,  near  the  perforation  of  the  object-mirror,  where 
they  form  a  reinverted  or  direct  image,  which  is  viewed  by 
an  eye-piece  E  screwed  into  the  tube  behind  A  B.  The 
curvature  of  the  small  speculum  should  be  elliptical,  having 
the  foci  at  a  and  b  ;  but  it  is  generally  made  spherical.  In 
this  case  the  great  speculum  should  be  slightly  hyperbolic, 
to  counteract  the  aberration  of  the  small  mirror. 

Cassegraiuian  Telescope. — The  great  speculum  of  this  in- 
strument is  perforated  like  the  Gregorian  ;  but  the  rays  con- 
verging from  the  surface  of  the  mirror  A  B  (fig.  6)  towards 
(6.) 
A  B 


the  focus  a  are  intercepted  before  they  reach  that  point  by 
a  small  convex  mirror  d,  not  sufficiently  convex  to  make 
the  rays  divergent,  but  of  such  a  curvature  as  to  prevent 
them  from  coming  to  a  focus  till  they  are  thrown  back  to  b, 
near  the  aperture  in  A  B,  where  they  form  an  inverted 
image  which  is  viewed  by  the  eye-piece  E.  This  construc- 
tion has  the  advantage  of  requiring  a  shorter  tube  than  the 
Gregorian ;  but  the  inversion  of  the  image  is  not  corrected, 
and  for  this  reason  probably  it  has  not  been  much  used. 

In  the  two  last  constructions  the  small  mirror  d  is  ad- 
justed by  means  of  a  rod  turning  on  a  shoulder  near  the 
eye  end  of  the  tube,  and  connected  by  a  screw  with  the 
apparatus  which  carries  the  arm  c,  to  which  the  mirror  ia 
attached. 

Hcrschelian  Telescope.— -This  construction  differs  from 
the  others  in  having  no  second  mirror.  The  large  speculum 
A  B  (fig.  7)  is  placed  at  the  bottom  of  the  tube  in  an  inclined 

(7.) 


position,  so  as  to  bring  the  focal  image  a  near  the  edg/j  at 
the  tube,  where  it  is  viewed  directly  by  the  eye-pie,ce  E 
without  interfering  with  the  light  entering  the  telescope 
from  the  object  observed.  The  magnifying  power  is  the 
same  as  in  the  Newtonian. 

The  reflecting  telescope  was  invented  by  Jamf.-s  Gregory, 
and  is  described  by  him  in  his  Optica  Promota  (1663)  ;  but 
the  first  telescope  of  the  kind  was  executed  by  Newton. 
Reflecting  telescopes  have  been  made  on  a  very  large  scale. 
The  celebrated  instrument  of  Sir  William  Hersehel,  erect- 
ed at  Slough  in  1789,  was  40  feet  in  length.  Its  great  spe- 
culum had  a  diameter  of  49A  inches ;  its  thickness  was 
about  3i  inches,  and  its  weight"  when  cast  was  2118  lbs.  Its 
focal  length  was  40  feet,  and  it  admitted  of  a  power  of  6450 
being  applied  to  it.  The  essential  advantage  of  large  tele- 
scopes of  this  kind  consists  in  the  immense  quantity  of 
light  which  they  collect,  whereby  the  observer  is  enabled 
to  perceive  faint  nebula?  and  stars  which  are  altogether  in- 
visible in  ordinary  instruments. 

Reflecting  telescopes  are  used  only  for  observing  pheno- 
mena, and  are  not,  like  refracting  telescopes,  attached  to  cir- 
cular instruments  for  the  purpose  of  measuring  angles  with 
greater  precision.  In  order  to  derive  full  benefit  from  them, 
they  must  be  used  in  the  open  air;  and  must  either  be 
mounted  equatorially  (see  Equatorial),  or  else  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  be  capable  of  a  smooth  motion  both  in  a  ver- 
tical and  horizontal  direction.  Telescopes  of  this  kind  be- 
ing generally  used  with  a  high  magnifying  power,  and  con- 
sequently having  a  small  field  of  view,  are  always  accom- 
panied with  a  smaller  telescope  or  finder  fixed  to  the  tube, 
so  that  the  axes  of  the  two  instruments  are  exactly  parallel. 

Eye-pieces  of  Telescopes.— When  the  image  formed  by  the 
object-glass  or  mirror  is  viewed  with  a  single  lens  or  eye- 
glass, whether  concave  or  convex,  it  is  only  in  the  centre 
of  the  field  that  distinct  vision  is  obtained,  all  towards  the 
margin  being  hazy  and  distorted.  To  remedy  this  defect, 
Boseovich  and  Hiiygens  separately  proposed  the  construc- 
tion of  an  eye-piece  formed  of  two  lenses,  placed  at  a  dis- 
tance from  each  other  equal  to  half  their  focal  distances. 
Boseovich  recommended  two  similar  lenses  ;  Huygens,  that 
the  focal  length  of  the  one  should  be  twice  that  of  the 
other;  and  as  this  construction  i9  found  to  answer  best  ia 
practice,  it  is  that  which  is  most  commonly  used. 
r  1229 


TELLINA. 

The  two  lenses  are  usually  plano-convex,  with  the  con- 
towards  the  object-glass ;  the  larger  lens,  called 
tin'  held  glass,  is  innermost,  or  nearest  the  object-glass  ;  and 
a  diaphragm  cutting  off  the  marginal  rays  is  usually  placed 
between  them  mar  the  focus  of  the  eye  lens,  where  the 
image  is  formed.  This  eye-piece  is  usually  called  the  nega- 
tive eye-piece,  from  its  having  the  image  seen  by  the  eye 
behind  the  field  glass;  and  is  that  which  is  commonly  sup- 
plied with  telescopes  intended  only  for  the  purpose  of  seeing 
objects,  without  reference  to  measurement. 

Another  modification  of  the  two-lens  eye-piece  was  pro- 
posed by  Ramsdcn.  and  is  called  the  positioe  eye-piece,  be- 
cause  the  image  observed  is  before  both  lenses.  The  lenses 
-  convex,  and  nearly  of  the  same  focal  length  ;  but 
their  distance  from  each  other  is  less  than  the  focal  distance 
of  the  lens  nearest  the  eye,  two  lenses  thus  placed  acting  as 
a  compound  simple  lens.  This  eye-piece  is  the  most  con- 
venient when  micrometer  wires  are  placed  in  the  focus,  be- 
cause it  can  be  taken  out  without  injuring  the  wires  ;  and  it 
has  also  this  advantage,  that  the  measure  of  an  object  given 
by  one  eye-piece  is  not  altered  when  it  is  changed  for  an- 
other of  a  different  magnifying  power. 

In  both  the  eye-pieces  now  described,  the  image  is  seen 
inverted  ;  and  though  this  is  of  no  importance  in  astronomi- 
cal observations,  it  is  inconvenient  when  the  telescope  is  used 
for  looking  at  terrestrial  objects.  By  placing  an  additional 
pair  of  lenses  in  the  tube  of  the  eye-piece,  the  image  is  re- 
peated  and  reinverted,  and,  consequently,  seen  erect.  By 
this  means,  as  explained  above,  the  terrestrial  telescope  is 
obtained. 

The  name  of  diagonal  eye-piece  has  been  given  to  eye- 
pieces furnished  with  a  diagonal  reflecting  mirror,  the  object 
of  which  is  to  give  a  more  convenient  direction  to  the  rays 
emerging  from  the  eye-piece  when  the  telescope  is  pointed 
high. 

Telescopes  are  generally  supplied  with  eye-pieces  of  dif- 
ferent powers,  which  are  all  fitted  to  enter  the  same  tube  ; 
and  the  focal  adjustment  is  commonly  effected  by  a  rack 
and  pinion  motion  acting  on  the  tube  which  carries  the  eye- 
piece. 

For  full  information  respecting  the  construction  of  tele- 
scopes, and  the  best  modes  of  mounting  them  on  stands  or 
otherwise,  to  secure  steadiness  and  allow  of  the  requisite 
motion,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Pearson's  Practical  .1s- 
tronomy,  vol.  ii.  (See  also  Smith's  Optics  ;  Coddington's 
Optics.) 

TELLINA.  (Gr.  TcWivn,  a  species  of  muscle.)  A  genus 
of  cockles  (Cardiaceous  Bivalves  in  the  Cuvierian  system), 
characterized  by  the  hinge  of  the  shell  having  one  tooth  on 
the  left  and  two  teeth  on  the  right  valve,  often  bifid  ;  in  the 
right  valve  there  is  a  plate  which  does  not  enter  a  cavity 
in  the  opposite  valve.  There  is  a  slight  fold  near  the  pos- 
terior extremity  of  both  valves  which  renders  them  unequal 
at  that  part,  where  they  gape  a  little.  The  soft  parts,  or 
animal  of  the  Tellina,  called  peron<ea  by  Poli,  has  two  long 
tubes  for  respiration  and  excretion,  which  can  be  withdrawn 
into  the  shell,  and  are  concealed  in  a  fold  of  the  mantle. 

Cuvier  separated  from  the  Linnrean  Tellium  the  genus 
Loripes,  distinguished  by  the  feebly  developed  cardinal 
teeth,  and  by  a  long  cylindrical  foot.  Other  genera  have 
since  been  detached  from  the  Cuvierian  Teilinee,  which  now 
form  a  family.     Tellinida;,  in  the  system  of  Lamarck. 

TELL  TALE.  The  dial  plate  at  the  wheel,  showing 
the  position  of  the  tiller. 

TELLU'BIUM.  (Lat.  tellus,  the  earth.)  This  rare 
metal  lias  only  been  found  in  small  quantities  in  the  gold 
mines  of  Transylvania:  it  occurs  in  the  metallic  state,  com- 
bined with  gold  or  silver.  It  is  white,  brilliant,  brittle,  and 
easily  fusible.  Its  specific  gravity  is  about  625.  It  is  com- 
bustible, and  often  exhales  a  peculiar  odour,  like  horse- 
radish, which  lierzelius  ascribes  to  the  presence  of  minute 
portions  of  selenium.  It  forms  a  protoxide  and  a  peroxide, 
often  culled  tcllurous  and  telluric  acids.  Its  equivalent  is 
either  32  or  04.  In  the  former  case,  the  protoxide  consists 
Of  1  atom  of  tellurium  and  1  of  oxygen  (32-4- 8),  and  the 
peroxide  of  1  atom  of  tellurium  and  1A  of  oxygen  (3-2+  12) ; 
in  the  latter  the  numbers  are  doubled.  Tellurium  forms  a 
gaseous  compound  with  hydrogen,  which  has  been  called 
hyd/rotelluric  acid. 

TE'MPERAMENT.  (Lat.  temperare,  to  moderate.)  In 
Music,  the  adjustment  of  the  imperfect  concords,  in  musical 
Instruments,  whose  sounds  are  fixed,  such  as  organs,  piano- 
fortes, &.c,  so  as  to  transfer  to  them  part  of  the  beauty  of 
the  perfect  concords.  The  defect  to  be  remedied  arises 
from  the  single  short  keys  between  the  two  larger  ones 
serving  for  flats  as  well  as  sharps.  It  is  necessary  to  < >)> 
serve,  that  in  the  theory  of  harmonies  the  interval  of  a  tone 
is  not  always  the  same  ;  for  instance,  that  lying  between  the 
fourth  and  fifth  of  the  scale  contains  nine  small  parts,  called 
commas,  whereas  that  between  the  fifth  and  sixth  of  the 
major  scale  contains  only  eight  commas.  Again,  the  dia- 
tonic semitone  contains  five  commas,  and  tlie  chromatic 
1230 


TEMPLE. 

semitone  three  or  four,  according  to  the  magnitude  of  the 
tone.  Hence  it  is  that  the  different  situations  of  these  ele- 
ments with  regard  to  each  other,  causes  intervals  of  the 
same  name  to  consist  of  different  degrees  or  elements.  To 
improve  them,  therefore,  musicians  temper  them  so  as  to  re- 
duce the  whole  more  to  mean  distances  from  each  other, 
necessarily  producing  a  new  division  of  the  octave. 

Temperament,  in  Physiology,  has  been  defined  as  that 
peculiarity  of  organization  which,  to  a  certain  extent,  injlu- 
ences  our  thoughts  and  actions.  The  ancient  physicians 
enumerated  four  temperaments ;  namely,  the  bilious,  the 
choleric,  the  phlegmatic,  the  sanguine,  the  melancholic.  To 
these  .some  have  added  the  nervous;  and  these  terms  are 
still  in  use  among  medical  writers. 

TEMPERATE  ZONES,  in  Geography,  are  two  of  the 
five  zones  into  which  the  terrestrial  globe  is  divided.  The 
north  temperate  zone  is  included  between  the  tropic  of  Can- 
cer and  the  arctic  circle ;  and  the  south  temperate  zone  be- 
tween the  tropic  of  Capricorn  and  the  antarctic  circle. 

TE'MPERATURE.  A  definite  degree  of  sensible  heat, 
as  measured  bv  the  thermometer. 

TE'MPLARS,  or  KNIGHTS  OF  THE  TEMPLE.  A 
military  order  of  religious  persons.  It  was  founded  by  an 
association  of  knights,  in  the  beginning  of  the  12th  century, 
for  the  protection  of  pilgrims  on  the  roads  in  Palestine :  after- 
wards, it  took  for  its  chief  object  the  protection  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  at  Jerusalem  against  the  Saracens.  Knights  were 
fixed  at  Jerusalem  by  King  Baldwin  II.,  who  gave  them  the 
ground  on  the  east  of  the  Temple.  Their  rules  were  taken 
from  those  of  the  Benedictine  monks  :  they  took  the  vows 
of  chastity,  obedience,  and  poverty.  The  classes  of  the  or- 
der were,  knights,  esquires,  servitors,  and  chaplains ;  the 
universal  badge  of  the  order  was  a  girdle  of  linen  thread. 
The  officers  of  the  order  were  chosen  by  the  chapter  from 
among  the  knights  :  they  were,  for  military  affairs,  marshals 
and  bannerets :  for  purposes  of  government,  priors,  who 
superintended  single  priories  or  preceptories ;  abbots,  com- 
manders, and  grand  priors,  who  governed  the  possessions  of 
the  order  within  separate  provinces;  and  the  grand  mas- 
ter, who,  in  some  respects,  assumed  the  dignity  of  a  sov- 
ereign prince,  being  independent  in  secular  matters,  and  de- 
pending solely  on  the  pope  in  spiritual.  The  chief  part  of 
the  9000  estates,  lordships,  &c,  which  the  society  possessed 
in  the  13th  century,  was  situated  in  France  ;  and  the  grand 
master  was  usually  of  that  nation.  The  Templars  were 
driven  from  Palestine  by  the  Saracens,  with  the  rest  of  the 
Christians,  and  then  fixed  the  chief  seat  of  their  order  in 
Cyprus.  Their  exorbitant  power  and  wealth,  and  the 
haughty  manner  in  which  they  endeavoured  to  keep  aloof 
from  the  control  of  European  sovereigns,  and  act  as  a  mili- 
tary republic  independent  of  their  authority,  were  probably 
the  principal  reasons  which  induced  Pope  Clement  V.  and 
Philip  the  Fair  of  France  to  concert  their  overthrow.  The 
charges  of  heresy  and  idolatry,  which  were  preferred  against 
them,  were  at  least  unsupported  by  evidence.  In  1307, 
Jacques  de  Molay,  the  grand  master,  having  been  enticed 
into  France,  was  arrested  by  Philip;  the  templars'  estates 
were  seized  ;  many  of  them  burned  alive,  after  the  mockery 
of  a  trial ;  and,  in  1312,  the  order  was  abolished  by  a  bull 
of  Clement  V.  Its  vast  estates  fell  partly  into  the  hands  of 
the  sovereigns  of  the  countries  in  which  they  were  situated, 
partly  into  those  of  the  Hospitallers  and  other  military  or- 
ders. Detached  bodies  of  the  order,  however,  continued  to 
subsist  for  some  time  in  different  countries.  See,  among 
numerous  authorities,  Raynouard's  tragedy  of  Les  Tem- 
pliers,  with  the  notes;  Turner's  England  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  vol.  ii. ;  Mem.  de  I'Jlc.  des  Inscr.,  vol.  xxxvii. ;  Ad- 
dison's History  of  the  Knights  Templars  and  the  Temple 
Church,  1842.  For  a  notice  of  the  strange  irreligious  doc- 
trines attributed  to  them,  see  the  article  Bapiiomkt. 

TE'MPLE.  A  building  dedicated  to  the  service  of  some 
deity.  Derived  from  the  Lat.  templum,  Gr.  riusvos,  signify- 
ing separation  and  consecration.  The  term  is  general  Ij  con- 
fined to  heathen  edifices ;  excepting  in  the  case  of  the  build- 
ing erected  for  the  worship  of  God  by  Solomon  at  Jerusalem, 
which  is  emphatically  denominated  the  Temple.  This  edi- 
fice was  similar  in  its  plan  to  the  Tabernacle,  consisting  of 
the  holy  of  holies,  the  sanctuary,  and  a  portico.  It  is  minute- 
ly described  In  I  Kings,  vi. 

The  temple  of  Solomon  was  begun  B.C.  1012,  and  de- 
stroyed by  Nebuchadnezzar  B.C.  586.  It  was  rebuilt  after 
the  return  of  the  Jews  from  captivity,  and,  after  a  period  of 
nearly  500  years,  repaired  and  beautified  by  Herod  the 
Great.  The  restoration  contemplated  by  this  prince  must 
have  been  extensive.  When  the  Jews  say  to  Christ, 
"Forty  \ears  was  this  temple  in  building,"  they  are  gen- 
erally supposed  to  allude  to  the  time  during  which  the  re- 
pairs had  been  in  progress  ;  nor,  according  to  Josephus,  were 
they  brought  to  a  completion  when  the  temple  itself,  to- 
gether with  the  entire  city,  were  demolished  by  the  army 
of  Titus,  A.D.  70. 

The  structure  to  which  this  term  is  applied  is  of  com- 


TEMPLET. 

paratively  modern  date,  for  the  earliest  temples  were  an 
open  spot  with  a  rude  altar  of  earth  and  stones  ;  indeed,  the 
Persian  religion  forbade  the  worship  of  the  Deity  except  in 
the  open  air,  and  the  earliest  Greek  temples  give  us  some 
notion  of  the  same  sort  of  practice.  The  oracle  at  Delphi, 
according  to  Pausanias,  was  merely  an  arbour  of  laurels ; 
and  from  Herodotus  we  learn  that  the  oracles  at  Dodona 
were  delivered  from  an  old  oak.  The  remarkable  features 
of  the  Egyptian  temple  are  the  massive  dimensions,  and  the 
number  and  arrangement  of  the  columns;  the  cell  being  al- 
ways of  diminutive  size.  In  Greece,  at  the  period  when 
they  had  advanced  in  art,  every  city  exhibited  structures  of 
the  most  elaborate  and  splendid  description  dedicated  to  the 
service  of  their  divinities;  and  the  Romans  long  after  emu- 
lated their  masters  in  the  care  and  riches  bestowed  upon 
these  edifices.  Some  of  the  most  celebrated  were  those  of 
the  Parthenon  (to  Minerva)  at  Athens,  of  Diana  at  Ephesus, 
of  Apollo  at  Delphi,  of  Jupiter  at  Olympia,  of  Venus  at  Pa- 
phos  and  Cythera,  and  that  of  the  Capitoline  Jupiter  at 
Home.  Asia  Minor  abounded  with  them  ;  and  in  the  other 
direction  we  find  them  as  far  west  as  Nismes.  Vitmvius 
has  classed  temples  under  seven  heads ;  viz.,  those  in  an- 
tis,  the  prostyle,  the  ampkiprostyle,  the  peripteral,  the  dip- 
teral, the  pseudodipteral,  and  the  hypathral,  all  of  which  are 
defined  under  these  names  in  this  work. 

TE'MPLET.  (Etym.  doubtful.)  In  Architecture,  a  short 
piece  of  timber  laid  under  a  gilder  or  beam  to  distribute  the 
weight.  Also  a  mould  used  for  bricklayers  for  cutting  or 
setting  out  work,  and  by  millwrights  for  shaping  the  teeth 
of  wheels. 

TEMPO.  (It.  time.)  In  Music,  the  Italian  word  constant- 
ly used  to  express  time. 

TE'MPOD'IMBROGLIO.  (It.  time  of  trouble.)  In  Mu- 
sic, a  term  applied  to  a  composition  written  in  one  measure, 
but  really  performed  in  another. 

TE'MPORAL  or  TEMPLE  BONES.  Two  irregular 
bones,  one  on  each  side  of  the  head.  They  are  connected 
with  the  occipital,  parietal,  and  sphenoid  bones,  and  are  ar- 
ticulated with  the  lower  jaw.  Comparative  anatomy  shows 
that  the  so-called  "  temporal  bone,"  in  man,  is  essentially 
an  assemblage  of  five  bones,  called  squamous,  zygomatic, 
tympanic,  petrous,  and  mastoid  ;  having  distinct  functions 
developed  in  different  proportions,  and  continuing  perma- 
nently detached  in  the  cold-blooded  classes,  but  soon  coalesc- 
ing in  the  warm-blooded  classes.  The  tympanic  element, 
however,  continues  permanently  detached  in  birds. 

TENA'CITY  OF  THE  METALS.  The  power  which 
metallic  wires  possess  of  sustaining,  without  breaking,  the 
action  of  a  suspended  weight.  See  Cohesion,  Strength 
of  Materials. 

TENA'CULUM.  A  surgical  instrument,  consisting  of  a 
fine  sharp-pointed  hook,  by  which  the  mouths  of  bleeding 
arteries  are  seized  and  drawn  out,  so  that  in  operations  they 
may  be  secured  by  ligaments. 

TENAILLON.  In  Fortification,  a  kind  of  outwork  made 
on  each  side  of  a  small  ravelin  to  increase  its  strength,  and 
to  cover  the  shoulders  of  the  bastion.  Works  of  this  kind 
are,  however,  so  decidedly  inferior  to  large  ravelins,  that 
thev  are  seldom  adopted. 

TENANT,  TENEMENT.  In  Law.  These  words  are 
derived  from  the  principles  of  the  feudal  system,  according 
to  which  (as  it  prevailed  in  England)  no  land  was  without 
a  lord ;  and  every  one  who  enjoyed  land  held  it  either  of  a 
mesne  tenant,  or  of  the  crown.  The  party  holding  the  land 
is  called  tenant,  the  thing  holden  tei.  nent,  the  mode  of 
holding  tenure.  Thus  tenants  are  said  to  be  in  fee-simple, 
in  tail,  for  life,  for  years,  &c.  Tenement,  in  the  largest  sense 
of  the  word,  is  everything  which  may  be  holden ;  viz.,  all 
corporeal  hereditaments,  and  incorporeal  hereditaments  of  a 
permanent  nature  issuing  out  of  the  same.  Thus  lands, 
houses,  rights  of  common,  &c,  franchises,  offices,  are  all 
tenements  in  the  larger  sense.  In  the.  more  narrow  accep- 
tation in  which  the  word  is  popularly  applied,  it  describes 
a  house  with  the  homestall  or  immediate  appurtenances. 

TENCH.  The  name  of  a  species  of  Cyprinoid  fishes 
(Tinea  vulgaris,  Cuv.),  and  the  type  of  a  subgenus  of  that 
family.  It  is  generally  more  or  less  abundant  in  ornamen- 
tal waters  and  ponds,  but  is  seldom  found  in  rivers  in  this 
country.  It  is  common  in  most  of  the  lakes  of  the  European 
continent,  whence  it  is  supposed  to  have  been  imported  into 
England.  The  tench  is  remarkable  for  its  tenacity  of  life ; 
it  spawns  about  the  middle  of  June,  at  which  time  the  fe- 
male is  attended  by  two  males.  Their  food  consists  of  the 
smaller  soft  bodied  aquatic  animals,  and  vegetable  matter. 
In  stocking  a  pond  with  tench,  the  large-sized  fish  should 
be  selected,  and  two  males  to  one  female  should  be  the  pro- 
portion of  the  sexes.     See  Tinca. 

TE'NDER.  In  Law,  the  legal  tender  of  a  debt  is  by  the 
actual  production  and  offer  of  the  sum  due,  unless  the  credi- 
tor dispense  with  it  by  a  declaration  that  he  will  not  accept 
it.  The  tender  must  be  of  money :  if  beyond  the  sum  of 
40s-.,  in  gold,  or  in  what  has  been  rendered  by  act  of  parlia- 


TENURES,  SCOTTISH. 

ment  equivalent  for  that  purpose,  viz.,  Bank  of  England 
notes,  which  are  a  legal  tender  for  every  sum  above  £5,  ex- 
cept at  the  Bank  of  England  or  its  branches.  A  tender  of 
country  bank  notes,  if  not  objected  to  on  that  ground,  is  suffi- 
cient. The  tender  of  a  larger  sum  than  that  due  is  legal, 
unless  it  be  of  a  sum  requiring  change. 

TENDO  ACHLLLES.  The  large  tendon  which  passes 
from  the  muscles  of  the  calf  of  the  leg  to  the  heel.  Its 
name  has  reference  to  the  fable  of  the  dipping  of  Achilles 
in  the  Styx ;  his  mother,  Thetis,  having,  as  it  is  said,  held 
him  by  that  part. 

TE'NDRIL,  is  any  slender  twining  part  by  which  one 
plant  attaches  itself  to  another.  It  is  often  a  transformation 
of  a  leaf  which  has  no  lamina,  or  which  has  the  midrib 
elongated  beyond  it,  retaining  its  usual  tapering  figure,  and 
becoming  long  and  twisted  spirally.  In  the  vine  it  is  an 
abortive  bunch  of  flowers ;  in  the  passion  flower  a  meta- 
morphosed branch ;  in  some  petals  a  thin  extended  point,  as 
in  Strophantus. 

TENE'SMUS.  CGr.  tciv,  I  stretch  or  constringe.)  A 
straining  and  ineffectual  inclination  to  void  the  contents  of 
the  bowels. 

TE'NNANTITE.  A  mineral  named  in  honour  of  the 
late  Mr.  Tennant.  It  is  an  arsenical  sulphuret  of  copper  and 
iron.  It  occurs  in  the  copper  veins  of  some  of  the  Cornish 
mines,  both  massive  and  crystallized. 

TE'NON.  (Lat.  teneo,  /  hold.)  In  Architecture,  the  end 
of  a  piece  of  wood  or  timber,  diminished  usually  by  one 
third  of  its  thickness,  which  is  received  into  a  hole  corre- 
sponding to  it  in  size,  called  a  mortise,  by  which  expedient 
the  two  are  held  jointed  or  fastened  together. 

TENO'RE,  or  TENOR.  (It.)  In  Music,  the  mean  or 
middle  part  of  a  composition,  being  the  ordinary  compass  of 
the  human  voice  when  neither  raised  to  a  treble  or  lowered 
to  a  bass.  What  is  called  counter-tenor  is  only  a  higher 
tenor. 

TE'NREC.  The  name  of  a  small  Insectivorous  quadru- 
ped of  Madagascar,  allied  to  the  hedgehog :  it  forms  the 
type  of  the  genus  Centctcs. 

TENSE.  (Lat  tempus,  time.)  In  Grammar,  that  modi- 
fication of  the  verb  which  defines  the  time  at  which  the  ac- 
tion is  conceived  as  taking  place.     See  Grammar. 

TENSOR  MUSCLES,  in  Anatomy,  are  those  which 
tighten  the  part  to  which  they  are  fixed ;  as  the  tensor 
vagina;  femoris,  tensor  palati,  &c. 

TENT,  Tinta.  A  Spanish  red  wine,  chiefly  from  Malaga 
and  Gallicia. 

Tent,  in  Surgery,  is  a  plug  of  lint  used  for  dilating 
wounds ;  a  piece  of  sponge  which  iias  been  imbued  with 
wax  is  termed  sponge-tent. 

TE'NTACLE.  (Lat.  tentaculum,  a  holder.)  This  term 
is  used  by  Savigny  in  a  restricted  sense  to  signify  the  elon- 
gated, filiform,  inarticulate  appendages  of  the  mouth  of  An- 
nellides;  but  it  is  also  applied  to  all  appendages,  whether 
jointed  or  not,  which  are  used  as  instruments  of  exploration 
and  prehension.  Thus  the  oral  arms  of  the  Polyps,  the  pre- 
hensile processes  of  Cirripeds  and  Annellides,  the  cephalic 
feet  of  the  Cephalopods,  the  barbs  of  fishes,  are  termed  ten- 
tacles. 

TENTH.  In  Music,  an  interval  containing  nine  degrees 
and  five  spaces. 

TENTHS.  The  tenth  part  of  the  yearly  value  of^all  bene- 
fices, which  was  anciently  paid,  with  the  first  fruits,  to  the 
pope.     See  First  Fruits. 

TENTO'RIUM.  The  process  of  the  dura  mater  which 
separates  the  cerebrum  from  the  cerebellum. 

TE'NUES.  (Lat.  thin;  Gr.  \pt\ai.)  The  three  letters 
k,  p,  t  in  the  Greek  alphabet  are  so  called,  in  relation  to 
their  respective  middle  letters,  g,  b,  and  d,  and  their  aspirates 
ch,  ph,  and  th. 

TE'NUIRO'STERS,  Tenuirostres.  (Lat.  tenuis,  slender, 
and  rostrum,  a  beak.)  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Insessorial 
birds,  including  those  which  have  a  long  and  slender  bill. 

TE'NURE.  The  feudal  relation  between  lord  and  vassal 
in  respect  of  lands.  Tenures  in  capite,  or  in  chief,  were 
those  by  which  land  was  held  immediately  of  the  crown ; 
mesne  tenures,  of  mesne  or  inferior  lords.  English  tenures 
under  the  feudal  system  are  reduced  by  Blackstone  to  four: 
knight-service,  or  chivalry  ;  free  socage ;  pure  villenage ; 
and  villein-socage.  See  Feudal  System,  Socage,  Villen- 
age. 

TENURES,  SCOTTISH,  were  five,  viz.,  1.  Military  or 
ward-holding ;  abolished,  with  all  its  casualties  or  incidents, 
by  20  G.  2,  c.  50.  2.  By  mortification,  or  mortmain;  which 
now  only  applies  to  manses  and  glebes,  retained  by  the  act 
of  1587  as  mortified  to  the  church.  3.  Burgage  holding,  by 
which  the  burgesses  of  royal  burghs  hold  lands  and  houses 
within  the  burgh  of  the  sovereign  by  service  of  watching 
and  warding,  &c.  4.  Blanch  tenures,  by  which  the  grantee 
or  vassal  is  bound  to  pay  to  the  superior  annually  a  species 
of  quit-rent  or  acknowledgment.  5.  Feu-holding,  by  grant, 
with  reservation  of  pecuniary  services.    See  Feu. 

1231 


TERPHROMANTIA. 

TEPHROMANTi'A.     (Gr.  rcApa,  ashes,   and  uavraa, 
prophecy.)     Divination  from  the  figures  assumed  by  red-hot 
,/-..  i„  353.) 
E  i: Al'fll.M.     A  \\ ord  used  thirteen  or  fourteen  times 
in  the  ( fld  Testament,  and  commonly  rendered  by  our  trans- 
lators "  idols."    Bryant  explains  them  as  "lunar  amulets, 
or  types  of  the  ark  in  the  form  of  crescents,  supposed  to 
have  been  Invented  by  the  patriarch  Terah."    [Antiq.,  hi., 
3-1.)   In  later  times,  strange  and  horrible  practices  of  witch- 
craft are  described  by  Rabbinical  writers  in  explaining  this 
word.    The  teraph,  according  to  Rabbi  Eliezer,  was  made 
by  killing  a  first  horn  child,  opening  the  head,  putting  a 
gold  plate  with  the  name  of  the  impure  spirit  under  the 
le,  &c.     (See   also  the  notes  to   Southty's    Tkalaba, 

l'1'.i:  ATO'LOGY.  (Gr.  repas,  a  monster,  and  \oyos,  a 
discourse.)  That  branch  of  physiological  science  which 
treats  of  the  various  malformations  and  monstrosities  of  the 
organic  kingdoms  of  nature. 

TEREBE  Ll.l'.M.  I. at.  terebro,  Tbore.)  The  name  of 
a  genus  of  Buci 'moid  Pectinibranchiate  Gastropods,  hav- 
ing an  oblong  shell  with  a  narrow  aperture,  destitute  of 
folds  and  ridges,  and  gradually  enlarging  to  the  extremity 
opposite  to  the  spire. 

TEREBRA'NTIA.  fLat.  terebro,  I  bore.)  The  name 
of  a  section  of  Hymenopterous  insects,  characterized  by  the 
possession  of  an  anal  instrument  organized  for  the  perfo- 
ration of  the  bodies  of  animals,  or  the  substance  of  plants. 
The  borer  (terebro)  is  peculiar  to  the  female,  and  is  com- 
posed of  three  long  and  slender  pieces,  of  which  two  serve 
as  a  sheath  for  the  third  ;  it  is  placed  at  the  anal  extremity 
of  the  abdomen,  and  the  oviduct  is  continued  into  it.  The 
females  instinctively  use  this  weapon  to  prepare  a  place  for 
the  deposition  of  their  eggs,  where  the  maggot  may  be  in- 
cubated in  safety,  and  upon  its  exclusion  be  surrounded  by 
already  organized  matter  adapted  for  its  sustenance.  Some 
genera  select  vegetables  for  the  parasitic  support  of  their 
young,  as  Sires  (Linn.),  which  infests  the  pine  tree;  and 
Cephus  (Latr.),  which  perforates  the  stalks  of  corn  for  the 
purpose  of  opposition,  others,  as  the  ichneumons,  pierce 
the  skins  of  insects,  and  deposit  their  eggs  in  the  subcuta- 
neous fatty  and  nutrient  material.  .Some  ichneumons  are 
provided  with  long  and  extensible  anal  borers,  which  they 
insinuate  beneath  tiie  bark  of  trees,  and  into  crevices  and 
fissures,  where  their  instinct  and  peculiar  antenna]  organs 
of  sensation  teach  them  that  the  insect  resides  that  may 
firm  a  fitting  nidus  for  the  parasitic  and  carnivorous  larva'. 
Other  ichneumons,  with  sliori  terehrs,  place  their  ova  in 
the  bodies  of  Lepidopterous  larvae  or  in  those  pupa  which 
are  readily  accessible  to  their  attacks. 

The  female  ichneumons  manifest  a  wonderful  instinct  at 
the  season  of  oviposition  in  discovering  the  insects,  as  well 
mature  as  in  their  different  >ta»es  of  eu_r,  maggot,  caterpil- 
lar, and  chrysalis,  which  are  obnoxious  to  the  wounds, 
with  all  the  fatal  consequences,  of  the  instrument  from 
which  the  present  section  of  Hijmcnoptera  takes  its  name. 

TEREBRA'TULA.  (Lat,  terebro,  I  bore.)  The  name 
of  a  genus  of  Palliobranchiate  Acephalous  Bivalve  Mol- 
lu^ks.  in  which  one  of  the  valves  is  perforated  for  the 
transmission  of  a  peduncle :  the  hole  through  which  the 
peduncle  passes  is  completed  by  a  small  detached  calcare- 
ous p  i 

TERE  DO.  (Lat.  teredo,  the  shipirorm.)  The  name  of 
a  L'enus  of  Acephalous  Mollu-ks  which  bore  their  habita- 
tions in  submerged  timber,  and  occasion  destructive  rava- 
ge-in sunken  piles,  -hips'  bottoms,  &c. 

TE'RGUM  I.  it.  tergum,  the  hark:,  in  Entomology,  signi- 
fies the  upper  or  supine  surface  of  the  abdomen. 

TERM  'Lat.  terminus.  a  boundary),  in  Logic  is  the  ex- 
pression  in  language  of  the  notion  obtained  in  an  act  of 
apprehen  -ion.  (See  Apprehension.)  A  term  may  consist 
of  one  word,  or  of  several  ;  but  evi  rv  word  is  not  capable 
of  hei.'g  employed  by  itself  as  a  term,  or,  in  logical  lan- 
•  .-.  Adverbs,  prepositions,  &.c,  and  also 
nouns  in  any  other  case  besides  the  nominative,  are  syncat- 
natic,  i.  e.,  can  only  form  part  of  a  term  ;  while  a  verb 
las  mixed  word,  being  resolvable  into  the  copula  (or  auxilia- 
ry verb)  and  the  term,  to  which  the  copular  gives  tense, 
HI I.  ami  position  ;  but  an  infinitive  mood  is  a  term  by  it- 
self. Simple  terms,  or  categorematica,  are  divided  into  sin- 
gular and  common.  A  singular  term  stands  for  one  indi- 
■  "  "the  kin-i."  It  is  obvious  that  these 
terms  cannot  be  affirmed  or  denied  (In  logical  phrase,  pre- 
id  affirmatively  or  negatively)  of  anything  but  them- 
A  common  term  stands  lor  many  Individuals 
I  its  signlfkates),  as  -'man,"  "Jrjng," 
■     it  is  evident,  can  be  said  for  predicated)  of  others  ; 

e.g.,  "Caesar  is  a  ma'.,"  "Frederick  i-  a  king."    The  sub 

see  Propositiok),  " 
cither  a  singular  or  a  common  term  ;  tin/  predicate  must  be 
mon  term.    Terms  are  said  to  be  univocal,  equivocal, 

analogous,  &c. ;  but  these  are  rather  distinctions  of  Ian 
1232 


TERMITES. 

guair  than  of  logic.  They  are  also  to  be  "  of  the  first  in 
tention,"  and  "of  the  second  intention:"  the  tirst  appear- 
ing to  be  words  used  in  a  vague  and  general  sense;  the 
latter  words  used  in  a  limited  and  specific  sense,  which 
thev  bear  in  some  particular  art  or  science. 

TERMTNALIA.  Annual  festivals  celebrated  by  the 
Romans  in  the  month  of  February,  in  honour  of  Terminus, 
the  god  of  boundaries.  On  such  occasions  the  peasants) 
assembled  at  the  different  landmarks  or  termini  that  divi- 
ded their  property,  and  offered  up  libations  of  milk  and 
wine.     .Sic  Tei:mim  s. 

The  word  terminus  is  now  employed  chiefly  to  designate 
the  extreme  points  of  a  railroad. 

TE'RMINISTS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  name  given 
to  a  class  among  the  Calvinists,  whose  tenet  it  is  (or  was, 
for  such  opinions  hardly  exist  at  tiie  present  day ...  that 
there  are  persons  to  whom  God  has  fixed,  by  a  secret  de- 
cree, a  certain  term  before  their  death,  after  which  he  no 
longer  wills  their  salvation,  however  long  they  may  live. 
They  instanced  the  case  of  Pharaoh,  Saul,  and  Judas, 
anions  others. 

TEKMLNO'LOGY.  (Lat.  terminus.)  In  every  science 
or  art,  that  preliminary  knowledge  which  teaches  us  to  de- 
fine the  words  and  phrases  peculiarly  employed  in  it  (in 
other  words,  its  technical  terms,  is  called  its  terminology. 

TERMINTHUS.  A  black  pustule  chiefly  attacking  the 
legs.  It  is  not,  however,  clear  what  the  disease  was  u  hlch 
the  Greek  writers  describe  under  this  name.     (Med.  Diet.) 

TERMINUS.  (Lat.)  In  Ancient  Architecture,  a  stone 
raised  for  the  purpose  of  marking  the  boundary  of  a  pro- 
perty. Also,  a  pedestal  increasing  in  size  as  it  rises,  or  a 
parallelopiped  for  the  reception  of  a  bust.  Terminus  was 
the  name  of  the  god  of  boundaries  among  the  Romans. 
Terminus,  in  more  recent  times,  is  applied  to  the  b< 
or  the  end  ;  t.  e.,  to  the  first  and  last  station  of  a  railroad. 

TERMITES.  (Lat.  termes,  tke  branch  of  a  tree.)  These 
insects  constitute  an  extensive  and  important  tribe  of  the 
Neuropterous  order,  confined  to  the  warmer  latitudes  of  the 
globe,  and  performing  a  considerable  share  in  the  essential 
labour  of  completing  the  comminution  and  destruction  of 
dead  and  decomposing  organized  matter.  The  termites  are 
all  social,  terrestrial ;  and  are  active,  carnivorous  or  omniv- 
orous, in  all  the  stages  of  their  existence,  save  that  of  the 
ovum,  after  which  they  undergo  only  a  semimetamorpho- 
sis.  The  mandibles  are  always  strong'  ami  hard,  but  differ 
in  relative  size  in  different  classes  of  individuals  of  the 
same  community. 

The  tribe  Termetincr  includes  the  genera  Mantispa,  Ra- 
pkidia,  Psocus,  Per/a,  and  Termes  proper  (now  the  type 
also  of  a  family,  TermUida:.  or  white  ants,  as  they  are 
commonly  called).  These  are  characterized  by  four-joint- 
ed tarsi  :  but  the  wings  are  carried  horizontally  on  the 
body,  and  very  long  ;  the  head  rounded,  and  the  prothorax 
short  and  square.  The  body  is  depressed,  with  the  anten- 
na1 short ;  the  mouth  very  similar  to  that  of  the  Orthoptera, 
with  the  four-cleft  lower  lip  ;  three  occelh,  one  rather  in- 
distinct;  the  wings  generally  but  slightly  transpan 
oiired,  with  the  nervures  not  forming  a  close  network  ;  and 
the  legs  short. 

The  termites  peculiar  to  the  tropical  and  adjacent  coun- 
tries are  known  under  the  name  of  white  ants,  and  com- 
mit rm>-t  extraordinary  ravages,  especially  in  lire  larva 
state,  in  which  they  are  called  workers;  these  ,-,re  like  the 
perfect  insect,  but  with  the  body  softer,  ami  without  wings, 
ami  the  head  generally  larger  and  destitute  of  eyes,  or 
nearly  so.  They  are  united  into  colonies  of  incalculable 
numbers,  and  live  concealed  in  the  interior  of  ti 
trees,  and  other  wooden  matters,  such  as  furniture,  shelves, 
&c„  in  which  they  form  galleries,  forming  routes 
ing  to  the  centre  of  their  nests;  so  that  these  objects,  of 
which  the  outer  surface  is  (with  surprising  inst 
untouched,  fall  to  pieces  on  the  -lightest  touch.  The  nests 
of  -nine  -pedes  are  external,  but  without  any  evident  exit. 
Sometimes  they  are  elevated  to  a  great  height  above  the 
Surface,  like  pyramids,  occasionally  surmounted  by  a  solid 
roof,  which,  by  their  height  ami  number,  appear  at  a  dis- 
tance  like  a  small   village.     Sometimes  these  insects  affix 

their  nests  to  the  branches  of  trees.  Another  »<n  of  indi- 
vidual, termed  neuters  or  soldiers,  ami  which  FabriciuS 
mistook  for  pupa-,  defend  the  nest    Tin  . 

much  larger  and  longer  |  and  the  mandibles  are  very  long, 
and  cross  over  each  other.  They  are  far  less  numerous 
than  the  larva-,  ami  live  near  the  outer  surface  of  the  nest, 
so  that  they  make  their  appearance  just  when  it  Is  attack- 
ed; they  are  also  Stated  to  Compel  the  uorkeis  to  labour. 
The  deml-nymphs  have  the  rudiments  of  wings,  and  in 
other  respec  ■  resemble  the  larva. 

When  arriveil  at  the  perfect  state  the  termites  quit  their 
habitation;    fly    abroad    during   the   evening   and   night   in 
great  numbers  ;  they  lose  their  wind's  before  morning,  «  hich 
dry;   and  felling   to  the   earth,  the]    become  the 
birds,  lizards.  &c.    The  couples  are  then  collected  by  the 


TERMS. 

larve,  which  inclose  each  of  them  in  a  large  ceil ;  but  La- 
treille  conjectures  that  the  act  of  coupling  takes  place  in  the 
air,  as  in  the  ants,  and  that  the  females  alone  occupy  the 
attention  of  the  larva:  in  order  to  the  establishment  of  fresh 
colonies.  The  abdomen  of  the  female  subsequently  acquires 
an  enormous  size,  from  the  innumerable  eggs  which  it  con- 
tains. The  royal  chamber  occupies  the  centre  of  the  habi- 
tation, and  around  it  are  distributed  those  which  contain 
the  eggs  and  provisions. 

Some  larva;  of  Termes  varium  have  eyes,  and  appear  to 
have  habits  somewhat  different  to  the  rest,  and  to  approach 
our  ants. 

Negroes  and  Hottentots  are  very  fond  of  these  insects. 

TERMS,  in  Law,  are  four  sections  of  the  year  appropri- 
ated to  the  transaction  of  particular  business  in  the  superi- 
or courts  of  common  law  and  equity.  They  are  now  regu- 
lated by  11  G.  4,  and  1  W.  4,  c.  70. 

Hilary  Term  begins  the  11th,  and  ends  the  31st  of  Janu- 
ary. 

Easter  Term  begins  15th  of  April,  and  ends  the  8th  of 
May. 

Trinity  Term  begins  22d  of  May,  and  ends  the  12th  of 
June. 

Michaelmas  Term  begins  the  2d,  and  ends  the  25th  of 
November. 

Whenever  any  one  of  these  days  falls  on  a  Sunday,  the 
following  Monday  is  substituted  for  it;  and  if  the  days 
from  Thursday  before  to  Wednesday  after  Easter  Sunday 
inclusive,  or  any  part  of  them,  fall  within  Easter  term, 
such  days  are  regarded  as  holydays,  and  the  term  is  in- 
creased by  an  additional  number  of  day9  at  the  end,  and 
Trinity  term  proportionably  postponed.  During  term  the 
three  superior  common  law  courts  sit  in  banc  ;  and  all  their 
business,  with  the  exception  of  the  trial  of  issues  in  fact, 
and  such  preliminary  or  other  matters  of  minor  importance 
as  can  be  transacted  before  a  judge  at  chambers,  is  per- 
formed. The  power  of  the  courts  has,  however,  been  in- 
creased by  a  recent  statute,  enabling  them  to  transact  cer- 
tain term  business  in  vacation  time.  The  rest  of  the  year  is 
termed  Vacation.  During  the  vacation,  one  judge  of  each 
court  sits  at  Nisi  Prius  for  the  trial  of  causes  in  London 
and  Middlesex,  through  the  periods  called  Sittings;  which 
are  fixed  by  the  same  act  to  last  not  more  than  twenty-four 
days  after  Hilary,  Trinity,  and  Michaelmas  terms  respect- 
ively, nor  more  than  six  days  after  Easter  term.  During 
the  vacation  also  the  circuits  are  held,  in  which  causes  are 
tried  and  the  gaols  delivered  in  other  parts  of  England  and 
Wales. 

TERMS  OF  EaUATIONS,  are  the  several  parts  of 
which  they  are  composed,  connected  by  the  signs  of  addi- 
tion or  subtraction.  Thus,  2  a  x — *  c,  has  for  its  terms  2  a  z 
and  be.  Generally,  all  terms  containing  the  same  power  of 
the  unknown  quantity  are  considered  as  one  compound 
term ;  the  coefficients,  with  their  proper  signs,  being  con- 
nected with  that  power  of  the  unknown  quantity. 

TERPSI  CHORE.  (Gr.  r£p™,  /  delight,  and  x°P»s,  <* 
dance.)  The  muse  who  presided  over  dancing,  usually  re- 
presented with  a  seven-stringed  lyre  or  a  plectrum  in  the 
hand,  and  in  the  act  of  dancing. 

TERRACE.  (Fr.  terrasse.)  In  Architecture,  a  raised 
natural  or  artificial  bank  for  the  purpose  of  atfording  a 
promenade. 

TERRA  COTTA,  literally  baked  clay,  is  the  name  giv- 
en to  statues,  architectural  decorations,  figures,  vases,  &c, 
modelled  or  cast  in  a  paste  made  of  pipe  or  potter's  clay 
and  a  fine-grained  colourless  sand  from  Ryegate,  with  pul- 
verized potsherds,  slowly  dried  in  the  air,  and  afterwards 
fired  to  a  stonv  hardness  in  a  proper  kiln. 

TERR^E  FILIUS.  In  Classical  Latinity,  a  humorous 
designation  of  persons  of  low  origin  or  obscure  birth  :  ter- 
ra filii,  sons  of  the  earth.  (See  Persius,  Satire  6.)  In 
the  university  of  Oxford,  by  an  ancient  custom,  abolish- 
ed a  century  ago,  a  satirical  Latin  oration  was  read  at 
the  commemoration,  annually,  by  an  undergraduate,  who 
assumed  the  title  of  Terra;  Filius,  and  often  indulged  in 
considerable  license  in  his  treatment  of  the  authorities  of 
the  place. 

TERRA  JAPONICA.  The  old  pharmaceutical  desig- 
nation of  the  substance  now  called  catechu.  It  was  for- 
merly regarded  as  an  earthy  mineral. 

TERRA  PONDEROSA.  The  old  mineralogical  name 
of  carbonate  and  sulphate  of  baryta. 

TERRA  SIENNA.  A  brown  ocherous  clay  brought 
from  Sienna,  and  sometimes  used  as  a  pigment. 

TERRE-PLEIN.  In  Fortification,  the  horizontal  surface 
of  the  rampart  where  the  guns  are  placed  and  worked. 
Its  breadth  maybe  from  24  to  40  feet;  and  it  is  bounded 
outside  by  the  parapet,  and  inside  by  the  inner  slope  of  the 
rampart.     See  Fortification. 

TERRE'STRIALS,  Terrestres.  (Lat.  terra,  the  earth.) 
The  name  of  a  section  of  the  class  Jives,  corresponding  to 
the  orders  Rasores  and  Cursores  ;  also  of  a  family  of  Pul- 


TESSERA. 

monated  Gastropods,  and  of  a  division  of  Isopodous  Crus- 
taceans. 

TERRE-VERTE.  Green  earth.  A  species  of  chlorite 
of  a  green  or  olive  colour,  found  in  Germany,  Fiance,  Italy, 
and  North  America.  According  to  Klaproth,  it  is  a  hydra- 
ted  silicate  of  oxide  of  iron  and  potash,  with  a  little  mag- 
nesia and  alumina.  The  green  earth  of  Verona,  once  used 
as  a  pigment,  is  a  sub-species  of  this  mineral. 

TE'RROR,  REIGN  OF.  In  the  History  of  the  French 
Revolution.  This  term  has  been  generally  applied  to  the 
period  during  which  the  executions  were  most  numerous, 
and  the  country  under  the  sway  of  the  actual  terror  inspir- 
ed by  the  ferocious  measures  of  its  governors,  who  had  es- 
tablished it  avowedly  as  the  principle  of  their  authority. 
It  seems  to  be  most  properly  confined  to  the  period  between 
October,  1793,  when  the  revolutionary  tribunal,  although 
constituted  at  an  earlier  time,  was  first  put  in  permanent 
action  on  the  fall  of  the  party  of  the  Gironde,  and  the 
overthrow  of  Robespierre  and  his  accomplices  in  thermidor 
(July),  1794.  The  agents  and  partisans  of  the  system  have 
been  termed  Terrorists. 

TE'RTIALS,  Tertiari(S.  (Lat.  tres,  three.)  These  are 
the  large  feathers  which  take  their  rise  from  the  proximal 
extremity  of  the  bones  of  the  wing,  corresponding  to  those 
of  the  forearm  near  the  elbow  joint,  forming  a  continuation 
of  the  secondaries.  They  are  so  long  in  some  birds  of  the 
snipe  and  lapwing  kind,  that  when  the  bird  is  flying  they 
give  it  the  appearance  of  having  four  wings. 

TERTIAN  FEVER.  An  intermittent  fever  or  ague, 
the  paroxysms  of  which  return  every  other  day.  See 
Ague. 

TE'RTIARIES.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  religious 
body,  a  kind  of  associates  of  the  Franciscans,  who  ac- 
knowledged the  third  rule  of  Saint  Francis,  and  seem  con- 
nected with  the  Fraticelli  and  Beghardi  of  the  13th  centu- 
ry.    (See  Mosheim,  13th  cent.,  part  ii.,  chap,  ii.) 

TE'RTIARY  STRATA.  A  series  of  sedimentary  rocks 
which  lie  above  the  primary  and  secondary  strata,  and  are 
distinguished  from  them  by  their  organic  remains,  See 
Geology. 

TERTIUM  SAL.  An  obsolete  chemical  term  former- 
ly applied  to  neutral  salts,  as  being  a  third  substance, 
or  tirtium  quod,  resulting  from  the  union  of  an  acid  and 
alkali. 

TERTU'LLIANISTS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a 
branch  of  the  African  Montanists ;  so  named  from  the 
father  Tertullian,  who  embraced  Montanist  opinions.  (See 
Burton's  Lectures,  vol.  ii.,  p.  234.) 

TERU'NCIUS.  A  coin  of  ancient  Rome,  the  same  as 
the  quadrans  or  triuncis,  being  the  4th  part  of  the  as,  and 
consequently  containing  three  ounces  before  the  value  was 
diminished. 

TE'RZA  RI'MA  (third  or  triple  rhyme).  A  peculiar 
and  complicated  system  of  versification,  borrowed  by  the 
early  Italian  poets  from  the  Troubadours.  The  verses  are 
the  ordinary  Italian  heroic  lines  of  eleven  syllables  (inter- 
spersed very  rarely  with  ten-syllable  lines).  The  rhyme  is 
thus  arranged  :  At  the  commencement  of  a  poem  or  portion 
of  a  poem,  verses  1  and  3  rhyme  together  ;  as  do  verses  2, 
4,  and  6;  the  third  rhyme  begins  with  verse  5,  which 
rhymes  to  7  and  9 ;  the  fourth  is  formed  by  8,  10,  and  12, 
and  so  on  ;  and  the  poem  or  canto  ends  abruptly,  the  last 
rhyme,  like  the  first,  being  on  a  couplet  instead  of  a  triplet. 
It  is  obvious  that  the  rhyme  is  interlaced  throughout,  and 
continually  in  suspense,  so  that  no  pause  can  be  found  until 
the  end  of  the  poem  or  canto;  as,  at  the  end  of  every  line, 
there  must  still  be  a  rhyme  incomplete.  This  continuity 
gives  a  very  peculiar  character  to  the  metre,  and  renders  it 
highly  expressive  of  sustained  narrative  or  passion,  and 
the  abruptness  of  the  conclusion  is  often  turned  to  good  ef- 
fect by  masters  of  versification.  This  metre  has  been  ren- 
dered celebrated  by  Dante,  who  wrote  in  it  in  his  Divina 
Commcdia.  It  has  been  adopted  by  his  imitators,  of  whom 
the  latest,  Nincenzo  Monti,  has  used  it  to  much  advantage  ; 
and  by  Ariosto  and  other  poets  for  their  satires.  Byron 
has  adopted  it  in  English,  with  indifferent  success,  in  his 
Prophecy  of  Dante ;  and  it  has  been  attempted  by  various 
translators. 

TERZE  TTO.  (It.)  In  Music,  a  composition  in  three 
parts. 

TE'SSELATED  PAVEMENT.  (Lat.  tesselo,  dimin.  of 
tessera.)  In  ancient  Architecture,  a  pavement  formed  of 
small  square  pieces  of  stone  called  tessera  or  dies.  They 
are  frequently,  indeed  mostly,  found  inlaid  in  different  col- 
ours and  patterns,  and  with  a  central  subject.  They  are 
embedded  in  cement  and  rest  on  prepared  hard  strata. 

TE'SSERA.  In  Roman  Antiquities,  a  die,  six-sided,  like 
the  modern  dice ;  and  thus  to  be  distinguished  from  the 
talus,  which  had  only  three  sides.  Tickets  or  tallies  used 
for  various  purposes  were  called  tessera?.  Thus  guards 
were  set  at  night  in  their  camps  by  means  of  a  tessera 
with  a  particular  inscription,  given  from  one  centurion  to 
4  H  1233 


TESSERACONTERIS. 

another  through  the  army  .  and  in  this  way  the  word  tes- 
sera seems  lo  have  come  to  signify  the  watchword  or  pass- 
word deliver., I  to  the  guard.  (See  Mem.  de  t'  .lead,  des 
litter.,  vol.  xxxvii.) 

Tkssera.  In  Architecture.  See  Tesselated  Pave- 
ment. 

TE'SSERACONTE'RIS.  (G.  TcaacpaKOvra,  forty,  and 
epsoow,  I  rotr.)  A  galley,  with  forty  banks  of  oars;  one 
of  the  largest  of  monstrous  vessels  mentioned  by  ancient 
writers.  Great  doubts  have  been  entertained  as  to  the 
possibility  of  the  construction  of  a  vessel  which,  according 
to  the  received  notions  respecting  classical  shipbuilding, 
must  have  required  about  four  thousand  rowers ;  but  it  is 
seriously  recorded  that  one  was  built  for  Ptolemy  Philo- 
pater,  probably  for  purposes  of  show  only.  Sec  Trireme, 
Galley. 

TESSULAR.  A  term  applied  in  Crystallography  to  a 
system  of  crystals,  including  the  cube,  tetraedron,  &c. 

TEST.  In  Chemistry,  anything  by  which  we  distin- 
guish the  chemical  nature  of  substances  from  each  other  ; 
thus,  infusion  of  galls  is  a  test  of  the  presence  of  iron, 
which  it  renders  evident  by  tl.e  production  of  a  black  col- 
our in  water  and  other  liquids  containing  that  metal ;  in 
the  same  way  sulphuretted  hydrogen  is  a  test  of  the  pre- 
sence of  lead,  and  nitrate  of  baryta  of  sulphuric  acid.  In 
Metallurgy  and  Assaying,  the  poTUS  crucible  which  ab- 
sorbs the  liquid  verifiable  oxide  of  lead  and  other  metals 
combined  with  it  is  sometimes  called  the  test. 

Tl'.'STA.     In  Botany,  the  integuments  of  a  seed. 

TESTA'CEANS,  Testaeea.  (Lat.  testa,- a  shell!)  This 
term  was  employed  by  Linne  to  signify  an  order  of  the 
class  Vermes.  It  is  applied  by  Cuvier  to  an  order  of  his 
class  Jlcepha'a,  comprehending  those  which  are  provided 
with  a  calcareous  shell. 

TESTACE'LLTJS.  (Lat.  testa.)  A  genus  of  slugs  ;  so 
called  from  their  being  furnished  with  a  diminutive  shell, 
which  forms  a  shield  or  protection  to  the  heart.  Of  this 
destructive  genus  the  following  species  are  British,  and 
occasionally  infest  our  gardens  and  nursery  grounds :  Test, 
scutellum,  Sowerby  ;   Test,  halyntideus  ;   Test,  maugci. 

TESTAMENT, 'OLD  AND  NEW.     See  Bible. 

TEST  AND  CORPORATION  ACT.  The  popular 
names  of  the  statutes  13  Car.  2,  St.  2,  c.  1,  and  25  Oar.  2, 
ch.  2 ;  by  the  first  of  which  it  was  provided  that  all  ma- 
gistrates in  corporations  should  take  the  oaths  of  allegiance 
and  supremacy,  and  another  renouncing  the  doctrine  that 
it  is  lawful  to  take  arms  against  the  king  :  and  should  have 
received  the  sacrament  within  a  year  before  their  election, 
according  to  the  rites  of  the  church  of  England.  The  lat- 
ter extended  these  provisions  to  "all  persons  that  shall 
bear  any  office  or  offices,  civil  or  military,"  &c. ;  and  in- 
troduced a  new  declaration  against  transubstantiation. 
These  acts,  long  esteemed  the  great  bulwarks  of  the  Pro- 
testant church,  were  nevertheless  evaded  by  means  of  acts 
of  indemnity  annually  passed  for  the  relief  of  those  who 
had  neglected  to  take  the  oaths.  They  were  finally  re- 
pealed 1828  (9  G.  4,  c.  17),  as  far  as  regarded  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  sacrament,  and  a  declaration  set  forth  in  the 
act  substituted.  Locke,  as  well  as  many  other  eminent 
men,  has  strongly  objected  to  the  principle  of  making  a 
religious  solemnity  a  test  of  conformity ;  it  is  defended  by 
Dean  Swift. 

TESTIMONY.     See  Evidence. 

TE'STING.  In  Metallurgy,  the  operation  of  refining 
gold  and  silver  by  means  of  lead  upon  a  vessel  called  a 
test  or  cupel.     See  Ccpellation. 

TESTUDINA'TA.  (Lat.  testa.)  The  name  of  a  tribe 
ofChelonian  reptiles,  of  which  the  tortoise  (Testudo)  is 
the  type.  It  has  been  sometimes  used  as  synonymous 
with  Chelonia,  and  as  a  name  for  the  whole  order. 

TESTU'DO.  A  military  contrivance  adopted  by  the 
Creeks  and  Romans  principally  in  attacking  walls  and 
fortified  places.  It  was  formed  by  a  body  of  troops  hold 
ing  their  shields  above  their  heads,  so  as  to  overlap  one 
another  and  form  a  kind  of  pent  house,  which  threw  off 
iles  of  the  enemy  while  the  assailants  were  ap- 
proaching the  walls.  The  word  properly  means  a  tortoise, 
from  the  similitude  of  whose  shell  to  this  contrivance  the 
name  was  borrowed. 

TETANUS.  (Gr.  ravu,  I  streteh.)  A  spasm  of  the 
whole  of  the  muscles.  It  is  frequently  caused  by  lacerat- 
ed wounds,  and  affecting  the  jaw  is  termed  lockjaw.  In 
hot  climates  this  disease  is  sometimes  produced  by  ex- 
posure to  cold,  or  by  suppressed  perspiration,  and  it  then 
often  admits  of  relief  and  cure ;  but  when  it  is  the  conse- 
quence of:,  wound  it  is  usually  fatal. 

TETHY'D  VNS,  Tethydes.    The  na of  a  tribe  of  Tu- 

nicated  Acephalous  Mollusks,  of  which  the  genus  Ascidia 
i  Tethyt  of  the  ancients)  is  the  type. 

TETHYS.     (Gr.  rtidvov,  an  ascidian.)     A  name  applied 
by  Linnaeus  to  a  genus  of  Vermes  Testaeea;  and  by  Cu- 
vier to  a  genus  of  Nudibranchiate  Gastropodes,  character- 
1234 


TETRAO. 

ized  by  having  two  rows  of  branchiae  along  the  back  in  the 
form  of  tufts. 

TcTHYS.  In  Greek  Mythology,  the  daughter  of  Cranus 
and  Gai  i,  and  Wife  of  her  brother  Oceanus.  The  symbol 
of  the  sea.  and  of  the  element  of  water;  in  which  charac- 
ter she  is  sometimes  confounded  with  Thetis,  unless  in- 
deed the  name  of  the  latter  goddess  be  only  another  form 
Of  hers. 

TETRA  CERAS.  (Cr.  Tirra  pec,  four,  and  xepac,  a  horn.) 
The  generic  name  proposed  by  Dr.  Leach  for  the  four- 
homed  antelope. 

TE'TRACMORD.  (Gr.  rcrrapec,  and  yoptn,  a  string.) 
In  Music,  a  concord  consisting  of  three  degrees  or  inter- 
vals, and  four  terms  or  sounds;  in  modern  music  it  is 
commonly  called  a  fourth.  The  word,  in  its  strictly  literal 
sense,  signifies  any  instrument  with  four  strings,  and  was 
applied  to  the  lvre  in  its  primitive  state. 

TE'TRADITES.  A  word  used  in  several  senses,  all  of 
them,  however,  bearing  upon  its  original  derivation  from 
Gr.  TCTnipcs,  four.  1.  Among  the  ancients  children  were 
so  called  who  were  born  in  the  fourth  month;  and  such 
were  believed  to  be  unlucky.  2.  The  Manichees  and 
others,  who  believed  the  Godhead  to  consist  of  four  in- 
stead of  three  persons,  bore  this  name.  And,  3.  In  Eccle- 
siastical History  different  sects  of  heretics  were  so  called, 
in  consequence  of  the  respect  with  which  they  regarded 
the  number  four. 

TETRA'DORON.  (Gr.)  In  ancient  Architecture,  a 
species  of  brick  used  by  Greek  builders  in  the  private 
dwellings,  four  palms  in  length. 

TE'TRADRACHM.  A  common  silver  coin  of  the  an 
cient  Greeks,  of  the  value  of  four  drachms. 

TETRADY'NAMOUS.  (Gr.  r«ra/>«,  and  Swauif, 
poioer.)  A  flower  having  six  stamens,  of  which  two  are 
short,  and  separated  bv  two  pairs  of  longer  ones. 

TETRAE'DRON,  or  TETRAHEDRON.  (Gr.  rerrapec, 
and  eSpov,  side.)  In  Geometry,  one  of  the  five  Platonic 
bodies,  or  regular  solids.  It  is  bounded  by  four  equilateral 
and  equal  triangles,  or  it  is  a  triangular  pyramid  having 
four  equal  and  equilateral  faces.  If  we  assume  a  =  the 
linear  edge,  b  =  the  whole  superfices,  c  =  the  solid  con- 
tent, r  =:  the  radius  of  the  inscribed  sphere,  R  =  the  ra- 
dius of  the  circumscribed  sphere,  then  the  following  rela- 
tions hold  true : — 

a  =  2rv/6,6  =  24rtV3,c  =  8r3V'3,R  =  3r. 
See  Platonic  Bodies. 

TETRAETE'RIS.  (Gr.  Tcrraptc,  and  croc,  a  year.)  In 
Grecian  Chronology,  a  cycle  of  four  years,  invented  by  So- 
lon, to  make  the  lunar  year  equal  to  the  solar.  This  he 
effected  by  intercalating  a  month  of  twenty-two  days  at 
the  end  of  two  years,  and  at  the  lapse  of  other  two  years 
another  month  of  twenty -three  days,  making  in  all  forty- 
five  days,  which  will  be  found  to  be  the  difference  between 
the  lunar  and  solar  year  after  an  interval  of  four  years. 

TETRAGON.  (Gr.  rerrapec,  and  yovta,  angle.)  In 
Geometry,  a  figure  having  four  angles. 

TE'TRAGO'NIA  (Gr.  Teinipti,  and  ytovta),  is  a  genus  of 
herbaceous  plants  of  the  Portulacaceous  order,  with  four- 
cornered  fruit ;  one  species  of  which,  native  of  New  Zea- 
land, is  cultivated  as  an  esculent  under  the  name  of  New 
Zealand  spinach.  Although  inferior  to  genuine  spinach, 
it  is  valuable  on  account  of  its  resistance  to  drought  and 
the  great  quantity  of  foilage  that  may  be  gathered  from  a 
single  plant.     It  is  an  annual  of  the  easiest  culture. 

TETRAGRA'MMATION.  Among  several  ancient  na- 
tions, the  name  of  the  mystic  number  four,  which  was 
often  symbolised  to  represent  the  Deity,  whose  name  was 
expressed  in  several  languages  by  four  letters:  thus  the 
Heb.  TrW;  l^e  Assyrian  Adad ;  the  Egyptian  Amonj 
the  Persian  Syre  ;  the  Greek  Geo? ;  the  Lat.  Dens.  By  a 
curious  coincidence,  the  same  peculiarity  prevails  in  many 
modern  languages,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  Germ.  Gott,  the 
French  Dint,  &c. 

TETRA'LOGY.  (Gr.  rtrmpti,  and  \oyoi,  discourse,) 
The  name  given  to  the  collection  of  four  dramatic  compo- 
sitions which  was  brought  forward  for  exhibition  at  Athens 
by  competitors  for  scenic  honour.  It  consisted  of  three 
tragedies  and  a  "satyrus"  [set  Satieb),  of  which  the  only 
example  [eft  is  the  Cyclops  of  Euripides. 

TETRA'METER.  (Gr.  re-Trapes,  and  perpov,  measure.) 
A  verse  consisting  of  four  measures;  that  is,  according  to 
the  Greek  prosody,  of  eight  iambic,  trochaic,  or  anapaistic 
feet,  or  four  feet  exceeding  three  times. 

TETRA'NDROTJS.  (Gr.  rcrrapec,  four,  and  avnp,  a 
■man.)     A  flower  having  four  stamens. 

TE'TRAO.  (Lat.  tctrao,  a  bustard.)  A  name  selected 
by  LinnaJUS  for  an  extensive  genus  of  gallinaceous  birds, 
characterized  by  a  naked  and  generally  red  band,  which 
occupies  the  place  of  the  eyebrow.  This  genus  compre- 
hended all  the  various  species  of  grouse,  partridges,  fran- 
colins,  quails,  and  tinamotis ;  and  the  necessity  for  subdl- 


TETRAPHARMACON. 

viding  it  was  consequently  soon  recognised.  Latham  re- 
stricts the  genus  Tetrao  to  those  species  of  which  the  feet 
are  covered  with  feathers,  and  are  without  spurs,  with 
naked  toes,  and  a  round  or  forked  tail :  these  are  the  true 
grouse.  The  species  in  which  the  toes  are  feathered  as 
well  as  the  legs,  called  ptarmigan,  form  the  genus  Lagopus. 
Brisson  separated  from  the  Linnean  Tetraoncs,  the  par- 
tridges, francolins,  and  quails,  under  the  generic  title  Per- 
dix ;  and  the  obvious  characters  indicated  by  the  common 
names  of  these  tribes,  have  been  made,  by  later  zoologists, 
the  grounds  for  as  many  distinct  genera.  The  quails  of  the 
New  World  form  the  distinct  genus  Ortyx.  The  long- 
necked  tinamous  of  America,  constitute  the  last  genus  (Ti- 
namus,  Latham)  of  the  family  Tetraonidm. 

TETRAPHA'RMACON.  An  ointment  composed  of 
four  remedies;  namely,  wax,  resin,  lard,  and  pitch. 

TE'TRAPLA.  (Gr.  TtTnipes.)  In  Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory, the  name  of  a  Bible  arranged  by  Origen  in  four  col- 
umns, consisting  of  four  different  Greek  versions ;  viz.,  that 
of  the  Septuagint,  that  of  Aquila,  that  of  Synnnachus,  and 
that  of  Theodosian.  This  work  must  not  be  confounded 
with  the  Hciapla,  which  see. 

TKTBAPNEUMO'NIANS,  Tetrapneumones.  (Gr.  tct- 
rapcs,  and  T:t'cvfiu>v,  a  lung.)  The  name  of  a  section  of 
spiders  (Araneidm),  comprehending  those  which  have  four 
pulmonary  sacs. 

TETRA'PTERANS,  Tetraptera.  (Gr.  TiTTapzq,  and 
nrepov,  a  wing.)  A  name  applied  by  some  entomologists 
to  the  insects  which  have  four  wines,  and  which  thus  con- 
stitute an  extensive  primary  division  of  the  class. 

TE'TRARCH.  (Gr.  ferpfyxK-)  The  governor  of  a 
fourth  part  of  a  country.  This  was  a  title  granted  by  the 
Romans  to  some  tributary  princes,  whom  they  did  not  dig- 
nify with  the  style  of  king.  It  seems  to  have  originated 
among  the  Galatians.  Such  were  the  sons  of  Herod  the 
Great,  among  whom  his  dominions  were  divided  after  his 
death.     (See  Mem.  de  I'  Acad,  des  Inscr.,  vol.  xxviii.) 

TEf  RASP  ASTON.  (Gr.  Ttrru/Jtj,  and  tnraw,  I  puH.)  In 
Mechanics,  a  machine  in  which  four  pulleys  all  act  toge- 
ther. 

TETRA'STICH.  (Gr.  Ttrrapa,  and  onxos,  verse.)  In 
Poetry,  a  stanza  of  four  verses. 

TE'TRASTYLE.  (Gr.  rer*«/»£j,  and  otv\o<,  a  column.) 
In  Architecture,  a  building  having  four  columns  in  front. 

TETTER,  An  eruptive  disease  of  the  cuticle.  See 
Psoriasis. 

TETTIGES.  (Gr.  grasshoppers.)  An  appellation  as- 
sumed by  the  ancient  Athenians  in  allusion  to  the  boast 
that  they  were  produced  from  the  soil  which  they  inhabit- 
ed. In  conformity  with  this  belief  they  were  often  styled 
avrox&ovt;,  or  earlhborn,  and  wore  golden  grasshoppers  in 
their  hair. 

TETTIGO'NIANS,  Tcttigonides.  (Lat.  tettigonia,  a 
kind  of  grasshopper.)  A  sec"ion  of  Hemipterous  insects, 
of  which  the  genus  Tettigonia  is  the  type.  It  is  synony- 
mous with  Cicadarians.     See  Cicada. 

TEUTA'TES.  In  Mythology,  a  Celtic  divinity,  to  whom 
Roman  writers  have  given  some  of  the  attributes  of  their 
Mercury  (Mem.  de  VAc.  des  Inscr.,  xxiv.  34(J),  enumerated 
by  Lucan  among  the  gods  of  the  Gauls  ;  Quibus  immitis 
placatur  sanguine  diro  Teutates. 

TETTHIDANS,  Teuthidce.  (Gr.  tcvBos.  a  calamary.) 
The  family  of  Dibranchiate  Cephalopods,  of  which  the  ca- 
laniarv  (I.oligo  vulgaris)  is  the  type. 

TEUTO'NIC  ORDER.  One  of  the  principal  military 
orders  of  religious  persons.  It  was  founded  in  1190,  by 
Frederic  duke  of  Swabia,  and  intended  for  Germans  of  no- 
ble rank  only :  its  rules  were  the  same  with  those  of  the 
Templars.  Like  the  other  orders  (see  Saint  John,  Tem- 
plars), its  original  object  was  the  performance  of  service 
against  the  infidels  in  Palestine.  It  was  dedicated  to  the 
Virgin  Mary.  After  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Sa- 
racens, the  grand  master  removed  to  Venice,  and  after- 
wards to  Marburg.  By  degrees  it  made  extensive  conquests 
from  the  various  heathen  nations  on  the  southern  shores 
of  the  Baltic.  The  Prussians  were  subdued  by  it  and 
forced  to  embrace  Christianity,  after  a  struggle  of  more  than 
half  a  century.  In  1237,  it  was  united  with  the  order  of 
the  Brethren  of  the  Sword  in  Livonia.  Its  conquests  ele- 
vated it  to  the  rank  of  a  sovereign  power  in  Europe.  The 
grand  master,  during  the  epoch  of  its  domination,  had  his 
seat  at  Marienburg,  in  Prussia.  Its  territory  extended  from 
the  Oder  to  the  Gulf  of  Finland,  and  the  population  under 
its  government  is  supposed  to  have  amounted  in  the  15th 
century  to  two  millions  and  a  half  of  souls.  Its  domin- 
ions, however,  were  gradually  lost  by  revolt  or  foreign 
conquest.  West  Prussia  fell  to  Poland,  East  Prussia  to  the 
house  of  Brandenburg.  Afterwards  the  seat  of  the  grand 
master  was  at  Mergentheim  in  Swabia ;  and  he  became  a 
spiritual  prince  of  the  empire.  By  the  peace  of  Presburg, 
in  1805,  the  rights  and  revenue  of  the  grand  mastership 
was  obtained  by  the  emperor  of  Austria :  but  the  order 


THEA. 

was  abolished  by  Napoleon  in  1809;  and  its  lands  having 
passed  to  the  sovereigns  of  the  various  districts  in  which 
they  were  situate,  it  now  retains  a  titular  existence  only 
in  Austria. 

TE'XTUARIES.  Among  the  Jews,  the  sect  of  Caraites, 
or  Karaites,  has  been  so  called  (see  that  word;,  from  its 
adherence  to  the  text  of  the  Jewish  scriptures. 

THABORITES.     See  Taborites. 

THALAMUS.  (Gr.  Sakapos,  a  bed.)  In  Anatomy,  the 
part  of  the  brain  from  which  the  optic  nerves  have  part  of 
their  origin. 

Thalamus,  in  Botany,  is  the  part  on  which  the  ovary  is 
seated.  The  succulent  red  centre  of  a  strawberry,  the 
core  in  the  fruit  of  a  raspberry,  are  the  thalami  of  these 
plants.     Some  botanists  call  it 'the  receptacle  of  the  fruit. 

THALI'A.  (Gr.  3aXaa,  the  blooming  one.)  The  muse 
who  is  generally  regarded  as  the  patroness  of  pastoral  and 
comic  poetry.  She  is  also  supposed  to  preside  over  hus- 
bandry and  planting.  She  is  represented  leaning  on  a  col- 
umn with  a  mask  in  her  right  hand  and  a  shepherd's 
crook  in  her  left. 

THALI'DANS,  Thalides.  (Gr.  GnXaa,  one  of  the 
Muses.)  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Tunicaries,  of  which  the 
genus  Salpa  or  Thalia  is  the  type.     See  Salpa. 

THA'LLUS.  In  Botany,  a  term  given  to  the  organs  of 
vegetation  of  liverworts,  lichens,  and  sea-weed,  and  to  the 
bed  of  fibres  from  which  many  species  of  fungi  arise.  It 
is  regarded  as  a  fusion  or  blending  together  of  leaf  and 
stem.  Hence  plants  consisting  of  thalli  only  are  called 
Thallophytes  or  Thallogens.  She  spawn  of  the  mushroom 
shows  the  appearance  of  the  thallus  in  fungi. 

THAMMUZ.  The  tenth  mouth  of  the  Jewish  civil 
year,  answering  to  part  of  June  and  July,  and  including 
twenty-nine  days.  In  Mythology,  the  name  under  which 
the  Phoenicians  worshipped  Osiris  or  Adonis.     See  Adonis. 

THANE.  (Sax.  thegn.)  In  early  English  History,  a 
title  of  honour  among  the  Anglo-Saxons.  In  its  original 
meaning  it  signified  a  minister  or  servant,  and  was  applied 
to  the  followers  of  kings  and  chieftains.  Thus  the  king's 
thanes  were  at  an  early  period  a  distinct  and  elevated 
class.  In  a  later  age  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  power,  the  term 
had  become  more  extensive  in  its  signification,  and  seems 
to  have  been  appropriated  to  all  landed  proprietors  who 
were  below  the  rank  of  earl  and  above  that  of  alderman, 
and  had  the  privilege  of  assisting  in  framing  the  laws.  In 
Latin  charters  the  word  miles  is  the  equivalent  of  thane. 
There  were  superior  and  subordinate  thanes,  standing  in 
the  same  relative  situation  as  mesne  lords  and  vassals  un- 
der the  feudal  system  of  France  and  Normandy.  (See 
Turner's  Anglo-Saxons  ;   Palgrave's  Commonwealth .) 

THA'TCHlNG.  Covering  houses,  stacks,  or  ricks  with 
straw  or  reeds,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  throw  off  the  rain, 
and  exclude  excessive  heat,  or  prevent  its  escape  from 
within.  The  straw  generally  used  in  thatching  is  that  of 
the  wheat,  as  being  the  longest  and  thickest,  and  the  most 
durable.  Next  to  wheat,  rye  straw  is  preferred,  or,  in  de- 
fault of  that,  the  straw  of  oats;  but  the  most  durable  of  all 
thatch  in  cold  countries  is  that  formed  of  the  reed  (Arundo 
donax,  Linn.),  or  of  the  common  heath  or  ling  (Cal/una  vul- 
garis, Sal.).  A  very  durable  covering  of  the  thatch  kind 
is  also  formed  of  the  spray  of  birch,  of  the  bark  of  that  tree, 
or  of  oak  or  pine,  and  of  the  chips  and  shavings  made  by 
hurdle  makers  from  the  poles  and  shoots  supplied  by  copse 
woods.  Thatched  roofs  were  formerly  almost  universal  in 
cottage  architecture;  but  they  are  now  being  supplanted 
by  roofs  covered  with  tiles  or  slates,  which  are  much  more 
durable,  and  not  subject  to  catch  fire  ;  while  the  straw  for- 
merly used  for  roofs  is  much  more  profitably  employed  as 
litter  for  cattle,  and  thus  turned  into  manure,  and  employed 
in  reproduction — a  process  which,  in  agriculture  at  least, 
ought  not  to  be  deprived  of  any  material  contributing  so 
essentially  to  its  aid  as  manure. 

THAU'MATROPE.  (Gr.  Savna.  a  wonder;  rpcvo),  I 
turn.)  The  name  given  by  Dr.  Paris  to  an  optical  toy,  the 
principle  of  which  depends  on  the  persistence  of  vision.  A 
circle  is  cut  out  of  a  piece  of  card,  to  opposite  edges  of 
which  two  silk  strings  are  fixed,  by  twisting  which  between 
the  finger  and  thumb  of  each  hand  the  disc  is  turned  round 
with  considerable  velocity.  On  one  side  of  the  disc  is 
drawn  any  object,  as  a  chariot ;  on  the  other  side  a  chariot- 
eer in  the  attitude  of  driving;  so  that  when  the  card  is 
twirled  round,  we  see  the  charioteer  driving  the  chariot ; 
or,  in  consequence  of  the  duration  of  the  impressions  of 
light  on  the  retina,  we  see  at  once  what  is  drawn  on  both 
sides  of  the  card.  (Library  of  Useful  Knowledge,  "  Op- 
tics.") 

THEA  (Chinese  tcha),  is  the  botanical  name  of  the  ge- 
nus which  includes  the  plants  yielding  tea.  They  are 
found  in  China  and  the  bordering  countries  in  various  situ- 
ations, either  in  warm  and  damp  valleys  by  the  sides  of 
rivers,  as  in  Assam,  or  on  mountain  sides,  and  on  cool 
hills ;  occurring  in  the  latter  situations  as  far  northward 

1235 


THEATINES. 

as  Chusan.  Some  botanists  assert  that  there  is  but  one 
kind  of  tea  tree,  the  difference  in  the  samples  of  commerce 
depending  upon  the  mode  of  preparation  ;  others  say  that 
genuine  black  and  green  teas  are  the  produce  of  different 
species,  but  that  both  kinds  ma;  be  made  artificially  from 
tlie  former  sort.  The  latter  appears  to  be  the  truth.  The 
cultivation  of  tea  for  commercial  purposes  has  been  at- 
tempted successfully  in  the  Himmalayas,  Java,  Brazil,  and 
Madeira;  but  unprofltably  in  the  two  lattm  countries,  on 
account  of  the  high  price  of  labour.     See  Tea. 

THE'ATINES.  A  religious  order  in  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic church,  the  earliest  in  point  of  date  of  the  communities 
of  "regular  clerks  :  "  it  was  founded  in  15-24  by  St.  Cajetan 
of  Thiene.  The  members,  besides  the  ordinary  monastic 
vows,  bound  themselves  to  the  duties  of  the  cure  of  souls, 
preaching  against  heresies,  tending  the  sick  and  convicts, 
and  to  abstain  from  possessing  property  or  asking  for  alms. 
This  order  does  not  appear  to  have  met  with  much  success,  ex- 
cept in  Italy,  where  (it  is  said  in  the  Cone.  Lex.)  the  bishops 
are  very  generally  chosen  from  it.  (See  Mosheim,  cent,  xvi.) 
THE'ATRE.  (Gr.  Scarpov,  from  Scaonai,  J  behold.)  In 
Architecture,  a  building  appropriated  to  the  representation 
of  dramatic  spectacles.  The  theatres  of  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans display  some  of  the  most  extraordinary  specimens  of 
their  power  in  the  arts.  Bacchus  has  the  reputation  of 
being  the  inventor  of  them,  which,  after  their  temples,  ap- 
pear to  have  been  the  most  important  public  edifices  of 
those  people.  They  seem  to  have  been  carried  to  perfection 
in  the  Grecian  colonies  at  an  earlier  period  than  they  were 
in  the  mother  country.  The  first  theatre  of  stone  at  Athens, 
called  the  theatre  of  Bacchus,  was  built  in  the  time  of  The- 
niistocles ;  and  as  there  seems  little  doubt  that  the  Atheni- 
ans were  the  inventors  of  the  drama  as  a  regular  scenic 
action,  it  is  fair  to  presume  that  they  were  the  first  to  regu- 
late the  form  and  proportions  which  necessity  and  pleasure 
dictated  in  their  arrangement.  The  subjoined  diagram 
shows  the  general  form  of  the  Greek  theatre,  which  differed 
but  little  from  that  of  the  Romans;  and  the  instructions  giv- 
en by  Vitruvius  in  the  eighth  chapter  of  his  fifth  book,  as  to 
the  general  outline  of  the  plan,  are  as  follows:  "Whereas 
in  the  Latin  theatre  the 
points  of  the  four  trian- 
gles touch  the  circumfer- 
ence, in  the  theatres  of  the 
Greeks  the  angles  of  three 
squares  are  substituted  ; 
and  the  side  of  that  square 
which  is  nearest  to  the 
place  of  the  scene,  at  the 
points  where  it  touches 
the  circumference  of  the 
circle,  is  the  boundary  of 
the  proscenium.  A  line 
drawn  parallel  to  this,  at 
the  extremity  of  the  cir- 
cle, will  give  the  front  of 
the  scene.  Through  the  centre  of  the  orchestra,  opposite  to 
the  proscenium,  another  parallel  line  is  drawn  touching  the 
circumference  on  the  right  and  left ;  then,  one  foot  of  the 
compasses  being  fixed  on  the  right-hand  point,  with  a  radius 
equal  to  the  distance  from  the  left  point,  describe  a  circle  on 
the  right  hand  side  of  the  proscenium,  and,  placing  the  foot 
of  the  compasses  on  the  left-hand  point,  with  the  distance 
of  the'  right  band  interval  describe  another  circle  on  the  left 
side  of  the  proscenium.  Thus  describing  it  from  three  cen- 
tres, the  Greeks  have  a  larger  orchestra,  and  their  scene  is 
further  recessed.  The  pulpitum,  which  they  call  \oyciov,  is 
less  in  width  ;  wherefore  among  them  the  tragic  and  comic 
performers  act  upon  the  scene,  the  rest  going  through  their 
parts  in  the  orchestra."  The  ancient  theatres  were  fre- 
quently used  for  the  deliberations  of  the  general  assembly 
of  the  people  on  political  matters,  as  we  find  from  Tacitus 
and  Ausonius  in  respect  of  the  theatres  at  Antioch  and  Ath- 
ens. Notwithstanding  the  use  of  those  buildings  in  iater 
quarries  freely  used  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  cities 
in  which  they  stood,  there  are  still  considerable  ruins  at 
Ephesus,  Alabanda,  Teos,  Smyrna,  Hieropolis,  Cystous, 
Alinda,  Magnesia,  Laodicea,  Mylassa,  Sardis,  Miletus,  Strat- 
onicea,  Telmessus,  .lasus,  and  Patara,  all  in  Asia  .Minor;  in 
Sicily,  at  Catana,  Taurominium,  Syracuse,  Argyriiim,  and 
In  Greece,  ruins  are  still  extant  at  Athens,  Spar- 
ta, in  the  island  of  F.giun.  at   F.pidaurus,  and   Megalopolis. 

According  to  Pausanlos,  that  at  Epidaurus,  buttl  by  Polycle- 

tus,  surpassed  all  the  other  theatres  of  Greece  in  its  beauty 
and  proportions  ;  but  in  grandeur  and  magnificence  the  Ro- 
man theatres  far  surpassed  those  of  the  Greeks;  nor  is  this 
surprising,  considering  the  population  the  former  had  to  ac 
commodate  compared  with  that  of  the  latter.  For  a  very 
considerable  period  the  theatres  of  Rome,  like  those  of  the 
Etruscans,  were  of  wood  ;  anil  l'oiiipey,  on  his  return  from 
the  war  against  Mithriditcs,  was  the  first  who  constructed 
one  of  stone.  This  must  have  been  of  large  dimensions,  in- 
1236 


THEMIS. 

nsmtich  as  it  would  contain  40,000  spectators.  The  remains 
of  it  as  some  stables  of  a  palace  are  still  visible.  There 
were  two  Other  considerable  theatres  in  Rome;  the  first  built 
in  the  year  741  of  the  city,  by  Cornelius  Balhus  ;  and  the 
second  which  was  begun  by  Julius  Ca-sar,  but  not  finished 
till  the  time  of  Augustus,  who  dedicated  it  to  his  friend 
Marcellus.  From  the  remains  it  appears  that  it  was  a  spe- 
cimen of  great  beauty  and  purity,  as  far  as  relates  to  the 
profiles  of  two  of  its  orders,  there  being  no  vestiges  of  the 
upper  order.  The  only  other  remains  of  Roman  theatres 
are  at  Saguntum  and  Oranges,  though  the  Romans  usually 
erected  theatres  in  their  newly  conquered  cities,  or  at  least 
embellished  and  improved  those  they  found  on  the  spot. 

The  modern  theatres  of  Rome  are,  perhaps,  the  worst  in 
Europe.  Italy,  however,  boasts  some  beautiful  examples  ; 
the  principal  whereof  are  those  at  Parma,  now  in  a  very 
dilapidated  state,  Milan,  Verona,  Turin,  Naples,  and  Bo- 
logna. In  France,  a  very  fine  theatre  at  Bourdeaux  ;  the  the- 
atre at  Versailles;  and  some  elegant  theatres  in  Paris.  Till 
recently  this  country  has  been  unsuccessful  in  the  design 
of  theatres;  but  a  taste  seems  rising,  which  we  doubt  not, 
if  opportunity  occurred,  would  tend  to  raise  its  character 
in  that  respect  in  the  eyes  of  foreigners.  We  subjoin  a 
short  table  of  the  width  of  the  stage  in  a  few  European 
theatres : 

Milan 40  feet. 

San  Benedetto  Venice     ....       40 
Theatre  Francais,  Paris  ....       40 

Parma 40 

Bourdeaux 39 

Turin 39 

Covent  Garden 37 

Argentino  at  Rome  .        ...       36 

Theatre  Italien,  Paris      ....       33 

THE'BAID.  The  name  given  to  the  heroic  poem  of  Stsi- 
tius,  which  celebrates  the  civil  war  of  Thebes  waged  be- 
tween the  two  brothers  Eteocles  and  Polynices.  It  consists 
of  twelve  books.    The  poet  Gray  has  translated  book  ii. 

THEBAN  YEAR.  In  Chronology,  the  Egyptian  year  of 
365  days  6  hours  was  so  called.  (See  Bryant,  Ancient  My- 
thology, iv.,  437.) 

TIIE'CA.  (Gr.  ^vktj,  a  case  or  receptacle.)  This  term  is 
used  in  Botany  in  various  senses.  It  is  applied  to  one  of 
the  lobes  of  an  anther:  to  the  case  or  urn  containing  the 
spores  of  mosses;  to  delicate  tubes  sunk  in  the  shields  of 
some  lichens;  and  to  certain  simple  kinds  of  fruit.  In  all 
cases  it  expresses  a  hollow  case.  It  is  now  seldom  used,  ex- 
cept for  the  spore-vessel  of  a  moss. 

THE'CAPHONE.  The  long  stalk  upon  which  the  ova- 
rium of  some  plants  is  seated  ;  as  in  Cleome,  and  the  caper 
bush. 

THECODA'CTYLUS.  (Gr.  Jnnij,  and  <5 xcrvAoc,  a  dipt.) 
A  subgenus  of  night-lizards  or  geckoes,  distinguished  by 
having  the  sttbdigital  scales  divided  by  a  median  groove 
into  which  the  claw  can  be  retracted. 

THE'CODONTS.  Gr.  $>,K,h  and  ofovs,  a  tvoth.)  A  tribe 
of  extinct  Lacertian  reptiles,  distinguished  by  having  their 
tei  tli  implanted  in  distinct  sockets.  One  of  the  genera  of 
this  tribe,  from  the  magnesian  conglomerate  near  Bristol, 
has  been  called  'rhrrodontvsaiirus. 

THE'COSTOMES,  Thrcostoma.  (Gr.  ^rjKr,,  and  oroya, 
a  month.)  The  name  given  by  Latrielle  to  those  insects 
which  have  a  suctorious  mouth  enveloped  in  a  sheath. 

THEFT.  In  Jurisprudence,  the  general  name  lor  the 
most  ordinary  class  of  offences  against  property  ;  for  which 
English  law  uses  the  peculiar  designation  of  larceny.  The 
difficulty  of  distinguishing  between  theft,  those  other  spe- 
cies of  fraudulent  appropriation  which  are  regarded  by  the 
laws  of  most  countries  as  criminal  offences,  and,  finally, 
that  class  which  is  only  the  subject  of  civil  action,  has  giv- 
en rise  to  a  variety  of  definitions.  By  the  French  Code,  art. 
379,  "Whoever  has  fraudulently  abstracted  a  thing  which 
does  not  belong  to  him  is  guilty  of  theft."  By  that  of  Bava- 
ria, art.  209,  "Whoever  knowingly  of  his  own  accord  take* 
possession  of  moveables  not  his,  without  consent  of  the  per- 
son entitled  thereto,  but  without  violence  to  any  one,  with 
intent  unlawfully  to  bold  the  same  as  bis  property,  is  a 
thief."  The  principal  characteristics  of  English  law  on  the 
subject  are,  that  it  requires  an  actual  taking,  and  an  actual 
carrying  away  for  some  distance,  however  small,  to  consti- 
tute tbe  offence.  The  Commissioners  of  Criminal  (.aw,  in 
their  Third  Report  (1839),  recommend  the  following  defini- 
tion :  "  Whosoever  shall,  without  such  consent  as  is  herein- 
after specified,  take  and  remove  anything,  being  the  proper- 
ty of  :ur,  other  person,  and,  unless  when  it  shall  be  other- 
wise provided,  of  some  value  with  intent  to  despoil  the 
owner,  and  fraudulently  appropriate  the  same,  shall  be 
guilty  of  theft." 

THEISM.    See  Deism. 

THEME.  <('.r.  5  c  ft  a.)  A  subject  proposed  for  discussion, 
whether  orallj  or  in  writing. 

THE'MIS.  (Gr.  Of^ij.)    In  Grecian  Mythology,  the  god- 


THEOCRACY. 

dess  of  law.    She  was  one  of  the  Titans,  and  hore  to  Jupi- 
ter Peace,  Order,  Justice,  the  Fates,  and  Seasons. 

THEOCRACY.  (Gr.  Geo;,  God ;  Kparew,  I  rule.)  A 
term  expressing  the  government  of  a  state  immediately  by 
God.  The  constitution  of  the  Israelites,  previous  to  the  ap- 
pointment of  kings,  was  emphatically  a  theocracy ;  their 
chief  magistrates  or  judges  being  for  the  most  part  occasion- 
al officers  appointed  by  the  express  direction  of  God.  The 
kingly  government  may  still  be  considered  in  a  secondary 
sense  as  a  theocracy,  from  the  general  superintendence 
which  Jehovah  continued  to  exercise  over  it.  All  polities 
may  in  this  sense  be  called  theocratic  in  which  the  final  ap- 
peal in  matters  of  moment  is  made  to  the  will  of  God,  as 
expressed  in  oracles,  by  auguries,  or  the  mouth  of  the  priest- 
hood. 

THEOCRA'SY.  (Gr.  Beos,  and  k/xnxij,  mixture.)  In 
ancient  Philosophy,  a  term  invented  to  signify  the  intimate 
union  of  the  soul  with  God  in  contemplation,  which  was 
considered  attainable  by  the  newer  Platonists.  Similar  ideas 
are  entertained  by  the  philosophers  of  India,  and  by  many 
religious  sects.     See  Quietism. 

THEODICY' A.  (Gr.  eras,  God;  liKaiog,  just.)  A  justi- 
fication of  the  dealings  of  Divine  Providence  with  man.  A 
work  under  this  title  was  published  by  Leibnitz  in  the  year 
1710,  in  which  he  endeavours  to  prove  that  of  all  the  possi- 
ble schemes  of  government  which  God  might  have  adopted, 
the  one  which  actually  exists  is  the  best.  This  is  common- 
ly known  under  the  name  of  Optimism. 

THEO'DOLITE.  (Gr.  Scao/xat,  I  view,  and  <5oXof,  strat- 
agem.) A  surveying  instrument  for  measuring  the  angular 
distances  between  objects  projected  on  the  plane  of  the  ho- 
rizon. 

In  accurate  surveying,  when  the  instrument  used  for  ob- 
serving the  angles  is  a  sextant  or  reflecting  circle,  or  such 
that  its  plane  must  be  brought  into  the  plane  of  the  three 
objects  which  form  the  angular  points  of  the  triangle  to  be 
measured,  the  altitudes  of  the  two  distant  objects  above  the 
horizon  of  the  observer  must  be  determined,  and  a  calcula- 
tion is  then  necessary  to  reduce  the  observed  angles  to  the 
plane  of  the  horizon.  The  object  of  the  theodolite  is  to  mea- 
sure the  horizontal  angles  at  once,  and  thereby  render  the 
previous  calculation,  and  even  the  observation  of  the  alti- 
tudes, unnecessary. 

It  is  easy  to  conceive,  in  a  general  way,  how  this  object 
may  be  effected.  A  telescope  with  cross  wires  in  its  focus 
must  be  mounted  so  as  to  be  moveable  both  about  a  verti- 
cal and  horizontal  axis,  in  order  that  it  may  be  brought  to 
hear  upon  any  object,  whether  in  the  horizon,  or  above  or 
below  it ;  and  the  proper  means  applied  for  measuring,  with 
the  utmost  accuracy,  the  angle  described  about  the  vertical 
axis  (which  is  the  horizontal  angle)  in  turning  the  telescope 
round  from  one  object  to  another.  It  is  consequently  neces 
sary  to  fix  a  graduated  circle  to  the  vertical  axis,  so  that  its 
plane  may  be  exactly  horizontal,  and  its  centre  coincident 
with  the  vertical  axis;  and  about  the  same  axis  a  radial 
bar,  firmly  connected  with  the  telescope,  must  revolve  par- 
allel to  the  plane  of  the  circle,  for  the  purpose  of  indicating 
the  divisions  passed  over  on  the  limb  of  the  circle  when 
the  telescope  is  turned  from  the  first  object  to  the  second. 
And  in  order  to  render  the  instrument  subservient  to  the 
purpose  of  measuring  altitudes,  a  graduated  vertical  arch  is 
attached  to  the  telescope ;  but  as  it  seldom  happens,  in  the 
practice  of  surveying,  that  the  objects  observed  are  very 
much  elevated  above  or  depressed  below  the  horizon,  or 
that  the  vertical  angles  are  required  to  be  taken  with  the 
same  degree  of  accuracy  as  the  horizontal  angles,  the  ver- 
tical arch  is  generally  only  a  portion  of  a  circle  of  smaller 
radius,  and  less  minutely  divided  than  the  horizontal  circle. 

The  theodolite,  as  now  generally  constructed  for  the  pur- 
poses of  ordinary  surveying,  may  be  described  as  follows  : 
The  horizontal  limb  or  circle  consists  of  two  circular  plates, 
which  turn  freely  on  each  other.  The  lower  or  graduated 
plate  receives  the  divisions  of  the  circle,  and  the  upper  or 
vernier  plate  has  two  vernier  divisions  diametrically  oppo- 
site. The  vertical  axis  consists  of  two  conical  parts,  one 
working  within  the  other.  The  external  part  is  attached  to 
the  graduated  plate,  and  the  internal  to  the  vernier  plate. 
The  diameter  of  the  under  plate  is  somewhat  larger  than 
that  of  the  vernier  plate,  and  its  edge  is  sloped  off  to  receive 
the  graduation ;  and  portions  of  the  opposite  edges  of  the 
vernier  plate  are  sloped  ofT  in  like  manner  to  receive  the 
vernier  divisions.  The  graduation  is  usually  to  thirty  min- 
utes of  a  degree,  but  it  is  subdivided  by  the  verniers  into 
single  minutes;  and  in  a  well-made  instrument  quarter 
minutes  may  be  estimated  by  the  eye.  For  the  purpose  of 
adjusting  the  plane  of  the  circle  to  the  horizon,  the  external 
axis  is  fitted  into  a  ball,  which  works  in  a  socket  between 
two  parallel  plates  held  firmly  together  by  the  ball  and 
socket,  the  under  plate  being  connected  with  the  staff  head 
supporting  the  instrument.  But  this  adjustment  may  also 
be  made  (and  in  larger  instruments  is  usually  made)  by  a 
tripod  support,  having  a  foot  screw  at  each  extremity  acting 
105 


THEODOLITE. 

against  a  plate  of  metal  supported  by  the  staff.  Upon  the 
plane  of  the  vernier  plate  are  placed  two  spirit  levels  at 
right  angles  to  each  other,  with  their  proper  adjusting 
screws,  by  which  the  circle  is  brought  accurately  into  the 
horizontal  plane  indicated  by  the  levels.  The  centre  of  the 
circle  is  adjusted  over  the  point  which  forms  the  centre  of 
the  station  from  which  the  observation  is  to  be  made  by 
means  of  a  plummet. 

Instead  of  the  vernier  plate  described  above,  the  index  is 
sometimes  formed  by  three  radial  bars  connected  with  the 
internal  vertical  axis,  each  carrying  a  vernier  at  its  extremi- 
ty ;  and  a  fourth  bar  carries  the  clamp,  by  which  the  sys- 
tem is  secured  to  the  graduated  limb. 

The  horizontal  axis  of  the  vertical  limb  (which  is  usual- 
ly a  semicircle)  is  supported  by  a  frame  firmly  imbedded  in 
the  vernier  plate,  and  turning  along  with  it  about  the  verti- 
cal axis.  The  telescope  has  two  collars  or  rings  of  bell  met- 
al, ground  truly  cylindrical,  on  which  it  rests  in  supports 
permanently  attached  to  the  vertical  limb,  so  that  both 
move  together  in  the  vertical  plane.  The  divisions  on  this 
limb  are  read  off  to  single  minutes  by  means  of  a  fixed  ver- 
nier connected  with  the  frame,  and  so  adjusted  that  the  in- 
dex points  to  the  zero  of  the  graduated  arc  when  the  opli- 
cal  axis  at  the  telescope  is  truly  horizontal.  For  effecting 
this  adjustment,  or  determining  its  index  error,  a  spirit  level 
is  attached  to  the  telescope,  at  one  end  by  a  joint,  and  at 
the  other  by  a  screw,  whereby  the  end  is  raised  or  depres- 
sed until  the  air  bubble  stands  at  the  middle  of  the  glass 
tube.  The  telescope  is  then  reversed  ;  and  if  the  air  bubble 
of  the  level  still  stands  at  zero,  the  adjustment  is  perfect ; 
if  not,  the  index  error  becomes  known  by  bringing  the  level 
to  the  proper  position,  and  may  either  be  corrected  or  allow- 
ed for  in  the  observations. 

In  some  theodolites  the  telescope  is  supported  in  the  man- 
ner of  a  transit  instrument ;  that  is  to  say,  the  telescope  and 
the  horizontal  axis  on  which  it  turns  form  one  piece,  and 
the  vertical  limb  is  a  complete  circle.  By  this  construction 
the  instrument  becomes  better  adapted  for  determining  the 
altitudes  of  stars,  and  consequently  for  finding  the  direction 
of  the  meridian  and  the  azimuths  of  objects,  or  for  other 
astronomical  purposes.  In  fact,  it  becomes  an  altitude  and 
azimuth  instrument. 

In  theodolites  for  topographical  purposes  the  horizontal 
circle  is  seldom  more  than  five  inches  in  diameter ;  but  as 
the  double  vertical  axis  gives  the  means  of  carrying  round 
the  telescope  from  the  first  object  to  the  second  without  dis- 
turbing the  graduated  circle,  and  then,  by  clamping  the  ver- 
nier and  graduated  plates,  of  bringing  it  back,  and  the  grad- 
uated circle  along  with  it,  to  the  first  object,  the  measure  of 
the  angle  may  be  repeated  any  number  of  times,  exactly  as 
with  the  repeating  circle,  and  a  very  considerable  degree  of 
accuracy  obtained  even  with  a  circle  of  this  small  size. 
{See  Repeating  Circle.)  But  the  principle  of  repetition  is 
better  carried  into  effect  by  means  of  a  particular  kind  of 
stand  or  tripod,  called  a  repeating-  stand,  which  turns  round 
concentrically  with  the  vertical  axis  of  the  theodolite ;  and 
this  apparatus  is  usually  had  recourse  to  when  the  instru- 
ment is  on  a  large  scale. 

As  the  accuracy  of  the  observation  must  depend  on  the 
horizontal  circle  remaining  perfectly  fixed  while  the  tele- 
scope and  verniers  are  turned  round,  a  second  telescope, 
called  a  watch  telescope,  is  sometimes  attached  to  the  hori- 
zontal circle  beneath  the  limb,  which,  being  directed  to  a 
fixed  object,  serves  to  detect  any  disturbance  of  the  circle 
clamp,  or  accidental  shifting  of  position  while  the  upper  tel- 
escope with  the  verniers  is  turned  from  the  first  object  to 
the  second.  But  this  can  scarcely  be  applied  to  the  repeat- 
ing theodolite. 

The  principal  adjustments  of  the  theodolite  are,  first,  to 
rectify  the  line  of  collimation  of  the  telescope;  secondly,  to 
make  the  axis  of  the  horizontal  limb  truly  vertical ;  and, 
thirdly,  to  adjust  the  zero  of  altitude.  For  the  practical 
methods  of  making  these  adjustments  in  the  case  of  the 
common  surveying  theodolite,  and  instructions  as  to  the 
mode  of  observing,  the  reader  may  be  referred  to  Simms's 
Treatise  on  Mathematical  Instruments,  1834. 

In  geodetical  operations,  where  very  great  accuracy  is  in- 
dispensable, as,  for  example,  in  measuring  an  arc  of  the  me- 
ridian, the  instrument  is  constructed  on  a  much  larger  scale. 
The  great  theodolite  by  Ramsden,  belonging  to  the  Board 
of  Ordnance,  which  has  been  used  for  measuring  most  of 
the  principal  angles  of  the  British  Trigonometrical  Survey, 
has  a  horizontal  circle  of  three  feet  in  diameter,  and  two 
telescopes  of  thirty-six  inches  focal  length.  A  similar  one 
of  equal  dimensions  had  formerly  been  constructed  by  the 
same  excellent  artist  for  the  Royal  Society,  and  was  used 
by  General  Roy  in  his  operations  for  connecting  the  obser- 
vations of  Greenwich  and  Paris  towards  the  end  of  the  last 
century,  and  also  by  Colonel  Colby  and  Captain  Kater  for 
the  same  purpose  in  1821.  A  full  description  of  this  superb 
instrument  is  given  in  the  Phil.  Trans.,  vol.  lxxx.,  and  in 
the  first  volume  of  the  Trigonometrical  Survey  of  England 

1237 


THEOGONY. 

end  Wales.  A  theodolite  of  equal  dimensions,  by  Can-,  has 
been  employed  in  the  measurement  of  the  great  meridional 
arc  of  India  by  Colonel  Lambton  and  Colonel  Everest. 
The  French  astronomers,  in  measuring  their  arc  of  meridi- 
an, used  only  the  repeating  circle  ;  but  in  the  more  recent 
operations  of  the  same  kind  in  Germany  and  Russia,  the  ge- 
odetical  angles  were  determined  with  the  theodolite. 

THEO'GONY.  (Gr.  Seoy,  Clod;  vovos,  birth.)  In  the 
Religion  and  Literature  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome,  the 
history  of  the  descent  anil  relationships  of  the  various  gods 
who  were  the  objects  of  popular  worship.  These  gene- 
alogies were  very  variously  related  by  different  writers,  and 
originated  in  some  instances  from  national  superstition ; 
While  in  others  they  had  an  allegorical  sense,  and  were  in 
Vented  by  the  learned  men  or  poets  of  those  countries. 

Theogony  is  also  the  title  of  a  poem  attributed  to  Hesiod, 
gi\ -jug  an  account  of  the  birth  and  parentage  of  most  of  the 
Grecian  divinities. 

THEOLOGIUM.  A  small  upper  stage  in  the  ancient 
theatre  upon  which  the  machinery  of  the  gods  was  ar- 
ranged. 

THEO'LOGY.  (Gr.  Otoe,  and  Aoyoc,  discourse.)  The 
science  which  treats  of  the  nature  and  attributes  of  God, 
of  his  relations  to  man,  and  of  the  manner  in  which  they 
may  be  discovered.  Lord  Bacon  divides  the  science  under 
the  following  heads :  I.  Inspired.  2.  Natural,  which  he 
calls  the  lirst  part  of  philosophy.  3.  Appendices  Theologian 
Inspirala.':  sc.  Doctrina  de  legitimo  usu  rationis  humans  in 
divinis;  doctrina  de  gradibus  unitatis  in  civitate  Dei ;  ema- 
nationes  scripturarum.  4.  Theologian  tarn  inspiratan  quam 
naturalis  appendix:  Doctrina  de  angelis  et  spiritibus.  (De 
Jkugm.  Sci.,  1.  ii.,  ch.  1.) 

Natural  Theology  is  the  inquiry  into  these  subjects  prior 
to  the  idea  of  revelation,  and  conjectures  concerning  them 
from  data  furnished  by  the  constitution  of  nature  alone.  It 
is  only  by  the  conclusions  arrived  at  by  this  process  that 
We  are  put  in  a  proper  condition  to  examine  the  evidence 
of  revealed  religion,  the  basis  of  which  is  the  satisfaction  it 
affords  to  the  demands  of  the  human  reason  and  affections. 

A  pure  system  of  natural  theology,  looking  no  farther  for 
the  evidence  of  divinity  than  the  marks  of  it  displayed  in 
the  creation,  is  deism — the  belief  in  God  as  a  superintend- 
in"  Providence,  which  seems  to  require  as  a  corollary  the 
idea  of  a  future  retribution.  Those  who  can  discover  no 
design  in  the  constitution  of  the  word,  i.  e.,  no  trace  of  God's 
hand  therein,  are  atheists,  or  deniers  of  a  Deity.  Again, 
the  most  common  form  of  religion  deduced  by  the  heathens 
from  their  researches  in  natural  theology  is  the  supposition 
of  numerous  gods,  each  manifesting  himself  to  us  in  tin- 
various  functions  and  qualities  of  the  animate  and  inanimate 
world,  and  sometimes,  according  to  ancient  legends  and  tra- 
ditions, by  direct  communication  in  various  ways.  Opposed 
to  this  is  monotheism,  which  recognises  more  distinctly 
than  deism  the  unity  of  the  godhead,  and  gathers  up  under 
one  volition  and  agency  the  attributes  which  the  polytheist 
dispersed  among  a  vast  number  of  divinities.  Of  mono- 
theisl  religions  the  Jewish,  Christian,  and  Mohammedan 
lay  claim  to  express  revelation  by  the  word  of  God. 

THE'OMANCY.  (Gr.  0tos,  and  uavrtia,  prophecy.)  A 
name  which  has  been  given  to  that  species  of  divination 
which  was  drawn  from  the  responses  of  oracles  among 
heathen  nations,  in  which  a  god  himself  was  supposed  to 
answer  the  inquirer,;  or  from  the  predictions  of  sibyls  and 
others  supposed  to  be  immediately  inspired  by  some  di- 
vinity. 

THEOPA'SCHTTES.  (Gr.  Ococ,  and  iraaXo},  I  suffer.) 
In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  name  given  bv  the  orthodox  to 
certain  heretics  of  the  fifth  century,  followers  of  Peter  the 
Fuller,  an  usurping  bishop  of  Antioch.  Being  strongly  at- 
tached to  the  Mouophysite  opinions,  his  enemies  charged 
him  and  his  disciples  with  holding  that  all  the  three  per- 
sons of  the  Godhead  were  crucified.  (Moshcim,  fifth  cent., 
part  ii.,  ch.  51.) 

THEO'PHANY.  (Gr.  Ococ,  and  Qntvoitai,  T appear.)  A 
word  invented  to  signify  the  manifestations  of  God  to  man 
by  actual  appearance.  These  have  formed  a  striking  fea- 
ture in  most  systems  of  religion.  (See,  on  Pagan  Theo- 
phanies,  the  .r>th  Dissertation  of  M.  Foucher  on  the  Hellenic 
Religion,  Mem.  del'Jlcad.  des  Insc.,  vol.  xxxvi.,  p.  292.) 

THEOPHILA'NTHROPISTS.  (Gr.  6soj,  God,  and  fi- 
^av$pu>iroc,  a  lover  of  men.)  A  title  assumed  by  a  society 
formed  at  Paris  during  the  first  French  revolution.  The  Ob 
Ject  of  its  founders  was  to  establish  a  new  religion  in  the 
place  of  Christianity,  which  had  been  formally  abolished 
in  France  by  the  Convention,  and  had  lost  its  power  over 
the  minds  of  large  classes  of  the  people.  The  Director] 
granted  these  philosophical  sectarians  the  use  of  ten  parish 
churches  In  Paris,  where  they  held  meetings  for  religious 
it  first  on  the  Decadi,  or  revolutionary  bolyday, 
afterwards  on  the  Sunday.  Their  system  of  belief  was  a 
pure  deism:  their  service  a  simple  liturgy,  with  some  em- 
blematic mummeries.  The  attempt  to  found  a  new  sect 
1338 


THERMOMETER. 

was,  however,  wholly  unsuccessful.  In  1802  they  were 
forbidden  the  use  of  the  churches  by  the  consuls,  and  then 
ceased  to  exist 

THEO'RBO.  (It.  tiorba.)  A  lute  of  large  dimensions, 
sometimes  called  the  arch-lute,  and  formerly  used  for  strik- 
ing the  chords  of  the  thorough  bass  in  accompaniments. 

THE'OKEM.  (Gr.  Sewpnua,  from  $eaouut,  I  observe.*, 
In  Geometry,  a  truth  proposed  to  be  proved;  in  contradis- 
tinction to  a  problem,  which  proposes  something  to  be  done. 
A  theorem  wants  demonstration;  a  problem  requires  solu- 
tion. Jn  algebra,  the  term  is  applied  to  various  formulae, 
as  the  binomial  theorem,  Taylor's  theorem,  and  others  ;  for 
which  see  the  respective  terms. 

THEO'RICON.  In  ancient  Attic  History,  the  name  given 
to  that  portion  of  the  revenue  of  the  state  which  was  ex- 
clusively reserved  for  the  purpose  of  theatrical  representa- 
tions. (See  liocckh's  Public  Economy  of  .Ithens,  i.  289, 299, 
&c.) 

THE'ORY  (Gr.  Stwpia),  in  Science,  properly  expresses  a 
connected  arrangement  of  facts,  according  to  their  bearing 
on  some  real  or  hypothetical  law.  A  hypothesis  has  been 
distinguished  from  a  theory  as  an  assumption  which  is  con- 
ceived to  afford  a  support  to  the  discovered  law.  Thus, 
some  have  imagined  that  the  facts  of  gravitation  are  ex- 
plained on  the  supposition  of  a  subtle  and  all-pervading 
ether.  Here  it  is  evident  that  the  facts,  and  therefore  the 
theory  or  connected  survey  of  them,  ate  unaffected  by  the 
supposition  in  question. 

Theory.  The  abstract  principles  of  any  science  or  art, 
considered  without  reference  to  practice. 

THEO'SOPHISTS.  (Gr.  Sto;,  and  oo<bia,  wisdom.)  The 
name  commonly  given  to  a  sect  of  philosophers  who  pre- 
tended to  derive  their  knowledge  of  God  and  divine  matters 
from  direct  inspiration.  One  of  the  most  distinguished  of 
this  class  in  modern  times  was  Jacob  BOhme. 

THERAPE'UTiE.  (Gr.  worshippers.)  A  Jewish  sect  of 
the  first  century  after  Christ,  concerning  whom  some  doubt 
is  entertained  whether  or  not  they  had  embraced  Christi- 
anity. They  are  mentioned  by  Pliilo  Judsus.  (See  Bur- 
ton's Lecture  on  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  the  First 
Three  Centuries,  vol.  i.,  p.  300.) 

THERAPEU'TICS.)  Gr.  Scpairmeiv,  to  heal.)  A  branch 
of  pathology  relating  to  the  application  of  remedies,  and 
the  curative  treatment  of  disease. 

THERAPHIM.     See  Teraphim. 

THERI'ACA.  (Gr.  Sep,  a  venomous  animal.)  A  name 
given  in  ancient  Pharmacy  to  certain  complex  remedies 
supposed  to  be  antidotes  to  poisons:  they  were  usually  in 
the  form  of  confections.  Some  of  the  more  celebrated  have 
been  transferred  to  comparatively  modern  pharmacopoeia;; 
such  as  the  Theriaca  of  Andromachus ;  Theriaca  Veneta ; 
Confectio  Mithridati,  &c. 

THERMjE.    (Lat.)    In  Ancient  Architecture.    See  Bath. 

THE'RMIDOR.  In  the  French  Calendar,  the  name  of 
the  11th  month  of  the  year  in  the  French  Republic.  It 
commenced  on  the  19th  of  July,  and  ended  on  the  17th  of 
August.  The  name  is  derived  from  the  Gr.  Seppoc,  warm, 
and  was  borrowed  from  the  great  heat  which  characterizes 
that  period  of  the  year.  It  was  the  month  signalized  by  the 
overthrow  of  Robespierre  and  the  Reign  of  Terror ;  thence 
commonly  called  the  Revolution  of  Thermidor,  and  those 
who  boasted  of  having  participated  in  it  called  themselves 
Thennidorians. 

THERMO-ELECTRICITY.  When  one  part  of  a  me- 
tallic bar  is  heated  and  another  cooled,  an  electric  current 
is  generated  in  its  substance,  which  may  be  rendered  evi- 
dent and  its  direction  ascertained  by  the  galvanometer. 
When  two  metals  of  different  temperatures  are  brought 
into  contact  similar  electric  currents  are  generated,  the 
quantity  and  direction  of  the  electricity  varying  with  the 
nature  of  the  metals  and  their  respective  temperatures. 
The  best  apparatus  for  exhibiting  these  thermo-electric 
currents  consists  of  alternate  bars  of  antimony  and  bismuth 
soldered  together  at  their  ends,  so  as  to  form  a  compound 
bar  or  parallelogram,  the  junctions  of  Which  may  be  alter- 
nately heated  and  cooled  :  in  this  case  the  direction  of  the 
current  is  from  the  antimony  to  the  bismuth  ;  so  that  these 
metals  bear  the  same  relation  to  each  other  in  the  thermo- 
electric series,  as  the  zinc  and  silver  in  the  simple  voltaic 
circuit.  The  term  stereo-electric  has  also  been  applied  to 
these  currents,  implying  their  production  in  solid  bodies  in- 
dependent of  a  fluid,  and  as  opposed  to  the  hydro-electric 
or  voltaic  current.     See  Voltaic  Battkry. 

THERMO'METER.  (Gr.  Stpuos,  warm,  and  /irr/Jov, 
measure.)  An  instrument  for  measuring  variations  of  heat 
or  temperature. 

The  principle  upon  which  thermometers  are  constructed 
is  the  Change  of  volume  which  takes  place  in  bodies  when 
their  temperature  undergoes  an  alteration.  Generally 
speaking,  •■'II  bodies  expand  when  heated  and  contract 
when  cooled,  and  in  such  n  manner  that,  under  the  same 
circumstances  of  temperature,  they  return  to  the  same  di- 


THERMOMETER. 


mensions ;  so  that  the  change  of  volume  becomes  the  ex- 
ponent of  the  temperature  which  produces  it.  But  as  it  is 
necessary  not  merely  that  expansion  and  contraction  take 
place,  but  that  they  be  capable  of  being  conveniently  ob- 
served and  measured,  only  a  small  number  of  bodies  are 
adapted  for  thennometrical  purposes.  Solid  bodies,  for 
example,  undergo  so  small  a  change  of  volume  with  mode- 
rate variations  of  temperature,  that  they  are  in  general  only 
used  for  measuring  very  high  temperatures,  as  the  heat  of 
furnaces,  of  melting  metals,  &c.  Instruments  for  such  pur- 
poses are  called  pyrometers.  (See  Pyrometer.)  The 
gaseous  fluids,  on  the  other  hand,  are  extremely  susceptible 
of  the  impressions  of  heat  and  cold;  and  as  their  changes 
of  volume  are  great  even  with  moderate  accessions  of  heat, 
they  are  only  adapted  for  indicating  very  minute  variations, 
or  for  forming  differential  thermometers.  (See  Differen- 
tial Thermometer.)  Liquids  hold  an  intermediate  place ; 
and  by  reason  of  their  moderate  but  sensible  expansion 
through  the  ranges  of  temperature  within  which  observa- 
tions have  to  be  made  for  by  far  the  greater  number  of  pur- 
poses, are  commonly  used  for  the  construction  of  thermo- 
meters. Various  liquids  have  been  proposed,  as  oils,  ether, 
spirits  of  wine,  and  mercury  ;  but  scarcely  any  other  than 
the  two  last  are  now  ever  used,  and  mercury  by  far  the 
most  generally. 

The  properties  which  render  mercury  preferable  to  all 
other  liquids  (unless  for  particular  purposes)  are  these : 
1.  It  supports,  before  it  boils  and  is  reduced  to  vapour,  more 
heat  than  any  other  fluid,  excepting  certain  oils,  and  en- 
dures a  greater  cold  than  would  congeal  most  other  liquids, 
excepting  certain  spirituous  liquors.  2.  It  takes  the  tempe- 
rature of  the  medium  in  which  it  is  placed  more  quickly 
than  any  other  fluid.  Count  Rumford  found  that  mercury 
was  heated  from  the  freezing  to  the  boiling  point  of  water 
in  58  seconds,  while  water  took  133  seconds,  and  air  017 
seconds,  the  heat  applied  being  the  same  in  all  the  three 
cases.  3.  The  variations  of  its  volume  within  limits  which 
include  the  temperatures  most  frequently  required  to  be 
observed,  are  found  to  be  perfectly  regular,  and  proportional 
to  the  variations  of  temperature.  The  spirit  thermometer 
is  now  little  used  excepting  for  observations  of  very  low 
temperatures,  or  as  a  self-registering  instrument  for  meteor- 
ological observations. 

Construction  of  the  Mercurial  Thermometer. — In  order  to 
render  small  changes  of  volume  sensible,  a  glass  bulb,  hav- 
ing a  slender  hollow  tube  attached  to  it,  is  rilled  with  mer- 
cury, so  that  expansion  or  contraction  can  only  take  place 
by  the  rise  or  fall  of  the  liquid  in  the  tube.  The  diameter 
of  the  tube  may  be  of  any  convenient  size;  but  the  smaller 
it  is  the  larger  will  be  the  scale  of  the  variations  ;  and  ca- 
pillary tubes  are  usually  employed.  It  is  essential  that  the 
diameter  of  the  bore  be  of  a  uniform  width  throughout ;  a 
quality  which  is  tested  by  drawing  up  into  the  tube  a  short 
column  of  mercury,  and  measuring  its  length  at  the  dif- 
ferent parts,  with  a  pair  of  compasses.  Not  more  than  a 
sixth  part  of  the  tubes  which  come  from  the  glass-house 
are  found  to  be  fit  for  the  purpose. 
Having  selected  a  tube,  the  workman  begins  by  blowing  a 
hollow  ball  A  upon  one  extremity  of  it,  by  means 
of  an  air-bag  of  caoutchouc  (in  order  to  avoid  the 
introduction  of  watery  vapour  by  blowing  from  the 
mouth).    The  length  which  the  thermometer  is  to 

Ob  have  is  then  marked,  and  above  this  point  the  tube 
is  expanded  into  a  second  bulb  B,  rather  larger  than 
the  first.  When  the  tube  has  acquired  its  natural 
temperature  one  of  the  bulbs  is  warmed,  in  order  to 
expel  the  air  from  it,  and  the  open  end  of  the  tube 
is  plunged  into  distilled  and  well-boiled  mercury. 
During  the  cooling  the  mercury  rises  into  the  second 
bulb  B,  whence  it  is  made  to  pass  into  A  by  placing 
this  undermost,  and  expelling  the  air  from  it  by  heat, 
QjA  after  which  the  mercury  descends  from  the  effect 
of  cooling.  When  the  bulb  A  has  been  completely 
filled,  and  also  a  part  of  B,  the  tube  is  suspended  horizon- 
tally over  a  charcoal  fire,  so  as  to  be  equally  heated  through- 
out, and  the  enclosed  mercury  boiled,  in  order  to  expel 
every  remaining  particle  of  air  or  humidity.  The  open  end 
is  then  touched  with,  sealing-wax,  and  the  tube  withdrawn 
from  the  fire,  and  placed  in  an  upright  position  until  it  is 
cooled,  when  the  bulb  A  and  the  portion  of  the  tube  under 
B  will  be  filled  with  mercury.  A  portion  of  mercury  is 
then  expelled  by  heat,  so  that  the  column  may  stand  at  the 
proper  height  in  the  tube.  The  tube  is  then  carefully 
softened  with  the  blow-pipe,  and  hermetically  sealed  under 
the  bulb  B,  which  is  thus  cut  off. 

Graduation,  of  the  Scale. — The  instrument  prepared  in 
the  manner  now  described  is  admirably  adapted  for  render- 
ing evident  the  expansions  and  contractions  of  the  enclosed 
fluid,  and  it  only  remains  to  adopt  a  scale  to  it  in  order  to 
have  a  complete  thermometer.  The  graduation  of  the  scale 
is  in  some  measure  arbitrary ;  nevertheless,  in  order  that 
different  thermometers  may  be  comparable  with  each  other, 


it  is  necessary  that  two  points  at  least  be  taken  on  .the 
scale  corresponding  to  fixed  and  determinate  temperatures, 
the  distance  between  which  will  determine  the  graduation. 
The  two  points  which  are  now  universally  chosen  for  this 
purpose  are  those  which  correspond  to  the  temperatures  of 
freezing  and  boiling  water.  With  respect  to  the  first  of 
these  there  is  no  difficulty  ;  it  is  only  necessary  to  surround 
the  bulb  with  ice,  and  to  mark  on  the  stem  the  point  at 
which  the  mercury  stands  when  the  ice  begins  to  melt. 
The  boiling  point  is  not  so  readily  determined.  As  the  tem- 
perature at  which  water  boils  varies  to  a  small  extent  with 
the  barometric  pressure,  it  is  necessary,  in  order  to  have 
instruments  comparable  with  each  other,  either  that  the 
boiling  point  on  the  scale  be  determined  when  the  baro- 
meter stands  at  a  certain  height  which  is  arbitrarily  as- 
sumed for  the  standard,  or  else  to  apply  a  correction  when 
the  actual  height  of  the  barometer  is  above  or  below  the 
assumed  standard.  De  Luc  made  a  number  of  experiments 
on  this  subject,  and  gave  a  formula  for  the  correction,  which 
was  adapted  to  Fahrenheit's  scale  and  English  inches  by 
Horsley.  (Phil.  Trans.,  vol.  Ixiv.)  A  committee  of  the 
Royal  Society  who  undertook  to  investigate  the  best  method 
of  adjusting  the  fixed  points,  and  whose  report  is  contained 
in  vol.  lxvii.  of  the  Transactions,  laid  down  a  set  of  rules 
which  have  been  generally  followed  by  English  instrument- 
makers.  They  recommended  the  adoption  of  298  inches 
for  the  standard  barometric  pressure,  and  gave  a  table  of 
the  corrections  for  all  ordinary  pressures  above  or  below 
this  standard.  Their  table  is  very  nearly  represented  by 
the  following  simple  rule,  which  will  be  quite  sufficient  for 
the  guidance  of  the  artist  in  all  ordinary  cases : 

Supposing  the  thermometer  placed  in  an  atmosphere  of 
steam  immediately  over  the  surface  of  boiling  water,  then 
for  every  tenth  of  an  inch  by  which  the  barometer  is  above 
or  below  29'8,  the  correction  for  the  boiling  point  of  the 
scale  of  the  thermometer  is  one  thousandth  part  of  the  in- 
terval between  the  freezing  and  boiling  points.  The  cor- 
rected must  be  placed  lower  than  the  observed  boiling  point 
by  this  quantity  when  the  pressure  exceeds  298  inches,  and 
higher  when  the  pressure  is  less  than  the  standard. 

Several  other  minute  circumstances  must  be  attended  to 
in  the  construction  of  delicate  instruments.  As  the  tem- 
perature of  boiling  water  is  different  at  the  top  and  near  the 
bottom  of  the  vessel  in  which  it  boils,  the  thermometer 
should  not  be  plunged  into  the  water  itself,  but  into  the 
vapour  which  rises  above  it,  in  a  close  vessel  with  an  aper- 
ture for  the  escape  of  the  steam.  The  vessel  should  be  of 
metal,  because  water  boils  at  a  different  temperature  in 
vessels  of  different  substances,  as  metal  and  glass.  Dis- 
tilled water,  or  clear  soft  water,  should  be  used ;  if  mixed 
with  saline  ingredients,  the  temperature  at  which  it  boils 
would  be  affected,  and  the  instrument  rendered  inaccurate. 

The  interval  between  the  two  fixed  points  on  the  stem 
may  be  divided  into  any  number  of  degrees  at  pleasure,  and 
the  graduation  continued  above  and  below  as  far  as  may  be 
thought  requisite:  the  numeration  may  also  be  begun  at 
any  point  whatever  on  the  scale ;  but  there  are  only  three 
methods  of  division  so  generally  adopted  as  to  require  par- 
ticular notice.  The  first  is  Fahrenheit's,  which  is  used  in 
this  country,  in  Holland,  and  North  America ;  the  second 
Reaumer's,  which  was  formerly  in  general  use  in  France, 
and  is  still  followed  in  Spain  and  some  parts  of  Germany; 
and  the  third  that  of  Celsius,  or  the  centigrade  scale,  now 
used  in  France,  Germany,  and  Sweden. 

Fahrenheit's  Scale. — In  this  scale  the  interval  between  the 
freezing  and  boiling  points  of  water  is  divided  into  180  equal 
parts,  or  degrees,  which  number  was  chosen  by  Fahrenheit 
(or  probably  Roemer),  from  some  theoretical  considerations 
respecting  the  expansion  of  mercury ;  it  being  computed 
that  the  thermometer  when  plunged  into  melting  snow 
contained  11,150  parts  of  mercury,  which,  at  the  tempera- 
ture of  boiling  water,  were  expanded  into  11,330  parts,  being 
an  increase  of  180  parts.  The  zero  point  of  the  scale  is 
placed  at  32°  below  the  freezing  point  of  water.  It  has 
been  frequently  stated  that  this  point  was  selected  as  indi- 
cating the  temperature  of  a  freezing  mixture  of  snow  and 
salt ;  but  it  appears  from  Boerhaave  that  it  was  adopted 
from  a  still  more  precarious  supposition,  namely,  the  greatest 
cold  observed  in  Iceland,  which  was  probably  assumed  to 
be  the  lowest  natural  temperature.  The  freezing  point  is 
thus  marked  32°,  and  consequently  the  boiling  point  at 
32  +  180=212.  It  must  be  admitted  that  this  scale,  though 
it  possesses  some  advantages  in  the  lovvness  of  the  zero 
point  and  the  smallness  of  the  divisions,  is  not  well  adapted 
to  philosophical  purposes. 

Reaumer's  Scale. — Reaumer,  in  1730,  proposed  the  adop- 
tion of  the  temperature  of  melting  ice  as  the  zero  of  the 
scale,  and  to  divide  the  distance  between  this  and  the  boil- 
ing point  of  water  into  80°,  having  observed  that  between 
those  temperatures  spirits  of  wine  (which  he  used  for  the 
thermometric  fluid)  expanded  from  1000  parts  to  1080.  This 
division  soon  became  general  in  France  and  other  countries. 

1239 


THERMOMETER. 


and  a  great  multitude  of  valuable  observations  have  been 
recorded  in  terms  of  il ;  but  it  is  now  seldom  used  in  works 
of  science. 

Cm  I       • — In  1742,  Celsius,  professor  at  Upsal  in 

Sweden,  proposed  to  divide  ilir  space  between  the  freezing 
and  boiling  points  of  water  into  100  equal  parts,  the  zero 
point  being  placed  (as  in  Eteaumer's)  at  freezing.  This  di- 
vision being  in  harmony  with  our  decimal  arithmetic,  is  hot- 
ter adapted  than  the  two  former  to  scientific  purposes.  It 
has  been  adopted  by  all  the  French  writers  since  the  Rev- 
olution, and  is  the  best  known  in  most  parts  of  the  north 
and  middle  of  Europe. 

It  has  been  sometimes  objected  to  this  scale  (and  the  ob- 
jection applies  equally  to  Eteaumer's),  that  on  account  of 
the  comparatively  high  point  at  which  the  zero  is  placed, 
meteorological  observations  are  embarrassed  with  the  al- 
gebraic signs  of  phis  and  minus.  The  inconvenience  (if 
any)  is  a  very  trifling  one,  and  is  much  more  than  com 
pensated  by  the  facilities  for  calculation  which  the  scale 
affords. 

Conversion  of  Degrees  of  one  Scale  into  Degrees  of  an- 
other.— From  the  manner  in  which  the  three  scales  are 
graduated,  il  is  easy  10  deduce  formula'  expressing  any  tem- 
perature given  according  to  one  scale  in  terms  of  either  of 
the  others.  The  interval  which  in  Fahrenheit's  scale  is 
divided  into  lf-0  parts  is  divided  into  only  100  parts  in  the 
centigrade  scale,  and  into  HO  in  lteaumer's.  Hence  one  de- 
gree of  Fahrenheit's  is  equal  to  5-0ths  of  a  degree  of  the 
centigrade,  and  to  4-i)ths  of  a  degree  of  Reaumer.  But 
some  attention  is  required  on  account  of  the  difference  of 
tiie  zero  points.  For  the  sake  of  perspicuity,  it  is  conve- 
nient to  adapt  the  expressions  to  three  distinct  cases.  Let 
F  denote  degrees  of  Fahrenheit's  scale,  C  degrees  of  the 
centigrade,  and  R  degrees  of  Reaumer ;  then, 

Case  1.  For  all  temperatures  above  the  freezing  point, 
F  — 32=|C  =  flR. 

Case  2.  For  all  temperatures  between  the  freezing  point 
and  the  zero  of  Fahrenheit's  scale, 

32—  F=  —  'jC  =  —  |R. 

Case  3.  For  all  temperatures  below  the  zero  of  Fahren- 
heit, 

—  32  —  F=  —  jC=  —  f  R. 

By  substituting  numbers  in  these  formula;  for  F,  C,  or  R, 
as  the  case  may  require,  the  corresponding  values  on  the 
other  scales  is  immediately  obtained;  but  if  many  reduc- 
tions are  required  to  be  made,  it  is  more  convenient  to  have 
comparative  tables,  by  which  the  correspondence  of  the 
scales  is  seen  at  a  glance.  Such  tables  are  given  in  most 
treatises  on  chemistry. 

Theory  of  the  Graduation. — It  will  be  evident  from  what 
has  now  been  said  that,  whatever  scale  he  adopted,  the  di- 
\  ision  is  founded  on  the  assumed  principle  that  equal  in- 
crements of  heat  produce  equal  expansions.  This  assump- 
tion may  be  put  to  the  test  of  experiment  by  the  mixture  of 
fluids  at  different  temperatures.  For  example,  if  a  pound 
of  water  at  212°  Falir.  he  mixed  with  another  pound  of  wa- 
ter at  32°,  and  the  requisite  precautions  be  used,  then  the 
temperature  of  the  mixture  will  be  122°,  which  is  the  arith- 
metical mean  between  the  two  temperatures ;  and  if  the 
assumed  principle  be  correct,  a  thermometer  [dunged  into 
the  mixture  will  stand  at  122°.  This  is  found  to  be  the  case 
■Willi  the  mercurial,  but  not  with  the  spirit  thermometer  ; 
and,  in  general,  thermometers  formed  of  different  fluids, 
When  exposed  to  the  same  temperatures,  do  not  give  the 
same  indications  throughout  the  whole  extent  of  the  scale. 
An  important  question  hence  arises:  what  substance  ought 
to  be  adopted  as  the  standard  to  which,  in  comparing  ob- 
servations, all  others  should  be  reduced?  It  is,  perhaps, 
not  possible  to  determine  this  question  with  absolute  cer- 
tainty ;  but  the  experiments  of  the  French  chemists  Dulong 
and  Petit  on  the  dilatation  of  various  substances,  render  it 
probable  that  air  and  the  other  permanent  gases  (which  all 
expand  equally)  afford  the  most  accurate  Indications  of  the 
true  variations  of  temperature.  As  Compared  With  the  ail 
thermometer,  the  expansion  of  mercury  is  proportional  to 
the  increase  of  temperature  from  — 30°  to -f  imp  of  the 
centigrade  scale.  From  this  point  to  360°  the  boiling  point 
of  mercury),  mercury  expands  more  rapidly  than  air,  and 
consequently  the  mercurial  thermometer  stands  higher  than 
the  air  thermometer  in  the  same  temperature.  When  the 
former  Indicates  2oo°  and  300°,  the  latter  Indicates  107°  and 
292'7°  respectively;  and  it  seems  to  be  a  genera]  law  that 

all  fluids  With  the  same  increase  of  heat  expand  more  rapid- 
ly a-  the  temperature  approaches  their  boiling  point.  The 
inoi,  rapid  expansion  of  the  mercury  at  high  temperatures 
is,  how  ever,  in  some  measure  corrected  by  the  expansion  of 
the  bulb. 

of  the  7.i  rn  Point. — There  is  a  circumstance  con- 
nected  with  the  mercurial   theme. meter  which   requires  to 

he  attend)  d  to  u  in  a  very  exact  determinations  of  ten 
ture  are  to  i„  made.    Bellas!  in  Italy,  and  Flaueerirues  in 
1240  b    b 


France,  observed  that  when  thermometers  which  have  been 
constructed  for  several  years  are  placed  in  melting  ice.  the 

mercury  stands  in  general  higher  than  the  zero  point  of  the 
scale  ;  and  this  circumstance,  which  renders  the  scale  inac- 
curate, has  been  usually  ascribed  to  the  slowness  frith 
which  the  glass  of  the  bulb  acquires  its  permanent  arrange- 
ment, titter  having  been  heated  to  a  high  degree  in  boiling 
the  mercury.  Despretz  (  Traiti  de  Physique)  observes,  that 
in  very  nice  experiments  it  is  always  necessary  to  verity  the 
zero  point;  for  he  found  that  when  thermometers  have 
been  kept  during  a  certain  time  in  a  low  temperature,  the 
zero  point  rises,  hut  falls  when  they  have  been  kept  in  a 
high  temperature:  and  this  remark  applies  equally  to  old 
thermometers  and  to  those  which  have  been  recently  con- 
structed. 

Register  Thrrmometers. — In  meteorological  observations, 
it  is  of  great  importance  to  ascertain  the  limits  of  the  range 
of  the  thermometer  in  a  given  period  of  time,  during  a  day 
or  night,  for  example,  while  the  observer  is  absent.  Nu- 
merous contrivances  have  accordingly  been  proposed  lor 
tiiis  purpose,  but  the  two  following  are  those  most  frequent- 
ly used. 

Six's  Register  Thermometer. — This  instrument  was  in- 
vented by  Mr.  Six  of  Colchester,  and  is  described  in  the 
Phil.  Trans.,  vol.  lxxii.  It  is  a  spirit  thermometer,  having 
a  long  cylindrical  bulb  A,  with  a  tube  bent  in  the  form  of  a 
siphon,  and  terminating  in  a  small  cavity  ii. 
A  part  of  the  tube,  from  a  to  b,  is  tilled  with 
mercury;  but  the  bulb  A,  and  the  remaining 
portion  of  the  tube,  and  a  small  part  of  the 
cavity  B,  with  highly  rectified  alcohol.  The 
use  of  the  mercury  in  the  middle  of  the  tube  is 
to  give  motion  to  two  indices,  c  and  d.  which 
consist  each  of  a  glas<  tube  in  which  a  small 
bit  of  iron  wire  is  enclosed,  the  ends  being  cap- 
ped with  enamel.  The  indices  are  of  such  a  cj 
size  that  they  move  freely  within  the  barome-  J 
trie  tube,  and  allow  the  spirit  to  pass;  but  a  a\ 
slender  spring  is  attached  to  each,  which 
presses  against  the  side  of  the  tube,  and  is  just 
strong  enomrh  to  prevent  the  index  from  fall- 
ing down  when  it  has  been  raised  to  any  point 
and  the  mercury  recedes.  The  action  of  the 
instrument  will  be  readily  apprehended  from  the  figure.  An 
increase  of  heat  expands  the  alcohol  in  the  bulb  A.  de- 
presses the  mercury  at  a,  and  consequently  raises  it  in  the 
other  branch  of  the  siphon  at  b.  The  mercury  while  rising 
drives  the  index  d  before  it;  and  when  the  temperature  di- 
minishes, the  mercury  recedes  from  the  index,  which  is  re- 
tained in  its  place  by  the  action  of  the  spring,  and  conse- 
quently marks  the  highest  point  at  which  the  mercury  has 
stood.  In  like  manner,  when  the  spirit  in  the  bulb  A  is 
contracted  by  a  diminution  of  heat,  the  mercury  is  pre--'  d 
towards  A  by  the  elastic  force  of  a  portion  of  air  purposely 
left  in  the  cavity  B,  and  drives  before  it  the  index  c,  which 
is  prevented  from  falling  back  by  the  spring,  and  consequent- 
ly remains  at  the  highest  point  at  which  the  mercury  has 
stood  in  that  branch  of  the  siphon.  When  the  observation 
has  been  made,  the  indices  are  brought  back  to  the  surface 
of  the  mercury  by  means  of  a  magnet,  which  acts  on  the 
enclosed  iron  wire  and  overcomes  the  force  of  the  spring. 
A  scale  is  applied  to  each  limb  of  the  siphon,  and  graduated 
by  comparison  with  a  standard  thermometer. 
"This  instrument  has  all  the  defects  which  belong  to  the 
spirit  thermometer,  and  the  indications  are  besides  in  some 
degree  deranged  by  the  expansion  and  contraction  of  the 
enclosed  column  of  mercury;  probably,  also,  by  the  friction 
of  the  indices.  Nevertheless,  ii  is  the  best  instrument  we 
possess  for  determining  the  temperature  of  the  sea  at  great 
depths. 

Rutherford's  Thermometer. — Another  register  thermome- 
ter, simpler  in  its  construction,  and  less  expensive  than  the 
former,  and  consequently  more  generally  used,  is  the  day 
and  night  thermometer  proposed  by  Dr.  Rutherford  in  the 
Edinburgh  Transactions,  vol.  iii.     It  consists  simply  of  two 

thermometers:   a   rcurial  thermometer  A,  and  a  spirit 

thermometer  B,  attached 

horizontally  to  the  same 

frame,  ami  each  pros  ided 

with  its  own  scale.     The 

index   of   A    is  a   hit    of 

steel,  which  is  pushed  be-  ■" 

fore  the  mercury  ;  but,  in  consequence  of  its  horizontal  po- 

sinoii.  remains  in  its  place  when  the  mercury  recedes,  and 

consequently  indicates  the  highest  degree  of  the  scale  to 
which  tin'  mercury  has  risen.    The  index  of  ii  is  of  uiass, 

With  a  small  knob  at  each  end.  This  lies  in  the  spirit, 
which   freely    passes   ii    when    the   thermometer   n-es;   hut 

when  the  spirit  recedes,  the  cohesive  attraction  between 

the  Quid   and    the  glass  overcomes  ihe  friction  arising  from 

the  weight  oi  the  Index,  and  the  index  is  consequently  car- 
ried back  with  the  spirit  towards  the  bulb.     As  there  is  no 


THERMOSCOPE, 

force  to  move  it  in  the  opposite  direction,  it  remains  at  the 
point  nearest  the  bulb  to  which  it  has  been  brought,  and 
thus  indicates  the  lowest  temperature  which  has  occurred. 
By  inclining  the  instrument,  the  indices  are  brought  to  the 
surfaces  of  their  respective  fluids,  and  prepared  for  a  new 
observation. 

History  of  the  Thermometer. — The  invention  of  the  ther- 
mometer dates  from  about  the  beginning  of  the  17th  cen- 
tury, but  it  is  not  certainly  known  when  or  by  whom  it  was 
first  brought  into  use.  By  the  Dutcli  authors  it  is  ascribed 
to  Cornelius  Drebbel,  a  peasant  of  Alkmaar,  and  by  the 
Italians  to  Sanctorio.  Libri  (Annates  de  Chimie,  Dec.  1830) 
maintains,  on  the  authority  of  Castelli  and  Viviani,  that  the 
instrument  was  invented  by  Galileo  prior  to  1597.  The  ther- 
mometer of  Drebbel  and  Sanctorio  was  a  very  imperfect  in- 
strument. It  consisted  of  a  glass  tube,  having  a  ball  blown 
on  one  of  its  extremities,  and  the  other  end  left  open.  A 
portion  of  air  being  expelled  from  the  ball  by  heat,  the  open 
end  was  plunged  into  a  cup  containing  any  liquid,  when,  on 
the  cooling  of  the  ball,  the  liquid  would  rise  in  the  tube, 
and  the  variations  of  its  height  indicate  the  increase  or  dim- 
inution of  the  temperature  of  the  bulb.  The  instrument  had 
no  scale,  and  was  therefore  merely  an  indicator  of  changes 
of  temperature,  or  a  thcrmoscope ;  and  it  was  defective  even 
in  this  respect,  inasmuch  as  it  is  affected  not  merely  by  heat 
and  cold,  but  by  the  varying  pressure  of  the  atmosphere. 
The  Florentine  academicians  first  excluded  the  influence  of 
atmospheric  pressure  by  using  a  spirit  instead  of  an  air 
thermometer,  and  hermetically  sealing  the  tube.  The  next 
step  in  improvement  was  the  adoption  of  a  fixed  point  in 
tho  scale.  Boyle  proposed  the  thawing  oil  of  aniseeds, 
which  he  preferred  to  thawing  ice,  because  it  could  be 
readily  obtained  at  all  times  of  the  year.  Halley  proposed 
the  uniform  temperature  of  a  deep  pit,  which  he  probably 
considered  would  be  the  mean  temperature  of  the  earth  ; 
but  he  also  susgested  the  point  at  which  spirit  boils,  as  well 
as  the  boiling  point  of  water.  Newton  appears  to  have 
been  tho  first  who  saw  the  advantage  of  having  two  fixed 
points  in  the  scale;  and  in  order  that  the  instrument  might 
be  applicable  to  a  wider  range  of  temperature,  he  used  lin- 
seed oil  as  the  thermometric  fluid.  This,  however,  has  not 
been  found  to  answer,  on  account  of  its  sluggish  motion  and 
adhesion  to  the  sides  of  the  tube.  The  astronomer  Koemer 
proposed  the  substitution  of  mercury,  which  is  now  gener- 
ally used  ;  and  the  knowledge  of  the  fluctuation  of  the  boil- 
ing point  of  water,  owing  to  atmospheric  pressure,  is  due  to 
Fahrenheit,  about  1724.  Since  that  time  no  improvement 
has  been  made  in  the  principle  of  the  instrument. 

For  farther  information  on  this  subject,  the  reader  may  be 
referred  to  Deluc,  Rerherches  sur  les  Modifications  de  V  At- 
mosphere, Geneve,  1772;  Biot,  Traite  de  Physique,  tome  I.; 
Nicholson's  Chemistry  ;  Library  of  Useful  Knowledge, 
"Thermometer and  Pyrometer;"  Muncke,  in  Gehler's  Phy- 
sical isrkrs  IVorterbueh. 

THE'RMOSCOPE.  (Gr.  Sepuoc,  and  okoitcw,  I  view.) 
An  instrument  by  which  changes  of  temperature  are  indi- 
cated. The  modification  of  the  air  thermometer,  called  by 
Leslie  a  differential  thermometer,  was  claimed  by  Count 
Rumford  as  one  of  his  own  inventions,  under  the  name  of 
thermoseope.    See  Thermometer. 

TIIE'RMOSTAT,  or  HEAT  GOVERNOR.  (Gr.$Fp,,oc, 
and  itrrriiu,  I  stand.)  A  self-acting  physical  apparatus  for 
regulating  temperature.  A  thermostat,  the  principle  of 
which  depends  on  the  unequal  expansion  of  metals  by  heat, 
was  proposed  by  Dr.  Ure  for  regulating  the  safety  valves 
of  steam  engines  with  more  certainty  than  the  common  ex- 
pedients. (See  Proceedino-s  of  the  Royal  Society  for  1830 
and  1831,  p.  67.) 

THE'SIS  (Gr.  Scots,  a  position),  in  a  general  sense,  is  ap- 
plied to  any  proposition,  affirmative  or  negative,  which  is 
laid  down  or  advanced  to  be  supported  by  argument;  but  it 
is  more  particularly  applied  to  those  questions  which  are 
propounded  in  most  of  the  Scotch  and  Continental  uni- 
versities to  the  students  previously  to  their  obtaining  a  de- 
gree. 

Thesis.  In  Music,  the  depression  of  the  hand  in  mark- 
ing or  beatins  time. 

THESMOPHO'RIA.  (Gr.  Scapofopia.)  A  festival  in 
honour  of  Ceres,  surnamed  the  lawgiver  ($fauo<popo<;),  be- 
cause she  first  taught  mankind  the  use  of  laws.  It  was 
celebrated  by  many  cities  of  Greece,  but  with  most  observa- 
tion and  ceremony  by  the  Athenians.  The  worshippers 
were  free-born  women,  whose  husbands  defrayed  the  ex- 
penses of  the  solemnity,  assisted  by  a  priest  and  band  of 
virgins.  The  women  were  clothed  in  white  garments  as 
emblematic  of  purity,  and  were  strictly  enjoined  to  preserve 
the  strictest  chastity  some  days  previous  to  and  during  the 
whole  of  the  festival,  which  lasted  five  davs. 

TIIESMO'THETiE.  The  six  inferior  ar'chons  at  Athens, 
who  presided  at  the  election  of  the  lower  magistrates,  re- 
ceived criminal  informations  in  various  matters,  decided 
civil  causes  on  arbitration,  took  the  votes  at  elections,  and 


THIRST. 

performed  a  vnriety  of  other  offices.  (See  Mem.  de  VAcad. 
des  Inscr.,  vol.  xxxix.) 

THESPIAN  ART.  That  of  tragedy  or  tragic  acting  is  so 
termed ;  from  Thespis,  an  Athenian,  who  lived  in  the  first 
half  of  the  6th  century  before  Christ,  and  introduced  the 
first  rudiments  of  a  tragic  stage.     See,  Drama. 

THE'TA.  (Gr.  3.)  The  unlucky  letter  of  the  Greek 
alphabet;  so  called  because  the  judges  in  balloting  on  the 
prisoner  used  it  to  intimate  their  desire  for  his  condemna- 
tion, from  its  being  the  first  letter  of  Sxu'otoj,  death.  Hence 
the  verse — 

0  multum  ante  alias  infelix  litera  Theta. 

THE'TES.  (Gr.  5r)res.)  In  ancient  Attica,  originally 
bondsmen,  who  were  excluded  from  holding  the  chief  ma- 
gistracies of  the  state.  Under  the  constitution  of  Solon  they 
formed  the  lowest  class  of  free  citizens  who  contributed 
nothing  to  the  support  of  the  state;  but  in  the  course  of  the 
subsequent  innovations  which  brought  the  state  to  a  com- 
plete democracy  all  the  restrictions  on  the  thetes  were  re- 
moved. They  served  generally  as  light-armed  soldiers,  but 
sometimes  also  as  regular  infantry  upon  an  emergency. 
(See  Boeckh,  Public  Economy  of  Athens,  ii.,  258.) 

THE'TIS.  In  Greek  Mythology,  one  of  the  Nereids, 
daughter  of  Nereus  and  Doris  :  was  wedded  under  the  au- 
spices of  the  gods,  among  whom  jealousy  had  arisen  by 
reason  of  her  beauty,  to  Peleus,  king  of  Thessaly.  By  him 
she  became  the  mother  of  Achilles.  According  to  the  an- 
cient cosmogonies,  Thetis  was  an  emblem  of  the  element 
of  water.  She  is  best  known  by  the  verses  of  Homer.  Her 
marriage  with  Peleus  is  the  subject  of  some  exquisite  lines 
by  Catullus. 

THE'URGY.  (Gr.  Orof,  God,  and  epyov,  work.)  A  name 
given  by  the  ancients  to  their  imaginary  art  of  magic,  which 
was,  like  the  whole  magic  of  the  middle  ages,  the  result  of 
an  intercourse  with  and  influence  over  spiritual  beings  of 
the  more  exalted  class — gods,  dsmons,  &c.  In  the  modern 
art  of  magic,  it  was  that  species  of  magic  which  operated  by 
celestial  means;  opposed  to  natural  magic,  which  was  ef- 
fected by  knowledge  of  the  occult  powers  of  nature;  and 
necromancy,  or  magic  effected  by  the  aid  of  evil  spirits. 
(See  Mem.  de  VAcad.  des  Inscr.,  vol.  xxvii.) 

THI'CKET.  Trees  or  shrubs  crowded  together  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  form  a  mass  not  easily  penetrated  by  men 
or  cattle. 

THI'NNING.  Reducing  the  number  of  plants  or  trees 
which  have  been  sown  or  planted,  with  a  view  to  those 
which  remain  attaining  a  more  mature  growth.  Natural 
woods  are  also  thinned  for  the  same  purpose.  The  opera- 
tion ought  to  be  commenced  as  soon  as  the  extreme  leaves 
or  branches  are  nearly  touching  one  another,  and  continue 
till  the  plants  have  attained  their  full  growth,  or  the  re- 
quired dimensions  or  age.  On  no  account  should  the 
branches  of  any  one  tree  in  a  plantation  be  allowed  to  touch 
the  branches  of  any  other  tree ;  because  in  that  case  the 
foliage  is  deprived  of  its  due  proportion  of  sun,  air,  and  rain, 
and  the  tree  is  drawn  up  in  height  at  the  expense  of  its 
thickness  and  vigour  to  resist  storms  ;  while  the  limber  or 
fruit  produced  will  he  diminished  both  in  quantity  and  quali- 
ty. There  is  no  department  of  planting  less  understood 
than  the  subject  of  sheltering  young  plantations  ;  and  it  may 
with  truth  be  said  that  in  by  far  the  greater  number  of  cases 
nothing  is  ultimately  gained  by  drawing  up  trees  in  masses, 
and  afterwards  thinning  them  out.  The  trees  left  being  un- 
prepared both  by  their  bark  and  roots  for  the  new  atmo- 
spherical circumstances  in  which  they  are  placed,  receive 
a  greater  check  than  if  they  had  been  originally  planted  so 
thin  as  at  no  period  of  their  growth  to  touch  one  another. 

THIN  OUT.  Geologists  say  that  strata  thin  out  when 
they  gradually  diminish  in  thickness  and  disappear. 

THIRD.  In  Music,  an  imperfect  concord,  containing  two 
degrees  or  intervals,  and  three  terms  or  sounds. 

THIRD  COAT.  In  Architecture,  the  stucco  when  paint- 
ing is  to  be  used,  or  the  senilis  for  the  reception  of  paper. 

THIRD  ORDER.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  most  of  the 
chief  religious  orders  (Preinonstrants.  Carmelites,  Francis- 
cans, Aueustines,  &c.,)  have  or  had  bodies  of  secular  asso- 
ciates, not  bound  bv  vows,  but  conforming  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent to  the  general  designs  of  the  order ;  a  custom  thought 
to  have  originated  about  A.D.  1476,  when  Sixtus  IV.  gave 
permission  to  the  Carmelites  to  attach  such  persons  to  their 
body.  In  course  of  time  the  third  order  contained  a  mix- 
ture of  secular  and  religious  persons. 

THIRST.  (Germ,  durst.)  The  sensation  of  a  desire  to 
drink,  consisting  in  a  sense  of  dryness  and  heat  of  the  mouth, 
sometimes  extending  along  the  resophagus  to  the  stomach: 
the  posterior  fauces  become  red,  and  the  usual  mucous  se- 
cretion thick  and  viscid,  as  also  the  saliva.  A  vague  in- 
quietude, troubled  mind,  and  quick  pulse  ensue;  and  if  not 
relieved,  respiration  becomes  laborious,  and  the  mouth  is 
opened  wide  to  admit  the  cool  air.  Some  people  soon  suf- 
fer from  thirst,  and  are  in  the  habit  of  drinking  to  an  ex- 
4H*  1241 


THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR. 

CMBive  extent  ;  while  otheia  hardly  ever  experience  its 
sensation,  and  scarcely  require  to  drink  the  dilating  liquids 
or  water.  Ttmst  is  a  common  symptom  of  febrile  and  other 
diseases,  and  is  most  effectively  relieved  in  such  cases  by 
mild  acid  and  mucilaginous  drinks ;  milk  and  emulsions  are, 
however,  sometimes  more  efficient  and  agreeable.  Exces- 
sive exercise  or  perspiration  are  common  causes  of  thirst,  in 
Which  case  the  sensation  seems  merely  to  announce  the  de- 
ficiency of  water  in  the  system.  Habitual  thirst  is  often  ac- 
quired by  indulgence  in  drinking,  especially  among  labour- 
ers and  others  who  take  excessive  quantities  of  beer,  and 
Who  at  length  can  scarcely  e.xist  without  unnecessary  and 
prejudicial  quantities  of  that  or  similar  beverages.  The 
thirst  induced  by  excessive  exercise  In  warm  weather  is  in 
Ordinary  casts  most  effectually  relieved  by  milk  and  water, 
or  warm  tea.  In  these  cases  indulgence  in  beer,  cider,  wine, 
or  spirits  and  water,  invariably  induces  febrile  reaction,  and 
should  therefore  be  generally  avoided. 

THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR.  In  History,  properly  a  se- 
ries of  wars  carried  on  between  the  Protestant  and  Roman 
Catholic  leagues  in  Germany,  in  the  first  half  of  the  17th 
century.  The  house  of  Austria  was,  throughout,  at  the 
head  of  the  latter  party.  The  Protestant  princes  of  Ger- 
many  were  assisted  by  various  foreign  powers;  in  the 
earlier  part  of  the  war  by  Denmark  and  Sweden,  and  af- 
terwards by  France.  It  is  considered  to  have  commenced 
With  the  insurrection  of  the  Bohemians  in  1618,  and  end- 
ed with  the  peace  of  Westphalia  in  1648.  The  celebrated 
history  (incomplete)  of  this  war,  by  Schiller,  is  rather  a 
spirited  historical  essay  than  an  accurate  narrative. 

THISTLE,  or  SAINT  ANDREW.  A  Scottish  order  of 
knighthood,  said  to  be  of  great  antiquity,  but  revived  by 
James  V.  in  1540 ;  again  by  James  Ii.  of  England,  VII.  of 
Scotland,  in  1087  ;  and  a  third  time  in  1703,  by  Queen 
Anne,  who  increased  the  number  of  knights  to  twelve, 
and  placed  the  order  on  a  permanent  footing.  The  thistle, 
as  is  well-known,  is  the  national  emblem  of  Scotland; 
and  the  national  motto  is  very  appropriate,  being  "Nemo 
me  Impune  lacesset,"  nobody  shall  provoke  me  tcith  im- 
punity. This  is  also  the  motto  of  the  order  of  the  this- 
tle. 

TIIEMI.  The  Egyptian  goddess  of  justice,  or  of  truth. 
Her  figure  is  frequently  represented  in  Egyptian  sculp- 
tures in  the  hands  of  the  kings.  The  Hebrew  Thummim 
(the  well  known  and  mysterious  I 'rim  and  Thummim, 
Exod.,  xxxix.,  8,  10)  is  the  plural  or  dual  of  the  same 
word.  (  Wilkinson's  .Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient 
Egyptians,  vol.  v.,  p.  58.) 

THCLUS.  (Gr.S-oXos-)  In  Architecture,  a  building  of 
a  circular  form,  but  used  by  Vitruvius  for  expressing  the 
roof  of  a  circular  building.  The  term  was  also  employed 
to  denote  the  laconicum  of  a  bath,  which  was  circular  in 
form. 

THOM.EANS,  or  THOMITES.  In  Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory, a  name  given  in  Europe  to  the  ancient  church  of 
Christians  established  on  the  Mai  'bar  coast  of  India,  and 
thought  to  have  been  originally  founded  by  St.  Thomas  ; 
although  whether  this  was  the  Apostle  of  that  name  is 
doubtful.  The  language  used  by  them  in  their  sacred 
rites,  when  they  were  first  discovered  by  Europeans,  was 
the  Chaldee  or  Syriac.  The  Portuguese  have  effected  a 
partial  conversion  of  them  to  Romanism. 

TIK). MISTS.  The  followers  of  Thomas  Aquinas,  the 
Angelic  DQttor,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the 
Bchoolmen  of  the  13th  century.  They  differed  from  the 
rival  sect  of  Scotists  chiefly  in  the  milder  form  under 
which  they  adopted  the  doctrines  of  realism.  The  Scot- 
ists regarded  the  universe  as  objectively  and  independ- 
ently real;  the  Thomi-ts  sought  rather  to  ground  the  ob- 
jective in  a  spiritual  or  rational  principle,  in  some  decree 
approximating  to  the  Platonic  doctrine  of  ideas.  The 
Thomists  continued  as  a  sect  to  the  commencement  of  the 
17th  century,  and  numbered  several  eminent  men  in  their 
ranks,  among  whom  may  be  mentioned  AlgidiUS  of  Co- 
lonna  and  Francis  Suarez. 

THOMSONITE.  (So  called  from  the  discoverer.)  A 
variety  of  zeolite  from  Dumhirton  :  it  generally  occurs  in 
radiated  masses  of  small  prismatic  crystals. 

THOR.  In  Scandinavian  Mythology,  the  son  of  Odin 
and  Freya,  and  the  divinity  who  presided  over  all  mis- 
chievous spirits  that  inhabited  the  elements.  His  power 
is  represented  as  irresistible.  Many  of  his  deeds  are  pre- 
served in  the  F.ildn  (which  see)  ;  but  it  is  probable  that 
the  worship  of  this  divinity  under  the  name  of  Donan.  or 
god  of  thunder,  spread  also  into  Germany,  where  traces  of 
him  are  still  to  be  found  in  numerous  local  appellations, 
I'  innersberg,  Thorstein,  &c.     As  the  worship  of  tins 

goii  extended,  nothing  was  more  likely  than   that  tin    <;.  i 
mans   should   confound   him  with   the  Jupiter  of  the  Ro- 
mans, win,  were  then  invading   their  country;  and  hence 

in  Germany  the  day  sacred  to  Jupiter  was  denominated 
Donneretag,  while  the  Scandinavian  equivalent  of  the 
IMS 


THOUSAND  AND  ONE  NIGHTS. 

same  deity  has  been  retained  by  the  English  in  Thursday 
(Thor's  daj  i. 

THORA'CIC  DUCT.  The  great  trunk  which  conveys 
the  contents  of  the  lacteals  and  absorbents  into  the  blood. 
In  the  human  body  it  is  about  the  diameter  of  a  crow- 
quill,  and  lies  upon  the  dorsal  vertebra;  between  the  aorta 
and  azygos  vein,  extending  from  the  posterior  opening  of 
the  diaphragm,  in  a  somewhat  serpentine  course,  to  the 
angle  formed  by  the  union  of  the  left  subclavian  and  jugu- 
lar veins,  into  which  it  pours  its  contents.  See  Chyle  and 
Lymph. 

TlloRA'CK'S,  Thoraeici.  (Gr.  $wpu\.  the  ehtst.)  The 
name  given  by  Linna;us  to  those  fishes  which  have  the 
ventral  fins  placed  beneath  the  pectorals. 

THO'RAX.  (Gr.  $u>pal,  a  shield.)  The  second  seg- 
ment of  insects  is  so  called  by  Latreille  and  Andouin  ;  the 
term  is  restricted  to  the  upper  surface  of  the  trunk  by 
Linnti  and  Fabricius.  In  Arachr.idans  the  thorax  and 
head  are  continent,  and  form  but  one  segment,  which  is 
termed  the  cephalothorax.  As  a  cavity  appropriated  to 
the  reception  of  the  circulating  and  respiratory  organs,  the 
thorax  is  only  distinct  in  Mammals. 

Thorax.  The  chest ;  the  part  of  the  body  between  the 
neck  and  the  abdomen.  It  contains  the  heart  and  lungs, 
the  oesophagus,  the  thymus  gland,  the  thoracic  duct,  part 
of  the  aorta  and  vena  cava,  the  vena  azygos,  the  eighth 
pair  of  nerves,  and  a  part  of  the  great  intercostal  nerve. 

Thorax.  In  Grecian  Antiquities,  a  piece  of  defensive 
armour  consisting  of  two  parts,  one  defending  the  back, 
and  the  other  the  belly  ;  called  lorica  by  the  Romans. 
The  more  ancient  were  made  of  padded  linen  ;  but  they 
were  also  made  of  leather,  brass,  iron,  and  other  metals. 

THORI'NA.  (From  Thor,  the  Scandinavian  deity.) 
An  earthy  substance  discovered  in  1828  by  Berzelius  in  a 
rare  Norwegian  mineral  called  thorite,  which  is  a  hydra- 
ted  silicate  of  thorina.  Like  the  other  earths,  thorina  is 
the  oxide  of  a  heavy,  gray  metal,  which  has  been  termed 
thorium,  and  which  is  not  acted  upon  by  water ;  but  when 
heated  in  the  air  it  burns  with  great  brilliancy  into  a  white 
oxide.  Thorina  obtained  in  this  way  is  white,  infusible, 
and  very  heavy,  its  specific  gravity  being  9-4.  It  is  insolu- 
ble in  all  acids  except  sulphuric,  and  in  that  with  diffi- 
culty, lis  equivalent  is  about  08.  Thorina  is  distinguish- 
ed from  alumina  and  glucina  by  its  insolubility  in  caustic 
potash,  and  from  zirconia  by  being  precipitated  by  ferro- 
cyanuret  of  potassium. 

THO'RN  APPLE.     See  Strammony  and  Datiria. 

THO'ItNBACK.  The  name  of  a  species  of  ray  (Rata 
clavata,  Linn.),  distinguished  by  the  short  and  strong  re- 
curved spines,  rising  from  a  broad,  osseous,  tubercular 
base,  which  are  scattered  over  the  back  and  tail.  Two 
of  these  broad-based  spines  occupy  the  central  ridge  of  the 
nose. 

THOROUGH  BASS.     See  Bass. 

THOTH,  THOUTH,  TAOIT.  An  Egyptian  divinity, 
considered  by  the  Greeks  as  identical  with  Mercury.  His 
hieroglyphic  represents  the  beginning  of  the  astronomical 
year.  He  was  regarded  as  the  inventor  of  writing  and 
Egyptian  philosophy  ;  and  is  hence  paralleled  with  Mer- 
cury by  Cicero.  He  is  represented  as  a  human  figure  u  iih 
the' head  of  a  lamb  or  ibis.  (Plato,  Phadrus  ;  Plutarch, 
De  Is.  etOsir.;  Wilkinson,  .inrit  ni  Egyptians,  vol.  v.) 
Bryant  says  the  same  with  6£os  {Mythof.,  i.,  13). 

THOUSAND  AND  ONE  NIGHTS,  more  commonly 
called  among  ourselves  the  Arabian  Nights'  Entertain- 
ments, from  the  title  adopted  in  our  first  translation  from 
Galland's  version.  A  well  known  collection  of  oriental 
tales,  which  has  acquired  in  the  west  a  popularity  never 
attained  by  any  other  eastern  composition.  The  history 
of  the  work  has  been  the  subject  of  much  Investigation, 
especially  by  De  Sacy.  Von  Hammer,  and  our  last  learned 
translator  Mr.  Lane,  from  whom  we  borrow  most  of  this 
article.  It  is  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Lane  that  the  work,  in  its 
presenl  form,  is  the  composition  of  a  single  author  living  in 
Egypt;  and  that  it  was  most  probably  "not  commenced 

earlier  than  the  last  quarter  of  the  ISth  century  of  our 
era,  and  completed  before  the  termination  of  the  first 
quarter  of  the  next  century,  soon  after  the  conquest  of 
Egypt  by  the  Osmanlee  Turks  in  1517."  But  the  origin  of 
the  tales  is  a  much  more  difficult  subject  of  inquiry.  It 
seems  to  br  now  established  (from  the  discoveries  of  De 

Sacy  and  Von  Hammer]  that  there  was  an  ancient  Persian 
collection  of  stories,  known  by  the  name  of  the  llrzar 
Jifiiineh  (the  "Thousand  Fanciful  Tab-";,  of  unknown 
antiquity,  but  certainly  older  than  the  0th  century  of  our 
era  ;  that  the  framework  of  this  collection  was  the  same 
with  that  of  the  modern,  namely,  the  story  of  the  cruel 
King  Sbakryar  and  his  ingenious  queen  Chehrazad;  and 
that  this  was  very  early  translated  into  Arabic  by  the 
name  of  the  Thousand  Nights.  Hut  Mr.  Lane  diners 
from  these  learned  orientalists  in  still  believing  that  the 
early  work  was  only  a  model ;  that  the  greater  proportion 


THRANITE. 

of  the  modern  tales  are  really  Arabian,  especially  all  those 
founded  on  the  supposed  adventures  of  the  Khalif  Haroun 
and  his  queen  Zobeyde,  a  few  only  being  distinctly  of  Per- 
sian or  Indian  original  ;  e.g.,  the  Magic  Horse,  the  Damsel 
and  the  Seven  Weieers.  The  difference  seems  to  reduce 
itself  to  this,  whether  the  present  work  is  the  last  of  sev- 
eral successive  editions  of  the  old  One  Thousand  Nights, 
or  has  pretensions  to  be  considered  as  a  new  construction 
on  an  old  groundwork ;  the  latter  being  Sir.  Lane's  opin- 
ion. (See  De  Sacy's  Dissertation,  prefixed  to  a  late  edition 
of  Galland's  version  ;  Von  Hammer's  preface  to  that  of 
Trebulien  ;  Mr.  Lane's  Preface,  and  "  Review"  at  the 
Conclusion  of  his  third  volume  ;  the  Athenaum,  No.  622.) 

But  whatever  the  history  of  the  work,  many  of  the  main 
features  of  the  stories  are  of  primeval  antiquity,  and  form, 
in  fact,  part  of  the  popular  literature  of  all  countries.  The 
original  Persian  or  Arab  writers  were  connected  by  habits 
of  travelling  and  merchandise  through  India  with  the  far 
East,  and  through  Greece  with  the  extreme  West ;  and 
the  superstitions,  anecdotes,  and  pregnant  sayings  of  all 
times  and  ages,  repeated  in  various  forms  to  the  tired  lis- 
teners of  the  caravan  at  its  evening's  halt,  have  contribu- 
ted to  enrich  this  singular  collection.  The  Adventures  of 
Sinbad  have  been  curiously  illustrated  with  antiquarian 
learning  by  Mr.  Hole,  and  form  one  of  the  most  singular 
examples  of  the  ubiquity  of  good  stories. 

It  appears  that  the  learned  Arabs  hold  the  Thousand  and 
One  Nights  in  small  esteem,  as  an  incorrect  and  unclass- 
ical  composition  ;  but  it  is  a  great  mistake  (a  very  natural 
one  for  distinguished  orientalists,  like  Mr.  Lane,  to  fall  into 
unconsciously)  to  imagine  tbat  their  great  charm  to  the 
people  of  the  West  consists  in  their  faithful  representation 
of  Asiatic  manners.  A  far  greater  attraction  lies  in  the 
fancy  which  dictated  the  narratives — a  quality  belonging 
to  all  times  and  places.  And  hence  it  is  that  we  are  con- 
vinced Mr.  Lane  is  wrong  in  his  low  appreciation  of  Gal- 
land's version.  That  it  is  very  incorrect  in  point  of  cos- 
tume is  doubtless  true  ;  but  the  peculiar  genius  of  Galland 
led  him  to  detect  the  poetical  fancy,  the  humour,  the  odd- 
ity, the  picturesqueness  of  the  composition,  under  the 
cumbrous  prolixity  of  Arab  story-telling,  and  to  bring  it 
out  in  a  manner  by  no  means  strictly  faithful,  but  suffi- 
ciently so  to  give  an  oriental  quaintness  to  his  work,  with- 
out the  languor  of  the  original — an  odd  but  agreeable  mix- 
ture of  Arab  simplicity  with  the  artificial  naivete  of  polish- 
ed France.  We  believe  that  while  the  versions  of  Mr. 
Lane  and  other  learned  men  will  always  be  consulted  with 
interest,  that  of  Galland  will  still  be  the  cherished  com- 
panion of  all  ages,  but  especially  of  youth.  The  numer- 
ous European  imitations  of  the  Thousand  and  One  Nights 
are  well  known,  and  may,  for  the  most  part,  be  character- 
ized as  very  unsuccessful :  perhaps  the  best  is  the  French 
Additional  Arabian  Nights,  containing  the  history  of  Man- 
graby  the  Magician,  &c. 

THRA'NITE.  The  uppermost  (or,  according  to  some 
arrangements  of  the  classical  galley,  the  foremost)  of  the 
three  classes  of  rowers  in  an  Athenian  trireme  ;  the  mid- 
dle being  called  the  zeugitse,  the  lowest  thalamitae.  See 
Galley,  Trireme. 

THRA'SHING.  Separating  grain  or  seeds  from  the 
straw  or  haum  by  means  of  a  flail  or  thrashing  machine, 
or  by  treading  with  cattle.  The  latter  was  the  mode  em- 
ployed in  the  ages  of  antiquity  ;  and  it  is  still  practised  in 
the  south  of  Europe,  and  in  Persia,  and  India.  The  Ro- 
mans employed  oxen  for  this  purpose  ;  sometimes  alone, 
and  sometimes  with  the  addition  of  a  kind  of  roller  studded 
with  iron  knots,  which  they  dragged  over  the  corn,  and 
which  was  spread  on  a  circular  floor,  the  driver  standing 
in  the  centre,  and  guiding  the  oxen  around  him  by  means 
of  reins.  It  was  customary  to  allow  the  oxen  occasionally 
to  breathe  and  take  a  bite  of  the  corn,  agreeably  to  the 
Scripture  precept.  A  kind  of  flail  or  rod  was  also  some- 
times used  by  the  Romans,  and  is  doubtless  the  origin  of 
the  present  implement  of  that  name.  In  colder  and  moister 
climates,  such  as  that  of  Britain,  where  a  floor  sufficiently 
hard  for  thrashing  out  corn  could  not  be  maintained  in  the 
open  air,  thrashing  appears  to  have  been  always  performed 
under  cover,  and  with  the  flail,  till  the  latter  end  of  the 
18th  century,  when  thrashing  machines  were  introduced. 

THRA'SHING  MACHINE.  A  machine  for  separating 
corn  or  other  seeds  from  the  straw  or  haum  ;  and  either 
impelled  by  horse  or  cattle,  wind,  water,  or  steam.  The 
modem  thrashing  machine  was  invented  in  Scotland  about 
the  year  1758,  by  a  farmer  in  the  parish  of  Dumblaine, 
Perthshire,  and  afterwards  brought  to  nearly  its  present 
state  of  perfection  by  Mr.  Meikle,  a  millwright  of  Hadding- 
tonshire, about  the  year  1786.  Meikle's  thrashing  machine 
consists  of  a  cylinder  furnished  with  beaters  fixed  on  its 
circumference,  to  which  the  corn  being  presented  by  roll- 
ers, the  ears  are  beat  in  pieces ;  and  while  the  grain  drops 
through  a  grating  into  a  winnowing  machine,  the  straw  is 
carried  forward,  and  delivered  by  itself  ready  to  be  made 


THUG. 

up  into  bundles.  Some  thrashing  machines  only  beat  out 
the  corn,  and  separate  it  from  the  straw ;  while  others 
beat  it  out,  winnow  it,  and  sift  it.  One  of  the  most  com- 
plete thrashing  machines  in  Britain  is  that  of  Winstay,  in 
Denbighshire,  which  not  only  thrashes  and  winnows,  but 
measures  the  corn  in  bushels,  and  transports  it  to  the 
granary  in  a  fit  state  for  being  carried  to  market.  (See 
Enryc.  of  Agr.,  p.  1311.) 

The  employment  of  thrashing  machines  relieves  the 
labourers  from  the  severest  drudgery  incident  to  agricul- 
ture ;  they  enable  the  work  to  be  done  at  the  time  there  is 
a  demand  for  corn  ;  and,  by  doing  it  better,  or  separating 
the  corn  (particularly  wheat)  more  completely  from  the 
straw,  they  add  both  to  the  wealth  of  the  farmer  and  the 
produce  of  the  country  ;  enabling  the  former  to  employ, 
and  the  latter  to  feed,  more  labourers.  This  latter  is,  in- 
deed, a  most  important  consideration.  It  is  calculated,  by 
the  best  informed  agriculturists,  that  5  per  cent.,  or  one 
twentieth  part,  more  produce  is  afforded  by  a  crop  thrash- 
ed by  machinery  than  by  the  old  method ;  and,  estimating 
the  total  produce  of  the  corn  crops  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  at  50,000,000  quarters,  we  should,  on  this  hypothe- 
sis, have  an  additional  annual  supply  of  no  less  than 
2,500,000  quarters,  were  thrashing  machines  universally 
substituted  for  flails  I  So  great  an  increase  of  produce  in 
the  hands  of  the  farmers  would  obviously  enable  them  to 
employ  far  more  labourers  than  would  be  superseded  by 
the  use  of  the  machine.  {Brown  on  Rural  Affairs,  vol.  i., 
p.  332.) 

As  we  remarked  above,  thrashing  machines  may  be 
driven  either  by  horse,  water,  or  steam  power;  but  in  all 
the  great  firms  in  the  Lothians  in  Scotland,  and  in  some 
parts  of  England,  all  other  methods  have  merged  in  the 
last. 

THREE-COAT  WORK.  In  Architecture,  plastering 
which  consists  of  pricking-up  or  roughing-in,  floating,  and 
a  finishing  coat. 

THRE'NODY.  (Gr.  $pyvos,  a  dirge;  SiSfj,  song.)  A 
species  of  short,  occasional  poem,  composed  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  funeral  of  some  distinguished  personage.     See 

El'ICEIUUM. 

THRO'MBUS.  A  small  tumour  which  sometimes  en- 
sues in  consequence  of  the  escape  of  blood  into  the  cellu- 
lar membrane  in  the  operation  of  bleeding. 

THRONE.  (Gr.  Spovos.)  In  Architecture,  a  chair  of 
state  raised  above  the  level  of  the  floor  whereon  it  stands, 
usually  richly  ornamented  and  covered  with  a  canopy. 

THRUSH.  In  Medicine.  This  disease  consists  in  small 
white  ulcers  upon  the  tongue,  palate,  and  gums,  and  is 
common  in  infants  who  are  ill  fed  or  brought  up  by  hand. 
It  is  apt  to  extend  through  the  whole  course  of  the  mucous 
membrane  lining  the  alimentary  canal,  exciting  fetid  eruc- 
tations and  flatulency,  with  a  troublesome  diarrhoea,  and 
sometimes  proves  fatal.  The  treatment  consists  in  giving 
a  gentle  emetic  of  ipecacuanha,  and  keeping  the  bowels 
clear  and  open  with  castor  oil,  or  rhubarb  and  magnesia. 
The  strictest  attention  should  be  paid  to  the  diet,  which 
should  consist  of  milk  and  light  farinaceous  food. 

Thrush.  In  Ornithology,  one  of  the  largest  and  most 
melodious  of  our  native  song-birds  ;  the  type  of  the  genus 
Turdus,  Linnaeus.  It  is  not  migratory,  but  is  supposed  to 
quit  the  more  northern  parts  of  England  in  winter  for  the 
southern  provinces.  It  makes  its  nest  in  March  ;  lays  four 
or  five  blue  eggs,  spotted  with  black  at  the  larger  end. 
It  feeds  on  berries,  insects,  and  shell-snails  ;  and  often  se- 
lects a  particular  kind  of  stone  against  which  it  breaks  the 
shell  of  the  snail,  and  near  which  a  great  quantity  of  frag- 
ments of  the  shells  may  be  found. 

THRUST.  (Lat.  trudo,  /  push.)  In  Architecture,  the 
horizontal  force  of  an  arch,  by  which  it  acts  against  the 
piers  from  which  it  springs.  Also  a  similar  action  of  raft- 
ers or  of  a  beam  against  the  walls  which  bear  them. 

THUG.  (From  the  Hindoo  verb  thunga,  to  deceive.)  A 
member  of  a  singular  association  of  robbers  and  murderers, 
which  has  excited  of  late  years  much  attention  in  India. 
It  appears  that  the  existence  of  the  system  of  thuggee,  as 
it  is  called,  was  hardly  known  before  the  year  1810,  and 
that  no  combined  measures  were  taken  to  put  a  stop  to  it 
until  about  1830.  Since  that  time  it  has  been  fully  de- 
tected, and  greatly  checked,  chiefly  through  the  admission 
of  approvers  from  all  the  gangs.  Capt.  Meadows  Taylor 
informs  us  that,  between  1831  and  1837,  3206  Thugs  were 
brought  to  justice,  of  whom  412  were  hanged,  1059  trans- 
ported, and  483  turned  approvers.  Still  it  is  by  no  means 
supposed  to  be  extinct.  Its  origin  is  unknown  ;  and  both 
Mohammedans  and  Hindoos  belong  to  the  society  indiffer- 
ently, although  its  tutelary  goddess,  Bhowanee,  belongs  to 
the  latter  faith.  The  Thugs  are  peculiarly  superstitious  in 
their  observances.  They  are  directed,  in  all  their  proceed- 
ings, by  auguries  supposed  to  be  vouchsafed  by  their  god- 
dess ;  and  particular  classes  are  altogether  exempt  from 
their  attacks:  among  whom  are  dancing  girls,  minstrels, 

1243 


THULE. 

sikhs,  some  religious  mendicants,  tailors,  oilmen,  black- 
smiths, carpenters.  It  Is  stated,  also,  that  they  seldom  de- 
stroy women  unless  for  their  own  safety;  and  they  have 
very  seldom  ventured  to  attack  Englishmen.  They  usual- 
ly move  in  large  gangs,  and  attach  themselves  to  travelling 
parties;  they  will  journey  with  them  for  days,  to  And  at 
last  an  opportunity  to  master  them.  When  all  is  ready, 
one  division  of  the  murderers  strangles  the  victims,  while 
another  body  prepares  their  graves;  and  by  means  of  this 
division  of  labour  the  tearful  work  Is  accomplished  with 
Wonderful  celerity.  It  appears  that  numbers  of  Thugs  re- 
sided together  in  villages,  when  they  were  prohibited  by 
the  landowners,  sometimes  by  rajahs,  to  whom  they  paid 
tribute.  The  common  destruction  of  life  occasioned  by 
them  may  be  conjectured  by  the  fact  that  one  Thug,  ad- 
mitted an  approver  at  Saugor,  confessed  to  Col.  Taylor, 
who  does  not  seem  to  suspect  him  of  exaggeration,  that  he 
had  been  concerned  in  the  murder  of  71'J  persons !  The 
existence  of  so  strange  and  monstrous  a  system  can  only 
be  explained  by  the  condition  of  India  ;  the  extreme  timid- 
ity and  apathy  of  its  inhabitants,  and  their  division  into 
castes:  the  number  of  small  native  governments;  the 
habit  of  dwelling  in  villages,  divided  by  extensive  unin- 
habited tracts;  the  quantity  of  travelling  that  takes  place 
in  that  commercial  country,  without  navigable  rivers  or 
secure  conveyances ;  and  the  murderous  spirit  of  Hindoo 
fanaticism.  (See  Col.  Sleeman's  Hamasceana,  Vocabulary 
of  the  Thugs,  and  an  article  on  it  in  the  Ed.  Rev.-,  vol. 
lxiv. ;  and  Col.  Meadows  Taylor's  Adventures  of  a  Thug, 
2  vols.,  l.oml.,  1839,  from  the  Introduction  to  which  these 
details  are  chiefly  taken.) 

Till  I.E.  The  name  given  by  the  ancient1?  to  the  most 
northern  part  of  the  habitable  world  ;  but  it  is  almost  im- 
possible to  say,  from  the  variety  of  opinions  entertained 
respecting  it,  whether  any  definite  country  was  meant  by 
this  appellation.  Some  have  thought  that  Norway,  but 
most  geographers  are  of  opinion  that  Iceland,  was  the  place 
alluded  to.  l!ut  be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  long  since  the 
prophecy  of  Seneca  in  the  following  lines  has  been  ful- 
filled: 

Venient  aonis 

Sxcula  seris,  quibus  Oceanus 
Vincula  rerum  laxe!,  et  in;;enj 
Pa:eat  tellus,  Typhisque  novos 
Di  lege!  Urbta,  uec  sit  terns 
t  lltixaa  Thule. 

TIIULITE.  A  rare  mineral  of  a  peach-blossom  colour 
from  .Norway.     Its  composition  has  not  been  ascertained. 

THU'MERSTONE.  A  variety  of  axiinite  from  Thum, 
in  Saxony. 

Till  JM  .MI M.     See  U rim. 

THU'NDER.  (Germ,  donner,  Lat.  tonitru.)  The  noise 
produced  bj  an  explosion  of  lightning,  or  by  the  passage  of 
lightning  through  the  air  from  one  cloud  to  another,  or  from 
a  cloud  to  the  ground. 

The  character  of  the  sound  of  thunder  varies  with  the 
force  and  the  distance  of  the  explosion,  the  situation  of  the 
observer,  the  nature  of  the  surrounding  country  ;  and  it  is 
probably  influenced,  also,  by  the  relative  situations  of  the 
clouds. 

When  lightning  strikes  an  object  near  us  on  the  earth,  it 
produces  a  noise  resembliing  that  of  a  violent  crash,  which 
is  not  repeated  or  prolonged  by  reflection.  When  the  ex- 
plosion i-  mi  re  distant,  a  rumbling  Irregular,  and  recurring 
noise  is  heard,  which  gradually  dies  away  in  the  distance, 
like  the  prolonged  ei  hoot  the  sound  of  ordnance  discharged 
in  a  mountainous  district. 

Thunder  frequently  commences  with  an  astounding  rattle, 
which  is  probably  occasioned  by  a  series  of  explosions  or 
discharges  of  electric  matter  in  rapid  succession  from  a 
highly  charged  thunder  -el I. 

We  have  a  familiar  example  of  this  species  of  noise  in 
the  cracking  which  accompanies  the  sparks  discharged 
from  the  conductor  of  a  well-supplied  electrical  machine 
towards  any  adjacent  conducting  bodj  :  the  loudness  of  the 
snaps,  as  well  as  their  frequency,  increasing  with  the 
electric  intensity.     And   when   we   Consider   how  tritliiiL'  a 

portion  of  electric  matter  can  be  put  in  action  by  the  I I 

powerful  means  of  artificial  excitement,  compared  with  the 

quantity  stored  up  in  a  full  charged  thunder-cloud,  the  dis- 
crepancy between  the   appalling  crash  of  the  one  and  the 

Insignificant  snap  of  the  other  will  not  appear  Burp e 

though  both  originate  in  the  same  cause.  This  cause  \S 
the  vibration  of  the  air,  agitated  by  the  passage  of  the  i  lee 
trie  discharge  with  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  intensity; 

and  two  explanations  may  be  given  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  vibration  is  produced. 

The  lir-t  explanation  proceeds  on  the  supposition  that 
the  electric  thud  opens  a  passage  10  itself  through  air  or 

other  matter,  in   the  manner  of  a  projectile,  and   that  the 

tused  bj  the  rush  of  the  alt  Into  the  vacuum 
produced  by  the  Instantaneous  passage  of  the  iluid.    Hut  it 


THYMELACE^E. 

is  objected,  that  if  this  explanation  holds  good,  the  passage 
of  a  cannon  ball  through  the  air  ought  to  produce  a  similar 
sound;  whereas  it  onlj  produces  a  sort  of  whistling  noise, 
winch  even  the  most  timid  have  never  thought  of  coin- 
paring  with  thunder.  Another  still  stronger  objection  is, 
that  all  the  experiments  seem  to  indicate  that  the  electric 
fluid  is  not  transferred  from  point  to  point  like  a  projectile 
of  ponderable  matter,  but  is  conveyed  along  by  the  vibration 
of  an  elastic  medium,  as  sound  is  conveyed  through  the 
atmosphere. 

The  second  explanation,  which  appears  more  in  harmony 
with  all  the  facts,  is  founded  on  this  vibratory  propagation 
of  the  electric  fluid.  When  the  electric  spark  passes  be- 
tween two  points,  there  is  a  decomposition  and  recomposi- 
tion  of  electricity  in  all  the  media  in  which  it  appears,  and 
consequently  a  vibration  more  or  less  violent  is  produced, 
which  vibration  gives  rise  to  the  sound.  On  this  hypothe- 
sis, the  continued  roll  is  the  effect  of  the  comparatively 
slow  propagation  of  sound  through  the  air.  For  the  sake 
of  illustration,  suppose  a  flash  of  lightning  of  11,250  feet  in 
length,  or  that  the  spark  is  instantaneously  seen  from  one 
end  to  the  other  of  this  line.  At  the  same  instant  the  flash 
is  visible,  the  vibration  is  communicated  to  the  atmosphere 
through  the  whole  extent  of  the  line.  Now  suppose  an 
observer  placed  in  the  direction  of  the  line  of  the  flash,  and 
at  the  distance  of  1125  feet  from  one  end  ;  then,  since  sound 
travels  at  the  rate  of  about  1125  feet  in  a  second  (see  Sound), 
one  second  will  elapse  after  the  flash  has  been  seen  before 
any  sound  is  heard.  When  the  sound  begins,  the  vibration 
communicated  to  the  nearest  stratum  of  air  has  reached 
his  ear ;  and  since  we  have  supposed  the  line  of  disturbance 
to  be  11,250  in  length,  the  vibrations  of  the  more  distant 
strata  will  continue  to  reach  his  ear  in  succession  during 
the  space  of  ten  seconds.  Hence  the  length  of  the  flash 
determines  the  duration  of  the  sound  ;  and  it  follows  that 
the  same  flash  will  give  rise  to  a  sound  of  greater  or  less 
duration,  according  to  the  position  of  the  observer  with 
respect  to  its  direction.  Thus,  in  the  above  instance,  sup- 
pose a  second  observer  to  be  placed  under  the  line,  and 
towards  its  middle,  he  would  only  hear  the  sound  during 
half  the  time  it  was  heard  by  the  first  observer  ;  and  if  we 
suppose  the  line  to  be  circular,  and  the  observer  to  be  placed 
near  its  centre,  the  sound  would  arrive  from  every  point  at 
the  same  instant  in  a  violent  crash. 

Although  the  vibratory  motion  is  communicated  to  all 
the  strata  of  air  along  the  whole  length  of  the  (lash,  they 
will  not  all  receive  the  same  impulsion  unless  they  are 
all  at  the  same  temperature  and  in  the  same  bygrometrlc 
state,  which  can  rarely  happen.  Hence  the  tirst  impression 
of  the  sound  is  not  always  the  most  intense,  although  it 
proceeds  from  the  nearest  point. 

During  a  thunder  storm  shelter  should  not  be  taken  under 
trees  and  hedges,  which  are  likely  to  act  as  conductors; 
but,  at  the  same  time,  a  person  is  safer  when  at  the  dis- 
tance of  about  30  or  40  feet  from  such  objects  than  on  an 
open  plain.  Water  should  also  be  carefully  avoided, 
because  it  is  a  good  conductor,  and  the  height  of  a  man 
above  it  may  determine  the  course  of  the  lightning.  In  a 
house,  the  satest  position  is  near  the  middle  of  a  room; 
and  the  security  may  be  increased  by  sitting  on  a  feather 
bed  or  hair  mattress,  or  thick  woollen  rug,  all  of  which  are 
bad  conductors.  It  is  injudicious  to  take  refuge  in  a  cellar, 
because  the  discharge  is  often  from  the  earth  to  a  cloud, 
and  buildings  frequently  sustain  the  greatest  injury  in  the 
basement  stories,     it  is  dangerous  to  be  near  the  fireplace, 

because  the  chimney  is  the  part  most  likely  to  be  struck, 
and  the  soot  is  a  powerful  conductor,  tiilt  furniture,  he  11- 
w  ires,  and  all  large  metallic,  surfaces,  are  to  be  avoided  tor 
the  same  reason.  See, on  this  subject, a  highly  Interesting 
Notice  sur  le  Tonnerre,  by  Arago,  in  the  .in  mini  re  tor 
183(3,  translated  in  the  Edinburgh  Philosophical  Journal.) 

THURLSS.  Short  communication  between  the  adits  in 
mines. 

THU'RSDAY.  The  fifth  day  of  the  week,  which  de- 
rives its   name  from   Thor,  the   old   Scandinavian  god  of 

thunder;  equivalent  to  the  Jupiter  of  the  ancients,  to  whom 
this  day  was  also  consecrated. 

THUS.  (<ii.  £u<ii,  I  sacrifice;  from  its  use  in  sacrifices-) 
The  resin  of  the  spruce  fir.    The  term  frankincense  is  also 

applied  to  it,  and  to  olibanum.  which  is  the  gum  resin  of  the 
Junipi  ens  lycia. 

THWART.  In  Naval  affairs,  used  for  athwart  or  across; 
also  a  bench  foi  lowers. 

TIIY.MI  1.  \  (  lj.  Thvmelea,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  shrubbj  Exogens,  having  a  calix  only, 
and  no  corolla,  although  the  flowers  of  many  are  coloured 
very  gaily.  Daphnes,  valued  for  their  fragrance,  .Mutreung, 
the  various  species  id'  the  Australian  genus  Pimeleo,  anJ 
as  and  Slruthioias  •>'  the  Cape  ol  Good  Hope,  are 
favourite  subjects  of  cultivation.    One  feature  of  tie-  order 

i-  the  causticity  of  the  bark,  which  arts  upon  the  skin  as  a 
vesicatory,  aud  causes  excessive  pain   in  the   month   if 


THYMUS  GLAND. 

chewed.    The  berries  of  Daphne  laureola  (the  spurge  lau- 
rel) are  poisonous  to  all  animals  except  birds. 

THYMUS  GLAND.  A  gland  situated  under  the  upper 
part  of  the  sternum,  in  the  anterior  mediastinum.  Its  ex- 
cretory duct  has  not  been  detected,  nor  is  its  use  known. 
It  is  of  great  comparative  size  in  the  fcetus. 

THY'NN  US.  (Gr.  Svwos,  a  tunny.)  A  genus  of  Scom- 
beroid  fishes,  of  which  the  highly  valuable  fish  the  tunny 
(Thynnus  vulgaris,  Cuv.)  is  the  type.  The  form  of  the 
body  in  this  genus  of  fishes  is  like  that  of  the  mackerel,  but 
is  less  compressed  ;  the  first  dorsal  fin  extends  nearly  to  the 
second  ;  the  second  dorsal  and  the  anal  fins  are  divided 
into  numerous  Unlets ;  the  sides  of  the  tail  are  decidedly 
carinated  ;  there  is  a  single  row  of  small  pointed  teeth  in 
each  jaw.  The  tunny  is  remarkable  among  fishes  for  its 
high  temperature,  its  perfect  respiratory  organs,  the  quan- 
tity of  nerves  supplying  the  gills,  and  the  general  abundance 
of  rich  red  blood  throughout  the  body.  It  is  the  object  of 
the  most  important  fisheries  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and 
when  sailed  and  dried  serves  the  inhabitants  of  most  Catho- 
lic countries  with  the  fast  days'  meat.  The  bonito  (Thyn- 
nus pelamys)  is  a  species  of  the  present  genus  of  fishes. 

THY'RKt.  (Gr.  Svpis,  a  window.)  A  genus  of  butter- 
flies. 

THY'ROID.  (Gr.  Svptoc,  a  shield,  and  aSos,  form.) 
The  thyroid  or  scutiform  cartilage  is  placed  perpendicular 
to  the  cricoid  cartilage  of  the  larynx,  of  which  it  forms  the 
upper  and  anterior  part.  In  men  it  is  harder  and  more 
prominent  than  in  women;  it  is  sometimes  called  Adam's 
apple.  The  thyroid  gland  is  situated  upon  the  thyroid  and 
cricoid  cartilages  of  the  trachea  ;  its  duct  has  not  been  seen, 
and  its  use  is  unknown.  When  enlarged,  it  forms  the 
bronchocele. 

THY'RSUS.  (Gr.  Svpaos.)  A  staff  entwined  with  ivy, 
which  formed  part  of  the  accoutrement  of  a  Bacchanal,  or 
performer  in  the  orgies  of  Bacchus. 

Thyrsus.  In  Botany,  a  form  of  inflorescence,  consisting 
of  a  compact  panicle,  the  lower  branches  of  which  are 
shorter  than  those  of  the  middle  ;  in  other  words,  it  is  com- 
posed of  a  primary  axis  developing  secondary  axes  from  its 
sides,  which  in  their  turn  develop  tertiary  axes,  the  upper 
and  lower  branches  being  shorter  than  those  of  the  middle, 
as  in  the  common  lilach. 

THY'SANURANS,  Thysanura.  (Gr.  Sveavoi,  fringes, 
ovpa,  a  tail.)  The  name  of  an  order  of  Ametabolian  in- 
sects, comprehending  those  in  which  the  abdomen  is  ter- 
minated by  filaments,  or  by  a  forked  tail  adapted  for  leaping. 

TIA'RA.  The  well-known  ornament  with  which  the 
ancient  Persians  adorned  their  heads.  It  was  in  the  form 
of  a  tower,  and  adorned  with  peacocks'  feathers.  Xeno- 
phon  says  that  it  was  sometimes  encompassed  with  the 
diadem,  at  least  in  ceremonies,  and  had  frequently  the 
figure  of  a  half  moon  embroidered  upon  it.  This  was  the 
name  also  originally  given  to  the  mitre  of  the  popes.  It  was 
nothing  more  than  a  round  high  cap,  at  hist  single  instead 
of  double,  like  that  of  the  other  bishops.  Nicholas  the 
First  added  the  first  gold  circle,  as  the  sign  of  the  civil 
power.  The  second  was  added  by  Boniface  about  1300 ; 
the  third  by  Urban  V.  about  1365.  (Bovvden,  Life  of  Greg- 
ory VII.,  i.,  60.) 

TI'BIA.  (Lat.)  In  Anatomy,  the  largest  of  the  two 
bones  which  form  the  second  segment  of  the  leg,  or  sacral 
extremity.  In  Entomology,  it  is  the  fourth  joint  of  the  leg, 
is  very  long,  and  usually  triquetrous.  Its  name  is  said  to 
have  reference  to  its  resemblance  to  the  ancient  pipe  or 
flute. 

.  TIC  DOULOUREUX.  A  very  painful  affection  of  a 
nerve,  coming  on  in  sudden  and  excruciating  attacks :  it  is 
perhaps  most  common  in  that  branch  of  the  fifth  pair  which 
comes  out  of  the  infra-orbitary  foramen.  Nothing  is  known 
of  the  cause  of  tic  douloureux,  except  in  one  or  two  very 
rare  cases,  where  a  small  spicula  of  bone  has  been  found 
pressing  on  the  nerves.  The  treatment  is  equally  uncer- 
tain, except  where  it  assumes  an  intermittent  form,  and 
then  large  doses  of  tonics,  and  especially  carbonate  of  iron, 
have  proved  useful. 

TI'CIIORRHINE.  (Gr.  tsi%o;,  a  wall;  piv,  a  nose.) 
The  name  of  a  fossil  species  of  rhinoceros  (Rhinoceros 
tichorrinus),  which  is  so  called  on  account  of  the  middle 
vertical  bony  septum  or  wall  which  supports  the  nose. 

TIDE  MILLS  are  such  as  have  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the 
tide  for  their  first  movers.  As  the  tide  rises,  the  water  is 
admitted  into  a  reservoir  through  a  sluice,  over  which  the 
mill  is  built,  turning  the  water-wheel  in  its  passage  through 
the  sluice.  At  high  tide  the  sluice  gates  are  shut  till  the 
water  has  fallen  sufficiently  outside,  when  they  are  opened, 
so  as  to  allow  the  water  to  flow  out  again  from  the  reser- 
voir, and  turn  the  wheel  as  it  escapes  through  the  sluice. 

In  some  tide  mills  the  water-wheel  turns  one  way  as 
the  tide  rises,  and  the  contrary  as  it  falls;  but  in  others  an 
arrangement  is  adopted  by  which  the  wheel  is  made  to 
turn  always  in  the  same  direction.    In  some,  the  water- 


TIDES. 

wheel  rises  and  falls  with  the  tide  ;  and  in  others,  the  axis 
is  fixed,  so  that  it  can  neither  rise  nor  fall.  In  the  latter 
case,  the  power  is  applied  at  an  obvious  disadvantage, 
though  rotatory  motion  to  a  certain  extent  may  be  given 
even  when  the  wheel  is  wholly  immersed  in  the  water, 
from  the  difference  of  the  velocity  of  the  water  at  the 
top  and  bottom  of  the  sluice.  (See  Gregory's  Mechanics, 
vol.  ii.) 

TIDES.  The  alternate  rise  and  fall  of  the  waters  of  the 
ocean.  The  moon  is  the  principal  agent  in  the  production 
of  the  tides ;  but  they  are  modified,  both  with  respect  to 
their  height  and  the  times  at  which  they  happen,  by  the 
action  of  the  sun.  The  effect  of  the  planets  is  inappre- 
ciable. 

The  attractive  force  of  a  body  on  a  distant  particle  of 
matter  varying  inversely  as  the  square  of  the  distance,  the 
particles  of  the  earth  on  the  side  next  the  moon  will  be 
attracted  with  a  greater,  and  those  on  the  opposite  side 
with  a  smaller  force,  than  those  which  are  situated  inter- 
mediately. The  gravitation  towards  the  earth's  centre  of 
the  particles  nearest  the  moon  will  therefore  be  diminished, 
and  consequently,  if  at  liberty  to  move  among  themselves, 
they  will  rise  above  the  general  level.  In  like  manner,  the 
moon's  attraction  on  the  most  distant  particles  being  less 
than  on  the  central  ones,  their  relative  gravitation  towards 
the  centre  will  also  be  diminished,  and  the  waters  will  con- 
sequently be  heaped  up  on  the  side  of  the  earth  which  is 
turned  away  from  the  moon.  Hence,  if  the  earth  were  at 
rest,  the  ocean  would  take  the  form  of  an  oblong  spheroid, 
with  its  longer  axis  passing  through  the  attracting  body ; 
and  it  may  be  shown  from  theory  that  the  spheroid  would 
be  in  equilibrium  under  the  influence  of  the  moon's  attrac- 
tion, if  the  longer  semi-axis  exceeded  the  shorter  by  about 
58  inches.  But  in  consequence  of  the  rapid  rotation  of  the 
earth  about  its  axis,  the  spheroid  of  equilibrium  is  never 
fully  formed  ;  for  before  the  waters  can  take  their  level, 
the  vertex  of  the  spheroid  has  shifted  its  position  on  the 
earth's  surface,  in  consequence  of  which  an  immensely 
broad  and  very  flat  wave  is  formed,  which  follows  the 
motions  of  the  moon  at  some  interval  of  time.  In  the  open 
sea  the  time  of  high  water  is,  in  general,  from  two  to  three 
hours  after  the  moon's  transit  over  the  meridian  either 
above  or  below  the  horizon.  The  tidal  wave,  it  is  to  be 
observed,  is  entirely  different  from  a  current :  the  particles 
of  water  merely  rise  and  fall ;  but  except  when  the  wave 
passes  over  shadows,  or  approaches  the  shore,  there  is  little 
or  no  progressive  motion. 

The  waters  of  the  ocean  are  affected  in  a  similar  manner 
by  the  action  of  the  sun,  under  the  influence  of  which  they 
have  a  tendency  to  assume  at  every  instant  the  form  of  an 
elongated  spheroid;  but  although  the  attractive  force  of 
the  sun  is  immensely  greater  than  tbat  of  the  moon,  yet, 
by  reason  of  the  greater  distance  of  the  sun,  the  difference 
of  the  effect  on  particles  situated  on  opposite  sides  of  the 
earth  (on  which  difference  the  phenomena  depend)  is  very 
much  less.  The  solar  tides  are  therefore  comparatively 
small  with  respect  to  the  lunar  tides,  and,  in  fact,  are  never 
perceived  as  distinct  phenomena,  but  become  sensible  only 
from  the  modifications  which  they  produce  in  the  heights 
and  times  of  those  which  primarily  depend  on  the  moon. 
At  the  syzygies,  when  the  sun  and  moon  come  to  the  merid- 
ian together,  the  tides  are,  ceteris  paribus,  the  lushest ;  at 
the  quadratures,  or  when  the  sun  and  moon  are  90°  distant, 
the  tides  arc  least.  The  former  are  called  spring-  tides,  the 
latter  neap  tides.  Although  we  are  not  in  possession  of 
data  to  enable  us  to  compute  the  exact  height  either  of 
the  spring  or  neap  tides,  yet  their  relative  heights  in  the 
open  ocean  probably  correspond  very  nearly  to  the  ellipti- 
cities  of  the  spheroids  of  equilibrium  that  would  be  formed 
under  the  action  of  the  two  bodies  exerted  separately. 
Now  the  ellipticity  of  the  aqueous  spheroid  formed  by  the 
moon's  action  is  "about  five  feet,  and  the  ellipticity  of  that 
formed  by  the  sun's  action  about  two  feet ;  therefore,  the 
spring  and  neap  tides  being  the  sum  and  difference  of  the 
separate  effects,  the  average  spring  tide  will  be  to  the  aver- 
age neap  in  the  ratio  of  about  7  to  3.     See  Gravitation. 

By  reason  of  the  ellipticity  of  the  orbits,  the  distances  of 
the  sun  and  moon  from  the  earth  are  continually  changing ; 
and  the  theory  of  attraction  proves  that  the  efficacy  of 
either  body  in  disturbing  the  waters  of  the  ocean  is  inversely 
proportional  to  the  cube  of  its  distance.  Hence  it  is  found 
that  if  the  mean  efficacy  of  the  sun  be  represented  by  20, 
the  influence  of  the  sun's  action  will  vary  between  the  ex- 
tremes of  10  and  21,  and  that  of  the  moon's  between  43  and 
59.  The  highest  spring  tide  will  therefore  be  to  the  lowest 
neap  as  59  -f  21  to  43  — 19 ;  that  is,  as  80  to  24,  or  as  1 0  to  3. 

Anotber  effect  of  the  solar  action  is  observed  in  the  times 
at  which  high  water  takes  place  from  day  to  day.  In  the 
spring  and  neap  tides  the  time  of  high  water  is  not  altered 
by  the  sun's  action,  the  solar  and  lunar  tides  being  synchro- 
nous in  the  former  case,  and  the  time  of  actual  low  water 
being  that  of  solar  high  water  in  the  latter ;  but  in  the  in- 

1245 


TIDES. 


termediate  tides  the  time  of  actual  high  water  is  accelerated 
or  retarded.  In  the  first  and  third  quarters  of  the  moon, 
the  solar  wave  is  to  the  westward  of  the  lunar  one  ;  and 
consequently  the  observed  tide,  which  is  the  result  of  the 
combination  of  the  two  waves,  will  be  to  the  westward  of 
the  place  it  would  occupy  If  the  moon  acted  alone,  and  the 
time  of  high  water  will  therefore  be  accelerated.  In  the 
second  and  fourth  quarters,  the  general  effect  of  the  sun  is 
to  produce,  Cor  a  like  reason,  a  retardation  in  the  time  of 
high  water.  This  result  of  the  combined  action  of  the  two 
attracting  bodies  is  what  is  usually  termed  the  priming  and 
lagging  of  the  tides,  and  it  is  most  remarkable  about  the 
time  of  new  and  full  moon. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  the  effect  now  de- 
scribed is  modified  to  some  extent  by  the  inertia  of  the 
water.  The  greatest  and  least  tides  do  not  happen  exactly 
at  the  times  of  new  and  full  moon ;  but  at  least  two,  and 
commonly  three  tides  alter,  oven  at  places  directly  exposed 
to  the  general  tide  of  the  ocean.  In  consequence  of  the 
greater  amount  of  impressed  force,  the  acceleration  of  the 
lunar  tide  is  greater  than  that  of  the  solar;  whence  it  may 
happen  that  when  the  lunar  tide  occurs  two  or  three  hours 
after  the  transit  of  the  moon,  the  solar  tide  may  be  three 
or  four  hours  after  that  of  the  sun,  so  as  to  be  about  an 
hour  later  at  the  times  of  conjunction  and  opposition.  The 
highest  spring  tides  will  thus  occur  when  the  moon  passes 
the  meridian  about  an  hour  after  the  sun  ;  while  at  the  pre- 
cise time  of  new  and  full  moon  the  lunar  tide  will  be  re- 
tarded about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  by  the  solar  tide.  But 
the  time  of  high  water  does  not  follow  the  moon's  transit 
at  the  same  interval  at  every  period  of  the  lunation.  When 
the  sun  and  moon  are  in  conjunction,  the  interval  is  called 
the  mean  interval;  at  other  periods  of  the  lunation  the 
lunitidal  interval  is  sometimes  greater  and  sometimes  less 
than  the  mean,  and  the  difference  is  called  the  half-monthly 
or  semimenstrual  inequality. 

The  apparent  time  of  high  water  at  any  port,  in  the  af- 
ternoon of  the  day  of  new  or  full  moon,  is  what  is  usually 
called  the  establishment  of  the  port.  Mr.  Whewell  calls  this 
the  vulgar  establishment,  and  the  mean  of  all  the  intervals 
of  tide  and  transit  for  a  half  lunation  he  terms  the  correct- 
ed establishment.  This  corrected  establishment  is  conse- 
quently the  lunitidal  interval  corresponding  to  the  day  on 
which  the  moon  passes  the  meridian  exactly  at  noon  or 
midnight. 

The  two  tides  immediately  following  one  another,  or  the 
tides  of  the  day  and  night,  vary,  both  in  height  and  time  of 
high  water,  at  any  particular  place  with  the  distance  of  the 
sun  and  moon  from  the  equator.  As  the  vertex  of  the  tide 
wave  always  tends  to  place  itself  vertically  under  the  lu- 
minary which  produces  it,  it  is  evident  that,  of  two  consec- 
utive tides,  that  which  happens  when  the  moon  is  nearest 
the  zenith  or  nadir  will  be  greater  than  the  other ;  and  con- 
sequently, when  the  moon's  declination  is  of  the  same  de- 
nomination as  the  latitude  of  the  place,  the  tide  which  cor- 
responds to  the  upper  transit  will  be  greater  than  the  oppo- 
site one,  and  vice  versa,  the  differences  being  greatest  when 
the  sun  and  moon  are  in  opposition,  and  in  opposite  trop- 
ics. This  is  called  the  diurnal  inequality,  because  its  cycle 
is  one  day ;  but  it  varies  greatly  at  different  places,  and  its 
laws,  which  appear  to  be  governed  by  local  circumstances, 
are  very  imperfectly  known. 

We  have  now  described  the  principal  phenomena  that 
would  take  place  were  the  earth  a  sphere,  and  covered  en- 
tirely with  a  fluid  of  uniform  depth.  But  the  actual  phe- 
nomena of  the  tides  are  infinitely  more  complicated.  From 
the  interruption  of  the  land,  and  the  irregular  form  and 
depth  of  the  ocean,  combined  with  many  other  disturbing 
circumstances,  among  which  are  the  inertia  of  the  waters, 
the  friction  on  the  bottom  and  sides,  the  narrowness  and 
length  of  the  channels,  the  action  of  the  wind,  currents, 
difference  of  atmospheric  pressure,  &c.  &c,  great  variation 
takes  place  in  the  mean  times  and  height  of  high  water  at 
places  differently  situated;  ami  the  inequalities  above  allu- 
ded to,  as  depending  on  the  parallax  of  the  moon,  her  posi- 
tion with  respect  to  the  sun,  and  the  declination  of  the  two 
bodies,  are,  in  many  cases,  altogether  obliterated  by  the  el' 
fects  of  thi'  disturbing  influences,  or  can  only  be  detected  by 
the  calculation  and  comparison  of  long  series  of  observa- 
tions. 

By  reason  of  these  disturbing  causes,  it  heroines  a  matter 
of  great  difficulty  to  trace  the  propagation  of  the  tide  wave, 
and  the  connexion  of  the  tides  in  different  parts  of  the 
world.  In  the  Philosophical  Transactions  for  1832,  Sir 
John  Lubbock  published  a  map  of  the  world,  in  which  he 
Inserted  the  times  of  high  water  at  new  and  full  moon  at  a 
great  number  of  places  on  the  globe,  collected  from  various 
sources,  as  works  on  navigation,  voyages,  sailing  directions, 
&c. ;  and  in  order  that  the  march  of  the  tide  wave  might 
be  traced  more  readily,  the  times  were  expressed  in  Green- 
wich time  as  well  as  the  time  of  the  place.  In  the  same 
Transactions  for  1SS33,  Mr.  Whewell  prosecuted  this  sub- 
1240 


ject  at  greater  length  ;  and  availing  himself  of  a  priori  con- 
siderations, as  well  as  of  a  mass  of  information  c 
in  the  Hydrographer'S  Office  at  the  Admiralty,  inserted  in 
the  map  a  series  of  cotidal  lines,  or  lines  along  which  high 
water  takes  place  at  the  same  instant  of  time.  But  these 
cotidal  lines,  as  Sir  J.  Lubbock  remarks,  are  entirely  hypo- 
thetical ;  for  we  have  few  opportunities  of  determining  the 
time  of  high  water  at  a  distance  from  the  coast,  though  this 
is  somi  times  possible  by  means  of  a  solitary  island,  as  St. 
Helena.  {Lubbock's  Elementary  Treatise  en  tie  Tides,183Q.) 

According  to  Mr.  WheweU's  deductions,  the  general  prog- 
ress of  the  great  tide  wave  may  be  thus  described :  It  is 
only  in  the  Southern  Ocean,  between  the  latitudes  of  30 
and  70  degrees,  that  a  zone  of  water  exists  of  sufficient  ex- 
tent to  allow  of  the  tide  wave  being  formed.  Suppose, 
then,  a  line  of  contemporary  tides,  or  cotidal  line,  to  he 
formed  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  as  the  theory  supposes,  that  is 
to  say,  in  the  direction  of  the  meridian,  and  at  a  certain 
distance  to  the  eastward  of  the  meridian  in  which  the  moon 
is.  As  this  tide  wave  passes  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  it 
sends  oft"  a  derivative  undulation,  which  advances  north- 
ward up  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  preserving  always  a  certain 
proportion  of  its  original  magnitude  and  velocity.  In  trav- 
elling along  this  ocean  the  wave  assumes  a  curved  form, 
the  convex  part  keeping  near  the  middle  of  the  ocean,  and 
ahead  of  the  branches,  which,  owing  to  the  shallower  water, 
lag  behind  on  the  American  and  African  coasts  ;  so  that 
the  cotidal  lines  have  always  a  tendency  to  make  very 
oblique  angles  with  the  shore,  and,  in  fact,  run  nearly  par- 
allel to  it  for  great  distances.  The  main  tide,  Mr.  Whewell 
conceives,  after  reaching  the  Orkneys,  will  move  forward 
in  the  sea  bounded  by  the  shores  of  Norway  and  Siberia 
on  the  one  side,  and  those  of  Greenland  and  America  on 
the  other,  will  pass  the  pole  of  the  earth,  and  finally  end 
its  course  on  the  shores  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Behring's 
Straits.  It  may  even  propagate  its  influence  through  the 
straits,  and  modify  the  tides  of  the  North  Pacific.  But  a 
branch  tide  is  sent  off  from  this  main  tide  into  the  German 
Ocean;  and  this,  entering  between  the  Orkneys  and  the 
coast  of  Norway,  brings  the  tide  to  the  east  coast  of  Eng- 
land, and  to  the  coasts  of  Holland,  Denmark,  and  Germa- 
ny. Continuing  its  course,  part  of  it,  at  least,  passes  through 
the  strait  of  Dover,  and  meets  in  tiie  British  Channel  the 
tide  from  the  Atlantic,  which  arrives  on  the  coast  of  Eu- 
rope twelve  hours  later;  but  in  passing  along  the  English 
coast,  another  part  of  it  is  reflected  from  the  projecting  land 
of  Norfolk  upon  the  north  coast  of  Germany,  and  again 
meets  the  tide  wave  on  the  shores  of  Denmark.  Owing  to 
this  interference  of  different  tide  waves,  the  tides  are  almost 
entirely  obliterated  on  the  coast  of  Jutland,  where  their 
place  is  supplied  by  continual  high  water. 

In  the  Pacific  Ocean  the  tides  are  very  small ;  but  there 
are  not  sufficient  observations  to  determine  the  forms  and 
progress  of  the  cotidal  lines.  Oil' Cape  Horn,  and  round 
the  whole  shore  of  Terra  del  Fuego,  from  the  western  ex- 
tremity of  the  Strait  of  Magalhaens  to  Staten  Island,  it  is 
very  remarkable  that  the  tidal  wave,  instead  of  following 
the  moon  in  its  diurnal  course,  travels  to  the  eastward. 
This,  however,  is  a  partial  phenomenon:  and  a  little  far- 
ther to  the  north  of  the  hist  named  places,  the  tides  set 
to  the  north  and  west.  In  the  Mediterranean  and  Baltic 
seas  the  tides  are  inconsiderable,  hut  exhibit  irregularities 
for  which  it  is  difficult  to  account.  The  Indian  Ocean  ap- 
pears to  have  high  water  on  all  sides  at  once,  though  not 
in  the  central  parts  at  the  same  time. 

Since  the  tides  on  our  coasts  are  derived  from  the  oscilla- 
tions produced  under  the  direct  agency  of  the  sun  and 
moon  in  the  Southern  Ocean,  and  require  a  certain  interval 
of  time  for  their  transfer,  it  follows  that,  in  general,  the 
tide  is  not  due  to  the  moon's  transit  immediately  preceding, 
but  is  regulated  by  the  position  which  the  sun  and  moon 
had  when  they  determined  the  primary  tide.  The  time 
elapsed  between  the  original  formation  of  the  tide  and  its 
appearance  at  any  place  is  called  the  age.  of  the  tide,  and 
sometimes,  after  Bernoulli,  the  retard.  On  the  shores  of 
Spain  .and  North  America  the  tide  is  a  day  and  a  half  old; 

in  the  port  of  I. Ion,  it  appears  to  be  two  days  and  a  half 

old  when  it  arrives. 

I', /uriin  of  the  Title  Wave. — In  the  open  ocean  the  crest 
of  the  tide  travels  with  enormous  velocity.  If  the  whole 
surface  were  Uniformly  covered  with  water,  the  summit  of 

the  tide  wave,  being  mainly  governed  by  the  moon,  would 

everywhere  follow  the  moon's  transit  at  the  same  interval 
of  time,  and  consequently  travel  round  the  earth  in  a  little 
more  than  24  hours.  But  the  circumference  of  the  earth 
at  the  equator  being  about  25,000  miles,  the  velocity  of  prop- 
agation would  therefore  be  about  HUM)  miles  per  hour.  The 
actual   Velocity  is  perhaps   nowhere  equal    to  this,  and    is 

very  different  at  different  places,  in  latitude  (10°  south, 
where  there  is  no  interruption  from  land  (excepting  the 
narrow  promontory  of  Patagonia),  the  tide  wave  will  com- 
plete a  revolution  in  a  lunar  day,  and  consequently  travel 


TIDES. 


at  the  rate  of  670  miles  an  hour.  On  examining  Mr.  Whe- 
well's  map  of  cotidal  lines,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  great 
tide  wave  from  the  Southern  Ocean  travels  from  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  to  the  Azores  in  about  12  hours,  and  from 
the  Azores  to  the  southernmost  point  of  Ireland  in  3  hours 
more.  In  the  Atlantic  the  hourly  velocity  in  some  cases 
appears  to  be  10°  of  latitude,  or  near  700  miles,  which  is 
almost  equal  to  the  velocity  of  sound  through  the  air. 
From  the  south  point  of  Ireland  to  the  north  point  of  Scot- 
land the  time  is  8  hours,  and  the  velocity  about  160  miles 
an  hour  along  the  shore.  On  the  eastern  coast  of  Britain, 
and  in  shallower  water,  the  velocity  is  less.  From  Bu- 
channess  to  Sunderland  it  is  about  60  miles  an  hour  ;  from 
Scarborough  to  Cromer,  35  miles  ;  from  the  North  Foreland 
to  London,  30  miles;  from  London  to  Richmond,  13  miles 
an  hour  in  that  part  of  the  river.  (Whewell,  Phil.  Trans. 
1833  and  1836.)  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  remind  the 
reader  that  the  above  velocities  refer  to  the  transmission  of 
the  undulation,  and  are  entirely  different  from  the  velocity 
of  the  current  to  which  the  tide  wave  gives  rise  in  shallow 
water. 

Range  of  the  Tide. — The  difference  of  level  between 
high  and  low  water  is  affected  by  various  causes,  but  chief- 
ly by  the  configuration  of  the  land,  and  is  very  different  at 
different  places.  In  deepinbends  of  the  shore,  open  in  the 
direction  of  the  tide  wave,  and  gradually  contracting  like  a 
funnel,  the  convergence  of  lhe  water  causes  a  very  great 
increase  of  the  range.  Hence  the  very  high  tides  in  the 
Bristol  Channel,  the  Bay  of  St.  Malo,  and  the  Bay  of  Fun- 
dy,  where  the  tide  is  said  to  rise  sometimes  to  the  height  of 
100  feet.  Promontories,  under  certain  circumstances,  exert 
an  opposite  influence,  and  diminish  the  magnitude  of  the 
tide.  The  observed  ranges  are  also  very  anomalous.  At 
certain  places  on  the  southeast  coast  of  Ireland  the  range 
is  not  more  than  3  feet,  while  at  a  little  distance  on  each 
Bide  it  becomes  12  or  13  feet;  and  it  is  remarkable  that 
these  low  tides  occur  directly  opposite  to  the  Bristol  Chan- 
nel, where  (at  Chepstow)  the  difference  between  high  and 
low  water  amounts  to  60  feet.  In  the  middle  of  the  Pacific 
it  amounts  only  to  2  or  3  feet.  At  the  London  Docks  the 
average  range  is  about  22  feet;  at  Liverpool,  15'5  feet:  at 
Portsmouth,  12-5  feet ;  at  Plymouth,  also  12-5  feet;  at  Bris- 
tol, 33  feet. 

Theory  of  the  Tides.— The  theory  of  the  tides,  consider- 
ed as  a  consequence  of  solar  and  lunar  attraction,  was  first 
sketched  by  Newton  in  the  Principia.  In  the  36th  and  37th 
propositions  of  the  third  book,  he  determines  the  forces 
of  the  sun  and  moon  to  elevate  the  waters  of  the  ocean,  on 
the  supposition  that  the  sea  is  a  fluid  of  the  same  density 
as  the  earth,  covering  the  whole  terrestrial  surface,  and 
which  takes  at  every  instant  the  figure  of  equilibrium.  He 
assumes,  without  demonstration.that  this  figure  is  an  elonga- 
ted spheroid.  One  spheroid  he  supposes  to  be  formed  under 
the  action  of  the  sun,  another  under  the  action  of  the  moon  ; 
and  by  reason  of  the  smallness  of  their  eccentricities  they 
may  be  conceived  as  superposed  the  one  on  the  other.  From 
these  suppositions  he  deduced  the  general  phenomena  of  the 
ebb  and  flow  of  the  sea  ;  and  by  comparing  his  theory  with 
observations  of  the  heights  of  the  spring  tides  made  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Avon,  near  Bristol,  he  determined  the  ratio  of 
the  attraction  of  the  moon  to  that  of  the  sun  to  be  nearly  4.48 
to  1 ;  whence  he  deduced  the  mass  of  the  earth  to  be  to  that 
of  the  moon  as  39-788  to  1,  the  density  of  the  sun  to  that  of 
the  earth  as  1  to  4,  and  the  density  of  the  moon  to  that  of  the 
earth  as  11  to  9.  Newton's  theory  was  defective  in  many 
points  of  view,  but  fifty  years  elapsed  before  it  received 
/any  improvement.  In  1738,  the  subject  of  the  tides  was 
proposed  as  a  prize  question  by  the  French  Academy  of 
Sciences,  which  gave  occasion  to  the  celebrated  treatises  of 
Daniel  Bernoulli,  Maclaurin,  and  Euler.  Maclaurin's  Es- 
say is  remarkable,  as  containing  a  demonstration  of  the 
theorem  assumed  by  Newton,  that  the  elliptic  spheroid  af- 
fords an  equilibrium  under  the  action  of  the  disturbing 
forces:  those  of  Bernoulli  and  Euler,  though  they  fur- 
nish no  new  principle  of  eqvial  or  similar  importance 
in  point  of  theory,  enter  more  into  details,  and  contain 
many  useful  illustrations.  That  of  Bernoulli,  indeed,  con- 
tains a  table  which  has  served  as  the  model  for  all  those 
(not  purely  empirical)  which  have  since  been  formed.  The 
next  important  step  in  the  theory  of  the  tides  was  taken  by 
Laplace,  who  first  treated  the  subject  as  a  general  question 
of  hydrodynamics,  and  attempted  to  deduce  the  principal 
phenomena  from  the  equations  of  the  motions  of  fluids. 
But  in  order  to  simplify  the  equations,  which  are  of  a  very 
complicated  nature,  he  was  forced  to  have  recourse  to  the 
hypothesis  of  a  fluid  covering  entirely  a  spheroid  of  a  regu- 
lar surface,  and  consequently  the  results  were  far  from  rep- 
resenting the  actual  observations  of  the  tides  at  any  port. 
The  late  Dr.  Thomas  Young  (Ency.  Brit.,  art.  "Tides") 
extended  Laplace's  method  to  the  more  general  case  of  an 
ocean  covering  a  part  only  of  the  earth's  surface,  and  more 
or  less  irregular  in  its  form  ;  and  attempted  also  to  include 


in  his  calculation  the  effects  of  hydraulic  friction  on  the 
times  and  magnitudes  of  the  tides.  It  is,  however,  quite 
impossible  to  embrace  in  any  calculation  the  whole  of  the 
accessory  circumstances  which  influence  the  times  and 
magnitudes  of  the  tides,  the  greater  part  of  which  are,  in 
fact,  entirely  unknown ;  and  therefore,  says  Laplace,  all 
we  can  do  is  to  analyze  the  general  phenomena  which 
should  result  from  the  joint  action  of  the  sun  and  moon, 
and  deduce  from  observations  the  data  which  are  indispen- 
sable for  completing  the  theory  of  the  tides  for  each  partic- 
ular port. 

A  great  number  of  observations  of  the  tides  at  the  port 
of  Brest,  during  the  last  century,  were  discussed  by  La- 
place in  the  Mecanique  Celeste;  but  in  order  to  determine 
the  motion  of  the  tide  wave,  and  separate  the  general  laws 
of  the  phenomena  from  local  irregularities,  it  is  necessary 
to  have  regular  series  of  observations  made  at  different 
parts  of  the  ocean.  Until  very  recently  the  theory  may  be 
said  to  have  been  in  advance  of  the  observations ;  but  of 
late  years  the  subject  has  received  great  attention,  and  at 
the  present  time  a  more  perfect  theory  of  hydrodynamics 
appears  to  he  necessary  for  the  physical  explanation  of  the 
phenomena.  In  1829,  Sir  John  Lubbock  undertook  the 
discussion  of  the  tide  observations  which  are  made  at  the 
London  Docks,  with  the  view  of  obtaining  correct  tables 
for  predicting  the  time  and  height  of  the  tides  for  the  Brit- 
ish Almanac.  The  results,  which  were  published  in  the 
Philosophical  Transactions  for  1831,  are  deduced  from  a 
series  of  upwards  of  13,000  observations,  during  a  period  of 
nineteen  years,  and  are  of  great  importance,  both  as  afford- 
ing materials  for  the  construction  of  tide  tables,  and  as 
pointing  out  the  defects  of  the  equilibrium  theory,  with 
which  they  were  accurately  compared.  In  some  of  the 
subsequent  volumes  of  the  Transactions'  the  author  has 
continued  his  investigations,  and  has  also  published,  separ- 
ately, an  account  of  Bernoulli's  Traite  sur  le  Flux  et  Re- 
flux, and  an  elementary  treatise,  which  appeared  in  1839.  In 
the  Phil.  Trans,  for  1833,  Mr.  Whewell  gave  an  Essay  to- 
wards a  flrst  Approximation  to  a  Map  of  Cotidal  Lines, 
which  has  been  followed  by  a  series  of  interesting  papers 
in  the  subsequent  volumes  to  the  present  time  (1842).  Mr. 
WheweH's  researches  have  been  chiefly  directed  to  the  de- 
termination  of  the  following  points:  First,  the  motion  of 
the  tide  wave  at  different  parts  of  the  ocean  ;  secondly,  the 
comparison  of  the  observed  laws  at  different  places  with 
theory  ;  and,  lastly,  the  laws  of  the  diurnal  inequality.  In 
1834,  the  British  Association  procured  an  extensive  series 
of  observations  to  be  made  on  the  coasts  of  Britain  and 
Ireland  at  537  stations  of  the  coast-guard.  These  were  re- 
peated at  the  same  places  in  June,  1835  ;  and,  at  the  request 
of  our  government,  simultaneous  observations  were  made 
by  the  other  maritime  powers  of  Europe  and  the  United 
States.  The  number  of  stations  in  America  was  28,  ex- 
tending from  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  to  Nova  Scotia; 
and  the  number  on  the  continent  of  Europe  101,  between 
the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  and  the  North  Cape  of  Norway. 
The  results  of  these  observations,  reduced  under  Mr.  Whe- 
well's  superintendence,  were  published  in  the  Phil.  Trans. 
for  1836 ;  and  they  are  of  great  importance,  not  only  as  af- 
fording a  far  more  precise  determination  of  the  progress  of 
the  tide  wave  and  the  forms  of  the  cotidal  line  on  the 
coasts  of  Europe  and  North  America  than  previously  exist- 
ed, but  as  furnishing  more  correct  data  for  the  construction 
of  the  tide  tables. 

Influence  of  Atmospheric  Pressure  and  Winds. — Besides 
the  numerous  causes  of  irregularity  depending  on  the  local 
circiunstances,  the  tides  are  also  affected  by  the  state  of  the 
atmosphere.  At  Brest,  the  height  of  high  water  varies  in- 
versely as  the  height  of  the  barometer,  and  rises  more  than 
eight  inches  for  a  fall  of  about  half  an  inch  of  the  barome- 
ter. At  Liverpool,  a  fall  of  one  tenth  of  an  inch  in  the 
barometer  corresponds  to  a  rise  in  the  river  Mersey  of  about 
an  inch ;  and  at  the  London  Docks,  a  fall  of  one  tenth  of 
an  inch  corresponds  to  a  rise  in  the  Thames  of  about  seven 
tenths  of  an  inch.  With  a  low  barometer,  the  tides  may 
therefore  be  expected  to  be  high,  and  vice  versa.  The  tide 
is  also  liable  to  be  disturbed  by  winds.  Sir  J.  Lubbock 
states  that,  in  the  violent  hurricane  of  Jan.  8,  1839,  "  there 
was  no  tide  at  Gainsborough,  which  is  twenty-five  miles  up 
the  Trent — a  circumstance  unknown  before.  At  Saltmarsh, 
only  five  miles  up  the  Ouse  from  the  Humber,  the  tide 
went  on  ebbing,  and  never  flowed  till  the  river  was  dry  in 
some  places  ;  while  at  Ostend,  towards  which  the  wind 
was  blowing,  contrary  effects  were  observed.  During  strong 
northwesterly  gales  the  tide  marks  high  water  earlier  in 
the  Thames  than  otherwise,  and  does  not  give  so  much 
water,  whilst  the  ebb  tide  runs  out  late,  and  marks  lower  ; 
but  upon  the  gales  abating  and  the  weather  moderating, 
the  tides  put  in,  and  rise  much  higher  ;  whilst  they  also 
run  longer  before  high  water  is  marked,  and  with  more  ve- 
locity of  current;  nor  do  they  run  out  so  ling  or  so  low.* 
{Elementary  Treatise  on  the  Tides.) 

1247 


TIDE  GAUGE. 

TIDE  GAUGE.    A  mechanical  contrivance  for  rrcistcr- 
Ing  the  siait;  of  the  tide  continuously  at  every  instant  of 
i  the  Phil.  Trans,  foi  1838,  there  is  a  description 
of  a  very  complete  self-registering  machine  for  this  purpose, 
erected  al  Bristol  bj    Mr.  Bunt    The  principal  parts  .-ire  an 
eight-day  cluck,  which  turns  a  vertical  cylinder  revolving 
twenty-four  hours;  a  wheel,  t'>  which  an  alternate 
motion  is  communicated  bj  a  floal  rising  and  tailing  with 
innected  with  the  wheel  by  a  wire  passing 
over  a  pulley,  and  kepi  constantly  strained  by  a  counter- 
id  a  small  drum  on  the  same  axis  with  the  wheel, 
Which,  bj  a  suspending  n  ire,  communicates  one  eighteenth 

(■!'  the  vertical  motion  of  the  float  to  a  liar  carrying  a  pen- 
cil, which  describes  a  curve  on  the  cylinder,  anil  thereby 
marks  the  fluctuations  and  the  time  and  height  of  high  wa- 
ter. Various  tide  gauges,  on  similar  principles,  have  been 
constructed  bj  others,  particularly  by  Captain  Lloyd,  Mr. 
Mitchell,  and  Mr.  Palmer.  (See  the  jYautical  Magazine 
for  October,  1832.) 

TIE.  In  Architecture,  a  piece  of  timber  or  metal  placed 
ia  tiny  direction,  whose  office  is  to  bind  two  bodies  together 

which  have  a  tendency  to  separate  or  diverge.    See  door. 

Tie.    In  Music,  a  characters — \used  in  ancient  music 

to  connect  syncopated  notes,  which  were  divided  by  a  bar ; 

thus 

TIER.  A  row  or  range  of  {runs,  casks,  &c.  Also  the 
place  on  the  orlop  deck  on  which  the  cables  are  stowed. 

TIERCE.  In  Heraldry,  a  term  used  for  the  field  when 
divided  into  three  parts. 

TIERS  E'TAT.  The  third  branch,  or  commonalty,  in 
the  French  estates.  The  origin  and  meaning  of  the  word 
are  illustrated  by  M.  (Jautier.  {.Mum.  dr.  /'Mead,  des  Inscr., 
vol.  xwvii.)  The  important  part  which  the  representation 
of  the  tiers  e  tat  played  at  the  commencement  of  the  French 
revolution  is  known  to  all.  Previously  to  the  great  French 
revolution,  the  French  were  divided  into  three  distinct 
classes,  the  nobles,  the  clergy,  and  the  commonalty,  form- 
ing, ia  their  united  capacity,  the  states  general  of  the  king- 
dom; and  their  deliberations  were  separately  conducted  bj 
individual  vote  in  different  chambers,  in  which  the  three 
above  mentioned  respectively  assembled.  They 
then  met  in  common  to  deliberate  together,  and  vote  col- 
lectively. Now,  as  the  number  of  the  deputies  was  nearly 
equal  in  each  order,  the  result  of  the  votes  taken  collect- 
ivelj  was  always  necessarily  favourable  to  the  privileged 
orders.  Hence  it  was  loudly  demanded  that  the  number  of 
thc>  third  or  tiers  estate  should  be  doubled,  and  the  definitive 
resolutions  decided  by  individual  instead  of  collective  votes. 
Every  one  knows  that  it  was  owing  to  the  refusal  of  the  no- 
bles and  the  clergy  to  comply  with  this  demand  that  the  cri- 
sis of  the  French  revolution  was  accelerated;  and  to  the 
consummation  of  this  event  a  celebrated  pamphlet  of  Sit-yes, 
entitled  Qu'est  ce  que  le  Tiers  Etat,  in  a  great  degree  eon- 
I.    See  Assembly. 

TI'GER.  A  species  of  the  genus  Felis,  as  large  as  the 
lion,  but  with  a  rounder  head  and  longer  body ;  of  a  bright 
reddish  fawn  colour  above,  a  pure  white  below,  irregularly 
.  ith  black  stripes.  It  is  clothed  u  ith  short  hairs,  and 
has  no  mane.  The  tiger  is  the  most  formidable  and  cruel  of 
all  quadrupeds,  and  the  scourge  of  the  less  inhabited  parts 
of  India.     It  is  limited  to  the  Asiatic  continent.     .See  Felis. 

TIGHT.    The  Sea  term  for  the  opposite  of  leaky. 

TILIACE/E  (Tilia,  the  linden  or  lime  tree),  form  a  nat- 
ural order  of  Exogenous  plants,  very  nearly  allied  to  the 
■is  order,  from  w  hich   they  differ  in  the  stamens 

tinct  lii  useful  qualities  they  resemble  thai  order, 
the  bark  being  tough,  their  sap  mucilaginous,  and  their  tim- 
ber light.  Russia  mats  are  made  from  the  lough  inner  bark 
Of  the  common  lime-tree:  and  a  species  of  Corchorus,  called 
in  India  as  a  potherb.  A  few-  have 
gay  flowers,  but  the  majority  are  plants  of  little  interest. 


TIMBER. 

TI'LLAGE  LANDS.  Lands  kept  under  the  plough, 
that  is,  cropped  with  annual  or  biennial  plants,  which  re- 
quire  a  continual  Change  of  the  surface  soil  by  stirrinu  and 

turning  with  the  plough  or  other  agricultural  implements, 

and  by  the  addition  of  manure.  The  tillage  plants  of  Brit- 
ain and  of  analogous  climates  are  chiefly  the  bread  corn; 
leguminous  or  pea-flowered  plants,  such  as  the  bean,  pea, 
tares,  clover,  SEC.;  plants  cultivated  for  their  roots  or  tu- 
bers, such  as  the  tin  nip.  carrot,  potato,  &c. ;  or  plants  culti- 
vated for  their  seeds,  such  as  mustard,  rape;  or  for  the 
entire  plant,  such  as  wood,  flax,  hemp,  and  a  variety  of 
others. 

TILLER.  In  Naval  language,  the  bar  placed  in  the 
head  of  the  rudder  to  turn  it. 

Tl'LMUS.  ((.'r.  tiAAw,  1  pluck.)  Picking  of  the  bed- 
clothes, or  (ioccitation  ;  a  symptom  of  the  fatal  termina- 
tion of  some  disorders. 

TIMBER.  In  Carpentry,  a  word  used  to  denote  those 
pieces  of  wood  that  admit  of  being  squared,  or  are  capa- 
ble of  being  employed  in  house  and  ship-building. 

A  considerable  portion  of  the  timber  (oak)  used  in  ship- 
building, and  in  the  construction  of  machinery,  is  of  I u-- 

growth  :  but  the  greater  portion  of  the  timber  (fir)  used  in 
house  carpentry,  and  in  the  making  of  furniture,  &c,  is 
imported  either  from  our  colonial  possessions  or  from  for- 
eign countries. 

The  trade  in  timber  is  one  of  great  extent  and  importance. 
In  fact,  if  there  be  one  article  more  than  another  with 
which  it  is  of  paramount  importance  that  a  great  maritime 
and  manufacturing  nation  like  England  should  be  abundant- 
ly supplied  on  the  lowest  possible  terms,  that  article  is  tim- 
ber. But  of  late  years  this  sound  principle  has  been  most 
materially  interfered  with,  partly  lor  the  sake  of  revenue, 
and  partly  to  force  a  trade  with  our  North  American  colo- 
nies. This  forcing  system  has  been  carried  to  such  an  ex- 
treme extent,  that  from  1831  down  to  the  present  year 
(1842),  a  duty  of  55s.  a  load  has  been  laid  on  foreign  timber, 
or  timber  from  the  N.  of  Europe,  whereas  timber  from  Brit- 
ish America  has  been  admitted  at  a  duty  of  Bis.  a  load,  ma- 
king a  discriminating  or  differentia]  duty  of  no  less  than  45s.  a 
load  in  favour  of  the  latter  !  Such  a  preference  would,  un- 
der any  circumstances,  be  most  injurious  :  but  it  has  been 
especially  so  from  the  fact  of  the  timber  of  our  North 
American  possessions  being,  speaking  generally,  of  very  in- 
ferior quality;  so  that  the  practical  operation  ot  the  system 
has  been  to  compel  the  British  public  to  pay  a  comparative- 
ly high  price  for  a  comparatively  worthless  article.  We  are 
glad,  however,  to  be  able  to  state  that  this  pernicious  sys- 
tem has  recently  been  very  materially  modified;  and  that, 
under  the  tariff  introduced  by  Sir  Robert  Peel,  the  duty  on 
foreign  timber  is  to  be  immediately  reduced  to  30s.  a  load, 
and  that  in  184!!  it  is  to  be  reduced  to  25s.,  while  the  duty 
on  limber  from  British  America  is  to  be  reduced  to  Is.  the 
load.  This  reduces  the  differential  duly  or  bounty  in  favour 
of  Canadian  timber  from  45s.  to  "24.*.  and  is,  in  so  far,  a  mate- 
rial improvement.  But  there  neither  is  nor  can  be  any 
good  reason  why  the  differential  duty  should  not  bo  still  far- 
ther reduced,  or  rather  why  it  should  not  be  altogether  abol- 
ished. The  better  plan  would  have  been  to  have  made  the 
reduction  only  in  foreign  timber,  and  to  have  kept  the  duty 
on  Canadian  timber  at  its  old  level.  Had  this  been  done, 
the  loss  to  the  revenue  would  not  have  been  nearly  so  great 
as  it  will  be,  at  the  same  time  that  the  differential  duty  in 
favour  of  colonial  timber  would  have  been  reduced  to  las. 
a  load,  which,  though  an  impolitic,  could  not  have  been 
called  an  oppressive  duty. 

The  consequence  of  this  forcing  system  has  been  that  of 
from  Had  to  450  cargoes  of  timber  annuallj  Imported  into 

the  United  Kingdom,  not  more  than  from  GO  to  100  are  from 

the  north  of  Europe.  But  under  the  new  system,  the  pro- 
portions will  be  materially  varied,  and  the  balance  of  impor- 
tation will  be  greatly  in  favour  of  of  the  north  of  Europe. 
We  subjoin, 


An  Account  of  the  Quantities  of  Timber  imported  in  1833  and  1839;  and  of  the  Quantities  retained  for  Home  Con- 
sumption, and  the  Nett  Amount  of  Duty  derived  therefrom  in  the  same  Two  Years. 


Batten  and  batten  ends      .        .        .       great  hhds. 

I  ends  " 

Masts  above  I'',  and  under  8  ins.  in  diameter    numb. 
8        "       12  "        . 

"  12  inches  and  upwards   •        .  " 

Oak  planks " 

great  hhds. 

Fir,  8  ins.  square  and  upwards  .        ■  loads 

Oak " 

(Jnenumerated " 

ll    loL'S " 


in  {i    I 


0(1,118 
86,64*! 

5,263 

50,752 
51,676 

'.Mil! 


. 


05 

1,306 

303 

121 

:;, 
i;876 


I-™. 


168 

1,072 

209 

320 

50 

1,579 

31(1 

1 


17/.40 
70,878 
10,969 

3.090 

1,393 
75,461 
36,155 


"P'ion. 

i  89. 


4,723 

3,1-''! 

51,336 
4,072 


i   3 


161,112 

622,261 

3.331 

2,635 

B,494 

46,766 
10,976 

12,353 


is.1fl 


i?i, sin 
631,839 

3,304 

13,863 

54,566 

550,999 

7  5. 1 -1 7 
12,961 
11,862 


TIMBERS. 

TIMBERS.  The  general  term  for  the  upright  pieces  of 
wood  in  a  ship's  frame. 

TIME.  In  Music,  that  affection  of  sound  whereby  short- 
ness or  length  is  denominated  as  regards  its  continuity  on 
the  same  degree  of  tune.  Time  may  be  considered  either 
with  respect  to  the  absolute  duration  of  the  notes  them- 
selves, measured  by  motion  foreign  to  music,  or  with  respect 
to  the  proportion  or  quantity  of  notes  compared  with  each 
other.  The  signs  or  characters  by  which  the  time  of  notes 
is  represented  are  given  under  the  article  Music. 

Time.  A  limited  portion  of  duration,  measured  by  certain 
conventional  or  natural  periods,  and  often  marked  by  par- 
ticular phenomena — as  the  revolution  of  the  celestial  bod- 
ies, more  especially  of  the  sun,  or  the  rotation  of  the  earth 
on  its  axis. 

Absolute  Time  is  time  considered  in  itself  without  refer- 
ence to  that  portion  of  duration  to  which  it  belongs,  howev- 
er noted  or  marked. 

Relative  Time  is  time  considered  with  reference  to  the 
termini  of  some  specific  interval  of  duration. 

Apparent  Time  is  time  deduced  from  observations  of  the 
sun,  and  is  the  same  as  that  shown  by  a  properly  adjusted 
sun-dial. 

Mean  Time  is  that  shown  by  a  well-regulated  clock ;  and 
would  be  the  same  as  that  shown  by  the  sun,  if  the  sun 
were  always  in  the  equator,  and  his  apparent  diurnal  mo- 
tion in  the  heavens  were  uniform. 

Sidereal  Time  is  the  portion  of  a  sidereal  day  which  has 
elapsed  since  the  transit  of  the  first  point  of  Aries.  It  rep- 
resents at  any  moment  the  right  ascension  of  whatever  ob- 
ject is  then  upon  the  meridian. 

Astronomical  Time  of  Day  is  the  time  past  mean  noon  of 
that  day,  and  is  reckoned  on  to  twenty-four  hours  in  mean 
time. 

Civil  Time  is  mean  time  adapted  to  the  purposes  of  civil 
life.  The  day  commences  at  the  midnight  preceding  the 
noon  of  the  day,  and  is  divided  into  parts  of  twelve  hours 
each,  the  first  twelve  marked  A.M.,  or  ante  meridiem,  and 
the  second  P.M.,  or  post  meridiem. 

TIMO'CRACY.  Gi.  TtnoKfarla.)  A  term  made  use  of 
by  .some  Greek  writers,  especially  Aristotle,  to  signify  a  pe- 
culiar form  of  constitution  ;  but  there  are  two  different  sen- 
ses in  which  it  is  thus  used,  corresponding  to  the  different 
meanings  of  the  word  Tiytn,  a  price  or  honour,  from  which 
it  is  derived.  According  to  the  first,  it  represents  a  state  in 
which  the  qualification  for  office  is  a  certain  amount  of 
property ;  in  the  latter  it  is  a  kind  of  mean  between  aris- 
tocracy and  oligarchy,  when  the  ruling  class,  who  are  still 
the  best  and  noblest  citizens,  struggle  for  pre-eminence 
among  themselves.     (See  Quart.  Rev.,  vol.  xlv.) 

TIN.  (Germ,  zinn.)  This  metal  was  known  to  the  an- 
cients, who  procured  it  from  Spain  and  Britain.  It  appears 
to  have  been  in  use  even  in  the  time  of  Moses.  (Numbers, 
xxxvi.,  22.)  It  is  rather  a  scarce  metal,  found  in  few  parts 
of  the  world  in  any  quantity.  Cornwall  is  its  most  pro- 
ductive source  ;  it  also  occurs  in  the  mountains  between 
Gallicia  and  Portugal,  and  in  those  between  Saxony  and  Bo- 
hemia. Tin  has  also  been  brought  from  the  peninsula  of 
Malacca  in  India,  and  from  Chili  and  Mexico.  There  are 
only  two  ores  of  tin,  the  native  peroxide,  and  the  double 
sulphuret  of  tin  and  copper :  the  latter,  sometimes  culled 
bell-metal  ore,  is  extremely  rare  ;  and  it  is  exclusively  from 
the  former  that  the  commercial  demands  are  supplied.  In 
Cornwall,  the  native  peroxide,  or  tin  stone  (which  is  usual- 
ly blended  with  oxides  of  iron  and  manganese),  occurs  in 
veins,  and  in  loose  grains  and  nodules  in  alluvial  soil :  the 
latter  is  called  stream  tin,  and  from  it  the  purest  metal  is 
obtained.  The  ore  is  reduced  by  a  very  simple  process  ;  it 
is  ground,  washed,  and  roasted  in  a  reverberatory  furnace  ; 
it  is  then  mixed  with  charcoal  or  Welsh  culm  and  lime- 
stone, and  strongly  heated,  so  as  to  bring  the  whole  into  fu- 
sion, which  is  kept  up  for  eight  or  ten  hours :  the  lime  com- 
bines with  the  earthy  matters  of  the  ore  into  a  fusible  slag, 
while  the  coal  reduces  the  oxide  to  the  metallic  state,  and 
the  fused  metal  is  drawn  out  at  the  bottom  of  the  furnace 
into  a  clay  mould.  In  this  impure  state  it  is  exposed  to  a 
heat  just  sufficient  to  melt  the  pure  tin,  which  runs  off  into 
a  kettle,  while  the  less  fusible  impurities  remain  behind :  in 
the  kettle,  the  tin  is  kept  in  fusion,  and  agitated  by  plun- 
ging pieces  of  wet  charcoal  into  it,  which  causes  a  quantity 
of  dross  to  rise  to  the  surface,  where  it  is  skimmed  off,  and 
the  purified  metal  is  then  cast  into  blocks  of  about  3  cwt. 
each. 

The  stream  tin  is  smelted  by  charcoal ;  and  the  mass  of 
grain  tin  obtained  by  such  reduction  is  heated  and  let  fall 
from  a  height,  by  which  it  splits  into  masses  of  a  columnar 
fracture,  which  characterizes  the  pure  metal. 

Pure  tin  is  a  white  brilliant  metal.  It  has  a  slight  taste 
and  smell  when  rubbed,  and  its  hardness  is  intermediate 
between  that  of  gold  and  lead.  Its  specific  gravity  is  7-2. 
It  is  very  malleable ;  and  one  of  its  most  useful  forms  is 
that  of  foil,  which  is  made  by  beating :  it  is  about  a  thou- 


TINCTURE. 

sandth  of  an  inch  in  thickness.  Its  ductility  and  tenacity 
are  inferior  to  most  of  the  other  malleable  metals.  A  tin 
wire  78  thousandths  of  an  inch  in  diameter  will  not  support 
more  than  38  pounds  without  breaking.  It  produces  a  pecu- 
liar crackling  noise  when  beat.  Exposed  to  air,  it  soon  be- 
comes superficially  oxidized  ;  and  when  melted,  successive 
films  of  a  gray  powder  form  upon  its  surface.  The  temper- 
ature at  which  it  melts  is  about  442°.  At  a  white  heat  it 
takes  fire,  and  burns  with  a  bright  flame.  The  equivalent 
of  tin  is  58.  It  forms  two  oxides.  The  protoxide  is  thrown 
down  by  alkaline  carbonates  from  an  aqueous  solution  of 
protochloride  of  tin ;  and  when  dried  and  heated  out  of  the 
contact  of  air,  its  water  is  expelled,  and  it  remains  in  the 
form  of  a  dark  substance,  of  the  specific  gravity  66.  It 
burns  like  tinder,  and  becomes  converted  into  the  peroxide. 
It  is  soluble  in  sulphuric  and  hydrochloric,  and  in  dilute  ni- 
tric acid,  and  in  the  pure  fixed  alkalies.  Its  salts  have  a 
strong  attraction  for  oxygen,  and  easily  pass  into  persalts ;  so 
that  it  is  a  powerful  deoxidizing  agent,  and  is  often  used  as 
such  in  some  of  the  chemical  arts.  When  a  solution  of 
protochloride  of  tin  is  dropped  into  a  solution  of  perchloride 
of  gold,  a  purple  precipitate,  called,  from  its  inventor,  purple 
of  Cassius,  is  thrown  down :  it  appears  to  be  a  compound 
of  peroxide  of  tin  with  protoxide  of  gold,  and  its  formation 
depends  upon  the  deoxidizing  power  of  the  solution  of  tin. 
When  tin  foil  is  put  into  nitric  acid  there  is  violent  action, 
attended  by  the  decomposition  of  the  acid  and  the  peroxi- 
dizementof  the  tin,  which  is  thus  converted  into  a  white 
powder :  this,  when  edulcorated  and  dried  at  a  red  heat,  ac- 
quires a  yellow  tint.  It  does  not  easily  form  permanent 
compounds  with  the  acids ;  but  it  unites  with  the  pure  al- 
kalies, and  forms  soluble  compounds,  which  have  some- 
times been  called  stannates,  and  the  peroxide  itself  stannic 
acid.  The  two  oxides  of  tin  are  respectively  composed  of 
58  tin  and  8  oxygen,  and  58  tin  and  16  oxygen :  their  equiv- 
alents, therefore,  are  66  and  74.  Tin  and  chlorine  also 
combine  in  two  proportions :  the  protochloride  of  tin  is 
formed  by  passing  hydrochloric  acid  gas  over  metallic  tin 
gently  heated  in  a  glass  tube,  or  by  heating  a  mixture  of 
equal  weights  of  tin  filings  and  calomel,  when  it  remains, 
after  driving  off  the  mercury,  in  the  form  of  a  gray  solid, 
fusible  at  a  red  heat,  and  volatile  at  higher  temperatures. 
Its  aqueous  solution  is  commonly  termed  protumuriate  of 
tin.  When  tin  foil  is  heated  in  excess  of  gaseous  chlorine, 
or  when  1  pnrt  of  tin  filings  is  mixed  with  3  of  corrosive 
sublimate  and  heated,  a  volatile  liquid  distils  over,  which 
is  perchloride  of  tin,  and  its  aqueous  solution  forms  the 
permuriate.  Exposed  to  air,  it  is  decomposed  by  the  aque- 
ous vapour  of  the  atmosphere,  and  exhales  dense  white 
fumes :  hence  it  has  been  called,  after  its  discoverer,  fuming 
liquor  of  Libavius.  Both  the  protumuriate  and  permuriate 
of  tin  are  used  by  dyers  and  calico-printers.  The  former  is 
prepared  by  heating  granulated  tin  in  strong  hydrochloric 
acid,  as  long  as  hydrogen  continues  to  be  evolved ;  the  latter, 
by  gradually  dissolving  granulated  tin  in  a  mixture  of  two 
parts  by  measure  of  hydrochloric  acid,  one  of  nitric  acid, 
and  one  of  water.  These  chlorides  of  tin  are  respectively 
composed  of  58  tin  and  36  chlorine,  and  58  tin  and  72  chlo- 
rine, and  are  therefore  represented  by  the  equivalents  94 
and  130. 

When  melted  tin  and  sulphur  are  brought  together,  a 
black  protosulphuret  of  tin  is  formed.  The  bisulphuret  of 
tin  is  a  yellow  glistening  substance,  sometimes  called  Mo- 
saic gold  (aurum  musivum),  and  used  in  ornamental  jnpan 
work.  It  is  prepared  by  heating  in  a  glass  retort  2  parts  of 
peroxide  of  tin,  2  of  sulphur,  and  1  of  sal  ammoniac,  and 
maintaining  a  low  red  heat  till  sulphurous  acid  ceases  to  be 
evolved.  The  sulphuret  and  bisulphuret  of  tin  are  consti- 
tuted of  58  tin  and  16  sulphur,  and  58  tin  and  32  sulphur; 
and  have,  therefore,  the  equivalents  74  and  80.  The  total 
produce  of  the  tin  mines  and  works  of  Cornwall  may,  at 
present  (1842),  be  estimated  at  about  4000  tons  a  year, 
worth  from  £65  to  £80  a  ton. 

TI'NCA.  (Lat.  tinea,  a  tench.)  A  subgenus  of  Cypri- 
noid  fishes,  characterized  by  having  short  anal  and  dorsal 
fins  ;  very  short  barbules  or  tentacles  about  the  mouth  ; 
no  bony  serrated  ray  at  the  commencement  of  either  the 
dorsal  or  anal  fins ;  small  scales.  Like  the  Linnajan  Cy- 
prini,  the  Tinci,  or  tenches,  have  no  teeth  except  in  the 
pharynx ;  whence  the  name  of  "  leather-mouthed  fishes' 
applied  to  this  family  of  Pisces  Abdominales. 

TI'NCAL.  The  commercial  name  of  rough  borax  as 
imported  from  India. 

TI'NCTURE.  A  pharmaceutical  preparation,  generally 
consisting  of  active  remedies  dissolved  in  rectified  or  proof 
spirit.  Tinctures  are  generally  made  by  digesting  bruised  or 
pulverized  vegetable  suhstances  in  the  spirit,  either  at  com- 
mon temperatures  or  aided  by  heat.  The  term  tincture  is 
sometimes  applied  to  alcoholic  solutions  of  resins,  of  which 
tincture  of  myrrh,  of  assafcetida,  &c,  furnish  instances. 
Tinctures,  from  the  quantity  of  alcohol  which  they  con- 
tain, are  necessarily  exhibited  in  small  doses:  the  most 

1249 


TINCTURES. 

important  of  them  are  those  which  contain  highly  active  in- 
gredients, sui  ti  .1-  tincture  of  opium,  &c. 
Ti  N<  njEES,  in  Heraldry,  arc  of  three  descriptions: 

metals,  colours,  and  furs.  The  former  are  or,  argent;  the 
second,  gules,  azure,  sable,  vert,  purpure,  sanguine,  and 
tenny.  The  chief  furs  are  ermine  and  vair;  but  there  are 
several  varieties  of  both,  distinguished  by  different  names. 

Each  metal  and  colour,  in  blazonry  (except  the  two  last  and 
least  honourable,  sanguine  and  tenny),  is  represented  l>y  a 
distinct  precious  stone  and  heavenly  body  ;  and  when  the 
arms  of  sovereign  princes  or  high  dignities  are  described  by 
old  heralds,  the  tinctures  are  frequently  denoted  l>y  the 
names  of  these  jewels  or  celestial  bodies.  See  Ok,  Ar- 
gent, &c, 

TI'NEA.    The  scald  head.     See  Ringworm. 

TIN  PLATE.  While  iron.  The  art  of  tinning  iron  ori- 
ginated in  Saxony,  and  was  first  made  known  here  by  Mr. 
Andrew  Varranton,  about  the  year  1G65 ;  but  it  was  not 
till  nearly  a  century  afterwards  that  works  were  established 
for  its  production  upon  a  large  scale  at  Pontypool.  It  is 
made  by  immersing  for  about  one  hour  and  a  half  very 
carefully  cleaned  plates  of  rolled  iron  in  melted  tin,  by 
which  they  acquire  a  bright  surface,  and  are  applicable  to 
a  number  of  purposes  for  which  iron  plate,  in  consequence 
of  the  extreme  facility  with  which  it  rusts,  could  not  be 
used.  The  crystalline  texture  of  the  surface  of  these 
plates  is  beautifully  shown  by  washing  it  over  with  a  weak 
acid,  and  then  cleaning  it  with  an  alkaline  ley,  and  varnish- 
ing with  a  transparent  varnish.  Thus  modified,  it  forms 
an  ornamental  article  called  moircr.  metallique.  (On  the 
manufacture  of  tin  plate,  see  Parkcs's  Chemical  Essays.) 

TTRONIAN  NOTES.  The  short-hand  of  Roman  an- 
tiquity. According  to  the  received  story',  they  were  intro- 
duced into  Rome  by  Tiro,  the  freedman  and  favourite  of 
Cicero:  he  is  supposed  to  have  imported  the  art  from 
Greece.  M.-^S.,  written  entirely  in  what  are  called  the  Ti- 
ronian  notes,  are  not  (infrequently  of  the  date  of  the  7th 
century  and  downwards ;  and  they  are  still  common  in  mar- 
ginal notes.  Kopp  (Tachygraphia  Veterum  Exposita,  p. 
i-i"  |  thinks  that  they  are  called  from  the  word  tiro,  a  learn- 
er. His  second  volume  contains  a  dictionary  of  these  notes, 
which  he  appears  to  have  succeeded  in  deciphering.  Some 
have  thought  that  valuable  lost  classics  may  be  recover  I 
through  this  key ;  hut  as  yet  these  hopes  have  been  nuga- 
tory.;    (See  Ed.  Rev.,  vol.xlviii.,  p.  337,  &c.) 

Tl'SRI.  The  first  Hebrew  month  of  the  civil  year,  and 
the  seventh  of  the  ecclesiastical  year.  It  corresponds  to 
part  of  September  and  October. 

TI'SSUE,  in  Plants,  the  thin  membranous  organization 
of  which  every  part  is  composed,  microscopical  in  size,  and 
often  appearing  to  the  naked  eye  homogeneous,  although  it 
consists  of  a  great  variety  of  forms  closely  compacted.  Vege- 
table anatomists  regard  its  primitive  form  as  spheroidal,  and 
that  the  tubes  and  spiral  vessels  ale  mere  extensions  of  that 
form.  Tissue  appears  to  be  in  all  plants  of  the  same  nature 
originally,  but  it  soon  becomes  altered  by  the  deposition  of 
various  secretions  upon  its  sides. 

TITAN.  In  Grecian  Mythology,  according  to  the  more 
modern  account,  the  eldest  son  of  Uranus  and  Gaia,  who 
relinquished  the  sovereignty  of  gods  and  men  to  his  young- 
er brother  .Saturn,  the  latter  undertaking  to  destroy  all 
ids  children,  so  that  the  monarchy  might  revert  to  those  of 
Titan.  He  afterwards  recovered  the  sovereignty  from 
Saturn;  but  Jupiter,  the  son  of  the  latter,  vanquished  him, 
and  restored  it  to  his  father.  This,  however,  is  a  tale  alto- 
gether unknown  to  the  original  mythologists.  According  to 
tiiem,  the  Titans  were  many  in  number,  children  of  Uranus 
and  Gaia.  llesiod  makes  them  .six.  The  children  of  the 
Titans,  Atlas  for  example,  retained  the  same  appellation. 
The  war  of  these  Titans  with  Jupiter  was  the  subject  of 
many  different  and  contradictory  legends.  Its  scene  was 
laid  in  Thessaly;  by  Homer  on  the  mountains  Olympus, 
Pelion.  and  Ossa.  By  some  writers  Titan  is  Identified  with 
:  but  this  point  is  involved  in  great  obscurity. 

TIT  WITK.     Native  oxide  of  titanium. 

TiT.V.Mi'.M.  A  rare  metal,  discovered  by  Gregor  in  a 
mineral  from  Cornwall  called  menachanite.  Its  characters 
were  first  ascertained  by  Klaproth,  who  gave  it  the  abovi 
name.    In  the  year  1832,  Dr.  Wbllaston  ascertained  that  the 

minute  COpper-COloured  crystals  occasionally  found  in  the 

slag  of  the  iron  smelting  furnaces  at  Merthyr  and  else  where 
were  pure  titanium  ;  and  it  is  to  him  that  we  are  indebted 
lor  a  pMKise  an, mnt  of  its  properties.  In  this  state  it  has 
pper  colour,  is  extremely  infusible,  and  of  a  specific 
gravity  Of  5-8  ;  it  is  so  hard  as  to  scratch  not  only  glass,  but 

ii.    It  resists  the  action  of  air  and  acids,  but  is  oxidized 
action  of  nitre  at  a  red  heat.    Titanium  appears  sus- 
ceptible of  two  degrees  of  oxidizement.    The  protoxide  of 

titanium  is  blue  or   purple,  and  appears   to   constitute  the 

d  called anataae.  The  peroxide,  or  titanic  acid,  exists 
nearly  pure  in  titanite  or  rutilite,  and  is  combined  with  the 
OXides  of  iron  and  manganese  in  menachanite.    Tile  cuuiva- 
1350 


TITHES. 

lent  of  titanium  has  not  been  very  satisfactorily  ascertained, 
but  it  is  probabh  about  24  upon  the  hydrogen  scale. 

TITHES.  In  Ecclesiastical  Law,  the  tenth  part  of  Oie 
produce  of  the  land,  which,  in  this  and  other  Christian 
countries,  was  anciently  set  apart  for  the  endowment  of  the 
Church.  By  the  Mosaipal  law,  the  Levites,  by  whom  the 
public  worship  of  the  Jewish  state  was  performed,  were 
supported,  not  as  the  cither  tribes,  by  the  allotment  of  a  cer- 
tain district  of  Canaan,  but  by  the  appointment  of  divers 
cities  in  various  parts  of  the  country  for  their  abode,  and  the 
payment  of  tithes  from  the  whole  community.  This  ordi- 
nance has  frequently  been  appealed  to  under  the  Christian 
dispensation,  as  establishing  the  divine  right  of  the  clergy  to 
the  receipt  of  tithes  forever;  but  this  ground  of  claim  has 
been  generally  abandoned  in  modern  times;  nor  does  the 
practice  of  the  early  Church,  at  its  first  establishment  in 
connexion  with  the  state,' give  any  reason  to  suppose  that 
such  an  idea  was  then  entertained.  .Nor,  in  this  country,  do 
the  people  and  their  rulers  appear,  upon  their  conversion,  to 
have  felt  themselves  under  the  obligation  of  any  strict  pay- 
ment of  tithes.  It  was  first  enjoined,  apparently,  in  certain 
ecclesiastical  canons,  in  the  year  750  ;  and  the  first  civil  de- 
cree upon  the  subject  is  discovered  in  the  laws  of  Ofla,  king 
of  Mercia,  in  794.  In  France,  a  similar  law  was  enforced 
by  Charlemagne  in  778,  and  from  that  time  the  pay- 
ment has  been  continued  without  interruption  to  modern 
times. 

Of  tithes  there  are  three  kinds:  1.  Predial,  of  the  vegeta- 
ble productions  of  the  land,  as  corn,  hay,  &c. ;  2.  Mixed,  as 
of  wool,  pigs,  &c,  which,  though  natural  products,  are  nur- 
tured and  preserved  by  the  care  of  man  ;  3.  Personal,  as  of 
manual  occupations,  trades,  fisheries,  and  the  like.  Another 
division  of  tithes  is  into  great  and  small,  or  parsonage  and 
vicarage  tithes :  of  these,  the  former  are  chiefly  corn,  hay, 
and  wood  ;  the  latter  are  predial  tithes  of  other  Kinds,  to- 
gether with  mixed  and  personal  tithes.  The  great  tithes  be- 
long to  the  rector,  whereas  only  the  small  tithes  are  due  to 
the  vicar.  By  the  original  law,  till  the  land  of  the  country 
was  tithable,  excepting  the  property  of  the  crown,  and  of  the 
Church  itself.  But  when,  at  the  Reformation,  the  monas- 
teries were  dissolved,  and  their  estates  granted,  for  the  i t 

part,  to  laymen,  these  lands  would  have  become  tithable 
again  but  for  a  particular  statute,  which  was  enacted  for  the 
advantage  of  the  new  possessors.  It  was  also  allowable,  up 
to  the  13  Eliz.,  to  effect  compositions  between  the  clergy  and 
owners  of  the  land,  by  which  the  parish  was  discharged  of 
these  payments  forever,  in  consideration  of  lands  made  over 
to  the  parson  in  exchange.  This  practice  was,  however,  re- 
strained by  the  statute  above  referred  to,  which  limited  all 
such  compositions  to  a  period  of  three  lives  or  twenty-one 
years.  From  these  causes,  however,  it  is  that  we  find  a 
great  deal  of  land  in  the  hands  of  lay  proprietors  not  subject 
to  this  charge.  The  monasteries,  however,  held  one  third 
of  the  benefices  of  the  kingdom,  from  all  of  which  thej  re- 
ceived tithes,  and  appointed  members  of  their  own  body,  as 
their  vicars  or  curates,  to  discharge  the  ordinary  functions 
of  ministers  in  them.  To  these  they  either  gave  fixed 
stipends,  or  allotted  the  small  tithes,  taking,  as  their  own 
share,  the  great  or  rectorial.  This  is  called  appropriation 
of  tithes;  but  when  these  benefices  fell  into  the  hands  of 
laymen,  the  same  practice  was  continued,  and  is  distinguish- 
ed by  the  title  of  impropriation. 

Tithes  are  either  due  de  jure  or  by  custom:  to  the  latter 
class  belong  all  personal  tithes. 

The  subtraction  of  tithes  from  a  parson,  whether  a  clergy- 
man or  lay  impropriator  (see  Impropriation),  or  from  a 
vicar,  is  cognizable  in  the  ecclesiastical  courts.  But  these 
courts  cannot  try  the  right  to  tithes,  except  between  spiritual 
persons  ;  consequently,  if  the  defendant  pleads  any  matter 
involving  a  question  of  right,  it  must  be  tried  by  a  jury. 
Suits  for  tithes  are  generally  instituted  in  the  Court  of  Ex- 
chequer. By  the  53  G.  3,  c.  127,  justices  of  the  peace  have 
jurisdiction  for  the  recovery  of  small  tithes  to  the  amount 
of  £10. 

Lands  and  their  occupiers  may  be  discharged  from  the 
payment  of  tithes,  either  in  part  or  totally,  by  a  real  compo- 
sition, or  by  custom  or  prescription.  The  first  is  where  an 
agreement  is  made  between  the  owner  and  the  parson  or 
Vicar,  with  consent  of  the  ordinary  and  patron,  that  some 
land,  or  other  real  recompense,  be  given  in  satisfaction  of 
tithes.  By  13  Eliz.,  c.  10,  as  we  have  seen,  no  real  compo- 
sition, made  since  that  statute,  is  good  for  any  longer  time 
than  three  lives  or  tu  ,nt\  one  years.  <  lompositions  between 
a  tithe-owner  and  parishioner  cease  on  the  death  of  the  in- 
cumbent with  whom  they  were  made. 

A  discharge  by  custom  or  prescription  is  either,  1.  I)e 
?(',  where  a  modus,  or  particular  manner  of 
tithing,  is  shown  to  exist  by  Custom,  which  must  have  cx- 
isted  immemorially ;  i.  e.,  is  not  good,  if  evidence  be  shown 
of  its  non  exist*  nee  at  any  time  since  the  reign  of  Richard  I. 
Or,  2.  De.  non  decimando,  where  a  total  exemption  from 
tithes  is  shown. 


TITHES. 

Such  is  a  general  view  of  the  law  of  tithes  previous  to  the 
yreat  changes  introduced  by  the  Tithe  Commutation  Act,  6 
&  7  W.  4,  c.  71 ;  the  object  of  which  was  to  convert  a  tax, 
imposed  on  the  gross  produce  of  the  soil,  and  varying  annu- 
ally in  amount  as  well  as  money  value  along  with  it,  into  a 
rent-charge,  perpetual  as  to  the  amount,  but  varying  accord- 
ing to  the  money  value. 

By  this  act  the  money  value  of  the  tithes  in  each  parish 
was  to  be  calculated  according  to  the  average  of  the  seven 
years  ending  at  Christmas,  1835,  minus  the  expense  of  col- 
lecting, &c. ;  but  without  deduction  on  account  of  parochial 
or  county  rates,  &c.  The  commissioners  appointed  for  that 
purpose  under  the  act  were  then  to  award  that  sum  (subject 
to  some  unimportant  allowances),  as  the  amount  of  the 
rent-charge  to  be  paid  in  respect  of  the  tithes.  This  rent- 
charga  was  to  be  apportioned  among  the  lands  of  the  parish, 
having  regard  to  their  average  tithable  produce  and  produc- 
tive quality.  The  rent-charge,  being  thus  valued  in  money, 
was  to  be  taken  as  the  price  of  such  a  quantity  of  wheat, 
barley,  and  oats  as  it  would  have  purchased  (each  grain  in 
equal  quantities),  according  to  the  average  price  at  the  period 
of  the  confirmation  of  the  apportionment.  That  quantity 
of  grain  was  therefore  to  remain  forever  as  the  annual 
charge  upon  the  parish.  In  order  to  regulate  the  money 
amount  of  the  tithes,  the  money  payment  each  year  was  to 
be  equal  to  the  price  of  that  quantity  at  the  average  of  the 
seven  years  immediately  preceding,  to  be  ascertained  by  an 
advertisement  of  the  comptroller  of  corn  returns,  published 
in  the  month  of  January  every  year.  The  rent-charge  to  be 
paid  by  the  occupiers  of  the  land  on  which  it  is  respectively 
apportioned. 

It  will  be  apparent,  from  this  brief  outline  of  the  provisions 
of  the  act,  that  a  very  great  benefit  was  conferred  by  it,  for 
all  immediate  purposes,  upon  the  tithe-owner,  and  for  many 
upon  both  parties.  The  strifes  and  heart-burnings  between 
the  occupiers  of  the  soil  and  the  clergyman,  which  were  oc- 
casioned by  the  old  mode  of  collecting  the  impost,  have  been 
removed.  The  latter  has  been  relieved  alike  from  the  con- 
sequences of  indulgence  towards  his  debtors,  and  the  imputa- 
tion of  rapacity.  In  point  of  fact,  the  result  of  the  valuation 
lias  been  a  considerable  improvement  in  the  incomes  of  the 
clergy,  who  comparatively  seldom  received  their  full  due. 
The  tenant  and  landowner  gain  by  the  removal  of  a  most 
injurious  tax  on  improvement;  for  the  tithe,  while  it  in- 
creased along  with  the  produce  of  the  land,  acted  as  a  great 
discouragement  to  increasing  that  produce. 

But,  looking  to  the  future,  its  advantages  are  far  more 
questionable.  The  tithe-owner  will  gain,  no  doubt,  by  any 
increase  which  may  take  place  in  the  money  price  of  com. 
But  he  will  be  a  loser  by  any  fall  in  the  price  of  corn ;  while 
any  increase  in  the  quantity  of  commodities  produced  in  the 
country,  the  price  of  corn  remaining  the  same,  will  leave 
his  condition  stationary,  while  other  classes  advance.  It  is 
thought  that, in  the  last  century,  the  agricultural  produce  of 
England  has  trebled.  Tithe  has  nearly  trebled  along  with 
it.  If  the  same  progression  should  continue  for  a  century 
more,  the  produce  of  the  country  will  again  have  trebled; 
rents  and  other  incomes  will  have  increased  in  proportion ; 
population  will  have  followed  the  same  law  of  advance — 
tithe  will  remain  stationary;  the  income  of  the  church  will 
be  no  greater  than  what  is  now  deemed  sufficient  for  her 
support,  while  the  exertions  required  of  her  will  have  great- 
ly augmented. 

And  a  permanent  rise  in  the  money  price  of  corn,  which 
might  compensate  this  relative  loss,  is  probably  the  last 
thing  to  be  anticipated.  Indeed,  should  that  price  fall  ma- 
terially, from  the  introduction  of  foreign  grain,  it  will,  prob- 
ably, be  necessary  to  commute  anew,  if  the  income  of  the 
tithe  owners  is  to  be  maintained  at  all. 

To  those  who  consider  the  sufficient  temporal  maintenance 
of  the  church  a  matter  of  high  national  interest,  this  pros- 
pect is  a  serious  one  ;  but  even  those  who  think  otherwise 
cannot  possibly  regard  it  with  indifference.  Tithes  are  the 
property  of  the  nation  ;  and  it  cannot  be  for  the  advantage 
of  any  country  that  state  property  should  not  partake  in  the 
advance  of  individual  wealth— that  it  should,  relatively 
speaking,  continually  decrease. 

The  Tithe  Commissioners  report  (1841),  that  they  have  re- 
ceived notices  that  voluntary  commutations  have  been  com- 
menced in  9197  tithe  districts;  have  received  5906  agree- 
ments, and  confirmed  5136;  821  drafts  of  compulsory  awards 
(such  as  they  are  empowered  to  cause  to  be  made  on  the 
nonagreement  of  the  parties),  and  confirmed  560.  Taking 
the  tithe  districts  of  England  and  Wales  at  about  1-2.000, 
they  appear  to  have  finished  about  half  the  work  of  valuing 
and  awarding.  They  have  received  3688  apportionments, 
and  confirmed  2032.  According  to  the  returns  under  the 
property  tax  (1810),  it  appeared  that  about  8,000.000  acres 
in  England  and  Wales  were  tithe-free,  and  21.000,000  tith- 
able. See  M-Cullock's  Statistics  of  the  British  Empire. 
The  same  work  contains  the  following  analysis  of  appropri- 
ations and  impropriations  of  tithes : 


TOKAY. 

Belonging  to  the  crown 33 

Archbishops  and  bishops 385 

Ecclesiastical  corporations  aggregate    .        .        .  702 

Dignitaries  and  other  eccl.  corporations  sole         .  438 

Universities,  colleges,  and  hospitals      .        .        .  281 

Private  owners 2552 

Municipal  corporations  (since  sold)       ...  43 

Vicarages  partly  endowed 121 

Ditto  wholly  endowed 132 

TITHEVG.  A  territorial  division,  of  which  the  origin  is 
pretty  generally  attributed  to  Alfred.  It  was  a  district  sup- 
posed to  contain  ten  freeborn  men,  of  whom  each  was 
pledge  for  the  others  (see  Frankpledge.)  One  of  these  was 
annually  appointed  tithivgman,  borsholder,  or  headboroug/i, 
(from  borg,  a  pledge).  Ten  tithings  constituted  (as  is  sup- 
posed) a  hundred. 

TI'TUL  AR.  Chiefly  in  Ecclesiastical  usage,  a  person  in- 
vested with  the  title  to  a  benefice ;  generally  used  for  one 
who  has  the  title  only,  without  possession  or  enjoyment. 

TME'SIS.  (Gr.  rt/ivw,  /  cut.)  In  Grammar,  a  figure  by 
which  a  compound  word  is  separated  into  two  parts  by 
the  intervention  of  one  or  more  words,  as  in  the  following 
line  of  Terence,  "  Quae  meo  cunque  animo  lubitum  est  fa- 
cere,"  for  "  quaeeunque  meo  animo."  This  figure  is  a  licence 
in  the  Latin  language,  frequent  in  Terence  and  Lucretius, 
rare  in  later  writers ;  in  the  Greek  it  is  more  common  ;  but 
of  all  Western  languages,  the  German  lends  itself  most  readi- 
ly to  the  division  of  compound  words.  In  English  the  figure 
is  unused. 

TOADSTONE.  A  provincial  term  applied  to  certain  ig- 
neous or  basaltic  rocks  associated  with  the  limestone  forma- 
tion of  Derbyshire.     See  Geology. 

TOBA'CCO.  The  dried  leaves  of  the  JVicotiania  tabacum, 
a  plant  indigenous  to  America,  but  which  succeeds  very 
well,  and  is  extensively  cultivated,  in  most  parts  of  the  Old 
World.  The  recent  leaves  possess  very  little  odour  or  taste ; 
but  when  dried,  their  odour  is  strong,  narcotic,  and  some- 
what foetid  ;  their  taste  bitter,  and  extremely  acrid.  When 
well  cured,  they  are  of  a  yellowish  green  colour.  When 
distilled,  they  yield  an  essential  oil,  on  which  their  virtue 
depends,  and  which  is  said  to  be  a  virulent  poison.  The 
leaves  are  used  in  various  ways ;  being  chewed,  smoked, 
and  ground  and  manufactured  into  snuff.  It  is  in  the  last- 
mentioned  form  that  tobacco  is  principally  used  in  Great 
Britain,  and,  though  the  contrary  has  often  been  asserted, 
its  use  does  not  seem  to  have  been  productive  of  any  percep- 
tible bad  consequence. 

The  term  tobacco  is  probably  derived  from  Tabaco,  a 
province  of  Yucatan,  where  it  was  first  found  by  the  Span- 
iards. To  Sir  Francis  Drake  and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  has 
been  ascribed  the  honour  of  having  introduced  it  into  Eng- 
land, nearly  three  centuries  ago.  For  full  particulars  as  to 
the  history  and  statistics  of  this  important  article  of  com- 
merce, see  the  Com.  Vict. 

TO'CSIN.  An  old  French  word,  of  which  the  derivation 
seems  not  to  be  ascertained  (Gregory  of  Tours  uses  the  word 
"  seing"  for  the  sound  of  a  bell — see  Encycl.  Jtlethodigue), 
signifying  an  alarum-bell  (Germ,  sturmglocke).  The  use  of 
the  terrible  tocsin,  during  the  troubles  of  the  Revolution,  to 
assemble  the  multitude,  has  rendered  the  word  almost 
proverbial. 

TOD.  A  weight  used  in  weighing  wool.  It  contains  28 
lbs.  avoirdupois. 

TOFT,  in  old  English,  appears  to  signify  the  ground  or 
enclosed  space  on  which  a  messuage  has  formerly  stood. 

TO'GA.  The  gown  or  mantle  peculiar  to  the  Roman  peo- 
ple; whence  it  was  sometimes  designated  as  the  gens  togata, 
or  toga  clad  nation.  The  toga  was  a  loose  flowing  woollen 
garment  covering  the  whole  body  round,  and  close  below, 
but  open  at  the  top  down  to  the  girdle.  The  end  was  drawn 
up  and  thrown  over  the  left  shoulder,  leaving  the  right  arm 
at  liberty,  as  it  had  no  sleeves.  The  ordinary  colour  of  the 
toga  was  white;  but  this  was  changed  for  a  dark  colour  in 
mourning.  The  chief  dignitaries  of  the  state  were  distin- 
guished bv  a  purple  band  affixed  to  the  edge  of  the  toga, 
which  was  then  called  preetezta.  An  embroidered  toga  was 
worn  by  generals  when  they  triumphed.  (See  Chambers's 
Dictionary  for  a  concise  account  of  the  different  species  of 
toga.)  It  was  the  national  characteristic  of  the  Romans  in 
the  republican  age;  and  when  Augustus  thought  he  per- 
ceived its  disuse  commencing  among  the  crowds  assembled 
at  the  theatre,  and  the  substitution  of  the  ordinary  "  lacerna," ' 
he  repeated  with  emphasis  the  line  of  Virgil— 
Romanos  rerum  dominos,  gentemque  togatara. 

Among  women,  the  toga  was  only  worn  by  the  disreputa- 
ble ;  the  dress  of  the  matron  was  the  stola. 

TOISE".  A  French  measure  of  length,  containing  six 
French  feet,  or  1-949040  metres.  The  French  toise  is  equiva- 
lent to  6-3945925  English  feet. 

TOKAY.  A  wine  made  at  Tokay  in  Hungary ;  it  is  lus- 
cious, and  yet  has  an  agreeable  quickness  of  flavour.    It  is 

1251 


TOLERATION. 

usually  more  or  less  turbid,  am!  is  the  only  wine  which  is 
j  in  that  state,  and,  consequently,  agitated  before  it 
i  the  glass. 

TOLERA'TJON  (Lat.  tolero,  /  bear),  is  used  in  a  gen- 
impunity  and  safety  in  the  state  foi  all 
;  the  established  church,  who  do  not  maintain 
nt  with  the  peace  and  welfare  of 
the  state.  Hence  toleration  implies  a  right  of  enjoying  the 
benefit  of  the  laws  and  of  all  social  privileges,  without  any 
on.  The  tir-t  toleration  act  in 
passed  in  1689;  but  it  was  not  lilt  1829,  when  the 
Catholic  Emancipation  Bill  was  passed,  that  dissenters  could 
he  said  to  be  on  equality  with  churchmen  in  every  respect, 
a  are  now  the  only  sen  in  England  precluded  from 
the  lull  enjoyment  of  civil  rights  in  consequence  of  their  re- 
ligion. 

TOLL.  (Germ,  zoll.)  The  name  usually  given  to  the 
:  posed  on  travellers  and  goods  passing  along  public 
roads,  bridges,  &.c.  It  is  also  used  to  indicate  the  payment 
to  the  corporation  of  a  town,  or  to  the  lord  or  owner  of  a 
market  or  fair,  upon  sale  of  things  tollable.  The  right, 
whether  to  take  toll,  or  to  be  exempt  from  its  payment,  rests 
upon  prescription  or  grant  from  the  king.  Toll  is  sometimes 
taken  by  a  man  for  every  beast  driven  across  his  ground, 
and  is  then  called  toll  trar.  rst  ;  also  by  a  town  for  beasts 
going  through  it,  or  over  a  bridge  or  ferry  maintained  at  its 
cost,  and  is  then  called  toll-thorough.     See  Taille. 

TO'LMEN,  or  DOLMEN.  In  Antiquities.  Borlase,  in 
his  History  of  Cornwall,  gives  this  name  to  large  stones 
with  passages  apparently  hollowed  through  them,  which 
are  commonly  believed  to  be  Druidical  remains.  There  are 
many  such  in  Brittany.  See  also  Archaologia,  vol.  ii.,  and 
vol.  viii.,  p.  CIO,  where  there  is  a  description  and  represen- 
tation of  a  celebrated  one  at  Primham  Rocks,  in  Yorkshire. 
It  has  been  supposed  that  they  were  acoustic  contrivances, 
by  means  of  which  the  Druids  returned  oracular  answers. 

TOLU  BALSAM.  The  concrete  balsam  of  Myroxylon 
peruifcrum,  a  tree  growing  in  the  warmest  parts  of  South 
America.  The  substance  is  pale  brown;  brittle  in  cold, 
but  tenacious  in  hot  weather ;  fragrant  when  heated,  and 
entirely  soluble  in  alcohol.  It  appears  to  contain  that  modi- 
fication of  the  benzoic  acid  which  has  been  called  cinnamic 
acid. 

TOMB.  (Gr.  Tonfio';,  Lat.  tumulus.)  It  used  to  express 
both  the  grave  or  sepulchre  in  which  the  body  of  a  deceas- 
ed person  is  interred,  and  a  monument  erected  in  his  memo- 
ry. In  many  countries  it  was  customary  to  burn  the  bodies 
of  the  deail,  and  to  collect  the  ashes  into  an  urn  (see  Urn) 
which  was  deposited  in  a  tomb.  The  tombs  of  the  Jews 
were  generally  hollow  places  hewn  out  of  a  rock.  The 
Greeks  constructed  their  tombs  outside  the  walls  of  their 
cities,  with  the  exception  of  those  raised  to  distinguished 
personages.  The  same  distinction  was  observed  by  the 
Romans  ;  their  sepulchres  were  in  the  country  near  the  high 
roads,  and  none  but  emperors,  vestals,  and  great  personages 
had  the  privilege  of  burial  within  the  walls.  In  Etruria, 
several  tombs  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  have  been  disco- 
vered containing  beautiful  vases,  for  full  particulars  respect- 
ing which,  the  reader  may  consult  Mrs.  II.  Gray's  interest- 
ing Tour  to  the  Sepulchres  of  Etruria.  See  for  the  tombs 
of '.lie  Egyptians,  Sir  G.  Wilkinson's  Manners  of  the  Ancient 


Egyptians,  vol.  iii.,  p.  183. 
TO'MBAC. 


1AC.  An  alloy  of  copper  and  zinc,  or  a  species  of 
brass  with  excess  of  zinc.  When  arsenic  is  added, it  forms 
white  tombac. 

TOMENTO'SE.  (Lat.  tomentum,  sheared  wool.)  Cov- 
ered with  short  inconspicuous  interwoven  hairs. 

TON.  A  denomination  of  weight  equal  to  20  cwt.,  or 
2240  lbs.  avoirdupois.  Ton  is  also  tin-  name  of  an  English 
measure  of  capacity  containing  252  gallons  ;  but  when  used 
in  the  latter  sense,  the  word  is  usually  written  tun. 

TONDI'NO.  (Ital.)  In  Architecture,  the  same  asastra- 
gal,  which  see. 

TONE.  'Gr.  toi'oj.)  In  Music,  a  property  of  sound 
which  brings  it  under  the  relation  of  grave  or  acute,  or  the 
gravity  of  acuteness  it  may  have  from  the  number  of  vibra- 
tions of  the  sonorous  body  producing  it.  It  is  more  particu- 
larly used  for  expressing  that  degree  or  interval  of  time  by 
which  sounds  may  he  raised  or  lowered  from  one  extreme 
of  concord  to  another,  so  as  still  to  produce  melody. 

TONES,    ECCLESIASTICAL.     In    Music,    the    eight 
modes  now  generally  called  the  Gregorian  Chant,  in  which 
ice   of  the  Catholic   church    is   performed;    four 
whereof  are  authentic,  and    four   of  them 

has  been  considered  die  inventor  of  them.  They 
are  the  foundation  of  all  music,  and  will  ever  be  considered 
■tupenduous  monuments  of  composition. 

TONGUE.     In  Architecture.     .See  Groove. 

Tom. i  i:.     In  Anatomy,  the  organ  of  taste;  a  soft  fleshy 
moveable  in  all  directions,  composed  of  muscular 
fibres  covered  b  membrane,  upon  which,  especi- 

ally at  tin-  tip  and  sides, are   niunerous  nervous   papilla'. 
1252 


TONSILS. 

The  tongue  is  largely  supplied  by  blood  vessels,  its  arteries 
being  branches  of  the  ranine  ami  labial,  and  its  veins  emp- 
tying into  the  great  Unguals  which  proceed  to  the  exb 
jugular  ;  the  nerves  come  from  the  fifth,  and  eighth,  ami 
ninth  pairs.  The  tongue  perforins  important  functions,  not 
only  in  tasting,  but  in  articulating,  and  in  eating  or  chewing, 
or  swallowing  food,  and  in  receiving  drink. 

TO'NIC.  (From  Tone.)  In  Music,  the  principal  note  of 
the  key.  It  is  the  chief  sound  upon  which  all  regular  melo- 
dies depend,  and  in  which  they  all  terminate.  Its  octaves, 
both  above  and  below,  are  equally  called  by  the  same  name. 
It  is,  however,  to  he  understood  that  the  termination  here 
alluded  to  has  relation  only  to  the  chief  melody,  or  to  its 
bass,  inasmuch  as  the  inner  or  mean  parts  of  the  harmony 
conclude  on  the  third  or  mediant,  and  the  fifth  or  dominant; 

TO'NICS.  (Gr.  tovou,  I  strengthen.)  Medicines  which 
strengthen  and  increase  muscular  action.  To  this  class  be- 
long vegetable  hitters,  stimulants,  astringents,  &c. 

TO'NNAGE,  implied  originally  the  number  of  tons 
weight  a  vessel  might  safely  carry.  Prior  to  January,  1836, 
the  rule  established  by  the  act  of  parliament  for  the  meas- 
urement of  the  tonnage  of  ships  was  founded  on  erroneous 
principles,  and  led  to  the  most  mischievous  consequences. 

By  considering  the  breadth  ami  depth  nearly  the  same, 
the  rule  implied  the  square  of  the  breadth  ;  and  hence  in- 
creasing the  hreadth  of  a  vessel  increased  her  nominal  ton- 
nage for  the  payment  of  dues  more  than  it  increased  her 
real  capacity.  Under  this  pernicious  system  vessels  came 
to  be  built  narrow  and  deep  ;  and  thus  not  only  less  effi- 
cient, but  highly  dangerous.  In  1823  a  committee,  of  which 
the  celebrated  Dr.  T.  Young  was  chairman,  proposed  to 
measure  the  internal  capacity  by  taking  the  breadth  and 
depth  at  each  quarter  of  the  length  ;  but  for  some  reason 
no  step  was  taken.  In  1832  another  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  consider  the  subject;  and  they  concluded  their 
labours  in  1834  by  recommending  the  method  of  Mr.  Riddle, 
of  the  Royal  Hospital,  Greenwich.  Mr.  Riddle  inferred, 
that  since  a  great  number  of  direct  measures  for  capacity 
would  afford  a  result  very  near  the  truth,  an  approximation 
might  be  obtained  by  means  of  a  smaller  number  of  meas- 
ures, provided  additional  weight  was  given  in  the  calcula- 
tion to  those  dimensions  which  extend  through  a  greater 
part  of  the  hull.  He  ohtained  the  multipliers  of  these  di- 
mensions, the  midship  breadth  and  depth,  by  trial,  from  the 
vessels  measured  for  the  guidance  of  the  committee;  and 
the  method  is  therefore  founded  on  an  arithmetical  fact. 
The  rule,  briefly  expressed,  is  as  follows : 

Divide  the  upper  deck,  between  the  after  part  of  the  stem 
and  the  forepart  of  the  sternpost,  into  six  equal  parts.  At 
the  foremost,  middle,  and  aftermost  points  of  division, 
measure,  in  feet  and  decimals,  the  depths  from  the  under 
side  of  the  upper  deck  to  the  ceiling  at  the  limber  strake. 
Divide  each  depth  into  five  equal  parts,  and  measure  the 
inside  breadths  at  l-5th  ami  4  5ths  (from  the  upper  deck)  at 
the  two  extreme  depths,  and  at2-5ths  and  4-5th  of  the  mid- 
ship depth.  Measure  the  length,  as  above,  at  half  the  mid- 
ship depth.  To  twice  the  midship  depth  add  the  extreme 
depths,  for  the  sum  of  the  depths.  To  the  upper  and  lower 
breadths  at  the  foremost  division  add  three  times  the  upper 
and  lower  breadths  at  the  midship  division,  and  the  upper 
and  twice  the  lower  breadth  at  the  aftermost  division,  for 
the  sum  of  the  breadths.  Multiply  the  sum  of  the  depths  by 
the  sum  of  the  breadths,  and  the  product  by  the  length, 
and  divide  this  product  by  3500 ;  the  result  is  the  tonnage 
for  register. 

In  vessels  with  a  poop  or  a  break  in  the  upper  deck, 
measure  the  mean  length,  breadth,  and  height  ;  multiply 
these  together,  and  divide  by  92-4,  and  add  the  result  to  the 
former  quantity.  In  open  vessels,  the  depth  is  measured 
from  the  upper  edge  of  the  upper  strake.  In  steam  vessels, 
thetouage  due  to  the  content  of  the  engine  room  (the  depth 
being  considered  at  the  midship  depth,  and  the  breadth  that 
at  2  atlis  of  this  depth),  divided  by  92.4.  is  to  be  deducted. 

The  relative  capacities  of  ships  are  determined  very 
nearly  by  this  method  ;  that  is,  \\  iihin  little  more  than  4  or 
5  percent,  generally,  though,  in  extreme  cases,  the  difference 
may  amounl  to  10  or  12  per  cent.:  even  this,  however,  is  in- 
significant, as  compared  with  the  usual  errors  of  the  former 
method.    The  divisor  by  w  hich  cubic  content  is  reduced  to 

nominal  tonnage  was  adopted,  merely  that  while  the  repu- 
ted tonnage  of  most  kinds  of  vessels  would  he  corrected  by 
the  new  rule,  the  total  registered  tonnage  of  the  kingdom 
might   remain    unaltered.      By   the    in  w    method   the   dues 

paid  on  tonnage  are  proportioned  to  the  capacities  of  tho 
vessels  ;  and  as  m.  advantage  is  gained  in  these  respects  by 
defective  forms,  a  marked  improvement  m  merchant  vessels 
has  followed  the  passing  of  the  bill  in  1835. 

TONSILLl'TIS.  Inflammation  of  the  tonsils.  See 
Quin~i 

TONSILS.  (Lat.  tonsilla.)  An  oblong  suboval  gland 
on  each  side  of  the  fauces,  and  opening  into  the  cavity  of 

the  mouth  bj  si  reral  large  ducts. 


TONTINE. 

TONTINE,  a  term  derived  from  the  name  of  the  inventor 
Tonti,  signifying  a  loan  raised  on  life  annuities  with  the 
benefit  of  survivorships.    See  Annuities. 

TOO'TIIIXG.  In  Architecture,  bricks  alternately  pro- 
jecting at  the  end  of  a  wall,  in  order  that  they  may  be 
bonded  into  a  continuation  of  it  when  the  remainder  is 
carried  up. 

TOP.  In  Xaval  Language,  a  small  light  platform  near 
the  lower  mast-head. 

TO'PARCHY.  (Gr.  to.toj,  a  place,  and  apxv  govern- 
ment), in  Antiquity,  signified  a  small  state  or  lordship  con- 
sisting only  of  a  few  cities  or  towns  ;  or  a  petty  country  un- 
der the  sway  of  a  toparch.  Thus  Judea  was  anciently  di- 
vided into  ten  toparchies. 

TO'PAZ.  (Gr.  ro-ayov.)  A  crystallized  mineral  harder 
than  quartz,  of  a  yellow  or  wine  colour,  composed  of  60 
alumina,  3.5  silica,  5  flouric  acid.  'When  heated,  the  Bra- 
zilian topaz  becomes  rose  red,  and  is  sometimes  in  this 
state  passed  off  as  a  ruby  :  the  Saxon  topaz  loses  its  colour 
by  heat.  When  without  flaws  and  of  a  good  colour,  it  is 
much  employed  in  jewellery.  The  Saxon  is  usually  paler 
than  the  Brazilian,  which  often  has  a  pinkish  hue;  the 
Siberian  topaz  is  usually  colourless,  and  the  Scotch  has  a 
blue  tinge. 

TOPA'ZOLITE.  (Gr.  to-ci^iov  and  Xtdoc,  a  stone.)  A 
subvariety  of  garnet  of  a  pale  yellow  colour,  found  in 
Piedmont.  It  is  a  silicate  of  alumina,  lime,  and  iron,  with 
traces  of  glucina  and  manganese. 

TOPCHAINS.  Chains  used  in  action,  by  which  the 
lower  vard  is  hung  in  case  of  the  slings  being  shot  away. 

TOPGALLANT.    That  which  is  above  the  topmast. 

TOTHET.  A  polluted  unclean  place  near  Jerusalem, 
into  which  the  Jews  used  to  throw  the  carcasses  of  beasts, 
or  the  bodies  of  men  to  whom  they  refused  burial ;  and 
where  a  tire  was  perpetually  kept  up  to  consume  all  that 
was  brought.  Hence  Tophet  is  sometimes  used  metaphori- 
cally for  hell.  This  place  had  also  been  defiled  by  human 
sacrifices  which  had  been  offered  to  Moloch.  Hence  Milton 
says  of  this  hideous  deity,  that  he 

Wade  his  grove 
The  pleasant  valley  of  Hinnom  :  Tophet  thence 
And  black  Gehenna  called,  the  type  of  Hell. 

The  name  is  derived  by  some  from  Ileb.  toph,  a  drum,on 
account  of  the  beating  of  drums  and  other  instruments  by 
which  the  cries  of  the  children  sacrificed  to  Moloch  were 
stifled. 

TO'PHUS.  A  soft  tumour  upon  a  bone.  In  Mineralogy, 
the  term  tophus  has  been  applied  to  porous  deposites  of 
calcareous  matter  from  water. 

TO'PICS.  (Gr.  to-oc,  a  place.)  In  Rhetoric.  By  ab- 
stracting from  a  proposition  which  conveys  a  truth  in  the 
concrete  («'.  e.,  respecting  certain  circumstances  expressed  in 
the  terms  of  the  proposition)  a  portion  of  those  circumstances 
denominated  accidental,  we  arrive  at  the  same  truth  in  the 
abstract,  or  (in  stricter  language)  more  widely  applicable, 
and  accommodated  to  many  different  sets  of  accidental  cir- 
cumstances. Thus,  for  example,  in  jurisprudence,  from  an 
investigation  of  the  truth  in  various  insulated  cases  in  which 
a  too  strict  application  of  legal  principles  has  been  attended 
with  evil  effects,  we  deduce  the  general  truth  that  such 
application  is  so  attended ;  or,  in  the  proverbial  phrase, 
"  slimmnm  jus  summa  injuria."  Among  the  helps  employ- 
ed by  the  ancients  in  their  favourite  study  of  rhetoric  was 
the  collection  and  arrangement  of  a  great  variety  of  such 
general  truths,  according  to  the  several  sciences  or  subjects 
to  which  they  belonged.  These  they  termed  topoi,  or 
places  ;  from  which  the  modern  term  topic  is  derived.  They 
considered  it  useful  for  the  student  in  rhetoric  to  have  at 
hand,  by  means  of  his  memory,  those  compendious  expres- 
sions of  universal  sentiment,  and  the  general  reasonings  or 
declamations  applicable  to  each  of  them,  in  order  to  employ 
them  for  particular  use  by  performing  the  converse  of  that 
operation  by  which  they  were  arrived  at;  viz.  clothing 
them  with  the  particular  circumstances  of  the  case.  Thus 
the  topos  just  cited  might  be  useful  to  the  forensic  orator  ; 
it  affords  a  subject  for  reasoning  and  declamation  applicable 
to  a  great  number  of  individual  instances.  Many  of  these 
topics  answer  to  what  in  modern  phrase  we  should  term 
axioms  ;  and,  indeed,  some  of  the  axioms  of  pure  mathe- 
matics are  enumerated  by  Aristotle  among  the  topics  which 
are  proper  to  every  species  of  oratory. 

TOPO'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  roirog,  a  place,  and  ypa(poi,  I  de- 
scribe.) Strictly  the  description  of  a  place,  or  the  science 
of  describing  places  (distinguished  from  chorography  or  the 
description  of  a  district,  and  from  geography,  the  description 
of  the  earth.) 

TOPPLXG  LIFT.  A  rope  for  raising  the  end  of  any  yard 
or  boom. 

TOP,  SPINNING.  A  well-known  toy.  The  steady  mo- 
tion which  a  well-spun  top  soon  acquires  suggested  to  Mr. 
Sisson,  about  eighty  years  ago,  the  employment  of  a  mirror 
placed  upon  it  at  right  angles  to  its  axis,  as  an  artificial  ho- 
rizon which  might  probably  be  used  at  sea ;  and  on  sending 


TORSION. 

out  the  first  of  the  late  polar  expeditions,  the  attention  of 
Mr.  Troughton  was  turned  to  the  subject.  But  though  use- 
ful observations  might  have  been  made  on  land  with  the 
instrument  which  he  constructed,  it  was  not  found  at  sea 
to  give  results  of  any  practical  value  ;  and  we  are  not  aware 
that  any  further  attempts  have  been  made  to  improve  its 
construction,  which  is  attended  with  considerable  mechani- 
cal difficulties. 

TOREU'MATO'LOGY.  (Gr.  ropevpa,  sculpture,  and 
ypa<ptii,  I  describe,)  signifies  either  the  science  or  art  of 
sculpture,  or  a  description  of  ancient  and  modern  sculpture 
and  bas  relief. 

TOREU'TIC.  (Gr.  Toptvros,  polished.)  In  Sculpture,  a 
term  applied  to  such  objects  as  are  executed  with  high 
finish,  delicacy,  and  polish  ;  but  properly  to  all  figures  in 
hard  wood,  ivory,  &.c. 

TO'RMENTIL  ROOT.  Therootof  the  Potentillatormcn- 
tilla.     It  is  occasionally  used  in  medicine  as  an  astringent. 

TORXA'DO.  (Spanish.)  A  violent  hurricane  or  gust  of 
wind,  which,  arising  suddenly  from  the  shore,  veers  round 
to  all  points  of  the  compass,  and  indeed  has  been  described 
as  blowing  from  all  points  at  once.  Tornadoes  are  usually 
accompanied  with  thunder  storms,  and  are  generally  of 
short  duration.  They  are  frequent  in  the  Chinese  seas  and 
the  West  Indies.     See  Storms. 

TORXATE'LLA.  A  genus  of  oval  marine  Univales  be- 
longing to  the  Plicaceie,  found  in  the  oolite  and  superja- 
cent strata.  Recent  tornatellae  are  fotmd  in  shallow  water, 
creeping  upon  and  furrowing  the  sand. 

TORPE'DO.  (Lat.  torpedo,  numbness.)  A  genus  of 
Cartilaginous  fishes  separated  from  the  Raice  of  Linna:us  on 
account  of  the  circular  form  of  the  body,  and  more  especi- 
ally from  the  presence  of  the  electrical  organs  on  which 
that  form  of  the  body  mainly  depends.  Violent  shocks  are 
experienced  on  touching  the  living  and  active  torpedo.  It  i3 
probable  that  it  exerts  its  electrifying  or  benumbing  powers 
in  order  to  secure  its  prey  ;  and  it  is  certain  that  the  same 
power  is  employed  in  defending  itself  against  assailants,  to 
whose  assaults  it  would  be  otherwise  more  exposed  than 
are  the  ordinary  rays ;  for  the  torpedo  has  a  smooth  skin, 
and  is  not  defended  by  the  spiny  tubercles,  or  barbed  and 
pointed  bony  weapons,  with  which  the  non-electric  rays  are 
provided. 

TORQUES.  In  Antiquities,  a  chain  or  collar  formed  of 
a  number  of  small  ringlets  interlaced  with  each  other, 
framed  of  metal,  and  worn  round  the  neck.  Xo  ornament 
perhaps  was  of  more  early  or  general  use.  It  is  mentioned 
in  Genesis,  xli.,  4-2,  as  one  of  the  ornaments  conferred  by 
Pharaoh  on  Joseph.  It  was  in  use  among  the  Greeks  and 
Romans,  but  peculiarly  among  the  Celtic  nations.  The 
legends  respecting  the  torques  of  the  Gauls  who  invaded 
Rome  are  well  known.  It  was  from  his  victory  over  a  Gaul 
that  T.  Mantius  Torquatus  derived  his  surname.  (Livy, 
lib.  vii.,  ch.  10.)  And  no  relic  is  more  commonly  found  in 
this  country  by  antiquarian  explorers.  Boadicea  wore  a 
long,  golden  torques.  (£) io.  Cass.,  lxii.)  See  the  Archaolo- 
gia,  vol.  xiv.,  p.  97,  and  passim,  for  descriptions  of  particular 
specimens. 

TORREFA'CTIOX.  (Lat.)  The  operation  of  roasting 
ores  to  deprive  them  of  sulphur,  arsenic,  or  other  volatile  in- 
gredients. When  drugs  are  highly  dried,  or  partially  toast- 
ed or  roasted,  they  are  also  said  to  be  torrefied. 

TORRICE'LLIAX  VACUUM.  In  Physics,  the  vacuum 
produced  by  inverting  a  tube  of  sufficient  length,  rilled  with 
mercury  or  any  other  fluid,  in  a  vessel  containing  a  portion 
of  the  same  fluid,  and  allowing  the  fluid  in  the  tube  to  de- 
scend until  its  weight  is  counterbalanced  by  that  of  the  at- 
mosphere. In  this  manner  the  first  barometers  were  form- 
ed by  Torricelli,  and  thence  called  Torricellian  tubes.  See 
Barometer. 

TO'RRID  ZOXE.  In  Geography,  the  zone  of  the  earth 
included  between  the  tropics  of  Cancer  and  Capricorn.  It 
extends  from  the  equator,  on  both  sides,  to  the  parallel  cor- 
responding to  the  sun's  greatest  declination,  about  23k  de- 
grees.    See  Ecliptic  Zone. 

TO'RSIOX.  (Lat.  torsio;  from  torqueo,  Ttwist),  in  Me- 
chanics, is  the  twisting  or  wrenching  of  a  body  by  the  ex- 
ertion of  a  lateral  force.  If  a  slender  rod  of  metal  suspend- 
ed vertically,  and  having  its  upper  end  fixed,  be  twisted 
through  a  certain  angle  by  a  force  acting  in  a  plane  perpen- 
dicular to  its  axis,  it  will,  on  the  removal  of  the  force, 
untwist  itself,  or  return  in  the  opposite  direction  with  a 
Teater  or  less  velocity,  and,  after  a  series  of  oscillations, 
will  come  to  rest  in  its  original  position.  The  limits  of 
torsion  within  which  the  body  will  return  to  its  original 
state  depend  upon  its  elasticity.  A  fine  wire  of  a  few  feet 
in  length  may  be  twisted  through  several  revolutions 
without  impairing  its  elasticity  ;  and  within  those  limita 
the  force  evolved  is  found  to  be  perfectly  regular,  and  di- 
rectly proportional  to  the  angular  displacement  from  the 
position  of  rest.  If  the  angular  displacement  exceeds  a 
certain  limit,  the  particles  of  the  body  will  be  wrenched 


TORSION. 

asunder  ;  or  if  the  elasticity  is  not  perfect  (as  in  a  wire  of 
lead,  fore.xaniple,  before  disruption  takes  place,  the  particles 
Will  assume  a  new  arrangement,  or  take  a  set,  and  will  not 
return  to  their  original  position  on  the  withdrawal  of  the 
disturbing  force. 

The  resistance  which  cylinders  or  prisms  formed  of  dif- 
ferent substances  oppose  to  torsion,  furnishes  one  of  the 
usual  methods  of  determining  the  elasticity  and  strength  of 
materials  :  and  the  property  which  a  metallic  wire  or  thread 
1  by  a  small  weight  possesses  of  becoming  twisted 
and  untwisted  in  a  series  of  isochronous  and  perfectly  regu- 
lar oscillations,  has  been  ingeniously  applied  in  the  torsion 
balance  to  the  measurement  of  very  minute  forces,  and 
thereby  to  the  establishment  of  the  fundamental  laws  of 
electricity  and  magnetism,  and  to  the  determination  of  the 
mean  density  of  the  earth.    See  Baliuci  of  Torsion. 

The  laws  of  torsion  have  been  experimentally  investi- 
gated by  Coulomb  in  a  variety  of  substances  ;  as  rogl&lllc 
wires,  hairs,  fibres  of  silk,  &.c.  The  method  which  h»  •m- 
ployed  consisted  in  attaching  a  body  of  given  form  and  di- 
mensions to  the  extremity  of  the  wire,  and,  after  twisting  it 
through  a  certain  angle,  to  abandon  it  to  the  action  of  the 
force  evolved,  and  observe  the  time  of  the  oscillations. 
The  following  general  laws  were  found  to  hold  good  : 

1.  On  loading  B  wire  or  thread  with  different  weights,  it 
will  settle  in  different  positions  of  stability ;  that  is  to  say, 
an  index  attached  to  the  weight  will  point  in  different  di- 
rections if  the  weight  be  varied,  and  the  angular  deviation 
may  amount  even  to  a  whole  circumference. 

2  The  oscillations  are  isochronous. 

3  The  tune  of  oscillation  is  proportional  to  the  square 
root  of  the  weight  which  stretches  the  wire. 

4.  The  time  of  oscillation  is  as  the  square  root  of  the 
length  of  the  wire. 

5.  The  time  of  oscillation  is  inversely  as  the  square  of  the 
diameter  of  the  wire. 

From  the  second  of  these  laws  it  follows  that  when  the 
wire  is  twisted  round  from  the  position  of  rest,  the  force 
With  which  it  tends  to  return  to  thai  position  is  proportional 
to  the  angle  to  be  described  in  order  to  attain  it.  For  it  is 
a  general  result  of  mechanics,  that  all  motions  produced 
by  forces  acting  according  to  this  law  have  the  property  of 
tautochronism  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  oscillations  are  perform- 
ed in  equal  times,  whatever  be  the  length  of  the  arc.  This 
fundamental  property  is  usually  enunciated  by  saying  that 
the  force  of  torsion  is  proportional  to  the  angle  of  torsion. 

Let  F  denote  the  force  of  torsion,  measured  by  the  weight 
which  it  would  be  necessary  to  apply  by  means  of  a  pulley 
to  a  point  p,  situated  at  the  unit  of  distance  (one  inch) 
from  the  axis  of  the  wire,  and  invariably  connected  with 
it,  to  cause  the  point  p  to  describe  an  arc  of  a  circle  equal 
in  length  to  the  unit  of  distance;  then,  by  the  property 
enunciated,  the  force  which  must  lie  applied  at  p  in  order 
that  the  point  may  describe  any  arc  tp  is  expressed  by  F-  q>. 
If  the  arc  of  torsion  is  expressed  in  degrees  instead  of  parts 
of  the  radius,  we  have  <t>  =  it  <j>° -i-  180°  (tt  being  the  se- 
micircumference  to  radius  1,  or  =  3-14159) ;  whence  the 
expression  of  the  force  becomes  F  -f-  -  0°  -J- 180°. 

On  this  principle  of  the  proportionality  of  the  impelling 
force  to  the  angle  or  deviation  the  problem  of  determining 
the  time  of  an  oscillation  is  solved.  Suppose  a  body  of  any 
form  attached  to  the  extremity  of  a  slender  wire,  whose 
weight  in  comparison  of  that  of  the  body  may  be  neglected, 
and  let  d  m  be  an  element  of  the  mass,  r  the  distance  of  d 
m  from  the  axis  of  the  wire,  and  T  the  time  of  an  oscilla- 
tion ;  the  solution  of  the  problem  gives 

^),orT.=  .2pl^. 

The  integral  /  r%  d  m  is  the  moment  of  inertia  of  the  at- 
tached body.  If  the  body  be  a  cylinder  whose  axis  coin- 
cides with  that  of  the  wire,  and  if  a  denote  its  radius  and 

M  its  mass,  then    /  r2  d  m  =  £  M  a2 ;  or,  substituting  the 

weight  for  the  mass,  and  observing  that  if  the  weight  be 
denoted  bv  P,  and  the  accelerating  force  of  gravity  by  g 
(=  3-2.1908  feet  or  3862894  inches  in  a  second,)  we  "have  P 

=  M  g,  J  r2  d  m  =  P  o2  -J-  2  g.    Hence  the  expression 
P 

for  the  time  becomes  T  =  n  V        • 
2/r  F 
If  the  attached  body  were  a  Blender  cylindrical  needle 
suspended  horizontally  by  its  middle  to  the  wire,  we  should, 

on  denoting  its  length  by  /,  have  /  r2  d  m  =  J  M  P ;  whence 

T=  rr/^/JL 
3gT 

The  following  results  are   deduced  from  the  formula: 
1.  The  force  of  t-.r- ion  is  Independent  of  the  weigh)  which 
stretches  the  wire,  or  F  remains  constant  while  P  is  varied. 
1254 


wf>|=), 


TORTURE. 

For  suppose  P  to  become  P',  and  let  T'  be  the  correspond- 
ing time  of  oscillation,  and  F'  the  corresponding  force,  we 
have  then 

T*  =    — ,T2  = : 

2 g  F'  2»F" 

whence  T2  :  T'2 : :  PF:F  F.  But,  by  the  third  expert* 
mental  law,  T-  :  T'-  :  :  P  :  P';  therefore  F'  =  F. 

2.  The  force  is  inversely  as  the  length  of  the  wire.  For, 
supposing  1"  to  remain  constant,  we  have  T-  :'V'i  :  :  F'  :  F. 
Hut,  by  the  fourth  experimental  law,  T* :  T'2  ::l:l'\  whence 
F'  :  F:  :  I  :  V. 

3.  The  force  is  proportional  to  the  fourth  power  of  the 
diameter  of  the  wire.  Let  there  be  two  wires  of  the  same 
substance,  but  of  ditl'erent  diameters,  D  and  D',  and  stretch- 
ed by  the  same  weight  P ;  and  let  T  and  T'  be  the  corres- 
ponding times.  By  the  fifth  experimental  law,  we  have  T : 
T' :  :  1)'-  :  D-.  But  it  has  been  shown  that  T-  :  T'2  :  :  F'  : 
F  ;  therefore  F  :  F' :  :  D-* :  D'4. 

To  show  the  method  of  applying  the  formula-,  we  shall 
compute  one  of  the  experiments  of  Coulomb.  An  iron 
wire  was  stretched  by  a  vertical  cylinder  of  -8  of  an  inch 
radius  and  weighing  2  lbs.,  and  it  was  observed  to  make 
•20  oscillations  in  242  seconds,  or  one  in  121  seconds.  It 
is  proposed  to  determine  the  force  F.  From  the  fonnula 
for  the  time  of  an  oscillation  we  have,  by  transposition, 

7-2  al  P  ' 

F  =   n  „ti>'      Substituting  numbers  in  this  formula,  we 


tern 

have  rr2  =  98696,  a.z  =  64,  P 
(12-1)2  =  146-41 ;  consequently  F  : 


2,  g  =  386-2894,  T2  = 
12-633 

Il3TT3  =  '0001117ofa 
pound,  or  about -78  of  a  grain.  Hence  the  weight  applied 
at  the  distance  of  one  inch  from  the  axis  of  the  wire  that 
would  be  required  to  twist  the  wire  through  a  complete 
revolution,  or  360°,  is  6283  times  this  quantity,  or  nearly 
five  grains. 
For   the   demonstration  of  the    fundamental    formula, 

namely,  T2  F  =  -2   /  r2  d  m,  see  Coulomb,    Theorie  dca 

Machines    Timples  ;  or  Biot,  Traite  de  Physique,  torn.  i. 

TORSO.  (It.)  In  Sculpture,  a  statue  of  which  nothing 
but  the  trunk  of  the  human  figure  remains. 

TORT.   (Fr.  wrong.)   In  Law,  signifies  injustice  or  injur}-. 

TORTOISE.  This  name  is  usually  applied  to  species  of 
that  division  of  the  Linna-an  genu-  Testudo  including  the 
terrestrial  Chelonians,  to  which  the  generic  name  is  now 
limited.     Sir  TESTUDO. 

TORTOISE  SHELL.  The  name  given  to  the  horny 
scutes  or  plates  of  the  sea  turtles  ;  and  in  particular  to  those 
of  the  hawk's-bill  turtle.  Cheione  imbricata. 

TORTRI'CES.  (Lat.  torqueo,  I  wreath.)  The  name  of 
a  tribe  of  nocturnal  Lepidopterous  insects,  comprising  those 
the  larva'  of  which  live  concealed  in  leaves,  which  they 
roll  round  them  for  the  purpose. 

TO'RTURE.  (Lat.  torqueo,  /  twist  or  torment.)  In  a 
leeal  sense,  the  infliction  of  pain  on  an  accused  person  in 
order  to  extort  an  avowal  of  guilt,  or  revelation  of  accom- 
plices. Such  a  practice  is  sufficiently  common  among  all 
half-civilized  nations;  but  the  Greeks  and  Romans  were 
perhaps  the  first  who  introduced  it  as  a  part  of  their  regu- 
lar proceedings  in  criminal  cases.  Both  at  Athens  and 
Rome  torture  was,  however,  considered  as  applicable  only 
to  extort  evidence  from  slaves  :  towards  them  it  was  used 
profusely ;  and  it  was,  in  fact,  a  usual  occurrence  to  order 
a  whole  family  of  slaves  to  the  torture,  in  order  to  extract 
revelations  where  an  atrocious  crime  had  been  committed, 
as,  for  instance,  the  murder  of  the  master.  Cicero,  in  se- 
veral passages,  condemns  the  use  of  torture ;  and  Clpian 
(Lex.  i.,  De  Qumstionibus)  says,  "Res  est  fragilis  et  pert- 
culosa,  et  quae  veritatem  fill  lit.  nam  plerique  pntientin  sive 
duritia  tormentorem  ita  et  tormenta  contemnunt,  ut  expri- 
mi  cis  Veritas  nullo  modo  poesit ;  alii  tantft  sunt  impatientift 
ut  quid  vis  mentiri  qnam  pat!  tormenta  mnlint."  (As  to 
the  torture  at  Rome,  see  Gibbon,  vol.  ii.,  p.  49,  4to  ed.)  Not- 
withstanding  these  recorded  opinions  of  the  highest  lumi- 
naries of  ancient  jurisprudence,  torture  was  adopted  along 
with  the  rest  of  the  process  of  the  civil  law  in  most  Euro- 
pean countries.  (For  its  use  in  France,  see  Question.) 
The  general  principle  of  the  civilians  Has.  that  it  could  not 
be  used  unless  vehement  suspicion  warranted  its  applica- 
tion.    Hut  no  very  definite  meaning  was  attached  in  practice 

to  these  words,  especially  In  Germany,  where  the  abuse 
seems  to  have  been  carried  to  the  greatest  extent  by  the 
Ignorant  and  cruel  tribunals  of  her  smaller  states.  When 
Howard  visited  the  prisons  of  that  country  (about  1770)  It 
was  -till  in  general  use.  See  his  Account  of  /v, 
The  writings  of  various  philosophical  authors  of  the  18th 
century,  especially  Voltaire,  Thomasius,  and  Beccaria, 
(whose  short  treatise,  Dei  Delitti  <  dellt  Pene,  obtained 
such  singular  notoriety),  effected  much  toward-  bringing 
its  employment  Into  disrepute  ;  but  in  genera]  abolition  can 
only  be  attributed  to  the  superior  regard  for  the  rights  of 


TORUS. 

man  introduced  every  where  by  the  agitation  of  the  French 
Revolution.  In  England,  judicial  torture  was  not  recog- 
nized by  the  common  law  (for  the  peine  forte  et  dure  hard- 
ly falls  within  the  same  definition) ;  and  that  it  was  also 
nearly  unknown  in  practice,  in  the  14th  century  at  least, 
may  be  inferred  from  the  reluctance  of  Edward  II.  to  sub- 
mit the  Templars  to  torture,  which  was  overcome  by  the 
instances  of  Pope  Clement  V.,  and  from  a  curious  paper  of 
questions  addressed  on  that  occasion  by  the  archbishop  of 
York  to  some  divines,  from  which  it  appears  that  no  tor- 
turer could  at  that  time  be  found  in  England.  (See  Ray- 
nouard,  Memoires  sur  les  Templicrs ;  Hallam's  Constitu- 
tional History.)  The  rack  is  said  to  have  been  introduced 
as  an  engine  of  state  by  the  Duke  of  Exeter  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  VI.  However  this  may  be,  during  the  whole  of  the 
16th  century  we  find  that  the  privy  council  assumed  and 
exercised  the  right  to  direct  torture-warrants  to  the  lieuten- 
ant of  the  Tower  and  other  officers,  commanding  them  to 
submit  to  the  torture  persons  accused  not  only  of  state  of- 
fences, but  of  ordinary  municipal  crimes,  when  strong  sus- 
picion, but  no  sufficient  evidence,  existed.  Torture-war- 
rants were  also  issued,  not  by  the  council,  but  under  the 
sign  manual  only.  During  this  period  the  council  seems, 
in  fact,  to  have  acted  as  a  supplementary  tribunal  in  aid  of 
the  regular  courts,  for  the  purpose  of  extorting  discoveries 
of  criminal  offences.  The  instances  of  torture  of  seminary 
priests,  &c,  in  Elizabeth's  reign,  have  been  often  cited ; 
but  it  is  not  so  generally  known  that  the  practice  was  not 
confined  to  accusations  of  treason  and  sedition,  but  extend- 
ed to  other  cases.  (See  Jardine's  Reading  on  the  Use  of 
Torture  in  England,  1837.)  Under  James  I.  and  Charles 
I.  torture  seems  to  have  become  less  frequent,  and  to  have 
been  only  employed  in  state  offences;  and  this,  perhaps, 
explains  the  well-known  answer  of  the  judges  to  Charles's 
question  respecting  Felton,  the  murderer  of  the  Duke  of 
Buckingham,  that  he  ought  not  to  be  tortured,  "for  no  such 
punishment  is  honour  to  our  law."  The  last  recorded  case 
is  that  of  William  Archer,  1640 ;  and  as  in  that  year  the 
act  for  the  abolition  of  the  Star  Chamber  granted  a  habeas 
corpus  to  all  persons  detained  on  warrants  from  the  privy 
council,  torture  must  then  have  been  virtually  abolished. 
In  Scotland  it  was  so  in  the  7th  year  of  Anne. 

TO'RUS.  (Lat.  a  rope.)  In  Architecture  a  large  mould- 
ing used  in  the  bases  of  columns,  the  profile  whereof  is  sem- 
icircular. This  term  is  also  used  in  botany  for  the  cen- 
tral part  of  the  flower  on  which  the  carpels  are  placed. 

TORY.  A  well-known  party  name  in  English  history. 
(See  Whig.)  The  Irish  malcontents,  half  robbers  and  half 
insurgents,  who  harassed  the  English  in  Ireland  at  the  pe- 
riod of  the  massacre  in  1640  and  during  the  troubles  which 
followed,  were  the  first  to  whom  this  name  was  applied. 
It  is  said  to  have  been  transplanted  into  England  about  the 
time  of  the  Popish  Plot,  when  the  public  mind  was  agitated 
by  chimerical  fears  respecting  the  apprehended  employ- 
ment of  Irish  Catholics  to  further  that  imaginary  design  ; 
whence  it  was  commonly  applied  by  way  of  reproach  to 
the  court  party,  against  which  the  popular  hostility  was 
then  directed,  as  favouring  and  countenancing  the  sup- 
posed abettors  of  the  plot.  From  the  period  of  its  intro- 
duction into  England  down  to  the  present  times  the  term 
Tory  has  been  constantly  employed  to  designate  a  large 
political  party  in  this  country.  Down  to  the  period  when 
Hume  wrote  his  Essay  on  the  Parties  of  Great  Britain, 
the  conduct  of  the  two  great  parties  in  the  state  (the 
Whigs  and  Tories)  had  been  so  vague  and  undetermined 
as  to  have  led  him  to  declare  his  utter  inability  to  tell  their 
nature,  pretensions,  and  principles.  Since  that  period, 
however,  the  conduct  of  the  Tories  has  been  more  uniform ; 
and  it  might  now  be  easier  to  define  the  principles  by  which 
they  have  been  guided  during  the  last  half  century:  but 
we  shall  not  undertake  the  task.  Within  the  last  two  or 
three  years,  the  word  Tory  has  been  gradually  displaced 
by  Conservative,  which  seems  likely  to  become  the  perma- 
nent designation  of  the  Tory  party.  This  term  was  ori- 
ginally assumed  in  contradistinction  to  Destructives,  a 
name  by  which  the  more  violent  reformers  came  to  be  de- 
signated by  their  enemies ;  and  it  is  now  understood  as  re- 
ferring to  the  whole  Tory  party,  but  more  especially  to 
what  may  be  called  the  more  liberal  portion  of  that  party. 

TOTIPA'LMATES,  Totipalmati.  (Lat.  totus,  entire, 
and  palma,  a  palm.)  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Palmipedes, 
or  swimming  birds,  including  those  in  which  the  hinder 
toe  is  enveloped  in  the  same  web  with  the  three  anterior 
toes. 

TOUCH.  In  Medicine.  The  belief  in  the  possibility  of 
curing  various  maladies  by  the  touch  has  produced  a  va- 
riety of  singular  superstitions.  Plutarch  attributes  singular 
virtues  to  the  touch  of  King  Pyrrhus  of  Epirus.  According 
to  Suetonius,  Adrian  and  Vespasian  had  the  power  of  cur- 
ing various  diseases  in  the  same  manner.  In  what  period 
the  opinion  respecting  the  virtue  of  the  touch  of  the  kings 
of  France  and  England  in  curing  epilepsy,  scrofulas,  &c, 


TOURNAMENT. 

had  its  origin,  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain.  Andre  Dulaurent, 
chief  physician  of  Henry  IV.  of  France,  published  a  trea- 
tise on  the  subject.  The  ceremony  of  touching  by  the 
kings  of  France,  was  practised  at  the  four  great  feasts  of 
the  year;  sometimes  as  many  as  1500  were  touched  at  a 
time.  By  an  odd  etiquette,  the  Spaniards  had  the  first 
rank,  then  other  foreigners,  and  the  French  last  of  all. 
The  formula  used  at  each  imposition  of  the  royal  hand  was, 
"  Le  roi  te  touche,  et  Dieu  te  guerit."  Polydore  Virgil  at- 
tributes this  virtue  to  Edward  IV.,  and  all  our  kings  down 
to  the  end  of  the  Stuart  dynasty  touched  for  the  king's  evil. 
Much  efficacy  has  been  attributed  in  different  diseases,  par- 
ticularly tumours,  &c,  to  the  touch  of  the  hand  of  a  dead 
body ;  especially,  according  to  Pliny  and  various  modem 
authorities,  of  one  who  had  died  violently.  We  do  not 
know  whether  the  superstition  is  yet  extinct  under  the  in- 
fluence of  which  scrofulous  persons  used  to  have  them- 
selves touched  by  the  hands  of  criminals  after  execution. 
Boyle  endeavours  to  explain  away  part  of  the  miracle  by 
attributing  some  virtue  to  the  coldness  of  the  application. 

Touch.  One  of  the  five  senses,  resident  in  the  nervous 
papillae  of  the  skin;  it  is  also  the  sensibility  diffused  over 
the  whole  body.  It  is  much  more  exquisite  in  some  parts 
than  others. 

Touch.  In  Naval  language,  the  sails  are  said  to  touch 
when  the  wind  comes  edgeways  upon  them. 

TOUCH  NEEDLES.  Small  bars,  consisting  of  gold  and 
silver  alloyed  with  various  definite  proportions  of  copper, 
are  thus  termed  by  assayers,  who  use  them  to  judge,  by 
comparing  their  colour  and  streak  upon  a  piece  of  hard 
black  stone,  such  as  basalt,  with  that  of  alloys  of  the  pre- 
cious metals,  of  the  relative  quantity  of  gold  or  silver  in  the 
latter.    Hence  also  the  term  touchstone. 

TOU'RMALINE.  The  more  perfect  forms  of  schorl  go 
under  this  name.  It  is  the  lyncurium  of  the  ancients.  Its 
chief  constituents  are  silica  and  alumina,  with  about  10 
percent,  of  soda,  and  a  little  oxide  of  manganese  and  of 
iron.  The  transparent  coloured  varieties  are  sometimes  cut 
into  ring-stones,  and  some  of  them  are  much  valued  for  ex- 
periments on  the  polarization  of  light. 

TOURN,  in  Law,  was  the  turn  or  circuit  anciently  made 
thrice  every  year  by  the  sheriff,  for  the  purpose  of  holding 
in  each  hundred  the  great  court  leet  of  the  county.  The 
jurisdiction  exercised  by  the  sheriff  on  his  tourn  extended 
by  the  common  law  to  the  cognizance  of  all  offences  not 
capital ;  but  sheriffs  are  prohibited  by  Magna  Charta  from 
holding  any  pleas  of  the  crown  in  which  they  had  a  pecu- 
niary interest  in  procuring  a  conviction ;  while  a  better  tri- 
bunal was  at  the  same  time  supplied  hy  the  establishment 
of  annual  circuits.  The  tourn,  though  never  disallowed 
by  law,  has,  with  the  curtailment  of  its  jurisdiction,  and 
the  abandonment  of  the  leet  as  a  registry  of  pledges,  long 
fallen  into  disuse;  and  the  right  of  the  jury  or  suitors  at 
the  tourn  to  present  nuisances,  or  convict  of  minor  offences, 
has,  with  other  functions  of  courts  leet,  been  transferred 
to  the  quarter  sessions. 

TOU'RNAMENT  (in  modem  Latin  torneamentum  or 
TOURNEY;  originally  derived  from  the  Fr.  tourner,  mo- 
dern Latin  tornare,  to  turn.)  A  well-known  military  sport 
of  the  middle  ages,  which  without  doubt  arose  from  the 
exercises  of  military  training.  A  joust  or  just  is,  properly 
speaking,  the  encounter  of  two  knights  in  this  species  of 
exercise ;  the  tournament,  an  assembly  held  for  the  pur- 
pose of  exhibiting  such  justs,  or  the  encounter  of  several 
knights  on  a  side.  The  earlier  tournaments  were  highly 
dangerous  and  sanguinary  sports.  They  were  performed 
with  the  ordinary  weapons  of  warfare,  the  lance  and  the 
sword ;  and  the  combatants  had  only  the  strength  of  their 
armour  to  rely  on  for  their  defence.  It  was  a  recognised 
custom,  according  to  Meyrick  (Hist,  of  Ancient  Armour), 
that  whoever  slew  or  disabled  an  adversary  in  the  tourna- 
ment was  indemnified  against  all  consequences.  The  ac- 
count of  the  tournament  given  by  the  Count  of  Chablais,  in 
Savoy,  to  Edward  I.  on  his  return  from  Palestine  to  Eng- 
land, as  given  by  Thomas  de  Walsingham,  represents  a 
sort  of  violent  mdlee,  in  which  knights,  squires,  and  arch- 
ers were  engaged  on  both  sides,  endeavouring  to  unhorse 
their  riders  and  overthrow  the  footmen  by  every  possible 
means.  But  in  the  course  of  time  this  chivalric  amuse- 
ment became  the  subject  of  minute  regulations,  which  in 
some  degree  diminished  the  danger  and  insured  the  fair- 
ness of  the  sport.  The  English  Statute  Armorum  de  Tor- 
neamentis  are  assigned  by  Dr.  Meyrick  to  the  year  1295. 
(See  Sainte-Palaye.)  "Impartial  taste,"  says  Gibbon, 
"must  prefer  a  Gothic  tournament  to  the  Olympic  games 
of  classic  antiquity."     (Decl.  and  Fall,  ch.  50.) 

In  tournaments,  when  under  the  strict  regulation  of 
knightly  usage,  two  sorts  of  arms  were  employed ;  those 
expressly  made  for  the  purpose,  viz.,  lances  with  blunt  heads 
of  iron  ;  and  the  ordinary  arms  of  warfare,  termed,  "  armes 
a  outrance,"  which  were  only  employed  by  such  champions 
as  were  desirous  to  signalize  themselves  in  a  more  than 

1255 


TOURNIQ.UET. 

ordinary  degree,  and  frequently  were  not  permitted  by  the 
judges  of  the  tournament.  Every  knight  attendii  g 
quired  to  show  his  noble  birth  and  rank,  as  a  title  to  ad- 
mission.  These  were  at  first  proclaimed  by  the  heralds 
with  sound  of  trumpet;  and  hence  the  word  blazonry, 
which  signifies  the  correct  deciphering  of  the  heraldic 
symbols  on  a -coat  of  arms,  is  derived  by  some  from  the 
German  blasen,  to  blow.  Afterwards,  when  armorial  bear- 
me  general,  the  shield  of"  the  knight  gave  token 
of  his  rank  and  family.  The  attendance  of  ladies  at  the 
tournaments,  their  distribution  of  prizes  to  those  who  had 
borne  themselves  best,  arming  and  unarming  the 
&c.  are  various  romantic  circumstances  well  known  to  the 
reader  of  chivalric  legends;  but  they  must  not  be  supposed 
to  have  been  the  accessary,  ur  oxen  usual  accompani 
menu  of  these  knightly  sports,  at  least  until  a  later  age, 
when  the  taste  for  gallantry,  combining  with  that  for  show 
and  spectacle,  turned  these  military  exhibitions  of  skill  into 
little  more  than  gorgeous  pageants.  When  we  arrive  at 
the  reigns  of  Edward  111.  and  Henry  V..  we  find  the  justs 
usually  held  in  favor  of  ladies,  and  every  knight  hound  to 
possess  in  reality  or  in  show  a  dame  of  his  affections,  for 
whose  sake  all  his  deeds  of  chivalry  were  performed.  Dr. 
Meyrick  quotes  from  a  manuscript  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth 
the  ordinances  of  justes,  made  by  John  Earl  of  Worcester, 
constable  of  England,  in  the  sixth  year  of  Edward  IV.  ; 
from  which  it  appears  that  the  law  of  justs  had  become 
by  that  time  the  subject  of  very  minute  regulation.  The 
prize  belonged  to  him  who  broke  most  spears  "  as  they 
ought  to  he  broken  ;"  t.  e.  on  the  head  or  body  of  the  an- 
tagonist. Prom  Stow  we  find  that  the  lists  erected  in 
Smithfield  in  1467,  when  the  Bastard  of  Burgundy  challenge 
ed  Lord  Scales,  were  iitfO  feet  in  length  by  260  in  breadth: 
these  champions  rode  at  each  other  two  days  with  spears, 
and  on  the  third  encountered  on  foot  with  pole-axes.  In 
the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  when  the  real  spirit  of  chivalry 
was  far  advanced  in  its  decline,  the  tournament  was  in- 
vested almost  «  holly  with  itie  character  of  a  court  pageant, 
but  celebrated  with  a  degree  Of  splendour  and  costliness 
scarcely  equalled  in  former  times.  The  famous  volumes  of 
woodcuts  of  the  siime  period,  styled  the  Triumphs  of  .Maxi- 
milian, siiows  that  it  wis  as  favourite  ami  almost  as  mag- 
nificent a  spectacle  at  the  court  of  German)'.  The  tragical 
deatli  of  Henry  11.  of  France,  in  consequence  of  a  blow  re- 
ceived in  a  tournament,  is  w  ell  known,  and  was  the  cause  of 
the  final,  although  only  gradual  abolition,  of  this  knightly 
amusement :  which  was  revived  at  intervals  in  court  so- 
lemnities in  the  seventeenth  century,  but  rather  as  a  memo- 
rial of  past  times  than  as  a  subsisting  ami  popular  custom. 

The  revival  of  the  tournament  was  recently  attempted  in 
the  west  of  Scotland  by  the  Earl  of  Eglinton  ;  but  we  scarce- 
ly suppose  that  the  success  of  that  attempt  was  either  com- 
mensurate with  its  deserts,  or  was  such  as  to  induce  any 
party  to  renew  it.  At  the  court  of  Wurtemburg  tournaments 
are  notunfrequently  exhibited  at  this 

\temoires  8wr  la  Chevalerie;  Turner's 
History  >  Middle  Airi  s),  vol.  i..  p.  47-J  ;  Hist.  dr.  I'.ic.  dt  s  In- 
tix. ;  and  Walter  Scott's  admirable  delineation  in 
Icanhoe.  which  gives  a  more  vivid  idea  of  the  tournament, 
with  all  its  variety  of  martial  exercises,  than  any  serious 
work  extant 

Jul  RNiaUET.  Tr.)  A  bandage  which  may  be  tight- 
ened to  any  extent  by  means  of  a  screw ,  so  as  to  exert  pres- 
sure upon  a  cushion  and  compress  the  arterial  trunks  to 
which  it  is  applied:  it  is  chiefly  used  to  prevent  hemor- 
rhage ia  the  operations  of  amputation. 

ToW.  To  draw  a  vessel  along  by  a  rope.  As  the  vessel 
towed  affects  the  motions  of  the  other,  much  attention  is 
required  on  her  part  to  second  the  intention  of  the  lowing 
vessel. 

TOWEB.  (Lat  turris.j  In  Architecture,  a  lofty  build 
Ing,  square,   pol  ircular  on  the  plan,  and  often 

consisting  of  several  stories.    The  tower  ofa  church  is  that 
part  which  contains  the  bells,  and  from  which  the  steeple 

TOWERS,  ROUND.     In  Ireland,  remarkable  i 
extreme  antiquity,  of  which  the  origin  has  perplexed  anti- 
quaries to  an   unexampled  degree.     They  are  tall,  narrow 
edifices,  varying  in  height  from  ,-u  to  120  feet    That  at  Kd 
dare,  we  believe,  is  tin-  highest;  cylindrical  in  shape,  with 

a  door  8  or  10  feet  from  the  ground, and  narrow  apertures  at 
the  top.    There  are  sixty-two  of  these  curious  n 

taiued  to  exisl  In  Ireland  ;  and  two  in  Scotland,  at  Ahrine- 

thy  and  Brechin.     Tiny  cannot  have  been  watch  towers, 

their  position  being  generally  low;  nor  belfries,  their  shape 

ruction  rendering  such  a  supposition  impossible, 

although  some  appear  to  have  been  used  in  that  way  in  later 

d  the  notion  that  they  were  places  of  confinement 
for  penitents  or  hermits  seems  extravagant  Common  be- 
lief, however,  attaches  to  them  an  ecclesiastical  origin  and 
use;  and  the  well  Known  passage  of  Giraldtu  Cambreasis, 
a  writer  of  the  12th  century  (who  savs  that  the  fishermen 
1256 


TOXICOLOGY. 

of  Lough  Neagh  reported  that  in  clear  weather  remains  of 
buildings,  and  among  others  round  towers  of  the  country 
fashion,  were  seen  at  the  bottom),  necessarily  implies  a  great- 
er antiquity.  In<h  antiquaries,  however,  as  may  be  sup- 
posed, have  luxuriated  in  hypotheses  connecting  them  with 
ancient  forms  of  pagan  worship;  such  as  the  pyrolatry  of 
the  Persians,  the  Phallic  rites,  &c.  (See  Moore's  History 
of  Ireland,  vol.  i.,  ch.  2,  for  a  variety  of  these  opinions,  and 
tiieir  autbj 

l'(  >\K  1 1  l.i  h;  V.  (Gr.  to\ikov,  poison,  and  \oyoi.  a  dis- 
course.) Poisons  have  been  divided  by  Orfila  and  t'hristi- 
son  into  irritants,  narcotics,  ami  narcotii  i    tirst 

class  i n . - 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 l.'  those  w  hose  sole  "r  predominating  sj  mptoma 
are  those  of  irritation  or  inflammation;  the  second,  those 
which  produce  stupor,  delirium,  and  other  affections  of  the 
brain  and  nervous  system  :  and  the  third,  those  which  are 
ofa  mixed  chai 

The  chief  effects  of  irritants  are  upon  the  alimentary  ca- 
nal, exciting  inflammation,  and  sometimes  ulceration  of  the 
tongue,  fauces,  and  cesophagus,  difficult  deglutition,  nausea, 
vomiting,  and  heat  and  pain  of  the  stomach,  with  more  or 
less  tension  of  the  abdomen,  and  pain  on  pressure.  The 
sickness  is  generally  accompanied  by  extreme  anxiety  and 
anguish,  and  the  matters  vomited  consist,  in  the  first  in- 
stance, of  any  food  that  may  have  been  in  the  stomach, 
with  portions  of  the  poison  itself,  and  afterwards  of  viscid 
mucus,  often  streaked  with  blood  and  tinged  with  bile  ;  the 
pain  afterwards  extends  throughout  the  intestines,  and  mu- 
cous, bilious,  and  often  bloody  diarrhoea  succeeds.  The 
skin  is  cold  and  clammy,  the  pulse  quick  and  feeble,  the 
breathing  often  difficult,  and  the  countenance  expressive  of 
extreme  anxiety. 

Narcotic  poisons  induce  a  train  of  symptoms  of  a  very 
distinct  character:  headach,  vertigo,  confused  vision,  stupor, 
convulsions,  paralysis,  and  coma,  are  their  leading  effects; 
but  each  particular  poison  is  usually  attended  by  certain 
peculiarities  in  the  succession,  violence,  or  generic  charac- 
ter of  the  symptoms,  which  assist  the  experienced  practi- 
tioner not  only  in  determining  the  nature  of  the  poison,  but 
in  discriminating  between  its  effects  and  those  of  disease. 

The  symptoms  of  the  narcotico-acrid  poisons  usually  con- 
si-;  ot  those  of  the  two  former  classes  blended,  and  are  of- 
ten of  a  very'  complicated  character ;  for  the  most  part,  how- 
ever, their  narcotic  and  irritant  effects  appear  to  be  incom- 
patible. In  larL'e  doses,  narcoticism  predominates;  in  small- 
er, irritation  :  it  is  rarely  that  both  are  coexistent. 

In  the  following  tabular  view  of  the  principal  poisons  of 
the  above  classes,  they  are  enumerated  in  the  order  in  which 
they  are  described  by  Dr.  Chriscison,  to  whose  Treatise  on 
Poisons  the  reader  is  referred  for  details  which  would  be 
quite  incompatible'  with  the  space  which  can  be  allotted  to 
the  subject  in  this  work.  Under  the  heads,  however,  of 
many  of  the  individual  substances  mentioned  in  the  follow- 
ing list,  we  have  elsewhere  given  particulars  respecting 
their  composition  and  properties,  and  sometimes  referred  to 
their  toxicological  history. 

I.  Irritant  Poisons. 


Mineral  acids. 
Phosphorus. 
Acetic  acid. 
Oxalic  acid. 
Fixed  alkalies. 
Nitre. 

Alkaline  and  earthy  chlo- 
rides. 
Lime. 

Ammonia  and  its  salts. 
Alkaline  sulphurets. 
Barytes. 

Vegetable  acrids. 
<  antlinrides. 
Venomous  serpents. 


Arsenic  and  its  compounds. 
Mercurial  compounds. 
Salts  of  copper. 
Aiitimonial  poisons. 
Salts  of  tin. 
Sal  is  of  gold. 
Salts  of  silver. 

Salts  of  bismuth. 
Salts  of  chromium. 
Salts  of  zinc. 
Lead  poisons. 

Diseased  and  decayed  animal 

matter. 
Mechanical  irritants. 


Opium. 
Hyoscyamus. 
Lactuca. 
Solatium. 

III. 
Nightshade. 
Thornapple. 
Tobacco. 
Hemlock. 
Monkshood. 
Hellebore. 

Squill. 
Meadow  saffron. 


II.  Narcotic  Poisons. 

Hydrocyanic  acid. 
Carba/.otic  acid. 
Poisonous  gases. 

Narcotico-acrid  Poisons. 
Strychnia. 

nlus  Indicus. 
Upas. 

Poisonous  fungi. 
Poisonous  grain. 
Alcohol. 
Ethi  r. 
Empyreumatic  oils. 


The  treatment  of  rases  of  poisoning  must,  of  course,  vary 
with  the  nature  ,,f  the  poison,  the  quantity  taken,  and  the 
peculiarities  of  the  individual.     In  almost  all  cases,  copa.us 


TOXODON. 

vomiting  should  be  excited  as  soon  as  possible,  by  tickling 
the  throat,  and  by  emetics,  such  especially  as  sulphate  of 
zinc,  or  ipecacuanha  with  emetic  tartar ;  the  former,  how- 
ever, in  ten-grain  doses  dissolved  in  a  little  warm  water, 
and  repeated  every  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  till  it  freely  ope- 
rates, is  generally  most  effectual.  The  use  of  the  stomach- 
pump  should  also  be  resorted  to.  The  vomiting  should  be 
kept  up,  and  the  stomach  washed  out  with  bland  albumin- 
ous or  mucilaginous  fluids,  such  as  milk,  barley-water,  flour 
and  water,  or  thin  paste,  &c. ;  sometimes  sugar  and  water. 
The  following  is  a  short  summary  of  the  antidotes  which 
may  be  resorted  to,  in  reference  to  particular  poisons. 
They  should,  of  course,  be  administered  as  speedily  as 
possible. 

1.  For  Mineral  Jlcids,  or  Acetic  and  Oxalic  Acid, :  Chalk, 
or  whiting  and  water;  magnesia  and  water;  soap  and  wa- 
ter :  followed  by  albuminous  diluents,  such  as  milk,  and 
white  of  egiis  mixed  with  water. 

2.  Alkalies,  Soda,  Potash,  Ammonia,  &c. :  Vinegar,  or  any 
mild  acid  and  water,  or  even  very  dilute  mineral  acids,  such 
as  water  acidulated  by  them  ;  olive  oil,  almond  oil. 

3.  Arsenic:  Emetics;  and  then  milk,  gruel,  thick  barley- 
water,  and  other  similar  diluents,  in  large  quantities. 

4.  Corrosive  Sublimate  :  White  of  egg  and  water ;  milk 
and  cream;  decoction  of  cinchona  ;  infusion  of  galls. 

5.  Sulphate  of  Copper  and  other  Cupreous  Poisons  :  Sugar 
and  water ;  white  of  egg  and  water. 

6.  Antimonial  Poisons :  Warm  milk,  gruel,  or  barley- 
water  ;  infusion  of  galls;  decoction  of  cinchona. 

7.  Nitrate  of  Silver  :  Copious  draughts  of  warm  salt  and 
water. 

8.  Sulphate  of  Zinc  :  Solution  of  carbonate  of  soda  in 
water,  with  milk,  and  mucilaginous  or  farinaceous  liquids. 

9.  Acetate  of  Lead :  Emetics;  solution  of  sulphate  of  soda 
in  water;  milk;  white  of  egg  and  water. 

10.  Opium  and  its  Preparations  :  Emetics  ;  strong  coffee ; 
dashing  cold  water  upon  the  face  and  breast;  preventing 
torpor  by  forced  exercise. 

11.  PrussicAcid:  Ammoniacal  stimulants  cautiously  ap- 
plied to  the  nose  ;  ammonia,  or  sal  volatile,  in  repeated 
small  doses;  small  doses  of  solution  of  chlorine  in  water; 
small  doses  of  chloride  of  lime  in  water. 

1-2.  Strychnia  and  Vegetable  Alkaloids :  Infusion  of  gall 
nuts;  decoction  of  cinchona  ;  emetics. 

TO'XODON.  (Gr.  rotyv,  a  bow,  and  odovc,  a  tooth.)  An 
extinct  genus  of  quadruped  connecting  the  Pachydermal 
with  the  Rodent  order,  and  distinguished  by  the  curved 
form  of  all  its  teeth.  The  only  known  species,  Toxodon 
platensis,  Owen,  was  as  large  as  the  hippopotamus,  and  ap- 
pears to  have  been  restricted  to  the  warmer  parts  of  South 
America. 

TU'XOTVE.  (Gr.  rolov,  a  bow.)  In  Greek  Military  His- 
tory, bowmen.  In  the  Plays  of  Aristophanes,  the  toxotse 
mentioned,  like  the  French  "  archers,"  are  a  kind  of  police, 
employed  to  keep  order  in  the  assemblies  of  the  people  and 
on  other  public  occasions. 

TKA'BEA.  In  Roman  Antiquities,  the  robe  used  at  first 
by  the  kinds,  but  afterwards  by  consuls  and  augurs.  The 
purple  trabca  was  used  only  on  the  occasion  of  great  sacri- 
fices. The  second  sort,  of  purple  and  white,  was  commonly 
worn  by  consuls  on  state  occasions.  A  third,  of  purple  and 
scarlet,  was  the  dress  of  the  augurs. 

TBABEA'TION.  (Lat.  trabes,  a  beam.)  In  Architec- 
ture, the  same  as  entablature  ;  which  see. 

TRA'CHEA.  (Gr.  rpaxtia,  from  rpuxv?,  rough.)  The 
windpipe.  A  cartilaginous  and  membranous  tube  through 
whicli  the  air  passes  into  and  out  of  the  lungs.  Its  upper 
extremity  is  called  the  larynx,  and  consists  of  five  cartilages. 
The  uppermost  forms  a  kind  of  valve  at  the  mouth  of  the 
larynx  or  glottis,  and  is  called  the  epiglottis  :  it  closes  the 
passage  in  the  act  of  swallowing.  The  sides  of  the  larynx 
are  formed  by  the  aretenoid  cartilages,  and  the  anterior  part 
of  the  thyroid  and  cricoid  or  annular  cartilages:  these  may 
he  felt  under  the  skin  in  the  front  of  the  neck.  These  car- 
tilages are  united  by  elastic  ligaments,  and  are  acted  upon 
by  appropriate  muscles,  so  as  to  modify  the  dimensions  and 
form  of  the  aperture  in  the  act  of  speaking :  they  are  mois- 
tened by  a  mucous  secretion.  The  canal  from  the  larynx 
downwards  is  called  trachea,  till  it  divides  into  two  bronchia 
opposite  the  fourth  or  fifth  dorsal  vertebra.  They  are  kept 
open,  for  the  free  passage  of  the  air,  by  their  elastic  car- 
tilaginous texture,  which  consists  of  rings  with  intervening 
membra ne  and  muscular  fibres, 

.  Traches,  in  Botany,  are  what  are  now  called  spiral 
vessels,  which  received  that  name  in  consequence  of  their 
being  considered  the  respiratory  tubes  of  plants.  Trachen- 
chyma,  is  a  tissue  composed  of  trachea?. 

TRA'CHEARIES,  Trachcaria.  (Gr.  rpaxtia,  the  wind- 
pipe.) The  name  of  an  order  of  the  c\assArachnida,  in- 
cluding those  which  breathe  by  means  of  trachea?. 

TRACHE'LIDANS,  Trach'elidce.  (Gr.TpaxiM,aneck.) 
The  name  of  a  family  of  Coleopterous  insects,  comprising 


TRADE  WINDS. 

those  which  have  the  head  supported  on  a  kind  of  pedicle 
or  neck. 

TRACHE'LIPODS,  Trachclipoda.  (Gr.  rpaxiM,  and 
trovi,  afoot.)  The  name  given  by  Lamarck  to  an  order  of 
Mollnsks,  comprehending  all  those  which  have  a  free  and 
flattened  foot  attached  to  the  under  side  of  the  part  of  the 
body  which  he  considers  as  analagous  to  a  neck.  The  order 
corresponds  nearly  with  the  Pectinibranchiate  Gasteropods 
of  Cuvier. 

TRA'CHEOCELE.  (Gr.rpaxna,  and  k»/Atj,  a  tumour.)  A 
tumour  upon  the  trachea ;  an  enlargement  of  the  thyroid 
gland.     See  Bronchocele. 

TRACHEO'TOMY.  (Gr.  rpaxtia,  and  rtpivu),  /  cut.) 
The  operation  of  making  an  opening  into  the  trachea  in 
cases  of  threatened  suffocation. 

TBACHI'NUS.  (Gr.  rpaxvs,  rough.)  A  genus  of  spiny- 
finned  fishes,  characterized  by  their  compressed  body  and 
approximated  eyes :  two  dorsal  fins ;  the  first  short,  and 
with  spinous  rays ;  the  second  long,  and  with  flexible  rays. 
The  anal  fin  is  very  long;  the  operculum  is  armed  with  a 
long  spine  directed  backwards.  By  the  wounds  which  the 
species  of  Trachinus,  usually  called  "  weevers,"  inflict  with 
their  opercular  spine,  they  have  become  formidable  to  fish- 
ermen of  all  nations ;  and  it  is  said  that  the  French  have  a 
police  regulation,  by  which  the  fishermen  are  directed  to 
cut  on"  the  spines  before  they  expose  the  fish  for  sale. 

TRACH'ITIS.    Inflammation  of  the  trachea. 

TRA'CHYTE.  (Gr.  rpaxvs,  rough.)  A  variety  of  lava 
which  is  often  porphyrilic,  and  when  containing  hornblende 
and  augite  passes  into  the  varieties  of  trap  called  basalt, 
greenstone,  dolerite,  &c. 

TRACT,  TREATISE.  In  Literature,  both  originally 
from  the  same  Latin  word  tractatus  ;  the  latter  through  the 
French.  It  would  be  difficult  to  assign  any  reason  lor  the 
difference  in  signification  between  two  words  identical  in 
origin  and  etymological  meaning  ;  but  the  first  is  now  com- 
monly used  to  describe  short  compositions,  in  which  some 
particular  subject  is  "treated."  generally  in  the  form  of  a 
pamphlet;  the  latter,  more  extensive  works. 

TRA'CTION.  (Lat.  train.,  /  draw.)  The  act  of  draw- 
ihg,  or  state  of  being  drawn.  In  Mechanics,  the  angle  of 
traction  is  the  angle  which  the  direction  of  the  power  makes 
with  a  given  plane. 

TRACTORS,  METALLIC.  Small  bars  of  metal  which 
were  supposed  to  possess  certain  magnetic  powers,  and  to 
cure  painful  affections  and  tumours  by  being  drawn  over 
the  part.  They  bore  the  name  of  their  inventor,  Perkins, 
ami  were  in  considerable  vogue  about  thirty  years  ago.  A 
number  of  wonderful  cures,  however,  having  been  attested, 
which  were  performed  by  means  of  spurious  wooden  trac- 
tors, the  imaginary  virtues  of  the  magnetic  or  metallic  fell 
into  disrepute,  and  then  into  oblivion. 

TRA'CTORY,  or  TRA'CTRIX.  (Lat.  traho,  /  draw), 
in  the  geometry  of  curve  lines,  is  the  curve  characterized 
by  this  property,  that  the  taneent  is  always  equal  to  a  given 
line.  It  was  called  the  tractory  by  Huygens,  because  it 
may  be  considered  as  described  mechanically  by  a  small 
weight  attached  to  one  extremity  of  a  thread,  while  the 
other  extremity  is  drawn  along  a  given  straight  line.  But 
in  order  that  the  curve  may  be  described  in  this  manner,  it 
is  necessary  to  suppose  the  friction  of  the  plane  of  traction 
to  be  infinite,  or  at  least  to  destroy  at  every  instant  the  mo- 
mentum which  is  generated  by  the  motion  of  the  small 
weight,  otherwise  the  direction  of  the  motion  of  the  de- 
scribing point  would  not  be  a  tangent  to  the  curve.  The 
tractory  has  much  analogy  with  the  logarithmic  whose 
subtangent  is  constant.  The  evolute  of  the  curve  is  the 
common  catenary.  (D' Alembert,  Ency.  Mcthodique ;  Pea- 
cock's Examples,  p.  174.) 

TRADE.     See  Commerce. 

TRADE  WINDS,  are  winds  which  in  the  torrid  zone, 
and  often  a  little  beyond  it,  blow  generally  from  the  same 
quarter,  varying,  according  to  circumstances,  from  N.  E. 
to  S.  E. 

The  cause  of  this  wind  is  to  be  ascribed  principally  to  the 
high  comparative  temperature  of  the  torrid  zone,  combined 
with  the  rotation  of  the  earth  from  W.  to  E.  The  heated 
air  at  the  surface  ascending  into  the  higher  regions  of  the 
atmosphere,  its  place  is  supplied  by  the  colder  air  rushing 
from  the  poles ;  which  also  becoming  rarefied,  ascends  in 
its  turn,  and  is  carried  in  the  upper  regions  towards  the 
poles  to  supply  the  stream  of  the  under  current :  these  un-» 
der  polar  currents  moving  in  progress  towards  the  equator 
from  the  zones  where  the  earth's  motion  is  slower,  to  others 
where  it  is  more  rapid,  acquire  an  apparent  relative  mo- 
tion in  a  westerly  direction.  The  currents  from  the  two 
hemispheres  meeting  near  the  equator,  their  meridional 
motions  are  there  destroyed,  and  they  therefore  advance 
together  with  the  remaining  motion  from  the  eastward 
round  the  globe.  The  regularity  of  the  trade  winds  is  dis- 
turbed in  some  places  by  local  causes,  and  chiefly  by  the 
superior  rarefaction  of  the  air  over  land  heated  by  the  sun's 
4  I  *  1257 


TRADITION. 


rays.  They  extend  farther  to  the  northward  or  southward 
ding  as  the  sun's  declination  is  north  or  south  ;  and  in 
some  places  they  become  periodical,  blowing  one  half  of 
■  ir  in  one  direction,  and  the  other  half  in  the  opposite 
one.  [See  Monsoon.)  In  the  great  Pacific  ocean,  how- 
ever, the  trade  wind  blows  w  ith  8  uniform  and  gentle  breeze 
all  iho  year  round.  The  name  of  trade  minds  was  given 
them  from  their  important  influence  in  navigation.  See 
Winds. 

TRADITION.  I.at.  trado,  1  d,lirrr.)  A  truth  of  doc- 
trine or  fact,  delivered  or  handed  down  to  one  from  an- 
other, and  received  on  the  faith  that  the  first  to  whom  it 
SO  delivered  received  it  from  an  authentic  source.  In 
common  language,  the  word  is  used  to  signify  records  of 
facts  preserved  in  the  memory  of  successive  persons  or 
generations  only,  and  not  committed  to  writing.  In  The- 
.  tradition  means,  generally,  that  body  of  doctrine  and 
discipline  supposed  to  have  been  put  forth  by  our  Saviour 
or  his  inspired  Apostles,  and  not  committed  to  writing  ;  and 
thus  the  word  is  used  in  a  contrary  sense  from  "  Scripture." 
And  such  traditions  are  of  two  sorts:  tradition  of  doctrine 
(such  as  that  of  the  Trinity),  which  is  commonly  said  to  be 
directly  affirmed  by  tradition  and  proved  by  Scripture  ;  and 
tradition  of  rites  and  ceremonies,  called  by  Hooker  "  tradi- 
tions ecclesiastical,"  or  "ordinances  made  in  the  prime  of 
Christian  religion,  established  with  that  authority  which 
Christ  has  left  to  his  church  in  matters  indifferent,  and,  on 
that  consideration,  requisite  to  be  observed  till  like  authority 
give  just  cause  to  alter  them."     (Eccl.  Pol.,  v.  65.) 

It  is.  of  course,  impossible  to  deny  that  Revelation  may 
have  been  communicated  to  man  in  this  manner,  as  well  as 
in  the  form  of  Scripture.  Therefore,  when  a  Protestant 
asserts  that  Scripture  is  the  only  rule  of  faith,  he  must 
mean  this  only,  that  the  evidence  on  which  Scripture  rests 
I.  while  no  particular  tradition  has  sufficient  evidence 
to  support  it ;  for  if  any  tradition  had  evidence  to  support  it, 
there  can  be  no  a  priori  reason  assigned  why  it  should  not 
be  as  binding  as  any  Scripture.  "  I  make  no  scruple  to 
grant,"  says  the  hiL'h  church  writer  Hammond,  "that  apos- 
:  traditions,  such  as  are  truly  so,  as  well  as  apostoli- 
cal writings,  are  equally  the  matter  of  that  Christian's  be- 
lief, who  is  equally  secured  by  the  fidelity  of  the  convey- 
ance that  as  the  one  is  apostolical  writing,  bo  the  other  is 
apostolical  tradition  :"  one  of  those  unmeaning  phrases 
which  are  of  such  common  occurrence  in  this  widely  spread 
controversy  ;  for  the  only  real  questions  are,  whether  we 
can  be  "  equally  secured  by  the  fidelity  of  the  conveyance," 
in  the  case  of  tradition  and  of  Scripture  1  and,  secondly, 
who  is  to  be  the  judge  for  us  what  is  authentic  tradition 
and  what  is  not  1 

In  the  latter  question  lies  the  real  difference,  on  this  sub- 
ject, between  Romanist  and  Protestant.  The  former  holds 
tradition  of  equal  authority  with  Scripture;  but  then  he 
also  holds  that  the  church,  that  is,  the  pope,  with  or  with- 
out a  council,  is  the  authoritative  declarer  of  tradition. 

It  is  curious  to  observe  that  at  the  Council  of  Trent  this 
fundamental  difficulty,  namely,  who  is  to  say  what  is  tradi- 
tion and  what  is  not,  struck  the  minds  of  the  divines  who 
were  contending  to  fix  the  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  church. 
They  were  probably  hardly  agreed  as  to  the  form,  rather 
than  the  substance,  of  its  solution.  "All  agreed,"  says 
Paolo  Barpi,  "  that  Christian  faith  is  contained  partly  in 
Scripture  and  partly  in  tradition.  Yea,  some  said  more : 
that  tradition  was  the  only  foundation  of  the  Catholic  doc- 
trine ;  for  the  Scripture  itself  is  not  believed  but  by  tradi- 
tion." Km  Vicenzo  Lanello,  a  Franciscan  friar,  thought 
1  that  they  ought  first  to  treat  of  the  church,  which  is  a 
more  principal  foundation  ;"  since  "Scripture  itself  is  found- 
ed upon  it,"  according  to  Saint  Augustin's  Baying,  and  "that 
no  nee  can  he  madi  oftra  pi  by  grounding  them 

upon  the  same  authority."  But  his  opinion  had  no  follow- 
ers. " Some  objected  that  the  synagogues  of  the  heretics 
would  also  arrogate  the  authority  ol  a  church."  Others 
thought  that  the  authority  of  the  church  was  sufficiently 
declared  already.  (Rook  2.)  Perhaps  some  confusion 
would  have  been  avoided  if  the  father's  suggestion  had 
liled  :  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  Romanist,  by  tra- 
dition, means  tradition  declared  to  be  such  by  the  church. 

Protestants,  on  the  other  hand,  without  laying  it  down  as 
a  doctrine  that  tradition  is  equal  to  Scripture,  have. 

assented  to  the  proposition  that  an  authentic  tradition 
of  doctrine  is  binding  ;  hut  on  the  question,  what  is  the  au- 
thority competent  to  pronounce  a  tradition  authentic,  they 
have  wandered  strangely  indeed,  from  a  reluctance  to  ad- 
mit to  its  full  extent  that  very  right  of  private  judgment  On 
which  they  founded  their  dissent  from  Koine.     Ami  this  is 

I liarlj  the  case  with  those  reformed  divines  who  dis- 
like parting  with  the  title  "  <  atholic." 

When  the  earlj  Reformers,  especially  those  of  the  Lu- 
theran and  Anglican  schools,  attacked  a  doctrine  or  prac- 
f  Rome,  their  tir-t  endeavour  was  generally  to  show- 
that  it  was  not  scrpitural ;  their  second,  that  it  was  not  an- 
1-Jotf 


f»  ni.  i.  c.  did  not  rest  on  tradition.  For  this  purpose,  they 
opposed  to  the  authority  if  the  church,  as  it  existed  in  their 
day,  the  authority  of  early  fathers  and  councils,  as  expound- 
ing the  belief  of  an  earlier  age.  Thus  they  recognised  the 
right  of  private  judgment  to  try  the  authority  ot  i 
ing  church  by  comparing  it  with  authorities  of  earlier  times  ; 
they  permitted  each  individual  to  apply  for  himself  the  his- 
torical test.  But  at  the  same  time  they  denied,  more  or  less 
directly,  the  ri'.'ht  of  private  judgment  to  go  farther,  and 
criticise  the  ancient  authority  itself:  to  examine,  for  in- 
stance, w  nether  a  doctrine  acquiesced  in,  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, might  not  have  been  altogether  unknown  to  the  first; 
whether  corruption  in  the  church  may  not  have  commenced 
ai  -o  \i  t\  early  a  period  as  to  invalidate  greatly  the  testi- 
mony even  of  the  oldest  father;  and.  lastly,  whether  tradi- 
tions, resting  on  high  historical  authority,  are  or  are  not  con- 
sistent with  Scripture.  And  even  to  the  present  day.  the 
high  church  school  of  Anglican  divinity  does  practically 
consider  all  these  as  points  without  the  reach  of  private 
judgment. 

Now  this  we  cannot  but  think  an  untenable  position. 
Either  the  church  has  and  always  had  authority  to  declare 
to  us  what  is  tradition,  or  it  has  not.  If  it  had.  then  the 
Reformation  was  an  unlawful  thing  ab  initio;  and  no 
church  commencing  in  schism  can  be  said  to  have  a  pure 
and  real  existence.  If  it  had  not,  then  each  man,  in  the  last 
resort,  must  judge  for  himself  of  the  authenticity  of  what 
is  propounded  to  him  as  tradition.  He  will  be  bound  to 
judge  with  humility,  respect,  and  submission;  but  the  de- 
cision belongs  ultimately  to  the  forum  of  his  proper  con- 
science. 

He  will,  therefore,  feel  it  necessary  to  examine  the  value 
of  the  evidence  for  the  doctrines  or  rules  of  discipline  pre- 
sented to  him  as  traditional,  by  the  same  principles  of  criti- 
cism which  he  would  apply  to  other  testimony ;  not  re- 
ceiving all  in  the  mass,  on  the  faith  of  any  aliened  adoption 
of  it  by  the  church.  For  example,  he  finds  that,  scarcely 
two  centuries  after  the  lifetimes  of  the  Apostles,  several 
hundred  bishops,  convened  from  all  parts  of  Christendom, 
at  the  Council  of  Nice,  declared  that  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  as  embodied  in  the  creed  of  that  council,  had  been 
"  handed  down"  in  their  respective  churches  from  the  be- 
ginning. He  accepts  this  as  evidence  of  the  hi»hest  au- 
thority to  show  that  there  was  an  oral  teaching  of  that  doc- 
trine by  the  Apostles  and  their  successors,  corresponding 
with  the  indications  afforded,  but  not  expanded  into  the 
the  same  explicit  form,  in  Scripture.  But  when  he  is  re- 
quired to  receive  the  doctrines,  for  instance,  of  the  Apos- 
ii  cession  as  commonly  understood,  or  of  the  sanc- 
tity of  celibacy,  or  the  use  of  language  widely  deviating 
from  that  of  Scripture  respecting  the  Sacraments,  on  the 
ground  that  these  are  "traditions,"  he  holds  himself  at  lib- 
erty to  inquire,  first,  whether  the  language  of  fathers  and 
councils  respecting  them  is  distinct  and  consistent,  when 
freed  from  rhetorical  exaggeration;  next,  whether  it  is  not 
least  strong  in  the  age  nearest  the  Apostles,  and 
in  force  as  we  proceed  lower;  and,  lastly,  whether  on  all 
these  subjects  their  testimony  was  not  likely  to  be  warped 
by  the  ordinary  causes  of  error  which  throw  discredit  on 
witnesses,  and  from  which  we  have  no  right  whatever  to 
imagine  the  Christian  writers  of  the  fourth,  third,  i 
centuries  exempt;  such  as  the  ambition  of  the  clergy,  the 
tendency  to  admit  gnostic  and  heathen  influences,  and  the 
deficiency  in  solid  judgment  and  reasoning  power  which 
characterized  the  educated  men  of  those  ages.  Again:  he 
will  not  be  influenced  by  the  common  Romish  argument 
already  alluded  to,  and  frequently  in  use  among  high  An- 
glican writers  also,  that  "  Scripture  itself  is  found  to  be  such 
by  tradition."  Because  we  receive  the  testimony  of  early 
Christian  writers  that  such  and  such  books  were  canonical, 
i.  «.,  received  in  the  church  in  their  time,  it  by  no  means 
follows  that  we  must  receive  their  deductions  from  Scrip* 
ture  as  having  the  form  of  tradition;  not  even  when  they 
style  these  the  deductions  of  the  church.  Such  reasoning 
would  not  pass  for  eminent  in  any  but  theological  contro- 
versy. We  receive  the  testimony  of  Xenophon  and  Plato 
as  to  the  actions  and  savings  of  Socrates  ;  we  do  not,  there- 
fore, admit  as  authoritative  their  exposition  of  his  philoso- 
phy, not  even  ;is  an  authoritative  representation  of  w  hat 
was  regarded  as  his  philosophy  at  Athens ;  ami  yet  they 
were  his  c  ..temporaries.  Irenanis,  the  earliest  father  on 
whom  we  depend  far  anything  like  extensive  testimony  to 
tradition,  lived  a  hundred  years  after  the  Apostles,  and  a 
hundred  vears  of  much  corruption  and  dissention. 

Lastly,  he  will  know  that  if  an  overweening  contempt  of 
tin  authority  of  early  uninspired  writers,  and  of  o 
siastical  traditions,  i  most  unbecoming  a  <  Ihristfan  inquirer, 
an  exaggerated  and  superstitious  veneration  for  Hum,  if  a 
more  amiable  error,  is  scarcely  a  less  serious  one.  There 
could  be  no  traditions  more  venerable,  more  sanctioned  by 
the  apparent  "  authority  of  the  church."  than  those  of  the 
Jews  at  the  lime  of  our  Saviour ;  yet  our  Saviour  does  not 


TRAGACANTH. 

on  that  account  in  any  degree  mitigate  his  condemnation 
of  them,  or  speak  of  them  as  entitled  even  to  respect,  when 
he  denounces  those  who  teach  for  doctrines  the  command- 
ments of  men. 

(It  would  be  impossible  to  refer  to  particular  works  on 
this  subject  of  controversy.  The  extreme  Protestant  view 
of  tradition  is  no  where  so  fully  argued  as  by  Chillingworth, 
passim.  For  a  concise  and  fair  view,  on  high  church  prin- 
ciples, of  the  estimate  of  tradition  by  the  English  Reformers, 
see  Palmer's  Church  of  Christ,  vol.  i.,  p.  493,  504.) 

TRA'GACANTH.  A  variety  of  gum:  it  is  the  produce 
of  the  Astragalus  Tragacantha,  a  native  of  Africa,  and 
Imported  in  small  twisted  or  flattened  pieces,  white  or  yel- 
lowish, and  translucent  or  nearly  opaque.  When  put  into 
water  they  swell  up,  and  gradually  form  a  gelatinous  or 
pasty  mass ;  not  dissolving  into  a  clear  solution,  as  is  the 
case  with  gum  arabic.  An  analogous  kind  of  gum  is  found 
in  other  plants,  and  the  generic  name  of  tragacanthin  is 
sometimes  applied  to  it. 

TRA'GEDY.  (Gr.  rp&yoq,  a  goat,  and  wSn,  a  song.)  A 
species  of  drama,  in  which  the  diction  is  elevated  and  the 
catastrophe  melancholy.  The  name  is  usually  derived 
from  the  ancient  Greek  custom  of  leading  about  a  goat  in 
procession  at  the  festivals  of  Bacchus  in  whose  honour  those 
choral  odes  were  sung  which  were  the  groundwork  of  the 
Attic  uagedy.  Some  recent  writers,  however,  have  given 
a  new  explanation  of  the  word  rpdyos,  considering  it  an  an- 
cient Greek  adjective,  and  translating  it  "melancholy,"  or 
"lamentable."     .See  Drama. 

TRAGI-CO'MEDY.  Li  Literature,  a  compound  name, 
invented  to  express  a  class  of  the  drama  which  should  pur- 
take  both  of  tragedy  and  comedy.  If  the  mixture  of  serious 
with  humorous  portions  in  the  piece  alone  entitles  it  to  this 
name,  then  all  the  Plays  of  Shakspeare  (with  the  single  ex- 
ception of  the  Merry  (fives  of  Windsor,  to  which  some 
add  the  Twelfth  Night),  as  being  pure  comedi«,  belong  to 
this  class;  as  do,  indeed,  almost  all  the  works  of  the  old 
English  dramatists.  But  Troilus  and  Cressida  alone,  of 
the  Plays  of  Shakspeare,  bears  this  title  in  old  editions  :  on 
what  account  we  do  not  know.  French  critics  define  the 
distinction  to  be,  that  the  event  of  the  tragi-comedy  is  not 
unhappy  or  bloody.  Dacier  condemns  them  as  illegitimate. 
Guarini,  the  Italian  poet,  wrote  an  essay  on  the  subject. 

TRA'GUS,  in  Anatomy,  is  the  term  applied  to  the  small 
cartilaginous  eminence  at  the  entrance  of  the  external  ear ; 
in  the  adult  it  is  beset  with  small  hairs. 

TRAJE'CTORY.  (Lat.  trajectus.)  The  curve  which  a 
body  describes  in  space ;  as  a  planet  or  a  comet  in  its  orbit, 
or  a  stone  thrown  obliquely  upwards  in  the  air.  The  form 
of  the  trajectory  depends  on  the  initial  velocity  with  which 
the  body  is  projected,  the  law  and  direction  of  the  forces 
which  act  upon  it,  and  the  resistance  of  the  medium  in 
which  it  moves.  The  planetary  orbits  would  be  strictly 
elliptical,  were  it  not  for  the  disturbing  forces  which  they 
exert  on  each  other;  and  but  for  the  resistance  of  the  air,  a 
body  projected  obliquely  from  the  earth  would  describe  a 
portion  of  a  parabolic  curve. 
TRA'MMEL.  (Old  French,  tramel.)  An  instrument 
_  for  drawing  ovals,  much  in  use  among 
""  joiners  and  other  artificers.  It  con- 
sists of  a  cross,  C  D  E  F,  in  which  are 
cut  two  grooves  at  right  angles  to 
each  other;  and  a  beam,  A  B,  car- 
rying two  pins,  G,  H  (which  are 
clamped  to  A  B,  and  slide  in  their 
grooves),  as  well  as  a  pencil  P :  these 
parts  are  called  the  cross  and  the 
beam.  By  turning  A  B  round,  the 
pins  G,  H  slide  along  the  grooves, 
and  the  pencil  P  describes  an  elliptic 
curve.  A  demonstration  of  the  properties  of  this  instru- 
ment may  be  seen  at  p.  700,  vol.  xiv.  of  Hutton's  Abridg- 
ment of  the  Philosophical  Transactions. 
TRAMONTANE.  See  Ultra-montane. 
TRANSCENDE'NTAL.  In  Algebra,  a  term  applied  to 
any  quantity  which  cannot  be  represented  by  an  algebraic 
equation  of  a  finite  number  of  terms  with  determinate  in- 
dices. Such  quantities  include  all  exponential  and  logarith- 
mic expressions  and  trigonometrical  lines  in  terms  of  the 
arc.  Thus  a*,  xx,  log.  x,  tan.  x,  &c,  are  transcendental  ex- 
pressions ;  and  any  equation  into  which  such  expressions 
enter  is  called  a  transcendental  equation,  and  any  curve  de- 
fined by  such  an  equation  is  called  a  transcendental  curve. 
But  by  transcendental  equations  are  sometimes  meant 
such  differential  equations  as  can  only  be  integrated  by 
means  of  curves,  logarithms,  or  series. 

Transcendental.  A  word  used  by  German  philoso- 
phers to  express  that  which  transcends  or  goes  beyond  the 
limits  of  actual  experience.  This  general  meaning  is  some- 
what restricted  by  Kant,  who  draws  a  distinction  between 
the  transcendental  and  the  transcendent.  The  transcend- 
ental he  defines  to  be  that  which,  though  it  could  never  be 


TRANSIT  INSTRUMENT. 

derived  from  experience,  yet  is  necessarily  connected  wi!h 
experience,  and  which  may  be  shortly  expressed  as  the  in- 
tellectual form,  the  matter  of  which  is  supplied  by  sense. 
"  I  call,"  says  he,  "  all  knowledge  transcendental,  which 
has  regard  in  general  not  so  much  to  objects  as  to  our  mode 
of  knowing  or  apprehending  objects  (that  is  to  say,  to 
formal  knowledge),  so  far  as  this  is  conceived  to  be  possi- 
ble u  priori.  A  system  of  such  conceptions  would  be  named 
transcendental  philosophy,  as  the  system  of  all  the  princi- 
ples of  pure  reason."  The  transcendent,  on  the  contrary,  is 
that  which  regards  those  principles  as  objectively  real  to 
which  Kant  assigns  only  a  subjective  or  formal  reality,  and 
consequently  is  by  him  regarded  as  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
human  reason  altogether. 

TRA'NSEPT.  (Lat.  trans  and  septum.)  In  Architec- 
ture, the  cross  part  of  a  cathedral  which  extends  on  the 
north  and  south  sides  of  the  area  between  the  nave  and  the 
choir,  and  forming,  as  it  were,  the  short  arms  of  the  cross 
upon  which  the  plan  is  laid  out. 

TRANSFIGURA'TION.  The  supernatural  change 
which  is  described  to  have  taken  place  in  the  appearance 
of  Christ,  when,  as  is  recorded  in  Matth.,  xvii. ;  Mark,  ix. ; 
Luke,  ix.,  he  took  Peter,  James,  and  John  up  into  a  high 
mountain  with  him,  and  was  transfigured  before  them,  his 
face  shining  as  the  sun,  and  his  raiment  showing  white  as 
light.  There  appeared  in  conversation  with  him  Moses 
and  Elias  ;  and  the  apostles  erected  three  tabernacles  or 
tents  to  them.  An  ancient  tradition  assigns  Mount  Tabor 
as  the  scene  of  this  event,  upon  which  three  contiguous 
grottoes  have  been  fashioned  to  represent  the  three  taber- 
nacles. 

TRANSFU'SION.  The  injection  of  blood  from  one  liv- 
ing animal  into  another.  It  was  at  one  time  supposed  that 
this  operation  might  be  resorted  to,  to  sustain  life  in  cases 
of  great  loss  of  blood  from  accidental  hemorrhages  and  other 
causes ;  and  that  in  certain  cases  of  mental  and  bodily  dis- 
ease a  cure  might  be  effected  by  abstracting  a  large  quanti- 
ty of  blood,  and  supplying  its  place  by  transfusion  from  an- 
other animal,  such  as  a  calf  or  sheep.  Some  of  these  ex- 
periments appeared  at  first  to  be  attended  with  success, 
but  bad  consequences  followed  ;  and  in  two  or  three  cases 
in  which  it  was  tried  upon  the  human  subject  it  proved 
fatal. 

TRA'NSIT  (Lat.  transitus,  passage),  in  Astronomy,  is 
the  culmination  or  passage  of  a  celestial  object  across  the 
meridian  of  any  place.  The  determination  of  the  exact 
times  of  such  transits  is  one  of  the  most  important  opera- 
tions of  practical  astronomy,  as  it  is  by  this  means  that  the 
differences  of  right  ascensions,  and  consequently  the  rela- 
tive situations  of  the  fixed  stars,  and  the  motions  of  the 
planets  and  comets  in  respect  of  the  celestial  meridians,  be- 
come known ;  and  it  is  most  easily  and  accurately  effected 
by  the  aid  of  the  transit  instrument,  the  nature  and  method 
of  using  which  will  be  explained  under  that  term. 

Transit  is  also  used  to  signify  the  passage  of  an  inferior 
planet  across  the  sun's  disk.     .See  Mercury  and  Venus. 

TRANSIT  INSTRUMENT.  This  important  instru- 
ment, called  by  the  French  instrument  des  passages,  lunette 
meridienne,  consists  essentially  of  a  telescope  firmly  attach- 
ed to  a  transverse  horizontal  axis,  the  ends  of  which  are 
directed  to  the  east  and  west  points  of  the  horizon.  The 
extremities  of  the  axis  are  formed  into  cylindrical  pivots  of 
exactly  equal  diameters,  which  rest  in  notches  (technical- 
ly called  Y's,  from  their  resembance  to  that  letter),  formed 
in  metallic  supports,  susceptible  of  nice  adjustment  both 
horizontally  and  vertically,  so  that  the  axis  can  be  placed 
perfectly  horizontal,  and  at  right  angles  to  the  plane  of  the 
meridian  in  which  the  telescope  moves.  In  the  focus  of  the 
eye-piece  is  placed  a  system  of  three,  five,  or  sometimes 
seven  vertical  and  equidistant  wires  or  spider  lines,  gener- 
ally crossed  by  two  horizontal  ones,  between  which  it  is 
convenient  that  the  passage  of  objects  over  the  vertical  wires 
should  be  observed.  By  means  of  adjusting  screws  the 
diaphragm,  or  plate  to  which  the  wires  are  attached,  is 
brought  into  such  a  position  that  the  middle  vertical  wire 
intersects  the  optical  axis  of  the  telescope,  in  which  posi- 
tion it  is  permanently  fixed. 

When  the  system  of  wires  is  brought  into  this  position, 
the  middle  one  will  be  a  visible  representation  of  that  part 
of  the  meridian  to  which  the  telescope  is  directed  ;  and 
when  a  star  is  seen  to  pass  this  wire,  it  is  in  the  act  of  cul- 
minating, or  transiting  the  celestial  meridian.  The  instant 
of  the  transit  is  noted  on  a  clock  or  chronometer,  which  is 
an  indispensable  accompaniment  of  the  instrument ;  and  in 
order  to  render  the  observation  more  certain,  the  instant  at 
which  the  star  passes  each  of  the  vertical  wires  is  noted, 
when  practicable,  and  the  mean  taken  as  the  true  instant 
and  passing  the  vertical  wire.  The  times  at  which  the 
sun  and  certain  principal  stars  pass  the  meridian  of  Green- 
wich (and  consequently  the  meridian  of  any  other  place 
whose  longitude  from  Greenwich  is  known)  being  given  in 
the  Nautical  Almanac,  the  comparison  of  the  time  indicated 

1259 


TRANSIT  INSTRUMENT. 

by  the  clock  and  the  time  in  the  almanac  gives  the  clock 
error ;  and  by  observing  the  same  stars  from  day  to  daj  tin- 
clock  rate  is  determined.  In  this  manner  we  arc  enabled 
the  exact  interval  of  sidereal  time  between  the 
transits  of  the  different  Btars,  and  consequently  the  differ 
once  of  their  right  ascensions.  For  determining  the  abso- 
lute place  of  a  celestial  body  it  is  necessary  to  know  also 
its  (Hilar  distance  which  is  given  by  the  mural  circle;  so 
that  the  transit  Lnstruini  at  ami  mural  circle  are  the  two 
essential  instruments  of  an  astronomical  observatory. 


The  foreuoimi  diagram  represents  the  pcrtahle  transit  in- 
strument, as  at  present  constructed  by  Troughton  and 
Minims,  when  the  telescope  does  not  exceed  twenty  inches 
or  two  feel  in  focal  length.  The  telescope  tube  A  A  is  in 
two  parts,  connected  together  by  a  sphere  15,  which  also  re 
the  larger  ends  of  the  two  cones  CC  placed  at  rijzli t 
angles  to  the  telescope,  and  forming  the  horizontal  axis. 
The  axis  terminates  in  two  cylindrical  pivots,  which  rest  in 
Y's  fixed  at  the  top  of  the  vertical  standards  DD.  One  of 
the  Y's  lias  a  small  motion  in  azimuth,  by  means  of  which 
the  u  be  adjusted  exactly  to  the  plane  of  the 

meridian.  A  spirit  level  E,  which  is  made  to  stride  across 
the  telescope  and  rest  on  the  two  pivots,  serves  to  show 
when  the  axis  is  horizontal.  The  standards  DD  are  fixed 
by  screws  upon  .a  brass  circle  F,  which  rests  on  three 
screws,  h.r.il,  forming  the  feet  of  the  instrument,  and  by 
which  the  levelling  is  performed.  GG  are  two  oblique 
for  the  purpose  of  steadying  the  supports.  On  the 
extremity  of  one  of  the  pivots,  which  extends  beyond  its  Y, 
is  fixed  a  divided  circle  II,  which  turns  with  the  axis  ; 
while  a  double  vernier  remains  stationary  in  a  horizontal 
position,  anil  shows  the  altitude  to  which  the  telescope  is 
elevated,     'i  are  set  horizontal  by  means  of  a 

spirit  level  /,  and  are  fixed  in  their  position  by  a  brass  arm 
gh,e\..  supports.    The  whole  of  this  apparatus 

IS  moveable  with  the  telescope,  and  when  the  axis  is  re- 
I  can  be  attached  in  the  same  manner  to  the  opposite 
standard,    For  the  purpose  of  illuminating  the  wires  when 

Observations  are  made  at  night,  one  of  the  pivots  is  pierced, 
and  admits  the  light  of  a  lamp  1,  which  is  thrown  upon  the 
wuis  by  a  reflector  placed  diagonally  in  the  sphere  li. 
(Simm  mi  Mathematical  Instruments.) 

Adjustments. — In  practice,  the  transit  instrument  is  sub- 
ject to  three  principal  errors.    1st,  The  axis  may  not  lie  |i,  i 
fectly  horizontal,  which  is  called  the  error  of  inclination. 
2d,  The  optical  axis  of  the  telescope  maj  not  be  quite  per 
pendlcula ne  axis  of  the  instrument,  which  is  called 

the  error  of  rolliniatinn.     And  lid.  The  axis  may  not  be  ex- 
actly ea-t   and  west,  or  the  Optica]  axis  may  not  lie  . 
in  the  meridian,  which  is  called  the  error  of  .azimuth.     To 

place  the  axis  exactly  horizontal,  the  level  E  is  suspended 
in  the  proper  manner  from  the  pivots,  and  the  air-bubble 

brought  lo   the  middle  by  means  of  the  foot  screws.     The 

level  is  then  reversed,  that  is.  the  end  which  was  turned  to 

(vest  i-  now   turned  to  the  east;  and  if  the  air-bubble 

still  stands  at  the  middle,  the  axis  is  horizontal ;  if  not,  the 

foot  sen-  w  i  until  it  stands  at  the  middle  in  both 

ror  of  collimation  is  detected 
by  pointing  the  telescope  to  a  distant  well-defined  ten 
obji    I  i_'  it  by  the  middle  vertical  win 

cope  is  then  lifted  out   of  its  supports  and  ii 
(that  is,  the  end  of  the  axis  which  was  tinned  to  the  west 
1260 


TRANSLATION. 

is  now  turned  to  the  east),  ami  brought  again  to  bear  on  tho 
game  object.  If  the  middle  win-  is  found  to  he  still  bisected, 

the  adjustment  is  perfect ;  if  not,  the  diaphragm  is  moved  a 
little  to  the  right  or  lift  bj  means  of  the  adjusting  screws, 

until  the  middle  wire  bisects  the  object  in  both  positions  of 

the  axis.  To  place  the  instrument  exactly  in  the  meridian 
some  knowledge  of  practical  astronomy  is  required,.  It  i.s 
easj  to  place  it  nearly  in  the  meridian  by  the  transit  of  the 
sun  at  apparent  noon,  or  of  any  star  whose  right  ascension 
is  Known;  and  when  in  this  approximate  position  to  the 
meridian,  the  deviation  may  be  discovered  and  corrected  in 
various  ways.  One  of  the  simplest  is  to  observe  two  suc- 
cessive transits  of  Polaris  (or  any  circumpolar  star)  above 
and  below  the  pole.  If  the  interval  between  the  two  tran- 
sits is  exactly  twelve  sidereal  hours,  th(  telescope  is  exactly 
in  the  meridian:  and  the  difference  of  the  interval  from 
twelve  hours  shuns  both  the  amount  ami  1 1 1  •  direction  Of 
the  azimuthal  error.  Another  method  consists  in  observing 
the  transits  of  two  stars  differing  considerably  from  each 
other  (not  less  than  50°)  in  declination,  and  whose  right  as- 
censions (which  should  lie  nearly  the  same)  are  accurately 
known.  The  deviation  from  the  meridian,  in  seconds  of 
time,  will  then  be  given  by  this  formula  (A  T  —  A  ( A  R) 
cos.  N  cos.  S  ,  _...,.„  x-  > 

+  -: — ,„   ,    „, =-;  where  A  T  is  the  difkrence  of  the 

sin.  (N  +  S)  cos.  L 
observed  times  of  the  two  transits  in  sidereal  seconds;  A 
(A  R)  the  observed  difference  of  right  ascensions,  also  in 
seconds  of  time;  N  the  declination  of  one  of  the  stars, 
supposed  north;  S  the  declination  of  the  other,  supposed 
south;  and  L  the  latitude  of  the  place.  If  Ji  T  is  greater 
than  A  (A  R),  the  deviation  will  be  to  the  east;  and  if 
less,  to  the  west.  A  few  repetitions  of  this  process  will 
suffice  to  place  the  instrument  exactly  in  the  meridian.  In 
the  case  of  fixed  instruments,  a  meridian  mark  is  usually 
made  on  some  distant  object,  and  permanently  established 
for  the  convenience  of  ready  reference. 

The  transit  instrument  appears  to  have  been  invented  by 
the  Danish  astronomer  Roemef,  by  whom  it  was  first  de- 
scribed  in  1700,  in  the  Miscellanea  Berolinensia,  tome  iii. 
Dr.  Halley  placed  a  transit  instrument  in  the  Greenwich 
observatory  in  1701,  the  telescope  of  which  was  about  five 
feet  in  length;  but  it  was  little  used  until  1710,  when  Brad- 
ley commenced  a  regular  series  of  meridional  observations. 
The  transit  instrument  at  present  in  use  in  the  Royal  Ob- 
servatory  is  the  workmanship  of  Troughton,  and  was  set 

up  in  1816.     The  object  glass  of  the  telescope  is  ."">  inches  in 

clear  aperture,  ami  the  focal  length  U)  feet.  Its  horizontal 
axis,  including  the  pivots,  is  3  feet  10  inches.  There  are 
seven  lixed  vertical  wires  in  the  torus,  ami  two  horizontal 
axes;  and  the  distance  of  the  former  from  each  other  is 
such  that  an  interval  of  about  18*3  seconds  elapses  while  a 
star  in  the  equator  passes  between  each  adjoining  two. 

For  full  details  respecting  the  construction  and  adjust- 
ments of  this  important  instrument, see  /'.  irsoh's  Practical 
.  Istronomy  :  Memoirs  H.  Astr.  Society,  vol.  i. ;  and  the  ar- 
ticle in  the  Penny  Cyclopedia. 

TRANSITION  ROCKS.  A  Geological  term,  formerly 
applied  to  the  older  secondary  series,  under  the  idea  that 
they  were  formed  during  the  transition  of  i he  globe  from 
the  uninhabited  to  the  inhabited  stale.    See  Geology. 

TRA'NSITORY  ACTIONS.  In  English  Daw.  actions 
in  which  the  venue,  i.  <■.,  place  alleged  in  the  declaration,  is 
immaterial,  and  consequently  the  trial  may  be  had  in  any 
county;  opposed  to  local  actions,  in  which  the  trial  can 
only    iie  had  in  the  county  where  the  alleged  injury  was 

committed.    To  the  former  class  belong  actions  of  contract 

and  quasi  contract  (assumpsit,  debt,  &c.)  See  Action, 
Yen i  E. 

TRANSLATION.  In  Literature,  the  rendering  of  a  lit- 
erary work  from  the  original  language  into  another.  The 
peculiar  merits  and  peculiar  difficulties  of  successful  trans- 
lation have  often  been  pointed  out  by  critics,  but  their  judi- 
cious directions  have  in  en  seldom  realized  by  authors.  In 
truth,  those  difficulties  require  a  talent  of  so  high  an  order 
to  surmount  them,  that  U'W  writers  are  lit  lo  undertake  the 
of  translators  (we  mean  of  works  of  any  high  litera- 
ry merit),  except  those  whose  genius   has  more  cong 

occupation   in  original  c position;   for  notwithstanding 

Hi- Mien's  sarcastic  remark,  that  "imitation  of  an  author  is 
'he  most  advantageous  way  for  a  translator  to  show  liim- 
Belf,  but  it  is  the  greatest  wrong  Which  can  be  done  lo  the 
memory  ami  reputation  of  the  dead,"  vv  e  are  inclined  to 
doubt  whether,  in  reality,  imitation  be  not  the  more  advan- 
tageous method  of  the  two.  "  Every  author."  says  an  able 
.  vol.  xxxvi.),  "is  a  mannerist.  This 
manner  constitutes,  as  it  were,  the  Iden  ithor; 

it  is  what  the  trans!  itot  ought  i itch,  and  is,  nevertheless! 

the  very   thing   Which   is  apt   to  evaporate   in  translation." 

(ir,  to  borrow  again  the  language  of  Dryden,  the  office  of 

the  translator  i     esp   cially  to  render  the  "particular  turn 

of  thoi  if  lo'  h  aie  the  characters  that 

distinguish,  and,  as  it  were,  individuate  him  from  all  wri- 


TRANSLATION. 

tars."  But  nothing  is  so  arduous  as  the  attempt  to  catch 
this  spirit,  or  manner,  when  the  writer  is  also  bound  by  the 
duty  of  rendering  faithfully  the  sense.  The  imitator,  freed 
from  the  necessity  of  exactly  copying  the  sense,  is  far  more 
at  liberty  to  devote  himself  to  seizing  the  evanescent  qual- 
ities of  the  manner.  This  truth  might,  as  it  appears  to  us, 
be  exemplified  by  many  instances.  Terence  and  Horace 
seem  to  have  aimed  at  familiarizing  Roman  ears  with  the 
best  poetry  of  Greece,  not  by  translation,  but  by  imitation. 
Indeed,  much  as  the  Romans  borrowed  from  the  Greeks, 
actual  translation  seems  to  have  been  uncommon  ;  the  only 
two  examples  which  we  at  this  moment  recollect  are  Cice- 
ro's version  of  Aratus,  and  that  by  Catullus  of  a  poem  of 
Callimachus.  Among  modern  authors,  which  of  the  En- 
glish translators  of  Horace  has  approached  half  so  near 
him  as  Pope  in  his  Satires  ?  Where,  among  all  the  trans- 
lations of  the  Greek  drama,  shall  we  find  anything  so  thor- 
oughly imbued  with  the  spirit  of  that  noble  order  of  poetry 
as  the  Sampson  Agonistes  of  Milton,  and  the  Bride  of  Mes- 
sina of  Schiller'?  What  translator  of  Lucan  is  nearly  so 
Lucanic  as  Corneille  1  We  do  not  mean  to  disparage  the 
utility  of  translations,  or  the  merits  of  some  few  among 
those  which  have  passed  into  popularity  ;  but  as,  with 
scarcely  an  exception,  they  are  in  relation  to  the  originals,  to 
use  the  well-known  phrase,  of  Cervantes,  only  the  "  wrong 
side  of  the  tapestry  turned  outwards,"  so,  in  themselves, 
considered  as  literary  works,  they  generally  leave  an  im- 
pression of  that  peculiar  stiffness  which  belongs  to  all  copies. 

These  observations  apply  with  greater  force  to  poetical 
than  prose  translations  ;  and,  among  the  latter,  more  to 
works  of  taste  and  fancy  than  to  scientific  or  historical 
treatises.  In  the  latter,  an  easy  style,  clearness,  and  fideli- 
ty appear  of  greater  importance  in  translation,  than  the 
more  difficult  feat  of  catching  the  manner  and  spirit  of  the 
author.  In  literary,  and  especially  poetical  translation, 
much  controversy  has  been  carried  on  between  the  advo- 
cates of  literal  and  loose  adherence  to  the  sense  of  the 
author.  Each  has  its  advantages  and  merits ;  but  the  last, 
approaching  most  nearly  to  the  character  of  imitation,  ap- 
pears to  us,  on  the  whole,  the  better  extreme  of  the  two. 
Three  distinct  styles  of  translation  are  not  ill  characterized 
by  a  lively  writer  in  the  Quarterly  Review  (on  "Mitchell's 
Aristophanes"),  vol.  xxiii.,  p.  482. 

"  It  is  the  office  of  the  translator  to  represent  the  forms 
of  language  according  to  the  intention  with  which  they  are 
employed:  he  will  therefore,  in  his  translation,  make  use 
of  the  phrases  in  his  own  language  to  which  use  and  cus- 
tom have  assigned  a  similar  conventional  import ;  taking 
care,  however,  to  avoid  those  which,  from  their  form,  or  any 
other  circumstances,  are  connected  with  associations  exclu- 
sively belonging  to  modern  manners.  He  will  likewise,  if 
he  is  capable  of  executing  his  work  upon  a  philosophic 
principle,  endeavour  to  render  the  personal  and  local  allu- 
sions into  the  genera  of  which  the  local  or  personal  varie- 
ty employed  by  the  original  author  is  merely  the  accident- 
al type,  and  to  reproduce  them  in  one  of  those  permanent 
tonus  which  are  connected  with  the  universal  and  immu- 
table habits  of  mankind.  The  faithful  translator  will 
not  venture  to  take  liberties  of  this  sort;  he  renders  into 
English  all  the  conversational  phrases  according  to  their 
grammatical  and  logical  form,  without  any  reference  to  the 
current  usage  which  has  affixed  to  them  an  arbitrary  sense, 
and  appropriated  them  to  a  particular  and  definite  purpose. 
The  spirited  translator,  on  the  contrary,  employs  the  cor- 
responding modern  phrases;  hut  he  is  apt  to  imagine  that  a 
peculiar  liveliness  and  vivacity  may  be  imparted  to  his  per- 
formance by  the  employment  of  such  phrases  as  are  particu- 
larly connected  with  modern  manners ;  and  if  at  any  time 
he  feels  more  than  usually  anxious  to  avoid  the  appearance 
of  pedantry,  he  thinks  he  cannot  escape  from  it  in  any  way 
more  effectually  than  by  adopting  the  slang  and  jargon  of 
the  day.  The  peculiarities  of  ancient  times  he  endeavours 
to  represent  by  substituting  in  their  place  the  peculiarities 
of  his  own  time  and  nation." 

He  proceeds  to  exemplify  these  distinctions  by  an  instance 
from  Aristophanes : 

^oi&optiadai  i'ov  Trpcrru 
avlpas  noinras  wajrcp  aproTTioXtSac. 
This,  says  he.  the  faithful  translator  will  render  literally, 
"scold  each  other  like  bakers'  wives."  The  spirited 
translator  will  adopt  the  modern  popular  phrase  most  near- 
ly analogous—"  like  oyster  wenches."  The  translator  par 
excellence  will  choose  a  phrase  rendering  the  particular  and 
obsolete  expression  of  the  ancients  by  a  general  equivalent 
which  must  be  equally  appropriate  in  the  idiom  of  all 
times  and  countries — "like  market-women,"  or  "huck- 
sters." Without  cavilling  at  this  ingenious  piece  of  criti- 
cism, we  must  be  permitted  to  doubt  whether  a  translation 
of  a  highly  idiomatic  author  conducted  on  this  last  princi- 
ple would  not  preserve  his  general  meaning  with  the  serious 
sacrifice  of  his  spirit. 

97  107 


TRANSLUCENCY. 

In  most  modern  languages  there  are  some  few  transla- 
tions which  have  attained  celebrity.  In  English,  Fairfax's 
Tasso,  one  of  the  earliest,  has  great  beauty,  but  is  rather 
enervate.  The  versions  of  Drydcn  are  distinguished  by 
their  poetical  power ;  though  we  agree  with  Mr.  Hallam 
{Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  Europe,  iv.  536),  that  he 
did  not  give  the  example  as  well  as  precept  of  rendering 
the  "particular  turn  of  thought  and  expression"  of  his 
authors.  The  utter  want  of  individuality  in  his  respective 
translations  is  plainly  perceptible;  for  instance,  in  that 
from  the  fourth  book  of  Lucretius.  (It  may  he  observed, 
in  passing,  that  the  remarks  of  Dryden  on  the  art  of  trans- 
lation, of  which  so  much  has  been  said,  are  chiefly  to  be 
found  in  his  prefaces  to  Ovid's  Epistles,  and  to  his  Second 
Miscellany.)  Pope's  Homer  is  a  bad  and  careless  version 
(critically  speaking)  of  the  Latin  translation  of  the  Greek 
poet:  but  it  has  one  essential  characteristic  of  the  original, 
namely,  his  sustained  energy ;  which  renders  it,  even  now, 
more  popular  than  the  cold,  though  not  unfrequently  digni- 
fied and  elegant  work  of  Cowper.  Some  portions  oi"  Cum- 
berland's versions  from  Aristophanes  deserve  mention,  al- 
though on  the  whole  he  is  prosaic,  and  has  not  dared  to 
follow  the  bold  flight  or  imitate  the  metrical  variety  of  his 
original.  Mitchell's  Aristophanes  has  been  much  admired  ; 
but  it  is  wearisome  from  the  continual  striving  after  effect. 
Some  of  Elton's  translations  are  very  pleasing,  especially 
of  parts  of  Hesiod.  Shelley  has  left  two  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful essays  in  this  line  of  composition  which  are  to  be 
found  in  our  language:  the  Hymn  to  Mercury  of  Homer, 
and  the  Walpurgis  Night  Scene  from  Goethe's  Faust.  In 
the  latter,  indeed,  he  laboured  under  the  disadvantage  of 
an  inadequate  knowledge  of  the  language;  but  none  of 
Goethe's  more  critical  translators  (not  even  Dr.  Anster)  has 
so  powerfully  seized  his  "  turn  of  thought  and  expression." 
The  same  cannot  be  said  of  Byron's  performance — the  first 
book  of  the  Morgante  Maggiore ;  which  is,  however,  a 
remarkable  feat  of  dexterity,  from  its  extreme  literalness : 
a  feat  in  the  same  kind  as  Lord  Brougham's  recent  version 
of  the  De  Corona  of  Demosthenes.  Mickle's  Eusiad, 
though  now  little  read,  is  one  of  the  most  poetical  of  Eng- 
lish translations.  Coleridge's  Wallenstein  is  a  truly  won- 
derful work.  So  carelessly  written  that  the  poet  has  omit- 
ted whatever  he  found  difficult,  or  thought  unornamental, 
it  is  so  exact  and  so  spirited,  that  the  reader  is  constantly 
impressed  with  the  idea  of  Schiller  himself  rewriting  his 
own  drama  in  English,  with  here  and  there  a  variation  as 
perfectly  Schiller-like  as  the  German  original.  Among 
prose  translations,  Philemon  Holland's  numerous  ones,  par- 
ticularly that  of  Pliny,  are  still  occasionally  referred  to  by 
literary  antiquaries,  for  their  quaintness  rather  than  their 
merit.  Melmoth's  Epistles  of  Cicero  and  Pliny,  once  much 
admired,  are  polished  but  cold.  Gordon's  Tacitus  is  a  cred- 
itable attempt  at  rendering  an  extremely  difficult  author. 
Among  our  numerous  translators  from  the  German  in  the 
present  times,  none  bears  so  high  a  reputation  as  Mrs. 
Austin.  Mr.  C.  Lewis's  translation  of  Boeckh's  Public 
Economy  of  Atkens  is  a  work  of  great  merit.  French  is  a 
language  affording  so  many  advantages  to  the  prose  trans- 
lator, from  its  condensation,  its  exactness,  its  rhetorical 
force,  that  it  is,  perhaps,  rather  to  be  wondered  at  that 
higher  distinction  has  not  been  attained  by  individual 
French  writers  in  that  line.  But  few  French  translators 
are  much  remembered,  except  Amyot;  and  he  chiefly  for 
his  vernacular  language,  possessed  of  great  sweetness  as 
well  as  quaintness,  which  formed  a  mode  of  style  in  the 
16th  century.  The  Chevalier  Townley's  translation  of 
Hudibras  is  worth  mentioning  as  a  phenomenon,  from  its 
singular  fidelity  and  spirit.  Italian,  on  the  other  hand, 
seems  to  be  an  unfit  language  for  the  purposes  of  transla- 
tion, from  extreme  diffuseness ;  yet  it  boasts  of  one  trans- 
lator of  Tacitus  (Davanzati),  who  made  a  point  of  render- 
ing that  affectedly  concise  historian  in  fewer  words  than 
the  Latin.  But  of  all  modem  languages,  at  least  of  those 
generally  known  in  the  literary  world,  German  has  by  far 
the  greatest  capabilities  for  this  purpose.  This  must  be 
conceded,  a  priori,  by  those  who  are  familiar  with  its  pe- 
culiar powers  and  flexibility:  and  not  less  by  those  who 
are  acquainted  with  this  portion  of  its  literature.  Among 
the  most  highly  esteemed  poetical  works  of  this  description 
in  Germany  are  Voss's  Homer  and  Virgil ;  Streckfuss's 
Dante;  Schlegel  and  Gries's  Calderon  ;  Schlegel's  Shalcs- 
peare.  In  prose,  the  complicated  syntax  of  the  Germans, 
perhaps  we  may  add  the  as  yet  unformed  character  of  their 
prose  style,  detract  from  the  natural  powers  of  the  lan- 
guage ;  still  they  have  some  excellent  specimens  of  prose 
translation,  among  which  Stronibeck's  Tacitus  holds  a  high 
rank.     (See  also  Ed.  Rev.,  vol.  xxxvi.) 

TRANSLU'CENCY.  (Lat.  transluceo,  I  shine  through.) 
Semitransparency.  The  term  is  chiefly  used  in  descriptive 
mineralogy  as  applied  to  minerals  which  admit  of  a  passage 
of  the  rays  of  light,  but  through  which  objects  cannot  be 
definitely  distinguished. 

1261 


TRANSMIGRATION  OF  SOULS. 

TRANSMIGRATION  OF  SOULS.  See  Metempsy- 
chosis,  I'vrnu.niiKAN  Philosophy. 

TRANSMUTATION.    In  Alchemy,  the  operation  of 
changing  tlic  Imperfect  metals  (as  they  were  termed    into 
u — gold  and  silver.    This  was  tlic  great  ob- 
ject of  thai  pretended  science.    See  Alchxmy. 

Trans.mi  i  a  'this,  in  Geometry,  the  change  of  one  figure 
or  body  into  another  of  equal  area  or  solidity;  as  a  trian- 
gle into  an  equivalent  square,  a  sphere  into  a  cube,  &c. 

TRA'NSOM.     (Lat.  transenna,  a  stretched  curd.)    In 
Architecture,  the  horizontal  piece  framed  across  a  doable- 
light  window :  when  a  window  has  no  transom  it  is  called 
lory  window. 

TRANSPA'RENCY,  is  that  quality  in  certain  bodies  by 
which  they  give  passage  to  the  rays  of  light,  and  is  gener- 
ally supposed  to  he  a  consequence  of  the  homogeneity  of 
the  mailer  of  which  they  are  composed. 

TRANSPLANTING.  The  art  of  removing  a  plant  or 
tree  from  one  situation  to  another  in  such  a  manner  as  not 
to  interrupt  its  growth.  This  operation  is  commonly  per- 
formed in  the  winter  season,  or  in  autumn  and  spring,  when 
vegetables  are  generally  in  a  dormant  state  ;  and  the  great 
object  of  the  transplanter  is  to  lift  as  many  of  the  roots  as 
possible  without  injuring  them,  and  to  replace  them  in  a  new 
situation  to  which  the  tree  is  transplanted  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  facilitate  their  growth.  With  herbaceous  plants 
and  young  trees  this  is  comparatively  a  simple  operation  ; 
but  with  large  trees  it  is  an  operation  of  skill,  care,  and  la- 
bour. The  tree  to  be  transplanted  should  be  considerably 
under  the  normal  age  of  the  species ;  and  to  prepare  it  for 
the  change  which  it  is  to  undergo,  other  trees  or  objects  of 
its  own  height,  with  which  it  is  immediately  surrounded, 
should  be  taken  away  a  year  or  two  previous  to  removal,  in 
order  to  accustom  the  tree  to  the  direct  action  of  the  lisht 
and  air  on  every  part  of  it  which  is  above  ground.  The 
next  part  of  the  operation  is  to  dig  a  trench  round  the  tree, 
equidistant  from  the  trunk,  at  the  distance  of  three,  six, 
nine,  or  twelve  feet,  according  to  its  height,  and  to  such  a 
deplh  as  to  cut  through  all  the  horizontal  roots.  The  tree 
may  then  he  removed  to  its  new  situation,  with  or  without 
the  earth  attached  to  that  part  of  the  roots  which  remain  ; 
or.  which  is  a  more  certain  mode,  the  trench  may  be  left 
open  during  a  year,  in  order  that  the  sections  of  the  ampu- 
tated roots  may  heal  over,  and  be  prepared  to  emit  new 
fibrous  roots  after  the  tree  is  transplanted;  or,  and  which 
is  the  more  general  mode,  the  trench  may  be  filled  up  with 
finely  pulverized  soil,  in  order  to  encourage  the  production 
of  fibrous  roots ;  and  at  the  end  of  a  year,  or  of  two  years 
if  the  tree  is  very  large,  it  may  be  removed  to  its  final"  situ- 
ation. Hitherto  we  have  said  nothing  of  the  trunk  and 
branches  of  the  tree  to  be  removed.  In  a  moist  climate, 
such  as  that  of  Ireland  or  the  west  of  Scotland,  all  the 
branches  may  be  retained;  but  in  dry  climates,  such  as 
that  of  England,  the  branches  require  to  be  thinned  out  in 
proportion  to  the  roots  cut  otf;  and  in  dry  and  warm  cli- 
mates, such  as  that  of  central  France,  the  greater  number 
of  the  branches  require  to  be  removed.  The  proper  season 
for  transplanting  all  ligneous  plants,  whether  small  or  large, 
is  in  autumn,  after  the  leaves  of  deciduous  trees  have  drop- 
ped and  when  the  sap  of  evergreen  trees,  in  consequence  of 
the  decline  of  temperature,  is  comparatively  in  a  dormant 
state. 

TRA'NSPORT.  A  vessel  hired  by  government  to  con- 
vey stores,  troops,  &.C. 

TRANSPORTATION.  In  Law,  a  species  of  punish- 
ment. It  is  not  known  to  the  common  law  of  England,  and 
illation  of  punishment,  pardon  being 
granted  to  various  descriptions  of  offenders  on  CO 
undergoing  transportation:  generally  for  seven  or  fourteen 
years,  or  for  life.  It  is  now  a  statutable  punishment  for  a 
great  variety  of  offences.  It  is  said  to  have  been  first  in- 
flicted as  a  punishment  by  39Eliz.  c.  4.,  enacting  that  such 
rogues  as  were  dangerous  to  the  inferior  people  should  he 
banished.  At  that  time  the  English  plantations  in  North 
America  were  the  receptacles  of  tr;i  [<;ts.    Yir 

ginia.  the  Jerseys,  Delaware'.  Maryland,  &c.  are  tin-  districts 
which  received  the  greatest  accession  to  their  population 
from  this  cause.  At  the  very  commencement  of  the  practice, 
the  same  arguments  were  employed  against  it 
Bacon  which  are  urged  at  this  day  by  many  law  i 
"It  is."  he  says,  "a  shameful  and  unblessed  thini:  to  take 
the  scum  of  people,  and  wicked   condemned   mi 

li  whom  you  plant.''  It  was  not,  however,  brought 
into  general  use  as  a  punishment  until  1718,  by  4  Geo.  I., 
which  ait  gave  the  courts  a  discretionary  power  to  banish 
felons  entitled  to  clergy  to  the  American  plantations.      \f:,  r 

of  the  greater  part  of  our   American  col 
veral  years  elapsed  before  the  government  fixed  on  any 
place  by  way  of  substitute.    At  length,  in  1787,  Botan]  1'     . 
on  the  coast  of  New  South  Wales,  was  fixed  upon 

despatched  that  year.     Hut  when  the  expe- 
dition arrived,  it  was  discovered  that  Botany  Bay  (discovered 


TRANSPOSITION. 

by  Cook  in  1770)  afforded  no  practicable  site  for  the  colony ; 
which  was  consequently  landed  at  Port  Jackson,  where  the 
town  of  Sydney  was  founded.  From  that  period  to  the  pre- 
sent, great  numbers  of  convicts  have  been  transported  to 
Port  Jackson,  and  to  the  later  founded  colony  of  Van  I  lie- 
men's  Land — our  only  two  penal  settlements.  Much  has 
been  done  of  late  years  towards  regulating  the  condition  of 
the  convicts  in  the  colony,  and  subjecting  the  worst  part  of 
them  to  severe  privations;  in  particular,  by  transporting 
some  of  them  to  particular  depots,  where  they  are  liable  to 
(lose  inspection  and  hard  labour.  Among  the  writers  who 
have  lately  contended  against  the  policy  of  continuing  the 
punishment  of  transportation,  we  may  particularly  mention 
Archbishop  Whately.     (See  his  Tracts  on  Secondary  Tun- 

ishments  and  Transportation.) 

Returning  from  transportation  before  the  legal  expiration 
of  sentence  was  an  offence  formerly  punishable  with  death  ; 
but  by  4  &.  a  W.  4,  c.  ti7.  those  who  commit  the  oli'ence,  or 
aid  others  in  its  commission,  are  punishable  with  transporta- 
tion for  life.  A  great  mass  of  evidence  on  the  effect  of 
transportation  as  a  punishment  for  crime  in  Great  Britain, 
and  its  effect  on  the  moral  condition  of  the  Australian 
colonies,  will  be  found  in  the  volumes  published  by  the  two 
committees  of  1838  and  1839.  It  requires,  however,  to  be 
read  with  much  caution,  on  account  of  the  evident  bias  of 
the  committees  themselves;  for  every  one  knows  how  ef- 
fectually the  inclinations  of  a  committee  give  a  colour  to 
the  evidence  taken  before  it,  from  the  mode  in  which  the 
operation  is  performed.  The  views  of  that  committee,  re- 
sembling those  of  Archbishop  Whately,  of  the  inutility  of 
the  punishment  here,  and  its  mischievous  effects  in  the 
colonies,  have  had  some  effect  on  the  proceedings  of  gov- 
ernment ;  so  far,  at  least,  as  to  produce  the  abolition  of  the 
practice  of  the  immediate  assignment  of  convicts  as 
ers  on  their  arrival,  and  the  detention  of  considerable  num- 
bers in  the  hulks  in  lieu  of  the  full  execution  of  their  sen- 
tence. 

Many  of  the  vices  ascribed  to  the  system  are  undeniable  ; 
but  it  must  never  be  forgotten  that  the  truly  philosophical 
or  sensible  mode  of  looking  at  it  is  by  comparison  with  other 
secondary  punishments.  Take  any  mode  of  punishment  in 
the  abstract,  ami  the  eyes  of  the  inquirer  will  soon  detect  so 
much  of  mischief  caused  to  the  sufferers,  and  so  little 
visible  good  produced  on  the  community,  as  to  tempt  him  to 
regard  it  as  detestable.  In  the  first  place,  transportation 
must  be  considered  without  the  bad  practice  of  immediate 
and  indiscriminate  assignment,  which  was  a  mere  abuse. 
Thus  corrected,  let  it  be  compared  with  the  best  regulated 
system  of  imprisonment:  1.  In  respect  of  its  effects  on  the 
convict  himself;  and  it  may  be  doubted  whether  in  the 
Penitentiary,  whether  on  the  silent  or  separate  system,  the 
mind  of  the  majority  of  sufferers  goes  through  a  im>re 
wholesome  process  than  in  the  penal  settlements,  notwith- 
standing all  we  have  heard  even  of  the  frightful  condition 
of  Norfolk  Island,  which  is  not  an  ordinary  sample.  2.  In 
respect  of  its  effects  on  the  ill-disposed  population  at  home ; 
and  here,  defective  as  transportation  is  commonly  supposed 
to  be,  the  experience  of  any  one  conversant  with  courts  of 
justice  will  decide  which  sentence  appears  to  produce  the 
greatest  impression  when  announced  —  imprisonment,  or 
banishment.  And  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  it  is  not  the 
real  severity,  but  the  action  on  the  imagination,  which  de- 
ters from  crime  :  the  worst  inflictions  of  tile  gaol  are  thought 
little  of  by  any  one  except  the  sufferer,  while  the  evils  of 
expatriation  are  greater  in  idea  than  in  reality.  3.  In  respect 
of  the  ultimate  reform  of  the  offender;  and  here  transporta- 
tion possesses  an  incalculable  advantage  over  evei 
secondary  punishment.  The  convict  who  has  undergone 
it  begins  life  afresh:  he  remains,  indeed,  under  some  dis- 
abilities, sufficient  to  mark  the  sense  entertained  by  society 
of  the  difference  between  him  ami  the  man  unstained  by 
crime;  but  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  his  risin.'  by  ri  gulat 
and  honest  conduct,  if  he  chooses,  into  a  station  of  comfort, 
and  even  of  respectability.  The  man  who  leaves  a  gaol 
is  utterly  rained:  society  has  devised,  perhaps  can  devise, 
of  extending  to  him  a.  jus  postliminii,  and  bring- 
iiiL'  bin)  \r.'rk  within  the  pale  of  citizenship.  His  character 
Is  gone  forever;  and  if  it  could  be  really  ascertained  how 
long  relapsed  Offenders  are  actually  driven  into  the 
^Commission  of  crime  by  the  hopelessness  and  infamy  of 
their  condition,  if  not  by  the  actual  want  which  results  from 
it,  we  suspeel  that  many  who  are  now  ready  to  give  their 
suffrage  for  the  abolition  of  transportation  would  he  induced 
at  hast  to  pause  until  they  can  see  their  way  through  this 
difficulty. 

i'K  INSPOSI'TION,  in  Algebra,  is  the  transposing  of  a 
term  from  one  side  of  an  equation  to  the  other,  and  is  in 
effect  the  adding  of  equal  quantities  to,  or  subtracting  equal 
quantities  from,  each  side  of  the  equation,  the  sign  of  the 
quantity  being  changed  from  -f-  to  — ,  or  from  —  to  +. 
For  example,  if  a  +  x  =  e —  d,  by  transposing  a  we  have 
z  =  c  —  d  —  a;   or  if  a  +  i  =  e —  i,  by  transposing  i  and 


TRANSUBSTANTIATION. 

a  +  b  we  get  x  =  e  —  a  —  J.  The  object  of  transposition  gen- 
erally  is  to  bring  all  the  unknown  terms  to  one  side  of  the 
equation  for  more  conveniently  rinding  their  value  with 
respect  to  the  known  terms. 

Transposition.  In  Music,  the  change  which  takes  place 
by  performing  the  same  melody  in  a  higher  or  lower  pitch, 
which  may  always  be  effected  by  altering  the  signature  as 
the  pitch  of  the  new  key  note  may  require. 

TRANSUBSTANTIATION.  The  doctrine  held  by  the 
church  of  Rome,  that  in  the  Eucharist  the  bread  and  wine 
are  annihilated  and  replaced  by  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ.  In  one  of  its  liturgical  offices  it  says,  "  This  is  not 
bread,  but  God  and  Man,  my  Saviour."  It  is  maintained  by 
Protestants  that  this  dogma,  which  was  made  the  principal 
test  of  a  true  faith  by  the  Papists  at  the  Reformation,  is  not 
found  in  Scripture,  which,  in  the  most  literal  acceptation, 
only  asserts  of  the  elements  that  they  are  Christ's  body  and 
blood ;  i.  e.,  that  the  substances  coexist  in  some  mysterious 
manner.  Nor  can  they  discover  it  in  the  writings  of  the 
fathers,  or  in  the  canons  of  the  early  church.  They  affirm 
that  the  first  theologian  who  asserted  even  the  consub- 
stantiation,  or  union  of  substances,  was  Paschasius,  in  the 
ninth  century,  and  that  he  was  accused  of  making  too  gross 
an  explanation  of  the  mystery.  It  was  in  the  course  of 
these  disputes,  and  in  consequence  of  the  formal  and  de- 
finite statement  of  their  opinions  to  which  controversialists 
were  forced,  that  this  idea  of  transubstantiation  came  into 
fashion  among  theologians ;  nor  was  it  ever  propounded  as 
an  article  of  faith  by  the  authority  of  a  council  till  the  be- 
ginning of  the  13th  century,  in  the  papacy  of  Innocent  III. 

TRANSUDA'TION.  ('Lat.  trans  and  sudo,  /  transpire.) 
The  oozing  of  fluids  through  membranes,  or  through  porous 
bodies. 

TRANSVERSAL.  In  Geometry,  the  name  applied  to 
a  line  (whether  straight  or  curved)  which  traverses  or  in- 
tersects any  system  of  other  lines;  as  when  a  straight  line 
intersects  the  three  sides  of  a  triangle.  The  properties  of 
straight  and  circular  transversals  are  discussed  by  Carnot, 
in  his  Geometrie  de  Position,  and  Essai  sur  la  Theorie  des 
Transver  sales. 

TRANSVERSE  AXIS,  in  Conic  Sections,  is  the  diameter 
which  passes  through  both  foci.  It  is  the  longest  diameter 
in  the  ellipse,  the  shortest  in  the  hyperbola ;  and  in  the 
parabola  it  is  jnfinite,  as  in  that  curve  all  diameters  are. 
See  Conic  Sections. 

TRAPE'ZIUM  (Gr.  rpav^a,  table),  in  Geometry,  is  the 
general  name  for  a  plane  figure  bounded  by  four  straight 
lines.  When  two  opposite  sides  are  parallel,  it  is  called  a 
trapezoid  ;  when  both  pairs  of  opposite  are  parallel,  it  is 
called  a  parallelogram. 

The  following  are  a  few  of  the  most  remarkable  element- 
ary properties  of  this  figure. 

1.  The  sum  of  any  three  sides  is  greater  than  the  fourth 
side. 

2.  The  sum  of  the  squares  of  the  diagonals  is  equal  to  the 
sum  of  the  squares  of  the  sides,  and  four  times  the  square 
of  the  line  joining  the  middle  points  of  the  diagonals. 

3.  The  lines  joining  the  middle  points  of  the  sides  form  a 
parallelogram. 

4.  If  the  figure  can  be  inscribed  in  a  circle/the  sum  of 

each  pair  of  opposite  angles  in  two  right 
angles,  and  the  sum  of  the  rectangles  of 
each  pair  of  opposite  sides,  are  equal  to 
the  rectangle  of  the  diagonals. 

To  find  the  area  of  a  trapezium,  let  A  D 
be  a  diagonal,  and  C  E,  F  B  perpendiculars 
upon  it;  then  AD  X  \  (CE  +  BF)  =  the 
area. 
TRAPEZIUS.  In  Anatomy,  a  muscle  situated  immedi- 
ately below  the  integuments  of  the  posterior  part  of  the 
neck  and  back.  Its  principal  action  is  upon  the  scapula ; 
and  it  also  acts  upon  the  neck  and  head,  drawing  the  latter 
backwards,  and  turning  it  on  its  axis. 

TRAPEZO'ID.  A  trapezium  which  has  one  pair  of  op- 
posite sides  parallel.  The  area  of  a  trapezoid  is  equal  to 
half  the  sum  of  the  parallel  sides  multiplied  by  the  perpen- 
dicular distance  between  them. 

In  Anatomy,  the  trapezoides  is  the  second  bone  of  the 
second  row  of  the  carpus. 

TRA'PPISTS.  The  name  of  a  religious  order  which 
still  exists  in  Normandy.  It  was  founded  in  1140  bv  a 
Count  de  Perche,  in  a  deep  valley  called  La  Trappe, 
whence  the  name  of  the  order,  and  has  survived  all  the 
changes  and  revolutions  of  France.  The  rules  of  this  order 
are  of  the  strictest  kind.  It  was,  however,  far  less  celebra- 
ted under  its  original  foundation,  than  from  the  reform  it 
underwent  under  the  celebrated  Abbe  de  Ranee,  in  the 
reign  of  Louis  XIV.  The  history  of  this  celebrated  man  is 
well  known  :  he  was  a  gallant  and  daring  profligate,  whose 
conversion  was  owing  to  the  sudden  death  of  a  mistress. 
His  character  and  reform  were  a  favourite  subject  of  dis- 
cussion in  the  court  of  that  king  in  its  last  and  devout  peri- 


TRA VERSE  TABLE. 

od  ;  and  he  was  himself  the  fashion,  and  much  consulted 
and  thought  of  by  the  fashionable  devotees  of  the  tune. 
Perhaps  the  best  appreciation  of  him  will  be  found  in  the 
notices  scattered  through  the  Memoirs  of  Saint  Simon, 
who  reverenced  him,  but  was  too  clear-sighted  to  idolize 
any  one.  His  rule  was  of  the  austerest  description  ;  com- 
prising, among  other  severities,  absolute  silence  on  the  part 
of  those  admitted  for  a  considerable  period.  At  the  Revo- 
lution the  community  of  La  Trappe  was  dispersed;  many 
members  escaped  to  England,  and  were  received  by  Mr. 
Weld,  the  proprietor  of  Lulvvorth  in  Dorsetshire.  There 
are  now  several  congregations  of  Trappists.  The  famous 
Baron  Geramb,  so  long  the  lion  of  the  fashionable  circles 
in  London,  ended  his  career  by  entering  one  of  them.  (See 
the  Encyl.  Methodique,  "Theologie-")  There  is  an  ac- 
count of  the  present  state  of  the  original  convent  in  the 
Revue  de  Paris,  vol.  xxix.  It  is  a  melancholy  picture. 
Many  of  the  stories  told  of  the  austerities  of  La  Trappe — 
e.g.,  that  each  of  the  monks  is  employed  in  digging  every 
day  a  portion  of  his  grave,  &c. — are  fables.  But  the  main 
features  of  the  discipline,  the  enforced  silence,  the  complete 
seclusion  from  the  world  (insomuch  that  the  superior  alone 
receives  news  of  the  decease  of  a  relation  of  any  monk, 
and  it  is  only  announced  to  the  community  by  a  direction 
to  pray  for  the  soul  of  the  kinsman  of  one  of  the  brethen, 
without  naming  him),  are  as  commonly  reported. 

TRAP  ROCKS.  (From  the  Swedish  trappa,  a  flight  of 
steps,  because  these  rocks  frequently  occur  in  large  tabu- 
lar masses  rising  one  above  another  like  the  successive 
steps  of  a  staircase.)  They  are  apparently  of  igneous  or 
volcanic  origin,  and  composed  of  felspar,  augite,  and  horn- 
blende, the  predominance  of  one  or  other  of  these  minerals 
giving  rise  to  many  varieties.     See  Geology. 

TRAUMA'TIC.  (Gr.  rpavna,  a  wound.)  Relating  to 
wounds  ;  hence  the  traumatic  balsams  and  ointments  of 
old  pharmacy. 

TRAVELLER.  In  Naval  affairs,  a  ring  or  hoop  which 
slides  along  a  rope  or  spar. 

TRA'VERSE.  In  Law,  a  name  given  to  a  plea  contain- 
ing a  denial  of  some  matter  of  fact  alleged  on  the  other 
side,  and  offering  to  refer  the  matter  to  the  decision  of  a 
jury. 

In  cases  of  misdemeanour,  where  the  defendant  post- 
pones the  trial  of  the  indictment  until  the  next  sessions  or 
assizes,  he  is  said  to  traverse  the  indictment.  The  delays 
which  this  form  formerly  occasioned  have  been  materially 
abridged  by  the  act  CO  G.  3,  and  1  G.  4,  c.  4  ;  under  which. 
persons  in  custody,  or  held  to  bail  twenty  days  before  the 
sessions,  are  bound  to  plead,  unless  a  certiorari  has  been 
delivered  before  jury  sworn. 

TRAVERSE  SAILING,  in  Navigation,  is  sailing  on  dif- 
ferent courses  in  succession ;  and  the  method  of  reducing 
such  compound  courses  and  distances  into  an  equivalent 
single  course  and  distance  is  called  resolving  a  traverse. 
The  reduction  may  be  effected  either  by  geometrical  pro- 
jection or  trigonometrical  computation  ;  but  it  is  generally 
performed  by  inspection,  with  the  aid  of  a  traverse  table. 

TRAVERSE  TABLE,  in  Navigation,  is  the  tabulated 
form  in  which  the  northing,  southing,  easting,  and  westing 
are  made  on  each  individual  course  and  distance  in  a 
traverse,  for  the  purpose  of  finding  readily  the  difference  of 
latitude  and  departure  made  upon  the  whole ;  the  differ- 
ence between  the  sums  of  the  northings  and  southings  be- 
ing the  diff.  lat.,  and  between  the  sums  of  the  eastings  and 
westings  the  departure. 

The  northing,  southing,  easting,  and  westing  are  general- 
ly taken  by  inspection,  from  a  table  which  contains  the 
parts  of  a  right-angled  plane  triangle  corresponding  to  a  giv- 
en acute  angle,  and  a  hypothenusal  line  of  every  unit  in 
length  from  1  to  300,  and  sometimes  to  500  ;  an  extent  suf- 
ficient for  the  wants  of  the  practical  navigator.  This  table 
itself  is  also  called  a  traverse  table,  from  the  facility  which 
it  affords  in  resolving  a  traverse  ;  but  it  may  be  applied  ad- 
vantageously to  many  other  purposes. 

In  the  annexed  figure  A  B  C  is  a  plane  triangle  right- 
angled  at  B  ;  and  if  A  B  represent  a  portion  A. 
of  the  meridian  passing  through  A,  and  A  C 
the  distance  from  A  to  C,  then  the  angle  A 
is  called  the  course,  A  B  the  difference  ot 
latitude,  and  B  C  the  departure ;  and  to  a 
given  angle  A  the  corresponding  values  of 
A  B  and  B  C,  being  computed  and  entered 
in  a  table,  form  for  the  assumed  value  of  A 
a  portion  of  a  traverse  table.  '. 

The  table  is  thus  constructed  to  A  C  and  the  angle  A  as 
arguments,  the  angle  being  taken  to  every  degree  and  every 
quarter  point  of  the  compass,  and  the  hypothenuse  to  every 
integer  from  unity  to  as  high  a  number  as  may  be  thought 
requisite.  But  the  table  being  formed,  any  two  elements 
which  geometrically  determine  the  triangle  may  be  assum- 
ed as  the  given  one,  and  the  other  found  by  inspection 
from  the  table.    But  tie  use  of  the  table  is  not  limited  to 

1263 


TRAVERTIN. 

the  solution  of  right-angled  triangles  only;  for  every  case 
of  oli'  ii  -  may  be  solved  by  means  of  it. 

TRA  vr.UTIX.  (It'll,  travertino.)  A  limestone,  depos- 
ited from  water  holding  carbonate  of  lime  in  solution.  The 
WOld  is  a  Corruption  of  tiburtinus,  this  kind  of  stone  being 
abundantly  formed  by  the  river  Anio  at  Tilmr  near  Rome. 
The  sj  Uba  is  usually  call  They 

tality,  and  wort-  much  used  by  the  an- 
cient Romans.    Its  Latin  name  was  lapis  tiburtinus. 

TRAVE'STIE.  (Fr.  travestir,  to  disguise.)  In  Litera- 
ture, a  word  used  in  the  same  signification  as  parody.  See 
Parody. 

TREACLE.  The  viscid,  brown  syrup  which  drains 
from  the  sugar  In  the  refining  moulds.  Its  specific  gravity 
.rally  1*4,  and  it  contains  on  the  average  75  per  cent, 
of  solid  matter.     {Urc's  Dictionary.) 

TREAD,  (Sax.  tredan,  to  set  the  feet  on.)  In  Architec- 
ture, the  horizontal  part  ol"  a  step  on  which  the  foot  is 

TREAD  MILL.  A  recent  invention  for  giving  useful 
employ  ment  to  persons  imprisoned  for  crime. 

Its  usual  form  is  that  of  a  cylindrical  wheel  of  about  5 
feet  diameter,  and  16  feet  long  ;  and  several  of  such  wheels 
are  sometimes  coupled  together.  The  circumference  is 
furnished  with  twenty-four  equidistant  steps,  on  which  the 
prisoners  are  made  to  work  on  the  mill.  Each  individual 
treads  in  a  separate  compartment,  boarded  off  so  that  no  in- 
tercourse can  take  place  between  the  parties  at  work  at  the 
same  time. 

All  mounting  the  first  step  together,  their  weight  sets  the 
wheel  in  motion,  bringing  down  the  step  trod  upon  ;  when 
they  step  up  to  the  next  one,  which  descends  in  the  same 
manner,  and  so  on,  producing  a  continuous  rotatory  motion 
in  the  wheel,  which  may  be  applied  as  the  moving  force  to 
a  mill  for  grinding  corn,  or  in  turning  any  other  machinery. 

The  prisoners  at  work  on  the  wheel  are  assisted  and  sup- 
ported by  a  handrail  before  them.  The  wheel  makes 
about  two  rounds  per  minute,  which  is  equivalent  to  a 
vertical  ascent  of  about  3'2  feet  per  minute,  and  this  is 
about  the  maximum  of  labour  usually  permitted  on  the 
wheel.  These  machines,  which  have  now  been  introdu- 
ced into  all  the  great  prisons  in  England  and  Wales,  have 
been  most  efficacious  in  counteracting  that  feeling  which 
- "s  the  worthless  to  balance  the  pleasures  of  idleness 
;  the  discomforts  of  confinement.  The  application 
of  it  to  prisoners  before  trial  was  much  denounced  as  an 
abuse.  (See  Ed.  Rev.,  vol.  xxxix.,  for  a  paper  by  the  Rev. 
Sydney  Smith  on  this  subject.)  The  Court  of  King's 
Bench,  however,  refused  a  mandamus  to  compel  the  justi- 
ces of  Yorkshire  to  allow  food,  except  bread  and  water,  to 
prisoners  committed  for  trial  who  refused  to  work. 

TREASON,  or  HIGH  TREASON.  By  the  statute  35 
E.  3,  c.  -.  the  limits  of  this  great  offence  were  first  accu- 
rately defined  ;  and  although  subsequent  enactments  at 
different  periods  widely  enlarged  the  range  of  actions 
which  might  be  drawn  within  its  penal  character,  yet 
most  of  these  have  been  regarded  as  encroachments  upon 
the  principles  of  our  jurisprudence.  To  compass  the 
death  of  the  king,  queen,  or  king's  eldest  son  and  heir  ; 
to  violate  the  king's  wife  or  daughter,  or  the  wife  of  the 
heir  apparent ;  to  levy  war  against  the  king  in  ihe  realm  ; 
to  assist  the  king's  enemies  in  the  realm  or  elsewhere  ;  to 
counterfeit  the  king's  privy  seal ;  to  clip  or  counterfeit  the 
;  to  slay  the  chancellor  or  other  high  judi- 
cial magistrates— these  are  the  seven  species  of  treason 
con  tituted  by  this  act.  The  many  fresh  species  devised 
during  the  troubled  periods  which  followed  that  reign,  and 
by  the  arbitrary  genius  of  Henry  VIII.,  were  repealed  in 
the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Mary.  Of  new  treas- 
sons  since  created  by  analogy  to  those  which  were  previ- 
ously so  considered,  the  |  defined  by  36  G.  3, 
r.  7:  such  as  conspiring  to  excite  foreigners  to  invade  the 
realm  ;  levying  war  in  ord.r  to  compel  the  king  to  change 
his  measures  or  counsel--,  nr  to  overawe  either  house  of 
parliament;  and  the  expressions  or  declarations  of  such 
opinions  by  printinL'.  writing,  or  any  other  overt  act. 
Count!  money,  or  filing  and  clipping  the 
oe  w  eii  as  ha\  in»  coining 
and  importing  false  coin  from  abroad. 
Most  other  offences  relating  to  the  coin  are  of  u  lower  de- 
scription. In  high  treason  all  parties  concerned  are  prin- 
cipal-                    ries  being  recognised   in   this  offence. 

(See  the  Sixth  Import  of  the  Commissioners  of  Criminal 
Law 

TREA'SURER,    LORD    HIGH.     Formerly  the    third 

■  officer  of  the  crown  in  England.    The  office  is  now 

executed  by  five  persons,  styled  the  lords  commissioners 

of  tl  ■  ine  of  whom  holds  also  the  office  of 

chnncei  chequer.    See  Treasury. 

TREASURE  TROVE.     During  the  middle  ages,  trens- 

Vrr  !  ,!,,_,    { ,.  ,t,i    the    LTotlnd,  folllieil    an     illl 

..i  branch  of  the  revenue  of  this  and  of  most  other 
1-JM 


TREATY. 

European   states.    The   security  of  property  which  we 
have  enjoyed  since   the  Revolution  has,  however,  put, 

I o,  a  complete  stop  to  the  practice  of  burying  treas- 
ure in  Great  Britain.  But  down  to  a  late  period  the  prac- 
tice was  common  in  Ireland,  and  is,  perhaps,  not  yet  alto- 
gether abandoned  in  that  country  ;  and  it  is  also  common 
in  some  of  the  Continental  states.  Neckar  mentions  that 
in  France,  under  the  ancien  regime,  the  vassals  of  many  of 
the  nobles,  afraid  of  subjecting  themselves  to  the  violence 

ir  masters,  buried  all  the  money  they  could  scrape 
together;  and  during  the  anarchy  and  brigandage  of  the 
Revolution,  vagi  sums  were  thrown  into  the  earth.  The 
well-informed  Russian  economist,  M.  Storch,  mentions 
that  the  practice  of  burying  treasure  is  still  extremely  prev- 
alent in  Germany,  Italy,  and  Russia  ;  and  it  must  necessa- 
rily be  more  or  less  prevalent  in  every  country  exposed  to 
the  ravages  of  war,  and  where  the  risrhts  of  property  are 
imperfectly  protected.  But  it  is  chiefly  in  the  despotical 
st  ites  of  Asia,  and  in  Turkey  in  Europe,  that  the  burying 
of  money  is  carried  to  the  greatest  extent.  TAere  every 
rich  individual  estimates  his  wealth,  not  by  the  stock  or 

:  he  has  lent  to  others,  or  has  employed  in  the  great 
work  of  production,  but  principally  by  the' amount  of  the 
treasure  he  has  been  able  to  conceal ;  and  every  poor  man 
deposits  in  the  earth  whatever  he  can  contrive  to  with- 
draw from  the  grasp  of  his  avaricious  masters.  "The  ra- 
jahs," says  Mr.  Luke  Scrafton,  in  his  valuable  tract  on 
Hindostan,  "  never  let  their  subjects  rise  above  mediocrity  ; 
and  the  Mohammedan  governors  look  on  the  growing 
riches  of  a  subject  as  a  boy  does  on  a  bird's  nest ;  he  eyes 
their  progress  with  impatience,  then  conies  w  ith  a  spoiler's 
hand  and  ravishes  the  fruit  of  their  labour.  To  counter- 
act this,  the  Hindoos  bury  their  money  under  ground,  often 
with  such  secrecy  as  not  to  trust  even  their  own  children 
with  the  knowledge  of  it ;  and  it  is  amazing  what  they 
will  suffer  rather  than  betray  it.  When  their  tyrants  have 
tried  all  manner  of  corporeal  punishments  on  them,  they 
threaten  to  defile  them :  but  even  that  often  fails ;  for 
resentment  prevailing  over  the  love  of  life,  they  frequently 
rip  up  their  bowels,  or  poison  themselves,  and  carry  the 
secret  to  the  grave."  Mr.  Scrafton  considers  that  the  uni- 
versality of  this  practice  and  the  quantity  of  the  precious 
metals  which  must  in  consequence  have  been  lost,  has 
been  a  principal  cause  of  the  long-continued  drain  of  spe- 
cie to  the  East.  From  the  discovery  of  the  American 
mines  down  to  a  very  late  period,  the  greatest  portion  of 
their  produce  has  been  directly  or  indirectly  exported  to 
Turkey,  Hindostan,  and  other  eastern  countries:  and  yet 
it  is  said  that  the  precious  metals  do  not  seem  to  have  be- 
come more  abundant  in  those  countries,  or  the  prices  of 
commodities  to  be  materially  increased.  But,  without  at- 
tempting to  investigate  the  precise  degree  of  credit  that 
ought  to  be  attached  to  this  statement,  it  is  abundantly 
certain  that  the  want  of  security  which  has  caused  this 
locking  up  of  so  large  a  quantity  of  capital  must  be  one 
of  the  main  causes  of  the  poverty  and  wretchedness  in 
which  the  people  of  India,  Persia,  Turkey,  &x.  are  in- 
volved. 

TREA'SURY,  BOARD  OF.  In  England,  the  board  to 
which  is  entrusted  the  management  of  all  matters  relating 
to  the  sovereign's  civil  list  or  other  revenues.  This  office 
was  formerly  committed  to  the  lord  high  treasurer,  the 
third  great  officer  of  the  crown;  but  in  modern  times  a 
lord  high  treasurer  has  not  been  appointed,  the  duties  of 
his  office  being  executed  by  a  board  of  five  lords  commis- 
sioners. The  chief  of  these,  or  first  lord  of  the  treasury, 
is  generally  the  prime  minister  for  the  time  being;  and, 
when  a  commoner,  also  chancellor  of  exchequer ;  though 
Sir  Robert  Peel  has  recently  deviated  from  this  practice. 
The  salary  of  the  first  lord  of  the  treasury  is  £5000  per 
annum  ;  that  of  the  others  £1200  each.  The  other  officers 
of  the  board  are,  two  joint  secretaries,  a  number  of  clerks 

senior,  junior,  minute,  copying,  &.c),  a  receiver  of 
fees,  a  keeper  of  the  papers,  a  solicitor,  a  chamber  keeper, 
messengers,  housekeepers,  extra  clerks  and  extra  messen- 
gers. 

TREATY.  In  Law,  an  agreement  between  two  or  more 
independent  states.  Grotius  {De  Jure  Belli  et  I'acis,  1.  ii., 
I'll.  15,  S.  .">  divides  treaties  into  two  classes  tho-e  which 
turn  on  things  to  which  the  contracting  parties  are  already 

hound  by  the  law  of  nature,  such  as  mutual  amity,  com- 
merce, &c. ;  and  those  which  contain  stipulations  for 
BCh  as  treaties  regulating  boundaries, 
c seding  particular  powers,  &C.  The  municipal  constitu- 
tion, in  every  state,  determines  In  whom  resides  the  au- 
thority to  make  and  to  ratify  ire  Hies.  In  most  monarchies 
it  is  vested  in  the  sovereign ;  in  republics,  In  the  chief 
magistrate, senate,  or  executive  council ;  in  federal  si 
sometimes  exclusively  in  the  federal  authority,  as  in  the 
United  States  :  while  in  the  Germanic  federation  the  par- 
ticular states  retain  the  right  of  making  treaties  of  alliance 
and  commerce  not  inconsistent  with  the  fundamental  laws 


TREBLE. 

of  the  confederation.  In  order  to  enable  a  public  minister 
or  other  diplomatic  agent  to  conclude  and  sign  a  treaty,  he 
must  be  furnished  with  a  full  power ;  and  when  so  con- 
cluded the  treaty  is  binding  on  the  state,  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  an  agent  is  bound  by  the  act  of  his  principal.  Hut 
the  question  how  far,  and  in  what  cases,  ratification  is  ne- 
cessary, has  been  the  subject  of  much  debate  among  writers 
on  international  law.  It  is  usual  to  reserve  a  power  to 
ratify  in  the  treaty  itself.  It  is  necessary  also,  in  most 
constitutional  governments,  for  the  sanction  of  the  legisla- 
tive body  to  be  subsequently  given  to  treaties  of  commerce, 
or  imposing  taxes  on  the  people,  entered  into  by  the  execu- 
tive. Thus  the  government  of  Great  Britain,  when  making 
treaties,  granting  subsidies,  &c,  usually  stipulates  that  the 
king  will  recommend  to  parliament  to  make  the  grant  ne- 
cessary for  the  purpose ;  but  under  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States,  it  has  been  thought  that  Congress  is  bound 
to  sanction  treaties,  in  general  made  by  the  President  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  senate.  Treaties  have  been 
divided  into  real  and  personal :  the  former  of  which  are 
said  to  bind  the  contracting  parties,  independently  of  any 
change  of  sovereignty  or  in  the  rulers  of  the  state  ;  the  lat- 
ter are  made  with  express  reference  to  the  person  of  the 
actual  ruler.  But  treaties  properly  so  called,  as  of  friend- 
ship and  alliances,  commerce  and  navigation,  even  if  per- 
petual in  terms,  are  said  to  expire — 1.  In  case  either  of  the 
contracting  parties  cease  to  be  an  independent  state  ; 
2.  When  the  internal  constitution  of  government  is  so 
changed  as  to  render  the  treaty  no  longer  applicable.  In 
this  they  differ  from  what  are  called  transitory  conven- 
tions, which  pass  from  one  government  to  another ;  such 
as  treaties  of  cession,  boundary,  &c.  (See  Wicquefort, 
book  ii. ;  Vattel,  book  ii. ;  Schoell,  Hist,  des  Traites  de 
Pair,  4  vols.,  Brussels,  1817.) 

TREBLE.  (Said  to  be  the  same  as  "  threefold,"  sed 
quaere?)  In  Music,  the  highest  part  in  a  concerted  piece. 
Thus  we  say  a  treble  violin,  a  treble  hautboy,  &c.  In 
vocal  music,  this  part  is  committed  to  boys  or  females. 
The  treble  is  divided  into  first  or  highest  treble,  and  sec- 
ond or  low  treble.  Half  treble,  or,  as  it  is  sometimes  called, 
mezzo  soprano,  is  a  high  counter-tenor. 

TRECKSCHUYT.  (Dutch,  track  ship  or  boat.)  The 
covered  boats  drawn  by  horses  or  cattle,  and  used  for  the 
conveyance  of  goods  and  passengers  on  the  Dutch  and 
Flemish  canals  are  so  called.  For  an  admirable  descrip- 
tion of  the  accommodations  and  management  of  the 
"  treckschuyt,"  now  so  rapidly  falling  into  disuse  from  the 
introduction  of  railways,  see  Murray's  Handbook  for 
Northern  Germany. 

TREENAILS.  In  Naval  Language,  wooden  bolts  by 
which  the  planks  of  a  ship's  bottom  are  secured  to  the 
timbers. 

TREFOIL.  (Lat.  tres,  three,  and  folia,  leaves.)  In 
Architecture,  an  ornament  of  three  cusps  in  a  circle ;  re- 
sembling three-leaved  clover. 

Trefoil.  A  name  given  in  English  to  different  kinds 
of  three-leaved  plants.  White  trefoil  is  Trifolium  repens  ; 
yellow  trefoil  is  Trifolium  minus;  black  trefoil  is  Medi- 
cago  lupulina;  bird's-foot  trefoil,  Lotus  corniculatus.  All 
such  plants  are  used  for  the  food  of  cattle.  The  French 
word  trefie  lias  a  similar  application. 

TREMA  NDO,  Tremolo.  (It.  trembling.)  In  Music,  a 
direction  for  one  of  the  graces  of  harmony,  which  consists 
in  a  reiteration  of  one  note  of  the  chord :  this,  however, 
applies  more  directly  to  the  word  tremolo,  while  the  tre- 
viando  is  a  general  shake  of  the  whole  chord. 

TRE'MATODES,  Trematoda.  (Gr.  rp^na,  a  hole.)  The 
name  of  an  order  of  Sterelminthans,  or  Parenchymatous 
Entoza,  comprising  those  which  have  organs  of  imbibition 
and  adhesion  in  the  form  of  suckers. 

TREME'LLA.  (Lat.  tremo,  /  tremble.)  A  jelly-like 
plant  of  the  lowest  organization,  found  in  damp  walks  and 
similar  situations.  It  is  composed  of  a  thallus  containing 
microscopical  spores,  and  is  closely  allied  to  the  plants 
called  lavers. 

TRE'MOLITE.  A  mineral,  often  of  a  fibrous  texture, 
generally  containing  silica,  magnesia,  and  carbonate  of 
lime,  originally  found  in  the  valley  of  Tremola  on  St. 
Gothard. 

TRE'NCHER,  (Fr.  tranche),  in  Fortification,  are  places 
cut  out  by  besiegers  to  approach  the  place  attacked  in 
greater  security.  They  are  generally  from  8  to  10  feet 
wide,  and  in  depth  something  more  than  the  height  of  a 
man,  being  commonly  about  7  feet. 

TRENT,  COUNCIL  OF,  in  Ecclesiastical  History,  was 
assembled  by  Paul  III.  in  1545,  and  continued,  in  twenty- 
five  sessions,  until  1563,  under  Julius  III.  and  Pius  IV. 
This  celebrated  council  was  convoked  at  a  period  when 
the  Christian  world  was  agitated  by  the  early  efforts  of 
the  reformers  ;  and  its  most  important  decrees  have  there- 
fore reference  to  the  points  on  which  the  controversies  of 
the  Reformation  chiefly  turned :  e.  g.,  transubstantiation, 


TRIAL. 

image-worship,  the  authority  of  the  pope.  There  is  a 
certain  degree  of  ambiguity  in  the  expression  of  some  of  its 
decrees,  owing  to  the  uncertainty  which  the  doctrines  of 
the  reformers  caused  in  the  minds  of  supporters  of  the  Ro- 
mish faith.  But,  on  the  whole,  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
they  express  the  general  belief  of  Western  Christians  at 
the  period  when  they  were  drawn  up ;  and  that  They  con- 
demn, although  with  little  decision  and  firmness,  many  of 
the  more  gross  abuses  of  the  church.  The  authority  of 
these  decrees  (except  so  far  as  the  more  strictly  doctrinal 
part  of  them  is  embodied  in  the  creed  of  Pope  Pius  IV.) 
has  been  much  debated  among  Romish  ecclesiastics.  In 
Germany,  Poland,  and  Italy,  they  appear  to  have  been 
adopted  from  the  beginning  without  restriction ;  in  Spain 
only  with  a  reservation  of  the  rights  of  the  monarch  ;  in 
France  they  have  never  been  solemnly  received.  But  as 
regards  the  more  important  portions  of  them  which  contain 
the  rule  of  faith,  they  probably  accurately  express  the  be- 
lief of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  at  the  present  day. 
The  famous  history  of  Father  Paul  (Paolo  Sarpi)  is  in 
many  respects  a  noble  model,  but  does  not  always  contain 
a  fair  estimate  of  the  subject.  That  of  Cardinal  Pallavi- 
cino  represents  the  more  Romanist  view.  (See  Mosheim, 
vol.  iii. ;  Robertson's  Charles  V. ;  Hallam's  Jntr.  to  the 
Literature  of  Europe,  vol.  ii.) 

TREPA'N.  (Gr.  rpvKaoj,  I  perforate.)  A  circular 
saw  for  perforating  the  scull.  The  term  trephine  is  also 
applied  to  a  similar  but  improved  form  of  the  instrument. 
(See  the  article  "  Trephine,"  in  Cooper's  Surgical  Dic- 
tionary.) 

TRE'SPASS,  in  Law,  strictly,  is  any  transgression  of  the 
law  less  than  felony,  or  misprision  of  felony ;  but  is  gener- 
ally used  to  signify  any  wrong  or  damage  which  is  done  by 
one  private  person  to  another.  Trespass  vi  et  armis  is 
where  an  act  is  done  which  is  in  itself  an  immediate  injury 
to  another's  person  or  property ;  such  as  assault  and  bat- 
tery, or  breaking  and  entering  a  house  or  close.  Special 
trespass,  or  trespass  on  the  case,  where  an  act  is  not  im- 
mediately injurious,  but  only  by  consequence  and  collater- 
ally. Trespass  is  a  personal  action  of  tort,  and  lies  for  in- 
juries of  a  very  miscellaneous  character.  Trespass  on  the 
case,  as  a  form  of  action,  arose  originally  out  of  a  power 
given  to  the  Court  of  Chancery  to  frame  new  writs  for  in- 
juries which  could  not  be  redressed  under  the  common 
forms  of  trespass  or  covenant.  Trover  and  assumpsit 
are,  in  their  origin,  different  forms  of  trespass  on  the  case. 

TRE'SSURE.  In  Heraldry,  a  border  running  parallel 
with  the  sides  of  the  escutcheon,  which  should  contain 
about  one  quarter  of  the  bordure.  It  is  generally  either 
double  or  triple  ;  and  has  usually  fleur-de-lis,  arranged  in 
opposite  directions  alternately,  perpendicular  to  the  length 
of  the  tressure :  it  is  then  called  Jlory  counterflory.  The 
tressure  forms  part  of  the  royal  arms  of  Scotland,  and  of 
those  of  many  noble  Scottish  houses. 

TRESTLE  TREE.     See  Mast. 

TRET.  In  Commerce,  an  allowance  of  4  lbs.  for  every 
104  lbs.  for  the  waste  which  certain  kinds  of  goods  are  lia- 
ble to  from  dust,  &c. 

TRIAD.  (Gr.  rpeic,  three.)  As  to  the  mysterious  triad 
of  deities  or  daemons,  who  are  supposed  by  some  to  have 
been  the  basis  of  the  dtemon-worship  of  the  Greeks,  ac- 
cording to  a  passage  in  Proceus  on  the  Timmus  of  Plato 
(see  Bryant's  Ancient  Mythology,  vol.  iii.,  p.  107),  "they 
could,"  he  says,  in  accordance  with  his  singular  theory, 
"  be  no  other  than  the  three  sons  of  Noah,  who  were  the 
Baalim  of  the  Scriptures,  and  the  &atu.ovtq  and  AOavaroi  of 
Greece."  Others  have  imagined  that  the  Triad  of  Plato 
and  his  followers  was  connected  with  the  Christian  Trini- 
ty. What  are  called  by  Cymric  antiquaries  the  Triads  of 
the  Welsh  Bards  are  poetical  histories,  in  which  the  facts 
recorded  are  thrown  into  a  kind  of  triplets.  Thus,  to  take 
the  commencement  of  the  first  Triad  as  an  example — 
"  Three  names  have  been  given  to  the  Isles  of  Britain  since 
the  beginning:  Clas  Merddin,  Til  Inys,  and  Inys  Pridain." 
The  Triads  are  supposed  to  be  of  no  greater  antiquity  than 
the  reign  of  Edward  I.,  although  they  probably  contain 
fragments  of  old  history.  (See  Turner's  Anglo-Saxons, 
vol.  i. :  "Britannia  after  the  Romans.") 

Triad.  In  Music,  a  compound  of  three  sounds,  which, 
from  the  extraordinary  property  it  has  of  being  naturally 
divisible  into  two  thirds,  one  major  and  the  other  minor, 
constituting  a  fifth  in  the  whole,  has  received  the  name  of 
the  harmonic  triad.  Its  name  is  founded  on  its  being 
formed  of  a  third  and  a  fifth,  which,  with  the  bass  or  fun- 
damental sound,  make  three  different  terms. 

TRIAL,  in  Common  Law,  is  the  examination  and  dis- 
posal of  an  issue  of  fact,  either  in  criminal  or  civil  proceed- 
ings. Trials  are  by  certificate,  by  inspection,  by  the  record, 
j  and  per  pais,  or  by  a  jury.  The  first  three  are  of  a  pe- 
j  culiar  character.  Trial  by  certificate  is  where  the  evidence 
I  of  the  person  certifying  is  the  only  proper  test  of  the  issue  ; 
•  as.  the  customs  of  the  city  of  London  are  to  be  tried  by  the 

1265 


TRIANGLE. 

nf  the  mayor  ami  aldermen,  &c.  Trial  by  ln- 
is  said  to  be  where  the  judges  personally  examine 
and  decide  the  question  in  dispute  :  a  practice  long  obso- 
lete. Trial  by  the  record  is  where  the  point  at  issue  being 
whether  or  not  a  certain  record  exists,  or  certain  aver- 
ments in  it.  it  is  decided  by  the  production  of  the  record 
itself.  But  the  ordinary  trial  of  all  facts,  with  these  very 
rare  exceptions,  is  by  a  jury,  summoned  to  try  the  i*sue 
raised  by  the  pleadings.  Trials  at  bar  of  civil  actions  are 
ich  take  place  before  all  the  judges  of  the  court  of 
which  the  record  is  ;  the  original,  and,  as  it  were,  direct 
mode  of  trial,  from  which  all  others  are  variation  - 
though  it  is  now  very  rare  in  practice.  In  ordinary  cases, 
it  has  been  Ions  superseded  by  trial  at  Nisi  Prius  (since  13 
Ed.  1).  {See  Hiai  Prics.)  A  trial  at  bar  is  now  only 
granted  on  special  grounds.  Trials  before  the  sheriff  are 
wiien  the  demands  do  not  exceed  £-20,  by  virtue  of  the 
stat.  3  &  4  \V.  4,  c.  42.  s.  17.  These  are  the  only  modes 
of  disposing  of  issues  raised  on  records  in  the  superior 
courts  :  and  trials  of  actions  in  courts  of  limited  jurisdic-  ' 
tion  are  governed  by  the  same  general  rules.  Criminal 
trials  are  had  in  like  manner  when  an  issue  of  fact,  gener-  | 
ally  guilty  or  not  guilty,  is  raised  by  the  pleadings.  JVea>  ] 
trials,  in  civil  cases,  are  granted  where  the  court  of  which 
the  record  is,  sees  reason  to  be  dissatisfied  with  a  verdict, 
either  on  the  ground  that  evidence  was  improperly  receiv- 
ed or  rejected  ;  or  that  the  judge  misdirected  the  jury  as  to 
the  law  applicable  to  the  facts;  or  that  the  verdict  was 
against  the  weight  of  evidence  ;  or  that  a  party  was  un- 
fairly surprised  ;  or,  lastly,  that  fresh  evidence  has  since 
been  discovered. 

TRIANGLE.  (Lat.  triangulum.)  A  three-sided  figure, 
which  consequently  has  also  three  angles. 

Triangles  are  rectilineal,  spherical,  or  curvilineal.  Rec- 
tilineal or  plane  triangles  are  bounded  by  straight  lines ; 
spherical  triangles  are  formed  on  the  surface  of  a  sphere 
by  the  intersection  of  the  planes  of  three  great  circles  ; 
curvilineal  triangles  are  those  which  are  bounded  by  three  j 
curves  of  any  kind  whatever. 

Triangles  receive  other  distinctive  denominations  from 
the  relation  of  their  sides  and  angles.  Plane  triangles  are 
denominated  equilateral  when  their  three  sides  are  all 
equal ;  isosceles  when  two  only  are  equal ;  and  scalene 
when  all  three  are  unequal.  They  are  called  right-angled 
when  one  of  the  angles  is  a  right  angle  ;  oblique-angled 
when  one  of  the  angles  is  more  than  a  right  angle  ;  and 
acute-angled  when  each  of  the  angles  is  less  than  a  right 
angle  ;  and  triangles  are  said  to  be  similar  when  their 
angles  are  respectively  equal  each  to  each. 

The  following  are  "some  of  the  principal  properties  of 
plane  triangles  ; 

1.  The  greater  side  is  opposite  the  greater  angle,  and 
vice  versa. 

2.  The  sum  of  any  two  sides  is  greater,  and  the  differ- 
ence of  any  two  less  than  the  third  side. 

3.  The  sum  of  the  three  angles  is  equal  to  two  right  an- 
gles ;  and  if  one  of  the  sides  be  produced,  the  exterior  an- 
gle is  equal  to  both  the  interior  and  opposite  ones. 

4.  If  A  E  and  C  D  be  perpendiculars  from  the  angles  A 
and  C  on  the  opposite  sides  A  B  and  B  C, 
then,  generally,  A  C*  =  A  B  •  A  D-f-  C  B  • 
C  E  ;  and.  consequently,  if  the  ancle  B  is 
a  right  angle,  A  C*  =  A  B2  +  B  (X 

5.  Lines  which  bisect  the  angles  of  a 
plane  triangle  will  pass  through  the  centre 
of  the  inscribed  circle ;  perpendiculars  from 
the  middle  of  the  sides  pass  through  the  centre  of  the  cir- 
cumscribing circle  ;  and  lines  drawn  from  the  angles  to  the 
middle  of  the  opposite  sides  pass  through  the  centre  of 
gravity. 

6.  Triangles  are  to  each  other  in  the  compound  ratio  of 
their  bases  and  altitudes. 

The  area  of  a  plane  triangle  is  found  by  multiplying  the 
length  oi'one  of  the  sides  into  that  of  the  perpendicular  let 
fall  upon  it  from  the  opposite  angle  ;  but  there  are  various 
other  expressions  for  the  area,  for  which  see  Trigonome- 
try. 

Triangle.  In  Astronomy,  one  of  the  forty-eight  con- 
stellations of  Hipparchus,  situated  in  the  northern  hemi- 
sphere. The  same  name  is  also  given  to  one  of  the  twelve 
southern  constellations  formed  by  Bayer.  There  is  also 
the  Little  Triangle,  added  by  Hevelius,  near  the  first 
named.     See  Constellation. 

Triangle.  In  Music,  a  small  steel  triangular  musical 
instrument  of  percussion,  open  at  one  of  its  angles.  It  is 
set  in  vibration  by  being  struck  with  a  short  bar  of  the  same 
metal  as  that  whereof  the  instrument  is  composed. 

TRIANGLE,  ARITHMETICAL,  The  name  given  by 
Pascal  to  a  table  of  certain  numbers  disposed  in  the  form 
of  a  triangle.  The  first  vertical  column  of  the  table  con 
tains  units  only  ;  the  second  contains  the  series  of  natural 
numbers ;  the  third  the  series  of  triangular  numbers ;  the 
12oti 


TRIBUNE. 

fourth  the  Feries  of  pyramidal  numbers ;  and  so  on.    (See 
Figirate  Numbers.)    Thus — 

1 


1 

1 

1 

O 

1 

1 

3 

3 

1 

1 

4 

6 

4 

1 

1 

5 

10 

10 

5 

1 

1 

6 

15 

20 

15 

6 

&.C. 

&.C. 

&c. 

&c. 

&c. 

St 

1 


Any  number  in  the  table  is  obtained  by  adding  the  num- 
ber next  above  it,  in  the  same  column,  to  the  number  in 
the  same  line  in  the  next  preceding  column  ;  and  it  will  be 
observed  that  the  oblique  diagonal  rows,  beginning  at  the 
left  and  descending  towards  the  right,  are  the  same  as  the 
vertical  columns.  One  of  the  properties  of  the  table  is,  that 
numbers  taken  on  the  horizontal  lines  are  the  coefficients 
of  the  did'erent  powers  of  a  binomial.  For  the  description 
and  uses  of  the  table,  sep  the  Introduction  to  Mutton's 
Mathematical  Tables. 

TRIANGULAR  COMPASSES.  Compasses  having  three 
legs ;  two  opening  in  the  usual  manner,  and  the  third  turn- 
ing round  an  extension  of  the  central  pin  of  the  other  two, 
besides  having  a  motion  on  the  central  joint  of  its  own. 
The  instrument  is  useful  in  the  construction  of  maps  and 
charts,  as  three  points  may  be  taken  off  at  once. 

TRIANGULAR  NUMBERS.  The  series  of  numbers 
formed  by  the  successive  sums  of  the  terms  of  an  arith- 
metical progression,  of  which  the  common  difference  is  1, 
Tims, 

Arithmetical  progression,    1,  2,  3,    4,    5,    6,  &c. 
Triangular  numbers,  1,  3,  6,  10,  15,  21,  &c. 

The  general  term  of  the  series  is  A  n  (n  + 1).  See  Figc- 
rate  Numbers. 

TRIA'RII.  The  third,  last,  or  veteran  rank  of  infantry 
in  the  Roman  legion.  (See  Legion.)  There  is  an  essay 
on  this  particular  rank,  Mem.  de  Vj&c.  des  Inscr.,  vol.  xxix. 

TRIBE.  (Lat.  tribus.)  A  principal  subdivision  of  the 
Roman  people.  The  word  signifies  a  division  into  three, 
which  was  the  number  of  the  patrician  tribes;  which  were 
distinguished  by  the  names  Ramnes.  Titienses,  and  Luceres. 
The  first  of  these  consisted  of  the  original  body  of  patri- 
cians ;  the  next  two  were  added  at  different  limes  under 
the  kings  from  the  free  citizens,  who  grew  up  round  ihe 
iir>t.  The  plebeian  tribes,  which  anally  included  the 
whole  people,  were  quite  distinct  from  the  above.  They 
were  instituted  by  Bervius  Tullius,  who  divided  the  city 
into  four  regions,  and  the  rest  of  the  Roman  territory  into 
twenty-six;  mosi  probably  making  in  all  thirty  tribes,  to 
correspond  to  the  number  of  patrician  curite.  Ten  of  these 
are  supposed  to  have  been  swept  away  by  the  cession  of 
the  territory  on  the  Etruscan  bank  of  the  Tiber  to  Porsenua, 
as  we  hear  of  only  twenty-one  immediately  after  that  event ; 
the  one  having  been  most  probably  added.  In  later  times, 
the  number  of  tribes  was  increased  to  thirty-five,  and  they 
then  included  all  the  free  citizens.  In  the  mean  time  the 
patrician  tribes  became  quite  extinct ;  when  all  the  differ- 
ence of  privileges  enjoyed  by  their  respective  curia;  were 
abolished.     (See  Niebuhr's  Hist,  of  Rome,  2d  edit.,  p.  417.) 

TKUSo'METER.  (Gr.  rpiGu),  /  rub.  and  pcrpov,  mea- 
ln  Mechanics,  the  name  given  by  Musschenbroek 
and  Coulomb  to  a  sort  of  sledge,  or  apparatus  for  measuring 
the  force  of  friction.    See  Friction. 

TRIIJl  'NAL.  A  judgment  seat  in  the  forum  of  Rome, 
built  by  Romulus  in  the  form  of  a  half  moon ;  hence  any 
judgment  seat :  also  a  raised  place  in  a  camp,  whence  the 
general  addressed  his  soldiers  and  issued  orders. 

TRI'BUNE.  Properly,  as  the  name  denotes,  the  chief 
magistrate  of  a  tribe.  There  were  several  kinds  of  offices] 
in  the  Roman  state  that  bore  the  title.  1.  The  plebeian 
tribunes,  \\  lo «  were  first  created  after  the  Becession  of  the 
commonalty  to  the  Mbns  Bacer  260  A.U.)  as  one  of  the 
conditions  of  its  return  to  the  city.  They  were  especially 
the  magistrates  and  protectors  of  the  commonalty,  and  no 
patrician  could  be  elected  to  the  office.  At  their  first  ap- 
pointment  the  powei  of  the  tribunes  was  very  small,  being 
confini  il  t"  the  assembling  the  plebeians,  and  the  protection 
of  an)  Individual  from  patrician  aggression  ;  but  their  per- 
sons were  sacred  and  Inviolable,  and  this  privilege  consoli- 
liaied  their  other  powers,  which,  in  the  later  ages  of  the 
republic,  grew  to  an  enormous  height,  and  were  finally  in- 
corporated with  the  functions  of  the  other  chief  magistracies 
in  the  person  of  the  emperor.  The  number  of  the  tribunes 
varied  from  two  to  ten,  and  each  of  these  might  annul  the 
by  putting  hi  his  veto.    (See  .Yf- 

buhr's  Hut,  of  Hum'.  2d  edit.,  i.,  634  :  l.alileterie,  Mem.  dc 
I' Ac.  des  Inscr..  vol.  xxxvii.)  2.  Military  tribunes.  «ero 
first  elected  in  the  year  310  A.U.  in  the  plan' of  the  consuls, 
luence  of  the  demands  of  the  commonalty  to  l* 
admitted  to  a  share  of  the  supreme  power.    This  measure 


TRIBUTE. 

tras  not,  however,  a  complete  concession  of  their  demands, 
but,  in  fact,  evaded  them  in  a  great  degree  ;  for  the  tribu- 
nate was  not  vested  with  the  full  powers  or  honours  of  the 
consulate,  not  being  a  curule  magistracy,  and  though  it  was 
open  to  all  the  people,  patricians  were  almost  invariably 
chosen.  The  number  of  the  military  tribunes  was  some- 
times six,  and  sometimes  three.  For  above  seventy  years 
sometimes  consuls  were  elected  and  sometimes  military 
tribunes;  at  last  the  old  order  was  permanently  restored, 
tut  the  plebeians  were  admitted  to  a  share  of  it.  (See 
Mem.  de  VAc.  des  Inscr.,  vol.  xxxvii.)  3.  Legionary  tri- 
bunes, or  tribunes  of  the  soldiers,  were  the  chief  officers  of 
a  legion,  six  in  number,  who  commanded  under  the  consul, 
each  in  his  turn,  usually  about  a  month  ;  in  battle  each  led 
a  cohort. 

Tribune.  In  Ancient  Architecture,  a  raised  seat  or 
stand  whence  speeches  were  delivered  to  the  people ;  the 
term  is  still  used  in  this  sense  in  the  French  chambers. 

TRI'BUTE.  (Lat.  tribuo,  /  give.)  A  sum  of  money 
paid  by  an  inferior  sovereign  or  state  to  a  superior  potentate, 
to  secure  the  friendship  or  protection  of  the  latter.  The 
black  mail  formerly  levied  by  the  Scottish  borderers  on  their 
less  powerful  neighbours,  for  protecting  their  property  from 
the  depredations  of  caterans,  was  a  species  of  tribute. 

TRl'CA.  In  Botany,  one  of  the  names  of  the  shield  or 
reproductive  organ  of  a  lichen. 

TRICHE'CHUS.  (Gr.  $pi\,  hair,  and  iX0vs,  fish.)  A 
name  invented  by  Artedi  to  designate  the  manatee,  as  being 
the  only  species  of  fish,  or  whale-fish,  that  was  hairy : 
"  quia  solus  inter  pisces  fere  hirsutus  sit."  Linnaeus,  in  his 
System  of  Nature,  adopted  the  term  trichcchus  as  the  generic 
appellation  for  the  manatee  ( Trichechus  manatus) ;  but  he 
added  the  walrus  as  a  second  species  of  the  genus.  Subse- 
quent zoologists,  in  separating  these  very  different  animals, 
and  placing  them  in  distinct  genera,  have  in  this,  as  unfor- 
tunately in  too  many  other  cases,  invented  a  new  generic 
name  for  the  animal  so  well  designated  by  its  original  epi- 
thet, and  have  restricted  the  application  of  the  term  triche- 
chus to  the  walrus,  for  which  it  was  not  originally  designed. 

TRICHI'ASIS.  (Gr.  $ptl,  a  hair.)  A  disease  of  the 
eyelids,  in  which  the  eyelashes  grow  inwards  and  irritate 
the  bulb  of  the  eye. 

TRICHI'DIUM.  (Gr.  $pi%.)  A  netted  filamentous  organ, 
resembling  a  netted  purse,  in  which  the  spores  of  some 
kinds  of  fungi  are  included. 

TRICHINA.  (Gr.  diminutive  of  &pi\.)  The  name  of 
a  genus  of  microscopic  encysted  Entozoa,  which  infest  the 
muscular  tissue  of  the  human  subject. 

TRICHIU'RUS.  (Gr.  $ptl,  and  ovpa,  a  tail.)  The  name 
of  a  genus  of  spiny-finned  fishes,  literally  rendered  in  their 
popular  English  name  of  "  hair-tails,"  significative  of  their 
most  striking  generic  character,  which  is  taken  from  the 
single  elongated  hair-like  filament  that  terminates  the  ray- 
less  tail.  The  Trichiuri  have  no  anal  fin,  and  have  neither 
ventral  fins  nor  supplemental  scales.  But  one  species,  viz. 
the  silvery  hair-tail  ( Trichiurus  lepturus,  Linn.),  has  been 
admitted  into  the  catalogue  of  British  fishes. 

TRICHOCE'PHALUS.  (Gr.  $pi\,  and  K[<pa\n,  a  head.) 
The  name  of  a  genus  of  Hematoid  Entozoons,  one  species 
of  which  {Trichocephalus  dispar,  Rudolphi)  infests  the 
human  intestinum  ccecum. 

TRICHOP'TERANS,  Trichoptera.  (Gr.  &pi\,  and  Trrrpov, 
a  wing.)  The  name  of  an  order  of  insects  founded  by 
Kirby  for  the  case-worm  flies,  which  are  characterized  by 
four  hairy  membranous  wings,  resembling  in  their  nervures 
those  of  the  Lepidopterans  ;  the  under  ones  folding  longi- 
tudinally. 

TRICLI'NIUM.  (Gr.  rpetc,  three,  and  ic\ivti,  a  covch.) 
In  Ancient  Architecture,  a  room  furnished  on  three  sides 
with  couches,  the  fourth  side  being  left  open  for  facilitating 
the  attendance  of  the  servants,  in  which  company  was 
received  and  the  repasts  served.  The  winter  triclinia  were 
placed  to  the  west,  and  those  for  summer  to  the  east. 

TRI'COLOR.  The  national  French  banner  of  three 
colours,  blue,  white,  and  red,  adopted  on  the  occasion  of 
the  first  revolution.  The  immediate  occasion  for  adopting 
them  is  said  to  have  been  that  they  were  the  colours  worn 
by  the  servants  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans ;  and  they  were 
first  assumed  by  the  people  when  the  minister  Neckar  was 
dismissed  in  1789.  But  these  colours,  in  combination,  appear 
to  have  formed  a  national  emblem  in  France  from  a  very- 
early  period.  It  is  also  said  to  have  been  formed  by  uniting 
the  three  colours  successively  used  in  the  French  standards 
at  different  periods  ;  viz.  the  blue  of  the  banner  of  St.  Mar- 
tin, the  red  of  the  oriflamme  (see  Oriflamme),  and  the 
white  of  the  white  cross,  supposed  to  have  been  assumed 
under  Philip  of  Valois.  The  three  colours  were  given  by 
Henry  IV.  to  the  Dutch  on  their  desiring  him  to  confer  on 
them  the  national  colours  of  his  country ;  and  they  have 
since  been  borne  successively  by  the  Dutch  republic  and 
the  kingdom  of  the  Netherlands.  The  domestic  livery  of 
Louis  XIV.  was  tricoloured,  as  were  also  the  liveries  of  the 


TRIGONOMETRY. 

Bourbon  kings  in  Spain.  At  the  Revolution,  when  the 
three  colours  were  assumed  on  the  national  flag,  they  were 
borne  in  the  same  order  as  the  Dutch,  but  in  a  different 
position,  viz.  the  division  of  colours  parallel  to  the  flag 
staff;  whereas  in  the  Dutch  flag  it  is  at  right  angles  with  it. 
Tricoloured  flags  have  been  adopted  in  some  of  the  German 
states,  and  in  Belgium,  &c. ;  and  they  are  often  employed 
as  emblematical  of  liberty. 

TRICU'SPID  VALVE.  The  valve  of  the  right  ventricle 
of  the  heart. 

TRI'DENT.  (Lat.  tres,  three,  and  dens,  a  tooth.)  The 
sceptre  which  the  poets  and  painters  of  antiquity  placed  in 
the  hand  of  Neptune  is  so  called  by  way  of  eminence.  It 
is  in  the  form  of  a  spear  or  fork  with  three  prongs  or  teeth  ; 
hence  the  name.     See  Neptune. 

TRI'ENS.  A  small  Roman  copper  coin,  worth  one  third 
of  the  as  (which  see),  as  the  derivation  of  the  word  implies. 
This  was  the  piece  of  money  usually  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  deceased  poor  to  pay  Charon  for  their  passage  over 
the  Styx. 

TRIERA'RCHIA.  (Gr.  rpmpapxia.)  An  Athenian  in- 
stitution which  imposed  on  a  certain  body  of  citizens  the 
duty  of  fitting  out  triremes  for  the  use  of  the  state.  About 
1200  citizens  were  usually  chosen  for  this  purpose  from 
the  richest  individuals,  and  these  were  subdivided  into 
clubs  of  12  or  16  to  each  ship.  Demosthenes  introduced  a 
new  regulation,  by  which  the  burden  to  be  borne  by  each, 
individual  was  made  to  bear  a  given  proportion  to  his  prop- 
erty.   (See  Boeckh,  Public  Economy  of  Athens,  ii.,  319,  360.) 

TRIE'TERIS.  (Gr.  rpeis,  three,  and  trog,  a  year.)  In 
Grecian  Chronology,  a  cycle  invented  by  Thales  to  connect 
his  year,  which  consisted  of  12  months  of  30  days  each, 
amounting  to  360  days  ;  this  falling  short  of  the  true  solar 
year,  he  inserted  a  month  of  30  days  at  the  end  of  every 
three  years,  by  which  means  he  made  it  exceed  the  true 
year  by  13  davs. 

TRIFO'RltlM.  (Lat.)  In  Gothic  Architecture,  an  arched 
story  between  the  lower  arches  and  the  clere-story  in  the 
aisles,  choir,  and  transepts  of  a  church.  An  example  may 
be  seen  in  Westminster  Abbey,  where  the  triforium  affords 
a  communicating  gallery  entirely  round  the  church. 

TRI'GAMOUS  (Gr.  rpsif,  three,  and  ya/toi,  marriage), 
is  a  name  applied  by  some  botanists  to  plants  containing 
three  sorts  of  flowers  in  the  same  flower-head ;  that  is  to 
say,  males,  females,  and  hermaphrodites. 

TRIGE'MINI.  (Lat.  tres,  three,  and  geminus,  double.) 
The  fifth  pair  of  nerves :  they  arise  from  the  crura  of  the 
cerebellum,  and  are  divided  within  the  cranium  into  three 
branches;  namely,  the  orbital,  and  the  superior  and  inferior 
maxillary.  The  orbital  branch  is  divided  into  the  frontal, 
lachrymal,  and  nasal  nerves;  the  superior  maxillary  into 
tile  spheno-palatine,  posterior  alveolar,  and  infra-orbital 
nerves  ;  and  the  inferior  maxillary  into  two  branches,  the 
internal  lingual,  and  one  more  appropriately  termed  the 
infra-maxillary. 

TRI'GLYPH.  (Gr.  T/)£if,  three,  and  yAu^o),  I  carve.)  In 
Architecture,  an  ornament  in  the  Doric  frieze,  consisting  of 
two  whole  and  two  half  channels,  separated  by  flat  spaces 
called  femora. 

TRI'GONALS,  Trigona.  (Gr.T/>f<?,  three;  ywvta,  an  an- 
gle.) The  name  of  a  family  of  Decapodous  Crustaceans, 
the  carapace  of  which  is  nearly  triangular.  Trigonia  is 
also  the  name  of  a  genus  of  Bivalves  of  a  triangular  form, 
and  of  which  most  of  the  species  are  fossil. 

TRIGO'NIA.  (Gr.  rpiyuivos,  having  three  corners.)  A 
name  applied  by  Lamarck  to  a  genus  of  Ostracean  Bivalves, 
most  of  the  species  of  which  are  found  fossil ;  but  which 
has  a  beautiful  recent  representative  in  the  seas  of  the 
southern  hemisphere,  remarkable  for  the  irridescent  lining 
of  the  valves,  La  Trigo  nacree  of  Lamarck.  It  is  also  the 
name  of  a  genus  of  South  American  plants. 

TRIGONOCE'PHALUS.  (Gr.  rpiyiovos,  and  KKpa^n,  a 
head.)  A  genus  of  poisonous  serpents,  characterized  by 
having  the  tail  terminated  by  a  horny  conical  process  or 
spur.  No  species  is  known  to  inhabit  Europe  or  Africa,  in 
which  continents  the  Trigonocephaly  are  replaced  by  the 
vipers.  The  poisonous  serpent  of  the  island  of  Martinique, 
called  by  the  French  settlers  "  fer  de  lance,"  is  a  species  of 
the  present  genus  (Trigonocephalus  lanceolntus). 

TRIGONO'METRY.  (Gr.  Tpiyavos,  triangle,  utrpov, 
measure.)  This  term,  as  its  derivation  implies,  originally 
signified  the  measurement  of  triangles,  or  the  branch  of 
mathematics  which  treats  of  the  relations  between  the  sides 
and  angles  of  triangles ;  but  in  its  modern  acceptance  it- 
includes  all  formula?  relative  to  angles  or  circular  arcs,  and' 
the  lines  connected  with  them,  these  lines  being  expressed 
by  numbers  or  ratios.  In  relation  to  its  practical  utility,  it: 
may  be  regarded  as  the  most  important  of  all  the  applica- 
tions of  mathematics. 

The  magnitude  of  an  angle  is  usually  measured  by  the 
circular  arc  which  has  its  centre  at  the  angular  point,  and 
is  intercepted  by  the  straight  lines  forming  the  angle  ;  but 

1267 


TRIGONOMETRY. 


(1.) 

D 

X 

/^K 

^ 

1                 A 

I 

[       I 

there  is  no  necessary  connexion  between  an  angle  and  the 
arc  which  subtends  it.  and  in  some  modern  works  the  fun- 
damental properties  of  trigonometry  are  explained  without 
ace  to  the  circle.  This  method  of  proceeding  is 
undoubtedly  more  direct  than  the  other;  nevertheless,  as 
the  language  of  trigonometry  has  taken  its  form  from  con- 
aiderations  respecting  the  circle,  there  is  some  advantage 
on  the  score  of  perspicuity  in  the  ancient  method,  for  which 
e  shall  adhere  to  it  in  the  present  sketch. 
The  primary  unit  by  which  angles  ;ind  their  correspond- 
ing arcs  are  numerically  expressed  is  the  degree,  or  the 
ninetieth  part  of  a  right  angle  or  of  a  quadrant.  This  divi- 
sion of  the  quadrant  into  ninety  parts  is  entirely  arbitrary. 
It  w;>.~  adopted  by  ilie  ancient  Greeks,  and  has  been  all  but 
universally  followed  down  to  the  present  time  ;  for  although 
the  French  mathematicians  attempted  to  introduce  the 
decimal  system,  by  dividing  the  quadrant  into  a  hundred 
parts,  their  example  has  not  been  imitated,  as  the  first  effect 
Of  the  alteration  would  be  to  derange  and  render  useless 
the  whole  of  the  existing  trigonometrical  tables. 

The  degree  is  divided  into  61)  minutes,  and  the  minute 
into  60  seconds.  Anciently  the  seconds  were  subdivided 
into  thirds  ;  but  the  practice  of  writing  down  the  parts  of 
seconds  as  decimals  is  now  universally  followed.  The  es- 
pression  20°  16'  4357"  is  read  20  degrees,  16  minutes,  43 
seconds,  5  tenths  and  7  hundredths  of  a  second. 
Let  B  A  C  (fig.  1.)  be  an  angle  contained  by  the  two 
straight  lines  A  B,  A  C ;  with 
A  as  a  centre,  and  radius  A  B, 
describe  a  circle ;  let  B  A  be 
produced  to  meet  the  circum- 
ference in  E,  and  draw  the  diam- 
eter D  F  perpendicular  to  B  E. 
From  C  draw  C  H  and  C  K  re- 
spectively perpendicular  to  B  E 
.  B  and  D  F  ;  and  let  B  L  and  D  M 
be  also  perpendicular  to  B  E 
and  D  F,  meeting  A  C  produced 
in  L  and  M.  Now,  since  the 
angles  at  the  centre  of  a  circle 
are  proportional  to  the  arcs  on 
T1  which  they  stand,  the  arc  B  C 

may  be  taken  as  the  geometrical   measure  of  the  angle 
11  A  C,  and  both  will  be  expressed  without  distinction  by 
number  of  degrees,  minutes,  &c.    The  following 
di  finitions  are  used. 

The  arc  I>  C,  which  is  the  defect  of  B  C  from  the  quad- 
rant, is  called  the  complement  of  B  C  ;  and  C  E,  which  is 
its  delect  from  the  semicircle,  is  called  its  supplement.  C  H 
is  the  sine  of  the  arc  B  C,  and  C  K  or  A  H  is  the  sine  of  its 
complement,  or  the  cosine  of  B  C  ;  B  L  ft  the  tangent  of 
the  arc  B  C,  and  I)  M  is  the  tangent  of  its  complement,  or 
the  cotangent  of  B  C ;  A  L  is  the  secant  of  B  C,  and  A  M 
the  secant  of  its  complement,  or  its  cosecant ;  B  H  is  the 
i ne  of  B  C,  and  D  K  its  co-versed  sine.  These  ap- 
pellations are  abridged  as  follows  :  The  arc  being  denoted 
by  the  single  letter  A,  its  sine  is  expressed  by  sin  A;  its 
cosine  by  cos  A  ;  its  tangent  by  tan  A ;  its  cotangent  by  cot 
A  ;  its  secant  by  sec  A ;  its  cosecant  by  cosec  A  ;  its  versed 
sine  by  vc r  sin  A  ;  and  its  co-versed  sine  by  co-ver  sin  A. 

Since  the  arc  B  C  is  assumed  as  the  measure  of  the  an- 
gle B  A  C,  the  above  lines  may  be  regarded  respectively  as 
the-  sine,  cosine,  tangent,  &c,  of  the  angle;  and  since  all 
quantities  used  in  trigonometry  are  to  be  expressed  by  num- 
bers, we  may  take,  instead  of  those  lines,  any  numbers 
which  are  proportional  to  them;  and  thence  we  may  as- 
sume the  ratio  of  the  arc  B  C  to  the  radius  A  B,  that  is, 
hC-r-A  B,  as  the  measure  of  the  angle  BAG.  In  like 
manner  the  sine  of  the  angle  RAG  may  be  represented  bv 
CH-j-AB,  its  cosine  by  A  II  -r-  A  B,  its  tangent  by  B  L  4- 
A  B,  its  secant  by  A  L  -f-  A  IS.  its  cotangent  by  1)  M  -H  A  D, 
and  its  cosecant  by  A  M  -H  A  I).  Adopting  these  definitions, 
the  values  of  the  trigonometrical  functions  of  the  angle  it  A 
G  will  evidently  remain  the  same  when  the  angle  remains 
constant,  whatever  be  the  magnitude  of  the  circle  to  which 
they  are  referred.  It  is  usual  to  regard  the  radius  A  1!  as  a 
unit,  in  which  case  the  sines,  cosines,  tangents,  (tc,  will  be 
expressed  in  terms  of  that  unit  by  the  decimal  notation. 
This  is  the  way  in  which  they  are  expressed  in  the  trigono- 
metrical tables. 

From  the  right-angled  triangles  in  the  above  diagram,  we 
have  A  H-!  +  H  C2  =  A  C*,  AB-'  +  BL2-  A  I.  \l>  D 
M2=  A  M-' :  and  because  the  three  triangles  A  H  C,  A  B  L, 
A  D  M,  are  similar,  we  have  also 

\  II  :  I1C  ::  A  If  :  It  L  ::  DM  :  DA; 

IK':CA::BL:LA::DA:  AM; 

CA:  AH::  LA:  AB::  AM:  DM. 

Making  the  radius  AB  =  AC  =  AD  =  1,  and  denoting  the 

angle  B  A  C  by  A,  these  proportions  give 

cos  A  :  sin  A  : :  1  :  tan  A  : :  cot  A  :  1  ; 
sin  A  :  1 : :  tan  A  :  sec  A  : :  1 :  cosec  A  ; 

1 :  cos  A  : :  sec  A  :  1 : :  cosec  A  :  cot  A  ; 
1263 


from  which,  and  the  above  equations,  we  obtain  the  follow- 
ing table  of  formula',  exhibiting  the  relations  among  the 
trigonometrical  lines: 

cos2  A  +  sin2  A  =  1. 

sec2  A  —  tan2  A  =  1. 

cosec-  A  —  COl2  A  =  1. 

cos  A  sec  A  =  l. 

sin  A  cosec  A  =  3. 

tan  A  cot  A  =  l. 

tan  A  cos  A  =  sin  A. 

cot  A  sin  A  =  cos  A. 

sin  A  sec  A  =  tan  A. 

cos  A  cosec  A  =  cot  A. 

tan  A  cosec  A  =  sec  A. 

cot  A  sec  A  =  cosec  A. 
Of  the  Signs  of  the  Trigonometrical  Lines. — In  the  above 
definitions  and  formula'  the  angle  A  was  assumed  to  be  less 
than  a  right  angle,  or  less  than  90°,  and  the  sine,  cosine, 
tangent,  &c,  were  all  regarded  as  positive.  We  have  now 
to  inquire  what  the  expressions  severally  become  as  the  arc 
increases  through  all  its  values  from  0  to  360°.  As  before, 
let  B  E  and  D  F  (fig.  2)  be  two  diameters  of  the  circle  at 
right  angles  to  each  other ;  sup- 
pose the  arc  to  begin  at  B ;  let 
B  Cl  be  less  than  a  quadrant, 
and  let  the  arc  B  Ci  or  angle  B 
A  Ct  be  denoted  by  A.  Draw 
A  C2  at  right  angles  to  A  C; 
then,  since  Ct  C2  is  90°,  the  arc 
B  C2  =  90-t-A.  Let  Cl  A  be 
produced  to  meet  the  circum- 
ference in  C3;  then  (reckoning 
always  in  the  same  direction) 
BC3  =  ]80°  +  A.  Lastly,  let 
C2  A  be  produced  to  meet  the 
circumference  in  Ct,  and  we  have  B  Gi  (or  B  D  E  CO  =  270° 
+  A.  Draw  Ct  Hi,  C2  H2,  &c,  perpendicular  to  E  B.  Now, 
according  to  the  usual  conventions  of  analytical  geometry, 
if  the  point  A  be  regarded  as  the  origin  of  the  co-ordinates, 
and  distances  measured  in  the  direction  A  B  be  considered 
as  positive,  those  measured  in  the  direction  A  E  will  be 
negative ;  and  of  the  lines  perpendicular  to  E  B,  if  those 
above  E  B  be  positive,  those  below  it  will  be  negative. 
Hence  the  sines  and  cosines  of  arcs  in  the  different  quad- 
rants will  be  as  follows: 

In  the  first  quadrant  the  arc  B  Ci  (=  A)  is  less  than  90°, 
and  Ci  Hi  and  A  Ht  are  both  positive;  that  is,  sin  A  and 
cos  A  are  positive.  In  the  second  quadrant  we  have  B  C'2 
=  90  + A  ;  its  sine  is  C2H2,  which  is  positive,  and  its  cosine 
is  A  H2,  which  is  negative.  But  from  similar  triangles  we 
have  Cfe  H2=  A  Hi,  and  A  H2=  Ct  Hi ;  therefore,  sin  (90° 
+  A)  =  cosA,  and  cos  (90  + A)  = —  sin  A.  In  the  third 
quadrant,  we  have  AC3  =  180  + A  ;  the  sine  is  Ca  lb  nega- 
tive, and  the  cosine  is  A  H3  positive;  but  C3  H3  =  Ci  Hi, 
and  A  H3=  A  Hi ;  therefore  sin  (180°+  A)  =  —  sin  A,  and 
cos  (180+  A)  =  —  cos  A.  In  the  fourth  quadrant  we  have 
A  C'4  =  270°  +  A;  the  sine  is  C4H4  negative,  and  1  he  cosine 
is  A  H4  positive.  But  C4  H4  =  A  Hi,  and  A  H4  =  Ci  Hi ; 
therefore  sin  (270°  +  A)  =.  —  cos  A,  and  cos  (270°  +  A)  = 
sin  A. 

Having  found  the  directions  and  values  of  the  sine  and 
cosine  of  an  arc  in  each  of  the  different  quadrants,  those  of 
the  tangent,  cotangent,  secant,  and  cosecant  are  also  deter- 
mined ;  for  the  above  formulae  give 

sin  A  cos  A  1 

tan  A  = ; ,  cot  A  =  - — -,  sec  A  = : , 

cos  A  sin  A  cos  A 

1 
cosec  A  =  - — ; . 
sin  A 

Whence  it  appears  that  the  tangent  and  cotangent  will  be 
positive  when  the  sine  and  cosine  have  both  the  same  sign, 
that  is,  in  the  first  and  third  quadrants ;  and  negative  when 
the  sine  anil  cosine  have  opposite  signs,  that  is,  in  the  sec- 
ond and  fourth  quadrants.  It  follows  also  that  the  .secant 
has  always  the  same  sign  as  the  cosine,  and  the  cosecant 
the  same  as  the  sine. 

On  these  principles  the  following  table  is  constructed, 
which  will  very  frequently  be  foumi  useful  in  calculation, 
as  it  shows  not  only  the  sign  to  he  prefixed  to  the  several 

trigonometrical  lines  when  the  arcs  to  which  they  belong 
exceed  90°,  but  also  how  to  find  those  lines  in  tables  which 
contain  them  only  for  the  first  quadrant. 


1st  Quadrant. 

2d  Quadrant. 

+  sin  A 
+  cosec  A 
+  cos  A 
+  sec  A 
+  tan  A 
-j-cot  A 

sin  (90°+  A)  =  +  cosA 
cosec  (90°+  A)  =  +  sec  A 
cos  '."iJ  + A)  =  — sin  A 
sec  (90°  +  A )  =  —  i  0 
tan  (90°  + A)  =  — cot   v 
cot  (90°+A)  =  — tan  A 

TRIGONOMETRY. 


3d  Quadrant. 

4th  Quadrant. 

sin  (180°  +  A)  =  —  sin  A 
cosec  (180  +  A)=  —  cosec  A 
cos  (180°  +  A)  =  —  cos  A 
sec  ( 180°  +  A)  =  —  sec  A 
tan  (180°  +  A)  =  + tan  A 
cot  (180°  +  A)  =  +  cot  A 

sill  (270°  +  A)  =  —  cos  A 
cosec  (270°  +  A )  =  —  sec  A 
cos  270°  +  A)  =  +  sin  A 
sec  (270°  +  A)  =  + cosec  A 
tan  (270°  + A)  =  — cot  A 
cot  (270°  +  A)  =  —  tan  A 

Of  the  Trigonometricl  Tables.— We  now  proceed  to  show 
how  the  different  trigonometrical  lines  may  be  computed. 
The  ordinary  tables  contain  the  logarithms  of  the  sines,  co- 
sines, tangents,  and  cotangents  for  every  ten  seconds,  and 
some  of  the  better  tables,  as  Taylor's  Baguay's,  &c,  for 
every  second  of  the  quadrant ;  but  it  is  evident  from  the 
formula;  given  above,  that  if  the  values  of  any  one  of  the 
four  be  computed  for  the  different  angles  between  0  and  90°, 
the  values  of  all  the  others  will  be  obtained  at  the  same 
time.  Thus,  since  cos  A  =  sin  (90°  — A),  a  table  of  the 
values  of  the  sine  is  also  a  table  of  the  values  of  the  cosine ; 
and  since  tan  A  =  sin  A  ■—  cos  A,  the  logarithm  of  the  tan- 
gent of  any  angle  is  obtained  by  subtracting  the  logarithm  of 
the  cosine  from  the  logarithm  of  the  sine,  and  the  logarithm 
of  the  cotangent  by  subtracting  the  logarithm  of  the  sine 
from  that  of  the  cosine.  The  whole  difficulty,  therefore  (or 
nearly  the  whole,  for  some  peculiar  artifices  must  be  em- 
ployed when  the  angles  differ  very  little  from  0,  or  from 
90°),  is  reduced  to  the  computation  of  the  sine ;  and  as  this 
is  expressed  indefinitely  in  terms  of  the  arc,  it  is  necessary 
first  of  all,  to  determine  the  length  of  the  whole  circum- 
ference in  terms  of  the  radius,  from  which  the  arc  corre- 
sponding to  any  given  number  of  degrees,  minutes,  and  sec- 
onds, is  found  by  proportion. 

It  is  usual  to  designate  the  semicircumference  of  a  circle 
whose  radius  is  1  by  ir.  A  great  number  of  formula;  have 
been  given  for  computing  the  value  of  sr  by  means  of  in- 
finite series.  The  following,  which  was  discovered  by 
Mechin,  is  the  most  rapidly  convergent,  and  therefore  the 
best  adapted  for  computation  : 

*  =  16(3-3-i+5i-i+4-&C-) 

_  /_i L_4-_L_    _2_4.&rA 

V.239       3-2393  "^  5-2395     7-239?  "**       ')' 
By  computing  a  few  of  the  terms  of  this  series,  the  value 
of  7r  is  readily  obtained.    The  following  is  its  value  correct 
to  20  decimals : 

jr  =  3-14159265358979323846,  &c. 
The  series  which  give  the  trigonometrical  lines  in  terms 
of  the  arc  are  as  follows :  Let  x  be  any  arc  less  than  90°, 
then 

x3     ,         x5  i7 

+ (-  &c 


sin  x  =  x  — 


1-2-3 

x2 


3-4-5 

z4 


COS  X  =  1 1- 

1-2  T  1-2-3-4 


1-2-3-4-50-7 
x6 


X3         2  r'-> 

tanx  =  x+3  +  3-T  + 


17x7 


1-2-3-4-5-6 
62x9 
3-5-7   '   32-5-7- 
2x5  _     %t 
33-5-7      33-52-7 
x2         5x4  61a6 

sec  x  _  i  + 1-2 + Twi + T^Tb-a 


+  &C 
+  &C. 


—  &.C. 


+-^+ 


7x3 
3-4-5-6 


+ 


31x5 


-+&C. 

,  +  fcc. 


1-2-3  '  3-4-5-6  '  3-4-5-62-7 
For  other  and  more  expeditious  methods  of  computing 
the  trigonometrical  lines,  or  deriving  them  from  one  an- 
other, the  reader  is  referred  to  the  Preface  to  the  Tables 
Trigonometriqv.es  Decimals,  by  Delambre  ;  or  to  Callet's  or 
Huttoii's  Tables. 

The  following  expressions  for  the  sine  and  cosine  of  an 
angle,  found  by  John  Bernoulli,  are  of  frequent  use  in  an- 
alytical trigonometry :  Let  e  =  2-7182818  (the  base  of  the 
Napierean  logarithms),  then 


sin  x  =  - 

coSx^xV~l  +  e-x^~l 
2 
To  these  we  may  add  the  following  formula  for  a  mul- 
tiple angle,  discovered  by  Demoivre,  which  is  readily  de- 
duced from  them  (m  is  any  number  whatever)  : 

(cos  x  +  sinx,/-  I)"'=cosmx  +  sinmxv/:ri"- 
Formula  relative  to  Two  Arcs. — In  trigonometrical  cal- 
culations, it  is  very  frequently  necessary  to  express  the  sines, 


cosines,  &c,  of  the  sum  or  difference  of  two  angles  in  terms 
of  the  sines,  cosines,  &c,  of  the  single  angles.    The  follow- 
ing table  contains  a  synopsis  of  the  most  useful  formula ; 
the  first  four  are  easily  demonstrated  by  means  of  a  simple 
geometrical  construction,  and  all  the  others  are  deduced 
from  these  four  by  the  ordinary  algebraic  transformations : 
cos  (A  +  B)  =  cos  A  cos  B  —  sin  A  sin  B. 
cos  (A  —  B)  =  cos  A  cos  B  +  sin  A  sin  B. 
sin  (A  +  B)  =  sin  A  cos  B  +  cos  A  sin  B. 
sin  (A  —  B)  =  sin  A  cos  B  —  cos  A  sin  B. 
cos  B  +  cos  A  =  2  cos  A,  ( A  +  B)  cos  4  (A  —  B). 
cos  B  —  cos  A  =  2  sin  A  (A  +  B)  sin  A  (A  —  B). 
sin  A  +  sin  B  =  2  sin  A.  (A  +  B)  cos  £  (A  —  B). 
sin  A  —  sin  B  :=  2  cos  i  (A  +  B)  sin  A  (A  —  B). 

, »    i  ux        tan  A  +  tan B 
tan(A  +  B)=- 


tan  (A  — B)  = 
cot  (A  +  B)  = 


cot  (A  — B)  = 


1  —  tan  A  tan  B 
tan  A  —  tan  B 
1  +  tan  A  tan  B- 
1  —  tan  A  tan  B 
tan  A  +  tan  B 
1  +  tan  A  tan  B 
tan  A  —  tan  B 


...      „      sin  (A+B) 

tan  A  +  tan  B  = 5- — '—- i. 

cos  A  cos  B 


tan  A  —  tan  B  : 


cot  A  +  cot  B  = 


cot  B  —  cot  A : 


sin  (A  —  B) 
cos  A  cos  B 
sin  (A  +  B) 
sin  A  sin  B 
sin  (A  — B) 


cos  2  A 
tan  2  A  = 


.   .      .  r>      cos  (A  —  B) 

tan  A  +  cot  B  = ■ -• 

cos  A  sin  B 

.  cos  (A  +  B) 

cot  A  —  tan  B  = — -'• 

sin  A  cos  B 

=  1  —  2  sin  2A,  sin  2  A  =  2  sin  A  cos  A. 


-,  cot  2  A  =  A  (cot  A  —  tan  A). 

tan  A 

cosA)J. 


cot  A 

cos  J  A  =  V [4(1  + cos  A)],  sinJA=V[i(l- 

sin  A  ,  ,  sin  A 

tan  J  A=— -,  cot  A  A  = 


1  +  cos  A  1  —  cos  A 

Solution  of  Plane  Triangles. — Having  explained  the  na- 
ture of  the  trigonometrical  quantities,  and  exhibited  some 
of  their  most  useful  relations,  we  come  next  to  apply  them 
to  the  solution  of  triangles,  which  forms  the  proper  object 
of  trigonometry.  Of  the  six  parts  of  which  a  triangle  con- 
sists, namely,  the  three  sides  and  the  three  angles,  it  is 
known  from  geometry  that  when  any  three  (excepting  the 
three  angles)  are  given,  all  the  rest  are  determined ;  accord- 
ingly, we  have  to  find  expressions  for  each  part  in  terms  of 
three  others,  and  so  arranged  that  they  can  be  immediately 
calculated  from  a  table  which  contains  the  logarithms  of 
the  sines,  cosines,  tangents,  and  cotangents  to  every  minute 
or  smaller  division  of  the  quadrant.  The  solution  of  trian- 
gles may  therefore  be  regarded  as  the  art  of  applying  such 
a  table  to  each  particular  case.  It  is  convenient  to  consider 
the  cases  of  the  right-angled  triangles  separately. 

Right-angled  Plane  Triangles.  —  In  all  the  solutions 
which  follow,  the  sides  of  the  triangle 
will  be  denoted  by  a,  b,  c  ;  and  the  an- 
gles respectively  opposite  by  A,  B,  C.  In 
the  right-angled  triangle  ABC  (fig.  3), 
let  C  be  the  right  angle,  and  consequent- 
ly c  the  hypothenuse.  There  are  four 
distinct  cases,  and  in  each  case  the  solu- 
tion follows  immediately  from  the  defini- 
tion of  the  sine,  cosine,  tangent,  and  co- 
tangent. 

Case  1.  Given  the  two  sides  a  and  b  to  find  the  angles  A 
and  B,  and  the  hypothenuse  c.  Here  we  have  from  the 
definition 

tanA  =  ^  tanB=£;  cosA=?;  whence  c  =  j^, 

or  in  like  manner  c  =  a  -5-  cos  B. 

Case  2.  Given  the  hypothenuse  c  and  a  side  a,  to  find  the 
angles  A  and  B  and  the  side  b.    Here 

sin  A  =  cosB  =  -;  sin  B  =  -;  b  —  c  sin  B  =  ecos  A. 
c  c 

The  side  b  may  be  found  independently  of  the  angles ; 
for  since  42  =  c2  —  cfi,  we  have  b  =  ^/[(c  +  a)  (c  —  a)]. 

Case  3.  Given  a  side  a  and  one  of  the  acute  angles  A,  to 
find  the  other  side  b,  the  hypothenuse  c,  and  the  angle  B. 


TRIGONOMETRY. 


sin  A 


Here  cot  A=  -'.  sin  A  =  -  I  b  =  a  cot  A;  c  = 

a  c 

For  the  angle  we  have  B  =  90°  —  A. 
Case  4.  Given  the  hypothenuse  c  and  an  angle  A,  to  find 
the  sides  a  and  b  and  the  other  angle  B.    Here  o  =  c  sin  A ; 
b  =  ccosA;  B  =  90  —  A. 

Oblique-angled  Plane.  Triangles. — The  solutions  of  the 
different  cases  are  all  derived  from  the 
three  following  propositions  :  First,  the 
sum  of  the  three  interior  angles  of  any 
triangle  is  equal  to  two  right  angles ; 
thai  la,  A  +  B  +  C  =  180°  ....  (l.) 
Secondly,  in  any  triangle,  the  sides  are 
to  each  other  as  the  sines  of  the  oppo- 
site angles.  For,  draw  A  D  (fig-  4) 
perpendicular  to  B  C,  and  let  A  D  —  p ; 

C  we  then  have  sin  B  =    .  sin  C  —  -  ; 
c  o 


whence 


a 

=-.   The  same  property  must  evidently  hold 


=  ,...(2.) 


sin  C 
true  of  sides  a  and  e,  and  a  and  b  ;  whence 

sin  A a    sin  B b  _  sin  C 

sin  B  6  '  sin  C  c '  sin  A 
The  third  general  property  may  be  derived  from  the  sec- 
ond, but  is  more  readily  found  as  follows:  In  the  last  figure 
let  B  D  =  ?«,  D  C  =  n ;  we  have  then  m  =  a  —  n,  whence 
»7»2  —  a2 -f- n2  —  2  an.  Adding p2  to  both  sides,  and  observ- 
ing that  mZ-\-pi  =  c2,  n2-\-p2=-b2,  and  ji  =  /)cos  C,  we  have 
c2  =  a2  -f-  &2  —  2ao cos C,  and  consequently 
a2-4-J2_e2 


cos  C  =  • 


2a  b 


■  ■  (3.) 


We  now  proceed  to  give  the  solutions  of  the  different 
cases,  of  which  there  are  four. 

Case  1.  Given  the  three  sides,  a,  b,  c,  to  find  the  three  an- 
gles, A,  B,  C. 

Put,  =  i(a  +  6  +  e),M=vj('-a)('7*)('-c)i; 

then  tan£A= ,  tan4B= ,  tan*C  = . 

s  —  a  s  —  b  s  —  c 

Case  2.    Given  two  sides,  a,  b,  and  the  included  angle  C, 
to  find  the  other  side  c,  and  the  other  angles  A,  B. 
Find  first  the  sum  and  difference  of  A  and  B  from  these 

two  formula;,  A  +  B  =  180° — C,  tan  J  ( A  —  B)  =  ^—^  tan  A 

a  +  6 
(A  +  B);then  T 

A=i(A  +  B)+J(A-B). 
B=i(A+B)-i(A-B). 
_    sin  C  _    sin  C 
sin  A-    sinB' 
Case  3.    Given  two  sides  a,  b,  and  the  angle  opposite  one 
of  them,  A,  to  find  the  third  side  c,  and  the  other  angles 
B,  C. 

Here  we  have  sin  B  =  -  sin  A ;  C  =  180°  —  ( A  +  B) ; 

sin  C sin  C 

C  —  asin~A—  sinB"  this  case" nowever> n  "3  necessary 
to  remark,  that  if  the  side  which  is  adjacent  to  the  given 
angle  be  greater  than  the  side  opposite  to 
it  (that  is,  if  b  be  greater  than  a),  then 
there  are  two  triangles  which  furnish  the 
same  data,  and  consequently  the  solution 
is  ambiguous.  For  with  C  (fig.  5)  as  a 
centre,  and  radius  equal  to  C  B,  describe 
an  arc  of  a  circle  intersecting  A  B  in  B', 
and  join  C  B' ;  it  is  obvious  that  the  data 
a,  i,  A  belong  to  both  triangles  A  C  B 
and  A  C  B',  and  the  solution  gives  alike 
-c  c  =  A  B,  and  c  —  A  B'.  The  solution  is 
"  **    therefore  said  to  be  ambiguous. 

Case  4.  Given  two  angles,  A,  B,  and  the  side  between 
them  c. 

In  this  case  the  third  angle  is  likewise  given  by  reason  of 
°—  (A  +  B),  and  consequently  the  sides  are  fonnd 


from  the  formula 


sin  A 
sin  C 


b  =  c 


sin  B 
sin  C 


Area  of  a  Plane  Triangle— Euclid  has  shown  that  the 
area  o  any  plane  triangle  is  equal  to  the  rectangle  contained 
under  half  the  base  and  the  i*rpendicular  let  fall  on  it  from 
the  opposite  angle  ;  that  is,  area  =A  ap  /Tig.  4.)  But  for  p 
we  maj  substitute  A  sin  C  (or  c  sin  15),  anil  we  have  area  = 
1  ab  sin  C.     It  troin  this  expression  we  eliminate  b  by  the 


first  of  the  equations  (2),  we  shall  have  the  area  in  terms 
of  a  side  and  the  three  angles;  or,  if  we  eliminate  sin  C  by 
means  of  the  formula  (3)  and  the  equation  cos  2C  =  1  —  sin 
2C,  we  shall  have  an  expression  for  the  area  In  terms  of 
the  three  sides.  Assume  s  —  A  (a-f-i  +  e)  ;  then  the  area 
is  expressed  by  any  of  the  following  formula; : 

a  b  sin  C      «2  sin  B  sin  C 

nrea= ss = 

2  2  sin  A 

VO(s-a)  (s  —  b)  (*  — e)]. 

Spherical  Trigonometry. — This  branch  of  Trigonometry 
considers  the  relations  between  the  sides  and  angles  of  tri- 
angles formed  on  a  sphere.  Before  giving  the  formula'  for 
the  solutions  of  the  different  cases,  it  will  be  useful  to  state 
a  few  elementary  properties  of  spherical  triangles,  depend- 
ing on  principles  purely  geometrical. 

The  following  definitions  must  be  premised :  1.  The  com- 
mon section  of  the  spherical  surface  and  any  plane  passing 
through  the  centre  of  the  sphere  is  called  a  great  circle  of 
the  sphere.  2.  The  pole  of  a  great  circle  is  a  point  on  the 
surface  of  the  sphere  from  which  all  straight  lines  drawn 
to  that  great  circle  are  equal.  3.  A  spherical  angle  is  the 
angle  on  the  surface  of  the  sphere  made  by  two  great  circles 
at  their  intersection.  It  is  identical  with  the  angle  made  by 
the  planes  of  the  circles,  and  is  measured  by  an  arc  of  the 
great  circle  whose  pole  is  at  the  angular  point.  4.  A  spheri- 
cal triangle  is  a  figure  on  the  surface  of  the  sphere  bounded] 
by  three  arcs  of  great  circles,  each  of  which  is  less  than  a 
semicircle.  5.  Any  arc  of  a  great  circle  is  the  measure  of 
the  plane  angle  formed  at  the  centre  of  the  sphere  by  the 
two  radii  passing  through  the  extremities  of  the  arc. 

From  these  definitions  the  following  properties  are  easily 
derived : 

1.  The  distance  of  a  great  circle  from  its  pole  is  a  quad- 
rant. 

2.  If  two  great  circles  cut  one  another  at  right  angles, 
each  passes  through  the  pole  of  the  other ;  and,  consequent- 
ly, if  two  great  circles  cut  a  third  at  right  angles,  they  will 
meet  in  its  pole. 

3.  A  spherical  triangle  which  has  two  equal  sides  has 
the  angles  opposite  to  those  sides  equal,  and  the  greater  side 
has  the  greater  angle  opposite  to  it. 

4.  The  sum  of  any  two  sides  is  greater  than  the  third,  the 
difference  of  any  two  less  than  the  third  ;  and  the  sum  of 
all  the  three  sides  is  less  than  the  circumference  of  a  great 
circle. 

5.  If  about  the  angular  points  of  a  spherical  triangle  as 
poles  there  be  described  three  great  circles  on  the  sphere, 
these,  by  their  intersections,  will  form  a  triangle  which  is 
said  to  be  supplemental  to  the  former;  and  the  two  trian- 
gles are  such  that  the  sides  of  the  one  are  the  supplements 
of  the  arcs  which  measure  the  angles  of  the  other. 

6.  The  sum  of  the  three  angles  of  any  spherical  triangle 
is  greater  than  two  right  angles,  but  less  than  six  right  an- 
gles. 

Solution  of  Spherical  Triangles. — The  solutions  of  all  the 
dirTerent  cases  of  spherical  triangles  are  comprehended  in 
the  four  following  sets  of  formula' ;  and  it  will  be  remarked 
that  the  different  formula;  in  each  set  express  all  the  same 
property,  and  are  formed  by  merely  interchanging  the  let- 
ters. Those  of  the  first  set  are  readily  demonstrated  from 
the  properties  of  the  triangular  pyramid,  or  tctracdron,  and 
and  the  others  may  be  all  deduced  analytically  from  the 
first ;  so  that,  in  fact,  the  whole  of  spherical  trigonometry  is 
comprehended  in  the  first  of  the  underwritten  equations. 
The  radius  of  the  sphere  is  supposed  to  be  (6.) 

unity ;  the  three  sides  or  arcs  are  respective-  „ 

ly  denoted  by  a,  b,  c,  (fig.  6),  and  the  mea- 
sures of  the  angles  respectively  opposite  by 
A,  B,  C.  It  is  to  he  observed  that  the  sides 
o,  b,  c  (as  well  as  the  angles  A,  B,  C),  are 
expressed  in  degrees,  minutes,  &c. ;  and  not, 
as  in  plane  trigonometry',  in  absolute  mea- 
sures, as  feet,  yards,  &c. 

I. 

cos  b  cos  c  +  sin  b  sin  c  cos  A. 

cos  a  cos  c  -j-  sin  a  sin  c  cos  B. 

cos  a  cos  b  -f-  sin  a  sin  b  cos  C. 

H. 

B     sine sin  C    sin  J sinB. 

A'   sin  a      sin  A'   sin  c      sin  C 

III. 
b  =  cot  A  sin  C  -f-  cos  b  cos  C. 
c  =  cot  A  sin  B  -j-  cos  c  cos  B. 
a  =  cot  B  sin  C  +  cos  a  cos  C. 
c  =  cot  B  sin  A  -f-  cos  c  cos  A. 
a  =  cot  C  sin  B  4-  cos  a  cos  B. 
b  =  cot  C  sin  A  -f-  cos  b  cos  A. 

rv. 

cos  A  =  —  cos  B  cos  C  +  sin  B  sin  C  cos  a. 


cos  0  = 

cos  A  = 

cos  c  = 

sin  b      sin 
sin  a"  Bin 

cot  a  sin 

cot  a  sin 

cot  b  sin 

cot  b  sin 

cot  c  sin 

cot  c  sin 

TRIGONOMETRY. 

cos  B  =  —  cos  A  cos  C  +  sin  A  sin  C  cos  b. 
cos  C  =  —  cos  A  cos  B  -j-  sin  A  sin  B  cos  c. 
The  above  general  formulas  apply  to  every  case  of  spheri- 
cal triangles  ;  but  when  one  of  the  angles  is  a  right  angle, 
they  become  considerably  more  simple  ;  and,  in  the  case  of 
oblique-angled  triangles,  they  admit  of  transformations,  by 
which  they  are  rendered  more  convenient  for  logarithmic 
calculation. 
Right-angled  Spherical  Triangles.— As  before,  let  C  be 
the  right  angle  and  c  the  hypothenuse. 

Case  1.  Given  the  two  sides  a,  4,  to  find 
the  hypothenuse  c,  and  the  two  oblique  an- 
gles A,  B.    Here 

tan  a  _ 

cos  c  =  cos  a  cos  b ;  tan  A  =— — ; ;  tan  B  = 
sin  b 

tan  b 

sin  a' 

Case  2.  Given  the  hypothenuse  c  and  a  side  b,  to  find  the 
Other  side  a  and  the  two  oblique  angles. 

cos  c  tan  b      ,    _       sin  6 

cos  a  = :  ;  cos  A  = ;  sin  B  =  — — . 

cos  b  tan  c  sin  c 

Case  3.  Given  a  side  a  and  the  opposite  angle  A,  to  find 
the  other  side  b,  the  hypothenuse  c,  and  the  angle  B. 

tan  a      .  sin  a       .    _       cos  A 

sin5= r  ;  sin  c  =  -: — ;  ;  sin  B  == . 

tan  A  sin  A  cos  a 

In  this  case  it  is  necessary  to  observe,  that  as  a  sine  be- 
longs to  the  supplement  of  the  angle  as  well  as  to  the  angle 
itself,  each  of  the  things  to  be  found  has  two  values ;  and 
consequently  the  solution  is  ambiguous,  as  two  distinct  trian- 
gles may  be  formed  of  the  same  data. 

Case  4.  Given  a  side  a,  and  the  adjacent  angle  B  ;  to  find 
b,  c,  and  A. 
tan  b  =  sin  a  tan  B  ;  cot  c  =  cot  a  cos  B  ;  cos  A  =  cos  a  sin  B. 

Case  5.  Given  the  hypothenuse  c,  and  an  angle  A,  to  find 
the  sides  a,  b,  and  the  angle  B. 
sin  a  =  sin  c  sin  A ;  tan  b  =  tan  c  cos  A  ;  cot  B  =  cos  c  tan  A. 

Case  6.  Given  the  two  oblique  angles  A,  B,  to  find  the 
two  sides  a,  b,  and  the  hypothenuse  c. 

cos  A        cos  B 

cos  a  = -  ;  cos  B  =  - — -  ;  cos  c  =  cot  A  cot  B. 

sin  B  sin  A 

All  the  six  cases  of  right-angled  spherical  triangles,  it  is 
proper  to  remark,  were  reduced  by  Lord  Napier,  the  invent- 
or of  the  logarithms,  to  two  rules,  which  are  known  by  the 
name  of  Napier's  Rules  of  the  Circular  Parts.  See  Circu- 
lar Parts. 

Oblique-angled  Spherical  Triangles. 

Case  1.  Given  the  three  sides  a,  4,  c,  to 
find  the  three  angles  A,  B,  C. 

Find  s  =  A  (<z  +  b  +  c),  and  put  M  = 
»  j  sin  (s  —  a)  sin  (s  —  b)  sin  (s  —  c)   ) 

v  I shTT S' 

then  tan  A  A=  -r- .,  tan  £  B  =  — — tan  A  C 

sm(s  — a)  siu(s-  b) 

M 


sin  (s —  c) 
Case  2.  Given  two  sides  a,  4,  and  the  included  angle  C,  to 
find  c,  A,  and  B. 

tan^(A  +  B)=COS^a7;)Cot^C; 


tan|  (A  —  B)  = 


cos  £  (a  +  b) 
sin  £  (a  —  b) 


cot  £  C ; 


sin  £  (a  +  4) 
A  =  £(A  +  B)+£(A-B);  B  =  £  (A  +  B)- £  (A-B  . 

sin  C        .    .  sin  C 

5inc  =  sina  — — -  =  sin  b  — — -. 
sin  A  sin  B 

The  side  c  may  be  otherwise  found  without  finding  the 
angles  A  and  B.  Thus,  find  an  auxiliary  angle  <p,  such  that 
cot  0  =  tan  a  cos  C  ;  then 

cos  a  sin  (4  +  0) 

cos  c  =  : — ' — — — . 

sin  0 

Case  3.  Given  two  sides  a,  4,  and  the  angle  opposite  one 
of  them  A,  to  find  the  third  side  c,  and  the  angles  B,  C. 

Find  two  subsidiary  angles  0  and  tp,  such  that  cot  0  =  tan 
b  cos  A,  tan  xp  =  cos  4  tan  A  ;  then 

•     t     .   j.\       cos  a  sin  0     .    _  gin  4 

sm  (e  +  0)  =  — - — — T  sin  B  =  sin  A  — , 
.     ,~  .    ,  cos  *  sin  a 

sm  (C  +  xp)  =  cot  a  tan  4  sin  xp. 

This  case  is  ambiguous  for  the  same  reason  as  the  corres- 
ponding case  of  plane  triangles. 

Case  4.  Given  two  angles  A,  B,  and  the  side  between 
them  c,  to  find  the  other  sides  a,  4,  and  the  remaining  angle  C. 

Find  two  angles  0  and  xp,  such  that  tan  <p  =  cos  c  tan  A, 
tan  xf.  =  cos  c  tan  B  ;  then 


TRILLION. 

tan  c  sin  0  tan  c  sin  xp 

tano=  ————=■.  tan  4  =  - — ,.    ,    ,  , 
sin(B+0)  sin(A+uV) 

r cos  A  cos  (B  -f-  0)  cos  B  cos  (A  +  *P) 

cos  0  cos  \p 

Case  5.  Given  two  nngles  A,  B,  and  the  side  opposite  one 
of  them  a,  to  find  the  other  sides  4,  c,  and  the  remaining  an- 
gle C. 

Find  two  angles  0  and  xp,  such  that  tan  0  =  tan  a  cos  B, 
cot  xp  =  cos  a  tan  B  ;  then 

sin  4  =  sin  a  - — -,  sin  (c  —  0)  =  cot  A  tan  B  sin  0,  sin  (C 
sin  A  7 

.    cos  A  sin  p 

V'~       coTB      " 
This  case  is  also  ambiguous. 

Case  6.  Given  the  three  angles  A,  B,  C,  to  find  the  sides 
a,  4,  c. 
Find  S  =  £  (A  +  B  +  C),  and  assume 

N=x/r -cosS Vthen 

v    Vcos  (S  — A)  cos(S  — B)  cos  (S  — C)/ ' 
tan  £  a  =  N  cos  (S  —  A) ; 
tan£4  =  N  cos  (S  —  Bj ; 
tan  £  c  =  N  cos  (S  — C). 

When  the  sides  of  a  spherical  triangle  are  very  small  in 
comparison  of  the  radius  of  the  sphere,  as  is  the  case  in  all 
triangles  measured  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  the  sides 
may  be  computed  from  the  observed  angles  with  all  the  ac- 
curacy which  the  observations  will  admit  of  by  approximate 
formula?,  which  greatly  abridge  the  calculations.  See  Sur- 
veying. 

Area  of  a  Spherical  Triangle. — It  is  known  from  the  in- 
tegral calculus  that  the  area  or  surface  of  a  sphere  is  equal 
to  four  times  that  of  one  of  its  great  circles,  or  =47rr2; 
where  r  is  the  radius  of  the  sphere,  and  n  =  3'14159.  Hence, 
surface  of  hemisphere  =  2  tt  rl. 

Now  it  is  manifest  that  the  portion  of  the  spherical  sur- 
face included  between  two  great  semicircles,  and  which  is 
called  a  lune,  will  have  the  same  ratio  to  the  surface  of  the 
hemisphere  as  the  angle  of  the  lune  has  to  180°  ;  therefore 
if  the  angle  of  the  lune  be  A0,  its  sur- 
face will  be  2rr2  (A  -^180). 

Let  ABC  (fig.  9)  be  a  triangle  upon 
the  hemisphere  ABHE,  and  let  the 
sides  B  C  and  A  C  be  produced  till  they 
meet  again  in  F  on  the  opposite  hemi- 
sphere ;  then,  since  CDF  and  C  E  F  are 
semicircles,  they  are  equal  to  AC  D  and  ^ 
BCE;  whence  AC  =  DFand  BC=F 
E,  and  the  two  triangles  ABC  and  D  E 
F  are  every  way  equal. 

Let  S  =  surface  of  the  triangle  ABC;  then  S  =  surface 
of  hemisphere  —  BHDC  —  AGEC  —  DCE=  2jr»«— 
(lune  A  H  D  —  S)  —  (lune  B  G  E  —  S)  —  (lune  CDF 

3  S ;   there- 


A+B  +  C 


foreS  = 


180 


180       180 
•180     „       E 
180 


180> 
7r  7-2,  where  E  =  A  + 


B  +  C  —  18(P. 

From  this  it  follows  that  the  area  of  a  spherical  triangle 
is  proportional  to  the  excess  of  the  sum  of  its  three  angles 
above  180° ;  and  hence  this  quantity,  which  is  called  the 
spherical  excess,  is  sometimes  taken  as  the  measure  of  the 
area  of  the  triangle.  The  spherical  excess  and  the  area  are 
immediately  deducible  from  each  other.  See  Spherical 
Excess. 

In  the  above  formula  the  area  is  given  in  terms  of  the 
three  angles.    The  following  elegant  formula,  which  gives 
the  spherical  excess  in  terms  of  the  three  sides,  is  due  to 
L'Huillier :    Let  s  =  £  (a  +  4  +  c)  ;  then 
tan^E  =  ^[tan  £s  tan£(s  —  a)  tan£  (s  —  4)  tan  A  (*—  c)]. 

Trigonometry  owes  its  origin  to  the  Greek  astronomers  of 
Alexandria.  The  solutions  of  the  most  useful  cases  of 
spherical  triangles  have  been  known  from  the  time  of  Hip- 
parchus,  and  the  fundamental  formula?  appear  in  the  Ana- 
lemma  of  Ptolemy.  The  Greeks,  however,  instead  of  the 
sines,  employed  the  chords  of  the  double  arcs.  The  sines 
were  introduced  by  the  Arabians,  to  whom  the  science  is  in- 
debted for  some  other  improvements.  Regiomontanus  in- 
troduced the  tangents,  which  have  greatly  simplified  the 
calculations.  But  the  present  elegant  and  compact  form  in 
which  the  solutions  now  appear  is  the  result  of  improve- 
ments in  modern  analysis.  The  treatises  on  trigonometry 
are  extremely  numerous.  For  the  history  the  reader  may 
be  referred  to  Montucla,  Histoire  des  Mathematiques ;  De- 
lambre,  Histoire  de  V.lstronomie ;  and  the  Introduction  to 
Dr.  Hutton's  Mathematical  Tables. 

TRILATERAL.  (Lat.  tres,  three,  and  latus,  side.) 
Three-sided  ;  a  term  applied  to  all  triangular  figures. 

TRI'LLION.    In  Arithmetic,  a  million  of  billions,  or  a 

1271 


TRILLO. 

million  of  million  of  millions.  The  term  is  said  by  Dr. 
Johnson  to  have  been  invented  by  Locke. 

TRI'LLO.  (It.)  In  Music,  a  term  by  which  it  is  inti- 
mated that  the  performer,  is  to  beat  quickly  on  two  notes  in 
conjoint  degrees  alternately  one  after  another,  beginning 
with  the  highest  and  ending  with  the  lowest.  It  is  marked 
with  a  sinsleTas  well  inn  vocal  as  in  an  instrumental  part. 

TRI'LOBITES.  (Let  tree,  three,  and  Iotas,  a  lobe.) 
The  name  given  by  Cuvier  to  an  order  of  Crustaceans, 
comprehending  those  remarkable  fossil  species  in  which 
the  body  is  divided  into  three  lobes  by  two  fissures  which 
run  parallel  to  its  axis. 

TRILOGY.  (Gr.  rpcic,  three,  and  \oyoc,  a  discourse.) 
The  word  applied  to  a  series  of  three  dramas,  which,  al- 
though each  of  them  is  in  one  sense  complete,  yet  bear  a 
mutual  relation,  and  form  but  parts  of  one  historical  and 
poetical  picture.  All  the  plays  of  ^Eschylus,  and  the  Hen- 
ri/ VI.  of  ^liakspeare,  are  examples  of  a  trilogy. 

TRIM.  The  position  of  the  keel  of  a  ship  with  respect 
to  a  horizontal  line.  Also  the  disposition  of  the  weights  or 
stowage,  as  favourable  or  otherwise  for  sailing,  which  are 
expressed  by  in  trim,  and  out  of  trim. 

TRI'MER A.N'S.  Trimtra.  (Gr.  rone,  three,  and  ucpoc,  a 
part.)  The  name  of  a  section  of  Coleopterous  insects,  in- 
cluding those  which  have  each  tarsus  composed  of  three 
articulations. 

TRl'MMI-'.R.  In  Architecture,  a  piece  of  timber  framed 
at  right  angles  to  the  joists  opposite  chimneys  or  the  well 
holes  of  stairs,  which  receives  the  ends  of  the  joists  inter- 
cepted by  the  opening. 

TRIMMING  JOIST.  In  Architecture,  a  joist  into  which 
a  trimmer  is  framed. 

TRI'M  VARIES,  Trimyaria.  (Gr.  rpcte,  three,  anduumi', 
a  muscle.)  The  name  by  which  those  Bivalves  are  distin- 
guished which  present  three  muscular  impressions  on  each 
valve. 

TKI.VE.  (Eat.  trinus,  threefold.)  Of  threefold  dimen- 
sions— length,  breadth,  and  thickness.  In  Astrology,  the 
trine  is  one  of  the  five  aspects  of  the  influential  bodies,  the 
angle  subtended  by  the  two  planets  as  seen  from  the  earth 
being  120°,  or  the  third  of  the  zodiac.  The  trine  was  sup- 
posed to  be  a  benign  aspect.    See  Astrology. 

THING  A.  Eat.  a  tending  bird.)  A  genus  of  wading 
birds  (Gratia),  characterised  by  a  compressed  bill  of  mod- 
erate length,  enlarged  at  the  point ;  and  a  hind  toe,  too 
short  to  reach  the  ground.  It  is  by  the  latter  character 
that  the  lapwings  Trrnga)  are  distinguished  from  the  plov- 
ers (Charadcii).  in  which  the  hind  toe  is  wanting. 

TK1MT A  1M  ANS.  A  religious  order,  founded  in  1198 
under  the  pontificate  of  Innocent  III.  Its  members  devoted 
themselves  especially  to  the  duty  of  ransoming  captives 
taken  by  the  Moors  and  other  infidels.  Another  body  of 
Trinitarians  was  formed  in  consequence  of  a  reformation 
of  the  order  in  1578.  There  was  also  a  female  order  of  the 
same  name,  and  dedicated  to  the  same  objects. 

TllI'MTV.  The  three  persons  comprised  in  the  God- 
head, and  distinguished  as  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost.  The  term  is  not  found  in  the  Scriptures,  and 
its  introduction  is  referred  at  the  earliest  to  the  2d  century. 
All  denominations  of  Christians  that  believe  in  the  Trinity, 
or  Triune  Deity,  are  comprised  under  the  general  name  of 
Trinitarians.  Several  theories  have  been  framed  as  to  the 
existence  of  supposed  doctrines  of  a  Trinity  in  Pagan  sys- 
tems. See,  as  to  the  Orphic,  Platonic,  Egyptian,  Greek, 
and  Latin,  Magian,  and  Indian  Trinities,  Dale's  Chronology, 
vol.  iv.) 

TRINITY  SUNDAY.  The  Sunday  next  after  Whit- 
Sunday  ;  so  called  on  account  of  a  feast  which  was  ancient- 
ly and  still  continues  to  be  held  on  that  day,  in  the  Romish 
Church  in  honour  of  the  Holy  Trinity.  This  feast  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  fully  established  in  the  Western 
Church  until  the  year  1334,  under  Pope  John  XXIII. 

TRINO'MIAL.  (Lat.  tres,  three,  and  nomen,  name.) 
In  Algebra,  a  quantity  consisting  of  three  terms  connected 
by  the  siims  -4-  or  — ;  as  a  -{- b  c-  —  d3. 

TRI'O.  (It)  In  Mode,  a  composition  consisting  of 
three  parts.  Besides  those  general  rules  of  counterpoint 
which  forbid  that  two  octaves  or  fifths  follow  one  another 
either  to  the  bass  ,,r  any  other  part  in  trios,  the  third  must 
be  heard  in  every  time  of  the  bar.  either  with  the  1>  ass  or 
between  the  other  two  upper  pari*  ;  or,  in  other  words,  01  e 
of  the  parts  must  make  a  third  with  the  bass,  and  the  oth- 
er a  fifth  or  octave. 

TRIOLET.  A  stanza  of  tight  lines,  in  which  the  first 
line  is  thrice  repeated. 

TRIONES.     In  Astronomy,  the  seven  principal  stars  in 

tellation  of  Ursa  Major,  popularly  called  Charles's 

Wain  :  four  of  the  stars  being  fancied  to'represent  a  wain 

or  wagon,  and  the  three  others  the  horses  by  which  it  is 

drawn. 

TIM  I'll  V\C.    A  synonyme  of  the  mineral  called  also 

epodumene. 

1379 


miSECTION  OF  AN  ANGLE. 

TRJ'PHTHONG.  [Gr.  rptis.  three,  and  TQoyyv,  sound) 
In  Grammar,  a  composite  .sound  of  three  vowels,  as  a 
diphthong  is  of  two  ;  such  as  the  German  "aeu."  There 
is  no  such  sound  in  English,  nor,  strictly  speaking,  in 
French,  unless  the  combinations  "  ieu"  in  that  lane 
so  considered. 

TRIPLE.  (Gr.  r/JirrXovs,  threefold.)  In  Music,  one  of 
the  kinds  or  measures  of  time,  of  which  there  are  many 
different  subdivisions.  There  are,  however,  only  four  prin- 
cipal ones,  whereof  the  others  are  varieties.  See  art.  Mu- 
sic. 

TRIPLE  SALTS.  A  term  by  which,  in  Chemistrv,  cer- 
tain salts  are  sometimes  designated,  in  which  two  bases  are 
combined  with  one  acid.  Thus,  emetic  tartar,  which  is  com- 
posed of  oxide  of  antimony  and  of  potassa  with  tartaric 
acid,  and  Rochelle  salts  in  which  soda  and  potassa  are 
combined  with  the  same  acid,  are  triple  tartrates.  These 
salts,  however,  are  more  properly  regarded  as  double  salts  ; 
that  is,  as  consisting  of  tartrate  of  antimony  and  of  tartrate 
of  potassa,  or  of  single  equivalents  of  tartrate  of  potassa 
and  tartrate  of  soda. 

TRI'PLETS.  In  Poetry,  three  verses  rhvming  together. 
Thus,  in  the  famous  lines  of  Poi>e  : 

"  Waller  vns  smooth,  but  Dryden  taught  to  join 
The  varying  verse,  the  full  resounding  line, 
The  Ion*  majestic  march  and  euergy  divine.1' 

In  Music,  notes  grouped  together  by  threes  ;  thus, 

5:^  .    In  common  time,  where  three  of  the 


quavers  are  intended  to  be  equal  in  duration  to  a  crotchet, 
a  3  is  sometimes  placed  over  them  ;  but  they  are  generally 
known  by  being  grouped  together,  and  thus  form  one  of  the 
single  parts  of  the  whole  measure. 

TRIPLICATE  RATIO.  In  Arithmetic  and  Geometry, 
the  ratio  of  the  cubes  is  the  cube  of  the  simple  ratio. 
Thus  the  triplicate  ratio  of  2  to  3  is  the  same  as  that  of  8 
to  27.  Similar  solids  are  to  each  other  as  the  triplicate  ra- 
tio of  their  like  dimensions. 

TRI'POD.  (Gr.  rpug,  three,  and  ttovs,  a  foot.)  In  Ar- 
chitecture, a  vessel,  table,  seat,  or  instrument  having  three 
feet.  It  was  from  such  a  seat  that  the  Pytliian  goddess 
rendered  oracular  answers  at  Delphi. 

TRI'POLI.  A  mineral  used  for  polishing,  originally  from 
Tripoli  in  Barbary.  It  occurs  in  friable  earthy  mas-.  -  ,.t'  a 
dull  clay  colour.  Its  essential  components  are  silica,  alu- 
mina, and  oxide  of  iron  ;  but  the  varieties  of  tripoli  appear 
to  vary  extremely  in  composition.  Bbrenbeig  has  found 
the  different  tripolis  to  be  aggregates  of  silicified  animal- 
cules. 

.  TRI'REME.  (Lat.  tres,  and  remus,  oar ;  Gr.  rpi^prj;,  a 
galley  with  three  rows  of  oars.)  The  usual  war  vessel  of 
the  Greeks  at  the  time  of  the  Persian  and  Peloponnesian 
wars,  and  nearly  down  to  the  period  of  the  first  Punic, 
when  we  find  quinqueremes  pretty  generally  substituted. 
With  respect  to  the  construction,  and  the  difficulties  attending 
its  explanation,  see  Galley.  Some  light  has  been  thrown 
on  Athenian  naval  matters  by  the  recent  discovery  of  some 
inscriptions  at  the  Piraeus,  which  have  been  commented  on 
byBoeckh.  See  Foreign  Quart.  Rev.,  Jan.,  1841.  See  also 
his  Public  Economy  of  Athens,  transl.,  i.,  3T2,  &.C., 

TIMSA'GION.  (Gr.Tpi.,thrice,VLndayioi,holy.)  In  the 
Greek  Church,  the  threefold  invocation  of  the  Deity  as 
"Holy."  (Lat.  tersanctus.)  This  invocation  takes  its  ori- 
gin from  Isaiah,  vi.  3;  Revelations,  iv.,  8.  The  ordinary 
form  is  that  in  Isaiah,  "Holy.  Holy,  Holy  Lord  God  of 
Hosts,  all  the  earth  is  full  of  thy  glory."  A  different  form 
of  the  trisapion  is  repeated  daily  in  the  service  of  the 
Greek  Church,  ami  is  attributed  to  Saint  Proclus.  Concern- 
ing the  war  which  was  raised  A.D.  508-518,  by  the  addi- 
tion of  the  words  "  who  was  crucified  for  us,"  see  Gibbon, 
ch.  xlvii. 

TRISI'.'CTIOX.  (Lat.  trisectio.)  The  dividing  of  any- 
thing into  three  equal  parts. 

TRIBECTK  >N  OF  AN  ANGLE.  In  Geometry,  a  prob- 
lem of  great  celebrity  among  the  ancient  Greek  mathema- 
ticians. The  indefinite  trisection  of  an  angle  cannot  be  ef- 
fected by  plane  geometry,  that  is  to  say,  by  means  of  the 
straight  line  and  circle,  inasmuch  as  the  analytical  equation 
on  which  it  depend-  rises  to  the  third  degree  ;  but  it  maybe 
accomplished  by  means  of  the  conic  sections  and  some  oth- 
er curves,  as  the  quadratrix.  The  geometrical  conditions 
on  which  the  solution  of  the  problem  depends  may  be  ex- 
plained as  follows  : 

Let  B  A  C  be  the  angle,  and  suppose  D  A  C  to  be  its  third 
part.  Through  any  point  B  in  All 
draw  BC  perpendicular  to  AC,  and 
P.  E  parallel  to  A  C ;  produce  AD 
to  meet  B  E  in  E,  and  complete  the 
rectangle AFBC.  NowslnceDAC 
lathe  thiol  of  li  \  C,  therefore  BAD  &■ 
is  equal  to  twice  D  A  C,  or  twice  B  E  A.    Draw  B  G,  making 


TRISMUS. 

the  angle  E  B  G  equal  to  BEG;  then  B  G  A,  being  equal 
to  G  B  E  and  G  E  B  together,  is  equal  to  twice  B  E  A,  and 
consequently  equal  to  BAG.  Hence  the  two  triangles 
E  G  B  and  G  B  A  are  isosceles,  orGE  =  GB  =  BA.  Again, 
the  angle  G  B  D  is  the  difference  between  a  right  angle  and 
E  B  G,  and  G  D  B  or  its  equal  A  D  C  is  the  difference  be- 
tween a  right  angle  and  D  A  C,  which  is  equal  to  E  B  G : 
therefore  G  B  D  is  equal  to  G  D  B,  whence  G  D  is  equal  to 
G  B  or  A  B.  It  thus  appears  that  D  G  and  G  E  are  each  equal 
to  A  B,  or  that  D  E  is  equal  to  twice  A  B,  which  is  a  given  line. 
If,  therefore,  in  a  rectangle  A  F  B  C,  a  straight  line  A  D 
could  be  drawn  from  the  angular  point  A,  so  that  on  produ- 
cing it  to  meet  the  opposite  side  F  B  the  produced  part 
should  be  equal  to  a  given  straight  line,  the  problem  would 
be  solved.  This  is  the  condition  to  which  the  trisection  of 
the  angle  is  reduced  by  Pappus  of  Alexandria,  in  the  4th 
book  of  his  Mathematical  Collections,  where  he  shows  how 
it  may  be  constructed  by  means  of  an  hyperbola.  When, 
however,  the  rectangle  A  FBC  becomes  a  square,  that  is, 
when  the  given  angle  B  A  C  is  half  a  right  angle,  the  con- 
struction is  easily  effected  by  elementary  geometry.  (See 
Jjeslie's  Geometrical  Analysis.) 

TEI'SMUS.  (Gr.  r/)i>,  /  gnash.)  Lockjaw  ;  tetanus 
affecting  the  jaw.  There  are  two  species  of  this  malady: 
the  one  caused  by  wounds,  or,  under  certain  circumstances, 
by  exposure  to  cold ;  the  other  attacking  infants  during  the 
two  first  weeks  from  their  birth. 

TRI'SPAST,  or  TRISP ASTON.  (Gr.  rpus,  three,  and 
oirau,  I  draw.)  A  machine  with  three  pulleys  acting  in 
connexion  with  each  other  for  raising  heavy  weights. 

TRI'THEISM.  (Gr.  rpus,  three,  and  bco(,  God.)  In 
Controversial  Theology,  an  error  into  which  some  divines 
appear  to  have  unconsciously  fallen  in  their  zeal  to  support 
the  honour  due  to  each  of  the  three  persons  of  the  Trini- 
ty. Sherlock  in  his  controversy  with  South,  whose  views 
seemed  to  tend  to  confound  the  separate  natures  of  the  Fa- 
ther, Son,  and  Spirit,  and  were  generally  characterized  as 
Sabellian,  is  accused  of  having  been  betrayed  into  the  oppo- 
site dogma  of  Tritheism. 

TRI'TICUM.     See  Wheat. 

TRI'TON.  In  Mythology,  a  marine  deity,  son  of  Nep- 
tune. Tritons  are  sometimes  mentioned  in  the  plural  num- 
ber. They  were  represented  as  half  fish  in  form.  In  Zo- 
ology, the  name  Tritonia  has  been  given  to  a  genus  of  ma- 
rine, naked,  gastropodons  Mollusks,  or  sea-slugs. 

TRl'TONE,  or  TRITONUS.  (Gr.  rpus.  three,  and  toyos, 
tone.)  In  Music,  an  interval,  now  generally  called  a  sharp 
fourth,  consisting  of  four  degrees,  and  containing  three 
tones  between  the  extremes,  on  which  account  the  ancients 
gave  it  its  name.  It  is,  moreover,  divisible  into  six  semi- 
tones, three  diatonic  and  three  chromatic.  In  dividing  the 
octave,  we  find  on  one  side  the  tritone  and  on  the  other  the 
false  fifth. 

TRITO'XIDE.  In  Chemistry,  such  oxides  as  contain 
one  atom  of  base  united  to  three  atoms  of  oxygen. 

TRI'UMPH.  (Lat.  triumphus.)  The  highest  military 
honour  that  could  be  obtained  by  a  Roman  general.  It  was 
a  solemn  procession,  with  which  the  victorious  leader  and  his 
army  advanced  through  the  city  to  the  capital,  accompa- 
nied by  the  captives  taken  in  war,  and  vehicles  bearing  the 
spoils,  and  all  the  furniture  that  could  add  magnificence  to 
the  spectacle.  On  arriving  at  the  capital  the  general  offered 
up  a  prayer  of  thanksgiving  to  Jupiter  and  the  other  gods, 
and  sacrificed  white  bulls.  A  triumph  was  decreed  by  the 
senate,  and  sometimes  by  the  people  against  the  will  of 
the  senate,  to  the  general  who  in  a  just  war  with  foreigners, 
and  in  one  battle,  had  slain  above  5000  enemies  of  the  state, 
and  enlarged  the  limits  of  the  empire.     See  Ovation. 

TRIUMPHAL  ARCH.  In  Architecture,  an  arch  erect- 
ed to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  a  conqueror,  or  of  some  re- 
markable victory  or  important  event.  At  first  it  consisted 
of  a  single  arch,  decorated  merely  with  a  statue  and  spoils 
of  the  victorious  commander ;  but  arches  were  afterwards 
erected  with  two,  and  then  with  three  passages.  Those  on 
the  Via  Triumphalis  in  Rome  were  the  most  magnificent  ; 
and  in  cases  where  they  served  as  gates,  they  were  usually 
constructed  with  two  openings,  so  that  one  was  appropriated 
for  carriages  passing  into,  and  the  other  for  carriages  pass- 
ing out  of  the  city.  The  following  is  a  list  of  some  of  the 
principal  triumphal  arches  of  antiquity :  The  arch  at  Rimi- 
ni, erected  in  honour  of  Augustus  on  the  completion  of  the 
repairs  of  the  Flaminian  Way  from  Rome  to  that  city.  It 
was  one  of  the  noblest  as  well  as  most  ancient  of  the  "arch- 
es of  the  ancients,  having  a  single  passage  about  thirty-three 
feet  wide,  and  was,  contrary  to  the  usual  practice,  crowned 
with  a  pediment.  The  lesser  arch  of  Septimus  Severus  at 
Rome,  commonly  called  the  Arch  of  the  Goldsmiths,  is  a 
curious  example,  being  of  a  single  opening,  and  crowned 
with  a  flat  lintel.  An  extremly  elegant  arch  at  Susa,  on  the 
Italian  side  of  Mont  Cenis,  in  honour  of  Augustus.  The 
arches  of  Aurelian  and  Janus,  which  possess  more  singu- 
larity than  beauty.  The  arch  of  Pola,  in  Istria,  which  is 
108 


TROCHILUS. 

curious  from  the  use  of  coupled  columns  which  it  exhibits, 
and  was  erected  by  Salvia  Posthuma,  in  honour  of  Sergius 
Lepidus  and  his  two  brothers.  The  arch  of  Trajan  at 
Ancona,  which,  though  it  has  been  stripped  of  its  bronze 
ornaments,  retains  the  beauty  of  its  effect  and  proportions, 
and  is  still  in  tolerable  preservation.  It  stands  at  the  en- 
trance of  the  mole  or  the  port,  and  has  four  Corinthian  col- 
umns on  pedestals.  The  arch  of  Titus  at  Rome,  in  which 
the  order  used  is  Composite,  and  was  probably  erected  after 
the  emperor's  death.  An  arch  at  Benevento,  in  honour  of 
Trajan,  somewhat  resembling  that  of  Titus  at  Rome,  also 
of  the  Composite  order.  An  arch  of  Gavius  at  Verona, 
called  del  Castel  Vorchio,  but  no  longer  in  existence.  The 
arch  of  Septimus  Severus  at  Rome,  at  the  foot  of  the  cap- 
ital, and  that  of  Constantino  in  the  same  city.  All  these 
are  each  with  three  openings.  For  the  latter  the  arch  of 
Trajan  was  despoiled  of  its  ornaments,  as  the  greater  part 
of  the  bassi-relievi  upon  it  represent  the  victories  of  that 
emperor.  It  is  in  better  preservation  than  any  of  the  other 
arches  that  we  have  mentioned,  and  was  indebted  for  its 
state  to  the  care  of  Pope  Clement  XII. 

TRIU'MVIRATE.  In  Ancient  History,  this  term  was 
applied  to  two  great  coalitions  of  the  three  most  powerful 
individuals  in  the  Roman  empire  for  the  time  being.  The 
first  of  these  was  effected  in  the  year  U0  B.C.  between  Ju- 
lius Csesar,  Pompey,  and  Crassus,  who  pledged  themselves 
to  support  each  other  with  all  their  influence.  This  coali- 
tion was  broken  by  the  fall  of  Crassus  at  Carrha;  in  Meso- 
potamia ;  soon  after  which  the  civil  war  broke  out,  which 
ended  in  the  death  of  Pompey,  and  establishment  of  Julius 
Cwsar  as  perpetual  dictator.  After  his  murder,  44  B.C.,  the 
civil  war  again  broke  out  between  Antony,  who  wished  to 
avenge  the  death  and  succeed  to  the  fortunes  of  Ciesar,  and 
the  republic,  on  whose  side  were  ranged  Octavius  and 
Brutus.  Lepidus  with  a  large  army  remained  in  suspense 
which  side  to  take.  But  after  the  battle  of  Mutina,  in 
which  both  consuls  fell,  43  B.C.,  Antony,  Octavius,  and 
Lepidus  coalesced  ;  thus  forming  the  second  triumvirate, 
each  party  confirming  the  bond  of  union  by  the  sacrifice 
of  some  of  his  own  friends  to  the  hatred  of  the  others— 
in  which  case  was  Cicero,  who  was  delivered  up  by  Octa- 
vius to  the  vengeance  of  Antony.  Against  this  confeder- 
ation Brutus  still  held  out,  with  the  rest  of  the  conspirators 
against  Cffisar,  till  their  destruction  at  the  battle  of  Philip- 
pi.  The  triumvirates  divided  the  provinces  of  the  empire, 
Octavius  taking  the  west,  Lepidus  Italy,  and  Antony  the 
east ;  but  the  iniquitous  union  was  soon  broken  by  the  pas- 
sion of  Antony  for  Cleopatra,  which  induced  him  to  repu- 
diate Octavia,  the  sister  of  Octavius.  War  ensued,  which 
was  terminated  by  the  defeat  and  death  of  Antony  at  Ac- 
tium.  in  32  B.C. ;  after  which  everything  fell  into  the  hands 
of  Octavius,  Lepidus  offering  no  obstacle. 

TRI'VIUM.  (Lat.  three  ways.)  The  name  given  in  the 
schools  of  the  middle  ages  to  the  first  three  liberal  arts 
(grammar,  rhetoric,  and  logic) , which  were  studied  together. 
The  other  four  (arithmetic,  music,  geometry,  and  astron- 
omy) formed  what  was  termed  the  quadrivium  ;  and  the 
two  following  mnemonic  lines  comprehend  the  whole: 

Gram,  loquitur  ;  Dia  verba  docet ;  Rhe.  verba  ministrat  J 
Mus.  canit;  Ar.  numeral;  Ge.  ponderat  ;  As.  colit  astra. 

TRO'CAR.  An  instrument  used  in  tapping  for  the  dropsy. 
This  name  is  said  to  be  corrupted  from  the  French  trois- 
quarts,  from  the  three  sides  of  its  point. 

TROCHA'NTER.  (Gr.  rpcxw,  Iran ;  because  the  mus- 
cles inserted  into  it  are  those  chiefly  concerned  in  the  act 
of  running.)  A  name  given  to  two  processes  (greater  and 
less  trochanter)  at  the  upper  end  of  the  thigh  bone. 

TRO'CHE.  (Lat.  trochus,  or  trochescus,  dim.  of  wheel.) 
A  small  round  lozenge  or  cake,  generally  composed  of  sugar 
and  mucilage,  united  with  small  portions  of  more  active 
remedies,  intended  to  be  allowed  gradually  to  dissolve  in 
the  mouth. 

TRO'CHEE.  (Gr.  Tpox"">c.)  A  rhythmical  measure 
consisting  of  two  syllables,  a  long  and  short ;  thus,  —  — '. 

TRO'CHILUS.  (Gr.  rpox^os,  a  small  bird.)  This  term 
was  applied  by  Linnaeus  to  the  genus  of  small  and  brill- 
iantly coloured  birds  which,  from  the  energy  and  rapidity 
of  the  vibrations  of  their  wings  during  flight,  are  called 
humming-birds.  This  genus  includes  the  smallest  of  the 
feathered  tribe,  and,  if  we  except  a  few  fishes,  the  most 
diminutive  of  vertebrated  animals  :  some  humming-birds 
scarcely  exceed  a  humble-bee  in  size  ;  they  are  unable  to 
escape  from  the  strong  webs  of  the  large  spiders  of  the 
American  tropics,  and  thus  sometimes  become  their  prey. 

The  humming-birds  are  characterized  by  a  long  and  slen- 
der bill,  inclosing  an  extensile  bifid  tongue,  by  which  they 
extract  the  nectar  and  the  small  insects  which  may  lurk  in 
the  recesses  of  flowers.  They  have  very  small  feet,  long 
and  narrow  wings,  a  broad  and  entire  sternum  with  an  un- 
usually deep  keel  and  a  short  and  strong  humerus;  all 
combining  to  form  a  mechanism  for  rapid  and  powerful 
flight,  like  that  of  the  swift.  Humming  birds  live  in  pairs : 
4  K  *  1273 


TROCHLEA. 

they  have  the  character  of  being  very  quarrelsome,  the 
males  fighting  desperately  with  each  other:  both  sexes 
combine  to  defend  their  nests  with  courage. 

TRO'CHLEA.  (Gr.  rpoxaXca,  Lat  trochlea.)  In  Me- 
chanics, the  same  as  pulley  or  tackle.     .See  Pulley. 

In  Anal. imy,  the  term  trochlea  is  applied  to  the  cartilage 
through  which  the  tendon  of  the  trocklearis  muscle  pass- 
t  a  It  is  the  superior  oblique  muscle  of  the  eyeball,  and  is 
accompanied  by  the  trochlearis  nerve. 

TRO'CHOID.  (Gr.  rpo\os,  a  wheel,  and  eitoc,  form.) 
The  curve  described  by  any  point  in  a  wheel  rolling  straight 
forward  on  a  level.  It  is  the  same  as  the  cycloid  ;  and  for 
an  account  of  its  principal  properties,  see  Cycloid.  The 
B&me  name  is  also  given  to  another  curve,  sometimes  called 
the  companion  of  the  cycloid,  or  curve  of  arcs. 

TEO'CHtJS.  (Gr.  rpoxoc.)  The  name  given  by  Lin- 
nsus  to  8  genus  of  the  Vermes  Testacea,  characterized  by 
a  subcorneal  spiral  shell,  with  the  margin  entire,  without  a 
fissure  or  canal  for  the  siphon  of  the  mantle,  the  animal  not 
possessing  any  respirator,-  tube.  The  mouth  of  the  shell  is 
closed  by  an  operculum, or  some  analogous  part.  The  spe- 
cies tu  which  the  characters  of  the  Linntean  genus  are  ap- 
plicable constitute  a  family  of  Pectinibranchiate  Gastro- 
pods in  the  system  of  Cuvier,  called  Trochoida,  which  in- 
cludes the  following  genera:  Tectaria,  Montfort ;  Calcar, 
Montf. ;  Rotclla,  Lam.;  Ccintharis,  Monlf.  ;  Infundibilum, 
Montf. ;  Tclescopium,  Montf. ;  Solarium,  Montf. ;  Euom- 
phalus,  Bowerby.  The  Gastropod  called  Turbe  pica  by 
Linnaus,  having  been  ascertained  to  have  an  operculum,  is 
now  referred  to  the  senus  Trochus. 

TRO'GLODYTES.  (Gr.  rpoyXv,  cave,  and  rWw,  I  en- 
ter.) Tribes  of  men  who  have  their  dwellings  in  subterra- 
neous caverns.  Several  such  tribes  are  mentioned  by  an- 
cient authors,  and  the  remains  of  their  dwellings  still  attest 
their  existence  ;  especially  along  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  in 
Upper  Egypt  and  Nubia,  and  in  parts  of  Syria  and  Ara- 
bia,     See  Bryant's  Mythology,  iv.,  381.) 

The  chimpanzee  has  been  called  by  Blumenbach  Simia 
troglodytes. 

TROMBONE.  (It.)  A  brass  musical  wind  instrument 
serving  as  the  bass  to  the  trumpet,  to  which  in  general  form 
it  is  similar,  but  of  much  larger  dimensions. 

TRO'NA.  A  native  sesquicarbonate  of  soda  found  on 
the  banks  of  the  soda  lakes  of  Sukena  in  Africa. 

TRON  WEIGHT.  The  most  ancient  of  the  weights 
11-1  >l  in  Scotland;  and  though  its  use  is  now  prohibited  by 
law,  it  is  still  occasionally  employed  in  some  of  the  rural 
districts  in  weighing  wool,  cheese,  butter,  &.c.  The  tron 
pound  was  not  a  well-defined  weight,  but  varied  from  21  to 
28  ounces  avoirdupois. 

TROOP.  A  body  of  mounted  soldiers,  equivalent  to 
company  in  foot  regiments.  The  term  troops  is  not  limited 
to  cavalry,  but  extends  to  all  kinds  of  soldiers,  whether 
mounted  or  not. 

TROPjE'OLUM.  (Lat.  tropaum,  a  trophy;  the  leaves 
resembling  a  buckler,  and  the  flowers  an  empty  helmet.)  A 
genus  of  handsome  trailing  plants,  some  of  whose  species 
have  pungent  fruits,  which  have  rendered  them  useful  as 
condiments.  Indian  cress,  the  name  given  to  Tropaolum 
i  s  their  quality.  They  form  a  small  group 
nearly  allied  to  the  Geraniaccous  order,  if  not  forming  a 
part  of  it. 

TROPE.  (Gr.  rpt™,  I  turn.)  In  Rhetoric,  literally  any 
expression  turned  from  its  primary  signification,  and  em- 
ployed in  a  sense  derived  in  some  manner  from  that  primary 
'ion.  In  this  sense,  the  general  term  trope,  com- 
ii  various  figures  termed  metaphor,  allegory,  me- 
tonymy, synecdoche  (which  see),  and  perhaps  several 
Others.  By  the  natural  progress  of  language,  words  or 
phrases  at  first  employed  as  tropes  become  impressed  so 
strongly  with  their  new  or  derivative  signification,  that  it 
finally  supersedes  the  original;  its  tropical  or  figurative 
being  lost  in  its  simply  indicative  character. 

Ti:<  iTIII.     (Gr.  rpefu),  I  nourish.)     A  name  given  by 

Kirby  to  the  different  instruments  of,  or  organs  contained 

in  the  mouth,  or  closing  it,  and  employed  in  manducation 

or  deglutition.     They  include  the  labrum,  labium,  mandi- 

i  ill,/',  lingua,  and  pharynx. 

TROPHO'NIUB,   in  Creek  Mythology,  son  of  Erginus, 

kin'.- of  Orchomenos,  together  with  his  brother  Agamedes, 

built  the  temple  of  Apollo  at  Delphi ;  and   having  prayed 

for   a    reward   from  the  god,  it   was  promised  him  on  the 

Seventh  day,  on  which  he  and  his  brother  were  both  found 

dead.     The  Story  i<  told  in  other  ways.      lie  had  a  b  mple 

at  Lebadea,  as  Jupiter  Trophonius.    In  this  temple  was 

the  celebrated  cave  into  which  those  who  descended  spoke 

oracularly  on  their  return;  ami  in  this  way  responses  were 

made.    But  the  impressions  produced  by  the  descent  were 

>.ii  wort  upon  the  spirit  of  a  visitor,  that  he re- 

B   Victim  to  melancholy  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

Hence  arose  the  proverb  applied  to  a  serious  man— that  he 

looked  a-  ii  he  came  out  of  the  cave  of  Trophonius.    Some 

1274 


TROUBADOURS. 

thought  that  the  priests  had  secret  access  to  the  cavern, 
and  that  those  whose  minds  did  not  give  way  under  the 
terror  of  tin  scene  which  they  encountered  were  murdered 
by  them.     (See  Bryant,  Jlnc.  Myth.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  361.) 

TRO'PHSPERM.  (Gr.  Tpe<pu,  I  nourish,  and  oirzopa,  a 
seed.)  A  name  given  by  some  French  botanists  to  the  pla- 
centa of  a  plant. 

TROTH  V.  (Gr.  rpo-zatov,  from  rptmii,  I  turn.)  A  monu- 
ment consisting  of  some  of  the  arms  of  slain  enemies,  hung 
upon  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  or  a  stone  pillar,  by  a  victorious 
army  in  token  of  its  victory  and  the  Bight  of  the  enemy; 
whence  its  name.  Trophies  were  always  dedicated  to 
some  deity,  and  especially  to  Jupiter,  whence  it  was  deem- 
ed sacrilegious  for  any  cue  to  injure  or  demolish  them; 
while  at  the  same  time  it  was  esteemed  an  equal  crime  to 
repair  them  when  decayed.  This  custom  was  common  to 
all  the  Greeks,  except  the  Macedonians,  who  were  forbid- 
den to  raise  trophies  by  law  of  one  of  their  ancient  kings. 
Perhaps  the  most  celebrated  trophies  of  ancient  times  were 
those  of  Marius  at  Rome,  which  were  of  marble,  and  were 
restored  by  Caisar  after  their  destruction  by  Sylla,  contrary 
to  all  the  usages  of  the  times.  (Pee  as  to  Roman  trophies, 
Mt  m.  de  l\1c.  des  Inscr.,  xAiv.,  32.) 

TROPICAL  HIEROGLYPHICS.    Sec  Hieroglyphics. 

TROTTCAL  YEAR.  (Gr.  Tpovn,  return.)  The  time 
between  the  sun's  leaving  a  tropic  and  returning  to  it; 
popularly  it  means  the  time  from  the  longest  day  in  one 
year  till  the  longest  in  the  next.     See  Year. 

TROTICS,  in  Astronomy,  are  the  parallels  of  declination, 
between  which  the  sun's  annual  path  in  the  heavens  is 
contained,  their  distance  from  the  equator  being  equal  to 
the  sun's  greatest  declination.  The  northern  tropic  is 
called  the  tropic  of  Cancer,  and  the  southern  one  that  of 
Capricorn,  from  their  touching  the  ecliptic  in  the  first  points 
of  those  signs. 

The  distance  of  the  tropics  from  each  other  is  equal  to 
the  difference  between  the  greatest  and  least  meridian  alti- 
tudes of  the  sun,  observed  at  any  place  whose  latitude  is 
greater  than  the  obliquity  of  the  ecliptic.    See  Ecliptic. 

Tropics,  in  Geography,  are  the  two  parallels  of  latitude 
on  the  earth,  over  which  the  sun  is  vertical  when  his  de- 
clination is  greatest,  or  when  it  is  the  longest  day  in  the 
hemisphere  in  which  the  tropical  circle  is  situated  over 
w  hich  the  sun  is,  and  the  shortest  in  the  other  hemisphere. 

TRO'PIDONO'TUS.  (Gr.  rpoTrts,  a  keel,  and  viotoc,  the 
back.)  A  genus  of  non-venomous  serpents,  nearly  allied  to  the 
true  Colubers ;  but  with  bodies  thicker  in  proportion  to  their 
length,  the  back  more  keel-shaped,  and  the  abdomen  more 
expanded  and  convex;  the  head  is  large  ami  conical,  with 
a  slender  and  short  muzzle.  The  species  seldom  exceed 
three  or  four  feet  in  length ;  they  live  near  fresh  water 
streams,  and  are  good  swimmers  :  they  are  confined  to  the 
old  world  continents,  and  are  replaced  in  South  America 
by  the  genus  Homalopsis.  The  Coluber  scabcr,  Linn,  a  ser- 
pent of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  remarkable  lor  the  presence 
of  teeth  in  the  (esophagus,  and  their  absence  from  the 
mouth,  is  referred  to  the  genus  TYopidonotus  by  Schlegel. 

TROI  BADOURS,  i.  e.,  Inventors.  (Ital.  iiovar  ;  i'r. 
trouver,  to  find.)  A  school  of  poets  who  flourished  from 
the  11th  to  the  latter  end  of  the  13th  century,  principally  in 
the  south  of  France,  but  also  in  Catalonia,  Arragou,  and 
the  north  of  Italy.  They  wrote  in  varieties  of  the  Provencal 
or  Romance  language,  also  called  in  the  middle  ages 
Langue  d'oc.  They  flourished  under  the  lines  of  the  Counts 
of  Toulouse,  Barcelona,  and  Provence  ;  and  their  minstrel- 
sy and  peculiar  spirit  declined  from  the  time  of  the  crusade 
against  the  Albigenses,  when  the  former  of  these  noble 
houses  was  vanquished  and  humiliated,  and  their  land  over- 
run by  the  sterner  adventurers  of  the  north.  The  most  re- 
nowned among  the  Troubadours  were  knights  ;  w  ho  culti- 
vated poetry  as  an  honourable  accomplishment;  but  their 
art  declined  in  Its  later  days,  when  it  was  chieflj  cultiva- 
ted by  minstrels  of  a  lower  class.  The  names  and  some  of 
the  productions  of  more  than  200  Troubadours  have  been 
preserved,  and  among  their  numbers  are  to  be  found  kings, 
dukes,  counts,  and  warriors  of  historical  celebrity.  The 
most  remarkable  characteristics  of  the  Provencal  poetry 
were  its  almost  entire  devotion  to  the  subject  of  romantic 
gallantry,  and  the  very  Complicated  character,  in  general,  of 
its  metre  rhj  mes.  The  principal  species  of  composition  cul- 
tivated by  the  Troubadours  were  tenzones,  or  poetical  con- 
tests between  tun  minstrels;  sometimes  breathing  satire  or 
defiance,  sometimes  mailing  each  other  in  the  praise  of 
their  ladies,  sometimes  aiming  at  nine  e\i  nions  of  verbal 

ingenuity;  sirventes,  pieces  devoted  to  martial  and  other 
serious  subjects;  short  songs,  or  ehanros :  and  a  variety  of 
other  lyrical  strains,  .<uitliis.lai.-i,  pastourelles,  arbades,  ser- 
enades, retronage,  and  redondes.  The  earliest  Italian  poets 
framed  their  Btyle  of  though)  and  versification  closely  after 
the  model  afforded  them  by  the  troubadours.  (See  Sismon- 
di,  Literature  dn  Midi  de  V Europe,  vol.  i. ;  the  works  of 
M.  Raynouard;  Mr.  Lewis's  Researches  into  the  Homancs 


TROUGH  OF  THE  SEA. 

Language :  Schlegel,  Obser.  sur  la  Langae  et  Liter.  Pro- 
ven^ale.) 

TROUGH  OF  THE  SEA.  The  ship  is  said  to  be  in  the 
trough,  when  she  lies  parallel  to  the  hollows  between  the 
waves. 

TROUT.  (Lat.  trutta.)  This  name  is  restricted  properly 
and  specifically  to  the  Salmo  fario  of  Linnojus ;  but  is  ap- 
plied in  a  generic  sense  to  other  native  species  of  Salmo, 
the  A',  eriox,  of  Linnaeus,  which  is  the  S.  satar  of  Rondele- 
tius,  being  called  the  bull  trout  and  grey  trout ;  the  Salmo 
feroz,  the  great  grey  trout,  or  lake  trout ;  the  S.  trutta,  the 
salmon  trout,  &c.  The  common  trout  inhabits  most  of  our 
lakes  and  rivers,  and  is  subject  to  many  varieties  of  colour, 
proportions,  and  even  of  internal  structure,  as  in  the  stomach 
of  the  gillaroo-trout,  according  to  the  variations  of  soil  and 
food.  The  season  of  spawning  with  the  trout  is  generally 
in  the  month  of  October,  at  which  period  the  gravid  fish 
make  their  way  up  the  stream  to  the  shallows.  Trouts  are 
in  finest  condition  from  the  end  of  May  to  September. 

TRO'VER.  In  Law,  is  an  action  of  tort.  It  is  a  species  of 
action  on  the  case  (see  Action),  which  is  employed  to  try 
a  disputed  question  of  property  in  goods  and  chattels.  The 
declaration  in  trover  assumes  (by  a  fiction)  that  the  plain- 
till"  lost,  and  the  defendant  found  and  converted  to  his  own 
use,  the  goods  in  question. 

TROWELLED  STUCCO.  In  Architecture,  stucco  left 
ready  for  the  reception  of  paint. 

TROY  WEIGHT.  An  English  weight  chiefly  used  in 
weighing  gold,  silver,  diamonds,  and  other  articles  of  jewel- 
lery. The  pound  troy  contains  12  ounces  or  5760  grains, 
the  pound  avoirdupois  containing  7000  of  such  grains.  The 
name  is  supposed  to  have  reference  to  the  monkish  name 
given  to  London,  of  Troy  Novant.     See  Weights. 

TRUCE.  (Mod.  Lat.  treuga,  from  the  Teutonic  treue, 
truth.)  An  agreement  between  states,  or  those  represent- 
ing them,  for  the  suspension  of  hostilities.  Such  an  agree- 
ment, when  made  by  officers  of  the  state  in  the  general  ex- 
ercise of  their  duty,  and  not  authorized  for  the  purpose  ex- 
pressly, or  by  necessary  implification,  ranks  among  that 
class  of  conventions  which  jurists  term  sponsions,  and 
which  are  binding  only  if  ratified.  (.See  Sponsion.)  A 
general  armistice  or  truce  differs  from  a  partial,  which  is 
limited  to  particular  places ;  as  between  two  armies,  or  be- 
tween a  beseiged  fortress  and  the  besieging  army.  The 
former,  in  general,  requires  ratification ;  power  to  include 
the  latter  is  held  to  be  implied  in  the  general  authority  of 
military  and  naval  officers.  (See  Vattcl,  book  hi.,  ch.  16.; 
IVheaton  on  International  Law,  vol.  ii.) 

TRUCE  OF  GOD,  Treuga  Dei.  A  suspension  of  arms, 
which  occasionally  took  place  in  the  middle  ages,  putting  a 
stop  to  private  hostilities.  The  right  to  engage  in  these  hos- 
tilities was  jealously  maintained  by  the  inferior  feudatories 
of  the  several  monarchies  of  Europe.  But  it  was  restrain- 
ed by  the  repeated  promulgation  of  these  truces,  under  the 
authority  of  the  church.  Thus,  in  the  county  of  Roussillon, 
A.D.  1027,  it  was  determined  in  a  synod  of  the  clergy,  that 
no  man  should  attack  his  enemy  from  the  hour  of  nones  on 
Saturday  to  the  hour  of  prime  on  Monday.  In  1041,  a  gen- 
eral "  truce  of  God"  was  accepted  by  the  barons,  first  of 
Aquitain,  and  then  of  all  France,  to  last  from  the  Wednes- 
day evening  of  every  week  to  the  Monday  morning  follow- 
ing. This  regulation  was  admitted  by  Edward  the  Confes- 
sor in  England,  in  1042,  with  some  additions  of  great  festi- 
vals and  other  days.  It  was  confirmed  by  many  councils, 
especially  the  Lateran  council  of  1179.  The  observation  of 
it  was  sworn  by  knights,  burgesses,  and  peasants,  of  the 
age  of  fourteen  and  upwards ;  and  the  penalty  of  its  in- 
fringement was  excommunication,  which,  however,  was 
quite  insufficient  to  maintain  it.  Phillippe  Auguste  intro- 
duced a  new  species  of  truce,  termed  the  quarantine,  by  one 
of  his  ordinances.  It  restrained  the  family  of  an  injured  or 
murdered  person  from  the  commencement  of  hostilities  until 
forty  days  after  the  act  done,  under  penalty  of  high  treason. 

TRUCK.  The  small  wooden  cap  at  the  extremity  of  a  flag 
staff',  or  at  the  mast  head.  Also  a  small  circular  piece  of  wood 
With  a  hole  bored  through  it  for  a  rope  to  run  through. 

TRUCK  SYSTEM.  A  name  given  to  a  practice  that  has 
prevailed,  particularly  in  the  mining  and  manufacturing  dis- 
tricts, of  paying  the  wages  of  workmen  in  goods  instead  of 
money.  The  plan  has  been  for  the  masters  to  establish 
warehouses  or  shops  ;  and  the  workmen  in  their  employ- 
ment have  either  got  their  wages  accounted  for  to  them  by 
supplies  of  goods  from  such  dep6ts,  without  receiving  any 
money  ;  or  they  have  got  the  money,  with  a  tacit  or  express 
understanding  that  they  were  to  resort  to  the  warehouses 
or  shops  of  their  masters  for  such  articles  as  they  were  fur- 
nished with.  (For  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of 
this  system,  see  Com.  Die.) 

TRU'FFLE.  A  subterranean  fungus,  of  a  roundish  ob- 
long form,  and  a  blackish  brown  colour,  much  employed  in 
cookery.  It  is  found  by  dogs  and  pigs,  trained  for  the  pur- 
pose, in  soil  beneath  trees,  especially  beeches  and  oaks  ;  it 


TRUMPET. 

is,  however,  very  local.  It  is  propagated  by  spores  inclu- 
ded in  sinuous  chambers  in  the  interior  ;  but  has  never  yet 
been  cultivated  with  success,  notwithstanding  many  at- 
tempts that  have  been  made.  Botanists  recognise  several 
kinds  of  truffles,  the  commonest  being  the  Tuber  cibarium, 

TRU'MPET.  In  Acoustics,  an  instrument  used  for  the 
purpose  either  of  conveying  articulate  sounds  to  a  great  dis- 
tance, or  for  applying  to  the  ear,  in  order  to  collect  the  sono- 
rous rays,  and  render  sounds  more  distinct.  In  the  former 
case,  the  instrument  is  a  speaking-trumpet ;  in  tke  latter,  a 
hearing-trumpet. 

Speaking-trumpet. — The  object  of  the  speaking-trumpet 
is  to  increase  the  intensity  of  speech,  and  transmit  it  to  con- 
siderable distances  in  a  particular  direction.  In  order  to 
obtain  this  effect,  it  is  necessary  that  the  aerial  undulations 
which  would  disperse  themselves  in  all  directions,  be  con- 
fined by  the  sides  of  the  trumpet,  and  reflected  so  as  to  take, 
as  nearly  as  possible,  a  direction  parallel  to  the  axis.  This  is 
accomplished  by  giving  the  trumpet  such  a  form  that  its  di- 
ameter becomes  greater  towards  the  extremity  furthest  from 
the  mouth.  A  cylindrical  or  prismatic  tube,  of  equal  diam- 
eter throughout,  assists  powerfully  in  conveying  sound  from 
one  extremity  to  the  other,  but  contributes  in  no  degree  to 
give  a  direction  to  sound,  or  transmit  it  through  free  air. 

The  theoretical  explanation  of  the  effects  of  the  speaking- 
trumpet  is  attended  with  considerable  difficulty.  Assuming 
that  the  reflexion  of  sound  takes  place  according  to  the 
laws  of  catoptrics,  Lambert  (Berlin  Memoirs  for  1763)  showa 
the  best  form  of  the  instrument  is  a  truncated  cone,  for  the 
rays  successively  reflected  from  the  interior  surface  of  this 
figure  make  smaller  angles  with  the  axis  after  each  succes- 
sive reflexion.  Cassegrain  (Journal  des  Savans,  torn,  iii.) 
recommends  the  surface  formed  by  the  revolution  of  a  hy- 
perbola about  its  asymptote ;  and  Kircher  had  previously 
proposed  a  truncated  parabolic  conoid,  the  mouth-piece 
occupying  the  focus.  Some  authors  suppose  that  the  trum- 
pet should  be  formed  of  a  very  elastic  material,  in  order  to 
strengthen  the  sound  by  its  vibrations.  Others  are  of 
opinion  that  it  should  be  without  elasticity,  to  avoid  the  con- 
fusion that  might  be  caused  by  the  vibrations  of  the  tube. 
Hassenfratz  (Journal  de  Physique,  torn,  lvi.),  who  made  a 
number  of  experiments  on  the  power  of  the  trumpet,  by  fix- 
ing a  small  watch  in  the  mouth-piece,  and  observing  the 
distance  at  which  the  beats  ceased  to  be  audible,  found  that 
the  effects  were  precisely  the  same  with  a  trumpet  of  tinned 
iron,  whether  used  in  its  naked  form,  or  tightly  bound  round 
with  linen  to  prevent  vibration,  or  when  lined  with  woollen 
cloth,  whereby  reflexion  was  entirely  prevented.  It  would 
appear,  therefore,  that  neither  the  shape  of  the  instrument, 
nor  the  material  of  which  it  is  formed,  is  of  much  conse- 
quence. Leslie  (Experimental  Inquiry  into  the  Nature  and 
Propagation  of  Heat)  supposes  the  effect  of  the  trumpet  to 
be  owing  to  the  more  condensed  and  vigorous  impulsion 
given  to  the  air  from  its  lateral  flow  being  checked.  "The 
tube,"  he  observes,  "  by  its  length  and  narrowness,  detains 
the  efflux  of  air,  and  has  the  same  effect  as  if  it  diminished 
the  volubility  of  that  fluid,  or  increased  its  density.  The 
organs  of  articulation  strike  with  concentrated  force  ;  and 
the  pulses,  so  vigorously  thus  excited,  are,  from  the  re- 
flected form  of  the  aperture,  finally  enabled  to  escape,  and 
to  spread  themselves  along  the  atmosphere,"  p.  225. 

The  invention  of  the  speaking-trumpet  is  commonly  as- 
cribed to  Sir  Samuel  Moreland,  who,  about  the  year  1670, 
proposed  the  best  form  of  the  speaking-trumpet  as  a  ques- 
tion to  the  Royal  Society,  and  exhibited  some  instruments 
constructed  according  to  his  own  views.  These  were,  in 
general,  large  conical  tubes,  spreading  suddenly,  at  the  ex- 
tremity, to  a  greater  width.  They  were  tried  in  St.  James's 
Park ;  and  it  is  stated  that  their  effects  were  such  that  the 
king  (Charles  II.),  speaking  in  his  ordinary  colloquial  pitch 
of  voice,  through  a  trumpet  of  only  five  feet  and  a  half 
long,  was  distinctly  heard  at  the  distance  of  1000  yards. 
Another  person  was  perfectly  understood  at  the  distance  of 
four  miles  and  a  half.  Kircher  claims  the  credit  of  having 
made  such  experiments  previously;  but  his  remarks  apply 
rather  to  hearing  than  to  speaking-trumpets. 

Hearing-trumpet. — The  hearing-trumpet,  or  ear-trumpet, 
may  be  considered  as  a  reversed  speaking-trumpet,  with 
which  it  generally  corresponds  in  form,  though,  for  the  sake 
of  portability,  it  is  often  made  curved  or  spiral.  Lambert 
recommends  the  parabolic  figure  as  the  most  advantageous ; 
but,  in  order  to  give  the  greatest  effect,  the  apex  of  the  para- 
boloid must  be  cut  off*,  and  the  mouth  of  a  small  tube  in- 
serted in  the  focus,  to  convey  the  sound  concentrated  at 
that  point  to  the  auditory  organ.  Various  other  forms  are 
adopted  in  practice ;  and,  of  late  years,  flexible  India  rub- 
ber tubes  have  been  brought  into  use,  having  a  conical 
mouth-piece  of  ivory  or  silver  at  one  extremity,  and  a 
small  tube  of  like  material,  to  be  applied  to  the  ear.  A 
trumpet  of  this  kind  may  be  used  advantageously,  not  only 
for  remedying  the  defects  of  the  organ  of  hearing,  but  for 
assisting  the  observer  to  collect  feeble  and  distant  sounds. 

1275 


TRUNDLE. 

Moreland  on  the  Speaking-Trumpet,  1671;  Chladni, 
Traiti  its  Suns  :  Gehler,  i'hysickalisches  Wurtcrbuch,  art. 
"  HCrrohr.") 

Trumpet.  A  mnalca]  w ind  instrument  usually  made  of 
brass,  but  sometimes  of  diver.  This  instrument  former- 
ly  possessed  but  few  notes:  but  in  later  times  it  has,  by 
ml  keys,  been  vastly  extended  in  its  in- 
flexions. Its  compass  w  ill  be  seen  by  referring  to  the  synop- 
i  [lie  ditrerent  instruments  at  the  end  of  the  ar- 
ticle  Mi  si<  • 

TRU'-NDLE.  In  Mechanics,  a  pinion  having  its  teeth 
formed  of  thick  cylinders  or  swindles  ;  otherwise  called  a 
lantern  wheel,  or  toallotoer. 

TRUNK.  (Lai.  truncus.)  In  Architecture,  the  same  as 
shaft.  In  the  application  of  this  word  to  a  pedestal,  it  sig- 
nifies the  die,  dado,  or  body  of  the  pedestal. 

Trunk,  in  Entomology,  signifies  the  intermediate  section 
of  the  body  which  lies  between  the  head  and  the  abdomen. 

TRU'NNIONS.  The  pivots  or  short  cylinders  projecting 
from  the  sides  of  a  piece  of  ordnance,  by  which  it  rests  on 
the  cheeks  of  the  carriage.  The  trunnion  ring  is  the  ring 
on  a  cannon  next  before  the  trunnions. 

TRUSS.  (Fr.  trousser  )  In  Architecture,  a  framed  as- 
semblage of  pieces  of  timber  for  the  purpose  of  tying  up  or 
suspending  a  principal  beam  or  piece.     Sec  Roof. 

Truss.  A  rope  confining  the  middle  of  a  lower  yard  to 
the  mast. 

Trcss,  in  Surgery,  is  an  apparatus  by  which  in  cases  of 
rupture  the  intestine  is  retained  in  the  abdominal  cavity. 
This  is  usually  effected  by  the  aid  of  a  steel  spring  resting 
upon  a  small  pad  or  cushion,  which  is  kept  in  its  place  by  a 
proper  bandage. 

TB 1  SSED  ROOF.  In  Architecture,  one  so  constructed  as 
to  support  the  principal  rafters  and  tie  beam  at  certain  points 
where  bending  of  the  timber  is  likely  to  occur.      See  Roof. 

TRUST.  In  Law,  is  a  term  commonly  used  to  designate 
any  equitable  right  or  interest,  as  distinguished  from  a  legal 
one  :  properly,  that  class  of  equitable  rights  supposed  to  be 
founded  in  the  confidence  placed  by  one  party  in  another; 
the  name  trustee  denoting  the  person  in  whom  confidence 
is  placed  ;  cestui/  que  trust,  the  person  who  trusts — in  other 
words,  the  parly  who  enjoys  a  beneficial  interest  in  the  ob- 
jects of  which  the  trustee  has  the  legal  property. 

The  origin  of  conveyances  in  trust  may  be  traced  to  the 
jidii  cummissum  of  the  Romans,  which  was  a  gift  by  will 
to  a  person  capable  of  taking  in  trust  for  another  incapable 
by  the  Roman  law  of  taking  such  benefit,  whose  claim  un- 
der such  gifts  was  for  a  long  time  precarious,  and  merely 
fiduciary,  but  came  at  length  to  be  recognised  and  enforced 
by  law.  With  us  in  the  same  manner,  the  original  motive 
for  the  introduction  of  the  fiduciary  right,  which  was  cer- 
tainly borrowed  from  the  Romans,  was  the  wish  to  escape 
from  the  disabilities  atlecting  certain  persons,  or  bodies,  or 
tile  liabilities  attached  to  property  in  its  direct  and  simple 
Shape.  Such  was,  in  particular,  the  disability  of  corpora- 
tions to  purchase  land  at  common  law;  and  on  this  ac- 
count, as  it  is  commonly  said,  the  ecclesiastics,  who  were 
chiefly  interested  in  this  matter,  introduced  this  new  spe- 
cies of  property,  which  was  willingly  recognised  by  the 
chancellors,  then  usually  ecclesiastics,  and  in  other  respects 
inclined  to  adopt  the  principles  of  the  civil  law.  The  clergy 
were,  however,  soon  themselves  deprived  of  the  benefit  of 
the  invention,  the  disability  of  corporations  to  take  land 
ded  bj  statute  to  the  new  right  so  created.  But 
there  still  remained  many  liabilities  arising  from  feudal 
tenure,  incident  to  property  at  common  law;  such  as,  for 
instance,  dower,  escheat,  wardship,  restraint  upon  aliena- 
tion by  will,  which  it  was  desirable  and  possible  cither  to 
evade  by  this  mode  of  conveyance  in  trust,  or  to  transfer  to 
a  quarter  leas  Likelj  to  In-  affi  cted  bj  them  ;  and  there  were 
also  many  no  of  property  for  the  benefit  of  fami- 

lies, which  could  only  be  given  to  it  in  this  maimer.  It 
must  be  admitted,  further,  that  there  were  less  honest  pur- 
poses, such  as  the  defraud  purchasers  by  secret 
alienation,  sought  to  be  attained  by  the  same  means.  For 
among  other  reasons,  conveyances  in  trust  were  still 
resorted  to;  and  the  Court  of  Chancery,  which  had  once, 
for  whatever  reason,  originally  recognised,  continued  to  en- 
force them. 

'fin  re  were  also  two  other  means  of  creating  a  trust,  or 
rather  raising  a  use,  not  by  actual  conveyance;  the  one  by 
agreement  lor  mone)  :  the  other  by  covenant  under  seal  in 
consideration  of  near  relationship. 

The  right  so  created  was  called  indifferently  a  trust  or 
mmonly  the  latter,  from  the  actual  enjoy- 
ment of  the  rents  anil   profits  annexed   to  it  in  equity.     In- 
deed, the  benefit  of  the  use  or  trust  was  in  the  first  instance 
this  ;  but   tin-  cestUJS  que   use,  or  parlies  benefi- 
cially interested,  soon  acquired  the  righl  of  directing  a  con- 
ilie  holders  of  the  legal  estate,  legally  termed 
tin-  feoffees  to  uses,  and  also  of  calling  upon  them  to  use 
tlie  legal  title  in  their  defence  in  a  court  of  common  law. 
JJ7U 


TRUST. 

Several  statutes  were  passed  at  different  times,  giving  to 
the  owner  of  the  use  or  trust  partial  legal  rights,  and  par- 
tially also  subjecting  interests  of  that  sort  to  legal  liabili- 
ties, before  the  celebrated  statute,  commonly  called  the 
Statute  of  Uses,  which  was  passed  in  the  'J7lh  year  of 
Henry  VIII.  The  general  object  of  this  statute,  as  slated 
in  the  preamble,  was  to  prevent  those  secret  and  fraudulent 
transfers  occasioned  by  the  separation  of  the  real  from  the 
apparent  ownership,  and  to  restore  those  rights  of  the  feudal 
lord,  and  of  the  crown,  which  had  been  in  a  great  measure 
evaded,  by  keeping  the  legal  title  to  which  alone  they  at- 
tached in  a  course  of  succession  ;  where  it  was  likely  to  be 
forfeited  by  treason,  and  where  it  was  less  frequently  sub- 
ject by  descent  to  an  infant  heir  to  the  burden  of  wardship 
and  relief.  The  general  effect  of  the  statute  as  staled  in 
the  title,  was  the  transferring  or  changing  the  use  into  pos- 
session, that  is,  annexing  to  the  use  the  legal  right  of  pos- 
session, whereby  the  real  owner  would  be  made  manifest 
to  all,  and  the  real  ownership  would  become  subject  to  all 
the  liabilities  incident  to  the  legal  title  ;  in  short,  the  dis- 
tinction between  equitable  and  legal  rights  would  be  abol- 
ished, and  the  adjudication  on  all  questions  of  property, 
except  in  particular  cases  of  fraud  or  accident,  would  be 
restored  to  ihe  courts  of  common  law. 

The  statute,  however,  was  so  worded  as  not  to  apply 
either  lo  copyholds  or  leaseholds,  nor  indeed  to  personal 
property  of  any  description,  which  at  that  time  was  little 
thought  of;  so  that  equitable  rights  in  copyholds  and  per- 
sonalty remained  as  before,  merely  equitable ;  and  they 
arose  again,  very  shortly  afterwards,  in  every  species  of 
real  property,  it  being  held  by  the  courts  of  common  law 
that  such  uses  or  trusts  only  were  executed  and  transferred 
into  possession  by  the  statute,  as  were  raised  or  declared 
upon  what  was  before  the  statute  the  legal  seisin  or 
estate  ;  so  that  where  a  new  legal  estate  taking  etfect  as 
such  by  virtue  of  the  statute  was  created  or  conveyed  in 
trust,  such  trust-right  not  being  within  the  purview  of  the 
statute,  and  not  being  recognised  by  the  courts  of  common 
law,  was  adopted  and  enforced  in  equity,  for  reasons  alto- 
gether similar  in  kind  to  those  which  originally  led  to  the 
introduction  of  uses.  Hence  a  new  system  of  equitable 
rights  grew  up  under  the  name  of  trusts,  commensurate 
with  the  new  system  of  legal  rights  or  uses  (for  the  use 
henceforth  denoted  the  legal  estate),  created  by  the  statute  ; 
and  though  some  of  the  peculiar  advantages  of  the  old  trust 
were,  by  the  effect  of  the  statute,  transferred  to  the  new 
legal  ownership,  such  as  the  capability  of  modification  for 
the  benefit  of  different  parties  upon  different  events,  and 
though  the  right  of  disposition  by  will  was  shortly  after- 
wards extended  to  it  by  special  statute,  and  though  w  hat- 
ever  advantages  were  still  possessed  by  the  trust,  as  a 
means  of  evading  the  burdens  of  tenure  or  other  liabilities 
now  attached  to  the  use,  were  gradually  removed  either 
by  the  abolition  of  those  burdens  or  the  extension  of  those 
liabilities,  trusts  still  continued  and  continue  to  be  habitu- 
ally resorted  to  for  various  purposes.  These  are,  generally, 
either  to  protect  the  interests  of  married  women  and  child- 
ren, by  placing  in  the  hands  of  trustees  for  them  the  legal 
rights  which  they  would  be  incapable  of  exercising;  or  to 
secure  the  rights  of  those  in  remainder,  by  severing  from 
the  usufruct  of  property  for  a  life  the  power  of  disposing  of 
the  whole;  or,  lastly,  the  convenience  of  management, 
where  many  parties  are  interested  in  the  same  subject. 
These  observations  can  apply  only,  at  least  with  one  or 
two  exceptions,  to  express  trusts.  An  express  trust  sup- 
poses a  legal  transfer  of  the  property  actually  completed, 
and  a  declaration  in  the  same  instrument,  or  having  re- 
ference to  the  same  instrument  (as  an  appointment  under 
a  power  thereby  created)  of  the  trust  upon  which  the  pro- 
peri;,  so  transferred  is  to  be  held.  Such  trusts  ma)  he  de- 
clared in  or  by  a  reference  to  any  instrument,  either  deed 
or  will,  that  js  sufficient  to  pass  property  at  law  ;  the  ground 
upon  which  they  rest  is  the  express  confidence  that  is  placed 
in  the  trustee,  by  the  person  who  transfers  the  property  to 
him,  no  consideration  of  money  or  blood  between  the  trus- 
tee and  those  for  whom  lie  holds  being  required  as  an  in- 
ducement for  the  Interference  of  equity.  Trusts  are  most 
commonly  raised  by  marriage  settlements,  or  by  will.  The 
usual  trusts  in  the  former  ease,  as  to  real  estate,  are  upon 
h"_'al  estates  in  terms  of  years,  to  arise  upon  certain  events, 

to  be  held  in  trust,  in  the  first  place,  for  securing  to  the 

wile  payment  of  hei  pin  money  during  marriage,  and  of 
her  jointure  after  the  husband's  death  ;  then  for  the  rais- 
iiiL',  by  sale  or  mortgage  of  the  term,  the  Stipulated  provi- 
sions lor  younger  children,  and    also  for  pm\  iding  lor  their 

maintenance  during  minority.  The  ultimate  trust  of  such 
terms,  whether  expressed  or  not,  tofor  the  person  entitled 

to  the  i  oi|  as  of  the  estate,  subject  to  those  charges  which 
the    terms   are   created    to   secure.        Similar   tiusls,   also, 

are  commonly  raised  in  wills,  for  the  maintenance  or 
advancement  and  portioning  of  younger  children.  In  all 
such  cases,  the  legal  rights  vested  in  the  trustees   most 


TRUST. 

commonly  remain  in  their  hands,  as  a  means  only  of 
compelling  tlie  person  actually  in  possession  to  discharge 
those  claims  subject  to  which  he  holds  his  estate.  But 
there  are  other  trusts  of  frequent  occurrence,  both  in  mar- 
riage-settlements and  in  wills,  which  require  a  more  active 
interference  on  the  part  of  the  trustees,  and  which,  there- 
fore, carry  with  them  a  greater  degree  of  responsibility. 
These  are  trusts  for  the  sale  of  land  and  investment  of  the 
proceeds  upon  security,  or  in  the  purchase  of  other  land, 
or  trusts  for  the  investment  of  what  was  originally  person- 
alty; in  which  cases,  it  is  important  for  the  trustees  to 
consider,  in  the  first  place,  how  far  the  trust  for  sale  or 
conversion  is  imperative  and  immediate,  lest  by  delay  they 
become  liable  for  any  loss  that  may  ensue  from  the  al  tera- 
tion  in  the  value  or  price  of  land  securities;  in  the  next 
place,  what  are  the  securities  in  which  they  are  directed  to 
invest,  as  they  will  be  answerable  for  the  failure  of  any 
security  a  resort  to  which  has  not  been  authorized  by  the 
terms  of  the  trust.  Where  these  securities  are  private,  or 
where  a  purchase  of  land  is  made  with  trust  moneys,  they 
are  further  bound  to  see  that  the  usual  professional  inquiries 
are  in  either  case  instituted  into  the  validity  of  the  title. 
It  is  obviously  their  duty,  also,  to  look  to  the  due  appropria- 
tion or  distribution  of  the  proceeds.  Where  there  is  aeon- 
version  absolute,  or,  as  it  is  called,  out  and  out,  of  realty 
into  personalty,  or  of  personalty  into  realty,  either  agreed  to 
or  directed  by  deed  or  will,  land  is  in  equity  considered  as 
money,  and  money  as  land,  for  all  the  purposes  of  succes- 
sion or  transmission ;  but  it  rarely  happens  that  a  conver- 
sion by  will  is  in  terms  sufficiently  absolute  to  exclude  the 
right  of  the  heirs,  or,  where  it  is  personalty,  the  rights  of 
the  personal  representative,  to  such  part  of  the  real  or  per- 
sonal estate,  whether  actually  converted  or  not,  as  shall 
not  be  required  to  fulfil  the  purposes  for  which  the  conver- 
sion was  directed. 

The  system  of  trusts  is  still  more  generally  prevalent  in 
limitations  of  copyhold  and  personal  property,  particularly 
personal  chattels,  as  money  or  stock  in  the  funds,  to  neither 
of  which  classes  of  property  the  Statute  of  Uses  applied, 
and  in  which,  therefore,  the  legal  interest  remained,  at 
least  for  a  time,  subject  to  the  narrow  rules  of  the  common 
law;  and  copyhold  property  is,  therefore,  for  this  as  well  as 
for  other  reasons,  more  commonly  settled  upon  trust  than 
is  property  of  freehold  tenure.  Personal  property,  though 
once  held  incapable  at  common  law  of  partial  or  shifting 
limitations,  has  long,  by  a  somewhat  forced  though  ingeni- 
ous rule  of  construction,  been  released  from  that  restric- 
tion ;  and  therefore  in  the  settlement  of  chattels  real,  of 
which  the  title  is  distinct  from  the  possession,  the  creation 
of  a  distinct  equitable  title  is  not  more  often  resorted  to 
than  in  the  settlement  of  real  property  of  freehold  tenure. 
But  it  is  in  regard  to  that  sort  of  personal  property,  the  title 
to  which,  or  rather  the  power  of  conferring  a  title  to  which, 
is  annexed  to  the  possession,  either  from  the  nature  of  the 
thing  itself,  as  in  the  case  of  money,  or  for  reasons  of  pub- 
lic convenience,  as  in  the  case  of  bills  of  exchange,  and  in 
regard  also  to  stock  in  the  funds  (a  class  of  property  over 
which  the  holder,  whether  it  be  in  trust  or  not,  has  by  the 
regulations  of  the  bank  absolute  power  of  alienation)"  that 
the  utility  of  trusts  is  more  particularly  conspicuous.  When- 
ever it  is  sought  to  create  in  any  such  property  shifting  or 
partial  interests,  nothing  in  such  cases  can  secure  future  or 
contingent  rights  from  the  dishonesty  of  the  tenant  for  life 
or  partial  owner  but  the  intervention  of  trustees,  in  whose 
hands  the  whole  legal  interest,  that  is  to  say,  the  whole 
power  of  alienation,  resides ;  and  though  a  similar  danger 
is  sometimes  to  be  apprehended  even  at  their  hands,  yet 
their  number  itself,  and  the  discretion  that  may  be  exer- 
cised in  their  appointment,  afford  a  greater  security  than  is 
to  be  found  in  the  integrity  of  a  single  individual. 

Duties  of  Trustees. — It  is  only  in  cases  of  express  trusts, 
whether  such  in  the  origin,  or  become  such  by  the  accept- 
ance and  acknowledgement  of  the  legal  owner  undertaking 
to  act  as  trustee,  that  the  rules  respecting  the  duties,  lia- 
bilities, and  rights  of  trustees  are  applicable.  As  to  their 
liabilities,  they  are  liable  not  only  for  such  sums  as  they 
actually  have  received,  but  for  such  also  as  they  might, 
but  for  their  wilful  neglect  or  default  have  received.  Where 
there  are  several  trustees,  each  is  generally  liable  for  his  own 
acts  and  receipts  only;  but  where  all  concur  in  empower- 
ing either  one  of  themselves,  or  a  third  party,  to  do  or  re- 
ceive that  which  he  could  not  do  or  receive  but  by  virtue 
of  such  authorization,  all  are  responsible  for  his  acts  and 
receipts  under  such  joint  authority.  It  is  the  duty  of  trus- 
tees, besides  being  faithful  accountants,  to  apply  and  distri- 
bute rightly  the  property  they  are  entrusted  with  according 
to  the  various  rights  of  the  parties  entitled  to  it;  and  they 
are  liable  for  any  misapplication,  arising  either  from  ignor- 
ance of  facts  which  they  ought  to  have  known,  i.  e„  might 
by  common  diligence  have  known,  or  from  ignorance  of 
the  law  in  any  case.  It  is  their  business,  then,  as  to  the 
first,  to  inquire  diligently  into  all  the  circumstances  of  the 
98 


TUBERCLE. 

trust;  and  as  to  the  second,  where,  upon  consulting  profes- 
sional advisers,  there  appears  to  be  any  reasonable  doubt, 
to  refer  it  to  the  opinion  of  the  court  by  instituting  a  suit 
for  the  fulfilment  of  the  trust.  The  rights  of  trustees  are 
confined  to  the  reimbursement  of  their  proper  expenses  out 
of  the  trust  property.  An  express  trust  will  not  fail  for  the 
want  of  trustees ;  where  none  are  nominated,  the  court  will 
take  upon  itself  the  appointment.  To  the  same  class  of 
trusts  proper,  that  is  to  say,  equitable  rights  arising  from 
confidence  reposed,  may  be  assigned  implied  or  resulting 
trusts,  in  which  the  confidence  is  not  expressed,  but  implied 
by  courts  of  equity  from  the  want  of  consideration  or  mo- 
tive apparent  in  such  cases,  to  give  away  the  whole,  or,  as 
it  may  be,  any  part  of  the  beneficial  interest.  Such  trusts 
arise,  in  the  first  place,  upon  the  conveyance  or  transfer, 
by  deed  or  will,  of  property  real  or  personal  upon  some 
trust  expressly  declared,  which  does  not  exhaust  the  whole 
beneficial  interest,  or  expressly  upon  trust,  though  no  trust 
be  declared  ;  in  the  first  of  which  cases,  the  surplus  of  the 
beneficial  ownership,  after  satisfaction  of  the  express  pur- 
pose or  trust,  and  in  the  second  case,  the  whole  of  tiie 
ownership,  results  to  the  party  making  such  conveyance 
or  transfer.  To  the  former  class  of  partial  resulting  trusts 
belongs  the  equity  of  redemption  upon  a  mortgage,  which 
is  an  equitable  right  resulting  to  the  mortgagor  after  all  right 
of  redemption  is  forfeited  at  law,  to  recover  back  the  thing 
mortgaged  upon  payment  of  the  capital  and  interest  of  the 
money  borrowed  upon  the  security  of  such  pledge.  This 
equity  of  redemption  subsists  in  favour  of  the  real  or  per- 
sonal representatives  of  the  mortgagor  against  the  real  or 
personal  representative  mortgagee,  till  it  is  destroyed  either 
by  twenty  years  of  the  adverse  possession,  i.  e.,  possession 
without  any  acknowledgment  whatever  of  any  rights  in  the 
mortgagor,  or,  which  is  the  most  common  case,  by  decree 
of  foreclosure  in  equity,  by  which  a  peremptory  day  is  fixed. 
Trusts  of  a  similar  nature  frequently  arise  upon  devises 
of  real  property  for  payment  of  debts,  in  which  cases  a 
trust  results  in  the  surplus,  either  for  the  heir,  or  the  resid- 
uary devisee,  where  there  is  one ;  but  it  should  be  observ- 
ed, that  where  any  specific  purpose  for  which  a  trust  is 
created  by  devise  in  the  produce  of  land  fails  of  taking 
effect,  such  as  a  legacy  charged  upon  land  by  predecease 
of  the  legatee,  or  a  similar  legacy  void  under  the  Statute 
of  Mortmain,  the  benefit  of  the  lapse  results  to  the  heir, 
and  not  to  the  residuary  devisee,  who  takes  by  such  devise 
not  that  which  ultimately  is  not  applicable  to  the  purposes 
of  the  will,  but  that  only  which  the  testator  expresses  no 
intention  of  otherwise  disposing  of.  But  where  a  legacy, 
payable  out  of  the  personalty,  fails  of  taking  effect,  the 
lapse  shall  enure  for  the  benefit  of  the  residuary  legatee, 
where  there  is  one,  in  preference  to  the  next  of  kin  ;  the 
reason  of  the  difference  being  that  previous  to  the  late  Wills 
Act  a  devise  of  land  spoke  from  the  time  of  the  will,  a  be- 
quest of  personalty  from  the  death  of  the  testator. 

A  trust  is  implied  in  the  whole  beneficial  ownership  upon 
the  conveyance  or  transfer  by  deed  of  the  legal  interest  in 
real  or  personal  property;  i.  e.,  where  it  is  either  chattels 
real  or  stock,  or  where  the  corpus  of  the  property  is  not  ac- 
tually delivered  to  a  person  from  whom  no  motive  or  conr 
sideration  moves,  and  in  whose  favour  no  declaration  of 
trust  is  contained  in  such  deed  or  instrument ;  in  which 
case  a  trust  is  implied,  either  for  the  party  making  such 
conveyance  or  transfer,  or  for  the  person  from  whom  it  is 
shown  aliunde  that  the  consideration  for  such  conveyance 
or  transfer,  as,  for  instance,  the  money  with  which  the 
purchase  was  made,  actually  moved.  The  implication  of 
resulting  trusts  has,  perhaps,  arisen  through  an  unwise  de- 
parture from  the  Statute  of  Frauds,  as  it  is  a  reliance  upon 
parol  evidence  in  opposition  to  the  legal  title.  It  should, 
however,  be  observed,  that  the  parol  evidence,  upon  w  hich 
such  trusts  may  he  raised,  must  be  evidence,  not  of  decla- 
rations or  intention,  but  parol  evidence  of  facts,  as,  for  in- 
stance, of  the  payment  of  money  by  a  person  not  the  no- 
minal purchaser ;  but  to  repel  a  presumption  of  a  trust  parol 
evidence  of  a  declaration  of  intention  is  admissible,  because 
such  evidence  is  corroborative  of  the  legal  import  of  the  deed. 
TRUTH.  In  the  Fine  Arts,  a  faithful  adherence  in  rep- 
resentation to  the  models  of  nature,  or  the  prototypes  on 
which  the  principles  of  art  are  founded. 

TRY'ING,  or  A-TRY.  In  Naval  Language,  a  word 
somewhat  obsolete  for  heaving  or  hove  to. 

TRY'SAIL.  A  small  gaff  sail  of  strong  or  storm  canvass, 
set  in  bad  weather. 

TUBE.  (Lat.  tubus.)  A  pipe  or  long  hollow  body.  A 
tube  is  generally  understood  to  signify  a  hollow  cylinder, 
but  the  cylindrical  form  is  not  essential. 

TUBER.  In  Botany,  a  kind  of  fleshy  stem,  formed  un- 
derground, and  filled  with  starch.  It  is  commonly  looked 
upon  as  a  root,  as  in  the  potatoe.  Also  the  systematical 
name  of  the  truffle. 

TUBERCLE.  In  Morbid  Anatomy,  this  term  is  applied 
to  certain  diseased  structures,  as  tubercles  of  the  lungs ; 

1277 


TUBERCLE  OF  LOWER. 

small  hard  superficial  tumors  of  the  skin  are  also  called 
tubercles. 

II  ItKKCLE  OF  LOWER.  An  eminence  in  the  right 
auricle  nt"  the  heart  where  the  two  vense  cava?  meet;  it 
was  first  described  by  Richard  Lower,  in  1665. 

TUBE'RCULA  QUADRIGEMINA.  Pour  white  oval 
tubercles  in  the  brain,  two  of  which  are  situated  on  each 
side,  over  the  orifice  of  the  third  ventricle  and  the  aque- 
duct of  Silvias.  The  old  anatomists  called  them  nates  and 
testes. 

TU'BICOLES,  Tubieola.  (Lat.  tubus,  a  tube,  colo,  /  in- 
habit.) The  name  of  an  order  of  Anellidans.  comprehend- 
ing those  which  live  in  tubes,  and  which  are  Cephalobran- 
chiate  :  also  the  name  of  a  family  of  Lamellihranchiate 
Acephalous  Mollusks,  including  those  which  have  a  tubu- 
lar calcareous  sheath  in  addition  to  the  two  shellv  valves. 

TUTHCORNS,  Tubieoniia.  (Lat tabus;  cornu,  a  Aom.) 
The  name  of  a  family  of  the  order  of  Ruminants  compre- 
hending those  in  which  the  horns  are  composed  of  a  horny 
axis  covered  with  a  homy  sheath. 

TU'BIFEBS,  Tubifera.  (Lat.  tubus;  fero,  J  carry.) 
The  na given  by  Lamarck  to  an  order  of  the  class  Poly- 
pi, comprising  those  which  are  united  upon  a  common  sub- 
stance fixed  at  Its  base,  and  whose  surface  is  wholly  or  par- 
tially covered  With  retractile  hollow  tubes. 

TUBIPORES,  Tubipnra.  (Lat.  tubus:  porn?,  a  pore.) 
The  name  of  a  family  of  Zoophytes,  comprehending  those 
in  which  the  animals  are  isolated  and  contained  in  elon- 
gated cylindrical  calcareous  cells,  attached  by  their  base, 
and  strengthened  by  cross  bars  at  definite  distances. 

TUBULA'RIA.  The  name  of  a  genus  of  Corallines, 
with  simple  or  branched  horny  tubes,  from  the  extremities 
of  which  the  polypes  are  protruded;  these  have  two  rows 
of  tantaces,  of  which  the  external  is  expanded  in  a  radiated 
manner,  the  internal  one  raised  into  a  tuft. 

TUBULIBRA'NCHIANS,  Tubal ibranchiata.  (Lat.  tu- 
bus ;  branchiae  gills.)  The  name  of  an  order  of  Her- 
maphrodite Gastropodous  Mollusks,  comprehending  those 
which  have  the  shell  in  the  form  of  a  more  or  less  irregular 
tube  in  which  the  branchia  are  lodg<  d. 

TUBU'LICOLES,  Tubulicola  ;  Polypes  a  Tuijaur.  (Lat. 
tubus;  colo,  /  inhabit.)  A  name  applied  by  Cuvier  to  a 
family  of  Polypes,  including  those  which  inhabit  tubes  of 
which  the  axis  is  traversed  by  the  gelatinous  flesh,  and 
which  are  open  at  the  summits  or  sides  to  give  passage  to 
the  digestive  sacs  and  prehensile  mouths  of  the  polypes. 

TU'ESDAY.  la  the  Calendar,  the  third  day  of  the  week, 
named  after  Tuisco,  the  Saxon  god  of  war ;  whence  the  as- 
tronomical symbol  is  the  same  as  that  for  the  planet  Mars. 
As  to  the  god  Tuisco,  or  Tuisto,  see  Mem.  de  VAcad.  des 
Inscr..  vol.  xxiv. 

TUFA.  (Italian.)  A  volcanic  rock,  composed  of  an 
agglutination  of  fragmented  BCOlie. 

Tl  I'D.  In  Architecture,  a  species  of  porus,  light,  sandy, 
calcareous  stone,  suited  to  the  construction  of  vaults.  The 
travt  riino,  with  which  the  cupola  of  St.  Peter's  is  con- 
structed, is  of  this  species. 

TU'GENDBUND.  (Germ,  union  of  virtue.)  A  patriotic 
association  formed  in  Prussia  after  the  treaty  of  Tilsit  in 
1807.  Its  object  was  to  prepare  the  people  of  that  country 
by  moral  instruction  and  discipline  for  better  times.  It  was 
abolished  at  the  instigation  of  the  French  ;  but  its  spirit  sur- 
vived, and  it  had  great  effect  in  promoting  the  national  war 
against  Napoleon  in  1813. 

TU'LIPA.  (Turkish,  toliban.)  A  gay  flower  inhabiting 
the  warmer  parts  of  Europe  and  Asia  Minor.  It  is  well 
known  for  the  gaudiness  of  its  colours,  which  have  made 
it  a  favourite  with  gardeners,  who  have  converted  its  cul- 
tivation into  a  system  of  gambling,  which  the  Dutch  have 
been  obliged  to  repress  by  sumptuary  laws.  It  is  a  genus  of 
the  Liliaceous  order. 

TUMBLE  HOME.  The  term  describing  the  falling  or 
bending  Inwards  of  the  upper  timbers  of  the  ship's  side. 

TU'MBREL.  (Old  Fr.  tumerrl.)  A  low  carriage  with 
two  wheels,  occasionally  u^ed  for  the  most  ordinary  pur- 
poses by  fanners ;  but  it  is  chiefly  used  fur  carrying  the-  Im- 
plements of  the  pioneers  attached  to  trains  of  artillery. 

TU'MULI.     Sec  Barrows. 

TUN.  A  measure  of  capacity.  The  English  tun  con- 
tains 252  gallons,  or  4  hogsheads'.    See  To*. 

TUNE.  (fir.  rows-)  In  Music,  the  relation  of  notes  to 
each  other  and  the  distances  between  them,  wherefrom 
arises  melody.  In  other  words,  it  is  a  certain  succession  of 
different  single  Bounds  arranged  according  to  art. 

TU'NGSTATES.  Compounds  of  the  tungstic  acid.  See 
Tongs 

TUNGSTEN.  (Swedish,  tung  sten,  heavy  stone.)  The 
ores  of  this  metal  are  the  native  tungstate  of  lime,  and  the 
tungstate  of  iron  and  manganese;  the  latter  mineral  is 
known  under  the  name  of  Wolfram.  Tungsten  i~  a  white, 
hard,  brittle  metal,  very  difficult  of  fusion,  and  having  the 
high  specific  gravity  of  171.  Heated  to  redness  in  the  open 
1278 


TUNTsTZL. 

air,  it  burns  into  ihc  peroxide,  or  tungstic  acid.  The  equiva- 
lent of  tungsten  is  probably  about  100  ;  and  the  tungstic  acid 
consists  of  1  atom  of  metal  and  3  atoms  of  oxygen  (8X3 
=  24),  and  is  represented  by  the  equivalent  124.  This 
metal  was  discovered  by  Messrs.  Delhuyart.  It  is  some- 
times called  Hu/framium,  and  also  Scheeiium,  in  honour  of 
Schecle,  who  first  examined  the  nature  of  tungstate  of 
lime. 

TUNIC.  (Lat.  tunica.)  A  garment  wom  by  the  ancient 
Romans  of  both  sexes,  under  the  toga  (which  see),  and  next 
to  the  skin.  It  was  generally  of  wool,  of  a  white  colour, 
and  it  reached  below  the  knee.  The  senators  wore  their 
tunics  with  a  broad  stripe  of  purple  sewed  on  the  breast : 
the  equites  had  narrow  stripes  ;  hence  the  epithets  lati- 
clavii  and  murustt'clavii,  applied  respectively  to  these  orders. 

TUNICARIES,  Tunicata.  (Lat  tunica,  a  tunic)  The 
name  of  an  order  of  Acephalous  Mollusks.  comprehending 
those  in  which  the  exterior  covering  is  uncalcified,  soft,  and 
elastic:  it  is  equivalent  to  the  Ascidics  of  Savigny,  and  the 
Aecphales  sans  Coouilles  of  Cuvier. 

TUNKERS,  or  DUNKERS.  A  religious  sect,  a  subdi- 
vision of  the  Baptists :  chiefly  found  in  Pennsylvania.  Their 
name  is  said  to  be  derived  from  tunken,  Germ.,  to  dip:  be- 
cause in  baptism  they  plunge  the  person  head  foremost  into 
the  water.  They  differ  little  in  doctrine  from  other  Bap- 
tists ;  but  every  brother  is  allowed  to  speak  in  their  churches. 
This  society  was  originally  founded  by  one  Conrad  Beissel, 
in  1720 ;  Who  founded  a  colony  called  "  Ephrata,"  sixty 
miles  from  Philadelphia.    They  wear  long  beards. 

TU'XNEL.  (Sax.  tcenel.)  In  Engineering,  a  subterra- 
nean passage  cut  through  a  hill  or  under  a  river,  for  the 
purpose  of  earning  a  canal,  road,  railway,  &c. 

In  the  construction  of  railways  and  canals,  it  is  some- 
times absolutely  necessary,  and  very  frequently  expedient, 
to  have  recourse  to  tunnelling,  either  to  preserve  the  requi- 
site level,  or  shorten  the  distance,  or  to  lessen  the  expense 
of  open  cutting.  The  circumstances  on  which  the  question 
of  expediency  depends  are  often  of  a  very  complicated  na- 
ture ;  but,  generally  speaking,  it  must  be  decided  by  con- 
siderations of  economy,  for  in  the  present  state  of  engineer- 
ing, a  tunnel  may  be  made  of  almost  any  length,  and 
through  materials  of  any  description,  from  a  granite  rock  to 
a  quicksand.  The  nature  of  the  ground  can  hardly  be  said 
to  interpose  any  farther  obstacle  than  what  may  be  occa- 
sioned by  the  expense. 

On  account  of  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  difficulties  to  be 
overcome,  the  tunnel  which  has  recently  been  carried  under 
the  bed  of  the  Thames,  from  Rotherhitiie  to  Wapping,  may 
perhaps  be  regarded  as  the  most  remarkable  work  of  the 
kind  which  has  ever  been  executed.  A  short  account  of 
this  operation  will  probably  be  the  best  mode  of  convey- 
ing a  notion  of  the  extent  and  difficulty  of  such  works  gen- 
erally. 

Some  previous  attempts  had  been  made  to  carry  a  tunnel 
under  the  river  below  London  bridge.  In  1799,  one  was 
projected  at  Gravesend ;  but  the  project  was  soon  aban- 
doned. In  1804,  another  was  attempted  from  Rotherhithe 
to  Limehouse.  A  shaft  of  1 1  feet  in  diameter  was  sunk  to 
the  depth  of  42  feet,  and  continued  at  a  reduced  diameter 
of  8  feet  to  the  depth  of  7G  feet,  whence  a  drift  was  carried 
923  feet  under  the  river,  and  to  within  150  feet  of  the  op- 
posite shore,  where  difficulties  of  so  formidable  a  nature 
arose  that  the  engineer  reported  farther  progress  to  be  im- 
possible. The  scheme,  however,  continued  to  be  agitated  ; 
and  in  1823,  Mr.  Brunei  proposed  a  plan  which  has  at  length 
been  carried  successfully  into  execution. 

The  act  of  parliament  authorizing  the  operation  was  ob- 
tained in  June,  1824.  and  shortly  after  the  work  was  com- 
menced at  Rotherhithe.  The  shaft  at  this  place  is  150  feet 
from  the  river.  It  was  formed  by  building  a  cylinder  of 
brickwork  50  feet  in  diameter,  42  feet  in  height,  and  3  feet 
in  thickness,  on  the  top  of  which  a  steam  engine  was  erect- 
ed for  raisins  the  water  and  earth.  The  cylinder  was  let 
down  bodily  into  the  ground,  forcing  its  way  through  a  bed 
of  gravel  and  sand  96  feet  deep,  and  full  of  land  water. 
The  shaft  was  sunk  to  the  depth  of  65  feet,  and  from  this 
level  another  smaller  shaft.  25  feet  in  diameter,  was  sunk, 
destined  to  be  a  well  or  reservoir  for  the  drainage  of  water. 
The  excavation  for  the  body  of  the  tunnel  was  commenced 
at  a  depth  of  63  feet,  and  was  carried  on  at  a  declit  ity  of  2 
d  3  inches  per  100  feet,  in  order  to  have  sufficient 
thickness  of  ground  to  pass  safely  under  the  river.  The  ex- 
cavation is  38  feet  in  breadth,  and  22A  feet  in  height*  pre- 
senting a  sectional  area  of  850  feet;  and  the  base,  at  the 
deepest  part  of  the  river,  is  70  feet  below  high-water 
mark.  The  body  of  the  tunnel  is  of  brickwork  in  Koman 
cement. 

The  means  by  which  this  extensive  excavation  was  ef- 
fected,  consisted  ofa  powerful  apparatusof  Iron,  which  has 
been  called  a  shield.  It  \\  as  formed  "f  twelve  great  frames 
lying  close  to  each  other,  and  severally  provided  with  the 
mechanism  necessary  to  move  them  forward,  and  to  secure 


TUNNEL. 

them,  when  stationary,  against  the  brickwork.  The  frames 
were  22  feet  in  height,  and  about  3  feet  in  breadth,  and 
each  divided  into  three  stages  or  stories  ;  the  whole  thus 
presenting  thirty-six  compartments  or  cells  for  the  work- 
men. These  compartments  were  open  at  the  back  ;  but  in 
front  small  boards,  which  could  be  separately  removed  and 
replaced  at  pleasure,  were  pressed  firmly  against  the  ground 
to  be  excavated  by  screws.  Each  workman  in  his  cell 
operated  upon  the  surface  opposed  to  him,  taking  out  one  of 
the  small  boards  at  a  time,  cutting  the  ground  away  to  the 
depth  of  a  few  inches,  and  then  replacing  the  board  before 
he  proceeded  to  the  next ;  and  when  from  3  to  6  inches 
were  thus  removed  over  the  whole  surface  of  the  shield, 
the  frame  was  moved  forward,  and  the  work  secured  by 
immediately  adding  so  much  more  of  the  brickwork  to  the 
body  of  the  tunnel.  By  this  means  the  excavation  and  the 
structure  were  carried  forward  simultaneously. 

The  tunnel  consists  of  a  double  and  capacious  archway, 
one  side  being  appropriated  to  carriages  passing  in  one  di- 
rection, and  the  other  to  those  passing  in  the  contrary,  with 
paths  for  foot  passengers  by  the  sides  of  the  carriage  roads. 
The  middle  wall  between  the  two  archways  was  first  built 
solid  for  greater  strength,  but  openings  were  afterwards  cut 
at  short  distances,  so  that  each  has  a  ready  communication 
with  the  other.  The  two  shafts  at  the  extremities  will 
contain  easy  (lights  of  steps  for  foot  passengers ;  and  the 
access  for  carriages  is  intended  to  be  by  circular  roadways 
5200  feet  in  diameter,  the  declivity  of  which  will  not  exceed 
4  feet  in  100.  The  entire  length  of  the  tunnel  is  1300  feet, 
and  the  expense  is  said  to  have  been  .£1200  per  yard. 

In  the  course  of  the  work,  two  irruptions  of  the  river  took 
place,  the  first  on  the  18th  of  May,  1827,  after  the  excava- 
tion had  been  advanced  to  the  distance  of  about  400  feet ; 
and  the  second  in  January,  1828.  These  accidents  were 
repaired  by  filling  the  chasms  in  the  river  with  bags  of  clay ; 
and  on  clearing  the  tunnel  of  water,  the  structure  was 
found,  on  both  occasions,  to  be  in  a  perfectly  sound  state, 
and  to  have  sustained,  in  fact,  little  or  no  injury.  After 
the  second  irruption,  however,  the  works,  for  want  of  funds, 
remained  suspended  for  seven  years ;  but  assistance  having 
at  length  been  obtained  from  the  government,  they  were 
resumed  in  1835,  and  proceeded  without  further  interrup- 
tion till  the  tunnel  reached  the  termination  on  the  Wap- 
ping  side  of  the  river,  early  in  the  present  year,  1842.  This 
extraordinary  work,  which  during  its  progress  was  visited 
by  multitudes  of  persons  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  is, 
doubtless,  destined  to  remain  for  ages  a  proud  monument 
of  the  genius  and  perseverance  of  the  engineer  by  whom  it 
was  contrived  and  successfully  executed. 

The  establishment  of  railway  communication  in  this 
country  has  given  rise  to  some  stupendous  undertakings  in 
the  way  of  tunnelling.  One  of  the  most  remarkable,  per- 
haps the  most  remarkable,  of  all,  is  the  Box  Tunnel,  on  the 
Great  Western  Railway,  an  account  of  which  is  given  in 
the  Companion  to  the  British  Almanac  for  1842,  and  the 
Railway  Times  for  July  10,  1841.  This  tunnel  pierces  Box 
Hill,  between  Chippenham  and  Bath,  part  of  which  is  400 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  railway.  "  It  is  9680  feet  long, 
39  feet  high,  and  35  wide  to  the  outside  of  the  brickwork. 
The  shafts  for  making  and  ventilating  it  are  thirteen  in 
number,  and  vary  in  depth  from  80  to  306  feet.  The  exca- 
vation amounted  to  414,000  cubic  yards,  and  the  brickwork 
and  masonry  to  more  than  54,000  cubic  yards.  The  num- 
ber of  bricks  used  was  30,000,000 ;  a  ton  of  gunpowder  and 
a  ton  of  candles  were  consumed  every  week,  for  two  years 
and  a  half,  and  1100  men  and  250  horses  were  kept  con- 
stantly employed."  For  a  considerable  distance,  the  tun- 
nel passes  through  freestone  rock,  from  the  fissures  of 
which  there  was  at  times  an  immense  influx  of  water, 
whereby  on  one  occasion  the  works  were  interrupted  for  a 
period  of  nine  months.  On  a  subsequent  occasion,  after  an 
irruption,  water  was  for  some  time  discharged  by  the  en- 
gine at  the  rate  of  32,000  hogsheads  a  day.  This  tunnel 
occurs  on  an  inclined  plane  of  1  in  100. 

The  extent  of  brickwork  or  other  structure  which  may 
be  necessary  to  secure  the  excavation  in  works  of  the  class 
now  mentioned  will  depend,  of  course,  on  the  nature  of  the 
materials  through  which  the  tunnel  is  driven ;  and  in  de- 
ciding this  question,  it  is  important  to  attend  to  the  geologi- 
cal formation  of  the  locality.  In  the  unstratified  rocks  an 
excavation  may  be  made  with  perfect  safety  and  will  re- 
quire no  support,  while  in  those  whose  strata  are  nearly 
vertical,  danger  may  be  apprehended  from  slipping.  In  the 
chalk,  oolite,  marl,  lias,  and  similar  formations,  the  tunnel 
requires  to  be  lined  with  brickwork  throughout,  as  the  ma- 
terials cohere  so  imperfectly,  that  even  the  vibration  arising 
from  the  passage  of  the  carriages  may  cause  the  fall  of 
parts  of  the  roof. 

The  following  table  of  the  dimensions  of  a  few  railway 
tunnels  will  enable  the  reader  to  form  an  accurate  notion 
of  the  gigantic  scale  on  wliich  such  operations  are  con- 
ducted : 


TURNIP-FLY. 


Length 
In  Yards. 

3,227 
2,200 
1,760 
2,420 
1,250 
880 
1,760 

Height 
Feet. 

Width 
Foet. 

Box  Tunnel— Great  Western 
VVapping  to  Edge  Hill— Liverpool  and  I 
Manchester          ....        5 

Kilsby — London  and  Birmingham 
Primrose  Hill-Ditto       .... 
Canterbury  and  Whitstable     - 
Leicester  and  Swannington      - 

39 
16 
19 
27 
25 
12 
13* 

35 

22 
25 
23£ 
22 

I2a 
10$ 

TU'NNY.     See  Thynnus. 

TU'RBAN.  The  usual  head-dress  of  the  Turks,  Per- 
sians, and  most  other  eastern  nations.  It  varies  in  form  in 
different  nations,  and  in  different  classes  of  the  same  na- 
tion. It  consists  of  two  parts :  a  quilted  cap,  without  brim, 
fitted  to  the  head,  and  a  sash,  scarf,  or  shawl,  usually  of 
cotton  or  linen,  artfully  wound  about  the  cap,  and  some- 
times hanging  down  the  neck.  The  Grand  Signior's  turban 
contains  three  heron's  feathers,  and  is  ornamented  with 
diamonds. 

TU'RBO.  (Lat.  turbo,  a  whirling.)  The  name  of  a 
Linnsan  genus  of  the  Vermes  Testacea,  characterized  by 
having  a  shell  of  a  regular  turbinated  form,  with  an  entire 
and  rounded  mouth.  The  species  grouped  together  by  this 
specific  character  form  a  family  of  Pectinibranchiate  Gas- 
tropods in  the  system  of  Cuvier,  which  is  subdivided  into 
the  genera  Turbo  proper,  Cuv. ;  Delphinula,  Lam. ;  Pleu- 
rotoma,  Defrance;  Scissurclla,  D'Orb ;  Tornatella,  Lam.; 
Scalaria,  Lam. ;  Cyclostoma,  Lam. ;  Valvata,  Mull.;  Litto- 
rina,  Ferussac,  &c. 

TU'RBOT.  The  best,  and,  excepting  the  halibut,  largest 
of  our  flat  fishes ;  it  is  the  type  of  the  subgenus  Rhombus 
of  Cuvier.  It  is  taken  either  by  the  troll-net,  or,  in  deep 
water,  by  the  many-hooked  line  bated  with  the  common 
smelt,  or  small  gar-fish.  A  preference  is  given  in  the  Lon- 
don markets  to  the  turbots  caught  by  the  Dutch,  who  are 
estimated  to  have  drawn  for  this  supply  not  less  than 
£80,000  a  year. 

TURF.  The  surface  of  grass  lands,  of  a  smooth  and 
uniform  texture,  covered  with  pasture  grass.  The  term  is 
also  sometimes  applied  to  peat  cut  out  of  bog.    See  Peat. 

TU'RKEY  RED.  A  fine  and  durable  red  dyed  upon 
calico  and  woollen  cloth  ;  the  colouring  matter  used  in  its 
production  is  madder,  but  the  process  for  producing  it  in 
perfection  is  tedious  and  complicated.  (See  Bancroft  on 
Permanent  Colours.) 

TU'RLUITNS.  (A  word  of  which  no  satisfactory  de- 
rivation has  been  found.  See  Du  Cange's  Glossary.)  In 
French  Ecclesiastical  History,  one  of  the  numerous  popular 
by-names  by  which  the  sectaries  of  the  14th  century,  the 
precursors  of  the  Reformation,  were  distinguished :  called 
elsewhere  Beghards,  Picards,  Beguins,  Lollards,  &c. 

TU'RMA.  In  the  Roman  Legion,  a  company  of  horse, 
of  which  ten  formed  the  whole  complement  of  the  legion. 
According  to  Varro,  it  consisted  of  thirty  horsemen,  ten 
answering  to  each  of  the  three  original  equestrian  tribes, 
the  Tatienses,  Ramnenses,  and  Luceres.  But  in  addition 
to  the  ten,  there  seems  to  have  been  two  file  leaders ;  and 
as  the  word  turma  was  sometimes  indiscriminately  used 
for  the  subdivision  or  third  part  of  the  full  turma,  the  fol- 
lowing lines  of  Virgil's  JEneid  seem  to  describe  the  ar- 
rangement : 

Tres  equitum  numero  turmse,  ternique  vagantur 
Dnctores;  pueri  bisseni  quenique  secuti. 

(See  M.  Le  Beau's  8th  Dissertation  on  the  Roman  Legion, 
Mem.  de  I'Ac.  des  Inscr.,  vol.  xxxii.) 

TU'RMERIC.  The  root  of  the  Curcuma  longd.  This 
root  yields  a  fine  yellow  powder,  which  is  occasionally 
used  as  a  dye-stuff  in  medicine  ;  it  also  forms  one  of  the  in- 
gredients of  curry  powder.  Paper  stained  with  turmeric  is 
often  used  in  the  chemical  laboratory  as  a  test  of  the  pres- 
ence of  free  alkalies  and  their  carbonates,  by  which  its 
yellow  colour  is  converted  to  brown. 

TURN.  In  Music,  a  grace  thus  marked  <~>  ;  indicating 
that  the  note  above  it,  one  degree  higher,  must  be  struck 
before  it  shortly,  then  passed  quickly  through  the  note 
itself,  and  turned  from  the  note  a  degree  below  into  the 
note  itself,  over  which  the  mark  is  placed. 

TU'RNIP-FLY.  As  different  insects  prey,  in  the  larva 
state,  upon  the  leaves  of  the  growing  turnip,  the  most  de- 
structive, and  consequently  the  most  important  and  interest- 
ing of  these,  will  be  noticed  under  the  present  head.  They 
are  the  turnip-flea,  as  it  may  be  called  from  its  power  of 
agile  leaping  (Haltica  nemorum),  and  the  turnip-fly  {Atha- 
lia  centifolia).  The  turnip-flea  belongs  to  a  genus  (Maltica) 
of  minute  Coleopterous  insects,  of  the  section  Tetramera, 
and  family  Oalerucidm ;  in  which  genus  the  species  are  all 
remarkable  for  the  large  size  of  the  femora  or  thighs  of  the 
hindmost  pair  of  legs.  The  species  in  question  does  not 
exceed  the  twelfth  of  an  inch  in  length  ;  it  is  of  an  oval 
form,  with  the  elytra  of  a  greenish  tinge,  each  ornamented 

1279 


TURNSOL, 

with  n  broad  longitudinal  stripe  of  a  pale  brimstone  colour ; 
but  there  ore  other  species  of  the  same  genus,  perhaps 
equally  destructive,  and  not  characterized  bj  the  longitudi- 
nal elytral  bands.  The  perfect  insect  shelters  itself  In  tin' 
rough  uncultivated  margins  of  fields,  feeding  upon  the  hedge- 
weeds;  and  appears  to  be  ready  at  any  time,  provided  the 
weather  be  warm,  to  commence  the  work  of  destruction  on 
the  young  turnip  shoots.  Late  sowing  of  the  turnip  seed 
does  not  therefore  obviate  the  attacks  of  the  Haltica.  The 
first  precaution  obviously  is  to  dear  away  all  the  weeds  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  turnip  grounds  that  may  afford 
food  or  shelter  to  the  little  enemy.  When  the  turnip  -flea 
has  made  its  appearance  in  the  crop,  the  ground  should  be 
dusted  with  quicklime,  and  this  repeated  as  often  as  rain  or 
wind  beats  it  off,  and  the  flea  reappears.  The  other  enemy 
to  the  turnip  (Jlthalia  centifolia)  belongs  to  the  order  Hij- 
menoptrm,  and  family  Teuthredinida,  or  saw-flies. 
TU'RNSOL.     SeeLiTMts. 

TU'BPENTINE.  A  viscid  exudation  from  certain  trees, 
either  spontaneously  formed  upon  the  bark,  or  obtained  by 
incision.  Common  turpentine  is  the  produce  of  certain 
species  of  Pinus,  or  fir  trees.  When  distilled  with  water 
it  yields  a  limpid  volatile  oil  (oil  of  turpentine),  and  yellow 
resin  remains  in  the  still. 

TU'RPETH  MI.N  ERAL.  (From  its  yellow  colour,  which 
resembles  the  powdered  root  of  the  Convolvulus  turpcthum.) 
The  yellow  subpersulphate  of  mercury. 

TU'RQUOISE.  A  blue  mineral,  found  in  great  quanti- 
ties in  the  Nishapoor  mines,  in  Persia.  It  appears  to  derive 
its  colour  from  oxide  of  copper  and  of  iron,  and  consists 
chiefly  of  hydrated  alumina  :  it  is  admired  in  jewellery. 

TU'RTLE.  This  word  is  used  to  signify  a  species  of 
dove  (Columba  turtur),  and  also  a  genus  of  Chelouian  rep- 
tiles (Chelone,  Brongn.). 
TU'SCAN  ORDER.  In  Architecture,  one  of  the  five 
orders,  and  the  simplest  of 
them  all.  It  is  not  found 
in  any  ancient  example. 
Palladio  has  given  two  ex- 
amples of  this  order,  from 
one  of  which  the  profile 
here  given  is  adopted, 
though  by  some  that  com- 
posed by  Vignola  has  been 
preferred.  The  base,  as 
will  be  seen  on  inspection, 
consists  of  a  simple  torus 
with  its  fillet,  accompani- 
ed by  a  plinth.  Sir  Wil- 
liam Chambers  assigns  to 
the  column,  with  its  base 
and  capital,  a  height  equal 
to  seven  of  its  diameters. 
Vitruvius  speaks  of  this  or- 
der with  little  praise,  but 
Palladio  commends  it  for 
its  great  utility.  It  does 
not  allow  the  introduction 
of  ornament ;  and  it  is  to 
he  observed,  that  its  col- 
umns are  never  fluted.  By 
some  architects  it  has  been 
varied  on  the  shaft  with  rustic  cinctures;  but  such  taste  is 
perhaps  very  questionable.  Though  not  suitable  to  every 
application  of  the  order,  the  most  perfect  profile  in  this 
country  to  which  we  can  refer  is  that  of  the  portico  of  St. 
Paul's.  Covent  Garden,  by  Inigo  Jones. 

TUTENAG.    An  alloy  of  copper,  zinc,  and  nickel,  made 
in  China  ;  the  term  is  also  sometimes  applied  to  a  pale  brass, 
and  to  bell-metal.     (Sec  Packfong.)     In  India,  zinc  also 
sometimes  goes  under  this  name. 
TUTORS.    See  Uhivbrsities. 

TU'TTI.  (It.  all.)  In  Music,  a  notice  to  the  performer 
that,  from  the  place  to  which  it  is  affixed,  all  the  parts  are 
t  i  play  together.  This  word  is  generally  used  to  contra- 
dict the  word  soli,  or  solo,  which  see. 

Ti  TTY.  An  impure  oxide  of  zinc  collected  from  the 
chimneys  of  the  smelting  furnaces. 

TWELP  HINDI.  In  the  old  Saxon  Commonwealth,  the 
highest  Class  of  citizens  were  so  called.  They  were  valued 
at  12,000  shillings,  and  enjoved  many  special  privileges. 

TWELFTH-DAY.  The  festival  of  the  Epiphany,  or 
Manifestation  of  Christ  to  the  Gentiles;  being  the  twelfth 
day,  exclusive,  from  Christmas.  (See  Epiphuiy.)  For  the 
customs  peculiar  to  this  day  in  England,  see  lirande's  Pop- 

TWELVE  TABLES,  LAWSOFTHE.  The  celebrated 
laws  of  the  Roman  republic,  framed  by  the  decemvirs  ap 

i.U.C.  303,  on  the  return  of  three  c tlsdoners 

who  had  been  sent  to  Greece  to  examine  into  foreign  laws 

itutions.     The  tables,  as  set  up  bv  the  di  C(  mvirs, 
were  originally  ten  in  number;  two  were  added  in  the  sc- 
1880 


TWILIGHT. 

coud  year  of  the  decemvirate.  and  bore  a  more  aristocratic 
stamp  than  the  original  ten  (according  to  Cicero,  the  prohi- 
bition of  marriages  between  patricians  and  plebians  was 
among  the  number).  The  text  of  the  Twelve  Tables  were 
preserved  down  to  the  latest  age  of  Roman  literature,  and 
formed  the  basis  of  the  greater  part  of  the  Roman  juris- 
prudence- they  are  called  by  Livy,  "fons  omnis  publici, 
privatique  juris."  The  authentic  remains  of  them  are  given 
by  Haubold  [Institutionum  juris  Romani  privali  J.inca- 
menta,  Leipsig.  1826).  There  is  a  valuable  chapter  on  the 
early  Roman  law,  as  founded  on  the  Twelve  Tables,  in 
Dr.  Arnold's  History  of  Home,  vol.  i. 

TWI  LIGHT.  (Germ,  zwielicht.)  In  Astronomy,  the 
faint  light  which  is  perceived  for  some  time  after  sunset 
and  before  sunrise. 

The  twilight  is  produced  by  the  reflexion  of  light  from 
the  atmosphere.  When  the  sun  descends  below  the  ho- 
rizon, the  rays  of  light  no  longer  reach  the  earth  direcrtly ; 
but  as  they  pass  through  the  atmospheric  strata  a  portion 
of  them  are  reflected  towards  the  earth,  and  illuminate  its 
surface.  At  first  the  light,  tailing  on  the  lowest  and  densest 
strata,  is  reflected  in  great  abundance ;  but  as  the  sun  de- 
scends to  a  greater  distance  below  the  horizon,  his  rays  fall 
on  strata  at  a  greater  height,  and  consequently  less  dense. 
A  smaller  number  of  them,  therefore,  suffer  reflexion  ;  and 
as  this  number  is  constantly  diminishing,  the  vivacity  of  the 
twilight  diminishes  in  the  same  proportion,  till  at  length  the 
solar  rays  fall  on  strata  so  rare  as  to  be  incapable  of  reflect- 
ing light,  and  the  twilight  accordingly  disappears.  In  the 
morning,  the  change  from  darkness  to  light  takes  place  by 
the  same  gradations. 

From  this  theory  it  is  evident  that  twilight  must  begin 
and  end  when  the  sun's  depression  below  the  horizon  at- 
tains a  certain  limit.  The  limit,  however,  cannot  be  fixed 
with  any  precision.  It  is  usually  estimated  according  to 
the  time  which  elapses  from  sunset  till  the  smallest  stars 
which  are  seen  by  the  naked  eye  become  visible.  But  this 
mode  of  estimating  the  duration  of  twilight  is  uncertain  and 
arbitrary;  and  it  will  be  reckoned  greater  or  less  according 
to  the  goodness  of  sight  of  the  observer,  and  the  tempera- 
ture and  pressure  of  the  atmosphere.  Accordingly,  the 
sun's  depression  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  twilight  has 
been  fixed  at  various  limits  bv  different  observers ;  bv  At- 
hazen,  at  19°;  by  Tycho,  at  17°;  by  Rothman,  at  2-1°;  by 
Stevinus,  at  18°;  by  Cassino,  at  ]5°;  and  by  others  at  dif- 
ferent quantities;  but  the  limit  usually  assigned 
is  18°.  Assuming  this  limit,  the  duration  of  twi-  '{• 
light  in  different  latitudes,  and  at  the  different 
seasons  of  the  year,  is  computed  as  follows : 

In  the  spherical  triangle  Z  P  S,  let  I'  S  =  <.>(P  —  d 
be  the  distance  of  the  sun  from  the  pole,  ZP  = 
90 — j?  the  distance  of  the  pole  from  the  zenith 
of  the  observer,  and  Z  S  =  90°  +  18° ;  S  being 
the  place  of  the  sun  when  he  reaches  the  circle 
parallel  to  18°  below  the  horizon.  Now,  as  d, 
the  sun's  declination,  is  known,  and  also  />,  the 
latitude  of  the  place,  the  three  sides  of  the  triangle  are 
given  ;  whence  the  hour  angle  ZPS  is  found  (see  Trigo- 
nometry) by  the  formula 

„„„      — sin  18°  —  sin  p  sin  d 

cosZPS  =  - 1- 

cos p  cos d 

If,  therefore,  we  make  A  =  the  semidiurnal  arc  of  the  sun. 
or  the  angle  at  the  pole  when  the  sun  is  in  the  horizon,  and 
consequently  his  zenith  distance  =  90°,  we  shall  have  from 
the  same  formula 

cos  A  =  —  tan  p  tan  d; 
whence  the  angles  ZPS  and  A  are  known,  and  their  dif- 
ference expressed  in  time  gives  the  duration  of  the  tu  flight 
At  the  equator  sin;;  =  0,  cos/j=1,  and  A =90°.      We 

sjn  180 

have,  therefore,  cos  ZPS  =  - — .    1st;  Suppose  the 

COSd 
sun  to  be  in  the  equator ;  in  this  case  we  have  also  d  —  0, 
and  ZPS  becomes  equal  to  ZS  =  90°-(- 18°;  whence  the 
duration  of  twilight  is  equal  to  the  time  in  which  an  arc  of 
18°  on  the  equator  passes  over  the  meridian,  or  equal  to 
I  hour  and  12  minutes.  2d:  Suppose  the  sun  to  be  at  the 
tropic  |  in  this  case  d  =  2:U°,  and  the  duration  of  twilight 
is  found  by  computing  from  the  formula  to  be  l  h.  19  in. 

By  Computing  from  the  above  formula,  the  duration  of 
twiliL'ht.  at  the  time  of  the  ei|iiinox,  is  found  to  be  1  h.  Twin. 

at  the  latitude  of  50°,  and  2 h.  32m.  al  the  latitude  of  60°. 
At  the  shortest  day,  its  duration  at  different  latitudes  is  as 
follows : 

1  h.  20  m.  at  latitude  2.")° 

2  h.    f>  m.  at  latitude  50  , 
2  h.  57  m.  .at  latitude  60°; 

and  at  70°,  when  the  sun  no  longer  rises  above  the  hori- 
zon, it  continues  about  5h.  12  m.  after  the  sun  has  passed 

the ridian  of  the  place. 

When  the  angle  Z  P  S  — 180°,  we  have  cos  Z  P  S  =  —  1. 


TWO-COAT  WORK. 

But  in  order  that  the  hour  angle  may  have  this  value,  the 
sun  must  be  on  the  lower  semicircle  of  the  meridian ;  and 
consequently,  as  his  depression  below  the  horizon  is  by  hy- 
pothesis =  lo°,  the  twilight  will  not  entirely  disappear,  or 
will  continue  through  the  whole  night.  The  formula  in 
this  case  becomes 

cos  p  cos  d  =  sin  18°  +  sin  p  sin  d ; 
or  cos  (p  +  d)  —  sin  18°,  whence  p  +  d  =  72°.  When,  there- 
fore, the  sun's  declination  d  —  ~V  —  p,  the  twilight  will 
continue  through  the  whole  night  at  the  place  whose  lati- 
tude is  p.  Hence,  by  giving  different  values  to  p,  we  find 
the  declination,  and  consequently  the  day  of  the  year  on 
which  twilight  begins  to  continue  through  the  whole  night. 
Suppose  p= 500;  then  d—2-2,  which  corresponds  to  the 
1st  of  June.  In  the  latitude  of  London  (5-23)  perpetual  twi- 
light begins  about  the  20th  of  May.  At  60°  latitude  it  be- 
gins about  the  22d  of  April ;  at  70°  about  the  26th  of  March  ; 
at  80°  about  the  last  of  February ;  and  at  the  pole  itself 
about  the  2t)th  of  January.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  re- 
mark, that  as  no  account  has  been  taken  of  the  refraction, 
these  expressions  are  only  approximative. 

One  of  the  problems  most  frequently  proposed  respecting 
the  twilight,  is  to  find  the  day  of  the  year  when  its  duration  is 
the  least  possible  at  a  given  latitude.  This  problem,  which 
is  the  same  as  to  determine  the  sun's  declination  when  his 
zenith  distance  increases  from  90°  to  108°  in  the  least  time 
possible,  was  first  solved  by  John  Bernoulli  ( Opera,  t.  i., 
p.  64.)  Solutions  of  it  are  given  in  most  works  on  Practical 
Astronomy.     (See  Delambre,  Astronomie,  t.  i.) 

TWO-COAT  WORK.  In  Architecture,  plasterer's  work 
that  is  either  laid  and  set,  or  rendered  and  set. 

TYMPANl'TIS  or  TYMPANY.  An  elastic  distension 
of  the  abdomen,  arising  from  a  morbid  collection  of  gas  in 
the  intestines.  The  disease  is  sometimes  termed  drum  belly, 
and  arises  occasionally  from  air  secreted  into  the  abdominal 
cavity,  in  which  cases  it  is  usually  fatal. 

TY'MPANUM.  (Lat.  a  drum.)  The  drum  of  the  ear : 
the  cavity  behind  the  membrane  of  the  tympanum,  sur- 
rounded by  the  petrous  portion  of  the  temporal  bone,  and 
terminating  at  the  cochlea  of  the  labyrinth  ;  it  contains  the 
four  small  auditory  bones,  and  the  Eustachian  tube  opens 
into  it. 

Tympwtm,  in  Architecture,  the  space  in  a  pediment  en- 
closed by  the  cornice  of  the  inclined  sides  and  the  horizontal 
fillet  of  the  corona. 

Tympanum,  in  Botany,  is  a  membrane  stretched  across 
the  mouth  of  the  threa  of  a  moss. 

TYPE.  (Gr.  Tv-os.)  In  the  Fine  Arts,  the  model  or 
pattern  in  nature  of  an  object  used.  Thus,  in  architecture, 
the  types  of  columns  are  said  to  be  trees,  &c.  &c. 

Type.  Properly,  the  figure  stamped  upon  a  coin :  hence, 
a  figure,  sign,  or  symbol,  especially  those  by  which  Christ 
was  prefigured  to  the  Jews,  as  the  Brazen  Serpent,  the 
Lamb  of  the  Passover,  the  Sacrifice  'of  Isaac ;  or  persons 
whose  character  and  history  are  considered  as  embodying 
an  anticipatory  representation  of  the  Saviour,  as  Moses, 
David,  the  prophet  Jonah,  &c. 

Many  types  are  referred  to  as  such  by  the  writers  of  the 
New  Testament ;  and  hence  we  learn  to  look  for  such  in- 
tentional meaning  in  what  we  might  otherwise,  in  particular 
instances,  pass  over  as  mere  coincidences  and  analogies. 
It  is  the  great  sum  of  such  analogies,  and  the  fulness  with 
which  they  pervade  the  whole  of  Scripture,  which  seem 
most  strikingly  to  evince  the  unity  of  design. 

TYPE  METAL.  The  alloy  of  lead  and  antimony  used 
in  casting  printers'  types.  One  part  of  antimony  to  three 
of  lead  are  the  usual  proportions.  This  alloy  takes  a  sharp 
impression  from  the  mould  or  matrix,  and  is  hard  enough 
to  stand  the  work  of  the  press,  without  being  brittle  or 
liable  to  fracture. 

TYPES.  By  this  term  is  understood  the  letters,  from  the 
smallest  size  to  the  largest,  with  which  books  and  other 
articles  are  printed.  A  single  type  consists  of  the  shank, 
the  beard,  and  the  face.  The  shank  is  the  body  of  the 
letter ;  the  beard  is  that  part  between  the  shoulder  of  the 
shank  and  the  face ;  the  face  is  the  shape  of  the  letter, 
from  which  the  impression  is  taken. 

The  following  are  the  English  names  of  the  different 
sizes  in  their  regular  order ;  with  the  addition  of  the  Dutch, 
French,  German,  and  Italian  names: 

1.  Diamond,  the  smallest. 

2.  Pearl.  (Fr.  La  Parisienne  ou  Sedanoise  ;  Ger.  Perl ; 
Ital.  Occhio  di  Mosca.) 

3.  Ruby. 

4.  Nonpareil.  {Dutch,  Nonpareil;  Fr.  La  Nompareille  ; 
Ger.  Nonpareille;  Ital.  Nompariglja.) 

5.  Emerald. 

6.  Minion.  (Fr.  La  Mignione;  Ger.  Colonell ;  Ital.  Mi- 
nione.) 

7.  Brevier.  {Dutch,  Brevier  ;  Fr.  Le  Petit  Texte ;  Ger. 
Petit,  or  Jungfer ;  Ital.  Piccolo  Testo.) 


TYPHUS. 

8.  Bourgeois.  [Dutch,  Bourgeois ;  Fr.  La  Gaillarde ;  Ger. 
Burgeois ;  Ital.  Gagliarda.) 

9.  Long  Primer.  (Dutch,  Garmond;  Fr.  Le  Petit  Ro- 
niain  ;  Ger.  Corpus,  or  Garmond  ;  Ital.  Garamone.) 

10.  Small  Pica.  (Dutch,  Dessendiaan;  Fr.  La  Philo- 
sophie ;  Ger.  Brevier,  or  Rheinkender  ;  Ital.  Filosofia.) 

11.  Pica.  (Dutch,  Mediaan  ;  Fr.  Le  Cicero ;  Ger.  Cicero ; 
Ital.  Lettura.) 

12.  English.  (Dutch,  Augustyn ;  Fr.  Le  Saint  Augustin ; 
Ger.  Mittel ;  Ital.  Silvio.) 

13.  Great  Primer.  (Dutch,  Text ;  Fr.  Le  Gros  Romain ; 
Ger.  Tertia  ;  Ital.  Testo.) 

14.  Paragon.  (Dutch,  Paragon;  Fr.  Le  Petit  Parangon  ; 
Ger.  Paragon;  Ital.  Parangone.) 

15.  Double  Pica.  (Dutch,  Dubbelde  Dessendiaan  ;  Fr. 
Le  Gross  Parangon ;  Ger.  Text,  or  Secunda ;  Ital.  Duo 
Linee  Filosofia.) 

16.  Two  Line  Pica.  (Dutch,  Dubbelde  Mediaan;  Fr. 
Les  Deux  Points  de  Cicero ;  Ger.  Doppelcicero.) 

17.  Two  Line  English.  (Dutch,  Dubbelde  Augustyn ; 
Fr.  Palestine  ;  Ger.  Doppehnittel ;  Ital.  Canoncino.) 

18.  Two  Line  Great  Primer.  (Dutch,  Kanon ;  Fr.  Petit 
Canon  ;  Ger.  Kleine  Canon  ;   Ital.  Grosso  Testo.) 

19.  Two  Line  Double  Pica.  (Dutch,  Groote  Kanon  ;  Fr. 
Trismegiste ;  Ger.  Grobe  Canon.) 

20.  Trafalgar. 

21.  Canon.  (Dutch,  Parys  Romeyn ;  Fr.  Le  Gros  Canon ; 
Ger.  Kleine  Missal ;  Ital.  Canone.) 

Canon  is  the  largest  size  with  a  specific  name ;  Pica  then 
becomes  the  standard  to  distinguish  them,  and  the  next  size 
to  Canon  is  Four  Line  Pica,  then  Five  Line  Pica,  and  so 
on,  to  the  largest  size  used  in  posting  bills. 

1.  To    enable    the  reader    to    form    an   opinion  of    the    comparative    sizes  of 

2.  types,  and  the  proportions  which  they  bear  to  each  other,  there  is  given 

3.  in  this  paragraph  a  line  of  each  size,  from  Diamond,  the 

4.  smallest  type  in  general  use  among  printers,  up  to  Great 

5.  Primer,  inclusive,  each  being  numbered  to  correspond  with 

6.  the  preceding  list,  in  order  to  distinguish  one  from 

7.  the  other  by  their  names.     There  is  a  small- 

8.  er  type  than  Diamond  lately  introduced, 

9.  but  it  is  as  yet  but  seldom  used.    The 

10.  French  have  one  so  very  small  that 

11.  it  cannot  easily  be  read  by  the 

12.  naked  eye,  even  by  young 

13.  persons. 

TYPHO'EUS.  One  of  the  Titans,  said  to  have  been 
overthrown  in  the  war  against  Jupiter,  and  imprisoned 
under  the  weight  of  .(Etna  ;  a  circumstance  in  mythological 
romance  well  known  from  the  descriptions  of  Virgil,  Pin- 
dar, and  iEschylus.  And  see  Bryant's  Anc.  Mythol.,  iv., 
318. 

TY'PHON.  The  Evil  Genius  of  Egyptian  Mythology. 
According  to  Sir  G.  Wilkinson  (Ancient  Egyptians,  vol.  iv., 
p.  417,  &c),  they  seem  to  have  acknowledged  two  deities, 
who  answered  to  the  description  given  by  the  Greeks  (es- 
pecially Plutarch,  De  Is.  et  Os.)  of  Typho.  "  On.>,  who 
was  the  brother  of  Netpe,  and  opposed  to  his  brother  Osiris, 
as  the  bad  to  the  good  principle ;  the  other  bearing  the 
name  of  Typho,  and  answ  ering  to  that  part  of  his  character 
whicli  represents  him  as  the  opponent  of  Horus :"  the  true 
evil  genius  Ombte,  whom  the  Greeks  seem  to  confound 
with  Typho.  "  He  is  figured  under  the  human  form,  hav- 
ing the  head  of  a  quadruped,  with  square-topped  ears,  which 
some  might  have  supposed  to  represent  an  ass  with  clipped 
ears,  if  the  entire  animal  did  not  too  frequently  occur  to 
prevent  this  erroneous  conclusion."  In  his  Egyptian  names 
is  "  Ombte,"  in  which  Sir  G.  Wilkinson  thinks  he  traces  a 
connexion  with  Antaeus,  the  son  of  Earth.  There  appears 
to  have  been  a  general  propensity  to  erase  his  figure  and 
titles  from  the  monuments  at  some  remote  epoch.  (See 
also  Bryant,  Anc.  Myth.,  vols.  ii.  and  iii.) 

TYPHOO'N.  The  name  given  to  a  violent  tornado  or 
hurricane  in  the  Chinese  seas.     See  Storms. 

TY'PHUS.  This  term  (implying  to  burn  with  a  con- 
cealed and  smothered  flame)  is  applied  to  certain  continued 
fevers,  attended  by  great  debility  and  a  tendency  to  putre- 
faction. It  is  contagious  or  infectious,  and  often  epidemic, 
and  is  most  prone  to  attack  debilitated  persons,  especially 
where  aided  by  want  of  cleanliness,  good  food,  and  fresh 
air  ;  so  that  it  often  spreads  in  hospitals,  jails,  camps,  and 
other  situations  where  such  causes  assist  its  progress.  This 
form  of  fever  is  liable  to  several  modifications,  commonly 
termed  low  fever,  putrid  fever,  nervous  fever,  jail  fever.  Ace. 
Its  attack  is  generally  characterized  by  inordinate  muscular 
and  nervous  debility,  and  by  great  depression  of  spirits, 
4L  1281 


TYPOGRAPHY. 

weariness,  flying  pains,  sighing,  and  a  frequent,  small,  hard, 
and  fluttering  pulse  ;  the  tongue  is  foul  and  brown,  and  the 
taste  impaired,  and  not  unfrequently  nausea  and  bilious 
vomiting  prevail,  constituting  that  variety  of  typhus  which 
is  sometimes  called  bilious  fever.  As  the  disease  advances, 
the  debility  increases;  the  mouth  becomes  very  foul,  and 
the  breath  fetid ;  the  urine  deposits  a  brown  sediment,  and, 
together  With  the  motions,  is  fetid,  and  rapidly  putrefies; 
all  these  symptoms  increase  in  intensity;  the  speech  be- 
comes inarticulate,  muttering,  and  delirious;  there  is  a  ten- 
dency to  bleeding  from  the  riose,  mouth,  and  bowels;  pe- 
techia', or  livid  spots,  appear  upon  the  surface;  the  pulse 
sinks  and  intermits  ;  the  mind  wanders  ;  hiccup  comes  on  ; 
the  hands  and  feet  become  cold  ;  and,  under  these  horrible 
symptoms,  the  patient  dies.  Such  is  an  outline  of  the  pro- 
gress of  a  typhus  fever  to  a  fatal  termination.  In  this  cli- 
mate it  may  endure  for  three  weeks  or  a  month ;  but  in  hot 
countries  the  symptoms  follow  each  other  more  rapidly  and 
violently,  and  it  is  not  of  more  than  eight  or  ten  days'  dura- 
tion. When  it  does  not  terminate  fatally,  the  symptoms 
begin  to  assume  a  more  favourable  aspect  about  the  twelfth 
or  fourteenth  day ;  the  pulse  improves,  the  patient  gets 
some  tranquil  sleep,  perhaps  perspires  ;  the  urine  deposits 
a  red  sediment;  bilious  stools  arc  passed;  he  becomes 
more  tranquil  in  mind  and  body,  and  his  symptoms  gradu- 
ally disappear  till  health  is  restored  ;  but  it  is  a  disease  the 
event  of  which  must  be  anticipated  with  the  utmost  cau- 
tion, for  attacks  apparently  mild  sometimes  terminate  fa- 
tally, and  in  other  cases  the  constitution  has  rallied  under 
the  most  alarming  and  malignant  features.  At  the  very 
commencement  an  emetic  and  a  mild  aperient  are  proper, 
followed  up  by  aromatic  opiates,  with  camphor  and  ether. 
It  is  possible  that  some  particular  symptom,  indicative  of 
local  congestion,  may  call  for  bleeding  or  blistering:  the 
former,  except  in  some  very  rare  cases,  should  be  local  only, 
and  very  limited  as  to  quantity.  Serpentaria,  Peruvian 
hark,  cascarilla,  and  Colombo  are  the  tonics  which  are  most 
relied  on ;  and.  with  these,  camphor,  aromatic  confection, 
opiate  confection,  and  ether ;  or,  if  agreeable  to  the  stomach 
and  bowels,  sulphuric  and  muriatic  acids,  in  small  doses, 
and  acidulous  drinks.  Wine  and  brandy,  and,  in  some 
cases,  bottled  ale  and  porter,  are  requisite  to  keep  up  the 
general  powers  of  the  system  ;  but  care  must  be  taken  lest 
their  use  should  be  followed  by  over-excitement,  and  the 
quantity  in  some  measure  regulated  by  the  previous  habits 
of  the  patient.  Broths,  jellies,  and  the  varieties  of  farina- 
ceous food,  may  constitute  the  diet;  and,  in  till  cases,  the 
utmost  attention  must  be  paid  to  extreme  cleanliness,  fre- 
quent change  of  linen,  ventilation,  and  the  due  use  of  chlo- 
rine fumigation.  On  the  first  attack  of  typhus,  the  affusion 
of  cold  water,  performed  two  or  three  times  a  day,  often 
affords  much  relief;  and  afterwards,  when  the  shock  of 
such  a  remedy  would  be  too  great,  sponging  the  head  and 
body  with  cold  or  with  slightly  tepid  water  is  productive  of 
infinite  comfort. 

TYPO'GRAPHY.    The  art  of  printing.     See  Printing. 

TY'RANNY.  (Gr.  rvpawog,  a  tyrant.)  In  the  original 
sense  of  the  word,  a  citizen  who  acquired  sovereignty  by 
violence  or  other  usurpation  is  called,  in  the  language  of 
Greek  political  writers,  a  tyrant ;  and  where  the  power  thus 
acquired  became  hereditary,  the  title  of  tyrant  is  still  given 
to  his  descendants  in  the  generations  immediately  following. 
A  tyrant  in  this  sense  is  opposed  to  basileus,  a  rightful 
king,  with  power  either  limited  by  the  laws  or  sanctioned 
by  ancient  usage.  (See,  as  to  the  Greek  tyrannies,  Wachs- 
inuth,  Historical  Antiquities,  vol.  i.,  ch.  6;  and  the  ex- 
planation of  the  difference  between  the  ancient  and  modern 
sense  of  the  word  given  by  Mitford,  Hist,  of  Greece,  i.,  250, 
cd.  1829.) 

TYTHING.  A  tything  was  a  subdivision,  i.  e.,  a  tenth 
part,  as  its  name  indicates,  of  the  hundred,  with  which  it 
was  probably  coeval  in  institution,  as  it  was  certainly  iden- 
tical in  object,  as  far  at  least  as  regards  the  prevention  of 
offences  by  the  condition  of  liability  for  the  production  of 
offenders,  or  in  default  thereof  reparation  of  the  mischief, 
in  the  case  of  offences  committed  within  the  district.  For 
this  purpose,  all  free  persons  above  the  age  of  twelve  years 
were  required  by  the  Saxon  law  to  belong  to  si  .me  tything. 
No  jurisdiction  seems  to  have  belonged  to  the  tything;  and 
the  ottice  of  tythingman,  or  constable,  seems  always  to  have 
been  confined,  as  it  is  now,  to  the  preservation  of  the  peace, 
and  the  apprehension  of  offenders.  The  limits  of  a  tything 
were  in  most  cases  coextensive  with  those  of  a  parish, 
with  which  it  la  now  commonly,  for  practical  purposes, 
identical. 


U  and  V. 

U  and  V  were  long  considered  the  same  letter,  and  were 
used  indiscriminately  the  one  for  the  other ;   but  at  the 


ULTIMATE  ANALYSIS. 

beginning  of  the  16th  century  their  peculiarities  came  to  be 
marked,  and  u  has  since  been  used  as  a  vowel  and  r  as  a 
consonant. 

riil'QUISTS,  or  UBIQCITARIANS.  (Lat.  unique, 
everywhere.)  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  school  of  Luth- 
eran divines  ;  so  called  from  their  tenet  that  the  bodv  of 
Christ  was  present  in  the  Eucharist  in  virtue  of  his  divine 
omnipresence.  Luther  is  said  to  have  maintained  this 
argument,  as  a  mode  of  reconciling  the  doctrine  of  transub- 
stantiation  with  reason,  for  two  years.  Brentius,  one  of 
his  disciples,  passes  for  its  principal  supporter.  Melanch- 
thon  opposed  it ;  but  it  seems  to  have  obtained  ercat  credit 
among  the  Lutherans  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries. 

U'CKEWALLISTS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  sect 
of  rigid  Anabaptists  ;  so  called  from  one  like  Wallis,  a 
native  of  Friesland.  They  appear  to  subsist  still,  indepen- 
dent of  other  Anabaptists  and  Mennonites,  in  Friesland 
and  Groningen.     (See  Mosheim,  vol.  v.) 

UKA'SE.  An  ordinance  of  the  emperor  of  Russia 
having  the  force  of  law  in  his  dominions. 

U'LCER.  (Lat.  ulcus.)  A  solution  of  continuity  in  any 
of  the  soft  parts  of  the  body,  attended  by  a  purulent  or 
other  discharge.  The  several  kinds  of  ulcers  are  divided 
by  surgeons  into  local  and  constitutional,  but  these  often 
run  into  each  other.  They  have  been  termed  simple  and 
specif  c  sores  or  ulcers ;  the  former  resulting  from  accidental 
injuries,  the  latter  from  specific  poisons  or  particular  habits 
of  body.     (See  Cooper^s  Surgical  Dictionary.) 

ULE'MA.  (Turk,  learned  men.)  The  college  or  corpo- 
ration composed  of  the  three  classes  of  the  Turkish  hier- 
archy :  the  imans,  or  ministers  of  religion  :  the  muftis,  or 
doctors  of  law ;  the  cadis,  or  administrators  of  justice.  This 
organization,  according  to  D'Ohisson  (Tableau  de  I' Empire 
Ottoman),  was  first  framed  by  the  caliphs,  and  adopted, 
along  with  the  other  principles  of  their  government,  by  the 
Ottoman  sultans.  Candidates  for  admission  into  the  Ulema 
are  educated  at  the  different  colleges  (medresses)  of  the 
empire.  The  Sheikh  ul  Islam,  or  mufti  of  Constantinople, 
is  the  president  of  the  whole  body.  (See  Ed.  Rev.,  vol. 
50.) 

ULLAGE.  In  Gauging,  what  a  cask  wants  of  being  full, 
is  so  called. 

ULMA'CEjE  (Ulmus,  the  principal  genus),  are  woody 
plants,  usually  timber  trees,  inhabiting  temperate  climates. 
They  are  apetalous  Exogens,  nearly  allied  to  the  1'rtica- 
ceous  order,  from  which  they  principally  diner  in  having  a 
two-celled  fruit.  The  various  kinds  of  elm  trees  arc  the 
best  known  species ;  but  the  thin  papery  fruit  of  these 
plants  is  by  no  means  characteristic  of  the  order ;  it  is 
merely  a  character  of  the  genus  Ulmus. 

U'LMIN.  (Lat.  ulmus,  the  elm  tree.)  A  black  or  dark 
brown  substance  which  exudes  from  the  bark  of  the  elm 
and  several  other  trees,  and  which  appears  to  be  contained 
in  most  barks.  It  may  be  obtained  by  digesting  elm-bark 
in  boiling  alcohol,  and  afterwards  in  cold  water,  by  which 
various  more  soluble  substances  are  removed  ;  the  residue 
is  then  digested  in  an  aqueous  solution  of  carbonate  of 
potash  :  it  acquires  a  brown  colour,  and  \  ields  a  precipitate 
when  neutralized  by  muriatic  acid,  which,  after  having 
been  washed  and  dried,  is  ulmin.  It  is  very  sparingly  solu- 
ble in  water,  but  readily  soluble  in  solutions  of  the  alkaline 
carbonates.  According  to  Boullay  (.flnnalcs  de  Chim.  et 
Phys.  xliii.,  273),  it  is  a  compound  of  567  carbon  and  433 
hydrogen  and  oxygen  in  the  ratio  to  form  water.  He  terms 
it  ulmic  acid,  and  considers  it  identical  with  the  brown 
matter  of  vegetable  mould  and  turf,  and  as  contributing 
materially  to  the  nutriment  of  growing  plants. 

U'LNA.  The  larger  of  the  two  bones  of  the  forearm. 
It  forms  the  point  of  the  elbow,  and  is  articulated  by  a 
species  of  hinge-joint  to  the  humerus,  and  to  the  radius ; 
and  below  to  the  radius,  and  to  the  bones  of  the  wrist. 

U'LTIMATE  ANALYSIS.  This  term  Is  applied  in 
( 'hemistry  to  the  resolution  of  substances  into  their  absolute 
elements  ;  and  is  opposed  to  the  proximate  analysis,  by 
which  they  are  merely  resolved  into  secondary  compounds. 
The  ultimate  analysis  of  crystallized  blue  vitriol,  for  in- 
stance, teaches  us  that  its  true  elements  are  sulphur,  copper, 
oxygen,  and  hydrogen  ;  its  proximate  elements  are  sulphuric 
acid,  oxide  of  copper,  and  water  ;  the  ultimate  elements  of 
Sulphuric  add  are  sulphur  and  oxygen  ;  of  oxide  of  copper, 

copper  ami  oxygen;  ami  of  water,  hydrogen  and  oxygen. 
The  terms  ultimate  analysis  and  ultima!/  elements  are, 
however,  most  generally  used  in  reference  to  organic  pro- 
ducts: gum,  resin,  starch,  and  other  compounds,  are  often 
found  associated  in  a  regetable,aad  are  called  \ts proximate 
principles,  and  they  are  separated  by  proximate  analysis; 

but  all  these  are  resolvable  into  carbon,  hydrogen,  and 
oxygen.    These  three  elementary  substances,  therefore,  are 

their  ultimate  components.  The  accurate  determination  of 
their  relative  proportions  in  the  various  products  of  vege- 
tables is  almost  always  a  difficult  chemical  problem. 


ULTIMATE  RATIO. 

ULTIMATE  RATIO.  The  ratio  of  evanescent  quan- 
tities.    See  Prime  and  Ultimate  Ratio. 

ULTIMA'TUM.  (Lat.)  In  Diplomacy,  the  final  condi- 
tions offered  by  a  government  for  the  settlement  of  its  dis- 
pute with  another. 

ULTRA.  In  Modem  Politics,  those  who  carry  to  their 
farthest  point  the  opinions  of  the  party  to  which  they  belong 
are  so  termed.  The  name  was  applied  in  1793  to  the  more 
violent  revolutionists;  it  has  since  been  bestowed  on  the 
extreme  section  of  all  parties  in  turn. 

ULTRAMARI'NE.  (Lat  ultra,  beyond,  and  marinus, 
belonging  to  the  sea.)  The  blue  colouring  matter  of  the 
lapis  lazuli.  This  substance  is  much  valued  by  painters, 
on  account  of  the  beauty  and  permanence  of  its  colour, 
both  for  oil  and  water  painting.  In  its  preparation  the 
finest  lapis  lazuli  is  selected,  heated  to  a  dull  red  heat,  and 
quenched  in  water ;  it  is  thus  rendered  friable,  and  is  ground 
down  into  an  impalpable  powder.  This  is  then  mixed  with 
a  tenacious  paste  made  of  linseed  oil,  wa_x,  resin,  turpentine, 
and  mastic;  and  the  mixture  being  kneaded  in  warm  water 
gives  out  the  blue  particles,  which  are  afterwards  collected 
by  subsidence.  Chemists  have  long  in  vain  endeavoured 
to  imitate  this  colour,  but  till  lately  its  nature  even  had  not 
been  determined.  It  appears  from  the  experiments  of 
Gmelin  that  sulphuret  of  sodium  is  the  principle  to  which 
the  blue  colour  is  owing,  and  he  has  succeeded  in  preparing 
an  artificial  ultramarine  by  heating  sulphuret  of  sodium 
with  a  mixture  of  silica  and  alumina.  (See  the  Annates  de 
Chimie  et  Physique,  vol.  xxxvii.,  p.  409.) 

U'LTRAMONTANE,  or  TRAMONTANE.  A  name 
applied  by  Italian  writers  to  theologians  and  jurists  of  other 
countries  beyond  the  Alps,  especially  France.  In  ecclesi- 
astical law,  ultramontane  tenets  are  those  least  favourable 
to  the  supremacy  of  the  popes  As  to  ultramontane  jurists, 
see  Savigny,  Hist,  of  Roman  Law,  vol.  vi. 

U'MBEL.  In  Botany,  a  form  of  inflorescence  in  which 
all  the  pedicels  proceed  from  a  single  point,  as  in  Astrantia. 
If  there  is  no  subdivision,  the  umbel  is  called  simple  ;  but 
if  the  pedicels  produce  other  umbels,  as  in  parsley,  the 
Umbel  is  compound. 

UMBELLI'FEROUS  PLANTS  (Umbel),  are  a  race  of 
great  frequency  in  all  cool  or  temperate  climates,  and  even 
occur  in  hot  ones,  though  much  more  rarely.  They  are 
known  in  general  by  their  flowers  being  disposed  in  an 
umbel.  They  have  a  herbaceous  stem  ;  leaves  usually 
much  divided,  often  inflated  when  they  join  the  stem;  and 
the}'  have  universally  a  dry  fruit,  which  divides  into  two 
seed-like  pieces.  Some  of  them  are  poisonous,  as  hemlock 
and  water  dropwort ;  others  are  esculents,  as  celery,  carrots, 
and  parsnips ;  many  yield  aromatic  fruits,  as  caraway, 
coriander,  and  anise ;  a  few  secrete  a  foetid  gum  resin,  of 
which  assafoetida,  ammoniacum,  and  galbanum  are  ex- 
amples. The  species  are  extremely  numerous,  and  difficult 
to  recognise  with  accuracy;  and,  unfortunately,  no  general 
rule  has  yet  been  discovered  for  distinguishing  those  poi- 
sonous from  the  harmless  kinds. 

U'MBER.  Two  distinct  substances  are  used  as  pigments 
under  this  name :  one  is  a  variety  of  peat  or  brown  coal, 
large  beds  of  which  are  worked  near  Cologne ;  it  is  said  to 
be  largely  used  in  the  adulteration  of  snuff:  the  other, 
called  Turlush  umber,  is  a  variety  of  ochraceous  iron  ore, 
composed,  according  to  the  analysis  of  Klaproth,  of  48 

peroxide  of  iron,  20  peroxide  of  manganese,  13  silica,  5 
alumina,  14  water.    The  term  umber  is  said  to  be  derived 

from  Oinbria,  or  Spoleto,  in  Italy,  where  it  was  first  ob- 
tained. 

UMBI'LICAL  CORD,  in  Botany,  is  an  elongation  of  the 

placenta  in  the  form  of  a  little  cord,  as  in  the  hazel  nut. 
UMBI'LICATE.     (Lat.  umbilicus,  a  navel.)    In  Zoology, 

when  a  pit,  tubercle,  or  granule  has  a  depression  in  its 

centre. 
UMBILrcUS.    (Lat.)    Properly  the  navel ;  whence  it 

was  metaphorically  applied  to  the  two  ends  of  the  roller 

on  which  the  manuscripts  of  the  ancients  were  rolled,  and 

which  were  usually  adorned  with  ornamental  knobs,  while 

the  ends  of  the  parchment  were  filed  with  pumice-stone, 

in  order  that  the  folds  might  lie  smooth  and  neat. 

Umbilicus.    In  Conchology,  the  aperture  or  depression 

in  the  centre,  round  which  the  shell  is  convoluted. 

Umbilicus.    The  scar  by  which  a  seed  is  attached  to 

the  placenta,  frequently  of  a  different  colour  from  the  rest 

of  the  seed,  and  not  uncommonly  very  dark-coloured.    It  is 

more  commonly  called  hilum. 

Umbilicus.    In  Geometry,  used  by  the  older  geometers 

synonymously  with  focus. 
"UMBO.     (Lat,)     A  protuberance  or  boss.    In  Conchology 

It  is  that  point  of  a  bivalve  shell  immediately  above  the 

hinge. 
UMBRA.    A  shadow.    In  Astronomy,  this  term  is  applied 

to  the  dark  cone  projected  from  a  planet  or  satellite  on  the 

Bide  opposite  to  the  sun.     See  Eclipse. 
U'MPIRE.    This  word  appears  to  be  properly  derived 


UNGULA. 

from  the  Fr.  "impair,"  uneven  in  number ;  an  umpire  being 
a  third  party  to  whom  a  dispute  is  referred.  An  umpire  is, 
properly,  a  person  whom  two  referees,  each  chosen  by  hifl 
client,  being  unable  to  agree,  jointly  choose  to  determine 
between  them. 

UNBEND.  In  sea  language,  to  take  the  cable  from  the 
anchor,  a  sail  from  its  yard,  &x. ;  to  untie  one  rope  from 
another. 

UNCI^E.  The  name  given  by  the  old  writers  on  algebra 
to  the  coefficients  of  the  letters  in  the  expansion  of  any 
power  of  a  binomial.  Thus,  the  expansion  of  (a  +  4)4  gives 
a4  +  4  a3  b  +  6  o2  42  +  4  a  b3  +  fr*,  in  which  the  numbers  1, 
4,  6.  4,  1,  are  the  undue,  or  coefficients. 

UNCIA'LES  LITERS.  (Lat.)  Uncial  letters  or  writing. 
In  Diplomatics,  a  species  of  character  compounded  between 
the  capital  and  the  minuscule  or  small  characters ;  some 
of  the  letters  resembling  the  former,  others  the  latter.  It  is 
supposed  to  have  been  employed  in  Latin  MSS.  as  early  as 
the  third  or  fourth  century,  but  was  seldom  used  after  the 
tenth. 

U'NCIFORM  BONE.  (Lat.  uncus,  a  hook.)  The  last 
bone  of  the  second  row  of  the  wrist  bones ;  so  called  from 
its  hook-like  process,  which  projects  towards  the  palm  of 
the  hand,  and  gives  origin  to  the  great  ligament  which  binds 
down  the  tendons  of  the  wrist. 

UNCOMMON  CHORD.  In  Music,  another  term  for  the 
chord  of  the  sixth  ;  not  so  called,  however,  because  it  is 
unusual  or  improper,  but  to  distinguish  it  from  the  common 
chord,  wherein  the  lowest  note  is  the  root  or  fundamental 
bass.     See  Music. 

UNCONFORMABLE  STRATA.  A  term  applied  by 
geologists  to  strata  not  lying  parallel  with  the  subjacent 
ones,  or  having  a  different  line  of  direction  or  inclination. 
UNCTION,  EXTREME.  See  Extreme  Unction. 
UXDE'CAGOX.  (Lat.  undecim,  eleven,  and  Gr.  ytavta, 
angle.)  In  Geometry,  a  plane  figure  of  eleven  sides  or 
angles.  The  area  of  a  regular  undecagon  is  found  by  mul- 
tiplying its  side  into  Ll  of  the  tangent  of  73 -i  degrees ; 
hence  if  the  side  be  1,  the  area  is  93C5G4. 

UNDERTOW.  A  current  below,  different  from  that  at 
the  surface. 

UNDERWOOD.  The  low  woody  growths  produced 
among  timber  trees :  sometimes  called  coppice  wood;  though 
the  term  coppice  wood  is  more  especially  applied  to  woods 
in  which  low  growths  of  shrubs,  or  the  stools  of  trees,  are 
more  abundant  than  Umber  trees.  See  Coppice  Wood  and 
Stool. 

UNDI'NES,  or  OND1NE3.  (Lat.  unda,  water.)  The 
name  given  by  the  Cabalists  to  one  class  of  their  spirits  of 
the  elements,  namely,  those  residing  in  the  waters.  The 
ancient  Greeks  believed  springs  and  lakes  to  be  haunted  by 
a  peculiar  race  of  supernatural  nymphs  (see  Naiads;  ;  and 
this  belief  passed  down  unimpaired  to  the  middle  ages. 
The  ancient  Saxons  adored  the  female  deity  of  the  Elbe ; 
and  the  belief  in  undines  is  still  scarcely  eradicated  in  that 
region.  The  Saxon  peasants  report  that  an  undine  is  often 
met  in  the  market-place  of  Magdeburg,  dressed  as  a  girl  of 
their  own  class,  but  always  to  be  known  by  having  one 
corner  of  her  apron  wet.  Near  Toulouse  many  objects  of 
value  were  once  discovered  on  draining  a  large  artificial 
lake,  which  are  supposed  to  have  been  thrown  in  as  offer- 
ings to  the  spirits  of  the  water.  The  nixe  of  the  northern 
countries  is  of  the  same  family,  and  the  Scottish  kelpies  are 
creatures  of  a  similar  superstition. 

UXDULA'TIOX.  (Lat.  unda,  a  wave.)  A  waving  mo- 
tion ;  applied,  in  physics,  to  the  vibratory  motion  of  an 
elastic  fluid,  as  the  atmosphere. 

UXDULATORY  THEORY,  in  Optics,  is  the  hypothesis 
according  to  which  the  impression  of  light  is  conveyed  to 
the  eye  by  the  undulations  of  an  elastic  medium.  This 
theory  supposes  the  universe  to  be  filled  with  an  ether  or 
medium  of  great  elasticity,  but  so  extremely  rare  as  to  offer 
no  resistance  to  the  motions  of  the  planets.  For  an  expla- 
nation of  the  phenomena  of  light  and  colours  according  to 
this  theory,  see  Light. 

UNEVEN  NUMBER.  In  Arithmetic,  the  same  with 
odd  number ;  a  number  not  divisible  by  2. 

UNFORMED  STARS,  in  Astronomy,  are  such  as  are 
not  included  in  any  of  the  constellations. 

UNGUTCULATES,  Vnguiculata.  (Lat.  unguis,  a  claw.) 
The  name  of  a  primary  division  of  the  class  Mammalia,  in- 
cluding those  which  have  the  digits  armed  with  claws,  but 
free  for  the  exercise  of  touch  upon  their  under  surface.  See 
Mammalia. 

U'NGUIS,  or  CLAW.  The  narrow  part  of  the  base  of 
a  petal,  taking  the  place  of  the  footstalk  of  a  leaf,  of  which 
it  is  a  modification.  The  term  is  also  used  as  a  term  of 
measure  equal  to  a  nail,  or  half  an  inch,  or  the  length  of 
the  nail  of  the  little  finger. 

U'NGULA.  (Lat.  a  hoof.)  In  Geometry,  a  solid  formed 
by  cutting  off  a  part  from  a  cylinder,  cone,  or  other  solid  of 
revolution,  by  a  plane  passing  obliquely  through  the  base. 

12R3 


I! 


UNGULATES. 

The  angola  is.  consequently,  bounded  by  the  plane  of  the 
base,  the  intersecting  plane,  and  the  portion  of  the  surface 
of  the  cylinder,  &c.  included  between  them.  The  name  is 
derived  from  its  resemblance  to  the  hoof  (ungula)  of  a 

U'NGULATES,  Vngidata,    (LaL  ungula,  a  hoof.)    The 

name  of  a  primary  division  of  the  class  Mammalia,  inclu- 

ise  species  which  bave  the  dibits  enclosed  in  hoofs, 

the  under  surface  not  being  left  free  for  the  exercise  of 
touch.    See  Mammalia. 

U'NICORN.  (Lit.  unus,  one ;  cornu,  horn.)  Tbe  beast 
called  unicorn,  in  our  version  of  Bcripture  (Heb.  rem),  is 
now  commonly  understood  to  bo  the  rhinoceros.  But  the 
fabulous  unicorn,  which  has  passed  into  heraldry,  is  repre- 
I  with  the  figure  of  B  horse,  and  a  single  horn  issuing 
from  ils  forehead.  The  unicorn  of  Pliny,  however,  has  the 
head  of  a  hart,  the  feet  of  an  elephant,  the  tail  of  a  hoar, 
and  the  rest  of  the  body  resembling  a  horse.  Aristotle. 
iElian,  and  all  the  classical  writers  on  animals,  mention 
the  unicorn.  The  traveller  Ludovicus  Romanus  asserts 
that  he  saw  two  unicorns,  kept  alive  in  the  temple  of  Mecca. 
Altogether  there  is  perhaps  no  fabulous  beast  for  whose 
no  there  is  so  much  appearance  of  evidence,  and 
some  seem  to  imagine  that  it  may  yet  be  discovered  in  the 
interior  of  Thibet.  Many  Strange  virtues  were  attributed 
of  old  to  the  horn  of  the  unicorn,  particularly  against  poison  ; 
but  the  horns  preserved  in  collections,  and  to  which  that 
name  was  given,  were  either  of  the  rhinoceros,  or  of  the 
narwal  or  sea-unicom. 

UNIFO'RMITY.  (Fr.  uniforme.)  In  the  Fine  Arts, 
resemblance  in  shape  between  the  correspondent  parts  of  a 
subject. 

UNIFORMITY,  ACT  OF.  In  English  History,  the  first 
act  of  uniformity  is  the  1  Eliz.,  c.  2;  that  at  present  sub- 
sisting, 13  &.  14  Car.  2,  c.  4.  It  regulates  the  form  of  public 
prayers,  administration  of  the  sacraments,  and  other  rites 
of  the  Church  of  England. 

UN  1GENTTUS.  The  celebrated  constitution,  in  the  form 
of  a  tnil!.  issued  by  Pope  Clement  XI.  in  1713,  in  condemna- 
tion of  Fere  Uuesnel's  Rtflciiuim  .Morales  sur  le  JV.  Testa- 
ment. It  is  so  called  from  its  beginning,  "  Unigcnitus  Dei 
Filius."  Father  Quesnel  was  a  friend  of  the  celebrated 
Jansenist  leader  Arnauld,  and  became  chief  of  that  religious 
party  after  the  death  of  the  latter.  He  died  in  exile  at 
Amsterdam,  in  1679.  The  bull  was  procured  by  the  Jesuits, 
especially  Father  le  Tellier ;  it  condemned  101  propositions 
selected  from  Uuesnel's  work.  Its  publication  created  great 
discord  in  France.  Most  of  the  bishops  accepted  it,  but 
with  explanations  which  they  gave  to  the  public.  Cardinal 
de  Noailles  and  others  refused  to  accept  it  at  ail.  As  soon 
as  the  Duke  of  Orleans  became  regent,  Father  le  Tellier  was 
banished,  and  the  party  opposed  to  the  bull  came  into 
power ;  but  the  strength  of  Rome  prevailed,  and  eventually 
the  Duke  of  Orleans  himself  compelled  de  Noailles  to 
accept  the  bull,  in  1720.  After  that  event  the  Jansenist 
party  only  survived  in  small  fragments,  especially  among 
the  commonalty  of  Paris.     See  Jansenists. 

UNILOCULAR.  (Lat.  unus,  one;  loculus,  partition.) 
In  Conchology,  shells  which  are  not  divided  into  chambers. 
In  Botany,  seed  vessels  not  separated  into  cells. 

UNION.  In  British  History.  The  union  of  the  crowns 
of  England  and  Scotland  took  place  on  the  accession  of 
James  1.  to  the  former.  The  scheme  of  uniting  the  king- 
doms was  afterwards  several  times  taken  up  ;  and  com- 
missioners were  appointed  to  consider  it  in  the  reigns  of 
Charles  II.  and  James  II.  Hut  it  was  finally  carried  into 
execution  in  1700;  the  statute  passed  on  that  occasion  being 
the  .7  Anne,  c.  rt.  By  this  enactment  laws  relating  to  trade, 
customs,  and  excise  wen-  to  In-  the  same  in  both  countries  : 
other  laws  to  remain  in  torn-  in  each  respectively.  The 
parliament  of  the  United  Kingdom,  called  Great  Britain, 
was  to  have  10  Scottish  peers,  and  45  members  of  the 
House  Of  Commons.  The  mode  of  election  of  peers  was 
subsequently  regulated.  (See  Parliament.)  Since  the 
union,  acts  of  parliament,  in  general  language,  are  held  to 
extend  to  Scotland ;  a  proviso  being  inserted  where  it  is  to 
be  excepted.  The  union  of  Great  Britain  ami  Ireland  look 
place  in  1800,  by  the  statute  30  &  40  G.  3,  c.  67,  of  the 
British,  and  40  G.3,  c.  38,  of  the  Irish  statutes.  It  admitted 
4  Irish  lords  spiritual.  38  temporal,  and  100  commoners  to 
the  united  legislature;  the  lords  temporal  elected  i 
the  lords  spiritual  sitting  by  a  certain  rotation.  By  article 
5,  the  churches  were  united.  For  the  changes  which  have 
since  taken  place  in  the  number  of  Scottish  and  Irish  mem 
bers  in  tie-  lion -i-  nfC  immons,  see  PARLIAMENT. 

UXll'i'.'LT  vti'.s  Unipeltata.  (Lat  unus, one, and  pit- 
ta, a  but '  The  name  of  a  family  of  Stomapodous 
Crustaceans,  comprehending  those  In  which  the  carapace 
h  comp  igle  shield-like  plate. 

rj'NISI  IN.  I. at.  unus,  unc,  and  sonus,  sound.)  In  Mu- 
sic, a  consonance  of  two  sounds  equal  in  gravity  or  acute 
ness,  produced  by  two  bodies  of  the  same  matter,  Length, 


UNIVERSAL  JOINT. 

thickness,  tension,  &c,  equally  struck  at  the  same  time;  SO 
that  they  yield  the  same  tune  or  sound. 

UNIT,  UNITY.  In  Arithmetic,  the  number  one  ;  an 
individual  of  discrete  quantity.  Euclid  defines  number  to 
be  a  multitude  or  collection  of  units. 

UK  ITA'IllANS.  Those  who  confine  the  Godhead  to  a 
single  person  ;  in  which  general  sense  the  term  may  be  ta- 
ken to  represent  the  Arians  and  Socinians,  as  well  as  the 
sect  u  hich  is  more  strictly  denominated  Unitarian.  These 
last  are  the  descendants  of  the  religious  communities  which 
adopted,  in  the  Itilh  century,  the  opinions  of  Socinus:  but 
iu  the  course  of  years  they  have  gone  considerably  further 
towards  reducing  Revelation  to  a  mere  ethical  system. 
They  have  been  supplied  with  an  abundant  stream  of  i  in- 
verts from  the  Presbyterians  and  Independents  in  this  coun- 
try, many  congregations  of  whom  became  first  Arian.  and 
latterly  Unitarian  in  sentiment.  The  principal  Unitarian 
authorities  are  Drs.  Priestley,  Belsham,  and  Charming,  who 
have  either  entirely  rejected  or  neutralized  the  doctrine  of 
the  atonement,  and  represent  the  language  of  the  apostles 
upon  this  and  other  mysterious  points  as  either  intentional- 
ly accommodated  to  the  ideas  current  anion"  their  hearers, 
or  derived  from  erroneous  conceptions  of  their  own.  The 
revelation  of  the  New  Testament  is  thus  reduced  to  the 
assertion  of  a  mere  historical  fact — that  of  the  existence  of 
the  man  Jesus  as  a  moral  teacher.  But  with  respect  to 
what  he  taught,  great  latitude  of  interpretation  is  allowed 
to  Unitarians,  since  it  appears  that  in  their  viewr  the  expo- 
sition of  the  first  disciples  is  not  to  be  implicitly  relied  on  ; 
nor  do  they  allow  infallibility  to  the  Author  of  the  reiigion 
himself.  The  Unitarians  were  subjected  to  severe  penal- 
ties, as  denieis  of  the  Trinity,  long  after  other  dissenters 
had  been  relieved  by  the  Act  of  Toleration :  the  laws 
against  them  were  not  repealed  by  statute  till  the  vear 
1.-13. 

In  this  country  they  do  not  constitute  a  numerous  body: 
the  number  of  their  congregations  has  been  stated  at  some- 
thing more  than  200;  but  they  are  principally  composed  of 
persons  of  the  educated  classes.  In  Geneva  the  pulpits  of 
the  established  church  are  mostly  occupied  by  professors  of 
these  opinions ;  and  in  the  northern  suites  of  America  they 
form  one  of  the  must  influential  of  Christian  denomina- 
tions. 

UNITED  BRETHREN.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  body 
of  reformers  in  Bohemia,  who  separated  themselves  from 
the  Catholics  and  Caiixtines  (according  to  some  writers) 
about  1467.  It  is  also  said  that  they  received  episcopal  or- 
dination from  the  Vaudois.  According  to  others  (Bossuet, 
Variations  des  Egliscs  Protestantes,  chap.  ii...  they  were 
an  offshoot  from  the  Taborites  or  Thaborius  tsee  that  arti- 
cle). At  all  events,  it  appears  certain  that  there  already 
existed  a  considerable  body  of  persons  processing  the  tenets 
of  the  Reformation  in  Bohemia  at  the  period  of  Luther. 

U'NTTIES,  in  the  Drama,  are  three — of  time,  place,  and 
action.  The  latter  only  is  strictly  adhered  to  in  the  dramat- 
ic compositions  of  classical  antiquity  ;  but  what  is  termed 
by  moderns  the  classical  drama  (in  opposition  to  the  roman- 
tic) requires  all  three.     See  Drama. 

UNIT  JAR.  A  small  insulated  Leyden  jar  placed  be- 
tween the  electrical  machine  and  a  larger  jar  or  battery,  so 
as  to  announce  by  its  repealed  discharges,  u  hich  may  be 
counted,  the  number  of  them  which  have  passed  into  the 
larger  jar.  This  is  among  the  many  valuable  additions 
made  to  electrical  apparatus  by  Mr.  Snow  Harris. 

U'NIVALVE.  (Lat.  unus,  one;  valva,  a  valve.)  This 
term  is  applied  to  those  Mollusks,  the  shell  of  which  is 
composed  of  one  piece,  and  which  is  generally  convoluted 
spirally.  Latreille  also  thus  denominates  a  family  of  Lophy- 
ropodous  Crustaceans. 

UNTVE'RSAL.  In  Logic.  A  universal  proposition  is 
that  which  has  the  subject  distributed,  so  that  the  predi- 
cate is  declared  concerning  every  thing  comprehended  in 
it;  e.g.,  "All  men  (subject)  are  mortal  predicate  ."  In 
universal  negative  propositions  the  predicate  is  distributed 
also;  i.  «..  "  No  men  are  immortal." 

UNrvfe'RSALISTS.  A  name  by  which  the  Arminians 
an-  Rometiines  characterized,  expressing  the  universality 
which  they  attribute  to  tin-  operation  of  gran-,  conceiving 

it  to  be  given  to  till  men  without  favour  or  reserve.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Calvinists,  or  those  who  hold  the  particu- 
lar election  of  individuals,  an-  designated  as  Particular- 
ists. 

UNIVERSAL  JOINT,  or  HOOKE'S  JOINT.  In  Ma- 
chinery, an  ingenious  contrivance  of  Dr.  Hook.-  for  the  pur- 
communicating  motion  obliquely.  It  is  single  or 
double.  In  tin-  Bingie  universal  joint,  the  two  shafts  or 
axles,  A  and  B,  between  which  the  motion  Is  to  be  commu- 
nicated, terminate  in  semicircles,  the  diameters  of  which 
are  fixed  in  the  form  of  a  CTOSS,  their  extremities  moving 
freely  in  bushes  placed  at  the  extremities  of  the  semicir- 
cles. Thus,  «  lull  tin-  central  cross  remains  unmoved,  the 
shaft  A  and  its  semicircular  end  may  revolve  miuid  C  D  as 


UNIVERSITY. 

an  axis ;  and  in  the  same  manner  B,  with 
its  semicircular  end,  will  revolve  round 
i:  F.  If  the  shaft  A  be  made  to  revolve 
without  changing  its  direction,  the  points 
,  C  D  will  move  in  a  circle  whose  centre  is 
at  the  middle  of  the  cross.  The  motion 
thus  given  to  the  cross  will  cause  the  points 
E  F  to  move  in  another  circle  round  the 
same  centre,  and  hence  the  shaft  B  will  be 
m;:de  to  revolve.  (Mechanics,  Cabinet  Cycl., 
p.  253.) 
When  the  shafts  are  inclined  to  each  other 
under  an  angle  of  40°,  it  is  necessary  to  employ  a  double  uni- 
versal joint,  as  represented  in  the  an- 
nexed figure.  In  this  manner  the  motion 
may  be  transmitted  from  one  shaft  to 
another  at  right  angles.  Instead  of  em- 
ploying a  cross  in  the  manner  now  de- 
scribed, the  joints  may  be  constructed 
witli  tour  pins,  fastened  at  right  angles 
upon  the  circumference  of  a  hoop  or 
ball.  Universal  joints  are  of  great  use 
in  cotton  mills,  where  the  tumbling  shafts  are  continued  to 
a  great  distance  from  the  moving  power;  for,  by  applying 
a  universal  joint,  the  shafts  may  be  cut  into  convenient 
lengths,  and  so  be  enabled  to  overcome  a  greater  resist- 
ance. (See  Gregory's  Mcckanics,  vol.  ii.,  p.  9;  Willis's 
Principles  of  Michanism,  p.  272.) 

UNIVERSITY.  In  the  middle  ages,  the  Latin  term 
universitas  signified  the  whole  body  of  students,  or  of  teach- 
ers and  students,  assembled  in  a  place  of  education,  with 
corporate  rights,  and  under  by-laws  of  their  own ;  in  later 
times,  also,  the  name  was  held  to  imply  that  all  branches 
of  study  were  taught  in  a  university.  In  the  modern  sense 
of  the  term,  a  university  signifies  an  establishment  for  the 
purposes  of  instruction  in  all  or  some  of  the  most  important 
divisions  of  science  and  literature,  and  having  the  power 
of  conferring  certain  honorary  dignities,  termed  degrees.  It 
is  generally  understood  that  the  authorization  of  the  sover- 
eign power  in  the  state  is  necessary  to  enable  such  an  es- 
tablishment to  confer  degrees ;  and,  in  most  European 
countries,  there  are  various  offices  and  professional  situa- 
tions for  which  a  person  is  qualified  by  having  taken  a  cer- 
tain degree  at  one  of  these  establishments.  Hence  univer- 
sities, although  in  many  instances  they  are  composed  of 
private  foundations,  are  justly  regarded  as  national  institu- 
tions. The  University  of  Paris,  the  most  celebrated  of 
those  of  the  middle  ages,  and  which  served  in  some  degree 
as  a  model  to  the  rest,  was  formed  about  1200  by  the  union 
of  the  various  schools  of  rhetoric,  theology,  and  philosophy, 
with  which  that  city  abounded,  under  one  head,  styled  the 
rector.  That  university  was  divided  into  four  nations — 
French,  Picard,  Norman,  and  English  :  the  first  compre- 
hended students  from  Italy  and  Spain ;  the  last  from  the 
north  of  Europe  generally.  The  subjects  taught  were  ar- 
ranged under  faculties  ;  viz.,  theology,  law,  medicine,  and 
that  of  the  seven  liberal  arts — rhetoric,  logic,  grammar, 
geometry,  arithmetic,  astronomy,  music.  (See  Trivium, 
QuADRivirM.)  These  faculties  were  corporate,  and  elect- 
ed each  a  dean  ;  and  these  last,  with  the  procurators  of 
the  nations,  represented  the  university.  The  lowest  degree 
was  that  of  bachelor;  the  next  licentiate  ;  the  third  magi  < 
ter  (this  degree  at  Paris  corresponded  with  that  of  doctor 
at  Bologna).  The  colleges  were  royal  or  private  founda- 
tions for  the  benefit  of  poor  students,  whose  board  was,  in 
6ome  instances,  found  for  them,  and  who  received  stipends 
or  other  emoluments.  The  faculty  of  theology  at  Paris 
was  well  known  by  the  name  of  the  Sorbonne  (q.  v.)  This 
slight  sketch  of  the  constitution  of  the  famous  University 
of  Paris  may  serve  for  similar  establishments  in  other  Con- 
tinental countries  during  the  middle  ages,  and  down  to  a 
comparatively  late  period.  In  England,  the  two  national 
universities  have  been  established,  from  a  period  of  consid- 
erable antiquity,  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  The  original 
constitution  of  these  universities  much  resembled  that  of 
the  Parisian,  with  the  exception  of  the  division  into  four 
nations,  which  was  wanting.  But  their  subsequent  history 
was  much  modified  by  the  growth  of  the  colleges,  or  indi- 
vidual foundations,  into  a  much  higher  degree  of  conse- 
quence. These  were  originally  destined  by  their  founders 
merely  to  entertain  a  certain  number  of  junior  students 
(generally  termed  scholars),  and  a  higher  body  (named  in 
most  cases  fellows),  and  furnish  them  with  assistance  in 
the  prosecution  of  their  studies ;  while  the  great  body  of 
independent  students  lodged  in  the  numerous  halls,  and  at- 
tended only  on  the  public  university  lectures.  But  by  de- 
grees the  colleges  likewise  became  receptacles  for  independ- 
ent students,  under  the  tuition  of  the  fellows ;  the  halls 
were  for  the  most  part  abandoned,  and  such  as  remained 
partook  of  the  collegiate  character;  and,  in  the  modern 
system  (which  has  subsisted  for  more  than  two  centuries), 
no  student  is  admitted  to  take  a  university  degree  unless  he 
109 


UPUPA. 

has  completed  his  studies  in  a  college,  or  collegiate  hall, 
under  the  superintendence  of  its  tutors.  But  the  original 
division  into  independent  and  foundation  students  still  sub- 
sists ;  although  the  fellowships  in  many  instances,  instead 
of  being  filled  up  from  the  junior  foundation  members  in 
each  college,  are  left  open  as  prizes  for  the  competition  of 
the  whole  university.  The  degrees,  in  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge, are  differently  named,  or  arrived  at  in  different  suc- 
cession, in  the  several  faculties  ;  but  degrees  in  theology 
and  medicine  can  only  be  obtained  after  the  acquisition  of 
certain  degrees  in  arts.  In  Spain,  the  universities  are  ar- 
ranged on  a  system  somewhat  resembling  that  which  pre- 
vails in  England,  the  students  being  entered  of  their  re- 
spective college  in  each.  In  Germany,  as  in  England,  the 
earliest  universities  (Prague,  founded  in  1348,  and  Vienna, 
in  1365)  were  framed  on  the  model  of  that  of  Paris.  Ger- 
many has  now  a  far  more  numerous  list  of  universities 
than  any  other  country.  From  the  Bursae  (charitable  es- 
tablishments resembling  our  collegiate  foundations  for  the 
benefit  of  poor  students)  was  derived  the  term  Bursche,  by 
which  the  students  of  these  universities  are  so  generally 
known.  But  the  collegiate  system  never  prevailed  in  that 
country  as  among  ourselves.  On  their  present  arrange- 
ment (which  is  pretty  similar  in  all,  Catholic  as  well  as 
Protestant),  the  four  faculties  are  retained.  Professors  in 
the  various  branches  are  appointed  by  government.  These 
form  the  senate,  at  the  head  of  which  is  the  prorector,  who 
is  chosen  annually  or  biennially.  Besides  these,  there  are 
extraordinary  professors,  who  receive  small  salaries ;  and 
an  inferior  class  of  licensed  teachers,  or  licentiates,  who 
receive  none.  The  professors  are  obliged  to  give  public 
lectures  in  the  branch  of  study  to  which  they  are  appoint- 
ed ;  but  they,  as  well  as  the  other  two  classes,  may  give 
also  private  lectures  on  whatever  subject  they  please ;  and 
from  the  fees  of  attendance  at  these  their  principal  income 
is  derived.  The  student  is  for  the  most  part  left  at  liberty 
to  attend  what  lectures  he  pleases ;  but  licences  to  practise 
various  professions,  benefices  in  the  various  churches,  &c, 
are  only  given,  especially  in  Prussia,  to  those  who  have 
studied  a  certain  number  of  years  by  attending  lectures  in 
the  requisite  branch  of  study.  The  constitution  of  the 
Scotch  Universities  has  a  great  resemblance  to  those  of 
Germany  ;  and  the  same  observation  is  applicable  to  the 
two  universities  established  in  the  metropolis  within  the 
last  few  years — London  University  and  King's  College.  In 
France,  the  old  university  system  may  be  said  to  have  been 
entirely  done  away  with  by  the  Revolution.  As  to  the  uni- 
versities of  the  middle  ages,  see  Savigny,  Hist,  of  Roman 
Law,  vol.  iii.  For  an  elaborate  defence  of  the  English 
system,  see  Quart.  Rev.,  vols.  Iii.,  lix.  The  history  of  the 
great  change  effected  in  it  by  the  substitution  of  collegiate 
for  professorial  instruction,  has  been  traced  in  a  series  of 
recent  papers  in  the  Edin.  Rev. 

UNI'VOCALS,  or  SYNONYMS.  In  the  Aristotelian 
Logic  (as  used  by  the  schoolmen),  generic  words ;  »".  e., 
words  of  which  both  the  genus  and  the  difference  are  pre- 
dicable  of  many  different  species :  e.  g.,  the  genus  "  ani- 
mal" is  "  univocum  univocans"  with  respect  to  "  man"  and 
"brute,"  both  of  which  are  comprehended  under  any  defi- 
nition which  can  be  given  of  the  word  "  animal,"  and  are 
called  with  reference  to  it  "univoca  univocata."  Univer- 
sal terms  are  also  such  as  have  only  one  signification  ;  op- 
posed to  equivocal. 

UNMOOR.  To  take  up  one  of  the  two  anchors  by 
which  the  ship  is  moored. 

UPAS  TREE  (Upas,  the  Javanese  name),  is  a  plant 
common  in  the  forests  of  Java  and  some  of  the  neighbour- 
ing islands,  to  which  extraordinary  stories,  for  the  most 
part  fabulous,  have  been  attached.  Upon  the  authority  of 
Dutch  writers,  it  has  been  asserted  that  it  is  a  most  deadly 
poison,  employed  in  the  execution  of  criminals  ;  who  are, 
however,  pardoned  if  they  succeed  in  reaching  a  tree  and 
bringing  back  its  venom.  Birds  were  said  to  drop  dead 
while  flying  over  it,  and  the  whole  country  round  it  was  as- 
serted to  be  desolated  by  its  pestilent  effluvia.  The  truth  is, 
that  the  Upas  tree  is  merely  a  tree  with  poisonous  secre- 
tions, and  nothing  more  ;  there  is  nothing  deleterious  in  its 
atmosphere.  It  is  an  Urticaceous  plant,  called  Jljitiaria 
toiicaria,  and  is  very  nearly  related  to  the  fig,  some  of 
whose  species  are  also  deadly  poisons. 

UPHERS.  In  Architecture,  fir  poles  chiefly  used  in 
scaffolding ;  they  run  from  twenty  to  forty  feet  in  length, 
and  from  four  to  seven  inches  in  diameter. 

U LANDS.  Lands  on  hills  or  steep  declivities,  which 
in  general  require  a  different  kind  of  management  from 
lands  in  plains  or  comparatively  flat  surfaces.  Uplands 
are  generally  kept  in  pasture  or  underwood. 

U'PUPA.  (Lat.  upupa,  a  hoopoe.)  A  genus  of  Tenui- 
rostral  Passerine  birds,  distinguished  by  an  ornamental 
head-crest  formed  of  a  double  range  of  feathers,  which 
can  be  erected  at  will.  The  common  hoopoe  ( Upupa  epops) 
is  an  occasional  but  rare  visitant  of  England. 

1285 


URACHUS. 

U'RACHUS.  The  ligamentous  cord  which  arises  from 
the  base  of  the  urinary  bladder,  and  terminates  in  the  um- 
bilical cord. 

URA'NIA.  In  Mythology,  the  muse  of  Astronomy.  She 
is  generally  represented  with  a  crown  of  stars,  in  a  gar- 
ment spotted  u  iili  stars,  and  holding  in  her  left  hand  a  ce- 
lestial globe  or  a  lyre. 

UBA'NIUM.  A  metal  discovered  by  Klaproth  in  1789, 
who  named  it  after  the  planet  Uranus,  discovered  about 
that  time.  It  occurs  only  in  two  native  combinations — the 
pec/ib/enile  of  Saxony,  and  the  uranite ;  of  the  latter,  fine 
specimens  have  been  found  in  Cornwall.  Little  is  known 
of  the  properties  of  metallic  uranium:  it  appears  to  be  a 
brittle  gray  metal,  of  the  specific  gravity  about  9.  From 
the  experiments  of  Eerzelius  and  Arfwedson  we  deduce 
the  number  217  for  its  equivalent ;  that  of  its  protoxide  be- 
ing 22.),  and  of  its  peroxide  (sesquioxide)  229.  The  salts  of 
the  oxides  of  uranium  are  of  a  fine  grass  green  or  yellow 
colour:  the  persalts  have  been  most  examined.  Ferrocyan- 
ate  of  potassa  produces  in  them  a  very  characteristic  rich 
brown  precipitate,  not  unlike  that  formed  by  the  persalts 
of  copper.  They  are  also  precipitated  brown  by  infusion 
of  sails. 

ifRANOSCOPUS.  (Gr.  ovpavoc,  heaven  ;  cKoireu),  T  ex- 
plore. A  genus  of  fishes  was  so  called  by  Linnaeus,  be- 
cause both  eyes  were  placed  on  the  superior  surface  of  the 
head,  which  presents  a  nearly  cubical  form.  The  mouth 
is  cleft  vertically  at  the  anterior  part  of  the  head,  and,  like 
the  eyes,  is  directed  upwards.  The  species  of  this  genus, 
commonly  called  "  star-gazers,"  belong  to  the  Percoid  fam- 
ily of  Acauthopterygian  fishes  in  the  Ichthyological  system 
of  Cuvier. 

U'RANUS.  (Gr.  ovpavoc,  heaven.  In  Mythology,  a  di- 
vinity, the  first  king  of  the  Atlantic  nation,  and  the  father 
of  Saturn. 

Uranus.  In  Astronomy,  the  remotest  known  planet  he- 
longing  to  our  solar  system.  The  mean  distance  of  Ura- 
nus from  the  sun  is  19.18239,  that  of  the  earth  being  consid- 
ered as  unity,  whence  its  real  distance  is  upwards  of  1800 
millions  of  miles.  Its  sidereal  revolution  is  performed  in 
about  84  Julian  years.  The  orbit  is  inclined  to  the  ecliptic 
in  an  angle  of  only  40'  2844" ;  and  the  eccentricity  of  the 
orbit  is  0*046679,  half  the  major  axis  being  taken  as  unity. 
The  apparent  diameter  of  Uranus  (which,  on  account  of 
the  great  magnitude  of  its  orbit  in  comparison  of  that  of 
the  earth,  undergoes  very  little  variation)  is  about  4"  ; 
whence  the  real  diameter  of  the  planet  must  be  about 
35.000  miles,  or  nearly  four  and  a  half  times  that  of  the 
earth ;  and  its  bulk  about  eighty  times  that  of  the  earth. 
Uranus  presents  the  appearance  of  a  small  round  and  uni- 
formly illuminated  disk,  without  rings,  belts,  or  discernible 
spots.  From  analogy  we  infer  that  it  revolves  about  its 
axis ;  but  of  this  there  Is  no  direct  proof:  the  great  distance 
of  the  planet,  indeed,  precludes  our  obtaining  much  know- 
ledge of  its  physical  state.  Two  satellites  at  least  are 
known  to  attend  Uranus.  Sir  William  Herschel  thought 
he  could  discern  six ;  but  the  existence  of  more  than  two 
has  not  been  clearly  made  out.  In  fact,  with  the  exception 
of  the  two  inferior  satellites  of  Saturn,  those  of  Uranus 
are  the  most  difficult  objects  to  obtain  a  sight  of  in  the  so- 
lar system.  The  two  satellites  which  are  in  some  degree 
known  have  this  remarkable  peculiarity,  that,  instead  of 
advancing  from  west  to  east  round  the  centre  of  the  prima- 
ry, the  planes  of  their  orbits  are  nearly  perpendicular  to 
the  ecliptic,  and  their  motion  is  retrograde. 

Uranus  was  discovered  by  Sir  William  Herschel,  at 
Bath,  on  the  13th  of  March,  1781.  It  had  been  previously 
Observed  by  I'l.unstoed,  Bradley,  Mayer,  and  Lemonnier ; 
but,  owing  to  the  inferiority  of  their  telescopes,  not  one  of 
these  astronomers  suspected  it  to  be  a  planet.  Sir  W. 
Herschel  called  it  the  Oeorghm  Sidus.  in  honour  of  George 
III.  Foreigners  for  some  time  .ailed  it  the  Herschel ;  and 
it  is  now,  in  some  English  works,  called  the  Georgian.  See 
Pi.ankt. 

URE'A.  A  peculiar  crystallizable  substance  held  in 
solution  in  the  urine.  When  dried  in  vacuo  it  consists,  ac- 
cording to  Dr.  Prout,  of 


i 

Atoms 

Equiv. 

Theory. 

Experiment 

j  Nitrogen  .... 

|  Carbon     .... 

D      .     .     . 

1  Oxygen     .... 

2 
2 
I 
4 

28 
12 
4 

16 

46  67 
20-00 
6-67 
26-66 

46-65 
2007 
6-65 
26-63 

1 

60 

100  00 

1 00-110 

Urea  is  readily  soluble  in  water,  tasteless,  inodorous;  and 
when  mixed  with  the  other  contents  of  the  urine  very 
prone  to  putrefaction,  the  principal  result  of  which  is  car- 
bonate of  ammonia.     Urea  has  been  artificially  obtained  by 

the  action  of  ai da  on  cyanate  of  lead;  oxide  of  leal! 

is  precipitated,  and  colourless  crystals  of  urea  obtained  by 
tarefully  evaporating  the  solution. 
URE'lio.    (Lat.  uro,  /  burn.)    A  genus  of  microscopi- 


URINE. 

cal  Fun?i.  whose  presence  is  known  by  the  burnt  appear- 
ance of  the  part  they  infest.  They  consist  of  extremely 
minute  brown  spores,  which  multiply  with  great  rapidity, 
and  appear  to  injure  plants  by  absorbing  their  juices. 
Smut  and  brand,  diseases  too  well  known  to  the  farmer,  arc 
caused  by  their  ravages.  Steeping  corn  in  lime-water  is 
the  best  means  of  repelling  their  attacks. 

U'RETER.  The  membranous  tube  which  conveys  the 
urine  from  the  kidney  to  the  urinary  bladder. 

U'RE'TIIRA.  The  membranous  tube  or  canal  by  which 
the  urine  is  voided. 

U'RIA.  A  genus  of  web-footed  birds,  belonging  to  the 
short-winged  family  Brachyptercs  of  Cuvier,  and,  like  the 
rest  of  that  family,  admirable  divers.  The  species  of  Uria 
are  all  marine,  and  generally  known  by  the  name  of  Guil- 
lemots." They  resort  in  vast  numbers  to  breed  among  the 
rocks  of  the  Orkney  and  Shetland  Isles,  and  are  a  source 
of  profit  to  the  adventurous  inhabitants. 

URIC  ACID.  An  acid  peculiar  to  the  urine  of  certain 
animals  ;  it  is  always  present  in  human  urine,  and  in  the 
excrements  of  many  birds  of  prey  and  of  serpents,  especial- 
ly of  the  Boa  constrictor,  which  is  voided  in  white  nodules, 
consisting  of  little  else  than  urate  of  ammonia.  Uric  acid 
also  forms  one  of  the  commonest  varieties  of  urinary  cal- 
culi, and  of  the  red  gravel  or  sand  which  is  voided  in  cer- 
tain morbid  states  of  the  urine.  Pure  uric  acid  is  obtained 
in  the  state  of  a  very  insoluble  white  powder  by  digesting 
powdered  uric  calculus,  or  the  excrement  of  the  boa,  in 
potash,  and  dropping  the  solution  into  weak  muriatic  acid  : 
the  precipitate  which  falls  is  to  be  well  washed,  and  dried 
at  212°.  Its  most  distinctive  chemical  character,  by  which 
it  is  at  once  easily  recognised,  is,  that  when  moistened  with 
nitric  acid  and  heated  it  dissolves,  and  upon  evaporation  to 
dryness  leaves  a  red  compound,  which,  upon  the  addition 
of  a  drop  or  two  of  a  solution  of  caustic  ammonia,  becomes 
of  a  fine  crimson  (purpurate  of  ammonia).  The  following 
is  the  composition  of  uric  acid : 


Atoms. 

Equiv. 

Theory. 

Experiment. 

Nitrogen  .... 
Carbon     .... 
Hydrogen     .    .    . 
Oxygen     .... 

2 
6 
2 
3 

28 
36 
2 
24 

31-11 
40-00 

2-22 
26-67 

31125 

39-875 
2-225 
26775 

1 

90 

10000 

100  oou 

U'RIM.  A  word  connected  in  its  signification  with  the 
word  thummim,  being  the  plural  of  the  Hebrew  aur,  a  light, 
a  luminary;  whence  it  has  come  to  signify  fire.  Thum- 
mim, which  is  the  plural  of  thorn  or  tarn,  means  fulness  or 
perfection.  See  Wilkinson's  Ancient  Egyptians,  as  to  the 
connexion  of  this  word  with  the  title  of  the  Egyptian  god 
Thauth,  or  Thoth. 

The  two  words,  conjointly,  signify  light  and  perfection  ; 
but  the  Septuagint  render  it  literally  df/'bt.oets  teat  d^ridcia, 
manifestation  and  truth.  The  urim  and  thummim  were 
the  precious  stones  on  the  high  priest's  breastplnte,  which 
made  known  the  will  of  God  by  casting  an  extraordinary 
lustre,  and  thereby  manifested  the  success  of  events  to 
those  who  consulted  them. 

The  high  priest  alone  could  officiate  at  this  solemn  cere- 
mony ;  and  the  urim  was  to  be  consulted  only  at  the  in- 
stance of  public  persons,  such  as  the  kins,  the  president  of 
the  sanhedrim,  and  the  general  of  the  Israelitish  army ; 
and  only  on  such  public  matters  as  related  to  the  common 
interest  of  the  twelve  tribes. 

The  manner  in  which  the  high  priest  consulted  the  urim 
was  as  follows  :  Having  entered  into  the  sanctuary  or  holy 
place,  being  fully  invested  with  his  robes  and  breastplate, 
and  with  his  face  turned  towards  the  ark  of  the  covenant, 
upon  which  the  divine  presence  reposed,  he  brought  the 
matter  to  be  consulted  ;  the  person  for  whom  he  consulted 
standing  behind  him,  and  in  humility  and  reverence  await- 
ing the  answer.  The  high  priest  then  fixed  his  eyes  on 
the  pectoral,  and  those  letters  which  formed  the  answer 
shone  with  more  than  ordinary  lustre,  and  were  signifi- 
cantly raised  out  of  their  places.  So  when  David  inquired 
of  God,  by  means  of  the  urim,  whether  he  should  go  up  to 
one  of  the  cities  of  Judah,  three  letters  came  out  of  their 
places  as  it  were,  and  gave  the  answer. 

While  the  Hebrews  were  under  a  theocracy,  or  immedi- 
ately governed  by  Jehovah,  it  was  necessary  there  should 
always  be  means  at  hand  to  consult  him  :  but  when  this 
theocracy  ceased,  and  the  kingdom  became  hereditary  in 
the  person  and  family  of  Solomon,  and  Israel  became  di- 
vided into  two  monarchies,  under  Rehoboam  and  Jeroboam, 
the  consulting  of  the  urim  and  thummim  appears  to  have 
ceased. 

URINE.  (Gr.  opovav,  to  rush  out.)  The  fluid  secreted 
by  the  kidneys,  whence  il  passes  by  the  ureters  into  the 
bladder.  The  variable  appearance  of  the  urine  announces, 
even  to  the  casual  observer,  correspondinc  fluctuations  in 
its  composition  ;  these  have  long  been  studied  by  physicians 
and  medical  chemists,  as  furnishing  useful  prognostics  in 


URINE. 

disease.  The  chemical  analysis,  however,  of  the  urine  is 
attended  by  many  difficulties,  chiefly  arising  out  of  the 
great  number  of  different  substances  which  are  found  in  it, 
the  variations  in  quantity  and  quality  to  which  they  are  li- 
able, and  the  facility  with  which  they  are  modified  by  the 
analytical  reagents  which  it  is  necessary  to  employ.  The 
substances  always  found  in  healthy  urine  are,  water  ;  car 
bonic  acid ;  phosphoric  acid,  or  superphosphate  of  lime  ; 
uric  acid,  or  superurate  of  ammonia ;  phosphates  of  lime, 
soda,  magnesia,  and  ammonia  ;  sulphate  of  soda  ;  chloride 
of  sodium  (common  salt)  ;  urea,  albumen,  and  mucus  ; 
colouring  and  odorous  matter.  To  these  may  probably  be 
added  fluoric,  benzoic,  and  lactic  or  acetic  acids ;  gelatine, 
acetate  of  ammonia;  sulphate  of  potassa ;  fluoride  of  cal- 
cium ;  muriate  of  ammonia  ;  sulphur  ;  silica.  In  certain 
diseases  other  products  make  their  appearance,  which  are 
not  discoverable  in  healthy  urine ;  such  as  oxalic  acid,  or 
oxalate  of  lime  ;  nitric  acid ;  sugar  ;  carbonate  of  lime  ; 
cystic  oxide;  and  occasionally  some  anomalous  organic 
compounds,  the  nature  of  which  has  not  been  very  satisfac- 
torily ascertained. 

It  is  almost  impossible,  in  consequence  of  the  circum- 
stances above  mentioned,  to  give  a  correct  notion  of  the 
relative  proportions  of  the  component  parts  of  healthy 
*rine ;  but  the  following  statement,  from  Berzelius,  will 
serve  to  give  an  idea  of  the  average  composition  of  this 
complicated  fluid : 

Water 93300 

Urea 3010 

Sulphates  of  potash  and  soda      ....      6-87 
Phosphate  of  soda  and  of  ammonia    .        .        .      4-59 

Chloride  of  sodium 4-45 

Muriate  of  ammonia 150 

Free  lactic  acid  (acetic  1)  1 

Lactate  of  ammonia           V          ....    17-14 
Animal  matter                    > 
Earthy  phosphate  and  a  trace  of  fluoride  of  cal- 
cium        1-00 

Uric  acid 1-00 

Mucus  and  albumen 0-32 

Silica 0-03 

100000 
When  the  urine  is  in  a  healthy  state,  there  are  many 
circumstances  of  mind  and  body  which  materially  influ- 
ence its  appearance  and  quantity.  It  is  often  little  else 
than  water,  as  after  very  copious  draughts  of  diluting  and 
diuretic  liquids ;  at  other  times  it  is  saturated  with  its  solid 
contents,  and  even  deposits  part  of  them  as  it  cools.  If 
turbid  at  the  time  it  is  voided,  it  may  always  be  considered 
as  in  a  morbid  state.  Sometimes  it  contains  foreign  matters 
which  have  been  taken  as  medicine  or  food.  The  peculiar 
odour  imparted  to  it  by  asparagus,  the  colour  by  spinach, 
rhubarb,  &c,  and  the  passage  of  certain  saline  substances 
by  the  kidneys,  are  familiar  cases  of  these  modifications  to 
which  the  urine  is  subject.  The  daily  average  voided  un- 
der ordinary  circumstances,  by  healthy  individuals,  is  not 
less  than  30  nor  more  than  40  ounces  ;  and  its  specific  grav- 
ity should  not  exceed  1030 ;  though  in  some  cases  of  dis- 
ease, as  in  diabetes,  and  occasionally  in  some  diseases  of 
the  liver  and  of  the  kidneys  (as  in  cases  of  albuminous 
urine  described  by  Dr.  Bright)  it  rises  to  1040.  The  usual 
average  is  1020.  It  always  reddens  the  vegetable  blues 
which  indicate  free  acid.  In  cases  of  suppressed  perspira- 
tion its  quantity-  is  usually  increased ;  and  in  hot  weather, 
and  when  the  perspiration  is  copious,  it  is  diminished,  for 
it  is  one  of  the  great  outlets  of  mere  water  from  the  svstem. 
We  may  also  observe,  that  a  large  quantity  of  nitrogen  is 
thrown  off  by  the  same  channel,  for  that  element  consti- 
tutes 20  per  cent,  of  urea. 

Urinary  Calculi. — When  the  uric  acid  of  the  urine, 
which  we  have  already  stated  to  be  one  of  its  most  insolu- 
ble contents,  is  secreted  in  any  extraordinary  proportion,  it 
is  passed  in  a  solid  state,  generally  in  minute,  red  crystals, 
or  red  sand ;  and  these  not  unfrequently  agglutinate,  so  as 
to  form  small  calculi  from  the  size  of  a  pin's  head  upwards. 
These,  passing  with  more  or  less  pain  from  the  kidney 
along  the  ureter  into  the  bladder,  produce  what  is  termed  a 
fit  of  gravel;  and  if  one  or  more  of  them  remain  in  the 
bladder,  it  then  increases  in  size,  and  becoming  too  large  to 
be  passed  with  the  urine,  gives  rise  to  symptoms  of  stone  in 
the  bladder.  The  increase  of  this  nucleus  will  be  more  or 
less  rapid,  according  to  the  state  of  the  urine  ;  but  if  the  in- 
ordinate formation  of  uric  acid  continues,  that  substance 
will  frequently  be  deposited  upon  it  in  successive  layers, 
and  it  will  sometimes  thus  attain  a  considerable  size,'  and 
consist  almost  entirely  of  uric  acid.  But  if  the  uric  attack 
in  the  kidney  is  transient,  the  small  uric  calculus  in  the 
bladder  usually  becomes  encrusted  with  a  white  deposit, 
composed  of  ammonio-magnesian  phosphate,  perhaps  with 
more  or  less  phosphate  of  lime,  this  mixture  forming  what 
has  been  termed  the  fusible  calculus ;  and  tins  gives  rise 


UROPTERANS. 

to  a  second  and  frequent  species  of  urinary  calculus,  name- 
ly, that  in  which  a  uric  nucleus  is  enveloped  in  the  phos- 
phates. The  natural  tendency  of  the  mine  is  to  deposit 
the  above-mentioned  difficultly  soluble  phosphates  upon 
any  extraneous  matter  or  nucleus  which  may  chance  to  be 
in  the  bladder  ;  but  the  rapidity  with  which  it  is  deposited 
is  very  different  in  different  individuals,  and  accordingly 
the  increase  in  size  of  such  a  calculus  is  sometimes  very 
slow,  and  sometimes  extremely  rapid  ;  and  as  the  violence 
of  the  symptoms  generally  depends  (but  not  always)  upon 
the  size  of  the  concretion,  they  will  be  subject  to  great 
consequent  irregularity.  It  does  occasionally  happen  that 
calculi  are  formed  in  the  bladder  independent  of  any  mor- 
bid state  of  the  urine  itself,  or  of  any  uric  nucleus  sent 
down  from  the  kidneys  ;  but  these  cases  are  rare,  and  ap- 
pear to  depend  upon  the  accumulation  of  sand  and  mucus 
in  certain  disordered  states  of  the  bladder,  which  is  gradu- 
ally indurated  into  a  nucleus,  and  which  then  goes  on  to 
increase  in  the  phosphates ;  so  that,  on  cutting  such  a 
calculus  through  the  centre,  we  do  not,  as  in  the  majority 
of  cases,  observe  a  uric  nucleus,  but  the  whole  concretion 
is  white  and  more  or  less  crystalline,  and  usually  consists 
of  little  else  than  ammonio-magnesian  phosphate.  This 
outline  of  the  formation  of  calculi  includes  by  far  the 
greater  number  of  cases  ;  but  it  occasionally  happens  that 
not  only  the  nucleus,  but  the  bulk  of  the  stone,  is  made  up 
of  oxalate  of  lime,  a  substance  which  we  have  above  allu- 
ded to  as  not  belonging  to  healthy  urine.  When  these  cal- 
culi come  direct  from  the  kidney,  they  often  are  gray  and 
smooth,  and  look  almost  like  a  hempseed  ;  or,  when  more 
carefully  examined,  are  found  to  be  a  congeries  of  little, 
rounded  particles  ;  but  when  they  have  increased  in  the 
bladder,  they  are  then  generally  rough  and  dark  brown  on 
the  exterior,  whence  they  have  acquired  the  name  of 
mulberry  calculi.  Another,  and  more  rare  substance, 
which  forms  gravel  and  calculi,  is  the  cystic  oxide  ;  and  in 
some  very  rare  cases  small  concretions  of  carbonate  of  lime 
have  been  voided,  most  probably  originating  in  the  prostate 
gland.  Lastly,  minute  grains  of  silica  are  said  to  have 
been  detected  in  the  urine,  and  this  substance  has  also 
been  found  in  calculi ;  but  it  is  rare,  and  in  small  quantity. 
In  concluding  this  sketch  of  the  history7  of  the  urine  and 
urinary  calculi,  we  cannot  too  strongly  insist  upon  the  im- 
portance of  attending  to  the  early  symptoms  of  the  disease, 
and  to  its  first  announcement,  which  generally  consists  in 
habitual  turbidness  and  deposits  in  the  urine.  All  persons 
are  subject  to  occasional  appearances  of  this  kind  ;  but 
when  they  are  constant,  they  ought  to  be  considered  as 
alarming  indications  of  farther  mischief.  These,  in  their 
early  stages,  are  almost  always  curable,  either  by  diet, 
medicine,  or  both  ;  but  when  once  a  stone  has  formed  in 
the  kidney  or  bladder,  all  hope  of  its  removal,  except  by  an 
operation  (and  even  that  not  admissible  in  the  case  of  kid- 
ney calculi),  is  vain,  nothing  having  been  yet  discovered  to 
which  the  term  solvent  is  properly  applicable.  The  re- 
moval of  the  stone  from  the  bladder  is  effected  by  opera- 
tion in  two  ways :  either  by  an  incision  into  the  bladder, 
and  the  removal  of  the  stone  by  a  forceps — this  constitutes 
lithotomy :  or  by  lithotrity,  in  which  certain  instruments 
are  introduced  by  the  urethra,  so  as  to  grasp  the  stone,  and 
enable  the  operator  to  reduce  it  to  fragments  sufficiently 
small  to  allow  of  being  voided  by  the  usual  passage. 

URN,  in  Mosses,  is  the  hollow  urn  in  which  the  spores 
or  false  seeds  are  lodged. 

URN,  CINERARY  or  SEPULCHRAL.  (Lat.  uro,  / 
burn.)  A  species  of  vase  used  among  the  ancients  to  re- 
ceive and  preserve  the  ashes  of  the  dead.  The  form  of 
the  urn  was  derived  by  the  Romans  from  Greece  ;  but  the 
Greeks  did  not  employ  their  urns  for  sepulchral  purposes. 
Among  the  Romans  these  vessels  were  especially  conse- 
crated to  retaining  the  ashes  of  the  dead.  Similar  vessels 
were  used  by  the  ancient  Teutonic  and  Slavonic  tribes, 
who  likewise  burned  their  dead.  Sir  T.  Brown's  celebra- 
ted work,  Hydriolaphia,  or  Urn  Burial,  contains  a  strange 
collection  of  learned  fragments  and  philosophical  reflections 
on  this  subject.  Numerous  descriptions  of  cinerary  urns, 
both  Roman  and  British,  discovered  at  different  periods  in 
this  country,  will  be  found  in  the  Archmologia. 

UROCErRATA.  (Gr.  ovpa,  a  tail,  and  Kipac,  a  horn.) 
The  name  of  a  tribe  of  the  Terebrantia,  or  boring  Hymenop- 
terous  insects,  in  which  the  terebra  or  borer  of  the  females 
is  sometimes  very  long  and  prominent,  and  composed  of 
three  filamentary  processes,  sometimes  capillary,  and  coil- 
ed in  a  spiral  form  in  the  interior  of  the  abdomen. 

U'RODELES,  Urodelm.  (Gr.  ovpa,  and  6n\oc,  manifest.) 
The  name  of  that  tribe  of  Caducibranchiate  Batrachian 
reptiles  which  preserve  the  tail  through  all  the  stages  of 
their  existence. 

URO'PTERANS,  Uroptera.  (Gr.  ovpa,  and  Trrcpov,  a 
wing.)  The  name  of  a  family  of  Amphipodous  Crustace- 
ans, including  those  in  which  the  tail  is  terminated  by  en- 
larged appendages  in  the  shape  of  fins. 

1287 


UROPYGIUM. 

UROPY'GIUM.  (Gr.  ox-pa,  a  tail,  and  TTvyrj,  behind.) 
The  base  of  the  tail  in  mammals  anil  lards. 

I  RO'SCOPY.  The  judgment  of  diseases  founded  upon 
an  inspection  of  the  urine. 

I  'RSA  .MAJOR.  The  Great  Bear;  one  of  the  forty- 
eighl  constellations  of  Ptolemy,  in  the  northern  hemisphere, 
and  near  the  )>ole.  It  is  often  alluded  to  in  the  most  an- 
cient histories,  sacred  and  profane,  under  the  various  de- 
nominations of  Arctos,  Bootes,  Helix,  Callisto,  Megisto, 
the  Wagon,  the  Plough.  It  contains  seven  very  con- 
spicuous stars,  called  septemLriones :  whence  septemtrio, 
the  north. 

QKS  \  MINOR.  The  Lesser  Bear;  also  one  of  the 
forty-eight  constellations  of  Ptolemy.  It  was  called  by  the 
Greeks  Cynosura;  that  is,  the  Dog's  Tail.  The  pole  star 
is  in  this  constellation. 

U'RSULENES.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  an  order  of 
nuns,  of  which  the  origin  is  ascribed  to  Angela  di  Brescia, 
about  1537  ;  but  which  derived  its  name  from  St.  Ursula 
(a  lady  of  the  family  of  Benincasa  at  Naples).  The  Ursu- 
lines  were  bound  to  perform  charitable  otfices  to  the  sick, 
poor,  and  penitent.  They  were  erected  into  an  order  by 
Gregory  XIII.,  in  1577,  at  the  solicitation  of  St.  Charles 
Borromeo.  They  take,  in  addition  to  the  three  ordinary 
vows,  a  fourth — to  devote  themselves  to  education.  (See 
Waddington,  History  of  the  Church,  p.  401.) 

U'RSUS.  (Lat.  ursus,  a  bear.)  A  genus  of  Pantigrade 
Carnivora  in  the  system  of  Cuvier,  restricted  to  those  spe- 
cies which  have  three  large  tuberculate  molars  on  each 
side  of  both  jaws,  the  anterior  lower  and  the  posterior  up- 
per one  being  the  largest.  They  are  preceded  by  a  tooth  a 
little  more  trenchant,  representing  the  carnassial  tooth,  and 
by  a  variable  number  of  small  premolars.  In  accordance 
with  this  dentition,  the  bears  are  omnivorous  or  frugivor- 
ous.  They  are  heavy,  stout-bodied  animals,  with  thick 
limbs,  and  a  very  short  tail:  the  cartilage  of  the  nose  is 
moveable,  and  sometimes  very  long,  as  in  the  labiated 
bear,  commonly  called  the  ursine  sloth.  The  bears  of  the 
northern  regions  pass  the  winter  in  a  state  of  somnolency 
in  dens  or  other  hiding  places,  and  it  is  in  these  retreats 
that  the  female  brings  forth  her  young.  The  species  best 
Known  are  the  common  brown  bear  ( Ursus  arctos),  the 
black  bear  ( Ursus  Americanus),  the  grisly  bear  ( Ursus 
feroz),  the  polar  bear  ( Ursus  maritimus),  the  Ursus  labia- 
tus, Ursus  Thibetanus,  Ursus  Malay  anus,  and  Ursus  Syri- 
acus. 

URTICA'CEiE  (Lat.  urtica,  the  nettle),  form  a  very 
large  and  natural  order  of  plants,  with  apetalous  flowers,  a 
lenticular,  simple  fruit,  and  a  seed  whose  embryo  always 
directs  its  radicle  towards  the  top  of  the  cavity.  The 
stinging  properties  of  the  common  nettle  are  participated  in 
by  many  others  whose  acridity  is  intense.  Others  are 
provided  with  a  poisonous  juice,  which  in  its  most  concen- 
trated form  gives  the  upas  tree  of  Java  its  formidable  quali- 
ties. A  narcotic  principle  is  highly  developed  in  hemp, 
ami  the  toughness  of  the  fibre  of  that  plant  occurs  in  many 
others  of  the  order.  Nevertheless  the  fig,  the  bread-fruit, 
the  mulberry,  and  hops,  in  which  nothing  deleterious  is 
remarked,  are  the  produce  of  some  species  ;  and  even  the 
milk  tree  of  the  Caraccas,  whose  bland  juice  feeds  the 
natives  of  the  country,  is  an  Urticaceous  plant.  Many 
species  furnish  caoutchouc,  which,  in  Ficus  elastica,  is  of 
the  finest  quality. 

URTICARIA.     See  Nettle  Rash. 

IS  LNCE.  In  Commercial  Law.  A  foreign  bill  is  often 
drawn  at  one,  two,  or  more  "  usances,"  meaning  thereby 
certain  periods  of  time  which  it  is  the  usage  of  the  coun- 
tries between  which  the  bills  are  drawn  to  allow  for  pay- 
ment thereof.  Thus,  the  "  usance"  between  London  and 
Paris  is  one  calendar  month;  a  bill  drawn  here  "at  one 
usance,"  on  the  2d  January,  is  payable  there  on  the  5th 
February,  allowing  three  days  (if  grace. 

USE,  in  its  original  sense,  signified  the  equitable  right 
one  had  to  take  the  rents  and  profits  of  land  whereof  the 
legal  ownership  was  in  another.  It  was  very  nearly  the 
same  as  the  trust  of  the  present  day,  and  created  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner:  The  owner  of  land  conveyed  it  by  feoff- 
ment to  some  friend,  on  the  understanding  that  the  feoffee 
should  hold  it  for  the  sole  use  and  benefit  of  the  feoffor,  or 
such  persons  as  he  might  nominate.  In  this  way  the  Beisin 
or  legal  property  of  the  land  became  vested  in  the  feoffee 
to  uses  as  trustee;  while  the  feoffor,  or  other  person  nom 
mated  by  him,  who  was  called  the  cestui  que  use,  had  the 
Substantial  use  and  enjoyment  of  it.  The  simplicity  of  the 
common  law,  however,  recognised  but  one  person  In  con- 
nexion with  the  soil,  namely,  its  real  owner,  and  repudia 
ted  the  idea  of  any  use  as  separated  from  the  seisin  ;  so 
that  it  the  trustee,  abusing  the  confidence  placed  in  him, 
refused  to  let  cestui  que  use  take  the  rents  and  profits, 
then;  was  nn  redress  lor  the  grievance.     But  the  Court  of 

•  oancerj    asa  court  of  equity,  considered  the  agreement 
entered  into  by  the  trustee  as  binding  on  his  conscience ; 
1288 


USE. 

and  after  calling  on  him  by  writ  of  subpoena  to  appear  and 
in  ike  a  disclosure  on  oath  of  the  particulars  of  his  trust, 
compelled  him  to  perform  it. 

The  system  of  uses  was  transplanted  from  the  civil  law, 
and  introduced  into  this  country  about  the  lime  of  Edward 
HI.  by  the  ecclesiastics,  who  procured  conveyances  to  be 
made,  not  directly  to  themselves,  but  to  lay  persons  as 
trustees  for  them,  in  order  to  evade  the  statutes  of  mort- 
ui  i i ii.  Once  known,  it  was  generally  adopted  ;  and  though 
crushed  in  its  infancy,  so  far  as  regarded  religious  houses, 
continued  to  flourish  without  disturbance  in  other  respects, 
and  was  found  admirably  adapted  to  the  wants  and  con- 
venience of  the  people  at  large  in  softening  the  rigours  of 
feudal  tenure,  anil  facilitating  the  alienation  and  settlement 
of  property.  The  laws  and  policy  of  feudal  tenure  required 
the  vassal  to  render  certain  fruits  and  services  to  his  lord; 
and  if  these  were  not  duly  rendered,  or  any  act  were  done 
in  derogation  of  the  lord's  title,  the  estate  was  forfeited. 
The  tenancy  of  the  freehold  could  not  be  interrupted  or 
suspended  for  an  instant;  and  to  every  transfer  of  it,  actual 
and  public  delivery  of  possession,  in  the  presence  of  wit- 
nesses, and  accompanied  by  much  solemn  ceremonial,  was 
absolutely  indispensable ;  so  that  the  lord  might  always 
have  some  person  to  perform  the  services  due  to  him,  and 
always  know  with  certainty  who  that  person  was.  The 
lord  was  entitled  to  sell  his  ward  in  marriage,  to  take  the 
profits  of  the  land  during  the  wardship,  and  on  the  descent 
or  alienation  of  the  land  heavy  fines  were  payable  to  him. 
The  tenant  had  no  power  of  directing  the  destination  of  the 
land  by  will ;  such  a  mode  of  disposition  would  at  once 
have  been  wanting  in  notoriety,  and  have  deprived  the  lord 
of  his  fruits  upon  a  descent. 

When,  however,  the  equitable  interest  in  land,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  the  legal  property  in  it,  became  recognised 
and  enforced  in  the  Court  of  Chancery,  the  principal  hard- 
ships of  tenure  were  easily  avoided.  A  conveyed  land  to 
B  to  A's  own  use ;  the  terms  upon  which  B  took  the  land 
were  said,  in  equity,  to  affect  his  conscience,  and  to  impose 

upon  him  a ra]  obligation  to  fulfil  them  honestly.    But 

it  was  in  equity  only  that  A  had  any  claim:  there  he  might 
call  upon  B  to  allow  him  to  take  the  profits  of  the  land,  and 
to  make  such  conveyances  of  it  as  he  might  from  time  to 
time  direct.  At  law  A  had  no  control  over  or  connexion 
with  the  land  any  longer  remaining  to  him.  His  use,  there- 
fore, altogether  evaded  the  grasp  of  tenure,  which  rested 
entirely  upon  the  common  law.  It  was  held  of  no  one  .  it 
was  the  creature  of  his  own  decimation,  operating  upon 
the  conscience  of  the  person  in  whom  he  confided.  It 
might  be  transferred  at  any  time  without  any  public  solem- 
nities by  a  secret  declaration.  At  law  A  could  not  carve 
out  for  himself  a  portion  of  the  whole  fee,  and  limit  the 
residue  of  it  to  others,  without  first  of  all  going  through  all 
the  formalities  of  a  conveyance  to  B,  anil  then  taking  back 
a  reconveyance,  with  the  same  formalities,  of  that  portion 
of  the  fee  which  he  might  wish  to  retain  to  himself.  Hus- 
band and  wife  being  one  person  in  law,  he  could  not  carve 
out  a  portion  for  her  without  conveying  to  B,  in  order  that 
B  might  afterwards  convey  to  her.  He  could  not  convey 
the  fee,  or  any  portion  of  it,  to  B ;  so  that  it  should,  on  the 
happening  of  any  named  event,  or  the  expiration  of  any 
named  period,  shift  either  wholly  or  in  part  from  him  to 
any  other  person.  He  could  not  even  convey  to  B  at  all 
without  giving  him  immediate  possession:  a  conveyance 
to  him  in  futuro,  as  from  Christmas  next,  would  have  been 
altogether  void.  He  might,  however,  resorting  to  equity, 
and  making  a  declaration  of  the  uses  to  which  he  wished 
his  property  to  be  applied,  effect  all  these  and  innumerable 
other  arrangements  by  a  single  stroke  of  the  pen,  or  a  mere 
breath.  The  use,  emancipated  from  the  common  law,  had 
such  a  suppleness  and  pliability  as  almost  to  accommodate 
itself  to  his  very  whims.  He  might  dispose  of  it  by  will,  or 
it  would  descend  to  his  heirs  in  the  course  of  the  common 
law  ;  but  no  fine  was  payable  upon  its  descent.  It  was  not 
liable  either  to  dower  or  to  curtesy  ;  it  was  not  extendible 
for  debts,  nor  forfeited  for  treason.  Lord  Bacon  according- 
ly complains,  that  it  "  deceived  many  of  their  just  and  rea- 
sonable rights.  A  man  that  had  cause  to  sue  for  bind  knew 
not  against  whom  to  bring  his  action,  or  who  was  the 
owner  of  it.  The  wife  was  defrauded  of  her  thirds;  the 
husband  of  bis  curtesy;  the  lord  of  his  wardship,  relief, 
i !,  and  escheat ;  the  creditor  of  his  extent  for  debt ;  and 

the  p '  tenant  of  his  lease."     To  remedy  these  ai.il  other 

Inconveniences,  the  statute  27  Henry  8,  c.  10  was  passed, 

usually  called  the  Statute  ofUses;  which  enacts,  thatwhen 

any  person  shall  be  seised  of  lands  to  the  use,  confidence, 
or  trust  of  any  person,  be  Bhall  thenceforth  be  seised  and 
possessed  of  the  land  of  and  in  the  like  estate  as  he  had  in 
the  use,  trust,  or  confidence. 

The   statute   thus   executed  the  use,  as  it  is  called,  by 

transferring  it  Into  possession,  and  doing  away  u  1th  the  dis- 
tinction between  the  beneficial  interest  and  legal  property 
in  land.    Whoever  had  the  use  had  now  also  the  legal 


USHER. 

estate.  Thus  the  use  was  not  abolished,  according  to  the 
probable  intention  of  the  legislature,  but  merely  annexed  to 
and  incorporated  with  the  legal  estate  ;  to  which,  therefore, 
it  now  superadded  all  the  convenient  ductility  of  its  own 
nature.  It  had  no  longer  a  merely  precarious  existence  in 
equity,  but  a  firm  locus  standi  in  courts  of  law.  It  was 
shorn,  indeed,  of  many  of  its  old  privileges,  such  as  exemp- 
tion from  dower,  curtesy,  and  forfeiture;  but  for  this  loss 
there  was  soon  contrived  a  remedy.  The  judges,  in  their 
narrow  construction  of  the  statute,  decided  that  its  provi- 
sions did  not  extend  to  a  use  limited  upon  a  use,  as  their 
phrase  was.  Accordingly,  on  a  feoffment  to  A  and  his  heirs, 
to  the  use  of  B  and  his  heirs,  to  the  use  of  (or  in  trust  for) 
C  and  his  heirs  ;  they  held  that  the  statute  clothed  the  first 
use  with  the  legal  ownership,  and  that  the  second  was  a 
nullity.  But  as  it  was  quite  clear  that  C,  and  not  B.  was 
the  person  intended  to  enjoy  the  estate,  this  verbal  pedantry 
of  the  common  law  judges  drove  C  into  the  Court  of  Chan- 
cery for  relief,  where  he  was  immediately  received  as  the 
substantial  cestui  que  use;  and  the  use  which  the  statute 
had  been  in  law  held  not  to  execute  was  considered  a  valid 
trust  in  equity.  Thus  by  limiting  two  uses  successively 
instead  of  one  only  as  before  the  statute — by  making,  in 
fact,  the  conveyance  only  three  words  longer  than  had 
been  customary,  the  equitable  interest  and  the  legal  estate 
were  again  disunited,  and  the  use  under  its  new  name  of 
trust  was  as  popular  and  available  as  ever.  In  this  man- 
ner the  destructive  qualities  of  the  statute  are  virtually  re- 
pealed, while  its  creative  qualities  are  to  this  day  in  full 
operation  ;  and  the  legislature,  instead  of  paralyzing  the  use, 
has  only  given  new  form  and  flexibility  to  the  legal  estate. 
Uses  are  of  various  kinds. 

An  executed  -use  is  one  to  which  the  statute  applies  by 
annexing  to  it  the  legal  ownership.  That  to  which  the 
statute  does  not  apply  is  called,  as  has  been  already  men- 
tioned, a  trust. 

Secondary  or  shifting  -use  is  one  which  takes  effect  in 
derogation  of  a  use  previously  limited,  as  in  a  conveyance 
to  A  to  the  use  of  B  ;  and  if  C  shall  return  from  Rome  or 
pay  B  a  certain  sum  of  money,  then  to  the  use  of  C. 

Springing  use  is  one  limited  to  arise  on  a  future  event, 
where  no  preceding  use  is  limited. 

Future  or  contingent  use  is  one  limited  to  a  person  not 
ascertained,  or  upon  an  uncertain  event,  but  without  dero- 
gation of  an  use  previously  limited,  as  to  A  for  life,  and  af- 
terwards to  his  unborn  son. 

Resulting  use.  When  the  use  limited  expires  or  cannot 
vest,  it  is  said,  either  after  such  expiration  or  during  such 
impossibility,  to  result  back  to  the  grantor;  as  on  a  con- 
veyance by  A  to  the  use  of  his  intended  wife  for  life,  then 
to  her  eldest  son  in  tail:  here,  until  the  marriage,  the  use 
results  back  to  A ;  or  results  to  him  in  fee  in  the  event  of 
his  wife  dying  without  issue. 

U'SHER.  (Probably  from  the  Fr.  huissier.)  An  officer 
who  has  the  care  of  the  door  of  a  court  or  hall,  &c.  In  the 
court  of  England,  he  is  an  officer  of  considerable  rank, 
whose  business  it  is  to  introduce  foreign  ambassadors  or 
other  high  strangers  to  the  sovereign. 

USQUEBAUGH.  A  strong  compound  liquor,  made  in 
greatest  perfection  at  Drogheda  in  Ireland.  Brandy  or  other 
spirits,  raisins,  cinnamon,  cloves,  and  various  other  spices 
are  its  ingredients. 

USTRI'XUM,  or  USTRI'NA.  (Lat.  uro,  I  burn.)  In 
Roman  Antiquities,  a  public  burning-place,  enclosed  by 
walls,  in  which  bodies,  mostly  of  the  poorer  sort  of  people, 
were' consumed.  An  ustrinum,  according  to  Montfaucon, 
was  square,  and  in  compass  about  300  feet.  In  the  Ar- 
chaologia  (vol.  xxvi.)  will  he  found  a  detailed  account  of 
the  site  of  one  recently  discovered  in  Cambridgeshire, 
which  appears  to  have  been  of  rather  large  dimensions. 

USTULATION.  (Lat.)  A  term  of  old  Pharmacy,  im- 
plying the  gradual  desiccation  and  torrefaction  of  sub- 
stances. 

USUCA'PTION.  In  Civil  Law.  the  acquisition  of  prop- 
erty in  anything  by  possession  and  enjoyment  for  a  certain 
term  of  years ;  commonly  considered  as  synonymous  with 
prescription,  although  some  have  restrained  the  use  of  the 
former  term  to  moveables  only. 

U'SUFRUCT,  in  the  Civil  Law,  is  defined  to  be  the  right 
of  enjoying  indefinitely  something  belonging  to  another 
without  diminishing  its  substance.  Usufruct  differs  from 
use ;  because  he  who  has  the  use  of  a  thing  can  only  enjoy 
it  personally,  whereas  the  right  of  him  who  has  the  usu- 
fruct is  alienable,  and  may  be  granted,  sold,  or  hired  to  an- 
other. Usufruct  may  be  constituted  in  four  ways  ;  by  con- 
tract, by  will,  by  judgment  of  a  court  (as  where  the  judge, 
in  effecting  a  division  of  common  property,  may.  under  cer- 
tain circumstances,  instead  of  dividing  the  inheritance,  allot 
the  usufruct  to  one,  and  the  thing  to  another),  and  by  opera- 
tion of  law.  Usufruct  is,  properly  speaking,  confined  to 
things  real,  and  to  incorporeal  rights  (whether  they  would 
be  termed  real  or  personal,  according  to  the  division  of  our 


UVA  URSI. 

law),  such  as  debts ;  but  a  sort  of  usufruct  (quasi  usufruct) 
may  exist  in  things  liable  to  be  consumed  by  use.  The  di- 
vision between  the  fruit  (which  belongs  to  the  usufructua- 
ry), and  the  thing  itself  (which  belongs  to  the  proprietor), 
affords  room  for  a  great  variety  of  legal  distinctions.  Usu- 
fruct may  be  extinguished  in  several  ways:  by  the  death, 
natural  or  civil,  of  the  usufructuary:  by  loss;  by  prescrip- 
tion, the  right  being  extinguished  if  disused  for  a  certain 
period ;  by  forfeiture,  where  the  usufructuary  abuses  his 
right ;  by  expiration  of  time,  if  the  usufruct  have  been 
granted  for  a  term ;  and  by  the  union  of  the  usufruct  with 
the  property  in  the  same  hands. 

U'SURY".  The  taking  of  interest  for  money :  from  the 
Latin  word  usura.  The  Jews  were  forbidden  by  the  law 
of  Moses  to  exact  interest  from  one  another.  By  the  old 
Roman  law  of  the  twelve  tables,  the  rate  of  interest  allow- 
ed as  legitimate  was  the  usura  centesima,  which  was  strict- 
ly one  per  cent,  a  month  ;  and  has  been  supposed  by  some 
to  have  amounted  to  twelve,  by  others  to  ten  per  cent,  in 
the  year.  Interest  was  also  computed  in  the  following 
manner:  Usura  unciaria,  being  the  lowest  term,  one  per 
cent.,  or  one  twelfth  of  the  usura  centesima  ;  usura  semis, 
or  semis,  half  the  centesima  (six  per  cent.) ;  bes,  quadrans, 
quincunx,  &c,  two  third  parts,  a  quarter,  a  fifth  of  the  cen- 
tesima (eight,  three,  two  per  cent.).  The  Roman  laws 
against  excessive  usury  were  frequently  renewed,  and  con- 
stantly evaded;  but  the  same  principle,  additionally  sanc- 
tioned by  mistaken  religious  opinions,  pervaded  the  laws 
of  all  countries  in  which  the  civil  jurisprudence  prevailed. 
The  amount  of  legal  interest  has  been  fixed  by  various 
statutes  in  England.  In  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  ten  per 
cent,  was  allowed ;  by  21  J.  1,  8  per  cent. ;  by  12  C.  2,  6  per 
cent. ;  by  12  Ann.,  5  per  cent.  All  contracts  made  for  the 
payment  of  any  principal  to  be  lent  on  usury  above  this 
rate  were  utterly  void.  The  question  of  usury, ;'.  e.,  wheth- 
er a  contract  is  bond  fide,  or  a  colour  for  a  usurious  loan, 
was  determined  by  the  verdict  of  a  jury.  But  the  usury 
laws  have  been  relaxed  by  several  recent  statutes.  By  the 
last,  2  &  3  Vict.,  c.  37,  bills  of  exchange  not  having  more 
than  12  months  to  run,  and  contracts  for  loans  or  forbear- 
ance of  money  above  jEIO,  are  no  longer  affected  by  those 
laws.  But  5  per  cent,  remains  the  legal  interest  recover- 
able on  all  contracts,  unless  otherwise  specified. 

UT.  In  Music,  the  name  of  the  first  of  the  musical  syl- 
lables. The  Italians,  for  the  sake  of  softening  the  sound, 
use  the  syllable  Do  instead  of  Ut  in  the  modern  solfeggi. 

U'TERINE.  (Lat.  uterus,  belly.)  In  the  Civil  Law.  an 
uterine  brother  or  sister  is  one  issued  from  the  same  mother. 
UTILITA'RIAXS.  A  name  which  has  been  given  to  a 
particular  sect  of  modern  politicians;  those,  namely,  who 
profess  to  try  the  excellence  of  modes  of  government  and 
usages  simply  by  their  utility.  The  celebrated  Jeremy 
Bentham,  regarded  as  the  founder  of  this  sect,  introduced 
into  the  critical  department  of  politics  a  closer  logic  than 
had  been  commonly  applied  to  it;  and  aimed  at  applying 
his  famous  principle,  "  the  greatest  happiness  of  the  greatest 
number,"  as  an  immediate"  test  by  which  to  affirm  or  deny 
the  value  of  institutions.  It  is  evident  that  all  political 
sects,  both  of  writers  and  statesmen,  profess  ultimately  the 
same  object.  The  real  characteristic  of  the  Utilitarians 
consists  in  the  peculiar  sense  in  which  they  understand  it. 
They  confine  for  the  most  part  the  proposed  utility,  so  as 
to  restrict  it  to  that  which  is  useful  for  the  material  and 
economical  well-being  of  the  multitude.  Their  tenets  have 
been  attacked  in  two  celebrated  articles  in  the  Edin.  Re- 
view (vols.  49  and  50)  :  Mill's  Essay  on  Government,  and 
Austin  on  Jurisprudence,  may  be  referred  to  as  containing 
the  most  intelligible  summaries  of  them. 

UTI  POSSIDE'TIS.  In  Politics,  a  treaty  which  leaves 
belligerent  parties  mutually  in  possession  of  what  they  have 
acquired  by  their  arms  during  the  war  is  said  to  be  based  on 
the  principle  of  uti  possidetis—"  as  you  possess." 

UTO'PIA.  A  term  invented  by  Sir  T.  More  (from  Gr. 
ovto-oc,  no  place),  and  applied  in  his  celebrated  work  call- 
ed Utopia  to  an  imaginary  island,  which  he  represents  to 
have  been  discovered  bv  a  companion  of  Amerigo  Vespucci, 
and  as  enjoving  the  utmost  perfection  in  laws,  politics,  &c, 
in  contradistinction  to  the  defects  of  those  which  then  ex- 
isted. The  work  was  first  printed  in  1516,  but  Froben's 
edition,  of  1513,  is  more  correct.  The  word  Utopia  has  now 
passed  into  all  the  languages  of  Europe  to  signify  a  state 
of  ideal  perfection  ;  and  Utopian  is  used  synonymously  with 
fanciful  or  chimerical. 

UTRI'CULUS.  (Lat.  uter,  a  bladder.)  A  term  in  Bota- 
ny applied  to  a  one-celled  one  or  few-seeded,  superior  mem- 
branous fruit,  frequently  dehiscing  by  a  transverse  suture, 
as  in  Ckenopodium.  It  is  also  used  to  indicate  a  fruit  with 
a  thin  skin  and  a  single  seed.  Sometimes  this  word  is  em- 
ployed to  express  a  separate  cell  of  the  cellular  tissue  of  a 
plant,  which  is  usually  a  little  vegetable  bladder. 

UVA   URSI.     The  Arbutus  uva  ursi,  bear's  berry,  or 
whortleberry.    The  leaves  of  this  small  shrub  have  a  high- 
4L  *  1289 


UVULA. 

ly  astringent  and  sweetish  taste  ;  their  decoction  or  infusion 
is  occasionally  used  in  medicine,  especially  in  certain  dis- 
orders of  the  kidney  and  bladder. 

O'VUIiA.  (Lat.  dim.  of  uva,  a  grape.)  A  small  fleshy 
protuberance  attached  lo  the  soft  palate,  and  hanging  over 
the  tongue.  It  consists  of  the  common  integuments  of  the 
mouth,  and  a  small  vermicular  muscle  by  the  contraction 
of  which  the  uvula  is  elevated.  In  some  cases  of  enlarged 
or  relaxed  uvula  which  will  not  yield  to  local  or  other 
remedies,  it  becomes  necessary  to  amputate  a  part  of  it,  in 
consequence  of  the  impediment  to  deglutition  which  then 
ensues,  and  the  tickling  cough  and  retching  which  it  in- 
duces. 

VACCINA'CKtfi.  (Vaecinium,  one  of  the  genera.)  A 
natural  order  of  shrubby  Exogens,  chiefly  inhabiting  North 
America.  Formerly  combined  with  the  Ericaceous  order, 
from  which  they  differ  in  their  inferior  ovary  and  succu- 
lent fruit.  The  berries  of  many  are  eaten,  under  the  names 
of  cranberry,  bilberry,  whortleberry,  &c;  and  some  of  the 
species  are  cultivated  as  objects  of  ornament. 

VACCINATION.    See  Cow  Pox. 

VACU'NA,  or  VACI'NA.  The  ancient  Italian  goddess 
of  leisure,  to  whom  the  husbandmen  sacrificed  at  the  close 
of  harvest,  or  "  harvest-home  ;"  to  which  rustic  festival 
Horace  alludes  in  the  words  "  fanum  putre  vacunoe."  (See 
also  Ov.  Fasti,  vi.) 

VA'CUUM  (Lat.  vacuus,  empty),  in  Physics,  is  a  portion 
of  space  void  of  matter.  The  possibility  of  the  existence 
of  a  perfect  vacuum  has  been  a  favourite  subject  of  dispute 
with  the  schoolmen  and  metaphysicians.  Its  existence 
was  maintained  by  the  Pythagoreans,  Epicureans,  and 
Atomists ;  and  denied  by  the  Peripatetics,  who  ascribed 
the  rise  of  water  in  a  sucking  pump,  and  some  other  phe- 
nomena of  the  same  kind  produced  by  atmospheric  pres- 
sure, to  nature's  abhorrence  of  a  vacuum.  Descartes  made 
the  essence  of  matter  to  consist  in  extension,  and  there- 
fore denied  the  possibility  of  a  vacuum;  for  if  extension 
be  the  essence  of  matter,  wherever  extension  is,  there  mat- 
ter must  be.  Those,  again,  who  suppose  all  material  bod- 
ies to  be  formed  of  the  agglomeration  of  elementary  par- 
ticles, are  compelled,  by  the  phenomena  of  motion,  to  ad- 
mit at  least  the  existence  of  what  was  called  by  the  school- 
men a  vacuum  intcrspersum,  or  of  intervals  devoid  of  all 
matter  among  the  interstices  or  pores  of  bodies ;  for  if  there 
were  no  interstices,  all  space  would  be  full  of  matter,  in 
which  case  no  body  could  be  moved  out  of  its  place,  inas- 
much as  there  would  be  no  unoccupied  place  into  which  it 
could  move.  For  the  arguments  on  this  subject,  see  New- 
ton's Optics. 

The  most  perfect  vacuum  that  can  be  produced  artificial- 
ly is  the  torriccllian  vacuum,  or  the  space  above  the  mer- 
cury in  the  barometric  tube.  But  in  this  sense  vacuum 
merely  signifies  the  exclusion  of  atmospheric  air ;  for  this 
space  in  the  barometer  may  be  filled  with  the  vapour  of 
mercury,  or  with  some  other  medium  infinitely  more  rare 
than  air,  and  inappreciable  to  our  senses.  It  is  obvious, 
from  the  nature  of  the  pneumatic  machine,  that  the  vacuum 
produced  by  an  air-pump,  or  the  Boylean  vacuum,  as  it  has 
been  called,  can  never  be  perfect,  as  some  air  must  always 
remain  in  the  receiver,  however  long  the  exhausting  pro- 
cess may  be  continued. 

The  question  of  the  abstract  existence  of  a  vacuum  is  not 
worth  discussing ;  hut  there  is  another  question  of  great  in- 
terest with  reference  to  physical  astronomy  connected  with 
the  subject — namely,  whether  the  spaces  in  which  the 
planets  move  are  so  far  void  of  matter  as  to  offer  no  resist- 
ance to  their  motions,  or  ate  occupied  by  a  medium  of  suf- 
ficient density  to  impede  their  motions  in  the  long  run  in  a 
sensible  degree.  Recent  observations  appear  to  give  some 
countenance  to  the  supposition  that  this  is  actually  the  case. 
It  has  been  observed  that  after  the  most  careful  allowance 
has  been  made  for  the  attractions  of  the  planets,  and  all 
other  known  causes  of  disturbance,  on  Encke's  comet,  the 
successive  returns  of  that  body  to  its  perihelion  are  accom- 
plished in  periods  which  are  constantly  diminishing.  (See 
Comet.)  Now  this  is  precisely  the  effect  that  would  be 
produced  if  the  body  moved  in  a  medium  which  offered  a 
small  resistance  to  its  motion;  and  as  this  is  the  only  ob- 
vious mode  of  explaining  the  phenomenon,  it  has  been  gen- 
erally adopted.  Nevertheless,  it  is  extremely  difficult  to 
reconcile  the  supposition  of  an  existing  medium  with  the 
astronomical  fact,  that  during  the  last  two  thousand  years 
of  observation,  it  has  produced  no  effect  on  the  motions  of 
the  large  planets  capable  of  being  appreciated  by  the  most 
delicate  instruments.  This  fad,  however,  though  it  proves 
the  extreme  feebleness  of  the  resistance,  does  not  furnish 
an  absolute  proof  that  such  a  medium  may  not  exist,  and 
that  its  effects  may  not  ultimately  become  sensible  even 
on  the  densest  planets,    if  it  does  exist,  the  consequence 

seems  Ine*  liable  that  all  the  planets  anil  satellites,  as  well 
as  tin.'  comets,  must  be  ultimately  precipitated  into  the  sun. 
Another  argument  against  the  existence  of  a  vacuum  is 
1290 


VALENTINE. 

furnished  by  the  undulatory  theory  of  light.  If  this  hypoth- 
esis be  true,  and  it  is  rendered  probable  by  numerous  phe- 
nomena, a  medium  of  great  elasticity  must  pervade  all  the 
parts  of  space  through  Which  light  penetrates.  There  could 
in  this  case  be  no  vacuum  ;  unless,  indeed,  the  term  be  un- 
derstood to  denote  merely  the  absence  of  ponderable  matter. 
See  Light. 

VA'DE  IN  PACE.  (Lat.  go  in  peace.)  In  monastic  com- 
munities offences  were  sometimes  punished  by  the  dread- 
ful infliction  of  starving  to  death  in  prison ;  and  bones  have 
occasionally  been  found  among  the  ruins  of  convents  of  vic- 
tims who  appear  to  have  perished  in  this  manner.  The 
punishment  acquired  this  name  from  the  words  in  which 
the  sentence  was  pronounced.  The  use  which  Walter 
Scott  has  made  of  this  custom  in  his  poem  of  Marmiun  is 
well  known.  But  it  is  no  romantic  fiction.  (See  Fleury, 
Hist.  Ecclcs.  vol.  xx.,  p.  HfcJ ;  where,  however,  the  vade  in 
pace  is  described  as  perpetuul  solitary  imprisonment.  Diet, 
de  Trevaux.) 

VAGA'NTES.  (Lat.  vago,  /  wander.)  The  name  of  a 
tribe  of  spiders  {Jiraneidce),  comprehending  those  which 
watch  their  prey  concealed  in  a  web  ;  but  also  frequently 
run  with  agility,  and  chase  and  seize  their  prey. 

VAGI'NA  (Latin  term  for  sheath),  is  applied  by  botanists 
to  the  leafstalk  of  those  plants  in  which  it  becomes  thin 
and  rolls  round  the  stem,  to  which  it  then  forms  a  sheath : 
this  is  the  case  in  grasses, 

VAGl'NATES,  Vaginati.  (Lat.  vagina,  a  sheath.)  Sheath- 
ed Polypes.  The  name  of  an  order  of  Polypes,  comprehend- 
ing those  which  are  constantly  surrounded  by  and  attached 
to  a  calcareous  or  horny  polypiary. 

VAGRANCY.  (Lat.  vagro,  I  wander.)  In  Law,  a  very 
miscellaneous  class  of  offences  against  public  police  and  or- 
der is  comprehended  under  this  title  in  English  Law.  Va- 
grants, under  the  present  act  of  parliament  in  force  on  the 
subject  (5  G.  4,  c.  83)  are  of  three  descriptions  :  1.  Idle  and 
disorderly  persons  ;  including  persons  neglecting  to  main- 
tain their  families  ;  paupers  returning  without  certificate  to 
parishes  whence  they  have  been  legally  removed ;  beggars, 
common  prostitutes,  pedlars  without  license,  &c;  all  of 
whom  may  be  summarily  convicted  and  committed  to  gaol 
for  a  month  by  a  single  justice,  subject  to  an  appeal  to  the 
sessions.  2.  Rogues  and  vagabonds,  including  persons  guilty 
of  the  former  offences  who  have  been  once  already  con- 
victed of  being  idle  and  disorderly  ;  fortune-tellers  and  oth- 
er impostors  ;  persons  guilty  of  indecent  exhibitions  ;  pro- 
curers of  charitable  contributions  under  false  pretences  ; 
playing  at  games  of  chance  in  public  places  ;  having  in  their 
possession  housebreaker's  implements,  or  offensive  weap- 
ons, with  intent  to  use  them ;  reputed  thieves  frequenting 
public  places  to  commit  felony,  and  others ;  all  of  whom 
may  be  committed  for  three  months.  3.  Incorrigible  rogues, 
viz.  persons  guilty  of  the  last  class  of  offences,  having  been 
already  convicted ;  persons  breaking  out  of  legal  confine- 
ment, &c,  who  may  be  committed  to  the  next  sessions,  and 
there  sentenced  to  a  year's  imprisonment.  Under  this  act 
justices  possess  very  extensive  powers,  such  as  to  issue 
warrants  to  bring  before  them  persons  suspected  of  vagran- 
cy, to  search  lodging  houses  reasonably  suspected  of  har- 
bouring vagrants,  &.c. 

VAIR.  In  Heraldry,  one  of  the  furs  employed  in  blazon- 
ry. It  is  supposed  to  represent  the  skin  of  a  small  squirrel. 
It  is  always  white  and  blue,  unless  otherwise  specified  in 
the  blazon;  as  vair  of  or  and  azure,  vair  of  ermine  and 
gules,  &c.  Vair  appears  to  be  derived  from  varius.  Vairy 
is  the  pattern  of  vair  with  more  than  two  colours. 

VA'LENTINE.  Feb.  14  is  the  day  sacred  to  St.  Valen- 
tine, a  presbyter,  who,  according  to  the  legend,  was  behead- 
ed at  Rome  under  Claudius.  Mr.  Brand  {Popular  Antiqui- 
ties, vol.  i.,  p.  47)  says  that  he  cannot  find  in  the  life  of  the 
saint  any  circumstances  likely  to  have  given  origin  to  the 
peculiar  ceremonies  of  the  day.  It  appears  to  have  been  a 
very  old  notion,  however,  (for  it  is  alluded  to  by  Chaucer, 
as  well  as  by Shakspeare  in  the  Two  (tenth nun  of  Verona), 

that  on  this  day  birds  begin  to  couple.  And  the  custom  of 
"choosing  Valentines"  is  of  great  antiquity  in  this  country, 
as  well  as  in  France,  where,  however,  it  has  been  long  dis- 
used. Lydgate  mentions  it  (1476)  ;  Grose  explains  Valentine 
to  mean  "the  first  woman  seen  by  0  man,  or  man  by  B  wo- 
man," on  that  clay  ;  but  it  dors  not  appear  where  he  picked 
up  this  explanation.  There  is  also  a  curious  French  Val- 
entine, composed  by  the  poet  Gower, in  Warton's  History 
of  English  Poetry.  (Additions  to  vol.  ii.,  p.  31).  llerrick 
mentions  the  notion  and  the  custom : 

oft  Invc  I  heard  both  youths  imt  virgins  say, 
Birds  choose  their  Uinta,  and  couple  too,  this  day. 

It  appears  that  (he  Reformers  attacked  this  as  well  as 
other  Legendai  j  i  u  sof  then  time ;  and  that  the  Roman- 
ists themselves  were  so  scandalized  at  it  that  devices  were 

invented  for  turning  the  day  to  profitable  use.  St.  Francis 
de  Sales  introduced  the  practice  of  drawing  lots  for  patron 


VALENTINIANS. 

saints  on  it,  by  way  of  substitute.  According  to  others,  this 
latter  practice  was  of  much  older  date,  and  substituted  for  a 
pagan  custom  by  which  boys  and  girls  drew  each  other's 
names  on  the  15th  February  (day  of  Februata  Juno).  How- 
ever this  may  be,  it  is  certainly  one  of  the  few  saints'  days 
in  the  calendar  popularly  remembered  in  England,  as  the 
returns  of  the  post  office  tnvariablv  testify. 

VALENTTNIANS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  sect  of 
the  second  century  ;  so  called  from  Valentinus,  their  found- 
er.   Thev  were  a  branch  of  the  Gnostics.     See  Gnostics. 

VALERIAN.  The  root  of  this  plant,  the  Valeriana 
officinalis,  is  used  in  the  form  of  infusion,  decoction,  or  tinc- 
ture, as  a  nervous  stimulant  and  antispasmodic. 

VALERIANATES.  (Valeriana,  one  of  the  genera.) 
A  natural  order  of  herbaceous  Exogens  inhabiting  temper- 
ate climates.  They  are  distinguished  from  the  Dipsaceous 
order  by  their  flowers  not  being  in  heads,  by  the  want  of  al- 
bumen, and  the  absence  of  an  involucel.  The  roots  of  Va- 
leriana officinalis,  are  aromatic  and  antispasmodic  ;  and  the 
young  leaves  of  the  species  of  Va/erianella  are  eaten  as  sal- 
ad, under  the  French  name  of  mache,  or  the  English  one 
of  lamb's  lettuce  and  corn  salad. 

VALE'SIANS.  An  ancient  sect  of  heretics  mentioned 
by  Epiphanius,  and  supposed  to  have  become  known  about 
A.D.  240  :  said  to  have  adopted  the  practice  of  eunuchism. 

VA'LET,  VARLET.  Originally,  the  sons  of  knights,  and 
afterwards  those  of  the  nobility  before  they  had  attained 
the  age  of  chivalry.  The  name  is  sometimes  written  vasle- 
tus,  and  seems  to  be  derived  from  the  same  root  with  vas- 
sal ;  probably  the  Celtic  gwas.  (See  Vassal.)  Valet  in 
French,  and  varlet  in  English,  degenerated  in  later  times  in- 
to the  signification  of  servant. 

VALHA'LLA.  or  WALHALLA.  The  palace  of  immor- 
tality, in  the  Scandinavian  mythology,  inhabited  by  the 
souls  of  heroes  slain  in  battle. 

VALKY'RIUR,  or  DISAS.  The  Fates  of  the  Scandina- 
vian mythology:  the  "choosers  of  the  slain,"  who  conduct 
heroes  killed  in  battle  to  Valhalla. 

VALLEY.  (Lat.  vallis.)  In  Architecture,  the  internal 
angle  formed  by  two  inclined  sides  of  a  roof.  It  is  support- 
ed by  a  rafter,  called  the  valley  rafter,  or  valley  piece  ;  on 
which  lies  a  board  for  the  reception  of  the  lead  gutter,  call- 
ed the  valley  board. 

VA'LLUM.  (Lat.)  The  rampart  with  which  Roman 
armies  enclosed  their  camps,  and  which  was  crowned  with 
a  breastwork  of  stakes. 

VALVA'TA.  (Lat.  valvae,  folding  doors.)  A  genus  of 
fresh-water  snails  or  Gastropods  ;  so  called  from  the  valve- 
like form  of  the  operculum  or  lid  which  covers  the  aperture 
of  the  depressed  spiral  shell.  Of  this  genus  several  species 
are  British;  as  Valvata  obtusa,  common  in  the  ditches  at 
Battersea  :  Valv.  spirorbis,  Valv. planorbis,  Valv.  minuta,  &c. 

VALVE.  In  Mechanics,  a  close  lid  affixed  to  a  tube,  or 
hollow  piston,  or  opening  in  a  vessel,  by  means  of  a  hinge 
or  other  sort  of  moveable  joint,  jn  such  a  manner  that  it  can 
be  opened  only  in  one  direction.  A  spherical  ball  of  metal 
laid  on  the  end  of  a  tube  properly  formed,  and  retained  in 
its  place  by  its  weight  alone,  is  sometimes  used  advanta- 
geously instead  of  a  valve,  as  in  the  hydraulic  ram.  The 
safety  valve  of  the  steam  engine  is  a  valve  attached  to  the 
boiler,  to  obviate  the  danger  of  its  bursting  in  case  the  steam 
should  become  too  strong.  The  valve  is  so  loaded  that  its 
weight,  added  to  that  of  the  atmosphere,  exceeds  the  pres- 
sure of  the  steam,  when  of  a  sufficient  force.  When  the 
expansive  force  increases  so  far  that  its  pressure  preponder- 
ates over  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere  and  the  weight  of 
the  safety  valve,  the  valve  opens,  and  the  steam  escapes 
from  the  boiler  till  its  elastic  force  is  sufficiently  diminished, 
and  the  valve  shuts  by  its  own  weight.  By  opening  the  safe- 
ty valve  the  engine  may  be  stopped  at  pleasure,  for  which 
purpose  a  particular  apparatus  is  attached  to  the  valve.  As 
any  accidental  derangement  of  the  safety  valve  might  be  at- 
tended with  the  most  disastrous  consequences,  it  has  been 
proposed  to  make  the  valve  of  a  metal  which  melts  at  a 
particular  temperature,  by  which  means  the  elastic  force  of 
the  steam  could  never  exceed  that  which  corresponds  to 
the  temperature  at  which  the  valve  would  melt.  This  meth- 
od has  been  adopted  in  France. 

VALVES.  In  Botany,  the  pieces  into  which  the  fruit  of 
a  plant  naturally  separates  when  it  bursts.  The  name  is 
also  applied  to  similar  parts  in  any  other  organ,  as  the  an- 
ther. 

VA'MBRACE.  (Fr.  avant-bras.)  In  Plate  Armour,  the 
piece  which  served  as  a  protection  to  the  arm  below  the  el- 
oo  w. 

VA'MPIRE.  A  bloodsucking  spectre,  the  object  of  super- 
stitious dread  among  various  nations  of  Europe.  The  belief 
in  vampires,  f.  e.,  in  persons  returning  to  the  earth  after 
death  and  burial,  not  as  ghosts,  but  in  actual  corporeal  sub- 
stance, and  sucking  the  blood  of  living  men,  appears  to  have 
prevailed  in  classical  times.  The  Empusre,  Lamire.  and  Le- 
mures  were  species  of  vampires.    One  of  the  most  detailed 


VANESSA. 

stories  of  vampires  is  the  tale  of  Machates  and  Philinition 
which  Goethe  has  made  the  foundation  of  his  poem  of  the 
Bride  of  Corinth  ;  in  which  the  dead  bride  of  a  young  man 
visits  him  at  night,  and  withers  him  by  her  embrace.  But 
in  modern  Europe,  the  populations  among  which  vampire 
superstitions  have  prevailed  appear  to  be  of  Sclavonic  de- 
scent. The  word  vampire  is  said  by  Adelung  to  be  of  Ser- 
vian origin  ;  and  although  the  modern  Greeks  have  also 
their  vampires,  yet  the  barbaric  names  by  which  they  call 
them  (Vroucolachas,  Vuroulachas,  Vardoulachas)  seem 
rather  to  indicate  the  Sclavonic,  or  perhaps  Albanian  source, 
from  which  they  derived  both  the  tradition  and  the  word. 
In  Crete  they  are  called  Katakhanas,  and  firmly  believed  in. 
(See  Pashley's  Travels.)  About  a  century  ago,  there  pre- 
vailed in  several  districts  of  Hungary  an  epidemic  dread  of 
j  vampires,  which  lasted  some  years,  and  gave  birth  to  many 
■  extraordinary  stories.  It  was  believed  that  in  several  pla- 
I  ces  those  among  the  dead  who  belonged  to  the  class  of  vam- 
j  pires  arose  nightly  from  their  graves  and  sucked  the  blood  of 
the  living,  who  fell  into  consumptions  and  perished;  that 
those  who  had  died  in  this  manner  became  infected  with  vam- 
pirism ;  and  that  the  only  way  of  exterminating  the  plague 
was  by  disinterring  all  the  suspected  vampires,  and,  if  it 
were  discovered  that  they  exhibited  the  tokens  of  their  hide- 
ous character,  burning  them  to  ashes,  or  driving  a  stake 
through  their  middle.  The  attestations  which  these  gro- 
tesquely fearful  tales  received,  are  among  the  most  singular 
instances  of  human  credulity  recorded  in  all  the  annals  of 
superstition.  They  are,  in  many  instances,  related  on  the  au- 
thority of  the  pastors  and  other  most  credible  persons  of  vil- 
lages and  towns,  who  depose  to  having  been  themselves 
witnesses  of  the  scenes  beheld  on  opening  the  vampires' 
graves.  Some,  indeed,  had  actually  seen  the  spectres  them- 
selves on  their  nightly  excursions  ;  but  more  generally  the 
subscriptions  are  by  persons  present  at  the  inspection  of 
the  dead  bodies  ;  when,  if  the  subject  was  a  true  vampire, 
he  was  generally  found  of  a  florid  and  hale  complexion  ;  his 
hair,  beard,  and  nails  had  grown ;  his  mouth,  hands,  &c, 
were  stained  with  fresh  blood  ;  his  eyes  open  and  brilliant. 
Sometimes,  when  the  stake  was  driven  through  him,  he 
was  heard  to  utter  cries  like  those  of  a  living  person.  It 
was  believed  that  the  consumption  produced  by  the  sucking 
of  the  vampire  could  be  cured  by  eating  earth  from  his 
grave.  The  popular  name  of  the  vampire-bat  ( Vesperti/io 
spectrum),  a  small  animal  of  South  America  which  sucks 
the  blood  of  persons  asleep,  is  derived  from  these  imaginary 
monsters. 

VAN.  In  Naval  language,  the  foremost  division  of  the 
line  of  battle,  which  is  also  the  weather  division  when  the 
fleet  is  on  a  wind. 

VANA'DIUM.  (Lat.  Vanadis,  a  Scandinavian  deity.)  A 
metal  discovered  in  1830,  by  Professor  Seftstriim  of  Fahlun, 
in  iron  prepared  from  the  iron  ore  of  Taberg  in  Sweden. 
Vanadium  has  also  been  found  in  a  lead  ore  from  Wanlock- 
head  in  Scotland,  and  in  a  similar  mineral  from  Zimapan  in 
Mexico.  Vanadium  is  a  white  brittle  metal,  very  difficult 
of  reduction  ;  not  oxidized  by  air  or  water ;  and  insoluble 
in  sulphuric,  muriatic,  and  hydrofluoric  acids ;  but  soluble 
in  nitric  and  nitromuriatic  acids,  witli  which  it  yields  solu- 
tions of  a  fine  dark  blue  colour.  It  is  not  acted  upon  by  boil- 
ing caustic  potash,  nor  by  the  carbonated  alkalies  at  a  red 
heat.  The  peroxide  of  vanadium  is  of  an  orange  colour,  and 
very  slightly  soluble  in  water  ;  it  unites  with  the  salifiable 
bases ;  with  the  alkalis  its  salts  are  soluble,  with  the  other 
bases  sparingly  soluble.  These  salts  are  orange  or  yellow 
coloured  ;  in  these  and  other  respects  there  is  a  close  resem- 
blance between  vanadium  and  chromium.  Peroxide  of  va- 
nadium, or  vanadic  acid,  is  distinguished  from  chromic  acid 
by  the  action  of  deoxidizing  substances,  which  give  a  blue 
solution  with  vanadium,  but  a  green  one  with  chromium. 
When  heated  with  borax  in  the  reducing  flame  of  the  blow- 
pipe, both  of  the  acids  yield  a  green  glass  ;  but  in  the  oxi- 
dizing flame  the  bead  becomes  yelloio  if  vanadium  is  pres- 
ent, but  the  green  colour  is  permanent  if  produced  by 
chromium.  According  to  the  experiments  of  Berzelius,  the 
equivalent  of  vanadium  is  about  63 ;  and  the  protoxide,  the 
deutoxide,  and  the  vanadic  acid,  are  composed  respectively 
of  1  atom  of  vanadium,  and  1,  2.  and  3  of  oxygen. 

VANE.  A  contrivance  for  showing  the  direction  of  the 
wind.  It  consists  usually  of  a  thin  slip  of  wood  or  metal, 
attached  to  a  perpendicular  axis,  round  which  it  moves  free- 
ly; and  is  so  shaped  that  it  presents  always  the  same  ex- 
tremity to  the  point  of  the  horizon  from  which  the  wind 
blows. 

VANE'LLUS.  (Lat.  a  lapwing.)  A  name  applied  by 
Bechstein  to  a  subgenus  of  the  Linnsan  Tringm,  including 
the  true  lapwings,  which  are  distinguished  from  the  Squat- 
arolm  of  Cuvieri  by  their  more  distinct,  though  small,  hind- 
er toe,  and  their  partially  scutellated  tarsi. 

VANE'SSA.  (Or  better  Phanessa ;  from  (pavrjg,  one  of  the 
names  of  Venus  or  Love  in  the  Greek  as  well  as  Egyptian 
mythology.)     The  term  is  applied  to  a  genus  of  butterflies. 

1291 


VANG. 

VAXfi.  A  rope  for  steadying  the  extremity  or  peak  of  a 
gaff  to  the  ship's  side. 

VANGUARD.  That  part  of  an  army  which  precedes  the 
main  body  i  a  the  march,  as  a  security  against  surprise. 

VANI'LLA  Span,  baynilla,  a  small  pod),  is  the  succu- 
lent fruit  ut'  a  plant  of  the  Orchidaceous  order,  climbing 
over  trees  in  the  tropical  parts  of  America  after  the  man- 
ner of  ivy.  Its  fragrance  is  owing  to  the  presence  of  ben- 
zoic acid,  cr\  stals  of  which  form  upon  the  pod  if  allowed  to 
be  undisturbed.  It  is  an  aromatic,  employed  in  confection- 
ary and  the  preparation  of  liqueurs,  arid  in  flavouring  some 
kinds  of  chocolate,  &c. 

VAl'i  U  K.  I. at.  vapor.)  When  liquids  and  certain  solids 
are  heated  they  become  converted  into  elastic  fluids  or  s«- 
pours,  which  differ  from  gases  in  this  respect,  that  they 
are  not  under  common  circumstances  permanently  elastic, 
but  resume  the  liquid  or  solid  form  when  cooled  down  to 
ordinary  temperatures.  The  term  vapour  is  frequently  lim- 
ited to  water  in  the  slate  in  which  it  exists  in  our  atmo- 
sphere and  in  other  humid  auriform  bodies  :  that  is,  in  a  per- 
fectly  invisible  state.  When  very  moist  air  is  duly  cooled, 
tire  vapour,  previous  to  assuming  the  liquid  state,  becomes 
visible,  as  seen  in  mist  and  fog;  it  is  observed  in  the  same 
state  when  steam  issues  rapidly  from  the  spout  of  a  tea- 
kettle, when  ii  escapes  into  the  air  from  the  surface  of  hot 
Water.  In  this  case  it  is  sometimes  called  vesicular  vapour ; 
for.  from  its  action  on  light,  it  seems  in  that  visible  state  to 
exist  in  the  form  of  minute  vesicles.  Different  substances 
yield  vapours  with  very  different  degrees  of  facility,  or,  in 
other  words,  are  more  or  less  volatile  ;  a  circumstance  de- 
pendant probably,  upon  the  less  or  greater  cohesion  with 
Which  their  particles  adhere.  Hence  fluids  are  generally 
more  volatile  than  solids,  and  hence  solids  generally  pass 
into  the  liquid  state  before  they  assume  the  form  of  vapour. 
To  botli  these  statements  there  are,  however,  many  excep- 
tions :  thus  most  of  the  expressed  oils  are  very  differently 
vapori/.able,  and  are  hence  termed /zed  oils.  Common  con- 
centrated sulphuric  acid  is  also  a  very  fixed  liquid,  requiring 
a  high  temperature  for  its  vaporization ;  and  camphor  and 
some  other  solids  evaporate  at  common  temperatures, 
and  arsenic  and  sal  ammoniac  at  high  temperatures,  with- 
out previously  assuming  the  liquid  state.  The  space 
which  vapours  occupy  always  exceeds  that  of  the  sub- 
stances from  which  they  arise.  Thus,  at  the  temperature 
of  212°,  and  under  a  pressure  of  30  inches  of  mercury, 
a  cubic  foot  of  water  produces  1096  cubic  feet  of  vapour,  of 
alcohol  GOO.  and  of  ether  443.  Hence  it  is  obvious  that  dif- 
ferent vapours  differ  very  considerably  in  density,  and  that 
this  property  is  not  directly  as  that  of  the  liquids,  which  fur 
nish  them.  Thus,  if  we  assume  the  density  of  air  as  1000, 
that  of  aqueous  vapour  or  steam  is  only  625;  the  density  of 
aqueous  vapour  to  that  of  atmospheric  air  beins  as  1000  to 
1094.  Again,  assuming  the  density  of  air  as  =  1000,  that  of 
alcohol  vapour  is  1613,  and  of  ether  no  less  than  2586; 
though  alcohol  and  ether  are  both,  in  the  liquid  state,  light- 
er than  water.  As  water  boils  at  a  higher  temperature  than 
alcohol,  and  alcohol  at  a  higher  temperature  than  ether,  it 
was  supposed  tint  the  densitj  of  vapours  was  probably  di- 
rectly as  the  volatility  of" their  respective  liquids:  but  this 
law  has  exceptions;  for  bisulphuret  of  carbon  yields  a  heav- 
ier vapour  than  ether,  but  its  boiling  point  is  higher.  All 
pure  vapour-  follow  the  same  law  Of  expansion,  when 
heated,  as  gases  :  that  is,  for  every  degree  of  Fahrenheit's 
thermometer  they  increase  by  -4-Jnth  of  the  volume  which 
they  occupil  .1  at  32°. 

Vapour,  in  Physics,  denotes  the  condition  of  a  body, 
when  by  the  accession  of  heat  its  particles  acquire  a  re- 
pulsive force,  and  it  is  reduced  to  the  state  of  an  elastic  flu- 
id. Even1  liquid  possesses  the  property  of  boiling  at  a  cer- 
tain determinate  temperature,  under  the  mean  pressure  of 
the  atmosphere.  Water,  for  example,  boils  at  the  tempera- 
ture of  212°  of  Fahrenheit's  scale,  when  the  pressure  of 
the  atmosphere  is  equal  to  a  column  of  mercury  30  inches 
in  height ;  but  under  a  diminished  pressure  it  boils  at  a  low- 
er temperarure;  and  by  increasing  the  pressure, the  tem- 
perature of  the  boiling  point  is  increased.  In  the  course  of 
ebullition  an  el  as  tie  fluid,  or  vapour,  is  generated  ;  and  it  Is 
only  when  the  tension  of  the  vapour  bet  omes  equal  to  the 

pressure  thai  the  anion  of  boiling  begins.    Hut  though  ebul- 
lition  and   I  I   rapid   formation  of  vapour  only 

take  place  at  a  given  temperature  under  a  given  pressure, 
vapour  will  rise  from  the  surfaces  of  all  liquids  in  free  con- 
tact with  the  atmosphere  at  much  lower  temperatures. 
Water,  for  example,  exposed  in  an  opt  n  vessel,  undergoes  a 
gradual  diminution  of  bulk,  and  is  dissipated  at  tempera- 
tures far  below  the  boiling  point:  and  Ice  itself  soon  wastes 
away  In  the  same  insensible  manner.  This  dissipation  has 
hovi  n  bj  Dal  ton  to  be  occasioned  bj  the  formation  of 
v.--|x)nr  of  the  ame  temperature  as  that  of  the  water  from 
which  it  pi  ,  equal  to  that 

of  the  vapour  of  i  it  that  temperature  under  a 

1892 


VAPOUR. 

diminished  pressure.  Some  liquids,  ether  for  Instance)  re- 
quire to  be  carefully  secluded  from  the  atmosphere  to  pre- 
vent their  rapid  evaporation. 

Tension  of  Vapour  at  different  Temperatures. — Dr.  Dal- 
ton,  of  Manchester,  was  the  first  who  ascertained  by  accu 

rate  experiments  the  elastic  force  of  vapours  at  different 
temperatures  below  that  of  the  point  of  ebullition.  (.Van- 
Chester  Memoirs,  vol.  v..  1802.1  The  method  which  he 
employed  consisted  in  introducing  a  portion  of  liquid  into 
the  vacuum  of  a  barometer,  where  it  floats  on  the  surface 
of  the  mercury,  and  part  of  it  is  immediately  converted  into 
vapour.  The  tension  of  the  vapour  causes  the  mercury  to 
descend;  and  the  force  of  the  tension  is  measured  by  the 
space  through  which  the  mercury  falls,  or  by  the  ditlerence 
of  the  height  of  the  mercury  in  the  tube  in  which  the  ex- 
periment is  performed  and  its  height  in  the  common  barom- 
eter. Dr.  Dalton  employed  two  barometric  tubes  plunged 
in  the  same  cistern  of  mercury  ;  into  one  of  these  the  liquid 
furnishing  the  vapour  was  introduced,  the  other  serving  the 
purpose  of  comparison  :  and  in  order  that  the  experiment 
mii'lit  be  made  at  any  determinate  temperature,  the  two 
tubes  were  surrounded  by  another  wider  tube,  into  which 
water  was  poured  of  the  temperature  required.  When  the 
liquid  on  which  the  experiment  was  made  was  water,  and 
the  water  surrounding  the  two  barometric  tubes  was  at  the 
temperature  of  ebullition,  the  vapour  formed  in  the  tube 
caused  the  mercury  to  descend  to  the  level  of  that  in  the 
n  tern  :  whence  it  was  inferred  that  at  the  temperature  of 
ebullition  the  elastic  force  of  aqueous  vapour  is  precisely 
equal  to  the  atmospheric  pressure.  A  similar  result  was 
obtained  when  the  experiment  was  performed  with  other 
liquids. 

If  the  tube  containing  the  portion  of  liquid  be  of  consider- 
able length,  and  the  basin  in  which  it  is  inverted  of  con- 
siderable depth,  the  pressure  on  the  vapour  above  the  mer- 
cury may  be  varied  by  raising  or  lowering  the  inverted 
tube.  When  the  pressure  is  diminished  in  this  way,  it  is 
found  that  so  long  as  any  liquid  remains,  new  vapour  of 
the  same  degree  of  tension  will  be  generated,  and  the  alti- 
tude of  the  mercury  in  the  tube  remain  constant.  On  the 
other  hand,  an  increase  of  pressure  causes  the  condensa- 
tion of  a  part  of  the  vapour,  and  the  mercury  in  the  tube 
stands  at  the  same  height  above  that  in  the  cistern.  If  the 
quantity  of  liquid  in  the  barometric  tube  be  so  small  that 
the  whole  is  converted  into  vapour,  it  will  be  found  that  on 
raising  the  tube  and  increasing  the  space  in  which  the  va- 
pour is  contained,  the  elastic  force  diminishes  in  proportion 
as  the  space  is  increased.  The  law  of  Mariotte,  therefore, 
applies  to  vapours  as  well  as  to  the  permanent  gases  (see 
Pneumatics);  but  with  this  distinction,  that  the  vapours 
of  all  liquids,  at  a  certain  determinate  temperature,  have  a 
maximum  of  density  and  tension  which  cannot  be  exceeded, 
and  on  attainins  which  they  are  condensed  into  the  liquid 
form  by  any  attempt  to  compress  them  further.  It  follows, 
therefore,  that  at  a  given  temperature  no  more  than  a  lim- 
ited quantity  of  vapour  ran  exist  in  a  given  space.  This 
forms  the  criterion  which  distinguishes  vapours  from  the 
permanent  gases. 

The  results  obtained  by  Dalton,  in  his  experiments  on 
the  tension  of  aqueous  vapour,  are  exhibited  in  the  follow- 
ing table  (Manchester  Memoirs,  1802) : 

Table  showing  the  Maximum  Tension  of  Aqueous  Vapour 
at  Temperatures  below  212°,  estimated  in  the  Height  of 
the  Column  of  Mercury  they  are  capable  of  supporting. 


Tension 

Tension 

Tension 

Temper- 

in Inches 

Temper. 

in  Inches 

Temper- 

1 

ature. 

of  Mer- 

ature. 

of  Mer- 

ature. 

of  Mer- 

cury. 

cury. 

cury. 

20 

0-06S 

77» 

0910 

I52» 

7-81 

7 

0-082 

si 

107 

157 

B-81 

12 

0  0«6 

i-7 

1-24 

162 

9  91 

17 

0116 

92 

1  44 

167 

1 1  -26 

22 

0139 

97 

1  6S 

I7B 

I2TS 

27 

0168 

102 

1  1  - 

177 

14  JJ 

32 

0200 

107 

2-32 

]   1 

37 

0-237 

112 

2  63 

181 

17 

42 

0-283 

117 

30s. 

192 

I!>s6 

47 

0339 

122 

3-50 

197 

2213 

62 

0-401 

127 

4-00 

202 

2461 

57 

0  47  t 

138 

4  60 

2117 

2720 

62 

ii  560 

137 

529 

212 

3000 

67 

142 

6  05 

72 

0-770 

117 

8-87 

From  this  table  the  following  formula  for  the  elastic 
force  or  tension  (which  is  measured  by  (he  pressure  /'),  in 
terms  of  the  degrees  of  temperature  '.  reckoned  from  3520, 
has  been  deduced,  which  nearly  represents  the  table; 
namely. 

p  =  -1718  (1  +-006  07. 

In  order  to  determine  the  tension  of  vapour  at  a  tempera- 
ture aboi  •■  the  boiling  point,  it  is  necessaij  to  have  recourse 
to  a  different  method  of  experimenting.     B)   far  the  most 


VAPOUR. 

satisfactory  experiments  hitherto  made  on  this  subject  are 
those  of  Dulong  and  Arago,  which  were  undertaken  at  the 
instance  of  the  French  government,  for  the  purpose  of  as- 
certaining the  exact  temperatures  at  which  aqueous  vapour 
acquires  a  given  tension,  with  a  view  to  establish  such 
legislative  regulations  as  might  appear  necessary  to  pre- 
vent accidents  from  the  bursting  of  steam-boilers.  As  an 
account  of  these  experiments,  and  a  table  of  the  results, 
have  already  been  given  under  the  term  Steam  (p.  1166), 
it  is  here  only  necessary  to  remark,  that  the  pressures  or 
tensions  were  ascertained  by  direct  experiment  at  different 
temperatures  from  312°  to  436°  of  Fahrenheit,  between 
wliich  they  were  found  to  vary  from  1  to  24  atmospheres ; 
and  that  the  relation  between  the  pressure  and  tempera- 
ture (at  least  for  all  pressures  exceeding  four  atmospheres) 
was  found  to  be  represented  very  nearly  by  the  following 
empirical  formula,  viz. 

p=  (1  +  0-003974  0  s, 
in  which  p  denotes  the  tension  or  elasticity  expressed  in 
atmospheres,  and  t  the  degrees  of  temperature  of  Fahren- 
heit, counting  from  212°. 

It  is  evident  from  this  empirical  formula,  as  well  as  the 
numbers  in  the  table,  that  the  tension  of  aqueous  vapour 
increases  in  a  much  faster  ratio  than  the  temperature. 
This  result  appears  to  be  general,  and  applicable  to  the 
elastic  force  of  the  vapours  of  all  liquids,  at  least  so  far  as 
may  be  judged  from  the  imperfect  experiments  which  have 
hitherto  been  made  on  the  vapours  of  mercury,  alcohol,  and 
ether.  Dalton  thought  that  he  had  discovered  a  law  which 
would  establish  a  very  simple  relation  among  the  tensions 
of  the  vapours  of  different  liquids.  It  consists  in  this,  that 
at  an  equal  number  of  degrees  above  or  below  the  point  of 
ebullition  corresponding  to  each  liquid  the  elastic  force  of 
their  vapours  is  equal.  Thus,  water  boils  at  212°,  alcohol 
at  175°,  and  ether  at  100°,  the  tension  of  the  vapour  at  the 
boiling  point  being  in  all  cases  the  same,  and  equal  to  the 
pressure  of  the  atmosphere.  Now,  from  the  experiments  of 
Dulong  it  appears  that  the  tension  of  aqueous  vapour  is 
doubled  when  heated  under  pressure  to  251° ;  that  is,  by  an 
increase  of  temperature  of  39°  above  the  boiling  point. 
Hence,  by  the  law  of  Dalton,  the  tension  of  the  vapour  of 
alcohol  is  equal  to  two  atmospheres  when  its  temperature 
is  175°  +  39°  =  214° ;  and  that  of  ether  equal  to  two  at- 
mospheres when  the  temperature  is  100°  -f-  39°  =  139°. 
Dalton  himself  afterwards  discovered  that  this  law  fails 
when  the  distances  from  the  point  of  ebullition  are  con- 
siderable. 

Density  of  Vapour. — The  density  of  vapour  may  be  de- 
termined by  introducing  a  known  weight  of  the  liquid 
which  yields  it  into  a  receiver  containing  mercury,  and  in- 
verting the  receiver  in  a  vessel  also  containing  mercury, 
and  tall  enough  to  contain,  above  the  mercury",  a  sufficient 
depth  of  water  to  cover  the  receiver.  The  whole  appara- 
tus is  then  heated ;  and  when  the  whole  of  the  liquid  in 
the  inverted  receiver  has  been  evaporated,  the  space  the 
vapour  occupies  and  its  temperature  are  noted.  We  have 
then  a  given  bulk  of  vapour,  the  weight  of  which  is  the 
same  as  that  of  the  liquid  from  which  it  has  been  produced, 
and  consequently  known.  The  temperature  is  also  known  ; 
and  the  pressure  given  in  terms  of  the  column  of  mercury 
in  the  receiver,  and  the  height  of  the  surrounding  fluid  com- 
pared with  the  indication  of  the  barometer.  In  this  man- 
ner the  density  is  found  ;  and  when  the  density  of  a  vapour 
at  a  given  temperature  and  under  a  given  pressure  has  been 
found,  its  density  under  any  other  pressure,  and  at  its  corres- 
ponding temperature,  may  be  calculated  in  the  following  man- 
ner: Let  a  =  the  constant  coefficient  of  dilatation  =  -00208 
(it  being  found  by  experiment  that  vapour  out  of  contact 
with  liquid  expands  or  contracts  at  the  same  rate  as  perma- 
nently elastic  fluids  by  variations  of  temperature,  that  is  to 
say,  by  l-480th  part  of  its  volume  for  each  degree  of  Fah- 
renheit's scale),  t  =  the  number  of  degrees  of  Fahrenheit's 
thermometer  above  32°,  v  =  the  volume,  p  =  the  pressure, 
and  o"  =  the  density  of  a  vapour  at  the  temperature  of  32°; 
and  let  v',  p',  and  a",  be  respectively  the  volume,  pressure, 
and  density  at  another  temperature,  32°  -f-  t.  We  have 
then  v'  =  (1  +  o  t)  v.  Now,  when  the  pressure  is  constant, 
the  density  is  inversely  as  its  volume ;  and,  by  the  law  of 
Mariotte,  the  density  of  gas  or  vapour  is  directly  as  the 

pressure ;  whence    -  =  -  x  V—>  and  consequently  -  = 


— — — — -,  or  d'  =  -  — — •  If  we  compare  the  dens- 
p(l  +  at)  p(l  +  at)  r 

ity  of  aqueous  vapour  at  any  temperature  with  its  density 
at  the  boiling  point  of  water,  which  is  180°  above  the  freezing 
point,  and  put  d"  —  the  density,  and  p"  —  the  presure  at  the 

d"p'  (1+180  a) 
'■      p"(l  +  at) 
The  following  table,  computed  from  this  formula,  with 


VARIATION  OF  CURVATURE. 

Dalton's  values  of  the  pressures,  shows  the  density  and 
volume  of  aqueous  vapour,  at  its  maximum  tension,  for 
every  ninth  degree  of  temperature  from  the  freezing  to  the 
boiling  point.  The  unit  of  density  is  water  at  the  tempera- 
ture of  32° ;  and  the  unit  of  volume  the  volume  of  an  equal 
weight  of  water,  also  at  32°.  As  the  density  is  inversely 
proportional  to  the  volume,  the  numbers  in  the  two  last 
columns  are  the  reciprocals  of  each  other.  They  differ 
slightly  from  the  numbers  given  by  Gay  Lussac. 


Temperature. 

Density. 

Volume. 

320 

•0000053 

188600 

41 

•0000073 

137000 

60 

•0111)1X197 

103000 

59 

•0000131 

76330 

63 

•0000173 

57800 

77 

•0001)227 

44050 

S6 

•0000297 

33670 

95 

•0000390 

25640 

104 

■0000499 

20030 

113 

•0000637 

15690 

122 

•011007 10 

14030 

131 

•0001022 

9784 

140 

•0U01261 

7930 

149 

•0001592 

6231 

153 

•0001961 

5091 

167 

■ 2388 

4187 

176 

■0002936 

3406 

185 

•0003557 

8811 

194 

•0004261 

2346 

203 

•000.5074 

1971 

212 

•0005396 

1696 

boiling  point,  the  formula  becomes  d' : 


99 


By  means  of  this  table  the  weight  of  water  may  be  cal- 
culated that  would  be  contained  in  the  form  of  vapour  of 
the  maximum  tension  in  any  given  volume — a  calculation 
which  is  frequently  required  in  meteorological  inquiries. 

The  phenomena  of  vapour  have  been  studied  with  refer- 
ence to  two  objects — the  condition  of  the  atmosphere  as  to 
moisture,  and  the  properties  of  steam  as  a  moving  power  in 
machinery.  On  the  subject  of  vapour  in  connexion  with 
the  first  of  these  objects,  see  DanitWs  Meteorological  Es- 
says ;  Davy's  Elements  of  Jigricul.  Chemistry  :  also  the 
terms  Dew,  Evaporation,  Hygrometry.  For  experi- 
ments on  the  elasticity  and  density  of  aqueous  vapour,  see, 
in  addition  to  the  Memoirs  of  Dalton  and  of  Arago  and  Du- 
long, already  cited,  Robinson's  Mechanical  Philosophy ;  Ure, 
in  the  Phil.  Trans,  for  1818;  Pouillet,  Traite  de  Physique; 
Despretz,  Traiti  de  Physique;  Oehler's  Physikalisches 
fVorterbuch,  art.  "Dampf,"  by  Professor  Muncke  ;  and  the 
various  recent  works  which  treat  of  the  steam  engine.  See 
Steam. 

VARIABLE  QUANTITY,  in  Analysis,  is  a  quantity 
conceived  to  be  in  a  state  of  increase  or  diminution,  or  to 
have  different  values  in  the  same  equation.  Tims,  the  ab- 
scissa and  ordinates  of  a  curve  are  variable  quantities ;  be- 
cause they  have  different  values  for  every  different  point  in 
the  curve,  and  in  passing  from  one  point  to  another  their 
values  increase  or  diminish  according  to  the  law  of  the 
curve.  In  the  equation  of  the  circle  y  =  ^/  (2  a  —  z2),  x 
and  y  are  variables  ;  for  x  may  have  any  value  whatever 
between  0  and  2  a,  and  there  will  be  a  corresponding  value 
of  y,  which  satisfies  the  equation.  The  quantity  a  is  a  con- 
stant quantity,  and  remains  the  same,  whatever  be  the 
values  of  x  and  y.  It  represents,  in  fact,  the  radius  of  the 
circle.  In  mechanics,  a  variable  motion  is  that  which  is 
produced  by  the  action  of  a  force  which  varies  in  intensity, 
or  which  continues  to  act  after  motion  has  been  commu- 
nicated. 

VA'RIANCE.  In  Law,  a  difference  of  statement  be- 
tween two  material  documents  in  a  cause;  as  where  the 
plaintiff's  declaration  differed  (formerly)  from  the  writ,  or 
where  it  differs  from  a  deed  on  which  it  is  grounded.  And, 
in  ordinary  language,  a  departure  in  the  oral  evidence  from 
the  statement  in  the  pleadings  is  termed  a  variance.  This 
variance  may  be  either  immaterial  or  material ;  and,  in  the 
latter  case,  amendable  or  not,  according  to  a  great  variety  of 
distinctions.  The  powers  of  amendment  given  to  courts 
and  judges  are  greatly  extended  by  3  &  4  W.  4,  c.  42,  s. 
23,24. 

VARIA'TION.  (Lat.  varius,  changing-.)  In  Music,  a 
difference  in  performing  the  same  air  or  melody,  either  by 
subdivision  of  its  notes  into  several  others  of  less  duration, 
or  by  adding  graces ;  but,  nevertheless,  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  original  melody  is  not  lost  in  the  decorations  or 
alterations  which  it  is  thus  made  to  undergo. 

VARIATION  OF  CURVATURE,  in  Analytical  Geome- 
try, is  the  change  which  takes  place  in  the  curvature  in 
passing  from  one  point  of  a  curve  to  another.  The  circle  is 
the  only  curve  in  which  the  curvature  is  uniform  at  every 
point.  The  curvature  of  a  curve  line  at  any  point  is  the 
same  as  that  of  the  osculating  circle  at  that  point.  But 
the  curvature  of  a  circle  is  inversely  as  its  radius:  hence 
the  curvature  of  any  curve  is  inversely  proportional  to  the 
radius  of  curvature  ;  and,  consequently,  the  differential  of 

1293 


VARIATION  OF  THE  COMPASS. 

the  curvature  is  proportional  directly  to  the  differential  of 
the  radius,  and  inversely  to  the  square  of  the  radius  of 
curvature.  In  the  conic  sections,  the  variation  of  curvature 
at  any  point  is  proportional  to  the  tangent  of  the  angle  in- 
cluded between  the  diameter  and  normal,  both  passing 
through  that  point. 

VARIATION  OP  THE  COMPASS.  The  angle  which 
the  magnetic  needle  makes  with  the  plane  of  the  true  me- 
ridian. It  is  Otherwise  called  the  declination.  {See  Decli- 
nation of  rat  Magnetic  Nekhle.)  For  tables  showing 
the  variation  in  a  great  number  of  places,  audits  progressive, 
annual,  and  diurnal  changes,  see  Brewster's  Treatise  on 
Magnetism,  1837,  reprinted  from  the  Encyclopedia  Britan- 
nica. 

VARIATION  OF  THE  MOON.  In  Astronomy,  an  in- 
equality of  the  moon's  motion,  depending  on  the  angular 
distance  of  the  moon  from  the  sun.  It  arises  from  that  part 
of  the  sun's  disturbing  force  which  is  at  right  angles  to  the 
radius  vector,  and  which  accelerates  the  motion  of  the  moon 
from  the  quadratures  to  the  syzygies,  and  retards,  it  from 
the  syzygies  to  the  quadratures.  It  is  proportional  to  the 
sine  of  twice  the  angular  distance  between  the  sun  and 
moon;  and  its  maximum  value,  or  the  coefficient  of  its  argu- 
ment is  35'  41-9".  Hence  it  ia  represented  by  the  formula 
(35'  41  ■$")  sin.  2  A,  A  being  the  angular  distance  of  the 
moon  from  the  sun.  The  variation  was  discovered  by  Ty- 
cho  Brahe.  It  had  escaped  the  observation  of  Hipparchus 
and  the  ancient  astronomers,  though  of  sufficient  magnitude 
to  have  been  sensible  to  them;  probably  because  they 
chierly  observed  the  moon  in  the  syzygies  and  quadratures, 
and  at  these  points  of  the  orbit  its  value  is  nothing. 

VARIATIONS.  CALCULUS  OF.  An  important  branch 
of  modern  mathematics,  invented  by  Lagrange,  the  principal 
object  of  which  is  to  resolve  in  a  general  manner  certain 
classes  of  questions  respecting  maxima  and  minima,  the  so- 
lution of  which  cannot  be  obtained  by  the  ordinary  processes 
of  the  differential  calculus.  In  solving  problems  of  max- 
ima and  minima  by  the  differential  calculus,  it  is  necessary 
to  find  the  determinate  values  of  the  different  variables 
which  enter  into  a  proposed  finite  function  of  those  varia- 
bles, in  order  that  the  proposed  function  may  have  the 
greatest  or  least  value  possible.  Many  problems  of  this  na- 
ture are  met  with  in  the  writings  of  the  ancient  geometers, 
particularly  in  the  Conies  of  Apollonius;  and  the  applica- 
tion of  algebra  to  geometry  gave  rise,  about  the  middle  of 
the  17th  century,  to  numerous  others,  proposed  and  solved 
chiefly  by  Fermat,  Slusius,  Hudde,  &c.  As  no  general 
method  of  solving  such  questions  was  known  previous  to 
the  invention  of  the  differential  calculus,  their  solution  was 
accomplished  by  particular  artifices,  and  was  frequently  at- 
tained with  very  considerable  difficulty.  This  difficulty  was 
removed,  in  respect  to  the  class  of  questions  now  men- 
tioned, by  the  invention  of  the  calculus ;  but  as  the  instru- 
ment of  investigation  was  improved,  new  views  were  open- 
ed up,  and  a  more  difficult  class  of  questions  was  proposed, 
to  which  the  known  methods  seemed  inapplicable.  It  was 
proposed  to  find,  among  all  curves  subjected  to  a  given  law, 
that  which  best  fulfilled  a  given  condition  :  for  example,  to 
find  the  curve  which,  relatively  to  co-ordinates  given  in 
magnitude  and  position,  encloses  the  greatest  space  ;  to  find 
the  curve  along  which  a  heavy  body  must  descend  in  order 
to  pass  from  one  given  point  to  another  given  point  in  the 
least  time  possible,  &c.  In  such  questions  the  relations  be- 
tween the  variables  is  not  given,  as  in  the  ordinary  cases  of 
maxima  and  minima  ;  the  object  proposed  is  to  find  that  re- 
lation, or  to  find  the  equation  which  must  subsist  between 
the  variables  in  order  that  the  condition  of  maximum  or 
minimum  may  be  fulfilled. 

The  first  problem  of  tins  kind  which  was  solved  appears 
to  have  been  that  of  the  solid  of  least  resistance.  In  the 
first  edition  of  the  Prindpia,  published  in  1687,  Newton 
gave  the  equation  of  the  curve  by  the  rotation  of  which 
about  its  axis  the  solid  is  formed  which,  when  moved 
through  a  fluid  in  the  direction  of  the  axis,  is  less  resisted 
than  any  other  body  of  the  same  specific  gravity  and  bulk; 
hi'l  without  demonstration  or  indication  of  the  views  by 
which  he  had  been  guided.  About  ten  years  later  the  fa- 
mous question  of  the  brachystocronc,  or  curve  of  quickest 
descent,  was  agitated  between  the  two  brothers  James  and 
John  Bernoulli,  in  which  Leibnitz  and  some  of  the  other 
most  illustrious  mathematicians  of  the  day  took  a  part. 
The  more  general  problem  of  isopcrimrtrrs  was  solved  by 
James  Bernoulli  in  1701 ;  and  it  was  in  the  analysis  which 
he  gave  on  this  occasion  that  the  principle  on  which  the 
solution  of  similar  questions  depends  was  first  distinctly 
unfolded.  Euler  treated  the  whole  subject  in  his  peculiarly 
luminous  manner,  In  a  treatise  published  in  1744,  under  the 

title   Methodus    Inrinirndi    Linens    Curvas   Maximi  .Mini 

■mine  ProprietaU  Qaudentes.    And,  lastly,  the  method  was 
reduced  to  its  inmost  simplicity  by  Lagrange,  who  supplied 

tli''  algorithm  ami  gave  it  the  form  under  which  it  is  now 
exhibited  as  the  calculus  of  variations. 
ISM 


VARIATIONS,  CALCULUS  OF. 

In  order  to  give  an  idea  of  the  nature  . 
and  objects  of  this  calculus,  let  us  Buppose 
a  parabola  A  P  referred  to  its  rectangular 
co-ordinates  A  M  =  x,  M  P  =  y.  and  of 
which  the  parameter  is  o.  The  equation  M. 
of  this  parabola  is  ijl—  a  x.  Now  if  m  p  s». 
he  drawn  infinitely  near  M  P,  and  P  r  par- 
allel to  the  axis,  the  line  M  m  or  IV  will 
represent  d  z,  the  differential  of  the  axis  x; 
and  r  p  will  represent  d  y,  the  differential  of  the  ordinate 
y  ;  also  the  relation  between  those  differentials  is  found  by 
differentiating  the  equation  y2  =  a  x,  which  gives  ~ydy 

.  ,  adz        ,  adx 

=  a  a  i,  whence  ay  =  — — ,  or  a  y  =  - — - — 
2  y  'ZyJ  ax. 

Let  us  now  suppose  the  parameter  of  the  parabola  also 
to  vary,  and  to  become  a  -4-  <5  a  (the  Greek  letter  8  being 
used  to  indicate  the  variation  of  a  quantity  in  the  same 
manner  as  d  is  used  to  denote  the  ordinary  differential). 
On  constructing  another  parabola  A  Q,  the  parameter  of 
which  is  a  -j-  <5  a,  the  variations  which  the  co-ordinates  un- 
dergo in  consequence  of  this  variation  of  the  parameter 
will  be  represented  as  follows: — 1.  Suppose  the  al 
M  to  be  the  same  in  both  parabolas.  The  ordinate  M  U  of 
the  new  parabola  A  Q.  will  be  equal  to  the  ordinate  M  P 
augmented  by  the  small  quantity  P  O.,  which,  therefore,  is 
the  variation  of  y,  and  according  to  the  notation  of  the  cal- 
culus denoted  by  i  y.  In  order  to  find  the  value  of  this 
variation,  we  must  substitute  y  -f-  <5  y  for  y,  and  a  -\-8  a  for 
a  in  the  equation  r/2  =  a  x.  This  gives  {y -\- 8  y)2  =  (a  + 
6  a)x,  from  which  subtracting  the  original  equation  yl  =  a 
x,  and  neglecting  quantities  of  the  second  order,  as  in  the 
differential  calculus,  we  get  2  y  6y  =  x  5  a,  whence  8  y  = 

z  8  a xS  a 

"ap"  "~  2 J ax' 

2.  Suppose  the  absciss  also  to  vary,  and  to  become  A  n. 
We  have  then  M n  —  8  x  and  sq—8y.  By  substituting 
x  +  8  x  for  x,  y  -\-  8  y  for  y,  and  a  +  8  a  for  a,  in  the  ori- 
ginal equation,  it  becomes  {y  -f-  5  y)2  =  (a  +  5  a)  (x  -f-  8 
i)  ;  whence,  by  performing  the  multiplications  indicated, 
subtracting  the  equation  yl  =  a  x,  and  neglecting  quanti- 
ties of  the  second  order,  we  get  (2y8y=.a8x-\-x8a,  and 

.,      r  a  8  x  +  x  8  a      a8x-\-x8a.      . 

consequently  8y „ =  — ; — ; for  the 

2  y  2  y/  a  x 

value  of  the  variation  of  y. 

From  this  example  we  may  see  clearly  the  distinction 
between  differentials  and  variations.  The  changes  of  the 
co-ordinates  relative  to  the  same  curve  are  made  by  differ- 
entials; those  which  take  place  in  passing  from  one  curve 
to  another  of  the  same  kind  are  made  by  variations.  Each 
of  the  small  quantities  8  x,  8y,  8  a,  is  arbitrary,  and  we 
may  make  8x=zdx;  but  this  equality  being  established, 
we  are  no  longer  at  liberty  to  suppose 8y=dy,  or  o  a  =  <2 
a.  It  is  also  obvious  that  the  variations  of  algebraic  quan- 
tities are  found  exactly  in  the  same  manner  as  the  differ- 
entials of  those  quantities;  in  fact,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
substitute  the  characteristic  8  for  d,  and  to  follow  the  rules 
of  the  differential  calculus.  This  remark  extends  to  varia- 
tions of  all  orders,  and  to  circular  and  exponential  quanti- 
ties. 

The  rules  being  entirely  the  same  in  both  methods,  it  is 
evident  that  the  variation  i>{  dzis8dx,  and  reciprocally 
that  the  differential  of  8  x  is  d  8  x.  These  two  quantities 
are  also  identical ;  for  if  we  suppose  x  and  x'  to  be  two  con- 
secutive values  of  x,  we  have,  by  the  principles  of  the  dif- 
ferential calculus,  dx  —  z' —  x,  whence  <5  d  x  =  <5  z'  —  8x. 
But  in  the  same  manner  as  i  and  x'  arc  two  consecutive 
quantities  in  the  series  of  values  of  the  variable  x,  so  8  z 
and  8  x'  may  be  regarded  as  two  consecutive  values  of  the 
variable  8  x ;  whence  d8z=.8x'  —  8x,  and  consequently 
i  dx  =  d8  x. 

Another  principle  of  equal  importance  is,  that  the  varia- 
tion of  the  internal  of  any  differential  quantity  is  equal  to 
the  integral  Of  the  variation  ;  that  is  to  say,  ill  any  func- 
tion 1'  of  different  variables,  x,  y,  z,  tec,  and  their  differen- 
tials, we  have  sfv=J8  P.    To  prove  this  letj  P  =  U. 

We  have  then  P  =  d  U  by  taking  the  differentials ;  Whence 
8  P  =  8  d  U,  and  therefore,  by  what  has  been  shown,  8  P 

=  d8V.    Integrating  this  last  equation,  we  get  /  8  P  =  5 

U ;  whence,  by  restoring  the  value  of  U,  /  <5  P  —  <5  /  P. 

By  means  of  these  two  principles  we  are  enabled  to  find 

the  variation  of  an  indefinite  integral  expression  /  V  d  z, 

which,  in  fact,  is  the  principal  object  of  the  method  of  vari- 
ations. If  this  integral  is  a  maximum  or  minimum,  its  vari- 
ation must  be  made  equal  to  nothing;  and  in  this  manner 

an  equation  is  obtained  which  gives  the  required  relations 
between  the  variable  co-ordinates. 
Lagrange,  in  his  JUicanique  Jlnalytique,  has  founded  a 


VARICELLA. 

complete  system  of  rational  mechanics  on  the  method  of 
variations.  The  object  of  this  important  application  may 
be  understood  from  considering  that  the  co-ordinates  of  the 
different  points  of  a  moving  body  may  be  used  either  for 
the  purpose  of  comparing  the  positions  of  two  different 
points  at  the  same  instant,  of  two  consecutive  positions  of 
the  same  point.  In  the  former  case,  the  only  relation  be- 
tween the  co-ordinates  is  that  which  results  from  the  form 
of  the  surface  of  the  body ;  in  the  latter  the  change  of  the 
co-ordinates  is  determined  by  the  conditions  of  the  motion, 
and  a  new  variable  is  introduced  which  is  the  measure  of 
the  time.  The  co-ordinates,  therefore,  vary  in  two  totally 
distinct  modes,  which  it  is  necessary  to  indicate  by  different 
symbols.  One  of  these  modes  becomes,  in  reference  to  the 
other,  the  calculus  of  variations,  which,  according  to  this 
view  of  the  subject,  may  be  described  as  a  method  of  dif- 
ferentiating quantities  conceived  to  vary  in  a  particular 
manner,  after  having  been  already  differentiated  on  the 
supposition  that  they  vary  in  a  different  manner.  See  La- 
grange, Mecanique  Analytique ;  Id.,  Lemons  du  Calcul. ; 
Lacroix,  Traite  du  Calcul.  Diff.  et  Integral,  tomeii. ;  Bossut, 
Traite  du  Cat.  Diff.  et  Integ. ;  JVoodhouse  on  Isoperimet- 
rical  Problems  ;  Airy's  Mathematical  Tracts. 
VARICE'LLA.  See  Chicken  Pox. 
VARICOCE'LE.  (Lat.  varix,  a  distended  vein,  and  xrjXr/, 
s  tumour.)  A  swelling  of  the  veins  of  the  spermatic  cord. 
VARI'ETY.  (Lat.  varietas.)  In  Zoology,  this  term  is 
applied  to  individuals  of  the  same  species,  which,  from  the 
operation  of  different  causes,  as  age,  climate,  food,  locality, 
domestication,  &c,  present  deviations  from  the  specific  type 
in  size,  colour,  form,  and  relative  proportion  of  parts  of  the 
body;  but  have  the  capacity  of  reverting  to  the  original 
typical  form  in  successive  generations,  on  the  cessation  of 
the  influences  under  which  the  variety  originated. 
VARI'OLA.     See  Small  Pox. 

VA'RIOLITE.  A  porphyritic  rock  consisting  of  an  im- 
perfectly crystallized  aggregate  of  felspar  and  quartz. 

VARl'OLOUS.  (Lat.  variola,  smallpox.)  In  Zoology, 
when  a  part  is  beset  with  many  shallow  impressions  like 
marks  of  the  small  pox. 

VARIO'RUM  EDITIONS.  In  bibliography,  certain  edi- 
tions of  the  classic  authors  of  antiquity,  published  chiefly 
in  Holland  in  the  17th  and  18th  centuries,  and  containing 
the  notes  of  numerous  commentators,  are  so  called.  These 
editions  are  chiefly  valued  by  collectors. 
VA'RIX.  (Lat.)  A  dilatation  or  swelling  of  a  vein. 
VA'RNISH.  (Fr.  vernis.)  A  fluid  which  when  spread 
thin  upon  a  solid  surface  becomes  dry,  and  forms  a  coating 
impervious  to  air  and  moisture.  There  are  two  kinds  of  var- 
nish, namely,  spirit  and  oil  varnishes  :  rectified  alcohol  is 
used  for  the  former;  and  for  the  latter  fixed  and  volatile 
oils,  or  mixtures  of  the  two.  The  solid  substances  dis- 
solved in  the  above  menstrua,  and  which  constitute  what 
is  termed  the  body  of  the  varnish,  are  almost  exclusively 
resinous,  and  are  chiefly  the  following:  1.  Turpentine,  all 
the  varieties  of  which  are  employed  by  the  varnisher : 
they  form  an  excellent  body,  and  give  strength  and  glos- 
siness at  a  small  expense  ;  but  they  do  not  dry  without  other 
additions.  2.  Copal,  a.  peculiar  resin,  very  difficult  to  dis- 
solve, but  forming  a  hard  and  durable  ingredient.  It  is 
generally  melted  over  a  gentle  fire  previous  to  use.  3.  Lac, 
which  gives  great  toughness  and  hardness;  but  is  often  in- 
admissible, on  account  of  its  reddish  brown  colour.  4.  Mas- 
tic, which  yields  a  tough,  hard,  brilliant,  and  colourless  var- 
nish. 5.  Elemi,  a  resin  of  a  pale  yellow  green  tint,  and  a 
valuable  ingredient,  on  account  of  its  toughness  and  dura- 
bility. 0.  Sandurach,  a  resin  which  imparts  splendour,  but 
which  alone  is  not  durable.  7.  Amber,  a  valuable  ingre- 
dient, on  account  of  its  hardness  and  durability ;  but  difficult 
of  transparent  solution,  and  hence  chiefly  used  in  opaque 
varnishes.  8.  Benzoin,  added  on  account  of  its  fragrancy. 
9.  Anime,  which  gives  brilliancy  and  some  scent.  10.  Gam- 
boge, for  yellow  varnishes.  11.  Dragon's  blood,  for  red 
varnish.  These,  together  with  turmeric,  saffron,  and  annot- 
ta,  are  chiefly  used  on  account  of  their  colour,  and  to  cover 
brass  and  copper  under  the  name  of  lacquers.  12.  Caout- 
chouc. This  extraordinary  vegetable  product  has  of  late 
been  much  employed  in  a  variety  of  preparations  used  as 
varnishes.  It  is  invaluable  where  materials  are  to  be  ren- 
dered air-tight,  as  balloons,  for  example,  and  where  at  the 
same  time  flexibility,  and  even  elasticity,  are  required;  but 
its  principal  application  in  this  way  is  in  the  manufacture 
of  various  water-proof  articles.  13.  Asphaltum,  the  va- 
rieties of  which  are  indispensable  in  black  oil  varnishes. 
In  making  spirit  varnishes,  the  strongest  alcohol  of  com- 
merce should  be  used  (of  a  specific  gravity  not  exceeding 
820),  and  its  solvent  power  over  some  of  the  more  intrac- 
table resins  is  sometimes  improved  by  the  addition  of  a  little 
camphor ;  in  order  to  prevent  the  agglutination  of  the  resin, 
it  is  often  requisite  to  mix  it  with  sand  or  pounded  glass,  by 
which  the  surface  is  much  increased,  and  the  solvent  en- 
ergy of  the  spirit  facilitated.    The  proportions  in  which  the 


VASSAL. 

several  ingredients  are  used,  and  the  selections  for  partic- 
ular purposes,  are  infinitely  various.  The  following  are  a 
few  good  varnishes,  in  illustration  of  their  varieties:  1. 
Spirit  varnish.  Sandarach4  oz.,  seed  lac  2  oz.,  elemi  1  oz., 
digest  the  whole  in  a  quart  of  moderately  warm  alcohol, 
and  when  dissolved  add  Venice  turpentine  2  ozs.  2.  Lac 
varnisk.  Seed  lac  8  oz. ;  digest  for  four  days  in  a  warm 
place  with  a  quart  of  alcohol,  and  then  strain  through  flan- 
nel. 3.  Turpentine  varnish.  Mastic  12  oz.,  mixed  with  5 
oz.  of  pounded  glass,  and  digested  in  a  quart  of  oil  of  turpen- 
tine, adding  at  intervals  about  half  an  ounce  of  camphor  in 
small  pieces.  When  the  mastic  is  dissolved,  add  to  the 
warm  fluid  an  ounce  and  a  half  of  previously  liquefied  Ven- 
ice turpentine,  and  stir  the  whole  together.  4.  Copal  var- 
nish. Copal  which  has  been  previously  melted  by  a  gentle 
heat  3  oz.,  oil  of  turpentine  20  oz.  (measure) :  put  the  oil 
into  a  flask  placed  in  boiling  water,  and  add  the  powdered 
copal  in  small  portions  .at  a  time,  so  that  it  may  be  gradual- 
ly dissolved ;  let  it  stand  a  few  days  to  clear,  and  then  pour 
it  off  and  if  too  thick  for  use,  add  to  it  a  little  warm  oil  of 
turpentine.  This  varnish  dries  slowly,  but  is  very  durable. 
5.  Linseed  varnish.  Melt  16  oz.  of  copal  in  an  iron  pot 
with  as  gentle  a  fire  as  possible,  and  when  fused  pour  in  3 
oz.  of  hot  linseed  oil ;  stir  the  mixture,  remove  it  from  the 
fire,  and  while  yet  warm  gradually  add  a  pint  of  warm  oil 
of  turpentine ;  when  the  whole  is  incorporated,  strain  it 
through  a  piece  of  linen  into  phials.  This  is  a  hard  and 
durable,  but  also  a  coloured  varnish.  6.  Amber  varnish. 
Melt  16  oz.  of  amber  in  an  iron  pot,  then  add  2  oz.  of 
melted  lac  and  10  oz.  of  hot,  drying  linseed  oil ;  incorporate 
the  whole  by  stirring ;  remove  it  from  the  fire,  and  before 
it  cools  add  a  pint  of  warm  oil  of  turpentine.  7.  Black 
varnish.  Melt  16  oz.  of  amber  in  an  iron  pot,  and  add  half 
a  pint  of  hot,  drying  linseed  oil,  3  oz.  of  powdered  rosin,  and 
3  oz.  of  powdered  asphaltum ;  stir  all  together,  and  when 
removed  from  the  fire  and  sufficiently  cool,  add  a  pint  of 
warm  oil  of  turpentine.  8.  Lacquer.  Digest  3  oz.  of  seed 
lac,  1  oz.  of  turmeric,  and  2  drs.  of  dragon's  blood  for  six 
days  in  a  pint  of  alcohol,  frequently  shaking  the  bottle, 
which  should  be  kept  in  a  warm  place  ;  strain  the  lacquer 
through  linen.  The  above  are  samples  of  each  of  the  prin- 
cipal varnishes  ;  but  every  maker  varies  the  proportions,  and 
often  the  nature  of  the  ingredients.  In  the  preparation  of 
varnishes,  in  consequence  of  the  highly  combustible  nature 
of  all  the  materials,  the  utmost  care  is  requisite  to  avoid  ac- 
cidents by  fire. 

VAR'VICITE.  An  ore  of  manganese  found  at  Harts- 
hill  in  Warwickshire.  It  appears  to  be  a  compound  of  2 
equivalents  of  peroxide  and  1  of  sesquioxide  of  manganese 
with  1  of  water. 

VA'SCULAR  SYSTEM,  in  Botany,  is  that  portion  of 
the  tissue  of  plants  which  is  destined  for  the  conveyance 
of  air.  Vascular  plants  are  those  in  which  the  vascular 
system  occurs,  or  forms  a  principal  feature.  The  air  ves- 
sels are  the  tracheae  or  spirals. 

VASE.  (Lat.  vas.)  In  Sculpture,  a  vessel  usually  orna- 
mented with  sculpture  of  fruits,  flowers,  bassi-rilievi,  &c. 

VA'SES,  ETRUSCAN.  In  Antiquities.  These  well- 
known  and  beautiful  objects  of  ancient  art  have  been  dis- 
covered in  great  numbers,  chiefly  in  the  sepulchres  of  an- 
cient Italian  cities.  Their  material  is  terra  cotta,  and  they 
are  painted  with  figures  and  scenes.  The  most  beautiful, 
and,  indeed,  the  most  numerous,  were  formerly  obtained 
from  Campania  and  Magna  Grecia  ;  and  it  was  much  con- 
troverted among  antiquarians  whether  the  workmanship 
was  not  originally  Greek,  which  is  maintained  by  Sir.  W. 
Gell.  (Topography  of  Rome,  vol.  i.)  Of  late  years,  the 
great  sources  have  been  the  sepulchres  of  Etruria  Proper. 
Five  thousand  have  been  taken  in  twenty-five  years  from 
the  ruins  of  Tarquinia  alone  ;  and  it  seems  to  be  now  gen- 
erally admitted  that  the  manufacture  is  rightly  called  Etrus- 
can ;  that  it  is  of  extreme  antiquity  ;  that  in  its  origin  it  is 
connected,  in  some  way  not  easily  explicable,  with  early 
Egyptian  art ;  that  in  its  progress  Greek  taste  and  style 
were  introduced  ;  that  the  art  had  fallen  into  disuse  in  the 
flourishing  period  of  the  Roman  empire,  which  is  evinced 
by  this  fact,  among  others,  that  none  have  been  found  in 
Pompeii  or  Herculaneum.  "The  most  ancient  vases  are 
those  called  of  the  Egyptian  style.  They  are  particol- 
oured, of  red  and  black  upon  a  pale  yellow  ground.  Black 
vases,  with  friezes  of  animals  and  ornaments  in  bassi-ri- 
lievo,  are  also  of  very  high  antiquity.  Those  with  black 
figures  on  a  red  ground  come  next  in  order  ;  while  the  most 
modem  are  black  with  red,  figures :  such  of  them,  at  least, 
as  depart  from  the  old  stiff  Etruscan  style,  and  have  the 
more  natural  shapes  of  Greek  art;  for  example,  those  of 
Magna  Grascia  in  general,  and  Nola  in  particular."  (Mrs. 
H.  Gray,  Sepulchres  of  Etruria,  p.  45.) 

VA'SSAL.  (Derived,  according  to  Sir  F.  Palgrave  on 
the  English  Commonwealth,  from  the  Welsh  gwas,  a  young 
man  or  page  ;  gwasaeth,  the  state  of  pagehood,  being  ren- 
dered in  Latin  vassaticuni.)    The  holder  of  a  fief,  by  fealty 

1295 


VASTUS. 

ami  service,  of  a  feudal  superior  or  lord,  (See  Feudal  Sys- 
tbk.i  From  the  Celtic  origin  of  this  word,  it  has  l>« 
(.jr.  it  (hal  some  portion  of  the  feudal  usages  were  derived 
from  those  of  the  tribes  which  possessed  Gaul  and  Britain 
before  their  annexation  to  the  Roman  empire.  In  the  an- 
cient documents  of  the  Carlovingion  kings,  the  vassal  is 
termed  "  vassus,"  or  "  homo  Qd<  Lie  ;"  tin-  lord  generally 
"senior."  The  term  vassal  was  also  more  generally  Used, 
in  common  language,  to  signify  all  who  were  dependent  on 
a  superior  lord,  from  those  who  held  fiefs  of  him  down  to 
his  serfs  or  villeins.  (See  Guizot,  Civilization  en  France, 
vol.  iv.) 

VASTUS.  A  term  applied  by  anatomists  to  two  mus- 
cles of  the  thigh,  the  i  jI,  rnal  and  internal  vasti. 

VATICAN,  the  ancient  palace  of  the  popes,  and  the 
most  magnificent  in  the  world,  stands  at  Rome  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  Tiber,  and  on  the  hill  anciently  called  by  the 
same  name  ;  derived,  according  to  Aulus  Gellius,  from  Va- 
ticinium,  or  rather  from  an  ancient  oracular  deity  of  the 
Latins,  called  by  the  Romans  Jupiter  Vaticanus,  who  was 
worshipped  there.  Some  say  that  Pope  Symmachus  began 
the  construction  of  the  palace.  It  was  inhabited  by  Char- 
lemagne in  800  ;  and  the  present  irregular  edifice  has  been 
raised  by  the  gradual  additions  of  a  long  series  of  pontiffs. 
Its  extent  is  enormous,  the  number  of  rooms,  at  the  lowest 
computation,  amounting  to  4422;  and  its  riches  in  marbles, 
bronzes,  and  frescoes,  in  ancient  statues  and  gems,  and  in 
paintings,  are  unequalled  in  the  world;  not  to  mention  its 
library,  the  richest  in  Europe  in  manuscripts.  The  length 
of  the  museum  of  statues  alone  is  computed  to  be  a  mile: 
here  are  the  Sistine  Chapel  ;  the  Camere  of  Raphael, 
pointed  by  himself  and  pupils;  the  Museum  of  Pins  VI., 
peculiarly  rich  in  objects  of  ancient  Italian  workmanship ; 
and  other  deposits  of  art  and  antiquity,  each  of  which  by 
itself  would  suffice  to  render  a  city  illustrious. 

VAU'DEVILLE.  In  French  poetry,  a  species  of  light 
song,  frequently  of  a  satirical  turn,  consisting  of  several 
couplets  and  a  refrain  or  burden,  introduced  into  theatrical 
pieces.  The  origin  of  the  word  is  disputed  ;  some  derive 
it  from  Vau-de-vire,  a  village  in  Normandy.  Short  comic 
pieces  interspersed  with  such  songs  are  also  termed  Vaude- 
villes. 

VAUTlOIS.  (Lat.  Waldenses.)  The  inhabitants  of 
some  valleys  in  the  Alps  between  Italy  and  Provence,  from 
whence  they  derive  their  name  ;  and  who  must  be  distin- 
guished from  the  Waldenses,  or  followers  of  Peter  Waldo, 
who  acquired  celebrity  in  the  12th  century,  and  from  whom 
some  writers  have  deduced  both  their  religious  tenets  and 
their  appellation  also.  The  Vaudois  are  celebrated  for 
having  maintained  the  purity  of  their  doctrine  for  many 
ages  before  the  Reformation  ;  and  it  has  been  asserted  by 
some  theologians  that  the  true  spirit  of  the  primitive  Chris- 
tianity was  kept  alive  among  them  throughout  the  whole 
period  of  Romish  corruption.  This  position,  however,  does 
not  seem  susceptible  of  proof.  Another  claim  that  they 
possess  to  a  place  in  ecclesiastical  history,  is  derived  from 
the  numerous  persecutions  to  which  they  have  been  ex- 
posed on  account  of  the  witness  they  have  so  long  borne 
against  the  erroneous  doctrines  of  the  nations  by  whom 
they  are  surrounded.  Their  extreme  antiquity  is  certain  at 
all  events;  and  the  numerous  attempts  which  have  been 
made  by  Romanist  writers  to  fix  on  them  the  stigma  of 
Manicheis-m  seem  unsupported  by  the  evidence.  For  the 
last  three  centuries  they  have  been  viewed  with  displeasure 
by  the  dukes  of  Savoy  and  the  kings  of  Sardinia,  their 
masters,  and  repeatedly  visited  with  military  execution,  or 
more  legal  forms  of  violence.  One  great  persecution,  in  the 
17th  century,  is  kcown  to  us  by  Milton's  noble  sonnet. 
Not  long  after  it  they  were  altogether  expelled,  and  retreat 
ed  into  Switzerland,  whence  they  returned  by  a  celebrated 
march,  and  recovered  their  valleys  by  force ;  an  event  com- 
memorated in  the  work  of  Arnaud,  one  of  their  pastors,  I. a 
Olorieuse  Rcntriedcs  Vaudois  dans  /curs  Vallecs.  At  pres- 
ent they  are  by  no  means  free  from  occasional  vexations. 
Their  number  is  about  30,000.  (See  Fabcr  on  the  Walden- 
ses and  Albigenses,  as  to  their  tenets.) 

VAULT.  (Fr.  voute  ;  It.  volta.)  In  Architecture,  an 
arched  roof,  so  contrived  that  the  stones,  bricks,  or  other 
materials  whereof  it  is  constructed,  sustain  and  keep  each 
other  in  their  places.  Vaults  are  circular  and  elliptical. 
When  their  section  rises  higher  than  a  semicircle,  they  are 
said  to  be  surmounted;  when  less,  surbased. 

VA'VASS<  )|{.  A  word  of  uncertain  derivation,  although 
probably  derived  from  the  same  root  with  vassal  (gwas,  o 
youth  or  page,  in  some  Celtic  dialects),  The  vassals  who 
held  Immediately  of  the  higher  nobility,  under  the  feudal 
system  In  France,  were  frequently  comprehended  under  this 
general  name;  the  chatelains  being  .such  vavassors  a<  pos 
sessed  castles  or  fortified  houses.  (See  llallani,  Middle 
Ji<rcs,  vol.  i.,  p.  149.)  The  word,  however,  seems  to  nave 
l"  en  of  v,  i\  loo  e  application.  Poor  gentleman  are  termed 
vavassors  in  old  French  romances.  In  England  the  title 
12!Ki 


VEHMIC  COURTS. 

was  not  usual,  although  it  is  mentioned  in  Bracton  in  con 
tradistlnction  to  baron,  and  sometimes  appears  to  have 
designated  persons  \\  ho  held  land  by  military  tenure  of  oth- 
ers than  the  king.     (See  Archwologia,  vol.  ii.) 

VE'CTIS.  (Lat.  the  lever.)  fa  Mechanics,  the  same 
w  Ith  levi ■■/•.    See  Lever. 

VJE'CTOE.  (Lat.  vehcre,  to  carry),  or  RADIUS  VEC- 
TOR. In  Astronomy,  a  straight  line  conceived  to  be  drawn 
from  the  centre  of  a  planet  to  the  centre  of  the  sun,  by 
which  the  planet  appears  to  be  carried  round  the  sun  in  its 
orbit.  In  geometry,  the  radius  vector  of  a  conic  section  is 
a  straight  line  drawn  from  one  of  the  foci  to  any  point  in  the 
curve. 

VF.'IIA.  The  name  by  which  the  Hindoos  designate  the 
collective  body  of  their  scriptures ;  sometimes  called  Ve- 
dam,  Bedam,  &c,  according  to  various  provincial  pronunci- 
ations, by  European  writers.  The  four  Vedas  (Rig,  Vajust, 
Saman,  and  Atharvan)  are  believed,  according  to  the  or- 
thodox creed,  to  have  been  revealed  by  Brahma.  But  the 
subdivisions  are  infinite,  as  are  also  the  connected  works — 
Upavedas,  Angas,  Upangas,  &c. ;  some  of  which  are  con- 
sidered by  Mr.  Colebrooke  to  constitute,  according  to  re- 
ceived opinion,  a  fifth  Veda.  The  arrangement  is  ascribed 
to  one  Vyasa,  a  sage  of  whom  nothing  positive  can  be  as- 
certained. The  Vedas  chiefly  consist  of  prayers,  precepts 
or  maxims,  and  stories ;  called  respectively  by  different 
titles.  Thus  a  portion  of  the  mythological  histories  are 
called  Puranas ;  but  these  are  not  to  be  confounded  with 
the  poems  of  romantic  mythology  called  by  the  same  name. 
(See  Puranas.)  The  genuineness  and  antiquity  of  the  Ve- 
das have  been  matter  of  much  dispute  among  western  anti- 
quaries. The  chief  chronological  data  are,  that  they  were 
compiled  before  the  supposed  incarnation  of  Vishnu,  as 
Rama  and  Kirshna,  under  which  titles  he  is  now  so  com- 
monly worshipped  among  the  Hindoos  ;  and  also  before  the 
appearance  of  Buddha.  Sir  William  Jones  (Asiat.  Re- 
searches,  vol.  ii.)  gave  them  a  conjectural  antiquity  of  about 
3000  years ;  and  Mr.  Colebrooke  (lb.,  vol.  vii.)  arrives  at 
about  the  same  conclusion. 

VEDA'NTA.  A  sect  among  the  Uindoos,  whose  theory 
of  philosophy  is  professedly  founded  on  the  revelations 
contained  in  the  Vedas.  Its  fundamental  tenets  appear  to 
have  a  near  connexion  with  the  opinions  of  Epiciinrinus, 
Plato,  Pyrrho,  and  what  is  termed  the  lierkeljan  philosophy 
among  ourselves:  namely,  that  matter  has  no  existence  in- 
dependent of  mental  perception;  with  the  ordinary  conse- 
quences of  that  doctrine,  of  which  those  practically  most 
important  are  the  maxims  of  Quietism.  See,  on  the  phi- 
losophy of  the  Vedas,  Hitter's  History  of  Ancient  J'hilono- 
phy  (translation),  vol.  i.,  p.  66,  &c. 

VEER.  In  Naval  Language,  to  give  the  ship  more  scope 
of  cable.  Also  to  let  any  thing  drop  astern  by  a  rope.  Also 
the  old  term  for  to  wear. 

VE'GETABLE  EARTH.  Soil  in  which  decayed  vege- 
table matter  is  in  a  much  larger  proportion  than  the  primi- 
tive earths.  In  Horticulture,  vegetable  earth  is  called 
mould;  and  in  Agriculture  the  term  is  applied  to  the  sur- 
face soil  of  hollows,  which  contain  alluvial  soil  beneath, 
and  vegetable  matter,  generally  of  a  black  colour,  on  the 
surface. 
VEGETA'TION.     See  Botany. 

VEGETA'TION,  CHEMISTUV  OF.  From  the  moment 
a  seed  begins  to  grow  a  series  of  chemical  changes  are  in- 
duced, essential  to  the  development  of  its  germ.  The  pro- 
cess has  been  chiefly  studied  in  regard  to  bicotyledonous 
plants,  and  a  general  outline  of  it  is  given  under  the  word 
Germination. 

VETIMIC  COURTS.  (Germ,  vehm,  or  femgerichte.) 
Criminal  Courts  of  Justice,  established  in  Germany  during 

the  middle  ages.  These  courts  are  commonly  said  to  have 
originated  in  those  held  by  the  Missl  Dominici,  or  imperial 
legates,  sent  by  Charlemagne  into  the  provinces  of  his  em- 
pire; but  many  circumstances  denote  tie  ir  descent  from  the 
more  ancient  tribunals  of  the  German  tribes,  held  in  the 
open  air  in  the  primitive  periods  of  their  history.  (See  a 
curious  account  of  the  free  field  courts  of  the  Germans  in 
Sir  !'.  Palgrave's  work  on  the  English  Commonwealth; 
Femgerichl  Westphalens?^  But  the  character 
under  which  these  institutions  became  formidable  and  lm- 
portant,  about  the  beginning  of  the  13th  century,  arose  from 
the  disordered  state  of  northern  Germany  after  the  di  olu- 
ti f  the  duchy  of  Saxony.    The  Vehmic,or,  as  they  were 

called,  free  COUTtS,  were  then  modelled  on  a  secret  system  of 

organization.    The  president  was  usually  a  prince  or  count 
of  the  empire;  his  assistants   (styled   FreischOffen)   were 

persons  affiliated   to   the  society  by  secret   initiation,  to  the 

number,  it  is  said,  atone  time  of  100,000.     All  these  were 

bound   to  attend   the  secret    meetings  of  the   courts   when 

summoned,  and  to  execute  their  decrees,  if  necessary,  by 
taking  the  life  of  persons  condemned.    Westphalia,  styled, 

in  the  language  of  the  free  courts,  the   Red  Land,  was  tin 

district  in  n  hich  their  central  authority  was  seated.    These 


VEIL. 

courts  exercised  a  great  power,  which  was  occasionally  ser- 
viceable in  repressing  the  lawless  violence  of  the  nobles  of 
that  period,  but  which  was  also  liable  to  be  perverted  to 
the  gratification  of  private  malice  and  tyranny.  Various 
leagues  were  formed  in  the  loth  century,  by  the  nobles  of 
the  empire,  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  their  influence ; 
which  was  at  last  effected,  chiefly  by  the  introduction  of  a 
hetter  system  of  public  judicature  and  police  in  the  several 
states.  See  also  the  publication  of  the  Library  of  Enter- 
taining Knowledge  Society,  Secret  Societies  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  The  romantic  use  of  this  history  made  by  Goethe  in 
his  Goetz  von  Berlichingen  is  well  known. 

VEIL.  A  term  used  in  describing  fungi  to  denote  the 
horizontal  membrane  connecting  the  margin  of  the  pileus 
with  the  stipes. 

VEIN'S.  (Lat.  vena.)  In  Anatomy,  elastic  tubes  which 
convey  the  blood  from  the  arteries  back  to  the  heart.  See 
Heart. 

VEINS,  MINERAL.  Cracks  or  fissures  in  rocks  filled 
up  with  substances  differing  from  the  rock  itself.  When 
these  are  of  a  metallic  nature,  they  form  the  chief  reposi- 
tories of  the  most  useful  metals,  and  are  termed  metallic 
veins ,  they  often  contain  cavities  lined  with  some  of  the 
most  beautiful  mineral  products.  Some  veins  are  several 
yards  wide  ;  and  they  often  branch  off  into  smaller  ramifi- 
cations, which  are  gradually  lost  in  the  surrounding  rock. 
See  Geology. 

VELE'LLA.  (Diminutive  of  velum,  asail.)  The  name 
of  a  genus  of  Acalephes,  characterized  by  a  vertical  crest 
or  sail,  by  means  of  which  they  are  wafted  along  the  sur- 
face of  the  ocean. 

VE'LITES.  The  light-armed  infantry  attached  to  a  Ro- 
man legion  were  so  called.  (See  Mem  de  VAc.  des  Inscr., 
vol.  xxix.)  They  were  equipped  with  bows,  slings,  and 
javelins,  a  light  wooden  buckler  covered  with  leather,  and 
a  head-piece. 

VE'LLUM.  (Lat.  velamen,  or  vitulinum.)  A  fine  kind 
of  parchment  made  of  calf-skin.  The  skins  are  limed, 
shaved,  washed,  and  stretched  in  proper  frames,  where 
they  are  scraped  with  the  currier's  fleshing-tool,  and  ulti- 
mately rubbed  down  to  a  proper  thickness  with  pumice- 
stone. 

VELO'CE.  (It.  swift.)  In  Music,  a  term  which,  pre- 
fixed to  a  movement,  indicates  that  it  is  to  be  performed  in 
a  rapid  manner. 

VELO'CIPEDE.  (Lat.  velox,  swift,  and  pes,  foot.)  A 
vehicle  invented  at  Mannheim  in  1817,  by  M.  Drais,  consist- 
ing of  a  piece  of  wood  about  five  feet  long,  and  half  a  fool 
wide,  resting  on  two  wheels,  one  behind  the  other.  On 
this  an  individual  sits,  as  on  horseback,  his  feet  touching 
the  ground,  and  thus  propelling  the  machine.  The  front 
wheel  may  be  turned  at  pleasure,  so  that  the  rider  may 
give  any  direction  to  the  machine.  This  species  of  vehicle 
never  came  into  general  use ;  but  it  was  improved  by 
Knight  in  this  country,  and  a  patent  received  for  it. 

VELO'CITY  (Lat.  velox,  swift),  is  measured  by  the 
space  which  a  moving  body  passes  through  in  a  given 
time.  The  velocity  of  a  body  is  uniform  when  it  passes 
through  equal  spaces  in  equal  times ;  and  variable  when 
the  spaces  passed  through  in  equal  times  are  unequal.  It 
is  accelerated  when  the  force  by  which  a  body  is  put  into  a 
state  of  motion  continues  to  act  after  the  motion  has  com- 
menced ;  and  retarded  when  the  moving  body  encounters 
obstacles  which  tend  to  destroy  the  motion.  Velocity  is 
merely  a  relative  term;  for  there  is  nothing,  as  Biot  re- 
marks Traite  de  Physique,  1.  iii.,  p.  148),  which  in  itself  is 
either  swift  or  slow,  any  more  than  great  or  small.  The 
velocity  of  a  cannon  ball  appears  very  great,  as  it  can 
scarcely  be  followed  by  the  eye ;  yet  it  is  slow  in  compari- 
son of  the  motion  of  a  point  on  the  earth's  equator  carried 
round  by  the  diurnal  motion ;  and  this,  in  its  turn,  is  far  in- 
ferior to  the  velocity  of  the  earth  in  its  orbit,  which  again  is 
greatly  exceeded  by  the  velocity  of  light.  (For  the  velocity 
of  falling  bodies,  see  Acceleration  ;  for  the  velocity  of  a 
l>ody  moving  in  curve  about  a  centre  of  force,  see  Central 
Fortes.     See  also  Gunnery,  Virtual  Velocity,  &c.) 

VELVET.  A  rich  kind  of  stuff,  extensively  used  for 
ladies'  dresses  and  a  variety  of  other  purposes.  Of  velvet 
there  are  properly  only  two  kinds,  that  with  a  plain,  and 
that  with  a  tweeled,  or,  as  it  is  also  called,  a  Genoa  ground 
or  back.  When  the  material  is  silk,  it  is  called  velvet; 
when  cotton,  velveteen.  The  latter  is  a  species  of  fustian, 
which,  under  a  variety  of  names,  is  largely  used  for  men's 
wearing  apparel. 

VENA  CAVA.     See  Heart. 

VENEE'R.  In  Architecture,  a  thin  piece  of  material  of 
a  more  valuable  kind  laid  on  another  of  a  more  common 
sort,  by  which  the  whole  substance  appears  to  be  of  the 
more  valuable  sort.  Veneering  is  more  usually  applied  to 
furniture  than  to  strictly  architectural  purposes. 

VENETIAN  SCHOOL.  In  Painting.  The  distinguish- 
ing character  of  this  school  is  colouring,  and  a  consummate 
110 


VENTILATION. 

intellectual  knowledge  of  chiaro-scuro ;  in  both  which  all 
is  grace,  spirit,  and  faithful  adherence  to  nature,  so  seduc- 
tive as  to  lead  the  spectator  away  from  any  consideration  of 
its  defects.  It  is  an  exquisite  bouquet  of  well-arranged  flow- 
ers ;  or  a  collection  of  pulpy,  juicy,  saccharine  fruits.  But 
it  is  not  to  be  inferred  that  it  is  altogether  wanting  in  still 
higher  accomplishments :  for  the  head  of  it  was  Tiziano  de 
Vecelli ;  and  in  its  ranks  are  to  be  found  Tintoretto,  Paul 
Veronese,  Giorgione,  and  many  other  illustrious  masters. 
See  Painting. 

VE'NIAL  SIN.  (Lat  venia,  forgiveness.)  In  Theology, 
is  defined,  by  Roman  Catholic  theologians,  a  sin  which 
weakens  sanctifying  grace,  but  does  not  take  it  away.  It  is 
not  necessary,  although  commendable,  to  mention  such  sin 
in  confession.  Reformed  theologians  altogether  reject  the 
formal  distinction  between  venial  and  mortal  sin. 

VENTRE  FA'CIAS.  In  Law,  a  judicial  writ,  directed 
to  the  sheriff  to  cause  a  jury  to  come  or  appear  in  the 
neighbourhood  where  a  cause  is  brought  to  issue,  to  try  the 
same.  (See  Jury.)  A  venire  facias  de  nova,  being  a  writ 
directing  the  sheriff  to  cause  a  jury  to  come  and  try  a  cause 
a  second  time,  is  granted  where  there  has  been  a  mis-trial ; 
on  the  ground  of  irregularity,  as,  for  instance,  in  summoning 
the  jury;  on  the  ground  of  misconduct  by  the  jury ;  and 
also  in  certain  cases  where  the  verdict  given  is  imperfect  by 
reason  of  some  ambiguity  and  uncertainty.  The  great  rule 
of  difference  between  a  venire  de  novo  in  the  latter  case  and 
a  new  trial  is,  that  the  former  is  only  granted  on  matter  ap- 
pearing on  the  record. 

VENI,  SANCTE  SPIRITUS.  (Lat.  Come,  Holy  Ghost.) 
The  name  given  to  a  mass  in  the  Roman  Catholic  church 
to  invoke  the  assistance  of  the  Hoi)-  Spirit. 

VENTA'YLE,  or  AVENTAYLE.  The  visor  of  a  hel- 
met.    See  Helmet. 

VE'NTER,  (Lat.)  in  Entomology,  signifies  the  lower 
part  of  the  abdomen. 

VENTILATION,  (Lat.  ventus,  wind)  literally  signifies 
fanning  or  blowing.  In  Domestic  Economy,  it  is  the  art  of 
conveying  currents  of  fresh  air  through  close  apartments  or 
confined  places,  so  as  to  maintain  the  atmosphere  in  a  state 
of  purity. 

Atmospheric  air  consists  of  two  ingredients,  oxygen  and 
azote,  blended  together  in  the  proportion  of  one  part  by 
measure  of  the  former  to  four  of  the  latter.  When  these 
proportions  are  altered,  air  becomes  unfit  for  respiration  ; 
anil  when  the  oxygen  is  withdrawn  or  consumed,  it  is  ren- 
dered altogether  incapable  of  supporting  animal  life  or  com- 
bustion. But  there  are  operations  both  of  nature  and  art 
continually  going  forward  in  which  the  oxygen  of  the  atmo- 
sphere is  consumed,  and  gaseous  products  evolved  which 
are  destructive  of  life.  Thus,  in  the  act  of  respiration,  a 
certain  portion  of  the  oxygen  contained  in  the  air  inhaled 
into  the  lungs  is  converted  into  carbonic  acid,  a  substance 
which  acts  as  a  narcotic  poison  ;  and  hence,  in  a  confined 
apartment,  air  is  soon  rendered,  by  breathing  alone,  not 
merely  incapable  of  maintaining  life,  but  highly  destructive 
of  it,  in  consequence  of  the  evolution  of  a  deleterious  gas. 
In  like  manner,  oxygen  is  consumed,  and  carbonic  acid 
evolved,  in  the  process  of  combustion  ;  and  the  burning  of  a 
pan  of  charcoal  in  a  close  room  is  known  to  be  a  certain 
means  of  extinguishing  life. 

Although  a  decomposition  and  deterioration  of  air  is  thus 
continually  going  forward,  nature  has  by  various  means 
provided  so  effectually  for  the  restoration  of  the  two  con- 
stituent gases,  that  in  whatever  part  of  the  world,  and  at 
whatever  height  in  the  atmosphere,  air  is  taken,  it  is  found, 
when  chemically  examined,  to  contain  azote  and  oxygen  in 
exactly  the  same  proportions.     See  Air. 

Quantity  of  air  required  for  Ventilation. — If  the  ques- 
tion were  solely  how  to  command  a  sufficient  supply  of 
fresh  air,  it  would  be  easily  solved ;  but  as  in  our  climates 
the  temperature  of  the  external  atmosphere  is  in  winter 
generally  very  much  lower  than  is  necessary  for  comfort, 
we  have  at  the  same  time  to  provide  for  the  maintenance  of 
an  artificial  temperature  in  our  apartments,  by  allowing  the 
air  to  enter  no  faster  than  it  can  be  warmed.  One  of  the 
first  points,  therefore,  to  be  considered,  is  the  amount  of  the 
supply  of  fresh  air  which  an  individual  requires  for  comfort 
and  health.  This,  however,  is  a  point  on  which,  by  reason 
of  the  great  variety  of  circumstances  concerned,  it  is  ex- 
tremely difficult  to  arrive  at  any  satisfactory  conclusion. 

Dr.  Henry  estimates  that  an  adult  person  makes,  on  the 
average,  20  inspirations  per  minute,  and  draws  into  his 
lungs'at  each  inspiration  20  cubic  inches  of  air.  Peclet 
allows  40  cubic  inches  for  each  inspiration.  Taking  the 
mean  of  the  two  estimates,  we  have  000  cubic  inches  ex- 
pired per  minute.  But,  according  to  Dr.  Arnott,  air  expelled 
from  the  lungs  is  found  to  vitiate,  so  as  to  render  unfit  for 
respiration,  twelve  times  its  own  bulk  of  pure  air ;  hence, 
the  quantity  of  air  spoiled  every  minute  by  the  respiration 
of  an  adult,  is  7200  cubic  inches,  or  rather  more  than  4 
cubic  feet.  Dr.  Arnott,  however,  supposes  the  waste  to  be 
4  M  1297 


VENTILATION. 

only  half  of  this  quantity.  Rut  there  are  several  other 
causes  of  deterioration  besides  the  production  of  carbonic 
acid  from  the  lungs:  the  effluvia  and  vapour  of  animal 
matter  exuded  from  the  whole  surface  of  the  body  is  not  less 
injurious  than  carbonic  acid  :  and.  according  to  M.  Seguin, 
in  a  temperature  of  (50°,  about  3A  cubic  feet  of  air  per 
minute  is  charged  with  animal  vapour  transmitted  through 
t lie  skin  of  an  adult,  and  rendered  unfit  for  respiration. 
When  artificial  lights  are  used,  a  further  allowance  must 
be  made  for  the  waste  by  combustion.  Besides,  air  is  re- 
quired for  various  other  purposes  than  those  which  have 
now  been  mentioned.  It  acts  as  a  cooling  power,  and 
hence  the  supply  requisite  for  comfort  depends  on  its  tem- 
perature. It  likewise  serves  to  carry  off  moisture  from  the 
skin,  and  therefore  its  state  as  to  dryness  or  humidity  must 
be  considered.  Dr.  D.  B.  Reid  found,  from  observations  on 
a  number  of  persons  assembled  in  an  experimental  room. 
that  not  less  than  10  cubic  feet  per  minute  should  be  allow- 
ed to  each  individual  on  the  average,  at  an  agreeable  tem- 
perature;  but  that,  to  maintain  the  atmosphere  in  all  its 
purity,  a  much  larger  supply  would  at  times  be  desirable. 
On  the  whole,  therefore,  we  may  conclude  that  10  cubic 
feet  of  fresh  air  per  minute,  for  each  individual,  is  the 
smallest  allowance  that  should  be  made  in  order  to  ensure 
healthful  ventilation. 

Sources  of  JErial  Movement. — One  of  the  most  efficient 
means  of  ventilation  is  afforded  by  the  action  of  heat.  At 
ordinary  temperatures,  air  suffers  an  expansion  of  about 
l-500th  part  for  each  degree  of  Fahrenheit's  thermometer 
by  which  the  temperature  is  raised ;  and  being  rendered 
specifically  lighter  in  the  same  proportion,  the  pressure  of 
the  surrounding  atmosphere  predominates,  and  the  heated 
air  is  forced  upwards.  This  principle  is  exemplified  in  the 
action  of  the  ordinary  chimney,  which  may  be  regarded  as 
a  tube  open  at  both  ends,  and  placed  in  any  position  except 
the  horizontal.  The  air  in  the  lower  end  of  the  tube,  being 
heated  by  the  fire,  rises  and  passes  out  at  the  upper  end, 
while  its  place  is  supplied  by  the  pressure  of  the  fluid  sur- 
rounding the  lower  opening  ;  and  the  circumstances  of  mo- 
tion are  the  same  as  if  another  tube,  filled  with  air  of  the 
original  temperature,  were  adapted  to  the  lower  end  of  the 
chimney,  which  is  filled  with  heated  air,  so  that  the  cur- 
rent is  established  in  the  same  manner  as  in  an  inverted 
siphon,  in  which  two  columns  of  air  of  different  densities, 
but  equal  altitudes,  press  against  each  other.  At  the  lower 
opening  of  the  chimney,  the  draught  or  velocity  of  the  cur- 
rent is  expressed  by  this  formula, 

where  v  denotes  the  velocity  in  feet  per  second,  g  the  ac- 
celerating force  of  gravity  (=32"2  feet  per  second),  a  the 
rate  of  expansion  for  one  degree  of  increased  temperature, 
t!  the  temperature  of  the  heated  air  as  it  enters  the  chim- 
ney, and  I  that  of  the  external  air.  It  appears  from  this 
that  the  velocity  of  draught  is  as  the  square  root  of  the 
height  of  the  chimney,  and  the  square  root  of  the  excess  of 
temperature  at  the  lower  opening.  But  as  the  same  quan- 
tity of  air  must  be  supposed  to  pass  through  every  different 
section  of  the  chimney  in  the  same  time,  it  follows  that 
the  velocity  at  every  part  must  be  inversely  as  the  density, 
and,  therefore,  decreases  from  the  bottom  to  the  summit. 

As  the  draught  of  a  chimney  depends  on  the  difference  of 
the  temperature  of  the  air  at  its  lower  and  upper  ends,  it 
will  afford  a  considerable  power  of  ventilation,  even  when 
there  is  no  fire,  if  the  room  be  heated  by  any  means  (as  by 
an  assemblage  of  persons)  above  the  temperature  of  the  ex- 
ternal atmosphere.  In  warm  weather  this  may,  however,  be 
insufficient;  but  in  this  ease  a  Large  shaft,  communicating 
with  the  apartment  at  some  distance,  will  afford,  by  means 
of  a  good  lire,  an  exhausting  power  to  any  extent.  This  is 
the  method  by  which  the  Houses  of  Parliament  are  at  pre- 
sent ventilated,  and  the  principle  has  been  frequently  ap- 
plied in  mines  and  manufactories.  The  impulsion  of  air 
into  a  chamber  by  mechanical  means  is  often  had  n  Bourse 
to  in  particular  circumstances,  in  the  printing-office  of  the 
Bank  of  England  there  is  a  ventilating  apparatus  consisting 
of  a  square  box  for  a  pump  body,  with  a  loose  piston,  anil 
furnished  with  larue  valved  openings,  by  means  of  which 
1100  cubic  feet  of  air  per  minute  are  driven  through  the 
apartments.  For  ventilating  the  holds  of  >lii  j><.  n-iiar*.  gee,, 
the  winilsail  is  usually  applied,  though  sometimes  a  fanner 
is  introduced  for  the  same  purpose. 

The  subject  of  ventilating  is  intimately  connected  with 
that  of  wanning  apartmentB;  and  the  great  difficulty  to  he 
overcome  is,  to  provide  for  both  objects  M  the  same  time. 
The  open  fire-place,  so  generally  used  for  private  buildings 
in  this  country,  affords,  beyond  question,  the  purest  and 
wholesomest  source  of  heat;  but  it  is  attended  with  many 
Berlous  defects,  By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  heat  produc- 
ed by  the  combustion  pa^cs  through  the  chimney  without 
contributing  to  warm  the  apartment,  thus  occasioning  a 
great  waste  of  fuel :  while  the  air  admitted  into  the  room  to 
12'JS 


VENTRILOaUIST. 

supply  the  place  of  that  which  sustains  the  comhusti'on  b 
allowed  to  find  its  way  through  the  imperfect  fittings  of  the 
doors  ami  windows,  wherever  accident  leaves  an  • 
under  no  regulation,  and  accordingly  passes  through  the 
apartment  to  the  fire-place  in  offensive  and  injurious  cur- 
rents. Nor,  after  all,  is  the  ventilation  by  any  means  com- 
plete ;  for  while  currents  of  cold  air  are  passing  along  a  few 
inches  or  feet  above  the  floor,  they  seldom  rise  above  the 
level  of  the  chimney  piece,  and  the  air  in  the  upper  part  of 
the  room  may  exist  in  a  greatly  vitiated  state  by  the  pro- 
ducts of  respiration  and  the  combustion  of  the  lamps  or 
candles.  These  evils  might,  indeed,  be  obviated  to  a  con- 
siderable extent,  and  the  currents  in  the  room  much  dimin- 
ished, by  bringing  an  independent  supply  of  air  through 
j  tubes  leading  directly  from  the  outer  air  to  the  fire-place, 
j  and  provided  with  valves  to  regulate  the  quantity.  Count 
|  Rumford  recommended  that  the  air  should  be  conducted 
from  the  roof  of  the  building  through  a  pipe  or  canal 
placed  in  the  interior  of  the  chimney,  and  admitted  into  the 
apartment  through  a  regulated  ventilator  in  the  chimney- 
piece.  The  object  of  placing  the  tube  within  the  chimney 
was,  that  the  air,  in  its  passage  through  it  into  the  room, 
should  be  warmed  by  the  contrary  current  of  air  from  the 
fire-place  ;  thus  economising  the  heat  which  in  the  ordina- 
ry arrangement  is  entirely  lost.  This  suggestion  has  been 
improved  upon  in  a  great  variety  of  ways,  and  the  principle 
applied  to  close  as  well  as  to  open  stoves. 

When  apartments  are  warmed  by  other  means  than  open 
fires,  as  close  stoves,  the  circulation  of  hot  water  in  tubes, 
heated  air,  &c,  means  should  be  applied  to  obtain  ventila- 
tion entirely  independent  of  the  heating,  and  controlled  by 
valves.  If  stoves  are  used,  the  chimney  to  carry  off  the 
products  of  combustion,  and  the  tubes  which  supply  the  air 
necessary  to  maintain  it.  should  have  no  communication 
with  the  chamber  in  which  the  stove  is  placed.  Btoves  of 
low  combustion,  like  Arnott's  stoves,  or  the  porcelain  stoves 
used  in  the  north  of  Europe,  are  the  best:  iron,  heated  to  a 
hiL'h  temperature,  causes  an  offensive  smell,  and  decom- 
poses the  air;  besides,  the  air  which  comes  in  contact  with 
it,  in  consequence  of  the  temperature  it  acquires,  rushes 
rapidly  to  the  highest  part  of  the  room,  and  renders  regula- 
ted ventilation  impossible.  The  mild  hot-water  apparatus, 
when  the  pipes  are  suitably  disposed,  affords  an  agreeable 
warmth,  and  has  this  advantage — that  the  sources  of  heat 
not  being  confined  to  a  particular  part  of  the  room,  equable 
ventilation  is  rendered  more  easy.  In  rooms  for  public  as- 
semblies, where  the  air  requires  to  be  changed  rapidly, 
greater  difficulty  is  encountered:  the  best  method  undoubt- 
edly is.  to  admit  the  pure  air  from  a  chamber  in  which  it 
is  previously  heated  (or  cooled,  as  the  case  may  require)  to 
the  suitable  temperature,  and  to  carry  off  the  respired  and 
vitiated  air  by  the  shaft  of  a  furnace. 

Of  late  years,  the  subject  of  ventilation,  as  connected 
with  the  public  health,  has  engaged  much  attention  ;  and  a 
mass  of  useful  information  respecting  it  will  be  found  in  the 
recent  Parliamentary  Reports,  particularly  on  the  ventila- 
ting and  acoustic  arrangements  of  the  present  House  of 
Commons,  on  education  and  manufactures,  and  the  means  of 
improving  the  health  of  large  towns,  it^ee  Tredgold't 
Principles  of  Harming  and  Ventilating  Public  Buildings, 
4-e. ;  Jirnott  on  Harming  and  Ventilation;  the  Monthly 
Chronicle,  vol.  i.,  p.  2-20 ;  Dr.  Reid's  Chemistry  of  the  At- 
mosphere; Knajc.  Brit.,  art.  "  Ventilation ;"  Peclet,  Traiti 
de  la  Chaleur). 

VENTILATOR.  Any  machine  or  contrivance  for  pro- 
moting or  regulating  ventilation.  The  common  ventilator 
placed  in  windows,  which  revolves  in  the  same  manner  as 
a  smoke-jack,  in  consequence  of  the  impulsion  of  a  current 
of  air,  serves  only  to  retard,  in  some  degree,  the  entrance  of 
the  current,  to  disperse  it  in  different  directions,  and  to  pre- 
vent any  sudden  increase  in  the  intensity  of  the  draught. 
It  has  no  power  of  acting  so  as  to  create  a  current,  or  keep 
up  its  intensity  when  it  has  been  established. 

VE'NTRICIiE.  (Lat.  venter,  the  belly.)  A  term  in 
Anatomy,  applied  to  cavities  of  the  brain  and  of  the  heart. 

VE'NTRICOSE.  In  Zoology,  a  part  is  so  termed  when 
it  bellies  out  as  if  rilled  wilh  air. 

VENTRTLOOrJlST.  (Lat.  venter,  the  belly;  loquor,  / 
speak.)  One  whose  voice  appears  to  come  from  his  belly. 
mists  are  generally  supposed  to  have  the  power  of 
making  the  voice  appear  to  come  from  distant  objects  or 
quarters  ;  but  this  is  a  deception,  arising  out  of  the  manner 
in  w  oich  the  ventriloquist  manages  his  voice.  The  art  ap- 
pears to  consist  in  tilling  the  lungs  with  air,  and  employing, 
during  expiration,  such  organs  of  voice  as  can  be  used  with- 
out the  aid  of  the  lips  ;  or  at  least  with  as  little  movement 
of  the  lips,  mouth,  or  cheeks,  as  is  compatible  with  the  pro- 
nunciation of  certain  words.     By  practice  many  individuals 

aired  considerable  dexterity  in  this  an  ;  and  when 

certain  words  can  he  distinctly  pronounced  in  different  tones, 
in  the  way  desci  ibi  d,  the  Imagination  of  the  hearers  easily 
leads  them  to  suppose  that  they  come  from  a  person  in  a 


VENUE. 

fcor,  or  up  the  chimney,  or  from  inanimate  objects,  especially 
if  adventitious  means  be  resorted  to  to  aid  the  illusion,  as  is 
generally  the  case  in  such  exhibitions. 

VEAU'E.  (Norm.  Fr.  visne  ;  Lat.  vicinetum,  neighbour- 
hood.) In  Law.  By  the  original  institution  of  trial  by  jury, 
jurors  were  summoned  from  the  immediate  neighbourhood 
where  a  fact  happened,  to  try  it  by  their  own  knowledge. 
Hence,  long  after 'the  institution  had  been  altered  in  charac- 
ter, juries  were  still  summoned  in  point  of  form  from  the 
parish,  village,  &c,  until  by  4  Ann.,  c.  16,  they  became  sum- 
monable  as  they  still  are,  from  the  body  of  the  county.  The 
venue,  therefore,  was  the  neighbourhood  named  in  the 
venue  facias,  or  writ  summoning  the  jury ;  and  the  last 
relics  of  the  old  practice,  in  criminal  proceedings,  were 
abolished  by  5  G.  4,  c  50.  (See  Jury.)  The  venue,  there- 
tore,  is  the  county  in  which  the  action  is  to  be  tried,  which 
is  specified  in  all  material  allegations  in  the  pleadings  ;  and 
it  aeed  not  be  the  county  in  which  the  fact  took  place  ex- 
cept in  what  are  called  local  actions.     See  Pleadin©. 

VE'NUS.  In  Astronomy,  one  of  the  principal  planets, 
the  second  in  the  order  of  distance  from  the  sun,  and  the 
most  brilliant  of  all  the  planetary  bodies.  From  her  alter- 
nate appearance  in  the  morning  and  evening,  Venus  was 
called  by  the  Greeks  Hesperus  and  Phosphorus,  the  evening 
and  morning  -star;  sometimes  also  site  is  called  the  shep- 
herd's star. 

The  distance  of  Venus  from  the  sun  is  -7233316,  that  of 
the  earth  being  unity ;  whence  her  true  distance  is  about  68 
millions  of  miles.  Her  sidereal  revolution  is  performed  in 
S?24-7007869  mean  solar  days;  and  her  synodieal  period,  or 
the  interval  between  her  successive  conjunctions  with  the 
sun,  is  583920  mean  solar  days.  The  inclination  of  the 
orbit  to  the  ecliptic  was  3°  2T  23-6"  at  the  commencement 
of  the  present  century,  and  is  subject  to  a  decrease  of  about 
O-0455"  in  a  year.  The  eccentricity  of  tlie  orbit  is  -00686074, 
half  the  major  avis  being  unity :  and  the  longitude  of  the  as- 
cending node  at  the  commencement  of  the  present  century 
was  74°  54'  12"9",  having  a  motion  westward,  when  referred 
to  the  fixed  stars,  amounting  to  17-6"  in  a  year. 

The  mean  apparent  diameter  of  Venus,  or  her  apparent 
diameter  when  at  her  mean  distance,  is  16-9"  ;  hut  it  is  sub- 
ject to  great  variations,  being  only  96"  at  the  time  of  her 
superior  conjunction,  and  at  the  time  of  the  inferior  con- 
junction sometimes  so  much  as  61-2".  Comparing  this  with 
her  mean  distance,  her  true  diameter  is  975,  that  of  the 
earth  being  unity  ;  and  is  consequently  about  7700  English 
miles.  Her  volume  is  therefore  -927  of  that  of  the  earth. 
Her  mass,  as  compared  with  that  of  the  sun,  is  -0000021638. 

Venus,  being  an  inferior  planet,  is  never  seen  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  sun.  Her  greatest  elongation,  or  angular  distance 
from  the  sun,  varies  from  '15°  to  47°  12'.  According  to  her 
various  positions  relatively  to  the  sun  and  earth,  she  changes 
her  phases  like  the  moon,  appearing  when  she  first  emerges 
from  the  sun's  rajs,  and  becomes  visible  in  the  morning  as 
a  fine  luminous  crescent,  the  horns  of  which  are  turned 
away  from  the  sun.  As  the  planet  recedes  from  the  sun, 
the  breadth  of  the  crescent  increases:  at  the  greatest  elonga- 
tion it  becomes  a  semicircle ;  after  this  the  breadth  of  the 
disk  goes  on  increasing  till  the  planet  arrives  at  its  superior 
conjunction,  where  it  appears  as  a  full  orb,  the  illuminated 
side  being  turned  towards  the  earth.  These  appearances, 
on  account. of  the  irradiation,  are  not  appreciable  by  the 
naked  eye,  but  they  become  visible  in  an  ordinary  telescope. 

Venus  is  supposed  to  revolve  about  an  axis  ;  and  the  time 
of  rotation  is  stated,  from  observations  made  by  Schroeter, 
to  be  23  h.  21  m.  7-3  sec.,  the  axis  of  rotation  being  inclined 
to  the  ecliptic  in  an  angle  of  about  75°.  There  is,  how- 
ever, considerable  doubt  as  to  the  accuracy  of  these  con- 
clusions. On  this  subject  Sir  John  Herschel  remarks,  that 
Venus,  "  although  it  attains  occasionally  the  considerable 
apparent  diameter  of  61",  which  is  larger  than  that  of  any 
other  planet,  is  yet  the  most  difficult  of  them  all  to  define 
with  telescopes.  The  intense  lustre  of  its  illuminated  part 
dazzles  the  sight,  and  exaggerates  every  imperfection  of  the 
telescope;  yet  we  see  clearly  that  its  surface  is  not  mottled 
over  with  permanent  spots»like  the  moon;  we  perceive  in 
it  neither  mountains  nor  srwdows,  but  a  uniform  brightness, 
in  which  we  may,  indeed,  fancy  obscurer  portions,  but  can 
seldom  or  never  rest  full}'  satisfied  of  the  fact.  It  is  from 
some  observations  of  this  kind  that  both  Venus  and  Mercury 
have  been  concluded  to  revolve  on  their  axes  in  about 
the  same  time  as  the  earth.  The  most  natural  conclusion, 
from  the  very  rare  appearance  and  want  of  permanence  in 
the  spots,  is,  that  we  do  not  see,  as  in  the  moon,  the  real 
surface  of  these  planets,  but  only  their  atmospheres,  much 
loaded  with  clouds,  and  which  may  serve  to  mitigate  the 
otherwise  intense  glare  of  their  sunshine."  ("  Astronomy," 
Cabinet  Cyclopedia,  p.  279.) 

Venus  is  sometimes  seen  to  pass  over  the  disc  of  the  sun, 
presenting  a  phenomenon  analogous  to  that  of  a  solar 
eclipse  by  the  moon.  This  phenomenon,  which  is  called  a 
transit  of  Venus,  can  only  happen  when  the  planet  is  at  its 


VERDURER. 

inferior  conjunction,  and,  at  the  same  time,  very  near  one 
of  its  nodes.  It  is  therefore  of  rare  occurrence  ;  but  very 
important,  inasmuch  as  it  affords  the  best  means  astronomers 
possess  of  determining  the  sun's  parallax,  and  consequently 
the  dimensions  of  the  planetary  system.  {See  Planet.) 
Delambre  has  given  a  list  of  all  the  transits  occurring  in  a 
period  of  2000  years.  The  following  contains  all  that  have 
happened  since  1631,  and  that  will  happen  before  the  end 
of  the  21st  century : 

1631,  Dec.  6.  1874.  Dec.  8. 

1639,  Dec.  4.  1882;  Dec.  6. 

1701,  June  5.  2004,  June  7. 

1769,  June  3.  2012,  June  5. 

(See  Baily's  Astronomical  Tables  and  Formula. 

The  first  transit  ever  seen  was  that  of  1639,  which  was 
observed  in  this  country  by  Horrox  and  Crabtree.  The  im- 
portance of  the  phenomenon  for  determining  the  sun's 
parallax  was  first  pointed  out  by  James  Gregory  in  his  Op- 
tica Pranwta,  1663. 

Venus.  In  Zoology,  a  name  applied  by  Linnajus  to  a 
genus  of  Vermes  Testacea,  including  those  which  have  a 
bivalve  shell  with  the  frontal  margin  flattened,  with  incum- 
bent lips;  the  hinge  with  three  teeth,  all  of  them  approxi- 
mate, and  the  lateral  ones  divergent  at  the  top. 

The  Bivalves  thus  characterized  enter  into  the  Cardiacean 
family  of  the  Testaceous  Acephala  of  Cuvier,  and  are  sub- 
divided into  the  genera  Venus  proper,  Lam. ;  Astarte,  Sow- 
erby  ;  Cytherea,  Lain. ;  Capsa,  Brug. ;  Petricola,  Lam. 

Venus.  The  Latin  name  of  the  Grecian  Aphrodite  ('A0- 
fai'tTt]).  This  goddess  is  generally  supposed  to  have  been 
of  eastern  origin,  and  to  have  been  the  same  as  the  Phoeni- 
cian Astarte.  By  the  Grecian  poets  she  was  called  the 
daughter  of  Jupiter  and  Dione ;  or,  according  to  some  ac- 
counts, arose  from  the  foam  of  the  sea.  She  was  worship- 
ped as  the  goddess  of  beauty  and  love,  her  principal  seats 
being  the  islands  of  Cyprus  and  Cythera.  The  Romans  re- 
garded her  as  the  progenitress  of  their  nation,  which  was 
fabled  to  have  sprung  from  jEneas,  the  offspring  of  her 
union  with  the  Trojan  Anchises.  She  was  married  to  Vul- 
can ;  but  was  not  remarkable  for  fidelity  to  her  husband. 
Her  amour  with  Adonis  is  particularly  celebrated  in  ancient 
poetry.  (See,  as  to  her  worship,  Mem.  de  VAc.  des  Inscr., 
vol.  xvi.;  Bryant's  Mythology,  i.,  392;  hi.,  157.) 

Venus  Urania,  or  Heavenly,  was  distinguished  from 
Pandeinos,  or  Popular,  rather  by  philosophers  than  the  mul- 
titude. The  most  celebrated  ancient  statues  of  Venus  now 
existing  are  the  Anadyomene  and  Medicean,  both  at  Flor- 
ence. 

VERArTRIA.  An  alkaline  principle  found  in  the  root 
of  the  Veratrum  album,  or  white  hellebore  ;  in  the  seeds  of 
the  Veratrum  sabadilla ;  and  in  the  bulb  and  seed  of  the 
Colchicnm  autumnale,  or  meadow  saffron.  It  is  acrid  and 
poisonous;  difficultly  soluble  in  water,  readily  soluble  in  al- 
cohol, and  less  so  in  ether.  It  excites  violent  sneezing,  and 
is  probably  the  principle  upon  which  the  efficacy  of  colchi- 
cutn  in  the  cure  of  gout  depends. 

VERB.  (Lat.  verbum,  a  word.)  In  Grammar,  a  part  of 
speech  which  consists  of  an  affirmation  and  a  property  or 
attribute  affirmed.  Verbs  are  distinguished  into  transitive, 
intransitive,  and  passive.  Besides  these,  there  is  the  verb 
substantive,  which  expresses  simple  affirmation  abstracted 
from  any  particular  property  affirmed.     See  Grammar. 

VERBAL.  In  Grammar,  a  noun  derived  from  a  verb. 
In  English,  verbals  are  commonly  known  by  the  termina- 
tions ion,  ive,  which  are  derived  from  the  Latin. 

VERD  ANTIQUE.  A  beautiful  mottled  green  marble  ; 
it  is  an  aggregate  of  marble  and  serpentine. 

VE'RDICT.  In  Law,  the  answer  of  a  jury  given  to  the 
court  concerning  the  matter  of  fact  in  any  cause  committed 
to  their  trial.  A  special  verdict  is  a  verdict  not  delivered 
generally  in  behalf  of  either  plaintiff  or  defendant,  but 
stating  the  facts,  and  referring  the  law  arising  upon  them  to 
the  judgment  of  the  court.    See  Jury. 

VE'RDIGRIS.  A  blue  green  pigment,  originally  prepared 
in  the  south  of  France  by  covering  copper  plates  with  the 
refuse  of  the  grape  after  the  expression  of  the  juice  for  wine. 
It  appears  to  be  a  mixture  of  the  subacetates  of  copper,  and 
is  now  largely  manufactured  in  this  country-  by  alternating 
copper  plates  and  pieces  of  coarse  woollen  cloth  previously 
soaked  in  crude  pyroligneous  acid. 

VE'RDITER.  A  blue  pigment,  generally  prepared  by 
decomposing  solution  of  nitrate  of  copper  by  the  addition  of 
chalk.     It  is  a  hydrated  percarbonate  of  copper. 

VE'RDURER,  or  VERDEROR.  An  officer  in  the  royal 
forests,  whose  peculiar  charge  was  the  care  of  the  vert  .- 
i.  e.,  in  forest  language,  the  trees  and  underwood  of  the  forest, 
all  vegetation  sufficient  to  cover  a  deer  being  included  in 
the  term ;  which  was  divided,  in  old  language,  into  over 
vert  and  nether  vert.  The  verderor  is  sworn  to  keep  the 
assizes  of  the  forest ;  to  view,  receive,  and  enrol  attach- 
ments and  presentments.  &c. 

1299 


VERGE  OP  THE  COURT. 

VERGE  OP  THE  COURT.  The  compass  of  the  king's 
court,  within  which  is  bounded  the  jurisdiction  of  the  lord 
steward  of  the  household.  It  is  said  to  be  so  called  from 
the  verge,  or  rod  of  office,  borne  by  the  marshal.  See 
Stew  i 

VE'RJUICE.  The  expressed  juice  of  unripe  or  green 
grapes.  The  term  is  applied  also  to  a  kind  of  vinegar  made 
of  the  juice  of  unripe  apples. 

VER'MIFUGES.  (Lat  vermis,  a  icorm,  and  fiiso,  /  put 
tofiigKL.)  Medicines  used  Is  effecting  the  expulsion  of  intes- 
tinal worms  :  these  are  sometimes  merely  purgatives,  such  as 
calomel,  scammony,  gamboge,  jalap,  &c.  Borne  substances 
are  supposed  to  have  a  specific  action  on  the  worm,  such 
as  male  fern  root;  others  act  as  mechanical  irritants,  such 
ns  the  spicule  of  cowhage.  The  most  effective  vermifuge 
is  a  large  do*e  of  oil  of  turpentine.    (See  Anthelmintics.) 

VEK.M I  l.Ii  IN.  Red  sulphuret  of  mercury.  See  Cinna- 
bar and  Mercury. 

VE'KMIN".  Quadrupeds,  reptiles,  worms,  or  insects, 
which  are  injurious  to  the  cultivator.  The  number  of 
these  is  great  in  every  country,  and  calls  into  continual 
requisition  the  skill  and  vigilance  of  man  to  subdue  them. 
In  British  agriculture  the  sheep  and  poultry  are  attacked  by 
foxes,  weasels,  and  other  quadrupeds;  the  com  and  other 
seeds  and  roots  by  rats  and  mice;  and  all  plants,  as  well  as 
seeds,  by  the  weevil,  the  gnat,  the  tumip-fly,  the  Hessian- 
fly,  the  cockchafer,  the  wireworm,  and  numerous  other  in- 
sects. In  gardening,  almost  all  plants  are  liable  to  the  at- 
tacks of  insects,  seeds  to  those  of  rats  and  mice,  and  fruits 
to  •*  eaten  by  birds.  In  general,  the  most  efficient  mode  to 
subdue  insects  which  attack  plants  is  to  invigorate  their 
growth  as  much  as  possible  by  culture,  because  it  is  found 
that  insects  thrive  l>est  on  plants  which  are  in  a  state  of  in- 
cipient disease ;  and  the  next  best  mode  to  this,  is  the  en- 
couragement of  such  natural  enemies  to  vermin  as  are  not 
themselves  more  injurious  than  the  creatures  they  prey 
upon.  Thus  birds  of  every  kind,  from  the  crow  to  the  spar- 
row, are  the  natural  enemies  of  insects;  the  crows  seeking 
out  and  devouring  the  larva  of  the  cockchafer,  the  beetle, 
and  the  wireworm,  found  at  the  roots  of  grasses  ;  the  black- 
bird and  the  thrush  devouring  snails,  slugs,  and  worms  ;  the 
turkey  frogs,  lizards,  and  small  snakes;  and  the  sinsim.' 
birds  and  sparrow  destroying  not  only  the  larva  of  insects. 
but  their  eggs,  and  the  insect  in  a  winged  state  while  flying 
through  the  atmosphere.  Hedgehogs  and  weasels,  while 
kept  in  outhouses  and  gardens,  prey  upon  rats,  mice,  frogs, 
lizards,  worms,  snails,  slugs,  and  beetles.  There  are  some 
insects,  such  as  the  turnip-fly,  the  wheat  or  Hessian  fly,  and 
the  aphides  or  green  fly,  which  propagate  themselves  very 
extensively,  in  consequence  of  the  extensive  propagation  of 
the  plants  on  which  they  feed ;  and  these  are  the  insects 
which  are  most  injurious  to  the  cultivator,  because  he  can- 
not multiply  their  natural  enemies  in  the  same  proportion  as 
he  multiplies  the  insects  by  cultivating  on  a  large  scale  the 
plants  on  which  they  grow.  The  aphides  he  may  destroy 
by  the  application  of  tobacco-water  and  other  means;  but 
he  has  little  or  no  control  over  the  tumip-fly  or  the  wheat- 
fly.  Happily  for  man  the  seasons  are  not  always  alike  pro- 
pitious to  these  and  other  enemies  to  vegetation  ;  and  thus 
chance,  providence,  or  the  nature  of  things,  enables  him  to 
maintain  his  struggle  against  his  natural  enemies. 

VERNA'TION.  The  manner  in  which  the  nascent 
leaves  are  arranged  with  a  leaf-bud. 

VERNIER.  A  contrivance  for  measuring  intervals  be- 
tween the  divisions  of  graduated  scales  or  circular  instru- 
ments. The  name  is  given  from  that  of  the  inventor,  Peter 
Vernier,  who  published  an  account  of  the  contrivance  in  a 
work  printed  at  Brussels  In  1631.  It  consists  of  a  small 
moveable  scale,  whicb  slides  along  the  graduated  scale; 
the  divisions  on  the  one  scale  being  to  those  on  the  other  in 
the  proportion  of  two  numbers  which  differ  from  each  other 
by  unity.  The  theory  of  the  instrument,  and  the  manner  in 
which  it  is  used,  may  be  explained  as  follows:  Let  AB  =  a 

A  I  IB 

89     |     12345678     910|     1    2 


m 


'  i  i  i  i  r 


_u 


0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 
be  a  distance  on  the  scale  containing  n  of  its  divisions.  Let 
■v  v  be  another  scale  equal  in  length  to  n  —  1  of  the  divisions 
■on  A  B  ;  anil  let  p  B  be  divided  into  n  equal  parts.  Since 
the  distance  AB  =  t,  and  contains  n  equal  parts,  each  di- 
vision on  the  scale  =  -.  Hence  the  length  of  the  vernier 
a 

ti  =  a ;  and,  as  it  is  divided  into  n  equal  parts,  each 

71 

division  on  the  vernier  =-(  a )  = ;;  and  there- 

n  v        71/       7t      n« 
iore  the  difference  between  a  division  on  the  scale  and  one 
1300 


VERNIER. 

on  the  vernier  =  — .    Suppose  the  zero  of  the  vernier  io 

coincide  with  the  division  marked  Aon  the  scale;  then  the 
first  division  on  the  vernier  will  not  coincide  with  the  first 
alter  A  on  the  scale,  but  fall  behind  it  by  a  quantity  equal 

to  their  difference,  or  equal  to  — .    In  like  manner,  the  next 

7i2 

line  on  the  vernier  will  fall  behind  the  next  on  the  scale 
by  a  quantity  equal  to  twice  the  difference  of  the  divisions, 


2  a 


:*  a 


the  third  on  the  scale  bv  — r;  and  so  on  to  the  ath  division 

n* 
on  the  vernier,  which  will  fall  behind  the  nth  on  the  scale 

n  a      a 
by  -—=•-,  that  is,  by  a  whole  division  ;  and  therefore  the 

n~       n 

7ith  on  the  vernier  coincides  with  the  division  n  —  1  on  the 
scale.  Conceive  the  scale  to  be  a  scale  of  inches,  and  sup- 
pose it  divided  into  tenths ;  then  a  =  l  inch,  n  =  10,  -=   '  th 

n      io 

of  an  inch,  and—-  (the  difference  between  a  division  on  the 

ni 

scale  and  on  the  vernier)  =  jL  ;  so  that  the  y^th  of  an 
inch  is  exhibited  on  the  scale,  though  its  divisions  are  only 
to  tenths. 

The  vernier  is  connected  with  the  scale  in  such  a  way 
that  it  can  be  moved  along  it  by  means  of  a  rack  and  pin- 
ion, or  a  tangent  screw,  or  some  similar  contrivance,  ami  itsi 
zero  be  brought  to  coincide  w  ith  any  point  on  the  scale.  If, 
when  the  vernier  is  thus  adjusted,  its  zero  coincides  exactly 
with  a  division  on  the  scale,  the  measure  is  read  ofl"  at 
once;  but  if  (as  must  generally  happen)  the  zero  falls  be- 
tween two  of  the  divisions  on  the  scale,  then  some  one  of 
the  lines  on  the  vernier  will  coincide,  or  very  nearly  coin- 
cide, with  one  of  the  divisions  on  the  scale,  and  the  distance 
of  the  zero  beyond  the  last  division  on  the  scale,  behind  it 
is  expressed  in  hundredths  by  the  number  of  the  division  on 
the  vernier  which  is  coincident  with  a  division  on  the 
scale.  Suppose,  for  example,  the  position  of  the  vernier 
w  ith  respect  to  the  scale  be  as  represented  in  the  annexed 
figure,  where  the  zero  of  the  vernier  is  brought  to  coincide 

30 
123456789  123 


J I 


I      I      I      I  ~l      I 


Q 


0  1234  567  8  910 
with  a  certain  point  p  on  the  scale.  The  point  p  is  read  on 
the  scale  29  inches,  2-10ths,  and  a  fraction,  which  is  to  be 
measured  by  the  vernier.  Here  the  division  5  on  the  vernier 
coincides  with  that  which  is  marked  7  on  the  scale  ;  there- 
fore the  distance  of  the  zero  of  the  vernier  from  the  hist  di- 
vision (2)  behind  it  on  the  scale  is  5-100ths  of  an  inch  ;  for 
as  5  on  the  vernier  coincides  w  ith  7  on  the  scale,  the  dis- 
tance of  4  from  6  is  1-lOOths  ;  of  3  from  5,  2-100ihs  ;  of  2 
from  4,  3-100ths;  of  1  from  3,  4-luOths;  and  of  0  from  2 
5-100ths.  In  like  manner,  if  the  vernier  were  pushed 
along  till  the  division  8  coincided  with  30  inches  on  the 
scale,  then  the  reading  of  the  zero  point  would  be  29  inch- 
es, 2-10ths,  and  8-100lhs.  If,  when  the  zero  is  brought  to 
coincide  withp,  none  of  the  divisions  on  the  vernier  coin- 
cide exactly  with  a  division  on  the  scale:  for  example,  if 
the  5  on  the  vernier  should  be  a  little  past  the  7  on  the  scale, 
and  the  0  not  up  to  the  8,  the  reading  would  be  between 
5-100ths  and  (i-100ths;  but  its  precise  amount  could  only  be 
stated  by  estimation.  If  the  line  5  appeared  nearer  7  than 
6  to  8,  the  distance  measured  would  be  greater  than  5-lOOtha, 
or  10-SOOths,  but  less  than  U-200ths;  and  if  the  line  0  ap- 
peared nearer  to  8  than  5  to  7,  the  distance  would  be  great- 
er than  ll-200lhs,  but  less  than  IS  300ths  or6-100ths.  Thus 
man;  case  the  limits  of  the  uncertainty  must  be  confined 
vv  ithin  a  distance  =  l-200th  of  an  inch.  In  order  that  the 
coincidences  ma]  be  observed  With  greater  certainty,  the 
divisions  are  generally  read  with  s  I 
The  verni.r  is  equally  applicable  to  circular  scales  as  as- 

tn nical  Circles;  it  is  then  circular  also,  and  must  move 

concentric  with  the  limb  of  the  circle.  Suppose  the  limb 
divided  Into  Intervals  of  io' ;  and  let  n  =  10.  We  have 
then  10  divisions  on  the  limb  =  100'=: a;  and  the  length 

of  the  vernier  (=a J  =100— 10'  =  90' ;  which, divi- 
ded into  10  equal  parts,  gives  9*  for  the  length  of  a  division 

on  the  vernier,  and  consequently  the  difference  of  the  length 
of  a  division  on  the  scale  and  on  the  vernier =1'.    The 

arc,  therefore,  can  be  read  to  minutes.  But  the  reading 
may  be  carried  to  much  more  minute  quantities  by  increas- 
ing the  length  and  the  number  of  divisions  on  the  vernier. 
Instead  of  embracing  9  intervals  of  10'  on  the  scale,  let  the 


VERRUCOSE. 

vernier  embrace  59  such  intervals,  and  be  divided  into  60 
equal  parts.    We  have  then  a  =  10'  X  60  =  600',  n  =  60, 

r2  =  3600;  therefore,  —=——■=  --  =  10";  that  is  to  say, 

re3     30U0       o 
tlie  arc  may  be  read  to  10." 

In  barometers,  where  a  considerable  degree  of  accu- 
racy is  required,  the  inch  is  divided  into  20  equal  parts ; 
the  vernier  is  made  equal  in  length  to  24  of  these,  and 
divided  into  25  equal  parts.    In  this  case  we  have  a  = 

^  =  125  inch,  re  —  25 ;  therefore  -7  =  _  =  0-002  ;  so  that 

20  n2      62a 

the  vernier  gives  the  reading  to  l-500th  of  an  inch 

Instead  of  making  the  vernier  equal  to  re —  1  divisions  of 
the  scale,  it  is  sometimes  made  equal  to  re  -f- 1  divisions,  and 
the  object  will  still  be  accomplished  in  precisely  the  same 
manner.    For  in  this  case  the  length  of  a  division  on  the 

scale  being  as  before,  — ,  and  that  of  a  division  on  the  ver- 
n 

nier  —  (  <H — )=  —  +—,  the  difference  is  still  — .     The 

rex         n  s       n      re-1  re- 

principle  is  the  same  in  both  cases. 

The  vernier  is  often  callpd  a  nonius,  but  improperly,  the 
contrivance  invented  by  Nonius  or  Nunnez  being  on  a  quite 
different  principle.     See  Nonius. 

VERRl'CO'SE.  (Lat.  verruca,  a  wart.)  In  Zoology, 
when  a  surface  presents  several  wart-like  prominences. 

VERSED  SINE  OF  AN  ARC,  in  Trigonometry,  is  the 
difference  between  the  radius  and  the  cosine. 

VERT.  (Fr.  vert,  green.)  In  Heraldry,  one  of  the  col- 
ours or  tinctures  employed  in  blazonry.  It  is  equivalent  to 
emerald  among  precious  stones,  to  Venus  among  planets. 
In  engraving  it  is  represented  by  diagonal  lines  from  the 
dexter  to  the  sinister  sides  of  the  escutcheon. 

VE'RTEBR^E.  The  bones  of  the  spine.  They  are  di- 
vided into  true  and  false  ;  the  former  constituting  the  up- 
per, and  the  latter  the  lower  portion  of  the  spinal  column. 
The  true  vertebra  are  farther  divided  into  those  of  the  neck, 
back,  and  loins;  or  the  cervical,  dorsal,  and  lumbar  verte- 
bra}. There  are  seven  cervical  vertebra; ;  the  first  of  which 
supports  the  head,  and  is  called  the  atlas ;  the  second  is  the 
dentata  ;  it  has  a  tooth-like  process,  forming  a  kind  of  pivot 
upon  which  the  head  rotates.  The  dorsal  vertebrae  are 
twelve  in  number,  and  the  lumbar  vertebras  five.  In  the 
neck  the  spine  projects  forwards;  it  is  then  curved  back- 
wards in  the  thorax,  and  in  the  ioins  again  projects  for- 
wards. There  is  an  elastic  substance  between  the  verte- 
bra;, admitting  of  a  certain  degree  of  motion  ;  small  be 
tween  the  individual  bones,  but  considerable  as  affects  the 
whole  column.  The  vertebra;,  and  their  projections  or  pro- 
cesses, afford  attachments  for  a  number  of  muscles  and  lig- 
aments ;  and  the  spinal  marrow  is  lodged  in  the  bony  canal 
which  their  several  perforations  form. 

VE'RTEBRATES,  Vertebrata.  (Lat.  vertebra,  a  bone  of 
the  spine.)  The  name  of  a  primary  division  of  the  animal 
kingdom,  including  those  which  have  a  cerebro-spinal  ner- 
vous axis,  protected  by  a  bony  cylinder  composed  of  a  suc- 
cession of  Vertebra;,  which  are  expanded  into  a  cranium, 
where  they  inclose  the  enlarged  anterior  or  upper  portion  of 
the  nervous  axis,  called  the  brain.     See  Zoology. 

VERTEX  (Lat.  the  top),  in  Astronomy,  is  the  point  of  the 
sphere  directly  overhead,  more  frequently  called  the  zenith. 
The  vertex  of  an  angle  or  a  cone  is  the  angular  point,  or 
that  in  which  the  sides  of  the  angle  or  of  the  cone  inter- 
sect. The  vertex  of  a  curve  is  the  point  in  which  the  di- 
ameter meets  the  curve. 

VE'RTICAL.  Relating  to  vertex.  Vertical  angles,  in 
Geometry,  are  the  opposite  angles  formed  by  two  straight 
lines  w  hich  intersect  each  other.  Euclid  demonstrates  that 
vertical  or  opposite  angles  are  equal. 

Vertical  Circle,  in  Astronomy,  a  great  circle  of  the  sphere 
passing  through  the  zenith  and  nadir.  The  meridian,  and 
all  azimuth  circles,  are  vertical  circles.  The  prime  verti- 
cal is  that  particular  vertical  circle  or  azimuth  which  is 
perpendicular  to  the  meridian,  or  which  passes  through  the 
eastern  and  western  points  of*the  horizon. 

Vertical  Line,  in  Dialling,  is  a  line  perpendicular  to  the 
horizon  ;  in  the  Conic  Sections  it  signifies  any  line  on  a  ver- 
tical plane  which  passes  through  the  vertex  of  the  cone. 

Vertical  Plane,  in  Conies,  denotes  a  plane  passing  through 
the  vertex,  and  parallel  to  the  plane  of  the  section. 

VERTICE'LLUS,  is  a  ring  for  organs  of  any  kind  placed 
round  a  stem  upon  the  same  plane.  If  the  arrangement  is 
not  precisely  so,  and  cannot  be  described  by  a  line  drawn 
horizontally  round  a  stem,  but  consists  of  parts  either  above 
the  line  or  below  it,  the  verticellus  is  said  to  be  broken.  It 
is  in  English  called  whorl. 

VERTl'GO.  (Lat.  verto,  /  turn.)  Giddiness.  This  af- 
fection is  a  common  symptom  of  fulness  of  the  vessels  of 
the  head,  and  of  nervous  and  general  debility.  In  some  it  is 
produced  by  an  overloaded  stomach,  and  in  others  by  emp- 
tiness of  that  organ,    It  is  frequently  symptomatic  of  fe- 


VESTAL  VIRGINS. 

vers,  inflammations,  and  other  disorders,  and  requires  pecu- 
liar treatment  accordingly. 

Vertigo.  In  Zoology,  a  genus  of  marsh  or  land  snails  ; 
so  named  from  the  abrupt  twist  of  the  volutions  of  the 
shell.  Several  species  of  this  genus  are  British ;  as  Verti- 
go secalr,  burton,  &c. 

VERTU'MXUS.  An  Italian  deity  of  rather  obscure  char- 
acter. Some  make  him  preside  over  merchandise,  others 
over  spring  or  the  seasons  in  general. 

VESA'NLE.  (Lat.  vesanus,  insane.)  A  class  of  dis- 
eases in  which  the  judgment  is  impaired  without  stupor  or 
fever  :  it  includes  the  various  forms  of  insanity. 

VE'SICANTS.  (Lat.  vesica,  a  bladder.)  Substances 
which  raise  blisters  upon  the  skin. 

VE'SICLE.  A  small  blister,  or  bladder-like  tumour, 
formed  by  an  elevation  of  the  cuticle,  and  containing  a  se- 
rous fluid. 

VESICULO'SANS,  Vesiculosa.  The  name  of  a  tribe 
of  Tanystome  Dipterous  injects,  comprehending  those  which 
have  the  abdomen  in  the  form  of  a  bladder. 

VESPER,  or  HESPERUS.  The  evening  star.  A  name 
given  to  the  planet  Venus  when  it  is  to  the  east  of  the  sun, 
and  consequently  appears  after  sunset. 

VESPERTILIO'NID^E.  (Lat.  vespertilio,  a  bat.)  The 
name  of  a  family  of  Cheiropterous  Mammals,  of  which  the 
genus  Vcspertilio  is  the  type.  It  includes  the  insectivorous 
and  bloodsucking  species  of  the  order. 

VESPI'DjE.  (Lat.  vespa,  a  wasp.)  A  family  of  acu- 
leated  hymenopterous  insects  characterized  by  their  geni- 
culate antenna;,  composed  in  the  males  of  thirteen  joints, 
and  sometimes,  in  this  sex.  hooked  at  the  extremity.  Man- 
dibles strong  and  dentated  ;  clypens  large  ;  ligula  plumose 
or  bilobed.  "The  sting  of  the  females  and  neutrals  long, 
powerful,  and  highly  venomous.  The  larvae  of  the  wasp 
tribe  are  vermiform  and  without  feet :  those  of  the  solitary 
species  are  inclosed  separately  in  a  cell,  in  which  the  moth- 
er deposits,  with  singular  apparent  foresight,  at  the  same 
time  with  the  egg,  the  bodies  of  insects,  killed  for  the  pur- 
pose, and  upon  which  the  larva  feeds.  The  true  wasps 
form  large  societies,  composed  of  males,  females,  and  neu- 
ters. A  colony  is  commenced  by  a  solitary  female,  which 
lay3  eggs  that  produce  neuters  or  labourers.  These  proceed 
to  enlarge  the  nest  by  detaching  particles  of  old  wood  or 
bark,  moistening  and  reducing  them  into  a  pultaceous  mass 
resembling  that  of  pasteboard,  and  constructing  of  this  ma- 
terial a  conical  or  subspherical  comb,  usually  suspended  by 
a  stalk,  and  bavins  on  the  under  sides  ranges  of  vertical 
hexagonal  cells.  These  are  appropriated  exclusively  to  the 
use  of  the  larva?,  a  cell  to  each,  which  the  neuters  enlarge 
in  proportion  to  the  growth  of  the  occupant.  The  nest  is 
generally  surrounded  by  an  envelope,  pierced  with  a  com- 
mon central  opening.  The  larvae  are  nourished  with  the 
juices  or  pulp  of  fruit  provided  for  them  by  the  netiters ; 
they  are  shut  up,  and  spin  for  themselves  a  cocoon  when 
about  to  become  nymphs. 

VESTA.  One  of  the  four  ultra-zodiacal  planets  which 
circulate  between  the  orbits  of  Mars  and  Jupiter.  Vesta 
was  discovered  by  Dr.  Olbers  of  Bremen,  on  the  29th  of 
March,  1807.  Its  mean  distance  from  the  sun  is  2-36787, 
the  mean  distance  of  the  sun  from  the  earth  being  unity ; 
and  its  sidereal  revolution  is  performed  in  1325-7431  mean 
solar  davs.  The  orbit  is  inclined  to  the  ecliptic  in  an  angle 
of  7°  8'  9",  and  the  eccentricity  of  its  orbit  is  0-08913. 
Vesta  is  supposed  to  be  the  smallest  of  all  the  celestial  bod- 
ies with  which  we  are  acquainted,  its  volume  being  esti- 
mated to  be  only  about  a  fifteen  thousandth  part  of  that  of 
the  earth,  and  its  surface  not  to  exceed  that  of  the  kingdom 
of  Spain.  On  account  of  its  smallness  it  is,  however,  dif- 
ficult to  determine  its  apparent  diameter  with  any  degree 
of  certainty.  It  is  distinguished  from  the  other  small  plan- 
ets bv  the  vivacity  of  its  light. 

Vesta,  the  Hestia  ('E<m'a)  of  the  Greeks,  in  Classical 
Mythology,  was  a  goddess  about  whom  hangs  considerable 
obscurity."  She  is  called  the  daughter  of  Saturn  and  Rhea, 
and  was  worshipped  as  the  patroness  of  the  domestic  and 
public  hearth.  At  Rome  she  was  attended  by  six  virgins, 
called  vestals,  whose  duty  it  was  to  preserve  the  sacred  fire 
in  her  temple  unextinguished;  as  the  safety  of  the  city  was 
held  to  be  connected  with  its  preservation.  (See  Mem.  de 
I'.lcad.  des  Inscr.,  vol.  xxvii.,  xrix.)  According  to  Ovid 
(Fast.,  vi.), 

Vesta  eaiem  est  quie  Terra  ;  subest  vi?il  ignis  utriqne  J 
Stat  vi  Terra  sua  :  vi  slaodo  Vesla  vocarur. 

(See  Bryant,  .Inc.  Muth.,  i.,  77,  281.)  The  beautiful  build- 
ing popularly  called  the  Temple  of  Vesta,  at  Rome,  is  not 
known  to  have  been  such. 

VESTAL  VIRGINS.  This  name  was  given  to  the  six 
virgin  priestesses  of  the  goddess  Vesta,  who  had  charge  of 
her  temple  at  Rome,  and  the  superintendence  of  the  sacred 
fire,  which  was  never  to  be  suffered  to  go  out.  They  had 
several  privileges  granted  them ;  but  the  loss  of  their  vir- 
ginity was  punished  by  burying  the  offender  alive.    Their 

1301 


VESTIBULE. 

institution  is  ascribed  to  Nuina.  Their  abolition  was  one 
of  the  last  victories  of  Christianity.  (See  Beugnot,  De- 
struction tin  Pagani8me  en  Occident,  i.,  164.) 

VESTIBULE.  (Lat.  vestibulum.)  In  Architecture,  an 
area  before  the  entrance  of  the  Roman  houses  ;  said  by 
some  to  have  been  so  called  because  an  altar  to  Vesta  was 
placed  therein.     It  was  surrounded  by  a  wall,  and  was  the 

Flace  in  which  the  master  of  the  house  received  his  clients, 
t  is  used  in  modern  architecture  to  signify  an  ante-hall, 
lobby,  or  porch. 

VESTIBULE  OF  THE  EAR.  A  small  bony  cavity  of 
the  internal  ear,  the  opening  of  which  into  the  cavity  of  the 
tympanum  is  closed  by  the  small  bone  called  the  stapes  ; 
it  is  also  connected  with  the  cochlea  and  semicircular  ca- 
nals. 

VE'STMENTS  or  VESTURES,  ECCLESIASTICAL. 
Articles  of  dress  or  ornament  worn  by  ministers  in  the  cel- 
ebration of  divine  service.  The  following  were  and  are  the 
principal  known  to  the  Western  Church,  and  many  of  them 
to  the  Eastern  also:  1.  The  vestment  properly  so  called,  or 
chasuble,  called  in  the  Western  churches  casula,  plancta, 
pannla,  amphibolum,  &c,  and  in  the  Eastern  (paivoXtov, 
phenolium,  was  a  garment  extending  from  the  neck  nearly 
to  the  feet,  closed  all  the  way  round,  with  only  one  aper- 
ture, through  which  the  head  passed.  When  the  offices 
were  performed,  it  was  lifted  up  at  the  sides,  while  the 
front  and  back  remained  pendent.  The  Greeks  retain  this 
primitive  form  ;  the  Latins  have  divided  it  at  the  sides.  It 
admitted  of  various  materials  and  colours.  It  is  of  very 
great  antiquity,  mentioned  by  Gregory  of  Tours,  and  ap- 
pearing in  a  mosaic  of  A.D.  1540.  2.  The  cope  (cappa,  pal- 
lium, pluviale,  &c.)  similar  in  form  to  the  vestment,  but 
longer,  and  with  a  short  division  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
front ;  and  a  cowl,  which  in  modern  times  has  given  place  to 
a  sort  of  triangular  ornament  of  the  same  shape,  hanging 
over  the  shoulders.  It  is  also  of  the  highest  antiquity  in  the 
Western  Church.  3.  Thetunicle,  or  dalmatica  (in  the  East 
sticharion,  used  by  deacons),  received  the  addition  of  wide 
sleeves  as  early  as  the  4th  century.  4.  The  alb  (camisia, 
alba,  linea ;  in  the  East  poderis,  from  reaching  the  feet),  a 
garment  made  of  white  linen.  5.  The  scarf,  or  stole,  is 
worn  by  bishops  with  the  rochet,  and  generally  by  digni- 
taries and  prebendaries  in  cathedrals,  and  by  chaplains. 
Its  origin  is  obscure.  It  is  called  oradium  by  the  Greeks. 
The  pall  (pallium,  which  see),  generally  worn  by  Western 
metropolitans,  appears  to  have  been  a  kind  of  stole,  called 
topoipopiov  in  the  East.  6.  The  rochet,  a  linen  garment 
worn  by  bishops,  much  resembling  the  surplice  ;  but  in 
modern  times,  and  in  our  church,  with  very  wide  sleeves. 
7.  The  chimere,  zimarra,  cimar  (probably  from  \tnapoc, 
kid),  a  sort  of  cape  worn  under  the  rochet  by  bishops ;  in 
modern  England  of  black  silk.  8.  The  pastoral  staff"  (bac- 
ulus  pastoralis)  was  spoken  of  in  the  4th  council  of  Toledo, 
in  the  Till  century,  as  used  by  bishops.  The  form  of  the 
shepherd's  crook  is  rather  later.  9.  The  surplice  (see  that 
article),  which  only  differs  from  the  alb  in  having  wider 
sleeves.  10.  The  hood  was  generally  fastened  to  the  back 
of  the  cape  ;  called  an  "  amice,"  "  almatium"  when  lined 
with  fur  or  wool.  The  square  cap  is  thought  to  have  been 
originally  part  of  the  amice. 

Must  of  these  ve  tments  are  noticed  in  the  Act  of  Uni- 
formity, passed  in  the  2d  year  of  Ed.  VI.,  which  regulates 
the  habits  of  the  English  Church.  But  many  of  the  direc- 
tions are  alternative  ;  e.  g.,  that  a  vestment  or  a  cope,  an 
alb  or  a  surplice,  may  be  used  in  particular  instances. 
(See  Palmer's  Origins*  Liturgies,  vol.  ii.,  Appendix,  from 
which  tins  article  is  chiefly  taken  ;  and  Archmologia,  vol.  xi.) 

The  extreme  hostility  conceived  by  the  Calvinist  and  Zu- 
inglian  reformers,  and  the  Puritan  party  in  England,  to 
vestments,  and  especially  the  surplice,  is  well  known.  The 
argument  against  them,  as  stated  by  Beza  {Tract.  TheoL, 
iii.,  29),  refers  chiefly  to  the  danger  of  wounding  weak  con- 
sciences, by  retaining  apparent  relics  of  popery,  &c.  The 
defence  by  Hooker  is  in  book  v.,  ch.  29. 

VE'STRY.  (Lat.  vestiarium.)  The  robing  room  at- 
tached to  a  church  ;  and  from  hence  applied  to  designate  a 
meeting  of  parishioners  for  parochial  purposes,  the  bishop 
and  priests  having  in  former  times  used  these  rooms  when 
they  met  to  consult  together  on  similar  affairs. 

A  general  vestry  is  one  to  which  every  parishioner  or 
outdweller  assessed  to  or  paying  the  church  rates,  or  scot 
and  ha.  is  admissible  of  common  riL'ht.  The  minister, 
Whether  rector,  vicar,  or  perpetual  curate,  is  ex  officio  chair- 
loan  of  the  meeting.  The  powers  of  the  vestry  extend  to 
Investigate  ami  restrain  the  expenditure  of  parish  funds  ;  to 
determine  on  repairs,  enlargements,  ornaments,  &c,  of  the 
church  ;  and  to  elect  certain  parish  officers. 

Sr/irl  f'estricx  existed  by  custom  in  many  large  and  pop- 
ulous parishes,  especially  in  and  round  the  metropolis. 
Originally  these  consisted  of  a  number  of  householders,  an- 
nually elected  by  the  rate-payers.  But,  by  usage  of  long 
standing,  these  bodies  were  in  many  instances  self-elected  ; 
1302 


VETO. 

i.  e.,  the  members  of  the  vestry  filled  up  by  their  owuciioico 
any  vacancy  occasioned  by  death  or  resignation. 

Power  has  been  given  to  parishes  in  which  select  vesttil  i 
diil  not  exist  by  custom  to  appoint  such  vestries  by  the  stat. 
59  G.  3,  c.  12;  and  in  many  parishes  the  election  of  vestry- 
men, &c,  has  been  regulated  by  local  acts. 

But  in  the  first  and  second  years  of  the  last  reign,  nn  act 
was  passed  (1  &  2  W.  4,  c.  60,)  "  for  the  better  regulation 
of  vestries,  and  for  the  appointment  of  auditors  of  accounts, 
in  certain  parishes  of  England  and  Wales."  Every  parish 
not  already  under  a  local  act  is  empowered  to  decide,  by  a 
majority  of  the  votes  of  its  rate-payers,  whether  it  will 
adopt  the  provisions  of  this  statute.  If  adopted,  a  certain 
number  of  vestrymen,  limited  by  the  act  according  to  the 
amount  of  the  population,  and  five  auditors,  are  to  be  an- 
nually elected  by  the  rate-payers;  the  rector,  district  rec- 
tors, vicar,  perpetual  curate,  and  churchwardens,  being  al- 
ways vestrymen  ex  officio.  Vestrymen  to  be  elected  under 
this  act  must,  in  any  parish  out  of  London  and  the  metro- 
politan police  district,  be  rated  to  the  poor  on  a  rental  of 
X'lOayear  within  that  district  or  city  ;  if  the  resident  house- 
holders amount  to  more  than  3000,  on  a  rental  of  not  less 
than  £40  per  annum.  This  act  does  not  extend  to  parish- 
es in  which  there  .are  not  more  than  800  rate-payers,  except 
in  cities  or  towns. 

VESU'VIAN.  The  volcanic  garnet.  The  idocrase  of 
Haiiy. 

VETCH.  (Lat.  vicia.)  The  name  given  to  leguminous 
plants  with  herbaceous  stems,  often  supporting  themselves 
on  surrounding  objects  by  means  of  the  tendrils  with  which 
their  leaves  are  terminated.  The  common  vetch  or  tare  is 
extensively  cultivated  in  Europe,  and  is  considered  a  very 
valuable  agricultural  plant,  being  an  excellent  fodder  for 
milch  cows  and  working  stock,  &c. 

VE'TERAN.  (Lat.  vetus,  old.)  Among  the  Romans,  a 
soldier  who  had  passed  the  legal  age  of  military  service, 
which  extended  from  seventeen  to  forty-six,  was  termed 
veteranus;  or,  in  the  later  times  of  the  republic,  one  who 
had  served  a  requisite  number  of  campaigns,  generally 
twenty-five. 

VE'TO.  (Lat.  /  forbid.)  In  Politics,  the  power  enjoyed 
by  a  branch  of  the  legislature,  which  cannot  of  itself  orig- 
inate or  modify  a  law,  to  reject  the  propositions  of  the 
other  branch  or  branches  In  the  Polish  diet,  every  noble 
who  was  an  independent  member  could  prevent  any  reso- 
lution from  passing  by  his  simple  dissent  (expressed  in  the 
words  "  Nie  pozwalam,"  I  do  not  permit).  The  privilege 
of  thus  arresting  the  deliberations  of  the  diet  was  termed 
the  "  liberum  veto,"  and  proved  the  fertile  source  of  the 
disorders  and  anarchy  of  that  country.  In  most  constitu- 
tional monarchies  the  king  has  an  absolute  veto  (as  in 
France  and  England)  ;  in  some  it  is  only  suspensive.  Thus, 
in  Norway,  if  three  successive  storthings  (assemblies)  re- 
peat the  same  resolution,  it  becomes  law  against  the  will 
of  the  king.  The  president  of  the  United  States  may  re- 
turn a  bill,  with  his  reasons  for  dissenting  from  it,  to  the 
house  in  which  it  originated  ;  but  if  both  houses  pass  it  af- 
terwards by  a  majority  of  two  thirds  in  each,  it  is  not  in  his 
power  again  to  reject  it. 

Veto.  An  act  passed  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  known  by  the  name  of  the  Veto  Act. 
Lay  patronage,  or  the  presentation  by  a  lay-patron  of  a 
minister  to  a  living  in  the  church,  has  never  been  cordially 
recognised  on  the  part  of  the  people  of  Scotland.  On  the 
final  establishment  of  Presbytery  as  the  national  church, 
in  1690,  patronage  was  vested  in  the  elders  and  heritors 
(landowners)  of  a  parish.  In  1711  (10  Anne,  c.  12,  s.  4), 
that  law  was  annulled,  and  patronage  was  transferred  as  a 
civil  right  to  individuals  as  an  accessory  of  Kind,  or  as  a 
separate  estate ;  and  those  patronages  which  had  of  old 
belonged  to  the  pope,  or  to  monasteries,  or  to  archbishops, 
bishops,  and  chapters,  were  vested  in  the  crown.  The  act 
of  Queen  Anne  was  never  universally  acceptable  in  Scot- 
land. Two  dissenting  denominations  (the  United  Associate 
Synod,  and  the  Relief)  owed  their  origin  to  the  indiscreet 
exercise  of  lay-patronace  ;  and  though  patrons  were  gener- 
ally disposed,  particularly  within  the  last  twenty  years,  to 
show  due  deference  to  the  feelings  of  the  people,  yet  hos- 
tility to  this  mode  of  nominating  clergymen  having  gained 
greater  force,  the  general  assembly,  in  1634,  passed  the 
Veto  Act,  whereby,  if  a  majority  of  the  male  heads  of 
families,  in  full  communion  with  the  church,  appear  before 
the  presbytery  and  dissent,  or  lodge  dissents  at  the  meeting 
for  "moderating  in  a  call,"  the  presentee  was  to  be  reject- 
ed. No  specific  objections  were  required  to  be  made  by 
the  act.  the  dissentients  being  only  required  to  declare,  if 
asked,  that  they  were  actuated  by  no  factions  or  malicious 
motive,  but  solely  by  a  conscientious  regard  for  the  spiritu- 
al interests  of  themselves  and  the  congregation  ;  anil  if  such 
declaration  was  made,  their  dissent  was  sustained  ;  if  not, 
it  was  rejected.  Those  entitled  to  dissent  are  ascertained 
from  a  roll  annually  made  up.    The  Veto  Act  was  first 


VETO. 


passed  as  an  interim  act;  but,  being  referred  to  presbyte- 
ries, and  having  received  the  sanction  of  a  majority  of  pres- 
byteries, it  was  enacted  into  a  standing  law  of  the  church 
by  the  General  Assembly  of  1835.  (Hill's  Practice  of  the 
Judicatories  of  the  Church,  p.  83.) 

Against  the  provisions  of  this  act,  the  minority  of  the  as- 
sembly entered,  and  had  recorded,  both  in  1834  and  1835, 
their  solemn  protest,  on  the  ground  that  these  provisions 
were  not  merely  wrong  in  themselves,  but  also  ultra  vires 
on  the  part  of  the  assembly,  in  violation  of  the  statutes 
conferring  on  the  church  the  privileges  of  an  establish- 
ment, and  calculated,  therefore,  on  the  first  occasion  on 
which  a  patron  or  presentee  should  determine  to  enforce 
his  rights,  to  lead  to  a  collision  between  the  ecclesiastical 
and  civil  courts.  Nor  was  this  opinion  without  foundation. 
Immediately  after  the  rising  of  the  assembly  of  1835,  the 
Earl  of  Kinnoull,  as  patron  of  the  church  and  parish  of 
Auchterarder,  and  the  Rev.  Robert  Young,  whom  his  lord- 
ship had  presented  to  that  living,  and  whom  the  presbytery 
of  Auchterarder  had  rejected  in  terms  of  the  Veto  Act, 
raised  an  action  in  the  court  of  session  to  have  it  found  and 
declared  that  the  said  presbytery  had  acted  illegally,  and 
to  the  hurt  and  prejudice  of  the  pursuers,  in  having  reject- 
ed Mr.  Young ;  there  being  no  other  ground  of  such  rejec- 
tion, as  admitted  in  the  record  of  presbytery,  than  that  a 
majority  of  the  male  heads  of  families,  communicants,  in 
the  parish  of  Auchterarder,  had  dissented,  without  any 
reason  assigned,  from  his  admission  as  minister.  In  giving 
judgment  in  this  action,  the  court  of  session  (8th  March, 
1838)  repelled  the  objections  started  against  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  civil  court  in  the  matter,  and  to  the  competency  of 
the  action,  and  found  that  the  presbytery  had  acted  illegally 
and  to  the  hurt  and  prejudice  of  the  pursuers,  and  in  viola- 
tion of  their  duty,  and,  in  particular,  contrary  to  the  provi- 
sions of  the  statute  of  10  Anne. 

This  decision  of  the  court  of  session  was  appealed  from 
by  the  defenders  to  the  House  of  Lords ;  and  this  supreme 
court  affirmed  the  judgment  in  question  (3d  May,  1839) 
without  the  alteration  of  a  single  word.  Subsequently  to 
this  affirmation,  when  the  case  had  been  remitted  to  the 
court  of  session  to  apply  the  sentence,  the  latter  tribunal 
pronounced  in  regard  to  it  a  further  judgment,  to  the  effect 
that  the  presbytery  and  the  individual  members  thereof 
"are  bound  and  astricted  to  make  trial  of  the  qualifications 
of  the  pursuer,  the  said  Rev.  Robert  Young,  as  presentee 
to  the  church  and  parish  of  Auchterarder;  and  if,  in  their 
judgment,  after  trial  and  examination  in  common  form,  he 
is  found  qualified,  to  receive  and  admit  him  minister  of  the 
said  church  and  parish,  according  to  law." 

The  dominant  party  of  the  church  had,  meanwhile, 
come  to  the  resolution  not  to  obey  or  recognise  the  judg- 
ment of  the  court  of  session,  though  confirmed  by  the 
highest  judicatory  in  the  empire,  to  which  themselves  had 
made  the  appeal,  but  to  declare  the  ecclesiastical  law  as 
supreme.  Accordingly,  the  assembly  of  1839  resolved,  by  a 
majority  of  forty-nine,  to  adhere  to  the  Veto  Act,  notwith- 
standing the  decision  of  the  House  of  Lords.  They  main- 
tained that  the  ecclesiastical  and  civil  courts  were  endow- 
ed with  co-ordinate  powers ;  that  their  provinces  were  suf- 
ficiently distinct,  each  being  supreme  in  its  own  depart- 
ment; and  that  the  church  courts  were  the  sole  and  only 
judges  of  what  was  spiritual  and  what  was  civil.  In  short, 
they  refused  to  induct  Mr.  Young  as  minister  of  the  church 
and  parish  of  Auchterarder.  They  regarded  the  parish 
as  still  vacant,  and  nominated  a  clergyman  of  their  own 
sentiments  to  the  parochial  charge,  quoad  spiritualia,  leav- 
ing the  temporalities  untouched.  Thus  the  case  still  stands : 
but  Mr.  Young  has  raised  an  action  of  damages  against  the 
members  of  the  presbytery  of  Auchterarder,  both  as  a 
body  and  as  individuals,  for  illegally  and  contumaciously 
depriving  him  of  both  his  ecclesiastical  and  civil  rights  and 
privileges. 

But  the  case  of  the  parish  of  Marnoch,  in  the  presbytery 
of  Strathbogie,  affords  a  still  more  striking  illustration  of 
the  fruits  of  the  collision  that  has  taken  place  between  the 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  courts.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Edwards 
having  been  legally  presented  to  that  parish,  and  having 
been  rejected  by  means  of  the  Veto  Act,  a  majority  of  the 
members  of  the  said  presbytery  (seven  in  number)  were 
disposed  in  consequence  of  the  decision  in  the  Auchterard- 
er case,  and  of  the  veto  having  been  declared  by  the  high- 
est civil  judicatory  of  the  land  as  ultra  vires  of  the  church, 
to  show  due  respect  to  the  civil  law,  and  to  proceed  with 
the  settlement  of  Mr.  Edwards,  as  if  such  a  statute  as  the 
Veto  had  never  existed.  The  majority,  however,  feelins 
the  delicacy  of  the  circumstances  in  which,  both  as  clergy" 
men,  and  as  loyal  subjects  bound  to  obey  the  civil  law, 
they  were  placed,  did  not  proceed  hastily  to  take  steps  to- 
wards the  induction  of  Mr.  Edwards.  They  remained  in- 
active till  a  special  decree,  on  the  application  of  the  pre- 
sentee, had  been  obtained  from  the  court  of  session,  find- 
ing that  they  were  bound  to  take  him  on  trial,  in  common 


form,  and  that,  if  they  found  him  qualified,  to  receive  and 
admit  him  according  to  law.  On  their  adopting  the  pre- 
liminary steps  for  the  purpose,  the  commission  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  1839,  suspended  the  seven  ministers  from 
the  function  of  their  sacred  office,  both  judicial  and  minis- 
terial. Against  this  proceeding  the  seven  ministers  applied 
to  the  court  of  session  for  protection  ;  which  court  granted 
an  interdict  prohibiting  the  sentence  of  suspension  from 
being  carried  into  execution,  and  prohibiting  any  clergyman 
of  the  established  church  from  occupying  the  pulpits  of 
the  deposed  ministers,  or  performing  any  sacerdotal  func- 
tions in  their  respective  parishes.  This  interdict  was  disre- 
garded by  the  dominant  party  in  the  church,  who  treated 
the  seven  parishes  as  if  their  ministers  had  been  finally 
suspended  from  their  functions. 

Matters  remained  in  this  anomalous  state  till  the  meet- 
ing of  the  General  Assembly  of  1840  ;  which  court,  besides 
continuing  the  suspension,  imperatively  demanded  of  the 
suspended  ministers  that  they  should  unconditionally  ac- 
knowledge the  supreme  authority  of  the  church  in  all 
things  which  it  might  define  to  be  spiritual,  and  in  all 
such  matters  yield  implicit  obedience  to  the  decrees  of  the 
ecclesiastical  courts,  notwithstanding  any  order  or  injunc- 
tion to  the  contrary,  of  even  the  highest  civil  tribunal  of 
the  land.  This  requisition,  too,  was  made  under  the  pen- 
alty that,  if  after  a  limited  period  had  elapsed,  it  should  not 
have  been  complied  with,  the  parties  refusing  to  comply 
should  be  served  with  a  libel  (indictment)  for  contumacy. 
The  ministers  of  Strathbogie  refused  to  submit  to  the  con- 
ditions sought  to  be  imposed  on  them,  though,  in  regard  to 
the  settlement  of  Marnoch,  they  did  not  take  any  farther 
steps  till  the  presentee  had  raised  another  action  against 
them,  both  collectively  and  individually,  calling  on  them 
to  receive  and  admit  him  as  minister  of  that  parish.  Mr. 
Edwards  was  thus  ordained  minister  of  Marnoch  on  the 
21st  of  January,  1841.  Meanwhile  the  suspended  minis- 
ters had  been  served  with  a  libel  for  contumacy,  and 
were  in  consequence  deposed  by  the  ensuing  assembly 
(May,  1841)  from  the  office  of  the  ministry.  An  interdict 
from  the  court  of  session  was  forthwi#i  obtained,  setting 
aside  the  ecclesiastical  sentence  of  deposition,  and  reinstat- 
ing the  seven  deposed  ministers  in  their  temporal  and  spi- 
ritual privileges  as  parochial  clergymen.  This  interdict 
was,  like  the  former,  and  others  to  which  in  this  article 
we  cannot  particularly  allude,*  disregarded  by  the  domi- 
nant section  of  the  church.  Not  only  have  they  treated 
the  parishes  as  vacant,  and  introduced  preachers  of  their 
own  party  into  them,  but  have  taken  steps  against  such  of 
the  minority  of  the  church  as  regard  the  deposed  gentle- 
man as  still  ministers  of  the  establishment,  and  as  such, 
have,  in  consequence,  supported  them  by  officiating  in  their 
pulpits,  or  assisting  them  on  sacramental  occasions.  And 
such  lias  been  the  forbearing  conduct  of  the  deposed  min- 
isters, that  they  have  hitherto  restrained  from  adopting 
means  to  have  their  brethren  punished  for  violating  these 
interdicts,  and  for  encroaching  on  their  official  rights  and 
privileges. 

The  same  assembly  which  deposed  the  seven  ministers 
of  Strathbogie,  deprived  Mr.  Edwards,  whom  they  would 
not  recognise  as  an  ordinary  clergyman,  of  his  licence  as  a 
probationer,  and  ordered  the  minority  of  the  said  Presbyte- 
ry (four  in  number)  to  proceed  with  the  settlement  of  an- 
other minister  in  the  parish  of  Marnoch,  as  if  it  had  been 
vacant.  This  was  accordingly  done,  so  that  there  is  a  com- 
plete and  irreconcileable  schism  within  the  presbytery  of 
Strathbogie. 

A  similar  case  has  recently  occurred  in  the  presbytery 
of  Garioch,  and  under  exactly  similar  circumstances.  The 
presentee  (Mr.  Middleton)  to  the  parish  of  Culsalmond 
having  been  served  with  a  veto,  was  notwithstanding  in- 
ducted by  the  majority  of  the  presbytery,  and  is  now  min- 
ister of  that  parish.  The  ecclesiastical  courts  promptly  in- 
terfered ;  interdicts,  however,  against  their  authority  have 
been  obtained :  but  the  case  is  still  sub  judice,  having  been 
appealed  to  the  House  of  Lords.  The  ultimate  decision  in 
this  case  will,  it  is  apprehended,  put  an  end  to  the  unseem- 
ly collision  between  the  civil  and  the  ecclesiastical  courts, 
by  driving  at  least  the  leaders  of  the  dominant  party  out  of 
the  church.  Indeed,  these  leaders  have  already  issued  a 
manifesto  to  that  effect,  and  promulgated  the  outlines  of  a 
secession  from  the  established  church,  somewhat  similar  in 
point  of  principle  and  detail  to  that  of  the  Wesleyan  Meth- 
odists in  England.  It  is  not  improbable,  however,  but  that 
circumstances  may  arise  by  which  the  schism  in  question 
may  be  brought  on  before  the  merits  of  the  appeal  to  the 
supreme  civil  court  in  the  Culsalmond  case  can  be  decided. 


*  A  presentee  to  the  parish  of  Lethendy,  presbyterv  of  Dunkeld,  having 
been  rejected  by  the  Veto  Act,  the  majority  of  the  members  of  that  presby- 
tery inducted  another  minister  in  defiance  of  an  interdict  of  the  court  of  ses- 
sion ;  for  which  contempt  they  were  summoned  before  their  lordships;  the 
censure  of  the  court  was  pronounced  against  them ;  and  they  were  found  lia- 
ble in  expenses. 

1303 


VEXILLARII. 

Meanwhile  (to  omit  all  farther  particulars),  Scotland  is 
in  a  -tan'  of  agitation  and  religious  ferment  from  one  end 
to  the  other.  The  dominant  party,  by  emphatically  declar- 
ing Christ  as  the  sole  and  only  head  of  the  church,  and 
that  his  authority  is  decidedly  In  favour  of  their  views,  as- 
sert their  spiritual  independence,  without  reference  to  the 
civil  law,  or  the  decisions  of  the  civil  judicatories;  and 
are  agitating  for  the  total  repeal  of  patronage.  They  seem 
resolved  to  submit  to  no  compromise.  Even  no  legislative 
measure  on  the  subject,  however  otherwise  liberal,  would 
ted  by  the  majority  of  the  church,  if  it  had  a  re- 
trospective tendency,  or,  in  other  words,  found  the  Veto 
Act  ultra  vires  of  the  church,  and  contained  a  clause  for 
the  restoration  of  the  deposed  ministers  of  Strathbogie. 
But  we  incline  to  think  that  the  best  thing  to  he  done 
would  be  for  parliament  to  pass  a  statute  similar  to  the 
Veto  Ail  ;  for  we  do  not  apprehend  that  it  is  possible  ever 
to  reconcile  an  honest  or  consistent  prcsbvterian  to  the  law 
of  patronage  as  it  has  been  enforced  in  the  civil  courts.  It 
is  true  that  the  leaders  of  the  prcshyterian  dissenters  have 
Objected  to  the  proceedings  of  the  dominant  party  in  the 
church;  but  such  objection  comes  with  a  peculiarly  ill 
grace  from  them,  though  it  is  easy  to  see  its  motives.  Were 
patronage  abolished,  the  main  source  and  principle  of  dis- 
sent would  he  removed,  and  the  parties  who  now  rule  the 
dissenting  bodies  would  fall  into  insignificance. 

VEXILLA'RII.  Veteran  troops  in  the  Roman  army 
who  had  served  out  their  time;  hut,  under  the  emper- 
ors, were  retained  in  service,  and  fought  distinct  from 
the  legions  under  a  particular  standard  of  their  own  (vexil- 
lum.) 

VEXI'LLUM,  or  STANDARD.  (Lat.)  In  Botany,  a 
term  given  to  the  upper  petal  of  a  Papilionaceous  corolla, 
which  is  erect,  and  more  expanded  than  the  other  four  pe- 
tals. 

VIADUCT.     See  Railroads,  Bridge. 

VI. VI, A<  TEA.  In  Astronomy,  the  galaxy  or  milky  way . 
See,  Milky-Way. 

VIA'LES.  In  Roman  Antiquities,  a  name  given  to  those 
gods  who  had  change  of  the  roads  and  highways  (via?). 
Jupiter  and  Mercury  were  among  the  number. 

VIA'TICUM.  (Lat.  a  supply  of  something  requisite  for 
a  journey.)  In  Ecclesiastical  usages,  the  sacrament  given 
to  a  dying  person.  In  ancient  times  both  the  sacraments 
appear  frequently  to  have  been  given  to  the  dying:  name- 
ly, baptism  to  catechumen!  (hence  termed  ea)o6ior,  or  viati- 
cum, by  some  Greek  fathers)  or  unbaptised  converts ;  the 
eucharist  to  those  who  were  in  communion  with  the 
church. 

VIA  TOR.  (Lat.  traveller.)  The  title  of  inferior  offi- 
cers among  the  Romans  sent  by  the  senate  or  people  to 
convey  decrees,  mandates,  &c,  and  also  by  governors  of 
provinces  and  other  high  functionaries. 

VIBRA'TION.  (Lat.  vibrare,  to  shake.)  In  Music,  that 
regular  reciprocal  motion  of  a  body,  which,  suspended  or 
Stretched  between  two  fixed  points,  swings  or  shakes  to  and 
fro.  The  vibrations  of  chords  are  the  source  of  the  differ- 
ent tones  they  emit.  If  two  strings  or  chords  of  a  musical 
instrument  merely  differ  in  length,  their  tones,  that  is,  the 
number  of  vibrations  they  make  in  equal  times,  are  in  the 
inverse  ratio  of  their  lengths.  If  they  differ  in  their  diam- 
eters only,  their  sounds  will  be  in  the  inverse  ratio  of  their 
diameters.  To  measure  the  tension  of  strings,  let  us  con- 
ceive them  stretched  by  weights  attached  to  their  ends; 
then  their  sounds  will  he  in  the  direct  ratio  of  the  square 
roots  of  the  weights  Btretching  them;  that  is,  the  pitch  of  a 
string  stretched  by  a  weight  equal  to  4  will  be  an  octave 
above  the  pitch  of  a  string  stretched  by  a  weight  1. 

Vibration.  In  Mechanics,  the  reciprocating  motion  of  a 
body,  as  of  a  pendulum,  a  musical  chord,  or  elastic  plate. 
The  term  oscillation  is,  however,  more  frequently  used  to 
denote  a  slow  reciprocating  motion,  as  that  of  tile  pendu- 
lum, which  is  produced  by  the  action  of  gravity  on  the 
whole  mass  of  the  body;  while  vibration  is  generally  con- 
fined to  a  motion  with  quick  reciprocations,  ae  that  of  a  so- 
norous body,  and  which  proceeds  from  the  reciprocal  action 
of  the  molecules  of  the  body  on  each  other  when  their 
state  of  equilibrium  has  been  disturbed. 

Vibrations  of  Musical  Chords. — The  laws  of  the  motion 
of  vibrating  chords  were  first  investigated  by  Dr.  Brook 
Taylor,  In  his  Jttethodus  Increment, ,ruin,  published  in  17l,r>; 
and  afterwards  by  John  Bernoulli,  Daniel  Bernoulli, 
LVAlembert,  and  Euler;  but  the  complete  solution  of  the 

problem,  which   is  one  of  great  difficulty,  requiring  the  in- 
tegration of  an  equation  of  partial  differences  of  the  second 

order,  was  reserved  for  the  illustrious  Lagrange.  Let  n 
homogeneous  metallic  wire,  or  musical  chord,  stretched  be- 
tween two  fixed  points  by  a  given  force,  i>e  made  to  vi- 
brate;  then,  as  has  been  shown  in  the  article  Sound,  (p. 
1134,)  the  bumber  of  vibrations  in  a  second  (the  vibration 
being  understood  to  signify  the'  excursion  of  any  point  from 
its  greatest  distance  from  the  position  of  rest  on  one  side  to 
1304 


VIBRATION. 

its  greatest  distance  on  the  other,  and  not  the  going  and 
coming)  is  expressed  by  either  of  the  two  formula; 

where  ?;  is  the  number  of  vibrations  in  a  second,  g  =  ihe 
accelerating  force  of  gravity  (=38029  inches  in  a  second), 
r,  =  the  tension  of  the  chord  or  weight  by  which  it  is 
stretched,  ic  =  its  weight,  /=its  length  in  inches,  r=its 
radius,  rj  =  its  specific  density,  and  jr  =  3-14159.  The  con- 
sequences which  follow  from  these  formulae  are  important 
in  the  theory  of  acoustics,  inasmuch  as  they  furnish  the 
means  of  representing  different  sounds  numerically. 

A  curious  circumstance,  indicated  by  the  calculus,  and 
confirmed  by  experiment,  is,  that  a  vibrating  chord  may 
spontaneously  divide  itself  into  any  number  of  parts,  each 
of  which,  being  an  aliquot  part  of  the  whole,  will  vibrate 
separately,  in  the  same  manner  as  if  it  were  fixed  at  its 
two  extremities  and  formed  a  separate  chord  ;  and  which, 
consequently,  performs  its  vibrations  as  much  more  rapidly 
as  it  is  a  smaller  aliquot  part.    Thus,  the  chord  A  B  may 

A. "<_3> ^  B 

divide  itself  into  2,  3,  4,  or  any  number  of  equal  parts  in 
the  points  N,  N',  &c,  each  of  which  will  vibrate  2,  3,  4, 
&c.  times  more  rapidly  than  the  whole  chord,  and  in  such 
a  manner  that  the  motion  of  any  two  contiguous  parts  will 
be  in  opposite  directions  at  the  same  instant  of  time,  while 
the  points  of  division  N,  N'  remain  fixed.  But  the  most 
remarkable  circumstance  is,  that  these  different  states  of 
vibration  may  coexist,  superposed  as  it  were  one  on  an- 
other; so  that  a  musical  chord  will  emit  not  only  the  fun- 
damental sound  corresponding  to  the  number  of  vibrations 
given  by  the  formula,  but  also,  at  the  same  time,  a  series  of 
other  sounds  corresponding  to  the  number  of  vibrations  of 
chords  of  A,  £,  $,  &c.  of  the  length. 

The  preceding  remarks  apply  only  to  transversal  vibra- 
tions, or  those  in  which  the  motion  of  any  material  point  of 
the  chord  is  at  right  angles  to  the  straight  line  which  joins 
its  extremities  ;  but  the  molecules  of  a  stretched  chord 
may  also  be  put  into  a  state  of  longitudinal  vibration,  in 
which  case  the  motion  is  parallel  to  the  axis  of  the  chord, 
and  is  subject  to  a  different  law.  Poisson  (Mem.  de  I'.'lcad. 
de  V Institut.,  torn,  viii.)  found,  from  the  mathematical 
analysis  of  the  problem,  the  following  simple  relation  to 
exist  between  the  transversal  and  longitudinal  vibrations 
of  the  same  chord  :  Let  n  be  the  number  of  transversal  vi- 
brations, n'  the  number  of  longitudinal  vibrations  (both 
corresponding  to  the  gravest  sounds  proceeding  from  those 
respective  modes  of  vibration),  1=  the  length  of  the  chord, 
and  /.-=its  elongation,  or  the  increase  of  its  length  under 
the  weight  by  which  it  is  stretched ;  then 

n^/  lz=n'y/  k. 
This  equation  is  verified  by  experiment ;  and  as  k  is  al- 
ways a  very  small  fraction  of  the  length  I,  it  follows  that 
the  number  of  longitudinal  vibrations  »'  is  always  very 
much  greater  than  the  number  of  transversal  vibrations  n, 
which  explains  the  extreme  acuteness  of  the  sounds  which 
are  produced  by  the  longitudinal  vibrations.  The  quantity 
A:  depends  upon  the  elasticity  of  the  chord,  and  is  therefore 
different  in  respect  of  chords  of  different  substances. 

Vibrations  of  Elastic  Rods. — The  laws  of  the  vibrations 
of  elastic  rods  are  different  from  those  of  the  vibrations  of 
chords;  for  in  the  case  of  the  latter  the  tension  acts  only  in 
the  direction  of  the  length  of  the  chord,  whereas  in  the 
case  of  elastic  rods  and  plates,  and  rigid  elastic  surfaces  in 
general,  the  curvature  is  modified  by  the  elasticity  of  the 
substance.  The  relation  between  the  velocity  of  the  vibra- 
tions and  the  length,  thickness,  rigidity,  and  specific  gravity 
of  the  rod,  is  expressed,  as  in  the  case  of  a  vibrating  chord, 
by  a  very  simple  formula.    Let 

n  =  the  number  of  vibrations  in  a  second, 

I  =  the  length  of  a  vibratory  rod  or  plate, 

h  =  its  thickness, 

e  =  the  elasticity  of  the  matter  of  the  rod, 

d  =  its  specific  density  ; 
then  the  following  equation  is  deduced  from  the  principles 
of  dynamics, 


aP-h    ,(?c\ 


in  which  a  denotes  a  constant  number  depending  on  the 
mode  and  initial  circumstances  of  vibration  (i.  c,  the  mode 
in  which  the  rod  is  supported,  whether  fixed  at  one  end  or 
at  both  ends,  or  in  the  middle,  &c).  This  formula  will 
apply,  in  general,  to  any  elastic  roils  or  plates  of  the  same 
form,  and  of  which  the  mode  of  vibration  is  similar.  It 
shows  that  in  rods  of  the  same  matter  the  number  of  vibra- 
tions is  directly  as  tin-  thickness,  ami  Inversely  as  the 
square  of  the  length  of  the  vibrating  part.  If  the  lengths 
of  two  rods  are  equal,  the  number  of  vibrations  is  proper- 


VIBRATION. 

tional  to  the  thickness  ;  a  result  which  might  be  anticipa- 
ted a  priori,  since  the  thicker  the  rod  the  greater  will  be 
the  force  or  spring  with  which  it  tends  to  redress  itself 
when  drawn  aside  from  the  position  of  rest,  and  therefore 
the  quicker  the  vibration.  When  the  figures  of  the  rods 
are  similar,  the  numbers  h  and  I  are  proportional,  and  con- 
sequently the  number  of  vibrations  is  inversely  as  the 
homologous  dimensions,  or  as  the  cube  root  of  the  weight. 
The  above  formula,  which  was  first  given  by  Riccati,  in 
the  Memoirs  of  the  Italian  Society,  has  also  been  verified 
by  experiment. 

Metallic  rods  or  glass  tubes  may  vibrate  longitudinally 
like  stretched  chords.  In  this  case  they  divide  themselves 
spontaneously  into  several  parts,  which  vibrate  in  unison  ; 
and  are  separated  by  nodes,  or  parts  which  remain  at  rest. 
The  extreme  parts  are  shorter  than  the  others,  which  are 
all  of  equal  length  ;  but  the  vibrations  of  all  the  parts  are 
synchronous.  This  sort  of  vibration  may  be  induced  in  a 
slip  or  tube  of  glass,  by  holding  it  between  the  fingers,  in  the 
middle,  and  rubbing  it  longitudinally  with  a  piece  of  moist 
cloth,  when  it  will  emit  a  very  acute  sound.  Poisson 
found  from  theory  the  ratio  of  the  number  of  transversal 
vibrations  (n)  to  the  number  of  longitudinal  vibrations  {n') 

of  a  cylindrical  rod  to  be  as  follows :   -,  =  3-5608  7-;  r  being 
n  I 

the  radius,  and  £  the  length  of  the  rod.  This  formula  has 
been  verified  by  Savart  from  direct  experiments.  (Annates 
de  Physique  et  de  Chimie,  tome  xxxvi.) 

Vibrations  of  Elastic  Plates. — All  elastic  solid  bodies, 
when  put  into  a  state  of  vibration,  may  be  conceived,  in 
reference  to  the  internal  motions  of  their  molecules,  as 
spontaneously  separating  themselves  into  parts,  each  of 
which  vibrates  independently  of  the  others,  and  in  such  a 
manner  that  the  molecules  of  one  part  are  at  every  instant 
moving  in  a  direction  opposite  to  that  of  the  molecules  of 
the  adjacent  part.  It  follows  that  the  points  of  separation 
between  two  parts  participate  neither  in  the  motion  of  the 
one  nor  of  the  other,  and  consequently  remain  at  rest.  In 
the  case  of  thin  elastic  plates,  the  continuity  of  these 
points  forms  lines  of  repose,  or  nodal  lines,  the  forms  and 
positions  of  which  are  detected  by  placing  the  vibrating 
plate  in  a  horizontal  position,  and  strewing  a  small  quanti- 
ty of  fine  sand  over  its  upper  surface.  This  ingenious 
mode  of  determining  the  nodal  lines  was  pointed  out  by 
Galileo  in  his  Dialogues,  and  was  practised  by  Chladni 
(Traiti  d'Acoustique),  and  more  recently  by  Savart  in  his 
numerous  experiments  on  this  subject. 

These  lines  assume  a  great  variety  of  forms,  depending 
on  the  figure  of  the  plate,  the  position  of  the  point  or  points 
at  which  it  is  fixed,  and  the  rapidity  and  direction  of  the 
motion  by  which  the  vibration  is  communicated  to  it. 
Circular  plates  afford  numerous  different  systems  of  nodal 
lines.  When  the  plate  is  fixed  at  its  centre  between  two 
knobs  or  points  held  fast  by  a  vice,  two  nodal  lines  are  in 
general  produced  crossing  each  other  at  the  centre.  By 
applying  the  finger  to  the  plate  at  a  suitable  point,  so  as  to 
interrupt  the  vibration,  three  of  those  lines  may  be  formed. 
Disks  of  metal  furnish  a  number  of  nodal  lines,  dividing 
the  circle  into  numerous  sectors.  In  certain  circumstances 
these  straigiit  nodal  lines  are  intersected  by  a  greater  or 
smaller  number  of  concentric  circular  lines  ;  the  circular 
lines  may  also  exist  by  themselves  ;  and  sometimes  the 
nodal  lines  assume  the  form  of  the  branches  of  a  hyper- 
bola.   Some  of  these  forms  are  represented  as  under. 


The  investigation  of  the  laws  of  vibration  of  a  homo- 
geneous solid  body  of  a  given  form,  when  the  circumstances 
in  which  it  is  placed  and  the  forces  by  which  it  is  thrown 
into  vibration  are  perfectly  defined,  is  a  problem  of  pure 
analysis ;  but  though  the  differential  equations  of  motion 
to  which  it  leads  have  been  integrated  in  a  number  of  par- 
ticular cases,  their  integration  in  general  presents  difficul- 
ties which,  in  the  present  state  of  the  calculus,  cannot  be 
entirely  overcome.  (See  Poisson,  Traite  de  Mecanique, 
torn.  ii. ;  Herschel,  Encyc,  Metrop.,  art.  "  Sound  ;"  Monge, 
Applications  de  V Analyse,  p.  415;  Riccati,  Mem.  di  Mat.  e 
di  Fis.  della  Soc.  Hal.,  t.  i. ;  Lagrange,  Melanges  de  la  Soc. 
de  Turin,  t.  i.,  ii.,  and  iii.  For  the  experimental  research- 
es, see  Chladni,  Theorie  d'Acoustique;  Savart,  Annates 
de  Phys.  et  Chimie;  Biot,  Traite  de  Physique,  &c.) 


VIDAME. 

VIBRIO'NID^:.  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Animalcules, 
commonly  known  as  microscopic  eels,  of  which  the  genus 
Vibrio  is  the  type.  One  of  the  species  of  this  genus  of 
Animalcules  is  parasitic  upon  wheat;  they  form  a  cottony 
mass  in  the  interior  of  the  grain,  which,  when  the  latter  is 
ground,  will  not  pass  through  the  cloth,  but  remain  behind 
in  the  bran.  When  full-grown,  the  Vibrio  tritici,  as  this 
species  is  termed,  attains  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  length  ; 
but  the  young  are  of  such  microscopic  minuteness  that  Mr. 
Bauer,  the  naturalist,  by  whom  this  parasite  has  been  suc- 
cessfully investigated,  has  calculated  that  50,000  of  them 
might  be  contained  in  one  grain  of  wheat.  The  disease 
thus  occasioned  is  commonly  termed  ear-cockles.  Scalding 
water  has  been  mentioned  as  the  most  obvious  remedy  for 
these  creatures. 

VIBRI'SSA  (Lat.  vibrissa,  a  whisker),  in  Mammalogy, 
are  the  stiff',  long-pointed  bristles  which  grow  from  the  up- 
per lip  and  other  parts  of  the  head.  In  Ornithology,  the 
term  is  also  applied  to  hairs  which  stand  forward,  like 
feelers  ;  or  which  in  some  birds,  as  the  flycatcher,  point 
both  upwards  and  downwards  from  both  the  upper  and 
under  sides  of  the  mouth  ;  or  which  spread  out  on  each 
side  like  a  comb  from  the  upper  sides  of  the  mouth  only, 
as  in  the  goatsucker,  when  they  are  termed  vibrissas  pec- 
tinata. 

VI'CAR.  (Lat.  vicarius.)  An  ecclesiastical  personage 
who  has  the  care  of  a  parish  in  the  place  of  (vice)  a  lay  or 
collegiate  rector.     See  Tithes. 

VICARS  OF  THE  EMPIRE.  In  the  German  constitu- 
tion, princes  who  had  the  right  of  representing  the  emperor 
in  case  of  absence  or  interregnum.  The  king  of  the  Ro- 
mans, whenever  there  was  one,  was  perpetual  vicar.  If 
there  were  none,  the  office  was  divided  into  two :  the  elec- 
tor of  Saxony  exercised  the  vicariate  in  the  two  Saxon  cir- 
cles; the  electors  palatine,  and  of  Bavaria,  alternately  in 
the  remainder  of  the  empire.  They  administered  revenues, 
presented  to  benefices,  received  feudal  homage,  &c. 

VICE-CHAMBERLAIN.  An  officer  of  the  king's  house- 
hold immediately  under  the  lord  chamberlain. 

VICEGE'REXT.  (Lat.  vicem  gerens,  holding  the  place 
of  any  one.)  Any  officer  acting  as  deputy  or  lieutenant  of 
another.  In  France  the  bishops  appointed  formerly  vice- 
gerents to  the  official  in  every  ecclesiastical  officiality. 

VI'CEROY,  or  VICE-KING.  A  title  often  applied  in 
common  usage  to  any  officer  representing  the  supreme 
authority  in  a  dependency  ;  e.  g.,  the  lord  lieutenant  of 
Ireland.  But  it  has  seldom  been  officially  given,  except  to 
the  governors  of  certain  dependencies  of  the  old  Spanish 
monarchy  ;  such  as  Naples,  Peru,  and  Mexico,  each  of 
whom  bore  the  pompous  title  of  "  Alter  Ego"  of  the 
sovereign. 

VICTIM.  (Lat.  victima,  of  uncertain  etymology  ;  said 
to  be  from  vinco,  /  bind.)  The  creature  immolated  at  a 
sacrifice  was  so  called  among  the  Romans.  (See  Sacri- 
fice.) The  well-known  ceremonies  of  leading  the  victim, 
unbound,  to  the  altar ;  pouring  wine,  oil,  &c.  on  its  fore- 
head;  the  ceremonies  of  killing  and  burning  it — are  all 
amply  described  in  ancient  writers.  The  general  object  of 
sacrifice,  in  all  ancient  religions,  was  expiation  ;  but  to  this 
must  be  added  another,  peculiar  to  the  Romans — that  of 
deducing  auguries  from  the  appearance  of  the  entrails  of 
the  victim.  Victims  of  different  kinds  had  many  designa- 
tions:  bidentes,  according  to  some,  all  kinds  of  sheep;  ac- 
cording to  others,  lambs  only  :  ex.im.iiB,  animals  chosen  be- 
forehand out  of  a  flock  or  herd,  for  their  beauty  or  other 
fitness,  to  serve  for  sacrifice  :  prodiga,  according  to  Feslus, 
those  which  were  entirely  consumed,  instead  of  leaving,  as 
in  the  ordinary  case,  various  parts  which  were  consumed 
or  sold  by  the  priests :  succidanew,  those  immolated  in  a 
sacred  sacrifice  to  repair  some  error  committed  in  a  former 
one  :  probata,  after  they  had  been  examined  by  the  priest 
to  ascertain  their  fitness.  Various  auguries  were  deduced 
from  the  demeanour  of  the  victim  :  its  resistance,  its  un- 
usual cries,  above  all  its  flight,  were  unlucky.  Artificial 
victims,  made  of  flour,  spices,  &c,  were  sometimes  sacri- 
ficed. Pythagoras  seems  to  have  introduced  this  custom 
among  his  disciples. 

VI'CTORY.  In  Classical  Mythology,  a  goddess,  called 
by  Varro  the  daughter  of  Heaven  and  Earth.  Her  altar 
was  preserved  in  the  curia  or  senate-house  of  Rome  ;  and 
its  destruction  was  the  subject  of  one  of  the  latest  con- 
tests between  Christians  and  pagans.  (See  Beugnot,  Destr. 
du  Paganisme  en  Occident.,  i.,  410,  430 ;  Mem  de  I' Ac.  des 
Inscr.,  vol.  xviii.,  21.) 

VIDA'ME.  In  French  Feudal  Jurisprudence,  originally 
an  officer  who  represented  the  bishop,  as  the  viscount  did 
the  count  (vice-dominus).  In  process  of  time  these  digni- 
taries erected  their  offices  into  fiefs,  and  became  feudal 
nobles,  such  as  the  vidame  of  Chartres,  Rheims,  &c. ; 
continuing  to  take  their  titles  from  the  seat  of  the  bishop 
whom  they  represented,  although  the  lands  held  by  vir- 
tue of  their  fief's  might  be  situated  elsewhere. 

4  M  *  1305 


VIDELICET. 

VIDE'LICET.  (More  properly  scilicet.)  In  Law.  In 
pleading,  it  is  usual  to  state  any  allegation  which  forms 
pan  of  the  facta  set  out,  bat  which  it  is  not  intended  to 
prove  with  precision,  with  the  word  "scilicet"  (in  English, 
••  to  wit")  preceding  it.  Thus,  numbers  and  dates,  for 
instance,  are  frequently  laid  under  a  videlicet:  as  where 
anything  is  alleged  to  have  taken  place  heretofore,  "  to 
wit,"  on  such  a  day  ;  or  where,  In  trespass,  the  plaintiff 
charges  the  defendant  with  carrying  away  or  injuring 
di\eis.  "  to  wit."  so  many  articles,  &c.  The  general  rule 
on  this  subject  is,  that  where  an  allegation  is  in  itself  ma- 
terial, so  that  the  issue  cannot  he  established  without  it, 
there  the  putting  a  videlicet  before  it  will  not  dispense 
With  the  proof;  but  where  an  allegation  is  in  itself  imma- 
terial, there  (in  general,  but  not  always)  the  omission  of  a 
videlicet  l>efore  it  will  render  it  material,  and  make  it  ne- 
cessary for  the  party  so  alleging  it  to  prove  it  as  stated. 
But  the  distinctions  on  this  subject  run,  as  may  be  sup- 
posed, into  extreme  minuteness. 

VTGIL.  (Lat.  vigilium,  watch.)  An  ecclesiastical  usage, 
the  evening  before  a  feast  day,  is  so  termed.  The  observa- 
tion of  vigils  is  said  by  some  to  be  nearly  the  oldest  of 
Christian  ceremonies.  According  to  Lactantius,  Jerome, 
and  other  ancient  authorities,  the  second  advent  of  our 
Saviour  was  expected  to  take  place  on  the  vigil  of  Easter. 
They  were  originally  celebrated  by  meeting  together  at 
night  (as  they  are  still  on  some  occasions  in  the  Eastern 
churches),  and  are  said  thus  to  preserve  the  memory  of 
the  nocturnal  assemblies  of  Christians  in  times  of  perse- 
cution. 

VIGNETTE.  (Fr.)  A  small,  ornamental  engraving 
used  in  printing  for  the  illustration  or  decoration  of  a  page 
of  any  work. 

YlGnRO'SO.  (It.  vigorous.)  In  Music,  a  term  which, 
prefixed  to  a  movement,  denotes  that  it  is  to  be  performed 
with  strength  and  firmness. 

VI  I,  I. A.  In  Roman  Antiquities,  originally  any  country 
dwelling,  farm-house,  &c,  but  in  architectural  language, 
the  country  residences  of  individuals  of  the  wealthier  class- 
es were  so  called.  Many  descriptions  of  ancient  villas  are 
here  and  there  scattered  in  the  pages  of  classical  writers  ; 
but  the  two  most  complete,  undoubtedly  (besides  those 
contained  in  the  work  of  Vitruvius.)  are  the  accounts  given 
by  Pliny  the  younger  of  his  Laurentine  and  Tuscan  resi- 
dences (Epist.,  ii.,  17  and  v.  6)  :  the  first  being  the  com- 
plete picture  of  a  marine,  and  the  second  of  an  inland  villa. 
The  remains  of  the  first  are  thought  to  have  been  dis- 
covered not  far  from  Ostia,  in  the  beginning  of  the  last 
century.  To  these  may  he  added  the  pleasing,  though 
over-ornamented  poetical  delineation  of  Statius,  (silv/e,  lib. 
3,  entitled  "  Surrentinum  Pollii,"  describing  a  magnificent 
residence  overlooking  the  Bay  of  Naples.  The  most  im- 
portant parts  of  an  ordinary  villa  were  the  porticoes,  one 
or  more,  along  the  front  or  sides  of  the  mansion ;  the  tri- 
clinium or  dining-room  :  the  wings  forming  suits  of  living 
apartments,  commonly  called,  in  the  time  of  Pliny,  dista? ; 
the  baths,  with  their  appurtenances,  the  hypocausta  or 
vaulted  heating-rooms,  apodyteria  or  dressing-rooms,  rooms 
for  exercise  (spha-risteria),  &c.  Adjacent  to  the  main 
portico  are  generally  the  xystus  (which  see).  There  is  a 
work  by  A.  Castle  on  the  villas  of  the  ancients,  with  illus- 
trative engravings,  (fol.,  1728.)  The  remains  of  several 
have  been  discovered  in  England.  (See  ArckaoL,  vol.  viii. ; 
Pictorial  History  of  England,  i.,  504.) 

VTLLAGE,  or  VILL.  (Lat.  villa,  properly,  a  country- 
house.)  In  English  Legal  phraseology,  a  subdivision  of  a 
parish  ;  sometimes  a  whole  parish,  and  sometimes  a  manor. 
Most  commonly  it  means  the  out  part  of  a  parish,  con- 
sisting of  a  few  houses  separate  from  the  rest.  (See  Fleta, 
1.6;  and  1  Inst.)  In  countries  where  there  are  peasants 
attached  to  the  glebe,  or  |>ossessing  distinct  risrhts  and  obli- 
gatinns  from  other  subjects,  a  village  is  properly  a  place 

inhabited  by  peasants  only.  From  the  Latin  villa  was  de- 
rived the  French  ville,  city,  originally  signifying  any  resi- 
dence ;  and  thence  a  collection  of  houses  which  gradually 
grew  around  a  principal  residence.  Thus,  especially  in 
Normandy,  ville  is  a  common  termination  to  the  names  of 
places,  like  ton  or  by  in  England  ;  and  consequently,  also, 
of  family  names.  The  English  "  town"  furnishes  a  paral- 
lel instance  of  the  alteration  of  the  meaning  of  a  word  pro- 
duced by  an  Increase  of  population,  our  original  "towns" 
having  been  single  residences  or  hamlets;  and  in  Scotland, 
at  this  day,  a  house  with  its  appurtenances  in  rural  districts 
is  sometimes  called  "  the  town." 

VII. 1. KIN,  Villenage.  In  Anglo-Norman  Feudal  Juris- 
prudence", the  villeins  are  thought  to  have  been  those  who, 
under  the  Savins,  hail   held   by  the  tenure   known    to  the 

is  as  "  folk-land."    Villeins  were  either  '  regardant," 

.iiincxed  to  the  manor.  01  "  in  gross,"  transferable  In  mi 
one  owner   to  another.     On    the   Continent,  the   rank   of 
'•  vill.  in<."  "  vilains,"  seems  to  have  been  from  the  begin- 
ning superior  to  that  of  serfs.     (See  Guizot,  Ctcilisalwn.  m 
13O0 


VILLEIN. 

France;  Archceologia,  vol.  ii.)  The  word  villein  is  derived 
from  the  Latin  villa;  whence  villani,  country  people.  Be- 
sides the  actual  servile  population  of  the  Roman  empire, 
there  appears  to  have  been  a  class  of  cultivators  of  the 
soil,  who  probably  became  greatly  multiplied  in  the  later 
period  of  the  western  division  of  that  empire,  known  under 
the  name  of  coloni,  who  were  wholly  or  in  part  attached 
to  the  soil,  and  liable  to  certain  fixed  services  to  the  pro- 
prietors of  it,  but  not  destitute  of  property  or  civil  rights. 
Out  of  this  class,  augmented  in  process  of  time  by  the  addi- 
tion of  numbers  whom  the  vicissitudes  of  conquest,  during 
the  revolutions  of  the  dark  ages,  subjected,  with  or  with- 
out their  consent,  to  the  protection  and  control  of  masters, 
amse  the  villein  population  of  Europe  in  the  middle  ages. 
Among  the  causes  which  increased  their  numbers,  Mr. 
Uall.un  also  enumerates  the  fines  and  compositions  so  gen- 
erally imposed  in  the  barbarian  codes  of  law,  by  default  in 
payment  of  which  many  were  reduced  into  this  state  ;  and 
the  prevalent  superstitions,  which  induced  many  to  sur- 
render their  persons  as  well  as  their  property  to  the  control 
of  churches  and  monasteries.  The  villeins  are  designated 
in  these  early  codes  under  the  general  name  ot'lidi,  leudes, 
&c.  (leute,  people) ;  a  name  which,  however,  is  also  ap- 
plied to  the  free  vassals,  or  liegemen  :  some,  who  were 
attached  to  the  soil  of  royal  or  church  demesnes,  are  term- 
ed Jiscalini,  or  ecclesiastici ;  and  the  condition  of  various 
classes  appears  to  have  been  extremely  different  (See 
Meyer,  Institutions  Judiciaires,  liv.  i.,  c.  7.)  The  general 
obligation  common  to  all  villeins  was  that  of  remaining  on 
the  lord's  estate,  and  passing  along  wiili  it  by  subinfeuda- 
tion and  alienation.  The  lord  had  also  everywhere  juris- 
diction over  the  persons  of  his  villeins.  But  in  other  re- 
spects there  were  several  degrees  of  servitude.  In  Eng- 
land, at  least  from  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  only  the  inferior 
sort  of  villeins,  or  absolute  serfs,  seem  to  have  existed. 
They  were  not  only  bound  to  the  soil  (villeins  regardant), 
hut  they  might  also  be  severed  from  the  soil  and  conveyed 
apart  from  it  by  the  lord ;  and  then  became,  in  legal 
phraseology,  villeins  in  gross.  They  were  incapable  of 
acquiring  a  full  right  to  property,  their  peculium  (as  the 
Romans  termed  the  possessions  of  a  slave)  being  liable  to 
be  seized  at  any  moment  by  the  lord.  Their  tenure  bound 
them  to  what  were  termed  villein  or  ignoble  services,  inde- 
terminate in  degree.  It  must,  however,  be  observed,  that 
these  villein  tenures  were  rather  attributes  of  the  land 
than  of  the  individual  holding  it,  insomuch  that  lands  held 
in  villenage  were  frequently  in  the  occupation  of  freemen; 
and  thus,  in  process  of  time,  our  English  copyhold  tenures 
have  been  derived  from  those  which  prevailed  in  these 
lands  of  a  villein  equality.  In  France  and  Germany, 
where  serfs  of  this  description  likewise  existed,  there  were 
at  the  same  time  other  classes  whose  servitude  was  of  a 
less  severe  character,  being  bound  only  to  fixed  duties  and 
payments  in  respect  of  their  lands. 

The  abolition  of  villenage,  in  the  greater  part  of  Western 
Europe,  was  brought  about  by  various  causes.  Among  oth- 
ers, 1.  Manumissions,  which,  during  some  centuries,  were 
extremely  common  from  religious  principles,  being  strongly 
inculcated  by  the  church;  although  that  body  is  accused  M 
not  having  added  the  force  of  example  to  its  precepts,  the 
villeins  on  church  lands  having  been,  in  most  parts,  among 
the  last  emancipated.  Redemption  by  the  villein  himself 
was  also  a  common  mode  of  acquiring  freedom.  2.  The  in- 
fluence of  the  towns,  within  which,  when  enfranchised, 
serfs  by  a  certain  period  of  residence  frequently  obtained 
their  freedom.  But,  perhaps  more  generally,  the  process 
was  gradual :  the  severest  attributes  of  personal  servitude 
being  the  first  to  disappear,  while  predial  servitude  i.  c,  a 
liability  to  servile  duties  and  payments  in  respect  of  land, 
existed  down  to  a  comparatively  late  period  inmost  coun- 
tries of  Western  Europe,  and  still  exists, though  much  mod- 
ified, in  parts  of  Germany.  In  the  15th  century  there  were, 
according  to  Machiavel,  no  villeins  left  in  Italy.  Predial 
servitude,  in  some  rare  instances,  existed  in  England,  it  is 
believed,  as  late  as  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  In  France,  it 
was  not  wholly  abolished  until  the  Revolution.  In  the 
greater  part  of  the  Prussian  territories,  the  condition  of  the 
peasantry  was  still  in  some  respects  marked  with  the  attri- 
butes of  villenage  until  the  reforms  of  Stein  in  the  present 
reign.  In  those  Eastern  puis  ni  Europe  in  which  the  feu- 
dal system  never  prevailed  Russia  ami  Poland),  the  condi- 
tion of  the  great  m;i«  of  the  people  is  still  servile,  and,  in 
some  respects,  Inner,  perhaps,  than  that  of  most  feudal  vil- 
leins. The  Russian  peasants  are  divided  into  those  belong- 
ing to  the  crown,  and  those  belonging  to  individuals;  the 

for r  being  rather  more  than  half  as  many  as  the  latter 

throughout  thfl  empire.    The  late  emperor  Alexander  intro- 

ihneii  Mime  ameliorations  in  the  condition  of  the  crown 

peasants,  with  a  view  to  their  ultimate  enfranchisement. 
lie  also  planned  measures  for  the  prevention  of  the  sale  of 
serfs  apart  from  the  estates  on  which  they  reside.  Under 
his  superintendence,  the  nobility  in  the  German  provinces 


VILLOSE. 

of  Courland  and  Livonia  abolished  villenage  altogether ; 
but  hitherto  without  much  advantage  In  improving  the 
state  of  the  peasantry. 

VILLO'SE.  (Lat.  "villus,  icool.)  In  Zoology,  when  a  part 
is  covered  with  soft  flexible  hairs  thickly  set. 

VILLOUS.  Iu  Anatomy,  the  term  is  applied  to  vascu- 
lar surfaces  which,  when  minutely  examined,  look  like  the 
pile  of  velvet;  as  in  the  villous  or  internal  coat  of  the  in- 
testinal canal. 

VINA'LIA.  According  to  Varro  and  Ovid  (from  vinum, 
wine),  a  festival  in  ancient  Rome.  There  were  two  Vina- 
lia :  the  first  in  April,  sacred  to  Venus ;  the  second  in  Au- 
gust, to  Jupiter.  The  latter  was  considered  as  the  begin- 
ning of  the  vintage  season,  before  which  new  wine  was  not 
permitted  to  be  conveved  into  Rome.  (See  Ovid,  Fast.  1., 
iv.) 

VINCULUM.  (Lat.  a  bond  or  tie.)  In  Algebra,  a  mark 
or  character  which  connects  several  letters  or  quantities, 
and  indicates  that  they  are  to  be  treated  as  a  single  quanti- 
ty. Vieta  first  used  the  bar  or  line  over  the  quantities  for  a 
vinculum,  thus,  a  X  b-\-c  ;  meaning  that  the  quantity  a  is 
to  be  multiplied  by  the  sum  of  the  quantities  6  and  c.  This 
manner  of  connecting  quantities  was  generally  used  by  the 
early  English  writers  on  algebra  ;  but  it  is  now  more  com- 
mon to  make  use  of  the  parenthesis,  which  is  a  much  more 
convenient  mode  of  notation,  especially  when  the  expres- 
sion is  somewhat  long.  Thus,  instead  of  writing  a  X  b  -4-  c, 
or  y/  xl  +  2  z  y  -f  yi.  it  is  more  usual  to  write  a  (&  +  <:), 
y/  (x2  -f-  2  x  y  +  y2)-  The  parenthesis,  which  has  generally 
been  used  by  the  foreign  mathematicians,  is  said  by  Hutton 
to  have  been  first  used  as  a  vinculum  by  Albert  Girard. 

VINE,  Horticulture,  (Fitis  rinifera,  L.)  the  grapevine, 
is  a  ligneous  climber,  found  wild  in  Syria  and  in  various 
parts  of  Asia  and  in  Greece,  the  fruit  of  which  is  in  univer- 
sal demand  for  the  desert,  either  fresh,  or  dried  as  raisins, 
and  its  fermented  juice  forms  wine,  the  noblest  liquor  that 
ever  gladdened  the  heart  of  man.  The  best  grapes  for  the 
table  are  grown  under  glass  ;  but  grapes  are  also  grown  of 
very  good  quality  against  walls  and  on  cottages  south  of 
London,  and  on  walls  heated  artificially  as  far  north  as 
Glasgow.  Formerly  the  grape  vine  was  grown  in  England 
without  any  protection,  for  the  purpose  of  wine  making ; 
and  Mr.  Hoare  in  his  interesting  work  on  the  Cultivation 
of  the  Fine,  maintains  that  with  proper  care,  this  might  be 
done  in  some  districts  even  at  the  present  day.  See  Vine- 
yard. 

Vine  is  often  employed  in  a  general  sense  to  designate 
any  stem  which  trails  along  the  ground  without  rooting.  <>r 
entangles  itself  with  other  plants,  to  which  it  adheres  by 
means  of  its  tendrils  or  by  twining ;  as  the  cucumber  and 
the  hop. 

VI'NEGAR.  This  term  is  applied  to  various  modifications 
of  the  acetic  acid.  The  simplest  mode  of  obtaining  vinegar 
is  to  excite  a  second  or  acetous  fermentation  in  wine  :  in 
this  case  oxygen  is  absorbed,  a  variable  proportion  of  car- 
bonic acid  is  generally  evolved,  and  the  alcohol  of  the  wine 
passes  into  acetic  acid.  Very  good  vinegar  is  also  made 
from  strong  beer,  or  from  a  wort  or  infusion  of  malt  pre- 
pared for  the  purpose,  or  from  a  decoction  of  common  rai- 
sins, or  from  a  mixture  of  about  1  part  of  brandy  with  8  of 
water  and  some  sugar  and  yeast. 

When  vinegar  is  distilled,  various  impurities  which  it 
contains  remain  in  the  still,  and  the  liquid  which  passes 
over  is  the  acetic  acid,  nearly  pure,  but  largely  diluted  with 
water.  In  this  state  it  is  usually  called  distilled  vinegar, 
and  is  chiefly  used  in  pharmacy.  But  though  a  considera- 
ble quantity  of  vinegar  is  made  in  wine  countries,  by  the 
first-mentioned  process,  and  here  and  elsewhere  by  the 
second,  in  which  malt  is  employed;  yet  for  all  the  pur- 
poses of  the  arts  and  manufactures,  as  well  as  for  domestic 
consumption,  the  market  is  chiefly  supplied  from  another 
source,  which  is  the  destructive  distillation  of  wood.  It 
has  long  been  known  that  when  certain  kinds  of  dry  wood, 
especially  beech  and  such  woods  as  are  not  resinous,  in- 
stead of  being  burned  in  the  open  air,  are  converted  into 
charcoal  in  close  vessels,  so  as.  in  fact,  to  be  submitted  to 
distillation,  that  the  vapours  which  pass  off  yield,  when 
condensed,  a  large  quantity  of  tar,  and  of  very  acid  water. 
The  latter,  is,  in  fact,  an  impure  vinegar ;  that  is,  it  owes 
its  acidity  to  acetic  acid,  which  is  formed  during  the  process 
out  of  the  carbon,  hydrogen,  and  oxygen  of  the  wood, 
which  elements  are  also  those  of  acetic  acid,  and,  what  is 
remarkable,  not  in  very  different  proportions.  When  this 
impure  acetic  acid  is  freed  from  the  tar  and  einpyreumatic 
oils  with  which  it  is  mixed,  it  is  called  crude  pyroligneous 
acid.  To  convert  it  into  pure  acetic  acid,  that  is,  to  sepa- 
rate from  it  the  einpyreumatic  products  with  which  it  is  in- 
timately combined,  is  a  somewhat  circuitous  process,  of 
which  the  following  is  an  outline:  It  is  first  distilled,  by 
which  pyrozilic  spirit  and  oil  of  tar  first  pass  over,  and  these 
are  followed  by  a  quantity  of  impure  or  rough  acetic  acid. 


VINEYARD. 

This  rough  acid,  which  is  used  by  dyers  and  calico-printers, 
and  by  makers  of  sugar  of  lead,  is  saturated  with  powdered 
slaked  lime,  and  being  filtered,  yields  a  solution  of  impure 
acetate  of  lime,  which  is  evaporated  to  dryness,  and  which, 
distilled  with  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  yields  a  purer  acetic 
acid  than  the  former,  but  which  still  has  a  burned  and  dis- 
agreeable flavour;  it  is  therefore  again  saturated  by  lime, 
and  this  liquid  acetate  of  lime  is  mixed  with  a  solution  of 
sulphate  of  soda,  which  acting  by  double  decomposition, 
yields  a  precipitate  of  sulphate  of  lime,  and  acetate  of  soda 
remains  in  solution.  The  latter  salt  is  procured  by  evapo- 
ration, and  purified  by  torrefaction  and  crystallization.  The 
vinegar-makers,  who  purchase  it,  decompose  it  in  retorts  or 
proper  stills,  by  means  of  sulphuric  acid,  by  which  a  very 
pure  and  strong  acetic  acid  passes  over,  sulphate  of  soda 
remaining  in  the  retort.  The  acetic  acid  thus  obtained, 
which  is  in  its  most  concentrated  state,  is  extremely  acrid, 
sour,  and  pungent,  and  is  often  called  radical  vinegar,  or, 
when  perfumed,  aromatic  vinegar;  it  is  also  occasionally 
termed  glacial  acetic  acid,  from  its  property  of  congealing 
at  a  low  temperature,  and  remaining  frozen  at  temperatures 
below  50°.  In  this  state  it  is  a  compound  of  1  atom  of  real 
acetic  acid  =  51,  and  one  of  water  =:  9 ;  the  real  or  anhy- 
drous acid,  as  it  exists  in  the  dry  acetates,  being  composed 
of, 

Atoms.    Eqniv.    Per  Ceo*. 
Carbon        ....  4  24        47-06 

Hvdrogen  ...  3  3         5-88 

Oxygen.       ....  3  24        47-06 

1  51      100-00 

proportions  which  are  equivalent  to  4  atoms  of  carbon  and 
3  of  water.  When  this  strong  acetic  acid  is  diluted  with 
water  and  slightly  coloured,  it  forms  a  very  pure  and  ex- 
cellent substitute  for  common  vinegar,  and  is  cheaper  than 
acid  of  the  same  strength  prepared  in  any  other  way. 

The  combinations  of  acetic  acid  with  various  bases  are 
called  acetates  ;  and  of  these  salts  some  are  importantly  use- 
ful in  the  arts:  such  especially  are  the  acetates  of  lead,  cop- 
per, iron,  and  alumina,  which  are  chiefly  employed  in  dyeing 
and  calico  printing;  the  acetates  of  ammonia  and  of  potash, 
which,  as  well  as  acetate  of  lead,  are  used  in  medicine ; 
and  the  acetates  of  lime  and  of  soda,  which  have  been  men- 
tioned as  steps  in  the  preparation  of  strong  acetic  acid.  The 
acetates  are  recognised  by  their  solubility  in  water,  and  by 
the  fumes  of  acetic  acid  which  they  evolve  when  acted 
upon  by  sulphuric  acid.  The  specific  gravity  of  the  strong- 
est liquid  acetic  acid  is  10629  :  that  of  good  malt  vinegar  is 
10200;  and  that  of  distilled  vinegar  about  10023.  The 
strength  or  value  of  vinegar,  and  of  acetic  acid,  can  only  be 
learned  by  its  saturating  power. 

A  duty  of  2d.  per  gaflon  is  imposed  upon  vinegar;  and 
the  manufacture  is  consequently  placed  under  the  control 
of  the  excise.  Previously  to  1826  the  duty  was  id.  per  gal- 
lon. The  manufacture  is  chiefly  confined  to  England,  the 
quantity  produced  in  Scotland  and  Ireland  not  amounting 
on  the  annual  average  to  more  than  100,000  gallons.  The 
quantity  of  vinegar  "manufactured  in  England  is  nearly 
2,700,000  gallons  annually. 

VINEYARD.  A  plantation  of  grape  vines  cultivated  for 
the  purpose  of  making  wine.  Though  vineyards  at  present 
are  chiefly  confined  to  the  warmer  parts  of  the  Continent, 
yet  it  appears  that  formerly  they  were  occasionally  to  be  met 
with  in  Britain,  more  particularly  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
religious  establishments.  Among  the  last  vineyards  which 
we  have  any  account  of,  are  one  at  Hatfield,  near  Ledbury, 
which  belonged  to  the  celebrated  Jacob  Tonson  ;  one  in  the 
Isle  of  Wight;  another  at  Pain's  Hill,  in  Surrey.  The 
ground  chosen  in  all  these  cases  was  a  sloping  surface  of 
dry  gravellv  soil,  with  a  southern  aspect ;  and  the  vines 
were  planted  in  rows  at  four  feet  apart  every  way,  and 
trained  to  short  stakes  about  four  feet  high.  Every  year  the 
shoots  were  cut  down  to  within  a  foot  of  the  ground,  and 
not  more  than  three  shoots  were  allowed  to  be  matured  by 
each  plant.  Each  shoot  produced  two  or  three  bunches  of 
grapes,  and  the  shoots  were  shortened  in  the  course  of  the 
summer  so  as  never  to  reach  higher  than  the  stakes,  to 
which  they  were  tied  with  rushes  previously  cut  and  dried 
for  the  purpose,  or  with  twigs  of  willow.  The  kinds  of 
grapes  grown  were  chiefly  the  Burgundy  or  large  black  clus- 
ter, and  the  small  black  cluster  or  miller  grape,  so  called 
from  the  white  mealy  appearance  of  the  leaves.  In  fine 
seasons  a  tolerably  good  wine  was  produced.  On  the  Con- 
tinent, the  vineyards  which  produce  the  best  wine  are  inva- 
riably found  on  dry  soils,  more  or  less  calcareous  ;  and  the 
most  celebrated  are  on  the  dry,  sunny  sides  of  granitic 
or  calcareous  hills,  with  the  surface  formed  into  terraces, 
like  the  steps  of  stairs  on  a  large  scale  ;  each  step  or  ter- 
race being  supported  on  the  lower  side  by  a  stone  wall,  to 
which  the  vines  planted  at  the  base  of  the  wall  are  some- 
times attached,  not  by  nails,  as  wall  trees  are  in  Britain,  but 
by  hooked  sticks  driven  into  the  interstices  between  the 

1307 


VIOL. 

Stones,  such  walls  being  for  the  most  part  built  witliout  mor- 
tar. In  France  and  the  Booth  of  Germany,  vines  are  seldom 
allowed  to  grow  higher  than  lour  feet;  and  they  are  cat 
down  every  year,  alter  the  crop  has  been  gathered  and  the 
leaves  dropped,  to  within  one  or  two  feet  of  the  ground.  In 
the  neighbourhood  of  Stuttgard,  and  between  that  city  and 
Heidelberg,  where  the  sides  of  the  hills  are  covered  with 
vineyards,  the  shoots  are  not  cut  down  before  winter ;  hut 
those  of  each  stool  or  plant  are  bent  down  to  the  ground, 
Where  they  are  tied  together  with  a  straw  hand,  and  retain- 
ed in  that  position  by  laying  a  stone  on  the  bundle.  This  is 
for  the  purpose  of  preserving  the  vines  from  the  extreme 
cold  of  winter;  the  shoots,  when  so  laid  prostrate,  being 
soon  covered  with  snow.  In  spring,  the  shoots  are  raised 
up  again,  pruned,  and  tied  to  stakes.  In  the  north  of  Italy, 
and  chiefly  in  the  plains  of  Lombardy,  the  vineyards  are 
managed  much  in  the  same  manner  as  they  are  in  France; 
but  in  Tuscany,  the  Papal  States,  and  Naples, the  vineyards 
are  interspersed  with  mulberry  trees,  which  are  kept  pol- 
larded ;  and  to  these  the  vines  are  attached,  partly  by  ties 
of  willow  and  partly  by  their  lendiils,  and  they  produce 
bunches  of  grapes  to  the  height  of  six  or  eight  feet  from 
the  ground.  Sometimes  the  shoots  are  trained  to  elms,  mul- 
berry trees  or  poplars,  in  which  case  they  produce  grapes  to 
a  much  greater  height.  The  only  plantation  of  vines  in  the 
manner  of  a  vineyard,  which  we  know  of  in  England  at 
present,  is  a  small  one  at  White  Knights,  near  Reading; 
where,  however,  the  plants  for  several  years  past  have  been 
in  a  state  Of  utter  neglect,  the  leaves  and  young  shoots  being 
injured  or  totally  destroyed  by  rabbits.  The  ground  which 
was  occupied  by  the  vineyard  at  Pain's  Hill  is  now  covered 
with  a  plantation  of  pine  trees,  among  which  some  of  the 
vines  still  continue  to  spring  up.  The  vineyard  in  the  Isle 
Of  Wight  has  long  since  been  laid  down  in  pasture.  In  the 
early  part  of  the  last  century  there  were  several  small  vine- 
yards in  the  neighbourhood  of  London:  the  situation  of  one 
at  Hammersmith  still  bears  the  name  of  the  Vineyard,  and 
is  now  occupied  as  a  nursery.  But  the  most  celebrated  of 
the  London  vineyards  appears  to  have  been  one  cultivated 
by  Richard  Warner,  at  Rotherhithe,  who  is  supposed  to 
have  introduced  the  Hamburg  grape.  There  was  a  vine- 
yard in  the  neighbourhood  of  Gloucester  cathedral ;  one  at 
St.  Alban's  :  and  one  at  Canterbury,  the  ground  occupied  by 
which  is  now  cultivated  as  a  nursery,  by  Mr.  Masters  of 
that  city. 

VIOL,  or  VOYOL.  In  Naval  language,  a  purchase  used 
Occasionally  in  weighing  the  anchor. 

VIOLA.  (It.)  In  Music,  a  musical  instrument  of  the 
same  form  and  with  the  same  number  of  strings  as  a  violin, 
and,  like  it,  played  with  a  bow.  The  English  call  it  the 
tenor  violin. 

VIOLA'CEiE  (Viola),  are  Polypetalous  Exogens,  well 
represented  by  the  sweet  violet  of  our  woods,  and  distin- 
guished by  having  five  membranous  anthers  adhering  to 
each  other  round  a  superior  ovary,  with  parietal  placentae. 
The  heartsease  or  pansy  is  a  kind  of  violet,  and  there  is  a 
large  number  of  other  species  in  different  parts  of  the  world. 
An  emetic  property  resides  in  their  roots,  and  renders  some  of 
them  useful  medicinal  agents  as  substitutes  for  ipecacuanha. 

VIOLI'NO.  (It.)  In  Music,  a  musical  instrument,  vul- 
garly called  a  fiddle,  mounted  with  four  strings,  and  played 
with  a  bow.  It  consists  of  three  parts — the  neck,  the  taide, 
and  the  sounding  board;  at  the  side  are  two  apertures  in 
the  shape  of  Ss.  On  it  is  a  bridge,  which  bears  the  strings 
up  from  the  belly,  over  which  they  pass  from  one  extremity, 
called  the  tail-piece,  to  the  other  near  the  head,  where  they 
are  received  by  turning  pins,  which  tighten  or  loosen  them 
at  pleasure. 

VIOLONCE'LLO.  (It.)  In  Music,  a  bass  violin  with 
four  strings,  whose  principles  of  construction  are  the  same 
as  those  of  that  instrument. 

VIOLO'NE.  (It.)  In  Music,  a  large  bass  violin,  com- 
monly called  a  double  bass;  seldom  played  with  more  than 
three  strings,  which  lie  an  octave  below  the  violoncello. 

Vl'PER.  (Lat.  a  contraction  of  Vivipir;  from  vivos 
alive,  and  paro,  J bring  forth.)  The  common  name  of  a  ge 
nus  of  venon  which  produce  !  i  \  i  1 1  tr  young,  and 

have  a  head  broader  than  the  neck,  and  no  pits  behind  the 
nostrils.    The  true  vipert  distinguished  bj  the 

head  being  covered  \\  ith  scales,  like  those  on  the  back,  and 
by  the  nostrils  being  very  laiL'c.  The  horned  viper  of  .North 
Africa  and  the  puff  adder  of  South  Africa  belong  to  this 
proup.  The  adders  '  /;■  ras)  have  tie  lead  covered  with  gran 
ular  scales,  u  ith  larger  ones  intermixed  in  some  species,  and 
have  the  nostrils  or  moderate  Bize.  The  black  add.  raid 
the  common  adder    I  .which  are  the  onlyin- 

n  ;  diet  ol  i Ireal  Britian,  are  examples 
of  this  -.'roup. 

VIRGI'LLl  \X  HUSBANDRY,  That  kind  of  agriculture 
which  was  practised  by  the  Romans,  and  which  is  di 
bed  in  the  Oeorgies  of  Virgil :  or.  In  other  words,  the  old  mode 
of  managing  arable  land  throughout  Europe.     By  tin- 
1368 


VIRTUAL  VELOCITY. 

;  tern  two  or  three  corn  crops  were  taken  in  succession,  and 
the  land  afterwards  allowed  to  lie  fallow  for  several  years, 

when  it  was  broken  up  again;  being  sometimes  prepared 

by  paring  and  burning.  The  Vir»dlian  and  Roman  practice 
is  fully  described  in  Dickson's  Agriculture  of  the  Ancients. 
The  first  departure  from  this  kind  of  husbandry  in  Britain 
was  made  by  Jethro  Tull  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
whose  plan  it  was  to  keep  arable  land  continually  under 
crops  cultivated  in  rows,  and  alternately  growing  corn  and 
PQlse,  or  plants  cultivated  for  their  leaves  or  n 

VIRGO  (the  Virgin).  In  Astronomy,  one  of  the  twelve 
zodiacal  constellations  or  signs,  being  ihe  sixth  in  order,  be- 
ginning with  Aries.  Virgo  is  usually  represented  with  an 
ear  of  corn  in  her  hand,  and  is  hence  called  Signum  Cereris. 
The  sun  enters  this  sign  about  the  22d  of  August  The  con- 
Stellation  Virgo  contains  one  bright  star  of  the  first  magni- 
tude, called  Spirn   Virginia. 

VIRTUAL  FOCUS,  in  Optics,  is  the  point  from  which 
rays,  having  been  rendered  diver- 
gent by  reflection  or  refraction, 
appear  to  issue.  Thus,  let  M  N 
be  a  metallic  speculum,  F  a  radi- 
ating point,  F  a,  F  a'  rays  falling 
on  the  speculum  at  a  and  a',  and 
reflected  into  the  directions  a  b 
and  o'  b' ;  then  the  point  V,  in 
the  concourse  of  the  straight  lines 
a  b  and  a'  b',  is  called  the  virtual  focus  of  the  reflected  rajs. 
See  Reflexion. 

VIRTUAL  VELOCITY,  in  Mechanics,  is  the  velocity 
which  a  body  in  equilibrium  would  actually  acquire  during 
the  first  instant  of  its  motion  in  case  of  the  equilibrium 
being  disturbed. 

The  general  principles  on  which  the  laws  of  equilibrium 
in  machines  are  established  may  be  reduced  to  three; 
namely,  the  principle  id' the  lever,  the  principle  of  the  com- 
position of  forces,  and  the  principle  of  virtual  velocities. 
The  last  consists  in  this,  that  forces  are  in  equilibrium 
when  they  are  in  the  inverse  ratio  of  the  virtual  velocities 
of  the  points  to  which  they  are  applied,  estimated  in  the 
direction  in  which  they  respectively  act.  Thus,  let  F  and 
F'  be  two  forces  applied  to  the  points/)  and p'  of  a  body 
which  is  in  equilibrium  between  their  joint  actions,  and  let 
s  and  s'  be  the  spaces  which  the  points  p  and  p'  would 
describe  in  the  first  instant  of  time,  in  case  of  the  equili- 
brium being  disturbed  ;  then  F  :  F' : :  s' :  s,  or  Fs  =  F's'. 
The  principle  is  thus  enunciated  generally  by  Lagrange 
f.l/ic.  .Inalijtiquc,  p.  22): 

"  If  any  system  of  bodies  or  material  jmints,  urged  each 
by  any  forces  whatever,  be  in  equilibrium,  and  there  be 
given  to  the  system  any  small  motion,  by  virtue  of  which 
each  point  describes  an  infinitely  small  space,  which  space 
will  represent  the  virtual  velocity  of  the  point;  then  the 
sum  of  the  forces,  multiplied  each  by  the  space  which  the 
point  to  which  it  is  applied  describes  in  the  direction  of 
that  force,  will  be  always  equal  to  u  ro  or  nothing,  regard- 
ing as  positive  the  small  spaces  described  in  the  direction 
of  the  forces,  and  as  negative  those  described  in  the  oppo- 
site direction." 

In  order  to  illustrate  this  principle,  we  may  take  as  an 
example  the  case  of  the  bent  lever     Let  P,  P',  P"  be  the 
Q. 


points  of  application  of  the  three  forces  F,  F'.  F",  acting 
on  the  lever  I!  A  C,  in  the  directions  P  (i,  !>'  U'.  1'"  U", 
which  are  all  supposed  to  be  comprised  in  the  same  plane. 
Suppose  the  lever  to  describe  an  infinitely  small  angle 
about  the  fulcrum  A,  SO  that  the  points  I',  P  .  P"  come  into 

the  positions;,.//.//'.  According  to  the  definition  given 
above,  the  infinitely  small  arcs  P  p,  P'  /.  1'"  //'.  w  hicb  may 

be  considered  as  straight  lines,  will  he  the  virtual  velocities 
of  the  points  of  application  P,  P'.  1'",  Of  the  three  tunes  F, 
I'  .  V    .      From  the  points  /,,  //.  p".  let   there  be  drawn  p  n, 

//  in',  p"  tn"  respectively  perpendicular  to  the  lines  I'  u, 

P'  Q,',  P"  ti"  ;  then  P  m  will  be  the  virtual  velocity  of  the 
point  P  reduced   to  the   direction   P  U  of  the  force  F,  and 

P'  in',  I'"  m"  will  in  like  manner  represent  the  virtual  velo- 
cities of  the  points  P'  and  P"  reduced  to  the  directions  in 
which  Ihe  forces  1"  and  F"  respectively  act.  Let  P  m  —  s, 
P'  «/  =  .•.■',  and  I'"  m"  :--  s"  ;  and  as  the  force  F  acting  in 
the  direction  P  U  tends  to  turn  the  lever  in  the  direction  in 
which  the  motion  has  been  supposed  to  lake  place,  while 
F'  and  F"  tend  to  turn  it  in  the  contrary  direction,  the 


VIRTUE. 


space  s  must  be  regarded  as  positive,  and  s'  and  s"  as 
negative. 

Now,  according  to  the  principle  of  virtual  velocities,  the 
sum  of  the  given  forces,  each  multiplied  by  the  velocity  of 
its  point  of  application  reduced  to  the  direction  of  that  force, 
is  zero  in  the  case  of  equilibrium ;  and,  reciprocally,  when 
this  sum  is  zero  the  system  is  in  equilibrium  ;  hence  the 
equation  of  the  equilibrium  of  the  lever  is 
F  s  +  F'  s'  +  F"  s"  =  0. 

It  is  easy  to  verify  this  equation  by  showing  that  it  may 
be  derived  from  the  equation  of  equilibrium  deduced  from 
the  principle  of  the  lever.  From  A  let  A},  A  q',  A  q",  be 
drawn  respectively  perpendicular  to  the  directions  P  Q, 
P'  a',  P"  tl",  and  let  the  angle  V  Ap—Q;  then,  since  the 
angle  APp  may  be  regarded  as  a  right  angle,  m  P  p  ==  P  A  q ; 
whence  the  two  triangles  m  V  p,  q  A  P,  are  similar,  and 
mV.Aq::  P  ,p  :  P  A  : :  tan.  0:1;  therefore  mY  —  Aq  tan. 
6,  that  is,  s  =  A  q  tan.  9.  In  like  manner  we  have  s'  =  A}' 
tan.  6,  a"  =:  A  q"  tan.  8 ;  whence,  by  substituting  in  the 
above  equation,  and  leaving  out  the  common  multiplier 
tan.  6,  we  find 

F  •  A  q  +  F'  •  A  g'  +  F"  •  A  q"  =  0, 
which  is  the  well-known  equation  of  equilibrium.     See 
Statics. 

The  equation  Fs-f-F's'-]-  F"  s"  =  0  may  be  extended 
to  a  solid  body  of  any  form,  or  to  any  machine  whatever. 
Let  d  m  be  an  element  of  tbe  body,  F  an  accelerating  force 
applied  to  d  m,  v  the  velocity  of  that  element,  z  the  angle 
comprised  between  the  direction  of  the  force  F  and  that  in 
which  the  element  d  m  moves  ;  then  the  moving  force  of 
the  element  will  be  F  d  m,  and  v  cos.  z  its  velocity  esti- 
mated in  the  direction  of  this  force ;  and  consequently,  by 
the  principle  of  virtual  velocities,  the  equation  of  equili- 
brium will  be  /  F  v  cos.  2  d  m  =  0. 

The  principle  of  virtual  velocities  is  easily  verified  by  ex- 
periment with  respect  to  all  the  simple  machines;  namely, 
the  lever,  the  pulley,  the  wheel  and  axle,  the  inclined  plane, 
and  the  screw.  Its  importance  as  a  fundamental  principle 
in  rational  mechanics  was  first  recognised  by  John  Ber- 
noulli (see  the  Nouvelle  Mecanique  of  Varignon,  torn,  ii.)  ; 
and  Lagrange  has  derived  from  it  the  whole  theories  of 
statics  and  dynamics  in  his  celebrated  work,  the  Mecanique 
.flna/ytique.  Fourier  {Journal  de  V F.cole  Polytechnique, 
cahicr  v.)  has  demonstrated  the  principle  from  the  property 
of  the  lever. 

VIRTUE,  in  Moral  Philosophy,  is  employed  both  in  an 
abstract  and  comprehensive  sense,  to  signify  the  law  or 
laws  in  which  right  conduct  consists,  and  also  concretely 
for  that  quality  of  actions  and  persons  which  arises  from 
their  agreement  with  the  rules  of  morality.  By  theories  of 
virtue  are  understood  the  different  explanations  which 
have  been  given,  both  of  that  which  distinguishes  right 
from  wrong,  and  of  the  nature  of  the  feelings  with  which 
■virtue  and  vice  are  contemplated  by  mankind.  The  dis- 
tinction of  these  two  questions,  so  frequently  confounded 
by  ethical  writers,  is  due  to  Adam  Smith,  but  has  since  been 
strongly  insisted  upon  by  Mackintosh  and  Hampden.  The 
former  question  Mackintosh  entitles  "The  Inquiry  into  the 
Criterion  of  Morality  in  Action,"  and  the  latter,  "The 
Theory  of  Moral  Sentiments ;"  whereas  Smith  and  Hamp- 
den designate  the  former  as  "the  Inquiry  into  the  Nature 
of  Virtue,"  and  apply  the  term  criterion  of  virtue  to  the 
principle  of  approbation.  In  the  use  of  the  phrase  "  Theory 
of  Moral  Sentiments,"  the  last  two  writers  again  are  at 
issue.  Smith  understands  by  it  moral  philosophy  in  general, 
while  Hampden  limits  it  to  a  division  only  of  ethical  inquiry. 
According  to  the  latter,  it  comprises  the  two  investigations 
already  specified  :  that  into  the  nature,  and  that  into  the 
criterion,  of  virtue.  It  constitutes  the  subjective  branch  of 
ethics,  and  arises  from  a  consideration  of  man  in  himself  as 
the  subject  of  moral  action,  while  the  objective  branch 
results  from  a  regard  to  the  end  or  object  to  which  the 
moral  nature  of  man  has  reference.  This  speculation  into 
the  final  cause  of  man's  capacity  for  virtue  and  happiness, 
Hampden  considers  to  be  the  complement  of  ethics,  and 
entitles  it  the  theory  af  natural  religion.  Lastly,  he  defines 
ethics  thus  understood  to  be  the  science  of  what  ought  to  be, 
as  distinct  from  the  science  of  v: hat  is  ;  or  of  moral  facts, 
as  they  are  exhibited  in  life,  or  as  they  may  be  gleaned 
from  the  philosophy  of  history,  and  the  study  of  the  intel- 
lectual arts,  which  are  based  upon  an  appeal  to  the  actual 
moral  nature  of  man.  These  two  together  make  up  the 
whole  domain  of  moral  philosophy.  {Hampden's  Lectures 
on  Moral  Philosophy.) 

The  several  theories  of  virtue  are  conveniently  divided 
into  ancient  and  modern.  The  distinction,  however,  is  not 
founded  on  any  essential  difference  of  theory,  but  rather  on 
the  opposite  points  of  view  from  which  they  respectively 
viewed  the  moral  facts.  While  modern  theories  are  per- 
manently subjective,  the  objective  question  is  the  charac- 

ioo  in 


teristic  feature  of  ancient  ethics.  The  leading  speculation 
of  the  former  is:  what  is  the  origin  and  nature  of  moral 
obligation  1  The  first  problem  of  the  latter  was  to  deter- 
mine the  object  or  end  to  which  the  moral  constitution  of 
man  has  reference,  and  this  ultimate  end  of  human  activity 
they  usually  denominated  the  end  or  sovereign  good  (teAoj, 
finis,  bonorum,  summum  bonum).  And  although  the  con- 
sideration of  this  question  might  tend  in  a  few,  as  in  Socratea 
and  Plato,  to  carry  the  mind  forward  to  some  higher  and 
ulterior  existence,  in  which  should  be  realized  that  entire 
satisfaction  after  which  man  aspires,  still,  as  these  prompt- 
ings of  natural  religion  were  but  vague  and  unauthoritative, 
the  ethical  writers  of  antiquity  confined  their  views  to  this 
life  alone,  and  the  sovereign  good  which  they  proposed  as 
the  final  cause  of  moral  action  was  limited  to  the  greatest 
good  attainable  in  the  present  state  of  existence. 

With  Socrates,  the  first  object  of  speculation  was  to  ac- 
quire a  knowledge  of  man's  true  and  proper  nature  ;  but 
this  self-knowledge  he  held  to  be  impossible  so  long  as  man 
continues  ignorant  of  the  universal  principle.  Now  the 
nature  of  God  can  only  be  learned  from  his  works,  and 
these  bespeak  him  to  be  good  and  intelligent.  Moreover, 
the  consciousness  of  man  attests  his  participation  in  the 
divine  essence  ;  consequently  the  ultimate  destination  of 
man  is  reason  and  goodness,  and  his  moral  end  is  the  cogni- 
tion and  practice  of  good.  Virtue,  therefore,  is  the  intelli- 
gent performance  of  duties,  whose  notions  man  may  arrive 
at  by  a  study  both  of  his  own  nature  and  of  the  laws  of  an 
all-wise  Creator  discoverable  in  the  system  of  the  universe. 
In  this  pursuit  happiness  is  inseparable  from  virtue.  But 
if  Socrates  thus  founded  morality  on  a  disinterested  princi- 
ple, he  reconciled  it  with  interest  rightly  understood  ;  and 
on  the  other  hand  raised  political  science  above  the  mere 
calculation  of  utility,  by  identifying  it  with  justice  as 
founded  not  on  convention  (Soyna  ttoXccj;),  but  on  natural 
right,  or  the  invention  of  what  is  (tov  ovtos  elevpcaa;). 

Socrates  having  thus  referred  the  laws  of  morality  to  the 
Deity  as  their  author  and  upholder,  Plato  proceeded  by  a 
definition  of  the  divine  nature  to  guard  against  the  objection 
of  their  arbitrary  position  by  the  will  of  God.  He  made 
the  Deity  to  be  the  perfection  of  intelligence  as  resulting 
from  an  union  of  the  good,  the  beautiful,  and  the  true, 
which  are  in  their  nature  eternal,  necessary,  and  immutable. 
This  perfection  is  also  the  term  to  which  man  spontaneously 
tends.  For  reason  is  the  true  principle  of  his  nature, 
although  in  the  present  existence  there  is  mingled  with  it 
a  foreign  element — matter,  which,  by  obstructing  its  develop- 
ment, becomes  the  cause  of  his  falling  short  of  perfection. 
All,  then,  that  is  now  possible  for  man  is  an  approach  to 
the  divine  excellence.  This  is  virtue,  and  is  effected  by 
the  harmony  of  the  rational,  irascible,  and  concupiscible 
parts  of  the  soul.  Although  the  two  latter  belong  to  the 
foreign  element  in  man's  nature,  they  are  yet  indispensable 
to  the  moral  act :  for  the  third  allbrds  a  motive  to  action, 
inasmuch  as  beauty,  being  identical  with  the  good  and  true, 
gives  rise  to  desire  or  love  (tpus),  and  thereby  impels  to 
virtuous  action ;  while  the  second,  disapproving  what  is 
base,  and  ugly,  and  false,  furnishes  the  fortitude  requisite 
for  attaining  to  what  is  approved  under  every  difficulty  and 
every  discouragement.  To  each  of  the  three  parts  of  the 
soul  Plato  assigns  a  special  virtue,  in  a  lower  sense,  and 
names  them,  respectively,  prudence,  fortitude,  and  temper- 
ance (_<ppovnms,  avipia,  auxppotjvvt]),  while  in  a  proper  sense 
he  declares  virtue  to  be  eminently  one  and  the  same  with 
justice  {liKawovi'i]).  These  four  are  the  so-called  cardinal 
virtues.  From  the  notion  of  justice  he  draws  the  connex- 
ion of  ethics  and  politics  :  the  latter  is  but  an  application 
of  the  former  to  society.  At  the  close  of  the  republic  he 
teaches  that  as  an  individual  cannot  be  at  peace  with  him- 
self except  by  the  harmonious  adjustment  of  all  his  facul- 
ties, wherein  each  is  allowed  its  due  weight,  so  in  the 
whole  world  happiness  is  proportionate  to  justice,  and  each 
individual  derives  the  greater  benefit  from  the  community 
the  more  complete  the  harmony  is  in  which  lie  lives  with 
all  his  fellow  citizens. 

Essentially  agreeing,  the  ethical  systems  of  Plato  and 
Aristotle  are  chiefly  distinguished  by  the  relative  value 
which  they  respectively  ascribe  to  happiness  ;  the  former 
considering  it  as  the  natural  fruit  of  virtue,  while  the  latter 
rather  viewed  virtue  as  the  means  of  attaining  to  happiness. 
Plato  taught,  that  although  the  just  man  regulates  his  con- 
duct by  no  reference  to  his  own  enjoyment,  yet  pleasure 
invariably  attends  him,  since  justice  is  good  not  only  in 
itself,  but  also  in  its  effects,  and  renders  all  things  fitting 
and  friendly  to  man.  In  Aristotle's  opinion,  the  end  of 
morality  is  to  render  individuals  as  useful  as  possible  to 
society ;  the  objects  of  whose  institution  is  to  procure  in  its 
members  the  highest  moral  perfection,  as  necessary  to  the 
attainment  of  the  greatest  possible  felicity  by  the  whole. 
Man,  he  teaches,  is  a  free  and  rational  agent,  and  there- 
fore acts  spontaneously  and  deliberately,  invariably  pro- 
posing to  himself  some  end  as  the  motive  to  action.    AH 

1309 


VIRTUE. 


humnn  arts  and  pursuits,  then,  have  their  appropriate  ends ; 
bat  among  those  there  is  a  certain  subordination,  which 
implies  a  supreme  end  towards  which  they  all  converge;  it 
being  desirable  not  for  its  own  sake,  but  the  cause  for 
Which  all  else  is  Bought.  This  supreme  good  is  perfection  : 
virtue  is  the  approximation  thereto,  and  consists  in  the 
habit  of  mediocrity  according  to  ri«ht  reason;  in  other 
words,  it  is  self-control,  which  triumphs  alike  over  the  im- 
petuosity of  the  passions  and  the  weakness  of  the  will,  and 
thereby  accomplishes  a  just  mean.  Every  special  virtue, 
in  like  manner,  lies  in  a  kind  of  middle  between  the  two 
opposite  vices  of  too  much  and  too  little:  courage,  for 
instance,  being  a  mean  between  cowardice  and  rashness, 
of  which  the  former  offends  by  an  excessive,  the  latter  by 
a  defective,  regard  to  the  proper  objects  of  fear. 

According  to  the  Stoics,  the  supreme  good  which  is  the 
final  cause  of  every  special  good  is  to  act  conformably  to 
nature;  i.  c,  in  obedience  to  the  immutable  laws  which 
reason  discovers  in  the  universe.  This  eternal  and  universal 
order,  winch  they  called  fate,  is  an  infinite  enchainment  of 
causes  and  effects,  in  virtue  of  which  whatever  happens  is 
what  ought  to  be :  it  embraces  all  living  things,  and  man 
therefore  has  a  principle  within  him  which  obliges  him  to 
seek  that  state  of  his  nature  which  is  the  best  and  most 
perfect  that  it  is  capable  of.  This  is  reason.  Wisdom, 
therefore,  is  man's  chief  good,  and  the  pursuit  of  it  is  phi- 
losophy. Perfect  wisdom,  however,  as  modelled  in  the 
sage  of  the  Stoics,  they  did  not  believe  to  be  conceded  to 
mortals,  to  whom  nothing  more  is  granted  than  to  be  in  the 
way  to  perfection.  Now,  as  they  made  reason  to  be  the 
supreme  arbiter  in  moral  determinations,  they  naturally 
held  vice  to  be  but  an  error :  yet  this  error,  they  taught,  is 
the  only  evil ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  nothing  is  good  but 
what  is'  such  in  all  times  and  all  circumstances  :  all  else  is 
morally  indifferent.  But  even  indifferent  things  are,  in  a 
lower  sense,  agreeable  to  nature,  and  objects  more  or  less 
of  choice  or  aversion.  That  perfect  rectitude  of  conduct, 
therefore,  which  constitutes  the  essence  of  virtue,  consists 
in  a  just  and  accurate  discernment  of  good,  and  in  assigning 
to  every  object  its  due  importance  according  to  the  place  it 
holds  in  the  natural  scale  of  things.  Lastly,  although  their 
first  object  was  to  emancipate  the  moral  man  from  all 
dependence  on  external  conditions  and  from  the  slavery  of 
his  passion — and  although,  therefore,  they  removed  all 
sensuous  pleasures  and  pains  from  the  catalogue  of  good 
and  evil— nevertheless  the  apathy  which  they  taught  was 
not,  as  commonly  understood,  an  absolute  insensibility, 
but  rather  the  undisturbed  supremacy  of  reason  over  the 
passions. 

All  the  preceding  theories  agree  in  making  reason  the 
end  of  human  activity,  and  are  thereby  distinguished  from 
the  Epicurean,  which  gave  the  first  place  to  the  sensuous 
element  of  humanity,  and  reduced  science  to  the  rank  of  a 
mean.  According  to  Epicurus,  pleasure  alone  is  sought  for 
its  own  sake,  and  philosophy  and  all  else  is  but  the  pursuit 
of  it.  If,  sometimes,  it  seems  to  be  foregone,  it  is  only  with 
a  view  to  some  higher  gratification,  as  pain  also  may  occa- 
sionally be  endured  in  the  acquisition  of  a  pleasure  whose 
intensity  will  fully  compensate  for  the  intermediate  suffer- 
ing. The  pleasures  and  pains  that  are  primarily  the  objects 
of  desire  and  aversion  are  corporeal,  and  from  these  the 
pleasures  of  the  mind  are  ultimately  derived,  and  consist 
merely  in  the  anticipation  of  future  and  in  the  recollection 
of  past  states.  This,  however,  constitutes  the  superiority 
of  the  secondary  pleasures  of  the  mind  over  their  corporeal 
originals,  for  the  latter  do  not  extend  beyond  the  present 
sensation.  Virtue,  therefore,  is  ;m  enlightened  pursuit  of 
pleasure,  which,  although  it  is  selfish  in  its  principle,  still 
allows  free  course  to  the  social  and  benevolent  affections, 
as  being  a  part  of  man's  nature  and  an  additional  source  of 
gratification  beyond  tin  calculations  of  personal  interest. 
For  though  they  may  expose  a  man  to  the  chance  of  pain, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  death  of  a  friend,  still  this  is  a  less 
evil  than  apathy,  nnd  the  deprivation  of  a  natural  enjoy- 
ment. Justice,  lastly,  has  no  other  object  than  the  general 
good;  and  right,  properly  understood,  is  but  the  sign  of 
utility. 

Modem  ethics  having  taken  their  rise  from  a  system 
greatly  resembling  the  Epicurean,  the  inquiry  into  the 
nature  of  virtue  became  the  first  question  that  was  proposed 
for  solution.  Accordingly  this  fact  famishes  a  general 
jification  of  the  later  theories  of  morals  into  selfish  or 
terested,  according  as  they  found  virtue  on  a  selfish  or 
on  a  benevolent  principle. 

The  selfish  theory  has  found  its  ablest  advocates  in 
Hobbes,  Helvetius,  Paley,  and  Bentham.  Of  these  the 
first  and  last  deserve  a  particular  notice:  Hobbes  as  the 
originator  of  the  controversy  into  the  nature  of  morality; 
B  ntham  :>s  furnishing  the  most  complete  and  elaborate 
exposition  of  the  utilitarian  scheme  According  to  Hobbes 
died  1679  ,  tie'  onlj  motive  thai  can  induce 
men  e  which  will  follow  from  its 

1310 


execution,  A  preconception  of  pleasure  is  the  neewnry 
condition  of  every  moral  determination.  Good  and  evil  are 
simple    tendencies   to   pleasure    and    pain,   without   which 

every  object  is  Indifferent  Self-love  is  the  exclusive  pas- 
sion of  man's  nature.  Other  passions  differ  from  it  out- 
wardly only,  j.  e.,  in  the  objects  which  excite  them:  pity, 
for  example,  is  but  the  imagination  of  misfortunes  which 
may  happen  to  ourselves,  suggested  by  the  contemplation 
of  another's  sufferings  ;  love,  the  conception  of  advantages 
to  be  derived  from  its  object ;  and  benevolence,  nothing 
more  than  the  consciousness  of  power  sufficient  to  secure 
not  only  one's  own  happiness,  but  that  of  others  also.  The 
first  law  of  nature  is  self-preservation:  whatever  tends, 
therefore,  to  this  end  is  lawful  and  good,  and  all  men  have 
a  natural  right  to  appropriate  by  every  means  in  their  power 
whatever  may  contribute  to  their  personal  happiness.  As 
this  is  the  imprescriptible  right  of  all,  there  are  as  many 
forms  of  natural  right  as  there  are  separate  and  independent 
wills  ;  and  actions  of  the  most  opposite  kinds  are  equally 
virtuous  and  legitimate.  Now,  as  all  possess  an  equal  right 
to  all  things,  and  as  there  is  no  reason  why  one  should 
yield  to  another  the  objects  which  both  may  desire,  the 
state  of  nature  must  be  one  of  war ;  but  as,  in  such  a  con- 
dition of  things,  the  safety  of  every  one  is  constantly  en- 
dangered by  the  conflicting  interests  of  all  others,  peace,  at 
any  price,  becomes  preferable  to  it.  Peace,  however,  is  the 
result  of  society  alone  ;  i.  e.,  as  defined  by  Hobbes,  of  the 
existence  within  a  community  of  a  sufficient  force  to  con- 
trol all  individual  wills  and  forces.  But  this  is  only  practi- 
cable in  two  ways :  either  all  are  seized  with  a  desire  to 
terminate  the  state  of  hostility,  and  enter  into  a  mutual 
compact,  by  which  they  engage  to  do  no  violence,  nor  to 
suffer  it  to  be  done  to  each  other ;  or  a  single  person  suc- 
ceeds by  stratagem  or  force  in  establishing  his  own  authority 
over  the  rest.  The  latter  form  of  society  is  as  legitimate  as 
the  former;  and  indeed,  as  the  end  of  the  institution  is  the 
suppression  of  warfare  among  its  members,  and  as  the  more 
unlimited  the  power  is  the  better  calculated  it  must  be  to 
effect  this  object,  an  absolute  monarchy  is  the  very  best 
polity  that  can  be  devised.  Against  the  government  in 
such  a  society,  it  is  evident  that  subjects  cannot  consistently 
possess  any  lights  ;  for  these  would  impede  its  effective- 
ness :  they  have  but  one  simple  duty,  and  that  is — implicit 
obedience.     (On  Human  Nature  ;  Leviathan,  <$-c.) 

Bentham  (born  1748,  died  1832),  sets  out  from  Hobbes' 
principle,  that  every  object  would  be  perfectly  indifferent 
but  for  its  fitness  to  produce  pleasure  or  pain,  which,  he 
declares,  are  the  sole  motives  of  human  determinations. 
This  proposition  he  does  not  attempt  to  pro\e.  but,  assert- 
ing that  it  is  one  of  those  primary  and  self-evident  truths 
which  are  the  foundation  of  all  reasoning,  he  proceeds  to 
draw  from  it  certain  practical  conclusions  in  the  form  of 
definitions.  Thus  he  defines  utility  to  be  the  fitness  of  ac- 
tions and  things  to  augment  the  happiness,  or  to  diminish 
the  misery,  of  individuals  and  communities  ;  and  maintains 
that  this  is  the  only  true  and  intelligible  interpretation  of 
what  is  usually  called  the  lawfulness,  goodness,  justice, 
and  morality  of  an  action.  The  principle  of  utility  is  next 
defined  to  be  that  which  exclusively  derives  the  quality 
of  actions  from  their  twofold  property  of  augmenting  the 
happiness  or  misery  of  one  or  many.  This,  he  asserts,  is 
the  only  valid  principle  of  moral  appreciation  ;  and  he  re- 
duces all  opposing  theories  to  two  classes,  which  he  desig- 
nates by  the  principle  of  asceticism,  and  the  principle  of 
sympathy  and  antipathy.  Under  the  latter  head,  Bentham 
comprises  every  theory  of  morals  which  draws  the  distinc- 
tion of  good  and  evil  from  any  other  principle  than  a  con- 
sideration of  consequences ;  whereas  he  explains  the  asce- 
tical  principle  as  agreeing  with  the  utilitarian  In  drawing 
its  qualification  of  objects  from  their  tendency  to  product 
pleasure  or  pain,  but  as  differing  from  it  in  that  it  proceeds 
in  an  inverse  manner,  and  calls  pain  good,  but  pleasure  an 
evil.  To  forego  the  least  pleasure,  simply  as  pleasure,  is 
to  acton  a  principle  of  asceticism  ;  but  tin  true  disciple  of 
utility  holds  every  pleasure  to  be  in  itself  good.  Even  the 
abominable  pleasure  which  the  Wretched  Criminal  enjoys 
in  gloating  over  his  crime  is  good,  so  far  as  it  is  a  pleasure  ; 
it  is  only  evil  so  far  forth  as  it  entail-  the  iil  consequences 
of  fear  and  punishment,  which  far  transcend  Us  guilty  en- 
joyment. The  practical  conclusion,  therefore,  of  tin-  theory 
of  utility  is,  that  an  action  is  only  really  good  when  it  will 

i  o  to  more  of  pleasure  than  of  pain  ;  and  evil,  when 
its  painful  exceed  its  pleasurable  consequences.  It  be- 
comes, consequently,  of  the  first  Importance  to  possess  an 

Lte  standard  by  which  the  amount  of  pleasure  and 
pain  likely  to  result  from  certain  actions,  ami  the  relative 

value  of  tin-  two  qu  intities,  may  be  measured.    This  de- 
nim  Bentham   has  attempted  to  supply  in  a  manner 

thai  constitutes  the  most  original  am!  chat  icteristic  feature 

of  his  theory   ami   system.     The  first  item  of  this  moral 

arithmetic  is  w  hat  is  Intended  for  an  exhaustive  en  mm  ra- 
tion of  all  the  pleasures  and  pains  of  which  human  nature 


VIRTUE. 


is  susceptible ;  in  the  next,  he  proceeds  to  furnish  a  method 
of  determining  their  comparative  value.  For  this  purpose 
it  is  necessary  to  take  into  account  the  following  consider- 
ations :  I.  VVhat  are  the  intrinsic  circumstances  of  the 
pleasure  itself  which  can  augment  or  diminish  its  value  ; 
and  these  are,  ],  intensity;  2,  duration;  3,  certainty;  4, 
proximity,  or  remoteness;  5,  fecundity,  or  the  probability 
of  its  immediate  pleasures  engendering  others  more  remote  ; 
G,  purity,  or  whether  its  pleasures  are  mixed  or  not  with 
more  or  less  of  pain.  II.  VVhat  circumstances  are  likely  to 
affect  the  sensibility  of  the  agents,  and  so  to  modify  indi- 
rectly the  result.  These  are  of  two  kinds,  individual  and 
general :  to  the  former  belong  temperament,  constitution, 
habits,  intellectual  development,  and  other  traits  of  personal 
character :  those  of  the  latter  order  are  little  more  than 
generalizations  of  the  first,  and  are — sex,  age,  education, 
profession,  climate,  national  character,  government,  and  re- 
ligion. III.  What  are  the  consequences  which,  going  be- 
yond the  immediate  objects  of  the  action,  remotely  affect 
others  more  or  less  numerous,  and  even  the  whole  of  society. 
By  allowing  their  due  weight  to  all  these  particulars,  Ben- 
tham  pretends  that  any  ordinary  capacity  may  form  a  cor- 
rect estimate  of  the  real  tendency  of  actions,  and  thereby 
arrive  at  that  general  utility  which  it  is  the  proper  end  of 
morality  to  secure.     ( Treatise  on  Murals  and  legislation.) 

The  recognition  of  a  principle  of  action  independent  of 
self-love  will  afford  a  general  characteristic  of  the  remain- 
ing theories.  Some  of  these,  however,  place  the  origin  of 
the  disinterested  determination  in  a  perception  of  moral  good 
and  evil  by  the  intellect  or  reason;  while  others  explain 
the  distinction  by  certain  facts  which  take  place  within  the 
sensibility  or  emotive  part  of  man,  so  that  the  disinterested 
determinations  which  result  proceed  from  an  instinct  or 
sentiment.  These  two  classes  may  be  conveniently  desig- 
nated the  rational  and  the  sentimental  or  instinctive.  Of 
instinctive  theories,  however,  while  some  are  content  with 
referring  the  moral  principle  to  an  original  and  admitted 
tendency  of  human  nature,  such  as  sympathy  or  benevo- 
lence, others  have  derived  it  from  a  new  and  peculiar 
faculty. 

To  begin  with  the  former  class.  According  to  Smith 
(born  1723,  died  1790),  when  we  are  in  the  company  of  an- 
other who  is  sensibly  affected  with  any  sentiment  or  passion, 
our  nature  spontaneously,  and  without  the  intervention  of 
reason  or  will,  tends  to  reproduce  in  ourselves  the  same  sen- 
timent or  passion  ;  and  not  only  have  we  this  disposition  to 
sympathy,  but  we  even  feel  a  pleasure  in  finding  ourselves 
to  be  brought  thereby  into  harmony  with  those  around  us. 
Indeed,  so  strong  and  so  instinctive  is  the  desire  for  such 
union  between  our  own  minds  and  those  of  others,  that 
when  we  are  under  any  strong  emotions  in  the  presence  of 
another  who  is  unable  to  conceive  anything  that  approaches 
to  the  same  degree  of  violence  with  our  own,  in  such  a  case 
we  involuntarily  and  unconsciously  lower  our  passion  to 
that  pitch  in  which  the  spectator  can  go  along  with  it. 
The  spectator,  on  the  other  hand,  seeing  what  we  suffer, 
endeavours  to  enter  into  our  sentiments,  and  rises  by  an  in- 
stinctive complaisance  to  the  level  of  them.  In  regard  to 
those  objects  which  have  no  peculiar  relation  either  to  our- 
selves or  others,  this  sympathy  is  simple.  In  whatever  de- 
gree, for  instance,  the  love  of  truth  may  he  felt,  it  will  not 
directly  affect  the  happiness  of  any  one ;  it  cannot  excite  any 
feeling  but  a  simple  emotion  of  sympathy.  It  may,  there- 
fore, be  allowed  to  appear  as  it  is  felt,  because  there  is  no 
reason  either  of  instinct  or  of  reason  to  suppress  it.  There 
are,  however,  certain  internal  dispositions  which  excite  a 
twofold  or  even  a  triple  sympathy,  which  are  all  of  the  same 
kind ;  thus,  when  we  see  a  man  animated  with  sentiments 
of  charity  and  love,  pity  and  benevolence  towards  his  fel- 
low men,  we  are  affected  by  a  twofold  sympathy,  directly 
with  the  benevolent  disposition,  and  indirectly  with  the 
gratitude  which  is  due  from  its  objects.  As,  then,  the  two 
mutually  strengthen  each  other,  the  benevolent  dispositions 
evidently  awaken  the  highest  degrees  of  sympathy,  and, 
consequently,  they  contribute  most  of  all  to  effect  that  per- 
fect harmony  of  sentiments  and  affections  to  which  all  men 
instinctively  aspire.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  a  di- 
vided sympathy.  Suppose  the  case  of  merited  anger ;  on 
the  one  hand  we  sympathize  with  the  passion  of  anger,  and 
on  the  other  with  the  object  of  it,  and  with  the  sufferings 
which  it  may  bring  upon  him.  These  are  the  elements  of 
moral  approbation  and  disapprobation.  We  approve  those 
sentiments  of  others  in  which  we  ourselves  are  able  to  par- 
ticipate ;  and  when  this  sympathy  is  pure  our  approbation 
is  unqualified,  but  mixed  with  disapprobation  when  our 
sympathy  is  divided.  But  farther,  when  we  witness,  for  in- 
stance, an  act  of  benevolence,  we  sympathize  not  only  with 
the  feelings  of  the  actor,  but  also  with  the  emotion  of  the 
party  benefited.  Now  this  emotion  is  gratitude  ;  but  what 
else  is  gratitude  but  an  instinctive  desire  to  do  good  to  the 
benefactor  1  Consequently,  as  we  participate  in  the  feel- 
ings of  the  obliged  party,  we  wish  to  do  good  to  the  author 


of  the  obligation :  we  feel  that  he  ynerits  it  in  reward  for 
the  good  which  he  has  done.  As  to  the  judgment  which 
we  pass  on  our  own  sentiments  and  actions,  Smith  asserts 
that  if  it  were  possible  for  a  human  creature  to  grow  up  to 
manhood  in  some  solitary  place  without  communication 
with  his  species,  be  could  no  more  think  of  his  own  char- 
acter, of  the  propriety  or  demerit  of  his  own  actions,  of  the 
beauty  or  deformity  of  his  own  mind,  than  of  the  beauty  or 
deformity  of  his  own  face.  Since  society  is  essential  to 
sympathy,  which  is  the  rule  or  qualification  of  all  our  acts, 
the  solitary  cannot  arrive  to  a  consciousness  of  that  rule, 
and  by  it  appreciate  the  morality  or  immorality  of  his  acts. 
Our  moral  criticisms  are  first  exercised  upon  the  character 
and  conduct  of  others,  but  we  soon  learn  that  others  are  ex- 
ercising their  judgment  upon  our  own :  we  become  anxious 
to  know  how  far  we  deserve  their  censure  and  applause ; 
and,  in  order  to  examine  in  tins  respect  our  own  passions 
and  conduct,  we  have  the  faculty  of  supposing  ourselves 
spectators  of  our  own  dispositions  and  behaviour,  and  so  ex- 
perience, in  some  degree,  the  same  sensations  as  would  be 
excited  in  our  minds  by  the  sight  of  similar  actions  and  feel- 
ings in  another.  By  virtue  of  this  faculty  we  feel,  as  it 
were,  a  sympathy  with  ourselves  when  we  have  acted  well, 
and  are  led  to  suppose  that  all  other  spectators  would  be 
similarly  affected.  This  consciousness  of  unison  between 
our  own  conduct  and  the  sentiments  of  our  fellows  consti- 
tutes the  pleasure  of  rectitude.  And  farther,  by  aid  of  the 
same  principle  by  which  we  judge  of  the  actions  of  others, 
we  feel  that  we  have  a  right  to  pronounce  our  own  also  to 
be  good.  This  is  a  source  of  inward  tranquillity  and  satis- 
faction, while  the  least  suspicion  of  the  contrary  gives  rise 
to  the  pains  of  remorse.  In  manhood,  indeed,  when  ex- 
perience has  drawn  a  system  of  general  rules  from  the  oc- 
casional judgments  of  sympathy,  and  established  them  in 
the  mind,  a  new  source  of  pleasure  arises.  We  have  now 
an  intellectual  perception  also  of  the  conformity  of  the  act 
with  the  law  of  morality ;  and,  independently  of  the  in- 
stinctive approbation,  the  reason  also  awards  to  it  its  sanc- 
tion. This  rational  perception  is  wanting  in  the  infantine 
and  uncultivated  mind  :  but  it  is  invariably  found  wherever 
education  or  experience  has  stored  the  mind  with  the  gen- 
eral maxims  of  morality  which  are  primarily  founded  on 
the  instinctive  emotions.  The  act  of  reason  in  approbation 
is  simply  a  perception  of  the  agreeableness  of  the  act  with 
the  moral  laws,  and  therefore  implies  them.  Lastly,  the 
act  itself  appears  by  its  very  nature  to  be  part  of  a  system 
of  conduct  fitted  to  establish  a  perfect  agreement  of  senti- 
ments among  mankind;  and  this  universal  harmony  being 
eminently  beautiful  in  itself,  we  judge,  in  virtue  of  tliis  per- 
ception, the  act  in  question  to  be  not  only  good  but  even 
beautiful.  This  is  the  principle  of  moral  beauty,  which  is 
the  origin  of  every  other  species  of  the  beautiful.  ( Theory 
of  Moral  Sentiments.) 

The  doctrine  of  a  moral  sense  owes  its  origin  to  Lord 
Shaftesbury  (born  1671,  died  1713).  According  to  this 
writer,  the  human  dispositions  are  of  two  kinds — the  social 
or  benevolent,  and  the  personal  or  selfish.  The  former  lead 
us  to  desire  the  welfare  of  others  simply  for  its  own  sake 
and  without  regard  to  our  own  interests.  In  the  develop- 
ments of  these  affections  the  soul  takes  part,  and  some  are 
naturally  agreeable  and  others  disagreeable  to  it;  of  the 
former  it  approves,  but  disapproves  the  latter.  As,  then, 
these  dispositions  are  a  source  of  pleasure  to  the  soul,  there 
must  be  in  it  some  faculty  distinct  from  the  dispositions 
themselves,  by  virtue  of  which  they  become  agreeable  or 
otherwise,  and  which  performs  the  same  office  in  their  case 
as  they  do  with  respect  to  their  immediate  objects.  This 
faculty  Shaftesbury  calls  a  sense  which  he  characterizes, 
from  its  mode  of  operation,  as  reflex,  and  from  its  object- 
matter  as  moral.  The  dispositions  which  this  reflex  sense 
approves  or  disapproves  are  morally  good  or  evil :  virtue 
consists  in  yielding  to  the  former,  but  resisting  the  latter. 
Between  goodness  and  virtue  there  is  agreement,  but  not 
identity ;  the  former  being  merely  a  constitutional  predomi- 
nance of  the  benevolent  affections  in  the  character  and  con- 
duct, the  latter  being  the  same  state  produced  by  the  opera- 
tion of  the  conscience  or  moral  sense,  which,  when  the  per- 
sonal affections  are  of  equal  force  with  the  social  ones,  in- 
terposes its  authority,  and  inclines  the  balance  in  favour  of 
the  latter. 

Butler  (born  1G92,  died  1752),  in  the  same  manner  divides 
the  principles  of  action  into  those  which  lead  directly  to  pri- 
vate good,  and  those  which  promote  immediately  the  good 
of  the  community ;  but  of  both  he  shows  with  great  origin- 
ality that  they  are  alike  disinterested.  The  objects  of  both 
classes  of  passions  are  outward  things,  which  are  sought  as 
ends  in  themselves  and  without  any  regard  to  their  tendency 
to  promote  happiness,  which  is  the  proper  end  of  self-love. 
This,  again,  is  distinguished  by  Butler  from  selfishness, 
which  consists  in  the  weakness  of  the  public  affections  and 
the  undue  strength  of  personal  desires.  Self-love,  or  an  en- 
lightened regard  to  our  general  happiness,  is  not  a  vice; 

1311 


VIRTUE. 


whereas  selfishness  is  utterly  at  variance  with  the  happi- 
r.e-  of  him  who  harbours  it.  since  without  the  gratification 

Of  the  benevolent  feelings  it  is  impossible  to  attain  to  the 
greatest  satisfaction  of  our  nature,  of  which  thev  arc  a  part. 
But,  besides  these  personal  ami  social  instincts  and  self-love, 
Butler  discovers  in  man  another  faculty,  which  by  it=  very 
nature  is  supreme  over  all  others,  and  authoritatively  ap- 
proves or  disapproves  both  the  affections  of  our  minds  and 
the  actions  of  our  lives.  This  principle  is  conscience.  Its 
perceptions  are  immediate,  and  its  very  Idea  implies  that 
supremacy  and  authority  are  essential  to  it.  (Sermons  at 
the  Rolls  "Ckapcl.) 

The  first  object  of  Hutcheson  (born  1694,  died  1747)  is  to 
show  that  the  very  frame  of  our  nature  which  determines 
us  to  pursue  happiness  for  ourselves,  also  determines  us 
both  to  esteem  and  t"  benevolence  on  their  proper  oc ■  isions. 
But  besides  these  original  desires,  he  shows  that  there 
arise,  in  consequence  of  them,  secondary  desires  of  every- 
thing useful  to  gratify  the  primary  ones.  But  there  is  also 
in  man  an  idea  of  moral  good  which  can  be  explained  by 
neither  of  the  former.  By  a  careful  analysis,  Hutcheson 
shows  that  by  moral  good  we  understand  neither  what  gives 
pleasure  by  satisfying  our  benevolence,  nor  what  is  simply 
good  toothers;  nor  is  it  what  is  useful  to  others  or  agree- 
able to  the  spectators;  nor,  lastly,  is  it  a  conformity  to  the 
•will  of  Cod,  or  to  law,  or  truth,  or  order;  it  is  simply  what 
the  word  itself  expresses,  which  is  simple  and  original  and 
inexplicable  by  any  other.  From  this  originality  and  sim- 
plicity of  the  term,  Hutcheson  argues  that  it  must  be  per- 
ceived by  a  sense,  because  the  senses  alone  are  percipient 
of  simple  qualities  ;  and  by  a  special  sense,  since  the  quali- 
ty apprehended  by  it  difiers  from  all  other  objects  of  sensa- 
tion. Farther,  he  observes  that  this  perception  is  attended 
witlt  pleasure,  which  is  the  property  of  all  sensuous  per- 
ceptions ;  and  that  as  moral  good  is  an  end  and  motive  of 
action,  it  must  be  apprehended  by  a  sense,  since  the  under- 
standing can  neither  propose  the  ends  of  human  activity  nor 
exercise  any  influence  on  the  will.  Again,  the  pleasure 
which  accompanies  the  perception  of  good,  being  a  conse- 
quence of  the  discovered  quality,  necessarily  presupposes  it ; 
therefore  it  is  impossible  to  resolve  moral  good,  or  the  ap- 
probation which  we  award  to  it,  into  that  pleasure;  this 
would  be  to  resolve  the  cause  into  the  effect,  and  the  con- 
sequence into  the  principle.  As  the  qualities  which  it  is 
the  province  of  the  moral  sense  to  discover  belong  to  the  in- 
ternal affections  and  emotions,  it  is  internal  and  not  exter- 
nal, although,  like  the  outward  senses,  it  is  capable  of  im- 
provement by  education  and  habit.  This  sense  is  designed 
to  govern  all  the  others,  and  we  have  an  immediate  con- 
sciousness of  its  authority.  Reason  is  the  servant  of  this 
sense,  its  only  office  being  to  discover  and  to  combine  the 
means  necessary  to  the  attainment  of  the  objects  which 
the  moral  sense  approves  of.  The  object  of  this  approba- 
tion is  benevolence  alone :  every  action  or  measure  which 
has  in  view  our  own  advantage  is,  simply  on  that  account, 
morallj  wrong;  it  may  be  innocent — it  cannot  be  virtuous. 
{Inquiry  into  Beauty  and  Virtue.) 

According  to  Hume  (born  1711,  died  1776).  all  the  mental 
qualities  and  actions  which  are  generally  approved  of  by 
in  the  circumstance  of  being  useful  to  so- 
ciety. The  fact  that  the  different  degrees  of  moral  appro- 
bation correspond  to  the  degrees  of  utility,  affords  an  ex- 
planation of  the  greater  merit  ascribed  to  the  benevolent 
:  for  these  tend  to  the  happiness  of  many,  and  in- 
deed of  all ;  whereas  the  personal  affections  tend  to  that  of 
the  agent  alone.  Vet  even  the  latter  are  in  a  degree  meri- 
torious, inasmuch  a^  they  are  useful  to  one,  and  they  are 
only  to  be  blamed  when  they  are  entertained  at  the  sacri- 
fice of  the  social  feelings.  The  pursuit  of  self-interest  is  in 
the  latter  case  culpable,  although  in  itself  it  is  not  only  in- 
nocent, but  praiseworthy:  for  we  admire  in  any  character 
certain  qualities,  such  as  prudence,  for  instance,  merely  be- 
cause they  appeal  fitted  to  promote  his  personal  welfare. 
In  short,  whatever  is  useful  is  morally  good,  and  is  only  to 

be  disapproved  when  it.  is  preferred  to  what  is  more  useful. 
That  which  judges  of  utility  and  the  contrary  is  reason  ;  but 
if  we  approve  of  one  and  disapprove  of  the  other,  and  call 
the  former  good,  but  the  latter  evil,  this  is  in  virtue  of  a 
primary  sentiment  of  our  nature,  which  leads  us 
the  useful  to  the  hurtful,  us  we  prefer  what  is  sweet  to 

what  is  bitter.     This  instinct,  however,  is  distinct  from  and 

frequently  opposed  to  Belf-love;  tor  this  would  lead  us  to 
love  what  Is  useful  toourselvi  ^,  ami  not  what  is  useful  in 

■  olutely  and  independently  of  any  reference  to  our 
own  advantage.  This  instinct  is  commonlj  called  con- 
science, or  the  moral  faculty,  but  more  frequently  designated 
by  Hume  us  benevolence  or  humanity,  inasmuch  as  its  ob- 
ject is  the  good  of  mankind  generally.  As  to  the  idea  of 
moral  obligation,  it  is  simply  a  conception  of  tiie  understand 
ing.  What  i<  honoured  bj  this  name  ij,  he  says,  nothing 
more  than  the  undoubtedly  correct  view,  that  there  i-  more 
happiness  in  obeying  the  impulses  of  the  mora!  sense  than 

1312 


in  following  the  dictates  of  self-love.  The  reason  is  incapa- 
ble of  exercising  any  influence  on  the  will.  What  deter- 
mines us  when  we  resolve  to  act  rightly  is  me  re  I  \  tie- 
charm  which  utility  exercises  on  the  mind,  and  the  force 
of  certain  dispositions  which  propel  us  to  seek  the  good  of 
ourselves  and  others,  and  are  invariably  second 
promptings  of  conscience.  {Inquiry  concerning  the  Princi- 
ples of  Morals.) 

Mackintosh  (born  17(m,  died  183-21  asrrees  with  all  the  wri- 
ters of  the  instinctive  school  in  den}  Ing  conscience  to  be  either 
a  state  or  act  of  the  understanding :  but  he  differs  from  one 
form  of  the  sentimental  theory  by  denying  that  man  has 
any  special  organization  tor  moral  perception,  while  he 
equally  dissents  from  the  other  view,  which  would  refer 
these  perceptions  to  some  one  of  the  original  and  admitted 
sentiments  of  our  nature.  Butler  and  Stewart  bad  shown 
that  self-love  is  a  secondary  principle ;  and  Hartley  had  ex- 
hibited the  important  part  which  association  plays  in  the 
formation  of  our  passions  and  affections,  and  even  of  our 
sentiments  of  virtue  and  duty.  This  view  was  farther  de- 
veloped by  Mackintosh,  who  declared  conscience  itself  to  be 
a  similar  derivative.  In  the  same  manner  he  says  that 
in  the  formation  of  self-love  the  desire  which  originally 
attaches  to  external  objects  is  transferred  to  the  pleasure 
which  results  from  their  attainment ;  so  in  the  case  of  con- 
science the  agreeable  and  disagreeable  sensations  which  be- 
long naturally  to  certain  actions  is  transferred  to  the  voli- 
tions which  determine  conduct,  so  that  the  latter  become 
at  last  the  immediate  objects  of  love  and  repugnance.  In 
this  manner  there  is  formed  by  association  a  number  of  sec- 
ondary desires  and  aversions,  whose  proper  object  is  voli- 
tion, and  which  collectively  form  that  interior  principle 
called  conscience,  which  judges,  without  regard  to  conse- 
quences, unerringly  and  authoritatively.  As  to  the  action 
of  conscience  on  the  will,  this  is  composed  both  of  the  pecu- 
liar energy  of  the  primary  dispositions,  which  it  causes  to 
triumph,  and  of  the  pleasures  naturally  attached  to  them, 
as  well  as  those  which  are  produced  by  the  gratification  of 
the  secondary  affections.  Accordingly,  Mackintosh  strongly 
insists  upon  the  distinction  between  perception  and  emotion, 
and  declares  that  the  phrase  association  of  ideas,  as  over- 
looking this  distinction,  conveys  but  a  partial  and  incom- 
plete view  of  the  truth.  He  therefore  proposes  to  substitute 
for  it  association  of  thoughts  with  emotions  and  with  each 
other,  but  at  the  same  time  declares  that  the  term  "associ- 
ation" very  inadequately  indicates  that  perfect  combination 
and  fusion  which  occurs  in  these  operations  of  the  mind. 
For  the  moral  faculty  is  properly  and  intelligibly  spoken  of 
as  one.  Now  it  is  as  common  in  mind  as  in  matter  for  a 
compound  to  have  properties  not  to  be  found  in  any  of  its 
constituent  parts :  the  originally  separate  feelings  are  so 
completely  blended  together  that  they  can  no  longer  be  dis- 
joined from  each  other.  Thus  the  sentiment  of  moral  ap- 
probation, formed  by  association  out  of  antecedent  affections, 
may  become  so  perfectly  independent  of  them  that  we  are 
no  longer  conscious  of  the  process  by  which  they  were 
formed.  It  is  in  this  mature  and  sound  state  of  nature  that 
our  emotions  at  sight  of  right  and  wrong  are  ascribed  to  con- 
science. And  although  this  supreme  arbiter  and  judge  of 
human  conduct  does  not  supersede  the  ordinary  motives  of 
virtuous  feelings  and  habits,  which  are  the  ordinary  motives 
to  good  actions,  it  yet  exercises  a  lawful  authority  over  them. 
Whatsoever  actions  and  dispositions  are  approved  by  con- 
science acquire  the  names  of  virtues  and  duties ;  they  are 
thereby  pronounced  to  deserve  commendation,  and  we  are 
justly  considered  as  under  a  moral  obligation  to  practise  the 
actions  and  cultivate  the  dispositions.  The  peculiar  charac- 
ter of  the  moral  sentiments  is  their  exclusive  reference  to 
Hates  of  the  will,  and  this  is  a  character  both  of  the  private 
desires  and  social  affections,  and,  indeed,  among  the  many 
dissimilar  elements  that  enter  into  the  formation  of  con- 
science, this  is  the  only  common  property  that  the  mind  can 
discover.  Hence,  however,  the  facility  with  which  general 
terms,  at  first  limited  to  relations  between  ourselves  ami 
Others,  are  gradually  applied  to  any  voluntary  acts  and  dis- 
positions: it  is  thus  that  prudence  and  temperance,  for  in- 
stance, become  objects  of  moral  approbation.  On  the  other 
hand,  as  the  will  is  the  sole  means  of  gratifying  any  passion, 
the  power  of  conscience  i<  coextensive  with  the  whole  man. 
It  is  a  universal  principle,  because  will  is  the  universal 
means.  And  as,  when  the  mind  is  in  a  healthy  state,  no- 
thing is  Interposed  betwi  en  it  and  the  will,  the' dictate  of 
,  is  immediate]}  followed  by  a  determination  of 
will ;  conscience  is  thus  at  once  universal,  independent,  and 
commanding.  Lastly,  as  Mackintosh  held  that  utility,  as 
tending  to  promote  the  greatest  happiness  of  the  species,  is 
the  criterion!  Of  morality,  lie  naturally  felt  himself  called 
upon  to  explain  the  fact,  that,  while  the  moral  approbation 
involves  no  perception  of  a  beneficent  tendency,  there  is, 
nevertheless,  a  striking  coincidence  between  that  principle 
and  the  moral  sentiments.  He  replies  that  it  is  true  that 
conscience  itself  rarely  contemplates  so  distant  an  object  as 


VIRTUE. 


the  welfare  of  all  sentient  beings,  but  that  all  its  elements 
are  invariably  tending  to  this  end.  The  social  affections 
promote  happiness,  so  far  as  their  foresight  and  power  ex- 
tend; the  rules  of  justice  are  conducive,  if  not  necessary,  to 
the  well-being  of  society;  even  the  angry  passions,  so  far 
as  they  are  ministers  of  morality,  are  employed  in  removing 
hindrances  to  the  welfare  of  ourselves  and  others;  and  if 
the  private  passions  terminate  in  the  happiness  of  the  indi- 
vidual, this  is  yet  a  part  of  the  general  happiness.  And  al- 
though this  beneficent  tendency  be  not  one  of  the  natural 
objects  of  conscience,  because  our  voluntary  acts  are  not 
felt  to  affect  it,  yet  little  is  left  to  reason  to  perform :  which 
is,  to  discover  merely  the  truth,  that  the  acts  of  those  who 
labour  to  promote  separate  portions  of  happiness  must  in- 
crease the  amount  of  the  whole.  (Dissertation  on  the 
Progress  of  Ethical  Philosophy.) 

The  distinctive  characteristic  of  the  rational  theory  of 
morality  is,  that  it  considers  the  idea  of  good  to  be  an 
a  priori  conception  of  reason,  in  which  the  idea  of  obliga- 
tion is  necessarily  and  essentially  implied.  As  to  the  na- 
ture of  the  idea  itself,  two  opinions  have  been  held.  While 
some  moralists  of  this  school  pronounce  it  to  be  simple  and 
immediate,  others  resolve  it  into  some  higher  notion  of  the 
intellect,  from  which  it  derives  at  once  explanation  and 
authority. 

The  most  distinguished  representatives  of  the  latter 
opinion  are  Clarke  and  Wollaston ;  while  the  former  has 
found  able  advocates  in  Cudworth,  Price,  and  Stewart. 

According  to  Clarke  (born  1675,  died  1729),  the  universe 
is  an  assemblage  of  objects  held  together  by  certain  mutual 
relations  which  result  from  their  respective  natures;  but  as 
the  nature  or  essence  of  things  is  immutable  and  real,  and 
the  essence  is  the  principle  of  the  relations,  the  latter  must 
be  equally  real  and  immutable;  and  as  they  must  have 
been  always  present  to  the  Eternal  Mind,  they  are  also  eter- 
nal. Now,  as  soon  as  reason  conceives  these  relations  as 
constituting  the  laws  of  individual  things,  and  the  order  of 
the  universe,  they  immediately  appear  to  command  the  re- 
spect of  every  free  and  rational  agent.  Hence  the  obliga- 
tion on  every  creature  capable  of  thought  to  act  conformably 
to  those  relations ;  and  every  act  agreeable  to  them  is  judged 
to  be  good,  and  evil  if  opposed  to  them.  Now,  moral  good 
being  the  conformity  to  the  relations  of  objects,  these,  while 
they  constitute,  serve  also  to  explain,  all  duties.  Thus,  the 
true  nature  of  God  and  man,  and  their  reciprocal  relations, 
being  known,  the  duties  of  man  towards  God  are  at  once 
discoverable.  In  the  same  way  the  duties  of  man  to  his 
fellows  similarly  suggest  themselves  from  a  consideration 
of  their  relations  as  equally  free  and  independent  beings; 
and  as  the  latter  relation  is  one  of  equality,  whereas  that 
between  God  and  man  is  one  of  inequality,  the  difference 
between  the  two  classes  of  duties  which  those  relations  re- 
spectively engender  is  at  once  conceivable.  In  confirma- 
tion of  this  view  of  the  moral  principle,  Clarke  appeals  to 
the  historical  fact  of  the  gradual  development  of  moral  ideas 
among  mankind :  for  the  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  things, 
and  their  consequent  relations,  is  neither  natural  nor  im- 
mediate to  the  mind,  but  is  gradually  unfolded  by  observa- 
tion and  science,  which  are  more  or  less  complete  accord- 
ing to  the  degrees  of  its  culture.  The  evolution  of  moral 
science,  although  subsequent  to  that  of  nature,  nevertheless, 
being  once  awakened,  is  promoted  by  its  progress,  and  keeps 
pace  with  the  advancement  of  civilization.  [Being  and  at- 
tributes of  God:  Evidence  of  Natural  and  Revealed  Re- 
ligion.) 

Wollaston  (born  1659,  died  1724),  makes  morality  to  be 
conformity  to  truth.  In  support  of  this  view  he  asserts  that 
actions,  equally  with  words,  are  but  signs,  and  that  conse- 
quently every  true  proposition,  i.  e.,  one  which  expresses 
things  as  they  are,  may  be  contradicted  by  deeds  as  well  as 
by  words.  To  violate  a  compact,  for  instance,  is  simply  to 
deny  by  that  act  that  there  is  any  such  compact  subsisting. 
He  then  asserts  that  no  act,  whether  word  or  deed,  of  any 
free  and  rational  agent  to  whom  moral  good  and  evil  are  im- 
putable, which  interferes  with  any  true  proposition,  or  de- 
nies any  thing  to  be  as  it  is,  can  be  right.  For,  1.  If  a  false 
proposition  be  wrong,  the  act  which  implies,  or  is  founded 
on  it,  cannot  be  right.  2.  Whatever  interferes  with  a  true 
proposition,  which  expresses  the  relation  between  the  sub- 
ject and  attribute  as  it  is  in  nature,  must,  therefore,  interfere 
with  nature,  and  is  consequently  unnatural,  or  wrong  in  na- 
ture. 3.  An  act  which  contradicts  a  true  proposition  con- 
tradicts what  is ;  and  is,  therefore,  a  revolt  against  God,  the 
author  of  whatever  is.  4.  To  deny  things  to  be  as  they  are, 
is  a  transgression  of  the  great  law  of  our  nature — the  law 
of  reason.  What  is  said  of  acts  inconsistent  with  truth  may 
be  said  of  omissions  to  act,  since  by  these,  also,  true  propo- 
sitions may  be  denied  to  be  true.  For  instance,  whoever 
having  engaged  to  do  some  certain  act,  nevertheless  volun- 
tarily omits  to  do  it,  behaves  himself  as  if  there  had  been  no 
such  promise  or  engagement.  Having  thus  established  his 
theory,  he  proceeds,  like  Clarke,  to  show  that  it  is  agreea- 


ble to  facts,  and  especially  with  that  of  the  progressive  de- 
velopment of  morality.  For  morality  being  simply  the 
truth  expressed  in  action.it  implies  the  knowledge  of  truth; 
and  consequently  the  improvement  of  the  moral  percep- 
tions must  be  proportional  to  the  progress  of  science.  It 
also  affords  an  explanation  of  erroneous  views  in  morality, 
and  of  the  difference  so  universally  drawn  by  the  common 
sense  of  mankind  between  error  and  vice.  If  it  is  possible 
to  err  in  morals,  this  is  because  the  mind  is  liable  to  err  in 
science,  and  not  to  see  tilings  as  they  actually  are.  To  err 
in  morals  is  but  to  affirm  practically  a  false  position :  hence 
the  act  may  be  evil,  but  the  agent  is  not  culpable,  since  his 
error  is  involuntary.  Lastly,  Wollaston  maintains  that  his 
theory,  far  from  being  inconsistent  with  the  acknowledged 
characteristics  of  the  idea  of  moral  good,  affords  the  only 
just  explanation  of  them.  The  truth  is  immutable,  because 
it  expresses  the  unchangeable  nature  of  things,  and  there- 
fore the  ideas  of  moral  good  are  immutable.  Hence,  too, 
the  same  eternal  distinction  between  moral  good  and  evil  as 
between  truth  and  falsehood.  Whatever,  in  short,  may  be 
predicated  of  truth,  is  applicable  to  the  moral  principle ; 
and  its  foundations  are  as  valid  and  imperishable  as  those 
of  science  itself.     (The  Religion  of  Nature.) 

The  other  form  of  the  rational  theory,  which  explains 
the  idea  of  good  to  be  an  immediate  conception  of  the  in- 
tuitive reason,  intelligible  in  itself,  and  incapable  of  defini- 
tion, now  remains  for  elucidation.  According  to  Cudworth 
(born  1617,  died  1688),  certain  universal  and  absolute  ideas 
exist  from  all  eternity  in  the  Divine  mind,  from  which  the 
human  intellect  emanates  ;  and,  therefore,  by  its  nature 
possesses  these  ideas  antecedently  to  experience.  They 
remain  dormant,  it  is  true,  until  outward  objects  call  them 
forth  :  but  when  once  awakened,  they  immediately  apply 
themselves  to  things,  and  give  them  a  significant  character, 
which  in  themselves  they  do  not  possess.  Cudworth's 
chief  object  in  advancing  this  theory  of  intellection,  was  to 
exempt  the  ideas  of  right  and  wrong  from  the  arbitrary  and 
relative  character  with  which  the  sensuous  doctrines  of 
Hobbes  had  invested  them.  Accordingly,  he  shows  that 
no  relation  of  human  will  or  pleasure  can  constitute  these 
ideas.  Positive  laws,  he  urges,  do  not  oblige  by  their  mere 
enactment,  but  by  virtue  of  the  natural  ideas  of  justice 
and  obligation  which  they  imply.  Neither  is  this  idea  the 
mere  creature  of  man's  reason,  for  this  does  but  conceive  it, 
and,  by  applying  its  unchangeable  standard  to  actions  and 
characters,  appreciates  and  judges  them.  Lastly,  this  idea 
is  simple  and  indefinable,  and  inseparably  combined  with 
that  of  obligation.  Hence  every  virtue  assumes  the  char- 
acter of  a  duty,  and  is  as  unalterable  as  good  itself.  (Eter- 
nal and  Immutable  Morality.} 

Price  (born  1723,  died  1791),  ascribes  all  simple  ideas  to 
two  faculties — sense  and  understanding.  The  latter  sees 
things  as  they  are ;  the  former  perceives  the  effects  only 
that  they  produce  on  the  sensuous  organization.  The 
ideas  of  the  understanding  consequently  express  realities 
which  are  independent  of  man,  whereas  those  of  the  latter 
are  sensations  which  would  be  different  if  man's  sensuous 
organs  were  changed.  Now  the  question  of  the  objective 
reality  and  immutability  of  the  ideas  of  right  and  wrong 
reduces  itself  to  the  inquiry  into  their  origin.  According  to 
Price,  they  belong  to  the  understanding  as  a  faculty  of  in- 
tuition or  immediate  power  of  perception,  distinct  from  the 
understanding  as  a  reasoning  or  deductive  faculty.  The 
doctrine  which  would  assign  them  to  sensation  as  their 
origin  has  its  source  in  the  fact  that  the  moral  perceptions 
are  invariably  attended  with  agreeable  or  disagreeable 
emotions,  and  the  exclusive  consideration  of  this  circum- 
stance. But  when  men  declare  gratitude  to  be  a  virtue, 
and  ingratitude  a  vice,  they  intend  to  signify  not  merely 
that  they  produce  emotions  in  their  own  minds,  but  that 
they  are  naturally  virtuous  and  vicious  in  themselves.  If 
by  virtue  and  vice  nothing  more  be  meant  than  certain 
mental  affections,  then,  in  that  case,  our  moral  judgments 
would  be  infallible,  and  the  same  act  might  with  equal 
truth  be  the  subject  of  the  most  conflicting  estimates,  and 
all  things  would  be  indifferent  in  their  own  nature,  since 
the  understanding,  which  alone  apprehends  things  as  they 
are,  could  see  in  them  neither  good  nor  evil.  Moreover,  in 
this  case,  they  would  be  w  ithout  authority ;  for  what  obli- 
gation can  there  be  to  do  what  is  pleasing,  or  to  forbear 
what  is  displeasing"?  But  these  ideas  are  both  immutable 
and  imperative  :  they  are  immutable,  since  they  are  real 
qualities  of  actions,  and  every  real  quality  is  a  part  of  the 
nature  of  things,  which  is  immutable.  God  may  destroy 
the  things  themselves,  but  he  cannot  cause  them  to  be 
what  they  are  not.  After  establishing  the  rational  origin 
and  immutable  character  of  the  moral  perceptions,  Price 
proceeds  to  explain  the  manner  in  which  they  are  appre- 
hended by  the  intuitive  reason.  As  the  sight  of  an  event 
suggests  the  idea  that  it  must  have  taken  place  in  time,  and 
thereby  we  arrive  at  the  idea  of  duration,  in  the  same  way 
certain  actions  of  free  and  rational  agents  are  immediately 
4  N  1313 


VIRTUE. 

apprehended  to  be  good  nr  evil,  and  the  ideas  of  right  and 
wrong  arise  in  the  consciousness.  As  to  the  notions  of 
moral  beauty  and  deformity,  these  we  ascribe  to  good  and 
evil  actions  in  virtue  of  the  pleasure  and  pain  which  ac- 
company, but  yet  are  distinct  from  the  inception  of  right 
and  wrong.  In  contemplating  the  actions  and  affections  of 
moral  agent-,  wo  have  both  a  perception  oftheund 
ing  and  a  feeling  of  tin  heart  :  the  latter  are  the  effects  of 
Uie  former"  and  partly  depend  on  the  positive  constitution 
of  our  nature,  and  partly  on  the  essential  congruity  of  ob- 
ject and  faculty.  The  former  are  wholly  inexplicable,  and 
the  only  account  we  can  give  of  them  is — such  is  our  frame  ; 
so  God"  has  seen  tit  to  make  us.  Hut  there  are  some  ob- 
jects and  ideas  which  have  a  natural  fitness  and  unfitness 
to  please  our  mind,  and  such  is  the  nature  of  certain  ac- 
tions that  when  perceived  by  a  rational  being,  there  must 
result  in  him  certain  emotions  and  affections.  These  are 
at  first  of  a  purely  intellectual  kind  ;  but,  as  such,  they  are 
too  weak  to  govern  and  actuate  mankind,  and  they  are 
therefore  combined  with  a  stronger  excitement,  and  we  are 
endowed  with  certain  special  instincts  which  impel  us  to 
goodness,  and  by  means  of  these  we  are  effectually  moved 
towards  their  proper  objects.  As  to  duty  or  obligation: 
this  idea  is  so  intimately  allied  to  that  of  good,  that  one 
cannot  appear  without  the  other.  Obligation  to  action  and 
lightness  to  action  are  plainly  coincident  and  identical.  It 
is  not  plainer  that  fisure  implies  something  figured,  than 
that  Tightness  implies  oughtness.  Rewards  and  punish- 
ments suppose  in  their  very  ideal  moral  obligation,  and  are 
founded  upon  it.  They  do  not  make  it,  but  enforce  it,  or 
furnish  additional  motives  to  comply  with  it.  They  are 
the  sanctions  of  virtue,  but  not  its  efficients.  The  ideas  of 
good  and  ill  desert  are  equally  immediate;  for  they  are 
really  nothing  less  than  a  species  of  the  ideas  of  right  and 
wrong;  although  there  is  this  difference  in  them,  that 
while  the  latter  are  properly  ascribed  to  actions,  merit  and 
demerit  are  applicable  to  agents  or  persons  only.  We  have 
an  immediate  approbation  of  making  the  virtuous  happy, 
and  discouraging  the  vicious,  apart  from  all  consequences. 
The  conception  of  virtue  is  totally  distinct  from  the  fact 
that  virtue  is  a  source  of  pleasure  ;  fur  it  is  one  thing  to  find 
by  experience  that  the  tendency  of  virtue  is  to  the  happi- 
ness of  the  world,  and  vice  to  its  misery,  and  another  to 
conceive  that  virtue  is  by  a  necessary  truth  deserving  of 
happiness.  Neither  does  it  result  from  the  view  that  virtue 
is  of  public  utility:  for.  even  though  this  consideration 
may  incline  us  to  wish  good  to  the  virtuous,  yet  are  we  an- 
tecedently moved  to  the  same  wish  by  the  more  immediate 
and  more  simple  consideration  that  he  is  virtuous,  and  as 
such,  without  any  other  consideration,  we  pronounce  him 
deserving  of  honour.  Lastly,  Price  makes  liberty  and  in- 
telligence to  be  essentially  necessary  to  the  morality  of  the 
agent,  and  rightly  distinguishes  absolute  virtue,  which  is  to 
act  voluntarily  and  consciously  in  conformity  with  the 
moral  laws,  from  practical  virtue,  or  acting  on  a  belief  of 
good  in  supposed  conformity  to  good,  (View  of  Principal 
Questions  niul  Difficulties  in  Morals.) 

Stewart  (born  1753,  died  1838,)  distinguishes  two  ques- 
tions in  the  fundamental  problem  of  ethics — that  of  the  na- 
ture of  good,  and  that  of  the  faculty  which  discerns  and 
judges  of  it.  With  respect  to  the 'first,  he  teaches  that 
upon  observation  of  certain  actions  the  idea  of  good  arises 
in  the  mind.  This  idea  represents  a  certain  quality  of  the 
actions  themselves,  and  inherent  in  them,  like  the  primary 
qualities  of  bodies,  and  therefore  independent  of  the  sen- 
suous percipient,  and  not  like  the  secondary  qualities,  mere 
relations  between  us  and  the  actions.  As  to  the  nature 
of  these  qualities,  they  are,  like  the  ideas  which  we  have 
of  them,  perfectly  original,  simple,  ami  irreducible,  and 
consequently  indefinable.    He  farther  shows,  after  Price, 

that  it  is  impossible  to  explain  the  terms  good  and  evil  ex- 
cept by  synonyms,  or  by  substituting  tor  the  ideas  which 

they  represent  some  of  the  circumstances  which  ai  c pa 

ny  the  perception  of  them.  As  to  the  second  question, 
Stewart  argues  that  good  being  a  simple  and  real  quality 

in  actions,  it  is  impossible  to  refer  the  idea  of  it  to  any 
faculty  Which  is  not  a  source  Of  Original  ideas,  and  which 
does  not  apprehend  the  real  and  inherent  qualities  id' ob- 
jects, it  is,  therefore,  impossible  to  refer  it  to  a  sense- 
such  as  that  of  taste  or  smell,  which  do  not  reveal  the  re.rl 
nature  of  objects,  hut  only  the  effect  which  they  produce 
in  the  perceiving  Bubject;  nor  to  reason— if  by  this  term 
we  understand  nothing  more  than  the  faculty  which  sei/.es 

the  relations  and  deductions  of  ideas  previously  establish 

«d,  because  the  idea  oft; 1  is  simple  and  original,  and  not 

one  of  relation  and  consequence  ;  hut  if  by  sense  uu  un- 
derstand a  faculty  analogous  to  that  which  perceives  the  pri- 
mary qualities  of  bodies  and  their  existence — or  if  by  rea- 
son we  mean  the  intuitive  and  understanding  which  fur- 
nishes  the  simple,  primary,  and  original   ideas  of  time, 

nd  causation— then  the  idea,  of  good  ami  evil  may 
I*.-  referred  to  either.    If  Stewart  inclines,  nevertheless,  to 

1314 


VISIBLE. 

favour  the  claims  ot  reason,  he  yet  declares  the  question  fo 
be  unimportant  when  once  it  has  been  admitted  n 
and  evil  are  simple   and  indefinable.     (Philosophy  of  the 
Active  iiml  Moral  Powers.) 

In  this  exposition,  the  first  object  has  been  to  jive  a  cor- 
rect and  impartial  view  of  the  several  theories  which  have 
been  proposed  of  the  nature  of  virtue  and  of  the  moral  per- 
ceptions. Their  comparative  merits  have  been  left  to  the 
reader's  judgment,  unbiassed  and  undisturbed  by  any  criti- 
cal estimate  by  the  writer  himself,  except  so  far  as  his 
arrangement  of  the  subject  matter  necessarily  implies  his 
own  opinion.  (Cf.  Kitter,  History  of  Ancient  Philosophy  ; 
Mackintosh,  Dissertation  on  Ethical  Philosophy ;  Sehleier- 
macher,  Kritik  dcr  F.thik  :  Jouffroy,  Droit  Naturel : 
Cousin,  Cours  de  Philosophic  Morale  :  and  the  articles 
Ethics  and  Schellino  in  this  work.) 

VIS.  (Lat.  force  or  power),  in  Mechanics,  is  synony- 
mous with  force.  The  term  is  chiefly  used  by  the  older 
writers,  and  is  applied  by  them  to  divers  kinds  "of  forces  or 
powers.  Thus,  vis  acceleratrii,  accelerating  force;  vis 
inertia;  resistance  ;  vis  motriz,  moving  force,  &c.  Vis 
mortua  and  vis  viva,  are  terms  which  were  used  by  Leib- 
nitz and  his  followers  ;  the  former  signifying  a  pressure, 
and  the  latter  the  force  of  a  body  in  motion  estimated  by 
the  distance  the  body  goes  to.  About  the  beginning  of  the 
last  century,  a  keen  dispute  arose  among  mathematicians 
with  respect  to  the  manner  in  which  the  forces  indicated 
by  those  terms  ought  to  be  estimated.  It  began  with  B 
prize  essay  by  John  Bernoulli  on  the  "  Investigation  of  the 
Laws  of  the  Communication  of  Motion,"  and  was  carried 
on  for  many  years  with  great  asperity.  The  question  was, 
whether  the  force  of  a  moving  body  is  proportional  to  the 
square  of  the  velocity,  or  to  the  simple  power  only  of  the 
velocity.  No  controversy,  says  Playfair,  was  ever  carried 
on  by  more  illustrious  disputants:  Maclaurin,  Stirling', 
DesagUliers,  .Turin,  Clarke,  Mairan.  were  all  encased  on 
the  one  side ;  and  on  the  opposite  were  Bernoulli,  Herman, 
Poleni.  S'Gravesende,  Muschenbroek.  Tne  dispute  was 
taken  up  as  a  point  of  National  honour.  Germany.  Hol- 
land, and  Italy  declared  for  the  ris  viva  :  England  stood 
firm  for  the  old  doctrine  ;  and  France  was  divided  between 
the  two  opinions.  (Dissertation  on  the  Progress  of  Math. 
and  Phys.  Science,  Ency.  Brit.)  The  difference  in  this 
case,  as  in  most  other  disputes  of  a  similar  kind,  arose  from 
the  parties  not  understanding  each  other.  When  the  effect 
of  a  body  in  motion  is  measured  by  the  distance  to  which 
it  goes,  the  effect  is  proportional  to  the  square  of  the  veloci- 
ty :  if  measured  by  the  time  that  elapses  before  the  motion 
is  destroyed  by  a  resistance  of  uniform  intensity,  it  is  as  the 
velocity  simply.  Both  measures  may  be  considered  as  cor- 
rect, and  they  are  not  inconsistent  when  rightly  under- 
stood. (Playfair's  Nat.  Phil.,  vol.  i.,  p.  56.)  The  vis  vica, 
considered  as  a  power  residing  in  a  moving  body,  is  other- 
wise called  impetus.     See  Force. 

Vl'SCOUiS'T.  A  title  of  honour ;  in  its  original  signifies 
tion,  the  delegate  of  a  count  (vice-comes),  and  applied  to 
governors  of  towns  and  districts  under  the  authority  of  that 
officer.  In  England,  the  appellation  of  vice-comes,  or  \  is- 
counte,  in  Norman  French,  was  long  used  to  designate  the 
sheriff"  of  a  county  (the  vicegerent  of  the  earl)  before  it  be- 
came a  title  of  peerage.  It  is  the  most  modem  of  English 
honours  in  the  latter  sense ;  and  was  first  conferred  by  let- 
ters patent  on  John  Lord  Beaumont,  and  the  heirs  male  of 
his  body,  by  Henry  VI.,  in  1440.  For  the  rank  of  the  vis- 
count, see  Precedency. 

visum-.  One  of  the  three  principal  deities  of  the  Hin- 
doo mythology,  the  other  two  being  I'rama  and  Siva.  He 
is  commonly  called  the  Preserver,  the  other  two  being  re- 
spectively the  Creator  and  the  Destroyer.  The  great  ob- 
jects of  bis  providence  are  brought  about  by  bis  successive 
incarnations  or  avatars,  in  which  he  appears  and  acts  on 
earth.  Nine  of  these  have  taken  place.  The  last  is  said  to 
have  been  the  appearance  of  Buddha,  which  is  supposed  by 
some  teamed  orientalists  to  have  taken  place  about  A.  D. 
1(114;  and  hence  the  Buddhists  reject  the  Yedas.  which 
were  compiled  before  that  event.  [S  i  Vedas.)  The  tenth 
avatar  of  Vishnu  is  yet  to  take  place,  when  he  will  appeal 
on  a  white  horse,  with  a  blazing  scimitar,  for  tin'  everlast- 
ing punishment  of  the  wicked.  One  of  the  incarnations  of 
Vishnu  is  the  celebrated  Juggernaut,  whose  temple  and 

worship  bold  >uch  a  prominent  place  in  Indian  superstition. 

•  in  the  great  annual  festival  in  his  honour,  all  distinctions 
of  castes  ami  classes  are  forgotten,  and  even  on  that  occa- 
sion the  Brahminlcal  Hindoos  ami  the  followers  of  Buddha 
cease  their  religious  hostilities.  The  word  Juggernaut  sig- 
nifies literally  Lord  of  the  Universe;  and  it  is  said  that  on 
the  day  be  expired.  Buddha  assumed  this  appellation,  ex- 
Claiming,  "O  Universe,  lam  thy  Lord." 

VTSIBLE.  Capable  of  being  seen.  Objects  an'  visible 
or  otherwise,  according  as  they  emit  or  reflect  a  sufficient 

quantity  of  light  to  make  a  sensible  impres-ion  on  the  retina 
of  the  eye.    Accoiding  to  Newton,  colour  is  the  proper  ob- 


VISION. 

j«ct  of  sight;  Ihe  visibility  of  an  object  must  therefore  de- 
pend on  its  transmitting  to  the  eye  rays  of  a  different  colour 
from  those  which  proceed  from  the  surrounding  objects. 

VI'SIOX.  In  Optics,  the  faculty  of  seeing.  Philoso- 
phers have  disputed  much  respecting  the  means  of  vision, 
and  its  seat  in  the  eye.  The  Platonists  and  Stoics  held 
vision  to  be  effected  by  the  emission  of  rays  out  of  the  eyes. 
The  Epicureans  supposed  vision  to  be  performed  by  the 
emanation  of  images  or  corporeal  species  from  objects  to 
the  eye ;  and  the  Peripatetics  differed  in  opinion  from  the 
Epicureans  by  supposing  the  species  received  by  the  eye  to 
be  incorporeal.  .Modern  philosophers  agree  in  referring  the 
cause  of  vision  to  the  impressions  of  light  on  the  eye ;  but 
whether  this  impression  is  made  by  material  particles 
emanating  from  a  self-luminous  body,  and  reflected  from 
visible  objects,  or  by  the  medium  of  a  fluid  of  great  elasti- 
city exciting  the  eye  by  the  vibrations  communicated  to  it 
by  the  luminous  body,  is  a  question  which  is  still  undeter- 
mined. (See  Light.)  In  what  manner  the  eye,  or  the  par- 
ticular part  of  it  affected  by  the  light,  conveys  to  the  brain 
the  impressions  it  receives  from  the  luminous  rays,  is  a 
question  which  philosophy  has  not  yet  solved,  and  will 
probably  never  be  able  to  solve. 

Seat  of  Vision. — The  retina  of  the  eye,  on  which  an  in- 
verted image  of  external  objects  is  formed,  has  usually  been 
regarded  as  the  seat  of  vision ;  but  this  opinion  was  long 
ago  brought  into  doubt  by  the  accidental  discover}7  of  Mari- 
otte,  that  the  base  of  the  optic  nerve  is  insensible  to  the 
rays  of  light,  and  consequently  incapable  of  conveying  to 
the  brain  the  impression  of  vision.  But  the  retina,  being 
only  the  extension  or  contraction  of  the  optic  nerve,  Mari- 
otte  inferred  that  if  the  former  were  the  true  seat  of  vision, 
that  part  of  it  at  the  entrance  of  the  nerve,  and  where  it 
exists  in  the  greatest  quantity,  and  where  precisely  vision 
is  wanted,  ought  to  be  at  least  as  sensible  to  the  rays  of 
light  as  the  other  parts.  Mariotte,  therefore,  concluded 
that  the  choroid  coat  which  lies  immediately  below  the  re- 
tina, and  lines  the  whole  bottom  of  the  eye  excepting  the 
place  at  which  the  optic  nerve  is  inserted,  is  the  real  seat 
and  cause  of  vision.  (Priestley  on  Vision,  Light,  and 
Colours,  p.  722;  or  Hutton's  Dictionary.)  The  opacity  of 
the  choroid  coat,  and  the  transparency  of  the  retina,  which 
render  it  an  unfit  ground  for  the  reception  of  images,  furnish 
arguments  in  support  of  this  view  ;  and  an  interesting  fact 
was  observed  by  Sir  D.  Brewster  which  points  to  the  same 
conclusion.  He  observed  that  in  young  persons  the  choroid 
coat,  which  is  generally  supposed  to  be  black,  and  to  grow 
fainter  by  age,  reflects  a  brilliant  crimson  colour,  like  that 
of  dogs  and  other  animals.  Hence,  if  the  retina  is  affected 
by  rays  which  pass  through  it,  this  crimson  light,  which 
must  necessarily  be  transmitted  by  it,  ought  to  excite  the 
sensation  of  crimson,  which  he  found  not  to  be  the  case. 
("  Optics,"  Cab.  Cycl.,  p.  291.) 

M.  Lehot,  a  French  writer,  has  recently  attempted  to 
prove  that  the  seat  of  vision  is  in  the  vitreous  humour ;  and 
that  instead  of  seeing  a  flat  picture  of  objects,  we  actually 
see  an  image  of  three  dimensions.  To  produce  this  effect, 
he  supposes  that  the  retina  sends  out  a  number  of  small 
nervous  filaments,  which  extend  into  the  vitreous  humour, 
and  convey  to  the  brain  the  impression  of  all  parts  of  the 
image.  (Id.,  p.  292.  For  further  information  on  this  sub- 
ject, see  Jurin's  Essay  on  Distinct  and  Indistinct  Vision, 
in  Smith's  Optics ;  Robins'  Tracts,  vol.  ii. ;  a  paper  On 
Vision,  by  Dr.  T.  Young,  Phil.  Trans.,  1793 ;  Morn  on  the 
Seat  of  Vision.  8vo,  1813.)     See  Optics. 

VISION,  BEATI'FIC.  In  Theology.  The  doctors  of 
the  church  distinguish  three  manners  of  seeing  or  knowing 
God  :  which  they  call,  1.  Abstractive  vision  ;  i.  e.,  through 
the  consideration  of  his  attributes.  2.  Beatific  or  intuitive 
zision  ;  that  which  the  faithful  enjoy  in  heaven.  (1  Cor., 
xiii.,  12.)  The  belief  termed  Catholic  by  the  Romanists  is, 
that  this  vision  is  accorded  to  the  just,  who  die  without 
leaving  a  sin  unexpiated,  immediately  on  their  departure. 
The  Greek  church  holds  that  they  do  not  enjoy  it  until  after 
the  general  resurrection.  This  is  one  of  the  opinions  con- 
demned by  the  Council  of  Florence  in  1439 ;  and  its  deci- 
sion is  confirmed  by  that  of  Trent.  3.  The  third  kind  of 
vision,  or  comprehension,  is  that  which  belongs  to  God,  who 
alone  can  know  Himself  as  He  is.  Prophetic  vision  is  only 
the  knowledge  of  future  or  distant  events,  given  by  inspi- 
ration. 

VISITATION.  In  Ecclesiastical  Law,  the  inspection 
by  the  bishop  of  the  several  parishes  in  his  diocess;  or  by 
an  archbishop  of  the  dioceses  in  his  province.  By  the  an- 
cient canon  law  visitations  were  to  be  held  once  a  year,  and 
by  the  personal  repairing  of  the  ordinary  to  each  parish ; 
but  the  modern  practice,  which  appears  to  have  come  gradu- 
ally into  use,  owing  to  the  extent  of  dioceses,  is  to  summon 
the  clergy  from  several  parts  to  one  convenient  place.  The 
times  of  episcopal  visitations  are  now  usually  fixed  in  this 
country  about  Easter  and  Michaelmas.  By  can.  60.  of  the 
English  Church,  such  visitations  for  the  purpose  of  conflrm- 


VIVACE. 

ation  must  be  triennial  at  least.  The  care  of  the  ancient 
parochial  institutions  has  by  degrees  devolved  on  the  arch- 
deacons. They  are  bound  to  see  that  the  offices  of  the 
church  are  duly  administered ;  to  keep  account  of  the  orna 
ments,  vestments,  &.c,  appertaining  to  the  churches  ;  to 
examine  into  the  state  of  repair  of  parsonages,  church- 
yards, &x. ;  and  to  receive  presentments  of  excesses  com- 
mitted by  ecclesiastical  persons.  Ecclesiastical  corporations, 
such  as  conventual  bodies,  had  usually  their  special  visitors 
appointed  by  the  founder;  as  is  the  case  at  present  with 
colleges  in  our  universities,  hospitals,  &.C. 

Visitation.  A  festival  of  the  Western  Church,  in  hon- 
our of  the  visit  of  the  Virgin  Mary  to  Elizabeth ;  said  to 
have  been  first  instituted  among  the  Franciscans  by  Saint 
Bonaventure,  general  of  that  order.  It  is  celebrated  on  the 
2d  of  July.  A  female  religious  order  was  founded  in  Savoy 
in  1010,  by  St.  Francis  de  Salis,  in  honour  of  the  visitation. 
VISUAL  ANGLE,  in  Optics,  is  the  angle  under  which 
an  object  is  seen,  or  the  angle  formed  at  the  eye  by  the  rays 
of  light  coming  from  the  extremities  of  the  object.  Visual 
rays  are  the  lines  of  light  coming  from  an  object  to  the  eye. 
VI'TAL  VESSELS.  A  name  given  by  Schultz  to  cer- 
tain vessels  ramifying  in  all  directions  in  plants,  especially 
near  the  surface,  and  conveying  latex,  which  that  physiolo- 
gist calls  a  vital  fluid.  The  milk-vessels  of  spurges  are  vital 
vessels. 

VITE'LLUS.  In  Botany,  a  name  given  to  the  fleshy  sac 
that  is  sometimes  present  in  seeds ;  interposed  between  the 
albumen  and  the  embryo,  and  enveloping  the  latter.  It  ia 
the  enlarged  sac  of  the  amnios. 

VITILI'GO.  (Lat.  vitulus,  a  calf.)  A  disease  of  the 
skin,  giving  it  a  white  appearance  somewhat  resembling 
that  of  calves. 

VI'TIS.  (Celt,  gwid,  a  tree.)  The  grape-vine  is  doubtless 
a  native  of  Asia  Minor,  although  its  universal  cultivation 
renders  it  no  longer  possible  to  distinguish  the  wild  from 
the  domesticated  kinds.  It  is  the  type  of  the  Vitaceous 
order,  which  consists  of  plants  climbing  by  tendrils,  and 
producing  small  green  flowers,  succeeded  by  succulent  fruit. 
None  of  the  species  are,  however,  to  be  compared  with  the 
true  grape,  Vitis  vinifera,  for  quality;  the  best  of  the 
American  species  being  disagreeable  to  the  taste,  and  some 
of  the  order  even  acrid.  The  reputed  varieties  of  grape  are 
innumerable,  if  we  are  to  believe  the  writers  on  the  subject; 
1400  being  cultivated  in  the  garden  of  the  Luxembourg  alone. 
There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  many  of  these  are  repeti- 
tions of  each  other.  When  the  pulp  is  fleshy  and  sweet, 
and  the  skin  thick,  raisins  are  prepared  from  the  fruit ;  and 
when  it  is  watery  and  less  sweet,  with  a  thin  skin,  grapes 
are  best  suited  for  wine.  The  currants  of  the  grocers  are 
the  dried  berries  of  a  small  variety  of  the  grape  cultivated 
at  Zante. 

VITREOUS  HUMOUR,  so  called  from  its  glassy  appear- 
ance, is  the  third  or  interior  humour  of  the  eye,  filling  a 
large  portion  of  the  eyeball,  and  greatly  exceeding  in  quan- 
tity the  aqueous  and  crystalline  humours  together.  Ac- 
cording to  Sir  D.  Brewster,  the  refractive  power  of  the 
vitreous  humour  is  1-3394.     See  Optics. 

VITRIFIED  WALLS  or  FORTIFICATIONS.  An- 
cient remains  discovered  in  Scotland,  constructed  of  stones 
piled  rudely  upon  one  another,  and  firmly  cemented  together 
by  some  matter  which  has  been  vitrified  by  means  of  fire. 
They  generally  surround  the  top  of  some  steep  conical  hill. 
They  have  been  discovered  chiefly  in  the  Highlands,  but 
also  in  Galloway.  The  vitrification  is  mostly  external,  the 
interior  of  the  walls  being  a  mere  heap  of  loose  stones. 
Daines  Barrington  considered  the  vitrification  to  be  acciden- 
tal, but  his  explanation  of  how  it  took  place  is  not  very 
intelligible.  (Archaologia,  vol.  vi.)  It  seems  more  reason- 
able to  suppose  that  the  art  was  derived  from  observation 
of  the  ease  with  which  some  kinds  of  earth  containing  much 
iron  ore  are  vitrified  by  fire,  and  that  the  process  was  ren- 
dered easy  by  the  quantities  of  wood  which  in  early  days 
covered  the  Highlands. 

VrTRI'NA.  (Lat.  vitrea,  glass.)  A  genus  of  fresh- 
water Gastropods ;  so  called  from  the  extreme  thinness  and 
fragility  of  the  shell,  and  its  watery-  green  appearance. 
Vitrina  pellucida  and  Vitr.  elongata  are  natives  of  Great 
Britain. 

VITRIOL.  (Lat.  vitrum,  glass ;  from  the  glassy  char- 
acter of  its  crystals.)  This  term  is  applied  by  the  old 
writers  to  crystallized  sulphate  of  iron,  or  green  vitriol : 
sulphate  of  copper  and  sulphate  of  zinc  were  afterwards 
called  blue  vitriol  and  white  vitriol.  See  Iron,  Copper,  Zinc. 
VITRIOL,  OIL  OF.  The  old  name  of  sulphuric  acid, 
which  was  originally  obtained  by  distilling  green  vitriol. 
See  Sulphur. 

VIVA'CE.  (It.  lively.)  In  Music,  a  term  which,  affixed 
to  a  movement,  denotes  that  it  is  to  be  executed  by  the  per- 
former in  a  lively  manner.  It  is  a  mean  between  largo  and 
allegro ;  but,  if  any  thing,  rather  nearer  the  latter  than  the 
former. 

1315 


VIVERRID,E. 

"VIVE'RRm.E.  (Lat.  viverra,  a  ferret.)  Civet  tribe. 
The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Camivoroua  Mammals,  of  which 
tin-  genua  Viverra  is  the  type.  The  characters  are  three 
premolars  above,  and  four  below ;  two  tolerably  large  tuber- 
culate  molars  above,  one  tuberculate  and  one  sectorial 
molai  below  ,  the  tongue  inset  with  firm  papilla- ;  claws 
more  or  less  retracted  ;  a  large  anal  scent-gland  and  pouch. 

VIVI'PAROUS,  lieipara.  (Lat.  visits,  «//(•<■,  and  pario, 
I  bring  forth.)  Those  animals  are  so  called  which  bring 
forth  their  young  developed  and  alive,  and  commonly  ex- 
tricated from  the  egg  coverings;  as  all  the  Mammalia, 
which  were  hence  called  Zootoka  by  Aristotle;  many  rep- 
tiles, as  the  viper  or  "  viviper;"  some  fishes,  and  numerous 
invertebrate  animals.  In  its  restricted  sense,  the  term  sig- 
nifies that  mode  of  generation  in  which  the  chorion,  or  ex- 
ternal tunic  of  the  ovum,  contracts  a  vascular  adhesion 
with  the  uterus;  and  hence  only  the  Placental  Mammalia 
are  truly  viviparous,  the  rest  being  termed  ovi-vivipaious. 

VIZIR.  (In  Arabic,  a  porter ;  and,  by  a  singular  meta- 
phor, the  title  in  various  oriental  countries  of  a  minister 
and  councillor  of  state.)  The  grand  khalifs  had  their  vizirs, 
who  attained  to  the  highest  rank  and  consideration  in  their 
stales,  and  were  often  more  powerful  than  their  masters  ; 
but  alter  the  creation  of  the  new  dignity  of  Emir-ul-omrah 
(commander  of  commanders),  by  Khalif  Radhi,  the  older 
title  lost  much  of  its  consideration.  In  Turkey,  the  coun- 
cillors of  state  who  sit  in  the  divan,  generally  eight  in  num- 
ber, are  styled  vizirs ;  and  the  chief  among  them  vizir  azeni, 
rendered  by  us  by  grand  vizir,  which  is  the  highest  tempo- 
ral dignity  in  the  empire. 

VOCATION".  (Lat.  voco,  /  call.)  In  Divinity,  the 
grace  vouchsafed  by  God  to  any  man  in  calling  him  from 
death  unto  life,  and  putting  him  into  the  way  of  salvation. 
It  is  also  used  for  the  call  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  which  per- 
sons are  supposed  to  be  initiated  into  the  clerical  order. 

VOICE.  The  sound  produced  by  the  vibration  of  air 
emitted  from  the  lungs  of  animals,  which  vibration  is 
caused  by  an  organ  developed  in  the  wind-pipe,  called  the 
"larynx."  Mammals,  birds,  and  reptiles,  are  the  only  ani- 
mals, which,  according  to  the  above  definition,  possess  a 
voice  ;  but  many  species  of  other  classes  produce  peculiar 
sounds,  by  which  the  individuals  are  attracted  to  each  other, 
or  express  their  wants  and  feelings.  A  true  organ  of  voice 
includes  the  lungs,  bronchi,  trachea,  larynx,  and  mouth. 
The  most  essential  parts  are  two  vibratile  chords,  bounding 
a  slit  shaped  aperture,  called  the  "glottis,"  and  this  may  be 
situated  at  different  parts  of  the  air-tube  in  different  ani- 
mals ;  the  portion  of  the  tube  between  the  glottis  and  the 
oral  outlet  being  the  true  sonorous  instrument.  In  mam- 
mals and  reptiles  the  glottis  is  situated  at  the  end  of  the 
windpipe,  which  communicates  with  the  bronchial  tubes, 
and  consequently  the  whole  trachea  becomes,  in  this  class, 
part  of  the  vocal  instrument.  The  organ  of  voice  in  rep- 
tiles consists  of  a  simple  larynx,  without  an  epiglottis,  and 
in  which  the  glottis  is  merely  membranous,  not  provided 
with  fibrous  vocal  chords.  Since  neither  fleshy  moveable 
lips  nor  soft  palate  exist  in  this  class,  the  voice  cannot  un- 
dergo any  farther  modification  after  its  formation  by  the  sim- 
ple larynx.  It  consequently  rarely  rises  beyond  a  hiss  ;  and 
in  the  frog  tribe,  where  the  bones  or  gristles  of  the  larynx 
are  largest  and  most  complicated,  and  the  vibratile  mem- 
brane of  the  glottis  is  best  developed,  the  voice  is  only  a 
more  or  less  noisy  croak. 

In  mammals,  the  air  driven  by  the  muscles  of  expiration 
from  the  lungs  through  the  trachea  strikes  against  the  two 
vibratile  "  vocal  chords,"  which  bound  the  sides  of  the 
glottis ;  and  a  voice  is  produced,  varying  in  different  ani- 
mals, according  to  the  power  of  regulating  the  degree  of 
tensions  of  the  chords,  and  according  to  the  size  and  shape, 
and  various  complications  of  the  laryngeal  sacculi  of  the 
pharynx,  of  the  tongue,  and  of  the  mouth  and  lips. 

The  superior  organization  and  mobility  of  the  tongue  and 
lips  enables  man  to  modify  his  vocal  sounds  so  as  to  render 
them  articulate,  and  adapted  to  express  the  ideas  which  it 
is  bis  peculiar  privilege  to  form.  Although  some  quadru- 
peds possess  the  imitative  faculty,  and  can  be  taught  to  do 
certain  tricks,  it  would  seem  that  the  physical  condition  of 
their  vocal  organs  is  an  insuperable  impediment  to  their 
Imitation  of  the  human  speech. 

The  sacculi  or  membranous  pouches  which  communicate 
with  the  larynx  in  the  chimpanzee,  Drang,  and  most  other 
quadrumanous  animals,  together  with  their  thicker  and 
more  confined  tongues  and  less  flexible  lips,  are  assumed  to 
constitute  the  impediments  to  speech  in  them;  but  it  may 
be  doubted  whether  they  have-  the  Imitative  (acuity  for 
sounds  possessed  by  the  parrot  or  starling;  and  in  respect 
of  their  voluntary  application  of  their  vocal  organs  to  speech, 
ice  of  any  such  application  is  accounted  for  by 
presuming  that  they  have  nothing  to  say. 

In  birds,  which  possess  the  most  diversified  and  compli- 
cated organ  of  voire,  combined  in  some  species  with  a  hinli 
imitativeness,  instances  are  not  uncommon,  es- 
13113 


VOLTAIC  ELECTRICITY. 

penally  in  the  parrot  and  crow  tribe,  of  an  acquired  power 
of  forming  articulate  sounds  superadded  to  the  ordinary 
voice. 

VOIRE  DIRE.  (Norm.  Fr.  a  corruption  of  vrai  dire,  to 
speak  the  truth.)  In  Law,  according  to  ancient  practice,  an 
objection  to  the  competency  of  a  witness,  in  a  trial  at  com- 
mon law,  could  only  be  taken  on  a  preliminary  examination, 
in  which  the  witness  was  sworn  to  speak  the  trutl:,  and  then 
examined  touching  his  interest  in  the  subject  matter.  The 
same  practice  is  still  followed  occasionally,  although  the 
objection  may  now  be  taken  when  it  arises  on  the  examin- 
ation in  chief. 

VOLATILE  ALKALI.     &v  Ammonia. 

VOLCA'N'O.     See  Geology. 

VOLTA-ELE'OTRlC  INDUCTION.  The  term  induc- 
tion, as  applied  to  common  electricity  (of  tension),  has  been 
explained  under  the  word  Blbi  tricity.  By  volta-electric 
induction,  we  mean  the  electricity  that  is  induced  by  a 
proximate  electric  current.  The  phenomena  thus  produced 
were  discovered  by  Mr.  Faraday  in  1821,  (Phtios.  Trans.), 
and  were  briefly  as  follows:  A  long  copper  wire  wound  in 
the  form  of  a  spiral  round  n  cylinder  of  wood ;  a  similar, 
but  perfectly  separate  spiral,  was  then  wound  upon  the 
same  rod,  the  coils  of  each  being  interposed  and  close  to 
each  other,  hut  nowhere  in  contact;  the  extremes  of  one 
of  the  wires  were  then  connected  with  the  galvanometer, 
and  those  of  the  other  with  a  voltaic  battery.  At  the  mo- 
ment of  making  the  contact  with  the  battery,  as  well  as  of 
breaking  it,  the  deflection  of  the  galvanometer  indicated  a 
current  of  induced  electricity  in  the  proximate  spiral ;  but 
in  the  interval,  that  is,  while  the  current  of  electricity  was 
continuing  quietly  to  traverse,  no  deflection  took  place :  the 
induced  current  was  found  to  be  in  one  direction  upon 
making  the  contact,  and  m  an  opposite  direction  upon  break- 
ing it. 

VOL'TAIC  ELECTRICITY.  The  phenomena  result- 
ing from  the  evolution  of  electricity  by  chemical  action,  as 
manifested  by  that  important  instrument  of  electro-chemical 
research  called  the  Voltaic  Battery,  are  usually  included 
under  the  above  term.  Whenever  substances  act  chemi- 
cally upon  each  other,  their  electrical  states  are  disturbed  ; 
but  the  electricity  thus  evolved  is,  in  ordinary  cases,  so  lost 
and  dissipated  as  to  escape  observation.  It  may,  however, 
be  rendered  manifest  by  the  following  simple  arrangements : 
When  a  plate  of  pure  zinc  (or  of  common  zinc  nibbed  over 
or  amalgamated  with  mercury)  is  dipped  into  a  glass  of 
very  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  little  or  no  action  Is  observed ; 
nor  does  any  thing  happen  when  a  similar  plate  of  silver  is 
placed  in  the  same  cup  of  acid,  provided  the  metals  be  kept 
apart  from  each  other.  But  if,  as  in  the  annexed  figure, 
the  zinc  and  silver  be  brought  into  contact, 
at  their  extremities  out  of  the  liquid,  the 
water  is  decomposed  ;  its  oxygen  combines 
with  the  zinc  to  form  oxide  of  zinc,  which 
is  dissolved  by  the  acid ;  and  its  hydrogen 
passes  over  to  the  surface  of  the  silver, 
where  it  collects,  and  ultimately  escapes  in 
gaseous  globules.  These  phenomena  are 
further  connected  with  the  production  of  a 
continuous  current  of  electricity  passing 
from  the  zinc  across  the  water  to  the  sil- 
ver, and  again  from  the  silver,  by  metallic 
contact,  to  the  zinc,  in  the  direction  represented  by  the 
darts.  It  is  not  necessary  tha.t  the  metals  should  be  con- 
nected exactly  as  represented  in  the  above  diagram;  but  it 
is  necessary  to  the  establishment  of  the  continuous  electric 
current  that  they  should  be  somewhere  in  contact,  or  at 
least  connected  by  what  is  usually  termed  a  perfect  con- 
duit ir.  By  modifying  (as  represented  in  the  margin  by 
fig.  2)  the  preceding  arrangement,  so  that  the  metallic  con- 
tact between  the  plates  be  made  out  of  the  vessel,  namely, 
at  the  point  A,  the  electric  current  takes 
the  same  direction,  travelling  through  the 
liquid  from  the  zinc  or  generating  plate  7, 
to  the  conducting  plate  S,  and  through  me 
wires  B  and  C  back  again  to  Z,  as  show  n 
by  the  darts.  Here  again  7.  is  oxidized  and 
-  J,  and  hydrogen  Is  liberated  upon 
S;  but  the  moment  that  the  circuit  is 
broken,  by  parting  the  wires  at  A,  these 
actions  i  ease,  i"  cant  e  the  electric  current 
ceases  to  flow.  It  is  evidi  at  thai  various  substances  may 
be  Interposed  between  iii"  wires  at  A,  <.i  they  may  be  im- 
mersed into  different  liquids;  and  provided  these  are  ca- 
pable id'  transmitting  electricity,  the  current  will  still  pass, 
and  its  phenomena  under  a  variety  of  circumstances  may 
he  studied.  In  this  arrangement  the  end  of  the  wire  B  ia 
the  emitting,  and  of  C  the  receiving  point  oi  pole;  hence 
these  have  been  termed,  in  reference  to  the  common  elec- 
trical machine,  the  p«  Uiv>  and  negativt  pol  s.  Mr.  Fara- 
day, with  a  \iew  of  avoiding  certain  misapprehensions  to 
which  these  terms  give  rise,  calls  them  the  electrodes ;  the 


VOLTAIC  ELECTRICITY. 


positive  electrode  he  further  terms  the  anelectrode,  and  the 
negative  the  cutelectrode.     See  Anode. 

In  the  preceding  paragraph  it  has  been  assumed  that  the 
generating  metal  is  zinc,  the  conducting  or  conveying  metal 
silver,  and  that  the  intermediate  liquid  is  dilute  sulphuric 
acid.  A  number  of  other  metals  may  be  substituted  lor  the 
above  ;  namely,  for  the  zinc,  cadmium  for  instance,  or  iron  ; 
and  for  the  silver,  platinum,  gold,  or  copper.  Many  liquids 
may  also  be  substituted  for  the  dilute  sulphuric  acid  ;  the 
requisite  condition  being  that  one  of  the  metals  shall  be 
chemically  acted  on,  whilst  the  other  is  indifferent,  or  at 
least  not  acted  on  by  the  liquid  to  the  same  extent.  And 
the  current  is  always  in  the  direction  above  represented ; 
that  is  to  say,  passes  from  the  metal  most  attacked  to  that 
least  attacked,  whenever  the  communication  is  perfect  or 
the  circle  closed.  In  the  above  cases  also  certain  forms  of 
charcoal,  which  are  excellent  conductors  of  electricity,  may 
be  substituted  for  the  conveying  metal,  or  passive  element 
of  the  arrangement.  Another  requisite  condition  to  the 
phenomena  properly  called  Voltaic  is  that  the  interposed 
fluid  shall  conduct ;  and  further,  that  it  shall  be  capable  of 
that  form  of  decomposition  which  Faraday  has  designated 
electrolysis,  that  is,  resolvable  into  its  elements  by  the  elec- 
tric current.     See  Electrolyte. 

Such,  then,  are  the  conditions  requisite  for  this  evolution 
of  electricity.  The  existence  of  the  electric  current,  and 
its  direction,  may  be  rendered  manifest  in  various  ways : 
the  most  striking  is  perhaps  afforded  by  its  magnetic  effects, 
as  exhibited  by  the  galvanometer.  See  Galvanometer 
and  Electro-magnetism. 

The  quantity  of  electricity  generated  in  the  above  in- 
stances depends  chiefly  upon  the  superficial  extent  of  the 
metals  concerned,  and  upon  the  activity  of  the  liquid  acting 
upon  the  generating  metal  ;  and  that  it  is  considerable,  even 
where  small  surfaces  and  weak  acids  are  used,  is  manifest 
by  the  violence  with  which  the  magnetic  needle  of  the  gal- 
vanometer is  deflected.  But  in  the  above  described  ar- 
rangements, the  intensity  of  the  electricity  is  very  feeble  ; 
and  in  order  to  attain  this,  and  to  give  the  current  that  ap- 
parent impetus  which  it  requires  to  traverse  bad  conductors, 
and  easily  to  effect  electrochemical  decompositions,  it  be- 
comes necessary  to  repeat  the  metallic  alternations;  or,  in 
other  words,  to  employ  a  properly  arranged  succession  of 
generating,  conducting,  and  electrolytic  substances.  This 
leads  to  the  grand  discovery  of  Volta;  namely,  the  con- 
struction of  the  Voltaic  Pile  or  Battery. 

In  this  arrangement,  which,  like  the  simple  circles,  ad- 
mits of  infinite  varieties,  the  metals  generally  used  are  zinc 
on  the  one  hand,  and  copper  or  silver  or  platinum  on  the 
other.  The  alternations  originally  adopted  by  Volta,  and 
which  are  quite  effectual,  were  zinc,  silver,  and  flannel  or 
pasteboard  soaked  in  acid ;  and  these  were  repeated  ac- 
cording to  the  effects  that  were  to  be  obtained.  The  incon- 
venience of  arrangement  led  him,  however,  to  various  mo- 
difications of  it ;  and,  among  them,  to  that  represented  in 
the  following  diagram  (fig.  3),  which  he  called  the  crown 


of  cups  (couronne  des  tasses),  and  which,  slightly  modified, 
has  since  been  very  generally  adopted.  The  flannel  is  re- 
jected, and  in  its  place  a  cup  of  dilute  acid,  or  other  proper 
electrolyte,  is  substituted;  so  that  each  silver  and  zinc  plate 
are  in  metallic  communication,  though  in  separate  vessels : 
the  arrangement  being  zinc,  acid,  silver;  zinc,  acid,  silver, 
&.C.  Here  the  direction  of  the  electric  current  is  the  same 
as  in  the  simple  circle,  namely,  from  the  zinc  through  the 
liquid  to  the  silver ;  but  in  this  form  of  the  apparatus,  for 
the  mere  convenience  of  carrying  on  the  series,  the  con- 
ducting wire  connected  with  the  first  zinc  plate  has  a  super- 
numerary- silver  one  attached  to  it,  and  that  with  the  last 
silver  plate  a  supernumerary  zinc  plate  ;  so  that  much  con- 
fusion has  arisen  in  regard  to  the  direction  of  the  current 
in  these  cases,  in  consequence  of  calling  what  is  here  the 
silver  extreme  the  negative  pole,  and  the  zinc  extreme  the 
positive  pole ;  whereas  it  is  in  fact  the  reverse,  and  the  cir- 
culation of  the  current  goes  on  through  the  electrodes  pre- 
cisely as  in  the  simple  circle.  But  though  the  direction  of  the 
current  is  the  same,  and  the  absolute  quantity  of  travelling 
or  circulating  electricity  not  increased,  the  case  as  regards 
intensity  is  very  different;  and  with  numerous  series  ar- 
ranged as  above  we  obtain,  on  removing  the  electrodes 
(which  in  this  experiment  ought  to  consist  of  pointed  pieces 
of  well-burned  boxwood  charcoal)  a  little  from  each  other, 
a  most  brilliant  and  continuous  current  of  fire,  luminous, 


so  that  the  eye  can  searcely  endure  it,  and  capable  of  over- 
coming obstacles  and  traversing  conductors  and  electrolytea 
in  a  way  essentially  different  from  that  of  the  simple  cir- 
cuit. Yet,  even  with  all  these  energetic  phenomena,  and 
with  a  quantity  of  circulating  electricity  far  beyond  any 
thing  which  the  most  powerful  frictional  machines  can  af- 
ford, the  intensity  is  still  insufficient  to  penetrate  a  thin 
layer  of  card  or  paper,  or  to  make  its  way  through  non-con- 
ducting obstacles,  as  it  does  in  the  case  of  the  discharge  of 
the  Leyden  jar  or  battery.  And  now,  if  the  hands  be  well 
moistened  with  salt  and  water,  so  as  to  overcome  the  non- 
conducting tendency  of  the  cuticle,  and  the  body  be  made 
part  of  the  circuit,  an  extraordinary  and  unendurable  sensa- 
tion is  perceived,  which  is  in  fact  a  continuous  shock.  By 
the  same  means  wires  may  be  ignited,  metals  burned,  com- 
bustibles exploded,  magnets  made,  and  galvanometers  af- 
fected at  any  distance  from  the  pile,  provided  the  conduct- 
ing communication  is  perfect.  (4.) 
Thus  it  is  that  this  power  has  «,  V>  .....  _*■>_ 
been  used  to  blast  rocks,  to  ex-  zf,  ■  '.'  ^'"T^tSt* 
plode  gunpowder  under  water,  ^ 
and  to  communicate  telegraphic 
signs,  as  in  the  arrangement  of 
Professor  Wheatstone. 

The  modification  of  Volta's  cou- 
ronne des  tasses,  and  the  form  of 
voltaic  apparatus  in  most  general 
use,  is  the  annexed  (fig.  4),  in 
which  the  plates  are  attached,  in  proper  order  and  con- 
nexion, to  a  piece  of  dry  wood,  so  that  they  may  at  once  be 
plunged  into  the  cells  of  the  porcelain  trough  over  which 
they  are  suspended.  Sometimes  also  plates  of  zinc  and 
copper  soldered  together  are  cemented  into  a  wooden 
trough  with  intervening  cells,  which,  when  required  for 
action,  are  filled  with  proper  acid  or  saline  solutions,  as 
shown  in  (fig.  5). 

(5.) 


^2 


An  important  modification,  as  regards  the  arrangement  of 
the  plates  in  fig.  4,  introduced   by  Dr.  /q  \ 

Wollaston,  is  represented  in  fig.  6;   in        t        ,       , 
which  the  copper  plate,  instead  of  being    f  fc  ■* 

single,  is  doubled  over  the  zinc  plate, 
actual  contact  being  prevented  by  wood- 
en cylinders  placed  between  them.  In 
this  way  much  of  the  electricity  lost  in 
the  preceding  arrangements  is  brought 
into  circulation. 

But  the  most  important  modification 
of  this  instrument  is  that  suggested  by  Mr.  Daniell,  and 
which  he  terms  "  a  constant  battery."  In  all  the  preceding 
arrangements  the  electrical  power  is  liable  to  fluctuation; 
and  after  a  time  various  causes  induce  such  a  falling  off  of 
its  evolution  as  to  render  them  inconvenient,  or  even  use- 
less, where  continuous  or  regular  action  is  required.  In 
Wollaston's  battery,  for  instance,  which  is  the  best  of 
them,  several  circumstances  combine  to  render  it  incon- 
stant in  its  action:  the  adhesion  of  hydrogen  to  the  copper 
plate,  and  the  precipitation  of  zinc  upon  it,  the  saturation 
of  the  acid  by  oxide  of  zinc,  and  the  local  action  which 
common  zinc  induces,  are  perhaps  the  principal  sources  of 
the  above-mentioned  irregularity  and  inconstancy.  In  Mr. 
Daniell's  arrangement  those  inconveniences  are  to  a  great 
extent  obviated ;  and  although  it  is  more  complicated  than 
the  preceding,  its  constant  and  regular  action,  when  it  is 
properly  constructed,  amply  repays  the  additional  trouble 
and  expense :  there  are,  indeed,  many  investigations  which 
can  scarcely  be  carried  on  without  it. 

The  annexed  diagram  (fig.  7),  which  is  intended  to  rep- 
resent two  cells  of  the  constant  battery, 
may  perhaps  serve  to  illustrate  the  ar- 
rangement. ,s,  - 

CC  are  cylindrical  vessels  of  copper;  I 
E  E  smaller  cylinders  or  tubes  of  porous 
earthenware  ;  Z  Z  are  rods  of  amalga- 
mated zinc,  which  are  connected  by  the 
wires  W  \V  with  the  next  copper  cylin- 
der, and  so  on  in  succession.  The  por- 
ous tubes  are  filled  with  dilute  sulphuric 
acid  (about  one  part  of  acid  to  eight  of 
water) ;  and  the  copper  cylinders  are 
filled  with  a  strong  solution  of  sulphate 
of  copper,  also  acidulated  by  sulphuric  acid :  so  that  the 
acid  in  the  generating  cells  is  separated  from  the  solution 
of  sulphate  of  copper;  but  the  porosity  of  the  tubes  allows 
of  their  becoming  so  far  imbued  with  the  acid  liquid  as  to 

1317 


VOLTAIC  ELECTRICITY. 

a\lmit  of  the  passage  of  electricity,  the  current  being  in  the 
direction  of  the  darts.  At  the  same  time  the  sulphate  of 
zinc  is  prevented  mixing  with  the  sulphate  of  copper,  and 
thus  all  precipitation  of  zinc  upon  the  copper  prevented; 
while  at  the  same  time  the  hydrogen  evolved  in  the  copper 
cells  or  cylinders  tends  to  reduce  the  oxide  of  copper,  and 
continuously  to  throw  down  a  film  of  metallic  copper,  with 
which  they  ultimately  become  lined.  In  proportion  as  the 
sulphate  of  copper  is  decomposed,  fresh  portions  of  that 
salt  are  added,  and  the  acid  in  the  generating  cells  requires 
occasional  renewal :  for  the  former  purpose  there  is  a  per- 
forated receptacle  or  colander  in  the  upper  part  of  the  copper 
cell,  which  is  kept  tilled  with  crystals  of  sulphate  of  copper. 
(See  Vanitl/'s  Introduction  to  Chemical  Philosophy,  p.  438.) 

It  has  already  been  stated  that,  in  all  the  ordinary  forms 
of  the  voltaic  battery,  two  metals  and  an  acid  dissolved  in 
water  are  the  essential  elements.  But  it  is  by  no  means 
necessary  that  two  metals  should  be  employed  to  obtain  an 
electric  current;  for  it"  only  one  metal  be  used,  different 
parts  of  which  arc  differently  acted  on  by  an  acid  or  other 
fluid,  electricity  will  be  evolved;  according  to  the  same  law, 
the  portion  of  the  metal  most  acted  on  becoming  the  gene- 
rating element.  Thus,  a  current  is  established  when  a 
plate  of  clean  zinc  and  one  of  oxidized  or  corroded  zinc  are 
used ;  or  even  when  one  of  the  plates  is  of  cast  and  the 
other  of  rolled  zinc.  So  also  when  a  stick  of  copper,  clean 
at  one  end  and  corroded  at  the  other,  is  immersed  in  dilute 
nitric  acid,  an  electric  current  is  produced.  In  all  these 
cases  the  surface  most  open  to  chemical  action  corresponds 
to  the  zinc,  and  that  least  so  to  the  silver  of  the  above  de- 
scribed simple  circles. 

An  electric  current  is  also  manifested  when  a  single  plate 
of  metal  of  uniform  surface  is  acted  on  by  two  fluids  exert 
iirg  distinct  chemical  actions  upon  it.  If,  for  instance,  a 
vessel  be  half  filled  with  a  strong  solution  of  sulphate  of 
copper,  and  then  carefully  filled  up  with  dilute  sulphuric 
acid,  so  that  the  latter  may  lie  upon  but  not  mix  with  it,  a 
plate  of  iron  immersed  will  be  so  acted  on  as  to  produce  an 
electric  current;  the  upper  part  becoming  the  equivalent  of 
the  zinc,  and  the  lower  that  of  the  copper  in  the  simple  cir- 
cle. A  plate  of  copper  immersed  in  the  same  way  will 
produce  a  similar  effect,  and  metallic  copper  will  be  depo 
sited  upon  its  lower  end.  (See  Faraduy's  Researches,  Phi- 
losophical Transactions,  1840.) 

The  chemical  powers  of  the  electric  currents  produced 
by  and  circulating  under  the  circumstances  above  detailed 
are  to  a  certain  extent,  manifest  by  the  phenomena  of  the 
pile  itself;  but  they  are  more  especially  illustrated  by  inter- 
posing different  substances  between  the  electrodes  in  proper 
Vessels,  so  that  the  changes  which  they  suffer  in  the  axis 
of  the  electric  current  may  be  more  conveniently  and  dis- 
tinctly observed.  Under  these  circumstances,  we  find  that 
all  electrolytes  must,  to  a  certain  extent.be  conductors;  and 
that  the  same  body  in  different  states  may  either  be  or  not 
be  an  electrolyte,  according  as  it  has  or  has  not  a  power  of 
conduction.  Thus,  water  is  a  conductor  and  an  electrolyte ; 
but  ice  is  a  non-conductor,  and  therefore  unsusceptible  of 
electrolysis.  So  also  nitre,  chloride,  iodide,  and  bromide  of 
silver,  and  many  other  salts,  require  to  be  fused  in  order  to 
become  susceptible  of  electrolytic  action.  It  would  more- 
over appear  probable,  from  Faraday's  researches,  that  all 
bodies  susceptible  of  true  or  primary  electrolytic  action 
(electric  decomposition)  must  be  compounds  of  single  atoms, 
or  equivalents  of  their  components  (proto-compounds) :  thus 
protochloride  and  protoiodide  of  tin  are  decomposed,  but 
the  bichloride  and  biniodide  are  not.  Of  this  phenomenon 
the  ultimate  etmse  requires  further  investigation.  The 
principal  apparent  exceptions  to  it  have  been  ranked  by 
Faraday  among  cases  of  secondary  decomposition.  Thus, 
when  common  sulphuric  acid,  or  oil  of  vitriol  (which  isr  a 
compound  of  1  atom  of  sulphur,  '.i  of  oxygen,  and  1  of  water, 
or  the  ultimate  elements  of  which  are  1  atom  of  sulphur, 
1  of  hydrogen,  and  4  of  oxygen),  is  subjected  to  the  electric 
current,  sulphur  and  hydrogen  appear  at  the  cathode  (or 
negative  electrode),  and  oxygen  at  the  anode  (or  positive 
electrode).  But  in  this  case  the  sulphur  is  the  result  of  the 
action  of  the  hydrogen  upon  the  acid  ;  for  in  all  cases  of 
true  or  primary  electrical  decomposition  of  the  sulphurets, 
the  sulphur  is  evolved  at  the  anode. 

Not  only,  however,  are  the  ultimate  elements  of  binary 
compounds  thus  evolved  in  obedience  to  certain  uniform 
laws,  but  proximate  elements  are  also  similarly  separated. 
Thus,  when  sulphate  of  soda,  nitrate  Ofpotassa,  and  other 
neutral  salts,  are  subjected  in  aqueous  solution  to  tile  action 

of  the  current,  the  respective  acids  travel  with  the  oxygen 
to  the  anode,  and  the  alkalies,  oxides,  or  bases,  with  the 
hydrogen  to  tin  cathode*  Faraday  terms  substances  sus- 
ceptible of  these  transferences  ions,  and  those  whicb  go  to 
the  anode  anions  ;  those  to  the  cathode  cations  '  thus  doing 
away  with  the  less  definite  terms  of  electro  negative  and 
electro-po  itivi  bodies.  And  he  has  drawn  up  me  follow 
leg  table  of  simple  and  compound  anions. 
1318 


VOLTATTPE. 

Anions. 

Oxygen.  Sulphuric  acid 

Chlorine.  Phosphoric,  acid. 

Iodine.  Carbonic  acid. 

Bromine.  Nitric  acid. 

Fluorine.  Selenic  acid. 

Sulphur.  Chloric  acid. 

Selenium.  Boracic  acid. 

Cyanogen.  Acetic  acid. 

Sulpho-cyanogen.        Tartaric  acid. 

Citric  acid. 

Oxalic  acid. 


Hydrogen. 

Potassium. 

Sodium. 

Lithium. 

Barium. 

Strontium. 

Calcium. 


Cations. 
Nickel. 
Antimony. 
Bismuth. 
Mercury. 
Silver. 
Platinum. 
Gold. 


Magnesium.  Ammonia. 

Manganese.  Potassa. 

Zinc.  Soda. 

Tin.  Lithia. 

Lead.  Baryta. 

Iron.  Strontia. 

Copper.  Magnesia. 

Cadmium.  Alumina. 

Cerium.  Protoxides  generally. 

Cobalt.  Vegeto-alkalies  generally. 

Analogy  leads  us  to  assume  that  all  elementary  bodies 
are  ions ;  but  this  has  not  been  experimentally  proved  in 
regard  to  carbon,  phosphorus,  nitrogen,  silicon,  boron,  and 
aluminum. 

VOLTA'METER.  (Ital.  volta,  and  Gr.  /urpov,  a  mea- 
sure.) An  instrument  contrived  by  Mr.  Faraday  for  mea- 
suring the  voltaic  electricity  passing  through  it,  and  which, 
being  interposed  in  the  course  of  the  current  used  in  any 
particular  experiment,  serves  as  a  comparative  standard  of 
effect,  or  as  a  positive  measurer  of  the  electricity. 

The  indicating  body  used  in  this  instrument  is  water 
acidulated  by  sulphuric  acid.  The  electrodes  are  plates  of 
platinum;  and  the  quantity  of  electricity  which  has  passed 
is  indicated  by  the  quantity  of  the  mixed  srases  (oxygen  and 
hydrogen,  resulting  from  the  decomposition  of  the  water) 
evolved,  or,  in  other  words,  by  the  weight  of  water  decom- 
posed. When  the  quantity  of  evolved  gases  is  small,  the 
voltameter  represented  in  the  margin  is  a  good 
form:  a  is  a  graduated  straight  tube  closed  at 
the  upper  end,  and  including  two  platinum  "• 
electrodes,  connected  with  the  external  wires 
bb.  This  tube  is  fitted  by  grinding  into  one 
mouth  of  the  double-necked  bottle  containing 
the  acidulated  water,  and  is  filled  by  inclining* 
it;  so  that  when  an  electric  current  is  passed \  I 
through  it  the  gases  evolved  collect  in  the  up-  >fl 
per  part  of  the  tube  and  displace  the  dilute  acid, 
the  stopper  c  being  left  open.  When  the  grad- 
uated part  of  the  tube  is  filled  with  the  mixed 
gases  the  electric  current  may  be  broken  by  re- 
moving the  wires  connected  with  b  b,  the  stop- 
per c  replaced,  and  the  meter-tube  refilled  by 
inclining  the  instrument;  a  second  measure  of  the  gases  is 
then  collected  on  re-establishing  the  circuit,  and  so  on. 

When  large  quantities  of  the  mixed  gases  are  to  be  mea- 
sured, as  in  cases  where  the 
current  is  left  continuous  for 
several  hours  or  days,  a  volta- 
meter in  the  form  of  a  small 
retort  may  be  used,  set  up  in 
the  block  or  foot  a,  and  the 
evolved  gases  will  then  pass 
by  the  tube  b  into  the  common 
pneumatic  trough,  where  they 
may  be  received  into  a  graduated  jar  and  measured  :  r  r  are 
the  projecting  wires  h>  which  communication  is  made  with 
the  platinum  electrodes. 

In  using  these  and  similar  forms  of  aparatus  for  the  elec- 
tro-chemical decomposition  of  water,  great  care  must   be 

taken  that  the  electrodes  are  kept  continually  covered  by 

the  water,  and  that  their  ends  are  never  exposed  to  the 

mixed  .,'ases  in  the  tube;  for  in  that  case  they  would  beapt 
to  become  heated,  and  even  incandescent,  in  consequence 
of  the  peculiar  action  of  clean  platinum  on  a  mixture  of 
hydrogen  and  oxygen,  and  in  such  a  case  an  explosion 

might  ensue.     In  these  voltameters  the  contact  of  the  elec- 
tiodes  i<  prevented  by  inserting  between  them  a  small  piece 
of  glass  tube. 
VO'LTATYPE,  or  ELECTROTYPE.    It  has  been  sta- 


VOLTATYPE. 


ted  under  the  article  on  Voltaic  Electricity,  that  when 
metallic  solutions  are  subjected  to  the  transmission  of  the 
electric  current,  the  metallic  oxides  which  they  hold  are  in 
certain  cases  decomposed ;  so  that  the  metal  in  its  pure 
state  is  deposited  upon  the  cathode,  or  upon  what  is  usual- 
ly termed  the  negative  electrode.  In  these  cases  the  me- 
tallic deposition  is  usually  a  secondary  effect,  arising  out  of 
the  action  of  the  hydrogen  evolved  at  the  cathode  upon  the 
oxide  of  the  metal.  A  good  illustrative  experiment  of  this 
metallic  precipitation  consists  in  plunging  two  pieces  of 
clean  platinum  into  a  solution  of  sulphate  of  copper:  noth- 
ing happens.  But  if  the  electric  current  be  transmitted 
through  the  solution,  so  that  these  platinum  plates  may 
form  the  electrodes,  copper  is  immediately  precipitated  upon 
the  catelectrode  or  negative  surface,  the  positive  service  or 
anelectrode  remaining  clean.  If  the  current  be  now  re- 
versed, the  copper  will  be  removed  from  the  platinum  plate 
upon  which  it  had  just  been  deposited,  and  will  be  trans- 
mitted to  the  clean  plate  ;  and  thus  by  reversing  the  direc- 
tion of  the  electric  current,  the  copper  may  be  sent  back- 
wards and  forwards,  it  always  being  deposited  upon  the 
negative  pole,  or,  in  other  words,  upon  that  surface  by 
which  the  electric  current  leaves  the  electrolyte.  A  solu- 
tion of  sulphate  of  copper  is  particularly  well  adapted  to 
this  experiment,  especially  if  it  be  slightly  acidulated  by 
sulphuric  acid,  inasmuch  as  it  deposits  the  copper  in  a 
clean  metallic  state;  and  by  a  continuance  of  the  electric 
current,  and  keeping  up  the  strength  of  the  solution  by  the 
occasional  addition  of  fresh  portions  of  the  salt  of  copper, 
the  metallic  film  upon  the  cathode  may  be  obtained  of  any 
required  thickness,  and  may  afterwards  be  peeled  off"  the 
platinum  surface.  The  texture  of  the  deposited  copper  va- 
ries with  the  power  employed  and  with  the  temperature 
and  strength  of  the  solution ;  so  that  it  may  he  obtained 
hard,  brittle,  and  crystalline,  or  malleable  and  tough,  or 
even  pulverulent,  according  to  the  management  of  the  ope- 
rator. A  low  electric  power,  or  rather  a  current  of  low 
intensity,  a  moderately  strong  acidulated  solution  of  sul- 
phate of  copper,  and  a  temperature  not  below  60°  or  70°, 
are  the  circumstances  under  which  the  best  deposit  of  cop- 
per is  usually  obtained  for  the  purposes  to  which  this  pro- 
cess is  commonly  applied. 

When  the  negative  pole  or  cathode,  instead  of  being,  as 
above  represented,  a  plane  surface  of  platinum,  is  irregular, 
or  worked  into  a  pattern,  or  a  medal  or  coin  for  instance, 
an  exact  impression  of  the  irregularities  of  surface,  or  of  the 
device  upon  the  medal  or  coin,  may  be  taken  off  on  the  pre- 
cipitated copper;  and  to  copies  or  plates  of  this  kind  the 
term  voltatype,  or  electrotype,  has  been  more  particularly 
applied.  Gold,  silver,  and  other  metals  may,  by  proper 
management,  be  substituted  for  copper,  and  thus  a  variety 
of  voltatypes  may  be  obtained ;  or,  if  the  precipitated 
metal  be  left  upon  the  surface  on  which  it  is  thrown  down, 
gilding,  silvering,  and  coppering  may  be  extensively  and 
beautifully  effected.  Thus  it  is  that  a  new  art  of  plating 
has  arisen  also  out  of  these  electro-chemical  actions. 

We  shall  now  proceed  briefly  to  point  out  the  manipula- 
tion in  a  few  of  the  principal  applications  of  this  new  art, 
and  to  describe  the  apparatus  commonly  employed ;  illus- 
trating the  subject,  in  the  first  instance,  by  one  of  the  sim- 
plest cases,  in  which  we  will  suppose  that  an  impression  in 
copper  is  to  be  obtained  from  a  copper  medal,  which,  being 
in  relief,  will  of  course  yield  an  impression  in  indent:  the 
original  being  a  cameo,  the  copy  will  be  an  intaglio. 

The  medal  is  first  slung  in  a  loop  of  annealed  copper 
wire,  so  that  it  may  be  conveniently  suspended  and  made 
electro-negative  in  the  metallic  solution ;  the  following 
simple  voltaic  arrangements  may  then  be  used. 
A  is  a  glass  cylinder  (a  common  lamp-glass  answers  the 
purpose),  closed  at  bottom  with  a  piece 
of  bladder,  or  with  a  plug  of  plaster  of 
Paris,  and  filled  with  dilute  sulphuric 
acid  (1  of  acid  to  8  of  water  by  measure) ; 
Z  is  a  piece  of  zinc  immersed  in  the  acid, 
and  connected  by  a  copper  wire  with  the 
medal  M;  C  is  a  jar  nearly  filled  with  a 
strong  solution  of  sulphate  of  copper, 
acidulated  by  the  addition  of  about  a 
tenth  part  of  sulphuric  acid.  In  this  ar- 
rangement, the  acid  in  the  generating  cell 
is  prevented  mixing  with  the  solution  in 
the  jar  by  the  diaphragm  of  bladder  or 
^-<Sr>  [  plaster;  which,  however,  when  thorough- 
ly wetted,  suffers  the  electric  current  to 
pass  from  the  zince  to  the  medal  (or  ne- 
gative pole),  and  so  through  the  wire,  in 
the  direction  of  the  darts,  back  to  the  zinc.  In  this  way  a 
film  of  metallic  copper  is  gradually  thrown  down  upon  M, 
which  goes  on  increasing,  and  which,  when  it  is  sufficient- 
ly thick  (perhaps  in  24  or  30  hours),  the  wire  with  Z  and 
M  at  its  ends  is  lifted  out ;  and  by  the  point  of  a  knife  care- 
fully applied,  and  aided,  if  necessary,  by  a  file,  the  deposit- 


ed copper  is  pulled  off  of  51,  of  which  it  presents  a  faith- 
ful and  minute  copy  or  impression.  To  prevent  the  depo- 
sition of  copper  upon  the  edges,  and  upon  the  reverse  of  the 
medal,  those  parts  should  be  covered  with  a  varnish  not 
acted  upon  by  the  solution  ;  and  the  connecting  wire  should 
also  be  similarly  varnished,  to  prevent  its  receiving  an  un- 
necessary incrustation  of  copper.  In  this  way,  by  careful 
management,  any  number  of  impressions  may  be  taken 
from  either  side  of  a  medal  without  materially  injuring  the 
original ;  and  for  the  medal  any  other  metallic  plate  may 
be  substituted,  provided  its  dimensions  and  weight  be  not 
such  as  to  render  it  inadmissible  or  inconvenient  in  this 
form  of  apparatus. 

But  it  often  happens  that  the  article  to  be  voltatyped,  as 
this  process  is  now  called,  is  not  a  conductor  of  electricity  ; 
as,  for  instance,  a  seal,  or  sulphur  or  wax  impression,  or  a 
plaster  cast  of  a  medal  or  coin.  In  these  cases  the  surface 
is  carefully  covered  by  a  film  of  the  purest  plumbago,  or 
black  lead,  which  is  applied  by  a  soft  brush,  and  which, 
being  a  good  conductor  of  electricity,  renders  the  surface 
equivalent  to  that  of  a  metal,  care  being  at  the  same  time 
taken  that  the  conducting  wire  is  in  good  contact  with  the 
plumbago,  so  that  the  electrical  current  may  be  nowhere 
intercepted  by  a  non-conductor.  Where  the  material  of 
the  cast  is  porous,  or  permeable  to  water,  it  must  be  imbued 
with  melted  wax  or  oil,  or  some  kind  of  fatty  matter ; 
where  plaster  casts  are  used,  melted  spermaceti  answers 
best:  the  surface  to  be  voltatyped  is  then  carefully  black- 
leaded,  and  the  process  carried  on  as  above.  The  use  of 
black  lead,  so  extremely  convenient  in  these  and  a  number 
of  similar  cases,  was  first  suggested  by  Mr.  Robert  Murray, 
and  communicated  by  him  to  the  Society  of  Arts,  who 
awarded  a  medal  for  the  invention. 

In  the  case  of  seals,  coins,  and  other  small  articles,  a 
number  of  them  may  be  put  in  process  at  once  by  the  fol- 
lowing modification  of  the  above  described  apparatus.  A  is 
a  jar  filled  with  a  saturated  and  slightly  acid  solution  of 
sulphate  of  copper;  B  is  a  porous  earth- 
enware cylinder,  similar  to  those  used  in 
DanielPs  constant  battery,  filled  with  di- 
lute sulphuric  acid.  The  articles  to  be 
coated  with  copper  are  prepared  as  above 
described,  and  attached  to  copper  wires 
having  a  small  piece  of  zinc  at  their  oth- 
er end ;  several  of  these  may  then  so  be 
suspended  round  the  porous  tube  as  that 
the  zinc  being  in  the  acid,  and  the  coin  or 
seal  in  the  cupreous  solution,  the  process 
goes  on  until  the  voltatype  is  perfect. 

When  a  number  of  "articles  of  different  sizes  are  to  be 
voltatyped,  the  following  is  the  preferable  arrangement, 
and  is  that  which  is  generally  used  where  the  process  is 
employed  upon  a  large  scale ;  as  in  preparing  voltatypes 
from  wood-cuts,  copper-plates,  plaster  casts,  &c. 

A  is  a  trough  of  any  required  dimensions,  made  of  slate 


or  wood,  and  filled  with  a  proper  solution  of  sulphate  of 
copper;  C  is  a  copper  plate  immersed  in  the  trough,  and 
forming  the  positive  electrode  of  the  constant  battery  B  (of 
which  one  cell  only  is  here  represented,  but  of  which  two 
or  more  may  be  employed  as  required)  ;  D  D  is  a  copper 
rod  forming  the  negative  electrode,  to  which  the  articles  to 
be  coated  with  copper  are  suspended  by  copper  wires. 
These  several  articles,  previously  properly  prepared  by  the 
means  above  described,  are  retained  in  the  circuit  till  ade- 
quately coated  by  copper.  In  this  form  of  apparatus  it  is 
not  necessary  to  provide  against  the  impoverishment  of  the 
cupreous  solution ;  for  in  proportion  to  the  quantity  of  cop- 
per deposited  upon  the  moulds  is  that  which  is  taken  up 
from  the  plate  C,  and  when  this  plate  is  so  far  dissolved  as 
no  longer  to  form  an  effective  electrode  it  must  be  replaced 
by  another. 

Where  other  metals  are  to  be  employed,  proper  solutions 
must  be  selected  for  the  purpose,  and  the  electric  power 
mollified  accordingly :  the  weakest  power,  consistent  with 
the  precipitation  of  the  metal  and  the  non-evolution  of  hy- 
drogen at  the  negative  electrode,  is  that  which  is  generally 
to  be  preferred.  For  gilding  copper  or  silver,  the  solution 
which  is  generally  employed  is  a  double  cyanide  of  gold 

1319 


VOLTI. 

and  potassium :  it  is  made  by  dissolving  about  CO  grains  of 
sulphuret  or  of  oxide  of  gold  in  a  pint  of  a  solution  of  cy- 
anide of  potassium  containing  1  part  of  the  cyanide  to  10  of 
water.  The  sulphuret  of  gold  is  prepared  by  precipitating 
a  solution  of  perchloride  of  gold  by  sulphuret  of  potassium, 
and  washing  the  precipitate  with  hot  water:  the  oxide  of 
gold  may  tic  similarly  prepared  by  precipitating  the  solution 
of  the  chloride  by  carbonate  of  potassa  at  a  boiling  heat. 
With  this  solution  silver  and  copper  may  be  effectively 
gilded,  and  the  thickness  of  the  coat  of  gold  may  be  car- 
ried to  any  required  extent.  If  it  be  desired  to  gild  the  in- 
side of  a  silver  vessel,  the  \essel  may  be  filled  with  the 
gilding  solution,  and  connected  by  its  outside  with  the  neg- 
ative electrode,  a  plate  of  gold  immersed  into  the  centre  of 
the  solution  in  the  vessel  constituting  the  positive  elec- 
trode. 

For  covering  or  plating  articles  with  silver,  a  solution  of  60 
grains  of  chloride  or  of  oxide  of  silver  in  a  pint  of  the  solu- 
tion of  cyauide  of  potassium  of  the  strength  above  stated  is  to 
be  used.  In  this  case  the  article  which  is  to  receive  the 
deposit  is  made  the  negative  electrode,  and  a  plate  of  silver 
may  be  used  as  the  positive  electrode.  Here,  as  in  the  case 
of  gold,  the  plating  may  be  carried  to  any  extent,  aud  arti- 
cles from  which  the  silver  has  been  abraded  by  wear  may 
easily  he  replated. 

In  all  cases  where  silver  or  gold  is  to  be  thus  voltaically 
deposited  so  as  to  give  a  durable  adhesive  coating,  the  re- 
ceiving surfaces  must  be  perfectly  clean;  hence  the  neces- 
sity of  dipping  them,  in  the  first  instance,  into  warm  aqua- 
fortis (or  nitric  acid  diluted  with  three  or  four  parts  of  wa- 
ter), and  then  washing  them  in  a  large  quantity  of  pure 
water,  previously  to  putting  them  into  the  solution:  it  is 
also  generally  right  to  make  the  connexion  with  the  batte- 
ry, and  immerse  the  positive  pole,  previous  to  putting  the 
article  into  the  depositing  liquid.  Messrs.  Elkington  of  Bir- 
mingham, who  have  patented  these  operations,  have  pro- 
duced a  number  of  beautiful  specimens  both  of  gilding  and 
silvering,  and  have  largely  applied  them  in  numerous  pro- 
cesses of  the  arts. 

Mr.  Palmer  of  London  has  made  the  most  important  ap- 
plications of  these  precipitations  to  the  purposes  of  the  fine 
arts,  in  volfityping  the  plates  of  engravings  executed  by 
the  first  artists.  In  these  cases  much  care  and  dexterity 
are  required  in  the  manipulations,  but  the  results  are  then 
beautifully  perfect.  The  first  impression  of  the  etched  or 
engraved  plate  is  of  course  in  relief,  and  serves  as  a  matrix, 
from  which  any  number  of  impressions  in  indent  (or  fac- 
simUes  of  the  original  plate)  may  be  obtained.  Mr.  Palmer 
has  also  invented  various  modifications  of  the  process,  full 
descriptions  of  which  would  be  inconsistent  with  our  pre- 
sent object,  but  which  promise  to  render  it  much  more  ex- 
tensively subservient  to  the  purposes  of  the  fine  and  use- 
ful arts.  Messrs.  De  la  Rue  have  also  carried  these  pro- 
cesses to  great  perfection,  and  have  extensively  multiplied 
their  applications  to  various  purposes  of  ornamental  print- 
ing. (See  the  article  Voltaic  Electricity  in  this  Dic- 
tionary. Also  Mr.  SMiiee's  Elements  of  Electro-Mitallur- 
gy,  whose  [■latinized  silver  battery  is  well  adapted  to  most 
of  the  preceding  operations.) 

VO'LTI.  (It.  turn.)  In  Music,  a  term  directing  that  the 
leaf  is  to  be  turned  over. 

VO'LUME.  (I. at.  volumen,  from  volvo,  Troll.)  A  book. 
Thus  a  library  is  said  to  consist  of  so  many  thousand  vol- 
umes, and  a  long  work  is  divided  for  convenience  into  sev- 
eral volumes.  Every  single  roll  of  paper  or  parchment  in 
an  ancient  library,  was,  of  course,  equivalent  to  a  single 
book  in  one  of  our  own;  hence  the  name  is  derived.  It 
should  seem  that  the  books  (in  the  sense  of  divisions  of  the 
subject)  of  ancient  works  were  originally  actual  volumes; 
so  that  the  History  of  Herodotus  or  Iliad  of  Homer  con- 
sisted of  as  many  volumes,  in  ordinary  writing,  as  books. 
The  French  word  tome  (signifying,  properly,  a  single  vol- 
ume of  a  work  containing  more  than  one)  is  derived  from 
the  Greek  rtuvuv,  to  cut  or  divide. 

VOLU'TA.  (Lat.  voluta,  a  wreath.)  A  name  applied 
us  to  a  genus  of  the  Vtrmcs  Tegtacea,  including 
those  which  have  a  univalve  spiral  shell,  with  on  aperture 
without  a  beak,  and  somewhat  ctTuse  ;  and  a  columella 
twisted  or  plaited,  generally  without  lips  or  perforation. 
The  Mollusea  thus  characterized  form  a  family  in  the  Buc- 
cinoid  tribe  of  the  Pectinibranchiate  Gastropoda  of  Clavier's 
system,  and  are  distributed  into  the  following  subgenera: 
Oliva,  Brug. :  Volttoria,  Lam.;  VoUtia,  proper ;  Oymbium, 
Montf.  ;  Margineila,  Lain.;  Colombclla,  Lam.;  .Mara, 
Lam.;  CanceUaria,  Lain. 

VO  I.I  IT..  I. at.  volvo,  I  roll.)  In  Architecture,  the 
spiral  scroll  appended  on  each  side  to  the  capital  of  the 
Ionic  order.     The   Corinthian  and  Composite  capitals  are 

rated  with  volutes;  but  their  character « different, 
th.  ir  size  smaller,  and  they  are  always  diagonally  placed. 
In  the  Corinthian  order  they  are  more  numerous,  and  in 
the  Composite  they  are  larger  than  in  the  Corinthian. 

1320 


VULCAN. 

VO'LVA,  or  WRAPPER.     A  term  used  in  di 
fungi  to  denote  the  involucrum-like  base  of  the  - 
.Igaricus.     It  was  originally  the  bag  enveloping  the  u  hole- 
plant,  but  was  left  at  the  foot  of  the  stipes  when  the  plant 
elongated  and  burst  through  it. 

VO'LVTJLUS.  (Lat.  volvere,  to  roll  up,  because  it  was 
supposed  to  arise  from  twisting  of  the  intestines.)  See  Iliac 
Passion. 

VOMICA.  (Lat.  vomo,  I  spit  up.)  An  abscess  of  the 
lungs. 

YoMITO'RIA.  (Lat.  vomo.)  In  Architecture,  the 
openings,  gates,  or  doors,  in  the  ancient  theatres  and  am- 
phitheatres, which  gave  ingress  and  egress  to  the  public. 

VO'RTBX.  (Lat.)  An  eddy  or  whirlpool;  a  body  of 
water  running  rapidly  round  and  forming  a  cavity  in  the 
middle,  into  which  floating  bodies  are  drawn.  The  term  is 
also  applied  to  whirlwind.  In  the  Cartesian  philosophy, 
vortex  signifies  a  collection  of  material  particles,  forming  a 
fluid  or  ether,  endowed  with  a  rapid  rotatory  motion  about 
an  axis.  By  means  of  this  hypothesis,  and  the  received 
doctrine  of  centrifugal  forces,  a  plausible  explanation  may 
be  given  of  the  motion  of  the  planets,  which  move  nearly 
in  the  same  plane;  but  the  motions  of  the  comets  which 
traverse  the  heavens  in  all  directions  are  inexplicable,  and 
In  fact  are  inconsistent  with  the  hypothesis.  Descartes, 
nevertheless,  had  the  merit  of  attempting  to  show  how  the 
universe  might  have  assumed  its  present  form  and  be  pre- 
served on  mechanical  principles.  For  an  explanation  of 
the  system  of  vortices,  see  Maclaurin's  Account  of  Jft  icton's 
Philosophical  Discoverit  s. 

VO'RTICEL,  Vorticetla.  (Lat.  vortex,  a  whirlpool.) 
The  generic  name  of  certain  pedicellate  Wheel  Animal- 
cules, which  are  provided  with  vibratile  organs  at  their 
anterior  extremity,  whose  apparently  rotatory  actions  pro- 
duce little  whirlpools  in  their  vicinity,  and  thus  attract  the 
particles  of  food. 

VO'TIVE.  (Lat.  votum,  vow.)  In  Numismatics,  votive 
medals  are  such  as  were  struck  in  grateful  commemoration 
of  any  auspicious  event,  such  as  the  recovery  from  sickness 
of  a  prince,  &c.  ;  especially  those  of  the  Roman  emperors, 
struck  every  five,  ten,  or  twenty  years,  on  which  the  public 
vows  on  their  behalf  are  recorded.  The  custom  is  said  to 
have  originated  in  the  repeated  continuance  of  Augustus  in 
his  high  offices  at  the  prayers  of  the  people.  A  votive 
tablet,  picture,  &c,  is  one  dedicated  in  consequence  of  the 
vow  of  a  worshipper;  in  clasBiea]  Europe  some  deity,  in 
modern  Roman  Catholic  countries  to  saints. 

VOU'SSOIRS,  in  Bridges,  are  the  stones  which  imme- 
diately form  the  arch,  being  of  the  shape  of  a  truncated 
wedge.  Their  under  sides  form  the  intrados  or  soffitt.  The 
length  of  the  middle  voussoir,  or  keystone,  ought  to  be 
about  l-15th  or  l-16th  of  the  span,  and  the  rest  should  in- 
crease all  the  way  down  to  the  imposts.  Their  joints 
should  be  cut  perpendicular  to  the  curve  of  the  intrados  ; 
consequently  the  angle  of  the  sides  is  determined  by  the 
curvature.     (Hutton's  Tracts,  vol.  i.) 

VOW.  (Lat.  voveo,  /  coir.)  A  promise  made  to  God 
of  a  thing  which  we  believe  to  be  agreeable  to  him,  and 
which  we  are  not  on  other  grounds  obliged  to  render  to 
him.  This  is  what  the  Theologians  understand  by  it, 
when  they  say  a  vow  is  "  promissio  de  meliore  bono."  To 
promise  God  to  do  what  he  commands,  or  to  avoid  what  he 
forbids,  is  not  a  vow,  because  we  are  under  nn  obligation 
so  to  act.  (Diet,  dc  Theologie,  Toulouse  1817.)  The  use 
of  vows  is  found  in  most  religions.  The  Roman  Catholics 
adduce  numerous  passages  from  the  Old  Testament  to 
prove  that  vows  are  acceptable  to  God  ;  the  Protestants  on 
the  other  hand  reject  the  theory  of  vows  as  altogether 
untenable. 

VOWEL.  In  Grammar,  a  letter  which  can  be  pro- 
nounced alone,  thus  distinguished  from  consonants,  which 
require  to  be  sounded  with  the  aid  of  a  vowel.  They  are 
divided  in  ancient  prosody  into  long,  short,  and  common 
(ancipites),  i.  e.,  either  long  or  short  at  pleasure.  A  dip- 
thong  consists  of  two  voueN,  of  which  the  sounds  run  (or 
are  supposed  to  run)  into  one  another. 

vri.CAN.  In  Mythology,  the  Latin  nnme  for  the 
divinity  called  by  the  Greeks  llephastus,  the  god  who  pre- 
sided over  the  working  of  metals.  He  was  also  called 
Mulcilier.  He  was  the  son  of  Jupiter,  who,  incensed  at  his 
interference  on  the  part  of  his  mother  Juno,  cast  him  out 
of  heaven  I  lie  fell  in  the  isle  of  Lemnos,  and  broke  his  leg 
in  the  fall.  His  feats  as  the  iwtron  of  armourers  and 
Workers  in  metal,  his  marriage  with  Venus,  and  her  infi- 
delities, form  the  subjects  of  many  of  the  besl  known 
classical  stories.  See  Bryant,  .Anc.  .V;/f/i.  vi.,  115.)  There 
is  about  the  character  of  Vulcan  much  of  the  usual  confu- 
sion belonging  to  Greek  mythology.  Cicero  mentions  three 
Vulcan?,  besides  the  son  of  Jupiter:  one,  the  child  of 
LTranOJ  ;  another,  of  Nflus,  who  reigned  in  Egypt  ;  a  third, 
of  Manalius.  \  peculiarity  attending  the  worship  of  Vul- 
can was,  that  the  victims  were  wholly  consumed,  in  refer- 


VULPES. 

cnce  to  his  diameter  as  God  of  Fire.  In  sculpture,  he  is 
represented  as  bearded,  with  a  hammer  and  pincers,  and  a 
pointed  cup.  He  does  not  appear  lame,  as  represented  by 
the  poets.  Cicero,  however,  praises  the  sculptor  Alcamenes 
for  making  his  lameness  observable  without  amounting  to 
deformity.  The  description  of  his  cavern  in  the  Isle  of 
Vulcan,  or  Hiera,  in  the  8th  Book  of  the  JEneid,  is  among 
the  best  known  passages  in  classical  poetry. 

VU'LPES.  (Lat.  a  fox.)  This  has  been  made  a  sub- 
generic  term  by  those  naturalists  who  so  distinguish  the 
foxes  from  the  dogs,  jackals,  and  wolves,  to  which  they 
consequently  restrict  the  term  Cants.  The  grounds  for  the 
proposed  distinction  are  chiefly  the  form  of  the  pupil  of  the 
eye,  which  is  vertical  in  the  foxes,  circular  in  the  dogs ; 
the  lobes  of  the  upper  incisor  teeth  are  less  distinctly  marked 
than  in  the  dog;  the  tail  of  the  fox  is  longer  and  more 
bushy  ;  its  head  broader,  and  terminated  by  a  narrower  and 
more  pointed  muzzle  ;  its  gait  and  attitude  crouching. 

VIJ'LPINITE  ;  so  called  from  Vulpino,  near  Bergamo  in 
Italy,  where  it  is  found.  An  anhydrous  sulphate  of  lime, 
containing  a  little  silica.  It  is  sometimes  employed  by  the 
Italian  artists  for  small  statues  and  other  ornamental  work, 
under  the  name  of  marmo  bardiglio. 

VU'LTUR,  (Lat.  a  vulture.)  The  name  of  a  Linnrean 
genus  of  diumal  Accipitrine  birds,  characterized  by  an 
elongated  beak,  curved  only  at  the  extremity,  and  by  having 
a  greater  or  less  proportion  of  the  head,  and  sometimes  of 
the  neck,  denuded  of  feathers.  To  the  brief  Linnaian 
phrase  descriptive  of  this  genus  it  may  be  added,  that  the 
power  of  the  claws  does  not  correspond  with  the  bulk  of 
the  body.  The  wings  are  so  long  that  they  are  carried  in 
the  half-extended  state  when  the  vulture  walks  on  the 
ground.  In  general,  the  birds  of  this  group  are  of  a  cowardly 
nature,  living  on  dead  carcasses  and  offal ;  their  gullet 
dilates  into  a  considerable  crop;  which,  when  distended 
with  garbage,  projects  above  the  furcular  bone.  When 
gorged  with  food  a  foetid  humour  is  discharged  from  the 
nostrils,  and  the  bird  is  reduced  to  a  state  of  stupidity.  The 
vultures  of  Linnanis  are  divided  into  the  subgenera  Vidtur, 
Cuv. ;  Cathartes,  Cuv. ;  Sarcoramphus,  Cuv. ;  Percnopterus, 
Cuv. ;  Gypaetus,  Storr. 


w. 

W.  A  letter  found  only  in  the  alphabets  of  modern  lan- 
guages. In  form,  it  resembles  two  Vs,  and  its  English 
name  is  derived  from  the  fact  of  the  letter  v  being  identical 
with  u  in  the  Latin,  and  in  the  more  early  form  of  the 
English  language.  In  German,  w  is  pronounced  like  the 
English  v;  the  latter  having  the  sound  of/.  When  w 
commences  a  syllable,  it  is  a  consonant ;  but  in  all  other 
positions  a  vowel. 

WACKE.     (German.)     A  modification  of  basalt. 

WAD,  or  WADDING.  In  Gunnery,  a  bundle  of  paper, 
tow,  old  rope-yarn,  or  other  loose  matter,  rolled  up  closely 
together,  and  rammed  into  a  gun  after  the  powder  to  keep 
it  close  in  its  chamber.  From  the  experiments  of  Dr.  Hut- 
ton  it  does  not  appear  that  the  wadding  has  any  effect  in 
increasing  the  force  of  the  charge. 

WADD.  A  name  occasionally  given  to  plumbago,  and 
also  to  an  ore  of  manganese  found  in  Derbyshire,  which 
when  mixed  with  linseed  oil  for  the  purpose  of  a  paint  is 
apt  to  take  tire. 

WA'DERS,  WADING  BIRDS,  Grallatores.  An  order 
of  birds,  including  those  which  have  long  legs  naked  from 
above  the  distal  or  lower  extremity  of  the  tibia  downwards. 
See  Grallatores. 

WA'DSETT.  In  Scotch  Law,  a  right  by  which  goods 
are  pledged  for  the  recovery  of  a  debt,  answering  to  the 
English  mortgage. 

WA'GER  OF  BATTLE.  The  usage  of  deciding  a  civil 
suit  by  battle  was  common  to  the  jurisprudence  of  many  of 
the  Teutonic  tribes  which  established  themselves  in  the 
provinces  of  the  Roman  empire.  It  was  especially  favoured 
among  the  Lombards ;  and  there  is  a  celebrated  passage  in 
the  laws  of  their  king  Luitprand,  in  which,  while  he  recog- 
nizes the  impiety  of  the  custom,  he  professes  his  inability 
to  abolish  it  in  consequence  of  the  prejudices  of  his  subjects. 
In  England,  battle  trial  is  not  mentioned  in  any  Anglo- 
Saxon  laws  now  extant;  and  its  introduction  is  "therefore 
attributed  to  William  the  Conqueror,  although  bearing  in 
his  laws  the  Saxon  name  of  "orneste,"  probably  earnest. 
(See  Sir  F.  Palgrave  on  the  British  Commonwealth,  chap, 
vii.,  who  believes  that  the  Conqueror  did  no  more  than 
confirm  a  usage  already  known  to  the  inhabitants  of  Eng- 
land. He  supposes  that  battle  in  civil  suits  was  regularly 
joined  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  county  courts.)  Trial  bybattle, 
by  the  English  common  law,  was  used  in  civil  cases  only, 
where  issue  was  joined  upon  a  writ  of  right,  in  which  the 
tenant  pleaded  the  general  issue,  viz.  that  he  had  more 
112 


WAGES. 

right  to  hold  than  the  demandant  to  recover,  which  ho 
offered  to  prove  by  the  body  of  his  champion  ;  for  in  civil 
actions  the  combat  was  not  between  the  parties  themselves. 
The  champions  were  armed  with  batons  and  targets,  and 
the  combat  took  place  before  the  judges  and  Serjeants  of 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  The  combatants  were  bound 
to  fight  until  the  stars  appeared  in  the  evening  ;  and  if  the 
champion  of  the  tenant  could  either  hold  out  so  long,  or 
obtain  the  victory,  the  tenant  prevailed  in  his  cause.  Vic- 
tory was  obtained  either  by  the  death  of  the  champion,  or 
by  his  pronouncing  the  horrible  word  "craven,"  which 
caused  his  principal  the  loss  of  his  land,  and  legal  infamy 
to  himself.  The  trial  by  battle  was  the  only  mode  of 
deciding  a  writ  of  right,  until  Henry  II.  introduced  the 
grand  appeal  or  trial  by  inquest,  and  gave  the  tenant  his 
choice  between  them.  The  last  trial  by  battle  in  the  Court 
of  Common  Pleas  was  in  the  13th  Elizabeth,  1571  ;  but  in 
the  Court  of  the  County  Palatine  of  Durham  there  was  one 
in  1638.  Trial  by  battle  in  criminal  cases  is  explicitly 
noticed  in  the  laws  of  the  Conqueror.  It  took  place  on  an 
appeal,  when  the  appellee  of  felony  pleaded  not  guilty,  and 
declared  he  would  defend  the  same  with  his  body :  as  in 
approvement,  when  a  party  arraigned  of  treason  or  felony 
having  become  an  approver  by  appealing,  or  accusing  his 
accomplices,  the  latter  might  in  the  same  manner  demand 
trial  by  battle ;  in  which  case  the  combat  was  between  the 
parties  themselves.  The  last  trial  by  battle  awarded  in 
this  country  was  in  the  case  of  Lord  Reay  and  Mr.  Ramsay, 
in  the  7th  of  Charles  I. ;  but  the  king,  after  having  appointed 
a  constable  to  preside,  revoked  the  commission.  In  1818, 
William  Ashford  having  brought  an  appeal  against  Abra- 
ham Thornton  for  the  murder  of  his  sister,  the  appellee 
waged  his  battle.  Judgment  was  stayed,  in  consequence 
of  a  legal  difficulty  which  arose  in  the  case  ;  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  an  act  was  passed,  by  which  appeals  of  treason, 
felony,  and  other  offences,  and  trial  by  battle  on  writs  of 
right,  were  abolished. 

WAGER.  In  Law,  wagers  are  valid,  and  may  be  made 
subjects  of  action,  unless  they  are  on  illegal  matters.  Illegal 
wagers  are  of  two  kinds:  such  as  are  rendered  expressly 
void  by  statutes,  and  such  as  have  an  illegal  or  immoral 
tendency.  To  the  first  class  belong  wagers  on  the  event 
of  prohibited  games ;  wagers  on  horse  races,  if  the  sum 
betted  by  either  party  be  above  £10,  or  on  any  horse  race 
not  a  bona  fide  race  on  the  turf;  of  the  latter  class  many 
instances  might  be  given.  Anything  that  incites  to  a  breach 
of  the  peace  or  to  immorality,  or  that  has  a  tendency  to 
annoy  the  feelings  of  another  or  cast  ridicule  on  him,  is  not 
a  legal  subject  of  wagers.  Wagers  on  merely  speculative 
subjects,  not  arising  out  of  circumstances  in  which  the 
parties  have  an  interest  (for  instance,  on  a  point  of  law.  or 
on  the  amount  of  a  branch  of  the  public  revenue),  are  of 
too  trivial  characters  to  be  enforced  by  legal  proceedings. 
When  a  wager  is  illegal,  both  parties  may  recover  back 
their  deposits  from  a  stakeholder. 

WAGER  OF  LAW.     See  Compurgation. 

WA'GES,  in  Political  Economy,  are  the  return  made  or 
compensation  paid  to  those  employed  to  perform  any  kind 
of  labour  or  service  by  their  employers. 

In  ordinary  language,  the  term  wages  is  usually  employed 
to  designate  the  sums  paid  to  aitizans  or  labourers  employed 
in  manufactures,  in  household  services,  and  in  agriculture, 
mines,  and  other  manual  occupations.  Substantially  and 
in  fact,  however,  it  has  a  much  more  extensive  application : 
the  salaries  of  public  functionaries  of  all  sorts,  and  the  fees 
of  lawyers,  physicians,  and  other  professional  men,  are  as 
really  wages  as  the  sums  paid  by  them  to  the  menials  in 
their  service,  and  depend  on  the  same  laws  and  principles. 
"Every  man,"  says  Dr.  Paley,  "has  his  work.  The  kind 
of  work  varies,  And  that  is  all  the  difference  there  is.  A 
great  deal  of  labour  exists  besides  that  of  the  hands,  many 
species  of  industry  besides  bodily  operation,  equally  neces- 
sary, requiring  equal  assiduity,  more  attention,  more  anxiety. 
It  is  not  true,  therefore,  that  men  of  elevated  stations  are 
exempted  from  work  ;  it  is  only  true  that  there  is  assigned 
to  them  work  of  a  different  kind  ;  whether  more  easy  or 
more  pleasant  may  be  questioned  ;  but  certainly  not  less 
wanted,  nor  less  essential  to  the  common  good."  (Assize 
Sermon,  July  29,  1795.) 

Rates  of  Wages  in  different  Employments. — The  wages 
paid  to  the  labourers  engaged  in  different  employments 
differ  so  very  widely,  that  at  first  sight  it  may  seem  to  be 
impossible  to  lay  down  any  principles  that  should  be  gene- 
rally applicable  to  them  all.  Such,  however,  is  not  the 
case.  The  differences  in  question  are  apparent  rather  than 
real  ;  and  when  the  various  favourable  and  unfavourable 
circumstances  connected  with  different  employments  are 
taken  into  account,  it  will  be  found  that  the  wages  or  earn- 
ings of  those  engaged  in  them  are  very  nearly  the  same. 

If  all  employments  were  equally  agreeable  and  healthy, 
if  the  labour  to  be  performed  in  each  was  of  the  same  in- 
tensity, and  if  each  required  the  same  degree  of  dexterity 
4  N  *  1321 


WAGES. 


on  the  part  of  those  employed,  it  is  evident,  sup- 
dustry  to  lie  quite  free,  that  there  could  be  no 
permanent  or  considerable  difference  in  the  wages  of  labour; 
for  If  those  employed  in  a  particular  business  were  to  earn 
either  more  or  less  than  their  neighbours,  labourers  would, 
in  the  former  case,  leave  other  businesses  to  engage  in  it; 
and  in  the  latter,  they  would  leave  it  to  engage  in  others, 
until  the  increase  or  diminution  of  their  numbers  had 
lowered  or  elevated  wages  to  the  common  level.  In  point 
of  fact,  however,  the  Intensity  of  die  labour  to  be  performed 
in  different  employments,  the  degree  of  skill  required  to 
carry  them  on,  their  healthiness,  and  the  estimation  in 
which  they  are  held,  differ  exceedingly;  and  these  varying 

circumstances  necessarily  occasion  proportional  differences 
in  the  wages  of  the  workmen  engaged  in  them.  Wages 
are  the  price  paid  to  the  labourer  tor  the  exertion  of  his 
physical  powers,  skill  and  ingenuity.  They,  therefore, 
necessarily  vary  according  to  the  severity  of  the  labour  and 
the  degree  of  skill  and  ingenuity  required.  A  jeweller  or 
engraver,  for  example,  must  be  paid  a  higher  rate  of  wages 
than  a  common  farm-servant  or  a  scavenger;  for  a  long 
course  of  training  being  necessary  to  instruct  a  man  in  the 
business  of  jewelling  and  engraving,  were  he  not  indemni- 
fied tor  the  cost  of  this  training  by  a  higher  rate  of  wages, 
he  would  not  think  of  learning  so  difficult  an  art,  but  would 
addict  himself  in  preference  to  such  employments  as  hardly 
require  any  instruction.  Hence  the  discrepancies  that  ac- 
tually obtain  in  the  rate  of  wages  are  confined  within  certain 
limits,  increasing  or  diminishing  it  only  so  far  as  may  be 
necessary  fully  to  countervail  the  unfavourable  or  favoura- 
ble peculiarities  attending  any  employment. 

The  following,  according  to  Dr.  Smith,  are  the  principal 
circumstances  which  occasion  the  rate  of  wages,  in  some 
employments,  to  fall  below  or  rise  above  the  general  average 
rate  of  wages : 

1st,  The  agreeableness  and  disagreeableness  of  the  em- 
plovtnents. 

2d.  The  laziness  or  cheapness,  or  the  difficulty  and  ex- 
pense of  learning  them. 
3d.  The  constancy  or  inconstancy  of  the  employments. 
4th.  The  small  or  great  trust  that  must  be  reposed  in 
those  who  carry  them  on. 

5th.  The  probability  or  improbability  of  succeeding  in 
them. 

It  would  be  useless,  even  if  our  limits  permitted,  to  enter 
into  any  lengthened  details  with  respect  to  the  variations 
in  the  rates  of  wages  arising  out  of  the  particular  circum- 
stances now  enumerated.  They  have  been  fully  illustrated 
by  Smith  in  the  10th  chapter  of  his  first  book.  Every  one 
must  see  that,  cateris  paribus,  those  engaged  in  a  disagree- 
ble  or  disreputable  employment  must  have  greater  wages 
than  those  engaged  in  such  as  are  comparatively  agreeable 
and  respectable.  Wherever  a  comparative  disadvantage 
attaches  to  any  branch  of  industry,  it  must  be  compensated 
to  those  engaged  by  higher  wages  or  profits,  or  both,  other- 
wise they  would  withdraw  wholly  from  it.  And  on  this 
principle  "it  is  plain  that  those  engaged  in  a  business  or  pro- 
fession which  it  costs  a  great  deal  to  learn,  must  be  more 
ainp'y  remunerated  than  those  engaged  in  a  business  that 
may  be  learned  with  comparatively  little  trouble  and  ex- 
pense. Inconstancy  of  employment  must  also,  it  is  obvious, 
be  indemnified  by  a  higher  rate  of  wages  during  the  period 
of  employment;  and  greater  trust  by  requiring  higher  char- 
acter must  also  he  remunerated  by  higher  wages.  The 
probability  or  improbability  of  success  in  different  employ- 
ments applies  mostly  in  the  higher  departments  of  industry. 
The  instances  are  rare  in  which  a  person  who  is  bound 
apprentice  to  a  tailor,  shoemaker,  or  other  individual  en- 
gaged in  an  ordinary  business,  fails  of  acquiring  sufficient 
proficiency  to  enable  him  to  live  by  it.  But  it  is  far  other- 
wise in  the  higher  departments ;  and  supposing  an  indi- 
vidual is  bound  apprentice  to  a  lawyer,  physician,  painter, 
sculptor,  player,  &c,  the  chances  are  more  than  twenty  to 
one  that  he  will  not  attain  to  distinction  in  his  profession, 
and  perhaps  five  to  one  that  he  will  not  be  able  to  live  by 
it.  Hut,  in  professions  where  so  many  fall  for  one  who 
succeeds,  that  fortunate  one  should  gain  not  only  what  will 
Indemnify  him  for  the  expenses  of  his  education,  but  also 
all  that  has  been  laid  out  on  the  education  of  his  unfortu- 
nate competitors.  Hence  the  comparatively  large  earnings 
of  successful  lawyers,  physicians,  players,  and  so  forth; 
though  it  be,  after* all,  abundantly  certain  that  they  hardly 
compensate  for  the  losses  of  the  unsuccessful  candidates 
fir  wealth  ami  honours. 

It  will  be  found,  therefore,  taking  all  the  circumstances 
into  account,  that  the  rates  of  wages  in  different  emploj 
inn,  pretty  near   an   equality;    and   that   the 

higher  rale  in  some,  ami  lower  rate  in  others,  is  uniformly 
ioned  by  certain  contingent  circumstances. 
Bui  without  insisting  farther  on  the  causes  of  variation 
from  the  common  standard,  we  shall  now  proceed  shortly 
to  inquire  into  the  circumstances  which  determine  this 
1322 


common  standard,  that  is,  into  the  circumstances  which 
determine  the  rat,1  of  wages   paid  to  labourers  engaged  in 

the  common  and  ordinary  departments  of  manufacturing 

and  agricultural  labour,  or  in  such  as  require  no  peculiar 
skill  or  other  superior  quality,  and  have  nothing  peculiarly 
disagreeable  about  them. 

To  facilitate  the  acquisition  of  clear  and  correct  views 
with  respect  to  the  circumstances  which  determine  the 
price  of  ordinary  labour,  wages  may  be  considered  in  a 
double  point  of  view  :  viz.  either  (I.)  as  the  sum  which  the 
labourers  receive  at  any  given  period  in  return  tor  their 
services,  or  (II.)  as  the  sum  which  the  habits  of  society 
render  necessary  to  enable  them  to  subsist  and  continue 
their  race.  Wages,  considered  in  the  first  point  of  view, 
may  be  called  market  or  actual  wages ;  and  considered  in 
the  second,  they  may  be  called  natural  or  necessary  wages. 
I.  Dr.  Smith  has  said  (  Wealth  of  Nations,  p.  30,  M'Cul- 
loch's  edit.),  that  the  common  or  market  rate  of  wages  de- 
pends everywhere  upon  the  terms  of  the  contract  between 
the  workmen  and  their  employers,  lint  we  must  not 
thence  infer  that  these  terms  are  adjusted  on  any  arbitrary 
or  capricious  principle.  In  businesses  of  small  extent,  and 
placed  under  peculiar  circumstances,  this  may  occasionally 
be  the  case.  But  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases,  it  is  not 
possible  for  any  combination,  whether  of  the  masters  or  the 
workmen,  materially  to  affect  the  rate  of  wages.  That 
must  always  depend  on  the  amount  of  capital  devoted  to 
the  payment  of  wages  as  compared  with  the  number  of 
labourers. 

That  portion  of  the  capital,  or  wealth  of  a  country,  which 
the  employers  of  labour  lay  out  in  the  purchase  of  labour 
may  be  much  larger  at  one  time  than  at  another ;  but 
whatever  may  be  its  absolute  magnitude,  it  obviously  forms 
the  only  source  from  which  any  portion  of  the  wages  of 
labour  can  be  derived.  Np  other  fund  is  in  existence  from 
which  the  labourers,  as  such,  can  draw  a  single  shilling. 
And  hence  it  follows  that  the  average  rate  of  wages,  or  the 
share  of  the  national  capital  appropriated  to  tin  employ- 
ment of  labour  falling,  at  an  average,  to  each  labourer, 
must  entirely  depend  on  its  amount  as  compared  with  the 
number  of  those  among  whom  it  has  to  be  divided. 

An  increase  of  capital,  or  of  the  means  of  supporting  and 
employing  labourers,  is  not  therefore,  as  is  so  generally 
supposed,  always  productive  of  an  increased  rate  of  wages. 
It  has  this  effect  when  the  number  of  labourers  remains 
stationary,  or  when  it  increases  in  a  less  proportion  than 
capital;  but  not  otherwise.  Were  capital  and  population 
to  increase  or  diminish  in  the  same  proportion,  the  rate  of 
wages,  or  the  quantity  of  necessaries  and  conveniences 
falling  to  the  share  of  the  labourer,  would  undergo  no 
change  ;  hut  if  the  mass  of  capital  be,  on  the  one  hand, 
augmented  without  a  corresponding  augmentation  taking 
place  in  the  population,  a  larger  share  of  such  capital  will 
fall  to  each  individual,  or  the  rate  of  wages  will  be  increas- 
ed. And  if,  on  the  other  hand,  population  be  augmented 
faster  than  capital,  a  less  share  will  be  apportioni  i  to  each 
individual,  or  the  rate  of  wages  will  be  reduced.  The  w  ell- 
being  and  comfort  of  the  labouring  classes  are  thus  espe- 
cially dependant  on  the  proportion  which  their  increase 
bears  to  the  increase  of  capital.  There  are,  in  tact,  no 
means  whatever  by  which  their  command  over  the  neces- 
saries of  life  can  be  increased  that  do  not.  at  bottom,  resolve 
themselves  into  an  increase  of  capital  as  compared  with 
population  ;  and  every  scheme  for  improving  the  condition 
of  the  labouring  class,  not  bottomed  on  this  principle,  can 
hardly  fail  to  prove  nugatory  and  ineffectual. 

It  is  needless  to  enter  into  any  disquisition  with  respect 
to  the  circumstances  which  tend  to  increase  capital.  Suf- 
fice it  to  observe,  that  its  increase  is  always  of  the  greatest 
importance  to  the  bulk  of  the  population.  It  may  not,  in- 
deed, occasion  a  corresponding  increase  in  the  demand  for 
labour;  but  it  is,  notwithstanding,  sure  to  increase  it  con- 
siderably, and  consequently  to  improve  the  condition  of  the 
labourers.  Their  condition  may  also  be  improved  by  a 
ureater  prevalence  of  moral  restraint  or  of  foresight  in  the 
formation  of  matrimonial  connexions;  for,  by  lessening  the. 
rate  at  which  population  was  previously  increasing,  such 
increased  restraint  would  tend  to  reduce  the  number  of  la- 
buurrrs  as  compared  with  the  demand,  and  would  con- 
tribute to  Improve  their  condition  in  the  same  way  as  an 
increase  of  capital.     I  In  this  ground,  it  is  believed,  that  the 

establishment  of  a  proper  sj  stem  of  education  might  be 
made  to  contribute,  in  enlightening  the  public  as  to  the 

governing   cau-es   of  ihe    rale    of  Wages,   to    increase    thi-  r 

amount.  It  were  right,  certainly,  that  education  should  be 
made  to  embrace  such  subjects.  The  causes  of  national 
poverty  should  be  explained  to  every  one,  that  all  may  be 
made  aware  "i"  thi  li  existence  and  enabled,  in  some  meas- 
ure, to  provide  against  them.  It  should  be  impressed  on 
the  labouring  classes  that  the  means  of  Increased  comfort 
are,  too  very  greal  degree,  in  their  own  hands  ;  tliit  what 
others  can  do  for  them  is  but  trivial  compared  with  what 


WAGES. 


Ihey  can  do  for  themselves ;  that  the  best  institutions,  and 
the' most  tolerant  and  liberal  system  of  government,  cannot 
shield  them  from  poverty  and  degradation,  should  their 
numbers  become  too  great  as  compared  with  the  means  of 
Subsistence  ;  and  that  to  obviate  this,  and  to  advance  their 
individual  and  collective  interests,  they  should  exercise  a 
reasonable  degree  of  foresight  in  the  formation  of  matri- 
monial engagements,  and  should,  if  possible,  endeavour  to 
make  some  previous  provision  against  unfavourable  con- 
tingencies. We  have  already  seen  (art.  Population  in 
this  work),  that  the  native  sagacity  of  the  bulk  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  their  laudable  desire  to  preserve  their  present 
position,  or  to  rise  to  a  higher,  are  powerful  enough  to 
make  the  progress  of  population  subordinate  to  the  increase 
in  the  means  of  subsistence.  And  it  seems  reasonable  to 
conclude,  without  overrating  the  power  of  education,  that 
the  prudential  virtues  would  acquire  greater  strength  were 
their  importance  and  the  influence  they  exercise  over  the 
condition  of  society  explained  to  and  enforced  on  the  atten- 
tion of  every  one. 

The  laws  with  respect  to  corporations,  apprenticeships, 
combinations,  &c,  the  effect  of  which  on  the  market  rate 
of  wages  has  been  ably  pointed  out  by  Dr.  Smith,  have  of 
late  years  undergone  very  great  modifications.  The  stat- 
ute of  the  5th  of  Elizabeth,  regulating  the  duration  of  ap- 
prenticeships in  most  common  trades  in  England  and 
Wales,  was  repealed  in  1814;  the  laws  preventing  volun- 
tary combinations  among  workmen  were  repealed  in  1824 
(see  Combination),  and  the  privileges  of  the  different  cor- 
porations have,  in  so  far  as  matters  t)f  this  sort  are  con- 
cerned, ceased  to  be  oppressive.  A  similar  change  has 
been  made  in  many  of  the  continental  states.  The  Revo- 
lution swept  off  all  the  vexatious  enactments  with  respect 
to  apprenticeships  and  corporations  that  formerly  restricted 
the  freedom  of  industry  in  France;  and  they  have  also  dis- 
appeared in  Prussia,  the  Netherlands,  &c.  The  compul- 
sory provision  for  the  support  of  the  able-bodied  poor  is  the 
only  institution  now  existing  in  England,  that  seems  to 
have  any  very  considerable  influence  over  the  rate  of  wa- 
ges.    See  Poor. 

II.  But  whatever  fluctuations  may  take  place  in  the 
rate  of  wages,  there  is  in  all  countries  a  limit  below  which 
it  is  generally  difficult  to  reduce  wages  for  any  considerable 
period  ;  and  below  which  they  can  never  be  permanently 
reduced,  without  a  change  taking  place  in  the  habits  of  the 
population.  This  limit  forms  what  has  been  denominated 
the  natural  or  necessary  rate  of  wages,  and  consists  of 
the  various  necessaries  and  accommodations,  or  the  money 
sufficient  for  their  purchase,  required  to  enable  the  la- 
bourers to  exist  and  continue  their  race  according  to  the 
habits  and  customs  prevailing  in  the  countries  to  which 
they  belong. 

It  is  obvious  from  what  has  now  been  stated,  that  the 
natural  or  necessary  rate  of  wages  is  susceptible  of  much 
variation.  It  varies  in  different  countries  according  to  the 
varying  wants  and  necessities  of  the  labourers  ;  and  it 
varies  in  the  same  country  according  to  the  perpetually  oc- 
curring changes  in  their  diet,  dress,  lodgings,  and  other  ac- 
commodations. 

The  varieties  in  the  climate  of  different  countries  oc- 
casion considerable  variations  in  the  necessary  rate  of 
wages.  Humboldt  states  that  there  is  a  difference  of  about 
a  third  part  between  the  wages  of  labour  in  the  hot  and 
temperate  districts  of  Mexico.  Nor  is  it  difficult  to  see  why 
this  is  the  case.  According  as  the  severity  of  the  climate 
increases,  warmer,  and  for  that  reason,  speaking  generally, 
more  expensive  clothing,  more  substantially-built  houses, 
and  a  larger  supply  of  fuel  become  necessary.  The  influ- 
ence of  these  circumstances  may,  it  is  true,  be  either  par- 
tially or  wholly  counteracted  by  others  ;  such  as  the  supe- 
rior progress  made  by  countries  with  a  less  genial  climate 
in  the  arts  of  civilized  life,  the  possession  of  unusually  pro- 
ductive coal  mines,  &c.  But  abstracting  from  these  cir- 
cumstances, it  is  plain,  as  a  general  proposition,  that  the 
rate  of  necessary  wages  must  vary  with  variations  of  cli- 
mate ;  and  that,  other  things  being  equal,  it  will  be  high- 
est in  countries  where  the  most  expensive  clothes  and 
houses  and  the  largest  supplies  of  fuel  are  required. 

The  share  of  the  wages  of  labour  appropriated  to  the 
purchase  of  food  necessarily  differs  in  different  countries. 
In  all,  however,  it  is  very  large;  and  even  in  Great  Britain, 
where  the  labourers  consider  comfortable  clothes  and  neat 
cottages  as  indispensable,  it  is  commonly  supposed  that,  at 
an  average,  from  two  to  three-fifths  of  their  earnings  are 
laid  out  for  food.  It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  the  neces- 
sary, and,  by  consequence  also,  the  market  rate  of  wages, 
must  be  especially  dependant  on  the  sort  of  food  consumed 
by  the  inhabitants,  and  the  cost  at  which  it  may  be  raised. 
Taking,  for  example,  the  present  average  rate  of  wages  in 
agricultural  employments  in  England  at  £25  a  year,  and 
supposing  three-fifths  of  this  sum,  or  £15,  to  be  expended 
on  food,  it  is  obvious  that,  if  either  by  a  reduction  in  the 


price  of  corn,  or  by  substituting  potatoes  in  its  place,  or 
any  other  means,  the  cost  of  food  were  reduced  a  half,  the 
necessary  rate  of  wages  might  be  reduced  in  the  same  pro- 
portion, or  from  £25  to  £17  10s.  Such  a  reduction  in  the 
price  of  corn,  or  such  a  change  in  the  species  of  food  aa 
has  been  supposed,  would  lead  to  an  increase  in  the  means 
of  subsistence  ;  an  additional  stimulus  would,  in  conse- 
quence, be  given  to  population,  and  though  the  market 
rate  of  wages  would  not  sink  in  the  same  degree  that  ne- 
cessary wages  are  supposed  to  have  sunk,  it  would  sink  to 
some  extent ;  and  were  necessary  wages  to  sink  still  more, 
market  wages  would  also  sustain  a  certain  decline,  which 
would  be  greater  or  less  according  to  the  habits  and  fore- 
sight of  the  people. 

The  state  of  the  labouring  classes  in  every  country  fur- 
nishes abundant  proofs  of  what  has  now  been  stated.  In, 
Bengal,  for  example,  where  clothing,  lodging,  and  fuel  are 
of  comparatively  inferior  importance,  the  necessary  wages 
of  labour  are  almost  entirely  determined  by  the  cost  of  tha 
food  consumed  by  the  labourer.  And  this  food  being  the 
simplest  and  cheapest  imaginable,  consisting  merely  of 
boiled  rice  wi'h  split  pulse,  and  salt  to  relieve  its  insipidity, 
a  labourer  is  able  to  subsist  on  the  merest  trifle  ;  and,  in 
consequence,  the  customary  rate  of  wages  in  common  em- 
ployments is  so  low  as  2^d.  a  day.  (Colebrooke,  On  the 
Husbandry  of  Bengal,  p.  20,  131.) 

But  it  is  not  necessary  to  refer  to  distant  countries  or  re- 
mote periods  for  an  example  of  this  principle.  The  contrast 
between  the  wages  and  the  condition  of  the  labouring 
classes  in  Great  Britain,  and  the  wages  and  condition  of 
the  same  classes  in  Ireland,  illustrates  it  in  the  most  strik- 
ing manner.  In  Great  Britain  the  necessary  rate  of  wage8 
is  principally  determined  by  the  cost  of  wheat  and  butch- 
er"s  meat,  and  in  a  less  degree  by  the  rent  of  a  comfortable 
cottage,  the  price  of  clothes,  beer,  tea,  &.c.  In  Ireland,  on 
the  contrary,  the  peasantry  rarely  taste  butcher's  meat; 
they  do  not  even  consider  bread  as  necessary  to  their  sub- 
sistence ;  they  are  generally  without  either  beer  or  tea ; 
and  their  hats,  clothes,  &c,  are  all  of  the  most  miserable 
description.  The  rate  of  necessary  wages  is  there  almost 
entirely  determined  by  the  price  of  potatoes ;  and  as  a 
quantity  of  these  sufficient  for  the  support  of  a  family  may 
be  bought  for  a  third  part  of  the  price  of  the  bread  and 
other  articles  required  for  that  purpose,  the  necessary  rate 
of  wages  is  proportionally  low.  The  market  rate  of  wa- 
ges, too,  owing  to  the  weakness  in  Ireland  of  moral  re- 
straint, and  the  nearly  total  non-existence  of  that  prudent 
forethought  and  decent  pride  which  distinguishes  the  la- 
bouring class  in  Great  Britain,  does  not  differ  sensibly  from 
the  necessary  rate.  The  principle  of  increase  has  filled  up 
the  population  to  the  level  of  mere  subsistence  ;  so  that 
while  the  wages  of  common  labour  may  be  taken  on  a 
rough  average  at  20d.  a  day  in  England,  they  are  not  sup- 
posed to  exceed  dd.  or  at  most  Id.  a  day  in  Ireland. 

If  we  except  the  influence  that  would  be  exerted  on  the 
progress  of  population,  and  consequently  also  on  the  rate 
of  wages,  by  the  prevalence  of  a  gTeater  degree  of  moral 
restraint,  an  increased  demand  for  labour,  and  a  fall  in  the 
price  of  the  articles  consumed  by  the  labourer,  seem  to  be 
the  only  modes  in  which  wages  can  be  raised.  From 
whatever  causes  an  increased  demand  for  labour  may  pro- 
ceed, it  must  obviously  raise  the  rate  of  wages ;  and  it  is 
hardly  less  obvious,  that  a  fall  in  the  cost  of  producing  any 
article  consumed  by  the  labourer,  or  suitable  for  his  con- 
sumption, must,  in  so  far,  improve  his  condition.  The  de- 
mand for  labour  is  in  most  cases  immediately  increased, 
and  it  is  never  generally  or  permantly  reduced,  by  a  re- 
duction in  the  cost  of  producing  commodities.  But  sup- 
posing that  the  demand  for  labour  continues  the  same  after 
commodites  fall  in  price,  then,  as  the  number  of  labourers 
in  the  market,  and  consequently  the  money  wages  paid 
them,  must  also  be  the  same  as  before  the  fall,  it  is  plain 
they  will  obtain  a  greater  quantity  of  produce,  and  that 
their  condition  will  be  in  so  far  improved.  It  is  no  doubt 
true,  that  were  population  to  increase,  as  is  sometimes  al- 
leged, proportionally  to  the  increased  demand  for  labour, 
or  to  the  fall  in  the  price  of  produce,  the  improvement  in 
the  condition  of  the  labourer  would  only  be  temporary. 
But  it  is  not  improbable  merely  but  next  to  impossible  that 
population  should  increase  in  the  same  proportion.  A 
period  of  about  twenty  years  necessarily  elapses  before  the 
stimulus  which  an  increased  demand  for  labour  gives  to 
population  can  occasion  any  increase  in  the  number  of  la- 
bourers ;  and  the  labourers  being  accustomed,  during  this 
long  interval,  to  an  improved  manner  of  living,  the  standard 
of  natural  or  necessary  wages  becomes  elevated  ;  and  the 
majority  will  be  disinclined  to  do  anything  that  might  tend 
to  sink  themselves  and  their  children  below  the  new  level 
to  which  they  have  attained. 

The  effects  produced  by  a  decreasing  demand  for  labour, 
or  by  a  rise  in  the  price  of  the  articles  usually  consumed 
by  the  labourer,  are  directly  the  reverse  of  those  now  sta- 

1323 


WAHABEES. 

The  number  of  labourers  continuing,  for  n  while  at 
least,  tlie  same,  the  rate  of  wages  is  necessarily  diminished 
when  the  demand  for  labour  declines,  and  ii  necessarily 
continues  at  its  old  level  when  prices  rise;  so  that  in  both 
cases  the  condition  of  the  labourers  is  changed  for  the 
worse.  In  consequence,  they  are  obliged  to  economize; 
and  should  the  pressure  continue  for  a  considerable  period, 
there  is  a  risk  lest  their  habits  be  degraded,  or  that  they 
should  learn  to  be  satisfied  with  an  inferior  species  of  food, 
or  a  lower  standard  of  comfort.  Should  this  change  unfor- 
tunately take  place,  the  population  would  accommodate  it- 
self to  the  new  state  of  things  ;  and  It  would  be  difficult  for 
the  labourers  to  attain,  at  any  subsequent  period,  to  the 
eli  vation  from  which  they  had  been  cist  down. 

When  t!ie  labourers  are  already  subsisting,  as  in  Ireland, 
on  the  lowest  species  of  food,  it  is,  of  course,  impossible  for 
them  to  go  to  a  lower  in  a  period  of  scarcity  ;  and  should 
their  wages,  or  the  means  of  subsistence  failing  to  their 
share,  sustain  any  serious  decline,  an  increase  would  ne- 
cessarily take  place  in  the  rule  of  mortality.  But  in  a 
country  like  England,  where  the  inhabitants  have  been 
long  accustomed  to  superior  comforts,  and  enjoy  various 
privileges,  it  is  probable  that  they  might  pass  through  a 
pretty  long  period  of  privation,  and  that  it  would  rather 
give  new  i  (ficacy  to  the  principle  of  moral  restraint,  and 
lessen  the  proportion  of  marriages  and  births,  than  induce 
them  to  submit  to  a  lower  scale  of  living  or  to  relinquish 
comforts  they  have  long  possessed,  and  been  taught  to  re- 
gard ns  indispensable.  As  the  well-being  of  the  labouring 
classes  is  essential  to  the  tranquillity  and  happiness  of  the 
stat".  it  is  of  the  highest  importance  that  this  principle 
Should  be  strengthened  by  every  possible  means.  It  is  easy 
from  this  to  see  that  a  principal  advantage  of  a  compulsory 
provision  for  the  support  of  the  poor  consists  in  the  assist- 
ance it  gives  them  in  periods  of  adversity,  and  in  its  there- 
by contributing  to  prevent  their  tastes  and  habits  or  their 
standard  of  comfort  from  being  lowered  by  the  privations 
to  which  thev  might  otherwise  be  compelled  to  submit. 

WAHA'BEES  or  WAHA'BYS.  A  Mussulman  sect,  of 
which  the  founder  was  a  learned  Arabian,  named  Abd  el 
Wahab,  who  became  persuaded  of  the  corruption,  both  of 
doctrine  and  practice,  prevalent  among  the  professors  of 
Islam,  especially  the  Turks.  His  daughter  married  Mo- 
hammed Ibn  Saoud,  the  principal  person  of  the  town  of 
Derayeh,  who  became  his  first  convert  and  leader  of  the 
sect,  about  1760.  Like  the  original  prophet  of  their  faith, 
Saodd  and  his  followers  propagated  their  doctrines  at  once 
by  persuasion  and  arms.  Abd  el  Aziz  and  Ibn  Saoud,  the 
son  and  grandson  of  the  first  Saoiid,  carried  their  arms  to 
the  utmost  extremities  of  Arabia,  and,  conformably  with 
the  old  Mohammedan  principle,  established  a  spiritual  and 
temporal  leadership  united  in  their  persons.  The  Bedouins, 
or  wandering  tribes,  formed  the  bulk  of  their  converts. 
They  acknovt  ledged  the  Koran  and  the  Sunne,  or  orthodox 
tradition,  and  they  professed  adherence  to  the  liberal  tenets 
of  both;  but  they  accused  the  other  Mohammedans  of  an 
idolatrous  veneration  for  the  prophet  and  other  saints,  and 
denied  the  intercession  of  saints  altogether.  Like  the 
early  Protestants  of  Europe,  their  favourite  taste  was  the 
destruction  of  the  cupolas  and  tombs  of  saints.  To  this  the 
mob  of  Wahabys  added  a  strong  aversion  to  the  rich  dress 
of  the  Turks,  and  to  the  practice  of  smoking  tobacco,  which 
had  been  prohibited  by  Abd  el  Wahab  much  on  the  same 
bold  principle  which  had  induced  Mohammed  himself  to 
condemn  the  use  of  wine.  The  province  of  Nedjd  became 
the  chief  seat  of  the  Wahaby  power.  Under  the  last 
Saoud  (a  very  handsome  man,  whom  the  Arabs  called 
Abou  Showareb,  or  the  Father  of  Mustaches),  it  reached 
its  greatest  extent.  Like  the  early  caliphs,  he  administer- 
ed justice  in  person  to  great  part  of  Arabia.  The  Waha- 
bys, in  the  first  twenty  years  of  this  centurv  extended  their 
plunderins  expeditions  to  Syria,  Irak,  and  Mesopotamia. 
In  1803  they  took  Mekka,  and  soon  conquered  the  Ilidjah. 
In  1809  Mehemet  Ali  began  hostilities  in  Arabia;  and  in 
1812  the  Ilidjah  was  restored,  and  the  caravans  of  pilgrims 
once  more  arrived  with  their  usual  pomp  at  Mekka;  but 
for  some  years  afterwards  the  Wahahvs  maintained  their 
superiority  in  the  rest  of  Arabia.  Saoud  died  in  1814,  and 
was  succeeded  in  his  political  and  religious  authority  by 
his  gon  Abdallah,  under  whom  the  Wahabys  were  finally 
subdued  by  Mehemet  Ali  ;  but  we  possess  no  authentic 
account  of  their  conquest,  or  their  present  condition.  (See 
Burkhanlt's  Travels  in  Arabia;  his  JVutrs  for  a  History 
of  the  Bedouins  and  Wahabys,  1830;  and  the  Travels  of 
Ali  Bni  •   Ed.  Rev.,  vols,  xwii.,  vvxiv.) 

WAIF.  (From  the  Saxon  wafian,  to  abandon.)  In  Law, 
goods  stolen  and  abandoned  by  the  felon  were  so  termed, 
and  were  forfeited  to  the  king,  or  lord  of  the  manor  having 
the  franchise  of  waif;  but  If  the  owner  made  fresh  pursuit 
alter  the  felon,  and  sjicd  an  appeal  of  robbery,  or  gave 
evidence  whereby  he  was  concluded,  within  a  year  and  a 
day,  he  was  entitled  to  restitution. 
1324 


VVALLOWER. 

WAINSCOT.  In  Architecture,  the  framed  lining  in 
panels  wherewith  a  wall  is  faced.  The  wood  originally 
used  for  this  purpose  being  a  species  of  foreign  oak.  that 
wood  has  acquired  the  name  from  the  purpose  to  Which  it 
was  thus  applied. 

WAIST.  That  part  of  the  gun-deck  between  the  fore 
and  m  i in  masts. 

WAITS,  the  popular  name  for  the  music  played  in  our 
streets  on  the  nights  of  the  Christmas  holidays,  is  thought 
to  be  only  a  corruption  of"  wake,"  the  common  name  for  a 
nocturnal  solemnity.     (See  Archaeol.,  vol.  ii.,  Ob.) 

WAI'VTSR,  In  Law,  a  term  used  to  signify  a  party's  de- 
clining or  refusing  to  accept  to  avail  himself  of  something; 
as  w  aiver  of  an  estate,  which  may  be  made  by  infant  or 
his  heirs  of  an  estate  conveyed  to  him  in  his  minority  ; 
waiver  of  tort,  in  some  cases  where  action  of  tort  and 
action  of  contract  both  lying,  the  aggrieved  party  declines 
the  former  and  pursues  the  latter  remedy. 

WAKE.  In  Antiquities  and  popular  usage,  the  word  is 
of  the  same  meaning  as  vigil;  and  the  custom  originated 
in  the  processions  which  took  place  early  in  the  morning 
offcast  days  to  the  church,  and  were  not  uncommonly  fol- 
lowed by  revelling  and  drunkenness.  At  present  most 
fast  days  are  popularly  called  wakes  by  the  English  peas- 
antry; but  the  peculiar  "wake"  or  "revel"'  of  county 
parishes  was,  originally,  the  day  of  the  week  on  which  the 
church  had  been  dedicated;  afterwards,  the  day  of  the 
year.  In  1530,  an  act  of  convocation  appointed  that  the 
wake  should  be  held  in  every  parish  on  the  same  day, 
namely,  the  first  Sunday  in  October  ;  but  it  was  disregard- 
ed. Wakes  are  expressly  mentioned  in  Charles  the  First's 
Book  of  Sports,  among  the  feasts  which  it  was  his  majes- 
ty's pleasure  should  be  observed.  The  wake  appears  to 
have  been  also  held  on  the  Sunday  after  the  day  of  dedica- 
tion ;  or,  more  usually,  the  day  of  the  saint  to  whom  the 
church  was  dedicated.  In  Ireland,  it  is  called  the  "  I'atron 
Day."     (Brand's  Popular  Antiquities.) 

Wake.  The  track  of  a  ship  which  she  leaves  in  the 
water.  A  vessel  directly  astern  of  another  is  said  to  be  in 
her  wake. 

WALDE'NSES.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  remark- 
able religious  sect,  said  to  have  derived  their  name  from 
Peter  Waldo,  a  merchant  of  Lyons,  who  preached  what  he 
regarded  as  the  pure  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures  about  1180. 
Historians  have  confounded  them,  on  the  one  hand,  with 
the  Vaudois  (see  that  article),  who  appear,  although  their 
history  is  involved  in  much  obscurity,  to  be  an  older  and 
separate  people ;  and  on  the  other  (especially  those  of  the 
Catholic  party),  with  the  Albigcnses:  and  thus  it  has  been 
endeavoured  to  throw  on  them  the  discredit  of  the  Mani- 
chean  tracts,  which  are  commonly  (but  on  very  doubtful 
testimony)  imputed  to  the  latter.  It  seems  clear,  how  ever, 
that  the  Waldenses  were  distinct  from  these,  and  probably 
from  the  Vaudois  also.  Their  distinguishing  character,  it 
has  been  said,  "seems  to  have  consisted  in  a  sinct  ad- 
herence to  what  they  considered  to  be  the  doctrine  originally 
delivered  by  Christ  to  his  apostles."  And  out  of  their  ex- 
tremely literal  interpretation  of  the  Gospel  appears  to  have 
arisen  most  of  their  peculiarities,  whether  good  or  evil. 
They  seem  to  have  rejected  an  established  succession  of 
the  priesthood,  and  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  the 
priestly  office;  the  high  Catholic  doctrine  of  the  sacra- 
ments, besides  the  common  ecclesiastical  abuses  of  their 
day;  and  are  said,  in  addition,  to  have  protested  against 
oaths,  warfare,  lawsuits,  and  the  accumulation  of  wealth. 
Their  later  history  is  obscure;  and  it  may  be  said  of  them, 
as  well  as  of  other  sects  of  the  day,  that  they  had  little  of 
the  elements  of  permanence,  the  same  opinions  bi 
tinually  promulgated  afresh  by  new  reformers,  and  then 
receiving  new  denominations.  (See  Albigenses,  Petro- 
brusians,  Vaudois.)  The  reader  may  consult  Miiner's 
Ecclesiastical  History  for  the  most  favourable  view  of 
these  and  similar  sectaries;  and,  among  many  other  au- 
thorities, Faber,  On  the  Churches  of  thr  Waldenses  and  Al- 
bigenses. Mosheim,  cent.  12.  vol.  iii.  There  is  a  curious 
notice  of  an  establishment  of  Waldenses  in  Kent,  in  the 

.■lrrliirlni'iti,  vol.  ix. 

WALL.  In  Architecture,  a  body  of  stone,  bricks,  or 
other  materials,  serving  to  enclose  a  spare,  or  carry  super 
incumbent  weights,  or  s,  r\  ing  both  these  purposes. 

Wall.  In  Horticulture,  a  fixed  structure  for  the  purpose 
of  improving  the  climate  of  plants  by  shelter,  by  supplying 
heat,  and  by  exposing  them  to  the  influence  of  the  sun. 
Garden  walls  are  formed  either  of  brick,  wood,  or  other 
materials;  and  are  either  solid,  fluid,  or  cellular,  upright 
or  sloping,  straight  or  angular,  according  to  the  purpose  in 
tended  by  their  erection.  (See  Loudon's  Encyc.  of  Oar 
tit  ii  in  fl>,  p.  575,  &c.) 

WALL  EYE.    An  opacity  of  the  comea  of  the  eye. 

See  <;t.M  i 

W. VI. LOWER.  In  Machinery,  is  used  synonymously 
with  lantern  or  trundle.    See  Lantern  Wheel. 


WALL  PLATE. 

WALL  PLATE.  In  Architecture,  a  piece  of  timber 
lying  on  a  wall,  on  which  girders,  joists,  and  other  timbers 
rest. 

WALPU'RGIS  NIGHT.  The  night  of  the  1st  of  May, 
a  festival  of  St.  Philip  and  St.  James.  Saint  Walpurga 
was  an  English  lad}-,  sister  of  Boniface,  the  apostle  of  the 
Germans :  her  festival  falls  on  the  same  day  with  that  of 
the  above-mentioned  saints,  and  is  a  common  day  in  Ger- 
many, like  Lady-day  in  England,  for  the  commencement  of 
leases,  &c.  It  is  also  known  as  the  day  on  the  eve  of 
which,  according  to  popular  superstition,  the  great  witch 
festival  is  held  on  the  summit  of  the  Brocken,  in  the  Hartz 
mountains.  This  superstition  is  supposed  to  have  originated 
in  the  rites  performed  by  the  pagan  remnants  of  the  Saxons 
to  their  gods,  when  their  nation  was  forcibly  converted  to 
Christianity ;  which,  being  secretly  celebrated  in  remote 
places,  were  supposed  by  the  vulgar  to  be  supernatural 
orgies. 

WALTZ.  (Germ,  waltzer.)  The  name  of  the  German 
national  dance,  and  also  of  the  species  of  music  by  which 
it  is  accompanied.  Bohemia  is  said  to  be  the  original  home 
of  the  waltz,  whence  it  soon  spread  into  other  parts  of  Ger- 
many, and  all  over  the  Continent ;  and  within  the  last  few 
years  it  has  become  naturalized  in  England. 

WA'PENTAKE.  A  territorial  division  in  use  among  the 
Danish  inhabitants  of  England',  from  wapen,  a  weapon. 
Yorkshire  is  subdivided  into  wapentakes  instead  of  hun- 
dreds. 

WAR,  in  International  Law,  is  said  to  be  "  public,"  when 
it  is  a  contest,  by  force,  between  independent  sovereign 
states.  A  civil  war  is  regarded  by  Grotius  as  "  mixed''  in  its 
nature ;  being,  according  to  him,  public  on  the  side  of  the 
established  government,  and  private  on  that  of  the  portion 
of  the  people  resisting  its  authority.  Public  war  is  said  to 
be  perfect  when  one  whole  nation  is  at  war  with  another, 
and  all  the  members  of  each  are  authorized  to  commit  hos- 
tilities mutually,  subject  only  to  the  general  laws  of  war. 
An  imperfect  war  is  limited  as  to  persons,  places,  and  things : 
to  which  class  may  be  referred  the  hostilities  of  the  United 
States  against  France  in  1798  ;  the  hostilities  between  Eng- 
land, France,  Russia,  and  Turkey,  in  1827;  and  perhaps 
the  recent  proceedings  against  the  Pacha  of  Egypt. 

Formal  decimations  of  war  are  now  out  of  use  :  the  latest 
example  is  said  to  be  that  by  France  against  Spain,  at  Brus- 
sels, in  1635,  which  was  announced  by  heralds.  War  is 
now  usually  preceded  by  the  publication  of  what  is  termed 
a  "  manifesto,"  (see  that  word) ;  and  the  permission  of  "  re- 
prisals" (which  see)  is  usually  the  last  step  short  of  ac- 
tual hostilities,  and  preceding  them.  The  immediate  effect 
of  the  commencement  of  hostilities  would  appear  to  be,  on 
principle,  the  liability  of  all  property  belonging  to  subjects 
of  one  of  the  belligerent  parties  within  the  dominions  of 
the  other  to  seizure  nnd  confiscation  ;  but  many  exceptions 
have  been  introduced  by  the  practice  of  civilized  states. 
(See  Grotius,  De.Ture,  B.  #  P.,  lib.  iii. ;  Vattel,Ub.  ii.,  &c.) 
In  recent  times,  it  has  been  the  regular  practice  in  Great 
Britain  to  seize  and  condemn,  as  droits  of  the  admiralty, 
property  of  the  enemy  found  in  our  ports  at  the  commence- 
ment of  hostilities.  Trade,  and  every  species  of  contract 
between  suojects  of  belligerent  states,  is  in  general  unlaw- 
ful, although  often  authorized  for  particular  times  and  pur- 
poses. Subjects  of  hostile  states,  domiciled  in  the  enemy's 
country,  are  held  liable  to  reprisals ;  but  not,  it  is  said,  mere 
travellers  or  temporary  sojourners. 

The  "rights  of  war"  are  such  as  arise  in  times  of  hostili- 
ties—1.  Between  enemies  ;  2.  Between  neutrals.  As  be- 
tween enemies,  it  is  a  general  law  that  subjects  of  a  hostile 
state  who  are  not  in  arms,  or  who  have  submitted,  may  not 
be  slain.  The  killing  of  prisoners  is  only  justifiable  in  very 
extreme  cases.  The  usage  of  exchanging  prisoners  is  now 
general,  but  was  only  firmly  established  in  the  17th  cen- 
tury ;  and  it  is  not  now  considered  obligatory.  As  to  prop- 
erty, that  belonging  to  the  government  of  the  vanquished 
nation  belongs  to  the  victorious  state,  wherever  it  is  found  ; 
but  private  rights  are  unaffected  by  conquest,  with  the  re- 
markable exception  of  private  property  when  at  sea,  which 
is  by  general  usage  held  lawful  prize.  Acts  of  hostility  are 
only  lawful,  according  to  modern  usage,  when  committed 
by  those  authorized  by  the  express  or  implied  command  of 
the  state  ;  such  as  the  regularly  commissioned  militarvand 
naval  forces  of  the  nation,  and'  all  others  called  out  by  the 
government  in  its  defence,  as  well  as  persons  spontaneously 
defending  themselves  in  case  of  necessity.  Irregular  band's 
of  marauders  are  therefore  denied  the"  rights  of  war,  and 
liable  to  be  treated  as  banditti ;  and  this  distinction  is  gene- 
rally only  observed  so  far  as  suits  the  belligerent's  purpose. 
For  private  citizens  taking  up  amis,  although  in  obedience 
to  proclamations,  are  constantly  liable  to  be  treated  as  ma- 
rauders; as  by  the  French  in  the  Peninsular  war,  and  in 
numerous  other  cases.  As  to  suspensions  of  hostilities,  &c, 
see  Truce,  Treaty.  As  to  the  rights  of  war  as  to  neu- 
trals, see  Neutrality. 

101 


WASHER. 

WARD.  In  Feudal  Law,  the  heir  of  the  king's  tenant 
in  capite  during  his  nonage  was  so  called  ;  and,  in  general 
language,  all  infants  under  the  power  of  guardians.  (See 
Guardian.)  The  court  of  wards  and  liveries,  for  cogni- 
zance of  various  matters  relating  to  the  king's  prerogative, 
was  established  by  Henry  VIII.,  and  abolished  at  the  Res- 
toration.    (See  ArchcEologia,  vol.  ii.) 

WARD-MOTE.  A  court  in  each  ward  of  the  city  of 
London,  which  has  power  to  present  defaults  in  matters 
relating  to  the  watch,  police.  &c. 

WARDEN,  LORD  OF  THE  CINQUE  PORTS.  (See 
Cinque  Ports.)  The  constable  of  Dover  Castle  was  crea- 
ted warden  of  the  Cinque  Ports,  and  guardian  of  the  adja- 
cent coast,  by  William  the  Conqueror  :  an  office  resembling 
that  of  the  comes  littoris  saxonici  in  the  decline  of  the  Ro- 
man empire.  The  lord  warden  has  the  authority  of  admiral 
in  the  Cinque  Ports  and  their  dependencies,  with  power  to 
hold  a  court  of  admiralty,  and  courts  of  law  and  equity  :  he 
is  returning  officer  of  all  the  ports.  The  salary  is  £3000  a 
year.  There  is  also  a  lord  warden  of  the  stannaries.  See 
Stannaries. 

WARMTH.  In  Painting,  a  tone  of  colour  arising  from 
the  use  of  colours  expressive  of  heat. 

WARP.  In  Weaving,  the  longitudinal  threads  of  a  wo- 
ven fabric  ;  they  are  crossed  by  the  transverse  threads,  or 
woof.  Warp,  in  Naval  affairs,  signifies  a  rope  laid  out  for 
the  purpose  of  moving  the  ship.  To  warp  is  to  move  a  ship 
from  one  position  to  another  by  means  of  warps. 

WA'RPING.  (Fr.  guerpier.)  A  mode  of  increasing  the 
fertility  of  tillage  lands  on  the  banks  of  rivers  liable  to  be 
overflown  by  them.  It  appears  to  have  been  first  practised 
in  Britain  on  the  banks  of  the  Trent,  Ouse,  and  other  rivers 
which  empty  themselves  into  the  estuary  of  the  Humber. 
The  water  of  these  rivers,  from  passing  through  a  great  ex- 
tent of  alluvial  country,  are,  after  heavy  rains,  muddy  to  an 
excess ;  and  they  are  in  that  state  conducted  over  the  ad- 
joining surface  in  portions  enclosed  by  banks,  and  there 
suffered  to  deposit  their  mud,  which  is  technically  called 
warp,  and  which  being  of  the  depth  of  an  inch  or  two,  adds 
greatly  to  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  ultimately  to  its 
quantity.  The  practice  has  existed  on  the  banks  of  the  Po, 
and  other  rivers  in  the  North  of  Italy,  from  time  immemorial. 

Wapping.    In  Architecture.     See  Casting. 

WA'RRANT.  In  Law,  a  precept  under  hand  and  seal, 
directed  to  a  proper  officer,  to  arrest  an  offender. 

WA'RRANT  OF  ATTORNEY,  in  Law,  is  a  power 
given  by  a  client  to  his  attorney  to  appear  and  plead  for 
him,  or  to  suffer  judgment  to  pass  against  him  by  confession. 
It  authorizes  a  creditor  to  enter  up  judgment  and  levy  exe- 
cution, either  instantly,  or  within  a  certain  time  specified  iu 
the  instrument. 

WARRANT  OFFICERS,  in  the  Navy,  are  the  gunner, 
boatswain,  and  carpenter. 

WA'RRANTY,  in  Law,  as  applied  to  lands,  is  a  promise 
or  covenant  real  annexed  to  lands  or  hereditaments,  where- 
by the  bargainor  and  his  heirs  are  bound  to  warrant  the 
same  to  the  bargainee  and  his  heirs  against  all  men.  But 
the  ancient  law  of  warranty  of  real  property  has  been  long 
obsolete  in  practice. 

With  regard  to  warranty  of  things  personal,  it  is  the  gene- 
ral rule,  that  a  purchaser  of  goods  and  chattels  may  have  a 
satisfaction  from  the  seller,  if  he  sells  them  as  his  own,  and 
the  title  proves  deficient,  without  any  express  warranty  for 
that  purpose ;  but  that  with  regard  to  the  goodness  of  the 
things  so  purchased,  the  vendor  is  not  bound  to  answer,  un- 
less he  has  expressly  warranted  them  to  be  good,  or  unless 
he  has  in  any  way  misrepresented  them. 

WA'RREN.  (Fr.  garenne  ;  from  the  Teutonic  wahren, 
(to  protect  or  defend.)  In  Law,  a  franchise  or  place  privi- 
leged for  the  keeping  of  beasts  and  fowls  of  warren,  which 
are  said  by  some  to  be  only  hares  and  rabbits,  partridges  and 
pheasants ;  others  add  quails,  woodcocks,  waterfowl,  &c. 
The  franchise  is  from  the  crown  by  grant,  or  prescription 
which  implies  grant.  It  is  often  called  free  warren.  In  com- 
mon language  a  warren  is  a  surface  of  poor  dry  sandy  soil 
on  which  rabbits  are  kept.  In  general,  warrens  may  be  de- 
scribed as  the  natural  habitations  of  wild  rabbits  appropri- 
ated by  man,  and  preserved  for  the  breed  of  these  animals ; 
but  they  are  occasionally  formed  in  suitable  situations. 
The  rabbits  are  allowed  to  burrow  in  the  soil  at  pleasure, 
and  to  crop  the  natural  herbage  which  grows  on  the  sur- 
face ;  but  to  render  warrens  profitable,  the  rabbits  require 
to  be  supplied  with  clover,  hay,  corn,  or  other  food,  in  the 
winter  season. 

WASH.  The  fermented  liquor  from  which  spirit  is  dis- 
tilled. 

WA'SHER.  A  circular  piece  of  leather,  or  pasteboard, 
placed  at  the  base  of  a  screw,  so  as  to  prevent  the  metal 
surfaces  from  being  injured  when  it  is  screwed  home ;  it  is 
also  used  to  render  screw  and  other  junctions  air-tight. 

Washer.  In  Architecture,  a  flat  piece  of  iron  pierced 
with  a  hole  for  the  passage  of  a  screw,  between  whose  nut 

1325 


WASSAIL. 

and  tlic  timber  it  is  placed  to  prevent  compression  on  a 
small  surface  of  the  timber. 

\V  \  'SS  ML.  (From  the  Aug.  Pax.  wacs  hael,  be  in 
health.)    A  common  salutation  used  in  drinking;  whence 

the  "  WESSel  bOWl,"  which  was  anciently  carried  round  on 

New  Fears'  Eve.  "A  carol  lor  a  wake]  bowl"  will  be 
found  in  Ritson's  Ancient  Songs,  1790,  p.  304.  (See  Brand's 
Popular  Antiquities,  vol.  i.,  p.  1.) 

WASTE,  in  Law,  is  tin-  destruction  or  material  altera- 
tion of  things  forming  an  essential  part  of  the  inheritance; 
as  houses,  timber,  &c.  Neglect  of  repairs  is  termed  per- 
missive waste  ;  active  injur] ,  voluntary  waste.  The  action 
Of  waste,  at  common  law,  can  only  be  brought  by  a  person 
in  <  state  of  inheritance  in  immediate  expectancy 
upon  the  devastator's  estate. 

WASTE  LAND.  Any  tract  of  surface  not  in  a  state  of 
cultivation,  and  producing  little  or  no  useful  herbage,  or 
wood.  The  quantity  of  this  kind  of  land  in  Britain  was 
estimated,  about  the  end  of  the  last  century,  at  upwards  of 
ons  of  acres  ;  four  millions  of  which  were  considered 
capable  of  being  brought  under  the  plough,  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  remainder  of  growing  wood. 

WATCH.  A  well-known  portable  machine,  moved  by  a 
spring,  for  measuring  lime.  When  executed  in  the  most 
perfect  manner,  it  is  called  a  chronometer,  and  used  in  navi- 
gation for  determining  differences  of  longitude.  See  Longi- 
TTJDK,  Chronometer. 

Watches  are  said  to  have  been  made  at  Nuremberg  so 
early  as  1477  ;  but  it  is  uncertain  how  far  the  watches  then 
constructed  resembled  those  which  now  go  by  that  name. 
Some  of  the  early  ones  were  very  small,  in  the  shape  of  a 
pear,  and  sometimes  sunk  or  fitted  into  the  top  of  a  walk- 
ing-stick. As  time-keepers,  watches  could  have  very  little 
value  before  the  application  of  the  spiral  spring  as  a  regu- 
lator to  the  balance.  The  merit  of  this  excellent  invention 
has  been  claimed  by  Hooke  and  Huygens  ;  but  it  seems  es- 
tablished by  unquestionable  evidence  that  the  priority  be- 
longed to  Hooke  by  at  least  fifteen  years.  The  date  of  the 
invention  is  about  the  year  10.58."  Hooke's  first  balance 
spring  was  straight,  and  acted  on  the  balance  in  a  very  im- 
perfect manner;  but  he  soon  perceived  its  delects,"  and 
attempted  to  obviate  them  by  adopting  first  the  cylindrical, 
and  afterwards  the  flat  spiral.  The  latter  appears  to  have 
been  applied  to  watches  before  the  publication  of  Huygens' 
claim  in  1G75.  (Encyc.  Brit.,  art.  "Clock  and  Watch 
Work.")     See  Horology. 

Watch.  The  portion  of  the  ship's  crew  on  duty  at  a 
time.  This  is  usually  half;  and  the  watches  ore  called  the 
starboard  and  larboard  watches.  Large  crews  are  put  in 
three  watches.  The  period  of  time  called  a  watch  is  four 
hours,  the  reckoning  beginning  at  noon  or  midnight.  Be- 
tween 4  o'clock  and  8  p.  m.,  the  time  is  divided  into  two 
short  or  dog  watches,  in  order  to  break  the  constant  recur- 
rence of  three  watches  at  the  same  hours. 

WA'TER.  (Germ,  wasser.  The  old  chemists  considered 
water  as  an  element,  and  supposed  it  convertible  into  earth, 
and  into  various  organic  products.  This  opinion  was  first 
questioned,  and  afterwards  disproved,  by  the  experiments  of 
Watt  and  of  Cavendish,  in  the  years  1786  and  1737.  ( Phil. 
Trans.)  And  it  has  since  been  satisfactorily  demonstrated 
that  hydrogen  and  oxygen  are  the  elements  of  water,  and 
that  they  are  contained  in  it  in  the  relative  proportions  by 
weight  of  1  and  8,  or  by  volume  2  and  1 ;  the  specific  gravity 
of  hydrogen  being  to  that  of  oxygen  as  1  to  1G. 

The  electro-chemical  decomposition  of  water  is  that 
which  affords  the  most  satisfactory  evidence  of  its  nature. 
When  made  part  of  the  volta-clectric  circuit,  it  is  resolved 
into  2  measures  of  hydrog<  n  and  1  of  oxygen  gas  ;  the  for- 
mer evolved  at  the  negative,  and  the  latter  at  the  positive 
surface  :  and  if  the  gases  thus  obtained  be  mixed,  and  fired 
by  the  electric  spark,  they  again  combine,  and  produce  their 
weight  of  water.  The  analytic  and  synthetic  evidence, 
therefore,  of  the  composition  of  water  is  thus  rendered 
complete. 

But  although  perfectly  pure  water,  such,  for  instance,  as 
has  been  boiled  and  very  cautiously  distilled,  is  in  fact  an 
oxide  of  hydrogen,  and  composed  as  above  Stated,  all  com- 
mon water  is  more  or  less  contaminated  by  fori  ign  matters, 
which,  If  not  iii  excess,  or  of  an  uncommon  or  injurious  na- 
ture, render  it,  generally  speaking,  more  fit  for  most  of  the 
ordinary  uses  to  which  it  is  applied.  Of  all  water,  raiii 
•water,  carefully  and  c  leanly  collected,  is  most  pure.  But  it 
absorbs  air,  and  with  it  traces  qf  carbonic  acid  ;  minute  poi 

tious  of  certain  ammoniacal  salts  are  also  found  in  It,  and 
very  near  the  sea  it  is  seldom  free  from  a  trace  of  sail. 
During  thundi  r  storms  the  run  which  [alls  sometini 
bibits  indications  of  nitric  acid,  formed,  no  doubt,  by  file 
passage  of  the  lightning  through  the  humid  atmosphere. 
Next  to  rain  water,  river  water \s,  generally  speaking,  most 
free  from  foreign  matter.  The  water  of  the  Thames,  espe- 
cially where  it  Is  not  contaminated  by  drainage  and  manu 
factures,  only  contains  about  2  grains  of  saline  or  soluble 
1320 


WATER. 

matter  in  each  pint ;  and  this  is  chiefly  carbonate  of  iiirte, 
w  nh  a  little  sulphate  of  lime,  chloride  of  sodium  .  a 
salt),  and  chloride  of  magnesium,  and  traces  of  organic 
matter.  The  saline  contents  of  a  gallon  of  Thami 
in  its  most  impure  stale,  do  not  exceed  24  grains  ;  anil  when 
in  its  purest  state,  fall  short  of  16  grains.  This  statement 
refers  only  to  matters  dissolved  In  the  water ;  for  it  is  often 
loaded  with  substances  mechanically  suspended  to  a  much 
greater  extent,  as  is  obvious  from  the  muddy  state  In  which 
it  is  often  supplied  to  [he  houses  of  London  and  its  vicinity 
by  the  water  companies.  These  last  impurities  are  separa- 
ted either  by  subsidence  or  by  filtration  ;  hence  the  advan- 
tage of  allowing  the  waier  to  clarity  Itself  m  reservoirs  be- 
fore it  is  supplied  for  use,  or  of  filtering  it  through  fine  sand, 
which  Imparts  nothing  to  the  water,  and  renders  it  clean 
and  transparent.  When  water  contaminated  by  animal  or 
vegetable  matter  is  kept  for  some  time,  it  undergoes  a  spon- 
taneous depuration,  losing  its  odour  and  colour,  and  deposit- 
ing more  or  less  sediment.  By  this  process,  however,  it 
becomes  hard,  in  consequence  of  retaining  certain  indestruc- 
tible saline  matters  in  solution.  The  water  for  the  supply 
of  ships  is  well  know  n  to  undergo  this  process  of  fermenta- 
tion and  purification,  and  the  larger  the  quantity  of  destruc- 
tible matter  the  more  complete  and  rapid  is  the  depuration  ; 
hence  the  preference  given  to  Thames  water  for  sea  store, 
the  purer  river  waters  fermenting  less  rapidly,  and  remain- 
ing more  or  less  foul  and  putrid  for  a  much  longer  time.  It 
is  obvious,  however,  that  for  all  ordinary  purposes  the  purer 
the  water  the  better;  and  it  is  quite  clear  that  London 
ought  to  be  supplied  with  Thames  water  from  above  Rich- 
mond, and  out  of  the  reach  of  the  tides,  instead  of  from  the 
heart  of  the  metropolis,  where  it  is  loaded  with  the  contents 
of  the  sewers,  the  offal  of  manufactures,  and  the  mud  stir- 
red up  by  the  steamers. 

Spring  water,  as  afforded  by  our  common  wells,  may  be 
considered  as  rain  water  modified  by  filtration  through  the 
superficial  strata  of  the  earth,  and  consequently  containing 
more  or  less  of  the  soluble  substances  which  it  meets  with 
in  its  course.  In  and  about  London  the  purity  of  the  watel 
is  very  various  at  different  depths  from  the  surface.  In  the 
more  superficial  wells  it  is  usually  very  hard,  and  abounds 
in  sulphate  of  lime ;  in  the  deep  wells,  and  especially  the 
artesian  and  overflowing  wells,  the  water  is  softer,  and 
contains  less  foreign  matter.  These  different  states  of 
purity  may  be  judged  of  with  a  degree  of  accuracy  sufficient 
for  all  common  purposes  by  dropping  into  the  water  a  solu- 
tion of  soap  in  spirit  of  wine:  with  pure  water,  such  as  rain 
or  distilled  water,  it  remains  clear;  but  with  river  or  spring 
water  it  becomes  more  or  less  turbid  or  milky,  in  proportion 
to  the  impurity.  Water  which  ia  thus  rendered  decidedly 
opaque  or  milky  is  not  fit  for  washing;  but  that  which  Is 
only  slightly  troubled,  or  becomes  merely  opalescent,  is 
usually  called  soft  water.  This  simple  experiment  shows 
the  cause  of  softness  and  hardness  in  water;  for  pure 
water  perfectly  dissolves  soap,  whereas,  in  common  spring 
water  the  salts  are  of  such  a  nature  as  to  form  insoluble 
compounds  with  it,  and  these  adhere  to  whatever  is  washed 
in  it,  and  give  that  unpleasant  sensation  called  hardness 
when  me  wash  our  hands.  The  application  ofa  few  other 
simple  tests  may  be  resorted  to,  to  indicate  more  exactly  the 
nature  of  the  hardening  impurities.  The  presence,  for  in- 
stance, of  sulphate  of  lime  is  indicated  by  the  production  of 
a  white  cloud  upon  adding  a  few  drops  of  a  solution  of 
chloride  of  barium  (which  shows  the  sulphuric  acid),  and 
of  oxalate  of  ammonia  (which  detects  lime).  Such  water 
generally  leaves  a  white  crust  in  the  decanter  in  \\  bich  it  i-> 
kept,  and  incrusts  boilers  and  kettles  with  a  tioublesome 
sediment;  so  that,  unless  frequently  cleansed,  tin  \ 
destroyed  by  the  action  of  the  fire,  in  conscqucm 
sulphate  of  lime  which  coats  their  inferior,  and  which  pre- 
vents the  transmission  of  heat.  The  impurity  i  I 
longs  to  what  are  called  land  springs,  and  is  derived  from 
the  blue  clay  upon  which  London  is  built,  and  which 
abounds  in  sulphate  of  lime.  The  deeper  springs,  especially 
those  from  the  sandy  deposits  nearer  to  or  upon  the  chalk, 
or  those  from  the  chalk  Itself,  are  more  pure,  especially 
w  In  re  the  land  springs  are  ex(  luded  ;  and  though  they  ex- 
hibit traces  of  sulphate  of  lime,  common  salt,  carl 

lime,  and  carbonate  of  soda,  are  yet  pure  enough  for  wash- 
in1.',  brewing,  &x.  Traces  of  ammoniacal  Baits,  and  of  rti 
trates,  nre  also  not  uncommon  in  the  waters  from  the  deep 
u.  lis  of  London  and  its  vicinity. 

Carbonate  of  lime,  or  chalk,  is  sometimes  held  in  solu- 
tion in  spring  water,  by  excess  of  carbonic  acid;  in  this  case 
the  water  becomes  turbid  upon  the  addition  of  oxalic  acid, 

and  slightly  effervesces  with  muriatic   acid;  when  boiled, 

the  excess  of  carbonic  acid  which  holds  the  carbonate  In 
solution  i~  expelled,  and  the  water  becomes  more  oi  l<  •- 
turbid,  li  ia  sometimes  contained  In  such  quantity  as  to  be: 
deposited  upon  ub  tances  thrown  into  the  water,  and  upon 
the  vessels  containing  It,  as  we  see  in  the  petrifying  springs 
of  Matlock  in  Derbyshire,  and  elsewhere;  and  the  beauti- 


WATER. 

fu'i  stalactites  which  line  the  caverns  in  limestone  rocks 
are  produced  in  the  same  way.  Spring  water  which  (after 
having  been  boiled  and  filtered)  becomes  turbid  upon  the  ad- 
dition of  a  few  drops  of  nitrate  of  silver  generally  contains 
common  salt,  and  the  proportion  may  be  judged  of  by  the 
degree  of  milkiness  thus  occasioned.  If  water,  after  it  has 
been  evaporated  to  a  small  bulk,  be  tested  by  tumeric  or 
violet  paper,  it  often  shows  an  alkaline  reaction,  and  upon 
closer  examination  is  found  to  contain  carbonate  of  soda ; 
and  it  occasionally  evolves  during  its  evaporation  traces  of 
carbonate  of  ammonia,  and  affords  to  delicate  tests  indica- 
tions of  organic  matter.  This  is  especially  observed  in  the 
pump  water  from  churchyards,  in  which  most  improper 
situation  wells  for  the  supply  of  the  neighbourhood  are 
often  sunk. 

Mineral  springs  or  waters  are  of  such  a  nature  as  to  be 
unfit  for  common  purposes,  and  often  derive  important  me- 
dical efficacy  from  the  substances  which  they  hold  dissolved. 
Those  which  have  an  inky  and  astringent  flavour,  and 
which  become  reddish  brown  and  turbid  by  boiling,  or  by 
exposure,  are  usually  called  chalybeate  waters,  and  contain 
carbonate  or  sulphate  of  iron :  when  examined  as  they 
flow  from  the  spring,  they  blacken  with  a  few  drops  of 
tincture  of  galls  or  of  strong  green  tea.  Tunbridge  water 
is  an  instance  of  a  chalybeate  containing  carbonate  of  iron, 
and  the  Brighton  chalybeate  contains  sulphate  of  iron. 
There  are  some  mineral  waters  which  derive  their  efficacy 
from  certain  salts,  and  are  called  saline  waters  ;  such  as 
Cheltenham  water,  Leamington  water,  -fee.  The  salts  which 
they  contain  are  chiefly  sulphate  of  soda  and  sulphate  of 
magnesia;  they  have  a"  bitterish  salt  taste,  and  are  more  or 
less  aperient:  when  reduced  to  a  small  bulk  by  evapora- 
tion, and  set  aside  for  a  few  hours  in  a  cool  place,  the  salts 
generally  crystallize.  What  are  termed  sulphureous  wa- 
ters are  usually  saline,  and  also  contain  sulphuretted  hydro- 
gen-, which  is  presently  recognised  by  its  fetid  smell,  and 
by  becoming  black  when  a  solution  of  sugar  of  lead  is 
dropped  into  it;  and  turbid  on  the  addition  of  a  little  mu- 
riatic acid,  or  by  mere  exposure  to  air,  from  the  deposition 
of  sulphur.  Harrowgate  and  Aix-la-Chapelle  waters  are 
instances.  There  are  some  waters  which  are  occasionally 
resorted  to  medicinally,  but  which  are  only  remarkable  for 
extreme  purity,  such  as  .Malvern  water;  and  there  are 
others  which,  exclusive  of  their  chalybeate  or  saline  quali- 
ties, are  effervescent  or  sparkling,  from  the  presence  of  car- 
bonic acid,  which  gives  them  an  agreeable  and  slightly 
pungent  flavour:  these  qualities  are  entirely  lost  on  boil- 
ing, in  consequence  of  the  escape  of  the  gaseous  acid ;  con- 
sequently they  lose  the  power  of  reddening  vegetable  blues 
after  they  have  been  exposed  to  heat.  In  respect  to  med- 
ical virtues,  the  chalybeate  springs  are  more  or  less  tonic 
and  astringent,  and  the  saline  springs  aperient  and  altera- 
tive; and  though  they  often  contain  their  active  ingredients 
in  small  relative  proportions,  they  are  perhaps  on  that  very 
account  more  likely  to  be  absorbed  into  the  system,  and  to 
eflect  cures  where  iarger  doses  of  the  same  remedies  fail. 
There  are  also  some  mineral  waters  which  contain  iodine 
and  bromine,  and  which,  though  in  very  minute  quantities, 
are  powerful  medicines;  in  others,  baryta  and  strontia 
have  been  discovered.  But  a  course  of  mineral  water  is 
often  useful  upon  other  principles:  it  generally  is  accom- 
panied by  strict  attention  to  diet,  by  moderate  bodily  exer- 
cise, by  mental  relaxation,  and  by  regular  hours,  all  of 
which  are  powerfully  curative  resources ;  and  with  these 
aids  the  mere  diluent  eflect  of  pure  water  (such  as  that  of 
Malvern)  may,  in  many  instances,  prove  of  eminent  ser- 
vice ;  this  is  certainly-  often  the  case  in  the  early  stages  of 
calculous  complaints. 

■Sea  Water. — The  chemical  history  of  sea  water  is  ex- 
tremely important,  as  involving  that  of  sea  salt  (see  Sodium 
and  Chlorine),  of  magnesia  and  its  most  important  com- 
binations, and  of  those  singular  and  powerful  agents  known 
to  chemists  under  the  names  of  iodine  and  bromine.  It  ap- 
pears from  the  best  authorities  that  the  composition  of  sea 
water,  when  not  influenced  by  adventitious  or  accidental 
causes,  is  nearly  uniform  in  the  vast  extent  of  the  ocean, 
which  covers  about  two-thirds  of  the  globe,  and  probably 
has  a  mean  depth  of  not  less  than  half  a  mile  (2640  feet). 
Its  specific  gravity  varies  from  10269  to  10285  :  and  it  con- 
tains rather  more  than  three  per  cent,  of  solid  matter,  com- 
posed chiefly  of  common  salt,  muriate  of  magnesia,  sulphate 
of  magnesia,  and  sulphate  of  lime.  These  are  the  principal 
ingredients  of  sea  water;  besides  which  it  contains  traces 
of  chloride  of  potassium,  of  muriate  of  ammonia,  of  carbo- 
nate of  lime,  of  hydrobromate  of  magnesia,  and  often  of 
hydriodate  of  magnesia.  There  is  some  difference  of 
opinion  as  to  the  state  of  combination  in  which  the  acids 
and  bases  exist  in  sea  water.  The  following  tables  show 
their  proportions  in  a  pint  of  sea  water  of  the  Frith 
of  Forth,  taken  up  near  Leith,  as  obtained  by  evapo- 
ration, and  as  presumed  to  exist  after  and  previous  to 
evaporation : 


WATERSPOUT. 

After  Evaporation.  Before  Evaporation. 

Common  salt                180-5  Common  salt                1805 

Muriate  of  magnesia      23-0  Muriate  of  magnesia      18'3 

Sulphate  of  magnesia    15-5  Muriate  of  lime                5-7 

Sulphate  of  lime              7-1  Sulphate  of  magnesia    21-6 

2261  22fH 

The  other  substances  exist  in  such  small  quantities  that 
they  are  omitted  in  this  general  statement.     See  Ocean. 

WATER  BAILIFF.  An  officer  in  port  towns,  whose 
duties  in  general  are  with  respect  to  the  searching  of  ships: 
in  London  he  has  also  the  supervision  of  the  fish  market, 
gathering  of  tolls,  &c. 

WATER  CLOCK.  A  contrivance  for  measuring  time 
by  the  flow  of  water.     See  Clepsydra. 

WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING.  A  species  of  painting, 
in  which  the  medium  of  representation  is  colour  levigated 
with  water  and  gum,  and  which  in  our  days  has  been  car- 
ried to  such  extraordinary  perfection  as  to  rival  oil  painting 
in  every  thing  but  durability. 

WATER  DEVIL.  A  name  given  by  some  microgra- 
phers  to  the  larva  of  a  British  species  of  Hydrophilus. 

WATERLA'NDIANS.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  n  di- 
vision of  the  Dutch  Anabaptists,  also  called  "Gross"  (Grob), 
or  "  Moderate,"  in  contradistinction  to  the  "  Fine,"  or 
"Rigid."  They  were  so  called  from  a  district  in  North 
Holland,  denominated  Waterland,  and  originated  in  the 
16th  century.  John  de  Ries,  in  1580,  composed  a  confession 
of  faith,  which  stems  to  have  been  pretty  generally  used 
among  them.  They  still  constitute  (we  believe)  a  portion 
of  the  general  body  of  Mennonites.  (See  Mosheim,  cent.  16, 
sec.  3,  part  ii.) 

WATER  LINE.  The  boundary  of  any  horizontal  sec- 
tion of  the  bottom  of  a  ship.  The  uppermost  one  is  called 
the  load  water  line;  the  lowest  the  light  water  line. 

WATER-LOGGED.  A  Nautical"  term,  denoting  the 
state  of  a  ship  when  a  quantity  of  water  having  been  re- 
ceived into  the  hold  by  leaking,  &c.,  she  has  in  a  great 
measure  lost  her  buoyancy,  and  yields  to  the  eflect  of  every 
wave  passing  over  the  deck. 

WATER  MEADOWS.  Meadows  on  low  flat  grounds, 
capable  of  being  kept  in  a  state  of  fertility  by  being  over- 
flown with  water  from  some  adjoining  river  or  stream.  The 
principal  season  at  which  this  operation  is  performed  is 
during  winter,  when  the  water  is  allowed  to  remain  stag- 
nant on  the  surface  for  some  weeks;  but  meadows  which 
can  be  watered  are  occasionally  overflown  during  summer, 
especially  after  a  crop  of  hay  has  been  taken.  The  manner 
in  which  water  so  applied  to  grass  lands  is  found  beneficial 
has  never  been  satisfactorily  explained.  By  some  it  is  at- 
tributed to  the  warmth  retained  in,  or  communicated  to  the 
soil,  by  the  water  during  winter;  by  others  to  its  effect  in 
destroying  insects,  worms,  Sec. ;  and  by  some  to  the  par- 
ticles of  manure  deposited  on  the  surface  of  the  soil.  Dur- 
ing summer  the  effect  is  more  readily  accounted  for,  a  sup- 
ply of  moisture  being  advantageous  to  all  plants  at  that  dry 
season.     Sre  Irrigation. 

WATER  OF  CRYSTALLIZATION.  Some  crystal- 
lized salts  contain  more  or  less  water,  which,  as  it  bears  a 
definite  proportion  to  the  other  components  of  the  salt,  may 
be  considered  as  one  of  its  essential  constituents.  Crystal- 
lized sulphate  of  lime,  for  instance,  is  a  compound  of  68  of 
dry  sulphate  and  18  water,  or  of  1  equivalent  of  anhy- 
drous salt  and  2  equivalents  of  water;  1  equivalent  of  crys- 
tallized sulphate  of  magnesia  =  123,  contains  7  of  water  = 
63:  and  an  equivalent  of  crystallized  sulphate  of  soda 
=  162.  contains  10  of  water  =  90  ;  the  equivalent  of  water 
being  9.  But  it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  a  salt  in 
crvstals  contains  water,  there  being  many  crystals  which 
are  anhydrous,  such  as  nitre,  sulphate  of  potash.  &c. 

WA'TERSPOUT.  A  very  remarkable  meteorological 
phenomenon,  observed,  for  the  most  part,  at  sea,  but  some- 
times also  on  shore,  though  generallv  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  water.  Its  general  appearance  may  be  described  as  fol- 
lows: from  a  dense  cloud,  a  conical  pillar,  which  appears 
to  consist  of  condensed  vapour,  is  seen  to  descend,  with  the 
apex  downwards.  When  over  the  sea,  there  are  usually 
two  cones:  one  projecting  from  the  cloud,  and  the  other 
from  the  water  below  it.  These  sometimes  unite,  and  the 
junction  has  been  observed  to  be  accompanied  with  a  flash 
of  lightning ;  but  more  frequently  they  disperse  before  the 
junction  is  effected.  In  calm  weather  the  column  main- 
tains its  vertical  position  while  carried  along  the  surface; 
but  when  acted  on  by  the  wind  it  becomes  oblique  to  the 
horizon.  The  causes  of  this  meteor  are  very  imperfectly 
known.  By  some  it  is  supposed  to  be  formed  by  a  whirl- 
wind of  extrefce  intensity,  while  others  ascribe  to  it  an 
electric  origin.  Dr.  Young  (Nat.  Phil.,  vol.  i.)  thinks  thai 
some  of  the  circumstances  maybe  explained  by  considering 
the  spout  as  a  whirlwind,  carrying  up  drops  of  water  which 
it  has  separated  from  the  waves,  and  that  the  remainder 
may  perhaps  be  deduced  from  the  co-operation  of  electri- 

1327 


WATER  TABLE. 

city  already  existing  in  a  neighbouring  cloud.  (See  also 
Fouillet,  Ettmens  de  Physique,  tome  ii.) 

U  VlT'.K  TABLE.  In  Architecture,  a  projection  or 
horizontal  set-off  in  a  wall,  so  placed  as  to  throw  off  the 
water  from  the  building, 

WATEB  WAV'S.  Strong  pieces  of  wood  extending 
round  the  ship,  at  the  junction  of  the  decks  with  the  sides, 
to  cany  off  the  water. 

WATEB  WHEEL.  In  Hydraulics,  an  engine  for  raisins; 
water  in  large  quantities.  (See  Persian  Wsikel.)  Also 
a  wheel  turned  by  the  force  of  running  water,  of  these 
there  are  two  kinds:  the  undershot  wheel,  end  the  overshot 
vtiecl.  In  the  case  of  the  undershot  wheel,  the  water 
strikes  the  float  boards  below  the  axle,  and  acts  by  the  im- 
pulse due  to  its  velocity;  in  the  case  of  the  overshol  wheel. 
the  water  is  brought  over  the  top  of  the  wheel,  received  in 
buckets,  and  acts  solely  by  its  weight 

WAVE.  The  alternate  elevation  and  depression  of. 
parts  of  the  surface  of  a  liquid  above  and  below  the  natu- 
ral level. 

When  the  surface  of  a  liquid  is  unequally  pressed,  the 
columns  which  sustain  the  greatest  pressure  are  shortened, 
and  sink  below  the  original  level  ;  and  this  pressure  being 
communicated  to  the  contiguous  columns,  these  will  be 
lengthened  and  rise  above  that  level.  But  as  the  elevation 
is  not  sustained  by  a  hydraulic  pressure,  the  lengthened 
columns  again  tall,  and  acquiring  in  the  fall  a  velocity  due 
to  the  height,  they  descend  below  the  original  level,  and 
communicate  in  their  turn  a  pressure  to  those  which  are 
adjacent  to  them.  In  this  manner  a  reciprocating  motion  is 
produced,  the  particles  to  which  the  primitive  impulse  was 
communicated  being  alternately  the  lowest  and  the  high- 
est;  and  a  series  of  ridges  and  hollows  is  formed,  which 
are  called  waves  or  undulations. 

In  passing  from  the  columns  which  are  shortened  to 
tins.'  which  are  lengthened,  and  back  again  to  those  to 
which  they  originally  belonged,  the  particles  of  the  fluid 
acquire  both  a  vertical  and  horizontal  motion  ;  but  while 
the  depth  is  sufficient  to  allow  the  oscillations  to  proceed 
unimpeded,  no  progressive  motion  takes  place,  each  column 
being  kept  in  its  place  by  the  pressure  of  the  surrounding 
columns.  If,  however,  free  oscillation  be  prevented  (by  the 
shelving  of  the  shore,  or  the  interposition  of  a  rock,  for  ex- 
ample), the  columns  in  the  deep  water  are  not  balanced  by 
those  in  the  shallower,  and,  in  consequence,  acquire  a  pro- 
gressive motion  towards  the  latter,  or  form  breakers.  Hence 
the  reason  why  waves  always  break  against  the  shore, 
whatever  be  the  direction  of  the  wind. 

When  waves  are  produced  by  the  agitation  of  a  small 
portion  of  the  fluid,  as,  for  example,  by  throwing  a  stone 
into  stagnant  water,  they  appear  to  advance  from  the  dis- 
turbed point  in  expanding  concentric  circles,  the  height  of 
the  wave  gradually  diminishing  as  it  recedes  from  the  cen- 
tre ;  but  that  there  is  no  transference  of  any  part  of  the 
mass  from  one  place  to  another,  is  manifest  from  the  mo- 
tions of  any  light  body  floating  on  the  surface.  The  ap- 
pearance of  progression  is,  in  tact,  an  optical  deception, 
produced  by  tin-  form  of  the  wave  and  the  mode  of  oscilla- 
tion. On  attending  closely  to  the  phenomena  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  fore  part  is  always  in  the  act  of  rising,  and 
the  hinder  part  in  the  act  of  falling;  and  thus  the  whole 
system  appears  to  roll  onwards,  while  each  particle  of  wa- 
ter in  succession  merely  oscillates  with  a  vertical  ascent 
and  descent. 

If  a  second  series  of  concentric  waves  take  its  origin  from 
a  different  point  at  some  distance  from  the  first,  the  two 
sets  will  cross  each  other  without  the  slightest  interruption. 
Where  a  wave  of  the  first  series  meets  one  of  the  second, 
and  the  two  elevations  correspond,  the  resulting  elevation 
will  he  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  two;  and  the  same  is  the 
case  with  the  depressions.  Where  the  elevation  in  the 
one  series  corresponds  with  a  depression  in  the  other,  the 
surface  will  maintain  its  original  level,  at  least  if  the  waves 

of  the  two  series  have  the  same   height.     Thus,  although 
different  series  of  waves  do  not  interfere  with  each  others' 

propagation,  they  may  neverthelea srease  or  neutralize 

each  others'  effects.    The  one  series  is,  in  fact,  superposed 
on  the  other. 

A  series  of  waves  meeting  a  vertical  obstacle,  as  a  wall 
or  bank,  is  reflected;  and  the  reflected  waves  are  propa- 
gated in  the  same  manner  as  those  arising  from  the  01  igi 

nal  impulse,  but  in  an  opposite  direction.    Waves  proceed 

ing  in  concentric  circles  are  reflected  in  concentric  circles. 

and  in  such  a  manner  as  to  appear  to  diverge  from  a  cen- 
tre as  far  behind  the  obstacle  as  the  original  centre  is  in 

front  of  it,  and,  in  short,  appeal  to  be  subjected  to  all  those 
laws  which  are  usually  noticed  to  belong  to  reflected  light 

li  the  obstacle  against  which  the  waves  strike  have  an 

lug  in  it  of  small  horizontal  breadth  relativelj  to  the 

breadth  of  the  wave,  the  osculating  columns  winch  reach 

it  will  act  ms  an  impulse  original!}  exerted  at  that  point, 

and  a  series  of  waves  will  diverge  from  the  aperture  us 

1388 


WAVE. 

from  a  new  centre  ;  but  when  the  aperture  is  considerably 
wider  than  the  wave,  the  wave  confines  its  motion  in  a 
great  measure  to  its  original  direction,  though  with  some 
small  divergence,  or  the  oscillation  is  continued  principally 
in  the  direction  of  a  sector,  whose  centre  is  at  the  point 
from  which  the  original  wave  proceeded. 

Waves  which  have  been  raised  ly  the  wind  in  the  open 
sea  proceed  in  parallel  and  nearly  straight  lines  ;  and  the 
original  impulse  being  increased  by  the  continued  action  of 
the  wind,  they  will  increase  in  height  until  the  weight  of 
the  elevated  column,  together  with  the  friction,  becomes 
equal  to  the  inciting  cause.  It  has  been  inferred  that  the 
greatest  height  to  which  a  single  series  of  waves  raised  by 
the  wind  blowing  constantly  in  one  direction  will  attain 
does  not  exceed  six  feet.  The  force  of  the  wind  also  tends; 
to  givo  a  progressive  motion  to  the  mass  of  water  raised 
above  the  general  level,  and  likewise  to  alter  the  shape  of 
the  wave  by  diminishing  the  acclivity  of  the  side  against 
which  it  strikes.  In  a  strong  gale  this  effect  may  be  in- 
creased so  far  as  to  cause  the  top  of  the  wave  to  project 
over  the  base,  in  which  case  it  breaks  and  rolls  over  on 
the  preceding  wave.  Hence,  as  is  well  known  to  sailors,  a 
very  strong  wind  will  blow  the  sea  down. 

If  the  wind,  after  having  given  rise  to  a  series  of  waves, 
suddenly  veers  about  so  as  to  strike  the  waves  on  the  op- 
posite side,  it  will  produce  a  greater  effect  from  its  more 
direct  impact ;  and  hence  the  greatest  waves  are  produced 
by  sudden  changes  of  wind,  or  by  the  wind  blowing  in  an 
opposite  direction  to  that  in  which  the  waves  are  propaga- 
ted. In  this  manner  the  elevation  of  the  waves  may  be 
greatly  increased  above  the  height  to  which  they  would 
be  raised  by  winds  of  equal  force  blowing  constantly  in  the 
same  direction ;  and  hence  the  ocean  is  comparatively 
smooth  in  regions  where  the  winds  are  constant.  And  as 
it  is  by  the  friction  of  the  wind  on  the  water  that  the  waves 
are  raised  and  kept  up,  whatever  diminishes  the  friction 
will  tend  to  lessen  the  elevation.  Hence  the  comparative 
tranquillity  produced  by  pouring  oil  on  agitated  water. 
The  influence  of  the  wind,  which  is  exerted  entirely  at  the 
surface,  does  not  extend  to  a  great  depth,  probably  not 
more  than  30  or  40  feet,  below  which  the  water  suffers  no 
agitation  excepting  that  which  arises  from  the  motion  of 
the  tide  wave. 

.Mathematical  Theory  of  Waves.— In  order  to  determine 
the  time  of  an  undulation  and  the  velocity  of  the  propaga- 
tion of  waves  from  the  theory  of  hydrodynamics,  Newton 
compares  the  undulatory  motion  of  waves  on  the  surface 
of  water  with  the  oscillations  of  the  fluid  in  a  siphon,  with 
which  they  have  a  considerable,  though  not  perfect  analo- 
gy.  Let  the  tube  C  ABD  (fig.  1),  open  and  turned  up  at 
both  ends,  be  filled  with  any  liquid  up  (1.) 

to  the  level  C  I).  Suppose  the  equilib- 
rium to  be  disturbed,  and  that  the  li-  El_ 
quid  rises  in  consequence  in  the  branch 
A  C  from  C  to  E.  The  tube  being  sup- 
posed equally  wide  throughout,  it  is  ev- 
ident that  the  liquid  will  fall  as  much 
in  the  branch  B  I)  as  it  rises  in  A  C  ; 
that  is,  making  DF==CE,  from  D  to  F. 
Let  CG  =  D  F,  then  the  difference  of 
the  height  of  the  liquid  in  the  two 
branches  is  EG;  and  according  to  the 
principle  of  D'Alemhert,  the  accelerating  force  which  acts 
on  the  fluid  is  the  difference  of  the  masses  in  the  two  col- 
umns divided  by  their  sum,  that  is  proportional  to  K  G  di- 
vided by  E  A  B  F;  or  bisecting  A  B  in  O,  proportional  to  E 
C  -7-  C  A  O.  Now,  C  A  O  is  constant ;  therefore  the  accel- 
erating force  is  proportional  to  E  C,  or  to  the  distance  from 
the  position  of  rest.  Hence  it  may  he  inferred  that  when 
the  fluid  has  been  disturbed  so  as  to  rise  from  ('  to  F,  it  will 
acquire,  in  falling  to  its  level,  a  velocity  which  will  carry 
it  to  an  equal  height  H  in  the  other  brunch,  and  that  the 
oscillations,  whether  large  or  small,  will  be  isochronous,  or 
performed  in  equal  times. 

To  prove  this,  and  also  to  determine  the  time  of  the  oscil- 
lation, let  X  be  any  point  in  C  E,  and  make  E  X  —  x.  E  C  = 
a.  and  CAO  =  (.  Also  let  t>=tho  velocity,  and  0  =  the 
accelerating  force  when  the  liquid  is  at  the  point  X.  and 
o-  =  the  accelerating  force  of  gravity.    We  have  then,  by 


B 


what  has  been  shown,  <p  =  ■ 


•g.    But  from  the  theory 


of  accelerating  forces  0=—,  and  r=--,   (see    Force), 
the  substitution  of  which  in  the  former  equation  gives 

j        a~x    j 
vdv=  — r-  gdx; 

whence,  by  integrating  and  extracting  the  square  root, 


V-dt~V  \  I 
and  consequently 


—  *21  I. 


(lax  —  x2) 


y 


WAVE. 


dl  =  </-, 


The  general  integral  of  the  variable  part  of  this  expression 

is  an  arc  whose  cosine  is  equal  to  (1 )  ;    therefore    be- 

a 
tween  the  limits  x  =  0  and  x  =  2  a,  the  integral  is 

(-  being  the  semi-circumference  of  a  circle  whose  radius  = 
1).  This  gives  the  time  which  elapses  during  the  passage 
of  any  particle  of  the  water  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest 
point ;  and  it  is  also  the  time  in  which  a  pendulum  whose 
length  is  I,  vibrating  in  an  infinitely  small  arc,  makes  a  sin- 
gle oscillation  (see  Pendulum).  Hence  the  time  of  passing 
from  the  highest  to  the  highest  again,  or  of  a  complete  un- 
dulation, is  the  double  of  this,  or  equal  to  2-rr  -J  (l-i-g),  or 
to  it  v'  (41-7-g),  the  time  in  which  a  pendulum  whose  length 
is  41  makes  one  oscillation. 

To  apply  this  solution  to  the  undulatory  motion  of  a  fluid 
mass  of  indefinite  extent,  let  ABODE,  &c,  (fig.  2)  repre- 
sent a  superficies  of  stagnant  water  ascending  and  descend- 
(2.) 


ingin  successive  waves ;  and  let  A  C  E,  &c,  be  the  summits 
of  the  waves,  and  B  D,  &x.,  the  intermediate  hollows. 
Now  since  the  wave  is  produced  by  the  alternate  ascent 
and  descent  of  the  water,  so  that  the  particles  at  A  C  E,  &c, 
which  are  at  one  instant  the  highest,  become  in  their  turn 
the  lowest,  and  the  moving  power  is  the  weight  of  the  ele- 
vated water,  the  alternate  rise  and  fall  is  analogous  to  the 
reciprocating  motion  of  water  in  a  siphon,  and  will  observe 
the  same  laws  as  to  time  ;  therefore  if  the  distance  between 
a  summit  A  and  the  adjacent  lowest  point  B  be  equal  to  2/, 
the  highest  points  A  C  E,  &c,  will  become  the  lowest  in  the 
time  in  which  a  pendulum  whose  length  is  equal  to  /makes 
one  oscillation,  and  again  become  the  highest  in  the  time 
of  the  other  oscillation.  Hence  the  interval  of  time  from 
the  wave  being  the  highest  at  any  point  to  its  being  the 
highest  at  that  point  again  will  be  equal  to  two  oscillations, 
and  the  wave  will  describe  its  breadth  (that  is,  the  space 
between  two  successive  summits  or  cavities,  as  from  A  to 
C  or  from  B  to  D,  which  space  is  equal  to  4 1)  while  the 
pendulum  oscillates  twice  ;  or  in  the  time  to  which  a  pen- 
dulum of  quadruple  the  length,  that  is.  equal  to  4/,  or  equal 
to  the  breadth  of  the  wave,  will  oscillate  once.  (Principia, 
lib.  ii.,  prop.  46.) 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  supposition  on  which  this 
theory  is  founded,  namely,  that  the  vertical  oscillations  of 
waves  are  similar  to  that  of  water  in  a  bent  siphon,  is  a 
very  precarious  one:  in  fact,  the  theory  itself  is  altogether 
insufficient  for  the  explanation  of  the  phenomena,  as  it 
gives  no  account  whatever  of  the  form  of"  the  wave.  The 
subject,  is,  however,  one  of  great  difficulty ;  and  although 
it  has  been  treated  by  the  ablest  mathematicians  since  the 
time  of  Newton,  a  complete  theory  is  still  a  desideratum. 
Lagrange  in  the  Mecanique  Mnalytiquei  has  given  an  equa- 
tion containing  the  general  theory  of  waves  formed  by  the 
successive  and  infinitely  small  elevations  and  depressions 
of  stagnant  water  in  a  canal  of  small  depth.  Poisson  (in  the 
Annates  de  Mathematique,  and  Memoircs  deV.flcad.,  tome 
i.)  and  Cauchy  (Mem.  de  VJlcad.)  have  treated  the  subject 
more  generally  ,  and  Professor  Kelland  (Edin.  Phi!.  Trans. 
vols,  xiv.,  and  xv.)  has  endeavored  to  obtain  the  equations 
of  motion  of  a  regular  set  of  waves,  without  imposing  any 
restriction  whatever  on  the  conditions.  M.  Kelland  dedu- 
ces from  his  analysis  the  following  results,  which  apply  to 
the  motion  of  a  wave  in  a  canal  whose  depth  is  continally 
but  slowly  varying  in  the  direction  of  its  length:  1.  That  the 
length  of  the  wave  is  in  direct  proportion  to  the  breadth.  2. 
That  the  velocity  of  transmission  at  any  point  varies  as  the 
square  root  of  the  depth.  3.  That  the  elevation  of  the  crest 
of  the  wave  varies  reciprocally  as  the  total  depth  of  the 
fluid.  M.  Kelland  states  that  his  endeavours  to  deduce  a  re- 
lation between  the  depth  of  the  fluid  and  the  length  of  the 
wave  been  unavailing. 

Experimental  Researches  on  Wares. — In  the  Reports  of 
the  British  .issociation  for  1838,  there  is  an  account  by  Mr. 
Scott  Kussel  of  a  series  of  observations  on  waves  in  the  riv- 
er Dee  in  Cheshire,  and  the  Frith  of  the  Clyde,  and  also  in 
the  open  sea,  which  are  interesting,  as  they  establish  the 
existence  of  waves  of  different  kinds,  following  totally  dif- 
ferent laws.  The  most  important  results  of  these  observa- 
tions are  the  following : 

1.  The  progressive  w'ave  sent  forward  by  a  floating  body 
in  rapid  motion  (or  generated  in  any  other  manner)  differs 
entirely  in  its  character  and  phenomena  from  the  oscillato- 
ry waves  of  the  sea,  or  those  which  ripple  the  surface  of  a 


WAX. 

lake  or  are  caused  by  the  sudden  elevation  or  depression  of 
a  small  portion  of  the  fluid.  It  is  not  necessarily  followed 
either  by  a  depression  or  elevation,  but  is  a  single  eleva- 
tion of  a  well-defined  form,  and  transferred  with  a  uniform 
velocity.  This  wave  is  called  by  Mr.  Bussel  the  great  pri- 
mary wave  of  translation.  It  is  analogous  to  the  tide  wave 
of  the  ocean. 

2.  The  velocity  of  the  primary  wave  in  channels  of  uni- 
form depth  is  independent  of  the  breadth  of  the  fluid, 
and  equal  to  the  velocity  acquired  by  a  heavy  body  in  fall- 
ing freely  through  a  height  equal  to  half  the  depth  of  the 
fluid,  reckoned  from  the  top  of  the  wave  to  the  bottom  of 
the  channel.  The  velocity  of  the  wave  is  accordingly  pro- 
portional to  the  square  root  of  tire  depth  of  the  water,  as 
the  theory  indicates,  and  it  is  not  affected  by  the  velocity  of 
the  impulse  or  the  form  of  the  body  by  which  it  is  genera- 
ted. 

3.  If  waves  be  propagated  in  a  channel  whose  depth  di- 
minishes uniformly,  they  will  break  when  their  height 
above  the  surface  of  the'  level  fluid  becomes  equal  to  the 
depth  below  the  surface.  When  waves  of  the  sea  ap- 
proach the  shore,  or  come  into  shallow  water,  they  become 
waves  of  translation,  and,  in  conformity  with  this  law,  al- 
ways break  when  the  depth  of  the  water  is  not  greater  than 
the  height  of  the  wave  above  the  level. 

4.  The  great  primary  waves  are  reflected  from  surfaces 
at  right  angles  to  the  direction  of  their  motion,  without  suf- 
fering any  other  change  but  that  of  direction  ;  and  they 
cross  each  other  without  change  of  any  kind,  as  the  small 
oscillations  on  the  surface  of  a  pool. 

5.  In  the  primary  wave  of  translation  the  displacement 
of  the  particles  is  uniform  to  the  greatest  depth  ;  whereas 
in  waves  of  the  oscillatory  kind  the  displacement  of  the  par- 
ticles of  the  fluid  is  greatest  at  the  surfaces,  and  diminishes 
rapidly,  and  extends  only  to  an  inconsiderable  depth. 

6.  The  phenomenon  called  the  tidal  bore  is  produced  in 
two  ways,  first,  if  the  water  is  so  shallow  that  the  first 
waves  of  the  flood  tide  move  with  a  velocity  so  much  less 
than  the  succeeding  ones  that  they  are  overtaken  by  them  ; 
and  secondly,  where  the  tide  rises  so  rapidly,  and  the  water 
on  the  shore  or  in  the  river  is  so  shallow,  that  the  height 
of  the  first  wave  is  greater  than  the  depth  of  the  water. 

The  law  by  which  the  velocity  of  the  primary  wave  va- 
ries according  to  the  square  root  of  the  depth  of  the  water, 
gives  rise  to  several  other  phenomena.  Thus  any  change 
in  the  depth  of  rivers  produces  a  corresponding  change  hi 
the  interval  between  the  moon's  transit  and  the  hour  of 
high  water.  A  wave  of  high  water  of  a  spring  tide  travels 
faster  than  a  wave  of  high  water  of  a  neap  tide,  &c. 

The  character  and  phenomena  of  the  primary  wave  of 
transmission,  and  its  importance  as  an  elenrent  affecting  the 
amount  of  the  resistance  of  fluids  on  bodies  moving  through 
them,  were  first  detected  and  examined  by  Mr.  Russel  in 
1834.  (Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh,  vol. 
xiv.,  part  1.)  Its  existence  and  laws  are  of  great  impor- 
tance in  reference  to  the  construction  and  navigation  of  ca- 
nals and  the  improvement  of  tidal  rivers.  See  Hydrody- 
namics, Tides. 

WA'VELLITE.  A  mineral  named  after  Dr.  Wavell  of 
Barnstaple,  in  which  neighbourhood  it  was  first  found.  It  is 
a  hydrated  phosphate  of  alumina :  it  has  also  been  called 
hydrargillite. 

WAX.  (Germ,  wachs.)  This  is  a  common  vegetable 
product  forming  the  varnish  which  coats  the  leaves  of  cer- 
tain plants  and  trees.  It  is  also  found  upon  some  berries,  as 
of  the  Myrica  cerifera  ;  and  it  is  an  ingredient  of  the  pollen 
of  flowers.  It  was  long  supposed  that  bees  merely  collected 
the  wax  thus  ready  formed  in  plants ;  but  Huber  found  that 
though  excluded  from  all  food  except  sugar,  they  still  formed 
wax :  and  accordingly  it  has  been  found  that  the  elementary 
composition  of  bees'  wax  and  vegetable  wax  is  slightly  differ- 
ent. Bees'  wax  is  prepared  by  draining  and  washing  tire  hon- 
evcomb,  which  is  then  melted  in  boiling  water,  strained,  and 
cast  into  cakes.  English  and  foreign  wax  are  found  in  the 
market ;  the  latter  being  chiefly  imported  from  the  Baltic, 
the  Levant,  and  the  coast  of  Bafbnry.  Fresh  wax  has  a  pe- 
culiar honey-like  odour :  its  specific  gravity  is  -96.  At  about 
150°  it  fuses,  and  at  a  high  temperature  volatilizes,  and 
hums  with  a  bright  white  flame.  It  is  bleached  by  being 
exposed  in  thin  slices  or  ribands  to  light,  air,  and  moisture, 
or  more  rapidly  by  the  action  of  chlorine  ;  but  in  the  latter 
case  it  does  not  "answer  for  the  manufacture  of  candles, 
which  is  one  of  its  principal  applications.  Wax  candles  are 
made  by  suspending  the  wicks  upon  a  hoop  over  the  caul- 
dron of  melted  wax,  which  is  successively  poured  over 
them  from  a  ladle  till  they  have  acquired  the  proper  size, 
so  that  the  candle  consists  of  a  series  of  layers  of  wax  ;  the 
upper  end  is  then  shaped,  and  the  lower  cut  off.  Attempts 
have  been  made  to  cast  wax  candles  in  moulds,  but  when 
thus  made  they  burn  irregularly.  Bleached  or  white  wax 
is  generally  adulterated  with  more  or  less  spermaceti,  and 
sold  at  different  prices  accordingly  ;  in  this  case  it  has  not 
4  0  1329 


WAY. 

tlip  peculiar  lustre  of  pure  wax,  and  is  softer  and  more  fusi- 
ble.  It  is  nisi)  largely  adulterated  with  stearine  or  stearic 
acid,  which  is  detected  by  the  odour  of  fat  or  tallow  which 
ii  evolves  when  highly  heated,  and  by  its  crumbly  texture; 
it  may  also  be  separated  to  a  certain  extent  by  ether  or  alco- 
hol. Wax  is  insoluble  in  water,  anil  scarcely  acted  upon 
by  the  adds,  so  that  it  forms  a  good  lute  or  cement :  boiling 
alcohol  and  ether  act  partially  upon  it.  and  deposit  the  por- 
tion which  they  had  dissolved,  on  cooling.  Some  varieties 
of  vegetable  wax  appear  to  contain  two  distinct  principles, 
which  Dr.  John  has  termed  term  and  myricin;  the  former 
soluble,  and  the  latter  insoluble,  in  alcohol.  Heated  with 
the  fixed  alkalies,  wax  forms  a  difficultly  soluble  soap.  . 

WAY.  The  Sea  term  for  progress.  A  ship  in  progress 
is  said  to  have  way  upon  her ;  when  stationary,  to  have  no 
way. 

WEALDEN  FORMATION  and  STRATA.  See  Geol- 
ogy. 

WEAR.  To  nut  the  ship  on  the  other  tack  by  turning 
her  round,  with  tier  stern  to  the  wind. 

WEATHER.  (Germ,  wetter.)  The  state  or  condition 
of  the  atmosphere  with  respect  to  heat,  cold,  dryness,  moist- 
ure, wind,  vain.  snow,  fogs.  JfcC.  The  appreciation  of  the  va- 
rious causes  which  determine  the  state  of  the  atmosphere, 
am]  produce  those  changes  which  are  incessantly  taking 
place  in  its  condition,  and  which  are  popularly  called  the 
weather,  tonus  the  subjects  of  Meteorology  and  Climate. 
those  terms:  also  Atmosphere,  Barometer,  Cloud, 
Dew,  Hail,  Rain,  Wind,  &c.) 

In  all  ages  of  the  world,  mankind  have  attempted  to  ex- 
plain and  prognosticate  the  changes  of  the  weather;  but 
such  is  the  complication  of  the  subject,  and  the  vast  multi- 
tude of  circumstances  to  be  taken  account  of,  that  no  theory 
can  'iirnish  rules  for  determining  the  order  in  which  they 
succeed  each  other,  or  for  predicting  the  state  of  the  weath- 
er at  a  future  time,  with  any  approach  to  certainty.  Never- 
theless, all  the  different  modifications  of  the  atmosphere  are 
the  necessary  results  of  principles,  not  only  fixed  and  unal- 
terable in  their  nature,  but  (many  of  them  at  least)  well 
known  in  their  separate  and  individual  operation.  The  dif- 
ficulty of  tracing  the  results  of  their  combined  influences 
-  chiefly  from  their  complexity  and  endless  concatena- 
tion. 

The  principal  cause  of  all  the  variations  which  take 
place  in  the  sjite  of  the  atmosphere  is  the  heating  action  of 
the  sun's  rays  ;  but  in  order  to  appreciate  correctly  its  effect, 
it  is  necessary  to  Know  not  only  the  extent  of  the  atmo- 
sphere, but  the  properties  of  all  the  substances  of  which  it 
is  composed.  Modem  science  has  discox'ered  that  the  atmo- 
sphere is  composed  of  three  different  gaseous  fluids,  every- 
where combined  in  the  same  proportions,  and  penetrated  by 
an  ever-varying  quantity  of  elastic  vapour.  These  two  dis- 
tinct envelopes  of  air  and  vapour  mechanically  mixed  have 
different  relations  to  heat;  and  therefore,  in  consequence 
of  the  unequal  temperature  of  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
with  which  they  are  in  contact,  they  cannot  both  be  in  a 
state  of  equilibrium  at  the  same  time.  In  consequence  of 
the  diurnal  rotation,  the  different  parts  of  the  atmosphere 
are  constantly  receiving  different  quantities  of  heat,  as  the 
solar  rays  penetrate  more  or  less  obliquely.  This  inequal- 
ity of  temperature  produces  winds,  which,  if  the  surface  of 
the  earth  were  perfectly  regular  and  homogeneous,  would 
always  blow  in  the  same  direction  ;  but  the  surface  of 
the  earth  being  composed  of  materials  of  various  kinds, 
and  irregularly  disposed,  the  distribution  of  heat  over 
it  is  extremely  Irregular.  The  winds,  sweeping  along 
the  surface,  acquire  its  temperature;  and  hence  the  atmo- 
sphere also  becomes  irregularly  heated.  This  produces 
an  accumulation  of  air  at  one  place,  and  a  deficiency  at 
am, (her;  and  hence  a  subsequent  rush  to  restore  the  equi- 
librium. As  the  air  is  cooled  it  becomes  also  incapable  of 
holding  the  same  quantity  of  aqueous  vapour,  a  portion  of 
■which  is  therefore  set  free,  and  gives  rise  to  clouds,  mist, 
rain,  dew,  snow,  &c.     Resides  all  this,  there  is  to  be   taken 

int',  account  the  development  of  electricity  ;  the  influences 
of  light  and  galvanism;  the  agitation  of  the  atmosphere 
produced  by  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  tides;  and  probably  a 
variety  of  other  circumstances  with  which  we  are'  entirely 
unacquainted.  This  very  imperfect  enumeration  may  serve 
e  an  idea  of  the  difficulties  to  be  overcome  in  forming 
a  theory  of  the  weather.    See  Cmmate. 

It  has  alwa]  s  been  a  favourite  prejudice  that  the  weatht  r 
is  influenced  in  some  mysterious  manner  by  the  moon.  The 

moon  can  be  supposed  to  act  on  the  earth  only  in  one  of  tli ree 
ways;  nam,  I;,,  bj  the  light  which  it  reflects;  by  its  attrac- 
tion; or  by  an  emanation  of  some  unknown  kind.  Now, 
the  light  Of  the  moon  does  not  amount  to  the  100,000th  part 
of  thai  of  the  sun;  and  the  heat  which  it  excitee 

i  be  altogether  inappreciable  by  the  most  deli 

cate  in  inn, hi  t.,  or  the  best  devised  experiments.    Noef 

m  be  attributed,  therefore,  to  the  moon's  light.  With 

regard  to  the  attrai  tion  of  the  moon,  we  see  its  influi  i    e 

1330 


WEDGE. 

on  the  tides  of  the  ocean,  and  might  therefore  he  disposed 
to  allow  it  a  similar  influence  on  the  atmosphere;  but  when 
we  take  into  account  the  small  specific  gravity  of  atmo- 
spheric air  in  comparison  With  water,  and  the  consequent 
Miiallness  of  the  mass  of  matter  to  be  acted  upon,  it  will 
readily  he  perceived  that  this  influence  also  must  be  ex- 
tremely feeble.  In  fact.it  has  been  demonstrated  by  La- 
place that  the  joint  action  of  the  solar  and  lunar  attraction 
is  incapable  of  producing  more  than  an  atmospheric  tide 
flowing  Westward  at  the  rate  of  .about  four  miles  a  day,  and 
consequently  scarcely,  if  at  all,  appreciable.  As  to  the  remain- 
ing supposition,  that  the  moon  may  act  on  the  atmosphere 
by  some  obscure  emanation.  >t  is  sufficient  to  remark  that  no 
meteorological  observations  that  have  yet  been  made  atfortl 
the  slightest  traces  of  any  such  connexion  between  the  earth 
and  its  satellite.  The  registers  which  are  now  kept  in  va- 
rious observatories  and  other  places  also  prove,  contrary  to 
the  popular  belief,  that  the  changes  of  weather  are  in  no 
way  whatever  dependant  on  the  lunar  phases.  (See  the 
Mnvuaire  du  Bureau  des  Longitudea  for  183H ;  Kamptz, 
Lekrbuch  der  J&eteorologie.;  Schubler,  Einjhut  des  Mondeg 
auf  die  Verandrrvv  g  unserer  Jltmogpht  re.  Leipzig,  1830. 

Weather.  The  Sea  term  for  that  side  on  which  the  wind 
blows.     To  weather,  to  pass  to  windward  of  an  object. 

WEATHER  BOARDING.  In  Architecture,  leather- 
edged  boarding  nailed  upright,  whose  boards  lap  over  each 
other,  so  as  to  prevent  the  rain,  &c,  from  penetrating  them. 

WEATHER  GAGE.  A  ship  to  windward  of  another  is- 
said  to  have  the  weather  gage. 

WEATHER  GLASS.  A  name  commonly  given  to  the 
barometer;  but  sometimes  also  applied  to  other  instruments 
for  ascertaining  the  state  of  the  atmosphere,  or  measuring 
atmospheric  changes.  It  is  thus  applied  to  the  thermometer, 
the  hygrometer,  &c. 

WE'AVERS,  Textoria.  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  spiders; 
including  those  which  fabricate  webs  in  order  to  entrap 
their  prey. 

WEAVING,  the  art  of  forming  cloth  in  a  loom  by  the 
union  or  intertexture  of  threads.  The  art  of  weaving  is  of 
great  antiquity  :  it  has  been  practised  in  all  ages  and  in  all 
countries;  but  it  would  be  impossible  within  our  limits  to 
give  even  a  sketch  of  its  history,  progress,  and  successive 
improvements  down  to  its  present  perfect  state.  We  had 
intended  to  present  the  reader  with  a  notice  of  the  various 
improvements  that  have  been  made  in  the  loom  from  its 
simplest  construction,  down  to  the  elaborate  invention  of 
Jacquard  ;  but  it  was  found  that  this  could  not  be  effected 
without  the  introduction  of  numerous  diagrams  nnd  details, 
which  would  have  been  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  the  work  ; 
and  we  must,  therefore,  content  ourselves  by  referring  to 
C/rc's  Dietionartj  of  Jlrls,  ij-c,  for  full  particulars. 

WEDGE.  In  Geometry,  a  solid  having  five  skies  or  faces, 
three  of  which  are  rectangles,  and  the  remaining  two  con- 
sequently triangles,  and  parallel  to  each  other;  hence  the 
wedge,  considered  as  a  geometrical  figure,  is  a  prism  with 
a  triangular  base.  Its  content  is  therefore  equal  to  the 
area  of  the  triangular  base  multiplied  into  the  distance  be- 
tween the  parallel  planes. 

Wepce,  in  Mechanics,  is  one  of  the  five  simple  engines 
or  mechanical  powers,  and  is  used  sometimes  for  raising 
bodies,  but  more  frequently  for  dividing  or  splitting  them. 
In  the  former  case,  if  we  suppose  the  wedge  to  be  urged  by 
pressure,  the  action  of  the  wedge  is  precisely  the  same  as 
that  of  the  inclined  plane  ;  for  it  is  evidently  the  same,  in 
point  of  mechanical  advantage,  whether  the  wedge  be 
pushed  under  the  load,  or  the  load  he  drawn  over  the  plane. 
The  power  is  therefore  to  the  force  to  be  overcome  as  the 
tangent  of  the  angle  of  the  penetrating  sides  to  the  radius, 
leaving  the  friction  out  of  consideration  :  hence  the  thinner 
the  wedge  the>  gn  ater  is  its  effect.  But  when  the  wedge, 
as  is  generally  the  case,  is  driven  forward  by  percussion, 
its  pow  er  cannot  be  estimated  with  any  degree  of  accuracy. 
The  percussive  tremor  excited  by  the  blow  destroys  for  an 
instant  the  friction  at  the  sides,  and  augments  prodigiously 

the  penetrating  effect.    Besides,  when  the  wedge  is  used 

in  rending  w I  or  other  substances,  the  pans  of  the  block 

are  generally  separated  to  a  considerable  distance  before 
the  edge  of  the  wedge,  as  in  the  anm  red  figure ;  in  which 

Case  it  acts  besides  as  a  lever,  the  power  being 
applied  al  the   end  of  the  block   or  acting  part 

of  the  wedge,  and  the  resistance  being  at  the 

point  where  the  fibres  begin  to  separate. 

All  the  various  kinds  of  culling  and    pieii  nig 

tools,  as  axes,  knives,  scissars,  chisels,  &.c, 

nails,  pins,  awls,  fee.,  are  modifications  of  the 
wedge.  The  angle  m  these  ruses  is  more  or 
less  acute,  according  to   the   purpose  to  which 

il  i-  applied.  The  mei  hanica)  advantage  is  In- 
creaseq  by  diminishit  g  the  angle  of  the  wedge ; 

but  the  strength  of  the  fool  is  thereby  also  diminished.     In 

tools  for  cutting  wood  i be  ancle  is  generally  about  30°;  for 
iron  it  is  from  Sfi  to  6V;  and  for  brass  from  80°  to  90°.    In 


WEDNESDAY. 

general.  the  softer  the  substance  to  be  divided  is,  the  more 
acute  may  the  wedge  be  constructed. 

WEDNESDAY.  (Sax.  Woden's  day;  Lat.  dies  Mer- 
curii).  The  fourth  day  of  the  week,  consecrated  by  our 
Scandinavian  ancestors  to  Woden,  the  deity  whose  func- 
tions corresponded  to  those  of  Mercury  in  the  Greek  and 
Roman  mythology. 

WEEK.  A  period  of  se%'en  days,  of  uncertain  origin,  but 
which  has  been  used  from  time  immemorial  in  eastern 
countries.  The  week  did  not  enter  into  the  calendar  of 
the  Greeks,  who  divided  the  civil  month  into  three  periods 
of  ten  days  each ;  and  it  was  not  introduced  at  Rome  till 
after  the  reign  of  Theodosius.  By  some  writers  the  use  of 
weeks  is  supposed  to  be  a  remnant  of  the  tradition  of  the 
creation ;  by  others,  that  it  was  suggested  by  the  phases  of 
the  moon :  while  a  third  class,  with  more  probability,  refer 
its  origin  to  the  seven  planets  known  in  ancient  times. 
This  opinion  explains  the  circumstance  that  the  days  of  the 
week  have  been  universally  named  after  the  planets,  ac- 
cording to  a  particular  order.  In  the  ancient  Egyptian  as- 
tronomy, the  order  of  the  planets,  in  respect  of  distance 
from  the  earth,  beginning  with  the  most  remote,  is  Saturn, 
Jupiter,  Mars,  the  Sun,  Venus,  Mercury,  the  Moon.  The 
day  was  divided  into  24  hours,  and  each  successive  hour 
consecrated  to  a  particular  planet  in  the  order  now  stated ; 
so  that  one  hour  being  consecrated  to  Saturn,  the  next  fell 
to  Jupiter,  the  third  to  Mars,  and  so  on;  and  each  day  was 
named  after  the  planet  to  which  its  first  hour  was  conse- 
crated. Now,  suppose  the  first  hour  of  a  particular  day  to 
have  been  consecrated  to  Saturn,  it  is  evident  that  Saturn 
would  also  have  the  8th,  the  15th,  and  the  22d  hours.  The 
23d  hour  would  therefore  fall  to  Jupiter  ;  the  24th  to  Mars  ; 
and  the  25th,  or  the  first  hour  of  the  following  day,  would 
belong  to  the  Sun,  from  which  it  would  take  its  name.  By 
proceeding  in  the  same  manner,  it  is  found  that  the  first 
hour  of  the  third  day  would  fall  to  the  Moon,  the  first  of 
the  fourth  day  to  Mars,  of  the  fifth  to  Mercury,  of  the  sixth 
to  Jupiter,  and  of  the  seventh  to  Venus.  The  cycle  being 
completed^  the  first  hour  of  the  eighth  day  would  return  to 
Saturn,  and  all  the  others  constantly  succeed  in  the  same 
order.  According  to  Dio  Cassius,  the  Egyptian  week  began 
w  ith  Saturday.  The  Jews,  on  their  flight  from  Egypt,  made 
Saturday  the  last  day  of  the  week.  The  Saxons  seem  to 
have  borrowed  the  week  from  some  eastern  nation,  sub- 
stituting the  names  of  their  own  divinities  for  those  of  the 
gods  of  Greece.  In  England,  the  Latin  names  of  the  days 
are  still  retained  in  legislative  and  judiciary  acts.  (See 
Ency.  Brit.,  "Calendar.") 

WEEDING  CROSSES.  In  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities, 
stone  crosses,  at  which  penances  were  commonly  finish- 
ed with  weeping  and  signs  of  contrition,  were  so  called. 
There  was  one  close  to  the  town  of  Stafford.  (See  Mr. 
Astle's  "  Observation  on  Stone  Crosses."  Archaol.,  vol.  xiii.) 

WEIGH.    To  take  the  anchor  out  of  the  ground. 

WEIGHT.  In  Physics,  that  property  of  bodies  in  virtue 
of  which  they  tend  towards  the  centre  of  the  earth.  In  this 
sense,  weight  is  synonymous  with  gravity.     See  Gravity. 

Weight,  in  Mechanics,  denotes  the  resistance  to  be  over- 
come by  a  machine,  whether  in  raising,  or  sustaining,  or 
moving  a  heavy  body.  The  force  applied  to  the  machine 
for  this  purpose  is  called  the  moving  power;  and  where 
the  equilibrium  subsists,  the  difference  between  the  weight 
and  the  moving  power  is  the  purchase  of  the  machine.  In 
all  cases  of  equilibrium  by  the  intervention  of  machinery, 
if  the  machine  be  put  in  motion  by  a  small  additional  force, 
the  space  passed  over  by  the  moving  power  will  be  greater 
than  that  passed  over  by  the  weight,  in  proportion  as  the 
weight  is  greater  than  the  moving  power ;  or  the  product 
of  the  weight  by  its  velocity  will  be  equal  to  the  product 
of  the  moving  power  by  its  velocity.  See  Momentum,  Vir- 
tual Velocity. 

Weight,  in  Experimental  Philosophy  and  Commerce,  is 
the  measure  of  the  force  by  which  any  body,  or  a  given 
portion  of  any  substance,  gravitates  to  the  earth.  The  pro- 
cess by  which  this  measure  is  obtained  is  called  weighing ; 
and  when  required,  as  in  many  philosophical  experiments, 
to  be  performed  with  great  accuracy,  is  a  tedious  and  deli- 
cate operation.     See  Balance. 

The  measurement  of  weight,  like  that  of  extension,  con- 
sists in  the  comparison  of  the  thing  to  be  measured  with 
some  conventional  standard.  But  it  is  impossible  to  fix 
such  a  standard  by  written  law  or  oral  description  ;  for  it  is 
impossible  to  communicate  by  words,  and  without  reference 
to  a  sensible  object,  any  adequate  idea  of  a  pound-weight. 
or  foot-rule.  Standards  of  linear  measure,  not  accurately 
defined  indeed,  but  having  an  average  value  sufficiently 
well  known  for  the  rude  purposes  of  mankind  in  the  early 
stages  of  society,  were  furnished  by  the  different  parts  of 
the  human  body  ;  hence  the  measures  foot,  cubit,  span,  pace, 
&.C.  (See  Measures.)  But  the  method  of  comparing  the 
weights  of  bodies  does  not  suggest  itself  so  readily  to  the 
mind  as  the  comparison  of  linear  dimension,  and  is  not  so 


WEIGHT. 

easily  accomplished.  A  balance  is  necessary,  the  construc- 
tion of  which  requires  some  degree  of  mechanical  knowl- 
edge. Hence  the  art  of  weighing,  though  of  great  antiqui- 
ty, (see  Goguet,  Origine  des  Lois,  i-c.,)  was  probably  prac- 
tised at  a  later  period,  and  in  a  still  less  accurate  manner, 
than  that  of  measuring.  There  has  also  been  a  much, 
greater  variety  of  standards  of  weight,  still  less  definite 
than  those  of  measure,  as  will  be  readily  conceived  by  con- 
sidering the  origin  and  import  of  such  terms  as  stone,  load, 
last,  &c.  The  term  pound  (pondus)  implies  only  weight 
indefinitely.  The  grain,  as  a  standard  of  small  weight,  be- 
ing taken  from  the  grains  or  corns  of  wheat,  was  perhaps 
the  only  denomination  of  weight  that  would  universally 
convey  anything  like  a  precise  idea. 

As  there  is  a  constant  ratio  between  the  volumes  and 
weights  of  the  same  substances  when  placed  in  the  same 
physical  circumstances,  it  is  obvious  that  standards  of  weight 
may  be  derived  from  those  of  measure.  For  example,  a  cubic 
foot  or  a  cubic  inch  of  distilled  water,  at  the  same  tempera- 
ture, and  under  the  same  atmospheric  pressure,  will  always 
have  the  same  weight.  Advantage  has  been  taken  of  this 
property  of  bodies  to  connect  weights  with  measures  in  the 
metrical  systems  that  have  been  adopted  in  this  and  other 
countries. 

English  Weights. — It  was  declared  by  the  Great  Charter 
that  the  weights  should  be  the  same  all  over  England,  but 
no  ordinance,  perhaps,  was  ever  so  ill  observed;  for  the 
diversity  that  has  prevailed,  and  which  is  still  far  from  be- 
ing remedied,  has  been  so  great  as  not  only  to  produce 
confusion  and  inconvenience,  but  to  render  the  system  of 
weights  adopted  in  one  part  of  the  country  scarcely  intel- 
ligible in  other.  The  old  English  pound,  which  is  said  to 
have  been  the  legal  standard  of  weight  from  the  time  of 
William  the  Conqueror  to  that  of  Henry  VII.,  was  derived 
from  the  weight  of  grains  of  wheat :  32  grains  gathered 
from  the  middle  of  the  ear  and  well  dried  made  a  penny- 
weight, 20  pennyweights  an  ounce,  and  12  ounces  a  pound. 
Henry  VH.  altered  this  weight,  and  introduced  the  troy 
pound  instead,  which  was  1-1 6th  part,  or  3-4ths  of  an 
ounce,  heavier  than  the  Saxon  pound.  The  troy  pound 
was  divided  in  the  same  manner  as  the  Saxon  pound,  into 
ounces,  pennyweights,  and  grains  ;  but  the  pennyweight 
contained  only  24  grains,  and  consequently  a  grain  troy  be- 
came a  much  heavier  weight  than  the  grain  of  wheat.  In 
fact  the  pound  troy  contains  5,760  grains,  while  the  Saxon 
pound,  which  was  divided  into  7,680  grains,  contained  only 
5,400  troy  grains.  Another  weight,  the  avoirdupois  pound, 
was  introduced  by  a  statute  of  24  Henry  VIII. ;  and  though 
its  first  object  was  that  of  weighing  butchers'  meat  in  the 
market,  it  has  gradually  come  to  be  used  for  all  kinds  of 
coarse  goods  or  merchandise.  Two  legal  measures  of 
weight  were  thus  established,  and  have  continued  to  be 
used  in  the  country  ever  since  ;  the  avoirdupois  weight  be- 
ing used  for  common  purposes,  and  the  troy  for  the  precious 
metals,  and,  with  a  different  division,  by  apothecaries  in 
compounding  their  drugs.  The  standard  of  these  measures 
was  at  length  definitely  fixed  by  the  act  of  parliament  pass- 
ed on  the  17th  June,  1824,  cap.  74,  George  IV.,  entitled  "  An 
act  for  ascertaining  and  establishing  Uniformity  of  Weights 
and  Measures,"  which  was  partially  amended  by  clause 
(A)  of  an  act  to  prolong  the  time  of  the  commencement  of 
that  act  to  January,  1826.  The  following  are  the  terms  in 
which  the  standard  is  defined  by  the  act :  "  That  from  and 
after  the  1st  day  of  May,  1825,  the  standard  brass  weight 
of  1  pound  troy  weight  made  in  the  year  1758,  now  in  the 
custody  of  the  clerk  of  the  House  of  Commons,  shall  be, 
and  the  same  is  hereby  declared  to  be,  the  original  and  gen- 
uine standard  measure  of  weight ;  and  that  such  brass 
weight  shall  be,  and  is  hereby  denominated,  the  Imperial 
standard  troy  pound;  and  shall  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby 
declared  to  be,  the  unit  or  only  standard  measure  of  weight, 
from  which  all  other  weights  shall  be  derived,  computed, 
and  ascertained ;  and  that  l-12th  part  of  the  said  troy  pound 
shall  be  an  ounce,  and  that  l-20th  part  of  such  ounce  shall 
be  a  pennyweight,  and  l-24th  part  of  such  pennyweight 
shall  be  a  grain,  so  that  5.760  such  grains  shall  be  a  troy 
pound ;  and  that  7,000  such  grains  shall  be,  and  they  are 
hereby  declared  to  be,  a  pound  avoirdupois,  and  that  l-16th 
part  of  the  said  pound  avoirdupois  shall  be  an  ounce  avoirdu- 
pois, and  that  l-16th  part  of  such  ounce  shall  be  a  dram." 

It  follows  from  this  that  the  weight  of  the  pound  troy  to 
that  of  the  pound  avoirdupois,  or  common  pound,  is  in  the 
proportion  of  5,760  to  7,000,  or  of  144  to  175.  The  retention 
of  two  different  systems  of  weights  was  in  compliance  with 
the  common  usages  of  the  country ;  and  the  motives  which 
influenced  the  commissioners  of  weights  and  measures  in 
recommending  the  system  which  has  been  adopted  were 
thus  explained  by  Sir.  Davies  Gilbert:  "The  troy  pound 
appeared  to  us  to  be  the  ancient  weight  of  this  kingdom, 
having,  as  we  have  reason  to  suppose,  existed  in  the  same 
state  in  the  time  of  Edward  the  Confessor;  and  there  are 
reasons,  moreover,  to  believe  that  the  word  troy  has  no 

1331 


WEIGHT. 


reference  to  any  town  in  France,  but  rather  to  the  monkish 
name  given  to  London,  of  Troy  Novant,  founded  on  the 
legend  of  Unite.  Troy  weight,  therefore,  according  to  this 
etymology,  Is,  In  fact,  London  weight.  We  were  induced, 
moreover,  to  preserve  the  troy  weight,  because  all  the  coin- 
age has  uniformly  been  regulated  by  it:  and  all  medical 
prescription-;  and  formula;  now  are,  and  always  have  been, 
estimated  by  troy  weight,  under  a  peculiar  subdivision 
which  the  College  of  Physicians  have  expressed  themselves 
most  anxious  to  preserve." 

In  the  sixth  clause  of  the  act  it  is  enacted,  that  if  the 
Standard  troy  pound  should  bo  lost  or  destroyed,  it  is  to  be 
restored  by  a  reference  to  a  cubic  inch  of  distilled  water, 
which  has  been  found  and  is  declared  to  be  253-458  troy 
grains,  at  the  temperature  of  62°  of  Fahrenheit,  the  barome- 
ter being  at  30  inches.  Hence  the  weight  of  a  pennyweight 
troj  Is  to  that  of  a  cubic  inch  of  distilled  water,  in  such  Cir- 
cumstances, in  the  proportion  of  -I  to  252*458,  or  of  24,000 
to  252.458;  so  that  the  weight  of  the  cubic  inch  of  distilled 
water  must  be  conceived  to  be  divided  into  25-2,458  equal 
parts,  and  24,000  of  such  parts  will  be  the  standard  penny- 
weight; or  KM)  of  such  parts  will  be  the  standard  pound. 
The  restoration  of  the  standard,  however,  in  the  maimer 
prescribed  by  the  act,  is  wholly  impracticable. 

Though  the  commissioners  on  this  occasion  probably  act- 
ed wisely  in  accommodating  their  regulations  to  existing 
usages,  it  cannot  be  disputed  that  the  circumstance  of  hav- 
ing different  weights  expressed  by  the  same  names,  as  the 
pound  and  ounce  troy  and  avoirdupois,  is  a  source  of  great 
inconvenience  and  confusion.  Few  persons,  in  fact,  recol- 
lect the  different  standards  and  divisions  well  enough  to 
have  any  clear  or  accurate  ideas  on  the  subject.  The  com- 
parison of  the  weights  is  always  a  matter  requiring  care 
and  calculation.  The  avoirdupois  pound  is  greater  than 
the  troy  pound,  as  has  been  already  stated,  in  the  ratio  of 
175  to  144 ;  but  in  consequence  of  the  different  division,  the 
ounce  avoirdupois  is  smaller  than  the  ounce  troy,  the  former 
being  equal  to  437 A  grains  while  the  latter  contains  480 
grains.  The  drachm  in  apothecaries'  weight  is  60  grains, 
while  the  drachm  avoirdupois  is  equal  to  only  27^4  grains. 

For  philosophical  purposes  and  in  delicate  weighing,  troy 
weight  only  Is  used,  and  the  weight  is  usually  reckoned  in 
grains.  By  this  means  fractional  numbers  are  avoided,  and 
bo  ambiguity  can  arise,  as  there  are  noother  grains  than  troy 
grains.  Dr.  Kelly,  in  his  Universal  Cambist,  an  elaborate 
and  useful  work,  states  that  the  drachm  avoirdupois,  like 
the  drachm  of  the  apothecaries,  has  sometimes  been  divided 
into  3  scruples  and  60  grains  ;  but  as  no  such  weight  as  an 
avoirdupois  grain  ever  existed,  the  use  of  the  expression  is 
an  instance  of  the  confusion  inseparable  from  having  dif- 
ferent systems  of  weights,  in  which  the  same  names  are 
applied  to  things  totally  distinct. 

The  irregular  divisions  which  have  been  adopted  and  re- 
tained are  also  liable  to  much  objection,  on  account  of  the 
great  nuuibi  r  of  weights  to  be  employed  in  practice.  The 
most  convenient  system  would  probably  be  the  decimal  di- 
vision, which  requires  weights  of  the  following  values :  1, 
2,  3,  4,  &c,  (grains  for  instance);  10,  20,  30,  40,  &c. ;  100, 
200,  300,  &c. ;  1000,  2000,  3000,  &x„  up  to  9000;  and  -1,  -2, 
•3.  &c.;  01,  -02,  -03,  &c;  -001,  -0(12,  -003,  &c.  By  this 
means  arithmetical  calculations  would  be  facilitated,  and 
the  number  of  weights  in  the  scale  would  equal  the  digits 
in  the  number  by  which  the  grains  or  units  of  weights  are 
expressed.  Thus  a  load  of  735-4  grains,  would  he  counter- 
poised by  weights  of  700  grains,  30  grains,  5  grains,  and 
4-10th  s  of  a  grain.  The  composition  according  to  the  geo- 
metrical series,  1,  2,  4,  8, 16,  &c,  offers  this  advantage,  that 
asmaller  number  of  weights  would  be  necessary  than  when 
any  other  system  is  adopted. 

In  consequence  of  the  destruction  of  the  parliamentary 
standards  of  weights  and  measures  by  the  burning  of  the 
two  houses  of  parliament  in  1834,  a  commission  (at  the  head 
of  which  was  the  Astronomer  Royal)  was  appointed  in 
1838  to  consider  and  report  upon  the  steps  to  be  taken  for 
their  restoration.  The  report  of  the  commissioners,  which 
is  dated  the  21st  of  December,  1841.  enters  very  fully  into 
the  subject,  and  recommends  the  adoption  of  considerable 
changes  in  the  present  system  of  weights  and  measures  and 
coinage,  chiefly  with  the  view  of  introducing,  at  least  par- 
tially, a  decimal  s\stem.  Itut  us  these  recommendations 
may  net  be  adopted  by  the  legislature,  or  at  all  events  w  ill 

probably  be  considerably  modified,  it  is  unnecessary,  in  the 

present  state  of  affairs,  to  state  them  in  detail.  With  re- 
■pe<  t  t"  weights  in  particular,  the  plan  of  the  commission- 
ers is  brill.  this:  that  the  troy  pound  be  abolished,  and 
that  the  use  of  the  troy  ounce  and  penny  weight  be  confined 
to  gold,  and  silver,  ami  precious  stones;  that  apothecaries' 
Weight  may  continue  to  be  noil  for  the  combination  of 
drugs;  that  tor  all  other  purposes  the  only   legal   weights 

shall  b  derived  from  a  pound,  equal  to  the  present  avoirdu- 
pois pound,  the  distinctive  terra  avoirdupois  being  abolished. 

The  pound  is  to  be  divided  into  16 OUIlCefl,  anil  7,000  grains, 
1332 


and  no  denomination  is  to  he  recognised  lower  than  pr/tin;?r 
except  the  ounce  and  the  grain  and  the  decimal  parts  of  the 
pound.  They  also  recommend  that  the  weight  of  14  pounds, 
or  stone  in  common  use,  and  its  multiples  OS  pounds,  5(5 
pounds.  112  pounds,  be  abolished;  and  that  the  only  legal 
weights  above  one  pound  be  weights  of  multiples  of  1  pound 
and  not  exceeding  10  pounds,  and  weights  of  10  pounds  and 
its  multiples  not  exceeding  100  pounds.  According  to  this 
plan  there  would  only  be  decimal  multiples  of  the  standard; 
while,  with  respect  to  the  BUbraultlples,  there  would  not 
only  be  a  decimal  system,  but  also  si  denomination  of  weight 
equal  to  a  16th  and  another  equal  to  a  7  thousandth  part  of 
the  standard.  It  is  not  easy  to  see  \*  hat  stronger  reason 
there  can  be  for  retaining  the  onnce  than  the  stone  or  the 
hundred-weight,  which  are  so  extensively  used,  particular- 
ly for  purposes  connected  with  agriculture.  The  quantity 
of  iron  weights  of  14  lbs.  and  its  multiples  in  use  in  the 
country,  is  estimated  to  be  not  less  than  30,000  tons,  and  the 
expense  of  changing  them  for  weights  in  the  decimal  scale 
to  be  between  £100,000  anil  £200,000.  Willi  respect  to 
the  standard  unit,  the  commissioners  recommend  that  a 
platinum  weight  of  7,000  grains  be  constructed  and  declared 
to  be  the  parliamentary  :-tandard  of  weight  ;  but  that  it  be 
not  defined  with  reference  to  any  natural  standard,  or  to 
measures  of  length  or  capacity,  as  a  cubic  inch  of  distilled 
water. 

Tables  of  British  Wiights. 

1.  Imperial  Troy  Weight. — Standard  :  One  cubic  inch  of 
distilled  water,  af62°  Fahrenheit's  thermometer,  the  bar- 
ometer being  30  inches,  weighs  252458  troy  grains. 

grs.      dwts. 
24  =     1       oz. 
480=   20=    1       lb. 
5760  =  240  =  12  =  1 
Troy  weight  is  used  in  weighing  gold,  sliver,  jewels,  &c, 
and  in  philosophical  experiments. 

2.  Apothecaries'  Weight. — Standard:  The  same  as  m  troy 
weight,  with  the  ounce  divided  into  8  drachms  and  24 
scruples. 

grs.    scrs.  (£ ) 
20  =     1      drs.  (  3  ) 
60  =     3=1       oz.  (  3  ) 
480  =   24  =    8  =    1      lb.  (lb) 
5760  =  2S8  =  96  =  12  =  1 
Medicines  are  compounded  by  this  weight ;  hut  drugs  are 
usually  bought  and  sold  by  avoirdupois  weight 

3.  Imperial  Avoirdupois  Weight.— Standard :  The  same 
as  in  troy  weight ;  and  one  avoirdupois  pound  =  7000  troy 
grains. 

drs.  oz. 

16  =         1  lbs. 

256=       16=       1      qrs. 
7168=     448=     28=    1      cwts. 
28672=    1792=    112=    4=    1      ton. 
573440  =  35840  =  2240  =  80  =  20  =  1 
This  weight  is  used  for  the  general  purposes  of  commerce. 
The  preceding  are  the  British  statute  weights  :  but  numer- 
ous other  discordant  denominations  of  weight,  generally 
multiples  <if  the  avoirdupois  pound,  are  stiil  used  in  different 
parts  of  the  country  for  weighing  particular  kinds  of  mer- 
chandise.    One  of  the  most  common  of  these  is  the  ftone, 
which  has  a  great  variety  of  diflerenl  significations.    In 
London,  however,  only  two  stones  are  generally  understood  ; 
viz.,  the  stone  of  8  pounds  for  butchers'  meat,  and  the  stone 
of  14  pounds  for  other  commodities.     (For  values  of  dif- 
ferent local  weights,  see   Buchanan's   Tables   of   Weights 
ami  Measures;    General  Paisley's  work  on  the  Measures, 
Weights,  and  Money  used  in  this  Country;   M'Culloch's 
Commercial  Dictionary  ;  Kelly's  Universal  Cambist,  A-c.) 

A  particular  denomination  of  weight,  a  carat,  is  used  for 
weighing  diamonds.  An  ounce  troy  is  equivalent  to  151} 
carats  ;  whence  a  carat  is  nearly  equal  to  'M  L'rains.  In  ex. 
pressing  the  fineness  of  gold  by  carats,  the  term  rather  de- 
notes a  proportion  than  a  Weight.    Thus  gold  22  carats  fine, 

signifies  an  alloy  such  that  the  proportion  of  the  weight  of 
pure  gold  tothatof  the  whole  weight  Is  as  22  to  24;  or  such 
that  it  contains  22  parts  by  weight  of  pure  gold,  and  2  parts 
Of  some  inferior  metal. 

French  System  of  Weights. — The  French  denominations 
of  weight  occur  so  frequently  in  works  connected  with  the 

physical  sciences,  thai  it  is  convenient  to  be  acquainted 
with  their  values.  The  unit  of  weight  is  the  gramme. 
Which  is  the  weight  of  the  100th  part  of  a  cubic  metre  of 

distilled  water  at  the  temperature  ol  melting  Ice.  A  grammo 
is  equal  to  15-434  troy  grains;  whence  the  following  com- 
parative table  of  French  with  troy  weight: 

grammes.     Trov  grains. 
Milligramme   =  -001  =  -01543 

Centigramme  =         -01  =  -15434 

Decigramme    =  -1     =  1*5431 


WELD. 

grammes.      Troy  grains. 
Gramme  =  1       =         15-434 

Decagramme   ==        10       =       154-34 
Hectogramme  =      100       =     1543-4 
Kilogramme    =    1000       =    15434 
Myriagramme  =  10000       =  154340 

The  kilogramme  is  equal  to  2  lb.  3  oz.  4-428  drams  avoir- 
dupois weight.  In  the  Systems  Usuel  the  standards  are  the 
same  as  the  above,  but  the  denominations  are  those  which 
were  anciently  in  use.  It  was  found  impossible  to  introduce 
the  new  terms.  The  divisions  are  binary.  Half  the  kilo- 
gramme forms  the  livre  usuel,  which  is  divided  into  halves, 
quarters,  eighths,  &c,  down  to  the  gros,  which  is  the  eighth 
of  the  once,  or  the  l-128th  of  the  livre.  (For  a  comparative 
table  of  the  weights  and  measures  used  in  different  countries 
of  the  world,  see  the  Encyc.  Britannica,  art.  "Weights.") 

WELD.  (Reseda  lutrola,  Linn.)  A  plant  cultivated  for 
the  use  of  the  dyers.  When  the  seeds  are  ripe,  the  plant 
is  cut  and  dried  :  it  yields  a  brownish  yellow  decoction,  the 
colour  of  which  is  rendered  paler  by  acids,  and  richer  and 
deeper  by  alkalies.  Alum  throws  down  a  yellow  precipi- 
tate, and  leaves  the  clear  liquor  of  a  fine  lemon  yellow ; 
tartar  also  brightens  its  colour  ;  and  solutions  of  tin  gives  it  a 
dilute  green  tint.  When  a  mixture  of  whiting  and  alum  is 
added  to  a  hot  decoction  of  weld,  a  yellow  precipitate  is  ob- 
tained, which,  when  collected,  washed,  and  dried,  is  of  a 
fine  delicate  colour,  and  much  employed  by  paper-stainers. 

WE'LDING.  There  are  a  very  few  of  the  metals  which 
are  susceptible  of  being  united  by  pressure  or  hammering, 
or  of  being  welded  together.  Two  pieces  of  potassium  may 
be  welded  at  common  temperatures  (from  60°  to  80°)  ;  but 
the  term  is  generally  applied  to  the  junction  of  two  pieces  of 
iron  at  a  white  heat,  or  of  iron  and  steel.  Platiuum,  also, 
although  infusible,  may  be  welded  at  a  white  heat;  and  it 
is  in  this  way  that  that  valuable  metal,  when  in  the  granu- 
lar or  pulverulent  state,  is  worked  into  bars. 

WELL.  In  Architecture,  a  deep  pit  sunk  by  digging,  for 
the  purpose  of  collecting  and  retaining  the  water  of  a  spring 
or  of  a  reservoir,  by  which  it  may  be  supplied.  See  Water 
and  Artesian  Fountains. 

Before  proceeding  to  dig  a  well,  it  ought  first  to  be  deter- 
mined on,  whether  a  mere  reservoir  for  the  water  which 
oozes  out  of  the  surface  soil  is  desired  or  obtainable,  or  a 
perpetual  spring.  If  the  former  is  the  object  in  view,  a 
depth  of  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  may  probably  suffice,  though 
this  cannot  be  expected  to  afford  a  constant  supply,  unless 
a  watery  vein  or  spring  is  hit  on  :  if  the  latter,  the  depth 
may  be  various,  there  being  instances  of  300  and  500  feet 
having  been  cut  through  before  a  permanent  supply  of  water 
was  found. 

The  art  of  well  digging  is  generally  carried  on  by  persons 
who  devote  themselves  exclusively  to  that  department. 
The  site  being  fixed  on,  the  ground-plan  is  a  circle,  gen- 
erally of  not  more  than  six  or  eight  feet  in  diameter :  the 
digger  then  works  down  by  means  of  a  small  short-handled 
spade,  and  a  small  implement  of  the  pick-axe  kind  ;  the 
earthy  materials  being  drawn  up  in  buckets  by  the  hand  or 
a  windlass  fixed  over  the  opening  for  the  purpose.  Where 
persons  conversant  with  this  sort  of  business  are  employed, 
they  usually  manage  the  whole  of  the  work,  bricking  round 
the  sides  with  great  facility  and  readiness ;  but  in  other 
cases  it  will  be  necessary  to  have  a  bricklayer  to  execute 
this  part  of  the  business. 

There  are  two  methods  of  building  the  stone  or  brick 
within  the  well,  which  is  called  the  steining.  In  one  of 
these  a  circular  ring  is  formed,  of  the  same  diameter  as  the 
intended  well  ;  and  the  timber  of  which  it  is  composed  is 
of  the  size  of  the  brick-courses  with  which  the  well  is  to  be 
lined.  The  lower  edge  of  this  circle  is  made  sharp,  and 
shod  with  iron,  so  that  it  has  a  tendency  to  cut  into  the 
ground;  this  circular  kirb  is  placed  flat  upon  the  ground, 
and  the  bricks  are  built  upon  it  to  a  considerable  height, 
like  a  circular  wall.  The  well-digger  gets  within  this  circle, 
and  digs  away  the  earth  at  the  bottom  ;  the  weight  of  the 
wall  then  forces  the  kirb  and  the  brickwork  with  which  it  is 
loaded  to  descend  into  the  earth,  and  as  fast  as  the  earth  is 
removed  it  sinks  deeper,  the  circular  brick  wall  being  in- 
creased or  raised  at  top  as  fast  as  it  sinks  down  ;  but  when 
it  gets  very  deep,  it  will  sink  no  longer,  particularly  if  it 
passes  through  soft  strata:  in  this  case,  a  second  kirb  of  a 
smaller  size  is  sometimes  begun  within  the  first.  When  a 
kirb  will  not  sink  from  the  softness  of  the  strata,  or  when  it 
is  required  to  stop  out  water,  the  bricks  or  stones  must  be 
laid  one  by  one  at  the  bottom  of  the  work,  taking  care  that 
the  work  is  not  left  unsupported  in  such  a  manner  as  to  let 
the  bricks  fall  as  they  are  laid  ;  this  is  called  underpinning. 

Well-diggers  experience  sometimes  great  difficulty  from  a 
noxious  air  which  fills  the  well,  and  suffocates  them  if  they 
breathe  it.  The  usual  mode  of  clearing  wells  of  noxious 
air,  is  by  means  of  a  large  pair  of  bellows,  and  a  long  leath- 
ern pipe,  which  is  hung  down  into  the  well  to  the  bottom 
and  fresh  air  forced  down  bv  working  the  bellows. 
'113 


WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

The  use  of  the  auger  is  common  in  well-digging,  both  Jn 
ascertaining,  before  commencement,  the  nature  of  the  strata 
to  be  dug  into,  and  also  in  course  of  digging  for  the  same 
purpose  ;  and  because,  by  boring  in  the  bottom  of  a  well  to 
a  considerable  depth,  the  spring  is  sometimes  hit  upon,  and 
digging  rendered  no  longer  necessary. 

The  use  of  the  borer  alone  may  procure  an  adequate  sup- 
ply of  water  in  particular  situations.  This  mode  appears  to 
have  been  long  resorted  to  in  this  and  other  countries. 
From  what  we  have  already  stated  as  to  the  disposition  of 
strata,  the  conditions  requisite  for  its  success  will  be  readily 
conceived ;  viz.,  watery  strata  connected  with  others  on  a 
higher  level :  the  pressure  of  the  water  contained  in  the 
higher  parts  of  such  strata  on  that  in  the  lower  will  readily 
force  up  the  latter  through  any  orifice,  however  small.  All 
that  is  necessary,  therefore,  is  to  bore  down  to  the  stratum 
containing  the  water,  and,  having  completed  the  bore,  to  in- 
sert a  pipe,  which  may  either  be  left  to  overflow  into  a  cis- 
tern, or  it  may  terminate  in  a  pump.  In  many  cases,  water 
may  be  found  in  this  way,  and  yet  not  in  sufficient  quantity 
and  force  to  rise  to  the  surface ;  in  such  cases  a  well  may 
be  sunk  to  a  certain  depth,  and  the  auger-hole  made,  and 
the  pipe  inserted  hi  it  at  the  bottom  of  the  well.  From  the 
bottom  it  may  be  pumped  up  to  the  surface  by  any  of  the 
usual  modes. 

As  an  example  of  well-digging  combined  with  boring,  we 
give  that  of  a  well  dug  at  a  brewery  at  Chelsea,  Middlesex, 
in  17113.  The  situation  was  within  20  or  30  feet  of  the  edge 
of  the  Thames,  and  the  depth  394  feet,  mostly  through  a 
blue  clay  or  marl.  At  the  depth  of  nearly  fifty  feet  a 
quantity  of  loose  coal,  twelve  inches  in  thickness,  was  dis- 
covered :  and  a  little  sand  and  gravel  was  found  about  the 
same  depth.  The  well-digger  usually  bored  about  ten,  fif- 
teen, or  twenty  feet  at  a  time  lower  than  his  work  as 
he  went  on  ;  and  on  the  last  boring,  when  the  rod  was  about 
fifteen  feet  below  the  bottom  of  the  well,  the  man  felt,  as 
the  first  signal  of  water,  a  rolling  motion,  something  like  the 
gentle  motion  of  a  coach  passing  over  pavement :  upon  his 
continuing  to  bore,  the  water  presently  pushed  its  way  by 
the  side  of  the  auger  with  great  force,  scarcely  allowing 
him  time  to  withdraw  the  borer,  put  that  and  his  other  tools 
into  the  bucket,  and  be  drawn  up  to  the  top  of  the  welL 
The  water  soon  rose  to  the  height  of  200  feet. 

In  a  case  which  occured  in  digging  a  well  at  Dr.  Darwin's, 
near  Derby,  the  water  rose  so  much  higher  than  the  surface 
of  the  ground,  that,  by  confining  it  in  a  tube,  he  raised  it  to 
the  upper  part  of  the  house.  (Recs's  Cyclopedia,  art. 
"  Well ;"  and  Derbyshire  Rep.) 

The  process  of  boring  the  earth  for  spring-water  has,  of 
late,  been  practised  with  great  success  in  various  parts  of 
England,  chiefly  by  Mr.  Goode  of  Huntingdon.  In  the 
neighbourhood  of  London,  many  fountains  of  pure  spring 
water  have  lately  been  obtained  by  these  means.  We  may 
particularly  name  those  at  Tottenham,  Middlesex,  and 
Mitcham,  Surrey,  both  of  which  afford  a  continuous  and 
abundant  flow  of  water,  at  one  time  equal  to  about  eight 
gallons  per  minute  ;  but  now  reduced  to  a  much  smaller 
quantity,  in  consequence  of  the  great  number  of  holes  that 
have  been  bored  into  the  supplying  strata. 

Well.  A  small  enclosed  space  near  the  mainmast,  ex- 
tending from  the  bottom  of  the  ship  to  the  principal  gun 
deck,  containing  the  pumps. 

WE'REGILD.  Among  the  Anglo-Saxons,  the  compen- 
sation paid  by  a  delinquent  to  the  party  injured,  or  his  rela- 
tions, for  offences  against  the  person.  This  custom  was  com- 
mon to  all  the  Teutonic  tribes,  and  to  many  Celtic.  It  is 
mentioned  by  Tacitus  in  his  account  of  the  ancient  Germans. 
The  great  distinction  between  Saxon  freemen  was  that  be- 
tween the  "  eorls,"  or  nobility,  and  "  ceorls,"  or  commonalty ; 
and  the  were  of  the  former  was  usually  rated  at  six  times 
the  amount  of  that  of  the  latter. 

WE'RNERITE.  A  mineral  named  after  Werner.  It  is 
a  silicate  of  alumina,  lime,  and  oxide  of  iron  ;  of  a  green  or 
gray  colour;  and  forms  eight-sided  prismatic  crystals.  It 
has"  been  found  in  Norway  and  Sweden,  and  also  in  Switz- 
erland. 

WE'SLEYANS.  The  chief  denomination  of  the  Metho- 
dists ;  so  called  from  John  Wesley,  their  founder.  See 
Methodists. 

WE'STERN  EMPIRE.  The  name  given  by  historians 
to  the  western  division  of  the  Roman  empire,  when  divided, 
by  the  will  of  Theodosius  the  Great,  between  his  sons  Hono- 
rius  and  Arcadius,  A.D.  395.  After  the  deposition  of  the 
emperor  Augustulus  by  Odoacer,  A.D.  476,  the  Western  em- 
pire was  definitely  at  an  end.  But  when  Charlemagne,  in 
the  year  800,  assumed  the  imperial  crown,  it  was  with  the 
view  of  reassuming  the  ancient  dignity  of  the  Csesars  in 
Western  Europe ;  and  after  him  the  German  emperors  were 
considered  by  the  jurists  of  their  own  country,  and  of  their 
party  in  Italy,  as  representing  the  majesty  of  ancient  Rome, 
the  Italian  states  being  looked  on  as  feudatories  of  the  em- 
pire. 
v  1333 


WHALE. 

WHALE.    Sff  Bjlina. 

WHEAT.   (Triticum, L.;  Trimidria  Dijrynia.I'.;  Gram- 

£m0,Jusa  Inflorescence  spiked.  Glume  two- waived,  many- 
flowered,  shorter  than  thespifcelet;  the  valves  nearly  equal, 
beardless,  or  with  one  heard  enclosing  the  florets.  Pales 
two,  one  of  them  bearded  from  the  end.  Seed  enclosed  in 
the  pales,  rarely  otherw  Ise.) 

Wheat  is  by  far  the  most  important  and  most  extensively 
cultivated  species  of  bread-corn  raised  in  England.  It  is 
sown  after  fallow,  turnips,  cabbages,  potatoes,  beans,  &c. 
In  lijht  soils  it  follows  clover  and  the  cultivated  grasses; 
but  it  never,  at  least  in  the  best  farmed  districts,  follows 
any  other  white  crop.  Wheat  may  he  raised  on  all  sorts  of 
soils;  hut  those  of  a  clayey  nature  ate  the  most  suitable. 
So  peculiarly,  indeed,  is  wheat  adapted  to  heavy  stiff" lands, 
that  they  are  usually  termed  "wheat  soils."  The  lighter 
the  soil,  the  less  it  is  suited  to  this  species  of  grain;  and  it  is 
an  error  in  practice  to  force  the  cultivation  of  wheat  on 
soils,  and  under  circumstances,  better  suited  to  the  produc- 
tion of  other  grain.  In  this  country  it  does  not  admit  of 
being  raised  at  a  great  elevation.  As  it  is  a  crop  on  which 
the  farmer  mainly  depends,  the  preparation  for  it,  in  what- 
ever rotation  it  comes,  should  he  an  object  of  great  care  and 
attention.  If  it  be  intended  to  sow  wheat  after  fallow,  the 
land  is  repeatedly  ploughed,  harrowed,  and  well  manured ; 
if  after  clover,  only  one  ploughing  is  given,  and  seldom  more 
after  beans  ;  where  tares  have  been  previously  sown,  they 
are  got  off"  the  land  in  sufficient  time  to  plough  it  more  than 
once ;  when  wheat  follows  turnips  or  cabbages,  it  must,  un- 
less they  be  stored  or  eaten,  be  sown  in  the  spring  months. 

The  kinds  of  wheat  grown  in  England  seem  mostly  all 
to  be  varieties  of  two  species — the  Triticum  hybernum,  or 
winter  u  heat,  and  the  Triticum  turgidum,  or  turgid  wheat. 
The  culture  of  the  latter  is  mostly  confined  to  clays ;  the 
cone  or  bearded  wheat  being  the  most  esteemed  of  its 
varieties :  it  enjoys  this  pre-eminence,  not  because  it  yields 
the  finest  flour,  but  because  it  is  comparatively  productive, 
and  not  subject  to  disease  on  wet  soils. 

The  varieties  of  wheat  are  perpetually  changing,  in  con- 
sequence of  variations  of  culture,  climate,  and  soil.  Those 
most  in  use  are  distinguished  by  different  local  terms.  They 
may,  however,  be  divided  into  the  two  great  classes  of  red 
and  white — the  latter  being  superior  as  respects  quality  of 
produce,  and  the  former  of  hardiness.  In  general,  the 
thin  and  smooth-chaffed  varieties  are  preferred  to  those  that 
are  woolly  and  thick-chaffed.  Wheal  sown  in  the  spring  is 
called  spring  wheat  ;  but  the  species  is  quite  the  same  as 
that  sown  before  winter;  though,  by  being  sown  in  the 
spring,  its  period  of  ripening  is  changed,  It  is  always  sown 
before  winter  when  the  ground  can  be  got  ready ;  but  when 
it  follows  turnips,  cabbages,  and  such  like  crops,  it  has  fre- 
quently to  be  deferred  to  the  spring.  (Low  on  Agriculture, 
p.  222-228 

Winter  wheat  is  seldom  sown  in  any  part  of  Enffland  be- 
fore the  beginning  or  middle  of  September,  or  later  than  the 
end  of  November.  Spring  w  heat  is  generally  sown  between 
the  middle  of  March  and  the  middle  of  April.  The  seed  is 
invariably  pickled  or  steeped  ;  a  process  intended  to  prevent 
smut.  The  quantity  of  seed  allowed  to  an  acre,  when 
sown  broad  cast,  usually  varies  from  2£  to  3,  and  even  4 
Winchester  bushels. 

The  drill  husbandry,  as  applied  to  wheat,  is  practised  to 
a  considerable  extent  in  many  parts  of  England  ;  and  in 
some  places  it  is  not  unfrequently  planted  with  the  dibble  ; 
but  by  far  the  greater  portion  is  sown  broad  cast.  While 
growing,  but  little  attention  or  labour  is  bestowed  upon  it. 
When  (hilled,  it  is  generally  hoed  ;  and  when  sown  broad- 
cast, it  is  sometimes  hand  weeded, and  occasionally,  though 
rarely,  harrowed  and  rolled  in  the  spring.  But  these  opera- 
tions are  generally,  perhaps,  prosecuted  as  much  in  the 
View  of  covering  the  clover  and  grass  seeds  that  are  then 
frequently  sown  in  the  wheat  fields,  as  of  improving  the 
wheat  crop. 

Wheat  harvest  generally  commences,  in  the  south  of 
England,  about  the  25th  of  July,  or  the  beginning  of  Au- 
gust;  in  the  midland  counties  it  is  about  ten  days,  and  in 
the  northern  counties  from  a  fortnight  to  three  weeks  later. 
There  is  a  striking  difference  in  the  harvest  field  operations, 
with  respecl  to  tins  as  well  as  other  kinds  of  grain,  between 
the  north  and  south  of  England  ;  in  the  former,  during  har- 
vest, the  corn-field  exhibits  a  large  number  of  reapers,  per- 
haps SO,  bo.  or  even  ion,  all  working  together,  and  present- 
in"  an  interesting  and  animating  spectacle.  In  the  south 
of  England,  on  the  other  hand,  and  over  the  greater  part  of 
the  midland  I  OUntteS,  Wheat  La  reaped  by  small  sets  of  indi- 
viduals, who  contract  to  cut  a  field  or  a  certain  number  of 
acres;  so  that,  in  general,  the  field  merely  exhibits  one  or  two 
men,  With,  perhaps,  their  wives,  working  in  different  parts 
of  it.  Wheat  is  seldom  or  never  cut  down  with  the  scythe, 
but  is  either  reaped  with  the  common  sickle,  or,  as  is  the 
practii  ,■  in  some  of  the  counties  near  the  metropolis,  as  well 
as  in  some  of  the  south  western  counties,  it  is  bagged,  that 
1334 


WHEAT. 

is,  struck  down  near  the  ground  with  a  large  and  heavy 
hook.  It  is  universally  bound  in  sheaves,  which  are  set  up 
in  shocks  or  staphs,  each  containing  twelve  or  fourteen 
sheaves.  Perhaps  no  circumstance  marks  the  difference  of 
climate  in  the  south  and  north  of  England  more  strongly 
than  the  difference  in  point  of  time  during  which  ii 
sary  to  keep  wheat  and  other  grain  in  the  field  before  it  is 
carried  home.  In  the  southern  counties  it  is  general!)  ready 
in  a  week  01  leu  days  ;  whereas  in  the  north  it  is  necessary 
to  let  it  stand  out  for  two  or  three  weeks.  In  the  southern, 
eastern,  and  midland  counties,  it  is  frequently  put  into 
barns  :  in  the  north,  it  is  almost  universally  stacked. 

As  this  grain  is  so  extensively  cultivated,  frequently  on 
very  inferior  soils,  and  after  very  imperfect  preparation,  the 
produce  per  acre  varies  materially  in  different  counties  and 
districts;  it  is  also  very  liable  to  injury  from  a  had  seed 
time,  a  wit  winter,  or  a  blight  during  the  period  of  its  flower- 
ing (which  last  is  the  most  common  cause  of  the  failure  or 
deficiency  of  our  wheat  crops)  ;  so  that  its  produce  varies  as 
much  in  different  seasons  on  the  same  farms,  and  under  the 
same  management,  as  it  does  during  the  same  season  on 
different  farms.  The  low  est  quantity  of  produce,  except 
where  an  absolute  deficiency  from  blight  occurs,  may.  per- 
haps, be  rated  at  from  10  to  12  bushels  an  acre;  and  the 
highest  at  from  48  to  56  or  64  bushels.  Occasionally,  in- 
deed, even  more  than  this  hits  been  reaped  on  the  deep 
loams  near  Chichester,  in  Sussex,  on  the  calcareous  loams 
near  Epsom,  and  in  some  of  the  more  favoured  and  highly 
cultivated  parts  of  Kent,  Essex,  Lincoln,  Somerset,  &c. 

The  following  table  gives  a  comprehensive  view  of  the 

most  important  circumstances  connected  with  the  British 

trade  in  wheat  from  1799  down  to  1841,  both  inclusive: 

A<  i  oi  nt  of  the  Total  Quantities  of  Wheat  and  Wheat- 

Fhuir  imported  into  and   exported  from  Great  Britain  ; 

distinguishing   between   the    Quantities   imported   from 

Ireland  and  Foreign  Parts,  in   each  Year  from    17119  to 

1841,  both  inclusive,  with  the  Average  Prices  of  Wheat 

per  Imperial  Quarter,  in  England  and  Wales,  during  the 

same  period. 


Years. 

bnpc  ns 

from 
Ireland. 

Imports 
from  Fo- 
reign Parts. 

Total 
Imports. 

Exports. 

Average 
Prices. 

Om. 

Qrs. 

Q«. 

Qr,. 

•.       d- 

1799 

463,135 

39.362 

69      0 

1800 

749 

1.2h2,-7l 

1,264  520 

22,013 

113     10 

1-11! 

150 

1,424,615 

1,424,765 

28,406 

119      6 

1802 

103,751 

538,912 

647,663 

149.304 

69    10 

1803 

61.267 

312,458 

373.725 

76,580 

58     10 

IS04 

70.071 

391,069 

461,140 

63.073 

62      3 

1805 

84,0  " 

-  H  .7  17 

920.^34 

77,955 

69      9 

1806 

102,276 

208,066 

310.342 

29.566 

79       1 

1807 

44.900 

360,046 

404.946 

2n.M3 

75      4 

1S03 

43.497 

41.392 

S4>s9 

!i-  i  i.-, 

81      4 

l-,,i 

66  '•!! 

3--9.043 

4V..'-7 

31,278 

97      4 

1810 

126  3-S 

1 ,440,733 

1,567,126 

75.785 

106      5 

1811 

147.245 

,..     .. 

336.131 

97. "I/, 

95      3 

ls|2 

158,352 

132.358 

.Mo. -HI 

46,325 

126      6 

1813 

217,154 

341,846 

659,000 

Records 

destroyed. 

109      9 

1814 

885,478 

627.0S9 

852,567 

1 1 1 ,477 

74      4 

18!'. 

189,544 

194,931 

384,475 

227.947 

65      7 

1816 

121,631 

332,491 

in. Oil 

78      6 

1-17 

55,481 

1,034.374 

317  524 

96    11 

1818 

in-,  179 

1  689  062 

1,694,26! 

58.668 

S6      3 

1819 

I  3,    ,n 

471,786 

625.638 

44,688 

74      6 

1820 

403,407 

593,072 

996,479 

94.657 

67     10 

1821 

S6S  71  'i 

137,684 

707,3-4 

199.816 

66      1 

1822 

463,004 

47,598 

510.602 

160.499 

44      7 

|s23 

400.06S 

23,951 

424.019 

145.951 

53      4 

1S21 

356,3s4 

S5  2n7 

441, VU 

61.650 

63     11 

i-r. 

3at,.ois 

891,688 

7S7.606 

38.796 

6s      6 

1S26 

314.  -".t 

5-2.27(1 

20,054 

5S      8 

1827 

405,255 

306,613 

711  868 

57,323 

58      6 

1828 

652,684 

7V7.7I6 

1.410.300 

76.4--9 

60      6 

ls29 

519,1117 

1,671.078 

2,190,095 

75.097 

66      3 

1830 

5J').7I7 

1,676  034 

2,205,751 

37.149 

64      3 

1-31 

557,498 

2,310,362 

65  875 

66      4 

Is32 

790.293 

464,058 

1,254,351 

289.559 

68      8 

1-33 

si  1  211 

322  246 

1,166  4V7 

96.212 

52     II 

If  34 

201.881 

881,486 

159.4-2 

46      2 

1*35 

661,'.  76 

99,032 

134  '  76 

3.1       4 

1-36 

262  399 

S6I.I56 

2">6.rr« 

43      6 

1*37 

534,465 

575,027 

30s  .Jin. 

55     10 

1838 

542,5-3 

1,390.817 

1,923.400 

168  (121 

64      7 

|s.19 

258,331 

2,852  S98 

8,110,729 

42.512 

70      8 

1-:  i 

174.419 

-■-.212 

66      4 

1841 

21  s.708 

2,704,481 

30  390 

64      4 

The  wheat  counties  are  Kent,  Essex,  Suffolk,  Kutland, 
Hertford,  Berks,  Hants,  and  Hereford;  that  is,  these  are  the 
counties  most  distinguished  for  the  quality  as  well  as  the 
quantity  of  their  w  heat.  In  the  north,  this  grain  is  some- 
timei  raised  otf-a  very  tine  quality  :  but  generally  it  is  inferior; 

being  colder  10  the  feel,  darker  coloured,  thicker  skinned, 
and  yielding  less  flour.  In  the  best  wheat  counties,  and  in 
good!  yean,  the  weight  of  a  Winchester  bushel  of  wheat 
varies  from  60  to  OS  lbs.  In  the  isle  of  Bbeppey,  in  Kent 
(where,  perhaps,  the  best  samples  are  produced,  it  some- 
times weighs,  in  favourable  seasons,  64  lbs.  a  bushel. 
Where  the  climate  is  naturally  colder,  wetter,  and  mora 


WHEEL  AND  AXLE. 

backward,  or  in  bad  seasons,  the  weight  of  the  bushel  does 
not  exceed  56  or  57  lbs.  It  is  calculated  that,  at  an  aver- 
age, a  bushel  of  good  English  wheat  weighs  58A  lbs. :  and 
that  the  average  yield  of  flour  is  12A  lbs.  of  flour  to  14  lbs. 
of  grain.  The  weight  of  the  straw  is  supposed  to  be  about 
double  that  of  the  grain  ;  so  that  an  acre  yielding  30  bushels 
of  wheat,  at  581  lbs.  per  Winchester  bushel,  would  yield 
3510  lbs.  of  straw.     {Statistics  of  British,  Empire,  i.,  4G4.) 

The  increase  of  population,  and  the  extraordinary  exten- 
sion and  improvement  of  cultivation  during  the  ten  years 
ending  wilh  1840,  coupled  with  the  inquiries  we  have 
made,  have  satisfied  us  that  in  average  seasons  the  quantity 
of  wheat  raised  in  the  United  Kingdom  for  food  cannot  at 
present  (1842)  be  less  than  15,000,000  quarters,  and  adding 
to  this  Jlh  part  for  seed,  the  total  produce  will  be  17,500,000 
quarters;  worth,  at  the  low  average  price  of  52s.  a  quarter, 
,£45,500,000.  But  notwithstanding  its  magnitude,  the  supply 
is,  speaking  generally,  inadequate  to  meet  the  demand,  and 
whenever  the  crops  are  below  an  average  there  is  a  large 
importation.  i 

We  incline  to  think  that  of  the  total  produce  of  wheat  in 
the  United  Kingdom,  at  least  15,000,000  quarters  are  furnish- 
ed by  England.  The  climate  of  Scotland  and  Ireland,  es 
pecially  of  the  latter,  is,  speaking  generally,  too  cold  and 
moist  for  the  profitable  culture  of  wheat.  Along  the  east 
coast  of  Scotland,  indeed,  in  Berwickshire,  East  Lothian, 
Fife,  Perth,  and  Farfar,  there  are  extensive  tracts  where 
the  soil  and  climate  are  comparatively  good,  and  the  cul- 
ture excellent,  and  where  very  good  wheat  is  raised.  But 
with  these  exceptions,  the  rest  of  Scotland,  and  the  whole 
of  Ireland,  is  more  suitable  for  the  growth  of  oats  and  bar- 
ley than  for  that  of  wheat.  Indeed  its  culture  in  Ireland 
has  recently  been  declining. 

WHEEL  AND  AXLE.  In  Mechanics,  one  of  the  simple 
mechanical  powers  or  machines,  consisting  of  a  wheel  hav- 
ing a  cylindrical  axis  passing  through  its  centre,  resting  on 
pivols  at  its  extremities,  or  supported  in  gudgeons,  and  ca- 
pable of  revolving.  The  power  is  applied  to  ihe  circumfer- 
ence of  the  wheel,  and  the  weight  or  force  to  be  overcome 
to  the  circumference  of  the  axle;  and  equilibrium  takes 
place  when  the  power  and  weight  are  to  each  other  in- 
versely as  the  radii  of  the  circles  to  which  they  are  ap- 
„,  plied.      In  the  annexed  figure,  a    is  the 

wheel,  ft  the  axle,  p  the  power,  and  w  the 
weight.  The  power  is  applied  by  a  rope 
passing  round  the  wheel,  and  the  weight 
attached  to  another  rope  coiled  round  the 
axle  in  a  contrary  direction.  As  the  wheel 
and  axle  turn  together,  the  wheel  takes 
up  or  throws  off  as  much  more  rope  than 
the  axle  as  its  circumference  is  greater 
than  that  of  the  axle ;  or  the  space 
through  which  p  descends  is  as  much 
greater  than  that  through  which  w  is 
lifted  up  as  the  circumference  or  radius 
of  the  wheel  is  greater  than  the  circumference  or  radius  of 
the  axle.  Hence  if  a  denote  the  radius  of  the  wheel,  and  ft 
that  of  the  axle,  we  have,  by  the  principle  of  virtual  veloci- 
ties p  :  ic  :  :  b  :  a,  or  p  a  =  w  b. 

The  wheel  and  axle  is  a  perpetual  lever,  so  contrived  as 
to  have  a  continued  motion  about  a  fulcrum.  When  the 
thickness  of  the  rope  is  taken  into  consideration,  the  force 
must  be  conceived  as  acting  at  the  centre  of  the  rope,  and 
therefore  the  thickness  of  the  rope  which  supports  the 
weight  must  be  added  to  the  diameter  of  the  axle,  and  the 
thickness  of  that  which  supports  the  power  to  the  diameter 
of  the  wheel.  But  the  manner  in  which  the  power  is  ap- 
plied is  very  various,  and  frequently  otherwise  than  by 
means  of  a  rope.  If  the  power  acts  not  at  the  circumfer- 
ence of  the  wheel,  but  at  the  extremity  of  a  handspike  or 
projecting  pins  inserted  in  the  wheel,  the  distance  of  that 
extremity  from  the  centre  of  the  axis  is  to  be  accounted 
the  radius  of  the  wheel.  The  common  winch  with  which 
a  grindstone  is  turned  or  a  crane  worked,  the  capstan,  the 
windlass,  the  crank,  and  other  contrivances  of  a  similar 
kind,  are  only  different  modifications  of  the  wheel  and  axle. 
A  form  of  the  wheel  and  axle  is  represented  in  the  sub- 
joined figure,  by  which  a  great  mechanical  advantage  is  ob- 
tained. The  axle  consists  of  two  parts  having  different 
thicknesses  ;  and  ihe  rope  after  being  coiled  round  one  of 
the  parts  is  carried  round  a  pulley  attached  to  the  weight, 
and  coiled  around  the  other  in 
the  opposite  direction.  The 
power  p  is  applied  at  the  han- 
dle of  the  winch,  which  here 
takes  the  place  of  the  wheel. 
In  order  to  compute  the  advan- 
tage gained  by  this  machine,  let 
a  denote-  the  circumference 
described  by  the  handle  of  the 
winch,  b  the  circumference  of 
the  thicker  part  of  the  axle, 


WHEEL  WORK 

and  c  that  of  the  thinner  part ;  then,  while  the  winch 
makes  one  revolution  in  the  direction  which  raises  the 
weight,  the  part  of  the  rope  which  passes  from  the  one  part 
of  the  axle  to  the  other  round  the  pully  will  be  shortened 
by  the  quantity  b—c,  and  consequently  the  weight  w  will 
be  raised  through  the  height  i  (ft— c).  But  the  space  de- 
scribed in  the  same  time  by  the  power  p  is  equal  to  that 
through  which  the  handle  of  the  winch  passes,  or  equal  to 
a;  therefore,  by  the  principle  of  virtual  velocities,  p  :  w  :: 
i  (b—c)  :  a,  or  p  <z  =  J  w  (ft— e).  As  the  circumferences 
of  circles  are  to  their  radii  i  n  a  constant  ratio,  it  is  evident 
that  the  formula  will  equally  apply  if  the  letters  a,  6,  c  be 
taken  to  represent  the  respective  radii. 

WHEEL.  In  a  Ship,  the  wheel  and  axle  by  which  the 
tiller  is  moved. 

WHEEL  ANIMAL,  or  WHEEL  ANIMALCULE.  See 
Rotifers. 

WHEEL,  BREAKING  ON  THE.  A  mode  of  capital 
punishment,  said  to  have  been  first  employed  in  Germany  ; 
according  to  some  writers,  on  the  murderers  of  Leopold, 
duke  of  Austria,  in  the  14th  century.  According  to  the 
German  method  of  this  savage  execution,  the  criminal  was 
laid  on  a  cart-wheel  with  his  arms  and  legs  extended,  and 
his  limbs  in  that  posture  fractured  with  an  iron  bar.  But 
in  France  (where  it  was  restricted  to  cases  of  assassination, 
or  other  murders  of  an  atrocious  description,  highway  rob- 
bery, parricide,  and  rape),  the  criminal  was  laid  on  a  frame 
of  wood  in  the  form  of  a  St.  Andrew's  cross,  with  grooves 
cut  transversely  in  it  above  and  below  ihe  knees  and  elbows  ; 
and  the  executioner  struck  eight  blows  with  an  iron  bar,  so 
as  to  break  the  limbs  in  those  places,  sometimes  finishing 
the  criminal  by  two  or  three  blows  on  the  chest  or  stomach : 
thence  called  coups  dc  grace.  He  was  then  unbound  and 
laid  on  a  small  carriage  wheel,  with  his  face  upwards,  and 
his  arms  and  legs  doubled  under  him ;  there  to  expire,  if 
still  alive.  Sometimes  the  sentence  contained  a  retention, 
by  which  the  executioner  was  directed  to  strangle  the 
criminal,  either  before  the  first,  or  after  one,  two  or  three 
blows.  This  punishment  was  abolished  in  France  at  the 
Revolution  ;  but  it  is  still  resorted  to  in  Germany  as  the 
punishment  for  parricide,  the  last  instance  of  which  took 
place  in  1827  near  Gottingen.  The  assassin  of  the  bishop 
of  Ermeland  in  Prussia,  in  1841,  w^as  sentenced  to  the 
wheel. 

WHEELS  OF  CARRIAGES.  Wheels  applied  to  car- 
riages serve  a  two-fold  purpose.  In  the  first  place,  they 
greatly  diminish  the  friction  on  the  ground  by  transferring  it 
from  the  circumference  to  the  nave  and  axle;  and  in  The 
second  place,  they  serve  to  raise  the  carriage  more  easily 
over  obstacles  and  asperities  met  with  on  the  roads.  The 
friction  is  diminished  in  the  proportion  of  the  circumference 
of  the  axle  to  that  of  the  wheel ;  and  hence  the  larger  the 
wheel,  and  the  smaller  the  axle,  the  less  is  the  friction.  The 
mechanical  advantage  of  the  wheel  in  surmounting  an  ob- 
stacle may  be  computed  from  the  principle  of  the  lever. 
Let  the  wheel  touch  the  horizontal  line  of  traction  in  the 
point  A,  and  meet  a  protuberance  B  D. 
Suppose  the  line  of  draft  CP  to  be  par- 
allel to  A  B,  join  C  D,  and  draw  the  per 
pendiculars  D  E  and  D  F.  We  may  sup- 
pose the  power  to  be  applied  at  E.  and 
the  weight  at  F,  and  the  action  is  then 
the  same  as  the  bent  lever  E  D  F  turn- 
ing round  the  fulcrum  at  D.  Hence  P: 
W  :  :  F  D  :  D  E.  But  F  D  :  D  E  :  :  tan. 
FCD:  1;  and  tan.  FCD  =  tan.  2  (D  A  B) ;  therefore  P  = 
W  tan.  2  (D  A  B).  Now.  it  is  obvious  that  the  angle  DAB 
increases  as  the  radius  of  the  circle  diminishes ;  and  there- 
fore the  weight  W  being  constant,  the  power  required  to 
overcome  an  obstacle  of  a  given  height  is  diminished  when 
the  diameter  is  increased.  Large  wheels  are  therefore  best 
adapted  for  surmounting  inequalities  of  the  road.  There 
are,  however,  circumstances  which  prescribe  limits  to  the 
height  of  the  wheels  of  carriages.  If  the  radius  A  C  ex- 
ceeds the  hei2ht  of  that  part  of  the  horse  to  which  the 
traces  are  attached,  the  line  of  traction  CP  will  be  inclined 
to  the  horizon,  and  part  of  the  power  will  be  exerted  in 
pressing  the  wheel  against  the  ground.  The  best  average 
size  of  wheels  is  considered  to  be  about  6  feet  in  diameter. 
The  fore  wheels  of  carriages  and  wagons  in  this  country 
are  usually  much  too  small. 

Cylindrical  wheels  are  best  adapted  for  level  roads  ;  and 
the  breadth  of  the  rim  should  be  considerable  (not  less  than 
three  inches),  to  prevent  their  sinking  into  the  ground.  In 
hilly  and  uneven  roads  a  slight  inclination  of  the  spokes, 
called  disking,  tends  to  give  strength  to  the  wheel ;  but  it  is 
very  frequently  carried  to  excess. 

WHEEL  WORK,  In  Machinery,  consists  of  a  combina- 
tion of  wheels  communicating  motion  to  one  another. 
Such  combinations  maybe  formed  in  various  ways;  but 
they  are  generally  reducible  to  the  principle  of  the  wheel 
axle,  though  the  wheel  which  turns  the  other  is  not  usually 

1335 


WHEEL  WORK. 

op.  the  same  axis  with  it.  The  motion  in  such  cases  Is 
communicated  from  the  one  wheel  to  the  other,  either  by 
!>elts  or  snaps  passing  over  the  circumferences  of  both,  or 
hv  teeth  cut  in  those  circumferences,  and  working  in  one 
another,  in  either  of  these  ways  the  velocities  of  points  in 
their  circumferences  are  equal ;  and  consequently  their  an- 
gular velocities,  or  the  number  of  revolutions  which  they 
n.  ike  in  the  same  time,  are  inversely  as  their  radii.  When 
one  wheel  drives  another  by  teeth,  they  necessarily  turn  in 
opposite  directions  ;  if  united  by  a  cord  or  belt,  they  will 
turn  in  the  same  direction,  if  the  belt  does  not  cross  itself  be- 
tween the  two  wheels;  but  if  the  belt  crosses  itself,  they 
will  turn  in  opposite  directions.  The  chief  advantage  of 
transmitting  motion  by  cords  or  belts  is,  that  the  wheels 
may  be  placed  at  any  convenient  distance  from  each  other, 
and  be  made  to  turn  either  in  the  same  or  in  opposite  di- 
rections. 

Wheels  may  act  on  one  another  so  as  to  communicate 
motion  in  various  ways.  When  the  resistance  of  the  work 
is  not  great,  the  object  may  be  accomplished  by  the  mere 
friction  of  their  circumferences.  In  order  to  increase  the 
friction,  the  surfaces  of  the  rims  are  faced  with  buffleather 
(caoutchouc  might  answer  the  purpose  better),  or  wood  cut 
against  the  grain,  and  pressed  together  with  a  certain  de- 
gree of  force.  This  method  is  sometimes  used  in  spinning 
machinery,  and  has  even  been  applied  successfully  to  the 
saw  mill ;  but  is  seldom  adopted  in  works  on  a  great  scale. 
Motion  communicated  in  this  manner  proceeds  smoothly 
and  evenly,  and  is  accompanied  with  little  noise. 

When  motion  is  to  be  transmitted  through  a  train  of 
wheel  work,  toothed  wheels  are  generally  employed.  It  is 
usual  to  call  a  small  wheel  acted  on  by  a  large  one  a  pinion, 
and  its  teeth  the  leaves  of  the  pinion.  Wheels  and  pinions 
are  combined  in  the  manner  represented  in  the  annexed 
figure.  On  the  axle  of  the  wheel  A,  which  bears  the 
power,  is  a  pinion  a  which 
drives  the  wheel  B.  The 
axle  of  this  wheel  carries  a 
pinion  ft,  which  drives  the 
wheel  C.  In  the  figure,  the 
axle  c  of  this  wheel  carries 
the  weight ;  but  the  combi- 
nation may  be  continued  at 
E  pleasure.     When   motion  is 

communicated  in  this  man- 
ner, the  angular  velocity  of 
the  first  wheel  is  to  that  of 
the  last  pinion  as  the  product  formed  by  multiplying  to- 
gether the  radii  of  all  the  wheels  to  the  product  formed  by 
multiplying  together  the  radii  of  all  the  pinions.  Conse- 
quently, if  II,  R',  R",  &c.  denote  respectively  the  radii  of 
the  wheels,  and  r,  r\  r",  &c.  the  radii  of  the  pinions,  we 
shall  have,  by  the  principle  of  virtual  velocities,  p(RxR' 
X  E",  &c.)  —  w(rXr'  Xr",  &c.)  As  the  size  of  the  teeth 
of  any  wheel  and  the  pinion  into  which  it  works  must  be 
equal,  we  may  substitute  for  the  radii  the  number  of  teeth  in 
the  wheels  and  pinions  respectively. 

Toothed  wheels,  as  distinguished  by  the  position  of  the 
teeth  relatively  to  the  axis,  are  of  three  kinds  :  spur  wheels, 
crown  wheels,  and  bevelled  wheels.  When  the  teeth  are 
raised  upon  the  edge  of  the  wheel,  or  are  perpendicular  to 
the  axis  (as  in  the  above  figure),  the  wheel  is  a  spur  wheel  ; 
when  they  are  raised  parallel  to  the  axis,  or  perpendicular 
to  the  plane  of  the  wheel,  it  is  a  crown  wheel ;  and  when 
they  are  raised  on  a  surface  inclined  to  the  plane  of  the 
wheel,  it  is  called  a  bevelled  wheel.  The  combination  of 
a  crown  wheel  with  a  spur  wheel  as  pinion  is  used  when  it 
is  required  to  communicate  motion  round  one  axis  to  an- 
other at  right  angles  to  it.  Two  bevelled  wheels  are  em- 
ployed to  transmit  motion  from  one  axis  to  another  inclined 
to  it  at  any  proposed  angle.  Wheels  have  also  different 
names,  according  to  their  mode  of  action,  as  heart  wheel, 
sun-and-planet  wheel. 

Form  of  the  Teeth  of  Wheels. — In  the  construction  of 
machinery,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  the  several 
parts  act  on  one  another  with  a  uniform  force,  and  with 
the  smallest  possible  amount  of  friction.  When  wheels  act 
by  teeth  working  into  each  other,  every 
point  of  the  side  a  6  of  the  tooth  winch  is 
in  action  comes  successively  into  contact 
with  the  tooth  of  the  pinion  as  the  wheel 
turns  round,  and  the  force  is  necessarily  ex- 
erted at  the  point  c,  which  are  in  contact 
Hence  the  lengths  and  positions  of  A  c  (\ 
being  supposed  the  centre  of  the  wheel) 
and  He,  the  levers  by  which  they  act,  are 
constantly  changing ;  and  in  order,  there 
fori ,  that  the  force  of  the  one  tooth  upon  the  other  may  be 
constant,  it  is  necessary  that  the  line  drawn  perpendicular 
to  the  surfaces  of  both  teeth,  at  the  point  ui  contact  c,  al 
way-  Intersect  the  line  A  B  of  the  centres  in  the  same  point. 
There  are  many  different  curves  according  to  which  the 
1336 


WHIGS. 

teeth  might  he  formed  so  as  to  answer  this  condition  ;  but 
that  which  has  been  must  generally  adopted,  and  which 
appears  the  most  convenient,  is  the  epicycloid  generated  by 
the  revolution  of  a  circle  whose  radius  is  equal  to  half  the 
radius  of  the  pinion  on  the  circumference  of  a  circle  equal 
to  the  wheel.  This  was  first  proposed  by  Roemer,  the  cele- 
brated Danish  astronomer.  The  evolute  of  the  circle  was 
proposed,  with  other  curves,  by  Euler.  Sec  Teeth  oy 
Wheels. 

When  the  teeth  are  constructed  according  to  the  theo- 
retical rules,  the  action  is  not  only  uniform,  but  there  is 
little  friction  ;  for  the  teeth  roll  on  one  another,  and  neither 
slide  nor  rub.  But  as  it  is  impossible  to  attain  perfect  ac- 
curacy in  practice,  the  surfaces  of  the  teeth  will  always 
present  some  inequalities,  and  there  will  consequently  be 
some  friction.  In  order,  therefore,  to  equalize  the  wear,  it 
is  necessary  that  every  leaf  of  the  pinion  should  work  in 
succession  through  every  tooth  of  the  wheel,  and  not  al- 
ways through  the  same  set  of  teeth;  and  hence  the  num- 
ber of  teeth  in  a  wheel  and  in  a  pinion  which  work  into 
each  other  should  be  prime  to  one  another.  This  precau- 
tion is  more  especially  necessary  in  mill  work,  and  where 
considerable  force  is  used.  (  Willis's  Principles  of  Me- 
chanism;  Buchanan  on  Mill  Work,  by  Rennie  ;  J,aidner's 
Mechanics,  Cab.  Cyclop.  ;   Gregory's  Mechanics,  <$-c.) 

WHELPS.  Short  upright  pieces  placed  round  the  bar- 
rel of  the  capstan,  to  afford  resting  points  for  the  messen- 
ger or  haw  sirs. 

WHE'TSTONE.  A  talcy  slate  containing  silica,  used 
for  hones.     See  Novacilite. 

WHEY.  The  limpid  part  of  milk  which  remains  after 
the  separation  of  the  curd  and  butter;  it  consists  chiefly  of 
water  holding  between  3  and  4  per  cent,  of  sugar  of  milk 
in  solution.     See  Milk. 

WHIGS.  The  well-known  designation  of  a  political 
party  in  English  history.  It  was  first  used  in  the  reign  of 
Charles  II.  The  term,  which  is  of  Scottish  origin  (vide 
infra),  was  first  assumed  as  a  party  name  by  that  body  of 
politicians  who  were  most  active  in  placing  William  HI.  on 
the  throne  of  England.  Since  that  time  it  has  been  borne 
by  successive  generations  of  those  who,  by  hereditary  in- 
clination, or  by  education,  or  party  connexion,  have  fol- 
lowed in  the  same  political  line.  Generally  speaking,  the 
principles  of  the  Whigs  have  been  popular,  and  their  mea- 
sures, when  in  power,  tending  to  increase  the  democratic 
influence  in  the  constitution.  It  may  not  be  out  of  place 
to  subjoin  a  few  of  the  various  accounts  of  the  origin  of 
the  term  Whiff,  now  incorporated  indelibU  in  the  political 
vocabulary  of  this  country.  It  was  introduced  immediate- 
ly after  the  failure  of  Hamilton's  expedition  into  England, 
in  the  year  1648,  for  the  rescue  of  Charles  I.  from  the 
hands  of  the  English  levellers  and  fanatics.  After  Hamil- 
ton's defeat  at  Preston,  the  Westland  Whigs  raised  an  in- 
surrection, which  is  thus  alluded  to  : 

"The  party  appellation  of  Whigamores,  or,  briefly, 
Whigs,  had  its  origin  at  this  period ;  and  the  insurrection 
referred  to  was  called  the  '  Wbigamores'  raid,'  or  incursion, 
that  term  being  the  common  one  for  the  predatory  expedi- 
tions of  the  Borderers.  This  nickname  being  still  preserv- 
ed in  the  vocabulary  of  party,  although  there  is  truly  none 
now  existing  that  can  be  in  any  degree  assimilated  to  the 
original  faction,  it  seems  proper  to  explain  how  the  distinc- 
tion originated.  Mr.  Laing,  in  his  History  (vol.  i..  p.  361, 
2d  ed.,  1804),  informs  us  that  'the  expedition  was  termed 
the  Whigamores'  inroad,  from  a  word  employed  by  these 
western  peasants  in  driving  horses;  and  the  name  transfer- 
red, in  the  succeeding  reign,  to  the  opponents  of  the  court, 
is  still  preserved  and  cherished  by  the  Whigs  as  the  genuine 
descendants  of  the  Covenanting  Scots.'  And  in  a  foot-note 
he  adds,  'According  to  others  from  whig  or  whey,  the  cus- 
tomarj  food  of  those  peasants.'" 

Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  his  Tales  of  a  Grandfather,  Prose 
Works,  vol.  Hit  -  ■  saj  s,  "  This  insurrection  w  as  railed  the 
Whigamores'  raid,  from  the  words  whig,  irhi<r — that  is,  get 
on,  get  on — which  is  used  by  the  western  peasants  in  dri- 
ving their  horses  ;  a  name  destined  to  become  the  distinc- 
tion of  a  powerful  party  in  British  history." 

In  Daniel  Defoe's  Memoirs  of  the  (hurch  of  Scotland, 
printed  1717,  p.  17:1.  speaking  of  the  <  'ovenanters,  he  says, 
"  This  is  the  tirs t  time  that  the  name  of  a  Whigg  was  used 
in  the  world — I  mean  BS  applied  to  a  man  or  to  a  party  of 
men:  and  these  were  the  original  primitive  Whiggs,  the 
name  for  mam  years  being  given  to  no  other  people.  The 
Word  Is  said  to  be  taken  from  a  mixed  drink  the  poor  men 
drank  In  their  wanderings,  composed  of  water  and  sour 
milk." 

And  Bishop  Burnet,  who  lived  nearer  to  the  time  in 
which  the  nickname  was  invented,  gives  the  following  ex- 
planation of  it  In  the  History  of  his  Own  Tunis,  (p.  26, 
Imperial ed.,  1837);  "The  southwest  counties  of  Scotland 
have  seldom  coin  enough  to  BOrve  them  round  the  year; 
and  the  northern  parts  producing  more  thiui  they  need, 


WHINSTON. 

those  in  the  west  come  in  the  summer  to  buy  at  Leith  the 
stores  that  come  from  the  north ;  and  from  a  word  whig- 
gam.,  used  in  driving  their  horses,  all  that  drove  were  call- 
ed Whiggamores,  and,  shorter,  the  Whiggs.  Now,  in  that 
year,  after  the  news  came  down  of  Duke  Hamilton's  de- 
feat, the  ministers  animated  their  people  to  rise  and  march 
to  Edinburgh,  and  they  came  up  marching  on  the  head  of 
their  parishes  with  an  unheard-of  fury,  praying  and  preach- 
ing all  the  way  as  they  came.  The  Marquis  of  Argyle  and 
his  party  came  and  headed  them,  they  being  about  six  thou- 
sand. This  was  called  the  Whiggamores'  inroad,  and  ever 
after  that  all  that  opposed  the  court  came,  in  contempt,  to 
be  called  Whigg ;  and  from  Scotland  the  word  was  brought 
into  England,  where  it  is  now  one  of  our  unhappy  terms 
of  distinction." 

WHI'NSTON.    A  species  of  basalt.     Sec  Geology. 

WHIP.  In  sea  language',  a  rope  passed  through  a  single 
block  or  pulley. 

WHI'RLING  TABLE.  A  machine  contrived  for  re- 
presenting several  phenomena  of  centrifugal  force,  by  giv- 
ing bodies  a  rapid  rotation.  Mr.  Robins  invented  a  whirl- 
ing machine  for  the  purpose  of  determining  the  resistance 
of  the  air,  which  is  described  in  the  1st  vol.  of  his  Tracts  ; 
and  also  in  Hutton's  Tracts,  vol.  iii.,  where  the  results  of  a 
series  of  experiments  with  it  are  detailed. 

WHI'RLPOOL.  A  vortex,  eddy,  or  gulf,  where  the  wa- 
ter has  a  circular  motion.  Whirlpools  are  produced  by  the 
meeting  of  currents  which  run  in  different  directions.  Their 
danger  to  navigation  is  well  known,  but  is,  perhaps,  not 
equal  to  the  dread  which  sailors  entertain  of  them.  Some 
of  the  most  celebrated  are  the  Euripus,  near  the  coast  of 
Negropont;  the  Charybdis,  in  the  straits  of  Sicily ;  and  the 
Maelstrom,  on  the  northern  coast  of  Norway.  (Murray's 
Geography,  Introd.) 

WHI'RLWIND.  A  revolving  column  or  mass  of  air, 
supposed  with  most  probability  to  be  produced  by  the 
meeting  of  two  currents  of  air  blowing  in  opposite  direc- 
tions, but  ascribed  by  some  to  electricity.  It  is  analogous 
to  the  whirlpool.  When  the  opposite  currents  have  the 
same  velocity,  the  circulation  will  be  maintained  at  the 
same  spot ;  but  if  the  motion  of  one  of  them  is  more  rapid 
than  that  of  the  other,  it  will  transport  the  whirling  mo- 
tion with  its  excess  of  celerity,  and  a  progressive  and  rota- 
tory motion  are  thus  maintained  at  the  same  time.  Whirl- 
winds generally  occur  in  summer,  and  are  most  violent  in 
tropical  countries,  where  they  frequently  produce  most  de- 
structive effects.  The  diminution  of  atmospheric  pressure 
arising  from  the  centrifugal  force  of  the  revolving  column 
is  thus  computed  by  Professor  Leslie:  "  If  r  denote  in  feet 
the  radius  of  the  extreme  circle  described  by  the  whirlwind, 
and  t  the  time  of  circumvolution  in  seconds,  the  elasticity, 
or  pressure  of  the  column  at  the  verge,  will  suffer  a  dimi- 

5r 
nution  corresponding  to  the  fraction  -— .    The  amount  of 

this  diminution  over  the  whole  base  would  be  reduced  to 
three  fourths ;  and  consequently,  h  expressing  the  height  of 

1 5  r  h 
the  revolving  column  of  air,        .    would  represent  the 

lb  t* 

mean  effect  of  centrifugal  action.  Suppose  the  whirlwind 
to  have  an  elevation  of  200  feet,  and  a  radius  of  50,  and  to 
circulate  in  3  seconds,  the  diminished  pressure  would  be 

15  X  50  X  200 
equal  to  the  weight  of  a  column  of ~ —  ==  1040 

feet.  This  example,  assuming  a  celerity  of  sixty-five  mile9 
an  hour,  might  be  reckoned  an  extreme  ca^e ;  but  it  would 
occasion  the  mercury  to  sink  in  the  barometer  more  than 
an  inch,  or  L12."  (Ency.  Brit.,  "Meteorology.")  See 
Storm  ;  Winds. 

WHI'SKEY.  (A  corruption  of  the  Gaelic  word  itsque- 
lavgh.)     A  species  of  corn  spirit.     See  Distillation. 

WHTSPERING  DOMES,  or  GALLERIES,  are  places 
in  which  whispers  or  feeble  sounds  are  communicated  to  a 
greater  distance  than  under  any  ordinary  circumstances.  In 
order  to  produce  this  effect,  the  form  of  the  roof  or  walls 
of  the  building  must  be  such  that  sound  proceeding  from 
one  part  is  transmitted  by  reflection  or  repeated  reflections 
to  another.  The  dome  of  St.  Paul's  church  in  London  fur- 
nishes an  instance.     See  Sound. 

WHITE.  In  Painting,  a  negative  colour  (if  such  defini- 
tion may  be  allowed),  whose  opposite  or  antagonist  is  black, 
which  may  best  serve  as  its  explanation ;  because  black  is 
void  of  all  colour,  properly  so  called. 

White.  The  colour  produced  by  the  combination  of  all 
the  prismatic  colours  mixed  in  the  same  proportions  as  they 
exist  in  the  solar  rays.  This  is  proved  both  by  decomposing 
white  light  by  means  of  a  prism,  and  by  recompounding 
the  primitive  colours  in  due  proportions.  See  Colour, 
Lioht,  Refraction. 

WHITE  ARSENIC.  Oxide  of  arsenic,  or  arsenious 
acid.     See  Arsenic. 

WHITE  BAIT.    The  name  of  a  small  and  peculiar 


WHITFIELDIAN  METHODISTS. 

species  of  Clupea;  confounded,  until  studied  by  Mr.  Yarrcl, 
with  the  young  of  the  shad  (Clupea  alosa).  The  young 
fish  of  the  white  bait  (Clupea  alba,  Yarrel)  begin  to  ascend 
the  Thames  at  the  beginning  of  April,  and  continue  in  that 
part  of  the  river  where  there  is  a  mixture  of  salt  with  fresh 
water  until  September,  when  young  fish  of  the  year  four 
or  five  inches  long  are  not  uncommon,  though  accompanied 
by  others  of  smaller  size ;  but  the  parent  fish  are  believed 
not  to  ascend  beyond  the  estuary.  The  young  of  tho  shad 
are  not  two  inches  and  a  half  long  till  November,  when 
the  white  bait  season  is  over ;  and  they  are  distinguished 
by  a  spotted  appearanee  behind  the  edge  of  the  upper  part 
of  the  operculum,  which  the  white  bait  never  exhibits, 
air.  Yarrel  suggests  that  if  a  net  sufficiently  small  in  the 
mesh  were  used,  the  white  bait  might  be  taken  in  other  ri- 
vers besides  the  Thames ;  but  he  states  that  the  Hamble, 
which  runs  into  the  Southampton  Water,  is  the  only  other 
river  from  which  he  has  received  this  justly  estimated  fish. 

WHITE  COPPER.  An  alloy  used  by  the  Chinese,  and 
called  by  them  Packfong  or  Pakfong;  it  is  composed,  ac- 
cording to  the  analysis  of  Dr.  Fife,  of  40'4  parts  of  copper, 
25-4  of  zinc,  31G  of  nickel,  and  2-6  of  iron.  German  silver 
is  a  modification  of  this  alloy. 

WHITE  EAGLE,  ORDER  OP  THE.  An  order  of 
knighthood  in  Poland,  instituted  by  Uladislaus  V.  in  1325; 
revived  by  Frederic  Augustus  I.  in  1705. 

WHITE  LEAD.  Carbonate  of  lead.  See  Lead.  This 
important  compound,  of  which  from  16,000  to  17,000  tons 
are  annually  manufactured  in  England,  is  chiefly  used  as 
the  basis  of  white  oil  paint ;  it  is  also  employed  to  a  small 
extent  in  the  manufacture  of  cements.  It  is  chiefly  made 
in  two  ways:  either  by  precipitation,  as  when  carbonic  acid 
or  a  carbonate  used  to  decompose  a  soluble  salt,  or  a  sub- 
salt  of  lead  ;  or  by  exposing  plates  of  cast  lead  to  the  joint 
action  of  the  vapour  of  acetic  acid,  air,  and  carbonic  acid  : 
it  is  by  the  latter  process  only  that  the  resulting  carbonate 
of  lead  is  obtained  of  that  degree  of  density  and  opacity, 
and  perfect  freedom  from  crystalline  texture,  which  fits  it 
for  paint.  This  last,  commonly  called  the  Dutch  process, 
was  introduced  into  England  about  the  year  1780.  It  is  de- 
scribed, together  with  the  other  processes,  in  Brandt's 
Manual  of  Chemistry,  fifth  ed.,  p.  844.  White  lead  is  of- 
ten largely  adulterated  with  sulphate  of  baryta,  which  i3 
detected  by  insolubility  in  dilute  nitric  acid,  whereas  pure 
white  lead  is  entirely  dissolved  by  it. 

WHITE  LEG.  A  disease  which  generally  occurs  in 
women  soon  after  delivery,  and  which  has  been  erroneous- 
ly supposed  to  arise  from  redundancy  of  milk.  It  comes 
on  with  stiffness  and  pain  of  the  limb,  which  afterwards 
becomes  tumid  and  tense  from  the  effusion  of  serum,  and 
in  some  instances  goes  on  to  suppuration.  Leeches,  fo- 
mentations, friction,  and  gently  stimulating  liniments,  with 
the  internal  use  of  mild  aperients  and  remedies  calculated 
to  allay  the  febrile  symptoms  that  attend  it,  are  the  princi- 
pal points  of  treatment.  Those  women  who  during  preg- 
nancy have  suffered  very  much  from  swellings  of  the  low- 
er extremities  are  generally"  most  liable  to  its  attacks. 

WHITE  PRECIPITATE.  The  white  powder  which 
falls  on  adding  ammonia  to  a  solution  of  corrosive  subli- 
mate :  it  is  a  compound  of  peroxide  and  bichloride  of  mer- 
cury with  ammonia:  it  is  virulently  poisonous,  and  is 
chieflv  used  in  ointments  and  for  killing  vermin. 

WHITE  STONE.  A  granite  abounding  in  white  fel- 
spar. 

WHITE  SWELLING.  A  term  vulgarly  applied  to  in- 
dolent tumours  in  scrofulous  habits. 

WHITE  VITRIOL.  The  old  name  of  sulp'hate  of  zinc. 
.See  Zinc. 

WHI'TEWASH.  A  mixture  of  whiting,  size,  and  wa- 
ter, for  whitening  ceilings,  walls,  &c. 

WHITFIELDIAN  ME'THODISTS.  The  name  given 
to  the  most  numerous  body  of  the  Methodists  after  the 
Wesleyans ;  so  called  from  Whitfield,  whose  early  connex- 
ion with  the  Methodists  will  be  found  noticed  under  that 
term.  Soon  after  the  return  of  Mr.  Whitfield  from  Amer- 
ica in  1741,  he  withdrew  connexion  with  Wesley  on  ac- 
count of  religious  tenets ;  the  former  holding  the  high  doc- 
trine of  Calvinism,  and  differing  from  the  latter  chiefly  on 
the  subjects  of  election  and  general  redemption,  tut  though 
they  differed  in  sentiments,  these  good  men  lived  and  died 
united  in  heart.  Whitfield  devoted  his  life  to  itinerant 
preaching,  and  was,  if  possible,  more  popular  as  an  ener- 
getic and  eloquent  pulpit  orator  than  his  former  coadjutor. 
He  did  not  confine  his  labours  to  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
but  visited  North  America  no  fewer  than  seven  different 
times  ;  and  died  there  at  Boston,  in  1770,  in  the  fifty-sixth 
year  of  his  age.  But  he  can  scarcely  be  said  to  be  the 
founder  of  a  sect:  his  chief  object  was  itinerating.  At  sev- 
eral places,  indeed,  he  erected  chapels,  or  tabernacles,  as 
he  called  them  ;  but  these  he  invariably  left  to  the  care  of 
any  orthodox  clergyman,  whether  in  the  establishment  or 
among  the  dissenters,  who  was  prepared  to  occupy  them 

1337 


WHITING. 

Since  his  death  the  mcmliers  of  these  congregations  have 
been  nominally,  but  only  n totally,  classed  together  as  a 

distinct  body,  under  the  title  of  the  Tab*  rum  I,  Gmnexwn. 
They  ore  not  governed  by  a  general  conference,  nor  is  their 
cause  supported  by  a  common  stork  ;  but  each  congregation 

is  virtually  independent  in  itself,  and  provides  for  its  own 
expenses.  The  lay-preachers  are  few,  most  of  their  minis- 
ters being  ordained  among  themselves  ;  but,  like  the  Wes- 
leyans,  they  have  a  periodical  change  of  pastors.  (Dr. 
Gillie's  L>fe  <>f  li'hilfidd.) 

Among  the  most  zealous  of  Whitfield's  followers  was 
Selina,  Countess  of  Huntingdon,  in  whose  family  he  had  at 
one  time  officiated  as  chaplain.  She  devoted  her  ample 
funds  to  the  erection  of  chapels  in  different  parts  of  Eng- 
land, and  invited  clergymen  of  the  established  church  to 
occupy  them  ;  but  finding  the  supply  of  pastors  from  that 
source  deficient,  she  founded  a  college  at  Trevecca,  in 
South  Wales,  for  the  education  of  pious  young  men  for  the 
ministry.  She  thus  became  the  foundress  of  a  distinct  sect, 
under  the  name  of  Lady  Huntingdon's  Connexion.  The 
college  has.  since  her  death,  which  look  place  in  1791,  been 
transferred  to  Cheshunt.  in  Hertfordshire.  In  her  chapels, 
about  sixty  in  number,  the  service  is  performed  according- 
ing  to  the  ritual  of  the  church  of  England.  (Dr.  Haweis's 
Hist,  of  the  Church,  vol.  iii. ;  Adam's  Religious  World,  vol. 
iii.  146-56.) 

Another  sect  of  Methodists,  whose  name  is  frequently 
found  in  connexion  with  that  of  Whitfield,  are  the  Welsh 
Calvinistic  Methodists.  This  body,  which,  though  not 
founded  by  Whitfield,  received  much  countenance  and 
support  from  him  in  its  earlier  stages,  had  its  origin  so  early 
as  1735,  but  was  not  finally  organized  till  1785.  Its  founder 
was  Mr.  Howell  Harris  of  Trevecca.  The  field  of  the 
operations  of  this  sect  is  chiefly  Wales  ;  and  there  Is  scarce- 
ly a  village  in  the  principality  in  which  one  of  their  chapels 
is  ii"t  to  be  found. 

WHITING.  The  name  of  a  species  of  the  Cod  tribe 
(Mcrlangus  vulgaris,  Cuv.),  and  the  type  of  a  subgenus, 
distinguished  from  the  true  cod  by  the  absence  of  the  bar- 
bules  at  the  chin.  It  is  esteemed  for  the  delicacy  of  its 
flavour  and  its  easiness  of  digestion. 

Whiting.  Chalk  carefully  cleared  of  all  stony  matter, 
ground,  levigated,  and  made  up  into  small  oblong  cakes. 
As  it  is  often  used  as  a  polishing  material,  it  should  be 
very  carefully  freed  from  all  particles  of  flint  or  sand. 

WHITLOW.  (Sax.)  A  painful  inflammation,  tending 
to  suppuration,  at  the  ends  of  the  turners. 

WHITSUNDAY,  in  the  Calendar,  is  the  seventh  Sun- 
day, or  49th  day  after  Easter.  fVhitswntide  corresponds 
with  Pentecost.  This  Sunday  was  called  in  the  ancient 
church  Dominica  Mba,  White  Sunday;  or  Dominica  in  ali- 
bis, the  Sunday  in  which  white  garments  were  worn,  it 
having  been  formerly  a  custom  with  those  who  were  bap- 
tized on  this  day  to  dress  in  white  for  the  occasion.  The 
term,  however,  has  been  differently  derived  from  the  Saxon 
"Mas,"  octave,  the  eighth  from  Easter.  (Hamon  V Es- 
trange.    See  Riddle's  Christian  Antiquities.) 

Wl'CKLIFFITF.S.  In  Ecclesiastical  History,  the  fol- 
lowers of  the  reformer  Wicklifl',  who  are  better  "known  by 
their  popular  name  of  Lollards  (which  see).  The  memory 
and  opinions  of  WicklitT  were  solemnly  condemned  by  the 
council  of  Constance  in  1-115.  His  bones  were  dug  up  and 
publicly  bumed  in  1428,  an  event  finely  commemorated  in 
one  of  the  sonnets  of  Wordsworth. 

WILL,  or  TESTAMENT,  is,  in  Law,  the  legal  declara- 
tion of  a  man's  intentions  as  to  what  he  wills  to  be  per- 
formed after  his  death.  In  strictness  of  language,  the 
term  will  is  limited  to  land  ;  testament,  to  personal  estate. 

Wills,  according  to  the  law  up  to  a  recent  period,  were 
either  nuncupative  or  written.  A  nuncupative  will  could 
not  revoke  one  that  is  written ;  it  must  be  proved  by  the 
oaths  of  three  witnesses  present  at  the  making  of  it,  must 
have  been  made  in  the  last  sickness  of  tin-  testator,  and  at 
his  house  ;  and  was  subject  to  various  other  restrictions.  A 
written  will  to  dispose  of  personal  property  was  good,  if 
sufllcient  proof  could  be  obtained  of  the  writing  of  the  tes- 
tator, even  without  his  signature  or  the  attestation  of  any 
witnesses.  A  w  ill  of  real  property  must,  by  29  C.  2,  c.  .1,  be 
in  writing,  signed  by  the  testator,  or  by  some  other  person 
in  his  presence,  and  by  hi--  express  direction  ;  and  witness, .,1 
or  subscribed,  in  presence  of  the  testator,  by  three  or  four 
credible  witnesses.  This  state  of  the  law  gave  rise  to  con- 
siderable inconvenience.  Much  litigation  was  occasioned 
by  the  uncertainty  as  to  what  was,  or  was  not,  a  paper  suf- 
ficient to  convey  personal  property  as  a  will:  much  fraud 
was  supposed  to  have  been  caused  by  the  facility  with 
which  such  testaments  mighl  be  forged,  or  surreptitiously 

obtained  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  rules  respecting 
the  publicity   of  wills  nf  rial  property  were   thought  I I 

stringent  than  the  case  required.  These  considerations  In 
duced  the  legislature  to  pass  the  statute  7  W.  4,  &  1  Vict 

c.  20,  (in  1837),  by  which  the  making  of  wills  is  now  regu- 
1338 


WINDMILL. 

lated.  All  wills  (except  those  of  seamen  and  soldiers  on 
service),  whether  of  real  or  personal  property,  must  be  in 
u  Titing,  and  signed  at  the  foot  by  the  testator  or  some  other 
person  in  his  presence  and  by  his  direction;  anil  such  Sig- 
nature must  be  made  and  acknowledged  by  the  testator  in 
the  presence  of  two  or  more  witnesses  present  at  the 
same  time;  and  such  witnesses  must  attest  and  subscribe 
the  will  in  the  presence  of  the  testator;  but  no  form  of  at- 
testation is  necessary.  All  appointments  by  will,  whatev- 
er formalities  may  have  been  required  by  the  creator  of  the 
power,  must  now  be  made  according  to  the  provisions  of 
this  statute,  and  require  no  further  form. 

The  same  statute  enacts  that  no  will  of  a  minor  shall  be 
valid.  All  devises  and  gifts  by  will  to  an  attesting  witness 
are  void.  To  put  an  end  to  the  various  questions  w  Inch 
had  arisen  respecting  the  revocation  of  wills,  it  is  provided 
that  they  shall  be  revoked  only  by  the  marriage  of  the 
party,  or  by  another  will  duly  executed,  or  some  writing 
declaring  an  intention  to  revoke,  and  executed  with  similar 
formalities,  or  by  burning,  tearing,  or  otherwise  destroying, 
with  intention  to  revoke.  All  wills  now  speak  from  the 
death  of  the  testator,  unless  they  show-  on  the  face  a  con- 
trary intention,  that  is,  they  act  upon  the  property  which 
he  possesses  at  his  death.  And  various  important  altera- 
tions are  introduced  in  the  effect  of  the  ordinary  language 
used  in  devises  and  bequests. 

A  married  woman  cannot  make  a  will  of  lands  or  tene- 
ments ;  nor,  without  the  consent  of  her  husband,  of  person- 
alty. 

A  disposition  by  will  of  real  property  is  termed  a  devise  ; 
of  personal  property,  a  bequest  or  legacy.  See  Devise,  Ex- 
ecutor. 

WI'LLOW.     See  Salix. 

WINCH.  In  Mechanics,  a  bent  handle  or  rectangular 
lever,  for  turning  a  wheel,  grindstone,  &c.  The  term 
winch  is  also  popularly  applied  to  the  wijidlass.  See  Wind- 
lass. 

WIND.     See  Winds. 

WINDAGE  OF  A  GITN.  The  difference  between  the 
diameter  of  the  bore  of  a  gun  and  the  diameter  of  the  ball. 
Formerly  it  was  usual  in  the  English  service  to  allow  a  very 
considerable  windage,  l-20th  of  the  diameter  of  the  bore  ; 
but  it  has  been  found  that  the  shot  will  go  much  truer,  and 
that  a  smaller  quantity  of  powder  is  required,  when  the 
above  allowance  is  considerably  diminished.  (Mutton's 
Tracts,  vols,  ii.,  iii.)     See  Gunnery. 

WIND  GAGE.  An  instrument  for  measuring  the  force 
or  velocity  of  the  wind.     See  Anemometer. 

WI'NDLASS.  A  machine  used  for  many  common  pur- 
poses. It  is  a  particular  modification  of  the  wheel  and 
axle,  the  power  being  applied  by  means  of  a  rectangular 
lever  or  winch.  The  arm  B  C  of  the  winch  represents  the 
radius  of  the  wheel ;  and  the  power 

is  applied  to  CD  at  right  ancles  to  jy 9 

BC.    The  windlass  is  frequently  } 

used  in  merchant  ships  or  small  tra- 
ding vessels  instead  of  a  capstan  for 
heaving  the  anchors,  &c.  In  this 
case  it  consists  of  a  large  cylindri- 
cal piece  of  timber  laid  in  a  hori- 
zontal position,  and  supported  at  its 
two  ends  by  two  pieces  of  wood 
called  knight-heads  placed  on  oppo- 
site sides  of  the  deck  near  the  foremast.  This  axle  is 
pierced  with  holes  directed  towards  the  centre,  in  which 
long  levers  are  inserted,  called  handspikes.  It  is  furnished 
with  strong  pauls  to  prevent  it  from  turning  backwards 
when  the  pressure  on  the  handspikes  is  intermitted. 

WTNDMILL.  In  Mechanics,  a  mill  which  receives  its 
motion  from  the  impulse  of  the  wind.  The  general  appear- 
ance of  the  windmill  is  familiar  to  every  one.  Tin-  build- 
ing containing  the  machinery  is  usually  circular.  To  the 
extremity  Of  the  principal  axis,  or  wind-shaft  are  attached 

rectangular  frames  (generally  five),  on  which  cloth  is  usual- 
ly Stretched  In  form  the  sails.  The  surfaces  of  the  sails 
air  nut  perpendicular  to  the  axis,  lint  inclined  to  it  a:  a  cer- 
tain angle,  about  72°  at  the  extremities  nearest  to  the  axle, 
and  .-:r  at  the  farther  extremities ;  so  that  their  form  is  in 
some  degree  twisted,  and  different  from  a  plane  surface. 
Suppose  the  axis  to  be  placed  in  the  direction  of  the  wind; 
the  wind  will  then  strike  the  sail  obliquely,  and  the  force 
may  therefore  be  resolved  into  two  parts,  one  of  which, 
acting  in  the  direction  perpendicular  to  the  axis,  gives  a  mo- 
ti.ui  nt  rotation  to  the  Bails,  and  consequently  to  the  wind 
shaft,  from  which  it  is  communicated  to  the  machinery, 
The  wind  shaft  is  inclined  to  the  horizon  in  an  tingle  of 
from  8°  to  15°,  principally  with  a  view  to  allow  room  for 
the  action  of  the  \\  ind  at  the  lower  part,  where  il 
weakened  If  the  sails  came  too  nearly  in  contact  with  the 

building. 

\s  the  direction  of  the  wind  is  constantly  changing,  some 
apparatus  is  required  for  bringing  the  axle  and  sails  into 


WINDMILL. 

their  proper  position.  This  is  sometimes  effected  by  sup- 
porting the  machinery  on  a  strong  vertical  axis,  the  pivot  of 
which' moves  in  a  socket  firmly  fixed  in  the  ground  ;  so  that 
the  whole  structure  may  be  turned  round  by  a  lever.  But 
it  is  now  usual  to  construct  the  building  with  a  moveable 
roof,  which  revolves  upon  friction  rollers  ;  and  the  shaft 
being  fixed  in  the  roof  is  brought  round  along  with  it.  The 
roof  is  brought  into  the  required  position  by  means  of  a 
small  vane  wheel  furnished  with  wind  sails,  which  turns 
round  when  the  wind  strikes  on  either  side  of  it,  and  drives 
a  pinion  which  works  into  the  teeth  of  a  large  crown 
wheel  connected  with  and  surrounding  the  moveable  roof. 
Of  the  Form  and  Position  of  the  Sails.— From  the  inves- 
tigations of  Parent  and  Belidor,  it  appears  that  the  maxi- 
mum effect  of  the  wind  on  the  sails  is  produced  when  their 
inclination  to  the  axis  of  rotation  is  about  54$  degrees ;  or 
when  the  angle  of  weather,  that  is  to  say,  the  angle  formed 
by  the  plane  of  the  sail  and  the  plane  of  its  revolution,  is 
354:  degrees.  But  this  result,  being  obtained  from  consider- 
ing the  effect  of  the  wind  on  the  sails  when  at  rest,  does 
not  agree  with  that  which  is  found  by  experiment.  In 
fact,  as  the  velocity  of  the  sail  tends  to  withdraw  it  from  the 
wind,  it  is  necessary  to  counteract  the  diminution  of  force 
by  diminishing  the  angle  of  weather,  or  to  bring  the  sail 
into  such  a  position  that  the  wind  strikes  its  surface  more 
directly  :  and  since  the  velocity  of  the  different  parts  of  the 
sail  is  in  proportion  to  their  distance  from  the  axis,  it  follows 
that  in  order  to  produce  the  greatest  effect  every  element- 
ary portion  of  it  ought  to  have  a  different  angle  of  weather, 
diminishing  from  the  centre  to  the  extremity  of  the  sail. 
Euler  has  given  a  theorem  which  determines  the  law  of 
variation.  Let  a  be  the  velocity  of  the  wind,  and  b  the  ve- 
locity of  any  given  part  of  the  sail ;  then  the  action  of  the 
wind  upon  that  part  of  the  sail  will  be  a  maximum  when 
the  tangent  of  its  inclination  to  the  axis,  or  the  cotangent 

of  the  angle  of  weather,  =V  2+  \$~)  "h.g- •    Suppose 

that  at  a  given  part  of  the  sail  the  velocity  of  the  sail 
is  equal  to  the  velocity  of  the  wind,  we  have  then  a  =  b ; 

and  the  formula  becomes  i/2+£  +  iL=  3.501  =  tangent  of 

'  4        2 
74°  19',  which  gives  15°  41'  for  the  angle  of  weather. 

This  subject  was  investigated  experimentally  by  Smeaton 
(Philosophical  Tran0,  vol.  li.),  who  found  that  the  common 
practice  of  inclining  the  sails  from  72°  to  75°  to  the  axis  is 
much  more  efficacious  than  the  angle  assigned  by  Parent, 
the  effect  being  as  45  to  31.  When  the  sails  were  weath- 
ered in  the  Dutch  manner,  or  with  their  surface  concave  to 
the  wind,  and  the  angle  of  inclination  greater  towards  the 
extremities,  the  effect  was  greater  than  when  weathered 
either  in  the  common  way  or  according  to  Euler's  theorem. 
n  But  the  effect  was  greatest  of  all  when  they 

were  enlarged  at  their  extremities,  and  had 
the  forme  dfe,  represented  in  the  annexed 
figure ;  so  that  c  d  was  one  third  of  the  radius 
A  B,  and  c  B  to  B  d  as  5  to  3.  If  the  sails  be 
farther  enlarged,  the  effect  is  not  increased  in 
proportion  to  the  surface ;  and  besides,  when 
the  quantity  of  cloth  is  great,  the  machine  is 
much  exposed  to  injury  from  sudden  squalls. 
In  Smeaton's  experiments  the  angle  of  weath- 
er varied  with  the  distance  from  the  axis: 
and  it  appeared  from  several  trials  that  the 
most  efficacious  angles  at  the  different  parts 
of  the  sail  were  those  in  the  following  table : 


Paris  of  A  B.  which  is 

divided  into  Six  equal 

Parts. 

Angle  with  the 
Axis. 

Angle  of 
Weather. 

2 
3 
4 
5 
6 

72° 
71 
72 
74 

£* 

18° 
19 
18 

16l 

7 

If  the  radius  A  B  of  the  sail  be  30  feet,  then  the  sail 
will  commence  at  1-Oth  of  A  B,  or  5  feet  from  the  axis, 
where  the  angle  or  inclination  will  be  72°.  At  10  feet 
from  the  axis,  the  angle  will  be  71°;  and  so  on,  as  in  the 
table. 

Of  the  Effect  of  Windmill  Sails.— The  following  maxims 
relative  to  the  effect  of  the  sails  were  deduced  by  Smeaton 
from  his  experiments: 

1.  The  velocity  of  windmill  sails,  whether  loaded  or  un- 
loaded, so  as  to  produce  a  maximum  effect,  is  nearly  as  the 
velocity  of  the  wind,  their  shape  and  position  being  the 
same.  2.  The  load  at  the  maximum  is  nearly,  but  some- 
what less,  as  the  square  of  the  velocity  of  the  wind,  the 
shape  and  position  of  the  sails  being  the  same.  3.  The  ef- 
fects of  the  same  sails  at  a  maximum  are  nearly,  but  some- 
what less,  as  the  cubes  of  the  velocity  of  the  wind.  4. 
The  load  of  the  same  sails  at  the  maximum  is  nearly  as  the 


WINDS. 

squares,  and  their  effects  as  the  cubes,  of  their  number  of 
turns  in  a  given  time.  5.  When  the  sails  are  loaded  so  as 
to  produce  a  maximum  effect  at  a  given  velocity,  and  the 
velocity  of  the  wind  increases,  the  load  continuing  the 
same,  then  the  increase  of  effect,  when  the  increase  of  the 
velocity  of  the  wind  is  small,  will  be  nearly  as  the  square 
of  those  velocities  ;  when  the  velocity  of  the  wind  is 
doubled,  the  effect  is  nearly  as  10  to  27£.  When  the  velo- 
cities compared  are  more  than  double  of  that  where  the 
given  load  produces  a  maximum,  the  effects  compared  in- 
crease nearly  in  the  simple  ratio  of  the  velocity  of  the  wind. 
0.  In  sails  where  the  positions  and  figures  are  similar  and 
the  velocity  of  the  wind  the  same,  the  number  of  turns  in 
a  given  time  will  be  reciprocally  as  the  radius  or  length  of 
the  sail.  7.  The  load  at  a  maximum  that  sails  of  a  similar 
figure  and  position  will  overcome  at  a  given  distance  from 
the  centre  of  motion  will  be  as  the  cube  of  the  radius.  8. 
The  effects  of  sails  of  similar  figure  and  position  are  as  the 
square  of  the  radius.  9.  The  velocity  of  the  extremities 
of  Dutch  sails,  as  well  as  of  the  enlarged  sails  in  all  their 
usual  positions,  when  unloaded,  or  even  loaded  to  a  max- 
imum, is  considerably  quicker  than  the  velocity  of  the 
wind. 

Horizontal  Windmills.— Windmills  are  sometimes  con- 
structed in  such  a  manner  that  the  planes  of  the  sails  in- 
tersect each  other  in  the  wind-shaft,  in  which  case  they 
are  called  horizontal  windmills ;  because  the  wind-shaft 
being  usually  vertical,  the  sails  have  a  horizontal  motion. 
The  wind-shaft,  however,  might  be  placed  with  equal  ad- 
vantage in  the  horizontal  position.  In  this  construction 
A  B  is  the  wind-shaft  or  arbor,  A 

which  moves  upon  pivots.  Cross  rj 
bars  are  fixed  in  this  arbor,  which 
carry  the  frames  C  D  E  F  and 
G  HI  K.  The  sails  C  E  and  G I 
are  stretched  on  these  frames, 
and  are  carried  round  the  axis  _ 
A  B  by  the  perpendicular  im-  x 
pulse  of  the  wind  ;  and  a  toothed 
wheel  fixed  upon  the  arbor  gives 
motion  to  the  machinery.  Two 
sails  onlvare  represented  In  this 
figure,  but  there  are  always  other  two  at  right  angles  to 
these.  When  the  wind  impels  the  two  sails  C  E  and  G  I 
equally,  it  is  obvious  that  no  motion  can  ensue.  In  order, 
then,  that  motion  may  be  communicated  to  the  machine,  the 
impulse  of  the  wind  on  the  returning  sail  must  be  removed 
by  screening  it  from  the  wind,  or  at  least  diminished  by 
making  it  present  a  less  surface  when  returning  against  the 
wind.  The  first  of  these  methods  is  said  to  be  practised  in 
Tartary,  and  some  provinces  in  Spain ;  it  is  the  simplest 
and  probably  the  best.  The  other  method  requires  the  sail 
to  be  formed  of  several  flaps  moveable  on  hinges,  and  so 
adjusted  that  on  one  side  of  the  axis  they  present  their 
surfaces  to  the  wind,  and  when  returning  on  the  other  only 
their  edges.  Other  contrivances  have  been  proposed  ;  but 
horizontal  windmills  are  greatly  inferior,  in  point  of  effect, 
to  those  which  have  vertical  sails,  and  are  accordingly  sel- 
dom met  with. 

On  account  of  the  irregularity  of  the  moving  force,  and 
the  interruption  of  calm  weather,  machines  impelled  by 
the  wind  can  only  be  used  advantangeously  for  purposes 
which  are  not  urgent,  and  where  regularity  is  not  indispen- 
sable. The  chief  purposes  to  which  they  are  applied  are 
grinding  corn,  expressing  oil  from  seeds,  bruising  oak  bark 
for  tanning,  sawing  wood,  raising  water,  &c.  Windmills 
were  brought  into  Europe  from  the  East  about  the  time  of 
the  Crusades.  [Phil.  Trans.,  vol.  li. ;  Smeaton's  Miscella- 
neous Papers ;  Ferguson's  Lectures,  by  Brewster  ;  Greg- 
ory's Mechanics.) 

WI'NDOW.  (Quasi  wind-door.)  In  Architecture,  an 
aperture  in  a  wall  for  the  admission  of  light  and  air  to  the 
interior.  In  distributing  windows  so  that  there  be  had  a 
sufficiency  of  light,  it  is  usual  to  make  the  piers  or  intervals 
between  them  never  less  than  the  width  of  the  window, 
and  never  more  than  two  widths  of  the  same.  Where  it  is 
required  to  ascertain  the  total  area  of  light  necessary  for  a 
room,  the  following  empirical  rule  is  frequently  used:  Mul- 
tiply together  the  length,  breadth,  and  height,  and  extract 
the  square  root  of  the  product,  which  will  be  the  area  of 
light  required. 

WINDS.  Currents  in  the  atmosphere,  conveying  the  air, 
with  more  or  less  velocity,  from  one  part  to  another.  Not- 
withstanding all  that  has"  been  written  on  the  subject  of  the 
winds,  their  theory  is  still  involved  is  considerable  obscu- 
rity. The  subject  is  exceedingly  complicated ;  and  no  at- 
tempt that  has  yet  been  made  to  derive  a  general  law  from 
the  observations  has  been  attended  with  much  success. 
Nevertheless,  we  can  discern,  clearly  enough,  certain  pre- 
vailing causes  of  the  disturbances  which  are  constantly  ta- 
king place  in  the  equilibrium  of  the  elastic  fluid  which  en- 
velopes the  earth,  though  their  influence  is  modified,  and 

1339 


WINDS. 


sometimes  altogether  concealed,  by  disturbing  muses,  the 
«e  have  no  means  of  adequately  appre- 
ciating. 

'flic  principal  cause  of  wind  may  be  ascribed  to  the  un- 
equal and  variable  distribution  of  heat  through  the  atmo- 
sphere, the  temperature  of  which  is  mainly  determined  by 
that  of  the  surface  of  the  earth.  The  distribution  of  heat 
at  the  surface  is  determined  by  the  manner  in  which  it  Is 
received  from  the  sun,  and  radiated  from  the  earth  to  the 
celestial  spaces.  If  we  consider  the  whole  earth,  or  the 
State  of  any  given  portion  of  it  through  a  long  series  of 
time,  the  quantity  of  heat  received  from  the  sun  and  the 
quantity  lost  by  radiation  exactly  balance  each  other,  and 
the  mean  temperature  remains  an  invariable  quantity.  But, 
on  considering  any  particular  portion  of  the  earth,  it  is  easy 
to  see  that  though  a  balance  is  effected  in  the  long  run  be- 
tween the  heat  received  and  parted  with,  the  two  quan- 
tities arc  never  precisely  equal  at  the  same  time,  or  only  so 
for  very  short  intervals,  the  one  alternately  exceeding  and 
falling  short  of  the  other.  The  radiation  goes  on  contin- 
ually, though  not  uniformly;  but  the  supply  of  heat  from 
the  sun,  on  a  given  surface,  is  interrupted  entirely  while  the 
sun  is  below  the  horizon,  and  during  the  day  varies  with  the 
sun's  altitude.  It  varies  also  at  the  different  seasons  of  the 
year,  in  consequence  of  the  unequal  lengths  of  the  days 
and  nights,  and  the  greater  or  less  obliquity  with  which  the 
rays  strike  against  the  surface. 

But  the  efiect  of  the  solar  rays  depends  not  only  on  the 
obliquity  with  which  they  fall  upon  the  surface,  but  also  in 
a  great  degree  on  the  nature  of  the  surface.  The  daily  il- 
lumination of  the  sun  warms  the  land  to  a  very  small 
depth,  scarcely  exceeding,  perhaps,  an  inch.  The  heat  is 
therefore  accumulated  at  the  surface,  the  temperature  of 
which  is  rapidly  increased  when  the  heat  received  exceeds 
that  which  is  radiated  away,  and  as  rapidly  cooled  in  the 
reverse  circumstance.  In  water,  however,  the  calorific 
rays  penetrate  to  a  considerable  depth,  twenty  or  thirty 
feet.  If  we  suppose  a  tenth  part  of  the  incident  light  to  be 
intercepted  by  a  stratum  of  water  one  foot  in  thickness, 
while  it  is  totally  intercepted  by  1-2  inch  of  dry  land,  it 
would  follow  that  the  sun's  rays  communicate  everyday  a 
hundred  times  less  heat  to  the  surface  of  a  body  of  water 
than  to  an  equal  expanse  of  level  ground.  Now  the  effect 
of  the  two  surfaces  in  hearing  the  superincumbent  atmo- 
sphere will  be  in  proportion  to  their  respective  tempera- 
tures :  but  in  the  present  instance  the  general  conclusion  is 
modified  by  two  circumstances.  In  the  first  place,  a  por- 
tion of  the  solar  light,  perhaps  a  fiftieth  of  the  whole,  is 
intercepted  in  its  passage  through  the  atmosphere,  and  con- 
verted into  heat ;  and  it  is  obvious  that  the  increase  of  tem- 
perature caused  by  this  portion  is  independent  of  the  na- 
ture of  the  surface.  In  the  second  place,  a  small  portion 
of  the  light  which  falls  upon  water  is  reflected  from  the 
surface  into  the  atmosphere,  and  converted  into  heat.  On 
the  whole,  it  may  be  concluded  that  the  change  of  temper- 
ature in  the  air  caused  by  the  succession  of  day  and  night  i-' 
about  thirty  times  less  over  water  than  over  land.  Hence, 
if  the  whole  surface  of  the  globe  had  been  covered  by  the 
ocean,  ihe  efiect  of  the  alternation  of  day  and  night  in  pro- 
ducing atmospheric  currents  would  have  been  scarcely 
Sensible.  Hence,  also,  over  a  great  part  of  the  surface  of 
the  oce;  n,  the  winds  are  reducible  to  fixed  and  determinate 
laws;  while  on  continents,  and  also  on  the  ocean  in  high 
latitudes,  the  order  and  periods  of  their  recurrence  are  ir- 
regular and  anomalous. 

Besides  the  effects  arising  from  the  disturbance  of  the 
equilibrium  of  tempi  rature,  we  have  also  to  consider  the 
mechanical  eflect  of  the  earth's  rotation  about  its  axis.  If 
tie-  i  Mth  were  a  Bph.ere  of  uniform  temperature,  and  at  rest 
in  space,  the  atmosphere  would  also  be  at  rest;  its  height 
would  lie  constant  over  every  point  of  the  earth's  surface, 
and  Its  density  and  elasticity  at  equal  altitudes  everywhere 
the  same.  But  if  the  temperature  of  the  motionless  sphere, 
instead  of  being  equal  at  every  point,  were  greatest  at  the 
equator,  ami  decreased  towards  the  poles,  though  the  pres- 
sure on  every  point  of  the  surface  would  still  continue  the 
same,  the.  altitude  of  the  atmospheric  column  would  be- 
come greatest  at  the  equator,  and  consequently  its  specific 
gravity  le>s  there  than  at  the  poles.  The  heavier  fluid  at 
the  poles  would  then,  by  virtue  of  its  greater  weight,  pass 
beneath  and  displace  the  lighter,  and  a  current  he  estab 
lished  in  the  lower  part  of  the  atmosphere  from  the  poles 
towards  the  equator.  In  the  higher  regions  of  the  atmo- 
sphere the  efiect  would  be  reversed.  The  lower  stratum  of 
air  in  the  equatorial  regions  being  heated  by  its  contact 
with  the  earth,  becomes  rarified  and  ascends,  and  thus 
produces  an  accumulation,  ami  causes  a  counter  current  in 
the  higher  regions  from  the  equator  towards  the  poles. 
Tin  height  at  which  this  change  in  the  direction  of  the 
motion  takes  place  under  certain  circumstances  may  he 
computed.  Professor  Danlell  [Meteorological  Essays)  com- 
putes that  the  lower  current,  from  the  poles  to  the  equator, 
1340 


extends  to  the  height  of  2£  miles,  diminishing  in  velocity 
from  Ihe  surface  upwards. 

If  we  now  suppose  the  sphere  to  revolve  about  its  polar 
axis,  an  apparent  modification  will  take  place  in  the  direc- 
tions of  the  currents.  The  lower  current,  coming  from  a 
zone  where  the  velocity  of  rotation  is  less  than  that  of  the 
parallel  at  which  it  arrives,  will  appear  to  be  affected  with 
amotion  contrary  to  that  of  the  diurnal  rotation;  while  the 
upper  current,  Sowing  from  the  equator  to  the  poles,  would 
he  apparently  atfected  in  an  opposite  manner,  da  this 
theory  it  is  usual  to  explain  the  trade  winds,  which  prevail 
within  and  to  a  considerable  distance  beyond  the  tropics 
in  both  hemispheres.  These  easterly  currents,  however, 
receive  important  modifications,  both  as  to  their  direction 
and  the  distance  to  which  they  extend  from  the  equator  on 
either  side,  from  the  annual  variations  of  the  sun's  decli- 
nation and  the  configuration  of  the  land.  They  prevail  in 
the  open  ocean,  in  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  between  the 
latitudes  of  30°  N.  and  27°  3.  On  entering  these  from 
either  side,  the  deviation,  arising  from  the  rotation  of  the 
earth  towards  the  east,  is  greatest;  and  this  deviation  be- 
comes less  and  less  as  the  equatorial  zone  is  approached. 
In  the  immediate  vicinity  of  this  zone,  the  wind  is  nearly 
due  N.  on  the  northern  side  of  the  equator,  and  nearly  due 
S.  on  the  southern  side.    See  Trade  Minds. 

In  the  Indian  Ocean  the  trade  winds  receive  a  curious 
modification  from  the  position  of  the  surrounding  land,  and 
the  effect  of  the  solar  heat  on  it.  During  one  half  of  the 
year,  from  November  to  April,  the  winds  blow  in  the  ordi- 
nary direction  of  the  trades,  that  is  to  say,  from  the  north- 
east; hut  from  April  to  November  they  blow  in  the  directly 
opposite  direction.  These  periodical  winds  are  called  the 
Monsoons.  (See  Monsoons.)  Between  the  equator  and 
10°  south  latitude,  north-west  winds  prevail  from  October 
to  April,  and  south-west  the  rest  of  the  year.  In  other 
parts  of  the  tropics,  the  regular  trade  winds"  are  also  modi- 
fied by  the  configuration  of  the  land.  On  the  coast  of  Gui- 
nea the  wind  almost  constantly  blows  from  the  south-west, 
in  the  opposite  direction  to  the  trades.  Near  the  Cape 
Verd  Islands  calms  and  variable  winds  are  usually  expe- 
rienced. 

Between  the  parallels  of  30°  and  40°,  in  both  the  North 
and  South  Pacific  Oceans,  westerly  winds  blow  almost 
constantly,  excepting  only  for  a  shoi^  time  after  each  equi- 
nox. In  the  North  Atlantic  OceWn  the  prevalence  of 
westerly  winds  between  those  parallels  is  less  constant,  in 
consequence  of  the  comparative  narrowness  of  that  ocean, 
and  the  consequent  influence  of  the  opposite  continents; 
they  are  still,  however,  the  prevailing  winds,  except  in  the 
months  of  April  and  October,  when  a  north-east  wind  is 
more  frequent.  In  consequence  of  these  winds,  the  voyage 
from  Europe  to  America  is  much  more  tedious  than  the 
opposite  one. 

Upon  the  continents  the  diurnal  and  annual  changes  of 
temperature  are  much  more  rapid  and  extensive  than  over 
the  ocean;  hence  there  is  little  const  nicy  in  the  direction 
or  intensity  of  the  winds,  even  in  equatorial  countries.  In 
high  latitudes  the  inequalities  are  still  greater,  and  extend 
even  to  the  open  seas.  Beyond  the  latitude  of  40°,  the 
winds  do  not  seem  to  be  reducible  to  any  fixed  laws. 

The  different  manner  in  which  land  and  water  are  affected 
by  radiation  and  the  direct  heat  of  the  sun  gives  rise  to  the 
land  and  sea  breezes  which  prevail  on  the  co::sts,  particu- 
larly in  tropical  countries,  though  they  are  not  confined  to 
any" particular  latitude,  and  are  perceptible  sometimes  as 
far  north  as  Norway.  During  the  day  the  surface  of  the 
land  becomes  more  heated  than  that  of  the  adjacent  ocean, 
and  the  air  over  the  land,  in  consequence  of  its  greater 
rarefaction,  is  displaced  by  the  denser  air  rushing  from  the 
sea.  Hence  a  current,  or,  seaireeie,  beginning  at  some  hour 
in  the  morning,  and  continuing  till  the  sun  is  near  setting, 
will  flow  Iron,  the  water  towards  the  land.  At  night  the 
water  remains  warm,  while  the  surface  of  the  land  cools 
rapidly  ;  and  hence  the  current  sets  from  Ihe  land  t. .wards 
the  water,  and  forms  the  land  breeze.  Winds  of  this  sort 
are  more  frequent  about  islands  and  small  peninsulas  than 
in  other  situations. 

A  variety  of  local  winds  are  observed,  the  circumstances 
occasioning  which  are  either  too  complicated  or  too  Imper- 
fectly known  to  admit  of  their  being  satisfactorily  explain,  d. 
The  Etesian  is  a  northerly  or  north-easterly  wind,  which 
prevails  very  much  in  summer  all  over  Europe.  The 
Sirocco  is  a  hot,  moist,  and  relaxing  wind,  which  visits 
.Naples  and  the  south  of  Italy  from  the  opposite  shores  of 
the  Mediterranean.  The  Samiel  or  Simoom  of  Arabia  is  a 
hot,  arid,  pestilential  blast,  generally  coming  from  the  south. 
The  Ktnnsin  of  Eg]  pt  is  of  the  same  kind.  The  //.  rmatton 
is  a  dry  east  wind,  also  of  an  unwholesome  description, 
occurring  in  Guinea  anil  some  other  countries. 

In  the  preceding  remarks  the  winds  have  been  considered 
as  produced  by  the  unequal  distribution  of  temperature  in 
the  atmosphere,  combined  with  the  earth's  diurnal  rotation. 


WIND  SAIL. 

Other  causes,  however,  depending  on  the  physical  constitu- 
tion of  the  atmosphere,  must  be  assigned  for  those  sudden 
and  irregular  blasts  which  occasionally  spring  up,  and  rage 
for  some  time  with  tremendous  fury.  Among  these  causes, 
one  of  the  most  powerful  is,  doubtless,  the  rapid  condensa- 
tion of  vapours  in  the  bosom  of  the  atmosphere.  An  inch 
of  rain  has  sometimes  been  observed  to  fall  within  the 
space  of  an  hour  over  a  great  extent  of  country,  particularly 
in  the  equinoctial  regions.  Suppose  the  superficial  extent 
over  which  rain  has  fallen  to  the  depth  of  an  inch  to  be 
only  100  square  leagues;  if  the  vapour  necessary  to  produce 
this  quantity  of  rain  existed  in  the  atmosphere  at  the  tem- 
perature of  SOP  of  Fahrenheit,  it  would  occupy  a  space 
100,000  times  greater  than  in  the  liquid  state  ;  that  is  to  say, 
it  would  occupy  a  space  equal  to  a  column  of  which  the 
base  is  100  square  leagues,  and  the  altitude  100,000  inches, 
or  nearly  10,000  feet,  and  such  would  be  the  dimensions  of 
the  vacuum  created  by  the  condensation.  Some  abatement 
must  be  made  from  this  estimate,  inasmuch  as  the  vapour 
existing  in  the  atmosphere  is  in  the  vesicular,  and  not  the 
elastic  state ;  but  in  any  case  its  condensation  into  drops 
and  precipitation  must  create  an  immense  void,  the  filling 
up  of  which  must  necessarily  occasion  violent  atmospherical 
concussions.  On  this  principle  may  be  explained  a  fact, 
the  observation  of  which  is  often  of  great  importance  at  sea, 
that  an  unusual  fall  of  the  barometer  is  generally  followed 
by  a  gale  of  wind.     See  Storm. 

The  velocity  of  wind  varies  from  nothing  to  upwards  of 
a  hundred  miles  an  hour;  but  the  maximum  is  variously 
stated  by  different  experimenters,  and,  in  fact,  it  is  not  easy 
to  see  by  what  means  its  velocity  can  be  ascertained  within 
moderate  limits  of  accuracy.  The  best  method  seems  to 
be  that  of  deducing  its  velocity  from  its  force,  observed  by 
means  of  an  anemometer.  In  vol.  li.  of  the  Philosophical 
Transactions  a  table  is  given  of  the  different  forces  and 
velocities  of  winds,  drawn  up  by  Smeaton  from  a  consider- 
able number  of  facts  and  experiments.  The  following 
extracts  from  it  will  give  the  reader  a  general  idea  of  the 
velocity  of  the  wind  in  different  circumstances : 


Velocity  of  the 
Wind. 

Perp.  Force  on 

1  Sq.  Foot,  in 

!bs.  Avoirdupois. 

Common  Appellation  of 
the  Force  of  such  Winds. 

Miles  in  an  hour. 

1 

4 

5 
10 
15 
20 
25 
30 
35 
40 
50 
60 
80 

too 

•005 
•079 
•123 
•492 
1107 
1-963 

3  075 

4  429 
6  027 
7-73 

12300 
17-715 
31-490 
49-200 

Hardly  perceptible. 
5  GenUe,  pleasant  wind. 
>  Pleasant,  brisk  gale. 
y  Very  brisk. 
|  High  wind. 

Very  high. 

A  storm. 

A  £reat  storm. 

A  hurricane. 

A  violent  hurricane. 

Of  late  years  the  theory  of  winds  (in  common  with  other 
meteorological  phenomena)  has  received  much  attention  ; 
and  through  the  recommendation  of  the  British  Association, 
self-registering  anemometers  have  been  erected  at  the  prin 
cipal  observatories  and  other  places,  with  a  view  to  obtain 
systematic  series  of  observations.  The  principal  points  to 
be  determined  are  the  mean  duration  of  the  different  winds, 
the  law  of  their  succession,  and  their  connexion  with  the 
state  of  the  barometer,  thermometer,  and  hygrometer.  (See 
Prof.  Forbes'  Reports  on  .Meteorology  to  the  Brit.  Associa- 
tion for  1831  and  1840 ;  Experiments  by  Col.  Beaufoy  in 
the  Annals  of  Philosophy,  vol.  viii.,  p.  94  ;  Danicll's  Meteo- 
rological Essays  :  .Murray's  Geography,  Introd. ;  Pouillet, 
Elemens  de  Physique.) 

WIND  SAIL.  A  tube  or  funnel  of  canvass,  employed 
to  convey  a  stream  of  fresh  air  down  into  the  lower  part  of 
a  ship. 

WINE.  (Germ,  wein.)  All  spirituous  products  of  fer- 
mentation are  occasionally  denominated  wines.  The  term, 
however,  is  more  generally  limited  to  fermented  grape 
juice,  or  must ;  and  the  theory  of  the  process  has  been 
noticed  under  the  word  Fermentation.  There  are  many 
circumstances  which  influence  the  general  characters  or 
quality  of  wine  ;  among  which  are  principally  climate,  soil, 
and  aspect,  the  nature  and  maturity  of  the  grape,  and  the 
mode  of  fermentation.  In  regard  to  climate,  for  instance, 
it  may  be  observed  that  that  which  is  best  suited  to  the 
culture  of  the  vine  extends  from  the  35th  to  the  50th 
degrees  north  latitude ;  in  more  northerly  situations  the 
grape  seldom  ripens  perfectly,  and  the  wines  that  it  yields 
are  of  a  less  generous  character  than  those  produced  in 
more  congenial  districts.  In  warmer  climates,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  juice  becomes  too  rich  and  saccharine.  It  often 
happens,  however,  that  a  very  luscious  grape  transplanted 
to  a  colder  climate  yields  a  good  wine,  and  that  vines  car- 
ried from  a  cold  to  a  warmer  climate,  within  the  latitudes 


WINE. 

mentioned,  afford  excellent  liquors ;  it  is  said,  indeed,  that 
we  are  indebted  for  some  of  our  most  choice  wines  to  such 
judicious  transplantations.  Chaptal  has  stated  that  the 
must  obtained  from  grapes  grown  in  the  south  of  France 
was  richer  than  that  from  the  northern  departments.  With 
respect  to  soil,  it  may  be  observed  that  no  fruit  is  more 
remarkably  influenced  by  its  qualities  than  the  grape.  Light 
and  porous  soils  are  best  suited  to  it;  and  although  the 
plant  will  grow  vigorously  in  rich  and  moist  ground,  the 
fruit  is  by  no  means  excellent  in  proportion  to  its  luxuriance. 
Dr.  Henderson  states  [History  of  Wines),  that  strong  argil- 
laceous soil  not  only  checks  the  extension  of  the  roots,  but 
keeps  them  too  moist,  and  often  imparts  to  the  wines  a 
peculiar  earthy  taste,  such  as  we  perceive  in  Cape  wine. 
A  stony  or  gravelly  soil  is  preferable  to  all  others ;  it  allows 
of  the  free  growth  of  the  roots,  and  is  sufficiently  retentive 
of  moisture.  Volcanic  soils  are  also  favourable  to  the 
growth  of  the  vine,  as  shown  in  the  island  of  Madeira, 
Italy,  Sicily,  and  the  south  of  France.  The  quality  of  the 
grape  is  also  greatly  influenced  by  differences  in  the  ex- 
posure and  inclination  of  the  ground.  Hills  are  preferable 
to  plains,  especially  where  the  aspect  is  such  as  to  be  duly 
exposed  to  the  sun  and  sheltered  from  cold  winds ;  hence 
the  advantage  of  a  south-eastern  aspect.  The  influence  of 
season,  so  important  in  regard  to  the  ripening  and  perfection 
of  all  fruits ;  is  especially  so  with  respect  to  that  of  the 
vine,  its  consequences  going  beyond  the  mere  temporary 
perfection  of  the  grape  as  fitting  it  for  the  table,  and  ex- 
tending in  a  very  striking  manner  to  the  qualities  of  the 
wine;  hence  the  notoriety  and  hish  character  of  the  vin- 
tages of  particular  seasons,  a*,  for  instance,  that  of  the 
comet  in  1811.  In  a  cold  year  the  wine  is  weak  and 
acescent.  "  When  the  season  is  rainy,"  observes  Dr.  Hen- 
derson, "the  produce  will  be  increased  ;  but  it  will  be  poor 
and  insipid,  and  generally  found  to  contain  a  large  portion 
of  malic  acid,  which  gives  lo  it  a  peculiar  flavour,  always 
most  perceptible  in  those  wines  which  are  most  devoid  of 
spirit.  A  moderate  degree  of  humidity,  however,  is  essen- 
tial to  the  welfare  of  the  vine.  In  those  climates,  accord- 
ingly, where  great  droughts  prevail,  as  in  Persia,  and  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Malaga,  the  earth  is  formed  into  a  dish 
around  the  plant,  in  order  to  collect  and  retain  the  rain 
which  falls  during  the  spring.  High  winds  and  fogs  are 
always  very  injurious  to  the  vine."  Manures  are  generally 
regarded  as  prejudicial  in  warm  climates  ;  but  in  colder 
aspects,  as  upon  the  Rhine,  they  are  often  not  only  useful, 
but  necessary.  Different  methods  of  planting  and  training 
the  vine  are  adopted  in  different  countries ;  but  it  is  gene- 
rally found  advantageous  to  keep  the  plant  as  low  as  possi- 
ble, for  the  same  vine  yields  fruit  of  very  different  qualities, 
depending  upon  the  mode  in  which  it  is  trained  and  trimmed. 
But  there  are  no  circumstances  by  which  the  quality  of  the 
wine  is  more  affected  than  those  dependent  upon  the  state 
of  maturity  of  the  grape.  When  grapes  are  fully  ripe  they 
generally  yield  the  most  perfect  wine  as  to  strength  and 
flavour :  if  suffered  to  shrivel  to  a  greater  or  less  extent, 
the  wine  will  be  more  saccharine  ;  and  if  they  are  not  fully 
mature,  it  will  be  brisk,  and  often  tart.  "  In  general,  dry 
and  clear  weather  ought  to  be  chosen  for  the  vintage  ;  but 
when  a  slow  and  imperfect  fermentation  is  required,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  brisk  champagne  wines,  the  grapes  that  are 
collected  during  a  fog,  or  before  the  dew  that  has  settled  on 
the  vines  is  dispersed,  are  found  to  answer  best,  and  to  yield 
the  largest  quantity  of  must."  The  few  facts  which  have 
now  been  stated  will  show  how  many  minute  circum- 
stances must  be  attended  to  in  the  selection  and  cultivation 
of  the  vine  ;  and  it  is  astonishing  how  much  the  character 
and  excellence  of  the  produce  depend  upon  causes  which 
often  appear  so  trifling  as  to  be  beneath  notice.  But  the 
ultimate  production  of  good  wine  involves  a  variety  of 
other  considerations  connected  with  the  process  of  fermen- 
tation, in  the  due  management  of  which  much  practical 
skill  is  often  requisite,  and  the  utmost  cleanliness  always 
indispensable.  The  component  parts  of  must,  and  the 
changes  which  they  undergo  in  the  fermenting  vats,  have 
already  been  noticed  [see  Fermentation)  ;  so  that  it  only 
remains  here  to  add  a  few  remarks  upon  the  general  char- 
acters and  composition  of  the  principal  varieties  of  wine. 
The  colour  of  the  wine  almost  always  depends  upon  the 
husks  of  the  grape  ;  for  the  pulp,  even  of  the  blackest  fruit, 
is,  with  very  few  exceptions,  equally  colourless  with  that 
of  the  green  grape.  The  seeds  of  the  grape,  and  more 
especially  tiie  stalks,  containing  tan  and  extractive  matter, 
also  modify  the  taste  of  the  wine  ;  hence  they  are  added  to 
Port  wine,  but  generally  excluded  from  the  delicate  wines 
of  Bourdeaux  and  of  the  Rhine.  The  peculiar  aroma  or 
I  perfume  is  sometimes  dependent  upon  very  recondite  causes, 
|  as  in  the  fine  wines  of  Burgundy.  In  some  cases  it  is  acquired 
by  age,  and  appears  to  depend  upon  some  chemical  change, 
perhaps  connected  with  the  formation  of  something  like  a 
variety  of  ether :  but  it  also  depends  upon  the  quality  of 
the  grape,  as  in  the  Muscadine  and  Frontignac  wines.    The 

1341 


WINES. 


leading  character,  however,  of  wine  must  be  referred  to 
the  alcohol  which  it  contains,  and  upon  which  its  intoxi- 
cating [lowers  principally  depend:  not  exclusively,  how- 
.  some  of  the  lighter  wines,  if  brisk  and  effervescent, 
m  em  lo  derive  from  the  admixture  of  carbonic  acid  a  pecu- 
liar exhilarating  power  not  directly  proportional  to  their 
alcoholic  contents.  And  again,  we  find  Other  wines,  anions 
which  certain  Burgundies  stand  foremost,  which  are  emi- 
nently heating,  though  not  very  strong.  The  following 
table  shows  the  quantity  of  alcohol  (of  the  specific  gravity 
60°),  by  measure,  contained  in  100  parts  by  measure 
of  the  respective  wines.  Some  other  vinous  and  spirituous 
liquors  have  been  added,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  the 
relation  which  they  bear  to  wine  in  the  proportion  of  alcohol 
which  they  contain. 


■■   rtion  of 

ly 

Wtasurt. 

1.  Lissa 

26-47 

Ditto 

24  35 

Ditto 

15S*.' 

2.  Raisin  wine 

26-40 

Ditto 

2577 

Ditto 

23  20 

3.  Marsala 

26(3 

Ditto 

25  05 

Ditto 

18-40 

4.  Port 

25  S3 

Ditto 

24  29 

Ditto 

23-71 

Ditto 

23-39 

Ditto 

22-30 

Ditto 

21-40 

Ditto 

1900 

5.  Miderra  . 

2:42 

Ditto 

23  93 

Ditto  (Serciil 

21-40 

Ditto 

19-24 

6.  Currant  wine 

20  55 

7.  Sherry      . 

19-61 

Ditto 

19-63 

Dttto 

1-79 

Ditto 

18-25 

Dittotvery  old)  23  >0 

8.  Teneriffe  . 

1979 

9.  Colarcs    . 

19  75 

10.  Lachrvma 

. 

1970 

11.  Coostantia 

(white;  . 

1975 

Ditto 

14-50 

12.  Ditto  (red) 

1841 

13.  Lisbon 

1894 

■ 
15.  Bocelias   . 

18-94 
18  ;9 

16.  Red  .Madeira 

22  30 

Ditto 

1-  40 

:  -  2  3 

22  94 

Ditto 

20-50 

Ditto 

1>-U 

19.  Stein  wine 

20.  Grape  wine 

18-11 

'.vella 

1920 

Ditto 

18-10 

22.  Vidonia    . 

19-25 

23.  Alba  Flora 

17-26 

24.  Mai  _ 

17-26 

ite  Heron 

tage 

17-43 

20.  H/ii.sillon. 

1900 

Ditto 

17-26 

27.  Alcatico    . 

16  20 

2-.  .T.'na 

30  00 

29.  Claret       . 

17  11 

Ditto 

1632 

Ditto 

1408 

Ditto 

1291 

Average 


Proportion  of 

SllMl 

per  cent 

ly 

Measure. 

33 

Syracuse  . 

15-28 

M 

Sauterne  . 

1422 

35 

Grenache  . 

21-24 

36 

Burgundy 

1660 

Ditto 

15-22 

Ditto 

14-53 

Ditto 

11-95 

Ditto  (20  years 

in  bottle) 

1216 

31 

Hock 

1437 

Ditto 

13  00 

Ditto  old  in 

cask) 

8-88 

3S 

Johannisberger 

(.17881    . 

S-71 

39 

Rudisheimer 

(181!)     . 

10-72 

40 

Rhenish   . 

7  36 

41 

Nice 

14-36 

42 

Barsac      • 

1386 

13 

Tent 

13-30 

41 

Champagne 

(still)     . 

1330 

Ditto  (spark- 

ling) 

12-SO 

Ditto  (red) 

12-56 

Ditto  (dttto) 

11  30 

4'- 

Red  Hermitage  U  32 

46 

Viu  de  Grave 

1394 

Ditto 

12-80 

47. 

Frontignac 

12-79 

48 

Cote  Rotie 

12-32 

18 

Gooseberry 

11-84 

50. 

Orange  wine 
(average  of 
six  samples 

made  by  a 

m 

London 

manufactu- 

rer) 

11-26 

51. 

Tokay      . 

9-88 

52. 

Elder  wine 

8  79 

53. 

Cyder  (highest 

average) 

9S7 

Ditto  (lowest 

ditto)     . 

5-21 

54 

Ferry  (average 

of  four  sam 

pies) 

726 

it 

Mead 

7  32 

56. 

Ale  (Burton) 
Ditto  (Edin- 

888 

burgh)    . 

6-20 

Ditto~(Dorches- 

ter) 

5-56 

57. 

Brown  stout 

680 

58.  London  ponei 

(average) 

420 

69 

Ditto  small  beer 

(ditto)     . 

1  23 

60 

Brandy     . 

53  39 

61 

Ruin 

53  68 

62 

Gin 

51-60 

63 

Scotch  whis- 

key 

54  32 

64 

Irish  ditto 

53  90 

Average. 


15-20 

30.  Malmsey  Ma- 

deira '  .        16-40 

31.  Lunel       .        15  52 

Ditto  (white)    19  30 

It.  i -5  necessary,  however,  to  observe-,  that  the  proportion 
of  alcohol  in  the  same  wine  varies  materially  according  to 
the  age  of  the  wine  and  other  circumstances,  and  thai 
the  same  quantities  of  alcohol  in  each,  may, 
notwithstanding,  differ  essentially  in  every  other  respect. 
Practically  wines  are  distinguished  by  their  colour,  hard- 
ma  and  their  being 
still  or  effervescing.  In  many  case-,  too,  ihe  same  variety 
of  wine  may  be  distinguished  into  a  number  of  sub  varieties, 
difTorias  more  or  less  in  one  or  more  of  these  particulars. 
Thus,  in  ihe  case  of  champ  i  are  red, 

and  other<  white   or  strttu -coloured  ;    some  are  dry  and 
be  arom  I  of  one  variety  dillers  from  that  of 
others  have  every  dif- 
ferent degree  of  effervescing  power.     The  same  variety 
the  case  of  clarets,  and,  indeed,  of  almost  every 
description  of  wine, 
1342 


The  differences  in  the  qualities  of  wines  depend  partly 
on  deferences  in  the  Vines,  but  more  on  the  differ* 
the  soil--  in  which  they  are  planted,  in  the  exposure  of  the 
vineyards,  ami  in  the  treatment  of  the  trapes,  and  the 
mode  of  manufacturing  the  wine.  Though  the  vine  giuvwi 
in  every  sort  of  soil,  a  rising  ground,  or  gently-sloping  lull 
facing  the  south,  with  a  loose,  gravelly,  or  rather  volcanic 
soil,  is  by  far  the  best  situation  for  a  vineyard: 


It  is  in  such  situations  that  all  the  finest  wines  are  pro- 
duced. 

It  would  be  useless  in  a  work  of  this  kind  to  attempt 
characterizing  the  different  sorts  of  wine  used  in  Great 
Britain.  Port  and  sherry  have  long  enjoyed  a  decided  pre- 
ponderance in  our  markets  ;  and  it  must  be  admitted  that, 
when  of  good  quality  and  sparingly  used,  they  are  very 
unexceptionable  wines.  But  they  are  often  harsh,  anil 
have  the  disadvantage  of  being  strong  and  heating,  so  that 
they  cannot  be  taken,  to  anything  like  excess,  by  most  per- 
sons with  impunity.  They  are  well  enough  for  a  glass  or 
two,  but  they  are  not  wines  for  conversation  or  society.  It 
is  not  probable,  indeed,  had  it  not  been  for  the  high  differ- 
ential duties  with  which  French  wines  were  so  long  bur- 
dened, that  the  use  of  port  and  sherry  would  ever  have 
been  so  general  in  England  ;  and  since  the  abolition  of  the 
differential  duty  in  1831,  French  wines  have  begun  gradu- 
ally, though  slowly,  to  make  their  way  from  the  highest, 
to  which  they  have  hitherto  been  mostly  confined,  among 
the  middle  classes.  They  are,  indeed,  superior,  in  almost 
all  respects,  to  every  other  variety.  The  best  growths  of 
claret,  champagne,  and  Burgundy,  seem  to  unile  all  the 
qualities  required  to  constitute  perfect  wines.  Had  they 
been  known  in  antiquity  we  ;<  pprehend  they  would  have 
engrossed  most  part  of  the  praise  so  profusely  lavished  on 
the  Pramnian,  Cecuban,  Falernian,  and  other  renowned 
wines  of  Greece  and  Rome.  We  subjoin 
An  Account  of  the  Quantities  of  the  different  sorts  of  Wine 
imported  into  and  exported  from  the  United  Kingdom ; 
the  Quantities  entered  and  retained  for  Home  Consump- 
tion; and  the  Rates  of  Duty  in  1840. 


Quantities 

retained 

Quantities 

for  Con- 

Rates 

upon 

sumption, 

01 

Wine. 

Quantities 

which 

Quantities 

deducing 

Duty 

imported. 

Duty  has 

exported. 

eiport 

per 

been  paid 

after  Pay- 
ment of 

Gal- 
lon. 

Gallons. 

Duty. 

GaUoia. 

7~Z 

GnUuns. 

Gallons. 

460,1  2; 

•r>:,"t>2 

5,467 

456773 

29 

570,195 

155,375 

34I.-4I 

56 

Portugal    .... 

2,—' i.li-4 

39I.5S1 

do. 

Spanish     .... 

4. 'L'2  315 

2,641,171 

12233,878 

2,500,760 

do. 

Madeira    .... 

279.157 

122. UlC 

112,555 

do. 

Rhenish    .... 

75.611 

14,760 

60,056 

do. 

250.S04 

30,149 

29,29S 

!o. 

1.241 

191 

277 

1<<! 

do. 

Sicilianand  o'her  sorts 

671,517 

394,124 

189,709 

3S3.&14 

do. 

Total    . 

16,515 

do. 

9.311.247 

6.843.204 

2.437.07S 

6.553  922 

WINGS.  In  naval  matters.  Passages  along  the  sides 
of  the  ship  between  the  fore  and  after  cockpit. 

Wings,  in  Plants,  are  membranous  expansions  of  differ- 
ent parts.  The  two  lateral  oblong  petals  of  a  Papiliona- 
ceous corolla,  the  two  lateral  sepals  of  a  Polygam,  the  ex- 
pansion from  the  back  of  the  fruit  of  the  ash-tree,  from  the 
sides  of  the  seed  of  a  Blgnonia,  and  from  the  surface  of 
many  Umbelliferous  fruits,  are  all  called  ici/igs. 

Wimjs.    In  Architecture.     See  Al/e. 

WINTER.  One  of  the  four  seasons  of  the  year.  Win- 
ter is  usually  understood  to  begin  with  the  shortest  day, 
and  to  end  when  the  sun  returns  to  the  vernal  equinox. 

WI'PEBS,  in  some  kinds  of  machinery,  as  oil  mills, 
powder  nulls,  fulling-mills,  tire  piece 
from  horizontal  axles,  for  ihe  purpose  of  raising  stampers, 
pounders,  or  heavy  pistons,  in  vertical  directions,  ai  d  then 
leaving  them  to  fall  by  their  own  weight.  The  principal 
objeel  to  be  attended  to  in  the  construction  of  uipi  r-  N  to 
give  them  such  a  form  that  tin-  weight  shall  be  rais 
a  uniform  fone  and  velocity,  (On  «vnfs  Mechanics  :  Ap- 
pendix to  Ferguson's  Lectures,  by  Brewster;  Willis's 
Principles  «/'  JUeckan 

WIRE-DRAWING.  The  art  of  extending  the  ductile 
metals  into  wire.  The  operation  is  performed  by  casting 
or  hammering  the  metal  into  a  bar,  which  is  then  succes- 
sively drawti  through  holes  in  a  stoel  plate,  each  being 
-mailer  than  the  other,  until  the  requisite  linen,  -  - 
laincil.  The  holes  through  which  extremely  line  wires  of 
platinum.  Bold,  or  silver  are  oceasionallj  drawn,  are  some- 
uines  made  m  B  diamond  or  ruby.     Set  GoLn,  &.C 

WIT  (Genu,  witz),  has  been  defined  briefly  to  be  the 


WITCHCRAFT. 


nnexpccted  combination  of  distant  resemblances.  The 
term  wit  has  in  the  course  of  two  centuries  passed  through 
more  significations  than  most  others  in  the  English  lan- 
guage. Without  going  further  back  than  the  reign  of 
James  I.,  wit  is  used  by  Sir  J.  Davies  as  the  most  general 
name  for  the  intellectual  faculties,  of  which  reason,  judg- 
ment, wisdom,  fee,  are  subdivisions.  In  the  time  of  Cow- 
ley and  Hobbes,  it  came  to  denote  a  superior  degree  of  un- 
derstanding, and  more  particularly  a  quick  and  brilliant 
reason.  By  Dryden  it  is  used  as  very  nearly  synonymous 
With  talent  or  ability,  but  after  his  time,  and  more  par- 
ticulaiiy  by  Addison  in  his  papers  on  Wit,  we  find  a  grad- 
ual approximation  to  the  modern  signification  of  the  term. 

The  forms  of  wit  are  so  various  that  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  include  them  all  within  the  circle  of  a  precise  de- 
finition ;  but  the  following  comprehensive  enumeration  of 
these  forms  by  the  celebrated  Dr.  Barrow  may  be  interest- 
ing to  the  reader.  "Sometimes  it  lieth  in  pat  allusion  to 
a  known  story,  or  in  seasonal;] e  application  of  a  trivial 
saying,  or  in  forging  an  apposite  tale ;  sometunes  it  playeth 
in  words  and  phrases,  taking  advantage  from  the  ambigui- 
ty of  their  sense,  or  the  affinity  of  their  sound ;  sometimes 
it  is  wrapped  in  a  dress  of  humorous  expression ;  sometimes 
it  lurketh  under  an  odd  similitude  ;  sometimes  it  is  lodged 
jn  a  sly  question,  in  a  smart  answer,  in  a  quiikish  reason, 
in  a  shrewd  intimation,  in  cunningly  diverting,  or  cleverly 
retorting  an  objection ;  sometimes  it  is  couched  in  a  bold 
scheme  of  speech,  in  a  tart  irony,  in  a  lusty  hyperbole,  in 
a  startling  metaphor,  in  a  plausible  reconciling  of  contra- 
dictions, or  in  acute  nonsense;  sometimes  a  scenical  re- 
presentation of  persons  or  things,  a  counterfeit  speech,  a 
mimical  look  or  gesture,  passeth  for  it;  sometimes  an  af- 
fected simplicity,  sometimes  a  presumptuous  bluntness 
giveth  it  being ;  sometunes  it  riseth  only  from  a  lucky  hit- 
ting upon  what  is  strange ;  sometimes  from  a  crafty  wrest- 
ing obvious  matter  to  the  purpose.  Otten  it  consisteth  in 
one  knows  not  what,  and  springeth  up  one  can  hardly  tell 
how.  Its  ways  are  unaccountable  and  inexplicable,  being 
answerable  to  the  numberless  rovings  of  fancy  and  wind- 
ings of  language."  (See,  as  to  the  difference  of  meaning 
between  wit  and  bulls,  Edin.  Rev.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  399.) 

WITCH,  WITCHCRAFT.  It  has  been  a  subject  of 
much  controversy  whether  the  verse,  "Thou  Shalt  not 
suffer  a  witch  to  live,"  in  the  22d  chapter  of  Exodus,  is  cor- 
rectly rendered  in  modern  versions.  The  Septuagint  ren- 
der it  by  tyilppaKog,  a  poisoner.  It  is,  however,  generally 
lield,  that  the  latter  interpretation  is  not  the  true  one,  and 
that  the  practice  here  condemned  was  that  of  pretended 
divination  by  means  of  supernatural  agency.  This  was, 
by  the  .lewish  law,  an  act  of  rebellion  against  the  Al- 
mighty Ruler  of  the  Jewish  nation,  and  punished  as  such. 
(See  also  Deuteronomy,  xviii.  10,  11.)  The  only  detailed 
and  particular  narrative  of  witchcraft  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment is  that  of  the  evocation  of  Samuel  by  the  witch  of 
Endor.  (See  on  this  subject  Sir  Walter  Scott's  Second  Let- 
ter on  Dcmonology  and  Witchcraft.) 

Among  the  Greeks,  a  general  belief  prevailed  in  magical 
practices  and  incantations,  especially  by  women ;  and 
Thessaly  was  the  region  most  celebrated  for  the  pursuit 
of  these  arts  by  its  inhabitants.  The  same  superstition  was 
equally  prevalent  among  the  Romans.  But,  in  the  sense 
in  which  the  word  is  used  in  modem  times,  a  witch  is  sup- 
posed to  derive  her  power  from  a  peculiar  compact  with 
evil  spirits  ;  and  this  species  of  witchcraft  is  of  course  pos- 
terior to  the  rise  of  Christianity,  although  the  belief  in  de- 
moniacal possession  was  common  from  the  first  ages  of  the 
Christian  church,  and  a  particular  class  of  the  clergy  was 
early  set  apart  for  the  purpose  of  conjuring  devils,  with  the 
name  of  exorcists.  The  first  traces  of  the  modern  super- 
stition respecting  witchcraft  are  perhaps  to  be  found  in 
Jlugustine,  who  speaks  of  magicians  as  living  in  society 
with  devils,  and  having  a  compact  with  them.  The  an- 
cient witch  craft  of  the  classical  times  became  easily  con- 
nected in  vulgar  belief  with  the  superstitions  arising  out  of 
Christian  theology.  As  early  as  the  Council  of  Ancyra 
(308),  the  belief  in  transformations  by  magical  art  (of  which 
we  find  so  remarkable  an  instance  in  the  romance  of  Apu- 
leius)  is  condemned  as  heretical.  The  gods  of  the  ancient 
mythology,  by  the  zealous  preaching  of  the  Christian  cler- 
gy, acquired  in  popular  imagination  the  attributes  of  de- 
mons ;  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  many  of  the  supposed 
assemblies  of  witches  and  devil-worshippers,  which  terri- 
fied the  imaginations  of  the  chroniclers  and  historians  of 
saints  in  the  early  part  of  the  dark  ages,  originated  in  the 
secret  meetings  of  the  proscribed  worshippers  of  Pagan 
deities,  who  endeavoured  to  secure  their  privacy  by  terri- 
fying their  orthodox  neighbours.  (See  a  poem  of  Goethe's 
on  this  subject.)  From  all  these  causes  combined,  the  be- 
lief in  witchcraft  grew,  as  has  been  observed,  side  by  side 
with  the  prevailing  worship  of  saints  and  relics.  About 
the  tune  of  Charlemagne  and  his  successors,  we  find  one 
species  of  imaginary  witchcraft  peculiary  prevalent.  Storms 


and  tempests  were  attributed  to  certain  magicians  (defen- 
sores),  who  were  believed,  as  in  the  classical  mythology,  to 
have  acquired  a  power  of  controlling  the  elements;  but 
this  belief  was  condemned  by  the  church  as  superstitious. 
The  very  general  superstition  (which  also  is  mentioned  by 
Augustine)  of  assemblies  of  females  riding  through  the  air 
with  the  demon  Diana,  Minerva,  or  Herodias  (from  which, 
in  later  days,  the  notions  of  the  witch  festival  on  the  Broc- 
ken  in  Germany,  the  French  sabbat,  fee,  were  all  derived), 
is  also  reprobated  by  the  divines  of  this  period.  It  has  been 
supposed  by  some,  that  the  sudden  spread  of  intelligence, 
and  the  cast  of  noble  and  more  liberal  sentiment  which 
prevailed  in  Europe  about  the  time  of  the  Crusades,  check- 
ed for  a  time,  at  least  among  the  higher  orders,  the  spread 
of  debasing  superstitions ;  but  if  this  was  really  the  case, 
the  effect  was  hut  temporary.  Up  to  this  time  we  have 
found  the  church  generally  condemning  most  of  the  popu- 
lar fancies  respecting  demoniac  agency  as  superstitious ; 
but  from  the  end  of  the  12th  century  we  find  them  gradual- 
ly gaining  ground,  so  as  to  become  articles  of  religious  cre- 
dence. At  the  coronation  of  Richard  I.,  Coeur  de  Lion, 
Jews  and  women  were  forbidden  to  attend ;  the  latter  be- 
cause so  many  of  them  were  suspected  of  witchcraft.  The 
works  of  Gervase  of  Tilbury  (at  the  beginning  of  the  13th 
century)  give,  perhaps,  the  best  picture  of  the  extent  to 
which  similar  opinions  prevailed  about  that  epoch.  In  the 
same  century,  witches  and  heretics  were  first  connected  in 
the  eye  of  the  church :  the  commissioners  who  tried  the 
various  sectaries  of  the  time  were  equally  directed  to  in- 
quire into  and  punish  magical  practices.  In  the  14th  cen- 
tury the  persecution  of  witches  assumed  a  more  regular 
and  severe  character.  The  well-known  accusations  against 
the  Templars  (1309),  in  which  all  the  common  charges 
of  compacts  witli  the  devil,  witch  assemblies,  fee,  were 
mingled  with  those  of  atheism  and  heresy,  were  but  the 
prelude  to  a  long  series  of  similar  proceedings.  About 
this  time  the  south  of  France,  north  of  Italy,  and  some 
parts  of  Germany,  seem  to  have  been  most  infested  with 
demoniacal  agency.  The  female  sex  seems,  from  the  earli- 
est times,  to  have  been  most  implicated  in  the  public  hor- 
ror of  witchcraft ;  and  from  the  commencement  of  the  15th 
century  we  find  this  common  notion  become  a  confirmed 
doctrine:  almost  all  the  decrees  of  councils,  fee,  which 
speak  of  witchcraft,  and  the  prosecutions  which  are  car- 
ried on,  henceforward  are  directed  against  women  only. 
From  this  time,  therefore,  we  may  date  (as  far  as  accuracy 
is  practicable  on  such  subjects)  the  separation  in  popular 
belief  of  the  higher  magic  practised  by  learned  and  distin- 
guished men,  from  the  petty  witchcraft  of  which  the  great 
performers  were  poor,  old,  and  ignorant  women.  Many  of 
the  great  magicians  were  believed  to  operate  their  wonders 
by  the  control  which  they  had  acquired  over  inferior  spi- 
ritual agents,  without  any  express  compact  with  the  devil ; 
and  although  such  practices  were  often  condemned  by  the 
church,  always  liable  to  suspicion,  and  sometimes  brought 
those  who  indulged  in  them  (together  with  alchemists  and 
astrologers)  under  the  cognizance  of  criminal  tribunals,  yet 
they  were  always  considered  as  of  a  different  order  alto- 
gether from  the  feats  of  common  witches.  In  1484  appear- 
ed the  famous  bull  of  Innocent  VIII.,  "Summis  desider- 
antes  afl'ectibus."  In  this  remarkable  instrument  all  the 
absurdities  of  the  popular  superstition  are  formally  recapit- 
ulated, and  a  commission  directed  to  three  individuals  (In- 
stitor,  Sprenger,  and  Gremper)  to  examine  and  punish 
witches  in  the  German  empire.  Although  immediately 
relating  to  Germany  only,  this  bull  is  rightly  considered  by 
Herzog  (the  author  of  the  article  on  witchcraft  in  Ersch 
and  Gruber's  Encyclopedia,  from  whom  we  have  borrowed 
largely  on  the  present  subject)  as  forming  a  period  in  the 
history  of  this  superstition.  Although  much  cruelty  had 
been  committed  before  in  the  pursuit  of  this  imaginary 
crime,  it  is  from  this  solemn  confirmation  of  the  vulgar  su- 
perstition that  we  must  date  the  continuous  course  of  legal 
persecution  which  lasted  for  two  centuries  over  the  greater 
part  of  Europe. 

The  details  of  these  legal  proceedings  bear  a  striking 
similarity  in  all  the  countries  in  which  this  baleful  super- 
stition so  long  prevailed.  It  has  been  seen  that  by  the  bull 
of  Innocent  VIII.,  witchcraft  was  rendered  a  crime  pecu- 
liarly cognizable  by  ecclesiastical  authorities :  so  it  remain- 
ed for  the  most  part  in  Catholic  countries,  especially  where 
the  Inquisition  was  established ;  and  this  constituted  the 
chief  difference  between  the  procedure  in  those  regions  and 
that  which  prevailed  in  Protestant  districts,  where  the  civil 
magistrate  took  cognizance  of  the  offence.  Thus  the  vari- 
ous forms  of  religious  observance  which  were  interwoven 
with  the  judicial  proceeding  in  the  former,  exorcisms  and 
so  forth,  were  for  the  most  part  disused  by  Protestants.  In 
other  respects,  the  mode  of  investigation  and  punishment 
was  much  the  same.  Everywhere  they  exhibited  a  singu- 
lar mixture  of  legal  refinement  with  popular  violence. 
Thus  the  various  ordeals  by  which  suspected  witches 

1343 


WITCHCRAFT. 

purged  themselves  (one  of  the  most  vulgar  superstitions 
d  with  witchcraft)  were  conducted  with  gravity 
and  regularity  under  the  eye  of  the  law.  The  best  known 
in  England  was  that  of  water:  if  the  accused  swam  when 
thrown  in,  it  was  held  as  a  proof  of  guilt.  On  the  Conti- 
nent a  favourite  mode,  among  many  others,  was  by  weigh 
ing.  In  the  scales  set  apart  for  this  purpose  a  true  witch 
was  always  found  to  weigh  more  than  her  previously  as- 
certained weight.  There  was  in  the  17th  century  a  weigh- 
ing beam  in  Budewater,  in  Holland,  of  such  celebrity,  that 
persons  accused  of  witchcraft  in  many  neighbouring  pro- 
vinces used  to  appeal  to  it.  When,  however,  the  suspect- 
ed person  was  in  the  hands  of  the  tribunal,  there  was  in 
general  one  only  mode  of  procedure — by  torture.  This  was 
carried  to  the  most  horrible  and  unheard-of  excesses  ;  and 
as  it  was  generally  recognised  that  witchcraft  was  a  crime 
entirely  out  of  ordinary  rules,  the  various  provisions  of  the 
civil  or  municipal  laws  by  which  that  dreadful  practice  was 
mitigated  w.re  wholly  neglected,  and  the  accused  aban- 
doned to  all  the  cruelty  with  which  fear  or  fanaticism 
might  inspire  the  judges.  In  England,  which  forms  in  this 
respect  a  solitary  exception,  torture  was  not  judicially  prac- 
tised ;  but  the  various  severities  to  which  the  unfortunate 
prisoners  were  subject  had  probably  nearly  equal  effect. 
And  thus  every  where  the  witch  persecutions  produced 
the  same  result — confessions,  namely,  of  all  the  strange 
and  monstrous  crimes  with  which  the  accused  lay  charged. 
These  appear  to  have  grown  more  voluminous  and  more 
utterly  incredible  in  every  generation;  and  this  may  be 
naturally  accounted  for:  for  when  a  witch  had  made  up 
her  mind  to  confess,  it  cost  her  nothing  to  promulgate  the 
most  extravagant  inventions;  and  these  being  regarded  as 
Undoubted  truths,  formed  the  basis  of  interrogatories  to  be 
administered  to  other  unhappy  beings  who  might  be  brought 
under  tbe  same  accusation.  The  punishment  was  uniform- 
ly death,  usually  at  the  stake. 

Much  has  been  said  concerning  the  connexion  between 
religious  fanaticism  and  the  superstition  of  witchcraft.  It 
has  already  been  seen  that  the  cruelties  and  absurdities  of 
witch  persecution  had  reached  a  great  height  even  before 
the  Reformation;  but  it  can  scarcely  be  denied  that  the 
strong  religious  excitement  which  produced  and  accompa- 
nied that  event  was  in  some  way  connected  with  the  rapid 
spread  and  development  of  that  atrocious  system.  The 
more  intense  the  belief  in  the  overruling  providence  of 
God,  and  his  immediate  interference  in  the  course  of  ordi- 
nary events  (which  especially  characterized  the  revival  of 
religion),  tbe  more  does  the  parallel  belief  in  the  agency  of 
evil  spirits,  and  their  dealings  with  man,  appear  to  take 
root  in  the  imagination.  Sir  W.  Scott  observes  that,  among 
Protestant  sects,  the  Calvinists  (whose  views  of  religion 
were  at  once  the  most  gloomy  and  the  most  engrossing) 
seem  to  have  afforded  the  most  terrible  examples  of  this 
prevailing  mania.  There  seems  also  to  have  been  a  con- 
stantly recurring  tendency  to  treat  witchcraft  and  heresy  as 
allied  offences.  It  appears,  upon  the  whole,  that  the  per- 
secutions during  the  16th  and  17th  centuries  were  most  vio- 
lent in  those  countries  which  were  the  scene  of  much  strife 
between  the  two  religions,  or  in  which  the  Calvinist  opin- 
ions were  pushed  to  an  extreme — France,  the  Netherlands, 
Northern  and  Western  Germany,  Switzerland,  Scotland, 
England  under  the  Commonwealth,  and  at  a  still  later  pe- 
riod New  England.  A  singular  example  of  the  contagion 
of  fanaticism  suddenly  spreading  with  extraordinary  vio- 
lence, and  subsiding  again  after  one  terrible  outbreak,  is  to 
be  found  in  the  history  of  the  witch  persecutions  in  Swe- 
den, in  the  end  of  the  17th  century.  In  Italy,  with  the  ex 
ception  of  one  or  two  northern  districts,  the  superstition 
was  generally  less  prevalent,  or  at  least  less  distressing  in 
its  effects;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  Spain,  after  the 
first  period  of  the  history  of  the  Inquisition. 

Among  many  and  voluminous  authors  who  wrote  disqui- 
sitions on  witchcraft  with  a  full  Conviction  of  its  reality, 
we  may  cite,  as  some  of  the  most  remarkable,  Sprenger, 
one  of  Pope  Innocent's  three  inquisitors,  whose  celebrated 
Malleus  JUaleficarum  (Hammer  of  Witches)  contains  a 
complete  code  of  precedents  for  inquisitors,  which  was 
adopted,  varied,  ana  extended  through  succeeding  genera- 
tions; Delrio  the  Jesuit,  the  author  of  Magical  Dlsi/uisi- 
Bodinus  .  and  It'  mights,  a  judge  in  the  duchy  of  Lor- 
raine, who  put  to  death  eight  hundred  witches  in  sixteen 
years,  and    was   at   last   himself  burnt   as  a   conjuror.     In 

England,  King  James  I.  has  acquired  an  unenviable  celeb- 
rity by  Ins  literary  zeal  against  witchcraft  Even  from  the 
earlieal  times,  there  were  not  wanting  here  and  there  bold 
and  enlightened  individuals;  who  ventured  to  publish  their 
sentiments  against  tbe  vulgar  delusion.  Ulrlc  Molitor,  a  dis- 
tinguished divine  at  the  period  of  the  Council  of  Constance, 
avowed   bis  donbtl   of  the   very  exist, -nee  of  the  crime  of 

witchcraft.    In  ir>r>o'  appeared  the  book  of  Wier  (a  native 

Of  Brabant  .  hr  I'raistigiis  Damonum.  in  which  he  exposes 
the  cruelty  and  absurdity  of  the  judicial  proceedings  ;  hut 
1344 


WIZARD. 

either  from  caution,  or  from  his  own  imperfect  enlighten- 
ment, he  ascribes  the  confessions  of  the  witches  to  their 
own  melancholy,  or  the  delusion  of  the  devil  so  working 
on  them  as  to  make  them  believe  they  had  seen  and  done 
what  they  avowed.  In  England,  Reginald  Scot,  in  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth,  was  still  more  advanced  beyond  his 
age.  Even  at  the  end  of  the  17th  century,  Balthazar  Bek- 
ker,  a  Dutch  Jesuit,  for  having  ventured  to  assail  the  pre- 
valent superstition  in  his  Monde  Eiickaute,  was  persecuted, 
and  died  in  want.  The  writings  of  Thomasius,  about  1700, 
hail  much  effect  in  Germany,  and  prepared  the  way  for  the 
abolition  of  witch  persecutions  in  all  her  Protestant  states. 
But  the  public  mind  was  at  that  period  rapidly  changing. 
Louis  XIV.  had  already  put  an  end  to  them  by  edict  in 
France.  The  last  execution  on  account  of  witchcraft  in 
England  was  probably  in  1682  ;  although  the  statute  against 
it  was  not  repealed  until  the  9th  of  Ceo.  2.  In  Scotland,  a 
woman  was  executed  in  Sutherlandshire  in  1722.  But  the 
practice  lingered  on  later  in  some  Continental  districts,  as 
in  Catholic  Germany,  Spain,  and  Switzerland.  The  sub- 
prioress  of  a  convent  was  burnt  at  Wnftzberg  in  1749.  And 
the  last,  probably,  of  all  the  victims  of  this  superstition 
was  burnt  at  Glarus,  in  Switzerland,  in  17t-3.  It  now  exists 
only  as  a  vulgar  delusion,  which  it  will  probably  require 
some  centuries  more  wholly  to  extirpate.  It  is  prevalent  to 
a  degree  little  suspected  among  the  English  peasantry  in 
remote  districts.  The  writer  of  this  article  has  seen  a 
horse-shoe  suspended  inside  over  the  door  of  a  gaol  in  a 
Cornish  borough,  as  a  protection  against  the  "ill  wishes'" 
to  which  the'  guardians  of  such  an  establishment  naturally 
considered  themselves  exposed.  The  most  painstaking 
collection  of  learning  on  this  strange  subject  will  be  found 
in  Hurst's  Zauber-Bibliothek.  An  amusing  essay  on  it  is 
contained  in  the  Quarterly  Review,  vol.  xlviii.  See  also 
Cirimm's  Deutsche  Mytkologie,  passim. 

Wl'TENA  GEMOTE,  or  MEETING  OF  THE  WISE 
MEN.  The  great  national  council  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
kings;  also  termed  the  "  Mycel-getheaht,"  or  Great 
Thought.  Who  composed  the  "  witan"  cannot  now  be 
ascertained  :  bishops,  abbots,  earls,  aldermen,  thanes  of 
the  Danish  burghs,  &c.  attended.  It  seems  that  in  East 
Anglia  the  possession  of  forty  hides  of  land  was  necessary 
to  entitle  a  person  to  rank  among  those  termed  in  the  Lat- 
in of  the  age  "  proceres,"  who  appear  to  have  been  mem- 
bers of  the  great  council.  The  powers  ami  character  of 
the  witena  gemote  passed  to  the  great  council  of  the  early- 
Norman  kings,  which  are  called  by  the  same  name  by 
Saxon  writers.  The  subject  has  been  abundantly  discuss- 
ed by  older  and  more  recent  antiquarians  ;  the  reader  may 
consult  an  article  in  the  Ed.  Rev.,  vol.  xxxiv. 

WTTHERITE.  In  Mineralogy,  a  name  applied  to  car- 
bonate of  baryta,  in  honour  of  Dr.  Withering,  who  first  dis- 
covered it  at  Anglesark  in  Lancashire. 

Wl'TNESS.  In  Law,  one  who  gives  evidence  in  a  ju- 
dicial proceeding.  In  civil  cases,  witnesses  are  compelled 
to  attend  by  the  process  called  subpava  ad  testificandum 
(which  Bee),  and  punishable  if  they  neglect  to  do  so  by  at- 
tachment or  action.  In  criminal  cases,  by  subpeena  or  by 
recognisance  taken  by  the  magistrate  before  whom  the  in- 
formation is  given. 

By  the  law  as  it  at  present  stands,  witnesses  are  disqual- 
ified or  rendered  " incompetent"  by  reason — I.  Of  want  of 
reason  or  understanding  ;  2,  Want  of  religious  principle  ; 
that  is,  their  want  of  belief  in  a  God  and  a  future  stale  of 
rewards  and  punishments;  3.  Infamy  ;  that  is,  conviction 
of  an  infamous  crime,  and  judgment  thereupon  ;  the  crime* 
which  fall  within  this  class  being  treason,  felony,  and  oth- 
er offences  which  involve  the  charge  of  falsehood.  The 
Buffering  of  the  punishment,  if  so  provided  by  statute,  re- 
stores the  witness  to  competency,  as  does  also  pardon  ;  the 
only  exception  being  the  case  of  convictions  for  perjury  or 
subornation  of  perjury,  which  disqualify  forever  unless 
reversed  ;  4.  Interest ;  on  which  grounds  the  heads  of  ex- 
clusion are  numerous,  and  the  distinctions  very  refined  ; 
the  general  principle  being,  in  civil  causes,  in  courts  of 
common  law,  that  every  one  interested  in  the  event  and  in 
the  verdict  is  excluded.     Sec  Evidence. 

The  policy  of  these  exclusions  has  been  matter  of  much 
debate  ;  iimi,  perhaps,  the  only  practical  reason  which  can 
really  be  given  for  this  is,  that  tiie  time  of  courts  of  justice 
being  limited,  it  is  advisable  to  exclude  at  once  from  Con- 
sideration all  those  classes  of  evidence  which,  from  their 
peculiar  deficiency,  must  be  of  less  weight  than  the  testi- 
mony of  witnesses  nt  once  upright  and  disinterested.  This 
year  (1842)  Lord  Chief  Justice  Denman  has  brought  in  a 
bill  lor  the  abolition  of  all  incompetency  by  reason  of  in- 
famy or  interest,  except  in  the  case  of  parties  to  the  suit, 
and  one  or  two  other  special  exceptions. 
UT/.AIiD.    (Seems  to  be  from  the  old  verb  witan,  to 

lenow,  and  of  the  same  derivation  with  icisr  and  tritcli  : 
Glanvllle,  Sadduismus  Triumphatus.)  The  popular  name 
in  England  for  a  sorcerer.     See  Sorckry,  Witchcraft. 


WODEN. 

VVO'DEN,  or  WUOTAN.  An  Anglo-Saxon  divinity, 
considered  to  correspond  with  the  Mercury  of  the  ancient 
Greeks  and  Romans;  from  whom  Wednesday  derives  its 
name.  (See  Mem.  de  VJic.  des  Jnscr.,  vol.  xxiv.)  He  is 
sometimes  also,  though  erroneously,  considered  as  identical 
with  Odin.     See  Odin. 

WOLF  FISH.  The  name  of  a  species  of  fish  {Anar- 
rhichas  lupus,  Linn.),  which  subsists  on  whelks  and  other 
shell-fish,  which  it  seizes  by  means  of  strong  conical 
slightly-curved  anterior  teeth,  set  in  the  jaws  like  grap- 
pling hooks,  and  bruises  by  the  action  of  very  powerful 
posterior  molar  teeth.  The  flavour  of  this  forbidding- 
looking  fish  is  much  superior  to  what  might  be  supposed 
from  the  general  low  estimation  in  which  it  is  held. 

WO'LFRAM.  A  native  tungstate  of  iron  and  man- 
ganese. 

WO'LLASTONITE.  A  name  applied  by  some  miner- 
alogists to  a  species  of  prismatic  augite,  in  honour  of  Dr. 
Wollaston. 

WOOD,  in  Plants,  physiologically  considered,  is  the  sup- 
port of  all  the  deciduous  organs  of  respiration,  digestion, 
and  impregnation  ;  the  deposit  of  the  secretions  peculiar  to 
the  individual  species  ;  and  also  the  reservoir  from  which 
the  newly-forming  parts  derive  their  sustenance  until  they 
can  establish  a  communication  with  the  soil.  It  consists 
organically  of  woody  tissue,  and  various  kinds  of  vessels 
surrounded  by  cellular  matter,  and  more  or  less  carefully 
arranged.  In  the  youngest  state  it  is  succulent  and  brittle, 
and  is  of  nearly  the  same  quality  in  all  plants ;  but  as  it 
gains  age  the  sides  of  the  woody  tissue  become  hardened 
and  thickened  by  the  deposit  within  them  of  matter  of 
solidification,  and  wood  then  assumes  the  colours  and  ap- 
pearances peculiar  to  different  species.  In  the  young  state 
it  is  called  sapwood  or  alburnum  ;  when  hardened  and  col- 
oured it  becomes  duramen  or  heartwood.  It  abounds  in 
nitrogen,  which  may  be  removed  by  simple  washing  ;  and 
it  is  supposed  that  the  perishable  quality  of  wood  is  owing 
to  the  presence  of  this  element.  It  is  believed  that  the 
preserving  power  of  certain  agents  employed  to  render 
wood  durable  depends  upon  their  rendering  the  azotized 
matter  insoluble. 

Wood,  or  Timber.  The  trunks  or  main  stems  of  ligne- 
ous plants,  which  attain  such  dimensions  as  to  be  fit  for 
use  in  architectural  construction.  In  general,  every  coun- 
try has  its  appropriate  timber,  which  is  produced  by  its  in- 
digenous trees  ;  but  there  are  some  kinds  of  timber,  such 
as  that  of  the  oak  and  that  of  the  pine,  which,  in  conse- 
quence of  their  durability  and  of  commercial  intercourse, 
are  used  in  all  countries.  The  most  useful  timbers  of  Eu- 
rope are  the  oak,  the  ash,  the  Scotch  pine,  the  larch,  and 
the  spruce  fir ;  those  of  North  America  are  the  hickory, 
the  different  species  of  pine,  and  some  species  of  oak  ; 
those  of  tropical  countries  are  the  teak  tree,  the  different 
species  of  bamboo,  and  the  palm.  The  oak,  the  teak,  and 
the  larch  are  throughout  the  whole  world  found  the  most 
suitable  timbers  for  shipbuilding;  and  the  pine,  and  fir, 
and  the  bamboo  those  most  conveniently  adapted  for  civil 
architecture. 
WOOD  COAL.  A  synonym  of  brown  coal. 
WOOD-ENGRAVING.  See  Engraving. 
WTOOD-OPAL.  An  opalized  quartz  occurring  in  various 
vegetable  forms. 
WOO'DSTONE.    Petrified  wood. 

WOOD-TIN.  An  opaque,  fibrous,  and  nodular  variety 
of  oxide  of  tin,  of  a  brown  colour,  hitherto  only  found  in 
Cornwall. 

WOODY  FIBRE.  Very  slender,  transparent,  membra- 
nous tubes,  tapering  acutely  to  each  end,  lying  in  bundles 
in  the  tissue  of  plants,  and  having  no  direct  communica- 
tion with  each  other.  They  are  of  extreme  tenuity,  and 
form  the  substances  called  hemp  and  flax. 

WOOL.  (Germ,  wolle.)  A  term  used  very  indefinitely, 
being  applied  both  to  the  fine  hair  of  animals,  as  sheep, 
rabbits,  some  species  of  goats,  &c,  and  to  fine  vegetable 
fibres,  as  cotton  (called  in  German  baumwolle,  or  tree- 
wool')  ;  but  when  used  without  restriction  it  is  generally 
confined  to  the  wool  of  sheep — a  substance  which,  from 
the  remotest  period  of  history,  has  been  of  primary  im- 
portance to  mankind.  In  reference  to  textile  fabrics, 
sheep's  wool  is  of  two  different  sorts,  the  short  and  the 
long  stapled;  each  of  which  requires  different  modes  of 
manufacture  in  the  preparation  and  spinning  processes,  as 
also  in  the  treatment  of  the  cloth  after  it  is  woven,  to  fit 
it  for  the  market.  Each  of  these  is,  moreover,  distinguish- 
ed in  commerce  by  the  names  of  fleece  wools  and  dead 
wools,  according  as  they  have  been  shorn  at  the  usual 
annual  period  from  the  living  animal,  or  are  cut  from  its 
skin  after  death.  The  latter  are  comparatively  harsh, 
weak,  and  iucapable  of  imbibing  the  dyeing  principles, 
more  especially  if  the  sheep  has  died  of  some  malignant 
distemper.  The  annular  pores,  leading  into  the  tubular 
cavities  of  the  filaments,  seem,  in  this  case,  to  have  shrunk 
and  become  obstructed.  The  time  of  year  for  sheep- 
114 


WOOL. 

shearing  most  favourable  to  the  quality  of  the  wool,  and 
the  comfort  of  the  animal,  is  towards  the  end  of  June  and 
beginning  of  July — the  period  when  Lord  Leicester  holds 
his  celebrated  rural  fete  for  that  interesting  purpose. 

The  wool  of  the  sheep  has  been  surprisingly  improved, 
by  its  domestic  culture.  The  moufion  (Ovis  aries),  the 
parent  stock  from  which  our  sheep  is  undoubtedly  derived, 
and  which  is  still  found  in  a  wild  state  upon  the  mount- 
ains of  Sardinia,  Corsica,  Barbary,  Greece,  and  Asia  Minor, 
has  a  very  short  and  coarse  fleece,  more  like  hair  than 
wool.  When  this  animal  is  brought  under  the  fostering 
care  of  man,  the  rank  fibres  gradually  disappear ;  while 
the  soft  wool  round  their  roots,  little  conspicuous  in  the 
wild  animal,  becomes  singularly  developed.  The  male 
most  speedily  undergoes  this  change,  and  continues  ever 
afterward  to  possess  far  more  power  in  modifying  the 
fleece  of  the  offspring,  than  the  female  parent.  The  prod- 
uce of  a  breed  from  a  coarse-woolled  ewe  and  a  fine- 
woolled  ram,  is  not  of  a  mean  quality  between  the  two, 
but  halfway  nearer  that  of  the  sire.  By  coupling  the  fe- 
male thus  generated,  with  such  a  male  as  the  former, 
another  improvement  of  one  half  will  be  obtained,  af- 
fording a  staple  three  fourths  finer  than  that  of  the  gran- 
dam.  By  proceeding  inversely,  the  wool  would  be  as  rap- 
idly deteriorated.  It  is,  therefore,  a  matter  of  the  first  con- 
sequence in  wool  husbandry,  to  exclude  from  the  flock  all 
coarse-fleeced  rams. 

Long  wool  is  the  produce  of  a  peculiar  variety  of  sheep, 
and  varies  in  the  length  of  its  fibres  from  3  to  8  inches. 
Such  wool  is  not  carded  like  cotton,  but  combed  like  flax, 
either  by  hand  or  appropriate  machinery.  Short  wool 
is  seldom  longer  than  3  or  4  inches ;  it  is  susceptible  of 
carding  and  felting,  by  which  processes  the  filaments  be- 
come first  convoluted,  and  then  densely  matted  together. 
The  shorter  sorts  of  the  combing  wool  are  used  princi- 
pally for  hosiery,  though  of  late  years  the  finer  kinds 
have  been  extensively  worked  up  into  merino  and  mous- 
seline-de-laine  fabrics.  The  longer  wools  of  the  Leices- 
tershire breed  are  manufactured  into  hard  yarns,  for 
worsted  pieces,  such  as  waistcoats,  carpets,  bombazines, 
poplins,  crapes,  &c. 

The  wool  of  which  good  broad-cloth  is  made  should  be 
not  only  shorter,  but,  generally  speaking,  finer  and  softer 
than  the  worsted  wools,  in  order  to  fit  them  for  the  fulling 
process.  Some  wool-sorters  and  wool-staplers  acquire  by 
practice  great  nicety  of  discernment  in  judging  of  wools 
by  the  touch  and  traction  of  the  fingers.  Two  years  ago 
I  made  a  series  of  observations  upon  different  wools,  and 
published  the  results.    The  filaments  of  the  finer  qualities 

varied  in  thickness  from  -j-yVn  t0  TTTfTo  °^  an  incn  '  tne^r 
structure  is  very  curious,  exhibiting,  in  a  good  achromatic 
microscope,  at  intervals  of  about  ^~  of  an  inch,  a  series 
of  serrated  rings,  imbricated  towards  each  other,  like  the 
joints  of  Eguisctum,  or,  rather,  like  the  scaly  zones  of  3 
serpent's  skin.  (See  Philosophy  of  Manufactures,  figs.  11, 
12,  p.  91,  2d  ed.) 

There  are  four  distinct  qualities  of  wool  upon  every 
sheep ;  the  finest  being  upon  the  spine,  from  the  neck  to 
within  six  inches  of  the  tail,  including  one-third  of  the 
breadth  of  the  back  ;  the  second  covers  the  flanks  be- 
tween the  thighs  and  the  shoulders  ;  the  third  clothes  the 
neck  and  the  rump ;  and  the  fourth  extends  upon  the 
lower  part  of  the  neck  and  breast  down  to  the  feet,  as  also 
upon  a  part  of  the  shoulders  and  the  thighs,  to  the  bottom 
of  the  hind  quarter.  These  should  be  torn  asunder,  and 
sorted,  immediately  after  the  shearing. 

The,  harshness  of  wools  is  dependent  not  solely  upon 
the  breed  of  the  animal,  or  the  climate,  but  is  owing  to 
certain  peculiarities  in  the  pasture,  derived  from  the  soil. 
It  is  known,  that  in  sheep  fed  upon  chalky  districts,  wool 
is  apt  to  get  coarse ;  but  in  those  upon  a  rich  loamy  soil, 
it  becomes  soft  and  silky.  The  ardent  sun  of  Spain  ren- 
ders the  fleece  of  the  Merino  breed  harsher  than  it  is  in 
the  milder  climate  of  Saxony.  Smearing  sheep  with  a 
mixture  of  tar  and  butter  is  deemed  favourable  to  the  soft- 
ness of  their  wool. 

All  wool,  in  its  natural  state,  contains  a  quantity  of  a 
peculiar  potash-soap,  secreted  by  the  animal,  called  in 
this  country  the  yolk ;  which  may  be  washed  out  by  wa- 
ter alone,  with  which  it  forms  a  sort  of  lather.  It  consti- 
tutes from  25  to  50  per  cent,  of  the  wool,  being  most 
abundant  in  the  Merino  breed  of  sheep  ;  and  however  fa- 
vourable to  the  growth  of  the  wool  on  the  living  animal, 
should  be  taken  out  soon  after  it  is  shorn,  lest  it  injure  the 
fibres  by  fermentation,  and  cause  them  to  become  hard 
and  brittle.  After  being  washed  in  water,  somewhat 
more  than  lukewarm,  the  wool  should  be  well  pressed, 
and  carefully  dried.  England  grows  annually  about 
1.000,000  packs  of  wool,  and  imports  100,000  bags.  ( Ure's 
Diet.  ofJirts.) 

The  woollen  manufacture  was  the  early  staple  of  Eng- 
land. The  first  impulse  towards  the  improvement  of  the 
4  P  1345 


WOOLSACK. 

woollen  manufacture  was  given  in  the  14th  century,  by 
Edward  1U.,  who  invited  a  number  of  Flemish  manufac- 
turers to  settle  in  England.  But  the  manufacture  laboured, 
down  almost  to  our  own  day,  under  a  number  of  vexatious 
and  oppressive  restrictions  ;  and  it  did  not  begin  to  make 
any  very  rapid  progress,  or  to  participate  in  the  wonderful 
improvements  made  in  the  cotton  trade,  till  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  gig-machine,  &.c,  in  18W,  and  the  rejieal  of  the 
prohibitory  acts  of  Edward  VI.  and  Mary,  in  1807.  The 
total  value  of  the  exports  of  woollen  goods  in  1839 
amounted  to  X(i,-2Tl,ti4o,  of  which  the  exports  to  the 
V.  States  made  £-i,lil,3S2.  The  woollen  factories  of 
England  and  Wales  employed,  in  1838,  30,115  males,  and 
males. 

WOOLSACK.  The  seat  of  the  Lord  Chancellor  of 
England,  in  the  House  of  Lords,  is  so  called,  from  its  being 
a  large  square  bag  of  wool  without  back  or  arms,  covered 
with  red  cloth. 

WOOTZ,  A  species  of  steel  imported  from  Bengal,  pe- 
culiarly excellent  for  some  cutting  instruments.  It  appears 
to  contain  minute  portions  of  silicum  and  aluminum. 

WO  K.MIXG.  An  operation  performed  on  puppies,  con- 
sisting in  the  removal  of  a  vermiform  ligament  from  under 
the  tongue;  it  is  sometimes  supposed  to  prevent  "madness, 
but,  in  fact,  merely  breaks  them  of  their  habit  of  gnawing. 

WOULFE'S  APPARATUS.  A  series  of  two  or  three- 
necked  bottles,  connected  by  intermediate  tubes,  used  in 
the  chemical  labratory  for  impregnating  water  and  other 
liquids  with  various  gases  or  vapours. 

WKA  N'CLER.  At  Cambridge,  those  who  attain  the 
highest  honours  in  the  public  mathematical  examinations 
for  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  arts  are  so  called.  At  the 
close  of  the  last  day  of  examination,  those  who  have  most 
distinguished  themselves  (to  the  number  of  thirty  at  least) 
are  arranged  in  order  of  merit  by  the  examiners,  and  divi- 
ded into  three  classes  :  wranglers,  senior  optimes,  and  ju- 
nior optiuies.  The  first  or  senior  wrangler  is  the  most  dis- 
tinguished mathematician  of  his  year.  The  name  is  prob- 
ably derived  from  the  public  disputations  in  which  candi- 
dates for  degrees  were  formerly  required  to  exhibit  their 
powers  ;  of  which  the  "  exercises"  still  held  at  Cambridge 
retain  the  form. 

WRECKS.  Goods  cast  up  by  the  sea  after  a  ship- 
wreck, and  left  on  land  within  the  limits  of  some  county. 
The  goods  so  brought  to  land  belong  at  common  law  to  the 
king,  or  to  the  lord  of  the  manor  enjoying  the  franchise  of 
wreck.  It  was  ordained  by  Henry  I.  and  II.  that  such  for- 
feiture should  not  take  place  if  any  man  or  beast  escaped 
alive  from  the  wreck  ;  and  we  find  in  Bracton  (Henry  HI.) 
that  in  his  time  if  the  goods  could  be  known  by  marks  to 
appertain  to  any  owner,  it  was  no  wreck,  even  if  no  living 
creature  escaped.  The  limitation  of  claims  by  the  owner, 
by  stat.  Westm.,  1  (3  E.  1),  was  within  a  year  and  a  day. 
By  T  &.  8  G.  4,  plundering  wrecked  vessels  or  goods  strand- 
ed is  felony.  Goods  cast  overboard  at  sea,  and  not  strand- 
ed, are  divided  into  jetsam,  i.  e.,  things  sunk  to  the  bottom  ; 
fiotsam,  things  found  floating ;  and  ligsam,  things  sunk,  but 
fastened  to  a  buoy  or  cork  in  order  to  be  found  again. 
These  are  all  the  king's,  if  no  owner  appears  to  claim 
them  ;  and  they  do  not  pass  by  the  ordinary  grant  of 
wreck. 

WRIT.  In  Law,  a  precept  in  writing  under  seal,  in  the 
name  of  the  king,  judge,  or  other  person  having  jurisdic- 
tion in  the  particular  subject  matter,  and  directed  to  some 
public  officer  or  private  person,  requiring  him  to  do  some- 
thing in  relation  to  a  suit  or  action.  Writs,  though  still 
very  multifarious,  have  been  within  the  last  few  years 
much  reduced  in  number.  The  original  writ  issuing  out 
of  Chancery  for  the  commencement  of  actions  in  the  three 
courts  of  common  law  is  now  superseded  by  three  judicial 
writs,  which  issue  in  the  name  of  the  chief  justices  of  the 
respective  courts;  namely,  the  writ  of  summons,  the  writ 
of  capias  ad  respondendum,  and  the  writ  of  detainer.  The 
first  of  these  is  the  one  in  ordinary  use  ;  the  second  is  only 
used  when  it  is  Intended  to  arrest  the  defendant,  and  the 
last  when  ho  i^  already  in  prison  for  some  other  cause. 
WBITEES  TO  THE  SIGNET.     A    numerous    society 

of  lawyers  in  Scotland,  equivalent  to  the  highest  class  of 
attorneys  in  England.  They  possess  several  privileges. 
See  Bioket. 

WROCGHT.  In  Architecture,  a  term  applied  to  any 
material  to  denote  that  it  is  brought  to  a  fair  surface. 

WUOTAN.    See  Wodkn. 


X. 


X.    A  letter  borrowed  from  the  Greek,  and  used  chiefly 
In  words  derived  from  that  language.    Numerically  it  Big 

0     ami   as  an  abbreviation  it  is  used  for  Christ: 
Xmas  for  Christmas,  &c. 
1346 


YANOLITE. 

X  A  XTIIIC.  (Gr.  lavOos,  yellow.)  Tending  towards  a 
yellow  colour,  or  some  colour  not  green,  of  which  yellow 
farms  a  part;  as  orange,  which  is  a  mixture  of  yellow 
and  red  ;  scarlet,  which  is  another  mixture  of  the  same 
colours.  &c. 

XA'XTHIC  ACID.  (Gr.  lavdoc,  yellow,  and  >  cvrau,  I 
generate.)  An  acid  composed  of  sulphur,  carbon,  hydro- 
gen, and  oxygen,  obtained  in  combination  with  potassa  by 
agitating  sulphuret  of  carbon  mixed  with  solution  of  pure 
potassa  in  strong  alcohol.  Its  compounds  are  mostly  of  a 
yellow  colour,  whence  its  name.  The  relative  proportions 
of  its  component  parts  have  not  as  yet  been  satisfactorily 
obtained. 

XA'NTHIC  OXIDE.  (Gr.  tjavfloc,  yellow.)  A  yellow 
substance  found  by  Dr.  Marcet,  composing  a  urinary  calcu- 
lus ;  its  solution  in  nitric  acid,  when  evaporated  to  dryness, 
left  a  bright  lemon-coloured  residue. 

XE'BEC,  a  small  three-masted  vessel,  constructed  for 
conveying  merchandise  or  stores:  it  is  chiefly  found  in  the 
Mediterranean  and  on  the  coasts  of  Spain  and  Portugal. 

XEXELA'SIA.  (Gr.  the  expulsion  of  strangers.)  A 
Spartan  institution  which  prohibited  strangers  from  dwell- 
ing in  Sparta  beyond  a  certain  time,  and  also  from  entering 
the  city  except  on  suited  days.  The  object  of  this  institu- 
tion was  to  preserve  the  simplicity  of  manners  of  the  na- 
tion, and  prevent  foreigners  from  prying  into  their  measures; 
but  it  acquired  fur  Lacedaimon  the  reputation  of  great  in- 
hospitality. 

XE'NIA.  (Gr.  Icroc.)  In  Classical  Antiquities,  the  pres- 
ents given  by  friends  connected  by  the  rites  of  hospitality  as 
pledges  of  that  singular  relation.  In  the  Iliad,  the  mutual 
gift-  which  pass  between  Glaucus  and  Diomedeare  so  called. 

XEROPHA'GIA.  (Gr.  typos,  dry;  0«)  w,  J  eat.)  In 
Ecclesiastical  Antiquities,  a  name  given  to  the  rigorous 
practice  of  certain  fasts,  during  which  nothing  was  con- 
sumed but  bread  with  salt,  and  water.  It  was  particularly 
observed  in  Holy  Week. 

XIPHIRIIY'NCHS,  Xiphirhynchi.  (Gr.  l«!>oc,  a  sword, 
'puyxoc,  a  beak.)  The  name  given  by  Latreille  to  a  family 
of  Acanthopterygious  fishes,  of  which  the  sword-fish  {Xiphi- 
as)  is  the  type. 

XI'PHOSURES,  Xiphosura.  (Gr.  Itixic,  and  ovpa,  a  tail.) 
A  name  of  a  tribe  of  Crustaceans,  comprehending  those  in 
which  the  body  terminates  posteriorly  in  a  long,  hard, 
sword-shaped  appendage. 

XYLO'GRAPHY.  (Gr.  jjuAov,  wood,  and  yfja<pu,  I  draw.) 
The  same  as  wood  engraving.     Sec  Enouavi.no. 

XYLO'PHAGAXS,  Xylophaga.  (Gr.  \v\ov,  and  <paya>, 
I  eat.)  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Coleopterous  insects,  com- 
prehending those  of  which  the  larvie  devour  the  wood  of 
trees  in  which  they  are  developed  ;  also  applied  to  a  family 
of  Dipterous  insects,  the  larvte  of  which  have  similarly  de- 
structive habits. 

XYLO'PHILANS,  Xilophi/i.  (Gr.  ty^ov,  and  QtXeto,  I 
love.)  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  beetles,  consisting  of  those 
which  live  on  decayed  wood. 

XYLO'TROGES,  Xylotrogi.  (Gr.  \v\ov,  and  t/>ui)  o,  / 
gnaw.)  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Serricorn  beetles,  compre- 
hending those  which  perforate  timber. 

XYNO'ECIA.  In  Classical  Antiquities,  an  Athenian 
festival  in  commemoration  of  the  union  by  Theseus  of  the 
little  townships  of  Attica  into  one  commonwealth :  whence 
the  name,  derived  from  hjvo;,  common  ;  and  'otKcui,  I  inhabit. 

XYST,  or  XY'STOS.  (Gr.  tyards,  from  lvu>,  I  polish.) 
In  ancient  Architecture,  an  open,  or  sometimes  covered 
court,  of  great  length  in  proportion  to  its  width,  with  porti- 
coes on  three  sides,  for  the  performance  of  the  athletic  ex- 
ercises of  wrestling,  running,  &c. 


Y.  A  letter  borrowed  from  the  Greek  v,  is  considered  a 
consonant  at  the  beginning,  and  a  vowel  in  every  other 
place,  in  English  words.  As  a  vowel,  il  lias  exactly  the 
sound  of/,  being  short  or  long,  according  to  its  position. 

YACHT.    A  vessel  of  state  or  pl< 

YA'GERS,  or  JAGERS.  (Germ,  hunters.)  Light  in- 
fantry armed  with  rifles  [chasseurs,  riflemen).  In  the  Prus- 
sian service,  the  Yagers  form  a  distinct  corps  with  peculiar 
discipline;  in  that  of  Austria,  liL'iu  Infantry,  generally  from 
the  mountain  districts.  In  Germany  the  term  jager  is  ap- 
plied to  a  peculiai  Bp<  cies  of  higher  servant  attached  to  the 
families  of  the  aristocracy. 

YA  NKl'.K,  the  popular  name  for  the  Xew  Englanders 
in  America,  and  among  English  people  pretty  Ind 
nately  applied  to  all  inhabitants  of  the  United  States,  a  word 
tor  which  many  ridiculous  etj  mologies  have  been  assigned, 
K  according  to  Dr.  Welsh's  Dictionary,  "a  corruption  of 
the  word  English  by  the  Indians  of  North  America.'1 

FA'NOLJTE.  A  mineralogical  synonym  of  Anion, 
which  see. 


YARD. 

YARD.  The  British  standard  measure  of  length.  See 
Measures. 

Yard.  A  beam  or  rod  suspended  by  a  rope  called  the 
halliards,  for  the  purpose  of  extending  a  sail,  signals,  &c. 
A  yard  is  called  a  square  yard  when  hung  horizontally  by 
the  middle  :  such  a  yard  is  turned  round  by  braces. 

YARD-ARM.  In  Naval  language,  the  extremity  of  the 
yard.  Yard-arm  and  yard-arm  is  a  term  descriptive  of  two 
ships  engaging  each  other  as  close  as  possible. 

YAW.  The  Sea  term  for  temporary  deviation  from  a 
direct  course. 

YAWL.  A  particular  kind  of  carvel-built  boat,  rather 
narrow,  and  not  carrying  many  oars. 

YAWS.  A  disease  in  which  eruptions  form  upon  the 
skin,  somewhat  resembling  a  raspberry.     See  Frambcesia. 

YEAR.  A  period  of  time  determined  by  the  revolution 
of  the  earth  in  its  orbit,  and  embracing  the  four  seasons. 
The  year  is  either  astronomical  or  civil. 

The  astronomical  year  is  determined  by  astronomical  ob- 
servations, and  is  of  different  kinds,  according  to  the  celestial 
body  or  the  point  of  the  heavens  to  which  the  earth's  revo- 
lution is  referred.  When  the  earth's  motion  in  its  orbit  is 
referred  to  an  immoveable  point  in  the  heavens,  to  a  fixed 
star,  for  example,  the  time  of  revolution  is  that  which 
elapses  from  the  instant  at  which  the  star,  the  sun,  and  the 
earth  are  in  a  straight  line,  till  the  earth  returns  again  into 
the  same  straight  line  with  the  sun  and  the  star.  This  in- 
terval is  called  the  sidereal  year.  But  when  the  earth's 
motion  is  referred  to  a  point  of  the  ecliptic,  as  one  of  the 
equinoctial  points,  or  the  tropics,  the  time  of  revolution  is 
that  in  which  the  earth  returns  to  that  point,  and  is  called 
the  equinoctial,  or  tropical,  or  solar  year.  On  account  of  the 
precession  of  the  equinoxes  {sec  Precession)  the  equinoc- 
tial and  solstitial  points,  in  reference  to  the  fixed  stars,  have 
a  retiugrade  motion  on  the  ecliptic,  in  consequence  of  which 
the  earth  returns  to  one  of  these  points  in  a  shorter  time 
than  it  returns  to  the  same  fixed  star. 

The  length  of  the  sidereal  year  is  365-2563612  mean  solar 
days ;  or  365  d.  6  h.  9  m.  9-6  sec. 

The  length  of  the  equinoctial  or  tropical  year  is  365-2422414 
mean  solar  days,  or  365  d.  5  h.  48  m.  49-7  sec.  (Baily's 
Tables,  p.  16.) 

The  difference  is  19  minutes  19-9  seconds  of  mean  solar 
time,  being  the  time  in  which  the  earth  describes  in  its  orbit 
an  arc  of  50-1",  the  annual  precession  of  the  equinoxes. 
See  Earth. 

The  earth's  motion  may  also  be  reckoned  by  the  time  in 
which  a  revolution  is  completed  with  respect  to  the  line  o 
the  apsides  or  the  line  of  the  nodes.  In  these  cases  the 
times  of  revolution  may  be  called  respectively  the  anoma- 
listic year  and  the  nodical  year:  the  former  term  is  some- 
times met  with. 

The  civil  year  is  the  year  of  the  calendar.  As  it  is  always 
supposed  to  begin  with  the  beginning  of  a  day,  the  civil  year 
contains  a  whole  number  of  days  ;  and  hence,  in  order  that 
the  seasons  may  always  correspond  with  the  same  parts  of 
the  year,  it  is  necessary  from  time  to  time  to  vary  the  length 
of  the  year,  or  to  intercalate  a  day  when  the  fractional  parts 
neglected  have  accumulated  to  a  whole  day.  The  ancient 
Egyptian  year  consisted  invariably  of  3C5  days,  and  hence 
was  called  a  vague  or  erratic  year,  because  the  first  day  of 
the  year  in  the  course  of  1460  years  wandered,  as  it  were, 
over  all  the  seasons. 

The  Julian  year,  which  is  frequently  employed  in  chrono- 
logical reckoning,  consists  of  365^  days.  Julius  Ca;sar  or- 
dered that  the  civil  year  should  consist  of  365  days  for  three 
successive  years,  and  that  the  fourth  year  should  contain 
366  days.  This  practice  of  intercalating  a  day  every  fourth 
year  has  been  adopted  in  all  European  countries,  with  the 
modification  introduced  by  the  Gregorian  calendar.  The 
mean  Julian  year  is  longer  than  the  true  tropical  year  by 
11  m.  10-3  sec,  a  difference  which  amounts  to  a  whole  day 
in  about  120  years.  The  years  which  contain  365  days  are 
called  common  years  ;  those  which  contain  366  days  are 
called  leap  years.     See  Leap  Year. 

According  to  the  regulations  of  the  Gregorian  calendar 
the  intercalations  are  omitted  on  years  in  which  centuries 
end,  excepting  when  the  number  of  the  year  is  divisible  by 
4,  after  leaving  out  the  two  zeros.  Thus  the  years  1700, 
1800,  1900,  which  would  be  leap  years  in  the  Julian  calen- 
dar, are  common  years  in  the  Gregorian  ;  but  1600  and  2000 
are  leap  years  in  both  calendars.  (See  Calendar.)  The 
mean  length  of  the  Gregorian  year  is  365  d.  5  h.  49  m.  12 
sec,  exceeding  the  true  tropical  year  by  2238  sec,  which 
amounts  to  a  whole  day  only  in  about  3866  years. 

The  civil  or  legal  year,  in  England,  formerly  commenced 
on  the  25th  of  March,  the  day  of  the  Annunciation,  though 
the  historical  year  began  on  the  1st  of  January,  the  day  of 
the  Circumcision.  Between  these  two  epochs  it  was  usual 
to  date  the  year  both  ways,  as  1745-6  or  174|-.  By  the  act  of 
parliament  for  the  alteration  of  the  style  in  1751,  the  begin- 


YOKE. 

ning  of  the  year  was  transferred  to  the  1st  of  January.  IC 
is  frequently  necessary  to  keep  this  circumstance  in  mind 
in  referring  to  old  dates. 

The  fraction  by  which  the  tropical  years  exceed  days,  is 
•2422414  ;  and  the  series  of  approximating  vulgar  fractions 
alternately  greater  and  less  than  this  quantity  is, 

I,    -7—    _8_,       39  ,       231   ,     *.„ 
4'     29'     33'     TST'     1  160'    SC- 

The  fractions  in  this  series  indicate  the  intercalations  by 
which  the  coincidence  between  the  civil  and  solar  year  may 
be  restored  to  any  degree  of  exactness.  The  third,  JL,  offers 
a  very  convenient  mode  of  intercalation  which  would  pre- 
serve the  coincidence  with  great  accuracy.  It  requires 
eight  intercalations  to  be  made  in  thirty-three  years :  that 
is  to  say,  one  at  the  end  of  four  years  seven  times  in  suc- 
cession, and  the  eighth  at  the  end  of  the  fifth  year.  The 
mean  length  of  the  civil  year  would  by  this  arrangement 
differ  in  excess  from  the  solar  year  only  by  1538  seconds, 
while  the  Gregorian  year  is  too  long  by  2238  seconds.  In  a 
period  of  thirty-three  years,  it  therefore  produces  a  nearer 
coincidence  between  the  civil  and  solar  years  than  the 
Gregorian  method  does  in  400  years ;  and,  by  reason  of  its 
shortness,  it  also  confines  evagations  of  the  mean  equinox 
from  the  astronomical  within  much  narrower  limits.  The 
modern  Persians  are  said,  but  not  on  very  good  authority,  to 
intercalate  in  this  manner.  (Delambre,  ^istronomie  jfud- 
erne,  torn.  1.)     See  Calendar. 

Lunar  Year. — Though  the  return  of  the  seasons  obviously 
depends  on  the  motion  of  the  sun,  or  rather  of  the  earth  in 
its  orbit,  some  nations  have  chosen  to  regulate  their  civil 
year  by  the  motions  of  the  moon ;  and  many  others  have 
formed  luni-solar  years,  by  combining  periods  determined  by 
the  revolutions  of  both  bodies.  The  proper  lunar  year  con- 
sists of  twelve  lunar  months  or  lunations,  and  consequently 
contains  only  354  days :  its  commencement,  therefore,  an- 
ticipates that  of  the  solar  year  by  upwards  of  eleven  days, 
and  passes  through  the  whole  circle  of  the  seasons  in  about 
34  lunar  years.  The  inconvenience  attending  this  circum- 
stance has  been  so  universally  perceived  that,  excepting 
the  modern  Jews  and  Mohammedans,  almost  all  nations 
which  have  regulated  their  months  by  the  moon  have  em- 
ployed some  method  of  intercalation  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
taining the  beginning  of  the  year  at  nearly  the  same  place 
in  the  seasons.  These  methods  are  founded  on  certain  luni- 
solar  periods  or  cycles,  which  were  established  in  the  most 
ancient  times,  and  which,  with  other  relics  of  a  barbarous 
age,  are  still  preserved  in  our  ecclesiastical  calendars.  See 
Chronology,  Calendar,  Cycle. 

YEAST.  The  substance  produced  during  the  vinous 
fermentation  of  vegetable  juices  and  decoctions,  rising  partly 
to  the  surface  in  the  form  of  a  frothy,  flocculent,  and  some- 
what viscid  matter,  insoluble  in  water  and  alcohol,  and 
gradually  putrefying  in  a  warm  atmosphere.  It  excites  fer- 
mentation, and  accelerates  the  process  when  added  to  sac- 
charine and  mucilaginous  liquors.  It  appears  closely  allied 
to  gluten ;  and,  like  that  vegetable  principle,  it  contains 
nitrogen  as  one  of  its  ultimate  elements. 

YE'LLOW.  In  Painting,  a  colour  of  golden  hue,  and  of 
many  varieties.  It  is  one  of  the  seven  primary  colours. 
See  Colour.  Light. 

YE'LLOW  FEVER.  A  bilious  remittent  fever.  See 
Fever. 

YE'NITE.  A  ferruginous  silicate  of  lime,  from  Elba ; 
named  by  Lelievre,  its  discoverer,  in  honour  of  the  battle 
of  Jena. 

YEO'MAN.  (From  the  Anglo-Saxon  gemen ;  Germ, 
gemein,  common.)  Camden  ranks  yeomen  as  the  next  class 
to  the  gentlemen;  and  calls  them  "ingenuos."  The  name 
seems  to  have  been  generally  appropriated  in  the  middle 
ages  to  small  freeholders.  In  the  king's  household,  the 
yeomen  of  the  different  departments  have  a  middle  place 
between  the  sergeant  and  the  groom. 

Yeoman.  A  seaman  appointed  to  certain  duties,  as  to 
attend  to  the  store-rooms. 

YEO'MANRY  CAVALRY.  A  denomination  given  to 
those  troops  of  horse,  which  were  embodied  during  the 
Revolutionary  wars  of  France,  and  afterward  among  the 
gentlemen  and  yeomen  of  this  country'.  They  were  called 
out  annually,  and  disciplined  for  three  weeks ;  and  as  they 
consisted  entirely  of  volunteers,  and  were  not  called  upon 
to  leave  their  homes,  or  to  quit  their  ordinary  employments, 
except  for  the  short  period  they  were  in  quarters,  the  duty 
was  not  found  to  entail  any  serious  privation.  Several 
troops  of  yeomanry  are  still  kept  up,  though  most  of  them 
have  been  disbanded.  The  infantry  troops  that  voluntarily 
enrolled  themselves  for  similar  purposes  to  the  yeomanry, 
were  called  volunteers.  These  were  all  disbanded  at  the 
peace. 

YEOMEN  OF  THE  GUARD.    See  Guard,  Yeomanry 

OF  THE. 

YOKE.  A  piece  of  wood  or  light  frame  of  two  arms 
placed  over  the  head  of  a  boat's  rudder  instead  of  a  tiller 

1347 


YTTRIUM. 

and  having  two  lines  (yoke  lines),  by  pulling  on  which  the 
boat  is  steered. 

Y  TTRH'M.  The  metallic  base  of  an  earth,  discovered 
in  1794,  bv  Professor  Gedolin,  in  a  mineral  found  at  Ytterhy 
iu  Sweden,  whence  it  was  called  Yttria.  The  metal  was 
first  obtained  by  VViihler  in  1828  :  it  is  of  a  dark  gray  colour, 
and  brittle.  The  salts  of  Yttria  have  a  sweetish  taste,  and 
some  of  them  a  pale  purple  colour.  Yttria  is  distinguished 
from  glucina  by  the  amethystine  eolour  of  its  sulphate,  by 
its  insolubility  in  pure  potassa,  and  by  yielding  a  precipitate 
with  ferrocyanate  of  potassa.  According  to  Berzelius,  the 
equivalent  of  Yttrium  is  about  32  ;  and  that  of  Yttria,  which 
is  probably  a  protoxide,  40. 

YTTKOta  NT  with.  A  mineral  from  Ytterhy  in 
Sweden,  containing  Yttria  and  oxide  of  columbium. 

YU.     (Chinese.)     Nephrite  or  jade  (which  see). 

YULE.  The  common  Scottish  name  for  Christmas.  It 
appears  to  be  a  very  ancient  Celtic  word.  In  Welsh,  wyl 
or  gywl  signifies  a  holiday ;  whence  also  the  old  phrase, 
"  Gule  of  August,"  the  tirst  day  of  August,  or  fast  of  St.  Peter 
and  Vincula.  for  which  various  absurd  etymologies  have 
been  found.  Perhaps  the  old  French  word  "Noel,"  for 
Christinas  (used  also  generally  as  a  popular  cry  of  rejoicing), 
has  the  same  original.  (See  Arehaol.,  vol.  ii.)  Count  de 
Gebelin,  however,  derives  yule  from  a  supposed  primitive 
word,  connected  with  the  idea  of  revolution  or  "  wheel." 
(See  Brand's  Popular  Antiq.,  vol.  i.,  p.  3(54. 


z. 


Z.  The  last  letter  in  the  alphabet  of  all  the  modem  lan- 
guages, usually  regarded  as  a  double  consonant,  from  its 
having  the  sound  in  some  languages  of  ts  or  ds.  Like  the 
letter  x,  it  begins  no  word  originally  English  ;  and  Dr.  John- 
son has  remarked,  that  although  it  is  found  in  the  Saxon 
alphabets,  set  down  by  grammarians,  it  is  read  in  no  word 
originally  Teutonic. 

ZA'FFRE.  An  impure  oxide  of  cobalt,  obtained  by  ex- 
posing the  native  arseniuret  of  cobalt  broken  into  small 
pieces  to  the  action  of  heat  and  air  in  a  reverberating  fur- 
nace, by  which  its  elements  are  oxidized,  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  arsenic  driven  off. 
Z A' MITE.    Fossil  zamia. 

ZA'NTHOPI'CRIN.  A  bitter  principle,  obtained  from 
the  bark  of  the  Zanlhoxylon  carilxium.  It  forms  yellow 
acicular  crystals,  insoluble  in  ether,  but  readily  soluble  in 
alcohol,  and  sparingly  in  water. 
ZAX.  In  Architecture,  a  tool  for  cutting  slates. 
ZE'CHSTEIN.  (Germ.)  A  magnesian  limestone,  lying 
under  the  red  sandstone. 

ZE'IN.  A  substance  of  a  tough,  elastic  nature,  resem- 
bling gluten,  but  said  to  be  destitute  of  nitrogen,  contained 
in  Indian  wheat;  the  produce  of  the  Zea  mays. 

ZEMINDA'R.  (From  the  Persian  zemin,  land.)  A  title 
introduced  into  India  by  its  Mohammedan  conquerors,  con- 
ferred in  Bengal,  and  generally  throughout  the  Mogul  em- 
pire, on  the  agent  employed  to  collect  that  share  of  the 
produce  of  the  soil  which  belongs  to  it.  The  zemindars 
were  the  great  landholders  of  the  Mogul  empire  ;  but  the 
nature  of  their  tenure  has  given  rise  to  much  dispute. 
Whether  they  were  hereditary,  absolute  owners  of  the  soil, 
or  only  tenants  of  the  sovereign  at  a  fixed  rent  by  way  of 
land-taw  for  which  they  were  personally  responsible,  was  a 
question  much  agitated  by  writers  on  Indian  subjects  at  the 
period  of  the  "  Permanent  Settlement"  in  1793.  By  that 
settlement  the  rent  was  to  be  fixed  in  the  first  instance  by 
custom,  and  the  zemindar  was  then  to  give  the  ryot  a  lease 
restricted  to  himself  and  his  assignees  on  performance  of  its 
conditions;  his  own  share  being  fixed  as  before  at  10  per 
cent,  of  the  assessment,  and  his  hereditary  riL'ht  secured. 
A  y.einindary,  i.  e.,  the  district  of  a  zemindar,  is  liable  to  be 
sold  by  government  for  arrears  of  revenue,  and  existing 
leases  with  the  ryots  to  be  set  aside.  At  present  the  land- 
tax  of  India  is  levied  in  three  methods,  which  prevail  in 
different  districts — the  "zemindar  settlement,"  by  which 
the  zemindar  is  responsible  to  government;  the  "mouza- 
xvar"  or  village  settlement,  by  which  the  collector  contracts 
xvith  the  head  man  of  the  village;  and  (lie  "ryot war"  or 
cultix  at,  by  which  the  tax  is  collected  immedi- 

ately from  the  peasantry.  (See,  as  to  the  edicts  of  the 
zemlndary  settlement.  Mill's  History  of  British  India,  vol. 
x . ;  M'Culloch's  Edition  of  Smith's  Wealth  of  Motions,  note 
19;    Ed.  Rev.,  vols,  xxxi.,  lxxi.)     See  Ryots. 

ZE'ND-AVE'STA.  (Pers.  Living  Word.)  The  sacred 
books  of  the  Parsees  in  India,  and  Guebers  in  Persia,  who 
--  the  religion  of  tbe  ancient  Persians.  According  to 
the  popular  belief  among  them,  these  liooks  are  attributed 
to  the  famous  Zoroaster.  Their  real  history  is  much  dis- 
puted; inn  it  i-  generally  supposed  that  they  are  not  of 
great  antiquity,  and  that  the  belief  of  the  modem  Guebers 
1348 


ZENITH  SECTOR. 

is,  for  the  most  part,  a  compound  of  legendary  notions  drawn 
from  various  religions.  (See  Maqians.)  Sir  William  Jones 
thought  the  Zendavesta  a  forgery  of  the  learned  ad  venturer 

Anquetil  du  Perron.  (See  Mem.  de  I'Ac.  des  Inscr.,  vol. 
xxxi. ;  JUilman's  Hist,  of  Christianity,  vol.  i.,  p.  08,  for  the 
arguments  for  and  against  its  authenticity  ;  and  the  Conv. 
Lex.,  article  "  Persian  Religion."  See  ulso  Bryant's  My- 
thology, vol.  ii.,  p.  390,  401.)  It  is  certain,  at  all  events,  that 
the  Zend  language,  in  which  it  is  written,  is  of  great  anti- 
quity, and  radically  allied  to  the  Sanscrit.  See  Sanscrit, 
Parsees. 

ZE'NDIK.  In  Arabic,  a  name  given  to  those  who  are 
charged  with  atheism,  or  rather,  disbelief  of  any  revealed 
religion ;  or  with  magical  heresies.  The  sect  of  Zendiks 
opposed  the  progress  of  Mohammedanism  in  Arabia  with 
great  obstinacy.  It  appears  to  have  had  many  features  in 
common  xvith  Sadduceeism  among  the  Jews. 

ZE'NITH.  (From  the  Arabic.)  In  Astronomy,  the  top 
of  the  heax'en,  or  vertical  point ;  the  point  directly  over- 
head. The  zenith  is  that  point  of  the  celestial  sphere 
which  would  be  intersected  by  the  plumb  line,  supposed  to 
be  indefinitely  extended.  It  may  also  be  defined  as  the  pole 
of  the  horizon,  from  which  it  is  90°  distant.  All  vertical 
circles  or  azimuths  necessarily  pa^s  through  the  zenith. 

ZE'NITH  DISTANCE.  The  distance  of  any  celestial 
object  from  the  zenith ;  or  the  complement  of  the  altitude 
of  the  object  above  the  horizon. 

ZE'NITH  SECTOR.  An  astronomical  instrument,  con- 
trived for  the  purpose  of  measuring,  with  great  accuracy, 
the  zenith  distances  of  stars  xvhich  pass  near  the  zenith. 
It  was  by  means  of  a  zenith  sector  that  Bradley  discovered 
the  existence  and  magnitude  of  two  most  important  astro- 
nomical elements — the  aberration  of  light,  and  the  nutation 
of  the  earth's  axis.  The  instrument  has  also  been  gener- 
ally used  (in  this  country  at  least)  in  trigonometrical  sur- 
veys for  determining  the  difference  of  latitude  of  txvo  sta- 
tions, a  purpose  tor  xvhich  it  is  very  convenient;  for  the 
difference  of  the  zenith  distances  of  the  same  star,  observed 
at  its  meridional  passages  at  two  places,  gi\-es  the  difference 
of  the  astronomical  latitudes  of  the  places  xvithout  any  re- 
gard to  the  star's  declination.  The  general  description  of 
the  zenith  sector  has  been  gixren  by  the  present  Astrono- 
mer Roval  as  folloxvs  {Encyc.  Metrop.,  art.  "Figure  of  the 
Earth")': 

"  In  the  annexed  figure  A  B  is  a  bar  of  iron  with  a  cross 
piece  C  D,  the  whole  in  one  piece,  wg 
The  top  A  is  formed  in  such  a  way  |n 
that  the  instrument  can  be  turned  S 
half  around  in  azimuth  xvhen  sus-  ^ 
pended  at  the  top,  and  that  the  hot-  E 
torn  can  be  moved  freely  in  the  di-  | 
rections  D  C  or  C  D.    The  bracket  ? 
or   other  support  E,  on  xvhich   it  | 
rests,  is  attached  to  some  firm  part  3 
of  the  building.    To  the  bar  A  B  is  l^ 
firmly  attached  a  telescope  F  G.  ™aa 
At  a  point  a,  near  A,  is  attached  a 
plumb  line  a  H ;  sometimes  it  is 
fastened  at  a  point  of  attachment 
xvhich  is  moveable,  in  order  that 
by  moving  the  point  of  suspension 
the  plumb  line  may  be  made  to 
pass  over  a  fine  dot  at  a.    The  limb 
C  D  is  graduated,  sometimes  on  a 
circular  arc  of  which  a  is  the  cen- 
tre, and  sometimes  on  a  straight 
line.      L    D    is   a   screxv    passing 
through  a  block  strongly  connected 
with  the  floor,  and  acting  xvith  its 
point  against  the  end  D  of  the  piece 
C  I) ;  and  M  N  O  are  a  string  and 
xxeight  pressing  the  sector  against 
the  point  of  the  screxv." 

The  method  of  observing  with 
the  zenith  sector  is  this:  A  clock 
being  regulated  by  transits  or  equal 
altitudes,  the  direction  of  the  meri- 
dian is  found,  and  guides  fixed  to 
compel  tin  sector  to  move  in  the 
meridian.  When  a  star  is  to  tie  ob- 
served, the  screw  L  I)  is  turned  till  the  plumb  line  falls  ex- 
actly on  some  point  K  of  the  graduated  arc,  such  that  the 
telescope  is  very  nearly  directed  to  the  point  through  which 
the  Mar  will  pass  when  it  comes  to  the  meridian.  When 
the  star  enters  the  Geld  of  view,  the  screxv  is  again  turned 
till  the  star  appears  to  glide  exactly  along  the  wire  fixed  In 
the  focus  of  the  eye  glass ;  and  the  motion  of  the  screxv  be- 
ing ascertained,  and  tin  value  of  the  division  knoxvn,  the 
apparent  zenith  distance  of  the  star  is  found.  But  it  is  evi- 
dent that  this  's  QOI  the  true'  zenith  distance,  unless  the  zero 
point  of  the  division  on  tbe  scale  be  quite  accurate  ;  that  is 
to  say,  M  placed  that  when  the  plumb  line  falls  on  it,  the 


ZEOLITE. 

optical  axis  of  the  telescope  is  exactly  vertical.  It  is  im- 
possible to  insure  this  accuracy  ;  but  it  is  easy  to  see  that 
if  the  instrument  be  turned  half  round  in  azimuth,  and  the 
same  observation  made,  the  apparent  zenith  distance  will 
be  just  as  much  greater  than  the  true  as  in  the  former  de- 
termination it  was  less.  The  mean  of  the  two  will  there- 
fore be  the  true  zenith  distance  of  the  star. 

The  advantages  of  the  zenith  sector  are  these :  The  stars 
observed  being  very  near  the  zenith,  the  tremor  and  dancing 
which  generally  affect  stars  in  other  positions  are  seldom 
seen  ;  there  is  no  uncertainty  about  the  effects  of  refraction ; 
the  telescope  and  the  whole  instrument  are  not  subject  to 
flexure ;  and  the  variation  of  temperature  produces  no  sen- 
sible effect. 

(For  a  detailed  account  of  Ramsden's  zenith  sector  used  in 
the  measurement  of  the  English  arcs  of  the  meridian,  see  the 
second  volume  of  the  Trigonometrical  Survey  of  England 
and  Wales,  or  Phil.  Trans,  for  1803.  This  superb  instru- 
ment was  unfortunately  burned  in  the  great  fire  which  took 
place  in  theJTower  of  London  in  October,  1841.  Another 
sector,  on  a  different  plan  from  that  above  described  (the 
zenith  point  being  determined  by  levels  instead  of  a  plumb 
line)  has  recently  been  constructed  for  the  use  of  the  sur- 
vey by  Trougliton  and  Simms,  under  the  directions  of  the 
Astronomer  Royal.  A  description  of  the  new  instrument 
is  given  in  the  Monthly  Notices  of  the  Royal  Astronomical 
Society  fur  May,  1842.J 

ZE'OLITE.  (Gr.  i,£w,  /  boil,  and  hdoc,  stone.)  A  name 
given  to  a  family  of  minerals,  which,  when  heated  before 
the  blowpipe,  melt  with  considerable  ebullition.  They 
mostly  consist  of  silica,  alumina,  lime,  and  water. 

JVatrolite.  A  species  of  zeolite  containing  soda:  from 
natron,  or  soda. 

ZE'PHYRUS.  (Gr.  Z,t<j>ypoc.)  The  west  wind,  a  my- 
thological divinity,  child  of  Astrreus  and  Aurora,  according 
to  Hesiod ;  to  whom  Anchises  sacrifices  a  ram.  It  is  said 
to  be  the  same  wind  with  the  Latin  Favonius ;  but  Vegetius 
distinguishes  between  the  two. 

ZERI'NTHIA.  (Gr.  ZtptvQia,  one  of  the  names  of  the 
goddess  i  if  love.)  The  name  of  a  subgenus  of  butterflies 
in  Treitschke's  system,  where  it  is  erroneously  written 
Zerynthiii. 

ZE'RO.  (Ital.  7)  A  term  generally  used  in  reference  to 
the  thermometer,  implying  the  point  at  which  the  gradua- 
tion commences.  The  zero  of  Reaumur's  and  of  the  centi- 
grade thermometer  is  the  freezing  point  of  water.  The 
zero  of  Fahrenheit's  scale  is  32°  below  the  point  at  which 
water  congeals,  being  about  the  temperature  of  a  mixture 
of  salt  and  snow.    See  Thermometer. 

ZE'THES.  In  Classical  Mythology,  Zethes  and  Calais 
were  the  sons  of  Boreas,  king  of  Thrace,  and  Orithyia. 
They  accompanied  the  Argonauts,  and  were  afterwards 
slain  by  Hercules. 

ZEU'GMA.  (Gr.  gtvyna,  yoke.)  A  figure  in  grammar,  by 
which  as  adjective  or  verb  which  agrees  with  a  nearer  word 
is  referred  also,  by  way  of  supplement,  to  one  more  remote. 

ZI'MOME.  (Gr.  {vuwixa,  a  ferment.)  That  part  of  the 
gluten  of  wheat  which  is  insoluble  in  alcohol.  When 
rubbed  in  a  mortal  with  powdered  guaiacum,  it  produces 
a  fine  blue  colour. 

ZINC.  A  metal,  first  mentioned  by  Paracelsus ;  but  its 
ores  were  known  at  a  much  earlier  period.  In  commerce 
it  is  often  called  spelter ;  and  is  obtained  either  from  the 
native  carbonate  of  zinc,  called  calamine,  or  from  the  native 
sulphuret  or  blende  of  mineralogists.  These  ores  are  roast- 
ed and  mixed  with  charcoal  or  carbonaceous  flux ;  the  mix- 
ture is  put  into  a  kind  of  crucible  closed  at  top,  and  per- 
forated at  bottom  by  an  iron  tube,  which  passes  through  the 
grate  of  the  furnace  into  water ;  the  vapour  of  the  zinc  dis- 
tils downwards  through  this  tube,  and  is  condensed  in  the 
water.  The  first  portions  are  impure,  containing  arsenic, 
and  often  cadmium,  in  which  case  the  vapour  burns  with 
what  the  workmen  call  a  brown  blaze  ;  when  the  blue  blaze 
appears  the  zinc  is  collected.  The  zinc  of  commerce  (which 
is  not  quite  pure)  has  a  peculiar  bluish  colour  and  lustre, 
a  lamellar  and  crystalline  texture,  and  its  specific  gravity 
is  about  7.  At  common  temperatures  it  is  tough  and  in- 
tractable under  the  hammer;  and  when  heated  to  above 
500°  it  becomes  brittle,  and  fuses  at  about  770°.  But  at 
temperatures  between  2-20°  and  320°  it  becomes  malleable 
and  ductile ;  so  that  it  may  be  beaten  out  under  the  ham- 
mer, and  rolled  into  sheets  and  leaves,  and  drawn  into  wire, 
in  a  manner  extremely  remarkable  when  its  highly  crystal 
line  texture  is  considered.  Being  a  cheap  and  light  metal, 
and  one  which,  after  having  been  superficially  oxidized, 
long  resists  the  farther  action  of  air  and  water,  it  has  late- 
ly been  much  employed  as  a  substitute  for  lead  in  lining 
water  cisterns  and  covering  buildings ;  it  has  also  been 
lately  employed  in  the  curious  operation  of  transferring 
printing  (under  the  name  of  zincography).  It  is  a  very  in- 
flammable metal,  burning  in  the  flame  of  a  spirit  lamp  with 
a  brilliant  white  light;  but  the  oxide  which  forms  inter- 
feres with  its  continuous  combustion,  which  can  only  be 


ZODIAC. 

carried  on  at  a  high  red  heat,  when  the  vapour  of  the  metal 
burns  with  an  intensely  bright  flame,  and  yields  at  the  same 
time  a  quantity  of  tlocculent  oxide,  which  floats  about  in 
the  surrounding  air,  and  was  formerly  called  philosopher's 
wool,  pompholiz,  and  nihil  album.  The  equivalent  of  zinc 
is  32,  and  that  of  its  oxide  40.  Though  zinc  is  apparently 
without  action  upon  water,  yet  it  is  a  most  oxidable  metal ; 
but  the  insolubility  of  its  oxide  protects  it  from  farther  ac- 
tion, so  that  when  a  film  is  once  formed  upon  it,  it  resists 
farther  change ;  but  when  a  little  acid  is  present  in  the 
water,  and  the  zinc  not  quite  pure,  it  is  rapidly  acted  upon, 
and  oxidized  at  the  expense  of  the  water,  which  evolves 
abundance  of  hydrogen  (when  dilute  sulphuric  acid  is  used), 
and  the  oxide  of  zinc  is  removed  and  dissolved  by  the  acid. 
It  is  this  action  which  renders  zinc  so  powerful  a  generator 
of  electricity  in  the  voltaic  pile.  The  salts  of  zinc  are  most- 
ly soluble,  and  have  a  nauseous  astringent,  and  metallic 
taste.  The  sulphate  of  zinc,  or  white  vitriol,  is  employed  in 
medicine  as  an  emetic  and  tonic,  and  the  oxide  and  carbon- 
ate are  externally  used  in  the  form  of  ointment.  The 
chloride  of  zinc  is  a  colourless  compound,  fusible  at  a  heat 
a  little  above  212°,  and  known  to  the  older  chemists  under 
the  name  of  butter  of  zinc.  Brass  is  an  alloy  of  zinc  and 
copper. 

ZINGlBERA'CEyE  (Zingiber,  one  of  the  genera),  or 
SCITAMINEjE.  A  natural  order  of  Herbaceous  Monan- 
drous  Endogens,  inhabiting  the  tropics.  It  is  distinguished 
from  the  Musaceous  order  in  the  latter  having  five  or  six 
stamens,  with  a  calyx  and  corolla  of  the  same  texture  ;  and 
from  Iridacece,  by  two  of  the  stamens  being  either  deform- 
ed or  abortive ;  and  from  Marantacem,  by  the  single  stamen 
being  placed  opposite  to  the  labellum  or  anterior  division 
of  the  inner  series  of  the  corolla,  and  proceeding  from  the 
base  of  the  posterior  outer  division.  Cardamoms  are  the 
seeds  of  several  plants  of  this  order,  which  are,  however, 
principally  valued  for  the  aromatic  stimulating  properties 
of  the  root  or  rhizoma;  such  are  found  in  ginger  (Zingiber 
officinale),  galangale  (Alpinia  racemosa  galanga)  and  zedoa- 
ry  (Curcuma  zedoaria  and  zerumbet).  Turmeric,  a  substance 
half  dye  and  half  condiment,  is  the  powder  of  the  rhizoma 
of  Curcuma  longa. 

ZI'RCON.  A  mineral  chiefly  composed  of  zirconia  and 
silica,  found  in  the  sand  of  the  rivers  of  Ceylon,  and  occa- 
sionally imbedded  in  primitive  rocks.  It  is  of  various  col- 
ours, and  when  transparent  is  sometimes  used  in  jewellery. 

ZIRCO'NIUM.  The  metallic  base  of  zirconia,  an  earth 
discovered  in  1789,  by  Klaproth,  in  the  jargon  or  zircon  of 
Ceylon.  Zirconium  has  only  been  obtained  in  the  form  of 
a  black  powder,  which  when  heated  in  the  air  burns  into 
the  oxide.  The  salts  of  zirconia  are  distinguished  from 
those  of  alumina  and  glucina  by  being  precipitated  by  all 
the  pure  alkalies,  and  by  being  insoluble  when  they  are 
added  in  excess. 

ZOA'NTHUS.  (Gr.  ^wov,  an  animal,  and  avBoq,  a  flower.) 
The  name  of  a  genus  of  Polypes,  comprehending  those 
which  possess  the  complex  structure  of  the  Actinia,  but 
consist  of  different  individuals  adhering  to  a  common  fleshy 
basis. 

ZO'CLE,  or  ZOCCOLO.  (It.  zoccolo,  a  wooden  shoe.) 
In  Architecture,  the  same  as  socle ;  which  sec. 

ZO'DIAC.  (Gr.  X,oiiiov,  dim.  of  X,uiov,  animal;  because 
the  constellations  of  the  ecliptic  are  for  the  most  part  rep- 
resented in  celestial  charts  by  the  figures  of  animals.)  An 
imaginary  zone  or  belt  in  the  heavens,  extending  to  about 
8°  or  9°  on  each  side  of  the  ecliptic,  which  divides  it  in  the 
middle.  No  use  is  made  of  the  zodiac  in  astronomy ;  the 
name  only  indicates  that  region  of  the  heavens  within 
which  the  apparent  motions  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  all  the 
greater  planets  are  confined.  Three  of  the  new  planets, 
Juno,  Ceres,  and  Pallas,  have  inclinations  which  exceed  the 
limits  of  the  ancient  zodiac,  and  are  therefore  sometimes 
called  extra-zodiacal  planets;  but  Vesta  is  also  sometimes 
included  in  the  same  description.     See  Planet. 

The  zodiac  is  divided  into  twelve  equal  parts,  called 
signs ;  which  are  designated  by  the  names  of  the  constel- 
lations with  the  places  of  which  the  signs  anciently  corres- 
ponded. They  are  Aries,  Taurus,  Gemini,  Cancer,  Leo, 
Virgo,  Libra,  Scorpio,  Sagittarius,  Capricornus,  Aquarius, 
and  Pisces.  The  signs  are  counted  from  the  vernal  equinox, 
one  of  the  points  in  which  the  equator  intersects  the  eclip- 
tic ;  whence,  in  consequence  of  the  regression  of  the  equi- 
noctial points,  their  position  with  respect  to  the  constella- 
tions or  fixed  stars  is  greatly  different  from  what  it  was  in 
remote  ages.  Some  time  prior  to  Hipparchus,  the  first  points 
of  the  constellations  Aries  and  Libra  corresponded  to  the 
vernal  and  autumnal  equinoxes ;  those  of  Cancer  and  Capri- 
corn to  the  summer  and  winter  solstices :  at  present,  the  dif- 
ference is  about  30°.  The  vernal  equinox  now  happens  in 
the  constellation  Pisces,  the  summer  solstice  in  Gemini,  the 
autumnal  equinox  in  Virgo,  and  the  winter  solstice  in  Sa- 
gittarius ;  but  the  vernal  equinox  always  corresponds  to  the 
first  point  of  the  sign  Aries,  the  summer  solstice  to  the  first 
of  Cancer,  and  so  on.    On  this  account  it  is  necessary  to  dis- 

1349 


ZODIACAL  LIGHT. 

tinguLsh  between  the  signs  of  the  zodiac,  which  follow  the 
motions  of  the  c4111nnct1.il  points,  and  the  constellations  of 
>-,  which  are  immoveable  in  the  celestial  sphere 
It  has  In  en  supposed  that  the  constellations  of  the  zodiac 
wore  Invented  in  Kg>  pt  in  a  very  remote  age,  and  that  tiny 
had  a  reference  to  the  divisions  of  the  seasons  and  the  agri- 
culture of  that  country  at  the  time  of  their  invention.  If 
we  go  back  to  a  period  about  2500  before  Christ,  the  con- 
stellations Aquarius  and  Pisces,  at  the  season  of  the  over- 
flow of  the  .Nile,  would  be  diametrically  opposite  to  the  sun, 
and  would  consequently  rise  at  sunset.  Virgo,  usually  rep- 
resented n>  a  woman  With  an  ear  ol  corn  in  her  ha  111 1,  would 
be  the  constellation  ri-i nir  at  sunset  in  the  time  of  the  har- 
vest in  Egypt  Such  conjectures,  however,  it  is  easy  to 
conceive,  are  at  best  extremely  uncertain.  Representations 
of  the  zodiac  have  been  found  in  several  Egyptian  temples, 
Bud  al-o  in  other  eastern  countries,  which  have  given  rise 
to  much  discussion.  (See  Dupuis,  .Memoire  surl'Origine  du 
Zodiaque ;  Biot,  Hecherchrs  sur  I'Astron&mie  Egyptienne  ; 
Montncla,  Jlistoire.  dis  .Math.  torn.  i. ;  Bailly,  Histoire  de 
l'.i.-tr.  jjneienne.) 

ZODIACAL  LIGHT.  In  Astronomy,  a  faint  nebulous 
aurora  which  accompanies  the  sun.  This  curious  phenom- 
enon was  observed  by  Kepler,  who  supposed  it  to  be  the 
solar  atmosphere;  but  it  was  tirst  accurately  described  by 
Dominic  Cassini.  who  gave  it  the  name  by  which  it  is  now 
known.  It  is  visible  immediately  before  sunrise  or  after  sun- 
set, in  the  place  where  the  sun  is  about  to  appear  or  has  just 
quitted  in  the  horizon.  It  has  a  flat  lenticular  form,  as  rep- 
resented in  the  annexed  figure,  extending  from  the  horizon 
H  H  obliquely  upwards,  and 
following  the  course  of  the 
ecliptic,  or  rather  of  the  sun's 
equator.  For  this  reason  it  is 
scarcely  visible  in  our  lati- 
tudes, excepting  in  those  sea- 
sons when  the  plane  of  the 
sun's  equator  is  most  nearly 
perpendicular  to  the  horizon. 
The  most  favourable  times  for 
observing  it  are  in  the  months 
of  April  or  May,  in  the  even- 
ing, or  at  the  opposite  season 
of  the  year  before  sunrise.  At 
other  times,  the  plane  of  the  solar  equator  being  more  ob- 
lique, and  the  luminous  pyramid  inclined  in  the  same  de- 
gree, it  rises  so  little  above  the  horizon  that  its  light  is  ef- 
faced by  the  atmosphere  of  the  earth.  The  apparent  an- 
gular distance  of  its  vertex  from  the  sun  varies,  according 
to  circumstances,  from  40°  to  90°  or  100°.  and  the  breadth 
of  its  base  perpendicular  to  its  axis  from  8°  to  30°.  It  is 
extremely  faint  and  ill-defined,  at  least  in  this  climate  ; 
though  it  is  better  seen  in  tropical  countries. 

Numerous  opinions  have  been  entertained  respecting  the 
nature  and  cause  of  this  singular  phenomenon.  Cassini 
thought  it  might  proceed  from  the  blended  light  of  an  in- 
numerable multitude  of  little  planets  circulating  about  the 
sun,  as  the  milky  way  owes  its  appearance  to  the  light  of 
agglomerated  myriads  of  stars.  Euler  endeavoured  to 
prove  that  it  proceeds  from  the  same  causes  as  the  tails  of 
comets.  Kepler  had  ascribed  its  appearance  to  the  solar 
atmosphere;  and  the  same  hypothesis  was  adopted  by 
Mairnn  and  others,  till  it  was  shown  by  Laplace  to  be  un- 
tenable for  the  following  reasons :  In  the  first  place,  the  solar 
atmosphere  cannot  extend  beyond  the  distance  at  which 
the  centrifugal  force  would  be  balanced  by  the  attraction  ; 
but  this  point  lies  far  within  the  orbit  of  Mercury,  the  great- 
est elongation  of  which  is  28°,  whereas  the  zodiacal  light 
has  been  observed  to  extend  to  100°  from  the  sun.  In  the 
second  place,  in  order  that  the  spheroid  of  the  solar  atmo- 
sphere may  be  in  equilibrium,  the  ratio  of  the  equatorial  to 
the  polar  axis  cannot  exceed  that  of  3  to  l2 ;  whence  its  form 
would  not  correspond  with  the  lenticular  appearance  of  the 
eodiacal  light.  Sir  John  Herschel  remarks,  that  "it  may 
be  conjectured  to  be  no  other  than  the  denser  part  of  that 
medium,  which,  as  we  have  reason  to  believe,  resists  the 
motion  of  comets;  loaded,  perhaps,  with  the  actual  ma- 
terials of  the  tails  of  millions  of  those  bodies,  of  which  they 
have  been  Stripped  in  their  successive  perihelion  passages, 
and  which  maj  be  slowly  subsiding  into  the  sun." — Astron- 
omy. I  'ah.  (  i/r..  p.  407.  (Biot,  Astronomic  Physique  :  Maiian. 
Trmte  Phyiiqutet  Ihstoriquc  de  I'Aurore  Boreale ;  Euler, 
Man.  de  Berlin,  1740;  Lalande,  Astronomic,  torn.  1 :  Books, 
Opera  I'osth.) 

ZollAR.  Web.  splendour.)  A  Jewish  book,  highly 
esteemed  by  the  rabbia,  and  supposed  to  be  of  great,  though 
altogether  unascertained,  antiquity.  Et  consists  of  cabalii 
tical  commentaries  on  Scripture,  especially  the  bonks  of 
Moses.     It  baa  Ixen  translated  into  Latin  (ed.  1G80). 

Z<  M'SITK.     A  variety  of  cpidote,  named  after  its  discov- 
erer Baron  von  Zeis. 
ZONE  (Gr.  luivt),  a  girdle  or  belt),  in  Astronomy,  denotes 
130U 


ZOOLOGY. 

a  portion  of  the  celestial  sphere  included  between  two  paral- 
lel circles.  In  Geography,  the  terrestrial  zones  are  the  five 
broad  spaces  or  belts  into  which  the  surface  of  the  earth  is 
divided  by  the  two  tropics  and  the  two  polar  circles.  The 
space  included  between  the  tropics  is  called  the  torrid  zone  ; 
its  breadth  is  equal  to  47°.  or  twice  the  sun'.-  greatest  de- 
clination, and  it  Is  divided  into  two  equal  parts  by  the  equa- 
tor. That  included  between  the  tropic  of  Cancer  and  the 
arctic  circle  is  Called  the  north  ttmpcrate  zone;  and  that  be- 
tween the  tropic  of  Capricorn  and  the  antarctic  circle  the 
South  tfiii/irrate  zone.  The  breadth  of  each  of  these  is  43°. 
The  space  between  the  arctic  circle  and  the  north  pole  is 
the  north  frigid  zone  ;  and  that  between  the  antarctic  circle 
and  the  south  pole  is  the  south  frigid  zone.  See  Geogra- 
phy. Earth. 

ZOO'URAPHY.  (Gr.  \oiov,  and  ypaQw,  I  write.)  The 
description  of  animals. 

ZOO'LATRY.  (Gr.  \u>ov,  an  animal,  and  "Xarpcvoi,  1 
worship.)  The  worship  of  animals;  which  wns  the  char- 
acteristic of  the  ancient  Egyptian  religion  most  remarked 
upon  by  foreigners. 

ZOO'LOGY.  (Gr.  \o>ov,  an  animal;  Aoyoj,  a  discourse.) 
The  science  of  animals.  It  teaches  their  nature  and  prop- 
erties, their  classification,  and  their  order  of  succession  upon, 
and  their  distribution  over  the  earth. 

A  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  animals,  as  it  implies  that 
of  their  organization,  and  of  the  functions  and  interde- 
pendencies  of  their  component  parts,  constitutes  the  two 
great  branches  of  zoology,  called  Zootomy,  or  comparative 
anatomy,  and  Physiology.  The  doctrine  of  the  succession 
of  species  of  animals  upon  the  earth,  ns  it  relates  principal- 
ly to  such  as  no  longer  exist,  is  included  in  a  third  branch 
of  the  science  of  animals,  called  Palaontologi),  With  which 
is  closely  connected  that  which  treats  of  the  geographical 
distribution  of  existing  species.  The  term  Zoology  is  prac- 
tically restricted  to  the  science  of  the  outward  characters, 
habits,  properties,  and  classification  of  animals. 

As  the  forms  of  living  animals,  the  parts  they  play  in  the 
theatre  of  nature,  their  good  and  evil  relations  to  man,  can- 
not be  profitably  treated  of  in  the  space  assigned  to  this  ar- 
ticle, it  will  be  limited  to  the  exposition  of  the  principles  of 
the  classification  of  animals,  and  of  the  characters  and  rela- 
tive value  of  those  groups  which  have  not  been  already 
treated  of  in  the  present  work. 

A  classification  is  essentially  based  on  the  ideas  of  like- 
ness, unlikeness,  and  proportion  in  its  subjects.  When  it  is 
purposed  to  define,  in  a  classification  of  animals,  their  differ- 
ent degrees  of  resemblance,  a  natural  system  is  aimed  at. 
When  a  classification  is  restricted  to  the  enunciation  of  a 
few  likenesses  which  may  be  most  readily  detected  and 
most  easily  retained  in  the  memory,  it  becomes  an  artificial 
system.  A  likeness  extends  as  far  as  a  character  is  com- 
mon ;  and  the  more  extended  or  common  the  property  or 
structure  on  which  such  character  is  founded,  the  more  im- 
portant and  essential  it  becomes  as  an  element  of  the  classi- 
fication. 

Zoologists  having  ascertained  as  many  of  the  characters 
common  to  all  animals  as  served  to  form  their  complex  idea 
of  an  animal,  have,  in  the  next  place,  endeavoured  to  dis- 
cover the  difference,  which,  added  to  the  idea  or  definition 
of  the  animal,  would  form  the  most  extended  species  of  that 
genus,  logically  speaking. 

Such  a  difference  or  character  is  not  to  he  detected  by  B 
superficial  examination.  Aristotle  thought  he  had  found  it 
in  the  blood,  recognizing  as  blood  only  the  red  coloured  nu- 
trient fluid,  like  that  which  flows  in  the  arteries  and  veins 
of  man.  His  primary  division  of  animals  was  therefore  into 
Sanguineous  and  Exsanguineous  animals  ;  the  F.naima  and 
the  Anaima.  The  Enaima  were  the  beasts,  birds,  reptiles, 
and  fishes ;  and  the  Anaima,  or  bloodless  animals,  included 
all  the  lower  species. 

Nothing,  perhaps,  can  show  more  forcibly  the  nature  and 
amount  of  observation  required  to  frame  a  good  classifica- 
tion, and  the  value  of  the  information  concentrated  in  its 
exposition,  than  the  great  and  long  continued  deference  paid 
to  this  early  step  in  the  classiricntory  branch  of  zoology,  and 
the  minute  and  extended  researches  required  for  the  elimi- 
nation of  its  erroneous  element.  First,  it  was  found  that 
many  of  the  Exsanguineous  animals  of  Aristotle  did  actually 
possess  blood,  differing  only  in  colour  from  that  of  the  so- 
called  Sanguineous  species.  This  discovery,  however,  led 
only  to  a  nominal  improvement  in  the  primary  division  of 
animals;  the  Enaima  being  "red-blooded,"  and  the  Anaima 
"  white  blooded"  animals.  It  was  reserved  for  Cuvier.  in 
the  course  of  his  minute  dissections  of  the  lower  animals, 
to  discover  that  an  extensive  class  of  worms  had  red  blood 

circulating  in  a  Closed  ByatOlP  Of  arteries  and  Veins;  and  this 
discovery  first  materially  affected  the  value  of  the  character 
adopted  by  Aristotle  for  the  primary  groups  of  the  animal 
kingdom. 

ROW,  if  scientific  classification  were  really  based  on  the 
idea  of  likeness  alone,  and  the  grouping  together  of  individ- 


ZOOLOGY. 


uals  inlo  kinds  in  forming  a  natural  system  were  regulated 
by  a  consideration  of  their  resemblances  only,  then  the 
modification  of  the  Aristotelian  system  involved  in  Cuvier's 
discovery  would  be  merely  an  extension  of  the  group  Enai- 
nu  at  the  expense  of  the  group  Anaima  ;  and  the  Anellides, 
or  red-blooded  worms,  must  have  been  united  with  birds, 
fishes,  and  other  Sanguineous  animals.  But  the  zoologist, 
in.  the  formation  of  a  natural  system,  has  to  be  governed  at 
evety  step  by  the  idea  of  difference  as  well  as  by  that  of  like- 
ness. Coincident  with  the  discovery  above  mentioned  was 
the  perception  that  if  the  Anelides  resembled  beasts  in  the 
colour  of  their  blood,  they  differed  from  them  in  most  other 
essential  points ;  and  thus  the  circulating  fluid  was  rejected 
as  a  ground  for  the  primary  groups  of  the  animal  kingdom, 
and  other  characters  were  eagerly  sought  for. 

Lamarck  conceived  that  he  had  discovered  the  best  sub- 
stitute for  the  Aristotelian  primary  character  in  the  verte- 
bral column;  this  structure  being  present  in  all  the  Enaima 
of  Aristotle,  and  absent  in  all  the  Anaima.  He  proposed, 
therefore,  the  name  of  Vertebrata  for  the  one  class,  and  In- 
vertebrata  for  the  other.  The  defect  of  this  primary  division 
of  the  animal  kingdom  was  soon  perceived  to  arise  from  the 
neglect  of  a  third  fundamental  idea  in  a  classificatory 
science,  viz.,  that  of  proportion,  or  relative  value,  in  the 
primary  groups ;  and  in  the  attempt  to  remedy  this  defect 
the  Important  discovery  was  made,  that  the  vertebral  col- 
umn was  a  modification  of  structure  subordinated  related 
to  a  particular  condition  of  an  organic  system  of  much  high- 
er importance  in  the  animal  body  than  the  skeleton,  viz., 
the  nervous  system.  A  knowledge  of  the  anatomy  of  this 
system  hence  became  essential  to  the  zoologist ;  and  the  re- 
sult of  a  long  series  of  minuto  and  elaborate  dissections  was, 
the  detection  of  at  least  three  modifications  of  the  nervous 
system  of  equal  Importance  with  that  in  regard  to  which  a 
skull  and  vertebral  column  are  dependent  and  subordinate. 
Hence  arose  the  proposition  by  Cuvier,  to  divide  the  animal 
kingdom  primarily  into  four  provinces  or  subkingdoms  :  viz., 
Vertebrata,  Mollusca,  Articulata,  and  Radiata ;  or,  as  they 
have  been  termed,  in  accordance  with  the  modifications  of 
the  nervous  system  respectively  characterizing  them,  Mye- 
lencephala,  Heterogangiiata,  Homogangliata,  and  Acrita. 

All  previous  primary  divisions  of  the  animal  kingdom,* 
having  been  proposed  in  ignorance  of  the  true  characters  by 
which  such  groups  exist  in  nature,  are  now  abandoned  by 
the  common  consent  of  naturalists,  and  nothing  would  be 
gained  by  quoting  them  in  this  place.  Herein  the  Linn%an 
method  is  inferior  to  the  Aristotelian  system  :  the  class 
Vermes  of  the  Systcma  JVaturce,  as  it  included  the  Ostra- 
coderma  and  Malakia  of  Aristotle,  afterwards  the  Mollusca 
of  Cuvier,  with  the  true  Vermes,  was  a  retrograde  step  in 
this  branch  of  zoological  science. 

The  subkingdom  Vertebrata,  or  Myclcncephala,  is  subdi- 
vided into  classes,  according  to  the  modifications  of  the  re- 
spiratory and  circulating  organs.  These  modifications  are 
essentially  four  in  number,  which  may  be  thus  expressed : 

1.  Lungs  suspended  freely  in  a  thoracic  cavity ;  subdi- 
vided into  minute  air-cells.  Heart  divided  into  four  cavi- 
ties ;  pulmonic  and  systematic  circulations  distinct. 

2.  Lungs  adherent  to  the  walls  of  a  thoracic  cavity,  com- 
municating with  large  air-cells  in  other  cavities  of  the  body. 
Heart  with  four  cavities ;  pulmonic  and  systemic  circula- 
tions distinct. 

3.  Lungs  suspended  freely  in,  or  attached  to  the  parietes 
of  a  thoracic-abdominal  cavity  ;  not  divided  into  minute  air- 
cells.  Heart  with  four  or  three  cavities  ;  pulmonic  and  sys- 
temic blood  mixed  in  the  general  circulation. 

4.  Gills  for  respiration,  with  or  without  lungs.  Heart  with 
two  cavities,  transmitting  all  the  blood  to  the  breathing  organs. 

The  first  condition  of  the  respiratory  and  circulating  or- 
gans coexists  with  a  viviparous  generation,  and  lacteal  or- 
gans for  the  nourishment  of  the  new-born  young  ;  whence 
the  class  was  termed  Zootoca\  by  Aristotle,  and  Mammalia 
by  Linnaeus;  and  the  latter  term  is  retained,  because  it  ex- 
presses a  character  which  is  truly  peculiar  to  the  class.  The 
total  or  partial  clothing  of  hair,  and  the  other  organic  coex- 
istences which  proclaim  the  naturalness  of  the  group  in 
question,  are  mentioned  under  the  term  Mammalia. 

The  second  condition  of  the  respiratory  and  circulating 
organs  characterizes  the  class  of  Birds.  It  is  associated  in 
this  class  with  an  oviparous  generation,  a  covering  of  feath- 
ers, and  those  other  modifications  of  the  vertebrate  type  of 
structure  which  are  detailed  under  the  head  of  Aves.  This 
is  the  most  natural  and  circumscribed  of  all  the  groups  of 
animals  of  corresponding  value.  Both  mammals  and  birds 
differ  from  all  other  classes  of  animals  in  being  warm-blood- 
ed ;  whence  they  have  been  combined  to  form  a  group  called 
Hematherms. 


*  If  we  except  some  of  the  schemes  of  classification  of  the  anini.il  kingdom 
by  John  Hunter,  found  among  his  manuscripts  after  his  death.  (See  Preface 
to  Palmer's  edition  of  his  Animal  Economy.) 

t  The  term  Zootoca  has  been  degraded  by  a  modern  naturalist  to  designate 
a  subgenus  of  lizards,  distinguished  by  their  viviparous  generation. 


The  condition  of  the  circulating  and  breathing  organs 
which  characterizes  the  third  class  of  vertebrate  animals, 
called  Reptiles,  is  associated  with  cold  blood,  and  a  covering 
of  scales,  bony  plates,  or  a  naked  skin.  The  generation  is 
oviparous  or  ovoviviparous:  the  other  characters  are  given 
under  the  head  Reptilia. 

Fishes,  besides  breathing  by  gills,  and  having  a  heart 
composed  of  a  single  auricle  and  ventricle,  have  the  skin 
defended  by  scales,  or  by  bony  plates,  or  are  naked.  They 
are  likewise  oviparous,  or  ovoviviparous;  and,  with  a  few 
exceptions,  as  the  tunny,  the  temperature  of  their  blood  cor- 
responds with  that  of  the  surrounding  medium.  They  are 
exclusively  aquatic ;  and  their  general  characters  and  classi- 
fication are  given  under  the  heads  Pisces  and  Ic  uthyology. 

The  subkingdom  Mollusca,  or  Heterogangliata,  is  charac- 
terized by  a  ring  of  nervous  matter  surrounding  the  gullet, 
whence  the  nerves  radiate,  often  unsymmetrically,  to  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  body.  There  is  a  ganglion  or  little  brain 
below  the  gullet,  and  sometimes  also  above  that  tube :  the 
nerves  of  the  body  are  generally  connected  with  one  or  more 
detached  ganglions.  The  form  of  the  body  corresponds  with 
the  disposition  of  the  nervous  system,  and  is  often  unsym- 
metrical ;  it  is  generally  soft,  covered  with  a  mucous  skin, 
and  destitute  of  jointed  limbs.  In  one  class  (Cephalopoda), 
in  which  the  supraoesophageal  nervous  mass  is  large,  it  is 
protected  by  a  cartilaginous  cranium ;  but  this  is  absent  in 
other  Mollusca,  and  a  vertebral  column  exists  in  none. 
Many  species  have  for  their  skeleton  a  calcareous  plate  or 
plates,  called  shells,  secreted  by  the  skin.  (See  Concholo- 
gy.)  The  animal  functions  are  feebly  enjoyed  in  the  Heter- 
ogangliate  subkingdom.  Distinct  organs  of  hearing  and 
smell  have  as  yet  been  found  only  in  the  highest  class 
( Cephalopoda) ;  the  eyes  are  reduced  to  mere  rudiments  in 
the  group  next  in  subordination  (Gasteropoda);  and  the 
head  is  altogether  wanting  in  the  three  lower  classes,  thence 
collectively  called  Acephala.  The  machinery  of  the  organic 
functions,  on  the  other  hand,  is  largely  and  completely  de- 
veloped. Every  mollusk  has  a  heart,  and  a  closed  system 
of  arteries  and  veins  :  in  the  higher  Cephalopods  tbecircu- 
lating  system  is  physiologically  as  perfect  as  in  the  highest 
Vertebrates,  and  the  heart  is  anatomically  more  complicated. 
An  organ  of  respiration  is  never  wanting;  but  it  presents 
this  character,  that  whereas  in  the  Vertebrata  it  communi- 
cates with  the  mouth,  in  the  Mollusca  it  is  connected  with 
the  opposite  termination  of  the  alimentary  canal.  The  Mol- 
lusca are  either  Dioecious  or  Hermaphrodite. 

The  primary  division  of  Mollusca  is,  according  to  the  pres- 
ence or  absence  of  a  head,  into  the  Encephala  and  Acephala. 

The  Encephalous  Mollusks  are  divided,  according  to 
their  locomotive  organs,  into  the  classes  Cephalopoda,  Gas- 
teropoda, and  Ptcropoda  ;  the  Acephalous  Mollusks,  accord- 
ing to  their  respiratory  organs,  into  Lamellibranchiata,  Pal- 
liobranchiata,  and  Hetcrobranchiata :  the  two  latter  classes 
are  more  commonly  called  Brachiopoda  and  Tunicata.  See 
those  names  of  classes,  and  Malacology. 

The  third  primary  division  of  the  animal  kingdom,  viz., 
the  Articulata,  is  as  well  characterized,  Cuvier  states,  as 
that  of  the  Vertebrata.  "The  skeleton  is  not  interna!,  as  in 
the  latter:  neither  is  it  annihilated,  as  in  the  Mollusca. 
The  articulated  rings  which  encircle  the  body,  and  frequent- 
ly the  limbs,  supply  the  place  of  it ;  and  as  they  are  usually 
hard,  they  furnish  to  the  powers  of  motion  all  requisite 
points  of  support ;  so  that  we  have  here  as  many  kinds  of 
locomotion  as  among  the  Vertebrata.  This  external  position 
of  the  hard  parts,  and  internal  one  of  the  muscles,  reduce 
each  articulation  to  the  form  of  a  sheath,  and  allow  it  but 
two  kinds  of  motion,  unless  the  limbs  be  united  by  flexible 
membranes,  or  fit  into  one  another ;  and  then  their  motions 
are  more  various,  but  have  not  the  same  force. 

"  The  system  of  organs  in  which  the  Articulata  resemble 
each  other  the  most,  is  that  of  the  nerves.  Their  brain, 
which  is  placed  above  the  scsophagtts,  and  furnishes  nerves 
to  the  parts  adhering  to  the  head,  is  very  small.  Two  cords, 
which  embrace  the  oesophagus,  are  extended  along  the  ab- 
domen, and  united  at  certain  distances  by  double  knots  or 
ganglia,  whence  arise  the  nerves  of  the  body  and  limbs. 
Each  of  these  ganglia  seems  to  fulfil  the  functions  of  a  brain 
to  the  surrounding  parts,  and  to  preserve  their  sensibility 
for  a  certain  length  of  time  when  the  animal  has  been  di- 
vided. If  to  this  we  add  that  the  jaws  of  these  animals, 
when  they  have  any,  are  always  lateral,  and  move  from 
without  inwardly,  and  not  from  above  downwards,  and  that 
no  distinct  organ  of  smell  has  hitherto  been  discovered  in 
them,  we  shall  have  expressed  all  that  can  be  said  of  them 
in  general."  The  existence,  however,  of  the  organs  of  hear- 
ing, the  presence,  number,  and  form  of  those  of  sight,  the 
kind  of  respiration,  the  condition  of  the  organsof  circulation, 
and  the  colour  of  the  blood,  present  great  differences,  which 
characterize  the  subdivisions  or  classes  of  the  Articulate  or 
Homogangliate  subkingdom. 

These  classes  are,  Crustacea,  Arachnida,  Insecta,  Anella- 
ta,  and  Cirripedia.    See  those  words. 

1351 


ZOONOMY. 

The  first  throe  arc  combined  by  Lntrcille  into  a  large 
group,  called  GondyUtpoda,  in  reference  to  their  ; 

a  members;  but  these  arc  likewise  possessed  by 
ipedia,  which,  although  placed  by  Cavier  in  Die 
Molluscous  BubkJngdom,  axe  proved  by  their  nervous  system 
and  metamorphoses  t<i  be  essentially  .Irticulata,  nearly  al- 
o  the  Crustaceans. 
The  Radiated,  or  fourth  primary  division  of  animals  in 
the  system  of  Cuvier,  is  so  called  because  the  low-organized 
animals  composing  it  agree,  Cuviei  says,  in  having  their 
parts  arranged  round  an  axis,  ami  on  otic  or  several  radii,  or 
on  one  or  several  lines  extending  from  one  pole  to  the  other. 
"Kirn  the  at  least  two  tendinous  lines,  or 

two  nervous  threads,  proceeding  from  a  collar  round  the 
mouth;  and  several  of  them  have,  four  suckers  situated 
round  a  proboscidrform  elevation!  The  nervous  system, 
when  traces  of  it  have  been  visible,  is  also  arranged  in  radii." 
This  cannot,  however,  be  affirmed  with  propriety  of  the 
nerves  of  the  Entotoa  or  Rotifera  ;  hut  these  classes  agree 
with  all  the  other  Radiata  (Hvlolhuria  excepted)  in  the  ab- 
sence of  distinct  respirator]  organs.  It  has  been  proposed 
to  divide  the  Radiated  animals,  or  Zoophytes  of  Cuvier,  into 
two  subkingdoms  :  the  -V,  matoneura,  presenting  conspicuous 
nervous  filaments  ;  and  the  .icntn,  in  which  such  filaments 
are  rarely  distinguishable.  The  JYematonevra  are  more 
definitely  and  readily  characterized  by  having  the  alimentary 
canal  in  the  form  of  a  distinct  tube,  with  proper  parietes, 
floating  in  an  abdominal  cavity,  and  provided  with  a  sepa- 
rate inlet  and  outlet ;  while  in  the  Jierita  the  digestive 
cavitv  is  excavated  in  the  parenchyma  of  the  body,  is  de- 
void of  distinct  parietes,  and  has  no  anal  outlet.  The  JYema- 
tonevra  never  propagate  by  germination  or  spontaneous  fis- 
sion, but  these  modes  of  reproduction  are  common  in  the 
Jierita.  The  latter  division  lias  been  termed  Oozoa  from 
their  analogy  to  the  ova  or  perms  of  the  higher  classes : 
hut  I  have  elsew  here  observed*  that  as  the  changes  of  the 
embryo  succeed  each  other  with  a  rapidity  proportionate  to 
its  proximity  with  the  commencement  of  its  development, 
so,  also,  in  each  class  of  Jierita,  there  are  genera  which 
ly  approximate  or  merge  into  some  one  or  other  of  the 
higher  or  Nematoneurou  i  their  characters  are 

consequently  less  definite  and  tixed.  If,  therefore,  guided 
by  their  natural  affinities,  we  arrange  the  Radiata  into  their 
primary  groups,  it  will  be  found  that  one  part  of  each  of 
these  groups  presents  the  characters  of  the  JVe7uatoneu.ru, 
and  another  those  of  the  Merita.  This  will  be  exemplified 
io  the  disposition  of  the  Radiated  classes  in  the  following 
table  ol  the  primary  groups  and  classes  of  the  animal  king- 
dom. 

Kingdom  Animalia. 

Subkingdom  P'erUbrata. 

Class  Mammalia. 

Aves. 

R  eft  ilia. 

Pisces. 

Subkingdom  Mollusca. 


Subkingdom  irticulata 
Class  Crustacea. 

Arachnida. 

Insecta. 

Anellata. 

ClRRIPEDIA. 


Class  Cephalopoda. 
Gasteropoda. 
Pteropoda. 
l.amellibranchiata. 
Brachiopoda. 
Tunic  at  a. 
Subkingdom  Radiata. 


jYematoneura. 


Class  Radiaria,  Lamarck. 


Jierita. 


EcrtlNODERMA,  Cuv.  Acalepha,  Cuv 

Class  Extozoa,  Rudolphi. 

Cojlelmintha,  Owen.  Sterelmintha,  Owen. 

Class  Polypi,  Cuvier. 

* 

Ciliobrachiata,  Farre.  Nidibrachiata,!  Farre. 

Infusoria,  Cuvier. 

ROTIFERA,  Ehrenb.  Poltoastria.  Elirenb. 

ZOCNOMY.     (Or.  l-wov,  and  vouoc.)     The  branch  of 

treating  of  the  laws  of  animal  life. 
ZOO'PHAGANS.    (Gr.  Iwov,  and  0>ayei>,  I  devour.)    The 
i  led  t"  the  order  of  Unguiculate  Mammals  which 
iiimal  food,  and  corresponding  to  the  French  term 

:.  of  Anat.  and  Phyiiol..  art   "  A'  n'.i.:' 

,i   »  tbe  JlnthosoQ  and  Xudilrrachiat a 
» lncit  lead  to  the  doubtful  clan  of  Spongis. 

1353 


ZYGOPHYLLACE.E. 

riers ;  also  the  corresponding  group  of  the  Marsupial 
Quadrupeds. 

'/( ><  >  TIM  IRUS.     (Gr.  ^ojoi',  an  animal,  and  #tpu>,  J  bear.) 

tecture,  the  same  as  frieze ;  which  see. 
ZO'OPHYTES,  Zouphyta.  (Gr.  faov,  and  (/.croc,  a  plant.) 
The  name  given  by  Cuvier  to  his  fourth  and  l.ist  primary 
division  or  subkingdom  of  animals.  By  Linne  it  was  m>- 
plied  in  a  more  restrict  d  sense  to  an  order  of  Vermes,  com- 
prehending those  beings  which  he  supposed  to  participate 
of  the  natures  of  both  animal  and  plant.  Mr.  Hntchett's 
dissertation  upon  these  subjects, in  the  Philosophical  Trans- 
actions  for  1800,  contains  nearly  all  the  chemical  informa- 
tion which  we  have  respecting  them.  In  respect  to  their 
composition  they  may  be  arranged  into  four  classes:  1. 
Those  which  consist  almost  entirely  of  carbonate  of  lime 
and  gelatine.  They  are  perfectly  .soluble,  with  effervi  s- 
cence,  in  muriatic  acid,  and  the  solution  yields  slight  traces 
only  of  animal  matter:  when  heated  red  hot  they  evolve 
but  little  smoke  or  odour,  and  leave  quicklime.  Common 
white  coral  [Madrepora  rirginea)  is  an  instance  of  this  va- 
riety. 2.  Those  which.  like  the  former,  have  carbonate  as 
their  hardening  principle,  but  which  when  steeped  in  muri- 
atic acid  are  less  rapidly  acted  on,  and  leave  membranous 
or  cartilaginous  films,  and  which,  when  heated,  exhale 
smoke  and  the  odour  of  burned  bone;  these,  therefore, 
consist  of  carbonate  of  lime,  gelatine,  and  albumen.  Such 
are  the  Madrepora  zamrn  and  the  JWadrepora  fascicularis. 
The  Tsis  hippuris  is  a  curious  variety  of  this  class,  in  which 
separate  portions  of  variety  1,  are  united  by  cartilaginous 
joints.  3.  This  class  includes  the  Gorgonia  nobilis,  or  red 
coral,  the  Tubipvra  musica,  and  some  other  varieties;  the 
earthy  pa rt  of  which  is  not  merely  carbonate  of  lime,  but 
contains  a  portion  of  phosphate  of  lime,  whilst  the  animal 
part  resembles  class  -J.  4.  This  class  includes  the  various 
sponges.  Some  of  these  consist  almost  exclusively  of  what 
may  be  called  animal  matter,  that  is,  of  a  peculiarly  organ- 
ized albumen,  with  a  trace  of  gelatine  ;  others  are  harden- 
ed by  abundant  siliceous  or  calcareous  spieiibc.  Mr.  Hatch- 
ed has  pointed  out  the  resemblance  which  exists  at 
the  three  first  classes  to  porcellaneous  shell,  mother-of-pearl 
shell,  and  the  crustaccous  coverings  of  the  crab  and  lobsters. 
ZOOTOMY.  (Gr.  t,uov,  and  tcuvid,  /  dissect.)  The 
branch  of  anatomical  science  which  relates  to  the  structure 
of  the  lower  animals.     See  Anatomy,  Comparative. 

ZOTHE'CA.  (Gr.)  In  ancient  Architecture,  a  small 
apartment  or  alcove,  capable  of  being  separated  from  or 
added  to  a  larger  one  by  means  of  curtains. 

ZD'MIC  ACID.  (Gr.  t/ipn,  leaven.)  A  compound  form- 
ed in  sour  bread,  and  in  vegetable  substances  which  have 
undersone  acetous  fermentation. 

ZUMO'LOGY.  (Gi.fyttri)  and  \oyos,  a  discourse.)  The 
doctrine  of  fermentation. 

ZUMO'METER,  or  ZFMOST  METER.  (Gr.$i>OT.and 
uerfiov,  a  measure.)  An  instrument  intended  to  show  the 
degree  to  which  fermentation  has  proceeded  in  different 
fermenting  liquors.    See  Saccharometer. 

ZU'RLITB.  A  name  given  to  a  recently  discovered 
Vesuvian  mineral. 

ZYGODA'CTYLES.     (Gr.  ttrvov,  a  yoke;  SoktvXos,  a 
finger.)    The  name  given  by  M.  Temminck  to  an  order  of 
Climbing  Birds,  including  those  which  have  the 
ranged  in  pairs,  two  before  and  two  behind;  corresponding 
to  the  Scansores  of  Cuvier. 

ZYGGE'NA.  (Gr.  Zvyaiva  ;  the  name  of  a  fMi  in  Aris- 
totle.) A  genus  of  Cartilaginous  fishes  of  the  Bqualoid  or 
Shark  tribe,  remarkably  characterized  by  the  extreme 
breadth  and  flatness  of  lite  head,  the  sides  of  which  extend 
outwards  at  ri'_rht  angles  with  and  far  beyond  the  body,  just 
as  the  head  of  a  hammer  is  placed  on  the  handle 
are  placed  at  the  lateral  margins  of  the  head.  The  term 
Zygamm  lias  also  been  applied  by  Tchsenheimer  to  a  genua 
'i'ti  ra. 
ZYGOMA.  T.r.  tyyov,  a  yoke:  because  it  transmits 
the  tendon  of  the  temporal  muscle  like  a  yoke  Th<  i  ■ 
vity  under  the  zygomatic  process  of  the  temporal  bone. 
Hence,  also,  the  term 

ZYGOPHYLLA'Cl  lillum,  one  of  the  gen- 

era.) A  natural  order  of  arborescent,  shrubby,  or  herbace- 
ous Bxogens,  inhabiting  the  hotter  parts  of  the  world.  .\re 
nearly  allied  to  Ozalidacea,  from  which  they  differ  in  many 
characters;  with  Simarubacea  they  accord  in  the  stamens 
springing  from  the  back  of  an  hypogynous  scale;  and  are 
bed  from  Rutacea  in  the  leaves  being  constantly 

Opposite,  with  lateral  or  intermediate  BtipolP.9,  and  in  being 
generally  compound,  and  always  destitute  of  pellucid  dots. 
The  ligneous  plants  of  this  order  are  remarkable  for  their 
hardness.    Gualacum,  or  Lignum  Vita,  is  one  of  them. 


THE    END. 


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